What's that in the sky? It's a bird..... it's a plane.... it's an Oscar Nominee!

"And the award goes to......."

The Oscars? Yea ok, its somewhat cheesy, and maybe a little bias... but who wouldn't want a buff gold covered man holding a sword looking down on them from a shelf high above. It would make an awesome paper weight that's for sure.

I have been a movie fan since day 1. My first movie experience was watching Return of the Jedi in the theater when I was just a wee tot. My mom fed me Vienna sausages (snack of champions) and I made it through all 3 hours. I even remember a few scenes. That is a kick-A first movie if I may say.... and it started a life of movie love. The Oscar's are a recognition of the magic that can sometimes be felt through the screen. I had the pleasure of watching all 5 Best Picture Nominees for 2008 (I am thaaaat into movies, 14 hours in a dark room with a few hundred movie lovin' freak friends) and here is my 'D' Rated the run down:

MILK: This was first movie of the morning and I knew that it was going to be an emotional roller coaster. I will be honest.... I almost cried, like 10 times.... I mean.... I was really trying to save face in a theater packed with people I was going to spend the rest of the day with.... so I choked it up. What is that anyway?! Why do you feel like 10 tons of pressure like you are choking to stop yourself from crying... It almost makes you cry from the pain! There is no avoidance! Any who... Back to the movie.... It was by far my favorite of the day. Penn's performance was that of legend and I am SO happy that he won the Oscar for best actor. Definitely growing up in S.F. made it that much more special. I give this movie a solid A+.

THE READER: This movie was drama too! Can a teary-eyed woman catch a break!? Ok, so not as much choking as in the last movie but still... anything based in or around World War II is going to be drama. So tragedy aside... I liked this film as well but I would say it was my least favorite of the day. Something in it didn't catch me. Winslet was great, and am happy she won Best Actress... But it was hard to love or hate her, so I was stuck somewhere in the middle for the entire film. Her self preservation and pride was interesting and well played... But came just a little short of making me care. But! I have to give it credit for being a movie about the love of reading.... so.... you get a little bump up to a B-.




THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON: Whew... lemme take a breather with this... somewhat... light hearted movie. Couldn't have come at a better time for me. I had seen this movie already, it was one of my Disney World flight pastimes so I was prepared for it. The progression of Pitt from this old scary child to hot(!) motorcycle old man was quite interesting. The effects people were fantastic and this story read well with a clear beginning, middle, and end. I was pleased with all acting and just the overall flow of the film. It was very.... actually.... think of a light hearted Fight Club... if that is possible. I know, what the heck?! But Fincher has a very dynamic and specific filming style and I 100% picked up on it in this movie. I give it a hearty and lively B.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE: Back to the drama. Ok, drama with a happy ending. I LOVED this movie. It will definitely be one of the movies I can see myself watching a few times through because of its pure entertainment value. Patel is just SO genuine... you are really pulling for him the entire time. Also, I really liked getting to watch the game show host say "Who wants to be a.... mill-i-o-naire" like 50 gillion times. Ha. I would say in reflection I do really think this movie deserved the Best Picture award (I was originally a little bitter because Milk did not win). I think the award should go to the best idea... the best execution... the best 'movie magic'.... which 100% was this film. Classic rags-to-riches + boy loves girl and will do anything for her. Ok, everyone in unison.... 'Awwwww.....' Definitely another A+ on our hands.

FROST vs. NIXON: Ok, so maybe not the best idea to put this on after 10 hours of movie.... because this movie really took a lot of thought, a lot of analysis... but I powered through and really REALLY enjoyed this showdown! The acting was insane! Langella was an awesome Nixon, who actually made me care for him. If an actor can pull that out of a political 'monster' I definitely comend him. Ok, so I still wouldnt vote for him. :) Either way.... worth the watch.... even just for the history lesson. B++ (extra plus for the awesome laughs)

It is great to see any film... good or bad (ok, so Step Brothers.... yea, not glad I saw that at ALL!) so go out and see 'em! I can't wait for next year. "And the winner is...."

Memorable quotes for
"The Critic"
Duke Phillips: Why the hell do you have to be so critical?
Jay Sherman: I'm a critic.
Duke Phillips: No, your job is to rate movies on a scale from "good" to "excellent".
Jay Sherman: What if I don't like them?
Duke Phillips: That's what "good" is for.

Making up a song about Coraline... She's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine...

So I have been really trying to wrap my little mind around the insane experience of watching Coraline... not once... oh no, it cannot be seen only once... but twice. Once in a blue moon (or in a blue haired child) you come across something that is as amazing as it is strange but it works.... somehow.

I am a huge.... no wait.... HUGE... fan of Nightmare Before Christmas and I knew from the first blurb of this movie I would love it. Tim Burton's character creation and producing must have rubbed off on the director because this movie reeked of his genius. I have read the book (yes, the book nerd that I am...) and it was great, but short. The writers took the liberty of filling in the blanks visually with what only the mind can imagine. And I thought I had a crazy imagination! It really had the feel of that crazy Alice in Wonderland live action movie that came out back in the day... where she sees herself in the other side of the mirror and its her... but in a different world. Man that movie creeped me out as a kid! Kinda like Return to OZ did. Was that not the craziest scary witch lady EVER!? But I diverge. Either way, this movie has that same fundamental appeal.... your own life but different, what everyone wishes they had.

The animation in the movie is nothing less than brilliant and if this doesn't win some sort of award then there is something seriously wrong. So much fluid movement, it's easy to lose yourself to the chaos in the film. It reads like a child's dream turned nightmare. There were some really scary (and inappropriate... put some clothes on grandma!) parts! I almost felt like... hypnotized... or in a trance at moments. It could be the 2 yard high pear ciders I had at the Yard House before seeing the movie... but really, I mean, there were mice... jumping on balls... to the beat of drums... in a circus tent. Who makes a movie like that?

Oh... and just so we are clear... this song will be stuck in your head for days...



I give this movie my full hearted approval and hope that everyone will give it a chance. If you can catch it in 3D do it! Because nothing says scary crazy awesome like an 'other mother' spider psycho lady coming at you in 3D! Do it, do it, do it!

"Remember, wherever you are and whatever you're doing, it's only the beginning." - D

When you wish upon a star.... mega star that is....

So yea, for all ya'll that don't know (...and honestly if you don't know then you probably don't know me very well...shame!) I am off to Disneyworld tomorrow and I feel like that kid in that commercial who is too excited to sleep. I mean, me.... Disney freak of all Disney freaks.... going to DISNEYWORLD! Um yea... simma down now.

I am biding my time by downloading movies for the long trip tomorrow and I thought... 'hey, self... you haven't written a blog in a long while.... you should get on that.' And, so I am. But now I am stuck.... I don't know what to write about. There have been many happenings that could spark a blog, it's hard to pick just one. So lets make it a lot of things then! Screw conformity! Be a rebel! Viva La Revolucion!

Numero Uno: Jack Black. May I just say... he is out there. I mean, crazy out there. I guess HBO was in a JB mood yesterday because I watched 'Be Kind...Rewind' and 'Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny', back to back. I have always felt he was underrated as an actor and have liked him in pretty much anything I have ever seen him in (yes... including 'Shallow Hal'.... but I wont admit it to ANYONE!... whoops, does this count?). I can't imagine myself being able to make it thought movies like that without him. I have heard he is what is called.... retrosexual. It is the antithesis of metrosexual, where men have womanly qualitites and style. He is a throwback to the time of manly men with hairy chests and beer guts. And it is strangely appealing. :) Way to go JB, givin' hope to all the 'real' men out there.

Next on the agenda: American Idol! Oh yea baby! It is back with a vengeance! Kicking A** and taking names! Ok, so I have only seen 1 week and I am going to miss the next two because I am going to be away... oh yea, where? DISNEYWORLD... in case you forgot :). But it is as good of a time as I remember. I am looking forward to the less craptastic embarrassing people and more of the Hollywood drama-splosion (as opposed to Emily's Dance-splosion on her I-pod). Can I seriously hate on the bull honkey of Bikini Girl (and yes, I have used that as a proper noun, because that is now her official name. No one will ever know her differently. Way to make a name for yourself lady!) getting through! The injustice of the world.... I am ashamed. Either way, AI you rock my world and roll me along.

C is for cookie, thats good enough for me: Blindness, I feel as though I have to write this paragraph in the style of the book by Jose Saramago, with no punctuation apart from the occasional comma and no knowing where the breaks are or who is talking and to whom It's as though you are reading blind It is the book that the movie with Julianne Moore was based from and lemme just tell ya that it was very different from anything I have ever read in my life, but good in the same way While I can't say for sure if I understood all of it, Traumatic, Lovely, Insightful human existence at its rawest. Heavy.

SO! All that aside... I hope all of you had a great Christmas, New Year, Holiday, Shopping Season, etc... and Ill be around. Chatting up some perspicacity and jotting down the gist. FYI... my dog is CUTE!

Over and Out! - D

Hangin' Tough..... Are You Tough Enough?

Yea, that is right... You did see that the title was the lyric to one of the BEST... no wait THE best boy band of all time. :) I mean, I am sure you all know what is coming right? NKOTB baby! I am not even joking (seriously people, I've got a straight face here), I saw them in concert last night. You might be wondering how I was able to travel back in time to see the New Kids in action but seriously (again with the serious straight face), they are touring, and I saw them... Ahhhhhhhh!

Not only were they back, they were the same ol' Boston Boys I loved SO much when I was 9 years old. Talk about flash from my past... they WERE my past. I was so in love with Donnie (I am such a sucker for the bad boy) and I wanted to be his Cover Giiirrrlll (oh oh oh... oh oh oh). You know this unhealthy obsession teens and tweens seem to have with the Jonas Brothers... ok yea, times that by 10, throw in that NKOTB could kick the crap outta those Jonas wanna bes, and smother it in a little early 90's ridiculousness... and you have my love for the New Kids on the Block. To say the least I was excited.

They sang some of their new songs, which I was surprised to find that I liked... But honestly... It was all about the old jams. Who remembers songs from 15 years ago... um their fans do. Ha ha. I think every one of those girls in the arena were singing along to Right Stuff and Please Don't Go Girl (which Joe did do in the highest falsetto I have ever heard in my life)! It was great. And they seemed genuinely pleased to sing them. They were into it... even though they are all nearing 40 (Jon is actually turning 40 on Saturday.... whhhaaatttt?!?!?!) . I screamed like I was 9 again and sang without shame while they danced like they had just stepped out on stage in 1992. Oh oh weoh oh.. the right stuff.

I have to stop for a moment... and just touch on something... that really was.... the defining moment of the show. Anyone who knows me knows that I get uncomfortable during embarrassing situations. I mean, sit me down in front of 'The Office' and watch me avert my eyes from the TV.... I cant TAKE it! So... ok... imagine mid way through the show... we are in the dark waiting for another hit to be performed and up comes Jordan Knight... on a platform... in a white shirt... with a wind machine. Ok ok... So I am already not believing the cheese factor of this... but then... what does he do? Um he throws his shirt open and sings.... I'll Be Lovin You... Foooreeevvverrrr.... I could not... It's just... I mean... yea... Its a mental image that will be with me.... forever.

Oh, and yes, they did do Hangin' Tough... and we did all wave our hands in the air... but you would have too. I am telling you, best boy band ever. I think I will swallow my pride and actually listen to their CD, just because I love them (and Donnie) so much. But don't be surprised if I slip in their old CD to bring me back. Oh, and I will leave you with a scream for the road... Ahhhhhhh!

Lionel Richie isn't the only one who gets me 'Dancing' on the ceiling...

What? What's that? You missed me? Don't worry... I have been around. I have been in the field... gathering news and info to further entice you readers into taking time to actually care about what I think. Thanks... I missed you too.

So... understandably this week has been crazy busy but there was a highlight that was too wonderful not to mention. I went to the Elisa concert I have been waiting for and I was definitely not disappointed. I am sure there are a lot of you... actually probably all of you (except Em... my concert pal) who are wondering "Who is this so called Elisa? Why does she only have one name? How can she be so wonderful if I have never heard of her? Isn't an ELISA an Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay? (Wiki is my friend)?" Calm down, clam down... lets keep this civil everyone... I am here to answer your questions.

Elisa is nothing less than amazing! She is a pretty famous Italian singer (she sang for the Pope! What more could you want people!) who is crossing over into America and is on her first tour here. I actually first heard her music on the 3rd seasons of So You Think You Can Dance (I can't believe I am mentioning that show again... that is the second time... hmmmm... you would think I like it or something...). Lacey and Kameron did a Mia Michaels contemporary routine to her AMAZING song 'Dancing' that was just... well... I will let you see for yourself...




I will give you a moment to gather yourselves......

because it was amazing right?!? So I pretty much fell in love with the song but didn't hear anything more from her for a year. Then this season on SYTYCD, Courtney did a solo to her song 'Rock Your Soul' and I knew I had to get the CD. It definitely rocked and I was hooked. I sprinkled her name to some close friends and got a few on the train but I don't like to overplay the artist so I kept it low key.

Then one fateful day I was checking the SD concert calendar (my usual Friday night pastime, I LOVE concerts) and I saw that she was coming here. And not only here but to the Belly Up! My FAVORITE venue in the city. Um yea, it is ok for you to freak out a little bit here in the story because I sure was.... geeeeeeeeekkkkkk'd! So I bought tickets and FF to Monday night when I got to see the show.....

She was great. And her opening artist was great. I mean, the sound the sites the drinks (wait... that cosmo... yea, not so much... choked that down for $8, hah!) And man, the Italians were definitely out to support and it was crazy to hear them singing and chanting at her in the language. I felt a part of the family... an interesting... and amazing family. Oh, but let me tell you my very favorite part. The base player. Ok, not only did he look exactly like Chris Farley... but he was exactly like his character in Tommy Boy! Oh man! It was hard to watch but you couldn't pull your eyes away! He was definitely rocking out!

So yea... she played all of my favorite songs and more. She did a cover of Janis Joplin's 'Mercedes Benz' over a recording of her voice in like 4 part harmony and another of Gary Jules 'Mad World' (for all you geeks out there its from 'Donnie Darko' and more recently the trailer for the video game 'Gears of War'). So FANTASTICO! bellissimo! and all that!

I would say 100% check her out, it will be worth your while, or weight in gold, or two birds in the hand.... oh.... nevermind. Just listen!


Concert Withdrawl
noun. After a great concert that you've been looking forward to, you might experience concert withdrawl. It can come as soon as a couple hours after the concert, and can last for days or weeks.

D experienced concert withdrawl after the Elisa concert Monday.

What is history but a 'Fable' agreed upon?

Once upon a time, in a land far far away.... there was this awesome game that a girl played for hours and hours at a time. As hard as she tried she couldn't pull herself away. It is said that people can still hear her force pushing and releasing her inferno on all the hollowmen in the land... The end.

Ok, so not really the end but still... Fable II is SO STINKING SWEET! I have been waiting for this game to come out for what seems like an eternity and I don't want it to be over. Every interaction, every access through a demon door is another little victory that I will cherish. I am one of those scary-thorough game players that has to find every last buried pouch and finish every last quest. Who can rush through a game like this? Who wants to live in the real world when you can live in Bowerstone and eat crunchy chicks... ok, maybe not me because I chose the 'good' path and crunchy chicks are morally evil (I've gotta protect my halo). Overall it is a good time! Anyone who wants to waste a few hours... hey, a few days... Fable it up! I promise you will not be disappointed. (*If you are going to play... you get to the Bowerstone Cemetery through Old Town... I seriously spent FOREVER trying to find it... aghhhh!)

Well Folks, we have reached our cruising altitude now so I am going to switch the seat belt sign off. Feel free to move about as you wish but please stay inside the plane until we land... its a bit cold outside, and if you walk on the wings... it affects the flight pattern. - D

Who says a Blizzard has to be cold?

So for those who don't know, I have been officially inducted into the uber nerd family. My coronation was held at Blizzcon 2008 in Anaheim, CA. I have to say, life as a geek isn't quite as hard as I thought. Just mention a little Star Wars here...lag time there... pepper the conversation with a bit of robot vs. ninja theory... you're in! When did it become awesome to be a nerd? Or wait, is that just me thinking it is awesome because I am now one of them? Have nerds through time always thought it was great? Hmmm... food for thought... food for thought....

October 9th I made this pilgrimage to nerd mecca, the 2008 Blizzard convention. For those who have been living in a cave (although I would still be surprised if they didn't know), Blizzard is the company who creates Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo games. Anyone who doubts their awesomeness can watch the video below...



um yea... boo-ya! How ya like me now!

Back to Blizzcon. Michael and I were lucky enough to get tickets and get a nice hotel in walking distance from the convention center. We were naive enough to think that we would be able to wake up and saunter on in at 10 when the doors opened. Oh no. That was NOT the case. We walked down the block into a large parking lot which was a snaking line of 10,000 people waiting to get in. Talk about dedication... I mean, it was sunny out... 1/2 these kids probably got burned standing in that sun for the hour waiting to get in. Never seen a paler crowd in my life! And yes... there were people dressed up... and no... I was not one of them.

Once we got into the building I really got into it. The set up was insane with tons of HD video monitors, concept art posters the size of a large buses, and (ooooohhhh yeeessssss) areas for each of the new games that are currently in production by the company: Wrath of the Lich King (World of Warcraft expansion), Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. I mean, actual demos to play for each game. What more could you want! I was actually excited to be there. Now, as much as I would like to say that everything was great and wonderful and fantastic in all its geekdom... there were some major flaws. I waited in a line for 5 hours. Oh yes, I did not stutter... 5 hours! And for what you might ask... because it better be something good to wait so long... it was (dun dun dun)... a book! Half of my first day at the show was taken up by standing in line waiting to buy the cinematic art book for the trailer posted above. Lemme spell that people... D..E..D..I..C..A..T..I..O..N.. The people next to me were practically my family by the time we got out of line. Thank goodness for the movie game or I never would have made it through (linking actors through their movies... it is a good time... thanks Darius!).

I got to play Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 which were everything I could have ever hoped them to be. Oh, and I obtained a beta key for Starcraft as well for attending which was like the icing on the cake! I got to meet Wrath's cinematic team and watch a costume contest that went WAY over the top. :) Patton Oswalt closed the show along with Video Games Live which is a full symphony that plays video game music. Yea, it definitely was that cool.

People... next year when this event comes around... don't miss it! It is so worth every minute and I will be back.. maybe in costume... you never know (no... I lied. I know I will never. I don't have the cheekbones to pull off the elf ears).

Get a Life? Cool! Where can I download one of those?