"Trick or Treat!"

Cinderella
"Poison Ivy"
Shera
Jessica Rabbit
She Devil
Roger Rabbit
Black Swan
Snooki (scary enough)
Bride of Frankenstein?
Heidi Klum as cadaver waiting for autopsy...

"A picture is worth a thousand words..."

I'll give you ONE reason to NEVER let your child become a child movie star...

Abbreviated Fashion Police for the Emmy's 2011

Even though I had a hard time just trying to find yesterday's Emmy's fashions, by far the Best Dressed in my book was hot chili Sofia Vergara. Simply stunning.
Although she's big with Project Runway, I don't usually relate to Heidi Klum's style, but this dress was Runner up for me for Best Dressed. Ole!

I just love Zoey Deschanel but this dress is Prom dress gone wrong... She is so pretty, and even looks great in an 80's throw back.
Amy Poehler's dress is simple yet chic. Everyone should shimmer on the red carpet.
Okay, I threw in Kyle Chandler because he's gorgeous.
Maybe Julie Bowen was trying to make a JLo statement, but this dress was falling off in all the wrong places and, as Alex said, she seemed drunk or high.

Here are the new Charlie's Angels with Drew Barrymore (of the second or third? batch of Angels.) Drew's dress is odd but all the rage in Hollywood currently.
And Worst Dressed? Goes to a man? East meets west? Straight meets gay? Schizophrenic? My guess is he was vying for this title...

"All that glitters isn't gold..."

These award shows just keep getting worse and worse. I always look forward to them and then am so disappointed, especially when they're like the Emmy's were tonight - completely tasteless and classless. I am guessing it's because the younger generation is taking the reins and doing things like they did tonight such as pick their nose, and talk about their children "catching them in the act" and sing songs about having sex. And it wasn't even 8:00 pm here in Central Standard Time Zone... Even the women's clothes were a complete disappointment but perfectly matched the tasteless production. Host Jane Lynch was not funny nor interesting, and even admitted to having a gay agenda, yet most people in this world are straight. The only thing they got right was when Kyle Chandler won for (recently cancelled) "Friday Night Lights" and the beautiful rendition of "Hallelujah" for the "In Memoriam" as they rolled the pictures of all those in their business that passed away this past year. Other than that, it was the same cliques that usually win like the "Jon Stewart Show" did for the 8th straight year.

I'm done...

"7 Days in Utopia"

Tonight I saw the movie, "7 Days in Utopia," and it did not disappoint. Last summer in my little town in the Texas hill country, we heard they were filming a movie on a new book, "Golf's Sacred Journey, Seven Days at the Links in Utopia." It was written by a friend of DD's father, Dr. David Cook, who is a psychologist to super athletes, and evidently they come from miles around to have an appointment with him. David's daughter was in DD's dance class, so I got to meet him and his wife, and they are some of the nicest people I've ever met.

Anyway.

They had an all-call for anyone that wanted to be an extra in the movie, so it was great fun to see familiar faces in the crowd, not to mention all the familiar places around here! The movie truly captures our way of life here in the Texas hill country, and being a 5th generation Texan, it made me proud.

Of course after "Lonesome Dove," Texans call Robert Duvall one of our own. He SO reminds me of my mother's father with that cute twinkle in his eye... When I started reading the book, I knew that he was MEANT for that part. It is men like him that made me move to this town - those types are the salt of the earth and make this world a better place. The river scene looks like this entire area (except that it hasn't rained since they filmed last summer, so the rivers are drying up.) My family's ranch that my great grandfather bought, is right down the street from Utopia, so many childhood memories in these parts. The porch scene is actually a Bed & Breakfast in our town, (DD's 7th grade cheer photos were taken on the bridge on the property and we took family Christmas photos there a few years ago) and the gorgeous new golf course is at the edge of town. It's a movie with A List actors, gorgeous scenery and a meaningful script with no gratuitous sex or cussing that shows the wonderful metaphor of golf and life's successes. Go see it - you'll be glad you did.

It will make you want a new pair of boots...

"Perception IS reality...."

(Sigh) Sometimes I just don't get it... Why does anyone even CARE about 'Keeping up with the Kardashians?' Here is a young woman and her family who are famous for being famous?? Why are people fascinated with these people? I'm STILL scratching my head on this family. As I recall, Kim's father was one of O.J. Simpson's lawyers when O.J. was tried (and acquitted) of murdering his wife. I'm not sure what happened to him, but now Kim's mother is married to past Olympic winner, Bruce Jenner, and somehow this has parlayed this family into multi-millions with TV reality shows and all kinds of fame-seeking venues. So, according to today's news, Kim and some really tall guy got married, and it's all Hollywood has talked about for weeks. Most people don't know who the vice-president of the United States is, but they sure as heck know who Kim Kardashian is. I'm sure we'll be hearing about this for months to come until their next attention-seeking activity.

What a sick society...

"Hollywood has a lot of plastic people..."

Here is the actor that is going to play the Ken doll - no joke - in Barbie and Ken, the movie. They still have not found the actress that will play Barbie doll, but since tons of young women fashion themselves after her, I'm sure that there will be lots of contenders. Heidi Montag comes to mind. Or Blake Lively (see left) as Malibu Barbie.

When my oldest daughter Alex turned 4 years old, we had a birthday party in the backyard, and I had "hired" a friend of mine's blonde high-schooled age niece to be Barbie. She dressed up in her prom dress and drove in the back gate with a crown on to give autographs. We had all things Barbie - partyware, crowns for all the girls and of course, pink. My brother-in-law was Ken, and drove the convertible. Alex and friends were convinced it was the "real" Barbie.

Best. Birthday. Party. Ever.

Ah, good times....

"Hopelessly devoted to you..."

In our small town, all the kids hang out at an ice cream/sandwich place on Main Street. They all meet up there after school, and pretty much all the time. It's the center of town and a great meeting place. It's a happy place decorated in a very loud interpretation of 1950's decor with lots of Elvis stuff. Behind the counter is a flatscreen TV that has "Grease" playing back to back on a loop that never stops, so I've sat in those old-fashioned booths and watched it play for ever and ever. So it is with sadness, that I report that the second actor from "Grease" died this week - Cha Cha (Annette Charles.) As you probably know (and were not shocked at learning) that Jeff Conaway (Kenickie) recently died of an overdose. He had been on Celebrity Rehab a few years ago? and it wasn't looking too good for him.

Anyway.

"Grease" has brought me many hours of wonderful nostalgic entertainment, even though I didn't grow up in the 1950's. It's such a happy musical with the fun songs and fun dancing...So watching the actors pass on is making me feel old -- and sad...

Like 'It's Raining on Prom Night'...

"Where's the Beef? Part 3"

What IS it about summer that brings out the movie star crushes in me?! So, forgive me, but my 3rd crush, though not necessarily in the order I've been doing, is Simon Baker from CBS' hit show, "The Mentalist." Actually he's an Aussie - also short for AWESOME. Yes, I'm a Baby Boomer, so if you're thinking I'm pining for a younger man, hey, it's only make-believe anyway! I tried to explain to my 33 year old female coworker, that even though your body gets older, your mind stays young, or at least mine does... I remember watching "The Thornbirds," and Barbara Stanwyck was close to 70 in that tv film series, but she hits on much younger Richard Chamberlain and tells him her body is old but her desires were the same. (Seemed creepy at the time, but I get it now.)

Anyway.

Having grown up on the beach every weekend of the summer, I am naturally attracted to surfer guys, with their tan skin and blonde highlights. And there is something about the Australians - they just seem more masculine than American men. As I've mentioned before in my previous posts, Hollywood is having to go abroad for the macho parts, as American men are getting feminized and metro-sexual. And Simon Baker is at the top of my Australian list.

G'Day Mate!

"Where's the Beef? Part 2"

Yes, it's time to introduce another of my movie star crushes - Tom Selleck. It started in the 80's when I had just had a baby and my mother called me and said, "Turn on channel 5, there is a REALLY handsome guy on a new show called Magnum P.I." Mmmmm... I've had a crush ever since. Too, this guy seems as good off-screen as on, and has wonderful integrity which is COMPLETELY attractive.

It doesn't hurt that he has a moustache either...

"Where's the Beef?"

Ok, randomly I will introduce my movie star crushes at different times since summers are slow. Let me start with Kyle Chandler, of "Friday Night Lights," and this summer's "Super 8," among other things.

Hubba, hubba...

"Woe to the world because of it's stumbling blocks." - Matthew 18

Here are pictures of Katy Perry and Taylor Momsen, who's music are popular with younger girls. And we are being asked the question, is music by these artists sexualizing young girls? Uh, Duh.... As you can see in the bottom photo, SEVENTEEN year old Taylor Momsen is whipping these teen girls in Spain into a frenzy this week. And my 14 year old's very good friend went to her concert in Austin a few months ago... She told DD that Taylor, of course, yells obscenities the entire time and masturbates on the stage. And then there's Katy Perry, who like the rest of musicians, is always trying to "push the envelope." She has lots of fans that are still in elementary school and tries to look innocent while singing, "I kissed a girl and I liked it."

Frankly, I'm sick of this garbage...

"Good Luck Disney"

Oh My Gosh there's NOTHING on TV!!! I know, I know.... I should read a book but I just want something VAGUELY interesting on in the background. Why don't ANY of these stupid TV execs figure out that we've all seen the reruns a million times and we're reduced to watching alien shows on the History Channel??? Not to mention that there are hardly ANY well-written shows on during the school year because most shows these days are inane reality shows, so people named Snooki and The Situation can get rich over acting stupid (or just being themselves) which is the same thing.

At least the Disney Channel understands that kids are out of school, and since most are parked right in front of the tube instead of going outside for whatever reason, it's a good time to introduce some new shows. And since DD is still coming of age (and there's nothing else on), we've been watching a lot of Disney Channel.

Our favorite new show is "Good Luck Charlie," (which reminds me of the family sitcoms in the 80's), about a cute family with married parents (gasp) and 4 cute children. But we can RELATE to it, something their execs haven't figured out is the key to success/ratings. For example, new show, "Shake It Up," they just introduced is about 2 girls and 2 guys who are the stars of a dance show called 'Shake It Up Chicago." I realize they are trying to horn in on the popularity of all the new dance shows, but it's unrelatable for the kids since one millionth of one percent of kids would have this opportunity. And you never see the parents, which is kind of the new trend on kid shows. Yet another new show taking advantage of a current craze is their "My Babysitter is a Vampire," (hello Twilight fans) which is a completely HORRID show with teenagers and ugly fangs, and they mention "getting a hickey," which I think is a little much for Disney... But then on "Shake It Up" they kept saying "kiss their butt," which also seems inappropriate. (Yes, I've been on vacation for the last week, so Disney's been on alot....) Then, there is "Wizards of Waverly Place," (hello Harry Potter fans) which has been a break-out role for Selena Gomez, and is just okay. New show, "A.N.T. Farm" has an extremely talented African-American girl, a triple threat (act/sing/dance) but it has no chemistry. They have a new cartoon series, "Fish Hooks," which is eerily similar to Nickelodeon's wildly popular "Sponge Bob Square Pants," and soon they will be introducing a new show bringing back "The Cosby Show's" Raven Simone, who did have her own Disney show called "That's So Raven" until she was well into adulthood. I realize with Disney's cash cow, Miley Cyrus, now gone and the gynormous void left from the "Hannah Montana" series ending, they had to get serious. I mean really, what kind of birthday parties will little girls have since we've had years of Hannah Montana merchandise out the wazoo?

But the Disney people, for the most part, just don't get it. This country still likes to see fairly normal families in sitcoms that we can relate to. The rest?

It's just too easy to keep channel surfing...

"Hooray for Hollywood..."

Wow.

Even Hollywood is saying, "Enough already!" Evidently Ashton Kutcher, darling of my children's generation, tweeted this, "As much as I'm not a fan of Sarah Palin, I find sifting through her emails repulsive and over reaching media."

Good for him!! Call it like you see it!! It IS repulsive and disgusting. And the New York Times even asked their READERS for help in examining all of her emails.

By the way, they found NOTHING.

Snap.

"Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world."

Just saw the movie "Super 8," and I don't usually talk about movies on my blog, but this movie is just really special. Just when I thought Steven Spielberg couldn't do it anymore, he's come out with his best film yet, or at least has matched some of his earliest great films. I won't give away any secrets, but the show just has a charisma, a magic, that only some movies do. Too, it's set in 1979, so the entire movie is a walk down memory lane - the cars, the clothes, the hairstyles, the music, the electronics. Maybe that's why it was so refreshing.... It was none of the mayhem that is today -- no hip hop, no porn, no economic meltdown -- just junior high kids in a fun plot.

Go see it to escape the present!