Reel Thursday: Frozen (2013).

Who here hasn't watched Frozen yet? Haha! You must be too old, a hipster, or just too busy to have time to watch it. Everyone in the internet knows this wonderful Disney movie because there are no words that can express how awesome it is. From the soundtrack, the characters, and to the plot, there's nothing to be unhappy about. 

As everyone might have already known, the main characters are the sisters Anna and Elsa, the ice seller, Kristoff and his reindeer Sven, and finally Olaf, the snowman who likes warm hugs.

What I like about Anna (left) is that she is the epitome of almost all young women nowadays. She's awkward, a bit of an airhead but smart, and she's not your princess who's actions are always with finesse. It's like she's showing the young women that even when you're awkward and normal and can't even get up early in the morning, you can also be a princess.

Elsa, on the other hand, shows the insecurities that we young women experience. There's bound to be one or more things that we're insecure about ourselves, and Elsa showing that she can "Let it go" since her insecurities "never bothered her anyway" means that these insecurities that we have are just a creation of our imagination of what other people think of us. Let's all sing "Let It Go" with Elsa and let go of those things that we don't like about ourselves. The important people in our lives (like Anna for Elsa) will not be bothered about those things anyway.

Kristoff, oh Kristoff. I have nothing about this man since he's perfect for Anna. He does not overpower Anna in anyway, and it's like they're two puzzles that perfectly fit together because of their back and forth bickering. Just be awkward together! (Wait, what?)

Finally, there's Sven and Olaf. Sven is the reindeer companion of Kristoff ever since he was a kid. Olaf is a snowman created by Elsa. Olaf provides the comic relief in the movie and his lines are the funniest. He even has his own song about how a snowman like him would enjoy summer! Best song ever.

Check it out here:

That's it for this Frozen appreciation post. I didn't say much because it's just all over the internet now and everyone has their opinion about it that mine wouldn't matter as much. It's just that I love this movie and I wanted to show my appreciation of it.

J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Hal「ハル」the movie (2013).

Hal is an animated movie that's depressingly beautiful. It's a sci-fi romance themed animated film that has a twist at the end. I can say that it's pretty good, but I'm not just a fan of the kind of animation for this. The story though was good, and will definitely leave you hung over the main characters after watching.

The story is set on a time when robots can completely act like humans, and I assume that anyone can own one if they can afford to..

Hal is the guy in the picture while Kurumi is the girl. They are in a relationship when Hal suddenly died from a plane crash.

Kurumi was left devastated..

Then this old man asked the robot, Q01, to become Hal so that he could comfort Kurumi who's suffering from Hal's death.

When Hal the robot showed up, Kurumi didn't easily open up to him because she's still afraid.

However, as time went by, Kurumi opened up to Hal the robot while he makes some of Kurumi's wishes come true. (Her wishes are written on rubix cubes that are completed and Hal had to solve each of the faces to be able to read the wish).

Hal also started to get to know the old Hal. Robot Hal tried to understand what kind of person Hal was back then..

Hal and Kurumi started hanging out again and went to a festival together.

After having fun, a guy by the name of Ryu who is supposedly Hal's friend showed up. He expressed his desire to sell Kurumi..

Hal and Kurumi ran from Ryu and his apparently gangster-like friends. 

While running away, Kurumi fell in a gushing river, and it was also raining hard.

I will end my story-telling right here, since anything beyond this scene will be huge spoilers. I think the beauty of this movie is the plot twist because right there, the reality of this story was revealed. Even in this advanced society, there is the existence of humanly feelings of regret, depression, and love. The reality in the story reveals the true essence of it, which is supposed to be telling a story of love between these two people who became victims of a harsh fate.

That's all I can say about this movie. It gave me the chills, and the feeling of finding the meaning of life upon watching it. I'm not even exaggerating. 

Countdown to Christmas: Arthur Christmas (2011). 1 day left!

December 24, 2013. Tuesday, 9:30pm. (U.A.E. time).

I have arrived! I didn't have the time to blog yesterday as it was my flight back to Dubai, and I've only got time now. It's cold here, and it feels really Christmas-y because of the abundant decorations, presents, and my family here. The cold weather is also a plus! It might not be as cold as in countries with four seasons, but this cold is something. I even got a developing flu.. 

Anyway, let's go to another Christmas movie for today, which is Arthur Christmas!

Arthur is the youngest son of the current Santa Claus. He is clumsy and good-natured, and he works in the mailroom wherein letters from kids to Santa arrive.

This is Malcolm Claus, the current "Santa" Claus. Although he is the current Santa, his job is made easier by new technology, (and helpful elves) which is run by his eldest son, Steve.

This is Steve, the commander of the elves, working from the North Pole and helping Santa (his father) go through all of the nice children (to give them gifts!) on Christmas day.

Next is Margaret Claus, Malcolm's wife and the mother of Arthur and Steve. Being the only woman in the family, she takes care of everyone. She's a really smart mother.

Last but not the least in the Claus family, we have Grand-Santa. He's the retired Santa who is Malcolm's (current Santa) father and grandfather to Arthur and Steve. As a grandpa would be, he's full of stories about his days as Santa and is also somehow cranky because of his age.

This is the Claus family, all looking at Arthur, the "weird" one in the family.

This is Bryony, an elf from the gift-wrapping division who helps Grand-Santa and Arthur give the forgotten gift.

The story revolves around the one gift that Santa forgot to give, and Arthur is really worried that that one child will be the only one who'll not be receiving her gift for Christmas. Because of that, Arthur and Grand-Santa (along with Bryony) went on a mission to bring the gift to the child and so they used the old sleigh that was used by Grand-Santa back in the day.

The gang got into trouble, and so the rest of the Claus family went to the rescue, although Steve was initially against the idea.

After much trouble and adventure by the whole Claus family just to deliver Gwen's (the child) gift, they made it just in time before the sun went up in England (where the Gwen lives).

Before everyone left for the North Pole after completing the mission, Arthur was acknowledged by the whole Claus family as the new "Santa" who would then replace Malcolm in the position. He earned that title because of his genuine concern for every child in the world, including Gwen, who, if not for him, would not have received a gift from Santa this Christmas.

Gwen then saw a glimpse Arthur looking like "Santa" with his snow beard  and red bloated jacket.

Arthur Claus saves Christmas! This movie left me feeling all warm and fluffy inside because of Arthur's sincerity. He definitely deserves to be Santa! This movie reminds us that every person in the world matters even though we think that we're just a little piece of a puzzle or a speck of dust in the air. Someone out there would be disappointed to hear that you would be unhappy this Christmas so let's spread the Christmas cheer!

Reel Thursday: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Fix-It Felix Jr. game

Wreck-It Ralph is an animated film by Walt Disney, which was released last 2012. The concept of the story is much like Toy Story, only that it's set on an arcade. The idea is that in an arcade, every character in the games can interact with each other. Sometimes, they (the characters) can even go to another game when the arcade is closed. Each character has their own roles in their respective games. With that, the main character Wreck-It Ralph is an antagonist in the game Fix-It Felix Jr. He's sick of his life living in a garbage mountain and not being welcome in parties in their games, because he's the "bad guy" that no one likes. 

This is the arcade, the setting of the story of Wreck-It Ralph. Each games have characters that are being controlled by people, and if a certain game is not liked anymore, then it ends up being shut down, and those poor characters will become "homeless."

People can see the game through the monitor, but the characters in the game can also see the people playing the game through the monitor. On the screenshot above, the building is the one Ralph wrecks in every game, and we can notice that from the perspective from within the game, the arcade outside can be seen.

Finally, we have the Bad Anon support group. Every antagonist of the games in the arcade who are tired of being a bad guy comes to this support group to release their angst about being a bad guy. Ralph is among these bad guys who are lost and fed up with always being the bad guy in their games. They support each other by pledging to themselves that "I am a bad and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be, than me." I think that the message of what they're saying is really inspiring, because everyone of us has a bad side, and we should learn to accept that and be satisfied with it. 

This movie is not simply an animated film targeted for kids, but adults can also relate and even think twice about themselves on what they want to be versus what they are. I really liked this movie because of that theme. Apart from the candy goodness in the game Sugar Rush, the overall relationship of the main characters and the theme of the story is inspiring. There are still many things about the movie that I haven't discussed yet, like the character Vanellope von Schweetz. I apparently just provided an overview as to what this movie is about and I think it's much better to watch it than reading about what happens in the movie, since the animation is really good.

Wreck-It Ralph is unexpectedly good (for me) and I really recommend it to those adults around who also likes watching animated films, and of course those who don't. Just do. The animation is awesome.

Game Over.