My choice of Movies 2013

The Little Mermaid 3D
Resurfacing at theaters for the first time in eight years, Walt Disney Pictures' enchanting animated musical fantasy, "The Little Mermaid," has been impeccably restored to look and sound better than it did at the time of its initial release as it returns to the big screen to delight moviegoers of all ages. The film, which is the Studio's 28th full-length animated feature, originally made its debut in 1989 and swam off with a pair of Academy Awards" -- a Best Song Oscar" for "Under the Sea" and another statuette for its richly entertaining underscore. Audiences around the world and critics alike embraced this fun and fanciful adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, which represented the Disney animation team's first adaptation of a fairy tale since "Sleeping Beauty," thirty years prior.

Adding to the excitement of this reissue of "The Little Mermaid" is an extensive restoration that used the latest innovations in digital technology to make the film look and sound better than ever before. To improve the visual content, the entire film was digitized so that cel dirt, paint crawl and other imperfections on the original camera negative could be electronically painted out. All of the film's original soundtrack elements were also overhauled and digitally remastered to allow a much broader range of stereo sound. As a result, the film will be available for the first time in four different sound formats including six-track digital stereo as compared to the four-track analog limitations of the original release.

Disney's version of "The Little Mermaid" takes moviegoers "under the sea" as it follows the animated adventures of a bubbly and fiercely independent young mermaid named Ariel, who longs to be part of the human world. Determined to meet her dream prince, she impulsively strikes a "bargain" with Ursula, a devious seawitch, to trade her voice and fins for a pair of legs and a chance to "land" her handsome human Prince Eric. Going against the advice of her mighty father, King Triton, and her guardian crab, Sebastian, Ariel finds herself in deep water as she quickly discovers that silence is not so golden and that there's something fishy about Ursula's deal.

At the time of its initial release in 1989, critics hailed "The Little Mermaid" as one of Disney's most entertaining animated features and placed it in the same league as many of the Studio's all-time classics. Moviegoers turned out in record numbers, making it the most successful animated release up to that time. The film's universal appeal and box office success helped to launch a renewed interest in the art of animation and marked the beginning of an unprecedented new era of productivity and creativity at Disney Feature Animation. Since that time, Disney has gone on to produce such delightfully diverse animated favorites as "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," "The Lion King," "Pocahontas," "Toy Story," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Hercules."

Dorothy of Oz

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Summoned by Glinda, Dorothy and Toto return to the land of Oz. Joined by her old friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Lion, Dorothy sets out on a perilous journey to stop the Jester from using the power of the Wicked Witch of the West's wand to turn the people of Oz into puppets.

Diary of a wimpy kid

A must read by Jeff Kinney.

       This book is amazing; it is called Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules and it is a funny diary that is written in a really good, motivating way. It is written by Jeff Kinney and is based on a wimpy little boy whose big brother is annoying him.
             The main characters are Greg and Rodrick. Greg is the wimpy kid writing the diary and Rodrick is his big brother. Rodrick is really mean to Greg and always blames things on him when he hasn't done anything. Rodrick mistakenly thinks that he is an amazing drummer.
                       Greg does some very stupid things and only Rodrick knows about them so Greg is relying on Rodrick not to tell anyone but, being a typical big brother, he does. They keep loads of secrets from their parents but bad things happen when they find out. Their mum has an idea that if they do chores she will pay them with board game money which they can trade in later for real money. Little does their mother know that Greg just buys more board game money.
             This book is written in fairly standard American English so they say things like “Mom” not Mum. They also say “Gramma” instead of grandma or grandmother. Although it is written in American English it did not affect the experience of reading it for me. It is written in the first person and some of the words do not follow the rules of Standard English spelling, e.g. “LAST” instead of last without capitals.
             Roderick Rules is the second book in a series. The first book is Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the third book is Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw. The series is an international best seller.
                  My opinion on this book is that it’s light-hearted, funny, draws you in from the start and luckily there is another one waiting for you when you have finished. The cartoon illustrations complement the witty text and they really help to visualise the characters during their antics and adventures. I recommend this book to anyone between the ages of eight and twelve.
             I would award this book four out of a maximum of five stars!