Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Premier!

John and I somewhat on a whim decided to go to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! My friend Nikki was going with a friend of hers from work and some kids from the single's ward. So we met Nikki and Julia for dinner before hand and headed to the theater around 7:30pm. There were about 100 people in line at that point and we met up with the single's ward kids and got place close to the front of the line, which was pretty awesome! We did have to suffer through an hour and a half in line before they even seated us!

Luckily, though, Becky had brought some Harry Potter trivia and our team (me, John, Nikki & Julia aka The Dumbledorks) came out on top. They let us in around 9:15 and we got prime center seats in the first theater they opened. Apparently there were somewhere around 2,500 tickets sold for the midnight showing, and they probably filled all 13 theaters they set apart for the film. Isn't that insane?

We continued our HP Trivia inside and we recruited people around us to help and we had a lot of fun. People all throughout the crowd were catching on to what we were doing so Becky ended up going to the front of the theater and led the entire theater in HP Trivia. Which was awesome! For about 20 minutes. Then the crowd started getting really rowdy, and rambunctious. And one girl was literally standing up and screaming. It escalated for a while, and they wouldn't stop the trivia, even after the in-theater music and promos started. UGGGHHHH. We were so afraid the audience was going to ruin the movie for us.

This is us earlier in the night, before the tiredness set in!

I won't give you a full review of the movie so as not to spoil it for anyone, but I really liked it. I get annoyed with some of the HP movies because they take things out, and change insignificant plot points for no reason and this one was no exception. Thankfully they didn't go as far as they did for Prisoner of Azkaban, but John and I still looked at each other with "Why did they do that?" expressions at least a handful of times.

But despite its shortcomings, this movie is HILARIOUS and really good. I thought the book was extremely funny and never thought in a million years it could be as funny, but I was really pleasantly surprised! The effects were amazing and the acting was really great. I even liked Dumbledore in this film, where I always wish Richard Harris hadn't died when watching the previous two. I'm not gonna be upset that some of my favorite parts may have been left out, or that it ended somewhat anticlimactic. I think I will just go read the book again. ;)

Go see it, and tell me what you think!

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Double Feature Weekend

This weekend we were lucky enough to see two movies! John and I saw Transformers on a double date with the Taylors on Friday night. We've had this planned for months since we are all huge fans of the 1st one, and Kelli and I are both such big fans of Shia Labeouf. We had a lot of fun! Then Saturday afternoon we decided to take Ben to see Up at a theater close to our house that has $4.75 matinee tickets (I think we will be seeing more movies there for sure!) Here are my thoughts on both movies!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
When John and I saw Transformers our jaws dropped the first time the Decepticon transformed. It was incredible. The 2nd installment of Transformers was just as visually amazing, and they take it to the max. Revenge of the Fallen starts out very predictably and with little action, but what they lack in effects they make up for in a hilarious mom taking her son to college (not to mention Bumble Bee wrecking the house after Sam finds a piece of the cube). Then with what seemed like a flip of a switch the movie takes off and doesn't stop. It's great because while it's action packed all the way though, you get lots of breathers to let your eyes rest. This movie was 10x funnier than the first one. It was a bit more crass, the language was a bit dirtier and they go a little too far a couple of times but we LOVED it! It's mindless and hugely entertaining, packed with action and humor and drama. If you loved the first one you'll LOVE the second one! We're hoping it's out on dvd before Christmas because we can't wait to see it again!







Up
The first time I saw a preview for this movie I was honestly a little disappointed. It seemed like a cheesy premise and I never in a million years thought it would ever be able to live up to other Pixar movies. 15 minutes into it my mind was completely changed and this movie has neared the top of my Pixar favorites. If you haven't seen this movie you are missing out on heart and depth and genuine quality story telling. To be able to create as much emotion in the first 15 minutes of this movie as Pixar does, with no dialogue in most of it, is truly remarkable. The entire movie is filled with Carl's determination to finish the adventure he never had a chance to with his wife. The young Wilderness Exlporer, Russell, who stows away with him is so funny and endearing and all of the other characters are awesome. Most of the movie consists of Russell, Carl, a dog and Kevin, a rare bird. The run time for this film was 1 hr 36 minutes and unlike some other Pixar movies, that draw the movie out so long you lose interest, this is a perfect length!

Ben really liked the dogs in this movie. He seemed to enjoy it (even though he had to make like 5 potty breaks) but got really scared at the end when there's a fire. But overall it kept his attention for the entire movie.




If you loved Transformers, go see Revenge of the Fallen, it's hilarious! If you haven't seen Up, no matter who you are, you will love it! At least I hope you love it as much as we did!

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Movies We Watch Over and Over

Last night we all went to be early. I went to work out after dinner while Ben was taking a bath. While I was gone he emptied half the bath water very discreetly onto the bathroom floor so was sent to bed early. John and I watched half of The Office before putting in one of our favorite movies, Fun With Dick and Jane. We were in bed by 10:00. It was so nice! I got up at 6 this morning, to get ready for the day before Ben woke up, which is definitely something I need to do more often!

I was thinking when we were watching the movie last night, about all of the other movies we have that we can watch over and over and over. Here are a few that are on our list:

1. Fun With Dick and Jane
2. 007 (Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace)
3. Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen
4. The Bourne Trilogy
5. Transformers
6. Enchanted
7. Definitely, Maybe (though we don't own this one)
8. Runaway Bride (on my list, not John's, obviously)
9. National Treasure 1 & 2 (I know they're total cheese but I still love them)
10. Mr. and Mrs. Smith

What movies can you watch over and over and never get tired of them?

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