Review: Zootropolis/Zootopia (2016)

Before I kick off this post, I have to address the elephant in the room. No, not you Francine, but Happy Birthday. What I mean is the fact that in the UK, this movie is called Zootropolis. Despite being a menace to type without thinking about it, it’s just a ridiculous name. It’s not that uncommon for movies to have different titles in the UK, but there’s normally a sensible reason behind it. For example, Neighbors is called Bad Neighbours here, I’m guessing because of a popular soap opera by the same name. A bit of internet research shows that Denmark are opening a zoo called Zootopia in 2019, but I’m not convinced that’s the reason.

Anyway! Zootropolis/Zootopia is the latest animated movie from Disney, and it’s one of the great ones. Following from The Good Dinosaur (which I still haven’t seen) meant that something half decent would have been applauded, but this time round Disney have done what they do best - pack in a current, serious issue in a way that children and adults alike understand and relate to. Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) has dreamt of becoming a police officer, and against all odds, makes it as the first bunny in ZPD history.

Put straight onto Meter Maid duty, Judy is desperate to prove that she has what it takes to become a real cop, which leads her to follow a sly fox by the name of Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) as he runs an ice lolly scam. Fate brings the two together as Judy blackmails Nick into helping her look for a missing animal, and so Nick helps in the most unhelpful way he can, leading her to the DMV, a government office ran by sloths. A stroke of genius, there!

Obviously the movie is filled with laughs, but it’s Flash the sloth that wins the real comedy prize. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch that scene, it’s equal parts hilarious and painful every time. He speaks and types excruciatingly slow, and the act of him tearing off a receipt from it’s printer is making my hairs stand on edge just thinking about it. If you’ve ever had to visit an office like this, you’ll relate. It’s brilliant.

Essentially, the movie is a crime case that leaves you guessing as it goes along. For a children’s movie, it’s surprisingly in-depth and surprised me along the whole trail. There are some great references to look out for as well, for all ages. Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) pokes fun at Frozen, and there’s a glaringly obvious Breaking Bad (or should it be Breaking Baa’d?) reference in there, too. As always, the detail demands several rewatches, especially if you’re on the hunt for all those easter eggs.

The final third of the movie really drills home the message, that I swear, just like last year’s Inside Out is more for the adults rather than the children. Kids these days don’t notice things like race, nor do they judge each other on their family’s religion, it’s the adults. All too often we’re told that our gender or our age means that we can’t do certain things, which is wrong. I felt so pumped at the end of this movie, like I really could do whatever I wanted to. Okay, that feeling ended as soon as I got to work the next day, but still.

Bonus/Bragging Rights: We got to meet the adorable Nick and Judy in Disneyland for our Honeymoon! Nick was ever the sly ol' fox, after this photo he linked his arm with mine and marched me off down the road! The cast members had to chase us down!

Review: The Jungle Book (2016)

My upcoming trip to Disneyland has got me on such a Disney movie hype right now! I wasn’t too bothered about seeing this version of The Jungle Book, the fact that 2 live action remakes got announced at the same time confused me too much, but I’m never one to turn down a trip to the cinema, especially as I’ve gone so few times this year so far.  I have been actively avoiding this, I really wanted to see it initially but then I panicked that it would ruin the original Disney version for me! However, my dad really wanted to see it and how can I say no to an old man ;-)

This 2016 version is, simple, a live action remake of the original Disney movie of the same name, only this version stays a little truer to the novel by Rudyard Kipling. Maybe it’s the realness of it all, but this version definitely feels darker. I’d think twice before letting very little young ones see this.  I jumped out of my skin numerous times and hid behind my coat a few more.  Some of the fight scenes were terrifying, I know for a fact that my three year old niece wouldn't be scared of this (she puts donkeys and swans in headlocks for fun!) but I would not like to be the one with her when she does.  I thought she was going to cry in The Good Dinosaur but alas she didn't....I did!

What’s the criteria for a Disney Short? I was expecting one for this, and then it went from the certificate rating to bam! Right in the action. I would have guessed only the animated ones get shorts, but Cinderella got Frozen Fever...or was that just a one off? Either way, I wasn’t prepared!

I had to keep reminding myself that Mowgli, played by Neel Sethi, is the only real part of this movie. Literally everything else is CGI, which is normally a recipe for disaster, but it’s done so well in The Jungle Book! The scenery is gorgeous, and the facial expressions of the animals and the way they move their mouths is so accurate it’s quite scary. Which is weird, because animals don’t talk. So accurate is the wrong word...but I know what I mean!  This made me properly belly laugh!

The CGI work was truly amazing, normally in movies with CGI you can see where the real boy running becomes a computer generated version but there was nothing, it was perfect. In hindsight, I should have not gone to see this film, with my irrational fear of animals and all, I didn't expect them to be so real I was freakin' terrified!

Speaking of which, can we just stop for a moment to talk about the voice actors? Both this version and Warner Brothers’ upcoming version have really hit the nail on the head here. Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, spot on. Idris Elba as Shere Khan, terrifying. Lupita Nyong’o as Raksha, beautiful. Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, mystifying. I’m starting to run out of adjectives here. Bill Murray as Baloo was simply an amazing choice, and I don’t know whether it’s a good or bad thing that he absolutely stole the show. Move along Mowgli, we want more Baloo! Not much I can add to this other than BILL MURRAY is just the ultimate legend, the man can do no wrong EVER!

My only gripe is the character I was most looking forward to, King Louie voiced by Christopher Walken. Don’t we all just love trying to put on a Christopher Walken impression? I know I do! He just didn’t feel right though. In fact, the whole character felt off. This isn’t the King Louie I remember. He’s...scary, and when he sings ‘I wanna walk like you’ it doesn’t fit, seeings as this King Louie walks to little his fur has literally moulded to the floor he sits on. Ew. Even before the moulded soggy butt hair, I found Louie really nasty and horrid to look at but I have to admit for me the voice was perfect.  They made him seem like a bit of a mobster which is pretty appropriate considering his constantly pushing to get to the top.

This really did blow me away, the voices were so perfect for the characters, the CGI was stunning and I loved the story anyway but this took it to another level.  It was just so entertaining, there was no boring middle bits to get through.

That said though, this was much more fun to watch than I originally anticipated, and it’s definitely up there with Cinderella (2015) as one of the better remakes. I’m interested to see how Warner Brothers’ Jungle Book (currently slated for 2018) will compare! For me this blew Cinderella out of the water, by far the best remake of a Disney film yet!

Brilliant, can't wait to see it again when I can spend more time checking out the CGI scenery.

Preparing for Disneyland...Movie Style!

In case I haven’t told you too many times yet, I’m getting married at the end of May. Eek! Wedding planning has kind of come to the point where if I even see a wedding happen in a movie or TV show, I want to sob hysterically into my multiple planners, so I’ve been trying to focus on our honeymoon lately, which is proving to be a nice break! We’re going back to New York where we got engaged for four nights, and then on to the West Coast for another ten. Part of that trip is going to be Disneyland! I’ve only ever been to Disney World in Florida, sixteen years ago, so I can’t wait.

In preparation, and to avoid wedding related movies, my fiance and I have been catching up on some Disney movies that we’ve either never seen, or haven’t seen in years. Rather than spam this blog with Disney reviews I thought I’d put together a longer post with them all together.

Disney California Adventure Park is home to the newly-opened Cars Land. They’ve literally built Radiator Springs into the park! Look at how pretty it is! Anyway, I know I’ve seen Cars (2006) but I could barely remember it, and my fiance had never seen it, so this was first on our list to catch up with.

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is a hotshot rookie race car who finds himself in with a chance to win the Piston Cup. Whilst en-route to California for the tie-breaker, he finds himself lost in Radiator Springs, an old, seemingly deserted town just off Route 66. Whilst there, Lighting comes to acquaint himself with the residents, and learns the meaning of friendship.

I think it’s fair to say that this is one of Pixar’s weakest movies, but it’s still a great watch. Even though the plot is a little tired and predictable, it’s the characters and the little details that make this movie so much fun. It was only on this recent watch that I could work out what some of the cars actually are, and I loved that Luigi is an old-style Fiat 500! That said, I haven’t heard great things about Cars 2, so I think we’ll avoid that one for now.

Mulan (1998) is Disney’s retelling of an old Chinese legend, where a family is torn apart by war. One man from each family is summoned to deal with the Huns, but Mulan’s father is the only male left in their family, and is too frail for war. He accepts his fate, but in the night, Mulan steals his gear and impersonates a man to take his place in the army. 

For years I’ve sworn that I’ve never seen this, but I think I must have done once as a child, the songs sounded familiar! I really did enjoy this more than I thought I would, it’s very different to most Disney movies and doesn’t have that heartbreaking moment that most do. That probably came out worse than it should have done, but I hate how Disney movies make me cry! I managed to stay dry-eyed through this one, thankfully.

The loveable Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy kind of stole the show for me. Is this how he got the role of Donkey in Shrek? He’s just perfect! I’m definitely going to have to hunt down a stuffed Mushu in Disneyland...despite what my fiance has warned me (I own too many stuffed toys for an adult, but then he owns too much lego so we’re even!).

I don’t know how I’ve gotten away with not watching The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) for so long, because it’s my fiance’s 2nd favourite Disney movie ever! I don’t know why it’s never held much appeal to me, but once I noticed the voice cast including David Spade, Patrick Warburton and the legendary John Goodman, I was more than happy to give it a go!

Emperor Kuzco is a grade A douchebag, wanting to demolish the home of a gentle llama herder just to build himself another pool. When he scorns his assistant Yzma, she seeks revenge and inadvertently turns him into a llama. Pacha, the llama herder, agrees to help Kuzco as long as he promises to leave his village alone. What follows is a hilarious journey as the pair travel and attempt to avoid Yzma and her right-hand man, Kronk.

Whilst I don’t hold it with the same esteem as my fiance, I really enjoyed this one. It felt different to Disney’s usual style, with more jokes for the bigger kids. Definitely glad I watched this, and at least now I know what my fiance is on about when he starts quoting half the movie on impulse!

At the time Brave (2012) came out, I was in a job that sent me to Aberdeen in Scotland too many times. There’s nothing wrong with Aberdeen, let me just say! It’s just that whenever I went, my plane home was always horrendously delayed, and the event I was there for always had drama. We got evacuated from the venue once because the wind was so dangerous. Needless to say, my plane home was delayed. By 4 hours. Sigh. I reckon that’s why I couldn’t face watching Brave. The Scottish accent alone gives me flashbacks of that airport.

Anyway! Brave has a very Disney-esque storyline. Merida, a princess, has become of the age when her parents are finding a suitor for her, and her mother is attempting to teach her how to be a real ‘princess’. Merida doesn’t like boys, doesn’t like being a princess, and would be much happier shooting arrows. Tension builds, which leads to Merida turning her mother into a llama. No, wait. Wrong movie. A bear!

This was an enjoyable watch too, but it was missing something. I’m not sure what, it made me laugh, made me cry, but something just felt off! Most definitely worth a watch, though.

One thing is for sure, watching any Disney movie just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Wedding stress was definitely forgotten whilst we watched these. In fact, we’ll be trying to remember those happy moments whilst riding Mickey’s Fun Wheel...which we’ve learnt is not-so secretly known as Mickey’s Wheel of Doom, thanks to it’s free-swinging carts...gulp.

Review: Descendants (2015)

Yeah, I went there. My local Disney store has had a ton of Descendants merchandise for a while now, and I wanted to find out what it was all about! It’s perfectly acceptable for a 26 year old to watch a Disney Channel movie about the children of the Disney villains, right? Right? As a 31 year old that has just watched a Disney Channel movie about the children of the Disney villains, I say hell yeah!

In the present day, the son of King Beast (Does Beast have a name?! This is going to bother me!) and Queen Belle, Ben (Mitchell Hope) is ready to take the throne. His first decree as king is to offer the chance of redemption to the children of the villains who have all been banished to the ‘Isle of the Lost’, but welcoming them places at the school in Auradon. Before simply opening the floodgates, he first invites 4 children as a trial. These children are Mal (Dove Cameron), daughter of Maleficent, Evie (Sofia Carson), daughter of the Evil Queen, Jay (Booboo Stewart), son of Jafar and Carlos (Cameron Boyce), son of Cruella De Vil.

It’s clear that this is typical Disney within the first five minutes. Loud, colourful characters, beautiful sets, and a musical number just moments into its opening. Only something is off. This first song has very clear dubstep beats to it. I’m also pretty sure Maleficent (Kristin Chenoweth) is speaking the slang that the kids of today are speaking, too. Still, it’s really difficult to not start tapping your feet to the tune of ‘Rotten to the Core’.  Loved the opening, it is still my favourite part of the whole movie, the kids all had the cocky confidence of their evil parents and I loved spotting the ways they had dressed them to match their parents.

Maleficent is happy for the children to be taken away to Auradon, but only because she’s made them promise to steal the Fairy Godmother’s wand and bring it back to her. Queue another musical number in the museum as Mal struggles between wanting to be good and obeying her mother’s orders. Wasn't so sure about this one, think I may have drifted off in the middle, it was the longest Disney song EVER! However, I do love Kristin Chenoweth, she is just made for musical theatre, I would have loved to see her in Wicked on stage.

Honestly, at face value, it’s so easy to hate this movie. It’s cheesy to the level of High School Musical, and hardcore Disney fans will watch with disgust as their favourite villains are turned into comedic characters better placed in slapstick comedy sketches. There’s even a version of Be Our Guest, which I actually struggled with as it’s one of my favourite Disney songs.  

I really liked Carlos, the son of Cruella de Vil and his irrational fear of dogs (felt quite familiar!) and his one liners really made me laugh.  I didn't like Jafar's son, Jay, I think they got their villains and heroes mixed up, they made Jay a small time thief, which is Aladdin's character not Jafar and their version of Jafar was more like the market trader at the beginning of Aladdin!  If my rant hadn't made it obvious, that REALLY annoyed me because the others were so well thought out.

At the same time though, my inner 14 year old self was bursting with excitement. Tweens will absolutely love this movie. The costumes are so well designed, down to the exact colour schemes, the songs are catchy and the girls in particular will fall head over heels for Ben. Descendants is going to be up there in my list of ultimate guilty pleasures.

The kid in me was so excited about the idea of finding out what happened to my favourite characters after the credits rolled on their movies.  I smiled all the way through and would happily watch it again.  Need to get my niece over here so I have an excuse.

Thursday Movie Picks: So Bad It's Good

It's Thursday! Time for It's Thursday! Time for Movie Picks. If you're new to this, Thursday Movie Picks is a fantastic series hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves, where each week she picks a theme and we all choose 3 movies that we feel fit.

Some days, I just can’t handle a mind-bending thriller, a romance guaranteed to make me sob into my cup of tea, or an action that’s going to make my knuckles go white. Some days, I just need to watch something fun, and I don’t mean a comedy. I mean a movie that is undeniably terrible, but so darn enjoyable to watch! That’s what we’re celebrating this week, movies so bad they’re good.

I’ve actually got a theme within the theme this week, and it’s all to do with soundtracks. I’m a sucker for a catchy tune, and so there are a few movies I can think of that were of course terrible, but still brilliant to watch because of the soundtrack!

Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)

What is essentially an extended episode of the Hannah Montana TV series, there was absolutely no need for this movie. I’ve never watched any of the show, but I was on a long plane journey, and as a Miley Cyrus fan at the time, this seemed a reasonable way to pass the time. It was terrible of course, predictable in every sense with a plot only a 13 year old could love, but coupled with a cheesy soundtrack, I loved it! I’ve even got a couple of the songs in my iTunes library...in fact, both Jenna and I love the song Hoedown Throwdown! 

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006)

I almost feel pretty bad for including this, but it’s only after becoming a real movie fan that I’ve come to realise The Pick of Destiny was not a good movie. It's goofy in every sense, I mean, unless cock pushups are an actual thing (guys?) but the soundtrack that goes along with it is so good! This was my college gang’s favourite movie for a long time, and if you start playing anything by Tenacious D we all get fuzzy nostalgic feels.

Descendants (2015)

Do you love Disney? Do you want to see some of your favourite characters completely butchered on screen? Want to be filled with self loathing as you find yourself tapping your feet to an impossibly catchy tune? If your answer to any of these is yes, I’m a little worried for you, but well done for your honesty. It’s clear that Descendants is made for the younglings, which gives me no excuse for actually sitting through it, but I still find myself humming the tune to ‘Rotten to the Core’. I’ll grab my coat...

Review: Inside Out (2015) & Lava (2015)

It’s taken me a long time to get my thoughts on Inside Out into words. Let’s just say I hold this film in a very special regard! It’s extremely rare for me to see a film in the cinema twice, but I saw this once with a close friend of mine on the day I found out that my very poorly Granny was terminal, and then again with my family just a few days after she died. 

From the original trailer, it was difficult to determine a plot for Inside Out, but it made the film a complete surprise which rarely happens now. Too often a trailer gives away so much of the plot it’s barely worth even investing the time at the cinema. So, the plot is simple in theory, a young girl named Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) moves to San Francisco with her parents when her Dad gets a new job. Her emotions, Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Fear (Bill Hader) struggle to cope with the move, a new school, new friends, and a difficult life at home.

To begin with, let me quickly mention the short played before Inside Out, Lava. As a Disney fan, I get just as excited for the short as I do for the feature film, and although nothing will be able to top Feast for me, Lava was beautiful. Told in song, Lava is about a volcano in Hawaii who is lonely, and wishes he has someone to love just like everything else around him. This song is absolutely making it onto the wedding playlist somewhere my fiance won’t notice, ha.

Back to Inside Out, and one thing I can’t get over is how complex the whole thing is, but also how simple it is at the same time. I mean, any small child would love this. It’s bright, it’s colourful, it has plenty of funny moments, but as a grown up going through some stuff, this film really spoke to me. Riley has ‘personality islands’ which represent her core beliefs and loves, and I spent the car ride home trying to work out what my own islands would be. I’d have a blogging island, for sure!

Everything to do with your mind and thoughts are in this film. There’s a thought train, which is literally a train, and subconsciousness which is scary as hell. Down in long term memory are little workers who dispose of all the memories that have been disused for so long, they’re deemed no longer needed. That’s why I’ve forgotten nearly everything I was taught in Math class I reckon!

The casting for the main emotions was perfect, too. I know Amy Poehler from Parks & Recreation and she just buzzes with Joy. Phyllis Smith as Sadness was a great choice, too. If you’ve seen her in anything else you’ll know that she doesn’t put on any other kind of voice for Inside Out, that’s just her and she portrays it perfectly.

It was the lesson of the film that hit me the hardest. The fact that sometimes, we need to feel sadness to become happy again was something I’d forgotten all about, and it’s so true. Going to see this with my family whilst we all felt so sad was difficult, but we all said we couldn’t remember the last time we all went to see a film together. In fact, we weren’t even sure it had ever happened, and so that night will be a happy memory of mine forever.

Review: WALL·E (2008)

Despite my undying love for animated films, every now and again, one slips through the net and it takes me ages to get round to watching it. It was just last year that I watched Up (2009) for the first time, which is bad enough, but one film I’ve been putting off for far too long is WALL·E. It seems to have cropped up again in the blogging community thanks to some blogathons, and that gave me the final push I needed.

The film is set in a waste-filled future, where the situation became so dire that mankind has fled the planet on a giant cruise-ship, whilst waste collecting robots clean the planet up. Hundreds of years later, the plan seems to have failed as one little robot and his cockroach friend seem to be the only ones left on Earth, until one day a ship drops off a robot named EVE to scan the planet for signs of life.

That little plot summary is something I wrote after watching the film; I watched it the other night without reminding myself what it was actually about. The first 20 minutes or so really took me by surprise as it introduced this almost post-apocalyptic scene, and I began to wonder whether this was really meant to be a family film after all. The scene where we are introduced to WALL·E’s little bunker really tugged on my heart strings. I saw this one later than I normally would, I didn't see it at the cinema and felt no urge to watch it for ages, but when I finally did and this little chap popped up on screen there was just too many feels!

Once EVE was introduced and the location of the film changed, we were back into family-friendly territory once again. The shift wasn’t subtle, and honestly I wished we could have been on earth longer, but the second half of the film was at least more of what I was expecting. The concept of these fat, immobile humans was humorous, but a little chilling at the same time. It’s certainly not a future that could be impossible in the real world. Yet another film that poses an actual possibility for future generations, terrifying!

Back to a lighter topic though, I really did enjoy WALL·E. The love story was beautiful and surprisingly emotional, and every time WALL·E pronounced EVE’s name wrong it brought a silly smile to my face. I was also super happy to spot the Pizza Planet truck without having to look it up afterwards, I love things like that. Ohh where was it in this? I can't remember if I found it or not it's been that long since I've seen it! It was really early on when Eve was first scanning Earth for live, the truck was one of the things she scanned :D

WALL.E really showcases what I love about Disney/Pixar films, they don't treat children like idiots.  They know that children of any age deal with situations like loss and love and also deal with the emotions that are tangled within these situations.  These types of movies bring those emotions to the surface and I think highlight to children (and adults alike) that emotions are normal and the world isn't all sweetness and light fairy tales like classic Disney movies (although I do still love those!).  On top of that there is some great animation work here and the background is so detailed, I loved looking around WALL.E's bunker trying to spot things he had collected.

All in all, this was a truly enjoyable film, and I’m still kicking myself for taking so long to watch it. I’m not sure it beats some of my favourites like Toy Story and Finding Nemo, but it’s definitely up there with the greats.  I don't know about but the look of the film from the outside didn't appeal to me, it was only when I watched it that I loved it.  Another case of not judging a book by it's cover....

 

Looking Forward to Seeing at the Cinema: July 2015

I’ve learnt my lesson from last month. I’m going to stop trying to read Jenna’s mind and picking her films for her.  What I will do however is sneak in and start this post before she can! Although you can guarantee I’ll have pinched her choice now...sigh! No you haven't although after we discussed this in the cinema and I have completely forgotten my choice - damn it!! *heads off to Google movies released in July* - Ok got it.....

Honestly, I still don’t know what to pick this month. After a couple of months this year so far where I couldn’t think of anything I really wanted to see, I’m spoilt for choice in July! How do I pick between Magic Mike XXL, Ted 2, Ant-Man, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Ryan Reynold’s news film, Self/Less?! I’m not even going to have time to see them all!  I had planned to offer a special mention to Magic Mike XXL (mmmmm!), Ted 2 and Ant-Man as well so we are going to be spending a lot of time at the cinema this month I reckon!

However, there is a film I haven’t mentioned yet that I’ve been quietly excited about for a while…

Disney Pixar’s latest animation, Inside Out caught my attention when I first saw a teaser trailer at the cinema when Cinderella was on. I’m a sucker for animation anyway, but Inside Out is all about emotions, and although I know very little about the film right now, I think it’s quite a difficult topic to tackle in a family film! I’m hoping it lives up to my expectations.

Inside Out will be released in UK cinemas on 24th July, 2015.

When I went on holiday last year I ordered a shed load of books to my Kindle to make sure I didn't run out.  What actually happened was I read a John Green novel and everything else I downloaded went out of the window and I found Wi-Fi specifically to download the rest of his books.  Although Paper Towns wasn't my favourite of his (still waiting on Looking for Alaska to be picked up for the Tinseltown treatment!). 

I had forgotten entirely that this was being made so when I saw the trailer last week I was thrilled.  Downside is that it is coming out when (as you can see from the list above) we already have A LOT to see and this will probably slip through the net because I don't know anyone else that has read it and my Dad would hate it!

However, I am still ridiculously excited to see it and intrigued as to whether Cara Delvigne actually has any acting talent - if not I am going to be very annoyed that a Hollywood fad has ruined what could have been a great adaptation!

Paper Towns will be released in UK cinemas on 24th July, 2015.

Oh No, I Have Frozen Fever!

Just two Christmases ago, I went and saw Disney’s latest animated offering. I fell in love, downloaded the soundtrack, played it in my car for the daily commute to work, and everything was right with the world. Then a few months later, the rest of the world clocked on and every man and his dog had watched Frozen. You couldn’t move without seeing some merchandise somewhere, and YouTube was full of cute kids singing Let It Go in the car.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who started to hate Frozen. My local Disney store had signs up informing customers they were only permitted to buy up to 2 items that were from Frozen, the film was that popular. 

Over the Easter Bank Holiday, I went to see Cinderella with a friend, and of course, the Disney Short before the film was Frozen Fever. I was a little scared, but at 8 minutes long, the pain wouldn’t be too unbearable.

The story of the short is that it’s Anna’s birthday, and Elsa wants to make her special day perfect, despite the rotten cold she has. Christoph and Sven are in charge of making sure nothing goes wrong, while Olaf is trying his hardest not to eat the ice cream cake. You know that moment in Disney films, where you think ‘I can feel a song coming on...’ Yep, there it was!

And I loved it. It reminded me of all the charm that the original film had, the subtle ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ humour, and it was just perfect. We even got a glimpse of Hans, the evil buggar. Elsa’s sneezes somehow created little baby snowmen, that Olaf aptly started naming after all things cold and frosty, oh and William. Um, hands up, does anyone else want to go to the Disney store to buy a William?

Review: Big Hero 6 (2014)

There are so many films coming out in January and I know I won’t be able to see them all. Most of them don’t even come out until the middle of the month here in the UK which doesn’t help. I was just getting ready to work out which ones to give up on when Odeon announced a preview of Big Hero 6 on the first Sunday of the year. Not wanting to say no to an amazing opportunity, and armed with a gift card from Christmas, I went with my fiance!

Big Hero 6 is Disney’s latest family animated film, featuring super-genius teenager Hiro, a giant, inflatable healthcare assistant robot called Baymax created by Hiro’s brother, and their 5 friends as they hunt down a masked villain who has stolen Hiro’s invention. There’s also an adorable animated short before the film itself called Feast which I want to dedicate a post of it’s own to at some point, because I don’t think I’ve ever felt so many emotions in 6 minutes, or cried so much in public!

Onto the feature film though now. The scene is set really well and introduces Hiro and his older brother Tadashi, who live at the top of a bakery with the owner, Cass, because this is a Disney film of course and the brothers lost their parents. Disney why! Stop throwing all the feelings at me before we’ve even begun! Not to worry though as there’s some great humourous moments before the real story kicks in.

I have so much love for Baymax. How can a healthcare robot be so darn adorable and funny all at the same time? He makes the grown ups quietly chuckle at a joke only we would understand in one minute, and the next has every child in fits of laughter with a bit of fart humour. Okay, I laughed out loud too! Honestly though, he’s a brilliant character and I want one! Did I mention he knows how to fist bump? Well, kind of!

There’s some great little easter eggs to look out for too. I imagine I missed loads but I saw one of the best Stan Lee cameos ever, and 2 familiar faces on wanted posters at the police station! Did anyone spot any others?

Moving swiftly on to something that may actually resemble a review, I thought Big Hero 6 had a really strong, if not slightly predictable plot. I can forgive that though, because it was engaging and interesting throughout. I think it’s going to appeal more to young boys, but the lack of pretty dresses and a talking snowman won’t put off the girls either. Even as a grown-up with no children of my own yet, I’m more than looking forward to the DVD release so that I can watch it again! Now to find out the name of that Fall Out Boy song, so I can amuse the rush hour traffic by singing my heart out in the car.

Looking Forward to Seeing in the Cinema this Month...January

Happy New Year, everyone! It feels really odd to type this...as I'm trying to be super-efficient and it's not even Christmas yet. But I'm already trying to plan my cinema trips for the New Year, and with Orange Wednesday's impending demise, going to the cinema is about to get expensive. Although, I've heard that Compare the Market is in talks with the aim of picking up the deal, so maybe we'll have Meerkat Mondays? Apologies to anyone overseas who has no idea what I'm talking about.

Enough blabbering, and back to the point. There are so many films coming out in January, and so many that I'm really looking forward to. A good few which already came out in the USA too, like Birdman and Foxcatcher. I can't wait to see them, don't get me wrong, but I am most looking forward to this:

Yep, Into the Woods. I'm fairly sure the rest of the world will get to see this before we do. It's coming out in Kazakhstan before the UK according to IMDB! Sigh. Anyway, I only learnt recently, with an updated trailer, that Into the Woods is a musical! I'm so dense sometimes. I got excited for this months ago, and no, it wasn't just Chris Pine as Prince Charming that did it for me, although it certainly helps. I'm a sucker for Disney, and so I'm hoping this won't disappoint. Here's the trailer if you haven't seen it yet:

Into the Woods is released in the UK on Friday, 9th January, 2015.

  

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!! (FYI as I write this it is actually 16th December!! ha!).  Thinking about January already, where has the year gone!

Anyway, back to it, what am I looking forward to this month.  Well I was looking forward to this last year but it was delayed so hopefully that won't happen again. Kingsman: The Secret Service.

However, I have just looked it up on IMDB and it is now saying 12th February - but screw it I'm going to be daring and leave this where it is (who knows what I'm going to do in February now!!)  If you haven't seen the trailer yet, here is is:

Kingsman: The Secret Service is released in the UK on Thursday, 12th February 2015 (oops!).



I feel the need to add another honorable mention here after a telling off from Jenna for not giving a certain actor's upcoming film a mention. I only missed it out because I know the die-hard critics out there would scoff at me! I am however, extremely excited to see Liam Neeson in Taken 3, even though it will be Liam Neeson playing Liam Neeson and will be slated by critics everywhere. So there!