Couch: Gone With the Wind

Summary:
It is the year 1861, with civil war threatening to tear the United States apart. Amidst this, Scarlett O'Hara, a rich spoiled Southern belle of 16 years old, tries to win the heart of her childhood friend Ashley Wilkes, while Scarlett, in turn, is pursued by the dark, enigmatic charmer Rhett Butler. As Scarlett lives her life during these tumultuous times, her life is forever turned upside down and becomes gone with the wind...
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After discussing and reviewing various movies released in the present day era of cinema, for this entry I decided to dip back into the pages of yesteryear and review movies of the past. But this is not just any movie. This is a movie that is considered to be one of the greatest of its kind ever made. A movie with so many memorable characters, dialogue, and imagery. A movie that practically that practically defines the word "classic". This is Gone With the Wind, made in 1939 during the so-called "Golden Age of Hollywood" starring Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler.

Watching this was like being in a time machine. The way movies were presented back then was so different; 3-4 hour run times, intermissions, credit scrolls at the beginning of the movie instead of at the end,  you can just imagine yourself being transported to the 1930's in a time when movies were treated like operas and theatrical plays. I imagine back then, especially considering the decade, watching a movie was an immense privilege.

I watched Gone With the Wind about once or twice growing up, and I read portions of the original book back in Middle School, but as is the case for many things I was exposed to as a child/teenager, I can see and fully appreciate certain elements more as an adult. On the surface Gone with the Wind seems like a love story, and its understandable considering one of the iconic images of the first kiss between the two main characters. Others see Gone with the Wind as a tragedy, a coming-of-age story, etc. I fall under the latter, because for me the strongest element in the movie is the character of Scarlett.

We've all seen this type of story before; the protagonist starts out with a flaw that is ultimately resolved through the trials and tribulations that are encountered by the protagonist's journey. But what makes this particular one appealing is how utterly...unlikable Scarlett is. In the backdrop of 1861, Scarlett is a Southern belle with no cares in the world and the apple of every county boy's eye. She sees the coming war as no concern to her and is content with breaking men's hearts and pining towards Ashley, the forbidden fruit that she'll lust after but never will get. For all intents and purposes she is an utterly horrible character with so many faults, but in a way that just makes you curious in a sadistic way to see how much she'll suffer throughout the movie.

The counterpoint of the movie is the character of Rhett Butler. In another memorable shot from the, he is first introduced as being the tall dark mysterious stranger in the middle of young men and teenage boys at a party. Scarlett has no problem wooing and being simperingly ladylike towards them, but the moment she makes eye contact with Rhett she is unnerved. Throughout the movie Rhett approaches life in such a calm, cool and almost uncaring stance, and he applies this to Scarlett as well. The two flirt throughout most of the movie and Rhett doesn't care that Scarlett loves the character of Ashley Wilkes because he knows it won't work out anyway. Rhett doesn't really get put through the wringer until the last portion of the movie, but until then his character is one of the most fascinating in the whole movie.

Two other important characters are Ashley Wilkes and his wife (and cousin) Melanie. These two are practically the polar opposites of Scarlett and Rhett. If Rhett is the dark, sly charmer who doesn't care if he's being rude, Ashley is the proper gentleman with a set of morals to follow. However, he's also too polite to a fault, and can't completely rebuff Scarlett's affections on top of her stubbornness. Ashley, like Rhett, knows that a relationship with Scarlett is doomed to fail, but his attempts to act nice only heightens Scarlett's lust for him. Melanie Wilkes is definitely the nicest character in the whole movie. Perhaps a little too nice, because she believes in the goodness of everyone around her, almost to the point of naivete She sees Scarlett's love for Ashley as familial love and concern. Melanie gets exposed to so much conflict in the movie you really want to root for her instead of Scarlett.

A major criticism of the movie that has endured for the longest time is the movie's portrayal of Blacks, with many arguing that it is not an accurate portrayal of how they were treated during the Civil War era and over-exaggerating certain aspects. This could be the case of Scarlett's wet-nurse, Mammy. I like to believe that the sassy, "up-in-yo-face", no nonsense Black woman in media today originated from this character, because she certainly doesn't put up with whatever Scarlett does. She's definitely one of the best parts of the movie because of her attitude and her acting as a counterpoint to Scarlett.

The story, the veeeeeery long story, details the struggles of Scarlett as she starts out as a spoiled rich brat that gets broken by the events of the Civil War, and being changed for the worse in the aftermath, losing everything and managing to get back on top, but at the cost of alienating a lot of people around her. Betwixt all of this is Scarlett's love and familial life, marrying other men, and eventually Rhett, and having her own children, but even that has its own hardships because of, again, how utterly unlikable Scarlett is. In a way, you can almost get a sadistic sort of pleasure watching her character be put into the wringer. What happens to her in the end is almost poetic justice.

The memorable scenes and lines in this movie are just way too many to count; "Great balls of fire!", "Fiddle-dee-dee!", "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.", Scarlett meeting Rhett, the sunset on the Tara Plantation, the burning of Atlanta, Scarlett's and Rhett's first kiss, etc. The special effects used in the movie really stand the test of time, long before the days of CGI and using methods like miniatures, matte paintings, and long, panning shots with real life people. Even though I'm normally not a special effects person and don't focus all that much on production design when it comes to movie reviewing, I gotta give credit where credit is due.

However, not every movie is perfect, and this is just my personal opinion, but I find the second half of the movie, specifically when Scarlett marries Rhett, to be the point where I lose interest. Like I said, Scarlett's and Rhett's banter when they are unmarried is very entertaining and dramatic, but when it comes time for them to actually marry and settle down, a lot of the plot focuses more on soap opera drama. Don't get me wrong, it's good drama and all of that, but as a person who's not a big soap opera guy to begin with, seeing the third part is rather tedious. I don't find it bad, I just find it inferior to the rest of the movie.

Final thoughts:
All in all, what else can there be said about Gone With the Wind that hasn't been said? It rightfully deserves its place as the highest grossing film of all time (counting inflation), all the accolades, praises and celebration. It just oozes classic cinema, and it still stands the test of time with its timeless story and characters. A few hiccups here and there detract from an otherwise fine piece of entertainment that many can rightfully declare to be the greatest movie of all time. It certainly isn't for me, but I can understand why many people do. I am pretty sure that, when the time comes for its 100th anniversary, it'll last for a hundred more years.

My score: 4.3/10

Cinema: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Summary:
Five years after the events of the first movie, the Viking island of Berk has become a safe haven for all kinds of dragons. Chief Stoick intends to make his son Hiccup the new chief and successor, but Hiccup would rather ride on his dragon Toothless and explore & chart the world. Their land would be threatened though when the villain known as Drago Bludvist threatens to enslave all dragons for his army and conquer the world. Hiccup, his girlfriend Astrid, Stoick and their friends won't let that happen on their watch.
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I'm sad to say that I never watched the first How to Train Your Dragon. At the time it was released I thought the movie looked generic and not worth my time. It wasn't until later where I discovered that I was wrong the whole time and I should've watched it. From what I have read, How to Train Your Dragon is loosely based on a series of books by author Cressidia Cowell. It details the adventures of a young Viking named Hiccup and his friends in a quest involving dragons. What makes the Dreamworks animated movie so good is its gripping story, its world, its memorable characters, and wonderful animation, particularly when it comes to the scenes where characters ride their dragons in the air. The animation of the movie makes you immerse yourself in it, as if you were were part of the movie. So much so, in fact, that it is one of the few movies that people say it is better to watch in 3D and IMAX.

That was certainly the feeling I got when I watched parts of the animated TV series on Cartoon Network. The TV show is set in-between the two movies and serves as a way to expound on things not touched upon in the movie, like delving into the characters, more dragons, expanding on the world of Berk, etc. It was where I got exposed to the Dragons franchise and where my fondness of it came from. So naturally, I was looking forward to the second movie and the feeling of finally seeing  it on the big screen and making up for my folly last time.

In short, I felt How to Train Your Dragon 2 to be a very fun and enjoyable movie that I think can appeal to both children and adults. The children can get entertained by the pretty colors and high paced action, while the adults get sucked into the world, the characters, their relationships, their story, and their drama. A few slow moments and a rather weak villain hamper it a bit, but it's a fun ride from start to finish that makes you yearn for more. The characters are entertaining and competent, the story makes a few surprises here and there, the animation as usual is top-notch, and the design of this world and the dragons are extremely creative. Those who have seen the first movie and other supplementary media will love it even more, but newcomers will find it easy to get into also.

Five years have passed in-between the first and second movies, and we can clearly see that through the characters. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel, Tropic Thunder) has matured from a weedy, nervous teenager into a fully confident and fearless young adult who love flying on his dragon Toothless. At the same time his new-found confidence does not make him completely arrogant. He is just much more determined to finish and see things through. Something good that can be said about him is that he sticks by his morals and values, as exemplified when he goes against his parents wishes and tries to talk Drago out of fighting. Sure, in the end, it doesn't amount to much, but it also shows that he's willing to change his stance and go with the flow. Hiccup's bond with Toothless is even more exemplified and both are utterly inseparable compared to the first movie and TV show. Toothless of course doesn't talk, but he gives as much emotion as any other human character in the movie. The human and the dragon are loyal companions and will do anything and sacrifice anything for each other, as shown when Hiccup wasn't afraid to touch a mind-controlled and violent Toothless. These two are the core of the movie, and it is done extremely well. If I can give one minor nitpick, it's that Hiccup does quite a lot of speechifying in this movie, but it didn't really bother me much. This is where I found the movie to be a little cheesy, as a lot of Hiccups speeches can just simply be summarized as "Humans and Dragons together are the most awesomet thing ever".

Another changed character from the first movie is Hiccup's love interest, Astrid (America Ferrera, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants). In the first movie, her character was shown to be tough, abrasive, and bossy towards her peers, especially Hiccup. In the TV show she still showed such traits, but she became friendlier and optimistic. This transition is complete in the second movie, where Astrid may still be tough, but she is friendly towards everybody and even has a dark sense of humor. Hiccup's and Astrid's relationship is taken to the next level where she is supportive of whatever he does, and they make playful banter in quiet moments of the movie. Though they do not say it in the movie, the two are clearly a couple, and seeing them together on-screen is very adorable. What I especially like is that, with both now in a mutual relationship, there is no forced love drama that interrupts the flow of the movie. I certainly hope that when this movie series ends, both will end up married.

To go off a tangent for a bit, I praise Dreamworks for handling the expanded material of How to Train your Dragon extremely well. A lot of the character development in-between movies culminates in the second movie, but we see that specifically in the TV show. What's neat is that you do not need to see the TV show to know why these characters act the way they do in the second movie, and just chalk it up to natural growth because of the five year gap. Kudos to them, for this is the right way to handle supplementary material. I'm looking at you, Star Wars, as a bad example.

Stoick (Gerald Butler), Hiccup's father, also changed from the first movie. The man who once hated and loathed dragons now fully accepts them and is supportive of what Hiccup does, except for a few moments. The interpersonal conflict between the two in this movie is Stoick making Hiccup the new chief of Berk, while Hiccup is unsure of what he wants to do. At the same time Stoick clearly learned from the last movie to try and give his son much more leeway. If there is any conflict between the two, it's only because Stoick is being the responsible chief and looking after his people. Stoick's friendship with the blacksmith Gobber (Craig Ferguson, stand-up comedian) still carries over, but what provides a new dynamic is Stoick's wife, Velka (Cate Blanchett, Lord of the Rings). We discover in backstory that Velka was against killing dragons, and that a lot of Stoick's original hatred of the creatures came from Velka being kidnapped by one when Hiccup was just a baby. But it is clear that Hiccup's skills came from his mom, and she is shown to be as much of a lover of dragons as well. One of my best moments of the movie is when Stoick reunites with Velka. Instead of being angry with her, Stoick and Velka tearfully reunite and are a family again with Hiccup. It's a wonderful, happy scene with just the right amount of drama and not going overboard that turns it sappy and cheesy. It's a shame it doesn't last, but more on that later.

As a fan of the TV show, I was slightly disappointed that Hiccup's other friends like Snotlout (Jonah Hill, 21 Jump Street), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kick-Ass), Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live) and Tuffnut (TJ Miller, Silicon Valley) didn't get a lot of moments, but that's to be expected when you have a one-two hour movie as opposed to a three season TV show. They do not have as much screen time, but they are definitely in the movie and have their moments. It's just great to see them again and also grown up and matured. Ruffnut in particular is memorable because she provided a lot of the humor of the movie, ignoring the advances of Snotlout and Fishlegs and instead falling for a new character, the dragon trapper Eret (Kit Harington, Game of Thrones). He starts out as a good secondary villain, but through a series of circumstances he becomes a comrade of the characters and it's nice to see fake the bad guys and join with the main characters.

Unfortunately, the villain didn't exactly blow me away, and is one of my major criticisms of the movie. In the first movie there wasn't an overarching villain per se, there was just an evil dragon. Here though the villain is the sinister Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou, Gladiator). The adults and Eret spoke of Drago, describing him as an insane madman that won't stop at anything to destroy everything in his path with a fearsome armada and an army of dragons. We would learn later on that Drago lost his family and home to dragons. While his design looks nice, he doesn't really do a whole lot and is rather hypocritical in his actions. He spoke of wanting to rid the world of dragons, but he then decides to take over the world. He wants to use dragons, but is willing to do away with them once he accomplishes his goals. I will grant him the fact that he is skilled enough to tame a gigantic Alpha dragon, but I just find him rather dull with no shades of gray and no complexity beyond a standard tragic backstory and a lost arm. It makes a lot of Hiccup's speechifying all the more annoying because it fell on deaf ears.

The story of the movie is much more straightforward than the first movie, and some may argue that it takes away lot of the "heart" from the first movie. However, I argue that makes this movie all the more different and for the better. This movie has the protagonist continue his development by maturing into a man, but still unsure of what he really wants to do. There is still definitely heart in this movie, like Hiccup's relationship with Astrid, and his familial drama. With dragons as an established thing now, this movie builds upon the TV show and showcases tons of creative and unique dragon designs, from tiny cute baby dragons, dragons of different colors and sizes, and huge gigantic dragons that definitely seem enormous on the big screen. If the first movie showcased the beginnings of humans changing their ways to accept dragons into their daily lives, this movie shows the result of that. The dragons and the humans have formed an inseparable bond. The characters are so memorable that you get sucked into their drama, and when they go through hardships, you really feel for them.

This is exemplified in one of the major moments of the movie, and where I thought the movie was originally going to go. At a crucial point in the movie, Drago seizes control of all the dragons and mind controls Toothless. Toothless shoots a blast at Hiccup, but at the last second Stoick takes it, and is killed. At the movie's bleakest moment, Stoick is given a Viking funeral, all the dragons are lost, and their home of Berk falls to Drago. I actually thought that movie would end right then and there, ending a la The Empire Strikes Back, the characters defeated and downtrodden, and all being lost except for one glimmer of hope and determination. If the movie had actually ended there, I would've loved it.

But instead we got a final climax where Hiccup overcomes Drago, rescues the dragons, and becomes the new chief of Berk, showing that he managed to forge his own path and becoming his own man. It was a nice and satisfying ending that leaves it open, though I do wish it ended after Stoick's death. But that's just nitpicking, I actually do really like the ending; Hiccup and Astrid kiss, Velka lives on Berk again, Toothless becomes the new Alpha dragon, and Berk is rebuilt with a monument to Stoick. It again shows how enthralling the characters are that you root and cheer for Hiccup and the others when they overcome adversity. And when Stoick dies, it's a completely unexpected moment that hits you in the gut, making you hopeful that Stoick will get back up and continue fighting. But nope, he dies. I give them kudos for killing off a major character and it actually having an impact rather than just senselessly killing somebody for forced drama.

The animation looked top-notch and was very bright and colorful, but also properly mixed with darker colors when the situation demanded it. Unfortunately, I do have to talk about the flying scenes and all those scenes where we watch the character soar through the air and soak in the world they live in. As good as they are, I felt that they sometimes slowed down the movie. In the first movie I think it was fine because the plot was deliberately slow to allow for characters to grow and get closer together. But in this movie, where there was an actual plot going from point A to point B, it really slowed it down. The first few times it was great, but for me, after a while, it got a little annoying.

Final thoughts:

All in all, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a wonderful movie. A combination of characters, story, and animation creates a home run, while the slow parts and the weak villain prevent it from being extremely great. On top of that, while I still personally enjoyed the movie, I find myself unable to give it that high of a score because I didn't watch the first one. On its own it is certainly good, but for fans of the franchise, it's a definite love letter. I feel it to be one of the better animated movies of the year so far. 

More importantly though, it continues to set Dreamworks on fire, putting the "Dragons" franchise right up there (and possibly higher) alongside Kung Fu Panda as Dreamworks's flagship series. I eagerly await 2016 for the third and final movie.

My score: 4.1/5

Trailer thoughts:

The Book of Life-The story doesn't look all that interesting, but the design of this movie is unique, kind of looking flat, but also look very three-dimensional. The animation looks great and the design of this world is very crazy and creative. Probably won't see it in theaters.

Home-I saw a short film of this before the showing of Mr. Peabody & Sherman. The plot seems to be focusing on a small alien and a teenage girl, but it looks to be like a comedy road trip movie across worlds and universes. The comedy looks to be pretty standard for Dreamworks, which I will admit I'm not that big a fan of. I prefer Dreamworks when it does grand, epic movies like Kung Fu Panda or How to Train Your Dragon, as opposed to modern comedies like Shrek or Madagascar. Probably won't see it in theaters.

Speaking of Madagascar...

The Penguins of Madagascar-I outright groaned when I saw this trailer. I do like Madagascar to an extent, and its three movies have all been successful, but one thing I outright disliked were the 4 secret agent penguins. They were unnecessary in the movies and just stole the show from the real characters, and they even got their own TV series, which I've seen and wasn't impressed. So you can imagine my disgust when they were getting their own movie. That one penguin eating a cheese puff noisily and interrupting another person's speech was painful. The kiddies in the theater loved it though, so whatever. Definitely won't be watching it in theaters, and likely not even on TV either.