Don’t Play Scary Trailers in My Romantic Comedies

Can anyone guess what my favorite movie genre is? You got it — romantic comedies. Why? Because I go to movies as an escape, and I generally like to turn my brain off for the entire two hours. Every so often I’ll make an exception for a Tom Cruise action flick, but overall, the schmaltzier the better. So you can imagine my angst when I went to see Country Strong, and I saw an extremely disturbing trailer for a horror film. I was traumatized, and I found it very difficult to reset my mind in time for the cheesiness I desired. I thought trailers were supposed to match the genre of the movie. Are there just too few movies now to meet my interests?

Movie Review: Country Strong

I delayed seeing this film, because the trailer made it look cheesy and ridiculous. On a whim I watched it, and it was shockingly good. The film follows the career of Kelly Canter, a country music superstar, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. She’s been to rehab multiple times, and her husband, James Canter (Tim McGraw), takes her out of rehab early so she can continue her tour. Garrett Hedlund plays her “sponsor,” and he objects to Canter’s early release, partly because she isn’t ready and partly because they’ve been carrying on an affair in rehab, and he doesn’t want her to leave. Canter wants him close, so she tells her husband she wants him as her opening act on tour. Her husband complies, but only if he shares the stage with Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester), a very pretty and talented aspiring country music star. Though I was impressed with all the actors in the film, I was particularly impressed with Tim McGraw, who I couldn’t decide whether to love or hate throughout the entire film. It’s clear much he loves his wife, despite the way he mistreats her.  It’s also clear how much Beau loves his wife, so it’s impossible to predict the end result.  Until the last twenty minutes, I had no idea who the characters would end up with.  It’s the least predictable romantic movie I’ve ever seen.

Why Can The CW Pick Actors But Not Shows?

Leighton Meester is getting a lot of attention for her new film with Gwenyth Paltrow, Country Strong, and I can’t help but wonder if the people at The CW are happy.  Gossip Girl is Meester’s career launching role, and it gets a lot of media buzz, but no ratings.  That’s always baffled me, especially considering that I religiously watch Gossip Girl, despite falling outside their target tweenie demographic.  But Meester isn’t the only actress from The CW to become extremely successful.  What about Blake Lively?  She also began on Gossip Girl, and she’s now had three major movie roles (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Town, and The Green Hornet).  And let’s not forget Kristen Bell.  Bell’s career began on Veronica Mars, which also got press attention but failed in the ratings.  Like Meester and Lively, Bell has now moved on to major movie roles.  So what’s the problem?  Is it a CW marketing problem?  Perhaps.  When ratings don’t correspond with the quality of your show, you have to question marketing and promotion.  Plus, you’d think if your that good at picking talent, you’d be equally as good at running your network as a whole.

Gwyneth Paltrow Sings at the CMAs — Proves She’s a Contender

I’m the perfect person to judge Gwyneth Paltrow’s performance at the Country Music Awards.  Why?  Because I love country music, and I’m not a fan of the movie star/singer cross-over.  Having said that, she was fantastic.  You’ll often see actors try to sing in movies, and it’s obvious how over-produced the music is.  But movie studios always prefer to have their actors sing in the movie, because they know the audience favorably responds.  I usually hate the end result, but Gwyneth Paltrow is an exception.  She can actually sing.  And I’m not just talking about “passing the test.”  She sang live at the Country Music Awards and she not only pulled it off, but she sounded fantastic.  She was obviously nervous, which is understandable considering country music fans are often very particular about letting you in their club.  Watch below.

This Just in: Gwyneth Paltrow Can Sing

For some reason, Gwyneth Paltrow is in the company of many leading ladies that get slaughtered in the press (that list includes Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman — to name a couple).  Paltrow has been in the press a lot lately, primarily for her new film role, Country Strong, and almost every headline asks whether she can actually sing.  Allow me to put this to rest — the answer is yes — she can sing.  I’ve known this information since seeing her in Duets, and apparently Ryan Murphy agrees, because he just cast her in Glee.  Listen to one of her songs from Duets below.

Just My Imagination – Babyface & Gwyneth Paltrow by mylifetrakz