Movie Review: Frozen (2013)

Normally I don't try to do Disney movies, because everybody has seen them. However, the recent film, Frozen, has gotten everyone falling in love with Disney all over again. As for me, I have always loved Disney, despite their bad movies. But Frozen is definitely one of the best films they have done in a long time.

I love their two previous animated films, Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph. Frozen though, combines everything I loved about the two previous films, good humor, a well told story,  and great character relationships.

The film is about two sisters, Anna and Elsie. Elsie has a magical power over ice that she cannot control and hides away from the world and tries to hide her powers. An accident occurs and she loses control causing their entire kingdom to fall into an eternal winter. Anna goes to try to bring back her sister and save the kingdom.

It is based on a Norwegian story, but lightened up because Disney does that. However, I found myself caring for all the characters in this movie and enjoying every single one of them. Even the villain, which is part of a plot twist so I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it (which is probably only four of my friends), was something I loved. I haven't been surprised by a villain like this since The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Not only that, but it also has something Disney has not yet done, having a family relationship as the focus.

The music is also amazing! I know a lot of people love the song, Let it Go. I actually found myself loving For The First Time in Forever or Do You Want To Build A Snowman even more. That is a personal opinion, but I have found those as the songs that give you the best idea of the relationship between the sisters and shows how different the two are.

This movie has a romance in it, but the focus is the relationship between Anna and Elsie. That was something that made me fall in love with this movie more than anything else. Even the moment when an act of love is required is one that happens with the sisters and the guy is not involved. I loved that!

I am so thankful for seeing this film and wish I saw it earlier. I recommend this movie to everyone. Easily now one of my top 10 favorite movies.

Album Review: Dead by April's Let the World Know

Yes, I have not stopped doing this. This will be my main focus. The movies are just going to be something on the side.

Now, Dead By April's new album Let the World Know. This band has done something incredible by combining soft piano, synthesizer, and clean beautiful vocals with heavy guitars and drums and screaming making a unique sound in the world of Metalcore. Do they do the same thing, after many member changes, with there third album? The answer is, Yes!

Unlike other bands, the changes in members hasn't hurt the band at all. The chemistry is still there and they are going strong. These songs are both beautiful and heavy hitting at the same time. It does slow down a little towards the end though. This is one I would recommend to not only metal lovers, but also to teeny pop kids who are interested in other genres. This makes a good transition for doing something like that. My verdict is a 9/10! Check this one out!

Songs I recommend: As A Butterfly, Done with Broken Hearts
Song I didn't care for: Replace you

Movie Review: The Swan Princess (1994)

So, I was on Netflix, looking for something to do, and I stumbled upon this film, The Swan Princess. Developed by Nest Productions (my LDS audience would know this as the company behind Living Scriptures). This was the full length movie they did, or at least to hit the theaters.

I've checked some sites for the average rating. Audiences thought it was okay, critics thought it was very "eh." My opinion... It is better than most recent children movies, but not enough to sit down and watch it myself more than once. I will watch it with kids when they want to watch it.

The story is, two neighboring kingdoms have the idea to bring the two together through the marriage of a prince and princess. When the two are younger and growing up, they don't get along, then start to fall in love. Things go wrong when the prince says something without thinking (typical guy thing to do) and then she gets kidnapped and imprisoned by a curse and a sorcerer out to achieve her fathers kingdom through marriage. So, the prince must rescue her and break her curse before it is too late.

The Positive- It doesn't talk down to the audience, which is a huge pet-peeve of mine with children's movies. You need to talk at children, not down to them. That is a big problem with some movies, but this doesn't. It has also aged pretty well. The voice casting was well done. Without any major actors for the most part, you see more of the characters and not the actors. There also aren't any plot holes either. It is also a romance you can believe. Plus, the animation has aged pretty well.

The Negative- It makes a plot turn that makes no sense and the villain is probably one of the weakest have ever seen. He is one dimensional, has a very bad plan, and he has a ridiculous song, that is probably the weakest song in the movie. It does have subtle moment of LDS/Mormon doctrine, which can turn off some people who aren't members of the Church.

Final Thoughts- This is a movie for children and a better one than others. I am not looking at this movie through nostalgia lenses. If you want a wholesome film for your younger kids, I would recommend this one. For an older audience, there are better animated films for them.

Movie Review: Apollo 18

Yup, I am reviewing an indie film. Now indie films can be good, but the majority of them are either really bad, or hilariously bad.

Apollo 18 is about a top secret mission to the moon and due to what happens on it, the record was removed, the government made up a fake story to say how the people involved died when in reality, they discovered life on the moon and it killed them.

That is pretty much the summary of the movie, so I just saved you an hour and a half of your time. I was expecting it to be like other bad horror films (so bad I can laugh at it). However, this movie was boring! I didn't even get a jump scare out of this. It tried though, but it suffers from two things; a stupid concept and a bad alien design.

As far as the camera shooting goes, that was probably the best part of it, and the acting wasn't too bad. It seems believable that they were actually astronauts, but too much bad overshadows that. The concept is... wait for it... The aliens are space rocks. SPACE ROCKS??? Do I even have to explain how stupid that is?
Not only that, but if you look closely enough at the aliens, they look like the crabs you would see in A game made by Nintendo (Metriod or Legend of Zelda maybe). It's just embarrassing! It is hard to believe someone thought this was scary.

This one, I can't recommend to anyone and watch it at your own risk.

Movie Review: The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

I did not plan another movie based from the Baroque period, I swear. This was another request.

I'm sure a lot of people know the story of The Count of Monte Cristo. A man who was falsely charged with treason is locked away for 13 years and plans that time, plus another 3 years in preparation, to get revenge on others. It is a deep story on revenge and the consequences of seeking revenge. I haven't read much of the book myself, but it is something a lot of people love. But how did the movie do in my eyes?
For starters, the casting was done well. The actors fit the roles very well. That is something I liked about the movie. The problem I have with it is the second half of the movie. Isn't it supposed to teach how bad revenge is? Then why does he get the woman he loves, his son he just met, and all his wealth in the end? (spoiler alert!) Is that how the book ends? It's not a very believable ending. I was expecting something to teach me how revenge is a bad thing and that you loose what is most important in order to achieve it. There was a Simpson's parody of this story that did that! This movie didn't do that for me. Also some moments of dialogue that should have been serious, but ended up being laughable. That is poor pacing. I enjoyed the first half and was really into the story, but the second half was a fast fall that made me dislike the movie greatly.
I know a lot of people like this movie (my wife is one of them) and that is fine, I don't think any less of people who do. This isn't one of those movies that is terrible beyond all belief (I'll get to those, just wait.) But on a personal level, I didn't like it. I'm thankful I saw it, but I won't be watching it again anytime soon.

Movie Review: The Phantom of the Opera

So this is my first movie review on the blog and I must say, I am excited to be doing it. It will mean I will be able to post more often than I have been. Don't worry, I'll still do album and music reviews, I will be doing this as well. It is actually easier. I will be giving a different analysis for a movie though, not a number rating.

Now for the review. The Phantom of the Opera (2004) is a film adaptation of the famous Broadway show that still is Broadway's oldest living play. Directed by Joel Shumacher, who is known best for what he did to the Batman character with Batman and Robin (that is a review for another time.) and this was a project he did after that movie. Now audiences enjoyed the movie, but it was hated by critics. Where do I stand on this spectrum? Eh, somewhere in the middle. I think it didn't do enough to really adapt into a film and it had too much music in areas where dialogue or even just silence could have made the scene better, but the places where the music works it works really well. Another problem lies with some of the choreographed scene have jumps in between them and you can't even enjoy all the effort the actors and dancers did. The best part of it was the casting however. Gerald Butler really caught me off guard with his performance as the Phantom. Everyone else did a well enough job and fulfilled the role as well. The portrayal is probably the weakest part of the movie. At times I either felt chemistry between characters and sometimes I didn't. It confused my emotions almost as much as a Tyler Perry movie does. Final thoughts? I would label it a guilty pleasure. Personally I don't like Operas, but I found myself enjoy some parts and hating others. If you liked all of it or hated all of it, that is fine. If you want to see it yourself I won't stop you, but if you want a recommendation from me, it wouldn't be this one.

Album Review: Nine Lashes- From Water to War

Nine Lashes is a somewhat new Christian Rock band with their first album release in 2009. From Water to War is the band's third album release to date, and how is it compared to some of the albums from last year? Very well actually. I listened to this album multiple times and every song is different. What separates it from their last album, World We View, they added more piano and synthesizer to most of their songs, but kept the heavy sound they gave us previously. Take note Linkin Park and Fall Out Boy, this is how you add digital sounds and keep your original sound at the same time. Yes, it is possible! Lyrically, it is beautiful, but in one or two songs it can be a little too preachy. That will turn off those who are not religious or atheist. You can really tell there is effort in the rest of the band. The vocalist really shines in this album as well as the guitarists. Drum work and bass is equally great and gets your adrenaline going. This is the right way to start the new year and I am looking forward to more coming out. My verdict is a 9/10!! I recommend this album to those looking for good Christian Rock outside of bands like Red, Skillet, and Thousand Foot Krutch. Nine Lashes deserves a place among other great Christian bands and I will recommend them to anyone looking for something new.