5 Reasons to see 'MALEFICENT' at the El Capitan Theatre

This is not a post to try and convince you to see 'MALEFICENT,' because I know you'll be seeing it anyway. The combination of Angelina Jolie, Angelina Jolie's cheekbones, a feminist plot twist and stunning visuals is impossible for anyone to resist. No, this is to convince you to make sure you see 'Maleficent' on the gorgeous screen at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Angelina Jolie's cheekbones will thank you.

The 5 Reasons to see 'Maleficent' at the El Capitan Theatre

1) The pre-movie magic show by acclaimed magician Greg Wilson. This isn't just your average magic show where you get to see a rabbit being pulled out of a hat (although he does that, too.) Prepare to see Wilson's dazzling assistants get shot out of a cannon (well, not really but how did she end up in that box in the corner of the theater?) sawed in half and in half again (seriously, I still don't know how that works) and levitated with the help of a magic rope. Hurry – this live stage show is only running until July 6.

2) An exhibit featuring props and costumes from 'Maleficent.' This is your chance to get up close and personal with Maleficent’s gown and horns and peek into an intricate model of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Getting tired? You can also check out Aurora's bedroom.

3) A live performance by the El Capitan's house organist, Rob Richards. I've seen this many, many times and it never gets old. How often do you get to see an almost 100-year-old Wurlitzer played live? Kudos to the El Capitan for realizing the importance and impact of live music and for bringing it to young audiences.

4) It's not in a mall. Sure, there's something to be said for your theater being steps away from Forever 21 and Panda Express, but do you really want to see a fight between Maleficent and King Stefan on a screen the size of a postage stamp? Once you've seen a film in the plush, gorgeous, ornate El Capitan you may never want to see a movie anywhere else again. Besides, there's a Forever 21 right across the street in the Hollywood/Highland center (which also provides validated parking for the theater.)

5) You can reserve your seats, buy your tickets online and print them out at home. Avoid the lines at the box office and cruise right into the theater. This gives you more time to ponder your popcorn and drink selection. Even easier - select the VIP ticket option and your refreshments are included in the price of your ticket!

MALEFICENT is playing at the El Capitan Theatre through July 17. To buy tickets call 1-800-DISNEY6

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A plea for help made of gifs from 'Fight Club' and one from 'Grease'

A few days ago I appealed for help for my daughters' school but apparently no one heard me. So now, you leave me no choice but to re-tell my story and plea for funds using jerky moving pictures and movie captions.

Apparently the first rule of fundraising is YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FUNDRAISING.

Let me break it down for you.

A few months ago the kids had to watch their beloved performing arts department get wiped out. 

It hasn't been an easy year. Everyone is carrying on but we know how they feel inside.

Now, because of a lack of funding, it's looking like the Senior Class of 2014 will be the first class in the high school's history NOT to graduate at the Hollywood Bowl.

GO AHEAD, KICK US WHEN WE'RE DOWN, UNIVERSE.

It doesn't feel good. It fact it hurts like a mutha.

Now everyone is stressing out trying to figure out how to come up with the down payment.

All of our appeals are falling on deaf ears. It's like we're the Amway salesman of high schools.

If we don't come up with the balance of the down payment, the kids won't get to graduate at the Hollywood Bowl, something they've been looking forward to for FOUR YEARS.

I KNOW I KNOW THERE ARE BIGGER PROBLEMS TO WORRY ABOUT.

But these kids have been through a lot this year, and man, you don't know how happy they would be with a great sendoff on their last day of school. 

If you or someone you know would like to help sponsor the Hollywood High Class of 2013, please leave your contact info here or email me at marsha_tm@yahoo.com.

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'The Hunger Games' – Let The Giveaway Begin

Read my review of The Hunger Games on Celebrity Teen Scoop.
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Maybe you've heard of this little movie coming out called The Hunger Games. Just a small film, based on a book that sold a gazzilion copies and now has people everywhere eagerly anticipating the movie's release on March 23. There will be a tiny crowd waiting outside, only in the trillions.

To be honest, I've never read the books the movie is based on, but my teenagers have and are going to be amongst that thronging crowd on opening night. We've already got our tickets for the 12:10 showing, and they've got their excuses lined up to tell their teachers the next day explaining why they had to miss first period that morning – they had a fever. Hunger Games fever.

To get you infected with the fever (it's not as painful as it sounds, and I promise there's no blisters involved) I'm giving away a Hunger Games prize package...Click here to enter

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Making me cry daily

Here's a short movie that Kiyomi made. The first time Rigel and I saw it, it made me want to cry (and Rigel, too.) Mostly out of pride, and partly because of the emotion she manages to evoke with the music and images. Also, I wasn't expecting something so polished since she set it up with "So, you wanna see my movie I made that kind of blows?" How can you not get emotional after that?



Production note: That round frame with the photo of the Eiffel Tower is what sat on top of our wedding cake some 18 years ago. More crying.

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Winnie the Pooh (and Breakfast, Too!) at the El Capitan Theatre

Who knew my teenagers would be so excited to meet Winnie-The-Pooh? I was invited to a screening of Disney's new Winnie the Pooh movie at the El Capitan Theater as well as a pre-show character breakfast at the Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store and I had initially thought I would pass it up – while my girls are still very much into Disneyland, I thought they'd roll their eyes at seeing an animated movie and the prospect of meeting a big, sweet bear in a red shirt.

Boy, was I wrong.

The last time I saw them this excited was when they discovered that the local high school's boy's cross country team runs right through our neighborhood, shirtless. They didn't even balk when I told them we'd have to get up early on a Saturday in order to make it to the breakfast by 9:15. Who knew that Winnie the Pooh was such a chick magnet?

Read all about it here!

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Real Deal! Real Steel Giveaway

Have you seen Dreamworks' Real Steel yet, the new movie starring the beautiful Hugh Jackman and an equally stunning robot? I have to admit, I'm a little partial because my husband worked on the ad campaign and had been raving about it for awhile. So I knew it was going to be good and apparently everyone else agrees – it just opened and is already number one, taking in $27.3 million this past weekend. Man, that's a lot of change in Hugh's wallet – I wonder how much the robot made?  

Click here to see a clip and enter the giveaway!


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'Kung Fu Panda 2' finds inner peace. Me, not so much.

Last week I was invited to a screening at DreamWorks Animation for a preview of the upcoming animated feature 'Kung Fu Panda 2'. There was fighting, betrayal, and the triumph of good over evil. But enough about the the post-screening blogger luncheon and the brawl over the last panini – let me tell you my thoughts about the movie...

Read the whole darn thing here! 

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Pirate's booty

Ahoy matey! I'm giving away some 'Pirate' gear! Shiver me timbers it's gonna be good!

So check it out here!

Argggghhh!

(Pirate-speak lessons not included.)

(C'mon, go forth and win ye some treasure!)

(I realize that wasn't really pirate-speak.)

(But seriously, just do it.)

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This is not a sponsored post. Or is it?

No it isn't, but like the movie I'm going to talk about, Paper Heart, it's always good to keep people guessing. (I know there's been a a lot of controversy in the blogosphere lately about people getting paid for posts, and I just wanted to make things perfectly clear: Who in their right mind would pay me for this? Although it sure would have helped, because that $30 bucket of popcorn and those $15 Twizzlers really put a dent in my wallet.)

The 'mockumentary' stars comedian Charlyne Yi and chronicles her search for true love, but the audience is never quite sure which parts are real and which parts are fiction. Along the way Yi meets and falls in love with actor Michael Cera, who plays himself. The big question surrounding the film is, were Yi and Cera ever dating or were they just playing a couple for the sake of the movie? The fact that I'm intrigued enough to even write a post about it says a lot about the persuasiveness of the movie. Or does it just mean I'm sorely in need of a hobby? There I go with the whole keep-you-guessing thing again! Ka-ching!

Paper Heart was just one of the movies I took Kira and Kiyomi and their friends to see this summer. Like many of the others, this fell squarely into the tween-teen-chick-flick genre that Rigel avoids like the plague, movies that make him say things like, "You girls go and bond," and "Please don't make me go see that crappy movie." That's not to say I didn't like the movie - I really did - but the cuteness and 'twee' factor were a big part of it's charm, and when Rigel asked me how it was and I said, "It would have made you want to shoot yourself right there in the theater," he knew exactly what I meant.

But I loved this movie and would recommend seeing it, if only for Charlene Yi's quirkiness and also for the puppet segments that illustrate some of the backstories of the characters - the puppets and sets were actually made by Yi and her dad. (Also, it's around a billion times better than another movie I took the girls to see, I Love You Beth Cooper, that made me want to march right up to the box office and demand the last 102 minutes of my life back, with interest.)

Here's a trailer from the movie, but mind you, I will have to charge you to watch it.

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tags: paper heart | charlyne yi | michael cera

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'My Interview With Alicia Witt', or 'Why I Cringe At The Sound Of My Voice'

The spring issue of Genlux magazine is on the newsstands, and my interview with Alicia Witt (88 Minutes) is the cover story. Which is exciting because the photos are beautiful, but honestly, my interview pales in comparison. (Although, in my defense they did change a word here and there.) And holy crap - my byline is like 90-point type, so there's no pretending I didn't do it.

Why is it that sometimes seeing your own words in print is as painful as hearing your own voice on tape? There you are, thinking you sound like Lauren Bacall or Angelina Jolie, but instead what comes back at you from that speaker sounds like Fran Drescher being strangled. While gargling. Inside a tin can.

For some reason I'm thinking everyone reading this interview is going to picture me as a three-foot-tall, pear-shaped housewife wearing mom-jeans and a newsboy cap.

Which, for the record, I'm not. I'm wearing a fedora.







(Click here to read text. You know, only if you want to.)

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tags: alicia witt | 88 minutes | al pacino

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'21': Why Hollywood Continues to Be Racist

I won't be going to see "21" and it's not because a review I just read compares the film to a "two-hour commercial for the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Bureau." And it's not because that same review called lead actor Jim Sturgess "not particularly interesting" and Kate Bosworth an "onscreen vacuum."

No, it's because I haven't been so offended by Hollywood since they cast David Carradine in the role of a wise Chinese sage and called it Kung Fu. (And look - they even got his eyes to slant up!)

"21" is based on the true story of a group of MIT students who made a ton of money in Vegas with an elaborate card counting scheme. In real life the two main players in the story are Jeff Ma and Mike Aponte, who are both of Asian descent.

That's right, and they are played in the movie by Bosworth and Sturgess. In case you hadn't noticed, neither of them are even close to being Asian. Thanks again Hollywood, for once again telling the world that Asians aren't even capable of portraying themselves.

I can't wait to see the Hollywood version of the upcoming Olympics in China, with Shia LeBouf playing the role of China's gymnastic team star and Richard Gere as a Tibetan monk.

Hopefully they'll have some roles for some actual Asians - maybe as a rickshaw driver, or a laundress, or a sushi chef, or, yes - a Kung Fu master! That is, unless David Carradine is up for the role.

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tags: 21 | bringing down the house | jeff ma | mike aponte | mit blackjack team | racism in hollywood

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