Amateur Movie Review - Bridge To Terabithia

The other night I watched Bridge to Terabithia with my husband. I liked it and would watch it again and he hated it. As the credits rolled his words were "that sucked!"

Not knowing anything about the movie I sat down to watch a movie starring a kid that I absolutely love, Josh Hutcherson he was in one of my kids favorite movies Zathura. He is a good actor and adorable Also in the movie was AnnaSophia Robb who was in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which I had just watched with my kids right before.

The movie had an awesome theme with it's friendship and imagination can conquer all so I was a little surprised with the turn it took. I know there was a lesson here but why are there deaths in kid movies? Why would a kid die in a kid movie?

While watching I made a mental note about picking up the DVD for my kids next time I was at the store but that will have to wait.

Amateur Book Review - The Kite Runner

I don't know that there is anything I can say about this book that will do it any justice.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, (this is his first novel) about a boy named Amir who lives with his father in Afghanistan before they flee for America after the Taliban take over their homeland.

The book sites state this - An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present.

It is this, and so much more. The story, eloquently written, starts with Amir the child of Baba a very wealthy well to do man in Afghanistan and what happens to change the course of their life and the life of people they love. While the book deals with culture which is also very interesting, this book mainly to me, deals with how the choices we make throughout our life shape who we are and who we eventually become.

I had no desire to read this book. Having heard about it and knowing that everyone was reading, that it was on the best seller list for over 2 years it didn't make me want to pick it up. What made me want to pick it up was hearing my girlfriend Sheress beg me to do so. She called me every morning when she started reading begging, asking, pleading, telling me she would buy it for me and that I just HAD to read it. Now, I am doing the same, I have told 5 people to read this in the past 2 weeks and now I am telling you.

The book is unforgettable. I don't believe there will be a time where I won't be able to recall this story.

This beautifully written book is about family, sacrifice, jealousy, love, friendship, suffering, sin, devastation, redemption and at times was emotionally gripping.

The title comes a traditional tournament where Afghan children or kite-flyers compete by cutting through the strings of their opponents with the strings of their own kites made of sharp, glass strings. The winner is the last one standing after all other kites have been cut and the runner runs after the last falling kite gets the greatest honor.

The Kite Runner like Veil of Roses made me happy to have been born on American soil.

As stated by Amazon:
The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. ("...I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.")

The Haunted Airman: A Movie Review

Flight Lieutenant Jugg (Twilight's Robert Pattinson), confined to a wheelchair after being wounded in action, arrives at a remote mansion in Wales to recuperate. Suffering from terrible nightmares and visions, he suspects the methods of his psychiatrist, Dr. Hal Burns (Julian Sands). His beautiful aunt, Julia (Rachael Stirling) seems to be the only person he can trust – until circumstances make him doubt even her intentions. Based on the novel “The Haunting of Toby Jugg” by Dennis Wheatley.

For obvious reasons I borrowed this movie from my library. Hello, Rob Pattinson in a bathtub, getting a sponge bath! Plus, I want to see him as someone other than Edward Cullen.

Well, let's just, say this...his character smokes too much. The movie moves too quickly. Every time I blinked it was a new morning.

So, Jug, gets injured after getting hit in the back during a mission, while in flight. He is now confined to a wheelchair and his aunt drops him off at this secluded home to get better.

If you are a Rob fan, you will love it because Rob is in the movie from beginning to end. But, as a fan of movies...well...the movie leaves you scratching your head. Is he a victim?
Is he losing his mind?
Honestly, I have no friggin clue.

The story is based on "The Haunting of Toby Jugg" (1948) by Dennis Wheatley (famous for thrillers and occult novels in the 50s and 60s).

Umm....let's see. I give this a 2 out of 5 stars but only because Rob was in it and he does a great job of brooding and acts like a guy trapped in a wheelchair, unsure of his new life.

Shutter Island A Review - 8/7/10

We recently got Netflix. It is awesome.

Last night we watched Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio

World War II soldier-turned-U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by his own troubling visions and by Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley). Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer and Max von Sydow co-star in director Martin Scorsese's plot twist-filled psychological thriller set on a Massachusetts island in 1954

Why You Should See This Movie: Leo DiCaprio and the supporting cast!

What I Can Tell You:
This isn't one of those movies you can put on and do things. You need to dedicate 2 hours and 18 minutes to it! Based on the book Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane.

I thought the movie was awesome. Leo is fantastic.Mark Ruffalo who I always appreciated is a great wing man.


The Year, 1954. Leo plays Teddy Daniels, a US marshal who is sent to Shutter Island (a hospital/prison for the criminally insane) with his new partner Chuck to investigate the disappearance of a patient Rachel Solando.

Teddy has flashbacks and dreams of his wife and the war that that haunt him both while asleep and awake.

About an hour in I turned to my husband and said I got it figured out. I did! I was right. But, the last 5 minutes of the movie had me scratching my head. It was the one line where Leo/Teddy says, "Which would be worse, to live as a monster or die as a good man?"
 
Now that the ending has been presented to me, there are many clues through the movie that nicely set up the twist. I really want to watch it again to see the twists unfold and see more than I saw the first time.


Since my reviews whether sponsored or otherwise are 100% honest, I have to admit there was about 20 minutes of the movie that I had to watch through my closed hand. It wasn't a consecutive 20 mins but a total of, where I couldn't "see" the images on the screen. Anything to do with children "not breathing" is really hard for me. I refuse to have these images imprinted on my brain so I mostly just ask my husband if it is OK to look.

Michelle Williams was awesome and disturbing at the same time.

Some memorable quotes that sat with me later were:

Chuck Aule: You okay boss?
Teddy Daniels: Yeah fine, I just ah, I just can't, can't stomach the water.

Warden: We wage war, we burn sacrifices we pillage and plunder and treat at the flesh of our brothers and why? Because God gave us violence to wage in his honor.
Teddy Daniels: I thought God gave us moral orders.
Warden: There is no moral orders as pure as this storm. There's no moral order at all. There's just this: can my violence conquer yours?

Dolores Chanal: Set me free.

I think this movie is a 5 out of 5 stars. Great thriller, mystery. Very, very well done.

Feeding Ducks Is Like A Religious Experience

Feeding the ducks with the Goddess is like a religious experience. Sometimes just being with her is like that for me (tearing up as I write this). I wished for many years for a baby girl. Losing my mom so young really made me hunger for a mother-daughter relationship and I love spending time with her.

Today, on a beautiful fall morning, we went to feed the ducks in town while waiting for Handsome to come out of school, there were none.

She was throwing bread to nothing. The water was still, and empty. I asked her where she thought all the ducks were. She said, “I don’t know, maybe they are home with their mommies (cute).” Then she stood at the deck, put her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Ducks, ducks…where RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu?

Wouldn’t you know it, they came. Tons of them just started flying across the water towards us. Crazy.

And the rain comes down
There’s no pain and there’s no doubt
It was easy to say
I believed in you everyday
If not for me
Then do it for the world – Stevie Nicks

Lazy Town In My Living Room - July 20, 2008

Go! Go! Go! Get up Lazy Town! It’s the start of a brand new day. Things are upside down here in Lazy Town. Adventures just a moment away. Lyrics to Welcome to Lazy Town

I love when the kids dress up and play together. I especially love that they now try to act out what in this case, Sportacus and Stepanie would say and do. When Goddess came running out to the living room, Handsome told her, “Wow, oh wow, Goddess, you look beautiful.” Seriously, how cute does it get?

My Little Clown

My Little Clown, This picture was taken on Daddy’s birthday. You would be 1 in 2 months. You were in a sticking your tongue out stage and I thought it was a riot. I used to stick your hair up in a semi mohawk and snap pictures of you as if I were getting paid for it. In this picture you were crawling under the table and I lied down on my belly and snapped about 100 pictures. This was my favorite of the day.

July 1, 2008 - Sky Watchers

I searched long and hard through my thousands of pictures to find pictures for this weeks Thursday Challenge theme. Interestingly enough, I don’t have many where the sky is the star. I find this little fact interesting because well, I LOVE looking at the sky. I see it, really see it every day. I turn my head towards the heavens and stare at the sky so I wonder why I haven’t used my camera to capture more of it.

Photos Posted On Memories Through Photography Aug 2008

Fall 2004

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do! Robert Louis Stevenson

Some of my favorite moments were when I would just head to the park with my son in his first year. I remember being so amazed that I created this beautiful person. He was such a happy baby. 

On The Top Of The World

I’m on the top of the world looking down on creation, And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I’ve found ever since you’ve been around, Your loves put me at the top of the world

Me And This Guy

All About Steve - Amateur Movie Review

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Eccentric crossword-compiler Mary Horowitz becomes infatuated with TV news cameraman Steve. Encouraged by Steve's fellow journalist Hartman Hughes, Mary starts to follow Steve around the country.

What I Can Tell You: I can totally understand why Sandra got a Razzie award and an Oscar in the same year for worst and best actress, respectively.

While it seems the movie could work, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, Thomas Hayden Church, Ken Juong, it just kinda didn't.

Bradley Cooper is extremely likeable, almost too much so. In one scene when he is supposed to look shocked he looks very excited to see Mary! In this scene actually.

Sandra in her crazy red boots, weird, mullet, blonde hair and sexy legs just is over the top which is what they were going for but it just fell short of funny. It was a train wreck that I couldn't wait to be over.  Stalker Mary is just too weird for words and while I loved the first scene feature Sandra and Bradley on a blind date that never happens the movie was un-savable.

 

It wasn't so bad that I would say never see it, but don't pay for it. Borrow it from the library like I did.

Check out this gag reel. Can't say I blame Sandra for wanting to throw her head into Brad's crotch every take.

Movie Reviews 17 Again, The Proposal, Sunshine Cleaning, Grey Gardens

For someone who doesn't watch much TV, I spent the last 4 days watching movies. My library had some new releases that I wanted to check out.

17 Again

The only reason to see this movie is Zac Efron. The premise is cute. What would you do differently if you were given to live your life over? Would you make the same choices you did the first time around?

While the premise has been done a bunch of times, this movie falls short. It was just kind of slapped together and while there are semi cute moments I could have missed this and been OK with it. Although the message of "you are in fact living your best life right now" was not lost on me. Everything happens for a reason is a saying most of us use for a reason.  I give it 3 out of 5 Stars

The Proposal

This was an OK movie. Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock are both very likable. What's not to like about Ryan Reynolds? (after all he did star in Maria's Eye Candy spotlight in 2006).

I found it funny that through the whole first 20 minutes of the movie Sandra Bullock's character (Margaret Tate) is supposed to be the boss from hell. "The wicked witch is on her broom" and "here it comes" are IM's sent throughout the office whenever she is on the move. I am here to tell you that Ms. Tate is far from the boss from hell. I know, I've experienced some of the worst.

Margaret is about to be deported back to Canada and Andrew (Ryan) her assistant is sucked into marrying her so she can keep her from losing her Visa. While the storyline is mediocre it is the cast that keeps you watching. Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds and Betty White are fantastic in their satire and Mary Steenburgen and Craig T Nelson round out the stars of this movie. All of these stars have the likeability factor going for them. The Casting Director knew exactly what they were doing. 4 out of 5 Stars

Sunshine Cleaning

I really was looking for something fun and noticed this was under comedy so I grabbed it. I am here to tell you that there is nothing funny about this movie. Are comedies supposed to make you cry?  Two sisters whose mom committed suicide open a business together. They clean up after a death, murder or suicide.  Blood, vomit, body fluids, maggots you name it, they clean it. Finding the humor? Neither did I!

Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin all are remarkable in this movie but I was seriously looking for something to make me laugh. 

Acting wise amazing. Storyline great! Looking for a good movie check this out. Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are some of the greatest actresses out there right now. 5 out of 5.

Grey Gardens (HBO)
I watched this last night and wasn't really excited about it.  When I snatched it from the table to put it in, I thought grrr..."so not interested". That is before watching it. Since last night I have talked to over 5 people about Grey Gardens. 

All I can say is WOW!!! Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange were amazing! This true story of two relatives of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy who were aristocrats until their lives took a dramatic turn after Edith Sr's husband left her and  how they slid from 1930s high society to sharing rotting living quarters with litters of cats and raccoons. Amazing performances by both. I had to keep reminding myself that I was watching Drew Barrymore.  This is her best by far. 

Grey Gardens, which won 6 Emmys last night including Best TV Movie. Last night Grey Garden's took home a Golden Globe for best mini-series or motion picture made for TV and Drew got the award for best actress in a mini-series or motion picture made for TV.

Funny that they won as I was watching this movie. I give this movie 5 out of 5 Stars.

"It is very easy to keep the line between the past and the present."

A Parenting Low - January 7, 2006

It happened yesterday and I am still dealing with the Mommy guilt. I have been listening to my friend tell me that her son has been painting lately (our boys are 3 days apart). I started feeling bad that my son hasn’t been able to do this because I spend every waking moment holding his sister, Banshee Girl. So I was feeling optismistic yesterday morning (just like every morning) and decided it would be a good time to pull out the paints.

I put the Banshee Girl down, she starts screaming, pull out a wood door hanger from my supplies, pull the paints out of the back of a dresser drawer, find a sponge brush in the back a kitchen drawer. Pull a table cloth out of the kitchen cabinet, get out a step stool so that I can remove the white bottom dining room chair to save it from paint smear.

The girl is still screaming, the boy refuses to get onto the step stool screams and throws the wood door hanger. I say, “do you want to paint?” He says,”OK!” I tell him that he needs to sit on the stool. He climbs into it while I get out cups for the paint. I put two colors in two cups and hand him the brush.

I put the brush in paint and put it to the wood hanger. “See Jesse? Paint!” He takes the brush and puts it in the paint, puts it to the wood and paints. Yeah! Cool, I walk to pick up the screaming, now snotty girl and just as I do…Jesse puts the paint soaked brush to his face and says, “Hello?” “No! It’s not a phone.” I scream.

Why I got so crazy is beyond me, it was washable paint! Could have been the screaming for 20 minute Banshee Girl, could have been the 25 minutes that it took to set up the painting area, could have been the position of the moon, the point is this, this was normal Jesse exploration. He has never painted and he was pretending. As I screamed “No!” Jesse throws the paint soaked brush minus the clearing from his cheek across the room and where does it land? On the white chair and falls to the carpet!!!! He is screaming, the girl is screaming, my throat hurts from the ititial “No” I turn and slap him with three fingers on his cheek! Gasp!!! Holy crap!

The girl hasn’t stopped screaming, the boy is now screaming as he heads to my kitchen where he proceeds to slam his hands into my refrigerator. Paint all over! I am cleaning the chair, working my way to the rug and as I walk over to clean the refrigerator he is standing there, mouth open, blood curdling scream coming from his mouth and now the arms open wide as he puts them around my neck for a hug. I am in no mood for a hug and still really pissed at this point.

The girl is still in the first act of her Opera. My head is ready to explode and that is when my son says in the most heart wrenching little voice, “Mommy.” Like the Grinch, my heart grows a whole 10 sizes bigger and I put my arms around him and we cry together. He just wanted to know I still loved him and I am cleaning!!! I carry him to the counter, arms around each other (Banshee still screaming), I tell him, I am sorry, you can’t throw things when you are mad and Mommy shouldn’t ever hit you.

I wash the paint off his hands, fingers, cheek, shirt and my hands. I carry him over to the floor where Banshee Girl is and hug the both of them. She quiets down finally and Jesse asks for Blue’s Clues. He is over it but it will take me a week to be over this if ever. I could have handled this whole thing in a better way. I could have waited for my husband to be around so that I could have given Jesse my whole attention while the husband held Banshee Girl. I could have laughed when he put the brush to his face. Now his first experience of painting will be ugly. Thank God he is too young to remember this incident in the coming years. I will be putting painting off for a few months.

BTW..the whole time I typed this, Banshee Girl was what??? That’s right screaming!!!

Lake Time Action 2008

My husband tossing my kids in the lake were my favorite kind of action shots. I love the water stream and my son's happy face.

Botanical Gardens Ringwood New Jersey - 2002 Aged Edit

How can you see into my eyes like open doors
leading you down into my core
where I’ve become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold
until you find it there and lead it back home –Evanescence

I took this picture before having kids. I spent the morning at the Botanical Gardens and too a lot of beautiful photos. When I showed my husband a few, this was the one he chose as his favorite. He actually wanted a copy of it made in 8 x 10 so that he could frame it.  He liked the look of everything looking dead. Ok?!

DISNEY+ Releases “IT’S A DOG’S LIFE WITH BILL FARMER” Trailer

Family Friendly TV thanks to Disney+ 

Today, Disney+ shared the trailer for its upcoming ten-episode documentary series, “It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer,” which premieres on Friday, May 15. 

The iconic voice of Goofy and Pluto for more than 30 years, Disney Legend Bill Farmer steps out from behind the microphone to meet his own favorite characters — dogs! Join Bill as he crosses the country meeting dogs doing all kinds of incredible jobs that make our lives better.
“It’s A Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer” is produced by Dog Tale Productions, Inc and GRB Entertainment, Inc. The series is executive produced by Bill Farmer, Jennifer Farmer, Steve Duval, Gary R. Benz and Phil Kruener.

New episodes of “It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer” will stream every Friday on Disney+.

Facebook:    Facebook.com/DisneyPlus      

Twitter:        @DisneyPlus    

Instagram:   @DisneyPlus 

Amateur Movie Review - I Love You, Man

 My library has a decent DVD collection. The other day I was there and borrowed, Little Einsteins for my daughter and something for myself.

I Love You, Man was a complete surprise.

Paul Rudd is likable and while the other guy on the cover looked familiar, I couldn't place him.

The premise is cute. Cute guy, cute girl are getting married and while she has tons of friends, he has zero! She never realizes this because well, they are only dating 8 months. We all know it is pretty normal for two people in a new relationship to spend all their free time together but really, she has never met his friends?

She has tons of friends and when he overhears her talking with them about the wedding being unbalanced and how foolish they will feel walking down the aisle alone. So Peter (Paul Rudd's character) sets out to make friends. When he finally befriends Sidney (the other guy on the cover that I couldn't place) his life changes.

We all know that making friends as adults is never easy. Most people have their good friends in place before they set into marriage so watching Peter TRY to make friends is hysterical.

In A Nutshell: Paul Rudd has the likability factor in everything he does. He is the poor man's Tom Hanks.  Jason Segal, I know from Freaks and Geeks and more recently Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is another likable actor. He reminds me of an ex-work associate, Nelson who is a really funny man. So much so, that sometimes I have to remind myself that I am not watching Nelson. I believe they could be twins. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, watching Peter and Sidney turn into friends was so fun. There were a few times when I felt foolish after realizing how much I was smiling. Thankfully I was alone.

This is a great buddy movie, male or female we all make friends the same way. What was different about this buddy movie was how cute I found it. Watching two grown men who are social opposites find each other in this big world and hang the way young boys do was adorable. There is one part when they jam together that made me think of my own girlfriends and when we used to make movies on my video recorder circa 1989.

I give this
 

The Book Of Eli - Amateur Movie Review

In a post-apocalyptic world, a lone hero (Washington) guards the Book of Eli, which provides knowledge that could redeem society. The despot of a small, makeshift town (Oldman) plans to take possession of the book.

What I Can Tell You: My husband and I watched this last weekend. While I really liked the movie, my husband really didn't care for it. He is a huge Denzel Washington fan (his favorite actor) but really thought the movie wasn't that good. I on the other hand. Loved it!

It is different and at the end we both discussed something we didn't realize until the very end. The movie is slow, quiet but strong.  I loved Gary Oldman!

I also loved Mila Kunis. It was great seeing her in something different than Forgetting Sarah Marshall or Extract and That 70's Show. She looked like Angelina Jolie as Lara Craft. Who knew she could be an action star? Loved it.

Check out her total hotness!

The Book of Eli was a great movie and I highly recommend it.

Unbearable Lightness by Portia DeRossi - Review

Monday, November 29, 201Unbearable Lightness by Portia DeRossi - Review

Description

"I didn't decide to become anorexic. It snuck up on me disguised as a healthy diet, a professional attitude. Being as thin as possible was a way to make the job of being an actress easier . . ."

Portia de Rossi weighed only 82 pounds when she collapsed on the set of the Hollywood film in which she was playing her first leading role. This should have been the culmination of all her years of hard work—first as a child model in Australia, then as a cast member of one of the hottest shows on American television. On the outside she was thin and blond, glamorous and successful. On the inside, she was literally dying.

In this searing, unflinchingly honest book, Portia de Rossi captures the complex emotional truth of what it is like when food, weight, and body image take priority over every other human impulse or action. She recounts the elaborate rituals around eating that came to dominate hours of every day, from keeping her daily calorie intake below 300 to eating precisely measured amounts of food out of specific bowls and only with certain utensils. When this wasn't enough, she resorted to purging and compulsive physical exercise, driving her body and spirit to the breaking point.

Even as she rose to fame as a cast member of the hit television shows Ally McBeal and Arrested Development, Portia alternately starved herself and binged, all the while terrified that the truth of her sexuality would be exposed in the tabloids. She reveals the heartache and fear that accompany a life lived in the closet, a sense of isolation that was only magnified by her unrelenting desire to be ever thinner. With the storytelling skills of a great novelist and the eye for detail of a poet, Portia makes transparent as never before the behaviors and emotions of someone living with an eating disorder.

From her lowest point, Portia began the painful climb back to a life of health and honesty, falling in love with and eventually marrying Ellen DeGeneres, and emerging as an outspoken and articulate advocate for gay rights and women's health issues.

In this remarkable and beautifully written work, Portia shines a bright light on a dark subject. A crucial book for all those who might sometimes feel at war with themselves or their bodies, Unbearable Lightness is a story that inspires hope and nourishes the spirit.

What I Can Tell You:
Wow! I don't know of a more honest book. Portia is brutally candid and this book had me from the first page. I saw this at the library and read it in 3 days in the middle of a million things going on.

As I read this book, I wondered how many woman are in the same place Portia was. The calculating, the weighing, the stress, the anxiety, the fear. Portia sheds light on how much work it takes to be anorexic and how it affects the people around you.

A seemingly strong woman, with a blossoming career who would have known the nightmare she was living. If nothing else, this book will enforce the fact that anorexia is a disease. It is not something an individual has control over. It is not something someone steps into lightly. It is a sickness often stems from a deeper problem. Self doubt, self loathing, and insecurities manifest into something that completely overtakes an individual without them even knowing it.

My heart goes out to Portia who was unwavering in her honesty as she bears her soul for all to see. She is a beautiful person who wrote a book that she be a must read for therapists and anyone who has ever loved/loves someone suffering from this disease.

A must read.

Let's Be Prairie Dogs

This was part of the Prairie dog exhibit. You stood up in these holes and the prairie dogs were right there. It was cool but since we were alone I didn’t dare leave them in that tunnel to run up to the top to take their picture so this was the best I could do.

The Grammy's Were Amazing And I Have Been Totally Ga-Ga'd

I have stopped watching a lot of the awards shows! In the past there wasn't an award show, especially the ones that focused on music that I wasn't sitting in front of.

Over the last few years, I was disillusioned with the shows. The acts were boring, the show was focused on the odd announcement pairings and mostly, the acts didn't sound like they do on the radio.

This year was different. I found music again after leaving it for 6 years, focusing mostly on my kids and listened to their music which was The Wiggles, Sesame Street, Disney Movies and the like.

I was very interested in watching the Taylor Swift, Stevie Nicks pairing. Hearing that they were going to sing Rhiannon was a thrill. I love both of them and couldn't wait to see Stevie sing on stage. Ok, so...as much as I wanted to love it. It wasn't that great. Stevie's mic was too low and Taylor was a bit screetchy. Though, I never thought she sounded good live.

I was excited for Taylor to be able to share the stage with such an Icon but it fell a little flat for me. But, I can only imagine how it felt for Taylor. You go girl! Love you. Two amazing storytellers who write their own songs. Talented Women Rock! Taylor received four Grammy's including the recording breaking one for Album Of The Year for Fearless (she is the youngest artist ever to pick up this honor.

Another talented women!
Beyoncé, picked up a recording breaking six wins (for a women)with Song Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, and Best Contemporary R&B Album. Although this is not music I listen to, I think she is a talented lady. I just don't understand the crotch grabbing when she stated the line, "I'd be a better man." Do men actually go around grabbing crotch? I have never seen my husband do this and seeing this hot, beautiful, talented, women do it was just weird for me.

Don't shoot me, but I will never understand The Black Eyed Peas! Yuck! Ummm..."I'mma B, I'mma B", not posting their video, because I simply cannot listen to that again.

Woot!!! Thank God, my favorite's Kings of Leon received three Grammys for Use Somebody!!! Hello...is that not the best damn song of 2009? For me it was. I will never get bored of it. All those time changes...they rock.

Seeing Michael Jackson's kids on stage is always just sad to me. They are so adorable and I pray that are doing well and that someone really has their best interests at heart.

I totally didn't get the Jaime Fox thing. It was jus noise to me, but I am old! 43!

Pink! Who doesn't love her. She is just a strong, beautiful, talented female who can really sing. I love her voice and think she is amazing. Who else could sing hanging upside down, wearing white tape and being wet after being dipped in a pool of water? No net, soaking wet, hanging above the crowd. I personally was scared that she would slip out. I kept thinking about all those celebrities with the hair, make-up and growns getting soaked with water from a spinning Pink! Nice.

Now, onto Lady GaGa. Ok, I will say it! I am totally ga-ga over GaGa. She is awesome. Seriously, I really wanted to hate her, I don't listen to her style of music, and none of my radio stations play her kind of music so I never really hear of her. Lately, I have checked out some of her videos. She is just different! I appreciate people who push the envelope. When I was younger I used to say I love "freaks". I was a Marilyn Manson fan, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, etc. Lady GaGa is talented. She is an entertainer. I have seen her on talk shows and she is a very smart women. Her stage persona is a total act and last night she was amazing. Her debut with Elton rocked!
I didn't get the whole beginning with those freaky weird GaGa's on the stage and the laughing guy so I uploaded a video that ommited that part but unfortunately he comes back in the middle of the video. Sorry!

All day I had Poker Face by Lady GaGa and Lady Antebellum's Need You Now! Damn I love that song!

The Fountain - A Review

Product Description

Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Past, present, future. Through time and space, one man embarks on a bold 1000-year odyssey to defeat humankind's most indomitable foe: Death. Hugh Jackman plays that man, devoted to one woman (Rachel Weisz) and determined to protect her from forces that threaten her existence. His quest leads him to a Tree of Life...and to an adventure into eternity. Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) directs, continuing his string of imaginative, involving filmmaking with a tale alive with ideas and filled with astonishing vistas.
Hugh Jackman was the reason I decided to try out this movie. Thankfully, my library had it and I didn't have to pay anything to see it. Thankfully!

The movie has some visually stunning scenes. There is Hugh; bald, hair, sitting, criss, cross, apple sauce, but to be totally honest. I had not friggin idea what was going on. Are we in the present, past, future, non-existence???? What? What? What?

So, premise as I (the amateur reviewer) sees it is, Tomas, (Hugh) spends his whole life trying to save his wife (the love of his life). Beautiful right?! Well, I think the films desire to be artistic makes it too complicated or maybe I'm just an idiot.

I give this 2 out of 5 Stars. Mostly because...of the beauty of the visuals.