Mamma Mia Fun!

I don't see chick flicks very often. I live with five boys, for one thing. And I find not all, but many chick flicks just cheesy, stupid, and/or degrading. However, my aunt called yesterday and asked if I would like to see a movie with her and my disabled cousin for my cousin's 23rd birthday. They were going to see Mamma Mia. Now this was not a movie I would have been inclined to watch of my own volition. The plot didn't really appeal to me, nor was I drawn by the Abba songs, (although they can be pretty catchy). But since I was invited, and since it appeared to be a fairly safe, if very chicky flick, I agreed.

It was fun! I found myself wanting to sing and dance and let my hair down a bit. Jeff can vouch that this is NOT my normal state. I don't dance and I am not a let-my-hair-down type of person. My inner child is buried pretty deep. But there are times when I think being too stiff is a weakness of mine, times when I wish I was a little less serious, a little more fun-loving, a little more yellow and a little less blue (if you're familiar with the pop psychology color code stuff). I know life can't always be a song and dance, but this movie made me want to try to enjoy life a little more. As I watched the characters--particularly Donna, played by Meryl Streep--kicking up their heels and having fun, I got a rare taste/reminder of a kind of joy that I need more of in my life. Pierce Brosnan should probably never try to sing or dance in public again--his inner child must be buried deep too--but I loved Meryl Streep's performance. Be warned that there was some suggestive sexual innuendo-type stuff and less-than-moral messages in this movie--not stuff I appreciate or take lightly. But I was grateful for the messages that spoke to me and my inner child, the one who really does like to sing and dance and have some fun!

New Soul

I woke right up when the first alarm went off, way too early this morning--a rare thing for me. But with no immediate reason to get out of my warm covers, I lay there listening to the radio and heard this pretty, catchy, fun song. Some of the lyrics stuck with me, so I went looking for it on the Internet. I found it--"New Soul," by Yael Naim, a French-Israeli singer/songwriter. I really like it, and I like her voice. Although their sounds are quite different, she reminds me a little of Enya, without the Celtic influence. I'm gonna have to check out the rest of her album, especially the songs sung in Hebrew. And if I ever do a playlist, I'll definitely include this song. Give it a listen! Here's another YouTube link that includes the lyrics.

Review: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

I'm pretty picky about the movies that I'm willing to pay full price to see in the theater. Jeff and I see very few, and we take our kids to even fewer. But we are VeggieTales fans at our house, and wanting to support the people who make such fun clean family movies, we decided to take all the kids to see "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" movie for Family Home Evening tonight. It was fun and it was clean and it was VeggieTales, but it just wasn't up to their high standards of quality and cleverness. The kids enjoyed it, but the adults were a little disappointed. The killer Cheese Curls were funny, and the Rock Monster song at the end may have saved it for Jeff, but they needed more of it--more pop culture references, more Silly Song-type stuff to go along with the cute story and characters and the positive message. Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, and Kurt Heineke have done better. The early VeggieTales episodes (pre-2003 Big Idea buyout) are still the best. Bottom line: Buy the DVD when it comes out, but don't bother taking the kiddos to see it on the big screen.

I won the lottery!

I was one of the lucky ones who had my name drawn at random to receive tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert with the King's Singers. There were more than 1 million requests for tickets at www.lds.org, and only about 85,000 tickets available, so that makes my odds, what, about 1 in 11? And if you consider that everyone who requested tickets could get up to 8, that makes the odds more like 1 in 94. I'm not the type of person who wins things all the time, but if I could pick something to win, this would be it. We attended Friday night and it was fantastic! We got the boys' favorite babysitter for the evening, then drove to Salt Lake where we met Jeff's parents, aunt and uncle, and a couple of good friends on Temple Square. We made it to our seats in time--if you don't, you could lose them to standbys--and sat down to enjoy an hour-and-a-half of beautifully performed Christmas music.

If you like choral music, which I do, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir can't be beat. Their music never fails to uplift me. Everything they do is excellent. But then to add the the King's Singers, one of the most talented vocal groups I've ever heard, and excellent vocal musicians in their own right--well, it was incredible. My vocabulary and my reviewing skills just don't do it justice. Although it is really difficult to choose, I think my favorite numbers were the King's Singers a capella versions of "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow." "The Twelve Days of Christmas," my least favorite Christmas song, was even enjoyable, with some fun choreography by the University of Utah Dance Department. The concert was filmed for future broadcast on PBS television, so be sure to look for it next December. I'll be purchasing the DVD too when it comes out, something I don't normally feel the need to do. It was just that good. I've been feeling a little swamped by the various pressures of the holidays, and I've struggled to feel the spirit of the season. This concert broke through some of the cloud for me. And I don't think I'll be able to stand to listen to FM100 Christmas music for the rest of the year. Sappy, secular Christmas music--ugh.

Summer Blockbusters

This post might be a little premature, but I just wanted to weigh in on summer movies and see what you think. I'm not a huge movie buff, but I really like to see a good flick now and then. Too bad there are so few of them.

I was underwhelmed by Spiderman 3--I thought Peter Parker trying to be cool was rather lame. It definitely wasn't the best of the three Spiderman movies. Although I generally like superhero movies, I've been disappointed by some of the recent ones--except Batman Begins. I think it's my favorite superhero movie of all time.

I passed on Shrek the Third. I suppose I'll probably see it eventually on video, but I didn't like the first two much, so I wasn't about to pay to go see #3. I think the storylines are fun and I enjoy the plays on fairytales, but the potty humor does nothing for me. Neither does Mike Myers.

I think the next movie we'll pay to see in the theater is Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End. Jeff just got the first two on Netflix so we could review the storylines and not be lost in the new one. Yes, they are all over the top and heavy on the special effects, but they are fun. How can you not like a good pirate story? And Johnny Depp amazes me. He is so versatile and skilled as an actor. I've liked him since Benny and Joon.

Others that I'm looking forward to and will possibly pay to see in the theater are Ratatouille, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Bourne Ultimatum. Oceans Thirteen, Fantastic Four, and Evan Almighty might also be possibilities, but I think we'll save them for Netflix nights. I know my older boys will want to see Transformers, but the trailer for it looked a bit violent for their ages (6 and 8). When they want to see PG and PG-13 shows like that, I don't forbid it but tell them they have to wait until they are older. All we need around here is more fighting to imitate and more nightmares.

What's your take? I'm always open to recommendations for good movies, but I'm pretty picky--I want good and clean, AND intelligent, thoughtful, or fun. Action and suspense are okay, but if it's dumb, crude, gory, scary, or full of gratuitous sex or violence, I'll pass.

On a side note, we just recently watched Walk the Line. I didn't grow up listening to Johnny Cash songs like Jeff did, but it was an interesting if depressing story. He wasted so much time and talent while he was hooked on amphetamines. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon also amazed me with their acting skills in this show.