Movie of the Week: Black Snake Moan

 

Directed by Craig Brewer

Written by Craig Brewer

Released: 2006

Quote: Lazarus: "I'm cookin' steaks fah dinnah.  I expect you to stay."

So I heard about this movie around when it came out from the trailers and such but I wasn't so sure it was worth seeing.  The trailers that came out with it made the movie seem quite different then it actually is.  Fire those people! Jeez. Anyway...I've been in a bluesy type mood lately and I even got my guitar out and started playing some blues.  So I came across a screen shot one day just browsing a blog and it was Samuel L. Jackson with a guitar.  I didn't realize he played any in the movie and I had nothing better to do, so I got the movie and sat down and watched it.  I ended up liking it quite a bit and watched it again with my brother.  It's hard to explain why I enjoyed the movie so much, but I suppose it could be a mix of my love of blues music and the culture behind it or just the overall style of the movie;  not quite sure.  WATCH IT!  It's one of the movies where you really want to see what happens in the end.  OH! and don't watch the trailer if you haven't seen it because then you really won't want to watch it all.

CRAYOLA...

I entered six more contests today.  I want to win at least one of them!!!  Exam week coming up! Oh, and I took this picture.

CRAYON BREAD!

Contest...

I entered a photo contest.  Hopefully I'll win. I don't think I actually will, but it's a nice thought.

Almost done!

I hope you've enjoyed the photos I posted the last couple of days.

Now on with the last real week of the semester before exams!

 

Movie of the Week: 
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

 

Directed by Milos Forman

Written by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman

Author: Ken Kesey

Released: 1975

Quote: McMurphy: "I must be crazy to be in a loony bin like this." 

Yay! I'm excited this is the movie of the week.  It's up there on my list of favorites and I'm happy to be able to share it with you.  I think I might love this movie so much because there is just so much meaning to it and Jack Nicholson is hilarious!  So I think you get two things going here: One, the more serious approach that has to do with society and anything else you interpret in the movie as you watch it such as whether or not the so called "crazy" people are actually being treated fairly and humanely, and two, there is this approach where it's just the main character (McMurphy) making comments on how the asylum is run while trying to fit in with the rest of the people so he gets a free meal and a place to stay.  WATCH IT!  It's probably one of the best movies you'll ever see. Come on Chief!   

People...

Oh the places you'll go...

Astronauts and Spaceships...

Water...

Lake and Cake...

Today was the best day I think I've had in awhile.  After school, my best friend  bought me a burger (because she's awesome) and we drove to the lake near my house that I posted about last week.  We talked about plans to go canoeing and about random things to catch up since we haven't seen each other in awhile.  Here's a picture she took of me while I was trying to control my wild mane in the wind.  So after that, we headed to my house and talked more about random things and danced to crazy music and recorded our voices to make them sound like chipmunks.  After a bit, she had to leave because my grandpa came to pick me up so we could study together.  We stopped by the market first to pick a few things up for my grandma then headed to his house.  Studying with him has become more enjoyable than a task because he makes everything more interesting and he teaches better than my teacher ever could.  After we finished studying, I stayed for dinner and I decided to bake a cake for dessert with my grandmother.  We were in a hurry because it was getting late and her Novellas were starting.  She can't miss those! :P So I decided to ignore a lot of the actual directions and just put everything in a bowl and mix it together and put it in one of my great-grandmother's old pans that she used to cook in.  The cake was supposed to be a three layered cake, but I just made one giant one instead.  It took about twice as long to cook, but worth it.  When it was ready to take out, we had a bit of a struggle getting it out of the pan.  We flipped it a few times and smacked the pan against the cake dish to see if it would come out.  After using a knife to cut around the sides, it finally came out.  Part of it stayed in the pan but we just cut it out and placed it back into the cake like a puzzle piece.  My grandma had purchased whipped white icing and coconut as the topping.  I spread the frosting all over the cake then my grandma finished the edges for me.  We then sprinkled the coconut all over the cake and spread it on the sides.  We had made a cake!... that I decided to cut into a peace sign. 

                                     

Here's a picture!  It's not the best pic but all I had was my camera phone.

Here are two more pictures I took when two slices were left with my digital camera.  Still  not great pictures because the lighting was bad, but you can see enough of it.

Today was a nice day.

Movie of the Week: Mars Attacks!

 

Directed by Tim Burton

Written by Len Brown, Woody Gelman, Wally Wood, Bob Powell, Norman Saunders, andJonathan Gems

Released: 1996

Quote: Richie Norris: "I want to thank my Grandma for always being so good to me, and, and for helping save the world and everything."

So this movie is a doozy.  It's for lovers of alien-invasion themed movies, corny jokes, and all those 90's famous people you don't really see  much anymore, let alone cast together.  I thought this movie was hilarious when I first saw it as a kid.  This is one of those movies you get a whole group of friends to watch together and just talk and laugh about things in the film the whole time.  It has a cruel sense of humor but you can't help but laugh.  How could you not love a movie that features Tom Jones singing and shooting down aliens!    WATCH IT! Enjoy the alien invasion and how we manage to deal with it, with a bit of music.    

What I found...

My cat sleeps in my drawers if I leave them open.  Silly Cloudy.

So far...

Spring break hasn't been what I planned it to be so far, but it's been a nice break at least.  My family and I went on a few small hikes near our house and have been eating outside for dinner.  The weather is refreshing during the later hours so it's really nice being outside.  I took some photos of trees and pathways and an eagle's nest. It was amazing to see the nest all the way at the top of the tree. I love adventuring, so these little hikes really were great for me.  I want to travel and find undiscovered treasures and caves!  I'll be like Indiana Jones!  Until then, here are some photos for you to take a look at.  The the top left is the beginning of one of the trails.  The right is the eagle's nest on top of tree which is on top of a huge mound that's over 100 years old.  The next is one of my brother running across the wood path.  Then the next is one of many huge trees that surrounded the area.  Then the next is a view of the wetlands when you cross over the first of two bridges.  Then there is an overgrown trail, and the last two are the lake by my house that we ate dinner by that night.

I hope that I get to go canoeing  on this lake with a friend of mine soon.  We want to try fishing in it too but I'm not sure how well we'll be able to balance the canoe if one of us is reeling in a fish.  I haven't gone to the beach yet, so I hope I get to do that too.  I have some little projects planned to keep my mind busy for this summer so I'll have to see  where I'm at when summer does start.  I'm still studying even though it's spring break, but my grandpa wants me to get ahead for my exams which are two weeks after we get back.  I'm almost done with the semester! Can't wait until summer!

Movie of the Week: Grease

Directed by Randal Kleiser

Written by Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, Bronte Woodard and Allan Carr

Released: 1978

Quote: Danny: "You can't just walk out of a drive-in."

Oh my! If high school had been a musical!  Not that Disney Show Movie but Grease!  I think it's silly, entertaining, and full of one-liners.  The story itself isn't really all that original, but I really love the way everything plays out.  The music is memorable and all the characters remind of us how we dealt with our early troubles in life as a teenager, even if at ages 16-18 we didn't look anywhere as old as they do in the movie. 
WATCH IT!  You'll be dancing, singing and parading around with your friends at random moments!  

YES...

Oh Lawdy!!! It's Spring Break!!!