stop by, grab a sandwich, fall in love

During the winter, I watch a lot of movies.  There's something so nice about snuggling on the couch when it's cold outside.  So when I went to Blockbuster the other day, I found that I'd watched most of the new releases.  Lucky for me, Ten Inch Hero was a Blockbuster Exclusive and it caught my eye.  This movie is about four friends who work in a hip, surfer town sub shop.  The story mostly centers around Piper, an art student who has moved to California to search for the daughter that she was forced to give up for adoption eight years ago.  Over the course of the movie, all four friends learn a little about love and a lot about friendship.  This is a fun, light-hearted, quirky movie that will capture your heart and your imagination.  What I loved the most about this movie is that the characters feel very real.  Everything they say is something you can actually picture your friends saying.  Each of the actors so totally encompasses their roles that I can't say that I have a favorite; although, keep an eye out for Noah, played by Sean Patrick Flannery (he starred as teenage Indiana Jones in The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones). 

Grab some popcorn and curl up with Ten Inch Hero this weekend.  And let me know what you think! 

Twilight: A Movie Review

Last Friday, I headed off to the theater with a bunch of girl friends. Our destination was "Twilight" (and Edward, in all his on-the-screen glory). All but one of us had read the Twilight books and we were very excited.

From the very first scene, I loved Kristen Stewart as Bella. She fit the role perfectly and really embodied how I had pictured Bella in my mind. It took me awhile to warm up to Robert Pattinson as Edward, though. I actually can't really think of a good reason why. By the end of the movie, I thought he was great. Maybe it was because I kept thinking of him as Cedric Diggory. Maybe it was because I didn't expect Edward to be quite so obviously tortured. Anyway, by the end, I was rooting for Edward and wishing that "New Moon" was already being filmed.

I read only one review before going to see the movie. It wasn't a terrible review, but it also wasn't a glowing review. Personally, this is how I prefer my reviews. Too good and I'm always disappointed by the actual movie. Too bad and I don't even want to go see the movie. This reviewer had a big problem with the special effects in "Twilight." And I agree, for the most part. The special effects are slightly cheesy and not that exciting. The part where Edward and Bella are sitting in a tree and talking is cool. The part where Edward runs up the tree with Bella on his back...not so cool. When I heard how much money the movie made during opening weekend, all I could think was, thank goodness, hopefully, they can afford better special effects for the next movie. The reviewer also had problems with the baseball scene. I personally thought it was really cool. Of course, that's probably because I was expecting it to be bad based on what the review said.

Perhaps the most telling thing about the movie, though, is that my friends and I all left the movie theater happy. One girl is a HUGE fan and we were worried that the movie wouldn't live up to her expectations. It did. One girl hadn't read the books and we were worried that she wouldn't get the hoopla. She did. She even gushed as we walked out, "I want to marry Edward!"

However, the best part of the movie for us was when Charlie shows Bella to her room in one of the first few scenes and the camera panned to a "Reading is Sexy" sticker on Bella's corkboard. My friends and I all have that pin and so we sort of squealed when we saw it. It was also pretty cool to see a bunch of people lined up outside our theater an hour before the next showing, sitting there and reading and talking about the book. I'm sure they were all thinking the same thing as me when I left the theater. Oh, I can't wait to see New Moon. (Although, how are they going to make Jacob age so much??!! He's such a baby face in "Twilight.")

Movie Rating:

Weekend Movies

I recently saw two great movies in the theater. The first was Enchanted. I wasn't expecting much before I went to see it - I just thought it would be a good Saturday afternoon diversion. (Confession time - I was dying to see it as soon as I heard that Dr. McDreamy was in it!) It was a great movie! It poked fun at Disney stereotypes and also had a cute, heartwarming story. I went to see it with some friends and one guy just started groaning as soon as the first song started. But he was smiling when we left the theater so I guess he got over the musical aspect of it. Oh, and I just found out that small roles were played by the ladies who were the voices for the animated Ariel, Belle, and Pocahontas. I grew up watching Disney princess movies and found Enchanted to be just as much fun. Plus, Dr. McDreamy. *sigh*

The other movie that I saw this weekend was The Golden Compass. It's been awhile since I read the books so I wasn't as upset about scenes left out as other people I've talked to. I thought the daemons were done really well - except why didn't anyone else's daemon talk? Didn't they talk in the books? Or am I remembering incorrectly? Nicole Kidman was a great pick for Ms. Coulter. She just oozed evilness - it was wonderful. The ending left a lot to be desired though and I can't find any information about filming for The Subtle Knife. It would make a good movie trilogy but they'd better hurry or Lyra will be too old.