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 |   Nothing official here; just come chill! |
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Welcome! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Welcome to my little Den! Here you'll find all sorts of things- mostly blog challenges, but mixed in, you'll notice:  I'm a bit of a fangirl  My life is very busy I enjoy using emoticons  I don't tend to swear, but stuff happens. |
Well, not really flies, but a fly  - It's apparently a robber fly and it's chilling on the outside of the door to my uncle's office. I was pretty enraptured, actually. I decided not to put the sound on the video, but for those with an Instagram account, you can see the version with sound on my story.  So, fun fact: I'm not actually one of those squeamish people who shriek at spiders/flies/etc. Sure, if there's a male in the house, I'll gladly pass the duty on to him, but otherwise, I don't go run and hide. I did actually want to write some sort of post today about a topic, and I had one in mind earlier, but I no longer remember it.  Probably because I've got Baby brain.  Speaking of Baby, she's still sick- and she's decided she doesn't like the "snot sucker" thingy my aunt has to remove her boogers because she can't blow her nose yet.  She does however, like the inhaler thingy I got for myself when I was sick in Spring Quarter. It's literally just a small tube thingy of essential oils that are supposed to clear your sinuses that you stick in your nose and inhale. I never saw the logic in sticking it in your nose- after the first use, aren't you kinda just re-inhaling old germs? Yeah, so I just put it in front of my nose to sniff instead. Germ-free, for the most part.  And now Baby's using it. She "Looooves" the smell. Today was a chill day- the grill is closed on the weekends, so no little playmates for Baby- which is probably better since I'm still pretty wiped from yesterday. I was telling Sis about the kids last night and she vowed no mercy. On any of them.  And she vowed to get even for me with "Cee," Baby's super-fast friend (daughter of one of the workers). They apparently need to be taught a lesson of sorts?  There was a garage sale of sorts in the mall today- people in the community donated items for selling, because all the profits went back to the humane society and their shelter animals. I saw a Jonas Brothers on Tour CD board game- selling for 25 cents. I still remember when they were all the rage in elementary school and everyone thought they were so cute/wanted to marry them. And now, their board game is selling for 25 cents. I actually never liked them- even though everyone thought they were cute, I thought they were super ugly and not-at-all attractive. Not to mention, Mom didn't let me and sis listen to pop music yet back then, and I wasn't really interested in finding out more about pop culture yet, so their music didn't appeal to me, either. I was never a die-hard live-action Disney person. Sure, I liked Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody but that was only because we got to watch Saturday Disney on ABC, and that's what we were allowed to watch. Well, we were allowed to watch Hannah Montana, not really The Suite LIfe, but we sometimes found ways around that. Yeah, so I was rather amused that they've been reduced to a re-sell value of 1/4 of a dollar. Though did they deserve that? Maybe.  I'm also trying to give Baby more exercise- not just playing all the time, but short bursts of actual, active activities like racing/running around/etc. She doesn't like stretching, but she loves ballet.  I tried making her a ballet bar out of Tubelox pieces, so she could use it to stretch, but 1, it doesn't balance well, and 2, she doesn't like stretching too much.  So it's kinda just leaning against the wall for now, waiting for someone to use it- it's not quite tall enough for me to use, either, otherwise I would. This girl really is all of her older family members rolled into one body. We were playing before dinner earlier and she was saying it was silly to be doing something or another, but not as silly as "this!" and "this" happened to be her lifting up the bottom hem of her shirt so she could flash me. Apparently, Mom used to do that as a kid. She gets her competitiveness from Sis, I'd reckon- all her "I want to win!"s and "Awww, I wanted to win!"s seems like something that is almost 100% from my sister. Back in high school (I think?) Mom and Sis were out for a leisurely walk probably just to get the mail or whatever, and Sis was walking faster than Mom- and she'd turn around, saying "I'm beating you!" "I'm beating you!" "I'm still beating you!" And when we were younger, Sis had all sorts of sneaky tactics to come in first, like extending her arms out on both sides when walking down the stairs. To a bystander, it looks like she's using the walls for balance as she descends. In reality, it's because I'm right behind her and she doesn't want me passing. Also keep in mind that her arms weren't actually long enough to reach both walls.  As for me, I've introduced her to the world of Hi-5. She loves Jup Jup, and it's definitely on my list to get her a Jup Jup plushie. ASAP. Because I can only imagine her reaction when she sees the character on her shirt can actually be a 3-dimensional, squishy friend. Probably a mix of   and  . Especially because he has those 5 legs that can fly/flop everywhere. We spent about an hourish dancing to Hi-5 songs together, on Thursday. She was a little confused at first, but once I started dancing with her, she began to understand that we just follow the people on screen. Not to mention, she gets a real Hi-5 from me after every song.  And to the non-believers of Hi-5.... If the kid likes it, you give it to them! Plus, it's a good workout. Dancing gets your heartrate up and gets you active. As a pre-service early childhood teacher, kids need at least 60 minutes of scheduled physical activity per day. If my own cousin doesn't get those 60 minutes, what kind of future teacher might I be?  Oh, and everything can talk, according to Baby. Her feet, her blankies, and especially her plushies. The newest addition to her plushie family is a "baby" bunny named Yamu, short for Yamu-Kalikah. (Don't ask, I don't know ). S/he is also Baby's best friend (though everyone is her best friend) and Yamu's two favorite activities are crying and sleeping. And "hopping away," with a little help from yours truly.  Yes, I hide her plushies around the house and then ask "Where's _____?" It boosts her memory and gets her talking more. I try to make her talk as much as she can- maybe it'll help the stuttering? Otherwise, it'll help boost her vocabulary and speaking skills in general. The stuttering is apparently a new thing, and only started developing when Mom went to visit, and it's gotten a bit worse since I arrived. Her parents tell her to "think" before she talks, so she'll stutter as she "thinks"- poking her temple with her index finger, kinda like Winnie the Pooh does when he's thinking in a Thinking Spot. |
| My level of stress right now is unbelievable. I found out yesterday morning that the Stats professor posted homework for us to be due on Friday night. It's not fun homework, and it involves lots of concepts she hasn't gotten to yet, because we're running behind schedule in her class. I just sent in her evaluation (it wasn't pretty) and under "what can the instructor do to improve?" I submitted a long rant about timeliness and having the weekend to do our work. We're students. We have other classes to take, not just hers. We're in college. College isn't cheap. So, many have outside jobs to take into consideration as well, to help pay for tuition. When she posts homework on Tuesday night for Friday night, we only get Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in between whatever classes we have to do the work. However, when she posts on Friday night for Wednesday night, we get all of Saturday, all of Sunday, and in between classes on Monday Tuesday, and Wednesday to do our work. Those extra weekend days really make a difference. I have 28 units. That's 7 classes. Not to mention research, which I'm not getting credit units for. I just finished the Stats homework. I still have to do a translation for Chinese for tomorrow (honestly I may just paraphrase what my friend sent me) and prepare for my TL interview. I have a general idea of what I plan to say/do. My head is killing me. My eyes are swimming. I'm sitting on a stool in the kitchen because I haven't showered yet so I'm working in the common area. I'm just.... done with this week. I am way too stressed for my own good, and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it right now except probably go prep my interview stuff and save the translation for tomorrow morning. |
| Also for "The Bard's Hall Contest" .... I'm just reading the last blog entry I posted and that seems like forever ago. So long, that I don't really recall writing it. I remember lying in bed and watching the ACMs and possibly writing blog posts as well, but yeah. Also, I know I always say I'm stepping away for a bit, and I never actually truly "step away"- but it's a way to let myself know that I have space to do so if needed.  As for the month of May in general, it was a pretty big month for me. I went to the beach with friends. The next weekend was Mother's Day. The week after that was the Taylor Swift concert. Last weekend was the Quills and a long weekend. This weekend, I'll be madly working on a poster that I must do for my Special Ed class, that's due Thursday. That, and preparing for my Team Leader interview on Friday. And next weekend, I'll be writing a 5-page essay for my Chinese Stories class, which is due that Monday. And that Monday also marks the beginning of finals week. Going one by one, the beach day was fun. It was also Cinco de Mayo, so we went and got tacos at a place called Chronic Tacos, which was by the beach. They didn't have any promotions going on, but it was a delicious way to celebrate the holiday! I put ghost pepper sauce on my taco and it wasn't extremely spicy. Granted, neither of my beach friends are able to withstand spicy food, so they just watched with amazement as I added drop after drop of ghost pepper sauce to my taco and devoured it, denying its spiciness with each bite. There's actually a video on my phone of it, but I'm pretty sure it never ended up on Instagram or anywhere else of that sort. Mother's Day was also a hit. I enjoyed bamboozling Mom up until that very day. Mom had called about 2-3 weeks prior to Mother's Day, asking what we (me and Uncle, since he'd be there) would be doing.... so I called Uncle, hit up Groupon, and found a lovely Thai place by the beach, which was between home and school. I called, made a reservation, and that was that. Mom, of course, wanted to know where we'd be taking her. Uncle and I, of course, couldn't, and wouldn't tell her. He told her Mexican, after she "tortured" him in Vancouver. In his words: "Yeah, she's fanning me! And you know it's COLD up here, right? She is fanning me and blowing wind at me!" So Mom tried to get it out of me a few times. And at one point I let slip that it was a "vegetarian" place. Because I "thought" she was being vegetarian for the day. She has issues with her knee, and Grandfather says for her medication to be most effective, it would behoove her to go vego, but she loves her meat, so her compromise is every other day. I stuck with that vegetarian story until the day of. I also alerted Uncle. When I did, Mom got suspicious. So he started talking to me in Mandarin, and talking into the phone, as though he were speaking with Grandfather. I was in the hallway of the education building trying not to die from controlling my laughter so Mom wouldn't hear me through his phone. It was an ordeal, to say the least. That week was also my chosen session plan for "TL for a week" with Jumpstart. I teamed up with the guy on our team, and we led the session for The Ugly Vegetables. I got to teach the kids a little bit about calligraphy, and one of my partner children even learned how to write the word "big" in Chinese! I brought in my calligraphy brush and the "magic" water mat- the kind that turns ink-black when you put water on it, then fades back to normal as it dries off. We also did "stencils" for the art area- we wrote the Chinese characters in colored pencil on cardstock, and the kids got to use diluted paint to trace over the characters. They made garden signs in the writing area, where they wrote/drew pictures of vegetables for a garden they might plant in the future. Puzzles was a matching game, Dramatic Play had a vegetable soup to make, and the books area featured some books about cooking or vegetables.I led the Tuesday session, and it went quite well! The first half- hellos and reading- was great, and even though I was nervous about how my presentation would go during circle time, the kids were all unusually quiet. They were sitting down, listening, and learning. And that is very rare for our class. I didn't lead on Thursday- that was my partner's time, but he did well, too. And I taught one of the girls in the class how to say "bitter melon" in Chinese. And she did it- perfectly! My partner was impressed, since he's Chinese too, so he knows how to say it. Taylor Swift Concert- ah-mazing experience. I'm still super bummed out that I didn't get chosen to go backstage and meet her, but I mean, it's been 2 weeks now, so I really should chill. The tickets were on Uncle's phone- Ticketmaster only let us have it digitally, on their app, so when it was time to go in, his internet decided to glitch on us and we missed most of Charli XCX's act. We made it in time for Camilla Cabello, though. And while I still don't like "Havana," the concert has changed my overall opinion of her from unfavorable to somewhat favorable. We also didn't find Mr. Swift, which meant I didn't get my Taylor Swift Reputation guitar picks like I wanted.  I'm pretty sure we went in too late, because Mom wanted to check out the fair outside the Rose Bowl as it was closing down. Yeah, there was a fair of sorts outside- two radio stations were there, giving out prizes and playing games and such. I won a Popsocket for Mom, after getting chosen for one of the games. I'm honestly not sure why Mom didn't want to check out the fair ahead of time, but as said, it's over now, so I really should get over it.As for the actual concert, it was amazing! There were 3 stages, and she ziplined (in a sense) from the main stage to Stage B, and then from B to C. Everyone from my section rushed over to Stage C when she was "flying" in her throne from B to C, so I joined them, which meant I was about 6 people/rows away from the stage. I didn't even need to use the zoom to record that part of the concert! I got slightly lost going back from Stage C to the assigned row, so I ended up asking one of the security people about it and he directed me back to my section. I also grabbed a stack of confetti after the show ended, so that I could give some to my partner kid who loves the "Havana" song. Long Weekend- Mostly I did homework and chatted with CG and Mom. I didn't necessarily "chat" with Mom, but she sends pictures and videos of my child (cousin) in TX, and I get distracted "ooh"ing and "aah"ing over whatever Baby does. And for those who ask why I don't have my own kid (*coughs* You know who you are. ) I'm definitely not old enough to have one. Nor am I ready! I definitely want to finish school before having a child. Not to mention, the plushies are my children at this point. And I'll keep it that way for now, thank you very much. I'd also like to focus on the Jumpstart kids. Bring the best that I can to them, especially for during my interview!As for today... I crashed my friend's dorm reunion. We were going to find free donuts for National Donut Day, and none of the local stores were having promotions so we didn't get any free donuts. There's no local Krispy Kremes by uni. and Dunkin' Donuts makes you buy a drink in order to get a free donut. Anyways, I ended up at her apartment and I literally called 5-6 places in her coupon book, all of which said they weren't doing anything. Albertson's said they had 1 dozen for $5, but we were just looking for free stuff. So we ended up at a pizza place for cheesy garlic bread, and then I had ice cream afterwards, because I hadn't had lunch. Or a proper breakfast. We went back to her apartment, and she got ready for the reunion, and I walked her there... she said I could crash the event, so I did. It was pretty fun, since many of the people are also in the Honors program, so I knew a good amount of them, either from seeing them around or having them in my classes. And I "pretended" to be from her dorm/house until the end, when they did a hall photo, which I declined- I helped the photographer with angling suggestions and the such though. Sooo yeah, that's been my month. I'll probably disappear this weekend, since I have that poster due. And the paper. And a Jumpstart interview. Which also means I should get off to bed- hopefully I'll be back during finals week, and if not, I'll definitely be back afterwards. In the meanwhile, if you've got a small group, I still have room for 2 more groups in "Invalid Item" for July. Spread the word, if you can! It'd be a shame to still have open slots, or to just fill them with personal project groups! (see "Note: [Link To Item #2079957] is sponsoring small, ..." ({note:535481})  |
| Songs you hate. Tell us about one or more songs that you would be perfectly content to never hear again in your life, ever. Eugh, last week was all sorts of crazy. Usually I try to catch up on Friday nights, but last Friday found me coming down with a cold of sorts and taking on more than I expected. So I just stayed in bed and watched the ACMs on CBS on my computer. I also agreed to do a transcription job for one of the guys in my research lab and that took me much longer than expected, on Saturday. And the rest of the day was spent doing laundry and homework, since I went to the LA Times Festival of Books on Sunday, with Jumpstart. As for the prompt.... Well. I'll go broader than one song- I'm more about the artists. Usually I like one song from someone and I'll like about 90% of all their other songs. The reverse is also true. I dislike one song and I'll dislike most of their other songs. With that said... I cannot stand Lana del Ray. I don't like the way she sings. I don't like her lyrics. I don't like her, end of story. It always sounds like she's trying to seduce someone when she's singing. And honestly, it sounds anything but seductive. I wouldn't be surprised if she's on drugs. If I were to choose one song from her, though, it'd be "Summertime Sadness." It came out during senior year, I'm pretty sure. I'd be driving to school with sis in the old car, and at that time, she's too "cool" to listen to music- so she's always like "Put on NPR" or something so I'll put on the country station instead. Driver gets control of the music in our household. When her turn came to drive, she'd put on NPR and I'd roll my eyes and listen to my own music on my phone. Anyways, fast-forward to this past summer when I went to visit sis on the east coast to help her move back from DC to NY, and she put on Lana del Ray. I cringed. A lot. And made all sorts of remarks about how she sounded like she was under the influence of something. And she wouldn't change the music until I specifically requested her to do so. Adding on to that... there's one genre of music I'm not sure I'll ever understand: rap. I feel like it's always about getting the girl, going to bed with them, and then making rhymes about their conquests. And if that's the road they're going down with rap, why aren't more people denouncing these messages, what with all those female-empowerment movements going on right now? |
| Adaptations! You're still the head of a major studio, so what piece of material (can be anything except another movie: a book, comic, TV show, toy, news article, real life true story, etc.) would you choose to have adapted into a feature motion picture? Also, which movie do you think was the absolute best adaptation of the source material (best can be either most faithful or most improved, your choice)? Hehe I just finished playing Gems, so I'm gonna say Gems. Hey, they had a WoW movie, so why can't we have a GoW movie, right? I'm sure my guildmates would watch it, at the very least. And for those who aren't familiar with the acronyms.... WoW is World of Warcraft. GoW is Gems of War. They're both computer/video games. Ummm I think the movie itself would definitely have to be more action-based than gem-based though. I mean, watching a character swipe gems to defeat bosses? Not necessarily the best idea if you want a good film. And one that's gonna make money. With that said, there'd probably be lotsa fight sequences and fantastical monsters. I'd be excited to see how all the cards come to life- from all the common troops to the rarest mythic ones. Some are monsters, others, skeletons, and then there are centaurs, lions, and more. And for someone who's easily frightened, I also don't know how realistic it would be to have me oversee this production. I guess that's why we hire people to do things for us. As for the best adaptation of source material, I'm gonna go on a limb and say Mary Poppins. Yes, I really did like that movie! For a non-Disney fan, too. Although, I don't remember the baby twins in the movie... I've just started reading the book, actually, because I found out that yes, it was a book before it became a movie, and my library at home has a portal for ebooks where you can rent them out for Kindle and such, so I'm doing that right now. So far, I'd say the book and movie are pretty parallel- I do remember a good amount of what happened in the movie, from reading the book. I like all the magic that happens- especially the empty carpetbag turning into pretty much a bottomless suitcase of sorts for Mary Poppins, and the kids being fascinated by it. I kinda wonder how it'll turn out towards the end, with the "Step in Time" scenes, because how they did it in the movie was crazy, so I wonder how it'll be described in the book. Apparently the author was Aussie, too, which is pretty cool. |
| Congratulations, you're now the head of a major motion picture studio! You have the final say over what films get made and how much money is spent on them! With your newfound authority, you can remake or reboot any film from the past. Which will you choose and why? And, more importantly, how big a movie would you make? Would you want to do a big budget remake of a cult classic? A Star Wars movie with a small indie feel? A complete reboot of the Transformers franchise? A future-set sci-fi adaptation of Titanic? This is your chance to overhaul a movie of your choice from the past... tell us a little about what that project is and how you see the new version turning out! Mwa haha.... Honestly, though, I doubt many people would like me (kids aside) if I were to take over a major studio. Maybe I'll go instigate a revolt over at Disney- redo all the princess movies into something more believable. Some statistics show that if Pocahontas (I believe it was her) from the movie was actually real, she wouldn't be able to walk, because her legs are so thin and wouldn't be able to support herself. That's definitely the body image we want our kids growing up aspiring to be, right? With waistlines the size of their neck . I'm serious!With that said.... I'd love to incorporate plushies, of course. Maybe instead of a handsome prince riding up to save the day, some plushie magic gets them all out of trouble. You never know, right? Plus, aside from Ella Enchanted I think most of those princess-y movies are all set in the Once Upon a Time era, in a Land Far, Far Away. And there's that nice little meadow right outside the castle, which you'd probably have to cross a drawbridge over the moat to get to... All so... predictable. Why can't we have them set in modern-day times? Sure, the fantasy aspect of it is gone, but it's more relatable. And maybe a few generations later, they can remake it to set it in their modern-day time to see how things have changed. If that's too boring of a concept, I'll hire some PR and marketing people to make it seem very attractive. After all, it IS Disney. And what Disney wants, Disney typically gets. Just for the sake of it, let's remake Cinderella. And reverse the roles. Evil stepmom entraps the son, who, while going on errands, wanders astray because he hears some commotion while he's at the local farmer's market. Turns out it's a bunch of kids doing tricks on the hoverboard, and it all goes downhill from there for the stepmom. On his way back, the kid (Cinderboy, perhaps? ) sees a flyer advertising a dance-off, with the first place winner getting a hoverboard.Naturally, the evil stepmom tells him off for being late once he returns from the market with the goods she requested, and she spots the flyer, laughs in his face about the "fat chance" he'll have of winning such a competition with the "little to no skill" he possesses in "pretty much everything". Turns out, Cinderboy's got a vindictive streak inside him and he sets out to prove her wrong. So he starts teaching himself tricks and flips and such- and since he works so much, muscle development isn't an issue. Getting enough food, on the other hand, is. So he starts sneaking out at night into the kitchen to steal food- and in the morning tries to gaslight everyone into thinking the food never was there in the first place. Annnd it's almost 11 pm and I do have class tomorrow, so the happy ending here is, he manages (somehow) to sneak out of the house (attic window, maybe?) and make it to the dance comptetition, where he not only wins a hoverboard, but meets the girl of his dreams, which is where Cinderboy 1 will end, and Cinderboy 2 will begin. |
| Prompt - Day 11: It's Oscar time! You get to put together your all-time best Oscar ballot! Movies don't necessarily have to have been nominated for an Oscar or even be an awards-type film (if you truly think the Best (Quality) Picture you've ever seen is Caddyshack, or that Ryan Reynolds' turn as Deadpool will never be surpassed by the performance of another actor, that's totally okay as long as you honestly believe your selection is the pinnacle of achievement in that particular field. Not your favorite, not your guilty pleasure, not the one you'd like to win... your honest-to-God pick for the best representation of each category. Think of this like Fantasy Football for movies! BONUS: While you only have to complete the "Big Six" categories, I will give a special prize to anyone who completes a full Oscar ballot and also lists films for ALL the bonus categories as well! BIG SIX CATEGORIES (REQUIRED) Best Picture- Twilight Best Director Brad Peyton (San Andreas) Best Actor in a Leading Role The Rock/Dwayne Johnson (The Game Plan) Best Actress in a Leading Role- Storm Reid (Meg, A Wrinkle in Time) Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Owen Vaccaro (Dylan, Daddy's Home/Daddy's Home 2) Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Eva Green (Miss Peregrine, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children) BONUS CATEGORIES (OPTIONAL) Best Animated Feature- The Emoji Movie/Inside Out Best Cinematography- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Best Costume Design- A Wrinkle in Time Best Documentary Feature- Teach Us All Best Film Editing- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Best Foreign Language Film- Together Best Makeup and Hairstyling A Wrinkle in Time Best Original Score- Mary Poppins Best Original Song- Step in Time (Mary Poppins) Best Production Design- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Best Sound Editing- Despicable Me Best Sound Mixing- Mary Poppins Best Visual Effects- A Wrinkle in Time Best Adapted Screenplay- Paddington Bear Best Original Screenplay- Road Less Traveled Okay. It's 9 pm Friday night and I'm exhausted. Today wasn't necessarily a difficult day, I think my body is just tired in general from silks yesterday and getting used to one less hour of sleep this quarter than the last two quarters. Essentially, what I'm saying here is, I tried to do all the categories, but hey, Jeff  if it took you a full day to do this list, I'm not spending a whole night on it. I need to sleep at some point, especially if Mom's coming in about 12 hours tomorrow. With that said, between my yawning, I'll attempt to explain my choices here. Best Picture- Twilight. I really liked the set of the movie. This is one I'd definitely like to go see if they ever did one of those tour things where you get to visit where they filmed and such. The trees, forest, and such were all super pretty. And at one point when Twilight had first come out, I believe we were in Vancouver and we saw this place by a hospital that was all sectioned off, and I wondered if they were filming the next movie. I never did find out. Best Director- Brad Peyton, for San Andreas. That was a good movie. Full of action, suspense, drama, the works. I thought he did a good job with it? Actor- The Rock, Game Plan. I love The Rock! He's awesome- he seems super down-to-earth, and I like that he's in movies for all ages- young kids, teens, and adults. I feel like his versatility makes him better at what he does. Not to mention, he's got the perfect build for his character. Actress- Storm Reid, from A Wrinkle in Time. I saw the movie with Mom for my birthday, and I've got to say, I was definitely impressed. I think the general saturation of the ballot with this movie has proved my point. Honestly, I wasn't extremely keen on seeing the movie at first. I definitely had my reservations. I've never read the book, and when I was younger, it seemed like those weird, geeky books only the not-cool kids read. So I stayed away from it and gravitated towards the fairies and unicorns instead. However, after watching it, I've gotten on the waitlist for the ebook from my local library.Edited the next day: I wish I could explain them all more, BUT my page just refreshed (I'm not using Chrome right now because of my computer problems) and this is what I had saved before calling my uncle about the computer problems. I had about 2x of this written but it wasn't saved. So this is what you're getting tonight. Maybe if the laptop gets fixed, I'll come back to lengthen it.Supporting Actress- Eva Green, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I remember being very skeptical of the movie at first. It looks dark, creepy, and kinda scary. Not to mention, it may as well be set in a haunted house, upon first sight. However, I was curious. I wanted to know what it was about- there was part of me that went "this could be cool," and another part that went "No way, you're going to scare yourself and totally regret it." So I asked my friend about it. And he highly recommended it. Even for someone who's easily scared. So I went for it. And I don't regret it. I think she did her job really well. As the children's "protector" and carer, I feel like she had the right mix of fierce and caring. Especially since they were stuck in that time warp.Supporting Actor: Owen Vaccaro- I feel like all he really needed to do in the movie was memorize a few lines, and act cute and innocent. And he did. Well. To me, at least. I mean, I totally sympathized with his character in the second movie- realizing he might like someone of the opposite gender and then not knowing what to do or how to act on it. Sounds familiar enough, right? Best Animation: I'm honestly torn between The Emoji Movie and Inside Out. They're both great movies, in different ways. I liked both movies from the perspective of a pre-service, early education teacher. Inside Out teaches kids it's okay to feel more than one thing. Not just that, but it identifies four main emotions- Joy, Sadness, Anger, and Disgust. Okay, I'm not totally convinced that "Disgust" is really a core emotion, but hey, every theorist has their own theory, right? Just like every teacher has their own pedagogy. And yes, I'm totally making that up as I go, but it does make sense.... Anyways, Inside Out teaches you that not only is it okay to feel more than one emotion, but it's okay to express the emotions- in a healthy, productive way, of course. While yes, when you're young, you throw tantrums when you're angry and giggle gleefully when you're joyful, that's not how people behave when they're grown up- and the "adult" emotions in the Mom and Dad's brains showed that when they were having arguments. As for The Emoji Movie, there was a similar message, but I feel like the underlying message was also "it's okay to be more than one thing," not necessarily to feel more than one emotion. And that's important too. We learned about intersectionality in my media class last quarter, and discussed how there are so many different aspects to people than just what you see. People are allowed to identify as more than one thing- you can be female and a computer scientist. Or male and a painter, and both of those individuals could still add more layers (or intersections) to their identity. Mother, father, relative, CEO, etc. So for kids, in a way, I guess it encourages them to explore different interests. Which is good, because the more they're exposed to, the better! Best Cinematography/Film Editing/Production Design: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Okay, so I don't watch many movies. Well, maybe I do, but most of them don't stick with me, hence the lack of diversity on this ballot. Getting to the actual reasoning, though, I felt like this movie is one of those that'll stick with me for a while. I was writing out my reasoning for Eva Green earlier and as I was explaining the feelings I had regarding the movie before watching it, all those preconceptions came back. And I could feel the squeamishness coming back all over again, too. Maybe it's because it's been a while since the movie came out and I've forgotten some of the details. But I do still remember a few specific scenes in the movie- and through that the fear and apprehensiveness was all coming back. I think that's what can make a movie good. If it can still make you feel the same way it did before you watched it, that's pretty good, in my opinion, because if you're no longer as scared or excited or whatever you felt beforehand, I guess that movie didn't quite live up to the expectation? Best Costume/Makeup+Hair/Visual Effects: A Wrinkle in Time. Well, those costumes... just wow. Some of the dresses would be a dream come true to wear, all practicality aside. Even if I hardly ever wear dresses in the first place anyways. The Makeup and hair for the three time-travelers were also super cool. Ethereal, even. I feel like they really made each character stand out with their individual looks. As for visual effects, I loved the tessering. I liked how they made it happen for Meg at the end, and when they were in space, the backgrounds and such were all just quite well done.Documentary Feature- Teach Us All- I watched this for Jumpstart, on Netflix. And it was pretty powerful, if you ask me. It covers segregation- not just in history, but in today's world as well, and it points out some pretty big issues that make you go "Why isn't this solved yet?" Annd upon reading my reflection, I must say, I don't think it's really a very positive/uplifting documentary. so if you're looking for something heartwarming, don't go here. This is one of those that point out the problems in society and politics (like how a biased judge can decide if they're biased in a case, but that's not here... ) and hopefully spur you on to desire social change.Foreign Language Film- Together- This is a Chinese film, also known as Together With You- we watched it in Chinese class, I remember, in high school, when our original Chinese teacher was still around (she moved to Utah). This is a total opposite of the documentary film- it's a heartwarming, maybe tear-jerking drama about family and how far a father's love will extend for his son. It was definitely well-made, well-written, and well-performed, considering I can still remember it after all these years. Best Original Score/Song/Sound Mixing: Mary Poppins. Ironically we were in the car on Thursday after dinner after silks (with my friends from research) and the guys (imagine that!) requested the Disney playlist on Spotify. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" happened to come on, and that was the one song they couldn't quite identify, that I could, pretty much right away. The guys doubt her credibility as a nanny, and given my blog space rating, I won't repeat what they said about her, here. I'm not a big Disney fan, actually. At least, compared to most people. Sure, I'll watch the movies and such, and I enjoy going to Disneyland, but I'm definitely not the type who gaggles over everything Disney- unless it's Winnie the Pooh. I'd say I definitely prefer the less princessy stuff and more old-school, classic stuff, minus Mickey Mouse and his gang. So, mostly just Winnie the Pooh and Mary Poppins. I think the older, live-action Disney movies were definitely better. With that said, I chose "Step in Time" for best song, because it's super catchy. It also might be my favorite soundtrack song. It's peppy and fun, not to mention super well-performed in the movie, which is why I thought Mary Poppins should also get best Sound Mixing.Upon Googling, I learned the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, and given the massive amount of people in Mary Poppins (all the chimney sweeps, the "Mistress" and "Master," and Dick Van Dyke ) All that tapping and dancing needs to be pretty in-sync, and it was. I also found it entertaining when the Mistress was all "Votes for women!" and the sweeps integrated that into their song and dance. Adapted Screenplay- Paddington Bear. Granted, I've never been to England or anything, but I thought this was a super cute story of how the bear came to be. I liked that he had a history, and his family, who lived in some place far away in Darkest Peru, ended up sending him on a ship with just marmalade to eat, until he somehow ended up in England. Yes, I guess I'm really a little kid at heart, but it's better than liking dark, scary stuff, isn't it? More adaptable to everyone. Original Screenplay- Road Less Traveled. I originally only heard the song... I think it was a Spotify radio thing, or somewhere on Youtube. Or could've been an awards ceremony, I guess. Really, I guess it could've been anything. Anyways, I heard the song, and I knew of it for a while, until I found out it was actually a movie as well, and since I liked the song so much, I thought I'd try to find the movie (which I did, and ended up watching) and it was quite the sentimental one. I'm not usually one to cry during movies, but I think I may've slipped a tear or two at the end, because it was just super sweet. Annd hooray, I'm done! just took an additional, what, 4-5 hours? But my touchscreen is fixed, which means I've downloaded all my apps and such again. |
| Only 33 films in film history have managed to surpass $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Of those films (listed below for your reference), which one(s) do you think is/are the most overrated/undeserving of being on this list? Which movie do you think should be on this list but isn't? Tell us why! BILLION DOLLAR+ BOX OFFICE ▼ Okay, I probably haven't even watched half of these movies. I've watched: two Star Wars movies that I know of, but I have no clue which ones they were. That aside, I've watched about 14 of the movies on this list, not including the Star Wars ones because I don't know what they were. I'm quite surprised Toy Story 3 made it onto the list. Somehow I'm not surprised about Frozen, but at the same time, I'm surprised Moana didn't make it. The hype was huge for it! I'm also pretty surprised about Zootopia, actually. It didn't seem like that big of a movie. Something I've noticed about this list- it's either kids' animations or fantasy/adventure movies. Why aren't there any comedies on the list? Do people not like laughing? With that said, I do wish Baywatch was on that list. It was a funny movie- I mean, Zac Efron and The Rock- what's there to not like? Lots of comedy, a couple six-packs, the beach, some awesome action scenes.... I think that makes a pretty good movie. And then there's always the helpless friend who drags everyone down. Which Baywatch also has!Another one I would've liked to see on the list is Big Hero 6. That one had action! And it's cute. I love Baymax. I imagine a Baymax plushie would be big, soft, and cuddly; and that sounds like a good plushie to have, to me. Plus, his jellyfish fistbump. Just...  . |
| Guilty Pleasure Day! What movie is your greatest guilty pleasure? The movie you know is terrible, but can't help watching every time you channel surf and happen across it? The movie you're almost afraid to admit you like, and yet find yourself popping in the DVD player or streaming a few times a year anyway? Confess your guilty pleasure and tell us what you like about it! Hmmmm, we hardly use our DVD player anymore. And with that said, I'm not one to spend my time re-watching movies I've already watched. I... don't see the point, I guess? I mean, sure, if it's a really, really good movie, go for it, but I'd rather use that time and watch something else I haven't watched before. Thinking about it more, though, I suppose one movie I would watch more than once (and probably have, at this point) is The Winnie the Pooh movie from 2011. I won the DVD from a site I used to play on, called Miss O and Friends. They would have these weekly and monthly raffles, and you could earn 1 ticket for every 10 points you earned during week to put into any drawing you wanted. I've gotten quite lucky 3 times, actually- the Pooh movie was the last time I went all-out for something. There was a game on there called Harlie's Hazardous City 2, which I would play nonstop for a long, long time- one of those action games where you use the up/down/left/right keys on the keyboard to help the character navigate a busy sidewalk and get to school on time. I rocked the game- and sometimes I would play for 30-45 minutes nonstop- and then I'd rank in the top 20 point-earners for the day, across the whole site. Many times, actually. And you got little badges (kinda like MBs in a way) if you were in the top 20 for the month, or even the year. I don't remember if I ever made it so far to year, but I definitely made it to the month one a few times. Honestly, I probably shouldn't be proud, considering Sis and I read those books in, what, elementary school? and the Pooh movie came out in 2011. so the DVD probably came in 2012. Which would put me in 10th grade. And that does sound about right, actually. I started taking 0 period in 10th grade which meant that I had a free period during the day to do what I wanted- and usually that meant I'd go to the computer lab to do homework for a bit and then if I finished the homework or got stuck, or simply wasn't feeling it, I'd log into Miss O and start navigating Harlie through her hazardous city. The other two prizes I won were a Tinkerbell DS game and a Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus CD. Honestly, I have absolutely no clue what happened to the CD- I won't be surprised if Mom took it in the middle of the night and put it away somewhere because "we don't listen to music"- well, at least not that type of music. Ummmm... yeah. Oh, and here's my favorite clip from the movie- it's also 11 pm here and I need to get to sleep because of Jumpstart tomorrow, so here it is! [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] |
| Movie franchises are movie series that are connected by a common character, setting, or other overarching piece of material. They can be open-ended (James Bond, Fast and Furious) or finite (Harry Potter, Hunger Games), centered around a shared universe of content (Star Wars, Marvel Cinematic Universe), or continuations/re-packaging of a popular initial film (Despicable Me, Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mission: Impossible, Toy Story, Transformers). For today's prompt, tell us what your favorite movie franchise is, as well as your favorite and least favorite movies in that franchise. Just a disclaimer from here on out for the week- I don't watch as many movies as I do TV Shows, so this could be interesting. As for the movie franchises, though, I'm pretty surprised in the sense that I've seen most of the ones listed- James Bond, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Despicable Me, Mission: Impossible, Toy Story. My favorite? Probably Despicable Me. I love the minions and Agnes. She's just super adorable, and even Mom, who doesn't like animated movies, likes her. And the franchise. Which, I think says something considering she's so strongly opinionated most of the time. And hard to sway. The first time I went to a comic-con with shadowfanglerz I got Mom an Agnes pop vinyl. At first, Mom was like " Who's she?" And once I reminded her, she was all " Oh yeah!" She loves the "Is this considered noise?" line. As for me, I don't know if I can pick a favorite/least favorite from the series, considering there's only been 3 movies. I did really like the most recent one though. I don't typically watch movies repeatedly once I've watched it, but I think this one would definitely be one I would rewatch. I liked that it was kinda like a prequel to the whole series, even if it was movie #3. We learned how the minions came to be, and who they previously served. Though, I do think they're much too cute to be used for evil purposes. Also, I think I like the soundtrack from the minions the most, out of all the other movies. And if we're going with that, I suppose the first Despicable Me would be my least favorite. Which is ironic since it that's the one that usually determines whether or not there will be a franchise... I liked #2 better than #1 because of the soundtrack. #2 had "Happy" which is just a super catchy song, in my opinion. And then Christopher Rice did the "Tappy" tap dance on his YouTube channel, which was really cool, so yeah, I did like #2 quite a bit because of the "Happy" song. On the other hand, though, I really like #1 because of Agnes's "IT'S SO FLUFFY!" I have a Fluffy the Unicorn I ordered off Ebay last year while I was abroad, and a Sparkles the Fairycorn who also kinda looks like Fluffy, except Sparkles is much softer and smaller. And she has wings, whereas Fluffy does not. So yeah, I guess I can't choose one over the other in terms of whether I like #1 or #2 better. Sorry! |
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