Well, I will say that I’m not as into the Twilight Series as I used to be.  I know.  Major shocker.  I’m not saying that I don’t still love it and cherish all of my Twilight related memories, I’m just not gaga over it right now.  That’s not to say I can’t be again in the future.  I’m telling you this so you understand my perspective coming into the movie this time.

Even being so neutral about it I loved it.  Did I think it was the best movie of the year, no.  Not by a long shot.  But did it tell my story in a way that was both visually and emotionally pleasing?  Absolutely.  New Moon is my favorite out of all of the books and while I didn’t feel as much hurt and pain at Edward going away as I wanted to I still felt a lot of it.

I loved that we heard Bella’s voice more this time in her letters to Alice.  I didn’t feel like we got that in Twilight the movie and I really  missed it.

I didn’t like my first view of the werewolves when Sam was coming out of the forest.  It just looked stupid to me but every other scene with the werewolves was fantastic.

And the Volturri were great too though not as beautiful as I imagined them.  But how could they possibly be that beautiful?  The makeup only detracts from their beauty.  I know they need to be pale but I wish they let up on that detail a little bit.

All in all, I love this new movie and I will probably even see it again.  Was this the New Moon you imagined?

New Moon is in theaters now.

A few of us were trying to go and see “Bright Star” this past Saturday, only to find out it had been pulled from the theater already.  Staring at a screen full of independent titles, I only knew movies I didn’t want to see.  Liz suggested “The Boys are Back”- her only assertion being that Clive Owens was in it, and he’s hot.  It’s been a while since I walked into a movie, knowing absolutely nothing about what I’m going to see.

The movie revolves around a husband desperately trying to come to terms with the death of his second wife, while caring for a young son he doesn’t really know.

If I wasn’t crying, I was laughing.  I wish I had brought more tissues.

It reminded me of a good book club discussion- this is a movie to see with some good friends, and then go to dinner afterwords and hash it all out.  It’s not one I would actually take my husband too- but one I definitely related to my own life, and then found deeper appreciation in my relationships with my own parents, my husband, and children.  It was a real Oprah moment.

The Boys are Back, is already out in theaters.

A couple of us saw this the other night for a special girl’s night and we loved it.  I mean I would go back and see it again, loved it.  I will buy this movie when it comes out on DVD, loved it.  It’s a story of a girl, Bliss,  who’s trying to find herself in a world of pageants that she just can’t seem to get into.  Then in a hilarious scene she stumbles across a flyer for roller derby and the insanity ensues.  She meets a boy she makes new friends, gets into trouble.  Absolutely amazing.

If you’re afraid to watch the movie because you don’t know about roller derby don’t worry.  They explain everything.  And they even give you little reminders throughout the movie.

We didn’t have any guys with us so I can’t say if the average guy would like this movie but all of us girls loved it.  Get your girlfriends together and go see Whip It this weekend.  Anyone catch it already?

Whip It is in theaters now.

That’s right.  My husband forwarded over an article today from /film stating that Stephenie Meyer’s novel The Host will be made into a movie.  I can’t believe this is happening for Stephenie.  Five books made into movies.  She’s never going to have to write again unless she wants to.  This is absolutely incredible.

The Host follows Wanderer, a Soul (what the aliens call themselves) and her host body Melanie.  It’s been so long since I read the books that I don’t remember details but I remember Melanie fights to keep herself alive against Wanderers influence to take over her body.  I remember the humans are fighting against the alien invasion and it sure seems to be a losing battle.  I remember loving this book in the end and I still think about it sometimes with fondness.  Here’s my original review of the book but it really isn’t that helpful.  Sorry.

Check out /films article for more information on the director and a better synopsis of the book.  I cannot wait for this movie.  Are you guys excited too?

My husband just sent this over to me and I am once again totally giddy about this movie coming out.  I know I’m on the older side for this series but up until this point it hadn’t actually hit me how old I am.  All these teenage boys running around with sculpted chests.  Oh my.  I guess I’m more than halfway to becoming a cougar at this point.  You know what, I don’t care.  I love this series and I’m actually excited now about the New Moon movie.

I also love a look at the vampires. Can’t wait to see them on the big screen.

What do you guys think.  Can’t believe how Lauter filled out?  Neither can I.

Elaine and I went to see this over the weekend, and let me tell you, thank goodness I took another hormonally challenged pregnant women with me.  By the time we both walked out of the theater we were blubbering messes.  I honestly would have been better off waiting for this to come out on dvd so I could sniffle in private over a large container of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.  I’ve read the book but it was so long ago, all I could remember was that I cried, there was a lot of nudity, and it was really good- which just about sums up the movie perfectly as well (except the nudity part is extremely tasteful).  Elaine will give you a little better review of the differences between the two.  For my own part I enjoyed the movie, it’s just not very light hearted fair- so go in with some tissues handy.

OK, Elaine writing now. I appreciate Laura’s thoughts, because as a whole, that sums up the movie. It was sweet, sad at parts, had some occasional comic relief, followed the book fairly well, and if you like a tear-jerking movie, you’ll probably enjoy it.

Now, on to my critique. I’ve read a lot of books-turned-to-movies, and seen the movies as well. Harry Potter, Twilight, The Bourne Identity, Da Vinci Code, The Green Mile, etc. And generally, I’ve been pretty pleased. However, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book so close to seeing the movie. I’ve either had a few months (or years) in between, or I’ve read an entire series before seeing the movie associated with the first book. So, never has a book been so fresh in my mind as I watched “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” And, for me, that was a problem. I remembered every detail, and found myself analyzing every change. Because time-traveling is such a unique topic, you can show things in whatever order… either from the perspective of the traveler, or the travelee. (Yes, I just made up that word.) Basically, I found that the movie showed things in a different order than the book. I was possibly a little easier to follow than the book, but it still bothered me a little.

The only other critique I have is just that of not being able to show/tell every detail in the book. And some seemed more significant than others. It’s not that the movie didn’t make sense- it totally did- but I felt it would have been more complete with a few extra background details I had remembered in my mind.

Ultimately, I really liked the movie. But, had I seen it before I read the book, or at least waited a few months in between, I would have loved it! My recommendation is to go see the movie- and then go read the book. I think you’ll get to enjoy both equally. And you can choose which ending you prefer! I couldn’t believe they changed the ending! (I still haven’t decided… both were equally good.)

Even though this movie got some bad press I’m a sucker for a Summer Blockbuster so last night Scott and I went to see it.   I had some problems with it but overall enjoyed it.  Here’s my late review.

There were some parts of this movie that didn’t pan out for me like the back story on Cobra Commander.  I just didn’t buy it.  I also didn’t believe the back story on the Baroness.  With both of these stories the characters went from totally normal good guys to psychopathic bad guys in two seconds.  Maybe there just wasn’t enough time to show the transition, I don’t know but I didn’t buy it.

And you know there’s always romance in the movie?  Well the romance in this movie bit it big time.  There’s one love story kind of on the side that works just fine but the Baroness…  I don’t even know what to say.  I’m shocked.  Without giving anything away, I guess that’s all I’ll say.  I just don’t understand why they did what they did considering they’re probably going to try to make more movies.  Just don’t get it. (If you’ve seen the movie let’s have a discussion in the comments.  I would love to hear your take on this.)

And they killed a really great character.  Again, what about the next movie?

Now it sounds like I didn’t like the movie, but I did.  The aircraft, the underwater craft, the accelerator suits, the weapons.  Really, really fun.  There were tons of explosions and the Eiffel Tower falls down.  The whole world is in danger and the Joe’s save them all.  Go Joe!

Some of my favorite scenes were with Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow as children.  Their backstory I totally bought and completely enjoyed.

The 3D in the movie sucked but again, I liked the movie.  I wanted a summer blockbuster and that’s exactly what I got.  Totally enjoyable.  Great popcorn movie. It’s not going in my DVD collection but definitely one of those that you’ll enjoy on the big screen.  Have any of your husbands dragged you to see it?  Or have any of you gone willingly?

G.I. Joe is currently in theaters.

I don’t mean to sound like a broken record but I can’t wait for this movie to come out in October.  This is the second trailer.  It looks amazing.  The Wild Things are absolutely stunning.  What do you think?

I am anticipating this movie more than any other movie in a long time and that’s saying a lot because I was really looking forward to several movies that have already come out this summer.  Spike Jonze is directing the movie version of Maurice Sendak’s fantastic children’s book Where the Wild things Are.  I remember this book from when I was a child.  Then Scott and I had our own little Max and would read this book to him everyday.  What a magical story.

I can’t wait for this movie to come out and I just wanted to share this featurette.  It just looks so amazing.  I love the Wild Things and absolutely adore Max’s wolf suit.

And no, this isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about this.  I’m just really excited.

Where the Wild Things Are will be in theaters in October.

I’m torn right now because The Prisoner of Azkaban has been my all time favorite Harry Potter movie but  Half-Blood Prince might just take it’s place.  Scott and I went to see this on Saturday and I have to tell you I almost screamed at one point and cried at another.  I know these books forward and back and this movie still elicited a very strong emotional response from me.

In the Half-Blood Prince Harry and his friends are much more mature than in previous movies.  They are making more adult decisions and faced with ever increasingly hard situations.  Harry faces another year at Hogwarts but this time Dumbledore is showing Harry more and more about Tom Riddle who grew up to become Lord Voldemort.  Dumbledore is preparing Harry for his destiny to face Voldemort and destroy him.

David Yates the director kept a lot of the same style that he used in Order of the Phoenix which I thought was so smart.  The way the Death Eaters fly around is truly inspired.  And the way the Pensieve works is amazing.  

Speaking of Death Eaters, Helena Bonham Carter is one of my favorite parts of these movies.  She is the perfect wicked witch.  And Mrs. Malfoy was superb.

The bits with Won Won and Lavender are disgustingly hilarious.  In fact Ron continues to be the humor in the film and it’s brilliant.

 Young Tom Riddle is so beautiful it’s hard to imagine the horror that he grows in to.  There are some bits that they threw in that weren’t in the book but believe me they only furthered the story and kept things moving.

I LOVE this movie.  I totally want to see it again and then I want to own it so  I can watch it over and over.  Now, the movie is rated PG but it’s very, very suspenseful.  My oldest is 8 and I would not even think about taking him to this movie.  I would rather wait until he was older and could really appreciate the beauty of the more mature relationships and the darkness that surrounds the whole movie.  The choice that Malfoy has to make at the end.  Oh man, there is so much in this movie that is just incredible.

As for my favorite  I think Prisoner of Azkaban takes it for beauty and style but Half -Blood Prince takes it for real life drama.  I honestly felt like I was watching real events, especially with the blossoming love in the story.

I know I’m not the only one that saw it this weekend.  What did you guys think?  

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is in theaters now.

Sorry Everyone- I just realized I never published this, and it’s been sitting in the draft box for four weeks!

I think it’s pretty telling when you go to see a movie on it’s opening weekend, and the theater is less then half full.   Ghosts of Girlfriends past totally reminded me of a movie you catch on TBS or USA, but you don’t actually go to the theater to see.  50 first dates is like this, and Sweet Home Alabama- both movies that are fun to watch, but you wouldn’t necessarily pay 12 dollars to see once.  On that note, I’m going to start this review off with the negatives, since I got so much flack last time I did a review and ended with the bad.   First of all the main character is a total ass- there’s just no other word for it, he’s a total ass and then he ends up with this perfectly charming and fabulous girlfriend in the end (sorry spoiler, but really it’s so obvious in the entire movie).  Do I think this happens in real life?  A player magically transforms into the worlds most perfect boyfriend?  Of course not!  So it was really far fetched.  The second part that was hard for me was, again, the main character is so utterly disgusting a human being that you can’t stand him for the first quarter of the movie- then the rest of the movie is spent trying to redeem him, so you’ll think he deserves the lead female character.  What are we, fools?  and can you tell I can’t remember any of the characters names- this is how forgettable the movie is.

OK, now for the good- the movie has some very cute points and great supporting cast members.  It’s funny, and once you get into the storyline, you genuinely root for the main character to essentially “get the girl.”  Completely sucked into the romance aspect of it- and I almost had a little tear at the end.  The ghost from his past girlfriends is uproariously funny- especially loved the flashbacks to the eighties and on.  This is probably a great movie for someone dating a total loser, or the perennial cheater- or anyone who still believes there’s redemption in a cheater- but can be skipped, until it comes to tv, for the rest of us.

I thought I’d give a shout out to the original as I reviewed the current movie.  If you have boys you have to see these movies.  I have more boy taste in movies so I can’t speak for little girls out there but our family thoroughly enjoyed both of these movies.

In the first one Ben Stiller’s character takes a job as a night guard at the Museum of Natural History in New York only to find that the inhabitants of the museum come to life at night.  Of course chaos ensues as he has no idea what to do and he even contemplates quitting his job the next morning.  He sticks with it though and is able to repair a fraying relationship with his son.  Perfection.

Then in the second film, Battle at the Smithsonian, many of the inhabitants of the Museum are being transferred into storage at the Smithsonian.  Well the ancient Egyptian plate that brings everything to life awakens the inhabitants of the Smithsonian.  An evil ancient Pharoah is awoken and tries to use the plate to take over the world.  Step in Ben Stiller again and the always amazing Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart.

These movies are absolutely magical and I would definitely add them to my DVD collection.  All three of our boys, oldest 7 and youngest 4, loved these movies.  As an added bonus Owen Wilson is in both movies.  I am a huge Owen Wilson fan so I was thrilled to see him do something my kids can watch.

So bottom line.  I loved both movies.  You don’t need to have seen the first one to enjoy the second but I would definitely recommend watching both.

Did anyone with girls watch these?  Did they like them?

This is a rental- walking out of the theatre my husband said, “that movie looked a lot cooler in the preview.”  Amen.  I loved the book, and this movie is a condensed version of it.  You won’t be disappointed by any of the changes, although there is quite a few- and not to throw any spoilers out there, but this includes part of the ending.  They streamlined a lot of the plot points so it wasn’t quite as confusing- but unfortunately I thought some of the tension was then lost.  It felt really splintered, like now we’re running to this point, and now we have to spend five minutes explaining why we’re running to this point, then there’s some action, and now we’re explaining the action.  Seriously, I almost fell asleep in the middle of it.  Totally worth renting, because it still has lots of twists and turns, characters are not who you think they are, a time limit they’re up against, beautiful scenery(even though they never shot at Vatican City)- It’s just not one of the movies that’s improved by seeing it on the big screen. 

I should also mention that my husband hasn’t seen “The Da Vinci Code” and even though this is supposed to be a “sequel” it doesn’t at all feel like it.  They’re completely separate stories and they explain very early on why Robert Langdon isn’t very welcome at Vatican City.   So if you’re a Tom Hanks fan, or you super loved the book- you’ll enjoy it, otherwise save your money and pick it up on Netflix.

Oh my gosh you guys, I LOVED this movie.  It was beyond awesome and I’m not a Trekkie/Trekker.  I’ve watched a smattering of TNG (The Next Generation) and I have never seen a Star Trek movie so I went into this with very little background.  Of course I’ve heard of Captain Kirk and Spock.  Who hasn’t.  But I don’t know their characters or personalities and my viewing experience wasn’t lacking in the least.

The story begins before Spock or Kirk join the Federation.  They are both living separate lives and doing totally contrary things but are then forced together on an awesome adventure.

The special effects in this movie are breath taking because it’s all made up.  They are fighting battles in space on ships that don’t exist.  It’s incredible.

I remember Scott read a review from a Trekkie/Trekker who was complaining about the film because it was “accessible and humorous.”  How funny is that?  They were right though.  The movie is totally accessible.  You don’t need to know anything going into it except that it’s fabulous.

Perfect date night movie for me but I like the action stuff myself.  I highly recommend this movie.  It’s not too geeky.  It gets you going from the opening scene.  Man, I love Summer movies!!

Anyone else catch it this weekend?

The hubs and I saw this movie last weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I told my friend it was on par with the other X-Men movies but I need to retract that statement after watching them again over the weekend.

Wolverine tells the story from childhood about how Logan finds out he’s a mutant and then gets drafted into a special unit of the military along with his mutant brother.  We’re then led along the path that leads to the adimantium being grafted to his bones and eventually to his loss of memory.

The first half of the movie was definitely better than the second half and there were cameos from quite a few other mutants that felt forced.  Like they want to make a spin off and are testing the waters.

The first two X-Men movies were much better than this one but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a blast watching Wolverine.  I say, if your hubby wants to see it or some of your guy friends go with them.  This is a really fun movie and it has a great love story built into it.

Oh, and there’s a girl in there who’s skin changes to diamonds.  That’s her mutant power and it looked awesome.  Twilight needs to up their game from their lame diamond vampire skin.

Anyone one else catch this movie?

So the girls and I went and saw this movie last Friday.  I loved it so much I convinced my husband to go see it with me on Saturday and I just talked to him last night and he said he would totally see it again.  Can I give a better recommendation than that?  Mind you he’s willing to watch this movie with me while calling Zach Efron my boyfriend.  That’s love people.

It’s true though, I am totally in love with Zach.  I don’t think I’m old enough to be a cougar but I would become a cougar just for him.  Just for him.  I know I am totally smitten but I thought he did a superb job in his role as a 37 year old inside a 17 year olds body.  I really felt he portrayed the father figure well.  I’m telling you ladies after he turns 17 and he gets his makeover he is scrumptious.

Of course you know there’s going to be a scene where his daughter falls for him but it still creeped me out even knowing it was going to happen.  That was the only part of the movie I didn’t like but it was a total minor part.

So I say, grab your husband or grab the girls and go see this movie.  Well worth the money.

I know some of you have seen it, I mean how could you refuse that face?  What did you think?

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If you haven’t heard yet director Spike Jonze is making a Where the Wild Things Are movie based on the children’s book by Maurice Sendak.  This is one of my all time favorite children’s books.  Not only do I remember it from childhood but I have a Max and I would read this book over and over again to him.  It’s a magical tale about a mischievous boy who gets sent to his room and dreams about sailing over the sea to the land where the wild things live.  He plays with them and they make him their king until he smells good food to eat and decides to go back home.  My favorite part are the two pages that are just drawing with no words.  I would say “They howled at the moon.” Then we would howl at the moon. “And they swung from the trees like monkeys.”  Then we would make monkey sounds. There’s a scene in the trailer where they are all howling at the moon.  Awesome.

The movie looks absolutely incredible.  I am in awe at the puppet wild things.  They really look like they are having fun and being wild.  Max’s wolf suit is perfection.  My guess is we’re going to see a lot of those this Halloween.  I cannot wait for this movie to come out.  It looks magical.

So, what do you think?  Looks good, right?

There’s a press release on Stephenie Meyer’s site that announced the New Moon werewolf gang.  I was so mad that they didn’t have pictures that I went and found some.  I am so excited.  I haven’t been this excited since Twilight the movie was being made.  I’m totally giddy and cannot wait to see these guys in action.  I didn’t bother to gets everyone’s stats or past experience for you but here’s some pictures to get you thinking.  I couldn’t figure out who is supposed to play which cast member so if you know holler and I’ll update the post.  I would love to know.

Chaske Spencer

Bronson Pelletier

Alex Meraz

Kiowa Gordon

Tyson Houseman

And to top it all off is a picture with Lautner, our very own Jacob Black.

The only one that I’m skeptical about is Houseman.  He doesn’t look American Indian to me.  He looks like he could play Harry Potter but what do I know he’s in the picture with Lautner so it seems official.  

Oh my gosh.  Every once in a while I just get Twilight Fever all over again.  Oh baby, have I got it.  What with the release of the movie and now this.  I might be on my way to reading those darn books over again.  How about you?  Got Twilight Fever?

This is Henry Selick’s (Director of The Nightmare Before Christmas) latest stop motion animated film.  It’s beautiful.  Absolutely gorgeous.  My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it from an aesthetic perspective.

The story goes that a young girl named Coraline is unhappy with her family who are too busy finishing a book to spend any time with her.  She finds a secret, locked door that leads to a magical world where her “other” parents live.  Her other parents have plenty of time to spend with her and have even planted a magical garden for her.  And it’s not just her parents that are magical.  Her neighbors are fantastical and just what any girl would want.

But all is not as it seems.  This is where things start to get scary as Coraline is first trapped in this other world and then has to rescue her parents and several ghost children who are trapped there also.

I would recommend this movie for children 11 and up.  I don’t think my kids would have enjoyed this movie.  First of all because it moves at a very slow pace and then because the other mom turns into a monster and there are ghost children that she has captured.  It’s kind of like an old fashioned fairy tale where when you do something wrong you have to pay the nasty, horrible consequences.  It’s not sugar coated.  Coraline is apparently based on a horror novella (by Neil Gaiman) and it shows.

On a side note, because of the reference to The Nightmare Before Christmas and it being a stop motion film I thought Tim Burton was involved so I’ve been telling people this is a Tim Burton film but as far as I can tell, it’s not.  Which is I guess why it’s scary and music is not such a big part of it.  I did see a preview for 9, Burton’s new movie coming out 9/9/09.  I’m really excited about that one.  It looks really good.  It doesn’t look anything like The Corpse Bride or Nightmare.  It’s like an action movie.

Anyway, back to my main topic, I loved it but what did you guys think of Coraline?