Inside Out with Mindy Kaling

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Frankenweenie Monstrous Sweepstakes

Enter the Frankenweenie Monstrous Sweepstakes for a chance to win a spooktacular vacation for four to experience all the fun of Halloween Time at the Disneyland® Resort. 

Plus, don’t miss The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibit only at the newly expanded Disney California Adventure Park, where you can get an up-close look at the amazing world of Frankenweenie through sets, puppets, props and more. And for a limited time Guests will be treated to a special 4D extended preview of the film at the Muppets Vision 3D Theater before Frankenweenie comes to theaters in 3D October 5th!


One person will win the grand prize, a 4 day/3 night vacation for four to Disneyland in California during Halloween. Five other winners will redeive an autographed Frankenweenie poster. Visit www.disney.com/frankenweeniesweeps to enter the Monstrous sweepstakes. You can also enter by texting EDGAR to DISNEY(347639*). 

This awesome giveaway runs from August 23 to October 7, 2012. 

Frankenweenie will open in theaters on October 5th. 

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Who is that guy? Black Death Edition

Are you ever watching a movie and you recognize an actor's face? I do it all the time, because I am a big movie nerd and I never EVER forget a face. Then I wake up at 3am from a dead sleep because I remember where I remember that face from. Well now you don't have to worry about that happening to you. I'm going to help you out. Instead of scouring through IMDB trying to figure out where you've seen their face, you can come here. So the next time you are watching a movie and you think "Who is that guy?" let me know, and I'll answer.

For the inaugural edition of 'Who is that guy?' I am going to do the movie Black Death with Sean Bean. I'm doing this movie because while watching it, I saw about a million faces that I recognized from one place or another. Also, it was really hard to tell what the characters names were, so if you looked this one up, you might have a hard time figuring out who is who. 

Cast image courtesy of horror-asylum.com

Let's start with the main character Osmund. He is played by Eddie Redmayne. He may look like a baby-faced newcomer, but he is actually 30 years old and has been in many things. 

• In the 2005 mini-series Elizabeth, he played the Earl of Southampton. 
• In Elizabeth: The Golden Age, starring Cate Blanchett, he played Thomas Babington.
• In The Other Boleyn Girl, he played William Stafford. 
• In the 2008 mini-series Tess of the D'urbervilles, he played Angel Clare.
• In the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth, he played Jack.
• In My Week with Marilyn, he played Colin Clark.
• Coming up, he is going to play Marius in the new Les Miserables. 

Swire.

Do I have to tell you who Ulrich is and why he looks familiar? If so, we can't be friends. Sean Bean is not only Boromir in Lord of the Rings, he is also Ned Stark on Game of Thrones. He's always in the news for fighting people, usually in self-defense. He's also the love of my life... little known fact for you. (I kid of course, but he is lovely.)

One of Ulrich's men is Swire, played by Emun Elliott. He's only been acting since 2005, and was actually also part of Game of Thrones. He played Marillion, the musician in season 1. He is absolutely gorgeous, so I bet he will be in quite a few period pieces to come. 

Now & Then

The next character, I almost cried when I saw him. For serious. The character Wolfstan was played by John Lynch. Who is John Lynch and why does his face bring tears to my eyes? Because he was the face of my childhood. He played Lord Craven in The Secret Garden. That is one of my absolute favorite movies. I wanted desperately to grow up and have him be my father. I have never seen him in anything else, so I was really happy to see him here. 

Did you recognize the Abbot (head priest)? I won't go through everything he has been in, but if you did, it is probably from Titanic. He played the jerk who locked Leonardo DiCaprio to the pipe. 

Finally, there was the blonde witch, Langiva. I don't want to say that the actress, Carice van Houten, has been typecast but.... if you recognized her, it is most likely from Game of Thrones. Where she plays a witch. Only difference that I can tell is that on Game of Thrones she has red hair. She is the Lady Melisiandre, the red priestess, the paramour of Stannis Baratheon. 

So what other movies do you need me to check on for you? Any movie where you saw a face that looked familiar but you can't place it? Just let me know. 

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Ten Musicals To Watch with Your Kids

I love musicals. Now that I have a bambino, I can't wait to introduce him to all of my favorites. I've heard rumors that not everyone likes musicals (the horror!) so I thought I'd give you an intro to the funnest and safest ones for you to watch with your kids. I'll start with the ones that are safe for toddlers and go on to the ones that you might want to wait for a little while. Obviously, use your parental discretion. I'll also let you know which ones CJ already loves.

Peter Pan - You may not know this about me, yet, but I am obsessed with Peter Pan. Actually, I'm obsessed with Captain Hook. There are a bunch of different musical versions of the show, but the BEST is the one with Cathy Rigby. I promise you will not be disappointed. CJ and I love Hook dancing the tarantella and Tiger Lily singing "Ugg-a-Wugg". The version with Mary Martin is also really good, but that version of Hook terrified me until I was about 20. I don't know a kid who can't relate to the song "I Won't Grow Up".


The Wizard of Oz - Growing up, there was only one time a year you could watch the Wizard of Oz - the week before Thanksgiving. Now with DVDs the norm, you can watch it anytime. CJ has watched this one a few times and loves the music. We listen to the soundtrack pretty often too. There are a couple of scary scenes in this one, so if your child is easily scared, you might want to wait until they are a little bit older.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks - Honestly, I am not a big fan of this one. I'm not sure why but it just never struck my fancy. Everyone told me I had to include it on the list though. CJ hasn't seen this one either. But if it is a childhood favorite of yours, you should share it with your little one.

Mary Poppins -  I mean really, what needs to be said? Mary Poppins is a classic for a reason. I don't know a single child who didn't wish that  a magical nanny would come whisk them away for some crazy musical adventures. Your child should see this for the song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" alone. Absolute essential viewing for every human being on the planet.

Cats - This was my absolute favorite musical when I was younger. PBS would show it randomly throughout the year to raise money. I loved it. I want a cat so I can name him Macavity the Mystery Cat. This one is also based on a real cute book called Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The music here is really catchy and the costumes are AMAZING. Somehow I haven't shown this to CJ yet, but I'm going to have to remedy that ASAP. 

Annie - When I put this on for CJ, I honestly didn't expect him to like it. Usually whatever movie we watch is background noise while we play. This one had him riveted though. I honestly don't know what it was, but he loved it. There are some sad moments, but otherwise it is safe for little ones.

The Sound of Music - The Von Trapp family is one of the most awesome families in cinema. If you have a large family, your children will be able to relate. Single dad? Got it. Beautiful nun? Got it. Hitler? Got it. The music in this one is unsurpassed. I guarantee you and your kids will be singing "My Favorite Things" for days. I don't have this on DVD so CJ hasn't seen it yet, but I know he's going to love it. There are adult themes such as love and war, but nothing scary or inappropriate.

Meet Me In St. Louis - While most of this movie is really cute and family-oriented, there is one scene that used to scare the crap out of me. The little girl in the movie commits snowman-icide. She freaks out because they are moving, runs downstairs, and destroys all of the snowmen. All while Judy Garland beautifully sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". Other than that particular scene, this is a lovely movie to watch around Christmas.


Singin' in the Rain - I'm slightly biased because this is my favorite movie EVER. So good. The story of what happens to a group of actors when movies go from silent pictures to talkies. Everyone knows the song "Singin' in the rain" which is awesome, but the best song is "Moses Supposes". You and your kiddos will be singing it (in the rain) for days. I guarantee your kids will crack up laughing during Make 'em Laugh.


Labyrinth - This one isn't technically a musical, but it is awesome and has music in it. Starring David Bowie clad in white spandex with a big old blond wig, you know it has to be good. Older siblings will be able to relate to Sarah's feeling of being left out when people fawn over her baby brother. The movie also stars puppets made by Jim Henson. There are a few creepy little demon-type puppets and one does say "fracking" as if it is a swear word, but other than that, this is pretty safe for slightly older kids. Don't blame me when you come away from this one with a huge crush on Bowie. It's inevitable.

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Movie Review - Safe House

So this past weekend, hubby and I went on a date night to see Safe House. It is an action movie starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.

The movie starts with us learning that Matt Westin (Ryan Reynolds) works for the CIA. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a cool field job, his job is to sit in a safe house and wait for criminals to be brought there. He's been doing this job day in and day out for 12 months and hasn't had a single "visitor". Then one day, a former CIA agent named Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), who has been on the run for 10 years, walks into the US consulate in South Africa, where Matt is. He is brought to the safe house by an expert team of interrogators. When the safe house is attacked, all hell breaks loose. Westin must now protect Frost until the CIA can get him and learns the shocking reason that Frost left the CIA.

This movie was so action packed. Ryan Reynolds was amazing, and gorgeous obviously, but Denzel Washington stole the show. This man can't just walk into a room, he saunters. As my friend said, he just floats on in. There's a scene where he literally strolls by and shoots someone, all while getting shot at. He's just calm as a cucumber. Every scene that Denzel is in, he is the star of the show. The movie was extremely action packed. There were car chases and shootouts and everything that you expect from an action flick. There was a tiny bit of romance, but it wasn't central to the plot. It was actually just a little distracting. That is really the only negative thing I can think of about the movie. I gave this movie 5 stars and Denzel's performance 10 stars.

All images are copyright of Universal Studios.

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Academy Award Winning Books #oscars

So who watched the Academy Awards Sunday night? I watched the red carpet for a little while, then decided to catch up on The Big Bang Theory, Hawaii Five-0, and The Walking Dead. Then I just checked online later to see who won.

Did you know that out of the nine movies nominated for Best Picture, six were based on books? Well now you do. Including all categories, eleven of the films nominated came from books. So let's learn more about them.

The Descendants: A Novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings - This is George Clooney's latest movie. The book is about a father trying his best to take care of his children after his wife ends up in a coma. His two daughters are a mess (even before the wife's accident) and it turns out that his wife was having an affair. The father ends up taking his daughters on a journey to find the man with whom the wife was having the affair. It is set in Hawaii and the main character is a descendant (hence the title) of Hawaiian royalty. I haven't read this one, but it sounds really good. It has almost a 4 star rating on goodreads and the author is a goodreads' author which is pretty cool. I'm also a sucker for a nice cover and this cover is pretty cool looking.

Moneyball : The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis - Not going to lie, this one goes completely over my head. It is about baseball and from what I gather the Oakland A's general manager and his unorthodox hiring practices. Not really my thing, but this might a good book for the sport's lover in your life. The author, Michael Lewis, is also the author of the Blind Side. If you've seen that movie (which you should) or read that book, he is the dad.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick - The movie is simply called Hugo. It is the story of a boy who lives in a Paris train station. I actually won this one a while ago and it has been staring at me from the bookshelves begging to be read ever since. It is literally staring at me as the spine is Hugo's face. I don't much about the book other than that it is a grand adventure with some sort of clock timey-wimey robot looking things. The book itself has won many awards and Brian Selznick is considered one of the most promising new authors for children.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - This has been on my to-read list forever. I have no idea why I haven't picked it up. I think it is because I am afraid it will be depressing. It concerns a 9-year-old boy whose father died in the World Trade Center. He is on a mission to find the lock that fits a key that was his father's. Along the way he meets a crazy cast of New York characters. It has a 4.11 rating on goodreads which is really high for goodreads. I have heard nothing but good things about it and I'm sure that I'll love it once I get around to it. I do have to admit that I hate the cover. I don't know why but it just irritates me. I'm weird, I know.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo - This book is actually based on a middle grade novel about a horse named Joey. He starts his life off on the farm with his owner Albert. When war breaks out, he is sent to be a war horse. Like Black Beauty, the book is narrated by the horse. You read as he fights in the trenches, gets to know and love his fellow soldiers, and dreams of getting back to his true master, Albert. Honestly, I'm getting teary-eyed just writing the description. It has gone to the top of my to-read list. From what I can tell, it is a really quick read at only 165 pages. Probably a great book for all the young history buffs and horse lovers in your life.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - This was one of my favorite reads of 2011. I absolutely loved this book. It is set in 1960's Mississippi and tells the story of a group of upper class white women and "the help". The help being the maids who basically are raising their children for them. One woman, Skeeter, wants to be a real writer some day, and decides to write a book about the maids. She sets into motion a lot of craziness, a TON of obnoxious racism that made me want to punch some white women in the face, and learns a lot about who she is. This is a really great book that I highly recommend.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre - This is actually a series about George Smiley, a British spy. John Le Carre is one of the foremost spy authors out there. He also wrote The Constant Gardener, which I loved. The plot centers on the spy George who must discover who the mole is in British Intelligence. The mole has been in British Intelligence for so long that they may very well be at the very top. This sounds really good, and Le Carre's books always have great ratings. You've probably heard of his most famous novel, also about George Smiley, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (The Adventures of Tintin: Original Classic) by Herge - If you don't know who TinTin is, I am sorry for your childhood. I used to love the TinTin books. The book I linked to is a reprint of the original TinTin book. TinTin is a Belgian reporter sent all over the world on assignment with his dog Snowy. Along the way he gets into tons of adventures. If you have a child, they need these books. If you want to re-capture your adventurous side, you need these books.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson - I'm not even going to describe this book. If you haven't heard of it, you might have been living under a rock for the last 2 years. This trilogy is hugely popular. I tried to get into the first one, but I just couldn't do it. I have since heard that once you get past the beginning, the book is amazing. I might re-try to read it at a later date, but maybe not.

My Week with Marilyn by Colin Clark - I really want to read this book. The book is the diaries of an assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. He is assigned to take care of Marilyn. They end up traveling all over the the English countryside and of course Colin falls just a little bit in love with her as she falls into more and more pills. I can't wait to read this. I love books that are diaries and of course Marilyn is just, well, Marilyn.





In addition to these books, both Puss-In-Boots and Albert Nobbs, are based on short stories.

I hope that you find some new books to read. Remember, take the pledge and always read the book first!

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The Polar Express Playdate

A local movie theater in my town Chunky's Cinema Pub has a free monthly kid's movie. It is great because they don't care if kids run around or are loud or throw their food at the screen. Ok they might care if the food gets on the screen, but otherwise it's all ok. This month's movie was The Polar Express. I've never been to this theater before, so it was an adventure for CJ and I. They let us into the theater at 11. We sat down at tables in these big comfy chairs and got to order lunch. CJ had the Donkey and Dragon Fingers (chicken fingers) and I had the Pirates of the Caribbean quesadillas. We got our lunch really fast and then we waited for the movie to start. CJ loved it. He was mostly interested in his chicken fingers and the fact that there were other kids he could see running around. But I was really impressed with how well he behaved. He sat in the high chair for 90% of the movie. Towards the end, I let him down so he could run because I knew he was going to start screaming if he didn't. The camera battery died right as we got into the movie, so my pics are only from before.

What do you mean you don't want animal crackers?!

Fine. More for me.

Literally running into the theater.

Why's it so dark in here?

No more animal crackers!?

Let me double check. 

Never mind I found ketchup. Yum!

If you are ever in the Haverhill MA area, check out Chunky's and see what is playing. I plan on going with Craig on date night sometime soon. :) Pin It