Lies and falsehoods, Padfoot!

Just finished watching Zootopia. I had heard that it was good, but it was so much better than I anticipated! I loved all the little references and allusions to other movies (both Disney and non) and it's also so, SO appropriate for our current situation.

I really can't wait to see Moana now! I mean, I was excited before, because Lin and The Rock, but now even more so. Disney is the best. 

Well, I'm sad that we're not going to get any snow here (WHERE IS MY WINTER, MASSACHUSETTS?) so here are some funny pictures from my Pinterest. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: There is some interesting language under here. And I fucking love Thranduil.

( I'm in a very LotR mood lately... )

Andrew and I finally went to see Cinderella last night, and I absolutely loved it.

Before seeing it, I was torn between being really excited for a Disney fairy tale movie, and feeling like yet another Cinderella adaptation was a bit unnecessary. Fortunately, it was different enough to interest me, and yet totally true to the story and the Disney version of said story (with adorable, appropriate, and not obnoxious call backs to the Disney version, like a cat named Lucifer, and Sing Sweet Nightingale.) I also think there are references to Ever After (or possibly just coincidences) and the Rodgers & Hammerstein version (the prince's name is Kit, which I believe is traditionally a nickname for Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir Karl Alexander Francois Reginald Lancelot Herman Gregory James.

I teared up more than once, including when Cinderella arrived at the ball and everyone stared at her, which is ridiculous because 1. That scene is in every Cinderella movie and has never affected me like that, 2. I was expecting it, and 3. I never tear up at happy things. This movie is just that good.

My only minor quibble is that they went to the trouble of giving Lady Tremaine a motive and some backstory, and then wrote her off at the end in a single line almost as an afterthought. That was sloppy, but it's how the story goes, so I was willing to let it go and just revel in everything else. Her Cateness was phenomenal (obviously) the stepsisters were perfect, the costumes were to die for, they gave everyone (including the prince and the king) more characterization than usual, filled in some plot holes, and that weird CGI thing they were doing to Madden's eyes must have been just in the trailers, because they were a perfectly acceptable, human shade of blue in the movie.

I just loved it. I already want to see it again. (And Frozen Fever was amazing too. I need more Frozen.)

So, I'm not exactly a gamer, and I'm surely not a video game expert, but please indulge my comments on this list of "Ten Video Games that Leave the Violence Behind" (NB: I am 100% all right with violent video games, I was just curious to see what was on the list.)

Number three is Kingdom Hearts, one of the very few (actually, maybe the ONLY) video game I have ever played from start to finish. It is, quite literally, all about violence. Except for the very first level where you go around collecting coconuts and fish, 95% of what you do in Kingdom Hearts is beat the bad guys with your keyblade until they die. The other five percent is gain experience so you can beat them to death more effectively and/or upgrade your weapons for the same reason. Well, there is a story to follow and some things to collect along the way, but it is almost all hitting progressively bigger things until they die and give you all their munny, XP and MP. Who the hell played this and thought it was non-violent? Did they only play the Winnie-the-Pooh part? Just because it's got Disney characters doesn't make it all sunshine and rainbows; my strategy for beating Maleficent was to let Goofy and Donald beat the crap out of her until she was almost dead, while I hid on a high ledge and healed them, then swoop in for the finishing blow. How is this leaving the violence behind?

The next game on their list is Mario Kart Wii. On the one hand, at least the goal here isn't to beat people to death. On the other hand, between blowing people up, being run over, running people off the track, things trying to hit and bite you, and the inevitable swearing and throwing of things that happens in real life when you play Mario Kart (you never really learn to swear until you learn to play Mario Kart) I hesitate to call this one non-violent either. Plus, it allows you to ruin the dreams of your friends and family members, not just pixels.

Further down the list, they have Pirate 101. I've got exactly zero experience with this, but I have a hard time believing that a game about pirates doesn't have any violence in it. Then they have Portal, which I haven't played either, but isn't it about a killer AI? I feel like there's going to be some violence in there at some point.

At least I can vouch that Just Dance is non-violent, unless you're me and are constantly kicking furniture and whacking your hand into the fan pull while you're dancing.



Answer to last Wednesday's song: Science Fiction Double Feature, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. becofoz got this one right!

I know you're all DYING to know what I think of Ariel on Once Upon A Time, so here are some assorted thoughts! I started writing this halfway through the episode, so about half of these were happening in real time, lol.

( Look at this stuff! )


Answer to last Sunday's song: Candy, by Mandy Moore. See, because last Sunday's post was about Halloween candy? No? I guess not, since no one got this.

We watched Nik Wallenda walk across the Grand Canyon tonight... I can't decide if he's brave, crazy, stupid, or some combination of the three, but it sure was an interesting event to witness.

The best part was that they had paramedics stationed at the bottom of the canyon, just in case. You may as well have had a hearse down there, because I don't think you can survive a fall of 1500 feet.



Answer to last Sunday's song: Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Deep Blue Something. No one guessed this.




P.S. letsgokomets is hosting Disney week on her LJ this week, so I'm going to do another round of Disney song quotes here to go along with that. :D

Guys, I finally broke down.

For like, weeks, maybe even months, every time I've gone to Wal-Mart I have resisted buying this doll. I just didn't like the look of her, the color palette of her makeup wasn't my thing, I didn't need another cat... And yet, every time I would go and stare at her and think, "Someday, she's going to be impossible to find, and I'm going to suddenly change my mind about her and want her (like I did with Spectra) and not be able to find her and regret not buying her when she was plentiful and ARGH." So I finally just said fuck it and bought her.


Please enjoy my two Disney Animator dolls propping up my latest MH addition, Caterine DeMew.

I don't know, I guess I just couldn't talk myself out of her anymore. She's a new character! New characters are exciting! She is pretty, her art is gorgeous, and I really REALLY like her shoes (yeah, all right, so the shoes are totally what got me. Are you surprised? You shouldn't be). The colors have grown on me, and my family used to have an all white cat, so it was really just a matter of time.

I haven't opened her yet, but I wanted to ask: Do any of you have Caterine? What do you think? Do you like her? The one I got spoke to me, because she seems to have a softer look around her eyes than others I've seen. I think it's because of how her eyebrows are screened. (Andrew thinks I'm crazy, but I swear they're at a less severe angle than those of the other Caterines I've looked at.) Has anyone else noticed this, or am I actually, in fact, crazy?


Answer to last Tuesday's song: Boys of Summer, and the version I have is by the Ataris.

I just want to record this here now, so I can look back on it later and see if I was right or not: I predicted last week that the direction Once Upon A Time is headed is Regina doing a heel face turn and joining forces with the good guys to fight a larger evil. Of course, that larger evil is her mother (Andrew said Rumplestiltskin, but I shot that down) and after this week's episode I defnitely think that's where we're going.

I have to say that I dig this direction (as long as we all keep in mind that Regina did kill people, people I Emma loved) but she's definitely more of a sympathetic evil than her mom. Also, Reggie being the villain is so last season. ;)

And I didn't tear up towards the end of this episode, swear.



P.S. I am not sold on Mulan. I don't know what it is, but I just don't like this version of her (which is weird, since if you know me, you know I can RECITE Mulan backwards and forwards. LOVE that movie.)