Spot's Sunday Entertainment Roundup

This has been quite a week of entertainment at "Casa Angie's". Since computer issues prevailed, I had a lot of time to catch up on movie watching and book reading. Here's the skinny.


The Movie Roundup

1. If Only - Here's an hour and a half that I'll never get back. I caught a glimpse of this flick on t.v. months ago and was so intrigued by the hottie who plays the romantic lead, that I put it on the Netflix queue. His name, by the way, is Paul Nicholls. Yeah, expect to see him on MMEC very soon. Anyway, this movie's premise is "make sure the ones you love the most, know it". The female lead was played by Jennifer Love Hewitt. Anyway, the story was sweet and all, but what made me furious about this movie was how it ended. I won't ruin it for anyone who wants to see it, but just ask my hubby how many expletives I spouted upon seeing the ending. It wasn't pretty. This movie's saving grace was that it was set in London. Ah, I heart London.
2. Vantage Point - This movie was touted as an action thriller starring Dennis Quaid. There's definitely a lot of action (including a nausea inducing car-chase scene). And I suppose "thriller" would be appropriate as you really have no idea where the story is going next. However, the ending was tied up just a little too neatly for me and Quaid looks like he's wearing a bad hair piece through most of this movie. Hubby liked this one more than me, but we both wanted to turn it off a couple of times because the story is frustrating to follow.
3. Mad Money - Don't waste your time. Diane Keaton (who I LOVE) looked like a fool. Queen Latifah was completely under-used. And Katie Holmes. Well, I really hope she loves her job as Mrs. Tom Cruise because all of the acting skills that she had have been completely sucked out of her apparently. This movie was NOT good.
   

The Book Roundup

"Bitter is the New Black" - Jen Lancaster: There are so many reasons why I LOVED this book, but here are the highlights.

1. Jen is a blogger turned author, which is something I aspire to. Her blog doesn't do her book justice, probably because she's too busy writing her 4th book! Yeah, that's right. Her 4th. And they're all memoirs.
2. She lives by my mantra. (See the quote at the bottom of my blog) She's not afraid to be herself and she puts it ALL out there. I admire that.
3. Her sense of humor is a riot. She can whip out those dry barbs like no one I've ever seen. My favorite was when she was frustrated with how a boss at her temp job was treating her. She wanted to tell her that while she did arrive in a yellow vehicle this morning, it was in fact NOT the short bus. Priceless.
4. She is a woman who was at the top of her game and then brought to rock bottom (a place she NEVER thought she would be), which humbled her greatly. It didn't change her in some ways, but it definitely gave her a new perspective on things. Seeing that change was cool. I can't wait to read her 2nd book, "Bright Lights, Big Ass".

The T.V. Roundup

I am a t.v. junkie, but the summer tends to bring a lot less small screen viewing than normal. I have become morbidly fascinated with this show on Bravo called Flipping Out. Have you heard of it? Or seen it? The show centers around Jeff Lewis, this MEGA-OCD house flipper mogul in California. He's very successful and has impeccable taste, but frankly, I'm stunned that one of his employees hasn't smothered him in his sleep. This guy gives new meaning to "over the top". This show is like watching a train wreck...I just can't look away. The thing that I find so funny about it is that this guy is for real and I can't believe the people around him stick around to continuously take his abuse. The season finale is this week, but I'm sure Bravo will continue to show reruns of this season (ad nauseum) as they do with all of their shows. Check it out, especially if you think YOU'VE got an OCD problem. Ahem. It will make you feel so much better about your issues.

And that concludes this week's roundup. I've started a new book. (I know 2 in a week, it's a miracle!) And no, it's not a Stephanie Plum or Twilight book...yet. I'm getting there! And there are more movies coming via Netflix tomorrow. So, join me next week for more entertainment reviews! And tune in tomorrow for Monday Morning Eye Candy. I'm about to go work on that entry and I can hardly wait!