Watched Atlantis The Lost Empire last night. Since I did absolutely no homework, just a spur of the moment Netflix choice as it was a Disney I've not seen. Very different Disney, a cross between anime and comic book artwork. Very angular and moved at an exhausting pace. Not the best and not the worst, I did not feel my 80 minutes was wasted.

I'm one of the few people I know who liked that movie. I thought it was great. I even bought the DVD ... and it's my only DVD to have ever disappeared. Pfft, no one would have borrowed it. No one likes it. Just gone.

Oh well. It's a wrongly reviled movie. Nothing wrong with it. Jules Verny adventure with stock but funny characters.

Count me among the fans of Atlantis, as well. Saw it at El Cap. There were characters in costume at the Masonic (now Jimmy Kimmel) building. I wonder what happened to those costumes? Was there ever an Atlantis presence in the park?

I certainly did not revile it, not in the least. But I was breathless by the end, it moved, I think, a little bit too fast. I thought it was beautiful to look and I would have enjoyed a more leisurely look around Atlantis. And especially enjoyed Don Novello. It made me wonder if Walt would have hired Father Guido Sarducci, but I'm glad they did!

I liked Atlantis as well, and my copy is missing too. What's up with that?

Do they self-destruct after so many years? Weird!

And there was once, if I recall correctly, a tiny Atlantis presence in the Park ... while they were still planning to someday reopen the Submarine Voyage with an Atlantis overlay.

We went to see Beowulf today. we saw the 3D version.

WOW.

We both thought it was incredible. While there were a couple issues with the animation (especially on Queen Wealthow), there were several times that I forgot it wasn't real live actors. And, the 3D really added to the realism, IMO.

The plot moved well, and was engaging. It's been so long since I read Beowulf that I honestly can't remember all the details, so I couldn't tell where the movie deviated from the original. But it seems that all the basics were there.

I only have three real complaints:

• The way they tried to hit you over the head with the 3D effects at the beginning of the film. Fortunately, it settles down after the first 10 or 15 minutes.

• The almost comic way they played "lets hide Beowulf's weenie" during his prolonged nude scene. It was out of place, and too Austin Powersish.

• The feet of Angelina Jolie's character. I'm not going to say more; you'll know what I mean when you see it.

The first time we went to the park there was a small presence- here's a pic of Tori getting a signature and some dirt from Moliere:
Dirty French dude

We intended to see No Country for Old Men, but apparently it's not yet in wide release and we didn't feel like fighting traffic to downtown Seattle on a Saturday night, so we settled for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

It was one of the most wonderful, sweetest, delightful movies I've seen in a long time. It just made me happy. It wasn't full of fart jokes or gratuitous violence or anything of that. Sure, it's totally appropriate for very young kids, but we loved it. There are little background bits here and there that amused me - like an overhead page in the hospital.

Even the credits were cute. First, it actually had an opening credit sequence, which is part of the movie-going ritual I actually miss. Second, the closing credits were actually cute. Not oh my gosh, make sure you watch them, they're amazing cute, but just really nice.

And neither Natalie Portman nor Dustin Hoffman was the slightest bit annoying. They were actually charming. That's magic all by itself.

Even the one "serious" theme was treated in a totally age-appropriate way, without shying away from it, but not making more of it than a child could handle.

Apparently it's an original script, but it felt like live-action children's book - of course, it was set up as "chapters" with a voice over, which contributed to that, but rather than taking me out of the story, I thought it just contributed to the impression of storytelling. Really really nice, wonderful storytelling. Not ooh amazing cinema, but a really wonderful children's story that these two adults wouldn't mind seeing again.

If you don't walk away from this movie with a smile, your heart is as cold and black as the coal Santa's going to leave in your stocking.