Wednesday Quick Takes

I feel like everything I want to talk about lately can be summed up in a few short sentences.  (That is most definitely an indication of how my mind is working these days!)  So, how about some middle-of-the week bullet points?

• My spring semester is finally finished and officially closed out.  Now I'm starting the hard part of getting ready for summer...with an entirely new textbook.  The next several weeks could get a little stressful, but I'm trying to keep in mind that the stress now will only make fall that much easier.

• We are really beginning to feel the late spring/summer attitudes taking over.  Trips are being planned, activities scheduled, and we are all dreaming of the beach.  Unfortunately, our beach vacation isn't until September again (although it's worth the wait because that is the absolute best time to go, in our humble opinions!).  For a few minutes earlier this week, I thought we might be able to sneak away for a last-minute trip next week, but we couldn't swing it this time.  So we will wait until September and plan lots of other fun in the meantime.  I, for one, can't WAIT to return to my most favorite amusement park ever one weekend soon!

•  Jeremy has a work trip in Nashville next month and I am tagging along for a few days.  I am thinking of bringing the girls up for last part of the week (after I've had a couple of glorious days and nights of doing nothing at all).  Suggestions for fun kid things in Nashville?  

• My sister and I saw The Great Gatsby Sunday night.  That was my Mother's Day request, and it was an excellent one.  I may repeat that idea next year.  : )  LJ and I thought the movie was pretty fantastic.  I am not usually a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, but he was perfect as Gatsby.  And I think maybe he's looking better with age?  Why do so many men have that luxury?  I am a big fan of Carey Mulligan, and I enjoyed her portrayal of Daisy.  I have read the book twice, but it's been years, so I had forgotten a lot of the plot.  I did catch one of my favorite quotes at the end:  "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--They smashed up things and people and then retreated back into their money...."  I recommend the movie...and reading the book first, of course!

• On a long day at home a few weeks ago, I started showing the girls how to cross their eyes.  Addison picked it up pretty quickly and has been freaking Jeremy out with her "trick" ever since (he can't stand to watch anyone do it!).  Mackenzie couldn't quite do it, but she'd try and try, opening her eyes as wide as they'd go, and making me crack up every time.  This past week, she finally got the hang of it, and spent most of dinner the other night making J groan.  Isn't she classy?

Happy Wednesday!
How is your week going so far?

So, I saw The Hunger Games

I saw The Hunger Games this weekend, with a group of teenage girls (plus one brave boy) from my youth group at church.  I was really excited to see it and I was glad I didn't have to drag Jeremy with me!

It had been quite awhile since I started the books (almost 18 months, according to my post on the first book), which I think was a good thing for me.  I didn't spend the entire movie picking out all the differences between the book and movie versions. 

**Spoiler Alert!!  If you have not seen the movie and don't want to know details about it, STOP here.

Overall, I was very, very happy with the way The Hunger Games was translated to the screen.  I didn't notice many differences between the book and the movie that I felt made a big difference.  Many people mentioned the fact that the movie doesn't show District 11's gift of bread to Katniss following Rue's death.  That generosity was fairly important in the book, to show how the people of the Districts are beginning to look to Katniss as a sort of inspiring martyr figure.  While I can see where that scene would have added a bit of depth to the movie, I think the depiction of the riot in District 11 and Katniss making the District's sign got the point across well.  If I remember correctly from the book, we only hear later that there was a riot in 11, and I thought inserting that scene carried a lot of symbolism in the movie.

The situation between Peeta and Katniss is a lot more clear in the book, which is to be expected since it is told from Katniss's perspective.  In the book, we see that Katniss is confused about Peeta and is largely playing a part during the games.  In fact, the end of the first book ends pretty sadly for Peeta, as he realizes that Katniss was not taking their 'relationship' as seriously as he was.  Her ambiguous feelings are not conveyed nearly as well in the movie.  Those who have read the book might have picked up some of Katniss's confusion, but those who have not read it may very well believe she is falling in love with Peeta.  It is hard to imagine how those subtle emotions could have been more clearly depicted on the screen, so I'll just trust that the writers and producers will work that out in the future movies.  (The cave scenes are not nearly as long and intense as they were in the book, which surely disappointed some 'Team Peeta' fans.)

Again, being more than a year removed from my first reading of the book made it a little easier to separate the book and movie in my mind, and it also gave me time to adjust to picturing Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss.  And let me tell you, from the moment she appears on screen, there is no doubt that she IS Katniss.  Jennifer Lawrence was amazing; the perfect embodiment of Katniss. 

ALL of the characters were pretty amazing, as a matter of fact.  Josh Hutcherson's Peeta may not have been quite as compelling as Peeta in the book, but I attribute that largely to the fact that we have to take him at face value.  His dry wit and people skills didn't shine through as much in the movie, but I think the actor will be able to portray all the various sides of Peeta accurately in the coming sequels.  Woody Harrelson's Haymitch was a bit of a letdown, but only because the character is softened a bit from the book.  He was definitely more likeable in the movie, and even made me laugh...but Haymitch was a not a likeable or even a particularly sympathetic character in the first book.  Harrelson can play a drunk though, no doubt about that.

Gale was hardly in this first movie at all (which makes sense, as he is only present in the beginning and end), so I reserve judgment on him for later.  Prim was wonderful--heartbreaking, but wonderful.  I was not as moved by Rue's death scene as I was in the book, but honestly, I was pretty much okay with that.  That part of the book wrecked me, and I didn't particularly want to relive that in the theater.  Elizabeth Banks brought Effie Trinket to life better than I ever imagined.  It was difficult to imagine Effie transferred to the screen, but Banks was fabulously over-the-top in her portrayal.

One thing I was totally unprepared for was my love of Lenny Kravitz as Cinna.  I'll admit, he is someone I have never paid much attention to before.  But in this role?  That man was SMOKING hot.  Cinna is a pretty complex character in the books, and was maybe a little hard for me to picture clearly.  He is definitely more laidback, more classy, than other Capitol residents, and Kravitz nailed every bit of it.  Knowing his fate in the future makes me eager (but also dreading) to see what Kravitz will continue to do with this character.

As for the violence in the movie, it is often implied rather than shown directly, with many of the deaths happening off-screen.  I keep saying the games scenes are somewhat sanitized...but when you're dealing with a book/movie in which the main plot involves kids killing kids, that may not be such a bad thing.  Watching it with a group of teenagers put it into perspective for me, and I know lots of kids younger than my group who read and/or watched it.  I really can't imagine that more direct onscreen violence would do them any good.  At the same time, as a parent who can be pretty sensitive to situations involving children, I didn't want to see any more violence either.  While reading the book, I often had to remove myself from the situation a bit, and avoid thinking too deeply about the whole idea of the hunger games.

In case it's not clear, I thought the movie was extremely well done.  There were a few 'extras' that were not portrayed in the book--such as the behind-the-scenes look at the Gamemakers and expanded scenes with Caeser Flickerman (the always-endearing Stanley Tucci)--that added a lot of explanation to the movie that would have been hard to work in otherwise.  Transposing any book to the movie screen has to be a difficult task, but it seems especially daunting in a book like The Hunger Games that relies so heavily on internal dialogue.  Despite a few imperfections, I just can't imagine how it could have turned out much better.  I'm only disappointed that we have to wait more than a year for Catching Fire.

Have you seen The Hunger Games?  Did you read the books?  Tired of hearing about it??  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Even though Jeremy hasn't read the books (and doesn't intend to, I'm sure), I want to see the movie again with him.  I think he would like it pretty well, and I'm also interested in getting his impression as someone who doesn't know much about the story at all.  Plus, that's two and a half more hours of relaxation in a cool, dark theater for me.  : )

Notes to my future self

A few reminders for next year's holiday season:

---Don't buy Groupon or LivingSocial deals for events ahead of time.  This time of year is ridiculously busy, and all your family will want is a peaceful afternoon at home.

(We missed out on a second pre-paid deal this weekend, when nap only lasted 40 minutes and we decided to forgo Holiday Lights at the Zoo.)

(We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks at the theater instead...and had a pretty great time!)

---Book a photography session in October, instead of November, so you will have pictures back in plenty of time for holiday projects.

---Don't buy a movie your children loved last year...chances are, they will want nothing to do with it this year (ahem, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer).

---Let Jeremy claim a good spot to stand along the wall for the girls' MDO Christmas program, so maybe you will have better pictures than this:

Can you spot my little angels?  One of them is yawning...  : )

---Do all the holiday decorating in one day.  You will NOT want to start over on a new project the next weekend, so just get it all done at the same time.  (This would explain why there are no topiary trees on my porch this year, as well as why the cute little snowflake decorations I bought for the girls' room are still in the bag from Target.)

---Clean out the closets in early fall to prepare for the onslaught of wrapping supplies, gifts, stocking stuffers, and craft materials...that stuff takes up a lot of room!

---Related:  do not buy any more red ribbon.  There are three nearly-full rolls left from previous years in the hall closet.  (If you clean out the closet as planned, you will know this already.)

---Find a better hiding spot for Addison & Mackenzie's presents.  They will be a little older and wiser in 2012, and might not accept that the Dora accessories set Mackenzie just found in the bottom of her mother's closet is a present for potty training and not part of Santa's stockpile.

(Yes, they got the Dora set this morning and I don't feel badly about it at all, because I have TWO POTTY-TRAINED CHILDREN!!  I think that deserves the caps-lock key, don't you?)

Confessions: Christmas Style

I tend to buy more things for myself at Christmas than at any other time of the year.  I think it's because I'm already in the "spending money" frame of mind...combine that with the holiday sales happening at every turn, and I am powerless to resist.  A few dollars here and there can add up after awhile.  Oops!

I have no idea what to get the girls for Christmas.  So far, I have bought them Candyland, a Play Doh tool set and gift pack, and nightgowns. What are your kids getting this year?

As hard as we are working to help the girls grasp the concept that Christmas is about more than Santa, Rudolph, and presents, I had a regrettable moment of my own when I realized Christmas is on Sunday this year.  I believe I actually said something along the lines of, "Oh great...we have to work a CHURCH SERVICE in the Christmas day schedule too?!"  Not my best moment, by far.  (As far as I know, we will be attending church on Christmas morning, and I will be happy about it.)

This time of year makes me want to take on ambitious cooking projects.  I want to make bread pudding for Christmas brunch with my family, but I fear I may be out of my league. 

One of my favorite holiday treats is homemade chex mix.  Simple, I know, but I just can't get enough.  Marcia talked about it recently, and I confessed that I have never made the homemade kind.  Maybe this is the year?  (Or maybe I'm feeling overly ambitious again...)

I am a sucker for Christmas movies, and I have already watched several of my favorites this year. The embarrassing part is, it's not the classics like It's a Wonderful Life that I love the most.  No...you're much more likely to find me watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (either version!), The Santa Clause (any of the three, though the first and second are my favorite), and Home Alone. 

In related news:  I have the ABC Family 25 Days of Christmas schedule posted on my bulletin board at work.  (Home Alone 2 tonight!)

Your turn!  What are your Christmas confessions?  Am I alone in my preference for 90s holiday movies?  What's your can't-miss Christmas movie?

You lost me at the couch

You had me at 'hello'...

You complete me...

Show me the MONEY!

Quick...name that movie!

Back in high school, Jerry Maguire was my go-to romantic movie.  I remember many a nights on the couch, thinking about what it might be like to have a guy like that one day.  My friend E and I watched it over and over, quoting lines in conversation, and dreaming of finding that guy who would look at us and say, "You complete me". 

Then Tom Cruise jumped on a couch and ruined it all.  I just couldn't get the same enjoyment out of the movie after I realized the star was a quack. 

In retrospect, it's a little hard to figure out why I thought this movie was so romantic anyway...other than the quotable lines, I mean.  Dorothy (Renee Zellweger...LOVE her!) loves Jerry Maguire for some reason we really don't see...she hardly knows him.  He willingly accepts her help and company with his new business venture, but doesn't really seem to reciprocate her feelings.  He marries her to stop her from leaving, but it still doesn't feel like he's totally in the relationship.  In fact, watching it a few years after high school, Jerry Maguire seemed like a bit of jerk... I must have missed that the first time around.  It's not until he thinks he is losing Dorothy (and that CUTE kid) that he pulls out all the stops and finally seems to actually want a relationship.  That's where those cute cheesey lines come in.

Here it is fourteen or so years after that movie came out, and thank goodness I can honestly say that I found a guy much better than that arrogant Jerry Maguire!  He may not be the most romantic soul on earth...we don't recite poetry or make dramatic confessions of our undying love.  But really, who needs that anyway?? 

(Although I do believe there may be a long-lost love note from our college years containing the phrase "You complete me"...and no, it wasn't from me!  I'm sure Jeremy would deny it now.  He's way too cool for all that cheesey stuff.)  ; )

Random Thoughts

Some things we've been up to lately...

1. I saw Mamma Mia! last weekend. I didn't have a lot of expectations for it after reading some of the reviews, so I was not disappointed. It was silly at times, strange at other times, but overall an enjoyable movie. I'm sure it was better in the theater than it will be at home, so I'm glad I saw it. Someone described it to me as being "like a two-hour vacation," and that's completely true. But who doesn't need that every once in awhile?

2. My husband shaved his head yesterday! He's been wanting to for awhile, but was nervous about how it would turn out. I encouraged it; I've wondered what he might look like if he loses his hair one day, so it's like a sneak peak. I haven't really seen it yet...I was asleep when he got home last night and he was asleep when I left this morning, so I couldn't get a good look. His head is pretty white though, so a little sun might help!

3. My sister has been home for a little over a week, but she leaves tomorrow going back to Mobile. It's been nice having her around, even though we haven't done much. I'm hoping to get to go down there to visit before too long. Mobile is really starting to grow on me too! Jeremy and I will definitely go visit when we go down for my work conference in October, but maybe I can squeeze in a weekend before then.

4. We've had some drama in the youth group in the last week or so. Those kids continue to surprise me! Along those lines, though, our new pastor is awesome. He and his family have already livened up the church, and they are fitting in very well. I think he is going to challenge us like we've never experienced before, but we need that to continue to grow...even if it's hard sometimes.

5. We had to make an unexpected purchase this week, but it turned out okay. The lawnmower quit on Monday, and it was going to cost at least a few hundred dollars to repair it. Jeremy has been dying for a new mower, and it actually made more sense to go buy one, rather than put money into an old one and have something else go wrong next month. The one we had was old, but we got more than our money's worth out of it over the last couple of years. So, on Monday night, we made the trip to Lowe's and purchased a brand-new bright green John Deere. We were able to finance it with zero interest for a year, which was nice. That will allow us to pay for it over the next couple of months when Jeremy goes back to his part-time job at the high school. (That allows us a lot of flex money during the school year!) I did learn that just asking for zero percent interest rates when making a major purchase usually works...good to know for the future!

That's really about it at the moment. We have an anniversary coming up in less than two weeks, but we have no major plans for that yet. Money is a little tight until we go back to our respective second jobs, and we aren't really big on gifts anyway. We'll most likely have a nice dinner out and maybe actually go to a movie or something, which is a rarity with our schedules. Whatever we do, I'm excited to be celebrating our two years of marriage!

Recent movies

The absolute laziness of this past weekend allowed me to check another movie off my list of classic movies. Saturday morning when the dogs woke me up bright and early (they don't have any concept of the weekend and so continue to demand their regular 6:30 am feeding), I decided to settle in on the couch and take in the latest gem awaiting me. This time I watched Brief Encounter, from 1946. It was a very mild portrayal of a passionate affair between two strangers who randomly met at a train station in England. The word I would use to describe the movie itself is "charming." That's what comes to mind when I think of the way the intimacy was only hinted about and all the things the couple left unsaid. It's an great example of the changes in the film industry from then to now...nothing is left unsaid or unseen anymore. The story itself was simple, but poignant and emotional. You could feel the anguish as she sits at home with her kind husband, knowing her lover is on his way to Africa and she will never see him again...and worst of all, that she will never be able to tell a soul about her pain. I am really enjoying the discovery of these great old movies, and I can't wait to decide on my next pick!

Sunday afternoon, Jeremy and I skipped ahead a few decades (we get netflix two at a time, so I usually get one classic for me and a current movie for us to watch together). We watched Definitely, Maybe, which I have to say was one of the better movies I've seen in awhile. The story is told in a creative and entertaining way...a dad, who's going through a divorce, tells his daughter the story of how he got together with her mother, but he changes the names so the daughter can guess which one turns out to be her mother. It's definitely different, sort of similar to How I Met Your Mother, and the daughter is played by the fabulous Abigail Breslin. Jeremy and I both liked it, which is pretty unusual, but it's nice when we agree occasionally. : )

Education in the Classics

I've been watching a lot of older movies lately. In fact, a glance over my queue at netflix would reveal that most of my waiting movies were made before 1990. I seem to feel a need right now to educate myself on some of the legendary works of the past. What's to blame for this urge for pop-culture education? Well, for starters, I partially blame Gilmore Girls. Odd, I know, but if you've seen the show you can probably guess where I am going with this. There are tons of pop-culture references in that show, and while I am pretty sharp on a good many of them, some just escape me completely. That's the first reason for my quest. The second can basically be attributed to Entertainment Weekly. I subscribed to this magazine for several years, and even though I recently cancelled my subscription (just another unnecessary expense at the moment), I visit the website almost every day. Not too long ago, they published a list of the best tearjerker films of all time. Dramas are basically my favorite movie genre, and yet I was struck by how many movies on that list I was not familiar with. And so began my quest...

Of the few movies I've watched so far, Casablanca is my definite favorite. I am not sure why I waited so long to sit down and watch this movie, since I always thought it sounded like one I would like. I was so right! I have seen it three times in the past few months, and it only gets better. Last night I happened to catch Out of Africa on HBO, and since I have a passion for all things related to Africa (I will go there one day!!), I settled in to watch. It is a long movie (nearly three hours), but I was not disappointed. Meryl Streep was fabulous, as she always is. It was also a little bittersweet watching one of Sydney Pollack's most well-known films just a few days after his death.

My film education is already paying off... While watching Gilmore Girls on DVD a few weeks ago, I came across a reference to The Way We Were, a movie I knew was waiting on my Netflix queue. For anyone familiar with the Gilmores, it was referenced in the episode where Lorelai and Luke break up; she is "wallowing" in her sadness, and calls Luke in a moment of weakness. She gets his answering machine, and in typical Gilmore fashion, proceeds to leave a very poignant and verbose message. She references the movie The Way We Were, saying that when Katie and Hubble broke up, she called him because she just wanted to talk to her best friend, even though he was the reason she was sad. Likewise, Lorelai called Luke, her best friend, in her sadness, even though he was the reason for the pain. I now know the exact scene Lorelai was talking about! I am always excited when I get to remove a movie from my netflix list, and I love the feeling of having a new one waiting in the mailbox. Recommendations are always welcome!
Next up: Brief Encounter, from 1946.