September 2013 Media Inventory

Now that we're over halfway through October, I suppose I'd better hurry and post this. I may have less to say than usual.

Movies:

Megamind: Fun movie. I liked it.

Mulan: One of my favorite Disneys! Great scenery, story, music, characters, etc.

Lady and the Tramp: I loved this so much I wrote a post about it.

The Fox and the Hound: Another one of my very favorites as a kid. It does make me cry.

Beauty and the Beast: Possibly, in my opinion, the best Disney movie.

According to Greta: Knowing nothing about this other than that Hillary Duff was playing an annoying teenager, I was nervous. But it was actually much better than I anticipated. Well acted and creative plot. I especially enjoyed the grandmother's character and the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter.

A Simple Life: Very down-to-earth, documentary-feeling Asian film about a housekeeper who joins a retirement home. I actually did believe for a little bit that I was just watching a woman's real life. It was long and painstakingly detailed, but still sweet.

A Cat in Paris: Fantastic, delightful animated French film. Funny and heartwarming. Watch it if you ever get the chance!

Tangled: Love it!

The Sword in the Stone: Merlin is SO hilarious.

Howl's Moving Castle: Matthew was really in the mood to watch it, so I came along for the ride. It isn't my favorite Miyazaki, and I wasn't blown away by the book either, but despite the so-so plot it's still just a very visually appealing film.

Enchanted: Such a feel-good film. For favorite parts, I'm torn between UM EVERY SONG EVER and the moment where the Queen is hiding Giselle in the elevator and feigns surprise at seeing her ("Oh.... her.").

Spirit: I remember thinking this was awesome as a kid. Then I gradually came to think of it as less than mediocre. This time I mostly enjoyed it. There's a little bit of corniness, but I'm mostly just happy to watch horses running around and showing off.

Freaky Friday: Something about this film intrigues and delights me. I like it, but it's hard to say why.

Cinderella: You don't spend a month watching classic Disney without watching this eventually.

Charlotte's Web: This film is so much greater and better than I remembered as a child. I actually really want to read the book again now.

Minority Report: Had to watch a Tom Cruise film to commemorate our "first date" anniversary (watching Knight and Day). This one impressed, despite all the eye-cringing eye-related stuff.

The Parent Trap: This was the first time I'd ever watched the new version with Lindsay Lohan. It was better than I expected (mostly thanks to Lohan's being a believable child actress), and I loved all the references to the old version (especially the fact that old Vicki played new Vicki's mother - and her name was still Vicki!).

Clandestine Childhood: A combination of passionate, anxious, activist propaganda and a simple boy comes of age tale. Although some of it was very emotional (the story of the uncle was particularly poignant), the whole thing overall didn't quite work for me. I had trouble connecting to the main character and thought the film was somewhat heavy handed and manipulative.

Now You See Me: A lot shorter than I expected it would be, and even crazier than I thought it would be (but not in the way that I thought it would be). I think it tried so hard to make sense and be cryptic at the same time that it ended up not making much sense.

Books:

Fablehaven 4: This is my second favorite of the series. Such great characters and story!

Fablehaven 5: Not my favorite, but a good ending to a great series.

Dewey: Sweet and cute book about a library cat. I liked it.

The Finger Points of Sausage Dogs: Hilarious perspective of a touchy academic professor that really summarizes how I feel about academic professors sometimes. Refreshing and funny. And the author (Alexander McCall Smith) is a fantastic writer.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: Interesting and unique book - you can hardly help reading it with the author's devastating experience in mind, and it makes his insights all the more touching.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Although Joyce's writing is certainly hard to follow at times, there were some themes and ideas in this book that really stuck with me. It also reminded me of a lot of people I knew and experiences I've had.

Re-viewed: Robin Hood

 
So I had fun doing this with Lady and the Tramp, and I'm still in the mood for Disney movies from my childhood, so here's my stream-of-consciousness Robin Hood report:

Is this the first Disney film to have male characters cross-dress as female characters? Seems edgier than I remembered. Also Robin Hood's disguised voices are REALLY good. As in I can't even believe it's the same actor doing all of his voices.

I related far more this time to Little John's having to hold up his heavy bosoms with his paws than I ever did as a kid. Ouch.

Skippy shoots an arrow really well for it being his first time.

That castle gate. Security cutbacks?

The charade where Skippy defeats and ultimately kills Lady Cluck as Prince John is a hugely seditious act that I would imagine should get all of them beheaded or thrown into jail at the very least.

Is Prince John actually dangerous or harmless? I really can't tell. They mock and fear him the way I imagine kids do their parents.

WHY OH WHY DO WE NEVER GET TO MEET PRINCE JOHN'S MOTHER?

All the animals in this movie have three fingers and a thumb. Does that seem weird to anyone else?

I'm still impressed with the Sheriff of Nottingham's shooting skills - hitting a moving target isn't that easy. But why didn't Nutsy just leap again for Robin Hood's shot?

Lady Cluck has the best lines. She is also the toughest female heroine of the film.

I just love Robin's proposal. Really, I'm pretty sure I had a crush on him when I was little. Also, I love the "Love" song. It is just beautiful.

So all that fighting and not a single casualty? They all just dance and party afterwards?

This was the first time I watched the film with subtitles and therefore the first time I actually deciphered what Little John said when he said, "Who's driving this flyin' umbrella?" Ha ha ha!

This is also maybe the first Disney movie to do legit gallows humor!

Why does Nutsy call one o'clock and all's well when the clock shows that it's three?

Cram-a-nit-ly is a great word to exclaim.

Two characters in the film say "doing my duty" and both times it made me snicker. I'm immature.

Trigger's helmet magically repairs itself! Also, this is the first time I really actually caught that he was named Trigger for his trigger finger.

Robin has no fewer than FOUR disguises and fake voices in this film. I'm impressed.

It takes approximately ten seconds for the Sheriff to set the entire tower on fire. And then Sir Hiss blames Prince John, which isn't really fair.

I'm pretty sure that every hat that Robin Hood wears gets an arrow through it at one point or another.