Movie Review: ****Inside Out (2015)

This is a Disney Pixar movie with an interesting premise.  Many of the Pixar movies are that way; from the view of the world form the perspective of a car, or an airplane, or a toy, or a fish, or a bug, or a forgotten robot, or a monster.  This movie is from the perspective of emotions.  Five emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith) and Fear (Bill Hader) have a keyboard and help a young girl (Kaitlyn Dias) navigate life.  Joy is determined that all memories will be happy ones, and wants to keep sadness away from the work.  This goes well as long as there is no pressure or stress in our girl's life.  However when they move from Minnesota to San Francisco, things go haywire, and our girl starts to break down.  Things get worse when Joy and Sadness accidentally loss themselves in the girl's subconscious.  Not even her parents (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan) can get through to her any more.  So how do Joy and Sadness get back to the control center?  And more importanatly how does Joy lean how to intermingle with Sadness?  I enjoyed this video.  I watched with my granddaughter and Tony.  They both had a good time.

Movie Review: **^The Abyss (1989)

I must admit, this was not my favorite movie.  The existence of a species in the abyss, deep sea, against might be plausible, but that they accidentally case the crash of a nuclear submarine, and then rescue those who come to rescue the nuclear warheads.  But of course the military guy wants to blow them all up with his nuclear warheads, and the scientists want to keep him from doing so.  This film plays the same tactic twice, husband and wife are disaffected, but when the other partner faces imminent death then the emotion changes.  These near death experiences, or actual death and then coming back from death play on the heart strings, but just felt like a manipulation.  Ed Harris as Bud Brigman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Lindsey Brigman star as the couple.

Movie Review: ***** The Secret of Kells (2009)

This animated feature was nominated for an Oscar for best animated movie.  It is obvious why.  The artwork is exquisite, and makes this movie worth of a view.  Sometimes the story gets bogged down in the intricate art, but that is OK because the spiraling patterns are so intriguing.  This is the story of the creation of the Book of Kell, an illustrated Bible, and national treasure of Ireland, which helped the people of the north through a dark period in their history; when the Abbey of Kells was plundered by Vikings.  The movie talks of protection through the word versus high walls.  They high walls did not work, but keeping the book safe preserved a culture.  In the movie, a mystical forest creature, Aisling (Christin Mooney) a she werewolf, kind a good, assists the young man, Brendan (Evan McGuire) to find a crystal which helps to write the book.  Looking through the crystal the intricate patterns and colors are revealed.  Both Aisling and Brendan must face their worse fears to make the book a reality.
Very good, I viewed this through Feeln.  This artwwork is worthy of your consideration alone.  Ross Stewart provided the art direction.  I am sure many artists were involved.

Movie Review: ****Star Wars Number 7: The Force Awakens

This movie was fun.  I must admit I felt myself more compelled by the old characters from the original Star Wars movies.  This includes Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew),  Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hammil) in a small roll and C3-PO (Anthony Daniels) also in a smaller roll.  Of the newer characters, Rey (Daisy Ridley) is a mystery.  Hers is also the most intriguing character.  Here she is using the force before she has received any training, nor even know what she is using.  Another character in somewhat the same boat, though we do get some of this past is Fin (John Boyega).  Another character who is really underdeveloped is the son of Leia and Solo, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).  He is intent on bringing back the dark like his grandfather, and he does many evil things like Darth Vader.  Another interesting character is Wollivan (Warwick Davis), another droid.  R2D2 is here but in such a small way as he has shut himself off.  You see Luke went into hiding when his training of Kylo Ren went bad.  Now the dark wants to find him to remove any possibility of the light reemerging, and the light want to find him so he can lead them to victory.
And so we have our struggle again between the dark side and the light side of the force.  I recommend this movie.  The old characters have already been developed, and it seems the newer character need more development.  Of course more episodes will be coming.  As for now this movie continues to set box office records.

Christmas Music Review: Natalie Cole: Holly and Ivy

This Christmas collection is very nice.  Many of the songs are adequate.  A couple really stand out.  Particularly "Caroling, Caroling."  Cole is very clear in her pronunciation of the words and this song is like a clear bell.  I also really enjoyed "The First Noel."  Again Cole's voice is clear and piercing and carries the message.  She also does a great job with the title song, "The Holly and the Ivy."  I really didn't care for her version of "Drummer Boy" as part of her Christmas Medley.

TV Movie Review: The Little Match Girl 1987 Best Quality- Full Movie

This is a made for TV version of the Little Match Girl.  It strays pretty far from the original Hans Christian Anderson story.  In this version Keshia Knight Pullman portrays the Little match girl, who is not only down on her luck, but also portrayed as an angel type character.  She comes to intervene with a family where the father and son are long split as the son married a Catholic girl and they clash politically.  William Daniels portrays the father, who is a realtor magnate and has decided to sell some of his property, resulting in evictions of many tenants.  The police chief (John Rhys-Davis) takes this further, giving people only a week to move out, during the Christmas season.  The people are upset.  The son (Jim Metzler), a reporter,  is arrested on Christmas eve.  When his wife goes to get him from jail, our little match girl is left with their toddler to babysit.  She decides to take him to grandfather's house.  And so starts a series of events, which very likely will backfire.  The angry tenants march on the home of the father, and the situation is tense.  Father refuses to admit anyone.  This includes his son, but when his daughter-in-law is having a baby, maybe finally his heart with soften.

Story Review: The Fir Tree: Hans Christian Anderson

This is a story about a tree who wants to be useful.  This tree was a complainer.  It had plenty of sunshine and warmth, but complained it wasn't as large as the older trees.  When he had reached his full growth, woodcutters came and chopped down tress, hauling them away.  He wondered where they could have gone, and wished he could have joined them.  He was advised by his friends to savor his youth.  Then the woodmen returned and selected the most beautiful trees, hauling them off with their branches in tact.  He again was skipped and complained he was taller than some trees taken.  The sparrows knew where they had gone, for they had seen then in houses decorated and adorned.  The tree could not rejoice in his own lot, in the fresh air and sunshine, but was always wanting to be someplace else.  Then just before Christmas it was taken and placed in a large courtyard of a home.  It was adorned and beautified.  hen the children rushed in, and pulled the presents that had been left in its branches.  The tree thought they would decorate it again, but instead it was placed in the attic and forgotten.  When is was pulled out it was old an brittle.  It was taken outside in the sun.  The children thought it ugly.  It befriended a mouse who talked to it of its life.  The tree regretted that it hadn't enjoyed its youth.