BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND TWITTER BACKGROUNDS
by D.W. Lundberg

Saturday, July 30, 2011

... FOR "FRANCHISE FACE-OFFS (PART 6 - 'HARRY POTTER' EDITION)"

It is, without a doubt, one of the great rags-to-riches stories of the past two decades: A single mother, living off of welfare, carts her baby down to the local coffee shop in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she writes the first book of what will become the most successful children's series of all time. She goes from poverty to multi-millionaire status all within the span of five years; her novels sell over 400 million copies; are translated into 67 languages; and her iconic creation – Harry James Potter, aka "The Boy Who Lived" – becomes a permanent fixture in households worldwide.

Joanne "Jo" Rowling says she conjured up the idea for Harry Potter in 1990, while on a return train to London. But she didn't actually finish writing The Philosopher's Stone – the story of an eleven-year-old boy who attends Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry – until six years later. During that time, Rowling suffered a series of emotional setbacks that pushed her close to the breaking point: Her mother, Anne, died of multiple sclerosis in December 1990, the impact of which forced Joanne to move from London to Portugal, Spain, to pursue a career as an English teacher. While there, she met and married Jorge Arantes, a journalism student with whom she had a tumultuous relationship. The birth of their daughter, Jessica, in July 1993 only seemed to heighten the tension between them, and following a violent argument in November of that same year, Joanne took the baby and fled back to England. (The couple eventually divorced in August 1994.) Jo's father, Peter, had since re-married and their relationship had become strained, so she moved to Edinburgh to live near her sister. Jobless, penniless, and living on a weekly £69 allowance from social services, she began a daily routine of wandering her neighborhood streets, pushing Jessica in her stroller until the baby fell asleep. Then she would duck into the nearest coffee shop or restaurant and write. She completed Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone in early 1996, and after many rejections from different publishing houses, the book was finally purchased by Barry Cunningham at Bloomsbury, for an advance of £1,500. Scholastic Books followed suit, a mere three days after its publication in Britain, and bid an unprecedented $100,000 to distribute Potter in the United States. The rest, as they say, is history. Rowling would never know poverty again.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

... FOR "WALT DISNEY'S ANIMATED FIFTY (PART 14 - 'PETER PAN' EDITION)"

My continuing foray into Disney's fifty official Animated Classics. As always, don't hesitate to share your thoughts/memories/complaints in the comments section below. Links to previous entries have also been included below.

Title: Peter Pan (1953; based on the play Peter Pan, Or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J.M. Barrie)

The Plot: A teenage girl and her two younger brothers are whisked away to the magical world of Neverland, by a flying boy who refuses to grow old.

The Songs: "The Second Star To The Right," "You Can Fly!," "A Pirate's Life, "Following The Leader," "What Made The Red Man Red?," "Your Mother And Mine," "The Elegant Captain Hook," "Never Smile At A Crocodile (Instrumental)"

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

... FOR "WALT DISNEY'S ANIMATED FIFTY (PART 13 - 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND' EDITION)"

My continuing foray into Disney's fifty official Animated Classics. As always, don't hesitate to share your thoughts/memories/complaints in the comments section below. Links to previous entries have also been included below.

Title: Alice In Wonderland (1951; based on Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass, And What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll)

The Plot: A precocious little girl imagines herself in Wonderland, a fantastical place overrun by eccentric forest creatures.

The Songs: "Alice In Wonderland," "In A World Of My Own," "I'm Late," "The Sailor's Hornpipe," "The Caucus Race," "How Do You Do And Shake Hands," "The Walrus And The Carpenter," "Old Father William," "Smoke The Blighter Out," "All In The Golden Afternoon," "A-E-I-O-U," "'Twas Brillig," "The Unbirthday Song," "Very Good Advice," "Painting The Roses Red"

Saturday, July 9, 2011

... FOR "FRANCHISE FACE-OFFS (PART 5 - 'TRANSFORMERS' EDITION)"

Michael Bay is the devil. Or, wait, let me explain. If everything that's good and wholesome in this world must have an opposite, then by "devil," I mean Michael Bay is the antithesis of everything the movie gods hold dear – coherency of plot, characters who resemble actual human beings, and most of all, film footage that hasn't been edited together with the skill and proficiency of a jackhammer. Bay's style of filmmaking seems geared toward people with attention-deficit disorder: explosions, gunfire, more explosions, hot-bodied men and women parading lasciviously past the camera every 6-7 seconds (or less), as if smacking you in the face to make sure you're paying attention. It's juvenile, and watching his movies, I'm insulted at the notion that my brain needs to be under constant assault to feel entertained.

I guess on some level, you have to respect what the guy does. There's a market for this sort of thing, for better or worse (Bay's films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide), and he plays to those strengths well. Born in Los Angeles in 1965, Michael Benjamin Bay started his film career early on, when he interned at Lucasfilm at the age of fifteen. He majored in English and Film at Wesleyan University, attended Pasadena's Art Center College of Design for his graduate studies, and started directing music videos and television commercials after receiving his degree.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

... FOR "WALT DISNEY'S ANIMATED FIFTY (PART 12 - 'CINDERELLA' EDITION)"

My continuing foray into Disney's fifty official Animated Classics. As always, don't hesitate to share your thoughts/memories/complaints in the comments section below. Links to previous entries have also been included below.

Title: Cinderella (1950; based on "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault)

The Plot: The daughter of a wealthy aristocrat, raised by her cruel stepmother and two jealous stepsisters, finds true love with the help of her Fairy Godmother and some friendly mice.

The Songs: "Cinderella," "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes," "Oh, Sing Sweet Nightingale," "The Work Song," "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," "So This Is Love"