“So be quiet tonight, be sure to step lightly on this mountain of new-fallen snow…”
arts and leisure, comics and animation, everyday glory, family and friends, football, geekery, LEGO and Rokenbok, movies and TV, news and info, The Covet List, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot...?!, zombies December 13th, 2009Sunday – 13 December 2009
Yesterday was a long and busy day…
After breakfast and a fairly lazy morning, SaraRules and I headed out to do a little Christmas shopping. Next, we stopped in to see Kate, Perry and the kids. From there…
…we went to see The Princess and the Frog (1, 2). The movie marked a return to 2-D animation by Disney Animation Studios. The movie follows Disney’s newest princess, Tiana, in her quest to achieve a dream that was inspired by her father. Tiana also holds a couple of distinctions in Disney lore:
- She is Disney’s first African-American princess
- She is not a “help me, save me” princess, but more of a driven/determined young woman – much in the vein of Pocahantas or Mulan.
Let me start by saying it was a great movie. I enjoyed pretty much everything about it, from the animation to the voice casting (including Oprah?!) to the songs. The movie was set in New Orleans, in the… 20s and 30s. The animators did a good job of capturing the look and feel of the Crescent City in those days. Additionally, the animation used in a couple of Tiana’s dream sequences was also fantastic.
The movie’s dark side – provided by villain Dr. Facilier, a street con/voodoo magician – includes some scenes in which he… works his magic (sorry, couldn’t be helped)… that could be frightening to younger viewers. Dr. Facilier’s methods and motivations are reminiscent of Aladdin‘s Jafar.
The music was a fine combination of jazz, zydeco, and gospel. The different styles were used, quite effectively, to enhance the given atmosphere and attitude of specific scenes.
All-in-all, this was a fine movie and a worthy successor in Disney’s line of “Princess” movies. SaraRules made the comment: “I feel that I could let our children watch this without feeling like I just fed them a bunch of shite.” I concur.
After the movie, we headed home for a bit and then, it was time to head over to OnlyAly and
We watched Pitch Black, The Descent and Dawn of the Dead (2004). As always, it was a fun way to spend an evening. Thanks, again, to the hosts for their hospitality.
This morning involved a good bit of sleeping in. And now… there’s football. Unfortunately, the Lions-Ravens game isn’t being aired in this market, so I’m relegated to tracking the game on NFL.com’s Game Center.
Stray Toasters
- It’s snowing. Surprise!
- From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Santa Claus banned from visiting locked-up children in UK asylum detention centre
- I just saw this commercial; I like it and the message it conveys: LEGO: Build Together
- Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN adviser
forwarded a link to My Fortress of Solitude. I think that this belongs on The Covet List. I’d love to do something like this, but I’m not sure that I could pull it off, given the types of desks that we have at work. - Black Mesa Coffee Mug
- I looked up a little more information about The Super Hero Squad Show, specifically the voice acting talent. I was surprised and amused to note that they got Shawn Ashmore and Ray Stevenson to do the voices for Iceman and The Punisher, respectively… given that the actors portrayed those characters in live-action movies.
went to see the Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero exhibit yesterday. I’m a tad jealous.
Namaste.
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