Tangled

I am a sucker for Disney/Pixar movies.  I watched Up, probably more than five times, watched Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. probably more than ten times, and I watched Toy Story (1, 2, and 3) so many times I lost count. Well... You get the picture.

I watched Tangled recently for the fifth time and I'm still in love with this film. If you didn't know already, Tangled is Disney's version of Rapunzel. In this version, Rapunzel was kidnapped as a baby by a wicked "old" woman and forced to live in a tower and never leave. Flynn Ryder, the most wanted thief, hides out in the tower only to be knocked unconscious by a really long haired girl with a frying pan. The tiara he stole is hidden and Rapunzel offers him a deal.  He'll get the crown back if he takes her to the "floating lights" and thus their adventure begins.

If you're unfamiliar about the story of Rapunzel, it's basically about a girl with long hair who lives in a tower.  She is held captive by a woman who yells, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair" and then Rapunzel pulls her up to the tower. A prince falls in love with her and sees how the old woman has gained access into the tower. I have read other versions of the German fairytale. In one, the prince impregnates Rapunzel on that one visit. The old lady finds out, cuts Rapunzel's hair and kicks her out the tower.  Prince comes back, is tricked, pushed out the tower, and blinded by the thorns below.  Rapunzel gives birth to twins and she and the Prince eventually find each other months later. Of course Disney went a different direction.

If you're into Disney princesses, singing and dancing, or happily ever afters, then this is the film you need to watch!

Pascal is making you watch Tangled!

CLAMP love

Thank you everyone for your input in the previous post. I decided for now, I'll just stick to the paper books. I really should be saving up for a car. Just so happens I'm trying to win a Kindle. Who doesn't like free stuff?!

Now I don't read just books; I read comics as well. And by comics I mean manga. One of these days, I am going to stack my books and manga and see which is taller than me (I'm 5'0). The first manga I ever read was Cardcaptor Sakura by CLAMP. I loooooooove her. I had the notebooks (which I would probably never use), two comics/manga, and paper dolls. When I was a kid, there was Cardcaptors (US version) and I would get so excited every Saturday morning to watch it. It sucked by the way. But what do you expect from a dubbed version?

Cardcaptor Sakura is about a young girl who opens a book and all these cards fly out but one. Kero, guardian of the Book of Clow comes out and he's like, "What have you done?! Now you have to collect all the cards!" So Sakura and Kero have to search for the cards but things change when Syaoran, who is also a cardcaptor, wants to collect the cards as well.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

School will be the death of me! The semester is coming to a close and I have 3 more papers to do and then it's finals. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Anyway, here is a recommendation of one of my favorite books.

If you like vampires that don't sparkle, then perhaps this is the book for you. Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian tells the story of professors going missing and a strange book that's connecting them all. Could Dracula be real? Only way to find out.. is to find his tomb.

It's a page turning adventure filled with thriller, suspense, and mystery. Check it out if you have the time. (:

my school bag weighs thirty pounds

As I'm preparing for my World Lit. II exam tomorrow, it made me think of the books/plays I read in high school/college and whether or not I liked them. So I'll make a list. :D

Excuse my messy desk!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I recently finished reading Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which a friend of mine recommended to me. At first, I didn't get the appeal. Everyone was talking about it and I guess you could say I was quite oblivious. It wasn't until my friend showed me the novel and read the back of the book that it sparked my interests.

The first in a trilogy, the aging Henrik Vanger has been trying to solve the case of his missing niece, Harriet Vanger, for forty years but the case still remains unsolved. He approaches journalist Mikael Blomkvist in hopes that he will solve this age old mystery with a new set of eyes. Blomkvist, convicted of libel for his exposé on the Swedish industrialist and rival, Hans-Erik Wennerström, accepts the offer. With the help of the very eccentric and rambunctious Lisbeth Salander, they find that the Vanger family has a very interesting past. (Trying not to go into too much detail!)

It's a great and compelling novel. Once you start.. you really can't stop. You just have to read till the end to find out what really happened. Larsson has a lot of characters in the novel, so it's best to read it continuously or else you're going to be lost and confused--"Who's Cecilia again?"  I can't believe Larsson wrote three (and a half) novels without it ever being published. Unfortunately he died in 2004 of a heart attack and was never able to see the success of his series. I can't wait to read the next book. I hope this gets you to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. (:

Also, there will be a US film version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo coming to theaters near you in December 2011.

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is one my favorite novels. It follows the story of Henry Lee, a Chinese American, and his life as a kid in WWII. At twelve years old, Henry was the only Asian in an all-white school which often left him harassed and made fun of until Keiko, a Japanese-American enrolled at his school. Henry and Keiko fell in love or I guess you could say they had puppy love as it was purely innocent young love. Their story resembles the tragic tale of Romeo & Juliet, for Henry's father despises the Japanese and Keiko and her family are taken into the internment camp which drew the very young couple apart. Written letters are corresponded between the two but it doesn't last forever. The novel takes place between 1986 (Present Henry) and the 1940's when Henry was twelve. It wasn't until Henry finds out that the belongings of interned Japanese families are in the basement of the Panama hotel does he start to wonder about Keiko.

What I like about this novel is that it's historical fiction with a little romance thrown into it. It's a love story but not like The Notebook kind of love story although they share some similarities in technique. I feel like I could relate to Henry and his family because my parents also immigrated to America.

I hope this has gotten you to go out and get it! Click here to order your own copy of Jamie Ford's The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet from Amazon.com. Also if there are any books/movies you want to recommend, let me know. (:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 now out on DVD & Blu-Ray!

Please be aware that there may be some spoilers, so if you haven't read the book or seen the film, avert your eyes. ;D

If you haven't seen HP7 Part 1, now is the time! Part 2 and the last and final film of the Harry Potter series will be in theaters July 17th, 2011. That's TWO months away! Are you excited? Because I know I am. (:

One of my favorite scenes from the film, was the 7 Potters scene, and pretty much any scene with polyjuice potion involved. I haven't seen the film since it was in theaters, so my memory is a little fuzzy. Just goes to show that I need to watch it asap!

Here may be some spoilers... so beware!
If you read the the book, you'll know there are some clear differences. For one, they never explained the significance of the shattered mirror piece (which I'm sure they will in Part 2). In the books, it was given to Harry from Sirius as way of communication. In the film, however, it just suddenly appeared. In the film when Harry and Ron was held captive in Malfoy Manor, and Hermione was being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, I was expecting Ron to be screaming Hermione's name like in the book. But there was no screaming! In the book, the invisibility cloak was used often throughout the first half of the book but was hardly used in the film. And last point I'll make, Peter Pettigrew lives in the film (or at least in the Part 1). In the book, Pettigrew dies for feeling remorse when Harry lets him live and because of that his silver hand, which was created by Voldermort, kills him.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is probably my favorite book out of the series; Prisoner of Azkaban being close second. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me feel OMGGGGG. It saddens me that the series is over and almost over with the films. Rowling put a lot of work and thought into her series and she is one of the best authors ever.


So here's a recommendation: Read the books!