My girlfriend Natasha and I took it upon our selves to go on a slight road trip for our 3rd year anniversary. We live near Cambridge so it was quite a trek! Here is our itinerary in detail as well as our packing list, so maybe you too can enjoy a similar trip!
We hoped to arrive in Nottingham by 11 a.m. leaving us plenty of time to visit and explore the city. We chose the Ramada Nottingham City Center as our hotel. The hotel was part of a chain but offered a really comfy room, lovely staff who were incredibly friendly and loved to chat and a delicious continental breakfast. We had parked in a near by 24 hour car park as there is not a lot of space to park in and around the city. This cost around £15 for the day and night parking. We left our bags in the car as most hotels you cant check in until at least 2 o’clock. By having our hotel quite near to the center, it meant we wouldn’t need to pay for all day travel on the tram as we were already rather near everything. We headed to The City 0f Caves, which takes place on the upper level of the Broadmarsh Shopping Center. These caves are incredibly interesting and come with a free audio tour. The caves take you through a series of rooms which were originally from centuries ago. By following the tour round, you get a chance to see the old tanneries as well as an old pub. The highlight of the experience for me was walking down an old Victorian street, where the families used the backs of the caves for the houses. Sadly the street has been built on top of now to make way for the shopping center, however the remains I found rather amazing. When leaving the shopping center we made our way to Nottingham Castle. We didn’t actually go in the castle but instead took a drink and had a light lunch in Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which was established in the 1100’s. The decor was lovely as was the food and their own cider. I would recommend taking a trip here. It is a little expensive on some of the things, but if you just want a sandwich or some nibbles then this place is excellent! They also sell merchandise. It is a good achievement to say you have dined in Britain’s oldest pub! We followed this by a bit of shopping in the rather large Victoria Center, which caters for every shop you would possibly need! Its even home to an indoor market! We finished our day quite early to instead go and see the spectacularly wonderful Jack Savoretti at Rock City. He was awesome. If you know him I would go and see him. If you dont, get to know him and still go and see him. Natasha didn’t know him very well, but cant stop swooning now! Rock city is a lovely venue and if you can possibly see a concert here then I would recommend it. This does take quite a big chunk out of your day however, meaning we had to have dinner after the concert. Luckily, Nottingham is home to so many bars and restaurants, both independent and chain, so there is always a possibility for food. If you enjoy going out, there are also many clubs to dance and jive in, as the city is also home to two universities. We left our hotel after breakfast in the morning. So maybe around 10ish. We would have loved to have spent more time in Nottingham. Other places I would recommend to go would be the Castle, which is not far to walk from the center. The adventure golf, which doesn’t close until 11pm. The Galleries of Justice museum which incorporates many live actors and finally the Kitty Cafe. This odd cafe allows for cats to roam around you giving you the chance to have a cuddle whilst sipping your coffee. Don’t worry though the food hygiene is five out of five! We then drove up through the peak district and into Bakewell, where we hoped to get out and visit the bakery, only we had no change to pay for our pay and display. So moved on to the north, to a place called Hope. Here we encountered many sheep on the road as well as deer, which meant we had to drive very carefully. In hope we visited a cavern called Blue John. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and passionate about their job. The trip lasted for around half an hour and we could ask as many questions as we could think of. The tour guide was funny and very calming for those, including my self who do not like caves. I was put firmly at ease and loved the experience. We moved about five minuets up the road to a place called speedwell cavern. This was a lot more scary as to get into the cavern you had to travel by boat. The boat was in a 6 foot wide tunnel of a 2 meter high tunnel! The tour guides calmed us by telling us we were going to get trapped. All fun and games. We were on this boat for around 15 minuets each way, with a ten or so minuet stop off in the middle to spend some time in the giant open cavern. This was also a wonderful experience. One cave was completely natural, whilst the other was very much man made. We left Hope to head to our hotel, firstly traveling through Chatsworth Estate, and Matlock. We stayed in a hotel called The Lion Hotel in Belper. This was a small village with not a lot in it, except this marvelous hotel. The hotel had wonderful service, and a bar and restaurant. However we decided to take a small trip out to visit a Harvester restaurant, which was about half hour away. The following day we had a long drive hope, but we took another trip up to Hope, and going off the beaten track to drive in the hills and see the sights. We also took a little hike and took lots of photos. When in Hope we visited another Cavern named Treak Cliff. It was on the same hill as the first cave, Blue John, so had the rocks. Only in this cavern, there was much more to learn, and a lot more enthusiasm from the young tour guides who took us around both natural and man made caves, with huge amount of Blue John on display. The shop at the entrance and exit had many different rocks and crystals to buy as well as some of their art on show. We finished off our weekend with a carvery before driving home! Prices. The hotels were around £70 a night for two people. The Caves ranged from £7 to £11. But they do leave a tip box at the end, and I believed each of the experiences to be worth at least £5 more! They aren’t commercialized businesses so are proud of what they have! Each one lasting around 40 minuets to an hour. Tips.
Thank you for taking the time to read this Itinerary! I hope you liked it and maybe it has made you fancy a trip to this part of Britian! If you want any more information, head over to the contact page, and I will reply with in 12 hours. I hope to post a gallery of photos soon on the home page featuring photos from our trip taken by Natasha, whose Instagram you can find on the post below! We both aim to start up a shared blog soon! I’d love for some of you to get into contact! Back again tomorrow!
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Long post. About me. Sort of. Keep reading!
So it was Me and my Girl friend Natasha’s 3rd year anniversary on Friday so we headed to Nottingham to see the singer Jack Savoretti. He is a folk/acoustic/latin (sort of) singer who was wonderfully incredible to see live. Its amazing to see a smaller artist in a venue where they work so hard for what they love. Their talent really shows off in their singing, song writing and instrument playing. In comparison there are some major, major artists who would rather dance on stage instead of singing their own songs, more from that another day! Photo of Jack Savoretti here! Taken by my wonderful girl friend Natasha Fowler. Whilst there Mr. Savoretti said something to us, the audience, that was incredibly worded. I wrote an article on Thursday that explained that we should not run away from news, only instead we should embrace it, and at this time in our lives, we need to stand together as one. But Savo said something that contradicted that in a way, but made so much sense. He said “27 years ago to the day, the Berlin Wall came down. Marking the end of the war, and this divided continent. 2 days ago, the leader of the free world, claims he wants to build another one.” It was really put in to perspective at that point. Taken by Natasha Fowler, Friday 11th November, tash_fowlieNatasha (Who would much rather be called Tash!) and I both on Saturday and Sunday traveled ar ound the Peak District in the sort of north, but sort of center of Britain. Having not long passed my driving test, it was going to be a challenge to maneuver up and down the hills, but it proved an exciting one. We took a hike up some of the hills as well as taking tours into the caverns and caves near the village of Hope. If you live in the UK or are a tourist coming to the UK, I would highly recommend visiting a series of the cave systems here. They are wonderfully interesting and are rather cheap. One cave in particular is home to a rock named Blue John. The name originated from being called the Blue and Yellow rock. But when it went over to France to be sold it was changed to Bleu Jaune. Not many of the residents of the peak district during the 19th century could not speak french so the name was instead translated to Blue John – What a wonderful fact! It sparks me to think that so many people, especially Brits, believe their country to be amazing and as a massive tourist spot. But dont actually see much of their country. I know a family who will go to the most exotic of locations, but have barely been out of their home town in their own country. There are so many lovely places to visit in your home countries. Like so many. It was wonderful to be free and to see the places that we wanted to see with our own vehicle meaning we could explore as we wanted. This was more of a short post to tell you of my live over this weekend. A simple like would enthuse me to write in further detail about this weekends adventure. Maybe it could also inspire you to visit one of the most visually pleasing places I have been. We are stepping closer and closer to Trumps rule and we seem to be in a hard place at the moment as a world. Stay smiling everyone. This weekend coming I have been inspired to create a post of many things that make me smile, and hopefully will you too. Twitter asks me everyday; What is on your mind? Well I will tell you what is on my mind shall I?
This weekend me and my girlfriend Natasha will be celebrating our third year anniversary. We will depart to Nottingham this Friday morning to watch Jack Savoretti at Rock City. I enjoy a lot of acoustic sets as well as the rock, pop and rap stuff I am used to seeing! Simply because those singers who stand on stage with nothing but a voice and a guitar show unreal amount of talent. We are then taking a trip the pair of us through the Peak District, situated in sort of the North of England. However, one thing is rather dominant in my mind today. That being the new president of the USA. Now I did mention Mr.Trump in a recent post about Trophy hunting. However I am going to tell you my opinion on the new president. So the thing is, I'm not American, but I would have voted for Clinton. Clinton simply has so much experience in American politics and has been involved with it for years, which she makes quite clear, but why not make it clear when your rival simply hasn't had that experience. Some people will take the mic out of her dress or her look. But you know what balls to you guys, because she is a woman under a lot of stress who is trying to help the world. She fights for women and does what she can to let you have your own identity, so why not jog on! You can't say that Hillary falling ill shows she is weak, because she is simply of an older age and she isn't a god, just like the rest of us, she will fall ill. Trump. Now he may well be a bit racist and bit, ummm, a bit 'mean' towards women. But both women and Hispanics voted Mr Trump in to power. So as a world we must congratulate him for that. He proved more popular and he is now the most powerful man of Earth. For those saying that they now need to leave America. Don't. America and the world needs to be more as one now than ever before. We should stand together and believe in the world and our lives. In this circumstance it doesn't take one man to change the world. It takes the world to change that one man. I haven't heard any one say they are pleased of the result yet, only negatives. But Trump won. So no matter what we must congratulate him on his tough win. Now to what happens next! So I was going to spend today's post talking maybe the new smash HBO hit West World, or Marvels new Doctor Strange or maybe even last nights MTV awards. But instead I have decided to put forth a slight rant, that being Trophy Hunting.
So Trophy Hunting is where some one goes out, kills a wild but beautiful animal often from the African plains, they then take the head, or horns or another part of the body and pose with it. Trophy Hunting comes under a lot of scrutiny in the media and that isn't going to stop here either. The hunting isn't for the necessity of food, so isn't needed to happen at all. It is simply for a trophy. The methods used to kill the endangered beasts and rarely humane nor do they involve a quit bullet to the skull, but instead involves the hunter tracking the animals by the path of blood it leaves.This means that the animals go through agony and pain and do not have a swift death. There is no skill in trophy hunting. A lot of the time a deer or another animal may just be simply standing before they are shot and used as a prize. That is basically the same skill as shooting a coconut off of a podium. You can eat the coconut too! Hunter believe they are killing elks and other Serengeti animals to save them from starving to death. When in fact the animals with the large antler racks they are in fact killing are the stronger of the species, so they are really letter the weaker die anyway, meaning the species could potentially die a lot quicker than expected. How you could kill an Elephant just for the white material we know as ivory is disgusting. How you could go to the African plains at sun rise and instead of feel the warmth of the most magical animals in their natural habitat, feel the urge to want to kill one is beyond me. The arguments for and against hunting will go on and on, it is unlikely we will come to a resolution any time soon. But with the presidential election this week, and Trump running as candidate, it has to be remembered that his two sons did in fact enthuse this act, and by searching Trump of Google, one of the top searches that appears is to do with the act of hunting. You can easily find the two cuddling a leopard they killed, hanging a dead crocodile from a tree of holding an elephants tail. Whether you choose to believe in religion or science, you have to realise that we were put on this Earth as equals. If you believe in God, then you would know that we were put here on Earth along with all of the other species as equals and as precious beings. Under the skin whether you are black, white, disabled, homosexual, heterosexual, have diabetes, like certain music or films we are all the same. We weren't put on this world to take the lives of others. If you believe in science and natural selection then even more so you would believe that we are definitely all equal. We have fought and evolved to become the strongest and smartest species on this planet. Potentially, it could have been dogs, or lizards that evolved further. In a different universe we are pets to lions. So if we are all equal why would you want to take the lives of other animals. If this was reversed and a bison took you as a trophy to the rest of the poachers would that not be the same, or would that only cause more rage? Some people believe that because we have always hunted, then why can't we carry on! One mans voice will never make a difference, but it's nice to express your opinion of something that is so important and upsetting in this world. I couldn't possibly put a picture of a hunter and its 'trophy' or 'prize' as the feature photo for this, so I had to simply find the greatest photo I could of the beautiful animals, look wonderful in their habitat as a family, enjoying their life, before one day they are split up by pain and prize. It was a Thursday. I knew that for sure. I remember going out on the Wednesday, because I remember watching Sheffield play. I was with George. I had drunk quite a lot, Sheffield had indeed lost. I also remember that today, Thursday, was the day in which I was supposed to be driving down up to Hull. I was going to Hull, because it was there that I was to catch a boat that was going to take me through the North Sea, with George, my partner in crime.
I worked as a private journalist. Freelance I suppose. I had written all sorts of stories. I actually work for an agency that are based down in Canada square. I’ve written some quite big stories in the past. A lot of which are based on current affairs. I once took my own in depth investigation on this woman who murdered three of her children, with the help of her forth. It was quite a famous one. This was however was very different to anything I had previously done. George was a photographer and had been for as long as I had known him, he too was freelance, and I would take him where ever I was to be writing a story. His photos boosted readers for me, and my stories boosted viewers for George. I arose from my bed to find that Debbie, my fiancé of 7 year had already left for work. She worked as a school teacher in a local primary school. She is a princess is my Debbie! Long blonde flowing hair, and the greenest of eyes. The only thing missing was patience. Her love for me had left some months ago it was clear to see. I picked up her coffee cup which she had left on the side. The milk had separated from the coffee. It had barely been drunk. I took a sip from it. Two sugars. It was mine. I had obviously asked her for a drink, but had fallen back to sleep not long after asking. It was cold. I put the cup back on the side and walked into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror. My neck was red from where I had been scratching it and my eyes looked bruised and tired. I took a few pain relief capsules and washed it down with the tepid water which I managed to encase in my hands from the holding them under the chrome tap. The job I had been asked to do was an interesting one. It wasn’t for the Mail or for the Express or a tabloid, clearly not a sports or entertainment magazine, not a foreign broadsheet on spiritualism. But for an unknown source. My job was to write a report on a man. A man who claimed he had died and gone to the other side, before coming back some months later. It wasn’t something I would usually involve myself in. I was provided a boat to take me to my destination, which would wait for me at the island for my departure. I was given a small which would give me an element of security if needed. The job seemed pretty simple. Only the guy I was going to be writing on, seemed far from simple. I pulled on a clean shirt from the floor nearby. I most probably staggered in last night and knocked everything I had laid out during the afternoon flying. I grabbed a pair of black trousers from my draw, keeping the same boxer briefs on that I had worn the day previously. They told me to bring my own camera however, but I just asked the man if I could instead bring my own photographer. He didn’t seem too fussed. I was briefed for the job by a man named Samuel in an independent coffee shop quite near the inner part of London city last week. The problem with that was the 2 hour train journey to get there. But I must say I didn’t mind paying for a train ticket after Samuel had told me how much I was going to be paid for the report. I grabbed the mug again and walked through the hall and down the stairs. In the kitchen sat the toaster which Debbie had left out for me, alongside the bread and the tin of coconut jam. She would always leave the breakfast things out for me, she would always make me lunch too. It wasn’t that I was incapable, it was just she enjoyed doing it, and had done ever since we brought a house together 12 years ago. Samuel was a nice guy, he was older than I was I suppose maybe 61 or 62. I was good at guessing ages. I did it a lot when I was in the army. He told me that I was heading to an archipelago of islands above Denmark but below Norway called Occultum. Made of eight islands, all of whom were secret to the normal Earth resident. Apparently the islands were set up as witness protection and for those who were in trouble and needed to get out of the public eye. Occultum meant Hidden in Latin, which explains the background to the islands. They were government run and had been for around 32 years. The island of Siri was where I was to be going. Samuel wore a suit, whilst I didn’t. He told me he worked for the government, and that I was hired for the role to stop the arise of any suspicion. He told me I was going to be safe and everything I would need, I would find on the boat on Thursday. The Isle of Siri was my X on the map. One man lived there. That was clearly the guy I needed. That clever, clever guy. In the kitchen I found my bag. Inside it carried what I called my essentials. A bag of mint imperials, a change of socks, my laptop, a note book, a passport, and my most favourite book, The Catcher in the Rye. I never went far without that book. I was a former major in the British army corps, and I would always read the book as a form of escapism. I headed out of the front door and stood by the door of my car. George was late. He said he would be here at five past ten. It is ten past ten. I missed breakfast for him. The guy I was going to meet was named Dennis. He lived in an Anderson shelter. He ran his own farm which was heavily guarded apparently. Maybe that was why the pay was so neat. As I stood there by the car, it came across me. Why did I have to do this? Siri was Swahili for secret. The new Ron Howard film starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, Inferno, completes the Da Vinci Code trilogy. So I took it upon myself to see the film following the great enjoyment I got from watching the first film.
I had read about this film and knew that the trilogy overall was kind of perceived as just meh! I on the other hand could not possibly say too many bad things about this almighty creation. The film starts three days into our story, where Langdon wakes up with quite serious amnesia. Following some quite hellish flashbacks we find ourselves put on this journey with Langdon as we too feel his confusion. Not in a way that we don’t understand the film, but in a way that helps us moreover sympathise with the character. As a high speed chase begins, we fear for Langdon’s life. When he teams up with his gloriously beautiful nurse, Sienna Brooks played by the equally beautiful Felicity Jones, who hopes to help Langdon recover his memories, they race across Europe and against the clock to stop a madman (Ben Foster) from unleashing a virus that could wipe out half of the world's population. The way the film was made, if you like nothing else who will love the editing and the cinematography involved because OMG! This film looked spectacular! The cutting and sticking of frames to confuse the hell out of the audience were almighty in every way. The plot for the film also is wonderful due to the brilliant author of the book of the same, Dan Brown. We learn a lot about Italian poet Dante in this film and what his perception of Hell. I love clever films, not confusing films like Inception but clever ones where we find a lot of actual interesting knowledge. Like for example did you know the word Quarantine came from the Italian word Quarantina, meaning 40, as this was how many days ships would have had to dock in Venice before the crew members could get off of the ship to assess whether they were carrying any diseases during the 17th century. The film I believe is rather thrilling throughout, maybe half an hour before the end, the film takes a slight turn and you begin to relax a bit whilst you actually discover the true meaning of everything and everyone. This can be a bit confusing because what you thought you knew…you didn’t. But it turns out ok and we are plummeted further into the action. The locations are also beautiful and my girlfriend and I have decided that we want to visit Florence and Venice in Spring to see Dante’s Death Mask, and the hall of the 500. If you are to leave this film with your mind a little frazzled and confusing, bear not as I am sure despite that you will have enjoyed the journey you went on. For those who have read the book, I believe them to be quite near to each other, apart from the ending, as the film has changed it slightly to appear more Hollywood-esqe or heroic! So once seeing the film I would probably google the actual ending of the book, and then realize how you would have prefer that one! That however is my only negative remark of the film! The end-end is also wonderful with a real drop the mic moment that will let you leave with a smile on your face. I would give this film possibly an 8! If you enjoy action adventures, smart stuff and Tom Hanks then go take a look for sure! This film is rated 12A, but I would defo say don't take any one below 12, and even then that too seems a bit young to sit through the first 20 minuets. Thanks for taking the time to read a bit about my life last week! Thank you also for the emails about life! I loved the interactions! It was brilliant hearing from you, so keep getting those in! What does being human mean to you today?
Have you seen the new Ron Howard and Tom Hanks film Inferno? Monday check back here for my thoughts and feelings on the film. Maybe by the end of next week, there will be a post of what I believe to be the best films of this year. Off to Hampton Court this weekend in London, so a diary entry of that too:) Lou This is my first major life post and I would love it if you could give it a read! I've been away for a while, but hear me out! I have just got a new job, I have been traveling around my region to radios and other media businesses as well as taking part in a writing course, so busy busy! But, I am starting a project called Human17. If I pose a question, and ask you, what does being Human mean to you in 2016, what would you say? This year there have been so many frights and disturbances the world over to say the least. At a time when we should be more connected than ever, it feels almost like we aren't. People today feel too scared to voice their opinion with fear that someone will disagree. You can't like a particular music or like who you want to like. If you ask the question of; Do you like Sex to a group of 100 friends, would they all answer yes, even if they dont? Probably, but only because today we worry what people will say, as we are socialized to think we have to like it! People will judge our opinions all the time but what does that matter. We are all human we should all be equal we should all have equal opportunities, you should be how you want the world to be! We all deserve this world and we need to work together to keep surely? We are closer to the end of the world than we ever have been and we get closer and closer day by day. This is our world and we need to look after it. Animals are becoming extinct, and I myself are worried that my child may never know what an elephant looked like without a photo. That is a scary thought, and singularly we might not be able to do much about it. War spreads through the world along with disease and hatred. But turn your head for once and turn away from that form of media and that world and look at the good. Small things like a video of a dog dancing, or a rhino impersonating a goat (yes that is a real thing!) A dog sliding down a slide, or even just a look at Disney film, a complete look away from our normal world, and into this escapism. I hope to form a project via YouTube and my blog that spreads awareness of what it is like to be human in the year 2016 and 2017. How we can do small deeds to make the world a better place, within reason. I dont want to sound arrogant or vein, but by giving a few pennies to a homeless guy can still make a difference! I hope to hear from some of you guys and I hope to make a YouTube video to start this idea off. You will never hear me plea for a share or a like or anything like that! You can like a post or a video without clicking a button so whats it matter! But for one time, please take two seconds to share this? Maybe? Or just comment and tell me what you feel being human means in 2016? One thing that manages to stick out when you think of Pixar is the tears that are shed in every one of their 17 films. What is important, however, is how they use these upsetting moments to touch the hearts of children and adults alike. How Pixar was able to effect an 8 year old me, whilst also effecting my dad when we went to watch Up is truly marvelous! Here is a list I have conducted of the saddest moments throughout the years Pixar has been entertaining us. 12. Cars - Doc Hudson's story Doc Hudson’s back story was the first Pixar moment that had an effect on me the first time I watched it! I mean I didn't weep, but i was gently satisfied by his story, and could then develop a better understanding with the character. The story of Hudson also had an effect on our arrogant protagonist Lightning McQueen when he was to give his title up to save the King in the Piston Cup. This film carried multiple messages, and showed audiences how important it is to help other people, and that winning is nothing, as we see with the reaction Chick Hicks gets when he crosses the line. The real recognition is giving up time to help other people. 11. Brave - Merida's mother Elinor as a bearBrave was an interesting film based on a Scottish family, in which Pixar tried to break away from those typical princess roles, and portray Merida to want to be... brave, basically! But not in an annoying way, not just for the point of equality! Merida is still however that wonderful princess who has all of those moody hormones and that tight fit family! However, as the film draws to a close, and the curse that Merida aided with putting on her mother that made her into a bear had not yet rubbed off. Merida steps into the fighting and action to declare to her father and the rest of the Scottish warriors that this is her mum, and they should not kill her. As sun rises, we are led to believe that her mother is still a bear. This is dealt with wonderfully and shows how family is important to all of us, and that you should never really declare hate against anyone, as you never know the consequences. 10. Monsters, Inc. - Sulley says bye to Boo Monsters, Inc. taught us to treasure our friends and not to judge those who we don't know. The film is full of emotional moments often centered around Sulley and Boo, however, when Sulley is forced to put Boo back into the real world, it becomes apparent to Sulley he will never see this young girl again, someone who he has committed so much time into saving and looking after. What is even more sad, is that Boo is oblivious to what is about to happen, and opens her cupboard door to find that it is now just a cupboard. As the film draws to a close, Sulley is handed a piece of a door, which allows him to enter Boos room one last time, as we hear the noise of Boo shout 'Kitty' once more and see Sulley smiles, we can leave the film happier. This film simply shows audiences of all ages that you should treasure those closest to you, as you don’t know when the last time could be. Pixar delicately deals with these subjects with brilliant characters for our entertainment, showing these films to represent life and not just a comic strip aimed to make people laugh, but aims to make people feel. 9. Toy Story - Buzz finds out he is a toy So as we know, Buzz believes he is a real Space Ranger throughout the majority of Toy Story. This is until he aims to escape from Sid's house/dungeon when he sees a TV advert advertising himself in mass numbers. It is here that Buzz gets a strong incline that he is a toy. But it grows as Buzz leaps from Sid's stairs, crashing to the floor and breaking his arm. As the camera zooms out, we see Buzz laying on the floor looking in the distance, with the realization in his eyes that he is just a toy, and has lived this falsified existence. Although we know Buzz is just a toy, we are upset to see that Buzz has found his limits. When the film draws to a close and Buzz saves Woody, Woody announces something Buzz had told him all along that Buzz can fly. However Buzz corrects Woody with what he had told him all along! He was falling in style. Here we see its OK, maybe even a happy tear! 8. WALL-E - WALL-E forgets Eve WALL-E is just an emotional film anyway! WALL-E is quite literally the cutest thing in the world! He was the BB-8 before BB-8! When WALL-E leaves Earth, leaving his cockroach behind, this is already sad enough! But what really pulls your heart strings is where we see Eve fix WALL-E who had risked his life to ensure the safety of everyone else. However with the replacing of certain parts, WALL-E suffers memory loss, and ignores Eve and moves on to make garbage cubes and do what he was programmed to do! After seeing how Wall-e tried so hard to grab Eve's attention and the heights he went to, to ensure the two robots fell in love, to see this moment is really heart breaking. 7. Toy Story 3 - The toys face the incinerator So when the toys faced the incinerator, around 3/4 of those watching the film believed that the toys were to fall into this mass fire whilst still holding hands, as we see their faces melt and their fur burn as the camera zooms out announcing our most loved characters dead. Maybe we might even catch a glimpse of Woody’s hat not quite fall into the fire yet as the film fades out! However we was lucky enough for this not to happen, but I can’t believe anyone thought it would anyway? Disney and Pixar are very delicate with how they deal with certain moments, they would never do such a thing! This is Toy Story 3, not Saw 3! I can’t really comment on how delicately they dealt with this moment, apart from the fact they didn't let it happen. 6. Toy Story 2 - Jessie's story Finding Jessie's story in Pixar shows that this cowgirl who is so desperate for Woody to stay and not return to Andy isn't because she is moody and angry with Woody's behaviour but simply because she was slightly jealous! She was abandoned by her owner, an owner who loved her. She just didn't want this to happen to Woody, like it could have potentially happened in Toy Story 3! This flash back clip was maybe one of the most heart breaking moments and saw Jessie being shoved under a bed and to be found years later, to then be left in a donation box after she had been played with one final time. This scene is really like giving away a pet! These toys have feelings and meant that as children we could never throw anything away again because we felt so sorry for this inanimate objects! What made the scene even worse was the song, 'When Somebody Loved Me' accompanied the scene. Pixar simply chose such a simple thing as throwing something away or getting rid of a pet and put it to the point of view of this toy and BANG! Floods of tears. 4. Finding Nemo - Nemo and Marlin reunite Some would say that Coral dying in Finding Nemo was probably the saddest part. I disagree, Coral was in the film for such a short time, the real problem was where Nemo was found and reunited with his father! This wasn't so much a sad moment, but heart breaking in the sense that the story was concluded and after Marlin had dedicated so much to finding Nemo, he had succeeded and everything was going to be happy again after a few tears. The whole way through the film you want the duo to be reunited of course, no one wants them to stay alone, so as we see the film draw to a close with such happiness, we are actually flooding with tears! 3. Up - The montage in Up I feel like some would put this as their number one, so controversial choice! The beginning scene in Up, accompanied by that piece of music is guaranteed to make audiences well up straight away! During the film we are supposed to support this BITTER man, so by chucking in a five minuet montage that really grabs all aspects of life, we can understand exactly why this man is BITTER and fall in love with him and his story! This one montage will always be one of the most remember-able moments of Pixar cinema, and will never be forgot! Clips which include the couple being told they can’t have a baby, and Ellie becoming depressed is subtle enough that all ages will understand, but has an effect on these age groups in different way, and results in something so beautiful! 2. Toy Story 3 - Andy gives away his toys Andy giving away his toys ruined my life for about 3 weeks! I couldn't believe that could do such a thing! When he got one more chance to play with them, before waving them off, people of all ages began crying in the cinema. A 15 year build that resulted in Andy not wanting to hand down Woody, but then decided on it anyway, along with the rest of the gang, our best loved Disney characters ever! 1. The Good Dinosaur - Arlo and Spot say goodbye So this film flopped hard for Pixar! I mean hard! So some may not agree with this one being number one! But let me tell you, before seeing Me Before You this year, I have never cried so much at a film! There are multiple parts throughout, but the one that really got me is where our lost dinosaur Arlo is still heading home when his silent human companion Spot finds a family who want to take him as their own. Arlo encourages Spot to leave but he just refuses and refuses, until eventually he does, ending with tears for both of our protagonists. I think the reason for this being so sad is because we know both of their stories quite well and we have basically developed a rapport with them throughout their journey, and as Arlo starts crying we feel his pain, that this dinosaur who had nothing, now once more has nothing! With the recent release of Pixar’s, Finding Dory, I took it upon myself to re-watch last years The Good Dinosaur. To be honest, I didn’t have a lot of hope for the film. Could Pixar really bash out two good films this year?
Inside out was amazing, check out the review if you haven’t seen it. It was probably one of my most favourite animated films and for that reason I, for not one second, believed this could live up to it. The Good Dinosaur is about young Arlo, a dinosaur, who along with all the other dinosaurs were not wiped out 65 million years ago. When a rainstorm washes poor Arlo downriver he ends battered and far from home. Arlo then meets young critter Spot, a half dog human boy who helps Arlo and, together the odd duo hike in order to reunite Arlo with his family. The film starts off slow, but in good Pixar fashion shows how important something is, this time being family. But then the dilemma struck, as we were chucked head first into this quite silent adventure film, which did not feel like Pixar whatsoever. Arlo was quite annoying but yet still a fairly accurate interpretation of a child, whilst dog boy Spot was also quite similar to a dog companion. There was some great symbolism in this film, which showed you the world through a child eye, as you begin to discover the faces in the rocks, and the dark, scary no go zones. The film had a strong base around family and leaving your mark on someone or something in this world, however it still does not feel like a Pixar film! There was no obvious image of a pizza planet truck, the letters, A113, nor any other particular Pixar Easter egg. The visuals in this film were fantastic! The pictures and small image haikus were amazing. The effort that gets put into these mountain ranges and trees is phenomenal (yet, they don’t manage to put nipples on Spot – oh well.) Some characters were rather pointless and were in here for no reason at all, and there for a bid at a cheap laugh, which children probably would enjoy, just not those of an older audience. Having said that, with no Pixar film last year, I think the company have returned this year with a different ego, and a different way of making films. The two recent films have been rather grown up, with aspects of depression and real life matters weaved in. So instead of there being a buffer, there is now this element of real life replacing all of that colourful escapism and pleasure. However, one thing that was promised in Pixar fashion was a sad scene. Oh, for sure there was a sad scene. Multiple, actually. Woah it was sad. I mean sad. This film was made brilliant through these scenes, which could bring grown men to tears! The scenes were brilliant and by the last scene, we were all drenched in our own tear. This film was actually probably sadder than Toy Story 3! Overall, this film was a wonderful film, with great visual effects, and great landscapes, which were really shown off during the film, however don’t go watching this film, expecting to be over filled with Pixar creations, because you will be disappointed if you do, you wouldn't think it was Pixar at all, even the reoccurring John Ratzenberger could even go unnoticed – still worth a watch! |
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