Women be travellin’ in this trailer for Monte Carlo, in which a gaggle of girls go on a European vacation gone awry until one of them (Gomez, the ethnic-looking one) gets mistaken for royalty, at which point their trip becomes FAB-U-LOUS!

There’s also a really big lobster featured here, which was the high point of the trailer for me.

Synthesizing these components into a cohesive approach to this film is a bit of a fool’s errand, though this spreadshot casting technique is not uncommon to Sandler films such as Little Nicky, which featured Harvey Keitel, Rodney Dangerfield, Tiny Lister, Reese Witherspoon, and Quentin Tarantino. When I’m comparing any film to Little Nicky, that should raise red flags all over the place.

Make of these casting choices what you will. And when you get done making something of them, imagine how much fun it must have been for the producers to negotiate with Vanilla Ice.

“You will work on the film for three weeks and you will make $400 and get limited access to the craft services table.”

“I accept your terms.”(Variety)

Cast: Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, Cam Gigandet, Alyson Michalka

Synopsis: College student Sara finds her safety jeopardized after she’s assigned to a dorm room with a new roommate, Rebecca.

Release Date: February 4, 2011

I may not be the target audience for Country Strong, but all I could think was it’s no Crazy Heart. It is another story of a has-been alcoholic country singer, but Country Strong just revels in the show of tragedy to show off some “intense” performances.

Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow) is getting out of rehab. Her sponsor Beau (Garrett Hedlund) is a country singer who plays small bars but seems happy with the crowd. James Canter (Tim McGraw) gets his wife out of rehab a month early to embark on her comeback tour, but Beau knows she’s not ready.

This movie really only exists so that an actress can play all the darkness of alcoholism. To be fair, it’s accurate. Addicts just keep going, but this is exploiting the disease to showcase a performance. I can’t blame Paltrow for being attracted to the opportunities Kelly presents, but it’s too obvious.

James is pretty obvious too. He’s a fixer who thinks he can control everything if he just orchestrates Kelly’s comeback just right and if Kelly just does everything he says down to taking the exact right combination of pills. He’s got the Ron Silver look with the beard and suit, he’s the Ron Silver type but he is no Ron Silver.

The film goes for shock value because it has no human drama. Kelly gets a package with a bloody baby doll and a note that reads “Baby killer.” You’d think an alcohol related miscarriage would have inherent drama, but the movie only uses it to set Kelly off drinking and crying.

When Kelly breaks down on stage, she starts talking crazy. It would be disturbing to hear her talking about how the stars in the sky could take care of you. The movie’s not bold enough to go full on crazy though. They’re just waiting for Kelly to start crying with a jumbotron close-up on stage behind her.

Kelly just happens to wander into the studio while James is recording her new song with young upstart Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester). That happens, again, just so Kelly can cry about it. She dances on the bar at Miss Kitty’s and vomits backstage, although it’s all sound. Paltrow didn’t commit to the chunks.

The dialogue is full of clichés. James tells Kelly, “When I first heard your voice, I thought that’s what angels sound like.” He sounds sincere though. I really believe that guy is so unoriginal. Kelly asks James, “Will you remember me like I was?” because she’s so ashamed of what she’s become. Not rock bottom enough to clean up, but enough to mope. Beau says, “I don’t think fame and love can exist in the same place.” That’s just some B.S. they threw in as a message. Fame wasn’t what corrupted Kelly. You can be famous and sober.

Along the way Beau falls for Chiles. Why? I guess because they played beauty pageant together and he messed with her flash cards. Yeah, that’s a subplot but it’s not the real problem of the movie.

On the plus side, you get to see Paltrow in some mighty scanty outfits. She looks fabulous in a tiny black dress, and wears nothing but a towel in two scenes. Her final performance in a red dress and boots is hot, plus two more costume changes.

I guess there’s a good soundtrack if you like country music. Kelly’s final performance is basically a medley of numbers that will all be available for 99 cents each on iTunes. Maybe if you love the music it doesn’t matter what the story is, but it does show irresponsible lack of restraint dealing with serious drama.

Let this trailer for Minka Kelly and Leighton Meester‘s The Roommate provide new college students with the potential warning signs to watch out for if you suspect your new roommate is a crazed stalker.

[ ] Do they watch you sleep?

[ ] Do they kill people and possibly a kitten?

[ ] Are you their only friend on their Frienderz page?

[ ] Are they off their medicine?

[ ] Do they disapprove of Cam Gigandet?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions (except for Cam Gigandet), your roommate is definitely not stable. You should move. And definitely don’t agree to go see David Fincher‘s inevitable film about the creation of Frienderz together.

Check out the trailer after the jump…

The Roommate Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

The trailer for Country Strong has strummed its way into our Internets, and I seriously think somebody needs to check out Gwyneth Paltrow’s Netflix rental history. If The Blind Side and Crazy Heart are on there side-by-side, then I call shenanigans. Between the similarities to those films, and the scenes where people cry so hard they fall on their butts (I counted two), this is such an obvious ploy for an Oscar or a Grammy. In truth, they’d be lucky to get a Razzie for this. Hasn’t Sandra Bullock had enoug taken from her?

Watch Paltrow do her best Lurleen Lumpkin after the jump…

Country Strong Trailer – Watch more Funny Videos

Leighton Meester plays a bad teen on TV’s Gossip Girl, but in real life she’s just your average prudish twenty-something. At least that’s what all the quotes from her say. This seems perfectly believable if you forget that she has a sex tape.

A word from Leighton: “When you move from Florida to New York, you’re in for a big shock.”

I know, right?! You can get a pastrami sandwich any time of the night! But other than that they’re almost exactly the same.

See more of how innocent Leighton is after the jump.

Where You’ve Seen Her: If you are a man that has had a girlfriend within the past two or so years (or are just particularly interested in scandalous primetime soap operas), you’ve probably seen Leighton Meester on TV’s "Gossip Girl."  If you are a man that has had no girlfriend or affliction for girly shows recently, you might remember her as the smoking hot virgin pop star Justine Chapin on "Entourage."  Soon most every guy will probably know her from her highly touted sex tape, which reportedly features her using her feet in creative ways.  What a novel concept!
 
A Word From Leighton: "I don’t feel guilty at all if I’m just lying around, one of my best guilty pleasures is doing absolutely nothing"

Check out a screenshot of the sex tape itself, and other hot (yet less seedy) photos of Leighton Meester after the jump: