I want Gabba?

Sara loves the television show Yo Gabba Gabba on Nick Jr. It's a little crazy, but educational and fun too. They always teach some kind of social, developmental, or emotional skill like sharing with friends, eating healthy foods, or keep trying/don't give up. I think the reason Sara loves it so much is because they do a lot of singing and dancing; two of Sara's favorite pass-times.

Anyway, I have been trying to find some Gabba toys for Sara, but it is nearly impossible to do so. It seems like nobody makes them anymore. I guess the show has passed its peak of popularity and therefore Gabba toys are no longer being mass-produced. I've had my eye on these cute little plush figures of all five of the characters...

...but the only places I can find them are on eBay or Amazon for ridiculously outrages prices. Can you believe people are trying to sell these for as much as $112 or $115?? Insanity I tell you.

Since I am not willing to drop $23 each on those cute little Gabba dolls, here is what we have come up with for a solution in the meantime.....

Lego Gabba Friends! Sara and I were playing with her Legos a while back when she asked me to make Foofa (the pink flower-headed character). Once I came up with something that slightly resembled her, she asked me to make all the other characters too! So now Sara has her own custom-made set of Gabba friends, and she loves them. She talks to them or has them talk to each other. They help her with things like cleaning up her other toys, brushing her teeth, or eating breakfast. She gives them goodnight kisses when it's time to go to bed. She asks for them randomly throughout the day and will say, "Foofa, where are you?!" when she is looking for them. All in all, I'd say these homemade Gabba pals are a real hit, and with a zero dollar price tag (since the Legos were a Christmas gift from Grandma), I'd say they really can't be beat.

If I do ever to want to buy official Yo Gabba Gabba merchandise, I might have to settle for these bath buddies or bath squirters which are both reasonably priced around $9. Now that I can handle.

However, if those adorable plush Gabba dolls ever come down in price (say to about $20 for the whole set!), you know I'll be the first in line to buy them.

a clean, cheesy, predictable chick flick

If you like that sort of thing, then you'll love Leap Year!

I had heard mostly negative reviews of this movie. Things like "generic" and "uninspired". Because of this, I never had high hopes for it even though I wanted to see it after watching the previews. So when I put Leap Year into my Netflix queue, I was expecting pretty much exactly what I got; a cheesy and predictable rom-com.

I think it was because I wasn't expecting much, but I didn't hate this film as much as the critics did. In fact, I kinda liked it! For sure there were some pretty slow parts (like her whole traveling to Ireland escapade), but once she arrives and starts her cross-country trek with the mysterious Irish stranger, there are a few funny and/or idealistically romantic scenes that really redeemed this movie for me. Plus, an added bonus, it was clean! With only a PG rating, there was no language, no sex, nothing you'd be embarrassed to watch with your grandmother, and I found that rather refreshing. Too many movies add scenes that really don't need to be there and practically ruin the movie. But this one steered clear of anything offensive, which made for a nice surprise. It's definitely not the best chick flick or rom-com I've ever seen, but I'm adding it to my list of "I'd watch it again if it ever comes on TV" movies.

despite the excessive eye poking

I thought this was a good movie.

{via}

Yes it was weird, which is to be expected with the story itself and with Tim Burton directing it, but I would actually criticize that it could have been weirder. The weirdness was actually a little tame I thought. But overall I thought it was an enjoyable and visually entertaining adaptation. The plot is nothing like that of the original animated Disney version, but contains most of the same characters and is supposed to happen 10 years after that encounter. Alice returns to "Underland" to "embark on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen’s reign of terror." (so says the Rotten Tomatoes synopsis.)

I liked the themes of Alice discovering that anything is possible if she believes it is, and of breaking through social expectations to stand up for herself, make her own decisions, and find out what she really wants out of life. Or as the film put it, to find her "muchness".

Plus, the use of green screen filming and hybrid human/CG characters (such as the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen) was interesting to learn about in the bonus features.

I must say as a point of warning: even though this film earned a PG rating (for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar), I would not recommend this movie for very young kids. The scary parts would probably be a little too much for them to handle. Sara (20-months) started watching it with us and enjoyed the beginning, but once things started to get a little dark down in Underland, we paused it and put her to bed before finishing the rest of the movie. I'm not sure what age to say it would be appropriate for, but I would suggest previewing it before letting your kids see it (if they haven't already!).

Overall rating: worth the watch.

There's just something about watching it on TV

We don't own very many movies. And the movies we do own, we don't watch very often. Hence why we don't own very many. BUT for some reason, if we ever happen to see one of the movies we own on TV, we will sit and watch it (commercial breaks included) instead of simply getting off our rears to put the DVD in the player, enabling us to watch the movie commercial free. I don't know why, but we do this all the time.

Another weird thing I do in regards to television movie watching: I will watch the same movies over and over, any time they are on TV. What is it about a movie being on TV that makes me think it is worth watching? And what makes me think it is worth watching every time I see it on TV? It's a weird, weird habit, and it needs to stop.

What strange movie-watching habits do you have? And better yet, what movies would you recommend I watch so I can break the cycle?

At the Movies

Well, more like at home on my couch, but that's as close to "at the movies" as we get these days! RedBox and Netflix just make it too darn convenient to stay at home. Which is interesting considering the plot of my first movie review.


Despite mixed Rotten Tomatoes reviews (only scored a 40%), Rob and I actually quite enjoyed this film. It is a realistic science fiction movie about completely human-like "surrogate" robots that humans control with their thoughts and use to basically live their lives without fear of injury or death. Or in other, more eloquent words, "a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves – fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles – enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes." The main twist comes when somebody figures out a way to kill the human operator by killing the surrogate, putting 99% of the human population at risk of simultaneous termination.

The movie is kind of creepy to watch because you know all the "people" aren't real, and surrogates don't necessarily look like their human operators, so you never know who is behind the actions of the surrogates. (A fat, ugly, middle-aged man posing as a young beautiful blonde woman, for example). It's like fake MySpace or Facebook profiles come to life. As one RT critic put it, "SF chillers of the past that warned about dehumanization -- 'Invaders from Mars,' for example -- posited an outside threat; now, in a 21st-century world of plastic surgery and online avatars, the danger comes from within: the dehumanization is voluntary."

It's kind of a mixture of I, Robot and Minority Report, which are two movies we also like (and two of the few we actually own). If you're into the Sci-fi genre, you should definitely give this one a try.

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Ghost Town, another movie we watched and enjoyed recently, was much better than I expected it to be, and received a well-deserved 85% on the RT scale.


Think of it as a funny, or hilarious rather, rom-com version of The Sixth Sense. It had me laughing unexpectedly at every turn. Funny-man Ricky Gervais nails his role as an uninterested, antisocial dentist who suddenly finds himself able to see and communicate with the dead who need his help resolving thier unfinished business. Doesn't sound that funny, does it. But trust me, it is. The comic timing is spot on throughout the film. You should watch it. You will watch it. You'll watch it and you'll like it. And that's a promise. I also recommend watching the outtakes which are equally hilarious as the film itself.

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And there you have it. Two films, two completely different plots, both earning two-thumbs-up reviews from yours truly.

Go. Now. Watch them.

Who told me this was good?

'cause I didn't think it was all that great. But maybe that's because I was making headbands for Sara the whole time. Or maybe I was making headbands for Sara the whole time because it wasn't that great. One of those chicken and egg things. Well at least I only paid one dollar for it. Thanks RedBox.

Food for thought

Is it wrong to eat a chocolate chip cookie while watching "The Biggest Loser"? --- It feels wrong.

Unbreakable Frequency

Just a quick post before going to bed. It's 1:22 AM. What am I still doing up you ask? Well with our Comcast digital cable package, we get a few Encore movie channels for free, and tonight after going for a nice evening stroll, we just so happened to catch the tail end of Unbreakable, and then the last hour of Frequency after that. Both excellent flicks. If you haven't seen them, hit up your nearest Blockbuster and check 'em out. You won't be sorry. As for me, it's time to get some shut-eye. Why do I do this to myself?!

The Office

So I know this was on like three days ago, but we just watched it last night and all I can say is, much like other sitcoms before it that went downhill, The Office is getting much too plot driven and losing it's funniness and quirky appeal. Oh, and Ryan is SO pathetic!

That's all

Quote of the Day

"The pen is mightier than a flaming bag of poop."

- Bart Simpson

Worth Watching

Don't let the cheesy poster fool you. This was a good movie! Rob and I watched it today (courtesy of NexFlix) thinking the only thing good in it would be the dancing. We were expecting a weak plot, but it was actually pretty engaging. AND the dancing was just as good as expected. The only downside? It makes me sad that I can't dance anywhere near as good as the people in this film. Ok, let's be honest. I can't dance at all! But watching movies like this makes me wish I could. It looks like fun. (serious!)

What's the deal America?

Carly Smithson voted off 'American Idol'

Seriously America, I don't get you. Carly's performance last night was amazing! (click here to see for yourself). And she is by far the best vocalist this season. It just goes to show that 'Idol' has turned into a popularity contest rather than a vocal competition. I mean, sure Jason Castro is cute, and I really like his style and would probably enjoy his album if he ever made one, and I like Brooke as much as the next person, and her Let It Be performance was great, but this week was the second time she has stopped during the first line of the song and started over. That's just not acceptable! Carly has WAY more vocal talent than either of them, yet she got voted off and they both stay in for another week. I just don't get it. The only thing I can think is that perhaps America didn't like the song she chose, Jesus Christ Superstar, but it was Andrew Lloyd Webber week; she didn't write the song, he did! And it's from his broadway musical!! But perhaps people didn't vote for her because of the song, even though she sang it very well. I thought the top 3 should have been Carly, David Cook (who I origianlly didn't like, but he's grown on me lately), and Michael Johns, who I really liked but sadly got voted off a few weeks ago. Well obviously my choice for top 3 isn't going to happen, so we'll see who America chooses.

(p.s. -- my appologies for all the links. I know that really breaks up the flow of reading, but they're helpful for those who don't watch American Idol regularly and perhaps have no idea who these people are I'm talking about. That's all.)

She needs the rock to rule.

I watched this movie on TV today, and let me warn you...it is as cheesy and predictable as it looks. When I saw it while browsing through channels I thought, "Hey, the first one was pretty cute. How bad can it be, right?" The answer? Pretty unbelievably bad, and I could tell it would be after watching the first minute. But did that keep me from watching the entire thing? Absolutely not! I had to see if all the obvious foreshadowings would come true (and to save you the suspense, they did). I burst into spontaneous laughter several times during the course of this film, not because the writing was oh-so-clever or because the plot was so funny, but because of the sheer painfulness of it all! I just had to laugh about how completely ridiculous certain scenes were (for example during the slumber party when Julie Andrews bursts out in song which, once the beat changes to an R&B vibe, turns into a duet with Raven Symone, aka Olivia from the Cosby Show.) BUT I do have to give it some credit...certain parts were okay (like a few of "Princess Mia's" speeches) and it was overall a cute flick that I wouldn't mind putting on for my niece or little sister if I had one. But I must say the best part of the whole thing was this guy. Can anybody tell me why I've never seen him before? He's pretty easy on the eyes, right ladies?

SO - overall response? There's 113 minutes of my life I'll never get back! Don't make the same mistake.