Does love make you act like a nutcase?

It's been almost a week since I wrote an entry and most of that is because I can't figure out what to say about Serenity without spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it. More about that later.

I just finished watching Tom Cruise's appearance on Oprah from last week. (Of course, I was interested in it. I was a teenage girl in the 80's. It almost goes without saying.) Anyway - I'm not sure if I have ever seen someone that hyper in an interview before. He was jumping on the couch and making very dramatic gestures. Apparently, he has just gone completely nuts over Katie Holmes. I mean, love is looking a little bit like he's on a major hysterical caffeine high. :-) But my question is - does love really do that to people? Do most people feel that way and are just too self conscious to make such a public display? Or is Tom going above and beyond with the excitement? I confess that I kind of hope it's not a publicity stunt and that he has actually fallen head over heels for Katie. Maybe I just want to believe that things like do happen to people outside of fairy tales. It certainly was an interesting interview.

About Serenity -- I loved it. There were some very sad moments that I knew were coming. I'm actually very glad they were not a surprise. I think it would have been a little hard. Is it crazy to get attached to made-up people and storylines?

There were many questions answered from the series and many left open. I hope this movie does well at the box office, but it is going to depend on Universal's marketing campaign. If they do a good job of selling the movie - it'll be a hit. But it's a fairly hard sell. There are no big name stars, no easily explained plot, and it's a western in space. (Although the western part is toned down somewhat.) The story is very gripping. I took a friend with me who didn't know very much about Firefly and she loved it also. It speaks well for the general public, but I'm not sure that they are going to actually buy the ticket and sit in the theater.

The dialogue was, as always, excellent. In fact, there were a few good lines that I missed because I was laughing at the line before. The movie hadn't been colortimed yet, so the picture was very grainy. I'm assuming this will be fixed. Also - it didn't have the soundtrack completed yet and there were several places that had filler music. The special effects appeared to be finished for the most part, but there were a few spots that could be tweaked. Even with all of that, it was still a wonderful experience and I'm so glad I got to go.

Serenity - September 30 - mark it in pen! (If anyone wants to go - I'll be at the theater opening night. Come with me...)

Replay victory!

My brother and I were able to set up the Replay last night with the help of a very nice man in customer service. I have never talked to a tech rep who was as helpful as the Replay guy was. Wow. Talk about inspiring loyalty...

I tried it out last night, but I am really looking forward to giving it a workout this summer! :-)

Two more days until Serenity!! :-)

Replay frustration

This is just a quick post to express my frustration! I need to rant at something... :-)

I arrived home yesterday evening exhausted from a very long and busy weekend to find my Replay machine waiting for me! I was quite excited to do the "easy setup process" and record something! Of course, I had to go buy a part at Walmart (an Ethernet cord) and then after spending probably an hour on the setup process, I couldn't get the machine to recognize my internet connection. Not only that, something is wonky in the connection between my cable box, the Replay machine, and the TV because now I have lost all the cable to the TV. (It still works in the rest of the house.) Anyway - I'm sure there is a simple solution, but I was far too tired and frustrated to figure it out last night. Maybe today.

My brother, sister-in-law and sister are in town this week and we are going to see "Revenge of the Sith" tonight. (They haven't seen it yet.) I'm interested to see if my opinion changes after a second viewing.

TTFN

Revenge of the Sith (no big spoilers)

I went to see Revenge of the Sith last night at midnight. (Yes - I am still teaching school today!) The line outside the theater was quite fun because it felt like old home week... I probably saw 30 or 40 of my current and former students. There was quite the chorus of, "Miss A! You're here!" A couple people tried to chastise me for not waiting in line all day. I don't think they understand the concept of "a job" yet. :-)

I was not disappointed in the movie. (Of course, after Phantom and Clones...that's not saying too much.) This piece of the story worked well. I thought that Ewan McGregor did a good job of becoming more like Alec Guinness. There was good pacing and the fight scenes were terrific. (Of course, since we know the outcome of the two major lightsaber battles, some of the tension is lost.) There was a little cheesy dialogue, but on the whole - a good effort. I am a little confused about the timing of the fate of Padme due to a certain conversation between Luke and Leia in Return of the Jedi.

There were a few times that I got choked up. It is definitely a sad movie. Much darker than any of the others, but I think that's appropriate. I wonder how the story would have changed if Lucas had produced them in chronological order.

In my humble opinion, here is how the six movies rank in quality. (Obviously - #1 is the highest.)

1. Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
2. Episode IV - A New Hope
3. Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
4. Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
5. Episode II - Attack of the Clones
6. Episode I - The Phantom Menace

In my class today we are examining the poetry of Taylor Mali, my favorite performance poet. Check out his work at his website, if you get the chance.

Kingdom of Heaven

I saw Kingdom of Heaven last night. I wish I knew a little bit more about the actual history involved and the key players. Can anyone recommend a good book about the end of the Crusades?

The following comments will make more sense if you have seen the movie. One of the driving issues in the movie is understanding what is the "right" choice to make in a particular situation. The main character, Balien, is trying to make morally correct decisions as each decision is presented. There is one point where if he had agreed to a murder (clearly wrong) it would have probably prevented a massacre later on. Another character said that later he would regret not committing the small evil to prevent a much larger evil. So - is evil ever justified?

My answer to that is no, evil is never justified. However, I'm wondering if the dilemma has been somewhat created by the script of the movie. It seems to me that the actual issue is why didn't the king give justice to the people by executing a certain character (Guy something-or-other), or at least removing him from power.

Yesterday, Liam Atchison was the guest pastor at my church and spoke from Romans 13 about (among other issues) the responsibility of government to provide justice. It seems to me, that it was the responsibility of the king to ensure that his sister's husband did not inherit the throne. He failed to carry out his responsibility as a leader. Asking Balien if he would marry the princess if her husband was executed was putting the young knight in a position to benefit from a murder. Of course his integrity required him to refuse. I'm a little unclear as to why it was his decision. Why didn't the king just execute Guy and let the chips fall where they may? Certainly it would be better than what happened... Also - I'm a little confused on why the script writer thought that Balien's honor code would not allow the execution, but seemed to have no problem with committing adultery. Wouldn't this also violate a knight's code? It certainly violates one of the ten commandments...

Ah - Hollywood and its version of history, Christianity and morality. The issues that crop up are so twisted...

Free Money!

It's Saturday afternoon and my roommate and I just finished our garage sale. I ended up with over $100!! It's sorta like getting free money, since that stuff was just taking up space and collecting dust. I decided to get rid of almost all of my VHS tapes. I had quite an extensive VHS movie collection, but I've been buying DVDs for several years and haven't watched my VHS tapes in quite awhile. They were just sitting there. I also got rid of about half my CD collection. There were quite a few CDs from the mid 90's that I haven't listened to in years. Might as well let someone else enjoy them!

With my new found wealth, I've decided to break down and join the TiVo generation. (I actually decided on a ReplayTV unit, since I don't have a land-line phone.) I ordered my unit and with the rebate and an on-line coupon I found, the $150 machine is going to cost me $40. I love Google...

I'm excited about having Replay, primarily because I have almost stopped using my VCR. I've been downloading a lot of my television and I love the convenience of that - but it looks like most of the good Bittorrent websites are getting shut down. That's the way the wind blows, I guess. (BTW - just so you know, I never download movies or music. Only TV that I could record with my VCR.) I think Replay is going to be just as convenient as BitTorrent, if not more so... Now my big question is - do I pay the $12.95 per month or the $300 lifetime fee for the Replay service? If I use it for more than 2 years, the $300 is cheaper. But - it's $300.... Ah -- decisions....

EPIC

Several weeks ago I came across an eight minute Flash movie created by Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson. They are journalists who give us a "future history" of media. The conceit of the piece is that it's a documentary made in 2014, looking back at the recent history of media. Very interesting. Click here and then click on one of the mirrors. I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts. I already get almost 100% of my news online, do most of my shopping online (a large percentage from Amazon) and am about ready to switch to TiVo. Hmmmm. It's thought provoking... Snarkmarket is their blog if you like their perspective.

Narnia film

Check out the web site for the new film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
The Chronicles of Narnia
I am looking forward to this one also. I'm not sure if there has been another movie that I am as concerned about how it turns out as this one. Although I desperately wanted The Lord of the Rings films to be good, I wasn't as invested in them as I am in the Chronicles. I have vivid memories of sitting at my mom's feet while she read me the entire series in the living of our old house on Ella Lane. The carpet was green shag. The couch I leaned against was gold velour. (Quit laughing! I loved that living room! :-) BTW - mom did not pick out the carpet or the couch. She has better taste.) Those are some awesome memories.

I was Lucy, going out into the dark forest on my own. I was Shasta, running away from a cruel "father." I was Jill Pole, putting up with Eustace and rescuing an enchanted prince. (How's that for a flip on the fairy tale?) I guess I still am Jill Pole, although I like her much better in The Last Battle! :-)

The point of all this is that I hope this movie meets my expectations. Please be the story I remember! The photos and pre-production pieces I have seen look promising, but we just don't know...

Doctor Who

Please don't make me turn in my sci-fi geek membership card, but until yesterday I had never seen an episode of Doctor Who. Of course, I've heard of it (who hasn't?) and I knew the basics of the story -- but I had never actually seen it. A friend recommended the new series and so I downloaded the first episode. I really liked it! It's got a sense of humor that appeals to me and boy! -- the mannequins were CREEPY! Mannequins have always creeped me out and I yelped a few times during the episode. (My roommate asked me, "What *are* you watching?" from the other room after the second short squeal.)

I like the actor who is playing the Doctor. He's very expressive and grounded with a very mischievous sense of humor. So far - big thumbs up.

BTW - I'm still excited about Serenity, although I'm kicking myself for not buying more tickets when I had the chance. There are two friends of mine that I thought might want to go, but I didn't hear from them before the tickets sold out. In retrospect, I should have just bought the tickets. I could have sold them if I didn't need them. 20/20 hindsight and all that...

Serenity in 2 1/2 weeks!!!!!!

I'm going to see Serenity!! I'm going to see Serenity!!!!! On May 26th I'm going to see an "Advance Preview" of Serenity in Kansas City!!! I'm so excited I want to dance a jig! (Can you tell from all the exclamation points?) :-)

Joss announced today on the official site that there are going to be a few more advance screenings of the BDM (Big Damn Movie, you have to know that story to get the reference.) Anyway - one of my friends who doesn't know anything about Firefly is going with me. It's at 10:00PM in Kansas City and then we both have to teach the last day of school the next day! :-) But we'll have the summer to catch up on our sleep.

I think I'm a tad more excited than I should be...hmmm.... Oh well, who cares?? I'M GOING TO SEE SERENITY IN TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!

BTW - If you want to purchase tickets click on this link. Can't Stop the Signal Many of the showings are sold out, so good luck!

Trailers

This morning I was thinking about trailers I watch online and realize that perhaps someone else would be interested in a few. So here are some of the upcoming movies that I am looking forward to, in no particular order...

Serenity - Joss Whedon. I'd watch him direct "A Trip to the Grocery Store."
Batman Begins - It's Batman played by Christian Bale...and it looks like a serious take on the Dark Knight. Finally.
The Island - based on a short story. I love sci-fi movies based on sci-fi short stories.
A Scanner Darkly - another short story with very interesting visuals.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - Action movie, lots of explosions. There's a tango. Need I say more?
Bride and Prejudice - It's a Bollywood version of the Austen novel. What's not to love?
Kingdom of Heaven - Intriguing. I'm interested to see what Ridley Scott does with this story.
The Man - It's Eugene Levy and Samuel L. Jackson. Funny...
The Perfect Man - It's a romantic comedy. Predictable is part of the genre. I don't care! :-)
Madagascar - usually I don't like cartoons. This looks funny.
Lords of Dogtown - it's about skaters and the beginning of skateboarding. I'm intrigued.
Apres Vous - a French Romance.
Mad Hot Ballroom - kids dancing. I'm a sucker for a good dancing movie. :-)
Revenge of the Sith - It's Star Wars. I'm going at midnight...

That's it for now. There's more, but I've got to go clean my house. Mom's coming over for dinner - Happy Mother's Day!!!

the new Potter trailer

The trailer for the new Harry Potter movie is now online. Check it out at apple.com/trailers.

The Goblet of Fire

Before anyone asks me my opinion in a comment, I can't tell you what I think of the book. I haven't read it yet. I decided not to read it until after I see the movie. I enjoyed The Prisoner of Azkaban film, but everyone I talked to who had read the book didn't like it. Since I read the story after I watched the film, I didn't have any expectations to be disappointed. I am probably going to do this with all the Potter novels. So far I've read through #3 and it's my favorite. We'll see how the others do... :-)

Settlers of Catan

I got together with a group of my friends last night to play "Settlers of Catan." It's the most addictive board game I have played in years. I was one turn away from winning and the person who went right before me did exactly what I was going to do - and won! Agghhhh! :-) :-) Actually - it was a great time. I met a few new people and we had some good conversation (and a bit of smack talkin'...)

Catan is great for several reasons, but one of them is that you can converse about a different topic while you play the game. It is also highly interactive and the board changes every time you play. Things can happen for or against you on anyone else's turn and that helps to keep everyone engaged in the game.

If you haven't heard of it or played it recently...check it out! :-)

The Unversity of Catan

If you are browsing on Amazon, check out Joshua Koppel's "So you want to settle Catan..." guide. Joshua Koppel's Guide

Superman site

Hi - I thought I would share a fun site with you all.
www.bluetights.net
What is interesting about this sight is not the fact that it has a lot of Superman news. If you look under "Brian's journals" you will find a series of short film diaries by director Brian Singer. It's a nice look into the filming process. The one entitled "The Call" is very interesting. Peter Jackson called in Singer to direct King Kong when Jackson fell asleep. Literally. Toward the end of filming Kong, Jackson had worked himself into an exhaustion that just looked terrible. He looked like he'd lost an incredible amount of weight.

Singer would fly over to Wellington in the morning and stay there for a few hours and then fly back to Australia and direct Superman Returns in the afternoons and evenings. Wow. I love the spirit of cooperation, even though Singer looks a little uneasy about it at times. Check it out, esp. if you are a Jackson fan.

American Poetry

I have been teaching the imagists in my American Literature class recently. To be completely honest, it's not my favorite style of poetry. There is something about the Romantics that touches my soul. Keats, Shelley, Byron, wow.

However, today we looked at e.e. cummings. There is something about cummings that leaves me in awe. He can get to the heart of an issue and sometimes I am not quite aware of what the issue is! There is a poem he wrote about his dad that I think is amazing. He says in the next to the last line -- "my father lived his soul." What would it look like if I lived my soul? To live out in front of the world the true nature of who God created me to be. Hmmmm, thoughts to mull over.

"somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near"

There is just something about e.e. cummings.

The Fanfic Phenomenon

I was talking with a friend over dinner tonight and the conversation got me thinking about how much I enjoy reading amateur writing on the Internet. In fact, one of my favorite time wasters is to surf the net looking for a good story based on a TV or movie that I enjoy.

Buffy and Star Trek are easy; there are literally thousands of stories created by fans. However, would you like to try a little Starsky and Hutch? or MacGyver? or Scarecrow and Mrs. King? or The A-Team? or The Sentinel? All of these shows have at least one (and some hundreds) of websites devoted to fiction that take the characters beyond the lines set up by the canon (or official) story. My first fanfic love was Star Trek. To this day I sometimes prefer reading a story on the internet to watching the show. I know, it sounds almost sacrilegious to a fan -- but one of things that frustrates me to no end about Star Trek is how rarely the characters are allowed to grow and change. In a fan created story, there are no limits. Characters can encounter situations and make decisions that they never could on network TV. (I find it curious that there are relatively few sites devoted to Babylon 5 fanfic. I think the series satisfied our desire for a real story to unfold.)

Anyway - sometimes this freedom to create a completely different story is wonderful -- sometimes it's absolutely terrible. One aspect of fanfic that is relatively common is the dreaded "Mary Sue" fic. This is a fanfic that includes an original character who is brilliant, beautiful, misunderstood and an usually becomes instant friends with the crew. This character often solves the story problem and usually acts suspiciously similar to the author and sometimes is named the author's middle name... Yes - the "Mary Sue" is a way for the author to take part in the universe of the show. These stories are usually atrocious. (One interesting fact - one of the most famous and generally recognized Mary Sues is Wesley Crusher. The creation of Gene Wesley Roddenberry.) :-)

Well, that was a little rabbit -- The point is that it's character change that I love. What happens to these people??? How and why do they make the decisions they make? Who do they fall in love with? Why? How do their families function? Where are the personal tensions and how are they resolved? While the space battle is nice and I enjoy good special effects as much as the next sci-fi geek, it's the emotions that bring me back every week.

I confess that I am an unashamed "shipper." (Someone who reads relationship stories.) Yep - I enjoy a good romance story. Please make it really long and full of tension, misunderstandings, good conversations, and if someone gets rescued and comforted -- that's just icing on the cake. I especially enjoy a good unconventional "ship." Put a character together with someone unexpected and then tell me the story of how that happened! Sometimes I even enjoy a good crossover (putting the characters from two shows together, ie. Willow goes to SG-1 or Mulder and Scully investigate Smallville.) You can get some very unexpected tensions in a good crossover. You can also get some dumb situations. It's a bit of a gamble.

Fan fiction gives fans the chance to explore scenarios that would never happened on TV. It kind of makes me sad. Why can't writers figure out a way to have growth and change in an hour long drama without ruining the dynamic or losing the fan base? Would it really hurt anything if Grissom realizes that he lives his life behind a wall and tries to make baby steps to connect with people? What if any sitcom (insert title of your choice) decided to let their characters grow? I think that's why Friends is the only sitcom I have ever been faithful to. The characters grew. (Except perhaps for Joey, but that's another story...) :-)

If anyone reading this has a good fanfic recommendation, please put it in the comments. I'm always up for a good long read. :-) If you are interested in reading fanfic, I suggest typing the show or movie of your choice into the search engine of your choice. It wouldn't hurt to include the word "recs" because you get a list of someone's favorite stories. Please watch the ratings. There is a lot of fic out there that isn't suitable for family viewing. Go for G, PG, or PG-13 stories if you are concerned about that sort of thing. One of the most massive sites is www.fanfiction.net; however, it has no quality controls. Anyone can post and a lot of the stories are poorly written. The best bet is to look for a recommendation or archive site that you like and settle in for good times....Catch you on the flip side.