Playing Catch Up

I have been doing a good bit of work so I have neglected in updating what I have watched and read. Since I have work I need to be doing now...I am just going to do a quick version.

Watched - Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. - It was very good. Followed the book fairly closely and was good enough that I wish they would make the other two novels into movies.

                   The Help - I was a little disappointed with this movie. Had I not read the book I probably would of been happy with it. But having read the book - I thought they changed and left out some important parts. So while it was good...I was kind of let down because the book was so good.

                   Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - It is what it is. Movies have never done justice to the books. Actors suck. But of the movies this has been the best one - so maybe Part 2 will be even better. But overall just so disappointing that such good books with such potential were ruined by crap D-list caliber actors.

              Footloose - With Julianne Hough - And I was pleasantly surprised. I was really kind of expecting something on the level of Dirty Dancing Havana Nights (what were they thinking?) but this remake was really not that bad. It was good enough that I didnt' spend the whole time comparing it to the original. I think it helped that they were smart enough to cast real dancers who could also act! So it was a cute and fun little movie!                

   Mad About You - I just love this TV show. It shows on some channel at 5:30 every afternoon and I have it set to record, so when there is nothing on regular TV I watch episodes of this. It is the best. I just love Paul Reiser. And now going back and re-watching these episodes, I have realized that Everybody Loves Raymond, stole from Mad About You. So many episodes of Mad About You were redone on Everybody Loves Raymond ...even down to characters. Paul's mother acts and treats Helen Hunt just like Marie does to Debra on Everybody Loves Raymond. Paul's character is the laughable sometimes oblivious husband to Helen's uptight, stressed, freak-out prone wife. Very similar to Ray and Debra. Ray Ramano copied Paul Reiser!

READ -

           I finally finished the last book of the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series. Those novels are just quick 1,000 page books! ha! It was just as good as the first - If only the author was still alive and writing more really griping and twist filled novels.

           My hubby broke down and bought me The Hunger Games. Got to see what all the hype is about. And I must admit it was a very good book. I read the entire thing in one Saturday afternoon. And yes, with its mere 375 pages, it was like a short story compared to Dragon Tattoo books - so I blew through it. Now I have to read the next two in this series. Even though I googled them and know how everything turns out. But I think I will still read them anyways.

Inception

Goodness...it seems like it has been awhile since I actually watched something I haven't already seen a bazillion times. But the hubby and I attempted to watch "Inception" the other night. Leo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was one of those movies that got so much buzz, yet it just never jumped out to me, so I never really made the effort to watch it.

But it just so happened that another blog that I read made a post about how much she loved "Inception" so I thought, might as well give it a go. We knew pretty quick into the movie...we had made a mistake. When the plot takes about 3 turns before the opening credits are even finished, you might be in trouble. And I am all for a few twists and turns but this thing had so many that I spent the majority of the movie looking at my husband and saying "what!??"

Leo's character goes into people's dreams to steal their ideas. Futuristic corporate espionage. Already sounds far fetched but I will give it a little latitiude. His partner is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. If that isn't confusing enough, they attempt to plant an idea in someone and it requires all these different dream levels and making someone think they are dreaming within a dream...I don't know but I am confused already just trying to remember it. And to add to the confusion, Leo's character has lots of drama with his wife who got lost in their dreams and then commited suicide because she thought reality was really dream and she keeps showing up in his dreams trying to kill him...

Things just get so confusing that about an hour in the hubby and I were both checking to see how much longer the movie lasted. (Never a good sign) And to our horror, it was a 2 and half hour movie! But we were committed and going to finish it!  And of course I shoud of known with a movie this frustrating there was no way it was going to end resolved. The ending left you hanging. Just infuriated me that I had spent 2 and half hours watching this craziness to be left hanging!

The bright spots of the movie for me were definately Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character. He had a little bit of wit, was an impecable dresser (why don't men dress that way all the time now? Oh how I long for the days that men wore 3 piece suits and hats...can fashion please revive the 1940's!!!) And watching him tie floating people together and float them down a hallway and into an elevator was just comical. (It wasn't supposed to be but I found it utterly hilarious!)

If you haven't seen it..don't waste your time. If you have...did you like it? Really? Why?

Something Borrowed and Scooby Doo Monsters Unleashed

I have been doing a lot more watching here lately than I have been reading. Most of my reading has been work related so I haven't been doing much pleasure reading. But I do record movies so I can watch them at a later date or when the twins are napping.

I finally got to watch "Something Borrowed" with Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin. I read the book it was made after and really liked the book. The author Emily Griffin I thought did a fairly good job at making cheating understandable! If that is possible. Nobody was married yet and these two people had been in love with each other from the beginning they just kept letting things get in their way. So you don't totally loathe them for cheating and everyone ends up happy and where they belong in the end. (what i like!) But back to the movie...I had not rented it because I had heard nothing good about it. But I have to say on the level of cute, easy and happy endings, I really liked it! Plus, the guy in the movie, I don't even know his name, but he could easily pass as Tom Cruise's younger brother! He looks exactly like a young Tom Cruise only cuter! Same laugh, same, nose, same smile...it was amazing!

So I give it a fairly high rating on the basis of just a cute, sitting at home by yourself, enjoyable movie.

Now on to "Scooby Doo Monsters Unleashed". That is the twins newest favorite movie! We have watched it so many times in the last week that I can't even keep count! This is one with Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar. It is the cheesiest and worst acting ever but the twins LOVE IT! Mainly they love Scooby and all the ghosts and monsters. I guess when you are not a very good actor any pay check is better than none! Well, I better go, Scooby Doo is dressed in a leizure suit and an afro and doing the hustle ...best part of the movie!

Adjustment Bureau

I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it. But then again it is Matt Damon, and as I sit here and try to think of all his movies, I can't honestly come up with one that was bad. He reminds me of Clint Eastwood and Hillary Swank. They are actors that just choose really good films to make. Excluding Hilary's turn as "The Next Karate Kid" That was just painful but she was just breaking into the business, so I will cut her some slack on that one.

What I like about the "Adjustment Bureau" was that it was fast moving, got right into the plot, and kept moving. There was never a slow moment and the story was good. While it had a very religious undercurrent to it and I have still not been able to decide if I agree with it, it was basically sending a good message. I think that is how true love is and what I hope my kids can find someday. That other person that you would do anything for and give up everything for.

It was just really exciting and I found myself really hoping for a good ending as I watched he and Emily Blunt push through door after door trying to escape the agents of fate so determined to keep them apart.

Finally one of the Agents tells him he is destined to become President and she is destined to become a world famous dancer as long as they are not together. But if they are together then he will never become President and she will spend her life teaching six-year-olds to dance. What does he do? Walk away and become the things they have both dreamed about all their lives or choose love?

Is it a movie that will become a classic? No, but it was a really good movie and a beautiful and different love story. I would definatley recommend this one. I even told my hubby he needs to watch it and I think he will enjoy it as well, even with all the romantic stuff!

Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum....Yes, you read that correctly. Why is he getting his own post? Well, for multiple reasons. First being that he seems to be in everything these days. Second, I seem to be watching all his movies lately. Third, because he confuses me.

Let me back up. In the recent months I have seen "Step Up" , "Dear John", "The Eagle" and "The Delimma". Plus he has that new movie "The Vow" with Rachel McAdams coming out today or this week. This one is one I want to see but it will have to wait until it comes out on DVD. There is no way I am getting my husband into that movie. And truthfully I just wouldn't do that to him. I love him, so why would I torture him by making him watch a romantic movie. That would be like him forcing me to go sit in the deer blind for 2 hours with him....No Thank You!

So anyways, Channing Tatum seems to be totally the "it" guy right now. I kind of get it because he is kinda good looking...certainly not swoon worthy, but he has that "good looking normal guy" thing going on. Guys that look like Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Ryan Gosling just are not roaming the streets. But there are guys that look like Channing Tatum. So I guess he seems attainable. But what confuses me is that he kinda sucks at acting! I mean he is not horrible but I certainly would not classify him as good. He is kinda painful to watch sometimes.

In the four movies of his that I have seen recently, he does the best in "The Delimma" He plays the goofy nut pretty well. Sadly, that movie was just awful so that deminished his good acting. I wonder what the heck Kevin James and Vince Vaughn were thinking. But as I begin to think about it...I don't think either one of those guys have made a decent movie ever.

"Step Up" is probably his next best movie simply because he plays a dancer in that, which is what I think he really is. He was a dancer that transitioned into acting. But that movie looses me because I don't like the girl in the movie which happens to be his real-life wife. I don't think she is very cute. And as shallow as it is, I don't like watching love stories with un-attractive people in them! Shallow I know.

"Dear John" had potential because the acting was better, but I was just annoyed with the story. Ugghh, Nicholas Sparks exhausts me sometimes. Seriously, if you are madly in love with a guy, you are gonna break up with him because he is defending our country and then expect him to understand. Yuck. I am over it!

"The Eagle" wasn't too bad. It had its moments where I was thinking, 'this is pretty good' then he would forget what he was doing and switch accents or try to do a dramatic scene and I was back to thinking 'oh geez...' He did pretty good with the fight scenes but he comes off cheesy when he would try to be super serious or dramatic, almost to the point of funny!

"The Vow" has a chance and I will give it one because I think the story is good and I typically like everything Rachel McAdams is in. I am banking on Channing Tatum being fairly monatone and over acting but maybe he will do better. Hollywood casting agents obviously see something in him or else he has the world's greatest manager and agent!

The Girl Who Played With Fire

This is the second book in the Lisbeth Salader and Mickeal Blomkvist series. All I can say about this book is it is just as good as the first! The action picks up right where Dragon Tattoo left off. I can't wait to start reading the final book. And even though with the nature of the characters, I know a rosy, happy, warm, feel-good ending is probably not in my future with this series, I am still holding out a little hope!

In this book we do find out more about Lisbeth's history. And it is just as complicated and bizarre as you would expect. She realizes that she is in love with Blomkvist and knows it can only turn out badly for her, so she cuts off all contact with him. He doesn't understand why and basically refuses to give up on finding her.

In the first book she saves his life and in the second book his refusal to be cut out of her life allows him to ultimately save her life. At the end of this book she was clinging to life with Blomkvist by her side. Her father had tried to kill her. As we slowly find out, her father was a cold-blooded assasin/spy and very abusive to her mother and so at the age of 12 she sets him on fire and almost kills him. With his deep undercover connections in the government - he succeeds in having her institutionalized and labeled "crazy" - This is where she develops her distrust of everyone! And that is only a small insight Blomkvist gets into who she is and why.

In the final book, she and Blomkvist will be in a fight to clear her name of the murders her father committed and were pinned on her. I am chomping at the bits to start reading it! I have not seen the movie of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" but if it is half as good as the book - I hope they make the rest of the books into movies!

Blue Valentine

"Blue Valentine"....I can't really put my finger on my feelings about this movie. It left me with a strange reaction I guess. First off, it is a movie starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. They play a husband and wife whose marriage is falling apart.On a purely acting stand point, I have nothing negative to say about the movie. They both do good jobs - he is likeable, she is a stressed out mom.

Where I become iffy is on the actual story. You meet them and their daughter on what appears to be just another normal day. She is trying to get the kid dressed and off to school and her to work - and of course he isn't helping very much (which is typical of most men! LOL). As they go about their day, they each have flashbacks of when they first met and got married. So as we are watching the marriage fall apart in present time, we are seeing through flashbacks them falling in love. They obviously had a very short courtship so we only really get to see about 3 months of their life total.

My problem is that the present is now like 6 or 7 years after their marriage and there is no explanation of how they got to their current situation.  In the course of their married years, he has obviously become an alcholic, is overweight and a drastic receeding hairline. She is now a nurse working at an OB/GYN office. Neither of which either of them were in the flashbacks. So my complaint is that if you are going to show me two people who are drastically different people now than they were when they were falling in love....explain to me a little more about the 7 years in between!!!  Why did he go on a downward spiral? If you are going to make a movie about the demise of a marriage - then give me insight into the MARRIAGE..not just the falling in love part!  Which speaking of - had warnings signs all over it! Sure they fell in love but it was not even a pretty falling in love that gave a glimmer of hope!  She was already jaded and shut off kind of because of the terrible relationship her parents had. She was someone that didn't really feel or show emotion or effection.  He was just a happy go lucky, jump before you look, live day to day kinda guy. (Neither sound like exactly mentally healthy people!)

Next they kinda jump into marriage because she turns up pregnant by SOMEONE ELSE! Yeah, the odds of that turning into happily ever after are slim! So here they were early enough in the relationship that she was sleeping with two people and contemplating an abortion but he says he wants them to be a family - so they get married.  Now years later, they basically can't stand each other. The whole movie takes place over the course of two days as they attempt, well, he attempts to salvage the marriage. She has no interest in it what so ever. But we are never shown their life together and at what point things started to go south!  In my opinion - ANNOYING!

Another issue I had with the movie was the pointless sex scenes - in my opinion. I get showing the one scene where the other fellow got her pregnant - cause it showed she was upset and freaked out cause she realized he didn't use protection, yada yada yada...but the others and there were a few and they were fairly graphic - I didn't understand the point of showing them. I can maybe get on board with the few attempts during the present time because that showed that she was totally resistant - but the ones of them during the falling in love portion were just not necessary. At least the level of graphicness (is that a word?) didn't need to be. Now I hate movies that end without a clear cut ending and kind of leave it up to the viewer to assume what happened - but when it comes to sex scenes - I get it. I don't really need to be shown the actual act thank you very much!

And this movie - it also ended just like that. They were arguing, he storms out and walks down the street and then the credits rolled! Seriously? Just Annoying! So, while the acting was good and the movie had its moments, I kinda feel like what was the point? To me, it was a movie that had no purpose. I mean that could of been a reality show of any couple living down the street. Who wants to watch that?

So on the whole, "Blue Valentine" was one of those movies that is kinda worth watching but for me it had a lot of issues and I just didn't really understand the point of if. What was the underlying message? Life sucks?" I take away from it that when you are promiscuous - yup it sure does!