VidAngel - A Gift From Above

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE movies! Seriously, you have no idea how much I love them. I grew up on all the best old musicals from my grandparents' massive video collection, The Wonderful World of Disney showing their films on Sunday nights, and visiting grand theatres like The Villa in Salt Lake City to see the latest premieres.

For a long time, I planned on being a star in them. I'd even practice my signature for all those autographs I was going to have to sign. Then I decided if I couldn't act in them, I could share my opinion of them. I would pour over the newspapers to read the latest reviews and see if I agreed with Siskel and Ebert's thumbs down or up. ... And then I realized that even though they got to see and write about all the great films, they had to see all the not great films, too. Knowing I am prone to memorizing what I see and hear and knowing also that (as mentioned in the 13th Article of Faith) we seek after the "virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy" (of which a lot of movies are NOT), that was the end of my career as a movie critic. I can't critique what I won't even watch!

However, in the golden age of video stores and the dawn of the red Netflix envelopes, there were these also a few companies who started to edit films for content. This had always been done for the films they showed on airplanes (back in the day when the screen was at the front and everyone watched the same thing). It was done to protect the innocent onboard, so why not everywhere else? After all, how many times had you heard, "It's such a good story! Just fast forward through that one part"? 

One of these companies was called VidAngel. They and others like them would rent and sell edited dvds and I loved them because now I was able to watch almost anything! Then Hollywood threw a tantrum and lawsuits at them a decade ago and they were all shut down... Or were they? 

Actually, the reports of their death were greatly exaggerated! (You have no idea how many times people I talk to thought they had closed!) Riding the high tide of streaming services came a reinvented VidAngel! Now instead of editing physical copies of films for sale, they have a streaming service you subscribe to. Like all other streaming services, it has a monthly subscription fee and its own unique content. But that's where the similarities end. It's main purpose is to be used as a companion to filter the content from all the other streaming services. 

All you do is visit VidAngel.com and sign up for a subscription. Then you'll connect the other streaming services you use - Netflix, AppleTV+, and all the Amazon video options you can buy. After linking your accounts, you can choose your default filters for all shows, and change them for individual shows as needed. It's fully customizable so you can see and hear as little or as much as you like! 

I've used VidAngel off and on for a few years now and have loved it! It seemlessly mutes and cuts anything I deem inappropriate and I've been able to keep up on trending tv and films without all the garbage included. I must warn you though, just taking the bad out of some shows still doesn't make them good! 

If you check it out, let me know what you think of it in the comments!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (#7)

imdb.com

I saw this film in the theatres, but, as it came out during the Christmas season, never had time to write a review. I just recently saw it again on a flight, so I'll review it now. Consider it a little reminder before Part 2 comes out next week!

I will admit, I am a Harry Potter fan. I love the books and I've enjoyed seeing them come to life on-screen. Some have been better than others, but they've all been crowd-pleasers.

The older Harry gets, and the more powerful Voldemort gets, the darker the stories get. That definitely rings true for this film! It. Is. DARK. So dark, in fact, that I was sure something was wrong with the small screen on the seat in front of me on the plane; many times I couldn't see anything at all!

What could be seen was definitely a PG-13. The film's content is pretty dark, and not for young children, no matter how much they like the books. It follows the story pretty well, which for me also meant that you can feel like you are watching the bulk of 700+ pages; I remember in the theatres glancing at my watch near the end, wondering if it would be over soon. That's never a good sign.

As much as I love Harry Potter, I was disappointed with this installment overall. The screenwriters took a few liberties with the book's storyline, and one scene in particular made me squirm.

When Ron and Harry are destroying the Horcrux necklace in the forest, Ron sees a vision of Harry and Hermione together, as in unclothed and "snogging". I had been forewarned about this scene, and saw the arguments that the young actors were in fact decently covered, that not much is shown, that the vision is hazy. So when I saw a silvery, though pretty clear picture of a topless Hermione and Harry, it made me pretty uncomfortable.

It's just a shame that movie producers think that these kind of scenes are necessary. I mean, a simple clothed snogging session between the two could have made Ron just as mad. Unfortunately, most in the movie industry care more about money than morals. And we fall for it every time. I mean, despite that, I still went to see it. And I'm going to see the next one, too.

What about you? Midnight showing, anyone?