Monday, November 30

Tinkerbell Movies

I know those Tinker Bell fans and parents to little girls already seen these films, but for others that haven't, I thought I'd write a report on the two films, as they both have aired on the Disney Channel. The two TinkerBell films: Tinker Bell and Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure are not bad at all. While they had production problems, fixed by John Lasseter of Pixar--Brittany Murphy was the original voice but with stopping production on one story [which was going to be a trilogy with the male fairies living separate]. I like the final product, it has good storytelling. It has nice and simple arcs. The big plot is that Ms. Bell accepting who she is and her life talents.

When her fairy friends were introduced--and that they each have an element [water, flowers, etc.], I thought they were lame and just cookie-cutter. But the movie introduces them well. The fiaries are in charge of the four seasons and male and female fairies co-exist, just like any other tribe. They are equal in fact. There are 'Season' ministers, two of which are male--Fall and Spring. Tinker Bell's 'love interest' or just friend, Terrence is a fairy dust keeper played by Jesse McCartney. They ration out the fairy dust. Tinker Bell can get carried away, she often learns her lesson after stating it to someone else and realizes her downfall. I hate when young heronies break down and cry at any sight of trouble, she does, but briefly. She is a strong character, she makes mistakes and is not 'perfect' or like Snow White, she's much like a 90's disney cartoon heronie, like Gadget of "Chip & dale's Rescue Rangers" or Goslyn of "Darkwing duck."

Yes, there is the token 'bad girl' or girl with attitude, Vidia [played by the talented voice actress Pamela Adlon], who gets more attention in the third movie Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue. Tinker's friends are rounded out by That's So Raven's Raven-Symone as the yellow light-powered African-American fairy Iridessa, Ugly Betty's America Ferrera and later Angela Bartys as the orange animal-caring Latina fairy Fawn, Pushing daisies' Kristin Chenoweth as Rosetta, the gardening fairy Rosetta and Lucy Liu as Silvermist, the Asian water fairy. Lucy Liu and Kristin Chenoweth are older than the other fairy friend voice actresses Raven, America, and Mae Whitman [who is a great choice as Tinker Bell, she was in short-lived series ABC family "State of Grace."] but they mix well. Her friends don't seem forced to mix but they slowly meld well. But they don't get much characterization in either movie.

Terrence does get characterization in the second movie. The animation is dazzling and they are both beautiful movies. They don't sing in the movie, but the songs are nice, not distracting, they have an Irish jig inspiration.

Source:
The tragey of TinkerBell Part 1
The tragedy of TinkerBell Part 2

Monday, November 23

Claire's same sex realtionship on Heroes


Claire's lesbian kiss was all the rage in the media, but what about how it is being treated. Actually Heroes is treating the relationship pretty well, it is a relationship. They have said so. Gretchen starts out as a creepy character but appearances are deceiving, she is a pretty awesome and sweet character. It is not even a lark, just a kiss. They really care about each other. Claire finds love, she finds someone who adores her and knows who she is, her secret. It is actually sweet. Even her dad knows but they don't mention the word 'gay' or 'experimenting,' just relationship. He even invites Gretchen to Thanksgiving when Claire is down. I love the scene a few weeks ago where Claire assumes Grecthen 'has herself figured out' just because she came out and Gretchen clarifies it. Also mentioning that she has dated more men than women. And it's not even like Willow + Tara in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" where Willow discovered she was a lesbian in college. Claire is not going to up and 'come out,' it's private---it was private for Willow and Tara at first too, but I don't think the producers will leave Claire to only be attracted to men, she may just be bisexual, more interesting. Since her highschool friend Zach [Thomas dekker] was bisexual but NBC didn't approve of it and it wasn't officially mentioned on the show.

Sunday, November 22

Auntie Momma--Cleveland Show, a parody of Madea

On the Cleveland Show, a parody of Madea from the Tyler Perry movies called Auntie Momma appeared in tonight's Thanksgiving show. She continues to say "I'm Outrageous!" Cleveland finds out that Auntie Momma was born a man and still has his--pickle, what they called it on the show. It was a great episode because it did not just stay there, Cleveland's nasty father was going to have sex with her and he was going to warn her, but there was a lot of layers. It turns out Auntie Momma was Cleveland's new wife's uncle and when she was young and was without a mama, he became her female adult figure. Well, it was not all great---there was a disturbing sequence with Clint Eastwood in the crapper, it was way darker than anything on Family Guy. Also, Cleveland didn't want his son to touch anything that Auntie touched.

Thursday, November 19

Mick Foley on Daily Show


Mick Foley, formerly of WWE, appeared protecting this boy, threatening anyone that would tease him an call him a 'gaywad.' I would hear 'gaywad' a lot too but I do not know what it is. The boy refuses to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance until gay people can marry---equal for all anyone? A substitute teacher prodded him to stand up. I am a substitute teacher and I would not force a kid to stand up if she or he really believed in something ethical. Most cases for me is that if they didn't stand up is because they lie and don't want to stand up. Yay to the Kid! More power to him and yay to his parents! And more power and wa-hoo! to Mr. Mick Foley.


Project Runway Season 6 Finale


I didn't think Athlea was gonna win, I hope Carol Hannah was gonna win and I knew Irina was gonna win. Irina is a bitch, but she deserved it and I love that she got to show off to her father. She said he didn't think she would have no future without a husband I love that he cried, she said she was amazed that he cried and she was touched. Even though I would have wished she had more color in her collection (the judges told her the same), her collection was more cohesive and looked more professional. She can make gold out of dirt. At least she said she had stiff competition. Entertainment Weekly said that the three didn't get to speak on the runway show because of secrecy but they did... weird.

Project Runway Season 7 starts this January 13, 2009!!!!
And they are back in NEW YORK!

Wednesday, November 18

Glee Episode Review "Ballad"

"Ballad"
This episode was about crushes. It is also the episode where Finn and Quinn's parents find out about the baby. Rachel falls for Will and Will knows the look on his face and tries to refuse her. He sings a song to defuse her with Emma in the room. Emma also is infatuated with him. They both don't get it, it is an awesome scene, they both fall for him even more. Rachel tries singing the 90's song "Crush" and he cuts off the song. Finn and Kurt team up, Kurt's crush over Finn and in trying to bond with him, he re-enforces Finn. Finn and Kurt bond over their lost parents, Kurt over his dead mother and Finn over his dead dad. Their scenes are sweet. For the series Glee, I've been waiting for Cory Moteith to snap out of character of Finn, from the teenage character to his real-life 27 year-old self and he did briefly with a look he flashes to Kurt, when he said something inappropriate. I am surprised Finn even understands what Kurt is saying since he uses more advanced words than Rachel does and Finn can not always get the words she says. I love that Finn calls Kurt for advice when he freaks out at Quinn's parent's house.

New character Suzy Pepper [Played by Sarah Drew who played Hannah Rogers in Everwood and sentimental Fashion Club member Stacy Rowe in "Daria."] also has a crush on Will and straightens out Rachel. Puck reveals the truth that he is the father of Quinn's baby to Mercedes, instead of blabbing it like a stereotypical sassy black woman [Like Lisa of Saved by the Bell] and she tells him off to not mess with Quinn like a stereotypical sassy black woman. But it was a good scene, it was very truthful. These sort of things does happen in real life from school to school. And casting Gregg Henry as Quinn's dad was a bit expected as he plays formidable male characters.

Tuesday, November 17

Oprah is big again, I think she will always ying-yang


Oprah Winfrey appeared on O Magazine, asking how she let herself to get fat again. I think she is always going to be fat, she is always going to be in a cycle, fat an slim, gain it, loose it, everything. Glenn Beck also commented on it but isn't he also fat? It reminds me of Dr. Phil, who made a Loose Weight book. And he is fat! He hasn't lost anything! Has he ever used he's own advice? Glenn Beck isn't selling a book, but he shouldn't be judging Oprah.

Neil Patrick Harris: Versatile

I was wondering about actor Neil Patrick Harris in the bedroom, in the articles below, Harris confessed that his favorite thing about being in a relationship with another man is being able to trade off who's on top and who's on bottom. Harris is indeed versatile everywhere!

Monday, November 16

Couples Retreat: Being Omitte is the biggest controversy?

There is a big controversy over the United Kingdom poster of Couples Retreat that omits the African-American couple, but shouldn't the biggest controversy that in the original United States poster has the African-American couple in the back an very small. I know the other couples are small too but they are the smallest in perspective.


Thursday, November 12

Tobey Mcguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers

Tobey Mcguire and Jake Gyllenhaal are so much alike that they are now cast in a movie together as brothers in Brothers, that fight for Natalie Portman. But Jake plays the other man and Tobey plays the psycho. I think it is a bit non-believable, I would have rather seen Jake as the psycho, I think he can take it to a dark place. I know Tobey wants to o something thing but I think he should do more Oscar-worthy movies and this definitely does not look like it will be one. This will be forgotten.



OMG! Cheyenne Jackson on 30 Rock!

Cheyenne Jackson guest starred tonight as Jack 'Danny' Baker on '30 Rock.' He is a famous theater actor now and a great singer, dancer, and performer. He is so sexy and so approachable and is so on this episode. I hope we see more of him!

Related Topic: Eye Candy: Cheyenne Jackson

Rainbow Brite gets a Makeover

[Left to Right: Above is Tickled Pink, Rainbow Brite and Moon Glow]
I am a big fan of Rainbow Brite [Since I was 4! much to my father's chagrin], when Care Bears and Transformers were relaunched in the early 2000's, Rainbow Brite had a mild relaunch with new figures still following the old designs. Not much of the color kids were released. And it didn't make much of a splash and it was not made by Mattel, I forget who. Now it has been announced that Playmates will be re-launching it. I like the boots but don't like the dress design for Rainbow Brite or her dress. Or that the other girls look like her. I am not crazy about the space-age looking collar. And Starlite in this line seems to be female. The Sprites look strange, they have elongated bodies an their face skin colors look like that peach Caucasian color.


Their horses are Sunriser, Starlite, and Shimmer. Funny story, Sunriser in the toyline was called Tickled Pink's horse but in the TV series, she was roe on by no one except for once by Rainbow. And Shimmer is a new horse. Funny how none of her 'new' friends are actual Color Kids. Moonglow and Tickled Pink are from the original series but they were not considered Color Kids, Tickled Pink seemed to be so but never officially mentioned to be so. Also strange that Stormer is not included in this line, as she had a horse too. Well, she had no Sprite. She was in charge of the winter and rain. It seems Tickled Pink here is in charge of sunlight. One more criticism is that I don't like how the girls are all white, for a toyline that promotes color, it would be nice to see more color in their skin! In the original series, there was only one African-American girl and she was Indigo.

[The Color Kids with Rainbow Brite]
Each Color Kid including Rainbow an Moon Glow had little helpers called Sprites. Tickled Pink had no official helper Sprite, but now her new sprite is called Twilite. The Star Sprinkles, what they use to use to color the world are now referred to as Color Crystals. And the girls have wands now. Moon Glow's Sprite is still called Nite Sprite. Moon Glow once had pink hair, now her hair is blue. Starlite is referred to as a 'he' on the official site, Twink her sprite is also male but Puppy Brite is now female, he was formerly male. Twink's new name is now Twinkle. I am glad they kept most of the names. I just hope the other Color Kids come soon, especially Stormer and the male kids. As a young boy, I was happy to see boys there too. My mom only let me have the boy figures.

Rainbow Brite
I like the boots but don't like the dress design for Rainbow Brite or her dress. I am not crazy about the space-age looking collar. I do like that all the colors are on her color belt this time but I don't like how there are fewer colors on her arms.

Starlite
I like how his look has remained the same, I don't like how his toy looks female, they kept the same mold for the same three horses. I love how the rainbow color in his hair is blended.

Twink/Twinkle
I don't like how the sprites are elongated but he does look cute. I wish he had more round things on his legs, his arm is fine, but I wish he had real red, not this soft pink-ish red. It is like the toy makers are afraid of using red because it is a quote/un-quote 'boy's color.' And I don't like how his shoes are like Rainbow Brite's shoes. I know it's not going to be the same as it was as I was a kid, but design-wise, I think they did it to stand out, because there is no where else they could go.

Moon Glo / Moon Glow
Moon Glo's name was spelled like this on the show, not toy-wise. I like how they kept the double skirt. I liked the old colors, but I think they had to go with purple to replace colors that the Color Kids had to fill a void. If you look carefully, she has the same hairstyle and same hairband with star in it. I do like the streaks in her hair, makes her look 'hip.'

Nite Sprite
Nite Sprite was Moon Glow's personal sprite, the only sprite on Rainbowland to have crescent moons on his antennae instead of stars. The new one has stars and has a human-like Caucasian color skin like Twink. I like the different shades of purple on his new look. Oh and the eyeballs now has irises!

Tickled Pink
She wasn't the only 'color kid' to have an outfit similar to Rainbow's---As Patty O' Green had one too but Pink had color arms like Rainbow did. So her new outfit looking like Rainbow's is fine, the sun added to her outfit, is obviously to symbolize she is in charge of the sun. I like that her hairstyle is the same. I loved Tickled Pink because I love the color pink!

Sunriser
Major differences is that she has more colors in her hair an ribbons. Her eyes are the same eye color.

[2009: Twinkle, Sunrise, Twilite, Tickled Pink, Nite Sprite, and Moonglow]
The website has a cute little quick flash animation and the song has a bit of the tune of the old song. It is set in the old Rainbowland and Rainbow Brite is a child back at home on Earth when her friends need her from an unseen 'evil princess.' Strawberry Shortcake got re-made for the third time just recently and the Care Bears get re-made every so often. This year even I heard parents wanting to get a Care Bear suit for their child for Halloween. I was five when I got into Rainbow Brite, my niece is now turning 5, I hope the same for her.
Official Website

Sunday, November 8

Taylor Swift on Saturday Night Live

Taylor Swift did a decent job tonight, she had terrific delivery--especially with The View segment as Kate (from Kate plus 8). It is clear she was nervous, that she kept staring blankly when she stared forward. Some of her reactions were much like with a little kid from Nickelodeon, that it was timed and sometimes didn't match and she would take a deep breath before her line. Also, you can clearly seen to be staring at cue cards. Yes, I am harsh, and like a typical internet blogger, but I love her and I think she should have just relaxed. I think it was a bit too soon to have her do SNL, that she should have had more acting practice. It was a funny episode, with their funniest regular characters back (Peneolpe, Macintosh). They certainly were creative when characters for Taylor to play... Kate and Skeet Delvin--a white female counterpart to Macintosh (Kennan).




Friday, November 6

Eerie but true: Jayden on 30 Rock

Nick Fondulis played Jayden on 30 Rock's episode last night called "Auction Day." My family member that just gave birth on Tuesday, she named her boy Jaiden. The funny part was that she was going to spell it 'Jayden.' My family member's surname is Tyler was going to name the baby so but decided to take the boy's father's last name instead. The eeiry part is that the character's full name is Jayden Michael Tyler. Good she didn't name him Jayden Tyler, the character is crazy. do you know how close the chil came to be being called Jayden Tyler? The child's name end up being Jaiden C. Debose. What could have been right?


Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

The Chippettes debut in the new movie coming in December... Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. I saw first their new look in the trailer on the Aliens in the Attic DVD. The only other show or film they appear in was the 80's Animated Series and Animated Movie. So, let's compare the outfits from how they were in the 80's. I like their new outfits. Of course, their colors are pink, purple, and sea-green, compared to the boy Chipmunks' red, blue and green. Britney has a tie, small pink jacket, and pink skirt; compared to her top, skirt, large bow and leg warmers. Of course, she can't have leg warmers now since that was a 80's fashions. She now has a thin tie, which Eleonore had a tie. Ties were in fashion in the 80's, and they are now in style once again.

Eleonore's tie was thick back then. Jeannette now has a nice jean jacket, magenta shirt underneath, and purple skirt; compared to a large navy sweater, purple skirt and large socks that spill out of her shoes. Where all the Chippettes had shoes before, they have none now like the boy Chipmunks in the movies. Eleanore has a sensible dress and sweater over it; before she had a private school outfit. They have the same hairstyles. When they were in the cartoon, they had human-like skin and little fur, while now they look more like the Chipmunks and lighter color fur. Anna Faris voices Britney, Christina Applegate voices Jeannette, and Amy Poehler voices Eleanor. Amy Poehler is way funny and wild, I don't think Eleanor (she is sweet and motherly) is the right character for.

Thursday, November 5

Project Runway Final Three for Season Six



I knew Gordana and Christopher were going to be voted out. I knew that Althea, Irina, and Carol Hannah were going to win. The second time they had a trio of women! Yay! Great. Gordana and Christopher got pretty far, Gordana for someone with no personal fashion vision and Christopher that doesn't know how what fabrics to use, doesn't know how to design for a woman's body and doesn't have an editorial eye, he is too much into his own head. And Gordana is a great seamstress but has nothing new to show, very safe. Irina is also bitter and that spills into her fashion, making it bland and 'seen that-done that.' Irina gets lucky, she has a sophisticated taste but many times she doesn't know what it will be until the end. Carol Hannah has great taste, style and execution, she has few weaknesses, just does mostly dresses but she knows how to design for a woman's body. I am rooting for Carol Hannah, she reminds me of Leann of last season. Althea has a great vision, very innovative and tailored and really thinks things through. But sometimes she over-designs and gets a bit overzealous.

White Washing Planet 51


The new animated film Planet 51, the male lead is voiced by Dwayne Johnson and Dwayne being of a colorful ethnic background, why is his character white, blue eyes and blonde? He is of half Samoan, half African-Canadian descent and isn't that interesting?--why not use that? Having him be Caucasian is plain and boring, that is almost every other children film with human characters.

A mom agrees with me:
Mom To Mom Forums

Wednesday, November 4

Comcast Commercials with ditzy women

There are these two annoying commercials that keep airing again and again and driving me crazy. I can't find the video, but one is about a woman named Jen who always is surfing the internet and finding out 'information'--just useless trivia. For example, "Did you hear about the man that is turning into a tree?" "This woman fell in love with the Eiffel tower and married it!" And another woman who just can't stop talking. She then goes, "Where was I going with that?" And the female narrator says, "It doesn't matter where is going with that..." If it doesn't matter, then why even mention it? I am afraid these two Comcast commercials make sound like these women are ditzy and all their costumers want is to talk and talk and are dumb. They are belittling their costumers. And these commercials are annoying, not as irritating as others, but still. ANd I am tired of hearing, "And in Amebia (sp), I heard..."



Sunday, November 1

Desperate Housewives/Sprint: When Satire Go Wrong


For a while, Sprint has had these special commercials featuring new characters exclusively for the commercials from the Desperate Housewives featuring cheating husbands and neighbors. But tonight when satire went wrong... a cheating husband is with his mistress in bed, the mistress finds out he has no money when he divorces his wife and she decides to kill the wife... through her iPhone!!! OMG, it is horrible. Yes, it is satire. But some crazy people out there... I mean, my mom complains about violence in Simpsons' Halloween episodes and I tell her that violence is common in even cartoons when she was growing up like Tom & Jerry with guns and anvils. Anyhoo, it was inappropriate otherwise.