New Shoes/Too Much Fun With the Miis

Warning: This post is ridiculously random and pointless. If you are looking for intellectual stimuli, look elsewhere or come back when Mandy's mood has reached its relatively normal level.

A few days ago, I decided I needed new shoes. "They don't look that bad," you say? Just look below:

Need I say more? Yes I do. Yesterday, I went shopping with Mom and got new shoes on a good sale. Yay!!

On a totally unrelated note, we got a Wii for Christmas. It's a lot of fun. The only problem is that we only have one TV at our house, and now everyone wants to use it. My brothers play Fire Emblem every spare minute they get and it's really cutting into my new Angry Beavers DVD time. Yes, I love that show and I'm not ashamed to admit it! Sometimes I laugh so hard the tears come.

There is one thing I love about the Wii, however, and that is the Mii channel, where we can create quirky little characters. My brothers create all these crazy people and I just sit there and laugh hysterically. I love making characters, too. It's just as fun as any Wii game. I've made Harry Potter characters and Sherlock Holmes characters among others. Then, when I play Wii Sports Resort and our Miis are cheering me on in the background, I can say, "Wow! Sherlock Holmes came to watch me bowl! I feel so special!" Or, "Look! there's Stevie Wonder! When did he get here!" Yeah, its pretty awesome.

How to Train Your Dragon

Thanks, Meridy, for reading my blog! You're comments always make me so happy! I was always planning to write about How to Train Your Dragon, I just ran out of time yesterday. But I would be happy to say a few words about it now. (And yes, I did get a chance to watch it in peace. :) )
How to Train Your Dragon: I was reluctant to see this movie because I was afraid it would go all animal rights propaganda on me; however, knowing how much everyone loves this movie, I convinced myself to give it a try. It turned out to be a very sweet, touching, and fun movie. It also helped me embrace my inner Viking. (I am 1/8 Danish, after all. :) ) I loved the music in this film. Parts of the soundtrack were so beautiful that I literally had goosebumps. Good music affects me deeply, so when a movie has effective music, it always helps me to enjoy it more. (Not that it wouldn't have been a good film anyway :) )
I loved Hiccup. He is a great character. Not only did he make me laugh, but I loved watching his ingenuity. He's a very intelligent kid. Toothless is adorable. He's basically a giant kitty. He even chases laser points! (Well, okay, the Viking equivelent thereof.)
Everyone raves about this movie, but to be perfectly honest, I didn't like it quite as much as Megamind or Kung Fu Panda. I'm not really sure why. I guess it's hard to explain personal taste. It could be because I get irked at the way Hiccup is treated by his classmates, neighbors, and (especially) his father. Although, I guess Hiccup's ill treatment does make it all the more touching when everyone is reconciled in the end. And then there's the oft told story of a single father misunderstanding his son. It's a good story, and effectively done in this film, it's just that I've seen it many times before.
But even though this movie may not be one of my absolute favorites, it's still a very good film. I like it a lot, and it's still growing on me. I'm excited to see it again.

Movies I've Seen Lately

Hello, everyone! I hope you're all having a great day. This may take more than one post, but I wanted to write about some movies I've seen (relatively) recently that I've liked.

Tangled: I saw this movie with my sister in November. I thought it was a cute and clever movie. Both Rapunzel and Flynn are very likable characters and I liked the development of their relationship. The Snuggly Duckling thugs crack me up. The art and animation was beautifully done. (The floating lantern part is especially breathtaking.) I don't have tons to say about this movie. It's just one of those solid, cute, feel good movies that I'm excited to see again.

Megamind: It's fun to see a movie such as Tangled that you know will be good, and then find that it lives up to your expectations; but, what's also fun is watching a movie you were expecting to be 'meh' and find out that it's actually a very good film. Megamind was one of the latter kinds. This movie was so much better than I thought it would be. It's hysterical and oddly romantic, meaning the kind of romance you can enjoy while fully acknowledging that it is a little bizarre.
I've read reviews that complain Megamind is predictable and borrows too much from other films. As a superhero themed movie, it does borrow from other films and stories. Much of this "borrowing" is clearly intentional. The filmmakers had a lot of fun spoofing certain superhero franchises, Superman in particular. However, I personally thought that Megamind, despite its familiar genre, still had it's own unique flavor and the plot was unique and original enough to be interesting and at times, surprising (at least for me). It has some interesting psychological themes, too. I thought it was intriguing to watch a character who was basically good by nature, but had been trained his whole life to be a villian. It also fulfilled my deeply buried desire to see what would happen if the bad guy actually won. In this movie, the bad guy does "win" at least for a while, and I couldn't help chuckling as I watched Megamind and Minion causing purely random havoc for the sheer fun of it. However, I could never support a movie in which evil prevails, and I love that in the end, you find out that the villian was merely tricked into thinking he won, and said villian reforms and completely changes his ways. So, this movie is the best of both worlds. :) Megamind also has a really fun soundtrack that fits so well and truly adds to the movie. It consists largely of classic rock from the 1970's and 80's.
If you've seen trailers for this film, know that they don't do it justice. And although it's fun to watch clips online, this is the kind of movie that must be seen from start to finish to appreciate its full charm. Give it a chance. It's a very good film.