Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Happy New Year everyone!

Recently NBC aired their live broadcast of the Wiz.  It got me thinking about how many versions of the Wizard and Dorothy's story are out there.  It also made me long to see the original version.  I will admit, with the holidays and all, I've been a bit of a short attention span viewer so I was worried that I wasn't going to make it through the whole film without picking up my iPad or pausing it to do something else.

Well, I couldn't have been more wrong.  There are some films out there which absolutely suck you in and make you feel like a kid again.  All the wonder and amazement are still there for me when I watch that film.

So here's to 2016, my friends.  May it be a year filled with wonder and amazement.

The Wizard of Oz - released in 1939

I'm not really going to revue this film.  If you haven't seen it (which would shock me), I strongly urge that you do.  It's really wonderful and completely holds up to the test of time as long as you remember it was made in 1939 (some of the dialog is a bit dated).  I really watched this more so I could have some context for revue-ing the films below.

I've read so much about the lore of this film over the years.  I went on a mission to find some things I didn't know (and relay some of the more interesting ones that I did).

First, let's just mention that EVERYONE who wore some kind of makeup or extreme costume had major issues.  On the "not so serious" side, Ray Bolger (Scarecrow) had creases in his face from the prosthetics that were so deep they supposedly took a year to go away entirely.  And poor Bert Lahr's (Lion) costume weighed ONE HUNDRED pounds.  Apparently he sweat like a total pig because the lights for early Technicolor were so bright and hot that often the temps rose to 100 degrees.  Bad combo.  On the "serious" side, Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch) suffered burns on her face when her makeup caught fire after one of the explosions (her makeup was also made of copper so she couldn't eat anything when she had it on because it was toxic. Yum!). Jack Haley (Tinman) got a severe eye infection from his silver makeup and Buddy Epson (Beverly Hillbillies) was originally cast as the Tinman but suffered a severe allergy to the makeup and had to leave the film.  Where was Maybelline when you needed it??

This film was directed by Victor Fleming, who also directed Gone With the Wind.  They released THE SAME YEAR.  WTF??  Fleming was brought on both films as someone who would "save them".  He was a highly respected director, yet seemed to consistently be overlooked by many critics.  This may have been because of the rumors that he was "pro-Nazi" and he was also a founding member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (think black listing in Hollywood, McCarthyism, etc). Not great for the image.

Either way, he was brought on to fix the issues with both these films and ended up with two of the most iconic, quoted films of all time. 

The other thing I want to talk about for a moment is the editor of The Wizard of Oz.  HER name is Blanche Sewell.  Back in the day, many of the "film cutters" were women.  Often they only had high school educations (like Blanche...she got her job 3 years out of high school).  They were also (and not surprisingly) unsung.  Often they were truly just technicians, for lack of a better word.  The directors were really making all the choices.  But many of them became true artists, understanding the rhythms needed for film editing as well as knowing what would resonate with an audience.  I was pleased to discover that Blanche was the first editor at MGM to edit a "talkie".  So, so cool.  

Finally, I'd like to do a little shout out to Toto and the Munchkins.  I LOVED Toto when I was little.  Apparently so did Judy Garland, who wanted to buy the dog after the movie (Toto was actually a female named Terry).  Terry's owners said no.  Considering how Judy turned out, maybe it's for the best.  In my opinion, Toto was also the hardest working character in the film.  I think little Terry should have had an Oscar nomination.  Toto gets ALL the jobs done. 

The Munchkins are credited as a group...at the beginning as "the Munchkins" and at the end as "The Singer Midgets" (their manager was named Singer...trust me, at first I was like "they are called WHAT??").  Seriously?  Many of them were also foreign so much of the voice work was dubbed over.  I was wondering about that when I watched it.  Because honestly the Lollipop Guild sounds like they wear their pants a little too tight.  And is it bad that I continually thought "CALL ME ELF ONE MORE TIME!" during that whole scene?  Cuz I did.

(My drink pairing for this film is a Hurricane (call it a Tornado!))

The Wiz Live - aired December 2015

The first thing to know about me is I've never been a fan of The Wiz.  I don't feel any connection to the music (with the exception of Ease on Down the Road, cuz that's a fun song) and Diana Ross was frankly too old to play Dorothy back in the day.   

Additionally I've watched all of NBC's experiments - I mean live broadcasts of musicals - and I've been severely underwhelmed.  The first one was  Sound of Music with Carrie Underwood and Vampire Bill from True Blood.  Everyone looked a bit horrified to even be in it and Carrie slid or tripped or something when she was high on a hill, like a lonely goat.  Yodel-ay-hee-hoo. The second year they put on Peter Pan with Allison Williams as Peter and Christopher Walken as Captain Hook.  Walken could not have looked weirder in his makeup and costume and there was all sorts of strange, homoerotic dancing.  Plus, Allison Williams just wasn't that good.  Both of these had a high mockability quotient.  So I had really high hopes for The Wiz.

In the end, it was pretty meh. In general, the performances were solid enough to not be able to fully mock them.  Shoot.   The girl who plays Dorothy seemed to have a good voice, but was drowned out in the audio mix.  The guy who played the Scarecrow was a good dancer and had a sweet, melancholy expression on his face, but he was no Ray Bolger (that man really danced like he was made of straw) or Michael Jackson, for that matter.  I thought MJ was a bit...fey, I guess...to be Scarecrow but there is no denying the dude could dance.  Ne-Yo as the Tinman was probably my favorite, he was the most heartfelt, but again, doesn't hold a candle to Jack Haley.  And David Allen Grier as the Lion was again just meh.  And that's SUCH a great role!  I don't even think he did one "grrrrff!"  Even Queen Latifah, who I think is awesome, didn't really do it for me.

I think what I always miss in any production of The Wiz is the heart that is in The Wizard of Oz.  By the end you really believe that Dorothy is going to miss the Scarecrow most of all.  You know that she just loves the stuffing right out of him.  I don't ever get that feeling from this show - film or play version.

I'm sure it's super hard to do a "live" show with no audience, but NBC really needs to figure out how to make these more appealing.  Or just keep them ridiculous and shitty because that's WAY more entertaining!

(My drink pairing for this show is a Cape Cod (vodka and cranberry).  Let's call it a Ruby Slipper!)

Oz The Great and Powerful - released in 2013

When I rented this film, the tagline on Amazon was "The never-before-told fantastical adventure with an all star cast!"  Well, they were right about how it's never been told before.

This film is directed by Sam Raimi, which gave me some hope at the outset.  Bruce Campbell is even in it, but his facial prosthetics are so garish that I could barely tell it was him.  Plus, he was a bit part - one of the Wicked Witch's Winkies.  But let's get the to the heart of the matter.  This movie pretty much sucked.  Apparently it was a box office success, but I have a hard time believing that.  First, it sucked.  Second, I barely remember it being in theaters.  And third?  James Franco plays Oz.  And he's really terrible.  Now, I'm not a fan of him, per se, but I'm also not a Franco hater.  I've never seen 127 Hours (can't stomach the thought of the arm!) so I'm not well informed about his acting chops.  But in this, he's wooden and smarmy and I just can't fathom AT ALL why the women fall all over him.  Ick.

The quick story is that Franco plays a magician in a traveling circus about 20 years before the Dorothy events happen.  He beds like EVERY woman in the Dust Bowl and gives them all this p.o.s. music box as a parting gift.  They also all see each other's music box (that sounds dirtier than it is), so he's not so good at the misdirect.  Anyway, he ends up in Oz by the usual means, and it's gorgeous and hyper-colorful.  He meets 3 witches, two are wicked (played by Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis) and one is good (Michelle Williams).  There is a prophecy in Oz about a Wizard coming to rid the place of evil.  Franco gets into some stupid shit with the women and has to magic himself out of trouble.

Sam Raimi does some major nods to the original, which I appreciated.  The first 20 minutes are in black and white and Franco is swept away from Kansas by a tornado. One of the women he's had a fling with turns out to be (or we're led to believe) Dorothy's future mom.  Most of the people he meets in Oz have counterparts in Kansas.  He also creates a walking army of scarecrows at one point and there are Tinkers he befriends who I assume later create the Tinman.  Mila Kunis plays the witch who eventually turns into the green one we all know.  She starts out as a sweet, innocent witch, has a fling with Franco and thinks its love.  This leads to her becoming a bitter, green hag.  Raimi, I think you could have been a bit less obvious with that storyline.  

Franco makes a couple of friends along the way.  One is a nice flying monkey dressed like a bellhop.  He's voiced by Zach Braff and he's pretty cute.  Another is a small china doll who's family was destroyed by the original Wicked Witch (Rachel Weisz).  I know this is going to shock ALL of you, but I think she's my favorite character in the whole film.  She's charming and she's beautifully animated.  I know.  It's like Backward Day.

But maybe my favorite thing in the film (and I even saw that the Hollywood Reporter review mentioned it) is that even though Weisz and Kunis play sisters, they have different accents.  Weisz is British and Kunis couldn't be more American.  This really fucks with my suspension of disbelief.  Well, really it all does.

(My drink pairing for this film is a Dark and Stormy. Let's call this one Transportation.  And have a few, because you really don't want to watch this sober.)

My takeaways:

#1 - Why have I never named a cat Toto??

#2 - James Franco was the third choice to play Oz (Robert Downey Jr and Johnny Depp both turned it down).  This does not surprise me.

#3 - I think what I learned most of all is to find a classic movie you really don't have to look further than your own backyard.

xoxo...hashtagSueslife

The Force will be with you, always

A long time ago (38 years) in a galaxy far, far away (San Jose) I was introduced to the movie that changed my life:  Star Wars.

Never before had I seen a movie that I wanted to live in.  I wanted to hang out with these people.  Have adventures with them. Our heroes were funny, charming, caring, noble.  I didn't want to BE Princess Leia, I wanted to go on adventures with her.  With all of them.

Naturally, I was a self absorbed kid when the film came out in May 1977, so I'm sure I thought I was the only person (besides Norm, who was all in with me) who felt this way.   I didn't realize how far reaching the impact and influence of this film would be.  That it would seep into other people's psyches as well and become a "cultural unifier".  This film's influence is so far-reaching it's mind boggling.  It changed pop culture (phrases like "evil empire"  and "May the Force be with you" incorporating themselves into our daily speech), it pulled 20th Century Fox out of near bankruptcy to become one of the largest media conglomerates and it spawned a shit ton of parodies/homages and spin offs.  It's a movie that stitches people together.  

Naturally there is a lot of differing opinions on how this film was revolutionary.  Many say that it's the first major studio blockbuster (apparently Gone With the Wind was, still holding the record for highest grossing film), the first serialized movie (nope, Bond, James Bond) or the first "event" movie (Jaws or Godfather could hold that distinction).  What no one can argue with, however, is it was the first film to highlight special effects, causing monumental growth in the industry.  George Lucas needed to create ILM because Fox's special effects department had been scrapped.  They pushed the envelope for special effects and I think we can all agree: YAY!!  And the other thing no one can dispute?  George was a merchandising genius.  Lucas gave up $500,000 of his directing fee to keep the merch rights and WHOA did that make George a rich man.

What this film also did, though, was brought back action, adventure and romanticism to the big screen.  The 70's were big on taut dramas and realism.  The stuff a 13 year old girl wasn't much interested in when given the option.  So this became the movie that made me want to work in the movie industry.  It was the closest I could get to hanging out with these guys.

I'm sure none of you are surprised that I'm ridiculously excited to see The Force Awakens.  And it's not because it's a new installment of this universe (I've been let down before).  It's because I get to see my old friends again.  I've missed them, I missed watching them band together to fight the Evil Empire.  I watch the trailers and commercials and when I glimpse Han or Leia or Luke I get butterflies in my stomach and start grinning like an idiot. So I thought, for this post, I'd look into what my pals have been doing for the last 38 years.  Should be interesting, eh?

R2D2 

Kenny Baker (R2) is 81 years old!  Looks like he'd been on a BBC TV show for years (1992 - 2007).  It also looks like he may have come out of retirement to be in The Force Awakens. My Star Wars aficionado friend Dave tells me that Kenny has been in ailing heath for many years.  It does my heart good to know that he's reprising his role.  R2 can't be played by anyone else!!

C3PO

Anthony Daniels (3PO) is 69 years old.  He got married to a woman last year who's 84.  Wow.  You go, Cougar!  Get your droid!!  I can tell you from experience that he does the Presentation Circuit because he spoke at Dreamworks when I was there.  He's riding on 3PO's metal coattails (and not unlike 3PO, he seems to think extremely highly of himself), but who can blame him?  Unsurprisingly, he also does the voice work for all the Star Wars offshoots (TV shows, video games).

Chewbacca

Chewie has always been my favorite character (as much as I love all the others he's the only one I imitate!).  He's the most adorable big walking carpet ever (and really Leia, it's not his fault he's in your way, he's just really big and the hallway is tiny! Chill!).  Peter Mayhew is 71 years old.   He's also ridden on Chewie's  furry coattails but really what other jobs do you get when you're 7'2"?  The best thing I discovered is that he played Chewie on an episode of Glee.  I need to find that, STAT.

Luke Skywalker

When Star Wars first came out, I was 100% a Luke fan.  I was young and he was adorable.  I had the book before the movie came out so I obsessed on the insert with the pictures and Luke just looked so...blond.  And cute.  My mom was like "Nope.  I like the bad boys.  Who's the other guy?" (she always liked Rhett more than Ashley)  Anyway, the film came out and I couldn't argue with her. I mean, Luke is just so. fucking. whiny.  And that hasn't become more charming with time.  Mark Hamill has done almost exclusively voice work (film and video games) for many years.  He was in Kingsmen a couple years ago, which I enjoyed quite a bit.  He has a rather small part, as I recall, so this wasn't like it was the film that ushered him back into the limelight.  It really seems like he works non stop, though, so that's awesome!  And I'm sure I knew this when I was 13 and obsessed, but he was born in Oakland!  Hella cool!

Princess Leia Organa

I really, really loved Carrie Fisher in Star Wars.  She just seemed like the most amazing woman.  I knew she was fairly young, her mother was in one of my all time favorite films (Singin' in the Rain....in the early days of Star Wars I remember that the talk shows, etc, kept talking about how Carrie's breakout role had her playing off of two men, just like Debbie's.  I felt pretty mature because I knew what they were talking about), and she was so clever and witty in interviews.  I wore gold hoop earrings for like a year because I saw Carrie Fisher wear them.

Star Wars isn't the only iconic film Carrie has been in (When Harry Met Sally..."I want you to know, I'll never want that wagon wheel coffee table."  Classic!).  She works a ton.  She's been in movies and TV shows, has done some voice work, is a great writer and created an amazing one-woman show called Wishful Drinking which I was lucky enough to see in Berkeley when it came around.  And her dog's name is Gary.  Gary Fisher.  So good.

I've always (and still do) wanted to be friends with Carrie Fisher.  When I was young I wanted to be just like her.  In retrospect, I'm sure my family is pretty glad i'm NOT just like her.  I don't think I have enough in savings to go to a really good rehab.

Han Solo

Oh Harrison Ford.  We all love you.  Even though you are like 73 and broke your ankle on the Millennium Falcon.  I mean, it could happen to anyone, right?

I was a bit bummed that he left his cool wife (screenwriter Melissa Mathison) of over 20 years to be with Calista "Toothpick" Flockhart.  But he's clearly a serial monogamist because he's been with her for a long time now too.

This guy soared right to the top.  It's not like he wasn't charming and handsome and funny enough in Star Wars, then he had to go play Indiana Jones?!  How can a girl choose???  Han or Indy?  Gah.  Then he creates Blade Runner's Rick Deckard, The Fugitive's Dr Richard Kimble and Tom Clancy's character Jack Ryan to name only a few.  Dude!  Nicely done.

I wrote about Working Girl (which he was in) a few months ago.  I said that Harrison Ford kind of has this specific "style" of acting where he often (almost always) looks" perplexed".  But whatever, right?  Because it works for him!  A lot.  And he also sprinkles in "adorable smirky smile" which puts him right over the top.  Harrison Ford made me "get" what my mom meant about liking the bad boys.  They tend to be way more interesting, nuanced and, let's face it, sexy.  I may have taken her words TOO much to heart judging by my track record...but I'm getting off topic.  Back to Harrison!  According to IMDb he's done over 40 films SINCE Star Wars.  That doesn't count what he did before.  

Harrison Ford is a total movie star. Also, he's just the right height to be a stormtrooper.

(my drink pairing suggestion for this post would probably be a can or two of Tab. Or blue milk if you're a purist.)

My takeaways:

#1 - Have I mentioned that I'm SUPER excited for The Force Awakens?  I am!

#2 - I have a lot of faith in JJ Abrams.  I really enjoyed his reboot of Star Trek.  JJ, I'm counting on you.  Just be cool with the lens flares, okay? A little goes a long way.

#3 - I 've also been reading about another Indiana Jones film (5th) and a Blade Runner sequel.  Honestly, my jury is out on both of these, so I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear about either yet.  One thing at a time.

xoxo...hashtagSueslife

Something old and something new

Hey gang!

So I was traveling a bit this Thanksgiving, so I'm going to offer up one of my early emails (from March, pre-blog) for this entry.  You can see how my format has evolved a bit, but the snark never changes.

I'm also giving you something new:  a holiday carol I wrote called The Twelve Days of Pet Sitting (sung to the obvious tune).  This is dedicated to all those that I have at least given a bowl of food to, if not more (Dobby, Tikka, Mama Cat, the 2 Mama's Girls (fat and thin), Fluffy Boy, the boy cat named Sue, Daisy, Miss Kitty, and of course, my Cosmo).

Sleeping Maleficent:

To be honest, I've really been resisting watching Maleficent.  I'm not sure why...probably the Angelina Jolie factor.  I'm so tired of her "persona" and the whole "I'm a director of lofty topics" that I forget that she's actually a really good actress and chooses some fun films to be in.  So I bit the bullet and started watching it.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film.  First thing:  her costuming is gorgeous.  It's perfect, actually.  She has some fake cheekbones, which are rather alarming  but shape her face exactly like the animated cartoon.  And her actual jawbone is freakish, quite honestly.  It's so sharp and pronounced that I feel like her skin is just painted on her bone.  Creepy.  Her lipstick in this film is a deep, sultry red that looks fantastic.

(Here are the spoilers)  Essentially the plot is this:  Maleficent is a fairy.  Wings, pointy ears, the whole nine yards.  When she's young she falls for a boy named Stefan (I missed the first 5 minutes so I'm not sure why he's in the enchanted forest) and they share a kiss...true love's kiss, or so she thinks.  Actually, Stefan is a power hungry prick, so he leaves Maleficent and the forest to go find his power within the human world.  She takes on the role of Protecter of the Forest.  The humans come in and try to fuck with the forest.  She wins but the king is furious and wants revenge.  He challenges all his squires (?) to kill her.   Whoever kills her will succeed him.   STEFAN volunteers (he really, really wants to be king) and goes to Maleficent.  He sort of seduces her (no sex but she loves him again), feeds her a sleeping potion and CUTS OFF HER F'ING WINGS!!  When she wakes the next morning, RazorJaw Jolie just howls.  It's really touching.  Chilling, actually.  Anyway, she rebuilds her life and is understandably the most bitter fairy in the entire world.  Stefan becomes king, has a baby....etc.  Sleeping Beauty.  One really cool thing is that the scene where she puts the curse on the baby Aurora is almost word for word from the original DIsney film.

There are the three good fairies in this film as well.  Honestly, they are total dipshits.  They reminded me of a less funny version of the witches in Hocus Pocus.  The "smartest" fairy is played by the actress who played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films.  She's kind of always a treat but was a bit wasted in this film.

The twist on this film is that Maleficent keeps watch on Aurora as she grows and falls in love with her (even though she calls her Beastie, which is funny).  She tries to revoke the curse at one point, but can't.  Karma's a bitch, honey.  You do something shitty, this is what happens.  There is a nice twist (not at all unexpected, though) with the true love's kiss that wakes Aurora and the ending is satisfying.

The effects in this film are pretty bad, which surprised me.  There are a couple big fight scenes that look like a game company animated them and the good fairies (when tiny) are most definitely mo-cap, which is just shitty-looking in my opinion (think Polar Express...gah!)

For some reason, in both films, I couldn't get beyond the Spinning Wheel portion of the story.  Essentially, King Stefan commands that all the spinning wheels are destroyed in the kingdom, yet all they do is stick them in an unused portion of the castle.  Seriously??  You can't ACTUALLY get rid of them??  (Let's not even go there with how they made their clothes.)  Also, they hide Aurora for 16 years to be returned on the day AFTER her 16th birthday.  All the good fairies are one step from retarded, apparently, so that gets fucked up, but also I couldn't work out why they thought Maleficent would take action during those 16 years.  She made her stand so why would they all worry that she'd change the stakes?

(My pairing suggestion for this movie is a Disney themed cocktail called Maleficent! (Black Vodka, Grape Schnapps (there's Grape??), Apple Pucker - who knew??))

My second film HAD to be Disney's Sleeping Beauty.  I haven't seen it in years, it honestly wasn't one of my favorites.  It was released in 1959.  I was always more of a Warner Brothers kind of kid, so even though I saw the Princess films, I didn't obsess over them.  Disney captured my heart with their talking animal films, actually.  I had a charm bracelet (from a cereal box, as I recall...they put METAL - it was probably brass- in with the cereal!  It's amazing kids from the 60's are alive at all) of the Jungle Book.  It's the Bare Necessities, baby!

Anyway, the first thing that blew my mind about Sleeping Beauty is that it was created by NINETEEN animators!  WHAT. THE. FUCK.  Madagascar 3 had 70 animators.  Jesus.

It's really a beautiful film.  Again, it was very cool (and respectful) that Maleficent kept a fair amount of the dialog and the story of Aurora is also very similar with the exception of the ending.  There is also the running song in the film "Once Upon a Dream" , which is based on Tchaikovsky's music from the ballet and also has been redone for the end song in Maleficent by Lana Del Rey (it's a great version).

There was a song fail in this film.  One of the first songs had this truly amazingly complex dialog:  "Hail to the King.  Hail to the Queen.  Hail to the Princess Aurora."  That's it.  Over and over and over.....zzzzz.

The good fairies aren't nearly as stupid in this version although it is their rivalry that alerts Maleficent to where they have hidden Aurora (or Briar Rose, which is what they call her to be sneaky...again, not sure why they were so worried since they fucked everything up on her 16th birthday which was the EXACT day they should have kept their shit together).  It's also MUCH more "I need a man to complete me" and in a weird Snow White moment, she sings a song with all the forest animals.  I'm sure this is a metaphor for something that I think I'd prefer not to know.

Maleficent is just pure evil in this film.  I kind of like having a back story for her, it makes her meanness more palatable.

Also two more things about Spinning Wheels (see how much this affected me?).   One is that Maleficent used some of the same shot compositions as the animated version, which I thought was cool.

The second thing is whenever I think of a spinning wheel, I think of Rumplestilskin.  It's a missed opportunity to not use him whenever there is a spinning wheel.  And naturally, he should be played by Peter Dinklage!  :)

(My pairing for this film is the Disney themed cocktail Sleeping Beauty (Kinky Liqueur, Hypnotiq, Sprite))

My takeaways:

#1 - Be careful what you wish for (or curse), cuz sometimes it's irreversible.

#2 - I guess I never really was a Princess girl (besides Princess Leia).  If Maleficent came out when I was young, I'd totally want to be her.

#3 - I really, really do love animation.

And my holiday gift to you:

The 12 Days of Pet Sitting

On the first day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the second day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the third day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the fourth day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Scooped four litter boxes,

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the fifth day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

CLIMBED FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!

Scooped four litter boxes,

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the sixth day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Cleaned six pools of puke,

CLIMBED FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!

Scooped four litter boxes,

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the seventh day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Played seven rounds of Bird,

Cleaned six pools of puke,

CLIMBED FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!

Scooped four litter boxes,

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the eighth day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Heard eight Cosmo meows,

Played seven rounds of Bird,

Cleaned six pools of puke,

CLIMBED FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!

Scooped four litter boxes,

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the ninth day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Swept nine huge dust bunnies,

Heard eight Cosmo meows,

Played seven rounds of Bird,

Cleaned six pools of puke,

CLIMBED FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!

Scooped four litter boxes,

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the tenth day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Felt ten claws need trimming,

Swept nine huge dust bunnies,

Heard eight Cosmo meows,

Played seven rounds of Bird,

Cleaned six pools of puke,

CLIMBED FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!

Scooped four litter boxes,

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the eleventh day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Delivered eleven pills a-poppin’,

Felt ten claws need trimming,

Swept nine huge dust bunnies,

Heard eight Cosmo meows,

Played seven rounds of Bird,

Cleaned six pools of puke,

CLIMBED FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!

Scooped four litter boxes,

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

On the twelfth day of pet sitting, knew my chores and got the key:

Watched twelve Hallmark movies,

Delivered eleven pills a-poppin’,

Felt ten claws need trimming,

Swept nine huge dust bunnies,

Heard eight Cosmo meows,

Played seven rounds of Bird,

Cleaned six pools of puke,

CLIMBED FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!

Scooped four litter boxes,

Found three lost toys,

Got two Tikka sniffs,

And Dobby hissed at me.

xoxo...hashtagSueslife

A Study in Ash

I'm gonna put something out there that might be a bit controversial...I hope it doesn't make any of you think less of me.

I love love love the Cinderella fable.  I know, I know.  

It's weird because I don't think of myself as a Princess-loving girl (besides Leia, natch).  But there it is.   I realized this when I was on my two ridiculously long flights last month.  The new Cinderella was featured and I was super excited.  When I examined why, it occurred to me that there are no two ways about it:  I'm a fan.  And I have been for a long time.  Some of you may know this, but the first kitten I ever had was a Siamese that our elderly next door neighbors gave me (now that I think of it, they must have instilled in me my love of cats; they had two gorgeous Siamese that I adored - and as I recall they had horribly racist names like maybe Ping and Pong? This was the 60's, people, don't judge.  The neighbors were extremely nice people, actually.).  I was about 5 or 6 at the time (this was a big year for me, if you read my Halloween post).  My parents let me name the kitten, which we thought was a girl.  I named her Cinderella.  Upon further inspection, though, we discovered that Cinderella wasn't a girl, so we ended up calling HIM Cindus. I think this name was borne out of me wanting to call the cat Cinders (I think that's the name the horrible stepsisters call Cinderella in the storybook I had) and either I garbled it (I was calling deodorant "dodorant" at the time....God knows why I knew that word but there you have it)  or that's how my Bostonian mother pronounced it.  Cindus didn't have a long life, but he followed me everywhere I went and I loved him dearly.

Since then, not only have I seen the traditional Cinderella films, but quite a few adaptations as well (even the Hilary Duff one...it's terrible but I still liked it (Jennifer Coolidge plays the evil step mother so that's a big plus)).  I guess I'm a sucker for a girl who works her ass off all the time and ends up with a sugar daddy.  Or maybe I like that the shoe only comes in her size.   

I did a bit of research about the Cinderella fable.  The first instance of this story was from 7 BC and featured a Greek girl (yup!).  Not all the elements are there, but there's a lost red slipper.  The version that introduced many of the elements commonly found now (pumpkin, fairy godmother and glass slipper) is a French story from 1697.  There are well over 200 documented theatrical versions of Cinderella (plays and films) starting from the mid 1800s.  That's a lot of fairy godmothers.

On my flight, they also were playing the original Cinderella (as well as an another offshoot film called After the Ball, which was adorably irreverent, combining Cinderella and Victor/Victoria) so here I give you my thoughts on Cinderella, old and new.

Cinderella - released in 1950

This version of Cinderella was taken from the French story I mentioned above.  Apparently because of WW II, etc, Disney hadn't had a big hit in many years (I think since Snow White was released in the late 30s) and they were banking a lot on this movie.  They employed 3 directors (similar to many of the animated films I worked on, actually) and used a new song writing collective, Tin Pan Alley (they ended up partnering with this company a lot, according to Wikipedia).  What they did totally paid off.  Cinderella became one of their most successful films; the profits leading to Disney being able to fund other productions and build their distribution company, as well as other endeavors.

One of the reviews says something about the "adorable mice".  Like a "how can you go wrong" type of thing.  Well, I'm gonna say that the mouse Gus Gus?  He's a fucking idiot.  I am SHOCKED that he didn't get eaten by the cat, Lucifer, within the first few minutes.  He's a portly mouse and continually looks like he's going to have a little animated heart attack when he's running up stairs or jumping around.  Gus Gus bugged.  Every stinkin' job they gave him, he messed up.  Where is Darwinism when you need it?

And speaking of the other mice, I'd like to ask, how does one employ a bunch of rodents (or any animal, really) to work for you?  I'm a nice person who's good to animals.  Why don't I have a staff of furry and winged creatures that are cleaning my house and sewing my clothes??  

I kept having to remind myself that this version was made in 1950...particularly when the amazingly handy female mice sang "Leave the sewing to the women, you go get the trimmin'" to Gus Gus and Jaq.  No surprise, Gus Gus fucked that up too.  Additionally, Prince Charming's dad (the King) was less interested in getting his son a good match and more interested in getting a baby-maker in the castle.  Any vessel would do.

Another interesting fact I learned is that for the first time on this film, the animation department hired "live action models" to film reference to keep the animation costs down.  Interesting!  They actually hired actresses to do the scenes, with rudimentary sets and props.   I believe they continued to employ this method through at least 101 Dalmatians.  We used this method too,but it was our animators shooting themselves as reference in an renovated storeroom.  Watching their reference was truly some of my favorite times at work.

Another quick thing about the animators.  I only saw one woman's name as an artist on this film, Mary Blair.  Her credit is Color and Styling, which I understand is being a concept artist.  Perhaps THE concept artist.  She was masterful, I'm learning.  Apparently she had a very troubled personal life, but in the midst of her own personal demons, she also designed all the costumes, sets and locations for the It's a Small World attraction.  Go Mary!!

One thing that surprised and delighted me was when I watched the credits and realized that Prince Charming was completely uncredited  In fact, he doesn't even have an actual name in the film.  Just "the prince".  Apparently his underdeveloped character in the film was an early issue for critics.  Not so much for me.

(My drink pairing for this is a Cinderella, a fruity non-alcoholic drink.  C'mon, you're watching animation!)

Cinderella - released in 2015

Scholars say that Cinderella is the story of unjust oppression.  It is that, but what stands out to me in all versions is that it's also, maybe more so, a story about jealousy and how incredibly mean and spiteful women can be to each other.

I think in the end, that should be what parents object to, not that she becomes a princess. 

I actually really like this version.  It's a Disney film, so they use the French story like the 1950 version.  Kenneth Branagh directs.  I'm not always a huge fan of him as an actor (I feel like you can always see his ego peeking out...which is why he was actually perfect for Gilderoy Lockhart in the Potter film), but I do like him as a director (I still think he made a mistake leaving Emma, but whatever...I could do a whole blog just on my thoughts about Hollywood couples...don't even get me started on the Blake Shelton/Gwen Stefani rumor). 

Branagh's version uses an element that many don't, which is that we see her as a child with her parents.  They are a very happy family and Cinderella's mother is nice and loving and beautiful.  She teaches our young heroine that the most important thing in life is to have courage and be kind.  This is where you find the magic. It's a theme through the movie.  Then Cinderella gets saddled with the stepfamily/horror show because her dad wants one last chance at being happy many years after the mom dies.  I don't fault him for this.  I do fault him on his terrible taste in second wives.  As soon as the dad goes away on a business trip, Cinderella is thrown out of her nice room to live in the attic.  With the mice.  Gus Gus is there, but is mercifully silent and doesn't do much more than eat.  

This film has a lot of heart, and the girl who plays Cinderella, Lily James, is perfect. (My former Blogguest, Linda Moore, might be a bit interested to know she's dating Matt Smith.  Hmph.)

The important part of the new versions of Cinderella (and Disney has jumped on the bandwagon with this film) is that we see the Prince and Cinderella meet and have a connection long before the ball. They talk, he falls in love with HER.  Her beauty, sure, but also her opinions, her kindness.  Her.  This is a big element of my favorite adaptation, Ever After.  The heroine is spunkier in Ever After.  She's also educated (her favorite place to be is a library).  I love this version.

Cate Blanchett plays the evil stepmother.  She is REALLY evil.  She does this one strident, braying laugh after she has humiliated Cinderella in front of her daughters and it's so mean and real.  It made me almost not like her for a second.  But she's Cate Blanchett which means she's pretty much All The Time Awesome.

Helena Bonham Carter is the Fairy Godmother.  This is a perfect role for her.  She looks great and she employs her usual "crazy, hot mess" acting style that served her well as Bellatrix Lestrange too.  At least in this, she uses her magic for good.

One thing about this film, whether you're a Cinderella fan or not, the costumes are A-FUCKING-MAZING.  Cate Blanchett gets some incredible outfits and Cinderella's ball gown is layer upon layer of fabric (apparently in blues and lavenders) that is just exquisite.  In fact, when she and the Prince dance, Branagh has added "swish" sound effects.  Like it's a character of it's own, singing with the music.  And the glass slippers were made by Swarovski!  Even if you never want to see this film, do yourself a favor and check out this article about the costume designer Sandy Powell.  Some great photos:   http://www.vogue.com/4463911/cinderella-movie-2015-sandy-powell-costume-designer/

One thing has stumped me, however...Cinderella and her mom sing a song called Lavender Blue.  I recognized it immediately and remember hearing it when I was young.  I thought someone like Hayley Mills sang it but I can't find it anywhere on the interwebz.  Now it's bugging me.  Anyone?

(My drink pairing for this film is multiple glasses of pink champagne.  Then sing Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo at the top of your lungs.)

My takeaways:

#1 - I apologize for the explosion of parentheses above. (not sure what got into me)

#2 - I thought this was interesting:  in the animated version, Cinderella's original ball gown - the dress the stepsisters rip to shreds - is thought to be based on a Salvador Dali look and her eventual ball gown is based on a Christian Dior design.  Nice.

#3 - Ever After, with Drew Barrymore, is one of my favorite movies.   Mireille Soria is the producer.  She also produced all 3 Madagascar films.  When I finally put that together (I had seen Ever After long before I became a Dreamworker) I shyly (for me) told her that I really loved the film.  She was like "Oh. Thanks."  Not the reaction I was expecting.

#34- Much like I learned valuable life lessons from Scarlett O'Hara (Tomorrow is another day!), perhaps I got my love of fabulous shoes from the Cinderella fable.  And I do LOVE fabulous shoes.

xoxo...hashtagSueslife

Happy Halloween!!

There are a few moments in everyone's lives that define them; even set them down the path they are supposed to follow.  

Picture, if you will, a six year old girl who wants nothing more than to be hanging out with her older brothers (oh, and maybe she also desperately wants a kitten).  Against all odds she convinces them to take her along with their group of friends to the movies (I honestly don't know how this part happened.  Did the boys cave to her pleading? Did her mom say "go do something with your sister"?  Can anyone lend insight to this?).  

What they chose, in their infinite wisdom, was a triple feature of horror films.  They told their mother that they were taking her to a Shirkey Temple triple feature.  I'm stumped as to how the mother bought this.  Did she REALLY think her boys would sit through 6 hours of that precocious little moppet?  With their teenage friends??

Seriously, sometimes I think I grew up in the Twilight Zone. Or a sitcom.

Okay,  enough Rod Serling.  

The truth is  I ended up sitting on my brother John's lap the whole time. I was also convinced that Dracula lived in our backyard under the fake fountain.  Our mom was PISSED.

So for this post, I'm going to re-watch the films I saw on that fateful day!  I thought about trying to make my experience as authentic as possible, but at this stage of our lives, I'm pretty sure I'd be more apt to snap my brother's femur than look adorable sitting in his lap.  

So let's just start.

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave - released in 1968

I have a specific memory from each film I saw that day  These images have stayed with me for many, many years.  My Dracula memory was a dead woman's torso falling out of a church bell upside down; two drips of blood slowly meandering down her neck toward her chin.  Imagine my surprise that this shot is actually in this film!  Right at the beginning, too!  

As an adult, I can tell you - this is a pretty awful movie.  I mean, it's a Hammer Film, so you already know that the blood is going to look like bright red food coloring (check!) and there will be a lot of it (check!).  I was reading up a bit about the production company.  Hammer was kind of ahead of their time in the Gothic Horror movie realm, although it appears that even the internal folks were like "yeesh, these movies have A LOT of violence in them!"  What I certainly didn't realize as a 6 year old movie novice (horror or otherwise), is that the acting is TERRIBLE.  I'm talking really, really bad.  There is a "mute boy" who couldn't look more like he doesn't know how to act without speaking, and the (sort of) hero is a douchey English chap with a decidedly Roger Daltrey look to him.  SO 60's.  Everyone's makeup is thick with a weird gray shadowing, too, which is disconcerting.

Christopher Lee, of course, plays Drac.  He only has about 5 lines in the whole film and there are a LOT of shots of his bloodshot red eyes.  I have this issue, too, Drac.  It's called Dry Eye.  My fantastic optometrist, Dr. Carrie Lee, would suggest you use Refresh drops daily.  Seriously, you clearly have a pretty advanced case, dude.  Do yourself a favor and don't wear your contacts for so many hours in a row. 

I'd try to tell you about the story, but there really wasn't one. There's a Monsignor who's trying to save a village from Dracula but accidentally unearths him.  There's a super wimpy priest who ends up being Dracula's new Renfield and naturally the busty barmaid is the first to get bit.  Christopher Lee gets to overact heartily in his death scene, so I guess all the elements are there.  I was really hoping he'd turn into a bat at some point, but no such luck.

(My drink pairing for this film is a Bloody Mary.  Duh!)

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed - released in 1969

6 year old Sue remembers this scene:  It's the end.  There is a big fire in the house that Frankenstein lives in and the monster and the doctor are fighting.  Someone stabs the monster with a butter knife!  Ouch!  Who knew butter knives were so lethal??  Everyone dies.

Okay.  So now I've watched this as an adult for the first time since I was 6.   At some point in my teens or early 20's, I realized that what I thought was a butter knife was, in fact, a scalpel.  And the actual "scene" is more like 4 or 5 that blended together in my young mind.  So our sort-of heroine stabs (non-lethally) the monster about 15 minutes before the end of the film.  He is a sensitive monster, of course.  We all know that Frankenstein-the-doctor is the actual monster.  His creation didn't ASK to be created and in every incarnation of the story he feels pretty gypped by the whole deal.  It constantly impresses me that Mary Shelley wrote the original story in the 1816, all because she and her privileged friends were bored one summer.  Go Mary!  I think she won that contest!  Also, it's lauded as the first true science fiction novel.  Score one for the females!

Anyway, post stabbing, our monster in this film goes around and talks to his wife and tries to be philosophical and stuff.  6 year old Sue probably only heard "blah blah blah" when the monster was all weepy at his wife about what happened to him.  Even at a young age, I bet I was like "Quit your whining, let's move this shit along".  Eventually there is a big fire but all the butter knife (scalpel) hullaballoo was way over.  Not sure what I was thinking, but I'm gonna cut myself some slack because I was SIX and it was the last 10 minutes of the third movie in a row.

Upon adult viewing, I'll say that this movie was a lot more exciting than Hammer's above Dracula offering.  There is a lot of violence in this film, actually, and not the kind you would expect.  Peter Cushing plays Baron Frankenstein and he's super fucked up.  There is actually a rape scene where he attacks the sort-of heroine.  

The Cliff Notes version of this story is the Baron and his science buddy were doing all sorts of awful experiments on people and the buddy went crazy.  The Baron essentially kidnaps a young doctor (also with a decidedly 60's Mod look) and his fiance (our sort-of heroine), blackmailing them because they've been dealing illegal drugs (wha?) that the doctor stole from the asylum he works at (um, ok.).  The asylum houses the ex-buddy. The Baron transfers the ex-buddy's brain to another body when he dies and hilarity ensues.

This movie is very dark and kind of well written.  The acting, again, leaves A LOT to be desired, but Peter Cushing is pretty much awesome. I kept expecting him to give the orders to fire when ready on Alderaan, but maybe that's just me.  And, to his credit, it actually appears that he ate a sandwich or two during the 60's, although you could still slice or dice something with those crazy cheekbones.  In fact, this was made only a handful of years before Star Wars, so perhaps he did some Weight Watchers or juice cleanses before filming commenced in order to look exactly like a skeleton.

(My drink pairing for this film is a Starbuck's Franken Frappuccino...apparently only available from the 29th thru the 31st.  http://www.foodbeast.com/news/this-is-starbucks-new-halloween-drink-the-franken-frappuccino/)

SHE - released in 1965

Here's another one where my memory seemed so clear but wasn't quite on the mark.  The scene I remember is an immortal prince walking thru fire and aging more each time he passes through the flames.  Eventually he becomes a skeleton and disintegrates.  That's not exactly what happens in this movie (in fact, I'm pretty sure I saw that exact scene in a different movie...maybe a Harryhausen film?).  I also remember being excited about this movie because SHE are my initials, so in little kid self absorption I was positive I was gonna like this one! This was the second film of the three, a bit of a breather film.  For a long while it seemed pretty innocuous, there's a lot of exposition and a bit of a "love" story. In the end, I tbink this one scared me too, though.

Upon adult viewing, I'd be surprised if 6 year old Sue didn't sleep through most of this movie.  There is an interminable amount of  time where our hero and his friends cross a desert.  Just get there already!  It went on for so long that I got dehydrated just watching the film!  

It's another In the Hammer oeuvre (although that's a lofty word for what Hammer does); an adaptation of the H. Rider Haggard story.  Apparently old H wrote a ton of stuff and hung out with Rudyard Kipling, but is really only known for two stories: SHE and King Solomon's Mines.  Judging by this story, I'm guessing H has some issues around women.  SHE is really called She Who Must Be Obeyed and honestly she's pretty much a c*nt.  Ursula Andress plays SHE in all her gorgeousness and bitchiness.  Hammer favorites Petrr Cushing and Christopher Lee are in this as well.  Christopher Lee gets another fantasticly over-acted death scene and Peter Cushing gets some nice ironic overshadowing by saying the line  "Nothing is gained by fear and terror."  SO not the philosophy of Grand Moff Tarkin.

The basic story is that SHE is immortal and searching for her long dead love. She finds the guy's doppelgänger centuries later and hypnotizes him to come to her in the desert.  There is also the possibility of treasure, so his war buddies accompany him.  Through the desert.  For like 15 or 20 minutes of film.  Zzzz.  The hero is pretty much a douche (a Hammer hero theme) and not only falls for SHE but also messes around with a slave girl.  He discovers that SHE killed the original dude in a crime of passion (TOTAL C U Next Tuesday move).  The modern douche totally thinks with his dick, so apparently this doesn't concern him too much.  He gets caught smooching the slave and so SHE kills the slave and makes him immortal in this crazy fire that becomes magic only once in a great while (she's been alone a LONG time and clearly makes poor choices).  She also goes in the fire, but apparently no one told her that going in the fire a second time reverses the immortal effects.  Oops.  It turn out she is the one who stands in the fire and quickly ages until she's a pile of dust.  The modern douche realizes that thinking solely with the little head usually ends up badly and vows to watch the flame until he gets an opportunity to reverse his own immortality.  

In the end, it never would have worked anyway. SHE wanted everlasting love and he just wanted to get laid.

(My drink pairing for this film is a Flaming Zombie, because it's alcohol, it's on fire and it's Halloween!)

My takeaways:

#1- A Hammer Film triple feature and a Shirley Temple triple feature could not be more polar opposites.

#2- I forgot to mention, there is a belly dance scene in SHE!  Peter Cushing even gets up to dance with the girls!!  It's like the Skeleton Dance in Silly Symphonies!

#3- If anyone is ever on Wunderlich Dr in San Jose, will you check and see how Dracula is doing in my old backyard?  

xoxo...hashtagSueslife

Shit I watched on the plane

Alternate title:  I've HAD it with these motherfuckin' movies on this motherfuckin' plane!!  Really, I couldn't pass up the obvious joke, now could I?

So as many (or all) of you know, I was on two incredibly long flights and one short one over the last couple weeks (I think I totaled about 50 in-air hours).  It was like a movie-watching goldmine!  Emirates had a zillion films I could choose from.  You will see from my entry today that sometimes I did not choose...wisely.

So here is my film itinerary, just a couple lines per movie so you get the gist. Cuz sometimes that's all you need.

USA to AUS

Jurassic World - released in 2015

I'm not gonna deny it...I love me some Chris Pratt.  This movie was a perfect plane movie....funny, charming leading man, great special FX that were visually big  and an easy storyline to keep track of (Dinosaur runs around. Everyone acts scared).

Thumbs up!

Ant Man - released in 2015

I'd say meh to this.  I love Paul Rudd but even his charm couldn't really do it for me in this film.  Also, what is Michael Douglas now, 1000 years old?  Whoa. My favorite part was Ant Man's friend, Luis.  He's this street-wise gangster type dude who is really funny.  His vocal cadence and demeanor, apparently, were taken from a "friend of a friend" of the actor Michael Pena.  Worth the free viewing.  Slept through a bit of it.

Thumbs middle.

Asterix:  The Land of the Gods - released in 2014

To be honest, I don't even know if this is the one I saw...I can't remember.  I'm assuming it is because via Google I discovered that it's the most recent Asterix offering.  I slept through almost the whole thing.  I saw enough to know that I am not a fan of the animation style.

Thumbs zzzz.

Pitch Perfect 2 - released in 2015

I liked this one!  It was funny and kept my attention on the plane.  As usual, I especially love Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins as the emcees (and our eternal Greek chorus).  They play off each other brilliantly, in fact I think they provided me with some actual LOL moments.  Which is always awesome when you're sitting alone on a plane.

Thumbs up!

Jupiter Ascending - released in 2015

While I did not for ONE SECOND buy the love story aspect between Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum (and she's with Ashton so I'm willing to buy a lot), I was entertained by this movie.  Eddie Redmayne played an evil guy and honestly his talents were wasted on this film.  His acting "style" seemed to basically consist of "sound like you have laryngitis".  I know he can do better than that.  This movie was also incredibly long.  I think there were at least two plot points they could have lost and I wouldn't have minded.

Thumbs middle.

MELBOURNE to PERTH

Tomorrowland - released in 2015

This was on a quick flight in the middle of my trip.

I wanted to like this...I really did. I mean, it's directed by Brad Bird for crying out loud!  The Incredibles!   But, meh.  Clooney seemed to phone it in a bit.  The kids were good but the one little girl was doll-like (for good reason, which I won't spoil if you haven't seen it) so you can imagine how I felt. And Hugh Laurie was just a bit weird.  Additionally, this also could have benefitted with a good trim.

Thumbs middle.

AUS to USA

Hot Pursuit - released in 2015

Holy shit.  I can't even with this one.  Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara, what the FUCK were you thinking??  Abysmal.

Thumbs all the way down.

Ex Machina - released in 2015

I've been wanting to watch this for a while.  Watching it on a plane was definitely not the best venue but I still liked it a lot.  It's a moody, atmospheric film with only 3 main characters. Everyone gave stellar performances.  It's a quiet film that I think will stay with me for a while.  I have to say, I've become a fan of the main actor, Domhnall Gleeson.  Check out About Time if you haven't already seen it.  It's a lovely film, too. (fun fact:  his dad is Brendan Gleeson (MadEye Moody) and they were both in Deathly Hallows together because he played Bill Wesley!)

Thumbs up!

I know this doesn't seem like a lot for my flight home but on the first leg I had a row to myself (sweet, sweet stretched out sleep) and I also watched a couple films that are going to get their own entry next month.

(My drink pairing suggestion for any of these films is a tiny bottle of your favorite hooch and A LOT of water.  It's important to keep hydrated on a plane.)

My takeaways:

#1 - I've discovered that on a flight there are films you need to sacrifice to Morpheus.  I call them Sleeper Films.  I did this with Toy Story on my way home (sorry Pixar).  You put it on and it blocks out the sounds of airplane and crying children.  Bliss.

#2 - I guess I never realized (or maybe it's because of the specific airline?) that swear words are bleeped out of movies on airplanes. Silly. You can barely hear it anyway so what's the point?

#3 - Another fun fact:  Keegan-Michael Key was in Pitch Perfect 2 AND Tomorrowland.  He was definitely a treat in both films!  Glad to see he's getting some big screen time!

xoxo...hashtagSueslife