Don't do it, Will!

I just read an article about the actress who portrayed Little Orphan Annie in the 1982 movie, "Annie." She is 40 now, and back in LA hoping to get her acting career going again. She seems like a reasonable person because she said that she wants to act again, but knows that it is unlikely that she would ever get another iconic roll like Annie.

She comes across as normal in the article, which is nice. In a world full of Rebecca Blacks, it is nice to occasionally come across someone who doesn't have a desperate need to be super famous.

The thing that struck me in this article was buried at the very end. After the bit about how the music from the 1982 movie won Oscars, about how it was an iconic movie with great actors and a fabulous story...there was a small blurb about Will Smith.

Wha?

Yes, it would seem that Will Smith wants his daughter, Willow (of "I swing my hair back and forth" fame), to headline a remake of "Annie." Wait, it gets better. They want to collaborate with Jay-Z for the soundtrack.

Dear Will Smith, Please stop. Please stop creating 'remakes' for your children to headline. Karate Kid was a stretch, a new Annie will make me cry. If you must, please have your kids act in movies that are 'kind of like' old classics rather than 'remakes' of classics that completely change things and give our current children horribly warped ideas of what the original stories were. You're a cool dude, and seem to be a great dad, but please stop before it is too late.

There is a list of people in Hollywood whose movies I won't (voluntarily) see, and you are about one 'remake' away from making that list.

Thank you,

Annie

Movie Review: Despicable Me

Frank took me on a date last night to Chipotle and to see Despicable Me - my idea of a great date night!

The movie theater was an interesting mix of preteens (looked like a slumber party), parents, couples, and a curios trio of gamer-geeks. The previews were nearly exclusively for other animated films, one exception being the new Nanny McPhee flick, which of course is about a magical nanny.

Once the movie began, it was clear that it was going to be everything I'd hoped. I can honestly say that I laughed out loud more at this movie than any other movie I can think of in recent memory. They even throw in a Godfather joke for all of the dads/boyfriends/husbands in the theater!

The story arch is entirely predictable, including a theme park/roller coaster scene for those of you watching in 3D, but like I said before it was just what I wanted it to be. The characters are easy to love, even the villainous Gru who isn't nearly as villainous as I'm sure he'd like to think.

There was one element missing, though I didn't mind: it didn't have the truly evil and scary villain or any extended moments of real fear for the main characters. Most animated movies seem to include a truly horrifying 'bad guy' while DM's villain was a dorky kid earning his villain stripes. Even the mastermind behind the dork only had a few scenes and never entered the plot in a significant way.

All in all, I loved the movie and will certainly watch it again when it comes out on DVD. It is good for a lot of laughs and even a tear or two if you happen to be particularly hormonal that day.

Movies

I love a good movie - and by "good movie" I don't mean Oscar worthy, tear jerking, soul moving, or life changing, I just mean something that makes me happy.

I feel like the cost of movies in theaters is so prohibative, though! Unless it is some huge epic film that won't translate as well on my tv, I usually try to wait until it comes up on Netflix. (Hopefully I'm going to see Despicable Me tomorrow for date night, I don't think I can wait any longer to see it)

That being said, I often forget about movies that I want to see between the time they are in theaters until they are released on DVD. Does anyone have any ideas on how to avoid that problem? I'm considering keeping a list somewhere on my blog, perhaps turning it into a movie review section (albeit a very late one, since most would be post-theater release reviews).

Perhaps that will be my new 'thing,' reviewing movies really really late and ignoring all of the other reviews that came out when the actual movie came out. Sounds like something at the perfect speed for my crazy life!

So, let me know what movies I should see - new and old - although be aware that I don't watch scary movies, or overly grotesque movies...my husband would tell you to just tell me what animated movies to watch, because that is what I'll be most interested in.

Anyway, lets see if I can get this movie reviewing thing off the ground

I'm excited about

Date night! Frank and I are going on a date in Massachusetts, either tonight or tomorrow night and I can't wait! And there is more...

We're making it a double date, taking Frank's parents on a date with us - so they are having date night too! And there is more...

We're going to see The Blind Side which very well may become my favorite movie of 2009, or even make it into my 'favorite movies of all time' list! I love a good sports movie that runs on themes of overcoming circumstance and racial tensions. I'm also a big fan of it being based on a true story. Overcoming the kinds of things that this family did wouldn't be nearly as impactful if it weren't true - anyone can tell a nice story, but these people lived it.

So, there is my 'I'm excited' post for the week - looks like this will become a Friday tradition.

I hope you had a wonderful Turkey Day!