I'm a slayer, ask me how.

Seriously, you have to love a movie studio that takes the extra time to animate bloopers for their movies. On top of that, they consistently put out high quality entertainment. TRUE family entertainment, not kids-giggile-while-parents-suffer "family" movies but movies that make everyone in the whole family happy. I have loved every single Pixar movie so far (except for Cars...anthropomorphic automobiles do nothing for me).

The Toy Story trilogy has to be one of THE best film trilogies of all time. I fall in love with Wall*E every time I see it. I bawl like a baby during the first few minutes of UP but just can't stop watching because I know Dug will be there soon to make me smile again. Finding Nemo...oh how I bawked at a film with talking fish but it has to be one of my favorites. And The Incredibles? Just an amazing mix of action and story. Monsters Inc. grew on me since I saw it before I had a job...now that I've worked in the real world, I get it LOL! SO MUCH LOVE FOR ALL THESE FILMS!

Plus John Lassiter. Can we talk about how awesome this man is?? Yes, he could have used Pixar to wipe out hand drawn animation forever but instead he used his powers for good to try to talk Disney into reviving the department. Yeah, Princess and the Frog didn't exactly storm the box office, but it at least got us Tangled, who's roots are firmly in the realm of the animated Disney classic films. I just hope they don't drop the ball now that he has passed it to them.

AND OMG BRAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!! I'm already in love with Merida and her gorgeous red hair of crazyness and her archery skills and her Scottish accent. <3 <3 <3

I was reminded of this today when my mom arrived with a newspaper clipping in hand. I saw Joss Whedon's face and assumed it was yet another interview about The Avengers but then I looked closer and noticed it was about a brand new book -- Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion: The TV Series, The Movies, The Comic Books and More (which, of course, I now NEED!)

You might not be aware of this, but I collect Whedon-Academia books. There's a lot of stuff to collect out there about Joss and his works, but the academic books, the scholarly examinations of his works are my very favorites. They present the shows to me in a whole new light and help me think critically about popular culture and media. Here are just a few of my favorite titles (in case you're interested):

Sex and the Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer for the Buffy Fan - a great introduction for anyone interested in gender studies but unsure of where to start - use your favorite Slayer and the Scoobies to gain an understanding of popular culture, media, gender and how they all interact together. (Click through to GoodReads, there is a Google Preview of the introduction). This book is very well written so even the non-academics among us can enjoy it!

Televised Morality: The Case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- this was actually written by someone who wanted to teach a course on morality. Again, why not examine the subject and the philosophies around morality using the Sunnydale crew as your backdrop. While it can be a bit more academic than other books, it's still very readable.

Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- this book is great, if only because it makes that case the a television show, just like a book or a movie, can be art. It also makes you realize that every single art form that we worship now was once scoffed at.

Seven Seasons of Buffy -- the Smart Pop book that started it all! 7 essays about all things Buffy written by science fiction and fantasy writers who love the show. They cover lots of different topics and issues and you get some different perspectives. Even if you don't agree with their conclusions, it makes you think about the show, characters, and certain episodes in a different way.

Hm...those all ended up being BtVS books. That wasn't my original plan but those are my favorites in my collection. There are plenty more on my shelf and available to purchase. If you're interested in a quick-fix of Whedon Academia, look no further than Slayage. While some of these essays can be on the heavy side, it's a great way to expand your mind.