Archive for the ‘movies & television’ Category
Oops. Torchwood (is not for kids!)
I was just porting this old entry about parents taking their young kids into rated-R movies (Knocked Up, in this case) over from my archives and I had to laugh at the irony. Particularly the part where I said:
Sex, drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, profanity – you name it, it was in there. I can’t sit through quite a number of PG-13 movies with my teenage stepson. When so many PG-13 movies are so much on that edge of being too uncomfortable to watch with your kids, what are people THINKING taking an under-13-year-old to a rated R movie????
Not that the following incident was nearly so heinous, but… still.
First, some background. We are a family that caught on to the Dr. Who craze just this year. We started by Netflixing the first disk in the Season 1 set. Immediately, we were hooked. The kids like watching and re-watching the episodes, so Scott went online and purchased Seasons 1-4. And we devoured them in less than six months with no self-control whatsoever – all 140+ episodes and the DVD extras.
We were all a little melancholy a couple weeks ago as we watched the final episode of Season 4 (especially when we learned that Season 5 is all a mess. Three Dr. Who specials in 2009, but no full season until 2010!).
But we consoled ourselves with the plan of watching various Dr. Who spin-offs, like the Sarah Jane Adventures. And Torchwood. Maybe check out some of the old Dr. Who episodes from the 80s that Scott remembers with fondness.
It was with this in mind that Scott purchased the Torchwood Season 1 DVD and presented it to me as a gift on Christmas Eve. The kids were so excited! Dr. Who has really captured their imaginations – they talk about the episodes obsessively. The read about them online. They write fan fiction. Even my 16 month old toddles around the house singsonging the Dr. Who theme. True story.
So it was with much anticipation that we settled down to see the story of Captain Jack Harkness resumed in our lives. Boy were we in for a surprise.
(This is what happens when you don’t vet your children’s programming!!)
Where Dr. Who is sunny and bright – with a lot of day time scenes, I realize in hindsight – this first episode of Torchwood was dark and gloomy – a lot of nighttime, a lot of drenching rain. Where Dr. Who stops short of gruesome violence, Torchwood let’s the blood spurt (vividly). Where Dr. Who is rated G for language, Torchwood dropped the F bomb at least a dozen times.
Not that my kids have never heard the F word in real life, goodness knows. But I guess we’ve sheltered them adequately, because they are NOT used to it on TV. They aren’t even allowed to watch most PG-13 movies until they are 13. So they were visibly flinching with every instance of profanity.
So, yeah, obviously kids are not the intended audience here. We were chagrined. Bailey and HM were berating me for letting them watch such a horrible show: “Maaahhhhm. We are not OLD ENOUGH for this yet!”
I wasn’t planning to let them watch any more of it for several more years. But they caught the preview for the next episode. Whoa, there goes Captain Jack running NAKED across the screen. The girls erupted with squealing. So I don’t think they heard the part about how the aliens in that episode are somehow activated by the sexual act.
Yep, okay, this is NOT Dr. Who. No mistake about it. Oops.
The episode was great, though. Scott and I really enjoyed it (and the girls enjoyed the storyline, too, actually) and are looking forward to watching the rest. It’s just not gonna be family TV night is all.
The Sarah Jane Adventures it is. (After we watch the first episode ourselves and read up a little on the reviews first, just in case.)
Watching Dr. Who (we’re kinda fanatical fans)
Family movie night: Watching Dr. Who (we’re almost done with Season 1)…
Celebration weekend
I love July 4! Not only is it a long weekend this year, but it’s also my 40th birthday and today, the 6th, is our third wedding anniversary (and Jake’s 11 month birthday!).
I’ve been having a wonderful weekend. I miss my girlies, but I had a nice long talk with each of them when they called to wish me happy birthday and they were just SO sweet. I’m enjoying the quiet time, but I also can’t WAIT until they are home! They are having a blast with their grandma and that part of their family (which is HUGE and close knit) and I’m glad about that, though.
Scott is totally indulging me – he helped me get a pedicure on Friday after we had dinner at my favorite little Italian restaurant. Yummy! Then we came home and relaxed, watched Nova (about how fireworks are made and displayed – we’re such GEEKS!). Then we watched the Tempe Town Lake fireworks on TV heh. Which was nice because the weather was very iffy at fireworks time – lots of wind, dust and lightening. Eventually the storm blew north of the city, but it was touch and go for a couple hours. I’m just as happy we weren’t out in that.
Yesterday, we had our anniversary luncheon (our anniversary is today, but we wanted to spend Sunday being lazy around the house). We found a little wine bistro called D’Vine that isn’t too far from our house. We went around 1 pm and it was perfect. We were the only ones there and Jake was a dream baby. we started him off with some Cheerios, but as soon as our tapas arrived, he was having NONE of that. He wanted to eat our yummy food. He basically ate one third of it, too! We even ordered him his own entree he is getting to be such a hearty self-feeder! Besides eating a substantial portion of what we ordered him, he also shared a bit of OUR entrees, plus dessert. We couldn’t believe how much that boy put away! Here was the menu:
stuffed mushroom
marinated grilled portabella stuffed with a blend of cheeses, roasted garlic, red onions and bacon
fried artichoke
beer battered artichoke hearts lightly fried and drizzled with a chipotle aioli
Jake had the
grilled cheese “samich” (with gruyere)
your choice of gruyere, cheddar or havarti with a basil butter; served with french fries)
Scott and I had the
pork tenderloin
chipotle marinated pork tenderloin, grilled and sliced then served with green chili mashed potatoes, sautéed vegetables then finished with a red chimichuri sauce
Peach cobbler a la mode for dessert
After that, we went to the jewelry store to get my wedding set cleaned up, Scott’s ring re-sized and re-engraved (it’s too big) and look at mama rings. We decided not to get a mama ring yet, but this ring instead:
The rubies represent July – my birthstone, as well as the month we were married. Three stones represent our three years of marriage. So it’s a combo 40th birthday/3 year anniversary ring. Scotty has the mama ring in reserve for some other holiday someday lol. It’s at the jewelers being re-sized right now. I’ll get it on Friday.
Today we’re hanging out at home, doing our own cookin’ and probably taking Jake for a swim.
Looking at pix on camera:
Jake LOVES Dr. Who (especially the theme song and credits)
Jake is 11 months old:
Pat-a-cake with mama:
Sillies:
Teef!
Attack of the hat is a fun game! (This is the split second before he ripped it off lol)
Knocked Up Heads Up: NOT for kids
We saw Knocked Up today – it was very funny, and for all the crudeness, it was still surprisingly intelligent and authentic. I really went into it with low expectations – just looking for something light and fun. (Scott went mainly to appease his preggo wife). We were both surprised to find that we liked it better than we thought we would.
Retrospectively, I checked out the Pajiba review and even they liked it. I'm glad I didn't read that before I saw the movie, though. I love going to a movie with low expectations and finding myself surprised with the quality.
But if I may rant for a moment – what is WITH taking a 9 year old to this movie??? I couldn't believe it when I saw a family walk in – mom, dad, teenage boy and looked like a 9 or 10 year old boy. First of all, it's rated freaking RRRRRRRR for a reason, people.
Sex, drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, profanity – you name it, it was in there. I can't sit through quite a number of PG-13 movies with my teenage stepson. When so many PG-13 movies are so much on that edge of being too uncomfortable to watch with your kids, what are people THINKING taking an under-13-year-old to a rated R movie???? It seriously took me half the movie let go of the fact that there was a kid in the theater watching this stuff at the same time I was. I kept waiting for the family to walk out but they never did. UGH.
The Golden Compass trailer
The Golden Compass movie!
Woo! I didn't even know that Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy was getting made into a movie. I'm thrilled! I've been looking forward to sharing Lyra's world with my kiddos (I think B and HM are just about ready to read the books, too).
In the epic trilogy His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman unlocks the door to worlds parallel to our own. Dæmons and winged creatures live side by side with humans, and a mysterious entity called Dust just might have the power to unite the universes–if it isn't destroyed first. The three books in Pullman's heroic fantasy series, published as mass-market paperbacks with new covers, are united here in one boxed set that includes The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Join Lyra, Pantalaimon, Will, and the rest as they embark on the most breathtaking, heartbreaking adventure of their lives. The fate of the universe is in their hands.
The first film comes out in December: The Golden Compass. They've done a neat job with the promo site for this movie. You can try to figure out the altheiometer and meet your dæmon. Here's mine! Rrrrrroar….
Vox Hunt: Under 17 Not Admitted
Video: What was the first R-rated movie you saw (or were allowed to see)?
Submitted by Lisa.
When I was 11 or 12, my best friend and I saw Amityville Horror (1979) (I read the book, too). I don't know what our parents were thinking. That movie scared the crap out of me, because, you know, it's a true story.
I freaked myself out for years afterwards whenever I had the misfortune of waking up randomly in the middle of the night at 3:15 am. And the slime oozing out of the walls and the glowing red pig demon eyes in the window. Shudder. That movie really traumatized me. (So much so that even today, I could only watch 58 seconds of the 2:32 trailer below!)
Oh, and I could NEVER live in a house with creepy pie wedge windows; the glowing red ones at 112 Ocean Avenue has forever ruined that architectural element for me.
Haunting or hoax, the true story of the DeFeo murders is horrifying enough.
Speaking of murder (redrum REDRUM), then, when I was 13, I saw The Shining. More trauma. I don't watch scary movies anymore. One recent exception was The Sixth Sense and I could barely handle it.
Here's a "trailer" I WAS able to watch all the way through. 
Vox Hunt: Moving Picture
Video: Show us a documentary or film based on a true story that really moved you.
Tragic, but beautiful story. Carpe diem.
From IMDb: [Warning! The following review is a spoiler...]
Underrated masterpiece
Based on a true-life story, this film is a fictionalized account of neurologist Oliver Sacks experiments with the victims of a rare "sleeping sickness" called encephalitis lethargica. His experimental use of a synthetic drug, L-Dopa (normally administered in the treatment of Parkinsons disease) resulted in the dramatic re-awakening of patients from a decades long state of paralyzed unresponsiveness. This medical "miracle" came with a heavy price however, as the effects of the drug gradually diminished, and the patients slowly degenerated back into their frozen state. Stephen Zaillian's Oscar nominated screenplay is based on Sack's book of the same name, recounting his experiences at the Bronx hospital where these events took place in 1969.
Robin Williams is effectively understated as Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a terminally shy neurologist who applies for a position in a Bronx mental ward after years of solitary, and unfruitful research with earth worms. This character is based on Sacks, and the actor spent considerable time with the doctor while filming the movie, brilliantly absorbing his mannerisms and introverted nature in a performance of rare empathy and compassion. His acting in this movie is on the same high level as De Niro's, which is really saying something.
New to the ward, the eccentric Sayer makes his rounds amidst the unfortunate victims of every kind of neurological disorder. After inadvertently eliciting a response from an elderly catatonic patient named Lucy, he comes to believe that the forgotten and seemingly hopeless patients in "the garden" (so called because the patients are merely fed and watered like plants) are actually aware and cognizant behind a seemingly lifeless facade of blank stares. The hospital's administrators take a dim view of Sayer's optimism, and refuse to approve his request for permission to use the experimental drug L-Dopa. But the determined doctor finally succeeds in persuading them, after getting permission from the mother of one of the ward's patients to try the drug on her son.
Robert De Niro delivers one of his greatest performances as Leonard Lowe, the man who is the first to be "awakened" after being imprisoned in a completely paralyzed state since boy-hood. It is hard to believe this is the same man who portrayed the psychotic Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, or the brutal Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, so completely does he inhabit this character. He is like a child filled with wonderment and passion for every moment of his regained life. His exuberant embrace of even the simplest of life's pleasures is a lesson to the timid and cautious Dr. Sayer, who undergoes an awakening of his own as he slowly begins to conquer his shyness.
The scenes where the drugs effects wear off, and Leonard slowly loses control of his body in a stream of uncontrollable tics and spasms are heart-breaking. De Niro's performance is so convincing that you almost want to look away in several scenes. Any actor can mimic the effects of a nervous system gone hay-wire, but De Niro puts you inside the character, and you feel the torment along with him. The scene where he realizes his reprieve is nearing it's end, and he says goodbye to the girl he's fallen in love with, is one of the saddest ever filmed. Penelope Ann Miller rises to the task as the love interest, and her first and final dance with Leonard is enough to put tears in the eyes of all but those with the hardest of hearts. This could easily have been a very smarmy moment, but the acting is dead on and Penny Marshall's direction hits just the right notes.
All of this may sound extremely depressing and many may choose not to watch it for that reason. But it is one of the most life affirming movies ever made. It makes you realize how fortunate you are just to be able to wake up in the morning and enjoy even the simplest of life's pleasures, like taking a walk or reading a book. It is one of the best movies ever made.
Movie night: Stranger than Fiction
We have very little TV time. We watch so little TV in our house, in fact, that we canceled our cable in favor of a housecleaning service (yeah!). What TV we do watch is TIVO'd, but mostly during our little bit of boobtube time, we watch movies.
It's been awhile since we've watched a movie! A combination of not having anything all that tempting on hand (we finally just sent back the movies that had been collecting dust for a couple months) and all the American Idol we've just had to keep up with.
So last night, we finally had a movie night for the first time in ages – Stranger than Fiction. I loved it! The Maggie Gyllenhall character was just a little too sappy/corny for me, but she sure is cute. Will Farrell was the best I've ever seen him. And I just adore Emma Thompson – what a perfect narrator. I could listen to her voice all day. I also enjoyed the performances by Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifah.
The whole package was tight. And the story Emma Thompson narrated was quite exceptionally written. The whole screenplay, too – but to pull off this artistic, literary-quality story-within-a-story was quite a feat. I even wonder if that was a completely different writer for that part?
Scott was more lukewarm – the lack of Harold Crick's free will made him feel all itchy.
Not the best movie ever, but a very, very enjoyable diversion. So much to love. I cried at the end. That's always good.
Pajiba liked it, too. In fact, I think that review nails exactly what I liked so much about this film.
I rated it
Vox Hunt: Shhh!
Book: Show us a book that made you laugh out loud.
Submitted by Red Pen.
Overall, not on my list of favorite books ever – and ultimately the story is quite sad – but there are passages in this book that had me laughing nearly to the point of tears. And then I'd read them out loud to Scott and we'd both be cracking up. Fun memory! (The movie really couldn't do any justice to this, so I found it disappointing in that way.)
Mom to 4 kids and 2 stepkids, I am a writer writing in the heart of chaos. I am the co-founder and former editor of 
