Monday Movie Review - Shutter Island

As I'm sitting here puzzling over my insurance claim I have decided to take a break and write a Monday Movie Review.

We saw Shutter Island over the weekend and had the pleasure of it being one of those movies that isn't quite what it appears at first glance. I was expecting a scary thriller, but what I got was more of a psychological mystery, and well there were a couple of scary bits. Set in the 1950's the location is very interesting, clothing and sets very fun to look at. I can't tell too much or I may give away the plot line, but on the surface it is about the disappearance of a patient/prisoner in a high security prison for the mentally disturbed. Like The Others, and Sixth Sense there is quite a little twist (not ghostly though) about who is whom that doesn't come out until very near the end, and well if you miss the last line of the movie, you miss what made it satisfying to me. It is one of those movies though that not everyone will get, you do have to think and well a lot of people I heard go "now what happened?" (including my husband).

Anyway if you like mystery suspense type movies or are a particular fan of Leonardo de Caprio, go see it, I highly recommend it, but don't miss the last line!

Tile pendant of Sigmund Freud from Kristen Stein's etsy shop, Click the Photo to go to her shop.

A Couples Retreat, at the Movies!

My husband and I went to the movies without the kids yesterdayl, a small feat for us, usually they go to a movie that coincides with ours. This was nice just the two of us for once! We are huge Jon Favreau fans and love Vince Vaughn so we decided to go to Couples Retreat.

The rest of the cast was great too, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, too many great people to list all! The buildup for this movie was huge so we went in hoping for a great show, but not expecting too much. The first thing we noticed were the huge numbers of couples there! Not only was the movie about a couples retreat, it was one!

But back to the movie, it lived up to the hype, it was funny, touching and like all good movies was rooted in the reality of everyday life. There was a little bit of something for everyone, and while it was an adult show, it had no gore, nudity, or bad language. So for a great time with your significan other, go to the "Couples Retreat"!

Monday Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Review on Tuesday

My 11 year old daughter has been beside herself waiting for this movie to come out. Evidently it was heavily pushed in elementary school a couple of years ago and she had fond memories of the book. We couldn't go see it the first weekend so we went this past weekend. My 14 year old was too cool to go, so my husband suggested that they go to a scary movie together while I took my daughter and her friend to Meatballs in 3D no less.

We got our corny glasses and went into the theatre. I let them pick their own seats while I sat on the aisle near the top. Of course they sat front row. They loooooved it. I on the other hand thought it was typical Disney. Mom dies, dad has trouble communicating, "the man" is the villain. etc. I found the use of color a little over the top. First scenes are dull tones, food portion of the movie's candy colored. Almost nonexistent use of blue except for the heroes eyes. I also have to confess that food and I have a love hate relationship and I left feeling a little nauseous, the 3D effect not helping matters!

My son and husband used questionable judgement and went to see Sorority Row. In a surprise move my son got up and left the movie 2/3 way through and met us in meatballs, saying and I quote "Mom that movie was full of Ho's" (is that the right spelling?).

that was our weekend at the movies!

A Total Romantic Indulgence - Movie Review

I didn't feel great yesterday so I decided to take a Mom is tired and stressed break yesterday morning. I can't just do nothing though so I watched a netflix movie that neither my kids nor husband would watch, Twilight.

Okay I understand why my manly man husband didn't want to watch the vampire flick and also my 13 year old son, who told us it was a girly movie. My daughter is sporty too and not really taken to the whole fantasy thing either. But, I Loved It!

Totally self indulgent from the girls point of view this movie is about a girl and the guy who finds her special and will do just about anything to protect/love her. The whole vampire back story is just dark, appealing window dressing. And face it there is so much gothic, romantic aura about vampires it is natural. There isn't any sex or naked body parts, ever. The couple of kisses are so tortured, and full of want though the tension is huge! So Ladies, grab you a pint of your favorite Ben and Jerry's if you haven't seen this one and curl up for a totally romantic and entertaining evening.

Movie Madness.....with a Cake!

All you guys know I'm crazy about movies. So Here is a Two For One, Kind of......

Rachel Getting Married - Wanted to see it because I love Anne Hathaway and I heard she was really good in it. Well she was but am I happy I netflixed it instead of going to the show. It is a very gritty, realistic portrait of what happens to a young woman who has spent a lot of her young life messed up on drugs and is looking for forgiveness/validation in the wrong way. It really sort of makes you feel hungover by the time it is finished.

So if you are an Anne Hathaway fan, see it, or if you like the rehab topic, see it, otherwise, pass it by.......

Now for the 2nd half.

Ever want to host one of those really cool themed parties like for a birthday or oscar party? Well at Piece of Cake Decorating you can get all sorts of great ideas. Her cakes are amazing. Click on the picture above to be taken to her blog post about the movie cake. You can purchase the reel, film and clap board as well as get directions for it and see the things needed. A hunt around her website and you will see a darling slumber party cake and tons of other cute things!

Inglourious Basterds - Shakespeare?

Okay my husband and I like Quentin Tarantino. We saw Reservoir Dogs way before all our friends even heard about it and Pulp Fiction ranks one of my all time faves, so when my husband walked out of Inglourious Basterds Saturday and asked me what the movie was about I had to think a minute.

I mean his expectation was a movie about the Brad Pitt character and based on the title and the movie trailers I think most people would have the same expectation. In reality it is about Shoshanna, the single survivor of a family that Landa, a high ranking Nazi, killed and her opportunity to take revenge on the Nazis.

Brad Pitt's character, Aldo Raine, is in effect a one dimensional caricature of a quality/action that is necessary to move the plot along. I've heard that some critics panned his performance, but I think he was quite effective at portraying the backwoodsman who psychotically and sarcastically is able to see that Nazi=death and enjoys carrying it out. He didn't need to be anything more for the film.

Taranatino's success in his movies many times involves layering characters in time around the main story line and magnifying character traits in them. It was quite intricate in Pulp Fiction. Inglourious Basterds boils it down to a science. Each side character really embodies a trait. The young actor is greed for flesh and fame, the black man is love, Hugo Stiglitz is hate. Okay maybe I'm being toooo literal, but you see what I mean. In this distilling of the characters you get the quirkiness that Tarantino is known for. So, Tarantino like Shakespeare? Well when you get right down to it Lady Macbeth is just guilt isn't she? College Professors spend whole semesters trying to make you realize that one!

Now I'm getting wordy but I really liked the movie. Gory, yes, for the weak of stomach, this one is pretty bad. And Tarantino does go some places that most wouldn't with some racial comments and his usual irreverence. So this movie is not for everyone. Use your own judgement, but don't go if you are looking for a movie that features a story revolving around Brad Pitt's character, you won't find it!

Late Movie Reviews!

Okay I know it isn't Monday, but I've been super busy. We did find time as always to go to the movies though and continuing with the romantic comedy theme we say "The Ugly Truth" and we saw a kind of comedy, "Funny People".

First "The Ugly Truth". This was a cute show, very predictable but well done. Katherine Heigl has quite a following and she has a scene that really updates the famous "When Harry Met Sally" "I'll have what she's having" situation. Very funny stuff. Gerard Butler is cute in a kind of tight t-shirt but messier Simon Cowell sort of way. Cheryl Hines and John Michael Higgins area super funny too. Bottom Line - Harmless show to see with your husband that will make you both laugh.

Funny People, I either love or hate Adam Sandler movies but this one just kinda left me lukewarm. Don't get me wrong, some of it is very funny and touching. But when they try to deal with the messy parts of life it gets tedious and painful. The ending is predictable and unsatisfying. I loved Seth Rogen and some of the other more minor characters. Eric Bana in particular plays a schizo husband very out of character from his past roles. Soooo I'm of the opinion that unless you are a fan of this gang, apatow, sandler, rogen, wait until DVD. Oh, and by the way it is extra long, 2 1/2 hours.

Monday Movie Review - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Thanks to my 19 year old son I finally got to see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I had it here at home from Netflix, but my husband was procrastinating. My oldest is here at home for the summer and when he saw it he said "Oh, I'd like to see that I heard it was good". And so my husband relented, seeing an opportunity to sit with my son for more than 10 minutes!

Being a person who spent most of the 80's along with my friends obsessing about different bands, I love the premise that moves the story along; finding the afterhours secret gig of a band that the two lead characters really love. The story only encompasses the span of one all nighter and follows them from club to club, place to place while they try to find the band. Michael Cera, the boyfriend/father from Juno is the male lead who is struggling to get over a popular girlfriend who has thrown him to the side. (For those of you who watch entourage the girlfriend is played by Alexis Dziena the new flame for E. ) Kat Dennings is the female lead, a romantically insecure but spunky and fiercely loyal friend. They spend the evening finding themselves, resisting temptation to take the easy path and eventually finding each other.

I personally loooooved this movie, but my husband found it a little young I guess you'd say. My son really liked it. So, I'd say see it. It is funny and sweet, well worth the DVD rental!

Bruno at the Show and Ghost Town at Home

Okay not a very satisfying weekend to say the least, deep breath.

Bruno. I saw Borat, I thought it was at times crude and inappropriate. However I did think it was an original concept, very funny in parts and worth seeing if you were not easily offended. Sasha Baron Cohen has gone over the line with Bruno though. It is both rude and crude and I have no idea how it escaped an X rating. It features full male member nudity, and even an animated penis. In addition there is an S&M feature, a swingers party, and lots of gay sex references and enactments. That is just the stuff that refers to sex. There are other controversial references to terrorism, gay conversion, interracial families and the list goes on.

In as much as Cohen's purpose was to push people's buttons he succeeds and parts of it were indeed funny. But if I want to see a movie with nudity and sex I know where to go get one and it isn't at my local AMC theatre.

Ghost Town features Greg Kinnear, Ricky Gervais, and Tea Leoni all of whom on their own I usually like. The premise is Ricky's character has a death experience and comes back to life able to see and hear ghosts. The spirits all have unfinished business and they ask him to complete these tasks and enable them to go on to their own afterlife. The story is predictable from there with Greg Kinnears character wanting to keep his wife Tea Leoni from remarrying. It could be super funny but for some reason it isn't.. The characters just don't gel. If it is the only DVD left get it, if not pass it up.

On another note I want to thank everyone UWIB and elsewhere that has given me a boost this last week. It has been a fantastic month. Special thanks to oldbagvintage www.oldbagvintage.blogspot.com www.oldbagvintage.etsy.com and SuzanneinTX http://spt2.blogspot.com/ www.crazyforcollars.etsy.com for mentions in their blogs. I can't help but think that this helped me!

Two Extremes Public Enemies and the Proposal

Good Morning everyone, time for Monday Movie Reviews. With my kids gone this week we saw two in the theatre, an unusual occurence. My husband and I chose one together, (guess which) and I chose one.

I love Johnny Depp and have ever since 21 Jump Street so it wasn't hard to like Public Enemies. It was a spare, classic gangster drama complete with J. Edgar Hoover, G- Men and Johnny Dillinger. Johnny Depp has a restrained, nuanced performance. He was understandable and likeable even as a most wanted criminal. Marion Cotillard was fierce and defiant as his girl Billie. You almost feel sorry for Christian Bale's character Purvis the FBI man in charge of getting Dillinger. So I recommend it for adults, if you are looking for a compromise to see with your guy...

The Proposal on the other hand was super funny! I wasn't expecting a whole lot, you know it seems like the funniest bits of movies are usually in the trailers, but not this one. It was funny, sincere and sweet. My husband, who thought it was a Chick Flick, really liked it too. Sandra Bullock was funny but some of the funniest stuff comes from Ryan Reynolds too.....Betty White and the rest of the cast complete it and the locations are gorgeous. I recommend it wholeheartedly for adults.

Have a great week!

Monday Movie Review, 2 Comedies

Good Morning all! After a week in sunny Florida I'm back and ready to post. We did go to the movies too so I'll start this week with my usual Monday Movie Review. It was vacation time so we chose comedies. My kids saw Land of the Lost and my husband and I saw The Hangover.

The kids really liked Land of the Lost. I didn't go but both my 13 year old boy and 10 year old girl said it was funny. The scenes they commented on to us had that usual brand of Will Farrell silly humor that appeals to kids of all ages. My 13 year old though, who loves comedies didn't come out asking to buy the DVD when it comes out, so, I will generalize that while a good pick for the tweens it wasn't a smash hit........

Okay, The Hangover. First of all do not even think of a tween going unless you are a super liberal parent. I can't remember seeing an erect penis in a regular movie since Boogie Nights, but there is one here! Second it is hilarious (the movie that is) ! If you are easily offended don't go but the premise of the movie is plausible and there is both slapstick and more sophisticated humor. Rollergirl from Boogienights (Heather Graham) also makes an appearance ironically, and I enjoyed that she isn't a typical Hollywood woman and has continued to appear a natural beauty. Ed Helms from the Office gives a great performance as the walked on boyfriend while some guy I never heard of named Zak Galifianakis is super funny with his delivery of strange and zany dialog. Bradley Cooper and Justin Bartha up the cutie quotient and the movie has a satifying ending. So, in general go see it ! It is really funny......

Lemon Blossoms and Leatherheads.......

It was such a beautiful weekend here in Houston we couldn't bear to spend time in the movies so I didn't get to see either of the movies on my current list of must see, Fast and Furious or Sunshine Cleaning....

Instead late Friday we looked at the netflix arrivals and saw Leatherheads. If you love George Clooney or even if you don't, take a peek, it's probably worth it. It's silly and fun. Renee Zellweger is okay and John Krasinski from the office is cute and redeeming. If you are looking for something to add to the Netflix lineup it is a good one. If you liked Clooney's O Brother while it isn't as good it is in a similar vein and should be satisfying! ON the super satisfying as chocolate scale I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

If you happened to see Fast and Furious PLEASE comment and let me know what you thought!

ON to Lemon Blossoms

My daughter and MIL watch Paula Deen together and got this recipe from there. My daughter so wanted to make it so yesterday I gave in and we bought the ingredients. Paula Deen's recipes are sooooo decadent in terms of butter, sugar, etc I think I gained a pound just reading the recipe, but if you are looking for a snack sized item for a luncheon, shower, food gift etc this one is it. If you like lemon even a little they are delicious and pretty easy.

Lemon Blossoms
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Prep Time: 12 min Inactive Prep Time: 1 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 12 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 5 dozen
Ingredients

18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix

3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix

4 large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze: 4 cups confectioners' sugar

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons water

DirectionsPreheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel
To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.
With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

One helpful hint. Use the Pam spray on the tins generously! Otherwise they self destruct when you try to remove them. This is also a messy recipe, so be prepared!

Have a great day!

Monday Movie Review - I Love You, Man

Okaay I was soooo not with the public's opinion last week on Knowing ....

This week I saw I Love You, Man with Paul Ruud and Jason Segal. The film has lots of other great actors, Jaime Pressly, Jon Favreau (Swingers anyone?) Jane Curten, Rashida Jones. Let's face it though it's about the Paul Ruud and Jason Segal characters. It's a kinda familiar situation in that Paul Ruud's character Peter has been so busy with life and being a tiny bit uncomfortable in his own skin that he has gone through life with no male friends. When he decides to take the next step in life and get married he realizes he has no best man.

Hilarity ensues as he goes on "man" dates fixed up by everyone from his mom to his gay brother. He finds a great friend on his own and they help each other realize their own shortcomings on the way "down the aisle".

Great chemistry, funny dialog and situations, a fun movie, I give it 4 out of 5 on the as good as cheesecake scale (or suzy q's or tres leches, or chocolate cupcakes, whatever your sweet of choice is).

Monday Movie Review! Slum Dog Millionaire

Okay, I saw this movie a while back and loved it. It uses a gameshow as a great vehicle to tell this boy's story of growing up in the slums of Mombai. It tells us about his devotion to a girl from the very beginning to finally ending up with her against all odds. It is the ultimate feel good kind of movie, boy meets girl, loses girl, gets girl in the end and in the process as a by product gets rich too!

The acting is great, the setting a bit exotic for an American audience and the vehicle "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" just familiar enough to make your comfortable with the way the story moves along.

I assume it will be re-released with it's win last night, so go see it. It is rated R so and has a couple of disturbing scenes, but, all in all a great show!

Monday Movie Review - He's Just NOT That Into You

Okay, last weekend it was my husband's pick, this weekend in honor of Valentine's I got to pick the movie. I chose He's Just NOT That Into You a movie I had wanted to see. I read a lot of chick lit, but, this movie I had not read the book for so I was very curious. I love the lineup of stars, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johanssen, some of my favorite female stars and Ginnifer Goodwin, someone I don't know much about is in the film also.
On the guys side, whew, Ben Affleck, Justin Long (apple commercials and Accepted; a highly recommended DVD, but that is another review), Bradley Cooper (don't know what he was in but what great eyes) Kevin Connolly (Entourage).

The movie switches back and forth between the different stars and their different situations in their entangled little world. That makes it a little choppy. Some of the dialog is great, if you've seen the trailers you get the gist of it and there is more in the movie, it isn't just the best parts in the commercial. Most of the situations at heart are very serious, facing up to the committment of marriage, facing up to falling for someone, facing up to not being loved back. Not all of the vignettes end in a traditional happily ever after either. For my husband and I who are both over 40 it really contrasts the difference in the dating world today and when we were in college.

Bottom line, as a lover of chick lit, I really liked it. My husband didn't like it as much but the ever curvaceous Scarlett Johanssen (I give her a 10 on the jiggle factor) should help any guys enjoyment of the movie.

Have a great week!