RL Update
Well, first things first: hello! It's been a bit since I've done a real life update, and I really wanted to talk about a few movies that I'd seen recently (tonight), so I decided to do one now. For those of you who do not want spoilers on or have not seen the following movies, skip down past the cut: Julie & Julia, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Angels & Demons. Or if you just don't care about the movies, then please, by all means skip for that reason, too.
For those of you still here, I'm not sure exactly how spoiler-y (Is that even a word? XP) this will be, but I'll try to keep it as concise as possible. Might not happen, but I'll give it my best. ^_^ Tonight, I rented a couple of movies over at Redbox (I definitely <3 Redbox! $1 a night? How amazing is that?): Julie & Julia with Amy Adams and Angels & Demons.
I fell completely in love with Julie & Julia! I love Amy Adams in general, especially in The Black Dahlia, however short her part was, so this movie had my vote from the get-go. Meryl Streep was an added bonus, and this was even before I put the DVD on. ^_^ When I actually watched the movie, I about peed my pants laughing more than once. Meryl Streep is fabulous! Her portrayal of Julia Child is spot on, and there is one line in there that nearly made me do a spit take. If you see it, you'll know the one! It's when she's cooking and taking some pasta out of the pot with her bare hands... I won't go into further detail, but you'll get it when you see it! Amy was absolutely adorable as Julie, as per usual, but Julie was a little bit more prone to "melt-downs" than Amy's usual characters. She did them well, I must say! XP Her husband in that was very, very hunky, so I don't blame her for wanting to make up with him after a fight. That, and he's great for her. Anyway! If you want to see a movie that'll make you root for the underdog (Julie), laugh at a legend (Julia), and enjoy how their lives intersect in a based on a (couple) true story(ies), please, take my word for it and see Julie & Julia.
Next on the movie line-up tonight was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Now, my family and I had already seen this movie once when it came out in the theatres, but anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Harry Potter related... well... anything... XD Mum bought the movie for us, and we finally watched it tonight. I loved it just as much tonight as I did when I first saw it. Granted, I was paying more attention to the characters' interactions with one another now that I'd gotten the requisite crying out of the way in the theatres (the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars series are the only ones to get me to do that...). So, this time I enjoyed the movie even more because the acting was just... amazing! It blew me away, especially with the interactions between Harry and Professor Dumbledore. I'm kind of biased as far as Daniel Radcliffe's acting goes (Mum jokingly says that I have her permission to marry him, so we have a running joke that he's my fiancé at home. XP It's pretty funny to explain), but he was completely... beyond words in this one. I definitely felt his pain when he had to force-feed Professor Dumbledore that potion in the cave, and I about started crying this time when I heard Professor Dumbledore (played by Sir Michael Gambon) begging Harry to stop, to not make him drink anymore. One of the things that's gotten to me the two times I've seen the movie is Draco's emotions. In the book, I will be honest, I didn't care what happened to Draco. I didn't care if he lived or died as long as he didn't hurt any of the characters about whom I cared. In the movie, however, he captured my heart. He was so... young in this, so vulnerable, I just wanted to hold him close and keep him safe. The book mentioned Draco's crying only once, but it seemed more real, as clichéd as it may sound, when I saw the movie. I actually heard his sobs, heard his reaction when the white bird came back dead, saw how Harry started the argument in the boy's loo when Draco was crying in front of the sinks. This really just cements my opinion that boys and/or men can be so bloody stupid that I want to strangle them, but... *shrug* What can you do, ne? In short, I loved the movie even more than the book (and that's really saying something), so go see it if you agree. Even if you don't, pick up a copy and see what I mean.
Finally, Da and I watched the movie Angels & Demons with Tom Hanks, the follow up to the previously released Da Vinci Code. Bear in mind that I am a Catholic. I see these movies as simply that: movies. They do not countermand what the Church teaches, nor does it change my mind about my Lord. That said, I was really impressed with the movie. The storyline took me on a truly wild ride. I wanted to see it because of Ewan McGregor; I'll be honest. I LOVE HIM!!! Each time I see him in something, I love him more. Moulin Rouge anybody? *sigh* As I started watching, I said to Da that I really hoped Ewan wouldn't play a bad guy in this one and he'd actually live. Well... He didn't do either of those things. I didn't see it coming either! If you've ever watched a movie with me for the first time, you know that nine times out of ten, I can usually guess who's the bad guy(s) or the good one(s) and who's going to die when within the first ten minutes. This one completely blew me out of the water. I didn't know until everyone else did that Ewan was the bad guy. *ashamed* If you want a good mystery with a fair few twists and turns that stump even me, the Queen of the Plot Twist Killers, check out Angels & Demons.
If you skipped those reviews, as they were, I don't blame you... They turned out longer than I wanted them to be... Again... XP That's how I am all over. Movie reviews aside, I have some great news: my grandma and my aunt are coming in for Christmas! I'm so excited! For those of you who don't know, I recently (last December) moved down to Alabama from Illinois where I'd lived most of my life. Grandma Naty (the one coming to visit) stayed up in Illinois, and Auntie Nilsa (also coming to visit) had moved to Florida about two years before we came down here, so I haven't seen either of them for a good amount of time. When we all lived in Illinois, we would get together at least 3-4 times a year; since we scattered, I've not seen my grandma since last Thanksgiving or my aunt since two Christmases ago... That's a long time for my family so I'm so excited to see them again!!!
On a not-so-good note, when I was at the museum in town where I volunteer Tuesday through Thursday, I had a rather upsetting experience. There was a man there who came in and told me that he'd talked to the museum director about the Washington Ferry. I assumed he wanted to finish the tour, so I walked around with him, did some talking and a whole lot of listening. I got more of an ear-full than I wanted. He, out of nowhere, started talking about the things he'd change at his church, rather violently, I might add. He would go up to the people crying during their testimonials of what God had done for them, and he said he'd hold a mirror and show them how pathetic they were. He'd get rid of that; he'd get rid of bible study because he wanted to pray by himself, that his prayers were between him and God. He was wigging me out by then, but then, somehow he started talking about sexual predators; he said they were everywhere, that you'd never know someone was one until something bad happened, and that a guy had tried to come after him as a kid. He was in my personal space, and he was really scaring me, bad enough that I wanted to run out of the building to the Police Station across the street. I made some excuse about doing errands, locked the doors, closed the lights and hid in the kitchen area of the museum (it's a converted house). Just then, the director of the museum called me, and I told her that the guy had been there, what his name was, and immediately she asked if she needed to call the police. Alarm gongs went off in my head. She told me that he had been in on Friday and had been acting the same way with her as he had been with me. She also told me something that had me shaking, literally trembling with fear; she told me that he didn't like people touching him (he'd told me this, too), and that he never liked to touch a woman because it left their scent on him and it made him crazy. What scared me about that was the fact that he didn't hesitate to shake my hand. He didn't hesitate to get close to me, to touch my hand before he left. The police were called, needless to say, and I gave my story to the officer that came by to see me. On Tuesday, another officer is supposed to come in to the museum and talk to me again. Hopefully the guy will leave us alone...
Anyway, that's my life so far: movies, family time and visits, and a creeper scaring me out of my wits! Interesting, ne?
For those of you still here, I'm not sure exactly how spoiler-y (Is that even a word? XP) this will be, but I'll try to keep it as concise as possible. Might not happen, but I'll give it my best. ^_^ Tonight, I rented a couple of movies over at Redbox (I definitely <3 Redbox! $1 a night? How amazing is that?): Julie & Julia with Amy Adams and Angels & Demons.
I fell completely in love with Julie & Julia! I love Amy Adams in general, especially in The Black Dahlia, however short her part was, so this movie had my vote from the get-go. Meryl Streep was an added bonus, and this was even before I put the DVD on. ^_^ When I actually watched the movie, I about peed my pants laughing more than once. Meryl Streep is fabulous! Her portrayal of Julia Child is spot on, and there is one line in there that nearly made me do a spit take. If you see it, you'll know the one! It's when she's cooking and taking some pasta out of the pot with her bare hands... I won't go into further detail, but you'll get it when you see it! Amy was absolutely adorable as Julie, as per usual, but Julie was a little bit more prone to "melt-downs" than Amy's usual characters. She did them well, I must say! XP Her husband in that was very, very hunky, so I don't blame her for wanting to make up with him after a fight. That, and he's great for her. Anyway! If you want to see a movie that'll make you root for the underdog (Julie), laugh at a legend (Julia), and enjoy how their lives intersect in a based on a (couple) true story(ies), please, take my word for it and see Julie & Julia.
Next on the movie line-up tonight was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Now, my family and I had already seen this movie once when it came out in the theatres, but anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Harry Potter related... well... anything... XD Mum bought the movie for us, and we finally watched it tonight. I loved it just as much tonight as I did when I first saw it. Granted, I was paying more attention to the characters' interactions with one another now that I'd gotten the requisite crying out of the way in the theatres (the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars series are the only ones to get me to do that...). So, this time I enjoyed the movie even more because the acting was just... amazing! It blew me away, especially with the interactions between Harry and Professor Dumbledore. I'm kind of biased as far as Daniel Radcliffe's acting goes (Mum jokingly says that I have her permission to marry him, so we have a running joke that he's my fiancé at home. XP It's pretty funny to explain), but he was completely... beyond words in this one. I definitely felt his pain when he had to force-feed Professor Dumbledore that potion in the cave, and I about started crying this time when I heard Professor Dumbledore (played by Sir Michael Gambon) begging Harry to stop, to not make him drink anymore. One of the things that's gotten to me the two times I've seen the movie is Draco's emotions. In the book, I will be honest, I didn't care what happened to Draco. I didn't care if he lived or died as long as he didn't hurt any of the characters about whom I cared. In the movie, however, he captured my heart. He was so... young in this, so vulnerable, I just wanted to hold him close and keep him safe. The book mentioned Draco's crying only once, but it seemed more real, as clichéd as it may sound, when I saw the movie. I actually heard his sobs, heard his reaction when the white bird came back dead, saw how Harry started the argument in the boy's loo when Draco was crying in front of the sinks. This really just cements my opinion that boys and/or men can be so bloody stupid that I want to strangle them, but... *shrug* What can you do, ne? In short, I loved the movie even more than the book (and that's really saying something), so go see it if you agree. Even if you don't, pick up a copy and see what I mean.
Finally, Da and I watched the movie Angels & Demons with Tom Hanks, the follow up to the previously released Da Vinci Code. Bear in mind that I am a Catholic. I see these movies as simply that: movies. They do not countermand what the Church teaches, nor does it change my mind about my Lord. That said, I was really impressed with the movie. The storyline took me on a truly wild ride. I wanted to see it because of Ewan McGregor; I'll be honest. I LOVE HIM!!! Each time I see him in something, I love him more. Moulin Rouge anybody? *sigh* As I started watching, I said to Da that I really hoped Ewan wouldn't play a bad guy in this one and he'd actually live. Well... He didn't do either of those things. I didn't see it coming either! If you've ever watched a movie with me for the first time, you know that nine times out of ten, I can usually guess who's the bad guy(s) or the good one(s) and who's going to die when within the first ten minutes. This one completely blew me out of the water. I didn't know until everyone else did that Ewan was the bad guy. *ashamed* If you want a good mystery with a fair few twists and turns that stump even me, the Queen of the Plot Twist Killers, check out Angels & Demons.
If you skipped those reviews, as they were, I don't blame you... They turned out longer than I wanted them to be... Again... XP That's how I am all over. Movie reviews aside, I have some great news: my grandma and my aunt are coming in for Christmas! I'm so excited! For those of you who don't know, I recently (last December) moved down to Alabama from Illinois where I'd lived most of my life. Grandma Naty (the one coming to visit) stayed up in Illinois, and Auntie Nilsa (also coming to visit) had moved to Florida about two years before we came down here, so I haven't seen either of them for a good amount of time. When we all lived in Illinois, we would get together at least 3-4 times a year; since we scattered, I've not seen my grandma since last Thanksgiving or my aunt since two Christmases ago... That's a long time for my family so I'm so excited to see them again!!!
On a not-so-good note, when I was at the museum in town where I volunteer Tuesday through Thursday, I had a rather upsetting experience. There was a man there who came in and told me that he'd talked to the museum director about the Washington Ferry. I assumed he wanted to finish the tour, so I walked around with him, did some talking and a whole lot of listening. I got more of an ear-full than I wanted. He, out of nowhere, started talking about the things he'd change at his church, rather violently, I might add. He would go up to the people crying during their testimonials of what God had done for them, and he said he'd hold a mirror and show them how pathetic they were. He'd get rid of that; he'd get rid of bible study because he wanted to pray by himself, that his prayers were between him and God. He was wigging me out by then, but then, somehow he started talking about sexual predators; he said they were everywhere, that you'd never know someone was one until something bad happened, and that a guy had tried to come after him as a kid. He was in my personal space, and he was really scaring me, bad enough that I wanted to run out of the building to the Police Station across the street. I made some excuse about doing errands, locked the doors, closed the lights and hid in the kitchen area of the museum (it's a converted house). Just then, the director of the museum called me, and I told her that the guy had been there, what his name was, and immediately she asked if she needed to call the police. Alarm gongs went off in my head. She told me that he had been in on Friday and had been acting the same way with her as he had been with me. She also told me something that had me shaking, literally trembling with fear; she told me that he didn't like people touching him (he'd told me this, too), and that he never liked to touch a woman because it left their scent on him and it made him crazy. What scared me about that was the fact that he didn't hesitate to shake my hand. He didn't hesitate to get close to me, to touch my hand before he left. The police were called, needless to say, and I gave my story to the officer that came by to see me. On Tuesday, another officer is supposed to come in to the museum and talk to me again. Hopefully the guy will leave us alone...
Anyway, that's my life so far: movies, family time and visits, and a creeper scaring me out of my wits! Interesting, ne?