Thursday, June 29, 2017

Chance's Corner: Captain Underpants Review


Tra-la-laaaaa!

I honestly wasn't expecting a movie about a faux superhero named Captain Underpants, who is really just a mean elementary school principal who has been hypnotized, to be any good. It has no right to be, because its source material, which I loved as a child, is rather silly and relies heavily on toilet humor, but Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie exceeded my expectations. 


Professor Poopypants
So, what did Captain Underpants do to transcend the typical children's film cash-in craze? Well, it stays pretty true to its source material and has a lot of heart. I say pretty true because the villainous Professor Poopypants (Nick Kroll) wasn't introduced until book 4, but I'm not complaining because he's a great villain... and yes, that's his real name. Don't laugh! The heart revolves around the friendship of George (Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch), a pair of fourth-grade pranksters. Hart and Middleditch really bring these two goofs to life, and their hijinks are a hoot - not headache inducing.

For a kid's film in 2017, Captain Underpants is actually well paced, taking its time and not just throwing things at the screen to keep little eyeballs glued to the screen. You can really tell that a lot of passion went into this project. It's gorgeously animated, the story is equal parts funny, crazy and heart wrenching (yes, really), and it also dares to break outside the box by throwing in a little sock puppetry, which manages to be a real highlight of the show. Another highlight is the theme song for Captain Underpants, which is sung by parody king "Weird Al" Yankovic, whose musical talent was specifically used as a prank by George and Harold in book 1. So, it's pretty cool that he got in on the gag.


Monday, June 26, 2017

Julie's Journal : Harry Potter's 20th Anniversary

Today marks 20 years since the release of the 1st Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and the beginning of a worldwide phenomenon.



I didn't discover the books right away.  I was in college and had come home for a weekend, probably in the spring of 1999.  My dad had checked the first two books out of Franklin County Library, and he handed them to me and said I needed to read them.  I had never heard of them and he told me there was controversy around the books, and that I should read them and decide if the books were evil, promoting witchcraft, or if they were innocent, lovely books about good vs. evil.


I was hooked from the first chapter.  I read both books that weekend, and then went back to college and opened an Amazon.com account, just so I could order my own copies, along with the 3rd book.  I became a defender of the books, and anytime I heard someone talking about how evil they were and how they promoted witchcraft to children, I asked if they had read the books. Then when they had inevitably not, handed them a copy and told them to decide after they had read them for themselves.

The summer of 2000 found me interning in Dallas with an accounting firm, and living with my future in-laws.  I remember astounding them when I ordered the 4th book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, to be delivered on the release date, and then sat down and read all 734 pages of it in one day.

Books 5, 6, and 7 were released later, when I was a young wife, working part-time as a tutor.  I read the books along with my 7th and 8th grade students, all of us trying to figure out how the series would end.

I have reread the series a couple of times since, and of course, watched all the movies.  The movies never lived up to the magic of the books, though.

Harry Potter will always be a big part of my young adulthood.  The magical series took me through the huge transitions that happen to everyone at that age, from living away from home for the first time, to getting married and graduating college, to making decisions about where to live and what type of job to pursue.      

I will always love the books, and I'm sure I'll read them again someday, but I envy those who have not yet read the books or seen the movies.  They still have a wonderful world of magic and adventure to discover!

Friday, June 16, 2017

Chance's Corner: Wonder Woman Review


WONDER WOMAN! All the world's waiting for you... Yes, we have been waiting, and you finally got the big screen adaptation that you deserve. 

Wonder Woman is the fourth installment of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) - a universe that (so far) connects the worlds of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman, and will soon lead into the granddaddy of all superhero films, Justice League. I've never read any Wonder Woman comics, and I've never actually seen the old television show starring Lynda Carter, but I have watched the re-runs of the cartoon Super Friends that started in 1973. In that show, Wonder Woman flew around in an invisible jet (she wasn't invisible, though), wielded the glowing Lasso of Truth, and was generally pretty cool. That's all I remember. So, it's pretty safe to say that I went into this film totally blind concerning the mythology behind Wonder Woman AKA Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Daughter of Hippolyta. 

Diana's (Gal Gadot) journey starts on a gorgeous, tropical island, where she is the only child amongst warrior women named the Amazons. The Amazons were created by Zeus to protect humankind from the blood lust of Ares, the God of War, and to serve as a bridge between humans and the gods. However, the will of man, and the will of Ares, proved to be too strong, and Zeus hid the Amazons away from the world. The Amazons continue to train, though, knowing Ares will eventually find them, but this time they have a secret weapon known as the Godkiller to defeat him once and for all. Diana longs to be the one of the warriors, and to wield the power of the Godkiller, but her mother, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) forbids it. Diana's aunt, Antiope (Robin Wright), goes against her sister's wishes and trains Diana, anyways. 

Thank the gods she did, because a spy from the United States named Steve Trevor (Chris Pines) breaks through Zeus' protective barrier around the island and crashes into the sea. Diana saves Steve from drowning, and the world as she knows it is never the same. Steve tells the clueless Amazons about The Great War (WWI) and his mission to stop German General Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and Dr. Poison (Elena Anya) from developing a deadlier form of mustard gas that would embolden Germany and stop all armistice negotiations. Diana instantly believes that Ludendorff is Ares in disguise and sets out to kill him to put an end to war forever. She finds out that it's a little more complicated than that, though. 

The DCEU has had its fair share of detractors, some calling Man of Steel "Meh of Steel", some saying Suicide Squad made them want to commit suicide, and other stupid stuff like that, but Wonder Woman is the first one I think everyone can agree is wonderful. It's also a landmark film because it features a leading female superhero. Yes, there was that Catwoman movie starring Halle Berry all those years ago, but it was universally rejected, and it's pretty well forgotten. There might have been an Elektra movie, too, but it's forgotten, as well. Wonder Woman will not be forgotten, though. DC has finally done everything right. There's sprinkles of good humor, perfect doses of action-packed set pieces (with slow-mo thrown in for good measure), gorgeous production design, and well-developed characters that make you feel.

There's a key scene in Wonder Woman, where Diana climbs out of a trench and bravely walks across No Man's Land, taking fire from the Germans, and allowing the Allied army to advance and liberate a village. Every hair on my body stood up on end at that moment, and tears welled-up in my eyes, because it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It's everything Marvel's WWII adventure, Captain America: The First Avenger, could only dream to be - you know the comparison between those two films was going to come up sooner or later. On a side note, I really think Marvel should be taking notes now on how to present women in films, how to market them, and how to make female-led films in general, because... they're not doing that. Marvel only markets films starring a Chris, another Chris, and one more Chris for good luck. Ha!

I'll admit there has been some doubts in my mind about the future of the DCEU, but I have also been one of their biggest defenders. They've been taking risks, not restricting themselves to formula, and I greatly admire that. I'm glad they keep pressing forward, and if they keep moving in this direction, then we are in store for some great things.









Thursday, June 15, 2017

Summer Reading 2017

We kicked off Summer Reading this week!  Our theme this year is "Build a Better World"!


Mrs. August read several books, and then the kids decorated aprons and hats according to what they want to be when they grow up.




Mrs. August figured out that she has been teaching summer reading for 16 years.  Mrs. Lisa is on her 14th year, and I (Julie) am on my 9th year.  It's crazy how fast time flies!

Summer Reading meets on Tuesdays at 9:30, 11:00, or 1:00.  See you there!

Monday, June 5, 2017