April 2011 Media Inventory

MOVIES

Anastasia

Rasputin was pretty creepy - reminded me of the bad guy in The Princess and the Frog. Not a great movie but still okay, mildly interesting and so on.

Gladiator

I love this movie. It makes me cry. The acting, script, music, just.... EVERYTHING... is amazing.

Moulin Rouge!

It took me a while to see this, and it wasn't my favorite, but I'm still glad I've seen it. The story was fairly dull, but still told in an interesting way, and the characters were a bit cliche and silly, but I found myself liking them anyway. I was exhausted and drained after seeing it, though - probably won't revisit it for a while.

The Inspector General

A lot weirder and less funny than the other Danny Kaye movies I've seen, but it was okay. I saw it with Matthew, which made it seem a lot better than it actually was.

Lovely, Still

A beautiful movie. So sweet, and thoughtful and inspiring as well. And CHRISTMASY! Yup - no wonder I loved it.

I Do: How to get married and stay single

I had fun watching this movie, about an Italian guy living with his family, who want him to get married because they are tired of taking care of him, but they also all want to approve of his wife and get involved in his life, etc. I enjoyed forgetting about my own situation and laughing at someone else's for a while.

Leap Year

Cute movie. You know what I mean.

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince

I don't remember too much about it except that it was all right. I was kind of waiting for Dumbledore's death to be like Gandalf's fall into the abyss.... but then... it... wasn't. Oh well.

The Court Jester

Still the funniest Danny Kaye movie I've seen. And I got a lot more of the jokes that Matthew and his family like to quote this time around! But it made me want to watch the Errol Flynn Robin Hood.

Hitch

I like this movie a lot. Despite having a plot that is SO FAKE, the acting/dialogue feels genuine, interesting, and funny. Plus it's the cuteness of Leap Year x 2.

Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde

Oh my freakiness. Probably better not to see this movie unless you're not my usual type of blog follower (but if you do see it, I recommend doing so at an academic conference surrounded by a very humorous group of BYU students with whom you have recently taken a class on horror). It's mostly the traditional story, except, um, did I mention Dr. Jekyll turns into a woman? Don't be fooled by "Sister" - she is definitely not LDS.

Megapiranha

I do not recommend this movie to anyone. However, it may be the most hilariously bad horror movie I've ever seen. Part of this, of course, might have to do with the fact that I watched it late at night (right after Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde) with the same group of awesome female BYU students (one of us won it in a raffle that night). Technically, I probably shouldn't say I've seen it since I fell asleep less than an hour in, but the parts I watched were ridiculously awful.

Clue

No matter how many times I see this (TWO SO FAR), I always think it's super funny at the beginning, and then I always lose track of what's going on when they give the explanation, and then I think at the end, "Huh. That wasn't so good." And then I forget and re-watch it. Seriously, you guys, if this happens a third time, I might be cursed.

Memoirs of a Geisha

I randomly picked up a copy of Wild Swans while cleaning my room in Sandy and got interested in epic, moody, dramatic sagas about repressed women in Asia. This movie was just was I was looking for - drama, romance, history, tragedy, and beauty.

True Grit

Loved this film! It's so nice to see a classic western film being made for modern audiences. The concept, casting, and execution were just absolutely fantastic - nothing felt awkward, out-of-date, or boring for one minute. Bring back the good ol' days!

Tron

This film really wanted to be cool. Honestly, it tried so hard. It had people wearing body suits with glowing neon stripes and racing each other in motorcycles and blowing each other up dispassionately and using magical forces and superpowers (aka advanced science) to do all sorts of freaky special effects stuff. While I was impressed by all the high-tech showmanship, it still felt like something was lacking here. The human relationships and new-age atmosphere just weren't doing it for me. As for Tron, I would be really hard-pressed to tell you a single thing about who (what?) he actually is.

BOOKS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I thought this was a good book, but it was definitely not my favorite in the series. In keeping with most final books in an extremely lucrative and popular series, the reality could not quite meet my (unrealistic, no doubt) expectations. The beginning just dragged on forever without accomplishing enough, and the ending was just a bit too nice and quick and tidy for me.

Eat Pray Love

It took me a while to get to this book, but I'm glad I read it. She has a really engaging and personal writing style, and it was fun to travel vicariously to Italy, India, and Indonesia through her memoirs. I'm not sure I agree with her conclusions about herself, God, and life in general, but I appreciated her honesty, insights, and perspective.

Coming to Grips with Me!

Hey, to the faithful five-ish people who read this blog, if you want to read something I wrote about big shoes a little while ago, click here!

Don't worry about sparing your praise in the comments... I promise I won't let the fame go to my head.

I'll let it go to my FEET!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHHAHHAHAAAAHAHAAAA!!!!

(Ok, sorry.)

Wanna see something else? Well, here is a terrifying picture of some torture shoes I found on the Internet which pretty much represent my memory of pointe shoes.

There are nails that stab your heels if you try to come off your toes.

That's right, NAILS.






Fortunately, there seems to be no added punishment for failing to point your toes.

We're getting married. See, there's a WEBSITE.

It's funny how different the process of getting engaged and married is today from way back when.

When my parents got engaged, they put an announcement in the newspaper which we still have today in a photo album. The newspaper (I like to think of it as the old-timey alternative for gossip magazines) also covered the wedding, describing the type of gown my mother wore and who the groomsmen were, etc. My mom and dad had one snapshot taken for their engagement picture. That's right - ONE. And they couldn't even check it digitally to see if someone's eyes were closed.

We have a few (twenty or so) pictures (and no videos) of my parents' wedding which we store in a photo album and look at every so often when feeling nostalgic. None of the pictures are particularly "funny" or "artistic" - they are all about showing what happened, who was there, and how people were really feeling at that time. I love looking at that photo album because my parents look so happy and beautiful.

Nowadays, there's a lot more you have to do to get the word out. First you've got to e-mail and Facebook the whole thing. I don't think it really clicked for me what a big deal getting engaged was until I suddenly got my Facebook wall plastered with comments from people I hadn't heard from in years.

Next, you have to have an entire photoshoot (maybe more than one!) for your engagement pictures, not to mention another one for your bridal pictures, then another one for your temple pictures and reception pictures and family pictures etc etc etc. You may also want to get some videos.

Then you also have to have a SLIDESHOW at the reception, with mandatory pictures of you and your spouse as cute babies, ugly kids, awkward teenagers, and super-cool young adults. Do you know how difficult it is to sort through a million pictures (both of our families have six kids - that's a LOT of pictures) trying to find a sufficient number of photos that fall into these prescribed categories?

But that's not all. You have to create a website to share your story. Which we did. Because I love to write, I enjoyed this part. Maybe too much - my version is SIGNIFICANTLY longer than his version. But hey, it's not like I'm making anybody read it, right? (Now go read it NOW.)

I do love technology. I'm not sure how well I would get along in a world without computers and DVDs and cell phones and e-mail, especially now that I have to spend approximately four days a week away from Matthew and would basically die if we weren't able to text each other every day. But I also think it was kind of nice and simple and quaint in the old days, when all you did was make an announcement to your family and maybe in church, and let the newspaper take care of the rest. When all's said and done, the important thing is that you're getting married to the right person, and that thankfully stays the same over time.

Meet the New Face!

I just gave my blog a facelift. Three facelifts, to be precise.

On a side note, it took me a good minute to recognize that "facelift" was the word I was looking for. It's a funny word, first of all, and when I hear it, the first thing I think of is a drill sergeant barking out, "Facelift! Faceriiight!" Also, I really, truly at first thought that the word I was looking for was "faceplant," proving that my brain apparently decided to take a vacation after I finished college.

Anyway, I hope the new colors don't offend anyone. I like green a lot. (I like blue too, but I think green is my favorite. Don't tell blue.) Plus, it's starting to get warmer and I really am excited about all the green grass and flowers coming up.

I also added a lot of blogs I follow! Why, with all of those blogs, you probably think all I do all day is sit around reading all of those blogs! Well, you shouldn't think that, because you'd be wrong. I also have been eating pudding and checking my e-mail, so there.

March 2011 Media Inventory

MOVIES

Intolerable Cruelty

I really enjoyed it the first time I saw it - thought it was funny, clever, and interesting. This time I couldn't believe how crass and distasteful it was. What a naughty movie for playing such a trick on me! Naughty, naughty movie. I still liked the funny/clever/interesting parts, but they were unfortunately overshadowed and spoiled for me by the bad/ugly/vulgar parts, and I don't think I'll be watching this again.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I liked it, thought everybody was perfectly cast, the Weasley twins were funny, Cedric was cute, etc. For some reason, this book stands out from the others to me. It's like an odd sibling or something. I still like it, but it's... different.

Tangled

Had a lot of fun watching this one with Matthew in the dollar theater. I was prepared to tolerate the songs, but I actually really enjoyed them (unfortunately, the one I least enjoyed - "Mother Knows Best" - was the one that got stuck in my head. Oh well!). I found the humor and sweetness of this movie to be contagious.

A Little Princess

REMEMBER THIS?!?!??!? The SUPER OLD version with the freaky Indian story about a circle on the ground? That's all I remembered about it from my childhood days, so it was nice to revisit that memory and see that there was also a story of sorts (even though they did NOT follow the book).

A Little Princess

Of COURSE I had to see the one true version afterward. I LOVE this version. Everything just feels so quaint and classic and storybook-ish. And I don't care if Sara is "old." In fact, seeing this has convinced me that she really ought to be about 14 anyway.

Zombieland

It's probably the best funny weird modern zombie horror romantic apocalypse comedy I've seen. Warning - they swear. I mean, there are zombies, so that's kind of a given.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I don't remember much about this movie, except that a) I liked it, and b) I was very happy and pleased with myself when I recognized that the actress who plays Dolores Umbridge also plays MRS. MICAWBER in David Copperfield! She's sooooo good.

The Swan Princess

I was just in "the mood." And then I found myself dramatically humming "Far longer than foooreeeeeverrrrrr..." all the next week.

The Kingdom of Heaven

Hadn't seen this in a while, but it was Sunday, and I like laughing at Sarah's hair, and there's a wedding in it, and weddings have been on my mind lately.

Eat Pray Love

Due to an obsession with Hulu and its related ads, I think I've seen the trailer for this movie more times than I've ever watched any movie or trailer. It was fun to recognize EVERY SINGLE CLIP from the trailer in the film. The story was, well, perplexing, and definitely awkward and a little fakey at times, but there was something sort of nice about it anyway. I was curious after hearing so much about it, and I think I satisfied that curiosity.

BOOKS

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Liked it. I admire the balance Rowling hits between "gotta include all the traditional class and school and Quidditch-type stuff so people feel grounded" and "gotta add new, interesting, freshly created magical world-is-in-danger stuff so people don't get bored."

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Oooof. The longest, heaviest, sharpiest-cornered pain of a book to carry around ever. I was SO happy when I remembered after a month of lugging this around that not all books are this big. It was good - a little slow at times, especially when Umbridge is on her 1000th effort to make the students dislike her and develop brooding feelings of resentment - but I felt like I had forgotten everything from the first chapters by the time I got to the last.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I feel like I read this book the fastest of any in the series. Seriously, it was like under a week. I enjoyed it, especially the journeys into the villain's past (something I feel would be SO MUCH FUN with EVERY AWESOME VILLAIN EVER), and in spite of the fact that I knew the two main spoilers from the beginning. Mostly I enjoyed being able to carry it with just one hand.

How do y'all like the new features!?!?!?

Here ends the story

"Oh fight, lads, fight,

Scratch, lads, bite,
Gonff will dine on cheese and wine,
When he gets home tonight."

I am late in posting this, but better late than never, and I feel like I have to say something in honor of the greatest man in the history of stories concerning the adventures of small, furry creatures.

I am talking, of course, about Brian Jacques, the author of the Redwall series, who passed away on February 5, 2011. He was 71 years old and his last name is pronounced "Jakes," but I pronounced it "Jocks" as a child and just can't help it now.

To those who correct my pronunciation:

"I have only two words to say t'you, sah. Pish an' tush!"

I feel sad when I realize that my future children (or anyone else's forthcoming offspring, for that matter) won't have the experiences I had of waiting each Christmas or birthday (whichever arrived closer to the release date) with eager anticipation to receive the latest hardcover Redwall book. I even forced myself to avoid that tantalizing J-row at the library so I could savor my own personal, Santa-delivered copy without any spoilers.

As my tribute to Brian Jacques, I decided to write a rather rambling post about my own cherished memories of Redwall and its influence on my life. (I considered writing it all in Molespeak as an additional tribute, but all that's coming to me at the moment is "zoop" and "hurr burr," which won't quite make a suitable post.)

So I hereby present, in English, my fondest Redwall memories. (Warning: SPOILERS.)

The horde went silent, staring up at the Warrior mouse,
waiting as the word rolled from his lips like steel striking stone.
"Chaaaarge!!!"

The first book I ever fell in love with was Martin the Warrior, at age 8. I am convinced that this book was the first to cement my belief of the reality of life after death, for how could there be anything worth living for at all if Martin and Rose could not eventually be together forever?

I remember vividly the evening when I read the part in Mariel of Redwall where valiant hares Thyme and Clary met their fate. It was dinnertime, and my dad made me leave the bedroom where I was cuddled with my book to come upstairs. We had beans and rice, but I could barely touch a thing and cried all evening. And then, inexplicably, I cried again when their murder was avenged and the unfortunate yet rather admirably intelligent searat Graypatch was dispatched (har har har- choke, sniff) of.

"They're fierce fighters, sure enough,
but they lack cunning and suffer from silly little things,
like honor and conscience."

After reading Salamandastron, I developed a distinct sympathy for the bad guy. Not to mention an enormous crush on the silky smooth, smart, suave weasel Ferahgo, who IS the best villain of all Redwall and YOU CANNOT CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE. Salamandastron subsequently became my favorite book for over ten years, a fact which may be verified by asking participants of the Ruth birthday game, wherein they were required to guess my favorite things.

"Oh, he's quite dead. There's no need to stick him again."

My crush on Ferahgo stayed strong throughout reading most of the rest of the books, though I had brief infatuations with other characters (Keyla, Major Perigord, Shad, Mokkan - before he became laaaaame - Luke AND Vilu Daskar - making me TWICE as devastated at the end of the book - and Stiffener Medick, to name a few). I'd have to do an entirely separate post on the reasoning behind my preferences for certain characters over others, and I haven't even mentioned the awesome female characters whom I fell in like/admiration with. But I'll spare you lot for now.

It was roughly around Taggerung that I started to lose the childlike wonder that accompanied my first reading of Redwall. I was mainly disappointed by the lack of good villains (and by good, I meant "so flippin' bad that they could actually LAST in a fight against a badger for more than two minutes, WOT!"), but the plots and characters were also starting to feel and sound the same. I could almost anticipate each development before it happened, and the obligatory explanations of "Dibbuns are baby Redwallites" and "The Abbey is ancient and has been here for years and is pretty much awesome" and "Shrews are argumentative and gruff" were starting to get a tad wearisome for a seasoned veteran such as myself. Nevertheless, I plowed doggedly through each new book each year when it was released (or when I got it as a present), hoping and praying and wishing that one of these days, I'd recover that spark.

As time went by, I read a few of Jacques' other books (the Flying Dutchman series, The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns, Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales) and enjoyed them, but not to the extent of devotion and admiration that I had paid the early Redwall books as a youngster.

Reminders of Redwall, however, continued to pop up in my late teenage years. I got a red rex rabbit (alas, not a hare) in 2003 and named him Jacques.

I got the (cute but childish) Redwall DVDs one Christmas, and watched them while I exercised in the mornings at the Barlow Center in D.C.


I dressed up as Taggerung for one Halloween (totally for the reason that I could paint my face).

I even started a catchphrase in my family of saying "But not as cold as the smile on the face of Ferahgo the Assassin!" whenever anybody said "It's cold."

But basically I thought it was over.

When I was in my next-to-last year of college, I started becoming interested in editing and publishing and writing children's literature. I read a few of my old favorite children's books, then realized it had been a long time since I had really read the Redwall books. So I re-read the entire series in the order they were published (which is how I recommend people read them, even though I started with Martin the Warrior and still prefer it to Redwall), from Redwall to The Sable Quean. I was amazed at how many details I had forgotten over the years, and how new and exciting all of the books - even the old ones - seemed to me. Sometimes it's the best thing in the world to just immerse yourself entirely in an author's fantasy world, and that's what I did for a good few months. I remember some of my favorite days were spent in anticipation of going to bed so I could continue the story.

Of course, finishing was sad. It always is. I'm at the end right now of reading another series (which must not be named - and now you all know what it is anyway...), and it's always strange to think how much the places and people and events you've been reading about have come to matter to you. The only way to really deal with it is to move on to another book, I've found. Which is also sad, but happy. Kind of like life.

"Who says that I am dead knows naught at all."

So, rest in peace, Brian Jacques. I'm sad you won't be writing any more books for us here, but I hope you're enjoying yourself in Dark Forest and staying away from those troublemakers over in Hell's gates. And, like you say in 97% of your books, instead of moping and weeping about your death, I'm going to enjoy life and put a cheerful face on and send you out with a last hurrah.

EULALIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome Writing Opportunity!

One of my co-workers at the Church magazines sent out a call for stories from young adults that I thought I'd share, in case any young adults reading this blog are interested in BECOMING SUPER FAMOUS :)

Here's her letter:

"I am looking for stories from young adults who would be willing to talk about determination and faith as they make life decisions, particularly when their first plan didn’t work out.

"For instance, I would like to talk to young adults who weren’t accepted to the university they had always dreamed of attending. Or a young adult who had a dating relationship end when they thought that they’d marry the person they were with. Or they weren’t able to serve in the military in the position they wanted because they didn’t meet the stringent qualifications. Or they didn’t get the job they were certain they qualified for.

* What was your situation? What did you hope would happen, and what actually happened?
* How did this make you feel?
* How did you determine not to give up? What did you do to try again? Was trying again difficult or discouraging?
* There are many examples in the scriptures of people whose lives or tasks didn’t work out the first time. For instance, Nephi and his brothers made several attempts to obtain the brass plates before they were finally able to do so. What scriptural examples have strengthened you and helped you try again?
* In some cases, we discover that our second try—our “Plan B”—opened doors and opportunities that we never dreamed would be possible for us. Perhaps we find that “Plan B” was really “Plan A” all along, and that Heavenly Father was guiding us to something different, something better. Has this been the case for you? If so, in what ways?
* Any other thoughts you’d like to share?

As always, we’re happy to receive these responses in any language, and they can be from young adults who are married or single. I’m hoping to receive responses by the end of April. E-mail responses to melissa@ldschurch.org.