Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale (Movie Review)

Tangled a.k.a. Rapunzel

Rapunzel a.k.a. Tangled is great fun for the whole family. My mom thoroughly enjoyed it and the laughter of kids could be heard throughout the movie (which reminded me so much of simpler & more innocent days when I was a boy). As a 3D flick it doesn’t have much going for it which was quite a disappointment to me. I’m becoming increasingly wary of 3D nowadays but I had no choice cos’ there weren’t any tickets left for the regular version of the movie when I caught this one.

Anyways, like all Disney flicks, Rapunzel has lessons for us all and the coming of age theme though used before is presented to good effect here especially since our heroine has been locked up in a tower all her life. Mandy Moore does a great job and Rapunzel is instantly likeable the moment you lay eyes on her. Let’s not forget her pet chameleon Pascal and the dashing rogue Flynn Ryder. Look out for the scene in the rogue’s bar – it’s hilarious.

All in all, I personally prefer The Princess & The Frog  for its songs but Rapunzel’s not too bad in that it re-introduces us to classic Disney elements with much gusto. It’s worth a watch especially if your kids are old enough to enjoy a good movie at the cinema.

I give Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale a decent 3 out of 5.

The Princess and The Frog (Review)

The Princess and The Frog

Disney’s comeback to hand-drawn animation is a spectacular hit. It’s great watch and has all the trademark charm of every feature animated film that has come from the studio.

I loved the songs and I loved the characters especially the trumpet-playing alligator Louis. The tale is a simple one, girl kisses frog. Girl becomes a frog. Frogs go on an adventure together deep in the New Orleans Bayou and meets new animal friends.

What’s there not to like? Oh and it’s really awesome to see every character beautifully animated. I sure miss Alan Menken’s music but Randy Newman certainly does a bang-up job in this one with the songs. Look out for Ne-Yo’s song as the movie closes.

Catch it at a cinema near you now!

Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Following the Leader

Following the leader, the leader
Following the leader, wherever he may go

So sang the Lost Boys, Wendy, John & Michael Darling in the Disney adaptation of Peter Pan as they trekked through the wilds of Never Never Land on their adventures. The children trusted the mischievous Pan to lead them which sometimes led them to danger & trouble. Unfortunately the same can’t really be said of us in our own relationship with the Shepherd.

We struggle in following His lead and what’s worse is that we blatantly disregard what He is saying. I figure the problem we have with God is an issue of trust. We DISTRUST Him. We don’t truly believe that He has our best interests in mind & we don’t really think He’s got it all worked out when it comes to knowing what’s best for us. Unlike the Lost Boys & the Darlings, we don’t trust Jesus to lead us in life’s many twists & turns. If you think about it; that’s very odd behaviour if you claim to believe in a God who loves you.

Dare we follow the Leader?

The funny thing is that we trust ourselves more even though we know we are limited in our knowledge & wisdom. The sad fact is that we think we know what’s best for ourselves ALL THE TIME and our egos refuse to acknowledge that we could be very, very wrong about certain things in life. A lot of what the Bible says & teaches is counter-cultural so of course we’d struggle to wrap our minds around it. It’s alien. Foreign. To put it into practice requires us to consciously decide to think, act & speak differently. It’s hard. Why? Because we will be swimming against the tide and it’s not easy to be different when everyone else around you condemns that difference.

The question I have this morning is this. Do we truly know the Shepherd’s voice? Do we trust Him enough to follow Him all the way and like the Lost Boys go into difficult & sometimes dangerous situations because we trust Him? This question of trust needs an answer because once we’ve answered it I really believe that when we stop struggling to have our own way, life becomes a little easier to handle cos’ we can trust God with the results whether they are to our expectations or not.

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

-Jesus-

PIXAR-ing The Weekend Away

Wall-E on Blu-Ray

*Sighs happily* Pixar makes the greatest animated flicks.  I picked up a copy of Wall-E yesterday after hitting Machines in 1U to swap my defective copy of Snow Leopard for a new one.

What prompted this purchase? Well, I caught some of this brilliant movie last weekend on ASTRO whilst celebrating Nineoverten‘s birthday and it looked terrible in low-res which got me to thinking about picking this one up a.s.a.p. I caught this movie when it first came out and I thought it was genius how they communicated so much with so little dialogue from both EVE and Wall-E.

Love is about thinking about others more than ourselves and at the heart of its environmental message Wall-E also has a touching love story between a boy & a girl. It  really warmed my heart to watch the lovable Wall-E melt EVE’s heart.

Boy…  it was great watching Wall-E in 1080p. The colours were vibrant  and it was great watching the animated short BURN-E (you’ve just gotta YouTube it up). I have yet to go through the bonus disc but I’m glad I picked Wall-E up cos’ it’s a great movie made even better in high-resolution. At RM120 I think it’s a worthwhile purchase for a movie-phile like me.

I had Toy Story 1 & 2 playing in the background today whilst ploughing through my email and it was nice revisiting old characters from some of Pixar’s early films. In fact Cars is playing in the background even as I write this post. I love Pixar. Stories always come first and the awesome CG is just the icing on the cake.

I give this revisit of Wall-E & Pixar a 5 out of 5.

Bedtime Stories

Bedtime Stories

Definitely a lot better than “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” and it has lots of cute & funny moments. Of special note would be the bug-eyed hamster and Sandler’s 2 child co-stars. This Disney-helmed flick is fun for the whole family and I must say that I laughed a whole lot in this one especially during Sandler’s story sequences in the movie.

Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5)

Bolt

Bolt

Two words. Totally AWESOME!

I’m not saying anymore. Go catch this one now (I was blessed with a sneak peek courtesy of my MAG member Benny). You’ll love it if you’re 60 and you’ll love it if you’re 5.

Look out for Rhino the hamster … he’s definitely my favourite in this 3D animated flick.

Nuff said!

Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Wall-E

Wall-E

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. It’s heart-warming and at the same time touching. It’s amazing how Pixar never fails to touch my heart-strings whenever I watch any of their movies. What’s great about Wall-E is the fact that a full range of human emotions come from two robots and with so very little dialogue. It’s a beautiful move with an environmental message too! Do catch it! I promise you, you’ll both laugh and shed a tear in this one. Now that’s a guarantee.

Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Meeting The Robinsons Again: Lessons on Moving Forward

"Keep Moving Forward" -Cornelius Robinson-

I just can’t get the simple motto that drives Disney’s “Meet The Robinsons” out of my head. “Keep Moving Forward”. It makes so much sense. I don’t know if it’s biblical or not but it makes a lot of sense to me today to not be trapped by the past.

I know it’s not easy to forget the past. Painful experiences. Mistakes. These things make us the people we are today in a lot of ways. Both good & bad shapes us – there’s no denying that. The biggest mistake really; would be to dwell on these things and allow them to dictate who we are today. We can change. It’s hard work but we can do it with effort and a lot of divine grace. It’s not easy but the results at the end of the day are worth it.

In the past year or so I’ve been learning to leave the past behind and to glean wisdom from my mistakes. It’s so easy to slip back into a negative state of mind and wonder why things have not gone my way but in doing so I risk losing sight of all the good things that ARE already in my life. Living in the present is hard-work though cos’ more often than not we find ourselves trapped in 2 modes of thought:

 

• Living in the past, trapped by our past successes & failures
• Living in the future, never satisfied & always wanting more

Meeting the Robinsons again on DVD has helped me a lot these past three days and reminded me to be content with what I have now and to live each day out as it comes. I know that GOD is in control but I really do have a part to play in shaping my own life. The future is not cast in stone and there’s still a lot to do to live out life and make it good. It’s comforting to know that He can take all the bad that’s happened in my life and turn it into something beautiful in His time.

 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1

Living in the present means forgiving the past (and people too ya?) & learning from it, to have hope for the future but still focus on the now. And that my friend is what it means to “keep moving forward”.

My Movie Hit-list: Ratatouille

Ratatouille.

I am so looking forward to catching Pixar’s latest animated flick Ratatouille. Directed by Brad Bird (who also directed Finding Nemo & The Incredibles) I am sure it’d be as heart-warming and visually gorgeous as his previous two movies. I’ve replaced my Transformers wallpaper on my iBook with Ratatouille wallpaper in anticipation of the movie. It’s gonna be good fun. Wait for my review when the movie opens on August 16th.

For more Ratatouille goodness and wallpapers check out the official site at http://disney.go.com/ratatouille/

Say Cheese!!!