You Know Its Bad When...

You find the soundtrack commentary of a movie more riveting than the movie itself. I had the misfortune of watching Queen of the Damned... something I saw when it first came out, but forgot that it was pretty bad so rented it again (calm down, I only spent .50).

The movie may have been fine if it had done a decent job of following Ann Rice's story, but it didn't. You could tell it didn't when the guy from Linkin Park tried very hard to say something nice about the movie but could only come up with "In the movie Lestat is a Rock Star and that's what it was like in the book..." Yep, that's about it.

The thing I hated most was that they had Marius as his maker and got the Marius character all wrong. And they made Jessie a big dork as well as having Lestat make Jessie, and I think it was Mael who did it after she nearly died at the concert. But I'm fuzzy on that one, its been years since I've read it but I think it may have been my favorite in the Vampire Chronicles.

But, seriously, it had a great soundtrack. The dude from Korn did it and because he couldn't sing because of some contractual issues, he had his musical peer group do it for him. And Aaliya sure did have a wicked cool walk as Akasha, the Queen. Here's a clip, but be warned --near the end she rips the heart of the vampire out and eats it. ...But not in a scary way... lol




Books into movies are seldom as good as the original thing. Another book into movie I thought sucked bad was Golden Compass. Just plain bad, they changed things with no discernible motivation for doing so and they ended the movie just before the book's climax. Weird. If you've read the book, don't waste your time on the movie.

Now, one movie that I thought was better than the book was Practical Magic. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Its about sisters, love, overcoming the past and kicking evil ass! The soundtrack was excellent as well, see below for a great Stevie Nicks/Sheryl Crow song. But the book...forgettable. I remember finishing reading it after I saw the movie and thinking how much better the movie was. There are scenes that still give me chills, a gazillions times of watching later.

And why am I ranting about movies right now? Because Boogs is nearly asleep on the couch after having puked twice, I'm sitting in the dark when I need to be working on Christmas gifts for this weekend and I have to go potty really bad but am afraid the moment I do will happen to coincide with the third bout of puking. So I'm trying to distract myself. Hopefully I didn't distract you from anything good.

Enjoy Stevie Nicks!



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Twilight!

This weekend the husband and I traveled down to Ft. Wayne to get our broke down car, then back to MI to spend some time with my family. Sister Redd and Sister Big had a nice little get together organized, Sister Aquanetta came over and we had a little early Christmas. It was great fun!

After we left the party and put the exhausted over stimulated kiddos to bed we headed out to watch the much anticipated Twilight. We both read the series and LOVED it. LOOOOVED it!

I had pretty low expectations for the movie. I mean, Cedric Diggory is Edward Cullen? Come on. And Rosalie looked ALL wrong. Not to mention that Jasper looked like something out of a weird Johnny Dep movie (I don't know which one). Besides, in the one trailer I saw I felt like Bella's acting was not so great and...so I wasn't expecting much. Add that to the little Facebook review from my Cousin-in-law that she was disappointed.

Maybe that low expectation was why I loved it so much! Like LOOOOOVED it! I loved the books but I was all about Team Jacob. I just had a hard time getting Bella and Edward's relationship. It seemed so... intangible to me. I understood and felt more compelled by her relationship with Jacob (through most of the books).

But for some reason in the movie I could see the draw, the chemistry and pull they had toward each other much more than the book. Not that I lack imagination, just I think they did a good job with the directing/acting I guess.

I thought Jacob was great. He had only a small part, but I found his acting fresh and real. Of course he's a boy plucked right off the rez, since there aren't many young native actors out there, so he couldn't be anything but fresh. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of him in New Moon, which they have already bought the rights for and are getting ready for production.

The Cullens looked...fine. They all looked like they were originally dark haired, dark skinned people wearing too much white face paint and bad blond wigs. And, whats up with Jasper's hair? Seriously. Besides Jasper doesn't utter a word in the movie...unless I missed it completely. Of course he may not utter a word in the first book anyway now that I think about it. It has been a few months since I read that one.

Alice was totally cute and I think I found Emmet the hottest of all the vamps...except for James, who I found pretty hot. But evil.

Anyway, I really loved the movie.

Oh! Just remembered which Johnny Dep movie! Jasper looks like the blond twin of Edward Scissorhands. Don't you think?


Uncanny!
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Tell No One

I recently saw this movie at our quaint and beautifully restored downtown theater. I had learned about this film, like I learn about almost everything I know about, from NPR. They were doing a review of it and talked about how, although this is a French film, that it has caused quite a following. This is unique in that Americans as a mass are not known for their appreciation of foreign films. Its notoriously difficult for a foreign film to do well. This film was a blockbuster all over Europe in 2006 and took until recently to get US play. I'm SO glad I was able to see this in the theater!

The premise is as follows. French doctor's wife is murdered then out of the blue, 8 years later, he gets an email from a women who looks like her on a surveillance video. She warns him to "tell no one". Hence the title. The rest of the film follows him trying to discover the details of her death, uncovering some secrets, and trying to outrun the different people chasing him as he tries to unravel the email and figure whether his wife is alive, or if its a cruel trick.

This movie was excellent! Its mystery, suspense and will even cause you to laugh out loud. At one part Jim and I actually cheered!

So go see it or rent it. Its probably one of the better movies I've seen in a long time.

Now, tell me about little gems you've discovered that you think are under appreciated films. I have a bare Netflix queue that needs some attention.
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The Invisible

I saw this movie recently and I think it is wonderful. The story itself is compelling and the characters are complicated. You find yourself feeling compassion for everyone involved. The timid loser friend, the distant unfeeling mother and even the villain. And you find yourself wanting things to happen that you know logically don't make sense. But you want them all the same. It keeps you wondering how the movie really will end, how they can possibly end it and make the ending you want.

The best part is, I think this trailer doesn't ruin the movie. Today I think trailers give away EVERYTHING. Though, if you watch the movie you'll notice the part with the old man has been cut. But this trailer gives you enough to get a feel for what the movie is about and still be surprised when things happen.

Can I add that its way too early and I've already been awake for a few hours now. ugh...



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I Guess I Have a Thing for Unicorns. So sue me.

I've always been the girl who likes to know what she's getting and loves to get what she knows she loves. Reading all the books by a particular author, ordering the same meal at restaurants and re-watching movies I love.

When I was a young girl I somehow saw the movie Legend and I was enamored. Sister 7 would groan every time we went to the video store and I came home with this movie. But I loved it. And I still love it. I wanted to be Lily (played by Mia Sarah). She's beautiful and carefree, a bit spoiled and very human. Humans make mistakes and she makes a grave mistake then spends the rest of the movie trying to fix this terrible mistake.

I found her so amazing and loved the defiance she shows while with the Prince of Darkness. She laughs in his face and taunts him, she was fearless. To me she seemed so strong and in control. And of course the movie is about true love, trust and love conquering all.

Obviously I own the movie AND the soundtrack thank you. I mean, what's not to love about Tangerine Dream?? I even did my college level photography final (a slide show) using the very end of the song below. "Sweet songs of youth, the wise, the meeting of all wisdom. To believe in the good in man". My project was was a commentary on industry vs nature as told by portrait photographs. Not to brag, but it was kick ass. I got an A. But I digress. Or rather, I post some code below so you can enjoy a little Tangerine Dream.



Here is one of my favorite scenes. I always wanted that dress, I think I could fill it out a bit better than she did :)


I also loved the movie The Last Unicorn. I remember watching it in the theater as a very small girl. Great movie and even better soundtrack...as long as you skip the ones that are sung by Mia Farrow. OUCH!

I fell in love with the group America because of this movie...sadly I do not own this soundtrack. But if you find me watching this movie you'll notice I know all the words to all the songs.


Well, thats all I have for today. I know its not much, but hey, its what I've got ;) Have a great weekend everyone!


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