Too many movie reviews, but oh well...

I've noticed that out of the maybe 20 or so posts on this blog a lot of them have been movie reviews... oh well.

I saw Tangled today. And it was amazing. Actually. It was a cute spin-off from Rapunzel and the end was great! My friend (with whom I saw the the movie) also pointed out that they did not kiss on the boat under the lanterns, which, correct me if I'm wrong, is a first for Disney Princess movies. Most of the movies tend to have the romantic kissing scene with a cute song in the background and some kind of spectacular light show going on around them. I liked the break from tradition. Also, the ending was good. I'm not one for "happily-ever-after" but I was on the edge of my seat after Eugene/Flynn climbed into the tower the last time to rescue Rapunzel from her "mother". My mouth was hanging open the entire time and I was so absorbed in the scene that I didn't even pause to push the 3D glasses that were creeping off my nose. It probably would have made for a better ending, well a deeper ending, if he had died. But of course it's Disney and if he did the majority of the people in the theater (AKA those between the ages of 2 and 10) would probably cry and be confused... so that wouldn't work. But it still made for a better fairy-tale. Another observation I made, was that in EVERY disney movie there is always one person who gets drunk. Interesting, and more than a little funny since they are supposed to be children's films. Well I give it 5 stars (I may be a bit biased since I have short brown hair -if you see the movie you'll understand- and that's the first princess I've seen that shares the look) and I'm making sure to buy it and put it on all my portable-movie-playing-devices when it comes out.

The Movie Event of a Generation

Yes! The "Movie Event of a Generation"! (AKA Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, also known as HP 7) This past summer I was turned into a bit of a Harry Potter nerd by one of my friends who is more or less devoted to the books. Not in the fan-obsessed way, but more a quiet but sure understanding and knowledge of almost anything Harry Potter. It rubbed off on me, and Thursday night at 11:00 I made my way over to the local movie theater for the midnight premiere!

It was a friendly gathering of Harry Potter fans, some more into the event than others, but more or less a pleasant place. As everyone slowly filed into the theater and friends greeted each other as they passed, it seemed like everyone you knew was there. I saw people that I only run into 3 or 4 times a year, and a few teachers as well. There was yelling, laughing, and people shouting out quotes from the past movies and books, and quite a bit of singing. Mostly AVPM stuff. I used to opportunity to bring along my wand, paraphernalia from the Harry Potter magazine I used to get every christmas, which I had received as a present several years ago. A few other people had brought theirs as well (two people had the same one as me, Hermione's) and some people had even brought wands (sticks really) of their own making. But I was the only one who possessed one in my immediate group of friends present. The term "Pass me the wand!" became our favorite quote from the night.

When the trailers were over and the misty background that appears at the beginning of every HP movie appeared, I am proud to say that I was the first in our theater to yell "EVERYONE BE QUIET IT'S STARTING!" and to my surprise the din was immediately silenced. From then on the theater was as silent as the dead, with a few gasps or sobs with the deaths of Hedwig and Dobby, and quite a few laughs throughout the "romantic" scenes.

At the end of the movie we all loudly filed out of the theater jumping with excitement and discussing the quality of the movie (there was no point in discussing the plot since all of us had already known what was going to happen). When I arrived at my friends house a half hour later (I was sleeping at her house then going with her to school the next day since she can drive and I can't) she, her brother (who is in my grade) and I had an epic battle with my wand vs. his sword that he happened to have in his closet. We pretended it was the Sword of Griffindor and I expelliarmus-ed it out of his hand and into mine with my wand and proceeded to destroy a "Horcrux" AKA a small stuffed copy of the rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The next day at school everyone was still buzzing with excitement about the night before, but soon it died down and we proceeded with our mostly-Harry-Potter-free lives, ready for the New York Wizard Rock Festival (which is this sunday and we are all attending). Although, the presence of my wand at school caused some disturbances and a bit of play-acting with people cursing each other (of course never with the worst of the three curses). And in my science class before our test, my teacher confiscated it from me for the period so that I wouldn't "use it to cheat on the test". I think it is easy to say that Harry Potter is a defining theme of my generation, and we are all immensely proud of that fact!