Clearing the brain so it keeps working
Posts tagged Disney
A Turkey Day Movie Review
Nov 27th
Or, how I spent my Thanksgiving Day.
First things first, I didn’t have anything close to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. First at just before Noon, my youngest and I had bison chili. Not your normal fair at all for Thanksgiving. My youngest had kennel duty at school for the afternoon, so we needed to get to Fort Wayne early in the afternoon. Fun stuff for a Thanksgiving day. I would assume that this is the norm for students in a Vet Tech program.
While in Fort Wayne, my daughter and I caught the 3d Disney Movie “A Christmas Carol”. First things first, The 3D for this show was awesome. I’m a very big fan of Dickens “A Christmas Carol” There are many movie versions of this story and I’ve enjoyed most of them.
First No Spoiler if you know the story. There will be spoilers later.
They kept the main story of “A Christmas Carol”. All of the important aspects of the story. The animation was very well done and the characters were well maintained. For periods of time, I actually forgot that this was an animated movie. As I said earlier, I really liked the 3D effects. Most of them were well done to make the movie have depth. A few made you feel like you were in it. There were also a few that looked like they were just done because they could. I would have rather had those cut out, but I guess that is what some people expect in a 3D movie. Main result, if you like the Dickens’ story, you will like this story. If you like 3D animation, you will probably like the show. I would definitely pay the extra amount to see the 3D version.
******************* Spoilers Follow ***************
I wondered how this would work out. I didn’t see the necessity of doing this story in 3D or as an animated movie. I’ve been wondering about that since I first saw the theater trailers. I had many reservations before I went to see it. I was pleased that they did not destroy the story. Now for picking and praising. First, I thought the characters were very well done. The initial 3D effect at the start of the movie hooked me from the beginning. I liked the candle effect in front of the window. Other effects I liked were the snowflakes, flying over/through London and the Ghost of Christmas Past.
I liked the way the effects were used during the Ghost of Christmas Present was wonderful. Actually, I was impressed by this vision of the ghostly visitations. It was also a very good way to use the 3D effects. Not many complaints through the first two ghosts, except may the ‘rocket’ effect at the end of the Ghost of Christmas Past’s visit. One of my first problems with 3D for 3D only.
My biggest problem with the movie were the 3D for 3D only. While the initial tour of London was almost there, the tour of historical London is a great way to set the movie. I next noticed it at the end of the Ghost of Christmas Past. There were one or two times during the Ghost of Christmas Present’s visit, but they didn’t bother me nearly as much. But during the scenes with the Ghost of Christmas future, it seemed like these 3D effects were overwhelming. In fact they added quite a bit to the story to get these 3D effects in. That is the only reason I can think of that they added the Death Coach chase and the shrinking of Scrooge. Parts of the movie were really not needed and if they lasted much longer, I think the movie could have been ruined for me. Without the 3D, I don’t think I would have liked that part at all. I am, of course, a Dickens’ fan and I don’t think you need to add to an already wonderful story.
The blustery day
Sep 28th
We had a bit of wind today and into the evening. A few of us at work braved the elements and tried to go for a bit of a walk at lunch. Didn’t happen. It started to rain a bit, and it was driven hard into our faces. Not much rain, but it hurt. We went in and were lucky to find that there we were allowed to hit the buffet that was provided for a meeting. So today I got a free lunch. Can’t say that every day.
Anyway the wind and rainy conditions made me think of book and a video “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day”. As a family we would watch the video, and I remember reading the Pooh books to my daughters many times. Now, the Disney movie “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” was taken from the book “The House at Pooh Corners”. Other Disney Pooh movies were made from other chapters in this book and the first Pooh book “Winnie-the-Pooh”. My daughters, wife and I read the original books and some of the Disney versions based on their movies. Always fun to read and watch. And I think I can still get my voice into Eeyore every now and then. I tried to add voices to all the characters in the book, but the girls had the video voices to compare mine to. I think they liked my ‘Eeyore’. Maybe one daughter will comment?
So on this cool and blustery evening, I just have to say “Oh bother’.
Times are that bad?
Aug 12th
I tend to scan the web for amusing stories and things that are a bit out of the ordinary. Apparently, it is getting tough in the 100 acre woods. Seems thatWinnie the Pooh was charged with robbery.
Now I know there is a site for stupid criminals, and I think the guys in this story should be in it. Don’t go robbing people in a very easy to identify costume. Sounds to me like a rash act, but I would expect to be stared at if I was dress as a Pooh Bear. Next question, will Disney sue?
I never thought Winnie the Pooh would have been the one to lead a life of crime. I always thought that Owl or Eeyore had the personalities for this. Unless of course the Stuffed with Fluff is all a ruse.
All this reminds me of the gloomy little gray donkey, Eeyore. He was always my wife’s favorite Pooh Character. I really enjoyed giving him ‘voice’ when I read the Pooh stories to my girls. Not sure I ever got totally gloomy, but I tried, and the girls seemed to like it.
Widowers in the Movies
Apr 14th
****** Movie Spoiler Alert *******
I took my girls to see “Nim’s Island” last week. Good movie overall, but I can’t help to think of how they portray widowers and their families. (something personal here). This is the second recent movie that I’ve seen that has a widower as one of the main characters, the other was “Enchanted”. By the end of both movies the widower dads were attached/married. Hmm, if only real life was that easy.
In “Nim’s Island”, the father hooked up with his daughter’s favorite author. A dad and daughter out in the middle of the ocean, and an agoraphobic author from San Fransisco meet. Wow, that was easy. This was computer dating at its very best (worst?). The daughter seems to set them up too. (Come on girls get your acts in gear…
)
Now all I have to do is set up some sort of research on a south sea island (doesn’t sound too bad), and I will be able to find a future Mrs. Somehow I don’t think things are ever that easy.
And on to “Enchanted”. I enjoyed this movie, and all the ins to other “Disney” shows. Cartoon characters come to life in New York. Of course the beautiful princess meets up with the widower, thanks to his daughter (again, girls, you aren’t working things right!!!). Singing and Dancing ensue. At the end through many trials and of course defeating the “Evil Stepmother”, the widower and princess are together. One happy little family.
Then of course there is another widower meets girl picture. Can anyone say “Sleepless in Seattle”? This time the son of the widower calls up a radio talk show to get dad a wife. Cross country trips occur, and they walk off to what is assumed another happy family, Hollywood style.
I will admit that “Sleepless in Seattle” did a admirable job of actually portraying what a widower goes through, at least if you have enough money to pull up roots, and have the luck and or skill to get another high paying job in another city. Yes, there were many a night that I didn’t sleep, even less than my normal sleepless patterns. Yes, I’ve daydreamed about talking with my late wife. Yes, I had to get up every morning and remind myself to breath. I don’t normally need to remind myself of that anymore, but it was there. There were many things I have gone through that were in that movie. This in itself gets my vote for a good movie. Most movies I’ve seen with widower or widows don’t even touch the problems with losing a spouse. It is for good reason that losing a spouse is on the top of most lists of traumatic life events.
My last question. Why are a lot of movies about hooking up widowers? Doesn’t that fly in the face of all the “Evil Stepmothers” of fairy tale fame?
