Frozen Favorites

(Source)

Yesterday, Frozen hit the $1 billion box office mark. It's officially the 18th highest grossing film of all time. Which is pretty awesome, if you ask me.

If you know me in real life, it's no secret that Disney's Frozen is one of my favorite movies ever. With gorgeous landscapes, a beautiful score, and an unbeatable sisterly duo, it really doesn't get much better. Well, unless there was one thing they talked about some more… In honor of Frozen's awesome box office victory, here's ten things I loved about Frozen, and one thing I did not.

Girl power

(Source)

I don't like to use the term feminist because of the negative connotations, but I like to think of myself as…a feminist with a different definition of feminism. As my own brand of feminist, I highly approve of this movie. I think it's a really realistic portrayal of girls, and that's something that's missing in far too many films today. Both Anna and Elsa are real, relatable human beings that both boys and girls can empathize with and root for. They're funny, spunky, shy, sweet, courageous, and kind, virtues that everyone should strive for. Although they do make mistakes, they rise above them and never give up. Anna and Elsa are some of only a few female animated characters in films that are given actual personalities, and I thank the writers for that.

Idina Menzel
Dude. Idina Menzel rocks. Her voice is absolutely incredible. I get goosebumps almost every time I listen to "Let It Go". She deserves all the praise she has been getting for this movie, and I'm so glad she was cast as Elsa.

A different kind of damsel in distress

While I'm not against getting rescued by a handsome prince, it's nice to see two different damsels in distress, and how they both respond to it. Especially since there's no handsome prince to swoop in and save the day. (Although there is a rough-and-tumble ice-obsessed guy and a hilarious talking snowman who can help.) Elsa burrows away in her ice castle and decides to embrace who she truly is instead of being afraid of herself, and Anna takes matters into her own hands by setting out on a quest to rescue her sister from herself.

True true love
I love that the true love featured in Frozen is sisterly love. For once, a film focuses not on a romantic plot, but on a bond between sisters that is tested, but doesn't break. As Olaf says, true love is being willing to do anything for the good of the other person. Even the romantic subplot in Frozen works by this definition of love.

Sven
Sven is awesome. He's not your average talking Disney animal, or even your average silent-but-expressive Disney animal (see: Maximus from Tangled). He has no voice unless Kristoff, his friend-owner person, gives him one. In the end, Sven helps convince Kristoff to do what needs to be done to save his friends.

The music



This is probably reason #1. The music of Frozen is absolutely beautiful, breathtaking, inspiring, and also…foreshadow-y and tricksy. (If you've seen the movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about.) Gorgeous vocals and simple, meaningful lyrics contribute to the magic that is music.

Kristanna

(Source)

I'll admit it. Kristanna is my OTP at the moment. They're just way too adorable. Look at them. So stink in' cute.

The morning face

This circles back to the "girl power" part at the beginning. I love realistic portrayals of female characters. You can't get much more realistic than this.

The plot twist
I can't spoil it for those unfortunate few who have yet to watch Frozen. I actually did predict this plot twist, but judging by the gasps and shouts of anger in the theaters I watched the film in, most people did not. The plot twist is absolutely brilliant and perfectly works with Frozen's definition of true love.

Olaf's one-liners

(Source)

When I first saw trailers for Frozen, I thought it was a rip-off of Tangled, and I thought the talking snowman was the dumb comic relief. Boy, was I wrong. Frozen is so much better than Tangled, and the talking snowman is absolutely hilarious. Apparently Josh Gad (voice actor for Olaf) improvised a lot of his lines while recording, and the director liked them so much he kept them in. Olaf's humor constantly keeps the audience wondering "what will that snowman say next?". And it's always hilarious.

One thing I did not like about Frozen - What about Kristoff?

(Source)

At the beginning of the film, adorable baby Kristoff and Sven are…riding through the forest alone…after being separated from their icy friends….maybe? I'm not actually sure, because the movie never says. And then….a troll just adopts them? And they live with trolls forever? Why isn't Kristoff opposed to being raised by rocks? Does Kristoff not have any parents? If he does, aren't they looking for him? If he doesn't, then what was he doing with the ice people? How did trolls become love experts?

Mainly, why does he have a terribly mysterious and tantalizing backstory that is never.ever.explained?

Dear Disney: Instead of a Frozen 2, I want a prequel about Kristoff and the trolls. Congrats on the billion dollars. Sincerely, Me.

And the Oscar goes to...

Yesterday marked the 86th Academy Awards. I personally think this was one of the most entertaining and fun Oscars ceremony to date, mostly in thanks to Ellen hosting. Her humor is just so silly, and so simple, and it worked perfectly. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of Ellen hosting the Academy Awards just yet. That selfie that broke Twitter? And Brad Pitt passing out paper plates so Ellen can hand out pizza? I'm not really sure how next year can top that.

Other favorite Oscar moments:

Pharrell Williams performing his Oscar-nominated song "Happy" from Despicable Me 2…

Lupita Nyong'o's sweet acceptance speech…

John Travolta awkwardly mispronouncing Idina Menzel's name…

The adorable and rhyming acceptance speech from the songwriters of Frozen…

And last but definitely not least, Matthew McConaughey's awesome acceptance of Best Actor.

Here at my house, we hosted an Oscars viewing party, and everyone brought food based on a 2013 movie. There was Irish popcorn for Philomena, guacamole for Despicable Me 2, mini powdered donuts for Frozen, and mini pancakes for World War Z, just to name a few. We also had Oscars ballots for predictions, and I came in with 16 out of 24 correct.

Last year I predicted 12 out of 24 correctly, so I'm only going up! And, in case you couldn't tell, I actually had correctly predicted Production Design and Sound Editing, but then second guessed myself and picked something else instead. Sigh.

All in all, the Oscars this year was actually really fun. Towards the end, the pacing stated to get pretty slow (they should not have put the Wizard of Oz tribute and the Bette Midler song so close together…way too slow), but overall it was really entertaining to watch. And now there's one more Best Picture winner for me to add to the Oscar Challenge...

Web Series Wednesday: Video Game High School

(Source)

I've known about Video Game High School for awhile (it's only one of the most well-known web series of all time), but I decided to start watching it last week. I ended up finishing the whole first season in three days, and I'm currently knee-deep in season two. VGHS is definitely one of my favorite web series, second only to the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. It's smart, hilarious, and action-packed.

VGHS takes place in a different version of our world, where video games are actually really cool and not nerdy at all. In fact, professional gaming is a viable and respected career option. There's even a high school dedicated specifically to training young people for a gaming career. Brian D, a geeky FPS (first person shooter) player, accidentally defeats the only undefeated gamer in the world, and ends up getting an invitation to attend VGHS. There, he meets rhythm gamers, fighters, drift racers, and strange teachers (including one drawling Southern teacher played by the one and only Zachary Levi). The series follows his adventures as he tries to get onto the JV FPS team.

VGHS is so clever, and it's perfectly executed. For a fairly low-budget web series, the special effects are incredibly impressive. They're better than a lot of popular TV shows on air right now (like Once Upon A Time….their CGI is so sad to see). Instead of sitting and watch a bunch of people on computers playing vide games, VGHS puts the character inside the game. You can watch Brian D garbed in camo carrying grenades wandering around the desert FPS game map, or watch JV captain JennyMatrix peer down the barrel of a sniper rifle at her target. Players "die" in a shower of colored pixels.

The cast of supporting characters is so diverse and talented. Brian D's roommate and RA, Todd, is an awkward outgoing rhythm gamer. Todd's girlfriend, Ki Swan, is a math nerd who wants to design games. JV team captain JennyMatrix is smart and the picture of cool on the battlefield. Brian D's arch nemesis, the Law, is a character you love to hate. Seriously. I can honestly say there has never been a character I have despised more than the Law. All of these characters are so real and so three dimensional, it's hard to not get attached to them.

This show is just so funny. VGHS definitely embraces the cheesiness of some of their show and pokes fun at it. You don't have to know much about video games to get the jokes (believe me, I don't know much about video games, and this show is hilarious). It's just a really entertaining series. The first season can be found here, as well as on Netflix. I highly recommend it, and I think people of all ages will enjoy it. You can watch the trailer below:

Argo (the book, not the movie)

(Source)

As a rule, I do not enjoy reading non-fiction (with a few exceptions). Argo was a strange case. I have tried to start reading this book two or three times, but always put it down, bored by too many details about minor characters' lives. However, this past week, I was snowed in without any other entertainment, and so decided to give Argo a proper chance. 

The subtitle says it all. Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History takes place in Iran, 1979. Iranian militants storm the U.S. embassy and take all American workers hostage. Six Americans manage to escape from the consulate next door and take shelter at the Canadian embassy. However, militants are combing the city, killing or taking hostage any Americans they find. CIA chief of disguise Antonio Mendez comes up with the plan to disguise the hidden Americans as a Hollywood location scouting crew to sneak them out of the country.

The first half of the book I found slow and boring. There was a lot of set up (way too much set up), which included a history lesson which was informative but way too long. Also, whenever a new character was introduced, the book went into a side tangent about said character's past, which usually lasted for a page or two. The character would end up having little or no importance to the events that play out during the course of the book. The many names and backstories faded together, and made the first half of the book both confusing and slow-paced.

However, once the author starts describing his own escapades as an exfiltration specialist (getting people out of their country usually through the means of clever disguises), the book starts picking up. Once his risky plan of disguising six untrained American diplomats as Hollywood business people is put into action, the book is hard to put down. The different methods of disguises used by the CIA at that time is really interesting to read about, and the account of the escape of the fugitive Americans is intense and fast-paced. When Argo stops introducing numerous side characters, it starts getting really, really good. I probably wouldn't read this book again, but I am glad that I read it. I learned a lot about the American hostage situation in Iran, something I knew almost nothing about previously, and I also found the author's exfiltration methods really interesting to read about. If you pick up this book, brave through the first half of the book…it gets a lot better.

The Monuments Men

(Source)

The Monuments Men is a fun, mostly light-hearted film with an amazing cast and a decent story. The film follows a special team of soldiers during World War II who are assigned to keep the world's greatest monuments (mostly art, really) safe from Nazi occupation.

If you look at The Monuments Men as a historical Ocean's Eleven, it doesn't work. This film is completely different, but in a good way. It starts out right in the middle of the action, with the special team being put together and going through basic training within the first ten minutes. The entire movie moves at a fast pace, grabbing your attention with every scene. It's a perfect blend of comedy, action, and tragedy to keep everyone interested. 

A couple things that I really loved about this film (there are a lot more than just this, though): 1. Catholics are treated with respect. A lot of art that the Monuments Men have to save are in churches. Priests and religious are found throughout the film, and they are neither lifted up nor put down, they're simply part of the story. That's exactly how it should be, in my humble opinion. And 2. The value of family and fidelity is a strong theme. There's a really touching scene where Lieutenant Campbell's family sends him a recording of them singing a Christmas song, and he immediately stops what he's doing to listen, while the other men help him play it. The soldiers' families play a big part in their lives, and I appreciated that they let it shine through so many scenes.

The cast is the best part of this movie. There's so many big names here, and they each pull off their roles perfectly. I especially loved Jean Dujardin as cocky yet incompetent Jean Claude, and Bill Murray as the cynical Lieutenant Campbell. The entire ensemble is great together and you can tell they're all friends. If you're looking for a fun, snarky, fast-paced film with a great cast of characters, look no further! The Monuments Men delivers.

Web Series Wednesday: I Didn't Write This

This is a newly discovered web series for me. There are currently only two episodes, but they're so beautiful I had to share. Each episode is a visual metaphor for a poem or literary excerpt. Both episodes so far are beautifully shot, and both star the lovely Mary Kate Wiles of Lizzie Bennet Diaries fame (she sent me a message once on Tumblr, and is an all-around lovely person). I definitely recommend checking this one out! The episodes are short and sweet, and are a great way to learn about some new authors and poets. Enjoy!

Oscar Challenge: The Artist

(I challenged myself to watch every single Best Picture winning movie at the Oscars. So far, I'm at ten out of eighty-five films, which is extremely embarrassing. I'll get there. I'll get there.)

Recently, I watched The Artist, the Best Picture winner of 2011. I definitely enjoyed this film. It's absolutely adorable, and also absolutely heartbreaking. The story starts off fast-paced and cheery, but quickly spirals into the sad story of a man who believes he is worth absolutely nothing. The only silent films I have ever seen have all been happy, lol-inducing stories. Not this one.

George Valentin was a huge silent film star, before the talkies put him out of business. George finds himself jobless and completely forgotten by Hollywood and his former fans. His protege, Peppy Miller, steps on him to make her way to fame and fortune through the talkies. George sinks into depression. Watching his downward spiral is really hard. The acting is phenomenal (I can see why he won Best Actor now).

Honestly, the first half hour of the movie was kind of slow. I might have just been "warming up" to the silent film style of filmmaking, but also, it's mostly a lot of set up. George Valentin is famous - yes, we get it. As soon as George's boss shows him talkies, the film starts to get more interesting. George starts to realize that no one really cared about him, that he was just a passing fad. He pushes away the only people who truly did care for him. As his life fall apart bit by bit, I was completely sucked into the story, and no longer noticed that no one spoke.

Although this isn't one of my favorite films, it is extremely well-made, and extremely well-acted. I would watch it again just for Jean Valjean's performance as George Valentin. I think that The Artist is a perfect example of how filmmaking and acting is meant to be-performances so strong that you can convey emotions, feelings, and character depth without speaking a single word.

Check out the trailer (which doesn't give justice to the film, I don't think) below!