Eleuthera

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…

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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!

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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

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…

Quotes – Our Family Wedding

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


Green Zone

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!!

Our Family Wedding

I am so excited to see Our Family Wedding, I’d probably go watch it anyway, but really, I can’t wait because one my favorite people Anjelah Johnson is starring in it!! I’m so proud of her and she’s accomplished so much in just a short amount of time in Hollywood. It just goes to show hard work, faith and being a GREAT person pay off! Here are a couple of her red carpet pics from last night’s NYC premiere…

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You gotta love her…she always stays true to herself and represents in the best way! Also check out this video interview of her I put together where she talks about her role in the film, her best friend’s wedding and she even gives couples advice! 🙂

Make sure you also check out her ‘on-set’ interview in the latest episode of On The Flipside and be sure to see her new movie in theaters, starting this Friday, March 12!!

I’m going to Indiana…

Okay so I already went to Indiana… I recently visited the University of Indiana-Bloomington to speak at the MAFA Conference, and they were happy to help me shoot the standups for my latest episode!! On this show, On The Flipside is on campus (freezing) and features NFL Tight End Daniel Wilcox, the beautiful Miss Anjelah Johnson on set for her new movie Our Family Wedding, the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl Cheerleaders in “Battle of the Beauties” and the Miami Dolphins Jason Taylor. Check it out On The Flipside!!

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland is a visually stimulating, fun-filled ride into a beautiful world of fantasy. Right off the top, the vibrant colors and unique characters suck you in with 3D visuals. Tim Burton’s spin-off from the original tale works very well and Disney has a hit once again! I know going into it, it seemed like it might be scary for the little ones given the trailer, but I can assure you..it’s not too “scary.” I just really enjoyed seeing all these characters come to life with such authenticity and personality. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway in character as the White Queen and Helena Bonham Carter playing the Red Queen, all do fantastic jobs playing their parts. The story is so captivating and never was there a dull moment, again from the stunning visuals which keep you captivated from start to finish, cute dialogue, beautiful costuming and action, adventure, comedy and drama! Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb were also very charming in a “clueless” way! A few of my favorite things from the movie: the “EAT ME” cake in the film looked so yummy I wanted to try it – figures my sweet tooth always consumes my thoughts, I also loved Johnny Depp’s carrot orange eyebrows and winter wonderland (white) castle, landscaped with so many cherry blossom trees – SO Pretty!! So my suggestion is see it in 3D, see it in IMAX, it’s fun, it’s fantasy, it’s a must see!

COP OUT

Cop Out, directed by Kevin Smith, is funny, witty and outright silly! It’s a lighter side of the “Die Hard” Bruce Willis, and Tracy Morgan is…exactly what we expect him to be, completely out of control and well acting a straight FOOL! haha And I mean that in the nicest way…some of the things that come out his mouth and how he acts…you just can’t help but “LOL!” At times, I felt like this was an action comedy a-la Beverly Hills Cop, but really it’s its own unique brand of ‘fighting crime.’

I think the movie started off pretty strong with a very memorable interrogation scene and hilarious dialogue, but a few things that struck me and I couldn’t get over them the whole movie. First, the story centers around Willis and Morgan’s NYPD characters trying to recover a very valuable baseball card, while also trying to get the “bad boys” and take out a drug lord. Well, the drug lord in Mexican and so is his entire gang….they had the WORST Mexican tattoo’s I have ever seen! Super cheesy “$$” dollar signs and one guy’s neck tattoo was just awful! haha I mean, maybe it’s because I’m from the west coast (San Jose) and being from the East Side, when I envision ‘Mexican’ gangsters, that’s NOT what comes to mind! C’mon I mean where’s the Old English and ‘Cry Now, Smile Later’ Jokers or the rose bud tats!?!? Okay, now I’m stereotyping, but seriously!?!? I won’t even go in on the ‘street’ accents, but when they said slang terms like Holmes, Vato and Cabron – uh, it just didn’t sound right to me, but I guess, the story and character’s are in NYC not Cali West. Viva la Raza! All I’m saying is tune into MSNBC on a Saturday night and watch “Lock Up” and well, that’s where they should’ve looked to for some authenticity! Anyway, being as this is a comedy and not some hardcore cops and robbers flick, I’ll forgive it. Second, Tracy Morgan is a complete fool as a cop, there is just no way his type of detective work could ever work in real life, but it’s hilarious for the film and Bruce Willis’ counter reactions to his crime-fighting partner make for the perfect balance in high pressure situations. Last, Sean Williams Scott pretty much steals the scenes he’s in with his “not smart” criminal ways, even cozy-ing up to Morgan while being taken into custody, and his comedy worked well in this movie, but it’ll have to be something new next time, since the tricks he used this time around, probably wouldn’t fly a second time.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, the plot was pretty decent and there were plenty of moments that had me rollin’…I’d recommend people watch it, take it for what it is and just have a good time with it.