• I changed my journal layout again, unplanned, because I found one with a cute dog graphic I hadn't seen before. Bonus, its earth tones match my default icon.

• My brain is suffering an overdose of Glee spoilers right now. Too much information to process. Shutting down for the time being.

• Damn! "Change My Needs," the prettier female version used in TV shows, has finally been released. Unfortunately, I've listened to this live cover so many times that I can't adjust to the polished studio sound with backing vocals. WHAT DO I DO?

Also, I watched the 2011 "Red Riding Hood" today. Actually, I watched it twice because my mom wanted to see it too. I had thought it looked kind of good in the theater trailer, but everyone said it was terrible, so I went in fully expecting it to suck - especially since my impression from the previews was that Amanda Seyfried was playing a lusty ho and the tale would be excessively sexed up - but it was amazing. And this is coming from someone who cannot STAND Amanda Seyfriend and her giant eyes popping out of her head, and was just hoping it would be scary enough to compensate for its flaws.


Results: yes, it is definitely scary enough to compensate for its flaws. (flaws such as "Peter is a giant smirking douche, WTF is wrong with you, Henry is the clear winner in this duel for your heart." And that is like the first time I have ever shot down the childhood-best-friend love interest. In my defense, they don't usually grow up into brooding bad boys.)

I hate when movies shy away from showing the monster, so I'm really glad we had plenty of clear looks at the wolf (real and were versions). There were plenty of gruesome things to turn my stomach (as well as merely implied-gruesome things that turned it worse, like the elephant torture chamber). I was kept constantly guessing as to who the werewolf actually was, and never figured it out despite launching like six hypotheses. The one overly physical scene, I couldn't watch, but that was more because Peter's smarminess made me gag (also, POOR HENRY), not because it was really all that explicit.

And can we go back to Henry for a minute, because that boy was consistently flawless right down to his "I won't force you to marry me" statements. At which point, frankly, I was expecting her to swoon on the spot and change her mind. This movie was just filled with disappointment on that front. Incidentally, just the other day, I was lamenting the significantly low number of cute male actors under 30. And then this guy shows up. 

I don't feel like going to check all the internet criticisms right now, because that will just depress me, so I don't know what other problems people had with it but I really didn't have any as far as the main plot. For a few minutes, during Valerie's Evil Childhood days, I was worried that the gorgeous cinematography might be the only thing this film had going for it, but no worries. That just ended up being a bonus.

In conclusion: expectations, WAY EXCEEDED.