Harry Potter-Thon

It's that time again! If you wanna play, head on over to Daily Mish Mash to either play or just read some great movie related posts!




So, I’m on a Harry Potter kick right now. I have no clue where it came from, but when I finished my last book, I had the urge to dive in to the Harry Potter series again. I’ve read every book at least twice. Some I’ve read more than 4 times.

I’m a Harry Potter geek. However, me being me, I’m really only a half geek. I know a lot of facts about the Harry Potter series. Seriously, I know a lot. However, after years of reading the books and watching the movies and reading online, I realize that there’s a lot that I don’t know about the Harry Potter series. And I’m OK with that. That’s not what this post is about.

Last week, when I was in the middle of the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I looked over at my daughter and asked her if she wanted to have a Harry Potter-thon. I explained to her, in response to her blank look, that that means we’d watch all 5 of the Harry Potter movies, back to back to back…well, you get the point. She enthusiastically agreed and the plan was set. We’d start them on Friday night and just watch til we couldn’t watch any more.

Then, to our surprise, my mom said she’d like to join us.

Now, my mom’s a big reader. In fact, all the books in the corner of my room that I haven’t read yet (all 200+ of them) are from her.

However, her taste in books doesn’t run to the fantastical. She likes grounded, real type books. The most “supernatural” or “fantastical” she gets is reading books by Dean Koontz or Stephen King. Otherwise, she doesn’t read it. No matter the rave reviews.

She hasn’t read the Harry Potter series yet but stated that she wanted to delve in to them at some point during her retirement.

I know my mom. I know that she will not get into the series (books or movies) but I gently push her to try them hoping that I’m wrong.

As much as I hate that she was going to watch the movies before reading the books, I gave her a big smile and told her “Great!”.

Friday night rolls around. We had decided to make it an appetizer night. You know, mini egg rolls, pot stickers, pizza rolls, chicken quesadilla rolls, etc…with all their sauces and some I mixed together for dipping.

I had been looking forward to this night for DAYS. I was so excited about this Potter-thon.

Well, as you can possibly guess, anytime you get THAT excited about something, it becomes sort of a letdown.

Light of my life kept asking me to pause the movie so she could pee/get dessert/get something else to drink/go to her room to get something/ask for a blanket/etc…..

Due to all the starting and stopping, my mom got frustrated and that led to her having these “looks” on her face whenever I would sneak a peek at her during the movie. I knew by those “looks” that she wasn’t getting into the movies. Of course, that made me more anxious. I then started stopping and starting the movie to explain to her about Neville’s parents and who Voldemort is and why Harry has a scar and why he lives with the Dursley’s.

About halfway through, mom decided she had enough and got up saying “I just don’t know where my fantasy gene is” and went to bed.

Light of my life and I finished the first movie and went on to bed after that.

On Saturday night, after my daughter got back from a late afternoon birthday party, we popped in #2 and watched most of it before we both fell asleep on the couch.

Yesterday afternoon, after lunch, we popped in #2 to finish it and managed to watch #’s 3 & 4 and start #5.

I had forgotten what a hottie Daniel Radcliffe was until I watched him grow up in these movies. I also didn’t realize how hot George and Fred Weasley were in the last two movies. When did that happen? And then, I discovered that the actor that played Cedric Diggory in the Goblet of Fire is none other than our own "Edward Cullen" in the Twilight movie that comes out in December. I can remember thinking Viktor Krum was much hotter than Cedric but I've since changed my mind. Yes, not only am I a twelve year old boy inside, but I'm also a boy-crazy 14 year old girl. Shut up.

I love watching these movies over and over again because I always learn something new each time.

For instance, in the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry uses Floo Powder for the first time, he slurs his words and Diagon Alley comes out Diagonalley. When my mom heard it, she said “Why did he say diagonally?” and a light bulb went on above my head. What a play on words.

And Knockturn Alley…where it’s the “darker” side of the magical world….could be considered “nocturnally”.

Is that not the coolest thing? I haven’t done any research on the internets to find out if this was intentional or just a happy coincidence, but considering the Genius That Is J.K. Rowling, I find it hard to believe that it’s anything but intentional.

Anyway, to wrap up this silly and very un-important post, despite the setbacks of the first night, we’ve had a blast watching our way through most of the 5 movies. Tonight, we’ll finish up (or at least watch until 9pm) the rest of The Order of the Phoenix.

Tonks, how I love you. You rock!

Later,

Mama Dawg

Movie Madness Carnival

Yay! It's another Movie Madness Carnival hosted by our lovely hostess with the mostess, Jen from Daily Mish Mash! She's also having a lovely giveaway that you can find here. It's a movie junkies favorite kind of giveaway! We're talking a movie gift card, popcorn and candy! Yummmmmm......

I love these! Movies (watching, not making) are my passion. Just ask anyone.

Last time I did a general post about movies but kinda focused on Dirty Dancing a bit.

I'm changing it up this time. Today, I'm doing a review. Boo, hiss, blech...I know, reviews can kinda suck but I felt it was necessary for this particular movie.

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!




Ok, let's get into this review.

Wow!

That's it.



No? That's not considered a review. Sigh.......

I really don't know exactly how I feel about this movie. It was a last minute grab out of the $5 bin at Wal-Mart.

I remember reading in my crackazines (US, People, Entertainment Weekly, etc...) about this movie and being intrigued with the premise.

I popped it in Sunday night after light of my life went to sleep. I had the living room to myself and thought I'd pop it in to see what it was all about.

Just FYI, it's a rated R movie, so no kiddos need to be awake to accidentally catch any of this.

It stars Ellen Page of Juno fame and Patrick Wilson of Little Children fame. Sandra Oh makes an appearance but for you Grey's Anatomy fans, if you're watching this just because she's in it, don't bother. Her appearance in this movie equal a whopping total of about 4 minutes.

If you like happy endings and all questions answered in your movies, this is not a movie for you. This is an independent film and you can tell.

I don't mean that in a negative way. It's just a powerful and unique film.

It starts off with Ellen Page's character, Hayley, and Patrick Wilson's character, Jeff, chatting on IM. It's pretty obvious that the conversation is between a teenage girl and an older male. Not to give too much away...they agree to meet.

The next scene sets it up to them meeting in a cafe. They start to talk and you can sense his attraction to her but you can also tell that he's not wanting to make it too obvious since he's in his thirties and she's, well, not.

She finagles an invite to his apartment to listen to a download of a song from a concert and he (instead of backing off) agrees.

They head over to his apartment and things start taking that uncomfortable turn that all parents dread in this day and age. It appears that Hayley initiates the sequence of events by pouring both of them some screwdrivers and asking Jeff to take pics of her (he's a photographer). She pops in a c.d. and takes off her shirt to reveal a sports bra and starts to dance on the sofa while Jeff starts to take pictures. A few minutes into the session, Jeff faints.

When he awakens, he finds himself tied to a chair with Hayley watching him.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is where the movie takes a hard left and never lets up.

Hayley is convinced Jeff is a pedophile and that he's had something to do with the disappearance of a local girl.

Now, normally, in movies and sometimes in real life, there's an obvious monster and an obvious hero.

But not in this one.

As much as you want to see Hayley as some vigilante who's out to rid the world of a pedophile, she's goes way beyond vigilantism and into torture.

And Jeff, well, as despicable as he seems, there's no clear cut answer to whether he had something to do with the disappearance of the local girl or even if he's a pedophile. Sure, he seems a little too interested in Hayley and the teenage girls who's modeled for him, but we never really get a definitive answer to this question. There are scenes set up to make you believe that he has something to hide (a secret safe hidden in a piece of art that contains photos including one of the missing girl) but since we never see any of the photos except for the one of the missing girl fully clothed, there is no scene that says "Jeff Kohlver is a pedophile and here are the pictures to prove it".

I'm not gonna give any more away because, really, you need to watch the movie to really grasp the pure terror of the psychological and physical torture Hayley puts to Jeff.

Neither character is likable in the slightest. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the most likable character in this whole movie is the one played by Sandra Oh as a nosy neighbor.

There are some surprises in store for the viewer and even though I'm not a man, there is one scene where even I cringed and felt for Jeff's character.

And really, that's what makes this movie so impossible to pigeonhole for me. I don't really have any one character to root for. During most of the movie, I feel for Hayley and support her but then there are times when I feel for Jeff.

Ellen Page is just so perfect for this part and so wonderful as a 14 (we think) year old girl. I really haven't seen too much of either her work or Patrick Wilson's so I have nothing to compare it to (I haven't watched Juno, yet) but the acting seems really tight and raw in this movie.

I really do recommend this movie. It's not a happy feel good movie but is, beyond a doubt, an interesting one.

That's it for my review.

Later,

Mama Dawg

DVD Collection

Several people in my "Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner" post asked where did I keep my vast collection of DVD's.

Well, here you go:




and here's the rest.



At last count (as of about 5 minutes ago) I currently have 387 movies, 128 TV shows on DVD (not 128 separate shows, but 128 DVD boxes. For instance, I have the entire series of Gilmore Girls and Sex and the City on DVD and that's 7 boxed DVD's EACH!) and 3 DVD's that aren't movies but interesting nevertheless.

I'm wanting to build a floor to ceiling bookshelf for all my DVD's. My neighbor, L, said he's help me.

Maybe that can be a wintertime project, huh?

Later,

Mama Dawg

"Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner"

The Daily Mish Mash is hosting a Movie Madness Carnival. Go check it out and participate if you'd like. There's a great give away as well.

Anyway, to participate in this Carnival, you need to write a post relating to anything regarding movies.

Ummm.....this is a Carnival right up my alley.

For those of you that know me, I have this little obsession of movies. Well, more like big obsession.

I personally own over 300 DVD's. That doesn't include my TV shows on DVD, my daughter's DVD's or all the VHS tapes I used to own (over 300 of those at one point, as well).

I "heart" movies. I love the feeling of disappearing into another World for approximately 2 hours. A World that I don't live in. A World that at times I'd like to live in (Princess Bride anyone?) and a World that I wouldn't like to live in (Donnie Darko anyone?). Especially Donnie Darko since it has Jake Gyllenhaal. I can't stand that kid.

I get this same feeling from books, but with movies, you actually get to see the stories played out in front of your eyes instead of having to use your imagination.

I love that when my daughter goes to bed at night, I can pop in "Sweeney Todd" or "Not Another Teen Movie" or "Schlinder's List"...whatever suits my mood and not have to worry about putting on a "family friendly" movie...you know, like "Grease" or "Footloose" or "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". My daughter's a freak for those movies. (the family friendly in quotations is meant to be sarcastic since these are definitely not considered "family friendly").

For the life of me, I can not remember the first movie I ever saw. I remember the first "adult" movie I ever saw. By "adult", I don't mean porn, I mean one that isn't meant for kids.

It was "Legal Eagles" and I saw it in the movie theater with my mom and her best friend. I think this wasn't too long after my mom and dad's separation which would probably explain why I was at the movies with my mom and her best friend.

I also remember the first movie I ever saw on VHS. It was "Dirty Dancing". That was the movie that HOOKED me forever on movies.

To this day, I will forever hold a special place in my heart for Patrick Swayze for the way he told those horrible, horrible parents of her "Nobody puts Baby in a corner".

Later,

Mama Dawg

Weekend Wrap Up

A winter storm came through on Friday when I was leaving for work. I actually had icicles on my car! The DOT had already been out and about in the county because there was stuff on the bridges to prevent slipping. I got home on Friday only to have to go back out to pick up pizzas. No cooking in our house on Friday. It was so miserable. I had thought about going over to B’s on Friday after we ate our pizza and watched a movie but then light of my life wanted to watch the next movie in the series and I fell asleep during the beginning of it (it was like 9:15!) and light of my life and mom decided to go on to bed. I got my lazy ass up off the couch around 2:30 am and crawled in to my bed. For was cold as it was outside, the inside of the house wasn’t too bad. I don’t have central air and heat and when it’s really cold, I sometimes need to use a space heater in my bedroom. But that night I didn’t need to. B was at her house and they were bored. I should have gone over, but my butt was out like a light waaaaay too early. I would have been no fun to anyone as tired as I was.

The movie, by the way, was Indiana Jones. Light of my life had never seen the movies and I felt so bad not breaking her into to one of the greatest series of all times. She loved Raiders of the Lost Ark and immediately wanted to watch Temple of Doom. We’ll watch The Last Crusade tonight, probably. I’m kinda digging this writer’s strike. It gives me a chance to catch up on movies and light of my life’s movie education. She’s already been introduced to Grease, Grease 2, Dirty Dancing (with the Baby/Johnny love scene fast forwarded and eyes covered), Karate Kid (all 4!), Adventures in Baby-Sitting, Clue, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (her personal fav!), Footloose (another fav!), Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Goonies, Never Ending Story, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (the Kevin Costner version….I don’t care what people say, I love this movie!!!) and Shag. Next up on the list is Uncle Buck and Ghostbusters.

On Saturday morning, we awakened to icicles on the house, our cars, the handrail on the steps, the steps themselves, the trees, bushes, etc….Light of my life was so excited. Poor thing, it was the first time she’s ever seen icicles. We never got cold enough where we used to live for her to ever experience it. Still no snow, but the icicles will hold her over for a while. We have several of them in a bowl in my freezer! Got some cool pics.

Had to make the inevitable Wal-Mart run on Saturday. After all the fun and excitement with the icicles, we hopped in the car and drove 30 miles away to go shopping. I love that I live 30 minutes from a Wal-Mart. No extra stops just to buy more crap that I don’t need.

Anyway, light of my life had gotten a kids cookbook from Santa and she wanted to try out a recipe. We found one that we already had most of the ingredients for. She actually found two recipes and they make up a meal so she got to cook the entire meal by herself on Saturday night.

She made Crispy Mexican Chicken Tenders and French Fries. The only work I had to do was cut the potatoes and put things in and out of the oven. Otherwise, all the measuring and dipping and breading, she did herself. She even cut the chicken pieces into nugget-sized pieces. It was actually really, really good. I just had the leftovers for lunch today. The French Fry recipe even had a sauce to make with it. It was sour cream and barbecue sauce. It called for more sour cream than barbecue sauce but we reversed it and put more barbecue sauce than sour cream! I explained to her that as she got more comfortable with cooking, she could alter recipes to her liking.

She was so proud of herself. I'm real proud of her, too. We had some leftover and went over to B’s house. She had said that she wanted to sample it. We brought over about 6-7 pieces and some fries. Light of my life’s friend, M, had another girl sleeping over that night and they ate the whole plate!!! Luckily, B had managed to get a couple of bites in and declared it delicious. The girls thought it was good, as well. B asked light of my life when she was going to come over and cook for them. Light of my life said, “Anytime”.

We are obtaining a pool/Foosball/air hockey/ping pong table from B. She cleaned out the girls’ room and had to make room for her exercise equipment. In order to do that, she had to get rid of the table. We gladly accepted.

They’re bringing it over tonight.

When we were there on Saturday afternoon, I was teaching light of my life to play pool. I love to play pool and had been playing since high school. I’m such a bad mother. I’ve taught my daughter to play Texas Hold ‘Em poker and now pool! Next thing you know, I’ll have her smoking unfiltered Marlboro’s and drinking her Jack Daniel’s straight!

Anyway, B was on the phone with her husband, L. She mentioned that I was busy playing pool and he said that he “bet I had been in a lot of pool joints”. Of course, I had to correct him. I told B to tell him that I had been in a lot of “beer joints that happened to have pool tables”. That L is such a smarty pants sometimes! Of course, he wasn’t wrong, so I can’t get upset at him. Not that I would anyway. It was funny!

We decided that since the pool table was now going over to our house, if the girls wanted to come over to play, they had to bring a carton of cigarettes and a case of beer. That was the entry fee into the pool tournaments. I was teasing of course, but the rest of the time, we were saying that they always had to bring a carton and a case in order to enter the “pool joint” I was making over at my house. I’m going to make a sign and hang it up on the outside of the house. I bet some of the inhabitants of this county will think twice about stopping by unannounced after they see that. Actually, I’d probably be thrown in the slammer since it’s a dry county and I’d probably be contributing to the delinquency of minors and all that jazz! I kid, I kid. At least about the carton and case. I’m not kidding about having the kids over for tournaments. That will be fun. Their parents, however, will be required to bring over a case (not necessarily a carton)….especially if they intend to stay and visit! LOL!!!!!

Not a terribly exciting weekend but a nice and leisurely one. Just the kind I like. Did some cleaning out of light of my life’s room and playroom. Giving lots of things away. I can’t believe light of my life is willingly giving away 90% of her purses!!!! This is my little purse obsessed girl willingly giving away PURSES! I was so proud of her.

Now I just have to call up that Methodist church and take the stuff we don’t want any more to them. I hope Paris comes to the next sale. She can buy one of light of my life’s old purses! She has a nice silver one with a picture of Troy from HSM on it! I think that would look smashing with her many glorious outfits she’s frequently photographed in while visiting lesbian clubs in California. Yes, you read that right. Just Google that and you’ll see where she’s been partying lately!

Anyway, that was my weekend. How was yours?

Later,

Mama Dawg