Death Race

Death Race
Rated R
90 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: C

The Running Man for present day brings loud action scenes, senseless violence and many witty lines, but that’s what I was in mood for and it delivered.

*~* WARNING: May Contain Spoilers *~*

Set up in the near future, the economy is totally destroyed, crime rates are at an all time high and the nation’s prison system is set up on private corporations. Jason Statham, another Hollywood hottie I’m a sucker for (I think it’s the accent), plays a man who is set up for murder from a Corporate Prison warden, all for the glory of television and the all mighty dollar. To get his release papers he has to win the death race which is on-road race set up like a video game; picking up armor and ammo on the street by flashing markers and the goal of being the first over the finish line, as well as coming in alive. Jensen (Jason Statham), finds out that most men that are in prison have been set up all for this race and he also find out the true murder of his wife is bringing an uncontrollable rage inside him.

Yeah, this movie didn’t have a truly deep plot, but it was still good for the entertainment that I was wanting at the time. There’s a lot of action, eye-candy for both men and women and fast cars, something that is good for non-thinking, just go out and have a good time night. There are some really great shots and camera angles in the movie, but there are also a lot of fast paced camera movements that can make a motion sickness person extremely ill, but they did it for the purpose of making you feel that you were on the race track with them.

This movie isn’t a bad one watching with a group of friends on weekend, but it’s not needed to see it on the large screen. If you can cope with some gore and harsh language (there’s no sex scenes btw) and you enjoyed Fast and Furious movies, you’ll have a good time watching this.

Fire on the Water

Today started out as any other day; I woke and got ready for a day of work. There was a nasty smell in the air, but I was thinking it was just the lovely lake effect aroma that we get from the Great Salt Lake. As I was headed out the door, I heard my Mom exclaim “The pond is on fire”! I looked out the window and say and there’s a small fire on the side of the pond that hold our filter and pump. Having to run outside while the sprinklers were still on and get the hose to douse the flame, I looked like I just got out of the shower.

I’m thinking that there were a couple of tragedies. One of our Japanese pond sails loved that area of the pond as well as some water snakes (Eve isn’t to upset about the snakes). With the small fire went some lily pads and all the electrical equipment. I also believe that it was the sprinklers that kept the fire from spreading out farther.

Nothing like waking up to the nasty smell of burnt plastic, rubber and cannel water.

Quirky Quote: A spark neglected makes a mighty fire. ~Robert Herrick

Emotional Vampires

In Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, there is a character, Dandelo, who unlike the traditional vampires that feed off of blood, feeds off emotions; capturing and torturing others with laughter, sorrow and fear. I’m coming to believe that these are in fact, not fictional characters.

There are a handful of people in my life, probably a couple reading this, that are slowly draining me of any feeling and leaving me exhausted. These individuals require so much attention and need, I cringe when I see them on my caller I.D., get a text or email from them or the worst thing…showing up unannounced at the door. I know I’ll be spending the next hour or two being drained from the complaining, “Woe is me, no one has it worse off than me” stories. There is something that every one of these people have in common and that is laziness and poor social skills. They all want others to do their work, give them money and pretty much have others live through their crap.

I know for a fact that this is mostly my fault. I have a thing for helping unfortunate people in need. I blame my mother for giving me such a tender heart for the downtrodden, because she has the same benevolent mind: because we have so much, we must learn to give to others. Unfortunately, I don’t have it in my mind or soul to say “NO”.

One of these “vampires” has even been recently assigned by the Bishop of my church. He told me that this woman doesn’t have any friends and since I’m a friendly person and I get along with most people, that I should comfort her and introduce her to others. Well, I know why she doesn’t have friends; she’s about the most annoying, non-reliant person who holds a grudge for years over the smallest thing. I’m talking about how unforgiving she can be over something that was said to her in the 2nd grade by a classmate (I wish I was kidding about this). Most people that I introduce to her tell me that they do not want to be around her again, because she is so draining and very unpleasant to be around, but for some reason I stick around because I feel that everyone deserves a friend, even if it means making myself miserable.

Another individual is a man in his 40’s that has a family, a good job but for some reason has the need to borrow money from me because of his "financial hardship". I find myself a huge sucker for him because he tells me stories about how his children are in need, even though he lies to get welfare and money from his church that pays for his rent, his car and his food. I’m a sap when it comes to kids. Even though I know he’s lying through his teeth, I always have that scraping at the back of my mind “What if the kids ARE suffering?”

These are just two of the people that are taking a major toll on me. I honestly don’t know what to do, because of my guilt factor in saying “No”. I know that my health is taking a toll because of these people, as well as my pocketbook, but even worse, I'm slowly turning into one of them by complaining about life.

I’m looking for any kind of advice to deal with people like this. Better yet, I’m looking for a doctor that will prescribe me a 3 month vacation.


Quirky Quote: As none can see the wind but in its effects on the trees, neither can we see the emotions but in their effects on the face and body. ~Nathaniel LeTonnerre

Dancing with the Stars Announces New Season

My favorite reality show is returning on September 22, 2008 and I’m as giddy as I can get. Yeah the new celebrities aren’t the top selling stars we love, but the thing about the show is that you get to know these people more and see them revamp their careers.

The new season starts and with 13 coupled celebrities.
The new stars are:

Brooke Burke with professional Derek Hough

Cloris Leachman with professional Corky Ballas



Cody Linley with professional Julianne Hough


Jeffrey Ross with professional Edyta Sliwinska


Kim Kardashian with professional Mark Ballas


Lance Bass with professional Lacey Schwimmer


Maurice Greene with professional Cheryl Burke


Misty May-Treanor with professional Maksim Chmerkovskiy


Rocco DiSpirito with professional Karina Smirnoff


Susan Lucci with professional Tony Dovolani


Ted McGinley with professional Inna Brayer


Toni Braxton with professional Alec Mazo


Warren Sapp with professional Kym Johnson


My picks are Ted McGinley and Toni Braxton, but I honestly can't wait to see how 82 year old Cloris Leachman does!

Shia "The Buff"?

OK...I admit that it's no secret that I love Shia. One of the few actors I'm a complete sucker for. I always thought he was more of the geeky type but these photos show him "buff" and ready for action on the movie set.

This makes me wonder if Chuck Norris and Total Gym is a sponsor of TF2? Enjoy the eye candy gals!

Quirky Quote: Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states. ~Carol Welch

Swing Vote

Swing Vote

Rated PG-13

120 Minutes

Nicole's Rating: B-

I've never been a fan of Kevin Costner, but this might be the start of me changing my mind...maybe.

Mr. Costner plays a good for nothing, white trash hick who care for nothing but what benefits him and sometime his daughter. He's then having to make the choice of who the next President of the U.S. will be because of a computer glitch. The two candidates then start to bribe for his vote and with the help of hid daughter makes the decision that will change history.

Even though this movie showed the creepiness of politics and the unfortunate lives of some kids having to raise themselves because their parents are incapable, it gave some valuable lessons as well as entertained. Kevin Costner did a fair job playing the main lead, but it was far from phenomenal. I believe you could have put any half talented actor in his place. The memberable characters where that of Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hooper as the candidates running against each other. You could feel the pressure and anguish that they both have to go through being in Politics and having to deal with the scummy puppet-masters aka the campaign managers.

One thing that I have to say is that it was great to see that this film was shot completely in one location. No studios or green screens, just a small town in New Mexico which the film was based in. You get more of a sense of the actually small time life and it's people.

This is a movie that anyone that has voted, has been involved with the voting process or even bombarded with the new media and politics, can related to. Many good lessons were in this film and a surprise hit with me.

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder
Rated R
107 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating B+

Usually when Hollywood gets a bunch of A-listers in a comedy movie, it turns out to be a disaster (Attack from Mars for example), but this movie pulls it off. I’d say that each A-list actor had equal screen time and no one was trying to outshine another.

This comedy is about a making of a war movie that has a never heard of director filming his first movie and having to deal with some divas of Hollywood. Because of issues on the set the director is forced to put the actors into a real time war zone but tells them that the script will be filmed using a different method, hence the actors become real life soldiers.

For the actors themselves Ben Stiller probably did the most unimpressive job. He plays his typical “not too intelligent, funny faces squeaky voice character he plays in every movie he has ever made, but then, I’ve come to expect this with him. But when I realized that he directed the movie, I was highly impressed with the excellent job that he did with the overall film. Jack Black is another one that you know what you’re going to get in the movie, but that doesn’t make his character lovable and funny. But if there are two actors that shine it is Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise. I know for a fact that if this wasn’t a comedy, these two would have Oscar nominations. Downey played his role so well, I actually forgot that he’s a white guy. As for Mr. Cruise, I didn’t even recognize him until half way through the movie he played his part so well.

The movie was filmed on location in Kauai (my favorite vacation spot) and the aerial shots and cinema-photography was beautiful. But I was truly amazed how huge and extenstive the action sequences there were. Certain moments were so explosive and action packed I forgot that I was watching a comedy.

As for the controversy over the “retard situation” that the media has over-played, all I have to say is this movie is offensive in every way possible and this was one of the more mild circumstances of the film. I don’t know why this was the situation that made the headlines; saying that, you MUST go into this film with an open mind. If you are easily offended about any major controversy such as animal rights, child labor, drug use, gay and lesbian issues…etc., I wouldn’t recommend this. But if you can laugh at about anything that life throws at you and you can take some over done graphic violence (Kill Bill kind of stuff), this one will have you rolling.

The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk
Rated PG-13
114 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: C+

I honestly didn’t want to see this film because of the disaster footage from the 2003 film, but it was the only thing that was playing at Dollar Theater that Heather and I didn’t twinge at. I must admit, it was a lot better than I expected.

Even if you didn’t see the previous movie, you get the idea of what happened with Bruce Banner within the opening credits, which is usually a good review for people that have a hard time remembering the previous film…that would be me. I think I tried to purge that catastrophe out of my head honestly. At first I was skeptic to Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, but he pulled it off well. As for the love interest played by Liv Tyler, eh…there were a couple of scenes that felt out of place with her, but overall you can fell the chemistry that she has for her lost love. I personally thought the best main character was William Hurt, the cracking old military general who always wants something bigger and better only to lose everything. But it was the onscreen cameos that enlightened the film with Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk in the TV series and Robert Downey Jr. making his 2nd appearance of the summer as Tony Stark. I love that character!

As much as the CGI improved from it’s predecessor, it still could have used more work, but considering that a good portion of the film was CGI, they get by with it. With the film having so much CGI, I thought that this movie may have done a better job as a 3D film or even fully animated. And my biggest beef with Marvel and their special effect department is that they need someone that is in charge of getting ratio and portions correct. It seems like that with each scene, the Hulk was different sizes; no consistency. The cinema-photography and art direction was great. There were only a couple of shots that could have used a bit more background, but there were some angles and scenery placements that turned out almost perfect.

This film was entertaining and a fun flick to see with others who enjoy a cheesy action film. If you were disappointed with the first film, I highly suggest seeing this one to get more out of the characters.

Batman vs. Superman

This has been an ongoing conversation at my work since The Dark Knight came out and I'm afraid that it'll never end. So never ending, that it has been brought up in interviews...well after the official interview is over with that is.

I am curious how my family and friends would vote, so I made a little poll off to the top of my blog about if the two were to get in a fight to the finish, who would win.. Go and vote and then (if you want) comment on who you voted for and why you think he would be the overall winner.

Let's Poll!

Picture by els3bas on deviantART

My Two Cents on Global Warming

This topic is nothing new, but I thought I’d just throw out a bit of my opinion on this. Do I think that humans are destroying the earth and need to clean up their acts? It’s a factor, but to me this is not the main cause.

Being one that loves to study Physics and Science, my main objective to why “Global Warming” is happening is something more than the cars we drive. What I believe is happening is a state of constant change the Earth is goes through. We may not see these changes because it takes hundreds and hundreds of years to notice and we’re at the end of this cycle, hence we’re starting to see the effects. What I’m talking about it the changing of the poles. A few thousand years ago, the magnetic poles where reversed and I believe that this process is happening again. That why we’re seeing extra hot and extreme cold temperatures. The kiddish way to think about it is the Earth is getting uncomfortable with how she’s positioned and needs to move, kind of like what we do in our sleep. OK, that was a bad analogy, but you get the picture.

Well, I could go on and on about this, but I hate to bore you more than I already have, but this is my two cents on the main effect of “Global Warming”.

Whatever Happened To...

Crispy M&M's? My co-worker and I were talking about this and we think that these should definitely come back. We went online to see if they were still being produced, but it looks like they were axed.

But hey! No fear...there is an online petition to get these back. If you care to, sign it.

BringBackTheCrispy

Twilight Doesn’t Sparkle For Me

I know I’m going to piss off the majority of women I know by saying this, but what is the big deal with the Twilight series? I just don’t get it. I have read the first three books of the series and I basically have forced myself to get through them. I think each of them are about 200 pages too long, as if Ms. Meyer was trying to make her page quota by filling it with cheesy interactions between Edward and Bella. It just got too "sugary" for my taste. The “teenagers” in the book just seemed so emo and had the classic “woe is me” teenager attitude. I just don’t care to live that though the majority of pages. I did enjoy it when the classic evil vampires come into play as well as the battles between vampires and werewolves, but I think that’s what my issue with the whole story line is the honorable and noble vampires, it just doesn’t work for me.

In the past two years I’ve completed over 400 books and there are so many stories out there that could out-shine this series. I know I haven’t read the last book, I probably will once the hype is down, so I can’t completely say the series didn’t enchant me. I’ve learned that it’s usually the last book of the series that “MAKES” the series, but I’m starting to think the majority of people that enjoy this series, don’t read that much to begin with. Maybe it’s social influence; where people enjoy it because they are told they’d like it. Or maybe it’s just me.

I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy parts, it kept my attention enough to finish the books, but if you have read this series and are totally enthralled by them, let me know why. Maybe I’m missing something.

Geography Lesson on Iraq

I love the world and learning about all of it cultures, histories and people. Because of this love of knowledge, I’ve studied many maps and routed just about every country if I am lucky enough to visit that area one day.

It amazes me that many American do not have the knowledge of geography, especially with countries such as Iraq, which is in the news every day. Well, I’m writing this entry about this country in turmoil, so that others may have a glimpse of where the news is coming from.

Area:
· Capital: Baghdad
· Population: 28,221,181 (as of July 2008)
· Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait
· Longitude and Latitude: 33 00 North, 44 00 East
· Slightly more than twice the size of Idaho
· Environmental Hazards: dust storms, sandstorms, floods
· Mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey

Flag
The Takbir (Arabic expression) meaning "God is great". Design is based upon the Arab Liberation colors; Council of Representatives approved this flag as a compromise temporary replacement for Ba'athist Saddam-era flag

السلام كان معك
(Salam ‘alaykum – Peace be with you)

Me Bling!

Don't you just love getting packages in the mail?!?

I'm slowly conquering my eBay addiction. I've officially have not bought any item for 6 weeks now. Don't get me wrong, I still bid, but I've pulled myself back trying to outbid others. In a way, I'm very grateful that I haven't won anything off there lately, because it gave me some funds to save up for something extra nice.

Last Mother's Day I bought my Mom a green amethyst ring. It was so beautiful, I thought one day I'd get me one...so with my saved money, this month I bought myself one. See the newest member of my collection of bling. It's a 6 ½ carat cushion cut stone with 16 accent diamonds set in 14 karat white gold. This piece will easily become one of my favorites.

Sorry my picture is so blurry, but it's hard trying to get a focused picture of your own hand :S

Click on the pictures to see a larger view.

Quirky Quote: The jeweler allows me to wear the sapphire blue lake on my finger, the emerald green leaves around my neck, and take the citrine sunset with me wherever I go. Jewelry has become my daytime link to nature in an office with no windows. And if I have to work late, there's nothing like diamond stars and a pearl full moon against an onyx night sky. ~Astrid Alauda, "Office With No Windows"

The Funny Men at Thanksgiving Point

Last night I took my parents out for the 39th Wedding Anniversary and to celebrate I took them to see a couple of outstanding stand-up comics. Opening the show was Kermit Apio. He spoke about living in Hawaii and how some people in the U.S. think that's a foreign place, reminisced about Walkman and made fun of the Wendover tree.

The headliner was Brian Regan, who is probably one of the most brilliant funny men out there. He's very clean with his humor and spoke of thing most everyone can relate to, such as baseball umpires, watching Nova and telling stories of this childhood. Everyone was cracking up!

I had a great time at the show, but if anyone works for Thanksgiving Point, please tell them that they SERIOUSLY need help with their parking. Before the show, we ended up walking 35 minutes to get to the venue because of no parking. We had to go to a neighboring venue (us and about 400 other cars), just to find a place to squeeze our vehicle in. Then, Thanksgiving Point must not know what full capacity is. I'd say the over sold the show by about 800 people. We were there 45 minutes early and we ended up sitting in the very back. We really didn't see the show, but mostly listened to it.

Even with these issues, the show was remarkable. If you can catch either of these comic on stage, I highly recommend seeing them. I hoping they'll will return again next year.

Mongol

Mongol
Rated R
126 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: A

Strangers become friends; Friends become brothers; Brothers become enemies. This is only one of the bases of a film that portrays the greatest conquer to live…Genghis Khan.

*~* WARNING: May Contain Spoilers *~*

The movie starts off with Temudjin (young Genghis Khan) at the age of nine, where he is riding off with his father to choose his future bride. This happy moment is overcome by one of the many battles that he will face in his lifetime. Only nine and he is forced to run away to save himself and his family, finally returning 8 years later, to marry. Only a few days after his betrothal, his enemies the Makita kidnap her in revenge. Much of the story is based on the love he has for his wife, his family and his clan he will go to any lengths for them, even war.

I admit, I don’t know much about Genghis Khan. I thought of him as being a war monger who used women for his pleasures and men for his battles. This movie changes every view I had of him. It shows that he was a man of honor, with values and tried to set up the world to live by them.

This movie had exquisite scenery and cinematography. As for the acting, they all did a great portrayal of life and hard times of the era. The young children did an outstanding job, for most of them this was their first film.

The only issue I had with the film is the “doltishness” of the subtitles. There seemed to be a lot more speaking that what the subtitles showed, but again, I’m not sure how complex or simple the Mongolian and Mandarin languages are, it just felt like it. And if I had another issues with the film, it’s the limited release it had, only showing in 240 movie screens worldwide. This movie could go much farther than that.

This movie was remarkable and I highly suggest it if you can watch the graphic violence of war. This film had a similar feel to Braveheart, so if you enjoyed that, you won’t be disappointed with this one.

Amazing Animation

I wish I had the talent and patience to do something this creative:





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http://alanbecker.deviantart.com/gallery/

Pageant of the Giving of the Waters

Last week I actually took some time off from work (yeah I know shocking) to go to an annual event in Thermopolis Hot Springs, Wyoming. This celebration is a Native American ceremony where a portion of the hot springs water is giving to the people to use. The ceremony was inspirational…well, from the parts I could hear. There were about 12 very disrespectful kids that were yelling and screaming right behind me and of course they’re parents were nowhere to be found. Anyway, the ceremony had Shoshoni singing and dancing and the best part was the costumes with bright colors and elaborate detailing.

For about a day and a half we swam in the hot springs pools, which is what I defiantly needed. I haven’t been so relaxed in weeks. But one of the greatest moments is when I met up with my old art teacher Mr. Dion, who was selling his pottery. I couldn’t believe he remembered me after all these years, but then I guess it hard to forget one of the students that pranked him (all in good fun) and gave him a hard time each day. He even remember that most of my pottery blew up in the kilns :S

Thanks so much to April and Barbara for getting me out of my mundane work mode. I had a great time. Thanks to Connor for letting me have an excuse to act like a kid and get away with it. And to Mitsi, I had a great time getting to know you.



Quirky Quote: Vacation: a period of travel and relaxation when you take twice the clothes and half the money you need. ~Author Unknown

Journey to the Center of the Earth - 3D

Journey to the Center of the Earth - 3D
Rated PG
92 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: B+

I came out of watching this movie with the satisfaction of getting more that I expected. I was pleasantly surprised how much fun it truly was.

Professor Trevor Anderson, a volcanic scientist, has found some clues to his brother Max's disappearance and has his nephew join in this search. Max left some information about volcanic tunnels that he was exploring and they end up in a crazy adventure with extinct creatures and awesome landscapes.

Brendan Fraser plays his typical role of the fun loving hero. I’m not complaining, I love his roles and go to his movies expecting this. Josh Hutcherson played the role of his nephew and did a remarkable job with showing emotions and doing green screen acting. I don’t remember him in any previous roles, but I look forward seeing him make it big. But my favorite character was Hannah, played by Anita Briem. Smart, adventurous and loving, this girl has it all.

If I could add one thing to the film, it would be more background story of Max. You only get a tid-bit of who he was. As for the CGI effects, I can’t complain too much about them, because they were too help with the 3D effect. So whatever cheesy effects there were it worked for the film. Some of the 3D effects where so well done, I was jumping out of my seat. After seeing this in 3D, I can’t imagine seeing it any other way. If you can get me to jump out of my seat more than once, then Hollywood has done something correct.

I had a lot of fun watching this film! Go with a small group of friends, so that you can experience this together.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Rated PG-13
114 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: B+

Three times the charm with the third installment of The Mummy series.

Set a few years after the last film took place, the O’Connell’s find themselves battling a mummy of a different kind, a resurrected Emperor who has come back to claim the world that once was his.

Brendan Fraser does a great job reprising his role as Rick and his comedic timing is still on. Jet Li, is one of my favorite actors and does a great job playing the Emperor Han, but he probably is only seen around 15 minutes of movie, the rest of the Emperor’s spots are CGI. Probably the worst thing with the acting is the replacement of Rachel Weisz with Maria Bello. It not that Maria did a bad job with her part, it’s just that she had some shoes to fill and it just didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel the chemistry with her as with Rachel. Another thing with the acting I had is the part of Rick O’Connell’s son Alex. I felt he was a bit old for the part. Brendan Fraser and Luke Ford are too close in age to play a father and son bit.

The story was your typical Mummy humor and set up, but there are some surprises. Watching the trailer I thought that the Yetis were a bit much, but watching the movie, they became probably my favorite part of the film. This show did have a lot of CGI effects and many were great but at the end of the film it started to lag, as if the production company ran out of funds and did a quick job, but that did spoil the story line too much.

Overall, if you are a fan of the last Mummy films, you’ll enjoy this one just as much.

Tagged Game ~ By the Band

1. Choose a singer/band/group
2. Answer using ONLY titles of songs by that singer/band/group
3. Tag 6 (or more) people
(let them know they've been tagged)

The band I choose is obviously The Beatles.

1. Are you male or female?
"Girl"

2. Describe yourself.
"Carry that Weight"

3. What do people feel when they're around you?
"It's All Too Much"

4. How would you describe your previous relationship?
"I Should Have Known Better"

5. Describe your current relationship.
"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"

6. Where would you want to be now?
"Across the Universe"

7. How do you feel about love?
Depends on the day either
"All You Need is Love"
or
"Run For Your Life"

8. What's your life like?
"Isn't It a Pity"
(OK, so this is a George Harrison song...he's still a Beatle and it fits my life perfectly)

9. What would you ask for if you had only one wish?
"Every Little Thing"
:-P

10. Say something wise.
"Everybody's Got Something to Hide, Except for Me and My Monkey"

I won't tag anyone, feel free to do it if you like.

:- )

What Happens In Vegas

What Happens In Vegas
Rated PG-13
99 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: C

Even though this movie was your typical predictable chick flick, I still found myself having a good time.

Cameron Diaz and Aston Kutcher play their typical roles; Cameron as the out of love, over worked blonde bombshell and Aston as the good-looking, lazy ladies man. Both come together after a hard night of drinking and find themselves married. Hitting a jackpot, both want the fortune in the annulment, but are force to stay together for 6 months under a court decision.

The stars of the show to me where their best friends though, played by Rob Corddry and Lake Bell. These two played more of the comedic reliefs and had the best scene in the movie, which is the very last 2 minutes. My friend and I were cracking up minutes after the show, because of this scene.

The movie has a quick start. You only get the basics of what these two are like before they head to Vegas. I would have liked just a little bit more background. While in Vegas, there’s not a whole lot that was shot there. Again, I would have liked to see a bit more action in the town that has its name in the title.

Like I said, you can predict yourself what the movie’s outcome is going to be, but it’s still a good movie to watch with friends when you need a good chuckle.

Mama Mia!

Mama Mia!
Rated PG-13
108 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: B-

This movie was lacking only one major thing and that was vocal auditions. The movie was filled with great actors that most anyone can recognize and that story line was a fun-filled one, but just because you have some great actors, it doesn’t make them great singers.

I knew I’d have fun watching the movie because I enjoy singing along to Abba and I personally love Meryl Streep, but again her singing ability was only sub-par. But she did outshine Pierce Brosnan when it comes to vocal talent. Each time he came on the screen, I wanted myself and the audience to sing louder to cover up the abomination of his singing. Thank goodness he’s good looking to make up for it.

Only a couple other minor items made this movie a little off. First the girl that played Sophie, was suppose to be 20 years old and getting married, but I could help but think she was only 14. She looked way to young for the part. And the other thing is the use of a blue screen backdrop made to look like the ocean. It looks as if most of the film was shot on location, which was gorgeous btw, but some scenes must have been redone in studio. It just took away from the scenery.

Overall, this film was a delight and there are some scenes (especially the last) I was busting up laughing. If you enjoy the music of Abba, you can go wrong with this sing-a-long movie.