1/02/2013

Bits And Pieces of Interest... Or Not.

Yes, I disappeared. No it wasn't for any particular reason. Following is a list of random interesting stuff that happened to me in... as many months as I can remember.

  •  (April I think) Read LOTR for the 7th time for no reason. Hobbit anticipation in high gear.
  • (sometime in 2011) became a fan of superhero movies. (May 2012) Saw and enjoyed Genetic Experiment, Mutant, Alien, Narcissistict Twit and a Couple of Covert Operatives Save the World from the Alien's Narcissistic twisted Non-Brother While Blowing Up New York City.
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  • Sometime in June I think: Finished the first draft of the story I had been working on for the past two years. Soon started on second draft and immediately got nowhere.
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  • In July I saw "The Dark Knight Rises". Experience: "What was I thinking?" The HISHE clips are hilarious though.
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  • By the end of Summer, failed to hit my goal of 30 books first-time-read. however, I did reach 27.Thinking of trying again this year.
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  • September: Celebrated Hobbit week by reading The Hobbit on the 22nd, and the LOTR again in the following 8 days. Permanently reconnected with (quite literally) my lifelong best friend.
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  • And December: 
  1. Overcame the last obstacle to graduating High School.
  2. turned 19. Celebrated with a really fun afternoon. Saw The Hobbit. experience: meh, let-down, it was ok. Try as I might, I simply can not say it was awesome when so much stuff was awkward and out of place. See "An Unexpected Debateable Movie, part 1" posted about two weeks ago.
  3. Christmas: I hope you all had a merry Christmas. I did. I received 4 CDs of classic Irish ballads, 2 long-awaited film scores, an "I Simply Walked Into Mordor" hoodie, and a "Walk Into Mordor" board game that the rest of my family hates...
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  • And then, on Jan. 1st. I saw Les Miserables. I know I said I would eventually do a trailer review, but somehow that sort of thing always slips my mind. I had read the book this summer, and it immediately claimed and kept the # 2 spot on my list behind LOTR. So yeah I was interested. The acting was awesome. The film, however, wasn't. It really should have been done in the non-singing fashion, although most of the big solos did come at times when you can imagine people would be singing. As if to remind you that it's a tragic story, Wolverine, Gladiator, Catwoman, Samantha Barks, Eddie Redmayne, and Amanda Seyfried ALL get a solo in which they cry while singing. There were some awkward points. Two big numbers came in the midst of the climactic fight, during which time was on pause. One was performed in a torrential rain even though before and after it for the rest of the film there was no sign of rain, and a character written as a teen was played by a 9 year old. That's a sample. Happy New Year.   

6 comments:

  1. Happy New Year. Did the Les Miserables book have songs in it? Or was it only because of the musical play that they made it a movie? Just curious, I've heard all but like 10 lines that were not singing.

    -James

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    1. Same to you. And you heard right. it might've been less than ten. I'm sure it was only b/c of the play, b/c the book is actually 1400 pages long and full of personal introspection and asides about current history that are critical to making it a classic, but they cut all mention of that out except what they could squeeze into the lyrics when the play was written. I listened to the broadway score before seeing it and the point of the movie was really to have famous actors singing those songs. It was only a highlight reel, but the highlights were great.

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    2. That is what I figured. It is hard to imagine a real motion picture with 99% singing. Sounds like a great book, might check it out sometime. Have you seen the 90s Liam Neeson verison? Not sure if it is a musical though.

      -James

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    3. No I haven't. Didn't know it existed. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks.

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    4. From what I have read it is not a musical and there's another verison made in 1935.
      Thanks for asking questions for the video but how exactly do you define historical fiction? I know I asked this last year but I want to be clear about it. Films that are based history like Braveheart, and Gettysburg count right? But does ones like Ben-Hur and Gladiator counts since they are set around history. Sorry for asking again but I wanted to make sure the list was accurate.

      -James

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    5. That's right. Any film that is set in factual history and/or involves important secondary characters who actually lived is a historical fiction film. I say secondary as a checkpoint b/c a lot of historical fiction MCs are entirely made-up. So all the ones you've named are good ones, not to mention Master & Commander, The Patriot, and Kingdom of Heaven. I would, however, exclude Westerns from consideration b/c those all have the same basic plot and are probably nothing more than idealized/cliche versions of the wild west w/ entirely made-up characters.

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