Top 5: Feel Good Films

The other day I went to the cinema by myself to see a film called Sunshine On Leith. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life. I was laughing and crying and laughing and smiling the whole time, and when it was over, I left feeling exhilarated and just so, so so happy. So, I thought I'd write this list of my top 5 feel-good movies, because even thinking about them makes me happy. 

It was very difficult for me not to fill this entire list with musicals, because apparently some people don't like musicals???? (what????????????????????) I'm 100% sure there is a direct correlation between the amount of super fun musical numbers and the happiness that is extracted by the audience. Unless you're someone who hates musicals. They're probably the same kind of people who enforce "compulsory fun" and create computer viruses.

5. Mamma Mia! (2008)

This movie is full of ABBA classics that everyone knows, plus it's set in beautiful Greece, so it's bound to be a good time. The story of a girl's quest to find her father by inviting all three possibilities to her wedding on a tiny island is a recipe for humorous disaster and the perfect time to whip out a little bit of Voulez-Vous. The cast is incredible (Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, to name a few), it's full of lighthearted fun and did I mention the ABBA songs????????

4. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)

This coming-of-age British comedy about a weird teenage girl and her weird friends and her weird family is just one big fun fest. From the olive costume to the eyebrow shaving to boy stalking to the kissing lessons, this film is so ridiculous but so real at the same time, with the added bonus of a cute Aaron Johnson pre-witch wife situation to make you even more happy. Cheesy sometimes, yes. But what's wrong with that?

3. How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Animated movies are also usually pretty feel-good, but this one takes the cake. Dragons! Vikings! Flying! Dorky freckly boys! Dragons that are basically giant cats! Dorky freckly boys becoming best friends with dragons that are basically giant cats and then flying them to save the rest of the Vikings! Stunning animation, beautiful scenery, comical voices and well timed jokes make this movie exhilarating. It feels like you can fly.

2. Footloose (1984)

Who doesn't love a bit of Bacon? When Kevdogs moves to the small town of Bomont and discovers they've put a ban on dancing, he's got to do something about it. So, with the help of the priest's reb daughter, his dorky new best friend, and Sarah Jessica Parker, he rallies the teenagers to convince the council to let them have a prom - but not before he has an emotional and angst-filled dance break in an abandoned warehouse. The soundtrack to this movie is full of amazing 80s power ballads and also possibly the best song of all time (Footloose, duh). Plus: dancing! 

1. Sunshine On Leith (2013)

I love this movie. As soon as it started and I heard the music I was hooked and I didn't stop smiling the whole time. It's set in Scotland which means amazing funny accents and it's a jukebox of Proclaimers songs, which means you just know it's gonna close with I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) and when it inevitably does, you are just feeling so GREAT about everything you just want to jump out of your seat and sing along. Literally the happiest I can remember being after a movie. I'M ON ME WEH FROM MISERY TER 'APPINESS TERDERRRR UH HUH UH HUH UH HUH UH HUH

Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is the much anticipated follow up to Dreamworks' 2010 original animated film. That movie was celebrated by critics as a beautiful visual with comedy and adventure to please kids and adults alike, so the sequel had a tough act to follow.

It did it wonderfully.

Set five years after the first film, the dragon riders gang are now 20 years old (and super attractive) and dragons have been (sort of) seamlessly integrated into life on Berk. Hiccup is choosing to ignore his responsibilities as future Chief and is spending his days mapping the archipelago, discovering new lands and new dragons. He's obviously also spent a lot of time working on some sick new inventions. He runs into some unexpected new friends and the film's Big Bad, Drago (really though? His name is literally dragon) who doesn't live in peace with dragons but believes they are monsters, trying to capture as many as he can for an army.

The plot might be a tiny bit weak, but these films are all about the characters. You can't help but become invested in them. Super invested. 

While fans of the HTTYD universe have waited four years for the second film, during the hiatus there has been numerous shorts and also a television series that expanded the Berk 'verse and introduced new lands and species of dragons, and developed the relationships between the main group: Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs, as well as Chief Stoick and Gobber. This film, while the storyline is mostly standalone, expands these visions even more, with Astrid and Hiccup seemingly in a steady long term relationship, and new and beautiful species of dragons everywhere you look.

These films have strong overarching themes of relationships, especially those of a familial variety. When Hiccup finds his long lost mother, Valka, he discovers that while he had always thought he didn't fit in with his father and the rest of the tribe, he had always taken after her instead. Watching his family reunite is heartwarming, because you can literally see the moment Hiccup feels like he belongs.

While there's lashings of comedy throughout, the end of the movie does take a turn for the tissues (I cried in this but I didn't cry in The Fault In Our Stars, go figure), but it's a turn that has to happen, as completely logical as it is heartbreaking. Most of the loose ends are tied up, leaving you desperate to see the next one, because you've got no idea what to expect.

My favourite part about this world is the relationship between Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless. Both are impaired (they're missing a foot and a tailwing respectively, BOTH ON THE SAME SIDE! I'm okay, really) and they need each other for support, physically and emotionally. It doesn't whack you over the head with it, but the subtlety in their soulmateishness is always there and it's beautiful.

The animation, of course, is stunning, of everything from giant ice structures to the stubble on Hiccup's (Hotcup, amirite) chin, and the way the dragons frolic in the background of shots. And, oh, the flight sequences! AND THE MUSIC! John Powell strikes again. Incredible.

It's certainly darker than the first film, but it'll beyond please fans and entertain newcomers. I loved this film. It seems my entire cinema loved this film. Critics are loving this film. 

This is a great sequel, and an even greater movie.

★★★★★