Tangled

Tangled- movie

Tangled. Dir. Nathan Greno, Byron Howard. Perf. Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi. Walt Disney Pictures, 2010. DVD.

Summary: Tangled is a retelling of the classic Rapunzel story. As a baby Rapunzel is kidnapped because her hair has the magical ability to heal. She is kept isolated in a tower and yearns to see the floating lights every year on her birthday. When a thief happens upon her tower, she uses it as a way to get out of the tower and experience the world outside. She also discovers the truth about herself.

Strengths/Weaknesses: (This section contains spoilers for the movie) Tangled has all the appeal of a typical Disney movie-the charming guy, the funny animals, the feisty female. While Rapunzel may seem helpless at first being stuck in the tower, she shows her strength and bravery several times throughout-i.e. helping Flynn escape the guards, confronting Mother Gothel. Tangled is a fun movie for the whole family. However, there are a few moments that might be too intense for younger viewers. Flynn is stabbed by Mother Gothel and dies before being revived by Rapunzel and when Mother Gothel falls out of the window after she begins aging when Rapunzel’s hair is cut are two examples. 

Uses: Tangled would be a great movie to use in conjunction with a fairy tale unit. Students can do fairy tale retellings, read the picture book Rapunzel by Paul O Zelinsky and the graphic novel Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale, and discuss the differences. 

Audience: Tangled is rated PG for mild brief violence. 

Watch-Alikes: Brave, Frozen, Enchanted

Awards: 
Won: Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television, Grammy Awards, 2012
Best Song, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards, 2010
Best Animation, National Movie Awards, UK, 2011

Top Box Office Film, ASCAP Film & Television Music Awards, 2011

Harry Potter & the Epic Conclusion

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS! HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS pt2

I went to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows pt2 last night with several friends. It was amazing.

It picks up right where the last left off (so you really have to watch pt1). From the first moment to the last it was quite a ride- suspenseful, scary, touching, funny, sweet...

It wasn't the sob-fest I had thought it would be. I got a little misty-eyed a few times, though. I am ready to see it again! & I really would like to see it in regular-D instead of 3-D. I went back & forth with the 2D glasses at first but the 3D ones worked better here. I think something was wrong with the projection or something bc part of the screen stayed fuzzy.

Here are some of my highlights from my first viewing (in no particular order):

*Daniel Radcliffe absolutely killed as Harry Potter. He has improved so much over the years & I think he was channeling the boy wizard straight from the pages of the novel. When he stepped out from the crowd during Snape's assembly I cheered (which I did quite a few times throughout)

*I simply adored every moment Professor McGonagall was onscreen- from her duel with Snape to her awakening the suits of armor (and that coy little way she delivered that line! "I've always wanted to use that spell") to her absolutely heartbreaking expression when she thought Harry was dead.

*Molly Weasley got her moment! "Not my daughter you bitch!" Way to kick ass, Molly! more cheering for you!

*Neville! Not only has he become a hottie, but he ain't taking no crap! Loved loved loved where he said something to the effect of "Where's Luna? I got the hots & I want to tell her since we'll probably both be dead by morning." AH! & their sweet moment at the end.

*Oh Luna- "you listen to me, Harry Potter!" You tell him, girl!

*Every single scene with Harry & Ginny. (& her agonizing cry when she sees Harry dead)

*Helena Bonham Carter as Hermione-as-Bellatrix.

*Snape's last moments- Alan Rickman is amazing & I have a crush on him.

*Ron & Hermione kiss! & the audience cheers!

*The Forest Again- My favorite chapter in the entire series (really, in any book I've ever read) is chapter 34 of the Deathly Hallows, when Harry makes his final walk to meet Voldemort. "Does it hurt when you die?" <-- that line got me in the book AND the movie. That whole scene is heart-wrenching.

*King's Cross scene was well done also, but EWWW Horcrux Voldy was gross.

*I am SO GLAD they refilmed the Epilogue. They looked so much better than the early pictures....and looked closer to the correct age!

My not-so-hi-lights:

*My only complaint, really, is that Harry did not use the Elder wand to repair his own. Um, that's kind of important.

There were a few other things that I either wished they had done differently or wish they had included. I'll try to add more to this as I think about it (with my fuzzy, sleep deprived brain).

Movies I like!

I like to watch movies that are fun. I am not particularly fond of the big, sweeping dramas that are nominated for Academy Awards. And I refuse to watch movies if I know the dog or other significant animal dies (This goes back to my childhood and bawling my eyes out when Dumbo wasn't allowed to see his mother and she cradles him in her trunk outside of her crate and sings to him *sniff*) But fun for me and fun for a lot of other people are vastly different...For instance I hate Will Ferrell movies-especially Elf. I also hate movies like Super Troopers, etc. I think it has something to do with people acting dumb.

I also want to know what's going to happen in movies so if we are watching one at home I will get on a movie spoiler site to see what's coming. I really don't like the edge-of-your-seat feeling that some movies cause so I'd rather know ahead of time what's coming. (I also glance at the back of books to see if character names are still showing up. I have to know! Except I didn't do this with the last Harry Potter book or Breaking Dawn. Those stayed spoiler free, amazingly enough)

Here is a list of some of the movies that I watch over and over. Sometimes I pop one in because there is nothing on tv worth watching. Sometimes it's because I border on being attention deficit and have to be multitasking, so I will put a movie on in the background as I am grading papers or whatever. I know these aren't what movie snobs consider marvels of film making but I don't watch movies for that. I watch them because I like the stories or the characters or they are just plain fun.

In no particular order:
1. All of the Harry Potter movies
2. Juno-Ellen Page!
3. Day After Tomorrow (what! I love this, especially the tornadoes in Hollywood. It's flawed and I can only remember one character's name but I like it!)
4. Whip It- Ellen Page!
5. Penelope
6. Twilight
7. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
8. Napoleon Dynamite
9. Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist
10. All of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies

I would put the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on this list because I can watch them over and over, it just takes a long time. LotR movies are some of my all time favorites!

So, what are some of YOUR favorite movies? or movies that you watch over and over?

Half Blood Prince- my thoughts

I saw Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince tonight. It was fantastic! I have read or listened to the book multiple times and, with two exceptions, the movie captured the book marvelously.

I will talk about some scenes from the movie, so if you want no spoilers you might want to stop reading here...

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Still reading? good

First, I cannot get over how grown those kids are! They are so adorable and have become much better actors over time. Tom Felton was perfect as a tormented Draco Malfoy.
I thought that, given the limited time, they covered the majority of the major points from the book (except that Bill was not in it so he wasn't mauled by Greyback)

And speaking of the Weasleys.....my wtf moment came when the Burrow was attacked and burned. Not only was it not in the book at all, I didn't see where it served any purpose in the story. To show that Harry can be tracked down? The Burrow is supposed to have almost as many protections while Harry is there as Hogwarts. I'm not buying it. That was the most troubling bit.
The second bothersome part was that Harry was not stupefied under his invisibility cloak during the Astronomy Tower scene. Harry would not just stand there. Maybe, just maybe, he thought Snape was really going to help but still, DD could have stupefied him after he went down a level.

Other than those two bits, I was extremely happy with how this movie was done. I thought the death scene was well done (and the "Severus, Please" part-wow) I (along with about everyone else in the theater) cried when everyone held their lit wands up.

This is the best movie of the series so far and I cannot wait to see how they do Deathly Hallows.