Tagged: Tangled

“Tangled” (The Movie, Not The Jeter Situation)

Today I went to a screening of Disney’s new animated film based on the Rapunzel fairy tale. What an adorable movie. Not only has the story of the girl with the long hair been updated and re-imagined, but the quality of the animation is just mind boggling. The characters and their expressions are so life like and there’s plenty of action, plus the whole thing has a lot of heart. I teared up at one point and Michael said, “It’s a cartoon! Snap out of it!”
Afterwards, the two directors came for a Q&A and explained the process of making the film. It was fascinating to hear how they collaborated with 500 animators, as well as took suggestions from some of the employees at Disney. For example, to find the right look for the hero, they asked a bunch of women to bring photos of their favorite hunky actors and they ended up using a composite of features. They also asked women about their relationships with their mothers so they could get the dialogue between Rapunzel and her wicked mother just right. But I really perked up when one of them was describing what it’s like to do a movie at Disney. He said, “Disney is like the Yankees.”
Huh? I sat up straighter in my chair.
“Mostly, the Yankees are really successful,” he went on. “They have their down years, but they always come back strong.”
Even in Hollywood, the pinstripes are a force to be reckoned with. I left the theater smiling.
I’ll be smiling even more when the MVP in the AL is announced on Tuesday and the winner is Cano. Other things that will make me happy?
* A deal with Jeter.
* A deal with Mo.
* A deal with Cliff Lee.

Movie Break – “Blue Valentine” – Plus Other Stuff

There’s been a lot of buzz around “Blue Valentine” – as much for the performances of Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling as for the film’s NC-17 rating. (I didn’t think the sex was all that graphic, personally, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets downgraded to an “R” by the time it’s released in theaters in late December.) It was a hit with audiences at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals, but I was disappointed and didn’t even stay for the Q&A with the director after our screening. It’s about a married couple and how their relationship goes downhill. And that’s about it. Nothing happens and neither of the characters is someone you’d want to spend five minutes with. Yawn. So don’t be fooled by the trailer, which shows the couple in mostly happy times and makes them seem sort of charming.
I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s screening of “Tangled” a lot more. I’m not that big on animated films but the last few I’ve seen have been really entertaining. Hope this one is too.
Switching over to baseball news, Jim Leyritz was acquitted of vehicular manslaughter. Apparently, he was very emotional when the verdict was read.
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He could still face jail time for the DUI conviction. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but I hope he does. I’m sick of reading about people who drink, hop into the car and kill people. What’s so hard about calling a cab or asking a sober friend to drive? And don’t even get me started on using a cell phone while driving, either to talk or to text. It’s against the law here in California and yet every single day I see drivers on their phones, totally oblivious to stop signs, red lights, you name it. Maybe I should just become a cop and go around arresting offenders.
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And finally, today is November 20th. If you had told me that Jeter, never mind Mo, hadn’t been signed by now, I would have laughed. But there hasn’t even been an offer made to either player. With Thanksgiving next week, will anything get done then? Unlikely. I, on the other hand, intend to get a lot done. I’m going to my friend Rhonda’s again for Thanksgiving dinner (the scene of all those notorious fights with Yankee haters) and have to bring dessert. So I’ll be making a chocolate fudge cake with a chocolate ganache glaze.
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I’ll take a picture of it if it comes out looking halfway decent.

We have a new pitching coach! That’s something.

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The fact that Larry Rothschild looks like an older version of Dana Carvey’s church lady is beside the point.
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He’s had a lot of experience in the majors. He’s not someone who will need an adjustment period. He sounds like he did his homework and studied video of….AJ. He wasn’t a guy anybody saw coming, because he was never on the list of candidates we kept reading about, but Cashman is full of surprises, isn’t he? What’s next? Lou Piniella as our new hitting instructor?
Sorry to hear about Albaladejo being released, but he couldn’t seem to get it done at the big league level. And Juan Miranda was never going to play first base for the Yankees or DH, so good luck to him. 
This weekend will bring more movie screenings for me: the controversial marital drama, “Blue Valentine,” tomorrow (it got an NC-17 rating) and “Tangled,” Disney’s new animated offering, on Sunday. Will report!