TP & Marie Harte

Last night, Matt and I watched Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? but before I get into that...

Foxy Lady by Marie Harte comes out this month as part of the Cougar Falls series. There's a free prelude available here from the author. Book two was In Plain Sight, which I loved, and contained the great 'wallet chick' moment which I'm still shocked to have discovered I was the only one who was familiar with the phrase.

Anyway, while hitting up her page for the deets, I found the re-release images from another series: The Storm Lords. And well, I thought they were kinda cute.





I'm partial to Gale Season. I wonder why.... And she's got some free reads I'll be adding to the Get-On-It list.

Now I am far from being a Tyler Perry fan. I hate what his movies to do this city. But I did watch part one so I had to see what transpired after which in part two.

Why Did I Get Married? was the story of four married couples having troubles in their relationships. Lots of secrets. Countless lies. In the end, though, they get together and make it work.

In Why Did I Get Married Too?, (and this will contain spoilers somewhat) we visit the same four couples only to tear them apart. I can't tell you how many times I screamed at the tv "How is this going to end?" because there truly was no chance at redemption in sight for anyone.

And well... what an ending. Just like in books, if you can't redeem your character, you're left with little else but to destroy him.

Movie: Inception

Ever since Romeo&Juliet, Leonardo DiCaprio has had the hardest time finding a soft spot in my heart. He still hasn't found it, but I did appreciate his role in Inception.

3rd Rock From The Sun has had a similar impact on Joseph Gordon-Levitt but he rocked this one. It was as much his film as it was Leo's.

This movie is wicked awesomeness!

Strangely enough, this movie has not been very popular at the theater. Not as popular as it should be. I guess when you say it's about a guy that can infiltrate your dreams there's an immediate turn off. But damn, that's only the beginning.

Cobb can delve into a person's mind, to the core of their subconscious. And he is the best as what he does. For that, he's presented with the job of entering the mind of one of the most successful businessmen in the world and to plant an idea in his head. Yes, this all about money. But not for Cobb. He wants to go home to his children and there's a semi-complicated reason why that's an impossibility at the moment.

So he assembles a team of very intelligent, very successful people and sets forth on achieving what is the impossible - inception - and plant an idea without the target ever knowing it was planted at all.

This is a psychological film. Most people out there likely will not appreciate the logic. But for those, there's action. And woh, is there action! The hallway... the tri-level dreams... limbo... and at the core is an emotional love story.

I lost myself in the craziness. At one point, when Fischer stands face to face with the door to his subconscious, I had this dawning realization. Everything they did... was to plant a single idea. Just an idea.

In the end, though, I dare you to try to remember the names of the characters. I couldn't. There was too much going on for that... and you'll be holding your breath to the very end!

Movie: Clash of the Titans

I am becoming quite a fan of Mr. Sam Worthington. First caught sight of his pretty face in Terminator Salvation where I wished in futile that he would live and let John Connor just die already. He had me in Avatar, despite the blue complexion and freakish tail.

Clash Of The Titans was oh so good!! Perhaps it's just my weakness for the Greek gods cuz, yeah, they're the shit!


Another tale of Perseus. The original this time. I did *not* like how they changed the myth of him though. Perseus was the bastard son of Zeus and Danae, the daughter of the mortal king Acrisius. In the movie, Danae was introduced as Acrisius' wife. Actually they changed a lot!

Synopsis:

A remake of the 1981 mythical adventure film about the myth of Perseus. To win the right to marry his love (Andromeda) and fufill his destiny, Perseus must complete various quests and battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster in order to save the Princess Andromeda.

Bull. Shit.

Nothing like that. He barely knew Andromeda. He did everything for his father and man. Yeah, they changed everything. For the better.



I loved Io. She kicked ass.

Wicked effects. Ridiculous action.

I am a happy girl.

The Last Airbender, Movie

Thursday night, 'The Matt' and I went to the theater to see The Last Airbender, a movie by M. Night Shyamalan.

Before attending, co-workers (non-fans of the Nickelodeon show) told me that the acting just plain sucks. And yes, I can see that. I was writhing in agony during the first part of the movie because of all the horrid acting.

But then, I had a thought. This *was* ripped from a cartoon. Listening to the dialogue and imagining the words spilling from animated characters helped a lot. It's just one of those things that doesn't cross over well to a live action film.

Now the worst attributes of the movie were a couple things. One... the altered pronunciation of the names. I don't care if it's more accurate or less accurate, keep the damn names the same. Aang was pronounced Ong, instead of the long 'A' sound as in Nick's series. Sokka was said SOAK-UH instead of SOCK-UH. Those were the only two which stood out even more because those two characters were the most changed in becoming *real* people. Aang was no longer a fun loving kid. He was numb. Sort of void. Then Sokka, whose facial expressions and squeaky voice made him so loveable... well, all that was gone. He became even more pointless.

Zuko was my favorite of the show and remained so in the movie. They didn't demonize him, at all. Which, being the 'bad guy' is an easy thing to do. However!!!! They did give him hair. Which, ya know, he didn't have in the beginning. He got that later. Duh!

There were no Asians. (Okay, so a few) And I laugh at that because the show was inspired by anime and yet they did everything to keep that out of your mind. Perhaps it would have gone over better if it had been portrayed with that vision... but yeah, that's just a thought.

There was a lot of narration, especially during some parts where it was used to 'fast forward' so that we could jump through the meeting process of the northern water tribe. Also understandable, it did bug me.

The best part of this film were the effects *and* the artistry in the movements as they bended their elements. Now, I have no background whatsoever in the martial arts, so I can't offer much from that point of view but what I saw was GORGEOUS!

Shyamalan does make his famous one-per-movie appearance which is always a cute add in.

Overall, the show is so much better. It's a nice try. Definitely worth telling the whole story. But... I have a difficult time believing people that are not familiar with the show are going to truly adore this movie, its characters, or its plot line.

So uh, yep, that's my lowdown. XD

Hot Presents in Rome

Last night, I watched When In Rome after begging my husband to get it for me for over a week. So while he was doing his SecondLife DJ set, I snuggled up on the couch for a good ol' chick flick. And it was sooo good! And funny. OMG funny! Even Matt looked up to laugh now and again. It had a great cast. Josh Duhamel is one of my faves. I so miss Las Vegas where he starred as Danny McCoy. Then Danny Devito was in it. Jon Heder. Will Arnett. Dax Shepard, who I did not know was engaged to Kristen Bell! Just an all around good cast. But damn, couldn't they find Kristen (Beth)some higher heels?? And OH, I luvluvloved the artwork of Nick (Josh D).

And why didn't I know Kristen Stewart and Rob Patterson were dating? More importantly, why don't they know that's a stupid idea? Only gonna end in heartbreak people!! You're not Brangelina. Wow did those two set a bad example.

Reading update.. Just going to name the dumb ones. LoL. Hot for a Reunion by Ann Jacobs. Good gods help me. A man and a woman, both over forty, get together to help their old high school raise some money and are instantly thrust back into their own teenage mindsets. They talked like children. It was ridiculous. Corny. And just wrong. Kayla's Birthday Present by Ashton Chase was okay. It's about a 40 year old woman who sleeps with her best friend and finds it to be the best thing she's ever done. They end up married. Just like HfaR. Completely unrealistic which... yeah.. I am all for ending a book with a marriage or even a proposal... but not if the entire span of their relationship consists of one moon phase. Danu, The Return by Sally Painter was likely the best of that day's reads. It's about two immortals and the woman bargains with the gods to be able to spend x amount of years with the guy in the realm that he's pretty much banished to. It's... lacking. It's obvious there's a big background to the story that you kinda need. But it was still good.

Movies: Pan's Labyrinth & Alice's Wonderland

(Wiki) The movie opens with a fairy tale. A young girl named Ofelia, lies on the ground bleeding, while the narration explains that long ago, Princess Moanna of the Underground Realm, curious about the world above, escaped to the Earth, where the sun blinded her and, forgetting her past, she weakened and died. Nonetheless, her father retains hope that her spirit will eventually return to him.

Never before have I known a movie with creepier characters! Look at these freaks!

With a cast of praying mantis looking bugs that evolve into fairies, fauns burdened with magical books, roots that pray to be humans, and rebels and soldiers battling for what they believe in, you are damn sure going to be entertained by this very dark, very bloody, fairy tale.

Though a mixture of happiness and sadness, and the dreaded Spanish language, I did like this movie. Wanted to smack the girl around a little bit. Don't eat the food he says. Your life is in your hands he says. What does she do? Grabs the first grape she sees. And who pays the price. The freaky little bug fairies. Got their heads munched off by the freaky eye-balled-palms dude. *cringe*

19-year-old Alice returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter. Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen's reign of terror.

Really enjoyed the new Alice in Underland. Needed a prince though. The tension between she and Hatter wasn't enough. Loved Hare though with his 'chopchopchop' and 'have some tea'!

- Movies: Road, Collector, Ninja A, Legion

Taking a small break from the 275 challenge, Matt and I filled our 6th Anniversary weekend with a handful of movies. We kicked it off with THE ROAD.

So, it's basically the end of the world. Cannibalism is on the rise and we follow a father as he prepares his son for the day when the boy must go on without him. It's obvious this was based on a book. A book I would have put down countless times before I would finally have given up. The movie was boring. I can imagine the book would be murderously so. For the first half of the movie, we endure the father's constant urges to put a bullet in his son's head. Now that kind of shyt really ticks me off. It's one thing to kill a child out of psychosis, quite another to do it out of 'compassion'. Urgh. Then we have a mother who is so severely depressed at the situation, she just walks into woods, abandoning both husband and son. And the son... a boy, about eight years old, that is way too soft. It is the only world he has ever known, and yet tears fall like rain over Seattle. I would assume as much as one could baby their child in a post-Apocalyptic era, there must be some hardness to their spirit.

One of the most frustrating aspects- only one person had a damn name. And that was Eli. Some really old guy they met along the journey. Not the dad. Not the mom. Not the damn boy. Just Eli.

After that we watched THE COLLECTOR for a healthy dosage of blood and gore. In this feature, a man breaks into a home looking to steal some cash to help repay a loan shark the mother of his child owes a debt to. Inside, he finds the mother of all traps lain by a man who is collecting living beings. He has the father, the mother, and a random guy that's stuffed into a chest. Somewhere in the house is the youngest of two daughters.

The traps were ridiculously clever. From bear traps to a chandelier of knives. Acid goo on the floor. Fish hooks. Wow. I can't even remember them all. Worst part of the movie was the end. We never see the bad guy and you spend the majority of the film wondering if the main character himself is the killer with evidence of delusions he keeps suffering.

If THE COLLECTOR didn't give you enough blood, then NINJA ASSASSIN will surely give you the overdose you seek.


Worst part of the movie, straight off, is the main character Mika who is convinced that there is a secret clan of assassins out there for hire to whomever is willing to pay a hundred pounds of gold. Okay, so she's right but she's still annoying as hell. The story itself is of Raizo and his training in this harsh world. You think the Spartan boys had it rough, this could very well prove a contender.

Lots of blood. And I mean, LOTS of blood. Completely exaggerated. But the effects were great and the fighting style highly entertaining.



Lastly, LEGION.

With a cast of Too Fast Too Furious rejects, we join a group of misfits in the middle of nowhere as we fight to save the unborn child of a true good for nothing slut.

Per God's command, angels are now hunting the child and seek it's death. Their one hope that being Michael who has betrayed God's will to protect the child while Gabriel leads the angels against him. In the end, though, -spoiler- he rises as God's champion for quote (Michael to Gabriel):

"You gave Him what He asked for. I gave Him what He needed."

After gunning down grandma and the ice cream man, I only now ask the question WHAT THE FUCK? While I get it, okay, maybe God was issuing a test. Quite the opposite of the television with its deafening tone and simple statement: This is NOT a test. Seriously, the tone- TOO MUCH! But if this was a test, how dare you slay those that were only acting on orders. So they were all good guys. Even crazy, wall climbing grandma and spider legs ice cream man.