What would happen if characters in fairy tale land (or Disney animation land) joined real-world New York City?  That is what Princess Giselle of Andalasia learns when she is banished on her wedding day by the Evil Queen Narissa.  The Queen sends her son’s intended off to the land where “happily ever after” doesn’t exist.

Upon arriving in the Big Apple, Giselle meets Robert, a cynical divorce lawyer, and his daughter Morgan who believes that a real princess has stepped out of a book.  Of course, her father has forbidden her to read such make believe drivel.

But not to fear, Prince Charming and Giselle’s chipmunk friend, Pip, come to the rescue!  BUT… the Queen’s vile spy, Nathaniel, has been sent to put an end to Giselle for good.

I found Enchanted to be a really cute musical comedy if a bit cliched with all the ties to past classic animated features.  I really liked the nod to the past with the opening and closing of the book and the narration (provided by Julie Andrews, herself).  The name of a restaurant brought a chuckle.  I thought the leads were all well cast.  Notice Timothy Spall who played Nathaniel.  He played another “rat” in a little well-known film franchise… he just has that face and persona about him.  And if you think that a bunch of people singing and dancing around Bethesda Fountain is strange… just imagine how many out-of-work performers there are in New York City alone!  But I imagine that it would look rather ridiculous if it were not being done for a Disney movie 😀   Actually, it was one of my favorite parts of the movie… being accompanied musically by a street corner reggae group around Central Park (in the daylight, of course).  Wonder how much money Robert really put in their box.

The climax might be a little much for the very young, but overall I think Enchanted would delight any young princess 6 and over.  Cute movie.

Now that the kids are back in school (2 out of 4 anyway), I have some (stress on the some, not a lot of) extra time to sit and blog again –  something that wasn’t made a priority over our busy summer.  Among our summertime fun and adventures were many trips to the Redbox.  Surely you know what I’m referring to, for if we have such futuristic technology here in the NW Ohio boonies, then it must exist in most places.  The Redbox is a machine (about the size of a gas station ATM on steroids) that distributes $1 one-night dvd movie rentals.  You can choose a movie for $1 from any Redbox location (our small town has 3, just an example of how they are everywhere), and then you return your movie to any Redbox location by 9:00pm the next night.  We first got hooked on the concept when we were on the way back home from Florida and the kids got sick of the movies we had brought for the car dvd player (poor things!  Who’s with me from the days when we were lucky enough to bring our Walkman on the trip with a couple of tapes!) .  So  anyway – we stopped at a Redbox at a McDonald’s in Tennessee, the kids watched the movie a few times, and we returned it at a Walmart in Ohio – for just $1!  Ok, this is quickly and unintentionally turning into a plug…

So anyway, my husband and I got kind of hooked on the Redbox this summer, watching a movie almost every night – seriously!  We went through a horror phase and watched many of a series called After Dark Horror Fest: 8 Films To Die For, and even though many of the movies (there were 8 movies in the series, but the series ran multiple years) in the series were low-budget, many were actually worthy of the recognition and worth watching.  Among our favorites of the horror genre was Hack! starring none other than Danica McKellar, Winnie from the late ’80’s / early 90’s tv show The Wonder Years; as well as The Hamiltons, a surprisingly great-for-what-it-is little horror flick.

Somewhere within the mix was a forgotten (though I liked it slightly more than my husband did) Michael Moore parody (making fun of Michael Moore movies, not done by Michael Moore) and the best Redbox movie ever called Sunshine Cleaning.

I highly recommend Sunshine Cleaning.  Don’t let its similarities with another movie called Little Miss Sunshine get you confused.  The two movies share the word Sunshine in their titles, an actor (the late Alan Arkin, wonderful in both roles), and some producers – but neither their plot lines nor their characters intersect.  You can check  out Little Miss Sunshine for yourself if you haven’t already – I recommend that one as well.  But Sunshine Cleaning is less mainstream and my husband and I enjoyed it immensely.  It stars the talented Amy Adams as a single mom who, along with her flighty sister (Emily Blunt, also a really good actress), start a cleaning business, though it’s not your normal, everyday cleaning business –  they are hired to clean up extreme biological hazards, ie, crime scenes.  What follows is a heartwarming tale which takes many entertaining and at times, comedic turns.  The characters are well developed as is the plot, and the movie just makes for a well-spent evening – especially for just $1.  Again, I’m at risk here for sounding like a plug, but oh well!  Go get Sunshine Cleaning from your local Redbox – you can even reserve online for pickup before you go!

This evening, I watched the final three episodes of the premiere season of The Clinic (ooopssss…. The Office). I am now absolutely hooked and need to seek out the second and third seasons before April 10 (although I am sure that I will not be able to watch them all.. unless I have an Office party :0). The first segment found Jim jokingly forming an “Alliance” with Dwight in order to investigate the downsizing rumor surrounding the Scranton, PA branch of Dunder-Mifflin. Dwight ends up being taped inside a shipping box to spy on other employees. Hilarious!!!!

The second episode found Michael and the staff taking on the warehouse workers in a “friendly?” game of basketball. Each side places a small bet on the outcome. Michael chooses the players that he thinks will defeat the other team in typical stereotypical fashion and hilarity ensues.

In the final episode of season one, an attractive new saleswoman (Amy Adams) enters the office to sell purses. Michael, Dwight (something strange about that one), and Jim each try to win her affections. Pam’s fiance Roy (David Denman) also makes it known that he finds the new arrival very fetching.

After the final segment, I found myself wanting more. I was hoping to hear that Pam finally dumped her jerk of a fiance (after a three year engagement) and moved on to Jim. Of course, just watching the first season it seemed like a forgone conclusion. Who would be the victim(s) of downsizing? A few of these questions were answered by those who know, but I do want to catch up eventually.

I just cannot believe that I have not discovered this hilarious comedy full of great characters, a fantastic ensemble, and brilliant creative staff before now. I also like the references to other series some of which are not part of NBC’s lineup of shows (Survivor to name one).

Please forgive my allusion to The Clinic at the beginning of the post. A wonderful one-act play which I was part of in January 2007).

This afternoon after attending Easter services and eating our huge dinner, the kids gathered around the big television to watch what any red-blooded American child would… Underdog (ok… so perhaps not that many). I was pleasantly surprised by the live-action version of the cartoon I remember watching as a child. It remained fairly faithful to the cartoon rekindling enough memories for the old and being fun for the young ones who probably do not remember the television series.

A bomb-sniffing beagle is released from the police force after he mistakenly sniffs out a ham instead of a bomb. While roaming the streets, the dog is captured by the evil scientist Dr. Simon Barsinister and is injected with a serum which gives him amazing superpowers. The dog escapes and becomes the pet of a security guard (played by Jim not John Belushi) and his teenage son, Jack and is given the name Shoeshine.

After discovering Shoeshine’s powers, Jack decides to keep the secret to himself and convinces the reluctant pooch to use his powers to help those in distress. However as Underdog begins his exploits of daring-do, Simon and his henchman Cad continue to hunt for the beagle to use in their own sinister plot.

Ok… while it may not be the most ambitious movie ever made, Underdog did keep 7 children occupied for 90 minutes. It also had many tie-ins to the cartoon (Shoeshine, Sweet Polly Purebred voiced by Enchanted’s Amy Adams, Simon Barsinister and his sidekick Cad, and Riff-Raff who was voiced by Brad Garrett). It was far better than what I expected. It also had a nice nod to another Disney animated film. Underdog and Sweet Polly’s first date was reminiscent of Lady and the Tramp’s spaghetti dinner (down to the single meatball).