Category: Art

We get to the theater last night, many hours too early, to find that there is already a fairly significant line for Breaking Dawn. We always buy the midnight tickets and we always forget what a hassle the line part is, on both the body and the nerves, until we get in the position to once again stand in it. 

In less than three minutes we are moderately annoyed by the bizzaro middle school behavior emerging from adults, so when an usher steps to the front of the line and announces that if you purchase tickets to ANY movie, they’ll let you keep your seats- we purchased tickets to the next showing. 

Incidentally that was Paranormal Activity 3. SQUEE… I was a big chicken as Chw and i made up the entire audience of that showing. At any rate- I survived and had an ultra comfy reclining seat to show for it. IN FACT, we were scheduled to see BD with friends and when they arrived the manager USHERED them past the line, and into our theater. How cool is that? Like they were celebrities- all because we bought tickets to a movie. 

Definitely recommend doing that the next time. 

In other news, unfortunately PA3 was the first movie we paid full price for tickets to, in probably 3 years. Ouch… 

As for Breaking Dawn, My official assessment would be that- 

-the music is awkward more often than not THOUGH I loved the wedding music. It was a mostly instrumental compilation of music from the other 3 films- which i adored. It is the little details that count, you know… 

– the first 20ish minutes are ULTRA cheesy, to the nauseating degree. 

– the rest of the movie is actually really fantastic. 

– yes, i hated to the book and enjoyed the movie- odd… 

– they did an amazing job with Kstew… 

– Kstew outdid herself and did a great job too. (shock, shock) 

– TL should have kept the facial hair. 

– I more than enjoyed it, i loved it. Can’t wait for part 2. 

– The end… 

So, have you seen it? 

I don’t really listen to celebrity gossip. I don’t read the magazines, I don’t watch the shows. I’ll have friends telling me so and so cheated on their spouses, etc- and for the most part I’ll tune it out. Over the years that I worked more deeply in that industry, I just found it BEST to ignore the junk, and I still like to. 

That being said, while listening to political radio on friday I learned about this Justin Bieber baby incident. As details of the story spilled out, my blood ran cold. Not because I totally love and adore him, (though I won’t lie- I do like him) but because the whole situation sits far too close to home for my comfort… 

Let me explain… 

On one hand you have the possibility that he is the baby daddy. While I’m not being naive about this, I will say that I am pretty sure he isn’t- BUT- whether he could or couldn’t be is not what this post is about. This post is about her, Mariah Yeater. While people all over the internet are going on and on about how she’s never held down a job, lives off of state assistance and is a high school drop out- i am not going to go there either… Let’s just say that hypothetically, she’s lying. Maybe she wants a bit of fame. Maybe she craves the attention. Maybe she thinks this will somehow make her rich, or at the very least- bring on a bit of cash. Possible motives aside, we are assuming- hypothetically- that she’s lying… 

By defending this lie, Mariah Yeater risks imprisonment for statutory rape. IMPRISONMENT! 

By defending this lie, Mariah Yeater risks losing her son permanently. 

By defending this lie, Mariah Yeater risks labeling herself a registered sex offender. 

Since we are taking the stance, hypothetically, that she’s lying- the DNA test she requested will prove she’s lying. There is no good outcome to this situation… 

And yet, she swears she is telling the truth. She’s been caught, red handed, with her hand in the cookie jar and a whole mess of crumbs on her mouth- yet she insists she didn’t take them. 

While, what likely happened is that maybe she’s not the brightest Oreo in the package and she assumed because Bieber is famous (and rich) that he messes around. She probably rented the movie and decided, upon watching it, that since her favorite color is purple too- that she should have half his money. She probably thought that he would be so ready to shut her up that he’d just pay her to be quiet. But that didn’t happen… And no matter how badly this ship’s going down- she is going to psychotically pretend it isn’t… 

wondering where i’m going with this? Those of you who have seen my daily, non-blog life have likely already figured it out. 

Mariah Yeater is a frightening 8 yr-glimpse-in the future of my Genny. 

My Genny the pathological liar who, although insanely brilliant, doesn’t think through the consequences of her decisions and then pretends forever that she’s telling the truth when she denies her choice.

This girl scares me. 

This idea of a girl scares me. 

That my daughter could be that girl, terrifies me. 

And to the newsanchor who actually asked “what does this girl have to gain by lying and causing such a big stir?” I answer- I don’t know… 

But please, when someone (anyone) figures it out- let me know… 

Every situation truly does have a story to be told, it is simply a matter of how we tell it that makes it worth seeing. It is in that way that every movie we decide to watch becomes a gamble. Sure, the trailer is good and the premise sounds heartwarming but is it? 

Inspired by a true story, the film The Mighty Macs (opening today) tells the story of Cathy Rush (Carla Gugino), an inexperienced wanna-be-basketball coach hired by an all-girls private Catholic college (Immacaulata College) in the early 70’s. Given a mish mash team of girls whose hearts were no where near the game, and having no where to practice (or host home games) due to a recent fire in the gymnasium, the looming season looks hopeless. Of course, from one watch of the preview we know that this is another film about another underdog team who- against all possible odds- rises up. I’ll admit that, not being a big fan of sports films, when I first saw the preview I felt like I already knew the story. 

I will also be the first to admit that I was wrong. 

I was wrong because, as much as The Might Macs is as story of one such underdog team, it is honestly a story about so much more. It is a story of love and acceptance, of true friendship and what that means. It is a story of trust, unlikely alliances and believe it or not- marriage. Successfully weaving in and out of each of those themes, this film crafts a moving tribute to life and to women. To a sisterhood that struggled to find it’s footing during an oppressive time when women were caught between their duties to be housewives and women’s movement towards completely equality and fairness. With an amazing supporting cast such as Ellen Burstyn, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Phyllis Summerville- this movie tells a complete story- and a beautiful one at that…  

This film has so much heart hidden in the subtle layers of moments that go on between Cathy and her husband, Cathy and Sister Sunday, Cathy and her team and the teammates themselves. Some of these stories are told through glimpses rather than obvious and dialogued design- but isn’t that how real life plays out too? In the moments and the minutes, in our realizations of growth and others. There is a level of proof here which shows that with nurturing- anything that can bloom and do the impossible. 

I have criticized another film, somewhat harshly recently. I challenged it’s rating and family appropriateness. I challenged it’s strong religious dialogue. Please hear me when I say that just because it references God in the trailer- THIS IS NOT THAT TYPE OF MOVIE. On any account. This IS a family movie. Kids old enough to understand the concept of teamwork will grasp this movie. My twelve year old will LOVE this movie. Call me crazily optimistic but I believe my 12 year old’s sense of self may even be better because of watching this movie. I also know she’ll call it her favorite, and I love that. 

I hope that, even if you don’t like sports movies (like me!) you will still give this film a chance… It is worth it. 

There is a line near the end of the film in which sister Sunday narrates, where she admits to not knowing why the Macs did as well as they did that year. Then she points out the possibility that maybe it was each teammate simply looking around her and seeing strong women who believed in themselves and their team that made the difference. 

Isn’t that how it should be? 

As women, shouldn’t we be better women simply by observing the beautiful, brave and strong women around us? 

I think so.

Girls, see this movie. And take your guys too because it isn’t, at all, a chick flick. Take your families, because the Mighty Macs has a real-life story to tell, and it tells it well.