I Was Wrong - Watch Sex And The City At Your Own Risk

I wrote a review recently about the Sex And The City movie I had seen, giving it a thumbs up. That review has been bothering me for a few days, and I finally removed the post this morning.  I decided it was necessary to write a more well thought out review.

The original review was quite popular for a couple of days, but after reflecting on it a bit, I realized that I could not in good conscience only point out the positives (which in all honesty are overshadowed by the crudity of the movie itself) and ignore the fact that the movie does indeed laugh in the face of all I hold dear. While I am trying to teach my children right from wrong, and that people have incredible value for their minds and who they are, this movie mocks that. Women are not just about fashion and men. . .we are so much more than that. We are complicated, and no two of us are alike.

While this movie does a couple of things well, the best part of this film is lost.  It does point out the incredible importance of forgiving others. A point I think each of us needs hammered home much more often. It also has some great examples of women making mistakes, and showing the viewer the process they go through to correct what doesn’t work in each of their lives. The movie is smart, as are the women portrayed here. However it seems hard to stomach this message when it is dripping in gratuitious sex scenes that add little value to the movie.  What could have been great is really lost due to the crap that was added.

It was an online friend who helped me see that a more honest assessment of this movie was needed. Thanks angelawd!

It’s Coming - Momma Mia

One of the most entertaining musicals I have seen recently is coming to the big screen. Momma Mia is a light musical that features the 70’s hits of ABBA. The story line revolves around the hits, so it is fun to watch how they weave a story around a bunch of unrelated songs. The story does end up being a bit predictable, but the music is so much fun that I hardly noticed.

I am a bit worried about some of the casting in the movie, as the traveling show we saw was just so perfect that it will be hard to see others in those roles, but it should still be a lot of fun to watch on the big screen. Here is a preview. . .

Y-ME Walk In the Rain and Ironman Review

We did it!  We did the Y-Me Walk for Breast Cancer yesterday and here is a picture (that is me, the shorter one, and no, I am not standing in a sink-hole).  It was very rainy on Chicago’s lakefront, but spirits were high and DD and I and our friends had a nice walk.  If you get a chance to participate in one of these events I highly recommend it.  The event was well done from beginning to end and everyone involved was a pleasure to work with. 

I also got to celebrate Mother’s Day with my favorite activity, seeing a movie in the theater.  After much debate we decided on Ironman and we were not disappointed.  I have to agree with the reviews that I read that said this was a smart movie.  I thought everything about this movie was well done, and I had no idea that Jeff Bridges could play such an awesome villian!  If you get a chance to see this one on the giant screen with surround sound, do it.

Finally Friday Fun - Summer Movies

Boy oh boy is it ever going to be tough today to decide which of the new summer movies we will go to tonight, the family and I! There are so many I want to see right now that it will be difficult.

DS wants to go see Speed Racer tonight. He and his Dad have been catching up on all the old cartoons and he is just busting at the seams to go and see the feature film. I have to admit that I am a bit anxious for this one too. DH though refuses to go, he thinks it looks terrible. Hard to believe, seeing as he is the biggest Speed Racer fan over 20 that I know.

DD wants to go see Made of Honor. Although I don’t think this will be great cinema or anything, who am I to pass up an opportunity to see McDreamy on the big screen?

And finally, I really want to see Ironman. I have always been a big Robert Downey Jr fan, and I have heard from so many people that this is a great movie. This may be the one time that I invite my kids friends along just so I can go see the movie I really want to see.

 

Review - Disney on Ice

This weekend DD and I did something neither of us has done before.  We went to see a Disney Ice Show.  When the kids were little, there was never enough time or money to do this.  I was a bit afraid as I was buying our tickets that my DD would perhaps be too old and think I had gone off the deep end for taking her as a teenager.  I was also a bit afraid that the show would be too cheesy and we would both  end up hating me for having wasted a Saturday afternoon.

It was cheesy, the acting was horrible, but we had fun!  Disney’s High School Musical: The Ice Tour is what it is suposed to be, a cute ice show.  We liked the costumes, the skating, and the music.  Yeah to Disney for having the music be the original music from the movies.  It was basically a musical review of the first and second High School Musical Movies.  We had seen the first one on the Disney channel, and there too, the acting is horrible, but the music is good and the story is light and funny.

We paid $10 for a bucket of popcorn and $12.50 for an Icee in a souvenir cup, so if you do go to one of these shows, I recommend that you not buy anything there, but then again, isn’t that part of the fun?

Overall, we decided that we would definitely do this again, even if it was the Disney Princesses Show!  It was a great way to spend a very cold Saturday afternoon in Chicago.  Besides, a trip to the United Center is always fun.

Netflix Feature to Check Out

The forcasters predicted a snowy, chilly weekend, and Chicago did not disappoint.  With the weather outside so unfriendly, we needed some ideas to keep us occupied inside so of course we looked to the internet for a solution.

I had heard about the new instant movie viewer from Netflix a few months ago, but hadn’t had a chance to try it out.  We tried it over the weekend and were quite pleased with  it.  Not only is it easy to setup and use, the quality is great, and with most Netflix subsciptions it is free.  You can’t beat that.

We were able to watch both The First Howie Mandel Special and The Italian Job.  My kids didn’t even know that Howie Mandel got his start as a standup comic and sadly, they had never seen Bobby’s World either.  I was able to enlighten them and provide hours of laughter as well.

If you haven’t seen The Italian Job, I highly recommend it.  There is only a bit of violence, no gratuitous sex, and just a few “bad” words sprinkled in.  If you are a fan of the “Ocean’s” films, you will like this one as well.  I have been a Mark Wahlberg fan since his Calvin Klein ads in the 80’s . . . what, I’m human.

Don’t you just miss the 80’s?!

Finally Friday Fun - Marathon Weekend

Here in Chicago, they are calling for some cold tempures and snow for the next two days, all of which has me making plans to stay inside all weekend long.

I plan to cook some soup, make some cookies and goodies, watch my cooking shows on TV, read a bunch, and do some knitting.  All of this is well and good and should keep me busy for a few hours, but my teens will want to watch some movies or something tonight and Saturday night.

So, I am planning a Marathon Weekend.  You know, pick a movie series and watch all of the episodes in one sitting.   Recently we have watched the Pirates trilogy, the Matrix trilogy and Lord of the Rings.  All of these are pretty family friendly, and provide hours of entertainment.  This weekend I am thinking we should do a Batman weekend, or maybe the Bourne Trilogy, since we haven’t seen the last one yet.  I would love to do a Godfather weekend, but I think my daughter would prefer something less gory.

Calling All Speed Racer Fans

I guess I lived under a rock growing up, because I didn’t get introduced to Speed Racer until I met my husband when I was in my 20’s.    My kids, however, love Speed Racer just like their Dad.  And my young nephews and their Grandpa all seem to love this strange cartoon as well.  Proof of that was that there were lots of Speed Racer themed presents under the tree at my in-laws house this year.  So it must be that with the recent surge in popularity of NASCAR there is a whole new generation of fans for all things speedy. 

For that reason, I thought that I would include this link to a picture of the Mach 5, which is on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.  I know my kids and DH will want to see it, and I will have to forward it to my nephews also.  I got this link on the Kim & Jason site, so thanks Kim!

I also am super hyped myself now that I  have watched the trailer for the upcoming live action version of Speed Racer.  It looks amazing, and it was done by The Wachowski Brothers, the directors of The Matrix trilogy so it should not only be fantastic quality, but may just stretch the limits of film making.  Keep in mind, it was this duo that first made popular the ”bullet time” visual effect that has been copied in everything from Michael Jordan to the Max to Shrek.  And while I try to never approach a new movie with too many expectations, least I be disappointed, I am hopeful that this movie will again stretch our imaginations.