Tangled with Burlesque

In a boring Saturday afternoon, there is one thing left for me to do other than making grades or thinking more about my MAN requirements - watch more movies. I haven't been inside the theater this past few weeks and the last time I went there was when I watched "Ang Tanging Ina" and I consider it to be highly unusual for a movie geek like me. Rather, I opted to download the movies I want to watch and prefers to choose only the movies I really want to see in the cinemas.

I made the wrong decision to watch Tangled in my boob tube. The movie about Rapunzel is a gem from Disney after a few unsuccessful cartoons - 3d or 2d. The Princess and the Frog did not live up with my expectations which made me not to expect much with Tangled. The result? I was surprised. Disney Magic is back after all which has been missing for years. Tangled is not trying hard to please its audience, rather, it brings out the original formula of a fairy tale classic: A heroine where you can root your sympathy for and a villain who needs not an ounce of magic to be frightful and only uses psychological manipulation to overcome the heroine. The magic is clearly seen during the "Lantern" scene. Tangled is Disney's saving grace.

Although Alan Menken did not score nor compose any of the songs, most of them are memorable. I liked Mother Knows Best which reminds me of some Disney Villains from the past. I would like to see more of Disney in the future and hopefully they will live up to what Tangled has started.

After Tangled, I decided to watch Burlesque. The movie on the other hand feels like a combination of Moulin Rouge and Chicago. Jazz is the main music genre of the movie. Burlesque's story centers mostly on Christina's character and the fate of the club where she works as a waitress at first and then a stage performer after convincing Cher to get her the job. Storywise, Burlesque is... AWFUL. There is nothing new with the storyline. If you are expecting to be blown off with the story, well then prepare to be disappointed.

However, the music tries to save the movie from bad storyline. With the amount of songs Christina gets to sing in this movie, she can make an album out of it. I think the songs here are better than her recently released album (which nobody knew it existed). Cher is a relief to the ears, however, her botox-filled face seems to be disturbing me during the entire movie. It seems she has to make big efforts for her to actually deliver her dialogue. Stanley Tucci seemed to have reprised his role from The Devil Wears Prada. Christina is a surprise in this movie. She can sing and act better than Britney and THAT is an edge. Give Christina good roles and more workshops and she can nail any movie part.

Burlesque is so bad, its good. Ironic right? But I don't dare watching it again.Watching it once is far more than enough. Watch the film for Christina's scene where she gets to sing for the first time in the club. That was the defining moment of the film. After that, pfft...

GRADE:
TANGLED - A-
BURLESQUE - C+