MAD MONEY

Finally went to see Mad Money today. Actually, my friend and I had planned to see it last week, but since life happens the moment you have plans with your girlfriends, last week became this week! Since it was a Thursday morning, and the movie had been out for a couple of weeks, the theater was empty. We loved that. And we saw some great previews for a new Jodie Foster movie. (I love previews. They're part of the whole movie experience! )

Anyway, back to Mad Money.

My friend - who I'll refer to as "Macy" - whispered to me before the movie began, "Katie Holmes isn't a very good actress!" And I thought, "Uh-oh. I wonder if she knows we're sitting at a Katie Holmes movie." (She did.) And you know, after she said that, I couldn't think of any Katie Holmes movies I'd ever seen! Never even saw Dawson's Creek. (Although a quick Google search told me that I'd seen her in Phone Booth.)

Anyway, back to Mad Money.

This unlikely trio of ladies was a good combo, and putting them together in a movie was a fresh idea. Queen Latifah - who is always good in any movie she does - plays a struggling single mom. Diane Keaton - who is always "Diane Keaton" in any movie, but we still love her - plays an upper middle class housewife who's husband has been unemployed for awhile, so she has to go back to work. Katie Holmes plays a young free spirit. It was a good role for her. (Although Macy and I discussed that her role was kind of an "exaggerated" character, so it was hard to judge her acting skills by it.) Ted Danson was great - playing Keaton's nervous, then "into-it" husband. Adam Rothenberg, who played Katie's husband, was a nice compliment to the cast - he was kinda the loveable airhead, and had some funny moments.

The movie starts in the present, then goes back to tell the story about three ladies who work at the Federal Reserve and cook up a plan to steal the money that is being destroyed. It goes through the birth of their plan, the execution of their plan, and the results of their executed plan. The story, of course, is a bit unrealistic - but as you know, I love Die Hard movies, so "unrealistic" doesn't bother me a bit. The only thing that bothered me about the storyline was that it kinda portrayed the stealing of the money, as not so bad. In fact, when Ted Danson's character is nervous about it at first, he is made to seem like a killjoy. Queen Latifah's character seemed to have more of a conscience about it than the others, but in the end - when they kinda beat the system, and the danger of getting caught has passed - she seems to lose that conscience. There was nothing in this movie that said that stealing money is wrong.

Overall, I would give Mad Money a 6.5 out of 10 rating. I'm glad I spent $7 to see it, and not $20 to buy the DVD. I had a good time seeing it, enjoyed my morning out, but it was nothing to write home about.

BIG STONE GAP by Adriana Trigiani

It was one of the few times that my "to-be-read" stack was low. So one day at Sam's Club, I grabbed a few novels that looked good. Nothing I'd heard of, no familiar authors. Just something "different". Those books ended up sitting on my nightstand for a few months, but eventually, I grabbed one! It was Big Stone Gap, by Adriana Trigiani.

Big Stone Gap is the story of a small town woman - she's single, just turned 35, recently lost her beloved mother, and she's also just found that her father was not her father! She's an independent, confident woman; yet at the same time, she's scared, alone and not so confident! This is the sweet, touching story of Ave Maria figuring some things out - her road to "self discovery", if you will. And Big Stone Gap is a town full of lovable characters! The story flows smoothly, and even though the situations are things you can relate to, you still can't wait to see what's going to happen next! Additionally, Ms. Trigiani's description of people and places makes it easy to imagine every bit of the story. I even found myself talking with a southern accent while I was reading it!

Big Stone Gap is the first in a series - Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and Home to Big Stone Gap are the titles that follow. I've got Big Cherry Holler on order now, and I'm really looking forward to reading more of Ms Trigiani's work!

KNOCKED UP

Definitely not a movie I would have chosen to go see. Actually, my 20 year old son gave the DVD to my husband for Christmas. Yucky...or was it....?

Hubby put the movie on, and I did not intend to watch it. I ended up watching the whole thing. I laughed out loud. I groaned with disgust. I cried at how miraculous a new little baby is. I'm really annoyed at how much I enjoyed this movie. I kinda wanna keep that a secret, but I choose to sacrifice my reputation for the sake of the blog.

The movie stars Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen. After a one night stand, she finds out she's pregnant. She's a driven career girl, he's a...well, a loser. Its actually a sweet story of two completely different people (different morals, different goals, different backgrounds, etc) trying to do the right thing after an irresponsible mistake. Definitely not for the kids - there's plenty of bad language, and sexual and drug references. Like I said, this is not the kind of movie I usually choose, but there's worse out there.

Back to Blogging

I started this blog with a lot of excitement, thinking I'd run to my Mac to blog everytime I read or watched something. But life is busy, and before I knew it, I had way too many items to write about, and my memory of each item kinda blurred with each day! Maybe its just the start of the new year, along with an email conversation I had with a friend of how her resolution is to read as many good books this year as she can, but I kinda have the itch to work on this blog again! I'd love to go back and review so many great books and movies I've watched, but lets just start from here on out. Although, just for the sake of making this an official review, I will mention some of my all time favorites:

At the top of the list, I have to put "The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out", by Neta Jackson. This title is the 7th in the series. As I've mentioned before, I LOVE IT! I feel like the group of characters are my friends. And as corny as it sounds, I always feel like I've grown alot spiritually after I've read one of these books! As I was reading through this volume, I was mentally "guessing" what might come in the next one. Well, I was pretty bummed out when I got the end and read that this one was the end of the series!! Whaaaa! I do look forward Neta Jackson's future works, even though I am bitter about the end of my Yada Yada sisters!!!! ;)

Another book worth reading is "Jesus Freaks", Volumes I and II, by DC Talk. Volume I is short stories of martyrs. Volume II is short stories of "revolutionaries who changed their world, fearing God, not man". OK, OK, yeah, it sounds like a bummer to read these - thats the reaction I always get from people to whom I recommend these book. But I have to say, these books really have a way of showing you what is important in the grand scheme of things. With these books as well, I felt stronger and more cemented in my faith.

While we're on the subject of growing spiritually, I'll also suggest "Buck Naked Faith" by Eric Sandras. This is a book that makes you examine yourself honestly, and helps you put yourself in a place where you are trying to please God and not just keep up appearances. But it makes you realize that your struggles are common to us all.

As for movies, my all time favorites are Peggy Sue Got Married, Chances Are, Best Friends Wedding, and Father of the Bride 1 and 2. I LOVE to "accidentally" catch these on TV! It always seems like a nice surprise! The other day I caught "Parenthood" on TV. I love that movie, and the older I get, the more I love it, because you can totally relate to so many characters. I LOVE the scene where Steve Martin is coaching his son in little league, and before the game, he imagines that his son is graduating as valedictorian at a university, and in his speech, he thanks his father for being the best. Then after the game, he imagines his son up in a tower, shooting down at the crowd, screaming about how his dad screwed him up. The theme to this movie is that life is a roller coaster and you just have to enjoy the ride, even if its scary sometimes.

A newer movie I've enjoyed is "National Treasure - Book of Secrets". I went to see this one on the opening night. I LOVED the first one, and I LOVED the fact that I could take my 7 year old to it. I read somewhere that the director, or producer, or someone associated with the film said that instead of making a movie for kids, he'd rather make a movie that kids can go to. I thought that described this movie very well. I'll have to say it wasn't much different than the first one, nothing new, same kind of story. But really enjoyable nonetheless.

(I get the urge right now to mention CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, the books as well as the movie, but I'll have to tell ya, that one deserves its own post on a later date.)

What the heck, lets keep the momentum going with TV reviews. I have been hooked on Lost, and I really look forward to the new episode being aired on January 31st! I gave my friend Season One to watch to see if I could hook her into it. She watched it within a week, and then ran out and purchased Seasons Two and Three! The writers had committed to wrapping up the story line in 2 more seasons, but it will be interesting to see how the writer's strike affects this. I am stuck in a place wondering if there will be a logical explanation to all the "happenings" on the island, or if they might go the supernatural route with it.

I swore off the Apprentice last season, cuz it was getting kinda dumb. Ok, REALLY dumb. But I hate to say that I got sucked into it again this season, cuz they are doing Celebrity Apprentice. Its still kinda dumb, but more interesting cuz you get to see how the celebrities interact and do something they are not used to. One thing I noticed, they are not as backstabbing and cut-throat as the "nobodies" from previous season. I guess since they have already reached success, they are not as desperate to climb up that ladder!

Well, I guess thats it for now. This was kind of a "media goulash" kind of post. Now, I'll get busy reading, watching, and posting. Stay tuned, and let me know what you are all watching and reading out there.

Until Next Time...