Category Archives: Entertainment

Thor – Movie Review

I think I may be a sucker for Marvel-related movies but I have failed not to like any Marvel superhero movie and Thor is no exception, albeit some of those movies are better than others… Thor, however, ranks as one of the best superhero movies I have seen.

Not as famous in pop culture as Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man, etc… Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), a man who waged a war against the Frost Giants of Jotenheim and their king Laufey and stole their source of power. Thor, however, is not as reasonable as his father and is more reckless-material than king-material. As he prepares to ascend to become king of Asgard, the festivities are interrupted by an apparent breach in their fortress’ security by the Frost Giants. Thor becomes overly furious and leads an act of vengence against them, despite his father telling him not to do so. As a result, he is banished to Earth, without his power, in the form of the almighty hammer Mjolnir. But there is a traitor in the house of Odin, one that will do everything to prevent Thor from coming back.

On Earth, Thor meets Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), a physicist, her assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings) and mentor Erik (Stellan Skarsgård). And when Mjolnir is uncovered in the desert and seized by government officials, Thor needs to do everything to recover it and get back home – but that will not be as easy as it seems.

Thor is a very, very entertaining movie. It has everything you could expect from a superhero movie: fight scenes (although I would have liked to see more of those), a story (a very interesting one at that), comedy (there will be some scenes where you fall down off your seat laughing) and ultimately some romance, which is always necessary in superhero movies.

The performances by the actors and actresses of the movie are spot-on. They do not underperform but on the other hand, they do not really excel and give powerhouse performances, mostly because this is not the movie vehicle to do so. But there is no miscast here. Chris Hemsworth, the actor portraying Thor, has probably spent more time at the gym than the time he spent pursuing a college degree and it obviously shows. Natalie Portman is, well, Natalie Portman and she never does anything less than credible with her movies. And how perfect can Anthony Hopkins be in the role of a the “father of all things”?

The special effects are great as well but the 3D is sort of useless here. The directing is also very well executed and the music is not bad. There are some corny moments and some parts of the movie are overly predictable as well but that does not deter you from enjoying it.

Overall, Thor is awesome! It is a movie that will immerse you. It focuses on character development more so that blinding action sequences and that is definitely a good thing because the characters in Thor are interesting to say the least but I would have preferred if the action scenes already present in the movie were extended a bit. Sure, Thor has its flaws but if you felt like going to a movie simply to have fun and get out of it with a need to google the existence of a sequel, this is it.

Just A Kiss – Lady Antebellum

Lady Antebellum just unveiled their new single, Just A Kiss and almost like their mega smash Need You Now, I was smiling halfway when I first heard it. It will be huge.

These are the lyrics:

Lying here with you so close to me
It’s hard to fight these feelings
When it feels so hard to breathe
Caught up in this moment
Caught up in your smile

I never open up to anyone
So hard to hold back
When I’m holding you in my arms

We don’t need to rush this
Let’s just take it slow

Chorus
Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight
Just a touch of the fire burning so bright
I don’t want to mess this thing up
I don’t want to push too far
Just a shot in the dark that you just might
be the one I’ve been waiting for my whole life
So baby I’m alright with just a kiss goodnight

I know that if we give this a little time
it’ll only bring us closer to the love we wanna find
It’s never felt so real
No it’s never felt so right

Chorus
Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight
Just a touch of the fire burning so bright
I don’t want to mess this thing up
I don’t want to push too far
Just a shot in the dark that you just might
be the one I’ve been waiting for my whole life
So baby I’m alright with just a kiss goodnight

No I don’t want to say goodnight
I know it’s time to leave but you’ll be in my dreams
Tonight
Tonight
Tonight

Chorus
Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight
Just a touch of the fire burning so brigh
I don’t want to mess this thing up
I don’t want to push too far
Just a shot in the dark that you just might
be the one I’ve been waiting for my whole life
So baby I’m alright with just a kiss goodnight

Let’s do this right with just a kiss goodnight
With a kiss goodnight
A kiss goodnight

The harmonies by Hilllary Scott and Charles Kelley are absolutely stunning. You can draw comparisons to Need You Now melody-wise and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Need You Now won grammys for song and record of the year, which is only indicative of the substantial quality of that song. Some of you might have gotten tired of overplaying it but it’s simply a brilliant song. Just A Kiss isn’t any less, albeit it’s thematically much different from Need You Now. While the latter was a cry of romantic and even sexual urgency, Just A Kiss is a song in which the narrator wants to take things slower and deeper. However, Just A Kiss is as infectious as Need You Now.. It’s subtle, it’s fragile – just as a growing love starts… with that first kiss that you are usually reluctant to take.

You can feel the reluctance in the way Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley deliver the lyrics… there’s a sense of longing in the way they utter the lyrics that adds a whole level of credibility to “Just A Kiss“.

Overall, this will be huge on country radio. It is also a potential crossover smash waiting to happen. It is a brilliant country song that excels at being the lead single off Lady Antebellum’s upcoming album.

You can listen to it here or on youtube:

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Twilight: Breaking Dawn – People Magazine Pics

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People Magazine’s May 9th issue is featuring four new stills from the upcoming Breaking Dawn movie. And since many people have asked me for them, here they are:

The Godfather – Movie Review

“I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” has become one of the most popular and famous phrases to come out of a movie – ever. And that movie is The Godfather.

Set in 1940s New York, The Godfather tells the story of the Corleone family, a mafia, and their struggle to protect their legacy as rival families seek out their demise.

I will not write out a more detailed synopsis because it is near impossible to do so for this movie without ruining some plot moments. However, The Godfather is a tale that extends over many years without making it feel overstretched or even segregated into different time epochs.

The Godfather is a body of outstanding performances – and not only acting wise. The movie’s score, by Nino Rota, is haunting. Francis Ford Coppolla, a relative unknown at the time the movie was made, is absolutely brilliant in directing. The cinematography, run by Gordon Willis, plunges the movie’s character’s in their world perfectly.

The acting performances are beyond top-notch. Marlon Brando embodies the head of the Corleone family, Don Vito. His performance lets his character strut along the line of good and evil without blinking. As you watch Brando’s performance, you start remembering the many instances when you saw a character similar to Don Vito being acted out – be it with the voice, the attitude, the context…. And the many imitations of this character, after watching the movie, are justified.

The movie is also propelled by an outstanding performance by Al Pacino, as Don Vito’s son Michael, a returning war hero and a character that is even more fascinating that his father – wanting out of the “family business” because he thinks he doesn’t fit well with what they do. Diane Keaton is unrecognizable at first as Kay, Michael’s love interest and Robert Duvall is as mysterious as his enigmatic character Tom Hagen, Don Vito’s adopted son.

The Godfather is a movie in which, scene after scene, those making it prove they know what they’re doing. Be it the long wedding scene which sets the tone for a Machiavellian patriarchy, a character’s “bed” discovery, the many deaths that plague the mafia families, a character combing his hair in a restaurant nervously, etc… it keeps you attached, wanting to know how these characters would interact with what life throws at them.

It is no wonder The Godfather is considered one of the best movies ever made. There is an amount of ingenuity and creativity at work here that is unapproachable. Keep in mind this is a movie released about forty years ago (1972) – and there are movies today, with much better technology and resources available to them – that fail miserably at making something that would transcend the ages.

Carrie Underwood Going Viral

Who knew that the person that would be taking YouTube by storm these days would not be Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga or Britney Spears… but Carrie Underwood.

Showing everyone that you don’t need legions of teenagers and sexed up music to get the attention of the masses, she has gone in the totally opposite direction: gospel music.

Carrie’s first video to be considered a viral success was her duet with Steven Tyler at the ACMs on the Aerosmith song “Walk This Way”.

Becoming the top video in music on YouTube for a few day and also topping out the most watched videos lists in many countries around the world, “Walk This Way” stands in less than three weeks at more than 4 million hits.

And for those that might say the only reason Walk This Way became viral was the presence of Steven Tyler, Carrie indirectly replied with a breathtaking performance of How Great Thou Art.

Not only did she blow everyone away with her voice but her performance has actually reached the masses with the video currently standing at a little less than 2 million hits, a mere four days after her performance. How Great Thou Art is a gospel song, praising God… and it is sung in a divine way and people want to listen to it. Maybe other artists should take note?

Moreover, Carrie is now the #1 trending topic on Yahoo!, fueled by the growing popularity of her How Great Thou Art performance.

Read the Yahoo! article here.

A singer’s job is to sing, not to show skin in order to get attention. People are beginning to call Carrie Underwood this generation’s best vocalist. And that is not something to take lightly. She has no way to go but up… and as the pop masses would say: Get it, Carrie!