Soot Sprites

Have you seen the movie Spirited Away? One of the best movies ever. I love it! A few weeks back, Sweet Pea and I made our very own soot sprites. A few pom-poms, some googlie eyes, a little glue and some star sprinkles and we have our very own fleet:

Quack!

Shoe Painting - Like Finger Painting, But Different

So, what uber-important thing has been consuming my time lately? Well, shoe-painting of course.

And, not shoe-painting  as in using my shoes to create a painting - although that does sound somewhat intriguing - but rather, painting on shoes with brushes and paint. You know - I've done it before with Sharpies, but this time I got out my acrylic paints and brushes.

Sweet Pea is a girl much like myself with many varied interests. Yet, unlike me, she likes to have a pair of shoes to go along with each of those interests.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE shoes! But I don't necessarily wear shoes to match my interests - or fandoms, as Sweet Pea calls them. I prefer, for the most part, a more understated shoe. Although there are exceptions.

Anyway, she is a fan of one of the best movies of all times - Spirited Away and of the movie Totoro. Hence, these shoes:

She is also a fan of Doctor Who:

And then there are the shoes not pictured here - the minions from the Despicable Me movies and the Adventure Time shoes. And there has been a request for Bravest Warriors / Catbug shoes.


What fun!!


Quack!

You've Seen It. You Can't Un-See It.

   I know. I know. Where have I been? I'm such a slacker! But anyway, on to other things.

Have you ever watched a movie, then realized that you just wasted an hour and a half that you could never get back? One of those "You've seen it. You can't un-see it"  moments. Well, I recently saw the movie 'Buried' with Ryan Reynolds. (Warning, this contains major spoilers)

What a terrible movie! The entire movie takes place in a box underground. Ryan Reynolds has been buried alive by terrorists. But they left him with a cell phone. Thank goodness. So, you spend the whole movie rooting for him, waiting for the final uplifting moment when he is rescued. When he is saved and reunited with his loved ones. When he gets to stick his middle finger up at the terrorists then get on with his life. But does that happen? Noooooooo! (said with great disgust).

At the very end, as they are digging him out, as the sand filters through the top of the box, threatening to bury him, piling higher and higher. As he yells and shouts into the cell phone, telling them to hurry. What happens? You hear on the cell phone, "Ooops. Wrong box." (or something very along those lines). Then the sand filtering through the box fills up the box, presumably burying him alive and filling his lungs with sand and then that's it.

Yep, that's right. The movie ends there.

No last minute breaking through the box. No sunlight streaming in. No coughing and gasping as he breaks through the sand and breathes in fresh air. No crying, tearful reunions. Just death, darkness and despair. What the *@#k!!!! You've gotta be kidding me!

I hate! Absolutely hate! Those kind of movies! I watch movies to be entertained. But not entertained by being horrified, depressed and angry. I want to be satisfied, happy even, when a movie ends. Inspired or joyous, sometimes thoughtful is OK. But I don't want the main character, or the main character's children and spouses and pets, to die in terrible ways (or in any way). Come on! If I want that crap I'll read the newspaper. I'll go to cnn.com or foxnews.com.

I want happiness damn it!

So, if you feel the same way I do, do not watch this movie! And whatever you do, don't watch 'What Dreams May Come' - that was a terrible movie too! One of those let's-see-how-many-terrible-things-can-happen-to-a-person-in-one-movie kind of movies. And also avoid Bridge to Terrabithia. I'm sure there are a few others I could mention but I try to put them out of my mind.

 Quack!

Kill Bill is Kick-Ass And So Is The Music

  I was watching Kick-Ass the other day with hubby. It's a very violent movie somewhat akin to Kill Bill type violence - with spattering blood, limbs being cut off, guns and torture and beatings and such. Usually quite a put-off, but for some reason, the movie was pretty good despite that.

In the same vein I also liked Kill Bill. When we started watching it I hated it. Too much over-the-top gore and spurting blood and snapping bones. But by the time we were 75% of the way through the first one, I was hooked. I eagerly anticipated the second, and was not disappointed. Despite the flagrant comic-book violence and utter grossness of many of the fight scenes, I really enjoyed the story. If you can overlook the blood and guts (and for some people I'm sure that's a plus), the story line is really good. And the music is awesome! An eclectic mix of all sorts of stuff. Cool. You should take a listen.

And, to get back to Kick-Ass, we were watching it and in one of the fight scenes this song started up. We both said at the same time - "What is that music?" It's haunting, eerie, rhythmic. Guitars and drums. It's beautiful. After some searching we found it - In the House - In a Heartbeat by Composer John Murphy. It was also used in the movie 28 Days Later (a zombie apocalypse movie that was a little too grim for me. I don't go for zombies much.  But what an utterly awesome piece of music! Another one you should check out.

And while you're at it, the soundtrack to the movie Collateral is really good too. So, that's your homework. Go to amazon.com and check out the soundtracks to Kill Bill, Collateral, Kick-Ass and 28 Days Later. Let me know what you think. And let me know what other movie soundtracks you like.

Quack!