The Princess and the Frog

I took Z to see a matinee of Disney's first hand-drawn animated feature in a bajillion years and cried through the whole damn movie. Yes, I was PMSing. But my tears weren't entirely fueled by hormones.

I cried for patriotism. I've never seen a fundamentally American fairy tale before. The Princess and the Frog manages to capture the food, music, religion and culture of New Orleans without veering too far into caricature.

I cried for civil rights. I'm not the mother of a Black girl, but if I was I'd be so glad there was finally a Disney Princess who looked like my child. It may sound trivial, but this shit matters.

I cried for women's lib. Tiana comes from humble beginnings and marries a prince, but she achieves her dream of owning her own restaurant through combination of luck, moxie and a whole lot of double shifts.

I cried for values. The triumph of good over evil is no stranger to Disney movies, but The Princess and the Frog emphasized so many of the values I hold dear: family bonds, empathy, thrift, hard work, acceptance of people's differences, friendship and the power of music to bring people together.

Finally, I cried for artistry. In a world filled with horrifying bad animation, The Princess and the Frog is beautifully drawn and features a fantastic soundtrack. Keep your eyes peeled for the art-deco style fantasy and spooky, hyper-hypnotic voodoo sequences.

Z's take: It was better than Cinderella. But not better than The Little Mermaid.

I saw these movies and so should you

Since last week, I've seen three movies. This is big news for a mother of two small children who works full time and has taken on co-presidency of her daughter's preschool (which is pretty much a second job, albeit unpaid).

This Is It reminded me that Michael Jackson shouldn't not be remembered as a child-molesting victim of awful plastic surgery, but as a musician, a dancer and an artist. I left the movie teary and inspired.

Paranormal Activity gave me some serious willies. I could have used a little less shaky cam (especially after stuffing myself on tamales, beans and queso fundido at Adriana's daycare Halloween party), but it gave me a good scare. I've found that the less gore there is, more better the thrill I get from a horror movie. And this flick is gore-free. Ack!

The third movie was Food, Inc., which I saw on DVD last night. It reaffirmed my commitment to stay the hell away from fast food and continue buying organic eggs and meat. Makes me extra glad I threw an extra package of local ground beef into my basket at the final farmers market on Saturday.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

I don't have any rants today, so you may wish to close your browser and nuke yourself a refrigerated Oscar Mayer sandwich. If you're going to stick around, though, lemme tell you the headlines from the House of Klein.

ITEM! We purchased tickets to Australia. All four of us will endure 20+ hours of air travel in United economy class for the pleasure of seeing my sister, brother-in-law, niece and yet-to-be-born nephew. The trip's not until November, and I'm having some difficulty imagining what it will be like with a 5 year old and a 2 year old, since I don't even know what regular life will be like with kids that old! I'm really looking forward to seeing my sis and her fam, whom I won't have seen in a year and a half, and watching the cousins run wild in her shared backyard, which was apparently equipped with consultation from Pee-Wee's Playhouse: trampoline, sandbox, garden, chickens and a dog. Oh, and they live 2 blocks from the beach. Woo-hoo!

ITEM! I saw Coraline in 3-D last night, and it was a triple-decker ice cream cone for my eyes. I tried not to get too wrapped up in the plot and surrendered myself the magical art direction and 3-D effects.

ITEM! I'm throwing a clothes swap party early next month. I picked a day when a lot of people are out of town for spring break, but I think I'll get enough yes responses to ensure a lively evening of wine, food and free wardrobe upgrades. If you read this blog and live locally, drop me a line and I'll send you the Evite.

Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire?

No? Go now. I was so excited to see Slumdog Millionaire was playing at my local theatre that I immediately booked a sitter and took in a matinee on my day off. It was awesome; eye-poppingly beautiful, desperately romantic, tears-running-down-my-cheeks emotional and the music--I must get the soundtrack ASAP.

Pissed off and inspired

I watched the Iraq war documentary No End in Sight with Josh this week and it made my blood boil. Every single time the Bush Administration had to make a critical decision, they made the wrong one. The arrogance is truly astounding. The tragedy is monumental. And the cost is absolutely astonishing. Please buy or rent this DVD.

But lest I spend this week shaking my head and thinking we Americans can't do anything right in the Muslim world, I'm also reading Three Cups of Tea--what an inspirational story! It chronicles the adventures of a mountain climber/emergency room nurse who, barely escaping death, stumbles into a remote mountain village in Pakistan and ends up building schools for the poor (including girls) in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It's a true chronical of international development, but it is also intensely personal and a gripping story complete with wily criminals, religious zealots, wise but illiterate village chiefs, a kidnapping and a whirlwind romance (Greg Mortenson meets and marries his soulmate in 6 days).

You must see this movie

This post is long overdue since I saw Juno on December 23rd, but I need to make sure that everyone I know goes to see this film. It is the most honest, touching and yes, even quite funny, movie about teen pregnancy you'll ever see.

Not only was it worth the admission price, it was worth the $20 we spent on the babysitter, too!

Across the Universe

I saw a movie last night. In the theatre! Full of teenagers!

I'm not exactly sure how to describe the Beatles musical/sixties art retrospective/love story that is Across the Universe, but I really loved watching it. The story's a little hackneyed and the film is about 20 minutes too long, but the songs are great, the choreography is cool and the art direction is mind-blowing.

Seriously, I feel like it stoked my creativity. A good thing, as I'm going back to work November 6th.

Stranger than Fiction

Josh and I watched Stranger than Fiction on DVD this weekend, and while I enjoyed the movie, I was distracted by all of the setting inconsistencies. I think I was driving Josh nuts with my observations since he was much more irritated by the film's supposed plot holes, but heck, what's my blog for if I can't air a few grievances?

So here we go. The movie was obviously shot in Chicago, but no references are made to Chicago...just "this city." Will Ferrell catches a CTA bus every day, but he says to a fellow rider, "Don't you just love the MTA?" He uses a pay phone in the "6th street station," which appears to be under Daley Plaza. I'm pretty sure it was the Jackson tunnel; there's definitely no 6th street downtown. And I'm pretty sure the IRS doesn't have a major office in Chicago anyway. We send our returns to St. Louis.

What else? Ferrell takes the bus to Euclid Avenue, which is west of the city--a very long bus ride from what looked to be Michigan Avenue. Emma Thompson's character, the author who is narrating Farrell's life, appears to have a studio overlooking the State Street Sears store (not likely), and Farrell's hospital room has a magnificent view of the Wrigley Building--something you can't see from Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Maybe he was recovering at Swissotel?

Amped, the guitar shop where Ferrell buys a Stratocaster appeared to be located in the financial district (um, maybe Wicker Park or Lincoln Square would be more likely). And then there's the professor played by Dustin Hoffman. I'm quite confident his scenes were shot at the modernist concrete creation that is University of Illinois Chicago, but no signs or flags identified the school.

Two Dystopian Futures

I guess I'm a sucker for movies and literature set in the future. I loved The Handmaid's Tale and I couldn't even bring myself to hit pause on our DVD copy of Children of Men--I sat through the whole film simultaneously thirsty and having to pee. So I was delighted by Speak Up's clever entry on Idiocracy, the movie nobody saw (excepting me and Josh, perhaps). What I love is all of the screen shots of all of brand names, (d)evolved as they have in a society where the lowest common denominator dominates. Yes, in this bleak future our country is governed by a porn star, our crops are dying because we're watering them with a Gatorade-like sports drink and Costco stretches on for city block after city block.

Pop goes my heart!

I expected a diverting bit of romanic comedy fluff when I went to see Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore in Music and Lyrics Saturday night. But I loved it. Really, I did. And I'm only a little embarrassed to admit I want the soundtrack.

Idi Amin scares the crap out of me

I went to see The Last King of Scotland Friday night, and damn, what a great movie--I think I held my breath for the last 30 minutes.

I'd seen General Idi Amin Dada, the 1974 documentary about the blood-thirsty Ugandan dictator, and Forest Whitaker completely embodies him--much the way Helen Mirren had me convinced she was The Queen.

I'm was a little disappointed to learn that our guide through this account, the magnetic Scottish doctor Nick Garrigan (played by James McAvoy), is a completely fictional character. But they way he is used is genius. His intoxication with exotic Africa, with the benefits that come with being Idi Amin's personal physician and "closest personal adviser," lead us to forgive Amin's excesses for too long. And soon it is too late.

Speaking of dictators, this week's Parade magazine counts down the top 10 living dictators.