Mommy Brain

(Pink Panther 2 was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

Inspect the unexpected when five-time Golden Globe-nominee Steve Martin (Father of the Bride) springs back into action as the blundering French police officer, Inspector Jacques Clouseau, in the all-new Pink Panther 2 available on Blu-ray Disc (BD) with Digital Copy June 23 from MGM Home Entertainment. Co-starring Oscar-nominees John Cleese (Rat Race) and Andy Garcia (Ocean’s Eleven), Yuki Matsuzaki (Letters From Iwo Jima), Emily Mortimer (Lars and the Real Girl) and Bollywood sensation Aishwarya Rai (The Mistress of Spices), The Pink Panther 2 is the side-splitting sequel to the worldwide hit The Pink Panther, based on the 1964 original starring the legendary Peter Sellers. After a thief known as “The Tornado” allegedly steals a variety of precious items, including France’s beloved pink panther diamond, an “international dream team” of detectives band together to crack the case. Slowing down the process is the team’s leader, Inspector Clouseau, the highly unintelligent officer who has a way of missing the obvious until he somehow stumbles onto the truth.

We are big fans of the original Pink Panther movies, starring Peter Sellers. I didn’t really care for the first remake starring Steve Martin, but the kids thought it was funny. This sequel is actually funnier than the first, and boasts an all-star cast to boot.

The dream team of investigators includes Alfred Molina and Andy Garcia. The villain’s attorney is played by Jeremy Irons. There were more genuinely funny moments in this one. My only beef is the crude humor – there are a couple of instances of humor that is the type that only adolescent boys find funny, and we could do without in our house.

Pink Panther 2 will be availble on DVD on June 23rd. The two-disc DVD includes a disc of Pink Panther animated shorts.

(Morning Light was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

Experience a riveting and inspiring true-life adventure aboard the high-tech sloop Morning Light. Fifteen rookie sailors have one goal in mind – to be part of her crew, racing in the most revered sailing competition on Earth, the Transpac Yacht Race. From start to finish, it’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions and physical challenges, beginning with six months of intense training. Only eleven will survive to race in the grueling 2,225-mile Transpac. Matching wits and skills against experienced pros and the unforgiving, unpredictable Pacific Ocean, these young men and women develop a powerful bond and prove how dedication, teamwork and an unyielding spirit can overcome the greatest of odds.

Roy Disney decided to give fifteen college students an unbelievable experience – the chance to crew a professional sailing vessel on a race across the Pacific. The fifteen chosen ones were trained for six months. They then had to choose a skipper, who in turn had to choose a crew. Only eleven were chosen; the other four were alternates.

The idea for this documentary was intriguing, but the execution was somewhat less thrilling. I wish they had focused more on the stories of each student, given us a reason to know them each individually and care about the outcome of the race. The focus was mostly on the experience of training and racing – which was interesting – but the emotional element was missing.

Morning Light is available on DVD now. The DVD special features include: “Stories from the Sea” with host Jason Earles; and “Morning Light: Making the Cut” – as aired on ESPN.

(Confessions of a Shopaholic was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

Get ready to fall in love with the adorable Becky Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) in the hilarious romantic comedy Confessions of a Shopaholic. Living in glamorous New York, Becky desperately wants a job writing for a high-fashion magazine. She gets her stilettos in the door when she gets a job writing a personal finance column at a sister publication. Much to her surprise, her column, “The Girl in the Green Scarf,” not only becomes a hit, but she falls head over high heels for her overworked yet handsome boss (Hugh Dancy). But Becky has a secret that leads to some hilarious high jinks that could unravel it all. From the best-selling novel, and featuring the perfect comedic cast, it’s the feel-good must-have romantic comedy you’ll fall in love with over and over again.

I enjoy watching romantic comedies. Yes, I know they’re formulaic and predictable, but if they’re funny and romantic, that’s all I care about. Confessions of a Shopaholic was just that – and the kind of movie I have been in the mood to watch lately. When things are crazy-busy, or stress-making, I like to watch a movie that will make me laugh and feel good. I have a few old favorites I fall back on, but it’s always nice to find a new movie that will fit in that category.

Kevin even watched this with me. He didn’t complain once, and he even laughed a couple of times. He did, however, put disc two of Band of Brothers on after we finished so he could reset his testosterone levels.

I loved Isla Fisher as Becky Bloomwood. I also enjoyed Krysten Ritter as her best friend, Suze. Some of you will remember her as Rory’s artsy friend, Lucy, in Gilmore Girls. Hugh Dancy was gorgeous, as always, and he can act, too. There’s also a terrific supporting cast: John Goodman and Joan Cusack as Becky’s parents, John Lithgow as the magazine owner, Kristen Scott-Thomas as the editor of the fashion magazine, and Wendie Malick as the militant leader of a Shopaholics Anonymous group.

There were lots of funny moments and also lots of “ah….” moments, and it was a fun way to spend the evening. If you like rom-coms, you should definitely check this one out.

(I haven’t read the book the movie is based on, so if you’re a fan of the series and want to know how accurate it is, I have no idea.)

Confessions of a Shopaholic will be available on DVD on June 23rd. The DVD special features include bloopers, deleted scenes, and the “Stuck With Each Other” Music Video by Shontelle featuring Akan.

My review is quoted in the front section of the paperback edition of Peter David’s Tigerheart! I am so excited. Several months ago, the publisher asked if they could “blurb” me, and I agreed, but didn’t want to say anything until the book actually came out, in case it didn’t happen. I knew the paperback wouldn’t be out for a while, and I promptly forgot all about it.

Tonight on Twitter, Amy asked if any book bloggers had been “blurbed,” and it reminded me. I clicked over to Amazon, clicked on the paperback edition, clicked on “Search Inside,” and searched for my last name – and it showed up! (My last name is Kitzmiller, if you want to see it, too.)

Anyway, I hope this doesn’t sound like bragging, but I had to share it with all of you because I’m positively giddy with excitement over it. I think the only thing better would be to see my name on the cover of a book – a book that I wrote.

(Nobel Son was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

Receiving critical acclaim during the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, Nobel Son follows Barkley Michaelson, a 20 something-year-old in a life rut struggling to finish his Ph.D thesis. Always cast in the shadow of his highly accomplished father Eli Michaelson, the estranged relationship between father and son is complicated further when Barkley is kidnapped on the eve of Eli winning a Nobel Prize in chemistry for a ransom of $2,000,000 (the amount won as a recipient of the prize). When his father refuses to pay, it starts a game of intrigue and deception.

“An outrageously entertaining ride” (Hollywood.com), Nobel Son features a stellar ensemble cast and crew directed by Randall Miller (Bottle Shock), including Golden Globe® winner Alan Rickman (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), Bryan Greenberg (Bride Wars), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse), Shawn Hatosy (Southland), Oscar®-winner Mary Steenburgen (Four Christmases), Bill Pullman, Ted Danson and Danny Devito.

Although Nobel Son was billed as a thriller, it should have been classed as a black comedy. Alan Rickman and Mary Steenburgen make up the perfect dysfunctional married couple. Their son Barkley, played by Bryan Greenberg, who I loved in October Road, has been affected by his father’s narcissistic, anti-social bent, and is pouring all of his energy into his master’s thesis on cannibalism.

When Barkley is kidnapped after his father wins the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Professor Michaelson refuses to believe his son is really in trouble, let alone pay the ransom. This sets in motion a sequence of events that get more darkly comic as they go along. To be honest, I’m not really sure what I thought of this movie. It was okay, but not the kind of movie I would usually watch. The previews made it look very different than what it actually was, and the language and some gruesome images definitely earned it its “R” rating.

Nobel Son is available now on DVD. The DVD special features include cast and crew commentary, deleted scenes, and an alternate ending.

Wow – it’s been a while since I’ve done a links post! We have finished up our school year, but nothing seems to be slowing down. This happens every June – I forget that June includes friends’ birthdays, Noah’s birthday, Father’s Day, and Vacation Bible School! It should slow down in July, right? Except of course, there’s Independence Day, and my sister’s visit from the coast, and Dad’s birthday, and Natalie singing at Rendezvous, and….. Can anyone relate?

Last weekend I headed to Michelle’s Friday night for Mom’s movie night – we watched Last Chance Harvey, which was very good. Saturday I did some chores around the house, and then Sunday Michelle and I visited the local Episocopal church. It was a wonderfully reverent service, but not a church for a family with children. There were only sixteen people in the service – including Michelle and I and the priest and the organist! Not sure if I’ll be able to try a new church this Sunday or not, since Kevin is thinking of taking Noah on an overnight fishing trip Saturday night, and I usually don’t take the kids with me on the first visit to a new church.

We spent this week at the park, mostly. I’ve been working on getting as much lesson-planning done as I possibly can, since I won’t have my curriculum until the beginning of August. I also wrote up the kids’ end-of-year reviews and packed away the years’ work and records and assessment results away into storage, making room on the shelves for the new stuff.

Last night, all four kids were at various sleepovers. It’s amazing how quiet this house is with no kids in it! The two oldest boys came home while I was at Michelle’s picking Josiah up this afternoon, and I come home to two boys completely conked out on the couch. They slept until 6 pm! Turns out they stayed up until 4 am and then woke up at 8. They played on a zipline, jumped on a trampoline, caught snakes and tadpoles in the pond, and played X-Box. A thoroughly boy-style slumber party.

Tomorrow morning, Josiah has a Tae Kwon Do promotion, trying for his yellow belt. My only other plans for the weekend are to get caught up on laundry before we run out of things to wear.

Here’s what’s been going on at Books and Movies lately:

~ My favorite memoirs, part two
~ Book Review: Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center
~ Book Review: The Sense of Paper by Taylor Holden
~ Book Review: Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton
~ Book Review: Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
~ Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman
~ My favorite contemporary fiction, part one
~ My favorite contemporary fiction, part two

Other links:

~ Short film: Validation, starring TJ Thyne from Bones.

~ Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program – if your kids read eight books this summer, they get a coupon for a free paperback.

~ 100 Best Movie Lines in 200 Seconds.

~ My Friend Amy is giving away a copy of Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes by Robin Jones Gunn.

~ If you ever watched Saved By the Bell, you must watch this. (Go ahead, I won’t tell anyone.)

~ The theater major (read: geek) in me will be watching Chess in Concert on PBS this Wednesday. Starring Josh Groban and Idina Menzel!

~ The theater major in me is very sad to read that WSU is cutting their Department of Theater and Music. (This is where I attended, but didn’t quite graduate.)

~ NY Times: The Case for Working With Your Hands.

~ Is Anyone Minding the Store at the Federal Reserve?

~ Will Higher Education Be the Next Bubble to Burst?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Combining the best action/thriller elements with surprising humor and an iconic new breed of espionage, the second season heats up as blacklisted spy Michael Westen hones his unique skills for new clientele. After being fired as a professional spy and dumped in his hometown of Miami without money or resources, Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan; Changeling) struggles to put his life back together and find out why he has been “burned.” “Graced with a sly voiceover and strong supporting characters” (Brian Lowry, Variety), the show also stars Gabrielle Anwar (The Tudors, Scent Of A Woman) as Fiona, a beautiful ex-IRA operative who happens to be Westen’s ex-girlfriend, Bruce Campbell (Bubba Ho Tep, Army Of Darkness) as Sam, Michael’s closest buddy in town, and Emmy award-winner Sharon Gless (Cagney & Lacey) as Madeline, Westen’s hypochondriac mother.

This new season follows Westen as he takes on all new death-defying assignments in hopes of getting closer to his new employers, the people that were possibly responsible for his ousting. Joining the cast this season is Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Gallactica) as Carla, the woman who may be behind Michael’s “burn notice.”

Kevin and I love watching TV series on DVD. Three of our favorites are all from the USA Network: Monk, Psych, and Burn Notice. For some reason, this network knows how to put together hour-long shows with the perfect blend of drama and quirky comedy. They also have great casting directors, because each series has an ensemble cast whose chemistry is one of the reasons these series are must-watch television.

We watched season 1 of Burn Notice last summer when it was released on DVD, and have been waiting for what seems like forever for the next season to come out. Jeffrey Donovan is perfect as the sarcastic, smooth ex-spy trying to find out why he’s suddenly persona non grata with the agency. Throw in a mother who just wants him to be married, an ex-girlfriend who used to be in the IRA and would rather shoot first and ask questions later, and a friend who Westen knows is spying on him for the agency, and you have the makings of a terrific action-comedy sereis.

While the USA Network is beginning to air Season 3, we will be happily watching Season 2 on DVD – and groaning when we finish the final episode and know that we’ll have to wait a whole year for our next Burn Notice fix.

Burn Notice: Season 2 will be available on both DVD and Blu-Ray on June 16th. The sets each include all sixteen episodes, cast/crew commentaries, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.

(Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

From Emmy-winning producer Steven Bochco comes the powerful new legal drama about the fight for truth and honesty – in the courtroom and in the relationships between those who battle on both sides of the system. Feel the heat with Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season. “A solid legal drama,” says Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter.

Jerry Kellerman is an idealistic public defender who will stop at nothing to help those who can’t help themselves. When he clashes with district attorney Michelle Ernhardt, sparks fly, but they are both kept in check by Judge Trudy Kessler, an imperial force with an eye on a political run.

Experience every heated confrontation and all the behind-the-scenes secrets in a brilliant series based on today’s cutthroat legal world. Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek head a brilliant cast. Complete with exclusive bonus features, this riveting drama is even greater on DVD.

I thought I’d be watching this series by myself (like Army Wives and Grey’s Anatomy), but Kevin agreed to give it a try, and we both ended up completely hooked. We consumed the entire ten-episode series in four evenings. Raising the Bar reminds me a bit of West Wing, with all the behind-the-scenes machinations that go on in both the political world and the world of criminal justice.

The cast is great, although I had to quit thinking, “Hey, that’s Zack from Saved By the Bell!” And it didn’t take long, either, because Gosselaar’s characterization of earnest public defender Jerry Kellerman is one of the best parts of the show. This has all the makings of a great legal drama – there are characters to love and admire, characters to hate, and characters who surprise you in both good ways and bad. I was very excited to learn that Raising the Bar was renewed for a second season – although since we don’t get TNT in our puny basic cable package, we’ll have to wait for the DVD release next summer.

Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season is available now on DVD. This three-disc set includes the following special features: “Sworn Testimony: True Stories of a Public Defender;” “Behind the Bar: An After Hours Roundtable With the Cast;” and “Mistrials: Bloopers from Season One.”

(Army Wives: Season Two was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

A phenomenal success with critics and devoted fans, Army Wives reaches new heights in its heartfelt second season. “The writing’s crisp and the acting is first-rate,” raves the New York Post. Continue the journey and follow the deepening conflicts and complications of the group as the army fights its battles while the wives fight their own.

How will Claudia Joy’s series of devastating personal tragedies color her view of military life, and how will Roxy face a whole new set of life’s challenges? Witness husbands and wives torn apart and families struggling to stay together. Be a part of it all as these uplifting characters form an unlikely alliance under unthinkable circumstances.

Discover a sisterhood of loyalty and strength in Army Wives. This engaging 5-disc set includes every episode of Season Two and offers exclusive insight with bonus features available only on DVD.

Okay, I admit my review of the first season of Army Wives wasn’t exactly glowing. I felt like the sexual content was a bit over-the-top, although I liked the cast and thought the series had real potential. I forgot all about the series until I was offered season two for review, so I did some research. After reading some online accounts that the series was worth watching – and that the sexual component was toned way down – I decided to give it another try. I’m glad I did.

This is addictive TV along the same lines as Grey’s Anatomy. It’s a character-driven drama. One downfall of this genre of television is that to keep the drama going, dramatic things have to keep happening. In real life, one small group of friends might encounter a tragedy or two in the period of a year. In a television drama, a small group of friends is continually bombarded with one tragedy after another – that’s how they keep us hooked. So, yes, that’s a bit unrealistic, but as long as you can suspend your disbelief a bit and enjoy the drama, it’s highly addictive.

The acting is wonderful, and I loved watching the relationships between the women deepen. I also like the honorary Army “wife,” Dr. Roland Burton, whose wife is a colonel and the deputy post commander – his character is one of my favorites.

So, I guess what I’m saying is, if you like television dramas that are a bit soapy – like Grey’s Anatomy – then give Army Wives a try. Start with season one to get a feel of the characters, but keep the fast-forward button handy. Then settle into season two, which is vastly better and well worth watching.

Army Wives: Season 2 is available now on DVD. The five disc set includes the following bonus features: “Active Duty: The Cast of Army Wives at Fort Bragg”; “Operational Intelligence: Getting the Army’s Support;” “The Tribe;” “Army Wives Gives Back; deleted scenes, and bloopers.

Carrie K. from My Middle Name is Patience left a comment in my previous post, asking what we are looking for in a church. I responded that the question requires a post of its own.

I’ve had e-mail conversations with a couple different friends about this issue, about the things Kevin and I have been talking about while considering the church situation. Here’s a cut and paste of some of those e-mails. Please excuse the poor grammar and sentence construction – I wasn’t trying to write as much as just get my thoughts out.

The Baptist church we have been at for two years isn’t a good fit anymore. We’re not Baptists by any stretch of the imagination, but the only truly reformed church here just disbanded. We were sticking with First Baptist because of a good children’s program; the kids’ program changed this year and we’re not comfortable having our kids there anymore. Long story short: not enough supervision, emphasis on competition rather than becoming Christ-like. I’m not sure if we’ll find anything or not. We have talked about doing family worship for a while. I don’t know – I’m discouraged. It’s been years since we’ve been in a church where we were truly home, being fed, able to minister and use our gifts. My brother-in-law is studying at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis – we’re trying to talk him into doing a church plant – maybe through Mars Hills Acts 29 network – in our area. He’s wise, though, and wants to do an associate pastorship somewhere first.

I wish you could order up a church off an a la carte menu. “Yes, I’d like a church with reformed doctrine that’s complementarian in their view of men and women – no patriarchism for me, but also no female head pastors. I’d like worship that uses both hymns and choruses, plus the Apostle’s or Nicene creed – I’d like to do communion every week, and I’d like a pastor who loves to study and gets passionate about sharing what he’s learned. Oh, and a good kids’ ministry and lots of fellowship opportunities. Also, a church that engages with culture and the community instead of hiding in it’s own denominational bubble.” Is that too much to ask? ~grin~

Kevin and I were talking the other day, and he asked, “How come we don’t feel like we fit in anywhere?” And I said, “cause we don’t!” We don’t fit with the traditional Christian homeschooling family idea – cause we’re not reactionary about things like Harry Potter. We don’t fit with the non-Christian homeschooling group, cause we’re believers and don’t teach evolution. We don’t fit at a conservative church like the Baptist because we don’t believe that only men’s viewpoints matter and that we should be sheltered from culture – but we also don’t fit in a more liberal church like the Free Methodist because we don’t believe that women should be senior pastors and we don’t buy into the whole “God speaks to me every day and tells me what to wear and buy and…” We wouldn’t fit in the local reformed church, because they’re completely closed off to any work of the Holy Spirit and their worship is closed-off – only hymns, no praying for healing cause that doesn’t happen anymore, etc. (And then I just heard they disbanded anyway.) We don’t fit with the more enthusiastic worship churches, because they’re way too charismatic and unbalanced, and don’t do any hymns, and most of their worship songs sound like contemporary love songs instead of songs worshipping the Almighty Creator.

And amongst all these thoughts is the thought that I know there is no such thing as a perfect church, but we should at least be able to find one where the pros outweight the cons, right? Sigh.

Please understand that these are simply the things that Kevin and I have struggled with. If you fit into one of the groups which I said we didn’t, please don’t take that as judgment. We’re simply trying to work out our faith and understand what the Word says and how that applies to our family.