I saw this preview a few weeks ago when my mother and I took Kendle to a movie. It looks fantastic! It's a true story about Michael Oher who now plays professional football for the Baltimore Ravens. A family took him in during his time of need and helped him become what he is today. This reminds me that we can all do something to help make someone else's life a little better.
To read more about Michael's accomplishments and history click here.
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
September 2, 2009
March 10, 2009
Making Books into Movies
Sometimes taking a good book and turning it into a cinematic experience is a wonderful thing, other times it leaves you hugely disappointed.
I found out that two of my favorite children's books are being adapted for the big screen and will be coming to theaters this year.
If you have never read "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" by Judy Barrett, you must put it on your list to check out the next time you are at the library.
The book is about the town of Chewandswallow where the people don't shop at grocery stores, they eat the food that falls from the sky. Soup, pancakes, and even hamburgers land in their town and everything is great until the weather takes a turn for the worst. This story has been a family favorite of ours since I was in grade school. It is just one of those funny books that I never get tired of reading and the illustrations are fantastic.
[Who knows, with this crazy weather we've been having lately, maybe hamburgers will be the next thing to fall from the sky.]
The movie adaption which is scheduled for theaters in September, uses a different take on the main plot of the book. Here's a short description:
"Inspired by the beloved children's book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain. Bill Hader will voice Flint Lockwood, a young inventor who dreams of creating something that will improve everyone's life. Anna Faris takes on the role of Sam Sparks, a weather girl covering the phenomenon who hides her intelligence behind a perky exterior. James Caan plays Tim Lockwood, Flint's technophobic father. Andy Samberg plays Brent, the town bully who has plagued Flint since childhood. Bruce Campbell plays Mayor Shelbourne, who figures out that Flint's invention can put the town, and more importantly himself, on the map. Mr. T plays the by-the-rules town cop Earl Devereaux, and Tracy Morgan takes on the role of Earl's rule-breaking son, Cal."
I understand that to make a movie out of the book, they had to come up with some main characters who live in the town, but I hope it doesn't stray too far from the fun and outlandish tall tale that made the book so great.
Another favorite book being turned into a movie, is "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that story, and if you don't - crawl out from under the rock you've been living under and go check it out at the library.
"The adventures of a young boy named Max who, after being sent to bed for misbehaving, imagines that he sails away to where the wild things are. Max is loved by the wild creatures who make him their King, though he soon longs to be back home with his family."
Spike Jonze, an Academy Award-nominated director and producer in film and television, most notably the 1999 film Being John Malkovich, is at the helm for this movie and it has been receiving some mixed reviews. I'm not really sure at this point what age group this movie will be targeted for, I've read that it is a little bit of a darker take on the story. It is set to open in October and the cast includes: Max Records, Benicio Del Toro, Paul Dano, Tom Noonan, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Lauren Ambrose, Catherine Keener and Michael Berry Jr. Here are some production pictures:
I found out that two of my favorite children's books are being adapted for the big screen and will be coming to theaters this year.
If you have never read "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" by Judy Barrett, you must put it on your list to check out the next time you are at the library.
The book is about the town of Chewandswallow where the people don't shop at grocery stores, they eat the food that falls from the sky. Soup, pancakes, and even hamburgers land in their town and everything is great until the weather takes a turn for the worst. This story has been a family favorite of ours since I was in grade school. It is just one of those funny books that I never get tired of reading and the illustrations are fantastic.
[Who knows, with this crazy weather we've been having lately, maybe hamburgers will be the next thing to fall from the sky.]
The movie adaption which is scheduled for theaters in September, uses a different take on the main plot of the book. Here's a short description:
"Inspired by the beloved children's book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain. Bill Hader will voice Flint Lockwood, a young inventor who dreams of creating something that will improve everyone's life. Anna Faris takes on the role of Sam Sparks, a weather girl covering the phenomenon who hides her intelligence behind a perky exterior. James Caan plays Tim Lockwood, Flint's technophobic father. Andy Samberg plays Brent, the town bully who has plagued Flint since childhood. Bruce Campbell plays Mayor Shelbourne, who figures out that Flint's invention can put the town, and more importantly himself, on the map. Mr. T plays the by-the-rules town cop Earl Devereaux, and Tracy Morgan takes on the role of Earl's rule-breaking son, Cal."
I understand that to make a movie out of the book, they had to come up with some main characters who live in the town, but I hope it doesn't stray too far from the fun and outlandish tall tale that made the book so great.
Another favorite book being turned into a movie, is "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that story, and if you don't - crawl out from under the rock you've been living under and go check it out at the library.
"The adventures of a young boy named Max who, after being sent to bed for misbehaving, imagines that he sails away to where the wild things are. Max is loved by the wild creatures who make him their King, though he soon longs to be back home with his family."
Spike Jonze, an Academy Award-nominated director and producer in film and television, most notably the 1999 film Being John Malkovich, is at the helm for this movie and it has been receiving some mixed reviews. I'm not really sure at this point what age group this movie will be targeted for, I've read that it is a little bit of a darker take on the story. It is set to open in October and the cast includes: Max Records, Benicio Del Toro, Paul Dano, Tom Noonan, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Lauren Ambrose, Catherine Keener and Michael Berry Jr. Here are some production pictures:
I always think it's interesting too see a story that I've imagined in my mind come to life in a movie. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's not so good. I'm intrigued about these two movies either way.
February 10, 2009
FHE Fun
Since February is the month that we think of hearts and love, we had kind of a themed Family Home Evening lesson and activity last night. I used this scripture chase activity and it was really fun. I had no idea that the word "heart" appears in over 1000 scriptures. We talked about why it's important to show love to others and be kind, starting with our own family. I had a small chocolate heart that I gave to everyone after we were done.
After that we did a quick little activity of making each person in our family a simple little mailbox/note holder:
After that we did a quick little activity of making each person in our family a simple little mailbox/note holder:
We hung them up on our pantry door where we can see them all of the time. The purpose is to leave each other little notes (or treats ) when we see them doing something nice - or just because. Kendle was excited to see that she already had a little note waiting in hers this morning. We didn't have a lot of time to decorate these, but you could make them with hearts and other things for Valentine's Day if you wanted. It was super simple, just one piece of construction paper per person, a glue stick, a marker, and stickers or whatever else you might have on hand. It will be interesting to see who gets something in their mailbox next.
*Harry Potter party was fun, we munched on treats and popcorn and Kendle kept pointing out all of the things she remembered from the book. Her eyes got VERY big at the end of the movie when things start to get a little creepy, especially the part where Professor Quirrell takes off his turban and Voldemort's face is on the back of his head. I thought her eyes would pop out of her head. Riley and I were trying to not to laugh. We all had a good time, even Morgan got a kick out of some parts of the movie - he liked the music and the owls, oh yeah and about ten pieces of licorice!
November 23, 2008
Twilight
*If you have not watched the movie yet you might not want to read this.
3 Things I disliked about the movie:
1.)Horrible hair and makeup.
2.)All of Kristen Stewart's gasps, breaths, and random pauses during her and Edward's conversations. The hospital scene at the end seriously had me digging my fingernails into the palms of my hand it was so hard to listen to.
3.)Not enough of a buildup of Edward and Bella's relationship (but for time's sake I guess they couldn't fit it all in).
3 1/2 Things I loved:
1.)Edward. The part in the movie where he picks Bella up for school and is wearing those groovy sunglasses basically sealed the deal for me.
2.)The baseball scene. Probably my favorite part of the whole movie. Maybe it's because I love sports, or maybe because it was fun to actually see the Cullen's interacting with each other and not being so serious. I loved when Edward and Emmett went for the same ball and tackled each other in the air. That was FUN to watch. Awesome.
3.)Bella's truck, house, school and the overall location shots of the forests and gloomy, rainy days. It was pretty much exactly how I imagined everything in the book.
3 1/2). Clean language for the most part, not including some stupid teenage banter. I don't remember any swear words. Correct me if I'm wrong.
3 Things that I thought were odd:
1.)Did they have some sort of sponsorship with Rainier Beer? Every scene of Charlie had a close up of his can of beer or a six-pack.
2.)Jacob Black's whiter than white teeth.
3.)All of the Cullen's looked odd, and the other vampires - James, Laurent, and Victoria looked pretty normal (as normal as being buff and extremely good looking can be). Their skin didn't look chalky and their hair looked more natural. Is it because the Cullen's are "vegetarian" vampires? Maybe we'll never know. Give me your theories.
Overall I liked the movie and Riley liked the movie. I'm glad I went with him because he has a totally different take on the books than I do, and it was fun to compare our favorite parts of the movie and what we thought of the characters. I was actually surprised at how many guys were in the theater when we went to see it. I went into it knowing it wasn't going to be the best movie ever, I knew they had a small budget and it wasn't going to be on the same level as Batman. My little sister actually compared it too something akin to an after school special on the special effects front. But in my humble opinion, I was still pretty happy with it, and I think if they are able to make the rest of the books into movies (which it sounds like they will since Twilight had the amazing opening weekend that they needed) they should most likely keep getting better. Riley and I discussed how the first Harry Potter movie was pretty cheesy when you compare it the more recent ones that have been made, and hopefully that will be the same case with the Twilight series because I could definitely take three more movies with Edward Cullen.
3 Things I disliked about the movie:
1.)Horrible hair and makeup.
2.)All of Kristen Stewart's gasps, breaths, and random pauses during her and Edward's conversations. The hospital scene at the end seriously had me digging my fingernails into the palms of my hand it was so hard to listen to.
3.)Not enough of a buildup of Edward and Bella's relationship (but for time's sake I guess they couldn't fit it all in).
3 1/2 Things I loved:
1.)Edward. The part in the movie where he picks Bella up for school and is wearing those groovy sunglasses basically sealed the deal for me.
2.)The baseball scene. Probably my favorite part of the whole movie. Maybe it's because I love sports, or maybe because it was fun to actually see the Cullen's interacting with each other and not being so serious. I loved when Edward and Emmett went for the same ball and tackled each other in the air. That was FUN to watch. Awesome.
3.)Bella's truck, house, school and the overall location shots of the forests and gloomy, rainy days. It was pretty much exactly how I imagined everything in the book.
3 1/2). Clean language for the most part, not including some stupid teenage banter. I don't remember any swear words. Correct me if I'm wrong.
3 Things that I thought were odd:
1.)Did they have some sort of sponsorship with Rainier Beer? Every scene of Charlie had a close up of his can of beer or a six-pack.
2.)Jacob Black's whiter than white teeth.
3.)All of the Cullen's looked odd, and the other vampires - James, Laurent, and Victoria looked pretty normal (as normal as being buff and extremely good looking can be). Their skin didn't look chalky and their hair looked more natural. Is it because the Cullen's are "vegetarian" vampires? Maybe we'll never know. Give me your theories.
Overall I liked the movie and Riley liked the movie. I'm glad I went with him because he has a totally different take on the books than I do, and it was fun to compare our favorite parts of the movie and what we thought of the characters. I was actually surprised at how many guys were in the theater when we went to see it. I went into it knowing it wasn't going to be the best movie ever, I knew they had a small budget and it wasn't going to be on the same level as Batman. My little sister actually compared it too something akin to an after school special on the special effects front. But in my humble opinion, I was still pretty happy with it, and I think if they are able to make the rest of the books into movies (which it sounds like they will since Twilight had the amazing opening weekend that they needed) they should most likely keep getting better. Riley and I discussed how the first Harry Potter movie was pretty cheesy when you compare it the more recent ones that have been made, and hopefully that will be the same case with the Twilight series because I could definitely take three more movies with Edward Cullen.
October 9, 2008
Fall Movie Clips
This is the season for pulling on sweatshirts, going to the game on Friday nights, planning Halloween costumes, and warming up our homes with yummy smells and welcoming treats.
Here are some movie clips that remind me of Autumn, Halloween, and letting my inner child come out to enjoy the season.
The first clip is from "E.T".
This was one of my favorite movies growing up. I think I cried when I saw it at the movie theater. Anyways, I love this clip where E.T. sees Yoda.
The next clip is from "Remember the Titans". I could watch this movie 500 times and not get tired of it. This part always makes me laugh, but really it gets my blood pumping to go watch some football.
I love the opening scene of Disney's "Monster House". The fall leaves look and sound so real, and I love how the wind carries the leaf like the flying feather in Forest Gump.
One of my favorite movies from my childhood was Disney's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". It was just the right mix of spooky and funny. The music is really catchy
and Bing Crosby's narration and singing makes this one a classic in my book.
What movies do you like to watch during the fall season? If you want to play along you can post a clip on your blog.
Here are some movie clips that remind me of Autumn, Halloween, and letting my inner child come out to enjoy the season.
The first clip is from "E.T".
This was one of my favorite movies growing up. I think I cried when I saw it at the movie theater. Anyways, I love this clip where E.T. sees Yoda.
The next clip is from "Remember the Titans". I could watch this movie 500 times and not get tired of it. This part always makes me laugh, but really it gets my blood pumping to go watch some football.
I love the opening scene of Disney's "Monster House". The fall leaves look and sound so real, and I love how the wind carries the leaf like the flying feather in Forest Gump.
One of my favorite movies from my childhood was Disney's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". It was just the right mix of spooky and funny. The music is really catchy
and Bing Crosby's narration and singing makes this one a classic in my book.
What movies do you like to watch during the fall season? If you want to play along you can post a clip on your blog.
July 18, 2008
The Dark Knight
We've been waiting a long time to see this movie. It did not disappoint. Riley and I went to the matinee this afternoon and it ended all too quickly for us.
It was AWE-SOME!
Without giving too much away, I'll just state the obvious:
-Christian Bale is a stud
-Heath Ledger is oh so creepy and psychotic (even more so than I expected)
-The plot twists and turns
-The supporting cast is great
-Super action packed
The ending of the movie left me a little uneasy, but I think that was the point. The next Batman movie can not come fast enough for us. Two thumbs up from Sarah and Riley!!!
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