Royal Relationships

I love love. It is a fact. Everyone in the world is obviously aware of THE wedding that is about to happen on Friday to the one and only Prince William and Kate Middleton. I never thought too much of it, but ever since that Lifetime movie about them, William & Kate, I cannot get enough of it all!

Seeing them in the magazines and on the Internet is one thing, but seeing their life on that movie made me see them in a whole new light. I never put their relationship under a microscope. I knew that they had broken up and gotten back together a few times, but I never knew why. I did not care too much about them. Honestly, I think Prince Harry is the cute one.

The movie really takes the viewers in to see the "real" reasons for everything. Of course, I am not sure how accurate everything is, but I am just believing as I see it. I like that they started out as friends. I think that is a good start and means that they will last. In the movie, the actors had a lot of chemistry, so I like to think that it is the same way in real life.

The actors in the movie did not look exactly like the real thing obviously, but I really thought the actor for Prince William is more good-looking than royalty. He gets my vote! This movie definitely shows that Prince William is a guy like all others - except he gets to live a much more fabulous lifestyle. At parts of the movie, I just get so mad at Prince William. My favorite quality about Kate Middleton from the movie, and hopefully real life, is that she is a very strong and independent woman. Just because she is dating a prince does not let her depend on him for everything. She lives her own life. I think that is inspiring.

My favorite part about this movie is that the two characters met in Scotland at school. For anyone that knows me, you will know why I am obsessed with that fact. It is a magical place.

So the movie all in all is FABULOUS!!! Honestly, I was sitting in my bed smiling like a really happy person for basically the entire movie. I liked seeing how normal they really are and how they face situations just like everyone else. And quite honestly, ever since someone told me I look like Kate Middleton last week, I see myself as her in the movie.

I am quite excited about the wedding on Friday, and I wish them nothing but happiness!

photo credit: blog.zap2it.com

Dobby Deserves a Trophy

The time has come! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is now out on DVD! I have already watched it numerous times even though its only been out one week. So this is going to be my little mini-review of it.

I got the special 2 disc edition of the DVD and that is available exclusively at Wal-Mart. I do not have a Blu-Ray player, otherwise, I would have gotten that one. Anyway, on the special features disc, it has got some good stuff!

Additional scenes are always my favorite thing! There were some that I agreed did not need to go into the movie, but there were two that I really wished were in the movie. One explains how Voldemort's name is a trigger to find Harry and another is a special moment between Ron and Hermione. I wish the movies played up Ron and Hermione's chemistry more, and this scene would have been perfect! But I also think that it's what sets this movie franchise apart from others. It seems that almost every movie ever made revolves around love or has love in the plot as a large part of the film. This movie focuses on other aspects and love is focused on more between family and friends.

There was also a behind the scenes look at how they made the seven Harrys. That was awesome and educating to watch. If you love movie making, you definitely need to watch this! There are also other features including off the set with a few actors and some more behind the scenes on certain scenes such as running through the forest, battling with Nagini and the frozen lake.

Honestly, this movie is amazing! Yes, it is long, but I am so glad! I am such a fan of Hogwarts that I was sad none of the characters were in uniform and the castle was MIA in this movie, but to see another side of these characters and how they are developing into young adults was awesome to see. I have grown up with these characters, so it is natural for them to take on a dangerous role.

So a few things: I am in love with Ron Weasley. I wish Dobby was my best friend.

Buy the movie! The special features really are worth those few extra bucks. And I am probably going to watch the movie again today. Actually, I definitely am! I am just so sad that there is one more now. It's only a couple months away!

photo credit: btscene.eu

Third Times a Charm

I will admit it. I took my not first, not second, but third trip to Covington, Ga., in attempts to see any cast member of The Vampire Diaries. AND... it paid off!!! I cannot even begin to explain the experience that I had. In simpliest terms - it was a good one!

It was Thursday afternoon when I discovered that filming was scheduled for the Season 2 finale that day and the following day. Since I do not live in or near Covington, it was a waste to try and go on that day. I made plans to go the next day. A Friday. I knew the time schedule from my cousin and the Internet. I got there when they were scheduled to start, but they did not start until a few hours later. And I knew it was filming until the early morning hours of the Saturday. Because of my long drive, I could only stay so long. Trust me though, I stayed long enough to get the experience in! Basically everyone there watching lives in that town or beside it, so they did not have to worry about the lateness.

The first thing I saw was the town square decorated with equipment, a large screen and Hawaiian tables. I am assuming that it is going to be a Founder's Day event, because almost every episode involves some Founder's Day event. Anyway, I then got to watch my first scene being filmed! I have never seen a television show being filmed live before. It is fascinating to me! They were filming outside of the court house, which is home to Sheriff Forbes' office, and she is played by Marguerite MacIntyre. She was the first cast member that I saw that day. I saw her enter the court house and leave several hours later. From that moment on, I knew I was going to have a great day!

In between her appearances, I also got to see Carol Lockwood, and she is played by Susan Walters. Although her outfit called for heels, she opted for some slippers when walking outside. Smart. It was just a little bit later that I saw Elena Gilbert herself, played by Nina Dobrev. She came walking up on the sidewalk out of no where! All of the on-lookers were preoccupied with watching the filming that no one noticed her walking around until she was on the set. She actually looks exactly like she does on the show. Usually, to me anyway, people look different in person. She basically has perfect hair and is gorgeous! Her outfit was very casual with converse tennis shoes. Awesome!

I saw another girl in the same clothes and realized that it was her stunt double. They gave her a wig to wear so from far away, in the dark, I had no idea who was who. I do not want to give anything away because the show is still a few episodes from the finale, but there was a bit of stunt work that we got to watch them do, but it looked to me like Nina wound up doing it all and they did not use the double. Nina even bowed to all of us fans when she was over because we were all clapping. She is really a fun girl. I am bad at associating people with their characters, and Elena is sort of un-fun sometimes, but Nina is as energetic as the bunny! She was skipping around on set instead of walking and having a good time. I got to see her a ton throughout the day.

It was when the white van pulled by us on-lookers that the set went from "Quiet. Rolling" to "Ahhhhhhh!!!!!" Ian Somerhalder had just arrived. He was a good sport and was waving to all of us (and there were a few hundred of us fans at one point). He was joking around with us telling us to be quiet because they were trying to film, but he took some pictures with little kids who were allowed to approach him. I wish I was a "privlidged fan." I guess those fans knew the right people. He was so sweet with them giving them hugs. And honestly, I could have sworn that we made eye contact for a few seconds. Maybe that was because I am three feet taller than all of the little girls that were around me. Yep, I am that girl. He really is flawless. Well, I wish he was taller. There, I said it. His one flaw. But he really is gorgeous!! And he was dressed in all black. Typical Damon. Cough cough, Team Damon, cough cough.

As the day was turning into night/early morning, I saw several extras come and film with them. When they film scenes, they have to do it several times in a row. It is amazing how two minutes on screen takes about two hours to film. Oh, and one of my favorite parts of the night... Ian Somerhalder waved at me specifically! Seriously! The crew and security was having to move all of the fans to a new spot and no one was paying attention. Ian stepped out of his tent and at this point, it was pitch black and he was in all black, but I saw him. Thank you to my eyes and my ability to see in the dark! I was in front of everyone, so I took that opportunity to wave (probably a little bit more enthusiastically than I intended) and he waved back and smiled. It was a good wave, too. Not a puny little wrist turn. I turned around to see if anyone was watching or waving, and no one was! Yay me! I mostly stuck with some new friends that I met that day for the whole day and one of the girls saw the wave and then joined in also. So thank you Ian! We interpreted that wave as a whole lot more than what it actually was. We serve as each other's wave witnesses!

There are several details that I want to share, but I do not want to spoil anything for anybody that watches the show. My camera did not take the best of pictures either. We could not have our flashes on, so I knew that my camera had no hope. But I will always have this memory in my mind. I cannot wait to see the finale play and recognize which scenes I was there to witness. I am so happy that my third try worked!