Thanks to Mr. Nolan

It was a little over a year ago that I watched Batman Begins for the first time. I loved it. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. Coming from a Batman lover, and a complete film credit, I knew it was different. I just couldn't figure out why. There was a new element I hadn't expected.

"If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely." -Henri Ducard

Fast Forward several months to when I first saw The Dark Knight. It impressed me more than the prequel. That sense of something new had doubled. A story hadn't just been told. It had been told well. This was when the name on the case started popping out to me a little more. Christopher Nolan.

Since then, along with many Dark Knight fans, I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of The Dark Knight Rises. I've been waiting, and I've been expecting a lot. I've been expecting to see the same thing I did in the first two movies.

Over this past week I've watched, for the first time, two Christopher Nolan movies. The Prestige, and Inception. With each one I started to realize it wasn't just the Batman movies that were different. It was Christopher Nolan. It was the result of the touch from a master's hand.

Christopher Nolan makes movies that seem to completely transport you into another world. The world of the characters who's stories you are being told. He weaves a tale you weren't expecting, but that's not all he does. He gives you the characters to love, the journey they must survive, and the eyes you see it through. He gives it to you, but to thoroughly enjoy it, Chris expects something back. Some thought.

I admire Christopher Nolan's directing skills. I salute him for making his movies the way he wants to make them, the way they should be made, not the way  the world would like to see. I mostly admire him for asking just a little in return. Please don't sit down and watch his movies expecting to relax your brain. With each new film, he gives you a new puzzle to solve.

Directing film is an art I believe Chris Nolan has mastered. Then again, that's just the opinion of an abnormal teenager.

Jane Eyre and Robin Hood

Remember when I posted that picture of Jane and Mr. Rochester and every single person who left a comment knew who they were? Yeah, I didn't think I was going to stump to many people on that one. Anyway, this is that post I was talking about, but I'm also throwing in a few words on Robin Hood so grab your popcorn and get ready for a seriously opinionated persons view on various films.

Let's begin with Jane Eyre, shall we?

Jane Eyre (2011)

I actually already wrote a review about this. You can read it here.

Jane Eyre (2006)

Out of the three adaptions I've watched, this is by far my favorite. Masterpiece Theatre certainly knows how to please fans of the books. I love Mr. Rochester, I love Jane, I love the entire thing. It's just awesome.

Jane Eyre (1996)

I think you'll gather how I felt on this film when I say, I didn't finish watching it. It was almost comical. The plot was rushed, the characters were butchered and the acting was a farce. I skipped to the end just to see if they had managed to pull it together by then. They hadn't.

Moving on.

Robin Hood (2010)

Ever since I heard this movie was coming out I was interested. After all, its Robin Hood! The fact that Russell Crowe would be playing the infamous outlaw made me rather dubious, I tried to tell myself Ridley Scott knew what he was doing. In a way, I think maybe he did. I actually kind of liked the softer side Robin seemed to have in this movie, while still managing to be his irritating self. I liked the new twist on the story, that Robin Hood wasn't originally Robin of Loxley at all. I love this quote,

"Rise and rise again until lambs become lions."

It keeps running through my head and I find it rather inspiring.

However, as much as I liked about this movie, it just didn't come together for me. By the time it was over I had decided I didn't really like it. I'm not completely sure why. Maybe it just wasn't my kind of Robin Hood.

Gumbo

You know that moment when you realize your blog posts have been fewer to non-excistant in the last three weeks? You feel like you barely have time to sleep, let alone blog.

I wonder if I'll ever get back into the groove of typing out my thoughts in this little box, or if this blog will slip away and become one of the thousands that have been abandoned. Don't worry though, I've got far to many thoughts banging about in my mind to give it up entirely.

While I have forgotten my blogging, it seems others have not. I was given the same award three times. I'm to thank Katie, Mirriam, and Charity for awarding me the Liebster Blog award. I shan't be passing it on, but I'm very flattered for the appreciation you've bestowed upon this speck of speck in the internet world.

For those of you who haven't seen this months Beautiful People post, be sure to check out the new questions, there are some great ones!

I shall end this strange, mash up of a post with this.

Expect a post on them in the future, probably not in the near future, but possibly sometime beyond that. Kudos to those who know who they are.

In Which Georgie Announces her Love for Les Miserables

Yes, it's true. I'm in love with Les Miserables. Even though I still wonder if I'm saying it correctly.

I don't believe I can quite call myself a fan, considering I haven't read the book. In fact, I've only seen the 25th Anniversary performance on DVD. Uh, yes, that would be the one with Nick Jonas as Marius. No, I did not really like Marius. Yes, I gave him a chance and no, it wasn't just because he was played by Nick Jonas that I don't like him. Although, I did giggle when Fontaine's voice went deeper than I could ever imagine his going.

I don't think I could pick a favorite song. I love all of them really. I have my favorites, the obvious One Day More that everyone seems to love, Eponine's On My Own. I really like Do You Hear the People Sing, although I couldn't say it was my favorite.

Do you hear the people sing,

singing the song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

who will not be slaves again.

When the beating of your heart

echoes the beating of the drums

there is a life about to start

when tomorrow comes.

I'd like to watch a few more versions, including the 10th anniversary performance, and the one with Liam Neeson, if only to compare them to the 25th anniversary edition.

In Which Georgie Rambles On the Subject of Jane Eyre

After watching the new Jane Eyre a few nights ago, writing a review was inevitable. I didn't really think I would, but as my thoughts came together I decided to share with those who may be interested.

Jane Eyre. I watched the 2006 Masterpiece Theatre version several years ago and discovered this story different. This one stood out to me. It wasn't just another period film that ran together, like all of the Jane Austin adaptions. I was fascinated. Enough so to read the book. So, news of this movie excited me as much as any other fan out there. Judie Dench, Jamie Bell, Mia Wasikowska. Oh yes.

They all did an amazing job. You can't really expect any less of them though. Mia graduated into a favorite actress of mine.

Jamie Bell was awesome, but for some reason I did not like John Rivers in this adaption. I liked him in the book, and in the 2006 version, but not this one. I think it was more due to his lines and such than anything else. He was made more awkward and sullen than I remember.

Although there was a lot taken out, it did remain true to the book. There was one point when I thought everything had taken a completely different turn, only to discover it was all in Jane's mind. I do think they did a pretty good job of shortening what would have be an extremely long film, although there were certain things that I thought there should have been more of. Such as Grace Poole. You see nothing of her till Jane finds out about Mrs. Rochester.

Last, but not least, the ending was a little to romantically cheesy for me.

Over all: I left the theater wanting to write something mysterious, yet beautiful at the same time. I liked it, but I like the Masterpiece Theater adaption much better.

In Which Georgie Remembers Why She Wants to Direct Film

Just when you think the world has truly gone under and turned their back on God. Just when you think there is nothing humanly possible to help those around you. Just when everything looks completely and utterly lost, you find things like this.

The fact that Carrie Underwood even chose to sing this song surprises me (albeit in a rather... interesting choice of dress). It makes me wonder who will watch this and listen to those words? Who will close the page as soon as they hear the first line? Who in the audience was listening to the message of how great Thou art? Did she realize she could affect hundreds, if not thousands of people by singing this? Did she realize that children are watching her, looking up to her, waiting for her next move?

I just finished reading a book called Harry & Frodo: Understanding Visual Media and its Impact on Our Lives. While rather redundant, it did make clear to me once again, just how much media has an impact on our lives. It affects us more than most people would think. With this renewed realization, I was reminded why I want to make movies. Why I want to make good movies. So much could be accomplished in that field. So many people reached. It doesn't even have to have blaring Christian themes. Just a movie with good morals would be nice for once. With a hero that you can learn from.

Then again, it's not that easy to get yourself in a position to be that kind of an influence. Even if I were to get the money to make a movie, it doesn't mean anyone would watch it. I've told myself this a thousand times, and yet I keep hearing a little voice out of nowhere, "but what if they did?"

I'd like to think Carrie Underwood's standing ovation was due to the fact that she was willing to stand on that stage and sing about a God who has been rejected by society, not just because she sang it like a... well... country star. I believe this youtube video can change lives, if that's the plan God has for it. I believe a film about a person with the faith of a mustard seed, would make an impact on someone out there, and in the end, if it brought just one person a step closer to Christ, my goal will have been reached.

The Beautiful King

I'm not a fan of Bethany Dillon. However, I am a fan of Kurt Russell and Kris Kristofferson. Put those guys together and I get Dreamer.

I really like the movie. I adore this song. Most of all I love the fact that I have my own beautiful King. Willing to leave the comfort of His Kingdom to fight for victory. Talk about love.

Alice - Then & Now

I've been reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland lately, and loving it! I've seen the original Disney movie, and the new one is one of my favorites, but I've never actually read the book completely.

The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time and was going off into a doze; but on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up again with a little shriek, and went on: "that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness -- you know you say things are 'much of a muchness' -- did you ever see such a thing as drawing of a muchness!"

This book has a lot of fun quotes, and I've been laughing through the whole thing.

"If you knew time as well as I do," said the Hatter, "you wouldn't talk about wasting it. It's him."

It's interesting to see, as always, what parts of the book they incorporated into the movie, and how the characters have changed over the years. I still love the Hatter, all versions. Alice on the other hand, I find her highly annoying in the book, while I adore her in the 2010 film.

"Will you walk a little faster?" said a whiting to a snail,

"There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my tail.

See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance!

They are waiting on the shingle - will you come and join the dance?

Will you, wo'n't you, will you, wo'n't you, will you join the dance?

Will you, wo'n't you, will you, wo'n't you, wo'n't you join the dance?

"You can really have no notion how delightful it will be

When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!"

But the snail replied "Too far, too far!", and gave a look askance--

Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.

Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.

Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance.

"What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied.

"There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.

The further off from England the nearer is to France--

Then turn not place, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.

Will you, wo'n't you, will you, wo'n't you, will you join the dance?

Will you, wo'n't you, will you, wo'n't you, wo'n't you join the dance?"

Through the Looking-Glass is next.

Because I've Never Got Enough on my Plate

You know that feeling you get when you realize you've done something crazy? I'm surprised I'm not used to it yet.

My Sam and I have been talking about writing a script together for almost two years now. We wanted to write a screenplay about pirates. Why? Because we love pirates. Two years later, and we've not only managed to keep from writing a single word of the script, we hardly have a plot. Those years have come and gone and every once in awhile we would tell each other, "we really need to think about our pirate script and come up with a plot."

So, when Script Frenzy came around this year, we did the sensible thing. We decided not to use that script and to simply go with a novel we're in the process of writing together. Jokingly referred to as The Romantic Plot Trasher, or RPT. Okay, we always refer to it as The Romantic Plot Trasher. It has no other name. We called it this because one night I said I felt like writing something with a little romance (I have my moments), so did she. We didn't want to worry about plot. Put the two together and what do you get? Well, if you were the both of us, it would come out The Romantic Plot Trasher.

However, me, being the mostly rather un-romantic writer I am, the romance didn't last long. In fact, by the end of the first scene we discovered it was completely dead. Car crashes just come out of nowhere sometimes.

I'm not sure how long we've been working on this together, but we're only reached a few thousand words. The long and short of it is, we've got a loose idea of where the story is going, but it's a plot trasher. We have no idea what we're doing. Neither of us has ever ventured into the screenwriting world. We just wanna have some fun.

If you want to follow us, or are doing Script Frenzy yourself, my username is GeorgiePenn.

Unknown

When I saw the trailer for the movie Unknown I got pretty excited. Liam Neeson (awesome person), with a case of stolen identity. It looked like it had car chases, and plenty of scary secrets to discover. It's a thriller, one of my favorite genres.

So, last night, I went and saw Unknown. I was slightly disappointed.

"Do you know what it feels like to become insane? It's a war between being told who you are and knowing who you are... Which do you think wins?" -Martin Harris

Breaking it down into three sections here. Directing/filming, acting, and plot.

Directing/Filming

This was the first Jaume Collet-Serra (director) film I've seen. That doesn't surprise me after glancing at his IMDb page. It looks like he's into horror. Anyway, I was impressed. I loved how he worked in Martin's mind, with the flashbacks and memories. Even in the present it was really cool how you saw things through the character's eyes, putting you in their position.

Flavio Martinez Labiano held the position of cinematographer. Another name I wasn't familiar with, but then again, I'm just starting to get to where I recognize names from those in the crew. I loved the shots in this though, how the whole thing was filmed. The lighting was a little different, but it fit the story so it almost wasn't even noticeable.

Acting

It's Liam Neeson, what can I say? He was amazing? Moving on to everyone else, they were all great actors as well. The beautiful Diane Kruger held her own. The only other thing I've seen her in is, of course, the National Treasure movies. Although she does a good job in those, it's not a performance that I would rate as outstanding. This was. She went up a few notches in my book.

Plot

I'm sure by now you're wondering why I was disappointed with the film. Seems I was happy with everything so far. We can't forget the plot though, it's one of the main things that makes a movie. Oliver Butcher & Stephen Cornwell wrote the screenplay. I liked it when I was just looking at what was going on in that moment, but when you step back and look at the whole thing, things change. First of all, there were several moments where there was a serious lull. If you can't keep things moving, don't write thrillers. Second, and my main annoyance, as it got further into the movie I started to realize, this is a lot like the Bourne Identity. Yeah, it's got it's own little twists, and new characters, but the main story was still there. I understand there's nothing new under the sun, but it is possible to put a new spin on things. This didn't have enough of a spin to set it apart. Not only that, I think the Bourne Identity was an all around better film.

So, if you're ever faced with the choice of Unknown, or the Bourne Identity and you just can't decide, take my advice and go with Matt Damon (awesome person). Despite Liam Neeson's epic aura, he just couldn't bring Unknown up to my expectations.

Life is an Occasion

Strange fact about me: one of my all time favorite movies is Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

Dustin Hoffman (one of my favorite actors, and on my list of awesome people), Natalie Portman, a Mutant, and a toy store. I'm telling you, that's an incredible combination.

One of the things I love the most about this movie is its simple theme of living your life to the fullest. Being you, not what people expect you to be. After all, as Mr. Magorium says...

"Life is an occasion. Rise to it."

This was not a movie I expected to be impressed with. In all honesty, I thought it would be cheesy and poorly made. Since then I've watched it to many times to count. I have a tendency of quoting it in every day conversations and not thinking twice about it. The humor, the choice of words, and the lack of a predictable romance just add all that much more to the collection. I could go on for awhile, but I won't. I'll leave you with this quote. Probably my favorite in the entire film.

"When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written 'He dies.' That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is 'He dies." It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with 'He dies." And yet, every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words 'He dies,' but because of the life prior to the words." -Mr. Magorium

Little Known Facts About Georgie Penn

One of the things I love about blogging is the different people you "meet." I found Mrs. Kraft's blog through one of my all time favorite blogs to read. (life is to short not to) wear red shoes. Seriously, this girl makes my day every time I see she's posted. You should check out both blogs, 'cuase they are both awesome.

Imagine the day I find this new blog, she is hosting a blog party. A blog party I can participate in! Always lots of fun.

What celebrity/celebrities would create a "Star-Struck" feeling if you saw them in real life?

The truth is, there are several. The first ones that come to mind are all the guys from Celtic Thunder. One of my very few celebrity fandoms.

Another one would be Steven Spielberg.

Call me a nerd, but there you have it.

What is your comfort food/drink?

To tell you the truth, I don't really have one. Food has never really been something I've turned to when I need comfort. I guess if I had to choose one though, it would be ice cream

. I love ice cream.

Be brave - tell us something very random about yourself.

Ever since reading Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of Four, I don't like to have the blinds on my window up after dark. Every time I glance up and see it I see an ugly fact plastering itself against the glass. Yes. This is the affect Sherlock Holmes has on me. Yes, I still read Sherlock Holmes and enjoy it to the utmost.

Do you have a strong desire to do something you've never done? What is it?

Where should I start? I have a huge bucket list people. A small sample for your enjoyment...

• Visit Australia
• Learn to play the saxophone
• Direct a play if not a movie
• Take a ride (or three) in a hot air balloon

Movies: Action, Drama, Romantic Comedy, Documentary, Comedy? What are your favorite

genres?

I enjoy almost any genera of movies setting aside horror and westerns (although there are one, or two westerns I like). My favorites would have to be thrillers and comedies. I humorous thriller makes my day.

Books: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Romance, Biographies, True Stories, Self-Help, Devotional/Study? What are your favorite types of reading material?

Ah! Books! Books! My kingdom for some books! (You can ignore that if you wish, kiddos if you know what I'm talking about) Once again, I love almost any kind of book. My favorites in fiction are fantasy, thrillers, and historical fiction. I also love reading non-fiction on writing and film. True stories are always neat too!

Music: Funk, Rock, Country, Jazz, Classical, Film Score, Blues, Classic Rock, Crooner, Alternative, Heavy Metal, Techno? What are your favorite types?

For the longest time I was a country girl and only a country girl (Don't take this the wrong way. I can't stand Taylor Swift's music). In the last year however I've began to branch out. I still love country, but Celtic Thunder, Josh Groban, and Owl City have shown me a new kind of music and I do have to say, I'm in love. I also enjoy film scores, oldies, and folk.

If you could live anywhere at all (and take all your loved ones with you), where would you go?

Oregon. I love Oregon. My second choice would be the village they call the Moy in Ireland. Just so I could say, "I live in the village they call the Moy."... and because I love Ireland

What is one of your favorite things to catch a whiff of?

Leather. Journals, saddles, boots, they all send me into ecstasy.

What are your favorite animals?

Once upon a time I wouldn't have had to answer this. You would be able to tell as soon as you saw my blog. Alas, even though I love the animal just has much, writing has taken over in my blogging life. To answer the question, "The wind of heaven is that which blows between a

horse's ears." -Arabian Proverb

What movie or book character can you most relate to?

This will sound strange, but I believe the answer to this question

would be Edmund Pevensie. Yes, the boy who turns on his siblings for want of attention and power. Honestly though, while others were talking about how terrible he was for doing it, I was telling myself I probably would have done the same thing. Not because I don't like my family, or feel I need power, but because I'm human. I fall. I make mistakes. The great thing about Edmund is he learned his lesson and in the books to come he is stronger then ever because of it. A character to admire for realizing his wrong's and letting "Aslan" change his life for the better. I can easily imagine how he felt as the White Witch offered him everything he thought he wanted, and how he felt when he realized what a mistake he had made.

Give a Girl a Fairy...

Today I watched Shakespeare Retold: A Midsummer Night's Dream. I enjoyed it although I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Puck made my day. That's about it.

Frankly, I'm not as impressed with Shakespeare as I told myself I would be if I could just get myself excited about it. I now get excited about Shakespeare. I am not impressed. A good tale he could certainly tell, if only slightly predictable. My thoughts in one comment? I enjoy Dickens so much more.

Not only that, Shakespeare has done something terrible. He has filled my mind with fairies. Give a girl a fairy and she'll ask you for a princess. You'll give her a princess and she'll think of a castle. So you'll build her a castle and she'll need a dragon to get her princess to the castle. Once her princess is at the castle she'll discover it's owned by an evil dark lord and she'll need a prince to get the princess out again.... the list goes on and while I should be working on my countless other projects, I've been writing a fairy tale all day.

Oh, and one last thing. If you listen to Owl City's "Hot Air Balloons" while writing a fairy tale you'll end up in an unbelievably whimsical mood.

True Grit - The Western I Loved

My Daddy took my family to see True Grit last week. I actually wasn't really looking forward to it for two reasons. #1 I'm not a big fan of westerns. #2 I'm really not a fan of John Wayne, therefore any movie he played in before must not be that great.

That was the movie Daddy wanted to see though, so we went. I watched a western. I loved a western.

"There is nothing free in this world... except the grace of God." -Mattie Ross

One of the things I loved the most about this move was the language. How true it was to the time period. Mattie's quick wit, and responses.

Not only was the language period, so was the acting, the belief's, and... everything.

"I've just come from Yale County." -LaBoeuf

"I wasn't aware we had rodeo clowns in Yale County." -Mattie Ross

"A saucy line will not get you far with me." -LaBoeuf

It was a tad bit gory. I really did not need to see such a close shot of fingers being sliced into segments. Even if you have the nice effects to make it look so real doesn't mean I wanted to see it. I don't think I'll be watching the new Spartacus movie coming out. The trailer only was way to gory.

"So, you say that when Amos Wharton raised his axe, you backed away from him." -Lawyer

"That's right." -Rooster Cogburn

"In what direction were you going?" -Lawyer

"Backwards. I always go backwards when I back up." -Rooster Cogburn

My jaw dropped at more then one scene in this movie. I'm not talking as an average viewer anymore, I'm talking wanna be movie maker. This was movie making genius.

I haven't seen the original True Grit, I don't really want to even now (like I said, it's a John Wayne thing) but from what my family (who have seen it) said, it follows the original far more then we were lead to believe. Don't listen to the guy who gives you your tickets. He knows nothing.

The acting was amazing. Jeff Bridges should be given a medal. Hailee Steinfeld needs to be in more movies, and Matt Damon was... Matt Damon.

So, great movie. Probably one of my favorites. Never thought I would say that about a western, but there you have it.

Audrey Hepburn

Isn't she adorable? She's certainly one of my favorite actresses. I love her attitude. She helped build the film world. She was born in Belgium, blue-blood from the start. You could tell too, just by the way she moved. She had an amazing voice.

Without hesitation, Rex Harrison named her as his favorite leading lady.

She died January 20, 1993. Sad day. I think I'll watch My Fair Lady on the 20th. In a way, she'll almost be alive again.

Favorites of 2010 - Movies

Following up my post from yesterday, being the movie person I am, I thought I might do the same with my favorite movies from this year. There aren't as many good movies as there are books, so the list was rather shorter, but here goes.

In order from favorite to least favorite.

1. Alice in Wonderland Director: Tim Burton.

If you're anything like me, the director of this film

threw you off. He's weird, he makes weird movies, he makes movies I never want to see. This however, is not one of those movies. True, it is weird, and it's slightly dark, but a good kind of dark. I mean, it's Alice in Wonderland, falling down a huge hole just gets that way.

This movie was made amazingly well. The acting was well done (I mean, its got Johnny Depp!), the story was told in a new and interesting way. It's all around an amazing movie.

2. Tangled Directors: Nathan Greno & Byron Howard

I wrote a review on this movie after watching the first time. I watched it a second time time since then and I would have to say, I like it even more. I really would not mind owning it. It's just that good.

3. Secretariat Director: Randall Wallace

I was trying not to get to excited about this movie. It was a horse movie, and there are a lot of people who don't know how to make a horse movie. Randall Wallace does. You know you're a horse lover if you remained dry eyed when people die, but every time that horse starts to get ahead in a race, your eyes water.

4. How to Train Your Dragon Directors: Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders

Dreamworks... uh... All I can say is I'm not a fan. In fact, I would even go so far as to say, I seriously dislike Dreamworks. I had never seen a Dreamworks movie I liked. At all. Shrek is terrible. Over the Hedge was terrible. The Bee Movie was terrible. I didn't even bother with Kung Fu Panda. Then I watched How to Train Your Dragon. Dreamworks went up a notch in my opinion. This movie was amazing.

There are several movies I'm looking forward to that come out this year. The Eagle, The Dark Knight Rises, The Adventures of Tintin, and Rango to name a few.

Dawn Treader - The Thoughts of a Wanna Be Film Critic

On Saturday I went to go see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I went expecting to be either blown away, or severely disappointed.

For the first ten/twenty minutes I sat in my seat, wishing I could meet Michael Apted and tell him he had made a mess of the whole thing. Lines were awkward, to obvious, and not in character. Granted, Mr. Apted didn't write the script, but he has the last say, and apparently he didn't say it.

As the story continued however, things slowly began to get better. The whole trip to Narnia definitely helped. By the end of the movie I was left wondering why I didn't have a feeling of complete disgust, or amazement. I was neutral. Horrors.

To tell you the truth, I'm still not totally sure what I think of the movie. I'll probably have to watch it again before I can really truly decide. The things I do know for sure?

1. Edmund was amazing. In my opinion, his character had the most depth, had the most interesting back story, and was just all around cool.
2. Will Poulter lived up to all my expectations. When I first saw a picture of his freckled little face after finding out he would be playing Eustace, I knew he would be perfect for the part. I can't imagine it would be easy playing a character who goes from being perfectly dreadful, to rather lovable. He pulled it off.
3. Caspian. Uh, Caspian. He needed a shave... and a haircut. He's a Prince... he should at least look like one. Although there were other things I could bring up, I'll leave it at that.
4. Aslan was epic. Every time he came into a scene it was like a big sigh of relief. His obvious parallel to God, although not stressed, was not hidden. Which is more then I expected.
5. The White Witch. I am personally thrilled that the White Witch has continually come back to tempt Edmund. Because of the one mistake he made two movies ago, Edmund is still living with this struggle, and always will. Such is the consequences of sin.
6. The Morals. Overcoming temptation being the main one. Thankfully it was worked in well enough it wasn't cheesy either. One of the worst thing in a film is making the morals sound cheesy.

I think overall I would say it's not a bad movie, but it's certainly not the best, and not as good as it could have been.

Thanksgiving, Nannies, and Hair

First of all. Thanksgiving. We braved the snow, the ice, and the cold, drove for seven hours straight, and surprised my lovely seester with our presence for the day of eating dangerously.

While there I happened to see two new movies. One of them really is a new movie. The other was new for me. I'll start with the new for me.

Nanny McPhee

I had always been rather reluctant to watch this movie. The main reason being it looked like it would be a disappointment. After all, who would want to see a film with such an adorable face as this...

and not enjoy it? In my opinion, that would be a tragedy, and not wanting to go through it, I avoided the movie.

After finally watching it however I would have to say it's about what I expected. Since I had expected not to enjoy it to my fullest however, I wasn't to disappointed so the tragedy turned into a slightly disappointing enjoyment.

The best part was the house, which all in all was awesome. The best room in the house was the inspiring green study.

Oh, and then there was the epic green coat that was at its best while the wearer (Colin Firth, almost as epic as the coat itself) was at full run.

Tangled

The second movie was in fact, the new Rapunzel movie. Let me just say, I'm so happy Disney is starting to make the princess movies again. Although The Princess and the Frog and Tangled certainly aren't in the same league as the classics, they have a category of their own.

I was trying not to get to excited over this movie, because frankly, I don't expect much out of Disney anymore, but through the whole thing I was in love. It was purely epic.

The characters were lovable, the story well planned with new twists to the classic story, the animation adorable, and some of the scenes were deathly whimsical. *diez* See.

After The Princess and the Frog came out there were a lot of comments about how scary some parts were for younger children. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard the same for Tangled, so I would just like to remind my readers to stop and think about almost all the Disney princess movies they have seen. You can't tell me Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, or Sleeping Beauty didn't have their scary moments. I really don't think things have changed in this respect.

My one disappointment was the lack of songs in the movie. The soundtrack was amazing, and I loved the songs that the characters danced and sang too, but it didn't seem there was very many. In fact, I can only think of three. Very sad.

All in all. Great movie.

Last, but certainly not least. The NaNo widget in my sidebar is not lying. I did reach 50,000 words. *grins* I'll have a bigger post about that later.

Until then, Happy Thanksgiving, however late it may be, and don't forget to get your Christmas music out.

The Eagle

So, if you haven't read this book. You should. Before February, 'cause that's when the movie is coming out.

The Eagle of the Ninth is written by the amazing Rosemary Sutcliff. It's about a young man who goes on a quest to find out what happened to his Father and the legion he was leading fifteen years beforehand, and to recover his families honor.

All that highly recommended, I'm thrilled the trailer finally came out for the movie simply called The Eagle.