Monster High Live Action Movies

     With dolls...there seems to be a theme that involves teenage dolls going to a certain school that involved magic, or dolls with big eyes and a fashion sense. First...we had the Barbie Doll which is still going strong; then came Bratz a doll with fashion sense and four different ones with separate lives. They made a live action movie that failed and destroyed the Bratz merchandise. Will not go into detail.

    Then a couple years later, there were these dolls called Monster High having names like Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf and Frankiestein. It was trying to follow in Bratz footsteps. They were ok toys. The dolls had their own backstory, and then...Nickelodeon made a live action movie.

   When I heard about this, I was skeptical. I saw the Bratz live action movie crash and fall. I didn't know how I would feel about this one. Was it going to fail and burn? Was it going to be amazing? Well...I watched the first one and...it was ok.

   Not amazing, but the story of three girls with monster powers somehow intrigued me. The first was about Clawdeen Wolf and her entering into Monster High.

  Apparently, her father is human, and her late mother is Wolf. Having that be her dark secret somewhat made her feel that she didn't belong. Keeping the secret to the other two. 

     They had music numbers which bored me, so I skipped them. The story was more important anyway.  Clawdeen meets Draculaura and Frankiestein. Draculaura's father is actually Dracula himself. Frankiestein was made into different human parts.

 

    I guess the three of them have allies as well as friends. Clawdeen fears her human self will be revealed to everyone, and she would have to leave.

   She meets a teacher that feels her pain. There was another story about another human monster that was kicked out of Monster High for almost destroying everyone.

    The villain is revealed to be one of the teachers that Clawdeen likes. He is the grandson of Jeckel/Hyde. He develops monster powers when Clawdeen finds a hidden room. He takes Draculaura's monster powers and wants Clawdeen to join him.

   Eventually, he's turned into stone by another monster who Clawdeen had a crush on. By the end, Clawdeen secret is revealed...but it wasn't over yet.

   The sequel, which came out this year, revolves around Draculaura and the war of witches' vs vampires. Draculaura gets caught in the middle as Clawdeen is dealing with the pressure of being popular.

     There's also a new allays named Lorali who experienced the dangers Vampires and Witches harbor when Draculaura uses spells.

   Lorali was a character from those dolls as well as others, but she was important apparently in the second movie. 

   She hates the three but grows to accept them by the time the movie ends when everyone saves Draculaura. Like the first one, there were songs as well, I skipped a few except for one. But what do I think of these two, and maybe a third arriving soon next year? 

     It seems Monster High a copycat of Bratz. Having cartoon movies, dolls, accessories and what not, but what Monster High did that Bratz couldn't do... make a successful live action movie. They aren't gold but compared to the live action Bratz, they can make their story believable while the Bratz just failed at making a live action movie.

    Monster High live action movies sticked to the formula while Bratz just went their own way and failed doing so.

 

    

BRATZ 

MONSTER HIGH

    Both dolls might still be available, but their popularity faded into existence. You can still see their cartoons and buy some of their dolls, but if you have any desire to see the live action Bratz movie, you figure out why Bratz aren't as popular as Monster High is now.

Holidays are here?

 

    Today is the first day of November. Holidays has come closer and closer....and closer. It seems I have noticed Christmas ads in mid-October. That's right, even before Halloween, they were showing ads for Christmas with decorations as well as deals for Black Friday when Halloween hasn't even arrived.

     It seems after Halloween, it's the Holidays. From November first to January third. All we have are the busy times of years between two whole months to get through one special day. A day some don't celebrate, and yet everyone still thinks November and December are the busiest months of the year. It's true. Unlike January or August which only have few to no holidays, these two months can be torture.

  It doesn't mean you should get out your Christmas decorations right after putting down the Halloween ones. It just means many stores go bat shit insane when it comes to Christmas. Hannukah and Kwanza as well.

   Every year gets more stressful as the Holidays come faster, and faster, and faster. It never stops. Soon as the clock strikes the first of November...it's times to get everything ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

    Some people don't even celebrate those holidays and yet, have to put up with the stress the Holidays bring us.

   The stressful the Holidays seem is if you know someone having a birthday around that time of the year. It's a headache for anyone, and if their birthday's on Christmas, it's worse. 

    Having gone through 38 birthdays in December and another coming in a couple of weeks, it is stressful for anyone especially the person having the birthday. I would feel guilty feeling as I have to give my family more gifts that they gave me. Whatever I don't get on my birthday, I wait ten days later.

    Another thing that can be a positive and a negative for some, Pushing the clock back an hour starting at the first Sunday of November or the last Sunday of October. 

    It's ok for some that work on Sunday, and better for those who do. They get an extra hour of sleep, yet they have to remind themselves that it's only an hour backwards on the clock.

   With Christmas and Thanksgiving over a tug-a-war over which is the better holiday, there are always cartoons mixing the two holidays together. Some funny, and some truthful. And it is true...when I was little, we focused on one Holdiay of that particular month.

   Even if November has Veterans Day, it doesn't mean people don't celebrate it as well. With December, it seems almost all the holidays are clumped all together in one huge week. The last week of December

        Even though Christmas is the last week of December, it seems pull out everything through our heart and soul to celebrate it. Kwanza is near the end and Hannukah can happen near my birthday. This year, I think happens after or on my birthday. I'm not sure. 

    Today is a Holiday celebrated after Halloween. Day of the dead or as they call it Dia De Los Muertos. Celebrated today and tomorrow it is a day celebrated in Mexico as well as here in America. Having a tradition of placing loved ones that have passed on a mural and placing pedals of Merigold Flowers around them so the souls of the deceased can know where to go to visit the living.

   If you ever seen that Disney/Pixar movie "Coco" it explains it very well. The tradition a family has while a young boy searches for his own in the land of the dead. I don't want to spoil the whole movie...but you will cry at the end. Have a box of tissues with you.

   It also known as All Saints Day here in America. Some schools are closed for the day as...like in Dia De Los Muertos, we celebrate the lord as well as thinking about our loved ones that have perished.

   So, do us a favor and appreciate both holidays. It's stressful enough as it is, even if you have a birthday around that time or not. Enjoy each holiday separately...please. No more blending holidays together. Even Halloween doesn't have room the breath. Till now.... we know what's coming and we will be prepared. November and December are just moths to many, but to me...it's already stressful enough. 

Happy Birthday, John Cleese

 

    If you ever seen any "Monty Python" skits.... then you would know John Cleese. Born today in the year of 1939, John was born in England and was an only child as well. He started his career around the time he was a child throwing pranks around middle school. He used to play Crickett in his childhood before going into comedy.

   He did a few comedy shows that were popular around the seventies called "Monty Python"; think of a Saturday Night Live skit in Britian, where they are hilarious. You have to enjoy the humor to understand the skits they perform. But it's not just only skits, they've done a few movies as well. His most comedic skit is the 'Ministry of Silly Walks' where he shows the audience different styles of walking.

    There were other hilarious skits that made John Cleese famous in Monty Python. Him complaining that is 'parrot is no more; it had ceased to be....' It's a skit that involves John Cleese in a pet shop returning a bird that was dead and stuffed. One of my favorite skits ever in Monty Python. They also have done movies like 'Life of Brian', 'Meaning of Life' and my favorite, 'The Holy Grail.' He's in every one of those skits.

     When Monty Python ended, he decided to appear in some movies and tv shows. My favorite being 'A Fish called Wanda' it's a story about two crooks (Kevin Cline and Jamie Lee Curtis) finding a way to get some jewels by pretending to be siblings, although they are in love with each other. John Cleese tries to put the moves on Jamie's character named Wanda. It's a funny movie and it does have a happy ending. 

      He has done other movies and tv shows. Some that aren't highly rated or watched. Adventures of Pluto Nash, Feivel goes West, Out of Towners, Pink Panther 2 and many more. His tv credits are Cheers, The Muppet show (where he performed with Muppets), Will & Grace, 3rd Rock from the sun and much more. He's still acting today, but not as much as he used to.

   John Cleese has family. A few sons and daughters that are more writers although his daughter Camilla is trying to get into acting like her father, and both are by their sides even though she hasn't been in anything big, but they raise lemurs during their documentary on BBC called In the Wild: Operation Lemur. The Bemaraha Wooly Lemur is a lemur named 'Cleese's wooly lemur' 

   We celebrate not only his birthday, but today is my dad's as well. John Cleese celebrates with others even a deceased president. But today, John is now 84 years old and still acting. Amazes me he is still with us and is making people laugh from Monty Python to today. Happy Birthday to him and everyone who has anyone born on the 27th of October.

Trick or Treat- POEM

 

Candy,

pumpkins,

a full moon,

are we in the mood,

to trick,

or

get a treat?

Fill the buckets and bags,

with goodies,

that rot the teeth within,

this night,

all Hallow's eve,

tricks arrive,

before treats,

come to houses

spooky jack-o-lanterns,

the cold crisp night,

we see different costumes,

on children,

wanting Hershey bars,

to Reese's Pieces,

Parents behind,

with flashlights in their hands,

as they wait,

for their children,

to come home

Ghosts,

witches,

Frankenstein's monster,

a princess,

and many more,

waiting to fill their bags,

with candy galore

Houses decorated,

to lure children,

to candy inside,

as outside,

huge balloons, 

spiderwebs,

graves crocked enough,

to lure anyone,

to enjoy

Inside,

a party,

bobbing for apples,

decorating,

costumes,

appropriate or not,

as haunting music plays

Autumn festivals,

leaves falling,

Autum arrives,

and it will get colder,

once Halloween dies

Have fun,

this Halloween,

since this is the night,

fear strikes,

and candy is free,

Trick or Treat

Whatever happened to Mello Yello?

 

   Never been much of a soda drinker, but ever heard of a drink product called Mello Yello? It's like a Mountain Dew drinks wannabe. It came around the 1970's and is part of the Coca Cola Company. Mello Yello started out in 1979 and is banned in certain countries like Australia where they named their version Lift.

    Mello Yello is an ok brand. How did they get the name? I guess from the people who created. Since it had a lemony taste, they thought of the color yellow, and there was a song called Mellow Yellow. They have versions like Mello Zero, Cherry, Melon, Red and much more. 

 Jim Varney was in ads when he was Ernest back in the 80's He would pick Mello Yello over Mountain Dew which was pretty popular back then. Now, it seems Mello Yello has vanished and hasn't been around since the 80's ended. Where did it go?

   It hasn't gone anywhere, but it hasn't been heard of very much since the 90's. It has rebranded itself many times, and with Mountain Dew being more popular it seemed to have faded in the limelight (or lemon light) It's still available, but you find it at many places like grocery stores. Mello Yello is staying since 1979 and now...it's coming back with vengeance. Ok not vengence, but you get my drift.

Is the new Addam's Family movie ok?

     I have explained before about my likeness for the Addams family clan. Coming from a comic, to a tv show to many, many movies some good and some god awful. I have explained which one was my favorite and which ones despise me. 

    Then again, watching the 2019 version of the Addams Family recently, I came to ask myself....is it just ok?

   I've talked about how much I enjoyed Addams Family Values that was created back when I was only eight, maybe nine years old, and it's celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Raul Julia will always be my Gomez; God rest his soul. Anjelica Houston, although doing alright for herself...will always be Morticia to me. And you know how the rest goes on. 

  So, is the 2019 version better than this one? Not by a long shot.

   It's a typical Addams Family movie where they move into a new neighborhood and stay hidden from everyone. The voice acting is hit and miss. The voice actress from the kids is good, but for Gomez and Morticia.... I love Oscar Isaac, don't get me wrong, but I feel Raul Julia was the better Gomez. 

    This movie, I feel, is meant for kids and preteens. But let's talk about it.

    I believe every character in this movie has a focus, but Wednesday's is stronger. Tired of being cooped up, she eventually meets a girl named Parker. Her mother, voiced by amazing Alison Janey, designs and fixes houses in her neighborhood.

  Parker's mother, Margeaux, feels that it's best to destroy the Addam's family home so the whole town can be perfect. Her daughter, Parker, is an outsider and gets picked on by the perfect school bully. In other tropes you would see in junior high school settings.

   Wednesday makes Parker's life lively and they even switch places (ok they don't) but Parker turns Goth while Wednesday starts wearing pink which doesn't please Morticia at all.

     Pugsley has to go through an Addams Family tradition that involves becoming a man. I don't really pay attention to any of his scenes, but he does manage to save everybody by the end of the movie when Margeaux decides to take matters into her own hands.

   Another failure of this movie that I liked more in the 90's version is Uncle Fester. He's cartoony. Ok it is a cartoon movie, but the movie makes his character less dimensional than Christopher Lloyd's portrayal in the 91/93 version.

       Here's something interesting for this movie. In the 91/93 version, the hairy Cousin Itt is portrayed by an actor who was a villain in the Children of the Corn movie. Here, Snoop Dogg voices him. I don't hate Snoop Dogg but...really. I mean his scenes are short, but they play some of his rap music int he backgrounds whenever he is featured.

    Going with the original 91/93 version. 

       This movie wasn't horrible. I did enjoy the scenes with Wednesday in it. Having Alison Janey portray a mother who will go to great lengths to destroy the Addams Family home and even put cameras in other homes of the citizens makes her become a stalker, but at least she doesn't die at the end.

    I think of Margeaux as the want to be Joan Cusack character Debbie from Addams Family Values, just light on the homicidal maniac who kills to make her more...threatening to demolish homes.

    I think I love the Addams Family values more than I would the 2019 version, but it is an upgrade to the sequel they had afterwards which bombed in theaters. So... I'll put somewhere in the middle as an Addams Family movie that is enjoyable, but not the best. I'll give it a 6 or 5 out of 10 stars. More worth to have your kids enjoy that one than the 1993 version I enjoyed when I was a kid.

      Anjelica Houston and the late Raul Julia will always be my Morticia and Gomez Addams (not forgetting John Astin of course from the tv show) Sorry Charize Theron and Oscar Issac, you didn't make the cut.

Autumn is here- POEM

 

Autumn,

the time where you crunch leaves,

with your feet,

the air is cooler,

pumpkin and cinnamon,

are the norm

Summer is gone,

do we miss it?

Are we praying,

for a winter 

with no snow?

piles of leaves,

for us to jump in,

as you feel a chill in the air,

school has started,

Halloween is coming,

and so is....

the holidays

spooky spirts,

of Hallows galore,

pumpkins glow,

ghost,

witch,

and devil,

they all,

want candy

Smiling pumpkins,

evil pumpkins,

showing glows in the night,

leading trick-or-treaters,

to their candy delight

Halloween parties,

haunted decorations,

scary movies,

as October ends,

the Holidays soon begins

The Bewitching hour,

of movies,

to give you nightmares,

Autumn,

shows its fear,

throughout,

one month of the year

Colors of the leaves,

beautiful,

as they fall,

symbolizing,

the death,

of the trees

don't feel cold,

as Autumn symbolizes,

a change,

from warmth,

to chill

Autumn is here,

and it will stay,

as we will soon pray,

for it to come back,

when winter,

makes a scene,

enjoy,

for now