VH Corner

At first glance, I thought Zoe Saldana in The Losers was Thandie Newton. Zoe seems to be playing the same kind of role Thandie has played in stylish action pictures, but without the British accent. As for the limited releases, isn’t Ryan Reynolds tired of playing superhero characters? He will be in both Deadpool and Green Lantern soon, but now he’s playing a grown man’s imaginary superhero friend.

Nationwide Releases

The Back-Up Plan
The Losers
Oceans

The Back-up Plan
Directed: Alan Poul
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin, Danneel Harris, Eric Christian Olsen, Noureen DeWulf, Anthony Anderson, Melissa McCarthy
Trailer

Synopsis: A woman decides to get pregnant on her own when she can’t find the right guy. Of course, as soon as she gets pregnant, she meets the right guy, but he doesn’t know she’s pregnant.

My Take: Not sure how someone that looks like Alex O’Loughlin would still be single by the time she runs into him.

RT Score: 20%
RT Consensus: Jennifer Lopez is as appealing as ever, but The Back-Up Plan smothers its star with unrelatable characters and a predictable plot.

Continue reading “Movies Opening April 23″

Tags: Abigail Spencer, Alan Poul, Alex O’Loughlin, Allen Wolf, Anthony Anderson, Best Worst Movie, Beth Grant, chris evans, Columbus Short, Connie Young, Danneel Harris, Darren Ewing, Don Packard, Dr. George Hardy, Emma Stone, Eric Christian Olsen, Holt McCallany, idris elba, In My Sleep, Jacques Cluzaud, Jacques Perrin, Jason Steadman, Jason Wright, jeff daniels, jeffrey dean morgan, jennifer lopez, Jung Woo-sung, Kelly Overton, Kieran Culkin, Kieran Mulroney, Kim Jee-Woon, Lacey Chabert, Lee Byung-hun, lisa kudrow, melissa mccarthy, Michael Badalucco, Michael Paul Stephenson, Noureen DeWulf, Oceans, Oscar Jaenada, Paper Man, Philip Winchester, Pierce Brosna, Robert Ormsby, ryan reynolds, Song Kang-Ho, Sylvain White, The Back-Up Plan, The Bad, The Good, The Losers, The Weird, Tony Hale, Zoe Saldana

Top Chef Masters
First Date Dinner

I didn’t do recaps of the first season, but I thought I’d try it out for this season since Amy likes the pictures of food. I’m behind, like usual, but here goes!

This time, at the end of each episode, two chefs would be moving onto the championship round instead of just one. The chef masters for this round:

• Ana Sortun
• Govind Armstong
• Jerry Traunfeld
• Jimmy Bradley
• Susan Feniger
• Tony Mantuano

Here is a quick run down on the two challenges:

• Quickfire Challenge: Create a dish  using ingredients from a gas station
• Elimination Challenge: Cook a romantic duo dish for a first date.

Continue reading “Top Chef Masters: Romantic Duos”

Tags: Ana Sortun, Gael Greene, Govind Armstong, jason schwartzman, Jay Rayner, Jerry Traunfeld, Jimmy Bradley, Kelly Choi, Susan Feniger, Tony Mantuano, Top Chef Masters

Amazing Race
Anonymous?

If I was running the race, I might have just stayed with the tortoise watching it eat. They are hilarious when they eat!

Continue reading “Amazing Race: Nom Nom Nom”

Tags: amazing race, La Digue, St. Pierre Island, tar, The Seychelles

Amy has picked Red Sonja as our next movie pick. She picked it to go along with other recent choices of Conan, Clash of the Titans, and Willow. It has the common theme of fighting in it. I also think they are trying to do a remake of this movie too.

Netflix synopsis: After her family is brutally murdered, a young woman named Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen) sees “red” and becomes a master of the sword — all to seek revenge on the evil queen responsible for the tragedy that snuffed out her kin. Directed by Richard Fleischer, the film co-stars Arnold Schwarzenegger (in one of his earliest roles) and features Sandahl Bergman as the evil queen.

RT Score: 17%

Watch it and review it!

Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brigitte Nielsen, Red Sonja, Richard Fleischer

The Country Music Awards air tonight on CBS. Since I’m not a fan of country music, I’ll be ignoring it, like usual. The third season finale of Damages airs on Tuesday night. There isn’t word on if it is getting renewed for a fourth season. It does not have blockbuster ratings, but it does give FX some critical acclaim. On Wednesday, Accidentally on Purpose airs its first season finale. I’m surprised it made it to an actual season finale. Thursday sees the season finale of Project Runway and Friday brings the end to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

Pick of the Week

Riverworld
Channel: SYFY
Time: 7/6c
Starring: Tahmoh Penikett, Laura Vandervoort, Mark Deklin, Peter Wingfield, Jeananne Goossen, Alan Cumming
Premieres: Sunday, April 18
Trailer

Synopsis: A couple die in an explosion and wake up in a world where everyone who has ever died is living. It is based on the book by Philip Jose Farmer. Syfy did have a miniseries about it a few years ago. This is another go at it. If it does well, the mini series could serve as a pilot into a brand new regular series.

My Take: I haven’t read the book, but the concept is intriguing.

Continue reading “TV Premieres: Week of April 18″

Tags: Alan Cumming, Alyssa Milano, Jeananne Goossen, Josh Lawson, Kelly Stables, Kyle Bornheimer, Laura Vandervoort, Mark Deklin, Peter Wingfield, Riverworld, Romantically Challenged, Tahmoh Penikett

Kick-Ass has been Certified Fresh so it has tons of good critic reviews, even though there are a vocal minority that find it morally reprehensible, which just makes me want to watch it more. The other major release is a scene-by-scene remake of a British comedy that I didn’t find funny. If it really isn’t any different then I imagine I won’t like this one either.

Nationwide Releases

Kick-Ass
Death at a Funeral

Kick-Ass
Directed: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz, Aaron Johnson
Trailer

Synopsis: Some teens and adults decide that they need to be superheros even though they don’t have any superpowers.

My Take: It combines two of my favorite things: extreme movie violence and comedy.

RT Score: 78%
RT Consensus: Not for the faint of heart, Kick-Ass takes the comic adaptation genre to new levels of visual style, bloody violence, and gleeful profanity.

Continue reading “Movies Opening April 16″

Tags: A Banksy Film, Aaron Johnson, Aidan Quinn, Alexandra Maria Lara, Amber Heard, anthony hopkins, Ashkan Koohzad, Bahman Ghobadi, Ben Hollingsworth, Bette Gordon, Bob Bowdon, Campbell Scott, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Cheech Marin, Chloe Moretz, Chris Rock, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Clifton Collins, danny glover, david duchovny, Death at a Funeral, Demi Moore, Derrick Borte, Emilie de Ravin, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Guillermo Francella, Hamed Behdad, Handsome Harry, Henry Sanada, Jake T. Austin, James Ivory, james marsden, Jamey Sheridan, Jansen Panettiere, John Savage, Jr., Juan Jose Campanella, Kick-Ass, laura linney, Mark Strong, martin lawrence, Matthew Vaughn, Moises Arias, Negar Shaghaghi, Neil LaBute, nicolas cage, Niko von Glasow, No One Knows About Persian Cats, Nobody's Perfect, Norma Aleandro, Omar Metwally, Pablo Rago, Peter Dinklage, Pornography: A Thriller, Regina Hall, Ricardo Darin, Ryan Ochoa, Shepard Fairey, Soledad Villamil, steve buscemi, The Cartel, The City of Your Final Destination, The Joneses, The Perfect Game, The Secret in Their Eyes, tracy morgan, William Dear

Glee returns from hiatus this week, if you didn’t get the message from the non-stop promotional barrage FOX has had about its return the past few weeks. The rest of the week is filled with tons of season finales.

The season finale of Undercover Boss is tonight. It has been renewed for a second season with the promise of female CEOs going undercover next season.  Monday night is the season finale of Life Unexpected, which has not been doing too great in the ratings, but CW seems to like the show’s quality enough that it might be renewed.  On Tuesday night, Melrose Place will have its season finale. The ratings have been very weak so I would be surprised if it was renewed. Both should be announced in May at the latest.

There is a bit more hope for Human Target getting renewed since it could potentially fill the void of 24 going off the air after this season.  The season finale is on Wednesday along with the series finale of Ugly Betty that ABC successfully killed by moving it around to death spots on its schedule.

Pick of the Week

Doctor Who
Channel: BBCA
Time: 9/8c
Starring: Matt Smith, Amy Pond
Premieres: Saturday, April 17
Trailer

Synopsis: Matt Smith steps into the Doctor role as the 11th in the series and also the youngest actor to play the Doctor.

My Take: While it is always hard to get used to a new actor playing the same character, I trust that the creators of the show will do well to make it work. They know what they are doing.

Continue reading “TV Premieres: Week of April 11″

Tags: Amy Pond, army wives, Brian McNamara, Brigid Brannagh, Catherine Bell, Clarke Peters, doctor who, Drew Fuller, Henry Cavill, Joely Richardson, jonathan rhys meyers, Joss Stone, Katelyn Pippy, Kermit Ruffins, Khandi Alexander, Kim Delaney, Kim Dickens, Matt Smith, Max Brown, Melissa Leo, Sally Pressman, Sarah Bolger, Sterling K. Brown, steve zahn, Tamzin Merchant, Terry Serpico, The Tudors, Thomas Seymour, Treme, Wendell Pierce, Wendy Davis

Amazing Race
Cathy Drone

Hello! A few weeks ago, I spent too much time outside the house on Spring Break and no time watching The Amazing Race. Now I’m trying to play catch up with some recaps a few weeks too late. Please enjoy!

The detectives were the first to leave the pit stop at 7:47 am and received their clue.

Clue: Teams had to drive themselves 37 miles to the city of Reims, France and find the Joan of Arc statue.  There, they will find a street musician playing a singing saw and will give them their next clue.

Continue reading “Amazing Race: Champagne Towers”

Tags: amazing race, Champagne Leclerc Briant, Epernay, France, Joan of Arc, L'Orrca, phil keogan, Pierry, Reims, Taittinger La Marquetterie, tar

In Date Night, the best parts are when Steve Carell and Tina Fey are just interacting with one another and not dealing with the mistaken identity plot of the movie. Letters to God is a movie that came out with no promotion and wasn’t screened for critics. After seeing the trailer, I can see why.  The Square and The Misfortunates look pretty entertaining in the limited releases. Finally, the cheese factor of The Black Water of Echo’s Pond could make for a good movie to watch while drunk so you can just laugh at it.

Nationwide Releases

Date Night
Letters to God

Date Night
Directed: Shawn Levy
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Taraji P. Henson, Common, Mark Wahlberg
Trailer

Synopsis: A married couple tries to spice up their love life with an actual date night, but when they get mistaken for a couple that owes money to some guy, things get all crazy.

My Take: It doesn’t look laugh out loud funny like I’ve come to expect from Steve Carell and Tina Fey, but looks mildly amusing enough for Netflix.

RT Score: 66%
RT Consensus: An uneasy blend of action and comedy, Date Night doesn’t quite live up to the talents of its two leads, but Steve Carell and Tina Fey still manage to shine through most of the movie’s flaws.

Continue reading “Movies Opening April 9″

Tags: After.Life, Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo, Anthony Hayes, Atom Egoyan, Bailee Madison, benjamin bratt, Bill Hunter, Birgit Minichmayr, Black Waters of Echo's Pond, Buck Henry, christina ricci, Claire Van der Boom, Common, Danielle Harris, Date Night, David Nixon, David Roberts, Everyone Else, Gabriel Bologna, George Kuchar, Guy Maddin, Hans-Jochen Wagner, It Came From Kuchar, James Duval, Jeffrey S.S. Johnson, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Jim Morrison, Joel Edgerton, Johan Heldenbergh, John Densmore, John Waters, johnny depp, justin long, La Mission, Letters to God, Liam Neeson, Maree Cheatham, Maren Ade, mark wahlberg, Michael Christopher Bolten, Mike Kuchar, Mircea Monroe, Misfortunates, Nash Edgerton, Natali Broods, Nick Mennell, Peter Bratt, Peter Phelps, Ralph Waite, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, robert patrick, Robyn Lively, Sean Lawlor, Shawn Levy, Square, steve carell, Tanner Maguire, Taraji P. Henson, Tina Fey, Tom DiCillo, Wayne Wang, When You're Strange: A Film About the Doors

Since I’m bad about putting up new music releases each week and sometimes some weeks just don’t have anything good to release, I thought I’d change it up and go over the good stuff that was released in the past month. Here is some interesting stuff that was released in March.

Dancy Pants

Artist: Goldfrapp
Album: Head First
RIYL: Groove Armada, Little Boots, Dragonette, Lady Gaga, Hot Chip

Goldfrapp’s music ranges from dance synth pop to ambient mood music. This album seems to be a combination of the two. The first single sounds like something that is straight out of Xanadu though.  The rest of the album varies from that a bit, but it is a fun first single.

Video:

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Continue reading “March Music Releases”

Tags: black rebel motorcycle club, broken bells, goldfrapp, gorillaz, little boots, she & him