FINALLY put something on here (Sorry Simon)

How To Train Your Dragon is fast becoming my new favourite animated movie. I never managed to watch this film when it came out due to spending money on pub outings rather than going to the cinema. I wish I had though.

Hiccup, a young Viking underdog, seeks approval from the village and from his dad who happens to be the chief. Unfortunately for Hiccup, being one of the more “scrawny” Vikings, he has to kill a dragon in order to gain acceptance. After capturing one however, he realises that he can’t bring himself to kill a dragon. The dragon he captures is maimed and can’t fly away. Hiccup takes this opportunity to spend time with it, naming it Toothless and learns how to ride on it.

One of the things that impressed me with this film is that it prides itself on how good its animation is but backs it up with good storytelling. Some of the best scenes in the film are without dialogue, and just show the interaction between Hiccup and Toothless, using music and facial expressions to convey the characters emotions.

 It’s a feel good film where a young lad who was an outcast and thought of as an annoyance to everyone including his father, uses exactly what makes him different to save the day and become a hero to the village.

However, there’s one thing that took me a while to notice and since then hasn’t stopped bugging me; there’s no opening credits. I know a lot of films don’t have an opening credit sequence (George Lucas was fined for not having one in Empire Strikes Back) but in How To Train Your Dragon it doesn’t even mention the name of the film until right at the end when the end credits start to roll. Usually the title is one of the first things you see but not in this film; it goes from the Dreamworks logo straight into the action.

One more thing, and I know this sounds nerdy of me, but real Viking’s didn’t have horns on their helmets. Then again, the films about dragons so I can’t really criticise them for historical accuracy.

All in all this film gets an 8/9 out of 10 from me. Definitely worth a watch.

Spaced Synopsis

Spaced is a quirky comedy where Tim, a lovable stoner who works as a comic book artist, is dumped by his girlfriend and finds solace in the form of Daisy, a self-deluded but likeable woman who has moved out of her squalid flat and looking for a new place to live. After many encounters, they both realise they need each other and must pretend to be a couple in order to rent a flat from a mad alcoholic landlady. While living in their flat, they go through day to day experiences with their friends Mike, an idiot with a gun obsession, and Brian a strange “artist” who lives downstairs and has a girlfriend called Twist.

Throughout the series, Tim and Daisy form a connection with each other, and as the series progresses, they both mature and grow emotionally. Although the idea is teased at times, the pair never actually begin a relationship and stay friends throughout the story.

Spaced is set in an urban area in North West London, but is mainly set in the flat. It uses creative techniques such as fast editing with multiple camera shots and creative and unusual camera angles. Animation is used interestingly with the cartoon characters created by Tim. Pop culture is used cleverly in scenes where even if the audience doesn’t get the joke, they still have something to laugh at. It’s got quite dark humour but one of the most attractive things about the series is that it’s relatable for the audience and therefore even though it shows everyday events occurring, it is still enjoyable to watch.

Being a sitcom, another advantage to Spaced is that it has multiple story arcs. This means that even if a viewer misses one of the episodes, they aren’t completely lost when watching the next instalment.

In conclusion, Spaced is an everyday, rat race sitcom, but manages to hook onto its audience with relatable characters, new and interesting storylines and creative, unique camerawork and editing.