Choo Choo to the Zoo Zoo

Kind of the best date yet. I surprised Farah with an early pick up that lead to a train ride to Santa Barbara. I threw her off the scent so she wouldn't suspect the train. It was great.


On the train we did a little bit of writing... Yes. It was awesome, so Harry-esk.




Once there in the SB we walked to the Zoo where we saw lots of cute little characters.









We spent sometime at the Zoo reflecting on the Beauty of God,




followed by a ride on the Waterfront Shuttle. I love that song.




After a ride, then a walk down State we jumped in Rusty's Pizza where Faufen had her first pizza in 9 months! No cheese obviously but still. Amazing times. Then it was to the train, Guad style, and back home. An amazing adventure I do say.


Ahhh Nintendo... Wonderful...



Yes. A wonderful date, says I.

Found my Camera

Well my camera was lost at my parents house, and today I happened upon it. So here is my pictorial update.

My Mission? To bring the girlfriend to her lover. Here are the steps.

The Driver.


The Car.


The Flowers.


The Girlfriend.




The Loverbirds Unite.



Aww. and now they're engaged. Mission Accomplished.

Ode to Joy

I had to get worse to get better.





What a wonderful weekend. It was my Reality. There it is.

Ode to Oscar

This blog is to be prefaced with the idea that I don't consider Documentaries and Shorts to be in the category of "must see before the Oscars" (mainly because they are hard to find in this dumpy little town).

So here are the list of movies I still want to see before the 25th.
Venus
Little Children
Curse of the Golden Flower
United 93
Letters...
Poseidon
Borat

If I see those movies I will have seen 95% of all of the Oscar Nods--in every category! I know 7 movies is a lot. But here's the list of movies I have seen. It's a little bigger, but for both lists I just looked at the Oscar ballot. So there it is.

Blood Diamond
Half Nelson
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Last King of Scotland
LIttle Miss Sunshine
Dreamgirls
The Departed
Volver
Notes on a Scandal
The Queen
The Devil Wears Prada
Babel
Cars
The Good Shepherd
Pan's Labyrinth
Pirates: Dead Man's Chest
The Prestige
Children of Men
Marie Antoinette
An Inconvenient Truth
Superman Returns

Notes on a Scandal

Notes on a Scandal Review:



Ok, this movie dealt with some heavy, and dirty, stuff. It was hard to be so challenged when watching the movie because of its gritty stuff it dealt with. The Dame (The Muffin Lady) was really, really freaky and amazing in this film. She captured this evil, depraved, love-starved woman who was obsessive and fragile very well. Almost too well. A little freaky I'd say.

I love Cate Blanchett, but this wasn't her best role. She was good and believable but I have seen her do better work. Quite possibly the three best attributes of the film are as follows:

1. The intense, lovely musical score. This movie was framed in gorgeous, menacing music which complimented the mood and drive in the film. Kudos to the composers.

2. The script was well crafted. The details on "the Scandal" and the flow of the words was, in my opinion, near impeccable.

3. The contrast of the two lead actresses and their disorders. I like the subtle way the director contrasted the two characters but inevitably showed both of their sicknesses. Love it.

Overall, I'd give this movie a Rice Cake with Peanut Butter, due to the grittiness of the film, I'll hold the Diet Coke but enjoy a Granola Bar with the meal.

Ode to July

Wedding night oh, ooo.
Potter on the twenty first.
July, I love you.

Reso's

So how are you doing? Well over this next week I'd like to encourage all blog readers to analyze their personal resolutions. This is the week of redemption so get on it and start up on your resolutions. So here is an update on all of mine:

Personal:
1. Loving. Well I think it is going ok, but I really want to express it more. Gosh, I fall short on this one big time.

Recreational:
2. Movies. Everyone can attest to my blogging about movies. I love it, you hate it, we are like yin and yang.

Spiritual:
3. Reading. Yeah, I am doing ok. I am a bit behind but I'll catch up. Once this week is over... Oh no those dreadful words.

Relational:
4. Attributes. I have found many of the qualities, still hunting for some, and have yet to document.

Professional:
5. Technology. I went old skool this month and did a little book hunting, but I also found a sweet musical web page this week too.

So just work at em ya'll. We can work toward those goals.

Sorry to bore you all, but I feel void of all creativity on this New Month's Eve. Alas, I yearn for Parker and a friend who promised me a S.O.

The Last King of Scotland

The Last King of Scotland Review:



So this movie is really great. Hard to take at times, a little scandalous, tragic, but completely worth it. Forest Whitaker was phenomenal as the charismatic Ugandan leader and guess what Mr. Tumnus was in the movie! Yup, James McAvoy was in it.

I personally thought he was awesome. I liked his realistic portrayal of "youthful, partially selfish heroism" that encompasses the mentality of youth. He was believable and honestly I don't know why he didn't get an Oscar nod, nor any nod from any award. I suppose Forest's strength, career, and sweaty brow overshadowed his youth.

Some of the scandalous stuff in the film could have been left out, not the blood and violence, but the sexual stuff and the nudity. I kind of get why they did what they did with all that though... The idea was to show Nicholas as an exposed youth who was brought into Amin's world and enticed by charm and glam, but compromised by absolute power.

I loved the story, loved the character, and had my stomach nearly jump out of me at at least three parts of the film.

Spaghetti Dinner hold the sauce but double me up on the Diet Coke.

Volver

Ok. I have to warn Farah not to read this blog because she could become angry with me and perhaps frustrated with my life.

Volver Review:


So pretty much this movie was good mainly because of the hotness who is Penelope Cruz. Jeepers, I've always known her to be beautiful, but this movie was pretty much ridiculous. So I liked Penelope, ok that said let's talk about the movie for a moment.

This movie was well constructed. It was a dramedy (for those of you who don't know that means it was both drama and comedy), which held my interest. I liked the relationships portrayed in the film. There was something dynamic about the the relationships, because while it was easy to follow where you THOUGHT they were, it was constantly changing. It's hard to talk about without giving away the plot.

The two driving forces behind this movie were (oh gosh, I'm trying hard not to make a joke here) the storyline and the reactions given by Penelope--yes a real actress not just a hot girl.

Anyway, overall I give this movie a Spaghetti Dinner with a glass of water because of its ability to change emotional perspectives with in seconds. Pretty rockin.

Because of Wynn Dixie Chicks

Long time gone indeed. Well I have had a long while since I REALLY updated my blog so I decided I will do it in picture format. I found my cord tonight, it was hibernating at my parent's house. Honestly a lot has happened in the past month, so allow me to give you a synopsis. Starting with the blessed days of Christmas.





Oh and we met The Cass at Chuck E. Cheeses. Gotta love a chair that moves around in a circle.




Followed by the fake holiday of New Year's Eve where we had a blast. Pretty much.









So then there was the grand chaw-he event of Disneyland with my beloved Parker.











Did I mention I saw the guy from Survivor? He he... There he is!



Followed by the blessed date of Butterflies and Loveliness with my darling Farah.













Concluding my last days in Mrs. Hough's class... Boo hoo... and ending with a tour of The Barn in Nipomo. Wha la... The Wedding Site:







Honestly. My life is great. But yes, it is busy. So to bed I go.

Oy-Vey.

Oy! This schedule is making me tired.

Yes, I'm tired. There, I said it.

Shaw, blog, out.

Nods are In!

Hold on tight! Here they come! The noms for OSCAR! OK... The main things we will be dressing up as are kind of boring, but multi-cultural at least. Here they are, the nods for best picture:

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/Central Films Production
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers

“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)
A Warner Bros. Pictures Production
Nominees to be determined

“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)
A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures Production
Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers

“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
A Big Beach/Bona Fide Production
Nominees to be determined

“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
A Granada Production
Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers


Ok the Departed rocked. So I see Andrew and Parker decked out in that garb. Little Miss Sunshine has Jenn written all over it. I guess I could go as a middle eastern person from Babel. We'll see... I could always wear a kilt and go as the Prince... ohhh... I think I just found my costume. Ok... See you on February 25th at the party.

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth Review:


Truly an adult fairy tale. Not in the dirty way you sickos. It was pretty much a freaky, bloody movie that I simply loved. I was endeared to the characters and brought into a magical Narnia-esk world (without all the beauty and snow). It was purely magical and escapist while still being grounded in reality and believable. The two storylines mirrored each other and gave us movie junkies something to chew on. (An image of a blood fairy comes to mind though---yuck!)

However, despite my cringing and grabbing on to Andrew during the chase scene, I really appreciated all of the imagery and symbolism in the movie. And I must say the gore factor added a lot to the interest of the movie. The audience I saw it with was a great audience--the director held us in the palm of his hands the whole film. The three best/worst parts of the movie were as follows:

1. The 350's of skin guy with his eyeballs as featured below.
2. The sweet little girl and her sweet little heart for her loved ones.
3. The tender tone set against the dark reality.

Overall I really, really enjoyed this movie. It had depth, excitement, heart and magical moments. Gotta love that.

Spaghetti Dinner but hold the sauce--too much red reminds me of all the blood.

The Queen

The Queen Review:

Finally, another movie I have been waiting for over a month to see. So, again, my review may be slanted toward the "eager" and "thrilled" side. And praise God for seeing it with Andrew. My apologies to Parker.

I really enjoyed this movie. I appreciated the writer and director's ability to catch an extreme week in the life of an important person, which then unfolds one's past, present, and future. Beautiful. I would love to see this type of bio-pic, with the same writers, for other notables in history Hitler, Cleopatra, GWB, Nixon, Stalin, so many others.

The casting was superb. I loved Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. She was a very balanced character and held herself extremely well. I think her role was difficult. Imagine playing a freakin' strong, probably the strongest, monarch from the twentieth and twenty first century. Kudos and prayers for an Oscar Nod to her. I definitely will be doing some research on the Royal Family, seeing as I am a Brit and all. The imagery was pretty sweet in the movie. The setting established a lot of the hidden feelings for the lead character during the movie, so rock on with that.

Overall the movie was very balanced which probably appeased the politicians in England. It didn't show the monarchy in a bad light, nor did it paint a peachy keen picture of the family. It also didn't err on the side of the Blair's camp either. It really gave as much of an objective look as it could.

Acting: Spaghetti Dinner with a Diet Coke
My Personal Bias: Spaghetti Dinner with a Diet Coke
Overall: Rice Cakes and Peanut Butter with 2 Diet Cokes

Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls Review:

Now this blog needs to be premised with three ideas:
I love musicals.
I love Beyonce.
And I love J. Hud.
So take that first and wash it down with this:

Gosh, a month after the release into LA, the Central Coast finally gets this movie. Oh well, it's CC Opening Night so I saw it.

Ok, I really, really liked Dreamgirls. I thought it was a well balanced ensemble of characters and it didn't over (nor under) reach. Some movies try to be things they aren't and reach too far, and others don't even show signs of adding any depth to the characters but Dreamgirls found the happy medium. (sigh)

First off a stellar, believable performance by J. Hud made the movie grounded and exciting. She gave it the perfect balance of "hey this is a movie" but "hey this is real." Secondly the music was great: soulful and kept the plot going. Also the story had these Gumpish Moments--it followed some significant events in American history, in this case Black History, to chronicle one person(s) life/lives. I like that it was set against a real world and believe it or not many times the musical part of the story was believable. While I love old musicals I always wonder "Why are they singing?" But Dreamgirls made sense, it is all about the music industry and music so it was logical to have people burst into song.

Beyonce is validated as an actress in this one. She did a great job in her Diane Ross-esk portrayal of the pushed into the spotlight gal. I hate to stick on one idea with her--but man she is strikingly beautiful. Like, beautiful. Gotta love her. For all of those people who say she and J. Hud were rivals--eh I don't see it. I thought Beyonce held her own. She did the whole "I'm 16 and simple" and then emerged to "I'm queen supreme" seamlessly.

As for the men---they were slimy, which I thought was good because I don't like any of them in the Hollywood World anyway.

Overall, the story was strong enough, the costumes, choreography and visuals were all great but best of all the characters and performances were stellar. Nods to Ms. Hudon and Ms. Knowles for a job well done. Yeah, I see some Oscar worthy stuff there.


Spaghetti Dinner with long sips of Diet Coke

Children of Men

Children of Men Review:

"No Children. No Future. No Hope." Ok I just really like the tag-line for the film.

Alfonso Cuaron, the director of Y tu Mama Tambien and Harry Potter 3, put out another interesting hand-cam-filled film. If you can read between the lines this statement means it was slightly thought provoking and a visually bumpy movie. The cast was great. I love Clive Owen's work and I've followed Jullianne Moore for sometime as well. Michael Caine was good and at last cast in a different light... the girl who played Kee, Claire-Hope Ashitey, was very believeable and I enjoyed her as the lead actress. Also, I hate to say too much about the actors, I must say Pam Ferris was good in her role. She was silly but believable.

The movie was OK, but the concept and individual scenes/characters were better--they were great. The story takes place in 2020 something and offers the sci-fi possibility that the whole world becomes sterile, aka the world is coping with the turmoil of no children being born in over 18 years. No one knows why. The story follows Clive Owen's character, Theo, on his personal journey as he goes back to his somewhat-righteous rebel roots, while dealing with his personal pain (I like how subtle this theme continued on after it was so obvious at the start). The grand story-line is about a girl who miraculously becomes pregnant and the implication of the pregnancy on a world that is almost completely destroyed. Will she carry the baby to full term? Who will know about it? When she gives birth will the baby live? Will there be political battles over the baby? What ensues in this is extremely moving. (But remember I'm a sap)

SPOILER ALERT! I was overwhelmed during the birthing scene. The build up, the raw, grittiness of the who scene... Well the movie for that matter. But this one scene was SO hopeful and brilliantly done. It was a little graphic, but totally necessary. I also liked the depth of the character created for Clive Owen, it wasn't totally in your face (again, except at the start).

Overall I liked the film. SO why was it just OK? The end was a little--eh, predictable or perhaps not fulfilling in many ways. It also seemed like it could have moved along quicker at points, probably could have been about 20 minutes shorter if more was taken out of the start. But hey, I would consider seeing it again...

Peanut Butter on Rice Cakes

The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd Review:

Drat. The more I watch Matt Damon, the more I like him. He gave a great performance. And yes, I admit it, he's a great actor. Ok. Now that my confessions are out there for the world to see let's talk about the movie.

For those of you who don't know this movie is a CIA NON-ACTION movie which details the life of one CIA agent, Edward Wilson. I say it is a non-action movie because if you expect the movie to be a 24 styled action spy/terrorist movie you will be very frustrated with the 160 minute movie that moves "slowly." Ok... I liked it all together but I was very prepared for it to be slow. Weird scenes like nude mud wrestling and peeing on people made the movie R rated I suppose, but it was good for the plot just to show the conspiracy theory on how this country is run. Andrew would agree with me.

The editor and writer(s) needs a pat on the back for this movie because they really made the story interesting with the cuts and direction of the movie. It jumped between time periods and made the movie difficult to follow--but I mean that in a good way. In other words it was interesting because it wasn't linear.

One thing that moved it along for me was the use of stars and cameos. There were some good cameo's in this movie. I liked Angelina Jolie in this movie. Mainly Jolie and Damon made the movie move along for me. One person who I actually liked in this movie was---get this Kiniry family--Michael Gambon (Dumbledore). He was good!?! What is that about. I liked him in his role. So maybe we could write him a letter and tell him to continue making these films and leave Dumbledore for Sir Ian McKellen.

After rotating my butt (it hurt) about twelve times (seriously) because of the length of the film I think it was obvious what was going to happen and who the "rat" was going to be. So, there wasn't that big AH HA moment I was hoping for. But nevertheless I liked it and give it

A Peanut Butter on Rice Cakes with a Diet Coke

Blood Diamond

Blood Diamond Review:

For those of you who have been living in a hole (aka America) for most of your life, this movie documents the struggle in Africa regarding "Blood Diamonds." The idea: During the civil war in Sierra Leone hundreds upon hundreds are killed and/or captured into slavery. The slaves, the selected ones who aren't gunned down or brutally murdered, search for diamonds which are then illegally exported. Why are they exported? So J.Lo and girls all around the Western World can wear beautiful rocks on their fingers and live the dream. But the price of the dream is blood shed all across Africa. Hence the title: Blood Diamond.

The story was great. I really like the concept the director/writers were portraying. The director used some great imagery in the film and the cinematography was lush. But above the Hollywood hoopla it is so important to be aware of what is/has happened around the world. Hollywood has a duty to portray these issues so I was really pleased that this movie was made. It is a very "come on world let's get some social awareness" movie. Overall I really liked it. Shocking scenes of violence and brainwashing were gritty and real. I could totally use this movie to teach people about child development. And oh the things they show! YUCK! It really reenforced how much I hate rap music and rap stars who glorify killing, violence, hate, and bling. Not all of them do. But I can pin point a few who feed into the troubles that plague Africa.

This movie was held together by a great concept, wonderful music and Leo. Gotta love Leo. But with this said I have to say the movie was a little difficult to adjust to. Ok... You may be wondering why? Why Michael? Why was it so hard to adjust to? Well my friends let me tell you:

Number One- I have to say the language and accents were a bit off. The actors all did a wonderful job, but it was somewhat hard to tell what they were going for. Leo with that accent reminded me a lot of Nicky Kidman in The Interpreter. Good, just it seemed a little forced at times.

Number Two- My other criticism of the movie is the forced emotion between a few characters. All of the characters had a good level of depth as individuals, yet this wasn't always true when looking at their relationships with each other. The father to son relationship fell into the murky waters of "Yeah, I agree I'd feel that way too. But are these actors making me feel it?"

In conclusion I was delighted with the topic, Leo gave a stellar performance (as usual--I hope he finally gets his Oscar), but there were some "rough around the edges" moments that made it drop a few notches in my grade book.

Peanut Butter on Rice Cakes with a Diet Coke
mmm but I can smell the Spaghetti Dinner cooking...

FInal List.

Here we go... Another year and another chance for me to make good on my promises. Hey, I did pretty good last year, so let's hope I keep it up in '07. So here are my "resolutions"... goals... objectives... short or long term goals... Whatever...

Personal:
1. To pretty much love on Farah and to learn about giving sacrificially to her. This is a "long term goal" something that probably can not be observed in one instance.

Recreational:
2. To document all of the movies I watch on the big screen and evaluate them. This will/would drive Jim Allen crazy because he thinks I think too high of my opinion. Well deal with it Jim. This is a cross between a "long term goal" and a "short term goal."

Spiritual:
3. To actually complete my Bible study in full. I get to the 3/4 point of all of them then change. This year I'll stick with all of them. This is a "resolution" and is very much like a "long term goal"

Relational:
4. To find, and possibly document the qualities I admire in those who I live life with. This is an "objective" or a "short term goal" that will steadily morph into a "long term goal" because I'll never stop meeting people. Unless I am deserted on an island one day.

Professional:
5. To explore the different types of media that I can include in my classroom and begin to use them to build curriculum. This is a "long term goal" because I will never stop looking.

So I am going to get to work on these goals here starting in about an hour as I'll document my two movies I have seen this year.

Shaw, out.

Ahhh

Yes, yesterday Parker and I went to Disneyland. It was a wonderful day and I must say I am tired but not exhausted. It's nice going with a fellow season pass holder. Less stress---that's for sure. Anyway I will upload the pictures of that reality later, but I can't find my cord to do the transfer. So alas, I will wait. But to whet your appetite here is a preview of me kicking butt on Buzz Lightyear (one of my top 5 favorite rides):