In Time

As someone who loves to write, I find myself noticing that there are more movies than not that are a repeat of some other story that is already in existence. It's very rare to find an original storyline, so when I do, I get pretty excited.

Going into this movie, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  The previews were just vague enough that you didn't really have a grasp of how intense the plot was going to be, but it drew you in and peaked your interest. I had this whole other idea in my brain of the direction it was going to take. I think that is part of what I loved about it though. As we were watching it, I had no idea what to expect so it made things that much more exciting for me.

The only criticism that I really have, is that I wish the leading lady was not Amanda Seyfried. I'm not really a fan of her acting, and that wig just looked ridiculous. I would have much rather watched him get naked in the ocean with Olivia Wilde who, oddly, was cast as his mother instead of his love interest. I would've done it the other way around. Everyone else, in my opinion, was cast brilliantly.

I love it when a movie challenges my brain like this one did. I can only hope that there will be others just as good.  I am not looking forward to the day when time is our currency.

Have you seen it?  What did you think?

127 Hours

We have been wanting to see this movie since it came out, but for one reason or another we never made it to the theater to see it before it was no longer showing.  We finally rented it the other day.

All I can say is wow. 

The entire time we were watching it I had mixed emotions.  I wanted to turn away, but I couldn't.  I was so enthralled with his strength and will to survive.  I was amazed with how well he kept his cool throughout the whole ordeal.  It was intense from beginning to end.  Then when it got over, Brett and I just sat there in silence staring at each other.  We were completely speechless and couldn't decide how to react.  It was such a tragic story, but at the same time it was an extremely triumphant story. It really makes you think.

If you haven't seen it yet, I would highly recommend it.

A Great Escape

I just recently finished reading this series.

I must say, it was fantastic!  If you are a lover of books, or just someone who enjoys a little break and a great story every once in a while, this series is for you.  I was sucked in from the first word.

Almost everyone that I work with had read it and they were all talking about how amazing it was. I have to admit, everything that I heard about it from the first time a co worker uttered it's name to me seemed a little out there and I wasn't sure if I would like it or not.  It's set in the future, and the main idea behind the series is that each year a boy and girl from each district are thrown into an arena to fight to the death.

After I finished the first book I had the second and third done in a matter of days.  The story is so original, which it seems the world is lacking lately.  I would definately recommend that you go pick them up!

A Look Back at 2010

Looking back on the posts that I did in 2010 makes me realize how uneventful the year was for us.  It seemed like we had a lot going on, but obviously not much was worth blogging about.  I'm hoping that in 2011 we will be able to experience some great new adventures that will make for some great stories to better entertain you.

Here's a look back at some of the more interesting moments in 2010:

• In January I had my blog reviewed over at Ask and ye shall receive which was an interesting experience, and I have to be honest, I thought it would go over a little better than it did.  But I guess it could've been worse. Also, I discovered Skype!! 
• February brought on a new job.  I was so nervous to start a new job because I loved my old job so much that I just didn't think that anything could match it.  It may not be quite as good as my last job was, but it's a close second and I am extremely lucky to have found it.  
• March showed me what a party was.
• In April I made contact with my biological father.
• June brought me In n' Out Burger.  Which I didn't think would impact my diet as much as it has because I don't even like Hamburgers.  But I do like In n' Out Burgers. 
• In August I got a new tattoo in honor of my mom on her birthday.
• October was the month that we discovered Dexter and had our Hollywood Undead party.
• November was pretty much devoted to more Dexter.
• I spent the bulk of December trying to convince Brett to get me a Guinea pig and trying to decide what to send my recipient for blog secret santa.

How was your 2010?  Any great plans for 2011??

Loving This Album

I love the covers that they did of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance and Kanye West's Stronger.  Brilliant. You should go to itunes right now and buy it.

I asked, and I received

About four months ago I submitted my blog for review over at Ask And Ye Shall Receive where, as proclaimed in their blog address, they promised to fucking tear me apart.

Yesterday was the day that my review went up. You can read it here.

My reviewer was a chick named Mongoliangirl. She definitely did not disappoint on the aforementioned promise, and I actually laughed a few times while I was reading what she had to say about my blog. Not only did she tear me apart, but she did it in a pretty comical way. Her number one complaint seemed to be my lack of consistency. I am an all-over-the-place kind of blogger, and she didn't really like that too well. I get it.

She thinks that I should focus more on the monumental happenings in my life, and expand on those stories more than I have been. I can't say that I disagree, but at the same time I worry that if I focus too hard on one set of topics things around here will become a lot more monotonous. What do you think? Do you want to hear more about my hunt to find my biological father, the emotions that go along with said inquisition, and the time that Brett almost died?

Maybe I should pour my heart out a little more.

I did disagree with the part of the review where she suggested that rather than telling you the story about the time that the photographer didn't show up to take our pictures, I should've posted a back story on the graffiti covered building that we were planning on having in the background of those pictures. My only problem with that suggestion is this: I know nothing about that building to be able to write a story about it. I just know that I used to drive by it on my commute everyday, and it seemed like an awesome place for a photo shoot. So that really wouldn't have been an option. I knew the story about the photographer not showing, because I was there and I was extremely upset about it, but the history of the building is a complete mystery to me.

I also found it completely hilarious that she was so focused on the one post that I ever did about a pair of sandals. She thinks that I throw too much of my daily life into my posts, and used the phrase "a bunch of tidbits, trivia, and surface tripe" to describe the parts of my life that I blog about. The only reason that this was confusing to me is that I thought that's what having a blog was all about. Sharing stories about your life, and letting people get a feel for who you are. If all I ever blogged about were the serious, sad, and tragic things that happened in my life the stories would be too heavy, and my blog would be a severely depressing place to be. No one would want to read it.

I like constructive criticism because it helps me improve myself. I will definitely think about everything that she said, and try to come up with ways that I improve the stories that I tell and make them more interesting. As for the randomness, I don't know if that one will ever go away. I am a random person with random thoughts, and I kind of like that about myself.

She did say that she thinks my writing is clear and straightforward, and she thinks that I have potential, which is pretty cool. She also said that she is going to put me into her reader and see if I can improve, which I appreciate. I was really glad to see that she didn't hate my blog template. That is one thing that the reviewers tend to have a problem with when they review blogs.

Thanks MongolianGirl for reviewing my blog, I'll be interested to see if you change your mind about me in the future.

Let's just say, I didn't pee my pants

Brett and I have both heard that the movie Paranormal Activity is one of the scariest movies ever made. We've heard that people were so scared that they got up and walked out of the theater in the middle of the show. Some girl even told Brett that she couldn't sleep for a week after she watched it. We both enjoy a good scary movie, so when we were at the Redbox yesterday, and saw it on the list of available movies, we decided to rent it.

Big mistake.

I don't know what it is about this movie that scared so many people. My guess is that it must have been the bad acting.

I will admit, there were a few little things that made my heart race while we were watching this movie. Some doors moving without any explanation, sheets on the bed being moved with no one there, the sound of footsteps in a dark hallway. I get it, that kind of shit is creepy. But all of the other crap that they threw in was just too much.

I hate watching a movies that are such a big let down. It makes me mad that I even wasted my time to see it. Remember this one? Ridiculous. It makes me wonder why people even waste their time and money to make these movies.

Did you see it? What did you think?

Creepy

Last week Brett and I rented the movie Orphan from our local redbox. I had really been anxious to see it for a while. We had seen the preview for it in the theater, and on T.V. a lot over the last few months, and it looked good. I am one to love a good scary movie, so naturally I was intrigued by how creepy the previews made this movie look.

A few days before Halloween I noticed that it was being advertised at the redbox, and stopped to grab a copy. After scrolling through the titles, and realizing that it wasn't in stock I informed Brett that we had to keep our eyes peeled! I was dying to see it.

About four days later Brett sent me a text saying that he had finally snagged it! Success.

Later that night we cuddled up on the couch to start watching it, and almost instantly you could tell it was going to be as scary as the previews made it look.

Without ruining anything for you, just in case you plan to see it, the main plot of the story is about a couple with two young children who recently had a pregnancy that resulted in a stillbirth. After a little while they decide that they are ready to have another child, but in fear of what happened to their last baby, they decide to adopt. They find a nine year old girl living in an orphanage, and decide to bring her home. Shortly after they get her home, funny things begin to happen. The mother knows that there is just something about Esther that isn't right, but no one believes her.

Let me just say this first, I am not normally bothered too badly by scary movies. Sometimes they make me jump or flinch a little, but after the movie is over I am fine. The spook doesn't normally linger. With this movie though, I was so disturbed that I didn't want to go to bed. It was that scary. Not in the traditional blood and gore kind of way, but more in the how could someone be that messed up? kind of way.

It was twisted. So twisted that I didn't see the ending coming. I was completely shocked by the way the story played out.

I can tell you one thing, I have no desire to ever adopt a child after seeing that movie.

A brew and a movie

Last night was our first experience at a theater downtown called Brewvies, and I have to tell you, we were very impressed. You see, there aren't any other theaters in Utah {that I know of, anyway} where you can order a pitcher of beer and a pizza or burger to enjoy while you are watching your movie. I think that the concept is brilliant.

The Schlange's came with us, and we saw The Hangover. It was literally the funniest movie that we have seen in a long time, and I'm really sad that we didn't go see it sooner. There was a constant eruption of laughter throughout the whole theater during almost every scene. It was hilarious.

I may or may not have dropped a full glass of beer on the floor, but that's not important.

We will definitely be going back soon. The food was good, the movie was great, the atmosphere was just awesome, and the prices are very reasonable. I wish that there were more businesses in Utah like this. We had a blast.

We ♥ Disney-Pixar

Saturday afternoon we were invited by Chaz and Shay to go see a matinee. Okay, I'm lying. They told us that they were going to see a matinee, and we invited ourselves. Anyway, the movie they picked, that we tagged along to was Disney-Pixar's UP.

Three words: we loved it.

I don't think there has been a single Disney-Pixar movie that we haven't liked. In fact, they have become some of our favorites. There are certain ones that we have seen over and over, and they never get old. But Brett's favorite is The Incredibles, and mine is Finding Nemo. There are so many other great ones to choose from! UP is now definitely high on my list of favorites.

What is your favorite Disney-Pixar movie?

The Serpent Tide

Rating: 3 Stars

The one word I would use to sum up this book: Entertaining

This book was a gift from Chaz and Shay for my birthday last year, and I just recently got around to reading it. {sorry guys!} All in all this was a really good book! It is written by a woman named K.L. Fogg who is from Utah. I would tell you my version, but I would hate to spoil it, so here is a brief overview from the website:

Wesley Vandergrift wonders why he isn't like the other boys in his coastal South Carolina town. It's not easy being the son of an eccentric billionaire mother. His life consists of big secrets in a big mansion and only one friend. Overprotected and insulated from the rest of the world, Wesley yearns for the kind of exciting outdoor adventures he sees on "The Snake Stalker"-his favorite TV program, starring the charming Jack Mackey. Now through a twist of fate, Wesley meets someone who knows his hero Jack Mackey-a real-live relative. And soon Wesley finds himself in more of an adventure than he bargained for. Dare to take the plunge with Wesley on an exciting journey of shipwrecks, venomous snakes, and kidnappers. The legendary curse of the Serpent Tide will forever change Wesley's life-and, perhaps, yours.

It was definitely a good book. I liked the action, and it kept me interested the whole time. Thanks Chaz and Shay!!

There are two more books to the series that I plan to read. The second is titled Widow's Revenge, and the third is titled Diamondback Cave.

Have you read The Serpent Tide? What did you think?

The Color Purple

Title: The Color Purple

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

The Color Purple is a film adaptation of Alice Walker's novel of the same name. I read the book about six years ago, and loved it! So naturally I was up for the challenge when Psonya presented me with the idea to watch and review this movie, {it's her favorite!} in exchange for her to do the same with my favorite movie.

To be completely honest with you, I have to say that I was not that impressed with the film version of the story. I think that the book was wonderful, and I was pretty disappointed after I watched the movie. Part of the problem when making a book into a movie is always the fact that you can't cram all of the story into two hours. So naturally there were pieces missing. The cast for the film had a LOT of big named actors/actresses: Oprah, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, and Laurence Fishburne are just a few. I think that with the cast in mind I expected the movie to be much better than it turned out to be. I do however, think that Oprah gave an amazing performance. Most of the time I forgot that it was even her that I was watching. She really did a great job of playing Sophie. With that said, I really don't think that any of the other actors/actresses gave it their all. It could've been done much better, in my opinion.

I also think that one of the things that made it hard to watch was the pace. It was so slow. I think that the story works well for a book because it is something that you read a few chapters here and there, then put it down for a while, which helps to break it up a little. But watching the whole movie at once I found myself bored.

I am really bummed that I didn't like the movie. I was really hoping that it would be as good as the book. I do find that most times the movie is never as good as the book to me though, so maybe I am just a sucker for turning pages. I also have to say that I usually tend to like movies that are a little more fast paced, and not so sad. This is truly a depressing story, and maybe that's why I think it is better for me to read it. Then I can put it down and give my brain a rest from all of the sadness.

The movie that I picked for Psonya is very different. Who knows, maybe she won't like it and it will all come down to the fact that we just have different taste in movies. We'll see! She's posting her review today, too. So CLICK HERE to see what she thinks of Green Street Hooligan's.

Sorry Psonya!!

Have you seen The Color Purple? What did you think?

Loved. This. Movie.

Seven Pounds

This movie is so great! If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you go out and rent it! I really wanted to go see it when it was in theaters, but we just never got around to it. So we went straight down to the video store the day it came out on video and rented it. It's one of those films that you don't really know what is happening until the end, and when you find out you are shocked! You are drawn into the story from the very beginning! It's got a great cast, too! Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, and Woody Harrelson are just a few of the big name actors in this film. I can't say too much about it, because I would hate to give anything away. Just take my word for it, it's so so so so good!

We have also seen these three movies in the last week, and I would recommend them too! Slumdog Millionaire wasn't quite as good as I had expected, but I think it was just too hyped up. I liked it a lot, but it definitely wasn't motion picture of the year material in my opinion. Marley and Me was funny, but ended sad. I have to admit, after reading the book I didn't think that Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson could pull off playing the main characters in this story but in the end I was pleasantly surprised. Yes Man! had us laughing out loud through the whole show! It was so hilarious, and I can say one thing for sure.....Jim Carrey is back! So if you are bored and need a movie to watch....any of the four mentioned in this post would be winners!

P.S. if you are dying to know what movies all of the quotes in my last post were from, I have gone back and put the answers in for all of them. I was surprised that only half of them were guessed. Looks like I stumped you!

Gathering Blue

Rating: Two Stars

The one word I would use to sum up this book: Disappointing

This book is the sequel to The Giver, which I absolutely loved, but this one let me down. I was really expecting the second book to be a continuation of the first book, or at least tie into it somehow. They had absolutely nothing to do with each other. I have been told that the third book in the series, Messenger, ties both of these stories together. I really hope so!

Have you read it? What did you think?

Malkovich Malkovich?

I can honestly tell you right now that Being John Malkovich is the weirdest movie I have ever seen. It is so bizarre! Interesting, but bizarre. We had never seen or heard of it before, and while we were watching TV the other night we stumbled across it.
The cast includes John Malkovich {obviously}, John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and Catherine Keener. I don't know how to really describe the plot to you without typing the whole thing out {which could take hours}, but lets just say that John Cusack finds a door into John Malkovich's head and starts taking people on tours.  That about sums it up.

Have you seen it? If so, what did you think of it?

What is the weirdest movie you have ever seen?

An Amazing Performance

Okay, Brett and I have ALWAYS been fans of Angelina Jolie {Hello! Laura Croft Tomb Raider is the greatest} so when I saw the preview for this movie, naturally I was excited to see it. We rented it last night, and I just have to say....WOW!!! She gave such an amazing performance, not to mention that the story line is so captivating! Our eyes were glued to the TV waiting to see what was going to happen the whole time. Just over an hour into it we had to pause it because Brett was leaving to go play Basketball, and neither of us wanted to hit that pause button. It was such an intensely interesting, sad, unpredictable, amazing story.

I'm not going to tell you about it for fear of ruining the plot, just go rent it!!

The Giver

Rating: Four Stars
The one word I would use to sum up this book: Brilliant

I read this book when I was in junior high school, and I had forgotten a lot of the details, so yesterday I decided I was going to read it again (it was the first time I had ever read a whole book in one day!), and I am so glad I did! This is such a great story, and really the only complaint that I can say I have about it is the fact that it's not long enough. I think that the author could have added so much more to the story and it would have been even greater! It is about a boy named Jonas and his family. They live in a society of "sameness" where there is no pain, no suffering, and no color. It follows him through his 12th year of life, and the struggles with getting his 'assignment' and beginning his training for adulthood.

I absolutely loved it, and I am reading the sequel next!! :)

Have you read it? What did you think?

Book Reviews by Kaylyn

I think it's about time for me to start doing book reviews. Don't you? I read so many books, and so many of them are books that I think you should read too. So now I will have a way of enticing you to read what I read, then we can talk about it. Sound good? I will kick things off with the book that I finished yesterday:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

by Mark Haddon

Rating: Two Stars
The one word I would use to sum up this book: Odd

Don't get me wrong, it was definitely interesting. I always appreciate it when an author comes up with a creative narrator for a book (that's why The Book Thief is my favorite!) and this one was definitely interesting. It is about a 15 year old autistic boy named Christopher, and it is written from his perspective. He discovers late one night that his neighbors dog has been killed, and he makes it his mission to solve the murder. The book has it's funny moments, and it's sad moments, with a lot of WTF? moments thrown in as well. It jumps around a lot. Overall it was an interesting read. It's only about 200 pages, so it's a quick read. I won't be reading it again, but I can't say I regret reading it once. I will give any book a chance. So if you just need to kill time, pick it up, or you can borrow mine. But if you are looking for a structured story that you will just love....this is not the book for you.

Have you read it? What did you think??

What Can I Say?

Shay, Ashley, Denise and I saw Twilight on Saturday.

I'm going to go out on a limb here. What I am about to say may upset a few of you, but that's okay.....I'm going to say it anyway. Please don't think that I am saying this lightly. Here it goes:

"I, Kaylyn Scothern, liked the film adaptation of Twilight better than I liked the film adaptation of Harry Potter!"

There! I said it. I know, I know....it was a shock to me as well. But what can I say? They did a great job with the casting, the action scenes were good, the on screen chemistry between Bella and Edward was fantastic, and I think that it followed the book very well. I get that they left a lot out, but they had to! How could you cram that whole story into one movie? I think that for those that have never read Twilight it would be a lot easier to understand what was happening than if you had never read Harry Potter before going to see the movie. Harry Potter just had too many holes.

There were definately those cheesy moments that you could've done without, but the book had those moments too, and it made for a good laugh. After wondering for months why they choose Robert Pattinson to play edward, I finally get it. I wasn't too happy when they announced that they had cast him as Edward, but after seeing the movie I was impressed! He and Kristen stewart were just fantastic as Bella and Edward.

Don't get me wrong! I love Harry Potter, JK rowling will always be my hero, and it will forever be my favorite series of books! But as far as the movie goes, I think Twilight was better. I plan on seeing it again, and again, and again. I like to re-watch good movies, it drives Brett crazy sometimes. :)

So, in a nutshell, I thought that Twilight was A-MAZ-ING, and I can't wait for New Moon!!

What did you think? Tell the truth!!

Amazing Art

If you get the chance to see the Body Worlds 3 exhibit while it is in Salt Lake, you should definitely go! We went on Saturday afternoon, and it was amazing. There were so many interesting displays, and you learn so much about the human body. We wanted to go to the Body Worlds Exhibit in Los Angeles last time we were there, but Emily had no desire to see it and we didn't end up going. So when we found out that it was going to be coming to Utah we were so excited! I am happy to report that it was as fabulous as I hoped it would be.