Warm Bodies

I lucked out again with choosing this movie to see this week. Trying to see at least one movie a week this year, I'm bound to see some not so good films, but luck still holding out. Preview time! In addition to the previews linked to below, we also had A Good Day to Die Hard, Beautiful Creatures, and Safe Haven, all linked to and talked about in last week's Hansel & Gretel post

Monster University

This one looks interesting, not much to say about it, I'm probably going to see it when it comes out.

The Host

To be honest, I haven't read the book, and so far I'm not interested in seeing the movie.

Oblivion

This one looks intriguing and one I'm also going to try and see.

Now You See Me

I have this feeling that the story shown in the trailer isn't really the main point of the movie. That being said, I look forward to seeing this movie and finding out what really happens.

Tyler Perry's Temptation

I'm not sure what to say about this one. It looks very well done with a solid story and some great actors,  I just normally don't like or watch movies in this genre. If you do, you should definitely go see it when it comes out, it looks like a very good movie and worth the money.

And now onto Warm Bodies.

Now when I go to watch movies, unless it's a sequel, prequel, or direct remake/reboot of another movie, I don't go in connecting it to anything else. I have seen zombie movies before, and have read countless stories of zombie lore, so I know how there are many different interpretations and reboot points in time where certain stories originated and other pieces of lore fade into obscurity. The point I'm trying to make is that I'm going into this movie with brand new eyes, and not mad that they retcon or change how zombies think, act and change. People shouldn't compare it to certain other movies which 'originated' the zombie tropes in movies these days. If you go into this movie thinking like that, I know you're going to hate it. If you go into this movie thinking anything at all, think of it as Zombie Romeo and Juliet. I had suspicions when I found out their names are R and Julie, but didn't think anything else into it.

So the movie starts with R monologuing about his life, glossing over the fact nobody knows how it started or what happened to cause the zombie outbreak, and how losing hope turns you into a Bony. Some of his insights are hilarious and true to life as we know it now, going through life. For some reason most of the zombies shown in the movie wander around the airport, and R lives in an airplane much like Ariel's grotto, full of human things like records and a record player, bobbing head dog, and for some reason a Stereoscope. He collects these things when he and a pack of zombies go out hunting to find humans to eat. I found it interesting when he explained why they eat humans and why zombies always go for the brains. I know a lot of people didn't like that they see the deceased's life and regain a bit of humanity for a few moments, to feel alive again before going back to the existence they knew before. I'm going to take a step away from not connecting the movie to anything else to make a connection. Sorry. I like that they connected the new zombie meme of eating brains with the older zombie meme of eating salt to bring back your memories of your former life and death, to make something new in zombie lore. 

So we get to the part where he meets Julie. Her 'party' is tasked with going outside the safe zone and bringing back medical supplies for the rest of the humans within the walled off city where they live. I like the gallows humor graffiti in the wall outside the doors into and out of the city. Music features heavily into the film, with R liking to listen to records, and most of the music is actually being played in the movie universe by the characters and not something chosen to make just us the audience get more into the movie and feeling certain things. For instance when R fist meets Julie, in his head he's hearing the song he was listening to earlier, John Waite's Missing You. Cue hilarity when the boy'friend' Perry shoots R in the back, stopping the song abruptly, and 'challenging' R to fight and kill him. Here's where the Romeo and Juliet references and parallels start beating you upside the head, going 'See what I did there?'

I thought the next section of the movie was cute, after eating Perry's brain and finding out she misses airplanes, he takes her back to the airport, saying he wants to keep her safe, but I think it's really because he wanted to give her something she wanted, kind of as a weird gift. Seemed like a really sweet move and gives the movie time for them to get to know each other and for her to get over the conditioning her father gave her for the undead. Several times she tries to escape, the first time's hilarious when he saves her and mimes being dead, doing the 'hands out in the international zombie symbol*' to get her back into the plane and safe again until her next breakout attempt.

After eating the last piece of Perry's brain, he decides to take her back home where she wants to be. We see more of the zombies starting to become more human like R, and some hilarious moments with his friend Marcus. Just like Mercutio, Marcus has some of the best one liners in the movie, with witty responses to things happening around them.

Of course on the way to the safe city, Julie runs out on R after being told he's the one who killed Perry. On his way back to the airport, R runs into Marcus, who tells him about the changes happening and that the bonies are coming to kill him and Julie since they don't want there to be a cure. R breaks into the city using an abandoned tunnel he saw Julie and Perry going down before in his memories. Cue balcony scene where R waits outside for Julie to perhaps wander out when she's talking to her bff Nora. They make plans and cue makeover montage, which is hilarious. Stopping here since the movie's almost over at this point, and you'll have to see it for yourself to see if they continue with the Romeo parallels or twist it into a different and new ending.

All of the actors in the movie were fantastic, never once was I pulled out of the movie due to something being bad, I believed they were their characters the whole movie, which is always something I like in movies, the believability factor. Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer have great chemistry in the movie, and I look forward to seeing movies either of them do in the future. This has to be the best variation on Shakespeare's play I've seen yet. Took the story, gave it a zombie twist, and made it awesome.

*Reference from one of Jessie Cox's Minecraft videos, you should watch his stuff, he is one hilarious gamer.

Reality TV

I'd like to take a moment to talk about competition reality shows right now. I know I'm not the best person to talk about reality shows in general, seeing as I only watch a few and I want to give a bit of backstory before going into this one. The first one I got into was 'America's Next Top Model' since a friend watched it, and I thought it was hilarious. I stopped watching it after a while since I'm not into modeling or fashion outside of cosplay. I stayed away from the reality pool for a while until a different friend told me about 'I Survived a Japanese Game Show'. This one I liked, but only watched the first season. Apart from not having access to a tv to watch it, the second season people would generally know what they were getting into, and again, the same hilarity wouldn't be there. Also I was totally jealous at the time that these stinking lucky people got to go to Japan. This next one is a bit weird to see how/why I'm into it. I love RuPaul's Drag Race and subsequent spin offs. It's hard to pin down precisely why I like it, considering my background, but somehow all the disjointed pieces fit together perfectly into a show I will always tune in to watch.
This brings us to today's topic. A new reality show has come out, King of the Nerds. After all the rants people have gone on about with Big Bang Theory, I went into this with hesitation. Not much though, considering the hosts are Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong.
It's three episodes in right now, and so far I'm liking it. Before we get on with the awesomeness the show contains, want to mention something not that cool. So there has been tons of promotional info on this show, and lots of advertising, so I couldn't help but read the bios on the people appearing on the show. The first episode, I found half of it a bit boring since it was introductory time, but there was nothing new. It seemed like everything they said about themselves, had already been said multiple times leading up to the show, there was nothing new to learn about them. Maybe if it gets a second season (one can only hope), they maybe dial back on the bios so the whole episode is interesting and not something that feels like a rerun you're listening to in the background while you play a game. Harsh, I know, but that's what it felt like to me. I'm not going to be going over every detail in the episodes since I'm both not really qualified for that, and I want you all to tune in and be as surprised at some of the things as I was.
Onto the second episode. This one cemented my love (so far, we'll see what happens) for the show, the main nerd-off being a cosplay challenge. I love going to conventions and just seeing all the people dressed up and so in character it's awesome. And then they name the judges and one of them is Yaya Han? And George Takei? Any negative things I was thinking about the show and the audience they were trying to get just blew away in the wind. These guys know their audience, and aren't trying to pander to all to get a wider audience base. One more thing about this episode, being a D&D player and what I said above about cosplay, it's no secret I was rooting for a specific team the whole time.
I had conflicting feelings about episode three. Watching it was entertaining and fun, but sitting here now, trying to thing of something to talk about, I don't know. I'm not into remote controlled copters or cars, so the only non reference-y parts of the show I connected with were the drama and nerf gun fighting.
I am looking forward to next week's show with guests Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes. Going to be awesome. Tayron's most likely not looking forward to it since he's not a fan of them, and it's centered around superheroes. You can watch past episodes on the website http://www.tbs.com/shows/king-of-the-nerds/

Hansel & Gretel thoughts

Since this isn't like the normal films I go see in the theater, going to be short on movie info and long on trailer info. Seemed like there were more trailers than usual, but maybe it's because they were all new-ish to me and not the normal kiddy fare I usually see over and over.

First up we had a trailer for the new Die Hard movie, 'A Good Day to Die Hard'

Not sure how to feel about this one yet, more about it if I end up watching it.

Next we had 'Safe Haven'

I had mixed emotions for this one. Starts out sounding like your normal Nicholas Sparks fare, but then twists into something different. I'm not into his novels or the movies based on them, but this one actually looks interesting.

Then came 'Olympus has Fallen'

First off, I'd like to remind you all I'm a bit of a weirdo. This starts, and immediately I'm thinking *Holy cow, the president's wife dies and she comes back to haunt him and the agent who let her die, this is going to be an amazing horror movie yay!* But then it turns into the basic plot of ex-special forces agent has to save the president from the bad guys, blah blah, only the scene has changed from new york/air force one, to the White House. First half intriguing, second half straight out of a Kurt Russell movie. Next.

Now we have 'The Call'

The trailer speaks for itself here, but how many random guys does our serial killer have to murder before someone realizes his direction and position?

This trailer I see all over at the mall, 'Beautiful Creatures'

This one looks interesting, seems like it was made for teens, but Jeremy Irons is in it, so it's worth a watch for me.

Another trailer for 'Star Trek: Into Darkness'

I'm not that much into Star Trek, and Tayron doesn't know how he feels about this movie yet, so it's up in the air if we see this one or not.

Saving the best for last, the trailer for 'Jurassic Park 3D'

Hate all you want, but I love this movie and look forward to seeing it in theaters again, in 3D or not.

Now we get to the feature presentation, 'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.' I'm finding it hard to talk about this movie without spoiling anything, or giving some of my favorite dialogue due to all the cursing. Remember, trying to keep this blog young person friendly. We'll start at the beginning.
The intro is pretty standard fairytale lore, setting up the backstory in universe, mother tells father to ditch the kids in the forest, he reluctantly does so, kids find cottage-
Stopping there a moment. I really enjoyed the cottage design, looking creepy and mystical, but still made out of candy, door covered in candy runes and symbols. It was gorgeous.

So the kids kill the witch, who looked fantastically ugly to me until I saw the countless witches near the end, and they move on. Cue the opening credits. This bit was also great, animated woodcarving image montage of the kids killing many witches and growing up into the adults they'll be for the rest of the movie. After the montage is done, I just want to mention this part, the next scene that comes up is a crowded marketplace where there is a man selling bottles of milk that have pictures of children tied to them. Hansel and Gretel go on a hunt after humiliating the sheriff. They seem to get their butts kicked as much as they kick butt.
....And I find I can't say anymore about the movie. I have pages of notes, but don't want to spoil anything, or even give away some of the best bits in the beginning. For instance, the entire tavern scene I found absolutely hilarious. The action scenes were well done I thought, the dialogue, while not witty, was still amazing. It seemed like people knew this was going to be a bad movie going in, and just went all out and turned it from something blah, into something amazing.
One last thing I want to mention is the use of practical effects. There isn't much cgi in the movie, what is in it is used to enhance what is already there and going on, like some of the witches spells and magic. Other things, for instance, there is a troll assisting the witches in capturing the children, and he's an animatronic creature.
So I went into this movie not expecting much other than gratuitous action scenes, and came out loving it and cannot wait until it comes out on dvd.

Loot Crate Excelsior

Earlier this month someone linked me to something awesome. It's a site called Loot Crate, which offers a monthly geek and gamer related subscription box. You sign up and every month get a new box full of awesome stuff. I looked through the old boxes and it seemed interesting enough, so I decided to give it a shot. In lieu of an unboxing video, I'd like to do a picture/description blog today.

Loot Crate box right from the mailman.

Opened the box up and see the informative guide to contents and a 'Marvel Workmans Carry All,' awesome tin to store items in. Inner fangirl at this point was literally squeaking with delight at having guessed right at there being something Marvel related.

Shot of the tin opened.

Set of 7 translucent RPG dice. At this point I was giggling at having a second set of dice to call my own, and glad to not have to borrow Tayron's to have extra.

'Hello Panda Chocolate deliciousness' 

Sound of joy at this item, I love this type of candy and had just run out last week.

'8-bit Zombie Power Pack' collection of stickers and pins full of nostalgia and zombies

All the stickers and pins from the pack, love the Lucas zombie. Burst out laughing when I saw that one.

And that's my first Loot Crate. It's definitely something I'll be getting again, between the awesome items they contain and the suspense of the mystery every month, I'm addicted. If you like what you see, why not head over and check it out?

Geeky TV

Disclaimer - I thought long and hard about this post, wanting to do it last night, but deciding to sleep on it and see if it was still a good idea this morning. I still feel the same, that I want to explain something, but some of my points seem like people may take it as a direct attack against them. I'm not singling any specific person out, but rather talking about the whole of my twitter, facebook and other Internet sites i read about this show. I'm also not going to say the name of the show, but you probably know exactly what it is based on the content.

So last night my feeds blow up with links and articles about a promo for a popular show airing soon. Nearly all the people posting had some measure of hate about this, and while I'm not saying that they're wrong, I'm saying that they're probably going about it the wrong way. Please hear me through before yelling at me. In this promo some attractive girls go into a 'geek stronghold' and everyone goes silent, staring at them in fear and awe. This seems to be what everyone is so incensed about. I see their anger and wonder why they are so hateful about this.

Break for backstory, sorry. I grew up around comics and have been to many a comic book store in my life, and this has never happened to me. Ever. With the exception of one incident, the stores I've been in have treated me as a person. No girls, no guys, just comic book loving people. But my experiences haven't been every one's. A good friend of mine went to a few stores in the past and according to her, what happened in the promo, did actually happen. (maybe I'm just not pretty. j/k) So I completely understand why they did what they did here. It's mean and perpetuates a stereotype that needs to die, but I understand.

The first point people seem to be missing, is that this show exists to make money. You can polish up your intentions as good as you want, but this is a show on a major network, they sink or swim on ratings and revenue. Catering to just one demographic isn't so smart. Some jokes we geeks find hurtful and mean, are ones other people find hilarious. For every good piece of actual nerd dialogue, they have to write jokes other demographics would find funny in this world they created. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying I understand.

Second point. With all your posts, and reposts and hateful words on why this show sucks and needs to die, you're playing into the first point. Giving them free advertising and spreading the hate around.

Third point. Again, it seems everything goes back to the first point. The writers write these things to make money. They aren't writing the jokes they want to hear, they're writing the jokes they think people want to hear.

I think maybe, just maybe, instead of spouting off hate for this show that exists to make money for people, you should try this approach.
"I'm not a fan of this show, but you should definitely check X show out instead, it's amazing!"

Here's a list of channels with shows on youtube I think people should definitely see.
First up on the list is Geek & Sundry.
Next we have Rhett & Link
Another great one to check out is The Warp Zone.
Finally(for now) we have Loading Ready Run.

The thing I've noticed with all this channels and videos, is that they don't seem to be writing to profit. To me, they seem to be writing the jokes that they want to hear, the things they find funny, and posting them online so that other people might find them funny too. That makes them amazing in my book and something to be spread more than some silly TV show. In the comments below, share your favorite 'geeky' shows. If you don't have any, make your own. Write the shows you want to see and send them in, I love expanding my watch list.

Ennui

Just out of the holidays, my job has scaled hours back, and I'm left with an abundance of time on my hands. I know I should be doing productive things, and getting things done like more things to sell, finishing costumes for the hopefully multiple cons I want to go to this year, and generally pimping myself out more online(*glares at the empty header above*). Yet everytime I sit down at my workspace, it just seems.....boring. I sit staring at my hands, wondering why I'm here at this point in my life, like what's the point of it all? I spend most of my time being happy for people, then when I get to what I finally want to do, I've no energy to want to force myself to do it. Does anyone else ever feel like this? What do you do to get past it? 

(Also I'd get rid of the energy suckers, but that's another problem completely. One I just have to work through on my own.)

New Beginnings

Happy 2013 to everyone. This is going to be a great year, time for new beginnings and being awesome. So far 2013 is shaping up to be a much better year than 2012, for all the high points on my blog, there were several low points I was only able to get through due to my friends, family, and love of Monty Python. You know the song. ^_~ You are all awesome and I wish you all the best this year.

I'd like to share this craft I found several days ago, I'm in the middle of making one now.

It's a papercraft Kadomatsu. I know the Wiki article I just linked says it should have been up before now, but the  site I got it from (full link below) says it's displayed starting today, the 1st. Enjoy!
http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/entertainment/papercraft/seasons/01/index.html