Movie Review: One For The Money

~Contains spoilers~

Movie Poster One For The Money

I didn't really realize that the movie was another chick flick until my movie companion lightly commented on it. I didn't know what to expect since it's a movie based on a book written by Janet Evanovich. Now let's see, I haven't really read any Evanovich books, so maybe I could give this movie a chance. 

Heigl goes brunette in One For The  Money

Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl) is a smart brunette and a former lingerie sales representative from a department store who finds herself deep in bills to pay and yes, quite jobless. She hears about a job during dinner with her family and heads on to her cousins' retrieving agency only to find out that the filing job is no longer available and the only job there is (and with good pay too), is that of retrieving suspects and those who have skipped bail. It's not an easy job but she works hard and depends on her logic, common sense and connects with people from her community to see herself through. She also acquires impressive skills like picking a lock, shooting a gun, and arguing with a former cop known as Morelli she is now after who is also a prime suspect. With continued encounters, she also tries to determine whether he is innocent. 

Dialogue

Most of the characters have an accent to show their Jersey roots, in the part of town showing diverse mixture of Italian, Afro and Mexican-American. Heigl here develops a way of speaking that only Italian-Americans do. Pay attention to the street lingo...

Inexperienced Plum gets intimidated by Morelli

What could they be looking at?

Characters

Standout characters are the hookers, Ranger, and of course, Morelli. Stephanie's character development is evident from the beginning of the movie where she is a clueless, desperate sales lady who is out of a job, to a streetwise, novice bounty hunter in the end. 

Plot

I found the plot interesting for a chick flick, and I found it admirable that a woman like Stephanie Plum keeps focus on her job, turning her prime suspect in while scoring some much needed reward on the side. 

There were sexy, steamy scenes and the viewer could tell there was tension building up between Plum and Morelli. However, it's managed to be a wholesome story. 

The Verdict 3/5

It's a chick flick with some detective thrill in it. 

It was a funny movie, but Plum maintains a sweetheart aura about her until the end, and I was honestly hoping for a more badass, sexy Plum. It's an okay movie all in all. 

 Plum with a smaller bang-bang, listen to Ranger drool over a bigger, more powerful bang-bang

Heigl as streetwise and smart ass bounty hunter Plum 

Plum after the car she was supposed to drive blew up with Police in her parking lot. 

Mothers In Literature

Have you ever encountered that term The Mother Figure in Literature? It's actually one of the pillar characteristics of women in the feminist movement, and of course, there are other characterizations like the mother, the tramp, the goddess, the gold digger, and all other stereotypical figures that can be applied to women in literature.

But since Mother's Day is due next Sunday, here are just some inspiring reads, with strong mother characters in each. There might be mothers who will stop at nothing to protect their children, there might be selfless mothers, and there might be mothers who will murder their babies to escape a life of slavery. Read on for moving, heart-breaking mothers and if you know of which books might be added to this list, do leave a comment below by suggesting it.

Happy Mother's Day!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

In Stockett's book, the maids Minny, Constantine and Aibileen are all mothers, stuck in their day jobs as maids, raising white people's children and being paid measly wages a dime a day while they are forced to leave their own children behind. Not until Skeeter decides and asks their stories to be told for a writing project and her ticket to the Big Apple does the whole town of Jaskson, Mississippi turn upside down. 

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

Mothers have their own pasts and stories. Before growing resentment towards your own mother, learn of LuLing's sacrifices and pains before leaving China and leading a life in San Francisco. This is the story of the shocking chain of events, of a young Chinese girl's childhood and the woman who tried her best to raise her, and the circumstances which led her to bearing and rearing her own daughter Ruth.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

Having an artist for a mother may sound thrilling, especially if you are descendants of Vikings, with tough blood in your veins. But what happens when your mother commits murder and you are thrown in a series of foster homes, with a new set of mothers. How will you live in the present when you slowly learn of your past, and what was once believed to be love, turns out to be a protective shell of hiding the truth from you. 

 

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

A novel with monthly installments of recipes, here is a love story told with one mother who forbids it. What will you do if your very own mother prohibits the love that you so much desire? Tita takes matters into her own hands and plots and plans to get her beloved to return her affection. The question is, what will her mother do about it?

I'm currently reading Like Water for Chocolate. What will you be reading? 

Koppiccino Satisfaction and at Less Than Php10!

Each pack comes with a small bag of choco granules to put on top your drink

In the era of instants- instant makeup (cosmetic tattoo), instant food (instant noodles), instant credit card (okay, I'm not being paid to advertise here so no special mention), everybody can now get a taste of instant kopiccino (Kopiko and cappuccino). 

Kopiko has spread its Kopiccino across the nation, giving opportunity for the ordinary Juan to try the traditional Italian drink. Here's my thoughts on the now accessible cappuccino version by Kopiko.

Taste (4/5)

It's too sweet for my liking, and as far as I know, cappuccino should be topped with cinnamon or nutmeg. However, I am aware that most people do not have a liking to these garnishes and so choose to top off their coffee with chocolate granules instead, thanks to their naturally sweet tooth. It's also a plus for Kopiko to attach a small bag of chocolate granules at the back of every kopiccino pack, simply decide whether or not you want to add them in. I have already accumulated a lot of extra chocolate granules bags in the kitchen for some "future" use.

When mixed in either hot water in a mug or in cold water for iced coffee, the top develops a foam and it's very creamy. 

Cinnamon and nutmeg on top when served with ice in a tall glass

Packaging (5/5)


I like no fuss, simple packaging. It comes with a separate pack of chocolate granules attached at the back of every regular pack of Kopiccino in red, green and white, colors of the Italian flag. It's quite a standout from the different variations of Kopiko (brown and black) so Kopiko consumers can immediately distinguish it from other instant coffee brands. It also looks like an imported brand.

Price (5/5)

At only SRP Php 8.00, you can have an instant coffee mix that's tasteful. Where else can you get a cup of cappuccino at that price? Most cafes offer that at Php 60 and up. It's also a way for the ordinary coffee lover to wake up to cappuccino in the morning, even just at home.

The Verdict


I've already made Kopiccino a part of my morning habit, because I've been consuming Kopiko since my college days and the brand still gives me the right taste I look for over other leading coffee names. Although on some mornings I still take a stronger brew, luckily there's Kopiko's original blend coffee in black just within reach. But I do reach out for the Kopiccino in the coffee lane when I go to the grocery.

Have you tried the Kopiccino yet?

Puti Plays Sudoku

We do have some sudok booklets lying around the house, and guess who's just joined the Household Sudoku Club last week?

Say hello to Puti, who is figuring out his next figures on the Sudoku.

Happy Weekend everyone! 

The Little Mermaid Last Song Syndrome, Why Doesn't Disney Make Catchy Songs Like These Anymore?

"Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun"

"The sea weed is always greener, in somebody else's lake, you dream about going up there but that is a big mistake"

I watched the Little Mermaid again last night with the kids, for the hundredth time since its release in 1989. And I woke up singing the tunes to Kiss The Girl while getting ready for work this morning, from the shower, to breakfast, to the ride to town. Yeah, why doesn't Disney make catchy songs like those anymore? "Go on and kiss the girl, whoow whow... Shalalala my oh, my, (forgot what goes here) nanananah nah why oh why, go on and kiss the girl"

It's embarrassing for me to admit that while I was having dinner at my godfather's house when I was only seven in Cagayan de Oro, I grabbed the fork and combed my hair with it. My Mom had her eyes wide open, and Papa was explaining that I was imitating what I saw at the movie. I was holding the dinglehopper in my left hand and lowered it next to my plate. Where's Sebastian? Oh yeah, one summer we went to the beach in Opol, and found a tiny white crab. I insisted on bringing him home because he was Sebastian. We housed him in a silver mixing bowl, to my mother's dismay and I put in sand and water for him. He disappeared the next day. He must have sneaked out to the river nearby and left a little princess wondering what happened to him. Either that or Papa just hid the fact that he died. I would never know what happened to my white Sebastian.

That time it was still in betamax. Later on, my parents acquired a VHS player, but didn't have a rewinder yet, so it was my uncle whose arms were beat from rewinding with a ballpen or pencil, a heavy VHS, my own copy of The Little Mermaid.

Never mind my parents, adults had to go to work, and I had my VHS of Little Mermaid to attend to. At least five times a day. Before and after nap time in the morning, afternoon, and before bedtime.

And yesterday, it was Little Mermaid again with the kids, for summer. "Under the sea, lalalala. Under the sea, darling it's better, down here it's greener, take it from me, eeeee..."

Who in the world doesn't love The Little Mermaid? Ursula is a better villain compared to Morgana, the sea witch who appears in the second part of the story. Ariel already has a daughter in it.

I didn't enjoy the second part when it came out as much as I did in my kindergarten years. I've honestly developed a sense of critiquing to what I see on television since those dinglehopper days.