Get Smart

Get Smart
Rated PG-13
110 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: A

When I walked into this film, I was expecting a bad adaptation of another TV series I loved to watch. Boy was I wrong! This movie was one that got the relation from TV to film correct. Steve Corell did Don Adams justice with his portrayal of Maxwell Smart. Ann Hathaway did a good job as Agent 99 and Dwayne Johnson did first-rate work as the strong man to the screen…but I’m a bit bias when it comes to him. He could play a fairy godmother and I enjoy it.

The only think I found that could use a bit of help was that you could figure out who the “bad guy” was fairly early in the show. Too much give away at the start of the show.

This is one of those movies I could watch over and over again. Many great references of the TV show, quirky jokes and some great action scenes. Plus there’s a Chuck Norris joke that I just found hilarious. Two thumbs up!

Little Bits of Oddness

Yesterday I had a few fun-odd things happened. First at work, one guy called in asking about his lease. I asked the standard questions, but come to find out he just singed his lease 2 days ago and was asking what he got into. Hum…I’m no expert when it comes to deals, but shouldn’t you read the contract before you sign it and ask questions before you sign it? Yeah…I thought that was common sense, but I could be wrong with some people.

Next, another customer called in about her bill. I advised he that that was a separate number and that they can pull up her number and give her the information that she needed. So I gave her the toll free number. Not more than 30 seconds later she called up and said that the number I gave her was a porn line. Well, she dialed 800 instead of 888 and she got a bit more than she bargained for. Need to say we had a good laugh.

But the oddest thing I saw was when I went out to Wal-Mart with a friend. Afterward we saw a Snowie Shack and decided to have a little treat. I turned and looked at my friend and noticed that she was blowing on her ice cold snow cone. I just looked at her oddly and she finally realized what she was doing. Needless to say I won’t let her live that one down.

Random Recommendation: Pick up a children’s joke book and share some laughs with your friends

Quirky Quote: Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. ~Victor Borge

Mayan Astrology

I found some stuff on Mayan Astrology, and this is what it said about me:

Mayan Day Sign: KAT (The Seed)

Seed people are known as the performers. Fulfilling your sexual desires and being independent are the two things you crave for throughout your life. You set high standard goals for yourself and always make it a point to achieve it at any cost. Self-esteem is something which the Seed folks are very much concerned about. You are very much attached to your family and can go to any extreme in order to bring peace and happiness to your family. As individuals the Seed people are always successful in starting off new ventures, signing new contracts or entering into any new business deals. You love to work as social workers and public defenders and try to unite the whole community either through your hard work or by using the secret influences of somebody else. Courage and gratefulness are their characteristic traits which make these people simply outstanding.

Galactic Tone: 4

Number four represents the four elements of the universe - the fire, water, wind and earth. This is the most stable number among all the other day numbers. It represents the establishment of anything and lends shape to all creation in ways of length, height, width and breadth. Four persons are quite determined to reach their goals once they set it.

This is a lot like me. I'm very determined, independent and love to work with others.

Movie Challenge

Most people know that I LOVE movies. I try to make at least one new release each week. Someone asked me, “What are your favorites from each decade”? That was simple, but I thought I challenge myself and pick out my favorite from each year since sound came into film.

Some things I’ve found out there are some years that were hard to pick because there are so many good films, then there are the years that had nothing honestly good (2005 for example). Some older years, I couldn’t find anything that I’ve seen or sincerely enjoyed so I’ve skipped over them. Another thing I found out is that I’m a sucker for anything with Wil Smith, Johnny Depp and Jim Carrey in it. And lastly, I found out that I might just have too much time on my hands some days.
:-P

Here’s my list and I encourage you to take the same challenge when you got the spare time.

1927 ~ The Magician

1928~ Daughters of Eve

1929 ~ The Virginian

1930 ~ Animal Crackers

1931 ~ The Maltese Falcon

1932 ~ The Mummy

1933 ~ 42nd Street

1934 ~ It happened One Night

1935 ~ A Tale of Two Cities

1936 ~ Juggernaut

1937 ~ Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

1938 ~ The Switch

1939 ~ Gone with the Wind (Wizard of Oz coming in a close 2nd)

1940 ~ Rebecca

1941 ~ The Maltese Falcon

1942 ~ Bambi

1943 ~

1944 ~ Meet Me in St. Louis

1945 ~ Rhapsody in Blue

1946 ~ The Best Years of Our Lives

1947 ~ Miracle on 34th Street

1948 ~

1949 ~ Little Women

1950 ~ Harvey (Cinderella coming in a close 2nd)

1951 ~ The Lemon Drop Kid

1952 ~ The Quiet Man

1953 ~ Peter Pan

1954 ~ Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

1955 ~ Rebel Without a Cause

1956 ~ The King and I

1957 ~ The Bridge over the River Kawi

1958 ~ Gigi

1959 ~ Some Like It Hot

1960 ~ Psycho

1961 ~ Blue Hawaii

1962 ~ What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

1963 ~ Cleopatra

1964 ~ My Fair Lady (along with Father Goose and A Hard Day's Night coming up close)

1965 ~ Help! (and Doctor Zhivago coming in a close 2nd)

1966 ~ Frankie and Johnny

1967 ~ Camelot

1968 ~ The Producers

1969 ~ Midnight Cowboy

1970 ~ Tora! Tora! Tora!

1971 ~ Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

1972 ~ The Godfather

1973 ~

1974 ~ Benji

1975 ~ Monty Python and the Holy Grail

1976 ~ Rocky

1977 ~ Star Wars (as much as I don't like this film, it's the only one I can remember for this year)

1978 ~ Grease

1979 ~ The Muppet Movie

1980 ~ Friday the 13th

1981 ~ Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982 ~ E.T.

1983 ~ The Outsiders

1984 ~ Amadeus (Gremlins is a close 2nd since I loved Gizmo so much)

1985 ~ Back to the Future

1986 ~ Crocodile Dundee

1987 ~ The Lost Boys

1988 ~ Willow

1989 ~ Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (yeah...I admit, I still enjoy this show)

1990 ~ Pretty Woman

1991 ~ Beauty and the Beast

1992 ~ A League of Their Own

1993 ~ Benny an Joon

1994 ~ Forrest Gump (Ave Ventura a close 2nd)

1995 ~ Batman Forever

1996 ~ Independence Day

1997 ~ Men in Black

1998 ~ Ever After: A Cinderella Story

1999 ~ The Matrix

2000 ~ U-571

2001 ~ Monsters, Inc.

2002 ~ My Big Fat Greek Wedding

2003 ~ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

2004 ~ 50 First Dates

2005 ~ Hitch

2006 ~ Eight Below (even though this is my favorite movie for this year, I'll never see it again. Way to emotional!)

2007 ~ Transformers (yeah...I'm sure y'all are surprised on that one. I did see it 14 times in the theater alone)

2008 ~ The Fall

Friday the 13th

First of all, happy birthday to Tiffany Lee Farr Guymon! One of the greatest women I know. She was one of the first people to befriend me when I moved to Salt Lake City 11 years ago.

On a sad note, I was notified today that a friend from years ago passed away. Rob Hart was found dead at his Mom’s home due to a drug overdose. Even though I lost contact with him over the years, this news saddens me. What saddens me even more is that I’ve lost another person that came into my life because of drugs.

"This is a very solemn occasion"
Shannon and Rob ~ Friends back together, probably goofing around in the clouds.

Random Recommendation: If you need to get you mind off of things or if you’re just plain bored to go and play movie hangman. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/games/hangman/

Quirky Quote: Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things. ~Author Unknown

Transformers Will Introduce New Concept Vehicles

Because I’m such a Transformers geek and love cars, I thought I’d share with y’all pictures of the new concept cars that are rumored to be in the upcoming live action Transformers movie next year. Plus, Bumblebee get a new look as well (the picture is the actual car that's in the movie). I’m so giddy to see these cars!

Bumblebee gets on new front end look ~ 5th Generation Chevy Camaro

An unnamed Decepticon ~ AudiR8

Arcee (Autobot) ~ Cam-Am Spyder

Wheeljack (Autobot) ~ Saab Aero X

The twins Sideswipe and Sunstreaker (Autobots) ~ Chevy Corvette ZR1

Quirky Quote: If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older. ~Tom Stoppard

Helpful Tip: To combat warts, tape a slice of garlic to the wart.

Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda
Rated ~ PG
92 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: A

This movie is jam-packed with awesomeness! A movie that you can take anyone of any age to and each person will find amusement.

The animation was wonderful, especially the backdrops and scenery shots. The trees and sky looked so real, it made you feel as if you could jump into the screen and be in the orient. The story was fun, inspiring and also had some good ol’ fairy tale moral lessons that each person can take with them.

The voice actors did a fantastic job, but the issue I had was the movie did utilize all the voices. I would have liked to have heard more from the other four “Furious Five”: Jackie Chan (Monkey), Lucy Liu (Viper), Seth Rogen (Mantis) and David Cross (Crane). It seemed that most of the voice over work for the group was with Angelina Jolie (Tigress). My only other criticism about the film is that during some of the intense action scenes, I wish they would have panned out a bit more. I felt as if there was something in the background that I should be seeing, but instead I was looking at only the body shot of the characters.

If you go and see the show, you need to stay until the end of the credits. There's a little 2 minute wrap up that is too sweet to pass up.

I highly recommend this movie. This is one of the best animated films out there.

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

Rated ~ PG-13

113 Minutes

Nicole’s Rating: D-

When I went into this movie, knowing that it was an Adam Sandler comedy, I wasn’t expecting much, but I was expecting a little more that what I got.

Adam Sandler had the same sexual innuendo joke for the majority of the show. The thing is, it was like watching a Jr. High student going through puberty. The cast was his typical group of cronies, but most of them lost their skills of acting (if they had them in the first place that is). I’ve seen better SNL skits where they forgot their line go better than some of the scenes in this movie. The plot was everywhere. Just when you think that you were going to get somewhere, it goes back to some dumb joke about Zohan’s cock or a view of his butt. Just when I thought the movie couldn’t get any worse, they brought in Mariah Carey . If you know me, you know that this is the one celebrity I cannot stand no matter what! Her acting ability is very handicapped. Whoever told her she could act needs to be put down like a rabid dog…along with the person who told her that she looks good in tight clothes that 14 year olds wear.

There was a good storyline that was hardly used, that should have been built upon and that was about the Israelites and the Palestinians living in the same area of NYC and coming together because there are sick of fighting. I would have not kicked myself for spending money on this if this was the main concept of the movie.

There were some funny parts to the movie, but not too many past the trailer. And if you have any kids under the age of 16, I would not take them to see this. It’ll make them and you very uncomfortable. I agree, you shouldn’t mess with the Zohan by NOT watching this crap of a film.

Number Rattlers

I spend a good portion of my life on the phone at work and usually to help the individuals, I’ll have to call someone else if they are in need of repairs and then call them back with the repair information. I understand that people get frustrated when their stuff is not working properly, but if there is one thing (besides not using turn signals), that tans my hide is people who rattle off their phone numbers. Then you have to ask them to repeat it, hence a more upset person. But the worse is when you have to listen to a message that is 5 minutes long and at the end the speed through the phone number, making me have to listen to a bunch of nonsense for two or three more times. ARGGHHH! You just spent 5 minutes giving me a message take 15 more seconds and speak your number clearly. Really, is that a lot to ask?!?

Unfortunate Namesake: Crystal Clearwater

Quirky Quote: Telephone: n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance. ~Ambrose Bierce

Weekend Geekness ~ It’s Shining Big Time

So Saturday I let my geekness fly big time as I participated in the Dungeons and Dragons Game Day. I’ve only played this role playing game a handful of times, but I have a friend who is a big time DM, so he invited me and another friend to participate in a game that he was in charge of. First of all, he should have known better that if you invite me that the game will not start on time, because of my socializing. I have to get to know everyone at the game and lighten the air with a few wise cracks. We were playing for over 4 hours and we still didn’t finish the game, but I’m very proud of myself, I was the only character that didn’t get killed. I’ve come to realize why…I use strategy instead of force. Again, I’m not an experienced player, but I was constantly asking questions instead of going in head first fighting. This, I realize, would only lead to my demise. I give credit to all those horror and true crime books I read. They make one think.

Sunday I had a wonderful opportunity to have my first official movie review (see Passage to Zarahemla post). I made my review and sent it to the production company and to my surprise, the Director/Producer Chris Heimerdinger wrote a comment back. Even going to the lengths of saying that my review is the best yet. Go under the comments and see what he wrote for me. This made my day! Thinking that my opinion actually meant something to someone?!? I’ve always wanted to do movie reviews for a living, so who knows, maybe this is the start of something.


Random Recommendation: Smartfood popcorn for a healthy snack
Unfortunate Namesake: Sweet Medicine (this is an actually name of a person that I keyed mail for)

Passage to Zarahemla

Passage to Zarahemla
Rated ~ PG-13
107 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: B-

Before watching this movie, I had the accustomed feeling that this was going to be typical Mormon movie, with all the same cheesy lines, typical 6 kid family and the usual moral conflicts. Even though this movie had these basics, it worked. It had more of a storyline and was more entertaining that any other LDS cinema I’ve seen since the start of the Mormon genre.

Kira and her brother Brock have lost their mother to a battle with drugs, leaving them with the fate of being split up in the foster system. Not wanting this, they steal a car and head off to Utah where they have a family that is vaguely a memory. During their stay there, they find a portal that leads into a time lap bringing two different eras together, but it also brings the two territorial conflicts into play with one another.

The concept of the film was great, I love movies about time warps, but there were a bit too many side stories. I could have gone without the side story of L.A. gangsters. They seemed a bit too stereotypical, over played and their tattoos seemed to change (I notice small things like this during movies). Instead of overplaying the gangsters, I would have loved to see the movie extend on the love story between Kira and Kiddoni. You can get the concept of where they were coming from, but I just wanted a bit more. The side story of the father and his short-term memory loss just seemed out of place. I thought it was going to some key to the end of the movie, but it never truly went anywhere; just one more side story. The warriors were the best part of film, even though one of them looked too “white” and I just felt as if he didn’t mix in with the rest of the tribe. The costumes were great (minus a couple of bad wig placements).

Overall this movie kept my interest. It’s great for a small history lesson about the war between the Nephiphites and Lamanities and also does well in telling of the LDS culture and beliefs. I just think if there were about 15 more minutes of movie it could have been excellent and answered a few questions. A great flick for family with younger viewers.

Rant, Rant...Smurf?!

There’s a couple of things that I just have to rant about; a couple of pet peeves, which I'm sure everyone can relate to.

Rant #1
Customer Service
What the hell happened to it? Honestly, I cannot think of the last time I truly had good customer service. I’ve desensitized myself in thinking this is the norm, but when you have bad customer service…damn, it must be bad! This weekend I went into a store that is a national chain, that specifies in a certain product and there is a new item that I know that will be hitting the selves within the next couple of days. I thought, well who better to go ask then these “so called” experts. I went in there looked about to see what other items I might be interested in and did pick up a couple of things and headed my way to the checkout. Yep there’s 20 checkout stands, but only one is open with a line of six people, two of them needing returns. “I’m going to be here I awhile” I thought to myself. And I was right I was, even though there were 5 other employee standing right behind us have a laxed conversation about someone’s vacation. They looked over to us several times, but none came to help. One guy in line asked the checker if she could have one of them help, but she just ignored him. I finally got to the checkout and just like magic, all of a sudden the 5 nimrods standing in the background came up and asked if they could help…yeah…there was no one left in line. Then I went on to ask them about this upcoming product. They all looked at me like I was speaking Klingon. “Well can one of you find out when it will be in the store” I asked. They then debated for the next half a minute who would do this hard task of looking it up on the computer. Hence to say, I never got my question answered as I walked out frustrated. Some experts eh?!? Now, I worked in retail for 6 years and I know that it isn’t any fun, but hey…that your job! Do it! That’s why you’re getting paid.

Rant #2
Movie Theater Etiquette
I’ve come to realize that the more and more our society advances technological, the more and more our manners go out the door. When I go into a movie, I expect the show to entertain me...not the other members of the audience. Why do people think it’s right for the kids to run up and down the aisle and yell at the top of their lungs, or to text message with the blaring LCD screen, or talk through the whole movie. I don’t mind if people make a few comments here and there, but full conversation about what dumb thing your husband did the night before needs to go out into the foyer. If your kids cannot behave in public, don’t take them into public. I have to give Kudos to one of the movie theaters in town as they have started to major motion pictures for the 21 and over crowd. No kids and no teens are allowed in the movie. Not to say that I don’t like kids, I love them, but it’s nice to see a film that you know that maturity of the audience can control their A.D.D.

Musing
Smurfs
Here’s something a bit amusing for y’all. The other day while working at the Post Office, one of my friends, who is a huge cartoon geek like myself, told me she got the whole series of Smurfs on DVD. So we went on talking about the Smurfs and some of our favorite characters, when one of the gals asked us “What is a Smurf”? Ouch! I now feel the old factor setting in. OK, here's something that's awkward...trying to explain a Smurf to someone that doesn't know what one is. Yeah...I ended up looking like I was high. But then again, maybe that's how the idea of Smurfs came along.

Random Recommendation: Go to Wikipedia and do a random article search and read about it. You’ll be surprised what you can learn.

Quirky Quote: Freaks are the much needed escape from the humdrum. They are poetry. ~Albert Perry

The Graduate

Tuesday, I got to celebrate a wonderful day with my cousin, Candice Anderson. Not only was it her birthday, but she graduated high school. But to top it off, she graduated last month with her Assosicates Degree. Graduating college before High School, how cool is that?!? What a smart kid (yeah I still call her a kid). I wish her the best in life and I know that anything she puts her mind to, she can do it. Congratulations Candice! Now go out into the world and show them what you got!


Random Recommendation: Re-read your childhood favorite story or book.
Quirky Quote: The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. ~Aristotle

Another Crazy-Fun Weekend

Besides the usual of work and ‘trying’ to get chores done, this weekend was filled with activity. On Saturday, I had to opportunity to go to downtown Salt Lake, something I don’t do too often but should. My friend Adell and I walked around Temple Square taking some great pictures, catching up and seeing how much downtown has changed since it’s under a major remodel. After walking and walking and more walking we took in a movie, “The Fall” (see my review). What an excellent show! I wish they’d do a nationwide release so that everyone can experience it. This is probably one of the best movies I've seen in years!


On Sunday, I got to see my friends Johnny and Emily bless their cute baby boy. I haven’t seen Johnny for so long, because he’s working and going to school in Utah County. I feel sorry that his family doesn’t get to see him much, but it’ll be a good thing once he is finished. Congratulations to the Tani family!



About 3 hours later, I headed out to the airport to pick up my father from his long trip to Tanzania. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks knowing if he really was doing so well there. Then he came home with this huge bite on his arm! It looked so painful and he said that it itches like crazy. He decided not to tell us that he got this bite the third day while there, because it would worry us. He then explained that the bug that got him, injects an acid with the bite, which caused the itching. Thanks for keeping that to yourself Pops! I then spent the next few hours talking to him about all his stories while he was there. I hope to get the stories typed up and on his blog. If you haven’t read the blog, go and check it out. There’s so much you can learn about this place and by the time you’re finished you’ll realize how lucky you have it in this world.
http://ronhaleintanzania.blogspot.com/

The Fall

The Fall
Rated ~ R
117 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: A+

I don’t think I’ve seen a movie this brilliant and exuberant in the past 10 years. Once in a blue moon a movie gets everything exactly right; from the writing, casting, score, costumes, direction, cinematography, blocking etc. and this was it.

Roy, young actor in early Hollywood (1920’s), has fallen off a bridge during a stunt act which lands him in the hospital. During his stay there, he meets up with Alexandria, a young girl who has also taken a bad fall from picking oranges in her family’s orchard. Roy tells her wild fantasies in exchange for her doing favors for him around the hospital, while he can’t get out of bed. The stories come to life in the mind of Alexandria and when they do, you mind is feed with an excellent story of five bandits out for the revenge of a man that has done them all wrong. I honestly cannot give this movie justice with my description; it’s something that you’ll have to visualize yourself so I’ll embed the trailer in this blog, so you can grasp the wonderful scenes.



The two main actors Catinca Untaru (Alexandria) and Lee Pace (Roy), pulled off amazing characterizations and the interaction between the two couldn't be any better.

I honestly and truly cannot figure out why this movie is rated R. It has one curse word (damn), no sexuality of any kind and the violence is even more mild than what can be seen on any night of the week on network television. The only think that can remotely make it –R- rated is the seriousness of the subject of death and suicide, but that should only make it PG-13. I wouldn’t mind anyone over the age of 12 seeing this, and I hope that everyone does eventually see it. Yes it is an independent film, but it has all the qualities of major motion picture, if not better. I would LOVE to see Hollywood produce films of this merit and I'm hoping to see this be an Oscar contender for next year.

Skip out on ‘Sex in the City’ and ‘Indiana Jones’, and go to see this.