Back for Seconds: More Breaking Dawn

About a week later I took my mom to go see Breaking Dawn pt. 2.  She really enjoyed it; and, of course was thrown by the twist.  I cried at the end, and, frankly, so did she.  I asked her why.  She said, "Because it's over."  I'm the bigger Twihard in the household!

Got the tree up this week.  It's really nice; a live one.  The first live one I've had since... Ever. It's been a seriously long time. Kind of nice, though, not to have to straighten out all those branches.

Those lights are in my room.

(Hey, who put that ornament on there? ;-) )

Breaking Dawn Part 2

Today I went to go see Breaking Dawn Pt. 2. My theater had the Breaking Dawn-themed cups; they seemed to be given out at random, or maybe it's by week. I got the one with the Amazon coven.

I arrived there with plenty of time to spare; before the movie started I had to remind myself: "Do not get hyped up... Do not get hyped up," remembering what happened at part 1.

The first thing that surprised me was the opening credits; there haven't been opening credits since "Twilight." Red, white, and black letters against gray, snowy backdrops. I was dressed appropriately. My t-shirt (which I got from Cafe Press) matched, as well as my socks. But you didn't need to know that, did you? Lol.

After that, you just jump right in with Bella as she adjusts to her new vampire life. It didn't go quite as fast as pt. 1. Bella's more confident. We get some sweet moments with Edward, and see Renesmee grow up quickly. Emmett and Jacob provide the humor.

Then... We jump into the nitty-gritty, the meat of this part of the story. There's a slight condensing involving Bella and a minor character, but it works out. We move rather quickly into the confrontation.

Man. Do we jump into it. And get slapped upside our heads with it. The oxygen got sucked out of the room for a minute. Jaws dropped. Even though some part of you believes it'll be okay, there's still that one minute. After, you are just left going.... "Whoah." But, then again, it makes sense.

But... The ending does wrap things up nicely.

I liked aspects of it. And I liked it as a whole. But I need to see it again to appreciate it fully.

Sent from my iPad 2

3 Days to Go!

We've got three days to go!  Tomorrow night is the premiere.  Everybody keeps touting the surprise ending- even Taylor Lautner is.  As much as I would love to go the evening of the 15th, I shall have to go the next day.  Got my t-shirt ordered. :)

It's been fun living vicariously through all the FB and Twitter posts from the people at Fan Camp.

Thanks for Throwing a Wrench in My Theory

OK, remember a few postings ago how I gave my theory of how the ending to Breaking Dawn would go?

[Recap: Alice would come at the last minute to save the day.]

Wellll.... Summit released some new TV spots this week that kind of ran it askew.  In the clip they showed some more bits of the fight.  Which look really cool, by the way.  But in one scene you see that the Volturi have Alice at one point.

Hmmm... So let me reformulate my theory.  Yes, there is such a word.

The battle will be in two parts: One- Alice's "pre-vision," before everyone starts planning to fight and get everyone together, where we get snippets of it.  Two- The rest of the battle, longer, which is happening "for real."

Food Find

Here is a recent food find....

I am in love with the new breadsticks that Walmart got in.  They are Barvarian Pretzel Breadsticks.

They are insanely good, especially brushed with melted butter, sprinkled with salt and heated in the oven.

Chewy on the outside, and soft on the inside.  I have a couple in the oven right now.

I was telling my coworker about them, and she mentioned trying them with garlic salt or something like that.  Or was it cinnamon sugar?  One of us must have mentioned the latter.  Now that I think about it, I'll definitely have to try the cinnamon option.

I hope Walmart never stops making these.  Or I'll just have to buy them all out. :-D

Ok, the more realistic option is to just find another company that makes them.

Carb and bread lovers, rejoice.

The Twilight Saga Archive

Less than one month to go! Woohoo!

So... over the weekend I finally broke down and ordered "The Twilight Saga Archive".  Its' complete title is: "The Twilight Saga Complete Archive."  But that's kind of wordy.  Anyway, it was delivered on the afternoon of the 16th.  I was kind of worried because I thought it wouldn't be that good, until some Twihards got it last week or so, and started posting scans of a few pages, which piqued my curiosity.

The book is actually pretty good.  It's actually kind of heavy.  There are tons of great pictures covering all the films (including BD2), and a lot of behind the scenes stuff.  Even what you might consider spoilers.  What I found really interesting, in particular, were the facsimile call sheets, i.e., daily schedules.  (I'd like to find out what the abbreviations stand for.)  I was pretty surprised that they let some BD2 script pages in there.

While I was looking through the book, I found one itty-bitty error.  I forgot what page it's on, but there's a small picture of Carlisle prepping some blood for Bella from BD1.  The caption says it's animal blood.  Obviously it's not.

OK, Summit, send me my check.  

Just kidding.

It has also come to be known that there will be some surprise scene after/during the credits.  Some of us thought it might be this dance-off/prank that the actors did for the director.  But Summit said it won't.  Here's my theory: It'll be a fast-forward to Jacob and Renesmee's wedding.

Someone else's theory: A repeat of the Cullens coming to a new school, (inc. Bella) and someone asking, "Who are they?" like the first movie.

Well... we'll have to wait for November 16th.

Cookie Dough and More

Several days ago, I wanted to try this idea I'd pinned on Pinterest.  It's edible cookie dough, and you can use it for ice cream and stuff.  Basically it has no eggs, so you can eat it "raw."  So I tried it.  It was really easy to make.  Milk holds it together.  It was good enough.  I thought it tasted good.  When Mom tried it, she said that it was missing something.

She finally just said, "Make it into cookies."

Cynics.

You'll like it if you just have a sweet tooth.  Or one of those people who likes raw cookie dough.  

I got some of the Twilight magazines that are coming out for part 2.  The People and US Weekly issues are good.  I'm waiting for the Twilight Saga Archive to come out.

ER

I remember when I got interested in the show "ER."  It wasn't always that way.  My mom first started watching it, then told me about it.  But it took me a while.  I was just in high school, give or take, when it first came out, and it seemed boring at first.

Mom kept telling me about this episode involving a sunflower.  And this guy named George Clooney.

So I started watching it.  I was hooked.

The most harrowing episode... the one where the ER's in quarantine, and somewhere along the way, Dr. Romano gets his arm chopped off by a helicopter.  Yeah, you remember that one.  You can interject here, going, "But there's also that episode where ____."  There were a lot of those. 

The saddest... at first I was going to say when Dr. Greene dies, but then I saw the one where Dr. Pratt dies.  Yeesh, 
 
The funniest episode: "ER Confidential," where said sunflower is involved.  

I might have said this in a previous entry, but I was able to pick up the last season for $10.  Yeah, I was feeling pretty great that day.  There was a bunch of great episodes, with exception to one.  I liked the one where Dr. Morris goes to the camp for pediatric heart patients.  It was neat how they brought back just about all of the previous stars.  And, the last episode was good, too.

The Final Breaking Dawn Trailer

Last night was the VMAs.  The only reason I watched was to see a sneak peak of the *sniff* final trailer for Breaking Dawn 2 (aka BD2)- yes, the final trailer for Twilight ever. 

Taylor Swift's performance was cool.  She can totally do "Rocker Chick.".

But I digress.

A bunch of the Twilight cast members introduced the piece, which was about 75% of the actual trailer.  The full trailer appeared tonight on yahoo.com.

We got a ton of good stuff: Bella hunting, Renesmee, the other vampires and most of their powers, even the Volturi and the immortal child backstory.  And... what looks like a good fight.

You might know that there's no fight in the book.  At this point I don't really mind the idea of a fight. But this looks good.  Here's my theory of how the sequence will go down: the battle will come to a head, then Alice will step in at the last possible moment to save the day.

The only thing we haven't seen is Bella's power, which I'm really curious about.

But the trailer was really good. I want more.

"Tributes... We welcome you..." to DVD

Last Friday night, I went to a Walmart to await the release of the Hunger Games DVD.  It was fun, low-key.  Everything was done while in line at Electronics.  And, I took pictures....

While we were waiting, they showed behind-the-scenes stuff from the DVD, and a couple of music videos, including Taylor Swift's "Safe and Sound."  The volume wasn't that loud, though.

We got cupcakes.  From what I'm hearing around the web, some were orange.  For future reference, the cupcakes were great and all, but pleeease, don't use black frosting again.  Just... don't.

I got my fan-girl on.  Grabbed the logo shirt as soon as they were being sold, because they can sell out quickly.  Wore the mockingjay pin, and the bracelet I made a few months ago.

Took pictures of the cool displays... and tweeted a few times.

Funny tweet of the night, from me: (overheard, some guy walking by) "What is this, Iphone 5?" #obviouslynotafan

By the time they gave out the DVDs, I'd say there were about fifty people in line.

(I felt kinda weird about taking a picture of the line, okay?)

Finallllly....

I got home and watched about half of it.  I was sleepy.  Finished it the next night.  I'm still not finished with the special features.  One thing that might be interesting to older viewers is the "Letters from the Rose Garden," which features a letter written by Donald Sutherland, who plays President Snow.  He wrote it to the director, and it shows just how great an actor Sutherland is.  

I still want the Target DVD.  

P.S.: I was right about the Breaking Dawn books that are coming out in a couple of months. :-)

1 Day to Go!!!!

Less than one day to go!!! I'm planning on going to a midnight release party... I might see you at one. ;-)

These Reboots are Not Made for Walking

So.... I wanted to talk about the seemingly current trend of reboots.  Why don't we just call them remakes? Call a spade a spade.

"Total Recall" is the most current one I can think of.  I could probably see why someone would want it redone.  It was originally made in the early 90s.  I haven't seen either one.  It's understandable why it should be updated.  New special effects. jazz it up a bit. 

But Twilight?  In five years?  Wait ten or fifteen.  Really, I don't think there's much you could do to improve on this one.  Maybe put in the blood-typing scene from the book.  Polish up the dialogue. 

Isn't it a little too soon for Daredevil?

I haven't heard anyone talk about remaking The Ten Commandments or Ben Hur.  Those are the ones that would be interesting.  But I bet no one would touch them with a ten-foot pole.  Because they're good.  They're classics. 

I found this list from a couple of years ago on reboots Hollywood's worked on, working on, or just gave up on (as far as I know):

75 Movie Remakes and Reboots....

The Birds??? Seriously?? No... just don't.  You don't mess with the Alfred Hitchcock. 

The Neverending Story- that might be good.  It was a little weird for me.  Flight of the Navigator might be good, but I loooved the original.

Red Dawn actually looks good, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes was one rare exception where the sequel of the remake was great. 

Here's another dated list: Den of Geek .

If they make a third "28 etc-etc," I'll bet you my paycheck as to what it'll be called. ;-)

Why don't they call 300 "600"?  Heeheeeheee.

If you'll look at the second list, a lot of these movies did, or are actually getting, made. 

So.... sequels are definitely a hit-or-miss thing. 

Hunger Games Merch

My local Walmart got some Hunger Games merchandise in recently.  And, yes, I bought some.

Note to self: Who would I have to bribe to get the standees? ;-) 

Also.... we're in the double-digit days of the Breaking Dawn pt. 2 countdown! Wooo whoooo!

Target's 'Hunger Games' merchandise goes high-end - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety

Target's 'Hunger Games' merchandise goes high-end - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety

File this under "In my dreams."  (Still cool, though.)

Comic Con- Epilogue (Sort of)

So... I was slinking around on Ebay and got a couple of posters from someone who'd been to Comic-Con, and they finally came late last week.  Can't wait to frame them.

Books on the Horizon

Ha Ha. Horizon.  Breaking Dawn. Get it?

OK, moving on...

I was searching around on Amazon, and I typed in "Breaking Dawn."  I didn't get anything too spectacular.

Until I selected "Sort by Publication Date."

Now here's when things got interesting.

Amazon- Breaking Dawn

My guess is that it might be reissues of Breaking Dawn with a "Part 2" cover.  There's nothing yet on whether or not there will be a illustrated movie companion.  I hope there will be.  I'm sure there will.  After all, if there's a part one book, then there has to be a part two... .

PS: Let's just say I'm feeling a little better about getting "Mama Bear" Vampire Bella.  That's all.

A Note to the Comic-Con-Goer

Dear Comic-Con attendees,

 This note is addressed to you, but I'm mainly writing to my fellow Twihards who will once again be lucky enough to gather together in Hall H for the Breaking Dawn panel. For those of you who will have the presence of mind to film (ok, let's be real, straight- up bootlegging) the film clips which will be shown, pleassssee, do not get cold feet at the last minute and give us only audio.

 Seriously, whoever that was, you were driving us crazy last year for like a week. Or however long.


 Have fun, and relax. You'll be attending the last Twilight panel before the finale this November. Take in the significance. 


 And, in the words of Edward, 


 Be safe. 


 Sincerely, me. 


 PS: To the director- hope the film score you're now supervising in London will be as awesome as the first. ("Love, Death, Birth," anyone?)

It's Here: The New Bracelet

Okay, I finally got it finished!

As Alice Cullen said, "It's time, it's time, it's time!"

Oh, wait. Wrong movie.  My bad.

I'd been wanting to do a Hunger Games bracelet for a while, and it took me some time to get everything together.  I got the beads from Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Walmart, and Etsy.  I was going for a "Girl on Fire" theme.

I had a hard time finding just the right bow and arrow charm, and I finally found this shop on Etsy. The store's name starts with "Bohemian."  Some of the charms I wasn't looking for originally, but when I saw them I thought they would fit, such as the dress charm.  I might touch up the dress with some gold nail polish- just a bit.  Maybe.

The orange beads really aren't orange- they're amber.  I found these "metallic" bronze beads at Hobby Lobby, and the accents I got from Walmart.  The sparrow charm looks a lot like the mockingjay.

Divergent, Fanfiction, and a Trailer

The other day I forgot my book at home when I was going to work with some time to kill.

[CHORUS: How could you forget your book??]

I know, I know.

So I was looking in the book section of said job, and this book caught my eye: "Divergent," by Veronica Roth.  I flipped through it a little, and it looked interesting.  I bought it.

My goodness, it is really good.  At first glance, it may seem like a Hunger Games rip-off, but I assure you, it's not.  It's like HG with a edge.  A very psychological edge.  And darker.  It is dystopian, so the two have that in common.  Very futuristic with a moral caste system.

It would make a really good movie.  I'm only half-way through it.

I'm not that much into fanfiction.  I've looked on some sites for Twilight fanfiction, and I did find one story in particular that I liked, but now I can't find it.  I guess I'll keep looking.  There was this book that someone, named Jean Rush, wrote called "First Light," about Renesmee, Bella and Edward's daughter.  I thought it was okay.  I didn't really like it when Nessie went with the Volturi, and I know a bunch of people didn't like the ending.  But, really, if you think about the Twilight series as a whole, it kind of makes sense.

Rush wrote a sequel to "First Light," called "First Light: Rising Sun."  It's told from Leah's perspective.  Leah isn't one of my favorite characters, but I thought I'd give it a try.  I actually liked it a lot more than I thought I would.  About halfway through it switches to Nessie's perspective.  And more of the central characters get to be involved in this one.  There was this one major plot twist that I left me wondering, "How on earth is this going to get worked out?"  But it does.

Speaking of Twilight, we got the first teaser last month for Breaking Dawn 2!! Yay!  It was really good, and it left me wanting more.

"Everything was so clear."

I had to start this post with a quote from Bella Cullen as she awakens to her new vampire life. It's quite fitting, I think. It's the ultimate HD vision. I have quite resigned myself to the fact that I will never have "vampire vision." And, frankly, I am quite okay with that.

I was a preemie, and I won't go over all of the details, but suffice it to say that life could have handed me a worse deal. The major issue that I've had to deal with is my vision. I've had glasses since I was about one and a-half years old. I had a cataract in one eye when I was a teenager (and it's common for us to have them at that time).


So anyway.... I was overdue for glasses this time around. There was a package deal where you could get contacts, glasses, and an exam for so much, so I decided to go with that. I have a mixed history with contacts. Back when I was about 8 or 9, it was decided that I would try contacts because the doctor said it would be good for my peripheral vision. I don't remember sticking with them for very long, because I hated having them put in.  Mom would put them in for me and it was a big struggle.


Fast-forward to the present: So I went to the doctor's, and everything was good. She started questioning me after looking at pictures of my retinas. *Let the auto-pilot begin* After mentioning "retinopathy of prematurity", everything clicked into place. She even called in her third-year medical student to come see me. Show and tell, I felt like.


A short time later it was time to try out the contacts. I must commend the third-year, and the technician. They had the patience of Job. Dilated eyes + contact lens tutorial = disaster. I'm usually tired as all-get out after my eyes are dilated. It took me like, forty-five minutes to get the contacts in and out. I was sent home with the contacts.


I skipped the next day, then cautiously tried them out the next. My, but they were pretty nice. I've had them for about a week now, and sometimes I still fight to get them in, but it's better. Sunglasses are a nice friend. I picked up my glasses Sunday, and they're working out, too.

Snow White and the Huntsman

Today I went to go see "Snow White and the Huntsman."  It's really a different film, and certainly a different Snow White and fairy tale.

The special effects were good, and so was the cinematography.  The weather is cloudy with barely a sunny day, adding to the dark mood of the film.  The sequence in the Dark Forest kind of reminded me of when the warrior goes to see this giant creature in "The Neverending Story."  There are cool special effects.  It appears that the guys who did Lord of the Rings also worked on this film, based on two characters.  And did we have a Narnian fan when it came to the stag in the forest??

Now... to the acting.  Charlize Theron will certainly take home the MTV Movie award next year for Best Villain, hands down, and if for some reason she doesn't, then she's robbed.  It's in this way that the title is somewhat misleading, it seems to me.

On to Kristen.... Snow White here seems more like a supporting character.  Her acting seems a bit understated, and she didn't get as much development as the Queen did.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  Maybe it's because we don't know quite everything she's thinking, as we do with the Queen.

Liam Hemsworth did a good job as the Huntsman.

It's an okay movie.

You Sank My Battleship!

Today I went to go see "Battleship."  I know critics have been panning it, but I wanted to give it a try.

Michael Bay got served.  He does not have a monopoly on blowing stuff up any more.  That honor now goes to Peter Berg, formerly an "M.D." from the Chicago-area hospital "Chicago Hope." (Come on... tell me you remember....)

And it's Pop-O-Matic Trouble when the "beings" go after our tracking and defense systems, keeping the ships, etc., at bay with... something.  These beings aren't all bad, they just want to control the satellites, blow up some ships, and phone home.  They're half-Terminator, half-walrus. They sort of go out of their way to not kill humans, for some strange reason.

Maybe they're waiting for the "Independence Day" sequel?

And oh, yes, Eric the Vampire/now commander of a ship (AKA "Alexander Skarsgard") gets killed.

Spoiler Alert.

Was not expecting that.

And yes, there is a little game of "Battleship" played.  It was pretty neat how they snuck it in there.

This movie wasn't really that bad.  The subplot of the Japanese fleets and veterans helping out was cool.  The special effects were awesome.  The script could have been better in some spots.  For everyone dissing Rihanna's acting, she really didn't get that much of a chance to act.

Something was wrong with the theater's sound system.  The music was way too loud out of the left side, so I complained.  "They" turned the music down, but then you couldn't really hear the actors.  So someone else complained.  Then the music was just too loud again.  On a good note, "we" talked to the manager and got free passes.  He was really nice about it.

The Oscar Goes To...

Well, not hardly.

The MTV Movie Awards are in a couple of weeks.  And the only reason I'm writing about them is because a few movies that I like are up for some awards.  So here are the categories / movies I care about:

Best Movie:
The Help
The Hunger Games
Breaking Dawn


This is such a tough category.  I love these three movies.  The Help and HG just slightly edge out BD.  It's like a potato chip; I can't pick just one, since I love both of those.  But I guess I'm going to have to.

My Pick: Uggggghhhh. OK.  The Help.

Best Kiss:
Between The Hunger Games and Breaking Dawn


Breaking Dawn, during the wedding.  For reasons of nostalgia.  The "prom song" from Twilight is played.  It's a really nice sequence.  HG didn't really seal the deal for me because I didn't think it really counted. Yet.

Female Performance:


Jennifer Lawrence.  She played a great Katniss.

Male Performance:


Josh Hutcherson.  He was good as Peeta.

On-Screen Transformation:

I consider the term "transformation" as something that changes during a movie, like Cinderella, etc.  But Elizabeth Banks was good as Effie in HG.  I haven't seen "My Week with Marilyn," but it seems like Michelle played it well.  They both certainly looked their parts.

Gut-Wrenching Scene:

I was going to say Hilly's pie scene in The Help, but I saw the new Mission: Impossible film, and the Dubai hotel sequence kicks it out of the park.

Fight:

HG was nominated, but the garage fight in Mission: Impossible was pretty cool.

Cast:

Between "The Help" and "The Hunger Games," it's another hard choice.  I'm going with "The Help."  Again, I loved both movies, but it seems that HG had a lot of wonderful individual performances, while you see characters really interact in "The Help."  If that makes any sense at all.

Dirt Bag:  There really was no contest for me.  Bryce Howard as Hilly.

PS: The thing I spoke of last post is still coming.  It is.  Really.

Coming Soon...

Okiedokie.... something is coming... something bigger than any of us alone...

[Okay, I'm done with the "Twilight/Eclipse" reference.]

Seriously though, I'm pretty excited about it, but it's not going to manifest for a week or so. 

But I'm feeling crafty... ;-)

Food Findings, etc.

My mom made chicken salad with grapes and pecans; it was really good. How to dress up frosting: take buttercream-flavored frosting, add a little vanilla extract, and a spoonful of sour cream. It's also very good. I really want to make a unique cake, like a cake with characters. Something cool. I did a handmade Mother's Day card, and that went over very well. I hadn't made a card since I was eight or something.

Sushi Salad

OK, before you start typing in another address in your browser's bar, let me explain. 

This really isn't all that bad. 

This recipe for Sushi Salad I found on the back of a bag for Nishiki rice.  Nishiki rice is Japanese rice that's used for sushi.  And I love it.  Even my mom's gotten to love it.  But I love "fake" sushi (i.e., the California roll- no raw fish, etc.).  She doesn't.  So... I read the recipe and decided to try it.  I wanted to put in a few additions to it.  It calls for the Nishiki rice, green onions, shrimp, rice wine vinegar, celery, and sesame seeds and avocado for garnish. 

I cooked the rice, let it cool, and added in the ingredients.  I didn't have any celery at the time, so I used shelled edamame- keeping with the Japanese theme.  I didn't have green onions either, I sort of forgot to buy them.  What I wanted to add to the recipe was Nori- dried seaweed.  But Target, Walmart, Randall's, and another store didn't have it.

Grrr. 

I didn't have cooked shrimp, either, so I substituted Krab.  You know, that stuff.  It's used in the California roll.  I should have just gone ahead and bought the shrimp. 

At one point Mom goes ahead and tells me that one needs to be careful in just adding things to a recipe off the top of his or her head.

Regarding the sesame seeds... they were really dull, even after toasting them.  Maybe I didn't toast them long enough.  There was a bottle of sesame oil, so I added some to the seeds, and that did the trick.  A little goes a long way, and it smells great. 

After mixing everything together, I let it chill for a bit, then added sliced avocado on top. 

It tasted pretty good.  Even Mom liked it.  Adding the vinegar made it good.  It's got potential.  I see where it could be tweaked in the future.

And I still want to find the Nori. 

Lazy Snickerdoodles

Tonight I had a hankering for something sweet.

Ok, I'll be honest. Mom readily agreed with me.

We went off to the pantry to see what we could use. I first thought about peanut butter cookies, but I wanted to save the PB for sandwiches. So... Snickerdoodles it would be.

Now the traditional way to make Snickerdoodles is to roll the cookie dough balls in cinnamon sugar. We didn't do that. Plus, we added chopped walnuts, also not a traditional thing.

After we scooped the dough, we just plopped them on the cookie sheet, flattened them a little, and sprinkled cinnamon sugar on them- hence the "lazy" part.

They aren't pretty, but they taste good.

The Odds Weren't in My Favor

OK, so for the last couple of days I had this idea to go see a movie by myself.  I had to walk about a mile and a-half to the theater, but I'd done it once before.  I knew it was doable.  I was going to see The Hunger Games again. 

My trip was delayed about a half hour or so because we'd had rain this morning.  I finally left and was about twenty minutes into my trek when I realized.... I'd dropped my phone.  Usually I have it tucked in "backwards" in my pocket- with the belt clip facing out and clipped on the pocket, but it must have worked its' way out because I'd had my shoulder bag on that side.  So I walked about a couple of "blocks", retracing my steps, and THANK GOD I found it about at the intersection close to where I'd started from.  Phew. 

About forty-five minutes later I got to the theater.  Had to wait another half an hour for the box office to open.  But it was okay.  I bring a book with me for such emergencies.  (Well, usually I bring a book with me everywhere I go, but anyway....)

So I asked for a ticket for the next showing: "Do you want one for one o'clock?" "No, that's okay." I didn't mind waiting because of said book. 

Went in the auditorium and waited.  Would this be a private showing? Groovy!  Alas, another person came in (smile). 

All right, here we go.... we had the previews (Breaking Dawn 2!).... intro, the reaping, meeting Cinna, the tribute parade, and the trainin--

Huh?  The projector and lights cut off.  The other occupant stood up and walked out.  After a minute, I did too. 

Other patrons were filing out into the lobby.  The power had gone out, and it seemed, so did that block.  A woman who must have been the manager, was busy giving out passes. 

Since I had no idea when the power would be back on, I just ended up walking back home.  Putting two and two together, it wouldn't have been a good idea to go to that earlier showing, because I would have been right in the middle of that movie during the outage. 

Oh well.  I'll try it again in another week.

The Hunger Games

Today Mom and I went to go see "The Hunger Games." My first thought was that it was good. I agree with the general concensus that it is a good adaptation of the novel, and it's not a literal retelling. The editing, script, and camera shots work together to make it almost on the verge of a documentary.

This "documentary" style helps improve the film, giving structure and eliminating the need for a bunch of voice-overs by Katniss, the main character. (other reviews have said this.) Yes, there are shots that are shaky, but they mostly occur during the Games' killings, obscuring some of the violence. The shakiness adds to the documentary feel. There are added elements not included in the book, such as Gamemaker conversations and their control room, and a conversation with the President.

One problem that I had with the book was its' pacing in two parts in particular: the time in the forest after the start of the Games, and the scenes in the cave with Katniss and Peeta. Thankfully, these parts in the movie are shortened.

Set design... I'd need to see the film again to focus more on the Capitol. Regarding District 12, you would almost forget that it is set in the future; it seems like it took place a few generations ago.  I didn't really care for the Conucopia; I thought it looked kind of weird- too angular.  I was kind of glad that the special effects team didn't go for making the "muttations" (wild dogs) as freaky as they were in the book.  "They" also handled the tracker-jacker hallucinations for Katniss in an interesting manner, revisiting her father's death rather than having her "see" orange bubbles and giant butterflies. (Really. Read that section.)

Characters.... Jennifer Lawrence was great as Katniss, especially. Someone did a great job when they cast Prim, Katniss' sister. I really liked Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, the stylist. I had pictured Haymitch differently while reading the novel, but Woody Harrelson is great. Amandla, as Rue, is lovable.  Effie was great, the actress getting the eccentricity just right.

You may need tissues... I started to cry during the reaping, when Katniss volunteers to take Prim's place, and Prim's screaming. Mom cried when Rue died.

The ending definitely lends itself to a sequel, and one more scene (not in the book) hints at what leads to the next movie. It was actually kind of fascinating, how they did it.

I would like to see it again.

When They Mean Unauthorized...

(Or, "How to really write a guide.")

I guess they really mean it. 

About a week or so ago, I picked up a book called "The Hunger Games Companion" by Lois H. Gresh. Subtitled "The unauthorized guide to the series."  "Unauthorized" meaning it isn't sanctioned by The-Publisher-Powers-That-Be.  It can also mean that it doesn't really hit the mark when you're in the mood to read something about your favorite series.  "Unauthorized" was the key word.  And I knew it.  I thought I'd give it the old college try. (ha-ha)  You can't say I wasn't warned. 

It could have been worse.  I mean, I know there's only so much you can do when you don't have the permission from the author or original publishing company.  But it could have been way better. 

The book provides a lot of possible historical inspirations for the books.  At the end of each chapter, descriptions of doomsday predictions are provided.  It is my opinion that they are entirely unnecessary; THG [The Hunger Games] doesn't even talk about apocalyptic events. 

However, it discusses many historical events thoroughly.  The Roman Empire is given a lot of air time; it's very in-depth, to the point of surpassing the violence level of THG.  That part is good, considering what you sometimes get in history class might not be all that great.  She gives descriptions of technological advances in the book and speculates how close we could be to developing them now.  The weapons descriptions are interesting.   

The author gets kind of preachy at times: if we don't do this, that will happen.  There's nothing really that new.  She doesn't really connect history to the events in the books very well, leaving you with a detached feeling.  You understand that these events have happened in the world, but how did they inspire the book? 

The book may get very boring very quickly for its' intended audience.  Basically, one of the few things I got from it was why Katniss does away with a main character near the end of "Mockingjay." 

For a good guide, take a page (har-har) from the Twilight Guide.  Pictures would have been good, and a timeline, for example.  You would just have to go back and forth between each book in the series to make it.  Or, I'll just say it: Ms. Collins, please write one fast.  There's supposed to be some sort of book coming out the same week as the movie.

I might as well just write one.

"May the odds be ever in your favor!"

This is what the person in charge of the ceremony of drawing names for the Hunger Games says.  And do the participants need positive odds....

As I mentioned in my last post, I've read "The Hunger Games" series, by Suzanne Collins.  It's geared towards "young adults," or teenagers, so I'm a little out of range, so to speak.  (Then again, so is Twilight...)  But I still enjoyed it.  There are three books in the series: "The Hunger Games," "Catching Fire," and "Mockingjay". 

What I enjoyed the most was that Collins really draws you into the opposite worlds of the much poorer districts (twelve of them) and the opulent conditions of the Capitol.  The story takes place in the Appalachian region of the U.S., years after what seems to be a nuclear war (not much is said about it, though). You really care about the characters (well, the good ones, at least), and are sorry when they "depart."  And there are a lot of them that are killed off.  As punishment for one now-extinct district trying to fight it some years ago, the Capitol (in charge of the other districts), created these "Hunger Games," in which teenagers fight against each other to win. 

If you win, you become rich.  If you lose... you lose.  And there is only one winner.

Think: "Survivor" meeting your worst nightmare.  

As I've mentioned before, there's a lot of rich descriptions of the environments.There's plenty of action.   Katniss, the main character, is very likable.  There are a number of other likable characters.  The action tapered off slightly right after the Games' beginning, but soon picks up again.  There are violent sequences, so readers/parents/etc. may have trouble with this aspect, as well as the ethical implications that come along with this story.  (Probably good discussion starters for parents/teachers, etc.)

The ending of "HG" left me wanting more, so I started "Catching Fire" soon after.  I had trouble getting into the second installment, so I'll have to read it again.  The reason being that the contender conditions seemed slightly unrealistic for me.  The middle of "CF" (the actual games) seemed to lag for me, but the ending is worth it, practically making you go out to buy (borrow, download, etc.) "Mockingjay." 

"Mockingjay" is a different world that Collins brings us into.  Katniss is thrust into it along with us, kicking and screaming.  [Spoiler: she lives through all three books, don't worry.]  I really liked this book.  It's here that Katniss comes into her own and shines.  The other elements of the previous books are still here: action, conflict, and loss.  The ending was slightly different from what I thought it was going to be. 

I started to gain interest in the books after I'd seen the trailer for the upcoming film.  Now I'm really excited for the movie. 

So... "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"  And use that bow and arrow wisely. 

Breaking Dawn- the DVD

So last Friday night Breaking Dawn arrived on DVD.  I couldn't go to my local Target because they weren't doing anything special. (Grrr.)  But I had a backup.  The whole event was pretty low-key, but nice.  I had to give credit to the employee who was hosting the little party; they were a very good sport.  We got Breaking Dawn cleaning cloths- those microfiber ones.  I won't be using mine. Ha ha.  There was a drawing for a gift card (no I wasn't the winner).  And there was cake and cupcakes.  Strangely, everyone was going for the cupcakes. 

After that, we all went to wait in line for about an hour and a half in the electronics department.  They were showing little featurettes on the Twilight Saga and Breaking Dawn.  I was about # 5 or 6.  With a half-hour or so before midnight, there were seventeen people in line.  By the time I got my DVD, there were over thirty.  You got a cute "souvenir" with it.  I went to Target later on and got their copy. 

And would you believe it- I did not watch it that night.  Seriously, I would have regretted it.  I watched it the next night.  The special features are great.  Can't wait 'til part 2. :)

Cereal Games

Hey.  This will be another odds-and-ends post. 

I like the new rash of General Mills cereals that's come out: peanut butter Cheerios, but I haven't tried the frosted Cinnamon Toast Crunch- although I picked up a box today.  The Cheerios could use some chocolate cheerios mixed in, I suppose.  I have yet to try the Krave stuff. 

Book-wise.... I finally got into The Hunger Games.  I can barely put the first one down, and I'm almost done with that.  Got the second one, "Catching Fire" all set to go.  I'm really looking forward to the movie. 

I've started on Pinterest, and I sort of like tumblr.  Pinterest is fun.

And we all know what DVD's coming out on the 11th. :) 

Oreos Rethought / Things that Irk Me about Twilight

Yes, I know I'm late. My apologies. I've been busy. Anyway... Happy new year.

This past week, Mom found a recipe for Oreo cookie balls. Basically, they're like cake pops, just with oreos. Instead of frosting, you use cream cheese. When they're mushed together, roll them in balls and dip them in white chocolate bark. They're good- pretty rich.

So, the other day I thought about what irks me about Twilight.

1) Bella doesn't appreciate good furniture. In the novel "Eclipse," Bella is over at the Cullen's house with Alice for a sleepover. (a pretense) Edward gets her this nice four-poster bed to sleep in; it's set up in his room, all nice and stuff. Instead she sleeps on his sofa. I was like, Bella, that's a nice bed!

2) Edward needs to chill (some more). If you haven't noticed in the books and/or movies, he's a little uptight. And I totally get his point. Vampires are after his girlfriend, he's been alive for over one hundred years, he has a case of TMI (too much information) from being a mind reader. And he's overprotective of her. But he loves her.

3) Victoria. I was a little disappointed that Stephenie had to kill off Victoria in Eclipse. I thought Bryce Dallas Howard was really good as Victoria in the film. It's a good thing Bryce got a second chance to take the role.

4) Ok, this doesn't irk me, it's just a suggestion. Stephenie Meyer needs to write just one more book about Twilight, at least from the perspective of Jacob and Renesmee. Maybe half from them, half from Bella and Edward.