The Other Woman

The Other Woman

Rated PG-13 and Released in Grand Rapids 4/25/14

Reviewed 4/25/14 at Celebration North Theatre

with Cindy

3 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

The Other Woman should be called The Other Women. The "women" are Cameron Diaz (mistress #1) as the sharp attorney Carly, and Kate Upton (mistress #2) as bubble head, but who cares about the brains Amber. Clueless wife Kate King is played by Leslie Mann, displaying a bit of frump in her cardigans, hat and floral attire which I am sure is intentional. Suffice to say this guy is pretty lucky. Cindy and I laughed pretty hard amongst the female-filled audience, but if the guys can get passed "the view", they will also find it to be pretty comical.

Actress Leslie Mann has no shame and she has demonstrated she will do just about anything in a movie. Even though she always has the cooke cutter parts, it really does work foe her. The opening scene with Kate (Mann) blabbering away at her husband Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - Game of Thrones) in the bathroom had the audience laughing. Almost too hard, like we all might relate?

In the suburbs, Kate stumbles upon the realization that her husband is having an affair. Credit can be given to Carly (Diaz) who appears on the Kings' doorstep to surprise dear Mark. In Carly's defense she does not know that Mark is a married man. This allows the two gals to strike up an unlikely friendship after Kate latches on to Carly and won't let go. The pair even become partners in crime with the common goal to make Mark pay for his sins. Lucky for them when they follow Mark to the beach it is right next to Kate's cute brother Phil's (Taylor Kinney) beach house which are dually noted by Carly. While spying, they discover the sneaky husband is cheating on both of them with a third sexpot Amber (Upton).

She is much easier to win over, making it a trio of demise. The first half of this flick is silly fun and then it simmers a bit, but no worries it gets back on track for the predictable but very satisfying ending. Sorry guys, Mark very deservingly "gets" his!

QUIET Rating system: 3 Js

Quality: JJ

Understood story:  JJJJ

Interest: JJJ

Entertainment:  JJJj

Time:  JJj

Transcendence

Transcendence

Rated PG-13 and Released in Grand Rapids 4/18/14

Reviewed 4/21/14 at Celebration North Theatre

with Gary

2 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

Part action drama, part science fiction, Transcendence is not the exciting plot that we anticipated. Not that it was a total bust, but with the likes of Johnny Depp and Morgan Freeman we just had higher expectations. It reminded me of Her, another Artificial Intelligence type movie that we saw back in the fall. While Transcendence is not as creepy weird as that one, it still is on the bizarre side.

Depp plays a brilliant scientist, Dr. Will Caster, who learns he does not have long to live after he is shot by an anti-computer activist. He, along with his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and another scientist Max Waters (Paul Bettany), hatch a scheme to download Will's mind into a computer before he expires. Evelyn carries on their dreams while maintaining her digital relationship with husband Will, the now Computer. Yes - it's bizarre. This all goes basically unnoticed even though "the couple" pours a ton of money into a run-down town. They have built the utopia of scientific facilities and to also host Computer Will.

The "Will" machine is rapidly evolving along with his/its intelligence and power. He eventually discovers a way to transcend humans into his minions that are all interconnected to his mainframe and to do his bidding. Several years go by and the government is made aware of the operations thanks to the same activists that shot Will. The group has been obsessed with shutting the site down. Thank goodness for their anarchy and pro-activeness, or where would mankind be? A computer versus man showdown ends the movie where it started. It's a world of no computers, everyone off the grid so to speak. Piles of useless cellphones trash up the streets and keyboards are used as doorstops. Now this would be a living hell. No thank you! I will take my chances with technology.

QUIET Rating system: 2 Js

Quality: JJ

Understood story:  JJ

Interest: JJ

Entertainment:  JJj

Time:  JJ

Heaven is for Real

Heaven is for Real

Rated PG-13 and Released in Grand Rapids 4/16/14

Reviewed 4/19/14 at Celebration North Theatre

with Lynne

3 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

The is the second quality Christian-influenced movie I've seen this week (God's Not Dead review here). This is based on the book of the same name which I am now planning to read. The young actor Connor Corum playing four-year-old Colton Burpo makes this movie worthwhile. What a little star! Greg Kinnear as Colton's father Todd Burpo, a pastor of a small town church in Nebraska, is convincing. Thomas Hayden Church seems like a peculiar choice for a religious movie (as it's hard to get past him as the sleaze bag in Sideways), but he really grows on you in this role. Lynne and I both thought this was a sweet and adorable story and the writers did a good job conveying the message.

The tight knit Burpo family has hit a rough patch with a few health scares primarily with Dad Todd. But now the crisis hits another family member - young Colton. Dad and Mom rush him to the hospital as he is getting worse after four days of what seemed to be a routine illness. The doctors whisk him away for emergency surgery as it is determined Colton's appendix had ruptured several days prior and his condition is now grave. Friends and family start a prayer chain and a miracle occurs as Colton makes a full recovery. Then he reveals slowly over time to his parents that he has not only experienced heaven, but met Jesus and others. At first skepticism by his father and especially his mother Sonja (Kelly Reilly) leave them to wonder if he just imagined it. As the story progresses Todd becomes more of a believer despite resistance from the church family to keep this on the down low as they don't want to be looked at with unwanted scrutiny. Like any other movie there are some holes in the story, but I'm sure the book will give more detail and fill in the gaps. This is a meaningful film that will cause a few sniffles, but for the most part just sit back and believe.

QUIET Rating system: 3  Js

Quality: JJj

Understood story:  JJj

Interest: JJJj

Entertainment:  JJJ

Time:  JJJ

God's Not Dead

God's Not Dead

Rated PG-13 and Released in Grand Rapids 4/14/14

Reviewed 4/11/14 at Celebration North Theatre

with Gary, Steve and Karen

3 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

While sometimes the religious and Christian movies really lack some quality factors that mainstream Hollywood demonstrates, this film shows a niche of the industry is progressing. That is good news for those who want to watch a movie they can view with family members without putting a bag over their head. We all really enjoyed God's Not Dead, with Karen and I probably appreciating the sentiment more. I admit I tried to forego the Kleenex a few times thinking it would pass...but to no avail.

Kevin Sorbo, who according to reports has been snubbed by Hollywood for his conservative views on politics, plays Professor Radisson who is anything but conservative. He's an atheist-thumping, well-know college professor who forces his views on his students. He challenges the only hold out in his Philosophy class, Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper), to prove his belief of God's existence. Josh is way beyond his years as he presents expertly to the class, but he does have Him on his side after all. While he is impressive, his girlfriend is not so much along with a few others. These frustrating characters make you ask, "can someone really lack that much moral fiber?" while they intertwine along the way with the more quality individuals. Not to worry though, the complications don't last long. Powerful and sentimental moments carry this storyline through. This is a must-see either now or down the road. Get ready to be inspired!

QUIET Rating system: 3  Js

Quality: JJ

Understood story:  JJJ

Interest: JJJj

Entertainment:  JJJj

Time:  JJJ

Draft Day - Mini Review

Draft Day

Rated PG-13 and Released in Grand Rapids 4/14/14

Reviewed 4/11/14 at Celebration North Theatre

with Gary, Denny, and Laurie

3 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

The criteria for embracing this sports movie is you really have to like football or sports movies in general. I like both, so I really enjoyed this movie. Gary probably not as much, but my dad really loved it. Kevin Costner plays Sonny Weaver, general manager of Cleveland Browns, ready to risk it all to turn around the football franchise with big moves with the Browns #1 draft pick. Draft Day is a movie worth hanging in there to the end, as the storyline keeps you riveted all the way to the goal line.

QUIET Rating system: 3  Js

Quality: JJJ

Understood story:  JJJ

Interest: JJJj

Entertainment:  JJJ

Time:  JJj