It Rises to the Occasion

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride carries on in the dark, romantic tradition of his classic Edward Scissorhands and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Set in a 19th century European village, this stop motion, animated feature follows the story of Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp), a young man who is whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious Corpse Bride, while his real bride, Victoria, waits bereft in the land of the living. Though life in the Land of the Dead proves to be a lot more colorful than his strict Victorian upbringing, Victor learns that there is nothing in this world, or the next, that can keep him away from his one true love. It's a tale of optimism, romance and a very lively afterlife, told in classic Burton style.

Title: Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Release: September 23, 2005
Genre: Animated
MPAA Rating: PG
Writer: Tim Burton, John August, Caroline Thompson
Director: Tim Burton & Mike Johnson
Music By: Danny Elfman
Produced By: Tim Burton & Allison Abbate
Distributed By: Warner Brothers Family Entertainment
Run Time: 76 minutes
Official Site

Tim Burton is a man the word “creepy” is synonymous with and The Corpse Bride only solidifies that fact. True, it is a bit gruesome at times but the songs and the personalities of the characters shine through so strongly that it’s impossible to dislike this wonderful film.

A lot like Nightmare Before Christmas but even better, this is a stop-motion animated film that just happens to be a kind of macabre reunion of all Burton’s favorite people he’s worked with like Johnny Depp (Victor), and Helena Bonham Carter (Emily, the Corpse Bride) whom he is now actually married to.

The animation is awesome of course (clay figures like Nightmare Before Christmas) but it's really the music that moves the movie along. Danny Elfman and Tim Burton's styles mesh together well. Elfman is the creator of this hauntingly beautiful, jazzy soundtrack. My favorite song would have to be Tears to Shed but the one that I think is the most fun and show how lively the dead really are is Remains of the Day. Just like Tim Burton has a very recognizable look to his films, Elfman’s sound is incredibly unique and what makes him one of my favorite composers of today.

While this movie is still a little gross, even gruesome at times and certainly macabre, it still somehow is manages to be kid-friendly and yet adults can enjoy it as well. I think Tim Burton himself describes it best: "Rather than make [death] this dark, unspoken thing -- which is kind of how I grew up -- I always liked the idea that it was more a celebration. It feels more positive, somehow, and more spiritual and right to me," he said.

Besides the usual Wikipedia and Imdb.com pages I also found an interview with Graham G. Maiden who was the supervisor for the puppets who make up the Corpse Bride characters and some original unused storyboards by Dean Roberts. I also found an interview with Johnny Depp about the film (text).

Trailer:


Featurette:

Vegas Vampires Books 2-4

Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: The Vegas Vampires, Books 2-4
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Genre: Paranormal Romance

The USA Today bestselling author of High Stakes returns to Sin City, where you can get bitten by the gambling bug or by the sexiest vampire you've ever seen...

Politics makes strange coffinfellows. Vampire Seamus Fox is supposed to be the campaign manager for a Vampire Nation presidential candidate. But instead, finds himself running around Vegas, keeping tabs on the candidate's wife and female entourage.

Seamus has had his fill of women. A disastrous and deadly love affair has haunted him for over two centuries. Talk about baggage. But suddenly he finds himself obsessed by a mysterious stripper who dances behind a screen. The sultryyet shy Cara Kim whets his appetite for more. But leave it to Seamus to fall fangs over feet for that rarest of Vegas attractions... a good girl.

After a sudden runin on the street, though, they may soon have a lot more in common...

Title: Bit the Jackpot
Start & Finished: 3/13/08-3/14/08
Published: 2006
Pages: 304

A celibate vampire and a virgin stripper make up the unlikely pair in Erin McCarthy’s Bit the Jackpot, the second story in her paranormal romance Vegas Vampires series. Seamus Fox is the campaign manager from the first book High Stakes who is undeniably sexy but also a bit of a prude... until he met Cara Kim.

Erin McCarthy did such a fantastic job creating such an entertaining plot with even more interesting characters than in her first paranormal romance High Stakes that I had to read the next book in the series. Besides, she left a few things unresolved that I was curious about such as who won the vampire election (which still isn’t solved by the end of the story) and whether the people who tried to kill off some of the characters ever got caught.

Yes there are a few groan worthy moments, even quite a few predictable moments but McCarthy’s stories are also very sexy and hilarious (I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a vampire walking his girlfriend’s dog, have you?). The characters are strong, even the minor characters but I did think it was a little odd how some minor characters overshadowed others. Alex’s sister Brittany (who is the main character in the next story Bled Dry) takes a backseat to the scatterbrained (or as Seamus puts it “child/puppy/porn star) Kelsey a few times.

At least in Bit the Jackpot the major story plot ends and you don’t need to read the next story to find out what happens. The problems coming up are hinted at though. I doubt anyone would want to stop reading this series in the middle but this romance can stand alone. A refreshingly light read.

Only in Vegas can a on-night stand with a vampire beat the odds-from the national bestselling author of Bit the Jackpot and High Stakes...

Hooking up with a vampire has its risks- but getting pregnant usually isn't one of them. Tell that to Brittany Baldizzi, who finds herself in the family way with no father in sight. After their one night of passion, vampire Corbin Jean Michel Atelier disappeared off the face of the earthor at least off the Vegas strip...

Corbin is a vampire with a cause, secretly trying to find a cure for his condition. But when he finds out Brittany is pregnant with his child, Corbin can't keep his parental instincts from trumping his bloodsucking ones. Even when showing his hand could cost him the woman he can't help but love...

Title: Bled Dry
Start & Finished: 3/14/08-3/15/08
Published: 2007
Pages: 288

Poor Brittany! As of being pregnant from a one night stand with a vampire who hates what he is and is searching for a cure isn’t stressing enough, her child will be the first known threequarter vampire in history. The third story in Erin McCarthy’s funny, light paranormal romance Bled Dry is all about the unexpected and how the Vegas vamps overcome the hurdles thrown at them.

I liked this book but if I was to pick one of the stories in the series as my least favorite Brittany and Corbin’s would have to be it (and if this was the first story I doubt I would have continued the series). Not that it’s not hilarious and even has some cool scenes (like when Brittany gets kidnaped) but compared to the others it just falls short. I guess it’s because Corbin strikes me as a scientist and not really a vampire.

Skipping a book in a series is never an option for me but I really wouldn’t recommend doing it in the Vegas Vampires series since each book takes previous things and continues with it (the vampire election is won during this story). Plus you get to find out what Ethan, Alex, Seamus, Cara, Kelsey, and Ringo are all up to and that’s worth going with Brittany and Corbin to parenting classes any day.

A night of indulgence...

Gwenna Carrick is a woman with a history- 900 years of it. As the vampiress ex-wife of the notorious vampire Robert Donatelli, she has to keep a low profile. Not easy when she's bathed in the neon glow of Las Vegas- especially when there's a whole online group of vampire slayers bent on dealing her her last hand.

Can feel like eternity...

A wild night with a stranger was not in the cards for Gwenna. But that's exactly what happened when she met the ruggedly handsome detective Nate Thomas. Their passion made her feel... well alive again. But when Donatelli catches wind of the tryst, he's determined to clean house, with Nate the first on his to- off list. Gwenna knows she hit the jackpot with Nate and won't let her ex stand in the way. But the two soon realize they have far more enemies than Donatelli - both on the Strip and underground...

Title: Sucker Bet
Start & Finished: 3/15/08
Published: 2008
Pages: 304

The fourth and current story in Erin McCarthy’s fang-tastic Vegas Vampire series; Sucker Bet, follows the story of Gwenna Carrick (sister to the vampire president Ethan, who starred in the first story High Stakes) and a cop named Nate as the fall for one another in the entertainment capital of the world.

Gwenna is one of my favorite vampires in this series because after spending over half of her life (or is that un-life?) living in a drafty old castle and hiding from the world; well mainly her ex-husband, she’s ready to get a backbone and start having fun! Besides, all of the other books in this series are about a male vampire finding their mate and it’s about time a vampiress took the lead.

Sucker Bet was another fine example at how well the author can juggle her minor characters and their subplots (a lot of loose ends are tied up, someone gets married, a few people die, and there is even a mystery) but it never becomes confusing. I sincerely hope McCarthy does continue this series someday but until then I guess I’m just going to have to enjoy her many other books (including her decadent Sin series).

The Vegas Vampires Series: High Stakes, Bit the Jackpot, Bled Dry, Sucker Bet

Erin’s personal page has a few FAQ about the series and there’s an interesting interview about why the author (and her characters) love Vegas. The vampire band The Impalers in Sucker Bet became an actual real life band when Erin McCarthy and Kathy Love approached a local New Orleans band with the idea and the rest is history. In their official website you can find out more about the band as well as read excerpts from the books and the online serial too.

They Captured My Heart Singing and Dancing

Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire sing and dance their way into your heart in the sensational musical comedy Holiday Inn. Nominated for 3 Academy Awards®, this special edition features 13 holiday songs by famed composer Irving Berlin, including White Christmas - one of the biggest-selling recordings in music history!

Crosby plays a song and dance man who leaves showbiz to run an inn that is open only on holidays. Astaire plays his former partner and rival in love. Follow the two talented pals as they find themselves competing for the affections of the same lovely lady (Marjorie Reynolds).

Title: Holiday Inn
Release: August 4, 1942
Genre: Musical Comedy
MPAA Rating: NR
Writer: Irving Berlin, Elmer Rice, Claude Binyon
Director: Mark Sandrich
Music By: Irving Berlin
Produced By: Mark Sandrich
Distributed By: Paramount Pictures
Run Time: 100 minutes

Take two legends and place them in the same film and of course you’re going to have a success but put Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in a film together, you get something timeless. That something is Holiday Inn. The famous songwriter Irving Berlin came up with the idea of a place open only on all of the major holidays and pitched it to Mark Sandrich and Paramount and the rest as they say is history! This movie was nominated for three Academy Awards, produced one of the most popular Christmas songs ever, and was remade in 1954 as the movie White Christmas (also starring Bing Crosby).

You may be asking yourself why in the world am I watching Christmas movies in the middle of summer but the truth is White Christmas is the only song for Christmas. There’s also The Easter Parade (which became a movie too that Astaire co-starred with Judy Garland) for Easter, one for Washington’s birthday, New Years (with Fred's "drunk dance"), The Fourth of July and many more. Plus, I had no idea what the film was about when I watched it! Just that it had two of the greatest song and dance men that the world has ever known in it and that was enough for me.

Since this movie was essentially just a vehicle for Berlin’s music it could have easily flopped and although I just love the music, especially I’ll Capture Her Heart and Be Careful it’s My Heart, I don’t think anyone else could have pulled this film off with such finesse as Crosby and Astaire do. While some of it’s not perfect, most of it’s just something you want to watch over and over again (and believe me, I have).

Besides Wikipedia and Imdb.com’s usual articles, TCM (that’s Turner Classic Movies) has an article and a re-issue trailer for Holiday Inn.

Trailer:

visit videodetective.com for more info

I'll Capture Her Heart:


Say it With Firecrackers:


White Christmas:

Contemporary Canine Classic

101 Dalmatians has charmed audiences for generations with its irresistible tail-wagging stars, memorable story and wonderful blend of humor and adventure.

Cruella De Vil, Disney’s most outrageous villain, sets the fur-raising adventure in motion when she dognaps all of the Dalmatian puppies in London- including 15 from Pongo and Perdita’s family. Through the power of the “Twilight Bark,” Pongo leads a heroic cast of animal characters on a dramatic quest to rescue them all in a story the whole family will enjoy again and again.

Title: One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Release: January 25, 1961
Genre: Animated
MPAA Rating: G
Writer: Dodie Smith (story) & Bill Peet
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi
Music By: Mel Leven & George Bruns
Produced By: Walt Disney
Distributed By: Buena Vista Pictures
Run Time: 79 minutes
Official Site

The very first animated Walt Disney movie to take place in modern day was based on a successful story by English writer Dodie Smith about a “dognapping case solved by dogs” in the most thrilling way possible. One Hundred and One Dalmatians has since become one of the most highly regarded of animated films.

After the tremendously expensive Sleeping Beauty, the Disney studio needed a box office hit but they also needed one inexpensively made. Thus the method of copying the animator’s drawings onto cels by hand had to be eliminated. Ub Iwerks is credited with finding a way to do this using a xerox machine which copied all of the animator’s original drawings and that was what was painted. Instead of someone’s interpretation of an animator’s drawings like in the films before this you got the real thing and it drastically changed the look of the animated Disney movie.

I’ve always loved this intelligent, enjoyable, and innovative film. Every character is bursting with a personality, especially the devilish Cruella De Vil. She seriously is one of the scariest Disney villainesses ever drawn! With her exaggerated movements (and really big feet) she could have easily become too cartoonish to be real but Marc Davis proved himself a master with bringing her alive. He considered her his finest work and believed he couldn’t top her so he retired from animating and went on to work on the Disneyland attractions.

The Dalmatians (and their numerous spots) are one of the very few Disney creations that Disney created not only a sequel for (101 Dalmatians 2: Patch’s London Adventure) and a cartoon TV series but also two live-action adaptations both starring Glen Close and tons of real Dalmatian puppies. The second one is my favorite because it has even more animals in it than usual (including the cutest bird named Waddlesworth).

When 101 Dalmatians was re-released in 1992, every kid I knew went crazy over the film. I’m positive that I had never even seen it before then either and I was just captivated by it. Looking back on that first time experience (when I was a few months shy of six years old) and now watching the new restored special edition for the first time, I’d have to say the captivation is pretty much the same!

More information about this movie (and it’s sequels and remakes) can be found on Imdb.com and Wikipedia. There is a page on Wiki about the 1956 book that the movie is based on and I also found some interviews about and from people who worked on 101 Dalmatians at Animated News. Redmorgankidd over on YouTube has the complete Making Of 101 Dalmatians available.

Trailer:


Redefining the Line Clip:


Reelz Channel Special:

Pure and Endless Light

Watching her grandfather’s condition deteriorate as the summer passes on beautiful Seven Bay Island is almost more than Vicky Austin can bear. To complicate things, she finds herself the center of attention for three very different boys: Leo is an old friend longing for romance; wild Zachary is sophisticated but troubled; and Adam, her older brother’s friend, offers her a wonderful chance to assist in his experiments with dolphins but treats Vicky as a young girl just when she’s ready to feel grown-up.

Why is life so hard when you’re a teenager? Vicky wonders. But this summer she discovers that past the darkness of tragedy comes the light of joy.

Title: A Ring of Endless Light
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Series: Austin Family, Book 4
Start & Finished: 3/10/08-3/11/08
Published: 1980
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Pages: 324
Genre: Young Adult-Fiction, Newbery Honor winner

“Every life is noted and is cherished, and nothing loved is ever lost or perished”, Vicky Austen writes these words in Madeleine L’Engle’s award-winning A Ring of Endless Light. Her fourth story featuring the Austen family is about death and the despair at death but also the affirmation of life and love.

When I was younger and had just discovered what the Newbery award was I stumbled across L’Engle’s arguably most famous book A Wrinkle in Time. I vaguely remember bits and pieces of the story now but I do remember how much I loved it. After she died last year I noticed more and more people discussing her works so when The Children’s Books of Yesterday chose this book as the March read it gave me the perfect excuse to move it up on my to be read list.

It was such an enchanting story! Madeline L’Engle doesn’t simply tell you a story, she shows it to you through the eyes of her main character Vicky. Many authors aren’t able to breathe life into their characters like this but she sure does. Vicky is alot like the author herself personality-wise and the entire book reflects that. The wonderful thing about L’Engle’s books is that they were marketed for young adults but never once does it seem like they talk down to the reader and they all reflect her interest in science and religion (to a degree, thankfully I haven’t yet felt like I was being preached at).

When Madeleine L’Engle died last year, the New York Times worked up a beautiful article/obit about her and her works, her most popular of which would probably be the Wrinkle in Time Quintet. There are also quite a few amazing acceptance speeches that are available on her still maintained website and Wikipedia has a few pages on her books . A Ring of Endless Light was made into a Disney Channel movie in 2002 starring Mischa Barton and Ryan Merriman but I haven’t been able to find a copy of it anywhere only a short spliced video. I’m not really sure what the whole “mermaid” thing is about though, it’s certainly not a part of the book.

Surprisingly, other than a few bumps along the way I was able to understand the story perfectly without having read any of the other books in the Austen series but here they are in order:

Meet the Austins, The Moon by Night, The Young Unicorns, A Ring of Endless Light, The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas (short), Troubling a Star, A Full House: An Austen Family Christmas (short)