soar

I enjoy short animated films...from my early days as a kid watching classic Looney Tunes cartoons featuring beloved characters like Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd...to computer animated shorts like Pixar's Geri's Game and For the Birds.  I've always admired those that can tell a great story in a short amount of time.

Soar, an award-winning short by Alyce Tzue is a wonderfully produced animated film that inspires you to never give up, and to keep reaching for your dreams.  It's a well-done film with no spoken word, just music along with exceptional art and design...and most importantly, a great story.

And by the way, Soar is Alyce's student project...I'd say she has a bright future ahead.


Pray for Paris

Last Night, after watching a bit of the news coverage coming out of Paris following the horrific attacks, I began searching for something to watch that would allow me to escape this crazy world we live in.

Well, there it was, one of my all-time favorite movies..."It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."  

I absolutely LOVE this movie and have seen it too many times to count.  And yet, last night when I began watching this hilarious film, it wasn't lost on me the symbolism of the movie's title, even though this "MAD" world portrayed on the big screen is nowhere close to the harsh reality of the MAD world we now live in today.

As always, I got lost in their world, where the pursuit of hidden riches under the BIG "W" turns into a crazy madcap adventure.  And when you consider the actors in this film, names like Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar,  Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Edie Adams, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters, Ethel Merman, Jimmy Durante...these actors are true Legends, some of the finest to ever grace the silver screen...And they were all in this ONE film.  PLUS, when you throw in cameos by Don Knotts, Norman Fell, Carl Reiner, Jerry Lewis, The Three Stooges and Jack Benny...wow, how could you not watch this film!

Not to mention it was directed by the legendary Stanley Kramer, who also directed films such as The Defiant Ones, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Inherit the Wind.  I guess it's obvious that I consider this film one of the greatest comedies ever made.  

But with that said, and as I continue to pray for those affected by this terrible tragedy, I am thankful to live in a FREE society where I can openly Thank GOD for all that He has blessed me with...where we can freely go to a concert, or a sporting event and enjoy a night out with family and friends...where we can do the very things that these people hate us for, and where I can, in turn pray for these people and hope that they will come to understand that a life of compassion, LOVE and Kindness will always win.  

And lastly, I am thankful for the entertainment industry, that through the creativity and hard work of countless individuals, we are able to escape, if only for a few minutes, to a place that brings laughter, joy and a smile, so that we are able to briefly forget a reality that is truly becoming a Mad World.