Film Review: "Frozen" (2013)

MINOR SPOILER ALERT!!!!

This review comes a little late, but that doesn't matter. Some people are yet to see this movie so here I am writing this up. Plus, I'm working on an editorial about the changes in the Disney Princesses over the years and hopefully this review will help me lead into that. But I'm off topic, what about Frozen? 

To be honest, I almost passed this one up. Why? I don't really know. It didn't really jump out at me. I knew it was Disney but that didn't encourage me to go see it. It was friends who wanted to see it and I came along too. But luckily, I was wrong and I'm glad I didn't pass up the chance of seeing this in the cinema. Twice. Three times! I enjoyed it so much, that I went back and watched it again and again. And downloaded the soundtrack.

So what's the story? The eldest Princess of Arendelle was born with the ability to control ice. Due to an accident, she becomes afraid of her powers and her parents shut her away from everything and everyone, including her younger sister. She bottles up her powers until one day, she slips and the town learn of her secret. She runs off, leaving the town in eternal snow and leaving her sister to go after her and save the town. On her journey, Anna teams up with ice salesman Kristoff, his raindeer Sven and a talking snowman called Olaf, to find Else and bring back summer.

I love pretty much everything about this movie. The animation is stunning. I do miss the days of the 2D Princess movie. But the past two "modern" 3D princess movies (this and Tangled) have still been great and stuck to the Disney Princess feel despite being computer animated. The soundtrack is great but I love Disney soundtracks in general. I heard that Disney are planning on releasing a sing-only version of Frozen soon which I'm not surprised by. The songs are catchy and memorable. I can't help bursting into song when's I hear "For The First Time In Forever" and "Let It Go" (both versions - i like Idina Menzel's version better but Demi Lovato's version shouldn't be overlooked!) Slightly off topic but, after seeing this the second time, myself and one of my coworkers ended up running down the street after another coworker singing "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" 

But what stands out to me most is the plot. It's not your typical prince faces off bad guy to save princess that he's just met or love at first sight plot. In a way, it parodies it. The film talks more about family. There is some romance but the focus isn't on that. There is also sense of female empowerment too. Both sisters can look after themselves and the men are just in the background. Also, come on, you can't sing along to "Let It Go" (mainly the Idina Menzel's version) without feeling empowered by the end! 

So is it worth a look? Totally. Even if the story doesn't appeal to you, the music will, or the animation will. My brother has been going on about how overrated this movie is since everyone online is talking about it, but I've been telling him not to judge it. He has no right to say its overrated until he's seen the movie for himself. The third time I saw it was because a friend of mine kept seeing stuff online about it and was curious. She ended up loving it too. So go see it and judge it for yourself. I don't regret seeing it and look forward to watching it again and again in the future. 

After all, "winter is a good time to stay in and cuddle but put me in summer and I'll be a..... Happy snowman!!" :)

Top 5(ish) movies of 2013

First off, I apologise for the lateness of this list. I'm setting myself reminders now, as one of my goals for 2014 is to review more and blog more. So here we are.

I found writing up a top 5 list of last years movies too hard, so this is technically top 7 but it works for me.

5. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues 

I loved Anchorman. It was an instant classic. And it was a film I watched over and over again and I still found it funny. So on hearing about a sequel being made, I honestly was worried. Ok, it was fun having Will Ferrall turn up in character for an interview to announce the movie but the first one was so good. I didn't want it to be ruined by giving it a sequel. Ok, I know that the movie industry is stuck for movie ideas at the moment, which has lead to sequels, reboots and a ton for YA adaptations (but I will talk about that in a later editorial) but why Anchorman? There was nothing wrong with it. You don't have to change it. And I would hate for them to make the same movie again like they have done with the Hangover movies (the first hangover movie would have been put in the same catogoy as Anchorman as a comedy classic, if it weren't for the sequels!) 

Luckily however, I was pleasently surprised. Though I liked the first one better, this film was still good. It produced a lot of laughs and it wasn't just Anchorman all over again. 

If you're a fan of the first, chances are you will enjoy this too. If you haven't seen the first one, you can see this if you like, but make time at some point to watch the original!!

4. Despicable Me 2/Frozen

Because we need to have some animated movies on this list! First off, Despicable Me 2. I loved the first movie and was excited for the sequel. More of the girls and more of the minions! However, though I really enjoyed the movie, I did feel it didn't live up to my expectations. I would have liked to see more scenes with the girls. Agnes is sooooo cute! ITS SO FLUFFY!!!!! But apart from that, it was a great fun family movie. 

Frozen wasn't a film I was really interested in seeing but I saw it anyway, and I'm glad I did. So much so that I've seen in twice so far and downloaded the soundtrack! It's a stunning movie to watch, the music is good and the plot is great. I still have to publish my review on this so I don't want to go into too much detail. All I'll say is, I want it to snow so I can go and build a snowman! 

3. Now You See Me 

This is definitely the hidden gem movie of the year for me. Though there were loads of posters, I didn't actually see anything for this movie until after it was released. It's an interesting movie to watch and keeps you guessing until the end about not only the plot but how did they do some of the tricks! I totally want to see a magic show now! I don't know how they'll do a sequel to this (and to be honest, I don't want a sequel, the film was good enough on its own!) but we'll just have to wait and see. 

2. Catching Fire

Catching Fire was my favourite book in the Hunger Games trilogy and I was so excited about seeing this. And luckily, it lived up to my excitement. It was just as good as the book which is rare (normally the book is far better!). I'm looking forward to mockingjay. I don't know how they will do the two parts but we will have to watch and see. I'm just happy that Catching Fire ended the same as the book. I was just waiting for that last line! That and Tick Tock Tick Tock. Once they entered the arena, that's all I could think about. In fact, all my favourite bits of the books were included, from favourite quotes to the wedding dress :)

1. Iron Man 3/Thor: The Dark World

It's time for phase two people! Strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride!!

After the success of the Avengers, phase two had a lot to live up to. Luckily, both Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World were brilliant movies. Action-packed and fun. I loved the references to the previous movies but at the same time, you don't need to have seen The Avengers to understand what's going on. If need be, you are quickly reminded and then the film continues. We have two more phase two movies out in 2014 before Avengers 2 in 2015 and Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. Is still on air as a side along phase two project. This is massive. I just wish all the studios could come up with a compromise and we can bring the whole universe together with Spiderman and X-Men. But alas that isn't happening :( but what's happening at the moment is awesome and I can't wait to Captain America: The Winter Soldier! 

2014 Movies to Watch

There are plenty of awesome sounding movies out in 2014 (not as many as 2015, but that's a different story!) but i'm not too fussed about most of them. So a number of them aren't on this list. This is my personal must watch list for 2014 releases :)

• Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
• Last Vegas
• I, Frankenstein
• The Lego Movie
• Mr. Peabody and Sherman
• Muppets Most Wanted
• Divergent
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• The Amazing Spiderman 2
• X-Men: Days Of Future Past
• Maleficent
• Guardians Of The Galaxy
• The Expendables 3
• The Boxtrolls
• Paranormal Activity 5 
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
• The Hobbit: There And Back Again

As i've said, this is just a hand full of this years cinema releases. There are some big films i've left off this list like the reboots of Godzilla and Robocob, sequels for 300 and Sin City and movies based off best sellers like Vampire Academy and Fault In Our Stars. I may see these, i may not. But the ones in the list above, i do really wanna see, for different reasons of course (I don't actually look forward to the Paranormal Activity movies but i fancy seeing where they'll take the story next) 

And of course, as the year goes on, more movies will be announced. There might be another Resident Evil and Night At The Museum by the looks of it. 

All i can say now is, lets just enjoy the year. All the good movies and all the bad. Happy New Year

Happy 2014

I apologise for forgetting about this blog. One of my goals for the year is to get back into blogging and with two of my other goals being reading 70 books and watching 100 films I've not seen yet, i'll have plenty to review.

So, welcome back and lets see what the next year holds :)