Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest

I finally got my Jack Sparrow fix and went and saw Dead Man's Chest on July 9. Although I have to admit, in this one, Orlando Bloom had as much of my attention as Johnny Depp, probably because he spent a good deal of the movie wet (yum!).

Ok, will say right up front.... FINALLY! A sequel that's even better than the original movie! I laughed in 60% of the scenes. The fight scenes were so inventive (and funny!) and the special effects were incredible.

The cliffhanger ending didn't even bother me. Just gave me something else to look forward to next summer!

TRISTAN AND ISOLDE

"What are we watching tonight?" asks the husband, settling into his recliner just after the kids head to bed.

"Tristan and Isolde," I say, laying down on the couch, Diet Dr Pepper at the ready.

"What's it about?"

I shrug. "Not sure. I think it's a medieval romance .... kinda like what I write."

"Cool."

Only...it's wasn't like what I write, and now, I'm praying husband doesn't think I pen novels where WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD, STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!








..............THE hero dies, and the heroine is married to another man. Sigh. Tragic love.

Apparently, Tristan and Isolde is the myth that sparked all the Arthurian legends. I believe it. Very similar story lines. Arthur, the king, weds Guinevere, whom he adores. She, on the other hand, is in love with Arthur's trusted man, Lancelot. In T&I, Mark, the king, weds Isolde, whom he adores. She, on the other hand, is in love with Mark's trusted man, Tristan. It ends in noble tragedy, yada yada.

What did I come away with? James Franco is stunningly beautiful, though I don't believe that's true of every movie I've seen him in. But in T&I, his eyes steal a bit of your soul. He's devestatingly cute.

And for those of you wondering, no... Romance novels do not end in death and misery, and heroine's are not likely to be wed to another man whilst bedding the man of her heart!

This n That

Ok, so I'm stashing a bunch of movies right now, waiting until my veg period after national conference before watching them. They include: Old School, Walk the Line, Kingdom of Heaven, Passion of the Christ and everything else I get my hands on until then. Why stash the movies? Because I really want to quit smoking, and watching movies will help with that. Two hour intervals with my mind enganged on something that I can't smoke while doing, since I don't smoke in the house.

Besides, right now, I'm way to busy shopping for conference, working on my deadline book 2, and making lists of household "crud" that has to be done before I can leave my family for a week. House cleaning, food to prepare for the kiddos and hubby, chore lists of things that must be done while I'm gone.

Men don't go through this. They can pack up and leave on a trip in the blink of an eye. No "to-dos" to make a one week trip turn into two weeks worth of preparation. They leave and know we'll take care of things while they're gone. But WE know better. We know that dishes are likely to go unwashed until 5 minutes before we return home. Laundry will pile up. Dust will accumulate. The kids might live on peanut butter and jelly, go unbathed, and end up with rotten teeth. We know the dog will be fed table scraps, bedtimes will be forgotten, and beds won't be made. But, I think our vacations away from them turn into their vacations away from us, as well. It's good for them to have a week here and there without someone nagging about taking care of everything. Let the house fall apart, I say, and maybe they'll appreciate me a bit more when I return!

When a Stranger Calls - DVD

Horror (supposedly)

Starring: Never-Seen-Her-Before and Some-Guy-In-Shadows

Anyone who knows me knows I love slasher flicks. I don't, however, go for slasher flick wannabes. I don't care for one-actor movies, where the sole actress spends 80 minutes pacing an enormous house, gabbing on the phone. And most of all, I don't care for movies where you're left with so many "huh" questions that you never had time to enjoy anything.

When a Stranger Calls is full of all of the above.

For example, the movie starts with a crime where police hint at the absolute gore left behind by a maniac murderer...pieces of body are then carried out to the ambulance (a bit late for that me thinks lol). So, with that set up, I'm thinking, oooo Halloween, Nightmare on Elmstreet gore! I love gore movies. Granted sometimes I miss most of it because my eyes are closed tight, but I still love gore in movies as well as in appropriate fiction (give me a gory serial killer over a terrorist any day). So, obviously the guy in WASC is a hacker. Then why, pray tell, does he keep trying to kill this freaking girl in wuss ways? He tries to strangle her. Tries to drown her. He doesn't have a weapon. Nothing about this guy follows through on brutal killer.

Now for the few plusses about this movie. #1, once the girl knows the killer's in the house, things picked up. Good action sequence there. (They should have stopped while they were ahead, though, and left out the final, cheesy soap opera ending). #2, the house/setting was WAY cool! #3 the heroine was smart enough to call everyone she could think of when the calls started. Police, her parents, the kids' parents. She wasn't completely stupid (though she had her moments....). However, the biggest plus about WASC was that during the long, run through the woods at night scene, THE HEROINE NEVER FELL DOWN! That's progress people!

OVER THE HEDGE - Theaters

My daughter turned 10 this month, which resulted in the annual, "It's your day, your call" weekend afternoon. Her choice: Bowling. Bad news kiddo. They have leagues going on. Next choice, go see the movie Cars at the theater. We go, get our snacks, hit the theater and find.... the only available seats are in the front row. She's a trooper. She didn't pout. Instead, she said we could ask for an exchange of tickets and go see Over the Hedge instead. We went, and I honestly can't imagine liking a bunch of talking autos better than talking critters. Bruce Willis plays RJ the racoon, who, fearing the wrath of a bear named Vincent, must steal enough food to keep Vincent happy upon waking from hibernation. How better to steal so much food than to con a family of forest foragers into helping him stow it?

Over the Hedge is funny and sweet, with lessons about family ties, honesty, and gives an eerie view at the gluttonous nature of human kind. It's not pretty folks. That alone is worth taking the kids to see this one!

Other voices: Avril Lavigne, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, William Shatner

RUMOR HAS IT - DVD

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley Maclain

Rumor Has It is a romantic dromedy about a woman named Sarah (Aniston) who never quite felt like she fit in with her family. So when she discovers that the movie/book The Graduate was written about her family - the affair her grandmother had with a younger man, the same man who seduced Sarah's mother - Sarah leaves a fiance' in search of the man in question (Costner). Suspecting he's her true father, she hopes to finally figure out why she's so different from her family, only to discover (Costner) is not her father after all.

Now, keep in mind this guy has already slept with Sarah's mother and grandmother. So, naturally, Sarah sleeps with him too. Granted, he's not her Daddy, but come on. It's a little bit icky that she's sleeping with a man who's been intimate with Mom and Grandma, huh? Ok, little bit icky might not be strong enough, but whatever.

Overall, I really did enjoy the movie. I was pleased with the ending, and so long as I could block out the eww issues, I was caught up in the story. Aniston, as always, intrigues me. Not sure why. Maybe because she reminds me a bit of my daughter in appearance, maybe it's because she was married to Brad Pitt... whatever. Actually, yeah, she does remind me of my daughter, but now that I'm thinking about it, I realize my fascination was more with her body -- more specifically the way she wears clothes. It's nauseating, really, how great they look on her.

So, Rumor Has It. Rent it, watch it, and let me know what you think. Were you able to push past the ick factor to enjoy it?

American Idol Results Are In

Usually Thursdays are set aside for movie reviews, but with the closing of this American Idol season, I thought I'd chat a bit about my thoughts on the results.

1 - I still think Chris Daughtry got ripped off. Granted, he didn't need the show -- I believe he would have succeeded in the business without AI.

2- What the heck happened to Clay Aiken? I almost didn't even recognize him. Was that black hair or is the color on my TV screwed up? I do have admit that the Clay Aiken wanna be's reaction to Clay on stage was priceless, however.

3- The cheesy awards for best/worst reminded me of those dreaded yearbook surveys in highschool. Two hours. Really? It could have been cut to an hour by losing all that.

4- I wish Kelly Pickler hadn't chopped off all her beautiful hair!

5- Elliot can saaaaaaaaaaang!

6 - I'm probably going to get kicked on the street for this, but I would like Katherine so much more if I didn't feel like she was trying so hard to be sexy all the time. She comes across as so arrogant.

7 - Chicken Little - ok, don't even remember his name, but have this to say : Still not a fan. Did he ever really have a chance?

8- OMG! Was that really Prince? It was, it was!!! Quality of show just skyrocketed.

9 - Did I mention I hope Taylor wins?

10 - More people voted for American Idol than the any president ever. Really? Priorities people!

AND THE WINNER IS....................
TAYLOR HICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least the overwhelming voters got it right :)

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