It's Complicated: Loved It

Got to see a free sneak preview of It's Complicated, starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin tonight. A signed us up for this website that allows us to check out free films - we saw 2012 a couple nights before it opened, too. No opinion surveys, no photo ops on the evening news, just watch the film. I'm thinking they are creating buzz around the film with these sneaky previews and decided to do my part.

I LOVED It's Complicated. You should go see it.

There, my work here is done.

The Goods - Liked It

Watched The Goods today as a free rental from Netflix. Seriously, I should bill this blog as a way to live cheaply, because I feel like I'm always talking about how we get our entertainment for free! Anyways, I didn't like the previews for this film and wasn't that interested in watching it, but was pleasantly surprised.

It's a fun film. Give it a go.

The Prestige: Loved It

Watched The Prestige at a friends house tonight. Holy crap - what an amazing film! Can't say anything more about it - if you haven't seen it yet, go see it. I don't know how I missed this one, but I remember A saying this one and The Illusionist in the same sentence and saying they were about magic - my response to that, "meh!" I haven't seen The Illusionist yet, but I will be putting it in my queue now that I love The Prestige, because I realize I may have missed another great film in that one.

Live Long and Prosper

I loved the new Star Trek movie. LOVED IT! And even found myself excited for the new Transformers movie. Am I getting stupider?

Slowing Down...Small Sustainable Steps

Seems like everything is slowing down these days. Even thought I'm adding new blogs regularly to my following list, there is less to read; even though I want to write all the time, I find myself only writing during my "office hours." Maybe since A accepted a new job, our frantic stress-pace is easing up. It feels good. Here's a quick update of the week gone by:

• I didn't do all the cooking I planned on Sunday night, but spread it out over the week. Hoping to make the quiche Saturday night when I'm baking pizzas so that we can enjoy it Sunday and Monday morning.
• Still making decisions about food and still working out great.
• Watched movies every day for a week (see reviews in separate post)
  
• Spent Wednesday night having a very weird girl's night out
• Lost A Thursday and Friday night to boy's nights out - okay, I was invited along both nights, but wasn't feeling up to it, because...
• A coworker passed away...sudden, shocking, sad...

And the days/week to come:

• Having friends over for game night and pizza! :)
• Going to Sunriver in Bend, OR for a quick getaway with A
  
• A's family coming to stay with us for a few days then taking a family vacation to Lake Chelan, WA
• A's parents staying a week after Lake Chelan and his mom is going to teach me many secrets in the kitchen

Too Many Movie Nights

Watched too many movies for the last several days - and relearned how much I love a fun comedy. I may never need to watch another movie again!

Saturday: I Love You, Man @ CineMagic Theater
Dinner @ La Calaca Comelona. Loved the restaurant, food just okay, but I suspect the entrees are where it's at and will go again to verify. CineMagic's prices went up so it's now $6-something for a movie. When the multiplexes charge 2x that, I don't think I have room to complain, but I distinctly remember their movies being $3-4 before. :( Loved the movie and wondered if I shouldn't make it recommended viewing for men?

Sunday:Paul Blart, Mall Cop @ Grand Lodge
We also purchased Ghost Stories of Oregon because it features an entire chapter on McMenamins hauntings! Was surprised to enjoy this movie, but it's definitely got it's charm and that charm is Kevin James. How adorable.

Monday: Seven Pounds @ Home via RedBox Free Movie Mondays I would place this film into the categories of "Must See" and "Never Watch Again." It's a drama, so you know there's some depth to it, but I cannot say more without spoiling. A and I both cried our eyes out, though.

Tuesday: Bolt @ Home via RedBox Free Movie Mondays because with 2 debit or credit cards, why borrow just one? This movie was FUN! I saw previews on the plane when I was going to DC and was charmed because Bolt reminds me of Chibo. A, who wasn't planning on watching this with me, also saw it and liked this movie, too. Cute for the child or dog lover in all of us.

Wednesday: He's Just Not That Into You @ Academy Theater
Girls night out! Pizza from Flying Pie, great prices and good atmosphere. I want to say it's cleaner and more picturesque than the McMennamins Theaters for the same price. A coupon in the Chinook book gets you 2 for 1 and I promise you'll go back. And the movie...well, fun, but slightly disappointing. Somehow I wanted more. The cast is great and the story is good, but maybe I needed more plot and better dialogue? Could be my expectations as I was perfectly satisfied with Bolt and Paul Blart earlier this week.

More Movies You Should NEVER Watch

Great day today - worked my entire shift, only goofed off a little, good talk with a pal, good interaction with A, great gift from A (thanks for the ear rings!), first BBQ of the season. I made a corn and pepper salad with the Simplest Marinade by Raw Foods for Busy People that went over surprisingly well - so well that one of the other guests asked if she could take the leftovers home! Yeah!

Also had Trader Joe's masala patties which are so yummy. Got to introduce those to both A and another Indian friend of ours who is...skeptical of pretty much every word out of my mouth, but especially anything having to do with Indian food. They both loved them, though and now I'm feeling smug. Happy that A likes them, though, because they're sure to become a staple food.

After all that good food, everyone was feeling like watching a movie. After watching the trailer for Marley and Me several times during my recent flights, that sounded pretty good. Even with the warning that "oh yeah, this movie is really sad" and the obvious possibility that the dog will die at some point in the film (hard to miss since a lot of time passes during the film as evidenced by the growth of their children), I was unprepared.

Yes, the dog dies. And it's incredibly sad, because along with the dog dying, you see the family acknowledging that despite all of his antics, Marley was really a very good dog. I cried. A cried. I heard a few other sniffles from hear and there in the darkened room. It's also sad because it reminds you not only of all the pets you have lost, but all that you are going to lose. And because it makes you wonder if you're really doing everything you can to make sure your companion animals have a happy and healthy life. Well, it makes me wonder.

Since I'm supposed to be studying, I don't want to start down the list of memories about my relationships with animals and I can't handle thinking about losing my current companion dog, so I'll just close with the recommendation for filmmakers everywhere: Stop making your movies so damn sad - when they're that sad, we'll only watch them once! Like Nights in Rodanthe, I'll probably never be able to watch Marley and Me again. But maybe I can read the book...maybe.

DC Day 5: The Theater

Went to Woolly Mammoth Theater tonight to see the preview of Ante Bellum. It was all very exciting, partly because our hosts are huge theater buffs and Woolly is the theater they volunteer with, but also because this was the premier stage performance of Ante Bellum. I'm asking my friends 100's of questions about their opinions on this performance and the play. I found it invigorating, thought-provoking and entertaining, but have little experience or exposure to the theater.

My friend is also involved in the making of this film, which he's hoping will really take off and I'm hoping will make it to P___ so that I can see it!

Tender Heart

It's been a movie watching week and my heart can't handle anymore good movies! Twilight finally hit the second run theaters, so we went to see that. I was a bit immune to the buzz around it, but had read about the tourism in Forks since the books and movie, so I knew it was a bit of a craze. I'd seen the previews and knew that the actors and actresses were lovely. I even knew the basics of the story - vampire romance. Recently reading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series (which I have referred to as the 'adult' Twilight) prepared me somewhat, but not enough.

Some confluence of stars has created an entirely amazing love story in this movie. My chest actually hurt for two days after watching it, because the love was so strong, so intense. I really cannot say more, because I could be easily moved to tears just thinking of it. I probably won't have this same reaction if/when I watch the movie again - I can just vaguely remember other movies I've had strong feelings and reactions to never being as good or as strong the next time around. But I loved it. Brava, film makers and actors, brava. Of course, I wanted the book immediately and A indulged me by picking me up a copy. I read it and enjoyed it, but -- and this is RARE -- I enjoyed the film more.

(On a side note, my friend R recently watched the film as well and she had the same reaction - I think we could easily end up 30-something Twilight junkies!)

A few days later, A brought home a movie for me that I've been wanting to watch, Nights in Rodanthe. The previews show Diane Lane and Richard Gere laughing on the beach together and everything seems really soft focus, so I imagined a sweet love story...and got warm and fuzzy as that developed onscreen until the shocking plot twist stripped away all illusions I ever had that life works out. Now, if you know me, you know that I don't cry often, easily or at all gracefully. This movie reduced me to a pile of blubbering mush. I cried from the plot twist through the end of the film and for at least another hour, harsh, sobbing, wracking cried that left my face red, my eyes shining and my nose raw.

Maybe my heart is too tender for these films and I should stick to slap stick comedy.