So I'm watching the Lord of the Rings and I had this thought: what if BCMers were characters from Lord of the Rings?
I started with just the fellowship:
I try to not use names in a blog....hence the 'figure out those initials' game! :-)
Aragorn: BC - noble and humble and would totally be BA with a sword.
Gandalf: SK - our wise leader.
Legolas: JC - for his mad bow skills and his general knowledge of the woodland realm.
Boromir: I can't think of anyone. Boromir is kinda' weak until the very end (which is where it mattered most, I'll grant him that).
Sam: AG - because he's the real hero of this story and the best friend of Frodo....
Frodo: RG - because she's whiny and has to be literally carried by Sam.
Merry: LG - because he's brave and all but also loves to have fun. And because he's best friends with Pippin...
Pippin: PA - because he's brave and all but also loves to have fun. And because he's best friends with Merry. And because he would knock a skeleton down into the well and bring all the goblins running.
We have no Gimli. Try as I might, I can't think of anyone close to Gimli.
So think about it...watch the movies again. When you watch these people in the fellowship interacting with one another, think about their corresponding BCM character and you'll see what I mean. :-)
Then I start thinking all kinds of other thoughts. Like, SM and KJ would be elves (KJ would be an elf like Tauriel). HK would be Galadriel (you know she and Gandalf kind of like each other?). EJ would be a man of Gondor. CR and LS would be elven princesses. MeCo and HG would be women of the Rohirrim. In fact, Me could be Eowyn and NaCo could be her brother Theodin.
This has been fun.
Now Nyquill is taking me away before I can finish so sorry if I didn't get to someone...goodnight!
I LOVED How to Train Your Dragon 2! I mean, I thought the first one was good but I usually don't hold out much hope for sequels (you know how they usually are). However, a trip to the theater for this particular sequel was a wonderful surprise! I went with my sister and three friends - one of whom did not share my opinion about the movie. She has challenged me to write a blog post detailing why I like the movie so here goes.
#1. Humor
There were a surprisingly high number of genuinely funny moments in this movie! Roughnut supplied many of them.
I kid you not, I was laughing out loud when she would speak - she's such a goober! Thank goodness for this guy:
If it hadn't been for Eret, son of Eret, she would have provided the same lackluster humor as in the first movie. Now that we've seen this new character and had the character developments that came from his introduction to the series, we've got real laughing moments.
And not all humor came from Ruffnut - others caused me to crack up as well (Fishguts slow mo cheek jiggle, anyone?). This was just the most pronounced and the most enjoyable.
#2. Adorable moments
This movie had them. First of all, every time that Toothless and Hiccup have a moment, it's adorable. Their friendship is concrete, playful, loyal, and unique in Berk. Of course, other people have their pet dragons in Berk as well and their pets are special to them. But it's just not on the same level as Hiccup and Toothless. Hiccup and Toothless are like two halves that make a whole. Kindred spirits! (if I may borrow an Anne of Green Gables phrase)
Other adorable moments came from Hiccup and Astrid's interactions. I enjoyed Astrid's impersonation of Hiccup (so cute) and I loved that their relationship wasn't overdone - their relationship wasn't the point of the movie. It was recognized, given it's appropriate moments, and then we moved on to what the movie was actually about.
And of course, Stoic and Valka. Touching, real, and just perfect. Again - not overdone.
#3. Toothless
It has been said by some (*ahem*) that Toothless is overrated and everyone loves him. You're darn right everyone loves him - he's AWESOME! Cloudjumper is the only other dragon to come close to being as cool as Toothless but even Cloudjumper pales in comparison to Toothless. Toothless reminds me of Stitch, a cat, and a dog - all wrapped up into one totally awesome friend. He's super intelligent, curious, playful, but all business when it's necessary. He is so loyal to his friend Hiccup that he's saved Hiccup's life multiple times and Toothless does it without batting an eye.
#4 & #5. The fantasy of it...but the reality of it
And..... now we start to run into the crux of the movie review. This is a fantasy film, right? We're presented a world where dragons not only exist but are in fact a huge part of life. In this world, one can catch, train, and befriend a dragon. It will take you soaring through the clouds as you discover new lands together. It will play with you, understand you, sympathize with you, be a smart aleck to you, take you safely through battle, and will risk death for you.
I'm not going to lie - from the first moment of watching the characters (looking cool, I might add, with their face paint) actually race dragons, to one of the final moments when Toothless wraps Hiccup up in his wings to protect him from what would have been certain death, I thought, "I WANT A DRAGON!". What a cool world, right? We like it.
Supposedly, J.R.R. Tolkien (creator of the world for which once a year I will happily spend 12 consecutive hours in front of a television for, i.e., the extended edition LOTR trilogy) said,
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory."
I believe it and I like it. Reading/watching something from the fantasy genre takes us to a world in which we could not otherwise gain entrance. It's why we love fantasy!
While fantasy helps us 'escape' from the Earth we know, from the circumstance we are are bound to (like, magic is not real, dragons do not exist, you can't really time travel, we can't go visit intelligent life on other planets, etc), fantasy does not (because it cannot) help us escape the themes of reality. And it shouldn't try to.
There is no fantasy novel or movie will you find that you can escape the themes of love and loss, joy and sadness....life and death. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is no exception.
Huge spoiler coming!
Stoic dies saving his son's life.
Is this a sad moment in the film? You better believe it. I was crying big time. Was his death unnecessary? Yep. It didn't provide any kind of motivation for Hiccup he didn't already have, it didn't result in the bad guy's demise - it didn't do anything except make me regret not bringing tissues to the theater. Would I have liked Stoic to live so that he, Valka, and Hiccup could be one big, happy family for the first time in forever? Oh yes.
Just because this is a fantasy film and we've escaped from the Earth we know, that doesn't mean that we can escape from the themes of life itself. Love and loss, joy and sadness....life and death - we cannot have one without the other. Even in fantasy. IF you can give me a fantasy movie that doesn't experience these basic themes (both sides of them), I'll give you 10 that do.
"We enjoy warmth because we have been cold. We appreciate light because
we have been in darkness. By the same token, we can experience joy
because we have known sadness." (supposedly a quote from David Weatherford)
So Stoic dies. I don't like it but that doesn't mean that it ruins the movie for me. In fact, I enjoy that Dreamworks didn't try this time to make people believe that life always has a perfect ending. You can have a happy ending without it being perfect. Most of the time, Disney, Dreamworks, Pixar, etc. - they give kids (their primary audience most of the time) a perfect ending because that's what children can handle. And I understand that. I can think of exactly 10 animated movies I've seen where one of the good guys who is actually SEEN in the movie and has LINES dies FOR REAL:
1) Bambi's mother (1942)
2) Little Foot's mother (1988)
3) Mufasa (1994)
4) Tarzan's parents and Kerchak (1999)
5) Atlantis's leader - King Kashekim Nedakh (2001)
6) Koda's mother (Brother Bear - 2003)
7) Coral (Finding Nemo - 2003)
8) Ray (from Princess and the Frog - 2009).
9) Elsa and Anna's parents (2013)
10) Stoic (2014)
That's it. Ten out of hundreds. How many of these ten were given significant screen time so that they could be considered main characters? I count five.
There could be more but I certainly can't think of them. We see bad guys meet their demise in movies and there are many tales that are sad - but it's either from someone dying before the movie begins or someone comes close to dying but just happens to be able to come back to us at the last second (Gurgi, Beast, Snow White, Eugene, Aurora, Baloo, Basil, Robin Hood, Meg, etc.). Because that's what kids can handle.
As an adult, I appreciate Dreamworks for being true to the fantasy genre. They took us to a world we can't go on our own but they didn't entirely strip the very themes of life away from their story.
Now, the ending of this movie: When all looks lost, Toothless starts glowing blue, he's mega powerful, and he breaks the Alpha's hold on the other dragons. Surprising? Kind of. Okay? Yes. Here's why. Yes, it happens in movie after movie - the hero is suddenly aware of or comes into possession of powers that save the day at the last moment. It's a bit cliche.
Or is it?
In our world, adrenaline produced during moments of fear or anger can give us strength that we don't have at other times. We're given courage to do something that we wouldn't normally have been able to do. It happens. In a fantasy world, why does it not follow that during an intense moment of fear or anger, in a world were magic and the like exist, characters can discover a power that helps them overcome their situation?
I'm just saying, it's not totally cliche or out of the realm of possibilities.
To sum it all up, I loved the movie. It was a realistic fantasy and I know you're going to call that an oxymoron but I stand behind my statement. My reasons were previously stated in reasons 4 & 5.
I know that I didn't change your mind, Lexi... ;-)
But in the words of Larry the Cucumber,
"I lauged, I cried, it moved me, Bob."
And that's enough for me. :-)
Rachelle here. I break my writing hibernation for a very important topic. There have been many topics cross my mind these last few months - many things I wanted to write about and I'm sure you would have enjoyed my thoughts on those issues, but I just didn't have the time. Now though, now I'm really steamed and I'll make time.
Plus, this will be a fairly short post.
Back to what I abhor!
Evergreen trees. Pine, Spruce, Hemlock, Fir - all of them. I loathe evergreens.
Look at these trees. In this picture there is clearly a good tree and clearly a bad tree. Let's discuss this further, shall we?
#1: Evergreens are not pleasing to the eye. Not to my eye, anyway. They are ALL the exact same ugly shade that is especially hideous when the pinecones form on the end of each branch, turning the trees a burnt green color. When that's all there is to stare at for miles, it gets irritating.
#2: Evergreens are full of pitch - especially spruce. You get near a spruce tree and you discover there is pitch everywhere - it WILL get in hair, on clothes, on shoes, and on hands. I have had to cut pitch out of my hair when I was younger - a scarring occasion.
#3: Evergreens poke. They don't have leaves, they have needles. Needles POKE. Enough said.
#4: Evergreens are evergreen. They don't change. We look at that ugly shade of green 12 months out of the year. Yes, with deciduous trees we see naked branches for a few months (although those branches are sometimes graced with frost or snow and that is also beautiful). But that's what makes us appreciate when the buds come, then when the leaves unfurl, and even more so when they become a riot of colors in the fall! The change is beautiful - the evergreens don't change. It gets irritating.
#5: Evergreens are inaccessible. You can not climb an evergreen and have it be a good experience. The branches are too close together, the bark is rough, the pitch is everywhere, the needles poke you everywhere - it just can't be cheerfully done.
#6. Evergreens can have pine needles on their trunks. Stupid.
I'm sure I could go on but you get the point. I really don't like evergreens. Except for Christmas time. This totally does not include Christmas time.
Rachelle out.
