The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog-2009-Animation, Family, Fantasy-97 minutes

Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker

Writers: Ron Clements, John Musker

Staring: Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Oprah Winfrey

So I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical when I discovered that Disney was making another princess movie.  I grew up with Cinderella and Ariel and the other girls, so years later, I wasn't sure if I was ready for another one. But I was wrong. The Princess and the Frog could be considered a classic Disney princess movie. A little bit of humor, a little love, a little sadness, and a lot of hope.
This movie brought back memories of when I was a little girl and wished on stars, as Tiana did in the film. Tiana was told by her wise father that wishing on a star alone won't get you anywhere - you have to work hard to get what you want. Tiana's wish of opening a restaurant does take a lot of work. She waitresses for two restaurants and saves all her tips hoping that one day there would be enough. Tiana's long-time friend, Charlotte, is a cute little rich girl who gets anything and everything she wants. Including marrying Prince Naveen of Maldonia, who is coming to New Orleans. Before Prince Naveen has the chance to meet Charlotte, he is tricked into having his palm read by a creepy street magician, Dr. Facilier. The Prince is magically turned into a frog and is desperate to turn human again. Hopping his way to Charlotte's costume party, me meets Tiana. Tiana's dressed to the nines for the costume party rightfully as a beautiful princess. Knowing the story of The Frog Prince, Tiana reluctantly agrees to help Naveen by one kiss. Sadly, Tiana isn't a true princess and therefore turns into a frog herself. She and Naveen must travel through the bayou and find Mama Odie to turn them human again before it's too late.
The music in this movie is incredible. The New Orleans jazz is the undertone for most of the songs and is very well written. Trumpeting gaters aren't too shabby, either. The singing is great and the lyrics fit perfectly in the story and aren't even corny-sounding. Each character brings it's own life to the movie and the actors did a wonderful job voicing them to make them unique. The animation is wonderful to look at. Beautiful colors and designs are used and the detail is stunning.
After watching this movie, the moral was loud and clear in my head - work hard to fulfill your dreams. And it's very true.

Overall Grade: A

Unstoppable

Unstoppable-2010-action, drama, thriller-98 minutes
Director: Tony Scott
Writer: Mark Bomback
Staring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson

There could be many arguments for what exactly the theme for Unstoppable is. Some might say bravery, brilliance, dedication, passion, or simply just a lot of luck. Truthfully, they all describe the movie.
The two men who saved the day are very brave, smart, dedicated to their families and jobs, passionate about what they do, and had a boatload of good luck. Even though the opening credits claim that the movie is based on true events, Hollywood certainly added more drama to the entire situation (read the real story here: www.brandchannel.com). The story in the film is about an unmanned train speeding through populated areas with hazardous chemicals onboard. Many different corporations think that it is their problem and have many different ways they want to solve it. In the end, the two heroes figure out the only way to stop the train is to come up behind it, grab it, and pull it in the opposite direction.
The script for this film is well written, but I can't agree with all the casting choices. Denzel Washington is perfect for his character and Chris Pine did a fine job, too. The characters Ned and Inspector Werner were both very strange and their lines made me scoff as they talked.
Be sure to pack along some Advil if you see this movie. Not only is it suspenseful, but the camera likes to move around a lot. It obviously has to because a train moves - and it moves fast - but about half way through the movie, I got a horrible head ache and really wanted this unstoppable train to stop. Even having a still camera on a person's face, the trees and telephone poles behind them made me nauseous.
Overall, this is a very good movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat, but also makes you laugh at the poor quality of actors. Like all suspense movies, you know they're going to get out, but you can't figure out how until you see it. That's what keeps you interested (and not to mention those blue eyes of Chris's). The movie starts out a little slow, but once it gets going, it doesn't stop - just like the train.

Overall Grade: B

Wisdom Gone

The teeth in the back of your mouth give you wisdom. Mine are gone. I'm stupid now I guess.

When your wisdom is taken away, all you get in return is pain, poofy-ness, and soft food. After 60 or so hours, it can still be very, very annoying.

Along with all that comes a few nicknames that will go away eventually, but for now I am known as Chipmunk and a cute Asian...

Not being able to talk normally sucks, too. You have your mouth hanging open to belittle the pain. This only gives you chapped lips and a silly expression 24/7.

Smiling, laughing, singing, and yelling are all out of the question, too.  None of that for a few days.

And you can't forget about playing an instrument. It really sucks when you have to sit and listen when you know you could be playing. Tomorrow I'm testing it out, but I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to play.

The soft food gets boring very fast. When everyone is eating Subway sandwiches, candy bars, and cookies around me, it's not that fun to sit with your third bowl of soup in the past 24 hours. Soup, yogurt, milkshakes (with a spoon), applesauce, and eggs aren't very appetizing after eating them for days.

Taking meds and icky mouthwash isn't that fun either. Keeping an eye on the clock and drugging up every four to six hours is too repetitive.

Hopefully I'll get better soon...