"We're S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G., We're Shopping..."

So no whinges or moans this week. For a change I thought I would talk about what I've been watching instead!
Why do you care what I've seen? Well in truth, you probably don't but I always like to read a good review and hopefully you will find this fractionally more interesting than watching the latest episode of Coronation Street or any of the sub-standard dross UK tele bosses seem to think we want to watch!
I finally got around to watching both The Hunger Games and 21 Jump Street and I was pleasantly surprised by both. I read an article in my Empire magazine that reported Donald Sutherland saying he though The Hunger Games would prove to be the most influential film of the new decade! Well he may be slightly over-reaching with that statement but for a film directed at teenagers it proved to be very entertaining and more than a little exciting. It's kind of a watered down version of the Japanese classic "Battle Royale" which has teenagers stranded on an island, having to kill each other before they have their heads blown off! The Hunger Games pits teen against teen in a fight to the death but it never feels mawkish or like so many films today, overly glorifying the violence contained within. It's already been a massively successful book series and the film has done really well here and in the US so expect the second and third books to be made quite quickly.
21 Jump Street was a totally different kettle of fish, a great big dumb movie with a massive heart and shed loads of laugh out loud moments. Making over the hit US 90's TV show, the film stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, two actors I have never taken to before but in this movie they really shine. In terms of story, it places the two leads into a school looking for drugs - so far so normal, but where it differs is in the relationship between the two leads. Where some films put polarised characters together and you know they are going to end up "besties", this film has them start out as friends and that friendship gets tested along the way. It has laughs without being offensive or cheap and you really care about what happens to both of them. Both films are highly recommended and if you see them and enjoy them please let me know what you think, I would love to hear from you.
On to the card and the theme at I ♥ ProMarkers this week is "Let's Go Shopping". My idea of shopping is nothing like that represented here. I do nearly all of mine (and occassionally the weekly 'big' shop too!) on-line! I have even been known to stealth-shop; that's where you end up wide awake at three in the morning and with nothing else to do you start trawling your favourite craft sites and loading your virtual shopping trolley so that it ends up fit to burst! Rather than just clicking on close you end up buying a truck load of stuff you could really live without. As for Christmas shopping, my idea of hell on earth is trudging around a load of shops, all playing the same God-awful songs you hear time after time and standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the rudest creatures crawling the earth. Apart from fruit and veg, there's nothing you can't buy on the internet (and I bet you can get that too if you want to look!). Last year, Jo and I tried to order our food for a home delivery with ASDA and they genuinely offered us the third week in January as our delivery date!
I struggled to find an image I liked but finally remembered seeing this beautiful young lady over at the Kenny K site (and I have since been told they do a non-Christmas version too!). I have never gone for the traditional red/green for my xmas cards and I think blue is a lovely colour as it fits the temperature of the season rather than the temperament. The backing papers were free with a craft magazine and were meant for the "Me to You" characters but I thought they worked really well in setting the scene. All the dies were Memory Box and the title is made from some of my lovely Sizzix alpha's, finally I added sparkle with tiny gems and pearls. Hope you like it as much as I do and I will definately see you again next week.
Hugs 'n Stuff,
Andy
x
Entered Into: Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Challenge #35 - Punches or Die Cuts
Just Keep On Creating Challenge #1 - Anything Goes
Freshly Brewed Challenge #92 - Funny/Humorous
Moving Along With The Times Challenge - Merry Christmas
Shelley's Images Challenge - Show Us What You've Got
The Emerald Faeries Challenge #22 - Dazzle It
One Stitch At A Time Challenge #110 - Anything Goes
Paper Sundaes Challenge #117 - Let's Get Cute
Lexi's Creations Challenge #63 - Use Your Punches and Dies
Love To Create Challenge #12 - Anything Goes