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Nora

Twilight, Twilight little EPIC movie!

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I know what you are thinking, it CAN’T be true. You are a grown woman. You cannot possibly have liked the Twilight movie. I am not ashamed to say that I sincerely LOVED this film. As a fan of the books I really think that they took great care to bring to life, in grand detail, the beauty of this book.

Yes there are cheezy parts. Those were in the book too. But there was one thing that I could not get over during the film. For those of you who have seen the movie or read the books you know what I am about to say. For those who haven’t done either I am sorry this is a spoiler. The fraking BABY NAME!!! UGH!! Stephanie Meyer was just LAME with this one. Reneesme. SERIOUSLY?? REALLY?? WORST LITERARY NAME E-V-E-R!!! Worst. But there was a bonus when Rob Pattinson and all the other characters just keep repeating this name over and over and talking about how beautiful it is! OMG I was on the floor laughing. I mean I was snorting and everything. So ridiculous. I couldn’t stop. I wasn’t the only one either. Who knew Twilight was going to be the funniest movie I have seen since BRIDESMAIDS???

See this movie if you are a fan of love and vampires. It is enjoyable and beautiful. Makes me wish I had, had a more fancy wedding.

Going down memory lane with The Muppets.

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The muppets movie was everything that I expected. I took my 6 year old son. He got the same magical look in his eye that I know I used to when I watched the TV show. They are magic. It just transports you to a simpler time and place. Where life is about singing your way through problems and finding joy in everything.

This movie has fantastic cameo’s in it as well. Mickey Rooney was in it. He has one line and was on screen for 5 seconds but it was worth seeing the whole movie just for that moment. Amy Adams is America’s sweetheart. She embodies everything that is wholesome and good in and idyllic americana. Jason Segel is surprisingly coy and funny without the raunch and I was delighted by his sincere performance in this movie.

If you loved the Muppets as a kid, see this movie. Take your kids and share the Muppets with them.

 

A love letter to J. Edgar from Clint Eastwood.

By | Movies | One Comment

Watching J. Edgar was quite the experience. It was a very slow moving, beautiful film. I went into the movie with the little knowledge about J. Edgar that I had gleaned from my High School Civics class. I came away with a whole other view of this, sincerely incredible man. There were so many facets to him that I had never known about. He was truly a revolutionary. He basically invented forensic science. And he cataloged the entire Library of Congress. Both feats that are pretty much unmatched in any lifetime.

This movie is most definitely a love letter to him. It shows his flaws, definitely, but it highlights his accomplishments and achievements much, much more. I think the dynamic between him and his long time friend was respectfully done. Since neither of them is alive to confirm or deny anything I think that this was the most accurate representation that could be put out there.

Once again Leonardo DiCaprio puts out a performance of a lifetime. I really don’t know how many more of these he has to give before he gets an Academy Award but apparently he is going for the record.

Definitely see this movie. Leo is AMAZING and Clint Directs another stellar film.

IMMORTALS! Whoa Sexy!

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I saw an advanced screening of Immortals last week, because, yeah I am that important. I didn’t know the screening was going to be in 3D which I generally don’t do since I wear glasses and glasses on top of glasses SUCKS and gives me massive headaches. But I have to say, I didn’t get a headache from this movie. There really wasn’t a reason to be watching it in 3D. There just wasn’t enough “use” of the 3D gimmick to make it worth it. But enough about 3D. This movie was SO beautiful. If you like extremely HOT men scantily clad and sweaty then this is the movie for you. It has sex, violence and an epic story to boot. It is severely violent. I mean a few scenes for me were just too much. Mickey Rourke is so disgusting now. He really is no longer acting. He has just become a real life comic book villan. And he didn’t even put on a British accent for this one. He just sounds like himself. At times I have to be honest I think they just let him say whatever came to his mind. He is the bad guy in this film so he did a really good job because I could not have hated his character more. In this movie he is essentially playing the same exact character he played in Iron Man 2 minus the Russian accent. This movie is about an Ancient Greek myth so of course everyone has a British accent. As a Greek American I take slight offense at that. But the accents were WAY toned down and not horrible like in Troy. And they had a few scenes with ACTUAL Greek spoken. Over all the film is stunning and has something for men and women to enjoy. The acting is good and there is a decent story there. If you liked 300 you will seriously LOVE IMMORTALS!

I Caught “Catfish” Fever

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Saw “Catfish” yesterday and I am still thinking about it today. I love a movie like that. Something that while you are watching it, keeps you guessing and when you are done you are still thinking about it. Now I will say this. I see a TON of movies. I do mean a ton. I literally try and see every movie that comes out. There are some that I refuse to see, mostly of the horror genre, just because I don’t like to pay money to be scared, but I even see some of those as well. Heck I even saw “From Justin to Kelly” in the theater. But this has to be one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. It was so well put together and really kept me interested the entire time. At one point in the movie I knew what was happening, that happens to me a lot. I told you I see a ton of movies and if one is even slightly similar to another I will remember the entire plot line of the other movie and already “know” what is going to happen. It is rare that I am surprised at a movie. But despite knowing exactly, well not exactly, because even I was surprised at the magnitude and sincerity of the conclusion, I was never bored or annoyed with this film. It was so compelling and honest and intense. It IS NOT a horror flick or some lame “Blair Witch Project” type of thing. So if that is what you were hoping for definitely skip it. This a true psychological thriller in every sense of the word. Go see this film. Then have a dinner party after to discuss it. I guarantee it will be a most interesting night!

“EASY A” Funny Funny!

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Saw the movie “Easy A” on friday night with my best friend. We were laughing so hard and long that it was becoming inappropriate. It was funny without being too raunchy. (Which can also be very funny, like in “Going The Distance” very raunchy but VERY funny.) It was a hilarious without being overbearing and not too “heartwarming”. Emma Stone is a comer and definitely a rising star. She was so funny and spot on in this movie. The supporting cast was amazing. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson were wildly inappropriate and unbelievably funny. I must give the appropriate shout out to the writer, Bert V Royal, who obviously loves the 80’s movies that we both grew up with as much as I did. Best coming of age, teen movie I have seen since John Hughes shaped my generation. See this movie. Buy it on DVD and watch it over and over. It will never get old and it will make you laugh!

NEW Shows Debuting this Fall

By | Television | One Comment

Oh my there are so many good shows coming back this fall but there is an equal number of new shows that are coming out that make me happy that I have 3 DVR’s! Out of the 22 New shows coming out I will be watching/DVRing 17! How many will you?

Here is a Breakdown by day and Network of all the new shows:

MONDAY: 9pm

-FOX “Lone Star” Con man leading two separate lives, one where he is married and another where he living with his girlfriend. Looks fast and intriguing.

-NBC “The Event” Alien thriller starring none other than Blair Underwood. Need I say more?

-CBS “Mike & Molly” (9:30) Sit-com about blue collar family.

10pm

-CBS “Hawaii Five-O” remake of the classic TV series with the incredibly good looking Alex O’Laughlin (Moonlight, Three Rivers)

-NBC “Chase” twist on the typical cop show, badass female US Marshall hunts down uber dangerous felons.

TUESDAY: 8pm

-ABC “No Ordinary Family” Michael Chiklis (The Shield) cleans it up with this family friendly version of “The Incredibles” meets Hero’s.

9pm

-FOX “Raising Hope” Martha Plimpton starring along side Cloris Leachman in an offbeat family comedy about an unusual family.

-FOX “Running Wilde” (9:30) Keri Russell makes her way back to TV with a very funny Sit Com with Will Arnet.

10pm

-ABC “Detroit 1-8-7” New gritty cop drama starring Michael Imperioli and yes it is filmed in Detroit!

WEDNESDAY 8pm

-NBC “Undercovers” A spy drama about a married couple who are also spies. Hmm NBC not enough quirky Spy Drama’s?

-CBS “Better With You” Another Comedy from CBS for the relationship challenged. Starring Joanna Garcia (Reba)

9pm

-CW “Hellcats” Yet another inappropriate dramady about college this time centering around cheerleaders. Stay Classy CW!

10pm

-ABC “The Whole Truth” New Courtroom based drama starring Maura Tierney (ER) and Rob Morrow (Numb3rs)

-CBS “The Defenders” Another courtroom Dramedy with Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell (Crossing Jordan) looks like a good romp & “Shark” like.

-NBC “Law and Order: Los Angeles” This is the replacement for the original Law and Order that was cancelled recently. Cast looks amazing!

THURSDAY 8pm

-ABC “My Generation” 10 years after graduating High School how closely does their life resemble their dreams.

-CBS (8:30) “$#*! My Dad Says” Taken straight from the Facebook/Twitter posts we now have a new Comedy starring William Shatner.

9pm

-CW “Nikita” Another remake that actually may make the grade. Sexy female Spy sure to please.

-NBC “Outsourced” (9:30) Comedy about and call center in India. Could be hilarious or wildly inappropriate.

FRIDAY 8pm

9pm

-ABC “Body of Proof” Crime drama starring Dana Delany (China Beach) solid cast and hey who doesn’t LOVE a crime drama?

10pm

-CBS “Blue Bloods” Cop Drama and possibly the most anticipated return to a starring role of Tom Selleck. Along with Donnie Wahlberg should be intense.

-NBC “Outlaw” Jimmy Smits is back starring as a Judge who steps down to become a defense lawyer for the unfortunate!

The DVR- The single greatest invention of the last century. (Maybe)

By | Technology or Nerd Central, Television | No Comments

When I was a kid there was really only one option if you wanted to watch a show, be the one with the remote. There was no way to watch more than one show at once. There was no way to watch one at 7pm and then watch another that was also on at 7 later. Then the VCR came around and for those of us lucky enough to have more than one TV (Shocking I know that our houses weren’t chock a block filled with TV’s in every room as it is now.) then you could “Tape” one show in another room and all watch something in the Family room together.

 

So slowly but surely our house got more TV’s and more VCR’s so that we could tape shows to watch later. Now with the DVR that is pretty much handled. You can record (depending on what service you have) up to 4 shows at once. And in some cases watch those shows back on any TV in your house. Well, with my childhood background the obsession shouldn’t really come as a shock to anyone that I have 3 DVR’s in my house that are all Networked so I can in fact watch any of the 300 hours of HD programming from any TV in my house. Some of you out there may think, “3 DVR’s! That is WAY over the top.” Well yes and no.

Just a little tidbit about me personally, I am happily married to my gorgeous husband of 5 years and I have 2 beautiful son’s. The 4 of us live generationally in the same house with my parents. I have 1 DVR in the Family room, 1 in my Mom’s room and the other in my Father’s room. My Dad never uses it at all so it just acts as extra storage. My Mom’s is filled with TCM movies. Mine, however, there is no excuse for. I am actively, recording 40 shows. Yes I said 40. And that is before I even get in to the new fall lineup. So there will be an even greater need for the 3rd DVR. I am desperately trying to catch up on all the shows from the summer now before fall madness starts. That is no easy feat when you are a stay at home mother of 2 and are working in my “spare” time on renovating my house. I am literally staining 1000’s of square feet of fence when I am not typing here.

Thus my admiration for the DVR. I couldn’t watch everything without it!

iTunes 10 Download Debug

By | Technology or Nerd Central | No Comments

I like many other excited nerds out there were eagerly awaiting the launch of iTunes 10 but every time I went to download it it kept telling me “Coming soon.” or even worse it would day “iTunes 10” and then download the 9.2.1 version. If this is happening to you just keep refreshing your screen. It takes a few times but then you will get it. I have just registered for Ping and so far it is fantastic and 100 times faster to get started on than any other social networking site.

Apple Live Streaming Keynote iPhone, iPad, iPod, & iTunes Oh my!

By | Technology or Nerd Central | 3 Comments

For all of you out there who don’t have a Mac and didn’t get to see the live stream here is a play by play of the releases.

iPhone : HDR photos look fantastic. Once again Apple has figured out how to make pictures even easier and better looking with just a touch of a button.

Game center: Links you up to invites and sharing and there seem to be some really sweet new games coming out for multi player.

iPad: Wireless Printing!!!!! Finally!

Air tunes becomes Airplay! You can now stream more than music wirelessly! Movies, Music, Photos and TV.

 

 

IOS 4.2 coming out in November for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

New iPod Shuffle, Buttons, voice over and Playlists. Clip and go! $49

New iPod Nano Smaller, multi touch, Clip on the back, Voice Over, Nike +, 24 hour battery life, Photos! Customizable icons, rotatable screen! $149 8Gig $179 16 Gig.

New iPod Touch Thinner, Retina Display, Apple A4 Chip, 3 Axis Gyro, Facetime with front Camera, Rear Camera with HD recording, 40 hour battery life for music playback. Edit Videos on the phone, Facetime between iPods and iPhones! $229 8Gig $299 32 Gig $399 64 Gig.

All available next week.

iTunes10 New Logo, Simpler, more elegant, new list view with cover art. Ping, social network for music. Twitter and Facebook meet iTunes. Follow your favorite artists and friends and see what music they are listening to and what they are doing. Steve Jobs calls it a “Social music discovery.” Ping available for Mac, PC, iPhone and iPod Touch. Available today for download!

New Apple TV:  Smaller, HDMI output, Ethernet and WiFi. Remote. HD shows when available. Rentals only no purchases. Rental prices are low. Streaming videos, photos and music. No syncing. Silent and cool. $4.99 for first run HD movies. ¢99 for HD TV Shows, commercial free ABC & Fox for right now. More to come. Stream Netflix to the Apple TV. Stream You Tube and get photos from Flickr and Mobile Me as well as pod casts. Listen to all your music from your computer on your TV. Using the new Airplay you can stream from your iOS device eg iPad to your Apple TV. $99 available in 4 weeks. Pre order today!

Bonus for everyone there and me Chris Martin of Coldplay LIVE!

Once again Apple is rolling out innovation in massive doses. There is a reason why the iPod destroyed the Walkman. It is just too good. Look for me on Ping as soon as I can get the download!