Family Favorite Fun Fantasy Films!

     Hello! Two posts in a row, I'm impressed with me! Last night found us crashing on the couch after my boy's Taekwondo class, watching Strange Magic for the umpteenth time. I absolutely love this movie: a fun faerie story, lively music (Broadway superstar Kristen Chenowith sings "Love is Strange," for instance!). My little guy and I can pretty much quote every laughable moment. My whole household is made up of fantasy fans, and there are the obvious favorites like Harry Potter and The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (not exactly family-friendly, even though my youngest has been watching LOTR since he was born....) and we all LOVE Ridley Scott's Legend (again, not for the younger set, unless you are like me and watched it during middle of the night feedings). So...based on how much fun we have piling onto the couch with a huge bowl of popcorn and glasses of lemonade, I thought I would share our favorite fun fantasy flicks with you all. Here they are, in no particular order:


Strange Magic:
Bog King (Alan Cumming) leader of the Dark Forest, hates the notion of love and has ordered the destruction of all primroses, which are an essential ingredient of love potions. However, when he meets Marianne (Evan Rachel Wood), a feisty fairy princess whose heart was broken by a philandering fiance, he begins to change his mind. Meanwhile, an elf named Sunny (Elijah Kelley) makes his way to the Dark Forest to collect enough primrose petals for a potion of his own.

Epic:
Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried), or M.K., is a headstrong, spirited teenager who has a strained relationship with her father (Jason Sudeikis). She loses patience with her dad's tales of unseen people who live in the woods, but when she is magically transported to that mythic realm, she gains new perspective. M.K. joins a race of beings known as the Leafmen in their battle to protect their queen (Beyoncé Knowles) from their enemies, evil Mandrake (Christoph Waltz) and his crew of Boggans.


Secret of Moonacre:
Maria Merryweather is orphaned at the age of 13 and forced to leave her luxurious life in London. She goes to stay with her somewhat eccentric uncle named Sir Benjamin at Moonacre Manor. Whilst reading the pages of a magical book, Maria discovers her true destiny as the Moon Princess of a fantastical war-torn kingdom, which she must save from falling into the sea forever.


Song of the Sea:
An Irish youth (David Rawle) discovers that his mute sister is a selkie who must find her voice and free supernatural creatures from the spell of a Celtic goddess (Fionnula Flanagan).


Labyrinth:
Teenage Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) journeys through a maze to recover her baby brother (Toby Froud) from a goblin king (David Bowie).


The Slipper and the Rose:
Prince Edward wants to marry for love, but the King and court of the kingdom of Euphrania are anxious for the prince to wed no matter what. When the prince meets Cinderella at a ball, he's sure she's the one, and when she loses her slipper upon exiting the dance, the prince is determined to find and marry her.

Beauty and the Beast:
An arrogant prince is cursed to live as a terrifying beast until he finds true love. Strangely, his chance comes when he captures an unwary clockmaker, whose place is then taken by his bold and beautiful daughter Belle. Helped by the Beast's similarly enchanted servants, including a clock, a teapot and a candelabra, Belle begins to see the sensitive soul behind the fearsome façade. But as time runs out, it soon becomes obvious that Belle's cocky suitor Gaston is the real beast of the piece.


The Boxtrolls:


Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), an orphan, lives with the Boxtrolls -- a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who inhabit a cavern beneath the city of Cheesebridge. When villainous Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) hatches a plan to get rid of the pretty harmless beings, Eggs decides to go above ground, where he meets and befriends feisty Winnifred (Elle Fanning). Together, Eggs and Winnifred devise a daring plan to save the Boxtrolls from extermination.


Maleficent:
As a beautiful young woman of pure heart, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) has an idyllic life in a forest kingdom. When an invading army threatens the land, Maleficent rises up to become its fiercest protector. However, a terrible betrayal hardens her heart and twists her into a creature bent on revenge. She engages in an epic battle with the invading king's successor, then curses his newborn daughter, Aurora -- realizing only later that the child holds the key to peace in the kingdom.




All of the images and synopses are taken from Google, and I have to say, Google doesn't give some of these enough description. Song of the Sea is a modern-day walk through Irish legend; The Slipper and the Rose is yes, Cinderella, but with opera star Gemma Craven as Cinderella,  Richard Chamberlain as Prince Edward, and the incredible Sir Michael Horden as the King, not to mention the Sherman brothers' musical scores and delicious seventeenth-century costumes, this is no ordinary Cinderella story. And Labyrinth? Really, Google, that's all you have to say????


In the spirit of popcorn and lemonade, here also is my absolutely favorite lemonade, presented by Vegetarian Times Magazine:


Basil Lemonade:

Ingredients

  • 4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed, plus 6 basil sprigs for garnish
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 6 lemons)

Preparation

1. Bring basil leaves, sugar, and 2 cups water to a boil in medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar and bruise basil leaves. Simmer 5 minutes without stirring. Strain, pressing on basil to remove liquid. Cool. 2. Pour 2 cups basil syrup into large pitcher. Stir in lemon juice and 4 cups water. Transfer to refrigerator, and chill well. Serve over ice, garnished with basil sprigs.
https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/basil-lemonade





Check these out and let me know what you think! And if you have some of your own family favorites, definitely add them to the comments below!




Now I want to go home and watch a movie....who's with me?




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