Movies I Couldn't Finish

I went through a huge movie watching spurt last month. Then something happened and even though I took out a few films I knew I'd like, or that I wanted to watch, I just couldn't finish them for one reason or another. I think the prime reason was lack of sleep.

I do my movie watching on the weekends. Sadly usually late at night and I've just been so tired lately that I couldn't stay awake for anything.

So what movies didn't make it to the end?

The Smurfs were one, and I'm actually really sad about that one. I kept falling asleep through it, and it was so damn cute.

I am still trying to figure out why Neil Patrick Harris keeps getting cast in films for young adults and kids.

I also just can't like NPH. I don't know why. I think it is because I hate his character on How I Met  You Mother.

The next movie I couldn't finish...Marley and Me

I think because I knew what the ending would be, and because everyone told me about it, I couldn't finish it. I watched the first half and then gave up.

I loved Marley. I really loved Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. To be honest, I never thought I'd like her in a movie, I never much cared for her at all, but in this I know she was good.

I guess my period of excitement over movies is done.

It might take awhile before I can sit and watch anything again.

Drat.

Unless I can somehow get out to see Dark Shadows!!

Book Promo: These Girls

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French Toast In A Mug

My mom heard about this on Live! With Kelly this morning, so it's late in the evening and I'm making her French Toast in a freaking mug!

Great news!

It tastes good!

2 slices bread

1 T melted butter
1 Egg
2 T milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon and sugar
few drops Vanilla
maple syrup

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in microwave. Swirl it around to coat inside of mug. Add egg, milk, cinnamon and vanilla, whisk together. Rip up bread and push it down into mug with fork until bread is covered with liquid. Microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes.

remove from microwave, add some maple syrup and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Double Trouble Chocolate Chip

Prep Time 20 min
Total Time 30 min
Servings 24 cookies

This is a great make it with a mix cookie. I hate making chocolate chips straight from a package mix. It feels like cheating! That's why I went looking for something to spruce it up. I found this on the brand's website, and oooh they are so good. I'll update with my picture in a bit.

Ingredients

1 package Krusteaz Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 egg
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons water
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) I used chopped walnuts in one dozen the other I left plain)
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Place all ingredients in medium bowl.
• Stir until dough forms, hand kneading if necessary.
• Using rounded tablespoon dough for each cookie, place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Or you can use parchment paper
• Bake 9-11 minutes.

Sometimes Change Is Bad

If you are on Facebook, you know that change is bad. Every time Facebook implements something new, it is met with cries of "Stop! Change it back!" Take for instance, the new Timeline. It sucks, I'll admit it. But it isn't worth bitching about, because Facebook does not care about its users. (Much the same way, Zynga doesn't care about the 80 million people that want to go ape shit over the number of goals their games send their way daily)

But back to change. Blogger has made some very white changes lately.

I don't usually bitch about stuff like this, but today I am.

Blech!

Thank god there is an option to keep the old blogger interface, because I think I would have cried otherwise. I will give Blogger kudos for letting us keep our old interface. Perhaps deep down they know that the new one sucks!

TV Gripe

Two of my favorite shows annoyed the hell out of me last night.

Two Broke Girls had Max and Caroline doing taxes and rushing to get to the post office to get them done. Uh, I'm pretty sure the chickies have a computer. Why are they mailing them? Actually how in the hell has Max managed to not file and not have the IRS come down on her ass?

SRSLY!

Yeah...that was so wrong and stupid. If it weren't for Sofia and Oleg, last night's epi would have sucked!

Next up, Mike and Molly.

OK, so Molly is turning into bridezilla. Her dress doesn't fit, she's getting super obnoxious and she kicks off a side mirror from some skinny bitch's BMW, and get's arrested.

Everything is happy in the end. What I want to know is when will she get in trouble at work. Cos I'm sure the school district doesn't want a teacher that goes around assaulting people.

I know sitcoms aren't about reality, but sometimes I wish they weren't so far out there, because this really got on my nerves last night.  Surly the writers could have come up with something better than this.

Making Bread

It's 80 degrees out, so what am I doing? Baking? Crazy, right?

Here's my recipe for Pineapple Walnut Bread

1 stick of butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 8oz can of crushed pineapple drained
1/2 of chopped walnuts

Cream the butter and sugar.
Slowly add the eggs.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add to butter mixture, alternating with the pineapple.
Fold in the nuts.
Pour into a greased/floured bread pan and bake for 50-60 minutes.

Movie Review: Hop

Movie Blurb:From the makers of Despicable Me comes an all-new comedy about candy, chicks and rock n roll! He was destined to be the Easter Bunny, but all he wanted to do was rock! When teenage E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream to become a rockstar drummer, he meets Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker with his own lofty goals. Together the two encounter a series of hilarious mishaps and misadventures and in the end help each other recognize the importance of family.

Review: If you love movie's like Up, Despicable Me or even Coraline, why haven't you seen this movie? I was wondering why I hadn't yesterday, until I bought it for 48 hours On Demand.

This is a great family film. The plot is cheesy and cute. Russell Brand as E.B.? Totally awesome. I never thought the bunny would be a Brit! His cameo later in the film was cute too. It is hard not to be amused by the bunny and his drumming, equally so the evil chick Carlos and the dancing chick Phillip.

The little Peeps are the minions of the Easter world. Too freaking cute too.

The Easter factory almost makes Wonka's chocolate factory look lame.

Oh and then there's the human's. I loved Fred, played by James Marsden, who kept reminding me of a younger Matt Bomer. His sister is played by Kaley Couco of Big Bang Theory fame. It was a little hard to visualize her as a go getter, but hey, that's what acting is all about.

This movie was so fun. I could watch it again and again. There aren't many Easter films, but this is definitely a must see for this holiday!

Movie Review: Zookeeper

Movie Blurb: In this wacky comedy, Kevin James plays Griffin Keyes, a zookeeper who loves animals who love him back! In appreciation of their keeper's devotion to their well-being, a gorilla (voiced by Nick Nolte), a monkey (voiced by Adam Sandler), a lioness (voiced by Cher), and others suddenly start speaking up to help engineer a romance between Griffin and a pretty colleague (Rosario Dawson). Leslie Bibb, Donnie Wahlberg co-star.

Review:Kevin James is one of those guys you really have to love, even though most of what he's done, film wise is pretty lousy.

Zookeeper looked amusing, though, so I decided to rent it and give it a try.

It was cute.

The voices of the animals were super annoying for the most part, but all in all, the story was a good one, for the most part.  (Adam Sandler's Donald the Monkey was the worst, and Cher's Lioness the best)

The movie pretty much states that what you want isn't always the best choice. Griffin wanted to win back Stephanie, a snotty girl who dumped him badly 5 years ago (played by Leslie Bibbs). The animals of the zoo come to his aid in a Doctor Doolittle kind of way and he gets what he wants, only to find, he doesn't like what he's become. But don't think this film is deep like that.

No, he takes Bernie the gorilla to TGIFridays and has him pretend that he's in costume.

So there's a lot of silliness.

It's a good family film, and Rosario Dawson's Kate (The female Zookeeper) is awesome. The best scene in the film is the two of them swinging around trying to make Stephanie jealous at a wedding reception.

A halfway decent flick for $1.27.

Movie Review: Snow Flower & The Secret Fan

Movie Blurb: From the director of The Joy Luck Club, and based on the best-selling novel, comes a timeless portrait of female friendship. Centuries ago, two “sworn sisters” are isolated by their families, but stay connected through a secret language written in the folds of a white silk fan. Now in modern-day Shanghai, their descendents must draw inspiration from the past as they struggle to maintain their own eternal bond in the face of life’s complications. What unfolds are two stories, generations apart, but everlasting in their universal notion of love, hope and friendship.

Review: If you read the fantastic book by Lisa See, you might want to pass on this film. The movie only tells part of the story, seeking to add a modern spin along with the historical. Oh and there's also subtitles.

My thoughts are...if you are going to have part of the film done in English, why not do the rest as well. Perhaps it is for authenticity, but for whatever reason, it doesn't work here. The two story lines could also have worked if they were aiming for a longer film, but instead they kept the film at 1 hour and 40 minutes, so each story felt incomplete.

Snow flower and Lily had such a special relationship and you only catch little snippets of that in this movie. The same can be said for Nina and Sophia. It did open your eyes to Laotongs "old sames" and the nushu language that was for women, but so much is left out. I think even those people that didn't read the book will feel the choppiness of this film.

I won't blame the actresses, as both Bingbing Li and Gianna Jun did a great job playing the dual roles. Hugh Jackman makes an appearance as Sophia's Australian lover. I think he was cast for the benefit of attracting an audience.

The cinematography, however, is what makes this movie worth watching, especially in the 19th century parts of the film. The visuals and film score are stunning, which doesn't have me wishing for my $1.27 rental fee back. I am happy that I never went to the theater to see this one, that wouldn't have been worth my money.

Movie Review: Beastly

Movie Blurb: Seventeen-year-old Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) is the spoiled, shallow and incredibly popular prince of his high school kingdom. Kyle foolishly chooses Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen), a witch masquerading as a high school student, as his latest target for humiliation. In order to teach Kyle a lesson, Kendra transforms him into someone as unattractive on the outside as he is on the inside. Now he has one year to find someone to love him, or he will remain Beastly forever. A quiet classmate he never noticed named Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) may be his best chance to prove that love is never ugly.

Review: I have a mixed bag of emotions about this movie. It is a modern/teen version of Beauty and the Beast. In some parts the movie works really well. In others, it is very ho hum.

Kyle is a rich snotty, only pretty things deserve attention kind of a-hole. He's gorgeous and he knows it. I'm thinking his character might have been more interesting in the book, because there's no real reason why he acts the way he does, and the same goes for his father, who isn't played by anyone super attractive.

The most impressive acting in this film is surprisingly by Mary-Kate Olsen. WTF! She plays the "teenage witch" and she's no Sabrina! She's not really evil, but not really nice, she's out to prove something to Kyle when she turns him ugly. He has a year to find someone to love him, in spite of his looks or he gets to remain ugly for life!

Awww poor cute Kyle!

The other notable addition to this strange cast of characters is Neil Patrick Harris, the blind tutor. He doles out romantic advice and some other amusing quips, but sadly he comes across as a slightly watered down version of Barney, his How I Met Your Mother character. Sometimes I wonder if Neil can play another part?

Then there's our beauty, Vannesa Hudgens, most notably from High School Musical and dating Zac Effron. She's pretty enough but there's no reason why Kyle/Hunter should fall for her. In fact, we're never quite sure why he singles her out after he turns ugly. Again, I blame the change from book to screenplay.

I've not read the book, but I'm pretty sure this one didn't make the transition to film well.

It is a fun fluffy film to watch when rentals are slim, but it certainly isn't worth investing money on for keeps