MOVIE REVIEW: The Other Woman

When the wife and mistresses joined forces to avenge the man they all thought that was loyal to only each of them, The Other Woman is anchored by the comic tandem of Cameron Diaz and most especially Leslie Mann who brought excellent chemistry as the intelligent yet  unsuspecting mistress Carly and the clueless yet sweet wife Kate.

When the two discover that their playboy of a man Mark played by Game of Thrones' Nicholas Coster-Waldau has another girl: young,sexy and voluptuous Amber played by model Kate Upton, Carly and Kate became their friend and unexpectedly bond to plot his downfall.

We have seen The Other Woman before thru She-Devil with Meryl Streep and Roseanne Barr and most notably the box office hit The First Wives Club starring Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton but the movie is saved from the wonderful Leslie Mann, whom I always find to be a comic genius in films such as Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin and many more. It helps that she's married to comedy director Judd Apatow. Her moments in the film are the ones the shine the brightest in The Other Woman.

The film also stars singer Nicki Minaj in her film debut as Carly's secretary with great one liners, Zero Dark Thirty's Taylor Kinney as Kate's brother and Don Johnson as Carly's Dad.

MOVIE REVIEW: Heaven Is For Real

First and foremost, I haven't read the best selling book that the movie was based on but I heard that a lot of people were touched after reading it therefore it sparked my interest in watching Heaven Is for Real.

Greg Kinnear plays Todd Burpo, a pastor in Nebraska whose faith and belief in God was tested when his 4 year old son Colton (Connor Corum) had a near death experience after his appendectomy. He miraculously survived the ordeal and then revealed to his father that he went to heaven.

Colton provided a vivid description of heaven but his father still has doubts. Unlike other faith-based films, the one good thing about Heaven is for Real is that it doesn't shove it in your face with their beliefs and the scene with references to Moses and Mohammed is unlike any other dialogue that I'd heard before in a faith-based film. It lets you find out for yourself if Connor is telling the truth or the Burpo family is just manipulating us. Kudos to director Randall Wallace (who wrote Braveheart and directed We Were Soldiers and Secretariat) for assembling a good cast with Oscar nominees Kinnear (As Good As It Gets), Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) and also with Kelly Reilly (Flight) and Margo Martindale (August Osage County).

Technically, Heaven Is for Real is a just polished version of a Hallmark Channel TV Film: visual effects and musical score are cheesy. It might not even appeal outside the Christian demographic but it is one film that can give you comfort and reassure you that we will go to that place once we die.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Draft Day

Mixing real life American Football sports teams with fictional characters and set in the annual event which is the film's title, the movie tells a comprehensive behind the scenes on the happenings and goings on one team in the NFL, in this case, the Cleveland Browns and how they will fare in selecting the best player that can make and break the team for possibly the Superbowl title.

As Sonny Weaver Jr,, manager of the Cleveland Browns, Kevin Costner gives a commendable performance as a man stepping out of his Dad's (who was the former manager of the team) shadow to build the team based of his thinking and logic. Just like in Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and Tin Cup, he is at his best in sports themed films. An excellent supporting cast with Ellen Burnstyn as his Mom, Denis Leary as the Browns coach and Frank Langella, as the team's owner guides Weaver Jr. as he makes the ultimate decision. Only Jennifer Garner, who plays the girlfriend and coworker was stuck in a thankless role.

Despite some heavy American Football terminology, Draft Day is a film that celebrates the universal themes of family, sportsmanship and cooperation and the last hour of it is one great crowd pleaser.

MOVIE REVIEW: Noah

Black Swan Director Darren Aronofsky's version of Noah is not your typical Biblical film. The timeless tale of the man tasked by God to save his family and animals when he unleashed a flood that destroyed the evil that inhabited the world during that time and start anew asks  more questions that touch our personal beliefs and makes us determine on how strong our faith is to our Creator (this is how the film addressed God).

Aronofsky conveyed his artistic freedom and while it deviates from what is in the Holy Bible, the movie for me, is not offensive at all and it actually helps us interpret from what we were taught of Noah when we were kids and reflect on our current state of being.

After the Oscar winning A Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe (Noah) teams up again with Jennifer Connelly who again plays his wife Naameh and they compliment each other in the film. Crowe with his rugged desperate built tasked by the Creator with such a daunting task to Connelly's Virgin Mary like features that softens the films surrounding and being the mother figure of the film. Anthony Hopkins, in a short role as the "Grandfather" brings a mythical New Age vibe to the film and as usual you want more of him. Emma Watson and Logan Lerman reunite after The Perks of Being A Wallflower in the film in such complete opposite from their iconic roles as Hermione in the Harry Potter series and Percy Jackson respectively. Their transition as adult actors is on the right track.

Stunning cinematography by frequent Aronofsky collaborator Matthew Libatique whose creation shots parallels Terence Malick's The Tree of Life and commendable visual effects makes Noah a good movie to see it on the big screen.