New Movie Musings for September

I've gotten quite behind on my movie reviews. I have four new ones for September, and 5 films still waiting to be reviewed. Can you tell we are loving our new DVR?

* Red Eye
* Cellular
* 13 Going on 30
* The Forgotten

Currently feeling: prolific

Musing on Movies - September 27, 2005

Have you ever dressed up as a movie character? Who was it, and what was the occasion (costume party, Halloween, etc)? Have you ever dressed up as a character to go see a movie starring that character (Star Wars, Harry Potter, LOTR, etc)? Have you ever attended a convention dressed as a movie character?

This is one of those times where I imagine I have, but I certainly don't remember. I don't remember most of my Halloween costumes, actually. I remember having a few masks in the dress up box, and I can only imagine they came from Halloween. You know, the kind with the hard plastic masks with eye holes and a small mouth slit cut into them, held on with an elastic string; they came with some kind of plastic "coverall" type thing for the rest of the costume. Anyone who went trick-or-treating in the 1980s knows the type I mean. I honestly can't recall any particular costumes, but I figure one of them was movie related. I have, however, seen the most adorable snapshot of DH dressed for Halloween as Indiana Jones when he was about 5....

And no, I have never dressed up as a character to attend a movie, nor have I ever attended a convention (I'd like to, just haven't managed it yet). I will wear appropriate t-shirts to movies, if I have one that matches the occasion. For example, when Star Wars Episode III was released, I wore my "Han Shot First" shirt, and I did wear my Incredibles logo shirt when we saw The Incredibles for a second time. That's probably the closest I've come.

Currently feeling: masked

16 months ago....

DH and I were wandering around the mall. We had had an eventful day. We had just had our ultrasound appointment and discovered the gender of our child to be. Naturally, going to the mall necessitated a stop at the Disney Store. And while we were there, we bought something for our son. Now, we had bought a few baby things so far, but this is the first thing we bought that I felt like was for this specific child, if that makes any sense.

It was the cutest little two-piece outfit. The top was white with baseballs, bats, gloves, big red Ms, and the word "Mickey" printed all over it. The overalls were light blue, with "Mickey" embroidered across the front and a Mickey Mouse stretching out to catch a ball on the pocket. Came with a little hat, too, though I cannot place my hands on it at the moment. However, the only size they had was 18-24 months. Oh well, we'll buy it anyway and just hold on to it. He'll be able to wear it for the start of the 2006 baseball season.

Ha. Guess what he wore this weekend. Most of his 18M clothes are getting too small, and we don't really want to buy any more summer clothes for him, since it "should" start getting cooler soon. But he needed something to wear that he would look decent in. So I took a peek in his closet, and what do I spot but the Mickey outfit. Glad we found it; it currently fits. It will be way too small by spring. I so distinctly remember the moment when I bought it, and how I felt when I did so. It feels really strange to see him in it now. Oh, how much things have changed since then.

So here he is, in the first outfit we ever bought him (in the midst of walking towards the camera):


Currently feeling: a little boggled

Jumping ship

Do not adjust your comment box. I have switched from Haloscan to Blogger comments. My primary reason? Because I'm cheap and Blogger will email me new comments for free, but I'd have to pay for the privilege from Haloscan. They were good, and I printed off several different comment fields before switching. Let me know if you have any issues with the new comment field.

Currently feeling: communicative

When is he walking?

DH asked me this the other night, and I didn't know how to answer him. As far as the general "is Luke walking yet" questions go, yes he is walking. Is he ready to go for a stroll outside or at the mall? No, but he is able to go 6-8 feet in a steady and controlled manner (no longer "falling with style"). He's even starting to work on making turns. Not big ones; he's not ready to walk around the corner or something, but he can (intentionally) swerve a little as he moves forward. Still gripping with his toes a lot, so not anywhere near ready for shoes yet, which means no outdoor walks anytime soon. For true locomotion, he still prefers crawling, particularly if he can't see you (like if I'm in the kitchen and he's in the living room with DH). Fine by me. I'll wait for him to be toddling around the house much more sufficiently before we try non-household toddling. Still pretty impressive to watch, though.

Have I mentioned that he'll be a year old in two weeks? How the heck did *that* happen?!

Currently feeling: developmental

Musing on Movies - September 20, 2005

This week's Musing on Movies meme.

Remaking old TV series into movies is all the rage right now. What is the best small-to-big screen adaptation you have seen? What is the worst? Is there one that you liked, even if it didn't follow the original series at all? What TV show deserves the "big screen" treatment? Who would you cast?

Does Star Trek count? It's not a recent example, but it is probably one of the best, both simply in quality (well, some of them at least) and in terms of being an adaptation. Though they may not count in the spirit of the question, since they did use the actual cast from the show for the film; more a continuance than an adaptation, per se. For the record, my favorite Star Trek films are IV: The Voyage Home (whales), First Contact (VIII, though they'd stopped numbering them by then), and II: The Wrath of Khan, in that order.

Um, following the spirit of the question, I'm not sure I've seen a big screen adaption of a television show. Let me think for a bit. ::checks her list of movie reviews:: Oh, The Powerpuff Girls. It was pretty cute. I hadn't seen much of the television show, but again, I'm still not sure that counts. Again, it is an extension, not an adaptation in the way that, say, the recent Dukes of Hazzard was (which I have flatly refused to see, BTW). Maybe I haven't seen one? How odd! I never would have guessed. I'm actually a bit embarrassed! LOL Guess none of the recent adaptations have interested me enough to actually watch one. What does that say about their quality? Hmmm....

What show would I adapt for television? I can't really think of one, mainly because (as mentioned above) I have been so disappointed with the looks of the recent ones. Just like my perception of what happened to the Dukes of Hazzard, I'm afraid that the spirit of the show would be lost in favor of crudity and humor at the *expense* of the show. Adaptations should honor the shows they are based on, not degrade them. I would not choose to subject any of my favorite programs to such blasphemy.
Currently feeling: unimpressed

Talk about spyware!

I was just reading an article about how there is an algorithm that can take an audio recording of you typing something and figure out up to 96% of what you typed. Part of me thinks that it's just impossible, but the other part of me isn't really surprised that there is some kind of connection that can be made. Listening consciously to the sounds I'm making right now as I type this, there are definitely differences in the type and tone of sound produced when I hit different keys. On one hand, I think it is amazing science that this can be done. OTOH, that's just a wee bit creepy, first that it can be done at all, and secondly that someone figured out that it could be done and then went and did it! What kind of paranoid (or devious) lives to these people lead? Guess it's a good thing they're on our side (or are they?).

Sorry, I know this isn't an incredibly interesting post. The science geek in me just thought it was rather cool.

Currently feeling: dorky

My favorite flicks

Guess I should actually participate in my own meme, eh? LOL

Musing on Movies - September 13, 2005

What are some of your all-time favorite movies? Why are they your favorites? What are some of your *least* favorite movies? Why don't you like them?

You would think this would be an incredibly easy question, but it's just not! Not for me, at least. Well, the least favorite part is pretty easy, but the favorite part is not. There are just so many! I have a favorite movie for every mood, every genre, ones I think are excellent but don't watch often, ones I watch over and over and over even if they aren't cinematic gems. Let me see if I can narrow the field somewhat.

THE BEST OF THE BEST

* The Princess Bride - a fractured fairy tale, always good for a smile
* Jurassic Park - still amazes me visually, I love the dialog, and I still get a small thrill seeing actual "live" dinosaurs after they fascinated me so as a child
* I'm a Disney freak! - And a Pixar lover, for that matter. Ones I watch most frequently are: Sleeping Beauty, The Emperor's New Groove, Toy Story, and The Incredibles (and Finding Nemo, because Luke adores it)
* Pirates of the Caribbean - How can you not love this movie? Holds my personal record for most times seen in the theater (8)
* Funny Face - needed to get a classic in here, and how can you get much more classic than Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn
* "True" Classics - speaking of classics, how could I not mention Indiana Jones (any of them) and Star Wars; both films are practically part of my DNA
* Apollo 13 - I find this movie just incredibly compelling, and once you throw in Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris, that makes it just about perfect
* Dead Poets Society - falls into the "favorite but don't watch it often" category, but I truly love this movie since it really made a difference in my life
* Shakespeare in Love - makes my heart sing, despite the ending, plus always good for a laugh
* Playing By Heart - my favorite movie that no one has ever heard of, I am just fascinated by the characters, the actors, and the way it all turns out in the end

THE NOT SO HOT

* Mullholland Falls - *not* Mullholland Drive (which I have never seen), this movie had Nick Nolte, Chazz Palminteri, Melanie Griffith, and John Malkovitch. I was just so disappointed in this film, mainly because it should have been *much* better.
* Hulk - What a stinker! It was just awful. My brother even warned me, but my husband *insisted* on seeing it (in the theater, no less). Even he agrees that it was awful.
* 3000 Miles to Graceland - I only made it through about 30 minutes of this movie before turning it off. I should have known better than to try to watch a David Arquette movie.
* Pulp Fiction - Sorry folks, I thought this movie was awful, mainly from a story perspective. Ew, ick, why do you want to watch that? And I'm even more disturbed by the people who find it funny. It was so not funny, it was horrible.
* Turn-off actors (and directors) - there are very few movies I would even *consider* seeing that involve any of the following people: Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller (though I did like Keeping the Faith), or Tim Roth. Quentin Tarantino has not made any movies that interested me enough to watch (saw Pulp Fiction with a friend, her night to choose), and I don't care for most Tim Burton films either (Big Fish and Beetlejuice excepted).

Currently feeling: movied

Official launch of my movie meme

Well, as a companion to my movie reviews, after much encouragement from several friends, I have decided to start my own meme about movies. It is called Musing on Movies, and you can either go to the website each week, or you can sign up (at the website) to receive the questions via email. Questions will come out every Tuesday, starting September 13. Hope you enjoy!

Currently feeling: experi-mental

The She-Hulk Fan Club

As some of you may know, Atlanta hosts Dragon*Con every year over Labor Day weekend. It is a sci-fi/fantasy convention that draws all kinds of.... characters. Two in specific this year are Teresa Wentzler (of TWDesignworks) and Jennifer Aikman-Smith (of Dragon Dreams). As two of my favorite cross stitch designers, I jumped at the chance to invite them both to dinner with our local group of stitches.

And boy, did we have a blast! Check out all the pictures, if you'd like. I'll post a group shot in a minute. We had 14 folks total, two children included. Heather and I picked up Teresa and Jennifer at the hotel and drove them to a true Atlanta establishment, Mary Mac's. (My parents used to go on dates there, and it was famous then.) Thanks to Heather's wonderful husband Michael, we had a surprise waiting for Jennifer when she arrived. Before I tell you about the surprise, though, I have to fill you in on Jennifer's main reason for being in town. She decided to "turn 40 with a bang," so she is entering the Dragon*con costume contest as She-Hulk (that would be The Hulk's cousin). You can read all about her preparation and inspiration at her Becoming She-Hulk blog. Yes, she will be painted green and everything! So, to show our support, I made up these little "badges" (sticky mailing labels), and everyone was wearing them when she came in (thanks to our delivery boy), including Heather, Teresa, and myself who managed to sneak ours on as we went into the restaurant.


She was so stunned! "I think I'm turning red instead of green!" It was a great moment. We all got seated, ordered, and chatted (and ate) the night away. As suspected, Jennifer did not order dessert, but she did ask if there were any cinnamon rolls left on the table. Alas, there were none, and she declined to have any brought to the table. Ah-ha! The opening I had been waiting for. I snuck out and asked the waitress to please bring *one* cinnamon roll (she brought two) with a birthday candle stuck in it. I had been trying to figure out exactly when to break out in song, and this was just too good of an opening to pass up.

After singing, Jennifer decided to try out the swords our RenFest gals had brought per her request. I tell you what, she's an impressive woman to start with (6'5"), but sporting a 5'5" claymor on her back, she's downright imposing! She did go with the shorter sword (a mere 40 inches or so, tip to tip) to wear at her hip, but only to keep from knocking folks in the head with the other one. For those wondering, Teresa is attending the con as a "mere mortal" and for moral support. Lots of pictures, lots of chart signing, more chatting and laughing. I know everyone had a great time, and I am so happy that it all went off without a hitch.

Here is the group. Back row, L-R: Valerie, Cindy, Jennifer, Teresa, Ginny, Heather, Lynn, Pat. Front row, L-R: Marian, Becky, and Cris (holding Scarlett). I, of course, am taking the picture (my camera is a bit fiddly).

Currently feeling: triumphant

Census options incomplete

Naturally, we got the long form on the census. I thought they only did this every 10 years, but what do I know. I did, however, manage to (mostly) keep my sense of humor about the whole thing, particularly regarding a few questions. Please note that I am in no way mocking people for whom the genuine answer to these questions is yes. I understand the intent of the questions and answered "no" accordingly. They simply amused me the way they were worded.

Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition lasting 6 months or more, does this person have any difficulty in doing the following activities:
* Learning, remembering, or concentrating?
* Dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home?
* Going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctor's office?

Frankly, the answer to these questions is "yes." I had a baby! I routinely have difficulty remembering, concentrating, dressing, bathing, and most *especially* going outside the home ALONE to do much of anything, particularly shopping or doctor's office visits (as evidenced by my taking Luke with me to revisit the sinus infection issue). It's been going on for more than six months, and I don't see it letting up any time soon.

I also got a bit annoyed at all of the questions about whether or not you worked in the last week/year. It just asked things about lay-offs and looking for work. No where did it ask if you were *choosing* to stay home, particularly to care for a child. I think that should be relevant and valid. As it stands, I look like a slacker staying at home and leaching off my husband. Very annoying.

Currently feeling: humored (sort of)