Redbox and Lots of Polish

I, once again, have cancelled my Netflix account. This 2nd time, I only had the streaming plan (no DVDs) so it wasn't that terribly pricey; however, there also wasn't a whole lot I was using with Netflix. When it comes down to it, Amazon Prime Instant works just as well. In fact, they seem to have the same contracts so it was really kind of useless to be paying for both (to be fair, I have Prime for the free 2-day shipping (regardless of order price point) and not for the Prime Instant, that came a year or so after I started with paying for Prime). The only real plus to Netflix over Amazon Prime Instant is the "next episode" auto play (or option) on Netflix. Amazon Prime doesn't have it (makes sense since some things you might have to pay for), but I wish they could figure out a way to make it do that. I strongly dislike having to exit out of my full screen, find the next episode, hit play, and then go back to full screen. I know...what an absolutely harsh life I live (aka #firstworldproblems), but...come on!

At any rate, I'm really interested to see how Redbox does their streaming service. Their service has been "coming soon" for a few months now and I'm really interested to see how it's different than Netflix. It's fairly cheap (cheaper than Netflix at $8/month for unlimited streaming and 4 DVDs out per month) and if it carries the NEW DVDs on streaming, it will be well worth the money.

Let's do some math:

1 DVD = $1.30 (tax included)
$8 subscription / $1.30 movie = ~ 6.15 movies/month
6.15 movies * 12 months = 73.8 movies/year

Let's round up to 74 movies. I watched 101 movies last year and 16 of them were in theaters (I rewatched 2 of them in theater too, but that's not in my count). That's 85 movies I did not watch in theater and all of them but one (to my recollection) I rented from Redbox. That's 84 movies! And also $109.20 for the year (really not a large number for watching 84 movies...). So, I basically get to watch 10 movies for free or save $13.20. Not a large sum, admittedly, but let's factor in my potential wait times (I still haven't been able to track Frankenweenie down) and also sometimes out-of-the-way driving to return a Redbox (why isn't there one at the Monterey mall or anywhere near the mall?!). Not to mention I lost out on a $1.30 once because I reserved a movie ahead of time, but when I got there, the machine was broken (last time I've reserved a DVD...). So, based on time and convenience, it's worth the money. The fact I actually do save money (if I watch at least 75 movies), it's like icing on a cake. With that said, it'll mostly be worth it for me if it carries the new movies. If I have to wait weeks after a new movie comes out, I might make do, but since I'm currently caught up, I'm going to have an awkward lull; however, I could go check out a physical DVD too, but it also sort of loses its appeal for me. So, anyway, it'll be interesting. If it carries the new stuff, it'll be ahead of Netflix and Amazon Instant (no clue with iTunes). If it doesn't, what's the point? I will say that Netflix is relying more on its TV show availability than its movies, so, we'll see!

Had some good and interesting nails the past week or so. I've been trying to cleanse my palette lately (i.e., I've been in a nail funk), but I had two recent incidents that required fancy nails. Both were a pain to do and only one turned out really good. Not to say the other one is bad, but it's definitely not my favorite and lasted a sort of 2 days. LoL My current mani is just pretty. :)

Before I get to the photos, though, I was looking at some blogger photos of a new Valentine's Day collection from an indie brand. I saw one of the polishes and instantly went, "GUM!" Gum, as in bubble gum. I sat there thinking about it for a minute and then figured out WHICH gum it reminded me of. I went and found a photo and, yup, I'm a dork. I know I love my gum (goodness knows I eat enough of it and try all sort of flavors regularly), but I didn't realize I was starting to become a connoisseur of gum!

This is what I mean:

        

Left: Pointless Cafe's swatch of Nail Junkie's Bouquet. Right: Ice Breakers Ice Cubes in Bubble Breeze.

See what I mean? Pink (not sure why that shade of pink always says "bubble gum," but it does) base with blue glitter. That gum is pink base with blue flavor crystals! Of all the gums in the world, I think of this gum. I will say that I've only bought that particular flavor twice too. I enjoy the kiwi watermelon one the most. I just tried the new grape, which reminded me of Dimetapp grape flavor. It was, by far, my favorite medicine as a kid. LoL So, I didn't NOT enjoy the grape medicine flavor of the new grape Ice Breakers Ice Cubes gum. :P

Anyway, on to photos...

 

(Click photos to enlarge) Glitter Gal Lizard Belly for the tips, China Glaze Devotion for the silver stamp, BM 16 for the stamp, and Northern Lights in silver for the holo glitter in the clear base. I did this to show a co-worker I could do something similar to what she wanted (leopard on a gold base). This was more me than doing an animal print. :) I have never done something like this so it was a total shot in the dark and it turned out really good! I really liked it. Some of my tips could have been angled a little more, but it still looked good. This took a LONG time, though. Base primer, base, Northern Lights, tip color, tip stamp, top coat. Yeah, work! I had to wait for Northern Lights and the tip color to dry before the next steps too.

I had a meeting that was going to be a Superbowl theme (meeting was focused on teamwork) and we were asked to wear our favorite team's colors or jerseys or whatever. I don't watch football, but my manager and a co-worker are 49er fans. To honor that, I did 49er nails. Red is nubar Fiery Red and gold accent is Zoya Goldie. The gold moons are nubar 24k. The logo are various nubar nail art pens. I knew I was never a moon person (the crescents at the top), but I decided to try it. Yeah, first off, I didn't really like how I drew my moons and, second, I just didn't really like them. It's just weird to me. Then I drew the SF 49ers logo and it took a ridiculous amount of time to do and I did NOT like how it looked. There were flaws all over it and it drove me nuts. Sure, it's better than most people could do, but the flaws drove me bonkers. I wore the logo for a day, but the rest of the colors (had a white plain nail) for 2 days. I had a male customer said he liked my nails. It was funny.

Luckily, for those polishes, I already had red and gold polishes. I bought them for my Gryffindor colors (every nail person should have his/her Harry Potter house colors in polish!), but then people started pointing out to me they all thought it was Iron Man. Hm. The red is a smidgen darker in person, but whatever. I can see it (and started seeing Iron Man towards the end). It's scarlet and scarlet is bright, which is what it is on the color wheel and what Gryffindor's colors are. :P So...They're my Gryffindor colors!

 

Above the Curve Risen Angel. This is a loose linear (I think it's linear) holo and it's PRETTY! It's like a purple-gray color and the holo in it is amazing. It's really distracting to look at because the shift is really neat. I like linear ones because it's a strong rainbow, but this loose one is almost more distracting because it's softer and is ALL over the nail. The two left photos are in artificial light, but show the color shift. The right one (excuse the dry cuticles...ick) is in the sun just to show it's all sparkley! It looks better in person.

I also stamped the ring fingers, but it's hard to see and sort of moot when you've got a pretty holo polish! It's BM 306 with China Glaze Devotion, though. This is what the polish looks like without the bling going. :)

With that...Not much going on. Work hasn't been fun, but what are you going to do about it? Hopefully not murder anyone, I suppose...*sigh* Watched Frankenweenie, but will post about that later since I'll be watching Hotel Transylvania this week. Started doing my taxes too. Fantastic that Goodwill pays me just enough to mess me up, but not enough to really live on. *rolls eyes* My student loans ended up saving me and also being a renter in the state of California. Who'd of thunk...

Anyway, I'm off!

Redbox, Musings, and Fantastic Nails

I, once again, have cancelled my Netflix account. This 2nd time, I only had the streaming plan (no DVDs) so it wasn't that terribly pricey; however, there also wasn't a whole lot I was using with Netflix. When it comes down to it, Amazon Prime Instant works just as well. In fact, they seem to have the same contracts so it was really kind of useless to be paying for both (to be fair, I have Prime for the free 2-day shipping (regardless of order price point) and not for the Prime Instant, that came a year or so after I started with paying for Prime). The only real plus to Netflix over Amazon Prime Instant is the "next episode" auto play (or option) on Netflix. Amazon Prime doesn't have it (makes sense since some things you might have to pay for), but I wish they could figure out a way to make it do that. I strongly dislike having to exit out of my full screen, find the next episode, hit play, and then go back to full screen. I know...what an absolutely harsh life I live (aka #firstworldproblems - yes, for not Tweeting, I do know some of the common hashtags thanks to the FB/Twitter integration...), but...come on!

At any rate, I'm really interested to see how Redbox does their streaming service. Their service has been "coming soon" for a few months now and I'm really interested to see how it's different than Netflix. It's fairly cheap (cheaper than Netflix at $8/month for unlimited streaming and 4 DVDs out per month) and if it carries the NEW DVDs on streaming, it will be well worth the money.

Let's do some math:

1 DVD = $1.30 (tax included)
$8 subscription / $1.30 movie = ~ 6.15 movies/month
6.15 movies * 12 months = 73.8 movies/year

Let's round up to 74 movies. I watched 101 movies last year and 16 of them were in theaters (I rewatched 2 of them in theater too, but that's not in my count). That's 85 movies I did not watch in theater and all of them but one (to my recollection) I rented from Redbox. That's 84 movies! And also $109.20 for the year (really not a large number for watching 84 movies...). So, I basically get to watch 10 movies for free or save $13.20. Not a large sum, admittedly, but let's factor in my potential wait times (I still haven't been able to track Frankenweenie down) and also sometimes out-of-the-way driving to return a Redbox (why isn't there one at the Monterey mall or anywhere near the mall?!). Not to mention I lost out on a $1.30 once because I reserved a movie ahead of time, but when I got there, the machine was broken (last time I've reserved a DVD...). So, based on time and convenience, it's worth the money. The fact I actually do save money (if I watch at least 75 movies), it's like icing on a cake. With that said, it'll mostly be worth it for me if it carries the new movies. If I have to wait weeks after a new movie comes out, I might make do, but since I'm currently caught up, I'm going to have an awkward lull; however, I could go check out a physical DVD too, but it also sort of loses its appeal for me. So, anyway, it'll be interesting. If it carries the new stuff, it'll be ahead of Netflix and Amazon Instant (no clue with iTunes). If it doesn't, what's the point? I will say that Netflix is relying more on its TV show availability than its movies, so, we'll see!

I was going to have a few musings, but my Redbox sort of turned into a musing. My main thing was going to talk about life and death. A morbid musing for sure, but it's been a rough first part of the year for me with a family death, my housemate's grandfather's death, and I found out today a regular customer I like (and hadn't seen in months) was diagnosed with cancer in October and given a year to live (reason I haven't seen him in months). Not to mention pet deaths (two, so far) and they were dearly loved. Partially from all of this, I was talking to my housemate (and co-worker) and we got into a discussion about if there was a way to stop our cells from aging or to continue to reproduce, would we do it? We discussed it in a hypothetical term of taking a pill and we threw in the whole you can stop taking the pill if you wish to "die." That brings up other thoughts about assisted suicide (or suicides in general), but it was an interesting discussion about whether 1) Would people want to take "the pill"; 2) How would the world/class system be affected; and 3) If whether people would stop wanting to take "the pill." I actually associated this all with the movie In Time with Justin Timerblake and Amanda Seyfried. My co-worker has seen it and it almost perfectly illustrates how I feel it would end up. In that world, time is currency and when you run out, you're dead. I don't think time would end up being the currency since our lives can't be tied like that, but it's pretty similar. If you stop taking the pill, you'd die. If you run out of money, no more pill, no more life.

Welcome to the New Year! ...2.5 weeks late...

2.5 weeks in and my first real post...Not to say that life has been really crazy, but I have been in bookland a LOT. I've already read 4 books? Not small books either. So, mostly it's been me reading with the occasional movie (not watching a ton of TV either). I also have, weirdly, been really rundown by the end of my work week and sleeping 13 hours...I did it yesterday (Wed) and the previous Wed (they are my Fridays). I get home, fall asleep for about 4 hours, wake up at midnight, get ready for bed, awake for an hour, and pass out again till either 9:30 or 10:30. I haven't remembered sleeping like that in a LONG time. Then again, I'm fine all week (no naps or anything) and then come my Friday, I'm just super tired. I feel pretty good after the sleep marathon too. Who knows.

Work has been okay. Not much new or different. I'm taking a 4-day weekend at the end of February and think I'll do another one the end of May. Pretty much trying to get my licks in before our manager goes on, basically, paternity leave for about 3-4 weeks. We'll be a keyholder down so I likely won't be enjoying my extra days off for the 4th of July since he'll be gone by then! :) I still have only used 10 hours of paid-time-off in the year I've been there. I STILL won't be using any PTO for my 4 -days (holiday, normal weekend, and safety day (accumulation of perk hours we get)), but whatever. Maybe after he comes back I'll take a full week as my compensation for managing while he was gone!

Been slowing down my nail polish too. I think Christmas wore me out...It wore me out LAST year too. At any rate, I'm going at a rate of about every 5-7 days. For Christmas, I was averaging every 2-3 days (3 manis a week). Mostly it's around 5 days now. Nothing fancy lately either. This weekend I think I will, though, because a co-worker requested fancy tips. My nails are long and I want to trim them down, but I think I'll do the fancy tips first. I haven't done anything with tips lately.

At any rate, not much in regards to life or work or anything else. Everything is about same ol', same ol'. I am working on my most recent Aquarium peer review comments. We're thinking it'll be the last one and they'll close the peer review portion. I did, randomly and weirdly, get bit by something ALL along my back. I have 12 bites. It must have been in my shirt or something. It was a shirt I hadn't worn in a while, but still. It's mainly in two areas (opposite sides too). Who knows. It's weird and also annoying because (I swear) 10/12 bites all itch like crazy!

With that, I have managed a fair amount of movies. In 17 days, I've managed to watch 7 movies. Three of them I watched today (To Rome with Love, Gangster Squad, and Beasts of the Southern Wild).  I'll comment on the Oscar nomations a bit at the end too.

Django Unchained (Jamie Foxx, Christopher Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio) - First movie of the year! Didn't think I was going to end up watching it in theater, but I ended up doing it for various reasons. At any rate, I liked it, but it is rather bloody. I liked the music in the movie too. I'm not surprised it got an Oscar nod (it's Tarantino, of course it would have) and I'm glad Waltz got a supporting actor nod. Waltz was really good. In fact, not to say Foxx was bad, but Waltz and DiCaprio were superb and stole the movie for me. DiCaprio was SO good, I actually got distracted during the movie thinking, "Goodness DiCaprio is a good actor." I suppose that's a little ironic since if he was so good I shouldn't have been distracted by his acting, but he was so good I was distracted, but whatever. DiCaprio was really good. Waltz was absolutely excellent too. The movie, I will say, didn't play out the way I thought it would. I thought the saving-Django's-woman plot was going to be a subplot or towards the end, but it actually is the MAIN plot of the movie. Their bounty hunting is maybe the first half hour. The movie was also pretty funny (not unexpected). So, I enjoyed it. I'm rather hesitant to recommend it to people who I'm not sure of their movie tastes because it is a little on the bloody-R-rated side of films, but if you don't mind the blood, some word usages, and like Tarantino films, I'd say go for it. Grade: B (perhaps a B+ because I really liked DiCaprio and Waltz)

Ted (Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis) - I heard this was funny by multiple people and multiple people told me I should watch it. Maybe my expectations were too high or I just really don't prefer stupid-humor movies (this falls into the category), but I didn't find it as fantastic as people led me to believe. Sure, it was funny, but I didn't think it was *that* funny. The thunder/lightning song was kind of funny (though, I could have lived without its ending). It's a cute film in its own way and it was funny, but it wasn't as good as I was led to believe. It's definitely for older audiences. Grade: C

Ice Age: Continental Drift - The 4th movie in the Ice Age saga and I enjoyed it. This one is a lot about family and being there for each other. It's pretty much your typical Ice Age film and I can't say it's worse or better than the others. Then again, it's been a while since I watched the others too. Did you know it's been 10 years (in 2012, that is) when the first one came out? Since I've only watched the subsequent sequels only once each, I can only compare to the first and the first is still the best. With that said, the first is more about friends becoming family and sticking together. This one is really about family and all that comes with family. It even has Syd's crazy grandmother! Grade: B

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry) - I can see why people liked it. Wallis does an amazing acting job for being so young. She's the youngest actress to have been nominated for the leading actress award (at age 9) and she's really good (REALLY good). The story is touching too. I don't quite get the whole point other than the fact Wallis's and Henry's characters reconnect at the end, but it is an interesting story about the folks of Bathtub and how they survive the storm that, basically, wipes out their town. I can also see why people may not like it, but I like it's fantastical drama and it's good acting. Don't think I'd watch it again, but I'm glad I watched it. Grade: B

Gangster Squad (Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin, etc) - The first 2013 released film! Not the best film, but it was good. Set in the late 40's, there is a lot of gun shooting, but I liked the acting. It was a good action/mob film. I am definitely enjoying Gosling as an actor. I thought I was getting a little tired of him (don't ask me why) after the Gosling-streak (Drive, Ides of March, and Crazy, Stupid, Love), but watching Gangaster Squad made me like him again. He's a good actor. I also liked the Emma Stone/Gosling duo too (I liked them in Crazy, Stupid, Love too). At any rate, I liked the film for its action and the acting was decent. Brolin DEFINITELY is your spittin' image of a decent, loyal, honest cop in the late 40's, whereas Penn definitely made a good mobster. Funny how some people just have those looks. Fluff, but good fluff. Grade: B (maybe B-)

To Rome with Love (Woody Allen, Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, etc) - I am totally baffled by this movie. What did I watch? Things started going haywire in the middle and, at the end, everything went back to the way it was before? Except, no one is the same. My MAJOR complaint about the movie is 3 people end up cheating on their significant others. One pair are a recently married couple and they both cheat and then one guy cheats on his girlfriend with her best friend. Everyone goes back to their significant others and everyone's lives go back to the way they were at the beginning of the film (just changed), but...still! Baldwin's character with Eisenberg's was also kind of confusing and one of the other characters suddenly gets famous for no good reason and Allen's character convinces the father of his daughter's fiance to sing opera, except he can only sing spectacularly in the shower so they drag him around stag in a shower stall. It was a bizarre film, but I liked some of the stories and I liked some of the actors. It's a Woody Allen film, but I far more enjoyed Midnight in Paris. Grade: C-

Bourne Legacy (Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton) - What did I watch? I get the point to intersperse the previous Bourne movies (the Matt Damon ones) throughout this one to connect it and explain why they were killing all the operatives, but, at the same time, it was rather unnecessary. To top it off, this movie was waaaaay out there in comparison to the others. This one is all about Renner's character trying to get hold of the "blue pill." The operatives were taking two pills: green and blue. The green were for the physical adaptations they had done to them. The blue was for the mental. He didn't need the green anymore since they injected him with some virus or something that kept his physical peak up, but the blue was needed for his mental state. The operation was closed down, so he hooked up with one of the scientists to get to an Asian country (I forget where now) to get him injected with the virus (or whatever) for the blue to be permanent. Yeah, that was the ENTIRE story. I like Renner and Weisz was good, but it was a dud of a movie, more-or-less. It wasn't anywhere near the standards of the previous Bourne movies. I wouldn't have minded the spin-off if it had either more of a point or was to the standard of the previous one. Chris and I did have a short debate about whether Damon's or Renner's character would win, though. Jury is still out on that one. Grade: C

Oscar nomations! Wasn't too surprised. They were pretty accurately predicted. I do think it was interesting that they did obtain 9 movies (the most) for this year. Some of the stuff I was reading was thinking it was possible with movies all over the map this year that there weren't going to be enough votes to reach 9, but apparently there was.

Best Picture: I haven't heard of Amour (I think...), but the rest I want to see. If you take out Amour, I've seen half (Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérsables, and Silver Linings Playbook). I want to see Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty. Critics are guessing it's probably Lincoln's to lose. My personal opinion? I'd like Silver Linings Playbook to win. I liked Les Mis an awful lot and it'd be great if it won too, but I think Silver Linings Playbook sort of had it all and has a better shot.

Plus, interestingly enough, Silver Linings Playbook has a nominee in all 4 actor/actress categories, writing for an adaptation, and director. Lincoln misses all actor/actress with a miss in best lead actress. Lincoln does have the most nominations of all, though.

I am a little sad Skyfall didn't make Best Picture. I know it's a Bond film and no Bond film has ever been nominated, but Django Unchained was nominated and, frankly, the acting was just as good and it's just as much of an action film. In some ways, I find it more appealing than Django, but that is personal preference.

Not surprised about the animated films. Not sure of The Pirates! Band of Misfits (never heard of it, but there seems to always be one every year). I will have watched 3/5 by Oscar time. I won't get Wreck-it Ralph in time. My prediction is Wreck-it Ralph will win. Funny too how, basically, Disney has 3 of the 5 nominations. Okay, so Pixar did Brave, but since they're now owned by Disney and Frankenweenie is released by Disney and so is Wreck-it Ralph, Disney really is maintaining its high on animation rights! Poor DreamWorks needs to get its act together for 2013 (How to Train Your Dragon 2 comes out in 2014...).

I like looking at the music scores, but since I've only see 1 of the films nominated, it's hard to compare. Some big names, though: Desplat, Williams, and Newman. I might have to check them out and see if I can figure out who might win. Original Song I've less of an opinion about than the scores. I liked Skyfall by Adele, but I'd be surprised if it won. I can't remember the rest off the top of my head and I've heard 3/5 of them.

Costume design made me chuckle that Mirror Mirror was nominated against Anna Karenina, Les Mis, Lincoln, and Snow White and the Huntsman. It was a total "what?" nomination, in my opinion. Goodness. Snow White and the Huntsman I can see because Theron's costumes were rather elaborate. I'm betting Anna Karenina wins.

With that, I don't really have much else to comment on. I'll do what I normally do...Don't watch it, read who wins on-line (probably some blogger updating during real time), and look at all the red carpet photos with details on-line. It's what I do every year and it works for me! Speaking of red carpet photos, I never did finish the Golden Globes...Must get back to that! :)

With that...Back to reading and editing!

2012 Movie Recap

Seems to be a record breaking year for me. I read over 50 new books (I reread a bit more than a dozen books in addition to the new ones) and I was only trying for 24 (2 a month) and I watched over 70 movies this year. The movies are really impressive since I made it to 101! Next year's goal will have to be 100, but my low goal will be 80. I won't watch something I don't have any desire to watch.

At any rate, of the 101 movies I watched, 39 were movies from last year or earlier (so about 61% was from this year). I will say that I've watched so many movies this year that it's hard to remember those movies even came out this year! Funny how quickly the year flies by and, at the same time, January 1st felt like ages ago.

Here's my 2011 recap to compare. I did much better this year than last year's for my 2011's to see on DVD and I did okay on my 2012's to watch.

I didn't watch from 2011 (out of 19):

• Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• The Beginners (technically, that's a 2010 movie, but it's on my 2011 list)
  

Have to say, 2/19 is really good. I didn't even realize The Beginners technically came out in 2010 till I tried finding it to watch earlier in the year. Oops. I still haven't watched it, for whatever reason. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just didn't appeal to me in the end. I saw the Swedish ones and I wanted to watch this one to compare, but realized I really didn't need to watch it.

Ones I didn't watch from 2012 (out of 20):

• GI Joe: Retaliation
• Ice Age: Continental Drift
• The Bourne Legacy
• Rise of the Guardians
• Life of Pi
• The Great Gatsby
  

14/20 isn't bad, especially when I'm counting GI Joe and The Great Gatsby in my count and they were pushed back to 2013 (so, truly 14/18). Ice Age just came out on DVD and RedBox is getting it a month later so I'll watch it in January. Bourne Legacy I wanted to see, but kept putting it off. In fact, I so wanted to watch it that I actually thought I *had* watched it, but couldn't remember anything about it, which tipped me off to the fact I hadn't seen it. I'll watch it on DVD next year for sure. Rise of the Guardians is doing pretty well in theater right now, but it's going to be Wreck-It Ralph as the animation I *really* want to see this year that I haven't. I'll watch both on DVD. Life of Pi will be a movie rental (always thought that if I did want to see it), and Great Gatsby will also be a movie rental.

With that said...On to favorites of 2012 movies (will not include movies that came out in 2011 or earlier)!

Favorites of the year (no particular order):

• The Avengers
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• Skyfall
• Dark Knight Rises
• Hunger Games
• Les Miserables
  

Definitely a short list of favorites this year...Kind of a dud of a year for me. Not to say there weren't good movies, but they weren't "favorites." I will say there were a lot of the indies I enjoyed that I probably wouldn't see again, but I did highly enjoy them (e.g., Moonrise Kingdom). 

Must see movie of the year: Avengers, Hobbit, Les Miserables (all tie!)
Runner-ups: Those three pretty much sum it up for me

Favorite stupid comedy: 21 Jump Street
Runner-up: N/A

Romantic/Romantic Comedy: Silver Linings Playbook (not your typical rom-com, but I'm putting it here)
Runner-ups: Moonrise Kingdom (more drama than comedy), What to Expect When You're Expecting (more comedy than rom), and This Means War (your typical rom-com)

Horror: Does Dark Shadows count? It was the only thing remotely close that I watched.

Family film (non-animated): The Hobbit (I'm counting it as family!)
Runner-up: N/A

Family film (animated): Brave
Runner-up: Lorax

Action-Adventure: Skyfall
Runner-up: Looper

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Comic: Hobbit (actually surpassed Avengers)
Runner-ups: Avengers, Dark Knight Rises, Hunger Games

Drama: Les Miserables
Runner-ups: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Flowers of War

Worst of the year: By far, Wanderlust still beats everyone out! That movie leaves images in your head you wish you never saw! L!fe Happens, 5-Year Engagement, and Lawless would be the ones that follow (least to greatest). 

That was actually hard to compile. I feel like there were a lot of "notable" movies, but not a lot of stand outs.

2012 Movies to See on DVD in 2013 (no order):

• Ice Age: Continental Drift
• The Bourne Legacy
• Rise of the Guardians
• Life of Pi
• Wreck-It Ralph
• Lincoln
• Argo
• Flight
• The Impossible
• Anna Karenina
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Frankenweenie
• Zero Dark Thirty (it hits theaters in a week, but came out in 2012)
• Promised Land
• Django
  

2013 Movies I Want to (Most Likely) See (release date order):

• Hansel and Gretal: Witch Hunters (1/25)
• A Good Day to Die Hard (2/14)
• Jack and the Giant Slayer (3/1)
• Oz: The Great and Powerful (3/8)
• GI Joe: Retaliation (3/29)
• The Host (3/29)
• Iron Man 3 (5/3)
• The Great Gatsby (5/10)
• Star Trek Into Darkness (5/17)
• The Hangover Part III (5/24)
• Now You See Me (6/7)
• This is the End (6/14)
• Man of Steel (6/14)
• Monsters University (6/21)
• Kick-Ass 2 (6/28)
• Despicable Me 2 (7/3)
• Lone Ranger (7/3)
• The Wolverine (7/26)
• Red 2 (8/2)
• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (8/16)
• Mortal Instruments (8/23)
• Thor: The Dark World (11/8)
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (11/22)
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (12/13)

I am most excited for The Hobbit (duh!), Iron Man 3, Thor, Hunger Games, and Star Trek. I will most likely see all of those in theater. I'm also interested in Monsters University, but it may not be a theater watch, but we'll see. There's a few others I'm interested in too, but I can't remember what they are...Too many movie trailer watching. :) It looks like it'll be a better next year than this year, but we'll see. You never know!

So, next year's low goal will be 80 and high goal will be 100. I've listed 39 movies to watch next year, but we'll see. 

101 movies and a Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Okay, I'm a little early, but close enough for most of the world. :) With hours to spare, I managed to watch 101 movies for the year! That would be new movies, for me, of course.

Here are my last 7 movies of the year!

Les Miserables (Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, etc) - I loved it. Seyfried was a little high for me and Crowe was a little low for me, but I really liked it and they really didn't bother me too much. I think the casting (physically) was spot on and the singing was good. Sure, it's not the normal Broadway singing you normally hear for Les Mis, but I liked it. The emotional singing with the acting was really powerful. It is one of those movies you can't just listen to the soundtrack for. I much prefer the Broadway recordings compared to the movie, but I really liked the movie and it might even be one I buy. To say the least, I can now say that I love the book, play, and movie, which is an amazing feat! I do think Anne Hathway could be easily nominated for an Oscar or many of the others too. Grade: A

10 Years (Channing Tatum, Justin Long, etc) - Wasn't sure what to expect from this movie. I thought it'd be a little more on the comedy end, but it was actually more on the drama end. The movie was more about growing up and how people change when they meet each other at their high school reunion. It had that great slight awkwardness of seeing old friends, telling how your life has changed, etc. It wasn't spectacular and at moments rather sad to see how many of them hadn't really grown up; however, at the end, things turn and you can sort of see the moment when they decide it's time to grow up and let high school go. Don't think I'd readily recommend it, but it wasn't a total flop. Grade: C-

ParaNorman (animation - Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, etc) - It was cute. The animation had that fake-realistic feel to it (like Coraline or Corpse Bride). It wasn't a spectacular story, but I liked how things weren't always what you thought and it was sort of a coming-of-age/acceptance animated Sixth Sense. I liked the animation and the story is cute, but it's definitely a Halloween movie and not a post-Christmas movie! Watching zombies and witches and a kid who can see/speak to ghosts is just not what you think of to watch post-Christmas. It's not overly scary, but it's definitely for those that are 10+ since the witch is a little scary and there are zombies and dead people (and a dog that got run over...that was disturbing and funny at the same time - reminded me of the armadillo in Rango). Grade: C+/B-

The Words (Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid) - It's a story-within-a-story-within-a-story movie. It's a little confusing when you try to untangle it and I can see why that's one thing people just didn't like about the movie. The story is the author reading from pieces from his book (Quaid is the author and Cooper is the main character) and then you find out, in the end, because Olivia Wilde's character kept pushing, that the story, believed to be fictional, is actually (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) biographical. Which then made my brain hurt a little because I had to figure out which character he was supposed to be (I was tired, okay?!). Anyway, the acting wasn't bad and I enjoyed Cooper, but the story was just "off" and the 3-deep story situation was not fantastic. I don't think it was as bad as it was made out to be, but it's certainly not fantastic and I'm not surprised it didn't do well. Grade: C-/D+

Trouble with the Curve (Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams) - I can see why the movie didn't get better reviews. The acting was good and the father-daughter relationship was interesting, but it felt a little too gruff and off-putting and you didn't make up enough with the characters at the end to feel truly satisfied with it. With that said, I enjoy Justin Timberlake's acting. I've seen him in a few different things and he's always fun to watch. I liked Amy Adams too and I liked Clint Eastwood's gruff, hard-to-get-close-to attitude. The baseball scouting story semi-interesting. I mean, it wasn't really a surprise in how it was going to end. It was an okay movie, but it does have a lot of cussing in it. Grade: C

Why Stop Now? (Jesse Eisenberg, Melissa Leo, etc) - I like Eisenberg so I tend to watch a lot of his indie films. This one was weird in a silly sense because Eisenberg's character is trying to get into this conservatory internship based on his piano skills, but his mom (Leo) is having troubles with drugs, and he's got a younger sister. He tries to get his mom into rehab, but she can't go because she doesn't have insurance and her urine screen is clean (she sobered up before entering). The doctor tells her that if her urine screen is not clean, they can admit her, but not if it's clean since she has no insurance. Irony? Yeah. So they go off on a hunt to get her some drugs so she can go to rehab. In that process, they confront their issues (family and personal) in a wild and twisted path. It's really rather silly and over the top, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been either. Definitely not one I'd really recommend either. Grade: C-

Looper (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt) - Time travel, it's always the kicker that can confuse you. At the same time, the name says it all: Loops. It was an interesting concept of a movie and had an interesting (if not noticeable from a mile away) solution/answer to the "how." The little boy, though, is CREEPY! Man that kid has a good "creepy" sort of "possessed" look to him. He definitely tripped you out. It was a movie about how far you are willing to protect those you love and the consequences those actions have on others. I liked the movie and thought it was really interesting. There is a lot of blood and some nudity (definitely deserves its rating), but it was intellectually interesting (again, time travel movies tend to mess with your head). It was interesting how old Joe could come back from the future to young Joe to avenge his future wife's death by killing the Rainmaker, but because he's old Joe, he got the jump on young Joe to save his own life. See what I mean?! At any rate, I liked it, but it won't be for everyone because of its rating. Grade: B (maybe C+ because there are some extraneous things in the movie...)

With that...Looper was number 101 and Why Stop Now? 100! YAY! I exceeded my goal by a LOT and also meat my far reaching goal too. Not bad! With that, I'm off to ring in the New Year and to start writing my end of the year favorites/recap. As for nails, I may do a post about my water marble attempt at a later date and a quick book update. I don't work tomorrow so I get to sleep in. Yay!

Can I make it 100 movies?

I hope everyone has a good Christmas and Christmas Eve! I'm flying down south tomorrow. I'm going to be super tired and have to try and sleep tonight, but I suspect a nap might be in order tomorrow since my flight leaves at 6am.

I'm tempted to head to Santa Anita on the 26th, but I won't. It's opening day for the winter meet and it's the day they give their calendar out to everyone who enters! I've had to buy the last 2 year's calendars since I've never managed to make it opening day. People always sell them on-line and it's now become one of my "must" calendars to get every year. I like Santa Anita (have I said that before?). Not sure what 2013's theme will be, though. 2011 was movies; 2012 was retired Thoroughbreds.

It's been a crazy movie watching week! I've managed to watch 7, which puts me at 94 movies. There is a good chance I'll make it to 100 or 101! Crazy...I should say that this would be all new movies I've seen this year. I've rewatched at least a dozen films this year (if not more) and, let's be honest, the extended version of LotR should be counted as watching 6 movies, not 3. :)

The Hobbit (High frame rate, 3D) - Not counting this in my count since I already watched it, but I wanted to do a review of the HFR 3D compared to the normal 2D. There were a few moments (especially in the beginning) that felt like they were on fast forward and they were sporadically here-and-there, but it wasn't enough to really bother me. The really interesting difference between HFR and the normal rate, was the clarity of the picture. It felt sharper and less "movie looking." Typically, when the movies go through editing, they throw a patina over the entire movie to equalize the colors/lighting of the film and so forth. The HFR made it look crisper and sort of removed that patina that movies tend to have. It made it look more realistic in the filming (like a low budget film or one that's made to look like it's raw). It was kind of weird to watch because my brain would sometimes be awed by the HFR and how it made the movie look. Most impressively, despite the "look," the CG still looked amazing. In some ways, I think it made the CG look more real. I did find the movie a little longer the 2nd time and the preface (of the preface) was a little weirder the 2nd time, but I still would see it again. I did enjoy the CG more the 2nd time than the first (i.e., the Gollum riddles scene). I don't think I'd see it in 3D again, though. The 3D was good, but it wasn't a type of movie that had "extreme" 3D so you sort of forgot the movie was in 3D even though there was depth to where people were standing in relation to each other. The most times you noticed the 3D were during the captions. If they did HFR in 2D, I'd be all over that.

Savages (Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson) - What a boring movie. The actual plot of the movie happens about 40 minutes into the movie! I guess the point was to set up the scenario and their drug making? I don't know, but it wasn't that great. I liked Salma Hayek's character the best. She had the most interesting role. The acting wasn't bad, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Grade: D

The Watch (Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade) - I wasn't sure what to expect considering I knew it was an alien movie. It was definitely silly, but it wasn't too bad. It was funny and over-the-top, but I liked the family message. Vaughn's character might not be the greatest dad, but, when it came down to it, he loved his daughter and was more concerned about her than aliens taking over their neighborhood. He basically rescued her from being raped when she went to a party against his wishes. His character also told Stiller's to be honest with his wife about his fertility issues. It was silly and crud at times, but it was an okay rental when you knew it was going to be silly. Grade: C

Silver Linings Playbook (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence) - I liked this. There's a fair amount of cussing, but I liked it. It's humorous and everyone does a great acting job. I really liked Cooper in his role and Lawrence was also good. De Niro as Cooper's football obsessed father was also good. It was a cute film about family, moving on, and finding the "silver lining" in things. The dancing was definitely NOT what I expected, but it definitely worked for them (even the awkward part, which was funny). I'd watch it again if it came out on DVD, but I don't know if I'd want to own it. I can see the Oscar buzz, though. Grade: B+

Resident Evil: Retribution (Mila Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, etc) - I've always wanted to see the Resident Evil movies, but have never managed to do it (the last movie wouldn't play on my computer, weird). I FINALLY got to watch one (this one) and I was warned that the story is pretty bad and it's mostly all action. Yeah, it pretty much lived up to the warning. I like over-the-top action films (fluff action films!) so I enjoyed watching things blow up and the special effects, but the story was definitely lame. I was 3/4 paying attention to it and I had to have someone explain to me what was going on (didn't help that I missed the other movies prior). Basically, she was escaping the facility that was below ground. That was the entire story, mostly. At any rate, the special effects during the fighting was good, but not much else was there. Grade: C (C- for the lack of story)

Arbitrage (Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon) - I had to watch this on closed captions the entire movie (long story why) so I got to watch a movie as if I was deaf. It was kind of a new experience. Silent films and this were two different things since I had to pay attention to the closed captions while a silent film is mostly you just watching and no dialogue. I'm not sure if I missed something or not, but I got the feeling the end was just like, "That's it?! He doesn't get in trouble?" At any rate, the acting is good, but Gere's character just digs himself into a bigger and bigger hole from the very start. He sort of get's partially out of it at the end, but goodness...You feel really bad for his family! Maybe the point was it'll all come back to haunt him or something. I don't know, but I wasn't satisfied with the ending. Grade: D

Premium Rush (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, etc) - This wasn't too bad. I like the whole bike messenger angle and those poor actors REALLY had to learn to bike! Wow! The story wasn't too bad and I was glad there was a better reason for him being tracked down then an illicit drug deal or something. It was a better reason than that. Everyone got his/her due in the end too. It was an okay movie. It wasn't fantastic, but it passed the time and I like Gordon-Levitt. Grade: C

Now to nails...This won't be all of the ones I've done, but my two favorites since my last post.

The left one is Smitten Polish Frost Fairies (base) with KBShimmer Peppermint Crush on the top. Peppermint Crush was scented to smell like vanilla peppermint. It smelled so good I could have eaten my nails. Oh man, it smelled good. It lasted about 2 days. The 2nd day it was less strong, but I could barely smell it. The first 24 hours it was really strong.

The right one is Contrary Polish Frozen (base) with DollishPolish You'll Shoot Yer Eye Out, Kid on top. It looked really cool in person. Frozen had a blue micro glitter in it (not a lot) and these iridescent micro-flakes. Then with the Dollish on top, it had irridescent and white hexs and the snowflake glitter. It looked like a snowy scene! It was really pretty and impossible to capture with my camera.

With that, I need to finish packing, redo my nails, and get ready for bed! I got an early flight!

Restored Faith in Humanity...?

Working at Goodwill means I see a lot of "stuff" from others come through. Some of it is really nice and you can't believe someone gave it up. Other stuff is so unique you're not even sure how they found it, what it does, or why someone even bought it in the first place. And there's the last of it where it's complete junk and you're not sure why someone would even think someone else would want it. I can probably categorize something in each of those three. Over the past year I've taken photos of various "oddities" that have come through.

   

How many times have you seen an Oscar "For Your Consideration" DVD (the DVD was actually in there too)? I was pretty excited when this came in. I knew they had Oscar viewing screens, but didn't know they did DVDs too! I forget what the big bat was from, but that sucker was heavy and completely random to come through.

 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...? For that matter, RRR for both pictures? Both are kind of clever, but definitely make you go, "Why...?"

However, every once in a while you get something that's touching. A handmade baby blanket (can't tell you how many of those we get) or, in this story's case, handwritten notes from your mom.

We get a lot of boxes in and we've learned to always open them in case there's something valuable in them (always check the wallets and purses too!). The other day, I was putting this flower shaped box out and shook it. It rattled. I opened it and saw all these little notes in it. I took them out and put them aside to look at later. I put the box on the sales shelf. Several hours later, I refound the notes (forgot about them) and started looking at them. Turns out they're notes from this girl's mom. There were 29 of them and then 1 from her dad. Based on the notes, she was in either the 2nd or 3rd grade. They were mostly decorated notes just saying she's pretty, nice, her mom loved her, or some other small thing (little stories, songs, talking about the day, etc). They were touching to see that this girl's mom (and dad) took the time to make those little notes for her to find while at school. Obviously, the girl liked them enough to keep them, but, for whatever reason, they were donated. You can't keep everything, I know that, but I was glad I got to read them.

Photo of all the notes. Look how cute some of them are! She clearly was an only child, but they had two cats who she must have adored as the mom mentions them several times.

Seeing things like that or 26 Moments that Restored Our Faith in Humanity This Year are things that we all need to see to remember the good that exists in this world. After last Fridays horrific shooting and all the other violence and horrors we hear on the news and see in person, things like those notes help remind us of the good we can have too.

The notes also got me thinking about my own childhood. I remember when my parents would go to back-to-school nights (when I had an assigned desk) and they would sit at it that night. The next day I would always sit down and immediately try to find the business card my dad would leave me to find somewhere. It was always a fun little hunt to do, but also reminded me that my parents loved me and took the time to leave a reminder that they had gone and had seen my desk and work. I remember watching John Wayne movies and Columbo episodes with my dad. I remember my mom and I driving around town talking about our days and discussing various things like Harry Potter.

Those were definitely times when I had less to worry about and was more carefree. Not to say I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders or live a harsh life, but, man, life just isn't as easy as it used to be when food somehow stayed stocked in your cupboards and refrigerator and you didn't have to worry about loans and bills. Sometimes I get caught up in the "bad" and the lack of humanity in the world (let's not discuss the seemingly idiotic people too...) and it brings me down. The small things is what keeps you going and random acts of kindness (RAOKs) are important.

In fact, I had a small funny moment today with an older lady at the post office. I was there to pick up a package, which takes maybe 3 minutes to do. There was a long line of people waiting to ship things. The lady in front of me had about a half dozen packages and told me I could go ahead of her. I said, "Oh. Really? Thanks!" Her response, which was rather loud as she glared at the people in front of us, was, "Of course. Why wouldn't I? You just have a pick-up and I'm mailing several packages. It's simple logic." The people in front either shifted uncomfortably on their feet or turned to look at her. It was amusing. Sure, it wasn't in the same vein as the notes or the 26 moments, but it still was an act of kindness that went beyond her thinking of herself and her waiting in line. Plus, it made me smile and brightened my somewhat-not-fun day (never a good day when a customer wants a phone number to talk to your superior...).

So, yes, in the past few days, my faith in humanity has been somewhat restored. Then again, I'm a general sap, but you get the point. ;)

I also seemingly got into the spirit of the season this past Sunday. All with the thanks to my co-workers. We were playing Christmas music (we didn't do Christmas music this year, except when I've wanted it) and I decided we needed a tree in our break room for our Secret Santa gifts. My fellow co-worker decorated the tree and table and I got the idea to print out paper stockings for us all to decorate however we wanted. We hung them on the wall behind the tree. It looks festive and it was a fun bonding moment with my co-workers. That night was also our "work party" so it was a really festive day.

I am getting socialized out, though. Friday afternoon was seeing The Hobbit with some former Borders co-workers and then Friday night was going out to have drinks (or, well, they drank) and some snacks with other former Borders co-workers. Sunday was my work Christmas party (right after work) and we did ours with another store (also did a White Elephant). Then today we had a LP (loss prevention) county-wide meeting and then went to work. Friday is my birthday (not doing anything really special - just seeing Hobbit in HFR 3D and maybe Silver Linings Playbook) and then Saturday is my store's potluck (making meatballs!) that is also an auction day and inventory has to be conducted (that is going to be a CRAZY day). Course, Monday is Christmas Eve and Tuesday is Christmas day. Phew. I am NOT doing ANYTHING for New Year's! I will enjoy my day off and that is all! Then again, maybe I'm so tired because I've felt understaffed 4/5 days I worked...At any rate, I'm hitting my people quota soon. :P

With that...Nail photos and movies updated tomorrow or later this week. I am definitely doing shimmers for a good long while once December is over...I'm not over the Christmas stuff, but I am definitely over GLITTER in general. It's such a pain to remove and a lot of these glitters are mega-chunky so they're hard to remove even WITH the foil-method. Cremes and shimmers for a few times after the New Year...Or at least a less rigorous schedule...