Me and Earl and the Fault in Our Stars: An Epic Battle of Life and Death

First, I would like to apologize to those who may find the title of this blog post to be a bit insensitive.  In my attempts to be witty, every so often I cross the line.  However, being the former family member of a cancer victim (may Mom rest in peace), I feel I have the right to make somewhat dark jokes about cancer.  Sometimes it's the only way to cope, making dark-humored jokes about the malignant elephant in the room.

Moving on.

When The Fault in Our Stars came out in 2014, I wasn't sure I'd be able to see it.  Granted, it had been over three years since my Mom's death to Non-Hodgkins B-Cell Lymphoma.  That being said, I wasn't sure how I'd react.  Cancer seems to be very common in media for some reason.  The one that has bothered me the most was when Star-Lord's mother dies of cancer at the beginning of Gardians of the Galaxy.  That was seriously the most cliched cancer death I have ever seen.  Sickening cliched.  I knew I didn't like that portrayal of cancer, but I wasn't sure if I was ready for something a little more, I don't know, realistic.  It might hit too close to home.

But several people who knew me pretty well and had been there for me when my Mom was dying saw it and highly recommended it to me.  As a filmmaker, I would love it.  As the daughter of a cancer victim, I would relate to it.  I was probably going to cry, but I would LOVE the movie.

So, I finally bit the bullet and grabbed a copy from Redbox.


The Part Where I Watched The Fault in Our Stars

At first, it was awkward, because I'd just seen Divergent where Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort were sister and brother team/rivals Tris and Caleb Prior.  Now, Shailene and Ansel were (quite literally) star-crossed lovers, Hazel and Augustus (Gus).

The only catch was that Hazel was suffering from cancer and was undergoing a clinical trial, which was helping to prolong her life (for now) but still left her unable to breathe on her own.  Thus Hazel is condemned to a life of being hooked up to oxygen tanks everyone she goes.  Considering that, as far as I know, Shailene does not have cancer or trouble breathing or anything like that, her performance as Hazel was extremely convincing.  Maybe that's why I like her as an actress.  The diversity of characters she is capable of playing believably is incredible!

Back on topic.

To add to this already doomed story, enter Augustus, the handsome cancer survivor who Hazel suddenly realizes she's in love with.  Her only concern is that, as she puts it, she's a "grenade" who is going to go off eventually and she wants to cause as little emotional damage as possible when that happens.  Augustus thinks this is a ridiculous reason not to fall in love and actively pursues a relationship with her.

Then tragedy strikes, but I'm not going to go too far down that rabbit trail.  Suffice it to say it's not the tragedy you're probably expecting from my brief summary of the movie so far.

Overall, I loved the movie.  So much so that I went out and bought the book and read the whole thing on a vacation (my parents couldn't understand why I was laughing for the duration of those long car rides).  Yes, I said laughing.  The story is hilarious, mostly due to Augustus' optimistic view on life.  I liked it because it wasn't really a movie about cancer so much as it was a love story about two young people who just happen to have cancer.  Cancer makes more of a cultural appearance than a main role.  I thought that made it a much more accurate portrayal of cancer than that overly cliched death scene from Guardians of the Galaxy.

My one major quibble about the movie was the scene in the Anne Frank House.  Through a string of events, Hazel and Augustus find themselves in Amsterdam, and they decide to take a tour of the Anne Frank House.  Which is made interesting by the fact that Hazel has trouble breathing and there are a ton of stairs involved.  Reaching the top of those stairs is a triumphant moment for her, even though she's winded and a little woozy.  And then she and Augustus spontaneously kiss (for the first time), and everybody else in the room starts clapping.  I understand all the people in their tour clapping because Hazel conquers the stairs despite her cancer, but there is no logical reason for everyone to start clapping when they kiss.  Nobody else knows about their little love story or how Hazel has been afraid to really LOVE Augustus until this moment.  Besides that, I think it's highly disrespectful of them to be making out in the room where Anne Frank was arrested.

...unless Shailene and Ansel were actually playing Anne Frank and Peter van Pels in an actual Anne Frank movie...

...which, in my opinion, wouldn't be a bad idea...

...except that they're much older than Anne and Peter were in real life...

...but, perhaps slapping Shailene and Ansel in a Holocause movie wouldn't be such a bad idea...

As a filmmaker with a deep respect for the Holocaust, I'm completely seriously about this.  After all, if they can bounce between tough siblings in a dystopian Chicago to cancer patients in the real world and back to tough siblings in a dystopian Chiacgo, who's to say they wouldn't be able to pull off being in a Holocaust movie as well?

Just a thought.


The Part Where I Watched Me and Earl and the Dying Girl...
...because I Liked The Fault in Our Stars

Then came Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

And I literally thought, "Hey, I really liked The Fault in Our Stars, so maybe I should go see this movie too!"

As it turned out, I ended up accidentally renting two of them from Redbox in the same evening.  The good thing that came out of that is I got twice as many Redbox PlayPass Points due to the mistake.  Yay!

I'd seen Olivia Cooke (who plays Rachel in MEDG) as a girl with a lung condition on Bates Motel and she did an amazing job with that character.  So, I assumed I would like Me and Earl and the Dying Girl because she was in it.

I also assumed I would like it because it looks very much like a Wes Anderson film, and I happen to really like Wes Anderson's style.  Sadly, Mr. Anderson didn't have anything to do with Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, but whoever made the creative decisions on the movie clearly got a lot of influence from Mr. Anderson's work...all the way down to his awkwardly borderline racist sense of humor.  Wes Anderson can get away with it for some reason.  Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (the director of MEDG) got a little too close to the line for my comfort.


The Part Where I was Disappointed by Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

In the end, it might be a good thing that Wes Anderson wasn't involved with Me and Earl and the Dying Girl because it may have been the film to officially tarnish his reputation.

It was sad.  Not just sad, like "Oh, Rachel's dying of cancer, this is so sad!"  But just sad in that it wasn't what I'd hoped it would be.

Greg is the guy who tries to get through life with as little conflict as possible.  He frowns on making friends, and really only starts a relationship with Rachel because his mother forces him to on the grounds that Rachel has been diagnosed with cancer.  The whole movie is Greg trying not to admit he truly cares about Rachel even as he truly cares for her.  The whole movie is Greg being selfish, too afraid to say the friend-word, too afraid of doing something wrong to attempt to do something right.  Everything he does is for his own safety -- to appease everyone to avoid conflict.  I think that's what makes his character so unbearable.  The saddest part of the movie, really, is that he finally does something for someone other than himself THE DAY Rachel dies (of course she dies...it's in the title).

Other problem I had: His mom is way too pushy.  I understand encouraging someone to visit a sick friend or relative, but his mom is WAY too over-the-top about it.  And she keeps hounding him for the ENTIRE movie.  And when him spending time with Rachel causes him to get kicked out of college, his mom freaks out...ignoring the fact that she forced him to hang out with Rachel in the first place.


The Part Where I Share My Final Thoughts about The Fault in Our Stars and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Basically, I liked The Fault in Our Stars much, much, MUCH better than Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

The Fault in Our Stars didn't have to try to be likable.  It just wanted to share the story of two star-crossed lovers who happen to have cancer.  The characters were relatable even if you've never had cancer.  I really cared about them and their doomed relationship, to the point where I bought the book and put the movie on my Christmas wishlist.

The same cannot be said for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.  The best scene in the entire movie is when Rachel is watching the movie Greg and Earl made for her right before she goes into a coma and dies.  The second best scene is at the very end when Greg prepares to send this same movie to the college admisisons people to explain why his grades dropped so drastically in high school, and he puts a note on the DVD which says, "Caution: The last person to watch this immediately went into a coma and died".  I laughed because having my mom die of cancer gave me a morbid sense of humor.  However, others might find this note a tad bit offensive.  The rest of the movie was about an insecure guy hanging out with a cancer patient because he felt like he had to.  Consequently, Rachel is probably the most relatable character, and she ends up dead.  

An Exploration of Insurgent Production Design

As life would have it, I ended up taking a Production Design class and a Film Theory class in the same quarter.

I found this coincidence to be interesting and helpful as the two subjects are surprisingly interrelated.

A film's production design can tell us a lot about what the filmmakers are trying to communicate (which is film theory), and those same concepts can have a great amount of influence on a production team's production design decisions.

These two classes (and a few others) have ruined my ability to watch movies without paying attention to stuff like the production design.  Thus it was that I rewatched Insurgent.

I did this for two reasons:

1. So that I could see if it was as bad as I remembered it
2. So that I could watch it alone in order to form my own opinions

Having grown up with a rather controlling mother, I find it hard these days to express my opinions if they don't reflect the opinions of everyone else in the room.  Thus I have never told my teacher or my classmates exactly how much I disliked Nightcrawler, A Most Violent Year, Dope, or Foxcatcher.

The same is true of Insurgent.  When I first saw it on pre-opening night (see http://lynzmediathoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/insurgent-count-down.html), I was with my Divergent fan who ended up not liking the movie.  Before passing judgment, however, I wanted to see the again without an outside influence.

So it was that I ran to Redbox one beautiful summer day and used my "rent one, get one free" coupon to grab a copy of Insurgent.  And while I'm still not entirely happy with the plot deviations and some of the dialogue drove me up the wall, I found that Insurgent really wasn't all that bad.

I turned from a story about a hopeless, depressed girl rediscovering a reason to live into a story about a hopeless, depressed girl who learns to forgive herself.

It's a powerful message, and one that mainstream media doesn't touch on very often.

But that wasn't the only thing I noticed during my second viewing.  I noticed a few things about the production design that stuck out to me.


It All Started with the Erudite Sequence...

Spoiler Alert: Tris ends up as a prisoner in the Erudite compound.

Well, okay, she hands herself in for "research" in order to stop Jeanine from killing innocent people.



Regardless, Tris spends a good half of the movie between a holding cell and a science lab in the Erudite compound, always under guard.  She's a prisoner.  A voluntary one, but a prisoner none the less.

In the book, her reasons for doing this are made quite clear.  Overcome by guilt over the deaths of her parents, Will, and a handful of others who have been killed by the Erudite in their efforts to round up Tris and the Divergents once and for all, Tris decides she doesn't want to live anymore.  She also convinces herself that Four, and Caleb, and everyone else she loves will be safer if she dies.  So instead of throwing herself off a bridge or jumping in front of a moving train or shooting herself, Tris hands herself over to the Erudite, knowing they will probably have her executed at the end of whatever experiments they wish to run on her.  This also serves the dual purpose of giving the Erudite a Divergent to study so they'll stop killing innocent people.

The movie makes a point of saying that the Erudite are specifically demanding someone to hand Tris over because she somehow the most divergent Divergent person in Chicago, and therefore is the perfect test subject for their experiment (aka opening that strange box that was hidden in the Prior home back in Abegnation).  Overwhelmed by guilt over the deaths of the innocent people are the Erudite are killing to "motivate" everyone to hand Tris over to them, Tris takes the situation into her own hands and turns herself in.  Problem solved...kinda.

Upon the first viewing, I remember thinking, "Oh, this is different, but at least the plot is mostly the same."

But upon the second viewing, I began to notice something interesting...

...like enough to make me search Google to demonstrate my theory interesting.

The lab where Tris is hooked up to the device that's supposed to open that mysterious box everyone's been going on about for half the movie is a square.  Tris has to stand on a circular disc in the center of the room in order to be hooked up to the device.  And she separated from Jeanine and the other Erudite scientists by a large glass viewing window

At first, I thought nothing of this.  The Erudite are, after all, intelligent and also seeking to further their understanding of things.  It seems natural for Tris to find herself in this type of enclosure as a test subject.

Then they moved her to a prison cell so she could recoup for another day of experiments, and I noticed something interesting...

Her cell is a square with a square-shaped window.


But...

...the hallway outside is circular.

And...

...oh hey, look!  The cell doors are large panels of glass.

Large panels of glass that look a lot like viewing windows.

This poor girl gets, like, no privacy.

Which makes sense.  I mean, after all, the Erudite are the intelligent ones who are always seeking to expand their knowledge.  Therefore, it makes perfect sense that even their prison would feel like a lab where innocent subjects can be observed and tested without discretion.  I'm not a huge fan of animal testing...

But the cherry on the top of the cake comes in the form of the shower scene.  Don't let that scare you.  It's not that kind of shower scene.  It's all of five seconds long, and only shows Tris's head and shoulders as water pours over her.  That's all.

This honestly one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie.  Tris is alone in this dark room.  She's just come from a long day of intense simulations.  She is exhausted.  Hopeless.  Alone for the first time since her ordeal began.  Simply standing there as cold water cascades over her.  I like to imagine it's cold water.

There's something beautiful about the whole scene.

And, of course, I can't find a picture of it anywhere.

But, one needs only rent a copy of the DVD or [legally] download it from the Amazon Instant Video to find it.

And the reason you should go look it up is not because it's my favorite scene and I told you to, but because if you did go watch the scene I've just described to you, you would notice something interesting about the design of the shower.

It's a square with light coming from little round objects on the walls.  Or are those windows?

Square, circle, viewing window.

Maybe this is all just a coincidence (in which case the production design team should scold themselves for not thinking of that earlier).  But just in case it wasn't a went on a serach to find more square-circle-window patterns.  And I found....

Circular Building

Square Windows

...at the Amity Compound.

Am I going crazy?

I think not.

At least, I hope not.

...and Evolved into Film Theory

So, as I sit here at work typing up all this stuff about squares and circles and windows, I began to wonder why the filmmakers chose to use this theme throughout the movie.  

If this is just a happy coincidence, then the production designer should pat himself on the back after he slaps himself for not thinking of it sooner.

If my suspicions are correct, however, and this whole square, circle, window theme was planned (which I sincerely hope it was), then one must go further and ask, "What does this mean?"  What concept are they communicating to us through their choices in set design?

While I can't say for certain what these guys had in mind when they designed the sets and all, I have formed a possible theory.

A common theme in Divergent is reflection.  Tris sees her reflection in mirrors, windows, puddles of water, anything with a reflective surface.  I think this is to personify Tris' search for herself.

Does that make sense?

The first book/movie is primarily about Tris trying to figure out who she is.  

In the Divergent universe, a person is defined by their Faction.  Are they brave, selfless, honest, intelligent, or kind?  Your Faction defines you.

Problem is Tris tests positive for three Factions, Dauntless, Erudite, and Abnegation.  She does not fit into any one category.  She's Divergent.

She spends a good portion of the beginning of the story trying to figure out where she fits into their society, and it takes her the rest of the movie to figure out that she doesn't have to necessarily be confined to one trait.  It's perfectly okay to be divergent, other than the fact that Erudite is trying to kill you because you can't be controlled by traditional means.  

My theory regarding Insurgent is that the production design is meant to represent exposure.  Tris spends the majority of the movie trying to hide who she really is and what she's done (namely killing Will while he was under the attack simulation in Divergent) from everyone around her.  First of all, being divergent is dangerous, in and of itself, because the Divergents are being hunted by the Erudite and are generally frowned upon by everyone else.  Second, Tris fears that revealing the truth about Will's death to her friends and remaining family will make them hate her.  On top of all that, Tris is hiding with a bunch of Abegnation and Dauntless fugitives who have taken refuge in the Amity headquarters, so they're trying to blend in as much as possible.  

Contrast Tris' closely guarded personal life with the openness of the Amity compound.  Everything is open and exposed.  The buildings are only half built and have trees growing right in the middle of them, and most everyone hangs out in public places, which usually have wide windows to let in the most light.  The Amity are at peace because they do not fear exposure.  Tris, on the other hand, is not peaceful because she is constantly having to watch her steps and look back over her shoulder to make sure nobody catches a glimpse of her secrets.  She is, in fact, so wound up by the guilt of her actions and grief over the loss of her parents and trying so hard not to draw attention to herself that she has probably developed one of the shortest fuses in literary history and will try to kill people for looking at her the wrong way.

Flash forward to Candor.  The Candor are honest, even to the point of being impolite.  The Candor building is a gigantic glass structure, lined with huge windows and bright lights.  Everything is out in the open again.  Everything is exposed.  There are not secrets in Candor.  This is best demonstrated by their Truth Serum, which makes a person prone to share their deepest secrets to achieve true honesty.  This is why Tris is so against taking the Truth Serum when they are arrested by Amity for the murder of the Abegnation (back in Divergent).  The exposure of her secrets is the last thing she wants, and why she tries to resist the serum once she's been injected with it.  Being exposed like that in front of all of Candor and half of Dauntless must have been one of the most traumatic experiences of her short life.  

The Erudite compound is the epitome of Tris' exposure crisis.  Practically every room she's kept in is a lab -- a box with a window and nowhere to hide.  She is a lab rat in the purest sense of the word.

But she doesn't really have anything left to hide, if you think about it.  Her divergence and the fact that she killed Will have already been exposed while under the Truth Serum.  The only thing that is still hidden is what makes her so special.  What is it about Tris that makes her Divergent, anyway?  In the book, Tris makes sure to negotiate the terms of her captivity so that Jeanine and her cronies can study her all they want as long as they share their findings with her.  Not so much in the movie, but in the book she figures, "They're going to kill me when this is over anyway.  What harm could be done by telling me what they learn from studying me?"  She's been laid open like a book back at the Candor headquarters.  I don't think she's still trying to hide her secrets anymore.  I think she's trying to reveal more about herself, trying to learn whatever she can about her divergence in hopes of finding out who she really is.

In short, my Insurgent production design theory is this:

The filmmakers have constructed a world where Tris is completely exposed.  They place her in a series of sets where nearly every wall is a window and every move she makes can be seen by those outside.  They have put her on display in a glass cage for all to see.  She has nowhere to hide.

I think is this a reflection of Tris' inner fear of exposing her secrets, and it was very well devised on the part of the production designers.


So...

Five months ago I would have said, "No, don't see this movie!  It's terrible!" for the simple reason that my Divergent fan friend said she didn't like it.  However, coming back to it on my own, I think I can now say, "Well, it's not the book, and some of the dialogue is a bit stiff (no pun intended), but I liked it."

I thought the soundtrack was fantabulous, most of the acting was good, and the special effects of pretty cool!

So, should you see it?

I think it's worth a viewing or two, if you liked the first movie, are over 16, and are not one of those people who find Shailene Woodley's voice to be irritating (I don't have a problem with her voice, but that's just one film student's opinion).

Be advised, though, there is a kinda sex scene in the middle.  When I say "kinda", I mean the characters take off their shirts and make out rather passionately, but it's all filmed very carefully so that nothing too inappropriate is shown, and we (thankfully) don't see the actual act of sex on screen.  It's all kinda implied by the aforementioned passionate kissing and Shailene Woodley's bare back.

Aside from that, there's the usual amount of violence.  People get shot, stabbed, fall down stairs, fall off buildings...you get the picture.  There's a bit of language, most of which are four letter words with one possible muffled use of the f-bomb (it's hard to tell because the character says it so quietly).

Kids definitely shouldn't see this movie until they're much older.  Older teens and adults, I think, will be fine, but I'll leave that decision up to you and/or your legal guardians (depending on how old you are).

Anyway, I didn't think it was half-bad, and I'd happily watch it again.

The Martian

Disclaimer: I am a believer in extraterrestrial life.

That, however, is not what this movie is about.

While a deceptive title at first glance, the lack of actual martians in The Martian does not diminish the beauty or intensity of this fascinating movie!

In a way, The Martian is a bit like Castaway.  There's an accident and one guy gets stranded in an isolated and desolate area and has to learn to fend for himself.  But Chuck Noland had it easy compared to Mark Watney (Matt Damon), who finds himself stranded on Mars after a severe dust storm forces his crew to abort their mission and evacuate.  As the world mourns the heroism of Watney back on Earth, Watney wakes up in a pile of martian sand with a satellite antennae sticking out of his gut and the realization that there likely won't be another manned mission to Mars for the next 4 years.

After sewing himself up and spending a few days moping around while he waits to die, Watney becomes determined to survive the 4 years until the next Mars mission arrives.  He rations his food and figures he has enough to last about a year.  To account for the remaining 3 years, he uses his magical skills as a botanist to grow potatoes inside the aborted mission's artificial habitat.  He then starts to experiment and figure out a way to communicate with NASA and let everyone know he's still alive.

Meanwhile on Earth, an astute NASA worker notices movement in some of the satellite photos they've been receiving from Mars.  Mission Control is called in, at which point it is somewhat unofficially determined that Mark Watney is alive after all.  But to save themselves from the embarrassment of admitting they were wrong, NASA coordinator Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) tries to rig any attempts to rescue Mark so that they would arrive too late to actually save his life (therefore, he's pretty much dead).  When the news of Watney's survival is released to the public, Sanders advises his team not to get the hopes of the public up too high since a rescue mission wouldn't be able to reach Watney for the next 4 years.

In the meantime, Watney finds the location of the Pathfinder (yes, the one sent to Mars in 1996/7) and figures out how to get it working again.  Back on Earth, the NASA team who have been closely monitoring his progress figure out what he's doing and set up an exact replica of Pathfinder in hopes that they'll be able to communicate.  Since Pathfinder can only take still images, Watney devices a sort of morse code in order to communicate with Earth by turning Pathfinder's camera toward certain numbers and symbols Watney sets up around it.  They tell him how to hook Pathfinder up to his computer so that they can communicate in a more efficient manner.

Meanwhile, an brilliant (if not highly disorganized) astrodynamicist, Rich Purnell, figures out that it would be faster and easier to send crew from the last Mars mission (still on their way back from Mars) back to Mars to get Watney instead of trying to send him supplies to help him survive until the next Mars landing.  When Sanders at NASA turns down his proposal, he disguises an email to the crew in space and sends them his data.  Together, the crew discuss the possibilities -- they could defy a direct order for NASA and go back for Watney or they could return to Earth as planned and hope Watney survives the next four years.


This movie has something for everyone.  It really does.

I know this because I know a Mars enthusiast, a case worker, a graphic designer, a youth pastor, a college instructor, and two film students who all loved it!

Mars enthusiasts will be existed by anything to do with Mars, particularly all of the geography and historical references (Pathfinder, etc.).

Film students and filmmakers will like the gorgeous cinematography and production design.

Everyone else will love this movie for a variety of reasons.  They may love the picturesque landscape shots on Mars, or the concept of the story (after all, how would one survive if one got stranded on Mars?), or they may just like movies that show the inner workings of NASA.

And Lord of the Rings fans will get a kick out of Project Elrond!

But, overall, this movie inspires.  It has long since been a goal of NASA to send a manned mission to Mars, to colonize our nearest partially habitable planetary neighbor.  My hope is that movies like The Martian and Interstellar (among others) will once again inspire us to reach for the stars, literally, and influence the government to refund NASA exploration.

There was a bit of language, but it's not very frequent and mostly justified (if you consider the predicament Watney is in).  We briefly see a Watney's naked backside, but nothing overly graphic is shown.  The most disturbing part to watch is probably the part where Watney has to give himself stitches (I had to cover my eyes).

That being said, I feel comfortable recommending The Martian to anyone in the over 20 crowd who love beautiful movies, compelling survival stories, and/or anything to do with Mars.  Young children probably shouldn't see it, as some of the Mars sequences can be quite intense and I don't want to be responsible for anybody's five-year-olds walking around saying the f-word or the s-word.

Personally, I really loved this movie.  I loved the story, and the science, and the filmmaking, and I would see it again in a heartbeat!

The Twilight Saga: A Summary

Twilight was hugely popular when I was in high school.  Even at the local Christian schools, you couldn't go very far without seeing Team Edward/Team Jacob references or hear mad fangirls fangirling about it with their fellow fangirls.  

Two things saved me:

1. My mom didn't think it was a good idea for influential teenagers to be reading romance novels about humans and vampires hooking up.

2. It was all a bit too sappy for me, anyway.  

How would I know if I didn't like sappy romances if I'd never read Twilight?  I didn't have to.  All I had to do was read A Gown of Spanish Lace, Elsie Dinsmore, and watch the Love Comes Softly movies to figure out that sappy romances weren't for me.

At my pre-wedding movie night, I'll probably be watching Lord of the Rings.

Anyway, more often than not, I found myself to be the only person in a room who hadn't seen Twilight at that point.  And usually, when people found out I wasn't a Twilight fanatic like "everyone else", they would literally freak out as if I'd just told them I was responsible for blowing up the World Trade Center, as if the very act of not liking Twilight was, in and of itself, an act of terrorism.  If any of them had been undercover Volturi, they would have ripped my head off right on the spot.  But after dealing with this same reaction from Harry Potter fans for 11 years up to that point (books and movies combined), I quickly just learned to roll my eyes and go with it whenever Twilight came up.

Years went by, my mother passed away (may she rest in peace), and Summit Entertainment spat out four more Twilight movies.  I was now a film student at an art school, and it suddenly occurred to me that now that I was older and more mature it would probably be safe for me to watch Twilight.  Not for the sake of watching it and getting the fangirls off my back, but simply as a filmmaker and critic.

As luck would have it, my brother's friend happened to loan him the box set with all five movies, and since my brother wasn't particularly excited about watching them, he let me borrow his friend's box set.  Six weeks later, I finally got through all five movies, so all the fangirls of the world (if any do, in fact, remain) can calm down.  

So here, for the very first time, are my not-entirely-humble thoughts and opinions on The Twilight Saga.

Movie #1: Twilight

Kinda typical love story.

Girl meets boy.  Boy likes girl.  Girl likes boy.  Girl and boy make out.  Other boys are jealous.  

The only difference is that the boy in our story is an undead vampire who has been 17 years old since 1918-ish.  Bella, who is an actual not-undead human doesn't really seem to care that he's a vampire who has to struggle not to suck her blood everytime he's around her.  Love conquers all, I guess...

All mushy romance and creepy vampire stuff aside, this movie is an embarrassment to all things good and glorious about filmmaking.  Dialogue was really terrible, with Bella starring as Captain Obvious for the majority of the story.

And don't tell me they didn't have the technology to make it better.  Fellowship of the Ring came out seven years earlier, and the production quality on that movie was ten times better than on Twilight.  

In summary, I came away from the movie disappointed.

Movie #2: New Moon

Things seem to be going well for Bella and her undead soulmate.  Until an ill-fated paper cut leads to familiar troubles and Edward breaks off the relationship in the name of saving Bella from further vampire trouble.

But Bella is a clingy, lovesick teenager who can't bear the separation, and starts to do these incredibly stupid and dangerous things because when she does she imagines that she can see Edward.  

A third corner in the world's most forced love triangle appears when another boy, Jacob, enters the picture and tries (without luck) to get Bella to fall for him.  It is, however, later revealed that Jacob is a werewolf, which is a trait passed down through certain members of the local Native American tribe...?  Anyway, this is part of the reason the vampires and the local Natives don't get along since vamps and werewolves are mortal enemies.

Regardless, after Bella almost dies in an act of stupidity, Edward's kinda-sister, Alice (who possesses the ability to see the future), tells Edward Bella has committed suicide, and since Edward is just about as clingy and lovesick as Bella, he can't imagine living without her...even though he's already dead...and travels to Italy to beg the vampire elite, known as the Volturi, to kill him by ripping his head off.

Finding out that Edward intends to get himself killed because he thinks that Bella is dead, Bella then travels to Italy to stop him, and the Volturi laugh because the whole thing is rather hysterical.  Then they say, "Well, since you brought a snack, we might as well dig in."  (this is a paraphrase)  But Alice (who came with Bella to Italy) tells them that she's seen Bella turn into a vampire in the future. So the Volturi says, "Okay, sounds good!  Safe travels home!" and let them go.

While the overall quality of the movie was much better than the first one, I found the ending to be a huge letdown.  Who seriously lets a tasty morsel go on the claim of an emotionally attached vampire who says the aforementioned tasty morsel will become a vampire someday?   It makes no sense!  

Someone fix this ending!  

Movie #3: Eclipse

I am of the not-entirely-humble opinion that this movie exists for the sole purpose of advancing the love triangle forced briefly eluded to in the previous movie.

Okay, yeah, so a bad vampire from the first movie comes back and tries to eat Bella, but this subplot could have easily been touched on without the sickeningly forced and mushy tension between Edward and Jacob.

Save me!

Movie #4: Breaking Dawn Part 1

We've suffered through the last three movies to get here, and Bella and Edward's beautiful and surprisingly human wedding makes the journey worth it.  But their honeymoon turns upside down when Bella gets pregnant with a half-undead child...which shouldn't be possible, but we'll let that one slide for now.

This half-undead baby practically kills Bella, but Edward saves her by turning her into a vampire (and thus the predictions of Alice come true!).  The werewolves aren't happy about this for some reason and plan to attack the vampire's residence, but Jacob enlists the help of several other werewolves to help in defending Edward's family.  And if this whole franchise isn't creepy enough, Jacob discovers that he is destined to marry Bella and Edward's baby...

...whereby he claims some ancient werewolf wright that states that no werewolf can harm another werewolf's mate...even if that future mate is a half-undead kinda-vampire who was born five minutes earlier.  Again, this makes no sense, but whatever.  

As an aside, this is the first franchise to casually redefine "book adaptation" by splitting one book into two movies. This will later be imitated by Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows and eventually lead to the Hobbit trilogy (three movies from one book).  Thank you, Breaking Dawn.  You've revolutionized the definition of a movie adaptation.  Where would we be without you?  One Harry Potter and two Hobbit movies short, to be sure.

Movie #5: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Hey, guess what? Bella's a vampire now! 

But the real problem comes when the Volturi over in Italy find out about Edward and Bella's kid...because apparently it's a crime to turn a child into a vampire in the vampire world...? 

Well, whatever, they spend the majority of the movie gathering a vampire army to fight the Volturi in an epic battle that is actually really cool...but which never actually happens...? 

Anyway, Bella and Edward end up living happily ever after with their kid, who will later grow up and marry Jacob, thus creating the first every half-undead/werewolf relationship in undead history!

Which leaves me with questions like:

~Will Jacob live forever too?

~Will Renesme try to turn Jacob into a vampire?

~If so, what would happen to Jacob?

~Will their whole relationship be really weird for Edward and Bella since they went to high school with Jacob?

BTW, this is probably the best of the 5 movies in terms of production quality.

Movie #6: 50 Shades of Grey

To date, this is the only Twilight movie I haven't seen.  Nor do I really want to see it...

...oh wait.  Wrong franchise.  My bad.

Well, not entirely since it was originally an erotic Twilight fanfiction series.

Sadly, there's literally an erotic fanfiction piece for almost every popular book series and movie franchise, including The Hobbit, Divergent, and Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events.  I know this only because I've spent some considerable time perusing fanfiction websites and it can be hard not to accidentally stumble upon these rather disturbing pieces of fanfiction.

 The only difference here is that E. L. James was the only one (I know of) who actually got hers published.

So, next time you read the FSOG books or see the movie, think of Bella and Edward.

The Divergent Mockingjay - Hollywood's Affair with Fan Fiction

So,  it's 8:38am on a surprisingly cold Saturday morning,  and I'm sitting behind the front counter at work.   As usually happens,  I'm one of 33 people who are likely to show up today -- the security guard, a teacher with a class of 20-30 students,  and me.  So to pass the slow hours between now and the end of my shift,  I decided to go see if there was a newer,  more detailed Mockingjay Part Two trailer. 

These Hunger Games have been getting progressively better with each new film. Hunger Games was terrible.  To this day, I don't remember anything from that movie except that they left out most of my favorite parts and that the shaky cam made me nauseated.   In fact,  the shaky cam was so bad that I found it hard to follow the story (even though I was already familiar with the books).

Catching Fire was great compared to its predecessor.   New director Francis Lawrence actually knew what a tripod was and how to use it,  which made Catching Fire not only much easier to watch but also a lot more engaging.  It was just a better quality movie overall thanks to those tripods.

Mockingjay Part 1 was AMAZING!   It was so good that I watched it twice in the same evening.  I have never been so excited about a Hunger Games movie ever in the history of my relationship with dystopian literature.   I've heard that some people weren't too crazy about it because it focused more on politics and strategy as the Mockingjay Rebellion really starts to take wing (pun fully intended).  I, however,  thought the movie was great even if things weren't blowing up every 5 seconds.  I happen to like political strategy movies.

Therefore, I'm now super excited for Mockingjay Part 2 in November.  Hence my early morning Google search for the trailer.

What met my weary eyes was both surprising and alarming.

Apparently Hollywood,  in anticipation for the end of the Hunger Games franchise and it's myriad fans,  is trying to create a THG sequel that will also be a Divergent prequel.   So basically,  Panem becomes the Divergent universe.

Is it just me,  or is Hollywood officially running out of ideas?

On the other hand,  the thought is appalling.   As a writer having my work changed in order to accommodate a sequel that will magically attach itself to someone else's work is a bit offensive.   What was wrong with my original story that you feel the need to change it in order to tie it in to someone else's story?  It would,  in my opinion,  be like not killing off Thorin for the sake of using Pain Bearer (by lilithiumwords) as an intermedium between The Hobbit and LOTR.  It just shouldn't be done because it would destroy the fabric of the author's original masterpiece.   It's a slap in the face to any writer.

The biggest crime in consideration where the Divergent Games are concerned is the idea of having Prim be the main character.  This can only mean that Prim survives Mockingjay Part 2.  But Prim's death is the main reason Katniss loses it at the end,  kills Coin, and tells Gale she never wants to see him again.   So if Prim doesn't die, can Mockingjay end the same?   Possibly.   But not likely.   Katniss has been holding herself together for her family and friends -- for Prim.  When Prim dies, it takes the last bit of Katniss's sanity.  Prim's death causes the end result of Mockingjay.   One could argue that Katniss's cracking was inevitable,  but Prim's death will always be a contributing factor.  As much as we love her, it would be a crime not to kill her off.

Let's face it.   The main reason Hollywood I'd probably even considering it is that there's a presold audience for both franchises.   Combining them would mean a combined presold audience.  Which means more money.

On the other hand, a crossover isn't such a bad idea.  Especially if they worked it out so Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley could be in it together!  In the event that something like this were to get made, I would go see it.  In fact,  I would be honored to write the screenplay for them if they'd like.

The idea of a Divergent Games crossover isn't entirely new.  FanFiction.net is littered with crossovers,  some where Tris is reaped, some where Katniss is her cousin,  and one speculating that District 13 is really Tris's Chicago and the world beyond the fence is really Panem.  So far this looks like the most intersection and plausible one I've seen.

But even so,  I have a better idea.

Hollywood,  I hope you're paying attention!  

LynZ's Official Divergent Games Crossover
By LynZ Media Thoughts

Prim dies, Katniss goes crazy.   When she gets better,  she and Peeta get married and have two children. 

So far this sounds like what Suzanne Collins already wrote,  but bear with me.

Katniss's daughter's name is Amanda, and when she grows up Katniss and Peeta tell her about how they helped make Panem a better place.  Motivated by her parents' heroic deeds, Amanda joins a fledgling group of scientists who are trying to come up with a way to prevent another dictator from rising again.   They experiment on people and accidentally create the Genetically Damaged, who then wreak havoc on the country.   So city experiments are set up to contain them.  Amanda believes they can be healed, as does fellow scientist Daniel Prior (see where I'm going with this yet?).  The two fall in love over the course of their research and eventually get married.

Do you see it yet?

There's a scientist who doesn't want the Genetically Damaged people to be healed,  and instead wants to turn them into a type of slave race.  Amanda and Daniel protest this, and Daniel gets murdered by thugs who work for the bad scientist.  Amanda creates a message explaining how the Divergent will help save the world,  and moves into the Chicago experiment to escape the bad scientist. 

Do you see it now?

Katniss and Peeta's daughter is Amanda Prior.   So Katniss is Tris's great-great-great-greatish-grandmother! 

So later in Allegiant when Tris and company arrive at the O'Hare science facility and they say Amanda lied in the video, the science people are really the ones who are lying.   Maybe not intentionally,  because they've been led to believe that the Genetically Damaged people can't be healed and are therefore an underling species of human. 

Thus the justification for periodically erasing their memories and resetting them as if they were computers or lab rats.

Thus the rebellion led by Nita that Four joins.

Thus Tris getting shot when she goes in to unleash the memory serum the the scientists.

Thus Tris's death.

The End.

Roll Credits.

General Readers: So, what did you think?  

Hollywood: Feel free to use my ideas listed above.   But please credit LynZ Media Thoughts for story collaboration.  And as I said earlier,  I'd be happy to write the screenplay for you.

So at the end of the day,  I would be in favor of a crossover movie if it were handled properly and the writers/filmmakers really devoted themselves to respecting the integrity of both stories.  No letting Prim live.  No horribly distorted storylines to make it work (I'm thinking of the fall of Voyage of the Dawn Treader as I say this).  As long as the author's original work remains intact, I would go see the crossover.

But if they end up killing THG and Divergent in the process,  I can always tear them to shreds on this blog.  

Either way,  you will probably hear more from me on this subject in the future.

Be brave,  and may the odds be ever in your favor!

The Water Diviner

During my final semester at the community college, I chose to take a class on the World Wars as an elective.  I've been fascinated by World War 2 history since I was eight years old thanks to a preview for an Anne Frank movie I saw on TV.  But I didn't know a whole lot about World War 1 until I took that class.

That being said, my biggest criticism of textbooks is that they tend to focus only on famous battles and generals and that dude who took down the Ottoman Empire with a toothpick (that' s obviously an exaggeration).  Nobody learns about the farm boy who went to war and got hit by a grenade of the young pilot who lied about his age in order to get enlisted.  So when movies about lay peoples' war experiences come out, I get really excited.

Flash forward to April 2015.  My film school buddy came to class raving about a newer movie called The Water Diviner.  She wouldn't tell me much (she's not one to spoil movies for anyone), but she did say that there were war-related scenes and that they were not glossed over as so often happens in the movies.  So, in order to celebrate the end of a long (and slightly stressful) work week, I went and saw it.

www.itunesitalia.it

The Water Diviner is a bit of a deceptive title as hardly any of the movie has anything to do with actually finding water.  We get a scene at the beginning of the movie showing Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe) finding water in the middle of the Australian wilderness.  Shortly after that we learn that Joshua has three sons who fought for the British Army during World War 1, all of whom never returned home and are presumed (keyword being "presumed") dead.  As a result of this, there is tension in the Connor household summed up when his wife cries, "You can find water, but you can't even find your own children."  This and a tragic event make Joshua set out on a quest to find them. After all, finding the remains of your three sons can't be that much harder than finding water in the bone-dry wilderness of Australia...can it?

Brits and Turks Agree to Help Each Other on Gallipoli
civil.by

Turks Help Joshua Find Arthur
http://www.londragazete.com

The movie is unique in that it is a splendid mixture of cultures as Joshua travels to Turkey, meets a Turkish widow, and crashes the army base at Gallipoli in search of his sons.  British/Australian Christians and Turkish Muslims work together to locate the remains of their troops lost in combat, and neither side is portrayed as the bad guy.  Both sides have suffered heavy casualties.  Both sides have dead who are unaccounted for, who lie in unmarked graves strewn across the Gallipoli battlefield.  The British ask for assistance from the Turks.  The leader of the Turkish army agrees to help Joshua find his sons.  Later, when they're captured by invading Greeks, the leader of the Turkish army saves Joshua's life by claiming that he is an Australian prisoner (and, therefore, an ally of the Greeks).  Joshua returns the favor by saving him from the Greeks who are going to execute him.

Henry, Arthur, and Edward at War
www.cineclandestino.it

At the same time, The Water Diviner is a tribute to family.  Joshua will stop at nothing to find his boys and bring them home (or what's left of them).  He risks bullets, bombs, the British Army, and angry Turkish brother-in-laws to find the place where they are thought to have died in battle.  On the same front, the brothers (depicted in a series of flashbacks) remain loyal through childhood and into the battle.  When a dust storm comes crashing down on them, they refuse to leave each other behind.  When one gets injured by a grenade, the others rush to his aid (which is how they got killed in the battle).

www.glendalenewspress.com

Throughout the film, the closeness of the boys to their father (and their father's love for them) can be clearly seen in everything they do and say.  Flashbacks show a devoted father reading to his children from Arabian Nights, a scene which is mirrored as Joshua sits and reads the book beside Edward and Henry's graves in Gallipoli later in the film.  You already knew they were dead, didn't you?  It's in the preview.





Another thing which makes The Water Diviner unique is its depiction of war.  Many times, death in media is depicted quickly and relatively painlessly (with the exception of that kid who gets drilled in the head in American Sniper and every victim in every Saw movie ever made).  But, on average, war movies tend to do either one of two things: make us hate those whack-jobs who just want to kill innocent people overseas or make us want to join the army.  Most recently with American Sniper and now The Water Diviner, movies have finally started to be made that cast a more accurate light on war.  The reality is that war is ugly.  War is crawling around in mud with someone else's blood all over your face.  War is getting your arm blown off by a well-placed grenade and listening to your dying comrade moan for hours or days until they finally bleed to death.  Russell Crowe (who also directed the film) made sure that none of the horrors of Gallipoli were glossed over.  Henry's face is blown off by machine gun fire, and we see the wound in graphic detail in several flashbacks.  Edward's guts are practically hanging out, and we listen to him groan for at least five whole minutes before he finally dies (although it is implied that this scene takes place over a much longer period of time).  But he's not alone.  All around them, we hear the heart-wrenching moans of the dying -- other casualties left to die of their extensive wounds on Gallipoli.  It is truly horrific and hard to watch.  The Water Diviner knows that, and still refuses to shy away from it.

That being said, Edward's death is one of the most beautiful scenes in the film.  Please don't misunderstand, it's still horrific.  But even as he's dying on the battlefield, his relationship with his brothers is preserved.  He and Arthur (Henry died when his face was shot off) share old memories of things their father said and reference the Arabian Nights stories he used to read to them.  He begs Arthur to kill him -- he's dying anyway, why prolong the suffering when the result will be the same.  Arthur is resistant at first, but later pulls a bayonet over and does the hardest thing he'll probably ever do -- ends Edward's suffering.

I didn't even cry when Thorin died in Battle of Five Armies.  But I cried when Arthur pulled the trigger.

Despite it's hopelessness (as we spend at least half the movie believing that Arthur perished with his brothers at Gallipoli), the movie still gives us little rays of hope to cling to.  The color palette is full of vibrant color, everything from crystal blue seas to stunning orange sunsets.  My film school friend said it felt like the bright colors were symbolic of the hope in the story.  And when I thought about it, I had to agree with her.  Joshua never gives up hope that he will reach Gallipoli, find the remains of his children, and later find Arthur and bring him home.

These are the type of movies, and the type of scenes, that remind me why I want to be a filmmaker.

Other than the grotesque death sequences and the occasional bomb, gunshot, and slit throat, The Water Diviner is surprisingly clean.  Soldiers are shown bathing on the beach, some of whom are naked, but nothing graphic is shown.  A few uses of d---, h---, bastards, and a few others, but no f-bombs or misuses of Jesus' name.

Overall, definitely a movie worth watching!

Insurgent Count Down

9 Hours, 10 Minutes

So, I'm excited for Insurgent!   It technically doesn't come out until Friday,  but my friend and I found a pre-showing on Thursday night which works great I work close to the theater until shortly before the 8pm showtime. 

The only problem was that I got called in to cover for my coworker Thursday morning ( today as it turns out ),  so I will be working a grand total of 12 hours!   The sad part is that my boss just now realized that I'd be here all day.  

But at least we still get to see Insurgent tonight!  

So, to pass the time until 8pm, I've started this count down,  during which I will chronicle the hours leading up to showtime, and my thoughts and predictions about the movie.

I've already been here for 3.5 hours, so only 9.5 more to go! 

8 Hours, 53 Minutes

Longest 30 minutes ever!  I'm so hungry!   But I should probably wait until noon to eat lunch since I won't be able to eat again until after work.   Someone put on order on hold, but there is next to no information on it so I have no idea who it belongs to or when/if they'll pick it up.   Lovely.

At least things haven't been too busy here at work this morning,  and my boss [temporarily] doesn't seem to mind if I listen to music while I work.  On top of that, the Insurgent soundtrack is already available on iTunes!  Naturally I downloaded some tracks and have been listening to them all morning.   If the soundtrack is any indication, Insurgent is going to be AMAZING!

Usually when a production brings on a new composer to do the soundtrack in the middle of a series ( Divergent's was done by Junkie XL,  and Insurgent's was done by Joseph Trapanese ), I get a little nervous about it.   After all, the last I remember this happening in recent history was in the Narnia movies,  and Voyager of the Dawn Treader's soundtrack did nothing to bandage what could have been a great film. Arguably, Harry Gregson-Williams' scores for the previous two Narnia movies was MUCH better.

However, listening to Divergent and Insurgent back to back,  it's actually hard to tell the difference between these two scores.   Okay,  there's a distinct difference between them, but they compliment each other quite nicely.

Divergent's is definitely meant to be more airy and light-hearted while at the same time heavy and dramatic to mirror Tris's innocence at the beginning of the movie,  and all of the struggles she endures to grow into the fierce, determined Divergent she becomes at the end.  

Insurgent's, on the other hand,  I think is meant to be more heavy and conspiratorial.  Gone is innocent and hopeful Beatrice Prior who defected to Dauntless.  Now she's Tris, the fearless warrior chick who has fought the dictatorial Erudite and saved Abegnation from extinction.   And Tris has been through all kinds of crap at this point.   She had to kill her friend, watch both of her parents die, and was almost killed herself...multiple times.  Now she and her little band of followers and frienemies are on the run from Erudite and their leader Jeanine.  Trapanese uses an artful mix of cellos, violas, and violins to give the music an overall feeling of urgency and secrecy perfect for the story.

7 Hours,  55 Minutes

Lunch time!   Finally!  

I contacted my friend,  and we agreed it would be best to get our tickets ahead of time.   I'm SOOO excited!  

The people at Einstein's Bagels made my sandwich on a cinnamon raisin bagel this time.   That's unusual, since it's either on a sesame seed or everything bagel.

But enough about me and my precious bagel lunch.

This morning, my Dad left me an article from the local paper about the movie.  The reviewer said it was terrible.   Frankly,  that's one reviewer's opinion...an opinion I happen not to share.

6 Hours, 23 Minutes

Whew!  Been busy for the last couple hours.   Had a surge of customers, then my boss gave me a massive project,  which was interrupted by another surge of customers.   The janitor is cleaning the office right now,  so I have a few minutes to relax and write a bit. 

Still very excited for Insurgent tonight!  I think it's going to be so beautiful!   The preview looks visually gorgeous, so my natural assumption is that the movie will be as well.   The special effects are going to be AMAZING!   And the performances will be spectacular!  They have a nice mix of newer famous people (Shailene Woodley,  Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller) and older famous people (Kate Winslet,  Naomi Watts,  Theo James).  You would never have imagined all of these talents in one film (I'm still having a hard time believing Naomi Watts is in it), but here they are.  Like Divergent before it, Insurgent is bursting with talent!  How can it not be good?

5 Hours,  43 Minutes

Is it seriously only 2pm?  Seriously?   Wow!  

4 Hours,  9 Minutes

Afternoons here at work are always busy, but the good news is that time flew during the busyness!   Now that things have slowed down a bit, I'm back to this project my boss gave me earlier.   Hopefully I can get it all finished on time.   I don't want to be late to Insurgent tonight. 

One thing I will be very interested to see is how they portray Tris's "execution" (bwah hah hah, spoilers!).  The scene was so beautiful in the book.  I really hope they do it right in the movie.   But if there's one thing I learned from Hunger Games and Voyage of the Dawn Treader, it's never to expect anything in the movie adaption.

So, I got some friends together a few weeks ago,  and took some pictures of how I would portray the scene (what was even better was that I got to use it for a class assignment recently!).  I'll have to share it with you all someday,  but I can't put it up now because I don't have a copy of it on my phone.

Anyway,  shortly after taking the picture,  a new Insurgent trailer came out.   And this new trailer seems to suggest that the scene will be included in the movie,  but they changed it to meet their cinematic needs (another thing I've come to expect from film adaptions).

It will be very interesting to see the whole sequence in the context of the movie, and to compare it to my photo.   I think mine is more accurate to the book,  but I have a feeling theirs will be good too.  We shall see tonight!

3 Hours,  13 Minutes

I have officially been awake for twelve (12) hours! 

They say you should only be awake for 15 hours, but I will have been up a lovely total of 18 hours and 30 - something minutes by the time the movie's over.

It's only supposed to be 2 hours long,  but I learned a while ago to factor in at least 20 minutes for trailers.  So next time you're running late to a movie,  take a deep breath and remember it doesn't actually start until 20 minutes after the listed showtime.

I must be getting tired because I'm rambling about movie times.  Maybe I can shut my eyes for a bit before the movie starts?  I hope I don't fall asleep during it.  Not out of disrespect, but just because I've been up since 4:37am.  Hopefully I will stay awake.  I don't want to miss anything!

2 Hours,  14 Minutes

It's so nice to see the time ticking away.   I close up here in about 15 minutes,  then a little paper work,  and I'm FREE!  

I've got my ticket all printed out and I'm dressed rather Dauntlessly.  All I need now is something for dinner and I'll be all set.

I'm so excited!  I think I've said that, like,  a million times already,  but it's still true.  

1 Hour, 15 Minutes

Wow!  Seriously?   One hour to showtime?  

Anyway,  I'm finally done at work,  and just grabbing some yummy goodness for dinner.  Soup and a Ceasar salad hit the spot after a long day! 

I wonder how it will begin?  How close to the book it will be?   Will the end leave me screaming?   I guess I'll find out in an hour!

18 Minutes

Here we are, in our seats, waiting for the movie to start!   I will probably have a lot to say afterwords, so check back tomorrow or the next day!   Have a great evening!