Disney Detox

It all started when I began singing the theme song to the Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven during newspaper. Ms. Komar commented, “It would be really interesting to see what you would be like without Disney for two weeks. Could you even survive?”

I am easily the biggest Disney freak I know. It has been in my life for as long as I can remember, and I dream of one day working for the Walt Disney Company. Clutching my Mickey Mouse water bottle, I hesitantly agreed to participate in this experiment.

For two weeks, I was not allowed talk about Disney, sing or listen to Disney songs, watch Disney movies, use Disney products, or watch programs on Disney affiliate networks like ABC.

Day 1 (9/21):

After switching out many of my Disney products, I walked into school today with a non-Disney pencil case and water bottle in tow. I had to hold myself back several times from singing Disney songs when I overheard things that reminded me of the movies.

The only thing that really frustrated me today was not being able to talk about one of my favorite shows, Castle. My friend Ashley was quite frustrated with me for not discussing the tension between the two main characters.

Because I am trying so hard not to think about Disney, I find myself thinking about it even more. I’m interested to see if this experiment might actually increase my obsession…

Day 2 (9/22):

I couldn’t watch Modern Family last night. Ugh.

Day 6 (9/26):

Peer Ministry Retreat and college apps kept me busy this weekend, so I didn’t feel too deprived.

I realized today just how much my friends talk about Disney. I had to ask them to stop singing at least five times within one hour. It took so much will power not to just join in singing with them.

During class today, a teacher insulted Cinderella just to bother me, because she knew I wasn’t allowed to respond in the princess’s defense.

I can’t watch Castle tonight. At least I have plenty of homework to distract me…

Day 7 (9/27)

I stayed home sick from school today. A friend called to fill me in on what I missed in class. She told me about the speaker we had today. Apparently, Disney was discussed quite a bit. I don’t know if I’m glad I missed it or not. I’m happy that I didn’t have to listen to someone criticize my favorite thing, but I’m sad that I didn’t get the opportunity to hear what she said for myself so I could judge it more accurately.

Day 12 (10/2)

Rapunzel became an official Disney Princess today! I wanted to watch the ceremony, but I’m unfortunately not allowed to. Hmph.

Day 14 (10/4)

My last day without Disney has come to a close. Going without it for two weeks has certainly been a challenge.

It wasn’t difficult at all to avoid using physical Disney products. It took a great deal of effort not to listen to Disney songs, as I always listen to inspirational ballads like “Go the Distance” from Hercules to give myself confidence before what I know will be a stressful day. However, I was able to fill the void with songs from some of my favorite musicals.

By far, the most difficult part of this experiment was not being able to talk about Disney with my friends. I realized just how much we reference Disney, and it felt strange having to hold back all the comments I wanted to make.

I’m not ashamed to say that I am now and always will be passionate about the Walt Disney Company.

Critics of Disney argue that the princesses aren’t good role models. I understand that everything about Disney isn’t magic and fun. However, I feel that, compared to the other media that young people are exposed to, Disney does a fantastic job of creating role models.

The films taught me so much about life: Beauty and the Beast taught me that it’s okay to be different. Hercules taught me to be confident in who I am. Mulan taught me to fight for what I believe in, and that girls can be just as tough as boys.

It’s hard to describe the feeling I get when I watch a Disney movie or visit a Disney theme park. Disney just makes me happy. It inspires me to believe that anything is possible. Disney constantly reminds me to always follow my dreams and to have faith that, one day, I will find my happy ending.

English Books to Movies

There are about 70 books that are read in all the different classes of the English department at Pres, ranging from the required readings of freshman and sophomore year to the electives taken junior and senior year. But whether the books are from writers as old as Shakespeare to 2008’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, the one question that students always want to know is, “is there a movie of this book?”
    It turns out that many of the books that students read at Pres, especially well acclaimed novels, have a big screen counterpart. But which ones? Here are a few movies based off of the books.
Jane Eyre
The most up to date adaptation of Jane Eyre is the 2006 BBC TV series version directed by Susanna White. Since it is a mini TV series it only has four episodes that are approximately an hour to an hour and a half long, splitting the story up so that the cliff hanger for the next episode is something dramatic that happens in the book like when Mr. Rochester’s bed catches on fire. The actress that plays Jane Eyre is Ruth Wilson who has been in numerous TV short series mostly in the UK documentaries that she starred in as herself. Toby Stephens plays the brooding and mysterious Mr. Rochester and during his short career as an actor he won the Sir John Gielgud Prize for Best Actor and the Ian Charleston Award for the main role of “Coriolanus” at the Shakespeare Royal Company in 1994. Another quirky addition to the movie is that Georgie Henley who is Lucy in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe plays the younger version of Jane.
    This produced version of the classic novel  really covers the  book’s original plot line and    the actors that play the characters really  have the spirit and fire that  Bronte originally described the characters to possess. Ruth Wilson may not be as “plain Jane” as a thought Jane Eyre was supposed to be but what she did not bring in character physicality similarity, she brought in the way that she delivered her lines as Jane. When Jane and Mr. Rochester declare their love for each other, Jane basically pours her heart out to Mr. Rochester while still  reminding him that she is independent.  Because of the depth and passion that Wilson delivers Jane’s declaration, I could not move my eyes from the screen to see how Mr. Rochester would respond to her.   Toby Stephens definitely is not the dark, ugly man that I had always envisioned Mr. Rochester to look like but he does fit the internal character description of Mr. Rochester due to the aura of authority and mysteriousness that he brings to the viewers.  The onscreen chemistry between the two characters would not be as   addicting    to watch if the actors had been different.
   
Their Eyes were Watching God

Where the Jane Eyre movie is spoken in Victorian English with British accents and cadences of a different era and country, Their Eyes Were Watching God displays the southern dialect of rural Florida. The Catwoman and X-Men star Halle Berry plays  the independent and free-spirited Janie Crawford who, unlucky in marriage, has to bury three husbands to truly find love and life.

The TV movie directed by Darnell Martin has a certain vibrancy and life about it, creating the rural Florida of the 1930s, where discrimination and sexism is still rife amongst the thinking of people. The talent as an actress that Berry displays in her work is reflected in her role as Janie who goes through so  many stages of life, changing her outward and inward behavior constantly. Berry can go from being the naive 16-year-old Janie to the proper wife of Mayor Joe Starks, to the carefree lovestruck mid-30s woman and finally to the weary and broken-hearted widow come home. The level of drama between Janie and her husbands is really played upon in the movie. Everything is more dramatic and confrontational than the book with Janie having a bigger voice onscreen than what she says in the book. Many main characters of the book like Nunkie, Mrs. Turner and her brother, Nanny and Janie’s mother are either briefly shown or not at all. The movie really focuses on Janie’s relationships with her husbands, not on her internal growth towards finding herself.

Michael Ealy plays Janie’s third husband and love Tea Cake and he sure is a handsome fellow. Their relationship in the movie clings to the one in the book because the couple have a carefree existence, going where they want to as long as they have each other but there is one flaw with it that really drives me crazy. In the book they get married but in the movie they do not and its annoying.  Anyway, entertainment wise Their Eyes were Watching God has the charm that only movies  presented in the 1920s can have that up-dated and fancy new cameras cannot catch. The essence of just filming a movie not in documentary style nor run around crazy but in good old steady camera concentration gives it a powerful yet carefree effect. Berry’s narration is good too because it explains the movie without sounding boring or drawn out like in the Twilight narrations. The movie skips over plenty of important details and characters from the book but the plot line is still the same and the movie by itself is dramatic  and commanding without the nitty gritty details of the book.

Romeo and Juliet
While Shakespeare isn’t often a favorite among students, his famous Romeo and Juliet, read in 9B, usually is.  This tale of star-crossed teenage love is easy to relate to, and the tragic deaths of the protagonists (we really hope we didn’t just ruin the ending for anyone) make the ending really exciting.

There have been a ton of adaptations of this movie, but our English department rotates between two–the 1968 Zeffirelli classic and Baz Lurhman’s sensory-overload extravaganza, which updates the setting to modern-day, gang-infested LA while keeping the language the same.

The Zeffirelli version is much more traditional and creates a wonderful world of 14th century Italy.  The young actors who play Romeo and Juliet are ridiculously good looking and you can’t help rooting for them.  Maybe the only jarring part of the movie is the actor who plays Tybalt, whose voice has such a low pitch that you can’t help but laugh every time he opens his mouth.

In contrast, the Luhrman version, featuring Americans Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles, is a huge, loud, colorful film that never stops moving.  It’s fun to imagine what the world would be like today if everything had evolved except the language.  The actors are faithful to Shakespeare’s words, but it’s strange hearing them spoken in an American accent.  Still, the story–which turns the Montague/Capulet feud into a city-wide Mafia-style war–makes the language easy to understand and shows that the play’s themes remain true today.  Teachers may roll their eyes at this version, but students always love it.
The Laramie Project

On the outskirts of a small town in Laramie, Wyoming in October 1998, a 21-year-old gay student at the University of Wyoming named Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, tortured and left for dead tied to a fence. The Laramie Project was originally a play written by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project.  It’s focus was on the aftermath of what happened to Mathew Shepard that October night and how it affected not just Laramie but the whole country.

    The movie version of the play uses a variety of different filming techniques; sometimes the scenes would be diary clips from the members of the Tectonic Theater Project, describing what it was like for them to interview the people of Laramie. Other scenes were shot like a chronological movie narrating what happened that night from witnesses’ points of view.
    During the movie the company members interviewed people that were friends with Matthew, people that did not know him personally but who gave their opinions on why they thought Mathew was killed and others that were infuriatingly cold towards what happened to Mathew, saying that he was asking for what he got.
    The town itself had a shell shocked view of the matter because many could not wrap their heads around what had happened in their town by their own people. The motto of Laramie is “Live and Let Live” and during the movie that phrase was repeated again and again mostly by the citizens who were trying to from my view point, blame Matthew for being a known gay and for what they thought was flaunting his sexuality to others.
    Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were the two men who tortured and killed Matthew received life sentences even though many wanted them to receive the death penalty. Many emotions and controversial issues are addressed in The Laramie Project, especially pertaining to hate crimes especially targeted towards homosexuals and what legislation there is to prevent cases like Matthew Shepard’s from happening again. It brings to light the reality that you can not just hope that crimes like this will go away, that to prevent this people have to know and The Laramie Project demands you to know and be aware that this is real and not just a random case of violence towards another human being.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 On July 14, 2009, a long line of anxious individuals wrapped around the Almaden Cinema around 10 p.m. Many were clad in long cloaks, yellow and maroon striped scarves and rounded black glasses. More significantly, almost every person present at the movie theater clenched a wand in his or her hands complete with a jagged lightning bolt gracing their forehead. Whether they carried a stick from the ground or a light-up wand from Barnes and Noble, each came for one purpose: the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

So, what can you do for the premiere?

“I am dressing up like Hermione and going to the midnight premiere. I have her hair already and I’m going to use a graduation gown from eighth grade as school robes,” said senior Miro Habib.

Freshman Abby Ford and juniors Hannah Ford and Emily Sklar plan on attending the midnight premiere as well, dressed in robes, of course.

“I am most excited to see where they cut off the ending in anticipation for the next movie,” said Hannah.

If you are worried about being the only one dressed up, have no fear! Individuals around the world find costumes to fit the many characters of Harry Potter.

“This year my friends and I are going to the midnight premiere again and we are all dressing up as characters from the movie. I’m dressing up as Luna Lovegood,” said senior Sarah Kuhs.

Senior Amanda Uyesugi has a plan as well.

“I hope to go to the movie after Feast day! Maybe I’ll don my Gryffindor colored scarf for this movie over my usual Bellatrix Lestrange Death Eater costume. My attire is questionable, however I will definitely be in the theater waiting in anticipation for the first look at Harry Potter!” she says.

The movie premieres the night before Feast of the Presentation, so head on over to your favorite theaters, or ones nearby! Catch the opening at Almaden Cinema Five, Oakridge, Pruneyard or Santa Row.

 

Expelliarmus!

Summer Movies Preview

So many new movies are coming out this summer, but which ones are worth seeing? This dilemma is always plaguing us, but now we have recommendations. So when you are sitting there during summer vacation and do not know what to do with those boundless hours without homework, consider these. Movies are a great way to get together with friends and to catch up once out of school.

The Last Airbender

One movie that looks promising is The Last Airbender. This film is an adaptation from Avatar, not the James Cameron film, but the animated series on Nickelodeon. The movie is not animated like the TV show, but the story line is impressive. The nations of Air, Water, Earth and Fire are thrown out of balance when the Fire nation decides to launch a war against all the others causing destruction for over a century. A young boy named Aang discovers that he is the last avatar, which means that he is the only one left who can use all four of the elements. The movie follows Aang’s quest to save the nations from the devastation of war and to return everything to how it was before.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner are all coming back this summer with the third movie in the Twilight series: Eclipse. In this third movie, Bella is once again in danger as Victoria comes back to avenge her partner, James. Not only is she set on killing Bella, but it appears that she is hatching a dangerous plan as well. In addition to dealing with Victoria, Bella must also make the most important decision of her life: to stay human or turn into a vampire. She doesn’t have eternity to make her choice, as the Voulturi promised to pay a visit soon to see a newly transformed Bella. As a result, Bella is forced to choose between her vampire-boyfriend, Edward, and her werewolf-friend, Jacob. Go to your local theatre on June 30 to see two of the hottest actors in Hollywood in one movie!

Toy Story 3

After taking an 11-year break, Toy Story is finally coming back with its latest sequel, Toy Story 3. Of course, the movie makers are wise enough to let the long lag fall into place in the movie, as it fast forwards into Andy’s life when he is getting ready to go to college. Because Andy doesn’t play with his old toys anymore, he decides to put them in the attic. Through a misunderstanding, they end up in the trash. Thinking that Andy abandoned them, the toys try to escape. Despite their escape attempt, they are unable to reach the safety of Andy’s room and end up in a donation box headed to a daycare. At first, the toys are excited by their new life and new toy friends. However, things aren’t what they seem to be and the toys desperately try to return home – a decision they share with Andy, who realizes that his toys will always have a place in his heart, no matter how old he is. Join this fun 3-D adventure with Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Mr. Potato Head and many other of their toy friends on June 18!

　

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

For all you Disney fans out there, the conglomerate is releasing a new film this summer entitled The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Based off the segment in Fantasia where Mickey Mouse enchants the mop to clean the house, the movie takes its name from the music playing in the background of the scene, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas. The movie tells the story of sorcerer Balthazar Blake, played by Nicholas Cage (National Treasure), who enlists the aid of an apprentice in order to defeat his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Raiders of the Lost Ark’s Alfred Molina). Blake takes on Dave Stutler (portrayed by Jay Baruchel of How to Train Your Dragon) , a normal kid with a proclivity for magic, as his apprentice, and the two must work together in order to save the world.

This movie promises to have all the fun and enchantment of Fantasia, while adding an element of reality by making it a live-action movie. It expands upon Mickey’s character and situation in the movie, allowing us to have a moment of nostalgia, connecting with a character we knew in our childhood, while giving the movie a modern and interesting twist. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice promises to be fun for the whole family, as well as a successor to the Disney movie legacy. Go see this modern-day magic story on July 16!

The Karate Kid

Loosely based on the 1980’s movies we know and love, the newest version of The Karate Kid stars Dre Parker, (played by Jaden Smith) who is moving to Beijing China with his mother (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’s Taraji P. Henson), a single mother struggling to make a living. When he arrives he discovers life is not all it’s cracked up to be in the great city. The young Dre struggles with his forbidden feelings for classmate Mei Ying and the bully Cheng. With nowhere to hide and no one else to turn to, Dre’s life starts to look pretty bleak. Then one day, he meets maintenance man Mr. Han, played by Jackie Chan (Rush Hour). The mysterious figure offers to teach Dre the ancient art of kung fu, of which he is secretly a master. His slightly odd but nevertheless effective techniques prove to be just the thing Dre needs to finally feel welcome in his new home. Meanwhile, he is always keeping his final goal in mind: defeating Cheng the bully in a national martial arts competition. Will he succeed? Check it out when it hits theaters on June 11 to find out!

Alice in Wonderland

March 5 was the must-see release of Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland in stunning 3D. Tim Burton directed this film as a delicious combination of over-the-top acting with lively animation. This movie was well worth the wait, and excited fans all over the world christened their budding spring season with this little guilty pleasure of madness in March. Without a doubt, Tim Burton’s quirky take on Alice is one that is sure to please.

The movie was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s children’s stories Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). In the books, Alice is a child who wandered away from a history lesson and into Wonderland, a world all her own. Fans may be disappointed by this movie because it doesn’t follow the exact sequence of events in the books, and it also doesn’t follow the beloved Disney cartoon version of the stories. However, the movie does provide an interesting spin on a child’s everlasting quest to find out who we really are and fulfill our life’s destiny.

In this fantastical adventure, 19-year-old Alice (played by Mia Wasikowska) arrives in the English countryside at her would-be secret engagement party only to find herself torn between the conflicting societal expectations of a young woman and her own childish desires to chase after a much more interesting white rabbit with a pocket-watch and a waistcoat. She begins living her wildest childhood dreams after she falls down the rabbit hole and into Underland, a magical place she remembers from the imaginative slumber of her 6-year-old self.

From the moment Alice steps into Underland, everyone has been out searching for her. She is reunited with her childhood friends Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Doormouse, and the March Hare. The actors play their characters as if they had just popped out of the storybook and onto the screen. Their flamboyant costumes fit perfectly in a setting that combines elements of an English chessboard and circus animals with just the perfect color of topsy-turvy madness. Wasikowska plays a curious, daydreaming Alice with a sense of recondite wonder that matches that of wide-eyed Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

As her journey progresses, she runs into a zany Mad Hatter, who is an endearingly peculiar character played by none other than the entertaining wild card, Johnny Depp. The story unfolds with Alice’s internal struggle between her aversion to harming living creatures and her predestined path to slay the monstrous dragon, the Jabberwocky, on Frabjous Day. Sooner or later, Alice meets up with the big-headed Red Queen, played by Helena Bonham Carter, who gives an incredible performance as the tartly, demanding, loud-mouthed villain.

As Alice’s adventures began in Underland, the plot unwinds all too quickly in a torrent of random animals and color, but the story becomes much more interesting and easy to follow once the action gets rolling. The special effects are brilliant, the colors vibrant, and the actors are talented and quick-witted. But even as Alice struggles with her fate, the predestined ending in Underland is certainly no surprise. It is “off with its head!” as Alice fulfills her destiny and beheads the monster, just like we all knew she will. The story may have been more impressive if Alice’s fate wasn’t revealed multiple times throughout the movie, but then again, who would be happy with a surprise ending if Alice failed? Still, the real story comes from Alice’s self-realization and discovery of the great, big world in which she finds herself. It’s the same story that all children (and those of us who are children-at-heart) must face sometime in their lives.

With new insight in the world and her great sense of self-knowledge, Alice decides it is now her time to return to the world she had left behind. She boldly refuses the proposal of marriage and takes her place on a trade ship headed to China. Alice discovers that she is no longer a misfit in her own life in Victorian England. With a guilty smile, she takes pride in being bonkers and reminds us that it’s okay since “all the best people are.”

New Valentine’s Day Movies

Whether you want to go see a movie with the boy you’ve liked for the longest time or just want to have a good time with your friends, the movies are always a great way to spend time with those you care about on Valentine’s Day. So get ready to go to the movie theater to watch Dear John and Valentine’s Day.

Dear John is based off of the popular novel by Nicholas Sparks. John Tyree (Channing Tatum) is a soldier home on leave when he falls for the college girl Savanah Lynn Curtis (Amanda Seyfried). However, John decided to reenlist after the attacks on September 11, 2001, which takes a toll on their relationship. This romance is sure to tug at your heart and maybe even bring a few tears. If you loved The Notebook, then you’re sure to enjoy Dear John as well.

If comedy is more your style, the movie Valentine’s Day is a must see. This film has many celebrities playing roles, from Taylor Swift to George Lopez. The movie follows several characters and how their lives intersect on the holiday, similar to the British film Love, Actually. The mash up of actors looks promising for a good laugh.

Traditional Christmas Movies

As Christmas approaches and the first semester comes to an end, we look forward to 13 days of break. No more homework, no more tests, no more papers. Finally! So what are you going to do during your free time? Perhaps read a book; spend some time with your family; take a look at Christmas in the Park? How about watching a movie? Cuddling up on your couch with a blanket, hot chocolate and maybe even some cookies, you can immerse yourself in the wonderful world of televised Christmas magic! The Voice created a list of the top five Christmas movies of all time for you to watch during your holidays.

1. A Christmas Story
This 1980s classic tells the story of young Ralphie, who wants nothing but a BB gun for Christmas. The adults around him warn him that he’ll “shoot his eyes out,” but Ralphie will find a way to get his gun. This Christmas story is sure to please all who watch it!

2.It’s a Wonderful Life
George Bailey is so depressed with financial concern that he contemplates committing suicide. However, as he is about to jump off a bridge, his guardian angel comes to his rescue and shows him what life would be like for George’s community if he had never lived.

3.Christmas Carol
Based off of Charles Dickens’ novel, this animated movie version captures the true meaning of Christmas spirit. Ebenezer Scrooge is an old miserly man who condemns Christmas and all who celebrate it. On one Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, who change Scrooge’s view of Christmas, charity and joy. This movie has been produced many times. Check out the new movie in theaters!

4.Miracle on 34^th Street
Kris Kringle is the real Santa Claus. He is hired to play himself at the Macy’s store on 34^th Street, New York. His joyous spirit and magical powers transform the people around him, especially little Susan and her cautious mother. Kringle’s Christmas spirit is sure to transform you!

5.Polar Express
This Christmas movie shows the power of believing in Christmas spirit. A young boy travels aboard on the Polar Express, going to the North Pole. The doubting boy takes an extraordinary journey to Santa’s abode, discovering the wonder of believing. This heartwarming movie enriches the soul and calls you to believe in the magic.