Gloria Oliver's Blog, page 123

Movie Review - Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Transformers: Dark of the Moon







Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Rosey Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Leonard Nimoy, Alan Tyduk, Francis MacDormand, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong, Buzz Aldrin, and more...


Directed by: Michael Bay Written by: Ehren Kruger Original Music by: Steve Jablonky Cinematography by: Amir Mokri

Premise: Now that he's graduated from college, Sam Witwicky finds that even with a medal from the president, jobs are hard to get and that he's been shut out from all things Autobot as if he'd not had anything to do with saving the world. At the same time, secrets, previously only known by a chosen few, surface regarding a crash landing on the moon back in 1961.

Review:  Yes! YES! *fist pumping ensues!*  After the pretty yet dismal story/believability of the second Transformers film, this third attempt pays off and pays off BIG!

There's tons to love about this one. Just about everyone is back! Yes, we did lose Megan Fox, but we gained Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.  Another pretty face to be sure, but her character has definite skills and loads of moxie. Her character is more than just decoration, she makes a difference.  Hooray! And more than just the girls scream like little girls in the movie! Double hooray! (heh heh)

The CGI and cinematography are outstanding! Some really nice work incorporating original 1961 and 1969 footage with new stuff in order to set up one of the coolest and scarily fitting coverups ever! It got even better when they later bring in the real thing, like Buzz Aldrin, who admit to the conspiracy of silence later on. Sweet!

Tons of Tranformer change sequences, many slowed down so you can actually see the parts folding, molding, etc.  There was a lot of great use of slow motion scenes. The skydiver unit falling past fiery helicopters was breath taking. Awesome combat sequences. Moon shots. Explosions. And the highway scene where Decepticons are flipping cars - the amount of work that went into making it all seem real totally worth it as it was fabulous!

With Leonard Nimoy in the cast as Sentinel Prime they went in-joke happy. Listen closely to Bumble Bee and Sentinel for familiar lines out of Star Trek. Too cute! And the twist to one of them was precious. (But they're in there in such a way that they work even if you don't know they're there. Nice!)

Alan Tyduk was a fun addition to the cast making a nice foil to John Turturro's wackiness.  Ken Jeong was hilarious! So while this was a darker, more grim Transformers movie, it also had many light moments.

Plot was tighter, better, and almost makes up for Transformers 2. :P  Though there were still a spot or two where things didn't quite add up - unexpected departure of Decepticons at end with no reason (you'll see), how a line of super shiny cars can't be seen from the air, and a couple of spots where the humans should have been squishy. Will give them this though, on a couple of those, at least the person was hurt and didn't come through intact, so some modicum of believability was attempted.  And there weren't many, which was great.

Everyone is out for blood on this one. Casualties on the side of the machines and humans - no mercy. So this is definitely not a film for young kids.  A warning just in case.

Have to keep your eyes and ears peeled! There's several pieces of plot or information that sets off other actions that if you blink you'll miss, which will make other things not seem to make sense - but they were covered.  One particular bit is something Carly witnesses, which she is smart enough to make use of later, but far enough down the road that with so much going on, viewers might forget. (There's one with Bruce Brazos though that made it seem something was lost on the cutting room floor - luckily that one was not critical.)

If you can afford it, definitely see it in IMAX 3D. CGI was made for IMAX 3D. Just so much sharper and transitions less blurry than Real 3D. Just watching the trailer in 2D, Real 3D, and IMAX 3D said all that needed to be said as to what was the best choice for me. :)

So for a fun SF romp with bots, battles, space, shape shifting machines, greed, betrayal, and more - go check this one out!  You won't be sorry!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5! (Hubby's Rating - Would Pay Full Price To See It Again)

Movie Review - Cars 2

Cars 2

 
Starring: Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzards, John Turturro, and more... 
Directed by: John Lasseter and Brad Lewis  Screenplay by: Ben Queen  Story by: John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, and Dan Fogelman  Original Music by: Michael Giacchino Premise: Mater inadvertently gets Lightning McQueen to enter the World Grand Prix. Except unbeknownst to them, the WGP will be the site of a nefarious plot! Mater gets thrown into the mix as he is in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets marked as a US spy. Review:  All the great characters from the original CARS are back and much fun is to be had.  Just like the original CARS followed closely the plot of the movie Doc Hollywood, CARS 2 is a combination of James Bond epics and Bob Hope's My Favorite Spy.
Anything that has CGI in it that comes out in IMAX pretty much must be SEEN in IMAX to be most thoroughly enjoyed. CARS 2 is well worth it. The amount of awesome detail the Pixar folks gave to each of the four countries our heroes travel in (Japan, France, Italy, England) and their customs and the look and feel of the real places, yet mutating them just slightly so they fit into the CARS universe was phenomenal! (And yes, there are some Japanese toilets that do seem that complicated!)

While a spy story with loads of great chases, mistaken identities, covert ops, secret plots, super cool gadgets and more, it still centers around the main theme of the friendship between McQueen and Mater. Also a big lesson that despite what you are given by life, you can choose to make more of it and never judge a book by its cover. 

The story was solid, clues given along the way if you keep your eyes peeled. I did feel sorry for the lemons, though I will say from personal experience that Hugos were totally dependable cars and served me well, so not sure why they picked on them. :P

Be on the look out for in-jokes or homage bits. Several places in other Pixar films show up (the restaurant in Ratatouille among them). The pre film short based on Toy Story was darling!

Overall it was a super fun film with loads of great sequences and will leave you with a happy heart when it ends. (No extra stuff after the credits, though the background stuff during the credits was most amusing and some of it totally neat.)

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby said it was Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids




Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Rebel Wilson, Chris O'Dowd, Matt Lucas, Wendy McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, and more...

Directed by: Paul Feig   Written by: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo  Original Music by: Michael Andrews

Premise: Annie Walker has had a run of bad luck in her life and is trying to cope. Things get more complicated when her best friend suddenly gets engaged. Annie is asked to be the matron of honor and is happy to do so until she meets the rest of the bridesmaids. One of whom is trying to upstage her as BFF.

Review:  If you like the type of humor in The Hangover, you should love Bridesmaids.  Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, in just about every level of Annie's life. Body humor, crude humor, and bad situation humor abounds.

Not normally my cup of tea, so on a humor level the film did little for me. I was pretty much teary eyed or crying for about the last half of the thing, however, empathizing with just about everyone. lol. (Sometimes it's the curse of an author - seeing all sides.) :P 

Annie's self destructive spiral is well understandable, especially when pushed along by Helen. So when she finally gets a clue and starts to pick herself up, you're cheering for her. And they don't make it simple either. There's the point (for a while anyway) where you see that you can be sorry all you want, but it doesn't mean you'll be forgiven. Kudos to them for that.

Watch Melissa McCarthy, this is such a deviation from anything I'd seen her do before I didn't even recognize her for a while. Her character seems insane, but she was the funniest one of the bunch. And Megan has deeper, unexpected layers. 

Well acted, well scripted, just not my type of humor. So again, if you enjoyed the Hangover, this should be for you! Enjoyable by both guys and galls, if you like that style.

Rating: 3 of 5 (But again, I didn't enjoy the Hangover) Hubby was out of town, but in absencia I'm still sure he'd be saying Worth Full Price of Admission for him) :)

Picture Kaleidoscope 6/29/11

Let's see what I can share with you this week. Almost forgot to do the entry! Doh!

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Had an unexpected visitor last week. I'd seen him once before but not this close. It's a hawk or falcon (I don't know enough to tell the difference). What was amazing was I only noticed him after I was out of the garage in the car and half way into the alley. I stopped, fished for the phone and took the pic. He just kept glancing at me on occassion to make sure I wasn't going to jump out or something. Was honestly shocked he let me hang around and take the pic. :P  Now if the phone had done better...

The Astronomy Picture of the Day was quite awesome last week. I don't even know how to describe the thing. Just go look at it and read the explanation. The light displays are fantastic. Even more so as you read what they are.

Jerry Davis pointed this place out - Dear Photograph. Cool project where people take a picture and place it over the area it was taken in and take a picture of that. Really neat!

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A new closeup of Titan's Largest Moon! From Wired.com
From 19Sixty3 comes this cool, very noir seeming picture called Wandering On The Common. Just something about it calls to me. Like a murder mystery about to unfold!

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Fluffy clouds and blue skies are back! Sweet![image error]

Mind Sieve 6/27/11

It's going to be a full mashup this week!





FanOfMovies shared a link to a new Muppets Movie Spoof Trailer. Heh heh





Jerry J Davis shared a link to A Wonderful Collection of Doodles on NetFlix Envelopes!

VoiceOfBrien ran across a new lego set - All Hail the Lego Super Star Destroyer. (I wants!!!!)

Eclipse Magazine has the scoop on all things Torchwood: Miracle Day - more than just a TV series.  (Everything is becoming so interactive! How am I supposed to find time to do all this stuff! But so cool!)

Some David Tenant news right from the horse's mouth! He'll be doing a tribute in the next Dr Who Magazine to Nicolas Courtney (The Brigadier). He's also is working with Catherine Tate again (Donna Noble) in Much Ado About Nothing. 

These guys followed me after I posted about the Zombie Walk at SoonerCon. Believe it or not, there is a Zombie School! They're doing all sorts of Zombie research. :)

Adding this last minute. Too cool and fun to pass up. Meet Charlie. This starts out mundane then takes a turn. Loved IT!







Ross Dawson explains 7 Reasons Twitter is Central to His Life. Pretty much explains why the heck you want to get involved in this crazy stuff. Heh heh

Jami Gold shares her thoughts on What We Should Blog About and gets there by looking at What Makes You Decide to Buy a Book!

Kristen Lamb gives us More Sacred Cow-Tipping–Common Blogging Misconceptions. Some great ideas on blogging. (I'm already doing some of this. Monday - Mind Sieve Mashup, Wednesday - Picture Kaleidoscope, Friday (when I can!) Movie Reviews. Oh yeah!)

Collen Lindsay shared this post by Scott Tracey - Authors Use of Twitter. Great stuff in here guys! (And I totally try to do Road #1. So if you follow me and I don't follow back, it's not because I don't care. I just can only handle so many tweets scrolling by. But feel free to @ me and I will happily converse with you (work permitting!).)

PamMktNut shared a link to a post from Reviewz N Tips on Things Not To Do in Blogging.Good mind fodder info here.

Kristen Lamb's latest Twitter Tuesday wisdom - Learning to T.H.I.N.K. (Never forget, once it gets on the internet, it's forever! Kinda scary really.) :P





What Are the Odds...Really? Kristen Lamb takes a hard look at Success and what it takes to get there.

Gene Lempp shared a link to a post by ALI on How to Cut the Waffle From Your Writing. Definitely some good points and things to watch for here!

Gene also shared a link to Killer Instincts: Trusting Your Writer's Compass by Janice Hardy. The on thing to keep in mind though is that not everyone has it right off, you do tend to have to cultivate it. Just saying... I know I'm still working on mine. :)

What Star Trek Can Teach Us About Writing by Kristen Lamb.I only partially agree with this post, but only because some of the science they used in the film wouldn't work. Specifically the whole Spock and Scott beaming Kirk to a MOVING ship. Especially since they had no idea WHERE it was. So do make sure your science/tech works as well - devil in the details. :P


Ack, I had a ton more blogs to check out but my brain is now pureed. See what I go through for ya'll? :P

Gloria
www.gloriaoliver.com

Movie Review - Green Lantern

Green Lantern


Starring:  Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Tim Robbins, Geofrey Rush, Michael Clark Duncan, Clancy Brown, Temuera Robinson, and more.

Directed by: Martin Campbell  Written by: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, and Michael Goldberg. Based on the DC Comics: Green Lantern

Premise: Test pilot Hal Jordan gets kidnapped by a mysterious light which takes him to the side of a dying alien. Abin Sur informs Hal that he has been chosen as his replacement in the Green Lantern Corps.

Review: I've been familiar with Green Lantern for a long time, having been a comic geek for most of my life. While Green Lantern was not one of my main reads, I ran into him from time to time so all the names, locations, and things were very familiar. Not being too close is good otherwise I might be tempted to pick it apart as a purist. :) But even so I did notice some changes. Not that they weren't good changes, mind you!  Several of them actually gave more depth to the whole mythology in my opinion.

The Guardians and the planet Oa were awesome! Totally loved where they went with the look and feel of the place. I totally loved that a lot of the attitudes against humans that showed up in the series was preserved here. The travel gateway for the Lanterns was also pretty cool. Basically all the space stuff was great!

I very much liked the explanations of the Green Lantern suit. Gave it a big SF boost. I also liked the new rendition of the Lantern itself - looking more alien and fluid looking. They also gave the power of the lanterns a meaning - Will. In the comics yellow was a color the GLs had no power over. Here it isn't the color itself but the power the color represents, which is Fear.  In the film they are toted as opposites rather than something it had no effect against. But overall worked well.

Loved Ryan Reynolds as GL.  He really lent a lot of feeling and even comedy to the role. Hal's switch to truly embrace his destiny wasn't as good it should have been (too quick and sudden) but Reynolds did what he could with it. The love interest got some actual background and personality, which was great.

The one thing they did that I utterly loved was keeping the imaginative ways to use the power of the ring I'd always seen in the comics. I always felt it was that spark of kid like imagination that made Hal Jordan so capable as a GL. Wish they could have done more, but what they had was great!

Overall, it was visually outstanding, the plot decent, the characters fleshed out pretty well. Make sure to sit through the credits! There's just a bit more. And something that fans of the series will have been looking for. Only thing I didn't like about that was that even though I knew it was coming, there was not enough there to show/support why it happened. Because as things had been left, there was no reason for it. You'll see what I'm talking about when you see the film. :P

Rating: A strong 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth full price of Admission)

Picture Kaleidoscope 6/22/11

Picture Kaleidoscope is back to its regularly scheduled format. Until the next convention that is. :P

Happened to see this funky race car on the way to a doctor's appointment last week. Looks pretty spiffy!


Chuck Wendig found a super huge spider. Do NOT click this link if you don't like spiders, because this sucker is Super Creepy!


Love the interplay between the sun, the clouds, the shadows, and the blue sky.


Loved the golden glow!
Chuck Wendig's new son eats and invisible sandwich. :)

Anyone who's acquainted with anime also knows about Pocky. You know something is definitely part of US culture when you can find it at Walmart. And at a decent price too! If you've never had Pocky, I very much encourage you to try it out! Yum!

Rain threatens off in the distance.
19Sixty3 did some cool color manipulation on The Power Station.

Tuesday morning post storms. I don't think Mother Nature is quite done yet. :)
Pixmarket shared this great pick from Earthshots.org - Marching Little Owl. Too cute!!!


That's it for this week. Enjoy!

Gloria
http://www.gloriaoliver.com/

MInd Sieve 6/20/11

Mashup, mashup, mashup!  Loads of stuff this past week.

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From FansOfMovies I learned about this article from the Hollywood Reporter about Beasts of Burden being brought to the big screen!

Totalfilm came the news that Neil Gaiman's "
JamesRollins shared a link to 30 Things You Might Not Know About Raiders of the Lost Ark - list composed for the films 30th Anniversary! (I feel so old!)

StarBase75 shared a link to DVICE and their list of 12 Ways Technology Has You Living Star Trek's Future Today. (Hee! I love the bedrooms!)




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Building Real Connection With Real People by Darlene Quinn. Lots of great points! I know I've had great benfits from putting the relationships ahead of the advertising. :)

JP Jones shares 10 Ways To Improve Your Author Website.  I have just about all of these items and totally agree with him!

Kristen Lamb talks about More Sacred Cow-Tipping: Blogging Misconceptions. (This one seemed real familiar but could be I read it and forgot from earlier. Anyway, good stuff to know.)

Chuck Wendig's Official Writers Guide to Blogging About Blogging. A semi-rebuttal to Kristen's blog as well as his own two cents on the matter. Hee! (Of course he's showing one of the benefits of blogging. Getting blogging fodder by reading other blogs! Now if I had a clone...) (NSFW)

Twitter Tuesday -




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Carolyn Kaufman shows us the difference between Psychotic and Psycopathic!  She also has a post on Cardboard Cutouts Make Rotten Villains.

Chuck Wendigs tells us 25 Things You Should Know About Plot. (NSFW)

Rejection and Recovery by Philip Isles.  Awesome stuff to keep in mind.

Gary Smailes shares 6 Publishing Secrets Writers Need to Know. You tell 'em, brother!

Gene Lempp tickles our imaginations with Tunnel of the Dead. Great way to get your imagination pumping!

Okay, I think that's it. Till next time!

Gloria
http://www.gloriaoliver.com/[image error]

Movie Review - Super 8

Super 8



Starring: Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Joel McKinnon Miller, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Gabriel Basso, Zach Mills, Jessica Tuck, Ron Eldard, Glynn Turman, Noah Emmerich, Bruce Greenwood, and more.

Directed by: JJ Abrams Written by: JJ Abrams Original Music by: Michael Giacchino

Premise: A group of kids, out at night trying to film a zombie movie for a contest, witness a train crash and catch some of it on film. Then strange things begin happening around town.

Review: From the first time I saw a preview, the movie screamed ET remake. But a more serious, grittier, uglier ET remake. And it was, which was fine by me.

Special effects, as with all Spieldberg productions, were superb. What was interesting, however, was the filming style. They went back and used a look from the old days - don't know if it was old equipment or just new equipment that can do old style or what, but I noticed it right away. It was almost as if on several levels, the film was full of in-jokes for filmmakers, taking them back to their roots. You'll notice these extended light bands on the screen on night scenes, which were prevalent during Spieldberg's super hey day films like ET and Close Encounters of the Third kind. So JJ dod some homage to him, but also to himself and others and all their efforts back when they first got started making movies in 8mm and creating the cheapest types of films you could get away with, like horror/zombie films. (Bruce Campbell's book If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor goes into a lot of the youthful movie making attempts by him, Sam Raimi, and Robert Tapert, and I could see the same energy/need/excitement with the kids in the film. Quite fun!)

There are several subplots thrown into the mix of the main mystery, which eventually cross as matters unfold and the characters grow. Several of these subplots aren't spoken of directly, but are well shown for us to pick up, rather than be told. And not everything is exactly as it might appear either.

The kids were great! Joel Courtney was excellent as Joe Lamb.  Elle Fanning thrilling as Alice, making it especially fun when out of the filming group, Alice is actually the only one who can act. Riley Griffiths and Ryan Lee are great comic relief foils. Felt sorry for Gabriel Baso as not only did he have to wear the dorkiest pair of glasses on the planet, but has to prove his skills in barfing, not once but twice! Heh heh.

Unlike the original ET, the extra terrestrial in Super 8 is mostly sensed and not seen or even directly involved with most of the action. The only shortcoming, in my opinion, was that a skill given to the escapee and a pivotal reason matters unfolded as they did in the first place, would have made a few choices it made later rather hard to believe, but then again I wasn't the one kept by the government. Our original ET might not have been so sweet and just wanting to phone home if he'd had the same treatment as this extra terrestrial.

The films starts slow as it weaves daily life for us and then picks up lots of speed. The main baddy, Nelek, could have used more rounding, but Noah Emmerich worked quite well with what he was given. My new catch phrase will have to be "Production Value" lol. You'll understand when you see it.

Overall it was a very enjoyable film.  And make sure to stay for the credits as you'll get a treat.

Rating: 4 out of 5.  (Hubby's rating: Worth full price of Admission.)

Picture Kaleidoscope 6/15/11 - The Akon 22 Edition

Hit my second convention in two weeks - Akon 22 in Dallas.
Did end up forgetting to charge my big camera and left it at home, so you'll have to put up with phone pics. Don't know why but I've been having trouble with the focuse suddenly, so a few of these are not as clear as I'd hoped. :(



Dallas skyline view from the Sheraton's 20th Floor. Saw the big panoramic view from the 38th but too much was happening to get that one. *hangs head in shame*

My table in Artists' Alley upstairs.  I shared the table with Chibi Chains. (My daughter!) She makes some really cool and colorful chain mail jewelry. Thinking of investing on a split banner now that she has a logo. We'll see. Heh heh. (Totally outsold me! Bah!) :)

This year A-kon had a DollCon as these expensive Japanese dolls have been growing in popularity. I'd not seen one in a kimono before though. She was lovely. (Focus, why? Why?!?!)

She was too bizarre to let go by! lol. Jiggling donuts. (OMG, I only just now noticed girl #2 and what she's doing. DOH! ROFL)

This guy's costume was excellent. And he'd painted himself top to bottom. What made the picture more priceless was that he was holding a cell phone. Bwahahahaha! Technology will take over the Navi (Hope that's right - memory is shot) as he's using a cellphone. Heh heh. (After I took the pick, he connected his hair/tail to it to update his contacts and email. Hee!)

The angry bear head was too good to not take a picture of. (You'd be angry too if you were plaid.) :P

Steampunked to the Nines! Loved how the pic silvered their eyes. Makes them look like andriods. :)

So much pink! So much cuteness! (And so sadly out of focus. Darn you guy with notebook! lol)

Artist next door was very busy. As you can see.

Out of the game and the movie Resident Evil: Afterlife, the mean scary bad guy dude from hey! Hammer looked awesome!

Had to take two of these guys because I was trying to get a good angle on the cat! It's eating her arm. Heh heh.


Loved her wig and costume. There were so many I didn't get pics of. Truly some amazing stuff this year.

Batgirl in an incarnation I had not seen before.

Steampunk Pricess Dreadlocks. Hee hee!

From Soul Eater. This one was AWESOME! Had the inside soul, the disturbing smime, but best of all the sword had the mouth and tongue. See the next one as you can see it in profile. Amazing.

My one and only pic of the huge "Ladies of Trade Town" debut!! I'm sure there are others out there. There were enough of us authors in the antho there to need two separate signing tables. You can see Brandie Tarvin, Elizabeth Moon, and more.

A-kon has always had ads and instructions advicing cleanliness whenever possible. This year they had stickers too! Heh heh

Loved this Egyptian style outfit

Okay, I've tortured you enough for one week. We'll be back to standard operating procedure until the next convention in August. Heh heh