Hi, My Name is Jennie, and I'm an Eavesdropper

Don't you hate it when you hear people talking about an interesting topic and you want to jump into it, but you don't know them and that'd just be weird. I do. Anyway, these people were talking about how books are always better than the movie and I wanted to jump in and say that every once in a while a movie is better than the book. Not often, but sometimes. For me that movie is Sense and Sensibility. Emma Thomson's screenplay is flawless, beautiful, and true to the Austen spirit. Are there any movies you think are better than it's literary counterpart?

Button Eyes Coraline Style

The website for the movie Coraline has a cool feature that lets you upload a picture and put different buttons over the eyes. This is what I ended up with. Creepy!

Jean-Luc Picard is my Hero!

Okay, I love my family. Love them to pieces. Seriously. But they're a little out of control in the way of nerdiness. I would dare say every single member except my sister and I could be squarely classified as what one would call a "trekkie." Just in case you don't know, "trekkie" is a term used to classify those obsessed with all things Star Trek.

Indeed, my trekkie family has star trek paraphernalia, magazines, books, all 178 Star Trek: Next Generation episodes, and pretty much all Star Trek movies ever filmed. In fact, taking my family's lead, I'm thinking of starting another blog which will function as a tribute blog to Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Okay, not really. Just a bit of tongue-in-cheek sarcasm for ya there.

But instead, I will offer up some random, but incredibly stimulating Star Trek facts:

1) The Star Trek: Next Generation franchise has made over $500,000,000

2) Commander William Riker was called Bill in two episodes only

3) Casters origionally wanted Sidney Poitier to play Geordi LaForge

4) The show brought in roughly about 20 million viewers weekly

5) Patrick Stewart's birthday is July 13, 1940

6) Because Spock was only half-Vulcan, he had green blood (T-negative)

7) There is a model of the Starship Enterprise at the Smithsonian

8) Q was named after Janet Quarton, a British fan

9) Next Generation was the first series to be nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding drama

10) In 2370, Deanna Troi learned that she had an older sister who had drowned when Deanna was just a baby

And in case you're hungry for some more Star Trek tidbits, Klingon is actually a real, honest-to-goodness language. Here are some Klingon basics that I hope you'll try out at your next party. Trust me, it'll really impress your friends ;)


What's happening?
qaStaH nuq?

Where is the bathroom?
nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'

We are Klingons!
tlhInqan maH!

Your mother has a smooth forehead!
Hab SoSlI' Quch! (This apparently is a strong insult)

Still hungry for more Klingon language info? Visit the Klingon Language Institute here.

Okay, time for me to Sujatlh 'e' yImev...

The Pursuit of Happyness

Overall Rating: Worth paying full price if you're rich, matinee if you're short on cash

Starring: Will Smith and Jaden Christopher Syre Smith

Note: Be forewarned! This plot description spoils the ending! Skip to the second paragraph if you don't want to find out what happens.

The movie is about Chris Gardner's (Will Smith) rise from poverty into affluence. At the start of the story, Chris is just trying to make ends meet (and failing miserably) so he can support his wife and son (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith). The situation gets worse and soon his wife leaves him to care for their son alone. A chance encounter with a stock broker (and his fancy convertable) leaves him feeling that he should move into the stocks and bonds business. He applies for a competitive internship, actually gets it, and then finds out that the position isn't a paid one. He still takes the job, but because he is unable to pay rent, he and his son are stricken homeless. Luckily he has the drive and ambition to keep working for his dream and after an immense amount of work, he secures a salaried position with the company.

While the movie is predictable and a bit cheesy at times, both Will and Jaden Smith's performances make up for it in leaps and bounds. Their on screen chemistry is amazing (gee, almost like their related in real life or something) and their characters never seem unnatural or forced. The movie was heartwarming, a bit inspiring, and the perfect flick to see as a family during the holidays.

Stranger Than Fiction

Overall Rating: Worth paying full price if you're rich, matinee if you're low on funds

Starring: Will Farrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal

Note: For those of you who haven't seen this movie yet and don't want the ending spoiled, you should probably stop reading here. Go see the movie though, it's worth it.

The basic plot of the movie is this: An IRS auditor named Harold Crick (Will Farrell) who leads a boring, mundane life suddenly starts to hear his life narrated by Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), a famous author, who most unfortunately for Harold Crick, is in the habit of killing off her main characters. After he learns of his impending death, he seeks professional counsel from a literary expert named Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman). Jules encourages Harold to find out if his life is a comedy or a tragedy by seeking out a relationship with Ana (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a woman Harold is auditing. He and Ana begin to fall in love and Harold is inclined to believe he is in the middle of a comedy. It is then that Eiffel finally breaks through her writer's block and figures out how to kill Harold. Before it is typed and set in stone however, Harold tracks her down and gets to read the ending of his life before it actually happens. It turns out that he will die saving the life of a little boy who finds himself in the path of a bus. Harold, the altruistic hero, gives himself a death sentence by telling Eiffel to go ahead and type it. All goes as planned. Harold is hit by the bus while saving the boy, but before Eiffel can actually pronounce his death, she chickens out. She instead lets him live with massive injuries. At the end of the movie, Jules and Karen discuss the new ending to the book. They both know that the literature is only mediocre with the new ending, and that the book would have been much more powerful had Harold been killed. Karen says that she couldn't have killed off someone so good, since the world needs as many good people as it can get.

First, I want to say that I really loved this movie. I loved the director's (Marc Forster) style and both Thompson and Farrel did a wonderful job acting. I was shocked to find that Will Farrell can indeed act, since he is usually too over the top for my taste. The movie was both witty and inventive. Unfortunately, it is the ending that usually makes or breaks the movie or book for me. I feel a little bit better about the "all-is-well, perfect ending" since they did admit it would have been a better, more powerful story if Harold had died. Still, I feel the ending was bit of a cop out. Our society is too afraid of sad endings. Some of the best movies I have ever seen (Hero, Million Dollar Baby) have less-than-happy-endings, and I don't think that Hollywood should be afraid to embrace the fact that sometimes the story is just better when the ending isn't Disney-ified (no offense to Disney). The movie was definitely still worth watching though and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't yet seen it.