Dixie doesn’t get nearly the coverage she deserves here on the blog.

I love movies so I’m quite happy about this week’s Ten on Tuesday topic, 10 Best Movies You’ve Seen Lately. I’m going to switch it up a little, though. I’ll list a few good movies I’ve seen lately but then I’m going to list movies that I want to go see – I know there are a bunch of those. Here we go:

1. The Blind Side. This is the most recent movie I have seen at the theater and I thought it was terrific. Heart warming and inspiring.

2. The Hangover. Okay, it’s not a great film or anything, but it’s set in Vegas and I loved seeing the strip all over again.

3. New In Town. This is a silly little film but the caricature of small town people live in the midwest is priceless.

4. Defiance. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I like a movie that fills me with righteous indignation.

5. Sherlock Holmes. I might be the only person left who hasn’t seen this one yet.

6. The Lovely Bones. The book was wonderful, although difficult to read. I’m interested to see how it translates to the screen.

7. It’s Complicated. I love anything with Meryl Streep.

8. Young Victoria. I always enjoy period pieces about English monarchs.

9. Nine. All those famous actresses AND Daniel Day Lewis? Bring it on!

10. Precious. Sure, it will be depressing but I’m hoping it will also be inspiring and heart warming, too.

It’s almost Oscar time and I can’t wait!

On Friday, Sunflowerfairy left a comment, as she often does.  She complimented me on the strawberry photo and then said, “Have great adventures this weekend! I can’t wait to read about them on Monday.”  Talk about pressure!  I thought all weekend about what I could possibly show that would look remotely like an adventure.    I think I came up with a couple of things.

On Friday afternoon we went to see Angels and Demons.  It was great.  We came home and spent the rest of the evening on the deck, eating more of those grilled shrimp and just hanging out.

On Saturday Dale had 2 band jobs.  The first one was in the afternoon and I opted to stay home and hang out and knit.  I spent the better part of the day trying to get photos of our resident hummingbirds.

After lots and lots of pictures of the feeder without birds, I finally got this one.  Hooray.

Saturday evening was Dale’s second band job and I went with him.  It was an oldies night at a local social club and there were costumes and old cars and stuff.

I liked the yellow ‘57 Pontiac Chieftain the best.

Sunday being Father’s Day it was all up to Dale.

Lobster, corn and beer.  I’m glad he has good taste.  And I’m glad he shares, too.

And that’s my weekend recap.  I hope the adventures were exciting enough for Heidi and the rest of you!

How about that Oscar show! Did you watch? What did you think? I wasn’t surprised at all that Slumdog Millionaire walked away with the top honors. In fact, most of the awards went the way I predicted. Sean Penn for Milk, Kate Winslet for The Reader, etc.

How about the dresses? I thought Sarah Jessica Parker hit a home run. So did Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. And Sean Penn looked classic in all black.

The show itself was better than usual, I thought. Hugh Jackman was a great host and I liked that they took advantage of his musical ability. The new way of presenting the awards was good but I did miss seeing the film clips.

So, what did you think? Let’s hear it.

So as you may recall, I am a huge fan of The Oscars. I love the movies, I love the actors and actresses, I love the red carpet and the commentary, I love the show. Really, this is my favorite night of television all year long and the show is less than a week away now! I can’t wait to dress up and eat fancy food while we watch.

Once the nominations are announced we try very hard to see as many of the Oscar-nominated pictures as possible. At the very least I like to see all the best picture nominees and this year we did! (That’s not as easy as you might think, living out here in the ‘burbs and all.) This year’s best picture nominees are:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire.

Have you seen them? Which one is your favorite? Which one do you think will win?

Discuss.

Did ya have a good weekend? I mostly did and I have exciting news to report.

I passed papers on my father’s house on Friday! woot!

This was such a relief for me! The whole thing came together in the last week and I knew the closing was scheduled but I was afraid to tell you guys in case I jinxed the whole thing. But now it’s done and I no longer have to worry about heating problems and plumbing problems and all the other issues that go along with a vacant property. Can I get a woo? And also a hoo? Thank you!

The rest of the weekend was spent knitting, hanging out, going to the movies, and watching the Super Bowl. The movie was The Reader and it was very very good. Kate Winslet totally deserves that Golden Globe she won and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she takes home an Oscar for this performance.

That’s about all I have for this Monday morning. Except this.

Yes, another tulip picture. Love that macro lens!

P.S. Don’t forget that the blogiversary contest ends today at noon. Good luck to everyone who entered!

In no particular order, this weekend I:

~Bought myself some tulips.

I’m so sick of snow and ice and cold. These helped to brighten things up a bit. Thanks for the suggestion, Deb!

~Baked a pound cake.

It wasn’t as light and fluffy as I thought it would be but it was good. Those of you who know me know that I bake when I’m stressed which leads me to . . .

~Moved more stuff out of my father’s mobile home. It feels like every time we take one step forward we take two steps back. I could sure use any good thoughts, prayers and energy that you could send my way this week. I won’t say more right now but things might actually be moving in the right direction.

~Went to the movies. The Oscar nominations are out and now my goal is to see as many of the nominated films as I can so yesterday we saw Frost/Nixon. It was fantastic. Go!

~Hung out with Mason.

That’s for you, Cookie.

What did you do this weekend?

It’s the time of year when it’s too cold/snowy/icy to spend any time outdoors and that makes it the perfect time of year to go to the movies. I’ve seen 5 movies in the last 3 weeks. I think that’s a new record for me. I already told you about Valkyrie and Doubt. Now I’ll tell you about the other three.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
This was great! Brad Pitt is a complete hunka hunka and Cate Blanchett is gorgeous and a wonderful actress. The story is unbelievable, of course, but that’s what makes it so good. This is really one of those all-encompassing movies – the kind where it takes you a while to come back down to earth after you leave the theater. I loved it and would definitely recommend it.

Slumdog Millionaire
Of all the movies I’ve seen these last few weeks this is the one I have thought about the most. It’s uplifting and original and really really good. I thought the subtitles would be annoying but they aren’t at all, some of the movie is in English, in fact. The actors are great and the fact that they are “unknown” makes the movie even more enjoyable. If you go see only one of the movies I have recommended make it be this one.

Revolutionary Road
This was really good but sort of depressing. Or maybe bleak is a better word. The portrayal of life in the suburbs in the 1950s is very good and the set details are terrific. The acting is fantastic and the despair and hopelessness the characters feel is completely believable. You won’t leave the theater feeling uplifted but you will know you’ve seen a great film.

I still want to see Milk, Frost/Nixon and Defiance. How about you? Seen any good movies lately?