31 Days of Film - Day 16: Movie you totally didn't "get"

Everyone in my friends group (online and here at home) LOVE this trilogy. I am the odd man out. I read the books in Jr. High and didn't care for them, so when the movies came out I was less than interested. I never saw them in theaters, and didn't go to the viewing parties my friends held at their houses when they came to video. I knew I didn't like the story, so seeing it in film format wasn't going to be much better (movies are rarely if ever better than the book!)

I've since suffered through the trilogy (as well as the first Hobbit movie). I just don't get it. Granted, I know my likes aren't always mainstream, so I'm not judging! But the way people react when I say I don't like the movies (or books) you'd think I'd kicked their dog. For me they're long and tedious. They have a few moments here and there that are charming or funny, but for the most part it's just a significant waste of time. Which I don't normally mind wasting time (I'm blogging about movies here, obviously time wasting is something I know how to do) I just want to have a good time while wasting time. And this isn't a good time for me.

I lost friends - or nearly so - over this. (Seriously two guys I grew up with stopped talking to me for WEEKS after I said I didn't like the books/movies. High School, gotta love it.)

I just don't get it! LOL

Cats of the Kenai Animal Shelter

Like the dogs, I have enjoyed getting to know some of the kitties that have come through the Kenai Animal Shelter. They are incredibly cute - and I'm not normally a cat person, but I have a few that if I were I'd totally snatch them up.

So, enjoy these cute bundles of fluff.

Dogs of the Kenai Animal Shelter

I am not sure if I mentioned it on the blog that I am now one of the volunteer photographers at the Kenai Animal Shelter - I know I said something on Twitter and Instagram. I go in on Wednesdays with the help of my best friend Kassy and we photograph all the animals up for adoption. Mostly just kitties and the dogs, but first week I also got to take pics of a very timid Guinea Pig! Ha ha!

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites - some of the animals have already been adopted, but I wanted to share anyway because they're adorable.

31 Days of Film - Davy 15: Best Horror Film

No, now, hear me out. YOU may not see the horror of this film, but let me tell you this movie is CREEPY. Yes, I know, it's a Spielberg movie! It's one of his best movies. Well, let me tell you I can't watch it without hiding my eyes for most of it.

It's not even the alien part of the whole thing - I can handle aliens (for the most part). They don't bother me. The turd is halfway cute, actually, when I think about him. It's not the aliens, it's not the unknown... it's the government guys in the HazMat suits!

When they capture poor little ET and put him in the freezer (or whatever it is) and his tummy glows red, the five year old me that's still very much in my head wants to run for the other room. My dad finds it hilarious and makes sure to stop on the movie whenever it (rarely) plays on TV. Because he's evil like that.

And, yet, I love quoting this movie. And the music is - as John Williams' scores always are - incredible. So it has a lot of positives... which is why it's the best horror movie of all time.

31 Days of Film - Day 14: A film you used to love but now hate

It's not that I hate "All Dogs Go To Heaven", because I don't. It's a fun film... for the most part. It's just that after losing three of the very best dogs ever (Amiga in 1998, Jordy in 2002, and Yuka in 2013) I can't really handle watching it. So it was a film I loved to watch and now can't without big ugly crying. And I don't like to ugly cry.

I loved this movie as a kid. Wore out my VHS tape of it. Itchy was my favorite, and I adored Anne Marie. I was terrified of the alligator, and it bothered me that there was a pink dog in charge of Heaven. The demon that chases Charlie was scary, but it was a good scary... and who doesn't quote "you can never come back" in that creepy voice the pink dog had?

I had the movie memorized, but it's been so long that I don't think I could put two lines together. Though I'm always surprised when we pop a movie in I haven't seen in decades and I can quote it line by line, so who knows.

Playing around on imdb.com to see who voiced the characters (all I remember is Dom DeLuise as Itchy) I'm giggling because the voice of "Ducky" in The Land Before Time is the same as the voice of "Anne Marie". Never realized that. Gotta love random bits of trivia. Thanks, Internetz.

Michael Coleman is awesome (yes another OUAT cast gushfest)

So we all know I adore the cast of ABC/Disney's Once Upon A Time, and I have gushed about them before... the cast is freaking ADORABLE in every sense of the word and they are so awesome to their fans...

but Michael Coleman tweeting me (yet again) tonight takes the cake. I think he just trumped MRJ as being my favorite Michael on OUAT.

He had been sharing new versions of the #Selfie, and so I dared him to create a "Moosie"... and next thing I know I get this tweet.

Michael personifies his character (Happy the Dwarf). He really, really does. I'm forever a fangirl.

31 Days of Film - Day 13: Movie with your least favorite actor/actress

I've said it several times before - I don't like Leonardo DiCaprio's acting (he doesn't win me over in interviews either). I find him incredibly boring, put on, and just not that good. I'm in the minority, and Hollywood disagrees, so it is what it is... but I think he's more hype than actual product.

And I think his performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape is what people are really thinking about when they consider his acting chops. It's completely different from any of his major roles that he would later play (he's typically stuck in Jack Dawson type roles... which is predictable and stupid, but when that comes easy and the money's good...).

I've only watched the film a couple of times - it's one of those movies like "Dan In Real Life" or "Elizabethtown" that's well done but kinda depressing (even if there are happy moments). But, DiCaprio's performance has always stuck with me. That kind of acting I can get on board with. He was totally committed and transformed into the character, whereas these days he transforms all the characters into himself and it's just meh.