Aubrey Up Close

My bad ass friend Mike Relm was “commissioned” to create an uber awesome TV trailer for Iron Man 2!!! Mike and I have that Bay connection (so, I knew him when…lol) and I am always impressed by his work…to think it all started with 2 turntables, a mixer and some crates full of records – has evolved into so much more. Last night this OFFICIAL TV Spot for Iron Man 2 aired during Adult Swim.

According to Mike:

Jon Favreau spotted my Iron Man 2 trailer remix, he liked it enough to have me do this 45 second spot for television!

This is the original trailer he did…

I don’t even know if there is a genre, category or niche to put Mike in, but I think it’s most important to note his work all stems from Hip Hop and he is nothing less than amazing at what he does…he has mastered mixing, scratching & creating with music AND video!!

…so, a couple years ago when he passed through Miami on tour with the Blue Man Group, I featured him on Deco Drive.

http://www.mikerelm.com
http://www.twitter.com/mikerelm
http://www.facebook.com/mikerelm

First of all, I don’t know what I was thinking catching an early screening of “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Nevermind the fact that when I was younger the original flick freaked me out, or that I went to see this new version by myself…the problem is I happen to be a big SCAREDY CAT, even though I like watching these scary movies! I’ve always been exposed to horror films and scary movies, because growing up, my Mom loved to watch them…but that doesn’t make you immune. Anyway, if I was to rate this newer version, I’d say it sticks to the classic Freddy formula, nothing changed there, they do make use of some ok special effects and there is no shortage of suspense, startling or “make you jump” moments. Every time there was a pause or when you just know something is gonna pop up, I tried to remind myself it’s a movie and to expect it! So, if you want to see a gory, slasher type flick, I’d say go watch it, but not alone. Now, as far as the storyline and acting go…uh, kinda forced, kinda choppy and really dramatic and cheesy. It sort of would just go straight into things with no build up or natural explanation. And — as far as Freddy goes, I preferred the original version. This one is pretty much the same, but his burnt up face looks more alien to me than scary! Ha! BTW, I don’t know what it is about that glove with knives for fingers, but it still is one of the scariest things… *side note – my Dad always had his Freddy Krueger glove he’d use to pass out Halloween candy, he thought he was super scary! lol I guess all in all, the first version back in the day was “better,” and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I was younger and it (getting killed in your dreams) was a new concept!

I watched an advance screening of AFTER.LIFE last night and the whole time I sat there, I couldn’t help but think…can I have my life back!? lol Seriously this movie was “killing” me, not only because it’s weird, but because the story tried too hard to make connections with all the characters. Basically, Christina Ricci plays a school-teacher who is killed in a car accident after running out on her boyfriend because she thought he was breaking up with her, when he was really trying to propose. Her boyfriend is played by Justin Long (I will forever see him as the “Mac” guy from the PC vs. Mac commercials). So anyway, then the story transitions to focus on that place in-between life and death… Liam Neeson is the mortician/funeral home director who acts very creepy and has a special gift to be able to communicate with the dead as he prepares them to be buried. Then, throw in a little boy  who was in Ricci’s class, whose mother looks like she may be dead, and he somehow has the same “gift” as Neeson, which is discovered when he starts visiting the funeral home to see about his now deceased teacher. Whew! So, the bulk of the movie centers around Ricci’s character fighting Neeson about if she’s really dead or not because she still can breathe and has tears… Meanwhile, her bf is guilt-ridden since he was the last person to see her alive and she left him in the middle of an argument!

I just want to know if someone can explain to me how they decided that Christina Ricci would wear a red silk dress for most of the film, as if that’s what she should be wearing as he prepares her body! I guess my issue is that it’s not really believable, but then again I haven’t ever experienced the “after life.” To be honest, I contemplated walking out on this movie just because it was super strange and didn’t make much sense to me. It was HORRIBLE, but I won’t be running out to see it again…EVER!

I had the pleasure of traveling to the Bahamas for the Bahamian red carpet and first international premiere of “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?” I shared some of my photos and talked about the trip in an earlier blog Eleuthera and in this post I’m sharing my red carpet interviews with Tyler Perry, Sharon Leal and Michael Jai White. I didn’t go all out with these edits, but I still wanted to share what they had to say about filming in Eleuthera and the movie itself.

First up, Tyler Perry explains why he chose Eleuthera as a location…

And Michael Jai White talks about what it was like to film in the Bahamas and what it’s like to play Tasha Smith’s husband!

Finally, Sharon Leal shares how she feels about the Bahamas premiere and her experience shooting there.

Following the red carpet at Atlantis on Paradise Island, we all got to sit down for the Bahamian premiere of the film. The black tie event was well-attended and the theater was packed! Unfortunately for me though, it was a little on the cold side and the seating they had for media was uncomfortable..so not sure if that weighed on my feelings for the movie or not. Obviously the scenery in the film where the tropical beaches are the backdrop are gorgeous and tranquil, and it’s a little more exciting that I can say I’ve visited the actual place where it was shot! On the other hand, I think I liked the first one better, this one just seemed abrupt at times and the characters had changed so much from the previous movie…it just didn’t flow as well as I’d have liked! That being said, I’ll have to watch it again when I’m not in my dress and can focus better. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good story with lessons to be learned…I mean let’s be real, relationship topics can go on and on! The film does have great moments and Tasha Smith pretty much steals every scene she’s in! I found myself thinking..I’m not that bad, am I!?!? haha

I just came off a fun 48 hour trip to the Bahamas! The purpose of this trip was to do press for Tyler Perry’s new film “Why Did I Get Married Too?” A portion of the movie was shot on location on the Bahamian Island of Eleuthera, so we had an excursion to that island and see the “set” where they filmed. Meanwhile, we stayed in Nassau and capped the trip with the red carpet premiere at Atlantis on Paradise Island.

I arrived early Sunday morning with my cap low, sporting the “Bow Down”  Tee…

For dinner we went to the ONLY 5-star restaurant in Nassau – Graycliff’s…where they also house the 3rd largest wine cellar in the world! They had a huge stash of Cuban cigars too!

The next morning I woke up at the rack of dawn to catch the charter flight to Eleuthera, to visit the movie site… so BEAUTIFUL and SERENE!

I learned that the Bahamas is proud to boast it not only has the clearest waters in the entire Caribbean, but it’s H2O is tops in the world!

After lunch we headed back to Nassau for a press conference with Tyler Perry and Bahamian Officials.

A couple stars of the new film, Sharon Leal and Michael Jai White, were also on hand.

Then it was finally time to get all jazzed up for the red carpet premiere, and I had a new dress to wear, courtesy of my good friend Grace!

And — I ran into an old buddy from the Bay, Miss Wynter who I used to work with back in the day at Tech TV…so we had to snap a shot…(l-r) that’s Amber, Wynter and yours truly!

It was a nice (quick) getaway and be sure to check back here on my blog, as I will be posting the red carpet interviews and give my review of “Why Did I Get Married Too?” which opens this Friday!

Repo Men is not for the squeamish! Once again I made the “mistake” of not looking too far into what I was going to see… I figured Jude Law and Forest Whitaker, it’s gonna be good. And, it wasn’t BAD, I just wasn’t prepared for what (post movie) my friend described as Total Recall meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre! The premise centers around a company called The UNION, who manufactures and sells artificial organs for transplant into humans. The twist is that since these body parts are outrageously expensive, if you miss your payments…in come the ‘Repo Men’. Sort of like how they can repo your car, or foreclose on your house, cut your lights…they have a legal right to ‘take” back your  ‘past-due’ organs! So, let’s see, squirting, gushing, splattering, leaking and streaming amounts of blood are evident throughout the film, as the repo men use rather both gruesome and unimaginable ways to reclaim organs. My jaw was dropped for a good portion of the film, and/or I frequently had to look away or cover my eyes – that’s one reason I could never work in the medical field. Repo Men is part sci-fi, futuristic, action, thriller if you will. It’s very imaginative and probably skews more toward a male audience! An interesting notion that subtly came across to me, is this whole idea of replacing parts or upgrading what we’re born with…in contrast to the normalcy of plastic surgery today. How far is too far? At what point do we accept what we have naturally without trying to change ourselves…for the better? In the film, it more about vital organs, heart, lungs, liver, etc… But, even at that, would it be right to continually change out organs and contradict our (given) lifespan…hmmm…

I decided to do a different kind of ‘blog’ instead of my usual “review”…and this time I figured I’d get some quotes from friends who watched the movie – since I instructed everyone to do so! lol Personally, I enjoyed it, especially since my girl Anjelah’s in it, but honestly, there are so many similarities in the story and characters to people I know in real life! Even though I’m Filipino-American and the story involves a Mexican-American family, our cultures are alike in so many ways, it was easy for me to put myself in her shoes! See what people are saying…

“It was funny and easy to relate to! My fave scene was when she sang to Marcus in her PJ’s. “Abort…abort!” Haha! ” – Riza

“That movie was hilarious!!!! Thank goodness my Granny ain’t psycho! I wonder if part 2 be about the Asians lol” – Jennifer

“It was great seeing Carlos’ & Forrest’s characters battling it out…FUN” – ckinjo1

And I lifted these off her FB Fan page…

“I laughed so hard throughout the entire movie! “Wanna Bounce?” LMAO!” – Justin

“I loved the scene where Anjelah is singing with the mariachis!! Great job!” – Amy

“Absolutely LOVED it! Can’t wait for it to come out on DVD and for Anjelah’s next film!” – Angie

Finally Friday and I can write about Green Zone. Let me start by saying after viewing the film, I immediately tweeted “Super EXCELLENT Great movie!” This movie, is action-packed, thought provoking and captivating from start to end. I guess I probably should’ve done a little background check before I stepped in the theater to see it, but I just figured Matt Damon, ‘Bourne’ movies, it’ll be good. Little did I know that as soon as the movie started my heart would start racing and the adrenaline pumping…and it didn’t stop the whole time I sat there and watched. Green Zone is set in Baghdad, Iraq, so it uses the war as the backdrop and setting to examine theories and issues of why Americans are there – in this case, looking for WMD (weapons of mass destruction), and also gives more insight into what it may be like for the soldiers fighting overseas, and also what the Iraqi people live and see everyday. I am definitely a fan of true to life stories and I enjoy watching war-genre films as well, so this was right up my alley. I think it was very well done. The images, storyline and acting are top notch and made me feel like I was there… Yes, my mind kept racing as I tried to keep up with what was going on and where the story was going, while also trying to figure out what was going to happen next! I really enjoyed watching the movie and hey, Matt Damon’s not bad to look at either! Green Zone is a MUST SEE!!