Spring Break 2012... Part Two.

Spring Break 2012 brought us some movies!
Now, I can't even remember what all we watched, but yes, Gage and I were some moving watching fools!

Gage...watching a movie and lounging on the upper-bunk...



{Yes, I still can't believe we painted his room camo....but whatever...he loves it. That's what matters, right?}

We went to see The Lorax, which I just LOVED!




We ate ourselves silly on popcorn and candy and soda!
Wooohoooo for Spring Break!

Wednesday....8/18/10

This past Wednesday was quite eventful....
It was my one day off during this past week, so Gage & I had to make it count.
But of course, there were chores to do first.
Clean the house, feed the dog, feed Seymour....
Yes, that's right: Seymour.

I FINALLY found a Venus Fly Trap for Gage (found it at Home Depot, after a couple of months of searching!)...
I named him "Seymour." Gage doesn't call him anything really....but he enjoys searching for flies to feed to the fly trap!


After that, we thought we'd take in a dollar movie.
What did we see?
Shrek Forever After....blah, blah, blah.
It was actually pretty cute, but the story line was a bit complex for a 4 year old to understand. He didn't really care. He enjoyed the movie, his "pa-corn" and his blue icee just the same....

Came back home and Mommy actually COOKED dinner.
Holy Bat Crap!
You read that correctly: I cooked.
Grilled Parmesan Chicken from my Biggest Loser Cookbook.
It was reeeeeallly yummy.
:)

AND---a great day was had by all!

Movie Reviews!

Public Enemies

It was long. It was good, but it was long. There are some shoot-em-up scenes that could have been a lot shorter. I'm just sayin'.... So, it was good, but long.


Sunshine Cleaning

I enjoyed this. I watched it without Hubby b/c I really don't think it would be his cup of tea. But, I enjoyed it. I'd say that I 'liked it', not loved it.


Crank 2

It was okay. Mediocre at best. I enjoyed the first one more than this one.


Deadline

Hubby & I actually watched this right before Brittany Murphy died. (so sad!) Anyway....we enjoyed it. We like creepy thriller type movies. It's a creepy thriller type movie!

The Final Destination
Typical teen-scream type movie with gore. It was okay.

The Hangover

OMG, funny.
LOL funny.
LOVED it.

Four Christmases

Also, LOL funny. LOVED it!!!

Inglourious Bastards

Let me start by saying that Hubby told me that this was a comedy. While Brad Pitt's character may have been comical---nothing about the Holocaust is a comedy to me. This was a very good movie. VERY good. In the end, he agreed with me: comical character, but not really a "comedy."

The Uninvited

Ooooh....bizarro with some creepy twists. I don't remember there being any big hoop-lah about it, but I really enjoyed this one.

The Proposal

Oh, we thought this was very cute. Some VERY very funny moments.
Light-hearted-love-comedy....

Easy Virtue

BOR-ING. didn't finish it. didn't even want to listen to it while I folded laundry. Really. And, maybe I didn't give it enough time...but 30 minutes into it & I just couldn't do it any longer. I had to mail that crap back to Netflix.

Okay....that's it for a while.
:)

What movie is NOT so great for little ones...

Way to go, Hubby.
Yes, he knows---he picked it. Poor choice for a 4 year old.

Let's see....within the first 30 seconds, they zone in on the typed out word "dead." After that, you're staring at a dead man in a coffin.... Yes, we got past that.

We got to the 1st ghost.
When dead-ghost-Marley's jaw broke & his cheeks split open with half of his face flapping about---well, it was time for this crew to go.
It reminded me of this scene from "The Ring":


"Hey, Gage...this movie is almost over. You wanna go play at the mall?"

Hubby has picked 2 movies this month.
We left both of them early.
His movie picking priveleges have been revoked.

So, just a word to the wise---TRUST the PG rating. Gage has been ok with some PG movies in the past...but this one? Not so much.

Now, having said that---Hubby & I would still like to see it. The hard work put into this movie---oh my goodness. It's just so intricate & neat on the screen.

But---does anyone wonder (because I do)---would Charles Dickens be offended that his work has been made into a cartoon? I know that this is not the first cartoon version of this story, but it just made me wonder if he would like it or be offended...

Ok, that's all I've got for now!

Saturday...11/7/9

Well, I had an early Saturday home visit....after that, Gage & I went to the movies!

Thanks to Zephra, who told me about Hollywood theater being a dollar movie place now...I decided to take Gage for a cheap-o afternoon movie.


My goodness...I remember being a child when this movie theater was brand new. The coolest things were the pizza place inside & the talking trash can. It's crazy what we remember, isn't it?
Well....they don't have stadium seating. It was built during the pre-stadium seating days.
But, it's the way to go when you aren't exactly sure that you're child will sit through an entire movie. This way we were only out $2 instead of $20!

But---he sat through the previews & the entire movie. What a hit!!!
We saw: Aliens in the Attic
It was cute. Funny. But, I will have to say that I've entered this new part of parenting that will include me sitting through a bunch of kid movies that I don't really want to see. Would I have chosen to see that? No. Was I ready for it to end when we still had about 30 minutes left? Yes. But, alas, it is part of my parenting duty, and he had a good time. That's what matters, right?

Friday Night Fun...

Saturday, 11/7 is our 6 year anniversary.
So, the celebrating started on Friday when I got flowers at work.


After I ***RUSHED*** home to get changed, we headed to dinner at this place: Kyoto Steakhouse for Hibachi! Mmmmmm!

Review: the drinks are strong, or mine was anyway....like alarmingly strong. The food was good. The lobster---okay, but not worth their price. The shrimp was delicious, and the hibachi steak was PERFECT!

What was next?
A trip to the movie theater...
Why, a movie review? From me?
Okay! Surely I can give you what you wants!

The movie: Paranormal something-or-other.
My take: I'd have had more fun setting fire to $30 in cash & watching it burn. Not to mention the fact that I wouldn't have had a headache behind my eyeballs & feel queasy after watching the money burn.
Yeah----I saw about 10...maybe 15 minutes of this movie---shot in that bullsh*t-home-video-unsteady kind of way before I was about ready to vomit right there in the theater.
But hey---way back when---the Blair Witch Project got rave reviews, so if you liked THAT {piece of crap} movie, then maybe you'll be able to tolerate this style of film.
Now----I might also add that the movie content may have been stellar. I have no idea. The unsteady camera let me know that the program was NOT for me.

After that----picked up Gage & headed home.
I was so tired.
Hubby rented some movie about hijacking a subway train. Stars John Travolta & Denzel Washington. The first 15-20 minutes of it were great. But, resistance against sleep at that point was futile. I was wiped out from my day. Hubby finished the movie & said it was good.

:)
That was our Fun Friday!

Movie Reviews!

Okay, really...who's been missing these!???

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail

Um...there could have been less external story line, and more Madea. I'm just sayin'. And FYI: she's not in jail that long.
Madea parts were funny---the drama parts just made me want to fast forward.

Still watching:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Is there anyone out there who loved this movie?
I'm having a hard time getting through it.
That's why it was started one night about 2 weeks ago, and I haven't finished it yet. {not much of a review, now is it?}

The Last House on the Left

Oh my gosh, watch this. There are some pretty graphic scenes that I couldn't watch...but....just---watch the rest of it. The only thing: the head exploding in a microwave {spoiler, yes, I know} is stupid. Now, I could be wrong---but (1) who has a microwave that works with the door open?, and (2) really??? How long would you have to microwave someone's head to make it explode? I mean, blow-up-explode???
But, surely there are people out there who can tinker with a microwave & get it to work with the door open...

....moving on....

New In Town

BOR-ING.
I mailed it back before I finished it.
I just couldn't get into it.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Love it. Loved it. Loved it.

Okay, that's about all I've got for now.
I'll try to be better about doing my movie reviews.
:)

Movie Reviews....

The Women

It was good. It wasn't great, but it was good. I think I really expected more... But, it was good. Definitely a CHICK-flick. Hubby never would have sat through all that....AMAZING cast. Really. And, can I have Meg Ryan's hair. It looks good short, long, straight, curly. I.want.her.hair.
***
Shocked by the discovery that their pal Mary's (Meg Ryan) husband is having an affair with a beautiful young shop girl (Eva Mendes), a tight-knit circle of New York socialites comes up with a devious plan to help Mary win back her man. This remake of George Cukor's classic 1939 film boasts an all-star ensemble cast, including Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, Bette Midler and Candice Bergen.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Not really my cup of tea. I don't like the X-Files to begin with. So, I didn't watch this movie. Hubby watched it, and he liked it. He says that the X-Files movies are not so much like the show. He doesn't care for the show, but he liked this movie & the one before it (other X-files movie from 1998).
***
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise their trademark roles as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in this long-awaited sequel to the 1998 hit film The X Files: Fight the Future, based on the phenomenally popular TV series. Amanda Peet ("Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"), Billy Connolly and Xzibit fill out the cast, along with series regular Mitch Pileggi ("Stargate: Atlantis"), who returns as FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner.

House Bunny

blah. whatever. passed the time. no big whoop. not as funny as I thought it would be.
***
When Playboy bunny Shelley Darlington (Anna Faris) gets evicted from the mansion, she is a woman without a country -- that is, until she meets the sisters of Zeta Alpha Zeta, a sorority on the brink of losing its campus chapter. The Zetas need Shelley's makeover expertise so they can attract a new pledge class -- otherwise, their house goes to rivals Phi Iota Mu. But the Zetas have something Shelly needs, too: the confidence to be herself.

Movie Reviews....

Burn After Reading

Loved it. Thought it was soooooo funny!
***
In this dark comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen, ousted CIA official Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) loses his recently penned memoir into the hands of a pair of moronic gym employees (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand, in a Golden Globe-nominated role) who use it to try to turn a profit. George Clooney and Tilda Swinton round out the cast of this irreverent farce, which was nominated for a Best Picture (Comedy) Golden Globe.

Standard Operating Procedure
This movie was so hard to watch. Very graphic, and certainly not for children's eyes. Not even for young teen eyes. I dunno...I couldn't turn it off, but there were times, especially in the sexual abuse parts where I just had to look away.
***
Through captivating interviews and dramatic reenactments, filmmaker Errol Morris documents the scandal that erupted in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, where mistreatment of detainees at the hands of members of the U.S. military was captured on film. What was the psychological state of the soldiers? Why were the pictures taken? These questions and more are explored in detail in this engaging look at one of the Iraq War's most notorious episodes.

Married Life

Whatever. It passed the time. I am so glad that I didn't pay $$ to see this in a theater...Not great if you ask me....and, spoiler alert: the big twist is that when the main character thinks he's poisoned his wife to death, he goes over to see his mistress & finds her in the arms of his best friend. So, in one moment, he thinks he's lost his wife, mistress, and best friend. Oh boo hoo, you big loser.
***
When Harry (Chris Cooper) decides to kill his wife (Patricia Clarkson) to be with his beautiful girlfriend (Rachel McAdams), his best friend and playboy Richard (Pierce Brosnan) tries to talk him out of it. But Richard has his own agenda that soon comes to light. Directed by Ira Sachs, this atmospheric drama set in the 1940s also features David Richmond-Peck and Erin Boyes.

A Murder of Crows

Hubby & I both really enjoyed this movie. Suspense movie, and it was fun to try & figure it out along the way...
***
Disbarred lawyer Lawson Russell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) buys himself trouble when he passes off another man's true-life crime book as his own. As the tome climbs the best-seller list, Lawson gets arrested for the killings recounted in the book. He then must convince judge and jury that he's innocent, even though he's destroyed all evidence to the contrary.

Crank

I really liked this movie. I found it to be funny & entertaining. I'm not sure about any reviews for it, or if others really cared for it....but I thought it was funny.
***
Hit man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) tears through the streets of Los Angeles in a race to save his own life and his girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart) in this ticking time bomb of a thriller. The freelance killer is poisoned when a mob job goes wrong, and the clock starts ticking when Chelios learns he can elude death if he keeps his adrenaline pumping. With no time to waste, Chelios rampages through the city hoping to save Eve and find an antidote.

Okay...so there are a few for now.
:)
You know---I do like to watch movies!!!!

Holiday Movies...

Well, we're what, 5 days into December, & so far we as a family have already enjoyed our fair share of holiday movies!

Around here, we LOVE Christmas movies!

So far this season we've watched....

Elf


Fred Claus


Christmas with the Kranks


The Polar Express


How The Grinch Stole Christmas


Christmas Vacation (our favorite....)


Deck the Halls


...and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

...except, we didn't really get to watch that one. It scared Gage's pants off! He was not having ANY of it....

So, I'd say, not bad for only being 5 days into the holiday season!

Of course, the list is not complete yet...I still have to watch "A Christmas Story" at least once, and "The Ref".
:)

Kung Fu Fighting....

Pics from one evening last week...or the week before...
Okay, who am I kidding? The movie came out on DVD on a Tuesday. These pics were from Tuesday night!



"Everybody was kung fu fighting...."

"HAAAAAAA!"

...and now, my movie review.
I loved it!
I think that there were a few parts that were a bit intense/scary for a 3 year old...but, I was just lovin' it.
:)

Movie Reviews....

Shoot Em Up
starring....Clive Owen.
# of men suffering a violent death by a carrot: 2
# of lactating hookers: 1
# of stupid cliches written into the story line at god-awful times: countless.
# of times I commented about my concern for the baby: countless.
# of times Hubby reminded me "It's just a movie": countless.
I can say---this is the worst movie I have ever seen in its entirety.
Why did I continue to watch? There's this soft part of me that wanted to see that the baby was okay in the end. EVEN THOUGH I know, it was just a movie, & for a large portion of the movie, Clive Owen isn't even carrying around a real baby.
Topping the charts for worst scene: the love scene where the lactating hooker climaxes as Clive Owen is is both screwing her & shooting a room full of bad guys. And to top it all off, when he's done he says, "Talk About Shooting Your Load."
The writers, directors, and all participants ought to be so very embarrassed.

Made of Honor
...starring Patrick Dempsey.
Typical chick flick.
mediocre.
best scene: when Patrick Dempsey's dad gets married for the 6th time, and the tune as she walks down the aisle is "GoldDigger" by Kanye West. Oh, I laughed my fanny off at that.

Get Smart
...starring Anne Hathaway & Steve Carell
somewhat entertaining, but Hubby & I both agree that we were just expecting a bit more. I dunno...maybe our expectations were just too high.

The Happening
I didn't actually watch this. I don't like any movies that deal with the end of the world, and I was afraid that this movie was about that. Hubby said that they wanted you to believe that...but then it wasn't about that....and I'm trying not to give too much away here. Hubby's review was that it was just a big letdown. He says "Skip It."

Thursday....

Well, it's Thursday.

Gin updated that Emory is doing MUCH better.
:)



They estimate the repairs on my car to be completed 10/8.
That means only 6 more days in the Impala. Thank GOODNESS!

Movie Reviews!

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Enjoyed it. Not a whole lotta thinkin' to do with this one...just a funny little movie. But---I will have to say this with regard to the nudity: I could have really done without all of it....but, if you're going to throw naked shots in a movie, at least this one has about equal screen time for naked guy bits & naked girl bits. Now, I could have gone my whole life without seeing that guy naked....but, now that I've seen it, I can't unsee it.

moving on...

The Prize Winner of Defiance,OH

Can I tell you how much I loved this movie?
I loved it. I watched it by myself snuggled up on my bed, and I just loved it. What a tale of perserverence & motherhood & wife-hood (is that a word?). Anyway...I loved it. Parts of it were sad...and frustrating....but the optimism that this woman had was just remarkable.

Shipping News

Um...I have no idea how good this movie is. At the part where the mother SELLS her baby (well, little girl...6yo to be exact), well, I turned it off. That flick is just not for me.

What Happens In Vegas

We (Hubby & I) both thought this was sooooo funny!

Then She Found Me

Oh, I watched it start to finish. Main character is adopted as a baby, and now she's an adult. Her birth mother finds her. Main character is OBSESSED with getting pregnant. She doesn't want to adopt. She wants the whole pregnancy experience. I can appreciate that. What I can't appreciate in this movie: she (main character) says that she will forgive her birth mother for giving her up, if her birth mother will pay for her to have in-vitro. So, she puts a dollar amount on her forgiveness? I will forgive you...if you buy me a baby....... I dunno. I just didn't like that part. I understand her wanting to be a mom & wanting to experience pregnancy. I don't understand her putting a price on her forgiveness....that's weird to me.

Charlie Bartlett

It was okay.
This comedy follows the exploits of Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin), a miserable high school student who finds a novel way to fit in with his classmates: by pretending to be the school psychiatrist, dispensing advice and the occasional prescription medicine. Charlie's sympathetic ear and ready access to drugs make him popular with the students, but his activities soon attract the unwelcome attention of the school principal (Robert Downey Jr.).
It was just okay. Not great.

88 Minutes

We both liked it. Hubby had it figured out within the first 10 minutes. Me, not so much. Some of the different events in the movie were cliche, but it was good in the end. I wouldn't say that I loved it, but it was entertaining, and you certainly wanted to see to the end to see how it all turned out. The ending really was the best part!


That's all for now.
Holla!