The Mindy Project - In the Club ★★★☆☆

One beef I often have with sitcoms episodes nowadays is that they often move too fast, go in too many directions, and try to cram in too much at once. You might say that about the new show The Mindy Project, but in the episode "In the Club", this approach perhaps works. 

The plot is simple and the entire episode revolves around what is happening when the characters go to the club. The simplicity of the story generally works well for The Mindy Project and it allows for more comedy to crack up at unexpected moments or Mindy dropping a lot more comedic one-liners and gags ("I told you-- Black guys LOVE me!"). 

The problem with making too much room for the jokes is that the episode lost focus on the logic of the events and is literally going all over the place "in the club". Although we might find Mindy's "foray" into the VIP world with the NBA players and their sports attorney cute, or that her failed attempts to hook up with the guys in the club funny, it is not clear where this episode is heading. 

It was predictable that Mindy didn't leave for the VIP "after party" and chose to spend her night with her friends/coworkers, but when we were watching it, we couldn't help but wonder, "Isn't that what she wants?" My friend, B, asked "What changed her mind?" 

It is difficult to understand how Mindy would decide to ditch the celebrities and stay with her friends when her character is not fully developed, her motivation unclear. It is still refreshing that we know that she is a girl who--let's put it nicely--likes to have a lot of second thoughts. 

Another example would be when Morgan, the nurse, tried to persuade Jeremy to stop sleeping around. It is definitely entertaining, but without understanding why Morgan gives a damn about another person's business, it wasn't quite enough and left us clueless. 

We still enjoyed the episode and the humour came from each character themselves having a lot of random moments, but more importantly, we did laugh out loud. 

The New Normal - Pilot ★★★★☆

Here comes a brand new show called The New Normal. I have had a blast watching the first episode. 

The show focuses on a gay couple, David and Bryan, who think that the only thing that could make their life perfect is to have a baby. Enter Goldie, a single mother, who decides to start her life over and to become a lawyer (so that she can wear "expensive suits like Juliana Margulies in the Good Wife but without the disgraced husband"). To be able to get into law school, she agrees to be the surrogate mother for the boys. 

I was actually pleasantly surprised with the first episode. There are plenty of jokes here and there, despite some very random scenes (including a sex scene with an Asian girl saying "United States is the most powerful country on Earth"), it is still hilarious and funny. The acting is decent and solid. My friend, D, had to ask me if the actors are actually gay in real life. 

The dialogues are fast and smart ("These pants were very expensive." "To me...they don't look like that.") and the characters are very likable overall. 

D said that this show is like a parody of Modern Family. I think this show makes a bold choice to use two gay men as the lead and centre of the plot. The people here are actually relatable and genuine, instead of being stereotyped and cliched. Although we are not sure what the storyline for the rest of the show would be, it is a good start for a new show. 

The show even includes a segment of interviews (similar to Modern Family-style) in which random couples on a playground with different "abnormalities" talk about why they are not "normal" and how they still manage to have a happy life with their children. Knowing that all is staged, it still seems pretty sweet and new without being excessive and preachy. 

For the most part, every single person in the show is adorable and happy. There are also some genuine touching moments when the characters talk about what their dreams are. 

I must say that this show has a lot of potential and I will recommend it to anyone who wants to take a 20-minute break and watch something funny, smart and light. 

Great Acting: YES. 

Entertaining: VERY!!! 

Coming back for more episodes: Definitely!

How Do You Know ★★★☆☆

I got very interested in watching this movie when I first saw, on IMDb, the trailer. The trailer looks promising and I finally got a chance to see the movie. Despite what the trailer and the cast may suggest, I really want to like the movie, and I was disappointed. 

How Do You Know is kind of taking a bunch of serious good ideas and putting them into a comedy environment, but is more like mixing the star power and popularity of Reece Witherspoon and Owen Wilson-styled humour, and a very ambitious yet clueless story. 

The story has 2 parts:

Part 1: George (played by Paul Rudd) is son of Charles (Jack Nicholson), who is the target of a federal investigation. George is then set up by his own father to take the blame for falsifying corporate documents. So he has to choose whether he would go to jail for his dad within the next few days. 

Part 2: Lisa (played by Reece Witherspoon) is a softball player but she gets cut from the Olympic team because of her age. At the same time, she also has commitment issue with her boyfriend Matty (Owen Wilson) who is a $14 million per year baseball player. 

The two stories seem unrelated and complicated. But the movie does not explore into either actually. There's not much detail into either George's and his father's business, nor is there anything about Lisa's dream of being a successful athlete. The movie suddenly becomes a romantic fluff, and suddenly, their personal backstory and issue are not important anymore. 

I feel the only enjoyable part of the movie is  the last 30 minutes. I absolutely love all the scenes in the last part. The movie gets 3 stars based on that. But the problem is: you need to sit through the first hour of boring long dialogues with nothing really happening before getting there. 

With such great actors and talents, I expected more. Now, the whole movie just seems forced. The characters don't seem to connect with each other. The stories don't fit with one another. There is no chemistry and the relationship is not convincing per se. There are too many random moments that seem important, but unanswered and unresolved, and instead, I was left to believe that the writer/director was probably thinking, "I don't know!" when someone asks him "How Do You Know?" 



Great Acting: OK. 
Entertaining: Not really. 
Enjoyable Fluff in the last 30 minutes: YES!
Is it Worth the Price of a Movie Ticket: NO! 
Would I watch It Again: Maybe a long time from now. 

The Amazing Spider-Man ★★★★☆

Recently my friend and I were discussing that not many quality summer blockbusters had come out during the summer (unless you count the very brainless Avengers, or the very gory and crazy Prometheus); then I see The Amazing Spider-Man. 

To say it is not a film that I am normally interested in would be an understatement. I wasn't a fan of the Marvel comic teenage superhero, nor was I an admirer of the original franchise starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst to fully appreciate the depth of this story. Additionally, if there was ever a movie that screamed "another-recycled-action-flick-cos-we-ran-out-of-ideas" it would be this one. In spite of that, I've heard wonderful things about the the director Marc Webber, and the casting (with Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Sally Field) and decided to view the movie. I'm happy to say that I'm glad that I did. Virtually the director Webber put together a cast of relatively new young and better-looking actor and actress with spectacular special effects that truly made the story go. 

Webber, who is most famous for (500) Days of Summer, renewed the whole casting and changed the approach (no more Mary-Jane or the Oscorp father and son). Peter Parker is not the innocent and naive high school boy like in the first few movies, but he is troubled teenager who is a photo-taking geek. The rather young and new cast has a fresh feeling on the story and there are no preconceived notions based on a past actor or actresses work. That being said Andrew Garfield (the Social Network), and Emma Stone (the Help) had a true coming out party in The Amazing Spider-Man. Both of them played fantastic parts, which really made their chemistry mesh nicely together. Rhys Ifans, Sally Field and Martin Sheen were all spectacular in supporting roles alongside Garfield and Stone. The villain this time is the Lizard who is truly frightening and did a good job scaring the hell out of the audience. 

When a movie has the explosions, crazy action or crude humor that we've become accustomed to seeing in newer movies there has got to be a great story attached in order to maintain your interest; The Amazing Spider-Man had that great story. There aren't many movies that have you laughing, crying, getting angry or frightened and end up still being fantastic and that is where this one had me. With my common rule of no movie should be over 2 hours unless it is special; this one is very special. I would be surprised if there aren't a number of sequels coming.

Some scenes are quite fragmented and silly, and dialogues sometimes corny but thank god the movie quickly went back to its right path until the end. I still do not like how the scene when Peter Parker got bitten by the spider was handled. But the story generally flows well, and there is no lacking in its actions to keep you from being bored. Having said that, I watched it in 2D which I think is good enough. Never a fan of the 3D movies. 

Great Acting: YES! 

Entertaining: Yes 

Summer Movie Grade: A+ 

Is it Worth the Price of a Movie ticket: Yes 

Would I watch It Again: Yes!