My Problem with Disney's Cinderella

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/roadsfromemmaus/2015/03/23/happily-ever-after-yes-really-movie-review-cinderella-2015/

I am going to preface this post by saying that I actually really liked Disney's new live-action remake of Cinderella. Although the story remained very much unchanged the costumes, music and acting made this film the wonder it is. Lily James played her role as the down-trodden yet kind Cinderella magnificently and Helena Bonham Carter yet again shone through her role as the Fairy God Mother and Narrator. My favourite actress of all in this was Cate Blanchett. While I may be biased as an Australian, her portrayal of the evil step-mother was done with such grace and subtlety. She was a vile woman, but you loved her for it. The music was one thing that really pulled this movie together. When Cinderella's mother died (not a spoiler, it happens in the first ten minutes) you really do feel for Cinderella even though you've only had a connection to her for less than ten minutes. This had to be owed to Patrick Doyle's moving score which, again, was a hero of this film. However, despite all this my gripe with this film has to do with the Prince (well portrayed by Richard Madden).

Source: http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/388635-ella-finds-her-prince-on-a-new-cinderella-poster#/slide/1

I will again preface this post by saying that this gripe with Cinderella's Prince extends to all versions of this text. My problem is the message the prince sends. To be perfectly honest, the prince is a bloody idiot. His whole plan on finding Cinderella relies on the fact that no one in the entire kingdom has the same shoe size as Cinderella. His plan is literally reliant on a glass slipper. Now the film does make somewhat of an effort to explain this by saying that the shoe is magical and will only fit Cinderella. That is all well and good for the audience to know but the prince doesn't! The Prince has no idea that the shoe is magical, in fact there is no evidence to even suggest that he even knows that magic exists. Even Cinderella had lost her belief in it until the eccentric Fairy God Mother appeared. Therefore the Prince is an idiot. There is no getting past the fact that the Prince's plan relied solely on Cinderella's shoe size being unique to her in the entire kingdom. The Prince had no idea that the shoe was magical and therefore only fitted Cinderella. The worse part comes when Cinderella, after seeing him try the shoe with everyone in the entire kingdom, decides to marry that man. What kind of message does that send? Not only is she marrying a complete fool, but she does so having only met him twice. Once was in the woods where she had only a few minutes with him and the second was at the actual ball. I'm starting to get an Anna and Hans (Frozen) vibe from this and we all know how that turned out. All I'm saying is that the Prince is an idiot and that Cinderella is an even bigger idiot for agreeing to marry him prematurely. That is my problem with Disney's 2015 live-action Cinderella.

This post is dedicated to my friend Malavika, you asked for one and here it is. See you all soon.

Catch Up Monday (24/2 to 2/3)

Welcome to the inaugural weekly Catch-Up Monday post. This will only be a short post with a summation of all the posts of the week so that you are able to catch up on any posts you may have missed or just have an idea of what has been talked about that you may have missed. You may also find a segment that you might actually enjoy reading so, anyway, on with the post! The week started last Monday with the last fifty questions in a list of 100 really random questions that I found on the internet. I never realised how random the questions were until I started answering them (I did not read ahead) but you have those answers to look forward to if you go through the blog archive to the right. Monday also saw the announcement of this segment, the final day of the week without a segment now filled. I then missed Tuesday due to homework and Wednesday because it was my father's birthday and we went out for the whole night after school. We came back on Thursday however for another "At the Movies with Daily Lukey" segment where we continued our look through some of the highly anticipated films to be released later this year. The movies I looked at were Annie, Odd Thomas, Endless Love, Transcendence and Pinocchio. You should go check those out as some of them have trailers or posters available as well as a description of each underneath the headings. There are some pretty interesting movies to look forward to this year. We then came to a mixed bag of a "The Week that Was" segment as we mourned the loss of model-turned-television-personality Charlotte Dawson who fell victim to intense cyber-bullying causing depression. The subsequent post was dedicated to all those who have fallen victim to cyber bullying. The Sochi Winter Olympics were then discussed before I reflected on organising a Relay for Life team for my Kokoda group. You will probably get an update on how that is all going this Friday so stay tuned for that. I finished by discussing some of my training with the CFA which has recently started up (and the reason behind this short and easy to write weekly post).

If you want to read any of these posts, just look through the archive to the right or scroll down. See you tomorrow!

Entertainment Wednesday: Frozen Review

Welcome to a new segment called Entertainment Wednesday. This segment is all about entertainment and content will range from reviews to discussions. Anything to do with entertainment is open for discussion in this segment. The first post in this new segment will be a review of the Disney animated film Frozen

Source: http://enmnetwork.com/disneys-frozen/

My Rating: 8/10

Trailer:



Synopsis: Walt Disney Animation Studios, the studio behind "Tangled" and "Wreck it Ralph", presents "Frozen", a stunning big-screen comedy adventure. Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) has a magical power to freeze things and create snow and icy creations. However, after she nearly kills her sister by accident she has to hide her powers from everyone including her sister, Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell), whose memory of Elsa's magic has been completely wiped from her mind to save her life. Her parents try to protect her but they die when their ship sinks and Elsa and Anna are left alone (see "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" below). Elsa remains in control of her powers until her coronation ball where she accidentally lets some magic loose and shocks everyone. She then escapes to the mountains and creates an icy fortress for herself. In doing so, Elsa has unwittingly trapped the kingdom of Arandelle in an eternal Winter. Anna then sets off to find her sister and convince her to put an end to the winter. Along the way she receives help from an ice-seller named Kristoff (voiced by Jonathon Groff) and his trusty reindeer Sven. They also meet a snowman named Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad) who was brought to life through Elsa's magic. Together, this unlikely troupe must put an end to the eternal Winter, save Arandelle as well as Elsa.

Review: I went in to this film expecting nothing more than a Disney-animated "kid" film. However, I was surprised at the quality and the depth in story-telling that this movie presented. It had the right balance of heart, story and comedy which made for an enjoyable experience. It also had a wide repertoire of hard-hitting and catchy songs. The highlights being "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" and "Let it Go" (a song being heralded as the new Defying Gravity and nominated for a Grammy for best original song). You can listen to both songs by scrolling down below. My favourite character would have to be Olaf, a snowman created by Elsa's magic who dreams of Summer and heat (blissfully unaware of what happens to snow under heat). He is also a big source of comedy and makes the movie so much more enjoyable. The story-telling is also very heart-felt and you do end up feeling for the character's of Elsa and Anna. If you are looking for a good movie to watch, this is one to seriously consider.

"Let it Go" sung by Idina Menzel as Elsa:



"Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" sung by Kristen Bell, Agatha Lee Mon and Katie Lopez as Anna (at various ages):




Frozen is one of Disney's best Christmas movies, see you tomorrow!

Parent Teacher Interviews

So today was Parent Teacher Interviews at my school for students with surnames starting from A to M and next Wednesday (1st May) the other students (N-Z) have their interviews. That means we get two days off school (Hooray!) which is really good for us because this week we also have Thursday off for ANZAC day which means we only go to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday which means any homework we get that day can be done the next so we can relax. I still do the homework the night I get it though so I can relax the whole day and if something happens and I can't complete my homework (in case the TV turns itself on or  a DVD plays itself) I don't have to worry. Anyway, back to Parent Teacher Interviews.

So I get there early and so I go to my locker to get my books before going up to my first interview with my Science Teacher. When we get there we are still early which means we get to see the people before us go up and we notice how long she (the Science Teacher) talks for. I mean, she was talking for ages and always going overtime and we were lucky to get in just five minutes after our scheduled time but Mum was getting really worried even though I had left a five minute gap between each interview in case this happened. So when we got in to the interview Mum knew we only had five minutes until the next one so she was really asking questions that got to the point but it was all fine. My interviews are always good and the only problem the teacher had was that I had got a Very Good mark (somewhere above 75%) instead of an Excellent (somewhere above 80%) where the rest of my marks were. The science teacher being slow was actually a blessing because we got to the Maths teacher as she was finishing up with the previous student which was really good timing. The rest of the interviews went really well and were not as long as the Science teacher and they were all good [they never aren't ;) ]. My methods teacher was really quiet and it was funny because my Mum was doing a lot of the talking and when she asked "Is there anything Luke could improve on?" he just stared at his screen for a while and went "Uhmmm, no" and it was a little obvious that he wasn't a big fan of Parent Teacher Interviews. The other teachers were good and it was all good interviews (which I already said I think).

I really believe Parent Teacher Interviews are great because the parents/guardians get to hear straight from the teachers instead of a garbled version of what the student may tell them to make a bad mark seem better. I know some students who wait until the last minute to get their interviews so that they can't because of the teacher being booked out so they don't have to see them. So Parent Teacher Interviews, I really like them. Plus, I make all my interviews on the first day so I can see the teachers I (well, my Mum) wants to see at the times I want so I can leave enough space in between to prepare for teachers who talk too much (Science), talk too little (Maths Methods) or talk for the right amount of time (the rest). As long as its good reviews it can go for as long as they want.

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye

Oblivion Review

My Rating: 9/10

Synopsis (Click here for source): 
Tom Cruise starts in Oblivion, an original and groundbreaking cinematic event from the director of TRON: Legacy and the producer of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man's confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind.

Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs. Jack's mission is nearly complete.

Living in and patrolling the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

My Review:
Oblivion is a huge success and is one of the best action/sci-fi movies out to-date. The action in the movie is not in your face and the suspense just keeps you glued to the screen waiting to see what happens. An exemplary writing skill is shown in this movie as you are left questioning right to the very end and the writers make you believe something at the start and then they show that everything is not quite as it seems. It is a cinematic success and the dystopian landscapes with constant hints to well-known Earth landmarks, such as the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge, add another layer to an already multi-faceted movie experience.

The acting of Tom Cruise (as Jack Harper), Morgan Freeman (as Malcolm Beech, one of the 'rebels'), Olga Kurylenko (as the stranger from Jack's past, a past he has no memory of) and Andrea Riseborough (as Victoria, Jack's partner [in work and bed]) is exceptional and adds yet another layer to the movie. The characters at the start seem entirely different to what they do at the end and this is partly due to the acting because no matter how good a script, if you don't have good actors playing the parts then the story is just unbelievable.

So that is another thing that provides this movie with some intrigue, it is believable. Despite the sci-fi aspect it is still a realistic futuristic Earth, ravaged by war of the greatest scale ever witnessed, that can be related to because of the use of famous landmarks such as the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge and they explain how the Earth got to how it did.

Overall it is a great movie which is why I gave it 9/10. I am not usually a fan of action movies but there isn't a lot of in-your-face action like Batman, or Iron Man, or any movie really where the last three letters are M-A-N. I really recommend this for teenagers and older (do not take your kids) and even my grandmother loved it and she doesn't like action movies, or sci-fi for that matter. So I urge you to watch this movie.

In other news: Today I had an award ceremony for the Fellowship of Australian Writers because I had submitted a selection of 10 writing pieces to a competition and my work got Highly-Commended (the one under Won) and there were only 4 people (out of hundreds) who actually got any recognition for their work. (1 person got Commended, 2 got Highly Commended and 1 won). Plus, this was an Australian-wide competition so it is really cool that I won.

Also, check out my friend Xavier's Awesome blogs! They are great because Xavier has just a natural sense of humour so you'll definitely enjoy them! Check them out here: Daily Xavier (wonder where the idea of that name came from [he made his after I showed him mine by the way]) and Xavier's Thoughts on Current Affairs

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!