I am not a huge fan of going to the movies.  The tickets are expensive, the snacks even more so, and, seriously, who is gonna sit through a feature length movie without some popcorn, goobers and a drink?  And there is always someone in the theater that is just obnoxious.  Whether they are yakking on their cell phones, or talking to their “date."  Why would I want to deal with all of that, when I can watch a movie in the comfort of my own home?  Well, for the most part, I don’t.  I think the last movie we saw at the theater was Avatar for our anniversary last year, though I have to say that was worth EVERY penny!  Before that it was the new Friday the 13th on Valentine’s Day.  Perhaps not the most romantic movie, but I love me some horror movies!  We urge the kids to go check out the latest films, but for me, I prefer to wait for the DVD and chill on my couch.

However, this season there are a few movies that have me psyched enough to actually venture out of the house to see:

1) The Next Three Days - I’ll be honest, I don’t know if we’ll see this one at the theaters, but I definitely want to see it at some point!  Russell Crowe and Liam Neeson get together, so Crowe can break his wrongly convicted wife (played by Elizabeth Banks) out of prison.  The trailers have lots of action, and I have always like Neeson in this type of role - kind of shady, a bit dirty.

2) Faster - Come on!  Dwayne "The Rock” Johnson stars, and he looks appropriately gritty and pissed off as he sets out to avenge his younger brother’s death.  Reminds me of The Fast and The Furious.  I’m sure it won’t change lives, but it could be a wild ride!

3) The Fighter - I love an underdog story, and after seeing the previews, this might be a Christian Bale movie in which he doesn’t annoy me.  (I don’t know why, Bale is a very capable actor, but for some reason he rubs me the wrong way.  Perhaps it’s from seeing him in American Psycho.)  I like Mark Wahlberg and am a big Amy Adams fan, so I like the idea of the two of them together, but it’s an underdog story, and those are some of my favorite movies.  Boxing, underdogs… another Rocky?

4) True Grit - This is the one I am most excited about.  Not sure why.  I am not a big Western fan, but Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin in one film.  I know it’s a remake of a John Wayne film.  A mistake?  Perhaps, but the Coen brothers are more than capable of pulling this off.  Plus the theme is similar to one of my favorite movies, The Professional.  If Roy is on board, I will be seeing this one at the theaters!

5) Country Strong - I admit it, Gwyneth Paltrow thoroughly charmed me last week on Glee - actually I think it was this week, but that’s besides the point.  This is another underdog movie - Paltrow is a HUGE country superstar that has fallen from grace.  After she starts working with an up and coming songwriter (Garrett Hedlund), she starts to believe she can rise again.  I am not a fan of country music, but the idea of someone putting together the pieces of their lives and coming out on top is a theme I always fall for.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows is out today as well, and I am sure that will be huge!  Corey and Joe seemed to have outgrown HP, Addi isn’t into it, and it’s above Hayden and Dean’s heads, so I don’t think we will be venturing out to see that one.  I am intrigued with Tron as well.  While Roy is a fan, I remarked to him that it looks cool, but I don’t get it, as I didn’t see the original.  He laughed and said, “No one gets Tron! But it’s still cool."  The special effects look amazing and that might be enough to get me into the theaters.

We love horror movies. (Me moreso than Roy) The boys love horror movies, though for the younger boys we try to keep it tame.

Hayden did watch “Jaws” with me, and he enjoyed it.  We often watched silly SyFy movies together, “Sharktopus” being a big favorite of his.

So, when the older boys complained that “Shark Night 3D” (2011, Starring Sara Paxton and Dustin Milligan) was PG-13, Hayden jumped on it.

“That means it’s going to be lame Mom.  Gore to a minimum. You can’t do that in a Shark movie.” Corey complained.

“Does that mean I can watch it?” Hayden tugged on my pants.

I was probably busy doing something, so I was only half listening.

“We’ll see, Hayden.” And that was that.

Fast forward, to last month. 

“Hey, Hayden.” I called him, “Guess what’s going to be on Netflix Instant que?”

“What?”

“Shark Night!”

“What is that?" 

"Umm, that movie you wanted to see so badly a few months ago.”

“Oh…cool!”

He would ask me about that every so often, “Mommy, do the sharks have swords? Is it a cartoon?”

“Honey, what are you talking about?” I was confused.

“You know…the Shark KNIGHTS.” somehow, Hayden didn’t think it was about kids fighting for their lives at night, but rather Shark Knights of the round table.

I smiled at him, “No, honey.  Shark Night.  Like at night, when you sleep.”

“Oh.” Hayden looked dejected.

So, last night I was going through our Netflix Instant Que, and noticed it was in there.

“Hayden guess what? Shark Night is in our Instant Que now!” I thought he would be excited.

“Oh, but I wanted to see "Shark Soldiers, not Shark Knights.”

Darned if I don’t want to look for a Shark Solders movie, now!

I LOVE horror movies, depending on my mood the cheesier the better.  Zombie movies are always fun, and the boys love them as well.  R is a little more blase’ about the whole genre, but the kids and I dig them and occasionally, especially if the weather is bad, we even have “Cheesy movie day."  We put silly horror movies into our Netflix Instant Que, and give them ten minutes.  If they are passable, we sit down with popcorn and laugh, make silly comments, and just have a good time.

Anyways, my favorite Zombie movie-I’ll stick with traditional and go with Romero’s "Night of the Living Dead."  The original came out in ‘68 and I realize that many looked at it as a political commentary on our times.  I even recall my dad saying something to me about that, which surprised me at the time (I think I was about 17) as I didn’t think my dad was cool enough to have even heard of Romero, let alone what his movies might be saying about society.  Anyways, I was sick the first time I saw this gem, and wasn’t interested in any political statements the movie might or might not be making.  I just enjoyed it for what I wanted it to be-a zombie flick.  I even enjoyed Tom Savini’s (Killer HOrror movie make-up guy!) 1990 remake starring Tony Todd (Always creepy and very effective in this movie!).

R just walked by and saw me typing away, I think he mumbled something under his breath, so I will be interested to see what he says here.

Ok, so the original doesn’t have Ryan Reynolds (but let’s be honest, he was much better in Blade Trinity), but it was SOOOOO much scarier!

We watch A LOT of horror movies-all kinds.  Zombies, ghosts, monsters, b movies, Asian, grindhouse, you name it, we’ve seen something.

But very few movies have lasting impressions on me-this one did.

It isn’t about wild special effects; it’s lighting, mood, some slight movement just off the edge of the screen.  VERY effective in this case.

If you haven’t see it, give it a try.

Love movies!  Horror is my favorite, but there is something to be said for the simple joy of a family movie.  Here are some of my favorites.  Some I enjoy because they have specific memories tied to them, and others are just really well done.

1) Hunchback of Notre Dame - This is the first movie I took one of my children to see in the theater.  Corey was about two and a half, and whenever we saw the commercial for this movie on TV, he would point to it and jump up and down, so I took him to see it.  He carried his popcorn into the theater like a big boy, and about halfway through the movie he crawled into my lap.  He was enthralled.  I don’t remember the music of this particular Disney creation, but I remember enjoying it with my little boy.

2) The Rugrats Movie - The first movie we took Joe to see in a theater.  Again, I don’t remember much about the movie, but I remember the kids both liking the cartoon Rugrats.  Roy and I were dating at the time, and he offered to take us all to see it in the theater.  Joe struggled to stay awake, but about 20 minutes before the movie ended, he lost his battle, and Roy ended up carrying him out of the theater and to the car.

3) Monsters, Inc. - Roy and I took Corey, Joe, and Addi to see this in the theater.  This was Addi’s first movie, and he was a bit restless, though for the most part he seemed to enjoy it.  I really enjoyed this movie.  Sully, Mike, and Boo were just charming creations, and Roy has a great picture of the three older boys and I at Disney World with Mike Wazowski.  The story was fun, and the ending was the type of ending I want in a kid’s movie.

4) Alvin and the Chipmunks - Again, not a great movie, but we took Hayden to see this with Addi when I was very pregnant with Dean.  Hayden was so excited and talked about going to the ‘mobies’ all week.  And then about 45 minutes into the film, he crashed and fell asleep on Roy’s lap, though he did wake up for the last ten minutes of the film.  As soon as it came out on DVD, he wanted to go to Walmart and buy it.

5) Up - We bought this on Blu-Ray, and the first time everyone watched it, I was doing other things - laundry, dishes, reading - and I missed it.  But I was reading one of my many magazines and they remarked on how well done the film was and how touching the story was, so I decided to check it out.  Hayden was sick one day, and Dean was just a baby, so we curled up on the sofa and watched it.  I cried.  If you have seen this movie, you probably know the part that got to me.  There is something for everyone - comedy (both young and old), drama, adventure. Simply put, this is just a great movie.

6) Ramona and Beezus - I adored these books by Beverly Cleary when I was growing up.  I can still remember laughing aloud at Ramona’s high jinks, and when a new book came out, I would beg my mom to take me to the library.  So, when I saw that this was being made into a movie, I admit to some nostalgia.  None of the boys wanted to see it in the theaters, but I put it in our Netflix queue and one rainy Friday night I popped some popcorn and Hayden, Dean, Roy, and I settled down to watch it.  There was nothing offensive about this movie, and to be honest, there was nothing stellar about it either.  But the young girl (Joey King) that played Ramona was a doll, and Hayden does like Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place).  Bridget Moynahan (Blue Bloods) and John Corbett (Sex and the City) play the frazzled parents.  There was a very touching scene in the film with the two young leads, and Corbett had the fun loving dad down pat.  This is the type of family movie I enjoy.  I remember little things from the book, and it brought back some fond memories.

7) Despicable Me - This is my favorite “Kid’s Movie” that I have seen in awhile.  The story was just so sweet, and I love seeing the 'bad guy’ go through that change of heart.  Plus, little Agnes was just so cute!  Ok, I know it’s an animated film.  And the soundtrack rocked!  But our favorite were the little yellow minions.  If you haven’t seen this film, I highly recommend it - whether you have kids or not.

8) Rio - And then finally, we have Rio. Rather than have a big party for his 7th birthday, Hayden opted to go see a movie and then to CiCi’s Pizza.  Roy and I took Hayden and Dean to see this, while the three older boys saw Arthur.  We saw this in 3D, and Hayden and Dean got a kick out of the glasses.  And I think they wanted to see Pedro (voiced by Will I. Am) sing and dance.  Like my other pick,s this is what I want out of a kids movie.  Nothing offensive, but it told an actual story.  There was singing, dancing, humor aimed at adults, but nothing I didn’t want my kids seeing.

If you are looking for something that is simply fun for the sake of being fun, rent any of these films.  

My first pick for underrated horror movies is this gem.

Set in the now demolished Danvers State Hospital, Session 9 is CREEPY with a capital “C.” David Caruso (yes, of CSI Miami!) and Peter Mullan give very effective low key performances here. And why yes, that IS Josh Lucas.

I watched this during the day, but that didn’t stop the chill for creeping up my spine. This isn’t a jump out of your seat shock fest, but it’s effective and chilling.

This deserves a watch!

Underrated Horror Movies:

As much as I love werewolves, good werewolf movies are few and far between.

I saw people raving about this movie on an IMDB message board and had to check it out.

Saw it, Loved it!

Live or Die On This Day

We don’t go to the theater often, or wait, we have never been to the theater.  We don’t go to the movies that often.  I prefer to watch movies at home on my big TV in the comfort of my own house.  I can stretch out on my sofa, pause it if I need to go to the bathroom, and yell all I want.  So, a movie REALLY has to spark my interest for me to venture to the movie theater.  I saw the preview for The Grey last month, and since Roy and I are both fans of Liam Neeson, I thought we might check it out.  Add to that we have a theater down the road with a 21 and over showroom (big leather seats that rock, you can order wine or beer, even food… great place!). Well, Roy and I decided to venture out.

I think Liam Neeson is a bad-ass.  Not only is he a talented actor, but he can kick some butt convincingly.  (REALLY liked Taken - one of the best action movies I saw in 2009.) Anyways, he fit the role perfectly.

The Grey doesn’t fit into a category in my book.  Sure, there is a lot of action.  The plane crash was WILD!  The wolves, trying to find survivors after the crash, etc.  Lots of action, and all well done.  But there is also a rather ‘artsy’ (as Roy calls it) notion to the film - flashback sequences for instance, though it all fits together well.

The feeling of desolation and cold translates better than any movie I have ever seen.  I was actually cold just watching the film!  But the way the wolves were used… beyond skillful.  I had chills more than once.

I cried on more than one occasion too. See the film and you’ll know why.

But the ending… I think EVERY person in the theater said something as the film ended - again see it and you’ll get why.  Liam Neeson was perfect in this role, and the supporting characters (the wolves too) were strong players as well.

Best movie I’ve see in awhile.  Truly, truly outstanding work.

Sooo, I make a pact with myself to spend more time giving in to my feelings of restlessness when it comes to writing…and than I don’t write for four day?  Go figure!

It could be because our timeline got moved up.

What timeline you ask?

Well, I’ll tell ya,  Hayden is a Freshman this year, Dean is in fifth grade-so he’ll start middle school next year, and Roy works about 60 miles from home. NOT horrible, until you factor in rush hour traffic.  Sometimes, Roy gets into the office in an hour an a half, sometimes it take twice that-my goal was to move the summer before Hayden’s junior year.  That would give him two years at a new high school, Dean would have two years at the middle school before moving into HS, but my husband is beat.  With the new position he accepted, he’s going in almost daily-and I know it’s hard on him.  So, we’re looking to move in just a few months!

Ugh, I said it out loud

We’ve been here so long, I forgot why I dislike the process.  Getting the house ready, finding a new house…and than there’s THE PURGE.

I decided to start small, something no one could have any say over-my closet.  I listed items on ebay, I put aside items for a yard sale-and felt accomplished until I looked at my closet.  Pretty sure it looks no different.  When did I accumulate so much stuff?  

To be fair, Roy’s side of the closet looks similar.  I tell the man he needs to purge and he gives me two t-shirts-out of the 50 he owns-though he only wears about 10.  He has a t-shirt that he wears constantly (I wash it, he wears it-vicious cycle) that I can see through-I kid you not.  It didn’t start out like that, he just wears it constantly!  To boot-it says Grooveshark (does anyone even remember what that is?) and he got it for free!  Not that there’s anything wrong with promotional swag-I love my pens, but when it’s starting to disintegrate, maybe it’s time to move on?

Now, for my case I realized I have way to many shirts with goofy sayings.  Some I bought for the specific purpose of basketball games-I have a few with sayings, or Hayden’s number, etc.  But most say ridiculous things like, “More Tacos please.”  I’m not sure why I need three shirts that say that-especially when all are just different shades of grey.  

And you’d think when the shirts hold no real sentimental value it would be easy to let go of-apparently, it is not.  You never know when you might find yourself in desperate need of tacos and maybe you’ve lost your voice?  I don’t know…

And let’s not even get in to my legging collection.  Now, in the winter I do wear them-daily for the most part.  I wear tunics and leggings, or a sweater and leggings, etc.  They’re warm and cute-the more colorful the better!  But I’m short, so specific brands fit me best-so why do I have pair after pair that are too big? 

I think there was a time when I bought clothes to make myself happy-I was feeling out of sorts, sad-and when I worked through that-I was left with a packed closet.  And so, THE PURGE commenced.

I truly hope the kitchen isn’t like this-or you’ll find me crying in the shower…