International Cat Show: Saturday and Sunday, 9am-4pm at Cal Expo Fairgrounds. Admission: adults ($7), seniors and children ($6), under 6 free. Adoptions and cat related items.

Dinner Theater: “Bingo: The Winning Musical” opens this weekend at the Cosmopolitan Cabaret, 10th and K streets downtown. $33-$43, for ticket info call (916) 557-1999.

Movies opening:
Courageous: (PG-13, 124 minutes) Four Georgia cops face the consequences of both good and bad absentee fatherhood in this faith-based drama.
Dream House: (PG-13, 93 minutes) A man moves into a new house, only to learn that the previous residents were brutally murdered with the killer still at large.
50/50: (R, 99 minutes) A young man is diagnosed with cancer and his friends, family and medical professionals don’t know quite how to talk to him about it.
Senna: (PG-13, 106 minutes) A documentary about Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the world championship three times. The story is told through archival footage. Senna was the idol of his generation until he died at the Grand Prix of San Marino at the age of 34.
What’s Your Number: (R, 106 minutes) Ally Darling, an offbeat young woman, decides after hitting the un-magical number of 20 lovers, to re-visit all her ex-boyfriends in the hopes of finding the man of her dreams. She’s assisted in her quest by her womanizing neighbor Colin.

 You already love the song, now check out the video!

I sat at the screening for this movie next to friends of mine from Fox 40.  At one point, I was nudged in the side by one of their elbows.  I looked next to me and saw that I was being handed a tissue.  I had no idea but I was crying so hard during 50/50 that I was sobbing, snorting and sniveling.  Embarrassed, I took the tissue to wipe my face clean, although one minute later I was laughing my ass off and didn’t need the tissue anymore.

50/50 is the work of director Jonathan Levine (HBO’s How to Succeed in America) and writer Will Reiser (HBO’s Da Ali G Show).  It’s a semi-biographical script based on Reiser’s actual battle with spinal cancer and how his best friend, Seth Rogen, helped him through it.  Seth Rogen stars alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Reiser’s character and the two of them create one of the most emotional testaments to friendship that I’ve seen in over a decade.

This is not your typical Seth Rogen movie.  Yes, there is pot smoking.  Yes, there is crude language.  Yes, they try to get laid.  But what sets this apart is that there is also a soul to this movie that is deeper and more revealing than any comedy that’s come out in years.  That’s not to say that if you’re a fan of Knocked Up or Superbad you’ll be bored by this.  Rogen still delivers the top shelf funny that we’ve come to expect from him in every nuanced cadence of his style.

It’s possible that I’m a little biased, since a friend of mine went through cancer when we were 19-years-old and some of the scenes in 50/50 hit a little too close to home.  But as painful and gut-wrenching as some of the scenes can get, there are scenes that celebrate life and make you split your sides from laughing right around the corner.  I can’t remember a movie in recent memory that made me laugh just as hard as it made me cry.  It’s a true accomplishment of the Dramedy genre.

Reiser created a script that doesn’t dwell in either one of the emotions long enough to bum you out or no longer realize how serious the subject matter is.  It’s a true masterpiece of writing.  It’s also helped along by a fantastic supporting cast that consists of Anna Kendrick (the Twilight Series, Up in the Air), Bryce Dallas Howard (the Twilight series, The Help), and Anjelica Huston (The Royal Tenebaums, Choke).

It’s rare that a movie can make me cry thinking about it days after I’ve seen it; 50/50 is one of them though.  That’s not a spoiler, so don’t worry.  Although this film has some very heartbreaking moments, it’s really a celebration of life.  It’s a film about cancer that doesn’t spend its full 100 minutes making you feel like you’re dying too.  It’s a rally cry for anyone who feels like cashing in their chips to instead stand up, go outside and embrace friendship, family and love.

It’s also a film that SCREAMS for the Academy to take notice.  I think 50/50 is good enough to be nominated for Best Film, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor.  I encourage you to go see it, no matter if you’ve enjoyed a Seth Rogen film in the past or not, because 50/50 is therapeutic in its execution and cathartic in its viewing.  I plan on seeing it again as soon as I can and this time I’ll bring my own tissues.
50/50  (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: A+

Wine lips

This fall brings us a great alternative to the red lip…wine colored lips are totally it this fall. Everyone can wear this rich color — no matter your skin pigment — as long as you choose the right hue. To make this look more wearable, avoid an opaque color. Instead, opt for a more sheer finish for an effortless look. Try out MAC Lipstick in Sheer Plum for $15 bucks, it’s a winner for anyone looking for a quick burgundy fix.

On his show Anderson Cooper tried coffee for the first time ever! Here is the video:

Listen to the Wake Up Call talk about Anderson here:

Anderson Cooper Tries Coffee

This movie has a title that would make almost anybody roll their eyes.  It has a poster that would make everyone walk right past it in a video store…if video stores still existed.  It’s a horror movie about a group of college kids that go for a vacation in the West Virginia wilderness (like no college kids ever do) and have a bloody run-in with two hillbillies that are in a creepy old cabin in the middle of nowhere.  The only difference is that the two hillbillies are just trying to mind their own business and be helpful but the college kids think they’re psycho killers so they try to kill them.  It’s a clever little twist that makes Tucker and Dale vs. Evil a shockingly fun movie.

Although most of the cast if padded with talentless, barely attractive wannabes, the three main characters are recognizable faces.  The damsel “in distress” is played by Katrina Bowden who’s the goddess from NBC’s 30 Rock and Sex Drive.  The real stars are Alan Tudyk (Death at a Funeral, Knocked Up) and Tyler Labine (CW’s Reaper, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) who are really talented, really funny character actors that have yet to disappoint in a performance.  It’s a good thing they’re so good because they carry the movie on their shoulders alone.

I gotta give credit where it’s due though and that’s to first-time director/writer Eli Craig.  I really appreciate movies that are horror films in the true sense of the word but flip the genre on its head to be funny and do it without making fun of it.  Other films that have pulled that off are Behind the Mask and more famously, Shaun of the Dead.  Tucker and Dale vs. Evil pokes fun at the slasher genre a little more than the other two but it still delivers on the gore.  Impressive for a movie that was made with a crazy, small budget.

This isn’t a laugh-a-minute movie that keeps you entertained the whole (pathetic) 88 minutes.  It does drag at parts and it’s sadly not above a dick joke here and there.  But overall it’s a decent horror comedy that takes a tired concept and twists it just a bit.  It’s almost like Halloween if instead, Michael Myers was just a nice guy trying to help teenagers to help him take the mask off, which they see as a threat so they try to kill him.  That’s the plot and it works.  Sure it’s one long joke and yes it does get stretched thin, but it’s nice to see someone at least taking a risk and creating something original in the horror genre for once.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil  (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: B

Today Amazon anounced a new product that will be due out this November called the Kindle Fire. It’s meant to go head to head with Apples Ipad. With a 7″ touch screen it will be slightly smaller than the Ipad’s 9″ screen but its biggest selling point is something else thats smaller. The price! The Kindle Fire will sell for $199 compared to the Ipad’s $499. I don’t think Apple is vulnerable but it will be interesting to see how the Kindle Fire sells this Christmas season.

THE FUTURE OF 3-D JUST GOT MORE EXPENSIVE!
Sony has declared starting next May that they will not be paying for 3-D glasses. They will be saving millions of dollars per movie but the problem is someone’s going to pay for them and it will probably be us…the movie gooers.

Fashion is having a code red for fall. Head-to-toe crimson looks fired up the runways. Not a look for the faint of heart but one that can turn every gal into a sexy siren (did you see Jennifer Lawrence at the Oscars?). The color of passion appears everywhere from store interiors and hotel decor to gadgets and to-die-for accessories. A tube of rouge lipstick and a blood-red fur chubby, and you’re on your way to the season’s boldest trend.

Here is video of a news report about a 91-year-old man who threw a bucket of urine on the sidewalk to keep some kids away…

Listen to the Wake Up Call talk about the old man:

Old Man Throws Urine