The Incredibles is Incredible

One of my favorite movies is The Incredibles, which just happened to be on twice this past weekend! I know it's intended to be a "family film," but the more I watch it now the more I like it. I personally think it's phenominal for a variety of different things. First off, the animation itself is awesome. All of the different settings, characters, super powers, villians, etc are unbelievably created by computers. Not only is this film fun to watch, I find the plot to be very ingenious. Some may say it's cheesy, I find it to be very entertaining. Every day life + superpowers= problems. duh. This kind of reminds me of Harry Potter in a way now that I think about it. The witches and wizards in that series isn't allowed to use magic around muggles, just like the Incrdibles aren't allowed to use their powers once they're banned from being superheros. And in both cases they are put in situations where they must use their powers to defeat evil and save themselves. So amazing. I love this movie because of it's sweet visuals and because of the exciting, rivoting, and exhilirating plot, and also because they have some pretty sweet super powers. It's up for debate but I would say if i could have any superpower i'd want to have Dash's.. Who wouldn't love to be able to run without basically being seen? Which character's superpower would you like to have? Mr. Incredible's strength? Elastagirl's elasticity? Dash's speed? Violet's forcefield? JackJack's ability to start on fire? or Iceman's ice making ability? So many options!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BatbZ8eztQE

Too Many Groundhog Days..

I have always loved romantic comedies and knew I would like watching Bring it Up Baby and Groundhog Day in class, and don't get me wrong I did, but I did realize that romantic comedies aren't that great. I'v always been a fan of the light-heartedness, the fluffy plot, the expected ending, and the anticipation that leads up to the two main characters getting together. However, sitting through Groundhog Day I found myself being very bored. From the get-go it was obvious that Phil and Rita were going to get together, and after about the sixth Groundhog Day it just got stupid. The concept of the film is very creative, and I understand why it's enjoyable, but when looking at it with a critical eye it gets old very fast. That doesn't mean I didn't like it, I just realized that I have a much more keen eye for films these days. I will always enjoy romantic comedies, but now that I know what a "good" film is, they've kind of dropped on my list of must-sees.

Go Wildcats!

As everyone knows High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released last Friday; and as inticipated it is a box office hit.



Although I haven't had time to spend $15 to watch America's favorite high school heart-throbs trump around belting out songs of love sickness at basketball games, I still have an opinion. I will be the first to admit: I LOVE TROY! I am, and always will be a HSM fan. I know almost all the words to every song and even took the time to learn some of the dances from the previous movies. I downloaded the current movie's soundtrack only a few days ago and find myself looping the songs through my brain as if my iPod is permanently stuck in my ears and on repeat. Enough about my obsession with the music...

The films themselves: from a teenagers perspective: AMAZING! If only EHS stood for Edina High School.. but from a teenager posing as a film critic: they're fun, entertaining, but a bit cheesy. It's very easy for these films to appeal to so many people: every girl between the ages of 10 and who knows wants to be Gabriella, Sharpey is the girl you love to hate, and the boys all offer their own unique personality. The songs are catchy, the dances are flashy, but it's all fake. Last time I checked no one pours their hearts out to the school while standing on a table in the lunch room (HSM 1) (unless maybe you go to a performing arts school?), no one gets to work with ALL of their friends at a country club in the summer (HSM 2), and no one stops in the middle of a basketball game to belt out a few longing lyrics to a loved one in the stands (HSM 3). All of this is cute and exciting on screen, but when taking a step back it's just too fake. HSM takes stereotypes of different high school groups and attempts to put them into one cohesive unit, who just happen to become bffs over night. I wish that were the case in a typical high school environment but it's just not so. Although the plot, characters, songs, and dances go way over the top, I just can't help but love it. Does HSM have the potential to be this generations "Grease?" I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but in the meantime: GO WILDCATS!

Citizen Kane

What's the big deal with Citizen Kane? Maybe I missed the mark or am just not educated enough in the art of film, but I don't understand why Citizen Kane is "one of the greatest films to date" according to critics. I understand that "Rosebud" ends up being a big twist and Kane's life is explained (arguably) becaues of that one word, but a sled? Seriously Welles? My opinion on "Rosebud" is that it makes the movie very cheesy. It could've been "tulip" or "tiger lily," which would've made it even worse, but I feel like the ending was just a cop-out. Although the storyline is fairly two-dimensional, with flashbacks and montages and other unique ways of telling it, the ending just seems so flat. There is no big excitement or climax leading up to it. Kane gets abruptly taken away from his childhood, goes power-crazy, has an affair, blows his political career, forces his wife to flaunt her crappy operatic talents, his second wife leaves, and he dies saying "Rosebud." Is it really that exciting or original? I'm not saying the film completely sucked but it just seems so stupid. What person in their right mind would want to watch a movie that ends with a childhood sled as the thing that ties everything together? I need some excitement, maybe a bit of violence even. I'm in no way completely bashing the work Welles pulled off but could someone please explain to me why Citizen Kane is so amazing? Unfortunately "rosebud" wilted in my opinion.

Something Related to Film..

Why are films now called movies? The name "film" makes complete logical sense, but movies? Are films better than movies? Is there a difference? Does it even matter? I couldn't deciper the difference between the two, or could I? The last movie I saw was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on ABC Family, or was it a film? It was very good, although it left me craving a room full of everything candy. I wonder if Willy Wonka had a lot of cavities. The movie overall was very well done. And so was the film. Wait.. What?
I guess one could say I'm not that much of a film buff. I tend to give in to the media pressures and waste my babysitting money on the big Hollywood Boxoffice hits (or misses in many cases). Comedies and some action films are my genres of choice, many which have been made in this decade. I don't venture off into the "classics" and would have to be paid a million dollars to see any sort of horror film. One could say my film taste is narrow, but oh well.