Monsters University

What's up ladies and gentlemen, you're back with the one and only.

Today, I watched the movie that got a lot of hype during its release; Monsters University, the sequel to Monsters Inc. Was it good? Was it bad? Venture forth and see.

SPOLIERS ALERT:

This may surprise many of you, but I haven't actually seen Monsters Inc. Now, before you nerds throw the lawbook of movie-watching at my head yelling 'Order! Order!', let me justify myself. Monsters University actually takes place chronologically before Monsters Inc. So even if you do watch them out of order, you aren't missing too much. This is the advantage of making movie series like this.

As well as the fact that...well, my mom had a coupon for Redbox, and this was what she got stuck with, so...*dodge book* hey, you take what you can get.

So, the plot. We start out with Mike Wazowski, a little green ball on arms and legs. He has one eye in his...forehead? And a mouth under that. Absolutely adorable. Don't believe me?

 

 

Aww, cute.

Cute monsters.

Logic.

 

Anyway, Mike's dream is to be a full-time scarer. Scarers go into the human world, scare sleeping little children, and collect their screams of horror to power Monsterland.

...interesting idea, I suppose. Anyway, Mike applies to Monsters University (MU) to major in scaring. He manages to get all the knowledge down perfect, but something's missing...oh yeah, he's not scary.

To prove he is scary, he signs up for the Scaring Contest, which pits several teams of monsters from MU to see who is the scariest. Tagging along with him is James P. Sullivan, the son of one of the greatest scarers of all time. Sullivan is a jerk and a layabout, but eventually becomes friends with Mike and tries to help him realize his dream.

 

Through the movie their team - which is a bunch of not scary monsters - proves again and again that they can be scary. Eventually they win the contest. It's a very unclimactic moment. Apparently Mike just...finds it within himself to be scary. The end. You can all go home now, folks.

 

BUT WAIT! PLOT TWIST!!

So apparently Sullivan cheated! In order to save Mike's pride, he rigs the final test so that Mikey'll win! However, Mike finds out and is crushed that, indeed, he's not really scary.

 

Yes. Mikey then, to prove once and for all that he is scary, sneaks into the human world (RED LIGHT, RED LIGHT) and tries to scare the living number 2 out of a bunch of little girls, who instead try...to...cuddle him.
Did I mention this?

Sullivan goes after him, but the door is locked behind them - how to get it open? They then figure out a plan to open the door from their side, they go back to MU and are promptly expelled. However, they end up finding jobs at Monsters, Inc., which ends the movie...and lays the groundwork for the next.

END SPOILERS

Overall, how was it?

I have to say, while rated G, it certainly had its iffy moments. There is a joke or three that doesn't quite seem appropriate, and an old feller does break a substitute swear word once or twice.
Those points aside, though, it was a fairly well-rounded film.

Was it cheesy? Yes. Was it kiddie? Yes. Can adults watch it? Sure. It's what you'd expect from a more tame Pixar film. It's not Toy Story, but nevertheless it has its own playful appeal. By no means is it exceptional, but it is certainly worth your time.
In the end, I'd say renting/borrowing it would probably be your best bet. If you like it enough to buy it, I won't burn you. It's a feel-good movie.

With that, I'm gone. Sayonara, Ladies Gents and Others.



The Hunger Games

Yeah guys, I know, it's been awhile since I unloaded into something, hasn't it? Let me introduce you to the shining pile of....bleeeh that's been all the rage over the past year or so: The Hunger Games.

When the movie first came out, it got massive hype and fanstuffs. I heard a lot about it before I first read the book, which believe it or not was on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic. My host Dominican family had an English copy of the Hunger Games lyin' around, so...why not.
On the way back from the missions trip, I watched the movie. By the way, did I mention that Delta earphones suck? I had to squash my hand against my one earbud and plug my other ear and turn up the volume to two thousand so I could hear over the roar of the airplane. Not the best conditions to watch such a movie, I admit.

So...I suppose this is in order.

SPOILERS ALERT!! IF YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW ALL ABOUT THIS THEN...
What do I care. Read on.


The Hunger Games is a story set in a conservative's nightmare, in a future/apocalyptic thingiemajigger USA where the government controls everything. Panem is a country split into 12 districts (pssst it's actually 13, but don't tell them). Katniss, our main protagonist, is a girlie whose dad is dead from a work accident and has to help her mom take care of Prim, her little sister. She lives in district 12.

So every year there is what's called a 'reaping', where several kids from each district are selected to participate in 'The Hunger Games', which is like a gladiator fight except in a simulated environment. It's complicated. Anyway, the reason this ceremony is held is to remind the districts of how Panem arose. In the collapse of North America, the districts fought against the Capitol and the Capitol won. And they installed the Hunger Games.

Long story short: Katniss's sister Prim is chosen in the reaping but to save her Katniss volunteers to go in her place - which is highly unusual. Peeta, the brawn in this book, is also chosen to go with her. They have this awesome guy Haymitch (who was a winner from district 12 in a past Hunger Games) tutor them....sorta, and they participate. It ends with both Katniss and Peeta winning, defying the Capitol's order to fight to the death and coming out alive. And that's the end of the first part of the series.

For the sake of my sanity we won't go into the rest of the story.

Why indeed do people love this so much? It's dark, strange, choppy, and has the most awkward romance I've ever read. Katniss likes Gale but likes Peeta too who likes her but Gale kinda likes her but doesn't and...doesn't so Katniss is like 'what' and Peeta is all like 'I wuv you' and it's not clear whether he really does love her or whether he's just playing her and Katniss is just confused about the whole mess. Derrrrrrrrp.

Horrible and confusing love story aside, what about the characters themselves?

Katniss, the main protagonist, is one of the strongest characters I know. She's strong, compassionate, kind and firm when she needs to be. She does break down once or twice, but hey, she's in a battle royale to the death. How can you not feel the pressure?
Peeta is, well, Peeta. He's strong, strange, and utterly unpredictable. Just the sort of guy that a girl would love....ugh, this reminds me of Twilight...
Haymitch is awesome. I don't care what you say about his vodka problem, he's just one of those guys who doesn't give a (insert proper French here) about what happens. At least, he appears to be. It turns out, as the series progresses, that he drinks to get away from his past - especially his past in the Hunger Games. It is revealed that he might have a spark of caring somewhere in that beer-obsessed brain.

The characters, overall, aren't that bad. Where I feel this story plunks, though, is the actual elements of the story itself.
Have you ever watched a gory movie and felt like puking afterwards? I'm not someone to flinch at disturbing pictures, but this movie nearly made me throw up.
The Hunger Games themselves is a gladiator duel between kids. For the pleasure of the masses. It is a truly sickening thing. The book and movie bring that out well, but I don't have a problem with that, I have a problem with why is it there in the first place.
You do not need such a drastic example of evil in a story. You do not need to, in a story, describe a rape scene in detail merely for the purpose of emphasis. In the same way, you don't need to add kids to arena fights to emphasize just how wrong arenas are. Evil is horrible. We know that. And we have plenty of real-life examples of evil. There's no need to bring this out.

That being said, there is also a pervading sense of gloom over the entire series. The books are depressing. The movie is depressing. The whole thing is just depressing. Wonderful, Suzanne Collins. Give me more! Make me more depressed! It's okay, I got some Prozac on hold!

Many people like this series nonetheless, and I understand why. I personally hate it. It's my policy to be wary and skeptical of something that receives a lot of acclaim from the world, and the Hunger Games is pretty high on that list. If you wish to disagree with me do so by email at deltalorincz@gmail.com. Not in the comment section.

Chow.

SUSMUN

Hey guys, wazzuuuuuup.
Wazzzzuuuuuuuup?

Haaaaaa?

I'M BACK! YEAH! Thank you, thank you. Sorry, I don't do autographs. Or hugs, because people are sick. But thanks, yes, yes, I love you all too. Now shut up and sit down, I have something to talk about, savvy? I'm not just writing this post because I'm tired, bored, and have nothing else to do. Of course not. I mean, that would....

Yes, I'm rambling, wait a second and let me spell out the title.

Southern United States Model United Nations, otherwise known as SUSMUN (suss - mun). It is what it sounds like. A mock UN meeting in the good ol' South. This one, specifically, was at the Hilton in Atlanta.

If you'd like the short version, it was a bunch of people in suits sitting around discussing issues yelling at each other and doing nothing significant. I was representing the Kingdom of Sweden, that jolly old nation in Europe that (fun fact) has a black market in strawberries, no joke.

"Hey you kids....wanna buy some strawberries?"

There were several committees, of which I was in SPECPOL (Special Political and Decolonization Committee). The main topic of discussion was "health and human rights in refugee camps", and believe you me when I say there ain't nowhere else in the world you can get as sick of the word refugee as you could there. I ended up wishing I was North Korea. Just nuke all the refugees, problem solved. Bing!

So let me elaborate on the schedule. We arrived at the Hilton on Friday around four o'clock. Checked in, visited a prep meeting, then set up in our rooms and headed to opening ceremonies. From there, we had dinner and then headed to our separate committees for our first session, which was a solid 3 and a half hours. It ended at eleven p.m. (Needless to say, I didn't get enough sleep). The next morning I woke up at seven, had an impromptu snackish breakfast and headed to session two, another 3 and a half hours. Then we had an hour and a half break for lunch. Then we had a SIX AND A HALF hour session, and then dinner for an hour and a half. Then another three-and-a-half hour session, again ending around eleven (but technically ten, since Daylight Savings Time). Sunday we again had an impromptu breakfast and then headed to our last three-and-a-half hour session, where we voted on the resolutions we had formulated over the weekend. Then we went to closing ceremonies, packed up and headed out.
I arrived at home, unpacked a little, and collapsed in bed at around three-thirty p.m., waking up today at about nine thirty a.m.

Did I mention I was a little tired?