Monday, February 24, 2014

I really need to get back into this

Alright, so I am so going to get more active with this blog.  I know I've said that a few times but this time I really mean it.  I am going to do a lot of blogging and some of it will have to do with the wonders that is the new cosplay group that I am a part of.  What is this group you ask?  Well, it's DFW Cosplay Gallifrey.

I cosplay as the 10th Doctor and also as Lady Christina de Souza from Planet of the Dead.


Thank you to William Lamoreaux for that photo shoot.  He's pretty cool.

The whole group is pretty awesome and I really enjoy hanging out with them.  Once a month we get together and we watch Doctor Who episodes together.  There's all kinds of cool stuff going down with this group and I will keep giving you a heads up as it happens.


Another awesome thing that is going on is All Con Dallas.   I actually have six different cosplays that I will be doing for this convention.  One is Howard Stark, one is 10th Doctor, one is Lady Christina, one is Angela Montenegro from Bones, then I have a USO girl from Captain America: The First Avenger, and then I also have a Jedi OC that I have made props for.  I also made a golden goblet for Lady Christina to have stolen and I made a fake martini for Howard to carry around.  I'm getting pretty good at props in general.  Some of which are with my dad's help but it never hurts to get help, right?

Now, do you want to know the coolest thing about All Con?  I AM PRESENTING A PANEL!  That's right, I actually have content going on at All Con.   So if you are at All Con and you have time on Friday at 10am come to the Pecan Room and we can talk about the Minor Characters of Marvel.

That's all I have for now.  Will be updating more soon.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Spoilers ahead.  Just so you know.


Yes, I went to see this movie.  Anybody who knows me knows that I would go see any movie with Jeremy Renner in it, regardless of how ridiculous that movie might be.  This one turned out to be a little bit different.

You think you know the story of Hansel and Gretel.  But this movie changes the way you view that story.  Hansel and Gretel grow up to hunt down dark witches, like the one that nearly killed them when they were children.  Their father took them out into the woods and left them there, we found out later it was for their own protection.  Especially Gretel's, but I'll get to that.

Hansel and Gretel grow up and hunt witches for a living.  They seek revenge on those that would harm children.  And they're very good at it.  I was a little disappointed with the blatant PSA in the movie.  Poor Hansel was inflicted with a disease that requires him to take an injection every few hours or he dies.  This is because of the witch that capture them as children.  What I got out of it?   They made him diabetic because he ate too much candy as a child.  Yes, the candy was forced down his throat, but still.  Like I said, blatant PSA.

There's a lot of gore in the movie.  You can't get away from it.  And I will say that it's better than I thought it was going to be going in.  Now, as much as I love Jeremy Renner, there are moments when his lines aren't delivered in the best manner possible, in my opinion.  Though he does say "Don't eat the fucking candy" with the right amount of conviction and "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."  Most of the movie, he's pretty brilliant.  He gets thrown around a lot, and there is a scene with him shirtless.  There's also a bit with him appearing to be naked in chest deep water.  You know I was okay with that bit.  There's also a scene where he's drunk and sleeping on the floor.  Gretel has the bed.  She wakes him up because she has a dream about their mother.  Hansel says "We don't talk about that.  Go to sleep."  And then rolls over and curls up under the bed.  It's pretty hilarious.  

In the movie there is a troll named Edward.  Edward saves Gretel from an asshole, self important sheriff and his band of ruffians.  Why would he do such a thing, Gretel asks.  Edward's answer?  Trolls serve witches.  But he saved Gretel and then took off.  That's weird, right?  Now, this is the part I was getting to before.

We find out that the reason that Hansel and Gretel were taken out into the forest by their father was to protect Gretel from the dark witches that needed the heart of a grand white witch to complete a spell that would make them immune to fire.  So Hansel and Gretel are the twin children of a farmer and a grand white witch.  Shocker, right?  So this is when they find out that there are such thing as good witches in the world.  Their mother placed a spell on them that makes them immune to the magic of the dark witches.  And they run into a white witch that helps Hansel when he and Gretel get separated.  She finds him hanging upside down from a tree.  Also hilarious.

Over all, I'd say it's a decent movie.  I wouldn't call it a great movie.  It's not bad and I wouldn't mind seeing it again.  Especially since there's really only gore and language involved in the R rating.  Though my daughter doesn't want to see it in 3D because she doesn't want to see blood and guts flying at her, and I'm okay with that.

And yes, I know that I ranted about there not being a midnight viewing available in 2D but I got there tonight to change my ticket so I could see it at 10pm and there was a 2D available.  So it's still readily available, just not in advance.  But I know there will come a time when 2D is a thing of the past.

As a lover of weapons of various shapes and sizes I have to say that the different guns and other weapons in this movie were pretty kick ass.  There's even a folding shot gun.  It's pretty amazing.  And hard to describe. Anyway.

If you like gore with a little bit of corny, oh who am I kidding a lot of corny thrown in, go see the movie.  If you like Jeremy Renner or Gemma Arterton or Famke Jansen, go see the movie.  If you want to sit back and let your brain shut down for 90 or so minutes, go see the movie.  That's all I can say.

Also, I was made feel extremely old by the fact that Jurassic Park will be released in 3D in celebration of the 20th anniversary.  HOW HAS IT BEEN 20 YEARS ALREADY??!?!?!?!?  And that is all.
 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

@thinkgeek and the scarceness of 2D

I've been brought to a horrible reality a little sooner than I expected.  But I will get to that.

First of all, I would like to once again thank thinkgeek.com for coming out with the 2D glasses that convert 3D movies into 2D.  This is helpful for me because 3D movies cause a panic attack when I try to watch them.  And having a mother and daughter that can both watch 3D means that I can take them to the 3D movie and not get a headache from being unable to wear the 3D glasses.  Now I just take my 2D glasses and I can enjoy the movie right along with them.

Why am I bringing this up?  Because of Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters.  I have wanted to see this movie ever since I found out about it.  I am a HUGE Jeremy Renner fan as anyone who reads this blog would know.  So I want to watch this movie.   And I wanted to attend a midnight viewing.  The thing is, there isn't a 2D midnight viewing.  The only midnight show is IMAX 3D.  Which I can't watch.  And there's no $6 show on Saturday either.  Earliest 2D showing is at 110pm which is an $8 ticket.

So this is how it starts.  2D is going to become less and less available until I'm paying for a 3D ticket that I can't watch.   Eventually, movies are going to be coming out exclusively in 3D all because the market for 2D is so small.  It's ridiculous and stupid and I really wish that Hollywood would understand that there is still a market for 2D releases.  But they don't care.  All they care about is making money.  That's it.  It's really irritating.


Monday, January 7, 2013

Happy Birthday to Jeremy Renner who does not look 42 years old. 

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Music, Movies, and TV Shows

Everybody has those songs that remind you of movies.  And no I'm not talking about musicals.  Like You're the One That I Want reminding you of Grease.  I'm talking about regular movies that everybody thinks about when a certain song plays.

For example, Old Time Rock N Roll by Bob Seger brings back images of a young Tom Cruise in a pink dress shirt, tighty whities, and socks sliding across a hard wood floor singing into a candle stick like a microphone.  And speaking of TC, who doesn't think of Top Gun when they hear Danger Zone, right?

And everybody knows Ghostbusters.

Just like (I've Had) The Time of My Life always brings back memories of that final dance scene in Dirty Dancing.  Those are the kinds of things I'm talking about.  But, let's go a little less iconic in the film department, shall we?

For me, whenever Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix plays on the radio, I always want to run home and pop in Wayne's World.  Dana Carvey as Garth Algar, dancing along and acting out that song just makes my life every time.  And I keep hearing it on the radio, seriously.  It's kind of epic.  Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and Tia Carrere's cover of Ballroom Blitz, though the original version is what I hear on the radio all the time.  And while I'm talking about a Mike Myers vehicle here, let's not forget Do You Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart bringing back memories of So I Married an Axe Murderer.  That is one of my most favorite scenes ever.  And There She Goes by The La's also reminds me of that movie.

Back in Black by ACDC makes me want to watch Iron Man every single time I hear it.  That and, well, Iron Man by Black Sabbath.  But then I don't really need an excuse to watch a movie with Robert Downey Jr in it.

She's a Lady by Tom Jones brings back thoughts of Miss Congeniality.  Which brings me to To Make You Feel My Love (I could only find the Adele cover of the song) originally performed by Garth Brooks makes me remember watching Hope Floats and wishing I hadn't.  And Proud Mary brings back memories of a lot of movies, but also Miss Congeniality: Armed and Fabulous.

The Garth Brooks song When You Come Back to Me Again makes me want to watch Frequency again.  Though it's my understanding that the song was written specifically for that movie so that would make total sense.

Songs also remind me of various episodes of TV shows.  Or sometimes, of the TV shows themselves.  The various CSIs using songs by The Who as their themes means I think about them every time I hear those songs on the radio.  Who Are You, We Won't Get Fooled Again, and Baba O'Reilly.    You Can't Always Get What You Want (Band From TV cover) by The Rolling Stones reminds me of House, M.D.  Though Hugh Laurie covering the song with Band From TV does help.

Minnie The Moocher by Cab Calloway reminds me of a particularly hilarious episode of Jeeves and Wooster, from back in the early days of Laurie and Fry.  Or I guess I should say Fry and Laurie.

And both Twist and Shout by The Beatles, and Danke Schoen by Wayne Newton remind me of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

I'm not going to mention Glee other than to say, it counts in the musical category.

Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones reminds me of a short lived TV show called Viva Laughlin.  The song was sung by Hugh Jackman, over the original track.   And, in that same manner, One Way or Another by Blondie makes me think of the English version of the same variety (it came first of course) called Blackpool in which David Tennant sings over the original track to a man he's trying to put away for murder.

You're My First, My Last, My Everything (I wish I could find the clip from the episode) by Barry White makes me think of the 4th season of Ally McBeal episode titled In Search of Barry White in which Taye Diggs, Robert Downey Jr, and Peter McNichol do a rather interesting dance routine in the unisex bathroom to this song.  For giggles, Just Dance 4 has that song on it including some of the dance moves from that episode.

Ben by Michael Jackson reminds me of an episode of Queer as Folk: US in which Hal Sparks sings the song to a man named Ben played by Robert Gant, in an attempt to keep him from leaving Woody's.  Hal did a very good job with the song.

And now I'm at a point where I am sitting here trying to actively remember songs that remind me of TV shows or movies which kind of defeats the whole purpose.  It's supposed to be effortless.  So I guess this is the point where I wrap it up.

It's amazing to me how music brings back memories like that.  It even triggers things you can't really reach out and grasp.  I've heard several songs on the radio that I think "That was in a commercial but I can't remember which one."  And things like that.  Like Too Close by Alex Clare reminding me of an Internet Explorer commercial.  There are several car commercials that I hear the songs on the radio but I can't remember which car it was advertising.

It all comes down to music bringing back memories that aren't all that bad and making me want to rewatch the various TV shows or movies of which they remind me.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The Snowmen @bbcdoctorwho

Okay, this was one of the best Doctor Who episodes ever.  I loved the whole episode and I loved Clara.  I'm not going to go much into the details because it will be spoiler rich and I'm staying away from that for now.

I was a little iffy about Clara because I love Amy and Rory, but Clara is AWESOME!  She's hilarious and perverted and curious and wonderful.  She's not in love with the Doctor, but she obviously wouldn't mind a shag if he offered it, though she knows he never would.

The Snowmen were pretty amazing, and the whole concept was great.  I do love that The Doctor's go to way to admit that someone is right is to tell them to shut up.  I also love the reference of Conan Doyle.  That was pretty great.

Over all, I loved the episode, I loved Clara, and I am VERY looking forward to the next season.


Monday, December 3, 2012

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

This was a good but sad movie.  Steve Carrell (I know I spelled that wrong) continues to amaze me.  He's not just funny. He's sweet and adorable and an amazing actor.  Keira Knightly is just as wonderful in this film.  I can't really say much more than that.  It's a beautifully tragic love story that makes you wish somehow the world didn't have to end. 

I highly recommend this movie.