stgulik

Well, I'm not yet at work on a Thursday. There's a heater repair man in the house right now, cleaning out the coils or whatever, getting the heater ready for winter. His name is Javier, and he doesn't drink caffeine, so that kills my excuse for making another half-pot of coffee on this chilly morning.

Last night, my husband and I watched "Mockingjay Part One," the next-to-last installment of the Hunger Games movies. Not sure if that was its exact title. Didn't see it in theatres when it came out, though we are devoted to the books and the movies, because we wanted to watch it right before the last installment is released. As we expected, the movie was very, very dismal. It reminded me of Deathly Hallows Part One, with its slightly dry chronicling of the run up to the final battle. But there were some heart-pounding moments, too. It was fun to see Effie Trinket, parading around with her nose in the air, insisting she was a political prisoner. There was Phillip Seymour Hoffman, alive and well. He played his role so wonderfully--a Capitol man whose career was spent orchestrating mock battles, now in the middle of a real war and rather out of his depth (for a while). He was so good, and it made me miss him very much. And oh, Katness singing the folk song for her friends at the water's edge ... We all cried at that part, I have to admit it. We are more than ready for Part Two.

Aaah! Javier has turned on the A/C! Nooo...

Finally saw Avengers: Age of Ultron!



I really liked it for the big, confusing mess it was. Major spoilers under the cut ...

( Read more... )

All in all, good movie! I was very pleased.

"Catching Fire" is completely sold out tonight at both our local theatres. We waited too long! Curse you, pre-teens!

If the three of us are going to see it together, we may wait until mid-week. Girl has not committed to any alternate plans involving her lame-ass parents; Groom and I would rather see "Thor," if we wind up just going together. We surely do love our superheroes.

Meanwhile, I have learned that my Hunger Games name is Jayeless D. Jumpoak. Isn't that cool? Create your own District name here. (ETA: corrected the link)

Our own cabepfir is involved in a digital comic project called The Endling. I've never seen anything like it - it looks like a static comic book page at first, but they've done cool things to make the telling of the story more immediate and dramatic. You can subscribe via RSS if you like the prologue. The last line hooked me.

Speaking of comics, Iron Man 3 was a big ol' action-packed, explode-o-rama, kitchen-sink kind of movie. There were plot holes galore, and at least 7,000 separate, insultingly unbelievable (even in the age of CGI) ironman suit antics. But it was still better than Iron Man 2. I recommend it heartily.

I'm battling depression today. Actually, no - I'm showing depression my soft white underbelly today.

Thaaaat's better. Class, take notes: Accuracy pays.

Sincerely hoping this is just a hormonal thing, or at least a blood sugar thing. Something I can deal with.

I ate a late breakfast and already feel marginally better - better enough to write y'all, for instance. Maybe a walk at lunch and a big big salad will help.

I saw this, though, and I had to jump online and share. I thought some select few of you might appreciate, as I do, the Confluence of Awesome it represents:


( Oh, it's good. )

So, The Avengers rocked, and that is all. I've seen it twice already! Trying to explain the reasons to rational people has been impossible. So I'll just list for you my Top Five Reasons Why The Avengers Rocked:

5) Scarlett Johanson as Black Widow. Both the actress and the character held their own. I loved how Black Widow was the only girl on the team. When I was a teenager, I created my own comics and dreamed of writing for Marvel. But more importantly, I dreamed of being the only girl superhero on an all-boy team. Make of that what you will. 

4) Agent Coulson. He's appeared in all the Avengers prequels. He's the ultimate bureaucrat. And he's so cuddly. I can't find a video without spoilers, so just take my word.

3) Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk. The Hulk was the only pre-Avengers movie I haven't seen. But please believe, if he'd've been Bruce Banner instead of Edward Norton, I would have been first in line.

2) Loki! I do like a villain who takes joy in his work. I credit Joss Whedon for Loki.

And the thing that made me weep ... you're going to think this is weird ... I can't believe I'm writing this ...



1) The Avengers spent a good 30 movie minutes laying waste to a fair-sized city.

No, come back! You don't understand! Look at the picture above. Nary an issue of the Avengers comic went by where our heroes and heroines did not significantly lower the local property value. Alien creatures slammed into airports! Giant monsters battered with train cars! Skyscrapers punctured with laser beams! And every issue contained a panel much like this picture, right down to the rubble-strewn streets. I told you I wanted to write for Marvel! They were total geniuses over there.

Sigh. Well, in other news, I'm happy to report I am still in the game over at the Snupin_LDWS challenge! There are some awesomely talented writers participating; it's a bit intimidating, but I have to say I'm learning a lot from them on the art of the drabble.  Please drop by, read and vote this week!