How to Train Your Dragon

Hiccup on his awesome dragon, Toothless.
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This week the random number generator gave me 174. That corresponds to How to Train Your Dragon. Now, some people may have been upset about getting an animated movie, but I absolutely loved the opportunity. I think there's something that a lot of film creators are able to get out of kids movies that real movies miss. Up, The Incredibles, Lion King, the list goes on and on. Maybe it's the innocence, maybe it's the subtle undertones put in the movies so parents can enjoy them too, I don't know. All I know is that kids movies are awesome.

How to Train Your Dragon follows the trials of Hiccup (yes, I know a ridiculous name, but it's explained in the movie) as he tries to become a Viking like his father, the ruler of their village by killing dragons. He's very unlike everyone in the village, but he still tries to make his dad proud. Things get extremely tricky when he downs the most elusive of dragons, and essentially becomes friends with it. Without giving too much away, there is of course a happy ending, but that's not what I want to focus on.

What I found so great about this movie was that it displayed a strained father-son relationship in the midst of everything else it was doing. The relationship was not the main focus of the movie, but it was the main motivation behind almost all of Hiccup's actions. There is only one mention of the mother, but she is obviously out of the picture, and it's hinted at that she is dead. I would have liked a more direct confrontation of this HUGE issue considering a young boy's development, but it is a kids movie, so I understand. The handling of the relationship between Hiccup and his father is exceptional. Much better than that in most "adult" movies. I was extremely happy with this movie and would recommend it again and again.

Worth your time.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One of my favorite lines from the movie.
 thethoughtexperiment.files.wordpress.com

The random number generator gave me number 10 this week, and that corresponds to the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." It just so happens that my mom had advised me to see this movie about two weeks ago, and seeing that I highly regard my mom's taste, I was excited to see if I felt as highly about this movie as she did.


The basic premise of the movie is that we follow Jack Nicholson's character who everyone calls Mac, a new patient at a mental health facility who we learn is not in the institution because he is crazy, but because he would rather spend his days in a mental hospital rather than a prison. He has a long history of fighting, and that doesn't leave him when he comes to the mental facility. We basically follow his escapades throughout his stay at the hospital, which are pretty outrageous. The star of the movie, to me, is Chief. Chief is a Native American who must be at least 6 and a half feet tall. He doesn't talk to anyone, but follows Mac's instructions in how to play basketball. As the movie continues, we witness possibly one of the deepest and most complex movie relationships to ever exist.


The strange part about this movie is that it's listed as a drama, but it's not quite that. There are moments when I laughed out loud. But the movie is far too dark to be considered a comedy. It's somewhere in the middle, but definitely not the definition we give to sad romantic comedies, a dramedy. It is something completely different, and I have never seen a film that confused me emotionally, but that I still thoroughly enjoyed. The only one that compares is "Inception," and that's for entirely different reasons.


"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" depicts the mental health industry in a stark way, but isn't trying to critique it at all. There are no true heroes, there isn't much of a traditional plot line, the differences between right and wrong are as gray as can be, and by the ending you won't know who's side you are on. But that doesn't mean it isn't a fantastic ride.


Worth your time.

Life of Brian

This week, I got the number 166 from the random number generator, and that corresponds Life of Brian. This movie was made by the immensely famous comedy group, Monty Python. My dad was a HUGE fan of Monty Python, so I was pretty excited, since I'd never seen any of their work. All I really knew about them was that their works are very inappropriate.

The hilarious final scene. i.telegraph.co.uk

And boy was The Life of Brian inappropriate. The film follows Brian, who was born on the Original Christmas, and is mistaken for Jesus his entire life. This results in hilarious situations when he gains a following he doesn't desire. Every time he attempts to rid himself of his parish, so to speak, they find various miracles and signs that they interpret as more important than his actual words.

This movie is obviously not for those who can be easily offended in their religious beliefs. I believe in God, or more I believe that the sheer unlikeliness of our lives would require some type of creator, and I perceive that creator as God. I'm not super religious, I sometimes pray and occasionally read the Bible (the armchair preacher), but am not a fundamentalist by any means. I don't take the Bible as pure fact. With that said, anyone who is extremely religious will be offended immediately at the start of this film, and probably all the way through. I found the antics of the characters to be so ridiculous that it was hilarious. But that's me, and I'm not super religious. I can see why people would be offended, sympathize with that, and would urge them not to watch Life of Brian.

As I said, Life of Brian is so ridiculous I couldn't help but laugh. With characters like Biggus Dickus, who has a horrible lisp, or the final song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," played while many characters are being crucified, you can't take this movie seriously. And as long as you see it how it really is, a comedy trying to be as silly as possible, you'll have as good of a time as I did.

Worth your time, if you're not super religious.