Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

September 3, 2007 | Uncategorized

Starring Jet Li and Jason Statham

After his partner is brutally murdered by the infamous assassin Rogue (Li), FBI agent Jack Crawford (Statham) vows to find the elusive killer and personally avenge his partner’s death. That proves difficult until three years later when he resurfaces to ignite a bloody turf war between a Chinese mob leader and a Japanese Yakuza boss.

First of all, I am a huge fan of both of these actors. I’ve always loved Jet Li (and not from his American movies, either. Check out Hero when you get a chance) and Jason Statham didn’t really do it for me until Transporter(I would also suggest seeing Crank. One word: Wow). When I saw trailers for this movie on Yahoo, I was totally stoked. I had high expectations for this movie and unfortunately, felt incredibly cheated when I saw it.

The storyline was good. I seriously wasn’t expecting the twist at the end. And the best fight scene wasn’t between Jason and Jet. In fact, their fight scene sucked. I was expecting a serious smackdown, an “epic” fight between a master martial artists and a professional martial artist. What I got were a few well-placed roundhouse kicks, a lot of tossing around, and some growly “hi-yas”. Yawn. Yawn.

This was highly disappointing.

War Review: Two snaps down

Go on to see my review for No Reservations (more…)

Technorati Tags: Jet Li, Jason Statham, Hero, Transporter, Crank, War, No Reservations

August 29, 2007 | Uncategorized

Sex and the Psychic Witch by Annette Blair

Back Blurb: The buyer for her family’s vintage clothing and curio shop, triplet witch Harmony Cartwright—who brings peace to everyone in her sphere—has the ability to read ancient objects and their owners, even their deepest darkest secrets. Now, a Celtic ring depicting a man’s empty embrace becomes a psychic mandate that leads her to Paxton castle on an island off the Salem, Massachusetts coast.

King Paxton has inherited a haunted money-pit of a castle he must sell before he’s cursed with more of the bad luck that plagued his family for generations, but out of nowhere, a leggy blonde walks in and quiets his disgruntled construction crew and wailing ghost. When King throws her out, chaos returns, so he brings her back.

Harmony could be the answer to his problems . . . or a very big distraction. He’s never been as attracted to anyone, but he’s made enough mistakes for one lifetime. He vows to be strong and offers her a job at the castle. She can search for vintage clothes while he peacefully gets the castle restored and sold.

King is Harmony’s psychic pot of gold. Because the ancient castle is his–heck, he was born there–she can read him. She knows he feels the same dizzying attraction for her that she does for him. She knows exactly what he wants to do to her—which is titillating—but he’s fighting his inclinations. Bummer.

Despite triplet tricks, Celtic myths, spells and rituals, unexpected family ties, and a psycho cat and her kittens, Harmony attempts to uncover the castle’s secrets while she acts out King’s unspoken fantasies until they’re acting them out together and fighting a powerful and angry ghost . . . in and out of bed.

In the final magical battle, will Harmony and King reclaim the castle, or is Gussie the ghost-witch stronger even than the power of love?

I’ve got four words to describe this book: L.M.A.O. Laughed my ass off, for those of you who don’t know what that stands for. I honestly don’t have one negative thing to say about this book. So let me tell you what I loved (more…)

Technorati Tags: Sex and the Psychic Witch, Annette Blair

August 15, 2007 | Uncategorized

Careful What You Wish For by Lucy Finn

Back Blurb:

RAVINE PATTON ALWAYS LET HER HEAD RULE HER HEART–UNTIL SHE FOUND HERSELF PLAYING A MAGICAL GAME OF SPIN THE BOTTLE.

A smart lawyer and practical single mom, Ravine’s no dreamer. So when a big, male, and undeniably attractive genie materializes in her kitchen from a puff of smoke, she’s not sure if she should pinch herself or call 911. Having someone to cook and babysit definitely comes in handy, but does he have to be so . . . sexy? Ravine can’t afford to be swept away by her feelings, especially for a guy who’s been living in a bottle for sixty years. All she has to do is make three wishes and he be gone forever, but somehow she’s not quite sure what to wish for . . .

I’d like to think that I wouldn’t have freaked out like Ravine did when she first discovered Gene (yes, that’s the genie’s name), but I probably would. Then my overactive imagination would kick in and I’d think “This is too cool for words.” Especially if my genie was as H-O-T as Gene, Aussie accent and all.

I loved Ravine’s humor, the obvious love for her son, her boldness (I never would’ve had a one night stand with a motorcycle riding stranger…no matter how gorgeous), and the fact that her baby son’s favorite movie was Walk the Line. (Get’em while their young, I say. No one is too young–or old–for Johnny Cash). I loved the way Gene spoke (”That’s bollocks!”) and how the accent wasn’t overdone, his patience, and that he was a more modern genie. In past stories I’ve read, genie’s have been trapped for centuries; Gene was trapped for only 60 years. The reference to contemporary bands such as the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Garbage and Metallica was like rifling through my own CD collection. I love alternative music so I get a personal kick out of seeing bands that I know mentioned in books (I’m pretty sure I had a reader orgasm when Jill Shalvis mentioned Linkin Park–my all time fav band–in one of her books. Even though it was spelled wrong. LOL). And the little history lesson regarding Native American land rights was an added bonus. (more…)

Technorati Tags: Walk the Line, Johnny Cash, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Garbage, Metallica, Jill Shalvis, Linkin Park

August 13, 2007 | Uncategorized

Starring: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker

Inspector Lee (Chan) and Detective Carter (Tucker) are back and heading to Paris to stop a global criminal conspiracy. The guys are a little older, but the humor and camaderie between Chris and Jackie is still there. Surprisingly enuff, Jackie’s stunts weren’t as crazy and over-the-top as they were in the first two movies. I think I only cringed a couple of times. The main thing I still like about all of Jackie’s movies are the outtakes at the end. The ones for the Rush Hour series are especially funny. After it was over, the hubby and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and said “Eh, nothing new there.”

Rush Hour 3 Review: 3 1/2 Snaps Up

Bonus Trailer: “The Shoot’em Up Movie” with Clive Owen. I can’t wait to see this flick in which he claims “I’m a British nanny and I’m dangerous.” LOL. I’m still wishing he’d been the next guy to fill the James Bond shoes, but oh well…
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Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Charlie Cox

I found it ironic that this movie premiered during the same weekend as a meteor shower, but I loved it anyway. A young man named Tristan (handsome newcomer Cox) tries to win the heart of the fair–but unappreciative Victoria (Miller) by going on a quest to retrieve a fallen star…which happens to take the form a female human by the name of Yvaine (Danes). It soon becomes clear that others seek the fallen star as well: a king’s four sons who are vying for the throne and an evil witch (Pfeiffer) who wants her for eternal youth. As he battles to protect her, Tristan’s life changes forever.

It was great seeing Michelle Pfeiffer on the big screen for the second time this summer, as well as Claire Danes. I had no interest in seeing her last movie, Evening, but I can guarantee this movie was more lighthearted than that one. And you’ll see a delightfully different side to De Niro in this romantic comedy. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Stardust movie review: 5 Snaps Up

Technorati Tags: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Rush Hour 3, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Charlie Cox, Stardust

August 4, 2007 | Uncategorized

Starring: Matt Damon, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles

I’ve been a big fan of the Bourne franchise, so I was looking forward to seeing the third installment. I loved the first two and the third was no different. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is back, having been on the run for three years, and now he wants it all to end. He wants to find out who he really is and where it all started. This movie is going to answer the questions from the first two.

Two things I didn’t like:

1) The choppy film angles. During the action scenes–like the car chases and the fights–it felt like you were right in the car–or the fights–with him. The camera angles were choppy, as if they were hand held, and at times I felt like I was going to hurl the action was so dizzying. I hate when a movie is filmed like that. It’s annoying. There was one fight in particular that was extremely intense, but since the camera was practically right on top of the actors, you couldn’t get the full effect of them kicking each other’s ass. I think the shot would’ve been better if it had been viewed from, say, Nikki Parsons (Julia Stiles) POV.

2) Julia Stiles. Why they reintroduced her and gave her a more substantial part, I have no idea. But the inference–SPOILER AHEAD–that she and Jason hooked up was laffable and unbelieveable. And by unbelieveable I mean that during his flashbacks of remembering what happened, she was nowhere to be seen. Unbelieveable because there was no chemistry during their scenes.

Overall, I loved this movie and plan to buy it when it comes out on DVD. The action scenes got better and better and Matt Damon makes a great action hero. I think his acting career got saved when he got tapped to play Jason Bourne. From all the other movies he’s done, I never would’ve thought so, but he blew me away in The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy. The other thing I liked about this movie was that if you hadn’t seen the first two, they kind of update you on what happened and even show some scenes from the previous movies.

The Bourne Ultimatum Review: 5 Snaps Up

Technorati Tags: David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, Matt Damon, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy.