Monday, November 29, 2010

Once Upon a Movie

Tangled
Rated PG for brief mild violence.

I really didn't expect it to be as good as it was.
This movie was a breath of fresh air, and very enjoyable. It was so nice to finally watch a children's movie that wasn't crude and actually had a plot. Rapunzel and Flynn were very lovable characters and the songs weren't half-bad either.
It exceeded all my expectations and was it was such a fun, feel-good movie. There was never a dull moment.
The animation was like a beautiful painting, albeit one that moved.
And I loved it when Rapunzel and the town-people danced.

Most of it was stereotypical Disney, but that's okay.
And though the part with the thugs singing "I have a dream" was awkward (for me), it wasn't torturous.

The way it ended was perfectly thrilling and, naturally, I cried (I really need to stop doing that).

That said, it was a cute, spunky little movie with tons of fun.
Disney's 50th Animated Feature won't disappoint.


Verdict: Go see it.
Grey Travel Rating: 4/5 Stars
Animation: 4/5 Stars
Plot: 4/5 Stars
Characters: 4/5 Stars
Acting: 5/5 Stars

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Geekopolis

Some fantasy/vintage travel posters, created by Steve Thomas.
Visit Tatooine and Rivendell today!

And throw in a bit of Christmas cheer...

Monday, November 22, 2010

Harry Potter and the Movie Review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence and frightening images.
(NO MAJOR SPOILERS HERE)

It was a fantastic book-to-movie adaptation.
It just wasn't a movie that can stand on its own two feet.

Don't get me wrong, the first half of the movie was brilliant. They started out with an awesome chase scene, and the way they film Harry Potter is always great. And I loved the entire part where they broke in to the Ministry of Magic. Not to mention, the Death-Eater meeting was perfect.
But as soon as Ron left, it sort of dragged on. Hermione was depressed; Harry danced with her to cheer her up. They kept traveling and setting up camp. Like I said, it dragged...
I really liked the Tale of the Three Brothers--only not in the movie. The Tim Burton-ish animation seemed so out of place, no matter how cool it was.

And I couldn't appreciate any of the Dobby-ness because I kept thinking: "That's not his voice."
You've probably heard this already, but the locket scene was...weird. The movie was also really dark. I've had no qualms with any of the previous ones at all. The 6th movie left me walking out in a state of euphoria (even though, yeah, Dumbledore died.) This one left me numb.
It seemed they tried too hard for this one, and it fell too short.

Albeit, it was a good movie, but I'm not clamoring to buy it when it comes out. (Which is a first.)
And Harry Potter is more  of a family institution  than a "let's go watch a mega-dark movie".  The end left us all hanging, however, and without thinking I immediately burst out an incredulous "WHAT?!" as soon as the credits rolled.
Let's just say it could have been better.

The upside is, that by going to the theater, I got to see "The Eagle" trailer on the big screen. (Ha ha ha.)


Verdict: Wait until the DVD comes out.
Grey Travel Rating: 3/5 Stars
Special Effects: 6/5 Stars
Plot: 3/5 Stars
Acting: 4/5 Stars
Objectionable Content: Ginny asks Harry to zip up her dress, and her back is exposed. The locket taunts Ron by showing him scenes of Harry and Hermione kissing waaaaay too much. You can tell they're naked, but thankfully can't see past their necks.
One use of the D-word, H-word, and P-word.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Eagle

This is honestly the best movie trailer I've ever seen.
 I loved everything about it,  from the battle-scenes to how they perfectly captured Roman arrogance. Plus the movie just looks so good.

I'm usually very cautious about Roman movies, because they always seem to be extremely gory. But this is based on a book by Rosemary Sutcliff (which falls into the late juvenile/YA section) and even the movie is only rated PG-13 for "Battle Sequences and Some Disturbing Images".

So yes, I'm really excited for "The Eagle".
And here's the trailer.
In a word, epic.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Quotes

"Daughter of Eve, don't you understand?" said the Faun. "It isn't something I have done. I'm doing it now, this very moment."

The others all stared at one another. "Batty!" said Edmund tapping his head. "Quite batty."

"A boy!" said she. "Do you mean you are a Son of Adam?"
Edmund stood still, saying nothing. He was too confused by this time to understand what the question meant. "I see you are an idiot, whatever else you may be," said the Queen.

"Well, Sir, if things are real, they're there all the time."
"Are they?" said the Professor; and Peter did not know quite what to say.

And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different.

"For that's another of the old rhymes:-When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone/Sits at Cair Paravel in throne,/The evil time will be over and done."

"But in general, take my advice, when you meet anything that's going to be Human and isn't yet, or used to be Human once and isn't now, or ought to be Human and isn't, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet."

"The reason there's no use looking," said Mr. Beaver, "is that we know already where he's gone!" Everyone stared in amazement. "Don't you understand?" said Mr. Beaver. "He's gone to her, the White Witch. He has betrayed us all!"

"Come in! Fortunate favourite of the Queen-or else not so fortunate."

"It's all right," he was shouting. "Come out, Mrs. Beaver. Come out, Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve. It's all right! It isn't her!" This was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they are excited; I mean, in Narnia-in our world they usually don't talk at all.

"Oh,"said Mr. Beaver. "So that's how you came to imagine yourself a Queen-because you were the Emporer's hangman. I see."
"Peace, Beaver," said Aslan, with a very low growl.
"And so," continued the Witch, "that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property."
"Come and take it then," said the Bull with the man's head in a great bellowing voice.
"Fool," said the Witch with a savage smile that was almost a snarl, "do you really think your master can rob me of my rights by mere force?"

"I say, Susan?"
"What?"
"I've a horrible feeling-as if something were hanging over us."
"Have you? Because, as a matter of fact, so have I."

But such people! Ogres with monstrous teeth, and wolves, and bull-headed men; spirits of evil trees and poisonous plants; and other creatures whom I won't describe because if I did the grown-ups would probably not let you read this book-Cruels and Hags and Incubuses, Wraiths, Horrors, Efreets, Sprites, Orknies, Wooses, and Ettins.

I hope no one who reads this book has been quite as miserable as Susan and Lucy were that night; but if you have been-if you've been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you-you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing was ever going to happen again.

And, oh, the cry of sea gulls! Have you heard it? Can you remember?

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Life is a Fairytale

You know, realists always say that "Life isn't a fairytale. There are no happy endings."
Well, if you read the ORIGINAL fairytales (meaning the non-disneyfied versions), you'd see that life can be as grim and as sad as they are.
Here's a few:

Red Riding Hood gets eaten by the big, bad wolf.
Sleeping Beauty's mother-in-law tries to kill her.
Cinderella's step-sisters take drastic measures to get her prince.
The Tin Soldier is cast into the furnace.
Bellissima and her love die. (The Yellow Dwarf)
The evil sisters take revenge. (Fair, Brown, and Trembling)
The Children of Lir remain cursed and die so.
The Fisherman and his wife go right back where they started.
All the children of Hamelin are never seen again...

So don't try and tell me that fairytales are all happily-ever-after.
(Note: Why exactly do we read these to small children, again?)

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Dawn Treader Pics

Here's some fantastic screenshots from NarniaWeb, incluing one of Eustace as a dragon!
Still, I'm very paranoid about how the movie will turn out.
The plot has been completely changed from saving the Narnia Lords to saving Narnia from evil...
We'll see how it turns out.
Anyway, enjoy the pictures!
Eustace and Reepicheep.

Obvious.

Eustace the dragon.

Ramadu's daughter.


I still don't see why Caspian is in Aslan's Country; he wasn't there in the book.

The End of the World.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Three's the Charm

Have you noticed that the third book in almost every series consists of time travel?
And it's always, always the third book!
Sometimes it adds to the series' plot immensely.
Other times it seems as if the author just ran out of ideas by book 3.
Here's some examples of book three time travels:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-J.K. Rowling
Harry and Hermione have to travel back in time to rescue Sirius Black and Buckbeak.


Septimus Heap: Physik-Angie Sage
Septimus gets kidnapped by a wizard and taken 500 years before his own time.

Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague-Brandon Mull
Seth brings the famed Paton Burgess from back in time in order to save Fablehaven.

Molly Moon's Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure-Georgia Byng
Molly gets transported into 19th-century India by an insane maharaja.

Gideon: The Time Quake-Linda Buckley-Archer
(Technically the whole trilogy is based on time travel anyway)
 Lord Luxon tries to change time by making the British win the Revolutionary War.

Other series that involve time travel:

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony (book 5)-Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl twists through time to save the fairy and demon races.

Charlie Bone: The Time Twister (book 2)-Jenny Nimmo
Charlie's ancestor gets transported to modern-day times, and it's up to Charlie to keep his enemies from finding out.