Why I LOVE Star Wars

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Friday, December 18, 2015 was a great day for many, many reasons...one of them being the fact that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was released to the masses.

And it was magical.

If you told me a year ago that this year, I would have finished all of the Star Wars movies by the time the newest one came out, I would have laughed. It took me forever just to watch Episode IV and half of Episode V in college, so I couldn't imagine finishing the rest of the series. But then, I had some great friends who convinced me to take part in a series of weekly Star Wars parties to finish the series by the new movie's release date.

And when December 18 rolled around, I discovered that I absolutely loved this franchise.

It's not that I didn't love it before. In fact, I loved the original trilogy (my favorite is a toss-up between "A New Hope" and "Empire Strikes Back"). And even the prequels were fun to pick apart and watch for the sake of getting a certain baddie's backstory.

But it was the release of the newest movie in the series that really got me excited about the franchise as a whole. I hadn't had so much fun at the theater since the Harry Potter films. I laughed. I teared up. I reveled in the nostalgia. And most of all, I was completely and fully invested in a well-crafted story that just so happened to be decades in the making.

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So, why do I LOVE Star Wars? Well, I could say the special effects, the characters, the settings, or the plot at large, to name some things off the top of my head.

But the truth is, I love Star Wars because it's a crystal-clear-cut battle between good and evil.

Let me explain.

With any of the movies, there's a Light Side and a Dark Side. There are no good guys on the Dark Side, nor are there any bad guys in the Light Side. If they walk amongst their counterparts, they are either undercover or conflicted, but they still profess to be with either side. Nobody is morally ambiguous here, and there's definitely no fence-straddling. In fact, when a character is trying to be good or reinvent themselves, they immediately associate themselves with the Light Side/Resistance/Rebels as opposed to the Dark Side/Empire/First Order. And if a bad character is torn between the two, they will fight their hardest to remain on the Dark Side.

Sure, the bad guys have the cooler weapons (see Darth Maul's dual-lightsaber or Kylo Ren's sword-like lightsaber complete with a hilt), but the good guys are usually better at aiming (see anyone vs. a Stormtrooper) and - even better - they win in the end. Even when things seem bleak, the good team is the winning team.

I really think that this applies to faith. Sure, people who behave wickedly may seem to have it all, but really, if you trust in God in all things and rely on Him even when times get dark, walking in the light will be far better in the end, and the victory will belong to those who trust fully in God, obey His commands, and live faithfully for Him.

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And that, my friends, is why I love Star Wars. Well, that, and the adorable droids. :)

Re: Cinderella

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A while back, I blogged about the upcoming remake of the Disney animated classic Cinderella. In that post, I talked about my thoughts on the trailer, and gushed about how gorgeous the movie looked. I also wondered if it was a musical.

Yesterday, I finally got to see it.

 Let me answer the questions I had before we move forward: Yes, it's gorgeous; No, it's not a musical. But I'm actually really happy that they didn't go the musical route with this one, just because they traded music for character development, which made me so happy, just because of the fact that I actually got to get to know the characters and root for Cinderella - er, Ella -  to have her happy ending. The plot was also wound together nicely, and though (spoiler) it does not deviate from the source material, some things were added that only made the story better, in my opinion.

Now, let's talk about how gorgeous this movie was. Oh my goodness. I could have watched that ballroom scene on repeat. The costumes were also lovely (see: Ella's ball gown and wedding dress), and so was the setting. This movie is basically a feast for the eyes, with a substantial plot to match.

Would I recommend that you see Cinderella? YES. It's well-acted and well put-together all around, and hey, it's a Disney Princess movie. You can't go wrong with a Disney Princess movie.

Have y'all seen Cinderella yet? What do you think of it?

Big Hero 6

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[Alternate title to this post: "Why You Should Drop Everything and See 'Big Hero 6' Immediately".]

I finally saw "Big Hero 6" with a group of some close girlfriends of mine. I'm a huge Disney fan to begin with, but a movie really hasn't pulled on my heartstrings quite like this one has. Nor have I pulled for the main character so much. Let's just say that in short, I think it deserved its Oscar win.

"Big Hero 6" takes place in the absolutely adorable San Fransokyo (San Fran with a significant Tokyo influence), and it revolves around the quest of Hiro Hamada, a brilliant teenager who wants to get to the bottom of a mystery that caused a huge tragedy in his life. Along the way, he has help from his brother Tadashi's healthcare robot Baymax and several college friends from the technological university he just enrolled into. This is literally all I can say about the plot without spoiling anything.

"Big Hero 6" deals with pretty heavy subject matter - death of a loved one - but it deals with it in a way that I think can help others. There's a strong push towards the importance of reaching out to others when you need help, and that it's okay to work through your emotions in times of need. Also, there's the lesson that the toughest of problems can be solved by looking at them from a different angle.

Let's talk about this for a second: wouldn't it make sense to relate that "different angle" to looking at things and dealing with problems with God's help?

Everyone is going to have their struggles. This world is not perfect, and because of a fallen world, we're going to deal with not-so-pleasant things. However, God is there to help, even when we think "we've got this," or we think that we know exactly how to solve the problem before us.

It's nice to see a message like that in candy colors and with a Marvel and Disney touch.

Have y'all seen "Big Hero 6" yet? What did you think of it?

Anticipated Movie Releases

Let's talk movies, y'all. :)

I've been seeing trailers pop up all over the place over the last few months, from theater screens with friends to YouTube links. Some I'm slightly skeptical about, but others, I'm SO pumped for. In this post, I want to talk about the latter.

Jupiter Ascending

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You know those action movies that just look really cool? This seems to be one of those movies. I have a soft spot for sci-fi/adventure stories, and this one actually looks like it'll pretty good. The cast also looks good, too (Eddie Redmayne is currently one of my favorite actors right now, too...it'll be interesting to see how he plays the villain).

Seventh Son

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I also have a soft spot for medieval fantasy. This one looks excellent already, and the fact that it's a book-to-movie adaptation is exciting, too (even though it's gone through significant changes, like aging up the protagonist, a title change, and other such things). It almost reminds me of "Stardust".

The Fantastic Four

I had to plug in the trailer. It's that good.

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS, Y'ALL. I actually didn't mind the first version of this movie, but I am so pumped to see how the reboot comes together. Plus, I'm excited to see how everyone being younger (around mid-20s, I'm wildly guessing) affects the story, too. AND the cast looks fabulous already!

Really, the best part of this trailer is that you see hints of things that pass by in seconds: the hint of the flash of the Human Torch, the hint what happens in the fateful science experiment/radiation exposure, the hint of Thing arising from rubble, and the hint of Mr. Fantastic's elastic arm outstretched. Very cool.

What movies are you excited for this year?