I'm in the mood to write a post and I'm not sure about what. The biggest thing I'm thinking right now it how The Wolverine was kind of meh.
So what is 'meh'? It's not good. If it was good I would say it was good. It wasn't bad, I would say it was bad. It's not even okay. Okay has some implication I liked it. My friend likes to show me things and then immediately ask me if I like it. How am I supposed to answer ten seconds after I see it? I rarely like things that often, on the other hand several of my favorite things started as being very meh to me. My last post was about realizing my favorite series from my childhood it so meh I can't suggest it to people.
So is meh a holding pattern while I come to a real decision? I almost want to say it's a case where there's nothing making me like it so I sort of default to not liking it. The one thing I can say about meh is when I think something is meh I'm still willing to read or see a sequel as if I was a blank canvas - it might even have a better chance because I have no expectations about it (which is the best way to enjoy something. If you think it's going to be awesome it will suck because it will never be as awesome as you imagine).
So, yeah. The Wolverine was meh. This post in kind of meh too.
-X
Showing posts with label Movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movie. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Silent Film
I may not have been posting but I have written a couple of posts that never got finished. I apparently wrote this one at 2011-11-20 18:02 PST.
Reading through Craigslist I saw a writing job posted that wasn't really a job. They weren't asking for something specific written and then they would pay you, they were looking for people to review their film and get the word out that it existed.
Now they weren't very clear about what this film was about, they included a link, and they liked to throw out that they had submitted it to the Oscars, but I quickly got lost on the idea. I closed the tab and moved on.
The only thing that stuck with me is that they apparently did it as a silent film. Now that is interested. It requires a certain amount of pretentiousness to even try that, but it makes me curious. They said something about it being 1920's (which was a awesome time period) which makes it work more and implies that it might be in black and white. Let it be known that I really get pissed off at people that film in black and white just because they can. Once again it mostly just shows how pretentious the writer and director is.
In a time that we are more and more concerned about realism why do people suddenly want to show things in black and white? The world isn't black and white, it isn't even in shades of gray, it's in endless varieties of color that we can't even see with the human eye. So why simplify it down to gray?
Anyway, I don't care about that. The silent film aspect is what interests me. I love writing dialogue. I'm of the generation that can't go for five minutes without quoting a television show. I can't imagine writing without dialogue or with only placecards. The concept terrifies me, almost as much as trying to write a play using the three unities (Time, place, and conflict).
Still not finished and probably never will be. I stand by my 'pretentious' line though. You have to be very pretentious to actually win an Oscar...
-X
Reading through Craigslist I saw a writing job posted that wasn't really a job. They weren't asking for something specific written and then they would pay you, they were looking for people to review their film and get the word out that it existed.
Now they weren't very clear about what this film was about, they included a link, and they liked to throw out that they had submitted it to the Oscars, but I quickly got lost on the idea. I closed the tab and moved on.
The only thing that stuck with me is that they apparently did it as a silent film. Now that is interested. It requires a certain amount of pretentiousness to even try that, but it makes me curious. They said something about it being 1920's (which was a awesome time period) which makes it work more and implies that it might be in black and white. Let it be known that I really get pissed off at people that film in black and white just because they can. Once again it mostly just shows how pretentious the writer and director is.
In a time that we are more and more concerned about realism why do people suddenly want to show things in black and white? The world isn't black and white, it isn't even in shades of gray, it's in endless varieties of color that we can't even see with the human eye. So why simplify it down to gray?
Anyway, I don't care about that. The silent film aspect is what interests me. I love writing dialogue. I'm of the generation that can't go for five minutes without quoting a television show. I can't imagine writing without dialogue or with only placecards. The concept terrifies me, almost as much as trying to write a play using the three unities (Time, place, and conflict).
Still not finished and probably never will be. I stand by my 'pretentious' line though. You have to be very pretentious to actually win an Oscar...
-X
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Review: The ENTIRE Harry Potter Movie Series
I just saw the last Harry Potter movie and I was thinking I should review it. Then I realized that any review of it would require me to mention Seven: Part I, and I wouldn't be able to mention that without mentioning the second movie and so forth. So everything at once.
Why am I doing the entire series instead of just the one that came out? Because the amount of money put into this should make watching the entire series back to back an amazing exhilarating experience. It should be as exciting as the book was at minimum.
Prologue: Novel Adaptions
Let's start by pointing out that it's hard to adapt a novel to film. For example Nanowrimo considers a novel to be fifty thousand words. That works out to about two hundred fifty pages in mass market paperback format. Most publishers won't publish that short of a book and most consumers look at it and immediately think that $7.99 is too much for so little. Most fantasy books are closer to three hundred and fifty pages.
A screenplay is between ninety and one hundred ten pages. Depending on who you ask will alter the answer on whether it should be closer to ninety or one ten. At least that is the size of a screenplay for a original screenplay from an unknown writer or about characters that haven't been tested.
Pages equal minutes. Ninety pages equals ninety minutes (or an hour and a half). So the average fantasy book is adapted you have to cut two hundred and fifty pages of content. The first step is removing all the description but most books don't have that much description. So next the writer needs to decide what they should cut and what they should leave in. Subplots tend to go on the chopping block, but a good writer has a reason for every subplot. As they say in scripts "What's the payoff?". You cut a scene and you need to explain how they learn that information in a different way. Which can cause problems when the final books are still being written and the author might want to bring back an old character for some purpose.
The first thing I will note is how much has been cut from every story and how that affected the movies. As you look at the lengths note that the are all very close to each other because as I mentioned production companies only want to have a movie that is two hours max, and that includes all the niffy special effects.
Philosopher's Stone
Paperback Pages 320: Runtime 2 hours 33 minutes (approx. 153 pages)
The first was a very good start to the series. They kept most everything in and didn't do anything that altered the story in too severe a manner. One things to remember with the first book even was that Rowling wasn't sure were she was going with it. She has the Dursleys who are cartoon characters and normal people are called Muggles Which is a terrible term for anything. If someone called me a Muggle I'd punch them in the face. But I'm American and we have problems with derogatory (particularly racist) terms. The way some people are written it look like a children's story.
Major problem. Dan's eyes are not green and they talk about it all the time. It doesn't really matter, except that Lily was supposed to have all the signs of being a witch (red hair and green eyes) so changing her eye color to watch the actor's doesn't work on that level. What's worse is they decide to sometimes change it.
Second major problem is the ages of the adults. Might also fall under the catagory of she wasn't sure where she was going with it at the time. James and Lily die when they are both twenty-one years old. Petunia is supposed to be only a year or so older than her, so early thirties during the first movie and Vernon about the same (unless she married a really old guy). Their older ages ages everyone in the entire movie, since now James and Lily need to be older, as does Severus, Remus, Sirius, etc.
Chamber of Secrets
Paperback Pages 352: Runtime 2 hours 41 minutes (approx. 161 pages)
Okay. More intense movie. This is actually a kind of scary book. People are nearly dying and everyone things that Harry is the one doing it. He even thinks he's the one doing it, to the point that he doesn't give Dumbledore important information. It ends with Dumbledore not telling Harry something important, which he later admits is a mistake.
Harry has neon green eyes on this one, since they were digitally added. They just realized that Dan's eyes were the wrong color. Oops.
This is the last movie where the opening is full length. They show him breaking out but after that they cut out the amount of time he spends at the Burrow, which is fine but it makes it harder to care when they nuke it in a later movie when the audience hasn't been there.
They add a study hall that never existed in the books and is never seen again. In the book he's driven out of the Gryffindor common room because no one trusts him, which was a stronger place to have the scene.
Finally, we have the first of several overly cinematic scenes. The original was fine, but they wanted it to look cooler and less realistic. In the book he stabs the creature in the brain as it eats him. He doesn't have the chance to run away, he definitely does not get to fight it from the top of the statue head, for one the statue doesn't have any access and is supposed to be several stories high.
And the scene that makes everyone want to punch a writer in the face. Hagrid returns and everyone at the party is suddenly silent so everyone can hear what he and Harry are talking about. Forget that most of the people there don't care about him or even realized that he had been imprisoned.
Prisoner of Azkaban
Paperback Pages 448: Runtime 2 hours 22 minutes (approx. 142 pages)
The first scary movie. The first book where death is a major subject. And as far as it goes this was my favorite of the movies.
Harry goes to Diagon Alley in a huff and we discover it's only a day or so until he's supposed to be at school. Good thing the Minister got his books for him (in the book he spends a month there). Once again we don't get to know this area so we don't know how much it gets ruined in the later books/movies.
There is some minor altering that doesn't make sense (Hagrid's line about the Monster Book of Monsters is given to Hermione) and a couple of alterations to the flow of events. Mostly though it stays true to the story and the characters come alive during it.
Goblet of Fire
Paperback Pages 752: Runtime 2 hours 38 minutes (approx. 158 pages)
We get to see some very cool characters show up during this movie. Sadly the World Cup isn't one of them. We get to see a very small part of it, none of the set up, none of the other characters and new characters. Ludo Bagman doesn't exist and neither does his gambling debts. We don't hear about Weasley Wizard Wheezes or the guilt trip the Twins throw at their mother. We don't see Moody until he shows up at Hogwarts.
Before we know it the carriages are there and the boat is there. We have the drawing of champions and Harry's name comes out. Ron is pissed at him because he's a dick. He refuses to talk to him until after the first task because after seeing it he decides that if someone sets you up to fight a dragon they want you dead. Except in the movie Ron already knew about the dragons before the task and was still being a dick to Harry.
They didn't want Dobby in the story, nor the House Elf Liberation Front, so instead they use the method for the second task that Crouch set up (asking Neville about it, not having Dobby stealing it).
Oh, and for some reason they completely change the time frame of Crouch escaping. I'm not sure why. Did they just want to give the actor more screen time?
A lot was cut from this movie. This is the first movie where they start running out of time to act. They have scenes where they should be doing something but they don't because that would take time and they didn't want to make it a longer movie.
But they had to have the dragon chase Harry all over the grounds even though in the book it states the dragon won't get up because it's protecting it's eggs and come on, you wouldn't let your eggs out of your sight with that many predators around you.
The only other problem was they make the Maze too creepy. It's actually eating fallen champions.
One last thing about this movie. Screw Team Edward and Team Jacob. I support Cedric Diggory, the Real Hogwarts Champion.
Though honestly, is RPatz considered 'broad shouldered' according to British people?
Order of the Phoenix
Paperback Pages 870: Runtime 2 hours 19 minutes (approx. 139 pages)
The beginning of this book always pisses me off because I agreed with Harry. Stuck in the dark knowing nothing after a extremely traumatic experience. I don't get that feeling from the movie. I also don't think that Umbridge is short and fat enough. In the book I think of her as being so fat that you could push her down a hill and she'd roll and Imelda Staunton isn't that fat.
Most of the story of Cho Chang was dropped. Rita Skeeter isn't heard from and the article of Harry's point of view of the night Voldemort returns isn't written. One could argue that without that article the end of the final movie couldn't happen.
We don't have the trip to St Mungo's. We don't get to see Lockhart (whose mind is still missing) or meet the Longbottoms who were tortured into insanity. It's only barely mentioned in the movies and if you aren't up on the character names you might miss it. It explains why Neville lives with his grandmother and why he hates Voldemort and how he was very close to being in Harry's shoes.
They screw the mess that the Twins make. They try to make it better than the book but just make it silly. I would love to watch the professors pretending they don't know what end of their wands to hold while Dolores ran around. And they didn't have the swamp (which could have made an appearance in the final movie).
Most people say that the battle of Voldemort and Dumbledore is the only time they actually make it as good as it is in the book. I agree, but it would have been nicer if they had actually did it like the book.
I am annoyed that we don't get to see Harry wreak Dumbledore's office. The truth comes out now and Dumbledore admits his mistake but it doesn't have the same force as it does in the book.
Half-Blood Prince
Paperback Pages 652: Runtime 2 hours 34 minutes (approx. 154 pages)
So much shit goes down that the acting left the building and we never see it again. There is one scene where Dan is just standing in Dumbledore's office. Doing nothing while Dumbledore talks. By that point Harry is very comfortable being in that office so it doesn't make any sense for him to be nervous there.
They try to push his relationship with Ginny. It doesn't move that fast. They bring her in on things that she doesn't need to be in on. They have her hide the Potions book, even though Harry is supposed to hide it himself, under Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem, aka the last horcrux.
They nuke the Burrow, even thought it's protected from that kind of thing, supposedly because they didn't have the money to do a proper battle in Hogwarts, which was supposed to be epic, yet instead it was fairly shitty.
When I watched this movie I felt like it was hanging on by strings. We had the bare outline of the movie, no room for acting or moments that connect the movie with the book. I won't go on with what I found wrong with this movie, I was just very happy they were spliting the next into two.
Deathly Hallows... Part I and II
Paperback Pages 784: Runtime Part I - 2 hours 26 minutes, Part II - 2 hours 10 minutes (combined approx. 276 pages)
Part I
What a wonderful strong start. The Dursleys are even more of a cartoon than they were in books. They don't argue with Harry about whether they need to leave and they don't take a wizard with them for protection.
The polyjuice potion is supposed to be golden colored, though it still tastes bad. I hate that they use the regular cast for all the voices. It makes it sound like a bad dub job. You can worry about kids not understanding, but this movie is not for kids. This book wasn't for kids at least.
So we're in the air. We have a battle in the air? No, we have a battle on the freeway. No instant brick walls for us. Does Harry get spotted because he uses non-lethal methods? No, he gets outed by his familiar.
That last part is a problem for me. It says a great deal about Harry's character. Even when he kills Voldemort he uses a Disarming Charm, just to prove he won't use the method used to kill his parents.
The Wedding. The Burrow has rebuilt itself somehow after getting nuked. They don't have people to set up the wedding they do it themselves. Harry attends... as himself. In the book he pretends to be a Weasley using polyjuice potion with the hair of some ginger kid from the village. After the party they go to the wrong street. This is the point where it would have helped if they had tried to keep closer to the right time period (book 7 happens in 1997).
They go to the house and find Kreacher. It doesn't take long for them to discover that he knows something. After he returns we almost immediately head off to the Ministry. We don't get to see him happy. Of course they wanted to cut him from Order of the Phoenix too and Rowling warned them not to.
Now we get to see them wander around in weird bodies and voices. There are some problems with it but they aren't that major and I love the decoy detonators (they aren't described very well in the books).
One hundred and one random vistas. This is the boring part but they make it more boring than it needs to be. They drag it out. Things move faster once they get to Godric Hollow but they don't mention the biography.
We end with Malfoy Manor. It's as good as it can be. Then we see Voldemort get the Elder Wand (though he is supposed to a bit rougher getting it out).
The movie ends in the middle of nowhere. Literally. It doesn't end in a good place. It just does.
Part II
Still in the middle of nowhere. Time to go to Gringgotts. This feels fast to me, particularly compared to part one. Ron's disguise was supposed to have a beard and they don't realize anything is wrong until they hand over the wand. They come in thinking that it will be a great form of identification. Bellatrix technically can't even get a new wand cause she doesn't have a wand maker.
After they get through that Harry has a vision. Voldemort knows what they are doing. Difference between the movie and the book? In the movie he feels each death. In the book he thought he would, but it's not until he starts to check on them that he realizes that he doesn't.
He keeps Nagini near him but not in a protective bubble. He lets people near her when she is in danger. For some reason his voice makes girls scream. He constantly reacts to the destruction of a horcrux. They do not mention that the Fiendfyre is what destroys the Diadem.
The entrance of Harry back into Hogwarts is trite. He calls Snape out in front of everyone. Why? He spends more time trying to convince the people in the Room of Requirement that they aren't about to have a war in the book.
The way the work the battle is terrible. The set a single set of charms around the place and they don their job. They don't prevent people from entering, they prevent people from blasting them from a distance, like the shields in Star Wars: Episode I. And why do we get to watch all the old sets get destroyed? Burn the Quidditch stadium? The bridge makes more sense, but they devote too much time to it.
And within five minutes of the battle beginning the entire castle is terribly damaged. If they had kept it up they could have just collapsed it on top of them, but it you're paying attention a lot of damage happens fast and then nothing for the rest of the battle.
Harry now discovers that he is a horcrux. He actually tells his friends and they don't tie him down and tell him he's crazy. He walks out without his Invisibility Cloak. He drops the Resurrection Stone before he gets to the clearing.
The battle at Hogwarts is much more drawn out. Harry chases Voldemort through out the castle while Nagini fights Ron and Hermione. Remember, Voldemort knows that he can't let Nagini die, yet he lets her out of his sight.
It's just, weird. They made the scene more exciting, but it doesn't have the same force as the book. Something as simply as Neville being at Voldemort's mercy with a burning Sorting hat on his head when Neville suddenly pulls out a sword and kills Nagini. It's sudden, it's shocking. It freaks Voldemort out.
And then it ends. No party. Realistic, but... no party? We have the flash forward but Harry doesn't mention to Albus that he was almost sorted into Slytherin, which was the point of that conversation.
Conclusion: Failures
We missed out on character development.
Some scenes are ruined by making them more cinematic.
You might not be able to understand the story from watching the movies.
The end was a let down. It wasn't what it should have been. It could have been a great deal more. Luckily, this is Hollywood. In ten years, there will be a remake.
-X
Why am I doing the entire series instead of just the one that came out? Because the amount of money put into this should make watching the entire series back to back an amazing exhilarating experience. It should be as exciting as the book was at minimum.
Prologue: Novel Adaptions
Let's start by pointing out that it's hard to adapt a novel to film. For example Nanowrimo considers a novel to be fifty thousand words. That works out to about two hundred fifty pages in mass market paperback format. Most publishers won't publish that short of a book and most consumers look at it and immediately think that $7.99 is too much for so little. Most fantasy books are closer to three hundred and fifty pages.
A screenplay is between ninety and one hundred ten pages. Depending on who you ask will alter the answer on whether it should be closer to ninety or one ten. At least that is the size of a screenplay for a original screenplay from an unknown writer or about characters that haven't been tested.
Pages equal minutes. Ninety pages equals ninety minutes (or an hour and a half). So the average fantasy book is adapted you have to cut two hundred and fifty pages of content. The first step is removing all the description but most books don't have that much description. So next the writer needs to decide what they should cut and what they should leave in. Subplots tend to go on the chopping block, but a good writer has a reason for every subplot. As they say in scripts "What's the payoff?". You cut a scene and you need to explain how they learn that information in a different way. Which can cause problems when the final books are still being written and the author might want to bring back an old character for some purpose.
The first thing I will note is how much has been cut from every story and how that affected the movies. As you look at the lengths note that the are all very close to each other because as I mentioned production companies only want to have a movie that is two hours max, and that includes all the niffy special effects.
Philosopher's Stone
Paperback Pages 320: Runtime 2 hours 33 minutes (approx. 153 pages)
The first was a very good start to the series. They kept most everything in and didn't do anything that altered the story in too severe a manner. One things to remember with the first book even was that Rowling wasn't sure were she was going with it. She has the Dursleys who are cartoon characters and normal people are called Muggles Which is a terrible term for anything. If someone called me a Muggle I'd punch them in the face. But I'm American and we have problems with derogatory (particularly racist) terms. The way some people are written it look like a children's story.
Major problem. Dan's eyes are not green and they talk about it all the time. It doesn't really matter, except that Lily was supposed to have all the signs of being a witch (red hair and green eyes) so changing her eye color to watch the actor's doesn't work on that level. What's worse is they decide to sometimes change it.
Second major problem is the ages of the adults. Might also fall under the catagory of she wasn't sure where she was going with it at the time. James and Lily die when they are both twenty-one years old. Petunia is supposed to be only a year or so older than her, so early thirties during the first movie and Vernon about the same (unless she married a really old guy). Their older ages ages everyone in the entire movie, since now James and Lily need to be older, as does Severus, Remus, Sirius, etc.
Chamber of Secrets
Paperback Pages 352: Runtime 2 hours 41 minutes (approx. 161 pages)
Okay. More intense movie. This is actually a kind of scary book. People are nearly dying and everyone things that Harry is the one doing it. He even thinks he's the one doing it, to the point that he doesn't give Dumbledore important information. It ends with Dumbledore not telling Harry something important, which he later admits is a mistake.
Harry has neon green eyes on this one, since they were digitally added. They just realized that Dan's eyes were the wrong color. Oops.
This is the last movie where the opening is full length. They show him breaking out but after that they cut out the amount of time he spends at the Burrow, which is fine but it makes it harder to care when they nuke it in a later movie when the audience hasn't been there.
They add a study hall that never existed in the books and is never seen again. In the book he's driven out of the Gryffindor common room because no one trusts him, which was a stronger place to have the scene.
Finally, we have the first of several overly cinematic scenes. The original was fine, but they wanted it to look cooler and less realistic. In the book he stabs the creature in the brain as it eats him. He doesn't have the chance to run away, he definitely does not get to fight it from the top of the statue head, for one the statue doesn't have any access and is supposed to be several stories high.
And the scene that makes everyone want to punch a writer in the face. Hagrid returns and everyone at the party is suddenly silent so everyone can hear what he and Harry are talking about. Forget that most of the people there don't care about him or even realized that he had been imprisoned.
Prisoner of Azkaban
Paperback Pages 448: Runtime 2 hours 22 minutes (approx. 142 pages)
The first scary movie. The first book where death is a major subject. And as far as it goes this was my favorite of the movies.
Harry goes to Diagon Alley in a huff and we discover it's only a day or so until he's supposed to be at school. Good thing the Minister got his books for him (in the book he spends a month there). Once again we don't get to know this area so we don't know how much it gets ruined in the later books/movies.
There is some minor altering that doesn't make sense (Hagrid's line about the Monster Book of Monsters is given to Hermione) and a couple of alterations to the flow of events. Mostly though it stays true to the story and the characters come alive during it.
Goblet of Fire
Paperback Pages 752: Runtime 2 hours 38 minutes (approx. 158 pages)
We get to see some very cool characters show up during this movie. Sadly the World Cup isn't one of them. We get to see a very small part of it, none of the set up, none of the other characters and new characters. Ludo Bagman doesn't exist and neither does his gambling debts. We don't hear about Weasley Wizard Wheezes or the guilt trip the Twins throw at their mother. We don't see Moody until he shows up at Hogwarts.
Before we know it the carriages are there and the boat is there. We have the drawing of champions and Harry's name comes out. Ron is pissed at him because he's a dick. He refuses to talk to him until after the first task because after seeing it he decides that if someone sets you up to fight a dragon they want you dead. Except in the movie Ron already knew about the dragons before the task and was still being a dick to Harry.
They didn't want Dobby in the story, nor the House Elf Liberation Front, so instead they use the method for the second task that Crouch set up (asking Neville about it, not having Dobby stealing it).
Oh, and for some reason they completely change the time frame of Crouch escaping. I'm not sure why. Did they just want to give the actor more screen time?
A lot was cut from this movie. This is the first movie where they start running out of time to act. They have scenes where they should be doing something but they don't because that would take time and they didn't want to make it a longer movie.
But they had to have the dragon chase Harry all over the grounds even though in the book it states the dragon won't get up because it's protecting it's eggs and come on, you wouldn't let your eggs out of your sight with that many predators around you.
The only other problem was they make the Maze too creepy. It's actually eating fallen champions.
One last thing about this movie. Screw Team Edward and Team Jacob. I support Cedric Diggory, the Real Hogwarts Champion.
Though honestly, is RPatz considered 'broad shouldered' according to British people?
Order of the Phoenix
Paperback Pages 870: Runtime 2 hours 19 minutes (approx. 139 pages)
The beginning of this book always pisses me off because I agreed with Harry. Stuck in the dark knowing nothing after a extremely traumatic experience. I don't get that feeling from the movie. I also don't think that Umbridge is short and fat enough. In the book I think of her as being so fat that you could push her down a hill and she'd roll and Imelda Staunton isn't that fat.
Most of the story of Cho Chang was dropped. Rita Skeeter isn't heard from and the article of Harry's point of view of the night Voldemort returns isn't written. One could argue that without that article the end of the final movie couldn't happen.
We don't have the trip to St Mungo's. We don't get to see Lockhart (whose mind is still missing) or meet the Longbottoms who were tortured into insanity. It's only barely mentioned in the movies and if you aren't up on the character names you might miss it. It explains why Neville lives with his grandmother and why he hates Voldemort and how he was very close to being in Harry's shoes.
They screw the mess that the Twins make. They try to make it better than the book but just make it silly. I would love to watch the professors pretending they don't know what end of their wands to hold while Dolores ran around. And they didn't have the swamp (which could have made an appearance in the final movie).
Most people say that the battle of Voldemort and Dumbledore is the only time they actually make it as good as it is in the book. I agree, but it would have been nicer if they had actually did it like the book.
I am annoyed that we don't get to see Harry wreak Dumbledore's office. The truth comes out now and Dumbledore admits his mistake but it doesn't have the same force as it does in the book.
Half-Blood Prince
Paperback Pages 652: Runtime 2 hours 34 minutes (approx. 154 pages)
So much shit goes down that the acting left the building and we never see it again. There is one scene where Dan is just standing in Dumbledore's office. Doing nothing while Dumbledore talks. By that point Harry is very comfortable being in that office so it doesn't make any sense for him to be nervous there.
They try to push his relationship with Ginny. It doesn't move that fast. They bring her in on things that she doesn't need to be in on. They have her hide the Potions book, even though Harry is supposed to hide it himself, under Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem, aka the last horcrux.
They nuke the Burrow, even thought it's protected from that kind of thing, supposedly because they didn't have the money to do a proper battle in Hogwarts, which was supposed to be epic, yet instead it was fairly shitty.
When I watched this movie I felt like it was hanging on by strings. We had the bare outline of the movie, no room for acting or moments that connect the movie with the book. I won't go on with what I found wrong with this movie, I was just very happy they were spliting the next into two.
Deathly Hallows... Part I and II
Paperback Pages 784: Runtime Part I - 2 hours 26 minutes, Part II - 2 hours 10 minutes (combined approx. 276 pages)
Part I
What a wonderful strong start. The Dursleys are even more of a cartoon than they were in books. They don't argue with Harry about whether they need to leave and they don't take a wizard with them for protection.
The polyjuice potion is supposed to be golden colored, though it still tastes bad. I hate that they use the regular cast for all the voices. It makes it sound like a bad dub job. You can worry about kids not understanding, but this movie is not for kids. This book wasn't for kids at least.
So we're in the air. We have a battle in the air? No, we have a battle on the freeway. No instant brick walls for us. Does Harry get spotted because he uses non-lethal methods? No, he gets outed by his familiar.
That last part is a problem for me. It says a great deal about Harry's character. Even when he kills Voldemort he uses a Disarming Charm, just to prove he won't use the method used to kill his parents.
The Wedding. The Burrow has rebuilt itself somehow after getting nuked. They don't have people to set up the wedding they do it themselves. Harry attends... as himself. In the book he pretends to be a Weasley using polyjuice potion with the hair of some ginger kid from the village. After the party they go to the wrong street. This is the point where it would have helped if they had tried to keep closer to the right time period (book 7 happens in 1997).
They go to the house and find Kreacher. It doesn't take long for them to discover that he knows something. After he returns we almost immediately head off to the Ministry. We don't get to see him happy. Of course they wanted to cut him from Order of the Phoenix too and Rowling warned them not to.
Now we get to see them wander around in weird bodies and voices. There are some problems with it but they aren't that major and I love the decoy detonators (they aren't described very well in the books).
One hundred and one random vistas. This is the boring part but they make it more boring than it needs to be. They drag it out. Things move faster once they get to Godric Hollow but they don't mention the biography.
We end with Malfoy Manor. It's as good as it can be. Then we see Voldemort get the Elder Wand (though he is supposed to a bit rougher getting it out).
The movie ends in the middle of nowhere. Literally. It doesn't end in a good place. It just does.
Part II
Still in the middle of nowhere. Time to go to Gringgotts. This feels fast to me, particularly compared to part one. Ron's disguise was supposed to have a beard and they don't realize anything is wrong until they hand over the wand. They come in thinking that it will be a great form of identification. Bellatrix technically can't even get a new wand cause she doesn't have a wand maker.
After they get through that Harry has a vision. Voldemort knows what they are doing. Difference between the movie and the book? In the movie he feels each death. In the book he thought he would, but it's not until he starts to check on them that he realizes that he doesn't.
He keeps Nagini near him but not in a protective bubble. He lets people near her when she is in danger. For some reason his voice makes girls scream. He constantly reacts to the destruction of a horcrux. They do not mention that the Fiendfyre is what destroys the Diadem.
The entrance of Harry back into Hogwarts is trite. He calls Snape out in front of everyone. Why? He spends more time trying to convince the people in the Room of Requirement that they aren't about to have a war in the book.
The way the work the battle is terrible. The set a single set of charms around the place and they don their job. They don't prevent people from entering, they prevent people from blasting them from a distance, like the shields in Star Wars: Episode I. And why do we get to watch all the old sets get destroyed? Burn the Quidditch stadium? The bridge makes more sense, but they devote too much time to it.
And within five minutes of the battle beginning the entire castle is terribly damaged. If they had kept it up they could have just collapsed it on top of them, but it you're paying attention a lot of damage happens fast and then nothing for the rest of the battle.
Harry now discovers that he is a horcrux. He actually tells his friends and they don't tie him down and tell him he's crazy. He walks out without his Invisibility Cloak. He drops the Resurrection Stone before he gets to the clearing.
The battle at Hogwarts is much more drawn out. Harry chases Voldemort through out the castle while Nagini fights Ron and Hermione. Remember, Voldemort knows that he can't let Nagini die, yet he lets her out of his sight.
It's just, weird. They made the scene more exciting, but it doesn't have the same force as the book. Something as simply as Neville being at Voldemort's mercy with a burning Sorting hat on his head when Neville suddenly pulls out a sword and kills Nagini. It's sudden, it's shocking. It freaks Voldemort out.
And then it ends. No party. Realistic, but... no party? We have the flash forward but Harry doesn't mention to Albus that he was almost sorted into Slytherin, which was the point of that conversation.
Conclusion: Failures
We missed out on character development.
Some scenes are ruined by making them more cinematic.
You might not be able to understand the story from watching the movies.
The end was a let down. It wasn't what it should have been. It could have been a great deal more. Luckily, this is Hollywood. In ten years, there will be a remake.
-X
Monday, May 16, 2011
Wherein I rant about things that don't seem related
I'm bored so I'm going to go on a rant.
For starters: I watched half of the first season of New Amsterdam on Hulu last night. Actually a little more than half of it. It's actually a decent show and I never realized it. The preview that Hulu gave me while I was watching last week's episode of Bones was much better than the ones that I remember when the show was on the air. In other words they created a show and then didn't advertise it properly.
Of course this shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone that Fox failed in the background work of a television show (also see Firefly)
The other thing I have been doing a lot of is rereading things. I have been working on Codex Alera
, which is an awesome series and you should read it. It could also be an awesome movie, but they would screw it up. If you have read it you know that they have a huge secret show up in book three and be completely revealed in book four. It's actually really obvious, to the point that the main character does a facepalm when he learns about it, because the entire point is that he's really smart and that he somehow didn't catch this is just amazing. A dozen other people figure it out before he does (including the you, because it gets to be really obvious).
Anyway, the point of rereading it is to try to catch the foreshadowing. There is a lot there, but it's very subtle. Most of it is in off-hand comments that people make, such as how his caretaker refers to her role in his life. A lot of people can read emotions in the book so if she was to outright lie, or even bend the truth, people would know that something was up, but in the context of the story it makes perfect sense.
What am I getting to? Well, I want to see this type of preparation to take place in television and movies. I like to write by the seat of my pants. I like to create as I write, not transcribe what I created earlier, but what we end up having is stories that loop around and bite itself. Stories without an end. Literally, that is how Seinfeld
ends. They return to the first conversation from the first episode. We only have foreshadowing for a couple episodes at a time, maybe to the end of the current story arc. Later seasons of Buffy did have some foreshadowing in them. Dawn is foreshadowed an entire season before she shows up.
Most shows though, don't foreshadow because they don't know if they will have another season. They don't attempt to build up to something. Another problem is that they keep doing a minute by minute accounting of what the characters are doing. House, M.D. would do a time skip whenever there was a break in production, the exception was when he was in rehab (which occurred in 'real time'). Going back to books, The Dresden Files usually have a year in between. Dresden even tells us that the interior of his car is eaten out but a mold demon, because he does stuff outside of the three days of the year that he saves the world.
What we need to see in television is for the writers to stop worrying about whether they will have another season and worry about what they will be writing the next season. Showrunners need to end shows when they have run there course. They should be making milestones for what they want to accomplish.
Most of these people played Dungeons and Dragons at one point in their life, don't they know how they build up the action? Start small and then at some point the characters find themselves fighting the big bad. Don't have them fighting the big bad once a year with us knowing that they never get to live happily ever after. Even Codex Alera ends with the the characters pretty sure they have a couple decades of peace before they need to go back to war.
I'm also totally for time jumps. Add an extra five years in between seasons. Have the characters change a bit, particularly the supporting characters. They should be changing as much as the main characters, but the main characters might go meet them and discover that they aren't nearly as big of dicks as they remember and maybe they don't mind working with them that much anymore.
And once you have that done you can save money by a dozen episodes. Use that money to make the episodes you have that much better. We don't need filler episodes, even need good television.
-X
For starters: I watched half of the first season of New Amsterdam on Hulu last night. Actually a little more than half of it. It's actually a decent show and I never realized it. The preview that Hulu gave me while I was watching last week's episode of Bones was much better than the ones that I remember when the show was on the air. In other words they created a show and then didn't advertise it properly.
Of course this shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone that Fox failed in the background work of a television show (also see Firefly)
 |
| I wonder what the secret is... |
, which is an awesome series and you should read it. It could also be an awesome movie, but they would screw it up. If you have read it you know that they have a huge secret show up in book three and be completely revealed in book four. It's actually really obvious, to the point that the main character does a facepalm when he learns about it, because the entire point is that he's really smart and that he somehow didn't catch this is just amazing. A dozen other people figure it out before he does (including the you, because it gets to be really obvious).Anyway, the point of rereading it is to try to catch the foreshadowing. There is a lot there, but it's very subtle. Most of it is in off-hand comments that people make, such as how his caretaker refers to her role in his life. A lot of people can read emotions in the book so if she was to outright lie, or even bend the truth, people would know that something was up, but in the context of the story it makes perfect sense.
What am I getting to? Well, I want to see this type of preparation to take place in television and movies. I like to write by the seat of my pants. I like to create as I write, not transcribe what I created earlier, but what we end up having is stories that loop around and bite itself. Stories without an end. Literally, that is how Seinfeld
ends. They return to the first conversation from the first episode. We only have foreshadowing for a couple episodes at a time, maybe to the end of the current story arc. Later seasons of Buffy did have some foreshadowing in them. Dawn is foreshadowed an entire season before she shows up.Most shows though, don't foreshadow because they don't know if they will have another season. They don't attempt to build up to something. Another problem is that they keep doing a minute by minute accounting of what the characters are doing. House, M.D. would do a time skip whenever there was a break in production, the exception was when he was in rehab (which occurred in 'real time'). Going back to books, The Dresden Files
usually have a year in between. Dresden even tells us that the interior of his car is eaten out but a mold demon, because he does stuff outside of the three days of the year that he saves the world.What we need to see in television is for the writers to stop worrying about whether they will have another season and worry about what they will be writing the next season. Showrunners need to end shows when they have run there course. They should be making milestones for what they want to accomplish.
 |
| We can totally take it on. |
I'm also totally for time jumps. Add an extra five years in between seasons. Have the characters change a bit, particularly the supporting characters. They should be changing as much as the main characters, but the main characters might go meet them and discover that they aren't nearly as big of dicks as they remember and maybe they don't mind working with them that much anymore.
And once you have that done you can save money by a dozen episodes. Use that money to make the episodes you have that much better. We don't need filler episodes, even need good television.
-X
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Film Review: Twilight
Yeah. I watched Twilight.
I'm going to start off by saying that Twilight was not the worse film I have ever seen. If ranked against all the movies I have watched it would be solidly in the middle and it definitely could have been a better movie. Some of the flaws are similar to ones you see in the Harry Potter movies, not enough happening as action.
There are some very good parts in the movie, the problem is that they are surrounded by terrible parts. The beginning is slow and boring, the dialogue is maddening and there is just something seriously wrong with Bella. I think she's clinically depressive. The only time we see her have any personality is when she interacts with Edward and she has no reason to want to be dead, at least no reason I could see from watching the movie. It's not like she's dying from cancer or something, she's just a whiny bitch.
I actually kept thinking about the article from Cracked I read recently that revealed the original screenplay written for Paramount for Twilight. Two words, Vampire Commandos. Take everything about the Twilight vampires and make them commandos. They would be pretty cool, particularly if you change 'sparkles in sunlight' to 'blinds those foolish enough to look directly at them'. We can all dream about what could have been.
What I think was the worst part of the Twilight movie was actually the story is good. How it is told not so much, but the basic story is good. I suppose the one thing we can learn from Twilight is that all a book really needs is a good plot and then people will read it.
-X
I'm going to start off by saying that Twilight was not the worse film I have ever seen. If ranked against all the movies I have watched it would be solidly in the middle and it definitely could have been a better movie. Some of the flaws are similar to ones you see in the Harry Potter movies, not enough happening as action.
There are some very good parts in the movie, the problem is that they are surrounded by terrible parts. The beginning is slow and boring, the dialogue is maddening and there is just something seriously wrong with Bella. I think she's clinically depressive. The only time we see her have any personality is when she interacts with Edward and she has no reason to want to be dead, at least no reason I could see from watching the movie. It's not like she's dying from cancer or something, she's just a whiny bitch.
I actually kept thinking about the article from Cracked I read recently that revealed the original screenplay written for Paramount for Twilight. Two words, Vampire Commandos. Take everything about the Twilight vampires and make them commandos. They would be pretty cool, particularly if you change 'sparkles in sunlight' to 'blinds those foolish enough to look directly at them'. We can all dream about what could have been.
What I think was the worst part of the Twilight movie was actually the story is good. How it is told not so much, but the basic story is good. I suppose the one thing we can learn from Twilight is that all a book really needs is a good plot and then people will read it.
-X
Friday, March 5, 2010
I shouldn't be wasting time right now
I really shouldn't be wasting time right now.
I just paid a bill. I don't have many of those, but it did make me look at my finances. I really haven't been thinking about any of this crap for a while. Just kind of living the dream, writing a novel
, reading
, watching movies
.
But this week the weather has been all nice, like winter is over or something. That means that all the fucking crap I had to do last year I'll have to do again. Yeah, I'm talking about yard work. I'm not a fan, particularly when people don't ask me nicely. So I have to get out of this house this summer.
I remembered something on my loan deferment about March. For some reason the six month deferment ends in March. I'm going to call them and make sure what date I have to list on it to extend it. Anyway it says that I have to make at least six attempts to find full-time employment (that's important, unemployment deferment for student loans is based on lack of full-time employment. My mother pointed out that she doesn't work full-time by their definition.) and that I can count only four, and one of them could be construed as a college application, not employment.
So off to my job boards I go.
Now this is sad, I looked at a job that requires twenty hours a week and will only pay $150 plus housing and I'm going to apply for it. I'm getting pretty desperate. I know, you are thinking "about time" aren't you? Need I point out that you cannot live on that much a week? I think they feed me some, but I worked at a place that paid some people that much and did not feed them.
So I already am committed to three more applications to send out, and wait there is more! I need to finish my novel by the end of the month and prepare for Script Frenzy. I haven't even written today yet, which is why I shouldn't be writing this.
If I do find some time, or just want to procrastinate, I'll write a review of Shutter Island. If I don't, just go see it.
-X
I just paid a bill. I don't have many of those, but it did make me look at my finances. I really haven't been thinking about any of this crap for a while. Just kind of living the dream, writing a novel
, reading, watching movies.But this week the weather has been all nice, like winter is over or something. That means that all the fucking crap I had to do last year I'll have to do again. Yeah, I'm talking about yard work. I'm not a fan, particularly when people don't ask me nicely. So I have to get out of this house this summer.
I remembered something on my loan deferment about March. For some reason the six month deferment ends in March. I'm going to call them and make sure what date I have to list on it to extend it. Anyway it says that I have to make at least six attempts to find full-time employment (that's important, unemployment deferment for student loans is based on lack of full-time employment. My mother pointed out that she doesn't work full-time by their definition.) and that I can count only four, and one of them could be construed as a college application, not employment.
So off to my job boards I go.
Now this is sad, I looked at a job that requires twenty hours a week and will only pay $150 plus housing and I'm going to apply for it. I'm getting pretty desperate. I know, you are thinking "about time" aren't you? Need I point out that you cannot live on that much a week? I think they feed me some, but I worked at a place that paid some people that much and did not feed them.
So I already am committed to three more applications to send out, and wait there is more! I need to finish my novel by the end of the month and prepare for Script Frenzy. I haven't even written today yet, which is why I shouldn't be writing this.
If I do find some time, or just want to procrastinate, I'll write a review of Shutter Island. If I don't, just go see it.
-X
Friday, February 26, 2010
Perseus is a really cool name
I saw Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lighting Thief
yesterday, but before I write about that I need to give bonus points to the movie theatre.
I always go to Regal Cinemas. I have their loyalty card so for every $100 I spend on movies and concessions I get a free movie ticket. This isn't the only reason. They are also always clean and the staff is always courteous and helpful. I have been to a couple non-chain movie theaters that were great, but if you are heading to a chain, Regal is in my opinion the best.
I actually saw Percy Jackson for a couple reasons:
and that the movie will start a few minutes late.
Isn't that nice? They actually told us right off the bat that something was wrong, instead of letting us think that they just forgot to turn the movie on. Several minutes go by, the manager had estimated "two or three minute" delay and that was clearly wrong. So the manager returns and give us all passes to another movie to use whenever we like. Suddenly none of us mind waiting the half-hour to forty-five minutes it took for them to fix the problem. What really sucks is that it sounded like it was a really stupid problem that you would not think would take that long to fix, but anyway I got to see a movie for free and got another free movie ticket.
Now back to the movie itself.
I really liked the book, when I ignored the whole ten-year-old-can-do-shit-grown-men-can't-do crap. They got around this by shifting him up a couple years and making him a teenager. That helped a lot because if you go back and watch the first Harry Potter movie you really see how ridiculous it is to have a child that hasn't even hit puberty yet. Of course, I'm not sure how old Logan Lerman, who plays Percy, was at the time of filming but I think he's one of those people who is destined to play teenagers forever. He looks really short, then again 5' 8" is shorter than me, therefore he is.
Now, I said I liked the book. You know what is coming next. I will say this in the most diplomatic way: in relationship to the books I absolutely hated the movie, in respect to the movie itself, I didn't mind it. The major problems with the movie is that it simplified the story and whereas the book avoided many pitfalls that you might come across when writing stories like this, the movie jumps into them. They switch villains to make the story work for only one movie better, they make that gods more dickish and over obsessed over Greek culture (in the book none of the gods are dressed in traditional clothing, Poseidon is dressed more like Charlie Harper from Two and a Half Men) and just to be nit picky, the walls on Olympus were not painted and there is proof that they should be.
What is really annoying is that they fell into the Hades is evil hole. Hades liked his job for the most part and in the book doesn't want war anymore than anyone else. In fact the entire point of Poseidon not being in Percy's life was because he, Zeus and Hades were all forbidden from having children after World War II (Zeus, of course, was the first to f that up).
So see the movie, but don't expect it to be anywhere nearly as awesome as the book. Oh and Perseus is an awesome name and sounds much more masculine than Percy, don't you agree?
-X
yesterday, but before I write about that I need to give bonus points to the movie theatre.I always go to Regal Cinemas. I have their loyalty card so for every $100 I spend on movies and concessions I get a free movie ticket. This isn't the only reason. They are also always clean and the staff is always courteous and helpful. I have been to a couple non-chain movie theaters that were great, but if you are heading to a chain, Regal is in my opinion the best.
I actually saw Percy Jackson for a couple reasons:
- I thought the previews looked cool.
- I finally found a copy of the book in mass-market paperback (and therefore cheaper) and enjoyed it immensely
- I had a loyalty ticket and I needed a movie that allowed the use of free passes (the first week or so of a new movie),
and that the movie will start a few minutes late.Isn't that nice? They actually told us right off the bat that something was wrong, instead of letting us think that they just forgot to turn the movie on. Several minutes go by, the manager had estimated "two or three minute" delay and that was clearly wrong. So the manager returns and give us all passes to another movie to use whenever we like. Suddenly none of us mind waiting the half-hour to forty-five minutes it took for them to fix the problem. What really sucks is that it sounded like it was a really stupid problem that you would not think would take that long to fix, but anyway I got to see a movie for free and got another free movie ticket.
Now back to the movie itself.
I really liked the book, when I ignored the whole ten-year-old-can-do-shit-grown-men-can't-do crap. They got around this by shifting him up a couple years and making him a teenager. That helped a lot because if you go back and watch the first Harry Potter movie you really see how ridiculous it is to have a child that hasn't even hit puberty yet. Of course, I'm not sure how old Logan Lerman, who plays Percy, was at the time of filming but I think he's one of those people who is destined to play teenagers forever. He looks really short, then again 5' 8" is shorter than me, therefore he is.
Now, I said I liked the book. You know what is coming next. I will say this in the most diplomatic way: in relationship to the books I absolutely hated the movie, in respect to the movie itself, I didn't mind it. The major problems with the movie is that it simplified the story and whereas the book avoided many pitfalls that you might come across when writing stories like this, the movie jumps into them. They switch villains to make the story work for only one movie better, they make that gods more dickish and over obsessed over Greek culture (in the book none of the gods are dressed in traditional clothing, Poseidon is dressed more like Charlie Harper from Two and a Half Men) and just to be nit picky, the walls on Olympus were not painted and there is proof that they should be.
What is really annoying is that they fell into the Hades is evil hole. Hades liked his job for the most part and in the book doesn't want war anymore than anyone else. In fact the entire point of Poseidon not being in Percy's life was because he, Zeus and Hades were all forbidden from having children after World War II (Zeus, of course, was the first to f that up).
So see the movie, but don't expect it to be anywhere nearly as awesome as the book. Oh and Perseus is an awesome name and sounds much more masculine than Percy, don't you agree?
-X
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
When in Rome...
When I go somewhere or purchase something I feel like I'm granting approval or disapproval of the advertisement for that product or service. I was somewhat interested in Avatar
when I saw the trailer, but I lost all interest in the TV advertisements became all about the graphics. I have a degree in theatre and almost minored in film, the blatant disregard for the plot disgusts me. I have not and will not see Avatar in theaters, which is a shame because it is the type of film that should be seen in a theater. I'm also prepared for a bunch of crappy movies with cool graphics and crappy Science Fiction movie (or as the it is know in the publishing world, speculative fiction).
So I couldn't see that and Legion didn't look too good, so I did the only thing I could. I saw When in Rome
.
Why did I, a guy, see a romantic comedy by myself? Well, for one, I'm incredibly lonely. Two, I really liked the advertisements for it. They don't even have Danny DeVito in the ads, who has a great role (did you think all of the men she have running after her were going to be young and handsome?).
I really enjoyed watching it. It was funny as both leads are slightly clumsy, with actual reasons, Beth (Kristen Bell) is paying attention to other things and Nick (Josh Duhamel) has a perception problem because he was struck by lightning (before the movie though there is one quick flashback for Josh Duhamel haters, if their are Josh Duhamel haters... why would you hate Josh Duhamel?), and it is only done sparingly. The plot requires some forgiveness, you see the trick easily - or I did at least, but it is completely believable that the Beth does not.
Most importantly, it made me laugh. How many comedies have you been to that you haven't really laughed? For me too many. Yeah, a lot of reviewers say that the comedy is slapstick and overdone, but I disagree. It's more like a joke taken to just far enough that you still find it funny.
So it's a good movie, you should go see it. If you're not confident in your masculinity, bring a girl along. Or you get there extra early and leave after everyone else, like I did.
-X
when I saw the trailer, but I lost all interest in the TV advertisements became all about the graphics. I have a degree in theatre and almost minored in film, the blatant disregard for the plot disgusts me. I have not and will not see Avatar in theaters, which is a shame because it is the type of film that should be seen in a theater. I'm also prepared for a bunch of crappy movies with cool graphics and crappy Science Fiction movie (or as the it is know in the publishing world, speculative fiction).So I couldn't see that and Legion didn't look too good, so I did the only thing I could. I saw When in Rome
.Why did I, a guy, see a romantic comedy by myself? Well, for one, I'm incredibly lonely. Two, I really liked the advertisements for it. They don't even have Danny DeVito in the ads, who has a great role (did you think all of the men she have running after her were going to be young and handsome?).
I really enjoyed watching it. It was funny as both leads are slightly clumsy, with actual reasons, Beth (Kristen Bell) is paying attention to other things and Nick (Josh Duhamel) has a perception problem because he was struck by lightning (before the movie though there is one quick flashback for Josh Duhamel haters, if their are Josh Duhamel haters... why would you hate Josh Duhamel?), and it is only done sparingly. The plot requires some forgiveness, you see the trick easily - or I did at least, but it is completely believable that the Beth does not.
Most importantly, it made me laugh. How many comedies have you been to that you haven't really laughed? For me too many. Yeah, a lot of reviewers say that the comedy is slapstick and overdone, but I disagree. It's more like a joke taken to just far enough that you still find it funny.
So it's a good movie, you should go see it. If you're not confident in your masculinity, bring a girl along. Or you get there extra early and leave after everyone else, like I did.
-X
Friday, January 22, 2010
Another day over
I wasted today. I woke up late (11:00 am) and immediately left to restock on turkey, as that is mostly what I live on. This means I didn't have breakfast until 12:30 (30 min shower and getting dressed, 15 min to get to Walmart, 15 min to get turkey, 15 mins in line, 15 to drive back, 15 min to make sandwich) and of course I waste time while eating so I didn't finish that until... lets not get into how much time I waste eating. Anyway, I turned on my laptop and started to check out my Google reader stuff and my email and posting on the NaNo forums. My mother came home and we ordered curbside Outback, we couldn't eat at Outback because my sister-in-law's baby shower is in a couple weeks (peanut is due on May 1st!) and my mother has suddenly realized that she needs to finish the things she is knitting for it (and decide if she's going up to Michigan for the shower). Afterward we watched Julie and Julia
, which is one of the chick flicks I wanted to see. It was okay, but I felt like I wanted to see more.
So, I wasted a day. I should have written person statements for the jobs I'm applying to, and I might do it tonight as I do appear to be in a writing mood.
On the plus side I didn't eat that much today (unless you count the cheese fries). My mother's office has crates of oranges in it that no one eats so she's been taking them home. I've developed a taste for them and am having them on a nightly basis interspersing my grapes and raisins (does that seem redundant?). So healthy diet is getting a step up. Otherwise I feel guilty. I keep thinking that though my wrist still hurts, nothing is wrong with my spine and I should be doing crunches - just to get into the habit. I intend to start the hundred challenges again soon, once I don't have to worry about injuring myself. That is six weeks of physical therapy away, as it is my wrist feels better now than it has all day. Cortisone finally wore off.
Okay, I'm going to take medication and write a personal statement.
-X
, which is one of the chick flicks I wanted to see. It was okay, but I felt like I wanted to see more.So, I wasted a day. I should have written person statements for the jobs I'm applying to, and I might do it tonight as I do appear to be in a writing mood.
On the plus side I didn't eat that much today (unless you count the cheese fries). My mother's office has crates of oranges in it that no one eats so she's been taking them home. I've developed a taste for them and am having them on a nightly basis interspersing my grapes and raisins (does that seem redundant?). So healthy diet is getting a step up. Otherwise I feel guilty. I keep thinking that though my wrist still hurts, nothing is wrong with my spine and I should be doing crunches - just to get into the habit. I intend to start the hundred challenges again soon, once I don't have to worry about injuring myself. That is six weeks of physical therapy away, as it is my wrist feels better now than it has all day. Cortisone finally wore off.
Okay, I'm going to take medication and write a personal statement.
-X
Thursday, January 14, 2010
We need more exploding vampires
As I said I saw Daybreakers in theaters yesterday. I liked it. It covers that mystery of why the vampires don't just take over. Still they keep some standbys, more so than even popular books and movies do. Vampires can't go without human blood, their brains turn to mush if they try. They also go nuts at the sight of blood, burn in the sunlight, and don't give a damn about humans. The humans are nearly extinct yet the vamps can't control themselves enough to not tear apart the few that they find. A realistic, more satisfying, version of vampires. The opening is a girl in her twenties (note the term "girl" and twenties) committing suicide by sunlight. That concept was brought up in Interview with the Vampire
, but most people were too creeped out by it to continue in that vein.
I'm not sure how I feel about them continuing the tradition of vampires being harmed by sunlight. If you haven't heard, the sunlight thing was created to avoid copyright infringement during the filming of Nosferatu
, the attempt failed and the production company was sued into bankruptcy by Bram Stoker's estate. Particularly when I was playing Dungeons and Dragons I found the restrictions on them immense. Sure, if you have a one on one battle with one your screwed, but up until then you have several dozen options to destory it or protect yourself - like building a moat (vampires cannot cross running water) or sleep in a church (they cannot enter consecrated ground) The ability to be safe in the sunlight takes a lot of the terror away. That's one reason I liked 30 Days of Night
, because it took that option out of the mix.
And since I mentioned it in the title I have to mention I liked the exploding vampires. They never explain it, but it is just amusing.
-X
, but most people were too creeped out by it to continue in that vein.I'm not sure how I feel about them continuing the tradition of vampires being harmed by sunlight. If you haven't heard, the sunlight thing was created to avoid copyright infringement during the filming of Nosferatu
, the attempt failed and the production company was sued into bankruptcy by Bram Stoker's estate. Particularly when I was playing Dungeons and Dragons I found the restrictions on them immense. Sure, if you have a one on one battle with one your screwed, but up until then you have several dozen options to destory it or protect yourself - like building a moat (vampires cannot cross running water) or sleep in a church (they cannot enter consecrated ground) The ability to be safe in the sunlight takes a lot of the terror away. That's one reason I liked 30 Days of Night, because it took that option out of the mix.And since I mentioned it in the title I have to mention I liked the exploding vampires. They never explain it, but it is just amusing.
-X
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Reread
So, I'm one of those crazy people who reread books. Not just when the next one comes out so that I can remember what's going on, I do it all the time. Sometimes I don't finish them on reread number three hundred, but I still try. The other day I started rereading Dragons of Autumn Twilight
, mostly because I needed to practice scriptwriting for Screnzy and I thought the easiest way to practice was to use a already created story and "adapt" it. I put that in quotes because that part I did was almost word for word from the book. Maybe three pages in and about ten minutes into the movie.
Anyway, I shouldn't be doing this. I have several books to read, such as Dune
and Dracula
. Instead I'm reading a book I know almost by heart, and no, rereading isn't any faster than the first time. Usually, it's slower because I stop more often to ponder other ways for events to happen. If you're familiar with Dragonlance you know that it is long running series and even the tiniest alteration in the early books could completely screw up the later ones. Which wouldn't necessarily be bad. The series gets seriously fucked up after awhile.
What could I do instead of rereading these? I could apply for the three jobs I discovered, search for more jobs, or watch more stuff on Hulu, which would maybe end up with me writing a more interesting entry.
I am planning on seeing Daybreakers soon and reviewing it then. Ta-ta for now.
-X
, mostly because I needed to practice scriptwriting for Screnzy and I thought the easiest way to practice was to use a already created story and "adapt" it. I put that in quotes because that part I did was almost word for word from the book. Maybe three pages in and about ten minutes into the movie.Anyway, I shouldn't be doing this. I have several books to read, such as Dune
and Dracula. Instead I'm reading a book I know almost by heart, and no, rereading isn't any faster than the first time. Usually, it's slower because I stop more often to ponder other ways for events to happen. If you're familiar with Dragonlance you know that it is long running series and even the tiniest alteration in the early books could completely screw up the later ones. Which wouldn't necessarily be bad. The series gets seriously fucked up after awhile.What could I do instead of rereading these? I could apply for the three jobs I discovered, search for more jobs, or watch more stuff on Hulu, which would maybe end up with me writing a more interesting entry.
I am planning on seeing Daybreakers soon and reviewing it then. Ta-ta for now.
-X
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Lazy Day
Today has been a very lazy day. I woke up. Messed around on my laptop. Showered and ate. Restocked on soda. Ate some more. Getting a bed sore now. I miss having roommates around. Someone always has something interesting to do. If all else failed we would just start watching
old
movies
. Suppose I can peruse the job listings. I wish I had a desk
.
I read Fool Moon
yesterday front to back. It almost seemed like a waste of money until I remembered that seeing a movie in theaters is the same and I don't get to keep it afterward. Good book though.
-X
old movies. Suppose I can peruse the job listings. I wish I had a desk.I read Fool Moon
yesterday front to back. It almost seemed like a waste of money until I remembered that seeing a movie in theaters is the same and I don't get to keep it afterward. Good book though.-X
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Response to Peter Carey's NaNoWriMo Pep Talk
Hi everybody!
(chirp... chirp...)
Oh well. Anyway on November 29th I successfully wrote 50,000 words in (less than) thirty days making me a winner of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). After we wrote our words and validated we are kind of still on a high from it all and we continue to troll the message boards afterward.
We also get info on how to edit our novel and seek to publish it and we get one last pep talk.
Sadly the last pep talk was lacking in pep as one poster pointed out.
Here's the thread it was posted in near the bottom it's the longest one, I'll give the real link when I can. Anyway I ranted about it in the discussion thread (the second longest post) and some people (okay one person) complimented me on it.
Therefore to save it forever.
REPOST!
(chirp... chirp...)
Oh well. Anyway on November 29th I successfully wrote 50,000 words in (less than) thirty days making me a winner of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). After we wrote our words and validated we are kind of still on a high from it all and we continue to troll the message boards afterward.
We also get info on how to edit our novel and seek to publish it and we get one last pep talk.
Sadly the last pep talk was lacking in pep as one poster pointed out.
Here's the thread it was posted in near the bottom it's the longest one, I'll give the real link when I can. Anyway I ranted about it in the discussion thread (the second longest post) and some people (okay one person) complimented me on it.
Therefore to save it forever.
REPOST!
-Most of this was written from my first read through. You may notice what I got from it in the first pass. I realize that I am somewhat harping on a single thing ("turn off your television"), but of course I don't want to be a writer, I want to be an artist-
Shortly before I heard about NaNoWriMo I read the Idiot's Guide to Novel Writing, mostly just to see if there was something important I didn't know.
The author, Thomas Monteleone, got a Masters in English because he felt that to be a novelist he needed a high level degree in English, yet he discovered that academia didn't think that much of "commercial" writing (he was derided by his professors). He stated that he never made use of his masters and could have better spent the time. He also comments that many authors think that writing should be a painful, boring arduous task.
He disagreed. You should enjoy what you are doing. Otherwise why are you doing it?
Personally I have a degree in Theatre. My plan is to become a theatrical designer. I like art and I have a broad definition of it. A fiction novel is art, as is a television show as is a major motion picture just as much as the Mona Lisa, Stary Night or Shakespeare's Twelve Night or "Ave Maria" or "My Heart Will Go On". They vary in quality, but I understand that they are art. They are reflections of human emotions and in many cases they are felt by others and help them realize that someone else has gone through (or thinks about, or fears) the same thing.
If you want to be a serious writer watch television. Watch shows you don't like, because your characters won't all be writers and they will watch those shows. Watch chick flicks and the movies that bomb in the box office. Realize what those writers did wrong and do the opposite. See live theatre, see classics, hear the door slam that rang across the world, but also see how an animated film can be brought into real life too. Attend concerts, see a live orchestra or a rock band, note how they differ from the recordings. See how people react to their favorite idols in person. Travel, see your country, see your mother country, see something other than your own hometown. Watch the news, understand politics in your country and others. When a world leader does something you don't like, understand why they did it even if you still disagree.
Do these things and your stories will be greater for it.
Then Get Excited and Make Things
-X
“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, everyday, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.”
- Christopher Morley (American writer and editor 1890-1957)
- Christopher Morley (American writer and editor 1890-1957)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Distraction
As always happens in October I have gotten the urge to watch horror movies. Unlike every past October, I do not have other things to do to prevent me from watching more than just a few horror movies.
Okay, I really do have more important things to do, but given the choice of looking for a job, watching House of 1000 Corpses, practicing writing for NaNoWriMo, catching up on episodes of Sanctuary, reading Dracula, exercising, keeping my room organized, well you get the idea.
Outside of all of that I've made almost no progress on writing any of my stories and have been terrible on updating Illuminated University. Funnily enough I was reading the NaNoWriMo book and it says never stop work on a draft for more than two days in a row because you will lose track of the story, start reworking the story. I've already done that to IU before, so once I have the time for it I "should" be fine.
I'm actually very well planned out for NaNoWriMo, in fact I'm starting to get worried that I may be too prepared for it. They warn that too much preparation causes you to be bored with the story and unable to write it. Alfred Hitchcock apparently had that problem with everything he did. He hated filming his movies because he already knew exactly what they were going to be like, as if he had watched them a dozen times and could stand them anymore.
I'm going to move my GOAL for eBay back a month. I haven't been around to place anything on the site but I should be able to run with it again.
Now I think I'm going to sleep and get up early to work on some of the stuff I want to do.
-X
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tips For Movie Makers to Make Movies Suck Less
I watch a lot of major motion pictures. I consider it my duty as I have a degree in the entertainment industry. I've been thinking of a couple ways that movies could suck a little bit less. Some of these are based on current movies, others I came up with long ago.
Don't number sequels.
I think it has to do with the concept that everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end that if a move has one sequel, it must have a third. For some reason they insist on numbering the movies, so that you know that they are related. I understand the concept, but it causes the viewer to compare the movie very closely with the original. If the original was big because it was in fact "original" the sequel will bomb because they audience will be expecting it to be as cool as the original. It also suggests that the later movies have no reason to exist other than to continue the original story, which should have been wrapped up in the first movie.
Which brings me to my next point
Do not cliffhanger a movie.
The last thing anyone wants is to watch a movie or $10 only to discover that in six-twelve months he will have to shell out another $10 to find out how it ends. It's okay if the main story has been closed up and that it just implies that the journey continues, but it is rude and disgusting to actually treat a movie ending like a season finale, yes I'm looking at you Matrix Reloaded. They are cutting the last Harry Potter book into two movies but I'm allowing the exception after the atrocity it did to the sixth book.
I like how this is flowing to...
If you base it on something else (a book, a video game, etc.), actually base it on that material.
Every year at least a dozen books/video games/cartoons/comics/etc are made into movies. Three things I think of here:
- Stay true to the original work
- Update it to be current
- Enhance the work to become a Major Motion Picture
Don't completely change the story and claim that it is still based of said work. Updating is fine, change the Nazis to terrorists, Soviets to aliens, US agency to UN agency. Add a black guy to the cast. Make the pseudoscience match better to real science.
Do not change the laws of the universe, such as was done in Eragon. Do not kill off all of the main characters, like in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Respect the original work and make sure that you raise it up to the right level. Just because it is based on a Saturday morning cartoon doesn't mean that you can't take it seriously. In fact, I know I've seen children's movies where they take the kids more seriously then they do super heroes.
If you are going to do it, do it awesome.
This is almost something you could live by. If you are going to do it as well as possible. It should feel real to the audience, there is no excuse for it not to be.
That took longer then I thought.
-X
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Movie Review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Not because of many of he reasons that have been thrown around already. More for the corny names than anything else. Everything else they modified and evened out - to the point of the Joes being arrested after being found alone at the scene of destruction equiped with high tech weaponary, but they still have the stupid names. How do you keep a straight face saying those crappy names? Even good friends don't always use nicknames, that's part of knowing that they are really friends (as in knowing someone's real name).
Otherwise the graphics were fine, after some of the reviews I was scared of what I would see. The story was much better than I thought was possible for a movie about action figures. Though I liked the old version of Cobra being from an ancient alien race, than just being a emo kid. That said Joseph Gordon-Levitt did much better with then I think anybody expected him to. I don't think we give enough credit to actors and what roles that can play. We type cast a lot of young actors in young immature roles because they start in them and then resist them when they try to branch out.
It reminds me of Heath Ledger as the Joker, they all doubted at the time and now they feel like no one else could possibly do the character anywhere near the same character.
Enough for now. Added lots of extra reading for you.
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