Brave Review

Mend the bond torn by pride

This movie is about a princess named Merida(Kelly McDonald), a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus(Billy Connelly) and Queen Elinor(Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin, surly Lord Macintosh and cantankerous Lord Dingwall. Merida's actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it's too late.

Merida , seen in an action-packed prologue as a flame-haired Scottish tomboy whose life is changed by an early birthday gift of a bow, which quickly inspires her to become the best archer in the kingdom. Then we flash forward to Merida as a young lady of marriageable age, who is startled by request from Queen Elinor to choose among three possible husbands chosen by her clan.

Nothing doing , especially since all three candidates are doofuses. Merida leaps upon her trusty steed and flees into the forest, where her friends the will-o-the-wisps lead her to the cottage of a gnarled old witch(Julie Walters). She begs for a magic spell that will change Queen Elinor's mind, but it changes more than that: It turns Elinor into a bear. Witches never know how to stop when they're ahead.

Luckily, the magic spell comes with an escape clause. Merida has exactly two days to reverse the charm. After she and her mother absorb what has happened, they begin to work together and grow closer than ever, even though the queen cannot speak. There is a tricky complication. King Fergus had his leg bitten off by a bear (in the prologue), and has been indisposed toward them ever since. Unsurprisingly, when he sees his wife as a bear, he fails to recognize her.

"Brave" has an uplifting message about improving communication between mothers and daughters, although transforming your mom into a bear is a rather extreme first step. Elinor is a good sport, under the circumstances. But Merida is far from being a typical fairy-tale princess. Having flatly rejected the three suitors proposed by her family, she is apparently prepared to go through life quite happily without a husband, and we can imagine her in later years, a weathered and indomitable Amazon queen, sort of a Boudica for the Scots. "Brave" seems at a loss to deal with her as a girl and makes her a sort of honorary boy.

After watching this movie, we will give 4 out of 5 stars because the movie is driven by narrative elements of confidence and growth, both in regards to maturity and self-esteem, which speaks volumes in a princess film where the respected and powerful characters are typically male but in this case are female. It’s also a nice touch to create a princess that isn’t yearning for a prince the entire tale. The mother/daughter conflict is wrapped with good intentions but also serves as a model for communication within a family.

This movie we would recommend to children and their parents because it focuses on family bond. Parents should communicate well with their children. The spoiler of this movie is when Queen Elinor turns into a big black bear after eating an enchanted cake given by Merida.

17 Again Review

Back to 17 AGAIN

This movie is about a former high school basketball star gets a second shot at life when he's miraculously transformed into a teenager and offered the opportunity to redefine his future. Back in 1989, Mike O' Donnell(Zac Efron) had it all; not only was the 17-year-old senior the king of the basketball court, but college scouts were circling as well. But just as Mike's future began to glow brighter than ever before, he sacrificed everything in order to stay by his expectant girlfriend, Scarlet(Allison Miller), and be a good father. Nearly 20 years later, Mike(Matthew Perry) has just been passed over for a big promotion at work, his marriage with Scarlet(Leslie Mann)is failing, and his teenage kids,Alex(Sterling Knight) and Maggie(Michelle Trachtenberg) can't stand him. His dreams long gone and his family falling apart, Mike takes to staying with his best friend, Ned (Thomas Lennon), a former high school geek-turned-techno billionaire. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Mike is transported back into his teenage body and given the given the unique opportunity to relive his salad days. But while Mike may look 17 again, his thirty something outlook at life puts him hopelessly at odds with the class of 2009. When Mike discovers that by attempting to recapture his best years he could risk losing all the best things he ever experienced in life, the time comes to make a decision that could have a drastic impact on both his past and his future.

            The most significant scene in this movie is when he goes back to high school thinking he is getting a chance to start over, but instead, he realizes that his children need him more desperately than he could have ever imagined. Being there for his kids becomes Mike’s mission, and in the process he realizes just what he has been missing. His family has given up on him, but maybe there is still a chance.

            Besides, instead of playing the game, impressing the scout, and getting a college scholarship, Mike sacrifices it all to go after Scarlet and pledge his love to her and their child – and he never lets her forget that fateful day and what he gave up.

            Moreover, when he finds that his son is being bullied, Mike steps up to the plate and defends him. He encourages Alex to not be repressed by fears, but to reach for his dreams. He tries his best to convince his daughter to be more than just a jock’s girlfriend, and go to college and make something of herself.

In the end, what Mike thought what he wanted, was not what he wanted after all. He stops being selfish and starts living for his family. Mike discovers that he truly loves his family and that he truly loves his wife.

After watching the movie, we learn that we appreciate with what we have now instead of regretting our past because life had no second chance. We would like to give 3 out of 5 stars for this movie because the storyline is too cliché.Even though it is a comedy movie, the humour in it is not enough to tickle my funny bone. This movie is suitable for teenagers to watch because most of the scenes are happened in high school. The spoiler of this movie is the epilogue of the story. We wanted to see whether Mike has reconciled with his wife and return back to his older self or not.

Week 5

25th OCTOBER 2013

1.        During our 5th meeting, we meet at Faculty of Economy and Management food court.      2.        We discuss about the movie review that we have done before from 5pm until 7pm.      3.        We also recorded a video about the activity that we have done on that day.

Week 4

18th OCTOBER 2013

1.      Next meeting, we meet and discuss on the second movie at  Discussion Room 3 at library.       2.      We start our discussion at 7.30pm to 9.30pm.       3.      The second movie is Brave. This movie is about a princess named Merida that always rebels towards her mother.       4.      A lesson that we get after watching the movie is responsible. Princess Merida defends her mother when her father try to kill her mother as her father doesn’t know that her mother has been cursed into Bear.       5.      Most of us put on a rating of 4 out of 5 for this movie.

Week 3

11th OCTOBER 2013

1.     We decided to meet and discuss about the   movie we have watched at a discussion room 3, Sultan Abdul Samad Library.       2.      We start our discussion at 6pm till 8pm.       3.       The movie that we have watched is 17 Again. This movie is about a man who experienced back his teenage life when he changed physically into a teen.       4.      Majority, our group members enjoy watching this movie because this movie teach us on how to appreciate our loved ones.       5.      Most of us put on a rating of 4 out of 5 for the movie.

Week 2

4th OCTOBER 2013

Movie Session 1.      We gathered at Discussion Room 2 in the library to watch the movies ‘Brave’ and ’17 Again’ from 3pm to 7pm. 2.      The first movie we watched is 17 Again which is the story of 37 years-old Mike who become a 17 years-old high school student after a chance accident. 3.      The film was released in the US on 17th April 2009 4.      Later, we watched the second movie that is Brave. 5.      The story is about a princess named Merida who defies an age-old custom, causing chaos in the kingdom by expressing the desire to not be betrothed. After consulting a witch for help, Merida accidently transforms her mother into a bear and is forced to undo the spell herself before it is too late

First Meeting

Date

Discussion/Activities

27 Sept 2013  (1st week)

1.  We all met for the first time at Dewan Kuliah 1.         2.  Sir Abdul Rafil Abdul Halim, our group instructor give us briefing on how this course works.          3. We are given time to have ice breaking session in our group.          4.   Our group member is Aunee, Yeoh Zhy Huan, Izzat Danial, Oon Gaik Ying, Maisarah, Lee Ghin Bee, Nurfatin Izzati, Nithya, Adilah and Nurul Hafiza.         5.  We decided to meet at library for the next meeting.