Movie Moment: Dark Shadows

I don't like movies that are bloody.  Not even when the blood is cartoonish.  So why, then, did I go to see the big-screen version of the 1970s-era vampire soap opera Dark Shadows, in dazzling IMAX no less?  For the sake of a family outing, the magic of movies, and, of course, Mr. Johnny Depp.

Because it isn't really my kind of movie and because I never saw the original series, I won't tread too heavily upon Tim Burton's hallowed territory except to say that it wasn't as off-the-wall, anachronistically funny as the commercials promised.  More soap opera than spoof (and really, given its origins, who could blame it?), the film did provide some stunning visuals, giving me ample opportunity to do what I do best when confronted with something unpleasant - daydream about clothes and makeup.  Groovily gothic dresses, capelet-topped coats, and heavily beaded jewelry were set off by alternately neon and pastel eyelids paired with frosty pink lips, and in the case of villain Angie (Eva Green), smoky eyes and bold red lips.  (So inspired was I by this gimmicky glamour that I wore lime green eyeshadow for two days afterward.)  Similarly, I was charmed by Michelle Pfeiffer's character's secret passageway-style macrame storage room.  What should have been a gloomy, gory cavern turned out to be a rainbow-inundated hideaway of handmade goodness - truly, a detail any crafter would appreciate :)

Movie Moment: New Year's Eve

Like Valentine's Day, Garry Marshall's other holiday-themed, star-studded extravaganza, New Year's Eve features eight intersecting vignettes about people searching for hope, and yes, in most cases, love. 

Here's the rundown.  (I'm not going to bother using character names; when a movie has as many celebrities as this one, they become sort of superfluous.)  Josh Duhamel is hoping to meet the "extraordinary" woman he met last New Year's Eve by chance at a pizza place.  Michelle Pfeiffer is a bored office worker who hires bike messenger Zac Efron to make her New Year's resolutions come true.  Jessica Biel and Seth Meyers are competing with Sarah Paulson and Til Schweiger for the $25,000 awarded to the first baby born in the new year.  Hilary Swank is orchestrating the Times Square ball drop and encounters technical difficulties that can be solved by only eccentric electrician Hector Elizondo.  Sarah Jessica Parker is a single mom trying to prevent her teenage daughter, Abigail Breslin, from spending midnight in Times Square with a boy.  Wise guy Ashton Kutcher and perky Lea Michele get stuck in an elevator.  High-profile caterer Katherine Heigl, whose sous chef is Sophia Vergara, has her heart broken by rock star Jon Bon Jovi (who, oddly, does not quite play himself).  Robert De Niro is dying in a hospital, and Halle Berry is his nurse.  All of this drama is sprinkled by wise words from Ludacris, who plays a cop and, ostensibly, Hilary Swank's work husband.

Although the plot (or, rather, plots) moved a little slowly at first, New Year's Eve is ultimately fun and frothy, spiked with the kind of gentle twists that you (okay, I) loved in Valentine's Day.  High points included commentary on Sarah Jessica Parker's shoes, Seth Myers's comic timing, Sofia Vergara's silliness, and an appearance by recent "Project Accessory" contestant Shea Curry.  Oh, and the Christmas decorations backlit by the glitz of Times Square.  As always, the flashier the better.