Movie Time (and a little TV, too, because, why not?)

It has been a busy time.  Birthday parties, weddings, Fathers' Day, house guests, and all the clean-up that goes into those activities has kept me off the blog for a while.  As a result, you get blurbs about a bunch of stuff I wanted to mention.  Here goes:

Alice in Wonderland Meh.  I remember walking out of a movie last year and seeing a giant poster of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, and I was disappointed to find out that I had to wait almost a year to see him in Alice in Wonderland.  When Tim Burton and Johnny Depp joined forces for Edward Scissorhands, it was genius.  They have a history of creativity and quirkiness that I was looking forward to in Alice.  However, I was disappointed.  The story wasn't all that compelling, the girl that played Alice was kind of blah, and I found both queens really annoying.  So, thumbs down from me on that one. 

Toy Story 3 Maybe I was disappointed with Alice in Wonderland because I had just seen this movie.  Wow.  I feel like where Disney is involved, they are fortunate if a sequel isn't super duper awful.  And I made the mistake of watching The Little Mermaid III, which was not only awful, but barf worthy.  So thank heavens for Pixar.  Toy Story came out when I was a freshman in college, and, like the rest of the world, I fell in love with Woody, Buzz, Ham, Potato Head and Slinky Dog.  Toy Story 2 was a pleasant surprise, and endeared me to Jesse and Bullseye as well.  After 2 extremely successful movies, I was skeptical that the third would measure up.  I worried that the writers would just recycle the last two movies and it would end the trilogy in a huge let down.  NOT SO.  Not only was it just as funny (if not funnier) as the first two, it was sweet and heart-warming and original.  It had my 5-year-old laughing hysterically, my mom rolling in the aisles, and me giggling quite a lot.  And it had me getting a little misty.  Okay, a lot misty.  At least 3 times.  It is one of those movies I'm not dreading to watch 500 times when we get it on DVD for the kids.  Two enthusiastic thumbs up.  Fine summer fun.

The Buffy/Angel Vampirepalooza It's summer.  Summer=crappy TV.  I have one TV show recording on my DVR right now that's not for Jacob.  Ugh.  So hooray for Netflix streaming.  I was browsing the Netflix instant selections on the website and came across the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and, on a whim, added all 7 seasons.  And for good measure, I also found Angel and added all 5 seasons.  So now I get my David Boreanez fix.  I decided to watch Buffy because I remembered being in college when it came out, and I'm pretty sure it was on a night I was out playing with my friends, so I missed the whole phenomenon.  Here's what I think so far:  Creepy demons with extra cheese is just what this summer ordered.  The first 3 seasons of Buffy are her high school years, and mostly consist of a Great Evil threatening the annhilation of mankind and Buffy and her pals kicking evil's butt.  Angel, a vampire with a soul, skulks around and gives the gang little nuggets of information that is usually the key to vanquishing the demons.  Plus he's Buffy's boyfriend, except when he turns evil and kills and tortures her friends.  Then Buffy goes to college and Angel leaves for LA, because things just aren't working out with the Buffster.  (Can we say spin-off?)  The college years are a bit skankified on Buffy, but Spike enters the scene and provides hilarity and amusement.  As for Angel, the series, I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  It's a little more dark and brooding, but has great story lines and fun characters.  All in all, it's making my summer a little more fun.  Whee!

That's it for now.  Time to hand off the computer to my hubby. 

Bits of Everything

I'm a little scattered.  Here's what's on my mind today:

1.  So You Think You Can Dance  I love this show.  I'm using the word love here.  But I get really annoyed with the inflated egos of the judges and producers, who lord their power over these poor kids whose hopes and dreams are resting on their answers.  Seriously, do you really need to be sure they are crying tears of devastation before you give them the good news?  It's cruel.  My least favorite part of these talent shows is the first few episodes, when the judges narrow it down to the top 20, or, this season, the top 10 dancers.  What I am happy about is that, since they decided to bring back past contestants to partner up with the current contestants, they chose to bring back Dominic.  He was my super fave, and it should be fun to see how Kat Deeley fights off his numerous advances this time around.

2.  My Head is a Giant Cornflake  For some reason, I can't seem to keep a thought in my head for more than about 5 minutes (which means this post is taking me forever to write).  I have no idea why this is happening, but as a result, I have been a real nuisance lately.  My son's birthday party is Friday, and it will be completely my fault if no one shows up, because, thanks to my ridiculous ditziness, I didn't get the invitations out until today.  I completely spaced watching my friend's kids, and all I had to do was remember for 24 hours that I was going to watch them.  While I was playing piano in Relief Society today, I kept getting distracted and losing my place, which meant bigtime trainwrecks in the middle of what were supposed to be calming hymns, and those poor ladies had to suffer through it. 

3.  Finally, Some Pretty Toes for the Summer (now where's the Summer?)  I wear flip flops for 9 months out of the year.  I love the comfort and breeziness of a nice pair of Reefs, but flip flop wearing means rough, callused heels with lovely little cracks.  My toenails get kind of gnarly, and I usually have chipped polish that looks slapped on (because it was).  So why have I waited until I'm 32 years old to get a pedicure?  I really don't know.  I jumped at the chance to go with my friend over the weekend.  My nasty calluses were scraped, my feet and calves were exfoliated, and my toenails are a pretty deep shade of red with cute little flowers on the big toes.  And now I can wear my flip flops with my head held high (although mostly I keep looking down at my shiny toenails).