Admittedly, I only knew about this movie because it was Harry Styles' favorite move. And I thought from what other people were saying that Love Actually was actually a pretty good movie. But when I first watched it, all I could think about was, "What...? That's it?"; and I guess it kind of got better by the second time I watched it. My expectations were poorly crushed by the almost-below-average story line and non-comical humour.

     Love Actually is a film that entwines a couple of Christmas romances, just like Let It Snow. It's kind of like the British version of New Year's Eve, but in Christmas (obviously). Some of the characters include porn stars, the Prime Minister, a secretary/assistant, a recently widowed step-dad, and a fat manager to a formerly-famous rock star. Some stories weren't as connected as the others and some aren't even connected at all. The characters are all connected--aside from some--by Harry (Allan Rickman) and Karen's (Emma Thompson) children, Natalie's (Martine McCutheon) nephew, Daniel's (Liam Neeson) son Sam's (Thomas Sangster) school play where David, the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) and Natalie finally gets together and kiss. And as all Christmas movies and RomComs go, it has a happy ending.

     To those who thought the movie was wonderful, I'm sorry but I have to disagree. Looking at the cast I expected a really good movie. I mean, Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant and Mr. Bean was there! There were really some confusing parts there like the part where Allan Rickman's character entertained the thought of cheating, I didn't even feel like he was the type to. He was kind of the family man and was his usual Snape-y self. There were also similar stories in the movie -- Jamie (Colin Firth) and Aurélia's (Lúcia Moniz), and David and Natalie's -- where both of the men fell in love with the woman they were working closely with. I mean, the movie is already one big cliché, you don't have to double that. There were also unnecessary scenes and characters used in the film like Tony (Abdul Salis), John (Martin Freeman), and Judy (Joanna Page), the porn production trio. John and Judy, the porn stars, probably only appeared in the movie three or four times, and Tony twice. Aside from all that there were also some very corny attempts at humour. Although there are some really nice scenes, like Daniel and Sam's story and Rufus' (Rowan Atkinson) appearances.

     All in all, the movie was all you would ever expect from a Christmas romance comedy. It wasn't "very romantic", and it wasn't "very comedy". It lacked a little something for me. More jolly holly vibes? (Because I seriously did not feel the Christmas spirit, at least in The Holiday I saw snow.) More wit? How about a little less cliché? Watch the movie yourself and tell us what you think (BECAUSE OUR TWITTER AND FACEBOOK PAGE EXISTS!!).


- Kim xx

Sources: 1|2|3

     I don't think anything can get more anti-Halloween than cartoons! This week, Reinvent is compiling the best animated movies from 2000 to 2013. These movies are the funniest and cutest among the wide array of animated movies made in the last decade.




10. Despicable Me (2010)

     Nothing can be cuter than the minions and Agnes herself! This movie is one of the funniest in the bunch because of Steve Carell's character, Gru, and the numerous yellow squishy things called minions. It also shows how the most unlikely character can love kids and become someone so domestic.



9. Happy Feet Two (2011)

     Happy Feet Two has definitely made a comeback since its first movie back in 2006. If you watched it in the cinemas, you'll see that the graphics are cooler (pun intended) and the little penguins are fluffier. It's funnier too, now that Sven and the two krills (Bill and Will) are around! There are more singing and dancing. Even if Brittany Murphy is not around anymore for the second film, Gloria's voice is still as diva-licious as ever with P!ink voicing her. It still sends that important message about the environment and it still has Ramon, it just has more cute characters.



8. The Croods (2013)

     The Croods is one of the movies who you'd think is kinda boring and not cute at all because of the amount of body hair, but YOU'RE WRONG! Although some of the animals might look weird, DreamWorks actually made them kinda cute. The plot is amazing and relatable! It tells the story of a family living through the "Croodaceous" era (hence the name Croods), but focuses on a father-daughter relationship. Believe me when I say that it will keep you laughing. It was so funny that I was already doubled-over from laughing through the first scene. I wish The Croods would've had more attention because it is really a film you have to watch!



7. WALL-E (2008)

     While I was working on this part of the post, I actually typed in "wall-e quotes" on google; and of course, nothing popped up. Just a bunch of still images from the movie. I know. But even though it is a silent movie (well, mostly), this film is still one of the best! Pixar really brought out the message of protecting the environment to children, and even adults, in a very entertaining manner. Nowadays, silent movies usually bore kids because of the lack of dialogue - but WALL-E did the opposite. It made me more engaged and interested in what I was watching. Apart from the important message it sends and the amazing graphics it showed, WALL-E is in the top 10 because the love story moved the hearts of basically all the girls out there.



6. Monsters, Inc. (2001)

     Monsters, Inc. is actually my favorite movie. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched this film, I can practically recite to you the whole movie. And the reason for this is because it's such a funny movie. Even if I probably watched this about a hundred times, I never get tired of the jokes in it. It has great deal of friendship and prejudice, and I think that that is something important for kids to know at an early age. This movie will just fill you with laughter and it is definitely one of the classics in our generation. I honestly don't know why we had to wait 12 years for the prequel? And why did they make a prequel instead of a sequel, what happened to Boo???????



5. Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

     This movie deserves the number five spot in our list because of its wicked concept! Last year was the year when vintage and almost everything from the past came back, and video games and different consoles were one of them. And so, it was just natural for Disney to make another hit movie about old video arcade games. Wreck-It Ralph tells the story of a video game villain wanting to be the good guy. Along with Vanellope, Ralph changes the whole world of arcade. This movie is just so different and new - how could anyone even think of making a movie about what happens inside a video game? It was great!



4. The Rise of the Guardians (2012)

     Another DreamWorks movie, Rise of the Guardians earns the number five spot. It is SO AWESOME. They are like the Avengers: kid version. It's got an incredible cast and incredible graphics. Aside from having Jack Frost look super hot in this movie (oh, the irony), the plot was great. It actually made me believe that they really do exist! It made the characters unexpectedly look bad-ass. And since Christmas is quickly approaching, this is a must watch!



3. Up (2009)

     This must be the sweetest movie I have ever watched in my life. Mr. Fredricksen and Ellie's story is so heart-wrenching. Their story about wanting to fly and the adventures and ugh EVERYTHING IS JUST SO CUTE (sorry for overusing the word cute)! I know their love story wasn't perfect because Ellie died, but I thought it was still perfect. Everything was so nice - even the soundtrack. The whole idea of a flying house was just surreal. It shows kids that anything is possible, and it shows adults the true meaning of love. It was full of humor too, credit to the dogs and Russell. It's such a lovely movie and Pixar was being sneaky again because the movie has serious topics that were shown in a subliminal manner.



2. Toy Story 3 (2010)

     I hate Pixar for this. I HATE THEM SO MUCH. But I love them too for doing this, I don't know. It was just so sad! But to be fair, it was a great ending to one of the best movie series. It just sucks that it ended (it's like The Harry Potter, oh God). The whole Toy Story experience was absolutely fantastic. If you haven't watched any of the Toy Story movies yet, be ashamed! It was definitely worth the wait. Buy a DVD copy of this because you WILL want to watch this over and over again.







1. Finding Nemo (2006)

     I dont't know what/who is with Pixar, but they just keep on producing great animated films, one of which is Finding Nemo. This has got to be the best animated film of ALL TIME. This movie is so great to the point that to every kid, every fish is Nemo or Dory. If you don't already know, this movie is just hillarious due to Ellen Degeneres's voicing of Dory. It is a tale of humorous adventure; and, yet again, shows us what humans do to the environment. This desereves to be in number ONE because everybody knows it and no one can resist it.




- Kim