Switching From Stars to Letters

I've made the decision to switch from the star rating to a letter grading system. Some things just aren't worthy and it's getting too hard to decide. Plus, Entertainment Weekly uses letters, so I might as well get used to it.

Beck is Back and Just Okay

I was a little excited for Beck's new album Modern Guilt's release. And the other day I finally gave it a listen. I adore the cover art by the way, but it's so unlike his usual technicolored ones.

What I did like was how "Beck-y" (that's a hell of an adjective, I know) it sounds; he stayed very true to himself. All the songs have his signature calm-coolness and light melodrama stamped on them, but even with that, most aren't too eventful.

It's certainly easy listening music, per usual, but of course, none will ever live up to "Loser"s amazingness. I liked the opening track "Orphan" and a few others, but found the title song "Modern Guilt" strangely aggressive.

I won't be purchasing this one, but if you're a fan, by all means, give it a listen.

A Great Night with The Dark Knight

I know I should have written this earlier (of course I saw it opening weekend), but I just couldn't decide how to go about it.

Superhero, comic book-esque films aren't (typically) much to my liking, but this one has certainly redefined the genre.

I doubt, and am nearly sure, there has never been such a well-acted and beautifully crafted adaption of this type. The film is perfectly rounded (just how I like my movies; when you, the audience, are gracefully brought from point A to point B) and easily holds the audiences attention; not to mention, it's very beautiful to look at, with glorious special effects. Director Chris Nolan was able to pull off a dark, deceptive, and natural tale between the characters, without making it look forced or overdone.

I obviously have to speak of Heath's performance which was simply glorious. To me, an Oscar-worthy performance is when the viewer cannot separate the actor from the character; this is what his performance was, whole-heatedly- pure acting in it's most simple and complex forms. And it may or may not have caused his downfall.

Overall, I'd recommend it to anyone and would be eager to see it again.

10,000 BC Makes You Want to Stay in 2008

I was really looking forward to this movie. I really and truly was; I even wanted to see it in the theatre, but because of the not-so-shining reviews I decided to pass. And let me tell you- the critics were right. It was horrible, just horrible. But let me go over the [very few] positives- the two main stars were well cast (hottie Steven Strait-who has his shirt off the whole time- and the eternally, ethereal beauty Camilla Belle), the acting overall wasn't bad; pretty good score; and visually, it was stunning. Now for the negatives- poor story; poor dialogue; but what annoyed me the most was that the music was too loud to hear the narration (which was spoken in a rough, indistinct voice) and the narration told the entire story. Overall, I would not recommend it to anyone because I couldn't even explain what it's about; half of the time as you're watching you don't know what the hell is happening! I'm very disappointed because it had the potential to be very, very good and just let me down completely.

Get (Not All That) Smart

To begin with, I never really had any interest in seeing this comedy, so I was bound not to fully enjoy it. Moving on; for a film in general it wasn't too, too shabby. But for a '60s television adaption, it really wasn't that good. It lacked a strong plot; you're is never told exactly why they're trying to save the world- scratch that- save the U.S. government. Nor are you ever shown or told just how Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) falls for Max (Steve Carrell), considering she appears to hate him for more than half of the time. (And while we're mentioning actors, the one thing I whole-heartedly liked about it was the phenomenal casting and acting). But, to top off a loose plot, I found the jokes and humor to be not particularly hysterical. What still has me confused is how 75% of the humor is geared towards youngsters and yet there's a bounty of intense action and sexual references to go along with the PG-13 rating. All in all, I was left slightly puzzled and as if I'd wasted my $8. My advice- wait for it to arrive via Netflix.

Consider How Great Kathy Griffin Is

If your'e an avid Kathy Griffin fan, such as I, you've probably seen her show My Life on the D-List. This past week on the show she went to the small town of Tracy, California to record her comedy album For Your Consideration. And in true Griffin style the only reason of doing this is to try and get a Grammy to go along with her Emmy win.

So yesterday I listened to the album which was just released last week (yes, there's been a ton of awesome releases this week- Katy Perry and Coldplay), and was pretty happy with what I heard. As always, there's just the right amount of language to elevate Kathy's amusingly absurd celebrity run-ins. But I found the jokes to be just funny, not hilarious, but I think that's just because I've seen all her specials (twice) on TV and, obviously, because it's recorded you lose her goofy gestures and expressions which always add to the comedy. But overall, it's not to shabby, and I'd be willingly listen to it again.

Click here to buy For Your Consideration.

Katy Perry Has the Power to Turn You Gay

Whoa. This gal is blowing me away. To go over statistics, her single I Kissed a Girl is #2 on iTunes (behind Coldplay's Violet Hill) and is #1 on Rhapsody (Coldplay's #2). Katy's album was just released on Tuesday, though I can guarantee you it won't score the top spot on Billboard (that title will probably go to the previously mentioned Brit boys), but I definitely think she'll gain momentum in the coming weeks. Anyway, on with the review...

So, I clicked play and was expecting to be satisfied with what I heard. But I was way more than satisfied. I liked every song- yes, every single song. What also surprised me was the mix of high and low tempos and how the CD plays as if it's a movie soundtrack. The tunes all sound like hits and would make music videos just as fab as her current burlesque-inspired one (it may just bring Dita von Teese to tears of joy). My favorites would have to be: Waking Up in Vegs, Self Inflicted, Hot N Cold, and I'm Still Breathing.

Not to mention, she's a total Glam Eccentric; this gal has all the right things that can take her to the top, while staying indie at the same.

~~~

To buy One of the Boys click here:

http://www.target.com/dp/B0017ZB8M6/sr=1-3/qid=1213921828/ref=sr_1_3/602-6705212-6583002?ie=UTF8&index=target&field-original-keywords=katy%20perry&rh=k%3Akitty%20purr&page=1

Coldplay's New Album is Just Warm

Hmmm, I've really been looking forward to Coldplay's highly anticipated Viva la Vida. I even featured it in June Musts. But, as I listened, I could certainly hear the classic Coldplay-ish themes and soft rocking, but I wasn't super impressed. What threw me off mostly was the lack of lyrics- the first track Life in Technicolor doesn't have any words, but the other 9 songs have soft vocals. The only songs that wowed me were Violet Hill, Viva la Vida, and Death and All His Friends (which is a cross between Fix You and Speed of Sound) But, if your a huge fan of the Brit boys, then don't let this stop you from buying it; I'm pretty sure it'll debut at number 1 on Billboard, anyway.

Viva la Vida is avaibible now at Target:

http://www.target.com/dp/B000RPTQ1C/sr=1-5/qid=1213813656/ref=sr_1_5/602-6705212-6583002?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Acoldplay&page=1

Let Your Water Break with Baby Mama

I KNOW IT CAME OUT OVER A MONTH AGO!

Just to clear the air. Moving on, I was a little surprised at how much I ended up enjoying Baby Mama, considering my hate of romcoms (and babies). The only negatives were- it was totally predictable and had the usual 'emotional highs and lows' film structure. The positives- funny throughout (not hysterical, though), and a fab SNL alumni cast. Overall- cute.

Spend the Summer Reading (with Tiffany)

I read this biography last summer, and I'd like to start off by saying it's one of the most fabulous bios (if not novels in general) that I've ever read. The true (duh) story is stunning and dreamy; a college-aged girl in the '40s goes to live in NYC with her best friend for the summer and they end up landing dream jobs at Tiffany's (take in mind that this was before Breakfast at Tiffany's, so it wasn't a phenomenally popular store, just very high end). There's also a special section of tender photos of the author now and then, plus pics of some events in the book.

To Buy click here:
http://www.amazon.com/Summer-at-Tiffany-Marjorie-Hart/dp/0061189529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212713796&sr=1-1