So I had a good friend of mine in town for a week & a half (under the guise that we were going to a conference for continuing ed units…ha ha ha), so we had to go do all of the “cheesy” touristy things. We went to Disneyland, walked way too much, missed the Nemo ride (3 hr wait is a little beyond a 2 yr old’s comprehension), & finally saw Johnny Depp. Okay, it was an animatronic Johnny Depp on the revamped Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but that is as close as I am going to get!! We were there for over 8 hrs & we managed to take, oh, about 6 pics. Here’s a sampling.
Not that you can really tell that its Disneyland…just take my word for it. I swear I was there with him, I didn’t just drop him off & say “have fun, be back in 8 hrs!”
Then it was off to the beach so my friend could see the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
Her impression….”its cold”. Note child running at camera with devilish grin on face. That’s because he just ran straight into the water with reckless adandon. No fear & a rip tide is a bad combo. Needless to say the beach has ceased to be a relaxing place for me!!
So lastly we were off to give my friend a real taste of Hollywood. Cheesy $10 T-shirt shops, bad celebrity impersonators….all the good stuff! You have to make a pilgramage to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre if you are in the LA area. This is where the famous hand/footprints are. And as of last week, wandprints. But I’ll get to that later. The vast majority of the people whose “prints” are in cement are long gone, & I would say only about 10% of the visitors could identify even half of the people honoured there. But there is such nostalgia there. Harkens back to Hollywood’s glory day, when men were men, and women were, well…a size 12. With teeny, tiny feet mind you. I felt pretty much like an ogre standing next to the footprints of Judy Garland, Mary Pickford & Marilyn Monroe. Heck, my feet & hands are bigger than most of the men! I even got my pic taken next to an old crush & a new crush.
The first one is Danny Kaye (my White Christmas crush) & the second is Matt Damon. Note that the hubby pretty much tried to cut most of Matt Damon’s “prints” from the pic. He must be jealous!! BTW, Matt Damon…very big shoes!
So then I tried to get a picture of the famous theatre (which is just beautiful), & this is what I got.
Pretty much a giant advertisment for the new Harry Potter movie, & the hand, foot & wand print ceremony. Yep that’s right. Harry, Ron & Hermione’s feet, hands & wands (don’t go anywhere dirty with that) are immortalized forever in cement in front of this famous theatre. Hopefully, in 50 years people won’t be looking at these names with the same stunned look that they have today trying to figure out who George Burns, Betty Grable or Sonja Henie are.
Anyway, my whole point behind giving you a play-by-play of my “tour” around LA, is that it reminded me that I live in a pretty cool place. I get so used to going about my everyday life of laundry, grocery shopping & playdates, that I forget how much this place has to offer me (& the little guy for that matter). Hollywood is a big draw here (touring backlots or historic theatres), but shockingly there is so much else. What I will endeavor to do is to stop every once in a while to look at the place I live like a tourist. I challenge you to do the same. Big city or small town. I almost guarantee that you will discover (or re-discover) some fantastic stuff & create some fabulous new memories.
So on to the reviews. The ratings are: 4 stars = don’t miss it, 3 stars = worth seeing, 2 stars = not terrible, 1 star = don’t waste your time.
In Theatres Now
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
Okay, so you should know right off the bat that I am a BIG fan of the Harry Potter Series (both books & movies), so my review might be a bit skewed. When I read this book the first time (yep, I’m a total dork & have read all of the books more than once), I can honestly say it was probably my least favourite of the books. Harry just comes across as whiny. So I wondered how I would feel about the movie. This is one instance where I think the film actually aids the book. The movie helped me see the reason why the 5th book has to be the way it is. It is necessary for the greater story (all 7 together) & also for the character progression. This movie is about alienation, suppresion, and anger (quite appropos in today’s day-&-age). Harry has to be whiny, angry & so unsure of himself, in order to grow into the adult wizard who may fullfill this movie’s prophecy. The movie is very serious from start to finish (again shocking how many young kids were in the theatre), gone are the moments of comedic levity of the previous movies. But overall, I enjoyed the movie. My hubby wished it would have been longer, but here’s my take on this. The people who have made the last 3 movie’s have said that they have taken the one central theme out of each book. Anything that doesn’t serve that is out. So call me a lemming, but I buy that. The first book was around 300 pages long & the movie based on it was over 2 & 1/2 hrs. How long should OOTP be, based on an almost 900 page book? So a lot of the extras that fill out Harry’s universe are gone, but nonetheless the movie still tells the story well. My only wish is that they would have left the quidditch in. The fact that we never got to hear “Weasley is our King” is just a shame. Besides that, no complaints here! I’m giving this one an emphatic 3 stars. No quidditch, no 4th star!!
Knocked Up
I had heard some good word-of-mouth about this movie & I was totally game for a good laugh. And boy, did this movie deliver. I laughed out loud so many times, I might have been disturbing people in the theatre (or the next for that matter)! I identified with the women in this movie (the pregnant one & the “old-married” one) on so many levels, that frankly it was a bit scary. I kinda was wondering how a guy could write a movie where he could get women’s feelings so spot-on. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is crude, rude & totally goofy. But it all works. If you don’t know the basic story it goes something like this: Guy meets girl. Girl way out of guy’s league. Guy & girl get drunk. Girl puts on beer goggles. Guy & girl have one-night stand. 8 weeks later, girl finds out she’s pregnant. Guy & girl try to give a relationship a go. What ensues is a mix of hilarious episodes, crazy friends & family-pressure, all sprinkled with some true, honest emotions. If you go see this movie, afterwards you will feel the overwhelming need to use the f-word excessively. But as long as you’re not in mixed company (& by mixed I mean toddlers who’s favourite game is “repeat whatever Mommy says at highest volume possible 400 times”), then who gives a f$#%. I enjoyed driving home & dropping the f-bomb the whole way, even if it was just for 20 min. Actually, this is a great date movie, you’ll just get different things out of it. Oh, ya and the famous “crowning” scene…all I could think was “who has a full “whoo-ha” wax before they give birth!!!”
On DVD Now
Borat
I’m a little behind the times on seeing this one, but many people had told us it was hilarious so we thought we’d give it a try. I will admit, I just don’t get it. There was maybe one or two instances (basically a total of 30 sec or so) that are remotely humerous, but beyond that I just found it uncomfortable & rather dull. I actually picked up a magazine & started reading it because I was bored. I know some of you may disagree with me, & please let me know what I missed. But I pretty much have nothing good to say about it.
Movies to Keep an Eye on
Rescue Dawn – Already in Theatres. There is some serious buzz about this movie, including some people talking Oscar, but it is some heavy subject matter (Vietnam era POW camps) that may keep some people away. Nonetheless, worth considering.
The Bourne Ultimatum – Aug 3. I could go on ad nauseum about Matt Damon, but I will spare all of you. Just a good old action movie with very little CGI & an excellent supporting cast.
Stardust – Aug 10. So they are billing this as the next generation’s Princess Bride. Which of course prompted me to think “how old am I that my generation is totally bypassed?!?” Oh well, looks interesting, with a stellar cast.
The Invasion – Aug 17. This movie sat on the shelves for over a year. Usually means something bad. Then they regrouped for reshoots with a different director & writers. I’m not quite sure this makes me feel any better. But, it stars Nicole Kidman & Daniel Craig, so how bad can it be? We’ll see.
Top Five
In honour of being in the “dog days” (still not quite sure what that means) of summer, I thought I’d celebrate my top five summer/vacation movies. As always, let me know if I missed your fave.
Top Five Summer/Vacation Movies
5. Little Miss Sunshine – Not quite sure if you can call this a vacation (driving across country in a VW van), but it is such a sweet & touching story of family dynamics that I had to include it.
4. The Great Outdoors – Big Bear. Big Bear Chase. Big Bear Chase me!
3. Meatballs – I think everyone wished they could go to summer camp after they saw this movie. Plus its Canadian!
2. Field of Dreams – If you build it, he will come. After having seen this movie about 40 times, I still cry at the end when he asks his Dad to “have a catch.”
1. Vacation – Need I say more (okay just a little bit more). Chevy Chase at some of his best. And the first set of kids who were the funniest anyway. Rent it one friday night, I guarantee you’ll laugh!
Thanks again all & as always please let me know what you think in the comments section. Any recommendations? Difference of opinion? Movie I missed?
See you at the movies!!
Kath – I totally agree with you that St. Mungo’s was one of my favourite parts of the book. Who wouldn’t want a Kenneth Branaugh cameo?!?
Jen – So what did you think of HP 5?
Kie – As far as Borat goes, I have to say that I wondered who were the real people being duped by “Borat” & who were the actors. Not that I really want to waste anymore time thinking about it!! LOL!!
I gave up on the HP books after trying to make my way through the first 4 all in one go, so have stuck with the movies. So I guess I’ll never know what I’m missing.
Borat – I’m so glad you didn’t like it. Like you, I felt there were less than a handful of funny parts, otherwise I didn’t get it. The naked scene made me almost sick to my stomach. And most of the other parts just highlighted negative traits in Americans. My husband loved it and unfortunately we now have a copy at home. Needless to say, I head for the computer or my book when he thinks about putting it on.
Can’t wait for Bourne Ultimatum. Matt Damon – yum!
Wow! Your little guy is so cute and looks TOTALLY fearless…rip tied?!
Am going to see HP tonight so will give my two cents later. I am so glad you reviewed Borat! I haven’t seen it but had a feeling I would feel this way about it so now feel OK giving it a pass.
As for summer movies, I LOVED American Pie. Camp was never that hilarious when I went!
Yup, I missed the Quidditch too, but not as much as I missed my own anticipation of St. Mungo’s! I just really wanted to see it (and a cameo of Kenneth Branagh as Guilderoy Lockhart, too). I agree, so many, many things that I would have loved to see didn’t make it in the movie. Let’s just hope there’s a TON of great deleted scenes in special features. Maybe they’ll do like LOTR and put out a special 4-disc edition including all the deleted footage! Ahhh…I’m just dreaming. I guess I’ll just have to wait for Saturday for my next HP fix. As for funniest summer movie, you oughta rent RV. Of course Robin Williams is good, but it’s Jeff Daniels who MAKES this movie (as usual for any movie he’s in). I think you’ll find it funny.
Oh, and your little guy could not BE any cuter. Seriously.