Tangled - Disney

Today, I'm going to write about Tangled, Disney's 50th animated film. I did not go see this movie in the movie theaters, but I should have. I watched it a few weeks ago on Netflix instant queue and have watched it like 5 times since, and I listen to songs off the soundtrack a couple times a week.

The story of Rapunzel isn't exactly groundbreaking, but I like this twist. Supposedly a long long time ago, a flower with magical healing powers grew from a drop of the sun that fell from the sky. A naughty crone, Gothel, found it and has been using it for centuries to keep herself young. After time, a kingdom is built, and we see a sick, pregnant queen, and her greiving husband, the king. The people of the kingdom go searching for the mystical flower and find it, thus healing the queen.

Rapunzel is born with beautiful blonde hair, and Gothel realizes that the mystial power of the flower has moved to Rapunzels hair, and that it must not be cut. She kidnaps Rapunzel, locks her in the tower, and treats her like her own daughter that she wants to protect from people who would harm her for her hair. Enter a thief, Flynn, who Rapunzel wants to use in order to see the floating lanterns that the king and queen raise into the sky every year on the missing princesses birthday. After they leave the tower, adventures ensue, and eventually love.

While this isn't exactly a unique story, I still loved it. It was funny. Rapunzels pet chameleon is hilarious, and even the horse Maximus is great. I was laughing so much during this show, and even crying near the end.

Song, wise, I think it's great, too. Mandy Moore has a great voice, and always has, so she lends it beautifully to this project. A couple of the songs are forgettable, but that's the usual Disney way. Others are heartwarming, super cute, and definitely spot on.

I didn't watch this show because my kid wanted to watch it. He couldn't have cared less. I watched this over and over again because it was cute, funny, and just generally heartwarming. I think that Disney did a great job for it's 50th flick.

The box office agrees, according to Wikipedia: "Worldwide, it is the 15th highest-grossing animated feature ever released,[38] the eighth highest-grossing film of 2010 and the third largest animated title on that list behind Toy Story 3 ($1.063 billion) and Shrek Forever After ($752.6 million). It is also the third Disney film appearing in 2010's Top Ten.[39] Finally, it is the second highest-grossing film worldwide produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, trailing only The Lion King ($868.9 million).[40] "

I've decided to include a little snippet from my favorite song in the movie:

Brand New

I love this album. I first heard it when I was a lowly ninth grader starting out my high school tenure at Oneida High School in Oneida, NY.  A new friend, Holly, introduced us. I think I fell in love almost immediately.  This is probably one of my favorite albums of all time, if the truth be told.

Brand New is a great band. I love the overlapping vocals, something that's akin to Straylight Run or Taking Back Sunday. But, if you knew either of those bands, it would be pretty silly to not know who Brand New is.  I've actually seen both of those bands live, but not Brand New. I was at their show once, but I went with the man who later became my husband for their opening act mewithoutYou.  Then once mewithoutYou was done, he wanted to leave. I got to hear 1 song by one of my favorite bands of all time. This album is just rad. The songs are mostly catchy, and the lyrics are genius. 

They followed it with another amazing album, Deja Entendu . I don't know if I can really compare them. It's almost like apples and oranges. Deja is mellower and darker, but still unbelievable. There are lines in these songs that make goosebumps on my brain.

They've had two albums since, and I haven't heard anything off the new one. But, their 3rd album The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me was not my favorite. I really didn't like the dark icky sounds on that album at all, so I just stick to the albums I do love.

Brand New is definitely worth a listen.  Give it a try.
This song is called "The Quiet things that No Ever Knows" - from Deja Entendu

Amazon has lit my fire

Kindle Fire

Oh dear Jesus, thank you. Drooling all day is not good for my clothes, but I wouldn't trade it. 1 more month and I'll have enough of my side-job's cash saved up for this puppy.

Haha Apple. There's no way in hell I'm paying $499 for an iPad when I can get something that could conceivably end up being way better for only $199. I'm definitely not an idiot, and I'm also not the type that pays for luxury goods just because they're luxury goods. I'm all about the price.

I have wanted an e-reader for a long time, but I didn't like the price of the books. I like to read older books, and the local library and I are besties. Amazon is the third being in my little reading threesome. Books for $.01 plus $3.99 shipping is still better than every other place in this town. Now that my library is gaining an extensive e-library, I'm all for the e-readers. Mmm mm mm. 

November 25th people. That's when this amazing little drool-inducing piece of technology will be out, and you can bet that I'll be the first in line at Amazon.com.

My Philosophy

This blog is really my avenue to say what I think, when I think it. I love to read, watch tv/movies, and listen to music.  So, this little slice of the web that's all mine is really about saying what I think about the things I see, read, and hear.

I was reading again the review I wrote about the Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson when I realized that I really just jumbled through the book really quickly.  This is why: I absolutely LOVE to read. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I go searching for advice on whether or not a book is a good one, only to end up reading what's essentially just an abridged version of the book.  That's not what I'm looking for. So, that's not what I'm going to write.  I'll try as hard as a I can to just get the main point across, sparing as many details as I can so as to not ruin the adventure that each book offers to its reader.

I'm the same way when it comes to TV or movies.  I cannot watch TV shows out of order. Once I decide I like a show, maybe from catching it once on TV or hearing about it, I start right from the beginning. I do not like things to be spoiled, at all.  One of my best friends, M, she loves to have things spoiled. Every time I tell her to read a book or watch a movie, she wants to know everything that happens. It drives me insane! I get so attached to what's happening that I really don't want to know what comes next. I want everything to be as big of a surprise to me as it was to the character.

So, readers of mine, please see this place for what it is. It's a place for me to share my love with everyone who comes across it. I want to get you excited about a book or movie, but I don't want to tell you everything that happens. Where's the fun in that?

random thoughts

So, I was driving home from Wal-Mart today after a futile search for pumpkins (why I always wait until only a couple days before Halloween is beyond me), when I heard Nickelback's song "If today was your last day" come on the radio.  It got me thinking that there are innumerable songs about this concept of what would you do if you were going to die soon.

Now, I get the sentiment. The whole, live your life to the fullest, don't regret anything, never forget to tell the people you love that you love them, etc. But, it sure seems like the music industry is beating a dead horse with this one. I mean, just off the top of my head I can think of tons of songs about dying young or living life, or what you'd do with one more day.  The Band Perry, Kris Allen, the above mentioned Nickelback, even Michael Jackson.  They all say the same thing.

What are your thoughts? Are there some concepts that are just completely overdone in the industry? Or can artists really find a way to make this age old concept relevant and original?

The Vampire Diaries - the CW

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Now, I know this show isn't new, by any means, but I have recently rekindled my love for it. I've kept up on it ever since it started, but Netflix recently put it on instant queue so I started over this weekend.  I love this show.  I definitely think it isn't fair that Nina Dobrev gets to be surrounded by hot men all day, but that's life. Lucky her.

In the whole realm of Vampire inspired literature (if some of it can be called that) and TV/movie shows currently popular, I really think this show takes the cake.  No, it doesn't have the crazies following it like Twilight does, but I really think that's a plus for this show.   It's more mature, I think.  The actors are just better all around, incredibly better, and while the whole vampire-werewolf-human-blah-blah-blah thing is just getting so tired, I actually want to see more.  On the other hand, I can't even go to the book store anymore. Every other book is a book about Vampires in some capacity, and they're all generic trash.  The books that this show is loosely based off of were written before the craze, and while I haven't read them, I'd be willing to be that their quality surpasses the rest of them.

Now, I get nerdy.

Vampire lore is old, and varied.  But lately, it's gotten a little ridiculous.   Vampires sparkle? And other than ripping a vampire to pieces and burning him, they're indestructible? Eh.  Vampires aren't like super-ultra-modern hippies.  They're freaking vicious killers.  The Vampire Diaries shows that, but it also shows that they do have weaknesses.  Vervain, wood, etc. And the whole sun thing.  That's way better. I like the more traditional list of vampiric traits, I guess.  Yes, I think vampires can be humans, as in with feelings and falling in love, but to make them seem like essentially helpless little puppies who wouldn't hurt a fly? I don't know about that.

As you can probably tell at this point, I'm mainly comparing this to Twilight. But that's fine. Twilight is the poster child for the vampire obsession going on in TV and literature right now. I think it's excellent that the Vampire Diaries has found a way to make vampires current without taking away all the scary goosebump-raising that vampires are all about.

It's a few episodes into the 3rd season now, on the CW on Thursdays at 8/7c.  And like I said earlier, the first 2 seasons are on Netflix instant queue.  Check it out. You'll be obsessed after just a few episodes.

Ignorance - Paramore

Aside from the fact that I absolutely love Paramore all the time, this song really hits me.

It's really about Paramore, as a group. It's about how Hayley can't escape the spotlight, but she still tries to shine it on her band-mates. She's singled out and judged all on her own, while everyone else basically forgets the rest of the band. They obviously don't like that and probably push back on Hayley from the other side. It's actually interesting, because for most bands, I can't even name anyone but the lead. Only in my favorite bands could I recognize the other dudes/ladies.

I see something else in this as well, in just the song. The idea that you can be best friends, and super close, and then things change and one of you can't accept that. Friendships can be ruined over little things, or huge things (like with Paramore). People change, and we grow up, and it's perfectly natural. Some people just don't like change, and you can't let them bring you down.

All in all, I love this song. I love the acoustic version, too. That version lets you focus more on the words and meaning of the song, but this version is my favorite. I love the music of it all.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns - Rae Carson

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My first review on the new site!  I read this book this week. Took me 2 days, one of those was of me up in bed for an extra 3 hours because I couldn't put it down. It was fast and slow at the same time. The events moved quickly, but the build-up took a bit.  It's author Rae Carson's first book, and it's set to be book 1 of 3 in a series.  This book is written in the 1st person narrative, which is something I usually shy away from, but the author does it quite well. In fact, if I didn't know there were horrible 1st person narratives out there (cough...Twilight), reading an example this good might make me want to read more.

This book is about Elisa, who is fat (girl after my own heart), but still a princess. She's also God's chosen, evidenced by the multi-faceted gemstone, called Godstone, embedded in her belly button (or somewhere in her stomach, I always envisioned her belly button).  So, she knows that at some point, she'll probably be pushed into doing some sort of heroic thing, but she can't really be bothered with that.

She travels a ton in the book, first to her new home after her wedding, then across the desert a few times with a revolutionary band of fighters she comes to lead.  Magic and romance ensue, as Elisa finds someone that twists her heartstrings like her kingly husband never would. They are up against dangerous foes, and it looks like Elisa's time to be called into service is on the horizon. 

This book is really about figuring out who you are, and realizing that you still have control over your choices, even if destiny calls you a certain way. Elisa's strong perspective makes her a lovable character, even if she never thought of herself that way. Many girls can relate to 16 year old Elisa, even if her struggles and eventual achievements seem larger than life.  It's a great read, and I'll be anxiously awaiting the next installment.


eight / ten

Welcome Wagon

Ok world, it's time for me to spread my literary wings and start something real up in here!

I have had a blog for about a year, and it was basically about a lotta nothing. While the whole stuff about nothing seemed to have worked fantastically for Jerry Seinfeld, I didn't have his luck. So, I have decided to start writing about something. My logic is fierce.

What am I going to be writing about, you (invisible person) ask?  I have decided to start posting my take on interesting entertainments that I read, watch, play (maybe?).  I read obsessively, watch movies and TV like it's crack, and even find time to play some fun games (of all sorts). Pair that with the fact that I've pretty much got something to say about everything, and voila! The Cover is born.

Read on, dear friends.