My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: Enchanted, 2007

Okay, so what does this have in common with the last film? Well, they both have the ever adorable Amy Adams. I wonder if she gets sick of people thinking she's adorable. This time she stars as Gisele, a Disney princess who thanks to an evil witch played by Susan Sarandon finds herself alone in New York, waiting for her prince to come rescue her.

She instead finds single dad, Robert, Patrick Dempsey who thinks she's crazy or at the very least extremely naive. She stays with he and his daughter and tries to help out. You know what's awesome about this movie? It takes everything you grow up to think is lame in Disney movies and makes it live action so it becomes awesome like this scene where Gisele tries to clean up the apartment.


Or when Gisele starts a full blown musical number in Central Park. Robert's reaction is the best part of this scene to me, I mean, the music's nice and all, but I always watch musicals and wonder how everyone knows the words.


It pays tribute to the Disney princess films we were all obsessed with at one time, but also updates them a little such as when Gisele has to save Robert from the dragon. It also features James Marsden as Gisele's prince and the great Idina Menzel as Robert's girlfriend. I love the twist at the end where she joins him in the animated world from the beginning of the film.


Anyway, it's a nice surprise of a film, having intelligence where you wouldn't expect it to. Like I said, I do love the homage to fantasy films of yore. Questions, comments, concerns, Disney princess preferences? Do you think Amy Adams is sick of being called adorable? Should she do a movie where she plays a serial killer so we're all scared of her? Let me know in the comments.

My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: The Lion King, 1994

So, The Lion King. I know this must seem in the sequence of films we've had so far, but I love it. I haven't been able to watch it, though, because all the copies have vanished off the face of the Earth in anticipation of a 3D release and a new release on DVD in November, so I have to go off what I remember and what I can find on YouTube. So, Disney corporate, that's my excuse for the clips, okay?

The first thing is the amazing opening sequence that shows you the splendor of the African landscape and creatures. This is a world unto itself and the scene has no dialogue, but for the Circle of Life song, the first in a brilliant soundtrack by Elton John and Tim Rice. Incidentally, I have a distant relative called Abaku who was in The Lion King on Broadway. I'm not sure if that's how you spell it, anyway, distant. The scene is fantastic, it's giving you the entire stakes of the film and mesmerizing you at the same time.


Then of course, we have some joyous, happy time but this is Disney and that can never last. I'm talking about Mufasa's death.

I cried, you cried let's just all admit it. I do not like death scenes, Disney is trying to give me serious psychological scars. Also, does it seem like as king of the animals, Mufasa probably should have just yelled at the wildebeests to stop for a minute while he got his kid? Any future lion kings, just keep that in mind.

Then, what do they do? They give you a warthog and a meerkat singing quite possibly the catchiest tune ever.


At its core, this song exemplifies the challenge Simba is going to face. Is he going to keep on with his carefree lifestyle and stand idly by as Scar rules the kingdom into ruin and decay? Or is he going to defeat the demons of his past, step up and become the Lion King? I think I just seriously over analyzed that.


And we have another lion king. And I cry. Again. Freaking Circle of Life, making me cry. Let's see what the Tenth Doctor has to say about it.


What else? Seriously, Rowan Atkinson plays a bird. You've got great performances, an epic story. One of my favorites, comments, concerns, that's what the comments section is for.