Goodbye

I had a lot of fun blogging this year. To be honest, when I first started, I wasn't really optimistic about it, considering I didn't really consider myself a "blogger." I just thought when I got this assignment in English class, it was just an excuse for us to write while making it sound "fun."

"Oh, you're going to be doing a blog, so it's not really a writing assignment, but it IS kinda a writing assignment, but it's not, because it's blogging."

I see you Mr. Parker. I see you.

...But it kinda did turn out to be more than a writing  assignment. It did turn out to be (do I dare say it?) fun. I loved coming up with my own theme and doing something that I liked to write about, not doing something that I am told to write about. To be honest, most people don't like writing because I see them just do boring writing, like essays and informational subjects... Nothing that they want to do. Considering I'm in high school, we don't have time to write for ourselves. We have plenty of other things that we would rather be working on. So making an assignment that (I want to say "forces" but that sounds too harsh... oh well) forces kids to write something that they want to write about is a brilliant idea. It shows them that writing doesn't have to be a chore.

It was really brilliant of my teacher to make this an assignment. Showing kids that doing something that is related to school can actually be fun. But of course, we all didn't love it right off the bat, like I said earlier. We kinda... Just grew into it. Instead of being just another assignment you have to complete, it turned into something that people WANT to complete. While also learning. So it's just a win-win, for the students and the teacher.

Photo courtesy of cbclements.com

I grew a lot myself through writing blog posts. When I first started, I knew next to nothing about blogging, and it was really hard for me to think of a creative subject to blog about. I wanted to do something that people would connect to, but also care about. So I didn't want to make the blog about me, because I feel like a lot of people really wouldn't care. No offense to those blogs out there, but that's just my opinion. And that's when I realized: I should do something where I show my opinion while ALSO making it something that people would want to know so they would actually CARE about my opinion.

Movie Reviews.

Anyways, it's been a great year, but for now, my blogging run is coming to an end. But who knows? Maybe I'll find this again when I'm older and think about starting it back up. For now though, it's time to say goodbye. 9th grade has been a great experience for me, and it's only going to get better from here.

This post is dedicated to my amazing English teacher, who taught me more about the subject than anyone ever did. Thank you Mr. Parker!!

When Marnie Was There (PG)

My Rating: 98%
The Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Audience Rating: 88%

Wow. If I could sum up this movie in one word... it would be wow. This was one of the best films I've ever seen. I'm not kidding. This was so unbelievably amazing, I just can't put it into words. Before I go on, I'm actually going to give the summary right here, because it's actually really short. A tomboy by the name of Anna explores a long-forgotten mansion when she meets a mysterious blonde girl that only she can see. That's it. That's the summary. I could go into more details, but I think that would spoil the overall surprise of the movie. So if you really want to know more, my biggest suggestion would be to GO WATCH THE MOVIE BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING AND I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE HOW INCREDIBLE IT IS SO JUST GO WATCH IT.
...Please. :)

Photo courtesy of usatoday.com

Actually, this movie is kinda taking the world by storm. And in fact, it's not just because it's an amazingly beautiful film that I would watch a million times and then a million times again. It's because this is the last ever Studio Ghibli film to ever be made. There will be no more. Which, for a lot of people, is extremely devastating news. Their films are some of the best of all time. In case you didn't read my last blog post, which was actually a review on a different Studio Ghibli film, I'll tell you some of their work. They have made such films as Spirited Away, Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, and a ton of other brilliant works. I've been very addicted to watching all of the Studio Ghibli films lately, not gonna lie. Is this something I should be concerned about? 

...It's probably fine. I don't I'm freaking out or anything. *twitches*

ANYWAYS... this movie covers a ton of major issues that teens deal with today, like depression, self hate, friendship, love, and tragedies. If you cannot tell by some of the themes, yes. There were many points in this movie that I almost broke into a wave of tears. There was this one scene that I just can't get over... The chemistry that's shown between the characters just feels so unbelievably real, so beautiful, so incredible...Yeah I definitely cried at that. No shame, no shame. Just a lot of tears.

The ending of this movie was extraordinary. We were given such a twist, I wouldn't be able to see it coming from a mile away. It was so shocking. It was perfectly amazing. I always think, I would never be able to come up with such brilliant twists like that. There's just no way I could do it. That kind of thought that goes into this movie... That's just half of it. The other half is the unbelievable animation. It's so breathtakingly gorgeous, I don't even know how it's possible. Animation has come so far with Studio Ghibli... But even though they are advancing in it, they still kept their style till the end. And it couldn't have ended better than this.

My Neighbor Totoro (G)

My Rating: 95%
The Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Audience Rating: 94%

I seriously cannot believe I haven't seen this movie until now. I've heard so many things about it, so I finally started to watch it. I'm also kinda going through a Studio Ghibli phase, so expect my new blog post to be on another one of these films. I love love LOVE their animation style. It's simply breathtaking. Even if you don't care for the overall plot (which I highly doubt would happen) people would still stay just to witness how amazing the animation is. It's just so amazingly beautiful. And the funny thing is, this movie is actually pretty old. It's surprising how good they can be at editing like this in that time period. They style of animation is just so beautiful and original.

Anyways, I'm now going to be giving a brief summary of this movie. Two young girls move into a house in the countryside to be closer to their hospitalized mother. They soon discover that the forest nearby is inhabited by magical creatures called Totoros. They soon befriend these Totoros, and they all go on several magical adventures together.

Picture courtesy of geekout.blogs.cnn.com

This movie was incredible!! It was beautiful, touching, tear jerking, and overall just really well executed. Like all Studio Ghibli films, the plot was so unbelievably original. There's no way you're going to find a movie before this that was even remotely like it. I think that's so amazing to have such original ideas like that. This movie has actually been out for a while, and like I said earlier, I'm really surprised that I just saw it now. This has been out for forever, but somehow I've just never gotten around to watching it. I'm so happy I did. It ended up being very rewarding.

I hope that everyone has the chance to see this masterpiece of a movie at some point in their lives. It's just such a well-known and original movie, I feel like it's just one of those that you have to see. And also, I know I've brought up Studio Ghibli a couple times in this post. If you don't recognize them by name, they have also done amazing movies like Spirited Away, Ponyo, When Marnie Was There (which is actually the movie I will be reviewing in the next post) and many, name more brilliant films.

Although the movie may come off as very simple and quaint in the beginning, it quickly takes a turn to exciting and different, while still keeping that beautiful simplicity about it. That's what makes these films so amazing. They surround plots that aren't real in real life (like seeing Totoros) but at the same time, it just feels so unbelievably real. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see this movie, and I definitely hope I can see it again soon.

Zootopia (PG)

My Rating: 96%
The Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Audience Rating: 94%

This movie was incredible! But can you expect anything less from Disney? This movie had it all. Great and original plot line, amazing character development, brilliant underlying themes that younger viewers won't catch on to but older viewers would, and the most amazing thing of all would be the unbelievable animation. I could go on about the animation all day. This entire blog post could be about the animation of this movie. Words cannot even describe how brilliant it was. But let me tell you this: Just for the characters, the animators would animate every single piece of fur they had, making it look unbelievably realistic. Every single animal in this movie had a different style to their fur. It was incredible to watch.

Photo courtesy of laughingplace.com

Now I will give a brief summary of the movie. From the largest elephant to the smallest shrew, the city of Zootopia is a mammal metropolis where various animals live and thrive. When Judy Hopps becomes the first rabbit to join the police force, she quickly learns how tough it is to enforce the law. Determined to prove herself, Judy jumps at the opportunity to solve a mysterious case. Unfortunately, that means working with Nick Wilde, which is a fox that makes her job even harder.

Like every Pixar and Disney film, this one's a tear jerker. The way they can always get to everyone in the audience is amazing. They had a lot of side themes in the movie that were really hilarious and very relatable. For example, Judy has to do some business at the DMV, and everybody who works there are sloths. I thought that was hilarious.

There was also something very interesting about this movie. If you look past all the cute animals and colorful main plot line, there's a deeper meaning to the whole movie. It's actually quite intriguing in my opinion, and I thought they showed this theme in a very unique way. I won't say what it is, because I think you should try to figure it out for yourself. But if you just pay attention to the overall lines the characters are given, and if you also pay attention to the roles the characters play, I'm sure you'll get it.

I would definitely go see Zootopia again. It was an amazing experience that I was very surprised to see. I can't wait to see more Disney/Pixar films in the future.