Mashed Thoughts

In France 1977, Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve) is the stay-at-home trophy wife of a rich man Robert Pujol (Fabrice Luchini) who runs the family umbrella factory with a tyrannical iron fist. When the workers, who are fed up their poor working conditions strike, he tries to deal with them with force only to be taken hostage. Suzanne enlists the help of former lover and communist mayor Maurice Babin (Gérard Dépardieu) and negotiates a truce. The stress causes Robert to hospitalized and with her husband indisposed, Suzanne is forced to manage the factory herself. To the surprise of everyone, she proves that she is a very capable woman and gets the factory up and running with better work conditions and even improving sales with the help of her artistic son and disbelieving daughter. However, the situation gets complicated when Robert comes back wanting to take over the factory again but now that Suzanne has been in control for several months, she realizes she is no longer content to live her life as a just a trophy wife!

Potiche, meaning trophy wife, is a French movie with English subtitles dealing with the subject of the women emancipation movement in the late 1970s. I really enjoyed the film! It was very funny and light even with such a serious topic. A lot of the jokes were about how the characters were so flippant about adultery though. The film even started with a pair of rabbits humping each other! Deneuve's character was so likable and she gave a great performance as the submissive trophy wife who left the shelf to pursue her independence. All the other actors did an amazing job as well. Funny and entertaining, this film is sure to delight audiences.

There's a giant box of cereal in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and today it was opened and we found out that 2012 Honda Civic was the prize inside! I think it's super cool advertisement strategy. Nothing gets attention better than super sized 20 foot tall cereal box that's for sure! It will still be there tomorrow so if you are interested in seeing it, the cereal box is on the Georgia Street side of the art gallery. You can't miss it.

The days leading to prom is an exciting experience for a highschooler's life while for others, it is extremely stressful. For Nova Prescott (Aimee Teegarden), it is both. As class president and organizer for the graduating class' prom night, she has worked overtime to plan the perfect evening only to have her dream go up in flames when a fire destroys all the decorations only three weeks before the big night. With all her friends now busy with their schoolwork, the principal assigns school rebel, Jesse Richter (Thomas McDonell), to help her rebuilt from scratch. At first the two despised each other and found every opportunity to clash heads but as the weeks pass, they eventually come to understand each other. Meanwhile, other classmates are desperately trying to find prom dates, dealing with betrayal and change. Friendships and close relationships will be tested before all converging on that one special night.

This film is told in the typical Disney-style with the good guys getting the girl and the bad guys getting burned and everyone except the bad guy gets a happy ending. How realistic is it though? The movie makes it seem that prom is the most important night of your life and everyone, with the exception of a few, seem too excited about it. However, the film does teach some important lessons: don't judge a book by its cover and stop waiting for life to happen, make the change yourself! Prom is a nice light movie that pre-teens and teens will enjoy, no matter how unrealistic the story seems.

Prom opens in theatres tomorrow, Friday April 29, 2011.

Like cars? Money? Badass women? A blatant disregard for public and private property? The newest addition to the Fast and the Furious series from Universal Pictures has it all. The film continues where the fourth movie left off with former cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) making a daring assault on a bus that is transporting Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) to prison. The three manage to escape and make their way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The group get into hot situation when a car heist from a moving train goes awry when their Brazilian partners betrays them, leaving three DEA agents who were guarding the cars dead. As a result, the group find themselves hunted on two fronts by federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and a corrupt businessman Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), to whom the cars belongs. Now Dom and the gang must pull one last impossible job and steal 100 million dollars from Reyes, in a bold attempt to gain their freedom once and for all.

This latest Fast and Furious installment mixes it up by adding an Oceans Eleven type of mission to list of car heists. Planning to breaking into an impenetrable fortress with a team of experts? You have to admit there are similarities. Each character was given a "life before this" so that they had the expertise handy to put the heist off. Convenient. There weren't many races except for one in police cars but there are high speed car chases and the last one is particularly exciting! That scene alone must have cost millions considering all the damage done to everything. I really enjoyed the movie; the plot was fast-paced and visually amazing with exciting over-the-top action sequences and of course the good guys win in the end. Plus now you will know who will win in a fist fight between the Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel! LOL

Make sure you sit through the credits because a familiar face will turn up afterwards. Fans can look forward to a sixth installment coming in the future...

Fast Five is in theatres and IMAX this Friday, April 29, 2011. Go see it!

Textuality is about how texting has changed the way we handle our relationships. The film starts with a flashback history of a guy named Breslin (Jason Lewis). A series of short clips and pictures shows how a disastrous breakup his fiancee lead to his current situation - juggling a roster lackluster relationships with three different women which he manages through BBM and Skype. His outlook on life changes when he accidentally hits Simone (Carly Pope) with his car. Unbeknownst to Breslin, Simone also has a roster of three men while an affair with a married man who is promising to leave his wife for her. Both try to get out of their multiple relationships and try to get together with each other. Things take a turn for the worst when all the women in Breslin's life, including Simone, find out about his other relationships, one of which turns out to be Simone's art teacher!

The movie was ok. Funny at times but I couldn't relate to the characters very much. At least it was a happy ending. The film puts an emphasis on the one-to-one relationships instead of the texting and online relationships that is all too prevalent in today's society. And rightly so! I am guilty of living my life online as well. Hahaha. We were the only ones in the theatre yesterday night...but to be fair there was a tense Canucks game going on.

Thank you @VIAGiveaways for the tickets!

Textuality is in theatres now.

I was searching around for portal stuff last night and came across this awesome Portal hoodie made by ThinkGeek! I WANT IT. Too bad it's $59.99! I can't justify spending as much as the game for it. I'll just drool over these pictures. On the other hand, Valve's online store is selling the Test Candidate T-shirt for only $17.99 as well as other Portal 2 mechandise. I still like the hoodie better.

Now I'm also obsessed with the new Portal2 credits song "Want You Gone"! Don't watch if you don't like spoilers!

Unfortunately I have to work this long weekend so it's actually a short weekend. T_T But it's such a nice day I couldn't resist going outside and looking at the flowers. So pretty! Those yellow ones are the Dasystemon Tarda Tulips not the white ones I was talking about last time. Magnolia flowers are blooming!

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As you might already know I'm currently obsessed with the song "Still Alive" from the game Portal. It's playing repeat while I'm working and at home. In fact I'm listening to it now! Here it is for those who don't know what I'm talking about:

Now I found out a couple of days ago that Portal 2 was coming out! It was released yesterday! Hurray! More GlaDOS! As I haven't played the original Portal yet, I just purchased The Orange Box which has the original in it. I can't wait to play it. Maybe this will motivate me to set up my XBox finally.

Filmed in the vast and beautiful Masai Mara reserve in Kenya, Disney's African Cats follows two mothers, a lion and a cheetah, as they struggle to raise their cubs in an unforgiving world full of dangers. The film focuses on a lioness Layla and her cub Mara as well as Sita, a mother cheetah, who is raising five newborn cubs. Samuel L. Jackson narrates this touching story of the ups and downs of life in the savanna as the mothers and their offspring experience courage, love, loss and dangers that threaten their very existence.

This is the third feature film by Disneynature, which previously brought us Earth and Oceans; it is a nature documentary but tells it as sweet story about the power of a mother's love. The film offers stunning cinematic and sweeping panoramic shots as well as close shots that let you experience the life in the lions' pride and the cheetah family up close and personal. Breathtaking is short of describing the beautiful and majestic kings of the savanna. An awesome soundtrack accompanies the film which enhances the deep emotions that the dramatic story will trigger. The script is works but gets cheesy at times; it targets children who will no doubt appreciate the simplicity of the narration and the lesson it teaches: there is nothing more powerful than a mother's love.

African Cats opens in theatres on Earth Day, this Friday April 22, 2011. You can also help save the Savanna by pledging to see the film. For every ticket purchased during opening week, Disneynature will make a donation to the African Wildlife Foundation. Make your pledge here!

I took the family out to see Cavalia yesterday and I really enjoyed it!. Currently located at the Olympic Village, Cavalia is an extravagant show that explores the relationship between humans and horses. It features acrobats, dancers, riders, 49 horses as well as musicians and a vocalist. It is hard to pick a favourite moment in the show but if I had to choose, the segment that I loved the most is where two girls fly over riders on two beautiful white horses. The flying acrobat is suppose to embody the spirit of the horse and they did it very successfully; they are so graceful. I also enjoyed the roman riding and fast paced segment where the riders do tricks while riding galloping horses. Awesome.

Cavalia has extended their stay in Vancouver to May 1st so there's still time to go! It doesn't matter if you are a horse lover or not, you will really enjoy it and be amazed at how connected these beautiful animals are with their trainers.

I had the amazing opportunity to go see Video Games Live at the Vancouver Centre of Performing Arts tonight courtesy of Futureshop. VGL is an awesome concert performed by a live orchestra and choir and featuring music from popular video games. Every night is different as they have many songs to chose from a vast collection of games. Tonight they started off with mashup of old classic games including Pong, Space Invaders, Frogger, Duck Hunt, Street Fighter II and Tetris then moved to more modern games including songs from Final Fantasy, Halo: Reach, Castlevania, Silent Hill 2, Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, God of War, World of Warcraft, Uncharted 2, Chronos Trigger and a bunch of others.

Performances featured Tommy Tallarico, the creator of VGL, who was playing guitar, flutist and vocalist Laura Intravia and piano soloist Martin Leung. Intravia's first appearance on stage involved opera version of Tetris! Who ever thought Tetris could sound so opera-like! "Flute Link" also made an appearance with Intravia playing a solo from Legend of Zelda dressed as Link with Ciela on her shoulder that she arranged herself! It was very amusing to watch as Ciela had her own "flute" and kept interrupting Intravia and the whole piece was basically a flute playing war between them. Martin Leung played the theme from Super Mario Brothers and blindfolded at that! His fingers just fly across the keys; it is very mesmerizing to watch. I am really amazed at all the talented people that performed tonight. In fact both Intravia and Leung were recruited because Tallarico saw them playing on Youtube! I guess it is a breeding ground for stars! It's also the conductor, Emmanuel Fratianni's first time in Canada. If you look at the photos I took you will see that his conductor stand is actually a joystick!

Throughout the performance they also gave away prizes. There was also a contest which involved two audience members playing Frogger while the orchestra played the sound reacting to what was happening on screen. A Guitar Hero contest was also held prior to the concert and the top scorer was invited on stage to play "Emotion" by Aerosmith on Guitar Hero while Tommy Tallarico played real guitar. He only needed to get 125,000 points in Hard to win a prize but he choose to play it on EXPERT and hardly missed any notes! The audience went wild cheering him on. He took home the prize of a Kinect for XBox360 courtesy of Futureshop! Some lucky person walked away with a PS3 AND PSP courtesy of Sony from a random draw! I'm so jealous!

After the show, they held a meet and greet with Tallarico, Intravia, Leung, Fratianni and Chris Mair (?) and I got to meet them and get their autographs. Unfortunately Flute Link accidentally smudged her signature. ='(

Anyways I had an awesome time and will definitely go again next year! My favourite part must have been when they sang "Still Alive" (from Portal). (Oh my gosh! I found it on iTunes!) The lyrics are so funny and the images that accompanied the song in the background were hilarious! I wish I had taken a clip it. Here's one I found on Youtube:

Video Games Live is only in Vancouver for one more night, April 14th, so get your tickets now! And in honour of the Canucks win tonight they released the discount code: CANUCKS for 50% off any balcony seat ticket! Don't miss this opportunity to see them! Any one who enjoys music should go see Video Games Live, gamers and non-gamers alike!

More flowers this week! Small tulips, more daffoldils and some other flowers I don't remember the names of. And my Magnolia is starting to show it's colours!

I really want to buy a macro lens so that I can take super up close photos of my flowers!

I won some passes to this movie showing this week and went to go see it this morning. There weren't many people in the theatre; those who came were mostly parents with their young kids. I think more people went to the theatre to watch some kind of opera show instead of this showing. However this is to be expected of these types of movies.

Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure is an upcoming direct to DVD movie spin-off from High School Musical starring Ashley Tisdale. The film follows Sharpay Evans, a spoiled rich heiress, after she has graduated high school and looking to get her big break on Broadway. After seeing Sharpay performing a song and dance number at her country club with her dog Boi, Jerry Taylor, a famous producer, was impressed and told her that he was looking to cast a Broadway musical in New York City. Her father lets her go on one condition: either she makes it in one month or she has to come back home and work for her parents. At first Sharpay thinks that she has her rise to stardom all planned out but when she arrives in New York she gets kicked out of her penthouse and discovers that Jerry was only interested in casting her dog for the part in the show! Forced to take the help of the son of a family friend, Peyton, she moves into a studio apartment and plans to use her dog as a stepping stone to get to her fame. Sharpay goes head to head with a very competitive Roger Elliston who also wants his dog, Countess, to star in the show. Desperate, Sharpay becomes assistant to her idol and star of the show, Amber Lee Adams only to discover she is not the kind of person Sharpay thinks she is. With time running out and her spirit broken, Sharpay will have to act like the star she is again to get to make her dreams come true.

This movie was fun movie with a light plot filled with glitz and glamour. Sharpay is absolutely clueless and there were many funny moments revolving around this fact. It was kind of hard to feel sympathetic toward Sharpay since she is so rich and had everything handed to her on a golden platter all her life. There were a few musical numbers, which were catchy and in the lines of High School Musical. Justin Bieber song, Baby was even included in the movie, though it was played during the side love story between the dogs, Boi and Countess. Kids will definitely enjoy this movie.

Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure comes out on DVD and Blu-ray combo pack on April 19, 2011.

The official UBC LipDub is now live on Youtube! Watch and share! Pacific Blue Cross is donating a penny for every view to Make a Wish Foundation!

I had a lot of fun participating in this but my screen time is limited to 2 seconds. Hahaha. You can see me starting at frame 2:14.

There is also an official launch party tonight at Robson Square starting at 8pm which will include live bands from 30:Live Entertainment Group. Marianas Trench is rumored to be at the party as well. Come out and join us! Winning! LOL

Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is a girl who lives in the wintery forests of Finland with her father, Erik Heller (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA agent, who trained her to be a perfect soldier - strong, quick, fearless and deadly with or without firearms. All her training is to prepare her for one sole mission: kill Marisa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), a ruthless intelligence operative, who will stop at nothing until Hanna and Erik are dead. A flip of switch calls Wiegler to them; however, unbeknownst to Hanna, she kills an imposter posing as Wiegler. As Hanna journeys across Europe to meet up with Erik, and with Wiegler and her operatives closing in, she uncovers secrets about her existence that lead her to question her own humanity which no amount of training could ever prepare her for.

Hanna is an intense movie with a lot of action but also has its tender moments. I was, however, slightly disappointed at what I thought would be a twist ending but instead the movie ended very predictably.
Cate Blanchett was brilliant as usual but her southern accent atrocious and tended to phase in and out. Her character needed more work as Wiegler was very one-dimensional; she wanted nothing more than the deaths of Hanna and Erik but you never really find out why. You get bits and pieces of the puzzle through flashbacks but never a clear motive. I find it hard to believe that it was only because of her job that drove Wiegler so hard to exterminate Erik and Hanna; she must have some personal grudge or secret that causes that kind of desperate dedication.

Saoirse Ronan also did a wonderful job as Hanna. She is so wonderfully innocent with a childlike fascination to everything. There are only a few moments in the movie that Hanna could be a child she is and these should be cherished as the pace picks up again very quickly. The score, by The Chemical Brothers, however funky, seemed to beautifully fit the movie. It reflects both Hanna's innocence and her deadly abilities. Nothing seems to be able to stop Hanna and Ronan does an amazing job with all the fight sequences - they were all believable and real.

Overall Hanna is a very enjoyable, interesting and beautifully shot movie but could have used much more character development and clearer motives. It is a good movie but could have been amazing. Still, I would recommend seeing it in theatres.

Hanna opens in theatres tomorrow, Friday April 8th, 2011.

Always living in the shadow of his quest-loving older brother Fabious (James Franco), lazy Prince Thadeous (Danny McBride) settled to just smoke weed and getting in trouble with the women of the neighbouring dwarven kingdom. But when evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux) kidnaps Fabious' bride, Belladonna on their wedding day, his father gives him a choice - either aid Fabious on his quest to rescue his bride or be banished from the kingdom. As the brothers venture out to prevent an ancient prophecy from being fulfilled, they face betrayal from their own knights, danger and adventure which brings them to join forces with the fearless warrior Isabel (Natalie Portman), who has secret agenda of her own. When the traitorous knights return and imprison Fabious, Thadeous must step up become the hero in order to save his brother and the kingdom and win the heart of Isabel.

Your Highness is a stupidly funny movie set in medieval times. Everything is exaggerated to poke fun of damsels and knights and what they do. There is a lot of swearing and the shock of a medieval character swearing was funny the first time we hear but it just gets old after the hundredth time it is uttered. There is very little character development and almost all the jokes are made up of lowbrow humor, gay jokes and vulgar shock factors. Still it will make you laugh (or at least chuckle) and the action and special effects are not bad. You can tell the actors loved making this movie and all did a fantastic job in delivering their lines.

Your Highness is in theatres tomorrow, Friday, April 8th, 2011.

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Finally my daffodils are blooming! My garden seems to be a very late bloomer. The daffodils in Richmond were in bloom several weeks already and mine have only started end of last week! Still I love them. The first photo is, I think, suppose to be Dasystemon Tarda tulips but mine are more white then yellow! D= They are still pretty though. I find it fascinating that the flowers close up when there is no sun! Also blooming are the Grape Hyacinth. I have planted a pink variety! I made a mistake in planting though. I should have moved the daffodils and tulips a row back. They are blocking some shorter bulbs from being seen. Oh well. Live and learn!

Elsewhere in the city, several varieties of Cherry blossoms are in full bloom and so are the Magnolias! The one in my garden is a 'Betty' and it tends to bloom a little later than regular magnolias. I really can't wait! I love cherry blossoms so much. Maybe next year I should purchase a tree! The problem becomes the size of my garden though. LOL I love spring!

After afternoon tea, I joined my family at the Vancouver International Autoshow. This year's show was held at the Vancouver Convention Centre since the usual BC place is still under construction. There was a LOT of people there. Good thing I already had tickets because the line up was super long!

Nothing at the show really caught my eye except maybe the Canucks Camero and Whitecaps car! And maybe also Subaru's sexy Sumo wrestler who was taking photos with people! Hehee! The Ford Fiesta was there again and some of them had awesome looking decals put on. I love the shininess of new cars. Too bad once in the real world, there isn't anybody that will give it a wipe down every half hour. Hahah it's a small world because we bumped into the same girl that works at these types of events AGAIN and we also saw our aunt and uncle who was also there!

A Groupon-type site called Dealfind recently offered a deal for Afternoon Tea for 2 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for only $36. Deals at the Fairmont are often very popular and always sell out quickly. I'm more of a coffee drinker than a tea drinker but I do love the occasional tea. I enjoyed the smells of it mostly. So when a friend asked me to join her and some other friends, I quickly agreed.

On Saturday, we met up at 2pm to have tea. Each of us received our own personal pot of tea and I tried one called Angel Falls Mist ("a wildly, exotic strawberry and lemon character...a pinch of sugar boosts the flavor profile...makes terrific herbal tea - hot or iced!"). It is mild and has a nice fruity taste that I liked and it smells really good. Tea comes with a double-deck tray of petit sandwiches, tasty pastries, house-made scones and fresh strawberries with Devonshire cream. I liked the savory treats more than the scones and the sweet tarts and cakes. We each get two scones and we all agreed it was too much! It was a very filling afternoon snack and I had a nice time chatting and catching up with my friends.

The first ever movie about the Easter Bunny, Hop follows E.B. (Russell Brand), the teenage son of the Easter Bunny (Hugh Laurie), who ditches his duties as the next Easter Bunny and runs away to Hollywood to pursue his dream of becoming a drummer. Instead he gets accidentally run over by the out-of-work slacker Fred O'Hare (James Marsden) and then guilts him into letting him stay at the home Fred is house-sitting for his sister's boss. E.B. causes all sorts of trouble in Fred life as he tries to escape the Pink Berets, the Easter Bunny's guards who are tasked to bring E.B. back to Easter Island. Meanwhile, E.B.'s father is having some trouble of his own as Carlos, a power hungry chick, plots to take over and ruin Easter.

Hop is a cute and fun movie that kids will enjoy but can't seem to make up it's mind on whether it is suppose to be a kids' movie or a bad adult movie. There is a joking scene with reference to the Playboy mansion that I'm sure only adults will get. The Mexican accent on an Easter chick seems kind of out of place especially when the bunnies have English accents! Scenes with Carlos are intended to be funny but the jokes don't seem to fly - pardon the pun. On another note, the animation is amazing! E.B. is so realistic and blends so seamlessly into the live action that it is hard to believe that he was never there. Also E.B. is so adorable! I especially love it when he wriggles his nose! The chicks are cute too except for Carlos - he scares me.

Hop is in theatres Friday, April 1st, 2011.

...

Several things happened at the screening of Hop today. Being a kids movie, there were a ton of kids being loud and running and jumping around while we waited in line. When suddenly, this little boy pulled down his pants and to the horror of everyone, especially his parents, he relieved himself in the sidewalk! Ewwww!

When we got into the theatre, they handed out raffle tickets for a chance to win a few DVDs. They called everyone up but the last person didn't respond so they redrew and it was my number! I won The Tale of Despereaux! But that's not all...Being that the screening was sponsored by Winners and Homesense, the representatives had taped five $50 giftcards under random seats. Suddenly, the theatre was abuzz with all the children looking under all the seats. I saw a kid find one a couple of rows in front of us. After a while several woman started to look down our row and one of them asked me "Did you look under your seat?!" I had previously felt a little bit under but not completely. So I stood up and lo-and-behold a giftcard! Wow. LOL The other woman then said "That took you long enough! We can finally start the movie!" Hahahah!

Source Code revolves around Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) who wakes up in another man's body aboard a commuter train heading toward Chicago. As he tries to make sense of things, the train blows up and he awakes inside of a strange capsule. With a video screen as his only way of communicating to the outside world, he discovers that he is inside a machine called the Source Code and is part of a mission to stop the bomber from detonating another bomb within the city of Chicago. Source Code enables Colter Stevens to relive the last 8 minutes of a train passenger's life again and again, each time allowing him to gather more clues to the uncover identity of the bomber. Things get more complicated when he finds himself falling in love with one of the passengers and is determined to try and save her.

A sense of urgency is instilled in the audience right from the start with the tense and ominous music playing throughout the beginning of the movie. Source Code is an awesome movie that is reminiscent to Ground Hog Day but with better looking people and a more exciting and intelligent plot. You start paying more attention to the passengers to see if you can't figure out the identity of the bomber before Stevens. Gyllenhaal plays Stevens with such passion and emotion; it was a very captivating performance that made you feel a lot for his character. It was very fun to watch him go through what he goes through in those eight minutes of eternity. Just when you think it ends, it starts up again and this happens several times in the movie. It could have ended at any one of those points and you'd still think it's a good ending but it just keeps pushing and pushing so that just when you think you have it all figured out, you don't and leaves you with the thought that the movie may have gone on a little bit too long. The way the director, Duncan Jones, has done it, it's not too bad, it just leaves you more to think about. Source Code is a highly recommended sci-fi action-thriller that will leave you craving for more.

Souce Code comes out in theatres on Friday, April 1st. Don't miss it!

I won a run of engagement pass for this movie a few weeks back and I finally went to see it today. Hall Pass is comedy about two best friends, Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) who are getting a little restless in their many years of marriage. In attempt to fix their husbands' behaviour, their wives gives them a hall pass - a week off from marriage to do whatever they want, including sleep with other women, with no consequences. At first the men are thrilled but as the week goes on they begin to realize that single life isn't at all like they remember. With their husbands absent, the wives also find themselves tempted to engage in extramarital relations themselves.

Hall Pass is a funny movie but it also contains a lot of crude and vulgar jokes involving bodily fluids and genitalia which is also displayed in full force. The plot was ho-hum and I didn't like the side story of their wives. It seemed too rushed to be resolved properly. If you are looking for a few laughs, Hall Pass will deliver but it may also end up making you uncomfortable. If watching Rick and Fred's miserable attempts at picking up women is your kind of thing by all means go for it. If you don't have time then just watch the trailer. It basically contains almost everything in the movie minus the vulgarity.

Hall Pass is in theatres now but won't be for long!

After UBC LipDub was complete and I'd eaten my fill of pizza, I headed downtown to check out the Futureshop Nintendo 3DS launch. It was midnight launch but I didn't plan to stick around for that long. I tried the device and was pretty impressed with the 3D effect! Playing for long periods of time may make you dizzy though but thankfully Nintendo put in a slider that lets you turn off the 3D effect.

The 3DS retails at $249.99 and comes in two colours - Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black. Personally I love the Aqua Blue colour. It has 3D camera and a built in motion and gyro sensor so the device can detect motion and tilt. Be careful when around other people, you don't want to whack them in the head by accident when you are playing!

The funny thing is that I ran into some friends also trying out the system! We always seem to run into each other at these types of events. Hahaha.

LipDuuuuub? Lip Dub Who Ha Ha! That was the chant echoing on the campus of UBC on Saturday where the first ever UBC lipdub was being filmed. I was one of the thousand of people who signed up to participate. The songs that we were dubbing to was a mashup of Raise Your Glass by P!nk and Celebrity Status by Marianas Trench.

Sign in started at noon and while we waited for more people to join, we had to learn a dance for the flash mob portion of the dub. The LipDub crew managed to secure a helicopter to film the mob from above! We were given blue ponchos and filmed at the back of the Anthropology Museum. Unfortunately the ponchos made everyone very hot (and not in a good way) because we kept having to run in and jump again and again for several takes!

After the flash mob portion was done, my group went to the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre to set up. The part we were responsible for was to throw all sorts of junk down from the upper floors of the library while singing of course. You don't know how hard that is! There was a lot of confusion on when we where suppose to chuck our balloons, tissue paper, beach balls and army men. I hope they don't use the last take because that one was the most disorganized.

There were horses, dogs, bouncy houses, a trampoline, cars, a Transit bus and Josh Ramsay from Marianas Trench involved in the lipdub shoot! I even got a photo of Josh as he passed through Irving Library. It wasn't a very good one since I was on the 3rd floor looking down. I didn't see everything because we weren't allowed to leave our zone and a lot of the day was just waiting around but that's the film industry for you I guess. So a lot of what the video will look like is a mystery to me.

After that was finished, we headed toward the UBC Swimming Centre for the last shoot of the day. It was a underwater shoot which had scuba divers, divers and other random people in the pool. I don't get what the sign they hung up is suppose to mean though. Does anybody recognize it?

Shooting wrapped up at 7pm. Finally after a LONG day, the LipDub crew treated us all to much needed pizza and drinks. I had a lot of fun and I can't wait to see the finished product. The official premiere will be on April 8th!

Check out the UBC LipDub website here.

West is West is the sequel to East is East. This time the movie focuses on teenager Sajid, played by Aqib Khan, the youngest of the Khan family. Sajid is both plagued by school bullies who hates him for being half Pakistani and by his father George (Om Puri reprises his role) who's oppressing insistence in upholding Pakistani traditions is driving father and son apart. Desperate to instill at least some Pakistani values into his son, George flies Sajid to his house in rural Pakistan where the the wife and daughters he had abandoned 30 years ago resides. Not before long, Mrs Khan No. 2 follows them in attempt to sort out the mess George has made with his family.

I found the movie very funny. There were many jokes that played on the culture clash and greatly enjoyed watching it. Aqib brilliantly played Sajid, the brooding teenager who eventually opens up to some of the lessons this trip has taught him. The side story about Sajid's brother Maneer and how Sajid tries to help him in finding a wife was hilarious! Overall this is a feelgood coming-of-age movie with comedy, romance, tenderness, that I very much enjoyed.

West is West is playing in select theatres now.

A young girl who has lost her family is institutionalized by her evil stepfather and set to be lomotomized in five days time. To cope with her desperate situation, she imagines a whole alternate reality where she is in control of her destiny. The girl known as Baby Doll (Emily Browning) enlists the help of four other inmates - Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung) - to help her plan an escape from the hospital. The lines of reality and fantasy blur as the she and the girls gather the five items that they need to escape their prison.

Even though the movie screening was at 10pm, there was still quite a number of people who showed up. Even some of the costume designers were at the screening! I have to say WOW! It was a very interesting movie and it exceeded my expectations. It was way better than Watch Man which was also directed by Zach Snyder. The film was really surreal and had everything from evil Samurai warriors, Nazi zombies, dragons to robots. I LOVED the dragon. The special effects are stunning in this film. Everything was fast paced and you really get the sense of the desperation present in these girls. I think it will make a great video game with all the action! In Baby Doll's imagination, the mental hospital is a brothel and the costumes are very cool. All the racy dances the girls had to perform were cleverly overlapped by the missions that Baby Doll imagined them going on. The story could have been a little stronger; there are some minor loose ends that leave you unsatisfied and asking questions but overall I liked the film and was very impressed by the visuals.

Remember to stick around during the credits. According to the costume designers, that song and dance number costed a pretty million to make. Oh and get ready for the twist in the ending because you never see it coming.

If you want to see more of the costumes featured in Sucker Punch, and you are in Vancouver tonight, there is a Sucker Punch Ball being hosted at the Rio Theatre at 10pm followed by a midnight screening of the film. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 on the night-of the event at Rio Theatre. Should be a fun evening!

Sucker Punch opens in theatres Friday, March 25, 2011.

I went to Metrotown today because I heard on the Beat 94.3 that they were giving away two BlackBerrys. Little did I know that there was actually a Elise Estrada Concert going on! The mall was so crowded; on every level there were people looking down onto the stage. I managed to squeeze in between two people on the third floor. Good thing I had brought my camera along!

Times Telecom was the sponsor who flew Elise down from LA. The Beat and Times Telecom held draws and played games for the BlackBerrys. The first girl managed to score cash, accessories AND a BlackBerry Torch! The second guy wasn't so lucky but he did manage to take home at least 40 dollars in cash. There was also a contest for a $10,000 shopping spree with Elise in LA! I wasn't so lucky but it was a nice concert and I recognized a few songs of hers from the radio. I like the song "Your Love is Like Poison" the most.

Virgin Radio is currently hosting a contest called "Pop Shop and Drop" where the winner will be flown to see a concert, given $5000 cash to spend and then spend the rest the trip in another location. Last week was to go Pop with Rihanna in London, Shop in Paris and Drop in Barcelona, Spain. I had given up on calling because I never seem to be able to get through but on Friday, on the last chance at 5:00pm when I heard the cue to call I thought what the hey, I'll give it a try. The first time I tried it didn't work but I decided to try again and miraculously I GOT THROUGH! It kept ringing and ringing and finally I heard a sort of automated voice which said "If you are calling to enter Pop Shop & Drop please press 1". So I did. Then the voice said "If you like Rihanna, please yell yes". I paused because I was still in the office at work...So I quietly said yes. But the voice repeated her instructions! So I said yes a little louder and by this time I was heading towards the door. Again the voice repeated the instructions. Now I was getting annoyed at what I thought was the phone so I loudly said yes!. (My co-workers probably think I'm crazy because this isn't the first time I've repeated a word several times loudly into my phone. >_<) This time I hear Tara Jean laughing and then Kiah laughing and saying that Tara Jean sounded very automated.

Hahah I never got through before so I didn't know what to expect. I played right into Tara Jean's hands! But then I was really nervous and didn't know what to say so I sounded so stupid - very monotone and not very excited. Doh! I got my chance on the radio and I blew it! I'm going to have to try again next week hahahha. I really can't believe I got through! I'm on the stand by list for the contest! I'll know next Friday morning if I won or not. I have my fingers crossed! Wish me luck!

Eeee! I can't believe I talked to Tara Jean! And Kiah. So happy.

I had a tough choice this week. I had the option to go to three screenings yesterday: The Lincoln Lawyer, Limitless and Paul. I opted to go for a comedy though I'm sure I will catch the other two in theatres later.

Paul follows two British comic book geeks, Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost), who are visiting the US to attend Comic-Con, a large comic book and popular arts convention. Being huge sci-fi fans, they planned a road trip to go to see all the famous UFO sites across the America. While outside Area 51, they accidentally meet Paul (Seth Rogen), an alien on the run who was held captive there by the government for the last 60 years. When the government decides that Paul had outlived his usefulness, Paul launched an escape. Being a matter of life and death, Graeme and Clive take the rude, wise-cracking little alien aboard their rented RV. Now they are being chased by government agents and also the fanatic father of Ruth (Kisten Wiig), a young woman whom the two had to kidnap to prevent her from telling the authorities about Paul. Graeme and Clive are in for the road trip of their life as they take Paul to rendezvous with his mother ship.

On the one hand, this movie is funny and entertaining to watch. Pegg, Frost and Rogen are an amazing trio who gives the audience a lot of laughs and Wiig delivers all her lines in a spectacularly funny way. There are also many popular sci-fi references littered throughout the movie. Sci-fi and movie buffs will get a kick out of those.

On the other hand, this R-rated movie is full of swearing (I lost count of the number of times the word f*ck was used), lowbrow humour and attacks on Christianity. I cringed at all the sexual parts that were mentioned just for fun in this movie but the other people at the screening seemed love it. There is a scene where there is a small debate on God and evolution. Christians may not like it, it was very controversial and there are other jokes made at the expense of Christians. But if you can keep an open mind, as many will, the scenes are rather funny.

Overall I liked the story, it was hilarious, the animation is very realistic and I suppose that for being R-rated it is rather tame...Just don't bring your parents to see it.

Paul opens in theatres Friday, March 18, 2011.

Down on luck attorney Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is on the verge of losing his practice because of money problems. Without thinking Mike convinces a judge to let him be the guardian of Leo, one of his clients, who is declared legally incapacitated to obtain an extra $1500 monthly paycheck. However, instead of letting Leo stay at home where he told the judge he would be, Mike drops him off at a care home. Unfortunately things don't always go to plan especially when people are involved. Leo's grandson Kyle (Alex Shaffer) suddenly drops in Mike's life when he runs away from his addict mother and her abusive boyfriend. Mike discovers that Kyle is a great wrestler and Mike puts him on the sorry high school team that he coaches. All is going well - Mike is getting the extra money he needs and his team is finally winning matches when Kyle's mother, fresh out of rehab, threatens to take it all away by exposing his deception to everyone.

Win Win is a feel-good movie about second chances, doing the right thing and the unexpected relationships that pop up in life because of one's choices. I liked Shaffer's performance as the often stoic Kyle and Amy Ryan who played Mike's wife Jackie Flaherty was at times hilarious. The director shows that sometimes not a word needs to be said in order to convey messages and feelings. You will feel for the characters and begin cheering them on, however flawed they may be. It was funny, heartwarming and the characters are interesting and relatable. This film is a winner for sure.

Win Win opens in theatres on Friday, March 18th, 2011.

Red Riding Hood is loosely based on the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. The story centers on Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) who lives in the village of Daggerhorn, which is under an uneasy peace with a werewolf that prowls the surrounding forest. Beautiful Valarie is also in a little predicament. She loves her childhood sweetheart Peter, a poor woodcutter, but her parents have betrothed her to Henry, a wealthy blacksmith. Unwilling to be parted from each other, they plan to run away together when the villagers discover that the werewolf, which had previously been satisfied with monthly animal sacrifices, has taken the life of her older sister. Hungry for revenge, the villagers take the matter into their own hands while the village priest call upon Father Solomon, a famed werewolf hunter. As the blood moon rises, which is the only time a new werewolf can be created, the attacks on the village become more frequent. During one of those attacks, Valarie discovers that she shares a deep connection with the werewolf and it may even be someone she loves...

This is another movie in a string of retellings of well-known fairy tales. Little Red Riding Hood is certainly not little in this interpretation but except for a romp in the hay the movie remains safely PG. It has themes of fantasy, horror and love all jumbled together. I would say it is more a thriller than a love story though it is obvious it has Twilight influences (not surprising since it has the same director). Broody and angsty teenagers who both want the girl...Familiar to anyone? The story also is very similar to M. Night Shyamalan's The Village in setting and premise - isolated village with an unknown beast prowling the surrounding woods.

The whole story is one big guessing game. Who is the wolf? By process of elimination you MIGHT be able to guess who the wolf is but it isn't easy. Suspects disappear and reappear to keep the viewer guessing and errie music is played to intensify the moments of uncertainty. Some parts of the movie reminded me of the Blair Witch Project with the shaky hand held camera movement. Some of the story was predictable and some of it was over the top, with the excessive and unnecessary killings and torture. But if you like a good mystery with some love in thrown in the mix you'll like Red Riding Hood. Twilight fans will love the ending. Especially if you are Team Jacob.

Red Riding Hood opens in theatres Friday March 11th, 2011.

Want more Red Riding Hood? Here's a post that nicely reminds me of the story and has beautiful wolf pictures: http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/little-red-riding-hoods-demise

It was such a beautiful day today! Finally I have a some time to venture out into the garden today to look at the flowers. Everything in the garden is growing even in the chilly weather. I can't wait until the rest the flowers bloom! I'm especially looking forward to the Magnolia blooms. n_n

So you know I went to the BC Home and Garden Show yesterday. In previous years it had been at BC Place Stadium but since that is under constructions, the show was moved to the Vancouver Convention centre. This was the first time I've been to one of these events. It was very busy on Saturday! There were a lot of exhibits on gardens, roofing, home renovations as well as home appliances. Telus, Toyota and the Vancouver Sun were among the vendors. I watched HGTV's Justin and Colin's presentation on the home makeovers as well as Botanus' Elke and Pam's presentation on summer flowering bulbs. Justin and Colin were hilarious! They drew a very large crowd and they looked very nice in their pink and yellow kilts LOL. After the show they also did a signing at the Lane Home Furnishings exhibit so I lined up to get a photo and an autograph. They were a pleasure to meet - very easy going and funny. There was a contest to have lunch with them and $7000 to spend on home furnishings but I didn't win. Oh well. There were many other contests at the show - I have my fingers crossed!

Happy Friday everyone! Woo, I'm looking so forward to this weekend! Lots of events happening.

Is anyone a fan of These Kids Wear Crowns? They will be performing live and signing autographs at the HMV store at Metrotown, Burnaby, BC tomorrow at 3pm! I really like their song Jump Start. It's a really catchy song that makes you want to get up and jump and dance!

I'm not going to be able to attend though since I have plans to go to the BC Home and Garden Show! If you buy tickets online and enter the code: WESTCOAST the tickets are only $10 vs $15 at the door. I have tickets already courtesy of Botanus. The co-owners will also be speaking at the show.

In the morning I'm going to go to VanDusen Garden to buy some compost. Spring time is here (though it still feels like Winter) so it'll soon be time to work on the garden! The bulbs I planted last year are already sprouting! I'm so excited to see how they will look like. VanDusen also has a bird walk tour going on tomorrow and it'll be the last one before the prices of admission go up in the summer. I sort of want to attend but might not have time since I'm meeting friends for the BC Home and Garden show. Might be too long of a day anyways.

So excited!

Beastly is the modern retelling of the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast set in New York City. Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer of I Am Number Four) is a handsome but arrogant high school student who cares only about himself and his looks. That cocky attitude however won him the title of President of an environmental club even though he doesn't care at all about the environment. When goth classmate Kendra (Mary Kate Olsen) protests against him, Kyle gets revenge by making fun of her looks and humiliating her in front of everyone at a party. In retaliation, Kendra casts a spell that transforms Kyle into a disfigured freak with tattoos and scars all over his body that mirrors the ugliness in his heart. She gives him one year to get someone to fall in love with him and say "I love you" or be forever trapped in that form. Kyle turns to his father for help only to be banished to Brooklyn with nobody but except his housekeeper and a blind tutor to keep him company. Desperate for normality, he attends the school Halloween party only to find out that everyone who said they liked him actually hated him, even his old girlfriend. He bumps into Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens), a classmate who he had felt a connection with prior to his transformation, at the party and begins stalking following her. When Kyle saves Lindy and her father from drug dealers, he makes a deal with Lindy's father to help him protect her from the vengeful dealers by making her move into his home in Brooklyn. After a rocky start, the two forge an unlikely relationship and slowly Kyle starts to change but will it be enough to break the spell?

I was impressed with Beastly. Except for some cheesy dialogue it was pretty good. The interpretation of the story was believable in modern times and the make-up and costume design were amazing. I loved Kendra's outfit and shoes! The jokes were funny and kept the story from getting too serious. That said, Vanessa Hudgens acting could have been a little better. She was a bit stiff at times and I found it hard to believe her feelings toward Kyle.

It was almost a full house at the screening. Mostly young girls and women and the guys they brought along. So if you are into love stories like Twilight (but with better acting), you will enjoy Beastly. Go see it! Even if it is only just to see Alex Pettyfer's beautifully sculpted body again...You know what I mean...

Beastly opens in theatres Friday, March 4, 2011.

Rango is about a pet chameleon (voiced by Johnny Depp) who lives in the safety of his terrarium where he acts as a director and lead actor of stories of his own creation but he longs to figure out who he is. Due to a fateful accident, he that is suddenly thrust into adventure and a quest to find his true self. He journeys across the desert to the Old Western town of Dirt that is currently in the grips of a severe drought. In order to fit in and realizing that he can be like the hero of his stories, he convince the towns-animals that he is the fearsome Rango. By an act of pure accident, he manages to solidify his claim and is made sheriff to protect the town's remaining water supply, which is running dangerously low. However when the supply is stolen, it is up to Rango and his newly found friends to bring it back. Instead they discover that there is a sinister explanation behind the water's disappearance and that appearances can be deceiving. Rango is then faced with a choice to be the nobody he thinks he is or the hero the town needs him to be.

I got nothing from the trailer, I went to the movie not expecting very much but I was pleasantly surprised! The movie is funny, witty and extremely entertaining. It will definitely appeal to the older crowd as well as older kids. There are some parts that may scare younger children such as the parts with the villain Rattlesnake Jake. It also may be a bit violent and dark for the younger audience and there are certain references and jokes that only the older audience will get.

Rango is beautifully animated - all the textures of the animals and environment were very realistic. The score by Hans Zimmer set the tone of the movie very well and Rango was also directed by Gore Verbinski, the same person who directed Pirates of the Caribbean! A lot of the music reminds of that same adventurous tones that Pirates had. This is a movie that shouldn't be missed.

Rango is in theatres Friday, March 4th 2011. I recommend you go see it!

I went to the Canucks Superskills at Rogers Arena on Sunday. This annual event supports the Canucks of Kids Fund and has the Vancouver Canucks competing against each other in several skill categories:

Three-on-three game
Fastest Skater Contest
Accuracy Shooting Challenge
Puck Control Relay
Hardest Shot
Power Play
Breakaway Relay

I took so many photos it was hard to choose only a few good ones. Before the competition started, the mascots were at center ice playing musical chairs. Hahah so funny! Fin won that one! Then the players came out. They were divided into blue team and green team. I thought the blue team had the advantage from the start, I mean they had Salo, Burrows and Mason Raymond. Here were the final results:

Three-on-three game - Green Team with Cory Schneider
Fastest Skater Contest - Mason Raymond
Accuracy Shooting Challenge - Burrows
Puck Control Relay - Tie (Henrik and Daniel Sedin were identical! LOL)
Hardest Shot - Sami Salo
Power Play - Blue Team
Breakaway Relay - GreenTeam

Blue Team wins!

I had so much fun! This was the first time I've been to the Superskills; it's usually a sold out event because it's not as expensive as a regular hockey game and it is family friendly. The Canucks themselves brought their wives and children along. The children are so cute!

There were prize giveaways too! Several gift certificates worth $100, Canucks merchandise and two PS3s were given out courtesy of the Canucks and Rogers Arena. I got a Team Photo card and a BC Hydro Shower Coach. You won't believe how useful the Shower Coach it is! It makes me a lot more conscience of how long my showers are...but I digress....

It was very refreshing to see the players in an non-game setting and having fun. Ryan Kesler in the Breakaway Relay threw his glove at Cory Schneider in order to distract him from the puck! You can't do that in a real game! Hahah! The Canucks Superskills was a very fun event. I may go again next year!

Today I got to go to an advanced screening of I Am Number Four courtesy of Virgin Mobile!

I Am Number Four is based on a the book of the same name by Pittacus Lore (pen name of James Frey and Jobie Hughes) and follows a special teen "John Smith". Unlike other teens he is actually an alien from the planet Lorien on the run from other aliens called Mogadorians. They destroyed John's home planet but not before he and 8 other children and their guardians escaped. These children are special since each of them possess special powers called Legacies. Now the Mogs are hunting them down one by one in sequence (Don't know why...I guess I'll have to read the book). They've killed three already and John is Number Four. Because of this John and his guardian Henri have to move around a lot. Their latest move takes them to Paradise, Ohio where he falls in love with a girl from school named Sarah, an avid photographer. This makes it all very complicated since his powers have started manifesting themselves and the Mogadorians have picked up his trail...Now John must learn to control his powers to protect the ones he cares about.

I did enjoy it...it kind of reminded me of Smallville and a little bit of Dark Angel where instead of escaped mutants being hunted you have escaped aliens with superpowers. I loved the action and the story is interesting but the movie leaves A LOT of unanswered questions. Like what's in the box? What's the significance of the symbols? Scenes in the trailer don't even make it into the movie! I guess Dreamworks leaves it very open so that more movies can be made. I do want to learn what happens...Time to go to the library!

I Am Number Four is out in theatres on Friday February 18th.

(or Valentines' Day if you prefer to call it that)

I love taking photos of funky store displays. The first one is in Holt Renfrew. The others are from H&M. I know one photo is going to make one of my friends REALLY happy.

Lunarfest was one of the main attractions downtown during the Olympic games. Last year it was lantern trees, this year it is a lantern aquarium! It was a very long line up last week to get in and I saw it was a long line up last Saturday as well. The Vancouver Aquarium was also there with Beebop the Beluga whale and there own display of sea life such as DELICIOUS LOOKING prawns, crabs, seastars and different types of fish. I took a picture of the prawns so you too can see how delicious they look.

We finally got inside, after oh maybe a half hour wait. I was quite pleased with the display. The lanterns were very pretty hanging from nets and I liked the LED light curtain too. It was white the frist time I went. The second time it changed colours! There were also 3D white paper cut outs of sea life on display after the main display. Those were pretty cool. I liked the flying fish the best.

The Public Dreams Society also put on a parade both weekends. Basically they put on magnificent costumes and walked down Granville street to with drummers leading the way. I LOVE the fish head man! So pretty! The jellyfish man reminded me of some one in Alice in Wonderland. He talked in a funny whimsical Wonderland-type way. LOOL

After the Olympic events I met up with some friends to go to see Illuminate Yaletown. (It was a very full day!) Thank goodness it stopped raining! Mother nature did a little illuminating of the sky before the sun set too. It was very beautiful sky after a heavy rain. There were a lot of interesting displays on. This was the second day Illuminate was on and there were ice sculptures that were already melted. =( I really liked the Factory - it gave me a laugh!

I never realized that Vancouver had so much things to do before! I'm flying through my bus passes like crazy!

Wow, a year passed by so fast! Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games! Because of this there was whole lot of celebration downtown! Unfortunately it was POURING RAIN! Typical Vancouver weather I guess! But that didn't stop a lot of people (including me) from making the trek downtown and taking part in the celebration! We unfortunately missed the opening celebration in Robson Square because the buses were full and skipped us. We went to investigate anyways and there were a lot of people lining up to get autographs from the Olympic athletes. We also ran into someone we always seem to bump into at these sorts of events! There was street hockey being played on Granville despite the rain. Many of the indoor events had a long lineups such as the Vancouver Art Gallery which offered free admission. Lunarfest had a relatively short line in the morning and early afternoon but the lineup exploded in the evening! Canadian figure skater, Patrick Chan was also there in front of McDonald's signing autographs. We had to wait in line so long in the freezing rain. My feet all wet but I got a photo with him and he autographed my McDonald waterbottle! Yaaaay!

If you missed out this weekend don't worry there will also be another mini celebration (for the closing ceremony), the TD Bank Winter Carnival, on Sunday, February 27th, 2011 from 12:00pm until 4:00pm at Robson Square.

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