IMDB #17-28 Mini Reviews

The last round of mini reviews to catch up on our reviews. We watched these in February but I kept forgetting to do my mini reviews. Better late than never... These were all movies we had already seen (or even own), but rewatched for the project.

The Big Lebowski

J quotes this all the time. It's a 90s classic and this quirky and full of great characters. Definitely something that has rewatchability.

Jaws

Years and years later, this movie still scares the crap out of me. Sure, the mechanical shark looks a bit fake. But that doesn't take away the building of suspense and speculation until we see the shark appear by the boat. Holy crap! When it pops out of water, I always jump.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Still my favorite of the Indiana Jones movies. Raiders is awesome, but the addition of Sean Connery really makes this movie. "We named the dog Indy." -- awesome line. The scene with the rats makes my skin crawl.

Donnie Darko

Don't bother watching the sequel -- horrid. But the original movie still takes me a on a roller coaster of emotions and thoughts.

Gladiator

A little too dramatic and melodramatic, but a few of the fight scenes are pretty bad ass. The side characters are fairly interesting. And the cinematography is just gorgeous!

Toy Story 3

What a freaking tearjerker! This is a great ending the trilogy, but I have to admit that I ugly cried during the trash scene. I love that the movie brought everything full circle.

The Terminator

A classic action movie. While I don't think it completely stands the test of time, I like this movie. I did forget how slow it is, especially when you watch the sequel.

The Departed

I'm not a huge fan of Scorsese, but this is a decent movie. I love the role reversals for Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. They definitely make the movie much more interesting.

Terminator 2

A much better movie than the first one. And thoroughly terrifying. The unrelenting terminator is a sight to behold.

Good Will Hunting

A decent movie, but it's never been a favorite of mine. The sentimentality of the characters and storyline get to me. I'm not a huge fan.

Casablanca

I love this movie! I love Bogart! I love setting! I love the storyline! Everything about this movie makes it an instant classic.

Braveheart

Not my favorite movie. Especially since they take such historical liberties. Plus, Mel Gibson is not my favorite actor.

Monthly Life Goals March-2014

Before I get to this month’s goals, let’s check in on January’s goals and my progress.

February goals:

30 Day Challenge: Cleaning of the entire house – Failed. I so did not even get started on this goal. I did keep up with most of my cleaning schedule, but I really do need to deep clean other areas.
30 Day Challenge: IMDB 250 movies – Success! Another 28 movies watched from the list. I am behind on the reviews, but we did watch them.
30 Day Challenge: An apple a day – Failed. I bought some apples and just didn't keep up with eating them daily.
Pinterest Challenge: Make 5 things from my Pinterest boards – Success! Using a "This Week's Projects" board has encouraged me to make more things off of my boards. I made multiple recipes and cards based off of pins from the board. I even tried a towel laundering trick to make the fluffy and nice smelling.
Update Netflix queue – Success! I finally fixed our queques so that they are separated and updated. Now I can add, watch, and delete things without J getting confused.
Update TBR spreadsheets – 50% success. I got most of the random lists of interesting books into the spreadsheets. I haven't yet checked for duplicates or done
Make Valentines for the mom’s group and stamp club ladies – Success! We had a fun little party for the babies even though it rained out our park time and we had to retreat to a bakery. I made 20 homemade Valentine's for the little ones.

March Goals:

30 Day Challenge: 200 squat challenge -- I haven't lost a pound in two months and that's with walking 5-7miles a week and watching what I eat. Maybe this will help me shed some pounds or at least get me more into shape.
30 Day Challenge: Stuff Reduction -- I want to keep working on getting rid of the clutter. Every week I want to focus on a room of the apartment. That week I will systematically go through the stuff and try to reduce by trashing, recycling, selling, or Goodwilling. (W1 Master Suite; W2 Office; W3 Living room/Kitchen; W4 Boys' Room)
30 Day Challenge: Photos of inspiration -- A part of my Day Zero Project, I want to take photos of everything that inspires me. Some of this may be able to cross posted to my FMS Photo a Day Challenge for March.
Sell read books (HPB or other place) -- I have four bags ready to go. This will help me get rid of the clutter.
Pinterest Challenge: Check links/clean out at least one board -- I am sure that I will continue to make things from my boards, but I really need to start cleaning up the boards. I'm sure I have some missing links and such.
Plan/Schedule/Finish Routine Blog Posts Through April -- I'm nearing the end of what I had prepped and scheduled around Christmas. I want to get ahead to leave time for spur of the moment posts and new things.
Get a Haircut -- I haven't had one since I was pregnant. I desperately need a new look.
Complete a Day in the Life post -- My goal is to do one of these each season.

IMDB #10 - 16: Mini Reviews

I needed to catch up on my IMDB movies but decided that I didn't want to do full reviews... So, here are my extremely short reviews.

District 9

A very interesting take on apartheid and science fiction all rolled into one. I liked this one. I've even heard that there is to be a sequel.

The Prestige

Oh my! This movie get me every time. I know what's going to happen and yet I also feel the adrenaline pumping during the big reveal. Christopher Nolan took a very good book and stripped it down into an even more amazing story.

Finding Nemo

Another Pixar movie for my February marathon. While this isn't my absolute favorite Pixar, it's still a really good movie. Especially when you compare it to other animated movies.

Avatar

Ugh! Not a good movie at all. I was thoroughly bored throughout. And the storyline is completely predictable. Definitely don't waste your three plus hours on this movie.

Cool Hand Luke

A classic Newman movie. Must see for all movie buffs, if not just for the egg eating scene. Newman exudes cool and calm throughout the movie. But make no mistake, the movie has some brutal moments. Still a great classic.

A Beautiful Mind

Not the best at all. I don't really understand all the hype surrounding this one. It just doesn't resonate at all.

American Beauty

Another overhyped movie. The only interesting part was Kevin Spacey. Everything and everyone else is done.

And so that's my review catch up.

Monthly Life Goals February

Before I get to this month's goals, let's check in on January's goals and my progress.

January goals:

30 Day Challenge: Creative writing prompts -- Failed. I just never seemed to make time for this.
Pixar movie marathon -- Failed. Just never got around to it.
Create a cleaning schedule (daily, weekly, monthly) -- Done! I looked at Pinterest for ideas, collected my own ideas, and created my own schedule.
Clean out our health and beauty projects -- Done! I got rid of a ton of travel sized and expired products. Plus, any leftover travel sized containers went onto the counter to use soon.
Take inventory of our food cupboards -- Done! I got rid of a few thing and organized the rest. Now I can easier grab our most used items.
Lose a pants size -- Failed. I'm down about 1/2 a pants size. Hopefully my recent return to consistent exercise will make this a reality soon.
Take a substantial walk (1-2 miles) at least once a week – 50% success on this. While still in Indiana, I didn't walk at all (it was below zero!). Once I got back to California, I restarted our weekly walk at Shoreline with the mom's group. That event gets me at least 2 miles every week (sometimes more). Now I need to commit myself to walked at least another day during the week.

February goals:

30 Day Challenge: Cleaning of the entire house -- I plan on implementing my cleaning schedule that I created in January along with a general deep clean of the apartment. Room by room, area by area, I want this place to be a good starting point for the rest of the year.
30 Day Challenge: IMDB 250 movies -- I do a twice yearly movie month anyway. I though I would make this February's movie month focus on the watching a chunk of those 250 movies I committed us to watching almost two years ago.
30 Day Challenge: An apple a day -- Kind of silly, but I like the challenge. Plus, I love apples.
Pinterest Challenge: Make 5 things from my Pinterest boards -- My boards are being cluttered with all kinds of ideas, but I don't usually do anything besides look at them. I resolve to make at least 5 things (recipes, crafts, etc) from my boards.
Update Netflix queque -- I need to finish transferring my movies over to my profile so J quits bugging me. There's no real easy way to do it.
Update TBR spreadsheets -- Another not fun chore, but these spreadsheets are in sore need of some cleaning out and organizing.
Make Valentines for the mom's group and stamp club ladies -- Arthur and I signed up for a Valentine's day party with one of the mom's groups. My goal is to make my own little Valentine's for all the babies. I have some great card making ideas. Plus, Michael's has all of their Valentine's supplies on sale.

MoM #29: Shaolin Soccer

Title: Shaolin Soccer

Year Released/Rating: 2001 PG-13

Starring: Stephen Chow, Wei Zhao, Yat-fei Wong

Directed By: Stephen Chow

Written By: Stephen Chow, Kan-Cheung Tsang, Min Hun Fung, Chi Keung Fung, Wei Lu

Where I Got It: Netflix

Genre: Action, Comedy

Star Rating: 3/5 stars

Trivia:

This was the most successful Hong Kong-made movie ever in Hong Kong, making HK$60 million (about US$4.7 million) at the local box office.
Banned in mainland China because it did not await certification before being released in Hong Kong.
Stephen Chow dubs his own voice for the American release.
Mui is the only character who can speak Mandarin.

Summary: A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage.

Review:

J had been harping on me to to watch this one for awhile now. It was ridiculously silly in parts. I can't believe that I actually watched it. Pretty silly... But there were a few actions scenes that were good. I'll give it that.

Best Bits:

Sing: What are you going you look like ET? Mui: Trust me, I can do it.
Sing: I'm not here to fight, I'm here to play soccer!
[talking to a TV camera] Sing: I want to say hello to my parents and my Kung Fu master, but they're all dead.

NMF #2: Ip Man

Title: Ip Man

Year Released/Rating: 2008 R

Starring: Donnie Yen, Simon Tam, Siu-Wong Fan

Directed By: Wilson Yip

Written By: Edmond Wong, Chan Tai-Li

Genre: Action, Drama

Star Rating: 5/5 stars

Where I Got It: We own it

Trivia: Although it's the first film centering around Yip Man, the idea of doing a Yip Man biopic have been conceived for as long as 30 years. Donnie Yen was actually slated to play Yip Man in the supposed first biopic that was about to go into production in 1997. The film would've also featured Stephen Chow playing an adult Bruce Lee. However, only one day of shooting took place before the project was canceled.

Summary: A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun.

Review:

I was in the mood for something actiony... and J suggested this movie. He has introduced me to many martial arts movies and I must say that this has been my favorite so far. I love the storyline. The history of the story is so poignant. This isn't a mystical land, but something based on a true story. But it's the action scenes that make this movie amazing. I loved seeing all the different styles of fighting. Now I want to see Ip Man 2. It looks great.

Best Bits:

Miura: [after witnessing Ip Man single-handedly defeat ten Japanese fighters at once] What's your name? Ip Man: I'm just a Chinese man.

Music Monday -- New Music II

As part of my Day Zero Project, I am finding some new music. Specifically I want to find a great new-to-me band for each letter of the alphabet. Today, I have a few songs to share.

Music Selections: Some of the new music (or new to me music) that I have been craving.

Cake "Mustache Man (Wasted)" -- Okay, okay Cake isn't new. I loved Fashion Nugget and "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" but their albums are so hit and miss. I am really digging this new song of theirs.

Fun "We are Young" -- I'm not young anymore, but I just love how infectious this song is. How can you not sing along?

Of Monsters and Men "Little Talks" -- I've heard them be described as "the Icelandic Mumford and Sons" and I love M&S, so how could I not love them? I really enjoy the back and forth between the singers. Makes me happy...

Complete A to Z list (so far):

A - Awolnation "Not Your Fault"
B -
C - Cake "Mustache Man (Wasted)"
D -
E - Ellie Goulding "Lights"
F - Fun "We are Young"
G - Gotye "Somebody That I Used to Know"
H -
I -
J -
K -
L -
M -
N - Neon Trees "Everybody Talks"
O - Of Mosnter and Men "Little Talks"
P -
Q -
R -
S -
T -
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y - Young the Giant "Cough Syrup"
Z -