Upcoming July Movie Releases

The end of June seemed to have snuck up on me. I was planning on writing this before the last day of June but between work and visiting home and playing soccer, I just never got around to it. So here I am writing this with less than 3 hours until July.

There appear to be only 3 movies coming to theatres this month that I want to see. And 1 on DVD, which I'm still debating whether or not I'm going to buy because I haven't seen it yet. And I'm trying to not buy movies without watching them after Bridesmaids (I thought I was going to like it and it was awful and I was so upset that I bought it).

So to start the month off, Despicable Me 2 is being released on July 3.

Now that the ever-entrepreneurial Gru has left behind a life of super-crime to raise Margo, Edith and Agnes, he, Dr. Nefario and the Minions have some free time on their hands. But as he starts to adjust to his role as a suburban family man, an ultra-secret organization dedicated to fighting evil around the globe comes knocking. Now, it's up to Gru and his new partner Lucy Wilde to discover who is responsible for a spectacular crime and bring him to justice. After all, it takes the world's greatest ex-villain to catch the one vying to take his place.

I just really hope this one is as good as the first. I'm a little worried, but from watching the previews it seems like it will be just as hilarious. To be totally honest I had no idea what this movie was actually about, until I found that synopsis haha. I didn't really care I just wanted to see it because of the kids and the minions. I absolutely love the minions. In fact their "ba ba nana" song is my ringtone. If you haven't even seen the first one, I highly recommend it.

Next up is The Wolverine on July 26.

Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he will face a host of unexpected and deadly opponents in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality.

Part of me is only wanting to go see this because I know my boyfriend is going to want to. Another part of me thinks Hugh Jackman is kind of bad ass as Wolverine and I've gotten into the X-Men universe a little bit. Again, another movie I didn't really know was about until this synopsis. So we'll see how this goes, if I like it or not.

Last movie I'm looking forward to is The Smurfs 2 on July 31

In this sequel to the hybrid live action/animated family blockbuster comedy The Smurfs, the evil wizard Gargamel creates a couple of mischievous Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties that he hopes will let him harness the all-powerful, magical Smurf-essence. But when he discovers that only a real Smurf can give him what he wants, and only a secret spell that Smurfette knows can turn the Naughties into real Smurfs, Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette and brings her to Paris, where he has been winning the adoration of millions as the world's greatest sorcerer. It's up to Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy, and Vanity to return to our world, reunite with their human friends Patrick and Grace Winslow, and rescue her! Will Smurfette, who has always felt different from the other Smurfs, find a new connection with the Naughties Vexy and Hackus ¬ or will the Smurfs convince her that their love for her is True Blue? Returning cast includes Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vegara, Hank Azaria as Gargamel and Katy Perry as Smurfette. Brendan Gleeson joins the cast as Victor Winslow.

Oy that's a long synopsis. I need to add that when looking for this I found the French one and I always forget how funny I find the Smurfs in French...Les Schtroumpfs. Now I finally got to watch a trailer for this the other day (and I say finally because my phone was being a pain and wouldn't load it) and I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Obviously I love the Smurfs, but I'm not sure about this premise of stealing Smurfette and she potentially becoming naughty. Again, we will just have to see.

The only DVD release I'm somewhat looking forward to is G.I. Joe: Retaliation on July 30.

Captain Duke Hauser (Channing Tatum) and his G.I. Joe team are set up as traitors and targeted for destruction when the President of the United States (Jonathan Pryce) gives orders to have them terminated, thanks to the influence of Cobra spy Zartan. But the surviving members of the G.I. Joe team join forces with Joe Colton (Bruce Willis) to bring Zartan down and save the world with their top secret black operation, "Second American Revolution."

As I mentioned before I'm a little hesitant about buying this movie before watching it. Surprise, surprise, part of why I want to watch it is because of Channing Tatum. Even though my boyfriend says he dies really early on in the movie. I don't know if I can believe him though because he always tells me things that supposedly happen and then don't. Hopefully I do get to see it though.

I'm behind on movies now, I still need to see Monster's University and White House Down and then The Smurfs is coming out this Friday! Hopefully I can catch up before the end of the month. I'm going home to Midland on Thursday so I'm hoping that I have enough points and Monster's University is in 2D then I think I'll be going to see that.

Stay tuned for more movie reviews, and more misadventures.

Segway Adventure

I work at Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood, and this week was Staff Appreciation week. We got a little punch pass thing and got to try out different attractions on the resort for free. Some of the things included were the ropes courses (where I work), the gondola (works kind of like a ski lift, you're in a little box kind of thing and go up or down the mountain haha), extra % off something at one of the stores in the village, free drink at Starbucks, and the Segways.

Segways were the one thing I think pretty much everyone wanted to try. 1, because they're awesome and 2, because they're kind of expensive to do any other time. In case you are wondering what a Segway is, here is a picture of me riding one.

I kind of look like a huge dork, but it's kind of hard not to riding one. A work friend and I made an afternoon of it this past Monday and had so much fun on the Segway tour.

They're sort of hard to control, you have to use your body weight and balance to go forward or back and the front stick thing to turn. They also use a lot more muscle than you think. My feet were super sore when I got home and my legs were pretty tense the next day. And if you hit anything that's more than like half the height of the wheels, you will stop and fall off. There was a guy on our tour who did indeed fall. He was one of the 2 of 8 that were not staff (4 of those staff were from ropes :) haha) and he was also kind of arrogant and thought he was awesome. We will not say we wanted to laugh when he fell...

I really want to do this again, we didn't get the whole trail tour because said gentleman who fell off couldn't handle the trails which kind of sucks. I think we get 50% off as staff, which makes it a bit more reasonable, so we'll see if I get another chance.

If you ever happen to be at Blue Mountain I definitely recommend checking out the Segway tour. Also the Timber Challenge ropes course :) it's super fun.

Hope you enjoy the long weekend, and as always, stay tuned for more misadventures.

Mini Movie Review: Man of Steel

Another Tuesday, means another movie night. I was planning on wearing my Superman shirt and new belt buckle when I went, but I totally forgot and my shirt was still in Collingwood. Super disappointing.

Here's the synopsis of Man of Steel:

A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this earth. As a young man, he makes a journey to discover where he came from and find out what he was sent here to do. Eventually, the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.

I have to start out by saying I didn't love this movie. That's not to say I didn't like it, it just wasn't as awesome as I was hoping it was going to be.

It's incredibly awkward having a movie start with someone giving birth. And that's how this one started, with baby Kal-El being born. Then there's a fight, his dad dies, he gets shipped off to earth, and then he's a grown up on a fishing boat. It bothered me that they didn't start with his childhood. They didn't need to go through Jonathan and Martha finding him and him growing up, but even showing him right off in school panicking because he doesn't know what's happening to him might have been nice. It was shown, but as flashbacks.

I'd say the first, half or so, of the movie seemed a little...disjointed and rushed, I guess would be the best way to describe it. It was like they were trying to fit all his back story in so they could get to him becoming Superman (which they only actually call him once). There seemed to be a lot of flashbacks to him as a kid discovering his powers, and that he's not actually from earth, and then there was one where Jonathan dies. I was devastated when they showed that, and totally started crying. My boyfriend laughed at me, but I don't care it was so sad.

All in all, I really thought Henry Cavill did a good job as Superman. Amy Adams was an alright Lois. There was enough comic relief (I thought) that made it not super serious, which I liked.

I will be buying this movie, but perhaps not until it goes on sale a little cheaper. And I look forward to seeing if there will be a sequel.

The next movie I'm hoping to go see will be Monster's University. Unfortunately I work all week so I will be in Collingwood and will not have my boyfriend to go see it with, and am hoping it will come into 2D. So we'll see when I get to go.

Hope you're enjoying this summer's blockbusters, and as always, stay tuned for more misadventures.

Mini Movie Review: Now You See Me

Last night I went to see Now You See Me. I originally wasn't really looking forward to seeing this movie that much, but I figured I had dragged my boyfriend to enough of the movies I want to see, he could pick the movie.
I'll give you the synopsis and then tell you what I thought about the movie.

NOW YOU SEE ME pits an elite FBI squad in a game of cat and mouse against "the Four Horsemen", a super-team of the world's greatest illusionists. "The Four Horsemen" pull off a series of daring heists against corrupt business leaders during their performances, showering the stolen profits on their audiences while staying one step ahead of the law.

 Like I said, I wasn't super psyched to go see this movie. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. I ended up actually really enjoying the movie. There were definitely some funny parts, and the magic was pretty cool.
I can't really go too much into what happens because it's all kind of interconnected and there are definitely a few twists to the plot. I even got a wee bit confused at a couple points, but that's not overly surprising haha. And I just figured out something from the movie this evening while eating dinner...
All in all I would say this was a good movie and would recommend it. It has enough going on that you don't get too bored, but not too much that you're overwhelmed with information.
That's my review, stay tuned for more misadventures.

Cupcakes!

It was a friend at work's birthday last week and I wanted to make her cupcakes but I didn't think of it in time for the weekend following her birthday (we only work weekends). So I just decided I was going to make them for her the following weekend, and spread out the birthday fun.

Really this was just an excuse to make cupcakes. I love baking cupcakes, and I love giving them away. Don't get me wrong I like eating them too, but after I eat like 4 I'm pretty much over it.

I tried to be a little creative with the icing and as such, a picture has ended up on several social media platforms, none of which because of me haha, so I decided I'd add to that and put one on here. I brought some cupcakes to work and gave them to a couple of the girls (including the birthday girl, of course) and they all just about lost it when they saw the icing. Which I think is kind of hilarious, because it's not that hard to do.

Fun pink and purple cupcakes

One of the girls is having a work pool party this week and now I really want to make cupcakes to bring to that, since even the people who didn't get cupcakes, wanted them. The only problem is, I'm here and my cupcake tools are at home. Which means I'm sorely tempted to go buy myself a new icing tip and colour :) because you can never have too many haha.

Update: I did go get myself s new icing tip and colour. I picked orange, because our work shirts are orange and I thought it was funny. I told the girl hosting the party I'm making them and she's super excited. So that's good news :)

As always, stay tuned for more misadventures.

Nail Polishing Trials and Triumphs

I have a fairly large-ish collection of nail polish. I always feel so lame because I have so many and yet I only ever use one colour at a time. So I found a cute design on Pinterest, and decided to give it a try.

Website is here, in French

I just went off this picture. Mostly because the website is in French, partly because I thought I could figure it out on my own. I discovered that I need better tape. I was trying to use painters tape and cutting it into tiny strips. (On a side note, part of the "trials" was me smashing the top of my head off the underside of the crawl space getting said tape. Ow).

So after cutting my tape into tiny strips, I stuck them on and started painting. You're supposed to take the tape right off after you paint it, except the colour I was using was too light so I had to do 2 coats. So it didn't peel too fantastically. I also didn't have little enough pieces of tape, so the lines looked funny.

I decided to just remove it all and then start over. This time using the lighter colour first. It worked a little better.

 



This was my final result. Not perfect, but hey, it was my first attempt at anything remotely difficult on my nails.

I should have made the light purple bits bigger and I need some striping tape. No idea where I can get it, but apparently that's what people use for painting nails.

I then learned the hard way that white nail polish at work=bad. It turned all brownish and gross and the tips starting wearing down. Anyone have any tips on how to get the tips to not wear as much? I feel like a day after I paint it and I use my hands the colour disappears.

Now that I've (sort of) succeeded with this, I might try another design soon.