The Popcorn Story by Ivan the Freelancer

The Popcorn Story Contents

Monday, June 23, 2008

PANDAMONIUM


Po is cute and sweet… Po is clumsy but adorable… Po wears tight shorts and has a big tummy… He is a fat panda who has a talent that only the wise can discover. Being a panda, Po loves to eat a lot and sleep a lot. He lived and ran a restaurant selling noodles with his dad – Although they don’t look like father and son physically, but they surely have emotional bonds toward each other. Po makes me laugh a lot with his big butt and wacky face expressions.

Po had a dream to become a master of kung fu. As we all know, all things start from a dream. One day, Po heard a news that Master Oogway the turtle was about to choose someone to become a Dragon Warrior in a competition held in the Jade Temple. So, he brought his big butt and tummy to the Jade Temple high up the hills. Po always wanted to go there so that he could see the competition and his great kung fu idols, the Furious Five (Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper, and Monkey) – All trained by the famous kung fu master named Shifu.

Shifu with his big-fluffy-furry tail believed that one of the Furious Five would be chosen to become the Dragon Warrior. But Master Oogway had another thing in his head when he saw Po fell down from the sky with a chair full of firecrackers. Everybody dropped their jaws as Oogway with his sleepy eyes pointed Po to become a Dragon Warrior instead of the Furious Five. Everybody thought Oogway was crazy. How could a big fat panda who couldn’t even see his own feet become a Dragon Warrior?

Nearly at the same time, a bad and savage kung fu master, the snow leopard named Tai Lung escaped from his prison and demanded revenge for his exile. Tai Lung was very powerful and his skills in kung fu were superior. The Dragon Warrior was the only one who could defeat Tai Lung, and that choice had been put to Po the Panda by Master Oogway. Being the wisest of all, Oogway could somehow see the hidden talent in Po that everyone else couldn’t see.

Time was running out, as Master Shifu had to give everything he got to train Po, the fat and clumsy Kung Fu Panda into a Dragon Warrior in order to defeat Tai Lung. In the middle of desperation between Shifu and Po, Oogway told them the most precious lessons ever – that they only had to believe. Shifu and Po finally managed to believe, but was it enough to defeat the mighty Tai Lung?

Sweet Po gives us lots of fun and laughter – and we should remember him as a kung fu panda who could reach his dream – simply because he believes in it. Po also tells us that there is no secret recipe to become what we want to be. There is only us and what we do…

This is the first animation movie that I write in my blog. Is this a coincidence? No, there is no coincidence – Like Master Oogway used to say with his sleepy eyes, “There is no coincidence”.







Ivan the Freelancer

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

LONG WINTER


Narnia is a place where the animals can speak, where the winter and summer can appear in the same time, and where dreams and magic can come true. But this world can only be seen by those who believe. As we all already aware of, that besides us humans, there’re also other living beings that walk the earth. What makes us more superior than those other living beings? In this movie, the humans as the sons of Adam’s became an important part in the survival of Narnia from its long-cold-freezing winter curse.

The story of Narnia is based on a classic novel by CS Lewis. Four kids – Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) – were sent and evacuated to another place by their mother, in order to avoid the war which took place in their homeland. Little did they knew, that they would face another war which was far more dangerous and epic in another world called Narnia. They were evacuated to a house of a mysterious professor. The house was huge but they found it dull and boring – until Lucy found a magical wardrobe that could bring them to a mystical land called the Narnia.

The world of Narnia was not able to celebrate Christmas for a hundred years and the cold winter covered it with chilling snow. The source of the curse came from a White Witch named Jadis (Tilda Swinton) who was powerful enough to freeze almost the whole part of Narnia. Yet, a small area remained at summer and the forest was still covered with green trees. The forest was dwelled by the living beings who survive from the winter – the defender of Narnia – led by a wise lion named Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson).

The prophecy said that if the four sons of Adam’s came to the world of Narnia, then the battle to defeat the evil witch would come. Apparently Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy were the chosen ones in order to lead an army to defeat the army of Jadis the White Witch, and banished her for good. It seemed that the mighty Aslan and his army were powerful enough to bring Jadis’ curse to an end. But why did they need humans – the sons of Adam’s anyway? Let it remain a question for you until you see this movie.

Narnia tells us a clear message that humans are needed in order to bring peace and harmony to the world – any world that we live in. But look at what we do to the nature as humans nowadays. We create so many chaos and destruction. There’re too many “white witches” in this world today.

Nature and animals have the ability to heal or recover themselves, but they cannot save this world alone. They need us humans to help them. The nature calls for our help to restore the once prosperous and fertile land back to one piece – All for our own sake.

Ivan the Freelancer

Monday, June 16, 2008

LOVE BETWEEN TWO REALMS


They say love knows no border, distance, or limit – even beyond death. Although love can die or wither, the good news is love can also remain no matter what happen in the physical world. The proof is love will still be there although your loved ones are not. Although love can be painful, but it is actually the one that makes you feel alive. This is especially true in this movie called Ghost.

Sam (Patrick Swayze) had a great job at the local bank and his fiancĂ©e named Molly (Demi Moore) worked as an artist making ceramics. They were a happy couple who fell deeply in love. Things went fine as they walked the streets in Manhattan. But one day, when they strolled home from a movie theatre, they ran into a mugger named Willie Lopez. Sam tried to overcome the situation but got murdered. The shot from Willie’s gun instantly killed Sam on the spot.

Sam chased Willie, but Willie managed to escape. Sam ran back to check on Molly if she’s alright. But when he got to Molly, he found her crying while holding his body on the street. How come he could see his own body being held by Molly while he was standing next to her? At that time, Sam realized a horrible truth – which he was dead, and now he had become a ghost.

As a ghost, Sam couldn’t be seen, heard, and touched by the living. On the other hand, he could not travel to another place that he was supposed to be after death either. His love on Molly somehow held him in this world. Not just that, Sam realized that Molly’s life was in danger. So he decided to become her protector.

Being a ghost, Sam couldn’t communicate like any other human beings. But fate led him to a woman who happened to be a spiritualist named Oda Mae Brown (Whoopie Goldberg). Oda could somehow communicate with Sam only by hearing his voices. Sam tried his best to be with Molly and protect her from harm through Oda. But could he do it? – As time was running out for Molly.

Love is a mystery – Cannot be explained by words and can only be felt by heart – Although it can be expressed in many forms. It maybe easy to be loved, but it’s never easy to love someone else. To love means to have each other and to be with each other – no matter what the obstacles and problems are.

Ivan the Freelancer

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

FALLING STAR

This is a story about stars, what they do, and how to find one. People often assume stars as something they’d like to pursue. Stars can be referred as hopes, dreams, destinations, or maybe our loved ones. You see them twinkling at night and yet you wonder what they really are. Stars are mysterious – as mysterious as our destinies. We should all pursue our stars, or maybe wait until they fall upon us.

Stardust tells a story about a man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) who was asked to get a star by a girl he loved named Victoria (Sienna Miller), and brought it to her. How can a man reach a star and bring it to the woman he loves? So Tristan ventured on a journey in order to get the star that was said had fallen from the sky. The truth was Victoria didn’t love Tristan so she made what seemed to be an impossible request for him. That’s the only way Tristan could get Victoria to marry him.

It was not difficult for Tristan to find the falling star, but the real problem was to keep it. How come it’s difficult to keep a falling star? Was it too big or maybe too hot? No… It’s because the falling star surprisingly turned out to be a beautiful maiden named Yvaine (Claire Daines). Having no choice, Tristan had to bring Yvaine to Victoria as a proof that he had found the star. But Yvaine was not a “thing” – She was a living human beings. Tristan couldn’t “bring” a girl to another girl just like that.

To make matters more complicated, it’s not only Tristan who was pursuing the falling star. A cruel and powerful witch named Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) desperately searched Yvaine because she needed Yvaine’s heart to make her body became young again. On the other hand, there were also sons from a dead king who were eager to take the throne of the Stormhold Kingdom also looked for Yvaine, because she possessed the evil ruby stone required to gain the throne.

Everybody wanted to get their hands on Yvaine, the falling star. But who would make it until the end? It’s hard to reach the stars at the sky, but keeping a falling star was not easy either. As they say, it’s hard to reach your hopes and dreams, but when you do reach them, it’s even harder to keep them. All stars are able to perform their best talent, that’s to glow and shine – But their light may attract many. Would Tristan managed to “keep” Yvaine? Did he get the star that’s truly meant for him?

Every journey gives us life experiences and we will never be the same person again as before. Every life experiences change our life and hopefully to a better state. In order to reach our own stars, we all have to venture on a journey in our life. A journey that hopefully will take you to a destination you’ve wished for.

Sometimes we fight for ourselves, sometimes we fight for others. So girls, if you ever request your man to get you a star, be very sure you’re there when he returns… Otherwise he will find “another star” instead.

Ivan the Freelancer