Movie Trailer Sunday (20)

This weeks trailers are about a single mother, two friends having a baby, summer camp, a rancher in Mexico and poet Hart Crane.

Girl in Progress
Description: Grace (Eva Mendes) is a single mom. She is too busy juggling work, bills, and the very married Dr. Hartford (Matthew Modine), to give her daughter, Ansiedad (Cierra Ramirez) the attention she desperately needs. When Ansiedad's English teacher, Ms. Armstrong (Patricia Arquette), introduces her students to classic coming-of-age stories, Ansiedad is inspired to skip adolescence and jump-start her life without mom. Ansiedad and Grace must learn that sometimes growing-up means acting your age
Director: Patricia Riggen
Starring: Eva Mendes, Matthew Modine, Patricia Arquette and Cierra Ramirez
Trailer: Trailer "Girl in Progress"
Comment: I love Eva Mendes and I'm glad to see her in a leading role again.

Friends with Kids
Description: We follow a close-knit circle of friends at that moment in life when children arrive and everything changes. The last two singles in the group observe the effect that kids have had on their friends' relationships and wonder if there's a better way. They decide to have a kid together - and date other people.
Director: Jennifer Westfeldt
Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Kristen Wiig, John Hamm, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox and Edward Burns
Trailer: Trailer "Friends with Kids"
Comment: Great cast, this looks like a lot of fun.

Moonrise Kingdom
Description: Two twelve-year-olds fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore -- and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle.
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward
Trailer: Trailer "Moonrise Kingdom"

Casa de mi Padre
Description: Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) has lived and worked on his father's ranch in Mexico his entire life. As the ranch encounters financial difficulties, Armando's younger brother Raul (Diego Luna) shows up with his new fiancée, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez). It seems that Raul's success as an international businessman means the ranch's troubles are over as he pledges to settle all debts his father has incurred. But when Armando falls for Sonia, and Raul's business dealings turn out to be less than legit, all hell breaks loose as they find themselves in a war with Mexico's most feared drug lord, the mighty Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal).
Director: Matt Piedmont
Starring: Will Ferrell, Diego Luno and Gael Garcia Bernal
Trailer: Trailer "Casa de mi Padre"

The Broken Tower
Description: A look at the dreams, unapologetic love of men , manic highs and depressive, death-haunted lows of early 20th century rebellious, self-destructive visionary poet Hart Crane (James Franco) from his early years as the son of a wealthy Cleveland businessman through his sojourns in New York, Cuba and Paris.
Director: James Franco
Starring: James Franco, Michael Shannon and Stacey Miller
Trailer: Trailer "The Broken Tower"
Comment: James stars in the movie, but also directed and wrote it. And they say men can't multitask....

In My Mailbox (30)

I decided to do only one "In My Mailbox" every week, because I'm getting more cards every week. This week my mailbox was happy eight times.

The first card came from New York City, US. I shows the Lincoln Center Metropolitan Opera.

Sent on: january 4th 2012
Received on: january 11th 2012
Distance: 5,873 km (3,649 miles)
Travel time: 7 days

I also got a card from Nanping, China. Beautiful view and a lot of Chinese letters that I don;t understand. The sender did write something in Chinese on the back and translated it.

Sent on: january 2nd 2012
Received on: january 12th 2012
Distance: 9,141 km (5,680 miles)
Travel time: 10 days

Than I received a card from Coimbra, Portugal. It shows Fernando Pessoa, who is a famous writer from Portugal.

Sent on: january 6th 2012
Received on: january 12th 2012
Distance: 1,653 km (1,027 miles)
Travel time: 6 days

From Minsk, Belarus I got this card with the Officer House on it.

Sent on: january 2nd 2012
Received on: january 12th 2012
Distance: 1,486 km (923 miles)
Travel time: 10 days

I received my first card from Finland. Oulo to be exact. Sad thing.... the sender forgot to put the postcard ID on it so I can't register it. I found the sender though, at least I think it's the right person. I send her a message, but haven't heard from her yet.

Sent on: january 1st 2012
Received on: january 12th 2012
Distance: unknown
Travel time: 11 days

This cute card came from Romans Sur Isère, France. My first card from this country. I really love this card.

Sent on: january 7th 2012
Received on: january 13th 2012
Distance: 686 km (426 miles)
Travel time: 6 days

Today I got two cards. The first came from Ukraine. I don't know what building this is, but I think it's some kind of cathedral.

Sent on: january 2nd 2012
Received on: january 14th 2012
Distance: 1,722 km (1,070 miles)
Travel time: 12 days

The second card from today came from Szczecin, Poland. I love the contrast between the bright colors of the umbrella and the grey surroundings.

Sent on: january 2nd 2012
Received on: january 14th 2012
Distance: 632 km (393 miles)
Travel time: 12 days

Top 5 Thursday: Movie Props I wished I owned

You know those objects that, when you see them, you know exactly which movie it's from. Movie props that you regocnize in an instant. There are props that you just wished you had and in this list I share the ones that I wished I owned.

5. Hamburger phone from “Juno”
I don’t think it is very practical, but it looks so fun. A phone in the shape of a hamburger, come on!

4. Mask from “V for Vendetta”
V is a hero, although people think he’s a terrorist. He does blow up buildings and kills people, but still. He does it for a reason and he only kills people who really deserve it. I just want that mask.

3. The Delorean from the “Back to the Future” series
How cool would it be if we could travel through time? And how awesome it would be if it happened in a Delorean (including Marty McFly). The coolest car in movie history and I’m not even a car lover (or expert for that matter).

2. The piano from “Big”
The scene where Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia play chopsticks on the giant piano. I love that scene. And I really wished I could have the piano. I don’t think I have the room though…

1. Keira Knightley’s dress from “Atonement”
I never wear dressed, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love the look of them. This is without a doubt the most beautiful movie dress ever and I would be proud if I owned it.

They almost made the top 5: The gnome from “Amelie”, the hat from “Indiana Jones” series, the hoverboard “Back to the Future” series, Lightsaber from “Star Wars” series, Wilson the volleyball from “Cast Away”, Sports book from “Back to the Future 2” and the sorting hat from the “Harry Potter” series.

50 Books Challenge 2012 - # 2: The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans

Title: The Horse Whisperer
Author: Nicholas Evans
Story: A forty-ton truck hurtles out of control on a snowy country road, a teenage girl on horseback in its path. In a few terrible seconds the life of a family is shattered. And a mother's quest begins -- to save her maimed daughter and a horse driven mad by pain. It is an odyssey that will bring her to Tom Booker, known as the horse whisperer
Start: january 6th 2012
End: januari 11th 2012
Comment: I bought this book on sale and I've had it on my shelve for quite some time now. The reason I didn't read it before is because I didn't really expect much from it and by the look of its size I thought it would be a drag and it wouldn't keep my interest. It surprised me though. When I started reading it was really hard to put it down. I truly enjoyed every minute of the story. I was moved by the strained mother/ daughter relationship between Annie and Grace and I especially loved how Grace dealt with her struggles. The accident, losing her legg, her traumatized horse Pilgrim and eventually trying to ride a horse again. Tom was my favorite character. He was a very strong man, but also gentle and very lonely. It was natural that Annie and Tom reached out to each other. It was obvious that Annie didn't have a happy marriage with her husband Robert. He was a good man, to her and also as a father for Grace. With Tom she found all the things she missed with Robert. The ending prevented me from giving the book a full 5 star rating. I just didn't believe what happened to Tom in this book. It didn't really fit his character, it didn't work for me as a reader and it's hard to believe that Tom would do what he did at the end of the story.
Rating: 4/ 5

Pic Spam: James McAvoy

For me he's that other hot James who can act (with Franco being the first). James McAvoy made some great films and I really love watching him. His best movies are "Atonement" and "The Last King of Scotland". Here are his best pictures.

In the Picture: The Characters from "Easy A"

I recently saw this movie and it's full of interesting characters. Here are the characters from "Easy A".

Olive Pendergast
Played by: Emma Stone
Olive is a clean-cut high school student. She's very smart, anonymous and (so she says) a nothing. After avoiding a camping weekend with her best friend Rhiannon and her parents by saying she has a fictive date, a rumor was born. Rhiannon thinks Olive had sex with this 'guy' so Olive lies about it. The rumors spreads so fast, everyone in the entire school knows about it. Because they are reading "The Scarlet Letter" in school Olive decides to wear a red A on her clothes and she wants everyone to know she doesn't care about the rumors. Olive is starting to like all the attention she gets and she helps guys in her school to 'lose their virginity'. Not for real, but they can mention Olive's name. Olive soon realizes that if you have the reputation of a skank, people will treat you like that too.

Marianne Bryant
Played by: Amanda Bynes
Marianne is the one who spreads the rumor about Olive. She leads this we-all-love-God-and-Jesus group and thinks Olive is repulsive for for what she's doing. Marianne want's to 'save' Olive and wants her gone.

"Woodchuck" Todd
Played by: Penn Badgley
When Todd and Olive where in 6th grade, they prentented to have kissed. Ever since Olive had a crush on Todd. Todd is a very kind guy and the school's mascotte. He is one of the only people who doesn't believe the rumors that are spread about Olive and admits to her he likes her.

Rhiannon
Played by: Aly Michalka
Unlike Olive, her best friend Rhiannon is populair and she did have sex. She is a real skank, but people aren't really paying attention to that. Rhiannon is pissed when Olive becomes more populair than her after the rumors. Especially when Olive goes on a date with Anson, Rhiannon's crush. Olive feels guilty about it, but after hearing that she was Todd's first kiss she doesn't feel that guilty anymore.

Mr. Griffith
Played by: Thomas Haden Church
Mr. Griffith is Olive's favorite teacher. He also doesn't believe all the rumors about Olive. He talks to Olive on a different level than the other students, because she actually reads to books for his class and understands them.

Mrs. Griffith
Played by: Lisa Kudrow
She's married to Mr. Griffith and the guidance counselor at school. Mrs. Griffith does believe the rumors and actually takes advantage of them after one of her students got chlamydia from her. Mrs. Griffith started an affair with one of the students, because she isn't happy in her marriage.

Dil Pendergast
Played by: Stanley Tucci
Dil is Olive's dad. He's a very open minded and 'cool' dad. He has a great sense of humor and truly gets Olive.

Rosemary Pendergast
Played by: Patricia Clarkson
Rosemary is Olive's mom. She's the perfect woman for Dil, because she's just as open minded. Rosemary is open about sex and talks about it with Olive. She even shares with her that she used to be a skank in high school and she slept with a bunch of people (mostly men).

Favorite Character: Olive Pendergast

Movie Trailer Sunday (19)

New trailers! This week trailers are about a woman returning from her duty as an American soldier, a Vietnam veteran, an insurance agent wanting to get out of Wisconsin, a haunted lake house and a lovestory in an upside down world.

Return
Description: A soldier (Linda Cardellini) returns to her family, friends, and old job after a tour of duty, though she finds herself struggling to find her place in her everyday life.
Director: Liza Johnson
Starring: Linda Cardellini, Michael Shannon and John Slattery
Trailer: Trailer "Return"
Comment: This trailer looks so good, but I'm affraid that this film isn't going to be appreciated as much and will be underrated.

Bad Ass
Description: Decorated Vietnam hero Frank Vega (Danny Treji) returns home only to get shunned by society leaving him without a job or his high school sweetheart. It's not until forty years later when an incident on a commuter bus (where he protects an elderly black man from a pair of skin heads) makes him a local hero where he's suddenly celebrated once again. But his good fortune suddenly turns for the worse when his best friend Klondike is murdered and the police aren't doing anything about it.
Director: Craig Moss
Starring: Danny Trejo, Ron Perlman and Charles S. Dutton
Trailer: Trailer "Bad Ass"
Comment: Danny Trejo in a leading role again... Hell yeah!

Thin Ice
Description: Mickey Prohaska (Greg Kinnear) is a small-time insurance agent looking for a way to jump-start his business, reunite with his estranged wife (Lea Thompson) and escape the frigid Wisconsin weather. This self-proclaimed master of spin believes that salesmanship is about selling a story - all he needs is a sucker willing to buy it. He hits pay dirt with a lonely retired farmer (Alan Arkin) who is sitting on something much bigger than an insurance commission. But Mickey's attempt to con the old man spins out of control when a nosy, unstable locksmith (Billy Crudup) with a volatile temper dramatically ups the stakes, trapping him in a spiral of danger, deceit and double-crossing.
Director: Karen Sprecher
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Billy Crudup and, Lea Thompson
Trailer: Trailer "Thin Ice"

Silent House
Description: Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen) is a young woman who finds herself sealed inside her family's secluded lake house. With no contact to the outside world, and no way out, panic turns to terror as events become increasingly ominous in and around the house.
Director: Chris Kentis, Laura Lau
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen
Trailer: Trailer "Silent House"

Upside Down
Description: Adam (Jim Sturgess) searches an alternate universe for hisa long-lost love from his youth, Eve (Kirsten Dunst).
Director: Juan Solanas
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Jim Sturgess
Trailer: Trailer "Upside Down"