Movie Recommendation: Squanto: A Warrior's Tale

Happy Thanksgiving week, everyone! May your hearts be filled with gladness and may your stomachs be stuffed with food!

I have a seasonal movie recommendation for you--a little known live-action Disney drama based off the true story of Squanto, a Native American who aided the Pilgrims during their first Thanksgiving.

Is the movie historically inaccurate?

Yes. Very.

Is it good anyway?

Yes. Very.

For one, the acting is fantastic. From our courageous young hero (who has been a model for a captive in many of my stories), to the pompous merchant who hunts him, to the varying monks. The whole setting is pretty great too. The music is lovely. I mean, it's a Disney! And barely anyone knows about it!

It's quite dramatic, but also humorous, drawing tears one moment and laughter the next.

Although the true story is changed rather significantly at parts to live up to Disney excitement, the heart of the tale remains the same. A man who, despite horrible mistreatment, rose past bitterness to save people he barely knew.

It is thrilling, heart-wrenching, sincere, and warm. So you should definitely check it out for the season!

Fun and Updates!

I absolutely love Disney's Frozen. I love it more each time I see it. And I love the hit song in it, "Let It Go." Many renditions of this song have been performed, but I've not seen any as amusing and astounding as this one. Seriously, if you a Disney fan you must watch it. This talented man sings the song in voices all over the creation of Disney. It is amazing!

 

Important Update: If you voted for the Clive Staple Award, you will have to cast your votes again, because all the prior votes were accidentally wiped out. And if you haven't voted you should see if any of your favorite books have made the semi-finals.

Mistborn: For those of you who are interested in Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, here is an article I found interesting on Speculative Faith that will tell you more about it. Beware, spoilers are involved. I personally don't mind spoilers though, when I'm trying to figure out what an author is going to do to me if I read his book.

Fan Art Contest!: Don't forget to send in your entries for The Goldstone Wood Fan Art Contest! It'd be awesome if this was the biggest one yet!!!

Dame Imraldera's Library: Another story came in recently, a tale told by author Meredith Burton. Short, but very powerful and beautiful! You should definitely check it out!  

Movie Review: Frozen

Image shared from
 http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Frozen
Sorry, the picture's a little blurry.

I've been waiting and waiting for this movie to come out! And I finally saw it! So what did I think?

I really liked it. And as time is going on, I'm really, really liking it. It's one of those movies that you grow to appreciate as you mull over it, quote lines, and sing songs from it.

Besides a few songs that felt out of style for the time era of the movie, there wasn't really much I didn't like about it. I will say that the story felt a little underdeveloped at times, like they really didn't bother to explain or at least explore some pretty important stuff in the movie.

But this is not to say that Frozen isn't a absolute blast!

I really adore Olaf the snowman in this movie. Really, he is so amusing and adorable.

The story carries some very powerful messages of having to face your fear, not run away from it. As you might expect, it also portrays true love. But not the way you'd come to expect of Disney. Indeed, this movie makes a mock of the typical guy-and-girl-meet-and-fall-in-love-stereo-type. Not only does it make a mock, but it also shows the deadly danger of it. 

So if you're looking for a great, feel-good, beautiful movie, with laugh-out-loud humor, fun characters, and a cool climax, go and watch Frozen! Have any of you already watched it? What did you think?

Exciting Upcoming Releases!

The future is full of things to look forward to. In fact, there are more things to look forward to than I can name. But here are some things that I'm eagerly anticipating!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is releasing December 13th. SQUEEE! I'm so excited! Whether Peter Jackson is sticking to the children's book or not, he is at the very least, creating an exiting fantasy adventure to join in. And to the delight of my elf-loving heart, it looks like there's going to be a LOT of elf action in this movie.

An absolutely awesome poster of some absolutely awesome elves.

 Yes, yes, I know. Along with probably every other Tolkien fan, I rebelled against the idea of Tauriel. I still don't entirely approve, but I've resigned myself to her addition. To be honest, now that I'm resigned, I'm actually looking forward to her. So Peter Jackson created a fan fiction character to help the movies along. All right. As long as he doesn't go against the spirit and quality of the books, I'm willing to see what he comes up with.

Here's the link to the oh-so-exciting trailer 2!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=186079584912410

And I can't wait for the upcoming Disney fairytale remake of the Snow Queen--Frozen!
http://movies.disney.com/frozen/video/trailers/

Also, Jill Stengl, the mother of my very favorite author, Anne Elisabeth Stengl, is returning to writing novels! Her first novel in several years is going to be releasing this November! And from what I hear, it's going to be her best one yet! She's certainly picked a dramatic time...the French Revolution. Yikes! Here's an article she wrote about writing this novel that I found interesting.

What about you, oh readers of mine? Are there some things you're especially looking forward to in the near future?

Movie Review: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Recently, I've been watching some of the classic animated movies that I missed during my childhood. There were some very good reasons why I didn't watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame as a child. But how did I feel about watching it as a young adult?

Absolutely floored.

With a dramatic prologue, I was plunged into one of Disney's most complicated animated masterpieces! Quasimodo has been locked up in the bell towers of Notre Dame all his life, and though his flight for freedom turns into a disaster, he finds an unexpected friend in another social misfit, the gypsy dancer Esmerelda.

Meanwhile, Judge Frollo seeks to purge the world of sin, ignoring the terrible condition of his own soul. 

This was no simple story. The cruelty of humankind is revealed in some people's treatment of Quasimodo, but mercy and love shines from others. Persecuted for many years, the gypsies are quite willing to return the same treatment on their enemies. Esmerelda is a street dancer, but she seems to wish for another way to survive. Her heart to help others is truly touching. But Quasi isn't the only one who falls for her. Captain Pheobus, lately returned from war, also notices her beauty and courage. And as if things weren't complicated enough, the evil Frollo simultaneously burns with lust for her and the desire to destroy her and all gypsies.

The music in this film is stunning. The opening and closing songs gave me chills. In another beautiful scene, Esmerelda sings a song to God, which while not entirely accurate, still shows an honest desire to know Him better.

The characters were incredibly well-developed. Though I adore Quasi and Esmerelda, Captain Pheobus became my favorite. Quite honestly, he left the Disney princes behind in the dust.

And I found so many Rapunzal vibes throughout this movie. Someone locked up in a tower because of a lie... As if that wasn't enough, Maximus from Tangled wasn't the first animated horse to take orders like a dog. Ha! Pheobus's horse, Achilles, doesn't show up often, but is awesome. And in one brief scene, Pheobus tells him, "Achilles, heel." I didn't even get it until my mom started laughing.

For those of you who have watched this movie and have read the Goldstone Wood books, didn't Esmerelda's goat remind you of Beana? Hee, hee, hee.

While this movie definitely was not for kids with the villain's raging lust and a surprising amount of casualties, I was simply delighted to discover this magnificent story. I don't understand why I've barely heard anything about this movie, because it topped so many of the Disney classics in so many ways. Was it just me who hadn't watched this movie or did you not know much about it either?

If you haven't watched it yet, I strongly recommend it! :) Who is the Monster and who is the Man?