alfreda89: 3 foot concrete Medieval style gargoyle with author's hand resting on its head. (Polar Lights)
alfreda89 ([personal profile] alfreda89) wrote2009-05-24 01:20 am
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RAIN

My joints were screaming -- and I was supposed to catch the last matinee of X-Men: Wolverine with a friend. We both had buckets of rain falling on us as we left different parts of town -- heavy enough that he said he was glad they hadn't started working on his house roof -- might be more hail damage!

If there had been any counter-clockwise clouds, I would have canceled. Instead, we hit Kobe first for dinner, the X-Men and then Star Trek (I really wasn't that interested in Angels & demons or Terminator.) X-Men, as I suspected, was fun in its own way, and Star Trek was a good repeat and ticked two movies off his list for the weekend. I'll either see Adventureland before the end of the holiday, or put it on the Netflix list. Hope people had fun even in the rain!

The X-Men origins was the best choice because it needed the big screen for full appreciation. I'd also recommend big screen for Star Trek 2009 -- even once.

[identity profile] ladypoetess.livejournal.com 2009-05-24 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
I saw Angels & Demons this evening, and it is actually a very good movie. There was a twist at the end I did not see coming, and it had me reeling for about an hour and a half after the movie was over. Big screen not strictly required for this one, though I don't regret seeing it in the theatre, either.

Have you read the book?

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2009-05-24 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
If it's true to the book, it was a nice twist at the end. That book was actually first, so not sure if they flopped some elements. Plus Tom Hanks is too old for the character -- at least how old the guy felt in A&D book.

So...maybe I'll put it on Netflix. Probably should see the first one, too. But I've never seen Titanic. Drowning is my second most feared way to go, although it's easier than a lot of them. So I didn't go. I knew how it ended.... ;^)

Re: Have you read the book?

[identity profile] ladypoetess.livejournal.com 2009-05-24 07:01 am (UTC)(link)
I have not read it, yet. Actually, I haven't even read the DaVinci Code, though I really enjoyed that movie as well. The only parts that seemed to indicate that this might be something following the first movie were 2 references to "[your] recent entanglements with the church" but no further elaboration.

I have also never seen Titanic, though my mother loved it and saw it 3 or more times in the theatre. *grin*

Even if the books are quite different, these are my favorite sorts of movies. Ones with intricately twisting plotlines, a major over-arching mystery, and a healthy dose of action tossed in where appropriate. Well, I'm also a fan of movies with fast cars and big explosions, but not usually combined with the first set of parameters. ^.~

Re: Have you read the book?

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2009-05-24 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
I like those kinds of stories, too -- but The DaVinci Code (the novel)was very disappointing -- I had to bully my way through it, because you'd hit what should have been a ratcheting up of tension chapter, and it turns out to be the equiv of 3 chapters of story info-dumped on the reader.

Angels and Demons was much better. I haven't read any of the CODE imitators, but there are probably a couple that were better -- just didn't get the PR.

But if you liked them, I'll Netflix them. I try to remain open-minded about things! After all -- I am falling into comics, manga and anime. You got to pick your ride into the future -- if you plan to get there and know anything that is going on.

Re: Have you read the book?

[identity profile] ladypoetess.livejournal.com 2009-05-24 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
That exactly why I didn't read the book, because I heard similar reviews about it. That and I'm not usually one for getting into whatever is the major Hype of the Day. I did like the Twilight books, but for a different reason, and I only read them initially because a good friend prompted me strongly to give them a shot.

Certainly give the movies a try - they're fun mystery/adventure flicks, if nothing else. ^_^

Re: Have you read the book?

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2009-05-24 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I confess that I saw TWILIGHT with a MST3K type voice-over and the movie, according to a friend who read the book and saw the movie, is lousy in comparison. IT suffers (beyond wish fulfillment YA angst) from the same thing they did to Frodo in LOTR:Fellowship (et al) -- all the things that made Frodo so admirable, and the person able to carry the ring, were stripped from the movie. I must assume that all the little things that should have shown our heroine to be resilient, interesting and not afraid of a vampire, were stripped from TWILIGHT the movie.

As I writer, I resent that. And that crap about Arwen becoming human -- actually tossing aside the tragedy of her future choice, because she's not human. She has to either choose to die, or live on forever and never know if there is something in the next world where they could be together again.

I think Tolkien would have liked many things about the movies -- even a few changes that were understandable and well-done, like the signal fires and Arwen carrying Frodo to the ford (more screen time for important characters and a heroine who is hands-on with her magic)-- but he would be upset that the writers of the screenplay took away all the choices from the good guys, many that gave his characters their gentle nobility. Even if the visuals were perfect (and Boromir's part was better written.)

Hummm? An Alfreda89 button? Perhaps. Perhaps I should write about this "taking a character and removing everything we liked about him/her" thing. But I confess that the Benny Hill music with him running up the mountain with her on his back had me ready to fall off the couch laughing.

Eventually I really enjoyed BORED OF THE RINGS (a bit dated, but still a fun parody of the book LOTR). If you can handle the transition, you might try the MST3K type parody (can't remember the name for it) of TWILIGHT.

[identity profile] bevhale.livejournal.com 2009-05-24 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Told you I'd send you rain. You asked for it.

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2009-05-24 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
But I like my rain at night! ;^) So heavy that the sleeves of my raincoat filled with water while folding up the umbrella to get into the car.

That hard.

But I was damp dry by the time traffic cleared enough to agree that food first was better than killing ourselves getting to the matinee. Cell phones in their best usage!