Pass the Popcorn

Ok Ya'll, lets talk about something close to my heart. Movies. You know I love them. But recently, the only movies I have seen have been the free preview ones. Not that I'm complaining. Free is my favorite price. And considering this past summer's lack of good movies, I wasn't too broken up about my movie dry spell.

However! This winter there are SOOOOO many good movies that I am just dying to see! You know you want a list complete with you tube clips!

1) The Princess and the Frog


Disney! Princess! Jazz Age New Orleans! Hand Drawn Animation! Watercolors! Can't breathe....

2) Fantastic Mr. Fox



This was one of my favorite books as a child. Written by the incomprable Roald Dahl, the tale focuses on the Fox family and their struggle for survival against overwhelming odds. Wes Anderson, the director, has made many odd movies in the past, but hopefully his quirkiness will blend well with Dahl's characters and book themes.

3) Planet 51
My mom said that the animation and characters remind her of the pixar short in front of Ratatouille. You know, the one with the junior alien trying to abduct the guy out of the farmhouse? and he fails miserably? Its pretty awesome.

4) The Blind Side
Get ready for some tear jerkers! This one is based on a true story and there is already oscar buzz about Sandra Bullock's performance. A good thing too since her disasterous "All about Steve"

5) Everybody's Fine
My roommate and I are both dying to see this one. Robert De Niro as a dad struggling with a fatal disease, keeping it a secret, and going to visit all of his kids. Also starring Drew Barrymore, though I won't hold that against it.

6) The Men Who Stare At Goats
George Clooney seems to be recapturing the character from "O Brother Where Art Thou" in that he is nuts, slightly stupid and all hilarious. I mean c'mon people, he stares at goats to make them fall over!

7) Avatar
Ok, we all know by now that this movie has nothing to do with the beloved Nickelodeon television show. However, it looks pretty awesome anyway. Especially the animation of the aliens. they look pretty wicked cool.

8) Pirate Radio
I can't believe that I forgot about this one until number eight! I want to see this one SOOO BAD! Well, I want to see almost all of these with the same passion. But this one is for realz! C'mon! Pirates, Rocka and Roll, Phillip Seymour Hoffman! Plus, as my roommate so aptly pointed out, the soundtrack is gonna kick ass!

9) Where the Wild Things Are
I have yet to see this one because I am full of trepidation. Will they maintain the crux and soul of the tale? Will they be true to my personal vision? Will dinner still be warm by the end?

10) Amelia
Proving once again that when Hillary Swank dies in a movie, she wins an Oscar. But, that aside, I do love the whole story of Amelia Earhart. She pushed boundaries, she set records, she proved people wrong. And then of course there's the mystery aspect. Will anyone ever know what happened? I'm interested to see Swank's interpretation on such an iconic American figure.

So there they are. It would be sweet to be able to actually see some of these in the theatre, especially the animated ones. Realistically I know that most of them will have to wait until they are available on Netflix, but if someone wanted to buy me tickets to them for Christmas! Actually nevermind. Because with movie prices the way they are and my aversion to going anywhere alone, the bill would be in the $250 range. And I'm not that greedy.

Screw Barbie! When I grow up I want to be Michelle Obama

I want to share with you all a secret that I have been harboring. I have a huge girl crush on the first lady! I can't even encompass in words the amount of love I feel for her and her awesomeness!

To be honest, I think I've always had a soft spot for first ladies. Ever since elementary school. My school was near an apartment complex named for Dolley Madison, and after learning who she was and her special brand of wicked awesomeness, I had a whole newfound respect for the women in the white house. Despite their husband's political leanings, I kind of love the wives. Part of that is possibly the nature of the job. While the president can kind of flip off half the country with his political agenda, the first lady has to serve as a sort of ambassador, especially to children. She is the mother of the country, showing us the 'domestic' side of the presidency.

Laura Bush, though she was married to an idiot George Bush, was the one who instituted the National Book Festival. She had her own adgenda, circling around literacy and interactions with children.

But my real topic today is the first lady du jour. Mrs. Obama. the most kick assingist first lady for quite some time.

I've spent most of my work week watching videos of her, reading about her, and having suuuper crushes on her.



The first lady hanging with Elmo and Big Bird!? can it get any better? Oh yes, my friends. It can.

This link has several videos from the HBO documentary about the Obama's trail to the white house. The first video (and really all three on the site) focus on Michelle and the girls, and gives a look into their interactions. I LOVE the beginning of the first video, they're just playing dominos like any other family, and elder sister teases younger for winning again, and by the end wont give her a lick of mom's ice cream cone.

Finally, I offer this vid.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

It is rather lengthy, roughly 30 minutes, so if you aren't inclined to watch it all, no worries. But its the Katie Couric interview for Glamour's woman of the year cover. Couric covers topics as hard hitting as "if you could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?" proving that Couric's research went as far as a really boring cocktail party. Nonetheless, the First Lady is demure, well spoken, pleasant and complimentary. One of my favorite moments is near the end when Mrs. O is asked for dating tips. Because this will be published in Glamour, the expected would be something about hair or clothes but Mrs. O outclasses expectations with the following:

"Look at how the guy treats his mother, what he says about women, how he acts with children he doesn't know. And more importantly how does he treat you? When you're dating a man, you should always feel good...you should never feel less than...you should never doubt yourself, you shouldn't be in a relationship with someone who doesn't make you completely happy or make you feel whole. And if you're in (such a) relationship, don't get married, and find that person who brings you complete and utter joy."

What a super woman! actually telling the truth about real relationships to women who read Glamour! c'mon folks, how can you NOT love her???

Couric's question about a possible first lady cookbook got a coy smile and an evasive answer, but the commenters provided the best one-liner of all time.

"[If Mrs. O writes a cookbook] Lets hope she includes her secret family recipe for awesome sauce!"

Yes, Lets hope so indeed.