Cinderella

Cinderella [PG] - Drama, Family, Fantasy

March 13, 2015 - Disney

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Grade: B+

Up-graded from B.

+1: Costumes (Sandy Powell) and Art Direction (Gary Freeman, Leslie Tomkins).

Par: Story (Chris Weitz, screenplay based on Walt Disney’s Cinderella (1950) and Cendrillon by Charles Perrault).

+1: Cate Blanchett (as Lady Tremaine).

Par: Magic.

-1: Musical moments - lack of.

[synopsis on IMDB]

Note: Bryan is employed by Disney Consumer Products, sister company to Walt Disney Pictures who produced this film. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by The Walt Disney Company or any of its divisions. This blog is not associated with the Walt Disney Company or its divisions.

All About That [Upright] Bass - Jazz Meghan Trainor Cover ft. Kate Davis - Postmodern Jukebox

Published by ScottBradleeLovesYa September 5th, 2014 on YouTube 

So, this one is pretty self-explainatory. The incredibly talented young performer you are watching is Kate Davis, and she’s the real deal. Not only does she possess the kind of voice that will take you back to the days of Billie Holiday, but she can also shred on the upright bass. You know what to do, internet - let’s make her famous, because she deserves it. Find her on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/katedavismusic 

The Band:
Kate Davis - vocals and upright bass http://www.twitter.com/katedavismusic 
Dave Tedeschi - drums http://davetedeschi.com 
Scott Bradlee - piano http://www.instagram.com/scottbradlee 

[PostModernJukebox.com] ... including tour dates.

Postmodern Jukebox is available on iTunes.

Penguins of Madagascar (the movie)

Penguins of Madagascar [PG] - Animation, Adventure, Comedy

November 26, 2014 - DreamWorks

Directed by Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith

Grade: A-

Up-Graded from B.

par: Penguins as chicks.

+1: The villainous Dr. Octavius Brine and Dave the octopus (voiced by John Malkovich).

par: Screenplay (Michael Colton, John Aboud and Brandon Sawyer).

par: Un-cute penguins.

+1: Fun with name puns.

[synopsis on IMDB]

Into the Woods

Into the Woods [PG] - Adventure, Fantasy, Musical

December 25, 2014 - Disney

Directed by Rob Marshall

Grade: B+

Up-graded from B

par: “Disney-fication” of original Broadway musical source material (Stephen Sondheim, and James Lapine).

par: The cast including Meryl Streep (as the Witch), Emily Blunt (Baker’s Wife).

+1: Costumes (Colleen Atwood).

par: “Happy endings” that aren’t so happy and aren’t quite endings.

par: Two princes in musical competition over whose grief is worse, a.k.a. the number “Agony.”

[synopsis on IMDB]

Leonard Nimoy’s Last Tweet

[read the Yahoo article]

[“Remembering Leonard Nimoy, 1931-2015” on StarTrek.com]

The Hero's Journey

Fafa explains Joseph Campbell's famous theory, “The Hero's Journey.”

Published by Glove and Boots on Jun 18, 2013

Glove and Boots is a puppet web series. With puppets. On YouTube.

Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. (Wikipedia)

Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey” or “monomyth”is a basic pattern that its proponents argue is found in many narratives from around the world. This widely distributed pattern was described by Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).  (Wikipedia)

Famed animator Ed Murrieta drops in on local art class

Reported byJamie Miles (special to the citizen) October 23, 2014 on MorganCountyCitizen.com

“This is about art.” — Ed Murrieta.

“Recently, [famed animator Ed] Murrieta braved the drive from Atlanta to Morgan County – on a weekday afternoon no less – to lead a workshop for [illustrator Melinda] Burnett’s middle school and high school art students. Murrieta, a longtime friend of Burnett, has worked with all of the animation greats including Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network. Introducing himself to the expectant young artists he began with smile saying, “I’m not doing cartoons today. This is about art.” A man who worked on such classics as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid and The Powerpuff Girls not talk about cartoons? Well in the end, Murrieta did sketch a few, but the majority of his time was spent discussing the basics of drawing.”

[read the whole article]

The Morgan County Citizen is Madison and Morgan County, Ga.'s weekly newspaper, and sole source for accurate, hyperlocal information.