Step 3: Watch an Oscar Nominated Film

Quick Points

Soundtrack/Score
Different, but sometimes pretty.

Favorite Scene
The video game scene! (Warning, contains major cussing!)

Least Favorite Scene
When Theodore has phone sex with a chick who likes to be strangled by dead cats. Yes. That's a real scene.

Should it Have Been Nominated for an Oscar?
Eh... I guess. It was a neat concept with some nice shots throughout the movie, but it was too long and a bit too weird.


If phone sex with a crazy cat lady doesn't turn you on, maybe this will--sex with your operating system. In Theodore's defense, his OS was voiced by Scarlett Johansson, and despite never actually seeing her on the screen, she does an amazing job of being a fun, caring girlfriend for the recently divorced writer portrayed creepily by the unrecognizable Joaquin Phoenix.

The best part of this Oscar nominee was the acting, but even with all that talent the viewer's still hoping Theodore will throw himself off the roof by the end of it all. It's just too long. You can only care so much about an awkward guy's awkward relationship with his computer. For the last half hour of the movie I was fast-forwarding through multiple scenes of Theodore staring sadly off into the distance with what I'm sure was light piano music playing in the background. These types of scene are all good and well--often times, they add a sense of deep, thought provoking beauty to a movie--just not when there's so many of them that they could create their own stand-alone film.

With a few less of these artistic shots, the plot itself wouldn't be half bad. It was a very interesting idea for the story--a society where people are so attached to their electronic devices that they actually form relationships with them--and it really gets you thinking about our own culture and how connected we are to our laptops and smartphones and tablets, and how this connection could affect our relationships with living human beings. I would say go ahead and give this movie a view, though I wouldn't recommend watching it with your parents or your children since there are some pretty strange sexual scenes.

-----

What did you think of the movie? Comment below!

Step 2: Watch an Awesome Animated Sequel

Quick Points

Movie vs. Book
You can't really compare the two because the first movie is only loosely based on the first book, so the second movie can barely follow the second book. BUT they do have some nice throw backs to the series.

Really a Kid's Movie?
Like the first movie, no! Though nothing can be as shocking as Hiccup waking up without a leg, there are some very intense scenes.

Favorite Scene (Semi-Spoiler?)
When Hiccup meets his mother after blowing her mind with his mad dragon mastering skills.

Favorite Dragon
Night Fury, duh! 

When you've waited years for a movie that's either based off of or a continuation of a story that you're obsessed with, it's really hard to step back from the excitement and take a critical look at the film. So, here's me showing some good faith and being objective.

Things I didn't like about the movie: the villain's story and motives seem more ridiculous with each viewing, Tuffnut becomes a pansy girly-girl who's only interested in muscular guys, and WHY IN THOR'S NAME DID THEY REVEAL THAT HICCUP'S MOTHER WAS ALIVE BEFORE THE MOVIE CAME OUT?! (Sorry if that last bit was a spoiler, but if you've managed to go this long without finding out about her then you did what I failed to do, and I applaud you.)

Now that that's out of the way, back to how awesome the movie was. Everything in it was beautiful (except for Tuffnut's face whenever she sees hunky Dragon Trapper Eret--it's just creepy). The scenes were breath taking (especially in 3D), the interactions between the characters were emotional, the dialogue was witty when appropriate and deep when not (except, again, whenever Tuffnut and Eret are involved), and the music... oh, the music can bring you to tears faster than the scenes themselves, then have you up and dancing by the end of it all (you go, John Powell and Jónsi!).

While the overall story simply wasn't as grabbing as the first movie (and I blame that on the weak antagonist and Dreamwork's idea that revealing the movie's biggest plot twist in it's trailer is a good idea), it still makes for an exciting continuation of Hiccup and Toothless' adventures and will have fans freaking out in their seats (not that I'm speaking from experience). I definitely recommend that everyone see it, if not for the love of the story then for the artistic value of the exquisitely crafted individual scenes, and I highly recommend that you see it in 3D to get the full effect. I'm not a huge fan of this new style that most movies are getting into (in fact, the only other movie I'd say benefits from being viewed in 3D is Avatar), but the feature adds such a sense of realism that you feel like you're actually one of the Dragon Riders and are flying right alongside them.

-----

What did you think of the movie? Comment below!

Step 1: Support Your Locals

Quick Points 
 
Movie vs. Book
Book. You get more insight on what's going through Hazel's mind. Plus, it's nice not having to worry that others are going to hear you cry if you're enjoying the book in the comforts of your own home.

Soundtrack/Score
Not super memorable in the movie, but going back and listening to it now, it's not bad.

Favorite Scene (Semi-Spoiler)
Augustus' first plane ride. 

Audience Reactions while Watching the Movie
Augustus and Isaac will make you laugh, and of course there will be an extreme amount of crying.

Bet the city of Indianapolis is wishing they'd worked a little harder to accommodate Josh Boone and his crew while they were filming The Fault in Our Stars. Theaters all across Indiana (as well as the rest of the United States) were filled this weekend with sobbing young adults as this tragic love story went from page to screen in the movie adaption of local author John Green's award winning novel.

The movie sticks pretty close to the storyline of the book, making only a few (and in most cases, appropriate) changes and cuts to the cancer-hindering-love-life of Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort). The grabbing tale transitions smoothly to the big screen with the help of these two up-and-coming stars (both of whom were also in fellow Young Adult book-to-movie Divergent), especially Elgort's calm and cool portrayal of metaphor-loving, grand-gesture-doing, occasional goofball Augustus.

While the acting and plot are very good, more character development would have pushed this movie to great. As the story draws closer and closer to it's heart-wrenching finale, Hazel and Augustus seem to stay in their pre-climax selves (both mentally and physically). While it's unclear whether it was the acting, writing, or directing that forced Hazel and Augustus to finish their story in nearly the same emotional state that they started in, make-up and special effects could have been used more liberally to show us a change in their physical appearances.

As a whole though, this movie did an amazing job of giving viewers an insight into the very real lives that many children and young adults are experiencing. While embellishing those lives with beautiful dialogue and perhaps less-than-realistic methods of courting, this movie shows that even through hardships you can find happiness. Though I wouldn't go out of my way to see this movie again on my own, I would happily re-watch it if some of my friends asked me to. I highly recommend that everyone see it at least once, and since this story is supposed to take place in Indianapolis, Hoosier's are especially encouraged to watch it. Okay? Okay.

-----

What did you think of the movie? Comment below!