Reviews, Glorious Reviews

Let's ease back into things with some book and movie reviews shall we?

I read Loving Frank by Nancy Horan back in August and I loved it.  The story is about the architect Frank Lloyd Wright - married with children - who takes on a job for the Cheney family, only to fall in love with Mamah Cheney - also married with children - and the two run off together. Despite the incredible scandal and headlines this created, the two remain together. The ending nearly brought me to tears.

There were two things I loved about this book (from what I remember). First, how the time period (the early 20th century) was all about thought, philosophy, art, painting... all of these beautiful intellectual things that I wish still existed today. And second is the independence Mamah showed throughout the entire book.  She was on a path to find herself - sometimes that was with Frank, sometimes that wasn't. But she needed to travel, to write, to study, to do whatever it is she felt in her heart would help her discover who she really was. I truly admired her passion for life and for the world around her and found myself wondering if I could be like that someday.

I highly recommend this book which is based loosely on Frank and Mamah's real life affair and ensuing relationship.

Otherwise, I've filled my time with other books that haven't required much thinking, namely by the author Nora Roberts. She is a pretty standard romance novelist and her books Blue Dahlia, Black Rose, and Red Lily did the trick. A little romance, a little mystery, a ghost - they're not anything I'd recommend (and frankly I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I spent like three hours one Saturday completely engrossed in one of them) but, like I said, fit the "I really need something mindless that isn't TV right now" bill.

Nora Roberts also writes a series of mysteries under the pen name J.D. Robb and I read the first one of these and it was pretty good. My best friend has read pretty much all of them and swears by them so I'll keep going to see what keeps happening to Lieutenant Eve Dallas.  The books are set in the future, but you can't really tell that right off the bat. This was the only gripe I had. I wish there had been more of a description of what had happened and how this futuristic world functioned, but instead it was just fragmented pieces here and there. Apparently though you get more of an idea of what happened (there was some kind of human uprising) and why as well as background of Dallas as the books continue.

Right now I'm starting The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and this book is fantastic so far. It's a young adult book which kind of surprises me because the premise is that each year the Capitol randomly selects teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18 to compete literally to the death in a live televised match. But I'm really hooked in to this one and will most likely finish it tonight.

I have internet again in my apartment - hooray! - so I've been streaming on Netflix a lot more and am working my way through 30 Rock which is hysterical. I've also been working through Gossip Girl and that show is pretty good too. I've had the DVD of The King's Speech for close to two months, but need to just return it. I can't bring myself to watch it on my terrible TV.  Good thing my parents are kicking in some cash so I can go out and buy a new one! More on that later.

I swear I've been doing more than just reading and watching movies. But we'll hear all about that in my next post...

Some Very Blah Movies to Review

I'm back from an awesome, relaxing week off in So Cal. My mom kept asking why I would use vacation days to just come home. My answer is threefold really: 1. homecooked, sometimes Cuban, meals; 2. the beach is three miles away; 3. my grandma takes me shopping. It's like a four-star vacation but I don't have to pay for anything.

Let's ease back into things with some movie reviews shall we?

The Hangover 2 - It had its moments but overall, I wasn't that impressed. It's just too hard to follow up the first one with anything as funny or creative. You could trace everything back to the first movie. For example (minor spoiler alert), they find a baby in the first movie that they carry around but in the second one it's a monkey. It had some laugh-out-loud moments, but overall it was just okay. One thumb down, one thumb sideways

Super 8 - A group of kids in a small town in Ohio in the 1970s witness an insane train crash which releases an alien into their town. Yeah. I summed this up to my dad in three words: E.T. on steroids. This one also was not that good, despite any rave reviews you may have seen. You can't just park an alien in the middle of 70s suburbia Ohio and expect things to work. The kids that star in this movie, however, were awesome and were the only thing that kept it all together. One thumb down, one thumb sideways

Due Date - A series of unfortunate events land Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifinakis on the no-fly list and they end up driving cross country together so RDJ can get home to his super-preggo wife. Zach G. was hysterical in this movie but RDJ was just okay as he went back and forth from crazy angry to super nice way too much for me. Two thumbs sideways

And finally a movie that didn't suck...

Despicable Me - I am probably the last person on the planet to see this movie but oh em gee this was the cutest movie everrrrr and will very soon become a permanent addition to Amanda's Collection of Super Girly Movies. Seriously I have the worst DVD collection ever if you're a dude. I LOVED this movie from start to finish. I even cried. Oh it was so so cute so if you haven't seen it yet, well you're worse than I am when it comes to watching movies. Go now!

And now, a random TV plug...

A new TV show was brought to my attention on Friday night and oh boy this is a good one. Brought to you by Ricky Gervais, I present "An Idiot Abroad".



Basically Ricky Gervais and his friend send their other friend to go see the 7 Wonders of the World and this guy's observations about what he sees are priceless. Apparently it airs on the Science channel so hopefully you get that.

Netflix Reviews

The new laptop work gave me now has the ability to stream stuff from Netflix. You have no idea how happy this makes me considering... well... have you seen my TV?

It's been pretty nice to just randomly decide to watch a TV show or stand-up comedian on my laptop. So here are a few things I've been watching lately... and also not so lately because I haven't done movie reviews in a while:

Slumdog Millionaire: A standard mid-20-year-old guy is on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and as he navigates through the questions, he knows the answers based on real-life events that happened to him throughout his pretty horrific life. And horrific might be an understatement. Poor, homeless, starving, sold into some kind of child slavery camp, almost killed a bunch of times, separated from his brother... I mean a LOT happened to this guy. After a while it got hard to watch so much depressing stuff over and over but the movie was very well done despite all of that. Two thumbs sideways.

WALL-E: This movie about a robot abandoned on Earth was so cute. Pixar really doesn't ever go wrong with the movies they come up with. Not much to say about this one - just good ole fashioned family fun. Two thumbs up.

The Time Traveler's Wife: So here's the thing. Rachel McAdams is a fantastic actress - one of my faves - and I have wanted to read this book foreverrrrrrrrr. Then I watched the movie and I absolutely 100 percent did not get it. The general premise I got: this guy has a genetic code in his DNA that causes him to spontaneously time travel. Beyond that I was so confused, especially about how he and Rachel McAdams came to meet. You guys are probably smarter than me so you'll probably have no problem but I was left with sooooo many questions at the end. I did cry a little though. Two thumbs sideways.

The Office (UK Version): Hysterical. I had a feeling going into this one that there would be some similarities, but holy cow I was so shocked at how the American version literally took complete episodes and exact plotlines from this British version. Still I loved both seasons of this one and highly recommend checking it out if you haven't. Two thumbs up.

Party Down: A Starz original series, Party Down chronicles a group of struggling actors who work part time at a catering company to supplement their income. Each episode is a different event they are catering. Although a bit irreverant at times, this show is hilarious and very well done. Two thumbs up.

30 Rock: OMG why didn't I start watching this show on NBC from the beginning? I LOVE this show. The writing is so witty and clever, the cast is perfect - I cannot get enough of this show. I think I watched the first season in like 3 days or something. Do yourself a favor and check this show out if you haven't yet. You will not be disappointed. Two thumbs up.

Movie Reviews

Time for some LTD movie reviews...

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I don't care what anybody says, I love the X-Men series of movies. In X-Men 2, when Jean dies (oops, sorry if that's a spoiler for anyone), they show Scott crying and Wolverine so upset because he secretly loved her and I get emotional too. I can't handle it when guys cry. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is an amazing character and I think he plays the role so perfectly. This movie was full of action and the awesome mutant special effects typical of the other X-Men movies that have been made. You also see previews of other X-Men characters which James helped to explain to me so shoutout to him. Overall, love all of these movies and this one was great too. Two thumbs up.


Up in the Air
This movie was fantastic. George Clooney plays a guy who works for a company that gets hired to fire people and he spends the majority of his year flying to different locations doing his work. I don't want to say too much else and give anything away, but if you haven't seen this one yet do yourself a favor. It's humorous and sweet in some places and serious and emotional in others and the relationships. Great casting, great story, pick this one up right away. Two thumbs up.


Away We Go
Another rave review from LTD, this movie, though probably not very well known, was awesome. Jim from The Office and Maya Rudolph from SNL play a couple who get pregnant unexpectedly and go on a search to find the perfect place to live and raise their child. Along the way they meet an incredibly hilarious cast of characters, including Maggie Gyllenhaal as an over the top hippie who refuses to buy strollers for her kids. Jim from The Office and Maya Rudolph have great chemistry together and it was great to see Maya Rudolph in a more serious role than what we're used to seeing. The script is witty and clever, yet also emotionally engaging throughout. Love, love, love this movie! Two thumbs up.


Gossip Girl, Seasons 1 and 2
I'm through two seasons of Gossip Girl and this show is pretty good, not gonna lie. I'm not really going to go on and on about it but I'm entertained and I even find myself pulling for a few characters. Blake Lively is too pretty though. I mean honestly, share the wealth girl. Excited to see what season 3 has in store for me.

Weekend Movie Reviews

Here's a brief look at two movies I watched over the weekend:

The Soloist - Based on a true story, Robert Downey Jr. plays LA Times columnist Steve Lopez and Jamie Foxx stars as Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless man living on the streets of downtown LA. Ayers is a musical prodigy who attended Juliard before being overcome by a mental illness and ultimately dropping out. He plays his cello where ever he can and Lopez stumbles upon him one day and writes a story about him. Along the way, Lopez and Ayers form a very unlikely yet unbreakable bond as Lopez tries to get Ayers off the streets.

This movie was pretty awesome. Emotional and gripping at times, it also gave a pretty hardcore look at how the homeless in the worst parts of downtown LA live which is a real eye opener. I listened to this book on CD and loved it, so I was a little disappointed at how quickly the film version moved. RDJ does a really great job and his chemistry with Foxx makes their onscreen relationship really engaging. Two thumbs up.

Paper Heart - Charlyne Yi (you'll recognize her from a brief cameo in "Knocked Up") doesn't believe in love and doesn't think she'll ever find it. So she sets out to film a documentary about love: what is it, why do people believe in it, how do you know if you're in it or not? Along the way she meets Michael Cera who she begins a relationship with, thus questioning everything she thought about love.

This movie was just so-so for me, mainly because I had no idea that this was literally real life going into it. Did anybody else know this? The parts following her make the documentary are really interesting and the people she interviews are awesome. So then apparently the cameras are on hand as she meets Michael Cera for the first time and so the story shifts to include her entering this relationship with him.

I felt uncomfortable watching Yi and Cera navigate through the awkwardness that is the first stages of dating. I felt like I was eavesdropping on something I shouldn't be watching. It doesn't help that the two of them are pretty awkward as it is, thus making for several uncomfortable laughs and silences. Also, because I really thought that this was a fictional movie, I kept asking myself "Is this real life?" and I struggled with understanding what was happening every time they showed the Yi-Cera portions of the movie. Two thumbs sideways.

P.S. I downgraded my cable to super basic to save some money for the next few months so I will be doing a much better job of actually watching the Netflix movies I get in a timely fashion.

Book Review: Under the Dome

Under the Dome
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Fiction, science fiction, mystery
Number of Pages: 1,074
Where I Got It: Library

First line: "From two thousand feet up, where Claudette Sanders was taking a flying lesson, the town of Chester's Mill gleamed in the morning light like something freshly made and just set down."

It's a typical day in Chester's Mill, Maine until suddenly and without warning an invisible force field surrounds the town, effectively sealing it off from the rest of the world.  The race is on - not only to free Chester's Mill from The Dome and rescue its inhabitants from deteriorating environmental and ecological conditions, but to also stop religious fanatic Big Jim Rennie who likes the idea of an isolated community all for his domination a little too much.  As Rennie continues to exert his power, Iraq veteran Dale "Barbie" Barbara and his allies start on a nonstop thrill ride to figure out the riddle of The Dome.

There are two things that will immediately scare you about this book.  One is the fact that it comes in at a whopping 1,000-plus pages.  The second is the lengthy list of characters, including Dogs of Note, that King maps out before the story begins. It's a lot to take in all at once and even made me think twice about picking this one up.

Wow am I glad that I did.

This book is genius.  This is my first try with anything by Stephen King (I know, a book-a-holic like myself never having read Stephen King is pretty blasphemous) and I am kicking myself over and over and over for not having tried something of his before.

Here's the thing. I'm not a fan of science fiction and I'm not a horror fan - both genres I immediately associate with Stephen King. This book though suspended all of that for me.  It was so well-crafted and developed so perfectly that I was engaged the entire time.  For all 1,074 pages. In fact, I was so into this book and the "will they/won't they get out of this Dome" concept that I found myself breathless and not able to read fast enough to get to the next part.

You guys. I cried.

I can't rave about this book enough. It took me on a literal thrill ride - I found myself holding my breath at some points - and I haven't felt this strongly about a book in a long time.  

Go. Read. This. Now.

Overall Rating: What do you think?

Coming Up Next: Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Portia Nathan is an admissions officer at Princeton University who scours the country looking for the absolute best of the best, and those that are even better than the best, and lives a pretty standard domestic life. But a life-altering decision from her past sneaks up on her and just as thousands of students wait to hear about their own admission, so too must Portia make the decision to make an admission of her own.

And now a movie review...
Role Models - Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott are sentenced to community service at the Sturdy Wings mentoring program and are paired up with two kids who couldn't be more different. McLovin from Superbad is in this and is hysterical as a teenager who is obsessed with a fantasy world where everyone role plays characters from medieval times. Paul Rudd is one of my favorite actors and his one-liners are always hilarious. Overall this was a pretty good and funny movie and I recommend it. One thumb up, one thumb sideways.

Movie Marathon Weekend

So the cable provider I can no longer afford, better known as AT&T UVerse, offered a free preview of all the movie channels and I think some sports channels that I don't currently have.  Somehow though the Laker game tonight was still blacked out on FSW so thanks for that UVerse.

Basically I went through all the channels and DVRed a bunch of movies that I've been wanting to see. Will they still be on my DVR when this preview thing is over? No idea.

So without further ado, here are some reviews of the movies I watched this weekend:

Valentine's Day - This is the movie that has literally every popular celebrity today in it: Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts... and that's not even half the cast.  It was teeeeeerrible.  Seriously don't bother with this one. Two thumbs down.

Postgrad - Rory from Gilmore Girls plays a girl who graduates from college and is denied a position at her dream job and so has to move back in with her parents while she tries to find work.  She's a good actress, but it was too much like Gilmore Girls: The Sequel to be honest.  The supporting cast however was pretty fantastic.  Jane Lynch and Michael Keaton are hysterical as her wacky parents and the guy who plays Matt Sarasen on Friday Night Lights is in the role of her best friend slash boy she realizes she (of course) loves. He is smoking hot. The end. One thumb up, one thumb sideways.

Whip It - This was a lot better than I thought it was going to be and I actually pretty highly recommend it.  Ellen Page is turning out to be a really good actress, although do you think she gets annoyed with the fact that she's like 26 but plays 16 year olds in all of her movies?  She is really good in this movie as a girl who lives in the middle of nowhere Texas and is forced to suffer through beauty pageants and a part-time job at the local burger stand... until she discovers an all-girls roller derby league.  The supporting cast was great in this one too with Drew Barrymore and Kristen Wiig from Saturday Night Live as her teammates.  The action was good as was the plotline.  Highly recommended. Two thumbs up.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Scarlet Johansson plays a girl who travels to Barcelona for the summer after college with her friend and ends up meeting Javier Bardem's character.  Before you know it, she's caught up in a very different kind of romance with him and his ex-wife who's juuuuust a little bit on the crazy side.  The synopsis of this one is kind of hard to explain as there are a few subplots mixed in.  It was weird though. Penelope Cruz definitely steals the show and her performance is worth picking this one up.  Guys will also like it because of Scarlet Johansson who annoys me to no end, but ladies don't worry. Javier Bardem is plenty of eye candy on his own.  Two thumbs sideways.

I have a few more that I have yet to watch so stay tuned for more reviews:
The Fall
Role Models
The Time Traveler's Wife
Revolutionary Road
Paper Heart
Up in the Air
The Blind Side
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Book Review: Gilead... Plus Some Movies

Gilead
Author: Marilynne Robinson
No. of Pages: 245
Where I Got It: Library

First line: I told you last night that I might be gone sometime, and you said, Where, and I said, To be with the Good Lord, and you said, Why, and I said, Because I'm old, and you said, I don't think you're old.

As soon as I read that first line, I knew I was doomed.  I have no idea why I chose to read this book.  Maybe because it's a Pulitzer Prize winner. Maybe because I didn't read enough reviews before taking it off the shelf at the library. Either way, I messed up big time with this one.  It was awful.

The premise is that a 76-year-old preacher is writing a collection of letters to his son who is 7.  Yes he is 76 and his son is 7.  His wife is like 30 years younger than he is as well.  So he's writing these letters to his son because, well, he's pretty much going to be dead soon.  And that's pretty much it.

I didn't even finish this one.  In fact, I made it to page 40 or something and I just couldn't even keep going.  I had every intention of finishing it. I even went to renew it from the library online but somebody else had placed a hold on it so I wasn't able to.  Yeah good luck with that buddy.  You can have this one.

There was no dialogue, no other characters, it was just this guy talking about where he had grown up and giving anecdotes that were sprinkled with Bible verses.  I couldn't stay focused and had to keep rereading pages over and over.  No bueno.

Go ahead and skip this one.

Rating: 1 of 5 stars (1 star for the pretty cover)


Coming Up Next: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
In 1937, Pearl and May live a fabulous life as "Beautiful Girls" in Shanghai.  Their faces are used to sell everything from soap to cigarettes and their world is full of glamorous parties, clothes, etc.  They live a carefree life until their father loses literally everything he has through gambling.  To recoup his debts, he sells the girls to a man who lives in Los Angeles as wives to his two sons.  They struggle and face many hardships as they adjust to their new way of life.

And now for some movie reviews:
Up: This movie was really cute, but it made me kind of emotional!  This should surprise no one honestly.  But I did find myself tearing up at the end.  The relationship that grows between the grumpy old man and the little boy is so fun to watch develop.  Another Pixar classic! Two thumbs up.


I Love You, Man: Paul Rudd is about to get married and, after overhearing his future wife's friends talking about him, sets out to find himself a guy friend.  He meets Sydney (Jason Segel) and they hit it off instantly.  The relationship has its ups and downs throughout the movie, but of course everything is solved at the end.  Although the storyline of this one was pretty predictable, Rudd and Segel are hysterical.  The one-liners and comedic timing are pretty perfect and I found myself laughing out loud a bunch of times.  One thumb up, one thumb sideways. 


Gossip Girl - Season 1: Everyone was talking about this show and I never got into it so I decided to try it out for myself.  I'm pretty pleasantly surprised.  The cast and acting is really good and although the plot line is sometimes too hard to believe, I can definitely overlook that to see what happens on the next episode.  I've worked through them pretty quickly and am halfway through season two which is also really good.  One thumb up, one thumb sideways.

As always, feel free to recommend any movies, TV series, documentaries, etc. that you think I'd like!

Super Quick Movie Reviews

Things have been a little crazy so I haven't done much writing but I'm okay with that. But let's try to get back into the swing of things with a couple of movie reviews.

First of all, yes I still have "Up" and the first season of "Gossip Girl" checked out from Netflix. They were sent to me June 5. Oops, I should probably get on that... What happens if you just don't ever return a movie to Netflix? I guess if I don't mail these two back soon I'll find out for myself.

Let's go!

The Book of Eli - Saw this with my dad and brother on On Demand when I was home a few weeks ago. Awesome. Seriously this movie is so good. First, it has Denzel and who doesn't love Denzel (well, my cousin apparently but she's literally the only person I know who isn't a fan of his work)? Rachel Bilson aka Summer from The OC is in it too and she is fantastic. There's a lot of shooting/killing/action in this one and usually I'm not a fan of that but the way the movie was filmed, it was easy for me to sit through. Interesting storyline with an incredible twist at the end. Do yourself a favor. Double thumbs up.

Invictus - Another On Demand-er with my family. Kinda long but a good inspiring based on a true story type movie. Love me some Matt Damon so maybe I'm biased. I wasn't so blown away by it, but overall it held my interest and I'd recommend it. One thumb up, one thumb sideways

Julie and Julia - Not gonna lie, it was kinda boring. Meryl Streep was really really good as Julia Child and I was really engrossed in the parts with her as she portrayed Julia Child. But then it would go back to the Amy Adams parts and I'd be bored. She's such a good actress, but there wasn't much substance to her storyline of wanting to cook everything in Julia Child's cookbook. One thumb down, one thumb sideways

Yes Man - Jim Carrey is a super negative guy who decides to turn over a new leaf and say yes to everything. Literally everything. It had some pretty funny moments but it was soooo long. Like unnecessarily long. And there is a love story but his love interest is played by Zooey Deschanel who I'm pretty sure is my age. And Jim Carrey is, well, not my age. So that was awkward. But overall it was pretty fun. Two thumbs sideways

Duplicity - Terrible. Don't waste your time. I was confused the entire time and there was way too much secrecy/behind the back stuff going on plus there were way too many characters. Hated it. Two thumbs down

The Heartbreak Kid - I got this from Netflix then realized that I had already seen it. Typical Ben Stiller comedy. He gets married then meets another woman while on his honeymoon and falls in love with her. Usually I like Ben Stiller but this one was just too silly for me. One thumb down, one thumb sideways

Inception - Awesome. Saw this with my dad over the weekend while I was home and it was really really good. Combination of The Matrix with some elements of James Bond/Mission Impossible thrown in. Great characters, great special effects and I thought the storyline was decently easy to follow considering it could very easily have been really confusing. I highly recommend going to see it. Two thumbs up

Reviews of the Cinematic Kind

Later on tonight will be a review of the literary kind...

So I realized that I joined Netflix and I post the movies that I have checked out but I never actually say what I think about any of the movies that I Netflix. That seems like something I should do. But instead of doing this full-length in-depth review of each one, I saw a different website (okay it's a book blog I read sometimes - don't judge me) where they just wrote like one or two lines about the movie. Perrrfect.

So here's a trip down memory lane first of all the movies I've watched on Netflix thus far. And for review purposes we will be using the system perfected by my dad and me at every movie we see in the theater:

Confessions of a Shopaholic: The title should say it all. Isla Fisher (aka Borat's wife/baby's momma) is a really cute actress though and ere go, this movie was... well... cute. One thumb sideways.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Long at parts, but definitely an interesting plotline. The make up was excellent and the woman who played Brad Pitt's mother was incredible. Well-deserving of the Oscar I believe she won. Recommended, but get ready for a long one. One thumb sideways.

(500) Days of Summer: Great movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is so good in this and the soundtrack is awesome to boot. Recommended to me by Justin and now it's very highly recommended to all of you! One humb way up

Sunshine Cleaning: Amy Adams and Emily Blunt (the not-so-nice assistant in Devil Wears Prada) have great chemistry in this movie about two sisters who try to make some money by starting up their own cleaning business... except what they clean is crime scenes. A little gory at times if you don't like blood (i.e. me) but it's a very good movie. The relationship between the grandfather and the little boy is also very endearing. Thumb way up

Burn After Reading: A really weird movie. You have to pay complete attention to this the whole time to follow along so make sure you are. But Brad Pitt's character is absolutely hysterical. His character plus a few surprise twists salvaged this one a bit. One thumb sideways, slightly up


The Other Boleyn Girl: Not as good as the book. I couldn't keep track of the characters, namely which Boleyn sister was which. Not good. One thumb down.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: Just okay. Michael Cera plays the same whiny character in every movie but he still has his funny moments. The girl was pretty good and in the end, they got to be all cute and music nerdy together (oops hope that wasn't a spoiler). One thumb sideways

Bride Wars: Pretty predictable and the pranks got a little out of hand after a while but the end had an interesting twist that I didn't really see coming so that kind of made up for it. One thumb sideways

Monsters vs. Aliens: Cute kids flick. I love the Pixar movies, but this one wasn't as good as some of the others I've seen. Good casting though for all the voices. One thumb sideways, slightly up


Revolutionary Road: Didn't watch it. I read a book review on yes a book blog and it talked about how depressing the movie was. Then Kathleen confirmed that so I figure I'll read the book then re-get it if you're even allowed to do that.

The Invention of Lying: Didn't finish it. The beginning started out to be really funny then it just sort of faded out and got kind of repetitive. I fell asleep midway through and Cody didn't seem too terribly interested in finishing it so I gave it three stars and sent it back. Still it had its moments. Thumb sideways, slightly down

That's all! I just finished "Julie and Julia" and have "Yes Man" to watch probably this weekend. I also started the first season of "Friday Night Lights" which is surprisingly good so as more reviews come through, more reviews will be posted!