Epic

Synopsis:

Mary Katherine or MK, is a headstrong, spirited teenager who has a strained relationship with her father. She loses patience with her dad's tales of unseen people who live in the woods, but when she is magically transported to that mythic realm, she gains new perspective. MK joins a race of beings known as the Leafmen in their battle to protect their queen from their enemies, evil Mandrake and his crew of Boggans.

In this 2013 animated film, the tiny little soldier characters called the Leafmen  are actually based from the children's illustrated book by William Joyce entitled "The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs." Now, the film does not follow the book's plot. The book tells of an old lady who owns a lovely rose garden home to insects and bugs. When the old lady got sick, her rose garden also began to wither. And so the bugs fought against the evil Spider Queen with the help of the Leaf Men.

The characters in the film were voiced by popular celebrities like Amanda Seyfried for Mary Katherine and Beyonce Knowles lending her voice to Queen Tara.

However far apart the two plots were, they have one common subject - Nature, one that truly needs to be taken care of.  

Mean Girls

Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and the screenplay written by actress Tina Fey who is also part of the movie cast. The movie is based in part on Rosalind Wiseman's non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes, which describes female high school social cliques and the damaging effects they can have on girls.

Synopsis:

Teenage Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) was educated in Africa by her scientist parents. When her family moves to the suburbs of Illinois, Cady finally gets to experience public school and gets a quick primer on the cruel, tacit laws of popularity that divide her fellow students into tightly knit cliques. She unwittingly finds herself in the good graces of an elite group of cool students dubbed "the Plastics," but Cady soon realizes how her shallow group of new friends earned this nickname.

When Rosalind Wiseman first published Queen Bees & Wannabes, she fundamentally changed the way adults look at girls’ friendships and conflicts–from how they choose their best friends, how they express their anger, their boundaries with boys, and their relationships with parents. Wiseman showed how girls of every background are profoundly influenced by their interactions with one another. (Goodreads)

This was Lindsay Lohan in her "It" days and opposite her is the character of Regina George - the "queen bee" of the Plastics, one of the earlier roles portrayed by Rachel McAdams. The film was funny but not too funny when you realize how kids in real-time are being bullied at school and how these kids loose their individuality while trying so so hard to fit in.

Aquamarine

The MOVIE

Synopsis:

Hailey (Emma Roberts) and Claire (Jojo) are spending their last summer together when they discover something at the bottom of the murky pool at the Capri Beach Club. There in the depths is a mysterious and beautiful creature with a sharp tongue and a broken heart: a mermaid named Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) who has left her six sisters to search for love on land. Now, as this mythological yet very real being starts to fade in the burning August sun, a rescue is begun.

On the edge of growing up, during a summer that is the hottest on record, Hailey and Claire are discovering that life can take an unpredictable course, friendship is forever, and magic can be found in the most unexpected places. (Goodreads)

The BOOK

Well, I think every little girl, at some point, have wished to become either a Princess or a Mermaid. I saw this movie many, many years back. I mean, look at that poster. Emma Roberts was still a teeny weenie gal in this flick. The very lure to watching this film is the chance to see an "Ariel" (the mermaid cartoon) in flesh, errr... not exactly in flesh but as a mermaid person not a cartoon (whatever...). Sara Paxton was a funny and beautiful mermaid. And Jojo, I like her cover of the song "Weak" originally sung by SWV. She's a lovely girl with a big voice.

Aquamarine is one of two books (the other book is titled Indigo) in the Water Tales Series by Alice Hoffman. Articles online say there are slight differences in the plots of the book and the film. (I wouldn't know because I haven't read the book.)

The Lovely Bones

The FILM

Synopsis (Book):

The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family's need for peace and closure.

The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished. (Goodreads)

The Lovely Bones 2009 movie had a power house casting led by the great Susan Sarandon (Grandma Lynn), Mark Wahlberg (Jack Salmon), Rachel Weisz (Abigail Salmon) and Sairose Ronan (Susie Salmon) whom I recognized later from the movie "Hannah."

The BOOK

This was actually based on the very first novel of author Alice Sebold who took on a quite difficult material for her first book. I haven't read the book but I watched the film mainly because of the great actors included in the cast.

It's a family drama with lots of suspense. I had a hard time guessing who the murderer was (that's because I haven't read the book because if I did, then I would've known who did it right from the start). And then I found out it was him and then I start guessing where he might've hidden the body. You won't actually find out until the very later part of the movie.

The movie is actually depressing when you think of a family going through a situation like what the Salmon's went through in the movie. It's really devastating to loose a child through rape and kidnapping at such a young age when she's just starting to experience things. Sigh.... Well, it got me just a bit teary eyed. 

Here are some lines from the movie:

"I was slipping away, that's what it felt like, life was leaving me, but I wasn't afraid; then I remembered: "There was something I was meant to do; somewhere I was meant to be." - Susie Salmon

"Nobody notices when we leave. I mean, the moment when we really choose to go. At best you might feel, a whisper or the wave of a whisper, undulating down." - Susie Salmon

"I was here for a moment, and then I was gone. I wish you all, a long, happy life." - Susie Salmon

The Lorax

The FILM

Synopsis:

A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world. (imdb)

I've seen the film many many times... haven't read the book.

And to think it's a children's book for crying out loud. Well, the only reason I saw the movie in the first place was because of my nephew. And it's not even bad. It has a good moral lesson, that is - taking very good care of our mother nature. And it's kind of a musical film too because there's lots of singing and very catchy music. I just find it kinda' weird why the trees look like that in this movie.

The characters of the film were voiced by Zac Efron (Ted), Taylor Swift (Audrey), Ed Helms (The Once-ler) and Danny DeVito (The Lorax).

Okay. So I found out that this was based from the children's book with the same title - The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and then boom! - the book cover. There's my answer to why the trees looked the way they looked in the movie (grin). Silly me!

The BOOK

And here are some of my favorite lines from the movie:

"A tree falls in the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean." - The Lorax

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better... it's not." - The Once-ler

"I know it may seem small and insignificant, but it's not about what it is, it's about what it can become. That's not just a seed... anymore than you're just a boy." - The Once-ler