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Filter by Category : Tag : Date

Filter by Category : Tag : Date

The Jungle Book

· Move over Avatar! ·

Apr 16, 2016 / 0 Comments

I’ve never seen the original Disney version of  “The Jungle Book” but when I saw the trailer many moons ago for 2016’s “The Jungle Book”, I knew I had to see it.  I was convinced that there had been some kind of animal trainer involvement or intricate puppeteer work but was astonished to learn that there were no such things. Now that I’ve actually seen it, it’s even more impressive. Every leaf, water droplet, flame, and strand of fur was computer generated.  Avatar while ground breaking was not rooted in reality. THAT is where “The Jungle Book” differs. I want to go to this jungle. It was absolutely beautiful and completely real to me. The stand out character was Idris Elba’s Bengal Tiger,  Shere Khan. Even as an animated tiger, Idris is still sexy (wait, I got sidetracked) he is scary, yes, scary. Seriously though, the animation mixed with Elba’s menacing delivery was a highlight. Neel Sethi who plays Mowgli, the “man-cub’ is very cute, and kudos to him in his first movie having to act with virtually nothing. I could have done without Christopher Walken’s “King Louie” and I wish there was more of Scarlett Johannson’s seductive snake “Kaa”. (Loved her end credits song “Trust in Me”. I think Jon Favreau did an amazing job directing this movie. It was beautiful, exciting, funny, and at times, thrilling. (maybe a little scary for little kids) It got me to thinking, if they can do animals this well I wonder if anyone is thinking about doing “The Lion King” with the same treatment. I think that would be epic. Have any of you seen it? What did you think?

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“This is a story about control…”

· And this is most definitely a RANT! ·

Apr 6, 2016 / 0 Comments

The first time I saw Janet Jackson was in the “Pleasure Principal” video.  I was enthralled. I loved the song, and I loved the choreography. (Which I used to know by heart) I remember at that moment wanting to BE her or at least be her best friend.  A great singer, she has never been, but like Madonna, she had producers (Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis) who knew what to do with her voice and how to showcase it.  It was a brilliant partnership and she re-teamed with them on her latest album “Unbreakable.”  So when she announced a world tour for the album, I knew I had to be there.  I was close to seeing her before, but alas, she cancelled the tour.  Boo! Yet again with this new tour she has either cancelled or postponed dates.  She was supposed to come to Philly in February but pushed the date back to August.  Last night she came out with an announcement stating that her and her husband are planning a family and that she has been ordered to rest, by her doctors.  So she has postponed the tour once again.

Ummmm what? First off, I’m not surprised because as I have told several people, this is her m.o. With this recent development I have to say “Janet, we don’t believe you. You need more people.” I think this announcement is a bunch of hogwash. Janet is pushing 5o years old.  My biggest question is, who starts a world tour and the decides in the middle of it, “Oh wait, I’ve just decided to start a family”? People have committed money and possible time to see her and since this is NOT the first time she has pulled this, I am having trouble believing her story.  I think that it’s awesome that she wants a family and is in the process of making that happen by whatever means, however if that was her goal, I think she should have planned appropriately because guess what? She’s running out of time where people will continue to care. I love Janet and I wish her all of the happiness that she desires, but if this tour doesn’t happen, I’m not going down this road again.  I don’t know if sales were poor or if she realized that she bit off more than she could chew with this tour, because everybody knows that touring is NOT easy to say the least.  Either way, I hope she pulls it together. Now, give me a beat!

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Grace Jones: I’ll Never Write My Memoirs

Mar 31, 2016 / 0 Comments

I never knew that much about Grace Jones other than she was crazy, or so I thought. Like many artists who are completely over the top, the person that they are when there is no audience and no applause, is completely different. Grace’s antics on stage are crazy, but she, she is not. I came away from reading her book with a new found respect. Respect because she did things on her own terms and was always smart enough to know how Hollywood could use a person up and leave them by the way side. This woman has seen a lot. She takes us through her strict upbringing in Jamaica through her modeling days in Paris, and her parting days in New York. As I was reading, I was thinking to myself: this woman is lucky to be alive. There was nothing that she didn’t try, no road she didn’t explore.  There are a lot of models, singers and reality stars that owe her a great debt and she has no problem with making that known in her book. She was brave in how she marketed herself because nobody else looked like her, nobody else sounded like her, and she created something completely brand new.  Yes there was drugs, sex, disco, AIDS, and she lived through it all.  Very fascinating indeed.

 

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After I finished reading all about Grace, the next day I picked up “Try Not to Breathe” and I finished it today, so needless to say, it was a page turner.  This is the first novel by author Holly Seddon. Some reviews compared it to “Gone Girl” which I haven’t read.  This is a mystery/psychological thriller. The story is told through multiple perspectives, and in both present day and the past. The protagonist is deeply flawed journalist by the name of Alex. She is a functioning alcoholic which has cost her, her career, and her marriage amongst other things. A chance meeting leads her to a cold case about a young girl named Amy who was attacked 15 years earlier and has been left in a vegetative state ever since…. or has she? (Cue the dramatic music) Working on this case changes her life as well as Amy’s.  If a good who done it is your thing, I think you’ll like this book.

 

What have you been reading? Please share!

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