Movie Review: Disney's Enchanted (3/5)

If cliches and corny lines makes a movie then...well, darn, they really made this one good!  Disney's Enchanted takes all the cliches and stereotypes from any typical fairytale and uses them to make fun of itself, all the while presenting an entertaining fairytale story of its own.  Imagine taking the typical fairytale princess from anyone of Disney's animated stories, complete with all the singing and dancing and nauseating happiness, and stick her right in the middle of Manhattan.  And while you're at it, bring a dashing prince, an evil, magical step-mother, a talking chipmunk (who loses his ability to talk in the "real world"), and the step-mother's stooge, and set them loose looking for the "helpless" princess.  Then throw in a modern day twist and let the princess begin falling for a modern-day New York divorce lawyer, when she's supposed to be in love with the prince! 

The movie raises the question: does true love exist in this modern world, or is it really just a fairytale?  The movie provides the answer as well: As Giselle (the princess played by Amy Adams) learns, the fairytale isn't nearly as wonderful as the real thing, but, as Robert (played by Patrick Dempsey, "a.k.a" McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy) learns, sometimes you just have to stop thinking so much and let it happen.  This is highlighted by Giselle's reminding a couple going through divorce as to why they fell in love in the first place, causing them to rethink the divorce and stick out the marriage.  I wish I could find the quote of them explaining why they're staying together because it is very profound.

In any case, this was an excellent Disney movie, earning a very high 3/5 stars (which is a good rating for those not aware of my system).

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Movie Review: August Rush (3/5 stars)

If cliches and corny lines made a movie, then August Rush would be considered one of the best! Unfortunately for the movie, those things tend to take away from a good movie (with few exceptions, one of which is Disney's Enchanted, reviewed in the very next entry (how do you link it?), and what could have been a great movie like August Rush turns into nothing more than an entertaining couple of hours with just as many eye-rolling moments as heart-clinching.

Other than the too-many-cliches and corniness, the movie was good. Freddie Highmore plays Evan Taylor, an orphaned boy searching for his parents. His parents, Lyla (Keri Russell) and Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, both great musicians, had one great night together and were torn apart by Lyla's father, more concerned with his daughter's musicical career than happiness. Lyla finds out she is pregnant and eventually gives birth to a healthy baby boy. Her father tells her the baby didn't survive and forges her name to give the boy up for adoption. Eleven years go by before Lyla learns the truth. By then, Evan, who runs away from foster care to look for his parents in New York City, is discovering his musical abilities. In short, the boy is a musical genius, and ends up changing his name (on the advice of "The Wizard" played by Robin Williams) to August Rush. The movie follows August on a musical journey of personal discovery and growth and his parents as they struggle with their own lives and personal realizations. Just as the movie shows how music connects us with the world around us, it also shows the power of timeless love.

I give the movie 3/5 stars. I want to point out that the last few movies I've seen before this were exceptionally good movies, and that a 3/5 rating, for me, is still a good movie worth seeing. So despite the criticism I've given this movie, it's still a good movie.

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Movie Review: Bella (5/5 stars)

First, let me tell you about my experience going to see this movie: This past Saturday night (Nov. 17), after hearing about this independent film from my uncle and how much trouble it was having getting a distributor (some suspect because of its positive message), I decided to go see Bella at the single theatre in Nashville that it was playing at (Regal Green Hills). I didn't go with a lot of expectations, just that it was supposed to be a good movie that appeals to the pro-life crowd because of a pro-adoption message.

I got to the theatre, got in line, and noticed a sign that said "Bella at 10:35 sold out." So, being surprised, I got out of the line and actually walked out of the building before realizing that if it sold out, I probably should buy advance tickets if I wanted to see it on Sunday. Going back in the theatre I...noticed a table that somehow I missed with the movie poster and some guys. So I walked up to see if they knew anything about the movie. It was the Tennessee Right to Life. They had bought out the movie for the weekend and was giving away tickets for free. So I got a free ticket!

I went into the theatre (which was decently crowded) at the end of some speech by presumably a TN Right to Life person, and as I sat down he introduced the producer of the movie and (I think) lead actor, Eduardo Verastegui! Yes, I got to hear about the troubles the film had finding a distributer from the producer and lead actor in the flesh! He didn't mention the pro-life message as a problem, so that's debateable, but he was there!

Now let's talk about the movie. This is definitely not a mainstream Hollywood film. It is, in my point of view, an artistic film making great use of flashbacks to keep the viewer interested in a story that is more or less a drawn out dialogue between two individuals. No expect excitement, and if you're a moviegoer with a short attention-span that likes lots of plot twists, this movie is not for you. It is also kind of predictable in some instances. But the story is deep and moving. There's an obvious symbolism between the bearded Jose (Verástegui) and Christ that becomes more apparent as the movie goes on. In the beginning of the movie, one is introduced to Jose staring at some children playing on the beach. It's not long before the scene switches and one learns that Jose was a well-known pro-soccer player on the upswing in his career. After learning this, the scene switches again and we see Jose working in his brother Manny's restaurant as the head chef. It is this bearded Jose that we start to see is loved and trusted by the staff (later, after he runs out on them, his brother's anger is contrasted by the staff's reluctance to judge). After Manny fires Nina, a waitress, for being late, Jose runs after her to bring her a teddy bear she drops and find out why she was late. She's pregnant. Jose doesn't go back to work, but instead chooses to spend the day talking with and being there for Nina. She tells Jose early on that her mind is already made up to have an abortion. Jose, is then, from early on, put in a position of being Nina's supportive friend (the only one she has), while also offering and making an argument for other options.

It's obvious that Nina and Jose have a platonic relationship, but she trusts him enough to open up. In turn, Jose opens up to her, as well. The movie is the resulting dialogue and days activities, including a trip to Jose's parents' house. The movie has been described as a love story, and it is. But the love story is much deeper than the average romance, as this love is, from the Christian perspective, that love that Christ has for each of us:agape. It is the love felt between two friends (budding friends in this case), and how that love grows as they each open up to the other. What better, purer love, is there? And what better way to atone for your own sins, than to be there for another in thier struggle? And in the end, we are not only given a message of hope, but we see that through it all, the love that forms from such a friendship will remain. It is through that love that true salvation comes.

This movie is is not only worth seeing, it deserves to be supported. To find a theatre near you (or try to get it in a theatre near you), please visit the movie website: http://www.bellamoviesite.com/.

Now I want to be clear: as much as I liked the message, the movie is not overtly "pro-life." It presents a pro-adoption message, but the focus is on the two main characters and their development and relationship. I give the movie 5/5 stars based on the quality of the movie, not the message. It's just a GREAT independent film, very heart-warming, good for the whole family, and I believe will be a classic. It's not ground-breaking from a movie sort of view, but definitely a great picture. Go see it because it's a good movie! Additionally, give the small independent film makers support, especially those with a positive message.

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Best birthday present mistake ever...

Can you imagine this happenning in a classroom in America?

From Skynews

A teenage schoolboy was pulled around his classroom on a lead and spanked by a stripper after a birthday surprise blunder.

The pupil's mum had ordered an agency to give her son a "surprise" on his 16th birthday - and the teacher had even agreed to film the prank.

But it all went wrong when the unnamed company sent a stripper dressed as a policewoman instead of a "gorillagram" - in what it called a booking error.

One witness told reporters: "She asked the lad to stand up, which he did, and told him he had been a very naughty boy because... he hadn't been doing his homework.

"Then she put on some Britney Spears music and got out a collar and lead from her bag and told him to put them on."

After walking the boy round the classroom and spanking him with a whip - the action turned even more blue.

"She took off some clothes until she was down to her bra and pants, pulled out some cream, put it on her buttocks and told him to rub it in," the source said.

It was at that point the shocked teacher - who had not been told what the surprise was - called an end to the show.

A spokeswoman for the local education authority, Nottinghamshire County Council, said they were investigating how the incident happened.

She confirmed nobody had been suspended from Nottingham's Arnold Hill School and Technology College and the police were not involved.

The spokeswoman said: "We and the school are investigating into the situation."

Wow...I think the stripper is a WAY better 16th birthday present than a silly gorilla-gram...now if it was a pet monkey, that'd be different...Lucky boy though.  What I want to know is why the heck did the teacher let it go as far as it did? 

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A Good Analysis of the Ron Paul Phenomenon

Full Article Here

From The Weekly Standard (I love the pics)...

Selected quotes (and commentary):

RON PAUL TOOK IN $4.2 million in honor of Guy Fawkes Day Monday. While this is a wonderful haul for the congressman, it's not quite accurate to say he raised it or even that his campaign raised it. Paul supporters organized the event on their own with minimal coordination with the campaign.

Naturally, the champions of "people power" have rushed forward to praise this event and point out how it can be replicated. Markos Moulitsas, perhaps the leading authority on how to make it look like you've personally created an internet phenomenon even when you had nothing to do with it, has already rushed out an essay summing up the Paul phenomenon. Moulitsas's analysis comes replete with mind-numbing platitudes and easy-to-repeat formulas for other candidates to apply, presumably once they've retained an internet guru like Moulitsas to show them the way.

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But Paul's fundraising success has nothing to do with web savvy savants running his campaign or even the technical abilities of his followers.

Notice the names in bold are persons belongs to the "Extremely Looney Left" (both dead and alive)...Also notice that Paul's campaign seems... to be having little to do with his success...

Paul is a fringe candidate who broke through into being a cult figure. To use a metaphor that seems oddly appropriate, Dr. Paul has gone viral. Although marketers everywhere probably wish they could plan such things, they can't. I would bet even Paul himself is slightly bewildered by his popularity, and perhaps wonders why people who think Dick Cheney personally imploded WTC Tower 7 have flocked to his banner.

CRAZY PEOPLE LOVE to have a cause. Usually politics doesn't offer a candidate worthy of their ardor. The 2008 campaign looked like it would be more of the same in that regard. The Democratic candidates all basically stand for the same boring platform. At their debates, the only thing they really contest is who despises George W. Bush more.

...

So why have America's lunatics taken such a shine to the formerly obscure Ron Paul? There's a simple explanation: Although Paul spends most of his time talking about the Constitution and such cherished old time policies as the gold standard, he's as close to an anarchist as we're likely to see in presidential politics.

An anarchist? Ron Paul? I can almost hear you out there--"Surely he's joking."

I'm not, and stop calling me Shirley.

Aaaww, memories of someone...I miss those guys...

Think about it. Ron Paul has taken a good, hard look around America and hates everything he sees. He hates the Iraq war. He hates the rest of our foreign policy. He pretty much thinks we shouldn't have a foreign policy. He hates our bloated and meddlesome federal government. (What's that they say about stuck clocks?) He hates abortion. He hates the Treasury and floating currency. Basically, he wishes it were 1796 and he could wear a powdered wig without being ridiculed in public. While Ron Paul himself has no fondness for anarchy, the same cannot be said of his devotees. It's not an accident that they celebrated their hero on a day named for Guy Fawkes, perhaps the greatest anarchist in the history of the English speaking world.
If you hate something about our modern society, chances are Ron Paul agrees with you. Passionately. Ron Paul doesn't go for half-measures or speaking in measured tones. Everything he sees is a threat of biblical proportions. If you're the kind of person whose neighbors call you a crank, you probably see Ron Paul as a kindred spirit. And chances are he's with you on the subject for which you've achieved your notoriety in crankdom.

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I think this is a pretty good anaylsis of a great many, if not MOST, of Ron Paul's supporters. They are basically part of the Looney Fringes of both the Left and the Right...note, not ALL of them...I still fail to understand how some people I consider intelligent can support someone like Ron Paul based on the above analysis. Kucinich sees UFOs, but Ronulans, Paulbots, or Paulbearers, or any of the other names one can find for them on the internet (hat tip to IMAO for many of these names and the article) sees those same UFOs as part of a government conspiracy ran by the Skulls that Kerry and Bush were apparently members of (recall the "Don't tase me, bro!" guy...).

SO WHAT does the Ron Paul campaign mean? At a practical level, it's difficult to tell which party Paul will hurt more if he runs as a third party candidate in the general election. My hunch is that he'll hurt the Democrats more. Ron Paul's supporters tend to be angry over just about everything. Such people are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans.

On a grander level, the Ron Paul campaign has shown that a candidate who appeals to a motivated fringe can make some noise. After all, people who are willing to be Tased just to interrupt a soporific John Kerry speech and berate the senator for allowing Republicans to steal the 2004 election from him are probably also willing to write a check for a candidate who speaks to their frustrations.

In 2008, that candidate is Ron Paul, the undisputed owner of the "Don't Tase Me Bro" vote.
Dean Barnett is a staff writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD

Hence why so many Democrats are even jumping on the Paul bandwagon...

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Movie Review: Martian Child (3/5 Stars)

John Cusack fits very well in the role of a widower and science-fiction writer adopting a very troubled boy who thinks he's from Mars.  Martian Child is a movie that I almost gave 4/5 stars to, as it was very deep and enjoyable.  The movie certainly highlights the difficulties in getting over the loss of a loved one as well as the plight of a single father.  Perhaps I will add some more thoughts about the movie later, but for now, I'm pleasantly surprised that it was better than I thought it would be.  It certainly leaves one with a warm feeling and appreciation for the ones we love.  It's not quite a 4 star movie, but almost...

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Kids these days...the latest drug craze

The Smoking Gun has posted a FL sheriff's bulletin alerting people to the new drug craze (gotta click the link to see what it is...I'm NOT explaining that type of "shit" in my blog...pun intended).  Are people really that desperate to find an escape for life?  Whatever happenned to sniffing glue?  Or paint?  Why must one reduce themselves to sniffing...well, anyway.  This could be a business opportunity for someone wanting to make easy money with very little start-up costs.  Especially if someone can figure out how to change the flavor...

Hat tip to Drudge Report for the story...

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