17 Again starring Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Michelle Trachtenberg and Leslie Mann

Posted on July 5, 2009 Written by ripitup

17 Again starring Matthew Perry and Zac Efron

Starring: Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Michelle Trachtenberg, Sterling Knight, Thomas Lennon

So most of us saw similar movies before. Of course we have. It is 2009!!! Some people like it and some think writers should go after new ideas. But the thing is, for the people who do like these kind of stories- “Big”, “13 going on 30”, hell even “back to the future” in some aspects,and so on- this movie definitely delivers.It is funny with great situational and physical comedy;complete with one-liners.

About the plot: Mike O’ Donnell ( Matthew Perry) is in his late 30s and an utter failure at all aspects of his life. His wife is divorcing him, his kids despise him, has a crappy job that he manages to get fired from…And this is all his doing. He used to be ( played by Zac Efron) a promising basketball star in his highschool. He is goegeous,popular,successful and is dating the girl of his dreams. But he receives some shocking news at the beginning of the most important game of his life and after that his life goes downhill…At least he thinks so and his -Scarlett (Leslie Mann)- having been fed up with his complaining all through the years, can’t take it anymore. So he meets a stranger, makes a wish and bizarrely enough, he finds himself at the age of 17 again. Except this time, he is not 17 in 1989. He finds himself going to the same school with his daughter and son. He realizes he barely knew what went on his kids’ lives and to make matter worse,his daughter (Trachtenberg) is constantly making out with the school’s bully who is making his son’s life hell…His best friend Ned-played by Lennon- is hilarious as the rich,sci-fi junkie who now has to pretend as Mike’s dad.

You don’t have to like Zac Efron to like this movie. I personally have a kind of love&hate relationship with him. Before Hairspray, I hadn’t seen him in any of his high school musical movies. I had seen his pictures/movie trailers however; and I thought he was just another teen actor/pop star who was there to attract young girls and make them dream. He was baby-faced and well too blond. Then, I watched Hairspray and frankly didn’t realize Zac was in it.I had to double-check the credits. He was great as the promising, jet-black haired, handsome star of a musical TV show. He used a great,thick singing voice to sing 50s/60s rock’n’roll songs and sounded so unlike himself. As an avid rock’n’roll fan, I loved his role and how he carried out.He didn’t look bad next to great talents like John Travolta, Christopher Walken and James Marsden. So just when I decided he had more then the high school musical going on for him, he seized to surprise me. Until 17 Again, that is. Yes, he plays a high schooler. At 22 and baby-faced, he looks perfectly 17. He is less blond, thank goodness and he is pretty good as a comedic actor. He actually didn’t disappoint me as the younger version of Matthew Perry. Some people are hung up on the idea of Zac can not be the younger version of Perry, lookswise. But then again, I claim that he should be flattered since Perry is an amazing comedian. Having played my favourite “Friend” Chandler, he is one of my fav. comedians of all times. Is Efron just as talented and funny? Not yet. Are both actors good casting choices? Absolutely. And if Zac can get more diverse roles, he might just pleasantly charm and surprise us.

For more posts on the cast:

Matthew Perry- Numb , Hollywood Stars in Friends, Including Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and More

Zac Efron- Hairspray

Leslie Mann- Funny People

Buy 17 Again on Amazon

Zac Efron as Mike in his second-time-around 17 era — Zac as Mike in his second-time-around 17 era

Zac Efron and Michelle Trachtenberg 17 Again — Zac Efron with co-star Michelle Trachtenberg

When adultery is okay: Revenge starring Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe and Anthony Quinn

Posted on July 4, 2009 Written by ripitup

REVENGE (1990)

Starring Kevin Costner, Madeline Stowe and Anthony Quinn

It’s Mexico. It’s hot and Tibby (Quinn) owns quite a lot of it. He is respected, feared and dangerous. Oh, and he is married to a breath-taking beauty named Miryea; played by Madeline Stowe.

Enter Jay. He has left the army after 12 years. He is impulsive, a little rebellious. He is old friends with Tibby and being bored with his life, he decides to pay Tibby a visit.

Imagine a woman married to a guy older than twice her age. Physically, he is not the least bit attractive. But possibly she was younger, stupid and he probably treated her better than the other guys around her. Charismatic and rich, he tempted her.( I wouldn’t have been tempted by Quinn, but wouldn’t have said to Brosnan, Gere, etc…). He doesn’t exactly mistreat her, but she is more of a modern and rich slave. She looks good and groomed. She hosts her parties and pretends she doesn’t notice that her husband cheats on her. And then she meets his friend. A tall, dark blond, blue eyed friend who is absolutely gorgeous, about her age and who actually has more in common with her than she could ever imagine.

Would you have gone for it if it were you? Hell, I would and so do Miryea and Jay.

kev

So the movie is about an affair? Yes. Is it a romantic drama lasting 2 hours? No. So when Jay can’t restrain himself any longer, M and Jay get to be happy for a very short while. They get busted, resulting in a Jay beaten (almost) to death and Tibby stabbing his pretty wife in the face, comdemning her to a whorehouse where….you can imagine. The movie is filled with action,starting when Tibby busts them and then during Jay’s quest to find M, no matter what. I think you are going to find an entertaining movie with great scenery,good performances and two great-looking leads.

Yes,it is OK to cheat on a scumbag of a husband when you meet a hunky nice guy. But maybe it would be better to think of an escape route before jumping heads on…

Just a thought…

P.S: OK-maybe I should give some tips. For instance, if you are going to watch it with a date who is not that into romance, you should see the director’s cut. It is raw,has less affection and less romance, and more detailed sex scenes.

More on Kevin Costner

The New Daughter

Kevin Costner Tribute

Mr. Brooks

Message in a Bottle

Madeleine Stowe

The Last of The Mohicans

Playing by Heart

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Why Jon Bon Jovi, Edward Burns and Timothy Ferris Ruined Us

Posted on June 30, 2009 Written by ripitup

They totally ruined it. They proved that indeed nothing is impossible if you have the soul, drive and guts.

They are self-made and they all started from scratch. Read on to see how they got to where they are (I also explain who they are, so keep reading even if you don’t know these guys or if you don’t know how they started).
Some people lead glamorous lives and live to talk about it. These are talented and driven people who have had the guts to try again and again until they’ve made it. These are the people who actually risked poverty (no,I am not being dramatic…OK-maybe a tad…), faced constant rejection and came back on top. My list has a lot of names,whose jobs I wanna have. Why do I feel they screwed me over? Because I know that there are people out there who made it,so I am tempted to try. Because I know am never gonna be satisfied with a simple paycheck and two days free in a week-and this is if you are lucky-in a city where there is so much traffic that you spend half your life on vehicles…Would I be considered such a dreamer had these people not existed? I don’t know…All I know is, life would be so much more boring.

So let’s start with the criteria: people like Gwyneth Paltrow don’t count. Born to parents in movie business??? So she is pretty and can act, but she has had the connections first!!!

So let’s go over Jon, Ed and Timothy.

1) Edward Burns: actor/director/writer/producer

You may not know him. I am a movie nut and he is one of my fav. guys in Hollywood. Does he make masterpieces? No, not really. Why do I like him so much? Because he is so multi-talented. He writes, directs, produces his movies and stars in them. Sometimes he does take part in other people’s projects but mostly he is this multi-functional movie maker. He writes heartfelt and down-to-earth stories. He writes the kind of stuff I write. And he has the job I dream about. I don’t have to direct, but I write screenplays. I would love to have the chance to make it into a movie,play the character of my choice.I don’t have to produce it. But I would love to get involved in choosing the songs for the soundtrack and give some ideas for the clothes. No, I am not a control freak. I am just fairly emotional. Because I wrote the story, I lived it in my head, I carried it around with me…It is my baby and I want Ed’s job!!!

2) Jon Bon Jovi: singer, song writer, guitar-player, actor

So he did have this cousin or something who worked in a record studio but that didn’t really help Jon gain anything apart from observing rockers, cleaning the floors and recording at night when the place was empty. He worked at crappy jobs and worked his ass off to get noticed by the music industry. He started from 0, made all his dreams come true…Hell, the guy went beyond his dreams. He is the singer of my favorite band ever, he writes most of the songs and when he’s not touring or recording with the band, he is acting. He started acting from scratch too. He has played in a number of movies, got both big and small roles. He even co-stars in one of Edward Burns’ movies. Gotta respect this guy…

Love Jon Bon Jovi? The Band? Both?:

Bon Jovi Trivia: 52 More Facts About The Rock Band Bon Jovi

6 Rock Songs on Cheating: 1 Bryan Adams, 4 Bon Jovi and 1 KISS

7 Interesting Facts About Jon and Bon Jovi

3) Timothy Ferris: entrepreneur,writer,wrestler,tango dancer,actor…

Up until April 2009, I had a regular office job. I didn’t like it, I just needed it to save money. Time lost in traffic and lonely lunches ( my co-workers weren’t really outgoing) gave me a lot time to read…I decided it was research time. I was buying anything I could get my hands on about writing, getting published and freelancing. And this guy had written the marketing book with the most appealing title ever: The 4-Hour Work Week. The cover included a hammock…The more I read, the more hooked I got. He had started out as a guy who worked in an office. Then he realized he wanted more to his life. Are you wondering how he managed to pull more titles than Jon and Ed combined? He founded his own business. Became his own boss. Of course the process that led to this is complicated and I’ll be covering his book in a post dedicated to it alone. But let me just say, he now has enough money and time go and dance the Tango in Argentina, learn languages,star in TV shows in Asia and become a professional wrestler. He talks about how we can market our ideas and turn it into cash, how we don’t need to be millionaires to live like them and well…isn’t it enough?

But the guy with the most imitable strategies is not doubt Ferriss. Edward was lucky enough to be born in New York. Jon had the relative’s studio to wipe the floors of. Tim is a businessman. He is self-made. He has trained himself in so many areas and he has been having the time of his life ever since he set up his business. I don’t have Jon’s voice or musical talent. I don’t have the 25.000 $ Ed used to shoot his first movie “The Brothers McMullen” . Don’t get me wrong, he accomplished a major thing. However, 25.000 $ is a huge sum to me and to a lot of people but in Hollywood terms,it is nothing. He managed to scrape it together. Do you know his modest movie earned? 10,000,000 $ !!!! You can calculate the profits,right? His second movie had Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Anniston. But I don’t have any resources to get that first 25.000. If I do find 25 grand, it will be spent on one of the film schools I’ve been dying to go to. So I will combine everything I’ve learned from Tim, plus the drive and the relentlessness of Ed and Jon and fingers crossed, I will make my own dreams come true. What are they? Apart from becoming the female Ed Burns of my generation? To become a best-seller novelist, a freelance non-fiction writer for all my favorite magazines, a great dancer, speaker of 4 different languages, a really good-guitar player….Oh I have more. If you think I am wasting time writing this blog, you are wrong. The thing is, I have already gotten to work. Blogging is a part of the plan.

Now tell me, what are you waiting for?

GARY OLDMAN: Talk about diversity!

Posted on June 19, 2009 Written by ripitup

Gary as himself,probably during Batman times

So your friends adore him and think he is a terrific actor.You have seen him in Leon and saw that in deed he can pull “psycho” off very well.You see him in a bunch of other movies and realize he is talented. But you also tend to” forget his face”. What I mean is, Gary in JFK looks nothing like the Gary in Murder in the First.Is he really in The Contender too? And you appreciate his acting more. His voice differs,his expressions change.Why am I talking about him like I have never seen any other actor do it? Well,frankly I have never seen an actor to transform so utterly without the help of the renowned make-up artist Rick Baker! Wanna challenge me on that? Cool. Let’s take Robert De Niro. He is an amazing actor. But I don’t think I’m the only one who finds his roles a little too familiar? How many times have we seen him as the ex- macho/horribly dangerous who will destroy you in a second guy ending up in a funny situation? (Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, Analyze This, Analyze That, Showtime…) or the mobster? Yes, I respect him. I have seen Cape Fear and all that. But he tends to repeat himself. All actors do at some point, I guess. Frankly,recently he has only pleasantly surprised me was in Stardust. I have seen so many of his movies,spread out in over 4 decades but I hadn’t seen the facial expressions and physical comedy he performs in Stardust. Totally different role,totally different guy. Kudos to De Niro.

Let’s get back to Oldman though.He is barely recognizable- all the time!

Actors get into a variety of styles. Brad Pitt plays in Fight Club and Meet Joe Black. Have you seen him in Legends of the Fall? But it is so obviously Brad Pitt. Di Caprio can play the pretty Romeo and then a CIA agent under cover in Middle East, perfectly mixed with the locals. His accents change, not his voice. His clothes change, not exactly his mannerisms. And this is not exactly a bad thing…I am just stating an observation.

Al Pacino was unrecognizable in what movie exactly?Maybe I should post pictures of him in particular roles for the sake of visualization. Think Scarface. Think the Godfather. Think Frankie and Johnny. Think The Devil’s advocate. He is terrific but he is obviously Al.

Now; back to Gary:

?n The Unborn — The Unborn: The movie might be bad, but Gary never fails his role.

Gary-Oldman-The-Scarlet-Letter_2