december 2
Flick Friday: Enchanted 2007
Fifteen years ago, today, the #1 movie at the box office was Enchanted. Directed by Kevin Lima and written by Bill Kelly, it starred Amy Adams (Giselle), Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Rachel Covey, Susan Sarandon (Queen Narissa) and Julie Andrews (The Narrator).
The beautiful Princess Giselle is banished by evil Queen Narissa from her magical, musical, animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment, that doesn’t operate on a “happily ever after” basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world, badly in need of enchantment. [When] Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer, who has come to her aid, even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale Prince back home, she has to wonder…can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?
IMDb Storyline
In the animated fairy tale kingdom of Andalasia, Narissa, the corrupt, ruthless queen and dark sorceress, schemes to protect her claim to the throne, which she will lose once her stepson, Prince Edward, finds his true love and marries. Giselle, a young woman, dreams of meeting a prince and experiencing a “happily ever after”. Edward hears Giselle singing and sets off to find her. She and Edward are instantly attracted to each other and plan to be married the following day. Disguised as an old hag, Narissa intercepts Giselle on her way to the wedding and pushes her into a well, where Giselle is magically transformed into a live-action version of herself, [then] transported to New York’s Times Square in the real reality.
Partial Wikipedia Summary
Trivia Bits:
♦ The actresses who provided the voices for three previous animated Disney Princesses made appearances in this movie…Jodi Benson (Ariel/The Little Mermaid 1989), Paige O’Hara (Belle/Beauty and the Beast 1991) and Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas/Singing Voice 1995). Also, Dame Julie Andrews, who starred as the title character in Disney’s live-action Mary Poppins 1964, provided her voice as The Narrator and Idina Menzel, who played Nancy, voiced Queen Elsa in Disney’s Frozen 2013 and Frozen II 2019.
♦ One of the elderly male dancers appeared in Mary Poppins 1964 as a chimney sweep.
♦ Disney had originally planned to add Giselle to the Disney Princess line-up. [The] Giselle doll was featured with packaging, declaring her with Disney Princess status. [Disney] decided against it when they realized they would have to pay for life-long rights to Amy Adams’ image.
I’ve never seen this but, it looks cute. The sequel came out on November 18, 2022. ~Vic
Trailer 2007
Sequel Trailer 2022
Christmas Countdown 12.0
Welcome to the Winter Solstice. ~Vic
From Why Christmas:
The evergreen Fir Tree has traditionally been used to celebrate winter festivals (Pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. Pagans used branches of it to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come. The Romans used Fir Trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia. Christians use it as a sign of everlasting life with God.
12-05-2020
12-09-2020
12-09-2020
Christmas Star
Image Credit: staffblogs.le.ac.uk
Music Monday: REM 1994
Twenty-five years ago, this week (November 26/December 2, 1994) the song Bang and Blame by R.E.M. debuted on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart (Page 119/called Modern Rock Tracks in 1994), entering at #8, making it to #1 on December 17. Released October 31, it was the second single from the album Monster, their ninth studio album. Co-produced by the band and Scott Litt, all song writing credits are the band members. The song also made it to #1 in Canada on February 20, 1995, and peaked in the top ten in the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart (Album Rock Tracks in 1994), Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart and, in Finland, Iceland and Poland.
Rain Phoenix (sister of River & Joaquin) and Lynda Stipe (Michael’s sister) sang backing vocals. Recordings were difficult with Mike Mills and Bill Berry‘s illnesses and, the deaths of Kurt Cobain and River Phoenix. The album is dedicated to Phoenix.
Television Episodes (song used)
Lyrics (from LyricFind):
If you could see yourself now, baby
It’s not my fault, you used to be so in control
You’re going to roll right over this one
Just roll me over, let me go
You’re laying blame
Take this as no, no, no, no, no
You bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
Then blame, blame, blame
You bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
It’s not my thing, so let it go
If you could see yourself now, baby
The tables have turned, the whole world hinges on your swings
Your secret life of indiscreet discretions
I’d turn the screw and leave the screen
Don’t point your finger
You know that’s not my thing
You came to bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
To blame, blame, blame
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
It’s not my thing, so let it go now
You’ve got a little worry
I know it all too well
I’ve got your number
But so does every kiss and tell
Who dares to cross your threshold
Happens on you way
Stop laying blame
You know that’s not my thing
You know that’s not my thing
You came to bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
Then blame, blame, blame
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
It’s not my thing so let it go, you
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
Then blame, blame, blame
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
It’s not my thing so let it go
You kiss on me
Tug on me
Rub on me
Jump on me
You bang on me
Beat on me
Hit on me
Let go on me
You let go on me