I am not into gambling – I’m more into puzzle and word games. The first time I have been to a casino is when my husband took me to one a few years ago – when we still didn’t have kids. Now, he often plays at Onlinebingo.com and via the Texas Poker game on Facebook. I just watch him – a lot and sometimes I cheer for him for as long as he does not lose our money. Lol.

Anyway, though I’m not a casino fan, I did enjoy a number of gambling movies which I have watched recently on DVD. It’s not the actual game which makes these movies nice to watch – it’s the characters that are so passionate, tricky, and witty in implementing their plans, fulfilling their goals – and ultimately always emerging as winners in a venture where we can win some and lose some.

First we have ‘Casino Royale’ where Daniel Craig stars as the James Bond who just got his double zero status. MI6 enters Bond into a high-stakes Texas hold ‘em tournament at the Casino Royale to beat Le Chiffre, a banker and financer to terrorists. What’s nice about this movie is that you get a human “James Bond”, not some loveless, playboy hunk with tons of gadgets, lots of luck, and fancy cars. Craig’s Bond character is tough and vulnerable, smart but reckless and susceptible to trickery – and far from being an ‘Inspector Gadget’. Lol. The story also has some unexpected betrayals and twists.

Next to Casino Royale, I’ve watched the Ocean series 11 to 13 – and among the three, I enjoyed ‘Ocean’s 13‘ the most because the plot was better here – it’s just about the money – it’s about revenge. The plot was simple – ruin Willy Banks’ casino after he double crossed Reuben Tishkoff. The elaborate plan involves rigging the casino’s slot machines and other gambling games, have the hotel pay out more than $500 million in winnings, the guests leaving the casino almost broke with their bountiful winnings, and ensuring that Banks won’t get the Five Diamond Award for the new hotel-casino. They succeed, despite some mishaps – and they buy a property where Reuben can build his own casino.

Last but not the least, I enjoyed ‘21‘. The movie is about Ben, an M.I.T. student who is having a hard time trying to raise the $300,000 he needs to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine. Fortunately (or not so quite), he gets invited by his Math teacher ‘Mickey’ to join his secret blackjack team. It turns out that the members of the ‘secret club’ are being trained by Mickey on card counting at blackjack. They then travel to Las Vegas every weekend and make thousands of dollars by winning blackjack at casino after casino. However, conflict between Ben and Mickey arises and that’s where all the betrayal and deception start to unfold. I love the twists, I love real-life rags-to-riches Vegas scheme, I love the thought that with math, you can make instant tons of cash – and the fact that the villain Spacey suffers in the end.

I’m not a big fan of bling-blings but I enjoy Nicki Minaj’s unique pendants and gold chains on her – not that I would have the guts to wear such though. Let’s take a look at them.

Here’s Minaj’ Chicken Pendant which kinda looks like something else if you know what I mean. hahaha:

Here’s her Barbie pendant which she wears a lot – and has become some kind of a trademark and a must-have for every Nicki Minaj fanatic…

Here’s the cute Friday pendant which reminds me of Rebecca Black. lol

and here’s the super cute ice cream pendant which my little girl absolutely loves…

Nicki Minaj really stands out in terms of fashion sense and I don’t know why Lil Kim is telling everyone that she’s a copycat when Minaj obviously has her own style. Frankly, I think Minaj’ sense of style is more fun, more contemporary, more colorful and youthful, and slightly more conservative than Kim’s.

*All photos are from the web

I feel like I have been hiding under a rock. It was only recently – and I mean just a week ago – when I first heard Stereo Hearts (call me outdated. LOL). Anyway, I love it and it’s now part of my everyday on-the-job playlist. I think I have played and listened to it more than a hundred times already.

What I enjoy the most are the lyrics, especially the chorus:

I think finally found a note to make you understand
If you can hear it, sing along and take me by the hands
Keep myself inside your head, like your favorite tune
And know my heart is a stereo that only plays for you

My heart’s a stereo
It beats for you, so listen close
Hear my thoughts in every note
Make me your radio
Turn me up when you feel low
This melody was meant for you
Just sing along to my stereo
Oh oh oh oh To my stereo
Oh oh oh oh So sing along to my stereo

Here’s their video so you can also sing along…

Did you know that GLEE also did a cover on this? – and that new guy with long hair who looks so cute (didn’t get the name yet, sorry) is the one singing Adam Levine’s part!

Also, I just found out something about Gym Class Heroes’ Travie McCoy – He’s Katy Perry’s ex! – and the song ‘Part of Me’ was written just after they broke up so the song is probably dedicated to him and not to Perry’s ex-husband.

If you want something creepy and suspenseful to watch, After Life will fail you. The premise is actually good – You see funeral arrangements all the time, there’s this creepy mortician payed by Liam Neeson and there’s this school teacher who doesn’t know if she’s really dead or not.

The problem with the film is that it’s too unsettling, it’s always hanging, and it gets boring. It leads back and forth and back and forth as to whether you should believe that Neeson’s character is a psychotic man who brainwashes and kills people or not – and if Ricci’s character is in fact already a ghost or not. If you do make a conclusion however, the film gets entirely boring because there’s really no conflict present, everything becomes predictable.

Frankly, the acting from both Neeson and Ricci, and Justin Long – and it’s presentation of gore and nudity in the part of Ricci was stylish. It’s actually initially creepy and intriguing but the slow pacing fails to hold its appeal. And frankly, it would do fine without the nudity if only it had its fair share of fearsome thrills (come to think of it, it didn’t do well with the nudity).

I have loved Christina Ricci in Penelope, and Liam Neeson in Unknown and Taken, but I don’t like them in After Life.

I was trying out some free audio conferencing services when I saw a plug on Johnny Depp’s newest film by Tim Burton – Dark Shadows.

Depp will play the lead role – Barnabas Collins. He’s a 200 year old vampire who is set free and returns to his ancestral home which is now occupied by his ‘dysfunctional’ descendants. The film is actually a remake the long-running (1.225 episodes) cult favorite TV soap opera of the same time but reports suggest that it would be something ‘different’ – as what we can always expect from the Burton-Depp team-up. I can’t actually care less as I haven’t seen the ‘old version’, I just want to see Burton’s.

Dark Shadows also stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Eva Green, and it is set for release this May 11 in the U.S. I’m excited! – even though I know that I’d probably not get the chance to watch it until it’s released in DVD. lol. Anyway, to make you excited too, here’s its official trailer…

I just came across YouTube and saw this video of Taylor Swift and Zac Efron doing a duet and making a song about Ellen DeGeneres on her show.

Apparently, the two came to promote the movie ‘The Lorax’, where they work as animated co-stars (meaning they do the voices for the lead characters in that animated film I have yet to watch). During their guesting, Taylor mentioned that Zac is learning to play the guitar – so they give them a pair of guitars and they do Foster The People’s ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ – and they change the words… and it goes something like this…

‘Every single day, I come on this show
It’s getting weird, getting weird,
All because of Ellen”

Taylor is definitely a better songwriter than Zac. lol. And though they really make a cute couple, they both deny that they are indeed one.

Here’s what Taylor said: “We are not a couple. He’s awesome; we are not a couple though. You hear people get together when they’re shooting movies, co-stars. But not like animated co-stars. You know what I’m saying.”

The video is roughly more than a month old and it already has almost eight million views – it’s doing better than what Taylor  had  predicted.

There are tons of used cars los angeles available within dealerships around Los Angeles and I’m wishing that those cars that we see in car chase or car crash scenes in the movies set in California are from them – I hope they’re not brand new cars from showrooms. There is also another city that offers great dealership – that of Buena park nissan.

Have you ever watched a movie where a super nice car gets trashed and crushed? I watch a lot of action films and I often sigh at the sight of car crash scenes which involves nice-looking cars, especially Ferraris or Porsches. “They should have given those cars to me instead of trashing them” – I think of that even when I know they are probably using used cars or replicas or just movie effects. Anyway, here are some of those later-became-junk cars from the movies I recently watched…

There’s this red Dodge Viper from the movie ‘Wanted’ starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, and Angelina Jolie. It got damaged during a car chase.

There’s this Audi R8 car in Date Night starring Steve Carrell and Tina Fey. The car crashed on a cab, got stuck on it, and then fell into the water.

There are also these fancy race cars in ‘The Fast and the Furious 2 and Fast Five’. I don’t know how they can bear seeing cars crash the way they do.

I would have traded cars from dealerships in exchange of those cars. I also can’t help but wonder if Buena Park dealership shops have those sorts of cars from the movies.

*Brought to you by: www.metronissanmontclair.com

If you want loads of laughter and you enjoy Chinese food (and other Chinese stuff), you definitely have to watch Stephen Chow’s movies. So far, I’ve only watched two – Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle – and I had loads of laughter doing so. Both have won tons of awards and both became international hits.

Shaolin Soccer is about six shaolin masters (Stephen Chow is one of them) who’ll try to revive their Kung Fu skills and values through soccer. Apparently, modern society has turned them into pathetic and disgraced individuals and it is up to a former soccer star turned “coach” (“Fung”) to make them the greatest soccer players with ancient but super Shaolin skills. Problem is that Fung’s old nemesis – Hung – also assembled a squad of players (Team Evil) and they have been injected with a drug which gave them superhuman speed and strength. The ending is one of the most exciting soccer games you’d see.

Kung Fu Hustle is a comedic gangster movie. Stephen Chow plays the role of “Sing”, a thief who wants to be a member of the dreaded gang – The Axe Gang. However, before he can completely join it, he has to commit murder first. He also tries to rob a crowded apartment complex – Pig Sty Alley – and he poses as one of the members of the Gang. He fails but his antics attract the real gang and soon enough, the Axe gang start torturing the apartment tenants. The local defend themselves and they show off high-flying kung fu skills which initially defeats the gang. The gang then hires a number of kung fu experts to get rid of the local masters. Unexpectedly, the landlady and landlord also exhibit exceptional Kung Fu skills as they actually legendary martial arts experts. The gang then hires another legend – The Beast – and all hell (and impressive effects) break lose. And then, Sing, discovers his true destiny – as a martial artist.

So what would you love from these both? LOTS. You’ll love the Chinese food (I do love the noodles and dimsum) and enjoy the card games, and the bingo play and the likes (which reminds me of Onlinebingo.com). You’ll love the high dose of action-packed martial arts fight scenes which are extensively enhanced by special effects. You’ll enjoy the comedy mixed with drama – plus lots of dancing and some singing – which will remind you of a TV variety show slash teledrama.

What’s totally weird but interesting about these Chinese films is that everything can happen in a Stephen Chow movie – the laws of logic and physics no longer matter – and you couldn’t care less if people got all violent. You’ll just find everything entertaining (Don’t let your younger kids watch them though).

It’s been a while since I’ve made a bullet-point movie review… so let me do it again. And again – this one’s on an animated movie – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

• The title itself gives a hint on what the story is about – Food Rain. Yup, this film is one of those which best fits the limitless capabilities of making animated films. Imagine it’s raining cheeseburgers, t bone steak, bacon, ICE CREAM!, and more… If that would happen in reality, it would be both a blessing and a boon. Imagine, you won’t need to work or cook for you to have something to it BUT, you would have to spend lots of your time and energy cleaning up the food that’s everywhere.

• I like the animation and the whole creative “It’s raining FOOD – literally” idea. The animation was really splendid and the story really tested its limits. I wasn’t very impressed of the slapstick comedy however – and sometimes, I think the jokes ruin the claim that the film is “a movie for the family”. On a positive note, the story makes it interesting for adults and the animation makes it perfect for kids.
• The movie is loosely based on a book of the same name. The children’s book was written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. In the book however, Chewandswallow was not a sardine-blessed city (I happen to love fish) and there was no Flint Lockwood and no “FLDSMDFR” machine. Chewandswallow was an island where the weather comes three times a day to bring – breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

• Aside from the whole blatant “don’t-abuse-technology” theme, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs also has that “father-and-son” drama, “no-to-nerd-discrimination” premise, and the “Believe in yourself and be yourself” idea. It’s actually packed with tons of life lessons and values for your kids.
• You won’t love the ‘protagonist’ of the movie (or is it only me?). The character of “Flint Lockwood” may be a genius underdog but he’s someone most viewers wouldn’t want to feel sorry for. The whole movie is actually about him – and it’s delivered from his point of view but somehow, there is something lacking in his character and in the end, you won’t feel much sympathy for him partly. You’d probably love “Sam Sparks” more (voiced by Anna Faris) or Flint’s father (Tim)… or “Steve” the monkey (He’s cute!)… And I almost forgot – the doctor-pilot-comedian camera man, Manny.
• This is probably the only disaster movie which tackles apocalypse without the issue of food scarcity. Lol. Anyway, it’s fast-paced, it’s an interesting adventure, it presents engaging characters and its visuals are delectable. I love it.

Some people hate it when movie actors and actresses start singing in their movies. Well, I don’t. In fact, I enjoy it more. It’s partly because I’m kind of a big fan of musicals and the likes, and partly because I love singing too (although singing doesn’t love me that much). I enjoy the singing for as the actor or actress can sing fairly good (in other words – tolerable) and it makes him/her look cute, adorable, or more romantic in one way or another. Here are some of my fave ‘song scenes’ from the movies…

Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore – Way Back into Love in ‘Music and Lyrics’ – Okay, the movie might give you an overdose of music and even the hopeless romantic me felt that there was something missing in that film but nonetheless, I grabbed my Sennheiser headphones and repeatedly listened to this song the day after I watched the movie.

Jennifer Love Hewitt – Love Will Show You Everything in “If Only’ – The song was good and just perfect for Samantha (Hewitt’s role in the movie) and boyfriend’s series of dramatic-romantic plans. I don’t enjoy singing this song out loud as much as I love yelling-singing ‘Barenaked’ but if you’re a fan of the movie, then you’ll simply enjoy that scene of singing.

Alvin and the Chipmunks – Funky Town in Alvin and the Chipmunks (film) – Who wouldn’t love this trio? They are just so adorable and the song choices are quite appealing too. My little girls are big fanatics of them and the Chippettes and they almost always try to imitate their songs and dance steps. So, whenever I watch videos of them singing, I can’t help but think of my babies too.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis – Cruisin in ‘Duets’ – I think I have already mentioned this song about four to five times in this blog. Anyway, why wouldn’t I? I’m kinda addicted to it these past few days and besides, Gwyneth is really among those actors that can sing. Her appearance on the TV show Glee just proves such.

Now if we add in musicals to this list, I’d include the performances of Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd, Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge, Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zellweger in Chicago, John Travolta in Hair Spray (he just looks so cute in that big suit), and Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia (my fave).