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Magic Mike starring Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey & Cody Horn

Posted on November 4, 2012 Written by ripitup

Magic-Mike-Movie-Poster — Image via seat42f.com.

Loosely based on Channing Tatum’s year as a stripper, Magic Mike tells the story of a star stripper (Channing Tatum), trying to build a different future for himself while not being quite able to stay away from the fun his profession comes with: lots of cash, easy pretty women and great parties. But he doesn’t question his choices more than he has to until he meets Brooke (Cody Horn), the older sister of Adam (Alex Pettyfer), their newest stripper. She isn’t happy with her carefree brother’s job, but he seems to be having a blast, and Mike promises to take care of him.

Of course in between trying to teach Adam the ropes, dealing with his own life crisis, keeping his promise to Brooke and his attraction towards her…he just might be in over his head.

Magic Mike is a Steven Soderbergh movie. And even though it might not seem so from the subject matter or the trailer, it is typically him-from the camera angles to the pace, from the characters that start to grow on you to the scenes you find yourself laughing along with, despite yourself.

Granted, it is lighter than Erin Brockovich or Sex, Lies and Videotape- but to me, it carries more substance than the Ocean’s series. For some reason, despite the allure of the cast, and having been somewhat entertained, I was just not that into them. And while Magic Mike has way too many stripping scenes, it comes with the territory-and it is efficiently used for laughs.

I have to confess that I’m a straight girl who finds Channing Tatum really attractive, and looking at Matt Bomer or Matthew McConaughey didn’t hurt. But pushing dollars into men’s g-strings while they give you lap dances or fake-hump you… It’s not my scene, and I’d rather women went into clubs and hook up with strangers rather than watching strippers and sleeping with them later. Yep, I am not a fan of men going to strip clubs either.

Though I have to say, Magic Mike’s stripping scenes carry theatrics, decoration and a good set of laughs-so I have a feeling straight men with open minds will have a better time with watching them than women would have watching movies’ women stripping scenes where it is just about….getting naked.

But it is definitely easy to relate to Brooke’s attitude towards Mike- her not flirting with him or not being ready to offer more than a cautious friendship. As charming and likeable he is, his profession? Not a turn on. Not for your normal girl that preferred her boyfriend got naked just for her, that is.

All in all, Magic Mike is a fun dramedy, and if anything, you should be impressed by this Soderbergh effort shot with 7 million dollars and made about $100 million more than that. You might complain that there is too much stripping, or there are scenes that contrast the happy-go-lucky/the ultimate male fantasy nature (women/cash/parties-all the time), but that is exactly the point.

And hey, McConaughey couldn’t have been further away from his romantic comedy roles, and Tatum is endearingly natural. Pettyfer proves that he really can act. Matt Bomer? Sorry, but he just serves as a pretty ornament. But he couldn’t have been bored shooting this movie…

Other Channing Tatum Movies

The Vow starring Channing Tatum, Rachel McAdams and Jessica Lange

21 Jump Street starring Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill: A Silly Yet Funny Ride

Also on Matthew McConaughey

The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei & Ryan Phillippe

Matthew McConaughey : Wanna see him act? I have the movie for you…

Sex and The City TV Series – guest appearances feat. Matthew McConaughey

21 Jump Street starring Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill: A Silly Yet Funny Ride

Posted on October 26, 2012 Written by ripitup

21 Jump Street starring Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill : A Silly Yet Funny Ride

21 Jump Street movie — 21 Jump Street starring Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill. Image via hollywoodreporter.com.

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are on the opposite sides of the popularity chart in high school. Schmidt is successful at classes and a failure when it comes to girls. Jenko, on the other hand, is the prom king but the teachers’ nightmare. They have nothing in common.

Fast-forward 7 years. Both of these young men have chosen to be cops. As expected, Schmidt rocks at tests and sucks at the physical training, and vice versa for Jenko. They decide to be friends and join strengths. And it works- they both graduate the academy, and have formed a strong friendship.

But when they fail spectacularly in the beginning, and they are begrudgingly assigned as undercover cops to pose as high school students, because they look young.

This is when the comedy truly starts as Jenko realizes the rules of popularity have changed, as well as how fellow students are grouped. It also blows up in their faces when their identities get mixed and Schmidt has to pose as the athlete and Jenko as the nerd.

With their angry captain breathing down their neck and expecting results and with them realizing that they are starting to like their new roles, both their friendship and skills as cops will be tested.

Can they pull off the mission-without getting killed and ruining the friendship in the process?

Funny & Entertaining: But Could Have Been Hilarious

One problem with PG-13 and R-rated comedies in common is that they rarely push the boundaries in between, meaning PG-13 comedies almost strive to stay too clean, and R-rated ones go out of their way to be vulgar.

Some PG-13 romcoms have succeeded in finding a decent balance- such as Someone Like You and This Means War. From character interactions to language, from storylines to certain scenes, they feel a lot more natural than their other fellow PG-13 (romantic) comedies (Also these two have quite a high level of comedic scenes and theories, hence my reason to reference them. 🙂

Now, the problem with 21 Jump Street that they give the feeling that no one really talks like that, or acts like that. And they make a habit of keeping a lot of the characters’ jokes/reactions/language below the belt- to the point of looking ridiculous. If the movie pulls it off (The Hangover), it is hilarious. If it fails, it is annoying (The Hangover 2.)

Thankfully 21 Jump Street has some decent physical comedy and other funny situations to back up the vulgarity for vulgarity’s sake language, and it does make you laugh. A lot. Sometimes you laugh despite yourself.

But frankly, I was expecting to be a lot more hilarious after watching the trailer.

But the movie is fun, and there will also be a sequel. I can’t wait to see that one, though I suspect they will further abuse their freedom with the R rating since our boys will be “grown up.”

Should you see it?

If you don’t mind a lot of vulgarity, yes- definitely. Isn’t going to make it to one of the funniest films ever list, but this silly/incapable and highly emotional duo will entertain. Oh, not to mention- Johnny Depp, the original star of the 21 Jump Street series (although the series wasn’t a comedy), reassuming his role as Tom Hanson, makes a cameo- and makes us laugh our butts off in his short screen time. And man, that man doesn’t get old!

7.3 on IMDB. 6 from me- though with a less forced language, I’d have easily given it a 7.

Anger Management starring Charlie Sheen: Surprisingly Entertaining

Posted on October 18, 2012 Written by ripitup

Anger Management Charlie Sheen. Image via pop-break.com.

When baseball player Charlie (Charlie Sheen) ruined his career because of his anger problems, he went back to college, got a degree in psychology and started working as a therapist.

As Charlie offers group therapy sessions in his house, he also has to find a balance between his ex-wife Jennifer (Shawnee Smith) obsessed with ridiculous business ventures, their teenage daughter Daniela Bobadilla (Emma of Awake)- a smart, sweet kid with OCD, his neighbor Michael (Michael Boatman, Carter Heywood of Spin City) who often considers Michael’s problems as non-problems, his best-friend/sex-buddy/own therapist Kate (Selma Blair) and of course the members of his anger therapy group- Ed (Barry Corbin), Nolan (Derek Richardson), Lacey (Noureen DeWulf) and Patrick (Michael Arden.)

Anger Management: A Few Good Laughs

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Anger Management. Not that the concept isn’t fun (I liked the movie Anger Management with Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson as well, though they are in general very different), but I wasn’t a fan of Charlie Sheen on TV. I absolutely couldn’t stand One and a Half Man, and didn’t for the life of me understand what so many people saw in it. I didn’t like anything about that show, so I was worried Anger Management would be so…well…not funny.

Now while Anger Management doesn’t deserve all of its laughing tracks, it deserves several of them well- it doesn’t score laughs that gives you stomach pains,but it makes you smile, giggle and laugh a lot- and even when it is not very funny, it is still entertaining.

It’s refreshing to see a modern comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously (aware of the pun, but it really is the case with a lot of new comedies).

People having problems with the show complain about Shawnee Smith’s acting, saying she is not supposed to seem dumb- but her character is gullible, not so savvy and the only thing she is good at is being Sam’s mother-and even there she doesn’t always make the best call. Hell, she was cheated on by Charlie so many times during their marriage, and she still wouldn’t have gotten out without some shoving from the others.

And some people joke that it is unrealistic that Charlie’s character can get so many (hot) dates, in addition to the constant benefits he is getting from his best friend. While I don’t find the 47-year-old Sheen attractive (not that 47 is old, but his relationship with alcohol has showed its effects), his character is likeable. He’s smart, fun, nice and doesn’t lie about who he is. Wouldn’t want to date him, but can understand why others would. And I’ve always liked Selma Blair.

The patients can come off as annoying and not funny at times, but they do make up for it with some decent one-liners and/or amusing events to make up for it within the same episode.

Nope, it is no Friends, Coupling or Spin City (the first 4 seasons with Michael J. Fox.) But it is a good laugh, and I don’t mind watching more episodes. And I have watched all 10.

Fun notes:

1) Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife Denise Richards, with whom he’s not exactly parted well with, appeared in one episode as his love interest. They had some lines about her ex, who she referred to as a total nut job several times, and Charlie stopped her at one point, saying he got it. It was a great self-directed humor, and very well done.

2) Charlie’s dad came to visit for one episode. His name is Martin, and was played by none other than Charlie’s real life dad Martin Sheen.

See it. The worst case scenario is that you will waste 20-40 minutes, assuming you will try 1-2 episodes before writing it off. Best case, you’ll find a fun new show.

Beauty and The Beast : It’s Fun – Stop Wishing for Its Demise Already!

Posted on October 15, 2012 Written by ripitup

Beauty and The Beast starring Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan

Beauty and The Beast TV Series — Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan. Image via onthedemo.com

It probably sucks that most TV writers can only have a short time of relief and feeling of success when a single disappointment about the rating figures can send a lot of movie writers and bloggers predicting the lifespan of the show, and not being generous or optimistic about it at all.

Sure, it is great to have sold a script, and then have your series picked up among so many others- but then you have to worry about keeping the interest level high, all the while knowing not all of your target audience will watch it when it airs on TV, that Nielsen doesn’t reflect the actual popularity of your show, and that a lot of weird viewers will stop watching it just because the lead guy is too “hot”, or the show resembles quite a few old ones…

Yes, a lot of people already started predicting and/or wishing the demise of Beauty and The Beast, but I’m not one of them. Let’s go over the plot, and then I’ll share my reasons of why it might be worth a chance.

NYPD detective Catherine Chandler (Kristin Kreuk) still hasn’t quite gotten over her mother’s death 9 years ago- the two assailants would have killed her too, hadn’t it not been for a mysterious “beast” that saved her. Of course her version of events was attributed to trauma, and she believed it when they said it was probably just a wild animal.

But a current case reveals clues about a dead doctor/military guy named Vincent Keller and as she digs, she realizes that Vincent Keller is “the beast” from that night-he tells her that he joined a military experiment without being fully aware of the consequences, had his DNA changed and gained the ability/curse to turn into a furious and freakishly strong beast when he got an adrenaline rush.

Even though he tries to get her to leave him alone for both their safety, she can’t- she decides that they will both be helping out each other- and make him realize that he is anything but a monster.

So there you have it- a police procedural led by a young pretty female detective, protected by her ally – some drama, action, mystery and romance.

If you expected the wheel to be reinvented, this is not the show for you. If you don’t like to see pretty people on TV, this is not for you- although I have to say they haven’t gone half as overboard as The Vampire Diaries when it comes to casting attractive people. And you will have to live with the fact that the show is sci-fi, and not fantasy- as far as the beast is concerned.

If you’re OK with the cast of attractive actors, the sci-fi element, the case-of-the-week and the upcoming romance, great. So am I.

Now, people compared this to The Hulk. Scientist/experiment gone wrong/uncontrolled power/life led in secret? I see their point.

Some compared it to Moonlight, the short-lived vampire show starring Alex O’Loughlin – and I was too reminded of it. The-not-exactly-human helping solve crimes and protecting innocent people/watching over the girl he saved years ago/partnering up and falling in love with her…Check, check, check all the way.

But come on-as much as I loved Moonlight and was sad to see it go, Moonlight was hardly the first to use the vampire-seeks-redemption-while-falling-in-love-with-the-girl-he-is-watching-over concept. Hello, Angel of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, anyone? He is a good vampire, has watched over Buffy ever since she became a slayer at 16, helped save people, fell in love with her…

But hey, I am definitely not saying Angel’s concept was original. It was cool and fun, but I’m pretty sure someone somewhere did it-many times-before.

So Beauty and the Beast is a fun show, with cliches I’d not change. It’d be a letdown if the Beast didn’t have his human sides, or if he was exactly Fairy-Tale-like-all fury , all the time. It’d sure suck without the emotional bond between its characters. Angel had Buffy, Mick had Beth (Moonlight) and hey, Vincent will have Catherine.

Now, I won’t be complaining a lot of if it is cancelled. I’m still not over Awake– now that show was emotionally gripping, extremely powerful and refreshing- and I still think cancelling it was a crime against creativity and good TV. I know it is all about ratings and revenues, but they give you more seasons, not necessarily good TV.

But I will be enjoying this show as long as it remains fun and on the air. I can’t promise not to mourn over Last Resort, however, should it be cancelled.

So sit back, and tune in if it’s your kind of thing. If it isn’t, good thing you have a gazillion alternatives.