Entertainment

Clever NYC rom-com lacks credibility

This romantic comedy tries to be all things to all people with its cutesy, erudite banter coupled with coarse language and a myriad of characters ranging from sweet to self-centered. Written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt, the co-writer and director of “Kissing Jessica Stein,” this is another NYC-based look at love and marriage — and children.

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Cheap games offer great value for toddlers

It’s one of my favorite times of the year – Little League season. Baseball games are always intriguing because you just never know what’s going to happen next. Sometimes you’re awed by a seemingly miraculous double play and other times you just can’t help but fall over laughing when the right fielder misses a fly ball because he’s too busy break dancing.

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Shoot for shape with exercise video games

The top selling video games in the world so far in 2012 aren’t shooter games, as some of us would have guessed. Nope. They’re fitness games.

In North America, the No. 1 game is actually a dance game. Just Dance 3 for the Wii has been the top selling video game in 2012 so far. To date, Just Dance 3 (Reviewed Nov. 10, 2011) has sold more than 7 million copies since its October 2011 release. It’s estimated that worldwide, gamers spend 23 million minutes per day playing the game, dancing to 7.5 million songs daily!

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The Blues Brothers

The Lutcher Theater in Orange will end its season with a little soul as the Original Tribute To The Blues Brothers enters the building for the first time ever on Wednesday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. Great balcony seats are still available beginning at $20. Tickets can be purchased online at lutcher.org or at the box office.  

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BLUE MAN GROUP sold out, but there are a few single tickets remaining

The Blue Man Group will be performing three shows at the Lutcher Theater on March 5-7 at 7:30 p.m. All three performances are sold out, but there are a few single and obstructed view seats left.

Anyone interested in these seats, or interested in putting his/her name on a waiting list may email the box office at boxoffice [at] lutcher [dot] org.

For more information, call (409) 886-5535.

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The Family Filmgoer

Beautiful and thrilling animated adaptation of the beloved children’s book “The Borrowers”

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18th Annual Girls’ Haven Gumbo Festival

Southeast Texans are connoisseurs when it comes to gumbo. Ask anyone who the award-winning cook is in their family, office or church group and you’ll get 10 different reasons why their favorite is the best. The folks at Girls’ Haven take tasting and enjoying the Southeast Texas staple to the limit. Come on out and enjoy the best gumbo on the planet Saturday, Feb. 25, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the parking lot at Parkdale Mall in Beaumont in front of Macy’s and behind Logan’s.

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84th Academy Awards

In a year when movie attendance was at its lowest, so is my interest in Oscar, despite the good news that Billy Crystal will host the show. More than ever, this evening devoted to film excellence is becoming a popularity contest, and all attempts to correct the course are failing. The addition of five more films in the Best Picture category, a move designed to be more inclusive of popular films, only succeeds in omissions in that the Best Director category still limited to five nominees. Case in point: “The Help” received a nomination but director Tate Taylor didn’t.

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Race for one of these speedy thrills

Thrill car racing is just a video game away.

This week, I had the pleasure of getting into the driver’s seat with an expert on car racing video games, a 9-year-old third-grader who has been a car enthusiast since he could talk. When it comes to video game playing, he plays car-racing games almost exclusively. His collection of racing games is so extensive that we could only compare his favorite five.

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Perfect people make imperfect but harmless movie

‘The Vow’

Starring: Channing Tatum,

Rachel McAdams

Director: Michael Sucsy

Rated: PG-13

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