Mortdecai: A Juvenile Romp Around the Art World

I don't know about you but I found the moustache of Mortdecai a bit irritating.  It does not do anything for Johnny Depp at all!  Except that he's still a very good actor with good comedic timing.  That weird looking moustache just looks gross to me!

Anyway, I watched Mortdecai today and I quite enjoyed it.  It was juvenile fun and I enjoyed the lavish sets and locations used by the movie.  Gwyneth Paltrow looks imposing and beautiful,  Paul Bettany looks mysterious and hot, Ewan McGregor looked hot to me even if he was wearing suits most of the time, and I think it was Olivia Munn who came out rather weird in her role as a vixen.  It's because I see her as that intelligent journalist in HBO's Newsroom, so to see her here in an unforgiving unfunny role, kind of vexed me!

It's very light comedy.  You can bring your family and your kids to watch it.  It would even be better if you just watch it at home! To save money on individual tickets and popcorn!

The Movie Birdman Asks: Does Hollywood Really Make Art?

It's kinda unbelievable that someone who directed Amores Perros, Babel, Biutiful, and 21 Grams - all bleak, depressing, philosophical, graphically violent, introspective films about real people - can come out with a funny, over-the-top, sarcastic take on Hollywood celebrity, artistic pretentiousness and human salvation - all in the crazy world of Broadway theater.

For this alone, Alejandro González Iñárritu, should win the Oscar Best Director award, even the DGA. It just shows what range of films he can do if given the right material.

When I watched this movie, I was sure the audience behind me were people who watch theater or are working in theater. The jokes come in very quick and fast and it would take someone familiar with the stage to understand why the writers have poked fun at the big egos and crazy requests of so-called artists - and to laugh at just the right moments.

My favorite line in the movie was said by one of my favorite actresses, Naomi Watts, when the character of Zach Galifianakis asked her, "Why do you know Mike Sniper?"

"We share the same vagina."

There's actually more funny lines, they just come in very fast that you'd have to listen and watch the scene quickly to understand the joke.

Also, if you're an Edward Norton fan, you have to watch this movie! It's not hard not to get turned on by him, like literally! I think this is his best work in a long time - and that he can do a dark comedy - is no surprise.

This is a movie that a lot in Hollywood would understand as the script just name names as it is - George Clooney (his part on the script is funny but sad), Farrah Fawcett and Robert Downey Jr. It's also the best script yet from any movie I saw last year. The Grand Budapest Hotel would be a close second.

It is also fitting that Michael Keaton plays this role because in the real world, he has played a superhero! Good luck to his Oscar chances as the acting academy has voted for Eddie Redmayne instead.

I've always loved Emma Stone and she does a great supporting job here. Her Truth or Dare scene here is both flirtatious and sad.

This is one of those movies that leave the audiences to decide on the ending. Well, there is an ending as you will see in Emma Stone's face - the director will just leave it to your imagination to think what it is.

Miss Colombia: Not Quite My Pick for Miss Universe 2015

When the first five candidates (of the top 10), came out with their evening gowns, I had a feeling our own candidate MJ Lastimosa was in trouble, and when she did come out, I think she was seventh, I knew she may not make it to the top 5, mainly because the first 5 girls who came out looked stunning in their gowns!

And true enough, except for the US, four out of the five Top 5 candidates were my picks!

I wasn't able to see the whole Q&A portion though (the judges' questions part) due to a bathroom break, but I saw the Facebook question.  That's why I am surprised with the judges' choice of choosing Colombia as Miss Universe.

If I were a judge, my vote would look like this -

Miss Universe - Jamaica
1st RU - Ukraine
2nd RU - Netherlands
3rd RU - USA
4th RU - Colombia

That's why when it was announced that Miss Jamaica was just 4th runner-up, I gasped along with the TV audience, and I'm not surprised that some of them even booed!

Oh well, pageants like this are hard to predict sometimes and it's not every year that my choice would be the same as the judges'.

American Sniper: A Reverent Depiction of A War Hero

I hate wars and it's sad that America has to be the world's policeman because many of their men (and women) have to sacrifice their lives to preserve their way of life and their beliefs.

So men like Chris Kyle are valuable to their country's efforts to be that world policeman. This time, in the movie version of American Sniper, they are in Iraq, just right after September 11, and this time, Kyle, played here in the movie by Bradley Cooper, is a sniper.  He is such a good sniper that in the movie, his colleagues call him a legend.  Also, in a poignant scene towards the end, a soldier comes to Bradley and tells him how grateful he was for saving his life.

Well, the movie is very well-executed and filmed, a thing that I'm not surprised since Clint Eastwood directed it.  Bradley Cooper is also amazing here - toning his characterization by a notch - and plays it with such reverence and respect to the memory of Chris Kyle, the war hero.

As for the debates about Kyle's role in America's war efforts there, I will just leave it to the Americans.  It's a very emotional issue and it's something that their country has to face as a nation - like they did in Vietnam.  But the movie, as a whole, is entertaining, and although I'm not a big fan of movies of this theme  - especially when they involve America's war in the Middle East, I am still eager to watch them if the material is done well and done intelligently.

Bradley Cooper Brings the Beef in American Sniper

While my friends were debating about the merits of Clint Eastwood's point of view in American Sniper, all I could think about was how hot Bradley Cooper was in the movie!  He had some shirtless scenes and boy, were his muscles bulging!  He certainly brings the beef into the role!

I'm not also surprised why he got an Oscar nomination for this role.  He played it with such reverence and machismo that really respected the legacy of Chris Kyle.  Kyle's family and children would be very pleased at the way Brad portrayed their father.