Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Where Have All the Good Movies Gone?

During the month of May we went to two movies in the theater: Thor and Pirates 4. Sadly, I found both to be a bit disappointing. Maybe I've just become pickier about movies, but I thought both movies had a lot more potential. I'll try not to reveal any spoilers (at least any that aren't obvious) in my reviews:

The good: This movie was visually very good. I thought all the effects looked really cool, and I liked the overall feel of the film. It was an adventure, but it could have been a LOT better.
The bad: I thought the characters were really weak. They could have shown a lot more character development for Thor. Not to give too much away, but it was like he just all of a sudden flipped a switch and did all his growing all at once and everyone could see he was different. I'd like to see that take more time, or see him go through something more emotionally challenging that takes more of the movie. I just didn't end up caring about him, or really any of the other main characters. To be honest, I thought the most interesting character was the gatekeeper. I would've liked to know more about him.

The good: Visually everything looked okay...but I can't really think of anything I liked.
The bad: To be honest, I was bored. Although I wasn't offended about anything, I actually considered leaving because I felt like I was wasting my time. As amazing as Captain Jack Sparrow was in the first Pirates movie, I'm done with him. I just don't think he's a deep enough character to carry more than one (let alone four!) movies. He doesn't (much) about people, and I don't see really any character development over the course of the films. If anything, I think the movie would have been better if they explored the relationship with his father as opposed to some woman he cares about that we've never seen before. And of course they left the door open for yet another sequel...

Monday, May 30, 2011

A Post of Lists

I keep telling myself I'm going to blog more, and then another month and a half goes by without writing a word...I don't feel especially verbose at the moment, but at the same time I feel like writing. Strange combination, I know, which I think will amount to a post of lists.

I've been feeling extremely blessed lately. Here are 5 of the many reasons I'm blessed:

  1. I have a husband I adore that loves me despite my imperfections.
  2. I'm surrounded by supportive friends that I get to see on a regular basis.
  3. I like, respect and have a good relationship with my parents and my in-laws.
  4. I have close friends I can go for months without talking to, yet pick up exactly where we left off once we do finally talk.
  5. Despite there being a lot of things I want, I have more than I actually need.
Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to be born in a different time. I wonder how I would do being cooped up knitting all day, what it would be like living in a tribal culture, or what my opinions of current events would have been - without knowing the end result. 


All of this also gets me thinking about how technology has changed so much more than adding the convenience of shopping from your living room or streaming movies through to your TV. As much as I enjoy Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Blogger, etc., I think it's easy to get distracted from real, face-to-face socialization. That being said, here is a list of what I like about my favorite types of social media:
  • Facebook:
    • Most of my friends use it.
    • The new groups feature is a handy way to plan an event.
    • Sharing pictures is easy, especially when tagging people.
    • It can enhance existing relationships (although not replace them).
  • Twitter:
    • It's an easy way to get news headlines.
      • I can get score updates for teams I care about in real-time.
    • Tumblr:
      • I can get brief news summaries.
      • It's easy to share / discover interesting content with / from people I don't know.
      • Sharing content doesn't require much thought.
    • Blogger:
      • I like writing longer blog posts here than on Tumblr for some reason. Not quite sure why.

    Aaaaaand my brain just jumped to movies. So here's a list of new movies I want to see:
    Wow, there are numbers in each of those movies titles...weird. 



    To change topics again, I'm switching to animals. I recently realized I'm not an animal person. As much as I find pictures / videos adorable, I'm just not into taking care of them...maybe that's why I prefer wild animals? Here's a list of my top 5 wild animals:
    1. Giraffes
    2. Polar Bears
    3. Penguins (especially this one)
    4. Ducks
    5. Alpacas
    On that note, I'm going to call this post complete.