"You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."

I have waited so long for this, and it's finally here!

This afternoon we watched Alice in Wonderland 3D (or rather, "Underland"). I don't know how to put it in words properly...

In a way I was disappointed because the movie wasn't exactly what I expected, and because our seats were on the side of the theatre with a railing in front, which kept reminding me we weren't really in Underland. On the other hand, it was still great and Tim Burton once more showed his greatness as a film maker.

The art direction is just too awesome to describe and I bet Colleen Atwood had a blast designing the costumes. For some reason the red playing card guards kept reminding me of the Star Wars stormtroopers. But that's the geek in me... LOL

How wonderful was it to hear the lovely voices of Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman playing the cat and the caterpillar. Talking about Alan's familiar voice, Hubby exclaimed "it's the guy from Harry Potter" (seriously, I'd expect more from a guy married to a Bachelor in Film).

Johnny Depp is once more delightful as the Madhatter. His character has the most unique accent, crazy laughter, and flows easily between the thin lines of normalcy and madness. On a more detailed note - I saw the folks at Imdb caught that too - one pupil is more dilated than the other, which denotes brain injury.

Helena Bonham-Carter' Queen of Hearts - or rather, Red Queen - stole the show along with the Madhatter. So much that I was pulling for her and the Jabberwocky. The White Queen was just too plain and boring - Yawn! - and the eyebrows rather distracting.

Oh yeah... Unfortunately there was a moron who did not silence his cell so we were subjected to the ringing through a portion of the film. I say OFF WITH HIS HEAD!

"Everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world, and in here is the dream"

It's year 2154 - no, they never said that but it's on the video log. A paraplegic marine is sent to Planet Pandora to fill his deceased twin brother's shoes in a mission: to infiltrate the native Na'vis camp and get them to move. Or else...

Translated: Blue Zebra-Human Hybrids playing Pocahontas in 3D

Don't get me wrong, the 3D is freaking amazing and it's probably the most expensive movie ever made. And every penny shows! Visually stunning and very entertaining. But the storyline is very predictable, already done many times before.

Definitely a must-see in Real3D or Imax. It will certainly not have the same impact if watched at home (even on HDTV).

Fortunately the 3D just gave depth to the movie and didn't bother me too much. I got a little dizzy in the beginning, and then got used to it.

BTW, I'm pretty sure there will be a sequel.

Luxo Jr, what have you done?

Pixar Intro Parody - not for kids

If the embedding doesn't work properly, you can view the video here

When she loved me

Took T to see Toy Story 1 & 2 re-release in 3D. I just love those movies, as well as anything Pixar will do.

So, naturally, I bawled my eyes out when Sarah McLachlan sings "When she loved me" just like I did when the movie came out 10 years ago. I was thinking of my old toys, all my dolls my *evil parents* (LOL) made me part with.

Go ahead... watch this and bawl along with me:

Is it March 5, 2010 yet?

How cool - and freaky - is this?

Sound of Music mode on

When I was little girl, I watched "The Sound of Music" every single day. Our VCR was one of those that had a remote connected with a wire LOL. My cousin had taped it from the TV and I would watch it over and over again. My mother would get fed up sometimes - just like we do when our kids *have* to watch Monsters Inc every day.

Most of the times we watched all the way until the wedding scene, and then turn it off, cause after that the Nazis invade Austria and things go downhill.

But when we did watch till the end, it was amusing to count how many times the lady bows at the festival. My aunt and I used to count it out loud. I think it was 23 times :P

So, I was chatting with some friends in Orkut how much I love TSOM - what's my nickname, again? - and we all found out we have a Julie Andrews virtual fan club. We all want to go to Saulzburg to sing and dance - how sad is it? LOL

I was very fortunate that when I visited NYC in 1996, Julie Andrews was playing the main part in Victor/Victoria. My father and I were fortunate to get tickets (and a guy who looked exactly like Kyle MacLachlan was next to us). It was a dream come true and I even shed a little tear.

So, while searching youtube, I found these. Pretty cool!

BTW, Nicholas Hammond, who played Friedrich, also played Spiderman in the 1970's series.

Super cute!

Portion of the Disney movie "Saludos Amigos", released in 1942.

I'm just a *bit* biased to say Ze Carioca is one of my favorite Disney characters.

[Gotta hold back the tears when he plays "Tico tico no fuba" and teaches Donald to samba on the sidewalks of Copacabana]

The World's Worst Dog

I have to start by telling you I have never owned a pet. I grew up in a condo and therefore there was no room for a dog to run around (even though some of our neighbors had dogs).

The only memory I have of a dog growing up a pechinese my aunt had called "Fofinha" (something like "cutie pie"). And most of my memories are from photos. See, Fofinha was my aunt's dog. When my mom went back to work after I was born, I'd stay at my Grandma's for the day. Everytime I was napping in the crib, Fofinha would lie on the floor, right in front of the crib, making sure I would not be disturbed by anyone. My aunt said if anyone came by, she'd get up and make a mean face, but never bark or make any noise.

My aunt had to put down Fofinha when I was just a toddler. She had a bad disease (we call it sinomosis). I know she had seizures and was in a lot of pain. My aunt suffered a lot and never wanted to have a dog again.

Hubby and I can't have pets since we're allergic (and I don't want to clean up after another 'kid'), but I admit I do have a healthy obcession with pugs. I just love them. They're small, they're cute, they're adorable, and if one day I win the lottery I'll buy a house large enought to have a dog-only area and then I can have my pug. Anyway...

Well, a couple of months ago my friend sent me the "Marley & Me" book. It's a great book, it makes you laugh and it makes you cry too. The idea of having Aniston and Wilson portray the main characters gave me chills. I will be honest and say I don't particularly care for either of them, especially Aniston.

My son practically dragged me to the movie theatre and I admit before the movie started I was already crying (LOL). I know, I don't even cry watching movies.

At this point it's possible not to compare book and movie. They moved some things around the book, changed a bit, but in the essence it's what the movie was. It was heart wrenching at the end. I was ok in the end, however, when the oldest kid (a great young actor, he was in "The Mist" and "The Dark Knight") held Marley and wept I just lost it! I was bawling my eyes out. There was plenty of laughter during the movie, but when the end came it was just silence and sniffles.

In the end, I thought the movie was a bit long but good. The scenes that Grogan chronicles the events going on in their lives were pretty good. Wilson did really well, especially towards the end, and he and Aniston had great chemistry. However, I didn't get the vibe from her that she was such a "Mom", you know what I mean?

So, if you go see it, just remember to bring an oversized box of tissues, okay?


(Was this really a review?)

P.S. They left out from the movie 2 great scenes: loading Marley into a plane to PA, and also when the house is nearly hit by lightning.

The last post of the year

Wow, where did the year go? It seems every year goes by faster and faster.

This year was pretty rough. I spent most of the summer working my behind off, including weekends. I had to endure painful moments thinking of my grandmother's illness, and now my grandfather's. I lost my great-aunt a week after my birthday.

But there were good parts too. I joined a book club. I turned 30 (that was not so bad LOL). My not-so-little T turned 5 years old and is smarter than ever. I ran into my old friends during a trip to Brazil. I spent more time with my parents, especially my dad who now retired. I had my kitchen and powder room remodeled. My goddaughter came to visit. Yeah, I guess life is still good.

Then, there are books... I kept a new year resolution, I read more. I mean, a lot more. I started in February and slacked during my trip to Brazil, but even like that, I was able to read all of these (chronologically, last one on the top):

The Boleyn Inheritance (Gregory)
Marley & Me (Grogan)
One Fifth Avenue (Bushnell)
The Other Boleyn Girl (Gregory)
Married Lovers (Collins)
Blindness (Saramago)
The Constant Princess (Gregory)
The Opposite of Love (Buxbaum)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Gould)
The Secret Life of Bees (Kidd)
Nineteen Minutes (Picoult)
Jane Eyre (Bronte)
The Ivy Chronicles (Quinn)
The Friday Night Knitting Club (Jacobs)
Bee Season (Goldberg)
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)

Most of these were pretty good, but the worse by far was Bee Season. Ugh!

In 2008, I was also able to see more movies in the theatre than I had done in a while.

Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa
Blindness
The Dark Knight
Space Chimps
X Files: I want to believe
Mamma Mia
Wall-E
Kung Fu Panda
Sex & The City Movie
Nim's Island
Horton Hears a Who

The best movies I saw this year were Wall-E and The Diving Bell & the Butterfly (even though the latter is technically 2007).
The worst? The X Files!!!!!!!!!!! It let me down... And Tropic Thunder, another 2 hours of my life I've wasted...

Well, Happy New Year, everyone! Health, Peace, and $$$ in your pockets as well (cause we need it, right?). Here's a wish for better days!

Up! (2)

Remember this?

It opens May 29, 2009. Here's the new preview:

I like to... MOVE IT!

T had been doing a countdown for this movie for the past month. The first Madagascar is one of his favorite flicks. Finally on Thursday he came to me and said: Mommy, Madagascar II opens tomorrow!

So we just had to go see it on Saturday. And guess what? The penguins stole the movie, again! Plus there is the return of Ninja Old Lady! All the characters are pretty much back along with the original voices, and some new ones are added. It was nice they gave King Julian a bit more of screen time, Sacha Baron Cohen is really funny!

The story is, the penguins fix up the old plane we see in the first movie and take off towards NYC. But they run out of fuel and crash somewhere in continental Africa. This time, though, the 4 main characters find other animals like their own.

BTW, there is a great reference to a Twilight Zone classic episode in the film. If you're as much as a geek as I am, you will know it!!! There is also a reference to "Roots", and a subtle one to "West Side Story".

I admit I got a bit choked up when I heard Bernie Mac's voice for the first time. He was so young, such a tragic loss. During the credits, you will see the movie was dedicated to him.

In a world gone blind, what if you were the only person who could see?

Yes, I saw Blindness, the latest Fernando Meirelles film.

It hasn't opened in the US yet. It will hit the theatres this Friday.

Let me warn you, this is an amazing film but it's not an easy one to watch. People who saw it either loved it or hated it. There are a lot of issues presented. If you get easily depressed, you might want to skip it. It's not plain entertainment; it's a movie to make you think.

The film was based on the Nobel-prize winning novel by Portuguese author Jose Saramago. I have read the book - a very hard read - and I must say it's a very faithful adaptation. The action takes place anywhere. There isn't a particular city, or country. There are multiple languages being spoken. The characters have no names.

The story is, suddenly, the world is hit by what it looks like "an epidemic of Blindness". And there is only one person who can see. But she wishes she didn't.

It's a metaphor, an alegory. You must understand this. It will make you uncomfortable, many times (the overexposed photography will help you get there).

The ensemble, multiracial cast does an amazing job, but Julianne Moore steals the show in a very moving performance, hopefully worthy of a few awards. A must-see! (no joke intended)

What doesn't kill us makes us stranger

So, I watched the Dark Knight... I admit it, everyone was saying the movie was so good that I expected it to suck. But no, it didn't, it was just too cool for words.

First of all, let me just say this. I wish I could write a more comprehensive review. You'll understand in a minute. I'm sure you probably don't feel the movie is 2 1/2 hours long, but I certaily did. The thing is I went to the theatre at 2:30 pm and had skipped lunch. So I treated myself to popcorn and soda: BIG mistake! My bladder was so full that it kinda spoiled the second half of the movie. Even so that when the credits rolled, I just RAN, almost hitting everyone in the way.

And, no, I refuse to get up in the middle of a movie, even for a nature call. I'll follow up with some cranberry juice tomorrow just to be safe. BTW, this will be a long review, so feel free to take a potty break and come back?

Relieved? Ok. Now, back to the movie...

Initially I didn't think the movie was all that, but it's been stuck in my head for a day and a half now. And that's a good thing.

Get this: the movie is about the Joker. Ok? Batman sucks next to him. There were times I was rooting for the joker. And it's just because of Heath Ledger. He stole every scene in the movie!

Batman, Police, Gordon, DA Harvey Dent & Co are supposed to fight the Joker & the mobsters in Chicago, I mean, Gotham City. Except they are always outsmarted by the Joker, he's always thinking ahead of everyone. You never learn his name, or his history. His just a nutjob who decided he wants chaos.

The plot is really interesting, full of twists and turns. Some are predictable, some are not. The dialogues are just great, and there's action. Oh, a lot of action. A few new gadgets, a new Batman suit, and how cool was that Batman motocycle?

The acting: one thing that bothered me tremendously was the freaky Batman voice. It was just plain weird. I wanted to give Christian Bale some cough drops. Oh, and there's Eric Roberts. He's very stiff, but he didn't bother me too much.Maggie Gyllenhall was great, not as annoying as K. Holmes. There's Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, all good people. C. Bale doesn't even need to act, I could just stare at him all day long.

Aaron Eckhart was really good too. His transformation into the Two-Face was very subtle and believable, and the pep talk he got from, well, I'm not going to spoil the movie, but that was one heck of a scene.

I'm sorry, but Gary Oldman's characterization of Comissioner Gordon looked exaclty like Ned Flanders. And who knew the mayor of Gotham City was part of the Dharma initiative - eyliner and all... LOL

And, of course, Heath Ledger, who put his heart and soul in the part. Created maneirisms, added personality and humanized the villain - making it worse than it already is. I feel bad the marketing campaign was more about his death than the movie itself, and that the movie made more money because of it. It's a pity, because the movie would have been a great sucess even without all the circus.

Last, but not least, one of the themes of the movie is hope. Hope that there will be change, hope that there are still *good* people among us. Even when we're living in chaos.

So, as a friend of mine would say, go see the movie and then buy it on DVD.

Are you David Bowie?

After I came home from work today - yes, I did work on Sunday - I took T to lunch. Then I asked if he wanted to go feed the ducks, and he said yes, but "I also want to check if the monkey movie was out cause I really want to see it". So we went.

It's a cute movie about Chimps in the space program. They're basically guinea pigs in the whole space program. NASA launches a probe to find intelligent life outside our planet, and it gets sucked into a black hole. The scientists (I loooooved the Indian one) don't think humans can survive 10g forces so they send the chimps.

Except the main chimp is not really well trained. He's just the grandson of the first chimp in the moon, and was basically pulled from the circus for a mission.
They eventually find a planet where the aliens are dominated by a meanie who uses the space probe as a weapon against the community. Throw in there a couple references to space movies, like Star Trek and 2001.

It's not the most wonderful movie in the world but it doesn't suck either. I was very surprised to see people bashing this movie everywhere. "There aren't many laughs". Just because it's a cartoon you're supposed to laugh all the time? Plus, it's for kids, people! My 4 1/2 year old loved it! And I enjoyed it too. Oh, I loved Luna, she's so adorable. Can I have one? Please?

Plus I totally have the "Beverly Hills Cop" (Axel's theme) tune stuck in my head.

Oh, yeah, if you didn't understand the title of the post, it's a punch line from the movie.

I wanted to believe, I really did

"X Files - I Want To Believe" would be OK as a regular thriller movie. But even if you weren't a die-hard fan of the series, you're going to be seriously dissapointed.

The poster is cooler than the movie, how's that for a start?

The movie has plot holes as big as the Grand Canyon. I expected much more from Chris Carter's writing/directing and I hope they decide to do a 3rd movie to fix this mess.

Oh yeah, you MUST stay after the credits start rolling. There is a very interesting bonus scene. In the end it was worth it, since I was going to see the movie anyway, and I had the free tickets.

Still, I'll probably buy the DVD, but only if it's on sale for $4.99 on Black Friday.

The Dark Knight, here I go...

Up!

This is the teaser for the new Pixar animation movie, Up. It was unveiled at the Comic Con 2008 and scheduled to open in May 2009.

Me? Anxious? Nah... :P

I just hate it will be released in 3D. All these animation movies now will be in 3D. It sucks!

Meryl Streep must have athlete's foot...

...bad breath, chronic gas problems... She has to have a defect.

I just came back from Mamma Mia. Seriously, the woman is just perfect. Not only can she act - as we all know, she could play a corpse and still get an Oscar nod - but she is an incredible singer.

OMG!

Her rendition of "The winner takes it all" made all the hairs on my body stand up.

So, who else? Christine Baranski has some awesome pipes there, who knew? Julie Walters is a hoot! Colin Firth has such an amazing voice, he reminded me of James Taylor during his song. Amanda Seyfried sings really well too. But Pierce... Oh, Pierce. I applaud him for trying, but most of the time I was, like, "dude, you're smoking hot, but seriously, stop!".

Yes, the movie is based on the play of the same name and is full of ABBA songs (check out the soundtrack here). So if you can't stand musicals and/or ABBA, save your money. Basically, it's the story of a young girl who's getting married and doesn't know who her dad is. She had found her mother's diary and read that she had hooked up with 3 guys during the time of conception. So, she writes all 3 of them - as if she were her mom - inviting them to the wedding. They all show up. The possible dads are Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgard. As in "I wish I had that kind of problem". LOL

I watched it with 12 ladies from my book club and we were ROFL throught the movie. I laughed so hard my cheeks were hurting. The part I laughed the most is when the guys are dancing in the pier, celebrating the guy's bachelor party and all of a sudden 4 dudes hold each others hands and start doing the dance of the Little Swans. Hilarious!

Oh, and make sure you stay after the credits start rolling. They sing 2 songs. It's hilarious.

"Out there's our home! And it's in trouble."

What can I say about Wall-E? I don't know whether it's the best Pixar movie to date, but certainly the boldest, as a friend of mine pointed.

I might add that ALL Pixar movies I've seen are great, even the ones I'm not crazy in love with (i.e. A Bug's Life). Theis quality is amazing. Ever since Toy Story changed the history of animation 13 years ago - has it been that long? - they never let me down. It's masterpiece after masterpiece. Nemo, Monsters, Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille (they even had my name in the movie, how cool is that?). And I own a copy of every single one of them!

Let's not forget the awesome short animated films they have done. One preceeds every Pizar movie in the theatres. The latest one, before Wall-E, is called "Presto", about a magician and the bunny, is hilarious, rolling-on-the-floor laughing, non-stop fun. My cheeks were hurting, really!

Now, back to Wall-E. It's G-Rated, appropriate for children of all ages. But not all children will enjoy the movie. Little T says he didn't like it. I think he couldn't quiate graps what it was about. That said, Wall-E is more an animated film for adults, and will most likely be enjoyed by older children.

I will try to restrict my comments so I don't spoil the entire movie. :P

Well, the movie takes place in the future. The first part is completely silent, with a few sound effects. Human race had to leave Earth. Everything is barren, and there is only one thing left behind: a solar-powered robot called Wall-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth Class). It's basically a trash compactor who does the same thing over and over again, collects a few treasures and parts in case he needs some repair, and has a little cockroach as a pal. He develops some human qualities over the years, and longs for love watching an old VHS of Hello Dolly). At one point, he finds a little plant growing in the dead soil (which will be important towards the second part of the film). Then the planet is visited by a spaceship and it leaves behind a more futuristic robot called Eve (short for Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). Wall-e falls in love with Eve.

Events in the movie take them to the Axiom ship, some sort of "noah's ark" vessel humans used to escape the planet 700 years before. So this is what human race looks in the future: computers and robots do everything, everyone is obese, sit in chairpods as opposed to walking, spend time chatting on teleconferences instead of having real human contact, and eat very large meals. My 10-year old goddaughter loved the movie, but was extremely disturbed by this vision. I did too, I admit. It seems this is the way the future will be if we don't take good care of our planet. The Captain of the ship takes upon himself a mission, and some robots are non too pleased.

There are a few references in the movie to some other Pixar features, but the greatest are to 2001: A Space odyssey. There are just too many to count.

One of my favorite parts of the film, and also the funniest, is when the little sanitizer robot MO! He gets upset about cleaning up after Wall-E's tracks. He just cracked me up. Oh, and can I please have one of those in my house!

Everybody was Kung-fu fighting...

Last weekend my son and I watched Kung-Fu Panda, which was incredibly cute.

My son has been taking Karate lessons for a couple of months now and just passed his first belt test.

I told my son this year we will not be having a big birthday party. We'll have a small gathering of 3-4 kids. Next year, when he goes to kindergarten, we can have a big party. He had already chosen a super-hero theme for his party, which I convinced him to leave until next year. I already have decorations done for it (I know, I am such a planner, always).

This year we'll be having a Kung-Fu Panda party. And I already started planning the decorations. I know, his birthday is not until November, but it's better this way.

A few advantages for planning in advance:
- you start buying things little by little and it doesn't "weigh" as much in your pocket;
- you are able to find really good deals (last year I found all supplies for "The Incredibles" party on clearance for $0.33; the whole party cost was about $20!);
- you have enough time to research, think and make things, especially for a working mom.

I just love party planning. I love to be able to make my son's dreams into reality, for little or no cost. Plus, the bright look on his face is just priceless.