Movie Review: Tangled

Last night, we decided to watch "Tangled" on Netflix Instant Watch.  The boys had already seen this in the theater with their grandmother, but my wife and I had not.  After some recent flops in "Princess" movies, Disney tried to create a "Princess" movie that would also appeal to boys.  I think they've succeeded based on the reaction my boys had to it.

"Tangled" tells the traditional Rapunzel story with a new spin.  As in the traditional story, Rapunzel is living in a tower and she has never cut her hair.  The spin is that Rapunzel is kept there by an evil woman who has convinced her that staying in the safety of the tower to protect her hair is the best thing for her.  What the woman really wants is to keep Rapunzel and her magical hair all to herself.  But that's all about to change when Flynn Rider, a thief, stumbles upon the tower and sees it as a place to hide.  When Rapunzel gets the drop on Flynn, Flynn is forced to take Rapunzel out of the tower to get what he wants.  Along the way, Flynn discovers there's more to life than money and doing whatever you want.

I think "Tangled" is a 4 star movie.  We all enjoyed it.  It's a musical, so it borrows from the tradition of many of the older Disney "princess" movies, but the animation is updated to the computer generated animation we are familiar with today.  The songs are good, but nothing really sticks out.

Overall, "Tangled" would make a great family night movie for most anybody with kids under the age of 10 or so. 

I'm still choking!

Today was my annual trip to Finkbine Golf Course with a group of golf friends.  Finkbine is the golf course for the University of Iowa, and is one of my favorite courses.  Playing at Indian Creek Country Club this year, I haven't gotten to play golf at many courses besides my club, which is ok.  But, my club is unique...it's short with very small greens, so going to a place like Finkbine which is longer and has huge, sloping greens, can be a bit of a shock.

Today was a beautiful day...85 degrees, light humidity and not much wind.  We tee'd off at 8:10 am, and finished around 12:10, so a perfect golf day...except for my game.  I started out really well...in fact, I shot 35 (1 under) on the front 9.  How I shot that score was a little weird though.  I made 4 birdies, including a chip-in and a 50 foot bomb that would have run 10 feet by if it would have missed the hole.  Really, all the breaks went my way on the front nine.

Now, I've been playing pretty solid golf lately, but I haven't shot a real low score all year.  My best 18 holes this golf season is +2, which I've done 3 times.  So, here I was today, going to the more difficult of the two nine's at Finkbine 1 under par.  I striped my drive at 10, and that's when my brain shut off.  I screwed up my approach into 10 and made bogey.  Then I doubled 11, before righting the ship a bit at 12 with a par.  But, then I made 3 more double bogeys, 2 bogeys and 1 birdie over the final 6 holes to shoot a 46 on the back nine, for a very mediocre 81.  I really choked away a great chance for a good round.

I'm really not sure why I'm struggling to shoot low scores this season.  Last year, I shot under par a couple of times, and even par a couple more times.  I know I'm capable, but I seem to be getting in my own way too often this season.  I know that great round is out there, and hopefully I can figure out a way to quit choking long enough to allow it to happen.