Should We Party With Oscar?

The oscar nominations are out and I for one am excited!

I think there have been some really great movies this past year and I am looking forward to seeing who walks away with the golden statue.  I know, I sound like Billy Bush (the guy from Access Hollywood) but I genuinely enjoy the whole movie process and there is a thrill in seeing your favorite movie or actor winning.  

The only problem is that since I've had kids, I can barely make it to the movies so it's hard for me to see even a portion of the nominated movies before the Oscars.  But this year, I'm going to challenge myself to somehow see the major contenders before the big night.  I might even throw together an Oscar night party at my place if I'm able to achieve this very silly but fun goal.

Who's with me?  Any thoughts of doing the same?

Vibrant Colors of Moulin Rouge

This afternoon, I saw a few minutes of one of my favorite movies, Moulin Rouge.  I had forgotten what an amazing movie it was. Have you seen it?  It's filled with such great music, dancing, drama, romance, passion and suspense.  And the vibrant colors of the scenery and costumes...wow.

I really loved how they took popular songs of the 80s and gave them a fresh new twist to fit the story.  I'm not a big fan of Nicole Kidman but I think she did a good job and Ewan McGregor was just fantastic.  I can watch it again and again.

Here's one of the best scenes...the Roxanne tango.  The combination of the tango player's deep rough voice with Ewan McGregor's smooth strong one is awesome:

Oh how I wish I could dance the tango like them one day!    :-)

A Few Glimpses of Baku

I'm so excited to share the following documentary trailer with you! It's called Azerbaijan Open. The trailer shows you just a few glimpses of Baku but it's enough to see what a beautiful and interesting city it is.

I'd love to visit one day. Not only because one of my good friends is from Azerbaijan (thanks Nikki for sharing this video with me) but also because my father's family is from that region of the world and I've always wanted to see and experience the Azeri culture.



I'm not sure when the movie comes out but keep an eye out for it!

Pinki's Beautiful Smile

I just stumbled on an amazing documentary called Smile Pinki by Megan Mylan.  It was heartbreaking in parts but so moving and uplifting.

Have you heard of it?

The documentary follows a young Indian girl and boy, Pinki Sonkar and Ghutaru Chauhan, as Pinki's cleft lip and Ghutaru's cleft palate are repaired. The film was commissioned and funded by the American charity Smile Train, a group that pays local doctors in 75 developing countries to perform the simple surgery that parents of such children rarely know is possible.

The documentary won an Academy Award and as a result of the accolades that the movie received, not only did the charity benefit but the two beautiful kids in the movie benefited also.  Pinki's family got a new house, and her village was given a new well for potable water.  Both have also received scholarships to better schools.


With so much hardship in the world, it's great to see the work of these amazing groups helping children around the world.  

Here's the trailer:

Complicated Is So Funny!

I went out with a few of my girl friends last night and saw It's Complicated.

OMG....it was so funny! We laughed our butts off. I would see it again just to see the gorgeous scenery (Santa Barbara...wow, that's a beautiful place...who gets to live there and what do I need to do to end up there one day?). And Alec Baldwin, he was hilarious...suprisingly fat and hairy but hilarious and kinda sexy. And Meryl Streep, wow, perfect for that role. The only thing I found a little strange was Steve Martin's face. If you've seen it, tell me what you think...wasn't his face a little weird? It just didn't seem...right.

I just loved the movie and would totally recommend it.