Category Archives: Entertainment

How Do You Know – Movie Review

How Do You Know you have a movie that is simply a dud? When haflway through, you’re wondering why in the name of God you were convinced of purchasing a ticket for it.

And then you remember, yeah, it has Reese Witherspoon and Jack Nicholson… should be enough to drive any movie right?

Well no. The actors are really good but they are given characters that are so tiresome and dull that they cannot even begin to try making them likeable enough for you to connect with them. Add to that the fact that this movie, a romantic comedy with a very predictable and cliche plot, is over two hours long and you’re in for one overly stretched ride.

Reese Witherspoon plays Lisa, a baseball athlete that is past her prime and suddenly finds herself in need to search for other pursuits in life. And naturally, what pursuit is the best one to be sought? Yes, you got it: love.

So she becomes torn between jobless romantic and prosecuted George (Paul Rudd) and millionaire athlete, who happens to be (as is the case with every single movie of the type) stupider than a doorknob (Owen Wilson).

Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson (George’s dad) provide some much needed comic relief for a movie whose scenes are extended beyond the scope of them being tolerable anymore.

The only scene in the movie where I felt serious acting chops were demonstrated involved Lisa (Reese) discovering that her whole life needs to be changed. Her standing in front of the mirror, brushing her teeth, was probably the only time you could connect with a character in the movie.

So all in all, How Do You Know is a predictable story of love in our modern-day world, one that has been done over and over again in movies that were written in a much better way and executed in sharper manners. The story of these characters discovering how you know if you’re in love and whatnot is done so laboriously slow that at times, the movie gets you wondering why people bother with love in the first place.

Happy Birthday Carrie Underwood!

Today is Carrie Underwood’s birthday! She turns 28!

So a fan decided to dedicate a video for the occasion and I thought it was pretty great. Carrie even commented on it, finding it to be very sweet.

What can we, as fans, expect from Carrie’s 28th year? Even greater music, a stellar album and Carrie continuing to be the great role model that she is. May she have many happy returns, filled with profuse givings of love, happiness and everything that is blessed!

Happy birthday Carrie!

And don’t forget anyone, when things get tough, just play on!

 

Country Strong – Movie Review

Country Strong

In Country Strong, Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Kelly Canter, a country music star struggling with substance abuse. Taken out of rehab a month prematurely by her manager/husband James, portrayed by country star Tim McGraw, for an encore tour, the movie is supposedly about her struggling with her addiction, life, resurrecting her career, etc.

Throw into the mix Beau Hutton, played by Garrett Hedlund, a rehab worker who also happens to be a aspiring to become a country music star, as well as Leighton Meester starring as Chiles Stanton, a girl who also wants to become a country star and you’re set for Country Strong.

So basically, you have four storylines in the movie being developed simultaneously, and while the prospect of these four storylines is compelling and promising, they fall flat in a movie that I hoped would be far better.

While the acting is quite good, this overload in the movie’s plot undermines it. Within each storyline, you have a bunch of other things going on as well. Kelly’s storyline serves as a vehicle for tackling issues with the entertainment industry as a whole, Beau’s storyline is used to introduce romance into the movie, etc…

At one point in the movie, Leighton Meester’s character is described as “the next Carrie Underwood”. I like Leighton but to equate her vocal talents with half of Carrie’s would be an abomination. She has limited range and while enjoyable as a singer, she is nowhere near a vocal powerhouse. So being the Carrie Underwood fan that I am, this served as another point I have against the movie.

A positive thing I can say about the movie is that even though the handling of the plots is full with cliches, the ending is not. I was hoping fifteen minutes into the movie that they would risk ending it the way they did. And I got my wish.

What also helps the movie is the soundtrack. Featuring many songs that I have become familiar with, I couldn’t help but smile whenever they started to sing something that I know. Notable tracks include: Country Strong (lead single from the movie’s soundtrack, made it to the top 30 on country radio), Coming Home (nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for best original song), Me and Tennessee (current single by Tim McGraw) and A Little Bit Stronger (current single by Sara Evans).

Overall, the cast give it their all. But Country Strong falls flat for tackling too many issues in, what ultimately becomes, a shallow and rushed manner. If they had stuck with the storyline of Kelly reclaiming her career, this movie and Paltrow’s acting would have gotten award recognition, akin to the similarly themed-movie Crazy Heart, which earned Jeff Bridges his first Academy Award for best actor.

 

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley’s Duet is Titled: Remind Me!

Here we go, everyone!

The title for Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley’s duet has been revealed:

Remind Me

It tells the story of a married couple who try to rekindle their romance after years of marriage. Sounds awesome, right? Well I can’t wait to listen to it! I’m sure it’ll be beyond epic!

This is the ASCAP result for the song, click here.

Do you think this will be Brad’s upcoming single? These are the reasons why it might: here.

Carrie Underwood Fans Should Vote For Brad Paisley For Entertainer Of The Year

Starting March 11th, voting will open for this year’s ACM Entertainer Of The Year category. It seems as if our attempt to get our disdain across has gone unnoticed – as expected.

Regardless of Carrie’s clear snub (check here and here), we, as one of country’s biggest fanbases, need to  support one of the nominees and cast our votes in his or her favor. While we all won’t have the same enthusiasm in voting for that nominee as we have for Carrie (new emails, many computers, emailing people who might be interested), we should at least cast one ballot for one of the nominees to get him or her on top and let him win.

Who that nominee should be is Brad Paisley, for a multitude of reasons.

First, Brad is probably Carrie’s closest friend on the nominee list. She was his opening act for one of his tours and he was so impressed by her that he asked her to sing an awesome duet with him: Oh Love. I’m sure as well that Carrie wants Brad to win over the other five nominees, even though she won’t publicly admit it. Just look at how happy she was for him when he won this year’s Entertainer Of The Year at the CMAs, even though she should have been nominated and win.

Second, Brad is country’s leading male vocalist. He has the longest standing number one streak among all country artists and his songs always resonate with the public. Always. His latest single “This Is Country Music” is racing up to the top of the charts in country music.

Third, Brad has confirmed that he has went to the studio with Carrie to record a song that he felt was unfinished prior to her touch. This is how much Brad Paisley thinks of Carrie. Also, this duet might be his next single: check here.

Fourth, while the other nominees are also deserving, none of them has worked as hard as Brad Paisley to get this award. We, Carrie’s fans, have known firsthand how horrible it is when Carrie works really hard for something and gets snubbed. Brad has been shut out from winning the Entertainer Of The Year category too many times. This is his best chance to win. Why not help him out?

Fifth, Brad’s four year old son has a crush on Carrie. Enough said, right?

Also, in case Brad releases the duet as his upcoming single, a win would boost the hype for this single even higher – if that is possible – benefiting both Brad and Carrie for their upcoming albums.

So for all these reasons, we need to cast our votes on March 11th for Brad Paisley, hopefully next year will be Carrie’s year again.

The link to vote is here.