Ready for some Action?

Over the weekend my husband and I had 'date night'. We haven't done that in a long time but used to when the kids were little and we desperately needed a break and some real adult conversation. Anyway, we hit one of the first holiday movies to come out. 2012 was based on all the Doomsday Prophecies dealing with the end of the Mayan Calendar on December 21, 2012. Don't think I'm going to give away any spoilers with this one. From all the trailers, it's fairly clear this is primarily a 'special effects' movie. And boy oh boy were they EVER good special effects. I stayed on the edge of my seat through the the whole damn show.

The movie advances several different storylines that all converge in a way, toward the end. I wasn't so much taken in by the whole concept of the world ending. Only an idiot would sell his worldly goods, sell his home, and quit his job based on such a thing. The way I see it, if the end comes, it comes and there's not a whole hell of a lot we can do about it.

What I DID find interesting was the way certain characters behaved during critical moments. I've touched on this subject before and find it so interesting. So what happens when the world is falling apart? Do you risk your life for another or does survival of the fittest kick in leaving you ready to kick your fellow man to the curb? What lies buried deep in our hearts at moments like these? Is it worth surviving if you have to tromp over everyone else to get there?

Things to look forward to.....

Its fall, it gets darker earlier, it's getting cooler (well it SHOULD be getting cooler. Not so much in So Cal), but this is the time of year I love relaxing with a good book or movie. Here are a few things I'm looking forward to in the next few weeks.



Lacey Alexander has a new good coming out November 3. I love, love, love her erotic romances. Their scorching hot, but also emotional. I can't get enough of her books and I know this one won't be any different.




Yep, I'm a Twilight girl. The first movie disappointed me, but I have really high hopes for the second. It's got a bigger budget, and the special effects I've seen so far have FAR surpassed what they did in the first movie. I will be one of those women in line with my friends to see the movie at Midnight the night before it officially releases.



Nothing is as relaxing and enjoyable for me as listening to live music. One of my favorite singers, Bobby Long will be in town next week and I'm giddy with excitement to see him again. Think in the vein of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen or Tom Waits. Though not signed yet, he's phenomenal. Give it a listen. Above is one of my favorite songs by him, Sad Woman Blues.

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Lastly, Desiree Holt has a new release available today! You don't want to miss this one!




Rachel Windsor knew nothing about Gabriel Peralta except that he was walking sex appeal. He blew into her life without notice, here today then always gone on a puff of wind. But each time he appears, he does things to her body that even her fantasies haven’t conjured up, driving her to orgasms that shake her like a raging storm. His mouth knows every inch of her body. The imprint of his intimate kisses linger long after he disappears.

Now he’s back again, his life unexpectedly on the line. But even in the danger zone his sexual demands are more scorching than ever and this time, Rachel is determined not to lose him—or the erotic lifestyle that binds them.

Available

I don't want to grow up! I'm a Toys R Us kid

Well Toys R Us may be a bit of an exaggeration but I am a big kid. Tonight(Tuesday because I'm writing this early. I'll be way too tired Wednesday morning), at midnight (yes you read that right, midnight. LOL) I will be going to see the new Harry Potter movie. I've never done the whole midnight movie thing before but a couple friends of mine are going and you only live once, right? So we're piling in the car tonight and heading out for coffee and then we'll go over to the theater with probably a bunch of kids who are half our age and see a midnight movie.




I love the Harry Potter books and movies. I never really thought it would be something I would be into but a friend of mine lent me the first book years ago and since then, I've been hooked. I even turned my mom on to the books and we always see the movies together when they come out (which means I get to see it twice). I can't wait until my kids are old enough to watch them with me or when I can lay in bed at night and read the books to them before they go to bed at night.



I love these girls nights like this. I don't get to do them often with two kids and a husband at home but even when I'm not seeing a movie targeted for kids, I still FEEL like a kid when I'm hanging with the girls. For a couple hours we get to forget bills, the dirty house, and what to make for dinner the next night and just cut loose with other people who are just like you.

I'll be sure an update comments on how the movie and my night went!

Do you plan to see Harry Potter? What makes you feel like a kid again?

Hollywood Hunks!

Kelley couldn't be here today due to internet problems. Don't you hate that? I always feel so disconnected when that happens. At any rate, we figured we'd post a few cuties from the big screen to drool over. That way she has something to grin about when she gets back online. What are friends for, right? hehe!

Viggo...positively primitive...yum! Dwayne Johnson, he has such a great smile and I LOVE that tattoo!!

Ewan...there's just something completely romantic about this man. I always think soft music and candlelight.


Gerard. What a bod, right?

And let's not forget about Hugh. I just love him as Wolverine!

Happy Hump Day!! *grin*

Movie Weekend

I woke up this morning thinking it was Monday. My Bad! I do this with holidays when we suddenly find ourselves with a short week. So yeah, I'm a little discombobulated. It's Tuesday when it feels like Monday but we'll adjust and survive just like we always do.

Did anyone do anything fun over the Memorial Day weekend? We were really laid back but sometimes laid back is best. We smoked ribs on Sunday and Saturday evening we went to dinner and a movie. It's been ages since we've been to one and if you'll recall I wrote about the summer flicks coming out this summer not long ago. So, we went to see Terminator. I was outvoted. I was pushing for Wolverine but it was showing at an inconvenient time. Anyway, I'm a good sport and I figured watching Christian Bale for a couple of hours wouldn't be such a trial. Truthfully, I wasn't all that impressed with the movie. Christian is billed as the star but he's honestly not in the movie very long. The main star was a very great looking Aussie actor. I've forgotten his name but he stole the show and there were way more scenes of him than anyone else. So if you go to this thinking you'll see a LOT of CB, then you'll be disappointed.

Actually the best part of going to the movies this weekend was seeing the coming attractions featuring the new Transformers movie. Now THAT looks like a fun flick. I believe it comes out sometime in June.

What did you guys do over the long weekend? Anything fun?

I almost forgot about this. Not enough coffee yet, I guess. Fran Lee, a writer friend, made me a trailer for Lone Star Lycan (Ellora's Cave, July 10). She says these are really easy to make. I'm planning to get a new computer next month so I'm going to dive into learning how to do this. Tell me what you think of this one!

Break out the POPCORN

It's May 1 and officially the beginning of the summer movie season. YAY!!!! Every year I wonder what will be out there and this year everything looks sooooo damn gooood!

May I say HUGH JACKMAN???? Yeah, I know Wolverine has that funky, weird hair but damn. Only Hugh could pull that doo off and still manage to be sexy as hell. I can't wait for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This movie also features Ryan Reynolds who is uber-yum! Gotta love a man who is not only hot but FUNNY! I love him to death. I was also surprised to learn that Will I Am, the multi-talented writer and musician of Black Eyed Peas fame will make his acting debut as a mutant transporter named Wraithe.

And what else awaits us at the theater this summer? The movie Star Trek, featuring a ton of new, young actors. I've been seeing the clips of this and it looks fun. We also have Christian Bale in the next Terminator movie and Shia LaBeouf in Transformers 2. I don't know about you but I adore Shia. To me, he has that 'everyman' quality that makes him so likeable.


Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince also comes out this summer. Every year the kids get older but I think better and it'll be fun to see what they do with this.

So yeah. I'm ready to hit a few matinees and see as many of these movies as possible. It will be interesting to see how well attended the theaters will be this summer considering the poor economy. So far, we've seen books continue to sell and I suspect movies will provide a perfect escape for lots of folks this summer.

What movies are on your 'can't miss' list?

Unbelievable!

Sometimes the most seemingly impossible things happen and you're left just shaking your head. Anyone see the movie Slumdog Millionaire? It was a good movie...very well done in my opinion but I had a lot of trouble watching it. All the poverty and the abuse of children. The slums. The filth. Nope. Not a movie I would ever watch again.

Yesterday a story surfaced about the little girl who was featured for a large part of the film. I remember thinking when I saw the movie how absolutely gorgeous she was. British director, Danny Boyle, cast children who actually live in the slums of Mubai. Yes, this beautiful little girl lives in a slum with her father who, it was reported, tried to sell his little girl for $300,000 the other day. Nothing has been proven yet and the father of the little girl is protesting that he had no intention of selling his child but he did meet with someone who offered to buy her.

The story mentioned a British reporter, posing as a wealthy Saudi, made the offer and he claims the girl's father was interested. More news came out later about this whole thing when the movie company who made Slumdog Millionaire discussed how these children were paid for their appearance in the movie. Because the children's parents were so horribly greedy and grasping, the studio execs decided to establish trust funds for these kids...something they can collect when they are "of age", schools were paid for, etc. Very nice. The movie executives believed these parents would squander the money so they put protections in place to assure that when they were adults, they would recieve wonderful educations and money. Some of the parents of these kids bitched fairly loudly that they wanted money and the whole trustfund thing was unfair.

Apparently the notion that his child would be provided for in adulthood wasn't enough for this little girls father. Investigations are ongoing on this deal but, I swear, if they find this guy guilty of attempting such a horrific thing I hope harsh justice is meted out. This whole thing is sickening.

movie woes

So I watched The Haunting of Molly Hartley the other day. It was actually pretty good, but it had a bad ending. Do you ever find yourself frustrated when a good movie ends bad? I knew going into it that it'd probably end badly. I have no one to blame but myself for being upset by it. In my mind, I tend to always think the best though, I kept hoping that somehow it'd go a different route. It didn't. No surprise. LOL

I think the worst for me is when evil wins. It bugs me when evil triumphs over good. Doesn't that just seem wrong?! I always want evil to get the crap beat out of them. But this happens in movies so often, you'd think I'd just give up watching these types for good.






The worst ending award goes to Fallen. Oh wow. I sooooo wanted that to go a different way. And they keep you hanging on, waiting, hoping...only to be disappointed.



A true thriller is different. You expect them to end with a twist. You know things won't go as you want them to. And usually it doesn't bother me. It's just when I watch a movie that I personally consider suspensful, that I'm left frustrated.

A scary thriller with a really twisted ending would be Descent. It's still one of the most frightening movies I've ever seen. I can't even watch it twice, it freaked me out that much. And it did NOT end happy either. It was a great 'shocking' ending. And I walked away feeling as if I'd gotten my money's worth.






And now there's a new movie coming out. The Last House on the Left. Not so new really, as it's a remake of a very controversial film from the '70s. I think I'll skip this one. Torture isn't my thing. A good suspensful thriller is one thing. Movies like Ring, The Messengers, The Others, What Lies Beneath. Those are good movies to me. They make you think. Gross violence such as movies like Saw, Hostel, or the one below...nope. It just turns my stomach and makes me worry about humans in general.

Thing is, I used to like watching a scary movie. But more and more it seems we're turning away from 'edge of your seat' and moving toward downright sick. Am I the only one who doesn't need blood and guts and torture to get a good scare on?

Goin' to the movies

I rarely get to go to the movies. I enjoy going but its so hard to find a sitter so my hubby and I can both go. I want to try and make it to one this weekend. Here are a few movies that look good to me. Madagascar is on my list too but for some reason the poster didn't want to upload.






Have you seen any good movies lately? Anything you really want to see?

feel good movies

This weekend we were super busy. We hosted my niece's 21st birthday party. It was a blast! Lot's of food, drinks and fun. Sunday I spent part of the day cleaning up the mess, then I sat and watched "Baby Mama". Okay, show of hands! How else loves those feel good movies?! Is it just me? Sometimes you just need a silly, fun, somewhat romantic movie to make you forget your stress, right?

My daughters and I laughed out loud. "Can I just spray a little PAM down there right before the baby comes out?"--Angie ROTFLMAO!!! That line had me in tears! Or this one: "With a little luck I could be pregnant right now. . . I said too much for a first date, didn't I?" --Kate

If you haven't seen it yet, you definitely need to rent it!


Now, since I'm in the mood to laugh, what other movies should I rent? Gimme some titles! My life is nothing but stress, stress, stress. I need laughter dammit! LOL

Movies and books that move you

Winner of Kelley's contest is: Laura J. email Kelley at: kelley.nyrae @yahoo.com (NO SPACES)

There’s not been that many movies or books that left an impact on me. I’m hard to please, I suppose. Well, the other day my husband and I watched “The Bucket List”. Morgan Freeman is such a phenomenal actor, pair him with Jack Nicholson and you have a sure winner. I went into it knowing how’d it’d end. I mean, that part’s not a mystery. And while I generally don’t like sad endings, this time I broke my own rule and watched a movie that was sure to end sad. The thing is, it left me with a sense of peace. My husband and I looked at each other and we just felt this overwhelming happiness, ya know?

It’s not easy to be in love and happy after 15 years of marriage and two kids, but in that moment I could so easily see the rest of my life stretched out before me. Spending my days writing and my evenings sipping a glass of wine and chatting with my husband. I had an easy image in my mind of growing old and pampering a passel of grandkids. How lucky am I to find someone I could picture that with, right? Well, actually, sometimes it’s not so much a matter of finding that perfect someone, it’s a matter of working to create that perfect life together with the one you love. Nothing in life or love comes easy or free. But the things that make life and love worthwhile are worth working to obtain and keep. Agreed?

Now, recently my mom turned me onto a book that had that same sort of impact on me. Sharon Sala’s “The Healer”. I’d say it’s easily Ms. Sala’s best work ever. She’s a master storyteller, and this book proves that without a doubt. I was so excited about the story after I read it that I wrote a ‘fan letter’ to the author explaining how much emotion her book pulled out of me. I guess, when it matters, when it really means something, I feel this overwhelming urge to say THANKS to the author. I want them to know that they touched an emotional chord with their words. I think, and I can say this because I’m an author, that that’s what authors want to hear. We want to know that we touched someone with our words. It’s like getting an A+ on a test in school. You feel proud that all the hard work paid off!

So, today I’m giving away a $15 Amazon Gift Certificate, but I want you to tell me which movie or book, or both, touched you recently. J