Review: This is Where I Leave You
Finally! A film that I can recommend to both my septuagenarian mother and my teenage niece. This Is Where I Leave You is a warm, entertaining, dysfunctional family film that fits comfortably between the gross and outrageous slapstick of an Adam Sandler pic, and the overwrought, over-acted, self-important emotionalism of August, Osage County. I read…
Review: Men, Women and Children
No one hits a home run every time he or she steps up to the plate, not even mighty writer/director Jason Reitman, who has brought us winners like Thank You for Smoking, Juno and Up in the Air. I think it’s safe to say that although he really tried to make a statement about our…
We'll Miss Neil Patrick Harris Over in Sherman Oaks
It looks like singer/dancer/actor host Neil Patrick Harris and his family will be spending more time in their Harlem brownstone now, since they recently sold their traditional two-story home in the hills of Sherman Oaks. Long standing conventional wisdom about L.A.’s entertainment industry residents says that movie stars live south of Mulholland, and TV stars live north of Mulholland,…
Shark Tank Gets a Spin-Off
Woo Hoo! My favorite reality show is getting a spin-off. That’s right, I dare use the words “favorite” and “reality show” in the same sentence. Shark Tank, where successful business “tycoons” bid or don’t bid to fund businesses that clever entrepreneurs present, is a breakout hit for ABC on Friday nights (not traditionally a successful…
Review: A Walk Among the Tombstones
Ring Ring “Hello…” “Honey, it’s for you! It’s Liam Neeson. He says he will find you, and wants to negotiate a kidnapping…Like we haven’t heard that before.” Like we haven’t seen almost everything in A Walk Among the Tombstones before. I mean, really, how many times must we endure Neeson playing the former law enforcement officer…
Review: Fort Bliss
I admit that military movies are not usually my thing. The ravages of war are just too severe for me—they almost always graphically depict hundreds of people getting blown up or shot, and no matter if they’re the “good” guys or the “bad” guys, I just can’t get over the fact that they’re somebody’s parents,…
Kesha's Beach House Bliss
I’ve never paid much attention to pop star Kesha, but she recently closed a real estate deal that made me sit up and take notice. She bought a beautiful Spanish bungalow in Venice that is sweet, charming, and extremely well-designed. She did drop $1.65 million on it, which ain’t cheap (this is Venice, after all), but…
A&E Ditches Grown Up Viewers
As odd as this sounds, basic cabler A&E, the network that brings you such television treasures as Hoarders, Epic Ink and Storage Wars, has just canceled its second most popular show, the Wyoming country detective drama Longmire. Why would the network make such a strange move after three successful seasons? Because, while Longmire averages 5.6…
Buy the House That Jack Black Built
Who knew that comedic genius Jack Black had such good taste in architecture and design? The 1958 home that he and his wife, Tanya Haden, remodeled from top to bottom in 2006 is now on the market for $2,899,000. That’s actually quite the reasonable price considering the home’s size, architectural integrity and location, just off Mulholland…
Review: Dolphin Tale 2
Dolphin Tale 2 is sure to make a big splash with audiences–the fact that it shows wholesome, smart, thoughtful teens, rather than the f-bombing, sex crazed, post apocalyptical warriors is enough to make it praiseworthy in my book. But, surprisingly enough, there’s more to this film, inspired by real life happenings at Florida’s Clearwater Marine Aquarium, than…
