Archive for the 'Must-See DVD' Category

July 15, 2008 | Family Portrait, In the News, Life in General, Movie Queue, Must-See DVD, The 4-1-1 on Me, Weekend Wrap-Up

Saturday morning, I helped my parents out at an event for which they volunteered. The 2008 Backpack Giveaway Event was sponsored by ChildHelp, AZ Rod and Classic Car Club (of which my Dad is a member), M&I Bank and the City of Phoenix Parks and Rec Dept and gave away free backpacks to children of low-income families. They had free food, free water, local music entertainment and a mini-classic car show (my Dad is still looking to sell his ‘33 Ford if there are any SERIOUS takers out there). Several boxes of stuffed animals were donated by Kohl’s and me, my Mom and two other ladies helped pass them out. We were out there for 4 hrs and even though we were under the cover of tents, it was still hotter than Satan’s breath. I went straight home and took a shower.

Saturday night, the hubby and I attended a surprise birthday party for my brother-in-law. He had no idea about the party…until they pulled up to the house and saw all the cars. Duh! My sister said park whereever, but what she should’ve said was park around the corner. Or park in front of other houses. It was funny, truth be told. Eat and run. Typical black folk, y’know? Stay just long enough to exchange a few words (and hugs) with the birthday boy, eat (didn’t even wait for dessert!) and leave. LOL. Maybe it was the fact that my sister didn’t give an actual time they were bringing him home. She told people to come anytime after 3. Some people had probably gotten there right at 3 or 330 (like my BF) and they didn’t bring him around until 5 or 6-something! I shouldn’t have been surprised. My sister never was good at the time thing.

Must-See DVD pick:EASTERN PROMISES with Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. We watched this Saturday night. If you have not seen this movie, rent it or watch it now playing on the movie channel (don’t remember which one). If you don’t like violent movies, then it’s not for you, but Viggo is fabulous in this movie. And he does a great Russian accent.

Sunday, the hubby and I had breakfast at our favorite place (the one we go to looks nothing like this, and is always crowded, but worth the wait) then went to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army. We liked it. It was directed by Guillermo Del Toro and the creatures he created in the Troll World were amazing. If you’ve ever seen Pan’s Labryinth, and then you see this movie, you’ll know what I mean. Oh, and that Prince Nuada dude? Very. Cool. Moves. Movies I’m looking forward to seeing:

THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR (have you noticed that Brendan Fraser’s hairdo never seems to change in these movies? )

THE DARK KNIGHT - I’ve heard Oscar nomination buzz for Heath’s role and apparently, around the time of his death, director Christopher Nolan wrote a eulogy to him in Newsweek. Did anyone catch that?)

MAMMA MIA - Love me some ABBA

SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2 - seeing the first one made me add Greece to my Places to Travel list.

DEATH RACE - I have a serious love jones for Jason Statham. Sorry babe.

BABYLON A.D. - Oh, how I’ve missed seeing Vin Diesel in an action flick.

THE SPIRIT - If you liked Sin City, then you’ll like this movie, too, because it’s from the same guy, Frank Miller. And it’s the sequel to Sin City.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE -I’m still reserving judgement about Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, but this one looks to be as good as the previous one. I still have no idea what it’s about, but I know it picks up from where Casino Royale left off.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 - yes, dammit, I’m a fan. Shut the hell up.

TWILIGHT - Stephenie Meyer is a hometown favorite–and she’s very nice in person, too. I haven’t read her series, but I’m interested in seeing this one.

So, what about you? How was your weekend? What movies are you looking forward to seeing this year?

Technorati Tags: 2008 Backpack Giveaway Event, ChildHelp, AZ Rod and Classic Car Club, M&I Bank, City of Phoenix Parks and Rec Dept, Kohl’s, EASTERN PROMISES, Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Guillermo Del Toro, Pan’s Labryinth, Prince Nuada, THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR, Brendan Fraser, THE DARK KNIGHT, Christopher Nolan, Newsweek, MAMMA MIA, ABBA, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2, Greece, DEATH RACE, Jason Statham, BABYLON A.D, Vin Diesel, THE SPIRIT, Sin City, Frank Miller, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, Daniel Craig, Casino Royale , HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3, TWILIGHT, Stephenie Meyer

June 24, 2008 | Book One, Book Stuff, DA Series, Draven Atreides, Life in General, Miss Snitch Mondays, Movie Queue, Must-See DVD, The 4-1-1 on Me, Voracious Reader, Weekend Wrap-Up

Saturday morning, my BF and I attended a business mtg. I needed a consult and seeing as how my BF owns 20% of my company (she’s the V.P.), I thought she needed to be “in the know”. Afterwards, we were supposed to hit up a coffee shop and talk more business, but I wasn’t in the mood. So, instead we hit up Ross, where she bought me a most wonderful belated birthday gift: a Buxton Womens Laptop carrying case in Sage

sage.jpg

Isn’t it great? I love it. It’s to replace the one that got destroyed during a PMS moment.

Ahem

Moving on…we then moseyed on over to Chandler Fashion Mall to check out this new store called BareEscentuals. I wanted to check out their Bare Minerals line of make-up. All natural make-up. I’m all for natural. Their foundation even has SPF 15! That’s plus when you’re living in It’s-So-Damn-Hot-It-Feels-Like-A-Blow-Dryer, AZ. Seriously, I think they just need to change the name from Phoenix, AZ to Damn Hot, AZ. I just scoped it out, wanted to eyeball the products up close and personal. I didn’t buy anything, but I plan to.

We then hit up my other favorite place…The Body Shop, where I bought some Moringa Body Scrub.

Have you smelled this stuff? It’s absolutely wonderful. I happened to see it online and knew, without even smelling it, that I would like it. When I got a GC to this place for my birthday, I hotfooted it over there and bought the shea body butter. That was the first time I smelled it and I LOVE IT. My BF bought me some Perfume Oil in Sequin Sparkle as another birthday gift

It smells great. A very light floral scent. She thought the name sounded whimsical (my BF is pretty whimsical herself) and ended up liking the way it smelled. The fact that it was on sale for $2 (and I get a 10% discount with my card) was a bonus. Speaking of discounts…we came into the mall through Barnes and Noble. The plan was to hit up Starbucks and then check out that other store.

“As long as I don’t end up in the romance section, I’ll be fine,” I tell her.

We ended up sharing some kind of S’Mores treat (that really wasn’t all that good) and chatting for a little bit.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she says.

And it was all over but the cryin’. I ended up in the romance section. Had no intention of buying any books because I’d just bought 7 books online at eHarlequin.

Until I saw these

And it was all over but the cryin’. Again.

I’ve read every book in Lynsay Sands’ Argeneau Vampire series except for Book One. I just got finished reading Books 7, 8 & 9. I hadn’t read these two yet. They were on my list. I couldn’t pass them up.

The next thing I know, I’m snapping them off the shelf and beating a hasty retreat to checkout.

“I really need to find my friend-” (lost in the New Age section, BTW) “—and get the hell outta here.”

That night, the hubby and I watched this movie

Breach, with Ryan Phillipe. Have you seen it? Very good movie. It’s based on a true story about an FBI agent wanna-be who was instrumental in getting his boss, Agent Robert Hanssen, convicted for selling secrets to the Soviet Union. Yeah. I know. Deep.

On Sunday, (more…)

Technorati Tags: Ross, Buxton, Chandler Fashion Mall, BareEscentuals, Bare Minerals, The Body Shop, Moringa Body Scrub., Sequin Sparkle, Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, eHarlequin, Lynsay Sands’ , Argeneau Vampire, Breach, Ryan Phillipe

January 13, 2007 | Must-See DVD

Starring:

Viggo Mortensen

Maria Bello

Ed Harris

William Hurt

This is another movie I’d wanted to see and didn’t get a chance to. It had a limited release in theaters back in September 2005. It came on one of the movie channels last month and we recorded it.

Tom Stall (Mortensen) is the owner of a diner in small town Indiana. He’s married to a local lawyer (Bello) and has two kids, a son and a daughter. One night, two robbers attempt to rob his diner and he thwarts the assault, thereby saving his customers. The town calls him a hero and the incident garners media coverage. Thanks to the coverage, his past shows up on his doorstep–a couple of times–and not only the local sheriff, but his wife, starts to wonder if Tom is really who he says he is.

Two words: Ho-ly. Shit.

The best part about this movie is the build-up. From the get-go, we’re led to believe that this man has been living the small town life like he’d been born to it. He is known and liked by everyone and in turn knows everyone else. And then two men attempt to rob his diner–with the intent to kill everyone in it because they’ve done it before–and he handles himself in a way that no smalltown owner of a diner would know how to do.

When his past comes back to bite him in the ass and his identity is called into question, you’re convinced that he’s telling the truth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m Tom Stall. I’m not this man you’re looking for. You must have me confused with someone else,” he says. I believed him. Hell, even his wife believed him, too. But then everything starts to unravel–with a quickness–and you start to think, “So, they’re really not in the Witness Protection Program?”

The action scenes are so in-your-face, they leave you stunned…and saying those two words listed above. And the two very graphic love scenes are pretty intense, too. One is straight out of the romance books I read and the 2nd is more like an “Ow, that would really hurt my back.”

As much as I enjoyed the LOTR trilogy and Hidalgo, I must say I was really diggin’ Viggo in this movie.

Go. Check it out.

Review: 5 Snaps Up

January 11, 2007 | Must-See DVD