ANNABELLE'S REVIEWS AND VIEWS: Juno

Damn, he has some nice legs.


I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Juno was a cute movie. It'll make you feel good. It's like Napoleon Dynamite without all the awkwardness.

The acting is great. The dialogue is hilarious. It's as good as all the cool people are saying.

There is, actually, one aspect that's a little awkward, but you can see it for yourself.

Verdict: Movie theater it! (But if you're broke like me, wait for the DVD. There's no crazy special effects that would entice you to see it on the big screen.)

Blackout

Never have I ever been warned, questioned and harassed about buying a CD more than I was when I purchased Britney's new album. People laughed at me. My friends questioned my sanity. The cashier said: "No refunds!" What the hell? I asked him if he usually warns purchasers about refunds and he said, "No, but for that CD . . .yeah!"

So, I'm perplexed. Her albums have always been pretty much devoid of personality and basically entertainment's equivalent to junk food. There was nothing nutritional about it, but it served it's purpose once and a while and tasted good- even it was completely synthetic. But, NOW, when she's actually unabashedly what she is- no pretenses and, although she still she doesn't write her shit, it's more personal and autobiographical and we pretty much know what she's about (sex, drugs and no panties) . . .why is it NOW that everyone is making it about the music? Why are we suddenly paying attention and evaluating the "quality" of her music? When we knew nothing about her, except that she was pretty and "perfect," and she made SHITTY albums (only 1 or 2 songs on her albums were ever worth listening to), everyone bought her music. No one questioned me and I sure as hell wasn't warned by everyone not to buy her music. (Nevermind the personal battle I fought within when I bought the other two Britney albums that I own.)

Hell, "Blackout" is a good dance album. I like Britney more now that she's crazy. I can appreciate her music more. In reality, now that I know more about her, she seems more mysterious . . .and more fun.

If her aim on this new album is to get me to move my ass ("Freakshow") , grind on the boy next to me ("Gimme More", "Radar"), fall in love ("Heaven on Earth") and then dump his ass when he starts disrespecting me and/or I get tired of him ("Toy Solider", "Why Should I be Sad?"), her goal is accomplished.

That isn't to say that this album is perfect, but none of the songs are HORRIBLE. At worst, they are generic and redundant. I could do without "Break the Ice", "Get Naked", "Ooh Ooh Baby" and "Perfect Lover." Those four songs aren't horrible, but there's nothing terribly special about them.

"Piece of Me" is her take on the paparazzi. "Radar" is "Toxic" Part 2, and that isn't a bad thing. "Heaven on Earth" is very Kylie/Madonna . . .and uncomfortably delicious. "Freakshow" is very, very cool and futuristic. (It's one of my favorite tracks.) "Toy Solider" reminds me of my favorite "Destiny Child" song, "Solider" mixed with a little Gwen. And "Why Should I Be Sad" is produced by Pharell and it's a strong track that shows the emoitional (or unemotional) side of Britney's breakup with Kevin.

Overall, I'd say this album is Britney's best album by far. She admits to being a lush and favoring nakedness. Finally. And I will glady make copies for anyone who wants one so you don't have to be embarassed enough to go to the store to buy it and be a part of the Spanish Inquisition upon doing so.

Annabelle Blue's Reviews

I’m keeping it short and sweet, as promised. ☺

Superbad (2007) Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader and Seth Rogen

Synopsis from IMDB: “Two co-dependent high school seniors (Hill and Cera) are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.”


This movie was hilarious AND really smart. At times I found it unnecessarily and unrealistically vulgar . . .but at the same time it was oddly REAL. I know most of you will be seeing this soon, so I am going to be sure not to spoil anything for you. Lots of awkward sexual situations and what not. Duh.

All of the characters are entertaining. At times, I forgot I was watching a movie and not just watching some nerds in my high school. BY FAR, my favorite character would have to be Fogell, who is so endearingly hopeless that I wished he were real and I could be friends with him . . .or at least have had him in a class in high school so I could laugh at him.

I’d say “Superbad” ranked somewhere between “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (LOVED it) and “Knocked Up" (LIKED it a lot). Definitely worth seeing.

Annabelle Blue’s Verdict: Movie theater it!

Annabelle Blue's Reviews

So, considering I don't have any regular readers yet, I have no poor people e-mailing me frantically because they need advice. As such, I think I'm going to do away with "Ask Annabelle" for now. Instead, I'm going to review movies, music, television, books and whatever else I deem worth reviewing today.

MOVIES

Stardust (2007) Starring: Charlie Cox, Ian McKellen (narrator),Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sienna Miller, Mark Strong

Disclaimer: I'm not familiar with much of Neil Gaiman's work (feel free to shoot down this twenty-something with an English Lit. degree right now), so I'd like to think I came into this unbiased. I realize this movie is based on a novel, but since I haven't read it, I cannot compare the two. I am just going to comment on the movie itself, which I think lends to a much more fair critique.

All that being said, I enjoyed this movie. It was a little slow at the beginning, but the end more than makes up for it. It is a clever and witty take on a fairy tale with messages of individuality and acceptance sprinkled throughout. Did I mention it's clever? Michelle Pfeiffer is superb as the evil witch Lamia. Claire Danes will always be Angela Chase from "My So-Called Life" to me, but she did a great job at being the whiny, yet charming, Yvaine. Charlie Cox as the awkward prince charming Tristran is ADORABLE. (I dare you not to melt when he smiles.) Mark Strong as Septimus was chilling and yet captivating . . .couldn't keep my eyes off of him.

Robert DeNiro as Captain Shakespeare definitely felt a little odd. I don't know if it's because he's the only character with an American accent or what, but I just didn't get into him. Seems like he and his character were just thrown in the movie.

Annabelle Blue's verdict: Movie theater it. BUT, I will admit this movie isn't for everyone, so some people might want to just DVD it if they are having reservations about seeing it.

CONCERTS

Virgin Festival
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Baltimore, MD

Starring: Fountains of Wayne, Cheap Trick, The Fratellis, Amy Winehouse, INCUBUS, Ben Harper, Beastie Boys and The Police

Overall, I'd say this was definitely what we made of it. It was hot as hell (100 degrees), there wasn't much to do besides watch the musical acts, food and drinks were pricey, the tickets themselves were outrageous. One word: Port-a-Pottys. We still had a great time, but that's because we pushed and shoved our way to the front row of the main stage.

Fountains of Wayne: Boring as hell.

Cheap Trick: Way too loud. Saw them at WHFStival back in high school and thought they were good . . .this time around I just covered my ears, sought shade and a strawberry smoothie.

The Fratellis: They sound just like they do on the radio. We left though because it was hot as hell.

Amy Winehouse: Great voice. Her backup singers (dancers?) stole the show. They were amazing. Get the poor girl a burger, please. Figures she went into rehab a few days later.

Incubus: Amazing as always. It was surreal being up so close. We wished we could see them all night (way too short) and now Incubus concerts aren't going to be the same without being front row. I'm spoiled.

Ben Harper: Very good. The crowd loves him.

Beastie Boys: Surprisingly awesome. Not into them, but they put on a great live show. They definitely killed it.

The Police: Sting looks awesome. Amazingamazingamazing. We left though because we were way too tired.



That's Brandon Boyd, the lead singer of Incubus. I'm not a photographer, so excuse how crappy it turned out. We were much closer than it seems in this picture. I wasn't concerned with taking awesome pictures . . .I just wanted to rock. And not die of heat exhaustion.








Annabelle Blue's verdict: Eh, I don't think I'd do it again unless one of my favorite bands were playing. But this concert was totally worth it, if only because I made eye contact with Brandon Boyd.