Top Five: Christmas Movies!

As you know, I love the holiday season. One of my favorite things to do is cozy up on the couch with Travis and the pugs and watch Christmas movies by the light of the Christmas tree. Here are our favorites:

1. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer: Like everyone else I grew up watching this on tv every year. Last year I took the plunge and bought my own copy. This one is such a classic, I love the songs, I love the stop motion animation, I love the unlikely dentist side plot. I even love the weird noise Rudolph's nose makes when it lights up. The Bumble is the cutest I think, though my mom told me when she was a kid it made her cry!
2. A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All: Chock full of hilarious weird songs and cameos I like to watch this special a few times every season. The Toby Keith number makes me crack up every time, and Travis and I love to sing the John Legend gem "Nutmeg." And then there is the Colbert and John Stewart duet "Can I Interest You in Channukah?" We've been listening to it while we drive around doing our Christmas shopping. I just have one gift left to buy!
3. Love, Actually: I'm kind of embarrassed that I love this movie so much? I don't know why because I'm not embarrassed about much lamer interests. If you haven't seen it, it is a movie featuring about every British actor you know of, and has all kinds of interwoven stories about love and Christmas. We were just watching it while I was typing this and I cried about five times. It's just so lovely. This is one of those we'll watch during the year sometimes. I think my favorite story is the guy in love with his best friend's wife, or the guy who goes to America to meet girls, or the aging rock star with the lame Christmas single. It's just all so good! (This one barely nudged out The Holiday for top five status. Jack Black needs to be a romantic lead more often! Haha. )
4. The Nightmare Before Christmas: My grandma gave me a VHS copy of this for Christmas when it came out and I was OBSESSED. I watched it every day for weeks until my mom hid it from me. I was always into things that were a little weird, even as a kid (I blame Pee Wee's playhouse). This one is another watch all year favorite. I have a big collection of figures from this movie, and the soundtrack on tape, and picture vinyl, and cd. Beautiful stop motion, great songs, wonderful sweet story about getting in a rut and finding yourself again and not being afraid to fail, and vampires! And a ghost dog! I'm sure you've seen it, but if not go find a copy immediately.
5. Christmas Vacation:  I had to put this one in the top five just because I've probably seen it the most. Like I said the other day, it is Travis' favorite movie of all time and we watch it a lot. It is still funny to me after exactly 1 million viewings. My favorite part is when Clark tells the kids that he heard Santa had been spotted on the radio and Cousin Eddie looks at him deadpan and says "You serious Clark?". I still laugh out loud!

Here are some movies that were close to being in the top five. When I was a kid I had a little cardboard cut out of Ernest in my room. Another weirdo that I loved.  Home Alone is the first movie I can remember going to see in the theater!Of course A Christmas Story has to be in there, and The Muppet Christmas Carol is very nostalgic to me. I feel like it's up there with the original Muppet movie, but I think I'm in the minority on that one. We listen to the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album every Christmas morning. Magical!

What are your favorites? You would think I would have more classic Christmas movies on my list, but I really haven't seen that many. We're going to see It's a Wonderful Life at the local indie theater, and it might be my first time watching it all the way through!

Movies!

There are finally movies out that I want to see again! It felt like there was NOTHING to see in March and April. We've been going a lot lately, and I love it! Here is what I've seen: 

Finding Vivian Maier: I feel like everyone has been talking about this documentary, and they should be! It is about a woman who took THOUSANDS of street photos that she showed no one. A guy bought the negatives at an auction on a whim and they are incredible. I actually teared up when they started showing the photographs. The start in the 1950's and are so beautiful. the documentary is fascinating and while it leaves you with LOTS of unanswered questions (the more I thought about it, the more unsatisfied I was!) the film is wonderful and fascinating and totally worth your time.
Le Week-End: This is a film about an older couple spending a weekend in Paris for their anniversary.  It is funny, sad, uncomfortable and moving in turns. The two main actors are really good and I recognized things from my long term relationship in theirs. Totally recommend if you like character driven movies.
Belle: I feel like I've been waiting forever for this to come out! I LOVE Regency period movies and this one is based on the true story of a mixed race woman raised in an upperclass white household. It started off kind of choppy and I was a little disappointed but it evened out and I ended up loving it! The costumes! The sets! The acting! The romance! Some things weren't period accurate (I ranted about it to Travis after I saw it, and I'm sure he could care less, haha!) but I still really enjoyed it. I'll watch it again. I went to see it the first showing it was available in Nashville, and it was me and about 30 senior citizens. My crowd for sure!

Neighbors: Another one we've been waiting to see for a long time! Finally another really good comedy! Travis and I both laughed out loud during most of the movie. Some people have been complaining that Rose Byrne, who plays the wife, wasn't given much to do but I was actually really pleased with how their relationship was portrayed. Finally a comedy where the wife isn't portrayed as either a total shrew or as the straight woman to her bumbling husband. Also, I never thought I would find Zac Efron to be attractive but DAYUM. Another one I'd see again.

X-Men: Days of Future Past: Travis LOVES Wolverine so we always make it out to X-Men movies. I really enjoyed First Class last year, and this one was pretty good too. I thought Jennifer Lawrence did a much better job as Mystique in this film, and I'm always down for Michael Fassbender as a young Magneto. The time traveling aspect was cool and I loved the new character they introduced, Quicksilver. The kitchen scene in the Pentagon was awesome! I kind of wish we had seen it in 3D, and I never say that! I'm looking forward to the next one.
The Fault in our Stars: I read this book last month (I really need to update my reading list!) and I LOVE a sad movie so I couldn't wait to see this. I went by myself with tissues ready but didn't cry at all. I'm not sure if it was because the girls next to me were crying SO LOUD or because it was just TOO much. I don't want to spoil it but you probably know what is going to happen. It was kind of fun to watch, but it wasn't as great as I was hoping. I was happy that the guy they picked to play Augustus was much cuter in motion than in the stills that have been posted.  (Is that weird to say? Haha, I just imagined him much cuter than the stills looked.) If I was a tween I would probably be OBSESSED with this movie.
Godzilla: I'm pretty sure I said it before, but I thought Godzilla was awesome! A fun summer action movie with great effects. Godzilla looked so cool! And I loved seeing it at the drive in so I could scream with my friends.

I can't wait to see 22 Jump Street next week, and Gardians of the Galaxy! Have you seen anything good lately? Is Maleficent good? I can't decide if I want to see it or not.

Godzilla Night at the Drive In!

Travis and I have been waiting for Godzilla to come out! Could there be a more perfect drive in movie?  We went down to HiWay50 in Lewisburg with our best friends Sunday night.

For some reason I thought it would be packed so we got there early. It was a beautiful night though! So we walked around and took too many photos.

 I brought my little Godzilla along of course.

 Super fan! I guess you can't really see my Godzilla shirt. 

 Such a cute little guy.

 It was a little chilly out, but I felt cozy once I got out a sleeping bag to wrap up in.

The best part of the drive in is the cheap food! I want to eat fries every time I watch a movie. We had fried pickles too! Yum!

 Yum!

The movie was awesome! I loved it! Godzilla looked so cool and the other monsters were GROSS and freaked me out. I ended up stuff in the back of Crystal and Marc's car and Travis sat in our car alone because he got tired of us laughing at carrying on. Haha, that is what I love about the drive in! I can talk as much as I want! Here's to many more nights at the drive in this summer! (though probably not this one again. You could see all that rust on the screen whenever the scene was light. lame.)

Watch

We've been going to the movies like crazy lately! It is one of our favorite things to do, and with a combination of bargain matinee prices (I love that Carmike charges just 5 bucks between 4 and 5:30!) and a bunch of movie gift cards we got for Christmas we've been able to really indulge! Here is what we've seen in the past few weeks:

Bettie Page Reveals All: This is a documentary about the queen of pin ups, narrated by Bettie herself! I LOVED it! She was so beautiful and had such a strange life. Though you wait the WHOLE movie to see a photo of her from when they recorded the interviews, and  the movie ends with a quote saying she wanted people to remember her as she was. Ah! But still, definitely recommended!
Anchorman 2: I like the first one a lot, this one was just ok. A few really funny parts, but overall bleh. We saw it in a pretty full theater and most of the other people seemed to agree. Such a bummer.
her: I saw this the other day by myself because I knew Travis wouldn't be into it. I loved it! The world Spike Jonze creates is really beautiful, and the story is so unique. And there is something oddly alluring about Joaquin Phoenix with that dad mustache and high wasted pants. I got a few good cries in, which I love in a movie.

Inside Llewyn Davis: Another beautiful movie to watch, with great music and performances.  I had to read some reviews of it after I got home because I left the theater feeling a little confused, which isn't always a bad thing. Great story telling and characters, just what you expect with the Cohen brothers.
The Wolf of Wall Street: I didn't expect to LOVE this movie as much as I did! It isn't one I want to watch over and over, but it was really great. Leonardo DiCaprio really should get that dang Oscar this year. I didn't find this film to be as shocking as a lot of people seem to (maybe I'm on tumblr too much, haha).
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: We both enjoyed this one.  It is beautifully shot, especially the parts in Iceland. I thought Ben Stiller was surprisingly good in it as well. It isn't as dreamy and surreal as the pr makes it look, but it was still worth the price of admission.

12 Years a Slave: Really well done, and shocking, and sad. I had never heard much about free men from the north being kidnapped and sold into slavery. The lead actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, is really amazing, and so was Michael Fastbender. Another one I don't really want to see again, but it was poweful.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: I am a total middle earth nerd (surprised? probably not) and even though the first Hobbit was ok, I was excited for this one. It is MUCH better! Lots of good action and amazing effects! I haven't read the book in years so I don't get upset about these movies adding stuff. The barrel fight scene was probably my favorite part, and the effects for Smaug were SO INCREDIBLE! I can't wait for the last one!
Saving Mr. Banks: The storytelling of this is a little clunky, and the backstory part in Austrailia never really comes together, but I really liked this movie over all. Of course I'm super into the time period and loved all the scenes in the writing room and with Emma Thompson. Jason Schwartzman and BJ Novak as the Sherman brothers were probably my favorite part. Wouldn't you love to see a spin off of about them and their lives!

Now we're going into the time of year that nothing great comes out for a while. the only things we're looking forward to are the new Jack Ryan movie (Travis likes action movies, I like Chris Pine's handsome face!) and Travis can't wait for The Monuments Men. I think that one looks pretty good too! I also might try to catch American Hustle before it's out of the theaters. We'll see. Have you seen anything good lately?

Night Out in Louisville

Travis and I went on a whirlwind trip to Louisville this weekend. We had a pretty special reason (I'll tell you about that tomorrow!) but we don't need much coaxing to make the 3 hour drive up to Louisville. We LOVE it there! If I was interested in moving, we would probably move there. 

We got into town in the late afternoon (we listened to Games of Thrones on the way there, we're on book three and I keep getting freaked out! I can't wait to watch the show!). Of course we checked Happy Cow for places to eat (vegans/vegetarians you have GOT to get that app! It rules when you are traveling!) and we saw this place called Hillbilly Tea. I'm not crazy about the name but Travis loves tea and I was interested in some BBQ tofu that was mentioned in a review.

 Travis doesn't like to smile in pictures so I love it when I catch a picture of him smiling naturally. 

 Look at all those mason jars! I got the sweet bush iced tea and it was SO GOOD! Had a strong vanilla taste that I absolutely adored. Travis got some of the tea hootch and said it was great.

 I loved their screen printed menus too. It looks like they change seasonally, which is cool. 

They were out of the smoked okra appetizer we wanted to try, but the substitute was fried portabella mushrooms over some chow chow and man where they GOOD. I decided to be brave and try mushrooms on their own and I'm so glad I did. Mmm, I could eat another order of this right now. 

 We both got the smoked tofu stack for dinner and sadly it wasn't great. I'm not really into eggplant, and I prefer tofu to be cut up more, or shredded. It wasn't terrible, just not something I would order again. I loved the barley on the bottom though! I don't think I've ever had that before, I'll definitely been buying a bag and trying my hand at it.

I loved the old silverware too! So we had a great time at Hillbilly Tea and I would go back, maybe in the fall to see what their next vegan entree will be. It was a little pricey, but fun for a date night.

 After dinner we went down to the Louisville Palace. It is the most beautiful theater I've ever been too. It is from 1928 and usually hosts musical acts, but every summer they do a movie series. You can see what we were there for...

 Yes! The movie on Friday night was Rebecca. I had read the book but hadn't seen the movie before. It was GREAT.

 Look at that lobby!

 Close up on the amazing ceiling. 

 I never got a clear picture, but I'm going to show you anyway. Can you just die? Oh I'm glad the lights go down for the movie because I would be so distracted by all the beautiful things to see. We ended up sitting on the floor, but I love the view from the balcony as well.

And here is the lobby on the way out. Just perfection. We're hoping we'll be able to make it up for at least one more film in the series. If you live anywhere close I highly recommend catching one of the films there! Louisville is awesome, and there is GREAT vintage shopping there! So cheap! I'm bummed that we didn't have time to go to Tickled Pink this time.

The Sapphires!

We went and saw the greatest movie yesterday and I had to tell you guys about it! I hadn't heard of it at all until we saw a poster hanging up at our local indie theater. But I could tell that it would be right up my alley even without seeing the trailer. It finally starting playing last week and I got my chance to check it out, and I absolutely loved it!

It is the story of a group of Aboriginal girls in Australia in 1968. They audition to sing for the soldiers in Vietnam and the movie is full of sequined gowns and Motown music and amazing clothes and hair! Here is the trailer if you are interested: 

The movie has great reviews (even a 93 on Rotten Tomatoes!) The criticism is that it is nothing new, if you've seen a movie about a band in the 60's you kind of know what to expect. But that doesn't stop it from being a great movie with amazing music and a lot of heart! And Chris O'Dowd is adorable and I LOVE that Gail, played by Deborah Mailman is a plus sized woman of color who finds love and success without her weight being mentioned once! 

If you are in Nashville it looks like it is playing at the Belcourt at least through the rest of the week. And if you don't live here, maybe it will be playing near you soon! I highly recommend going to check it out!

Halloween movie favorites

I haven't even decorated for Halloween yet, but we've been watching Halloween movies to get in the mood. One of my favorites since I was little has been Ernest Scared Stupid. I actually LOVED all the Ernest movies (well, maybe not Slam Dunk Ernest.) I had a little cardboard cut out of Ernest in my room. Jim Varney actually lived in the town where I grew up. Anyone else my age see the Ernest movies? Were they popular everywhere? The Halloween is my favorite, with Ernest Saves Christmas as a close second.

ANYWAY, last weekend Travis went to the Nashville Comic and Horror Festival to see our friend's booth. I was a work. When he got there it turned out Billy Byrge, who played Bobby in a lot of the movies, was there signing autographs! Travis was really sweet and got one for me, and got his picture take. Look at how freaking happy he looks? I can't stop cracking up at this picture!

He also got to meet the girl from Night of Living Dead, which is his favorite scary movie. He LOVES that picture too. He made a stencil of it and he used to put it in parking lots all the time. What a weirdo.
What are your favorite Halloween movies? I also love Hocus Pocus and The Worst Witch. I'm kind of a baby when it comes to scary movies though! We tried to watch The Woman in Black recently and I made Travis turn it off because I was freaking out! I think I'm a little too good at using my suspension of disbelief. 

Beauty Is Embarrassing

I posted about the movie before, but I finally got to see it and it was even better than I was expecting, so I had to tell you about it again. Watch the trailer, for real!! It is so good!

The Nashville Film Festival is happening right now, and this was screened on the first day. I'm so happy I randomly got a festival pamphlet at trivia last week, because I wouldn't have know it was playing without that! The movie was so incredibly inspiring. The message was mostly that you should do what you love. Being creative doesn't have to fit into a certain category. Fine art can be funny. It also made me feel like crap because I don't do anything creative anymore because I let myself get discouraged and always take things too seriously. I went with my friends Brett and Kyle who are really creative and awesome. I wish they hung out with me more, because I like them a lot.

It is playing again tomorrow (Sunday) at 1, and if you are in Nashville, you should seriously go! You will laugh and cry and want to come straight home and draw. 

Wayne White was actually at the screening. He is from Tennessee so I should have known the movie would be at our film festival. The next day he did a book signing at a little bookstore in Green Hills. My boss was awesome and let me come into work a little late so I could go! Brett was there too and we both worked on not being too dorky when we met him. He gave a little talk before signing and I found out not only did the do design for Pee Wee and Beakman's World and Mrs Cabobble's Caboose (a nashville children's show I watched a LOT when I was a kid), one of his first jobs was designing part of the Cumberland Science Museum, a place I went to on about 15 field trips. So basically he was a HUGE influence on me as a kid.

How cute, he drew Randy! I'm so happy I didn't chicken out and went to the signing. Now maybe I'll use some of this inspiration and get some use out of my craft room!

Hometown Date

Here is the rest of our date day, after we left the estate sale we went for brunch at Puckett's in downtown Franklin. It is a meat and three, it is pretty good, if a little expensive.

Travis got the buffet. They had apple spice french toast that was AMAZING.

I didn't want to overeat so I ordered eggs and hash browns. I barely ate any of the hash browns, i was so full! They are really good though, I love the scallions on them. I got my eggs over medium as usual and they were great.

Then we went to a Goodwill we rarely go to. I found a dutch hex sign, and two books. There wasn't really anything else that even tempted me. What a bummer.

We saw this cute little dude outside though. He looks like an ewok! His face reminded me of Phyllis.

Then Travis forced me to go to the library to get an audiobook for our road trip the next day. I HATE going to the downtown library. There are men looking at bikini pictures on pretty much ALL of the computers and it creeps me out. Also, I don't like going without a plan for what I want to look for. I hate just standing there staring at the shelves. I'm such a nerd, you would think I loved the library, haha. Usually I send Travis with a list. He loves it and goes all the time.

Look at these dorks in their matching shoes.
Then we went and saw this movie!!

I loved it! The book is really good, so if you are interested in reading it, I would wait to see the movie, because the pacing of the book is just fantastic. Everything unfolds just perfectly. It is one of the best books I've read in the last few years. But I think they did a really good job with the movie. The kid actor is wonderful. I bet I cried 6 times. I even though Sandra Bullock was really good, and I'm usually not a fan of her.

After the movie we picked up burritos, then went home and hung out with the dogs on the couch. We're dog sitting the dachshund Chloe again this week so there were actually three dogs laying on me. Heavenly. It was a pretty perfect day off.