Frozen - Convince Me To See It!

You know, working in the media section of a department store, I have a fair idea of which movies, albums, and video games are the most popular ones.  And, believe me, when it comes down to it, the more times that I have to restock a display of a particular movie or video game, the more popular I know it is.

I can't even begin to tell you just how many copies of "Grand Theft Auto V" I've rang through the register since it was released in September 2013.  I believe I lost count after ten dozen.  And, those were the copies that I am legally able to sell.  The number of people who I had to refuse sale to because they were underage is a fair number too.

(And, just on an unrelated note, I have to admit that I do get a high telling a 12-year-old kid that they can't buy an M-rated game.  Just a smidgen, though.)

The same goes for television series on DVD.  Chances are that if the television series have the words "The Big Bang Theory", "Sons of Anarchy", "Breaking Bad", and "Game of Thrones" in the title, I'm likely to sell a few copies a week.  And for movies, new releases always seem to sell quite well during the first week.  I imagine that when the second "Hunger Games" movie was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 7, I ended up selling quite a few copies.  Luckily, I was there an hour before the store opened to set it up, so that release day went very smoothly.

But, sometimes the anticipation of a film release on DVD and Blu-Ray is so great that some people will call the store or ask me at least ten times a day if it has been released yet.  I ended up getting it for "The Fast and Furious 6", "Despicable Me 2", and surprisingly enough "Bad Grandpa"! 

And the blog topic that I chose for today's Monday Matinee discussion is the one movie that people have been and are STILL asking me about today.  And once you find out what the movie is, you'll understand why I've made this entire blog bright blue in colour.

But here's the biggest twist of all.  This is a movie that I...have not seen yet.

Now, normally with a Monday Matinee feature, I have at least seen the film before I talk about it.  But this film is one that I never got around to seeing.  So, I imagine that you're wondering how I can comment on a film that I've never seen.

Simple.  I'll do a little write-up on the film just based on film reviews, synopses, and various clips and videos that I have seen, and I'm going to just do the best I can.  And, at the end of this blog entry, I'm going to ask all of you to convince me to see this movie.  The film comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray March 18, and has already been available on iTunes since February, and if people do a good enough job convincing me to check out this movie, then on the release date, I'll see about renting the film (or possibly even purchasing the film) to scope it out for myself.  And if that happens, I'll devote a future entry to the film and my own take on it.

(I'm trying a new format for the Monday Matinee.  Consider it an experiment of sorts.)

So, without further adieu, let's have a look at the film for discussion today, which was first released in theatres four months ago in November 2013.

Wait...WHAT?  I'm doing a Monday Matinee!  Not a Sunday Jukebox!  Madonna has absolutely nothing to do with this film whatsoever!  Sigh...I'm going to have to fire my video person...

...oh, wait.  That's me.  Never mind, then.  Oh, look!  Here's the clip I really wanted!

ARTIST:  Idina Menzel
SONG:  Let It Go

ALBUM:  Frozen
DATE RELEASED:  November 25, 2013

PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #17

Yes, the song by Adele Dazeem...um, I mean, Idina Menzel recently won the Academy Award for Best Song.  And, as far as the movie goes, it is one of the most successful animated movies of all time, making over one billion dollars in the box office.  It's expected that when the film is released on DVD and Blu-Ray that the number will increase.  And, many people who have seen this movie have claimed that it is Disney's best movie since its renaissance period of 1989-1995.

Hmmm...this sounds like a very convincing argument for me to go and view "Frozen", doesn't it?  It is Disney's fifty-third animated feature, and is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale "The Snow Queen".  And, yes, Idina Menzel is one of the stars of this frosty animated feature, but the movie also stars "Veronica Mars" starlet Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Santino Fontana, and Alan Tudyk. 

You know, I gotta say...that cast list is mighty impressive.  Slowly getting convinced to watch it.  But, alas, I have to continue writing this blog.

Okay, so again, I stress that I have not seen this movie, so I can't really offer up any plot lines or spoilers (not that it matters anyway because I never reveal endings to the movies anyway), but what I do know is the reason why the film is called "Frozen" is because the film is about a pair of sisters - one of whom has the ability to create ice and snow with just the wave of a hand.  

Of course, it stands to reason that the sister that has the power to do that is the one that Idina Menzel portrays, Elsa.  After all, she's the one who sings the Oscar winning song!  And, from what I gather, something happens in which her powers cause her to become estranged from her sister, Anna (Bell).  And, then something happens that causes the whole world to become one gigantic snowball, and I assume that at some point the two sisters will have to come together to return the kingdom back to normal.  But, again, I'm just speculating.

Along the way though, the sisters will cross paths with several other characters.  For instance, they'll meet a man by the name of Kristoff (Groff) who along with his reindeer Sven becomes a person whom both sisters come to rely on...perhaps one more so than the other.  We also have Hans (Fontana), a prince who captures the attention of one of the sisters in the movie...but is all what it seems with this guy, or is there something darker to his personality?

And then there's the comic relief character of Olaf the Snowman (Gad), whose only dream is to experience what the season of summer is really like.  Oh, look, here's a convenient song clip of Olaf's singing in action.

Of course, I'm not sure how a full-fledged snowman can actually find a way to enjoy summer as the intensity of the UV rays coming from Mister Golden Sun would transform Olaf into a sopping mess of slush that is no longer lovable and huggable.  But, hey...it's a Disney movie, so I'm guessing that somewhere along the way, there's a compromise made, and Olaf can enjoy both worlds.

But you know, it's just absolutely crazy to me just how many people have fallen in love with "Frozen" over the last four months.  And, it's not just the movie that people have fallen in love with either.  Do you have any idea just how many times I've restocked the "Frozen" soundtrack in our CD section?  Enough times for me to realize that maybe the iPod hasn't completely killed off the compact disc star yet.  

And, that's not to mention the fact that the toy department around Christmas was completely raided by girls of all ages, desperate to get their hands on either an Anna or an Elsa doll.  The number of dolls I remember seeing in shopping carts around the store was just staggering!  

There's even a video game adaptation of the movie featuring Olaf that is available for both the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS.  Again, I have no experience of playing this game at all, but I do know that I have sold quite a few of them over the last couple of months.

So, I get that "Frozen" is a big hit film, and I understand that millions of you have seen it at least once.

So, now I turn the floor over to you.  Convince me to watch this movie.  Tell me why you think I should check out this movie when it is released on home video format.  Convince me to review this film for either a future Monday Matinee, or even a Whatever Wednesday or Thursday Diary entry.  I may even post some of your responses in a future blog entry.

So, for all of you salespeople out there...sell me on "Frozen".