Archive for movies
November 12, 2008 at 7:55 pm · Filed under movies
So yesterday, to celebrate Moon’s acceptance to the college of her choice, we decided to have dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant. (I know! In the middle of the week!) We told the owner—well, I’ve always assumed he’s the owner—it was a celebration, and he was very kind and congratulatory. The kids think he’s awesome. He calls Peter “boss,” which amuses him greatly.
Anyway, as we were leaving, Peter commented that he liked the Bollywood music playing in the background. Apparently it was from the soundtrack to a popular movie. Our friend wrote the title down and told us to go to a nearby Indian market, where we could check out the movie. No charge. “If you are charged, you have them call me,” he said.
I stopped at the market while I was on another errand this evening. The movie was not in stock, but the owner signed me up for a free membership and said he would call me when he had it again. He also offered me any other movie for free, but of course I had no idea what to choose. I asked him to pick out something good for me. “You like love stories? Funny movies?” he asked.
I went with comedy. He assured me he was giving me a hilarious movie, and I can’t wait to find out. I’m wondering how funny will translate.
(P.S. Dreary, foggy day outside. Normal funk, which is a delightful change from the full-on crazy funk. Which means I’m still doing well.)
August 19, 2006 at 5:33 pm · Filed under idol, movies
The Idols concert was a week ago today. One thing I will say is that this year’s finalists are way better live than last year’s were. A few of them … Lisa Tucker and Ace Young, for instance … were actually more entertaining at the concert than they were on the show. Which I thought was impressive. We also learned that Chris Daughtry is incredibly popular in Milwaukee. The souvenir stands all sold out of his photo — although Moon was able to pick up pictures of Bucky and Ace, along with their buttons. (She bought Chris and Elliott buttons, too. The Elliott photos they were selling weren’t hot enough or something.)
Although we waited around afterwards to see if we could get an autograph or anything, the performers didn’t come out for meet-and-greet. We did get to see the bus off, though.
That’s Taylor Hicks, taking pictures of the crowd. Peter’s claim to fame is that he took off running after the bus (the only person who did, actually), and after about a half block, Taylor noticed him and pointed him out to the others. He waved Peter on, as if he needed encouragement. (From the other end of the block, I was screaming at him to stop. Because I could just imagine him turning a corner and getting confused in downtown Milwaukee at 11 pm on a Saturday.)
Anyway, we enjoyed our night at the Hyatt, which reminded me that I’m working on a project which will involve both the Hyatt and the Hilton. I’m self-employed, but I can’t seem to get away from work.
Now, today, we saw the aforementioned movie. It was massive kitschy fun. I’m not a movie reviewer, though, so I’ll just send you over to an interesting story about real snakes on a real plane. (You may have to sit through an ad to see it, but it’s pretty painless.)
May 27, 2006 at 10:18 am · Filed under knit/crochet, movies
Right now, I’m sitting with my laptap, listening to Peter play videogames. Moon is working on a group project at a classmate’s house, and Pete is practicing for a concert that’s happening on Tuesday. The sun is shining, all is well.
This afternoon the kids and I are planning to see the X-Men movie (X-Men Reunited? I can’t seem to remember what it’s called) and we might end up walking home because Pete has to play for a church service at the Catholic church. (The church that asked him to stay on as a music director after he “came out” as a newly-former Catholic.)
In knitting news, I am digging the book my kids gave me for Mother’s Day, Mason-Dixon Knitting. I’ve made two of these washrags already, and I picked up three cones of Peaches ‘n Cream so I can make a bath mat. Total fun. I’ve also been doing some crochet — and figured out how to make an otama so I could do a birthday greeting for my crafty buddy Rakka.
May 20, 2006 at 9:37 am · Filed under family, knit/crochet, movies
Okay, our family has been incredibly busy. And I’ve been knitting/crocheting more than this little credit card holder (which I’m using for the various punch cards and things that I use). Cute, though, isn’t it? I made it on Wednesday, when Pete and I were at Sundara Spa celebrating our 20th (!) anniversary by being thoroughly pampered. We spent pretty much the whole day wearing robes and relaxing, with intermittant foot rituals, massages, etc.
My mom is doing really well, by the way. There wasn’t any more cancer, and she’ll be starting radiation soon. Her prognosis is very good — yay!
In other news, it’s movie season. The Friday opening-day theater viewings have begun! We saw The DaVinci Code yesterday (which was okay … Moon really was into Silas), and we’re planning to see X3 next week.
And the weather today is unbelieveably awesome. We’re spending the afternoon at Good ‘n Loud for Moon’s master class. I’m excited because she’ll be doing some stuff on drums as well as bass. And I’m bringing my yarn.
July 15, 2005 at 10:33 pm · Filed under movies
…. is so, so, so goooooood!
The kids and I saw it today on the Ultrascreen at our neighborhood theater. I figured I’d probably like it, but I didn’t have any idea how amazing and entertaining it would be. I sat there and smiled through almost the whole flick.
Stop reading, and go see it. Right now.
June 19, 2005 at 9:11 am · Filed under family, movies
The first Friday fun day of the summer was…. exhausting. But on the up side, we saw “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” which had a great storyline and wonderful chemistry between the two leads. I have a total girlcrush on Angelina Jolie. Sooo cool.
Before the movie, I:
- Took the doggie to her appointment to have her teeth cleaned. Discovered that her insistence on breakfast meant that we’d need to reschedule. Made mental note to remind Pete that doggie should not be fed after 7 pm next Thursday. (Good luck, Pete!)
- Picked up Peter for his dentist appointment. Now that Moon is done with every-other-week visits, it’s time for Peter to start. Knitted a few rows on my current project while waiting.
- Took Peter home. Went to Lands’ End to do an exchange, then stopped by Bath & Body Works to spend far more than I had originally intended. (New sheets for the kids! A Shark hand vac!)
- Picked up Moon — time for her eye appointment. She has been asking for contacts, so I figured we’d look into it.
- Left Moon at Eye Contact and went back home to get Pete, who needed to go to the Red Cross. (Yes, this was one of those comical One-Car-Family days.) Dropped him off so he could make his blood donation, then went back to Eye Contact to check on Moon.
- Sat with Moon while the technician coached her on contact lens insertion. Went into other room to avoid giving too much backseat advice. Realized an hour had gone by, and Pete would probably be eating cookies at the Red Cross and looking out the window.
- Picked up Pete. Took him home for lunch. Drove back to Eye Contact to check on Moon.
- One contact lens in! And it’s only taken an hour and 15 minutes!
- Left Moon at Eye Contact because getting them in is just half the struggle. She can’t leave until she’s removed and reinserted one. Good luck!
- Picked up Pete and Peter; returned Pete to work. Drove to Eye Contact, where Moon had finished her task mere minutes after I’d left and was waiting crabbily for me to pull up in the Priusmobile.
- Thank God for KFC drive-through. Movie time.
May 31, 2005 at 9:16 pm · Filed under movies, pete
Must admit, I don’t do much memorializing on Memorial Day. All the veterans I know are alive and well. Mostly, I lounge around and hope for good weather.
So. The Saturday Farmer’s Market is quickly becoming a habit. The market is more than just food. This time Pete and I took time away from the pastries to visit the guy in the Green Party booth. I was so impressed with their literature that our car now sports one of their bumper stickers. (A Prius with a Green Party sticker? Yeah, what a surprise.)
On Sunday, Pete had to work at the Brat Fest (his employer was a sponsor), so I took the kids to see Revenge of the Sith. Six thumbs up. It made us want to see the original three movies, which to me is exactly what it was supposed to do. I was horrified when I went to our DVD collection to pull out the trilogy and realized we didn’t own it. Now we do. The bonus disk was especially amusing because we got to see what everyone looks like 25 years later. Moon practially jumped when Mark Hamil appeared on screen. “Ahhh, what happened?! He was so pretty!”
Two interesting things happened on Monday. (1) Pete and I went to the UW Arboretum for the first time ever. (2) We then went to Target for a printer cartridge, where we ran into a guy from my high school graduating class. Actually, I’ve known him a lot longer than that — I think we started going to school together when we were nine.
The bizarre thing is that I almost didn’t recognize him. He waved toward us, and my first thought was that he must be a co-worker of Pete’s or something. When he stopped and talked to us, his voice and mannerisms were the same as always, but I kept looking at his face and thinking that he looks like any other dad I would see at a school concert or something. Like a middle-aged man.
It’s times like this that I think, My gawd, I must be getting old. Freeeee-ky.
November 21, 2004 at 11:38 pm · Filed under movies
Pete and I had a date last night. We went to see the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the new organ at the Overture Center. It was truly magnificent, although I was sleepy during the first part of the concert due to the mound of pasta I had for dinner. For once, we didn’t dine at Peacemeal. In fact, the restaurant was closed for the evening, which made us worry that it might be in financial trouble or something. (We’re still worried. Anyone out there know?) Anyway, we went to Tutto Pasta instead, which was pretty good but not our beloved vegan landmark.
Today I continued my cultural endeavors by taking Peter and his friend to see the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. It was pretty trippy. I learned that buttcracks are guaranteed to get a huge response from the audience and are the epitome of hilarity. David Hasselhoff, too.
The kids and I watched Footloose on DVD this evening as I knitted. Perhaps I shall knit a lovely pair of striped legwarmers when I am finished with my current project. Or maybe not.
July 5, 2004 at 11:19 pm · Filed under movies
After my parents visited us this afternoon (we went out for pancakes, and they gave me a pretty Corgi plate for my birthday), Moon and I went to get our legs waxed. (More about that in a moment.) Then I took both kids to see Spider-Man 2. Moon actually had seen it with Nicole yesterday, but she was keen to go again. Peter was eager to go. He even called while Moon and I were still at the salon.
Anyway, all the hype is accurate. It’s a terrific movie; even better than the original. And I have to admit that Alfred Molina was strangely attractive in his role. While Moon was eyeing Spider-Man and Harry, I was waiting to see more of Doc Ock. I mean, Tobey Maguire is a baby. Give me the middle-aged guys, moobs and all.
July 5, 2004 at 11:08 pm · Filed under movies
Moon, Pete and I went to see Fahrenheit on Friday, July 2. I’m still processing what I saw. I had already heard a lot of the information (the bin Laden connection, oil profiteers, etc.) but nothing prepared me for the sight of limbless American soldiers returning from war, the helplessness of Iranian women witnessing a family member’s arrest, or the grief of an American military family after losing a son. I had to look through my fingers a few times. Moon said that the scary thing is that this stuff is real. For that reason it’s a thousand times worse than any stylized action movie violence.
“It makes you want to go out and do something about it,” she said.
By the way, the showing we attended was nearly sold out, and the line forming for the 7 p.m. showing was incredibly long. I’ll be curious to see what the box office was like for the weekend.
June 4, 2004 at 10:36 pm · Filed under movies
Moon hurried us out the door so that we could get in line for the 6:30 Harry Potter showing at least an hour ahead of time. I felt as if we were waiting to see a rock concert, or maybe the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The energy was high, and groups of costumed fans huddled together. I saw two different girls with hand-decorated t-shirts declaring themselves “Mrs. Oliver Wood.” Every now and then a whoop or a cheer could be heard over the chatter.
After we found our seats and waited for the previews to begin, several teenaged girls skipped across the front of the theater – one on a broomstick – and coaxed the crowd into doing the wave. Then a chorus of “We love Harry, yes we do, we love Harry, how ’bout you?” broke out.
When the opening credits rolled, there was much rejoicing. A certain electricity was in the air. Happily, the movie was worth all the hubbub. Peter threw his sweatshirt over his head during a few hairy parts, but I saw him peeking out from under it. Moon says she wants to see it again and oh-my-God-are-those-Weasley-twins-hot. Hotness, hotness, says my daughter, who has developed quite a thing for tall red-haired boys.
Next HP movie: November 2005. Guess who’s counting the days?
May 23, 2004 at 11:24 pm · Filed under movies
The year is almost half over, and I finally saw a movie in the theater. I guess it takes a rainy weekend to get me to sit in the dark for two hours. The kids and I went to see Mean Girls yesterday, which was quite entertaining and paved the way for some excellent discussion about social structures. I also reserved tickets to see the new Harry Potter movie the first day it’s out, on the Ultra Screen, no less.
I have a feeling that some of our Friday-fundays this summer will be spent at the movies. Pete is going to see HP with us, but he passed on Mean Girls. Instead he had some quality time with his recording equipment.
Moon and I also rented a few flicks: Grease and Clueless. Peter taught me how to play the GameCube version of Return of the King, and we all played several rounds of the HP trivia board game.
Somehow my company was in great demand this weekend. I’m feeling pretty popular with my own kids right now.
