2014-1-18: Movie Review #1: Frozen

I have not done one of these in a while, and it seems like this would be a good way to keep the blog up to date as long as there is still nothing of great noteworthiness going on.

             Anyhow, yesterday I finally got to see Frozen, the latest from Disney's Animation Studios.  I don't want to spoil the movie for those of ye who have not yet seen it, but I also want to tell ye what I think about it, so I shall see what I can do.
             The movie is about two sisters -- the daughters of the king and queen of a Norwegian-inspired fictional kingdom -- and their adventures.  Without giving too much away, I can say that the story revolves around the kingdom falling under an eternal winter, and the sisters' journey to try and bring it to an end.  That much you can probably tell from the trailer, but to tell you any more might ruin it for you.  I do not mean to say that it will ruin the plot -- because there is still much to say before even nearing spoiler territory -- but I think in this case the less you know about the movie the more enjoyable it will be.  That is not to say that I think having the movie spoiled would ruin the enjoyment, but I thought I had a pretty good idea of the plot going in, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that there was much more to it.
             Since I do not want to tell y'all too much more about the plot, let me simply list the things I think they did very well with the movie, and the things that bugged me.  Positives:  First and foremost, dat snowman tho:  The snowman (Olaf, whom ye have no doubt seen if you have seen more than a half second of promotional material for this film) was, in my opinion, one of the greatest triumphs.  From the preview et cetera, I was afraid he might be just an annoying sight gag character to make the under five crowd laugh without being terribly funny, but he was far from that -- actually, that is kind of what he was, but he was not annoying in the least and very funny.  I could not tell you exactly why I found him so funny, all I know is that even lines that I would never have found amusing are somehow hilarious when he says them.  Another thing that really stuck out to me was the ending.  I cannot tell you what it is, just that it is probably the best ending to a Disney movie this side of Pixar that I can remember.
             The animation was 3-D (I do not mean 3-D like with the glasses 3-D, although that is an option we saw it in 2-D, but I mean the 3-D CGI animation like the Shrek movies as opposed to the 2-D of movies like Lion King, Snow White, et cetera) and that was interesting.  I generally prefer 2-D animation for some reason, and indeed, at first I did think to myself "this would have been better in 2-D IMO."  But when the snow stuff started really happening, the 3-D made it much more impressive.  And I do not think Olaf the Snowman would have worked as well in 2-D.  By the end of the movie the 3-D had won me over and I really liked it, but at first I had trouble thinking of it as a Disney movie because of the three dimensions.  The music also had its good and bad side.  The quality of the songs ranged from good to excellent, but some of them were -- in my opinion -- criminally short.  Not just in the way of "I really like that song and wish there were more of it to love", but rather like "That song just started and then ended and did not really add anything to the movie."  Again, all the songs were awesome except one or two, and even those were very good, just some of them seemed to come and go and jar you out of the immersion with their abruptness.  The only thing that really bugged me was the way in which they dealt with the other LUV INTEREST:  you see the Ice Salesman Guy in the trailers, and he is great, but there is a Prince that shows up in the very beginning that falls in love with one of the sisters.  I really cannot say what bugged me about it without spoiling certain plots, but I the way they resolve this love triangle leaves something to be desired.
             But even with these complaints, Frozen still ties Chicken Run for #5 of 87 Comedy Movies watched since November 21st, 2008, making it my second favourite Disney movie* behind #4: The Emperor's New Groove. Also, in a funny twist of fate, the movie right below it on the list also happens to be a winter film: White Christmas.

[EDIT: For some reason, there are several Disney movies missing from my lists -- namely, The Aristocats, Finding Nemo, Up, and Wall-E -- that I need to re-watch before I can repeat that statement with confidence. Groove is still my favourite though.]

2013-1-7: HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2014!

So it is 2014 now.  I am still trying to finish my NaNoWriMo novel so I can get it edited and released before June, and also trying to get back on track with schoolwork.  The blog will have to wait until I can figure out this new year's schedule, so for now that is all.  I'm still going to try to update it at least once a week, but they will just be shortish posts like this until further notice.

Random Fact:  Carl Berner died today.  He was 110 years and 346 days old.  At the time of his death he was the 2nd oldest American and 2nd oldest German-born man on this globe.  Also, Margaret Ann Neve is the only known person who lived in the 20th century who was born in the 18th century.