Hello All,
So...I just saw Amanda Seyfreid's and Gary Oldman's new movie, "Red Riding Hood" and when I tell you that it is WORSE than "Twilight" -trust me, because it is!
And what makes me so mad is that it had SUCH potential. I mean, come on, you're taking from an OLD story, and you have the ability to change it in any way possible, and you choose that?!?
First of all, don't make the adults so obviously despicable. We get it, the teens are the heroes. And why does there have to be a love triangle? Why does this ONE GIRL have to be so irresistible that everyone is obsessed with her? Even a freaking feral dog?!
I will give the writer credit for this, the Wolf was NOT who I expected it to be, so kudos on creativity. But I gotta say -really? REALLY? I mean, those lines were SOO sexual -you just CAN'T do that! It's creepy! About twenty minutes into the film, I thought of another interesting possibility that would make a good Wolf to be obsessed with the main character, Valerie, and the film did suggest that it could be going this way, but then it turned around and turned terrible and just plain sketchy. I won't give away who the Wolf is, but just know that you will NOT be happy about it.
The writing and dialogue was mediocre, at best, and a wider audience could have been reached -and freaked out- with some more graphic detail when considering those killed in the film. The audience could barely see them, and I truly believe that we would have been more scared or more psychologically freaked out if we could have seen these injuries.
There were so many cliches throughout the film that it was laughable, and some of the set pieces were a little too obviously fake. What was with the pointy-branched trees? Every single tree had branches that were all the same length with a big point at the end, no leaves or other branches on them. I was just..."whaaaa?"
After the movie, my best friend and I walked, talking about how terrible we thought it was, and we decided we should rewrite it the way it should be. This probably won't happen, because we are both busy with school, but if you do read this blog, you may be seeing some excerpts from a Red Riding Hood-inspired story up here every once in a while.
Thank you for reading,
Amy Liz
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Spring Break Distractions, 2am Edition
Hello again,
So it's pretty late tonight, and I can't really get to sleep, so I'm chattin' with some people online, and listening to music (Avril Lavigne's new cd, Goodbye Lullaby -so far, so good) and reading some random fanfics.
Yes, I just said "fan fiction." I know I've done such a "great" job of hiding it, but I'm a geek. So anyway, I'm tired, and I'm basically rambling right now, so I thought I'd give out credits to my favorite fan fiction story, talk about my recent re-obsession with one of my favorite video games, and maybe talk about the books I plan of reading at some point this year.
First off, there's my favorite story about my favorite anime, Princess Tutu.
For the few people who do read this and don't know what Princess Tutu is, it's a twisted version of Swan Lake, the ballet, with a little duck that transforms into a girl and a "super hero" who's trying to save her crush, a fairytale prince, from an evil Raven that's trying to take over the town and kill the prince. It's amazing and adorable and it's storytelling at it's best. Check it out.
Anyway, the end of the show leaves faithful fans very unsatisfied concerning the relationship between the main character, Duck (Ahiru, if you're more into the Japanese version, despite ADV's fantastic dubbing) and the male lead, Fakir (not the prince). This fan fiction, This Pendent Heart: A Princess Tutu Fan-made Light Novel, by LunaSphere and Mangaka-chan is a continuation of the story from where the show left off, and it's incredibly well written and the characters are very true to their personalities from the show, and you really get the feeling that this could be an actual continuation of the show.
I love it, and I needed to gush about it.
After Kingdom Hearts, one of my favorite video games for the PlayStation 2 is Sly Cooper and it's respective sequels. Over break, I made it my mission to play the second game, Sly 2: Band of Thieves again, and it's a little "all consuming", if I'm just sitting there with nothing else to do all day. It's a huge, interactive world, and you can play as one of three characters, play out different missions and fight bosses and creepy cops and stuff...it's awesome. I like the second game a lot more than the first, but I think that's only because the first one was harder, and the third one was just a really bad story line, so I think Sly 2 is a good balance of easy play and good story.
Finally, I'll leave you with my book list for now until the end of the semester:
Red Riding Hood (based on the movie with Amanda Seyfreid)
Good Omens, by Neil Gaimon
Devil's Kiss, by Sarwat Chadda
Okay, I think that's it for tonight. I'm going to bed.
Thanks for reading,
Amy Liz
So it's pretty late tonight, and I can't really get to sleep, so I'm chattin' with some people online, and listening to music (Avril Lavigne's new cd, Goodbye Lullaby -so far, so good) and reading some random fanfics.
Yes, I just said "fan fiction." I know I've done such a "great" job of hiding it, but I'm a geek. So anyway, I'm tired, and I'm basically rambling right now, so I thought I'd give out credits to my favorite fan fiction story, talk about my recent re-obsession with one of my favorite video games, and maybe talk about the books I plan of reading at some point this year.
First off, there's my favorite story about my favorite anime, Princess Tutu.
For the few people who do read this and don't know what Princess Tutu is, it's a twisted version of Swan Lake, the ballet, with a little duck that transforms into a girl and a "super hero" who's trying to save her crush, a fairytale prince, from an evil Raven that's trying to take over the town and kill the prince. It's amazing and adorable and it's storytelling at it's best. Check it out.
Anyway, the end of the show leaves faithful fans very unsatisfied concerning the relationship between the main character, Duck (Ahiru, if you're more into the Japanese version, despite ADV's fantastic dubbing) and the male lead, Fakir (not the prince). This fan fiction, This Pendent Heart: A Princess Tutu Fan-made Light Novel, by LunaSphere and Mangaka-chan is a continuation of the story from where the show left off, and it's incredibly well written and the characters are very true to their personalities from the show, and you really get the feeling that this could be an actual continuation of the show.
I love it, and I needed to gush about it.
After Kingdom Hearts, one of my favorite video games for the PlayStation 2 is Sly Cooper and it's respective sequels. Over break, I made it my mission to play the second game, Sly 2: Band of Thieves again, and it's a little "all consuming", if I'm just sitting there with nothing else to do all day. It's a huge, interactive world, and you can play as one of three characters, play out different missions and fight bosses and creepy cops and stuff...it's awesome. I like the second game a lot more than the first, but I think that's only because the first one was harder, and the third one was just a really bad story line, so I think Sly 2 is a good balance of easy play and good story.
Finally, I'll leave you with my book list for now until the end of the semester:
Red Riding Hood (based on the movie with Amanda Seyfreid)
Good Omens, by Neil Gaimon
Devil's Kiss, by Sarwat Chadda
Okay, I think that's it for tonight. I'm going to bed.
Thanks for reading,
Amy Liz
Spring Break Distractions, part two
Hello All,
I think I'm doing Spring Break wrong. I'm cold, I'm bored, and I'm not drunk right now, at 12:50 am on Thirsty Thursday. I'm more pathetic than I thought, I guess.
Thanks for reading about my pathetic little interlude,
Amy Liz
I think I'm doing Spring Break wrong. I'm cold, I'm bored, and I'm not drunk right now, at 12:50 am on Thirsty Thursday. I'm more pathetic than I thought, I guess.
Thanks for reading about my pathetic little interlude,
Amy Liz
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Spring Break Distractions, part one
Hey All,
So, I'm on Spring Break right now, and let me tell you, up where I am, it's not very "springy."
It's freaking cold.
Anyway, my goals for this break were three things:
-Clean my room
-Apply for jobs
-Do homework
Exciting, I know.
However, I don't know if any of that is going to happen as soon as I had hoped because...being home is distracting.
There's friends to see, errands to run, old movies to watch...again....
That's right, I'm rewatching old kid-movies during my Spring Break. I'm a loser. Whatever.
I just finished "The Secret of NIMH", and "The Swan Princess" is up next on my list, as a tribute to the soon-to-be-released "Black Swan," starring Natalie Portman (March 29, 2011).
It's not just old movies that I'm watching this vacation. Saturday night I saw Johnny Depp's newest movie, "Rango," and it was...interesting, to say the least. It wasn't really a kid's movie, like I expected. Instead the adult theme and western qualities of the film made it seem more like a Western disguised as a kid's movie. Good, but weird.
I also saw Rachel McAdam's latest film, "Morning Glory" the other night, and while it was a little cliched in terms of writing and a little weak in the story line, it was a decent representation in the duties and responsibilities of a television producer.
Okay, that's it for now,
Thanks for reading!
Amy Liz
So, I'm on Spring Break right now, and let me tell you, up where I am, it's not very "springy."
It's freaking cold.
Anyway, my goals for this break were three things:
-Clean my room
-Apply for jobs
-Do homework
Exciting, I know.
However, I don't know if any of that is going to happen as soon as I had hoped because...being home is distracting.
There's friends to see, errands to run, old movies to watch...again....
That's right, I'm rewatching old kid-movies during my Spring Break. I'm a loser. Whatever.
I just finished "The Secret of NIMH", and "The Swan Princess" is up next on my list, as a tribute to the soon-to-be-released "Black Swan," starring Natalie Portman (March 29, 2011).
It's not just old movies that I'm watching this vacation. Saturday night I saw Johnny Depp's newest movie, "Rango," and it was...interesting, to say the least. It wasn't really a kid's movie, like I expected. Instead the adult theme and western qualities of the film made it seem more like a Western disguised as a kid's movie. Good, but weird.
I also saw Rachel McAdam's latest film, "Morning Glory" the other night, and while it was a little cliched in terms of writing and a little weak in the story line, it was a decent representation in the duties and responsibilities of a television producer.
Okay, that's it for now,
Thanks for reading!
Amy Liz
Friday, March 4, 2011
YouTube
Hello All,
You wanna know what's really distracting?
YouTube.com
I saw a link to a video on my friend's Facebook wall, so I clicked it and was happily entertained for about four minutes, and just as I was about to click out of the window, YouTube suggested other videos of similar quality for me to watch.
And I did.
I've been watching Tobuscus's "Literal Trailer" videos for about 30 minutes now. I have homework to be doing. And it's not getting done. Thank you, Tobuscus.
You wanna know what's really distracting?
YouTube.com
I saw a link to a video on my friend's Facebook wall, so I clicked it and was happily entertained for about four minutes, and just as I was about to click out of the window, YouTube suggested other videos of similar quality for me to watch.
And I did.
I've been watching Tobuscus's "Literal Trailer" videos for about 30 minutes now. I have homework to be doing. And it's not getting done. Thank you, Tobuscus.
What's distracting me from my work?
Hello there,
It's a cold but sunny day here in Boston, so that in itself is a distraction from all of the work I should be doing right now. The janky grit-covered snow is almost completely melted from the sidewalks and curbs, it doesn't get dark until 5:30 pm now, and you can ALMOST not see the puff of breath in front of your face! Who wouldn't want to just run out into the Boston Commons and spin around singing "THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF TRAFFIC!" like Julie Andrews in that musical about the Brady Bunch and the Nazis?
As tempting as that is, however, I'm restraining myself from that particular adventure until the snow in the Commons in completely melted. Right now I've still got my hands full juggling my work and my other distractions, haha.
Distraction #5: Pandora Radio
Have you ever used this website? It's a radio where you just type in a song or an artist that you like, and the site creates a radio station just for you, based on that one song or artist! You can add variety to it so that you've got two or three or eight different genres of music playing alternately on your radio, and you can skip the songs you've heard just too much or the ones you just plain HATE. (Don't try that last part too often, though, 'cause the site can't skip more than 10 songs per station thanks to licensing issues). Anyway, trying to work as songs keep changing without any sort of order can be very distracting, especially if you don't know the song and want to get its stats -no need to google it, though, because Pandora has the scoop on all of the songs it plays for you!
Distraction #4: MacBook Changing Backgrounds
I'm not a tech freak, so I got a little over-excited when I found out that my laptop has a feature that allows me to change my background screen...every FIVE MINUTES!! Well, I wait fifteen minutes, but it can change every minute, if you wanted it to. When my friend told me this, I made a HUGE folder of pretty pictures for my computer to use to change my backgrounds to, and every since I did, I have provided myself a small distraction every fifteen minutes or so, because when I realize that the screen has changed, I can't control my impulse to see what the new picture is! So every quarter of an hour, I stop whatever I'm doing and I minimize whatever I have open, be it homework, work, or Facebook. Nothing is safe from the changing backgrounds!
Distraction #3: Facebook
If you don't have one, DON'T get one! It's such a waste of time, and it's so distracting, but I can't help it. I know it's bad, but I will probably never get rid of it, either. Check your friends' status', change your own, play games, "stalk" the hot guy on your from down the hall, whatever! The possibilities are pretty much endless, and I hear there's more coming. God, I don't know how anyone gets any work done with Facebook around.
It's a cold but sunny day here in Boston, so that in itself is a distraction from all of the work I should be doing right now. The janky grit-covered snow is almost completely melted from the sidewalks and curbs, it doesn't get dark until 5:30 pm now, and you can ALMOST not see the puff of breath in front of your face! Who wouldn't want to just run out into the Boston Commons and spin around singing "THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF TRAFFIC!" like Julie Andrews in that musical about the Brady Bunch and the Nazis?
As tempting as that is, however, I'm restraining myself from that particular adventure until the snow in the Commons in completely melted. Right now I've still got my hands full juggling my work and my other distractions, haha.
Distraction #5: Pandora Radio
Have you ever used this website? It's a radio where you just type in a song or an artist that you like, and the site creates a radio station just for you, based on that one song or artist! You can add variety to it so that you've got two or three or eight different genres of music playing alternately on your radio, and you can skip the songs you've heard just too much or the ones you just plain HATE. (Don't try that last part too often, though, 'cause the site can't skip more than 10 songs per station thanks to licensing issues). Anyway, trying to work as songs keep changing without any sort of order can be very distracting, especially if you don't know the song and want to get its stats -no need to google it, though, because Pandora has the scoop on all of the songs it plays for you!
Distraction #4: MacBook Changing Backgrounds
I'm not a tech freak, so I got a little over-excited when I found out that my laptop has a feature that allows me to change my background screen...every FIVE MINUTES!! Well, I wait fifteen minutes, but it can change every minute, if you wanted it to. When my friend told me this, I made a HUGE folder of pretty pictures for my computer to use to change my backgrounds to, and every since I did, I have provided myself a small distraction every fifteen minutes or so, because when I realize that the screen has changed, I can't control my impulse to see what the new picture is! So every quarter of an hour, I stop whatever I'm doing and I minimize whatever I have open, be it homework, work, or Facebook. Nothing is safe from the changing backgrounds!
Distraction #3: Facebook
If you don't have one, DON'T get one! It's such a waste of time, and it's so distracting, but I can't help it. I know it's bad, but I will probably never get rid of it, either. Check your friends' status', change your own, play games, "stalk" the hot guy on your from down the hall, whatever! The possibilities are pretty much endless, and I hear there's more coming. God, I don't know how anyone gets any work done with Facebook around.
Distraction #2: Online Games
I LOVE playing online games like Plants vs Zombies or Text Twist. They are just so all-encompassing, and they require a medium amount of your attention, so you could still hold a conversation while battling a horde of brain-eating zombies trying to get to your front door. But don't think that you can do anything that requires REAL concentration! That's where the distraction level kicks in with these, because if you leave that page, or open up another window for a SECOND, then BAM! The zombies are in your house and have eaten your brains. You can't do anything while you've got your games up, and they're so engrossing, that you don't really want to, anyway.
Distraction #1: StumbleUpon.com
This is bad. But amazing. I just went on Stumble, intending to be on there for a second, and the next thing I know, it's twenty minutes and 18 sites later. When you create a Stumble account, you mark a bunch of categories and interests that you like, and the Mother-Cite finds outside websites that are associated with the things that you marked as you being interested in. For example, I marked that I liked animals. You wouldn't BELIEVE all of the videos of cats and dogs doing the cutest things that StumbleUpon has put on my computer. It even gave me a website called catsinsinks.com. All it has is hundreds of pictures of cats in kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, tubs, whatever. That's it! It's amazing, and if I go on Stumble at any point in the night, I know I'm not getting any work done any time soon.
So thanks for reading!
Amy Liz
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