Kindred; a novel by Octavia Butler (Rating: 4.75 Crow’s Feet)

Octavia Butler is one of the first (if not the first) African American Science Fiction writers. I am an avid reader, and enjoy most books I read. I ranked this novel high because of the inventiveness of the story, the emotional story line, and the well developed characters. I could hardly put this novel down.

Initially set in 1976, Dana is an African American woman married to a white man. On her 26th birthday, as she and her husband are moving into their new house. She starts to feel dizzy and nauseous and somehow ends up in a forest. She sees a young white boy drowning in a river. She rushes to his aid and performs CPR. When he comes to, she looks up to see his father staring down at her with a shotgun. As suddenly as she goes to the woods, she comes home. In other ‘travels’ she discovers that the boy is her ancestor, and is a Southern slave owner in the 1800’s. She learns about slavery by being thrown into it.

The story portrays the struggles slaves faced, as well as the ‘grooming’ slaveholders went through growing up in the South. Octavia Butler is a brilliant writer! She gives a unique perspective to slavery, by giving a modern voice to the past. I couldn’t put this book down.

Imagine That (Rating: 1.5 Crow’s Feet)

The only redeeming part of this movie is the young actress, Yara Shahidi, who plays Olivia, Eddie Murphy’s daughter. She steals every scene she is in.

This movie has a predictable story line. A work-aholic divorced stock broker is forced to take care of his daughter for a week. He discovers that his daughter’s imaginary friends can predict business trends. So, he uses this knowledge to make better investments for his clients. When the daughter goes back to her mother’s house, the stock broker goes crazy and tries to steal his daughter’s blanket in order to contact her imaginary friends. He ends up discovering that he should rely on his own knowledge to make his business decisions.

I do not recommend this movie. Eddie Murphy is a one trick pony…or should I say one trick Donkey? He should stick to voicing cartoon animals.

My Life In Ruins (Rating: 3.5 Crow’s Feet)

Today I watched this movie staring Nia Vardalos who also starred in ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding.’ This time she plays Georgia, an American tour guide in Greece who has lost her ‘Kaffee,’ or her ‘passion for life.’ Everything that could go wrong seems to go wrong with her tour and she gets frustrated with the guests on the tour that would rather have ice cream than appreciate the ancient ruins of Greece. When she’s least expecting it she falls for the Greek bus driver who she never noticed before.

This is a very sweet movie, and there are several funny parts in the movie. It didn’t receive accolades from critics, but I liked it because it was simple. Also, the scenery is beautiful…I mean, what can be more beautiful than Greece? This woman has planned her life out, and yet nothing is going according to plan. I guess the moral of the story is, “You can’t plan for life.”

The Women (Rating: 3.5 Crow’s Feet)

“I’m the man I want to marry!” This line expresses a lot of my own frustrations with finding a partner. Annette Benning who plays Sylvia is a successful publisher with unsuccessful past relationships. She was married once to a man who told her to fly with wings that soar, but that he couldn’t keep up with a woman who can soar higher than him. Sometimes, I feel this way.

Over my lifetime, I’ve heard many women say, “I’m waiting to travel to until I get married.” “I’m saving this for when I get proposed to.” Or even, “I don’t want to buy because I’ll register for it when I get engaged.” These comments are not professed as frequently as when I was in my early 20’s, but now at age 28 most of those women are already married. I have always been of a different mind-set. I try what I want, when I want. I buy what I like and don’t think about saving special items for a wedding. At this point in my life, I don’t I figure that I like myself, and I like my life; whomever decides to enter my life had better be able to fit into it. Don’t get me wrong, I know that relationships take compromising. However, I don’t want to sacrifice who I am for someone. Perhaps this is part of my problem with meeting men;)

This movie is about a group of successful women who find out that their friend is being cheated on. Meg Ryan plays May, the woman who has been cheated on. She ends up going to a retreat to find herself. She puts together a collage to determine who she wants to be.

Although this movie received negative reviews from most critics, I enjoyed it. It’s obviously not a ‘thinker’ but it shows some strong women that have some difficult things going on in their lives. It also shows the relationships between women. I wasn’t expecting much from this film, and was pleasantly surprised. I respond to these women because they seem like real friends. Friendship is something I value and truly try to practice. I hope you get as much out of it as I did.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Rating: 4 Crow’s Feet)

This original movie was written by the main actress, Nia Vardalos who plays Tula a Greek young woman in a large Greek family. Tula longs to try new things and eventually her father agrees to let her go to college. Once in college she discovers a class on computers for the travel industry. Her father decides she can go to work at her aunt’s travel agency. During this surge of independence, the once dowdy Tula discovers makeup and starts to dress in more fashionable clothes. One day a nice guy, Ian (played by John Corbett) stops in and they develop a relationship. Her parents are very against her dating a non-Greek like Ian.

When Ian proposes, her father agrees on the condition that he converts to Greek Othodox. Eventually after many hilarious situations, the two marry. As a wedding gift, Tula’s parents buy them a house right next door to their own.

This movie was released in 2002 and only cost $5million to make; with worldwide revenues of $368.7million. It received great reviews, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

A great friend, Beth, gave me this movie in a large gift basket full of items to use during my recovery. It is such a warm, loving story that I waited several days before watching it. I tend to get choked up easily, and crying is painful when you are recovering from tonsil surgery. I love this movie, and enjoy watching it over and over again. It is simple and endearing . I rated it highly because it is such an original story…and also because I love her dad’s obsession with Windex as a cure for everything. My mom has her own cure for everything; Benadryl (although antihistamines are bit more reliable for curing than Windex:)

The Painted Veil (Rating: 4 Crow’s Feet)

This moving adaptation of the novel (of the same name) by W. Somerset Maugham, stars Naomi Watts in the main role of Kitty and Edward Norton as her husband Walter Fane. Kitty is a bored socialite who meets Walter at a party in London. At the urging of her domineering mother they soon marry and after a honeymoon in Venice, move to Shanghai where Walter will study infectious diseases.

Walter becomes engaged in his work while Kitty sits at home bored. She soon finds comfort in the arms of Charles Townsend, a married British Councilman. Walter discovers the affair and in order to punish her threatens to divorce her, or demands that she accompany him to a remote, cholera infected village. She begs to be allowed to divorce him quietly, in order to avoid scandal towards her. He agrees on one condition, that Charles agrees to divorce his wife and marry Kitty. Of course Charles denies her and she decides to accompany her husband rather than have scandal attached to her name.

The take a hard 2 week trip across the countryside and arrive at the village where Kitty learns that it would have been faster and easier to take a river trip. She also learns that there is an inoculation for cholera that would give them more safety from the disease. It seams that Walter is punishing her for her affair.

Walter begins to make a real impact on the town and shuts down many wells and water access. Although this frustrates the town, it will help to contain the cholera outbreak. Without talking to Walter, Kitty begins volunteering at the orphanage. One day he discovers her, and it seems to rekindle his affection for her. As his success increases, their marriage improves and Kitty discovers she is pregnant. Even though they don’t know if the baby is Walter’s or her lover’s, Walter declares, “it doesn’t matter, now.”

When Walter goes to a refuge camp, he becomes ill with cholera. Kitty rushes to his side to take care of him. Unfortunately, he dies and is immediately buried. The film ends with Kitty walking the streets of London holding her son’s hand.

This is not a movie to watch while recovering from tonsil surgery. Crying is painful, and there were multiple points in this movie where I felt sad and helpless. Cholera is a horrible disease that causes a person to loose all liquids in their body. The disease is relatively quick, and painful. The movie did a great job of illustrating the Cholera epidemic in China.

The cinematography is gorgeous! The director found a remote village in mainland China. This village was relatively unchanged since the early 1900’s making it a great representation of the village Kitty and Walter visit. The Chinese government permitted the filming as long as a Chinese production company had license to edit. The main objection of the Chinese production company was to the portrayal of the uprisings and of the cholera victims. Only 38 seconds had to be edited out.

Funny Girl (Rating: 4 Crow’s Feet)

I will admit that I never understood the die-hard fans of Barbara Streisand. It’s not that I didn’t like her; I just didn’t understand the hype. Now that I’ve seen Funny Girl, it is crystal clear why she has the fan base she deserves. She is funny, sweet and an incredible performer.

Most people already know this movie, but for those of you who have not seen it, I will give a quick synopsis. Barbara Streisand plays Fanny Brice who was the star of the Ziegfeld Follies from 1910 well into the 1930’s. It begins as she gets her first roll in a vaudeville show. She ends up stealing the show. After the show she meets Nick Arstein, (played by Omar Sharif) an entrepreneur and gambler. As Fanny’s career builds, she continues to run into Arstein. Eventually they marry and have a baby girl. Arstein’s investments begin to fail, leading to his resentment towards Fannie’s success. He makes an illegal investment and is sent to prison for 18 months. The end shows Arstein and Fanny parting right before she goes on stage.

There were several challenges between the original director and the producer, Ray Stark. So, he hired Bob Fosse to direct. The producer had many ideas for the lead of Fannie. Several women were considered for the role; Carol Burnett, Anne Bancroft, and others. Fosse chose Barbara Streisand for the stage role and the film role. The stage production commenced while the development of the film continued.

The film got great publicity when the song ‘People’ hit #5 on the Billboard Pop Charts. Prior to the films release in 1968, Streisand announced that she would play the role as herself since she felt that she and the character were so much alike.

Streisand earned an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for this role, and the film was nominated for many other awards including Best Picture, Best Music, etc.

I recommend this movie as a must see. This film shaped Streisand’s career and helped her become the celebrated actress she is today.

The Whole Nine Yards (Rating: 3 Crow’s Feet)

This movie is about a dentist named Oz (played by Matthew Perry) who lives in Montreal, Canada. A new neighbor moves in, Jimmy (played by Bruce Willis) who happens to be an ex-mafia hit man Jimmy ‘The Tulip’ Tudeski.

Oz’s wife, Sophie (played by Rosanne Arquette), hates him. She makes him go to Chicago to organize a finder’s fee for the ‘hit’ that is out on Jimmy. He decides to go, but not to try to make any contact with the mafia because he likes Jimmy and doesn’t want him killed. Meanwhile Sophie goes next door and tells Jimmy that Oz is in Chicago working with the mafia and asks him to kill Oz.

While Oz is in Chicago he is intercepted by Frankie Figgs (played by Michael Clarke Duncan). Frankie takes Oz to the mafia leader, Janni (played by Kevin Pollak). Janni introduces Oz to Jimmy’s wife, Cynthia (played by Natasha Henstridge). Janni asks Oz to take Frankie back to Montreal to find Jimmy. The evening before Oz flies back to Montreal, Cynthia comes to his hotel to talk to him. They end up falling for each other and become intimate.

When Oz and Frankie arrive in Montreal, they are met in Frankie’s hotel room by Jimmy who is working with Frankie. Jimmy tells Oz that he sent Frankie to him in Chicago to make sure he got Janni to come to Montreal. Then Jimmy plans to kill Janni.

I won’t give away the ending because it’s a bit predictable. This movie was not the best movie; it was not what I would call a ‘thinker.’ I played video games while it was running and was still able to follow the plot. However, it was interesting to these famous actors working together. I didn’t think any of the actors did a good job, and I didn’t buy any of them in these roles. Most of the actors seemed to be playing themselves or playing roles they have already mastered.

The only actor I found any merit in was Michael Clarke Duncan. He played a hit man, which due to his imposing size and baritone voice is an easy portrayal. But, he played it in a way that inspired some magnetism towards such a seemingly brutal character.

I don’t recommend this movie unless you are looking to kill some time. Otherwise pass this one by and see something different.

The Children of Men (Rating: 4.75 Crow’s Feet)

This is a disturbing movie that is not for the faint of heart. It is set in 2027 in London, United Kingdom, one of the last remaining ‘organized’ countries. It seems that all other countries have fallen to anarchy or to militant Islamic rule. Refugees from around the globe are fighting to get into the UK. But, the UK refuses millions of illegal immigrants.

As the movie progresses, you find out that in 2008 a flu that killed many people. Then you find out that for the past 19 years, women are no longer having babies. The main character, Theo has an ex-wife that is now the leader of a militant humanist group called Fishes. She kidnaps him in order to get exit papers for a young girl from Theo’s cousin. Theo obtains the paperwork, but under the stipulation that he escorts the girl.

He is introduced to the girl, Kee and several other characters that will be traveling with them. As they are exiting London, they are ambushed by a rebel group. This group fatally wounds Theo’s ex-wife, and the rest of the group barely escapes.

The traveling group enters a Fishes safe house to regroup their plan to escape. Kee approaches Theo to share his sadness. She tells Theo that his wife said to only trust him. She tells him that she is trying to get to the Human Projecct and she shows Theo that she is pregnant; the first pregnant woman in over 19 years. Although Theo disagrees, the organization and Kee decide that it is best for her to remain at the safe house until after the baby is born.

During the night, Theo is restless and cannot sleep. He discovers that the leader of the traveling group was in on the ambush and also ordered the death of Theo’s ex-wife. The group wants the baby in order to have political leverage over the London government. Theo sneaks Kee and her midwife out of the safe house and they escape to his eclectic friend’s hidden cabin.

Jasper, Theo’s eclectic friend helps them form a plan to meet with the Human Project’s boat. He has a friend, Syd, that works for the border police and can sneak the group into a refuge camp near the meeting point. They are woken in the middle of the night by the arrival of a Fishes raid. Theo, Kee and the midwife escape and hide out on a remote hill to watch Jasper deter the Fishes. The Fishes give him little chance to talk and gun him down.

Theo, Kee and the midwife meet up with Jasper’s Syd and enter the refuge camp bus. On the way into the camp, Kee goes into labor. They enter a check point and some soldiers get on the bus and yell at Kee, “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!” The midwife steps in front of them and starts praying. The soldiers are distracted and take the midwife off the bus; it is eluded that they shoot her. The refuge camp is an abandoned city that has been over run by refugees. People are living all over in old buildings and seem to have their own gangs that run the city. Theo and Kee find housing for the night where Kee gives birth to a baby girl.

In the morning they awake to Syd pounding on their door. He discovers the baby and ushers them out at gun point. He wants to get a reward for the baby. Theo and Kee escape Syd only to be captured by the Fishes who have broke into the refugee camp in order to find Kee. The Fishes take Kee and leave Theo to be shot. Luckily, the government picks this time to enter with soldiers and Theo narrowly escapes to chase after Kee.

He finally catches up with her in a building that is under fire from all groups. He gets Kee and the baby starts crying. Everyone halts and calls cease fire. Soldiers from every side part and let the baby through. They are mesmerized by the crying because they haven’t heard babies crying in over 19 years. Everyone treats the baby as some sort of a miracle.

Theo and Kee find a row boat and row out to meet the Human Project’s boat. While waiting for the boat to arrive, Kee discovers that Theo has been shot. As he dies, the Human Project’s boat arrives.

This movie was dark, and depressing. It made me think about how people might react to an international occurrence such as a pandemic/flu or to increasing terrorism. It paints a bleak future with people who have given up hope. Would you be able to maintain your scruples in such a miserable environment?

Please see this movie if only to be reminded of the great life we have.

TV - FlashForward (Rating: 4.5 Crow's Feet)

Flash Forward is a new TV show on ABC Thursday Nights. The premise of the show is that everyone in the world blacks-out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds (137 seconds). During the blackouts everyone has visions of where they will be 6 months in the future. When the world comes back around, there is mayhem and many deaths. Planes have crashed, people on operating tables die, people surfing have drown; leaving confusion and desperation in the people who have survived.

This episode was very confusing, but seemingly prepared us for future episodes by setting the characters up. Some of the characters are a bit boring to me, yet. But, others are very intriguing to me. The person I am most interested to know about Stanford Wedeck the head of the Los Angeles FBI. I find him interesting because in his flash-forward, he is sitting on a toilet reading the sports paper. I would like to see him place some bets on the winning teamsJ

I do question why they placed this story in Los Angeles? Wouldn’t Washington DC be a more appropriate place for the FBI to following an International case?

Finally, I was very excited to see Seth McFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, playing an FBI agent. Family Guy is one of my favorite shows, but Flash Forward is a totally different genre from a cartoon show. So, I am intrigued to see him acting.

I will watch this show again. I always like apocalyptical stories, and this one offers a bit of a twist!

27 Dresses (Rating: 3 Crow’s Feet)

27 Dresses stars Katherine Heigl as Jane, a girl who is a perpetual Maid of Honor. In the opening scene she is Maid of Honor at two separate weddings across town. One is a traditional East Indian wedding with saris and the other is a more American style wedding. She speeds back and forth between the weddings, changing in the back seat of a taxi she hired for the night. Surprise! At the end of the night, she leaves her trusted day planner in the taxi and a reporter attending one of the weddings picks it up. This reporter, Kevin, just happens to be a writer for the wedding and society section of the local paper and sees this ‘Perpetual Bridesmaid’ as a perfect story to help him get promoted.

We learn that Jane has a crush on her boss, George. One night, George and Jane are at a benefit and her sister, Tess show’s up. Another Surprise! Tess and George hit it off when she pretends to like all the same things he likes…and they decide to get married. Of course Jane becomes the Maid of Honor and is in agony as her little sister plans Jane’s dream wedding to Jane’s dream guy.

Another Surprise! Enter Kevin the reporter. He asks Tess if he can do an article on her wedding. He feigns interest in her wedding in order to get more information on Jane for his ‘Perpetual Bridesmaid’ article. Not realizing that Kevin has other motives, Jane agrees to an interview and after a while shows Kevin all of her past Bridesmaid dresses. There is an excellent montage of her trying on all of her dresses while Kevin takes pictures.

Kevin’s boss sees the draft of the article and decides to publish it on Sunday. But, Kevin asks her to wait a week so he can get more information. The boss says, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were developing feelings for this girl.” Dun-dun-duh….

On Saturday, Kevin and Jane have another interview and end up stranded in a bar when her car breaks down. Surprise Again! They get drunk and sing a silly song which leads to their first kiss. They end up spending a loving night in the back of her car.

The next day the article comes out in the paper with multiple pictures of Jane in various dresses. This article causes Jane embarrassment and Tess becomes a bridezilla. Of course it ruins any feelings Jane may have had for Kevin.

Jane discovers that Tess has cut up their dead mother’s wedding dress to make it more fashionable. This ruins Jane’s dream of wearing it at her wedding, and she has a huge argument with her sister. Later, at Tess and George’s rehearsal dinner, Jane prepares a slide show that shows the true nature of Tess. George discovers that Tess is not what she seems and calls off the wedding. Kevin is waiting in the back of the room and gives her back her day planner along with a new blackberry to help her stay organized. He apologizes and tells her he was proud of her.

At work, George thanks Jane for her honesty at the rehearsal dinner. Jane tells him that she has to quit. She has only stayed there because she’s been in love with George. She kisses him and realizes she is no longer in love with him…SURPRISE!! She is in love with KEVIN!!! She races to the wedding where Kevin is reporting and interrupts the festivities by announcing that she is in love with Kevin.

A year later she puts on her Wedding dress and has 27 attendants, each wearing the dress Jane wore in their weddings.

This movie was very predictable. There must be some sort of a formula that writers use to make romantic comedies. The writer can simply change the characters and situations around slightly and come up with a ‘brand new’ movie concept.

Although it is predictable, it is also very sweet. Jane is a hopeless romantic who wants everyone to like her and can never say no. I know several real women who share these same characteristics…in fact a lot of my best friends have many of these characteristics. Perhaps that is why I was drawn to this movie.

27 Dresses should not be nominated for any awards that I can think of…but, it would make a great Friday night movie. Order a pizza, put a facial masque on, paint your toe nails, and pour some wine…this is a simple movie to help you unwind at the end of the week.

Grey Gardens- HBO (Rating: 4 Crow’s Feet)

I probably shouldn’t have watched this movie in my current condition; crying is painful. This movie was a tribute to two reclusive socialites related to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith ‘Edie’ Bouvier Beale have a supposedly perfect life as the wife and daughter of a prestigious New York Lawyer in the 1930’s. They summer in East Hampton at their family house, Grey Gardens.

Each woman has aspirations that are seemingly unobtainable based on their social status. Edith has always valued her voice and longs to be center stage singing; similarly, Edie wants to dance and act on Broadway. Phelan Beale, the patriarch has other ideas for the women in his family. He is portrayed as a conservative, philanderer who has never understood his wives need for singing; and he certainly doesn’t believe his debutante daughter should be performing on the stage.

In 1936, Phelan Beale asks his wife Edith for a divorce. He puts the boys in boarding school and takes Edie to New York with hopes that she will meet someone to marry. After finding out about Edie’s love affair with a married man, Mr. Beale sends Edie back to East Hampton. From this point on, the women are put on a very low allowance and things around the house begin to deteriorate. When Phelan Beale dies in 1956, the son’s ask Edith to sell Grey Gardens because they can’t afford the up-keep. She refuses. Grey Gardens continues to deteriorate, while the women become more demented.

Although these women were considered strange and a bit crazy, they had something special about them that attracted a film crew to do a documentary on their lives in 1973. The combination of dementia and denial of failed lives makes these two women magnetic. Even though you feel sorry for the two female Beales, you also see their courage, compassion and love. Their surroundings are decrepit and they blame each other for their misfortune, but they still support each other.

I never saw the 1973 documentary that shows the actual Beale women. But, Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange do an excellent job of enticing me to find out more about this mother-daughter duo. I felt sad when Edie’s relationship failed, and empathetic when Edith’s relationship with her pianist ended. It doesn’t take much to make me cry…but I believed that Drew and Jessica were these women. I forgot that they were two famous actresses on the screen. It made me think about the house I’m currently living in, and how quickly it could deteriorate if there was no one to pay for the leaking pipes, or the broken screen door. Perhaps the original documentary directors meant to contrast the damaged house with the damaged occupants?

When You Wish Upon a Star...Close Encounters.

When You Wish Upon a Star…Pinocchio. This song was played within the final musical sequence of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Pinocchio was mentioned several times in this film; when the father tried to take the kids to see the movie, there was a figurine on the table when he was cleaning up and, as mentioned before, the song played within the final musical sequence. Perhaps the father was attracted to Pinocchio because he felt he had followed his life’s course as a puppet and was finally able to be a ‘real boy’ during this process of finding the aliens? Or, maybe he was attracted to the idea of Pleasure Island, where you can do whatever you want? Whatever the reason, Steven Spielberg has again put a Disney or Fairy Tale theme into one of his films.

My neighbor recommended that I see this film in order to compare it to ET. It was also noted that throughout many of Spielberg’s movies, he has portrayed women in a condescending manner. I have to agree with this sentiment. In both ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the women were whiney, flakey, and bad house keepers. Although these movies took place in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, women by this time were certainly more prevalent in the workplace; in popular culture, women were often depicted as ‘super-mom’s’. Spielberg showed no competent women in either film. Almost all of the scientists and workers in the films were men (I think I may have saw one woman at the final scientist scene in 3rd Kind). The mothers’ main communication with their children was yelling. The mothers’ all had cluttered, dirty houses. And the mothers’ often did not manage their children; instead, they allowed them to discipline themselves and only yelled and whined at them.

Spielberg’s depiction of women in both films is very disappointing. Many people watched his films and perhaps they took these depictions to be natural. It makes me wonder is some of the problems women still face today, in regards to equality, stem from what children saw in the 70’s and 80’s? I also wonder if Filmmakers have a duty to promote equality for their characters. Or, does creativity trump any responsibility?

Finally, it is interesting to note similarities between many other directors and Steven Spielberg. One of my favorite directors is M. Night Shyamalan. I find a lot of his earlier work to be creative, exciting and interesting. In Shyamalan’s film ‘Signs,’ there are a lot of similarities to ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The scene in the farm house, in my opinion, almost entirely mimics ‘Close Encounter’s of a Third Kind’ where the young boy was taken by the alien ship.

All About Steve (Rated: 3 Crow’s Feet)

This movie is about a quirky, lonely cruciverbalist (cross word puzzle constructor) who decides to try to be ‘normal’ by going on a blind date. Sandra Bullock plays the perfect Mary Horowitz, the lead role. She is pretty (yet cute), spazzy, and magnetic. Her blind date with Steve, a local camera man for CCN (played by Bradley Cooper), quickly fizzles after she comes on too strongly and starts discussing their future with him. After leaving the ill-fated date, Steve forgets all about Mary until she shows up at one of his assignments. He realizes she is stalking him and becomes increasingly scared. Mary continues to show up to Steve’s various news assignments until she falls into an abandoned mine shaft; now becoming the news assignment.

Although this movie is somewhat predictable, it is still very cute. Mary is a flawed woman that some viewers may find annoying or even pity. The other people in the movie encourage her to try to fit in to be happy. I enjoy her individuality and of course her red, go-go boots. I found her to be more ‘normal’ than most other characters because of her originality. I would rather young girls see characters like Mary Horowitz rather than other ‘normal’ characters. When Mary is not trying so hard to be ‘normal,’ she ends up winning the hearts of everyone; including Steve.

I recommend this movie as a matinee. I might even splurge for a medium popcorn. Of course, you can always wait for it to play on TNT?

As a side note, Mary’s hair, mannerisms and sense of style greatly resemble my best friend Holly. Perhaps this is why I found the movie so darling?

Step Brothers (Rated: 1.5 Crow's Feet)

Step Brothers is a movie starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. This movie was produced by Judd Apatow, so it had a bunch of the great actors that populate his many of his movies: Ken Jeong, Seth Rogen, Horatio Sanz. Additionally, Mary Steenburger and Richard Jenkins play the parents of Mr. Ferrel and Mr. Reilly. None of these actors made this film worth seeing.

There were a few ridiculous parts involving male genital and a drum set that got a few chuckles. But overall this movie was tired. Don’t get me wrong, I often enjoy a good raunchy joke. But, the jokes in this movie were out dated and played.

I gave this film 1.5 Crow’s Feet out of 5. Only watch this movie in a large, intoxicated group :)

ET -- How do you rate a Classic?

Today I watched the classic movie ET the Extra Terrestrial. I haven't seen this movie since the 80's. Watching it now, it still caused the same emotions. (On a side note, it also reminded me that I saw this movie at the Drive-In Movie Theater in my footie pajamas...I miss Drive-In Movies.)

During the movie, I wikipedia'd to find out information about the film that I never knew. I learned about supposed themes within the movie: Peter Pan, Jesus, Wizard of Oz. Most of these supposed themes, in my opinion, are a stretch. However, I could relate to the Peter Pan theme and was surprised to hear the mother reading Peter Pan to Gertie while Elliot and ET watched through a window. Peter Pan claims that he 'ran away from home' when he was a baby...and yet, throughout his adventures, he constantly craves a mother and father. Similarly, Elliot’s father has recently left the family and ET was unfortunately left stranded on this foreign planet. Both Elliot and ET seem to be searching for attachments and end up finding each other.

I also learned that Steven Spielberg shot the scenes in rough sequential order. This is not how most films are shot. Most films are shot all over the board in order to cut down on location costs, editing, etc. Mr. Spielberg decided to shoot this movie in this manner to help the young, inexperienced cast-members to emotionally attach themselves to their characters and to ET. He also helped them to really feel attached to ET by keeping the puppeteers away from the children. This allowed them to better imagine that ET was a real creature. It’s not hard to see that the children’s ‘beliefs’ in ET helped to make the final scenes so emotional.

My original intention for wikipedia’ing was to find out about the actor who portrayed ET. I didn’t remember ET being so small, so I was curious if it was an actor inside a puppet, an animatronic, or simply a puppet? The original ‘puppet’ was created for $700,000…it was thrown out by Spielberg. Instead he commissioned the same guy who did the aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Carlo Rambaldi created 4 heads, an animatronic, a costume, and hands to make this creature come to life. They also spent a large amount of time on making sure the eyes were perfect to better engage the audience. Two little-people and a 12 years-old boy born without legs wore the costume at different times depending on the needs of the film. The main voice for ET was an elderly woman who smoked 2 packs a day. ‘She spent nine-and-a-half hours recording her part, and was paid $380…for her services.[ISBN 0-8065-1540-6]’ Additionally, they used animal sounds, Debra Winger (star of Terms of Endearments), and over 16 other people for the voice.

As a parting note on this film, I discovered that Spielberg had originally wanted to use M&M’s for the scene when Elliot befriends ET. But Mars candy apparently thought the creature was too ugly and would frighten children. This allowed Hershey candy to market Reese’s Pieces. According to Wikipedia, Hershey’s profits grew by 65% due to the prominent use of Reese’s Pieces in the movie. I am a huge supporter of product placement and enjoy spotting the advertisers in films and tv shows.

Enter Silence

I can't sleep, so I'm watching one of my new favorite shows, The Colony on the Discovery Channel.

This show places several people of various occupations (nurse, marine biologist, rocket scientist, handy man, etc.) in a simulated apocalyptic environment. The scenario is a viral outbreak in Los Angeles. This group of people is placed in an abandoned warehouse in an abandoned area of Los Angeles. There are also actors who play looters and create a lot of havoc for these survivors. The survivors stuggle for basic necessities, while trying to protect their stake. They purify river water, create energy sources, scavange for food, and create an environment that has allowed them to live in a warehouse for more than 45 days. Now they are making a solar truck to allow them to get out of the city, try to find other survivors, and get to a new area where they can obtain sustainable life.

It is so interesting to see how these smart people create something out of nothing. The emotions and interactions between the starving people are facinating. You can really dislike some of the people, but you have to try to understand what sleep deprivation and malnutrition will do to a person after 45 days.

It is also daunting. Based on some of my Girl Scout training, I think I could survive in a suburban area or in the woods. But an abandoned warehouse in the middle of dilapidated Los Angeles seems impossible!

This show gives me great ideas for my book about an apocalypse in Seattle. When I'm feeling a little less loopy, I'm planning to expand my concept.

Hope you enjoy my first post. Thank you for reading!

Getting Ready for Silence

On September 23rd, 2009, I will have my tonsils removed. Following this surgery, I will be unable to speak for 2-3 weeks. As a professed 'talker', this is a bit scary for me. So, I've decided to make this blog to communicate with the outside world. I hope you enjoy my discussion of movies, books and other pop-culture. Please visit me and help me aclimate to my non-vocal, temporary life-style.