To Infinity and Beyond

My movie watching extraganza continues. One morning I made Jayme watch Toy Story 3 with me. I had seen it in theatres but I knew Jayme had not seen it and I knew she just had to watch it. When I first heard the premise of the toys getting donated to a daycare I was really worried about the movie, wondering if the writers were just pulling on straws to get a new movie out, but oh was I wrong.
The movie begins with a slideshow of what happened in Andy’s life to get us to the point in the movie that he was going to go to college. Yes, the kid that was just having a childhood birthday party in the first movie was going to college. Andy’s mom tells him that it is time for him to clean out his room and has to decide whether the stuff in his room goes in the attic, goes to college with him, goes in the trash and what gets donated. When Andy finally reached the toy box he begins to put all of his toys in a trash bag all besides Woody, who gets put in a box to go to college. When Andy goes to put the bag in the attic his sister Molly begins to have trouble with boxes that she is carrying downstairs so Andy goes to help her leaving the bag behind. Andy’s mom mistakes the bag for trash and puts in on the curb. The toys and Woody begin to panic. Woody goes to try to help his friends escape. Thanks to Rex’s tail the toys are free. Believing that Andy does not want them anymore and that they were destined for the landfill Buzz, Potato Head, Ham, Rex and the rest of the gang decide they should go start a new life at daycare. Woody tries to tell them that Andy was not going to throw them away but the toys do not believe him. While disputing Andy’s mom gets in the car and drives to the daycare. Once at the daycare they meet all the other toys who have been at the daycare. These new toys try to show them the ropes of the daycare and show them all the perks of being there telling them that it is a dream land for toys because they get played with all time. Andy’s toys come to find out they they are not made for daycare and long to be back with Andy even if that does mean sitting in the attic. So in typical Toy Story fashion they toys begin on their journey back home. Like all of the other Toy Story movies the writers know how to pull at your heartstrings and make you feel the story. I usually do not cry when I watch movies but I do admit I cried twice when watching the movie. I was just happy that the first time that I saw the movie in theatres I had my 3D glasses on to hide my tears. But the movie will get you every time that you see it I again teared up when I watched it with Jayme. I highly recommend Toy Story 3. If you have not seen any of the Toy Story go now and rent them you will not regret it. I do have to say after watching Toy Story I feel guilty about my own toys that I had when I was a child, wondering if they feel like they are abandoned since I have grown up. I can see why people are hoarders. Anyways check out Toy Story 3 you will love it.

~Emily

And Now, Special Guest and fellow Blogger with an A+ blockbuster

As I said before I spent my week off enjoying movies with my best friend Jayme watching all of these moives. We have been friends since the 7th grade. I do not know how we have put up with each other this long but we have.
Enough about us, the next moive that we watched was Easy A. Jayme wanted to share her thoughts about the movie. So enjoy her guest blog post.

"Like many of you, when I was not Christmas shopping, at family gatherings or baking every possible holiday treat known to man, I spent the rest of my holiday in front of the television watching movie after movie. I’m sure Emily has given you the rundown of all the movies watched by her and myself, but I’m here to talk specifically about one of the best romantic comedies since “10 Things I Hate About You.” Our generation’s “Sixteen Candles” or “Pretty in Pink.”

Easy A

Now I’m not making the drastic statement that Emma Stone, who plays our fiery heroine, Olive, is the new Molly Ringwald. However, this retelling of the “Scarlet Letter” knows exactly what it is without being your typical run-of-the-mill teen movie. Witty, smart and fun.

Standout performances go to Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, who plays Emma Stone’s (Olive’s) parents, Dill and Rosemary. Not the most conventional of parents, they truly conveyed support, concern and a parent’s love for a child without being overbearing or sappy, but with humor and levity.

A movie about one sassy virgin who gets a bit too caught up in her newly tainted reputation, judgmental Jesus freaks, eccentric parents and high school kids just trying to fit in, this movie is not only entertaining but also heart-warming. So if you are looking for a good laugh in 2011, look to one of the best all-round, feel-good films of 2010.

Well thanks for reading and now back to Emily"

Don't You Forget About Me

Most of us have not gone untouched by John Hughes' work. Even though John Hughes became MIA in 1991 (he continued to write screenplays but most often did so under a pseudonym), his teen comedies/dramedies of the 1980s are still as relevant today in 2011 as they were in 1984. Whether you wish you were singing "Twist and Shout" in the middle of downtown Chicago like Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off or have longed for the ideal ideal guy like Samantha Baker does in Sixteen Candles, we all can relate to John Hughes' films. I have always wished Ferris Bueller was my best friend and no actor will ever be a better "ideal" high school boy than Michael Schoeffling (his look is timeless!) was in Sixteen Candles. For me personally, I find myself relating to most John Hughes' movies...except for Weird Science...

Considering the impact John Hughes has made on teenagers spanning three generations and given his abrupt exit from Hollywood, it is no wonder that four young aspiring filmmakers in 2008 went on a search to find John Hughes. Don't You Forget About Me is a documentary that chronicles the journey of these four aspiring filmmakers on their search for John Hughes. Along the way, the filmmakers talk about how John Hughes' movies changed their lives, they talk to teens of today to learn what they think of his films, and they interview some of the stars of these beloved classics (Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy to name a couple) in addition to other people in the movie industry (Roger Ebert, producers, current filmmakers). The common theme of what everyone has to say about John Hughes is that no one has been able to replicate what he did. Unlike teen movies of today which generally are all about the cheap gimmicks to attract their audiences, Hughes' movies have a heart. I think most would agree that Hughes' movies show a respect for their teenage audience rather than dumb things down. I think most importantly though, every teen interviewed in this documentary said the characters in Hughes' movies are relatable: they look, they talk, and they act like someone you would know or did know in high school.

Ultimately, these filmmakers' journey from Canada to Lansing, Michigan (Hughes' hometown) ends in 2009 in a Chicago-suburb that Hughes calls home. The filmmakers' goal is to land an interview with John Hughes and ask why he left Hollywood when he did. But, how does one go about approaching John Hughes? Will he be receptive to these aspiring filmmakers? These are all things you will have to find out for yourself by watching the documentary.

One quick note: this documentary is somewhat timely. Shortly before its release, John Hughes suddenly passed away after suffering a heart attack in Manhattan. This documentary obviously is dedicated to him and honors his memory; you only have to hear how much people love his work and loved him as a person to know that.

~Erin

Movie week continues

After our day at the movie theatre seeing Black Swan we stayed in the next day and rented moives. We next rented Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is the sequel to the first Wall Street. It begins with Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) getting out of jail. At the same time you are following the story of Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf). He is a Wall Street business man. The movie follows him and his struggle to make it big in the stock market. Jake tries to balance his working life and personal life with girlfriend, Winnie (Carey Mulligan), who you find out is Gordon Gekko’s daughter. When Jake’s company begins to fail, he uses his now fiancée to get help from Gekko to be able to learn from him. Gekko accepts but then uses Jake for his own agenda.
I was quite excited about this movie since I am a Shia LaBeouf fan, but overall this movie was a disappointment. The movie followed a straight line path. I kept waiting for that climax but it never came. It by all means is not a bad movie, I think I was just looking for more excitement and drama in the movie that it did not have.

Comment and let me know what you thought of the movie if you thought it was good or you had the same letdown feeling that I had,

Movie Review: Black Swan

After Christmas I had a week off work. I spent most of the week with my best friend Jayme watching a ton of movies. It is a theme for us when we get together with no real plans we just watch a tv series or movies. One Christmas break we watch the whole Arrested Development series it was amazing and I highly recommend it. This year’s theme was new movies. We were not strangers to the movie theatre or the local video store, we wanted to catch up on all new movies that were newly on DVD or just hitting the theatres. The first movie that we watched was Inception. After hearing so many good reviews of the movie and the praise from my fellow blogger Erin gave, I took the chance and bought it for Jayme’s sister for Christmas and therefore making it available for me to watch. It was awesome! I have to agree with everything that Erin said in her post. You should really check it out.

Our movie journey continued to the movie theatre to see Black Swan. Black Swan stars Natalie Portman as the main character Nina, a ballet dancer as she tries out for her dream role Swan Queen in the ballet Swan Lake in New York. In her way are her own goals of perfection. Nina’s strive for perfection sets her apart from the other ballerinas. During the audition process a new ballet dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis) joins the company. Nina keeps getting strange vibes from her, Lily basically goes against everything that Nina, the ballet dancer believes in. She is not on time, she goes out and parties, smokes and even takes drugs. The bad vibes continue at the audition. The director tells Nina that she would make a perfect Swan Queen but lacks the passion that is needed to be the Black Swan. Nina leaves determined to win the role. This is when the movie gets really good. It becomes more of a psychological thriller. I do not want to give anymore away so all I will tell you is that as a viewer you are sitting there trying to decipher what is reality and what is Nina’s illusions. She begins to truly live out the story of Swan Lake.

One word of advice before seeing the movie is to know the story of Swan Lake. They do explain it in the movie but having a little back story would not hurt.

Overall the movie was awesome, go see it!

Here is the movie trailer:


Stayed Tuned to see what other movies my friend Jayme and I watched over break.

(Image from: http://blog.80millionmoviesfree.com/in-theaters/black-swan-movie-poster)

Movie Review: Flipped

One of the best parts of the holiday break is having the time to lay around and watch movies! My sister and I were debating what to watch the other day so after perusing the RedBox, my sister picked Flipped. It was not until I imdb'd the title that I realized Flipped was a little movie I have been wanting to see since August. BUT, much to my dismay, there were no theaters around showing it, so I let Flipped slip my mind...until today.

Flipped is a coming-of-age tale set in the 1950s. Madeline Carroll (who plays Juli Baker) and Callan McAuliffe (who plays Bryce Loski) are the young stars who carry this film and they do it exceptionally. The story centers around the ongoing tension between Juli and Bryce. Akin to the ongoing tension between Juli and Bryce, we hear their story in the same way: a he-said/she-said narration of the same events dictates this film. In the beginning, it is Juli who finds her self enamored by Bryce; she believes he is more than the sum of his parts. Bryce however finds Juli to be weird and being a young boy, weird equates to bad or stupid; nothing Bryce does seems to get rid of her much to his dismay. Juli's chase lasts until middle school--that's when things start to get interesting and that is when things start to flip. A series of incidents cause Juli to question Bryce's character, and ultimately, her affections for the boy with the "sparkling eyes." Bryce begins to see Juli for how truly special she is; she is not like the other girls in middle school--she has substance that is far more than the perfect hair and dresses of her female peers. And even though Bryce has hated Juli since he was seven years old, he finds himself confused by his suddenly evolving feelings, which become even more complicated by Juli's apparent indifference about him.

No coming-of-age tale would be complete without the complications that family life presents. Juli and Bryce's families, neighbors, seem to be polar opposites. Juli's seemingly free-spirit ways are reflective of what appears to be a free-spirited family; however, a painter for a father (played by Aidan Quinn), lack of money and an unkept front yard are far more significant than what they seem. Bryce's family from outward appearances look to be the stereotypical 1950s family, but they are not the Cleavers; although they seem to have it all, having it all has its price. Both of these families have their fair share of the good and the bad; what one family lacks, the other is fortunate enough to have. Isn't that true of real life? No family is perfect. Things are often not what they seem.

Rob Reiner directed this film, and for those familiar with his work, this definitely has his stamp. Flipped's simple, funny and compelling story has a lot to say. The supporting cast of this film is also excellent. John Mahoney (of Frasier fame) is particularly poignant as Bryce's grandfather. It is Bryce's grandfather who acts as sort of a moral compass for Bryce. It is only when Bryce's grandfather takes a liking to Juli and sees her as the "irridescent" being that she is that Bryce begins to see her in the same light.

I am not too subjective when it comes to films like Flipped: the story is always heart-warming and makes one nostalgic for childhood. However, this movie is also poignant. In an age of highly technical, spectacle-like films, sometimes you just need a movie to ground you. As people come and go in my life, I sometimes struggle to determine what exactly I should hold on to. So, although the stars of this film are only 14-years-old, the story is the same no matter what age you are: remain true to yourself and things will work out the way they should. Corny, I know. But, this movie isn't corny. I was truly touched by this film and found myself smiling at its end. There was something beautiful in its simplicity. So, do yourself a favor next time you see a RedBox: pay the dollar and see this film!

~Erin