What I've been watching, July edition

I'm starting a new segment on my blog, talking a bit about what I've been up to (entertainment wise). I'll link everything to IMDB in case you are curious about what the heck I'm talking about.
We'll see if it's any fun.........

(You will soon see that I don't catch a lot of movies in the theater, some movies I don't even hear about until much much later (the main culprit: my dvr -ok I think the MAIN culprit would be young child + young baby) so sometimes I finally hear about a movie enough that I decide it is worthy of a look and I rent it.)

One more thing: I am not going to concern myself with being overly sensitive here when it comes to "spoilers". I am not going to give anything away ever that shouldn't be given away (The Sixth Sense was spoiled for me back in the day and that sucked). I know what needs to be respected when it comes to that, but I also know there are people out there that don't want to know ANYTHING and consider a lot of what I think it just innocent details to be "spoilers". If you think you may be one of those people, then you've been fair warned.

Alright, here's the list (to the best of my recollection):

CHILDREN OF MEN (2006) [R]: Drama - sci Fi. I never heard of this movie until about a year ago, when it kept coming up in movie review podcasts. When a movie pops up over and over, I start thinking that maybe I should see what all the fuss is about. I was glad I did! It was good. It takes place in the future where something happened to make it somehow impossible to have children (no one knows why and mankind is basically facing extinction). In fact, the movie starts with the death of the youngest person on the planet and he was 18. It takes place in England (mostly) and there is a scary government controlling issue and so there is a big circle of underground activists or rebels. This group discovers and hides a young pregnant girl from Africa and has to get her across the border safely and they have to hide the fact that she is the first pregnant person the world has seen in 18 years. It remains interesting because you find yourself suddenly very invested in getting this girl safe to have her miracle baby. Following the birth of the baby is one of the most powerful scenes of hope I've ever watched. The mother is found out very soon after giving birth and has to walk out of the building through an all out war zone. I swear, I had chills for a full 10 minutes. The sound of that wailing baby amidst gunfire and bombs basically stopped a war. As the mother walks through the building clutching her baby and outside, people stop and kneel and try to touch it's little feet and they cry, soldiers drop their guns- it's really moving. It really took me to a place where I could imagine what it would be like to hear and see a baby for the first time in almost 20 years and the hope that would come with it after such a miserable existence the world had become.
Anyway, it was great movie, Micheal Caine had a cameo and played a really unique character (especially for him), he did great as always.
Emily recommends it if you aren't opposed to a little language and a lot of violence.

ECLIPSE (2010) [PG]: Drama - Romance. I saw this movie up in Wyoming as is my family's tradition to watch the Twilight movies together up in Wyoming. It's fun to see it together and see it away from the heavier crowds of fan girls that reside in Utah. Not a lot to say except we were all pleasantly surprised at how much better this one was compared to the first two. This is good since this is my favorite of the 4 books. Better acting, better screenplay, better directing. It certainly isn't going to be up for any Oscars, but for a Twilight movie, this impressed me and I enjoyed it. Emily recommends it if you are a Twilight fan (but if you ARE a Twilight fan then you have already seen it).

loudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies (2006) [NR]: Documentary. Matt brought this with him to my house so we could watch it together. I really enjoyed it and it was fun to see the band this way. It's very interesting how little the band likes each other and how little they have to say to one another. YET they make awesome music together. Once they are on stage they start playing, you wonder how these 4 people can have so little in common. Interesting group dynamics and insight as to why they didn't survive long. Glad they can come together again and play on stage for the entertainment of Matt, B and I this September. During the documentary, Matt and I found particular enjoyment over one scene. The drummer came walking into Kim Deal's dressing room and by the looks of it, has the intent of scaring her. You had just heard the other band mates being interviewed and talking about him and saying that he is getting concerning about a matter of some prescription painkiller abuse and they can't talk to him because he always has his ipod in his ears. So he is kind of sneaking into her dressing room (she's doing her hair or something) and he actually kind of stops sneaking and walks in normal (but it scares her anyways) and he goes (obviously really hyped up on something), "I am SO into music right now!". It just really made us laugh and we have found that sentence to be quite quotable since. It was just funny made more so by a genuis bit of editing. Emily definitely recommends it if you are into the Pixies.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995) [NR]: Romance. B and I (and Matt now and then) watched this movie in little segments for the length of their stay. I am very sorry to report that I didn't get to see the whole thing (missed most of the good parts. BOO!) and I don't own it, so I need to hunt it out at the library or something to finish my fix. This was certainly not my first watch of this version (BBC / Colin Firth / Miniseries) but I say again with confidence - THIS IS THE BEST VERSION MADE TO DATE. I've said before (answering why I hadn't seen the film version with Kira Knightly yet) that I have no interest in a world where Colin Firth isn't Mr. Darcy. I have since seen the movie and enjoyed it a lot, but that dude was a pretty poor Darcy. Ami Hart, I am talking to you here- I would like to say on record that I think you are wrong that the girl that plays Lizzy in this version lacks all emotion. I like her. I think she makes a perfectly good Lizzy. I really liked Kira's Lizzy a lot (also just for the record). So, put that in your pants and smoke it, that's where I stand on this issue. One more thing- I did like the Mr. Bingley in the movie more then I liked the Mr. Bingley in the Miniseries. I thought he was FANTASTIC. The miniseries one is "ok". Emily heartily recommends this movie if you like a good romance and if you think that Colin Firth can say more with one look then Matthew Macfadyen could say with an entire speech.

INCEPTION (2010) [PG-13]: Action/Drama with fantasy elements. I went and saw this with the Utah Family Movie Group (UFMG) or whoever can make it out of me, Cat, Sue, Ben, Dave, Dan, Lori and Rob. We all loved it, it was really good and classic Christopher Nolan (whom I love). Everyone is talking about this movie, so I feel like I don't have to. Emily recommends it to pretty much anyone- it's a good time.

PIRATE RADIO (THE BOAT THAT ROCKED) (2009) [R]: Comedy. I was either in the most perfect mood to watch this or I just don't share the opinion with most reviewers of this movie, cause I had a GREAT time watching it. It housed many elements that make a great Emily film: 1. Set in London in the 1960's. I was reminded once more that I truly believe I missed my calling by not being a teenager/20 something in London in the 60's. I love the style (hair, makeup, clothes so very much) and I love the music. It IS a style of music I have become somewhat bored listening to within the last 10 years, but this would not be so if I was there when it was happening. If I could magically transform myself back to any place and time, that is where I would be- all I ask is that I can take my Radiohead music with me. 2. Philip Seymour Hoffman is in it. He is one of those actors that only needs to be in a film to make me deem it worthy of watching. 3. It's a Richard Curtis movie. While he doesn't hold the kind of steam certain other directors/actors/etc. hold, if I see him involved in a project, I at least dig a little to see what it's about. He has a pretty good track record with me (Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones Diary had it's moments). I am not going to say that these are A+ cinematic masterpieces, but they are my idea of "chick flicks" and enjoy them from time to time. 4. This is a GREAT character film. I really like interesting characters and in this movie almost everyone in it was interesting.
In addition to these four elements to make a formula pleasing to me, it also had Bill Nighy whom ALWAYS cracks me up. I learned an interesting fact watching the commentary (yes, I frequently watch commentaries- I'm a nerd). He is going to be in the last Harry Potter movie as Rufus Scrimgeour- perfect casting. I have always wondered why he is absent in the Harry Potter cast since every single other popular and famous British actor is in them. He seemed conspicuously absent. Ok, upon thinking about it, Hugh Grant isn't in them either. Neither is Colin Firth. But I never wondered about those two, just about Nighy. Maybe because he seemed like a good fit. Whatever.
I was a little disappointed when I looked up the background of the story and found out that it is based on very little fact. Only a few details are from history. Ships anchored in the North Sea did play 24 hours of rock when the BBC stations would only play an hour of it a day or something, but it wasn't as illegal as they let on and all of the events and characters are fictional. Darn. Oh well I still had a very good time and Tom Sturridge who played "Young Carl" was absolutely adorable. If you rent this movie a MUST DO is to watch the deleted scenes (with the intros by the director). I understand why they were cut, but most of them really were great scenes and well worth watching. Emily totally recommends this one if you don't mind a fair amount of language and some sexuality (nothing graphic or gratuitous).

THE FOURTH KIND (2009) [PG-13]: Thriller. Ug. I was not a fan at all. I have come to realize that I am a fan of the let's-scare-the-tar-out-of-people-by-making-a-movie-out-of-fake-home-movies-and-making-people-think-that-it's-real genre (think The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity). This movie tried to incorporate this element but without the finesse. I wonder if they had a smaller budget like the others, it may have been successful. My theory is that was it's downfall. Basically it is supposed to make you think that it is a documentary and they show "real footage" and also show their reenactment of the footage. They really went to great lengths to fool you into thinking that this was an episode of Unsolved Mysteries or something with VERY LITTLE SUCCESS. I went into the movie knowing the background, but I cannot imagine even for a second that their little scheme would have worked on me. It was just too badly done. It centers around a psychiatrist that finds out that she has several patients being abducted by aliens and she and her family are caught up right in the middle of it. This movie's only redeeming quality I thought, was the acting job of the lady playing the "real" doctor being interviewed about the happenings. She really looked all kinds of haunted. She did a good job. Also once maybe I got just a little creeped out. That's it. Even the score bugged me and I rarely think about the score at all ESPECIALLY when it comes to being bad, so good job The 4th Kind, you even screwed that up. Emily does not recommend this movie. Rent Paranormal Activity (or Pirate Radio).

That is all I can think of that I watched. Hope you got a small level of enjoyment or beginnings of discussions out of this. I welcome feedback about the movies above or any suggestions you might have for the coming months of what I should see. I may add books I read too sometime, but don't have the wherewithal to do it now. Maybe in the future.

I just got the idea to add the trailers of these movies below, so hope it works, here I go.....
CHILDREN OF MEN

ECLIPSE

LOUDQUIETLOUD

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (CLIP- NO TRAILER)

INCEPTION

PIRATE RADIO

THE 4TH KIND

Tongue Sucking!!!!!!

I was sitting in Relief Society (church) yesterday with Elle on my lap and the lady I sat next to glances at Elinor and goes, "Oh! She's a tongue sucker!" I'm like, "Wha?" She goes, "she is a tongue sucker, she sucks on her tongue to pacify herself."

After over 10 months of staring at this face:

a light bulb pops up above my head (or you could say a chorus of angels all went "aaaahhhh" around me -I WAS at church and all-). I said, "SO THAT'S WHAT SHE'S DOING!!" She said that most kids suck their thumbs or pacifiers, but there are a select few that suck their tongues like that. Her son used to (he did until the 2nd grade in fact).
Seriously! I didn't know such a thing existed. It never once occurred to me. The light bulb (or angels) kept it up that entire 45 minutes as things kept falling into place. You see, if you haven't spent a lot of quality Elinor time, you may not know that she won't take a pacifier, she just barely this week FINALLY drinks out of bottles, but hasn't until now, she also frequently does this sucking thing with her tongue sticking out a little. I always thought she just sucked way differently then any baby I've met and couldn't figure out devices such as pacifiers and the like. When she sucked nothing, I thought she was sucking, waiting for me to feed her. So suddenly, everything fell into place. She doesn't take pacifiers because she is happy just sucking on her tongue. The sucking of the tongue never looked like the normal sucking when she eats, but I never really gave it a second thought, but now it makes sense that it looks different. I refer to it as her "patented suck" since it is quite original looking. Babies frequently suck nothing in their sleep and stuff, but this is different then that. Elles does that too (although less frequent then most babies) and it involves more chin. She also almost always has this dark spot on the side of her tongue. Sometimes it isn't there, sometimes it's bigger, sometimes smaller. I asked Karen if that is why she gets that spot she said yes, it's a little bruise from sucking. I googled it once out of concern and after reading a few things came to the conclusion that it was a bruise from teething, but I wasn't totally happy with that answer since I noticed it months before any teething had taken place.

So anyway, I feel enlightened. Five minutes of getting used to the idea and I couldn't believe it had never occurred to me before. It makes so much sense, but like I said, I had never heard of this practice, so how can you think of something you've never heard of?

I had to add this picture cause she just looks so dang sweet. I was trying to catch her patented suck. As you can see- she has her blanket poised ready to do it.
She often likes the furry side of her kiki (or any furry blanket- yep, cookie blanket does her well-) to just touch the tip of her tongue while she is sucking. Karen said her son liked to do the same thing, but he liked satiny fabric.

So I've solved one enigma that makes up Elinor. Her one-of-a-kind suck isn't exactly one of a kind, just rare.
Love her.

FYI: if you ever google "tongue sucking" make sure you add the word "baby" cause you will get an entire other education without that simple word.

See mom, I told you she would fit!

Is the sentence I heard, accompanied by the ominous rolling of wheels. I whirled around knowing what I would find.

Yep:

You see, I made the mistake of using, "she wouldn't fit" as my excuse as to why Scout couldn't roll her sister around in that tiny wagon. I should have known that Scout wouldn't take that -not as a challenge exactly- more like a logical "Oh, I bet she would--- see!"

This all started last night while I was making dinner. Elles enjoys a good rock in her car seat more then many other things life. She has pretty much out grown her bouncy seat, but enjoys using her legs to well, do ANYTHING, so when she finds herself on a flat surface in her car seat, she gets that thing swinging like I have never seen the likes of. To take it a step further (and to give Scout ideas last night) when she is on our wood floor and rocking, if you turn your head for a few minutes, she will likely have rocked herself into the next room. So we were doing this routine last night while I was making dinner and Scout soon came up with the idea to pull Elles around by the strap that tightens the other straps and is always hanging down (and is Elles favorite thing to suck/play with while confined in the car seat). Now I know this doesn't sound like a fully well advised activity for a few reasons one of them being that there are probably safer activities for two little girls to do (with one participant a fairly helpless baby- the other a rambunctious 5 year old). But in my defense, I made Scout go slow and Elles had all her safety harnesses latched up, and I would have stopped it right away if Elles hadn't been laughing so hard. She had a blast, so right or wrong I let it go on for a little while.
So anyway, when we got up this morning, it's what Scout wanted to do (it's called "paddle boat rides" for the record). I relented and strapped Elles in the seat and got on the computer. After a few minutes, Scout must have come across that blue wagon and had a great idea. You know the rest......................


Sorry the pictures are so bad, but I grabbed the camera fast and was only willing to take a couple fast snapshots before rescuing the little trooper.

Scout and I came up with a compromise that worked for all involved:

Cereal + Banana Yogurt

Such an exciting combo!

My 4th of July Journal

Thursday, July 1st:
Arrive in Wyoming with my fam and sister Sue.
Good food.
Games.
Bed by 4:30 am.



Friday, July 2nd:
Saw the rest of the Utah fam arrive midday.

Games.

Dusk.

First order of business- Fireworks. I come from a family of pyros. Maybe that's why they ended up in a state that sells the best and scariest fireworks you can find? Luckily, to make it even better, my sister and her fam live just barely out of city limits- this means that even the fireworks that may be illegal to light, are legal to light at their house.

Daddy and cookie protecting the baby.

This is Milo. Milo is old. Milo is deaf. Milo comes alive these days but once a year. That day is the 4th of July. He is so cute and funny to watch. He gets as close as possible to them and barks his old man bark in delight. Then he barks at the neighbor's fireworks.
Dog pyro.

Must be a particularly loud firework judging from everyone's reactions (especially the babies). I include my reaction. I may look blase about it, but I suspect I am being momma bear checking to make sure the cub is protected adequately by papa bear.
(Zero in on this picture (click it). Allison (the baby on the right) looks terrified for her life! (Yet so cute). She grew to love them.)

The pyros running for cover

This is the original pyro--- Too cool to run? Unflappable? Too old? You decide.

Later that night...............

2nd order of business: Upholding the tradition of seeing the next Twilight movie with the fam. Happy to report it is MUCH better then the others. Hooray for that! We were left wondering however why the guy with the individually wrapped Sun Chips stayed home. We missed you dude. Ah well, maybe we'll catch you next time at Breaking Dawn. And who gave the theater permission to fix that really loud generator so it was whisper quiet?

When I got home I was greeted with the cutest sight I have
seen in a long time...

Ok, seriously-- how cute is my little family?

When I said "movie with the fam" that did not include Rob. He wouldn't touch this movie with a ten foot movie ticket.

Good food. Games.

Bed by 4 am.

Saturday, July 3rd:
Up early: White water rafting. Map of our route painted on the sidewalk. Pugh Waves was spotted.

Scout is helpfully pointing that out.

Let us all forget that I walked onto the bus with my helmet on backwards saying, (loudly) "these helmets are really uncomfortable".

Here is a pic of my boat and crew.
Look at Matt. (click it for full effect)

Boat and crew #2.

As you can see, the scenery wasn't pretty at all.

This wasn't my boat.
I think that one might have got them wet.

This was a serious blast. Thanks to Amy and Scott for orchestrating it. Thanks again to Amy for watching my girls and sacrificing hitting the rapids (for a second time in 3 weeks).

Thermopolis after wards for lunch and bridge swinging.

Our attempt at recreating this pic taken about 6 years earlier in the same spot:

Except this time we weren't all rivery nasty.

6 of my 7 siblings together. Missed Ben this trip. We'll just have to all get together again.
Darn it.

My Bean.

Back in one piece. Some went fishing.

Rob caught the catch of the day:I'm not being sarcastic here. He is the only one that got a bite.
Way to go babe!

Off to the local fireworks show. You might think a local fireworks show in a small town in Wyoming with homemade fireworks done by a dentist (by trade) sounds laughable. Not so. The is one of the most spectacular fireworks shows I have ever seen. This guy makes some seriously cool fireworks set to music. Never mind the ash rain shower.
Just one person from the group got a burn mark on her clothes.
Just one with hot ash in her eye.
Wyoming and fireworks: awesome combo.


Good food.

Games.

Bed by 3 am or so (come on! We'd had a big day).

Sunday, July 4th:

We all turned into baby birds. Except for Amy. She be mama bird.

Meep meep meep meep

Games.

Rob leaves for Utah. I stay with the kids to leave on Wed with Matt and B.

Church.

Games:

See The Kids Were All Wright for an explanation of this game. You will thank me later at your next party.


Good food.
Matt.

Star gazing. Dave brought his awesome telescope and set it up.
Venus: check.
Saturn: check (it really does have rings!).
Star clusters: check.
Jupiter and 3 of it's moons: check.
Saw Jupiter's lines: check.



Amazing.

Thanks Dave.

Telescope.
And Alex doing what?

Games.

Hoses.

Bed by............ I don't even want to know. We did see dawn and heard the birds chirping though.

Monday and Tuesday the 5th and 6th:

A Haze of good food, games, hoses, naps, Pixies rock band, Mexican Cokes, fireworks, I believe Amy had to leave us to pick up the kids from the movies during a game and played it on the phone as to not miss a thing. Haha. I LOVE MY FAMILY!!

Wednesday, July 7th:

Yummy sandwiches at yummy Riverton restaurant (for 2nd time that trip... Same sandwich.)
Driving home with Matt and B.
Modest Mouse.
The Moth Podcast.
Little America.
Pixies.
Worst jerky ever.

Home to My Favorite.


Reality. Ah man! Where's mamma bird?





Meep meep meep


Pride and Prejudice.

Pixies.

Matt.

Caving

Matt and B drove me home from our Wyoming 4th of July trip (details of that coming in a later post- my goal is tonight). They had a couple of concerts to attend in Utah, so we all arrived on Wed and they stayed until Saturday. We had a lot of fun, including on Sat morning, we got up "early" and decided to hike to the Timpanogos Caves. I hadn't been since I was fairly young and Matt had never been, neither had B, plus Matt was thinking a little exercise and being away from people sounded nice (they'd had enough of people after the free Modest Mouse concert they had attended). It's also very close to my house, so we made a plan of it. In that first pic you can see that Scout was the navigator and had the map. I was really proud of her- she hiked the whole way except for one brief piggyback ride from B when we were close to the top. (She was a baby mountain goat if you were wondering). It's a mile and a half up to the top of the caves and it is a fairly steep hike! Not made any easier with a baby strapped to your back I tell you, but it sure was beautiful the whole time.

Here is one scenic view:

Here are Matt and Elles at the top

Me and Elles

Scout enjoying a snack while waiting for our tour to begin

Peering over the edge

Here's Elles inside the cave
(it is 45 degrees inside the caves year round! It felt WONDERFUL after that hot hike)

This picture makes me laugh!
Elles has like a Sherlock Holmes look on her face.
Or maybe it's blue steel.....

The Bean and Paw Prints Glitter Stars on the way down

B heroically took Elles for the way down and Elle didn't quite make it.

We had a great little outing and all were very glad we did it. The caves really are impressive and really worth seeing. We found out that there is a room in the caves that makes Timp Cave not only a National Park, but a National Monument. It is a room that has these cave growths that are only found in a couple places in the whole world (and only a couple are found when they are indeed found), but at Timp Cave there is a huge room of them. No one knows how they are formed and why they are so incredibly rare and why the heck Timp Cave has a whole room of them. They resemble Stalactites, but they grow squiggly instead of straight. Anyway, that was the feature that impressed me the most. I was also impressed that I live 3 miles from a National Monument. I never knew that (or thought about that).

Matt and B pretty much left directly after we got home. B text me that night with "Matt just said "the days are long when you get up at 9". I told her that she could tell him that was an especially long one. A three hour hike followed by a 6 hour car ride. Eesh.
Good times!





I had to add the pics that Matt took because they are so good*

(*much better then mine)



Look at Elles peeking behind my back!!
Priceless.