How To Train Your Dragon 2

I did not plan on going to a movie this month, but I had enough Scene points for a free one, and a few friends wanted to go, so I went.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 was the most emotionally overwhelming film I have scene in a long time. I loved it. I loved all of it (except for one scene near the end that ripped my entire soul out and will never ever allow me to forgive the writers, EVER). The cinematography was beautiful, the animation was smooth, the characters were well built, it was just all-around GOOD.

The shots they made were breathtaking. Being a dragon-training movie, there are plenty of sky shots. One of my favorites was when Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) jumps off Toothless the first time. The shots of the clouds, and then landscape is just gorgeous! Just beautiful, loved it. Another of my favorite scenes is during the Alpha dragon battle. There's a shot where Hiccup and Toothless are soaring high above the giant dragon, but you don't really see them. Instead, you see the battle behind them from a bird's eye view. All you can see of them is a blurred silhouette. It was the kind of shot that made my heart jump out of my chest for a moment. Beautiful.

This was probably one of the best sequels I've seen, too. Most writers take note of the enjoyed humour of a film and then focus on that when making the sequel. HTTYD2 definitely had a lot of jokes, but I don't think they focused on the humour more than they did the plot. My favorite joke was when the female twin, Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig), first sees the captain of the dragon trappers, Eret (Kit Harington), she reacts any way a normal female would; she swoons. What makes her reaction funny is that she doesn't hide it from him. She says her thoughts of him out loud, in front of her peers, and even to Eret's face! And the focus the give him in the film while she's looking at him is brilliant! At one point (possibly more than that), they do a close-up shot of his biceps flexing. I just absolutely loved it haha!

They did such a good job with this movie. I'd recommend it to anyone. One last thing I'd like to mention, I really enjoyed the little bit of detail they added to Hiccup and Astrid's (America Ferrera) relationship. The first scene that has Hiccup in it, there's a small braid at the back of his neck. Later in the scene, when Astrid joins him, as she's talking to him she braids another bit of hair beside that one. He never unbraids either of them throughout the entire film. I don't know about you, but I just think that is the sweetest thing, and it says a lot about their relationship.

I give How To Train Your Dragon 2 an 9 out of 10.

Casanova (2005)

I believe this one is a remake, although I have not seen the original, so I will not be comparing the two. It's been a while since I've watched this last, so it was nice to see it again; I always enjoy watching and rewatching movies.

Heath Ledger stars as Casanova. I tell you, I could write a whole entry on that man alone! What a phenomenal actor! He really was the character he was asked to play, in every movie he's been in. He was a great actor. Like I said, I could go on and on about him. Casanova is no different. His character is not only Casanova, but he pretends to be other people throughout the film as well. Ledger does the role very well, indeed.

I love the humour in this movie. It's not listed as a comedy, I don't think, but it has it's moments. Every now and then, there's a one-liner or something subtly silly takes place. It makes the overall feel of the film a bit lighter. My favorite scene is when Paprizzio (Oliver Platt) shows Casanova and Lupo (Omid Djalili) his self portrait and Lupo asks who it's a painting of. Paprizzio kind of just slowly, and awkwardly, slinks away. I love it! Cracks me up every time!

The cinematography was pretty good, nothing special or unusual to me. I did like how some of the camera angles were through crowds of people, that was sort of interesting. What I really appreciated, though, was the scoring. The music was very well done, it fit the film perfectly! It makes the whole movie more enjoyable.

Just a side-note, Casanova is known for having sex with women. With that being said, I think they did a very good job of keeping it PG. I just wanted to point that out.

I give Casanova a 7 out of 10.

The Neverending Story

Ah, I am SO behind this month!!! Oh well. So, I chose to watch The Neverending Story. Made in the 1980s, it's pretty advanced for it's time. The graphics and costumes are amazing, truly. I mean, obviously, at some points you can definitely tell the actors are in front of a green screen or of strings, but for 1980?? It's pretty darn realistic!!

I really like how the book literally interacts with the boy reading it, and, in a way, with the movie's audience as well. The narration is beautiful and how they connected the storybook with the movie's reality was smoothly done. I really liked how the child playing the boy would look up from the book whenever something important happened within the story; as if to let whatever he just read to sink in before moving on. Very good acting on his part.

Although this film was pretty good, I just have one question... where is he? A storage room? It honestly looks like some long forgotten, and possibly haunted, large random room. How he ever managed to get the key for it is beyond me. They never explain that. Also, he stays LOOOOOONG after school is out - wouldn't his father worry about him and go looking for him? Especially if it's storming outside!! Makes no sense.

I give The Neverending Story a 6.5 out of 10.

Just an Update

To those of you who actually read (and possibly even look forward to) my blog posts, I will not be able to review any new movies this month, unfortunately. I am extremely tight for cash because of April-June is the season of taxes. I know I have already missed a few weeks (however, that doesn't seem to matter; my views are still rising!!), but I have decided that instead of seeing new films and writing about them, this month I will watch old films (whether that be classics or unheard of) and then review them. Since I have nothing to do with my time this month, I will most likely do more than just one a week! If you have any in mind that you'd like me to review, feel free to leave a comment on this entry!

I would just like to say how grateful I am to those who actually read this sad excuse for a blog. I started this mainly for myself, so I could look back on what my first opinion of certain movies were. I honestly did not expect anyone other than my closest friends to read it, so thank you! You are all lovely, and I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to read my crazy opinions!

Maleficent

I saw Maleficent today. Originally, I had no intention of seeing this film. Whenever Disney makes a movie based one another they have made previously, I'm always worried the new will ruin the old (which is why I never watched Mirror, Mirror). I was also concerned Angelina Jolie (Maleficent) wouldn't be a good pick for the role. I was, however, surprisingly pleased. 

The animation of this film, although clearly CGI, was remarkable. The only reason you could tell it was digitally animated was because those shown on screen were not actual creatures in reality. The work of Disney's CGI team is always done well.

Jolie surprised me. I didn't think she'd fit this role. Don't get me wrong, I have watched many films she's starred in and enjoyed all of them; she's a very talented actress! I just wasn't sure she was the best fit for this. I was wrong. She did wonderfully. I especially liked her reaction to *SPOILER ALERT* when Stephen cuts off her wings. It was so real.

One detail I particularly liked was Maleficent's younger self. The casting was done extremely well, here. I think most only look for similarities in the facial features and maybe the general body figure, but I'm sure Disney tried to find someone so similar to Jolie that they looked at even the fingertips of the actresses. The girl playing young Maleficent has very similar fingers to Jolie. It's details like this that make me enjoy movies as much as I do.

I give Maleficent 7.5 out of 10.