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The Lone Ranger comes out this summer and July 3rd will be here before we know it. Since I am a huge Johnny Depp fan, the day can not arrive fast enough. So, it keep me pacified, they have released a new trailer (yes, I like to believe it’s just for me. lol) Enjoy, and you’re welcome!
From above the world of “Cars” comes “Disney’s Planes,” an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure featuring Dusty (voice of Dane Cook), a plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing—and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to a seasoned naval aviator who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar. “Disney’s Planes” takes off in theaters on Aug. 9, 2013.
Take a minute and check out the new spot “Disney’s PLANES Takes Flight,” featuring music by the film’s composer, Mark Mancina.
This is going to be such a fun new film to see this summer! The animation amazes me. The scenic backdrop is so realistic, and the familiarity of Cars put an instant smile on my face. I know we are looking forward to checking it out! 
You only turn 15 once, and I really wanted to make the experience super special for my daughter Gabi, so I gave my friends at Sky Limousine Service a call to be the transportation we used to go to Taverna Opa in Orlando.
There is something so special about getting a limo for kids (well adults too), but when she went outside without knowing what was coming to pick her and her friends up, she was thrilled.
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Playing (blasting) her favorite tunes, me playing invisible, and her and her friends snapping a ton of video and photos, it was a joy for me to see her so happy and having so much fun!
When we arrived to Taverna Opa, you instantly felt the energy of the restaurant. Full of life, with the smell of the delicious food and the upbeat music, again the girls were so excited. We ordered the humus to start the meal where everyone at the table got to smash the chickpeas with the olive oil mixture. It couldn’t have been more fresh and it tasted so good.
We then opted to do the family style meal where you get a little bit of everything. We had more than enough food, but included in our Aphrodite order was a cold appetizer, salad, hot appetizers and a meat platter (see full menu below). I think there was very little that didn’t get tasted. Everything was great.
The girls, as much as they enjoyed their dinner, were more excited about getting the food cleared off so they could get up on the table and dance! Yes, this restaurant encourages their patrons to dance on the tables. They even have a belly dancer that comes out and dances around for the crowd. She gets the crowd going with a group dance called Hava Nagila. No doubt, a total blast!
I think it’s safe to say that the kids had a great time! I love seeing my daughters happy and to be able to give her such a treat was very special and helped make memories to last a lifetime.
Contact Sky Limousine Orlando, Inc. (407)352-4644 or on the web - http://skyorlando.com/
Mention this blog post and ask for Ismael if he’s available, he is AWESOME!
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*Sky Limousine Service gave me a discounted rate in exchange for a review. Opa was just fantastic and I wanted to share our experience with you. All opinions are 100% my own.
Any Captain America fans out there? This should excite you!
Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” Commences Principal PhotographyIn Preparation for April 4, 2014 Film Release
BURBANK, Calif. (April 8, 2013) – Following in the footsteps of the record-breaking Marvel Studios’ release, “Marvel’s The Avengers,” production on the highly anticipated release, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” has commenced in Los Angeles, Calif., with production also including locations in Cleveland, Ohio, and Washington D.C. Directing the film is the team of Anthony and Joe Russo (“Welcome to Collinwood”) from a screenplay written by Christopher Markus (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) & Stephen McFeely (“Captain America: The First Avenger”). Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” returns Chris Evans (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”) as the iconic Super Hero character Steve Rogers/Captain America, along with Scarlett Johansson (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Iron Man 2”) as Black Widow and Samuel L. Jackson (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Iron Man 2”) as Nick Fury. In addition, film icon Robert Redford has joined the all-star cast as Agent Alexander Pierce, a senior leader within the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is set for release in the U.S. on April 4, 2014.
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will pick-up where “Marvel’s The Avengers” left off, as Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C.
For more information visit marvel.com.
Disney•Pixar’s “Finding Dory” to Dive into Theaters
November 25, 2015
Ellen DeGeneres, the Voice of the Beloved Blue Tang Fish in 2003’s “Finding Nemo,” Shares Plans for the All-New Big-Screen Adventure
BURBANK, Calif. (April 2, 2013) – When Dory said “just keep swimming” in 2003’s Oscar®-winning film “Finding Nemo,” she could not have imagined what was in store for her (not that she could remember). Ellen DeGeneres, voice of the friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish, revealed details today about Disney•Pixar’s “Finding Dory”—an all-new big-screen adventure diving into theaters on Nov. 25, 2015.
“I have waited for this day for a long, long, long, long, long, long time,” said DeGeneres. “I’m not mad it took this long. I know the people at Pixar were busy creating ‘Toy Story 16.’ But the time they took was worth it. The script is fantastic. And it has everything I loved about the first one: It’s got a lot of heart, it’s really funny, and the best part is—it’s got a lot more Dory.”
Director and Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton takes audiences back to the extraordinary underwater world created in the original film. “There is no Dory without Ellen,” said Stanton. “She won the hearts of moviegoers all over the world—not to mention our team here at Pixar. One thing we couldn’t stop thinking about was why she was all alone in the ocean on the day she met Marlin. In ‘Finding Dory,’ she will be reunited with her loved ones, learning a few things about the meaning of family along the way.”
According to Stanton, “Finding Dory” takes place about a year after the first film, and features returning favorites Marlin, Nemo and the Tank Gang, among others. Set in part along the California coastline, the story also welcomes a host of new characters, including a few who will prove to be a very important part of Dory’s life.
“Finding Nemo” won the 2003 Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature; the film was nominated for three additional Oscars® (Best Writing, Original Screenplay; Best Music, Original Score; Best Sound Editing). It was also nominated for a Golden Globe® Award for Best Motion Picture–Comedy or Musical. In 2008, the American Film Institute named “Finding Nemo” among the top 10 greatest animated films ever made. At the time of its release, “Finding Nemo” was the highest grossing G-rated movie of all time. It’s currently the fourth highest grossing animated film worldwide. The film has more than 16 million Likes on Facebook, and Dory—with more than 24 million—is the most Liked individual character from a Disney or Disney•Pixar film.
DeGeneres’ distinctive comic voice has resonated with audiences from her first stand-up comedy appearances through her work today on television, in film and in the literary world. Her syndicated talk show, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” is in its 10th season and has earned 38 Daytime Emmy® Awards. DeGeneres has won 12 People’s Choice Awards and the Teen Choice Award for Choice Comedian for three consecutive years. Additionally, her show won two Genesis Awards and a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Talk Show Episode. For her unforgettable turn as Dory, DeGeneres was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance.
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Rediscover the majestic musical adventure of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame II,” together for the first time on Blu-ray in a 2-Movie Collection! Families can come together and enjoy the extraordinary tale of Quasimodo in a soaring celebration of the beauty inside all of us.
Join the world’s most unlikely hero as he meets his first real friend, Esmeralda, while fighting to save the people and city he loves. The legendary story continues as Quasi reunites with his gargoyle friends to protect the cathedral’s most famous bell and find true love. “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”soars with a magnificent score by Academy Award Winning composer Alan Menken (“Beauty And The Beast,” “Aladdin”). Enjoy both magical films, bursting with brilliant animation and unforgettable characters, together on Disney Blu-ray NOW!
A Guy Like You is a song featured in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The gargoyles’ sing to Quasimodo reassuring him that Esmeralda loves him too.
Quasimodo shows Madellaine beauty on the inside!
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 movie collection is one that our family still enjoys today. Check out some the Blu-Ray bonus features!
It’s a great time to add this to your Disney collection today!
Disney provided me a copy for review purposes. All opinions are 100% my own.*
I am a Justin Timberlake fan! I have stalked followed his career since his early days of the Mickey Mouse Club.
I went to my share of N*SYNC concerts…
and then to the Justin Timberlake ones.
I watched him fall in and out of love.
Then get married….
Host SNL…
5 times!
OK, let me just get to it…this is why you are here anyway. Check out JT’s new video – MIRRORS -
The video for “Mirrors,” the song is dedicated to JT’s grandparents William (who passed away last year) and Sadie, and tells the story of their relationship, from teenaged courtship to adult drama, old age and beyond as they “reflect” on their past. So sweet, right? Tell me what you think of the video! Are you downloading his latest CD or purchasing it from Target to get the bonus features?
Ok, so I have done my share of talking about OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL. After going to the world premiere of the film in LA last month, I have been having so much fun sharing all the fun experiences I had while at the #DisneyOzEvent including the interviews with the cast; Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, James Franco, Zach Braff, Joey King and Director Sam Raimi. After taking my girls, Gabi 15 and Madi 12 to see Oz they wanted to do a video review of their own. So here ya go! My girls and what they thought of the movie, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL.
*I was invited to this awesome event as a guest of Disney but all opinions are my own!
I find that this being my last official scheduled post about OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL from my trip to LA last month for the world premiere of the film very suitable. It’s kinda like what Dorothy said to Scarecrow in the original Wizard of Oz, “I think Ill miss you most of all.” I love Zach Braff as Finley in this movie! He was so much fun to talk to during his interview and being the last of my interviews of my press junket to post, I feel like he’s my scarecrow!
Oz at the time this post goes up has already hit the $100 million mark. Open for just one week and it’s already done amazing at the box office. It feels good to have been a small part of the success of this awesome film.
So Finley – The Flying Monkey – oh how I love this character. He and China Girl, played by actress Joey King, are such a great comedic duo in the film. Finley is just so funny! And, well, so is Zach Braff. Here’s what we talked about when we sat down together.
{Edits made to make content easier to follow}
During the production you’re in this little tiny black booth?
Yeah, that’s one of the ways we did it. By the end we had three pretty solid ways that we did it. Sometimes I was like just scrunched down like in this blue screen Onesie which is really adorable and for six months no matter how many times I put it on, everyone pointed and laughed at me and so I sat on my butt and kinda hunched over, I was thirty-six inches tall. I’d do that, you know, (Director) Sam (Raimi) wanted me to, he wanted to capture everything, gestures and my facial expressions. So that, we’d do it that way. Other times there was a puppet that I would kind of operate when he needed to be like flying and stuff. And then there’s times when I couldn’t be there at all, and I’d be in this booth with cameras all around me. And then James (Franco) would be looking at a monitor that was kind of on a pole. And then he’d get the tiny ear piece in his ear, and so that’s how we could, you know, do it, ’cause Sam’s biggest thing was, I don’t want you in a sound booth at the end of the shoot. I want you there, I want you and James improving, I want it to be two buddies on a road trip. I think that made such a difference. Because it wasn’t just this character that got phoned in at the end, it really was this important relationship.
What was one of your most memorable moments during filming?
You guys have seen the movie, right? I love the moment when we find China Girl and James is putting her back together. Because it genuinely was so moving. I mean, even on set, it was so moving. We were on all these giant sets and to, for the first time we were literally sitting and it was so surreal. We were literally sitting in a tea kettle and it was James and Joey King and the puppeteer. They had this beautiful marionette puppet, because she was small enough that she could actually have a marionette puppet. And Sam (was there) and it was just so sweet and beautiful. I actually had my eyes welled, and I said to Sam – that’s when I discovered that I wanted the monkey to almost be like an easy crier. Because my eyes really genuinely welled and I was like, Sam, he doesn’t want Oz to see that he’s crying, so let’s have him covertly swipe the tear. And then they kept in the movie, it was really sweet.
What was the most challenging part?
I think I was nervous the whole time, like I’m here for so long and working so hard. Are they going to capture all that I’m doing? As an actor you go, okay, it’s my face, so they can’t get around that. You know, when all that you’re doing is really reference for an animator, yeah I was nervous. Like are they going to capture the subtleties in this. I’m nervous to put my name on it if it’s not going to capture all the little things I’m trying to do. And then along the way, I’ve only seen like rough (shots), you know, incarnations of (the film), ’cause it takes so long to get it that (real feel), the way you guys saw it in the movie. And then at the premier I finally saw, and for the first time, fully photo-real and realized, and it was so exciting for me. Because it really did capture little subtle face ticks, and things I never would have thought they would have picked up in the eyes. And they did. And that made me really happy, that they got it all.
You were the comedy, and that’s what kids really respond to, what’s your feeling about doing this for kids?
Well I did do Chicken Little. So I did (a kid’s film) before. I have nieces and nephews, I don’t have any of my own yet, but I love kids and the idea- I’ve already scored that stuffed animal and, uh, it’s really cute, you’ll love it.
A blogger confesses, “I slept with it.”
So did my nephew. [LAUGHTER] I have a twelve-year-old nephew right – I swear you guys will love this story as moms. I have a twelve-year-old nephew and I walk in and his sister couldn’t come out from Florida for the premiere, but he did. And I said I want you to give this – to his sister, she’s eight. I want you to give this to Ella because she didn’t get to come out. And he goes, “yeah-yeah-yeah I’ll give it to her”, and he’s sleeping on my couch. I walk in to come here this morning, and he’s totally spooning it and I’m like, there’s no way Ella is getting that stuffed animal. Actually it was funny – I say, “I want you to give this to Ella”, he goes, “yeah-yeah-yeah we’ll share it”, and I was like, “no-no-no it’s for Ella”. [LAUGHTER] So I told my publicist, I need like a box of those things. One is not going to do.
How do you prepare for a role like a monkey?
I did actually go to the Detroit Zoo. I stumbled across two monkeys, let’s just say in intimate embrace. [LAUGHTER] Um, none of that proved useful [LAUGHS] maybe for the sequel I don’t know if the monkey gets a girlfriend or not. It worked creating a creature from scratch, I mean, yeah, he looks like a monkey but he flies and he talks like a human. So it really wasn’t too much monkey research to be done.
How do you feel about flying monkey trending on Twitter?
Is it? No it’s not – because of you guys? [LAUGHTER] You guys are such scary power. Wow, you guys can band together for good. That’s really cool. That’s a lot of power. I’m going to get on there and re-tweet it.
What was the audition process?
Sam asked me to come in, but he didn’t even want me to audition. He just kinda wanted to talk and I went in his room and he had a really rough animatic, really like this pre-visualization stuff. So, that’s what it was, it was that sequence where we’re running off the cliff and right before we go into the bubbles, where I jump off. And the monkey didn’t have any lines. And he said, so here’s an example. We have this scene, but, you know, we want someone who can kinda come to the set and figure out who this guy is with me and James. And he showed me the animation and I was watching it and I saw him jump off and-Oz says, “what are you doing, you’re jumping off?” And I just went, “I have wings”. [LAUGHTER] And Sam just started dying laughing and I was like, I guess that’s a good sign. [LAUGHTER] And so that’s how it started. I found out when I got home I got the gig, ’cause I made the director laugh. And that’s what he wanted. He wanted someone that could sit there and go, oh what if I said this. And I said, Sam, I promise you this, I’m going to drive you crazy, I’m going to pitch a thousand ideas, but just take what you like and leave the rest. No hard feelings. And there’d be plenty of times where I, we’d be on set and I’d be like, oh what if this da-da-da-da-da-da all excited and he’d be like, that’s hysterical, but it’s not called The Monkey. [LAUGHTER] maybe when we make the movie, The Monkey, we can do that elaborate scene you just pitched [LAUGHS]. So maybe, who knows, the sequel.
OK, so yeah, it’s not called THE MONKEY, but yeah, he sure is a scene stealer!
Have you checked out OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL yet? Check out the trailer and then click on all the links below!
*I was invited to this awesome event as a guest of Disney but all opinions are my own!
During my whirlwind of a trip to LA for the #DisneyOzEvent last month, one of our stops was at the Hyperion Bungalow located at the Disney Animations Studios. Here we enjoyed a delicious (and suiting) Chinese lunch and then were graced with the presence of Tony and Tom Bancroft, adoringly known as the Bancroft Brothers. Twins. Former Disney Animators that took the time to share a little bit about their background as well as looking into the creations of such classics as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Emperor’s New Groove. Of course with the release of Mulan/Mulan II – Combo Pack Blu-ray 15th Anniversary Edition, we got to hear some great inside secrets of the film as they drew some of their beloved characters while they spoke.
Tom is the supervising animator of the fun loving character “Mushu”, and Tony is the director of the Mulan. They were both so fun and entertaining to interview!
As for Mushu – he wasn’t going to draw some simple dragon. Tom did research on dragons for hundreds of hours. It was news to me that Chinese dragons don’t look like the typical scaly reptile like creature I would think, but they are rather long and slim and have whiskers. That is why Mushu looks like he does.
Mulan/Mulan II Blu-ray/DVD 3 Disc Special Edition is out NOW!
*I was invited to this awesome event as a guest of Disney but all opinions are my own!
