Momathon Blog

Notes to Self: The Hunger Games

My daughter has been reading The Hunger Games for lit class. Reading the book with her has made it all the more memorable. Have you read it? Will you go to the movie?

The trilogy has a definite dark side—loss, death, giving up and giving in. The quote "It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart," is by Finnick Odair in the book Mockingjay, the third installment of The Hunger Games trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins.

Image and photo above by  me, Chris Olson.

Mirror, mirror on the wall--a classic tale gets a new wrinkle

 

Julia Roberts as the Queen in Mirror Mirror

I love a good fairy tale. You know the stories... An enchanted kingdom with its very own haunted forest, a rich and handsome prince, a beautiful and smart princess, a wicked queen, some jealousy, throw in a mysterious twist or two, add fluttering hearts, and of course, sprinkle on some magic...

What happens when instead of the prince saving the princess the classic tale is turned completely around and even upside down? Happily ever after never sounded more impossible. But don't give up on our princess yet, because the fearless leader of the band of dwarves is Snow White herself!

In theaters March 16th, the movie Mirror Mirror retells the classic fairy tale with Julia Roberts as the Queen, Lily Collins as Snow White, Armie Hammer as Prince Alcott, Sean Bean the King and Nathan Lane as the Queen's wimpy servant, Brighton.

You can follow the story on Facebook.

And of course, there is more here too:

First Look at Relativity's Snow White Project, 'Mirror Mirror,' Starring Lily Collins (Exclusive Photos) Gallery - The Hollywood Reporter

Mirror Mirror trailers and video clips on Yahoo! Movies

Photos: Mirror Mirror movie

Movie Watch: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Jonathan Safran Foer's gripping novel about the attacks on September 11th is the basis for the new film Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close starring Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, and Thomas Horn Star. Tom and Sandra's characters in the film are the parents of a genius 13-year-old son (Thomas Horn). After the father dies in the attacks on the World Trade Center, his son goes on a journey to find the lock that matches a key his father left behind. The film opens in a limited release on Christmas Day. Based on the quality of the novel and the film's amazing cast, I'm not surprised this movie is already garnering Oscar buzz.

        

       

Movie trailer above and on YouTube.

Photos: Warner Bros. 

If you could live on a movie set, which movie would it be?

Just visiting a set in a film by Nancy Meyers–It’s Complicated, The Holiday, Something's Gotta Give, The Parent Trap, Father of the Bride, and Baby Boom–would make me giddy. The interior shots look warm and inviting. Even the food on the set is drool-worthy. I can almost feel an ocean breeze in the sunny exterior shots with lush landscaping.

My personal faves are on opposite coasts: the Hamptons beach house in Something's Gotta Give and the Santa Barbara home in It's Complicated. Nancy Meyers has a great eye for details and flattering lighting. Her movies are filled with rooms or landscapes that convey perfection without being overly fussy. Even the workspaces are delicious--consider the lovely bakery in It's Complicated.

Jane's (Meryl Streep) bakery in It's Complicated

 

Jane's house in Santa Barabara

Jane's kitchen

Jane's garden

 

Erica Barry's (Diane Keaton) Hamptons beach house in Something's Gotta Give

Erica's living room

 

Erica's living room at night

 

Do you have a favorite movie set you would love to live in? I'd like to hear your faves!

The babies are coming... (to a theater near you)

Four new babies.

Four places on earth.

One year in their lives.

Babies: The Movie features one year in the life of four new babies, from birth to first steps, in four very different places on earth--the U.S., Japan, Mongolia, and Namibia. 

The documentary film by Thomas Balmes produced by Focus Features Movies will be coming to the big screen Mother's Day weekend, 2010. Keep up with the babies, join them on Facebook.

Gotta love those chubby cheeks. Can't wait to see the movie! 

All together now... Sooooo Cuuuuuute!

The babies are coming... (to a theater near you)

Four new babies.

Four places on earth.

One year in their lives.

Babies: The Movie

    

Babies: The Movie features one year in the life of four new babies, from birth to first steps, in four very different places on earth--the U.S., Japan, Mongolia, and Namibia. The 2010 documentary is produced by Focus Features.

Gotta love those chubby cheeks. Can't wait to see the movie! It's coming to the big screen in April 2010. 

All together now... Sooooo Cuuuuuute!

Sort of like a Disney movie...

Last week started out like most weeks. My dogs were the first ones to tip me off to the fact that something strange was going on in my garage.

At first I chalked up their new fascination with the garage as another one of their doggie eccentricities. When it latest for three days, I knew something was up. On Thanksgiving Day they finally showed me the big reason.

Birdseed + Mice = Mess

 

(image by glen edelson)

If you know me, then you know I am an animal lover. Even mice. Outside.

I love the movie Ratatouille and I had a mouse as a pet as a child. However, my neighborhood in the woods is rodent mecca. I prefer to keep the mouse population out of my house and garage. 

 

(image from Ratatouille Movie) 

My daughter reminded me it was Thanksgiving, the day of the most treasured meal of the year. So this year when an improperly stored 20 lb. bag of birdseed became a mouse feast, I decided it was fate.

The dogs had frightened away the mice in the garage for the moment. My daughter and I cleaned up the mess and put the "leftovers" in a secure bin. 

Until next year, the mice will have to feast outdoors.

Was this a good hair day?

We've all had bad hair days. If I can get away with it, those are the the days that I hide my hair under a baseball cap. The thing is, everyone knows exactly why I have the cap on.

Why is good hair so important? And why can't we convince our kids (and ourselves) that the stuff on top of our head isn't nearly as important as what is inside. 

According to the Sundance Film Festival 2009 website: When Chris Rock’s daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head! 

So what does Chris Rock do next? He makes the award-winning new comedy/ documentary Good Hair that looks at the preoccupation with straightening hair.

Relaxants for hair, weaves and more for black hair are expensive. It's almost as if you can get addicted to the products that make straight hair. Who can afford it? Discussing why and how people turn their kinky hair into straight hair is almost a taboo subject. Which makes me wonder is straight hair really "good."

 Our relationship with hair is a complicated one. Even when life is getting tough some women may choose their hair care over more basic needs. Says Rock in the Chicago Sun Times: "You know Beyonce is going to spend five grand getting ready for the Grammys. But to know Kiki spends five grand to work for AT&T -- where she's only making $35,000 or $40,000, or whatever she's making -- that blew my mind."

 In his documentary Good Hair, Chris Rock visits beauty salons, barber shops, hair manufacturers and wig merchants in his quest to understand how so-called "good hair" affects self-esteem and even sexual relations. Rock's candid look at the nine billion dollar African American hair business opens this Friday.

Lions, tigers, and bears... oh my

Let me grab my ruby slippers because a good pair of shoes even on the worst of days makes a girl feel so much better.

image: Mykl Roventine

I'll admit it up front, the movie The Wizard of Oz still frightens me. It all started when I was a kid. My older brother and I were both afraid to watch the flying monkeys swoop down on Toto and Dorothy in the movie. The only reason I watched the movie as a kid was the fact my brother threatened to kidnap my Barbie doll collection unless I would watch the movie with him. 

Fortunately I don't think about Dorothy stranded in the strange land of Oz very often. But just the other day my daughter noticed how much our new puppy with his long silky hair and twinkly eyes resembles Toto, Dorothy's beloved little terrier. 

I am fine with that celebrity connection until I remember that Toto in the L. Frank Baum books was able to talk. Maybe this explains why some people think I am such a nut when I have lengthy conversations with my dogs. Please don't tell my dog trainers this bit of pet trivia because evidently personifying your dogs is never ever a good idea. 

Toto was a fiesty, yet lovable dog in the Wizard of Oz. My pup is a wiggly, crazy insane, yet happy pooch. At his very young (and truly stupid) age, he acts invincible even when large unfriendly wildlife walk out of the woods and amble into my yard in the dark looking for handouts of the birdseed and garbage variety. There's no place like home...

Lions, tigers, and bears--which one of these large wild animals normally seen just in a zoo does not visit my backyard birdbaths for a drink at midnight?

Looking for a Creative Spark?

Creativity is elusive. You can try to cultivate it, you can try to grow it. But just as easily--and innocently--you can destroy the "creative" idea you worked so hard to nurture. 

Some say creativity can solve almost anything. I have dabbled in the creative side of business since my college days. I love coming up with new ideas with words, art and design. I also worry too much. A new movie, Art and Copy, sums it up best:

"The frightening and most difficult thing about being what somebody calls a creative person is that you have absolutely no idea where any of your thoughts come from and especially that you have no idea where they will come from tomorrow." -- Art and Copy, the movie.