Disney Movie Marathon Continues!

I think this one might be better than "Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure," though I like both of them (yes, I am five years old...deal with it). I like the lonely little girl who wants to learn about fairies, and I even like her father, who is so sure that nothing is "real" unless he can see it and touch it and measure it. I like the little girl's assertion at the end of the movie: "You don't have to understand. You just have to believe." It's very difficult to have faith, and harder still to hold onto faith when you don't understand what's happening in your life. I think these movies have lessons that adults could stand to learn as well. Plus they're so pretty! My inner five year old is pleased.

Disney Movie Marathon!

Glee season 1

This is a much-talked about show for a lot of reasons. First of all, it features a bunch of high school students who don't always fit the mold...a lot of them are outcasts, an they';re a motley crew drawn together by the fact that they all have talent. they can sing and dance (to varying degrees of success, but that's a minor quibble that I'm tired of hearing). Honestly, I heard nothing but positive things about this show for months, and I finally watched it and fell in love with it, and it was only then that I learned that a lot of people hate this show. It's been called racist, sexist, abelist (for its depiction of disabled people, for those who aren't familiar with the jargon) and homophobic. It's been slammed for trading in stereotypes, and people complain that it maligns the very students it's trying to showcase as talented and worthy individuals. I don't agree with this portrayal, but I don't really have time to address each and every slam this show has received, and it wouldn't help anyway. those who are determined to hate it won't be swayed by anything I have to say since they've heard it all before. what I will say is that while this show might not be perfect, it at least TRIES to show outcast minority students (who don't fit in for many reasons) coming together and growing and changing as their love of music unites them. They express their feelings through song, and a lot of the songs are familiar tunes you'd hear on the radio, which helps people relate to the show even if they don't normally enjoy "musicals." I love music and I often find listening to music is the only thing that keeps me from snapping and killing lots of people, so I relate to this show. I laughed, I cried, I sang along, and I loved it. I didn't like every episode ("Funk" was particularly flat for me) but I found SOMETHING to love in every episode, and that's something I can't say about every show...ok, about just about any show. So I dig it, and I think it will find a home among those who will always dig it too, even if it isn't always perfect.

Crazy Heart

I finally watched this movie yesterday. It was really a great movie. Very touching. the song "The Weary Kind," the main theme for this movie, is perfectly fitting and it's a beautiful song.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010: Oliver & Company

This was one of my favorite Disney movies from the first time I saw it. "Oliver Twist" was one of my favorite stories when I was a kid, so of course I gobbled this movie up because it adapted a lot of elements from the Dickens story, plus it had a cute little kitten and some cute dogs. I loved animals, too, so I was sold. When I started building up my Disney movie collection last year, this is one of the first movies I picked up, and I'm happy to see that it's just as much fun as I remember.

I actually teared up a little at the beginning. I hate to see stray kittens get hurt or mistreated. I rescued my cat from being a stray, so I have a soft spot for strays. I tried to cuddle her while these scenes were onscreen, but she was trying to sleep, so she wasn't very receptive to my love. I even found that I liked the opening song of the movie, especially the part that says "Keep your dream alive, dreaming's still how the strong survive, once upon a time in New York City." I love it. That would fit right into RENT, don't you think?

I am a geek.

Anyway, the song "Savoir Faire" is great too, and it's still worth the price of admission here (it's still stuck in my head while I write this) and I still love seeing how the characters stick up for each other and fight for each other (plus this was back when Disney villains were still allowed to be evil and die, which makes the whole "good and evil" idea more prevalent). This was a fun little movie and I'm glad to have it in my collection again. It's just what I needed on this dreary day.

January 8, 2010: Fame (1980)

When the new redux of the movie "Fame" was announced, I decided to revisit the original, only I just got around to watching it. It's choppier than I remember (I was probably so caught up in the story and the singing and dancing when I was a kid that I didn't notice any of the flaws) but I still love it. I hear that the remake wasn't anything special, so we'll see when the DVD comes out, I guess.

One thing that the original does very well is have characters deliver monologues that are integrated into the story so well that you almost don't notice that you're listening to a monologue until the scene is over. Typically, I'd be thinking "Jesus, shut up already" but these were well done and they let me get to know the characters better. One in particular has this blonde girl sitting in some kind of doctor's office talking about her future, and you don't realize what's going on in the scene until the end. That impressed me (I won't give it away though, because it's one of the best moments in the movie). I'm glad I finally watched this movie.