Nikolas Rex's Blog, page 4

Spoiler Alert: They Get Captured (again and again)

I laughed for the first time today in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series. I’m reading the Dragon Reborn right now. Thom Merrilin and Matt are in Tear looking for Egwene, Nyneave, and Elaine. Thom catches a cold that gets progressively worse so Matt takes Thom to a Wise Woman for some herbs and poultices.  Thom, in his sickened state, is much grumpier than he usually is and is complaining about the disgusting smelling and tasting teas and drinks he’s had to drink from healers over the years. He complains even when they go inside the Wise Woman’s house. Fearful that Thom’s complaints will reach the Wise Woman’s ears and they’ll be refused service, Matt simply says, “Shut up, Thom.” I laughed out loud at that part, and I realized it’s the first time that I did so while reading Robert Jordan’s series up to this point.

Not to say that I haven’t been enjoying his books. The world he creates is so fully fleshed out I have been loving immersing myself in his universe. However, a bit of humor is always appreciated to lighten the mood every now and then and the “ongoing” joke about the boys, whenever they are with woman and having a hard time knowing how to act think, “If only Perrin were here, he’d know what to do.” Or Perrin thinking, “If only Rand were here, he always knows his way with women.” Is not that funny and got old after the first book.

Another thing that is bothering me a little about the books is the story of Nyneave, Egwene, and Elaine. I feel that Robert Jordan is stretching it by always making them a part of the “main plot”. It felt forced that in The Great Hunt they were happily doing their studies in Tar Valon when suddenly the black Ahjah lady said, “Do you want to help your friend Rand? You must accompany me, tell no one!” Uh… RED ALERT! Clearly don’t follow her. But they do, and go through “The Ways” to travel quickly across the country to the west coast where, THEY GET CAPTURED by Seanchan. Poor Egwene. Then, that’s resolved and they return to Tar Valon. Then, in Dragon Reborn, Robert Jordan has the three girls follow the 13 black Ahjah to Tear, which is clearly a trap. Along the way, the three girls GET CAPTURED again by river brigands who are dealing with Myrdraal. Then… that’s resolved and the three girls go to Tear where, SURPRISE THET GET CAPTURED AGAIN!… If the three girls simply stayed in Tar Valon and finished their studies then THEY WOULDN’T KEEP GETTING CAPTURED… I don’t know. It just cheapens the experience if the three girls keep getting captured and keep getting saved. The tension just isn’t there if the same thing keeps happening over and over again. If I had written the series, I would’ve just had Egwene, Nyneave, and Elaine stay in Tar Valon and keep training.

Nevertheless, I’m enjoying the books. Almost done with Dragon Reborn, then I’ll happily pick up the next one.

Upside Down

Is that the guy from Across the Universe? Ugh… yes it is… *my first thought when starting this movie*. Sidenote, I hate Across the Universe.

I wanted to love this movie, I really did. The premise is so cool, and some of the shots/cityscapes in this movie are simply breathtaking. Very well done visual effects. At least, wait, is this whole forest scene done in a… yup, clearly a studio, the lighting looks so fake, ugh. So jarring a transition from last scenes amazing double sci-fi office setting. Ugh, it’s Jim Sturgess again, boo, he’s such a bad actor. His laugh is SO FAKE, I can’t take it, it grinds on my ears, blegh. But hey, it’s Kirsten Dunst, she’s cool. Will she kiss upside down like she did in Tobey Maguire’s Spider Man? Haha.

Seriously though, like Frank, I was only able to finish this movie because I had Halo 5 Arena matches to occupy me most of the time. There would be no way I’d watch this movie straight up. Jim Sturgess’s acting is just so cringe worthy.

I’m all for the power of Love, I love love as much as the next guy, in fact. But the lengths Jim Sturgess goes to just to get into Kirsten Dunst’s panties is so ridiculous. Maybe if there was more at stake, maybe if he cared about changing the status quo more than he did about Kirsten, I’d be invested more in the movie. The desperation just oozes out of this guy when it comes to “love”. They even try and address it in the movie with his best friend arguing with him, but Jim is just like, “But she’s so hoooooooot (I mean, I LOVE her)”. Tacky, not well executed.

But the PREMISE! So cool! Ugh, but the narration! It’s just not NECESSARY! Don’t narrate every little thing, ugh. There’s better ways to explain the world to the audience. We’re not stupid, you know.

This movie would’ve been much better as a book, I think. Timothy Spall’s character was great though. His role reminded me a little bit too much of his character in Harry Potter at first, but he ended up surprising me at the end. I liked his character most of all, I think. (You know you have a problem with your movie when the audience cares more about side characters than your main characters)

Enfin –

Better than: Across the Universe (At least their’s a cool sci-fi premise in Upside Down to distract you from Jim Sturgess’s horrible acting… also, there’s no singing in Upside Down)

Instead, Watch: In Time (2011)

End of the Tour

This movie was pure gold to watch. I don’t know exactly what to say about this movie. The premise is simple. The story spans five days that a reporter from Rolling Stones, David Lipsky, spends with David Foster Wallace, at the end of Wallace’s book tour. Sounds like it might be boring, but the life and realism that Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segal breathe into their characters is astounding. The dialogue between the two characters is immersive and so, well, REAL. Great actors both, and overall just a great movie. Go watch it right now.

Enfin –

Better than: The Trip (Steve Coogan, 2010)

You might also enjoy: The Social Network (2010)

Let Me Be Frank

Is this a movie review? Or more of a rant? You decide…

The only reason I was able to get through this movie was the fact that I was watching it while simultaneously playing Halo 5 Arena trying to rank up from Silver to Gold. Even then, after halfway through I was just not digging the movie. In between matches I skipped the Netflix scroll bar in 5 or 10 minute increments until I was near the end just so I could finally be done with it. Normally I try and writer spoiler free reviews, but this movie was so bad for me, I just don’t care. So… *Spoiler Alerts ahead here and there*. What I DID like about this movie: Domhnall Gleeson. (most people will recognize him as one of the main imperial bad guys in Star Wars Episode VII with red hair, but he’s also in The Revenant, Ex Machina, and Bill Weasely from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Well, at least part way through this movie I liked him. He was the only real, grounded character there. Until he decided to just “give” himself in to the weird hippie/modern art/musician crap that the band subjects him to.

What I DIDNT like about this movie: What bothered me most was the fact that people think they can live like this band does. Anyone in charge of a real band who is really trying to take off should just buckle down and record some music over the weekend. They go off into the woods, renting a cabin, for months on end to record their next album. News Flash, this kind of living isn’t real. This fact is proven when SURPRISE their rent money runs out several weeks in. Then, deus ex machina shows up through Domhall Gleeson’s character with a “nest” egg of money. It made no sense for his character to give away his small fortune just so the band could continue on with their silly business. (Seriously half the movie is the band “experimenting with sound”) Frank, the band leader, is weird, as in VERY weird. Besides the fact that he wears a paper mache head that he NEVER takes off for any reason, the way he acts and talks lends itself to either madman or genius, but of course everyone in this movie is so wrapped up into their own version of reality that they follow Frank’s instruction blindly, as if Frank is some sort of musical prodigy. Frank has them do everything from scratch, entirely new musical theories, instruments made from hollowed out wooden logs, cheese graters, and toothbrushes. It’s not music, it’s bull$#!%. But, like I said, they think it’s pure genius. Needless to say Domhall Gleeson’s character is pretty pissed when the band ends up recording the album without using any of his compositions. Then one of the band member commits suicide, and the band just takes it in stride, simply giving the man a viking’s funeral, and continuing on. In the end, what happens? Gleeson gets fed up and tries to take Frank’s stupid paper mache head off, which ends up with Gleeson and Frank getting into two car accidents, destroying Frank’s paper mache head. Guess what, turns out FRANK IS MENTALLY HANDICAPPED. His idiosyncrasies aren’t genius or special, he’s simply mentally handicapped, It was seriously a cop-out ending and I was none to pleased to have waste my time. Gleeson should have immediately sensed that something was wrong all along and either ditched the band to return to his regular life, or, even better, GET FRANK HELP! DUH! You don’t pander to someone’s mental illness, which the band did for years, and Gleeson did for 11 months. So frustrating. Frank needed help, not people who ignored his mental illness, worse yet, people who encouraged his mental illness.

Also I  hate Maggie Gyllenhaal. She was apparently “not insane” in this movie as Clara, and yet clearly she was. Take a valium and chill babe, you’re a straight up wacko. On the other end of things, Jake Gyllenhaal played a psycho in Nightcrawler, but played him so well I was interested in learning more about his character, not like Maggie’s character in Frank.

Even ‘s performance didn’t save the movie for me, he was amazing in the Steve Jobs movie he did though. (And he’s in the new Assassins Creed movie).

Enfin –

Better than: Prince Avalanche

Instead, Watch: The End of the Tour

 

Aes Sedai

To preface this blog post I want to say that when I seem to be complaining about something of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, I’m not meaning to say Robert Jordan is a poor writer. His writing is amazing, the

Tar Valon, The White Tower

universe he has created with his books is spectacular! My complaints are akin to someone sitting in a horror movie shouting at the person to do this or that and complaining when the character on screen doesn’t listen.

With that said. I kind of hate the White Tower. I guess I should elaborate a little. *minor spoiler alert* I’m in book 3 right now of the Wheel of Time Series, The Dragon Reborn, and Egwene, Nyneave, and Elaine have returned from their absolutely horrific ordeal with the damane (Egwene specifically). If I were in their position I would be so furious with the Amyrlin Seat after hearing I am to be punished. The three should bloody be hailed as heroes. Egwene just got back from being “chained” (literally as a damane) and punished, and now she has to endure more punishment from the Mistress of Novices, so unfair. Understanding that the Amyrlin Seat has to punish them if she is to maintain her secrecy as helping Moraine Sedai in allowing Rand to become the Dragon Reborn and not sic-ing the red ahjah on him, I think it’s total bullspit. The amyrlin seat should just come out to the whole tower, declaring Egwene and the other two as heroes who crossed through “the ways” to toman head

and there saw the heroes of legend return to fight against the Seachan and the corrupt whitecloaks.

That’s what I would do, if I was in that situation. Poor Egwene.

Movie Review: Huntsmen Winters War

When you think of The Huntsmen Winter’s War, firstly dispel your mind of any trailer, teaser or otherwise, that you might have seen. Now imagine a world as bright as Narnia, with a smattering of the more grungy Lord of the Rings trilogy mixed in as a base. We see beautifully detailed sets, enchanted forests bright with fairy dust, and castles and villages like some Harry Potter/Viking design combo; Throw in a duo of funny dwarves with cracks, jokes, and quirky one liners reminiscent of the first Pirates of the Caribbean, double that, then stir in some risqué Chris Hemsworth and Jessica Chastain make-out sessions, don’t forget a clever new take on goblins and a scene that could almost fit into the Indiana Jones Universe, finish things off with a straightforward plot that doesn’t have 6 endings or so (I’m looking at you Peter Jackson) and you have the ingredients of a decent fantasy tale that my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed. Amazing piece of classic cinema to stand through the ages? No. Very entertaining date-night movie? YES.

Enfin –

Better than: The first Hunstman movie

You might also enjoy: The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and/or Outlander (2008)

4 stars out of 5.

Damane

So my family and I moved to a new apartment further away from work and school. That means more time driving in the car. I know my commute isn’t that bad compared to others, but from a quick 8 minute drive to school stretched out to a half hour drive is quite a difference personally. To circumvent the boredom I have begun listening to audio books. Do I have a classy smart phone that will livestream audible.com for me? No. So I dug out my old library card, blew the dust off it, and have begun to check out good ole books on CD (Hey, at least they’re not books on tape) from my local library. I decided to finish a series that I started way back in 2006 but never got back around to reading. I liked it a lot, but had a lot of things going on back then, and other series I wanted to read. The series I am speaking of, is, of course, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. I read Eye of the World when I was in high school and LOVED it, but I never got much farther along than most ways through the second book. So, picking the series up again I started with New Spring this time, (which I had not read) and quickly finished Eye of the World again and am halfway through The Great Hunt right now.

Egwene Al’vere as captured by Renna Emain

This morning I got to listen how (spoiler alert) Egwene and Min get capture by the damane. Two words, I HATE damane! (Okay, so that’s three, but I was never good at math). The whole idea of someone controlling someone like that just disgusts me, it infuriates me. I understand whatever pain Egwene causes her captor she gets the pain handed to her double over, but if I were her I would either grab a knife and kill my captor, even if that means I die, or wield enough of the one power in an instant to kill my captor (again, even if that means I die). I wouldn’t just commit suicide, I would have to take my captor out as well. But I would never let someone else dominate me like that. It’s repulsive to think of the implications of an entire society based around that idea. There is a little part of me that doesn’t want to continue listening if there will be a lot of the damane and if Egwene and Min stay chained to their captors. On the other hand, Robert Jordan has written well if he has written a villain I greatly dislike. I won’t stop listening, though, I aim to finish the Wheel of Time Series this time around.

Movie Review: Allegiant

Inspired by my brother’s new revival of his movie review’s I’ve decided to start posting some of mine. Starting with…

I’m no movie critic, but I am a writer. And when I go to see a movie and have a strong reaction to it, (whether that reaction is positive or negative) I always want to write about it. In the case of Allegiant, let’s just say I had quite a strong reaction, and it sure wasn’t positive.

Almost always my feelings towards a movie are affected by the audience with whom I share the movie going experience with, in this case, my wife. Even if I don’t like a movie, and she does, I generally have a positive reaction towards a movie, even to one that I wasn’t really interested in to begin with. On our 5th anniversary then, I was expecting to like Allegiant no matter what. My wife at my side, thoroughly enjoying herself, however, was not enough to persuade me into liking this film.

I can’t even say that Miles Teller was Allegiant’s saving grace. I enjoyed every scene he was in, even found myself laughing out loud at his great performance, but always his screen time was too short, and ultimately not enough for me to give a pass to the rest of the movie.

They tried way too hard to “throw curveballs” at the audience regarding plot, but I could see them from miles away, and they just ended up making the movie feel choppy and everything was executed poorly. Scenes just steamrolled right into other scenes for the purpose of hurrying things up to cram in as much as they could before, yup, setting things up for yet *groan* another Divergent series film.

Don’t even get me started on the not-even-subtle “discussions” on current issues that Allegiant shoves down the audiences’ throats when the main character (What’s her name? Trish? Triss?) all but turns to the camera and lectures America about #AllLivesMatter or something. There are cheap shots at trying to discuss other issues too, such as NSA level surveillance when *spoiler alert* it turns out that Trish and her gang of friend have been videotaped and broadcast live for thousands to watch all from birth (Truman show much? Also, how does that even work? Why did only Trish and her friends get special treatment? Or do the “NSA” people watch all people all the time from birth to death just HOPING that they’ll be watching the “important-to-the-plot” people?) Does Trish give the audience a little speech on monitoring people too? I can’t remember now since I’m already forgetting much of the movie, but I’m sure someone all but turned to the camera to lecture the audience on that topic too.

Special effects were great for the most part, but so was the CGI in the Hunger Games and Maze Runner movies, that didn’t make those great films either.

I can only recall a few really pulse-pounding, hard-hitting fist-fight scenes between Trish’s boyfriend and some baddies, but they came quite late in the movie and like Miles Teller’s scenes, they were in short supply, and not long enough to keep things interesting between the cringe worthy dialogue scenes. Jeff Daniels brings some of his Newsroom gravitas to his role, but there is only so much he can do with such a weak script. Everyone else (besides Miles Teller) phones it in acting wise. It is easy to imagine in-between takes the actors whispering to one another “We have to make another one of these?”.

With it’s dismal 12% on Rotten Tomatoes maybe Allegiant’s movie studio will follow the lead of Warner Bro’s picture when they never bothered to follow up on Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern fiasco (even though they set things up for a sequel) but with how much money they’ve pumped into this franchise, it seems like they’re hoping that they’ll pull it off Transformers style and rake in the dough from an audience whose already seen the first three movies that they might as well watch the fourth one.

Similar Movies –

Better than: The Host

Instead, Watch: The 5th Wave

1 star out of 5.

Writing and Blogging

Should I blog more? Absolutely. Do I have time to? Not really. Here’s what’s new. I am SO EXCITED to announce the release of the revised edition of Wielder of the Flame and I have a newly updated book cover to go along with the release. It features Marcus with hair that is closer to what his hair actually looks like and it also features him in the attire that Eleanor outfits him with in the colors of the relic hunter’s guild he founded the Defiant Dragoons. (Cobalt and Gold). I loved the old cover, but I like the new cover even more, as it is more true to the image I had of Marcus in my mind while writing the story. The artist is, of course, the amazing Dleoblack, whom you can contact via DeviantArt (a quick google search will pull up his name).  

I’m excited about this new edition because I got a brand new editor whom I enjoy working with and who is professionally credited with many titles credited to her name. http://www.loreleilogsdon.com/ Her site has recently been updated, so check it out!

For all of you out there wondering, am I writing book 2 in the Legacy of the Flame series? YOU BET! It’s going really great. I already had a general idea where I wanted the story to go, but I wasn’t actually expecting so many great ideas to start flowing as I’ve been writing. I keep thinking, “Oh, I think it would be good if I mentioned this little backstory about character x, because that would add another layer of depth to breathing life into him as well as explain WHY he or she did this or that.”

Anyway, I’ll try and keep up with my blogging, if anyone is even reading it, so my fans, if I have any, can stay updated on my happenings.

Beginnings

Can you feel it? That slight building of anxiety? Of excitement?

I can.

It's the beginning. The building of a legacy.

My writing. I hope I can keep it up.

This screenshot gives me chills. I can envision the future here. As the books build and build and build, I hope to do better, write more.


Gotta keep my hubris in check.

Gotta keep trying.

Have to write more.

Need to improve.

Money helps ease the financial burden, allows me to focus more on my writing.

I hope I can retire one day and focus solely on my writing.

I want my writing to be more than just a hobby.

I wish I had done all of this sooner.

Ignore the Haters.

Ignore the negativity.

Ignore the Trolls.

Keep trying.

This is it, Nik. This is the foundation, these are the BEGINNINGS.

THIS

IS

IT