terminator salvation

I heart Anton Yelchin. Seriously, who is this kid? First in STAR TREK and now there he is being fabulous in TERMINATOR SALVATION....Yelchin plays Kyle Reese, teenage father-to-be of John Connor.

Leading up to seeing this flick, the roomie and I watched the first three films. This fourth film is truly a departure of tone from the previous ones. It feels much darker and moodier, most likely because we have finally had Judgement Day, and the world is now a dusty war zone. The Resistance is fighting SkyNet, and they believe they may have found a weapon to beat it.


The fight sequences in this film are fabulous, and there are some nifty new machines making chaos for the humans. Christian Bale makes a good John Connor, although in many ways, this film belongs to the very talented Sam Worthington. (It is such a bummer that they revealed in the trailer for the film that his character Marcus is part machine....it would have been so cool to have that revealed in the course of the film - instead, I was just waiting for that scene to happen.) Bale is not yet leading the resistance, instead more of a general in the army. He and his wife are working together, she as a doctor. One bummer of this movie is that they set up Kate in the 3rd movie to be a kick-*ss partner to John, and in the fourth film, although played by the lovely Bryce Dallas Howard, she doesn't do much of anything, and you don't really get to see that partnership, or her really being the leader that she is supposed to be.


Final thoughts: Cool action sequences, some very cool actors, a fun, summer movie. The real question is, during what scene did Bale have the very famous freak-out?

photo credit: www.movieweb.com

star trek

Every once in a while, you see a movie that just rocks. STAR TREK could have been a terrible movie - I mean, with highly mockable source material, a huge amount of complex special effects, and a relatively unknown cast, there was HUGE potential that it would be awful. Instead, it was fun, funny, moving (I totally cried), stressful, exciting, exhilarating, and fantastic! The story is a bit far-fetched, with time travel and vengeance, and perhaps that is the weakest part of the film. However, watching the crew of the Enterprise assemble is just so satisfying that any leaps of logic you have to take putting the plot together, you just don't mind. JJ Abrams has found an unbelievable cast. Chris Pine is the right combo of cocky and self-sacrificing to bring Captain Kirk to life. His love/hate relationship with Quinto's Spock is a pleasure to watch. Add in John Cho kicking *ss as Sulu, Anton Yelchin (my new fave) as the brainy Chekov, and the brilliant laugh-out-loud Simon Pegg as Scotty, and you can't help but root for the Enterprise. Zoe Saldana brings some nice girl power as Uhura, and Eric Bana makes a groovy villain. I guess what I'm saying is that the cast is just perfect.

I liked STAR TREK, I thought it was a fun show, and my favorite cast member was always Bones. (By the by, Karl Urban is amazing in this movie as Bones. The vocal inflection, the spiciness....loved it!) However, my mother and godmother are totally trekkies, and I knew that their reaction would truly be the way to judge this movie. To be blunt, they loved this movie. My mom seriously cried for like 20 minutes after it was over, being so profoundly moved by the film, their journey, and the overall experience.


Final thoughts: I am sure die-hard Trek fans found lots of things to hate about this movie - but I thought it was brilliant! It paid homage to the show while infusing it with a fresh energy, and was super fun to watch to boot. What a fantastic way to kick off the summer movie season!

photo credit: www.movieweb.com

smile

I've said this before, and I will say it again - NYC streets are so fabulous - you can always find something amazing to make you smile. The other day, it had to be the swedish fish truck. I couldn't help but smile as I walked by.....have you ever seen a swedish fish truck? Seriously?

tourist

As Slackapalooza 2009 continues, I have so enjoyed playing tourist with the 'rents, and taking a look at the city outside of my normal everyday fumblings. Yesterday afternoon, we headed down to the pier on 42nd street, and took a circle line cruise, the liberty route. It took us down to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and around the Southernmost tip of Manhattan. It was absolutely lovely.

For dinner tonight, we headed to the very fancy, and unbelievably yummy Blue Hill Farm. Featured on some sort of cooking show, both my godmother and mother were very eager to check it out. The space itself was nothing but class, with low lights, and crisp linens. The bread, hot from the oven, set the tone for a fantastic meal. I started with the spring vegetable salad, followed by the lamb, and ended with a strawberry dessert. It was all truly divine.

Final thought: Did I mention how depressed I am going to be when I have to go back to my "real" life? Seriously.

slackapalooza!!

Yes, friends, it is that time again. The parents (with godmother) have taken Manhattan! The annual NYC pilgrimage has begun. The 'rents arrived on Thursday - and will be here until Tuesday. We are doing Broadway shows, a movie, a television show taping, and possibly a museum. Seriously, we are scheduled to within an inch of our lives.

Let the crazy begin!

photo credit: www.ewb-ua.org

my surreal life

Sometimes, you have these moments that are so bizarre, you don't know what to do with them. My parents, godmother and I have been planning to see THE COLBERT REPORT for months. Every day, I would check both THE DAILY SHOW and TCR website to get tickets. Finally, the day came. So, we head down to the show, only to find out that Green Day (yes, the punk band) is the guest for the show. I don't even know how to describe what it was like to be standing in a television studio rocking out to Green Day with the parents. Seriously - how do you describe that? I don't think it's possible....

The warm-up comic so made fun of us. He looked at the section we were sitting in, and said that we looked more like the Barry Manilow section as opposed to the Green Day section. He even came up to my godmother and asked her how many people were in the band. (She said 14. The comic [and I] laughed at her. I was going to say 4. [You may laugh at me.])

The show was funny - Colbert is so cool. He is just a genuinely nice guy, and hilarious. We were even lucky enough to see him totally mess up...

Final thoughts: Although it seriously sucked to have to wait outside in the heat, and then wait inside while the band seemed to have an endless sound check in the studio, it was a fabulous experience. Plus, I totally went punk with my parents!

photo credit: http://www.greendaycommunity.org/

billy elliot, take 4!

As I mentioned before, Slackapalooza has officially begun! Tonight, we took in our first theatrical experience - BILLY ELLIOT. Yes, I have seen the show three other times. Yes, I managed to see all three of the original Billys in previous viewings. Tonight, I managed to see yet another Billy......Tanner Pflueger, who is the fifth boy to play Billy on Broadway. (The fourth Billy, Tommy Batchelor, is actually currently out having surgery - and they brought American dancer Tanner over from the London production of Billy to cover him. Confused?)

The show is still fantastic. The choreography is so amazing - a sure-win for the Tonys, and the actors are all fantastic. Pflueger did a nice job as Billy...his background is as a modern dancer, and I thought that really showed. His dance seemed to really tell a story - very emotional dancing - as opposed to a more technical dancer. I walked out of the theatre feeling moved, inspired and lazy. Seriously, the dancing is just plain fierce in this show....makes me so want to get into a dance studio!

Final thoughts: Every time I see this show with a different boy playing Billy, it is like seeing a different show. Beautiful story, phenomenal dancing, depressing and inspiring all at once.

photo credit: www.playbill.com