Arlo and Spot Leave an Imprint in Our Hearts

The Good Dinosaur Review

Credit: Pixar

What if the asteroid never hit Earth, what if dinosaurs reined supreme, and life as we knew it was completely different? In this charming but at some times strange film that is exactly what happens. The Good Dinosaur, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures explores the themes of family, loss, and love.

The film is slow to start, depicting two Apatosaurus protagonists as farmers. They are waiting for their eggs to hatch and the scenes of the babies hatching are humorous. The baby Apatosaurus named Buck grabs a stick and hits the egg of Arlo, trying to break it open. The father, Henry, scolds Buck and then they watch as the egg hatches. Out comes a diminutive Apatosaurus, smaller than even Libby, the female baby.

After the initial scene, the movie shows the baby Apatosauruses now grown tending a field. They are helping their parents water the crops, gather them and put them in the silo for storage. While Buck and Libby do not appear to have any trouble with their chores, Arlo, has trouble with his task. He is instructed every day to feed their chickens. However, Arlo is deathly afraid of the livestock and runs away screaming any time they get near him. He is often made fun of for his cowardice and his father notices this. He takes him away, telling him he can make his mark by doing a certain task. In the movie, making his mark means that Arlo can put his footprint on the silo, thus proving that he is worthy of taking care of the farm and himself. By this point in the movie, both Buck and Libby have already made their marks along with the parents. Arlo feels inadequate and jumps at the chance to be able to make his mark.

The task that is given to Arlo is to catch the critter that has been stealing their food. His father shows him how to make a trap, how to use it, and how to kill the critter with a large stick. His father then leaves him. Arlo paces back and forth often talking to himself cockily as he waits. Suddenly the trap begins to wiggle back and forth, having caught the critter. Arlo cautiously walks up to the trap, frightened by what could have been possibly caught. Inside is a small caveboy. He growls and attempts to get out of the trap, hitting it with his body full force. Arlo attempts to kill it but becomes frightened when it hisses at him. He frees the critter and it runs off into the distance. Arlo’s father sees the critter running off and scowls, telling Arlo that he had one job to do. He is disappointed but makes him go after the creature.

The two of them travel through torrential rain that only becomes worse the longer they traverse through it. Arlo has a hard time keeping up and tells his father to slow down. His father tells him to move faster and keeps plowing forward. Arlo stumbles then, falling down and hurting his knee. His father goes over to him and tells him that it’s OK they can go back. They are about to head back when a large wave of water comes flowing toward them. His father saves him but with a price. His life.

There are two problems with the beginning of this movie. The first one is that it is extremely slow to start. I myself felt a little bored and wondered where the movie was going. The second one being that I thought it was a little strange how the dinosaurs acted like humans and had their own culture. It seemed a bit far-fetched to believe that dinosaurs would be superior to humans. I thought the movie really kicked off when the pterodactyls appeared after the storm. Before that point I thought the movie had no direction or storyline to speak of. It felt like the interactions with the caveboy, Spot, and Arlo could have been shortened. Prior to the pterodactyls appearance, there were no villains to speak of and the movie did not seem to have a purpose. Once the pterodactyls appeared though, the story appeared to kick off. They added a danger that gave direction to the movie. They were both funny and charming despite being villains. The humor in the movie really shined through and I found myself laughing along with the audience.

I am giving this film a 3 out of 5 because of the slow start and because of the incontinences within the movie. Dinosaurs did not live with humans and the caveman was not as dumb as they portrayed him. The incontinences could give children the wrong idea about how the world works and how dinosaurs existed. While it was a cute and engaging movie, it had its problems like everything else. I do recommend seeing it though. I warn you though, be prepared to have to muddle through the beginning.

See Minions for a Laugh

Source: http://www.moviesonline.ca


“Minions” a movie created by Illumination Entertainment for Universal Pictures is full of laughs, diabolical moments and softhearted protagonists.  From the beginning to the end, I couldn’t stop smiling and cheering for the minions to find their master. There was not a dull moment in the movie, which is impressive, considering movies have lulls from time to time.

The story is a prequel to “Despicable Me” and focuses on Dr. Gru’s henchmen. The three protagonists are: Kevin, Stuart and Bob. They are creatures known as Minions and have lived since the beginning of time. The beginning scene is quite comical. The Minions, which are large in number, are searching for a master to serve.  A narrator dominates the first part of the movie, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. The narrator begins by saying that finding a master isn’t the hard part, the hard part is keeping one. The Minions can be seen following their master, a T-Rex, smiling and laughing as they prance around with their master. However, tragedy soon strikes. The T-Rex is put into a perilous situation where it is teetering on a boulder. The boulder is quickly rolling the T-Rex down a hill, where a volcano is nestled. The T-Rex manages to stop the boulder at the last second, but a Minion has somehow gotten underneath it. The minion bumps its head on the boulder and the T-Rex cries out as it is thrown into the volcano. The Minions cry, lamenting the loss of their master. Along with this master, there is a very comical scene dealing with a vampire. He is their new master and to celebrate his birthday the Minions bring a cake and open the blinds. However, the sunlight burns the vampire alive and there ends the Minions other master.

Source: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk

This movie will make you burst out laughing from its wit and comical scenes. There is one scene in particular that is my favorite. It is when the Minions, Kevin, Stuart and Bob are trying to get to Orlando. They heard that Villian-Con, a convention for the dastardly, is taking place there and that’s where they think they will find their new master. The Minions are hitchhiking, but no one seems to be pulling over, when suddenly a car stops. The door opens and two “friendly” people say, “Look these fellows are looking to go to Orlando as well!” The Minions are then put inside the car and are whisked off to Orlando. The car consists of two children and their parents. The family eventually stops the car and the dad says, “Does anyone want to stretch their legs?” The family then all put on ski masks and take out guns. They leave the car and return with a sack full of money. As the family flees the scene, police cars are chasing after them. The family eventually gets away and makes it to Villain-Con.

The movie is filled with a myriad of scenes that will make you laugh hysterically. The movie also has a “Despicable Me” feel to it. This movie takes “Despicable Me” and improves it.  The humor is the same, only a little more over the top and the characters stay true to themselves. I give this movie a 5 out of 5 because it really pulls you into the story. Near the middle you’re cheering the Minions on and hoping they succeed in the end. Adults and children will both love “Minions”. This movie is well worth seeing and I recommend it to everyone who loves a good comedy and cartoons.

Source: http://www.moviepilot.de

Inside Out Will Bring You To Tears

Credit: Pixar

“Inside Out” is a movie that will not only make you marvel at its depth, but also bring tears to your eyes. The movie’s protagonist is an eleven-year-old girl named Riley. The movie doesn’t focus on her as much as it does the personality traits inside of her head.  These characters have a lot of unique characteristics to them. Joy, a happy go lucky personality, is in charge of Riley most of the time. There are other personality traits, however, such as: Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness. These personality traits don’t play as big of a role in Riley’s life as Joy does, but they are all vital to her as a person.

Riley’s life is turned upside down when she moves from her beloved Minnesota to San Francisco. Joy tries to make her see the positive side of this bleak situation. She manages to make her feel happier, but then the unthinkable happens. Joy is separated from Riley along with Sadness. With these two personality traits gone, Anger, Disgust, and Fear are left in charge of Riley. They try to keep a semblance of normalcy with Riley, but they fail miserably. Without Joy, Riley can never be happy again. Sadness doesn’t seem to be missed as much, but she plays a vital role later on in the movie.
This movie, like many other animated cartoons, has a deeper plot than originally advertised. I believe it is more of a grown-up film, than a children’s film. There are too many adult themes that a child would not understand. I’m not sure a child would enjoy the movie as much as an older child or adult. I personally loved the movie, because it was beautifully animated, emotional and focused on abstract themes.

Imagine moving to a place you’ve never been to and you’re expected to pretend everything is the same as your old home. It can’t be feasibly done, because everyone will rebel against the new place in some way.

The movie focuses on core memories, memories that cannot be forgotten and islands. These islands are like the fundamental parts that make us who we are. For example, Riley’s islands consist of: Family, Friendship, Honesty, Hockey and many more. This can be related to, because we all have metaphorically speaking, islands that make us who we are.

There are some comical events in the movie such as when a memory of a gum commercial is played in Riley’s head over and over again. Anger gets mad and says, “Not this again!” It’s funny because we can all relate to something that keeps popping up in our minds time and time again, be it a commercial or an event. Another comical part of the movie is when it changes from Riley’s mind to her mom and dad’s. The mom’s personality traits are all wearing glasses like the mom is wearing. They look like Riley’s personality traits only older. The scene depicts the mom trying to get the dad’s attention, when she notices Riley is acting strange. The movie goes into the dad’s head then and the personality traits are all wearing mustaches like the dad’s. The funny part is the dad is imagining a sports game and is not even paying any attention to the situation at hand. The dad looks at the mom confused and she is seething inside. Her personality traits say in an annoyed voice, “We should have gone with the other guy.” It then pans to a handsome man with flowing dark brown hair.
The movie makes it a point to emphasize that Joy is not the only important personality trait in Riley’s head. Sadness plays a big role in Riley’s life, because without Sadness, Joy would never have been able to be a part of Riley’s life again.

“Inside Out” will mostly make you feel sad, but there will be a myriad of emotions that will go through your head as you watch this film. I give it a 5 out of 5 because its plot and comical moments will truly resonate with memories old and new.