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Eat Pray Love With Julia Roberts: Movie Review

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MOVIE REVIEW.

  When I first heard that Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Eat Pray Love, was being adapted for film, the first thought that ran in my mind was, “How could that book be made into a movie?” The book seemed too big for a single movie. I thought, perhaps a mini-series could encapsulate all that is required to fully tell the whole tale, but not one movie. Also, for me, the most interesting parts of the book are Elizabeth’s honestly-raw yet oft-humorous introspections and thoughts and I just couldn’t imagine how thoughts could translate well on film without producing one hell of a dull movie.

When I found out Julia Roberts was cast as the main character of Elizabeth, my interest was piqued, so, I looked forward to seeing the movie despite my initial hesitation.

Eat Pray Love opens this Friday but I had the chance to view the film early at a screening tonight. As I had feared, Ryan Murphy’s film adaption of the book is flawed, at best. The short synopsis of my review before I give away spoilers is: You should not see this movie if you do not L-O-V-E Julia Roberts or if you have not read the book. As to the former, Julia is the only saving grace in this extremely prolonged movie–her natural charisma and charm are the only reasons I don’t say run and run fast away from this movie. But even she cannot make this movie good given its many flaws. As to the latter, if you have not read the book, you just won’t get what happens in the US, Italy and India. You all will probably enjoy the scenes in Bali, but then again, that doesn’t justify seeing the movie in its entirety.

(Spoilers ahead.) The parts of the book which made the reader relate to Elizabeth on any level are entirely absent on film. Gone is any explanation of the breakdown of the marriage between Elizabeth and her husband, Stephen (played by Billy Crudup) or the prolonged struggle Elizabeth experienced before abandoning her marriage. There is no mention of the fact that Stephen wanted to start a family and Elizabeth’s repulsion of the idea. There is no talk of both partners having witnessed the breakdown of Elizabeth into a “madwoman” or that they had been “fighting and crying” or that they had “the eyes of refugees.” They are simply shown as a normal couple, living the high life in NYC until Elizabeth decided to leave Stephen.

Also painfully absent is any intensity, addiction, passion or heartache experienced with her boyfriend, David (played by James Franco).  If you see the movie without having read the book, you will not understand why Elizabeth leaves this relationship either. She just looks like a shallow, pleasure-seeking, escapist.


Other major themes of the book are entirely stricken. You are never told that Elizabeth got an advance for her book and that is how she paid for the year-long trip or that she practiced celibacy on purpose on her trip to self-discovery.  Like the major events in the States, the ones in Italy and India are equally rushed and glossed over. What’s worse is that the movie lacked spirituality which is the underlying theme of the book.

At this point, I am running out of steam of how else to convince you that this movie is not very good – I think this movie sucked my energy. So, I will leave you with: See it if you love Julia or have read the book. Otherwise, go see something else.


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Fantasia Barrino Recovering After An Apparent Suicide Attempt

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All that is happening with Fantasia Barrino is heartbreaking. How does one go from such riches to rags in such a quick time? Six years ago, this single mother was on top of the world. She won American Idol‘s third season crown, had a highly successful CD and was living the dream. This week, Fantasia was rushed to a North Carolina hospital and currently being treated for an aspirin and sleeping pill overdose. An apparent suicide attempt.

Six years ago, Fantasia’s first single, I Believe, debuted at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, making history as the first artist to achieve this feat with a first single. Her debut album, Free Yourself was released in November 2004 and in its first week alone sold over 240,000 copies and later became platinum. The album also earned Fantasia four Grammy nominations. 

Also in 2004, Fantasia played herself in a Lifetime Television original film based on her autobiography, Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The film was a hit as 19 million viewers tuned in its debut weekend alone. 

Her second album, Fantasia, was released in 2005 and was eventually certified gold. In a surprising move, Fantasia stopped recording music and accepted the role of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple. But despite rave reviews, her career started to take a bit of a tumble. First, she hurt her vocal cords and missed several shows without telling people what the problem was. She was also dropped from her record label, 19 Entertainment based on creative differences.  To make matters worse, her home also fell into foreclosure in the middle of all of this although she was able to save it later.

Building on all of this trouble, last week, the media revealed that Fantasia had been named in a divorce law suit by a wife, claiming her marriage fell apart because Fantasia was involved with her now-estranged husband and that the two had even made a sex tape. This is where I think Fantasia had just too much to handle. The media frenzy must have put this 26-year old over the edge, and sadly, it looks like this mother tried to take her own life.  


John West Signs Record Deal with Mercury / Island Def Jam

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The world-famous Third-Street Promenade in Santa Monica is known for two things: Shops and talented unsigned street performers.  If you’ve walked the Promenade any time during the last four years, chances are, you have stopped in your tracks and been mesmerized by the soulful voice of one of those amazing street performers, John West only to then be charmed by his charismatic personality between songs.
For the past four years, this Louisiana-native has been doing what he calls the “Humble Hustle”: Performing with just his guitar days on end on The Promenade as a way to “share” his music with the 1000’s of passersby who would never have otherwise heard his music and to sell CDs and tickets to his venue shows.
I myself randomly found John’s music on John’s MySpace page back in the day when MySpace served as the gateway to finding great unsigned artists. I had never heard of John before, but fell in love with his music on the very first note delivered through my computer speakers.
A year later, and while on a trip to LA in 2007, I was at a gathering at the LA Baha’i Center and noticed a handsome, tall smiling guy walk in. I recognized him immediately from a far. This was definitely fate lending a hand in the making of a great friendship as John is not a Baha’i like I. But he happened to be there that night because he is one of the most open-minded and open-hearted people I have ever met; open to all kinds of experiences and people, so, he goes wherever he is invited and feels the love.
John gave me a couple of his CDs that night when he found out I was on a trip with none of my own music and we became good friends instantly and remained in close contact despite our distance. When I needed a performer for a youth-empowerment conference I used to plan in DC, it was John who flew out to perform, without hesitation. And for free. All to help a good cause. And when I could not make a decision on whether to move to LA or stay on the east coast, it was John who picked me up in his convertible while I was in LA for another visit and drove me to Malibu on the scenic Pacific Coast Highway–only to let me see where it was that my soul needed to be.
I tell you all of this so you know why I am so absolutely ecstatic and and proud of the announcement John West will be making today. An announcement for which he has been preparing for many years: He has just signed on to Mercury / Island Def Jam record label. You may have heard of some of their artists: Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Bon Jovi, The Killers, just to name a few. So, John will be in good hands and company.
How did this all come about after so many years of the Humble Hustle? John’s manager, Ben Ricciardi, had recently arranged for a showcase for John with Atlantic Records in New York, but it was Island Def Jam that stole John away. John met with Atlantic and several other labels while in NY, each of which had a hard time trying to categorize his sound. “Is John pop, blues or something else?” they asked.
While waiting to hear back from all those other lables, and as his last stop in NY, John met with British-born Dave Massey, the head of the Mercury Records division of Island Def Jam late on a Thursday night. John says about that meeting, “I love British people. They get it. They get that it’s about the music. Dave was the first record executive who got my music immediately-he wasn’t about categorizing my music; he just liked my voice and my songs and came up with a vision for how to proceed. He asked me to come in the next day to meet the rest of the label for what is called a ‘Same Day Signing.'”  A Day of Signing is when an artist comes in, showcases his music and is signed the same day. A recent artist who had a Same Day Signing with Mercury /Island Def Jam was Rihanna. Pretty amazing road to be on for John.
Needless to say, John is “excited!” He says giddily, “I couldn’t be more grateful.” When I asked him how things will change moving forward, he was quick to tell me: “Nothing has or will change. I am still the same person I was last week; the same 10-year old kid at heart. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Getting a record label deal is like running for office and winning the bid. Your job only starts with the win. I now have to get into the studio and write great songs.”
John already has a library of 40-50 songs. He will have to go through each and pick the ones he likes and make stylistic changes to fit his evolving sound. He describes his library to date as: “It’s just my voice and my guitar with a soulful sound, because that is who I am.” But recently, John wrote a pop song which will.i.am and Interscope Records loved and used to produce for another artist.
“Writing for another artist opened a whole new creative door for me and gave me an ear for a pop sound.” That experience also gave John the confidence to add a bit of pop into his already urban/soul sound and land somewhere in the middle. He describes his music now as “urban-pop-chill-feel good-love songs.”
John finished our chat by saying, “Now is not the time to rest. My team and I will collaborate together as a family but will have to hustle even harder; the ‘Humble Hustle’ continues.”
You can next find John playing August 28th at the Sunset Strip Music Festival with such acts as The Smashing Pumpkins, Common, Fergie, Slash, and my other good friend, Andy Grammer.
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John West Signs Record Deal with Mercury / Island Def Jam

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW.

  The world-famous Third-Street Promenade in Santa Monica is known for two things: Shops and talented unsigned street performers.  If you’ve walked the Promenade any time during the last four years, chances are, you have stopped in your tracks and been mesmerized by the soulful voice of one of those amazing street performers, John West, only to then be charmed by his charismatic personality between songs.
For the past four years, this Louisiana-native has been doing what he calls the “Humble Hustle”: Performing with just his guitar days on end on The Promenade as a way to “share” his music with the 1000’s of passersby who would never have otherwise heard his music and to sell CDs and tickets to his venue shows.
I myself randomly found John’s music on John’s MySpace page back in the day when I lived on the east coast and when MySpace served as the gateway to finding great unsigned artists. I had never heard of John before, but fell in love with his music on the very first note delivered through my computer speakers.
A year later, and while on a trip to LA in 2007, I was at a gathering at the LA Baha’i Center and noticed a handsome, tall smiling guy walk in. I recognized him immediately from a far. This was definitely fate lending a hand in the making of a great friendship as John is not a Baha’i like I. But he happened to be there that night because he is one of the most open-minded and open-hearted people I have ever met; open to all kinds of experiences and people, so, he goes wherever he is invited and feels the love.
John gave me a couple of his CDs that night when he found out I was on a trip with none of my own music and we became good friends instantly and remained in close contact despite our distance. When I needed a performer for a youth-empowerment conference I used to plan in Washington, DC, it was John who flew out to perform, without hesitation. And for free. All to help a good cause. And when I could not make a decision on whether to move to LA or stay on the east coast, it was John who picked me up in his convertible while I was in LA for another visit and drove me to the beach in Malibu by way of the scenic Pacific Coast Highway–only to let me see where it was that my soul needed to be.
I tell you all of this so you know why I am so absolutely ecstatic and and proud of the announcement John West will be making today. An announcement for which he has been preparing for many years: He has just signed a record deal with Mercury / Island Def Jam. You may have heard of some of their artists: Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Bon Jovi, The Killers, just to name a few. So, John will be in good hands and company.
How did this all come about after so many years of the Humble Hustle? John’s manager, Ben Ricciardi, had recently arranged for a showcase for John with Atlantic Records in New York, but it was Island Def Jam that stole John away. John met with Atlantic and several other labels while in NY, each of which had a hard time trying to categorize his sound. “Is John pop, blues or something else?” they asked.
While waiting to hear back from all those other labels, and as his last stop in NY, John met with British-born Dave Massey, the head of the Mercury Records division of Island Def Jam late on a Thursday night. John says about that meeting, “I love British people. They get it. They get that it’s about the music. Dave was the first record executive who got my music immediately-he wasn’t about categorizing my music; he just liked my voice and my songs and came up with a vision for how to proceed. He asked me to come in the next day to meet the rest of the label for what is called a ‘Same Day Signing.'”  A Same Day Signing is when an artist comes in, showcases his music and is signed the same day. A recent artist who had a Same Day Signing with Mercury /Island Def Jam was Rihanna. Pretty amazing road to be on for John.
Needless to say, John is “excited!” He says giddily, “I couldn’t be more grateful.” When I asked him how things will change moving forward, he was quick to tell me: “Nothing has or will change. I am still the same person I was last week; the same 10-year old kid at heart. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Getting a record label deal is like running for office and winning the bid. Your job only starts with the win. I now have to get into the studio and write great songs.”
John already has a library of 40-50 songs. He will have to go through each and pick the ones he likes and make stylistic changes to fit his evolving sound. He describes his library to date as: “It’s just my voice and my guitar with a soulful sound, because that is who I am.” But recently, John wrote a pop song for anther artist and he liked the experience.
“Writing for another artist opened a whole new creative door for me and gave me an ear for a pop sound.” That experience also gave John the confidence to add a bit of pop into his already urban/soul sound and land somewhere in the middle. He describes his music now as “urban-pop-chill-feel good-love songs.”
John finished our chat by saying, “Now is not the time to rest. My team and I will collaborate together as a family but will have to hustle even harder; the ‘Humble Hustle’ continues.”
You can next find John playing August 28th at the Sunset Strip Music Festival with such acts as The Smashing Pumpkins, Common, Fergie, Slash, and my other good friend, Andy Grammer.

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The world-famous Third-Street Promenade in Santa Monica is known for two things: Shops and talented unsigned street performers.  If you’ve walked the Promenade any time during the last four years, chances are, you have stopped in your tracks and been mesmerized by the soulful voice of one of those amazing street performers, John West only to then be charmed by his charismatic personality between songs.
For the past four years, this Louisiana-native has been doing what he calls the “Humble Hustle”: Performing with just his guitar days on end on The Promenade as a way to “share” his music with the 1000’s of passersby who would never have otherwise heard his music and to sell CDs and tickets to his venue shows.
I myself randomly found John’s music on John’s MySpace page back in the day when MySpace served as the gateway to finding great unsigned artists. I had never heard of John before, but fell in love with his music on the very first note delivered through my computer speakers.
A year later, and while on a trip to LA in 2007, I was at a gathering at the LA Baha’i Center and noticed a handsome, tall smiling guy walk in. I recognized him immediately from a far. This was definitely fate lending a hand in the making of a great friendship as John is not a Baha’i. But he happened to be there that night because he is one of the most open-minded and open-hearted people I have ever met; open to all kinds of experiences and people, so, he goes wherever he is invited.
John gave me a couple of his CDs that night when he found out I was on a trip with none of my own music and we became good friends instantly and remained in close contact despite our distance. When I needed a performer for a youth-empowerment conference I used to plan in DC, it was John who flew out to perform, without hesitation. And for free. All to help a good cause. And when I could not make a decision on whether to move to LA or stay on the east coast, it was John who picked me up in his convertible while I was in LA for another visit and drove me to Malibu on the scenic Pacific Coast Highway–only to let me see where it was that my soul needed to be.
I tell you all of this so you know why I am so absolutely ecstatic and and proud of the announcement John West will be making today. An announcement for which he has been preparing for many years: He has just signed on to Mercury / Island Def Jam record label. You may have heard of some of their artists: Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Bon Jovi, The Killers, just to name a few. So, John will be in good hands and company.
How did this all come about after so many years of the Humble Hustle? John’s manager, Ben Ricciardi, had recently arranged for a showcase for John with Atlantic Records in New York, but it was Island Def Jam that stole John away. John met with Atlantic and several other labels while in NY, each of which had a hard time trying to categorize his sound. “Is John pop, blues or something else?” they asked.
While waiting to hear back from all those other lables, and as his last stop in NY, John met with British-born Dave Massey, the head of the Mercury Records division of Island Def Jam late on a Thursday night. John says about that meeting, “I love British people. They get it. They get that it’s about the music. Dave was the first record executive who got my music immediately-he wasn’t about categorizing my music; he just liked my voice and my songs and came up with a vision for how to proceed. He asked me to come in the next day to meet the rest of the label for what is called a ‘Same Day Signing.'”  A Day of Signing is when an artist comes in, showcases his music and is signed the same day. A recent artist who had a Same Day Signing with Mercury /Island Def Jam was Rihanna. Pretty amazing road to be on for John.
Needless to say, John is “excited!” He says giddily, “I couldn’t be more grateful.” When I asked him how things will change moving forward, he was quick to tell me: “Nothing has or will change. I am still the same person I was last week; the same 10-year old kid at heart. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Getting a record label deal is like running for office and winning the bid. Your job only starts with the win. I now have to get into the studio and write great songs.”
John already has a library of 40-50 songs. He will have to go through each and pick the ones he likes and make stylistic changes to fit his evolving sound. He describes his library to date as: “It’s just my voice and my guitar with a soulful sound, because that is who I am.” But recently, John wrote a pop song which will.i.am and Interscope Records loved and used to produce for another artist.
“Writing for another artist opened a whole new creative door for me and gave me an ear for a pop sound.” That experience also gave John the confidence to add a bit of pop into his already urban/soul sound and land somewhere in the middle. He describes his music now as “urban-pop-chill-feel good-love songs.”
John finished our chat by saying, “Now is not the time to rest. My team and I will collaborate together as a family but will have to hustle even harder; the ‘Humble Hustle’ continues.”
You can next find John playing August 28th at the Sunset Strip Music Festival with such acts as The Smashing Pumpkins, Common, Fergie, Slash, and my other good friend, Andy Grammer.
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CelebMagnet Gains Celebrity Endorsement! [Video]

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VIDEO CLIP OF THE DAY.

  HEY! Check it out! The celebs are starting to notice and they get it: If you want the truth about celebrity news, you come to CelebMagnet.com to get it!

A big thank you to John McCook (Eric Forrester from The Bold and The Beautiful) and Devon Wekheiser, (Ned Bigby of Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide) for making this promo spot for us!

Feel free to share this; actually, yes, please go ahead and share to spread the news!

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Jake Pavelka And Whoopi Goldberg Don’t Kiss But Make Up After The View Appearance [Video]

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EXCLUSIVE SCOOP.

   Jake Pavelka is not sure why people think Whoopi Goldberg was harsh on him during his appearance on The View last Wednesday. He says she was actually extremely nice to him and he was totally star-struck with her.

It is true that she disagreed with Jake on camera. Whoopi asked Jake: “This was not your first acting job, The Bachelor, right?” Whoopi continued, “You were on Walker, Texas Ranger.” Jake then countered,  “The Bachelor is not acting.” Goldberg shot back, “Darling, I’m afraid to tell you, you’re full of garbage. That is an acting job.” Jake insisted that he did The Bachelor “to find love.”

The media is making a big deal of this exchange but Jake makes light of it and tells CelebMagnet that Whoopi and he spoke after the cameras stopped rolling and she was extremely sweet to him. Apparently she believed Jake is looking for love because Whoopi reassured him: “Don’t worry, I am going to set you up and we will have you married before long.”

On that note, let’s pitch in and help Whoopi and Jake: If any of you ladies are interested in this handsome southern gentleman, drop me a line and I will let Jake know 😉 I think he may fancy blondes though since he is still gushing about how beautiful Elisabeth Hasselbeck is in person.

Here is part of Jake’s appearance on The View in case you missed it.


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Dinner For Schmucks, Starring Steve Carell & Paul Rudd–MOVIE REVIEW

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MOVIE REVIEW.

Guess who the schmuck is? Me and anyone else who was fooled into hoping that a movie by such comedic powerhouses as Steve Carell and Paul Rudd would be worth the $14 ticket price. Or worth our time.

I wanted to leave the movie 10 minutes into it when I had not even laughed once. Then, Carell made his scene entry into the movie and a smile came across my face. “Carell will make it all better” I thought. Not only did Carell not make the movie any better, he made it agonizingly more painful.

Before you accuse me of not having a sense of humor, know that I have loved the two-previous Rudd and Carell joint ventures: The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Dinner for Schmucks is nothing like either of those two movies but instead more like a bad Saturday Night Live skit that goes on five minutes too long.

Schmucks uses plenty of cheap, tired, unoriginal tricks throughout to either grab laughs or to advance the plot but fails miserably at both. Best you can hope for are a few scattered laughs, amidst a lot of creepiness, meanness and awfulness. Save your money. Save your time. But, if it’s comedy you’re in the mood for, go see the aptly-named The Other Guys—as those other guys, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, brought it! That comedy left both my jaw and stomach in pain from laughing so hard throughout the movie. You can see the full The Other Guys review here.

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The Other Guys, Starring Will Ferrell & Mark Wahlberg–MOVIE REVIEW

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MOVIE REVIEW.


  Just when you think, “If you’ve seen one Will Ferrell movie, you’ve seen them all,” think again.

Ferrell is back! And he totally redeems himself from the flop that was Land of the Lost by giving one of his most genius performances to date.

It does help that Ferrell is partnered with hottie Mark Wahlberg who delivers a superbly-angst-ridden-yet-hilariously-gut-ripping performance. The movie is filled with fresh, sarcastic, and humorous one-liners, non-stop laughter, plenty of action, car chases, and explosions, and a complex plot with a thought-provoking political message. Just make sure you stay through the credits.

 I cant’t remember the last time I laughed out this loud and this often in a movie theater. One early particular scene in the movie in which Ferrell and Wahlberg argue over whether a lion or a tuna would win in a fight against each other is so well acted and delivered that I was left gasping for air after laughing so hard. And don’t be too sure you know which would win such a fight, because Ferrell’s logic in this argument doesn’t go the way any of us could have imagined.
I watched this movie right after I saw the painfully boring Dinner for Schmucks. But that can’t be the only reason I loved this movie because the whole theater was laughing and clapping along with me, so much so, that I missed half the jokes due to the sheer volume of both.  I don’t know what else to say about this movie other than “Go see it–it’s by far the best comedy of the summer.”

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Eminem And Rihanna Play With Fire [Video]

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VIDEO CLIP OF THE DAY.

   Eminem’s long-awaited Love the Way You Lie video featuring Rihanna premiered on MTV last night and contains a powerful and shocking message. In the video, Rihanna bravely takes on a subject she knows all too well: domestic violence. The video also stars Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan as a dysfunctional couple stuck in a vicious cycle of fighting.

Eminem says: “[Director] Joseph [Kahn] and I worked pretty closely together to make sure we got this right. Trying to make this tough subject work visually is a challenge. It was great to have Rihanna, Megan and Dominic on board for this. They really brought it and made this video super-powerful.”

While watching the video, it’s hard not to think of and be moved by Rihanna’s own personal experience in an abusive relationship. Megan Fox herself was so moved by the experience that she donated all of her proceeds to a shelter for abused women.