Smurfs 2 - Review

This film was just one of those below average family films that have come out this summer.  The Smurf characters are very hysterical and the presence of Neil Patrick Harris and his sense of humor is a weird, yet enjoyable mix.  I will give the studio props on one thing, the animation to real life conversion effects are kind of cool, I guess.  Smurf Village is also cool to look at.  Otherwise, the story is very stupid and you are pretty much in a state of mind of saying to yourself, what in Sam's heck is going on right now?  It was like watching the worst edition of  a Marx Brothers film.  The antagonist, Gargamel shows no way of trying to be the bad guy in this film.  He has no way of trying to show that he is the bad guy in this film.  Also, Gargamel's stupidity is something that bothered me the entire film.  So basically, if your really bored or have absolutely nothing to do watch this film, I guess?  Maybe, just watch re-runs of Tom and Jerry instead?

Rating - 2/5

Meeting with Logan Lerman

The other day I saw star actor from Percy Jackson, Logan Lerman.

2 Guns Stars Meetup with Mark Wahlberg & Denzel Washington

                                            Here I am with Mark Wahlberg.

                          

                                         Here I am with Denzel Washington.

Blue Jasmine - Review

The other night I saw "Blue Jasmine," a film done none other than the legendary director, Woody Allen.  Not to mention, I was highly excited to see it because my favorite actor Alec Baldwin was in it. However, the story is very interesting, yet hard to relate to as it revolves around a psychotic woman and her sister with their struggles.  The story at times is very hard to follow between the many relationships going on and the instant changes of the setting making you clueless throughout the film.  The acting though was superb on all counts with the use of highly under-rated actors.  Cate Blanchett steals the show in her performance and it was absolutely remarkable for this role.  Her performance could definitely land an Academy Award nomination, heck it's never to early to consider.  We have to see the competition down the road, but she could possibly win one with this acting in this film.  I was totally wowed by her role as she went beyond what the script says.  I definitely recommend going to see this film and the story and acting will really blow you away.

Rating - 3/5

What Lies Ahead

I hope to have a few more film reviews up for you guys within the next few days....depends on the timing I have and what is around to see currently in theaters.

I am considering doing reviews on older films as film.

Recommend some in that comment section below and maybe I'll review it just for you.

Cheers!

Championship Team Pose with the Jonas Brothers

Jeter's Returning Tomorrow

Great news after a tough loss against the Rays from New York Yankees skipper, Joe Girardi that Derek Jeter has been cleared to play in tomorrow's matinee against the Tampa Bay Rays.

This worries me in a way for Jeter to come back so sudden and I am shocked no further rehab was needed for him.  I suppose the personnel can only be careful with Jeter playing tomorrow and hope for the best.  Jeter is not only the captain or "Mr. November," he is a trooper who wants to get back out there and help the team.  The Yanks could use his bat in the lineup ASAP considering Ivan Nova's heroic performance in today's loss due to the lack of run support.  Cheers Derek see you out there!!

The trading deadline is up and around in a few days.  Let's see what happens!

Alfonso Soriano Returning to Pinstripes!!!

Yesterday morning, I checked out Twitter on my phone to very exciting news that Alfonso Soriano was traded back to the Yankees.

It really makes me wonder what is going to happen with Alex Rodriguez being under this controversial period of time.  He's a mess if you ask me.

Wolverine - Review

Last night, I went into "Wolverine" not knowing what to expect considering I saw the previews only a few times.  This film has a very bizarre story line but it is unique in a way to follow along with.  During this film you were asking many questions to yourself during it about the characters and their relationships which I thought was annoying in a way.  The movie's setting takes place in Japan and their were times where Japanese was being spoken and the subtitles were not shown which I disliked.  Also, I saw this movie in 3-D and it made no difference what so ever as I watching the movie I questioned to myself "why do I have these glasses on?" Hugh Jackman's performance as Wolverine was mediocre in my view and I think his time as this role is coming to a close.  Heck, he hasn't played this role in nearly 10 years.  The action scenes and the actions of Wolverine were very cool to watch during the movie. I really appreciated how Wolverine's character always succeeded and never failed to give up in any circumstance. The length of this film was just about a right finish I thought as well.  I definitely do recommend this film as it is one of the better ones that have come out this summer.  Save your few extra bucks and watch it in a 2-D format.

Rating - 3.5/5

Pitching with the Jonas Brothers

Last night I saw the Jonas Brothers again and we were recruited by the New York Yankees as well.

Mike Tyson's Undisputed Truth - Review

When you hear the name Mike Tyson these days, you think of the bite incident with Evander Holyfield, boxing greatness, Broadway, and movies.  Here in the "Undisputed Truth", Mike Tyson brings his entire life and these aspects of his life in full circle in his one man show which played at the Imperium Theater last week in NYC while filming the show for a HBO special.  The show had a very good, cut length of a little under two hours but during the show I had trouble understanding and hearing what Mike was saying do to the lowness of the volume in the theater required to film the special.  That was upsetting for me because I wanted to hear everything Mike said.  The introduction of a mixture of music and his entrance to the show was very cool.  He started off talking about his childhood being involved in lots of crime and moving around a lot.  It was remarkable to see lots of images of him growing up and into his boxing career on the back screen.  I found it so amazing at how he overcame many things as a youngster to become the successful fighter he became.  It was also interesting to see how he shared his personal feelings and regrets that he had amongst his family members with no sweat.  He got emotional at times, but broke through and stuck out the show with ease.  Mike also had you cracking up hysterically the entire show because he found a way to break his negatives with laughs which is very hard to do.  The show goes on and on about his career and his stand/views on what he accomplished and was interesting to see the one great fighter tell it all.  This is a show to watch to show to many different audiences who will definitely appreciate Tyson's show.  Keep an eye out for it on HBO!

Rating - 3/5

Here I am with "Iron" Mike Tyson.

Jonas Brothers Concert at Jones Beach - Review

The other night at Jones Beach, the weather held up and I saw my good pals, The Jonas Brothers in concert.  The show was pretty good in general, but I think the set could have had a few more addition of songs, the show appeared to be very quick.  Nick, Kevin, and Joe all seemed very in tuned with their fans and connected as much as possible with the audience.  It was enjoyable to see them do a rendition of Frank Ocean's "Thinking About You" to introduce their similar new work.  The old songs are the old songs and are good tunes.  The new music is more intense and goes very in detail about real life situations and personal awareness.  The new music is one of the best things I have heard in a long time, the sound and lyrics are very modern day.  For a band, who was known for writing about being drawn to girls and writing about ordinary situations, their music has really transformed.  It was also great to see the lead singer, Joe Jonas play on the piano and guitar.  There are absolutely no flaws with their new material and the amount of time they spent on this work was well worth it.  Their new song "What Do I Mean To You" is no pop song, it is a modern alternative rock song.  I cant wait to hear more like this on their upcoming album, "V - Five." It was so cool to see Nick Jonas' introduction for the opening song of "First Time."  With Nick, I am very interested to see what he does down the road because from the introduction to their opener, you'd think he was Slash or Joe Perry or opening up on guitar.    Heck he even seemed like Springsteen opening up.  Cheers Nick!  This was a very enjoyable show to watch and I am shocked how much this band has changed their music and did such a successful job at doing so.  Go see them on tour as soon as you can!  These guys put on some show, their new material will blow you away.

Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas

Joe and Kevin Jonas performing. 

Nick Jonas performing.

 Here I am with all 3 Jonas Brothers.

Turbo - Review

Finally, this summer I found an animated film I actually really enjoyed.....in "Turbo."  The film revolves around an ordinary plot of a hopeful snail who has every desire to be competing against race cars.  One day, this power is granted to him and he goes on about it.  Turbo, the main character was an intriguing character to watch which was enjoyable by showing so much desire to stride to be what he wants, not what others told him to be.  This was very admirable.  The film was a good length of an hour and half with some good punch lines throughout the film.  I don't have many complaints or negative things to say about this film, it wasn't great or bad, it was just good.  The antagonist of the film is a huge plot twist which is interesting.  The film I also think was directed to demonstrate lessons for both children and adults about the real life as well.  Don't bother with Despicable Me 2, go see Turbo!

Rating - 3/5

Grown Ups 2 - Review

I had so many high expectations going into this film considering it had such a STAR-STUDDED cast with a history of great work in hilarious comedies.  The only humor of the film was shown in the previous trailers for the film.  The movie consisted of many farting, pooping, peeing, burping, and sneezing jokes which made the film highly sickening to watch and refrained me from laughing the slightest bit.  The lines that were supposed to be comedic didn't have me laugh and I thought they made this sequel a lot worse than the first film.  None of the stars in the film made me laugh and I thought they totally humiliated themselves for taking part and/or putting their name on this film.  The only stars I didn't mind in this film who were semi-watchable in this movie were Selma Hayek, David Spade, and Alexander Ludwig.  The rest of the cast made you want to leave the theater with their poor acting in this film.  I do not recommend this movie at all what so ever, if you brave yourself into watching it, bring a few bottles of vodka and some orange juice with you.  I hope actors like Adam Sandler or Kevin James can redeem their horrible performances in this film in their future works.  At this point of Sandler's career, I wonder what an actual Happy Gilmore or Billy Madison sequel would look like.  Between the Grown Ups series and Jack & Jill, these films aren't fulfilling the Sandler we all love and enjoy watching.

Rating - 1.5/5

Adam Sandler and I

Alexander Ludwig and I 

Kevin James and I

Orphans (Broadway Revival) - Review

This was one show I was dying to see considering my favorite actor, Alec Baldwin was in the Broadway revival. The story originally drawn out by Lyle Kessler is a heart warming and excellent piece of work that was really enjoyable to watch. The play was absolutely great because of it being a drama with many comedic lines thrown out in the play mainly by Baldwin’s character, Harold. Alec’s character had many great lines, however I thought he failed to deliver in a performance playing a Chicago mobster, his performance was not very convincing to say the least. On the other hand, the performances of Ben Foster (Treat) and Tom Sturridge (Philip) were absolutely remarkable and convincing. Foster in my opinion was snubbed from a Tony nominee. Foster delivered such a powerful use of anger in his acting which was very interesting to see as he was able to play a father figure to Philip in the show who struggles with a disability. Sturridge does a brilliant job of playing a young man with a disability and convinces you that he is disabled. His performance was the one that stole the show and could very well win a Tony for Best Supporting Actor. I left the show in such amazement of his performance. Sturridge who carries a British accent was able to cover it up so well, it was perfection. The one thing that bothered me was I thought the character’s all did not have much directed stage movement which I direct the problem at director, Dan Sullivan for. I thought the actor’s were deers in the headlights with the movements they made during the show. I also saw this poor movement in Sullivan’s directed show “Glengarry Glen Ross.” I think Sullivan has to work on this for future works. The other thing that bothered me was the lack of props used and the setting stayed the same the entire show with little changes made at intermission. I think in order to keep a show going on for an hour and fifty minutes in “Orphans” case, change is needed in the setting to keep an audience more enriched to what’s going on. Seeing actors perform with a same background can get very tiring. 

Rating – 3.5/5

Here I am with Baldwin backstage.

Here I am with Tom Sturridge.

Ben Foster and I.

Catch Up

Hope everyone is enjoying their week.

Tonight, I will be going to see "Grown Ups 2" and I shall have a review up tonight.

On a side note, I met Adam Sandler and Kevin James last night, the stars of that film.

Mainly, the MLB All-Star Game is coming up and Yankees star, David Robertson needs your help to get in to the game.

Vote him in the final voting circle!!!!

Best,

BP

White House Down - Review

Let me be completely honest, the title is what the movie is about, no surprises.  However, not only is the White House about to go into many tears, the President (Jamie Foxx) and Cale (Channing Tatum) daughter would be under a situation of being threatened as well.  The story is very hard to relate to and is impressive to watch.  I was really wowed by this movie’s originality, acting by Tatum and Foxx, and the heavy use of action.  This movie was a bit length as well, but every second had you drawn to the screen from the very beginning.  I cannot say many bad things about this film.  This is the movie to bring the few buddies to see this weekend.  If I had the time to, maybe I’d see this film again.  However, there are two plot twists in this film which are very shocking and the one at the end is really the big shocker.  Not going to say anymore, but go see this film.  It was a really fun one to watch, just use the bathroom before going into this two and half hour extravaganza.  

Rating - 3.5/5

Here I am with Channing Tatum.

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain - Review

Going in to this film, I was not really sure what to expect, but i was going to let the film ride out and see what it brings.  I will first add I am a huge fan of Kevin Hart and I was highly anticipating on watching this film.  The beginning they show Hart and his friends at a party and how he is determined to play Madison Square Garden in front of 30,000 people.  Hart has no reason not to play there, he’ll crack all 30,000 up in a heartbeat.  Then, they show how he has become such an heroic icon throughout the world through his comedic acts.  They then proceed to his show at MSG which had me cracking up about 90 percent of the set.  He kept going on and on and on with his great sense of humor.  The only thing that bothered me was you never knew when he was finished with a segment of jokes and he kept rambling on with different jokes.  Also, I felt he was only relating the jokes to his life and not with general concepts of the world.  I think his sense of humor in the film could only relate to a man who has had problems with his wife or struggles raising kids.  They also showed at the end his reaction after performing the Garden and exploring his personal life.  The one thing I did not enjoy was the tons of cockiness he demonstrated throughout this part of the film.  Cockiness is something I am not a fan of and made me dislike the film a tad.  If they cut the film after his set at the Garden, I might have had a better result of the film.  All in all, it was a great humored film and I’d recommend it highly.  If you can’t afford a live comedy show, this is the best to get your hands on.  

Rating - 3.5/5

The Heat - Review

First off from seeing the trailer I believe 1.1 million times in theater, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the film will probably be like from those trailers.  Surprisingly, I found myself a tad wrong and was in for a different ride during the film.  The plot and story was very much just a “good cop, bad cop” story, nothing special.  But it was original, might i add.  However, Melissa McCarthy absolutely stole the show with her astonishing actions and humorous acts during the film.  She is one actress I love, love, love watching.  She is a character.  Between this and “Identity Thief” which sucked, she has become the white female version of Madea in these few films.  I LOVE IT.  I am a big Madea fan, oh heller.  However, Sandra Bullock is quite a good looking cougar, but her performance in this film was very boring to watch.  She appeared to be very much a typical ordinary cop who had tactics to be a good cop, but was very annoying and dragged out her dialog and actions to slowly.  I was impressed with the plot twist at the end of this film.  I won’t discuss anymore.  If this film, didn’t have Melissa McCarthy in it, it probably would have gotten a much lower grade in my book.  Also, the film’s length of roughly two hours, i thought was a little to much and needed to be cut by about 15 minutes.

Rating - 2.5/5

Melissa McCarthy and I

Despicable Me 2 - Review

So the first Despicable Me, I absolutely loved and enjoyed.  It was one I could watch over and over again.  However, Despicable Me 2, I don’t think can follow in the footsteps.  The plot/storyline could have used some work, but it was well enough to follow through with for this film.  The antagonist or villain of the film had no motive to follow through in his procedures to beat the protagonist.  If I saw the antagonist in a bar, I would not be afraid of him at all, let’s put it that way.  His motives showed low ability to carry through on them the entire film.  The only thing that made this sequel enjoyable to watch were the Minions who are downright hysterical to watch by their actions and dialogs amongst each character.  They are truly a pleasure to watch aside from Gru of course.  This film could have been so much better, but between this and “Monsters University”, animated sequels this summer have sucked.

If you haven’t seen the original “Despicable Me,” watch that one and can the idea of watching the sequel.

Rating - 2.5/5

Here I am with Mirada Cosgrove, star of the film.

The Lone Ranger - Review

Going in to this film, I was not expecting the most out of it considering the average previews released for it.  I’ll start off that Johnny Depp absolutely stole the show in this film and did such a great job of playing Tanto.  His superb acting and character really makes the stupid plot semi enjoyable.  The plot is pretty basic which bothered me a tad, a typical wife and kid are in trouble and they need to be rescued.  Imagine this going on for two and half hours, yeah…..hand over that bottle of tequila to me.  Heck make it two bottles.  The length of the movie really was way to long.  Reminded me of “D’Jango Unchained” going on and on.  Armie Hammer who played the Lone Ranger was not a good fit for this role, he appeared to be very skittish and doofy for the role.  It was like throwing Andrew Garfield or Jesse Eisenberg into this role, no Social Network pun intended.  His acting was poor and i thank god Johnny Depp stole the show from him, otherwise this movie could have felt like 6 hours with Hammer’s performance.  The plus of this movie aside from Depp’s great performance, were the visual effects and action sequences.  Both were truly great and a pleasure to watch.

Rating - 2.5/5

Monsters University - Review

This was another summer film i had high hopes for, but it failed to meet them as I absolutely loved the original Monsters, Inc film from 2001.  The plot/story was very ordinary and did not appeal to me in any way.  The story was basically like the Internship just with monsters in it.  I also didn’t like how at the beginning they didn’t try to revive or start it from the previous film to flash back to the younger years of Mike and Sully.  Most of the characters added in this film were not interesting and didn’t have much charisma as the first film did.  From, Cars 2 to this sequel, proves to me that Disney and Pixar highly lack in creativity for sequels of their decently done hit films.  Save your money folks and bring the family to see Superman or Epic instead.

Rating - 2/5

Man of Steel - Review

This was the film I have been anticipating to watch for a while since previews for it were released.  Who couldn’t be excited to see the one and only Superman.  The story line was a pretty good one to use and the challenges Superman’s character faced were interesting.  Also, the chemistry amongst the characters were unique.  The action and settings used were also cool.  However, some of the fighting scenes were ones that went on for what seemed like hours.  It makes me believe with most action films they are focusing on only making the fighting scenes long.  Well if thats the case, the films should be put into soap operas instead.  This is one to watch and the film draws you right in.

Rating 3/5

Kinky Boots (Broadway Musical) - Review

Let me start off with the fact I am not a big musical fan what so ever.  However, Kinky Boots is probably the most talked about show of the season and won 6 Tony’s so I had to give the show a shot.  Might I say that was one of the better decisions I made in my life.  The sets, props, and costumes really stood out during the show and made it a pleasure to watch.  The acting was absolutely superb as Billy Porter and Stark Sands stole the show.  Porter plays a transgendered male who goes by the name of Lola and does a remarkable job in doing so.  Sands plays a young business man name Charlie who carries a heavy British accent while pursuing to draw the crowd’s attention to him.  The fellow cast did an excellent job and I couldn’t imagine one without this group of people.  The music used through the entire show was primarily club or soft rock music which was really enjoyable to jam along to during the show.  The music really followed along with the show very well.  The show’s story line was also a unique, yet interesting one to go along with.  It’s also great because the story is very hard to relate to and you constantly imagine and think what a crazy scenario is going on.  This show is probably one of the best Broadway shows I have seen in a while and it is a MUST SEE.  Go see it!

Rating - 5/5

Me and Stark Sands

Me and Billy Porter

The Internship - Review

So if your expecting a few laughs, you put Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson together in a film. I believe thats a fair way of doing it and thats exactly what happens in the recent film, The Internship.  The plot line was very predictable from the previews, but the few laughs allowed me to get over this.  Some things in the movie really bothered me such as the irrelevant projects that allowed the groups to compete for jobs at Google.  These irrelevant projects have nothing to do with Google what so ever.  Also, the way how they presented the interns as “Nooglers” really irked me in a way.  However, the movie is enjoyable to watch, but this is your typical Red Box rental movie.  Wait to go see Man of Steel instead this weekend, maybe?  Hopefully, that is a good one to watch, looks good.

Rating – 3/5

Run-In's in NYC

Yesterday, I was on an adventurous stroll through New York City visiting the Upper East Side and Central Park which was really nice.  I was roaming around Times Square, low and behold I run into Sofia Vergara who was promoting a wax figure at Maddam Tussaud’s and Neil Patrick Harris who was leaving Kinky Boots.  Strange world how some stars may be right near you.  This is why I love New York!

Sofia Vergara

Neil Patrick Harris

Epic - Review

Everywhere I went, I saw promotion for this movie so guess what….I gave in and saw it.  The movie is an animated film that revolves around a young female who turns into a smaller creature into the outside world and wishes to return back to her father in the real world.  The plot was very simple and very predictable from the previews which was very disappointing.  The story was also very basic and did not really draw me into the movie as much as I had desired to.  The only really great thing about this film were the amazing animation effects that made the film a joy to watch in a way.  The work done could definitely notch an Academy Award for Best Animated Film.  If you have the time, see it, otherwise it’s just your ordinary Netflix rental down the road.

Rating – 2.5/5

The Hangover: Part 3 - Review

The movie itself had many, many great pun lines and lots of laughs. That is probably why I enjoyed it, if it weren’t for that, it probably would have been a miserable hour and forty minutes. However, I didn’t understand the concept of this movie being called “The Hangover” as there is relatively no drinking involved what so ever in the film. There is one scene where Phil, Stu, and Alan go to a bar, but nothing major occurs. The plot of the film revolves around famed criminal mastermind, Leslie Chow who stole 42 million dollars from a drug lord, Marshall (John Goodman) as Marshall threatens to kill Phil, Stu, and Alan’s old mate, Doug if the money and Chow aren’t returned to him. I won’t give anything more than that. The film should have been called “Fending the Marshall” or “Another Mastermind of Leslie Chow.” It was really a disappointment that no hangover roll out story occurred like in the previous two films, in which I was looking forward to seeing a third rendition of. I guess maybe “The Hangover on Broadway” can handle that deja vu. However, on a plus side of the film, the additions of the roles and cameos of Mike Epps, Melissa McCarthy, and John Goodman made the movie a tad more pleasurable. I guess if your down for a good laugh one night, check this film out. Don’t expect any good story aside from seeing another dilemma caused by the mastermind of Leslie Chow.

My rating – 3/5

Here I am with Bradley Cooper (Phil)

Here I am with Jeffrey Tambor (Sid Garner)

The Great Gatsby - Review

This film is probably one of the most anticipated films of the summer and rightly should be. The story comes from the great piece of literature from F. Scott Fitzgerald revolving around a wealthy and enriched individual named, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). The movie itself has quite a few flaws in comparison to the book, but aren’t all book to movie story lines, like that? If you didn’t read the book, I don’t think your missing out on much. The film was a length two and half hours, but it really does drawer your attention as you become fascinated with character of Jay Gatsby who holds many big parties, dresses with great attire, and comes from old money. It is amazing to see such an intriguing character like this. DiCaprio really does steal the show with his performance. Throughout, the film you ponder on a fact if Gatsby is a ghost or not. The acting all around was very well except for the performance of Joel Edgerton in which I thought his performance was very hard to watch due to the poorness in the way he presented his character. I thought throughout the film is character’s tone of voice changed a lot and was very boring to watch on the screen. I think Edgerton needs more acting classes under his belt. However, in comparison to the book, I felt the film was stretched out a little to long in the description of the many events that occur in the story. The one thing that really did fascinate me was the presentation of the setting in the early 1920′s, the filmography was absolutely stunning and was a joy to watch on the screen, convincing me for the two and half hours I was in the time period before the Great Depression. The one thing that discouraged me about the film was the use of modern day hip hop and rap used in the background of most of the film. The time period is the 1920′s not 2013 unfortunately, it irked me in many ways, this concept. If your going to do a film, maybe use some jazz or blues which was very popular at the time. Overall, the movie was very enjoyable to watch and if you see it in 3D or 2D, I don’t know if it will make a difference much, but its a must watch. If you have the time to only see one film out, see Gatsby.

Rating – 4/5