Marley and me- Having a pet v/s not having one

The joy of owning a dog is inexplainable. Agreed there may be times when you feel fed up and tired of taking care of them all the time and might lose your patience once or twice, but there is no denying when the dog runs up to you and licks your face, there is nothing that can make you feel happier. Having a dog is a full-time job. Looking at it from a personal point of view, watching this movie before owning a dog and after getting one is tremendously different. When you see it without a pet, you understand the difficulties and joys of having a pet. But, when you see it with your dog sitting on your lap, the experience becomes much more relatable and touching. This is because you relate yourself to the characters and what they go through seeing the antics done by the dog, because it happens in your life, everyday!

 Taking a closer look at the movie, Marley and me is a story of an over-enthusiastic dog who is adopted by John and Jenny after their marriage. The movie goes step by step, tracking all the mischief and mayhem Markey creates. Be it getting kicked out of obedience school or chasing after birds in the beach, the directors haven't left any stone unturned. Both John and Jenny are writers, John more of a reporter and Jenny more of a columnist. With their lives always clashing betwen Marley and their children, they hit a few rough patches during their journey. But they survive each blow and come out stronger and more connected than before. In the end, they relocate to the outskirts of Pensylvania and continue with their lives.

I have a five-month old beagle, Peaches. I watched this movie for the first time years ago and the experience was different. I laughed and cried at all the right places, but never really understood the true pain or joy behind having a dog. A few years later, Peaches comes home. Seeing that movie again with her sleeping on my lap, the experience was, like I said, much more relatable. I could feel the anger John had on Marley when he chewed his shoes, the pain when Jenny scolds him for being the worst dog in the world. Most importantly, I could feel the love and selflessness every dog has. So, if you're a dog lover or hater, a pet owner or not, this movie is a must watch!

Castle- My favourite detective series

Castle is an American Crime Drama series which was aired on March 9, 2009. The serial follows an author, Richard Castle, a famous mystery novelist who needs a face and inspiration for his latest novel. Through his connections with the Mayor, he is offered a job at NYPD for questioning copycat murders based on his novels. So, Castle is asked to accompany detective Kate Beckett and help her solve cases. Beckett is outraged by this and tries everything in her power to send Castle away but nothing helps. The story revolves around both of their lives and how they work together as a team.

The other detectives in the department are, the partners, Dt. Kevin Ryan and Dt. Javier Esposito. The head of the department is Captain Roy Montgomery.
Kevin Ryan is a former narcotics division cop and is now a part of Dt. Beckett's team. Working along side Dt. Esposito, he is an excellent cop and a pro in his field. Javier Esposito is one of the more badass detectives in the team. He works in the Homicide department with Dt. Ryan. Roy Montgomery is the captain of the ship and presides over the precinct. He always appreciates Beckett's  hardwork and dedication to her job but always keeps a close watch on all cases.

With 6 seasons down the line, news has come of a "season 7" to be aired shortly. Castle is that kind of a show which you will either love or hate as soon as you watch the first episode. But in saying that, it's one of the best detective shows I have ever seen!

Cast away- An ever-green movie

Alone on an island, away from civilisation and no hope to get back home, would you have survived in such a situation. Against all odds, Chuck Noland doesn't give up after being washed over on an uninhabited island and after four years of tedious work, finally gets back home. 'Cast away' is the story of a singular man who survived to tell his tale. 

Chuck Noland is a system analyst who travels around the world solving problems at FedEx depots. Owing to his frequent travels, he's not able to maintain his relationship with Kelly Frears, who is actually thinking of marrying him. During a Christmas celebration, he is called my his office and asked to go to Malaysia. The flight gets stuck in a storm and they crash land in the middle of the Pacific. Chuck saves himself on a lifeboat and is washed over on an island which he later finds out to be uninhabited. Struggling to survive for a few days, Chuck gets FedEx packages from the plane. One of the packages has a football, which then beacomes Chuck's only support and friend. As days turned to months, Chuck started adapting himself to the life of a stranded man. He spent four years on that island and then finally one of his inventions of escaping worked! Miraculously he does reach home after a long struggle and losing a friend on the way. 

This is one of the most inspirational movies ever made. Tom Hanks's acting is definitely commendable and he even got nominated for Best Actor in a leading role in the 73rd Academy Awards. This is a box office premier and will be one of the most cherished movies in the history of Hollywood.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman- A 'one of a kind' movie

We've heard of children adopting dogs, but nothing as bizarre as a dog adopting a child! This is the story of a dog, Mr. Peabody, a mastermind, who adopts a boy and takes care of him as his son. Mr. Peabody was always different and never understood the true meaning of being a dog, which was why he was never adopted at his shelter. Soon after, he sets out to search for answers in science and history, earning a degree from Harvard University and receiving a Nobel Prize for his accomplishments. After all this success, Mr. Peabody has no one to continue his legacy. This was why he decided to adopt a boy. Sherman is a naive, curious and cute boy who never had a problem believing that Mr. Peabody was his father.

Mr. Peabody had invented a time-machine, the WABAC, and took Sherman back in time to make him understand true history. On Sherman's first day at school, he gets into a fight with a girl, Penny, on whether George Washington cut a Cherry tree or not. Penny starts taunting and teasing Sherman and calls him a dog! As a reaction to the comment, he bites her! After hearing the news, Mr. Peabody rushes to the school where he encounters Ms. Grunion, a Child and Family Welfare agent who threatens to take Sherman away from Mr. Peabody. Just to settle things, Mr. Peabody calls Penny's parents over for dinner and sternly warns Sherman not to reveal the WABAC. The evening goes on fine, until Sherman interrupts their party and tells Mr. Peabody that the two of them used the time-machine and Penny was now stuck in ancient Egypt! Extremely disappointed and mortified, Mr. Peabody and Sherman set out on a time traveling journey to bring Penny home...but go through many pit-stops and meet many unpredictable people.

One of the best movies by Dreamworks, this movie teaches us that we are not family only by blood, but also by love. A very touching yet funny movie, this one hits all the check marks in my boxes!

Megamind- A villain turned hero

In any superhero movie, the villain does something bad and the hero stops the villain and saves the day! But, what if there is no hero? How would that affect the villian?

Life for Megamind was simple, right from day one. He had to defeat Metroman, his nemesis. After years of trying, both he and his only friend, Minion were about to hit a dead end. They did their same routine of kidnapping Roxanne Ritchie, Metroman's girlfriend and holding her hostage to lure Metro man into their trap. One fine day, their routine actually worked and Metroman was defeated by Megamind. You'd expect Megamind to be over the moon and having a gala time now that there was no one to stop him he can do all the evil in the world! But, surprisingly he missed Metroman because now he didn't have anyone to stop him and all the fun was gone. So, Megamind started a project to make his own superhero and train him. For this he needed a sample of Metroman's DNA. While scouting for his DNA, he sees Roxanne and impersonates a guard, Bernard. Roxanne and Bernard hit it off quite well after a few days. Then Minion reminds Megamind who he really is and why he's doing this whole project. Will Megamind reveal his true identity to Roxanne and will he be able to defeat this new hero?

Megamind is one of those funny animated movies with puns and sarcastic remarks. It has both irony and humour in a perfect blend. The 3D effects and character detailing is definitely a commendable work of art. All in all, this is a must watch.

High School Musical trilogy- One of the best Disney Channel originals

Being a high school kid, I can relate to this movie extremely well. Be it high school musical, where students are new to the whole system and take their time to understand how things work in high school, or high school musical 2 where friends break apart because of the interference of careers and other relations, or even high school musical 3 when the students finally realize how much time has flown by and now they've got only so many days left with each other, teenagers can relate to every part of the trilogy.

More than the storyline it's the songs that got me interested in this movie. The casting has been done brilliantly and each role has been played with utmost perfection. Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman, all amazing singers and impeccable actors have been given perfect roles which reflect their personalities.
                                                     
In high school musical, Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) is the new kid at school. Stumbling and falling she kind of understands that in every school there are a set number of people for each field, like the basketball players, the nerds and geeks, the drama club and more. Gabriella was always a wiz kid but she had a passion for singing. Accidentally she auditioned for the up coming song recital and all hell broke lose at school. It was the first time someone had stepped out of their field and tried something different. Through this, Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) befriends Gabriella who also shares the same desire to sing but is a part of the basketball team. Through all the difficulties the two make time for practices and deliver their song in the recital. The best songs of the movie are 'Stick to the status quo' and 'Breaking free. 

High school musical 2 takes place in the summer after school year ends. Gabriella decides to go to her moms place and Troy decides to search for jobs to save money for college. At the same time, the twins, Sharpay and Ryan go to their parents' country club, Lava Springs. Seeing this as an opportunity, Sharpay invites Troy to work at the club. His friends decide to tag along and after a lot of convincing, they are all hired. The midsummer night's talent show is righ around the corner and Sharpay decides to do a duet with Troy, disregarding her all-time partner, Ryan. Outraged, Ryan teams up with Troy's friends and they start practicing for their song. In the meantime, Sharpay sends out a notice which says that no staff member will be allowed to perform. The night if the show has arrived and Troy decides that he'll do his song only if his friends can do it too. So, after the talent show, All's well that ends well. The best songs of this musical are 'You are the music in me', 'Gotta go my own way' and 'All for one'.

Senior year! This was it! The last year for fun and memories...the last year to be together. So, their drama incharge, Ms. Darbus, decided to get all of them involved in the Spring Musical. All the boys were petrified by the thought of prom while the girls were dreaming of it already. By the end of the year everyone had a beautiful musical and left for their own way...

Three years of high school are the ones to be cherished and remembered forever. Never let them fade away.

 

Wall-E- The cutest movie ever!

Imagine if you were a machine made to clean earth. Everyday, you and your pet cockroach had twenty-four hours of only cleaning and processing garbage! All of a sudden, the most beautiful robot enters your world and you just stand there and...sigh.

That pretty much sums up Wall-E a.k.a Waste-Allocation-Load-lifter Earth class, the protagonist of this movie. It is year 2805 and humans have left earth and are residing in a spaceship. It is Wall-E's job to clean up the junk humans have left and gone. One day, during the numerous cleaning jobs, Wall-E finds a sapling and is completely fasinated by it. At the same day, the spaceship, Axiom, sends Eve a.k.a EVE to search for signs of vegetation on earth. After encountering Eve, Wall-E instantaneously falls in love with her. Eve is at first very hostile and does not trust Wall-E. After seeing the plant, Eve retrieves it and goes back to her ship, not knowing that Wall-E was following her. After reaching Axiom, Wall-E notices that humans have become lazy and obese due to inadequate activity. The captain and his trusty co-pilot, Auto, figure out that by placing the plant in the holo-detector, they have a chance of going back to earth and recolonize it. But things take a turn when the plant goes missing! Chaos follows wherever Wall-E tries to help Eve and soon they are recognized as Rogue Bots and turn into fugitives. With an army of robots trying to catch them, will Wall-E and Eve find the plant? But most importantly, will Eve ever reciprocate the feelings Wall-E has for her?

This movie is extremely cute! The voice modulations of the voice-overs give it a very robotic feel. Al though sometimes it may be difficult to understand the conversations between Wall-E and Eve, but it's definitely a different movie. So, if you are an animated movies fan, this is a must watch!

Up- A story that stays with you forever

Imagine if you were old and didn't have any meaning in life any longer. You just sat alone in your house all day doing absolutely nothing. You'd be a grumpy person no doubt. Carl was a grumpy old man, but he wasn't  like that right from the beginning. It began with Charles Muntz the explorer. Carl was a die-hard fan of Muntz and idolised him. He befriended a girl, Eliie, who shared the same fascination about Muntz. Eliie was a free-spirited girl whereas Carl was a reserved boy. She always had a dream to live in Paradise falls, the forest where Muntz had gone exploring. She demanded Carl to promise that he'll take her there someday. As years passed, the two got married and Ellie's dream was long forgotten. As they got older, Carl remembered the promise he made and decided to surprise Ellie by taking her to Paradise falls. But before this could happen, Ellie fell sick and eventually passed on. Her death and scarred Carl and he was never whole again.

During his days of solace, a wilderness explorer, Russell meets Carl. They have a short encounter. Carl then gets in trouble for injuring a workman and people from a retirement village were coming to pick him up. Unexpectedly, Carl converts his house into a balloon-lifted house and sets off to Paradise falls. With more surprises on the way, he finds Russell sitting on his porch! The two go to Paradise falls and encounter some very strange animals and someone they never thought to find.

Up,released in 2009, was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was one of the first 3D animated films. This movie is all about friendship, love and commitment towards a promise. A very touching movie and a must watch!

By the river- Another personified poem on friendship, bravery and love

Here's my second try on personification! This one's about friendship, bravery and love. The idea is to give confidence to the unique people out there and tell them that, yes, there is someone for you in this world. A long poem, yes, but it'll be worth a read.

By the river

In an island lost in time
A forest stood strong and tall.
There was never a sound or sign
Of all the creatures that creeped and crawled.

In the depths of the canopy
Lived two mighty clans.
The mockingbirds and the jabber jays
Both unaware of the other's land.

Everyday, Miles, a mockingbird
Would fly down to the river.
Just to get away from his herd
He'd stay there all night and shiver.

In the same frame of mind
Was Jade, a jabber jay.
She wanted to get away from her kind
Because they just couldn't understand her way.

By the river everyday
These two birds would stay.
Not knowing the presence of the other, they
Always sat alone, watching the sun drown in the bay.

One autumn evening Miles heard the flutter of wings
Thought he was being followed he stayed alert.
But to his surprise it was a strange bird
Looking as startled as he was from within.

Never had Jade seen a bird
With such mighty wings.
Never had she ever heard
Of anyone other than her kin.

As days turned into weeks
The two sprouted into good friends.
Jade felt she was no longer the freak
And Miles thought he didn't have any tweaks.

The two were in perfect sync
They had so many things in common.
It was like they had found their missing link
With someone who had nothing to do with them.

Winter was round the corner
And the birds were ready to migrate.
The two friends had to go their separate ways
And just go through the wait.

But Jade was a fighter
And didn't want to give up so easily.
She knew she would see a day when things were brighter
And didn't want to give up on it already.

She took the bold risk to fly away
From her family with Miles.
She knew there'd come a day
When she'd break free from all the denials.

They're both living happily to this day
In a land known to none.
With little Mockingjays on the way
Their adventures together have only just begun!

How the flower fell in love with the bee- My take on personification

Personification is one of the most fascinating literary devices used in poems. For all those out there who don't know what personification is, well, it's a device used in literature where an object, animal or any living or non-living thing is given the emotions of a human. Though I have been writing poems for a long time, I've never experimented with any literary device let alone personification.
As a favour to a friend, I wrote this poem, with the basic idea of giving a poetic view to unsuccessful love stories. This is how it goes...

How the flower fell in love with the bee

I was a lonely flower
Sucked into my world.
Searching for my one true lover
I started losing hope.

Then one day from the plant nearby
I found someone worth the wait.
Talking to him, I felt that he was my guy
But he just took me as bait.

Drowned in depression with no one to help
I was searching for a new life I couldn't find.
One day I felt my time was up
And I'd just wither away in time.

Then one day, like an angel from god
A buzzing sound woke me up.
It was a bee from the backyard
Who got my life back on top.

As days passed on
He'd always help me with everything.
I knew this was the break of a new dawn
But I had petals and he had wings.

Deep down I knew we'd never be together
Our differences were too wide.
I knew he'd be a friend forever
But I never wanted that feeling to hide.

That one day, I'll never forget
The sun was bright and the sky was clear.
He buzzed up to me and said he'd regret
If he didn't tell me and get over his fear.

And that was when a flower
Fell in love with a bee.
They knew they were doomed forever
But their love was much more to them
They'd never let anything come between

The basic rhyme scheme here is ABAB. The flower and the bee are personified as doomed lovers, never to be together because of their differences.