Maybe there's something wrong with me?

So, unlike the rest of the world, I don't find Hugh Jackman or Daniel Craig attractive. I know. You are now saying, "Lindsey, are you SERIOUS? Have you gone blind? What is your problem!?" And I am saying. "'Tis true, my friends. They do absolutely nothing for me."

I can understand why others might find them attractive (Daniel Craig moreso than Hugh Jackman) - maybe if you are into "rugged" men, but in my head "rugged" means "something is wrong with their face so they cannot be classified as classically handsome." Does that make me a horrible person?

I just feel like even when Hugh Jackman is all dirtied up and unshaven, he still looks like he just got a mani/pedi and his teeth whitened. Daniel Craig does a better job at looking beaten up and he has nice eyes, he's just not my cup of tea. Hugh Jackman sings show tunes. I mean, I'm not saying real men can't sing show tunes - that is perfectly acceptable - just not when you are Hugh Jackman. You've already got the mani/pedi/white teeth thing going against you, it's just not smart to pair that with show tunes.

I liked Hugh Jackman alright as wolverine and in Kate and Leopold, but those are both kind of silly characters -I'm not supposed to take him seriously. If I am supposed to, it's impossible. It's just not going to happen. I can take Daniel Craig seriously because he is James Bond and well, that's pretty much all he needs to be. I haven't exactly loved the other movies he's been in (although Megan says I need to see Invasion) but he's a good Bond and I'm happy with that.

So, this post really has no point, just had to get all this out there. Do with it what you will.

one more thing...

I just read through my Twilight post and some of it doesn't make sense (like, um, the first sentence haha) but I know you will all forgive me because I have never made such dumb mistakes before and I'm exhausted. Also, so tired that I'm too lazy to fix it.

Also, Pushing Daisies cancelled!!???!? It's really bothering me. That's amazing quality television. I think I might raid the ABC offices and give them a list of all the other crap shows they could cancel in order to let Daisies live. Just like Bella said (twice) last night, dying in the place of someone you love is a good way to go. Of course I think what she did was stupid, but how noble would it be for those other crap shows to sacrifice their budgets to the yummy goodness that is Pushing Daisies? Here's hoping something will happen to change the mind of those ABC execs.

Because you know, if they don't change their minds, I'll still be spending my Wednesday nights with Lee Pace (at this point I would like to add the first season of Pushing Daisies on dvd to my Christmas List as well as Wonderfalls, The Fall and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) and shunning ABC broadcasting.

K. That really is all.

Everybody's naked sometimes.

I'm tempted to change the title of my blog to that little gem of wisdom. Remember it people. Most people pay money for that kind of advice.

In other news, I'm all moved into my apartment. "All moved in" meaning all of my crap is shoved into my new room and now I just have to get it unpacked and organized. Any other time, I would have turned into Lindsey the Unpacking Hermit and organized the heck out of my room, but there were more important tasks at hand this weekend.

First, there were several things I needed in order to unpack/live. The rest of my junk, for example, which was still at Heidi's house. Also, bathroom necessities, shelves, a lamp or two, trash bins, and the like. So Saturday was spent shopping with my Krilifis. Target and Ikea were the places to go based on my initial internet research. I am trying to not spend a lot of money (since I have very little) and checking out items and prices before hand helped me a lot when I was at the store. I bought mostly what I needed (the luxury items maybe added up to $20) and left behind the things that could wait until later. Ikea supplied me with a few dishes (two giant round yellow plates and two green bowls), a 3 pack of pans for $10, a bath rug for $2, a bedside lamp, a bookshelf for $25 (score! by far the best bang for my buck, although I had to settle for white), two trash bins (one for bedroom, one for bath), and a few select picture frames (I can't live much longer without photos of the kiddos plastered all over my room - I'm in severe withdrawal).

So after the shopping and fetching was complete I headed back to my apartment to empty my car. This time I was without help. That means climbing the stairs 8 or so times (not counting the 5 trips I made at Heidi's). I live on the third floor. I just moved from Maryland. My meager little weak sea-level lungs permitted me two trips every hour or so. I just took my time and unpacked while my lungs desperately tried to gather enough air for the next trip. Dri (my new roommate) graciously helped me and cut out two additional trips. I am hoping it doesn't take much longer to acclimate to the elevation - certainly those stairs should help build up my lungs. So once everything was in my room I promptly left it all behind and went to have some fun with Megan and Whitney.

Megan had some friends over and we started watching Willow. When Whitney (who will now be referred to as Whitley because of a reason I'm sure I'll explain at some point) got home from her date, the two of us made a late night Wal-mart run for Halloween costume supplies. I won't go into much detail regarding our costumes until I have all the pictures to post with them, but they are pretty much amazing. It's a group costume and I spent all day after church (seriously, 1pm to 11:30pm) hand crafting our costumes. I still have mine to finish, but Whitley and Megan's are complete except for details. I'm kind of amazed and proud of myself because I did all the sewing by hand. It's in no way professional, but everything will stay together and you can't see the stitching. Also, much of it was done while Megan and Whitney were wearing the costumes. That's right, I just sewed it all while they stood there quite patiently. I can't wait for the finished products to be captured on film. Stay tuned.

While all this sewing and craftiness was going on, Megan and I continued our Halloween themed movie watching month. We've carefully gathered all the movies that have the least bit to do with the supernatural, fantasy, thriller or horror genres for our veiwing pleasure. I owned a lot that fit into these categories which surprised me, I didn't realize I had to many that were appropriate for October. So far we've watched Corpse Bride (for obvious reasons), The Stepford Wives (killer robot/feminist thriller from the 70s)and Truly Madly Deeply (ghost boyfriend/romantic comedy?). Just yesterday we watched Signs (Aliens), The Brothers Grimm (disappearing children and an enchanted evil witch in a tower) and 1408 (John Cusack in a haunted evil hotel room). We have plenty more on our list (including but not limited to What Lies Beneath, Red Eye, Nightmare Before Christmas and Little Shop of Horrors). I'm thinking we need to throw in a viewing of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (for sake of tradition), Wait Until Dark, The Fall (Lee Pace) and maybe even Edward Scissorhands. I realize that is a lot of movie watching, but you know, I have my priorities.

So there you have it. My room is a mess, but it's mine so that's happy. I will get it organized this week and sleep peacefully knowing I'm not a foot away from someone else and I have my own bathroom. Tonight is more costume making and planning and I'm sure another creepy movie viewing.

Times have changed... [updated]

I can honestly say with 100% assurety that this song would never make it in a movie today.



Here's a little Wiki-info about Detroit, Michigan. I'm not knocking it as a place, I'm sure it's a fine place to live. It's just not the city it once was ("the Paris of the west"). I mean, how many people do you know now who dream of moving to Detroit to make a name for themselves? At the end, Cordy and Angie drive off into the sunset of Detroit - a "beautiful" skyline filled with tall, black smoke stacks pumping columns of soot into the sky.

Also - it's just part of the greatness of the movie, The Happiest Millionaire. It's so outdated and fabulous. Cordy is thrilled and excited while telling her mother how their car broke down twice on the way home. This is a car with no interior (they use an umbrella when it's raining) and it's the middle of winter. My sister remarked how patient Cordy is. I just figured it was the times. Broken fan belts were new and exciting.

So, it's a funny movie with a few good songs, but mostly I find it hilarious that there's a "love" song about Detroit. These are people living in Philadelphia and New York, which, according to the reference in the song, are "boring 9 to 5 towns". Bored with nothing to do in New York City? Well, why not try out your luck in Detroit, Michigan! Maybe that puts it more into context?

um...wow.

I saw The Dark Knight last night. It was scary. And awesome. All at the same time.



I don't really know what to say about it. Heath Ledger was amazing (I am purposefully not posting Joker photos because he freaked me out enough that I don't want to see that face when I look at my own blog). I'm kind of curious to see what will happen next...where do they go from here? Do they go anywhere?

I spent much of the movie hiding in my hoodie with my fingers in my ears and my eyes partially covered. Not just because some parts were a little scary, but because of the anticipation of what was going to happen. The filming was amazing. The movie could have ended much earlier than it did, but I was actually happy it didn't. I liked the extra bit of action and I liked seeing the "message" of the movie come full circle.

I read a review (Eric D. Snider's I believe) that talked about what the three main characters (Batman, The Joker, and Harvey Dent) represent in terms of the theme of chaos/order. I think a lot of what was scary to me (other than the mere existence of the Joker) was all of that underlying stuff. You sit there thinking, "this guy will literally do ANYTHING just because he can AND he is enjoying it." He is completely and utterly unpredictable in the creepiest way possible. That means there is no guessing what will happen next. It kind of makes you part of Gotham - you feel like a sitting duck waiting to see what horrible thing you will be faced with next and trying to really figure out who can be trusted. Obviously, we have the added advantage of knowing that Batman really is a good guy trying to save people and desperately trying to stick to his own moral code.

Not to mention there were some cool stunts...and Christian Bale is extremely good looking.

Now Featuring...the songs of ABBA

I haven't done one of these for a while.

This weekend I went to see Mamma Mia! with my mom, my aunt and my sister. We were sitting and waiting for the movie to start and I turned to my mom and said, "I honestly cannot remember the last time I went to a movie with you." She told me that's because she hasn't been to a movie theater in years. YEARS people. YEARS! Granted, my mom is not really into movies and music and such, but still. years.

So thus ended her streak. With Mamma Mia!, which was funny for reasons other than it being a comedy...which it isn't. We liked it though for being so silly and slightly embarassing (men in short shorts and Meryl Streep dancing provocatively...also Pierce Brosnan singing). I think the best way to describe it is that it was filmed like a stage production - Hairspray was filmed like a movie, Grease was filmed like a movie. Mamma Mia! still felt more like a broadway show than a movie. It was fun that way though. Obviously this isn't the best movie ever made and I wouldn't pay full price, but it was fun and I'm glad I went with my mom, aunt and sister because that made it more fun.


Also, I really like Amanda Seyfried's voice (she plays Sophie) and I did buy the soundtrack for that reason.

This picture is for Lauren. "dot, dot, dot!"

And Colbert just said this: "Batman may have won the box office, but Mamma Mia won my heart." I'm not saying Mamma Mia is better than Batman, that's just a funny statement and further evidence of Colbert's funniness.

People I like to watch

I stole this idea from Miri. It's a good way of categorizing things. I was going to make a list of movies I love, but it's hard to put them into genres and such. It's much easier going by actors you love and mentioning the movies they've made that you like. I'll do one actor and one actress at a time. I will specify whether my Top 5s are in order or not and the italicized movies are ones I own.

I'm starting with John Cusack because he was on Miri's list and I love him even though he's a good 20 years my senior. I blame it all on Lloyd Dobbler and Lane Meyer.

Movies I've seen: (from most recent) Martian Child, Must Love Dogs, Identity, Serendipity, America's Sweethearts, High Fidelity, Being John Malkovich, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Anastasia, Con Air, Grosse Point Blank, The Road to Wellville, Say Anything, One Crazy Summer, Better Off Dead, The Sure Thing, and Sixteen Candles

That's 18 movies. He's made over 50 movies. Starting the year I was born. It's kind of funny and odd when you put it in those terms.

Top 5: (in honor of High Fidelity, of course) Better Off Dead, Say Anything, One Crazy Summer, Grosse Point Blank, High Fidelity. Anastasia would be number six. His voice makes Dimitri that much more attractive...in terms of cartoon good looks.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Audrey Hepburn. It's obvious I would start with her. Although there isn't really one male actor I like more than others - I love Audrey Hepburn more than any other actress. She was the first actress I "connected" with when I was younger - the first female celebrity I truly admired for reasons more than just looks.

Movies I've seen: Always, Wait Until Dark, Two for the Road, How to Steal a Million, My Fair Lady, Paris When It Sizzles, Charade, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Funny Face, Sabrina, and Roman Holiday

That's 11 out of 30.

Top 5: (these aren't in order, I can never pick an absolute favorite) Charade, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Funny Face, How to Steal a Million, Wait Until Dark. Sabrina bugs me because of Bogart and although I LOVE My Fair Lady, it's probably number six.

check it out.

Two entertainment-related tid bits.



FIRST, the new TWILIGHT trailer is better than the first. Edward seems a little less...campy? creepy? makeuped? Is that even a word?

I didn't say anything about that recent magazine cover because I pretty much hated it. they definitely screwed that whole thing up in the make-up department. i mean, yeah, Edward is pale, but he doesn't wear lipstick. Nothing about that photo says "pale" and everything about it says "cross-dresser."

Of course, that will only really bother me if he looks like that in the film, which I'm fairly certain he won't. Still. I won't be completely decided on how I feel about all of this stuff until I see the movie.

also - only two weeks left till Breaking Dawn. Hope it doesn't annoy me the way Eclipse did.



SECOND, Psych is back tonight!! If you don't watch it, you should start because it's always funny. ALWAYS.

It feels like a four post kind of day

Probably because I haven't posted all weekend. I'm currently without internet because I am dog sitting for Max (aka Maximus, Max-E, Maxwell, etc.) who belongs to a nice couple in my home ward and who I dog sit on a fairly regular basis.


I like Max. He's an easy going dog who listens well (although his hearing is on the fritz at the mo') and only barks when someone is at the front door. I LOVE dogs who don't bark much. It's the only way to have a dog, I tell you. Also, he doesn't stare at me when I eat and he just stays by my side for the most part while I am at the house but not in an annoying "get away from me or else I'll scream" kind of way.


I have lots of pictures to post from my weekend of playing with family and friends (for purposes of this blog, from here on out "the kiddos" will refer to my brother's kids, "the boys" will be Lauren's sons, Monkey and Bug and I'll have to come up with something to call all of them as a whole, but those labels will do fine for now).


I babysat the kiddos minus one (Noah) on Friday night and we had a fun filled evening of Chick-fil-A, pretty sunsets, wrestling and a rousing game of Pretty Pretty Princess. Yes. I took plenty of future black mail photos. Muahahahahaha!


Saturday I slept in! Oh Saturday morning sleeping in is one of my all time favorite things to do. Hmmmm. Then I went out that night to dinner and a movie (Hancock) with friends. It was very fun, although I was in a somewhat grouchy at times mood (my jaw has really been hurting me, then add sinus pain on top of that and I am one unhappy camper), and the movie was alright. If you see it, pay $5 or less or wait for the DVD. Although I liked the characters (even Charlize Theron, who isn't really my favorite) and the story was pretty good, it lacked a little something. I can't quite put my finger on it. Enjoyable though - if you can overlook repeated use of the A-word.


Sunday I went to my home ward in order to stay close to Max so he wouldn't be so lonely. It worked out nice because Lauren invited me and Christy and John to have dinner with them and Wil's brother and his wife who were in town visiting for the weekend. She made delish florentine meatballs. At this I will say that I will forever love Rachel Ray for providing my sister (who was already a wonderful cook) with amazing recipes to make into her own even more amazing meals. Basically, the food was amazing. So we ate and played with the boys and enjoyed each others company and did I mention the food was amazing? I love my sissie and her husband for letting us all lounge around their home.


After dinner, Christy came back to the dog sitting house with me and we played Sims. Christy and I have recently begun bonding over this game. It's silly and it's fun. And then there was this secret on Post Secret this week.

There are a few things I like about this screen shot. I like that my Sim houses are designed a lot nicer than this one. I like that the person admits favortism toward one character (I recently made a Sim die because the character was bugging me so much) and I like that death is wearing a lei. No one else has party clothes on...apparently he really likes his job.

I heart Christian Bale

This is no secret. He had me at [insert any line from Newsies]. Here's a funny thing about him though. He completely commits to whatever character he is playing...so much so that he will do interviews in the corresponding accent. This one kind of sounds New York-ish, but gets a little iffy at the end. I rememeber when he was doing interviews for Batman Begins he never used his regular (hot) accent and it was sad. Still. Love him.


Batman does his own stunts

p.s. I am so excited to see this movie. Like ten times a trillion.

Blame Megan

Last night she texted me about James McAvoy and his dreamy Scottish accent. We can't understand why he isn't always playing a Scottish person - of course then he never could have been Mr. Tumnus, in love with Jane Austen, Robbie Turner, or the hot American piano man in Penelope - all roles I LOVED him in. Seriously though, I'm a sucker for an accent - even when he does the British ones. So here's a funny thing he said during a recent interview for Wanted:

"Hopefully, the next thing I do will not be action based, but likewise won't be Jane Austen-y and won't be 'Atonement'-y and won't be 'Last King'-y, and won't be anything that I've done before," McAvoy says. "I just want to keep trying to do new things."

The funny part? The fact he said "Jane Austen-y," "Atonement-y," and "Last King-y" and the fact that they printed it just like that.Also blame Megan for going to London without me. I'm sure there will be a few posts regarding things I would like to say to her but can't because she doesn't have a cell phone or isn't on IM. Someday, though, the two of us will go together and it will be great fun. I missed The Globe the first time around - but I'm pretty sure that's something that would be fun times 10 with Megan (as opposed to just fun) due to her incredible love and knowledge of all things Shakespearean.

Also, James McAvoy does a pretty spot on Ryan Seacrest impersonation:


And here's a happy surprise! James McAvoy was on The Daily Show Monday night (which I listen to the day after online). That should make work a little more enjoyable.

s-a-tur-day night!

For those of you who don't know, I am in charge of activities for the Young Single Adults (ages 18-30) in my stake. For those of you from Utah, a stake in Maryland does not draw from a two block by two block area - it covers pretty much all of Southern Maryland. That's three whole counties plus a couple areas in two others. It's a huge stake. The YSA numbers, however, are not huge - which is okay for now because it makes planning more manageable on my end.

My big summer activity is over. It was a combined activity with the Glenn Dale Ward (the singles ward that I attend, which is not technically part of our stake). We had a "70s Summer Movie Night" where we ate copius amounts of unhealthy snacks, tie dyed stuff and watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I am told it was very successful. I realized that I need a partner in my calling...but that should be coming soon (I hope, I hope, I hope). But, it was fun, and we tie dyed a lot of things. Everyone enjoyed the movie (which we projected up onto a sheet in the gym) as well. We hid "golden tickets" on random pieces of candy and we gave out some silly prizes which everyone seemed to enjoy. So I'm happy it went well and I'm happy it's over. Now I just need to catch up on some sleep and other things I have been putting off in order to get ready for this event. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the night (there are more on facebook for those of you interested):

The fire department came because we were having a little trouble with the popcorn machine. They were not amused by our high spirits and did not want to eat any of our popcorn.

After the activity, a couple of us went to Denny's. We had to drive 45 minutes to get there (which got us home around 1:30am) and I didn't really eat much of anything (since Denny's and I are not friends), but it was a very fun night and I'm glad we did it. Christy and I spent the night at Alyssa's that night, which gave us lots of fun girly time. Getting ready for church in the morning reminded me of happy times at BYU with roommates. We swapped earrings and told each other how great we looked. It definitely speeds up the preparation process to have people there telling you how hot you are and helping you make quick decisions on important things like which shoes to wear. I really am happy to have Christy and Alyssa here right now. They are an answer to my prayers and I'm glad we all make the time to hang out together.

best thing i've heard all day

on a commercial for Old Spice Deodorant with Will Ferrel as a basketball player from his latest movie coming out on DVD.

"Old Spice. Put it in your armpits."

yeah.

Prince Caspian (minor spoilers)

I am a huge Chronicles of Narnia fan...I would compare my love for the Narnia books to some people's love for the Harry Potter series. I grew up reading the Chronicles of Narnia and still read the books fairly often. They are my go-to reading material. I love the characters. As an elementary school student I had a crush on Peter - then Caspian a little later. I remember buying the books at a second-hand book store in town and devouring them one by one then reading them all over again. I also remember wishing that I could WATCH these stories. I wanted movie versions of them so badly (good versions, that is. there are some cartoon versions and a BBC version I believe - but I wanted effects and realistic looking creatures). And now, they have made the movies. I was so unbelievably excited for the first movie and although I loved it, it didn't quite live up to my expectations - mostly because there is so much ground to cover in that book and to try and introduce all the characters and cover everything is impossible...but they did an overall great job.

Prince Caspian, however, totally lived up to my expectations (with a few small exceptions). It didn't feel rushed and it didn't seem too long. The action was captured fantastically and the first battle at the castle is heart-wrenching. Not to mention, the guys playing Peter and Caspian are hot and not so young that it is inappropriate for me to think so (Ben Barnes [Caspian] is 26). I loved Eddie Izzard as Reepicheep and they were good about not making him too over the top - in the books, he can get on the annoying side as he is a very outspoken and proud mouse. I loved the casting for the DLF as well (that would be Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin - he's a great actor and has been in The Station Agent and Penelope).
The actor playing King Miraz (the bad guy) is so great in the role - he's scary.

The only casting that really bothers me (and that bothered me even more in the first movie) is Susan. The actress isn't bad per se, just nothing at all like I envision Susan...in looks or actions. Susan, to me, was always more naturally beautiful - the type of girl every boy would naturally be attracted to - and although Anna Popplewell is pretty, she's not the same kind of pretty. And there's something about her attitude, the way she plays Susan just doesn't fit. It's hard to pinpoint. But because of this, her subplot in the movie (in addition to not really making sense unless you have read the book and know how Susan is supposed to be) is kind of out of place. Why would Caspian be immediately attracted to her? Really that subplot (as well as the one involving Peter fighting kids from school) are just there to give hard evidence as to why Peter and Susan won't return to Narnia. But they don't make too much sense to people who haven't read the books. I even had to explain that bit a little to my friend (from Australia) who hasn't read the books - it confused her a little.

So besides all that (which didn't really bug me all that much) I loved the movie. I am even going to go see it again tonight. I like seeing these twice in the theater because I always get more out of the second viewing.

I must add, though, that it annoys me slightly to read reviews on this movie. I haven't read a bad one - every one pretty much likes it except for the similar problems I had with it. The main difference, however, is they point out the "obvious" religious allusions in the movie. Aslan as a Christ-figure, the connections made between faith and not being able to see Aslan or the fact that Aslan doesn't come and save the day until they go searching for him and his help. Yes, these details (and many more in the movie and the book) are obviously symbolic of religious principles...but this isn't anything new in The Chronicles of Narnia. It's C.S. Lewis! And, really, they aren't that glaringly obvious unless you are reading into it that way. If you go into it not thinking of making the religious connections, then you'll come out of it having not really noticed them (in my opinion). Really, though, the religious symbolism in the books is part of what makes me love them so much as an adult.

Another thing that bugged me was one critic mentioned the fact that the "bad" guys are Spanish. Well, yeah, they are. But that's how it is in the book - Lewis created a world not unlike ours with neighboring kingdoms and inhabitants that are foreign from one another. The Telmarines are descendants of human pirates from our world - Spanish pirates. In The Horse and His Boy, the "bad" guys are Middle-Eastern (dark skin, turbans, etc.). The White Witch was a British woman called "The White Witch," if we read into that far enough I'm sure some feminists out there could get all uppity. It's a story. There are foreigners for effect and to introduce cultural differences and reasons why Narnia is so different after 1300 years. It only makes sense that a foreign nation would take advantage of a country that finds itself inexplicably without rulers and it makes sense that those invaders would turn that country into something more appealing to their own views and beliefs - these are ideas that one would easily accept upon returning to Narnia after hundreds and hundreds of years have passed.

So there are my thoughts - although I will probably have more after a second viewing...that's all I'm going to say about it. It really was a fantastic movie and I cannot wait for the next one (especially because we'll get to see more of that vair vair attractive Prince Caspian).

American Idol - Is it just me?

the audio this week has sucked! You can't hear the music or the backup vocals. I love Maroon 5 but part of the reason I love them is the music...although Adam Levine sounded nice and he looked a lot hotter with this haircut than the last time I saw him with that weird slicked back mohawk thing. But seriously, last night had the same problems...it makes everything sound like karaoke.

I love Maroon 5. Apparently they are going on tour to Europe and San Antonio. Adam isn't tuned into his life very well...but who cares. Also, there's an Indian Jones commercial on that I haven't seen and I am getting more and more excited to see it. I want to go back and watch the others since it's been a while for me.

Anyway, I think it's pretty obvious that Jason is going home. Although no tears will be shed in my corner if it's Syesha.

Pixar blows my mind.

I recently read an article with the announcements for upcoming Pixar projects. I don't care who you are, there has to be at least ONE Pixar movie you enjoy, even though it's all technically "kids" movies. And if there isn't one you love now, there surely will be in the near future. Here are some plot synopses. Here are two of my favorite (from The Princess and the Frog and Rapunzel, respectively):


Seriously. This is the kind of stuff I would pay decent money to purchase and frame and hang in my house (probably a little girl's room). This is the kind of Princess art I like to see. Not all that bright, pink and purple stuff with rainbows and little birdies flying around. I love the art from the original Disney movies, watching those movies with that animation is part of what inspired me to draw in the first place (also sing and dance - although I am not really good at either of those things, I love them and they make me happy).

So basically, I am in love with this new art (for the other movies as well - especially the titles for Newt and The Bear and the Bow) from Pixar. That is all.

P.S. I have to add a disclaimer that I am not so excited about Cars 2 and Toy Story 3. I say let sleeping dogs lie - Toy Story 2 was already kind of pushing it. Sequels are not always a great idea, especially when you have a pretty full slate of new, exciting movies with fresh ideas and plots like Ratatouille and Wall-E.

it's official. i'm in love with James McAvoy.

For reasons why this is so - go see this movie:







Plus, the guy in the boat is awesome. How could you not like a movie with an eye-patch wearing little person journalist? seriously.

Transformers

Let me start out by saying that this was a fine movie. I didn't LOVE it, I didn't hate it. I was happy because it brought back lovely childhood memories and because Shia LaBeouf was in it...I love Shia LaBeouf in a "if I was a 14-year-old girl I would totally have a crush on him" kind of way. I think I would have liked the movie better if
1. Michael Bay's grubby little destructo-paws hadn't touched it and
2. Jon Voight wasn't in it at all.

(I must say I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie by myself while texting my thoughts and comments to Megan - a lot of those comments had to do with the above mentioned "if"s).

So, basically the whole point of this post is to share this article (article written by Eric D. Snider at Film.com), which I found funny...mostly because it makes fun of Michael Bay and his destructive, robot-loving tendencies. Here are highlights.

"You probably visit Michael Bay's website a lot. I know I do. How else will I know what Michael Bay is thinking? But I have to say I was disappointed in his New Year's Eve entry. He wrote:

"For the millions of viewers that logged on this year I want to thank you for the support. Transformers 2 will be coming soon. The new robots are really really unique and there are a lot of them this time."

So there will be a lot of robots "this time." (Unlike last time?) That's great, but what about the humans? Mr. Bay seems to be focusing solely on the robot characters, and while I agree that they're a crucial part of the story, they're certainly not the most important. If Mr. Bay thinks I go to a Transformers movie solely to see giant space robots that turn into cars, he is sadly mistaken!

Will the sequel continue to explore the budding romance between Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Barnes, played so memorably in the original by Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox? These are two refreshingly original characters, and their relationship stirs the soul on so many levels. It would be a shame if the sequel pushed those elements aside in favor of more action. I am also curious to know whether Mikaela will ever be successful in finding a shirt that fits her."

"What about Mrs. Witwicky's flower garden? After the first movie's suspenseful 45-minute sequence in which the Autobots trampled everything and tore up the lawn, I'm fearful that Sam's mother will blame him for it. Will it harm their mother-son bond? Will the sequel show the garden replanted and thriving once again? Or will it still be wrecked, a sad monument to the shenanigans of the first film? I'm eager to see which direction Mr. Bay goes with this."




P.S. Wil, don't be mad at me...I love Transformers as much as the next guy...unless that "next guy" is you, then I don't think I love Transformers that much.

Still Rockin'

Check out this trailer. And also these....

The Dark Knight

I am pretty excited for this movie. I love Batman - especially now that Batman = Christian Bale. So there's a teaser trailer online that you all should find and watch. I cannot believe what they have done with Heath Ledger as the Joker. Amazing stuff. Plus these two images...





He looks pretty freaky, no? I mean seriously. And his voice in the trailer makes him sound like a maniac. I cannot wait to see this movie!