A Few New Releases

Family Movie Night 

Recovering from the Pumpkin Fest should not be that difficult. No more will our family take nightly bike rides to find Waldo. No longer are we going to look at all of the scarecrows. 

Happy Birthday, Sam. Picture by J. Durham.

 

I am planning to place my hiker guy scarecrow in the front yard as soon as there is a free moment or the husband is done with touching up the paint on our trim. Plus, we have a birthday to celebrate. Our youngest turns six this Friday and there is a party to get ready. Cupcakes, pizzas and other boys sleeping over for the night. Should be fun. 

One thing he can look forward to is the DVD release this week of Iron Man 2 which stars Robert Downey Jr. This time around, people know him and his alter ego. But we see the man is having problems, difficulties with adjusting to real life, difficulties with the relationships most dear to him. 

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, having a donut while sitting in a large donut. Picture from IMDb.com.

 

He must also deal with other issues regarding his suit that are good and bad. And there is the man whose father helped create the suit that Tony wears. It is a tangled web.  

 This movie is rated PG-13 and is one that makes me cautious with the younger members of the family. However, we saw it in the drive-in this summer and thought for the most part it was OK viewing for our youngest. It will not be played at the party but saved for a family-only time. 

 We do not always get to the theater to see movies the first time around. The husband and I try to sneak out for date nights but this is not always possible. So some nights we stay up late and watch a movie we rent for us. 

 This week the movie coming out on DVD that is best for adults only is Get Him To The Greek starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill. My every attempt to rent this movie since Tuesday has been met with disappointment as it is always gone. 

This movie was produced by Judd Apatow, so you should feel pretty confident in knowing that there is going to be boozing, sex, swear words and blue humor galore, especially if you get the un-cut version. Otherwise, it is a solid ‘R’ rating. 

Jonah Hill and Russell Brand in Get Him To The Greek. Picture from IMDB.com

 The story is about an intern (Hill) who must get a former rock god (Brand) to the Greek Auditorium in Los Angeles from London to start his comeback tour on time. It is going to take cunning and trickery to do it but Hill is prepared to do anything and everything to keep his job. 

 I have enjoyed the adult-specific comedies that Apatow has specialized in over the last few years. I am hoping this will be a good flick that will make me laugh heartily at someone else’s mistakes and foibles. Plus, I do enjoy how Brand can be incredible sensitive and the next second a total jerk. Perhaps he, like Jack Black, is an acquired taste. 

 Until next week, see you in the rental aisle. 

 Let the world know about your latest pick for Family Movie Night and drop a note below. Become my friend on Facebook

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Remembering Lindsay’s Talents

Lindsey in Mean Girls, Picture from IMDb.com

Last week, Lindsay Lohan found out that she would be going to jail for not complying with the terms of her probation.

She needed to show up for classes and court dates. That seemed to be an impossible task for Lohan. Reading all of this makes me sad because just a few years ago this girl had a hot acting career. By all appearances, she has enough talent to be successful for years to come.

Picture by MConners

What doomed Lohan, besides her own bad behavior, is the chaos train her parents choose to live on and dragging their kids along for the ride. Can there be anything more chaotic than living with an alcoholic parent? Maybe it is having an alcoholic parent and a self-absorbed parent.

Lohan appears to be blessed with both. Her father states he is trying to help his daughter while the rest of the clan pushes him out because he is grubbing after her money. Mom is not much better, gaining a TV show for a time. All because Lohan is famous –  now for being famous – but before she was a truly talented actress.

Elijah wood and Lindsay Lohan in Bobby (2006), picture from IMDb.com.

Want proof? Rent a copy of Bobby directed by Emilio Estevez. This movie focuses on the day Robert Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan. We see the stories of various people at the hotel for the California post-primary celebration. But their thoughts and actions are not focused on Kennedy’s chances.

Lohan plays a young woman about to marry a classmate so he will not be sent to Vietnam. Her high school class has already seen young men lost to the war effort and it hurts her to see these lives lost. Lohan glows in the part. Her actions are understated and feel right at every moment. The same happens in Prairie Home Companion

Garrison Keillor, Lily Tomlin, Meryl Streep look on as Lindsay Lohan sings in A Prairie Home Companion. Picture from IMDb.com

with Meryl Streep. Lohan is disdainful of her silly goofy mother but loves hearing stories of her father. And yet, she is great.

This can also be said for earlier performances in Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. She was even good in a trailer that was featured in The Holiday starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. So where does Lohan go now?

Her newest lawyer, Robert Shapiro, has made her go back for rehab. Hopefully she stays and gets the real help she needs. Hopefully, she comes out with the ability to act like a grown-up in her personal life that her professional partners in various projects says she displays on a regular basis. All this after she serves her jail time.

Then she is going to have to cut off her parents from her life. They have no clue about limits or boundaries. Dina Lohan used her daughter’s Carvel Ice Cream card so much that the company revoked it. Lohan had been given a card that would allow for 75 years of free ice cream.

Dad can’t seem to keep his mouth shut and even dropped the F-bomb on Shepard Smith on Fox News. He complained about her new lawyer and feels that all are against his efforts to save his daughter. But then today, Lindsay has made a public statement that she wants her father to stay away for the time being. She states he is a font of negative activity in her life.

Once that all happens, Lindsay, find some indie flicks. Remind us of that great promise you hold inside of you. Wow us again. But this time, do it with your head screwed on as straight as possible.

Other Places to See The Stars From The Twilight Saga

A few weeks back a friend of mine loaned “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer to me.

This is one of those book series I have been meaning to read. I wanted to find out why this book series has intrigued so many teen girls. I saw pictures of Robert Pattinson and understood it from the good-looking guy standpoint.

Now that I have read the book, I understand from the character point of view. Despite being a vampire, he is truly a noble soul. The lengths he will go to for Bella prove that. If there was ever love at first sight, this is it for both characters.

Now if you want to know if I am on Team Edward or Team Jacob, well, I am not saying. Bella has made up her mind and I can already tell there is no use in arguing the point.

Robert Pattinson in Eclipse, picture from IMDb.com.

Eclipse

, the next movie in the Twilight series, comes out on June 30th. But if you need a Robert Pattinson fix before then you can always try Remember Me. This movie came out to theaters this past spring and just hit the rental market this week. The story takes place in the summer of 2001 and is about Tyler (Pattinson), a young man whose family is reeling from the suicide death of his brother.

During the summer, he meets a young woman who has suffered a similar tragedy and they find love with each other. It is a happy giddy time despite the other relationships in their lives that do not flow as easily. Pattinson works well off of Emilie de Ravin as his love interest. This is a movie better suited for older teens and adults as there is a more mature storyline going on here.

Taylor Lautner from Eclipse, Picture from IMDb.com.

Now for those on Team Jacob, I want to go back a few years when Taylor Lautner was a really cute little boy. Director Robert Rodriguez based the story of The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D (2005) on an idea his seven-year-old son literally dreamed up. It might not be the best movie in the world. I saw some people compare it to Son of the Mask as one of the worst from 2005.

However, Lautner appears as Sharkboy. He is quite ferocious although loyal to a fault. It is a fun movie to watch with its fake looking backdrops and mellow dramatic moments. The kids and I enjoy it whenever we catch it on TV.

Kristin Stewart from Eclipse, picture from IMDb.com.

Lastly, one of my favorite movies with Kristen Stewart is Zathura (2005). Hers is a small part but totally enjoyable as the big sister stuck with little brothers causing big damage to their house. She was also in a bio-pic call The Runaways this past spring portraying Joan Jett. That movie may not be appropriate for pre-teen viewers but older fans might be intrigued to see Stewart do something other than Bella.

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

Let the world  know about your latest pick for Family Movie Night and comment below or become my friend on Facebook.