Bridesmaids (2011)/Movie Review

Release Date: 13 May 2011 (USA)  Runtime: 125 min

Genres: Comedy

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital  | DTS  | SDDS

Official Sites: http://www.bridesmaidsmovie.com/

Picked as her best friend's maid of honor, lovelorn and broke Annie looks to bluff her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals with an oddball group of bridesmaids

Director:  Paul Feig

Writers:  Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo

Original Music by Michael Andrews

Cinematography by Robert D. Yeoman

Cast

Kristen Wiig , Terry Crews,  Maya Rudolph , Jessica St. Clair,Tom Yi, Elaine Kao, Michael Hitchcock, Kali Hawk, Joe Nunez, Rebel Wilson , Matt Lucas, Jill Clayburgh, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper,     

Plot

Annie (Kristen Wiig), is a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colorful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to matrimony. Annie's life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian's maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she'll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far you'll go for someone you love.

Box Office

Budget: $32,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $26,247,410 (USA) (15 May 2011) (2918 Screens)

Gross: $167,661,310 (USA) (21 August 2011)

Production Co: Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Apatow Productions
Filming Locations:  Oxnard, California, USA

Review

This is like a big slap in the face to all the lame chick flicks out there as of now and a breakthrough, star making leading role for the brilliant and hilarious Kristen Wiig. I have never seen a comedy in a long time that was as consistently funny and I mean laugh on the ground with tears coming down your face funny as well as touching and for once genuine characters that you can relate to and have an instant, believable, bond and chemistry on screen that makes the ongoing crazy shenanigans all the more effective and hysterical. The showstopper, scene stealing, laugh riot Melissa McCarthy was fantastic and no wonder has her own sitcom and she should host or be apart of SNL or something she is so freaking funny I almost wet myself! Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig should make more comedies together and are much better than Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were in Baby Mama, they are a comedy dream team and the rest of the cast is the cherry on top. The movie goes through typical issues from the average chick flick like jealousy, insecurities, narcissism, cat fights, self-doubt, self-pity, self-destruction you name it but it deals with those is a more honest, realistic non sugar-coated way that was refreshing and smart from the norm and raises the bar so high for chick flicks (which is more anti of that anyways) and comedies in general that I personally can't see any comedy this year or in the future surpassing its comedy greatness, it's golden!!! Overall if you were waiting for a movie that will truly make you laugh harder than you ever laughed before in the theaters in a long time your wish has been granted, wear depends just in case because you might need them. Highly Recommended! The most satisfying comedy in the past decade that I never wanted it to end and forget about the overrated The Hangover and its unnecessary sequel and bring on Bridesmaids 2 already! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow /Book Review

Tim Tebow (Author),

Nathan Whitaker (Collaborator)

Hardcover: 272 pages

Publisher: Harper (May 31, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0062007289

ISBN-13: 978-0062007285

Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches

Passion is the fuel of life. It is the great source of energy and drive.  It's what makes us explore new vistas, develop new relationships,  and seek solutions to perplexing problems.

-Bob Buford, Halftime

Description

Over the course of the last five years, Tim Tebow established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of college football and a top prospect in the NFL. During that time he amassed an unparalleled resume—winning two BCS national championships, becoming the first sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman trophy, and in the face of massive public scrutiny, being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos.

Now, in Through My Eyes, Tebow brings readers everywhere an inspirational memoir about life as he chose to live it, revealing how his faith and family values, combined with his relentless will to succeed, have molded him into the person that he is today. As the son of Christian missionaries, Tebow has a unique story to tell—from the circumstances of his birth, to his home-schooled roots, to his record-setting collegiate football career with the Florida Gators and everything else that took place in between.

At every step, Tebow's life has defied convention and expectation. While aspects of his life have been well-documented, the stories have always been filtered through the opinions and words of others. Through My Eyes is his passionate, firsthand, never-before-told account of how it all really happened.

Review

Through My Eyes is the most important book to come out since The Purpose Drive Life. Now I know why people admire Tim Tebow so much, consider for example his ability to make other players better. Tony Dungy alluded to that quality in his endorsement. He is a positive role model for young people and that also came out in the documentary that E.S.P.N. did on him as well. Any organization he plays for, or any position he holds, he will leave in better condition than he found it and the team will grow stronger. He is a true leader in every sense of the word. Strength and faith are two important themes to his life and overall this is the strongest statement of faith from a high profile athlete. This book has the potential of furthering the cause of foreign missions as well, keeping in mind the work that his family does in the Philippines. Despite all the second guessing and criticism he still managed to rise above it, he is smart enough to consider the source. Read it along with the new Albert Pujols book. Forget about the ebook, the hardcover edition comes with a bonus on the inside of the jacket. B.T.W. Shame on the L.S.U. football fans, you are a disgrace to your school and there is something to be said about good sportsmanship. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Tebow, for in addition to helping the Pro-Life movement you also have a million dollar family.

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The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough/Book Review

The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris

David McCullough (Author)

Description

The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.

After risking the hazardous journey across the Atlantic, these Americans embarked on a greater journey in the City of Light. Most had never left home, never experienced a different culture. None had any guarantee of success. That they achieved so much for themselves and their country profoundly altered American history. As David McCullough writes, “Not all pioneers went west.” Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America, was one of this intrepid band. Another was Charles Sumner, who enrolled at the Sorbonne because of a burning desire to know more about everything. There he saw black students with the same ambition he had, and when he returned home, he would become the most powerful, unyielding voice for abolition in the U.S. Senate, almost at the cost of his life.

Two staunch friends, James Fenimore Cooper and Samuel F. B. Morse, worked unrelentingly every day in Paris, Cooper writing and Morse painting what would be his masterpiece. From something he saw in France, Morse would also bring home his momentous idea for the telegraph.

Pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk from New Orleans launched his spectacular career performing in Paris at age 15. George P. A. Healy, who had almost no money and little education, took the gamble of a lifetime and with no prospects whatsoever in Paris became one of the most celebrated portrait painters of the day. His subjects included Abraham Lincoln.

Medical student Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote home of his toil and the exhilaration in “being at the center of things” in what was then the medical capital of the world. From all they learned in Paris, Holmes and his fellow “medicals” were to exert lasting influence on the profession of medicine in the United States.

Writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, and Henry James were all “discovering” Paris, marveling at the treasures in the Louvre, or out with the Sunday throngs strolling the city’s boulevards and gardens. “At last I have come into a dreamland,” wrote Harriet Beecher Stowe, seeking escape from the notoriety Uncle Tom’s Cabin had brought her. Almost forgotten today, the heroic American ambassador Elihu Washburne bravely remained at his post through the Franco-Prussian War, the long Siege of Paris and even more atrocious nightmare of the Commune. His vivid account in his diary of the starvation and suffering endured by the people of Paris (drawn on here for the first time) is one readers will never forget. The genius of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the son of an immigrant shoemaker, and of painters Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent, three of the greatest American artists ever, would flourish in Paris, inspired by the examples of brilliant French masters, and by Paris itself.

Nearly all of these Americans, whatever their troubles learning French, their spells of homesickness, and their suffering in the raw cold winters by the Seine, spent many of the happiest days and nights of their lives in Paris. McCullough tells this sweeping, fascinating story with power and intimacy, bringing us into the lives of remarkable men and women who, in Saint-Gaudens’s phrase, longed “to soar into the blue.” The Greater Journey is itself a masterpiece.

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Hardcover: 576 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st edition (May 24, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1416571760

ISBN-13: 978-1416571766

Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.8 x 1.7 inches

PRAISES

"An epic of ideas, as well as an exhilirating book of spells . . . This is history to be savored."

—The New York Times Book Review

“A lively and entertaining panorama. . . . By the time he shows us the triumphant Exposition Universelle in 1889, witnessed through the eyes of such characters as painters John Singer Sargent and Robert Henri, we share McCullough's enthusiasm for the city and his affection for the many Americans who improved their lives, their talent and their nation by drinking at the fountain that was Paris.”

— The Washington Post

"From a dazzling beginning that captures the thrill of arriving in Paris in 1830 to the dawn of the 20th century, McCullough chronicles the generations that came, saw and were conquered by Paris. . . . The Greater Journey will satisfy McCullough's legion of loyal fans . . . it will entice a whole new generation of Francophiles, armchair travelers and those Americans lucky enough to go to Paris before they die."

— The San Francisco Chronicle

"McCullough's skill as a storyteller is on full display. . . . The idea of telling the story of the French cultural contribution to America through the eyes of a generation of aspiring artists, writers and doctors is inspired. . . a compelling and largely untold story in American history."

—The Seattle Times

"There is not an uninteresting page here as one fascinating character after another is explored at a crucial stage of his development. . . . Wonderful, engaging writing full of delighting detail."

— Chicago Sun-Times

“McCullough’s research is staggering to perceive, and the interpretation he lends to his material is impressive to behold. . . . Expect his latest book to ascend the best-seller lists and be given a place on the year-end best lists.”

—Booklist

“For more than 40 years, David McCullough has brought the past to life in books distinguished by vigorous storytelling and vivid characterizations. . . . . McCullough again finds a slighted subject in The Greater Journey, which chronicles the adventures of Americans in Paris. . . . Wonderfully atmospheric.”

— Los Angeles Times

“McCullough has hit the historical jackpot. . . . A colorful parade of educated, Victorian-era American travelers and their life-changing experiences in Paris.”—Publishers Weekly

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Born to Die (2011) by Lisa Jackson/ Book Review

(The third book in the Montana 'To Die' series)

A novel by Lisa Jackson

Hardcover: 392 pages

Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp (T) (May 25, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0758252218

ISBN-13: 978-0758252210

Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches

Description

Appearances…

A sad, strange coincidence…that's Dr. Kacey Lambert's initial response to the deaths of two women who bear an uncanny resemblance to herself. It's not like there was any real connection between Kacey and the B-movie actress or the elementary school teacher. But Detective Selena Alvarez suspects otherwise.

Can Be…

One of the bodies contained traces of poison at the time of death. Selena and her partner, Detective Regan Pescoli, can find no motive for murder. But Kacey has started to notice ties between the dead women's lives and her own-all close in age, born within miles of each other. And all have links to Trace O'Halleran, the man Kacey just started dating.

Deadly…

The deeper Kacey digs, the more reason she has to fear. More look-alikes are dying, and the killer is getting bolder and more brutal. And Kacey knows it's only a matter of time before hers is the next name on a list of those who were born to die…

Top Review

Lisa Jackson's newest book Born to Die was just as good as I had could have imagined. The main character Kacey was so fascinating and had so much depth and character to her. I really felt compelled to her and wanted to see her kept safe. I found myself getting lost in the story and finished it all in a weekend. I have always enjoyed the town of Grizzly Falls in Montana and all of it's unique characters. What a great idea to have this series of books happen in such a small and remote town. It makes it that much more bone chilling to think it could happen anywhere and to anyone. I've always been a fan of the Alvarez/ Pescoli team. What a dynamic female duo! After the last book Chosen to Die I almost feel like I'm right along the two ladies helping to solve all these cases! With the body count rising I never knew who to suspect and who was innocent. Lisa Jackson did it again! The To Die Series has fast become my favorite set of books!

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Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue/Book Review

Emma Donoghue (Author)

Description

To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.

Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.

From Publishers Weekly

Five-year-old Jack and his Ma live and eat and play and sleep in one room--an 11×11-foot space that is their prison--captives of the terrifying man Jack calls Old Nick. But as Jack grows older and more curious, it becomes clear that the room will not be able to hold him and Ma forever. Michal Friedman shines as Jack; her narration is haunting and compelling in its every inflection and tone. The voice she creates for Jack is so convincing, listeners may even mistake her for an actual child. Her powerful performance is complemented by Robert Petcoff's sinister Old Nick, and Ellen Archer's portrayal of resourceful Ma, whose gentle voice is infused with patience, terror, and hope. The chemistry between the players creates a gem of an audiobook that will haunt listeners long after the story's end.

Room is based on an original, arresting, thought-provoking premise. It's narrated by a five year old boy (Jack), who has spent his entire life living inside a small room where he and his mother are held prisoner. If you want to read the book knowing no more of the plot than that, skip to the next paragraph. His mother was abducted at the age of 19 and has been repeatedly raped: Jack being born some 2 years later. Jack's mother is frequently depressed and desperate to escape. However she has protected Jack from the realities of their situation and one of the book's central ideas is that when you know no better, you always think the world that you live in is normal and it will still represent home to you.
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Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (May 18, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0316098329

ISBN-13: 978-0316098328

Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1 x 8.2 inches

REVIEW

Having a child narrate the book is very clever in many ways. Jack is oblivious to the heroic efforts that his mother makes to protect and entertain him, but these are obvious to the reader. However he never really worked as a narrator for me. He starts the book speaking in quite broken english but quickly leaves that affectation behind. I realize that he was meant to be a highly developed child in some areas while very behind in others. But I couldn't reconcile a child who knew words like omnivore, nutritional and antenna and then at other times would describe something as "the hurtest". The first time he sees his mother vomiting he describes it as "stuff falling out of her mouth like spit but much thicker", but next moment he's calling it vomit and using the word freely from then on. All these inconsistencies kept interrupting the flow of the book for me. There were also times when I would like to have been given a better insight into the reasons for his mother's actions, which the choice of narrator made impossible.

It's a story with two distinct acts, punctuated by a nerve-wracking section in the middle. I felt that the story loses momentum in the second half of the book, petering out towards the end.

This is one of those books that sucks you into its world and makes you reconsider your own. It's a quick read that's highly absorbing. I can understand why so many people think that it's brilliant, but I only found it good, not great.

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Attack the Block (2011)/Movie Review

Release date: 13 May 2011 (Ireland)   Runtime: 88 min

Genres: Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline: Inner City vs. Outer Space

Written & Directed by Joe Cornish

Original Music by  Steven Price

Cinematography by Thomas Townend

Box Office

Budget: $13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: £1,133,859 (UK) (15 May 2011) (352 Screens)

Gross: $454,087 (USA) (14 August 2011)

Production Co:  Studio Canal, Film4, UK Film Council

MAIN CASTS:

Nick Frost , Jodie Whittaker , Luke Treadaway , Terry Notary , John Boyega , Joey Ansah, Alex Esmail , Flaminia Cinque , Chris Wilson , Jumayn Hunter , Leeon Jones , Paige Meade, Lee Nicholas Harris , Franz Drameh , Adam Leese

REVIEW

 It is dark, but in a light hearted way, both visually and in terms of the story line. Some small gems of particularly good humour. The aliens were presented in a non- stereotype and quite interesting/clever way. You really get a feel for the street city scene, which enhanced the experience and made it enjoyable with a few moments of pure humour.

This film was well made, dark, funny, jumpy, and gripping. Overall a fast paced experience that will keep at you at the edge of your seat and fully entertained for the duration. Definitely work seeing - go and see it. Good job cornballs!

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Something Borrowed (2011)/Movie Review

Release Date:  6 May 2011 (USA)  Runtime: USA: 112 min

Genre: Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:  It's a thin line between love and friendship.

Directed by Luke Greenfield

Writing credits  Jennie Snyder, Emily Giffin

Original Music by Alex Wurman

Cinematography by Charles Minsky

STORYLINE|

Rachel is a lawyer. When she was in law school she fell for another student Dex who comes from an affluent family. But she's too shy to say anything. When Dex meets her best friend Darcy who treats her like dirt sometimes, who was visiting her, she makes a move on him and gets him. Eventually they get engaged and Darcy asks Rachel to be her Maid of Honor. But Rachel stills has feelings for Dex and still can't say anything. But when Darcy throws her a birthday party and Dex is there. When she and gets Dex are alone, she blurts out that she had a thing for him in college which surprised him. And after drinking a little they spend the night together. They try to forget the whole thing but can't but agree that it means nothing. But Ethan, Rachel close friend tells her that she'll spend her entire life regretting that if she does nothing.

CASTS |

Ginnifer Goodwin,  Kate Hudson , Colin Egglesfield , John Krasinski , Steve Howey , Ashley Williams , Geoff Pierson , Jill Eikenberry , Jonathan Epstein , Leia Thompson , Sarah Baldwin ,

Mark La Mura , Lindsay Ryan , Kirsten Day

Nominated |

Teen Choice Award 2011

Choice Movie Actor: Romantic Comedy  : John Krasinski

Choice Movie Actress: Romantic Comedy  : Ginnifer Goodwin

Choice Movie: Romantic Comedy

BOX OFFICE|

Budget: $35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $13,945,368 (USA) (8 May 2011) (2904 Screens)

Gross: $39,026,186 (USA) (24 July 2011)
Production Co: 2S Films, Alcon Entertainment, Wild Ocean Films 

Filming Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA

REVIEW|

 This movie lacked so many things; my review will suck because I can't write anything good about it. First Kate Hudson, great actress! Not a good movie. How many more movies are you going to do about weddings and romance? Step it up! My Best Friends Girl and How to Loose a Guy in 10 days are Masterpieces. The Killer Inside Me was a honest effort to make something new. The Wedding Movies needed to stop at Bride Wars. As for the screenplay itself, eh! It lacked shape and size and color. The Story was bland non-vibrant, I'm actually Glad that as a Kate Hudson fan, this Movie will not be added to my collection.

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