Archives for May 2010

FUN ROCK TRIVIA

Posted on May 13, 2010 Written by ripitup

Alright, fellow rockers! Want to read some fun facts on Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Poison, Nirvana, Def Leppard and Kiss? Then here’s the post for you. You might already know some of them, but hey I am sure you will have a good time remembering too.

*Eddie Van Halen played his guitar behind his back more often than not. Sure he looks cool, but the rumor is he was trying to hide his secrets to being a master guitar-player.

Def Leppard members. Rick Savage, Rick Allen, Joe Elliot, Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen — Def Leppard members. Singer Joe Elliot is in the middle. Image from: http://abovethevile.files.wordpress.com

* During one Def Leppard interview, frontman Joe Elliot was asked what was the most ridiculous thing they had read about themselves. Joe answered “I read that I was dead”. Now we know sometimes reporters can get too creative with their news but this is too much. Don’t you think?

* I am sure you are familiar with the Bon Jovi hit “You give love a bad name”. Supposedly, Jon wrote this song for his ex Diane Lane. Yep, they dated for a short while in the 80s. While they made a very pretty couple, I am guessing it didn’t go all that welli then?

Poison, Bret Michaels — One of Poison's more recent pictures. Lead singer Bret is wearing a cool hat. Again. Image from: http://www.yorkblog.com

*When I heard Poison’s hit “Ever rose has its thorn” for the first time, I had thought it was a very romantic song about how every one has their flaws and we accept our lovers as they are- until I read the story in the best of album. Brett Michaels’ girlfriend left him for another guy with more money. But then of course Poison made it big and his career took off. So the girl is the thorn and the rose is his career. Bret Michaels’ own words. Strangely, this makes the song more fun for me.

*KISS are best known for their make-up and their stage outfits that match. For years, they didn’t take the make-up at their concerts or backstage. So without the make-up, no one recognized them in the streets. Way to be annoynomous. Then they made an appearance on Jay Leno and came out with their identities. It is weird, but they had too many groupies even with the make up. Gene Simmons admitted that girls found it hot. I am a girl and I love Kiss’ music but putting KISS and hot in the same sentences? Nope. Not for me. Especially if they have the make-up on.

Jon Bon Jovi hosts Saturday Night Live. It is one of the funniest SNL episodes ever. Sure one stint wasn't that funny. But the rest was hilarious. Image from: http://benaxelrad.files.wordpress.com

* Jon Bon Jovi hosted an episode of SNL in 2007. The opening stint had him in the 80s, visiting SNL cast member Amy Koehler when she was a teen and Jon was in his Slippery when wet days. The episoe involved many jokes about the band, Jon himself and the songs. Bon Jovi performed two songs and Foo Fighters also sang a song as they were the official musical guests.

More on ROCK

Def Leppard: Oh, Yeah!

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Fun Rock Poll for Rock Fans

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BON JOVI-ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH

25+ Rocknroll Songs That You Can Dance to

Album Review: Alice Cooper, Thrash (1989)

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Not Forgotten starring Simon Baker

Posted on May 13, 2010 Written by ripitup

Not Forgotten starring Simon Baker and Paz Vega. Well, the name of the movie makes sense but that's pretty much the only thing that does. Image from: http://www.traileraddict.com/

OK. This movie was bad. I mean really bad. I usually start with the plot and then mention what I think but I just couldn’t help myself. On the surface, the premise is quite OK.
Jack Bishop (Simon Baker) is a loving husband and a father who coaches girls’ soccer team where his 11-year-old daughter Toby (Chloe Moretz) also plays. His first wife -Toby’s mom- is dead but Toby seems to be getting alone fine with her stepmother Amaya (Paz Vega). A good marriage, a simple life. There are implications of black magic in the movie but hey, you don’t mind. Maybe there are essential to the plot line and maybe it will all make perfect sense at some point. The simple and happy family life is ruined when Toby is kidnapped. Jack is devastated and so is Amaya. They try anything and everything to find Toby. But as the story unfolds, it will become apparent that no one and nothing is quite what it seems, except Jack’s love for Toby.

I might get into spoilers so read on at your peril:

The pace is slow. But sometimes slow pays off. Not this time. We are thrown weird twists here and there, like Jack actually speaks Spanish when his wife thinks he can’t. Whores in Mexico seem to know who is and they know him by another name. The black magic thing is something…that the writer wants you to suspect that it will relate to the story…It does but it never makes any sense. Jack’s identity as a loving father doesn’t add up. Amaya’s 10 year-old acting is ridiculous. The daughter’s reaction is absolutely ridiculous. The picture in the beginning- the picture of Toby’s mother- does belong to Claire Forlani. And she also has a ridiculous role in the film, just like the rest of the cast.
You wan t more specifics? Please ask me in the comments. I can go into as much detail as you like. I like Simon Baker, I really do. But this movie is off. Whatever genre or pace it was aiming, it is off. I don’t even get what attracted Simon to the script in the first place. There is nothing that’s attractive about the movie. Well, except the one part where Simon tortures and wastes the long-haired bad guy. That was cool. But if you want Simon to go all affectionate, watch Something New. If you want him all smart, watch The Mentalist. This is rated 4.5 on IMDB, voted by over 600 people. And frankly, even 4.5 is way overrated.

All Posts Featuring Simon Baker

Simon Baker Trivia: 21 Facts About Australian Actor Simon Baker

Not Forgotten Movie Review

The Lodger Movie Review

Top Nine Aussies in The Entertainment World: Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Kylie Minogue and More

Posts featuring Simon Baker and The Mentalist

The Mentalist TV Series Review- Starring Simon Baker

Castle vs The Mentalist- Comparing the two addictive shows

Television’s 3 Most Brilliant, Emotionally Broken Men: Patrick Jane, Gregory House and Jack Bauer

Use of Social Media in TV Series featuring Castle, The Mentalist, House, Cougar Town and NCIS Los Angeles

Seven Engaging Tv Shows with Suspense Featuring Castle, The Mentalist, House, Ncis Los Angeles and More

NCIS Los Angeles starring Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J

Posted on May 12, 2010 Written by ripitup

NCIS Los Angeles starring Chris O' Donnell and LL Cool J.

I feel a bit like a hypocrite that I like NCIS Los Angeles. Not because I like the original NCIS starring Mark Harmon (which I do by the way) but I joked so much about the whole CSI franchise going on. You have CSI New York and Las Vegas and Miami…Hell, maybe they even made a 4^th one I don’t know about. I joked that what’s the point in giving a show branches? Well, it turns out I don’t complain that much when you like the branch’s actors and love the city its taking place in. Yes, I am in love with California and I like Chris O’ Donnell, so its like NCIS is tailored to me.

NCIS-a.k.a- Naval Criminal Investigative Service-is all about crimes related to the navy as the title suggests. The Los Angeles team has agents G. Callen (Chris O’ Donnell), Sam Hanna (LL Cool J.), Kensi (Daneila Rush) and Dominic (Adam Jamal Craig), psychologist Nate (Peter Cambor), the computer/tech guy Eric (Barrett Foa) and their boss Henrietta (Linda Hunt).

The premise is simple: a navy-related crime is committed, NCIS director assigns them the case, our computer expert gives/searches/hacks info, Nate gives them a psychological profile and agents provide their expert insights. Hetty always has some warning to do, like don’t bleed to NCIS wardrobe…

While the banter between members aren’t exactly original, it is almost always funny. I especially love the relationship between O’ Donnell’s and Cool J’s characters. I mainly knew Cool J as a rapper and this is either the only lead role I ever saw him and I have to admit, he is good. Callen and Sam Hanna have good chemistry as partners in crime-solving and their relationships is funny. Hett y is quite a character and frankly Eric is so far the only cute tech guy I see in a tv show. Kensi is gorgeous and smart. Dominic is the newbie who is not all that interesting and frankly, I don’t care much about Nate’s profiling either. After watching House, Castle and The Mentalist, he frankly gives the most uninteresting insight about our criminals.

All in all, this is one fun detective/criminal show to watch if that’s your thing. I like the genre and as I mentioned I am mad about Los Angeles and I l am an O’ Donnell fan. The cast is good. This show is not for the seekers of extremity or originality but a fun crime show to enjoy. While it is not very addictive, it is really fun. I actually crossed my fingers for more seasons .

Also on Chris O’ Donnell:

Three Depression Movies: Mad Love, Numb and Mr. Jones

The Bachelor

The Bounty Hunter starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston

Posted on May 11, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Bounty Hunter starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston. Image from: http://temptu.files.wordpress.com

Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler) is well…a loser. An ex cop who got out of the force, he is now working as a bounty hunter. His job is to catch people who jump bail. He is mocked by cops and he does have a gambling debt. However his next assignment puts a huge smile on his face: He has to catch his ex-wife Nicole.

Nicole (Jennifer Aniston) is a successful journalist who is cursing the day she married Milo. She loves her job and she is after a huge story. One lead causes her to miss her trial and now Milo is after her.

If only that were simple…The bad guy has caught Nicole’s snitch and he is now after her. Then there are the debt collectors who are after Milo. And there is the struggle between Milo and Nicole- who might not just hate each other as they claim…

When I first the movie was being made, I couldn’t wait to see it. After all, I don’t mind Jennifer Aniston being in movies (it is a Friends thing) and I am a huge fan of Gerard Butler. Then the movie came out and people were so quick and ruthless in bashing the movie that I was half-scared that it would be a disaster. But hey , it is always best to see the movie and judge it yourself and I have to say I genuinely enjoyed it. Honestly, It has its downs:

– It has its mediocre moments and its fair share of clichés.

– Oh, it also has a character that’s supposed to be funny but all he did was irritate me. This character is called Stewart (Jason Sudeikis). Stewart is Nicole’s colleague and he is such a big loser that Milo seems like the ultimate catch in his worst moment, including the time he is wearing the world’s ugliest shirt and short pair! Normally ,I love Jason. He is my favorite cast member at Saturday Night Live. You might like to check out youtube for the 300 spoof- where Gerard Butler makes fun of his character King Leonidas and Jason plays his right arm. Hilarious. But Stewart is just unnecessary.

– The music dominates some of the scenes too much. It is not that the songs are bad but the scenes are funny on their own but the music seemed determined that it wanted to steal the scenes from Butler. That was weird.

– Sometimes you do want the movie to make up its mind on whether it wants to be a romcom or an action comedy or whatever.

That being said, it definitely has its ups:

– Gerard Butler. It is so much fun watching him as a loser than slowly building his charm and gain his confidence back. He doesn’t mind making an ass out of himself and he sure doesn’t seem to mind if he doesn’t look the least bit good-looking. But obviously he does. He is an actor and he wants to play different characters. Sure, you saw the sweet loser Milo character before but it is still different to Gerard’s other characters. Plus, Milo is fun to watch. Most of the time.

– Some viewer reviews claimed that Jennifer is so bad in this that she should completely stop making movies. Oh, give me a break! There is nothing about her character that requires anything more than Jennifer gives to the role. Who do they suggest played Nicole? Meryl Streep? It is a simple role. Jennifer was OK.

– It has some really funny scenes: The golf course chasing scene, Jennifer’s hijacking a bicycle cab or Gerard’s method of rescuing Jennifer from the thugs… Don’t worry, it has more. I just don’t want to spoil it for you.

– Have you seen the movie Bird on a Wire? It’s made in 1990 and it features Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn in the leading roles. It is not rated high on IMDB (a mere 5.4) but it is one of the most entertaining movies I have seen and one of my favorite movies from Gibson. It is also a mixture of action/comedy/romance and follows the story of ex-lovers. Even the storyline is quite different, as they try to save their lives and sort things out, they also realize they are not over each other. Watching The Bounty Hunter, I realized it is in the tradition of Bird on a Wire and I love that movie. Yeah, Bird on a Wire is a tad more original and a little funnier but it doesn’t change the fact that The Bounty Hunter is also all about mindless entertainment, out there to show you a good time. And it does. And that’s what matters.

It is currently 5.1 on IMDB. It has its 5 moments and it has its 7. I’ll give it a 6.

Other Posts on Gerard Butler:

6 Hollywood Stars That Would Make 20-Year-Olds Jealous

Gamer Movie Review

Top 10 Gerard Butler Movies

5 Reasons to Love Gerard Butler

Beowulf and Grendel

Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler Hosts Saturday Night Live

Posts on Jennifer Aniston

Love Happens

Marley and Me