Love and Other Drugs, Tangled, and The Lion King

I've been very cultured lately (at least in my own mind :-P). My reviews for today are Tangled, Love and Other Drugs, Burlesque, and the musical The Lion King.

Tangled Adorable from beginning to end. And also the source of my new animated crush (sorry Aladdin). The action, romance, and animation was fantastic, and the cute musical quality of it was perfection. Mandy Moore was the perfect decision for Rapunzel. AND!!! Did you know that Kristen Chenowith was originally asked to voice Rapunzel, but declined?!?! I'm a huge Chenowith fan (April Rhodes was the definition of perfection), but I couldn't imagine Rapunzel with a squeaky voice. Moore's voice just added a little flair of spunk without the obnoxious fairy-tale sort of voice that Chenowith's voice tends to bring (not to mention the fact that Moore is significantly closer in age to Rapunzel). Also, my new favourite animated pet, introducing THE CHAMELEON!!! Sorry, Abu. I've seen the movie twice in 2D, and I'd love to see it in 3D ASAP (hellooooo lantern scene!).

Love and Other Drugs. Saw this last night with Jessi. Definitely a fantastic movie, but I wouldn't recommend seeing it with your parents, conservative friends, in-laws, or anyone you wouldn't feel comfortable talking about sex with. Mainly because this movie has A TON of sex in it. Now, it's not done untastefully, but there's just a lot of sex and nudity of it. I mean, I'm not entirely complaining about seeing Jake Gyllenhaal nude several times (he's mine and Jessi's new celebrity crush), and Anne Hathaway definitely holds her own next to him. My mom mentioned yesterday at dinner going to see the movie with me tonight (BTW, Tuesdays are $5 movies at New Town), but after seeing it last night with Jessi, I love you dearly, Mom, but I don't want to see this with you. On a slightly more somber note, it does deal with the effects Parkinson's has on relationships and how it effects the person with the debilitating disease. Watching Hathaway's character struggle with her Parkinson's was heartbreaking, and I hurt for her, especially in the scene where she was trying desperately to open her pillbottle that held the relief from the shaking, only to find it was empty. I highly recommend the film for everyone looking for laughs, love, sex, and the emotional look into Parkinson's.

Burlesque. I'm a musicals girl. We all know this very well. I have also been a huge Christina Aguilera fan since I got her self-titled "Christina Aguilera" CD waaaayyyy back in the 90s...like I still listen to that stuff today. Cher I think is just a funny-looking person, but I adored her character Tess. The music was amazing, the dance was stellar, the costumes I envy, and Aguilera's voice I would kill for. All of the strengths of the performers were showcased perfectly, but I wish we could have had more screen-time for Diana Agron, who played Cam Gigandet's character Jack's fiancee, Natalie. In the two seconds that she was on-screen, we barely glimpsed her face as she yelled at Jack about cheating and stuff like that, and Agron is just too gorgeous for that (Gleeks will recognize Agron as Cheerios captain Quinn Fabray). Also, I would have liked more screen-time for one of my favourite ballroom dancers, Julianne Hough (perhaps I'm biased because I get like a teenage girl when I see her brother, uber-sexy Derek Hough do his thing on Dancing With the Stars). All in all, I really liked the movie, and would see it again on someone else's dime.

The Lion King. My mom bought tickets to see the Broadway tour for myself, Grandma, and herself as a Girls Night Out/Birthday present. First of all, I have been DYING to see The Lion King since I first saw advertisements of it years ago. I've seen pictures of it, but absolutely NOTHING does it justice until you see it in real life. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. The costumes and sets are just stunning, and the actors (even the kids playing Young Simba and Nala) were fantastic. Julie Taymor is pretty much awesome, as Rebecca would agree. This woman not only directed the musical, but she is the costume designer, mask/puppet co-designer, and did additional lyrics. She's friggin beast. The music was beautiful (my heart melted during "Can You Hear the Love Tonight?" and "Shadowland" ) And who can't just adore Rafiki, who was played by Brenda Mhlongo. J. Anthony Crane, who played Scar, was superb. My only comment for him was that I wasn't thrilled with the way he said some of his lines. I wish I could do voice recordings of how they were done and how I would have preferred them, but I'm not very technologically advanced yet. But he's also a pretty cool guy, too. I got a picture with him after the performance (trust me, the theater nerd in me was doing handsprings). Nick Cordileone, who played Timon, was a riot, as was his partner, Ben Lipitz, who played the gaseous Pumbaa. Tony Freeman, as Zazu, was wonderful, clad in all-blue (even a blue bowler), and a puppet for Zazu. Adam Jacobs, who played older Simba, was gorgeous and talented and could MOVE. Sydnee Winters, as Nala, killed "Shadowland," and pretty much convinced me that I could sing the song as well. She's that awesome. And what would a complete review be without the three hyenas, all of whom were fantastic and hilarious(I had forgotten that Shenzi was a girl). Oh, and the "Stampede! In the Gorge! Simba's down there!" scene was just fantasic, creative-wise and executed beautifully. I'd love to see the show again to pick up on things that I missed the first time.

Oh, I forgot to also mention Unstoppable. I've heard it's pretty good, but my Choo-Choo friends Nathan and Brian were quick to point out the things that were wrong with the movie (like a throttle thing moving by itself) and other inconsistencies. What can I say? I'm friends with train nerds. But I love them dearly nonetheless.

Well, now that I've kind-of reviewed some of the stuff I said I'd review (and threw in a bonus), I'm going to do something productive. Maybe.