I *heart* Joe Jonas

That's right everyone...he is officially the hottest Jonas Brother according to the Stewart women. We had occasion to view the Jonas Brothers 3D Concert. It was a miracle of modern technology and marketing. Truly genius. Disney seems to have stepped up the marketing to the tween age group in the last 10 years and they aren't slowing down.

In this concert the Jo Bros host other singers 'created' by Disney: Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift. While the ladies are on stage the Bros are singing along and acting like fans. It's the perfect sell! Kids who already love the Jonas Brothers are treated to a commercial during a concert and get to see the guys they love, loving the product! Seriously...someone got extra stock options after they came up with that!

Movie Review: Coraline

In honor of the Oscars last night I thought I'd do a movie review.  

Lowell and I had a weekend away (thanks to my mom and dad!) and we spent a fair amount of time at the movies.  The one we both wanted to see most was Coraline.  I read the book last fall and although I enjoyed it I found it disturbing and decided that I didn't want Piper to read it.  I told her about it but it stayed on the shelf and still hasn't been touched.   

When I heard that a film was being made I was very curious how they were going to manage it as a children's movie since it is a children's book.  The themes and the characters of the book played out more like a classic Grimm's Fairy Tale I figured they would 'Hollywood' the plot to make it more appealing to a wider audience.  I was wrong.  This is a dark story about deception and murder.  

Coraline is rated PG and in this case that is exactly how it should be treated. Only the parents will know if this movie is too much for their kid.   While we were watching we heard more than one kid crying and asking to go home.  One reviewer said that if your kid has been raised on The Nightmare Before Christmas then they are prepared for this movie.  I still recommend that you see it first and decide for yourself.

Having said all that:  Lowell and I both *loved it*.  The art work is great, the story is gritty, the characters are flawed and the music is fun.  Go see it!

Movie Review: Dan in Real Life

Soooo.... I realize that everyone in America has seen this already but I just saw it last night and I really liked it.  The story was fairly typical but Steve Carrell was great.  He has a good range in his acting in this movie.  He goes from silly to hilarious to sincere.  That surprised me since I think of him as a total goofball.  The rest of the cast was great too! The girls that play his daughters are funny and quite good, Juliette Binoche is lovely as his love interest), Dane Cook plays his brother and I loved  John Mahoney from Fraisier as his dad.

Over all it was well worth the 75¢ I paid for it and it might be one that I'd even buy.  I don't really collect movies so the fact that I'm considering 2 at the moment ( #2:  Juno) is down right amazing!

A few days off...

Wow, I 'm having separation anxiety from not blogging for what...?  40 hours or so!?! Sheeeeeeesh!  I'm pathetic!   

Went to see Juno (nominated for 3 Oscars) and it is really fantastic.  Go see it, it's actually worth 7 or 8 bucks.  I'm wondering about the other 4 best picture Oscar nominations?  Has anyone seen them?? (Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood, Atonement, and No Country for Old Men).  Or any great movies you've seen lately.

Film: The Golden Compass PG-13

I finally got to go see The Golden Compass since it worked it's way down to the dollar theater- yay!  I really enjoyed this book series and reviewed it a while ago but, as always,  I was curious about how the story would translate to film.  I know this comes as no surprise but, the book is better than the movie. Why do they have to keep ruining fantastic books by making them into films? Because of the level of detail you get with the written word and the insight into the characters thoughts, you just finish the book more invested than you do with the film.  

The film follows the adventures of Lyra, a girl with a mysterious but unexciting past and a mysterious but vague destiny who sets out to find a friend who isn’t very interesting and an uncle that she never ends up locating. Along the way she hooks up with a variety of poorly-explained characters on a quest to stop a possible war between some unidentified factions, which threatens to destroy an infinite number of parallel worlds that you never actually get to see. The whole thing comes to a jerking halt several chapters short of where the novel ended with a kind of bashful “ummm.....sorry, sure hope we get to make the sequels so that you'll understand the story” air pervading the finale

Having said that, it is *amazing* in the special effects department. This story has a lot of animals and 'morphing' and it was really fun to watch. There were only a couple of spots that seemed less than graceful and the rest was totally fantastic.  Realistically it's worth seeing just for that stuff.

It is PG 13 for violence although there isn't much blood considering the battles.  A kid that hasn't read the books will have a very hard time following the movie.  Overall it is worth seeing but if you have to choose, stick with the books.