Gloria Oliver's Blog, page 74

Picture Kaleidoscope 11/13/13

Argh! Life makes me late!

Was out an about the last couple of weeks so I actually have pics. :)


Texas gets all manner of clouds.



The angle and the trees looked cool. Didn't quite capture it though.


Some of the garden areas at the Shops at Legacy


Bet you can't figure out what the motif is. Heh heh

The pic came out a lot darker than the real thing. Weird!
I've misplaced some pics somewhere. Hmmmm

Mind Sieve 11/11/13

Let's see if I can get back on track!



Fan Fun
A super cute new Simon's Cat! "Scary Legs" (I know exactly how he feels!)


X-Men: Days of Future Past Trailer - looks mind bending. Sweet!



Dragon Day Trailer 1 - hmmmm.


Mr. Peabody and Sherman Trailer - this looks fun! lol.


FROZEN Official Elsa Trailer - Oooo a weird plot. I like it!



Social Media/Author PlatformFrom Kristen Lamb - Author Success - The Laws of Sowing and Reaping. Much wisdom here!

Google + Custom URLs: This Week in Social Media by Cindy King at the Socia Media Examiner.




Writing AdviceHow to Make Characters Vulnerable to Readers by Jami Gold.


Writing Resources 2 November 2013 from Gene Lempp. Tons of links in nice categories. :)


Yay for being back on schedule! Woot!

Virtual Tourist - Star Wars The Old Republic 11/10/13

Morning!
The week has been utter chaos, but I got a few pics anyway. Huzzah!

Star Wars The Old Republic
Imperial Spy
Quesh


Cute street signs!

Clump of mushrooms. Safe for eating? No clue.

Another funky Quesh plant

Symbol of the Hutt's Three Families. And major trouble makers.

Entry to the Three Families building.

Trouble ahead

Did think this floor design was cool.

Hutt in a can (or forcefield)

Now dead Hutt

Vent sitting by its little lonesome on the side of a street.

The crane is overtly guarded and those guards took out an Imperial squad. 

The crane right before I blew it up. Sadly, I can't take pics of the videos or I'd have shared the explosion too. Heh

Jedi working with the Three Families. Not a friendly guy. 
That's it for today. Have an awesome Sunday!

Movie Review - Ender's Game

Ender's Game



Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Suraj Partha, Moises Arias, Khylin Rhambo, Jimmy Pinchak, Nonso Anozie, and more.

Directed by: Gavin Hood Screenplay by: Gavin Hood Based on the Novel by: Orson Scott Card Cinematography by: Donald McAlpine Original Music by: Steve Jablonsky

Premise: After passing an unexpected final test at school, Ender, the youngest in a family of five, is invited to join the International Fleet's battle academy. The academy exist for the sole purpose of creating a great general to lead Earth against the alien adversaries who almost destroyed them seventy years prior. Colonel Graff believes Ender will be the one they're looking for. But can Ender learn the skills necessary before it's too late for mankind? (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Asa Butterfield did amazing work in his role as Ender Wiggin. The strength and brilliance of the character are easy to see, as are Ender's doubts and fears. Some really nice performances too by all the young actors involved. Harrison Ford was a great choice to play Colonel Graff. And Ford was in the film a lot more than I anticipated, which was awesome. The choice of Viola Davis to play Major Gwen Anderson not only complemented Ford's acting but also proved the perfect foil for the Colonel as Ender moves up the ranks. I also loved the work by Nonso Anozie. This is the second feature I've seen him in, and he plays his parts so very well.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: Because of the awesome efforts of the special effects team and others, this is definitely one of those films that must be seen in IMAX if at all possible. The cool Formic mother ships and the giant swarms of fighters as well as the Earth's fleets and its own ships made for some interesting fighting scenes. Even better were the changing points of view over the entire system as Ender shifted the virtual screen's direction how ever he needed them, calling for closeups, side angles, and more.

The Formic's home planet as well as the changed planet with the human base looked great - though I will say the whole jagged landscape for alien worlds is starting to get way overused recently. But it did look wonderful...

Totally loved the cool Zero G battle area. And the work on the Mind Game and the Formic themselves looked incredible. And wait until you see the cool people and fighter formations. Nice!

3) Plot/Story - Total Thumbs Up: I read the book "Ender's Game" back when it first came out in 1985, so I remember little about it. However, this worked in my favor, as I had no expectations and also couldn't anticipate key points, and was therefore surprised by several turning points in the film.

A number of themes run the length of the movie - the precarious decisions when trying to balance our actions between peace and violence, fear winning over reason, nothing is strictly black or white, always question everything, and others. I loved how several of these only become clear later in the film and not when they're actually presented. Like Ender, the audience must make what they can with the information given, even when we realize some is being withheld.

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: There are a number of fights in the film, and not all of them during training. But regardless of the type, they were expertly done. The mock battles in the Zero G chamber had great timing, were ingenious, and the kids made it all look so easy. The non sanctioned fights had a beauty and intensity all their own.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The special effects were outstanding, and so was the cinematography. Just watching the shuttle depart from the basin between an amazing set of mountains took my breath away. And the sweeping views of the academy with Earth in the background, as well as all the views on the different planets that were visited made the extra ticket price for IMAX totally worth it. The space shots in the meteor belt, during Ender's travel to the final training camp, and others were beautifully done.

Conclusion: "Ender's Game" is most definitely worth seeing. The awesome graphics, cinematography, special effects, and acting, make it one of the better films of 2013. If you can manage it, definitely see it in IMAX. The extra detail is totally worth it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again)

(Two awesome SF flicks in the same year - who knew? And about time! Yeah!)

Picture Kaleidoscope 11/6/13 - The Octopodicon Edition

Electronic device issues have somewhat messed up my schedule. Work (RL) isn't helping much either! lol.

But this past weekend I took a couple of extra days off and slummed at Octopodicon!
Loads of neat things to see there.


The Embassy Suites had a lot of cool lamps and some neat architecture. Loved this one as it looked like an upside down sea anemone holding onto its top. 

Octopodicon trophies for various contests

Homemade miniature blimp

More cool hotel lamps

The Mushroom Peddler had some amazing figurines!



Aren't they all just adorable?

Dreamers Leatherwork had amazing stuff done in leather and partially painted. He doesn't have a website though. :(

Adorable figures for a game still in process of being created. Too cute!

I believe this gorgeous bracelet was from Steamer Trunk Treasure. 

Funky architecture in the hotel's restaurant

Rie Sheridan Rose at her reading in the Scriptorium

Look closely at this hat. It's an octopus! With Glowing eyes!

Here was her complete costume

Cool steampunk goodies

This hat tried to make me covet. Sadly a little outside my price range.


Cool statue in the hotel's fountain in the lounge area

More cool costumes!

Liz in her Steampunk outfit. 

Another of Rie's

Loved the triple depth and triple colors of the ceiling

Isn't this cute????

Nice outfit!

You could pay to have your friends put in jail. Heh heh.
Gotta run!

Virtual Tourist 11/3/13

Been one busy week and weekend!

Star Wars The Old Republic
Jedi Consular
Makeb



Entrance to the Hurt underground area

The Hutts have really messed up his time



Exploiting the resources have the planet unstable.  This is how the Hutts plan to leave. Unbeknownst to them, a greedy builder has been stealing parts and if not for us trying to sterility




Energy bridges are so cool!












Sorry for the lack of commentary. Surface went belly up and typing with the Kindle is not conducive to typing. :(
Have great Sunday.

Movie Review - Carrie

Carrie


Starring: Julianne Moore, Chlöe Grace Moretz, Gabriella Wilde, Portia Doubleday, Alex Russell, Zoë Belkin, Ansel Elgort, Samantha Weinstein, Karissa Strain, Judy Greer, Katie Strain, Barry Shakaba Henley, and more.

Directed by: Kimberly Pierce Screenplay by: Lawrence D Cohen and Alberto Aguirre-Sacasa Based on the Novel by: Stephen King Cinematography by: Steve Yedlin Original Music by: Marco Beltrami

Premise: Carrie White led a very sheltered and strict life until she went to high school. An easy target, things escalate when she has her first period and she's made fun of for not knowing what it is. Her mother's emotional problems don't help the situation. But when Sue, one of tormentors that day, decides what they did to Carrie was wrong and she tries to make amends, her jilted friend Chris decides to make Carrie's magical prom night an utter nightmare. But she's not aware something has awakened inside Carrie. (Rated R)

Review: 

1) Acting - Total Thumb Up: Julianne Moore and Chlöe Grace Moretz were fantastic as the emotionally scarred mother and daughter. Moore's love and focused self hate came through clearly as each piece of her frayed memories and delusions are revealed through the film. Moretz easily conveyed her character's clashing desire to be liked but not hurt. Watching her at the prom and seeing what Carrie could be, even as we know all will go terribly wrong, just made the moment that much more poignant. Portia Doubleday as Chris was totally convincing in her self interest and inability to admit things can't always go her way.

Kudos to Barry Shakaba Henley for his role as the school principal. His expressions and utter reticence on discussing girl issues were delightful.

2) Special Effects - Thumbs Up: Most of the effects used for "Carrie" were fantastic. The telekinetic feats as Carrie comes into her power were done seamlessly and looked great. The destruction of the house, the explosions, the events at the prom, all wonderful special effects moments. Yet it was in the one thing you'd not expect there to be a problems that the film seemed to slip a bit - the pig's blood once it got all over the girl. From scene to scene the look of it on Carrie was inconsistent. And sadly, this inconsistency at the expected climax of the film drained a lot of its built up energy.

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: The plot for "Carrie" is much like the proverbial 'train wreck'. You know it's coming and you're just waiting off to the side to see how they make it happen. Lots of nice build up and views of the different pieces aligning in such a way that the film culminates in the grand chaos of an unknown power given full, free reign.

It's been years and years since I read the novel by Stephen King or seen the original film version, so it's hard to make a good comparison between the three. This version definitely had all the iconic scenes of the original. However, the advertising inferred that the chaos in this one would extend much farther than just the high school - that the entire town would be showered with Carrie's wrath - this is not the case. So like the issue with the blood, this too took away some of the expected enjoyment during the height of the film.

4) Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: There was a lot of really nice work with regards to the cinematography. Our first shot is of this well maintained, nice looking, wooden house. Then with a slow forward motion we're taken inside to find that within all is not as peaceful and idyllic as the outside implied. There were also some great shots of the location where the prom is held as the students work on setting it up. The magical transformation of the room once it is complete is much like the transformation Carrie herself goes through. And like her, it too becomes scarred as the evening reaches it's climax. Nice bit of duality there.

Conclusion: "Carrie," for the most part, does well as a remake. Unfortunately, the few spots were it failed were part of the 'payoff', so it hurt the film overall. Still, it as definitely entertaining.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Picture Kaleidoscope 12/30/13

On the eve of Halloween, let's see what can be found to astound.



Mountain Paradise by Chris Moore from Earthshots.org What a beautiful composition of colors!There are even more colorful items at his site. 

Prince Pier by Wolongshan at Earthshots.org More awesome colors! He's got some great black and white as well as long exposure night pics at his flicker account. Nice!

Mother Turns Her Baby Boy's Naptime Into Creative Dreamland Adventure Photos - photography by Queenie Liao - article by DL Cade at PetaPixel. How utterly adorable!

One Year Later: Before-and-After Photos of Hurricane Sandy Damage and Recovery - article by Michael Zhang, photography by Natan Dvir at PetaPixel. Mr Dvir has a lot of interesting photos at his site as well. 
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Great pic of The Baxter Village Halloween from their blog. Looks like they know how to have fun there!



Hope you have a spooktacular Halloween Eve!

Mind Sieve 10/28/13

Today will be a sad excuse for a blog post - so apologies!

Fan Fun
Captain America: Winter Soldier Trailer - woot!


Neighbors Official Trailer 2


Hope to be back on track next week!

Virtual Tourist - Dishonored - Dunwall City Trials 10/27/13

We were all sick this past week, so the tourism was curtailed more than usual this week...



Dishonored - Dunwall City Trials

The game has extra packs that can be purchased so one can play in the world some more. The first of them is the Dunwall City Trials. Small missions that are either puzzles, timed to achieve a goal, or stealth.
This is the 1st stealth one...Harder than you think too!

Trial 1 - you have to get 4 clues to figure out your target. Each time you play the target changes as well as the location of the clues. Eek!


Starting point for the 1st trial. Weird stuff has happened here!

This one has places to hide behind curtains. Though I still prefer the high road.

Worst housekeeper ever!

A portal. Found out that's where the target will run to escape if he/she is aware you are here.

Posh room! As you can see, things are NOT normal here.

That's it this time. Hope your sinuses are being nicer to you than mine!