The Choir, Episode 2

Watching this week's "The Choir" turned out to be tough because the director decided he needed to make all the choir audition a second time. One little boy reminded me so much of my son Ryan at the same age, probably around 10 or so. The boy was told that he wasn't in the choir anymore and he cried. I understand the need to cut people out who haven't got the voice for choir, but I thought it was unnecessarily cruel to kick those out who had already auditioned. He shouldn't have put them in the choir to begin with if they didn't meet the requirements. Watching that little boy cry broke my heart.

I want to love this show but that scene very nearly made it impossible for me to watch. I'm going to keep trying and try to forget the little boy's face but it's still imprinted in my brain.

Another student's father is allowed into the country to appeal a decision the UK government made previously that he couldn't immigrate. While that's a nice story, it didn't cancel out the rejected boy who cried.

Date Night

My friends and I went to see "Date Night" at the Carmike 10 theater tonight. I love Tina Fey and I like Steve Carrell and the trailer looked interesting. I thought it would be okay but it turned out to be hilarious. I should have known that with Tina Fey starring in the movie, it couldn't be anything but funny. Carrell and Fey play a suburban NJ couple, Phil and Claire Foster, a seemingly average couple with two children. The beginning of the movie was a little slow, I guess to set up what would happen next. One of the Fosters' couple friends are splitting up which causes the Fosters to question how stable their own marriage is.

They decide to break their routine and go into the city for a night out at an exclusive restaurant in Tribecca named "Claw" but they don't have a reservation. Phil decides to be adventurous and when the restaurant hostess keeps calling for the Tripplethorns, party of two, without a reply, he and Claire pretend they are the Tripplethorns. They are enjoying their meal when two thuggish looking guys come up to the table and threaten them. The Fosters follow the two out into an alley thinking they are in trouble for stealing someone's reservation but in fact, the real Tripplethorns are the ones that are in trouble and the two thugs think the Fosters are the couple who have stolen a flash drive from a local mafioso named Moletto. This is when the movie gets interesting and hilarious. Both Fey and Carrell have expert timing when it comes to comedy and my friends and I weren't the only ones in the audience who were laughing until our stomachs hurt.

J.B. Smoove, of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" fame, puts in an appearance as a taxi driver and his personality fairly leaps off the screen to add to the pure fun of the movie. Other appearances by Ray Liotta, Mark Wahlberg, and James Franco add to the interest as well. All in all, I would give this movie a surprising 2 thumbs up!