author_by_night: (coexist by unknown)
From my blog prompts. Feel free to steal some of these, guys! I'd love to see other people's answers. :) I have short responses again, so I will combine them.

Write about something you liked when you were younger, but just don't get anymore.

I remember loving the movie musical Across the Universe in college. Then I watched it again a few years ago, and thought it was terrible. Not really sure what the difference was. I wonder if in college, I just liked the DOWN WITH THE MAN vibe? 

 What is your stance on spoilers?

I think it's a paradox where people either aren't cautious enough, or are so overly cautious it inhibits discussion. I was listening to recaps for a show I like, and they tried so hard to discuss the show without spoiling anything. To give them credit, they did handle it really well, but so many things could have been brought up and explored if they weren't so resistant to any mention of future episodes. I've also seen it be an issue on fan communities, when people get upset about spoilers for books or for series finales that have been out for ages. I just feel that at some point, new fans have to realize that looking up their favorite show/movie/book on websites intended for discussion or listening to podcasts may mean spoilers. I say this as someone who frequently does that very thing. I came so close to being spoiled for the first season finale of The Good Place because of something I read on TV Tropes, but fortunately out of context it didn't make that much sense, so I just shrugged it off. It was my responsibility, though, not the site's responsibility. 

That being said, there's also not being cautious enough. If you're not in a discussion place, at least warn for spoilers. If you're posting a review of a book or series finale, use SPOILERS in the heading as well as before the cut, especially in case the cut doesn't work. (That has happened to me.)

So, you know, that's my stance. Be respectful, but at the same time, let discussion places be discussion places.
author_by_night: (Jenny by etherealnetwork)
As promised, here is my review. It's a tad spoilery.

Read more... )
author_by_night: (coexist by unknown)
So I've been watching Girl Meets World, which is basically a sequel series to Boy Meets World. It veers a little close for comfort at first towards being a "next gen fanfic" (where everyone's basically a xerox copy of their parents), but fortunately it avoids it, and even Maya, who is a bit of a Shawn expy, is very much her own person. I'm not watching the show faithfully, just a few episodes I've heard were good, but it's fun nonetheless.

Here's my question, though - what series did you grow up with do you think could have a plausible continuation, either a "next gen" thing or even the characters as being older? OR, what other series have done this that you enjoy? Spiritual successors don't really count, unless you want to argue that they could very well be in the same universe (that would be interesting, so let's hear it).
author_by_night: (Pawnee sign by nuv0le_rapide)
[Error: unknown template qotd]I think "classic" might be relative... as I understand it, The Little Mermaid was kind of my generation's Frozen. So to me it's part of the classics, but probably not to someone who remembers the even older ones. Just a little nitpick.

I'm not a huge Disney person, though I did love The Little Mermaid (again, the Frozen of 1989) and I loved Pocahantas when I was about nine, when all nine year olds loved it. (Please don't judge me. I didn't know how inaccurate and slightly offensive it was.) I don't really have any feelings either way, though I have cooled down on my stance that The Little Mermaid is a horrible misogynist film. (I really don't think it is anymore. Ariel wanted to go to the shore long before Eric was in the picture. He was her anchor, not her compass.)

The Giver

Sep. 6th, 2014 08:10 pm
author_by_night: (zoeserenity by hobbitseeker)
A somewhat brief review. Cut mostly for teh spoilerz.
SPOILERS for both the book and the movie )
author_by_night: (zoetrain by hobbitseeker)
What movie are you most looking forward to this holiday season? (Link to a trailer so we can experience the impending awesomeness too!)

I looked it up, and so far the only holiday movie I'm finding is a new Tyler Perry/Madea movie. But I think I might have a different  definition of holiday season movie, because the other movies I see on the lists don't really have anything to do with the holidays - that's just when they come out. So I guess if those are what this question refers to, The Hobbit. When did the definition of "holiday movie" change, anyway? Or have I been misinformed all my life?

I will say I'd like a holiday movie that isn't about someone's mother dying of cancer and a little boy trying to find her shoes to wear in heaven, or someone's mother-in-law to be dying of cancer (GOD I hated the twist in the latter, for various reasons cancer was kind of a berserk button at the time, so it was an unpleasant surprise), or someone's dead dad coming back in the form of a snowman, or people being shot and arrested. I just want a good old fashioned cheesy holiday flick. Holiday movies are actually everywhere.
author_by_night: (? by rainnluv)
So a while ago I was discussing The Devil Wears Prada with a friend. I decided then to watch the film again with another friend, to see if what had bothered me before bothered me again, and if it bothered her.

The Devil Wears Prada )
ETA: Since  this post took a life of its own, to summarize I talk about conflicting messages in Hollywood, as well as how television and media exposes the problem in certain industries.
author_by_night: (Folks by ozqueen (quoted from To Kill a)
So I feel weird reviewing a film I didn't finish (although maybe that says... a lot), so I'll just do a brief commentary because I do have thoughts on it.

The movie I saw was The Accidental Tourist, based on an Ann Tyler book of the same title. I think the reason I didn't finish wasn't so much the story, because while it's sad (the premise is that a man's twelve year old boy was killed a year ago) there's a lot of dry humor, and it's not so sad that it seems forced. But I get the sense that it was probably a wonderful novel, because with a novel, you read a few chapters, step away, and can get back to it later. The characters were real, the situation was real, but the subject was so dark, the situation so raw, that I needed to be able to take it in bit by bit.

The other problem I had was the character of Muriel. I just couldn't see why Macon fell in love with her; she tries to seduce him immediately after he tells her about his son's murder, and from the very beginning she pressures him to date her. She's always worried he'll leave her. Yet I wanted to love her because when she wasn't trying to date/seduce Macon, she was very likable, and maybe this was another instance where things translated better in the book. Perhaps seeing things from her perspective would have made her more bearable, and her compatibility with Macon more believable.
author_by_night: (? by rainnluv)
Ladies: How do you feel about the portrayal of women in television and film?

I'm asking these questions question for a magazine article. If you would like for your answer to possibly be quoted, let me know (though I cannot make any promises.) Anonymous comments are enabled; all comments are screened and will remain screened until you specify otherwise. Please note I cannot reply to comments that are screened, though I may reply in PM.

Poll time!

Jan. 27th, 2011 06:12 pm
author_by_night: (Default)
This is in response to another poll a friend did regarding characters that were messed up because of bad writing. So here's my question - can writers (of shows, books or movies) mess up characters?[Poll #1673373]
author_by_night: (cool_large)
Ultimately I thought it was pretty good, especially compared to the other movies.

Spoilers )
Now, I know some of you did your own reviews, but I've only found two of yours, so if you reviewed the movie already, link me to it! I missed out on the excitement as I was saving the movie for the holiday.
author_by_night: (? by rainnluv)
It's no secret that I am the sort of person who is obsessed with dreams. I love interpreting them, I love analyzing them, and I generally love stories involving them.

So when I heard about Inception, I knew it was probably a go for me.

Now, one thing - I'm going to review the movie below, but while I want to be spoiler free, you simply can't discuss the movie sans spoilers. Well, you can, but then the review's boring. :P If you plan on seeing Inception, I highly recommend you not read this, or at least skim very carefully.

Review )

Enchanted

Dec. 1st, 2007 07:40 pm
author_by_night: (Love Actually - " We wave")
 I haven't seen a Disney movie in... eons. Truth be told, I was never that big on them anyway - at least, after the age of nine, when I decided Ariel was antifeminist and Cinderella was too dependent on men and unwilling to kick her stepmother's butt herself.  (Well, perhaps not in those words, as I was nine, but you know what I mean.) I did love Mulan and Pocahontas (even if ithe latter did make every Colonial Era Historian cry), but that was pretty much it.

I saw Enchanted today. I wasn't sure I would, but it looked amusing, and I figured I would, provided I got someone to come. 

Enchanted is a bit of a parody to Disney movies (a self-parody, as Disney made it, but they were totally making fun of themselves), but it's also a beautiful movie about innocence in a world that doesn't have time for it, a world that's seen too much anger to really believe in it.  *

The visual effects are also interesting - it starts out animated, and then of course becomes non-animated. The transitions could have been even more artistic, but that might have been too much anyway.

I really reccomend it - whether it's with a child, on your own, whatever. You can see it any way you like - another innocent movie, a Disney spoof with a good heart at the core, or even just for the art and visual effects.
author_by_night: (Ayla the Canon Sue by author_by_night)
So [profile] linda_luposand I were having a debate over Thewlis as Remus. So I created a just-for-fun poll at my poll LJ. 

I won't mention that Linda was the one who made me dislike Thewlis as Remus in the first place... or that he's grown on me...

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