Category: Movies
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 270 – Trick or Meet-Up
Yep, it’s me and Dr. Facilier again. But this time it’s not from Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, but rather a Haunted Mansion-themed Disney Parks Blog meet-up. The free event included a variety of entertainment, with some characters out for meet-and-greets. And I simply couldn’t pass up the chance to get another picture with Facilier. I think he even remembered me from last time. Perhaps now I have friends on the other side too…
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 257 – Meeting with the shadow man
If there was one thing I was most looking forward to (and hoping for) at this year’s Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, it was the chance to get a photo with Dr. Facilier. Last year, I had heard he was around… but he never showed. And before that, he only had appeared in the Magic Kingdom during the entirely too short run of Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, when Disney was promoting The Princess and the Frog. And even then, guests couldn’t get close to Facilier, as he was up on the riverboat.
Now, finally, Facilier has a big part in this year’s Halloween Party, appearing on the Villains float in the Boo-To-You parade, having his own song-and-dance routine during the Villains stage show and, best of all, meeting with guests immediately after that show. So tonight, I finally got my photo with the shadow man himself. And he was certainly a character.
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 254 – Super 8
I finally saw Super 8 tonight, after hearing so many good things about it. And for the most part, the hype was dead on. As a fan of the genre that is emulated in this film, I thought director JJ Abrams succeeded in bringing back the childhood adventure movie with a fun sci-fi twist. Some might say this movie rips off The Goonies, E.T., or Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but I’d say it’s more of a tribute, with the end result being far better than most brainless drivel that ends up on the big screen nowadays.
Plus, with Spielberg actively involved in the creation of Super 8, no one can say anyone just copied Spielberg. Instead, it was Spielberg helping Abrams to bring the Amblin-era Spielberg style back. And honestly, I don’t care if this film wasn’t entirely unique or original. It’s a fun movie that I’ll be happy to own and watch again. I can’t say it’ll stick with me in the same way The Goonies has, and it likely won’t resonate with today’s younger generation like The Goonies did for those who grew up in the 80s, but Super 8 is still entirely enjoyable.
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 245 – Giant squishy Stay Puft
I finally started opening and displaying all the toys and collectibles I picked up at the San Diego Comic-Con in July along with a few other recent purchases. After around and hour and a half, I’m about 2/3 done. The biggest item we brought home was the new squishy Stay Puft Marshamallow Man from Mattel that stands 20″ tall and comes with a huge Ghostbusters diorama. It’s so big that the only place I have to display it (right now) is on the floor. I’m sure I’ll find a better spot for it eventually. Tomorrow I’ll finish opening the rest of the stuff, making our upstairs bonus room mostly organized once more.
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 241 – Unicron toy is practically planet-sized
Today I added one of the biggest Transformers ever made to my collection. The new Amazon-exclusive Unicron 25th anniversary Transformers movie edition arrived in a huge box and despite the fact that Unicron eats planets, I for some reason wasn’t expecting the toy version to be quite this big. The photo below shows the figure, still in the box, next to a G1 Soundwave reissue. Unicron stands around 15-16″ tall, with the box adding another couple inches. It’s HUGE. I haven’t taken it out of the box yet, but I will soon. And I will transform him into a planet, naturally.
Surprisingly, this is not the biggest Transformer toy ever produced. That honor goes to Fortress Maximus. But this one sure is close. The colors match his appearance in the animated Transformers movie fairly well and apparently he makes sounds and his eyes and fist light up as well, once I put some batteries in there. This character was one of Orson Welles’ last roles before he died, so that makes the toy extra special.
