Movie Time

CLOVERFIELD - Well, I saw this over the weekend. I really liked it. It's a very different kind of monster movie, and gives you a perspective you haven't experienced before. Granted, the first 15 minutes are brutal to get through. It was like watching an episode of "The O.C." (uh...not that I would know.) But once the monster appears the movie really takes off. It's basically a monster movie where this big sea monster takes over New York. But you see the movie through the eyes of 4 twenty something's who are trying to evacuate the city after spending an evening at a party. They have a video camera with them and everything you see on the screen is what they are "taping." So the whole movie is the "shaky cam" technique. I didn't get sick, but there were times I was getting a headache. There were a few parts that made me think "why would they be shooting this?" (The guy is getting bitten by a huge bug-like thing and he's still holding the camera?) I thought maybe the gimmick might be more believable if they were a news crew trying to get the whole story documented for the evening news. But anyway, the style still works. At the end of the movie it seemed like half of the people in the theater hated it. I heard all these people at the end verbally complaining about the movie and outright upset about the ending. I thought it was a fun movie, but it's not for everybody.

Our new treadmill

Well...we took the plunge. We bought a treadmill. It's a really nice one, and should last us a while. I've been going to the community center to work out, but it will be nice to have something at home I can use for those days I don't feel like going to the gym. Besides, this will be a lot more convenient for Jenny with her work schedule. Anyway, one of the biggest fans of it is Ben. He thinks it's a new toy and he constantly wants to walk on it.

So with the new piece of furniture we had to rearrange the playroom downstairs. Here's our new setup. The whole space really works well.

Movie Time

One of the biggest changes in our lives as a result from having kids is the amount of movies we see at the theater. We just don't get to the theater nearly as much as we did pre-kids. There was a time when we used to go to the theater and we would have seen everything showing. Nowadays when we go to the theater we have to take in effect the cost of babysitters, so anything we see better be good.

That's why we rent movies now more than ever before. We love Netflix. I love the convenience, the selection, everything. Sure it means waiting 6 months to see a lot of movies we would normally see at the theater. But these days when we're tied up with two little ones, being able to watch a movie at home after the kids go to bed is really nice.

Typically Friday nights are my nights. Jenny's usually wiped out from a week at work and off to bed early, so Friday night is my time when I can sit back, stay up late, watch a movie I want to watch, and not think about anything else. Then Saturday nights is usually our "movie" night, where we try to watch something we both want to watch.

Recently we did find a babysitter who's great with the kids, so we're going to try to have a "date night" once a month. So hopefully we can get back to the theater more.

So anyway, this year on the blog I thought I'd try to include my reviews of the movies we rent and see in the theater. Since I'm already almost a month behind, I'll play catch up and bring everyone up to date.


LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD - We rented this one recently and we liked it. I should say Jenny liked it and I loved it. I enjoyed it a lot more than the Bourne Ultimatum. Yes, I know it's rediculous...and over the top...and laughable at times. But come on...it's John McClaine. He surfs a jet for crying out loud. Loved it!


SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK - I am an Edward Burns fan. Not the Edward Burns you see in movies like "15 Minutes," or "A Sound of Thunder," but the one who wrote and directed "Brothers McMullen," and "Looking For Kitty." I guess I like his movies for the same reason I like Woody Allen movies. Interesting writing, dialouge driven, character rich, etc. In fact, I would say with movies like "Looking For Kitty," and this one he might be turning into the Woody Allen of our time. Granted he has a long way to go before he achieves that status. (I don't think Burns writes as well for women as he does for men.) Anyway, this one felt a lot like a number of Woody Allen movies I've seen, and I guess that's why I liked it.


BOURNE ULTIMATUM - We liked it. It's fun to watch and see how Bourne will get out of every predicament he finds himself caught up in. It's also cool to see all the european locations. I still like the first one the best. I think because it goes at a slightly slower pace, so you get a chance to soak in the espionage. With the 2nd and 3rd one you have no time to catch a breath. It's cinema for someone with a short attention span.


EXILED - When I was in college I watched a lot of Hong Kong action movies. I mean really...too many to admit. Well, I don't have the same taste for the genre as I once did, but once in a while one catches my eye. "Exiled" is an asian, gun-toting, action movie that is set in Macau. It's the typical "mafia syndicate hitmen find redemption in a blaze of glory and bullets" movie that gets cranked out in Hong Kong. It's got some great scenes in the first hour, but I eventually got bored with it after I hit the 2 hour mark. Way too long.


I AM LEGEND - We got a baby sitter one night and ran out to go see this. We thought it was great. For those who don't know Will Smith plays the last man on earth, but he has mobs of vampire zombies to deal with night after night. Jenny for some reason had no idea the movie was going to be horror, so half way through she looked at me and said, "what did you bring me to?" But we both loved it. I had read the book before, and I still think it's better. But the movie is intense and worth seeing.


BLADES OF GLORY - We saw this in the theater when it came out, but we thought it would be fun to rent it and watch it again. We love Will Ferrell, and I laugh at basically any movie he makes. This is a funny one indeed, but the extras, deleted scenes, and outtakes are almost as funny as the movie itself.


PATHFINDER - I am a sucker for a good "sword and slash" flick. I rented this based on a recommendation from a friend of mine. That and also I liked the movie "The 13th Warrior," and this reminded me of that. Anyway, it's about a viking raised by indians in a pre-colonized America. He eventually becomes the protector of his tribe from invading vikings. (Sigh) What was I thinking with this one? After the first 20 minutes I said to myself..."Oh oh. This is getting bad."

And then there was Pluto

Ben has a space puzzle that he likes to put together. I guess it was made fairly recently because Pluto is not on the puzzle. Well...everytime he puts the puzzle together we always recap and name all the planets on the puzzle.

Well, yesterday after we finished the puzzle and named all the planets he asked me "Where's Pluto?" We tried to explain to him that Pluto isn't necessarily a planet. Well, I wasn't going into the whole "binary planet system" theory or something like that, so we explained it this way..."Pluto is too small to be a planet."

Well...then he said, "Maybe when Pluto grows up he can be a planet."

Megan tries some pears

Megan lately has shown quite a bit of interest in food...namely the food that Jenny and I are eating. She watches you eat and will try to grab what you're having. This is very interesting for us because Ben was the total opposite at this age. Ben never took an interest in trying different foods (and actually he's still like that). So lately we've been introducing some different foods to Megan to see what she thinks. Here's Megan trying some pears yesterday.

Detroit Auto Show

Ben and I went to the Detroit Auto Show on Saturday. For those of you who don't know it's THE car show in the country. Unlike most other car shows the Detroit show is all about the spectacle. Car companies not only want to showcase their cars, but they also want to attract you with their brand and identity. All the cars are surrounded by huge flat screen panels running flashy graphics and footage of their cars, lights, sounds, etc. It's all about branding. As a graphic designer I get more out of seeing all the branding designs and displays than the actual cars.

I'm not a "car buff" by any means, but I always enjoy the Detroit Auto Show because of the "show" it puts on. And as you can imagine Ben had a blast. He would have sat in every car if we had time. We walked around for 3 hours and he didn't want to leave. I practically had to drag him out of the place. The boy loves cars.

Tough to be a Cowboy fan

I know it's been a week since I watched my beloved Dallas Cowboys lose a sure ticket to the Super Bowl...but I can't help it. I'm still upset. I sat there watching some of the championship games this weekend still thinking about how Dallas blew it this year. Just blew it. Dallas should have been there. It's so frustrating.

Anyway, I came across this video. It's very funny, and worth watching. If you're a Cowboy fan it really sums up how you feel after this season.

It's from the movie "DOWNFALL," which is a German film about Hitler's last days in WWII. In the scene Hitler's generals are explaining to him that the allies are closing in and Germany is about to fall, and he won't accept it. However, someone covered up the original subtitles and inserted some new dialouge pertaining to the Cowboys.

What are the kids up to?

Megan is now 5 months old, and growing like crazy. Jenny and I were commenting the other day that it seemed like Megan gained 10 pounds overnight. At night she still has her ups and down. One week will be great, and she'll only wake up once in the night. The next week she'll have a cold or something and she'll want to get up every 2 hours. This past week she had a case of constipation. We had recently introduced her to rice cereal, and she started taking more formula. Well, for a few days she had a hard time getting the pipes cleaned out if you know what I mean. The three of us would be sitting in a restaurant and Megan would start grunting like an old man. I mean it was uncomfortably loud. I looked at her and she was turning red in the face trying to get things moving. I'm sure everyone was looking at us. Anyway, after a few days (and some swigs of baby prune juice) the plumbing started working again. Everything seems to be fine now. I'm sure her system is just trying to process the changes in her diet.

Ben is doing great. He's still enjoying all of his new toys from Christmas. He likes playing with his new LEAPFROG "LEAPSTER" game. I guess it's kind of a gameboy kind of thing, only the games are all educational. He loves playing it. The problem has been when he's playing it and not listening to us. Whether it's time for a meal, or a bath, or bedtime...sometimes he'll be playing it and won't listen to us. So there have been times when we've had to take it away for a day or two just to send a message. I can only imagine what he would do with an XBOX. But he's doing great overall. In school he's starting to sound out words and read 3 letter words. We'll sit in the kitchen at lunch and make out words with his alphabet pretzels. He'll always try to guess first and then I tell him to sound it out. After that he usually reads the word correctly.

Still a little puzzled

Ben loves puzzles. We got him a lot of new puzzles for Christmas, and he seems to like them all. I help him a little with each one, mainly just getting started. But then I can usually sit back and just watch him put each one together. He's really getting good at them.

Candyland

Okay...here's the deal with Candyland. Ben LOVES playing Candyland. Jenny on the other hand absolutely can't stand the game. Ben loves the candy pictures, the gingerbread men, and all the colors. Jenny can't stand how the game takes forever, and how you reach almost the very end only to find out you have to go back to the beginning.
I am somewhere in the middle I guess. I don't mind playing it with Ben, but I do think the game takes too long for a 4 year old's short attention span.

Anyway, to say that Candyland is a source of contention in our home would be the understatement of the year.

Spending the holidays in Texas

We spent last week down in Texas, spending the holidays with Jenny's family in Austin. We had a Christmas at Mat & Beth's house, and then spent a few days at Jenny's dad's new place in Jonestown, just outside of Austin. We had a great time, and Ben had a lot of fun playing with all of his cousins. Megan did especially well with all the shuffling around, and traveling we did. We weren't sure how she would do on the plane rides, but she did fantastic. She slept most of the way on every flight. Everything worked out great. Anyway, here's some scenes from our trip to Texas.




















We fed Megan some rice cereal for the first time. She seemed interested in it, though not very excited about it.






Here's Ben driving Grandad's boat...







Here's the boys enjoying some smores by the "CAMPFIRE!" (Notice the Texan accents)

Here are boys celebrating the New Year by the campfire.