Actor Matthew McConaughey has been best known the past five years for his beach workouts, runs with Lance Armstrong, and for settling down to have two children (Levi and Vida) with his girlfriend Camila Alves.

During that time, his movie career took a downturn with box office bombs such as Sahara and Fool’s Gold.

In McConaughey’s latest film, The Lincoln Lawyer, he needed to prove to moviegoers that he was a serious actor again.  Could he still pull of a Jake Brigance (A Time To Kill) like performance or had he turned forever into Dirk Pitt (Sahara).

The Lincoln Lawyer is about a L.A. defense attorney named Mick Haller, played by McConaughey, that does most of his client’s work from the back of his Lincoln Town Car that is driven by Earl (Laurence Mason).  It is implied that Haller lost his driver’s license and hence the reason that Earl drives him around.

The film centers around a trust fund kid Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) who is charged with aggravated assault for beating, raping, and nearly killing a prostitute.  It seems like your normal CSI drama until the script takes a couple of left turns and jumps off of the Hollywood sign.

Haller quickly finds himself having been played by his new client as he tries to protect his family from harm finding them as well.  The storyline becomes a bit complicated when Haller finds out that his client, Roulet, is in fact guilty and also another prostitute several years ago.  A crime that one of Haller’s old clients had wrongfully been sent to San Quinten for, something that does a number on Haller once he realizes it.

There is a bit of a love story between Haller and his ex wife Margaret McPherson, played by Marissa Tomei, who is a prosecutor that quickly realizes just how deep Haller is behind the 8-ball with his client.

McConaughey, who is showing some wear and tear around the edges physically, shows in The Lincoln Lawyer that he can is still a box office draw.  Although he might fall short of Jake Brigance in his role of Mickey Haller, Matt proves he is back and should be taken seriously once again.

He seems more focused in the role of Haller than he has in any recent role.  He is still playing a fictional off-shoot of himself Haller who likes to drink, laugh, make jokes, and get his clients off in some highly unusual if not questionable ways.

Without ruining the suspense or ending of the film, I found that it was a bit rushed, cut and pasted together, and confusing.  The build up and action of the movie was superb for nearly 2 hours.  Then the conclusion and loose ends seem hurried and unnecessarily packed into the last five minutes of the film.

Watch the Trailer for The Lincoln Lawyer Below:

The film had great acting from McConaughey, Tomei, Phillippe, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas (who looked sub-standard next to McConaughey in the court room), and Bryan Cranston.

The movie is worth seeing and the plot is pretty unique. The movie is based on the book by the same name by Michael Connelly.

3.5 out of 5 Stars

Here are my quick thoughts and opinions on Carrie Underwood’s third album ‘Play On’ that was released earlier this week.  I listened to the album once and put down my thoughts on each song as I heard it.

I am sure some of these songs will grow on me with more listens, but here is what I thought the first time through:

1. Cowboy Casanova (Carrie Underwood/Mike Elizondo/Brett James) – Very catchy and similar to ‘Last Name’ from her last album. It was the first single released off ‘Play On’ and could end up as the most popular tune from this album.  I like to call this “angry-spurned-countrock.” Carrie is warning other women to stay away from men that “…look like a cool drink of water,” but instead are a “candy coated misery.”

2. Quitter (Max Martin/Shellback/Savan Kotecha) – Smooth and easy paced. This song gives Carrie’s voice a chance to shine through.  A lighter song than on her previous albums. This song is decent but one of the weaker songs on the album.

3. Mama’s Song (Carrie Underwood/Kara DioGuardi/Marti Frederiksen/Luke Laird) – A beautiful song that thousands of daughters will have played at their weddings from here til the dusk of Dixie.  ”Mama you will never lose me/giving me away is not saying goodbye.”  This song is a reassurance to a mother about her daughter finding a man, falling for said man, and marrying him.  It’s peaceful and likely bring reassurance to many worried mothers as their daughters find love and create their own families. go on reading »

Miley Cyrus Concert Review

Memphis, Tennessee (October 21, 2009) – by Joshua Holmes

Several months ago I had an opportunity to buy tickets to a Miley Cyrus concert in Memphis before they went on sale to the general public. I did it very quickly, thinking I would sell the tickets to someone else who really wanted to see the pop princess.

Come to find out it, the concert was what is called a ‘ticketless’ concert.  This is done  to cut down on scalpers. That means that the purchaser has to show up at the event with photo ID and the credit card they used to make the purchase.  Once at the arena they then print you off a slip of paper with your seat locations.

Long story short, that meant that I would be going to the show whether I wanted to or not.  However, I wanted to go and knew I would enjoy it. It is always fun to get a closer view of celebrities, and especially those I have covered daily here on Bumpshack for the past five years.

We parked very close in a parking garage on Union next to the Crêpe Maker. Since we were hungry and they make over 75 different kinds of crêpes we quickly decided this would beat any overpriced arena food.  With such a large selection it was easy for us all to find one to our liking. For me that meant the Tex-Mex crêpe which was so amazingly good.

Upon entering the arena, you couldn’t miss the Wal-Mart banners and kiosks promoting Miley and her clothing line at Wally-World in conjunction with fashion designer Max Azria.  The line is cute and very affordable priced. Props to Miley for not overpricing her fans (in that aspect).

Metro Station was the opening act and they were already half-way into their set when we found our seats, which were on the lower level.  Risers directly in front of the stage and really good seats!  I was impressed by Metro which is fronted by Miley’s older, painted-skeletor looking brother Trace Cyrus.  Miley’s Hannah Montana co-star Mitchel Musso’s older brother Mason Musso is also in the band.

The band first broke through on MySpace with their hit single ‘Seventeen Forever.’  Within the past year they exploded with the chart-topping hit ‘Shake It,’ the song they closed their set with.

As far as opening acts at concerts go, Metro Station was actually really good.  Trace can be too much at times and often comes across as trying to lower his voice with a whispering/fake (might be dying on stage) voice to fit in with the teens.  They do pop rock really well and did a good job warming up a crowd that came soley to see Miley.

The scariest part of their set, was their last song, when Trace took his shirt off, to expose his ink covered skeleton frame.  He went into a rant about how organizers at the start of the tour told him not to take his shirt off, that he would scare the young female fans…which he DID!  He proceeded to say he decided to say screw it and that he would be true to himself.  He then went into a long winded rant about accepting everyone for who they are regardless of their race, sexuality, tattoos, etc.

During the intermission, before Miley appeared, she had fans text her messages, which were then posted on the big screens atop the stage. She would sporadically reply via text to the messages on the board. Each time she did the crowd naturally went nuts.

Miley Cyrus arose up out of the stage within a giant glacier of ice to the shrieks of 18,000 of her fans.  She danced within the ice before it cracked open, and she began her first number.  Her opening was a bit of a let down and didn’t have the big explosive spark that most good concerts usually have.  Luckily, that was not foretelling, as everything that came after her opening number was truly amazing for a 16-year old.

Not being a super nitro-charged teen fan of Miley’s I was not familiar with all of her songs, but I recognized close to a dozen as the night unfolded. I would do her body of work an injustice if I tried to name the songs and order she performed them.

However, here are a few of my highlights and thoughts from the night:

The stage, choreography, and entire production was one of the best I have seen at a live concert.  Miley was constantly surrounded by very experienced dancers that were always covering the stage and creating a great visual spectacle.

At one point there was a 2-minute trailer for her new movie The Last Song about midway through.  The film will be released next summer and stars Miley, Greg Kinnear, Kelly Preston, and Bobby Coleman.

Miley’s – Madonna moment – of the night took place when she came on stage in a wedding type dress with hot pink – knee high socks that was simply slutterific.  She then was raised by a harness from the lighting tower and the ‘virgin-punk’ bride flew high above the audience as her teen fans went absolutely nuts below her.

The most visual grabbing moment took place during ‘Fly’ when Miley and sexy dancer pals jumped on top of what I have called the ‘Fly-Mobile’ and danced, grinded, and gyrated as it moved towards the audience.

Her other high flying event of the night took place when she strattled a red Harley Davidson and throttled the hog, before she went flying above the audience on the hog leaving a cloud of exhaust smoke behind her.  It had to be the ultimate fantasy of every pedophile Hell’s Angels’ undercover biker in attendance.

The surprise guest duo was none other than her brother Trace who reappeared and proceeded to chase Miley around stage as they belted out one of Miley’s harder rocking  joints.

Near the end of her set-list, to the delight of her fans, she came out and rocked to ‘Party In The USA’ as the dancers turned it up a notch and the big screens spastically flashed American flags throughout.

The show for sure had its stripper-esque and ‘just a bit too sexy for young pre-pubescent’ moments. Miles never wore shorts (hot pants) or a dress that came within 12 inches of the top of her knees.  At one point she did a quick pole dance with a orange and white striped rope that had conveniently fallen from the ceiling.  She also had a strip-tease like dance with a construction traffic sign.  I would say the show was PG-13 at best.  But there were thousands of girls under the age of 10, including my 7-year old relative, who came with us and had a good time.

For an encore (aren’t these a requirement and not a spontaneous and special event anymore?) Miley returned to the stage to even more theatrics to sing ’7 Things’ and she closed the night with her #1 hit ‘The Climb.’

Most pop performers today lip-sync while dancing to a perfect recording of their songs. Miley sang every song, while dancing, and going through over a dozen costume changes.  She worked hard throughout the night during a challenging set that would have done in most of her contemporaries twice her age.  Just remember you can spend twice as much to go see a bloated Britney Spears lip-sync to a soundtrack of her songs or you can spend it on Miley and get an actual ‘live’ performance.

It was an expensive show (nearly $95 a ticket) but worth it.  If your daughter, son, girlfriend or wife is a fan of Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus then the expense will be well worth it.  Everyone in attendance came away impressed and entertained from a rocking night from the most talented 16-year old in the business.

Please leave your comments below if you have seen Miley live and what you thought of her performance.

Miley Cyrus Concert Photos from her Memphis Concert

[all Miley Cyrus images by Joshua Holmes/Bumpshack.com]

RELATED: Miley Cyrus Hog Riding in Concert (Video)

(By David Lay) After 18 years, America’s favorite family has come to the big screen. Behind a massive marketing campaign, The Simpsons Movie was a huge deal well before the curtain fell. Any show that can hang on (especially on Fox) for 18 years, is bound to produce a movie that will be a mega-hit.

This movie definitely did not disappoint. The diehard Simpsons fans as well as the casual movie goers will all be incredibly impressed with this big screen animated comedy. Matt Groening and company went all out for this one, creating a film that is FAR more than “just an hour-and-a-half version of the TV show. The comedy is really top-notch.

The writers were at the top of their game when creating the classic satirical humor that The Simpsons has become famous for. There is a great mix of satire and low-brow humor – just enough to appease the Beavis’s of the world, as well as the Frasier’s. As with the television show, the movie does get fairly political at times, but keeps it funny and never gets preachy.

The creators kept a tight lid on the plot of the movie throughout, which really help to add to the excitement of the experience. As usual, Homer creates a monumental problem that threatens life in Springfield as we know it. It is then up to…well, Homer… to solve the problem. The plot centers around Homer and his newly acquired pet pig, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and their attempts to solve the pollution problem of Springfield. After a series of events (including a giant dome over the city, a sink hole, and a near mass hanging by the townsfolk), the Simpsons end up in Alaska only to realize, some more quickly than others, that Springfield is their home and is worth saving.

Read the entire review at ColdLeftovers.com

The latest installment of Harry Potter titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is embargoed from being released until Saturday at 12:01am. The New York Times was able however to pay a N.Y. book store a pile of cash to get a copy violating the embargo. The review is very positive for J.K. Rowling’s last installment of the pubescent wizard.

J. K. Rowling’s monumental, spellbinding epic, 10 years in the making, is deeply rooted in traditional literature and Hollywood sagas — from the Greek myths to Dickens and Tolkien to “Star Wars.? And true to its roots, it ends not with modernist, “Soprano?-esque equivocation, but with good old-fashioned closure: a big-screen, heart-racing, bone-chilling confrontation and an epilogue that clearly lays out people’s fates. Getting to the finish line is not seamless — the last part of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,? the seventh and final book in the series, has some lumpy passages of exposition and a couple of clunky detours — but the overall conclusion and its determination of the main characters’ story lines possess a convincing inevitability that make some of the prepublication speculation seem curiously blinkered in retrospect.

From his first days at Hogwarts, the young, green-eyed boy bore the burden of his destiny as a leader, coping with the expectations and duties of his role, and in this volume he is clearly more Henry V than Prince Hal, more King Arthur than young Wart: high-spirited war games of Quidditch have given way to real war, and Harry often wishes he were not the de facto leader of the Resistance movement, shouldering terrifying responsibilities, but an ordinary teenage boy — free to romance Ginny Weasley and hang out with his friends.

Read the full NYT Book Review Here

(By David Lay) Elisha Cuthbert brings the sexy back in Captivity, the newest “gore for the sake of gore� horror flick to come out of annals of a dark, disturbed Hollywood. Now, I have seen (and to some degree enjoyed) the Saw series, but this stinker of a flick was just too much.

Its not just that this movie is grotesque, its that it is also completely pointless, endless, and just plain stupid. Director Roland Joffe, from The Killing Fields and… *ahem* Super Mario Brothers: The Movie, puts it all on the line in this modern day story of torture, kidnapping, betrayal and…Love?

But seriously, this is one flawed film. Aside from the direction, the acting was terrible. Cuthbert was far better in The Girl Next Door and Daniel Gillies, who peaked in 2004’s Bride and Prejudice, adds absolutely nothing to the movie……….

Read Complete Review at Cold Leftovers

(By David Lay) Ok, let it be known… I am a Harry Potter fan. I love the books…and the movies. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the 5^th movie in the Harry Potter series, and because I’m a huge fan of the books, it is really hard for me to separate the books from the movie. But, that notwithstanding, I did like this movie. I’m not sure it was the THE best of the franchise, but it was top 2, for sure.

For starters, the acting was actually pretty good. Daniel Radcliffe is starting to come into his own, and the supporting cast was better than in the previous films. Now, don’t get me wrong, no one from this film will be nominated for an Oscar (or even a Golden Globe), but it was fairly good, especially for a “family friendly? fantasy movie. The movie was well cast, with several huge stars (Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman) returning. As well as Helena Bonham Carter excellently cast as the purely evil Bellatrix Lestrange. The new-comer, Evanna Lynch, played Luna Lovegood well (though I think she may have been playing herself). All in all, they all got the point across, which for a movie like this is sufficient………….

Read the complete review at Cold Leftovers.