Movie Monday: The Princess Diaries

Now for my favorite live action Disney Movie- The Princess Diaries! I've seen this movie SEVERAL times as a kid... when I was a kid we had DirectTv for a little bit and they did something called All Day Ticket where they would just play movies that were just released on VHS or DVD all day long with just a few breaks in between to show trailers for the other movies on All Day Ticket. I pretty much watched this and My Big Fat Greek Wedding like all the time. I definitely watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding way more... but I still love this movie a lot and I really love the book series by Meg Cabot! The books are for teens and young adults and the last book was for adults. The books are a little less Disney friendly than the movie is- so... it's not totally family friendly... I would maybe say if you're a mom maybe read it yourself before giving it to kids under 13 maybe... but I read it at 11 and I think it was fine. 

ANYWAY this movie is something I think kids, teens and adults can enjoy. I really loved it at every stage of my life... I laughed SO MUCH when I watched this recently- it's like they crammed as many laughs as they could in the movie and... there really is some little joke every line of the movie pretty much. There's also a lot of heart in it between Mia, her mother and her grandmother. And Mia's friends too. 

My favorite part of the movie is when Mia has too much of the sorbet that is a palette cleanser between courses and its too cold for her and then the Prime Minister and his wife feel like they have to copy Mia so that she's not as embarrassed. It's so funny and I just can't stop laughing at that part! 

I also love how this movie is a great Girl Power movie with strong female characters and they show really great female friendships. I always love the relationship between Mia and Lilly because I feel like it's realistic. Mia and Lilly got into a couple fights in the movie that were pretty realistic fights that kind of made their friendship better... I really like the scene where Lilly tells Mia she wants her to be a Princess- I think that's sweet. It's just nice to see that kind of friendship in this movie. 

Also all of the locations in this movie are really fun. I've never been to San Fransisco- but there are so many really cool places that they show... plus Mia and her mom live in an abandoned fire house which is pretty awesome. It's just such a fun setting to tell this story and I really like that part of these movies too. 

So yeah years later as much as I'd love to see an interpretation of the book in film or television... I love this movie! This and Mary Poppins are my 2 favorite Disney Live Action movies... Julie Andrews is a treasure and I love her and everything she does... Definitely check this movie out sometime on Disney Plus! It is one of my favorite movies ever! 

Bye! 

-Shannon 

Movie Monday: Maleficent

So Maleficent isn't exactly the most "halloween" movie... but Maleficent is like the main Disney Villain in the Disney Parks Halloween Celebrations... plus the Sequel is coming out soon... so I wanted to re-watch this movie and get more excited about the sequel. I'm not sure how I feel about the sequel honestly... But I did really love this movie so I'm going to see it anyway.

I know this isn't the best reviewed Disney movie... but when I saw it in theaters with my mom I had a good time and we both really liked it. So... it has some fond memories for me! It's a good movie for moms and kids. Maleficent isn't really evil in this movie- although the previews did make this look scary. She's more of a Mother Figure for Aurora and she isn't very evil at all.

A complaint I hear a lot about the movie is the bad CGI... and I can agree with that to an extent. Flora, Fauna and Merriweather are a little creepy looking... but other than that it's a pretty beautiful movie. I'm also not a huge 3D movie fan... I think they're overpriced and usually very underwhelming... but if there is 1 effect in the movie that I like I feel like that overall makes the movie more memorable and I have a better experience seeing it in theaters.

I kind of hope they go in a different direction for the Cruella De Ville movie coming out soon... but I'm interested to see how they'll end up doing that. I'd also love to see a Dr. Facilier movie. I think that could be a lot of fun!

Hurry Back!
-Shannon

The Cozy Princess Reviews: Disney's Aladdin (2019)

Aladdin is probably my favorite Disney animated movie and I've been really exited and nervous about this new live action version! I've gone back and forth about how I feel about Will Smith as Genie and I'm not the biggest fan of Guy Ritchie... but I think it all worked out nicely in this movie and they did a great job!

The movie starts with a really simply beautiful opening number of Arabian Nights with a shot panning over all of the characters in their own very ordinary world. You can see Aladdin with Abu on the streets and then it goes to Jasmine looking longingly over Agrabah while Rajah goes to attack Iago... It is honestly a stunning way to show all of our characters and it's probably one of my favorite movie moments.

Now let's talk about the music in this movie... the Music of Aladdin is probably my favorite in any Disney Movie... and everyone in this movie really did a great job. Will Smith is very underrated as a singer... I really liked his version of Friend Like Me... which is my favorite Disney song. I also really liked Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Mena Massoud as Aladdin. They sounded really great. I would say Aladdin really sounded as good if not better than the original. The Whole New World Scene was really great for a lot of reasons... but the singing was absolutely amazing.

The one song I really have to say I didn't like was Speechless- which is Jasmine's new song. It wasn't a bad song itself... but it felt very out of place in the movie. Particularly in the reprise... which was just a mess of a scene in general. It was basically a very poppy aside from Jasmine... but it showed the guards kind of disappearing as she walked passed them in a "Thanos Snap" almost. It looked like that and my boyfriend and I both said "SHE JUST SNAPPED THOSE GUARDS" which was pretty funny. It also seemed like it should have been a very powerful moment for Jasmine herself... but it gave the character Hakim oddly too much power. It felt very odd for the most part... and I just didn't love this part.

Another thing I want to talk about is the CGI in the movie. It was actually really good for most of the movie... but there were times I looked at Genie's face and it just looked so strange. It seemed copied and pasted onto his body and it didn't look like it fit. I still overall liked the appearance of the Genie in his Blue, Larger Than Life form- so I didn't find it that distracting... plus he was in his human form for most of the movie. The CGI on the Whole New World Scene was actually really good... and I loved Carpet.

The Chemistry between Naomi Scott and Mena Massoud was incredible too. It seemed very natural... they were just really adorable and it seemed so genuine. Aladdin and Jasmine are my favorite Disney Couple... and seeing them brought to life was just amazing.

All of the characters brought to life were so so good too... one I keep thinking about actually was Jafar. Yes- it's been mentioned that he is actually very hot in this movie... but he was also just a good choice. The more I think about the movie now... the more I'm like "Jafar was actually one of my favorite parts of the movie!" Jafar was played by Marwan Kenzari... I'm definitely going to watch more of his movies... it looks like he's been in a lot of "action-y" movies lately that... were badly reviewed... but now I'm feeling they might be worth watching. He was in 2017's The Mummy and Murder on The Orient Express and 2016's Ben Hur... I want to watch these. Aspen- if you're reading this... I'm probably going to make you watch The Mummy. Love you! Hahaha.

Also Guy Ritchie was just the perfect choice to direct this movie. The Slow Motion Scenes looked really cool... and he just does a good job at action/adventure movies and I'm glad they really went with an action/adventure feel for this movie.

This is definitely my new favorite Disney Live Action remake... but I'll put it up with one of my favorite Disney Live Action movies in general. Like on Par with The Princess Diaries for me. I just really loved it and now I'm excited for The Lion King!

Let me know what you guys thought of this movie! What were your favorite and least favorite parts?

TTFN!
-Shannon