Hans is NOT the Villian!

At Christmas my in-laws took my kids to see Frozen. At Spring Break, they bought my kids the DVD.

I won't lie, I love this movie. Olaf's summer serenade became my theme song as winter stretched on and on and on.

But there is something that as been bugging me, so Mr. Curly finally in exasperation said "Write a blog and get it off your chest!"

HANS IS NOT THE VILLIAN!!

Being an avid Pinterest and (yes, sadly) tumblr follower, I've seen my fair share of Let It Go stuff.  That's fine.  But what really bothers me are the blogs and statements calling Hans the villain, and then saying he's bad at it because he doesn't have a villain song or die at the end.

The villain is much less obvious.  The villain is Elsa's depression and social anxiety.  Her parents did the best they could, they loved their daughter.  But she is dealing with a power that scares people, that scares her because it is so strong. And while the trolls warned them that fear would be her enemy, she couldn't fight that fear.

Hans admits in the epic love song 'Love is an open door" that he's been searching for his own place - he even gestures to the city around them as he says it. He admits to Anna that he was using her because Elsa was unapproachable, and that Elsa's powers were going to make things easier for him.
So yeah, he's not a nice guy. He's THIRTEENTH in line for the throne, he had brothers pretend he was invisible for 2 (or is it 3) years. Chances are, especially since when they throw him in the boat to send him home they say 'make sure his brothers know what he was up to", that his parents didn't have a lot of time for him.
But he did take care of Arendale when Elsa and Anna ran off. He knew what to do to care for people and make sure they were all ok and nothing was lost.

Back to Elsa's depression.  "Let It Go" is actually the villain song in this Disney movie. Paraphrasing "I've left a life behind - I'm too relived to grieve, buried it in the snow, but the cold never bothered me anyway" She absolutely does not care who she hurt, what happened when she left, she is SO DONE,  with hiding who she really is, SO DONE with pretending to be ok. She's tired of being scared, and she just doesn't care anymore. 
That's a problem. 

But the trolls - THE TROLLS - that nobody can figure out why they are there, what purpose they serve in the movie, are right again.  In "Little Bit of a Fixer-Upper" they say "people do bad things when they're mad or scared or stressed, but with a little bit of love...." and Anna figures it out.

Elsa doesn't realize how loved she is. When Anna sacrifices herself for Elsa (yes against Hans, give him a break, he was also scared of this girl who could freeze everything and thought he was saving Arendale from a monster. To be fair, everyone in town agreed with him.), Elsa FINALLY knows she's loved. She gets it.

And like in all Disney movies, true love conquers all. And like in recent Disney movies, our heroine doesn't get married right away. 

So Frozen does have a great lesson for us all - don't hide when you're suffering, let people love you, and don't be a jerk or we'll turn you over to 12 brothers.  Because despite how much I like Hans, yeah, he needed to be punched.

But remember- HANS IS NOT THE VILLIAN

It's the most wonderful movie of the year

Some people have a song for everything, or a book they like to read during certain times of life, I have movies.

Mr. Curly and I can quote Tommy Boy in almost every situation in life.  It's a nice reminder of old friends and happy times, and it is just so quotable!!

But I also have movies for life situations.  When I want something classic and funny and romantic and historical, I watch Stephen Sommers The Mummy.
When I want a fantastical adventure, I watch The Princess Bride (or I read it, the book is marvelous).
When life is just really really hard, but I'm sure God has to be somewhere, I watch Facing the Giants.
And when I want to punch someone in the face, I watch Office Space.

But it is now Christmas time, and time for classic movies you don't watch 11 months out of the year to be dragged out and watched over and over and over again.
My all time favorite Christmas movie is It's A Wonderful Life.

It is so stinkin' depressing!  So when you're not feeling that great about the holidays, curl up with a snack and have a good cry with Jimmy Stewart. Rail at Mr. Potter.  And maybe don't watch the end.

But it is also amazingly redeeming. So when you're in a fantastic Christmas spirit, make some hot cocoa, gather some friends, and celebrate the love we can find in this world.  And watch the end over and over and over again.  And ignore Potter, he'll get his in the end.

It is really just all together perfect for every feeling you can have at Christmas time.

It's also the reason I have a cheap dollar store bell hanging near the top of my tree.

There's no crying in baseball!

Otherwise entitled: Five Movies that Make Me Cry

Now, Mr. Curly will tell you that I am not romantic, at all.  When choosing movies, I like The Expendables, all the Die Hards, Rocky, and other action adventure movies.  Or comedies, like Get Smart, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and Top Secret!.  And don't forget fun stuff, like Alex & Emma, Music & Lyrics, or Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (see, I do like a few chick flicks - the best might be Someone Like You, wonderful!).

And Mr. Curly will also tell you that I hate things that make me cry.  I don't like to cry in front of people.  I'm not a pretty crier.
But we watched a movie Friday night that made me cry, and then another one was on TV last night that made me cry, so I thought I'd write a blog about it.

Here we go.  Top Five Curly-T is Guaranteed to Cry Movies:

1. Finding Neverland - Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet - about James Barry's inspiration for Peter Pan.  Beautiful and moving, so sad with a touch of childhood beauty.  I cry for a myriad of reasons - for joy in child's imagination, for the loss of childhood, for love, for loss of love....  It is SO good.  Something I can't watch often, but love every time I do.
2. Somewhere in Time - Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour - oh my goodness.  The epitome of tragic romance.  A man meets an old woman, travels back in time to meet her when she's young, gets pulled back to the future (heh heh) and dies from loss of love.  No words for how touching that enduring love is!
3. Hope Springs - Tommy Lee Jones, Meryl Streep - This is the one we watched Friday night.  If you're married - watch it!  The only word I can think of is poignant.  It was funny, awkward, right on in it's portrayal of marriages, sad, and touching, and had a great ending.  I've always loved Tommy Lee Jones, and Meryl Streep is quickly rising in my book, this was a great great movie about marriage and what true love really is.
4. Facing the Giants - Alex Kendrick, Shannen Fields - oh gracious.  I can watch this movie no matter what mood I'm in, but generally watch it when I'm down and need encouragement of God's faithfulness and love.  There are several points that make me tear up, but it is all good.  Also falling in at number 4 - Courageous - also with Alex Kendrick - such sadness is truly portrayed here, once again, with, while maybe not a perfect happy ending, a true to life ending.
5. The Mummy Returns - Brendan Fraiser, Rachel Weisz.  Yep, you read that right, The Mummy Returns makes me cry.  Here's why:

In The Mummy, Imhotep falls in love with Anuksunamoon (the pharaoh's mistress).  He watches her kill herself, and then he is given the worst possible Egyptian curse (mummified and buried alive) for having an affair with her.  Rick & Evie raise Imhotep from the dead.  He tries to use Evie to raise Anuksunamoon from the dead.  Rick stops the ritual, thereby sending Anuk's spirit back to the land of the dead, and then kills Imhotep (got that - Anuk & Imhotep - dead twice now). 
In The Mummy Returns Anuk is reincarnated and brings Imhotep back to life.  Rick & Evie are once again there to stop them.  Rick and Imhotep fall into a pit, about to slip into the Pit of Despair Eternal Suffering.  They both call out to their Loves (Evie & Anuk).  Evie risks her life to run and pull Rick out of the pit.  Imhotep watches this couple that has killed him and his girlfriend once, risk all for each other.  He turns to Anuk for help, but she decides he isn't worth it (this guy who has died twice for her) and turns and runs.  Imhotep FINALLY realizes he made a horrible choice and lets himself fall into the pit.  Before he does though, you see all of his realization on his face.  Anuk doesn't really love him, not the way he loves her, and this couple that keeps bringing him to life, then killing him, does really have true love, something he has never had. 
It is just SO SAD!!!!
I suppose the justice is, Anuk gets hers, being crushed by a huge rock as she tries to escape with her life.

There it is.  I, Curly-T, may not choose movies most girls do.  Mr. Curly says my taste has improved over the past 10 years, but I do have a sad bone in my body. I do cry every once in awhile.  Just not always what others cry at.

Post title from, oh come on, do I really have to say it?  A League of Their Own

I can't help but laugh....

As parents, we are to nurture and care for our children, but sometimes, in their moment of need, I really just want to laugh at them.

Take Curly Girl.  Whenever she gets hurt, no matter what hurts (leg, arm, hand, head) she dramatically cries "I hurt myself!"
Now, when this happens, 95% of me takes it very seriously.  I pick her up, I kiss whatever hurts, I tell her I'm sorry she got hurt, to be more carefully, and send her on her way.

The other 5%?  Well, that 5% is sitting on the ground, laughing, remembering the movie The New Guy.  Watch this youtube video here.  Particularly, you can just watch from minute marker 3:00 to marker 3:10.  I think of that EVERY time Curly Girl gets hurt.

Someday I'll share it with her.  The movie is one of my guilty favorites, and one of the reasons I watch Memphis Beat.  Jason Lee and DJ Qualls?  Two guys I would never have thought of together, much less in a TNT drama, but it works.  It really does.

I'm trying to convince myself that laughing on the inside is ok.  Because in reality, Curly Girl is hardly ever hurt as bad as she makes it sound (that girl can WAIL).  Surely I'm not the only one doing this?  Right?

They weren't you, honey!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Yes, the nuke the fridge movie. I just now saw it. Well, "just now" as in, a couple of weeks ago it was on TV.

And you know what? I loved it!


I know, I know. Critics said it should've never been made, but you know, Rocky V never should've been made, which is why we got the gem of Rocky Balboa redeeming the complete series. Sylvester Stallone was fantastic reprising his role as Rocky, a role he originated 30 years earlier. And seriously? We needed to see Rocky reconcile with his son, deal with his jerk of a brother-in-law, cope with the loss of Adrian and finally get that fight out of him. Full circle. It's beautiful.


But you know why I loved this last Indiana? Not because it was so awful we need another one to redeem it, but because they brought back Marion Ravenwood. She was always the best of the Jones' girls.

They not only brought her back, they gave her a kid. And they let Harrison Ford be that rough romantic again.

Remember in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back when Han is about to be carbon frozen, and Leia tells Han she loves him and his response is "I know?" Girls everywhere swoon over that line. I, myself, swoon over that line.

And Indiana is no different. As Marion and Jones argue over why she got married and why he didn't, (all while trying to escape the Russians, no less) Marion says "Surely there were girls after me." Jones admits there was, but that they all had problems. When Marion wants to know the problem, Jones, as he cuts her hands free, inches from her face, yells "They weren't you, honey!"


Swoon.


I love that tough guy forced into romance stuff. Yes, yes I do. And I'll admit it. It's why I enjoy watching action-adventure, shoot-em-up movies with Mr. Curly. Because I like the tough guy.


And just so you know, I know a man has to have more than just the toughness. Which is why I love Mr. Curly.... but that's another post.

Should we be hysterical? Maybe! But not right now!

Movie review time!

Toy Story 3.


Why in the WORLD did they make this movie? I told Mr. Curly it was only made for all the adults who like Toy Story, because some of the spoofs and jokes were WAY over the Curly Kids's heads.

And then I realized that any adult that likes Toy Story, at least adults around my age, were just entering their teen years when Toy Story (also full of spoofs and good jokes above kids's heads) was released. Boy did THAT make me feel old.

I never really wanted to watch #3, everyone I knew that had seen it had cried. I cry way too easy these days. But it was good. Very emotional story arc, marvelous ending.... and guilt about every single toy that I can't remember ever having or what happened to it.

I wasn't sure what Curly Girl was thinking, until the scary climax towards the end when she crawled into my lap, whimpering about "the toys, what is going to happen to my toys?" THAT almost made me cry, but then Curly Boy bit my shoulder and the crying over the movie and Curly Girl's distress was over.

There were so many laughs and "ah-ha" moments when you realize Andy's feelings for his toys match some of yours.

But the best part of the evening? Sitting on the floor with the Curly Kids, watching an animated movie (that I still feel was geared more to adults) that we all could enjoy. Family nights are some of my favorite things.

Oh, and while I LOVED the quote I chose for a post title, the best quote of the night goes to Mr. Curly who said (after hearing "Woody was right" for the umpteenth time) - "Woody must be a pathological liar because they NEVER believe him."

Every time I go to the movies, it's magic....

I have always adored movies. For a long time, I wasn't allowed to go to the movie theater, but my family watched movies at home. At 16, I was going to be a director. I was going to take stories and turn them into moving magic for people.

The Wizard of Oz has always been one of my favorite stories. I read the complete series of Oz books at least twice a year from the time I was 8 until I was 12. We then moved and I had a bigger public library at my disposal, and yet they didn't have the Oz books.

The Wizard of Oz is magic. It doesn't matter how many times I've seen it, whether on my mom's old 13 inch rabbit ear and dial tv, or now on our HD TV with the limited edition DVD. It takes you to a world where practically anything is possible, and so bright and vivid compared to this life.

After church on Sunday while I warmed up lunch, Mr. Curly put our Wizard of Oz DVD in. Curly Girl and Boy were pretty much ignoring it until Dorothy started singing "Somewhere over the Rainbow." Curly Girl was in the dining room. Her mouth fell open, and in absolute awe she walked slowly into the family room and stood in front of the TV.
I won't lie, it brought tears to my eyes.

We didn't finish the movie before nap time Sunday. However, on Monday, we turned it back on to finish it. Curly Girl watched every second and when it was done, said "Watch again, please?"
How can I say no to that? She wants to watch my favorite movie!

When Curly Girl was born I bought the Oz books in one giant volume and read the Wizard of Oz to her before she was even 2 months old. It warms my heart, and yes, makes me cry, to think of the fantastic magic of imagination that I've passed on. The statements at the beginning of the movie are true: For nearly forty years (it's been longer now!) this story has given faithful service to the Young at Heart; and Time has been powerless to put its kindly philosophy out of fashion...."


Title quote is attributed to Steven Spielberg

P.S. - I think we may have picked Halloween costumes!

If a squash can make you smile....

Come to my garden!


Our squash and cucumbers are taking over! I pulled out one cucumber about a foot long and 4 inches around.

And now, for the first time, OFF the big screen, comes the stop-action version of Dave and the Giant Pickle!






















This production has been brought to you by My Garden:


Many thanks to the team at Big Idea for giving me a chance to be a kid again!You can find the full story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.

The Twilight (Vacation) Zone

So, I'm not a fan of Twilight. I mean, I know who the actors are, I know the basic story line, but I've not seen the movies, I haven't read the books and I probably never will.

That being said - I thought it was kind of awesome when I saw the Twilight Trio vacationing just a couple of blocks from where I work.

As I've mentioned, we live in a small town, so I drive to the nearest "city" (about 9,000 in the summer and 21,000 when the college kids come in) to work. On my lunch breaks, I take walks around the neighborhood.

Imagine my surprise when I came around a corner and there they were! The Twilight Trio! Sitting on a wide front porch. Bella looking all pouty, Edward appearing pensive, and Jacob, flexing his muscles, boring them all with his egotistical talk.

I couldn't get a picture, because, well, you know, Edward is all shiny, and it would've been too obvious and they are certainly looking for privacy if they are vacationing here. You'll have to trust me.

Ok, ok, so maybe it just happened to be a girl with dark hair, a skinny guy, and an egotistical muscled guy trying to escape the heat of their non-air conditioned home, but I know what I saw.

For info on the Twilight Saga, for more Twilight pictures.

Of course we talk, don't everybody?

Mr. Curly and I had a rare weekend off. Our little community (we live in a town of about 300) was having its annual town celebration, complete with community church service. One of the men in our church-plant was asked to read scripture, so instead of doing our own thing, we joined the community for worship.

This meant on Saturday, instead of writing sermons, creating bulletins and picking out music for worship, we got to relax. In preparation for this rare nothing-to-do (ha ha) Saturday evening, I picked up some movies at the library on my way home Friday.

After supper we watched Veggie Tales "Lord of the Beans" with the Curly kids. Once they had their baths and were in bed, Mr. Curly and I dished out some homemade caramel ice cream and chose the "chick flick" out of the three movies I had brought home for us.

Now, you have to know, my two absolute favorite movies are "Tombstone" and "The Mummy". In the romantic comedy genre, I enjoy "Alex & Emma", "Music & Lyrics", and "Down with Love". (http://www.imdb.com/has information on all of these movies) I don't generally pick a "girly" movie to watch with my husband (we have a plethora of action flicks that I quite enjoy).

But tonight, we were watching "Becoming Jane". I didn't read "Pride & Prejudice" or "Sense & Sensibility" until just this past year. I only read them then because I wanted to read "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" and "Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters" and I wanted to know what had been changed.
Still, I remember previews for "Becoming Jane" and it had looked interesting and funny. I enjoyed Jane Austen's books, so thought I would enjoy the movie as well.

I think we were 45 minutes into the movie when I looked at Mr. Curly and said "I don't think I can take much more of this! I cannot BELIEVE how much talking there is!"
Mr. Curly laughed, gave me a hug and in a very appreciating tone said "I love you."
We discussed stopping the movie and putting in something else, but then Tom LeFroy was bare-knuckle boxing and that was pretty cool, so we decided to see what else they would throw in.

I recognized much of her books in the story. While the character of Wesley would have been better off with a smile (I liked him much better when he stood up to his aunt and took Jane for a walk), I know where she got the idea for the character of Mr. Darcy.
I enjoyed Miss Austen's books quite a bit, but I am fairly certain I won't attempt another movie on her life.

Still, an evening off with Mr. Curly, well, that's one of my favorite things.

Title Quote from "Singing in the Rain"

Our Love Is So Deep You Can Count It To Potato

Otherwise titled:

How I came to appreciate The Ringer.

You have to know Mr. Curly. To the world, he appears to be a serious man with a dry sense of humor. He is not a man who enjoys stupid movies.... unless it is late at night, he can't sleep, and there is nothing else on. This is why he now has an appreciation for The Ringer and You, Me And Dupree. I, in general, adore stupid movies. I enjoy You, Me and Dupree, (7 different kinds of smoke!!) it's hilarious, but I just can't like The Ringer, no matter how hard I try.

But Mr. Curly's enjoyment of The Ringer and his sense of humor is what brings us to this post.


Set Up: 35 feet in the air, on a Bil-Jak lift, Mr. Curly and I are painting the eaves of our 1912 farm house. This day, we are listening to a rather random mix of music from their dating days on my phone (not an iphone or anything fancy, we're a little behind in technology here, as I just got this phone earlier in the month). Garth Brooks' song "Wrapped Up In You" begins playing, and the following conversation about the validity of this man's love ensues.


First Lyric in Question:
Well, how do I love you
Let me count the ways
There ain't no number high enough
To end this phrase

Mr. Curly surmises that Mr. Brooks couldn't put a number in here, becuase he didn't write the lyrics to fit a number. After my initial cynical remark "he never learned to count that high," I take the more romantic view that there just really "ain't no number high enough to end" that phrase.

Second Lyric in Question:
How do I love you
well don't you know
I love you bout as deep
As any love can grow

I remark "Mr. Brooks must think love is a root vegetable, since his love grows deep and not high or wide."
Mr. Curly looks at me and says "Love is a rutabaga?"
I nod. "His uncountable love is a rutabaga. Gee, that's romantic."
(It should be noted that there is a bit of giggling and lot of sarcasm happening by this time)
Without missing a beat, Mr. Curly says "Oh, baby, I love you so much I can count to potato."

And suddenly, 35 feet in the air, laughing ourselves silly on our own stupid joke, my appreciation for The Ringer grew. It may be a stupid movie, but it makes my husband laugh, and that is one of my favorite sounds in the world.