“The LEGO Movie: Everything Is Awesome Edition”

If you missed The LEGO Movie in theatres earlier this year, the DVD/Blu-Ray hit stores yesterday, so, now’s your chance to catch this epically cool flick on the small screen. And if you did see the movie and loved it as much as we did, then, you gotta check out the “Everything is Awesome Edition” which includes a DVD, Digital Download, two Blu-Rays (one in HD and one in 3D) and, best of all, a LEGO minifigure of Morgan Freeman’s character, Vitruvius!

That’s right, you get an actual LEGO toy with your movie. Cool, huh? The only complaint Greta and I had is that Vitruvius doesn’t come with his iconic chewed-up sucker cane. As you can see, we were able to craft him something similar-looking from our ever-growing LEGO collection, but, an actual cane accessory would have been nice.

And in case you were wondering how the movie holds up on second viewing, all I can say is that we watched it together tonight (It was my Father’s Day gift from Greta and we’re kinda making the holiday a weeklong event this year!) and I’m already looking forward to watching it again. Yep, it really is that awesome!

Oh, and if you’re looking for a deal on the movie, the lowest price I found anywhere this week online or in stores was $34.99 at Best Buy, and while I’m not a huge fan of the home of the Geek Squad, I am a fan of a bargain, so, guess where we bought it?

Happy LEGO Movie release day, amigos…keep on bricking!

Posted with Blogsy

The Purple Plague

Oh, the joy of sick kids. On Tuesday, Greta came down with a nasty stomach bug that left her unable to keep anything down. Actually, she did eat two mini Popsicles yesterday, but, aside from that, nothing. Even water and juice came right back up. It hasn’t been pretty.

The only good thing is that she slept a lot, which meant that I got to sleep a lot too. So, I think that almost balanced out all the sleep I lost from getting up every couple of hours to help her yak and change her nightgown and stuff. Mrs. Yeti, on the other hand, has been totally screwed sleep-wise. Sorry, honey, I owe you a few good naps!

Oh, and then, another wonderful thing happened last night. I wear a tiny mouthguard when I sleep to keep me from grinding my teeth and last night it felt out of my mouth and landed in the toilet while I was peeing in it. Nice, huh? Luckily (or unluckily, as the case may be) for me, I was so immune to cleaning up disgusting things by that point that fishing my mouthguard out of the pee-filled crapper was easy. I mean, at least it didn’t land in Greta’s barf bowl!

And on top of all that, Greta checked out her first Barney DVD from the library. Yes, that Barney. Mrs. Yeti took Greta to the library on Monday night, and, in her sleep-deprived stupor apparently forgot about our ban on the purple demon. Urgh…forget about Greta’s measly stomach flu…the purple plague has been unleashed on our home. Enter at your own risk!

The Magic Drawer

I don’t know if it’s Project X — yes, my fat ass is still trying to stay faithful to the diet that never ends! — or the change in the weather or whatever, but, lately, I’ve been feeling strangely hopeful and upbeat about all kinds of shit that used to totally bum me out.

I still don’t have a steady job — however, the two amazingly-cool freelance gigs I scored have helped — I’m like, dozens of pounds away from my ideal weight, and I just sent a check for $415.00 (plus almost $45.00 more for traffic school) to the courthouse in San Diego for a speeding ticket I got at Easter. So, not exactly a banner month in these parts, but, for some reason, I’m totally 100% cool with it. Actually, the online traffic school really, really sucked and took for-freaking-ever! But, other than that, I’m oddly cool with the hand I’ve been dealt of late.

And better yet, I’m also strangely inspired by it. I don’t wanna get all writerly on you, but, we wordsmiths (oops, there I go!) can have some long-ass dry spells. But not lately, man. For the past week or so, I’ve been almost insanely inspired to write. I feel all giddy again like I did when I first started writing scripts. It’s crazy!

Lawrence Kasdan once said that every writer has a giant locked drawer in their heads, and that everything they ever wanted to write and share with the world or just create for themselves was in that drawer in its completed form. And every once in a while, if you were lucky, you’d get to actually open that drawer and peek inside. And when that happened, well, you’d better have a pen handy and you’d better write fast, because you never know when that drawer could close back up on you. In other words, if your magic drawer is open, you best get writing. So, that’s what I’ve been doing.

Oh, I’m also kind of obsessed with movies about writers lately too. I finally watched my new Criterion Collection DVD of Jules et Jim last week and it was gorgeous, even on standard DVD! I’m sorry, but, could that cast and soundtrack be any more gorgeous? Wow! I’m also about halfway through my second viewing of Young Adult, and I’m finding that I love it even more than I did when I first saw it, so, suck it haters! Speaking of haters, next up is my other favorite crazy writer movie, the classic, love-it-or-hate-it Wonder Boys. I can’t wait!

Anyway, I don’t know what caused my magic drawer to open (and stay open!) but, it’s been kinda awesome. And, on top of all that coolness, my cargo shorts are falling off my ass way more than they usually do — seriously, I had to actually tighten my belt the other day! — so, I guess I’m still losing weight too. Which is all great and wonderful, but, now that I’ve written all this shit down, I think I need to go knock on some serious wood before the universe’s checks and balance department turns on me again. So, see ya next time!

Redemption!

Wow…what a difference a week makes! Last Monday, Greta couldn’t make it through a whole dance class, and this week at her “redo”, she couldn’t wait to get back in there. I don’t know if it was the gentle drilling I did at home — we watched the ballet and tap scenes from “An American In Paris” like, fifty times! — or the fact that her teacher let her start the class clutching her “Angelina Ballerina” DVD for support, but, for whatever reason, Greta really rocked it this week. Hooray!

And, hey, even if she didn’t rock it, I’d still be proud of her for getting back in there and facing her fears. Seriously, I learned my lesson last week…live and let live, baby. But, lucky for us, she loved the class, so, that is where you’ll find her and me and anyone else who’d like to come watch on Monday afternoons for the next three months.

Now, if anyone knows where I can score some cheap ballet and tap shoes in a toddler size 5 1/2-6, please, hook a brother up. That shit’s expensive!

Best. Wife. Ever.

With roughly 12 hours left to go on the once-yearly Criterion Collection 50% off sale-a-bration at Barnes & Noble, my wife did something really cool this weekend. We were at the mall and I said: “Hey, I’m just gonna pop into Barnes & Noble and drool over the Criterion Blu-Rays, is that cool?” And she said, with no provocation: “You can spend $50.00.” Zoinks?!

I know that doesn’t sound like a lot of money to most people, but, we haven’t been exactly rolling with the Rockefellers these days, so, she might as well have said $100, and, shit, with the Blu-Rays marked down 50%, that’s kinda what she did.

Then, the icing on the cake came when she finished with: “I’ll watch Greta, you go shop.” Sweet Jesus! Kinder, gentler were never spoken. I kid you not, I practically skipped into that damn bookstore. And half an hour later, I walked out with three movies (two beautiful new Blu-Rays and one DVD) for the low, low price of $51.28. Crazy, huh?

And that is one of the many, many reasons that this here film geek has the Best. Wife. Ever. I love you, sweetie. Oh, and, just to be clear, I don’t just love her because she lets me buy geeky shit for myself. Nope, she did the dishes tonight too, and I didn’t even have to ask.

I repeat. Best. Wife. Ever.

First day back…

Today was my first solo day back “at work”, and lemme tell ya, it sucked. It wasn’t Greta’s fault, she was actually really good for large chunks of time today, but rather, it was me. I guess after two-plus weeks of having two parents around, I lost my touch or something.

I didn’t leave her in the car or anything like that, but, seriously, every little shitty thing I could do wrong today, I did wrong. For instance, pulled out some meat to defrost and left the freezer cracked open for like, hours. Looks like Superman’s fortress of solitude in there, ice everywhere!

Then self-checked-out — and can I just say how much I hate self-check-out anything? I mean, WTF? Machines like that are not a frazzled parent’s friend! — a bunch of books and DVD’s from the L.A. Public library to help celebrate the fact that they are open on Mondays again. Yay! But in my zeal to participate in this very big day for the libraries, I forgot to self-remove the locking mechanism on the side of the DVD boxes, which means, none of them will open. Of course, didn’t discover this till AFTER the library was closed, so, you can imagine how much fun it was to explain to a sobbing Greta why she couldn’t watch “Barbie Presents: Thumbelina” tonight after dinner: “Sorry, kid, Daddy fucked up. But, here, look at the pretty pictures on the box!”

And then, on top of all that, found out that a large chunk of money that I am owed is not only not coming my way anytime soon, but, may, in fact, never be paid in full. Ah, the glamorous life of a Hollywood screenwriter…

If I could punch this fucking Monday in the face, I totally would. You sucked, dude.

“Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue”

Yes, I am actually taking the time to review a Disney DVD sequel…and you wanna know why? Because this is the first shitty Disney sequel we’ve seen that is actually, you know, not shitty. Seriously, the “Toy Story” movies aside, most of them are downright unwatchable — yeah, I’m talking to you “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch”! — so, we picked up “Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue” at the library with much hesitation. In fact, if I had been able to pry the DVD from Greta’s sweaty little hands when we left, I might have just ditched it outright. But, wow, am I glad she held on tightly, because this movie kinda rocked.

Beautiful animation (Mrs. Stay-at-home-Yeti wanted to live in that gorgeous little fairy house!), stellar voice work (Michael Sheen? Kristen Chenoweth? Lucy Lui? Who knew?!) and a very sweet little story that made me tear up all four times that we watched it in three days. Yep, it’s that good!

Surprisingly, the extras on this one are pretty first-rate too, especially the deleted scenes. I don’t wanna give anything away by telling you what my favorite was, but, make sure and watch the scene with the Dad as a young boy…totally magical! Really, it is terribly sweet and gives the story whole other layers of meaning…

Also, in watching the extras realized I know the director, Bradley Raymond. Small world, huh? Great job, Brad! Greta and I loved your movie, even it did make me cry like a little girl…