Cloverfield = Take your Dramamine

I meant to post this over the weekend ...

I usually don't go see scary movies because they give me nightmares. I think I'm still scarred by my parents' highly questionable decision to take me with them to see Jaws as a child. It came out when I was 2, so I'm not sure how old I actually was when I saw it. I just have vague memories of hearing that eerie music the duh dum .... duh dum... you know the one you hum when you're in the swimming pool making a shark fin out of your elbow. Anyway, I quickly learned that the music meant carnage and remember burying my face in my Dad's chest to avoid seeing anything bad. I actually was afraid to put my feet all the way down to the bottom of the bed for quite a while because I was worried a shark might eat my foot. Yes, it's completely irrational but THAT'S how a child's mind works. Did I mention that after seeing The Amityville Horror I was convinced that my brother was going to shoot us all in the middle of the night?? Of course I can't blame my parents for that one, it was on the TV at my Aunt Kaye's house and I was supposed to be in bed but I could see it from my room.

I digress, but let's just say there's a reason I have a loooonng history of not seeing scary movies.

That said, BJ has been jonesing to see Cloverfield for months -ever since the first teaser trailers came out. I was intrigued but nervous because even Blair Witch had serious ramifications for me. And when my then boyfriend jumped out at me from under the stairs in our unfinished basement, I nearly moved out right then and there.

Though I'm usually incredibly opposed to spoilers and knowing the end of a movie (JCR you know you're guilty!), in this case I went ahead and read a review to find out more about it. I determined that it was more of a disaster type of film which is one of my favorite genres!!!! ... and don't even pretend that you didn't shed a tear in Armageddon when Bruce Willis said goodbye to Liv Tyler just before he blew up the asteroid and saved Earth ... TRUE DRAMA!!

so yes, Cloverfield was awesome! Great disaster action but with a very unusual perspective. My only problem was that I've become much more sensitive to motion sickness in the past few years and a movie shot with hand held cameras - on a big screen?? Yeah, I kept having to look away because I thought I was going to puke. So be forewarned, it's filmed from the perspective of panicked people shooting a video camera in the streets of New York so it's jerky and twisty. Just take your Dramamine, eat your Junior Mints and enjoy!

"Say you're happy now, once more with feeling"

"Life's a show, and we all play a part,
And when the music starts, we open up our hearts.
It's all right if some things come out wrong.
We'll sing a happy song, and you can sing along." - Buffy

Yes, last night BJ and I got our geek on at the Buffy Singalong!! For those unfamiliar (which in my opinion is a HORRIBLE tragedy) "Buffy" refers to Buffy the Vampire Slayer which is an intelligent, cult classic show based on a mediocre movie (ok "bloody awful" movie per BJ). I actually got into Buffy rather late, tuning in during the latter part of the 6th season, and was immediately hooked! JCR also developed an obsession and as I recall we were both devastated that I had to leave for nursing school just prior to the series finale. I'm sure those who haven't seen the series will never believe me, but it's witty, well written and empowering in its use of a good-looking, petite blonde girl as a demon killer. Don't believe me? Check out season 1 on Netflix or I'll lend it to you :)

Buffy has now been gone since 2003, but the fans clearly live on. The singalong is the brainchild of a Denver native now living in NYC and a cast of characters who saw the potential of taking the musical episode "Once More With Feeling" from Season 6 and turning it into a Rocky Horror style event. I remember the first time I saw the episode, the network made a really big event of the first time they replayed it (I wasn't a watcher at the time it originally aired) and JCR and I got together at my apartment in Denver and watched it for the first time. It was magical!! As for the singalong, I actually had never heard about it, but happened to be driving past The Esquire which is one of the local independent theaters and saw "Buffy Musical" on the marquee. When I got home, I checked out their website and read about it and was SO HAPPY to see that it was playing at midnight on my last weekend in Denver, while BJ was here!!! The only tragedy was that JCR was out of town and she couldn't join us. [Oh, you would have LOVED it!!!]

Basically if you've ever gone to Rocky Horror, you know the drill. Movie playing on the screen, cast of characters in costume acting out the movie in front of the screen, various props for the crowd, and the occasional devoted fan dressed in costume. We arrived about an hour early and had a good place in line. It was interesting seeing the range of Buffy fans, from the 20 somethings, to the grey haired, to the tragically hip (of which we were a part) and then of course the grossly obese folks who clearly need to watch less TV and exercise more. The event was a lot of fun, we sang along without abandon, blew our bubbles at the appropriate time, did the wave, shouted things like "Shut up Dawn," and at the end put a little monster puppet on our fingers as we all sang Grrrr Aargh."

And even though there is a dramatic kiss at the end, let me go on the record as saying I ALWAYS thought Angel was the better vampire.

Musings on Parenting

One of my good friends (who interestingly enough has two kids with a third on the way) sent me this article from Newsweek because it spoke to her. She has a lot of "uber-mommies" in her mommies group [sidenote: please don't ever make me join one of those] and I know that they sometimes make her feel like a freak because she's not like them. She works full time, is finishing her PhD and is very proud of where her career is going. I'd like to think that when the time comes for me to be a parent, I'll be the same way.

On a slightly related note, I am still shocked at how people are completely oblivious to what is and ISN'T appropriate to do with children these days. For example, BJ (a.k.a. fiancee) and I paid $13 each to see the new Harry Potter film in IMAX 3D (which was QUITE cool by the way). After sitting down in the sold out theater, I noticed a fat woman with an infant who appeared about 4 months old - in a movie that was going to be over 2 and half hours long?!?!?!? Are you kidding me??? There was a lot of murmuring around us as apparently all of the other movie goers were also noticing the impending disruption to their cinematic experience. Of course the baby ended up fussing, and cooing and making baby noises that might be adorable were I not trying to enjoy my movie and popcorn. I suppose I should give her credit for taking the baby out of the theater when after feeding him/her it still continued to cry. Of course somewhere behind us there was apparently another infant that we could hear occasionally wailing in the back. Please shoot me if I EVER think that's it's appropriate for my kid to ruin everyone else's movie!!!