Penguins of Madagascar: THE MOVIE!

In about fifteen hours, my mom and I will be seeing this movie and I'm so freaking excited!

This is the Madagascar movie that we wanted all along. We didn't even go to the second movie because we were so disappointed at how little the penguins were in the first film and we disliked all the main non-penguin characters. It was why the television show was so perfect...it left out all the characters we couldn't care less about and added Maureen who's freaking AWESOME!

Sadly, I don't think Maureen will be in this one but it will have the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch.

(shrugs)

The Book of Life

The Book of Life had stunning visuals, fun characters and an engaging plot that was so much better than The Corpse Bride that I find myself asking myself, Why didn't I like it better?

My brother asked me a week or two later if I wanted to see it again and I said I'd only see it again if it was a 3D showing so it'd a bit different that way.

I think it comes down to two things and I was torn about both:

1. Female representation

On one hand, Maria was strong and independent and could use weapons and was everything I wanted in a main character...
except she wasn't the main character.
Manolo and Joaquin and their struggles with family, honor and who will end up with Maria are the main characters.

I felt like we are almost there because she did get a lot of awesome lines and got to complain about everything we're thinking when we see this kind of film, but I wanted her to be a part of more of the action and be pro-active. Actually, it makes me think of the quote by Joss Whedon, “The thing about Buffy for me is–on a show-by-show basis–are there female characters who are being empowered, who are driving the narrative? The Twilight thing and a lot of these franchise attempts coming out, everything rests on what this girl will do, but she’s completely passive, or not really knowing what the hell is going on. And that’s incredibly frustrating to me because a lot of what’s taking on the oeuvre of Buffy, is actually a reaction against it. Everything is there — except for the Buffy. A lot of things aimed at the younger kids is just Choosing Boyfriends: The Movie.”

Yes, Maria was too passive for my liking and she only drove the narrative by existing or things done to her, not by her own actions. I wanted her to be more Luthien who wouldn't allow even death to stop her from being with the guy she wanted but not in a stupid "Romeo & Juliet" suicide kind of way.

2. Song Use

Again, I was torn because remixing the traditional Mexican songs into the new pop songs could introduce them to a new audience which is good but for me, it was a distraction from the film because I was forever trying to recognize what song the melody was taken from.

Again, the animation was incredible and the character designs were amazing. Those things were everything I could possibly want in a film and I'd expect nothing less from an animated film being promoted by producer Guillermo del Toro.

In writing this, I also can't help thinking of a co-worker who still has family in Mexico. She was surprised at a store announcement where we said, Happy Halloween! She explained that for her family, Halloween and the Day of the Dead are RELIGIOUS! Obviously, this can't be explored in a mainstream movie but I wish it could to reflect all the aspects of culture.

The Last Goodbye

So all that wonder and speculation and the final credits song for the final Hobbit film is made and sung by a Hobbit!

I haven't decided whether to watch it yet or wait for the theatre setting.

Age of Ultron

So, everyone got all upset/excited/what have you over this clip. It basically describes Civil War in a nutshell despite being from Avengers: Age of Ultron.

However, I'm a lot more interested in two things.

1. Hawkeye has a farm!!!!!

Is it in Iowa? Did he inherit it? Is it just outside New York? Who knows about it? Was it a recent purchase? Has Coulson been there? Can we have an episode of Agents of SHIELD there?

2. WHO IS ON THE PORCH????

You can clearly see two figures 24 seconds in but I can't make out who they are.

Also, have some fun with Clint and Bobbi twirling things:
http://acciowintershield.tumblr.com/post/103762283208/birds-twirling-things

Yep, still leaning towards him being her first SO.

Jurassic Park World

I didn't actually get around to posting the trailer for Jurassic Park World yet.

I know when you're cloning dinosaurs, then obviously you wouldn't worry about endangered animals because you could just bring them back and it's really just a reference/joke about Jaws but it still bothers me about the Great White being used in that manner. Also, with an aquatic animal that large...that'd be way worse than the flack for pinning up Orcas.

Or you could just make a whole new dinosaur... ugh
We never really did get those chameleon dinosaurs from the novels. Obviously, Avian DNA wouldn't cause that but if you're messing with the DNA anyway...

They do get total brownie points for using Judy Greer even though she probably only has about five minutes at the most. She's also in Ant-Man, probably as someone's friend, sister, co-worker like usual.

My mom asked who the guy was and I wouldn't tell her because I said she should have recognized him since he's been in "like everything!"
"Ah, so it is Starlord then?"
We'll work on Chris Pratt later...it's hard when Marvel has so many Chrises.

Also, you remember that time that cassiopaya was super awesome and made me this graphic?

http://ericadawn16.livejournal.com/644005.html

Someone has made an updated version from the new Jurassic Park trailer but I don't know who to credit or where to find a better version. I had to get this off Facebook:



I now have someone on Facebook, who obviously never saw Guardians of the Galaxy wanting me to describe the role of the raptors in that film...

This is from Tumblr and I couldn't resist posting it:

Merry Christmas

My mom and I are both watching Anthony Bourdain but not the same episodes, lol.

I saw this on Tumblr and had to share.



Two Billy Boyd related posts in one day...considering I didn't join LiveJournal until 2006, I think that might be a record.

Horrible Bosses 2

So, we saw Horrible Bosses 2 earlier today. My mom loved it, thought it was better than the first one. I do agree about it being better but I don't feel either up to my comedy standards...more like a fun filler than something I'd seek out on television and insist on watching the whole thing.

Okay...

( SPOILERS )

They've finally started admitting that Into the Woods is a MUSICAL and I recognized things from the second act! I'm beginning to have hope for this. Maybe it will confirm my old theory that "Into the Woods" is impossible to mess up.

Penguins of Madagascar: THE MOVIE!

Short Version...it was everything I wanted.

Long version has ( SPOILERS )

Yep, my recommendations for this weekend are Penguins of Madagascar and Rosewater.

"And that's why you look back during an explosion!"

Buy Cute Stuff and Help a Charity!

I'm sorry if Photobucket is slow to have the resizing take effect at first, but...

Isn't this cutie just adorable????



There is also a bear and they're only $12.99 each at Kay Jewelers. You don't need to purchase anything else AND SEVEN DOLLARS from every purchase goes to St. Jude's Children's Hospital!

Heck, you could even donate the animals to children in need and do double the charity. It's a great deal. The dog and bear are both pictured here:
http://www.kay.com/ContentView?catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=10101&cmsId=st__jude_children_s_research_hospital

Remember that Saturday is small business Saturday. Please support your local economy. Mom and I will be working that day so we've tried to make most of our purchases lately at local businesses and we went to theatre in town today. It's non-franchised.

PS Yes, I have discovered that AMC is doing a Jurassic Park marathon so I am totally there.