The Bigger Picture ...

Ok. So a lot of people have been asking me about The Hunger Games. Is it suitable for my children, how was the violence, etc. So I thought I would go ahead and just do one big blog post about it and get this out of the way.

And yes, mock away. :)

Here is the deal.

Yes, the movie has some violence in it. And yes, it is with children. Which is what made it the hardest for me to swallow. Just a couple of parts had me putting my head in my hands and thinking - "really? these are kids" ... And when I say a couple of parts, I literally mean TWO. Or at least that is all I can remember. When reading the book, I guess I didn't let my mind see it the way I saw it on the big screen because I continued reading without any problem whatsoever. And I guess knowing the storyline (SPOILER ALERT:) ,.... it IS basically Survival of the Fittest. Self defense. Hurt or be hurt. So maybe that made it ok for me...?? I'm not sure.

Also, there were a few (milder) cuss words, which weren't in the book. At least, again, I don't remember them. I know, there really isn't a "scale" when it comes to foul language, but I think you know what I mean.

Now, with that being said ... if you are comparing it to some of the other movies that have been all the craze, here is what you will get :

LESS VIOLENCE than Lord of the Rings

NO SEXUAL CONTENT like in Twilight (I'm assuming here, haven't watched them)

AND NO SORCERY & WITCHCRAFT like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter

Just to compare a little.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, (except for the few parts that I mentioned) and thought it did the book justice. Especially having read all 3 books, I know the point she was trying to get across in the entire trilogy as a whole, and thought the "game" served its purpose.

BUT...

For those of you that would rather your kids get into something a little milder- there is a series of books by Ally Condie. Same type of story, but no violence, and deeper on an emotional level in my opinion. They are "Matched", "Crossed", and the final book - "Reached" comes out in November of this year. You can read my review about it HERE.

And finally, there is a website that Adam and I use all the time to help us determine what movies we are going to see. (Or not see, rather).

If you go to PluggedIn.com, it will give you the low down of EVERYTHING in the movie. Drug and alcohol content, sexual content, foul language, and even if there are spiritual undertones in the movie. I'm telling you, it is a great website that will tell you how many uses of God's name in vain, and even if someone shows cleavage. It's pretty thorough. It has really helped us a ton with our movie choices.

So basically, I can't answer you when you ask me if your children should see this movie. Check it out on Plugged In and make a wise decision for your family.

If you are a "hopeless romantic" ...

I watched this movie last night for the first time. It was brilliant. It is based on the story of the Famous Poet - John Keats , and his love, Fanny Brawne. I have always loved reading his poetry and his letters to her, so I rented this movie to see if it was any good.

Blew me away...

If you enjoy poetry, romantic stories, and PG movies, I highly recommend it.



"When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink."

Something tells me...

...that this is going to be one of my favorite movies of all time.

Transformation

In the recent weeks, I have heard a lot of my friends talking about how excited they are that the new Transformers movie is coming out. Although I don't particularly get the obsession with the movie, I understand, Transformers were toys that my brother and I played with for many years of our childhood. So essentially, I can understand what would initially draw people to the movie trailer and why they would go see this movie. However, because so many of the people that expressed an interest in this movie to me are Christians, people who would be offended by the things that ultimately put Christ on the Cross, I thought that I would shed some light on this movie.

A couple of weekends ago, my friend Crystal and I were discussing different websites that we use when trying to review movies and their content. One of mine and Adam's favorites is Plugged In Online (a nifty website for anyone who wants to know ALL offensive content in a movie before viewing). Today as we were talking about going to see a movie for our date night I decided to run through a couple of movies and see what Plugged In had to say. One of the movies I researched was Transformers. Here is what they had to say :

(note: some of the context was too offensive, therefore, I had to replace words with *'s.)

The first time the Transformers motored into theaters, Plugged In was dismayed by the film's sexual content. This time around, we're appalled.
Let's start with Alice, an apparently beautiful college student with an eye on Sam. Alice tries every way possible to seduce the lad. She dresses in the sultriest of outfits and makes sure Sam gets the best possible look at her attributes. She coos and pouts and makes suggestive comments.
When that doesn't work, she straddles him on his bed—obviously intent upon having sex—starts kissing him and "reveals" more of herself, so to speak. But Alice's big reveal isn't what Sam has been led to believe. A metallic appendage snakes out of the bottom of her dress (we see Alice's underwear) and later out of her mouth (her tongue is still attached to the end). She's a Decepticon with rather freakish sexual intentions, it seems.
Indeed, the Decepticons as a whole have grown more sexualized since the last movie. One huge robot displays two dangling orbs that are meant to resemble ****. Another smaller critter wraps itself around Mikaela's leg quite suggestively.
Speaking of Mikaela, she sports short shorts and cleavage-bearing tops throughout the film. Frankly, she'd seem more at home in a skimpy swimsuit magazine than in a shoot-'em-up actioner. One particularly gratuitous camera shot zooms in on her backside as she works on a motorcycle. When Sam goes off to college, he and Mikaela talk about having Internet dates—complete with candles, music, special outfits and the suggestion of X-rated hanky-panky. In person, Sam and Mikaela kiss and cuddle.
Scads of other sexual distractions surround Sam at college as well. Walls are papered with posters and pictures of women (including one whose hair just covers her bare chest), and the university's halls are brimming with attractive co-eds (and leering, ogling guys). A college party features some scantily clad girls dancing seductively.
Elsewhere, the Witwicky family dogs are twice shown having sex ("You'll see a lot of that in college, too," Sam's dad guffaws). His mother talks about how she heard her son lose his virginity. She also fantasizes about skinny-dipping, assumes a garbled call is an obscene prankster and refers to her husband as both a "dirty old man" and a "college professor" ("I'll do anything to get an A," she coos). For his part, Sam's father slaps Mom on the rump.
Characters also make crass references involving **, ***** and other intimate body parts. A guy crudely propositions a college girl by comparing his anatomy to the meat pizza he's carrying. Two pairs of people end up unconscious in compromising positions (including two guys in one instance). A professor flirts suggestively. Leo, Sam's roommate, asks if he can watch Sam and Alice have sex. A store sports a neon "Porn" sign in the window. And we see a character's nearly bare backside while he's wearing a thong.
Revenge of the Fallen's filmmakers likely spent more money on explosives than many third world nations spend on food. The film is loaded with guns, grenades, pyrotechnics and mayhem, and it's a rare moment indeed when audiences aren't subjected to something being bashed, smashed or blown up.
Much of the action involves machine-on-machine violence, and we see Transformers skewered, squashed, decapitated, ripped apart or nearly chewed up, all accompanied by copious amounts of gushing oil.
When Sam is captured by Megatron, he's held down on a table and told he'll die painfully. One tiny, slimy robot slithers into Sam's mouth, and we see tendrils wiggle in his nose. Another robot brandishes a wee rotary saw, preparing to cut open Sam's skull. And when Sam, Mikaela and others run through a battle zone, Sam nearly gets killed by an explosion.
About half-a-dozen combat scenes apparently kill soldiers, usually via explosions that hurl their bodies through the air (though one poor victim gets stomped on by a Decepticon). After a ship sinks, we see bodies in the water. Cars—and their passengers—get destroyed in a city battle. Several helicopters also go down during firefights. In the worldwide havoc unleashed by the evil robots, we're told that the death toll for one day of carnage hits 7,000.
Other violent moments include several people getting tased. Sam's mom is attacked by a kitchen appliance and hits her head hard on a hanging plant as she flees from the robot.
We hear a bunch of barely disguised f-word variants, including "freaking," "frigging," "frick" and "eff" as well as one interrupted exclamation of "mother—." "Pork" is also used as a suggestive stand-in for the f-word. Other profanity includes about 10 s-words and 15 or so misuses of God's name. We hear about 25 uses combined of "***," "***," "" "*****---" and the British profanity "***." "****" and "****" are also said once each.
Sam's dad has a beer, and his mom has a glass of wine. She also eats marijuana-laced brownies—despite her husband's warning—and subsequently acts silly while stoned.
A man walks out of a bathroom with his pants down (but boxers on) and asks a security guard for toilet paper (a ruse to lure him from his post). Some Transformers apparently have issues with flatulence: One discharges some fire, another ejects a parachute. Some military personnel seem to disobey orders.


I realize that this post is probably a little late for anyone that might want to avoid going to see this movie, as it came out in theaters at least a week ago. But for those of you that would be very offended by this type of movie, I wanted to spare you some heartache by letting you know this. It seems as though the movie industry is not only trying to get the audience to buy into their Transformers, but also trying to Transform the minds of their audience.

Want to make sure that what you are about to watch is safe? GET PLUGGED IN.

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

A Riddle of A Day

What do Cupcakes, New Haircuts, and Old Friends all have in common??

Absolutely Nothing.

Except the fact that I am crazy about all of them, of course.

So I have been watching Food Network's ACE OF CAKES lately, and TLC's CAKE BOSS and it just looks like so much fun to be able to come up with an artistic design and turn it into something so sweet and so scrumptious to eat. So I tried it. Definitely not the most beautiful designs in the world, but hey, not bad for an amateur. They taste good too!

So what is my next challenge you might ask?

Patriotic Cupcakes, for our 4th of July Party!

Speaking of July, it is THAT time again, my friends. SUMMER. You know how I know? Because I have 50 million inches of hair growing out of my head and hanging out on the back of my shirt causing 100 degree weather to feel like 140 degree weather instantly. Or I did. It was all I could take. So I went in this week and got it chopped. (Not really chopped, more like, ... liberated!) I really love the new do and I am seriously glad that my head no longer weighs a ton.

PS. DO NOT LAUGH AT THIS PICTURE. I hate taking pictures of myself because I go through that "teeny bopper on Myspace trying to get the perfect angle to send to the creepy 60 year old sex offender posing as a 17 year old boy" feeling. But, sometimes... you've just got to prove your point.

Scissors: 1 , Split Ends: 0

This past weekend, our Old, Great, Friends, Crystal & Dalton came to spend the weekend with us. We had such a great time! They are those kind of friends that you can just sit around and talk about everything under the sun with for hours. On Friday night, we had dinner at our house, played games, (watched Crystal almost stop breathing because she was laughing so hard), and stayed up talking for hours about spiritual things, old memories, what's new, and so much more.

On Saturday we all got up and headed out to eat lunch at Jalapeno Tree, WHICH BY THE WAY, is one of our Favorite places, and they had never even heard of it.

The Famous ICE CREAM OUTSIDE picture. Gotta love it.
We make it a habit to take this one with all of our favorite couples.

Then we took them to see UP, because Ad liked it a lot, and I'm not going to deny it. I'm in love with the movie. In Love. It is definitely one of the sweetest, most insightful movies I have ever seen.

Plus, it is fun in 3-D.

Isn't she adorable, ladies and gentlemen??

Crys thought that Adam looked like DREW CAREY.

Negative.

Dalton laughed so hard during the short before the film, I thought we were going to have to carry him out of there.

All in all, we had a wonderful weekend with them and I was SO SAD to see them go. Hurry up and move to TYLER already!!! :)

What a GREAT summer so far, and we have a lot more to look forward to ... like...CHICAGO!

Stay Tuned. :)

What the world needs now ...

.... Is love, ... sweet LOVE.

Sunday will be our One Year Anniversary. I almost can't believe it. Everybody told me that the first year is the toughest. And ...well... if that is what people call "tough", then I can't wait to spend the next 75 years with my husband. In honor of our one year, I've decided to dedicate this post to my top 5 favorite Romance Movies of all time. Enjoy.

Honorable Mention:

#5:

#4:

#3:

#2:

#1:

 

I'm taking the Love Dare ... Bring it on.

If you have yet to see the new movie, Fireproof, I only have one thing to say to you.

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!?!

It is by far, the greatest movie I have ever seen. It has action, it has comedy, and more than anything, it is about Christianity and Marriage. Adam and I have already seen it twice, and it just came out in theatres on Friday. I'm suggesting that every Christian couple, married or not, should go and see this movie with their partner. Because it is a Christian movie, it hasn't gotten a lot of advertisement, so many people don't even know that it is in theatres. Here is a little sneak peek for those of you who need a little more than MY word (thanks a lot, people! :) lol) in order to go see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5lSu6GkC2k

After watching the movie the second time, we went to the store and I bought "The Love Dare". The movie is based on this book and so far it is incredible. Our marriage is already great, but I think that this will make it a million times better. It teaches you about the selflessness of marriage and each day dares you to do something to make your marriage better. It lasts for forty days, and gives you a space to write the results of the things you try. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful thing! If you are married, definitely go watch this movie and look into the book. Even if you already have a good marriage, this might be something that makes it that much better.

Until next time.... Keep the fire burning. :)