New Year New (m)YOU(vies)! Update #1

  GOAL: watch 50 new movies in 2025.

• Spirited (2022)
• Recommended by some students.
• Liked: when it ended. Jkjk. It made me laugh more than once and it didn't demand much attention to follow.
• Didn't like: Surprise, it's a musical. But not a good one. I'm starting to wonder if I even like musicals. Who wrote these songs? AI? Boo. With Will Ferrel and Blake Lively's husband pairing up, I expected too much.
• This was by default my favorite movie of the year until I watched anything else.
• 4/10
• Belle (2021)
• Jazon's recommendation.
• Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991) meets Ready Player One (2018).
• Liked: The beautifully animated, interesting story that integrated two fully fleshed concepts into one seamless one that at times felt a little fanfiction-esque, but is that always a bad thing?
• Didn't like: Surprise, it's also a musical. It's good enough music and it isn't too overbearing, but coming at this movie from "Spirited" made me feel a little anxious, especially at first.
  
• New favorite of the year.
• 8/10
• Elizabethtown (2005).
• One of Jazon's favorite movies.
• Liked: Roadtrip vibes and death jokes = yes
• Didn't like: Kirsten Dunst is creepy AF.
• 2nd favorite of the year.
• 7/10

• Alien Romulus (2024).
• Student "assigned" me to watch this and I feel like if I give him homework then he can give me homework too, ya know? Within reason, of course.
• This felt very much like a remake of Alien (1979), but that's not a bad thing necessarily. 
• What I liked: I liked the practical effects, which, we just don't get enough of these days. I liked the very real feeling of the sets, costuming, and props. I liked a modern re-visit to a classic, too. That's not bad every now and then and it's not like it was trying to say it was anything else. The elevator scene was bae. Sure there were lots of call backs, but it wasn't too tongue-in-cheek for me.
• What I didn't like: The timing of the suspense sequences was a little off for me. I felt it was rushed when it shouldn't be and not enough time was taken to let us settle into complacency at the beginning. I felt it was an error to have the movie launch from a place of anxiety where the main character was already feeling anxious, the jump up into alien anxiety didn't feel like as much of a leap as it could have been with a different couching story surrounding the expedition.
• 3rd favorite of the year. Better than Prometheus (2012), not as good as the original. Maybe I should watch the rest of the franchise? Maybe not though. I'll think about it.
• 6/10

Would You Like to Listen?

I watched Funny Girl this weekend, and decided that Barbra Streisand officially is talented. If you haven't heard her voice for some time, check out this video of her singing the final song in the movie. It is so emotional, powerful, and skillfully executed:

She has a beautiful voice! Here are some of my favorite songs, sung by some of my favorite female singers:

1. "Man of la Mancha" sung by Linda Eder. This woman has an amazing range:

2. "Pie Jesu" sung by Sissel. She sounds like an angel:

3. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" sung by Judy Garland. The Wizard of Oz is a magical movie, and Judy has an enchanting, powerful voice. She was only 16 years old when she recorded this movie:

4. "Reflection" sung by Lea Salonga. Actually, she also is the singing voice of Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin, as well as Mulan's singing voice. She's from the Philippines, and has had numerous roles on Broadway, including the part of Eponine in Les Miserables:

5. Laura Pausini singing "Como Si No Nos Hubieramos Amados." She is Italian, even though the song is in Spanish. I love this song. It is so emotional. Laura sings very, very well, too:

6. Alegria by Cirque du Soleil. If my kids run away and join the circus, it had better be Cirque du Soleil. I can't find the name of this singer, but she has a magical voice, and this song is moving.

7. "A Song for You" sung by Karen Carpenter. Always an emotional performance, this woman's voice is like a rock:

8. Jewel, "Foolish Games." Need I say more? No, I need not.

String Theory

I can't even tell you how much I love string theory. Here's a link to the PBS website on "The Elegant Universe":

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/

They call it a "Brave New World," and they use images born of MC Escher. It's physics, it's philosophy, and it's AWESOME.

the NOVA video is split up into three fifty minute videos (it's designed for classroom integration, I guess), and it is riveting. It will blow your mind. If you want to just get your mind off of this world for a bit, I recommend watching it. If you have to make time for it, because you have a tight schedule, I still recommend watching it. If you're about to die, and have only three days left, then I recommend watching it... with a loved one.