Tangled

I saw it this weekend. It was lovely. I will generally go for anything computer animated with either the word Disney or Pixar in it, so it wasn't a big stretch for me. This one is a musical, in the style of the (non-computer) animated movies I grew up on, which I haven't experienced in a while. I found myself drawing parallels between each song and some scene from Aladdin or Beauty And The Beast from my youth. Granted all of the movies are based on the same premise so the songs are bound to have recurring themes. But I kept trying to imagine children who would grow up singing these songs their entire lives after watching Tangled 8 million times. Like the way I still know the words to "Kiss The Girl" and "A Whole New World." God. I am getting old.

But, I digress. I was not disappointed. It was gorgeous. It was funny and heartwarming, and it was fun to watch with a theater full of children. The characters were endearing and the plot was well timed and constructed. There were a couple of scenes that were truly beautiful. It was predictable, yes. But there was a poignant moment when everything went wrong, and the little girl I'd gone with started crying about the unfortunate turn of events. And her mom leaned over and told her not to be upset, that everything would work out. And so, yeah, isn't that the reason we go in the first place?

So, I really, really loved it. You should too.

Oh My Goodnesses

I have just watched the most amazing, most inspiring, most interesting documentary I have ever seen. I know what you're probably expecting, and it's not that. It's the Pixar Story. If you liked any of the Disney Pixar movies, any of their, what is it now, EIGHT, visual masterpieces, you should check out this documentary. Once you watch this film you realize why every single one of their full-length films has been a hit. It's because the company is filled with these people who are dedicated to making an amazing product, not just pushing out movies to make a buck. It was totally inspiring to watch. Literally gave me goosebumps a couple times, maybe 'cause I've loved so many of their movies, but maybe because it was just that moving to watch a company that had so much heart and devotion and took these great risks to make something that they could be proud of. Oh, to be so passionate about one's work. It must be radical. And this was all filmed before Wall-E. I can't even imagine how they're going to top themselves now.

Endorsements

I have about a bazillion of these Old Navy Women's Long Rib Knit Tanks. I kind of love them. If your mind still works in the land of Crayola markers, they come in both Bold and Classic colors. They have also been revamping the colors each season (I started buying them at Christmas). They are cheap and wash well. I just thought you should know.
Last night we went to see Wanted. It was pretty good as far as action flicks go. Quite funny, and I liked the plot. It got a little weirdly gruesome in some parts.
We also saw Walle last week, and it was amazing. They went way beyond the whole computer animated-child oriented thing this time. It was aesthetically beautiful, and because the main characters don't really speak, a lot of the humor was visual - in gestures and facial expressions and situations. There was also a great moral, a moving love story. See it. Really.
That's all I've got for now. I feel like I should do a weekend update, 'cause we lived a full life this weekend, but I don't have the energy or time. So, this is all you get.

What a Weekend

Wow. I spent a lot of money this weekend. You wouldn't expect pasta salad and hot chicken fests to cost so much, but they sort of add up. It was a good one though. We really packed a lot in. We drank a bit too. Some nights maybe a little too much. But it was really fun.
Being the awesome place that they are, my employers gave us a half day on Thursday. I hit up the Y with my lady friend, the Brit, and then we headed to my pool for a few hours of sun before going over the the Mullet's to help her with her pre-bbq chopping and mixing. I made a delicious pasta salad and had some wine, but made it home fairly early and in bed by 10. Boyfriend came home from Happy Hour a little later.
I kept wondering why he wasn't super psyched about the Hot Chicken Fest as we were getting ready to go on Friday. Finally I realized that he was hungover. We then proceeded to wait in line (2, actually - one to order, one to pick up) for Prince's Hot Chicken. The chicken was hot, the day was hot, but I think it was worth it. It took us about an hour, but we emerged victorious with two baskets of chicken. The mouse was totally awesome and grabbed me some fish from Bolton's, and it was delicious. Then we made our way to the Mullet's for a "mixed" bbq. It was her first time mixing different crowds, and I think it went off without a hitch. The food was effing amazing. All that chopping from the night before really paid off. There were barbecued riblets and chicken legs. There were spiced and herbed shish-kebabs of veggies (bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini) and tofu. There was a delicious pasta salad prepared by yours truly. A mint fruit salad and deviled eggs rounded out the table. I think there was more, but I've tried to block out how much I ate. In addition, there was plenty of beer and my new favorite, bellinis. Yum.
We were supposed to go watch the fireworks after this, but Tony and I lamed out and went home. We got Dairy Queen (yes, like I needed more food), and we watched the fireworks on TV, which I'd been bashing the entire week when I saw the commercials. The good thing was that you could hear the orchestra. That is all.
Saturday morning we got up fresh and ready for life. We went to the mouse's to help her move into her new place. It was surprisingly speedy, as she had lots of strapping men (I'm totally including my boyfriend in this one) to help. She paid us in pizza and beer. An 18 pack of Miller Lite is nothing to complain about for a few hours of manual labor.
We headed home and got ready for the Poets & Pirates tour (Gary Allan, Lee Ann Rimes, Sammy Hagar (I know, right), Keith Urban, and Kenny Chesney). We totally brought the almost case of beer with us and drank in the car, just the two of us. It was actually really fun. We hit up the concert at the end of Hagar's set, and boogied our booties off to the man, Keith Uuuur-ban. We left a little early to hit up a party, by which time I was starving. I made friends with the dog and cat of the house, raided the fridge, and made the host promise to take me to the movies on Monday. I forgot some of the night.
Sunday I nursed a little hangover at the pool with some poolside reading and intermittent dips. We rented movies and got junk food. And rounded out our full, full weekend with two cheesy movies, The Bucket List and Definitely, Maybe, both of which exceeded expectations.
How's that for packin' it all in?