Tag: Maleficent

Categories
Movies

Maleficent Review – Mock Squid Soup No.12 #cinephiles #film #review

Wikipedia

No need to recap my clues this week; everybody guessed it.

New: see my viewing experience notes here.

This review will consist of me asking myself 10 questions and answering them to the best of my ability…sort of. I’m still on vacation people.

1. What is this film about?

It’s an updated adaption of the Disney film Sleeping Beauty. Yes, the original story goes back centuries and crosses many cultures, but this is a Disney story.

2. What did I think of the title, poster, and or trailer?

I have this thing about not watching trailers of movies I expect to be really good, not wanting to see all good bits first. When I heard they were making this movie I wasn’t excited until the rumors started rolling out. Then when I learn Elle Fanning would play Aurora, I knew this would a special take on the story. Plus, I’d thought a while back that if anyone could play the evil fairy, it would be Angelina.

3. What did I think of the main character(s) and how the actors performed them?

I thought the movie was very well acted. Granted the role of Sleeping Beauty probably didn’t stretch Elle very much, but she did do a good job looking the part. Angelina was awesome and I not even a huge fan. The one she faltered was when she delivered the line, “I don’t like children.” I don’t think anyone could take her seriously with that one.

4. What did I think of the direction and cinematography?

Visually, this movie quite good. Yes, there was a lot of CGI, but it was all used tastefully. When I think back on it now, for the majority of this film, I imagine the sets weren’t very packed. I have a feeling most of the sets were superimposed.

5. What did I think of the soundtrack and score?

I honestly forget to think about the music in this film until the ending credits rolled, there were no beginning credits. That was the most somber rendition of “Once Upon a Dream” I’ve ever heard, but still I liked it. I just wouldn’t be playing it at any parties.

6. What did I like about the story as a whole?

There were so many cliché moments in the film, but like the twists they made to familiar fairy tale and the sense of empowerment left to the female characters.

7. What did I not like about the story?

The scenes leading up to the spinning wheel were just creepy.

8. Would I recommend this movie to others?

Yes.

9. If yes, who? What would I rate this movie?

This movie is good for most women, big or small, but even my husband appreciated it for the fantasy and action sequences. Anyone who doesn’t like happy endings or needs more brutality and vulgarity in their action will want to pass on this.

On a scale of 1 to 5 movie reels, I give this film 4 reels.

MLikeIt

10. Was there anything in this movie that could be related to me or anything I have written?

Yes. I’m a lover of fairy tales and often slip elements of them into my writing. If I’m lucky, perhaps I’ll write something one day that ends up being adapted into a film.

Watch, rent, or buy this movie here.

Mock Squid Soup – Film Society

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MOCK! and The Armchair Squid are proud to introduce Mock Squid Soup: A Film Society. Each month, on the second Friday, we shall host a bloghop devoted to movie reviews. We invite others to participate and post their reviews…Don’t be shy; come join the fun! 😀

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
My Geekdom

My Geekdom 22: Maleficent


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My Geekdom

I was in awe of Maleficent long before Angelina Jolie played the role, for which I think she did a great job. I always thought there was something special about her, but mostly I loved the fact that she was so evil and powerful. She was the kind of villain I wanted to create for one of my stories, and I believe I just might have.

When I saw Disney’s Sleeping Beauty as a child, I remember thinking that if that king hadn’t been so stupid as not to invite her, none of the curses and enchantments would have been necessary. For me, if I knew I had a crazy scary neighbor with known anger issues and I was planning a neighborhood party, I’d be a fool not to invite him. Now, I might take precautions to ensure the safety of others around me should things go wrong, but I wouldn’t ignore the guy. You know what they say, keep your enemies close…Now, I’m rambling.

Maleficent is a dynamic character that I’ll always love to hate or maybe just love, if Hollywood keeps up with the new Jolie take on this character.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
31days

Day 22- Personality: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

31day-edit

 

Term of the day: personality: individual collection of mental, physical, social, and emotional characteristics.

Thoughts:

I don’t believe there are any names that automatically make me think of personality traits. Even people, who’ve managed to become public personalities, know that the meaning of a name may be contrary to the personality of person using it.

Let’s consider a largely popular Disney villain who’s been given a bit of a character or personality make-over recently. Maleficent isn’t the kind of name that often causes concern over its meaning. While the name has an obvious connection to a word like malevolent, it has a meaning of its own. Maleficent means “able to cause mischief” or “capable of evil”. This name sums up this character’s personality quite well, but recent renditions of the character give her a bit more “heart” and “compassion”.

Now let’s consider Aurora, Maleficent’s object of disgust. Her name literally means “goddess of the dawn”, but that doesn’t really give any clear clues about the nature of her personality. The goddess of the dawn could be like a ray of sunshine brightening the world everywhere she goes or she could be a bold bright light that makes everything else cower in darkness…Who knows?

Name of the day: Iris.

Breakdown and meaning:

Iris is one of those special names, like Maleficent, that has a meaning of its own, but it is also the name used for something specific. It’s a name and a, kind of, personality all in one.

  1. Iris is part of the eye. It is the portion that gives our eyes their color and controls the size of the pupil.
  2. Iris is a flower. The petals are described as showy and the leaves as sword-like.
  3. Iris is a rainbow or a projection of all light waves.
  4. Iris is an old messenger of the Greek gods referred to as “the goddess of rainbows”.

In my Eternal Curse Series, a very special male character will make an appearance in the second book donning this name. If I told you any more, I would ruin it. Needless to say, I think he’s one the most complex characters I’ve created.

Well, that’s it for Day 22. See you tomorrow.

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Go back to the beginning to see all the posts in this series.

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites:http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords