"Good Deeds" Gone BAD

~Elle Shanice~ Grade: B-

You know how people say that Tyler Perry makes the same movies over and over? Well I'm starting to believe that is true.

I wasn't really excited to see his latest movie, Good Deeds because I felt that I already knew what would happen: Tyler Perry's character would fall in love with this other woman and his fiance' would get mad. That's pretty much what happened.

I see that Tyler Perry is trying some different things and I have to give him credit because he is the biggest name in black cinema. However, I felt that the movie was trying too hard to tell such a simple story of Wesley Deeds, a man who does not live his own life but the life that he was raised to live.

He has the perfect fiance' Natalie (played by Gabrielle Union) and the perfect job (CEO of his late father's company) but he is not happy inside. He does not realize this, of course, until he meets Lindsey (played by Thandie Newton). She is a free-spirited janitor in Deeds' building who has to hide her 6-year-old daughter in the closet while she works because they are homeless and living out of her car. It was cool to see them get to know each other and for her to help him get in touch with his reality but it a plot that was drawn out for too long.

First of all, the movie opens up with a Tyler Perry shower scene (Ewwwww!!!!!) with this dramatic monotoned monologue that showed his tendency to OVER act. Secondly, I'm not nor have I ever been a fan of Gabrielle Union which made the movie hard to watch for me as well. I can't explain my disdain for her but just know that I don't really like her, although I don't know her personally. All of that made for a VERY awkward sex scene between the two of them...SMH

The best part of the movie to me was the tension between Deeds and his alcoholic, bad-tempered brother Walter (OVER played by Brian White). It was funny to see the two go back and forth as the younger brother was jealous that Wesley was running the company.

Despite how I feel about it, the movie did pretty good over the weekend, earning $16 million and opening at #2 in the box office. That means that people went to see the movie and we know Tyler Perry can fill the movie chairs.

~Elle Shanice~ APPROVED ✔: Safe House

~Elle Shanice~ Grade: A-

Every so often, a movie comes along that makes me eager to see it just based off of the television preview. The last one was Red Tails and now Safe House, starring (my favorite actor) Denzel Washington & Ryan Reynolds.

I love suspense films that keep you on the edge of your seat, and this movie did not disappoint. You have to pay attention from the very beginning because if you miss something, you will be trying to gather the clues the whole movie.

Washington plays Tobin Frost, an ex-CIA spy who has "gone rogue" after selling intelligence information to the enemy. He has been on the loose for years, but mysteriously shows up in South Africa.

Matt Weston (Reynolds) is the "housekeeper" of a safe house who is waiting for his chance to show what he can do as an agent. He is dedicated to the agency and insists on following protocol...NO matter what.



When Frost is brought to Weston's safe house, it is attacked by a group of men after him. Weston must escape w/ Frost and get to an alternate location. The mind games begin as Frost asks Weston what he is willing to do for the name of the agency.

The best part of the movie was when Weston, at Frost's yielding, begins to question who he can trust in the industry and has to go away from what he's been taught to survive. In the process, he uncovers corruption and has to defy the officials that he has been trained to listen to.

Safe House is another action-packed thriller that shows Denzel Washington in his rare bad guy role. Reynolds also makes a name for himself on the action side. Check out the trailer below & go see the movie:

Remember Whitney Houston For Her Music Legacy

I find myself struggling to write this blog post, given the sudden and shocking circumstances surrounding the untimely death of one of the greatest recording artists of all time.

Whitney Houston was only 48 years old but was one of the best voices that I have ever heard. She was such a staple at the top of the charts in the 80's and 90's, with a series of consecutive #1 hits that include "Greatest Love of All", "Saving All My Love For You" and "How Will I Know". Her vocal range was incomparable and she was such an inspiration to so many other artists that I love. Not only was she one of the best-selling artists of all time, selling hundreds of millions of records, but she was an actress whose movies were few but classic, such as The Bodyguard, The Preacher's Wife, and my personal favorite, Waiting to Exhale. That movie is part of my collection & I was hoping that they could get the orignal four women back together for the sequel :-(

I first heard the news when it popped up on my iPhone's screen via the CNN app and my jaw immediately dropped. There was no news of an illness or that she was even rushed to the hospital. Nothing leading up to her death & nothing to prepare the music world for such a loss, just one day before the 2012 Grammy Awards, of which Houston had won 6.

Despite her personal problems and bouts with drug & alcohol addiction, I always rooted for her and prayed that she could make a comeback. She recently finished the remake of Sparkle, which would have served as the "sparkle" of such a resurgence. I have always said in my blog posts that I don't get concerned with celebrities' personal lives and the same can be said about Whitney Houston. Yes, she had a tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown which may have led to her drug problems. However, what I do know is that her career is one of the greatest in history and that is what we should remember her by.

We all probably have a memory of Whitney and her music. I remember watching The Bodyguard  and then being a fanatic of the soundtrack, which included my JAMS "Queen of the Night", "I'm Every Woman" and the epic hit "I Will Always Love You". The impact of such a loss as this outweighs the circumstances, because there will NEVER be a voice like Whitney's. Not Mariah, Beyonce', Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson...NOBODY. Yes, they all come close but the fact that they were all inspired by her makes her legacy that much greater.

Rest in Peace Ms. Whitney Houston

August 9, 1963-February 11, 2012

Below are the videos for my 3 favorite Whitney Houston songs, "I'm Your Baby Tonight" & "All The Man That I Need" and "I'm Every Woman". The first one is a song that I can play at ANY time & has been on repeat in the past 48 hours. The second is the song that I want to sing to my husband at our wedding ("sing" used LOOSELY lol). The last one features my ALL-TIME favorite group TLC.