Brave

Awe Scotland... what a dream place this is.  A country where renaissance lovers and transvestites can live together in perfect harmony.  All you need is a bunch of plaid sheets, woven together by a bunch of old people with love, and food made out of sheep's stomach.  This Scottish tale follows the story of princess Merida, who by law, must find a suitable lad from one of the neighboring clans to make her hubby.  Obviously Merida says "screw this" and fights to follow her own path by any means necessary, which has both negative and positive consequences... like eating a piece of pizza that fell on the floor of a soup kitchen.  While Merida's own drama is going on, her whole family is being randomly hunted by a bear the size of a Mormon-owned mini-van, and much like what Scottish men wear under their kilts, it's a huge mystery.

The Good:
In the middle of High School I had the pleasure of going to Scotland, and when I arrived it was to my great happiness that almost EVERYONE was a red-head, and not a soul in sight!  Finally! A country where my skin isn't too white, where I can wear a manly skirt without persecution, and my hair doesn't stick out like a big toe that was once smashed by my older brother in attempt to kill a rat... I digress.  Scotland was a wonderful place for me, and this movie was a reminder of the good times I had.  Even though it's a animated flick, you have to hand it to the people at PIXAR for how beautiful they made it look.  Not only was the hair awesome and red, but the landscapes were breathtaking, and the music topped it off like a bowl of ice-cream after a good meal.  Much like the "Secret World of Arrietty", the story-line here is very simple, and is probably the reason why they didn't explain much in the trailer, because then they would have screwed the movie for everyone else.  the simplicity of the story worked very well, and because it was basic you didn't feel like you HAD to pay attention to what was going on all the time, so people like me can have ADHD moments looking at the landscapes and listening to bagpipe music... like a boss!

The Bad:

I couldn't find anything bad with this movie, except for Princess Merida's AWESOME bad hair day!  My personal opinion is that her hair was awesome to boot, but honestly, hasn't she every heard of Herbal Essences?  Her hair is so out of control that you would think she just broke out of a straight jacket and escaped a loony-bin.  I wonder what haircut she requests from the ladies at great-clips?  "Give me the 'broken down drunk' look, and I want you to emphasize the Broken down part".

The Ugly:
This is a great family film that kids will love because of the "What's under the kilt" humor, and older Scotland-obsessed people like me feel like we're traveling to the country again, minus the agonizing plane ride, and the annoying 3-yr old who keeps kicking me in the back of the head like he's trying to get information... but I'm not bitter.  This is a very beautiful movie that hits home on everything PIXAR stands for.

5 out of 5

The Secret World of Arrietty

"Is it a bird?  Is it a Plane?" Neither of those you idiot! It's little people living like rats in the walls of our creepy house.  Living as little people in the walls of a house is like a Ginger living on the streets of Harlem, it's downright dangerous and people get shanked like crazy!  It's a hard knock life for a borrower, which is a little person who takes things from normal people that they won't need or miss.  Arrietty is one of these borrowers who's a rookie when it comes to borrowing, and because of her clumsiness she's identified by a sickly boy named Shawn.  Together these unlikely friends share an adventure that's larger than life, which if I was Shawn I'd play with Arrietty like she was my hamster, by putting her on a towel and flinging her into the air! it's a good thing I don't have pets.

The Good:
Anyone who knows me will know of my hate for the Anime genre.  Whenever I think of the word "Anime", I think of several annoying 12-year old girls photo-bombing pictures with their peace signs, and spending the rest of their day catching Pokemon with those balls.  Despite my unhappiness for the Genre, it is downright impossible for me to share that feeling with Studio Ghibli movies.  Even though this film wasn't directed by the master Hayao Miyazaki himself, it's still a very beautiful movie that was handled carefully with regards to the story, and the brightly colored artwork.  The feeling I get when watching a Ghibli movie is like the feeling I get when walking into a Chinese Buffet, because I take the food and inhale it like I'm Kirby, which not only makes my taste-buds happy, but my stomach is giddy to the utmost (unless my butt gets angry but that's a different story).  Just like PIXAR, Ghibli has an impressive track record with making one great film after another, and one of the reasons they're so good is due to the strong Character development.  The character development in Arrietty is so powerful, that by the end you think to yourself "Crap! When am I going to see these people again?!  Come back!!!! I'll make some Top-Ramen!!"  In "The Secret World of Arrietty", and every other studio Ghibli movie, what makes them stand out (for me at least) is the fact that they're not afraid to embrace the quiet moments.  In each film there is always a moment where a character encounters a time of reflection that just sucks you in like a vacuum, and connects you even more to the character and the story.  And avid Ghibli fans like those at PIXAR embrace those moments in their movies, an example would be the beginning of "UP", which is one of the most heartfelt moments in movie history.    

The Bad:
I don't know if I can say anything bad about this film, and if I was to say anything it would be that little people creep me out, except midgets, they're just awesome.  The only way to bring up bad things about "Arrietty" would be to compare it to other Ghibli films, because as an animated film in general it's better than most out there.  Much like the story-line in a Sofia Coppola film, Arrietty's story-line is EXTREMELY simple, because the events that take place are very A-B.  What makes the movie exciting is the fact that their seen through the eyes of little people, so the danger level is brought up a notch.  I can only imagine what it was like to be an Oompa Loompa in Willy Wonka's candy garden, sure it was exciting for everyone else, but for them I'm sure it was like the sugar rush from Hell!

The Ugly:
This is one of those Ideal family films that kids will enjoy because of the lovable characters and the story-line, and adults will like because of the artistic ability that went into it.  The character development is strong, the music is wonderful, and because of that it's an all-around Joyful film to watch.  Like I said before, this is one of those Chinese Buffets that's abundant in yummy/greasy... minus the food Poisoning!

5 out of 5