Picture This

lol story of my life

source: Picture This

The parts that ring very, very true make the badly acted bits worthwhile. It's a good twist on the classic Cinderella story with a great message behind it that all parents struggle with--once you've raised your kids properly, at some stage, you have to let go, and often that can avert a lot of the bad behavior from kids acting out. Loved it, but would have been better if they cast different actors and moved away from the signature Disney Channel-style overacting. Ashley Tisdale's maturity really shines in the scenes between her character and her character's dad (Pollak). I liked that Robbie's character was the sweet, gentlemanly jock from beginning to end, but I wish there had been more of an explanation about why he was with Lisa (Busby) to begin with -- was it because they were expected to be together as top jock and "alpha blond" of the school, did she somehow coerce him, was it because you're expected to have a boy-/girlfriend in high school and Lisa just happened to be the most likely candidate in his social circle? Also, more specific references to Camelot vs Nottingham would have been nice. It was a good idea that was kind of explained in the beginning, but they just seemed like labels slapped onto the Haves and Have-nots with no particular reason that tied into the rest of the movie. Overall good, and maybe I'm expecting too much from an hour-and-a-half long TV movie, but I'd love to see a proper remake/sequel.

We know that Suzanne Martin created her favorite 2001 series project that got discontinued in the wrong time in 2002, not only by the series' despicable critics, but it was badly messed by the entire WB network, until its shutdown in 2006. We already know that former WB network president Jamie Kellner is badly related to the WB network since it has been revealed that he's more of a comedy type of president rather than the real TV network president. Now on this movie, Suzanne Martin should be watching this because it is truly related to her own personal life, nothing else, and if she can get an idea of watching this, then she can reboot her discontinued favorite 2001 project, get it aired in a low public cable network, and make it last for more than 1 season, this time, without failures nor problems, TBH, IMO.

Mandy is not one of the popular girls. She doesn't live in a gated community like so many of the students at her high school. She supposedly looks like a nerd to others, but even with the glasses, she doesn't to me. And her architect father Tom, who has had to raise Mandy on his own since her mother died when Mandy was little, is more than a little overprotective. On her eighteenth birthday, Mandy gets contacts to replace her glasses, and a phone that can send videos--not because she needed one to be like the others, but so he can spy on her! Mandy likes Drew, the hot guy at school, and after she falls in the pool and he rescues her, he likes her too. And he invites her to the party of the year. But he's still with Lisa, who is evil and hates Mandy; now she has a real reason to. When Mandy drops her phone and Lisa finds it while Mandy is doing something her father would not approve of, that's it. Mandy is grounded. But will she let that stop her? No! With the help of Alexa and Cayenne, and a claim that she has to study with Alexa, Mandy really manages to put one over on her father. Tom has his own problems; while checking in with Mandy every half-hour on her video phone while she is "studying", he must baby-sit the bratty son of his sister Marsha, who has an attitude. And no matter what obstacles she faces (including more physical comedy, and more problems caused by Lisa), you just know Mandy will reach her goal! This is nothing more than a cute teen comedy, though the deceptions are brilliantly executed and fun to watch. And there are plenty of surreal nightmares that make this at least a little more than fluff. The actor playing a furniture salesman is quite good. Kevin Pollak is too good-natured to come across as big brother, but definitely overprotective. There's no quality acting here by the usual definition, but for what this is, everyone does a good job. Ashley is quite good-looking, even in the nerdy glasses, and really hot in the dress she eventually wears. Ashley does sing, but it's not my kind of music at all. There is pleasant background music, but most of what is called music in this movie doesn't really qualify as music in my opinion. But I'm closer to Tom's age than Mandy's, and they didn't make this movie for me. Even after being cleaned up for TV, this movie falls just short of family fare. It's fine for older children, but after cleanup, even some young kids could watch. It's actually pretty good.

Mandy Gilbert (Ashley Tisdale) lost her mother at 4 and her dad (Kevin Pollak) is clueless. Her close friends are Alexa (Lauren Collins) and Cayenne (Shenae Grimes). Drew Patterson (Robbie Amell) is the hot boy in school. He's from the rich neighborhood of Camelot and she's from Nottingham. He rescues Mandy from drowning and invites her to hang out by the lake. When Drew's mean girlfriend Lisa sees him hugging Mandy, she goes ballistic. Lisa finds Mandy's phone and Mandy's dad catches her in a lie. Drew invites her to his party but her dad grounds her. Cayenne thinks Drew has ulterior motives in the tradition of sacrificing a virgin. The girls lie to her dad, battle Lisa, and goes to the party. Along the way, they have to play in a Battle of the Bands contest and almost get into a major accident. Firstly I like most of the actors. I think Tisdale has a great comedic touch. On the other hand, this is a run of the mill teen drama. She's playing the bespectacled nerdy girl not in with the cool crowd. It's a lot about how to lie to the parent in the age of cell phones. The comedy isn't that funny. Sometimes it's cute but it's never hilarious. It's not a good high school comedy although there is an attempt at something. On a side note, this is directed by Stephen Herek who made some great movies in the past. I hope he gets better material to work with in the future.

Ashley Tisdale, who also was a producer of this movie, stars as Mandie Gilbert, definitely not one of the "in crowd". The cool, rich kids live in the gated subdivision called "Camelot", while she and her friends live in "Nottingham", with the emphasis on "NOT". Mandy has an ongoing fantasy about the cute boy in school, who also happens to be the star athlete and lives in Camelot, Robbie Amell as Drew Patterson. She tries to get close to him, maybe get noticed, by hanging out in the school natatorium, but she falls and almost drowns, but Drew ends up saving her. Mouth to mouth and all! So Drew, against all expectations, starts to take an interest in Mandie, and invites her to be his date at his family's own big party of the year. But she deceives her widowed father and he grounds her. She needs to figure out a way to get to the party on Saturday. She must have the help of her two best buds, Shenae Grimes as Cayenne and Lauren Collins as Alexa. This was a free loan from the library. I expected very little, and my wife and I found it fairly enjoyable, in a silly way. Never for a moment did we believe any of it was realistic, but it was good, silly fun. SPOILERS: Naturally the mean girl in school wanted Drew for herself so did everything she could to sabotage things, and keep Mandie away from the party. Plus Mandie heard that Drew only wanted to "hump her and dump her", allegedly a Patterson family tradition. But in the end Drew had sincere feelings for Mandie and pulled her out of the crowd to crown her his princess at Senior Prom.

This movie was truly horrific. Every inch of it made me cringe. Everything was horrible. This is coming from someone who enjoys bad movies. This one was a whole level of complete useless, meaningless, pain. It leads me to question the actors and crew: why? why are you doing this? Do you realize that everything you say is the most cheesiest string of words in the English film language? I don't get it. And the plot line! Why? What is the point of it? Did someone actually write this in a serious manner? why??? I guess I can admit that there is originality within the plot line because it is a rare to see a plot written so horribly. It's such a useless story line that it is rarely ventured to. So cheers for that, I suppose.

When I first saw the Ads for this film, I though "Ugh! Another one?!?!" in reference to the dump truck full of lame TV movies/shows that ABC has thrown our way since it began, but I REALLY enjoyed this movie! Ashley Tisdale left her annoying, ditsy, predictable Sharpay Evans persona somewhere else and played a very convincing role in this film (a not-so-popular High School Senior). I REALLY enjoyed watching her in this film. Her acting was really good, she didn't look like a 22 year old woman playing a 15 year old girl like she does in "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody", and her hair finally didn't look like a horrible weave... My FAVORITE part of this movie was Shenae Grimes and Lauren Collins, both regular cast members of The-N's "Degrassi-The Next Generation" who both brought the wit and charm they have on Degrassi, but played completely different characters. Both actresses were very entertaining, funny, and really made me believe that they and Ashley Tisdale were friends. The plot was slightly predictable, but really, what plot isn't? There were moments in which I was pretty lost, and I had to watch the 2nd airing of the film to understand other parts of it. Other then that, the plot was entertaining, fun, and a relief from ABC Family's usual steaming crap.... I do believe that the scene in which Mandy (Tisdale), Alexa (Collins), and Cayenne (Grimes) were preforming a musical number was just a way to showcase Ashley's singing career, but it didn't make me cringe, so it's all good. This film may not be Oscar Worthy, but it is by far one of the best Made-For-TV movies I've ever seen, I WOULD go and see this in a movie theater, and I recommend it.

Ahhhh..its a slow movie.btw, it put me to sleep..so thanks for that.