GO SEE IT. Just go.

I loved it. It’s Pixar at its best–way better than Over the Hedge, which I took the kids to see a few weeks ago.

The animation is head and shoulders above Dreamworks Animation (which bums me out because I own stock in DWA and not in Pixar…), the story is actually entertaining and unpredictable, and there are enough adult jokes in it that Music Man and I were laughing more than the children.

Surprise appearances by Tom and Ray Magliozzi (the Car Talk guys), Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jay Leno and others are a hoot…and all of the car characters so fit their voices. The animation on the cars make them look and act so real and living. I was really impressed. I actually wanted to hug them!

Paul Newman was hot as an old Hudson…his voice is so wonderful. And Larry the Cable guy steels the show as Mater (”as in To-Mater, without the ‘tow’). Tony Shaloub cracked me up as Luigi, the tire guy who loves Ferraris…when his dream comes true at the end, I was almost bawling.

Make sure you stay for all the credits, because they do a great tribute at the end to all the Pixar movies, and to one of the castmembers who apparently died during the production. It was great. One of the most enjoyable movies I’ve seen in a long time.

Finally! I’ve been trying to get into Blogger all day, and it’s the first time I’ve been successful. Just back from my Manhattan trip with an awesome debut author that many of you know…more on that later.

This is just a quick little something so you know I haven’t forgotten about you faithful blog readers. (Pete, I’m talking about you!)

First, my second Gardella Vampire Chronicles book has a title!

Rises the Night will be released in June 2007, just five months after The Rest Falls Away.

Second, here’s another little nugget I found; a brilliant quote from Gore Vidal:

“I suspect one of the reasons we create fiction is to make sex exciting.”

Hmmm. Could this be the reason for the upswing in erotic books?

Well, I was one of the first to see the new movie that Jennifer Aniston hopes will change her reputation at the box office. I couldn’t resist–I love Vince Vaughn, and I was curious to see what this movie was going to be like.

I’d heard enough to know that it was supposed to be more like The War of the Roses than When Harry Met Sally… although I found several things about this flick that reminded me of the old Billy Crystal/Meg Ryan movie that remains one of my all-time favorites.

I do think that the trailers put out the impression that the movie is a chick flick, romantic comedy (that’s kind of redundant, isn’t it?). It’s not. Yes, there are funny parts–how can there not be with Vince Vaughn in it–but it’s not a heartwarming story.

In fact, it’s rather eye-opening, and realistic, in an uncomfortable sort of way. The movie does a very good job of showing how men and women in loving relationships play games, communicate (or miscommunicate, as the case may be), and how they allow their friends to influence said relationship.

There were several things that reminded me of When Harry Met Sally…, one of which is that Vince Vaughn’s fast-talking, snarky humor has always reminded me of Billy Crystal, particularly in that movie. And the opening scene is practically taken from the baseball game scene in Harry…, where the two best friends are at the game, having a conversation.

While When Harry Met Sally… used the differences between men and women as a device to allow a relationship to grow, The Break-Up does just the opposite, using that same divide to show how a relationship crashes and burns. The realism in this movie is uncomfortable at times–as we’ve all been there, on one side or the other.

Vaughn and Aniston are great in their roles; and the supporting cast is also fabulous. Jon Favreau as Vaughn’s pal steals the show, along with Judy Davis as the great Marilyn Dean, artiste extraordinaire (her reaction when Brooke tells her she’s going to travel is priceless!).

I loved Vince D’Onofrio from Law & Order: Criminal Intent, but barely recognized him at first in this movie. What happened to him? The handsome, quirky man I remember has been replaced with an ageing, fumbling character that may or may not be true to character.

So far, the movie’s done well at the box office, but I think Mary Castillo has a point when she notes that next weekend will tell the tale. The movie had a big opening, but if it doesn’t deliver what its trailers imply, the following weekends won’t hold up at the box office.

I am curious about the fact that the original ending didn’t screen well with the test audiences. I didn’t like the current ending; it was too open-ended and left all of what we thought we learned about men and women and relationships up in the air. The original ending must have been truer to the movie; the new ending, I think, is intended to throw those of us who wanted it to ultimately be a romantic comedy, a bone. But the bone didn’t work for me.

But, at least Aniston has done one thing: successfully opened a movie one week after her ex’s partner gave birth to their child. (Although Vince Vaughn had top billing in the movie; likely due to the fact that he produced and conceived of the film.)

But, does this scene remind anyone else of the opening scenes of Mr & Mrs Smith?

Apparently, a woman actually married a cobra in a Hindu ceremony in India today.

The new bride seems very happy, despite the fact that the groom was too shy to attend the ceremony. They used a bronze statue to stand in for him.

The bride described their courtship in this way, “Whenever I put milk near the ant hill where the cobra lives, it always comes out to drink.”

Apparently, she and the snake do have some connection: “Bimbala Das [the bride] was ill,” Bhoi [the bride's mother] told the local TV channel. “We had no money to treat her. Then she started offering milk to the snake … she was cured. That made her fall in love.”

I’m just wondering about grandchildren.

Just. Wondering.

On Memorial Day, we were invited up to the home of our cousins, who live on a small farm in the middle of Michigan. They had arranged for a pinata for the kids.

Since it was on a farm, where there aren’t a lot of trees, I thought it was very appropriate and enterprising as to how they took advantage of the equipment on hand to make this work.