disney movies are tragedies masquerading as kids' films

think about it.  how many disney movies can you name where some tragic event occurs, leaving our main character mom- or dad- or parent-less?  this is a disturbing trend in disney movies. check it out:

disney movies where there is a traditional family - mom, dad, and kids - are pretty few and far between.  off the top of my head, i can think of 4 - lady and the tramp, sleeping beauty, the incredibles, and pocahontas.  

think about stories where at least one parent (usually mom) is killed - bambi, the lion king, and finding nemo.

and then you have the stories where one parent (again, usually mom) is never seen - snow white, cinderella (mom died before the story started), the little mermaid, beauty and the beast, and aladdin (jasmine's mother is never mentioned).  toy story features a single mother. 

and then the movies with no parents at all - aladdin (aladdin is obviously parent-less) and monsters, inc (seriously, where are boo's parents?!).  in the rescuers, poor little penny is an orphan.  alice (alice in wonderland) has a sister, but what about her parents?  tarzan loses his parents in a tragic tiger attack and is left to be raised by gorillas!  what?!  in lilo and stitch, you have tragedy on top of tragedy - her parents are gone, so she's being raised by her sister, but then a social worker (giving all of us social workers a bad name) shows up and tries to take lilo from her sister!  geez, disney! 

when you think about it, disney movies are seriously tragic!  how do we let our kids watch these things?  i mean, come on.  you can't tell me that up wasn't one of the saddest movies you've ever seen....

hunger games

let the hunger games begin!  i'm on the train right now listening to the soundtrack (which is awesome, btw).  i got a manicure yesterday with my hunger games nail polish, smoke and ashes.  i'm bringing the first book home for my parents to read so they can join is at the movie for my birthday.  we had a harry potter tradition, so i'm hoping to start a new one with the hunger games! 

and i promise this will be the last post about the hunger games. 

until we see the movie.

hunger games

ack!  you guys, the hunger games movie comes out tomorrow at midnight!  while i'm super-stoked, i am not a midnight-showing kind of girl.  in fact, i usually wait at least a week to see the big releases.  i prefer to let the madness die down a bit.  our plan is to go next sunday - april 1.  matt is taking me to see it at the imax for my birthday, followed by dinner at p.f. chang's.  my mouth is already watering at the thought of the orange chicken.  i get it every time.  it's so good.

yesterday i went to the dentist and while i was sitting in the waiting room, i picked up the entertainment weekly with the hunger games cast on the cover.  inside was an article about the director, gary ross, and his approach to making the movie.  it sounds like he has a great respect for the books and is working really hard to make the movie reflect the story of the book.  he's making it about katniss and all her fierce-ness.  cuz, dude, she is fierce.  am i right?  anyway, a girl came in a few minutes after me and she was reading catching fire.  she saw me reading the article, and we sort of smiled at each other.  it's like we shared some deep dark secret.  we had a moment.

when i first started hearing about the casting for the film, i was kind of apprehensive.  i mean, liam hemsworth (gale)?  really?  to me, he is miley cyrus's boyfriend, and he was ok in the last song.  but i'm willing to give him a chance.  i didn't really know much about josh hutcherson (peeta), so i couldn't really form an opinion.  then i realized he played the son in the kids are alright and i realized he'd probably do well in the role.  i'm looking forward to that.  i also didn't know much about jennifer lawrence, but i know she got rave reviews for her role in winter's bone, so i have a feeling she'll do well.  the article i read said that she took the role really seriously and that she does a lot of her own stunts.

the casting i thought was totally brilliant?  woody harrelson as haymitch.  he will be perfect.  according to the article, he turned it down at first, but once he read the books and realized how much depth he could put into the character, he was hooked.  he said that he had a hard time with not playing haymitch as a total drunk - he had a tendency to want to over-do it, but the director had to keep reigning him in.  and then when i heard they cast lenny kravitz as cinna, i was floored.  i love it.  i think he'll be incredible in this role.  remember how great he was in precious?  i can't wait to see him bring cinna to life.

ross said that he chose to film the games without a lot of gratuitous violence, and i'm glad for that.  there is so much more to the story and the games than straight violence.  he indicates that he shows more of the fear and anxiety than then actual bloodshed.  apparently, it's still too violent for some, but - it's pg-13 - parents should use their own discretion.

i'm also really looking forward to the soundtrack, which i meant to download last night but somehow totally forgot.  the first song released was "safe and sound" by taylor swift, and it is a beautiful song.  but looking at the rest of the listing, i can't wait to get my hands on it.  arcade fire, the decemberists, glen hansard...be still my indie-loving heart!



do you have plans to see the hunger games?  what are your thoughts on the cast?

girl's weekend

matt went away this weekend for his annual guys' weekend with his best man and a bunch of older guys.  they rent a cabin in the poconos and...do boy things.  so usually i take that opportunity to fully divulge in my secret single-girl behavior.  ie, i watch movies matt would never watch, eat crap, and drink girly drinks.  this weekend, i'm still trying to eat a bit better, and since our house is currently devoid of fun drink ingredients, i've only had a couple glasses of red wine.  but i definitely watched a ton of non-matt-approved movies.

first up, martha marcy may marlene.

source: screenrant

wow.  elizabeth olsen was incredible in this.  definitely a really good movie, and i actually think this is one matt would enjoy.  it was a bit of a psychological thriller, waiting to find out if she makes it in her "new world" away from the cult.  i was a little disappointed with the ending, though.  i won't spoiler-alert, but it left me asking, "wait...what?!"

next i watched twilight: breaking dawn.

source: teengossip

ok, i am not a twihard, by any stretch of the imagination.  it's the opposite actually - i just do not understand the draw of this series.  the relationship between edward and bella freaks me out - it's so intense and yet so awkward.  it feels like they are just not comfortable with each other, at all.  i don't get it.  but i keep watching the movies, hoping that maybe i'll get it.  still no.  for the movie-watching purpose alone, i did actually like this movie, although i was disappointed with the big sex scene.  seemed kind of anticlimactic to me.  i mean, who hasn't broken a bed once or twice?  [yes, i did.  i might tell you about it]

saturday morning i watched my week with marilyn.

source: teasertrailer

i was blown away by this.  10 minutes in, i forgot that i wasn't actually watching marilyn monroe.  michelle williams was just phenomenal.  i have loved her since her days as jen lindley, and it's so thrilling to see her doing such deep roles.  i also totally forgot that emma watson was in this, and squealed "ooh, it's hermione" when i first spotted her.  anyway, this story made me love marilyn but broke my heart at the same time.  genius.

saturday night brought me footloose.

source: mattsmoviereviews

matt made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that he would never see this movie.  he likes the classic and that's that.  but i was curious, so i took the opportunity to watch it while he was away.  truth?  if i hadn't known the first one existed, i probably would have loved this movie.  it was (in my opinion) exactly like the original.  down to using the same lines and the same music.  it was a lot of fun.  but nobody will ever be better than kevin bacon.

and the last movie for the weekend was the descendents.

source: impawards

i debated about renting this because matt actually wants to see it.  but i went for it anyway because...well, i felt like it.  and nothing else was striking my fancy as i stood perusing the blockbuster box.  anyway.  holy sad movie, batman.  i don't know about  you, but sometimes when i watch movies, i put myself in the position of the characters, and it makes movies like this hard to bear.  despite the ridiculous amount of tears i shed, i really liked this movie.  george clooney was incredible, but shailene woodley wowed me.  i'm really looking forward to more from her. 

all in all, i had a really nice, relaxing weekend.  i ran some errands on saturday, weeded our gardens to get them ready for planting, and snuggled with padfoot.  my most exciting purchase?  i stopped by ulta on saturday and picked up a bottle of nail polish from china glaze's hunger games capital colours.  i was torn between smoke and ashes and harvest moon.  ultimately i went with smoke and ashes.  i'm planning to get a manicure later this week before our trip home for the weekend.  hopefully it'll still be in decent shape when we go see the premier (probably on sunday april 1 - we don't do opening weekends!)

on sunday, my dad came down.  we went out for lunch at anthony's coal-fired pizza (it's reaaaally yummy) and then we went to the driving range.  it's been a while since i've played, and i would love to play in matt's family's golf tournament this year, so i need to get out and start practicing.  for not having hit the ball much in the past 2 years, i did pretty well.  it helped having my dad along.  he's an excellent golfer and very patient coach.  i definitely look forward to getting out on the range again and perfecting my skills.

after dad left, i turned on the food network and gave myself a facial.  and then i dyed my hair.  i know most people usually go lighter in the spring, but i felt like going darker.  so it's a nice, pretty, dark brown now.  my hair takes color very well and my skin tone can support pretty much any color i've thrown at it.  and believe me, i've tried a lot - strawberry blonde, super-dark brown, bright fiery red, and deep dark auburn.  i've gone every color but pure blonde and black. 

i've enjoyed my me-time, but i can't wait for matt to come home.  i miss my honey!  what do you do when your so goes away and leaves you to your vices?