The Lightening Thief (the movie)

Dan and I went to see The Lightening Thief yesterday.  I had loved the books, and so wanted to see the movie.  I had high expectations.

For those who haven't read the books, the basic premise of the books, and movie, is that the Greek myths are real, and there are children of gods and mortals who need to be trained and protected in the world today.

I was not impressed.  Yes, I know, books usually have to be changed in order to make movies.  But they changed so much of the plot.  And, they merged two characters in the book--Annabeth, the brainy, blonde daughter of Anthena, and Clarisse, the angry daughter of Ares (god of war), into one person.

Annabeth is supposed to be blonde.  She is supposed to be smart.  She is supposed to have a magic hat that lets her turn invisible.  While she does fight, she also uses her brains.  And she only fights with a knife.  Not a sword, like they had her use in the movie.  They turned her into a great fighter, who is also beautiful.

Annabeth is also supposed to be conflicted about her love for both Percy and Luke, who she doesn't really like in the movie.

And Luke is supposed to be a great guy, which is what makes his betrayal so surprising and hurtful.  And why Annabeth can't give up on him.

I can understand (but not really like) why they simplified the plot.  And changed some of the underlying reasons things are happening.  They only had two hours.  But they destroyed one of my favorite characters.  And the movie was not awesome.  If the movie was awesome, it might have been alright.  But it wasn't.

Julie & Julia

I watched this while Dan was at work (per his suggestion).  I was going to knit while watching this, but ended up putting down my knitting and just watching.

The basic plot is actually two plots--Julia Child's path to becoming a published cookbook author, and Julie Powell's year long project to cook through that cookbook and blog about it.

The film is rate PG-13 for brief strong language and some sensuality.  "Some sensuality" meaning that every once in while, the married couples start kissing and then start moving horizontal, but the lights go out or the scene changes before things get to far--there is one scene with people in their underwear, but it's not BAD.  (I did cover Emily's eyes, so I wasn't watching too closely).

The stories are enthralling, and Meryl Streep does an exceptional job as Julia Child.  She sounds just like her.  And she plays a willful, fun, and endearing Julia Child, that you just have to adore.  I especially, maybe because I am a mom, loved how they addressed Julia not having kids.  In one example of this, she turns to look at a baby pass by, and gets really sad, and her husband kisses her hand.  I had missed what she turned to look at because I was knitting, and had to rewind.  (I had thought maybe he had looked at some pretty woman passing by, because they were talking about how they loved Paris, and then she was upset).  It was another reason you had to like Julia, because she was so happy, but deep inside she hurt.

Julie is a more urban, slightly jaded and rough-around-the edges character, a real "New-Yorker."  She wants to be a writer, but couldn't get her novel published, and uses her blog as a way to start writing again, and a way to deal with her not-so-successful life.

It was a good chick movie.  I am not sure if guys would like it.  It does have lots of food, but mostly French food, and lots of the movie revolves around relationships.  So, if you want to watch something heartwarming, watch this.  Especially if you like to cook.

The Color of Magic (adapted from books by Terry Pratchett)

I love Terry Pratchett.  He is one of my favorite authors.  His series of young adult books set in the discworld are some of my very favorite books.

However, if you haven't read the rest of his books, which are parodies of society, set on a flat planet which rests on elephants which are on a turtle swimming through space, you probably won't appreciate his books as much.  His adult books a great, and except for an occasional off-color joke, they are usually very clean.

I have read almost every single discworld book he has written.  If you want to spend months (or weeks, if you are a really quick reader) immersed in several intertwining plot lines and not-so-subtle roasting of society, history, and human failings, then read these books.

But I digress.  The real subject of this post is the movie The Color of Magic which covers the first two books by Terry Pratchett, The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic.  It was fantastic.  Sean Austin played Twoflower, the discworld's first tourist, and did an exceptional job.  Rincewind was older than I expected, but turned out beautifully.  And there was the luggage.  It was awesome.  (The luggage is a trunk made from sentient wood, which follows its owner wherever it goes.  It also eats people occasionally.)

If you have read the Terry Pratchett books, you will love this movie.  If you haven't, you might be hopelessly lost, and might find it somewhat amusing.  Or maybe you will love it too.

Princess and the Frog

So, I think I shall start reviewing books and movies on my blog.

Here is the first installment:

Princess and the Frog
I saw this just after Christmas with my sister Jeanie, up in Chicago.  We took Emily with us.  All three of us enjoyed the movie--I loved, loved, loved it, and Emily loved the music.

The movie is about a girl down in New Orleans who wants to make her dad's dream--and now her dream--of opening a restaurant come true.  She works all the time and never has any fun.  The prince comes to New Orleans because his parents cut him off, and he needs to marry into money--not that he wants to get married.  The heroine's childhood friend has lots of money, and is determined to marry him.  And then both the prince and the heroine end up as frogs, and they try to turn back into humans.

Emily especially loved the music for the voodoo doctor--Dr. Facilier.  I loved the lightening bugs, and their song, and the fact that the main lightening bug, Ray, is in love with Angeline--a star.  He is kind of stupid (in a sweet way) and doesn't know she's a star.

The movie made me cry, and I loved the ending.  I won't say more than that--except you should go see this movie.  It's a great Disney Princess movie.

So, I've been thinking about Disney Princess movies.  They aren't all about princesses--Mulan isn't once, nor does she become one, but she still fits in with the others.  Because they are about women who tackle life's problems and find true love.  Well, except for Lion King, were the main character is a male lion.  But besides that one.

I've loved these Disney films since I was a little girl.  Little Mermaid started it all.  My elementary school decided that the whole school should see it.  There was a twenty foot screen and a reel projector (which broke down part way through and they had to fix it), and we sat on little carpet squares and got cricks in our neck and aching backs--and I absolutely loved it.  Then, the scouts in my ward had a bake sale auction, and showed the movie again (which was weird, thinking back, since it's such a girly movie) and I was hooked.  I wanted to be a singer like Ariel, especially after my dad told me that the women who voiced Ariel was an opera singer.

Then there was Beauty and the Beast, which my mom took me to--my first movie in a theater.  We were a little late, and I'd never been to a movie in a theater, so I was anxious about that, but then we found our seats, just as the storyteller was talking, and I was hooked.  And I've loved Disney princess movies every since.

Princess and the Frog is a great installment in the princess collection.  So, go see it.  If you don't love princess movies, rent it.  But see it.

Fun Times in Indianapolis

Dan and I moved down to Indianapolis about a month ago, right before the tornadoes and then all the flooding happened. Talk about timing. We didn't get hit with anything worse than thunderstorms at our apartment, but a tornado went through part of our ward, and the river across the street from us flooded. There is a park along our side of the river, and it was flooded for a while. The river went down a couple weeks ago. We drove along the river when it was flooded, which was fun,.

My mom and sister came and visited us this past week, which was fun. I spent lots of time shopping and going out to eat with them. Dan tagged along the first day, but then he let us have some girl time the next day. The last night they were here, we went and saw Nim's Island (Dan and I had already seen it) at the dollar theater.

Dan and I also went and saw Kung Fu Panda at the IMAX theater up in Nobelsville. We got a refillable bucket which will get us free popcorn if we ever go back. School has been out down here in Indiana for a while, so there were lots of kids at the theater, too.

Dan's friend from Brazil, Joseph Hayney, and his wife, Megan, came and had dinner with us about a week ago. So, we are keeping pretty busy.

Dan also got a job. Woo hoo! He will be doing construction with a couple members of our ward (a father and son team).

Living with the In-Laws

Dan and I moved out of our apartment at the beginning of May, and into his parents house. We also spent a bunch of time last week at his grandparents', down in Indiana. I had a couple job interviews, and they let us stay there both times we went down.

Yesterday I planted plants at my mom's house. First we went to the nursery, and she picked out perennials she liked--perennials so she doesn't have to get more plants next year--and I planted them. Dan and Enoch, my littlest brother, helped out, raking leaves, and Michael, my almost youngest brother, worked on his own project eradicating moss from my parent's front yard.

Today I planted flowers for my planters I am going to have at my new apartment in Indiana. We are moving down next Friday. Yea! I am excited to have my own place again, but Dan and I still don't have jobs. We got an apartment, it is by a fake lake (but still, a nice fake lake) and across the street from a park along a river. I think it is actually Fall Creek, which might make it a creek. But it is pretty big.

I also planted herbs for Vickie, my mother-in-law. That was fun, and Dan helped a little.

Yesterday we saw Speed Racer, in IMAX. It was awesome.