Lessons Learned from The Other Woman

The Other Woman (2014)

(PG-13)

Imagine that you have met what you think just might be the perfect man.  He’s handsome.  He’s a successful businessman.  He loves to wine and dine you.  And let’s not forget the physicality of the relationship, if you know what I mean. Oh…and he’s married…to someone else!  Oh snap!  Now what…..  This is where the story of the other woman comes in.

I don’t typically go see comedies but thought I would give this one a chance.  I admit that I was skeptical before seeing it.  Most of the comedies seem to be more on the stupid humor side than the funny humor side in my opinion.  And frequently the trailer for the movie includes EVERY funny scene so I’m disappointed when I see the movie and there’s nothing else funny in it.  This movie however, did NOT disappoint!  I can’t remember the last time I laughed this hard at a movie.  At least twice I was laughing so hard I was crying and I probably missed at least two minutes of the movie in the middle because I was laughing so hard I couldn’t open my eyes.

The movie stars Cameron Diaz as Carly Whitten who is a successful attorney with a very handsome boyfriend, Mark King (played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).   While trying to surprise him she discovers that he is actually married.  Leslie Mann plays the devoted, stay-at-home wife, Kate King.  The two form an unlikely sisterhood (after several hilarious missteps) and soon learn that Mark is involved in yet another relationship with the blonde bombshell Amber (played by Kate Upton).  The three join forces to plot revenge on the three-timing Mark and the shenanigans that transpire are absolutely hilarious.

Don Johnson is also in the movie playing Frank, the dad to Cameron Diaz’ Carly, while Nicki Minaj plays her (somewhat annoying) secretary Lydia.  Taylor Kinney plays Phil, the brother to Leslie Mann’s Kate…a mighty fine looking brother I might add.  As for the dog Thunder, I could go on and on about him!  He is a beautiful black & white spotted Great Dane who is uncontrollable but you can't help but to find him lovable AND laughable!  

While the movie has received some negative reviews from “real” movie critics I have to give it a 2-thumbs up review myself!  I’m VERY hard to please when it comes to comedies and I found this one hilarious. 

And as an added bonus you can learn some great lessons on what to do if you are ever in this situation. I’m thinking these tips could also apply to some other situations also. 

·         Identify the problem and join forces.

·         Do your research.

·         Formulate a plan and stay organized.

·         Get the gadgets the pros use.

·         Survey your target.

·         Disguise yourself.

·         Always lend support where needed.

The Other Woman (2014) – my rating: A+

Check out the movie’s official page here: http://theotherwomanmovie.com/

Check out the trailer here: http://youtu.be/BlHMHLuJWbo

Dallas Buyers Club ~ Dare to Live

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
(Rated R)

Finally…I have watched Dallas Buyers Club!  I typically watch movies with this kind of hype when they are initially released but for one reason or the other I wasn’t able to watch this one until now.  Sometimes when a movie has received as much attention as this one I find myself disappointed because it doesn’t live up to the hype.  Not this time.  I could just simply say WOW…but this film deserves so much more.

The film was inspired by a true story.  Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of films say that…but this one really was.  In 1992 journalist Bill Minutaglio wrote an article entitled “Buying Time” that appeared in Dallas Life Magazine.  The article discusses how Dallas became a center of the black market in unapproved AIDS drugs and the role that Ron Woodroof played in that.  You can read the article here: http://buyersclubdallas.com/

Hollywood became interested in the story and after several failed attempts finally made this film that took the movie industry by storm.  The movie is set in the late ‘80s and focuses on the story of Ron Woodroof (played by the fabulous Matthew McConaughey).  Woodroof is an electrician, a bull rider, a hustler, a heavy smoker, a drug user (particularly cocaine), and a lover of casual sex.  He’s also a racist and homophobic.  His world changes dramatically when he is diagnosed as HIV-positive and given an estimated 30 days to live.  Woodroof is initially in denial of his impending demise because he doesn’t think there is any way he could have a disease that seems to be targeting homosexuals. 

HIV and AIDS were new to many in this time period and the medical industry certainly didn’t have all the answers (or were keeping them to themselves).  After his health deteriorates more while taking high doses of AZT Woodroof began researching other treatment options.  In an effort to extend his life he ended up obtaining drugs from Mexico from a doctor who had previously had his license revoked in the US.  His health improves on the new drug regimen of ddC and peptite T and he soon realizes that he can make money by importing the drugs and selling them to other HIV-positive patients.  This led him to starting the Dallas Buyers Club – a membership only club where members were provided drugs and treatment free of charge in return for their membership dues – along with the help of Rayon (played by Jared Leto), a HIV-positive transsexual who he had met while previously in the hospital.  The movie continues to explore the relationship between these unlikely friends, the effects of HIV on their lives and those around them, as well as the effects of government regulations and pharmaceutical companies on the medical industry.

The cast of this movie is phenomenal!  Unless you have been living under a rock you have probably at least heard of some of the numerous well deserved awards bestowed on the cast and crew in recent months.  During awards season there wasn’t much said about Denis O’Hare who played Dr. Sevard with only slightly more attention to Jennifer Garner who played Dr. Eve Saks, however both of their performances were excellent – especially Garner’s.  The performances of Jared Leto as Rayon and Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof were absolutely awesome!  I had seen many clips before watching the entire movie so I had an idea of how great they were in the movie, but was just blown away at their transitions.  They were so effective in portraying these characters that it was easy to forget who they really were. 

I frequently disagree with who the acting awards are given too…but not in this instance.  The awards earned by Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey were well deserved.  And the speeches given by them were fantastic.  If you did not watch the Oscars and missed their acceptance speeches (or just want to see them again) I urge you to check them out.

Jared Leto’s acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor can be seen here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCtch3DzLRs&feature=share&list=PLJ8RjvesnvDNF36HHQ0mRqDgEnLvTXnzO&index=1

Matthew McConaughey’s acceptance speech for Best Actor can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD2cVhC-63I&feature=share&list=PLJ8RjvesnvDNF36HHQ0mRqDgEnLvTXnzO&index=25

Also check out the official site for Dallas Buyers Club here: http://www.focusfeatures.com/dallas_buyers_club/overview

While this movie may not seem like the most uplifting film at first glance I challenge you to look deeper at it and deeper at yourself.  Where do your thoughts lie concerning the AIDS epidemic?  How would you feel if you or someone close to you tested HIV-positive?  What measures would you take to save or extend your life or that of someone close to you?   In the words of Matthew McConaughey…This film was never about dying.  It was always about living.  So just keep living…   

Dallas Buyers Club (2013) - my rating: A+

(Matthew McConaughey’s Just Keep Livin foundation can be found here: http://www.jklivinfoundation.org/)

Spidey Sense

The Amazing Spider-man 2 (2014)
(PG-13)

Spidey Sense

This past weekend was the release of the Amazing Spider Man 2 and it certainly had a good opening weekend with an estimated $92 million earned.  As I’m sure you would suspect I contributed to that $92 million.  My husband and I, along with our friend Holly, saw this second chapter in the reboot at our favorite local theater, The Grand - Pier Park, and we were not disappointed. 

I love movies (and TV shows) based on comic books and typically see them during the opening weekends, frequently on opening night.  This particular genre offers exactly what I look for in any film: entertainment and escapism.  With Marvel and DC alike I can always expect lots of fun scenes sprinkled with just the right amount of “real life” to make it engaging and entertaining as well just the right amount of cheesy humor thrown in.

The newest version of Spider Man stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker.  Prior to seeing him in the first one I was curious on how he would do in this role.  Now I know that he is the perfect choice and look forward to seeing him don the red and blue tights at least one more time.  Emma Stone is the perfect Gwen Stacy and has excellent chemistry with Garfield.  I’m sure part of this is the fact that they are a “real life” couple; however I suspect they would work well together regardless.  And I absolutely love Sally Field as Aunt May.  Is there anything that Field can’t do?

This particular film had several villians, in particular Electro, Rhino, and the Green Goblin.  Electro was played by the always electrifying Jamie Foxx.  Foxx did a great job with his transition from the nerdy version of Max Dillion to the confused but dangerous villain Electro.  Paul Giamatti played The Rhino.  While The Rhino is from the comic books it really wasn’t of any particular interest to me.  I do think that Paul Giamatti did a fine job in his portrayal though.  I was however very intrigued with Dane DeHaan’s portrayal of Peter Parker’s childhood friend Harry Osborne and the Green Goblin.  I have seen DeHaan in a few other things before and definitely consider him a rising star.  He sort of reminds me of a young Leo DiCaprio crossed with a young Brad Pitt and his eyes are amazing!  He had great chemistry with Garfield also.  It was easy to think of them as childhood friends.

I watched the movie in 3D and was pleased with the effects.  I’m not a huge 3D fan as most often I am disappointed in how the effects turn out and feel it is usually not worth the extra cost for the ticket.  From Spidey swinging through the air on his webs to cars overturning to a dramatic story changing fall the effects in this movie were perfect for 3D.

I will have to say that I think the first Spiderman in this series was better, however this one was definitely worth watching.  And it definitely makes me excited to see the next one.  I recommend this movie to anyone that loves the comic book genre – and don’t forget to stay for the scene during the credits.

You can find the official trailer here: http://youtu.be/DlM2CWNTQ84

The Amazing Spider Man 2 (2014) – my rating: B+

Pinterest Obsession

Are you familiar with Pinterest?  If not you should be!  I was told about Pinterest by my youngest daughter.  My first question to her…What does that name even mean?  It’s actually really simple – it’s a place where you “pin” your “interest”. Get it?  Pin + interest = Pinterest.  Genius!

The pins are visual bookmarks for things you find on Pinterest or elsewhere on the Internet.  Each user creates boards to collect their pins by theme or topic.  Boards can be “followed” by other users and continually added to.  You can even make a private board that other users can’t see unless you allow them to.  I haven’t tried the private board yet but think I might soon as this could be a great place to pin some research ideas for a project I’m working on.

I initially created boards for recipes I found that looked like something I might want to try or for recipes I wanted to share with others.  My board quickly filled up to the point where I needed several different recipe boards.  The awesome thing about having my recipe boards is they create a virtual cookbook that is awesome when I am drawing a blank on something to make for dinner or needing a tasty party treat.  Each pin links back to the site where the actual recipe is located making it a snap to get the information.  And the fact that my pin is a visual image of the recipe makes it even easier to make a decision.

Seeing how much I loved to pin recipes I expanded to holidays (I have about 10 different Halloween boards), crafts, TV and Movie interests, and we can’t forget about the Eye Candy board.  I even made a board while planning for our recent trip to Washington, DC to include some of the things I wanted to see or sites to return to while actually on the trip.  And it is an awesome place for “virtual hoarding”.  I can pin all the things I want to and they aren’t taking up any room in my real world – that is until I actually buy or make the item.  As of this post I have 130 different boards containing 7,589 pins.  I think maybe I have a Pinterest obsession.  J

While I am only pinning things that interest me it’s always a thrill when someone starts following one (or all) of my boards and especially when they re-pin something I have pinned.  It’s nice to know that someone else is interested in the same things I am – especially particular fandoms (hello Supernatural, Sherlock and The Walking Dead!).  And there is always a good joke to be found or a good motivational quote to pick me up.

Earlier this week I received a message from Pinterest letting me know that one my boards had been picked to be one of the recommended boards for new Pinners to follow when they first sign up.  I don’t know which board it was but I think it’s awesome that Pinterest chose any of them to showcase at all.  It was almost like getting a reward for doing something I already enjoyed doing.

If you haven’t tried Pinterest yet check it out: www.pinterest.com.

You can find my boards at: www.pinterest.com/melaniemalone.

Happy Pinning!