Mama and Papa Movie Review: War Horse

17 May

Star Rating: 3 stars

(for Star Rating key: https://madtimemama.wordpress.com/mama-and-papa-movie-reviews/)

Ah, another Spielberg movie. Ok. Here’s our take on it. It was good. It wasn’t the best, but it was a fine movie. Sure it tugs at the heartstrings at certain moments, there are moments of triumph, there is death.. and Loki (from Thor) makes an appearance for two seconds until he dies foolishly and to quote my husband “from being a dumbass.:” This movie also has great musical orchestration. Yay for John Williams. Again. Johnny, we get it. You’re good. You’re real good.

The premise of the story revolves around a horse and his handler. Through the course of the movie, the horse takes a journey through different handlers, war, children and maybe, JUST maybe can make his way home.

To be honest, at times this movie is a little overly dramatic and boring, but the exciting parts and emotional scenes more than make up for it.

Quote from my husband: “It’s a horse people!”

Quote from me: “Honestly, it’s a good movie. I’m just kind of bored writing about it. The horse doesn’t say much.”

Mama and Papa Movie Review: Sarah’s Key

17 May

Star Rating: 4 stars

(for Star Rating key: https://madtimemama.wordpress.com/mama-and-papa-movie-reviews/)

Every once in a while, a movie will come along that you watch and it will stay with you. This is a gem of a movie that haunts you in a way that makes you grateful for everything that you have.  If a movie is successful, it will transport you from your world and have you observe the story on the screen as if you are an additional character in the movie itself.  This movie, Sarah’s Key, does just that – at least for me.  It’s funny, because this is one of those movies where I never saw any commercials, never saw anything about it until I happened to come across it as I was perusing the On Demand portal from my cable service.  I’m so thankful I did.

It stars Kristin Scott-Thomas and some recognizable actors from other movies such as Warhorse.  The preview alone made me curious about the story.  In this day in age, most previews show you the whole movie in the preview (which irritates the shit out of me).  This, however,  was a great preview.  It left the mystery and it gave the idea of the story without giving too much away.  So much so, I had to watch it.

Though this story is fiction, it is based on historical events.  The story revolves around a little girl named Sarah and the round up of Jews on July 16, 1942 in Paris, France.  The French Police were responsible for rounding them up and taking them to a stadium.  However, the French were prompted to follow out these actions by the SS and German Police in occupied France.  The stadium the Jews were taken to had no water, no toilets, no food – nothing.  The conditions were absolutely horrible.  Right as the police knock and enter Sarah’s apartment on this day, Sarah hides her brother, Michel, in a closet and tells him to stay quiet until she returns to get him (thinking she would be back that day- in a few hours- and not understanding what was truly happening).

Simultaneously, Kristin Scott-Thomas plays Julia, a reporter in present day writing an article on the 60th anniversary of the round up.  Her and her family are moving into an apartment.  As the movie unfolds, she discovers the story of Sarah and her brother while writing the article.  Shortly after, she realizes and comes to terms with the fact that the very apartment she is moving into used to be Sarah’s.  Through the course of the movie, we see the evolution of both Sarah and Julia.  We learn about Sarah’s heartache as well as Julia’s.  Julia is determined not to forget Sarah and to tell her story.  What an incredible story it is!

Quote from me:  “My heart aches for all the Sarahs.  She’s not a real person but she is a representation of the heartache these people went through.  Makes me wonder what other untold stories haven’t been discovered.”

Mama and Papa Movie Review! Last night’s showing: The Grey

16 May

Star Rating:  4 stars

(for Star Rating key: https://madtimemama.wordpress.com/mama-and-papa-movie-reviews/)

We have been wanting to see this movie ever since we heard about it.  Really and truly, my husband and I will watch anything with Liam Neeson.  He’s one of our favorites and one of our favorite Jedis!  If you are expecting any kind of quick witted humor or fast talk, this isn’t the movie for you.  If you are down with raw human emotion and action sequences with bad ass wolves, then you will love this movie.

Side note:  Is it just me?  Or ever since Natasha Richardson (Neeson’s wife) died abruptly, Liam Neeson has THROWN himself into work.  I hear he is dating and quite possibly engaged.  Still, (and it may just be me) I sense a bit of sadness in him and detect it in every movie since the death of his wife.  I love you Liam.

Back to the movie.  Neeson’s character, Ottway, is a loner in the Alaska frontier as a wolf killer along a pipeline. From the very beginning, Ottway shows great respect towards the wolves even down to the last battle.  After his plane crashes in the Alaska wilderness, he and the other survivors must work with each other to get back to civilization.   As the wolves defeat the survivors one by one,  we see who the Alpha is and who is the weakest link.   Classic tale of survival of the fittest between humans and wolves.

This movie caused quite a bit of a stir due to the portrayal of the Grey wolves.  Environmental and animal activists got their panties in a wad due to thinking the film depicts wolves in a negative light, specifically at a time when gray wolves had recently been removed from the Endangered Species List in many western American states.  Did these people even watch this movie?   I, for one, LOVE wolves.  They are amazing creatures—the ultimate hunter.   I have to say, after watching the movie, I thought the movie showed great parallels between the human race and the wolves in their natural habitat. Sure, we see wolves hunt and attack the humans in this movie.  Still, it’s not like if we were in the wild, they would be singing Kum-ba-Yah around the campfire with us.  How is this movie depicting them in a negative light?  The humans are in THEIR territory.  What are they supposed to do?  They show great skill as hunters.  Also, I would think this brings great attention to the wolves.   It got me thinking of the wolf sanctuary in West Yellowstone, Montana.  If you ever get a chance to go there, please do. It’s incredible! They also have Grizzly Bears! Click this link:  http://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.com/

Look how awesome the Alpha wolf looks in the film:

Poem from The Grey:

Once more into the fray.

Into the LAST GOOD fight I’ll ever know.

Live and die on this day.

Live and die on this day.

Quote from husband: “In exactly five seconds, I will start beating the shit out of you.”

Quote from me:  “It’s Liam Neeson people.  Do what he says and you’ll live longer.”

Mama and Papa movie review! Last night’s showing was Underworld: Awakening

9 May

Star Rating: 5 stars

(for Star Rating key: https://madtimemama.wordpress.com/mama-and-papa-movie-reviews/)

Here’s a movie that makes a series proud. My husband and I are HUGE Kate Beckinsale fans and we LOVE the Underworld franchise. To be honest, every time another one of these movies comes out, we cringe a little worrying that the next movie will be a disappointment. Mostly, this is because of the Resident Evil series. The first two of that series were AWESOME… three and four, not so much. Ali Larter was practically an embarrassment to the franchise. She RUINED Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4 was pretty much vomit sauce with the story line and the poor acting in it. It makes me sad for the world of Sci-Fi. Most of the time, you either LOVE Sci-Fi movies or you hate ‘em. With that being said, a lot of the time, casting directors allow random peeps to join an already established franchise cast (Ashanti, anyone? Poor choice—for those of you who don’t know, she is an R&B singer/performer) to give their acting skills a try. Loyal Sci-Fi lovers will see the movie regardless, but it really brings down the quality of the movie. Disappointing. But I digress… back to Underworld.

Every Underworld movie has a distinct story line that melts into the next. This movie is no different. What impresses me about this series is that it continues to have room to grow. Just when you think they might end the series and close it out, there are more stories that could come from these characters. It’s exciting to see.

In this particular movie, Kate’s character finds out she had a daughter. The actress that plays the daughter is GORGEOUS. See?

As always, Kate Beckinsale does not disappoint. She rocks that cat suit with her perfectly toned bod. She’s a SUPERB actress who OWNS this character (even with all the acrobatics and fight scenes.. she’s AWESOME!!!). We have always enjoyed every character she ever plays. Very believable. One of my favorite lines of the movie, “My heart is not cold. It’s broken.” So sad!

The supporting characters did a great job at not getting in the way and doing what they are supposed to do. Support. Unlike Resident Evil 3 and 4. Take note Ali Larter — I shake my fist at you! The actors in Underworld: Awakening were all fine actors with range and the ability to transport the viewer into the story. On a side note: The guy who played the vampire boss, Charles Dance, is a good actor. He owns Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones. Too bad he just tried to go for a weak impersonation of Bill Nighy. We love Bill Nighy in this household. Nobody Nighys the way Bill Nighy Nighys. And Mr. Dance, watch out, dude. Bill Nighy will find you, and you might not like it.

After each movie I cross my fingers that on Kate Beckinsale’s IMDB page, there is another in production. So far, one is not listed. However, I have no doubt that Awakening is not the last time we will see her in her black, patent leather Death Dealer suit.

A quote from my husband: “Wish they had really killed off Michael. That guy is supposed to be so awesome, but he’s always catchin’ a beatin’. And I’ve never bought that Kate Beckinsale would fall for his punk ass. He’s a puss.”

A quote from me: “Blah blah, I liked Michael.”

Not doing so good folks.

9 May

 

 

I promise I do water them every day!!! … well mostly every day.  But sometimes it rains in a downpour and I just leave them out to get rained on.

 

Yea, I need to water them every day regardless.

 

 

Ruck the Vote!

9 May

 

Hey ya’ll!  My buddy directed this music video.  It’s competing for regular rotation on MTV.  Vote over and over and over and over and over and over.. you get it.  Help “Ruck” the vote all week. Go to http://tinyurl.com/ruckvote to vote for “Ruckus Roboticus”. You can vote as many times as you like, so please cast your vote all week long!

 

Do it do it do it!

Another Mama and Papa Movie Review!! Tonight’s movie: Haywire

6 May

Star Rating:  -3 stars

(for Star Rating key: https://madtimemama.wordpress.com/mama-and-papa-movie-reviews/)

Here’s a movie that um . . . uh . . .

Oh sorry. I started thinking about something else.

WTF is this movie about???  I’d say it’s about an hour and a half too long.

The lead character is Gina Carano as Mallory Kane.  Who did she have to bang to get this part?  Whoever it was, he got screwed, ha.  (ba-dum-dum) Sure, she’s hot.  Having her in this role is almost like asking me to play this part, though.  Poor thing.  She half smiles at the camera all the time, like she can’t help it.  Was there a director in this film?  I mean, sometimes it’s like the “actors” sang 1-2-3-go and the cameras started rolling.  You can tell this gal is just happy to be in a movie.  And who can blame her?  But she is so not an actor.  God bless her.  I’m not hatin’, I’m just sayin’.

Did this movie even have a script?  (I know words like “script”).  The A-listers sounded like they might’ve had a few actual lines to memorize.  But I bet all the rest just made this crap up as they went along.  The fact that the movie had to be told almost entirely in flashbacks is a sure sign of some bad writing, in my opinion.  Flashbacks suck.  A flashback is like saying to the audience:  “Hello, audience.  I’m not able to write these important events in an interesting way as they happen.  So, I’m just going to tell you about them now real quick.  But, hey, don’t let that distract you from what’s really going on, mmkay? Love, The Writer.”

Look at this list of actors:

·  Michael Fassbender as Paul

·  Ewan McGregor as Kenneth

·  Bill Paxton as John Kane

·  Channing Tatum as Aaron

·  Antonio Banderas as Rodrigo

·  Michael Douglas as Coblenz

With a cast like that, you would THINK that this movie would have some sort of redeeming quality about it.  Granted, Antonio Banderas would never know the difference.  Channing Tatum, you suck.  Bill Paxton … eh, Bill Paxton’s had some good movies, right?  At least that pedo-stache makes us forget about all the stinkers.  But Ewan McGregor!  You are the surprising piece to my puzzle.  I’ve respected your ability to commit to a role many times!  But bro, honestly, what were you thinking?  You’re too young to stop caring.  Come back to us!  Michael Douglas, we’ll forgive you this time.  You gave us Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile and you beat cancer.  Michael Fassbender . . . the jury’s still out on you buddy, but my husband said you fight like a girl.  And your robot trailer for Prometheus gave me goosebumps.

And for a movie like this, there’s not even enough action scenes to get me through it.  The camera pulled back and set the stage to let us know someone was about to throw down every time.  Why did I feel like I was watching wrestling? Not the real deal but fake wrestling a la Hulk Hogan. That girl gets the crap beat out of her and doesn’t even act like it hurts.

A quote from my husband: “I’d do her.”

A quote from me:   “Yea, me too.”

It was an Eastmountainsouth kinda day.

6 May

 

I revisited some old friends yesterday evening.  Eastmountainsouth.  Yesterday started out dreary with rain and a hint of a thunderstorm.  Reminded me of my college days back in Tennessee where the surroundings are eternally green from the rainstorms. It also made me think of the drives I would take in the country. Drives that would lead me down still, quiet two-lane roads with thick, beautiful forests on either side of my car. Most of the time I would listen to melancholy acoustic music on these drives, much like the group Eastmountainsouth.  On these drives, I used to dream about actually singing for a living.  Being a performer – whether or not people loved me wasn’t really what I cared about.  I just wanted to perform with likeminded individuals.  Alas, I was in school for a Music Education degree.  Teaching music is what I started to do.  ….though it didn’t last long.

 

You see, I used to live in the greatest city on Earth.  That’s right.  Austin, Texas.    In 2003, I moved there after a very rewarding, amazing, completely insane year in Ennis, Montana.  It was there that I lost my teaching virginity.  This was my FIRST teaching job.   I absolutely LOVED my students, but my heart was not in teaching.  I wanted to perform.  So off I went to Austin, Texas.

 

What was in Austin, Texas?

 

#1 It is the Live Music Capital of the World!

#2 Pretty much everyone there is a musician, or is a music enthusiast, or knows a musician and so on and so on.

#3 My future.

 

As soon as I got to town, I put an ad out in the local “cool-kid” newspaper, the Austin Chronicle.  I met up with several peeps and met this one dude who had a recording studio.  He pulled out an album by a fairly recent group called Eastmountainsouth.  He was hoping to put together a group similar to this group.  They were a duo with acoustic/country/folk/Appalachian influences.  He played half of the album for me.  I was stunned by the musicianship and the production of the songs itself.  What I was hearing was so BEAUTIFUL.  I’m not gonna lie, I’m a sucker for good, heartfelt, mellow-tastic music.  This was something that sent me  sent me swimming a sea of emotions and memories from the first strum of the guitar.

 

Eastmountainsouth was comprised of Kat Maslich-Bode (http://katmaslichbode.com/)  and Peter Bradley Adams (http://www.peterbradleyadams.com/) . They only put out one album out before they decided to part ways and strike out on their own. Kat grew up in Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains.  Peter is a southern boy and actually graduated from the University of the South- Sewanee (my BFF’s alma mater!) — nothin’ like a good ole southern lad.

Peter’s solo work is excellent. I love all of Peter’s albums. I just downloaded Kat’s latest album.  I sometimes fantasize about being the other half of eastmountainsouth.  I always felt like Peter, Kat and I would make the most beautiful harmonies together—and we do (in my car, at home, in the shower, when I sing to my bay-bay.. you get it.).

 

Shameless plug:  Peter/Kat, should you ever stumble upon my page – send me your songs, I will record harmonies and back up vox for you!  All I want in return is to sing and record with you.  I promise I do not disappoint.  We can get the band back together.. kinda, sorta… it will be eastmountainsouth 2.0.

 

Anyways, here are couple of youtubes of some of my favorite songs by eastmountainsouth , Peter Bradley Adams and Kat Maslich-Bode.

 

On Your Way by eastmountainsouth (ignore the cheesy video—just listen to the song.. delicious!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fwjipy7g8o

 

Keep Us by Peter Bradley Adams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udmoKfofTwE&feature=related

 

You Dance by eastmountainsouth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUwmSEbvA5o&feature=fvst

 

Gestational Diabetes: Don’t let GD take the fun out of your pregnancy!

3 May

I know I have said this before, but I absolutely LOVED being pregnant with my first kiddo. It was a fun ride and eye opening experience in every way. I loved every bit of it. I’ve had a lot of peeps say “You had so many issues during your pregnancy, how can you say you loved it?” To that I say, not really. The problems I had were pretty common and easy to deal with. How did I cope? Cuz being pregnant is AWESOME, that’s how.

Reality

I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes in my second trimester with Maddy (my first bay-bay). When I first found out I thought to myself “CRAP. I’m going to be pregnant, fighting all kind of weirdo cravings and be restricted to cardboard tasting muck and green beans and English Peas (My arch nemesis). BLAGH!

Well, that’s not true. When I was first diagnosed, my doc sent me to the local diabetes learning center. There was this lady there who was our instructor and (**Bless her heart….) she annoyed the shniz out of me. Seriously. I could not STAND the way she taught us about “CAAR-BOHW-HIGH-DRATES” (said in a WEIRD YANKEE ACCENT MIXED WITH A SARAH PALIN TWANG) She said it just like that. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. This is what she would say:

“See, this is 15 CAAR-BOHW-HIGH-DRATES, so that is counted as 1 CAAR-BOHW-HIGH-DRATE in the meal plan.”

I was so annoyed. To this day every time I read the word carbohydrates I actually say it like her in my head. Which annoys me even more.

** It’s a southern thing. You can say “Bless her/his heart” before any insult and get away with it. Hee hee.

Reading and studying up on the pregnancy induced disease was helpful. I found a lot of staples that worked for my everyday life—I’ll put a list together at the bottom.

I actually lost about 20 lbs while pregnant. I didn’t gain anything. Granted I was already overweight to begin with, but to be preggo and not gain anything?.. I was impressed with myself. My high risk doc was super impressed- even went as far to say that I am the best patient he’s ever had . HOO-RAH!!!

Here is the meal plan I was given.

Meal Plan

15 carbohydates = 1 carb

;
Take blood sugar at fasting state when I first wake up. between 60-90
2 carbs/1 protein — Breakfast
Take blood sugar 2 hours after first bite between below 120
1 carb/1 protein – snack (mid morning)
3 carbs/3 protein (and of course any veggies I want)

Take blood sugar 2 hours after first bite below 120
1 carb/1 protein – snack (mid afternoon)
4 carbs/4 protein (and of course any veggies I want)
Take blood sugar 2 hours after first bite below 120
1 carb/1 protein – snack (bedtime)

Keep in mind that just because something is SUGAR FREE (i.e. Sugar Free Chocolate) doesn’t mean that it’s better for you. A lot of times when food is sugar free it still is higher in carbohydrates (than regular sugared items) and takes longer for your body to break it down (I’m not a doctor, but this is what the diabetes learning center said). Sometimes you are better just going with regular, sugar sweetened items. Obviously too much is bad, but I would just become a strict label reader so you know exactly how many carbs are going into your body—compare side by side.

Medicines

Typically, there are two different medications that are given to gestational diabetics. These are also used to treat Type 2 Diabetics.

Glyburide — http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000833/

Metformin — http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000974/

Only towards the end did I have to take either one of those two medicines. I didn’t take either for very long.

My staples for snacks and meals:

Granola Thins. These come in Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter. They are less than 15 grams of Carbohydrates each. Perfect snack.

String Cheese. These are good any time.

Sugar Free Kool Aid. For those of us who have soda addiction, this was a great alternative for me. No caffeine. No sugar.

Mixed Nuts. ‘Nuff said.

BIG ASS SALADS with Italian Dressing. Yum. You can fill up on SO much with your salads. Highly recommended.

Sandwich Rounds — These are the perfect size for lunch. Just enough bread.

Peanut Butter (if you aren’t allergic!)

Fruit

If you get diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes, it’s really not the end of the world. Keep in mind that GD peeps have a higher risk of becoming Type 2 Diabetics later in life. So we must be diligent in keeping our food, exercise and cravings in check during pregnancy and after delivery. Find what works for you and enjoy your pregnancy people!

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Adjustments.

29 Apr

Things I’m adjusting to at the moment.

1)   First let me say, I love the small town that we just moved to.  It’s pretty cool—I haven’t lived in a small town since I lived in Tennessee and this one is WAY smaller than any place I have ever lived.  I’m used to bigger towns or even a city, so it’s definitely an adjustment.  With all that said, I really do love our new home … but here are some of the adjustments:

a)    Did you know that in this small town that our mail peeps are not REQUIRED to pick up mail if they don’t have any mail for us?  Even if the flag is up – they won’t pick it up … I bet they won’t even turn their heads to see if a flag is up. Honestly folks.  That’s pretty lame.  Preposterous! — Ding ding! I used it again!

b)   We have a basement.  Never had a basement.  I HATE BASEMENTS (People Under the Stairs anyone????)—but I love our house.  When we moved in we asked if the basement ever gets moist or wet from rains.  The people we bought it from said NO, never had an issue.  However, since we moved in February, every time it rains our basement is as damp as a lakeshore with a big ole puddle that comes with any kind of rain. That blows. Not sure what we can do about it if anything.  I hate basements.

c)    NOBODY has fresh seafood in this town.  That blows.

d)   Bible-belt Land.  ‘Nuff said. (No offense… just takes some getting used to all over again)  Amen.

e)    Since I live on one of the main arteries through my town, I get to hear a lot of the traffic that rolls through. I can officially say that I can’t stand people who take the muffler off their car to make it sound louder.  (It is the muffler right?  WHATEVER it is- I hate it when peeps do that)   I’ve thought it was redneck-douchy in high school, and it is most definitely douchy now.  What the WORST is when those guys who have teeny neon colored sports cars/coups/sedans that have a tacky huge spoiler on the back and it’s some kind of 4 cyl engine and it sounds like this—reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Euuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmm  eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !!  9 outta 10 times it’s someone with a matted mullet too. If you’re gonna have a mullet, keep it brushed for Pete’s sake. (See? You agree. I know you do.  Total douchebag)

f)     Why doesn’t Sam’s Club carry Diet Sundrop?  High annoyance with this one.  It went national people.  Get with the program.

g)    ALSO, why doesn’t Kroger carry ANY kind of Sugar Free Kool-Aid.  I can’t find it at the Wal Mart either.  WTF?

 

All I want is Sugar Free Cherry Kool Aid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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