Tangled

If you are familiar with the Rapunzel story and love that fairy tale, then you might enjoy this movie, as this is base on that story, but Walt Disney studios made a lot of changes to it.

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The story began with a narration of drop of sunlight falling to the ground and became a flower, legend has it that it heals all kinds of sickness, however a witch named Gothel found it and kept it for her own selfish gain. That when she sings a certain song to the flower it restores her youth.

One day, the Queen who was pregnant became ill, desperate to save her, the Kingdom looked for the magical flower in order to save the Queen. As Gothel was using the flower she heard the guards approached, and as she was in a hurry to leave, the flower's cover was knocked over, leaving it expose and was found by the King's guards, they took the flower and fed it to the Queen, who was healed and gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Rapunzel. Gothel sneaked in the castle to take a look at the baby, seeing that the baby's golden hair she recognized it as the flower's magic. She cut a handful of the baby's hair to bring it with her, but the hair would turn brown and lose it's magic. Wanting the magic badly, she stole the baby and hid her in her tower, keeping the magic all to herself and raising the baby as her own.

And so the King and Queen continue to lit a lantern every year on her birthday, letting it float to the sky with a hope that their baby can see it and return.

Fast forward eighteen years later, we see 3 thieves stealing the missing Princess tiara from the castle, as they were being chaste, Rapunzel was at the same time asking Gothel's permission that she be allowed to go outside to find out about the floating light which she saw every year on her birthday. But Gothel refused reminding her of the bad people outside who would recognize the magic in her hair and take it from her. She then left Rapunzel to do some errands.

Back to the 3 thieves, they were beginning to lose the King's soldier, however Maximus, the horse of the Captain of the Guards was determined not to let them go. Flynn one of the thieves was planning to steal the tiara from his partners and he succeeded when he left them behind to be captured and he hid to the tower. Unknown to him that it was Rapunzel's tower.

What will be Flynn's role in Rapunzel's life? Will she be able to see what the lights is really about?

Released on 2010 by Walt Disney
Directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Won in Animation category in the National Movie Awards



Tangle Soundtrack can be found in St. Lyrics with lyrics

Below is the incantation being song to start the magic:



Lyrics | Mandy Moore - Healing Incantation lyrics

Official site can be viewed at Disney site.


Observation:
One of the best scene's in this movie is the one when they went out on a boat to watch the lanterns being released. This is one of the best ideas to do on a birthday release a lot of floating lanterns or any special events, or you can do this on Christmas or New Year.

I've been looking for some instructional videos on how to do this, but so far this is what I found:



Hope you have a fun filled holiday releasing this lanterns!

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Waltz with Bashir (ואלס עם באשיר‎)

A documentary anime about the Massacre in Lebanon in the Year 1982.

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A dog suddenly appears on the screen, as it runs, it was slowly joined by other dogs, they ran through a bunch of people but did not harm them, it was running with a purpose, then the dogs stopped infront of a white building, where they were angrily looking up to a window where a person appeared, and saw them.

A person was narrating that story, as it was his dream, he was narrating it to his friend who was a filmmaker, the exact same person who made this anime. This is their story.

Released on 2008 by Sony Pictures Classic
Directed by Ari Folman
Won Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language





Soundtrack of Waltz with Bashir can be found at IMDb.


It has always made me sad to think a certain group of people would try and erase a group of race, I thought when the Nazi war was over this would not happen again, coz I believe that the human race would have learned their lesson, but I was wrong, and to think this still happens to day. It seems humanity as a whole is still greedy, too self centered and lesson not learned.

I wonder when will human beings stop this kind of act?

Here is a few list of the Genocide that occured-Genocide in History.

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Princess Arete (アリーテ姫)

A Princess who was confined in the castle's tower to wait the right Prince for her, asked that the suitor with the most interesting magical item to offer will be the one who can have the princess hand in marriage. During the long wait, unknown to the King and guards, the Princess was sneaking in and out the castle using the secret passages. One day, as Princess Arete was sneaking back in the castle, she did not noticed that a person was following her and manage to get in the castle also.

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That night, the mysterious person gave the Princess a visit, she was a witch who came to the kingdom to look for her missing magical item, but Princess Arete told her she hasn't seen it. So she left her alone.

The next day a sorcerer came to the kingdom to asked for the Princess hand in marriage, off course the advisers didn't want this, but they found the Princess missing, and the soldiers found her at the gate, as she was carrying the book. As she was reprimanded by the King, she refused to go back to the tower, and walked out, but the sorcerer stop her, and transformed her to a obedient Princess. The advisers and King saw this and decided to accept the sorcerers request and marry her to him.

During the wedding preparation, the witch disguise herself as one of the Princess maid in waiting, told her that the sorcerer was one from her land, since she is too weak to help her, the witch gave her a magical ring to aid her to save herself and left. As she is still under the sorcerers magic, she has no will of her own to defy the sorcerer. How can she save herself? Will she be able to get out of the sorcerer's magic?

Released on 2001 by Studio 4 degrees C
Directed by Sunao Katabuchi
Awarded for excellence in New Century Tokyo Intl Anime Fair 21





Soundtrack and lyrics can be found at Anime Lyrics.
Translation for the lyrics on Kin'iro No Tsubasa can be found at painters-colic site.
Wallpaper can be downloaded here.


Magical items are so coveted not only in the movies but so much more in games, as they would give you the needed leverage to win the game. They are thousand of magical items mentioned in movies, tv and games that when you search for magical items online you'd be overwhelm with the results you get.

This made me wonder, which is preferable? Magical items or spells?

While looking for some magic trick, I found this interesting clip:

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Millennium Actress (千年女優)

This narrates about a life of an actress. Though the story is a bit dragging in the middle, it has a good wrap up of the story.

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A director named Genya Tachibana is doing a documentary of the life of Chiyoko Fujiwara, who was a famous actress during her time.  He found her in a remote place, far from any contact with the outside world. Before they could start the interview a mild earthquake occurred and Chiyoko thought it was a good way to start the interviewed as she was born after an earthquake.

Then a director found her and tried to ask for her mother's permission to have her in his film which will be shooting in Manchuria. But her mother refused, and she ran out, while outside she took out her frustrations by throwing snowballs at the wall.  Then as she left the spot, she met a man who was running away from the law enforcement, and surprisingly she helped him hide from the authorities. Then as they were talking one night, they talked about the canvass he was carrying, and he talked to her about his dream as to where to finish the drawing, then he showed her a key, which to him is the key of important things. And asked her if can guess what the important things were, and she asked him if she can think about it for the night, that they will see each other again tomorrow. However the following day, it seems the man's hiding place was found out, Chiyoko saw the key, she picked it up, and when she was told that he manage to escape, and was at the train station, she quickly ran, hoping to catch the man and give back the key to him. Unfortunately she didn't made it, the train left without her. That was the reason why she insisted to her mother that she be allowed to act and go to Manchuria, as the man previously told her that his friends was there fighting. Hoping to be able to return the key to the mysterious man.

Released on 2001 by Studio Madhouse
Directed by Satoshi Kon
Awarded with the Grand Prize in Japan Agency of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival, tied with Spirited Away and a few more awards.





Soundtrack title listing of the movie is found at teslakite site.
Lyrics for Rotation the ending theme is found at anime lyrics site.


The story started out ok, as it keeps you interested as to who this actress is, but as it gets to the middle, it gets a little boring, but finally picks up at the end. However it will make you feel a little depressed afterwards, as you see the twist in the story.

This anime is the last of Mr .Satoshi Kon's work which he completed before passing away.  Below is a short clip about Mr. Kon.




And some readings on his interview: midnight eye site

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Toy Story 3

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The film began with a playback of some of Andy's playtime with his toys as a kid. But the present time shows that he is all grown up and will be going off to college, and his Mom is asking him what his going to do with his toys. As he was very fond of them, he does not wish to part with his toys and decide to 
place them in a trash bag and keep them in the attic, unfortunately, when he left the trash bag at the door of his room, his mom thought they were to be thrown out, and decided to give the toys to a daycare.

The toys thinking they were in a good place where kids will again play with them, realize that they were given to the kids who plays rough with their toys. Finally wanting to get out of the day care center they device a escape plan however they soon realize that the place was heavily guarded by the big cuddly bear named Lotso and his goons. Will they ever get out? And find a new home?

Released on 2010 by Disney-Pixar
Directed by Lee Unkrich
Received numerous awards, including Best Animated Feature in the Academy Awards




Toy Story 3 OST can be viewed on cduniverse.com site.
If you wish to sing along with your favorite soundtrack, lyrics can be found at metrolyrics.com site.
Wallpapers can be found at EntertainmentWallpaper.

Official site of Toy Story is at Disney.

Ok, so here's my thought on the movie, it is true that as we grow up we outgrow our toys, though sometimes there is a particular toy that would stand out and we would keep that and not let go. I have one I kept, it was a Japanese toy from one of the Japan Expo my father brought home, it was a cute blue chubby thing, with a brush as it's feet, so when you turn it on, it will sweep the floor as the toy moved around the house. Really nice and cute, unfortunately during the time we move to a different house it got lost.

So what do most people do with their toys anyways? Here's a site that answers just that: Miss Bankrupt

Anyways, I found a site related to toys, but most toys registered here I think are from the US. Take a look at the long list of toys categorized per year.  Thisoldtoy site.

And a site for Tonka toys.

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Sword of the Stranger(ストレンヂア 無皇刃譚)

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This is definitely a samurai film, the anime timeline is Sengoku Era.

A prophecy, made a life of a little boy in danger,  chased by the government, he met a stranger while hiding, and lucky for him that he did as the Ming soldiers found out his hiding place, and he needed someone to defend him from the skilled swords men.

How is the boy linked to the prophecy? Who is the stranger? And will he helped him?

The motion of the characters are really fluid, try not to blink or you might just miss out on some moves,  but be warned there is a lot of blood in this anime. Definitely not for the kids.

Released on 2007 by Bones
Directed by Masahiro Ando
Nominated in numerous events, but won Best Animated feature in Brazil at FANTASPOA




Soundtrack of this movie is really appropriate to the scenes and it will quicken your heart to the emotion of the action in the film.

OST titles can be found at Anime-OST site.
Soundtrack can be found in cdjapan site and you can listen to it online also.

Official site can be found at Bandai.

Breathtaking scenery can also be found in this movie.

It's like looking at a painting sometimes.


It is sad that the Samurai's no longer exist in our age, though there are descendants but the skill sets will never be the same, I hope the technique was passed on from generation to generation.

As I was doing research on this, found this very interesting video:




Unbelievable skills, wonder if coupled with a another swordsman, will they show us a good technique like in the anime movies?

If you like to further view more of this man's skill. Click on this link: Syuushinryuu

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The Borrower Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ)

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This film is based on the book The Borrowers by Mary Norton a British writer.

A young boy was taken in by his Aunt due to his heart condition, he was to stay with his aunt till the operation can take place, to make sure he is well taken care of. As his mother was very busy at work. On the first day of his arrival in his Aunt's place he noticed the cat was curious about something, but before the cat could find out, a crow dive in and peck him. So made the cat leave his interest. Sho, the young boy decided to take a look at the bushes where the cat has left, and there he saw something amazing - a small girl, but it was too quick that he wasn't sure. Finally being called by his Aunt, Sho left the spot.

The little girl' name is Arriety, she finally peek out and ran to the safety of her home, she lives beneath Sho's Aunt house with her family, and they borrow food supplies among other things from Sho's Aunt without letting them know, since they only take a little.

That same day, Arriety was scheduled to go out with her father to do her first borrowing from the humans. Everything went well, until they arrive in the boys room to get some tissue, on the process of getting the tissue, Arriety suddenly saw that the boy's eyes were open, and panicked a little, thinking that the boy has saw her, she cautiously left the place, however the boy suddenly spoke and asked her, if she was the one he saw in the garden? Which alarmed her, coz this would mean she and her family will have to move.

Released on 2010 by Studio Ghibli
Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Won the Animation of the Year Award at the 34th Japan Academy Prize




Lyrics for the Arrietty OST:
Arrietty soundtrack for Disney is Around Us by Jonsi, lyrics is available at songlyrics.com

For the Japanese anime soundtrack Arrietty's song, lyrics is available at lyrics wikia. You can view the soundtrack listing at the iTunes store.

Arrietty Song English -lyrics

Wallpaper

As usual the details on the films of studio ghibli are outstanding, everything was painstakingly drawn. That you'd practically want to live there.

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Isn't that a very nice bedroom? Everything is soo green, it's like living in a forest right?
The motion of each character moves smoothly, even though CGI films are a joy to watch, the way the people draws at studio ghibli is still fascinating.

Anyways, as concerning little people, we are always fascinated with the idea of such existence, and there are a lot of anime out there that deals with this subject also, and one of my current favorites is Arthur and the Invisibles. Here's a site dedicated to little people:

Home of the Little People - just a dictionary on little peoples.
The Little People Project - from slinkachu, famous for installing tiny figures on the streets of London, below is a sample clip, quite fascinating and entertaining. I would recommend you visit the sites, the images are quite a treat.

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King of Thorn (いばらの王)

A journey in the dream state that became a reality.

In the year 2012, December 12, a virus called Medusa was spreading on earth, it will infect a human being for a time and when incubation period ends, it will start to petrify the host after 12 hours, there is no known cure and death is certain for those who are infected.

In order to save humanity an organization know as the Venus Gate created a temporary solution, they found that if an individual was put in sleep and stored in a cool place it will delay the process of the virus, however they could only accommodate 160 people in their cold sleep capsule center, those who were chosen were given an invitation. Chosen individuals was put to sleep for a 100 days, hoping this will be enough time to find a solution to the virus.

So the story begins.....


Released on 2010 by Sunrise
Directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama
Nominated in the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Awards






King of Thorn OST is unavailable as there was no soundtrack release for it. However some fan of the anime has painstakingly reconstructed the soundtrack, below are what I have found so far:




Wallpapers for this movie can be found at animepaper.net.

The only known soundtrack for this movie was Edge of this World by MISIA.
Warning: Below is the Ending of the movie, please do not see it if you do not wish for spoilers.





Lyrics of the ending theme of the movie:

 Misia on xtralyrics.com

The story kinda reminds me of those 39 days movie, where a virus got out of the lab and infected the entire earth, but the twist in the story is very unique and original, as usual, anime cartoon can leave you at the edge of your seat, and the storyline will definitely keep you watching.

This movie is base on a Manga by the way, of the same title. If you are interested, you can view the Manga at mangafox.com

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Cars 2

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Shiny cars can still dazzle you in this movie and the espionage theme only makes it more exciting.

The film opens with a boat on a sea, carrying a car named Finn, which we later see is a British secret agent. He secretly boards an oil rig in the middle of the ocean, owned by Professor Zundapp. To spy on something which is being discussed on board, while taking a closer look, he was discovered and a chase ensues to capture him, yet he manage to escape with the aid of his gadgets.

Back in Radiator Springs, we see Lightning McQueen is back to reunite with his friends and girlfriend. Unfortunately it was cut short with Francesco's challenge, a formula one race car, he wasn't suppose to take the challenge but Mater agitated the situation, a little sad that he had to say goodbye so soon, however  his girlfriend urge him to bring Mater much to his dismay. Mater on the other hand was totally excited about it.

At the Grand Prix Welcome party, while Mater was using the comfort room,  Redline one of Finn's contact was also on the same location was cornered by Prof. Zundapp's men, they were demanding that he hand over the images he had gotten, which was vital to Finn's mission. Unwilling to give it to the henchmens, a fight broke, and Mater accidentally barges in on them. Redline knowing he was cornered, passes the files to Mater without him knowing it. When Mater left the bathroom he was met by Holley (Finn's assistant), who mistook him as the agent Finn was looking for. And told him to wait for further instructions for the next rendevzous.

Tokyo was the first location for the race to take place, Lightning McQueen was already ahead of Francesco, when Holly contacted Mater to met up, while following Holly's direction, Mater has forgotten that he has his headset on which McQueen can hear. So while talking to Holly, McQueen followed Mater's directions and lost the race. This made McQueen really mad and he scolded Mater about it. Mater feeling low decided to go back home, and was picked up by Finn and got recruited in the mission.

Meanwhile it was also shown that during the Tokyo race, Prof. Zundapp's men was pointing a camera on some of the racing car, and blowing them up in the process.

What is Finn's mission has to do with Prof. Zundapp? And is McQueen in any danger from them? Can Mater really help Finn's mission?

Released on 2011 by Disney-Pixar
Directed by John Lasseter
This was a box office hit, but did not do well with the critics, and so far is the first low rating review of Pixar.




Cars 2 Soundtrack list can be found at soundtrack-movie.com site with a quick interview of the composer.
To listen to some samples of the soundtrack go to Amazon.com.
Wallpapers can be downloaded at rjun.com site.


The film story focus more on Mater than it is on McQueen, as the main story deals with espionage and not on the race, but not to be totally disappointed,  there are still some good views on the race as the story intertwines with it. What I love about this film also is the zoom out view of the locations, take a look at some of the graphics below:

The Ocean view

A view on the Tokyo location for the Grand Prix

The Tokyo Int'l Airport

Another race track

details, details, and it's a feast on the eyes, definitely worth it watching in the big screen and 3D.

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Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

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This is one of the best films in the 80's, a combination of live and animation, I remember seeing the trailer for the first time and marking my calendar to watch it.

Who framed Roger rabbit is off course about Roger rabbit, who got framed for killing Acme, who owns Toontown and Acme Corporation, Toontown is where all of the toons live.

Private detective Eddie Valiant was hired to investigate on the case. However Eddie does not like toons, as his brother was killed by one earlier in the story, but he is pressured to finish the investigation before midnight, or Toontown will be sold to Cloverleaf Industries. With Eddie's reserve, will they be able to find the culprit? And save Toontown?

Released on 1988 and distributed by Touchstone Pictures
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Won 3 Academy Awards and nominated in the Globe awards




Who Framed Roger Rabbit Soundtrack title list in iTunes store.
Lyrics for the song - Why Don't You Do It Right is available at Lyrics Mania
Wallpapers can be found at 1zoom.

There was a controversy on this film that there was some subliminal drawings, which you won't notice if you look closely.  Click on Snopes.com to view the controversy.

And would you believe it, that there is actually a dance step created because of this film.





This film has some interesting background pictures if you take the time to look closely, a lot of disney characters can be seen interacting as if it was a daily normal activity in their life. Kind of like a behind the scence look. Which added to the entertainment of the film.

I am really unsure if this will fall under the category of "anime" but decided to post it. As I am also fond of live and animation merging together in one film. Going back to purely anime on the next post.

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Blood: The Last Vampire

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A girl named Saya is commissioned by a secret group of the Government to go after creatures called chiropterans. In the film her assignment was to hunt down  the 2 chiropterans spotted near the military air base, since they were exactly spotted in the nearby school, she was to pose as a Japanese student in that school, and seek the chiropterans out and eliminate them.

Released on 2000 by Production I.G.
Directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Received numerous awards, like the Special Prize in the akasaki Film Festival







Blood Soundtrack titles is available at anime-drift.
Lyrics for the album can be found at LyricsZoo.
Wallpapers found at coolbuddy.


This anime is so popular that it has another film but this time around it was a live film, and was played by the beautiful Gianna Jun. I actually watched the live film before watching the anime, though both has a different twist in the story,  the anime film keeps you at the edge of your seat, like any other live film. And the scene's were drawn like it was real.

Below is the trailer for the live film:





Vampires are not part of the Japanese folklore, but I think this is due to the western influence. What I have found so far in my research, the nearest Japanese folklore for vampire is their "kappa", which is known to suck blood but from animals and not human beings. For further reading click on Kappa.

Below is a series I found for such creatures:

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Gundam Seed Destiny: Special Edition I (The Broken World)(機動戦士ガンダムSEED DESTINY スペシャルエディション)

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Gundam is very famous for it's series, and they have made a movie based on that series though there is a summary at the beginning of the movie as to the status of the story and it's characters, I would highly suggest to see the series first or read some facts on the Gundam series to fully enjoy the movie. Though the Special Edition is meant to cover the episodes of the series, it has some altered portions in it.

The movie starts off with the summary of the previous war between the ORB and PLANT, and that a treaty was already formed for a peaceful co-habitation. Unfortunately 3 Gundam suit, equip with the latest features was stolen from the PLANT base by the Blue Cosmos, considered as a group of terrorist. Which now started another chaos and unfortunately unknown to the two sides(ORB and PLANT), it seems that the terrorist plan was successfully executed. Now history is about to repeat itself due to this. Will they be able to save their treaty? Or will the all too familiar war totally broke loose this time around?

Released on 2006 by Sunrise Studio
Directed by Mitsuo Fukuda
The Gundam Seed series has won some award, but the film version did not.
However it is still popular among anime lovers.





Gundam Seed SE Soundtrack  can be viewed at wikipedia, kindly scroll to the appropriate section for Special Edition .

Result by Nami Tamaki  - lyrics and translation

Wallpapers available at tatto design.


Best quotes from this movie:
Something has taken root,and began to grow, whether it's good or bad I still dont know yet, but since time stops  for no one, I have no choice but to move forward.Because afterall that is the whole point of being alive.  - Athrun zala

The best intentions of a great man can often lead them to make great mistakes, in addition statement by such men can easily be taken out of context by certain people, listeners with an agenda can interpret these words to suit their own purpose.


....keep that in mind....
- Chairman Gilbert Dullindal

Even an event that occurs only once can be interpreted in many different ways, the problem isn't how you got there, but what happens after that, and eventually that will lead to something else altogether, a good tree cannot grow from a bad seed, yet when you look at people in general, they just don't think of themselves as being bad seeds.
-Athrun zala


Observation:
As usual I love their mobile suits, wonder when we can get to try out one of those. Below are some facts I have found so far:

1. The dialogues in this film hold some truth in it and is applicable to us in reality, what happens to the individuals in this film happened to someone also, how we react to it, how we handle the situation can either make things worse or better.

2.The Isuzu VX2 is actually inspired by one of the Gundam mobile suit.

3. Japanese is off course already trying to make make such a mobile unit, do please take time to read the Scientific America article on exoskeleton suits.

Latest news: Exoskeleton available for the disabled in London

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My Neighbor The Yamadas (ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん)

This anime is about the daily activity a family encounters, the relationships being formed and the realities that goes along with it. But it is presented in a funny way, that would made you watch it to the end. The anime is presented in a different way, the scenario in a scene is not that complete or detailed, it's like watching a draft drawing, it gives a feel of watching a painting in a gallery moving, it is quite pleasing to the eyes. And the funny dialogues will keep you interested in the movie.

Released on 1999 by Studio Ghibli
Directed by Isao Takahata
Got 1 award only, the Excellence Award for animation in the Japan Media Arts Festival 1999





Soundtrack listing is available at wikipedia.
Wallpapers can be found at animepaper.
There's a limited source in the net for this anime, will try to dig some more, and if I found some, will post it here.

Below are behind the scenes for the dub in english I found:





Though the story is more grounded in the Japanese family, but you will see situations they have are almost universal for all families, we do go through what the film shows, and it does makes me realize that though we are from different backgrounds, nationalities and such, there is always one common thing in all of us. The love of the family is very important in each one of us.

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A Bug's Life

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A story of an ant named Flick who believes that he can improve the life of his colony through his inventions yet this ideals was not shared by his fellow ants.  And consider him as a annoying part of the colony. Unfortunately this was not their only problem, it seems that they are being troubled by a group of grasshopper lead by Hopper, as every year they would visit the colony to demand huge amounts of food from them.

As they were gathering the foods for their offering to Hopper's group, Flick was showing off his latest invention, unfortunately as he was doing a demo, he accidentaly topples over the food that they stored for the grasshoppers, and all of it went to the bottom of the pond. Now the whole colony was mad at Flick, as there was not much time to gather the same amount of food. Flick suggested that they hire bigger bugs to fight off Hopper's group, though no one shared this idea, the Queen thought it was a good idea to send Flick to find these  bugs he thinks can save them, so they can gather the food in peace.

Finally arriving to a bug city, Flick met what he thought was the perfect group of bugs that would save his colony, unknown to him that they were actually circus performers. And the circus bugs thought he was a talent agent looking for some show. Will they be able to save the colony?

Release on 1998 by Pixar Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Directed by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton
Won numerous awards




A Bug's Life soundtrack listing is available at CD Universe with sample music.
Lyrics for this soundtrack can be found at LyricsMania.
Listen to the music at Yea.FM.
Lots of wallpaper to choose from at WallpaperBase.

Observation:
The fist time I saw this, I was mesmerized by the detail and clarity that went into this film, it was impressive. And so I became a fan of Pixar studios, it was one of those times when you know that films coming out from this group will be something worth watching in the big screen.

Click here to go to the official site.

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Toy Story

It's a story about the cowboy toy, named Woody who was the most favorite of Andy Davis, and so he is considered as the leader of the toys that belongs to Andy. Until one day, Andy was given a space ranger toy named Buzz lightyear, and it seems the this new toy is now Andy's favorite. One problem however, Buzz thinks his real.

While preparing to go to a party, Andy wanted to bring Buzz, so Woody work up a plan to hide Buzz so Andy will take him, unfortunately Buzz was accidentally pushed out the window. And so Andy took Woody instead. Buzz seeing that he was left behind ran after them, and caught up with Woody at the gas station, when Buzz confronted Woody both toys started to fight, and they got left behind by Andy's car. Now they need each other to get to get back to Andy, Woody took it as a chance to fool Buzz and so told him that they must get to where Andy was going so he can go home to his planet, which made Buzz eager to go. With each other's help they manage to arrive to the place were Andy was going, Buzz seeing a lot of space decorations thought one of the games was his spaceship. And wanted to board it, Woody tried to stop him, but they were taken by Sid, Andy's neighbor, who was known for taking toys apart and making them into something else. Will the two ever make it back to Andy safely? Or be disassembled forever?

Released on 1995 by Pixar Studios
Directed by John Lasseter
Won numerous awards






Toy Story soundtrack can be viewed at wikipedia.
Lyrics can be found here.




Lyrics | Newman, Randy - You’ve Got a Friend in Me lyrics


This is the first release of Pixar before it was bought by Disney, and the first computer animated film. This film did well and as well as it's merchandise, because of this film, everyone was interested in the technology used for this animation, not only the film industry, but in the gaming world, IT world, hardware makers and so on. It's influence was vast. This is Mr. Job's second company he made aside from Next, after he was voted out of Apple a few years back, and ironically this made him more famous than when he was in Apple.

Unfortunately Mr. Steve Jobs passed away last Oct 5, 2011 and the world morn the passing of this brilliant man. Below is one of his powerful speech. Do please take the time to view it.



Goodbye Steve Jobs, you will surely be missed.
"To Infinity and Beyond" - Buzz lightyear

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Akira (アキラ)

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The story begins with what seems like a nuclear blast in Tokyo, after a number of years later a Neo Tokyo arises but peace and order was barely maintained. Then the following events took place at the same time:

1. a group of gangsters running the roads to fight off each other
2. a specimen from the military is being chased along the streets
3. demonstrations was breaking out in the streets

The three events finally met up, when the the specimen arrive at the scene of the demonstration and releasing it's power, scattered the people to avoid the falling debris from the mirrors on the buildings. Also so not to be caught by the military. This created the needed diversion to again ran away. Meanwhile the group of gangsters running around the city, was still trying to kill each other off, one of the bikers named Tetsuo almost ran over the specimen who's name is Takashi. And it seems the encounter jagged Tetsuo's psychic powers. So he was also taken by the military much to the objections of his friends especially Kaneda, his childhood buddy.

What exactly are the military doing to this speciments? And what will happen to Tetsuo?

Released on 1988 by TMS Entertaintment and distributed by Toho
Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo
Came out in the Times Magazine in the list of Top 5 Anime




Akira Soundtrack title list is available at wikipedia.org
To listen to some samples of the soundtrack, click here.
Lyrics can be found at Nomorelyrics.

There's an unofficial website dedicated to the film and the manga, at akira2019.com

Observation:
Though the story is quite interesting about psychic abilities and friendship, but the psychic patterns was not explained much. Maybe the manga is much better? I am unsure as I haven't read the manga yet.

As usual psychic abilities are tied with military experimentation to harness it's possible powers. It seems to be a common plot for me. The only thing that kept me watching about it was my curiosity for "Akira".

I wonder does human beings really have the capability of such skills?

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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女)

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A story about a young teen age girl who got the skill to leapt through time. She knew about it when she met an accident and was about to die. During that time she somehow manage to go back a few minutes before the incident and manage to dodge the accident. She was quite surprise and went to her Aunt to discuss about it, which her Aunt deduce that she could leapt through time.

Finally figuring out how to do it again, she started to redo her mistakes in school, ace the exams, go back in time to enjoy a karaoke, or enjoy a dinner again. When she went back to her Aunt, she was warned that while she was having fun someone might be suffering from what she has changed in time. And true enough the consequences started manifesting itself. She  tried to correct this by again going back in time. Then one day she found a tattoo on her arm, and the number change each time she made a leap, which meant her time leap was numbered.

One day after hooking up her bestfriend, Kosuke with a girl, she almost figure out how she got the ability to time leap, when Kosuke text her that he was borrowing her bike to bring his girlfriend home. Then realizing that the bike's brakes was damage, she ran after Kosuke. Arriving at the train crossing, Kosuke was no where in sight, thinking that Kosuke had cross safely, talked to her bestfriend Chiaki over the celphone. During the course of the conversation Chiaki asked her if she could time leap. Not wanting to answer his question, she used her last time leapt to avoid the question, only to realize that Kosuke has yet to cross the train tracks after her conversation with Chiaki. How can she save Kosuke now?

Release on 2006 by Madhouse and distributed internationally by Bandai
Directed by Mamoru Hosada
Won a lot of awards




The Girl Who Leapt Through Time OST title listing can be found at AvaxHome.
To listen online for some sample go to timeleapost.
Lyrics for the following songs:

• Kawaranai Mono - lyrics and translation
• Garnet (ガーネット) - lyrics and translation

Wallpapers Downloads can be found at:

• TheOtaku.com
• Wallpaper Abyss

Observation:
The choices we make indeed makes a difference, even in the everyday life of a teenager, how she handles school, her friendship and relationship, there is a love story in this movie though I have not mention in the summary above, so not to spoil your viewing pleasure, yet it's quite touching to see and so true, that if we have the choice to undo the things we mistakenly did in the past and especially for the one we love, we would do it.

Anyways, time travel has always been a coveted ability human wishes for a number of reasons, and if you search the internet about it, the articles and resources are vast, here's a few example.





Howstuffworks on time travel.

So are you also interested to time travel?

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Cars

Love the way how the Cars shine in this movie, I mean the sleek look of the cars and the fast pace speed in the race track.

This movie is definitely for the little boys.

Lightning McQueen a racing car who wishes to win the Piston Cup, so he can get better sponsorship and the lime light off course. Was left behind while travelling towards California where the location of the race will be held. He woke up in the middle of the road, and seeing his rig already far off the road, tried to catch up with it. While running after his rig, he accidentally damages the road at Radiator Town spring, which got him impounded and sentence to repave the road, unfortunately it was going to take more than a day. Will he be able to reach the race in time? And win it?

Released on 2006 by Disney-Pixar Studio
Directed by John Lasseter
Won a lot of awards including the Golden Globe.





Cars Soundtrack or OST listing can be found at wikipedia.
Lyrics can be found at allthelyrics.com
Sample of the soundtrack can be viewed on artistdirect.com
And you can sing along to a minus one at disney.go.com

Below is the main song of the film.




Wallpaper resources are avaialble at:
joblo.com
freewallpapers.to


Notes:
This is the first release of  Pixar after the acquisition of Disney, Pixar was previously owned by Steve Jobs, the guy who co founded Apple. Since Disney bought Pixar, Steve has been given one of it's largest shares in the company.

This movie also cash in a lot on it's merchandise. And is one of the bestselling items of Disney.

There is a sequel on this, which was released just this June 2011, but the sequel did not do well with the critics, it was the first film from Pixar that got a bad review.

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Beauty and the Beast

A timeless tale that is more enjoyable to watch with Disney's version of this story.

If you are a hopeless romantic, you wouldn't want to miss this one. Disney has inserted some very good storytelling in this movie. You would want to see it time and time again.

Soundtrack in this movie is also superb. Really warms your heart to the story.

If you are unfamiliar with the story, here it is:
A young prince cursed by a witch due to his attitude towards her, that he was given a magical rose, that will bloom till his 21st birthday, by then he must find someone who he can love and who will love him back inspite of his looks in order to break the spell, or remain a beast forever.

After how many years has passed an old man lost in the forest stumbled upon his castle, the old man was given shelter but when he was about to go home he picked a rose in the garden, which made the Beast mad, and was imprisoned. His horse manage to escape and return to the old man's cottage where his daughter Belle, was waiting for him. Distraught to see that her father is gone, she rode the horse back to the castle. Where she asked the Beast to let her father go in exchange, she will remain in his place. And here is where their romance started.

As the magical rose was nearing it's expiration date, Beast arrange a special evening for the two of them, so he can propose to her. But when he asked her if  she was happy with him, she revealed that she misses her father. Giving her the enchanted mirror it was revealed that her father is out tirelessly looking for her. Shocked, she requested the Beast to allow her to go to the old men. Since the Beast is already in love with her, he couldn't deny her request, knowing full well his time is almost up.

Belle, upon reaching her father, took him home and assured her father that she was treated very well by the beast. Unfortunately a former suitor named Gaston whom Belle turned down before, posted a friend to inform him once she is back. This person immediately informed Gaston, and he stormed her house. Belle's father hoping to save her daughter from the Beast, told everyone about the Beast. And Gaston used this to blackmail Belle and enrage the town people to kill the Beast.

Now the town's people stormed the castle where the Beast resides and during the battle, the Beast was fatally wounded.  Belle rushing to his side, revealed her feelings for him just as the last petal fell from the stem. And the Beast was turned back to a human being.

First animated movie to be nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and won.
Also garnered the Globe awards and many more.
Released in 1991 by Walt Disney pictures
Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise





Beauty and the Beast Movie Sountrack can be found at wikipedia.org
To listen to some of the music.
Lyrics for the soundtrack can be found at fpx.de
Wallpapers are available at free-extras.com



Lyrics | Belle - Bonjour lyrics



What is the most amazing part about this movie is the ballroom dance between Beauty and the Beast, as they move the view of the camera to a 360 degrees sweep of the ballroom giving you a feel of a 3D effect, while focusing to the two figures. An impressive view and very intricate details.

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Wall-E

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Earth is overrun with garbage. No living thing can be seen, and only 1 remaining robot was functioning to continue with the clean up. Wall-E.

But unlike the other Wall-E's robots, this remaining Wall-E robot has learned to fix itself, adjust and adapt to the place in order to survive, he is quite curios about the garbage he is cleaning up and would collect trinkets he finds interesting. At one time he found a small plant under the pile of garbage and collected it.

The following day a space ship from space arrive and left another robot, it was from the human beings. Sending another robot to check if it is already safe for them to return and settle back on earth. Wall-E befriended this robot, her name is Eve, when Wall-E showed her the plant, she suddenly took the plant and went on sleep mode. Wall-E beside himself tried many ways to wake up Eve to no avail. Then one day the space ship that place Eve on Earth was back to collect her. Wall-E not wanting to let go of her hitch a ride and tried to be with Eve.

A CG animation from Pixar
Released on 2008
Won numerous awards

Resources found on the net:
Wall-E Movie Soundtrack title can be found at Wikipedia.
For the lyrics on the following songs:

• Put on your Sunday Clothes
• La Vien En Rose
• It Only Takes A Moment

For Wallpaper resources go to EntertainmentWallpaper.com






Lyrics | Peter Gabriel - Down to Earth lyrics

And a few more funny promotions for Wall-E:





Observation:
1. Garbage is one of our major problems, and the way we dispose of  it, somehow this movie shows a small truth about our world.

2. Cockroach, of all the animals in this world, this one is definitely very hard to get rid off, they can even survive even in radiation contaminated areas.  So I guess it was only appropriate that Wall-E's pet is this one.
  Click on the link for some facts on the Cockroach: Softpedia and Roachcom.net

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Ratatouille

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A story about Remy, a rat who has a special skill, his nose can smell a good food from bad ones. And because of this he does not want to eat garbage or pick up food from any garbage thrown by humans, he wants to learn how to cook. As inspired by the TV host he is always watching during the afternoons. However his father is against this, as he is a rat and he should not be picky about what he eats, and discourages this dreams of his to become a chef. A string of unfortunate events led him to get a chance to be a cook but in disguise. How long can this secret be hidden?


This movie garnered awards.
Release on 2007 by Disney Pixar
Directed by Brad Bird






Ratatouille movie soundtrack title list can be found at wikipedia (click on Music in the table of contents).
To listen to some sample of the soundtrack.
A lyrics to go along with, Le Festin
Here are some resources to download wallpapers on your PC:
fanpop
bestgames wallpaper


Observation:
It would be nice to taste some of Remy's cooking, and what luck! There is actually a recipe for the dish ratatouille. The studio wanted to have a real food to base it's cartoons with, and so after much consultation Thomas Keller gave them this recipe - Confit Byaldi to be used for the movie. The Recipe and how to preparation is at about.com. But if it's hard for you to follow it, here's a video on how to do it, it's still a bit complicated:




To my dismay some of the ingredients is not available in my location, so to those who had the chance to do this, tell me how it goes, don't be shy and go ahead leave a comment.

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9

An American CG film.
Released on 2009 by Focus Features
Produced by Tim Burton
Got nominated for awards.





We all know when it comes from Tim Burton it is a fascinating story, a bit weird but still fascinating.

Spoilers:

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Sometime in the future, earth seems to have been destroyed by machines, and the only one's who survive this devastation are these sack like creatures with a life of their own. 9 it seems was the last sack like creature made, when he woke up, earth is totally devastated and void of life. He found a metal with strange inscription beside him and just below the table where he woke up a deadman lies. So he keep the strange thing inside of him, for safe keeping.

As he was wondering around he chance upon a group of survivor that looks like him, but has different numbers on their back. And they are hiding from the machine that is always roaming around looking for survivors to kill. 9 thinks they should fight back in order to survived, but the others do not agree. Unfortunately the machines were hunting them, and so as their numbers where slowly dwindling, their resolve before was change, as they saw 9's determination to end their current situation.

Sources in the net I have found for this movie:
9 Movie soundtrack listing can be found at wikipedia.
A sample you can listen to.
And lyrics to sing along with.
If you are fond of reading transcript of movies, here is the transcript of  9.
For wallpapers you wish to put up on your computer like I do, and screensavers, the following sites have some really interesting things:
Glamsham.com
Entertainment Wallpaper
Cinema Blend

Observation:
I am unfamiliar with Focus Features studios, so made a little research on this, it seems a lot of people in the entertainment industry is interested with anime nowadays, to my surprise this is one of the family of NBC Universal. And they've been at this for quite sometime already. Will be looking up their list of anime that they have released, wanna see how good their anime are.

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