Gloria Oliver's Blog, page 115

Movie Review - Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol


Starring: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Michael Nyqist, Vladimir Mashkov, Samuli Edelman, Josh Holloway, Lea Seydoux, and more.

Directed by: Brad Bird Written by: Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec Based on the Mission Impossible TV Series by: Bruce Geller Original Music by: Michael Giacchino

Premise: Ethan Hunt and his team are framed for an explosion at the Kremlin. Without support, the team follows the only clue they have to try to find the real culprit and stop him from carrying out his plans. (PG-13)

Review: This film was a lot of fun! Everything you'd expect and more.

The stunts and CGI were top notch, as were the hand to hand combat scenes. Tom Cruise makes all his jumps, leaps, slides seem smooth and easy as if he'd been born for action work. This smoothness is something which I'd noticed before in his last film "Knight and Day". Yet there are also plenty of normal people action and mishaps, with consequences for bad aiming or timing. I cringed for them a couple of times.

All the heavy serious mission tension is eased here and there by beautiful comedic moments. Even better were the flares of temper or impatience, making the team members people and not just cinematic machines.

The cinematography was gorgeous. A spanning view from the Dubai hotel to the horizon with a blooming sandstorm was incredible. Each city got wonderful spanning views and added a lot of foreign flavor.

My only complaint was a couple of items either never explained or done so quickly viewers could easily miss them. There are subtle hints but nothing is ever vocalized. This is mostly in relation to faulty equipment and the bad guy seeming to have some of the IMFs technology. But it doesn't detract too badly from the overall film.

One touch that I loved, and totally humanized some of the members, was some of the agents's reticence to actually do certain aspects of the job. Normally on these type of films the agents never hesitate to do things common people would be scrambling not to do. It was nice seeing them hesitate or actually having to work themselves up to do them. Very humanizing.

Over all, it was a great film. Definitely worth watching!

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Would Pay Full Price to See It Again!)

Picture Kaleidoscope 12/14/11

Came across all sorts of cool stuff last week. Enjoy!

From PetaPixel comes this pic of Rainbow Photographed in Candle Smoke by Grover Schrayer.

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People With The Fish They Look Like over at PetaPixel- Lol, how do you come up with the idea to do this as a theme? lol.

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From Jook Leung 360 view of the Space Shuttle Discovery's Flight Deck. Cool!

From Happy_pix Mirrored Autumn.

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NYC as the Himalayas by Peter Shankman

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Echo II, Balloon Satellite from NASA.  This thing is MASSIVE!  That's little people at the bottom.

White Horizon on Behance. Set of pics.



Dang, ran out of time.

Also, this is Promo Guinea Pig Wednesday! If you're interested, one of my publishers has placed three of my books on sale at 50% off!  You should be able to find them here. Thanks!

Mind Sieve 12/12/11

Welcome to another mental sifting Monday! Got a bigillion things to run through today. Loads of sharing going on this week.







Cool new video by Charlie. His stuff is always so fun!


New kick-ass trailer for John Carter of Mars. Love that this book is being made into a movie! YES!



From The Week - The 'Mysterious' Whale Graveyard Discovered in the Desert.



At Central Stn a cool post with a ton of pictures on Mysterious Paper Sculptures. Some of these are mind boggling.



 15 Infant Dinosaurs Found in a Nest in Mongolia from The History Blog.

Okay, this is FREAKING COOL! Miniatur Wunderland - model railways, moving miniature cars, crime scenes, moving boats. This is AMAZING!



Shea MacLeod shares Mythos Monday: Roman Misrule, Pagan Yule and An Attitude of Gratitude. Just in time for the winter holiday season!

OMG!  This is so hilariously AWESOME!  Cello Wars by the Piano Guys. (Make sure to watch when the credits hit. Killed me!)


In a cool behind the scenes look, Rumiko Takahashi (Best known for Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, and Inu Yasha) shows the process by which she creates her manga. Totally fascinating!

Trailer for the Whedon-Penned The Cabin In The Woods. Looks cool in the mystery department part. Ooo!



New preview for the Liam Neeson movie The Grey. Man Against Nature booyah!


A neat post about how America got it's name from Debra Eve - Amerigo Vespucci: The Power of Recognizing the Obvious.

German City Evacuated to Defuse WWII Bombs from the History Blog. Fascinating really. I'd heard before Jerusalem has tons of unknown and still active minefields. But it never occurred to me Germany had active bombs from British and American drops in the Rhine. Eek!

A House Fit For a Hobbit. Too cute!!!!

Charity Album for SweetRelief.org called Novum Initium - Soundtracks by various artists including Christopher Lennertz and other popular game composers.

Designing From Bones - Demon, Protector, Patsy by Gene Lempp. The Black Shuck - not your typical cuddly puppy.








Nice post from Nathan Bransford on How to Network Without Networking. Great advice!

Post by Sarah over at Glass Cases on Stop Helping Yourself. Several easy tips for queries.

Be A Tweep, Not A Tool Part 2 - Beware the #FF Firehouse by Kristen Lamb.







Weather Thesaurus Entry: Snow from The Bookshelf Muse.

From Chuck (NSFW) Wendig - 25 Financial F***-Ups For Writers. Preaching wisdom with colorful language. :P

The Seduction of Self-Publishing (or "Why I'm Glad I Didn't Have The Option 5 Years Ago) by Chuck (NSFW) Wendig. SUPERB post!

Is Your Novel A Spineless Weakling by Kristen Lamb.


Out of eyeballs and out of time. Enjoy ya'll!

Movie Review - Tower Heist

Tower Heist



Starring: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Stephen Henderson, Michael Pena, Tea Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe, Judd Hirsch, and more...

Directed by: Brett Ratner Screenplay by: Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathason Story by: Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, and Ted Griffin Original Music By: Christophe Beck

Premise: After it turns out that Arthur Shaw, both resident and board member of The Tower, has stolen all the money from the workers's retirement accounts after being asked by the manager to handle the portfolio, Josh Kovacs comes up with a scheme to try to get the employees's money back. (PG-13)

Review: The previews for this one basically say it all. Still, there were some twists and other bits that build on what's already been shown to deepen it and make it more fun. The performances were also great. Alan Alda makes a super good slimy bad guy, stabbing you in the back even as he smiles to your face. You really, really, REALLY want him to get what's coming by the time things go down. Heh.

Lots of nice little comedic moments. All the acting was superb. You feel for these people, and Josh's horror and need to do something about what's happened inadvertently to all of them because of him is very heartfelt. You even feel the frustration of Agent Denham at capturing a criminal but knowing his victims will probably never recoup the losses.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade happens at part of the film, so you get to see some of the giant floats! Big movie screen size!

Some of the twist and turns during the robbery are fun. Some suspension of disbelief will be needed in a couple of places, but things work for the most part.

Overall, it was fun and definitely entertaining. Definitely worth a look.

Rating: 3.75 our of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Picture Kaleidoscope 12/7/11

Roll 'em!

From Adam Baldwin this gorgeous patriotic pic!

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Prepare to spend hours at Desktopography. Desktop art. Just WOW!

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An album of pics for Garvan Garden Christmas lights taken by Steven Lopata. Nice!

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From 19Sixty3 a Landscape pic named Brighter Days in Zell Am See.



From About.com Photo of the Week - I Believe I Can Fly! (He just needs a cape!)



Went to a Cinemark theater a few weeks ago and got a shock! They had actual for real Slurpee Machines there! Oh the temptation! But I held back. Getting one would have meant missing part of the movie. :P



And the other morning, we had us some FOG! Felt like London or something. :P



Talk about pea soup! Heh heh.


Enjoy!

Mind Sieve 12/5/11

Welcome back for another Mind Sieve experience! Bwahahahaha!





Weird preview of a movie called The Ghastly Love of Johnny X!


Maya 2012 Apocalypse Conspiracy Blown Wide Open! from the History Blog. Yes, let the paranoia sing! Cracked me up! lol

Creating Artificial Muscles More Powerful Than Anything In Nature from EarthSky.org. There's even a cool 2+ minute video talking about it. Sweet!


Prelim info for a new Philip Gardiner film called His Name is SATAN.  New take on Jack the Ripper from 1888 to 2012. Sounds kind of interesting!

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From TL Jeffcoat Weapons Weekly - The Shikomi of the Ninja! Take that Pirates! Bwahahaha! (I am ever of the opinion ninjas can be pirates (they are spies after all) but pirates cannot ever be ninjas.) :P

This was too cute! 12 Tips For A Cat-Safe Christmas by PetFlow. Now none of my cats over the years has ever tried to climb the tree. Play with the dangling bits, eat the silver strings, but not climbed it. For that, we had ferrets. Myaka brought the tree down many times. Crazy thing! Heh heh.

What It Looks Like Inside Amazon.com from Matt Stopera. It's like looking at the warehouse from Indiana Jones. lol. And unlike warehouses I had to do inventory counts at, this one is super clean! Sweet!


The First "47 Ronin" Photos With Keanu Reeves and Jin Akanishi from Crunchyroll.com.  Seems they've changed the story line of the 47 Ronin legend to include an Anglo. lol. I'll be there though. I'ma sucker for samurai stuff.

From the History Blog - Ancient Egyptian Leather Chariot Trappings Found. Quite cool really! Never realized they'd not had a mostly intact set before!

Maintaining Crew Health One Step At A Time from NASA and the International Space Station. Honestly, totally fascinating. There are so many variables we never think about regarding space and how it affects those up there. 

7 Life Lesson You Can Learn From Star Trek by David Borgenicht. Oh yeah!

Richard Castle has published his very fist graphic novel -  Deadly Storm. Yes, from the fake author who's brought you the fun reads of Heat Wave, Naked Heat, and Heat Rises - Richard Castle is now getting into comics! lol. These guys kill me. Heck, just visit the website if for no other reason to read the synspsis of Richard Castle's non-existing other books and the synopsis on the website and covers. You have got to love these people! lol. 5 pages of non-existent books! 5!!!!

Ah an ever creepier trailer for The Woman in Black. Eek!



This is rather cool! Especially for the writerly types. From Flavorwire and Romy Oltuski - Famous Authors' Harshest Rejection Letters.

From Design Taxi - Using Only Paper, Artist Crafts Stunning Sculptures. They really are!



Designing From Bones - Port of Discovery by Gene Lempp. Ancient Egyptian pet cemetery in a port city? Who knew!








5 Reasons to Sign Up For A Writers Conference by Sarah Baughman. Some good points! And if you can't afford a fancy writers conference, there's always your fantasy and SF conventions. They have writers' tracks and some even have workshops. And they're a great place for networking as well. :)

From Rachelle Gardner - How To Write A Terrific Author Bio. Some great tips!

My Social Media Survival Guide by Jenn Reese. Yes, YES! #3!!! Number 3!!!!! Lol.

Be A Tweep Not a Tool - How Hashtags Can Win Friends and Influence Enemies by Kristen Lamb.







Writers Learn the Waiting Game by Steve Laube - Great post on the waits thrust upon us as authors and there's no way to get around it. :P

Chuck (NSFW) Wendig hits it out of the ballpark yet again with his 25 Things You Should Know About Your Completed Novel. Booyah!

Wonderful post to get across by what is meant by How to Show (Not Tell): A Writing Lesson by John LeCarre from Mary Jaksch.

Nice short blog post by Nathan Bransford on Every Writer Gets Rejected.

The NaNoWriMo Epilogue: "Miles to Go Before You Sleep" by Chuck (NSFW) Wendig. He's totally on TARGET, peeps! I've seen too many people think that the end of November is all there is to this. Nuh uh. You're only getting STARTED! Bwahahahahaha!


Okay, I've reached my eyeball limit. Have an awesome week, ya'll!

Movie Review - Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas


Starring: James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Ashley Jensen, Marc Wooton, Laura Linney and more.

Directed by: Sarah Smith Screenplay by: Sarah Smith and Peter Baynham Original Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams

Premise: An accident knocks a gift out of the conveyor belt during the Christmas deliveries. As it is but a couple of hours until dawn, the child left behind is considered an acceptable loss, except by Arthur, Santa's second son, who tries to do something about it. (Rated PG)

Review: This movie is a blast! It's also a lot deeper than one might think from seeing the previews.

I totally cracked up when the first thing they do is basically list all the reasons (and scientific ones!) as to why Santa can't exist as Arthur reads a letter sent to the north pole. Then they show us how it's done in the modern world.

I wanted a pause button desperately. There are a ton of little jokes and bits of info seeded everywhere (buttons, levers, scan screens), but they go by too fast! A lot of in-jokes too, and strangely they're mainly from SF movies and TV shows. Too fun!

The animation and CGI work was excellent. The character expressions and the voice acting superb. Grandsanta was a hoot, but Bryony, one of the wrapping elves, slayed me. Once you see Mrs Santa at work, you'll see where Steve's efficiency came from. Arthur must take after his Dad. :P

If you cried at UP, I suggest dragging a hanky or two along, just in case. There were many touching moments. Several were quite poignant. All is not perfect at the North Pole and generational issues abound. Some of the tales they tell of problems during other Christmas runs were a hoot.

A definite must see! If this doesn't get you into the Christmas spirit, nothing will. :)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission AGAIN!)

P.S. There's a music video as a bonus before the beginning of the film. Justin Beiber sings Santa Clause Is Coming To Town. And it disturbed me. It wasn't the song or the singing, and loved the steampunk look, but... Mr Beiber had a steampunk glove on his right hand and a ton of his moves were straight Michael Jackson moves. It was weird...even creepy. It may have been homage of some sort, but to me it was just disturbing. Hmmm.

Picture Kaleidoscope 11/30/11

Eye feasting time! (No, no, the other way! :P)

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The Castle Art Department shared this pic of the painting in Castle's study. He was even hinting they could share places to get it! 
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From Petapixel - Photographs recreating paintings of the old masters. This one is my favorite!


Gloss Overload by xKimJoanne. Something captivating about this one. 

Pics of the Top 10 Volcanoes To Visit in the World from Cool Story.com

Not your typical NASA pic! Heh heh. Expedition 29 Crew Lands. Something just grabbed me about this one.
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Sneak peek of John Picasio's cover for Hyperion. So cool! 

From actor Jim Beaver - Jack Daniel's in a Can (In Japan!)

Peaceful Peppermint by girltripped. Great for Christmas! heh heh.

From Lucienne Diver - Beautiful Moments. 



Way cool time lapse video of earth from orbit. 

Last but not least - Waterfall, Moonbow, and Aurora from Iceland by Stephane Vetter. A MOONBOW! Who knew there was such a thing?!?!?!
Enjoy!

Greetings!Welcome to another Mind Sieve episode of DOOM! ...

Greetings!
Welcome to another Mind Sieve episode of DOOM! :P





A cool app brought up by Petapixel called Stuck On Earth. This could be a great boon to authors wanting to write about different locals as it will give you pictures of almost anywhere. And it's Free! (Snapped it up myself! Bwahahaha)

Bullets from English Civil War Found in Newbury from the History Blog. 100 years before ours. :)

This one caught my eye from the title on the roster at the History Blog - A Map of a 19th Century Woman's Heart. Not what you might think but somewhat fascinating! Sea of Wealth indeed! lol.

K B Owen Mystery Monday: The Butler Did it? What I find funny about the findings is that a few weeks ago I watched a comedy spoof called Murder by Death from 1976 that actually said all novels of the period were always dumped on the butler. lol.

Medieval Weapons in the American Civil War by Sean McLachlan. Stuff we just don't think about for the Civil War.

And on the creepy side of discovery news - Depleted Texas Lakes Expose Ghost Town, Graves from msnbc.com.

A lovely Exclusive Amazon Interview with Terry Pratchett!


Exclusive Amazon Interview with Sir Terry Pratchett from Neal Thompson on Vimeo.

From Hijinks Ensue - Winter is Coming. Calvin and Hobbs meets George RR Martin. Hee!


People Food For Puppies by Amy Shojai. Just in time for the holidays! Do's and Don't's!

Nathan Fillion Dishes on "Castle" : Wants to Avoid 'Moonlightining Curse' on Examiner.com.

Trailer to a movie called Gone. Could be interesting!


From New Scientist and One Percent - Electronic Contact Lens Displays Pixels on the Eyes. How cool is that!

From Kate Wood and her Tursan Tuesdays (Journeys through the Celtic World): A Story of Scathach (female warrior and teacher).

From the New York Times - Where No Museum Has Gone Before! They have an exhibit where you can even smell moon dust! I'm sold! There's 11 picts with descriptions on the side. Looks fab!

This is totally adorable and great for sharing with the kids - Mars in a Minute: How Do You Get To Mars?


Saxon Graveyard Found Under Warwickshire Patio from the History Blog. Make sure to read the last sentence, cracked me up! Heh heh.

The Mayflower: A True Story and One You May Not Know by Jess Whitkins. Nice info and some pics!

Gene Lempp's Designing From Bones series - Swamp Visions. Exploring the Great Dismal Swamp in Southwest Virginia to Northeast North Carolina.

A new Simon's Cat video - Catnap.









Lisa Gail Green gives a super quickie on Why Do You Need A Platform? (Worth it just to see the funky shoes! Heh heh.)

Life After the Contract guest post by Katie Ganshert. Some nice insights!

The Most Crucial Step To Effective Book Marketing by Tony Eldrige. Tell it brother!

Debbie Ohi shares her list of resources for Google + Guide for Newbies. Huge list!

Key To Digital Marketing Success? Be Less Digital by Mark W Schaefer. Interesting results and something I've tried to live by.









From Becca Pugglisi Weather Thesaurus Entry: Summer - How to use weather in settings.

Structure Part 8 - Balancing The Scenes That Make Up Your Novel by Kristen Lamb.

Dear Dean Wesley Smith - I'm Keeping My Agent, Thanks by Jim C Hines. More common sense talk right here!

Do You Suffer From One of These Writing Maladies Part I and Part II by Nathan Bransford.


Okay dokey, I think that's it for this week. Enjoy and see you next time!

Movie Review - Hugo

Hugo



Starring: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Christopher Lee, Jude Law, Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Griffiths, Emily Mortimer, Helen McCrory, Frances de la Tour, and more.

Directed by: Martin Scorsese Based on the Book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by: Brian Selznik Screenplay by: John Logan Original Music by: Howard Shore

Premise: A young orphan doing his uncle's work at the Paris Train Station sometime after WWI finally makes headway on the puzzle/repair he and his father were working on when the latter died. Hugo is convinced that if he can just fix the automaton, it will give him a message from his deceased father. (Rating PG)

Review: The previews for this film don't begin to touch what it's about. The tale has multiple layers and each discovery spins the story into totally unexpected directions.

The theme of dreams, machines, and discovery are threaded throughout. CGI use is very subtle most of the time. So much so you will be hard pressed to tell the difference between what's real and what's not at times.

The story unfolds slowly as the world and the denizens of the train station are unveiled to the viewer. This gives the whole a great depth and wonderful layering, which will in turn support the worldview held by the protagonist.

There are no true bad guys, just people. Each trying to do the right thing in their own way. Some of the most serious are also the most humorous. And you will find yourself caring for every last one of them. Very young children probably wouldn't be entertained enough by the film, but those ten and up should find it fun and full of adventure and even magic. Adults will be even more enraptured, especially at some of the unexpected turns and discoveries.

Definitely a worth while film! (Don't want to spoil anything by saying too much! The discoveries are half the fun!)

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Would Pay Full Price to See It Again!)