Thanks to all of you who entered The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Giveaway over the weekend.
The correct answer to the "How many dwarves?" question is "13."
They are: Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur,
Bombur and Thorin Oakenshield. The two youngest are Fili and Kili. Thorin
Oakenshield is royalty.
When my kids were little, when we got to the parts where it was time, we would recite the names of the dwarves and they would always yell "Thorin Oakenshield!" at the end of the list. *stops and enjoys a personal mom moment* (I know. Shut up.)
Some Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit trivia: Gimli the Dwarf is Gloin's son. Also, Gimli finds Balin's tomb in Moria. But then, if you were truly a Tolkien über-nerd, you would totally know that, but that's not important right now.
To pick a winner, I entered the number of entries into the True Random Number Generator at Random.org and the following number came up:
Congratulations to the winner:
Please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line, so I don't accidentally delete it. Send me your snail mail address and I will forward to my friends at Warner Brothers Pictures so they can get your goodies out to you ASAP.
It's no secret that we are über-nerds here at my house. Serious über-nerds.
When the kids were all little, I used to love to read aloud to them. They always preferred for me to read to them because "Mom does the voices." (But that's not important right now.)
And because we have homeschooled for years, we all spent a lot of time reading and enjoying books together.
When I was a senior in high school (en el año de la pera), J.R.R. Tolkien had just passed away. Suddenly bookstores everywhere were carrying The Hobbit and the Lord of the Ring Trilogy. It was then that I was exposed to the charming world of Hobbits and Hobbitlore.
Needless to say, I fell in love. To this day, we still celebrate Bilbo Baggins' birthday (September 22nd) and The Day the Ring was Destroyed (March 25th). See here and here. Did I mention we were serious über-nerds?
How delighted was I when Warner Brothers contacted me about helping to promote the new film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, to MBFCF readers? (The correct answer is "über-delighted.")
Did you know that on December 14, 2012, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will be hitting theatres? (Thank you, God, Peter Jackson, and Warner Bros.!)
Directed by Peter Jackson, based on The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, and adapted for the screen by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro. It promises to be every Tolkien über-nerd's dream.
Check out the trailer:
Doesn't this just look über-nerdily delicious? Yes. Yes, it does.
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY / “THE HOBBIT BOOK” FAMILY GIVEAWAY
I'm excited to host the following giveaway. One lucky reader of this blog will receive the following The Hobbit Grand Prize:
The grand prize includes the following (as pictured above):
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Poster
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey The Hobbit Book
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2”X7” Double-Sided Book Mark
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Tattoo Booklet with 17 Tattoo Sheets
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 12”X12” Wall Calendar
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2.25” Button
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Youth Map T-Shirt
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Gandalf’s Hat
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Hollywood Movie Money - Admission for 2. Hollywood Movie Money is a free admission voucher to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, redeemable nation wide starting 12/15/12 through Thurs., 01/10/12 in any theater excluding AMC Theaters..
To enter this fabulous grand prize giveaway, please leave a comment on this post for a chance to win this entire gift package, please answer one or both of the following questions:
Count and submit the number of Dwarves you see on this The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey poster you see above.
Are you a Tolkien fan?
Only U.S. entries, please. I'll choose a winner on Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 at 11 am.
I don't usually enjoy horror movies. Wait. Let me rephrase. I don't like horror movies. At all. In fact, I hate them. They're usually so... well, horrific. (But I did enjoy An American Werewolf in London back in the day, mostly because of the comedic elements, but I'll deny it if you tell anybody.)
But, when I was contacted by Focus World to get the word out about their latest film: “a zombie comedy made in Cuba,” I was intrigued. When I read the synopsis, I laughed out loud. When I saw the trailer, I knew it was something I wanted to share.
Plus it's October and I'm kind of more tolerant of gore and silliness the closer it gets to Halloween. (Don't judge me.)
I totally understand that this is a departure from my usual fare, but I think you will enjoy it (or at least your teenage kids will). It's a zombie relajo set in the land of my birth.
From the studio that brought you Shaun of the Dead, meet Juan of the Dead. (He's Havana Killer Day. <--Best tagline ever. Am I right?) In Spanish, with English subtitles.
Synopsis:
Juan is 40 years old, most of which he spent in Cuba doing absolutely
nothing. It’s his way of life, and he’s prepare to defend it at any
cost, along with his pal Lázaro, as lazy as Juan but twice as dumb.
Juan’s only emotional tie is his daughter, Camila, a beautiful young
girl that doesn’t want anything to do with her father because the only
thing he’s good at is getting into trouble.
Suddenly some strange things start to happen, people are turning
violent attacking one to the other. Juan was first convinced it’s just
another stage of the Revolution. Official media refer to the attacks as
isolated incidents provoked by Cuban dissidents paid by the US
government. Little by little Juan and his friends start to realize that
the attackers are not normal human beings and that killing them is quite
a difficult task. They’re not vampires, they’re not possesed, but
they’re definitely not dissidents; a simple bite turns the victim into
other violent killing machine and the only way to beat them is
destroying their brains.
Juan decides that the best way of facing the situation is making some money out of it…..
“Juan of the Dead, we kill your beloved ones” becomes his slogan.
Lázaro, along with his son Vladi, and Camila (who had no other choice
but joining her father after he rescued her from grandma´s killing
desires) are Juan´s army, and their mission is to help people get rid of
the infected ones around… at a reasonable price.
But this plague of bloodthirsty attackers is out of control. The
population is helpless. There comes a moment in which the only way out
people found is throwing into the sea and try to run away from an island
that became a real carnage, and Juan has no choice but to do what he
avoided all his life: take some responsibility assuming a hero role, to
guide his beloved ones with the hope of getting them safe out of the
madness in which Havana, full of flesh eating zombies has turned.
I especially loved that so much of it was true to Cuban life today. In fact, all the actors are Cuban. And the premise that the state media blames the zombie attacks on dissidents who have been hired by the U.S. government? Classic.
It's not Shakespeare, but it's So. Very. Cuban. And I didn't love the gory parts (duh), but listening to the dialog with the hilarious deadpan (pun intended) Cuban delivery was just awesome.
The story was told creatively and in a very, very Cuban way. Juan of the Dead mocks everything that the Cuban government has sold for 50 years as “The Triumph of the Revolution,” and that's where its value lies.
For me, personally, I can barely stand the over-the-top slasher-oh-holy-hell-there's-blood-everywhere scenes even though they were way too campy to be genuinely scary. But there were a lot of moments of surprise, so I had to keep covering my eyes. Also, the zombies were really, really slow, which I totally appreciated because that gave me time to cover my eyes, but that's not important right now.
But my favorite part of the entire bloody-undead-Havana-zombie-slash-fest was that Cuba's salvation comes in the form of Capitalism. Isn't that just too delicious?
{Disclaimer: This is not what you will usually find here on MBFCF, and I get that Cubans are already living their own horror movie, but I think there's an audience for this sort of thing out there somewhere. Also, my 16 year old, Jonathan loved it in that way that 16 year old guys do.}
MBFCF Blogiversary Giveaway #3:
Juan of the Dead (DVD)
Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a DVD copy of Juan of the Dead and please answer one or all of the following questions:
Do you like horror movies? (Is there someone you know who is into this stuff?)
Zombie Apocalypse in Havana...your thoughts?
I'll choose the winners at the end of MBFCF Blogiversary Giveaway Week on Monday, October 8th, 2012 at 11 am.
Thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway for the Very Uber-Cool and Uber-nerdy Avengers gift pack from Marvel.
I love that you guys are as caught up in Avenger Madness as we are.
And because I personally can't get enough of Thor, here's yet another photo from the film.
Isn't that just beautiful....umm.....lighting? (I know. Shut up.)
Congratulations to the winner of the Marvel The Avengers Gift pack:
Congratulations, Shelby! Please send me an email with your snail mail address and your preferred tshirt size and "Hey, Marta! I won stuff on your blog!" in the subject line. I'll forward to the good folks at Marvel so that they can get your goodies out to you ASAP.
This is what you won:
Marvel's The Avengers T-shirt.
The Avengers pins.
The Avengers 3-D glasses.
We're almost finished with our movie countdown. Thor (be still my heart) is on tonight and Captain America is up on Wednesday.
Speaking of Thor and Captain America, I almost wept when I saw this clip. Watch. And love.
The Awesomeness is in theaters everywhere on Friday, May 4th. And yes, we're seeing it in IMAX 3D.
That's just how we uber-nerds roll.
Tony Stark: "Doctor Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
In case you didn't know, I love monkeys. I also love movies. So when the chance to see a movie about monkeys comes up, I'm SOOO there.
"The Lion King" is my favorite Disney movie and Rafiki is a huge reason for that. "Aladdin" is one of my favorite Disney movies because of Abu. Can you guess what my favorite part of "Tarzan" is? Yes, the "Trashin' the Camp" part (Of course, the fact that N'SYNC and Phil Collins sang it was a HUGE plus). Before those came out, "The Jungle Book" was my favorite.
I love monkeys. You get it.
When Mami got an invitation from Disney Nature to go see their new movie, "Chimpanzee," she knew exactly who to call. She called before she even looked at the date and realized she would be out of town. She called so that I could have time to clear whatever I had planned to go see it.
10 am on a Sunday in Hollywood? No problem.
I shouldn't admit this, but anyone who knows me knows that I go to church on Saturday nights because 10 am on a Sunday is just too early to get to a church that's only 10 minutes away... Does this mean I love monkeys more than I love Jesus? I hope not.
I digress. I went to the movie.
I was in awe.
"Chimpanzee" is a documentary, but not your typical documentary. It was a story. But it was FULL of information. Even for my love of monkeys, I had no idea that chimpanzees were omnivores, did you?
It was truly an incredible story. And FUNNY!
In fact, I was loving it so much that I found myself wondering, "Would it be wrong to name my first-born son "Oscar" after the little baby chimp who is the star of the film?" (No, I DO NOT have any children yet, I'm just planning ahead.) I settled for buying a plush-monkey of Oscar instead, but I call him "Oscarito."
The movie is in theaters right now. Do yourself and your kids a favor, go see it. If you don't have kids, then call a friend and go see it. You won't be disappointed. I promise.
And you just might learn a thing or two that you didn't know before.
A few years ago a book came out called, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality. I both loved and hated it. Loved it for its honesty and beautiful storytelling. Hated it because as the story developed, it caused a glaring light to shine on the darkest parts of my soul. (Okay, that was probably a little bit of an intense over-share for me, but that's not important right now.)
If you mention this book in Christian circles, there is no neutral ground. The book is either loved or hated. I think, depending on the reaction, it probably tells more about the reader than about the content of the book.
But those that love it, love it with a passion. They recommend it. Often. They quote the author Donald Miller and follow his blog religiously. (No pun intended.)
We Christians often get a bad rap, and sometimes (but not always), I think we deserve it. I, personally have some tensions with the church, at least as it exists today. But not with God. This is where the rubber meets the road. The difference between following "the rules" in the Bible and having "a relationship" with the God of the Bible are light years apart.
It's a testament to just how much fans love this story that the film was even made. From the IMDB:
The movie was made possible by the efforts of fans the refused to see the project die. A campaign on KickStarter was started after a September 16th blog post by Donald Miller that the project was dead due to the lack of backers. By the end of the funding period on October 25th, Save Blue Like Jazz had raised $345,992 (of the $125,000 goal or 276%) from 4495 backers. The earns the project a Hall of Fame ranking on KickStarter as the highest funded project ever.
When I heard that the movie had finally been made and was invited to a local screening, I was thrilled. Trying to explain to Lucy what it was about was more of a challenge.
"I think you'll love it," I told her, "Unless you hate it."
She agreed to attend the preview with me and some friends (who also love Donald Miller).
We were delighted to meet Donald, himself before the show.
When the movie was over, Lucy made a beeline for the two young actors, Marshall Allman, who plays the young Donald Miller in the film:
And Justin Welborn, who plays The Pope (favorite character, hands down):
After the powerful, hand-me-a-tissue ending, she insisted we get over to the bookstore and pick up a copy of Blue Like Jazz, because she had never read it and was intensely curious after seeing the film. I'm guessing she now falls into the "love it" category.
A very wise pastor once told me, "Sometimes God offends the mind to reveal the heart." And this is the power of the story in Blue Like Jazz. I would absolutely not categorize it as a Christian film, but more about a film that shines an intensely bright light to reveal what's in our hearts.
It also has a well earned PG-13 rating. If you have ever read the Bible itself, you'll know that it's not squeaky clean by any means. The rating was quite shocking and satisfying.
Blue Like Jazz opens in select theaters tomorrow, April 13th. Go see it.
A few months ago, my son, Jonathan (16) breathlessly runs in.
"Mom, you've got to see this!" He then proceeds to show me the following movie trailer:
Explosions! People in peril! ! MARVEL SUPERHEROES ! ! (Win.Win.WIN!)
He knows (because I've told him repeatedly, as I have all four of my kids) that I was a nerdy comic-book-loving kid. That's right. Little known fun fact.
{WARNING: Over-sharing-Uber-nerd Alert!}
My dad used to take me to the local drugstore on weekends and let me pick out 3 or 4 comic books every week. It's how I learned to read in English. This probably flies in the face of all kinds of English as a second language research, but, whatever....
I would very carefully choose a variety of comic books, from the Harvey classics, like Richie Rich to the "teen" comedy, Archie (for the record, I was always very pro-Betty, but that's not important right now). I also really loved the action/adventure Marvel comics.
Thor was my favorite of the Avengers. Mostly because he said cool things like:
"WE'LL NEVER BE BEATEN! FOR WE ARE...THE AVENGERS!"
(By the way, the only time you should EVER use the Comic Sans font is in a comic book. There. I said it.)
Back to the Avengers. And specifically to Thor. The Mighty Thor. I loved Thor. He had the hammer. The cool Viking vibe. When I was in high school we were The Mighty Vikings. It like one big cosmic Thor Love-fest.
In fact, when Adam was three, I dressed him as Thor for Halloween. I did. I swear. (Excuse me while I go dig up some proof.....)
Ta-da!
Hey! Superheroes come in all sizes (and my son has since forgiven me). But that's not important right now.
As I got older, my comic book consumption diminished, but my love of all things Marvel did not. In the late 70's, I religiously watched Bill Bixby/Dr. Bruce Banner turn into Lou Ferrigno/The Incredible Hulk . (Who didn't?)
When my daughter, Amy Kikita was young, she was completely enamored with The Little Mermaid, as probably most 7 year olds were at the time. Ariel was spunky for a princess and went after what she wanted. I think she identified with those qualities.
Years later, Disney gave us Beauty and the Beast and when it was available on VHS, we promptly procured a copy and our sweet Lucy had found that Belle was a princess who had qualities she could admire.
My mom calls Lucy, "La Bella Lucy." And our Master Teacher throughout our homeschool years always called her "Lucy Belle." Coincidence?
I think not.
We had seen the stage show, Beauty and the Beast last year, but last week I was invited by Disney Pictures to the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood to experience Disney's Beauty and the Beast in 3D and I couldn't have stopped Lucy from joining me if I had wanted to. She was out-of-her-skin excited with the prospect of finally seeing the drama played out on the big screen. Not to mention that we just both happen to love being on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
Check out the look on her face. Can't you just see her excitement?
Because it was Disney, and because it was at the El Capitan, we were treated to an amazing organist who played every song from the movie as we all took our places. (Totally made me happy.)
Then, Belle and the Beast came out to dance and welcome the audience along with canon blasts of rose petals. (Oh, yes!)
We got to don our 3D glasses, which I'm starting to kind of like. (I know. Shut up.)
And were treated to the new Disney short Tangled Ever After - The Rings, which was absolutely hysterical. Here's a preview:
When the movie began, we quietly sang along to each familiar song and even though we knew the movie by heart, decided that it was absolutely worth seeing it on the big screen. (The Tangled Ever After short was seriously laugh-out-loud funny. Almost worth the price of admission, but that's not important right now.)
And because I'm a big, sentimental uber-geek, I sat there thinking how cool it was to be sitting with a fully grown-up Miss Lucy Belle and enjoying that piece of her childhood as it came to life before us. And, okay...I might have wiped away a tear or two. (But I'll deny it if you tell anyone.)
I encourage you, if you've only seen the small screen version of Beauty and the Beast, or haven't seen it in all its glory, to find a theater playing Beauty and the Beast in 3D in your own town. It's playing in selected theaters opening this coming weekend, January 13th and runs through February 2nd. I swear you don't want to miss it.
And then, because the story is set in France....we ate crepes...
...and we lived happily ever after. ;-)
Did you see Beauty and the Beast back in the day? Are you planning on seeing it again this time around? Tell me.
{Disclosure: Disney Pictures invited us to the pre-screening of Beauty and the Beast 3D. The opinions about the show are my own and the crepes were delicious, but that's not important right now.}
Every year at Christmastime, I make it a point to find a really fun live show to enjoy with my girls. It's one of our favorite traditions and it has become kind of a big thing.
We start searching for shows and tickets early in the fall. And we fret and argue and try to choose a really fun show. This is what happened the year when Amy Kikita didn't believe she would enjoy the show I chose.
This year we were out-of-our skin delighted to find that our very favorite A capella group, Straight No Chaser was going to be in town. (Well, technically they were going to be playing in San Diego, and even if it's not in our area code it was on our coast, but that's not important right now.)
So we traveled down to San Diego to the Balboa Theater and were treated to the most wonderful evening of amazing music. They are super talented and hilarious.
This is a photo the guys took from the stage and posted on their Facebook wall and asked the audience to tag themselves. Isn't that genius? (You should totally go like them on Facebook.)
After the show they stayed to sign autographs and meet the audience. As if we didn't love them enough before....
We shook their hands and loved on them and they signed our CD and we were happy delirious.
And we listened to their Christmas CD all the way home.
Inspired by their awesomeness, and playing their Holiday Spirits Christmas CD non-stop, I chose their incredible version of The 12 Days of Christmas for the opening of our family Christmas video.
The pictures I used were ones we took last year in our Nochebuena Photobooth. The word, "Cucufate" means a total screw up. Hence our name, Cucufate Pictures. ;-)
We will show the video on Saturday night at our annual Nochebuena Celebration. Here's a sneak peak....
I hope you are all loving the Cuando Sali de Cuba stories as much as I am. I feel so honored that I can give so many of you a place to share. It is my hope that the stories of how and why we are exiles will finally be told and get some traction.
The films I'm giving away today are a must-see for Cubans everywhere. Please visit the Voices from Mariel website to learn more about Dr. Jose Garcia and his family's exodus on the Mariel Boatlift. Or follow Voices from Mariel on Facebook for more information on upcoming screenings of the film.
These two winners will each receive a copy of the Voices from Mariel DVD.
For more information about Carlos Montaner and The Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution film, please check out their website or follow them on Facebook. Prepare yourself! It's quite an eye-opening film.
The Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution goes to:
Please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line (so I don't accidentally delete it) along with your snail mail address so that I can send the DVDs out to you ASAP.
Muchos besos to you all and thank you for sharing your stories!
