Richard Armitage, did anyone really forget about Richard Armitage?
The barrel scene, everyone.
Like, a really intense barrel scene
This is not the barrel scene from your childhood
Oh yeah, and by the way LEGOLAS
Bet you didn't see that coming
AND not only is Legolas in this movie but he also has an ELF GIRLFRIEND
WHO IS ALSO KATE FROM LOST
*who was not in the book*
An elf girlfriend who can fight.... really good.... hmmmm, where did I see that before?
Sauron is totally not the Necromancer, nope, not even a little bit
Gandalf with a sword
LEE PACE'S EYEBROWS!!!!!1!
Freaky close-up of Lee Pace's elaborate and grey-tinged eyebrows
*sweeping dramatic eyebrow shot*'
Did we mention Lee Pace was in this movie and he has eyebrows?
That pale orc you either didn't care about or hated because he wasn't in the book
Giant spiders
Aramis from Three Musketeers is Bard for anyone who actually watched Three Musketeers (or remembers Bard in the first place)
Wizard fighting
Legolas shooting things at really, really close range
Fighting in the barrels during the barrel scene. Bet you don't remember that part! *Fanboys shriek and scream and dissolve in incoherent puddles of rage*
And let's not forget about the amazing, spectacular, stunning CGI dragon....
PSYCH! It's actually just Benedict Cumberbatch wearing heavy makeup
COMING DECEMBER 13
IN 3D
Also 2D for the peasants
BUT MOSTLY 3D!!!!
"Hey, wasn't, like, that Bilbo guy supposed to be the star of this movie or something?"
Today I'm participating in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Genre Favorites Blogfest. The goal: list your favorite genre of movie, music and books, as well as a guilty pleasure genre.
Now, I love a lot of genres in literature, and I love a lot of stories that cross genres, or can't be classified in a genre, so it was a little hard picking just one. The most important things in a story for me are the message and the characters, so I can enjoy a story in almost any genre if these two elements are in place. But there are a few genres I enjoy more than others. Here are some of my favorites:
One thing I love about science fiction is that, unlike fantasy, it's something that might, just possibly, someday be true (look at Jules Verne's stories). This combination of reality and semi-plausable fiction makes sci-fi movies a lot of fun to watch. On the flip side, I also enjoy the sci-fi movies that pose a question that challenges your perception of reality. I think those are some of the most powerful movies. Some of my favorites in this genre are Star Wars, The Matrix, and Iron Man.
No contest here. This is the genre in which I most consistently find songs (and even whole albums) that I like. One of the things I love most about soundtrack music is that it's written to evoke specific emotions that tell a story. I tend to favor the composers (like John Williams) that have sweeping orchestral accompaniments. Some of my favorite soundtrack composers are Steve Jablonsky (Transformers), Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Carribean, Kung Fu Panda, the Batman trilogy, among lots of other things), and John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon and the Bourne movies). I've also been listening to Alan Silvestri's Avengers soundtrack alot. Good stuff there.
Mystery will always have a special place in my heart. I spent maybe two or three months when I was 14 reading through the rest of the Sherlock Holmes stories, all the Lord Peter Wimsey stories, and a lot of the Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries. But I started reading Sherlock Holmes when I was 7 or 8, and he'll always be my favorite detective.
And a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories:
Comic books. Especially the ones from the "golden age" of comics in the 60's. I love them for the same reason I love reading fairytales - its about good and evil in a simple, uncomplicated form. The first comic book I ever read was the very first Spider-man comic, and I'll always love those. I also enjoyed the original Fantastic Four comics, and some of the early Avengers comics. The newer ones can't really compare.
Well, here we are at the end of my lengthy Avengers review. So far I've talked about story structure, characters, humor, and theme. I could have gone longer - the action sequences, the costumes, the Joss Whedon touch, the music, what I disliked - but I've touched on everything that's especially important to me in a movie, so I think I'll leave it at that.
So what do we have left? Just a few parting thoughts about the film, and a little bit of application.
Application?
Yes, it's Christian-application-of-the-Avengers-time! You knew this was coming. Or at least you should have. Unless you're new here. (In which case, welcome!)
By the way, did you know that The Avengers has now crossed the $600 million mark? It's at third place behind Titanic and Avatar in highest-grossing films.
This review is not as spoiler-filled as the previous ones have been, but still, don't read if you're trying to decide whether or not to watch it. My recommendation is: go ahead, watch it! You will most likely not be disappointed. And then you can come back and read this review.
Note: yes, this post was supposed to be published on Wednesday. Yes, this is Thursday. I didn't get it finished on Tuesday and then was sick all day Wednesday. But hey, better late than never, right?
When I watched The Avengers the first and second time I really watched just to enjoy the movie. But the third time I watched it (with this review in mind!) I tried to pay closer attention to the theme.
I identified two themes, one of which I think is the "heart" of the movie, and another which is not quite as crucial to the plot. Call it a theme and a subtheme. Like a plot and a subplot.
And of course I must add that this is not, strictly speaking, a "review." It is riddled with spoilers, so don't read if you're trying to decide whether or not to watch it. My recommendation is: go ahead, watch it! You will most likely not be disappointed. And then you can come back and read this review.
Captain America: I understand! (looks around, grinning) I understood that reference.
One aspect of The Avengers that made it really stand out was the humor. Of course, with Joss Whedon directing it, how could it not be funny?
It was a movie that didn't take itself seriously. Unlike the dark, gritty Nolan Batman films, most Marvel films are bright and funny, sort of lighthearted and colorful, like comic books. Not that either is better, just that it's one of the differences between the Marvel and DC movie universes.
Another great thing about the movie is that there weren't that many inside jokes - the kind of jokes that only comic book fans/nerds would get. There was only one obvious one that I can think of. This made it appealing to both fans and to moviegoers who aren't "comic-book-people."
Just a reminder, this is not, strictly speaking, a "review." It is riddled with spoilers, so don't read if you're trying to decide whether or not to watch it. My recommendation is: go ahead, watch it! You will most likely not be disappointed. And then you can come back and read this review.
Tony Stark: The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves. Sort of like a team. "Earth's Mighiest Heroes" type thing.
The Avengers would (obviously) not be the Avengers without the characters that make up the team. And what's great about the film is the depth of the characters.
The team doesn't really get along. As I mentioned in this post, The Avengers is a prime example of every character having their own agenda. Each character is pulled from their own story and stuck into this one, and not all of them like it. There's arguing and fighting and insulting. Almost every character can be pitted against another and you can easily point out all the inconsistencies between their characters and the reasons they fight with each other. There's lots of good tension there.
Joss Whedon handled the screen time of each character very well, so that it felt like everyone got their turn in the spotlight. And everyone had their own little bit of character development as well. Every character changed a little during the course of the story, although some did more dramatically than others.
Going character by character, I'm going to attempt to pinpoint the development made in each case.
Obligatory warning: this is not, strictly speaking, a "review." It is riddled with spoilers, so don't read if you're trying to decide whether or not to watch it. My recommendation is: go ahead, watch it! You will most likely not be disappointed. And then you can come back and read this review.
As I mentioned in my last post, I've seen The Avengers three times now; once in 3D, twice in 2D (in case you're wondering, it was neat in 3D but not really worth it.)
Why did I see it three times? I rarely ever watch a movie twice in one month (the only exceptions were Iron Man 1 & 2, actually. I've seen Iron Man 2 four times). Usually I don't watch a movie more than twice in one year. There are even some movies I would be content never seeing again. (Sorry, Alice in Wonderland. Just didn't click with me.)
But The Avengers is a movie that you can't just see once. It's a movie that you want to watch again and again to immerse yourself fully in the world and catch all the hilarious phrases and quips and subtle little expressions and actions.
Just to be clear, this is not, strictly speaking, a "review." It is riddled with spoilers, so don't read if you're trying to decide whether or not to watch it. My recommendation is: go ahead, watch it! You will most likely not be disappointed. And then you can come back and read this review.
Today I had a burst of inspiration for this novel idea (let me clarify - an idea for a novel) that I've had simmering in the back of my mind. It was an idea for a new scene. It opened up a lot of ideas for the rest of the novel.
So, since I've been reading Story Engineering (which is all about planning out your novel) I thought, why not plan out this one? I'm already writing two stories at present, but what if I had this one all ready to go when I finished them?
So I tried something I haven't tried before: storyboarding.
Okay, well, to be clear, it's not technically storyboarding the way I'm doing it. It's storyboarding for writers, which has no pictures. (I found a tutorial on one way to make a storyboard!)
You see that red wallet-looking-thing at the top of this post? That, when opened up, is a photo holder. It can hold 24 photos. But instead of photos, I put scene cards in them, like so:
Just to be clear, this is not the working title. It's just a placeholder until I find a working title.
I started with a title card, and then wrote a query/synopis card to remind myself of the basic premise (and to be thorough). After that I wrote out a scene card for the prologue and the scene after that.
I used a grunge filter to make the iPhone-quality picture look less lame.
And here's another grunge-filtered picture of the whole thing. After I fill out ten scene cards I'm planning on putting them all into one photo pocket since there are only 22 (discounting the title and synopsis card). That leaves room for about 220 scenes.
I'm pretty excited about it - I've never planned out a story this way before. We'll see how it goes...
Ve all know zat ze evil villain must have ze accent.
I mean, how else vould ve know zat he vas evil?
Does anyone else find it amusing that evil villains in American stories usually have accents?
Maybe it's our American snobbishness, or maybe it's just ingrained in us from the WWII and Cold War periods where the villains in all the stories were Nazis/Communists/Russians.
I don't know why it is, but I do find it amusing.
The types of accents range from German to Russian to French to British to some made-up in-between language, like Gru's:
Accents usually come with stereotypes as well; for example, the cold British snob, the cruel German general, the handsome but vicious Spanish spy, the calculating Russian lady.
If you do write a character (especially a villain) vith ze accent, keep in mind these three things:
1. Listen to ze real accents
Don't just assume you know what Russian sounds like and switch out all your the's for ze's. Zat vould neither be professional nor honest.
Don't know anyone who speaks with a Russian accent? Zat is vat Youtube is for, mein comrades.
2. Don't spell out everyzhing
If you've ever read Huckleberry Finn, you've come across a passage like this:
“Sometimes you gwyne to git hurt, en sometimes you gwyne to git sick; but every time you's gwyne to git well agin.”
That might be all well and good for Mark Twain, but please please please don't use it in youse awn writin'. Not only is it hard to read, but it can also interrupt the flow of the story as your poor reader tries to decipher vat you are actually saying.
How many times in zis post have you had to stop and go back and read zat odd spelling? Zat is not vat you vant, mein comrades!
3. Avoid ze stereotypes
Is the accent part of the character or the character part of the accent? In other words, why are you writing about a character vith an accent? Is it so that your character will be scarier? More stylish? Weaker or dumber sounding?
Don't give your character an accent just because. It's a part of backstory, of where they grew up, who they grew up with. It's not an accessory. Character before accent, mein comrades!
Follow these three tips and ze accents vill be much better. Until next time, mein comrades!
Do you have a character with an accent? What are some accent stereotypes that annoy you?
I'm still waiting for Daniel's review (which I believe he promised us).
It's also the most read book on Goodreads right now.
The Hunger Games was first recommended to me by my friend Micah. She's a huge Doctor Who fan, so I knew I could trust her on sci-fi recommendations. Then I read Rose's review, and then my mom downloaded the ebook, and I knew I had to read it. Besides, I wanted to see the movie when it came out in March, but not without reading the book first.
I got three chapters into the book and put it away for a couple of days. I mean, the first sentence isn't exactly thrilling.
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.
Also, the fact that it was written in first person present was a major turn off for me at first. But I was determined to read it, so I plowed through the next five chapters.
And then I was hooked.
If there's one word to describe this book, it's suspenseful. There is almost no way you can't read it in one sitting.
From the moment the tributes enter the arena to begin the Hunger Games, the action is nonstop. I stayed up much too late flipping each page quickly with no thought of putting it down. There were several heart-stopping moments (no, no, no, this can't be happening!) and almost the entire part of the arena is edge-of-your-seat action. At some parts I remember thinking (my heart pounding) how on earth is she going to get out of this? Or, run, Katniss, run!, or oh no, they're coming!
And when I say it's edge-of your-seat thrilling, I do mean edge-of-your-seat. Like, if you go watch the movie then expect to fall out of your chair. I just know there's going to be at least two or three of those parts where everything goes quiet before someone jumps out of the bushes. I will scream.
But back to the book. It's a hard book to review, because there's really not much you can say without giving the plot away. I can say it was suspenseful, and it was thrilling, and I didn't really like Katniss until the end, and that I liked Peeta from the beginning. That it's excellent storytelling, and that I could see everything that was happening so clearly that I'm excited to see what the movie portrays it as. Actually, from what I've seen in the trailer, it looks very close to what I imagined.
But I think that, without giving it away, I can also talk about the violence. I knew from the premise (twenty-four kids get stuck in an arena and are forced to kill each other) that it was going to involve death. I guess I just didn't expect how much there would actually be. We don't see every one of the tributes die, but the ones we do see are either very sad or somewhat gruesome. Katniss is not cold or callous to the deaths, which is good, although having grown up watching the Hunger Games, like she has, I don't quite see how you couldn't be.
Of course, there's the dilemma of the morality of killing to stay alive. There can only be one winner of the Hunger Games, which means every other contestant is an enemy. Everyone must be dead for one to live. It's this kind of suspense that drives the book. Everyone's out to get Katniss. It also left me thinking - what would I do in this kind of situation? Most likely I would try to hide somewhere until everyone else had been killed. I don't think I could kill anyone. Not even to win.
With the dilemma in mind, I liked the theme that Peeta brings up.
I want to do something to show them [the Capitol] that they don't own me.
What's interesting is that the whole point of the Hunger Games is for the Capitol of Panem to show the other districts that they are in charge. That they can murder their children any time they want, and they enjoy watching them die. That the districts should not, and cannot rebel. It's almost an Assyrian way of government.
Most likely in our lifetimes, civil disobedience will never bring as grave consequences as the one the children in the Hunger Games faced. But it's good to ponder what we would do if we had to face such a choice - conscience against survival. We are not owned by the government. As Christians, we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and our citizenship is in Heaven. We cannot serve two masters, and to fully serve one we must sometimes disobey the other, insofar as their decrees contradict those of our true masters.
It's good to think of in the light of the recent contraception mandate controversy. Here are Catholic Bishops who would rather disobey the government then violate their consciences. It's sad, because it should not happen in a country that values religious freedom. We've been blessed to be free from this kind of tyranny. But if it does come to that choice, if we do have to choose between obeying the government and doing what we know to be wrong, or disobeying and risking the government's wrath, I hope we're prepared for that choice. The Hunger Games, though it never provides a direct answer to that question - what should a right thinking person do in that situation? - is a good start to thinking about and pondering this dilemma.
I haven't read the entire series yet - I'm still trying to find a copy of Catching Fire, the second one - so I can't comment on the trilogy as a whole. But I can recommend the first one. It's a thrilling, suspenseful read, and a thought-provoking one as well.
If you still aren't convinced that you should read the book, then watch this trailer. It's very well-done, and just might change your mind. Oh, and the actor who plays Gale is the younger brother of Chris Hemsworth (Thor!)
I have a couple random bits of news that are too small for individual posts.
Visual Aid ;)
I finished reading The Hunger Games, which was really good. I stayed up way too late reading it (till 2:30, I think). It was an eBook, so I could read it on my iPhone without having the light on. I was going to write a review on Thursday, but I didn't have time. Expect a review soon, though.
I came across this article the other day (on the CollegePlus website, I think) on how to handle awkward situations. It was both funny (the tips were given by an ex-con man!) and practical (very applicable to real-life situations).
Just watched both seasons of Downton Abbey. Maybe I could do a review on it. I haven't done any movie (or in this case, TV series) reviews yet.
