Shrek 2 & All That Glitters Kissing on a Frog

So sorry about the unexpected hiatus, ladies. The last few weeks have been a little rough on me, but hopefully things are looking up and we can continue with our reviews of the Shrek series. Shrek 2 is by far my favorite of the Shrek movies. In it, Shrek and Fiona are just settling into married life when they are summoned to the Kingdom of Far Far Away to receive her parents’ blessing. Unfortunately for King Harold (John Cleese) and Queen Lilian (Julie Andrews), they weren’t expecting their daughter to marry a big green ogre and permanently become an ogre herself. Also less than pleased is Fiona’s Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders), who had big plans to marry Fiona off to her own son, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett). Adding to his odd assortment of groupies, Shrek befriends a swashbuckling kitty named Puss (Antonio Banderas), much to Donkey’s (Eddie Murphy) annoyance.

The voice cast is first rate (I’m particularly fond of Ms. Saunders and Mr. Everett as the baddies) and the story is vastly entertaining (and maybe a bit more believable than the story of the first movie). Hopefully I’m not spoiling anything when I mention how much I enjoy Shrek as a human. Stroke of genius on the writer’s part! Puss in Boots is also a great addition, I just find it a bit odd that he is bent on murdering Shrek one moment, then his best buddy in the whole world the next. A little convenient, right? Another great thing about this movie (and the Shrek movies in general) is the soundtrack. A fantastic listen.

This is 3 coats of All That Glitters Kissing on a Frog, a polish inspired by Disney’s Princess and the Frog, but I felt that it would work here (considering the ending) and I don’t regret choosing it for a moment. In fact, I pretty much LOVE this nail polish. It’s a shimmery gold/green base with a variety of different sized hex glitters in greens and periwinkle. The application was smooth and lovely and the glitter simply beautiful! My only quibbles are the sheerness of the base and the slight bending of the metallic glitters. Maybe that’s inevitable with metallic glitters, though. Although this polish is no longer available, All That Glitters has many other amazing polishes at their etsy shop here. ~K

Best of 2012

So, 2012 was really the year of action movies.  I love chick flicks, but there weren’t many worth mentioning this year (maybe Salmon Fishing in the Yemen or One For the Money, but they didn’t make it into my top ten).  Here’s my top ten list, which are in no particular order (and bear in mind that there are many movies from this year I haven’t seen yet):

The Avengers-Robert Downey Jr + Chris Evans + Joss Whedon + Mark Ruffalo + Chris Hemsworth = Total and complete awesomeness!

The Dark Knight Rises-This movie blew my mind.  Anne Hathaway was amazing.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey-I love Martin Freeman.  I can’t wait for some Benedict Cumberbatch and Lee Pace in the next ones.

Les Miserables-I love music and I love Hugh Jackman.  I was kind of blown away by the singing and acting in this movie.  I anticipated being disappointed, but I wasn’t.

Brave-I have been told I am Merida, but that’s mostly just for my crazy, curly red hair.

Wreck-It Ralph-I thought I would hate this movie, but it just wasn’t to be.  Loved it!

Pitch Perfect-With a little less puking and a little less sex-talk, this movie would have been just about perfect.  Like I said, I love music.

The Hunger Games-I’m so glad they downplayed the violence.  Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson were great.

People Like Us-I know that this wasn’t a super popular movie, but I quite enjoyed it.  Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks were completely believable as siblings.

The Life of Pi-This movie was amazing.  I don’t know if I will ever watch it again because it took such an emotional toll on me.  I mean, a girl can only cry so much.

Honorable Mentions:

John Carter

Skyfall

Mirror Mirror

Rise of the Guardians

Trouble with the Curve

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

E’s Favorite Varnishes

(These are not necessarily polishes that came out this year, just ones that were reviewed by us this year)

Sephora + Pantone Rose Dawn (Sleeping Beauty)

All That Glitters Book Smart Beauty (Beauty and the Beast)

Zoya Anthea (Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan)

Duri Unexpected Kiss (Flipped)

OPI Mermaid’s Tears (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)

Butter London Lady Muck (The Princess Bride)

Sephora by OPI Who Let the Dorks Out (Sydney White)

OPI Ocean Love Potion (Ponyo)

OPI Skull and Glossbones (Peter Pan)

OPI Out of This World (John Carter)

K’s Favorite Varnishes

Butter London Victoriana (The Young Victoria)

Color Club Gift of Sparkle (Ramona and Beezus)

Zoya Blaze

a-england Princess Tears (Tangled)

Sephora + Pantone Universe Purple Parachute

Revlon Whimsical (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium)

Cirque Dark Horse (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad)

Pretty Serious Creature Crush

Hare Polish The Monster (Monsters Inc.)

Barielle Falling Star (Stardust)

Beauty and the Beast & All That Glitters Book Smart Beauty

If Hercules is my favorite animated Disney movie, than Beauty and the Beast would probably have to be my second favorite.   There have been some really terrific Disney movies released in recent years, including The Princess and the Frog and Tangled, but I still just love Belle, the Beast, and all of their crazy, should be inanimate but are not, friends.

There’s a reason this was the first animated movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award (and the only one when the category was limited to five films).  It’s a timeless tale with unforgettable characters and the animation is just beautiful.  I am still in awe of the ballroom scene, with Belle and the Beast whirling and twirling around the room.

Belle is a bookish beauty, who has gained the attention of the town superstar, Gaston.  Too bad for him that she is interested in more than just a handsome husband.  When her father gets lost in the woods, she goes out to find him and gets entangled in a magical world where the head of the household is a clock, the housekeeper is a teapot, and the valet is a candelabra.  The master of the house is a bitter beast, transformed as a young man because of his selfishness.  Over the years, he became even more selfish and unpleasant.

In exchange for her father’s freedom, Belle agrees to stay at the castle.  Everyone hopes she and the Beast will fall in love, which will break the spell.  Unfortunately, Belle can be just as stubborn as the Beast.  Eventually, they come to friendly terms, but can Belle really fall in love with a Beast?  And what will Gaston have to say about it?  I’m thinking you can all guess the answers, but the ride is pretty fun, even if it is totally predictable.

Like I said, Belle’s true passion is books, so All That Glitters’ Book Smart Beauty is a lovely fit.  In addition, it is a lovely polish.  It is a shimmery, pinkish-orange polish with pink and shiny gold glitter.  This picture is three coats, with two layers of top coat, just to even everything out.  Although this polish is very shiny, it was surprisingly subtle.

If you think Belle is a beauty, you should give Book Smart Beauty a try! ~E

All That Glitters nail polishes are available here.