Mulan 2020

Mulan 2020 Review

                Like many Disney fans, I could not wait for the promised live-action feature of Mulan.  The movie, originally slated for release in theaters in February 2020, was pushed back to July 2020, and when theaters were not reopened, was finally released in September on Disney+ as a Premier Access release.  As a Disney+ member, I factored in how much it would cost to see Mulan in the theater, bit the bullet, and purchased Premier Access. My 11-year-old daughter and I snuggled up and prepared to watch the live-action version of my favorite Disney role model. 

                The first notable difference between Mulan 2020 and the original was the lack of the musical component.  While there were instrumental hints of the well-loved songs carefully crafted for the original, the live-action movie had no singing actors, but the lack of vocals did not take away from the movie at all. 

                What did take a little away from movie was the lack of several characters from the original.  First, the cricket was removed entirely.  The spider that replaced the cricket in the matchmaker scene just did not do it justice.  Also, noticeably missing was Little Brother, replaced by an actual little sister.  When the animated feature came out, Disney likely went with Mulan as an only child due to China’s current one child per family policy.  However, during the period in which Mulan likely lived, that policy had not yet been enacted.  With Mulan 2020 Disney remained true to the history of China in that respect. 

                The one character that was most missed was the provider of comic relief with impeccable timing, the dragon protector Mushu.  Mushu, played by the extraordinary comic Eddie Murphy, was the one element Disney should have strongly considered keeping in the live action version.  He was replaced, somewhat, by a phoenix, which was an interesting choice.  According to Brittanica.com, in Chinese culture the phoenix is an omen foretelling harmony at the ascent to the throne of the new emperor.  In Mulan, however, she is protecting the current emperor.  We really missed Mushu. 

                Overall, we very much enjoyed Mulan 2020, and very much approved of the change in Mulan’s love interest, addition of her younger sister, and the flawless performance of its star Liu Yifei as Fa Mulan.  I simply cannot wait to see what the Chinese-American actress does next. 

Enola Holmes Review

Enola Holmes Review

 

                As a fan of Millie Bobbi Brown’s work in the Netflix Science Fiction phenomenon Stranger Things, I was very excited when I started seeing previews for the latest Netflix production featuring Miss Brown, Enola Holmes.  I was not disappointed. 

                Featuring Millie Bobbi Brown as the titular character, the cast is made up of a host of familiar faces.  Sam Claflin, who typically plays romantic leads, was almost unrecognizable as the notoriously uptight older brother of Sherlock Holmes.  As Mycroft, Claflin delivers a seamless performance, leaving his leading man persona behind in favor of the standoffish eldest Holmes sibling.  Playing the notable detective Sherlock Holmes, Henry Cavill takes away the peculiarities the famed detective is known for, replacing them with obvious fondness and gentility towards his younger sister.  Helena Bonham-Carter rounds out the Holmes’ family as the matriarch whose disappearance pulls Enola into an amazing adventure, despite her brothers’ disapproval. 

                Enola breaks the legendary fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience, imparting much needed background to this new character, Sherlock’s 20 years younger sister. Enola was first mentioned in 2006 in a YA series written by American author Nancy Springer. The movie has a host of producers, including none other than Millie Bobbie Brown.

                A carefully crafted mystery within a mystery, shortly after Enola embarks on her mission to find her mother, she finds herself caught in the middle of a second adventure when a runaway slides into her train car.   Enter Louis Partridge playing Twekesbury, otherwise known as the Missing Marquess.  Partridge gives an amazing performance, holding his own with Brown.  Twekesbury also holds his own with Enola.  She decides to help him stay hidden. The actors play off each other brilliantly, and the characters inspire a “who’s saving who?” mentality, as they morph into partners. 

                One more familiar face is Fiona Shaw as the villainous Miss Harrison, head mistress of the finishing school Mycroft Holmes is insistent that Enola attend.  Shaw makes her characters easy to hate, which, in this writer’s humble opinion is the trademark of a great actor.  Hate is a strong emotion, and from Shaw’s performance in True Blood and Harry Potter to Enola Holmes, she consistently manages to inspire strong feelings from her audience.

                Enola Holmes proves that Netflix productions continue to impress and adds to their growing library of notable films and series.  However, the best part of Enola Holmes is that it followed the first of Nancy Springer’s series about the sixteen-year-old detective, who gives her elder and legendary sibling a run for his money.  Sherlock Holmes may have, at last, met his match with his clever, much younger sister.  And I hope Netflix continues working with this all-star cast to bring all of Ms. Springer’s books about Enola to the screen.  As always, Netflix has produced a film that leaves its viewers wanting for more.

               

Godzilla 1998 Review

 

Godzilla 1998

 

When Godzilla entered the disaster-era movie scene of the late 90s/early 00s, it was almost guaranteed to be a blockbuster hit.  Instead, the content of the movie landed it squarely in the land of The  Worst Movies Ever.

What makes a movie a good movie?  It has a great plot, actions make sense, and number one, it has to be possible, if not even remotely plausible.  This is where Godzilla fails royally.

First, the monster is simply too big to exist on Earth.  For whatever reason, Godzilla appears, seemingly out of the depths of the unexplored ocean for no reason whatsoever.  The opening scene features iguanas, and the theory of how Godzilla came to be is that he is an overgrown radioactive iguana.  The island of the iguanas appears to be in the South Pacific.  Then we move to Japan, where we see the work the giant did on a Japanese shipping boat. 

Naturally, the powers that be immediately recruit a biologist famous for studying earthworms that were exponentially bigger 12 years after the Chernobyl explosion.  They. Get. A. Worm. Expert.  They don’t find the world’s leading herpetologist.  Nope they go recruit Dr. Niko Tatopoulos, an expert in invertebrates that live underground.  Played by Matthew Broderick, Dr. Tatopoulos is as inept as one would think a biologist studying earthworms would be in the situation with an extraordinary-sized lizard. 

When Godzilla make an appearance in New York City, the audience is left to marvel exactly how quickly the monster was able to get from Japan to New York.  An evacuation is called, and the military is called in.  Not only do the writers make the United State military look completely incompetent, with the exception of Doug Savant’s Sergeant O’Neal, the soldiers act like complete idiots. 

Just when you want the monster to be destroyed, he leans down and meets Dr. Tatopoulos face to muzzle…and then walks away, showing that Godzilla just may not be a bloodthirsty monster after all.  Halfway through the movie we find out that not only is Godzilla not bloodthirsty, she is pregnant.  But, since there is only the one monster, how is that even possible?  The writers used the idea of a mutated iguana as the basis for Godzilla.  However, iguanas do not reproduce asexually, as explained by Broderick’s character.  He also explains that the reason she traveled from Japan to NYC is to nest…

First, there are many animals who can reproduce asexually, including an actual lizard.  Whiptail lizards are all born female, but they reproduce.  It seems like the writers of Godzilla could have done a tiny bit of research and chose a lizard that was not an iguana.  But, then again, that would require a herpetologist to be on set, a much-needed factor that was missing everywhere in this movie. 

Then there was the unnecessary French component that featured Jean Reno, playing his usual stereotypical role of the smoking French agent. 

When Dr. Tatopoulos announces that Godzilla may have laid eggs somewhere in the city was one of the most incredible statements the worm-expert made.  Since when do lizards migrate from a very warm climate like the South Pacific to the very cold and rainy New York City?  And why would a lizard, whose eggs need to incubate, lay her eggs in the air-conditioned Madison Square Garden arena? Because eggs apparently incubate faster in cold are, possibly?

Not particularly fond of Matthew Broderick, save for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and adult Simba in 1994’s The Lion King, he proved to be the awful, unconvincing actor expected of him. 

Overall, the movie was horrible.  The lizard was too huge, showed compassion that made one wish there was some place on Earth she and her eggs could be relocated to, but unfortunately, they were all destroyed. As the movie ended the audience waited with bated breath as, predictably so, one egg remained untouched, leaving room for a sequel. 

 

Louisiana Girls Go North

Last week one of my cousins got married in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  When I first heard the news that he was getting married there, I was so excited.  I've wanted to go to Eureka Springs since my co-worker told me he had done an internship at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (TCWR).  It opened in 1992 and is home to several big cats, two coatimundis, one primate, and at least 4 bears.  But, the best part of TCWR is that they offer overnight lodging, with prices comparable to hotels in the area.  

The Zulu Lodge area is adults-only.  It is set away from the other lodging and has a hot tub and a covered area with a firepit.  Every unit has a balcony off the back, because even if you're staying a Wildlife Refuge, you're still in the Ozarks, and the views are breathtaking. 

All of the other lodging is family-friendly, and the Siberian and Bengal suites even allow pets.  It is important to mention that pets are not allowed anywhere other than the area immediately around the lodging.  They cannot go into the gated area or on the tours.  Only service animals are allowed on the tours. 

The Treehouse Bungalow is probably where I would stay if we go again.  It does have an age restriction.  Children must be at least 5 years old.  The bungalow is 15 feet up and is directly across fom one of the tiger's night area.  We walked by right before bedtime and she was out and about.  

We chose to stay in the Tigris tent, next to its twin the Bam Bam Bungalow.  These two are best described as glamping.  It's an army tent on a platform.  The Tigris has a bunk bed, a queen-sized bed, a mini-fridge, a table and chairs (inside, as well as on the porch), a coffee pot (Keurig-style), and a large selection of teas and sweeteners.  The fridge was stocked with juice boxes, muffins, and water bottles.  The tents are air conditioned and have ceiling fans and stand alone fans and space heaters.  

They warn you that the tents will be hot during the day and suggest exploring Eureka Springs.  When we got back from dinner, around 7:30 PM, it was still warm inside but it was cooling off outside.  We sat on the porch and watched the sunset (both tents face west).  Then we chased fireflies, sat by the small pond between the tents, and debated over whether or not to use the fire pit (we didn't).  By the time we tuned in for the night, the room was bordering on cold, and it stayed nice and chilly all night.  The only "roughing it" part of glamping at TCWR was that the bathroom was shared by both tents.  It was a bit hot in the bathroom, but it wasn't bad.  And it was about 10 feet away from our door.  They go all out on the safari décor from the lodging to the bathroom.  

While sitting on the front "porch" of the tent, we saw several rabbits and a couple squirrels.  Then the big cats started "caroling," and it was magical.  One we were in the tent with the air and fan on, the lion and tiger calls were muffled and did not disturb our sleep.  In fact, the bed was very comfortable and we slept like rocks.  

When you are a lodging guest, TCWR treats you like a VIP.  There are gates that only employees and lodging guests are allowed through.  The tours are included in your room cost, and you can go on as many as you want.  With your room you also get a trolley ride (we did not do this).  We went to the 4PM tour.  It was very informative, and our guide shared the animals' rescue stories.  There is also a self-guided discovery area where you may catch a glimpse of a black bear (they have 3 acres), cougars, bob cats, tigers, and, our favorite, a grizzly named Bam Bam. 

The rates for the Zulu Lodge, the Bengal and Siberian suites, and the Treehouse Bungalow range from $175-210, depending on when you are staying.  The Tigris Tent and Bam Bam Bungalow are $125/night, and there are a few RV spaces for $65/night.  *All of these prices reflect 2 guests. The family-friendly lodging allows up to 4 guests, but it is an additional $20/guest, even if that guest is a child.  

Overall, it was a great experience, and I am glad we did it.  Even if you don't want to do the tour, the novelty of the cats calling and the gorgeous mountain views make TCWR an amazing place to stay in Eureka Springs.  I just want an attached bathroom next time. :-)

After our night at TCWR and doing the discovery tour in the morning, we headed to Ozark Mountain Ziplines in Eureka Springs.  From the call to reserve our spots to the ride back from ziplining, the customer service was absolutely amazing.  You can book online and pay in advance, but if you call, they let you know there is a cash discount.  And, for 3 people, it ended up saving us around $20, if not more.  Kids under 12 are discounted, as well.  Our tour guides were David and Skylar.  David stayed at the far end of the line, guiding us to a safe landing, and Skylar sent us off.  Both were very good with both the adults and the kids.  We even had a small six-year-old in our group who got to ride with both of them.  We highly recommed this experience.  One of the 10 ziplines was the highest in Arkansas.  I will admit that I was nervous all the way to the first line.  They got progressively higher and longer as we went. One really cool thing about this experience is that we didn't have to hike or climb to any of the platforms.  We were driven to the first, and then to the last three.  I think the farthest we had to "hike" was less than 50 feet.  

In between all of our adventures, we were able to explore Eureka Springs.  The painted steps were beautiful in person.  The mega mocha blended coffee at The Daily Roast was amazing.  From a recommendation by Skylar at Ozark Mountain Ziplines, we ate lunch at Thai House.  It was really good. A hidden gem we found East By West whose resident bunnies help give customers change.  When they're not working, you can find Gumbo and Sushi hanging out, ready for pets.  It was definitely a unique experience. 

The morning of the wedding we decided to check out Float Eureka.  We rented three kayaks for a half day and took the shuttle to the White River.  Even though we road with a bunch of other people and groups, this was honestly the best family time we had.  We were all inexperienced.  And we all managed not to end up in the water.  The water itself was around 45 degrees Fahrenheit.  It was just short of painful to dip our hands in, and was absolutely painful to step in.  However, it was exactly the right temperature for the paddle to dribble into the kayak while sitting under the direct sun.  Because of the temperature difference between the water and the air, there was a nice breeze when it got just a little too hot.  It was absolutely the perfect summer day activity.  The only bad part of the trip was when my daughter got stung by a bee.  Now why the bee decided the seat of her kayak was the place to land, I have no idea.  But her thigh threatened to squish him, so he stung her.  While we were in the middle of the White River.  Thankfully, a family canoeing nearby offered a menthol cigarette to help the sting.  Whether this really works or not, I'm not sure, but she did stop screaming and crying after we applied it to the site of the sting.  

Dear "Miss" Queens

This is going to be different from my normal posts.  It's still about travel and still about the great state of Louisiana, but in a slightly different vein.

Dear Miss Queen,

When you won your title, you were likely filled with a euphoria that cannot be compared. You know who else felt that euphoria, the little queens of your court.  They watched you being crowned, watched as the mantle and train were placed upon your shoulders, and watched as you waved to you adoring crowd.

Do you remember watching your first "Miss" queen being crowned?

In the majority of Louisiana Fairs and Festivals, there are children's pageants as well as a pageant for older girls.  Some of these little girls are doing it for fun, some are pushed by their mothers, and some are doing it to experience the unique fairs and festivals of Louisiana, to find the one or two that will stay in their hearts forever.

Sadly few fairs and festivals include their little queens in activities past the pageant.  It is, understandably, a very lucrative festival fundraiser.  To the fairs and festivals that do include their little royalty, that make private FB groups, and whose "Miss" queen takes an active role in reaching out to her court, I say, "You are awesome.  You realize the potential of your young royalty, and you know that the impression you make on them is lasting."

You were once that young, impressionable, six, eight, or 10-year-old girl.  You once saw the beautiful girl get crowned.  You wanted to be her.  Now you are her, and you have little girls who want to be YOU.  You have your own built-in fan club.

I get it.  Not everyone is a kid person, particularly for the tiny, tiny queens.  Not everyone wants to deal with pageant moms (I really try my best not to be a stereotypical pageant mom. I promise!).  But this is not about them.  It's about the girls who are on the cusp of finding out who they are, who are starting to form opinions of their own, and who are defining their own personalities.  YOU can have an active role in their lives.  And, as their "Miss" queen, you should.

You are not just an ambassador for your festival.  You are a role model.  And you probably relish being a role model, because if you didn't, you wouldn't be a festival queen.

If you take away nothing else from this, please, please do the following:  know their faces, know their names.  Smile when you see them (you are important to them!).  Include them when you can.  Treat them like your little sisters.  Let their enthusiasm bolster you.  Help them be the best little queens they can be.  They want to be just like you one day.  Be worthy of that.

Louisiana Girls head West

This year for Mardi Gras, my daughter and I decided to do something a bit different and (gasp) leave the state of Louisiana for some  girls-only adventures. 

After checking Google Flights, and debating over various locations, we decided that the best choice for us was to fly from IAH to Denver, Colorado.  Because of the location of the Houston airport, we stayed in a nearby hotel the night before.  On the way there, we had a layover in Phoenix, AZ; and on the way back, we had a minute layover in Dallas, TX.  Once in Denver, we rented a car and headed to Manitou Springs. 

As soon as we had decided on Colorado, I turned to Pinterest to search  kid-friendly places to visit.  We'd had a decidedly mild winter here in Louisiana, temperatures, rarely dipping near freezing, and my daughter, 7, had no real memories of snow.  I wanted to change this.  One of the best sites I found on Pinterest was that of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's giraffe cam.  I was able to check the weather in real time. 

When we got to our hotel, Comfort Inn in Manitou Springs, we checked in, headed back out for some allergy meds (the altitude was messing with my sinus pressure), and picked up a pizza at Domino's.  Then we made the most of the cozy hotel room and inside pool and hot tub. 

The next morning after breakfast, we headed out to the Garden of the Gods.  This is a Colorado park and costs nothing.  The land was donated with the specification that it would always be free to the public.  And it is a magnificent sight to behold.  Start at the visitor's center.   We were surprised that with few exceptions (like the bighorn sheep and the buffalo (bison), there were several native Colorado animals that were also native to Louisiana.  We explored the visitor center and the gift shop before driving across the road to the garden.  There are a few places to rock climb, but overall, most of the rocks are off-limits, especially to novice climbers.  Here's a tip I didn't know:  there are several parking lots around the garden.  I parked in first one I came to.  We walked around for about half an hour before heading back to the car. We did not realize the incline, and there may not have been much of one, it just may have seemed that way to us.  I say that because we were going from a home elevation of  sea level to 6,358' elevation.  Also, because an elderly man was pushing his wife in a wheelchair ahead of us with no problems, but my very athletic daughter and I were huffing and puffing.

Remember I wanted to make sure my daughter saw snow? I needn't have worried about this.  There was snow on the ground in several places, but I had wanted to make sure, so I had booked the only train that runs during winter, the Broadmoor Cog Railway.  In the winter, the railway only goes as far as they can go, that is, as far as the track can be cleared.  We were able to go a bit past the halfway point and were able to stop and get out at one point.  We were able to play in the snow, which my daughter and I both enjoyed.  We could see Pike's Peak, but we did were no able to summit the mountain, however we knew we wouldn't be going to the summit well in advance.  We literally stopped when we met a wall of snow.  The train ride was very informative, as well.  Did you know that America the Beautiful was written by a woman?  I didn't.  Turns out Katharine Lee Bates wrote the lyrics after being inspired by the sights that lay before her from Pike's Peak.  And I can see why.  When we came to a certain area, an entire side of the train collectively made a sound of awe.  Seats are assigned randomly, but if you happen to be on the side with 3 seats, you're on the side with the best view.

We headed back into Manitou Springs for a quick, late lunch at Sahara Café.  Now, the first thing my daughter noticed was that one of the employees went into the basement.  Again, we live at sea level, which means, she's never seen a basement before.  She was ah-mazed.  The café has Greek food, coffee, and ice cream.  It doesn't seem like that should work, but it does.  The  best part, other than the food, though, was that our server ended up being from our general area.

Then it was time to head to the Cave of the Winds for our 4:00 tour.  I think our tour guide's name was Sara.  She was really entertaining.  I'd seen stalactites and stalagmites before, around San Antonio, when I was around 4, so it'd been awhile.  Seeing remnants of explorers' ladders and tunnels and one of the darkest places on earth were all amazing things to share with my daughter.  By this time, I'd also exhausted the battery on my phone and left my camera in the car, so at the end of the tour when w were given the option of buying a USB with our picture (taken at the entrance of the caves) that included other pictures and videos), I jumped at the chance. This was probably my favorite souvenir.

The next day I woke up not feeling well, so before we went anywhere, we headed to an urgent care in Colorado Springs.  One thing about driving in Colorado:  roads are well marked and signs are easy to follow.  One thing that was truly baffling for a state where marijuana is legal and mountain roads are plentiful:  the lack of guardrails.

For our last full day in Colorado, we spent a few hours at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  Remember the link I posted earlier?  We sent it to several family members, found the camera, and were able to wave to them over the world wide web.  Not only were most of the exhibits unique, but everywhere we looked there was a simply stunning vista. There is also a ride that looks like a ski lift that was only open on the weekends ( I missed this online or I would've gone the day before). You can also drive into the zoo up to the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, which I didn't know either, and honestly I wasn't feeling well at this point.  If they upgrade the parts of the zoo that are still in the "old-school" style, this zoo will truly be one of the best in the country, along with being the only mountain zoo. 

After leaving the zoo, we headed to Denver, spent the night near the airport, and spent the next day exploring Denver before flying out at 4.  Around 2, it really started snowing, so not only  did we get to see snow on the ground, we also got to see it coming down, as well.  Denver and the general airport area were both easy to navigate, everyone we encountered was friendly and welcoming, and we had a wonderful time.  Honestly, it felt a bit like Louisiana in the mountains. 
-Till next time, Colorado!

A different list about Louisianians...

So...lots have been written about being from Louisiana. Much of it true, but much I'd never heard of:
1.) We're not all from New Orleans.
2.) Some of us have never (gasp) even been to New Orleans.
3.) We don't have to go to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras.
4.) However, if we're talking about Saints, it's usually not the Catholic kind.
5.) We don't have to have gone to LSU to like the Bayou Bengals.
6.) Most of us have survived at least one hurricane.
7.) We don't all speak French, but we can all pronounce French last names. Silent "T's" really aren't that difficult.
8.) We don't do snow. Stop making fun of us because we can't drive in it. None of us have snow tires. It only happens every few years.
9.) We do have festivals for darn near everything.
10.) Back to Mardi Gras--if you're from SETX, don't bother coming to shop on Mardi Gras in Lake Charles. Stores close early. Also, check out Creole, Mamou, and Lafayette for some awesome Marsi Gras celebrations.
11.)Most of our state is very natural and there's lots of water. We like it that way.
12.) Until the first hard freeze, bug spray is the perfume of choice.
13) Even with the mosquitoes, and muddy water at the coast, we still love living here.
14.) Because, hello, you can get it shipped, I guess, but you can't get fresh crawfish or king cake anywhere else. And...
15.) If you've ever had real Cajun or Creole (and yeah, there's a difference) food in Louisiana, you'll be able to recognize how it's not REALLY the same thing out of state.
16.)We know not to mess with alligators. Because if you don't mess with them & their babies (btw, like one of the only reptiles who do that) they don't mess with you. They're afraid of you. We also know not to feed them. Because when you feed them, Florida happens. That's why we've had not a single human killed by an alligator in Louisiana History.
17.) We are usually friendly people and will respect that you have your opinions, please listen to the reasons we have to support ours. For instance--hunting. Most hunters are also big conservationists. They want healthy wildlife. They want the ecosystem to survive. However, that only applies to native species. The nutria rat was a mistake import. It was brought in because beavers were being hunted too much--we learned our lesson, sadly with both animals. While they've both prevailed, the nutria has destroyed much of our shore protection. Protection we need for hurricanes. And our native animals' numbers are dwindling because nutria are eating their food. So, yes, there's a bounty on nutria.
18.) We are a strong, resilient people. We like our home state.
19.) Different areas of the state are DIFFERENT. I went to college with some women from northwes Louisiana. They don't close anything for Mardi Gras and had never heard of boudin (they were missing out!)
20.) We are very welcoming people. It's not uncommon to be invited in for lemonade, tea, or a cup of Community Coffee.