I saw both Tangled and Harry Potter 7a recently. Both were terrific. Tangled took its time getting started, but once all the players are in place it becomes a very satisfying ride through until the end. The horse, Maximus, has become my favorite animated feature character of all time. In fact, animation-wise this is the strongest film out of Disney since, perhaps, the golden 90′s. There were some sequences where I’m sure the animators were let run wild with their ideas, and the results are uproarious.

HP7′s effects were out of this world. It’s expected that each Harry Potter outdo the last in terms of visual quality, but this one outpaced all my expectations, and did so with a perfectly-paced plot that followed book seven’s first half quite closely.

Between those two, and the new Avatar Collector’s Edition (yeah, I’m a sucker who just bought the same movie again), I’m to the brim with inspiration. Tangled on the big screen reminded me what I loved about Disney films when I was little, and a bit about why I wanted to become an animator. HP7 reminded me how much fun it is to be able to lose myself in a world that doesn’t exist and, even if only for a moment, believe that somewhere, somehow, those characters and their eventual triumphs are all real.

Long story short, seeing movies like those always makes me feel energized for what I do for a living.

On the musical side, I’ve bought so many CDs recently that I’m almost at a loss for what to listen to because there are too many choices! I finally picked up a copy of 2009′s Sounds of the Universe by Depeche Mode. Not quite Destroying the Angel, but still decent. Duffy’s new disc, Endlessly, is lovely start to finish; if she’s this good now I look forward to her releases a few years down the line. Her sound has changed just enough to invite new listeners without alienating fans of the first disc. She’s also one of those rare pop artists who, in my opinion, manages to keep love songs from sounding trite or contrived.

About a week left before the break. Here’s hoping I get some sleep.

I have a soft spot for stories where tiny people meet and make friends with us regular humans. Arrietty the Borrower is looking good. Trailer says: “This is the story of the coming together and coming apart of a ten-centimeter tall girl and a young boy” (or something close to that effect).

Not to mention, ゲド戦記 (Tales of Earthsea) was also finally released recently, although I didn’t see it up for viewing anywhere near me. I’ll have to wait for the Blu-ray on that one.

Another animated thing I’m excited for is the new 3D Le Petit Prince. I hear it’s 26 episodes, and that in each episode he goes somewhere completely different (odd and exotic for a 3D TV show, seeing as that’s a lot of built-out). There’s a bit of art here.