Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Alchemist's Letter & The Book of Life

Have five minutes to spare? In the mood for a stunning, steampunky fairy tale?

Then watch this:

 

 Wow. Am I right?

(If you can't watch it right now, here's a little preview:)





And speaking of visually stunning films, John and I finally saw The Book of Life this week, and LOVED it. 



For some reason I was afraid it'd be like The Boxtrolls, which we also saw recently after waiting forever, but happily Book of Life has a really engaging story (which I think Trolls lacks) and is non-stop eye candy (where Trolls is often flinch-away disgusting).

Some of the modern music selections are a little jarring, but oh man, you guys, the scene with the bull? AH! Can I spoil this, just a little? Because I have to tell you:

[MINOR SPOILER AHEAD]

 The scene where the failed bullfighter sings his apology to the spirits of all the bulls his ancestors have slain absolutely did me in. Bawled. Like a. Baby. So gorgeous.

So, yeah, go rent Book of Life, if you haven't already. John's already demanded we buy this one, so I'm off to grab a copy now. (Ooh, and only $12 on Amazon! Sweet!)


***

And now, time to announce this month's art winners!

neolexia wins the 3-eyed monster
Fluffy Pink Bunny wins Whistlin' Wash
Abi Terry wins the purple-eyed girl & ferret
Jenni Murdock wins Cake in a Cup
and 
Joanne W.  gets her choice off the give-away board

Congrats, winners, and please e-mail me your mailing addresses, so I can get those out to you!

15 comments:

  1. I felt EXACTLY as you do about both Book of Life and The Boxtrolls. I love other Laika items, but felt this one was lacking. I was pretty mad when Boxtrolls got the Oscar nom and Book of Life did not!

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  2. I adore the book of life movie and am so so glad you gave it a chance after the boxtrolls, which was meh to me. The colours and music and just... all of it is awesome. I saw it in the theatre and HAD TO buy it the day it came out. So, yeah, I getcha.

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  3. AH-MAZING.
    -Piper P from Washington State

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  4. Thanks for the wonderful start to my day, the mini movie was wonderful :)

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  5. Book of life makes me weepy every time I watch it! Both happy and bawling weepiness. And it's so pretty!

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  6. Thank you for introducing me to The Alchemist's Letter. It was stunning, and so touching. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to share it with my mom, who I am sure will love it just as much.

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  7. omg! omg i won! i never win anything! this is so awesome! if i weren't busy typing i'd totally be kermit flailing right now! um, just one question... what's your email address?

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    1. She's Jen at Epbot.com :-) Congrats!

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  8. I WON??? WHAT IS THIS MAGIC??? ;D So excited! Just shot you an email!! =^.^=

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  9. The video was really beautiful - and I was delighted to recognize John Hurt's voice as the alchemist!

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  10. I was enchanted with The Book of Life, as well. I made my two teenage sons watch it with me. The eldest said it was good and the youngest said it "wasn't as bad as [he] thought it was going to be". Which, believe me, is actually pretty high praise. : - )

    -Just Andrea

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  11. OK got all weepy over the short. Darn it.

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  12. Book of Life was one of my birthday present requests as I just adored it. I could pop it in and just listen to it. Visually stunning. (I liked Trolls, but did feel it lacked a bit when I had been so excited for it via previews)

    Grats to the winners!!! Cannot wait to have a moment to watch that steampunk gorgeousness you've shared!

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  13. This was so cute! It didn't even feel like it was more than a minute long! Bee-A-U-tiful.

    I still haven't seen Box Trolls or Book of Life. I need to stop getting behind on movies.

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  14. hey jen, just sent you an email. please let me know if you don't get it. thanks again!

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