May the Odds Ever be in your Favour

I'll admit it, I was among the many that made The Hunger Games opening weekend a $214 million global success. Even better, I can't say that I was disappointed either.

My sister and I decided to go see The Hunger Games on Friday night in London. Since it is tax season, my sister didn't have time to wait in line for tickets or seats for that matter. So, she ordered tickets at the VIP theatre which allows you to specify your seat. Bonus is that they serve alcohol and don't allow teenagers in their theatre. Seriously, this was a revelation in movie going experiences! I definitely recommend this option for movies where you don't want to be around teens. Sure the $5 per person extra fee is a bit steep, but the food had regular pricing.

On to the movie:

I read The Hunger Games Trilogy about two years ago, so I'm not positive about whether or not all the details from the book were in the movie. However, I have to admit that the movie was more true to the book than what I was expecting. Plus they did an amazing job of depicting the control of the capital. Whether it be through the control of the game or the politics surrounding everything.

After the Twilight experience, I also wasn't expecting very much from the actors themselves. However, I was really impressed by the actors they selected as well. I didn't find Katniss nearly as annoying since I didn't have to deal with her inner dialogue. I thought the actors that played Peeta and Gale depicted them exactly how I thought they were in the book. I was completely impressed by how Woody Harrelson portrayed Haymitch in the movie and I ended up liking that character a lot more.

Did you see Hunger Games this weekend? What did you think?

Juggling Life

Would you believe that I actually do have things to post about? Particularly involving the bathroom renovation and the master bedroom decor. I just need to get the batteries in my camera charged and then I can do some great update posts. I'm really happy with how both rooms have turned out, so I'm excited to get to those posts. I tell you though, work and the wedding are really cramping my style when it comes to home renovations and blogging.

On the work front, I'm finally out of hearing but in that twiddling of thumbs phase where I await instructions.

On the wedding front, I'm heading to Southwestern Ontario this weekend for Round 2 of bridesmaid dress shopping. Hopefully things will go well and dresses will be ordered shortly. I'm most excited about seeing everyone though. I'm not excited about the drive down though. After work I have a 7 hour drive ahead of me once I load the car. I'm just hoping traffic will be good and I won't run into any snags (better known as Toronto).  I hope to get serious about wedding planning this weekend and get a plan in order, I feel like I've been neglecting the wedding for so long.

Aside from wedding activities, it is looking like I'll be getting to hang out with my sister this weekend. We are signed up to go to a beer and cheese tasting which I'm really excited for. It sounds so delicious! Also, we are tossing around the idea of going to see The Hunger Games at some point. I think it'll be great since we read The Hunger Games together two years ago while travelling around Spain. It only seems fitting that we see the movie together.

I'm trying not to have expectations going into this movie. Here is hoping that I am pleasantly surprise. Do you blame me for being skeptical? How can they properly film a book that is based on kids killing other kids?

All in all, I'm hoping for a great weekend!

What are your weekend plans?

When the Cat is Away the Mice Will Play

On Wednesday the LA Galaxy played the Toronto FC. A is a big Galaxy fan and doesn't get to see them play too often anymore whether in person or on television. It is pretty unpredictable if a West coast sports game will be aired on the East coast, atleast that is the way it has been for the LA Kings and could be likely for the Galaxy as well. Anyway, A decided to fly to Toronto and meet up with a California friend, who had recently moved to Rochester, New York, to see their beloved Galaxy.

What does this mean for me? It means that I'm on my own and making my own plans.

Last night I met up with L who I haven't seen in ages since she is  so busy. She is a full-time student working towards her Masters in Nursing with both classes and clinical on her plate AND a full-time nurse in the Intensive Care Unit. I'm amazed by her, and I don't know how I'd be functioning with so much on my plate.  She had a little bit more time on Thursday since she was just finishing up her clinical, so off we went to the movies. Going with L means that chick flicks are options again, so we opted for The Vow starring Canada's own Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum.

The movie is about a young married couple Paige and Leo. Paige loses her memory as a result of a car accident and cannot remember the past 4 years. Consequently, she doesn't remember why she no longer talks to her family, why she ended it with her ex-fiance Jeremy (Scott Speedman), why she dropped out of lawschool and decided to go to art school, why she left the suburbs and moved to the city, or meeting, falling in love with and marrying Leo.

I never go into chick flicks with high expecations, but this one gives you a lot to think about in addition to the basic chick flick stuff. What would you do if your spouse woke up after an accident and didn't remember you? What if you were the spouse that couldn't remember? What if you couldn't remember how you made a major path change in life? It's a lot to think about as an individual, but as a couple it seems almost insurmountable.

What movie have you seen lately? What's next on your list?
   

March is Coming in like a Lion

So, hopefully this will mean an early spring?

Last night as the wind and snow wreaked havoc outside, I settled in to getting a few things accomplished last night. It is amazing how fast an evening can go when you are working away at things. While doing laundry and catching up on The Biggest Loser (PVRs are amazing), I worked away on props for the photobooth at the wedding. Using pictures like the one below for inspiration, I attempted to make my own props. However, you'll have to wait until Wedding Wednesday for more detail.

To relax later in the evening we watched Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt.

It's based on the story of Billy Beane who was the General Manager for the Oakland A's in the early 2000s. They've just lost  the season to the New York Yankees who have a salary budget of over $100 million while Oakland was working with less than $40 million. After being denied access to more money, Beane (Pitt's character) goes against anything everyone has ever done in planning a baseball team. He hires a man with an economics degree from Yale and plans a team based on statistics.

This movie far exceeded my expectations, but I don't know if a lot of this has to do with the fact that the movie had an economics twist to it. I highly recommend this movie. A and I discussed how little we know about baseball during the 2000s, believing that we generally lost interest after the strikes in the 1990s. I used to be a huge Toronto Blue Jays fan growing up and remember venturing into Toronto as a kid with my parents to go watch a game. Maybe I should give the game a second chance?

What movie have you watched recently?