Hey everyone, how was your weekend?  I had a heck of a weekend.  My “fun” began on Wednesday, when my oldest son got sick.  He threw up Wednesday night – then stayed sick for the rest of the week.  My youngest son ended up catching it, and threw for about 24 hours straight – starting Thursday night.  Come Friday I had two sick kids, and I was starting to feel a bit stir crazy!  Then my husband came down with the same bug on Saturday, and he was out of commission all day. They are all better now, thank God! I heard “are you sure it’s not the swine flu?” no less than 5 times!

Come Sunday morning, I was feeling a bit nuts.  Being cooped up in the house with 2 sick kids, and a sick husband, I needed a break!  They were feeling better, so I decided to go out and see a movie.  I saw State of Play, and let me just tell you – it was awesome! I loved it so much!

A petty thief is gunned down in an alley and a Congressman’s assistant falls in front of a subway – two seemingly unrelated deaths. But not to wisecracking, brash newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) who spies a conspiracy waiting to be uncovered. With a turbulent past connected to the Congressman (Ben Affleck) and the aid of ambitious young rookie writer Della Frye (Rachel McAdams), Cal begins uprooting clues that lead him to a corporate cover-up full of insiders, informants, and assassins. But as he draws closer to the truth, the relentless journalist must decide if it’s worth risking his life and selling his soul to get the ultimate story.

I thought it was a really good movie!  So many amazing actors, and the writing was flawless! If you’re looking for a good who-done-it, go see State of Play!

PS: They need to make an entire movie based on Jason Bateman’s character in the movie.  He was so unbelievably funny, and spot-on!  He about stole the show from Russell Crowe!

I looooooove me some Mat Kearney. Two years ago I was able to see him when he came to Portland, and it was one of my favorite show’s I’ve ever seen.  (See that review, and a picture of me with him here!)  His first album, Nothing Left to Lose is still one of my favorites, I listen to it at least once a month.  He took a long break after heavily promoting that album, and I’m happy to announce that he has a new album, coming out May 19th called City of Black & White!  I’ve had the pleasure of listening to this album, and let me tell you – it was worth the wait! I love it so much! It’s everything I loved from his first album, and so much more!  My favorite tracks are his first single, Closer to Love (video below), Here We Go (which is amazing! I hope this is his next single!) and All I Have.  The songs are so well written, and so beautiful, if you liked his first album, even a little – then you’ll love this one.

After spending five years traveling the country establishing himself as a new artist, Mat dug his roots into his new hometown of Nashville, TN, allowing the songs on City of Black & White to evolve from various places and sources – in the back room of a studio where he stopped in to visit a friend, writing with people he met at coffee shops, hearing someone fiddling around with the guitar and humming along. He opened up the writing process to friends and to the community of musicians in Nashville, and crafted songs such as “Fire and Rain,” “Here We Go,” and “Lifeline.”

Kearney’s major label debut, Nothing Left To Lose includes the hit singles “Nothing Left To Lose,” “Undeniable,” and a late addition to the record, “Breathe In, Breathe Out,” which was used in television promotions for the fourth season of Grey’s Anatomy and included a music video that premiered during the season preview. Kearney was also a VH1 You Oughta Know Artist, headlined the first VH1 You Oughta Know Tour, and his video for the single “Nothing Left To Lose” tied the record for the most weeks in rotation (45) on VH1. Six separate songs from the album received prominent television licensing on popular shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Bones, Friday Night Lights and more. Kearney has toured with John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, The Fray, Jason Mraz, and more.

Additionally, Mat Kearney will join Keane on their U.S. tour in May, hitting major markets including Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and New York. Full tour dates can be found after the cut.

Mat Kearney Official Website

Mat Kearney Official Myspace

City of Black & White Pre-Order

CHECK OUT ALL OF MAT KEARNEY’S TOUR DATES AFTER THE JUMP! (more…)

I’m sooooooo excited to announce that I’ll be seeing Lady Gaga tomorrow night in Portland! Yay! I can’t wait! I think it’s going to be a really fun show…and now I’m nervous.  I’m going to have a chance to meet and talk to her.  What am I going to say! I tend to suffer from foot-in-mouth-syndrome whenever I meet anyone even remotely famous.  Man, the embarassing stories I could tell you.  I like to gossip about them, and talk about them online, but if I actually get to meet them face to face, fuggetaboutit!

What do I ask her!

Let me start by saying that I read this book, and I loved it.  It was funny and smart, and kept you interested.   I was so looking forward to seeing this movie (especially since I had heard from friends that it was good!).

But Lord Almighty, I hated Confessions of a Shopoholic.  I hated it SO much.  I go and see these kinds of movies for a good laugh, a break from the realities of everyday life.  I found this movie so stupid – it was insulting.  I can only compare this to The Devil Wears Prada, and I loved that movie.  In TDWP, the clothes were fun to watch, the writing was smart and original.  In Shopoholic the clothes were bright – sure – but ugly as all hell. I mean look at the coat above.  How many muppets were killed in the making of that horrible coat!

The writing was so desperate.  I swear I’ve heard half the lines in this movie about a dozen times in other – better movies. And there was absolutely ZERO chemistry between Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy.  The final scene of the movie is them kissing, and it’s just awkward to watch.  They obviously had no chemistry, and it was uncomfortable to look at. I love both of them, and they’re capable of SO much more.  I want to believe that the movie isn’t terrible because of them.  It’s not their fault the whole movie is a train wreck.

It was so full of cliche’s – and not even good cliche’s.  The talking mannequins were beyond stupid.  I can’t believe that Isla Fisher made this terrible movie. When the first mannequin talked in the beginning movie, I should have gotten up and gotten my money back.  The movie went from bad to worse at that point.

I feel like I should reimburse my sister and my cousin, because I picked the movie.  My sister, who only gets out to the movies about twice a year, was hating me when the credits rolled.  Before we had even left our seats, all three of us were going off on how terrible the movie was.  I hate it when I pay $9.00 (plus popcorn) for a crappy movie!

I now turn to USA Today, who puts this movie into words better than I could.

Confessions of a Shopaholic is like a sale item that catches your eye simply because of its garish color, atrocious style and startling uselessness.

Not only is it an unfunny movie shrilly told, it probably is the most ill-timed and appallingly insulting movie in recent memory.

How could any studio be so out of touch as to release a movie glorifying the compulsive shopping habits of an air-headed spendthrift during this dismal state in the global economy?

Besides its insensitivity, it bombards us, like a too-cluttered closet, with a clueless heroine, laugh-repellant slapstick shtick and an unconvincing by-the-numbers romance.

Where The Devil Wears Prada, with its flurry of couture, might have filled fashionistas with longing, Shopaholic makes you want to renounce every item in your wardrobe. Perhaps it is actually director P.J. Hogan’s subversively clever ploy to make spending look revolting and turn even the most die-hard shoppers into ascetics.

This brainless chick flick reinforces the worst female stereotypes. Trying to disguise itself as a cautionary tale on the perils of conspicuous consumption, it fixates so much on materialistic cravings that it ends up doing just the opposite.

Bottom Line: Save your money, and go rent The Devil Wears Prada.  It’s much better, and cheaper!  If you go see Shopoholic, don’t say I didn’t warn ya!

I had the pleasure of seeing Slumdog Millionaire yesterday, and the movie still leaves me speechless.

The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions. Each chapter of Jamal’s increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show’s seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out. At the heart of its storytelling lies the question of how anyone comes to know the things they know about life and love.

I didn’t know what to expect with this movie, I didn’t have a clue what it was about.  I was a bit taken aback at the violence, I wasn’t expecting it!  With that said, I absolutely loved it.  I loved all of the characters, each moving and complex.  Come the end of the movie, you’re on the edge of your seat – wondering will he win the money!?

It’s a great movie, and I suspect it will do well at the Oscars like it did at the Globes.

PS: The soundtrack was amazing!

Jocelyn

WOW.  Bottom line, if you haven’t seen The Wrestler, then drop everything – and go see it.

It is absolutely AMAZING.  Mickey Rourke is heartbreakingly good as The Ram.  Everytime he’s on the screen, you just melt.  He can say everything with just the expression on his face.  If he doesn’t win the Oscar for Best Actor – I will lose all faith in the industry!

Marisa Tomei was brilliant, Evan Rachel Wood was even better.  The whole cast did so great.  I can’t believe that Darren Aronofsky wasn’t nominated, that’s such a shame.

It was dark – and depressing – and unbelievably moving.  The ending….just leaves you speechless.

It is without a doubt my favorite movie going into the Oscars… I hope it wins everything – it definitely deserves it.

I went and saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button over the weekend, and I have to say I absolutely LOVED it.  It’s almost 3 hours (like Australia) and I couldn’t even tell.

I thought the whole movie was amazing.  The special affects are spectacular.  How they did half the things they did in this movie, is beyond me.  How they made Brad Pitt look 80 years old AND a teenager, I’ll never know. I loved how the story unfolded with Julia Ormond and Cate Blanchett.  And man, is there anything Cate Blanchett does poorly?  She was exquisite in this movie. Absolutely stunning!

You get sucked into this movie immediately, and the story is so beautiful.  The relationships between Benjamin and his father, mother and his friend the captain – are each wonderfully told, and amazing to watch.

I think David Fincher did such a fantastic job with this movie.  I loved every single minute of it, and it will easily go down as one of my favorite movies of 2008.

And we cannot talk about this movie without talking about how absolutely GORGEOUS Brad Pitt is when he hits his “prime” in the movie.  I don’t think Brad Pitt has ever looked better.  It is worth paying the $10 to see him look so beautiful.  Man – oh – man… he’s so hot.

Benjamin Button is up for many Golden Globes – including Best Picture & Best Actor.  It definitely deserves to win!!

Go see it!