The Long, Long Trailer

Friday I had the day off.  I had a doctor's appointment in Indy, so Mom went along with me.  After the appointment, Mom and I decided to do a little shopping.  What does an AV/Reference Librarian go shopping for?  DVD's, CD's and Books.  What can I say,  I just can't get away from what I love best.  While we were at Barnes and Noble,  Mom picked up the DVD The Long, Long Trailer.  She remembered going to see it at the drive in.   Sunday I had to hang out at Mom's house waiting to go to choir practice (I didn't want to waste the gas driving across the county too many times) so we decided to watch it.

The Long, Long Trailer, which was released in 1953, stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.  I think Lucille Ball was one of the funniest ladies ever.  And an interesting side note, I was born on her birthday.  I just thought you would want to know that. :)  Anyway, this movie tells the story of Nick and Tacy.  They are getting married and instead of buying a house, they decide to buy a trailer.  Not just any trailer, but a long, long trailer.  After the wedding, they hitch it up to their car and off they go.  Needless to say, high jinks ensue.

This was a really cute movie.  I laughed out loud in several places.  One especially funny scene was when Tacy tries to cook dinner in the trailer while it's going down the road.  Mom was thrilled when she recognized that the woman who played Ma Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle movies, Majorie Main, was in this movie.  Mom loves the Ma and Pa Kettle movies.  I also enjoyed seeing Lucy and Desi together.  They were a good comic team.  You don't see that kind of chemistry anymore.

So if you are in the mood for a good old movie, I would recommend The Long, Long trailer.

X-Men Origins Wolverine

I am a huge fan of the X-Men movies (I own all 3 of them) and an even bigger fan of Hugh Jackman.  I was really excited when I heard they were making X-Men Origins Wolverine.   I didn't get around to seeing it in the theaters this summer.  I checked out the DVD and watched it this weekend with my Mom.  We actually had to watch the 3rd X-Men movie, X-Men The Last Stand as she hadn't seen that one yet. (good thing I own that one). 

X-Men Origins Wolverine bascially follows the story of how Wolverine became Wolverine.  He follows him from childhood until the time we see him in the first X-Men movie.  There are several characters that you will remember from the 1st 3 movies.  Those include Sabertooth, Cyclops, and Professor Xavier.  New characters to this movie include Gambit (who I will add is very cute), Deadpool, Bolt and Blob. 

I really liked this film.  It did a great job of telling Wolverine's story.  I was a bit concerned that certain things wouldn't be addressed in this movie that were in the 1st three.  But they were.  It tied in really nicely to the 1st 3 films.  Hugh Jackman is wonderful as always.  Liev Schreiber is also wonderfully evil as Victor Creed (ie Sabertooth).  The only thing I regret is not seeing this on the big screen.  The fight scenes would have been really cool to see there.

Mom liked the movie.  She had some reservations about the violence.  I told her it was a comic book movie and that was to be expected.  I don't know if she agreed with me.  But she liked it anyway.  

State of Play

State of Play is a political thriller starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.  The story begins with a mysterious death of an aide to a Congressman (played by Affleck).  Crowe plays a journalist who also happens to be the Congressman's best friend.  I don't want to go too much into the plot because I am afraid I will give too much away.  I like surprises and this movie delivers.

I decided to watch this film by myself because my mom still blames Russell Crowe for the demise of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid's marriage.  (Mom loves her Dennis Quaid).  I do enjoy Russell Crowe and he does a great job again in this film.  Ben Affleck also does a great job and is very believable as a Congressman (what the film and you will know what I mean).  Also giving notable performances are Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren and Robin Wright Penn. 

The plot was very intricate and I was pleased that everything tied together in the end.  I also didn't see the ending coming.  I like that in my movies.  I would definately recommend this film.

New in Theaters this week

This week's new releases include several promising flicks.  They include:

1.  Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls (Rated PG) - Based on the popular children's book by the same title, Cloudy tells the story of inventor Flint Lockwood.  His one desire is to create an invention that will make everyone's life easier.  So far he hasn't had any luck.  He one day invents something that will solve the world's hunger problem.  What Flint actually causes is food to fall from the sky.

I am really looking forward to seeing this one.  The advanced reviews for it have been very positive.  The animation looks fantastic.  And you know, I love my animated movies.

2.  The Informant (Rated R) - This is about an upper level executive in a company who is called on by the FBI to spy on them.  Based on a true story, this film looks hiliarious.  It stars Matt Damon, who I love.  It also stars Joel McHale who is the host of E!'s The Soup.  (side note:  If you don't watch The Soup, you should.  It's the funniest show on TV)  It's also directed by Stephen Soderbergh.  The combo of him and Matt Damon (who worked together in the Ocean's films)  should make for a very good flick.  I am looking forward to seeing this one.

3.  Jennifer's Body (Rated R) - Girl gets posessed and starts killing boys in her town.  Even though there has been times I have felt like doing this in real life, I don't really want to go see a movie about it.  Plus I am not that big of a Megan Fox fan.

4.  Love Happens (Rated PG-13) - This sounds like your typical chick flick about a self help author that needs some help himself.  This looks pretty good.  I like most movies that star Jennifer Aniston.  And Aaron Eckhart is a hottie.  I am looking forward seeing this as well.






Well, there you have it.  I hope I have been of some assitance to your viewing pleasure.

Never Back Down

I figure I have 2 ways to summarize this film.  The short way would be cute teenage guys beat the tar out of each other.  A longer summary is Jake Tyler (played by Sean Faris), a teen with a reputation for fighting, moves to Miami with his mother and brother.  They recently lost their father to a drunk driving accident that Jake feels responsible for.  After a video on the Internet is leaked of  him fighting at his previous school, Jake is sucked into the world of ultimate fighting.  The local champ (played by Cam Gigandet) goads him into fighting in the local fighting championships. 

I am not a real fan for violence in movies, but I will have to say I actually liked this movie.  I could feel for Jake and loved the relationship that developed between him and Jean Roqua (played by Djimon Hounsou, who is wonderful as always) the mixed martial arts master Jake trains with.  Cam Gigandet was great as the villian of the piece (as he was when he played James in Twilight.  I know, I know, I am obsessed.  At least it wasn't another Kristen Stewart movie).   I would definately recommend this movie.

Random thoughts on the VMA's

I have a confession. I am an award show junkie. I watch them all. Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, Golden Globes, it doesn't matter. If they had an award show for the street department, I would probably watch it. I even tried to watch an award show in Spanish once. Unfortunately, my 3 years of high school spanish and 1 year in college wasn't enough. Well, last night, the MTV VMA's were on, and I needed a fix, so I watched it. Here are some random thoughts on the event.


1. Even though I thought he was weird, the Michael Jackson tribute at the beginning of the show was really impressive. Those were the songs I liked. It was also good to see Janet perform.

2. Kanye West is a jerk. Interrupting cute little Taylor Swift's acceptance speech was just uncalled for. So you thought Beyonce should have won. Get over it. I have watched many an award show and the person I thought should have won didn't. If I could get away with it, I would withdraw all his CDs from the library's collection. I can't so I won't but I just may not replace them. Also, I am now officially a Taylor Swift fan.

3. Lady Gaga is just plain weird. I like her music. I even have one of her songs as my ringtone on my cell phone. After her performance last night, I just might consider changing it. Also, her date for the evening was Kermit the Frog. I am not kidding. I am really surprised Jim Henson's company would want to be associated with that.

4. Pink's performance was actually kinda cool. She did some acrobatic thing while singing. And from what I could tell, she was actually singing and not lip-synching. That was impressive.

5. Russell Brand, the host for the evening, just wasn't funny. You would have thought MTV would have gotten the hint last year when he hosted, but I guess they didn't. Hopefully they will pick another host next year.

And now for the best part of the evening, and really the only reason I was really watching this fiasco. The unveiling of the extended New Moon trailer. This movie looks soooo good. And I got to see Robert Pattinson for about 30 seconds. But what a 30 seconds it was.


After this was on, I lost interest and started doing something else. I did see the end when Beyonce won Best Video and called Taylor Swift back out on stage to make her speech again. That was a very classy move on Beyonce's part.

I got to remembering VMA's of the past. And it brought to mind one of my favorite VMA performances. This is the way you put on a performance. Please note: If you are easily offended or have little kids, I wouldn't watch this. Just warning you. It's not bad by Madonna's standards.
I think it's pretty cool though.




Alert the media, I posted a Madonna video. Garry will be proud.

In Theaters This Weekend

Guess who forgot about doing this part of her blog?  Yep me.  So since it's Friday, I thought I would go ahead and do it.  Plus it will keep me busy as I work the AV Desk. 

Here we go:

1.  9 - From what I can tell, this animated feature deals with machines taking over the world and killing all the people.  I know I have said in previous posts I like animated features, but just by the description, I think I will pass.

2,  Sorority Row -This remake appears to be your typical slasher flick.  Sorority prank goes awry and girl gets killed.  Other girls try to cover it up and low and behold, they get stalked by a serial killer.  Sound a tad too predictable to me.  I will pass on this one too.

3.  Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself - This is another of Tyler Perry's movies that have the character "Madea" in it.  All those movies have been exceedingly popular here at the library.  This one will probably be popular as well.  I personally have never seen a Tyler Perry movie.  I probably won't go see this one in the theater.  If I decide to, I will catch it on DVD.

4. White Out - This movie stars Kate Beckinsale as a US marshall stationed in Anarctica.  She is called on to solve Anarctica's first murder.  She only has 3 days to solve it as winter is coming.  This looks kinda interesting, but I don't think I will spend the money to see it in the theater.  This is a catch on DVD flick for me.








Well there you have it.  Luckily I have killed enough time to make my time on the AV desk go a little quicker.

Adventureland

I am on my Kristen Stewart kick again.  I spent the morning watching the DVD Adventureland.  Set in 1987, Adventureland is the story of a recent college graduate named James Brennan (played by Jesse Eisenberg).    He was supposed to go to Europe during the summer but finds out at graduation that his parents don't have the money to pay for it.  He instead has to stay home and find a job to help pay for graduate school in New York.   The only job he can find is as a carney at the local amusement park, Adventureland.  The movie follows James and the quirky people  he meets thoughout the summer.

This is a very good movie.  Jesse Eisenberg is adorable as James.  Even though he seems to be having a run of bad luck, he never looses his positive attitude.  Kristen Stewart plays Em, James's love interest in the film.  She does a good job.  Ryan Reynolds goes against type and plays a cad but does it convincingly.

This is a very good quirky movie.  And the fact that it was set in a time I can remember (YEAH for the 80's) I could relate.

Sunshine Cleaning

I spent part of my day off today watching the DVD Sunshine Cleaning.  It was billed as a comedy.  After watching it, if this is what the filmmakers think is a comedy, I hate to see what their depressing movies are like.

Sunshine Cleaning is the story of Rose who is a single mother who is working a cleaning job.  She used to be really popular in high school but hasn't made much of herself.  She is having an affair with a married man.  In need of money after her son gets kicked out of school, she and her sister Nora set up a crime scene cleanup business.  Nora is not one to be reliable so you know where this is going.

Nothing good happens to these people.  I don't care to watch movies like this.  It's a good thing I was in a reasonably good mood today, because this film might have pushed me over the edge.  The movie did have a happy ending, but by the time it got there it too little too late.  

I would pass on Sunshine Cleaning.

Fall Movies I am looking forward to seeing

I must be honest, I have started this post several times.  I keep looking at Entertainment Weekly's Fall Movie Preview issue (the one with Jacob and Bella's picture on the front)  and am amazed at how many movies I want to see. Anybody who know me knows the big movie I am anxiously awaiting.  We will leave the obvious one to last.

Here is what I am looking forward to seeing this fall:

1.  Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Sept.18) - I love animated movies.  I have a collection on DVD that would make you think I have children.  This animated feature is based on the children's book by the same title.  I have never read this children's book, but I have seen the trailer a zillion times this summer and it really looks cute.

2.  Whip It - (Oct. 9) This is Drew Barrymore's directoral debut.  She, along with Ellen Page from Juno, also stars in this movie about roller derby.  I love Drew Barrymore.  My interest was also peaked after seeing the following article on line (thanks Edie for bringing it to my attention)  http://www.happynews.com/news/8312009/librarian-roller-girl-breaks-stereotypes.htm

3.  Nine (Nov 25) - This is the latest musical by Rob Marshall who directed Chicago.  I liked that movie and I like musicals.  So I would be willing to give this a try.

4.  The Men Who Stare at Goats (Nov 6). - I love quirky titles.  When I used to select the travel books at the library, I always got the books with the quirky titles.  If I ever write my memoirs, I am going to entitle it "It All Started the Day My Grandfather Got Hit by a Car".  The title of this movie caught me eye.  The fact that the ever hunky George Clooney is in it will also make me want to see it.

5. A Christmas Carol ( Nov. 6) -  My family loves Christmas.  We especially love Christmas movies.  My mom, my brother (even though if asked, he would probably deny it) and I all have a huge collection of Christmas movies.  I was really excited to see this new adaptation of Dicken's A Christmas Carol.  It stars Jim Carrey as Scrooge.  It is done in performance capture animation.  I am not quite sure about the technology but if you have seen The Polar Express, it's like that.  I can't wait to see it.

6.  The Princess and the Frog ( Nov. 25). - This is Disney's latest animated feature.  They haven't had a "princess" movie in a long time.  This will get  a lot of press because this is Disney's first African American princess.  Disney hasn't had much success with their non Pixar animated films.  The last one I really liked was Chicken Little (which if you haven't seen, it's a hoot)   But I will give it a shot.

7.  Old Dogs ( Nov. 25) - This is by the director of Wild Hogs (which was hilarious).  I saw the trailer this summer and it looks hilarious.  Hopefully they didn't show all the funny parts in the trailer.

8. The Lovely Bones (Dec. 11) - This movie is based on the book by Alice Sebold.  I tried to read the book but couldn't get past the first chapter.  It wasn't because it was poorly written book, it was the subject matter.  I have heard from others that have read the book that once you get past that, it's a wonderful book.  I saw a trailer on the internet for this film and it looks wonderful.  It's directed by Peter Jackson.   Being loyal to people from the LOTR franchise, I may have to give this a try.  I may even give the book another shot.

9.  I'ts Complicated (Dec. 25) - Meryl Streep is in a love triangle with Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.  I loves me some Steve Martin so I am definitely in for this flick.

10.  Sherlock Holmes ( Dec. 25) - I am looking forward to this for one reason.  Robert Downey Jr.  He plays the title role.  Since he cleaned up his act, his acting has just been brilliant.

11.  Did You Hear About the Morgans?  ( Dec. 18)  - This has Hugh Grant in it.  Since I have an obsession with cute guys with accents, why wouldn't I want to see this film?  (The fact that it is a romantic comedy doesn't hurt either).

12.  Alvin and the Chipmunks:  The Squeakquel (Dec. 25) - I was introduced to the first Alvin movie by my nephew and niece.  It was actually a really good movie.  This one looks cute as well.

And now, the movie I am most looking forward to this fall....

13.  New Moon - This is the second film in the Twilight saga.  New Moon wasn't my favorite book in the series (I would be giving too much of the plot away if I told you why.  If you have read the book and know me, you will know my reasons).   I have seen the previews a zillion times on Youtube and this movie looks awesome.  You can tell the studio put more money into to this one.  The "look" of the film is more what I imagined as I read it.  I already have plans to see it with Mom on Black Friday.  (I refuse to see it the first weekend it's out.  I want to avoid the crowds of teenage girls).  I will probably go see it several times in the theater (I haven't done that since Kevin was popular).  Have I said I can't wait to see it?

Well, there you have it.  Will I get to see all this films?  With my schedule, probably not.  But I will give it the old college try.  Hopefully a certain corporation will pay their property taxes so I can purchase the titles I didn't get to see for the library.

Vacancy

I started watching the movie Vacancy as I was washing my dishes this evening.  I like having the TV on for noise.  That is about all this film was good for.

Vacancy is the story of an estranged couple that are on their way back from the wife's (played by Kate Beckinsale) parent's anniversary party.  The husband (played by Luke Wilson) gets off the interstate and is on a back country road.  Do people in horror films ever learn?  He hits a raccoon and has to have their car fixed.  So they pull up into a sleepy little town and have the mechanic in the local garage look at their car.  That's another bad move by the couple as they get 2 miles down the road, the car breaks down again.  They go back to the sleepy little town and low and behold, there is a run down motel.  They end up getting a room for the night and proceed to get tortured throughout the night by the local crazy people.

This film did make me jump a couple of times.  However, it was quite predictable in others (especially when the older, heavier cop comes to save them.  You knew he was going to get killed.  They always do).  I just don't like to watch movies where people get the crap beat out of them.  If you are thinking about seeing this movie, I wouldn't bother.

Julie & Julia

I love Nora Ephron movies.  It started with a little film she wrote entitled When Harry Met Sally.  It continued with Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail.  One of my guilty pleasure movies is Mixed Nuts.  And I am probably one of the few people who liked Bewitched.  I am not sure what it is about Nora's films that makes me love them so.  It could be her quirky characters.  It could be that they make me laugh.  Whatever it is, all I know is I love them.  I went to the theater this afternoon and saw her latest film, Julie & Julia, and let me tell you, Nora has done it again.  I absolutely loved this film.

Julie & Julia is about a woman named Julie Powell.  She and her husband are living in New York in a small apartment over a pizza place.  She is nearing thirty and works at a job she hates.  She had at one time wanted to become a writer but long gave up that dream.  All of her friends are highly successful in their given fields and Julie feels like she isn't accomplishing anything.  The only thing that brings her joy is cooking.  Her husband gives her the idea to start a blog about cooking.  She decided to take on the task of cooking all the recipes out of Julia Child's cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Since Julie has a habit of starting things and not following through, she decides to cook the 524 recipes in 1 year.  The film depicts not only how Julie accomplishes this task, but also how Julia Child came about writing her cookbook.

Amy Adams, who portrays Julie, is wonderful.  She had me cracking up.  There is a scene where she has to cook lobsters that is absolutely hilarious.  She also portrays Julie's angst about not accomplishing anything significant beautifully.  Having gone through times like this in my own life, I totally connected with her. 

Meryl Streep is absolutely perfect as Julia Child.  She had her down perfectly.  After the last few films I have seen her in (Mamma Mia and Doubt), I am beginning to think she can do no wrong.   I also thought Stanley Tucci was excellent as Julia's husband Paul Childs. To be quite honest, I had no clue that Julia Child was married.  I dearly hope that I can find a man one day that is totally devoted to me as Paul was to Julia.

This movie is based on the true story of Julie Powell who actually cooked her way through Julia Child's cookbook.  Her blog was titled The Julie/Julia Project.  She eventually wrote the book entitled Julie and Julia.  The movie also is based on Julia Child's autobiography,  My Life in France.

I really loved this movie. (Did I say that already?)  I would highly recommend it.

An American Carol

I watched an interesting DVD last night.  It was "An American Carol".  It is a spoof on Dicken's A Christmas Carol with a right wing political twist.  The Scrooge character in this film is "Michael Malone" (obviously meant to be Michael Moore) who is a documentary film maker who's films don't always show America in a positive way.   He is planning on holding a protest at a July 4th Trace Adkins concert for the troops hoping to abolish the 4th of July.  Malone is then visited by the ghosts of JFK, General Patton, George Washington, and the Angel of Death (who just happens to be Trace Adkins.).   One of the highlights of the film for me was when General Patton showed Malone what would have become of America if certain war's had never been fought.  I thought it was funny.

This film was directed by David Zucker who also directed Airplane and the Naked Gun films.  You could definately see similarites in this film to those.   This is a very right wing conservative film.  I am what some would call a right wing conservative, so I liked it.  If you aren't, you probably won't.  The only thing I could can against the film is it used too many curse words.  I am by no means a prude, but I could have done without it.

In Theaters this weekend

I had a co-worker suggest I blog about upcoming new releases in theaters.  So I thought I would give it a try.  I was very suprised when I looked at what was opening this weekend and found only 3 new releases.  I figured since it was a holiday weekend, there would be more.  Oh well, what do I know.  Here is what is opening this week.

1. All About Steve (Rated - PG-13) - This stars Sandra Bullock as an eccentric single lady set up with Bradley Cooper on a blind date.  She becomes obsessed and starts following him.  Sandra is the queen of romantic comedies and is riding high from her last film, The Proposal (a great film by the way).   I am anticipating it to be very funny (the majority of her films are).  I will be seeing this in the theaters.  I was informed by this by my mom.  She called me this morning to specifically tell me she had see this preview and really wants to see it.

2.  Extract  (Rated R) - This is a workplace comedy about a guy (Jason Bateman) who is getting ready to sell his factory that produces flavor extracts when a catastrophy prevents him from doing that.  I figure this will do pretty well at the box office as it is directed by Mike Judge.  He directed the film "Office Space" which is a cult classic.  I will probably skip this in the theater and catch it on DVD.  Hopefully Chrysler will pay their property taxes so I can have the money to buy it for the library.

3. Gamer (Rated R) - This movie stars Gerard Butler.  It evidently has something to do with gaming.  Since I am not that big of a "gamer", this doesn't really interest me.  I think I will pass.









That does it for this weeks movie.  I hope to keep this up every week.  I hope you enjoy.