Most fairy tails start with a girl and a dream
mine started with a scandal and a family curse
a curse that gave me the face of a pig
then he showed up

A few days ago I rented the movie ‘Penelope’ not really sure what to think of this strange looking movie. As soon as the DVD started playing I knew that I was going to love this movie. Penelope is a 25 year old girl who has never been allowed to leave her house because she was born with the nose of a pig. Penelope’s mother lovingly hid her away from the world to protect her but now she must find love to break the curse that fell on her family many years before she was born.

Penelope has a series of horrible run-ins with would be suitors and finally decides to take her life in her own hands. She runs away from home (she is 25 and has never been in the world) and experiences life for all it is worth. She meets up with a vespa riding/ wing wearing chick (Reese Witherspoon) named Annie who helps Penelope become who she really is.

Penelope is a smart and sassy movie. The cinematography was sweeping and magical. Reese Witherspoon magic and Christina Ricci perfectly delightful and inspiring. This is a must see for any girl/woman who wants to be inspired or any man who loves a woman.

Trailer:

Tonight I watched ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’. I had heard very mixed reviews about this movie, but my fascination with the Old West won out and I rented it.

The first obvious thing about the movie is the fact that it is almost three hours long, but honestly I thought the time flew by.

I loved the portrayal of Jesse James by Brad Pitt. A man who had a conscience, knew how to read people, knew how to survive, knew what it took to take care of himself.

Casey Affleck did an amazing job. He truly is a great actor. He pulled off creepy and insecure just a little too well. The casting of him was perfect.

Supporting cast members added to this moving film. Mary-Louise Parker was fantastic. I never really knew someone could play such an important and moving role in a movie and not have more than 20 words. I always love Zooey Deschanel, even though her role was very small in this movie. Zooey’s co-star, in ‘Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy’, Sam Rockwell was also in this movie. Sam play Robert Fords brother – a slow, nervous man who accompanied Jesse on many of his last rides.

One of the most moving this about this movie is the wonderful and dramatic cinematography. Sweeping and grand are the words that come to mind. The way that the narrator swept his voice around the scenery and made points come to life.

This is a wonderful movie and a break from traditional shoot-em-up westerns. It brings out that part of me that spent hours studying the Old West and makes me want to get back into that. There are some historical places that I would love to visit and some I would like to revisit. I would love to go back to Tombstone and walk those streets again or spend some more time on the trails where Billy The Kid rode. I would love to go to Dodge City, more old ghost towns and a few other various places to live the history of the stories I grew up loving.

If you have an interest in the Old West or a love of great cinematography then this is a great movie to watch.

Technorati Tags: Assassination of Jesse James, Robert Ford, Wild West, Old West, Tombstone, Wyatt Earp

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull trailer has arrived! I am very excited to see this one in May. I have always been a big Indy fan.

Now I just need to re-watch all three to get ready!

Technorati Tags: Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford, Crystal Skull

Last night I watched ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ for the first time. I love old movies, I always have. I am not sure why I never saw this one…I guess not being a big Audrey Hepburn fan has something to do with it, but I found it to be charming.

The movie took me a long time to get in and several times I almost stopped it. I am glad I did not because it was the last 30 minutes that pulled this film together and made it the charming movie I heard about.

First things first. If you have not seen the movie here is the original preview from the 1960’s. Take a peek.

Okay….so there you have some basis to the movie. I think this movie would have been better suited in todays day and time, but the message still caries through.

The basic plot is of a small town girl who escapes her simple life to go find herself in the big city. Once she gets to the big city she finds that she is more lost than ever. In this movie Hepburn plays Holly Golightly a care free girl that can not even name her cat because she is scared of the commitment. She lives for finding the rich man to take her away and make her life all better. Then a poor attractive writer moves in upstairs. He is much like Holly. When not writing he makes his money sleeping with a married woman and is just looking for someone to pay his way. The two form an unlikely friendship. Spending more and more time together one day they decide to do a whole day of things they have never done before. The mayhem that follows is a funny things I never did as a kid and doing now.

I love the concept of spending a day doing things you have never done before. It seems our lives get so ordinary and we repeat each day in a pattern of life. We forget or push aside the things that really make us laugh, make us happy, for our ordinary lives.

Here are my questions to you…what have you always wanted to do, but have never done? And what can you do today to make it a unique day?

I know for myself I need to think about this.

Technorati Tags: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Movie, Living

Tonight a friend and I went to see the new movie “Death at a funeral”. From the plot and previews I had already surmised that the movie was either going to be a total bomb or a complete hit…and no where in between. I was right.

From the first five minutes this movie had me laughing and it kept me laughing till the credits rolled at the end. This was a true surprise.

The basic plot:

A man’s father dies and he has to plan his funeral, gather all the relative, and get through the funeral. It all starts when the funeral home brings the wrong body to the funeral and continues as a cousin’s boyfriend accidentally gets a dose of a hallucinogenic drug, lets not forget the secret gay lover who is blackmailing the family.

This movie is a true comedy. It is dark, funny, twisted, and a true laugh out loud experience. Listening to people as they were leaving the theater I knew everyone enjoyed it as much as I had. If you get the chance to leave the kids at home and want a good laugh then this is your movie.

Technorati Tags: death at a funeral, movie reviews, last rites

I went to the movies tonight and I saw the movie “Stardust” staring Michelle Pfeiffer, Clare Danes, Robert De Niro, Peter O’Toole, Rupert Everett, and more. I wanted to see this movie the second I saw the previews, but I was ill prepared to see this film.

To be prepared is not an option, Stardust sweeps you away into another world. It winds it’s story of love, fate, and being the master of our own destiny. It keeps you on the edge of your seat every last second and when it ends you leave feeling as if you have entered another world and somehow life here seems better because of it.

This movie will become a modern day classic with the likes of Wizard of Oz, The Princess Bride, with one exception…it is better than those movies!

Do yourself a favor and go see this movie!

Here is the website ….Stardust The Movie

About a month ago I saw ‘The Village’ for the first time. I avoided seeing this movie in theaters, because even the preview scared me. I used to live for scary movies and now I am so sensitive to them that just seeing a preview of one can give me nightmares.

I am not sure why I decided to watch this movie, but one night I rented it. I got all ready to be scared, as I curled up on the couch with my favorite blanket.

As I began watching this story of fear, I realized that like the moral of this movie, the fear I have in my life is very much reflected how this movie presents fear.

Fear is something that is taught, that is put into as children and as we grow our fear grows. The people around us help incubate these fears until they are full grown and then can control our lives.

The movie ‘The Village’ presents this idea in a form that is unique and not far from the truth we face in everyday life.

Can I say how excited I am by this preview: X-Men: The Last Stand. I have been waiting for this movie ever since I saw X-2. I am not a big movie person and there are not many movies that excite me, but can I say opening night? Yes, I can’t wait!

I also got my copy of ‘Velvet Elvis’ by Rob Bell today, I can not wait to start reading this book. I have recently fallen in love with his Nooma videos. They are so simple and powerful. Now that is great editing. I would love to go intern on one of those shoots and edits. If you have not seen the Nooma videos, they are worth checking out.

My desk looks like a garbage truck got lost and dumped it’s load. It is insane! Books, papers and cables everywhere. I need to take the time to clean and then crawl into bed. Even though I have not done my homework for the night. My research paper is looming very close, very close.

Off to the land of cleaning and sleeping…hey my two favorite lands!