Guilty Pleasure Weekend

I spent last weekend enjoying several guilty pleasures. To start, hubby and I are becoming hooked on the Wii Lego Adventure Games. These things are really difficult to play so we are constantly challenged, plus it has become something we can do together. It would have been nice if Best Buy had not sent a copy of my receipt to hubby's email, but once he realized that someone had not stolen his card, we began the madness of gaming.

In case you missed it, I am a huge Superman fan! Yes, I like my men to be dark and brooding, but Superman has always been an exception because I love the innocence of his character and the continuous tale of him being a beacon of hope. It really is my guilty pleasure. I admit to watching several incarnations of this character on the small and big screen so I was extremely excited when it was announced that they would reboot the movies.

Hubby has endured through my obsession for more than a decade. I was amazed that he agreed to see Man of Steel, much less on opening day. After suffering through Superman Returns, which was awful, and ten years of my weekly dose of Smallville, which was syrupy sweet, he contemplated ways to balk from taking me to the movies. I have been a fan of Henry Cavill for years (He's the only reason I watched that unnamed show that he starred in.), so I was not going to be detoured from seeing the movie. In the end, hubby and I both thought it was an entertaining movie. Any gals interested in seeing it? I'm more than willing to go again.

Amazingly enough, the gals and I coordinated our schedules so we could see GNG perform on Saturday night. I had worked all day so we knew it would be an early evening, but it was so worth it. The dance floor was empty initially because there was a group of very inebriated young women and their oddball male companion. So I have to ask, are there ass pasties that work similarly to breast pasties? Otherwise, I can not explain how these women's dresses did not ride up as they resided on the curve of their cheeks.

At first opportunity, our group hit the secondary dance floor and within two songs, the floor was filled with people. Erin kept remarking about us kicking off the party. The band was disappointed that no one was making use of the main dance floor which sits in front of the stage, so the male lead called out to "the three ladies who have been dancing for a while, yes, you three ladies." He asked us onto the main dance floor, which we complied, then if we had any song requests. Erin pointed at me and said that I had lists. Of course, my mind went blank as he waited for me to name a song. Can you guess what song popped into my head? I seriously need to have more songs for those brain-mush moments. As you can imagine, I was pretty red as the lead dedicated "... to Melissa." Seriously, what is with me and sex? The gals and I were the only ones dancing in front of the stage, singing along but it was a blast!

The Twilight Hour

The Gals at Breaking Dawn 2

I've never been embarrassed to admit that I am a Twi-hard. My reason for enjoying the phenomenon is the camaraderie I share with my gals, Becky and Erin. When I joined the frenzy alongside my gals, it became our annual date night. There have been many disagreements between us over the years concerning the books' story lines and the movies, but every year, we have been steadfast and attended the weekend premiere of each movie. Pregnancy, ailments, trips out of town, and break-ups did not prevent us from attending five opening weekends together.

And I am not the only one to enjoy this unexplained camaraderie. My mom took my niece, N, to a full-day event where they showed the first four movies leading up to the midnight premiere. Though I thought the story was inappropriate for N when she was younger, mom and N have bonded over the books and movies so who am I to say anything. No one can deny that N will never forget this shared experience with her grandmother.

The Gals & Baby I at New Moon

As for my little group, the final movie led to another divisive discussion in the parking lot. For those who have read the books and think, I know what happens in the final segment, the screenwriters heard the book readers' complaints about the final book. Since the book is based on one character's point of view, there were many complaints concerning the motivations and decisions in the battle sequence. Thankfully, the screenwriters addressed this concern leading to an interesting twist in the finale. It was one of those WTF moments that caused a stir in the theater. I'm the vocal one in our group, but it was Erin who stated quite clearly, "I don't like this," during one scene. Don't get too upset! They did not change the movie, but provided a more universal point of view that could not be conveyed in the book. Of course, among the three of us, we have a difference of opinion on whether this was a wise move on the movie producer's part. I thought it was brilliantly done because it definitely got a reaction and provided a more entertaining and understandable sequence than in the book.

This will conclude another fun and wonderful experience with my gals as we say goodnight to the Twilight series.

The Hunger Games movie

When I read the book series, The Hunger Games, I was instantly hooked. I stayed awake many nights reading this series because I had to know what happened next to Katniss.Though I know people claim there is a love triangle in this series, I have always felt she belonged with Peeta and there was no contest. When I heard they were making a movie, I thought there was no way I would enjoy it. The Capitol, the games, District 12, and the characters were so defined in my head. When I started to see previews, I was truly impressed, except I kept thinking, the characters appear older in my head. It was hard to read a certain character's death, but when I saw the actress playing that character, I thought there was no way I could watch that scene play out on screen with such a young actress.

I can't believe I ever questioned seeing this movie. The gals and I went on Sunday afternoon and sat in a packed theater. Within the first twenty minutes we were all crying. The reaping scene was shot so well, it ripped at us. And the rest of the movie was much the same. Yes, there are some re-writes and certain scenes written out of the movie, but overall I feel the movie maintains the essence and horrors of the books. The actors did such an amazing job with their characters, the scenery was amazing, and the emotions just riveting. I have to say the casting of this movie was superb. Everyone played their characters so well that I forgot it was an actor from another movie or an actor I don't particularly care for playing such a pivotal role. They all just excelled. I loved this movie so much, I plan to return for an encore presentation soon.

Breaking Dawn

Not only was this weekend busy with the seminar in Indy, but I had my semi-annual fan girl outing with the gals. You know we got all gussied up to go see Breaking Dawn during opening weekend. Okay, I wouldn’t say gussie as we were wrapped in coats in a crowded movie theater, but we definitely were dressed for our outing.

We each had different opinions about this book. I recall Becky and I even had an online disagreement on a review site. Now, the gals are completely Team Jacob and I’m Team Edward. I can’t help it. I have a sick compulsion for the fictional dominant guys (obviously this is a type I find appealing, but have discovered that in reality, they aren’t attractive). Either way, I’d say after the last four movies, I am Team Charlie all the way. His toast in the wedding scene just cracked me up the same way he stole his scenes in the first movie, so I’ve completely switched sides.

I have to say the movie was better than we expected. We knew it would cater to fans of the books, so only us gals would enjoy it. I went in expecting to laugh at the sex scene, which turned out better than I thought, with some fun humor in it, but lacked the awkwardness I’ve come to expect. I know the gals and I were concerned with the bruising scene and how that would come across to young impressionable girls, but once again I feel it was tastefully handled. The wedding was beautiful with some sweet moments thrown in. And the infamous birthing scene was as gruesome as I imagined, though they didn’t show as much, but the sound effects placed you in the scene. It was so fast-paced that Erin asked why Edward had blood on his mouth, not realizing it was a result of the gruesome biting through the placenta scene.

Overall, our group was satisfied with the movie. It was well done for the fans and featured some intimate and funny scenes. And obviously us gals have plans for seeing the second half next year, but in the meantime we were excited to see the trailer for Hunger Games which comes out in March.

Harry Potter Premiere

Yes, the gals and I went to see Harry Potter at the midnight showing. I won't review the movie because let's be honest, I thought it was phenomenal. Enough said!

I have never been to a midnight premiere of a movie before, so this was a new adventure for me. I have to thank Sarai who called me earlier in the evening to warn that the line had begun before 6:30 for ticketholders and that doors would open at 8:00. We had the dilemma that one member of our group worked late that night, so we couldn't arrive until later. The lines were amazingly long. They were sold out of tickets for all 18 theaters for the midnight opening, so everyone waited happily in line for their turn to enter the theater. People were dressed up. We saw every character from the movie including the singing portrait lady, who arrived frame and all. We witnessed several wand challenges and played trivia games. Darth Vader even arrived to fight the wizards. I know, people were really into dressing up.

We found three seats together, but I think if we'd arrived any later, we would have been sunk. We had two hours until the movie to chat and enjoy the festivities. When the movie began, the theater was dead silent except for moments of applause. There were several scenes that warranted the applause and the crowd reacted appropriately. Certain scenes caused some sniffling and outright crying, which was acceptable with this group as well.

It was a fun experience and worth the long wait. As we left the theater, lines for the 3:00 showing wound around the building and one of our group stated they'd be willing to see it again. It took us over 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot, but that gave me time to text with Sarai concerning the movie. Um, should I admit, that two of us returned the next day. I have the excuse that hubby wanted to see the movie. The dynamic in the theater was quite different and made me appreciate seeing it with loving fans at the midnight opening.