Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Have you seen it?

Like most people we consider ourselves something of a cinephile. We have collections of hundreds of movies and have seen well into the thousands. There are some movies we love and some we hate. Granted a lot of our favorite movies are some of those movies that most people would consider a classic, cult-classic or even just a good recent movie; but then there are those that you've probably never heard of.




By chance you're sitting home bored and possibly even sick, its one of those months where you get all of the movie channels for free. You're not very picky and you're looking for something to pass the time. You stumble across a movie you've never seen and never even heard of and get cosy in your bed/couch/floor. 10-minutes in and you're either completely engaged or are searching for some redeeming quality to keep you from turning the channel. If you keep watching it may just turn out to be one of your favoite movies of all time, or maybe just a good guilty pleasure flick. Thats how Emilolz stumbled across the first movie on our list. These are the movies that we love, but you have never seen.




Love Me If You Dare (Jeux d'enfants)(2003)


This is a Foreign film, from France so keep an open mind. This is a charming story of two best firends who play a dangerous game of dares through out the course of their lives. Its a very sweet movie and I guarantee you'll love it if you give it a chance.



The Client List (2010)


This is the true story of a former beauty queen turned massage therapist who takes a job at a massge parlor after her husband suffers an injury that prevents him from working. Soon after she is hired she learns that the customers expext more than a good rub, if you catch my drift.


It was a made for TV (Lifetime) movie, but dont discredit it! It is a good story with decent acting(Stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt).


Dedication(2007)


This romantic dramedy definitely deserves a viewing or two! It was one of those movies that was released as Blockbuster exclusive, and let me tell you it is awesome. This movie stars Billy Crudup ( very sexy man) and Mandy Moore (love her!). It tells the story of a childrens book author who is forced to work with a new illustrator after his longtime only friend and collaborator dies.




A Lot Like Love (2005)


This is also one of my all time favorite movies, it will put you in a good mood, make you think about your relationships and make your heart swell. It stars Ashton Kutcher as Oliver and Amanda Pete as Emily. I don't want to give too much away in the story but if you like romantic comedies you'll love this movie! There is something about their relationship in this movie, that says "I want a love like that."




Saved! (2004)


When a catholic school girl (Jenna Malone) becomes pregnant, she suddenly finds herself being ostracized and demonized from all of her former friends. This movie is quirky and fun. (Also starring Mandy Moore and Macaulay Culkin).




Waitress (2007)


Honestly what sticks out about this movie is the pie... I'm not kidding they make so many pies in this movie by the end I want to break out my pie pan and get to baking. But seriously this movie is cute. Its about Jenna (Keri Russell) a pregnant waitress from the deep south who is in an abusive marriage, when a new doctor comes to town she finds herself in an unlikely romance.




Just Friends (2005)


If you liked No Strings Attatched, then you also like Just Friends. Chris (Ryan Reynolds) returns home for Christmas, only to run into Jamie (Amy Smart) his former best friend who he was in love with. When she turned him down he turned into a womanizer and lost about 100 pounds. This movie is funny and smart and it really defined "the friend zone."




Garden State (2004)


Garden State is probably one of the more well known movies on this list. Its a cult classic and stars one of the list chick's favorite Natalie Portman. Its a great flick worth buying. Written, Directed and Staring Zach Braff. It will make you laugh, cry and really think. Check it out!




500 Days of Summer (2009)


Not to steal the opening credits but... this is not a love story, its a story about boy meets girl... It's a real offbeat romantic comedy staring Zooey Deschanel (love her!) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It tells the story about a girl who doesn't belive in love, and the boy who falls in love with her. This is also pretty popular but I still know a bunch of people who have NEVER seen it.




I Heart Huckabees (2004)


Just about NO ONE I know has heard of or seen this movie, unless they've borrowed mine! It has an all star cast and its pretty freakin fantastic! Its an existentialist comedy and that being said its pretty weird, but also pretty cool.



There are many more movies like this so we'll probably do another edition of this blog.. but for now start with these :)  As always, we'd love to hear your feedback and if you have any ideas for upcoming lists please share those with us!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

What a Day For a Birthday...

It's not my birthday, but it is another very special woman's who also writes this blog...ANGRY JESS!

So in honor of her birthday, here are 12 of the things that I like best about her.

1. Shes a little zany.
2. She's not afraid to speak her mind
3. She curses like a sailor.
4. She has a passion for the color orange, in the same way I am affectionate for the color green.
5. We share the same middle name.
6. She's older than me.
7. When she drinks moscato, she gets "Jellyfish" arms.
8. She makes a mean Goulash, and I heard, "she get it from her Mama."
9. She's known as Angry Jess, but sometimes (on occasion) she can be the nicest person ever!
10.  She's not afraid to flaunt her love of all things Twilight (and other Vampires for that matter).
11. She has a great taste in music and movies.
12.  She LOVES to SHARE... (if you ask her nicely, or take it when she's not looking).

In all seriousness, happy birthday to one of the coolest chicks on the blog ;) If you know Angry Jess leave some comments of your favorite things about her! Or just wish her a Happy Birthday.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Talking about my Generation....

 I can remember the 1990s as if it were yesterday, who cares if I was 3 at the beginning of the decade? I spent a good part of my childhood in the 90s!  Here is the blog we promised you, the best toys of our generation. I would make a list of the top ten but there are so many (and a 10 year span) that I'm simply going to list all of the toys that Jessica & I loved from 1990-2000.

  • Polly Pocket (the kind that actually fit into your pocket)
  • Beanie Babies
  • Tomagotchi (or Gigapets)
  • Game boy color
  • Barbie Fashion Designer (CD-ROM game)
  • Moon Shoes
  • Quints
  • Krystal Princess Dolls
  • Furby
  • Pogs
  • Easy Bake Oven
  • Popples
  • Stretch Armstrong
  • Talkboy/ Talkgirl 
  • Grape Escape
  • Dr Dreadful (food factory)
  • Treasure Trolls
  • Dream Phone
  • Puzz-3D
  • My Little Pony (they were way cuter in the 90's)
  • Disney Classic Barbies
  • Laser pointers
  • Power Rangers
  • Floam
  • GAK
  • Pokemon
  • Hot Wheels
  • Jenga
  • Mr. Potato Head
  • Super Nintendo
  • Creepy Crawlers
  • Pocket Locker
  • Pretty Pretty Princess
  • Slap Bracelets
  • Razor Scooters
  • Koosh Balls
  • Jurassic Park toys
  • Where's Waldo
  • Tickle Me Elmo
  • Pound Puppies
  • Cupcake Dolls
  • Teddy Ruxpin 

These were some of the HOTTEST toys that we had to have! If you were a child (or parent) of the 90s, can you think of any other toys that were off the charts and you (or your kids) would die if they didn't own? I'm certain there are tons of toys that didn't make the list, either we just didn't remember them or we weren't fans.  Either way subscribe and comment with your own list!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Black Swan

Although we know that you were expecting the second part of our "Toys" blog, we had to put this one up since Black Swan was released today!!!

In honor of Black Swan the blu-ray and DVD release, we composed a list of reasons why to check out this fabulous movie!

Trailer for the movie:



If you love music



If you love fashion



If you have a crazy mother



If you enjoy inappropriate relationships



If you enjoy a good dance



If you strive to be perfect



If you've had daytime terrors



If you have a crush on Natalie Portman



If you like what the critics had to say



If you enjoy the occasional lesbian love scene



If you love all of these things, then you should definitely go buy this movie. Yes, I said BUY, do not rent it because you'll want to watch it more than once.  What are you waiting for, "the only person standing in your way, is you!"

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A girl and her toys.

As a kid I used to call my basement Toys R Us. Mostly because one whole area in our basement was our dedicated toy room, and also because a friend once said we had more toys than Toys R Us.

After spending a few years with my fiancee's family, I've noticed that my family isn't the only one who bought and kept (for way too long) copious amounts of toys. So I sat down with my (future) niece and we discussed the hottest toys for kids... Keep in mind this list is composed by a 7-year-old girl.


1. Monster High (anything associated with this brand)

Monster High dolls are made by Mattel (yes the same company who brings you Barbie) after years of litigation, they could finally bring your their Bratz like dolls, meaning these dolls have huge heads and tiny slender bodies.


2. Pillow Pets (also anything associated with this brand)

Pillow Pets are really an ingenious idea. They are stuffed animals that turn into pillows, so kids can take their favorite stuffed animal to bed every night. They've also expanded the pillow pet brand to include dozens of animals, books, blankets, hats, games, and slippers! These things are so hot right now, even adults love them (ahem Angry Jess has one!)





3. Zoobles
Zoobles come from the same toy company who brought us Bakugan. They basically took the same product, changed the color scheme and the name and violia they had a new toy, and a new market. Now this line changes so much its kind of hard to keep up with but the kids love it and its popularity doesn't seem to be fading anytime soon.






4. SMS messengers

It seems almost every toy company has launched their own version of this product. My (future) niece has a Monster High version of this toy...which BTW didn't these debut way back in like 2001? I remember them from that era, but I believe my generation's were of much higher quality. Current gen models have to be in a well lit area and kept in a straight line to have the messages sent. There are a few brands out there that are actually more of an IM or web based service, and I would recommend those over these. Check out IM me instead.



5. Barbie (and Ken, that's right they're still on top)

Barbie debuted in 1958, its almost shocking to think that a toy that is over 50-years-old is still on top as one of the highest selling children toys ever. But then again, with numerous face lifts and image revamping, I guess Mattel made sure of it. She and Ken began rekindling their romance during the filming of Toy Story 3. The new hit doll will be the "Barbie Video Girl Doll"





6. Club Penguin Membership
Club Penguin is a MMORPG for kids, by Disney. It is designed for kids ages 6-14. One of the major focuses is child safety, and they have even implemented the "ultimate safe chat" where users select comments from a menu of options. They must purchase a membership (even though free memberships are available) if they want to spend any in game currency to buy virtual pets and other things.




7. Legos

Legos are another one of those toys that have been around, practically forever! Noe the most popular sets of Legos include: Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Sponge Bob. It was kind of hard to tell if girls are interested in these simply because the boys love them, or if they genuinely love them too. But I do know that they are here to stay, maybe for another 50 years! Lego has expanded their line to movies, video games and other merchandise.





8. Littlest PetShop
Many people don't know that LPS has been around since the early 1990s. It has had some serious reconstruction and image revamping since then but now it has become a longtime favorite of little girls. Hasbro recently created video games and an online world for girls to adopt virtual pets.




9. Nintendo Dsi
The Nintendo Dsi has been around since 2009. And it has been popular with kids ever since! They love the camera feature, the online games, the Nintendo shop and many of the other games as well. My one gripe is that this is not a toy for kids. My recommendation is to wait until they have the ability to read to dish out the cash for a system like this.

10. Wii games
The Wii has been super popular with families with young children since it was released in 2006. The reason is, many games are "party" games and are designed for the most novice of video gamers. Recently the most popular games for kids include the Just Dance franchise, Mario Party, Mario Kart, the Lego Franchise, and a few more. Personally I love my Wii and I will recommend it to anyone because of its versatility. Not only can you play current generation games but you have the ability to download all of your favorite Nintendo (and even some Sega) games!



Thats our list of the current popular kids toys, but stay tuned this week as we update our blog with the most popular toys of our childhood. Thats right we're talking 1980s and 1990s toys. So buckle your seat belts, we're going back in time!

(Do you have a favorite toy that has to be included in our list? How about suggestions for an upcoming list) Be sure to leave a comment or email us thelistchicks@gmail.com

Thursday, March 10, 2011

That's not my name...




Celebrities name their children the craziest things. Some people think it's because celebs want their children to stand out... As if having rich and famous parents isn't enough.

Audio Science

Moses Amadaes

Rumor

Suri

Zoltan Crimefighter

Moxie Crimefighter

Bogart Che Peyote

God'iss Love Stone

Pilot Inspektor

Spec Wildhorse

Seven Sirius

Fifi Trixibelle

Peaches Honeyblossom

Little Pixie

Sage Moonblood

Rocket

Rebel

Racer

Rogue

Moon Unit

Diva Thin Muffin

Fushia

Bamboo

Bluebell Madonna




Those are just some of the outrageous celebrity baby names that we've stumbled upon. I could understand using names like these for nicknames, but as a legal name, celebs must be crazy! I can only imagine the bullying their children are going to endure in school and life.

Did we miss any names that you know of? Would you ever give your child an unusual name? I know my fiancée has mentioned a few names to me (that I shot down). What about unusual names you've heard that aren't a celeb's child?

I just can't get you out of my head.

And nor do I want to! We love music, movies and music in movies! Here's our list of the soundtracks, that we just can't stop listening to! Also keep in mind they are not listed in order of preference, mostly because we love them all!



1. Garden State

2. Inception

3. The Little Mermaid

4. The Breakfast Club

5. Black Swan

6. Whip It

7. 500 Days of Summer

8. The Wizard of Oz

9. Love Actually

10. Center Stage

11. Anastasia

12. Star Wars

13. Mama Mia

14. Pirates of the Caribbean

15. Magnolia

16. Music and Lyrics

17. Indiana Jones

18. Fight Club

19. Requiem for a Dream

20. Big Fish

21. Rocky Horror Picture Show

22. Pulp Fiction

23. Beauty and the Beast

24. Lord of the Rings

25. Across the Universe


As you can tell we listen to a rather eclectic mix. So what are some of your favorite movie soundtracks?

I hope none of our choices made you do this...