1,000,000 Space Bucks

     First, I want to apologize for not posting in over a month. This is a continuation of the week I wanted to dedicate strictly to Mel Brooks Films. So, without further ado, I present: The First movie night.

     After high school, me and my friends struggled to keep in touch. It was upsetting because we were so close, we never wanted our high school relationship to end.
     Then, it hit me. I felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.... MOVIE NIGHT!!
     Of course, the best way to hangout with my friends AND have something to blog about, why hadn't I thought of it before?
     I sent out a mass text and Facebook invite and the date was set. The only question that was looming over their heads, was what the movie was going to be. They came to my house all asking the same question: "What's the movie?"
     We ordered a pizza and watched an episode of "How I Met Your Mother" while we waited, it was legen-, wait for it,-dary!
     So, the pizza arrived, "How I Met Your Mother" was over, and I was ready to reveal the movie title.
     It was a Mel Brooks film that is, no lie, my absolute favorite.... "Spaceballs"!


"Spaceballs" is a comedy in which Mel Brooks plays President Skroob and the amazing Yogurt, John Candy plays a 'Mog' named Barf, Bill Pullman played Lone Star, Daphne Zuniga played Princess Vespa, and Rick Moranis plays Dark Helmet. The movie was released in 1987, yes, you do need to know this.
     "Spaceballs" is an adventure between a run-away princess (Zuniga) and her maid of honor, Dot (played by Joan Rivers) who is captured by Spaceballs (An army from the planet, wouldn't you guess it?, Spaceball). Her father, King Roland (played by Dick Van Patten) hires Lone Star (Pullman) and his best friend Barf (Candy) to rescue her and bring her back to her home planet, Planet Druidia. It's a silly adventure between the four that ends li-(BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEp)- and that's just amazingly amazing! Haha, Skroob (Brooks).

     As much as I want to say that we watched the movie intently and noticed every hilarious detail, I cannot. We hadn't seen each other for a long time, we ended up playing Apples to Apples with the movie as a background noise. I would occasionally stop the game to point out a funny part, but we mostly played the game.
     The good news is we started doing 'Monthly Movie Night', with a different host/hostess each month. I get to keep up with them no matter what. It's an awesome time. <3


     I recommend this movie for people over the age of 18, they are most likely to understand the jokes. The movie is rated "PG". Again, this is one of my all time favorite movies and I don't understand why people may not like it. I just say they don't have a funny bone.

Aida: A Musical of Wonders

            Every year I return to Plainfield, IL to visit old friends. I always manage to come here around the time Plainfield South High School puts on their annual spring musical. This year, they preformed “Aida”, starring Whitney Sampleton as Aida, Kevin Casson as Radames, and Maddie Cooney as Amneris. The show looked promising and I’d never heard of “Aida”, so I didn’t really know what to expect. What I found, was a promising career for the Sampleton, Casson, and Cooney. I had heard rumors that Kevin and Whitney knew how to sing and act, but I was preparing for my hopes to be crushed and to go home not even bothering to think of the show again.

            Let me tell you, none of the cast disappointed me.

            “Aida” is a forbidden love tale about a Nubian princess who falls in love with the captain that took her from her land. No one knows that she is the princess, but her people who have also been made slaves by the Egyptians. Radames falls in love with Aida, but is betrothed to the princess of Egypt, Amneris.

It was truly a moving tale. Never, and I mean NEVER have I been moved this way by a bunch of high schoolers. I was in tears by the end of the show (No, I will NOT give away the ending). I’m going to see it again Saturday, it was that good!

I STRONGLY recommend seeing “Aida” before the curtain closes forever on the show.

March 24^th, 2012: Show beings at 7 p.m. tickets cost $7.

March 25^th, 2012: Show will begin at 2 p.m. Ticket price is the same.

            PS: I know this is not a movie, but it was so good, I had to tell you all about it! J

"Prepare for the fight scene!"

“To Be or Not To Be” is an amazing movie and it really is one of my favorites. However, another one of my favorite movies just so happens to be a Mel Brooks movie as well. “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” is my second favorite Mel Brooks flick. It has a special type of humor that is really hard to write out. It’s just naturally funny.

Yesterday, my mom, Kristen, Katrina’s friend, Maria, and I met to discuss Katrina’s wedding shower. Before this, Kristen’s daughter, Marie, was watching TV and asked if I wanted to watch a movie with her. So, I suggested that we see what’s playing on OnDemand.

We found a few good movies, but I suggested we watch “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”. As we were watching, she noticed a few things: Little John was played by the dad from “Good Luck, Charlie” (Eric Allan Kramer), The dad from “Wizards of Waverly Place” was a villager (David DeLuise), and, as she put it, “Isn’t that the guy from that one movie about the princess who becomes a bride… or something like that?” (The Princess Bride). She made me laugh with that last one. She was shocked when I told her that David DeLuise’s dad, Dom DeLuise, was in the movie also (He played Don Giovanni).

“Robin Hood: Men in Tights” is hilarious version of all the Robin Hood movies out there, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the same storyline. Robin Hood (Cary Elwes) must defeat Prince John (Richard Lewis) and the vile Sheriff of Rottingham (Roder Rees) to free the kingdom from the high taxes.

Marie loved watching it, and was happy to know that she was right about the actors she named. Soon after we finished the movie, the bridal meeting started and I was glad to have had some fun with Marie. We usually don’t get along so well.

“Robin Hood: Men in Tights” is rated ‘PG-13’ for some mild swearing. In other words, they don’t drop ‘F-bombs’. Enjoy this movie and have a wonderfully funny day!

To Be! (or not to be...)

Tuesday, my sister and goddaughter came over for a quick visit. Ann, my niece/goddaughter who is almost 3, wanted to watch a movie. So, I walk to the cabinet and grab my Mel Brooks Collection. I let her pick which movie we would watch, and she chose one of my favorite Mel Brooks movies of all time... "To Be or Not To Be".

"To Be or Not To  Be" takes place in Warsaw, Poland right before and during WWII. Mel Brooks plays Frederick Bronski, the "world famous in Poland" actor who's a big spot light hog.

I first saw this movie in 2004 with my mom. We were hanging out, having a good time, when a reminder comes on the TV for “To Be or Not To Be”. My mom smiled as she clicked the reminder, causing the channels to switch. I remember asking my mom why she liked the movie so much and her saying that it was one of her favorites.

When I lived in Florida, never had a good night sleep in my room. So, my mom told me to come downstairs and watch a movie. I chose “To Be or Not To Be” and we would watch it together until she went to bed. After she left, I would restart the movie and try to sleep. To this day, I love the movie.

Ann was enjoying the movie while I was making lunch for us. The original idea of a quick visit changed to “Lets have lunch and finish watching the movie” visit. That’s another reason why I love Mel Brooks movies, they bring my family together.  

"To Be or Not To Be" is rated 'PG'. I think anyone with a funny bone will love this movie. Watch it for your next movie night or even on your own. But be warned, if you watch this movie, there is a chance that you will catch “Quoting” syndrome. Quoting syndrome is when you start speaking in movie quotes and can annoy the crap out of certain people.

Mini Review: Sabotage

            About a week ago, I got a call from one of my friends asking if I could write a review for a couple of his friends. At first, I was a bit nervous. I didn’t know if I could write a review on their videos because they are only a few minute long. So, I came to the conclusion to write what I call a “Mini Review”.

           

            Derrick told me that I would get a chance to meet them if I promised to write a review about their latest video, “Estate Sabotage”. I told him I would get back to him as soon as possible because I had a busy week and didn’t know if I could fit it in my schedule. He sounded disappointed on the phone and I can’t stand disappointing my friends. As soon as we ended our conversation, I looked Leatherjacketstudio up. Let me tell you, I loved what I saw.

            “Estate Sabotage” was split into two parts. Part one introduces the main characters: Razor (Joel Dik) and The Boss (Dan Lotz). Part Two is where most of the action is. “Estate Sabotage” is about a black ops operation to take out a high profile terrorist… That is all I am willing to give away.

Personally, I would rate this ‘PG’ because there is some violence, but no fake blood or swearing or anything like that.

So, I called Derrick the next morning back the next morning and told him that I watched the videos and that I would write a review for them anytime and that I couldn’t wait to meet them. Derrick was thrilled! He told me he would call them and we could meet at some point during the week.

Derrick set us all up for lunch and I met Dan and Joe (Locust). We talked about their movies and other Action movies. We all had a good time. They are really nice and I can’t wait for their next video to come out!

Here are the links to their videos: part one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WylpfXSSFDw
part two http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnkjrBwuI2w&feature=related
and a link to their channel http://www.youtube.com/user/Leatherjacketstudio?feature=watch

These Are Two Of My Favorie Things

I’ll be quite honest with you; I’m a total sucker for a good Romance movie. These are rare to find, now a days. The qualities of a good Romance are hard to come by. “What are the qualities?” You may be thinking. Well, a good Romance movie has the following:

• The first is the meet cute.  “A meet-cute is a situation in which a future romantic couple meets for the first time in a way that is considered adorable, entertaining, or amusing” (Definition off of Wikipedia.com). Every good Romance movie has one.
• Second is, as always in my book, the amazing storyline. If the movie is boring from the start, it rarely gets better.
• Last, but DEFINITELY not least, action. All good Romance movies have a knight in shinning armor or some kind of hero who must find his love, maybe even a fight to the death.

I came across all of these in the movie “Knight and Day”.

I was fast asleep when I heard the sound of gunshots, screams, and Tom Cruise counting to three coming from the living room.

My mom told me what the movie was and I sat down and joined her. I was instantly taken in—probably because I love the trill an action movie can give me. Unfortunately, I missed the beginning, which I watched today.

“Knight and Day” is about June Havens (Cameron Diaz) who meets Roy Miller (Tom Cruise), a super-spy gone rouge, on a nearly empty flight to Kansas City. Roy realizes that she is no longer safe and that she must join him on his mission to find Simon Feck (Paul Dano).

I love this movie. It’s one of my personal favorites right up there with “Source Code” and “Captain America: The First Avenger”. “Knight and Day” is rated ‘PG-13’ because of violence and language. Action/Romance movie lovers would enjoy this movie, though I think everyone should watch it.

NOTES FROM CRYSTAL: Next week I am starting a special 7 day blog post where I will be posting a new movie every day for a week. What the movies will be is a surprise! I’m excited; I hope you are, too! J

Suprise! It's a Musical!

     What do the movies “300”, “The Phantom of the Opera (2004)”, “How to Train Your Dragon”, and “The Bounty Hunter” all have in common? If you guessed Gerard Butler being a main character in all of them, you are correct!

                                            

     The movie, “The Phantom of the Opera” starred Emmy Rossum playing Christine and Patrick Wilson playing Raoul. Gerard Butler starred by playing the mysterious Phantom who wreaks havoc at the “world renowned Opera Populaire”.

     I first saw “Phantom” with my sister a few months after it came out on DVD. I was too young to understand why Katrina enjoyed listening to the never ending songs.

I mean, really, what was so great about it? Some crazy masked man is trying to take over an opera house? What kind of story is that?!

     The next time I saw “Phantom” was about a year ago when Katrina had returned from New York City with her fiancé. We were shopping and she was on the prowl for the CD of “Phantom” (The Broadway Show). When she had found and bought it, she made me listen to it with her. When it was over, I was a changed girl. I was on the prowl for the movie so I could watch it and take in the awesomeness of The Phantom’s mischievous way and the romance that blooms between some of characters. It took me forever to find the movie. I spent most of my time, outside of school, listening to the CD and deciding who my favorite character was. I was sure that I would like Christine.

One day, while shopping at Target, my search ended. I found “The Phantom of the Opera” for about $10. What a steal!

I watched it and was shocked to find that I didn’t care for Christine, and love, love, LOVED Phantom. If I hadn’t hated Raoul before—which I did—I hated him now. To me, he was a controlling, snob that really needed to take a chill pill.

One of the many times I was watching it, Todd walked in and asked if I could believe that the glorious voice of The Phantom was Gerard Butler. I hadn’t even realized that it was him, he was so skinny. I asked Todd why he looked so buff now, to which he replied, “He had to do insane workouts for his role in ‘300’.”

     “The Phantom of the Opera” is rated PG-13 because there is a sword fight and some other violent acts. I recommend this movie for everyone above the age of 13. Anybody younger then that, really wouldn’t understand the epicness of “Phantom” because you’re not really matured enough at that age. For those of you, especially men, who may be watching this movie for the first time, I asked that you watch it with an open mind. Any closed mindedness will make you automatically hate the movie.