Showing posts with label HOP movie review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HOP movie review. Show all posts

Giveaway: HOP on DVD and Nintendo DS

Monday, March 26, 2012

 *This giveaway has ended* Congratulations to Laura H. And Heather R.

Now that the weather is getting warmer we're gearing up to start our movies on the lawn again. Buying the inflatable movie screen was one of the best decisions we've made. Wt try to host Front Lawn Movie Night (FLMN) at least once a month. Everyone brings their own lawn chair and blankets. The kids usually watch from their sleeping bags. We pop fresh corn in the popcorn machine and offer a variety of seasoning shakers. FLMN has been a great way to get to know our neighbors and has made for some really low maintenance parties.

A few days ago Phil and I were talking about hosting a show and I mentioned that I wish we had a copy of Hop since Easter is coming. Low and behold, the next day I opened my email and there was an offer from Universal! Some things are just meant to be.

I enjoyed the movie and I think Tyler and the neighbors will, too. It's from the same team as Despicable Me and The Lorax. They work really well together and it shows in their films. HOP has a great cast, the CG and live action works well together and it's a film adults can watch with their kids.






Win it!

Two (2) winners will receive:
*One HOP Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)
*One HOP Nintendo DS Game


 
To enter:
1. Leave a comment below (mandatory). Please leave accurate contact information. Entries with no information will be deleted.
2. Winners chosen at random.
3. Share the contest however you wish (Facebook, Twitter etc.) and leave a separate comment with the permalink to your share (optional entry).
Please use this link to the post in your share:
http://bit.ly/HOPGiveaway
4. Contest runs today (3/26) through Sunday, 4/1 at 11pm CA time.
5. Winners have until 11pm CA time Monday 4/2 to respond or alternates will be chosen.
6. Winners will be announced on this post. 
7. Prizes will be shipped by the PR firm. MelADramaticMommy.com is not responsible for lost prizes.
8. Open to US only.

Fine print:
Total of two ways to enter. Pack valued $69.97 each. Giveaway open to US mailing addresses only. Giveaway courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Visit the official HOP website for movie reviews, a sneak peek at the new mini movie DVD extra and a list of bonus features.

Winners:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:
27
12
Timestamp: 2012-04-02 15:52:51 UTC


* I was provided my own review copies for this giveaway
Editor's note: I deleted one of the comments below but not until after the winners were chosen. The deleted comment was not the winning one. I removed it because the person included their phone number!

The Hop Junket: A Real Housewife in Beverly Hills Pt 2

Friday, April 1, 2011

You may have heard there's a new Easter themed movie opening today. I went to see HOP a few weekends ago as part of a press junket. I'll be honest, my expectations were low. The early trailers were not inspiring. Live action and CG hybrids that both kids and adults enjoy seem to be a rare breed. I'm hoppy (get it?) it to say that HOP is one of those rarities. 

Parents will enjoy it because it's humorous, has great music and dialogue and is well cast. Kids will love it because of the sight gags, music, drumming and colors. 

Blogger-Press-Junket-for-the-movie-HOPThe movie has themes we've seen before: finding one's passion, living up to the expectations of our parents, the relationship between fathers and sons, believing in magic and the need to find your own way in life. One of the good things about HOP is it doesn't beat us over the head with the themes and lessons.

We were lucky enough to get some time to interview James Marsden, Russel Brand, Kaley Cuoco, Tim Hill and Chris Meledandri. I enjoyed speaking with all of them just as much, if not more, than watching the movie itself.

It was easy for me to not get caught up in the messages of the movie because director Hill and producer Meledandri did such a great job with the visuals. The scenery in HOP is beautiful.
Mr. Chris Meledandri: One thing that Tim was very intent on was that, if we were going to be peeling back the curtains of this mythology that you’ve never seen before, that just the depiction of the world itself visually had to be spectacular.
Blogger-meet-and-greet-HOP-directors
Tim Hill in between Catherine and Dan; Chris Meledandri kneeling
It had to have the scale of spectacle that you would associate with a part of our cultural mythology. Tim worked for months and months and months with our teams of artists in really trying to visually define what this magical place underneath Easter Island has, what it would look like.
He [Tim] then had to figure out how to immerse the audience in it. He’s done a fantastic job. The virtues of these mediums that we’re working in are that world is just marvelous and fantastical, but on the other hand, you really believe that you're in it.
I grew up in a pretty religious household, but my parents hid a basket for me and we went to Easter egg hunts. I was curious how the movie would treat the role of the Easter bunny and if parents who have children who still believe would need to do any backpedaling to keep the magic alive. That's not the case with HOP.
Blogger: My two oldest children are the same age as your children and I’m wondering how you deal with the magic of holidays. Is your 10 year old son mumbling things to your five year old daughter?

James Marsden between Renee and EB
Mr. James Marsden: No, because my 10 year old son is a believer. He hears things from kids at school, but my wife has been really good about that. My wife still believes. She’s said, “My father taught me that if you believe in it, it’s there.”
Tyler still believes in magic though I have a feeling that will change in a few more years. If, after seeing HOP, he asks me if the Easter Bunny is real I can paraphrase Russel Brand (who voices EB):
Blogger: Did you ever or do you now believe in the Easter Bunny?
Mr. Russell Brand: I believe in the possibility of all things because of the nature of infinite space. If the universe is infinite, that means, inevitably, all possibilities exist.
So, somewhere, there is an Easter Bunny. Somewhere else, there's a one-legged Easter Bunny. Somewhere else, there's a robot Easter Bunny. There’s an Easter Bunny crossed with a Darth Vader because of infinity. With infinity, everything would occur.
Mom-bloggers-attend-HOP-press-junket
Me, Meredith Sinclair and Kim Grundy
Who knew that a discussion of a family film would evolve into something so existential? 

I won't recommend Hop for kids under 5. It's not scary but there is a scene they might find disturbing (think Fatal Attraction), but I can honestly say Hop is a movie I won't mind seeing a second time.

Other recaps of the movie, junket and interviews:
Matt from Geek Dad
Renee from Cutie Booty Cakes
Meredith writing for Mom in the City 
Dawn writing for 5 Minutes for Mom
Catherine from Her Bad Mother
Kim writing for She Knows
Sara writing for Baby Center


My own photos from the HOP press junket on Flickr. Photos in this post courtesy of Chris and Kristen Photography. Thank you to Universal for hosting me for the weekend and providing hotel and meals.

A Real Housewife in Beverly Hills

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Two weekends ago I headed up to Beverly Hills to stay at The Four Seasons and attend the HOP movie press junket. You know, a typical weekend. Before I left I did a little grocery shopping, a little straightening up and made a pot of chili for the boys to have leftovers. I tried to squeeze in a mani/pedi too. I told Phil I was heading out to get one and I got an eye roll back.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Well, I don't want to show up in Beverly Hills looking like a stay at home mom."

"You are a stay at home mom."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to look like one!"

In the end I decided replacing my foundation was more important than my having my nails done. I left Friday afternoon and almost the entire drive up to LA I was obsessing over my appearance. My gray hairs were out in full force, I was in desperate need of a good blow out, I'd broken two nails and my stress acne was flaring up big time (thus the need for new foundation). 

Hi Russel Brand, nice to meet you. I'm Hot Mess Housewife.

Alright vanity, you win.
Instead of heading to the hotel when I got off the freeway I went straight to Beverly Center and the nearest MAC counter*. I had my face done, complete with fake eyelashes.

Now, I didn't have it done because I was worried about what everyone else would think of me. I did it for myself. Sure, I could wear makeup every day. But, why? I'm home alone all day. It's not the same as being out and about.

When I was a "working mom," putting on makeup and curling my hair was part of the package. I looked nice. Now, my standard uniform is a ponytail, jeans, wedges and a comfortable top. When I see other ladies all made up to go to Costco, it seems kinda silly.

For one night, I wanted to feel confident and self assured. I wanted to feel pretty. If you haven't tried them out, fake eyelashes do it for me, every time. 

When I got to the hotel, I pulled on my Spanx, my new shirt and boots and walked out of my room feeling like a million bucks.

L to R: Catherine, Kim, Dan, Meredith and Sara

Seana and Renee
I met new people, made new friends and was able to do it with a real smile. Not a self conscious one.

What do you to make yourself feel like a million dollars?

*I saw Amy Adams at the Clinique counter. She is just as pretty in person and tiny! I'm not used to being taller than anyone else! Thank you to Universal for the royal treatment (and my hotel, movie tickets and awesome food)! Photos courtesy of Chris and Kristen Photography
 
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