Was it good?

It was great!! Very entertaining. Lots of action but funny too. I was worried because it had gotten some bad reviews but seriously, it was a lot of fun to watch.

What about the acting?

The acting was great. Craig as a cowboy? It worked. Might have had something to do with those chaps (see photo above) but he pulled it off.

Ford was very funny as was Paul Dano and Sam Rockwell. I wanted more of Olivia Wilde. She was so awesome in Tron Legacy, but here… she wasn’t working to her full potential.

Were the aliens totally out of this world?

This is the only complaint I had. The CGI left a lot to be desired. There are many shots of the alien/s and to me, if they were going to have them so “front and center”, they should have invested a bit more time in making them look more realistic. Remember how The Hulk looked when the movie came out? Same thing here.

The close-up shots where they used puppetry or animatronics were great.

Was there a lot of violence?

There are quite a few fighting scenes and although lots isn’t shown, there is enough shown to keep small children away. It holds a PG-13 rating which I feel is appropriate.  

See it, or rent it?

See it!

Note from Ti:

I can’t tell you how many times I smiled while checking out Craig in chaps. It was slightly weird to see him play a cowboy but it was a good weird. A welcome weird. Sigh. I can’t wait to see him as Blomkvist in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I’ve been saying it for weeks but summer never quite hit me this year. The weather kicked in late and the “summer” that I had painted in my mind never materialized. I’ll admit,  I was sort of depressed about it but the good thing is that I went right into fall, which is my favorite time of the year anyway.

School shopping (supplies and clothes) was completed yesterday. I buy clothes all summer long but I still had the shoes to contend with. Bought ‘em all on sale and everyone is happy. Right afterward I plopped down with a glass of Australian Shiraz and read a good chunk of Cutting for Stone. The book has nothing to do with Australia but it’s what I had on hand and it met my criteria for drinking. It was red and mellow and wonderful.

This morning, The Girl and I got up early to make a stack of gluten-free pancakes, sausage and her famous eggs so we are all stuffed now.

Later this afternoon I am going to see Cowboys & Aliens. I heard that it got horrible reviews but my ticket is already purchased so I am hoping that Ford and Craig will make it worth my while. After the movie, I am going to Sisley for dinner. Should be a nice, relaxing evening.

Hope you have a wonderful day. I am about to pour myself a second cup of Joe (French Roast today), so all is good here.

On Wednesday, I made the mistake of eating a piece of meat that was a bit off. It was in the fridge, maybe one day past when it should have been placed in the freezer, but I thought it was okay. However, while cooking it on the BBQ it smelled WRONG.

Now, you must know this about me, I am notorious for throwing away food. I throw tons of it out every week, and it sickens me how much food I waste. I try not to, but I am so particular about “use by” dates. SO… I went ahead and ate it and got royally sick. No one else got sick, because everyone else prefers different cuts of meat. I spent Thursday at work. I swear, I thought I was going to die.

Friday, I called in sick and continued to regret my poor choice. At some point, I thought maybe a hospital trip would be required but I just dosed up on meds and stayed in bed. I’ve had food poisoning before, but it never made my back hurt. My back was killing me which at times made me feel as if something else was going on.

The great thing about being sick, are the books (if you can read while being sick) and the movies. I finally watched The Social Network. I thought it was very good. I also watched a bunch of classic movies and even got cozy with Hannibal Lector. The Silence of the Lambs is a terrifying movie but I love the way it was done. I’ve seen it many times.

As for reading, I finished If I Stay (quite a ride) and The House of Tomorrow (wow!) and Across the Universe (sort of silly). Now I am reading The Absolute Value of Mike, a very funny YA novel that The Boy practically took right out of my hands (when does that EVER happen?)

After feeling a bit better, we went to celebrate a dear friend’s passing. I am so glad I was well enough to attend. I would have been very sad to miss it. It was a lovely service. Later this week, The Hub and The Boy will be attending another service for my SIL, who passed away last week. My heart feels heavy, especially since I won’t be able to attend Wednesday’s service, but my thoughts are with the rest of the family.

Today, I am loading up on liquids because I am still so dehydrated. The Hub is going to the market for me. I gave him a list but we’ll see what he brings home. I can see the entire cart being filled with chips, beef jerky and roasted peanuts.

What are you doing today?

You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried
By Susannah Gora
(Three Rivers Press, Paperback, 9780307716606, 384pp, Feb 2011)

The Short of It:

If you watch Sixteen Candles EVERY time it’s on, or if you’ve ever wished Duckie Dale ended up with Andie at the end of Pretty In Pink, then this is the book for you.

The Rest Of It:

I love this book. I bought it over a year ago for my Kindle and allowed myself to read tiny bits of it between basketball practice, tennis lessons and doctor’s appointments. It provided me with a year’s worth of joy. What IS it about the 80′s anyway? Is that decade particularly special, or is it just special to me because those were  my high school years? I wonder sometimes.

Gora covers all the movies of that time…the Brat Pack films that include Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club, just to name a few. With interviews of the key players and inside scoops on casting…You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried is basically a touching collection of memories. These young actors grew up to depict the characters of our youth, yet the issues they dealt with were authentic and often issues that they were struggling with in real life. The struggle for acceptance, the awkwardness, the angst… it’s all here.

What I especially love about this book is that Gora gives you all the behind-the-scenes info on casting, who was seeing who, how the directors and producers influenced these actors on a daily basis, etc. Just the bits on casting alone were fascinating. There was so much going on with these actors that it’s hard to imagine that the movies were ever made!

After each chapter, I found myself pulling out all of my DVDs and loading up my iPod with songs of that time. I just can’t say enough about the book. If you loved the 80′s, you simply have to read it. I will leave you with one of my favorite clips from Pretty in Pink. Click here to view it.

Source: Purchased

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

I did not see the actual award show because I went to dinner and a movie with one of my girlfriends. We saw Confessions of a Shopaholic which is based on the book by Sophie Kinsella.

I knew the movie would be cute but I expected it to be sort of silly but you know what? It was pretty good. I thought it was very well done and I love Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy. I haven’t read any of the books in the series but it was a fun, girly movie and looking at Hugh Dancy for a couple of hours wasn’t bad either.

If you haven’t seen it yet, take a girlfriend and go see it!