My second trip to Los Angeles in 2002 was a blast! My pal Dae was a great host, planning a day at the Los Angeles Zoo (I love giraffes!) and seeing the taping of The Tonight Show at NBC! We spent two fantastic days at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure (DCA), filled with new experiences and adventures (such as Disney's Electrical Parade and Fantasmic!), joined by our pals Kristen, Ray and Selena. It was great to show off my favorite place to good friends!View photos: Los Angeles Zoo
View photos: Disneyland 2002 Day 1
View photos: Disneyland 2002 Day 2
I recently watched An Extremely Goofy Movie (the sequel to this one) on Toon Disney, so I decided to rent A Goofy Movie, even though it's not technically considered a Disney animated feature. I must say that I'm really impressed with the incredible characterization in both of these movies - they took the lovable Goofy and turned him into a kind-hearted dad struggling to be a good father for his son Max, who doesn't want to turn out as "goofy" when he grows up. The animation is pretty cool, with some nice transitions and clever inside jokes from other Disney cartoons (my favorite line is when one of Max's friends says in passing, "Did you ever wonder why we're always, like, wearing gloves?"). The songs are pretty cute, too!
What can I say about the first animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture? Beauty and the Beast is an amazing film, and it's wonderful to see it as the second DVD in the Platinum Edition series. I watched all three versions of the film (theatrical release, work in progress, and special edition) plus the audio commentary, and it was great each time. Belle is another beautiful character to fall in love with (her scene with the dandelions on the mountainside is equivalent to Ariel bursting out of the water on the rock), and the musical numbers are simply incredible (true operetta style)! The bonus features are nice (even though Celine Dion is involved) and really interesting - it's fascinating how such a landmark movie came together so quickly. Beauty and the Beast is an essential Disney movie if there ever was one!
Yippee for the 
Disneyland Countdown: 6 days!
Wow, I had forgotten how great this movie is! This is another out-of-print Disney masterpiece that I had to rent - I can't wait for them to finally release all of these great films! This time around I really enjoyed the scenes of the puppies watching TV - the shows and commercials are so clever, and the dog's reactions are perfect. I also love watching Roger puff his pipe! There is some fantastic effects animation, too - the smoke trailing around the room from Cruella's cigarette holder is absolutely amazing! Even though I've read that Walt wasn't happy with the animation, I think 101 Dalmations is wonderful.
I usually stay away from sports movies, but if I had to pick a sport to enjoy, it would be baseball. My pal Ryan said this was a great movie, plus it was produced by Disney, so I decided to rent it. The Rookie is fantastic, whether you're interested in baseball or not. The main character who rises from a high school coach to the big leagues is really energetic - he gives a speech to his students that really inspired me! This movie is all about the message - that we need dreams. We need to always be striving to be something more than we are now. I have to give this a five, because I had to cry when he calls his wife and son to tell them he's made it!
Finally my little romantic soap opera is over, and I was only vaguely satisfied with the ending. As a series, Sakura Diaries was fantastic - I loved all the love triangles and deception and awkward moments, as well as all the sappy stuff. This last DVD had some great scenes (including an interesting one in a bathtub), and it did manage to wrap up the characters fairly well, but the actual "happily ever after" is told in silent vignettes over music, so it's not really clear if our intrepid couple really gets together! I like to think that they do - it seems that way to me. Urara deserves everything she dreams of (just like the rest of us).
I think I rented this on VHS several years ago before I was a true anime fan - I remember not really getting into it, and falling asleep after the great motorcycle chase at the beginning. I'm happy to say that now I can see that Akira is a fantastic, landmark film, filled with amazing animation, great characters, and one bizarre story (of course, what anime doesn't have a bizarre story?). The movie really builds slowly after the initial excitement, but eventually comes to an incredible finale that had me on the edge of my rocking chair! The DVD has a great feature where it will translate all of the Japanese graffiti by pressing a button on the remote - it really made the experience interactive!
I've always enjoyed the "classic" musicals, and My Fair Lady is one of the best. I'm a big fan of the movie, so while I knew I would enjoy the performance by Austin Musical Theater, I didn't plan on being blown away. This production was fantastic! The performers were absolutely fantastic, especially Eliza, who was hilarious. I recently watched the movie again, and the scene at the horse races where Eliza talks slang with perfect diction was actually funnier on stage than in the movie (and that's saying a lot, being an Audrey Hepburn fan)! The sets were also terrific, making huge transformations in a matter of seconds. I've heard that AMT may be going out of business - I hope they make it somehow!