Snide Remarks

For Twilight Fans and/or Eric Snider Fans everywhere.

http://www.ericdsnider.com/snide/my-rejected-twilight-screenplay/

At the end of this one there is a link to his script of the Titanic.  Just in case you missed it 12 years ago, you should catch up on it now.

The Broads do Twilight

http://bookgroupbroads.blogspot.com/

Fun and silliness.

Movie Buff in Training

I've always enjoyed going to movies.  I considered it something of a luxury, though, and didn't do it too terribly often even as a teenager.  Part of the problem was that NJ movie ticket prices are cost-prohibitive.  So when I went to see a movie I was happy to sit back, relax and enjoy the experience.  

Todd on the other hand is a walking encyclopedia about movies.  IMDB is a verb in our house.  We'd never seen a movie together before we were married, so I was unprepared for life with my own personal movie critic.  He's critical, but he's usually dead on.  (I eventually made a rule that he wasn't allowed to critique the movie until AFTER it was over.)  He can also tell you every actor or actress and what else they've been in and who they're related to and all sorts of other details that it never occurred to me to know.  

It's partially living with him, but mostly because we live by a dollar theater here in Ohio (50 cents on Mondays!!), that my kids see way more movies than I ever did.  I hadn't considered how this would affect their perspectives on life until last week.

I had charge of my three boys and two of their friends one cold and gray afternoon, so we decided to go see "Journey to the Center of the Earth".  The boys were very excited for some action and adventure, but one boy became a little worried when one of the characters in the movie got knocked out.

"Is he dead?!" the worried Alex whispered.

Before I could answer, Nathaniel whispered back, "Nah.  He's a main character.  Main characters don't die."

 

Trippy

Todd and I have a list of movies that we really enjoy, but are convinced are meant to be watched while smoking pot. (For the record, neither one of us has ever done any illegal drugs.) Anyway, tonight we finally watched "Across the Universe" which I now love love love. Because all you need is love.

Also on our list is anything by Baz Luhrmann, and the movie "Big Fish". I should point out that these are movies which I thoroughly enjoy. But back when we actually went to Blockbuster to rent our movies I felt like the clerk should have said, "Here's your movie. Here's your pot. Enjoy and have a great night!" as part of the checking out process of these cinematic gems.

Here is a delicious taste of tonight's movie:

Popcorn

Somehow I became the person in charge of the annual cub scout fundraiser of selling popcorn.  

There is currently $13,000 worth of popcorn in my living room.  It looks like this:

And this:
And every time I walk past it, I think of this:

And it makes me giggle.

Movie Fans

Don't bother reading this unless you've seen North by Northwest.

Being the rabid Cary Grant fan that I am, I became particularly excited when, driving across South Dakota, we saw one of these:

right next to the field we were driving by!!

And then on the way up to Mount Rushmore, I had to have my picture taken here:

Good times.

The Dark Knight

I'm not sure when it happened, really. Todd says almost four years ago. But sometime and somehow I became something of a comic book geek. Not all comics. I'm superhero specific...well, except for the Buffy comics.

A few years ago our friends, Jeanne and Chris, gave the boys a fun game involving Spiderman and Friends. One of my other friends, Mark, who was there and witnessed the gift said, "What? Where's Superman?" I practically snapped in a Z formation as I rolled my eyes and said, "Um, Hello?! Spiderman is Marvel comics. Superman is DC." I almost added "duh, obviously" to my retort. As soon as the words were out of my mouth and Chris started laughing, I realized what had happened. I had become one of those people.

The other night we had some friends over to play Cities and Knights of Catan (which is a whole other level of implied geekiness), and when my friend Heather was explaining where she had bought her new game she said, "You know that comic book store? The Laughing Ogre?" At which point I jumped in and said, "Totally! In fact I need to go so I can get the next of the Season 8 Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic books!" She almost smiled as she said, "Um, really?", in an incredulous voice. It's a new kind of weird for me.

I blame it, like most things, on living in a house with all boys. Specifically, boys who really like super heroes. Their father is totally lumped into this, too.

Todd has watched Batman Begins no less than once a month since it came out on DVD two years ago. It is his favorite movie. Possibly ever, at least in the super hero genre. So months ago he informed me that we would be going to see The Dark Knight on opening night. I really liked the last batman movie as well. (Not once a month worth, but still.) He was practically bouncy as we waited for an hour to get into the theater to see it on the Ultrascreen (it's three times the size of a regular movie screen).

Opening nights are fun. I love how all the big fans are there together so you really get the feel of experiencing something as a group. Everybody gasps in surprise at the same parts and laughs aloud at other parts. And people clap at the end...and sometimes in the middle. Oh, and last night many people were wearing their batman shirts and one guy even sported a cape. He was unspeakable amounts of adorable.

The movie was really good. It's dark, and scary, and I am a total wimp, so I had to look away a few times. But it's so well written! With all that scariness, there were so many clever laughable lines. I love Christian Bale and Michael Kean together as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Alfred.

Anyway, after the movie I began telling Todd about all of the differences between the movie and the comics. Because apparently I know things like that now. Which is what prompted the question, "When did I become this person?!"