So really, I've been slacking off on blogging. And writing in general. Mainly the result of my long Christmas break from school (I actually do the majority of my blogging at school), as well as a bad case of bronchitis and SWTOR playing and working.
Still recovering
Bronchitis can suck it. I can't really remember the last time any type of sickness has drawn out so long. My congestion is better and my coughing has mostly subsided, which is comforting for the most part. However, I get the sense that my throat is just weak. I still cough, feel like I'm always chocking on my words, and my voice comes out squeaky, gurgly and all sorts of not normal. It's frustrating, and I have the sense of paranoia that I'll suddenly have a relapse. But for the most part, when people ask how I feel, I can honestly say, better, or good. The most frustrating thing was having people kindly ask me how I was feeling, and only being able to honestly answer by saying, well I feel like crap. I don't like being the bearer of bad news, even if they ask it for me. No one likes a downer, which is what I have been for the past two weeks.
Smartphone-holic
I got my smartphone, finally, which I'll be doing a post about. Long story short, I'm loving the apps. I can't believe how many there are. You can pretty much find something for anything, an app for any type of customization you may want. I'm glad I picked Android over iPhone, mostly because of widgets and the notifications system. That and I absolutely love my Galaxy Nexus hardware. The camera is a bit lackluster for a smartphone, especially at this point, but it was definitely not a breaking point for me. The screen is sleek and big, crystal clear, and I love its feel. It's about as thick as an iPhone, but doesn't feel that way. 4G is amazingly fast, although I find 3G pretty slow in some spots. Luckily most of my time is spent in a WiFi accessible area.
Movies Update: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Descendants, Underworld: Awakening, John Carter Trailer (Small Spoilers)
So it's officially awards season. I recently discovered that the movie theater near my house has $5 dollar days for all showings on Sunday and Tuesday, so I've been spending some time catching up on Oscar noms. Despite the expense, I still enjoy seeing films on the big screen with a nice bag of popcorn.
I've seen a lot of movies, but here are the highlights.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
It was basically what I was hoping for. Rooney Mara(Lisbeth) is currently my favorite actress to watch, and although I know she has little chance of stealing the actual award, I am still pulling for her at the Oscars. Her performance is fearless, and although many still think the Swedish version is the best, Rooney Mara perfectly embodies how I imagined Lisbeth. Scary at first glance, with a little warmth, rarely seen, yet a companion whose faithful to those she loves. The final scene, where she sees Mikael with Erika, was absolutely heartbreaking to me.
I can gladly say the movie is faithful to the books, except for the very end. It was a weird change and I'm not entirely sure what it accomplished except a continent change, but it's not a change that is difficult to swallow, even if it's one that seems unnecessary. The movie is gritty and violent. The infamous rape seen is very hard to swallow, and I think at one point I even looked away. However, making it that real, made Lisbeth's revenge much more triumphant. The music, by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, brings about the perfect ambiance for the movie, and the cinematography is absolutely haunting. Daniel Craig is deglamored, wearing his tweed coats and having a nice scruff. He still seems to pretty for Mikael for me, but I enjoyed his performance. Stellan Skarsgard was the perfect tone of caring and creepy, and I think he should've been nominated for some award. His performance was chilling. I am really excited to seeing the next two movies.
The Descendants
I actually only saw this film after George Clooney and the movie walked away with Golden Globes. To be honest, I really wanted to see Shailene Woodley, since I had seen her in an unfortunate TV show called The Secret Life of the American Teen. It was nice seeing her out of the wholesome, but I F'd up, girl personality. She is realistic and honest, and I love that she supports her father, who was obviously wronged in a situation gone bad. George Clooney is completely deglammed in the film. He needs a haircut and wears ugly Hawaiian shirts. He broods and looks sad, without being sappy or melodramatic. And his confrontation with Brian Speers was intense and emotional. I liked the strange twists and turns the story went. It avoided being cliche'd and showed the sometimes harsh realities of life. I actually really hope that George Clooney wins the Oscar.
Underworld: Awakening
Yep, I saw this "crap". To be honest, I actually enjoyed it. The unfortunate part, is that the Lycans are HORRIFICALLY and cheaply rendered. I mentioned that it was on par with old Godzilla movies, and that is how bad I saw it. It's kind of an interesting byproduct. The rest of the special affects are fancy, and the film was converted to 3D, supposedly. Most of it was in 2D. Still the actual lycans are horribly made-they kind of look like they are almost stop-motion animated. Yeah that's how bad they looked. They also moved very stiffly, and not fluid at all. Other than that, I was fairly impressed with and interested in the backstory of the Lycans and the Vampires- it seems like the writer's took some quality time fleshing it out. Also, the movie is short, which really helps with me liking it. I know that sounds kind of odd, but if a movie is decent, but it's long, it becomes bad. A short, decent movie, can be considered enjoyable because your butt isn't cramping.
John Carter Trailer: Impressions
The big trailer I've been seeing a lot on, in pretty much every movie I have seen recently is John Carter. That name, it really sticks with you and I always get the feeling I should know him from somewhere. Well, I don't. John Carter is a character from some 11 volume book series called Barsoom. The books were published sometime in the 1910s...yeah....
Unless there is some extremely tactile advertising, or some secret super fandom cult somewhere, I am predicting this movie to fail, and fail hard. I think the only saving grace for it would be if it got incredibly good reviews, which may spur it up the box office.
The problem with this movie, being distributed by Disney, can be pinpointed to a number of things. The trailer features a world that took the Prince of Persia and set him in the middle of Tattoine. There are floating barges, lots of rolling hills of sand, and a battle arena straight out of Star Wars: Episode II. Taylor Kitsch looks like a hotter version of Jake Gyllenhaal's Prince of Persia-he definitely sports the long, stringy hair style much better than Gyllenhaal, and he's got the rough, hot manly look. He runs around, defying gravity, killing giant monsters that leave him in blue goo. The aliens he encounters also look like they're straight from a Star Wars movie, with long green limbs and oval faces. They make bad jokes like "You are ugly, but you are also beautiful." Lynn Collins plays his beautiful, yet princess warrior love interest, who is being married off to some other dude. John Carter makes some comment about being too late once, but oh ho, not this time, so I'm assuming he's off to go get her before she marries the wrong guy. Yawn- haven't we seen this before?
Besides the "vague" yet kinda predictable trailer, I'm concerned about the star power behind the film. Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins have been in movies before, but I just don't think they will be able to bring in a strong enough audience. Taylor Kitsch is best known for being in the TV show Friday Night Lights, which, while a beloved TV show who has scored awards and nods, still was pulled off air because of lackluster ratings. I'm not sure how it worked, but they did bring the show back on DirectTV or something, and then showed episodes again on Primetime. His other known film rolls include Gambit in X-Men: Wolverine movie. As for Lynn Collins, I've seen her on the first season of True Blood, and also in the X-Men: Wolverine movie as well. Still, those credits alone will not bring in the viewers. I mean, look at Disney's other failure, Prince of Persia. I don't know if it was the hair, but Jake Gyllenhaal is more famous and his movie bombed.
The second problem might be that noone's heard of John Carter. I mean, I know I haven't. A book series from the 1910s? Really? Please, someone tell me if I've been living in a hole all my life, otherwise, I am pretty sure the audience that this movie is targeting has never heard of the series. It won't appeal to children because it looks like they're taking an adult approach, and although it may appeal to older generations, (are people from the 1910s still alive?) they usually don't bring in the big box office numbers.
Now, why do these numbers mean a lot. I read in an EW post that John Carter is reported to have a 200 million production cost. Most films these days seem to be opening near a 20 million mark, and that number in almost all cases go down. One saving grace could be international box office numbers, but with little known stars and storyline I don't know if it will deliver.
Finally, the movie is being distributed by Disney, which I found to be an interesting move. Besides the Pirates films, Disney has little success with live-action films tailored to young adult and higher audiences. Considering the failure of Prince of Persia, I am shocked that Disney would distribute such a similar looking movie. If Prince failed, why would John Carter, which looks so similar, be a success.
The movie seems to be shot in 3D- I was impressed with the 3D trailer visually. Still, besides the fact it looks like a bad Prince of Persia meets Star Wars film, I can't say I'm excited, nor do I expect to see it do well. I'm also sick of the trailer. Stop showing the trailer in films I see! :(
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