I've seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 twice now (almost saw it for a 3rd time today, but saw Tangled instead). I think it's the ONLY Harry Potter I have had the strong desire to see over and over again in theaters. I've rewatched a few of the others in theater, but it was for various reasons other than pure enjoyment for the film itself. I'd even see it again for a 3rd time. It's definitely one I will want to buy on DVD and gives me hope for Part 2. I cried through a good majority of the film, but it's a good one on a more low-key level than the latter half of the book. Everyone definitely stepped their game up for this film to bring a great film. So, yes, if you like Harry Potter, go see it in theaters!! I am super excited for Part 2 and can't WAIT till part 1 and part 2 come out on DVD together. By far my favorite Harry Potter film. Oh yeah, Desplat as the composer, might just be my 2nd favorite composer of the films. He really goes all out with various instruments. No one will compare to John Williams, but Desplat does a really good job and I enjoyed the sountrack more than others.
I saw Tangled today, which apparently is Disney's 50th animated film. Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, etc) is the composer for the film, which was nice to see. There were some awkward moments in the film for me because they reminded me briefly of Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, but it was a cute film. It's about par with Princess and the Frog (I may like Tangled a little bit better, but it's close). I liked the movie and the telling of Rapunzel. Some of the songs seemed a little forced where they were placed, but I'm not sure if that's because I'm not used to animated films where characters break out into song anymore or what. The songs themselves were cute. They're similar to Enchanted (also composed by Menken) and there's, of course, the "wish" song which for Rapunzel is the "When Will My Life Begin" song (reminded me a little of Little Mermaid). Donna Murphy sings this funny song called "Mother Knows Best." She plays the villain, but it's a good song. My favorite song is "I See the Light". It's supposed to be the "A Whole New World" type of song and it's not as "strong" as some others you've heard (i.e., you don't immediately fall in love with it), but it fits for the movie and the characters. I like it and I'll warm up to it more, but it took me a minute or two to fully "get it." The "Kingdom Dance" song is pretty amazing since Menken throws in some Celtic flair, but Princess and the Frog also had a pretty amazing dance song too (is that a requirement nowadays?). Anyway, the movie is a good Disney film. It's not the Disney animations of old, but they're enjoyable films with a good story and some nice character singing and compositions. Plus, you gotta love Pascal the Chameleon and Maximus the Royal Guard Horse (Chris's favorite thing about the movie was the horse)! I don't know if I'd see it again in theaters (maybe a home rental), but I'll buy the soundtrack for sure and probably the DVD.
As for the rest of my life...I am finished with classes on Friday (the 3rd). It's totally nerve wracking because this week is stress, stress, stress. Tomorrow (Monday) we have our review meeting via the phone with our client (and then my classes so I'm on campus for 5 hours straight). Tuesday I have to meet up with a group to finish my last lab for environmental modeling (I already completed the REAL last lab). Wednesday is ANOTHER review meeting (was all supposed to be on Mon, but a last minute scheduling issue came about) with our external advisor (and lab is due for enviro modeling and I'm stuck on campus with 5 hours of stuff again). Friday is my CBA final, which accounts for 50% of my grade and we are not allowed a page of notes. Sad to say, but this is THE first final I've had in grad school that is your "typical" final. I've either had no final, final with notes, or take home final. So am I nervous that I have to remember the ins and outs of 7 different CBA methods and 5 other lectures? YES! I have been studying for a few days now and it's about my primary concern for this week. However, I am having some bad dreams about GP and I'm not even presenting....At least my CBA paper (worth 40% of my grade) is written and edited. I may re-read it one more time to check for grammatical errors, but I could print it out now and feel good about it too. So...yes...I'm stressed and nervous all at once. Ugh. I just have to keep reminding myself I will be finished come 4:30pm on Friday (final is from 2:30-4:30pm) and Sunday I will be wishing Zenyatta a farewell at Hollywood Park. Zenyatta ships to Kentucky on Monday. It'll be a sad day, but at least I'll get to see her in person! I am glad I don't have anything to do on finals week. So I'll have an extra week of Christmas break. :)
Anyway, with that, I need to run off to do my reading for tomorrow's classes and study CBA some more.
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