2014 (of the Aqua Age) adventures

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2014 (of the Aqua Age)

People incidents

Juanita Moore (Imitation of Life) died at her home in Los Angeles on January 1st, 2014, from natural causes. She was 99 years old. She is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery.

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Dave Madden (Laugh In, The Partridge Family, Alice) died on January 16th, 2014 in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was receiving hospice care, of complications of myelodysplastic syndrome. He was 82.

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Margery Mason (The Princess Bride, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Love Actually) died on January 26th, 2014 peacefully from natural causes at her home in Swiss Cottage.

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Arthur Rankin, Jr. (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) died after a brief illness on January 30th, 2014, aged 89, in his home at Harrington Sound, Bermuda.

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The LEGO Movie (February 7, 2014 – June 17, 2014)

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Awards: Academy Award for Best Original Song Nominee “Everything Is Awesome.”

MPAA Rating: PG (for action and rude humor)

Critic Score: cf-lg96% Certified Fresh

Average Rating: 8.1/10

Consensus: Boasting beautiful animation, a charming voice cast, laugh-a-minute gags, and a surprisingly thoughtful story, The LEGO Movie is colorful fun for all ages.

Grade: A

Box office: $469.2 million

Plot

In the Lego universe, the wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) attempts to protect a superweapon called the “Kragle” from the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell), but fails. He then prophesies that a person called “the Special” will find the Piece of Resistance, a brick capable of stopping the Kragle.

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Eight-and-a-half years later, a construction worker named Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) comes across a woman named Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), who is searching for something at Emmet’s construction site after hours. When he investigates, Emmet falls into a hole and finds the Piece of Resistance. Compelled to touch it, Emmet experiences a vision and passes out. He awakens to find himself in the custody of Bad Cop (Liam Neeson), Business’ lieutenant, and with the Piece of Resistance attached to his back. Emmet learns of Business’ plans to freeze the world into perfection with the Kragle, a partially weathered tube of Krazy Glue. Wyldstyle rescues Emmet, believing him to be the Special, and takes him to meet Vitruvius in the Old West. Emmet learns that she and the wizard are “MasterBuilders”—people capable of building anything from their imagination without needing building instrutions—who oppose Business. Though disappointed to find Emmet is not a Master Builder, Wyldstyle and Vitruvius are convinced of his potential when he recalls visions of a seemingly human deity referred to as “the Man Upstairs”.

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Emmet, Wyldstyle, and Vitruvius evade Bad Cop’s forces temporarily, and escape with the aid of Batman (Will Arnett). They go to Middle Zealand, which leads to the hidden “Cloud Cuckoo Land”. There they attend a council of Master Builders, who are unimpressed with Emmet and refuse to fight Business. Bad Cop’s forces attack, having placed a tracking device on Emmet, and capture everyone except Emmet, Vitruvius, Wyldstyle, Batman, Benny (Charlie Day) (a Space Colony Lego figure), and Princess Unikitty (Alison Brie), the ruler of now-destroyed Cloud Cuckoo Land. Escaping, they are picked up by Metal Beard (Nick Offerman), a cyborg pirate. Emmet devises a team plan to infiltrate the office and disarm the Kragle, but the group is captured and imprisoned in the Think Tank, where all the captured MasterBuilders make the instructions. Trying to retaliate, Vitruvius is decapitated by Lord Business, who sets a self-destruct protocol and leaves everyone to die, including Bad Cop. As he dies, Vitruvius reveals he made up the prophecy. He soon reappears as a ghost to Emmet and tells him that his belief makes him the Special. Strapped to the self-destruct’s battery, Emmet seemingly sacrifices himself to save his friends, by jumping into a void and severing the connection, causing the computer to shut down. Inspired by Emmet’s sacrifice, Wyldstyle rallies the Lego people across the universe to use whatever creativity they have to build machines and weapons to fight Business’ forces.

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Emmet finds himself in the human world as a toy Lego man unable to move. The events of the story are being played out in a basement by a boy, Finn (Jadon Sand), on his father’s Lego set. The father—”the Man Upstairs” (Will Ferrell)—chastises his son for ruining the set by creating variations of different playsets, and proceeds to permanently glue and rebuild his perceived perfect creations together. Realizing the danger his friends are in, Emmet wills himself to move and gains Finn’s attention. Finn returns Emmet and the Piece of Resistance to the set, where Emmet now possesses the powers of a Master Builder and confronts Business. Meanwhile, Finn’s father looks at his son’s creations and realizes that Finn had based the villainous Business on him and his perfectionism. Through a speech Emmet gives Business, Finn tells his father that he is special and has the power to change everything. Finn’s father and Business have a change of heart, capping the Kragle and ungluing his victims with mineral spirits. Emmet is hailed as a hero, and Wyldstyle becomes Emmet’s girlfriend, with Batman’s blessing.

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As a result of the father allowing Finn’s younger sister to join them in playing with his Lego sets, Duplo aliens beam down and announce plans of conquest.

People incidents

Shirley Temple died on February 10th, 2014 at the age of 85, of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

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February 11, 2014
FEBRUARY 11, 2014

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John Henson (The Muppets) died of a heart attack on February 14th, 2014 at his home in Saugerties, New York after playing with his daughter in the snow.

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 21: Cheryl Henson (L) and John Henson attend the Museum of the Moving Image and the Jim Henson Legacy collaboration press conference at the Museum of the Moving Image on May 21, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Christopher Malcolm (The Empire Strikes Back, Highlander, Absolutely Fabulous) passed away from cancer, aged 67, on February 15th, 2014.

Mr. Peabody & Sherman (March 7, 2014 – October 14, 2014)

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MPAA Rating: PG (for some mild action and brief rude humor)

Critic Score: cf-lg79% Certified Fresh

Average Rating: 6.6/10

Consensus: Mr. Peabody & Sherman offers a surprisingly entertaining burst of colorful all-ages fun, despite its dated source material and rather convoluted plot.

Box office: $275.7 million

Plot

Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell) is a gifted anthropomorphic dog who has an adopted 7-year-old son, Sherman (Max Charles). He tutors Sherman travelling throughout history using the WABAC, a time machine.

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They visit Marie Antoinette (Lauri Fraser) in Versailles during the French Revolution in 1789. Getting caught in the Reign of Terror, Peabody is nearly executed by Maximilien Robespierre (Guillaume Aretos) with a guillotine, but escapes with Sherman through the Paris sewers.

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In the present day, Sherman attends the Susan B. Anthony School in New York City. His knowledge of the apocryphal nature of the George Washington cherry-tree anecdote leads to a fight with Penny Peterson (Ariel Winter) in the cafeteria where she puts him in a choke hold. Peabody is called in by Principal Purdy (Stephen Tobolowsky) who tells Peabody that Sherman had bit Penny. He is also confronted during this meeting by Ms. Grunion (Allison Janney), a Child Protective Services agent, who implies that Sherman’s behavior is due to being raised by a dog. She informs Peabody that she’ll come to their home to investigate whether he is an unfit parent.

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Peabody invites Penny and her parents over for a dinner party to reconcile before Ms. Grunion arrives. Penny calls Sherman a liar for claiming first-hand knowledge of history. Despite Peabody’s contrary instructions, Sherman shows Penny the WABAC. Penny goads Sherman into taking her into the past, where she stays in Ancient Egypt in 1332 BCE to marry King Tut (Zach Callison). Sherman returns to get Mr. Peabody’s help. Peabody hypnotises the Petersons, and retrieves Penny by telling her the fate of a pharaoh’s widow.

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The WABAC runs out of power, but Peabody is able to get them to Renaissance Florence in 1508 where they meet Leonardo da Vinci (Stanley Tucci). Penny and Sherman explore da Vinci’s attic, finding his flying machine. Penny goads Sherman into flying it, which he manages to do before crashing. Da Vinci is thrilled the device works, but Peabody’s upset that Sherman risked his safety and destroyed a historical artifact.

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They again attempt to return, but a black hole forces them into an emergency landing during the Trojan War in 1184 BCE. Upset about learning what Ms. Grunion would do to him, Sherman runs off and joins the army of King Agamemnon (Patrick Warburton) in the Trojan Horse. During the final parts of the Trojan War, Penny is trapped inside the Horse as it rolls towards a cliff. Peabody rescues her, but apparently dies during the attempt.

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Sherman pilots the WABAC to a few minutes before they left in the present to get Peabody’s help to fix everything. As Sherman and Penny try to explain the situation, Sherman’s earlier self shows up. Peabody tries to conceal the presence of two Shermans from the Petersons, then Grunion arrives. Then a second Peabody arrives from Ancient Troy. Grunion’s attempt to collect both Shermans causes them to touch and begin to merge. Both Peabodys rush to assist, but they each merge back together amidst a cosmic shockwave. Grunion grabs Sherman to take him away, hurting him in the process. Peabody furiously bites Grunion, who then calls the NYPD. Peabody, Penny, and Sherman race to the WABAC, but cannot time travel due to a rip in the space-time continuum caused by the merger of their cosmic doubles. Historical figures and objects from the past begin falling from the cosmic rip and into the present.

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Peabody crash-lands the WABAC in Grand Army Plaza at William Tecumseh Sherman’s statue’s base. Historical figures and police officers quickly surround them. Grunion calls in Animal Control to collect Peabody. Sherman explains that everything was his fault, but Grunion contends that it’s all because a dog can’t raise a boy. Sherman climactically shouts down Grunion, saying that if being a dog means being as loving and loyal as Peabody is, then he’s proud to be a dog too. Penny, her parents, the historical figures, and others all make the same pledge. George Washington (Jess Harnell) is able to grant Peabody a presidential pardon which is supported by Abraham Lincoln and Bill Clinton (Jess Harnell).

Peabody, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein (Mel Brooks), Isaac Newton (Jess Harnell), and Agamemnon try to figure out how to close the rip, Sherman suggests they travel into the future. Peabody and Sherman take off in the WABAC and undo the damage. The historical figures are dragged back to the respective times, with Agamemnon abducting Grunion back to his own time as she vows revenge on Peabody.

Sherman returns to school having made friends with Penny. History meanwhile is contaminated with modern traits, while the Grunion and Agamemnon get married in the Trojan Horse.

People incidents

Joe Lala (Monsters, Inc., On Deadly Ground) died suddenly from complications of lung cancer on March 18th, 2014 at approximately 7:00 AM, at the age of 66.

Richard Petty’s wife Lynda Petty (Cars) died on March 25th, 2014 at her home in Level Cross, North Carolina at age 72, after a long battle with cancer.

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The Shamrock Run (2014)

At March 16th, 2014 (the day before St. Patrick’s Day, the day of celebrations that generally involve public parades and festivals, ceilidh, and the wearing of green attire or leprechauns or shamrocks), the Shamrock Run starts in the morning and I run the 5K around downtown Portland with Emily and Roscoe.

After the practice before the run, I goaled in for Disney extras (Mowgli and Kaa from The Jungle Book, Mike Wazowski from Monsters University (in honor of Billy Crystal’s 66th birthday and the preparation of of its short film, Party Central), and Constantine the world’s most dangerous frog from Muppets & Fairies’ Wintery Secret and Muppets Most Wanted) in Clackamas Town Center, during the Friday Game Night. After the run, I’m also getting goaled in for the home video release of Frozen & Muppets & Fairies’ Wintery Secret this Tuesday March 18th and the theatrical release of Muppets Most Wanted and Monsters University‘s Party Central (the first PG-rated short film since Roger Rabbit’s Roller Coaster Rabbit) this Friday March 21st.

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Muppets Most Wanted & Party Central (March 21, 2014 – August 12, 2014)

MPAA Rating: PG (for some mild action)

Critic Score: cf-lg78% Certified Fresh

Average Rating: 6.7/10

Consensus: While it may not reach the delirious heights of The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted still packs in enough clever gags, catchy songs, and celebrity cameos to satisfy fans of all ages.

Grade: B+

Plot

Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) are visiting Monsters University for the weekend. The Oozma Kappas are throwing their first party, but no one shows up. Fortunately for them, Mike and Sulley had a feeling that something this would happen, so they had a plan prepared beforehand to liven up the house for a party. Using a borrowed door station, they sneak into a party at the Roar Omega Roar fraternity and steal all of its food and guests to fill the Oozma Kappa house. The supply runs take them through the closet doors of a married couple’s bedroom, repeatedly disturbing their sleep. Johnny Worthington (Nathan Fillion) arrives at the party, only to find it empty.

Once they have the party fully stocked, Scott “Squishy” Squibbles‘ (Peter Sohn) mother, Sherri (Julia Sweeney), walks in on it while doing a load of laundry. She is angry with the fraternity, but only because they did not invite her. After lighting a bonfire on the front lawn, Sherri introduces the crowd to “door jamming.” This involves jumping from the roof and landing safely on the lawn after passing through the two doors, to the humans’ terror. The guests congratulate the Oozma Kappas along with Mike and Sulley for putting together such a great party, which many of the guys at the party wanting to pledge to Oozma Kappa. In a post-credits scene, the husband and wife wake their young son, Timmy (Cristina Pucelli), up and ask if they can sleep with him. They say that there are monsters in their closets, to which their son vehemently replies, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”

Following the events of the previous film, The Muppets find themselves at a loss as to what to do until Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) suggests the Muppets go on a European tour with him as their tour manager. As the Muppets begin their tour, a criminal mastermind named Constantine (Matt Vogel), a near-exact double for Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire) in appearance, escapes from a Siberian Gulag and joins his subordinate Dominic to begin a plot to steal the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

Once the Muppets arrive in Berlin, Germany, Dominic secures them a show at a prestigious venue. Frustrated with the group’s incessant requests and Miss Piggy‘s (Eric Jacobson) insistence they marry, Kermit goes for a walk at Dominic’s suggestion. Constantine ambushes him and glues a fake mole onto his cheek, matching Constantine’s own, then slips away. Mistaken for Costantine, Kermit is arrested and sent to the Gulag. Taking Kermit’s place, Constantine’s blunders in imitating him are covered by Dominic; however, Animal (Eric Jacobson) knows the truth. Constantine and Dominic steal paintings from a museum while the Muppets perform. The next morning, Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell) and CIA agent Sam Eagle (Eric Jacobson) grudgingly team up to apprehend the culprit whom Napoleon believes to be his nemesis “The Lemur” – the number-two criminal in the world.

Meanwhile, Kermit has attempted several times to escape the Gulag, but is thwarted each time by prison guard Nadya (Tina Fey), who is not only aware of his true identity, but is as infatuated with him as Miss Piggy is. Nadya orders Kermit to help organize the prisoners’ annual talent show.

Following hidden instructions on the stolen painting, Constantine and Dominic divert the tour to Madrid, Spain. Constantine allows the Muppets to perform whatever they wish, much to Walter‘s (Peter Linz) confusion. During this show, Constantine and Dominic break into a museum and destroy a roomful of busts to find a key needed for their plan. Even though the performance is a disaster, the Muppets receive critical acclaim. Sam and Napoleon deduce that the connection between the crimes is the Muppet tour, and the pair interrogate the Muppets, only to find that they are too ill-equipped to be guilty. The instructions on the stolen key lead Constantine and Dominic to schedule the next show in Dublin, Ireland.

In Dublin, Walter discovers that Dominic has been giving away show tickets and bribing critics to ensure a packed house and rave reviews, while Fozzie Bear (Eric Jacobson) notices Kermit’s resemblance to Constantine. They both realize that Constantine has taken Kermit’s place and brought in Dominic as his accomplice. Constantine attacks Walter and Fozzie, but Animal fends him off and the three escape from the train so they can rescue Kermit. During the Dublin performance, Dominic steals a locket from a museum and Constantine proposes to Miss Piggy onstage; Piggy accepts, and the pair plan a ceremony to be held at the Tower of London in London, England, where the Crown Jewels are kept.

Fozzie, Walter, and Animal reach the Gulag on the night of the performance, and Kermit uses it as a front to allow them, himself, and all the prisoners to escape. Kermit, Fozzie, Walter, and Animal infiltrate the Tower as the wedding begins, and Dominic (with the help of Bobby Benson‘s (David Rudman) Baby Band) uses the stolen key and locket to disable the security system protecting the jewels and steals them.

Kermit interrupts the ceremony, revealing Constantine’s ruse, but the crook takes Piggy hostage and flees to a helicopter, where he is intercepted by Dominic – actually the Lemur and now dressed in a lemur costume – who intends to double-cross him. Constantine ejects him from the helicopter and tries to take off with Piggy, but Kermit jumps aboard and the rest of the Muppets climb atop each other to stop the escape. Kermit and Piggy knock out Constantine and both criminals are arrested. Walter apologizes to Kermit for not noticing that he has been replaced. Nadya arrives in London to arrest Kermit for escaping. The other Muppets tell her that if she arrests him, then she will have to take all of them as well. She relents, allowing Kermit to go free. The Muppets perform at the Gulag with Constantine and the prisoners participating.

The Busiest Year

Our prize is the Disneyland trip at Anaheim with Roscoe in September 16-20, 2014. To make Ben’s dream come true, starting in May 2014, his mission is to go see a few PG-13 films this summer and compete in two 5Ks, the Hagg Lake course (due in August 10, 2014) and the Color Run (due in September 6, 2014). If I find out the new animated film get an average grade or it was poor-reviewed, I still want Disneyland.

People incidents

On Sunday, April 6th, 2014, Mickey Rooney (The Black Stallion, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Night at the Museum) died of natural causes in his sleep at his stepson Mark Rooney’s home in Los Angeles, California at the age of 93.

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Rio 2 (April 11, 2014 – July 15, 2014)

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MPAA Rating: G

Critic Score: rotten48%.

Average Rating: 5.4/10

Consensus: Like most sequels, Rio 2 takes its predecessor’s basic template and tries to make it bigger – which means it’s even busier, more colorful, and ultimately more exhausting for viewers outside the youthful target demographic.

Grade: C

Box office: $500.1 million

Plot

Blue macaws Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway), and their three children, are living happily in the city until Jewel realizes that her children are becoming more like humans. Meanwhile, Blu’s former owner, Linda Gunderson (Leslie Mann) and her ornithologist husband, Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) are on an expedition in the Amazon and, after a fall down a waterfall, discover a quick-flying Spix’s macaw that loses one of its feathers. When word gets out about this through television, Jewel believes that they should go to the Amazon to help find the blue macaws. While the kids are ecstatic, Blu is uncertain, but he is pressured into going along. Rafael (George Lopez), Nico (Jamie Foxx) and Pedro (will.i.am) decide to come along. Luiz (Tracy Morgan) attempts to follow but fails. Blu brings a fanny pack full of supplies, one of which he uses mostly is a GPS, much to Jewel’s displeasure.

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Meanwhile, the leader of a group in a line of illegal logging named Big Boss (Miguel Ferrer), discovers Linda and Tulio’s expedition to find the macaws and orders his henchmen to hunt them down to avoid disruptions to their work. Also, Blu and Jewel’s old nemesis, Nigel (Jemaine Clement) the cockatoo, has survived the plane crash from the first film, but he is now unable to fly and is working as a fortune teller/con artist. When he sees Blu and his family flying overhead, he immediately decides to seek revenge on them. He enlists two minions to help him in his plans; a silent anteater named Charlie and a poison dart frog named Gabi (Kristin Chenoweth), who is in love with Nigel. Blu and his family use a boat to get to the jungle (with Nigel’s first plan of revenge being inadvertently foiled by Charlie); and, when they arrive, they find nothing. However, they are eventually taken to a flock of blue macaws that are hiding in a secret paradise land. There, they meet Jewel’s stern long-lost father, Eduardo (Andy García), his older sister Mimi (Rita Moreno), and Jewel’s childhood friend, Roberto (Bruno Mars). Eduardo seems unimpressed with Blu’s domesticated human behavior.

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While searching for the macaws, Linda and Tulio are eventually trapped by the loggers. Meanwhile, Blu does his best to fit in with the flock, as his family and friends are doing, although the flock (especially Eduardo) are against humans and all things human. Meanwhile, a disguised Nigel plans to kill Blu at the new Carnival show after landing in an audition hosted by Rafael, Nico, Pedro, and Carla (Rachel Crow). When Blu tries to pick a Brazilian nut for Jewel, he accidentally tries to get it in the territory of the Spix macaw’s enemies, the scarlet macaws, led by the hostile Felipe (Philip Lawrence). Blu inadvertently causes war between the two tribes for food when he accidentally hits Felipe with a twig. The war turns out to be just like football (soccer), and Blu accidentally costs the flock the food when he sends the fruit ball into his own team’s goal.

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Blu visits Tulio and Linda’s site, where he discovers that it has been majorly disturbed. After discovering the loggers are destroying the jungle, Blu sends Roberto (who followed Blu) to warn the flock as he saves Linda and Tulio. Blu persuades the macaws to defend their homes, and they easily outmatch the loggers with help from the scarlet macaws and the other animals. Big Boss tries to blow up the trees as a back-up plan, but Blu steals the lit dynamite. Nigel goes after Blu, and reveals himself as they are falling down when he tugs on the dynamite. After the dynamite goes off, Blu and Nigel engage in a battle while tangled in vines. Gabi and Charlie try to help Nigel by shooting Blu with a dart that has Gabi’s poison on it, but it accidentally hits Nigel, who gives a Shakespearean death speech before seemingly dying. Gabi tries to commit suicide by drinking her own poison and the pair are seemingly dead. However, Bia reveals that Gabi isn’t poisonous at all (she was lied to by her parents that she was). Nigel tries to attack Blu one last time, but Gabi showers Nigel with affection against his will. Meanwhile, Big Boss is eaten alive by a boa constrictor.

With the flock now under Linda and Tulio’s protection, Blu and Jewel decide to live in the Amazon with their kids and friends, though still agreeing to visit Rio in the summer. Meanwhile, Nigel and Gabi are captured by Tulio, and are both sent back to Rio. Luiz finally arrives in the Amazon after hitching a ride with Kipo, and Charlie joins the birds’ party.

People incidents

On April 29th, 2014, Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mona Lisa, Hook) died of pneumonia at a hospital in London, England at age 71.

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Poet Maya Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) died on the morning of May 28th, 2014.

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On June 9th, 2014, Rik Mayall (The Young Ones, Drop Dead Fred, Bottom) died at his home in Barnes, Richmond-upon-Thames, London, at the age of 56 of an “acute cardiac event” after a morning run.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (June 13, 2014 – November 11, 2014)

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Awards: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Nominee

MPAA Rating: PG (for adventure action and some mild rude humor)

Critic Score: cf-lg91% Certified Fresh

Average Rating: 7.8/10

Consensus: Exciting, emotionally resonant, and beautifully animated, How to Train Your Dragon 2 builds on its predecessor’s successes just the way a sequel should.

Grade: B

Box office: $621.5 million

Plot

Five years after the Viking village of Berk and the dragons made peace, they now live together in harmony. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) goes on adventures with his dragon, Toothless, as they discover and map unexplored lands. Now 20 years old, he is being pressed by his father, Stoick the Vast (Gerald Butler), to succeed him as chieftain, although Hiccup remains unsure if he is ready for this responsibility.

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While investigating a burnt forest, Hiccup and Astrid (America Ferrera) discover the remains of a fort encased in ice and met a group of dragon trappers led by Eret (Kit Harington), who blames them for his fort’s destruction and attempts to capture their dragons for an insane conqueror named Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou). The two dragon riders escape and return to Berk to warn Stoick about the dragon army that Drago is amassing. Stoick orders the villagers to fortify the island and prepare for battle. Hiccup, however, refuses to believe that war is inevitable. After Stoick interrupts Hiccup’s plan to get Eret to take him to Drago, Stoick explains that he once met Drago at a gathering of chiefs, where Drago, mocked after offering the chiefs his service in return for their servitude, murdered them all, with Stoick as the only survivor. Undeterred, Hiccup flies off with Toothless in search of Drago to try to reason with him.

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They run into a dragon rider named Valka (Cate Blanchett), who is revealed to be Hiccup’s long-lost mother. She explains that she, like her son, could not bring herself to kill dragons. After being carried off during a dragon raid, she spent twenty years rescuing dragons from Drago’s traps and bringing them to an island nest created out of ice by a gigantic Alpha dragon called a “Bewilderbeast“, which is able to control smaller dragons. Stoick tracks Hiccup to the nest, where he discovers that his wife is still alive. Meanwhile, Astrid and the other riders kidnap Eret to find Drago, but Drago captures them and learns of Berk’s dragons.

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Drago and his army lay siege to the nest, where he reveals that he has his own Bewilderbeast to challenge the Alpha. A battle ensues between the two colossal dragons, which ends with Drago’s Bewilderbeast killing its opponent and becoming the new Alpha. Drago’s Bewilderbeast then seizes control of all the adult dragons, who hypnotically obey. Hiccup tries to persuade Drago to end the violence, but Drago orders him killed. Toothless, under the Bewilderbeast’s influence, approaches Hiccup and launches a blast, but Stoick pushes Hiccup out of the way and is hit instead, killing him. The Bewilderbeast momentarily relinquishes control of Toothless, but Hiccup drives him away in a fit of despair. Drago maroons Hiccup and the others on the island and rides Toothless, again under the control of the Bewilderbeast, to lead his army to conquer Berk. Stoick is given a Viking funeral and Hiccup, now having lost both his father and dragon, is unsure what to do. Valka encourages him by telling him that he alone can unite humans and dragons, and inspired by her words and his father’s, Hiccup decides to return to Berk to stop Drago.

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The dragon riders fly baby dragons back to Berk, as they are immune to the Bewilderbeast’s control. They find that Drago has already attacked the village and taken control of its dragons. Hiccup confronts Drago and a brainwashed Toothless while the other riders work to distract the Bewilderbeast. Hiccup succeeds in freeing Toothless from the Bewilderbeast’s control, much to Drago’s surprise. Hiccup and Toothless briefly separate Drago from the Bewilderbeast and confront Drago on the ground, but the Bewilderbeast attacks them, encasing them in ice. However, Toothless blasts away the ice, revealing that both he and Hiccup are unharmed. He then challenges the Bewilderbeast, firing at it repeatedly, which breaks its control over the other dragons, who now side with Toothless as the new Alpha dragon. All the dragons repeatedly fire at the Bewilderbeast until Toothless fires a final massive blast, breaking its left tusk. Defeated, the Bewilderbeast retreats under the sea with Drago on its back. The Vikings and dragons celebrate their victory and Hiccup is made chieftain of Berk.

Afterwards, Berk undergoes repairs while feeling secure knowing that its dragons can defend it.

People incidents

Casey Kasem (Scooby-Doo, Super Friends) died on June 15th, 2014 at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington at the age of 82, after suffering with Lewy body dementia.

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The Legacy Collection: The Lion King was released on June 24, 2014, in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of The Lion King. The two-disc album includes the film's original soundtrack and approximately thirty minutes of previously unreleased music mixed by Alan Meyerson, as well as liner notes from Hans Zimmer and producer Don Hahn.
THE LEGACY COLLECTION: THE LION KING WAS RELEASED ON JUNE 24, 2014, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LION KING. THE TWO-DISC ALBUM INCLUDES THE FILM’S ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK AND APPROXIMATELY THIRTY MINUTES OF PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED MUSIC MIXED BY ALAN MEYERSON, AS WELL AS LINER NOTES FROM HANS ZIMMER AND PRODUCER DON HAHN.

Eli Wallach (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Magnificent Seven, Baby Doll) died on June 24th, 2014 of natural causes at the age of 98.



Paul Mazursky (An Unmarried Woman, Harry and Tonto, Moscow on the Hudson) went into cardiopulmonary arrest and died on June 30th, 2014, aged 84, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Dickie Jones (Pinocchio, Buffalo Bill, Jr.) died after a fall at his Northridge, California home on the evening of Monday, July 7th, 2014 at the age of 87.

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Joey Travolta’s Film Camp: San Francisco (2014)

Since The Good Dinosaur‘s release is removed from May 2014 to Thanksgiving of 2015 and the Party Central full short film is deleted from YouTube (since Muppets Most Wanted is out of theaters), I started to have concerns about the new non-Pixar film film, Planes: Fire & Rescue (the sequel to 2013’s Planes, hoping to get better reviews before the release in July 18th or I’ll ask Disney to bring the short film back online).

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At June 28th, 2014, I departed 3705 NW Columbia Avenue and Mom’s apartment and headed down Interstate 5 down south to Walnut Creek in northern California with my mom. Mom and I stayed at the Renaissance Club Sport Hotel. I brought a few of the films (The LEGO Movie, Cars, Frozen & Muppets & Fairies’ Wintery Secret, How to Train Your Dragon (in honor of its sequel), The Muppets Take Manhattan (in honor of its 30th anniversary)).

I went to St. Mary’s College for Joey Travolta’s Short Film Camp (10:00 AM – 3:30 PM). At film camp, I danced to start camp, I played the role at playing cards, and I watched the make-up film. I took the train to San Francisco. At San Francisco, I went to Pier 39, Alcatraz Island, and the Disney Store where I got a few characters from Planes: Fire & Rescue (Dusty Crophopper, Blade Ranger, Windlifter, and Lil’ Dipper) and from Sleeping Beauty (Briar Rose, Fauna, Flora, Merryweather, Phillip, Maleficent, Samson, Owl, and two Rabbits). Mom, Hester, and I went to Sacramento to go to Raging Waters. At Raging Waters, I went on the Treehouse Reef, Dragon’s Den, the Shark Attack Waterslide Extreme, the Wave Pool, the Lazy River, and Splashdown. To honor the death of Pinocchio‘s Dickie Jones in July 7th, I collected a plush from the Disney Store. I also collect the stuff (Donald Duck, José Carioca, and Panchito) from Donald and His Friends (a Walt Disney Animation Studios film featuring Donald Duck on his trip to Mexico with his friends, celebrating his anniversary with José Carioca and Panchito, thus exploring the events of the 1944/1945 film, The Three Caballeros. I went downtown Walnut Creek and went to Barnes & Noble and I went to the movie theater and see How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Donald and His Friends.

The trip ends at July 11th, 2014 (just before seven days until Planes: Fire & Rescue is released).

People incidents

Elaine Stritch (Elaine Stritch at Liberty, 30 Rock) died in her sleep at her home in Birmingham, Michigan on July 17th, 2014. She was 89 years old. She suffered from diabetes and had stomach cancer at the time of her death.

On Saturday night, July 19th, 2014, James Garner (Maverick, The Rockford Files, Murphy’s Romance) suffered from a heart attack and died at the age of 86.

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Planes: Fire & Rescue (July 18, 2014 – November 4, 2014)

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MPAA Rating: PG (for action and some peril)

Critic Score: rotten44%.

Average Rating: 5.2/10

Consensus: Although it’s too flat and formulaic to measure up against the best family-friendly fare, Planes: Fire & Rescue is a passable diversion for much younger viewers.

Grade: B

Box office: 151.4 million

Plot

Since winning the Wings Around the Globe race in the first film, Dusty Crophopper (Dane Cook) has a successful career as a racer. Unfortunately, his engine’s gearbox becomes damaged because Dusty routinely operates the engine beyond its design limits. With that particular model of gearbox now out of production and none available anywhere, Dusty’s mechanic Dottie (Teri Hatcher) fits a warning light to his control panel to ensure he doesn’t damage his gearbox any further. No longer able to race and faced with the possibility of returning to his old job as a crop-duster, Dusty goes on a defiant flight and tests his limits. In doing so, Dusty exceeds his limits and makes a forced landing at Propwash Junction airport, causing a fire.

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The residents put out the fire with some difficulty, but the accident leads government inspector Ryker (Kevin Michael Richardson) to condemn the airport for inadequate firefighting personnel. Aggrieved at his carelessness, Dusty offers to undergo training to be certified as a firefighter to meet the necessary regulations to reopen the airport. To that end, Dusty travels to Piston Peak National Park where he meets a fire and rescue crew under the command of a helicopter named Blade Ranger (Ed Harris). The leader of an efficient unit, Blade is initially unimpressed by the small newcomer and Dusty’s training proves to be a difficult challenge.

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Maru (Curtis Armstrong), the team’s mechanic, replaces Dusty’s original undercarriage with two pontoons fitted with retractable undercarriage wheels for his new role as a firefighter. During training, Dusty learns that Blade was formerly an actor who played a police helicopter on the TV series CHoPs. Later, Dusty is devastated by a call from his friends at Propwash Junction noting that all attempts at finding a replacement gearbox have failed and that his racing career is over.

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Lightning in a thunderstorm over a forest near Piston Peak starts several spot fires which unite into a serious forest fire, and the team fight it and seem to have extinguished it. But during the grand reopening of a local lodge, visiting VIPs fly too low and make air eddies which blow embers about, creating a larger fire, and thereby forcing the need for an evacuation.

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A depressed Dusty’s education in the midst of the large fire falters to Blade’s frustration and things come to a head when Dusty makes a forced landing in a river during a fire dispatch and is swept through the rapids with Blade trying to extract him. Eventually, the pair make it to land, and Dusty confesses his physical disability, to which Blade advises Dusty not to give up. They shelter in an abandoned mine while the fire passes. The situation is complicated in that Blade also is damaged from protecting Dusty in the fire, and is temporarily grounded for repairs. While Blade is recuperating, Dusty learns from Maru that Blade’s co-star (Erik Estrada) from CHoPs was killed during a stunt gone wrong on set that Blade was helpless to stop, so he decided to become a firefighter to save lives for real.

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The national park’s superintendent, Cad Spinner (John Michael Higgins), selfishly diverts all the water supply to his lodge’s roof sprinklers to prevent the lodge from burning, and so prevents the firefighters from making fire retardant for their own duties. With only their pre-existing tank loads, the firefighters manage to help the evacuees escape the fire while Dusty is alerted that two elderly campers named Harvey and Winnie, that he met earlier, are trapped on a burning bridge deep in the fire zone. He races to the scene and is forced to push his engine to the maximum to climb vertically up a waterfall to refill his water tanks to drop water to save the campers, as the only other surface water near is a river too shallow and twisty and rocky for him to scoop from. Meanwhile, Blade shows up and assists Harvey (Jerry Stiller) and Winnie (Anne Meara) by holding up the bridge. Dusty successfully drops water and extinguishes the fire, allowing the campers to escape just before the bridge collapses, but his overstressed gearbox fails completely and his engine stalls. He tries to glide through the trees to make a safe landing, but one of his pontoons hits one of the trees and he crashes.

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Unconscious, Dusty is airlifted back to base where he wakes up five days later to learn that not only has his structure been fully repaired; Maru has built a superior, custom-refurbished gearbox for his engine to allow full performance once again. Impressed at Dusty’s skill and heroism, Blade certifies him as a firefighter. Propwash Junction is reopened with Dusty assuming his duty as a firefighter, celebrated with an aerial show with his new colleagues from Piston Peak.

During the end credits, it is shown that Cad’s misconduct resulted in his demotion and reassignment as a park ranger in Death Valley.

People incidents

James Shigeta (Flower Drum Song, Die Hard, Mulan) died in his sleep on July 28th, 2014 at the age of 85 in Beverly Hills, suffering a stroke two years earlier.

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Kauai, Hawaii (2014)

On July 24th, 2014, I left 3705 NW Columbia Ave with Melissa and my dad and we went to the Portland International Airport. We board the plane heading for Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii on the Pacific Ocean and another heading for Kauai, another island at Hawaii. I brought a few of the DVDs (Planes (in honor of its sequel), Despicable Me 2, Cars, and the SpongeBob SquarePants first season (to honor of the 15th birthday of the fictional sea sponge and fry cook character and the feature film next year) (Why? It’s part of Pacific, but we live underwater). I will have my new books that we order two days ago (Sleeping Beauty Big Golden Book and Monsters University‘s Party Central picture book. But the new Disney Fairies Secret of the Wings comic book will wait until after the trip).

We stayed at the Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation Resort at Poipu Beach with Aunt Amy, Grandma Joan and Isabella. We went to go see Planes: Fire & Rescue and The Muppets Take Manhattan. We went to the beach, snorkeling, parasailing, the county fair, the Waimea Canyon, and downtown Poipu.

At July 31st, 2014, we departed Hawaii and flew back to Portland tonight to see my new Disney Fairies Secret of the Wings comic book that I’m worried about.

People incidents

Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting, Aladdin, Mork & Mindy) died on August 11th, 2014 at the age of 63, after committed suicide at his home in unincorporated Paradise Bay, California.

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August 12, 2014
AUGUST 12, 2014

August 12, 2014 (15th anniversary)
AUGUST 12, 2014 (15TH ANNIVERSARY)

August 12, 2014 (65th anniversary)
AUGUST 12, 2014 (65TH ANNIVERSARY)

August 12, 2014
AUGUST 12, 2014

August 12, 2014 (10th anniversary)
AUGUST 12, 2014 (10TH ANNIVERSARY)

Lauren Bacall (Key Largo, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Applause) died on August 12th, 2014 at her longtime apartment in The Dakota, the Upper West Side building overlooking overlooking Central Park in Manhattan. She was 89, five weeks short of her 90th birthday.

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Don Pardo (Saturday Night Live, Jeopardy!) died in his sleep on August 18th, 2014 in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 96.

The Legacy Collection: Mary Poppins was released as a three-disc album on August 26, 2014, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Mary Poppins. The first disc contains the film's complete original soundtrack, whereas the second disc contains fifteen demo recordings by the Sherman Brothers and seven "Lost Chords" recordings. The third disc consists entirely of archival recordings of story meetings held at the Walt Disney Studios between P.L. Travers, Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, and Don DaGradi, as well as press interviews with Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Irwin Kostal, and the Shermans.
THE LEGACY COLLECTION: MARY POPPINS WAS RELEASED AS A THREE-DISC ALBUM ON AUGUST 26, 2014, TO COINCIDE WITH THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF MARY POPPINS. THE FIRST DISC CONTAINS THE FILM’S COMPLETE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK, WHEREAS THE SECOND DISC CONTAINS FIFTEEN DEMO RECORDINGS BY THE SHERMAN BROTHERS AND SEVEN “LOST CHORDS” RECORDINGS. THE THIRD DISC CONSISTS ENTIRELY OF ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS OF STORY MEETINGS HELD AT THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS BETWEEN P.L. TRAVERS, RICHARD M. SHERMAN, ROBERT B. SHERMAN, AND DON DAGRADI, AS WELL AS PRESS INTERVIEWS WITH JULIE ANDREWS, DICK VAN DYKE, IRWIN KOSTAL, AND THE SHERMANS.

Joan Rivers (Spaceballs, Fashion Police) died on September 4th, 2014 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, suffering from a cardiac arrest.

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On September 10th, 2014, three days short of his 75th birthday, Richard Kiel (The Spy Who Loved Me, Happy Gilmore, Tangled & Muppets & Fairies Treasure Autumn) died at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, California, of acute myocardial infarction, possibly caused by coronary artery disease.

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Disneyland Resort, Anaheim (2014)

The mission for PG-13 films and two 5Ks had been accomplished and my dreams of going to Disneyland is finally here!

On September 16th, 2014, I left the apartment with my Mother and he drops me off at the Portland International Airport where Roscoe is waiting. Roscoe and I board the plane heading for Santa Ana in southern California. We finally arrived at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and stayed in the Paradise Pier Hotel. I brought a few DVDs (Frozen & Muppets & Fairies’ Wintery Secret, Muppets Most Wanted, Toy Story of Terror, Sleeping Beauty (in honor of its 55th anniversary Diamond Edition release next month), The Princess and the Frog & Tinker Bell’s Spring of Belief (in honor of its 5th anniversary) and the downloaded Intrada Records soundtrack of Tinker Bell (in honor of 6th birthday), The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad (in honor of its 65th anniversary), Hercules, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Tarzan (celebrating its 15th anniversary), The Incredibles (in honor of its 10th anniversary and the next superhero film by Disney)).

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Since Big Hero 6 (a new Walt Disney Animated Studios feature film based on Marvel’s superhero comics set in the metropolis version of San Francisco and Tokyo) is coming out in November, the shops in Disneyland had just released its merchandise and I collected some (including Hiro Hamada the robotics genius, his inflatable robot Baymax, and Fred in his battle suit with the appearance of a tradition Japanese Kaiju monsters based on his favorite kaiju, Krogar). The first day started and we went to Disneyland Park and went on Indiana Jones Adventure, Tarzan’s Treehouse, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion Holiday, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, the King Arthur Carrousel, Peter Pan’s Flight, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, It’s a Small World (in honor of New York World Fair’s 50th anniversary), Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and went shopping at It’s a Small World Toy Shop and the Emporium at Main Street USA. The next day starts and we went to Disney’s California Adventure Park and went on Toy Story Midway Mania!, The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Soarin’ Over California, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, Muppet*Vision 3D, Disney Animation, and Radiator Springs Racers at Cars Land and we went shopping in the World of Disney at Downtown Disney. Despite the success of the year so far and since the release of Party Central full short film video is finally reconciling to YouTube this Halloween, I collect more gifts from the Muppets & Fairies’ Wintery Secret sing-along edition, including Coronation Anna, Wendy in her WGP form, Coronation Elsa, Dewey the Keeper of all fairy knowledge, Tabby, Foo Foo, Beaker, Rowlf, Gliss the winter fairy, Fawn, Iridessa, Camilla, Rizzo, Vidia, Scrat the saber-toothed squirrel, Animal, Silvermist, Fozzie, Walter, Fast Tony the armadillo, Pepé, Fionnoula O’Callaghan the Irish tourist, Rosetta, Jack Frost the guardian of Peri, Eddie & Crash, the two opossums, Robin, Cretaceous & Maelstrom the two sea reptiles, Scooter, the Swedish Chef, Gonzo, Spike the winter fairy, Sam the Eagle, and Sled the winter fairy). There’s a Halloween season in this resort and getting kinda spooky.

At September 20th, 2014 (before three days until the movie books from Big Hero 6 had came in the mail), I and Roscoe departed Anaheim and flew back to Portland.

The Boxtrolls (September 26, 2014 – January 20, 2015)

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Awards: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Nominee

MPAA Rating: PG (for action, some peril and mild rude humor)

Critic Score: cf-lg75% Certified Fresh

Average Rating: 7/10

Critic Consensus: While it’s far from Laika’s best offering, The Boxtrolls is still packed with enough offbeat wit and visual splendor to offer a healthy dose of all-ages entertainment.

Grade: B

Box office: $109.3 million

Plot

In the fictional large hill-top town of Cheesebridge during the Victorian era, rumors abound that subterranean trolls (known as Boxtrolls for the cardboard boxes they wear) have kidnapped and killed young children. Pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) strikes a deal with the city’s leader Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris) to exterminate every Boxtroll in exchange for membership in the city’s cheese-loving council called the White Hats despite the fact that he is severely allergic to cheese.

In actuality, the Boxtrolls are peaceful and emerge from underground at night to scavenge for discarded items with which to make useful inventions. A human boy named Eggs (Issac Hempstead-Wright) lives among them, cared for by a Boxtroll named Fish (Dee Bradley Baker). As Eggs grows up over ten years, he becomes dismayed by the disappearing Boxtrolls seized by Snatcher. When Lord Portley-Rind’s daughter Winnie (Elle Fanning) notices Eggs with two Boxtrolls, Snatcher captures Fish. Eggs sneaks to the surface to find him and emerges in an annual fair to commemorate the disappearance of the “Trubshaw Baby” who was presumed killed by Boxtrolls.

Disgusted by the town’s inaccurate portrayal of the creatures, he follows Winnie. After a brief exchange, he asks her for directions to Snatcher’s headquarters, located at an abandoned factory, where Eggs rescues Fish. They are caught in the escape. Snatcher recognizes Eggs as the Trubshaw Baby and reveals that all the captured Boxtrolls are building him a machine. Winnie, who covertly followed Eggs, overhears this exchange. She then helps Eggs and Fish escape from Snatcher and they take shelter in the Boxtrolls’ caves, where Fish explains that Eggs’ father had given him to them to keep him from Snatcher. Winnie agrees to help Eggs tell Portley-Rind the truth. At a ball held to commemorate the purchase of a giant cheese wheel called the Briehemoth, Eggs tries to confront Portley-Rind, but inadvertently knocks the cheese into a river. Eggs announces himself to the party as the Trubshaw Baby, but no one believes him.

Eggs tries to persuade the remaining Boxtrolls to flee for their own safety, but Snatcher digs into the caves and captures them all. Eggs awakens to find his father, Herbert Trubshaw (Simon Pegg), a prisoner beside him. He sees the Boxtrolls stacked in a crusher and begs them to run. They escape by abandoning their boxes to the crusher.

Snatcher drives his machine to Lord Portley-Rind’s house, shows him the flattened boxes as proof of the Boxtrolls’ extinction, and demands Portley-Rind’s white hat (his symbol of office) in exchange for the last (actually Eggs disguised). The Boxtrolls and Herbert free Eggs while Snatcher tries to take Portley-Rind’s hat by force. With Mr. Trout (Nick Frost) and Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade), who switch sides, Eggs, Herbert, and the Boxtrolls disable the machine. Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan) is crushed by the machine as Eggs and Snatcher are thrown clear and land on the recovered Briehemoth, where Snatcher’s allergy to cheese causes him to expand to an enormous size. He forces Lord Portley-Rind to give up his hat in exchange for Winnie’s safety, but explodes upon consumption of an aged cheese.

Thereafter the townspeople co-exist peacefully with the Boxtrolls. Winnie tells the tale of Snatcher’s end to a crowd, while Eggs and Fish drive off in one of Herbert’s contraptions. Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles are now cleaning the streets.

People incidents

Marian Seldes (A Delicate Balance, Affliction, August Rush) died on October 6th, 2014 in her Central Park South apartment following a long illness. She was 86 years old.

October 7, 2014 (55th anniversary)
OCTOBER 7, 2014 (55TH ANNIVERSARY)

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The Legacy Collection: Sleeping Beauty was released as a two-disc album on October 7, 2014, to coincide with the 55th anniversary of Sleeping Beauty.[7] The first disc contains the film's complete original soundtrack and the second disc contains three demo recordings, three "Lost Chords" recordings, and four bonus tracks.
THE LEGACY COLLECTION: SLEEPING BEAUTY WAS RELEASED AS A TWO-DISC ALBUM ON OCTOBER 7, 2014, TO COINCIDE WITH THE 55TH ANNIVERSARY OF SLEEPING BEAUTY. THE FIRST DISC CONTAINS THE FILM’S COMPLETE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK AND THE SECOND DISC CONTAINS THREE DEMO RECORDINGS, THREE “LOST CHORDS” RECORDINGS, AND FOUR BONUS TRACKS.

Jan Hooks (Saturday Night Live, Designing Women, Batman Returns) died on October 9th, 2014 of non-chemo responsive throat cancer in her home in Woodstock, New York at the age of 57.
Elizabeth Peña (The Incredibles, Rush Hour, Jacob’s Ladder) died on October 14th, 2014 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California at the age of 55. The cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol, acute gastrointestinal bleeding, cardiogenic shock, and cardiopulmonary arrest.

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Gerry Parkes (Fraggle Rock, The Boondock Saints) died three days after his 90th birthday on October 19th, 2014.

On October 24th, 2014, Marcia Strassman (Welcome Back, Kotter, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) died of advanced breast cancer at her home in Sherman Oaks, California, on October 24th, 2014. She was 66 years old.

Eugene

Since the home video release of Mr. Peabody & Sherman, we celebrate in Bullwinkle’s Restaurant in Wilsonville, Oregon as the 55th anniversary of The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends, featuring Rocky the flying squirrel and his moose pal, Bullwinkle. Their enemies are the Russian-like spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. The other characters are Mr. Peabody the dog and Sherman, his adopted boy.

At October 24th, 2014, I departed from the apartment and head on to visit Melissa at Eugene with my mom. We went to visit Hirxons gift shop and visit the University of Oregon. I brought a portable DVD player and a few DVDs (Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Monsters University‘s Party Central on Disney Movies Anywhere, and Sleeping Beauty (in honor of its 55th anniversary). I and my sister went to the mall and see The Book of Life and get the pumpkin for Halloween.

At October 26th, 2014, I took the train home to Portland all by myself.

The Red Carpet: San Francisco (2014)

At November 2nd, 2014 (just before five days until Big Hero 6 is released), I board the plane with my Mother and head to Oakland and stayed one night at the Renaissance Club Sport Hotel. I brought a few DVDs (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (in honor of its 10th anniversary and the sequel next year)). Tonight, I, my mother, Roscoe, and Hester went to St. Mary’s College for the Joey Travolta’s film premiere.

That was the one-day trip and it ends at November 3rd, 2014.

People incidents

On November 3rd, 2014, Tom Magliozzi (Car Talk) died in Belmont, Massachusetts, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 77.

Big Hero 6 (November 7, 2014 – February 24, 2015)

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Awards: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Winner

MPAA Rating: PG (for action and peril, some rude humor, and thematic elements)

Critic Score: cf-lg89% Certified Fresh

Average Rating: 7.4/10

Consensus: Agreeably entertaining and brilliantly animated, Big Hero 6 is briskly-paced, action-packed, and often touching.

Grade: B-

Box office: $657.8 million

Plot

Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) is a 14-year-old robotics genius in the futuristic fictional city of San Fransokyo. Raised by his aunt Cass (Maya Rudolph) and older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) after the death of his parents, he spends his time participating in illegal robot fights. To redirect Hiro, Tadashi takes him to the robotics center at his university, where Hiro meets Tadashi’s friends, GoGo (Jamie Chung), Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), and Fred (T.J. Miller), as well as Baymax (Scott Adsit), the inflatable healthcare companion robot Tadashi created. To enroll in the school, Hiro signs up for the school’s science fair and presents microbots, swarms of tiny robots that can link together in any arrangement imaginable. Professor Callaghan (James Cromwell), the head of the university’s robotics program, is impressed, and grants Hiro entrance to the university. Alistair Krei (Alan Tudyk), renowned entrepreneur and president of Krei Tech, offers to buy the microbots, but Hiro declines. When a fire breaks out at the university, Tadashi rushes in to rescue Callaghan, but the building explodes, apparently killing both Tadashi and Callaghan.

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Weeks later, a depressed Hiro inadvertently activates Baymax, who follows Hiro’s only remaining microbot to an abandoned warehouse. There, the two discover that someone has been mass-producing microbots, and are attacked by a man wearing a Kabuki mask controlling the bots. After they escape, Hiro equips Baymax with armor and a battle chip containing various karate moves, and they track the masked man to the docks. GoGo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred arrive, and the masked man attacks the group. The six escape to Fred’s mansion, where they begin to form a superhero team, with Hiro creating armor for his friends to complement each one’s area of scientific expertise.

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The group tracks the masked man, who they suspect to be Krei, to an abandoned secret Krei Tech laboratory, which they find was researching teleportation technology until a test pilot (Katie Lowes) was lost in an accident. The masked man attacks, but the group manages to knock off his mask, revealing him to be Professor Callaghan, who had stolen Hiro’s microbots to shield himself from the explosion. Realizing that Tadashi had died for nothing, the enraged Hiro removes Baymax’s personality/healthcare chip, leaving only the battle chip, and orders him to kill Callaghan. GoGo, Wasabi, and Fred attempt to stop Baymax, but are quickly overpowered, and Honey re-installs the healthcare chip at the last second, preventing Baymax from carrying out the kill order. Callaghan escapes, and Hiro, furious at his friends’ intervention, flies off with Baymax. Back home, Hiro makes repairs then tries to remove the chip again, but Baymax prevents him, stating that vengeance is not what Tadashi would have wanted. To comfort him, Baymax shows Hiro videos of Tadashi running tests during Baymax’s development. A remorseful Hiro apologizes to his friends, who forgive him since they understand his pain, and the team reunites to stop Callaghan.

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The group discovers that Krei’s test pilot was Callaghan’s daughter Abigail, and that Callaghan is seeking revenge on Krei. Callaghan interrupts a public Krei event and attempts to destroy his headquarters using a teleportation portal. The team destroys Callaghan’s microbots and saves Krei, but the portal becomes unstable. Baymax detects Abigail inside, alive but in hyper-sleep, and leaps into the portal with Hiro to rescue her. They find Abigail’s pod, but Baymax is damaged by debris, leaving them adrift inside the portal. Baymax uses his armor’s rocket fist to propel Hiro and Abigail back through the portal, forcing them to leave him behind. They make it back and Callaghan is arrested. Sometime later, Hiro discovers Baymax’s personality chip clenched in the rocket fist. He rebuilds Baymax and the six friends continue their exploits through the city, fulfilling Tadashi’s dream of helping those in need.

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During the end credits, it is shown through newspaper headlines that Hiro has been awarded a grant from the university, where a building has been dedicated to Tadashi. In a post-credits scene, Fred accidentally opens a secret door in his family mansion and finds superhero gear inside. His father, a retired superhero (Stan Lee), arrives stating “We have a lot to talk about” as they embrace each other.

The Penguins of Madagascar (November 26, 2014 – March 17, 2015)

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MPAA Rating: PG (for mild action and some rude humor)

Critic Score: fresh72%.

Average Rating: 6.2/10

Consensus: The Penguins of Madagascar is fast and brightly colored enough to entertain small children, but too frantically silly to offer real filmgoing fun for the whole family.

Grade: C+

Box office: $373.0 million

Plot

In Antarctica, three young penguins – Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), and Rico (Conrad Vernon) – defy the laws of nature to save an egg the other penguins believe to be doomed. After saving it from a pack of leopard seals and accidentally setting themselves adrift on an iceberg, the egg hatches into Private (Christopher Knights).

Ten years later (after the events of the previous film), the penguins decide to leave the circus to celebrate Private’s birthday by breaking into Fort Knox in order to treat him to a discontinued snack called “Cheezy Dibbles” in the vending machine of their break room. Despite this, Private begins to feel out of place with the team, as he is described as being the “secretary/mascot”. Suddenly, they are abducted by the machine and sent to Venice, Italy by Dr. Octavius Brine (John Malkovich), a renowned geneticist who removes his human disguise and reveals he is actually an octopus named Dave, who has grown resentful of penguins after he had been shunned from every zoo in the world because of cute penguins.

Rico swallows Dave’s collection of snowglobes along with a canister of a green substance called the Medusa Serum before the four escape and are chased through the canals and streets of Venice by Dave’s henchmen. When cornered, they are rescued by a group of animals from an Arctic elite undercover interspecies task force agency called “North Wind” consisting of their leader, a gray wolf whose name is Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch)(Skipper mistakenly refers to him as “Classified” throughout the entire film), a harp seal demolitionist named Short Fuse (Ken Jeong), a polar bear named Corporal (Peter Stormare), and an intelligent snowy owl named Eva (Annet Mahendru) with whom Kowalski is instantly smitten. Their mission is to help animals who can’t help themselves.

At their hideout, their communication systems are hacked by Dave, who reveals that he has an enormous supply of the Medusa Serum and that he intends to capture the penguins out of every zoo he was kicked out of. Not wanting the penguins’ help, Classified sends the group to their most remote base (which happens to be on Madagascar) but the penguins awaken mid-flight and crash land in the Sahara Desert before making their way to Shanghai, which they mistake for Dublin, Ireland. Discovering Dave’s next target in Shanghai, the penguins ship themselves to their current location and make their way to the zoo. Disguising himself as a mermaid-tailed penguin (a tourist attraction) to distract Dave from his real target, Private himself is captured along with the Shanghai penguins after the North Wind arrives to put a stop to Dave’s plan. The penguins take the North Winds’ high-tech plane to give chase, but accidentally self-destruct the machine. They manage to track Private to an island though, using a device planted on him when Classified tranquilized them before planting them in a flight to Madagascar. Meanwhile, on the island, Dave demonstrates his way to genetically mutate the penguins into hideous monsters as an effort to make humans disgusted by them as revenge.

Skipper and Classified argue on the best means to rescue the captives and stop Dave, settling on Classified’s plan of a frontal assault and Skipper agrees to act as a diversion. The North Wind manages to corner Dave in his lair only to be captured by Dave’s henchmen as well as the other penguins. Dave demonstrates his mutation ray at full power on Private, apparently disintegrating him with the beam, but unbeknownst to them he escapes at the last minute by using a paper clip he swallowed earlier. Private rescues the North Wind members, who want to regroup, but Private, not wanting to leave anyone behind goes to stop Dave. As Dave’s submarine docks at New York with the promise of returning the penguins he found to the zoo, he turns the ray on the rest of the penguins, mutating them all into hideous monsters. The city erupts into chaos as the brainwashed, mutated penguins run amok on the terrified human crowd. Getting the senses back into Skipper, Kowalski and Rico, cute Private decides to connect himself into the ray to return them to normal. They turn all the penguins back to normal in one huge blast.

Private is left mutated from the machine while the rest of the penguins are restored to normal. Despite his strange new look, the Penguins show their gratitude and new-found respect for Private. Dave (who was caught in the blast) has been turned into a pipsqueak version of himself and is trapped in a snow globe where he is admired by a little girl. Finally seeing one another as equals, Classified promises to grant the Penguins anything they want. In addition to Kowalski getting a kiss from Eva, the Penguins are given their own jet packs and they then fly off above the clouds looking for their next adventure.

In a mid-credits scene, the Penguins return to the circus and plug Mort (Andy Richter) into the ray and use him to revert Private back to normal. Mort does not appear to show any side effects from the ray until he manages to swallow King Julien (Danny Jacobs) whole, much to King Julien’s delight.

The Legacy Collection: The Little Mermaid was released as a two-disc album on November 24, 2014, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of The Little Mermaid.[8] The album features the film's complete original soundtrack, as well as work tapes and demo recording sessions performed by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman.
THE LEGACY COLLECTION: THE LITTLE MERMAID WAS RELEASED AS A TWO-DISC ALBUM ON NOVEMBER 24, 2014, TO COINCIDE WITH THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LITTLE MERMAID. THE ALBUM FEATURES THE FILM’S COMPLETE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK, AS WELL AS WORK TAPES AND DEMO RECORDING SESSIONS PERFORMED BY COMPOSER ALAN MENKEN AND LYRICIST HOWARD ASHMAN.

Sun River
At November 26th, 2014 (the day of the release of The Penguins of Madagascar, I departed the apartment and head on to Deschutes County with my family. There’s snow in Sun River. We celebrate Thanksgiving. I brought a few DVDs (Planes: Fire & Rescue, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Frozen & Muppets & Fairies’ Wintery Secret Sing Along Edition, The Wind Rises, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (in honor of its 50th anniversary), and Kiki’s Delivery Service (in honor of its 25th anniversary). I will have my new book, Frozen CineStory. I went to go see Big Hero 6.

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The trip is ended at November 30th.

People incidents

On December 22nd, 2014; Christine Cavanaugh (Rugrats, Dexter’s Laboratory, Babe, Darkwing Duck) died after suffering from leukemia at her home in Cedar City, Utah. She was 51 years old.

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David Ryall (The Singing Detective, Harry Potter, The Elephant Man) died on December 25th, 2014 (Christmas Day), aged 79.

Edward Herrmann (Gilmore Girls, Richie Rich, The Lost Boys) died on December 31st, 2014 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Hospital of brain cancer, at the age of 71.