FWB vs. NSA - Movie Review(s)

No, of course don't really mean "real" Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached, I mean the extremely similarly themed movies this summer that came out about finding love in supposed 'non-committal' relationships. When I first heard these were BOTH coming out, I was really interested to see what would turn out better. The situation mildly reminds me of that movie, The Muse (with Sharon Stone), where Albert Brooks ends up writing the same exact movie as another writer in the end of it all. I digress.

Yes, I saw both these movies. Let me start by saying that Friends with Benefits (starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake) was FARRRRRR better than No Strings Attached (starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher). How can that be, you ask? Despite the fact that I find it VERY peculiar that both the stars from Black Swan ended up making very similar romantic comedies (can we say challenge?), the NSA duo just doesn't deliver the romantic comedy performance that FWB does.

Mila vs. Natalie

While there is no doubt that Natalie Portman is a great actress (proven by her roles in The Professional, V for Vendetta, Star Wars, and Black Swan), she is lacking in believability and comes off a little bratty in the movie , as Emma, the Doctor. While Mila seemed to have a better grasp and identity with her character and a more believable career as a headhunter. It is clear that years on That 70's Show, has given a Mila a bigger edge on Sarcastic comedy and she is much funnier than Natalie, although I don't know that Natalie was really trying to be. Mila wins!

Justin vs. Ashton

I want to naturally believe that Ashton is naturally more comedic than JT (who rose to fame as a member of N'Sync), but sometimes he just goes a bit over the top in NSA. This is where JT shines in this movie, he doesn't overact. This is the first movie

that I have seen JT in, where he fills the roll quite nicely (IMHO). In addition, I think that Ashton was poorly matched with Natalie, so that could have something to do with it. While there were a couple of parts in the movie that I thought he was supposed to be funny and didn't quite pull it off, Justin did a great job as a co-star and had a lot more chemistry with Mila than Ashton with Natalie. Justin Wins!

Overall, the supporting case in FWB was pretty awesome and included Emma Stone (whom I LOVE), Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Woody, Richard Jenkins, Brian Greenberg (Made In America), Andy Samberg (I love you, man) and others. NSA's cast wasn't without highlights, it included Kevin Kline, Cary Elwes, Ludracris and Minda Kaling (The Office), among a couple others. Beyond that, the story line of FWB was MUCH better and intertwined (as much as it can be for this kind of movie). FWB wins!

Let's face it, Will Gluck kicked Ivan Reitman's but on this one. These movies aren't winning any performance awards any time soon, but I will tell you FWB was not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Watch both of them, I'm sure you'll be on my side.

DETOX: Day 1

I am starting another path towards body detoxification, which means cleansing, re-organizing and getting back in shape (-30 pounds now). If you have read my blog before you know I'm a little obsessed with staying in shape. The problem is my follow through, with all the other little things, fitness is where I let myself slide the most, I think this is an area that is tough for a lot of people. It is easy to make excuses not to go the gym, but in reality it should be as important as grooming yourself.

Don't get me wrong, I love to workout and it frustrates me when I'm too tired or get out of my schedule. Today will be the start of a new schedule. I'm starting by heading over to one of my favorite places, Burke Williams, to get all the kinks out, relax and just breathe a little bit.

Detox includes so many things, in fact I just got this coupon from Living Social for boot camp, that I may just have to incorporate into this new regimen. Here's my list:

1) Getting the kinks out and sweating it out @BurkeWilliams

2) Workout schedule/regimen - the most important part for me is getting back into a schedule I can't live without, which means I'll be working out every morning.

3) Groceries - healthy eating plan - I love to cook, but have shirked because of this whole moving thing, expect a trip to Whole Foods today.

4) New Tennis schedule - Ideally, I want to play tennis about 3-4 times a week (including the weekend), I found several partners through Craigslist for early AM tennis.

5) Meditation - more commonly known as alone time.

6) Relationship Time - Last but not least, I'm getting married this year, so I look forward to getting the stress out of the relationship and getting back to our dates and weekend workouts.

With detox goes soda, milk, juices and probably cheese (but that's going to hurt). We'll see how it goes, Iwill report back.

Inspiration or fact?

I found this quote this morning and I'm not sure if it inspired me or brought thoughts to the light.

“Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to "carry it off."” - Donald Rumsfeld

Whether in business, in life or in relationships this quote holds true. Maybe it's because I live in California, or become people are becoming less in touch with themselves with the forward movement of technology; but I think a lot of people have trouble pulling this off.

I find this quote resonating with the way I pursue life and have even felt the success that he describes. You cannot gain anything but success when you're being yourself (which includes being honest with yourself and ethical). I guess I thought I would share this to remind people that success is partly instinctual and staying true to your values. If, in what you do, you are not pursuing those two things, success will be difficult to get to.

If you don't feel it with your whole heart, try something else!

Adventures of a Chronic Dieter #3 - no pain no gain

As you may have noticed, I'm on another mission. My goals in life are conducted by endless missions that lead to more missions that will continue until I die, I'm sure.


Goal - minus 22 lbs.
Target date - June 15th (the date of my next big work event)
Current Status - very tired with a crick in my neck, ouch! And way to overweight to mention.

Current supportive activities - running, tennis (3-4 times a week), 24 hour fitness hell and counting calories.

This week has been quite a serious one for my goal achieving. Not only have I done really well with the eating and working out; but I've also completed a lot of important work tasks that I had on my list. I have finalized my summer plans in Europe and we are headed on our way to Spain, Turkey and Germany for 42 days. WOW that's a long time! By then I will be on my next mission of craziness.

Anyway, I made a great effort this week to workout at least once a day if not twice. I introduced myself to a new 24 hour fitness at the Irvine Spectrum, which makes me want to workout even more, because of its fantastic facilities. In result, I have been the most tired that I have been in weeks and far less social than I normally am.

In addition, as a pre-achievement gift I bought myself of very expensive shoes. Result: too small for my big ol' feet :(...boo! They are going back, but I can use that money for something more important...like bills. I didn't deserve them anyway, I stalled on my taxes and still have not filed.

Anyway, this quest continues. However, Sunday at Disneyland is not going to make it easy to continue this mission. I've done really well in removing the whole soda thing from my diet so far. The only problem is that I really want a Snakebite (or Black and Tan, whatever you wanna call it). I love the weekends, more time to workout and enjoy it.

The boyfriend probably isn't getting as much loving attention as normal, I figure I will make him dinner tonight to make up for some of it; a healthy one of course.

Forward I march....sigh...