MOVIE - Footloose

Fun to watch and compare to the 1984 version
Wide release 10-14-11
12-15-11 at Crossroads, alone with about 6 other single women scattered around the theater
PG-13 (1:53)
RT: critics and audience both 71%
cag:  Liked it
Director:  Craig Brewer
Paramount Studios

Dennis Quaid (Preacher), Andie McDowell (wife) Kenny Wormald (Ren) Julianne Hough (Ariel) Miles Teller (Willard)

This movie followed its original, 27 year old version, quite a bit.  (How can the original be 27 years old???) The one big difference, and one that really made sense, was the Ren's single mom had just died of leukemia, and he had been by her side throughout.  He, too, knew firsthand what it was to lose a loved one.  It also gave his character a depth that was missing in Kevin Bacon's role.

Kenny Wormald is adorable.  The guy who played his best friend was just great.  I loved the way the movie was cast, I totally enjoyed the music, and I loved that it began with the night, 3 years before, that had killed Ariel's brother - complete with the Kenny Loggins' version of the song, "Footloose."  I love Blake Shelton, but I wish his version of "Footloose" sounded more Blake Shelton-y.

MOVIE - The Muppets

Slow and boring
Wide release 11-23-11
12-13-11 at El Con with Rachel
PG (1:42)
RT critics:  97% audience: 91% (boy do I differ from them this time)
Director:  James Bobin
Walt Disney Pictures

Jason Segel (who also cowrote and produced), Amy Adams, Jack Black
Lots of cameos:  Emilyy Blunt, Jim Parsons, Neil Patrick Harris, Alan Arkin......

Preceded by five previews and a short film, we didn't walk out of the theater until two and a half hours after we walked in.  And yawn.  It was so slow, especially the scenes with good ol' Kermit.  When the whole cast broke into dance, and Jason Segel broke into song I didn't know what to think.  I love musicals, but this just didn't work for me.  I was so looking forward to it....maybe that was the problem!

Gary's "brother," Walter, a muppet, is a huge fan of the original Muppets.  So when Gary takes his girlfriend Mary (Adams) to LA for a 10-year dating anniversary, Walter accompanies them.  They go to the falling-down Muppet Studio for a tour, and Walter overhears nasty  Tex Richman planning to purchase the old property and tear it down to drill for oil.  Thus the plot is hatched to track down the original Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways, for one big telethon show.

MOVIE - Tower Heist

a fun flick!
Wide release 11-4-11
12-5-11 at El Con with Sheila
PG-13 (1:39)
RT critics:  68%  RT audience:  61%
I liked it (3)
Director:  Brett Ratner
Universal Pictures

Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda

Ben Stiller is the general manager at a high-class high-rise in Manhattan.  The most important resident, played by Alan Alda, lives in the penthouse.  Lives are shaken up when Alda is arrested by the FBI and it is discovered that all his riches have disappeared - including all the pensions of the employees of the building.  When Stiller confronts Alda, he is fired....and the plan is hatched to try to recover some of the funds that they're sure Alda has hidden right there in his penthouse.

72. The Tale of Halcyon Crane - Wendy Webb

read on my phone through Kindle
2010, Henry Holt & Co.
352 pages
written for adults
Rating:  It was okay
Some reviewers called this an "eerie gothic mystery." It was a ghost story, but I didn't find it particularly eerie, or even too mysterious.

Setting:  Contemporary Grand Manitou Island in Michigan
OSS:  After receiving a letter from the mother Hallie has always thought was dead, she travels to her ancestral home to be accosted by a group of ghosts and memories of her NOW dead mother.  Fast, implausbile love interest as well.

MOVIE - The Descendants

Hawaii, George Clooney, an interesting, complex story, and wonderful acting - the whole deal!
Released Limited 11-18-11
12-9-11 at El Con with Fran
R (1:51)
RT: Critics 90% Audience 80%
cag Loved it!
Director:  Alexander Payne
Searchlight Pictures

Shaliene Woodley, George Clooney

MOVIE - In Time

2011 Movie List

54 movies so far this year.....Four that were over-the-top awesome, and six more I absolutely loved!

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (12-29-11) It was okay (cute) (2)
Beginners (12-23-11) Liked it a lot (4)
Footloose (12-15-11) Liked it (3)
The Muppets (12-13-11) Didn't like it (1)
The Descendants (12-9-11) Loved it (5)
Tower Heist (12-5-11) Liked it (3)
In Time (12-2-11) Liked it a lot (4)
Breaking Dawn Part 1 (11-24-11) Liked it a lot (4)
The Big Year (11-18-11) Liked it (3)
The Names of Love
Columbiana Liked it a lot (4)
The Three Musketeers (10-30-11) Didn't like it (1)
Mighty Macs Liked it a lot (4)
Cowboys and Aliens Liked it (3)
Horrible Bosses It was okay (2)
Friends with Benefits Liked it a lot (4)
Terri Liked it (3)
Nora's Will Liked it a lot (4)
The Debt It was okay (2)
Super 8 (8-26-11) It was okay(2)
Mr. Popper's Penguins (8-22-11) Liked it a lot (4)
The Help (8-16-11) Liked it (3)
Harry Potter & the Deathly Harrows (8-8-11) It was okay (2)
Crazy, Stupid, Love (8-7-11) Liked it a lot (4)
The Double Hour (7-30-11) Liked it a lot (4)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (7-21-11) Didn't like it (1)
Queen to Play (Joueuse) (7-16-11) Liked it (3)
Larry Crowne (7-11-11) Liked it (3)
Midnight In Paris (6-18-11) Awesome, a favorite (6)
Amreeka (6-9-11) Liked it (4)
Source Code (6-8-11) Loved it (5)
Incendies (5-29-11) Awesome (6)
Thor Liked It (2)
The Beaver Loved it (5)
The Adjustment Bureau It was okay (2)
Bridesmaids (5-11) Loved it (5)
Jane Eyre (4-28-11) Liked it a lot (4)
Hanna (4-23-11) It was okay (2)
Lincoln Lawyer (4-21-11) Liked it (3)
Win Win (4-17-11) Liked it a lot (4)
Paul (3-20-11) Liked it (3)
No Strings Attached (3-26-11) Loved it (5)
Cedar Rapids (3-19-11) Liked it a lot (4)
Beastly (3-15-11) It was okay (2)
The Fighter (3-6-11) Awesome (6)
Gnomeo and Juliet (3-1-11) Didn't like it (1)
I am Number Four (2-22-211) It was okay (2)
The Unknown (2-21-11) Liked it a lot (4)
The Social Network (2-14-11) Awesome (6)
Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2-13-11) It was okay (2)
True Grit (2-5-11) Loved it (5)
Tiny Furniture (2-4-11) Didn't like it (1)
Country Strong (1-12-11) Liked it (3)
The King's Speech (1-5-11) Awesome (6)

Here's my complete movie list back through August of 2008......  Click here......

MOVIE - Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

Splendid scenery, set, and makeup
Wide release 11/18/11
viewed at El Con on Thanksgiving 11/24/11 by myself
PG-13 (1:57)
RT critics:  26% RT audience:  70% cag: 89%
Director:  Bill Condon

Gorgeous sets…the Cullen house, viewed from the outside, in the middle of the woods, lit up…spectacular!  The woods themselves, expecially the aerial views, are wondrous (especially to a lover-of-the-woods).  The wedding set.  The house on the beach on the island near Rio.  The sets alone were worth the cost of a ticket.

If I didn’t know the story, I think I would have scoffed and snorted all the way through.The movie seemed to almost completely follow the book.   I didn't seem to mind Kristin Stewart's acting so much in this one, and the makeup and special effects used to make her look sicker and sicker were really well done.  I very much enjoyed this.

Bella and Edward get married and, despite Edward being afraid he'd get too vampiric during lovemaking, he didn't kill her.  But she did get pregnant - and of course, it would be an unusual pregnancy.  The baby was fast growing and began killing Bella from the inside out because of it's vampiric needs.  Watching how the wolves, the Cullen family, and Bella's family deal with everything that happens is actually quite enjoyable to watch.  I wouldn't go to re-see any of the previous movies, but I would this one.

71. Wonderstruck - Brian Selznik

A novel in words and pictures
Scholastic Press, 2011
640 pgs.
For: everyone
Rating: Liked it
A visual masterpiece!

There are two stories for the first 500-or-so pages, one of a boy in 1977 Minnesota who has just lost his single-parent mom, and one of a deaf girl in Hoboken, NJ in 1927. They connect as you near the end of the book. One of the stories is using words, only. The other is using pictures, only.

In his acknowledgements, Brian Selznick says he spent seven rainy weeks in a cabin in the woods in Peterorough, NH, working on the book. These illustrations must have taken a lot longer than that, though!

MOVIE - The Big Year

"Obsessed birders with heart"
Fun to watch these three really good actors
Wide Release 10-14-11
11-16-11 at Kolb cheap theater, alone
PG (1:40)
RT:  39%  cag: 86% (at least)
Director:  David Frankel
20th Century Fox

Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, Jack Black
Stu Preissler (Steve Martin - a retiring business magnate with a very loving marriage)
Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson - obsessed title-holding birder, ignores his beautiful, trying-to-get pregnant wife)
Brad Harris (Jack Black - 30-something divorced loner, close to his parents, who wants to achieve something great in his life)

Throw in a year of following the unusual birds all over North America so that they get the biggest amount of sitings and some beautiful sights across the country in all sorts of weather, a few good chuckles, and you have a very watchable, enjoyable movie.  I very much enjoyed it.  Having worked for a birding company (as the bookkeeper) for a number of years, I "get" the obsession.....

70. Sisterhood Everlasting - Ann Brashares

read by Angela Goethals (excellently)
"Four friends, one sisterhood....ten years later"
Random House Audio, 2011
$4000 (TPPL)
8 unabridged cds
10 hrs.
368 pages
Rating:  1.5

Constant, nonstop depressing - not a good ending novel, a whole different feel.

Bee becomes a filthy, self-centered vagabond, Lena has spent ten years alone and out of the sunshine for some unknown reason, Carmen has become a somewhat shallow tv actress, and Tibby has dropped out-of-sight by moving to Australia and stopping communication with the foursome.  So what happens in the six month time period that encompasses this book made me crazy.  Hated the darkness, and hated what had happened to the personalities and closeness of these friends over the ten years.

How Dalia Put a Big Yellow Comforter Inside a Tiny Blue Box – Linda Heller

(And Other Wonders of Tzedakah)
Illustrated by Stacey Dressen McQueen
Tricycle Press, 2011
HC $16.99
32 pgs.
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Bright yellow background, completely covered with a one-piece cut paper illustration
Acrylics and oil pastel. Very nice.
Afterword: An excellent history of tzedakah and tzedakah boxes.

First line/s: Dalia liked to learn things and make things, and she did just that at the community center.

Dalia teaches her younger brother, Yossi, about caring about others by teaching him about her tzedakah box. She adds money to hers from selling lemonade, her birthday, and weeding the garden. She has Yossi join her when she returns to the community center, and the children combine their tzedakah to purchase a warm comforter, a beautiful butterfly bush, and yummy banana cream pie, which they then give to an elderly, lonely shut-in.

69. The Weird Sisters - Eleanor Brown

audio read by Kirsten Potter (she was great)
Penguin Audio, 2011
$39.95 TPPL
9 unabridged cds
10.5 hours
336 pgs.
Rating:  4
NYTimes Review (from 1/16/11) excellent plot summary
The Reading Lark book review - I love her format, and I agree with so much of her thinking!

First line/s:  We came home because we were failures.

Setting:  Contemporary rural Barnwell, Ohio, a small college town and hour from Columbus (I think)
OSS:  Three very different sisters return home at the same time and show us, the reader, why they hate and love each other.

The three sisters told the story as "we," which I suppose was very clever and difficult to write, but which I didn't really like.  The father, a Shakespearean scholar, professor, and fanatic, and  his wife, a stay-at-home mother who was a free spirit in her own right, have raised three daughters in a home with lots and lots of books and no television.  They go to a "hippie/granola" school, then to the small college where their father teaches.  They are all bright, and all tainted in some way - as we all are.  Named for Shakespeare heroines Rosalind (Rose), Bianca (Bean) and Cordelia (Cordy) love each other fiercely, but while comparing themselves to each other run amok.

I enjoyed the book without really liking any of the characters...well, I did like Cordelia.  Everyone has flaws.  They had lots...and they overcame them all so that the ending is a lovely, tidily wrapped up package.  It's nice to know that you can like a book without really liking its characters.  Lots to think about with that, alone!

68. Waiting for the Magic - Patricia MacLachlan

Atheneum Books, 2011
HC $15.99
for:  Middle grades
144 pgs. (quick read)
Rating:  5

First Line/s:  It was early on a Saturday summer morning when my mother and father stopped arguing and Papa walked away.  He is a teacher of literature at the college, so he could have said words when he left.  He didn't.  And this time he didn't slam the door.  He shut it with a small soft sound that made me jump.

Setting:  A small contemporary college town somewhere in America.
OSS:  William and his little sister, Elinor, deal with the departure of their father and the withdrawal of their mother when a number of new family members are added to their life.

William and his comical four year old sister/princess are left with a grieving mom and a huge surprise.  I think the surprise would be exciting for any kid....I was really excited at the idea, myself, and about how these two children would feel.  So I'm about to add some major spoilers here....do NOT read on if you haven't read the book, because being surprised - and pleased - a tickled - and excited - is part of the delicious reading experience of this book.

SPOILERS:  So Mama takes them to the animal shelter to get a dog.  But they don't get a dog.  Or two dogs. Or even three.  And throw in a cat.  And, near the end of the book throw in a new sibling.  But the biggest surprise, is the way that the animals and the family communicate.

Lots of gentle humor, complex characters despite the simplicity of the book, I absolutely, 100% loved it - and I don't even like dogs!!!!!

Oh, this woman knows not only how to write beautifully, but how to spin a story.  This one was spun.  Elegantly.

53. Inside Out & Back Again - Thanhha Lai

Harper, 2011
HC, $15.00
for:  Middle Grades
264 pgs.
Rating:  5

First Line/s   Today is Tet/ the first day/ of the lunar calendar

Every Tet/ we eat sugary lotus seeds/ and glutinous rice cakes./ We all wear new clothes,/ even underneath

Mother warns/ how we act today/ foretells the whole year.

Everyone must smile/ no matter how we feel.

No one can sweep,/ for why swap away hope?/ No one can splash water,/ for why splash away joy?