I Really Need To Stop Doing This

I honestly don't know why I do this to myself. Maybe it's because I'm a writer, and thus have an inexorable drive to make up stories out of thin air. Maybe it's just because I subscribe to the old mantra: if one is good, two must be even better, right?

Either way, I really probably should stop doing this. But I can't. And thus...

I am probably doomed to continue making weird, unlikely crossovers.

For those who don't know, a crossover is basically a fusion of two stories. Some crossovers happen naturally--when the stories are similar (i.e. Star Trek and Star Wars) or when they take place in the same universe (Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit). But then there are those crossovers that... don't.

Those are the types of crossovers I like to create.

You know, I once mapped out a very long, complex crossover of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the Horatio Hornblower series. I never wrote any of it down, of course, and now I couldn't tell you who was who or what was what. But at the time I was in love with my ideas and though they were the best thing since sliced cheese.

Then there's the thing I've been playing with recently.

You see, my sister and I recently been watching two shows: one with my mom, and one with my dad. Those two shows happen to be Downton Abbey and Agents of SHIELD, respectively. We're two episodes into Agents of SHIELD and two seasons into Downton Abbey, but I really like both.

The trouble is that now my urge to crossover is starting in.

My sister doesn't want to discuss these crossover ideas with me, despite having seen both shows. I'm a little torn myself over whether these ideas are genius or just nutty. And even if I did write them down it would largely be for my benefit and mine alone.

But I am sure of one thing. I am not going to repeat the mistake I made with My Little Pony and the Hornblower series. This time, I am at least going to write my ideas down, if only so that I can look back at them later and laugh at myself.

I haven't quite gotten the details all worked out yet, as it were. But you can be sure that as soon as I do, I'll post them, and you can laugh as much as you want.

(Assuming you watch both shows and get all the parallels. I don't know, I might be the only one.)

A Friendly PSA: Introverts, Extroverts, Ambiverts

So I've been thinking lately, and I've decided that it's about time I had a blog post about introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts. (I bet you've never heard about that last one. Well. What else am I here for?) If only because I am an introvert, and the matter has been keeping my attention lately.

And so: a friendly PSA.


#1: Introverts

Introverts are, quite simply, people who draw energy from being alone. Like most things, this is a spectrum; some introverts absolutely hate to be around other people; others don't mind social interaction, and might even like it, but will need a recharge period afterward.

Introverts are often misunderstood or misconstrued as snobs, 'weirdos', or recluses. The reality is we like people as much as the next; we just run out of energy and need to recharge by being alone.

Notes: I am an introvert. I've been known to have trouble interacting with people, because I'd often rather read or write something than talk to someone. Awkward chatting situations abound for me. I have been known to ecstatically dance around the house after visitors leave--not because I'm glad they're gone, but because the house is finally quiet and I can go read something now.

#2: Extroverts

Extroverts are people who draw energy and recharge by being around people. Again, there is a spectrum here, and it varies.

Extroverts tend to be better-liked than introverts, at least initially, because most extroverts can actually carry on a conversation with people they don't know.

Notes: I'm... not exactly sure what to say here, since I'm not an extrovert. So I'll just point out that neither extroverts nor introverts are more important or better. They both have things to contribute.

#3: Ambiverts

Ah, yes. Ambiverts. This side of the spectrum is the side that's almost never talked about, and I'm not sure why. It's very interesting.

Ambiverts are people who display traits of both introverts and extroverts. They enjoy social interaction, much more than most introverts do, but they need a solitary recharge period as well. Because they display traits of both, they may sometimes be pidgeon-holed into one of the other categories.

Notes: My sister is most likely an ambivert, leaning toward the introvert side of the spectrum. She loves spending time with her friends, but doesn't like spending time with people she doesn't know well. And sometimes, she just wants to be on her own.

And Now: A Conversation Between an Introvert, an Extrovert, and an Ambivert

Extrovert: Hi! How are you doing?

Introvert: Um... hi. I'm good.

[Silence.]

Introvert: Oh, um, how are you doing?

Extrovert: Good. What are you reading there?

Introvert: Oh, um, Lord of the Rings. [Looks back down at book.] It's really good...

Extrovert: Hi there, Ambivert!

Ambivert: Hi! Did you like the school assignments this week?

Extrovert: Not really, but I...

Introvert: [Quietly gets up and walks away]

[10-15 minutes later]

Ambivert: [Walks over and sits down next to Introvert]

[Silence]


...And that (hopefully) sums up the differences between introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts. Of course, I'm far from an authority on the subject. If you'd like to know more, I'd encourage you to research it. It's really a fascinating subject.

Questions? Comments? Critiques? Feel free to leave a comment in the comments section.

And that's all for now!

If Magneto Can Manipulate Electromagnetism, All the X-Men are Screwed

Please pardon my language, but I think I do have a point here.

Electromagnetism is defined as the ideas that

1. A changing electrical field creates a magnetic field, and
2. A changing magnetic field creates an electrical field

The logical conclusion, then, is that Magneto can control electromagnetism, and thus, electricity.

That may not sound like much, initially. But apparently, electromagnetism as a force is 10³⁶x stronger than Earth's gravitational pull. (That's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times stronger, in case you were curious.)

Just sit back and think about that one for a minute. 

Being able to control metal and magnetism alone is pretty darn hard to stop. If someone, anyone, could control magnetism and electricity? And the force, as a whole, of electromagnetism?

I mean, that's Forge and Surge you've taken out right there, and there are probably even more X-Men dependent enough on electricity to be incapacitated. Not to mention all the power just there at his fingertips.  

So, yes. Stan Lee? Everybody else at Marvel responsible for Magneto?

Congratulations. You, my friends, have created a monster.

Warriors: Bramblestar's Storm

*Warning: The following post contains spoilers. You have been warned.*

So I recently (well, sort of recently) finished Bramblestar's Storm, the latest in the (long, long) line of Warriors books. While it certainly wasn't my favorite in the Warriors series, it was pretty good overall, though I had a few small problems and one major bone to pick with the ending.

So here we go with the review.

***

Bramblestar's Storm: The Good

• The plot was good. Warriors has always been a survival story--that's pretty much the baseline setting--but the titular storm in this book brought the 'survival' part to a whole new level. Much of the book dealt with the cats being forced to find a new (temporary) home, deal with loss of territory, etc. 
• I appreciated the new characters. For one thing, they were all well-defined, with personalities different enough that I could easily tell them apart. Frankie/Stormpaw, in particular, was a favorite of mine. 
• The aftermath of the battle in The Last Hope was shown and discussed. I was disappointed that Hazeltail got killed off (she was one of my favorite background characters), but I did appreciate the follow-up. 

Bramblestar's Storm: The Bad

• The 'prophecy' Cloudstar gave to Firestar (who then gave it to Bramblestar) was totally useless. Because there was a prophecy involved, I kept expecting a boss-level villain to pop out at the end to be fought. The actual answer to the prophecy--Bramblestar's bond with his sister remaining strong despite Clan differences--was an issue that had already been discussed. Frankly, it was anti-climactic and made the prophecy seem needlessly confusing, vague, and distinctly unhelpful. 
• I'm not sure what the writers intended for the Bramblestar/Squirrelflight/Jessy love-triangle, but whatever it was, they didn't do it right. I'm not a fan of love triangles in general, but there is a right way to do them. The triangle in this book seemed vague and oddly paced. The writers spent a lot of time setting up Jessy's involvement in the Clan. Then Bramblestar went on a few quasi-romantic dinner dates walks with Jessy... and then he decided that he wasn't in love with her after all; he wanted to be with Squirrelflight? Huh? When did you ever say you were in love with Jessy in the first place? And hadn't you made up with Squirrelflight already, when you made her your deputy at the end of The Last Hope?
  Like I said. Confusing. 
• This is probably the biggest spoiler of them all, so skip this whole point if you don't want to hear it.
  *
  *
  *
  Alright, so the reveal at the very end that Squirrelflight really can have kits?
  I hated that.
  If you want a happy couple with a romantic happy ending, there are plenty of those to go around in Warriors. In my opinion, it was interesting and different to have a character who was barren. I was perfectly ready and willing to see Squirrelflight as a happy grandmother with no kittens of her own, who helped raise her adopted grandkits and nieces and nephews and such. Why do we need to bend and rewrite things that have already happened, just so we can have another happy ending?
  And it goes beyond that.
  What are you trying to say here, author? That no matter how much you're in love, it's not a real marriage unless you have kids? I'm sure that's not what was intended, but it kind of came across that way. Because even though there are hundreds of mother characters in Warriors, we couldn't let Squirrelflight represent those who are barren.
  That disappoints me. 

***

Bramblestar's Storm: The Conclusion

Well, I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, It was pretty enjoyable in general. It was definitely better than Yellowfang's Secret, a previous Warriors Super Edition. I even enjoyed it more than Tallstar's Revenge, the Super Edition before this. But it wasn't the best Warriors book ever, and the aforementioned 'twist' at the end left a bad taste in my mouth. So I'm giving this one  three stars out of five:

***

And that concludes this review! 

My Halloween post is coming... soon... so stay tuned! Bye now!

The State of My Life [Or: Another mid-October Update]

I am busy.

As in, really busy.

As in, so-busy-pretty-much-everything-not-school-related-is-on-hold busy.

(But I had the time for this blog update. So that's good, right?)

***

I am currently working on two main projects: Quiet Storm, as per the usual, and Dragon Star, which is new (but so far, going great). 

Although, 'working' may be a necessary but inaccurate figure of speech. Like I said--most things are on hold until the weekend/the point where my schoolwork load starts to cool down. 

***

On the upside, I have basketball. I like basketball. It's fun. 

***

It recently occurred to me that Avengers: Age of Ultron is probably the closest thing to an Avengers/X-Men crossover movie that we're going to get anytime soon. Even though it's more about the Avengers, with a couple of mutants (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) mixed in.

Not that I'm complaining. I'm sure A:AU will be AWESOME and I can't wait.

But I still think it's dumb that the studios all can't just get along and give the fans a crossover.

***

I'm going to be ____ _____ _____ for Halloween. Expect pictures.

***

And that more or less concludes this short update about my life. 

Until next time!

How to Tell if Your Dog was Raised by Cats

This is my dog, Joe. Now, to the untutored eye of the ignorant layman (Calvin and Hobbes reference, yay!) Joe may look like an ordinary chocolate lab. But I'm here to let you in on the secret: he isn't. 

For one thing, Joe is the biggest wuss of a dog this side of the Mississipi, but that's (mostly) irrelevant. The BIG secret is that Joe was raised by cats. 

At least, that's my theory. It may sound crazy, but there's proof. Here's a handy questionaire/psuedo-advice-column to explain the proof and help you determine if YOUR dog was also raised by cats. 

***

Question #1: Help, my dog is purring!

Don't worry! This is a perfectly normal, if unorthodox, function of your dog's vocal chords. To most, this sound will appear to be a low growl. Your dog will probably make this sound over and over as he receives attention if he truly intends to purr. 

Clearly, this sound is/was meant as an imitation of a cat's purr, which is what your dog would have grown up hearing if he really was raised by cats. 

Question #2: My dog is afraid of cats and other dogs! Why?

If you've ever studied the behavior of a cat, you've seen that they tend to be aloof around other cats, and wary if not outright afraid of dogs. If your dog was raised by cats, he would naturally have picked up some of these behaviors. This is completely normal. 

Question #3: My dog keeps licking himself, all over his body. Why does he do this?

This, of course, is a behavior your dog would have learned from his foster mother, a cat. Cats are well-known for their ability to clean themselves; any dog raised as a cat would attempt to replicate this behavior. Unfortunately, most dogs don't really have the ability to clean themselves this way; but since most dogs also don't have the mental capacity to realize this fact, it's kind of a moot point. 

***

Of course, these are just a few of the many odd behaviors a dog raised by cats would express. These are the three cat-like traits that my dog Joe tends to exhibit; of course, your dog may be totally different. The point is, if your dog was an orphan raised by cats, you'll find out one way or the other. 

So what do your think? Was your dog raised by cats? Was your cat raised by dogs? Was your fish raised by hamsters? How can you tell? Any quirky pet stories are fine by me!

Until next time—ciao!

Behold, I Have Made a Meme

I could be doing constructive things right now. I could be writing. I could be reading. But no. Instead of doing something productive, I'm making My Little Pony memes.

This meme was inspired by the various camping trips my family has gone on. Not that there have been that many. But we live in Alaska. Any camping trip is an open invitation for any and all mosquitoes to head over and mercilessly suck our blood. 

I've had bug bites on my feet. And not on the top of my feet, either. Have you ever had a mosquito bite on the BOTTOM OF YOUR FEET, reader? Well, let me tell you, it is not fun!

So, yeah, not I'm terribly disposed to camping. Next year, I just want to take the train.

Alternate version of my meme

*The pictures used in the makings of these memes were taken from the My Little Pony episode "Pinkie Apple Pie". All graphics themselves were pulled from the My Little Pony wiki.

It's That Time of Year Again...

...And believe me, I wish I was talking about election season.

Well, you know how it is. School has started up again. I'm in the thick of Logic, Latin, Algebra (urgh), Science History... you know, all the fun stuff.

In all seriousness, I'm not really complaing. (Well, not too much, anyway.) I like school. (Sort of.) But it is taking up a lot of my time. Most of my morning, really, and two or three hours of my afternoon. In addition, I have a rather horrendous-looking backlog of Things I Need to Write, and an even worse backlog of Things I Need to Read (That Aren't School-Related So I Can't Do It Then).

So, yeah, blogging will probably be a bit scarce through the rest of September, and maybe October. (I'm not sure yet, though.) I will, if it's any consolation, try to get out a post around Halloween (because why not?), but that's the only promise I'm making for now. So, yes.

(Wish me luck on algebra. Bleh.)

I Am On a Real Writing Kick

I've written just over 1,200 words today, and there's probably more to come. All the work is on my "main book", Quiet Storm, though, so maybe I should diversify and work on some other stuff. Silently is in major need of love and more work and The Lightning Stones is either in major need of more work, or I'm abandoning it completely.

(I really need to work on it to tell, but I'm not sure if I should work on it, seeing as I might just abandon it later on.)

Okay, well, enough authorspeak. On a different note, I have a bunch of posts for August now, so that's good, but school fires up in September, so blogging might drop off somewhat then. If you have any ideas, comment or email me. I'm toying with the idea of doing a guest week... ah, well, more on that later. I'm done here.

Ciao!

Interview with Dr. Ben Carson (Everyone Should Watch This)

Dr. Ben Carson

Dr. Carson might just be one of the only people I've ever seriously fangirled about. I LOVE him and his opinions.

This recent interview, which I just watched, is amazing. I seriously think that Dr. Carson should run for president. He would be a candidate I could really get behind. And even if he doesn't run, his ideas are amazing and we should be thinking about these issues seriously and logically.

Okay, I'll stop raving now. Really all I have to say is: watch the interview. Please. Even if you don't agree with anything said, it will make you think. And that's not something that can be said about everything on the Internet, or even on television.

Good day.

Public Service Announcement Chapter 2

I have officially created a tag to hold all of my politics-oriented posts. That tag can be found here: Warning: Politics.

I've been told that a writer shouldn't blog about politics, as it is a volatile subject that can quickly erupt in nastiness, flame wars, and destruction of author fanbases. On the other hand, I do have political views, and while this isn't a political blog, per se, I might end up blogging about politics every now and again. On the other hand, my blog is so unknown at this point that I might not mind a few flame wars to up my traffic. But whatever the case, this tag will hopefully help all who are so inclined to navigate away from my political posts. On the other hand, if you want to read ALL of my political posts, this tag will be immensely helpful.

So, yes.

Two Public Service Announcements in two days! Go me!

Public Service Announcement

The title of my blog has just been changed. This is, in fact, the same blog. It is run and posted on by me, AJ. The only difference is a title change. This blog is now officially "My Life as an Adolescent Author" rather than "My Life as an Aspiring Author".

One adjective change, that's all this is. I just thought I should post this so nobody got freaked out.

The end.

This public service announcement was brought to you in part by cucumbers, dark chocolate, and contributions from readers like you. Thank you!

My Sister Disapproves of the New Activia Packaging

OLD Activia yogurt packaging

NEW Activia yogurt packaging

As you may or may not be able to tell from the above pictures, Activia has apparently changed the font on its packaging label. I, personally, can only just barely tell the difference between the old font and the new font. My sister, on the other hand, is incensed that Activia has dared to alter THEIR packaging with a font that is almost literally no different from the previous font. 

As you almost may or may not be able to tell, I could not possibly care less that this has happened. I don't even eat Activia yogurt. Usually. 

I partly think it's funny that my sister cares so much about the font on a yogurt package. But I also think it's something of a comment on American society. I mean, a lot of people to day feel validated, or try to feel validated, by the purchases they make. And, a lot of people today are perfectly comfortable with starting fights over inconsequential things, or so it would seem. My question is, when there are plenty of serious, life-or-death issues to talk about, why do we start discussions about yogurt packaging (being facetious here, but not that facetious). 

This is called a report button, boys and girls.
This is generally the thing you try to avoid
when navigating the internet. 

It's true that I've had really only a cursory experience of the Internet, but even that has shown me that people are perfectly capable of starting trivial and/or nasty discussions here. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if a discussion on the Internet isn't trivial, it's almost always disproportionately nasty. There are exceptions, of course, but I don't think there are actually that many. 

(And then there are the rarer, but still existant, Internet discussions that are trivial AND nasty. There are certain forum threads I could link to to prove this, but I will restrain myself.)

So, all this having been said, what do YOU think? Is the new font on the Activia package good? Bad? Horrendously offensive? Does the Internet encourage nasty and/or trivial discussions, or are those just side effects? And finally, did I or did I not use way too many all-caps words in this post? 

(Please, do try to keep these discussions from turning nasty.) 

Thank you and goodbye!

My First YouTube Video is Out

Well, actually, technically speaking, it's been out for a while. But anyway.

I've been dabbling in stop-action for a while, making (or attempting to make, anyway) short films with Legos. This is the only project that I've actually finished that isn't a music video. It has officially been posted on YouTube, so now, anyone can see it.

You can find it here.

Ciao!

And Thus, I Have Created an Alternate Marvel Movie Timeline

Because we totally didn't have enough alternate timelines in Marvel. Nope, all Marvel needs is... another alternate timeline.

But enough about that.

This timeline got started when my sister and I started theorizing about how the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be different if Marvel Studios still owned the X-Men movie rights. (I really, really wish they did...) I got to thinking, and ended up making this movie timeline.

***

X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe 

(If Marvel Studios still owned the X-Men Franchise)

Timeline, including all movies and changes to movies (if any)

Phase One

Iron Man – Mutant Issues are seen on the news and/or in the background of certain scenes. One or two mutants can be seen with the terrorist group that captures Tony Stark.

X-Men – In a post-credits scene, two people can be seen speaking to the World Council on the dangers of mutants. The more anti-mutant person leaves the chamber first, and the second person is revealed to be Nick Fury.

The Incredible Hulk – One of the scientists working with Banner is Hank McCoy. At one point Gen. Ross, an outspoken anti-mutant bigot, rants about mutants to McCoy, not knowing what he is. Later on Hank transforms into Beast in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the Hulk.

Iron Man 2 – No changes

Thor – After Jane Foster’s research is confiscated, Selvig mentions “Dr. McCoy” and “Dr. MacTaggert” among those who have also had things confiscated.

X2: X-Men United – Mention is made of SHIELD’s inability to stop Nightcrawler from entering the White House. Later, in the President’s office, SHIELD agents are present.

Captain America: The First Avenger – During Cap’s USO tours, a boy with wavy brown hair can be seen alongside a girl with grey eyes and blonde hair in one audience. At one point Red Skull mentions “Klaus Schmidt”, a contemporary of his. During the montage of defeated HYDRA bases, Steve can be seen rescuing a young, dark-haired boy, who holds and frequently manipulates a coin.

The Avengers – During the battle with the Chitauri, a very brief cameo can be seen of two mutants (Jubilee and Cannonball) fighting back using their powers. In the aftermath montage, Professor X is seen being interviewed on the battle.

Phase Two

Iron Man 3 – Mutants Sunfire and Sunspot are mentioned to have been used in the Extremis development process. Extremis attacks are at one point wrongly said to be mutant terrorist attacks.

X-Men: First Class – A fledgling SHIELD is seen attempting to stop the Crisis along with the CIA. Captain America comic books can be seen in a few scenes. Charles brings up “the man who rescued you” (Captain America) while attempting to convince Erik that humanity has redemptive qualities.

Thor: The Dark World – No changes

X-Men: Days of Future Past – SHIELD is mentioned as potential buyers for the Sentinel technology and/or mutant DNA information. Logan, Charles, and Hank break Magneto out of prison with the help of a teenaged Gambit. During Magneto’s television broadcast, a boy with silver hair and a girl with red hair, both about twelve years old, are briefly seen watching.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Mention is made of the fact that very few agents of SHIELD are mutants. Col. Stryker is revealed to have been affiliated with HYDRA. Sam Wilson is brought down early by the Winter Soldier, causing Steve and Natasha to enlist the help of mutants Archangel and Siryn. When the cloaking technology used by Natasha is removed from her face, it flashes blue, hinting that Mystique may have been involved in its creation.

Guardians of the Galaxy – No changes

Avengers: Age of Ultron – Unknown

***

And that's how I think it should, ideally, be. Of course, it probably won't ever end up being this way. But that's not gonna stop me from dreaming!

What do you think? Could the X-Men be even more involved in the Avengers storyline(s)? Or is it actually better that the two franchises have been kept apart? You tell me!

See you next time!

Profound Thought of the Day

"You don't protest against something in literature by assigning that something to a villain. Also, you don't create a villain just by assigning an unsavory trait to them. That creates stereotypes, and no one pays attention to a stereotype nowadays. What you need to do is take that protest-worthy concept and show its consequences in all their ugliness. That way, I think, people will sit up and start to pay attention."

~Me

X-Men: Days of Future Past

*Warning: Unmarked spoilers may follow. Viewer discretion is advised.*

So, a while back we went to see X-Men: Days of Future Past. And by 'we', I mean me, and my sister, and my mom. And it was... interesting. I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite. Thinking back on it, there were ways it could have better. And yet I liked it. It had some genuinely good parts, and some parts that made me bounce up and down in my seat going "That was so cool!"

But, as stated, it also had some not-so-good parts. So today I'm doing a dual post. It's both a review and a how-it-should-have-gone speculation-type thing. We'll see how it ends up. Anyway, here goes.

***

Bouncing-up-and-down-in-your-seat-going-"That was so cool!" Moments:

• Blink. Everything with Blink. 
• Quicksilver. Everything with Quicksilver. 
• Most of the fight scenes in general, really. As stated, Blink and Quicksilver were very fun, but I'd say this movie had some of the most visually appealing fight scenes since The Avengers. 
• The breaking-Magneto-out-of-prison scene. The whole scene. It was quite possibly my favorite part of the entire movie. 
• Magneto simultaneously
  - holding up a reel of film
  - holding up a makeshift lens to project the film with, and
  - sewing up a wound in the back of his head
  all with his powers, and all without breaking a sweat. Seriously. It's awesome. 
• Magneto lifting a baseball stadium off the ground and flying with it all the way to the White House. 
• Most, if not all, of Mystique's fight scenes. 

Good/Favorite Moments:

• A bit of dialogue in the middle of the film between Mystique and an unsuspecting nurse. The two of them are watching a news broadcast about a "mutant attack" on a summit in Paris, while the nurse bandages up a wound (which Mystique sustained at said "attack"). The nurse makes a few pitying comments about the "blue woman" seen in the report, not knowing that she is tending and speaking to that same woman. And for a minute, when she replies, we see Mystique as she is when she's not being a villain. It's... nice. 
• Wolverine helping past-Charles Xavier find it in himself to overcome the pain of being a telepath. Well, overcome might not be the right word... ah, I won't spoil it here by trying to explain it. If you see or have seen the movie, though, you'll get what I'm saying. 
• Charles trying, repeatedly, to get through to Mystique and set her on a different path than the villainous one she's following. You can see that he still cares about her, a lot, but their relationship has/had its flaws and they have to work through that, too. Although, really, I don't think that relationship got nearly enough screen time. 
• The end, where Wolverine wakes up and the dismal future has been erased. Xavier's school is back to normal, and let me tell you, it's one of those "so-heartwarming-it's-almost-ridiculous" scenes. Rogue, Iceman (who previous died on-screen), Kitty Pryde, and Beast show up. Even Jean Grey and Cyclops, who died earlier on in the series, make appearances. Overall it's quite the happy ending. 

"Meh" Moments:

• Listening to Professor X talk for minutes on end at the beginning of the film. I like Professor X as much as the next person, but I did not sit down in that theater to listen to him talk. And talk. And talk. Even though it was stuff I needed know, it still didn't sit well. 
• Wolverine in the mansion trying to talk past-Charles into helping him. I mean, that scene had its funny bits (Wolverine vs. Beast, anybody?) but overall it was kind of... eh. 
• All the death scenes. All of them. (Though I'm not sure which category this should go in, so... it'll go in both. See the "bad/least favorite" section.)
• Everything from "Magneto-on-the-Sentinel-train" on. I'll explain why in a moment. 
• Surprisingly, the post-credits scene was this. I actually had to do research to figure out who the guy at the very end was. So instead of being wowed and excited, the way I was with the post-credits scene in the recent Captain America, I was sitting there thinking "Who is this guy, and what does he have to do with anything?"

Bad/Least Favorite Moments:

• As stated above, the death scenes. They were... graphic. I mean, there wasn't a lot of blood or guts flying around, but there was a lot of dying. Mutants are stabbed, incinerated, stabbed, torn in half, stabbed, exploded, stabbed and thrown off a cliff, frozen, and non-lethally stabbed... in no particular order. PG-13 movie violence doesn't generally bother me, but this movie gets a special mention for the sheer amount of death scenes it had. Surprisingly, though, none of these scenes were the worst part of the movie for me. That "honor" goes to...
• ...a short moment at the beginning where a horde of corpses spills out of a tunnel. Call it trivial, but that moment was the single most unnerving part of the movie for me. No lie. 
• The climax wasn't particularly astounding for me, either (other than that bit where Magneto lifts the stadium). But that's an entirely different matter. In fact, it brings me to...

How X-Men: Days of Future Past Could Have Been Better

As Marvel movies go, Days of Future Past was pretty good. But it wasn't amazing, and it definitely didn't outdo Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which I have also reviewed here). And one of my major bones to pick was how the climax of the movie ended up playing out. 

For one thing, I was confused about exactly what Magneto was doing for a while after he went rogue. Him lifting up the stadium was one of my favorite visuals, but I had no idea why he was doing it. I was thinking "Huh? What? Why is he doing that? Is he still with the team?" pretty much right up until he decided he wanted to kill the president. 

And that's another thing. 

The entire point of Wolverine going back in time was to prevent mutants being validated as a threat. Mutants aren't validated as a threat, there in no Sentinal program, and everyone lives happily ever after. Then the climax happened. Frankly, I do not see how Magneto dropping a stadium ON THE WHITE HOUSE and then giving his mutant-supremacy spiel ON LIVE TELEVISION failed to validate mutants as a threat. If I were one of those administrators who just got threatened by a crazy shapeshifter and metalbender, I'd be darn ready to have a look at those Sentinels, and I'm not kidding when I say that. I mean, sure, Charles prevented Mystique from killing Trask. But I wouldn't have been surprised if Magneto's actions had invalidated that entirely. 

Finally, I'd like point out an interesting idea. 

This trailer for the movie seems to imply that Wolverine and Charles would be teaming up with Magneto and Mystique. In the movie, Mystique is actually the primary antagonist. (And yet another movie falls prey to Misleading Trailer Syndrome.) But I ask you: what if Mystique had joined the team?

That might've brought Trask to the forefront as a major villain. As it was, he was a bit lackluster. I mean, sure, he did terrible stuff and no one really blamed Mystique for wanting to kill him... but Mystique was the one who had to be stopped in the end. Not him. 

Now, if Mystique had teamed up with Wolverine and Co., Trask would've been the main villain. He might've gotten more character development. Mystique's skill set would've been added to the group, and there would have been even more tension--because now it's not only Charles and Erik who need to work together, but also Raven, and none of these three particularly like each other after everything that's happened.

It's an interesting idea, I think.

Conclusion:

As I already said, Days of Future Past was okay, but not the best Marvel movie ever. It had highs, lows, and "meh" moments. If you're a hardcore X-Men fan, you won't mind paying to see it in the theater; if you're not, go see Maleficent and then watch this one when it hits Redbox or Netflix. 

Overall, this movie garnered exactly three stars:

***

This has been yet another review with me, AJ. Stay tuned to read about whatever I write about next. Or leave. I mean, you could leave, but I'd rather you didn't. So... please don't?

Anyway, thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a comment with any questions, critiques, or thoughts! Bye!

There Was a Shooting in Anchorage Today

I don't know all the details, but I do know that just outside the Mountain View Boys & Girls Club four or five shots were fired and one person was non-critically injured.

The reason I'm reporting this incident specifically here is that I was volunteering for a Vacation Bible School run by my church, and that VBS was taking place at the Boys & Girls Club.

No one was hurt. I thank God for that. There were about twenty-odd kids outside, myself and my sister included, and we were fifty to a hundred yards from where it happened. But no one was hurt. Thanks to the adults who were with us, everyone got into the Club building, we went into lockdown, and everyone was safe. Everyone was scared, granted. I was scared out of my mind. But we were okay. I'm okay, and even more thankfully, my sister is okay. And my younger brother's seemingly-selfish decision not to attend VBS is a decision I've never been more thankful for.

Thank you, God, for protecting us.

Anchorage Daily News article.

KTUU video and article.

A Layover-PSA-Update Type of Thing. [Or: Fireheart is really starting to annoy me.]

Alright, well, I finished re-reading Forest of Secrets (book 3 in the original Warriors series). And it was pretty good. Not my favorite, but it was pretty good. Did I mention that I like the OS because of its simplicity and tendency not to overexplain? The later Warriors books were good, don't get me wrong, but they explained way, way too much about StarClan. (And the Dark Forest, and the medicine cats...) Blah.

Okay, mini-rant over. Now that that's out of the way...

I've finished Forest of Secrets (and posted the first in a review series for Warriors); I think I already said that. I'd like to do the next part of that review series, focusing on The New Prophecy arc, but I think I should reread a couple books from that arc before I do. So that review probably won't be out until, say, next week. Maybe a little later. There'll probably be post between this one and the next Warriors one; they'll just be about different things.

Not that anyone will mind, I think.

Anyway. Yeah. That's what I wanted to say.

Also, Fireheart is getting kinda annoying, because all he can think about is Tigerclaw being EVIL, but nobody else knows, and I really want more ambiguity with Tigerclaw, and Fireheart, I wanna! And the other book I'm reading right now isn't helping!

Okay, now I'm done. 

On Cats [Review for Warriors, Part 1]

*Warning: Unmarked spoilers may follow. Viewer discretion is advised.*

Well, what with the arrival of The First Battle (the third book in the Warriors: Dawn of the Clans arc, and something like the twenty-seventh Warriors book overall) I've been re-reading some of the books in the Warriors series. Not all of them, mind you, but some. And I decided that since there are plenty of pros and cons to this series, I might as well review it.

So here goes.

***

 Today, I'll be reviewing the first Warriors arc, often called the Original Series. Each arc has six books; the Original Series (or OS) contains Into the Wild, Fire and Ice, Forest of Secrets, Rising Storm, A Dangerous Path, and The Darkest Hour. The OS centers around the tale of Fireheart, a former kittypet (house cat) who runs away to join ThunderClan and quickly finds that the forest is more dangerous than it appears.

Good/Favorite Bits:

• The simplicity. Reading back over the OS, I'm realizing just how much simpler it is than the later arcs. The third and fourth arcs probably have about fifteen different subplots between them. The OS is by no means completely free of subplots, but it's remarkably focused on the one main plot. (Maybe a little too focused, but we'll talk about that later.) 
• The simplicity of viewpoint characters. As the books go on, they gain more and more viewpoints. The second arc has, I think, 2-4 viewpoint characters, depending on the book, the third arc has 3 viewpoints, and the fourth arc has a grand total of 4 viewpoints. The first series, by contrast, has one viewpoint character and only one. But it also introduces characters who will be crucially important later, such as Fireheart, Bluestar, Yellowfang, Graystripe, and more. 
• The worldbuilding. The cats have almost an entire vocabulary of their own. They have names for seasons (leafbare, newleaf, greenleaf, and leaf-fall), names for humans and automobiles (Twolegs and monsters, respectively), plus legends, traditions, and their own way of living. 
• Realisticness. The later arcs--#2 & #3 in particular--tend to humanize the cats quite a bit. There's humanization here, but it's less intrusive; the cats act more realistically. 

Bad/Least Favorite Bits:

• Infodumping. You might not catch it on the first read--I didn't--but it's almost as if the author feels she needs to insert a PREVIOUSLY, IN WARRIORS paragraph into each book so the readers aren't lost. Just in Forest of Secrets (book 3), I've been reminded at least once that Bluestar let Fireheart into the Clan even though he was kittypet (house cat), Cinderpaw broke her leg in an accident on the Thunderpath (an asphalt road frequented by cars), Yellowfang is Brokenstar's mother, Spottedleaf died, Graystripe is in an illicit relationship with Silverstream... on and on it goes. And I know all this already. It would be a lot better to weave such information into the dialogue and/or narrative. 
• Clichés. The OS isn't the most cliché story I've ever read (that honor goes to My Little Pony: Equestria Girls), but it has its issues. Character archetypes, for one. Fireheart is the hero. Tigerclaw is the villain. Graystripe is the plucky sidekick. Bluestar is the doomed mentor. Spottedleaf is the equally doomed love interest. Sandstorm is the feisty other love interest whom the hero will become happily married to in the end. And all of this is pretty easy to tell from the first book alone. (Well, Sandstorm's role isn't crystal-clear until book two or book three, but still.)
• This is more of a personal thing, but I wouldn't mind a touch more moral ambiguity. Something that annoys me is that Tigerclaw is pretty much 100% EVIL, all the time. The only time he's not being EVIL is when he's pretending so that the Clan doesn't find out how EVIL he is. And of course, Fireheart is the only one who even suspects that Tigerclaw might be EVIL. 
• Conversely, Fireheart is an almost perfect main character. All of his perceptions match perfectly with what's reality--which they shouldn't--and even though he occasionally he slips up, such slip-ups are almost always made as a result of too much kindness, disregarding tradition in the name of compassion, or something like that. Unless, of course, it's Tigerclaw trying to frame him or blame something on him because he's a former kittypet and Tigerclaw is a racist bigot. I mean, if he actually gave Fireheart a sporting chance before he turned against him, however would we be able to tell that Tigerclaw was EVIL?
  #sarcasm

Conclusion:

The Original Series has its upsides, but it definitely has downsides too. I'll always be a bit nostalgic for the OS and its simplicity (not all character archetypes are bad, after all...), but overall, it's not my favorite Warriors arc. So I'm giving it three and a half stars:

***

And that wraps up my review of the Original Series! Next time, we'll go in-depth on the second arc--Warriors: The New Prophecy. Don't miss it!

Bye, and thanks for reading!

On Suspense [Review for Captain America: The Winter Soldier]

*Warning: Unmarked spoilers may follow. Viewer discretion is advised.*

Dear Alexander Pierce,

Do you know Dell Rusk? If not, you two should meet for coffee sometime. You might learn some things from each other, like how the Winter Soldier isn't actually 100% stable. If Dell Rusk doesn't exist in your universe, well, contact Kang the Conqueror (that's last name Conqueror, first name Kang). He ought to be able to take you into an alternate universe. 

Also, while you're at it, tell Mr. Jasper Sitwell that he should meet up with Hydra Propeller Guy who got shredded seventy years ago (you know the scene). I think we'll call it "The Tragic and Disturbing but Also Somehow Darkly Amusing Death Scene Club". 

Sincerely, 

A Concerned Fan

***

So, I recently got to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier again. And it was awesome. To give you an idea of how good it was, it was one of the few movies in which my "Oh my gosh" quotient went through the roof on the second viewing. Seriously, it's up there with The Avengers. 

It would be fairly hard to give a really good plot summary without giving out a bunch of spoilers, so I think I'll just jump straight into pros and cons. 

Good/Favorite Bits:

• Ah, where to start... well, first of all, characters. Steve Rogers is back (duh) and he's as morally upright and refreshingly good as ever. Alongside him is Natasha Romanoff, and the new kid on the block, Sam Wilson (a.k.a. The Falcon). Then there's the Winter Soldier, previously known as Bucky Barnes, and Nick Fury, not to mention Alexander Pierce and Maria Hill.
  The characters in this movie were great. Steve's problems with Fury's moral ambiguity were well-fleshed out, and his struggle with the Winter Soldier's identity was great. Agent Romanoff was also good. So was Alexander Pierce... really, everyone was good. 
• In relation to the above point, I'd like to give a special mention to actor Sebastion Stan, who portrayed Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier. His ability to portray emotion (or lack of it) through facial expression was amazing. Watch the post-credits scene and you'll know what I'm talking about. 
• The plot is quite snappy, though that means that the movie is also suspenseful and intense (see title). However, there are just enough calm, mostly-dialogue scenes to keep it from being exhaustively fast-paced. 
• The movie works well as a part of the cohesive Marvel Cinematic Universe. Agent Jasper Sitwell, who got one appearance in Thor and a few lines in The Avengers, has an extended role here. It's mentioned that after his "up-close look" at the Helicarrier's rotors, Tony Stark designed new repulsors for a second generation of Helicarriers (and those ships do feature prominently in the movie). Natasha Romanoff is here, of course, and when targets of the neo-Nazi organization H.Y.D.R.A. are listed, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, and Dr. Steven Strange are among them. Additionally, a mid-credits scene gives us appearances from Baron Strucker, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver--all of whom have been confirmed to be in Avengers: Age of Ultron. 
• The visual effects were awesome in this movie. The fight scenes, in particular, were amazing to watch, and I had such a time watching the Falcon with his wingpack. Additionally, the Winter Soldier looks almost exactly the way he did in the comics, particularly in the rooftop chase scene with Captain America, and that's quite an achievement. 
• And that about covers most of the movie, wouldn't you say?

Bad/Least Favorite Bits:

• So I have to ask: Where was Hawkeye in all of this? All Hades was breaking loose in S.H.I.E.L.D., Cap and the Black Widow were on the run, and near the end of the movie all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets were downloaded onto the internet... so where was Hawkeye? You'd have thought he'd show up at least after everything S.H.I.E.L.D.-related went viral. 
• Um... well, there was a lot of crashing-through-glass in this movie. That always sort of vaguely annoys me, because I know that it should be majorly hurting the characters and it's not. Generally I'm okay when it's, say, Captain America doing it, but when a normal person like Sam Wilson does it and isn't hurt at all I get kind of annoyed. In the back of my head. 
• And, well... hm... um... I kind of liked Fury with his eye patch, you know... What? No! I am not grasping at straws! Whatever gave you that idea?
• Yeah, I'm done. 

Conclusion:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was good. Very good. I'd go so far as to say it was on par with The Avengers (though it wasn't quite better). The acting and characterization was good, the dialogue was great, the plot was awesome, and the visual effects were amazing. So I guess there's not much left to say, except that I'm giving this movie four and a half stars out of five:

***

And that about wraps this blog post up! See you next time, folks!

Suspension of Disbelief is Great, But There Are Still a Few Sci-Fi Explanations That I Will Never Use

So I recently went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier again. And it was great--awesome, in fact--but that's not what I'm here to talk about today.

Today I'm here to talk about one of the previews that accompanied the movie.

I won't go into the details, but basically it was appeared to be a dark sci-fi action type of movie. The premise was, more or less, "Humans only use 10% of their brains, so what happens when someone unlocks more of their potential?"

Which is great, and all that, except... "Humans only use 10% of their brains" is a myth.

Humans actually use 100% of their brains, though different parts are active at different times. Actually, using every part of your brain all at once is generally called a seizure.

So that brings me to my topic for today: "Top 5 Sci-Fi Explanations That I Will Never Use In a Book".

5) "Gamma radiation is capable of causing helpful mutations"

Um... no, actually, I'm pretty sure that gamma radiation in high doses just kills you. According to Wikipedia, it can also burn you, cause DNA damage, kill cells (because of said DNA damage), and cause radiation sickness.

And contrary to popular belief, damaged DNA doesn't give you superpowers either. Actually, that brings me to #4...

4) "Helpful genetic mutations exist"

No, actually, they don't. 99% of known mutations are very harmful, sometimes even lethal. And the only helpful mutations documented are those that provide heightened levels of immunity to diseases.

Sorry, X-Men.

3) "The spaceship has a lightspeed drive/can go the speed of light"

Do you have any idea just how fast light goes? In case you were wondering, it's 299,792,458 meters per second. That's 186,000 miles per second (with some rounding), or about 671 million miles per hour. Additionally, we in the early 21st century have no idea how to replicate anything close to that speed. Sorry, but I'm not buying it.

Side note: I will, however, accept the "relativistic speeds" explanation used by Orson Scott Card in Ender's Game. That's based on an actual theory, and it doesn't imply or state that humans are trying to go the speed of light.

2) "This galaxy just happens to have [insert number here] Earth-like planets"

This one sounds good initially, but wait a second. Earth is, quite literally, one-in-a-million. Earth has just the right star, just the right placement, just the right tilt, just the right rotation, just the right moon, just the right orbit speed... I could go on, but you've probably gotten the idea. I can't remember the exact chances of Earth's specific qualities randomly occurring, but they're pretty freaking low. We haven't even found water on any other planet, and most planets are downright hostile to the mere idea of "life".

I'm not saying you can't have Earth-like planets, but I'd just like to point out that the vast majority of planets aren't going to be Earth-like. At. All. And there will probably be a limit of one Earth-like planet per solar system, since there's only one specific distance that a planet can be from the sun to keep from burning up or freezing.

In short, if you have an Earth-like planet, chances are every other planet in the system will be hostile, to some degree. So can we be realistic about it, please? (Star Wars, I'm looking at you.)

1) "The characters are in trouble because the starship ran out of fuel"

So why isn't the ship still moving?

Space is a void. It has no air, no friction, and no gravity (unless you manage to hit the gravitational pull of a planet or other large body). In space, Newton's first law of motion applies quite literally: An object at rest tends to remain at rest; an object in motion tends to remain in motion, unless an outside force acts against it.

Get something moving in space and it won't stop, unless you happen to hit an asteroid or something like that. A spaceship doesn't actually need all that much fuel--it just needs enough to get it moving. The real problems are a) the amount of time it takes to get anywhere worthwhile in space, and b) the amount of food a human crew would need to get anywhere worthwhile in space (hence the "light drive" and "relativistic speeds" explanations).

On the upside, though, this does mean that there's no need for gas stations in space...

------

And there you have it. 

Please note: I'm not trying to spoil anyone's fun when it comes to science fiction/superhero stories/whatever. I'm not. Really. I do enjoy The Avengers, even though they have a gamma monster on the team. I haven't had a chance to get into the X-Men yet, but I'd like to, even though they violate Rule #4 (like, a lot). I'm even a fan of Star Wars, even though they've pretty wantonly laid waste to Rules 1-3. So I'm not trying to ruin anything for anyone. I'm just... venting, I guess. Sorry.

But I can promise you that I'm never going to use "genetic mutation" as an origin story. So there.

It's Arbor Day

...Whatever that means.

arbor, n. A leafy, shady recess formed by tree branches, shrubs, etc. 

       ~Dictionary.com     

So... what are we celebrating on Arbor Day again? Tree branches? Shrubs? I mean, we already had Earth Day. Three days ago, in fact. Now we have Arbor Day. What's next? Fire Day? Water Day? Venus Day, maybe. I don't know. 

But once again, Dictionary.com is my friend.

Arbor Day, n. A day, varying in date but always in the spring, observed in certain states of the U.S. by the planting of trees. 

So, as far as I can tell... it's basically like a second Earth Day. Except with more trees. 

I still think it's redundant. 

All hail Tree Day! Which is right after Earth Day!

Am I the only one who doesn't think this was thought through well enough?

I Have a Problem with Characters Getting Killed Off

*Warning: May contain spoilers.*

Okay, well, this blog post may or may not have been influenced by the third-to-last episode of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. But really, it's a problem I have with stories where characters die in general. So basically, everything except My Little Pony.

But anyway. I have a serious problem with characters dying in stories. Especially if it's a tearful, melodramatic death scene. As I like to say, you should've seen me during Crookedstar's Promise. It was one giant tearfest.

I don't know exactly why I don't like character death scenes. Maybe it's because I'm a (mostly) normal human being. Actually, it's probably because I'm a mostly normal human being. It might also be because I've seriously scared myself by imagining what I would do if it was me and my sister in the place of those two characters. If my sister got hurt? If, God forbid this should ever happen, she died and I couldn't stop it? If I hurt her? (*coughFrozencoughcough*)

Scary, as I said. So maybe that's the elusive reason.

But my adverse reaction to touching character death scenes is also rather odd. Why? Well, you see, if I'm totally honest, I can be rather sadistic to my fictional characters.

Seriously. It sucks to be one of my characters. If you are one, well, first of all, stop reading this blog. I know where you live. [See? See?] And secondly, run for the hills and don't look back. And hope you don't get captured by elves or eaten by a dragon.

All that to say, a lot of the time I can watch/read/write a character death with something pretty similar to indifference. Other times (*coughcoughWarriorscough*) I melt.

And sometimes I just stare at the screen in shock and horror as one of the characters--one of the heroes--melts before my very eyes.

GOSH DARN YOU EMH SCRIPTWRITERS IF BLACK PANTHER DOESN'T COME BACK SO HELP ME--

Ahem. Please excuse the caps rage, that death scene was rather traumatic for the cynic living in my head.

So yeah, all that to say, I don't like character death. The more I like the character, the less I like the death.
We will always remember the Black Panther.

Ah, not really. He's back now. See? No one ever stays dead in these kinds of shows. 

He is Risen

Today is Resurrection Sunday. Easter Sunday, if you'd prefer that. It's not a holiday (holy-day) that I can ignore. It's not one that any of us can or should ignore.

Matt Walsh said it much better than I can, but I'm a writer, so I'll give it my own shot as well. (Though I hope you'll follow that link. It's a very good, fairly succinct post.)

Jesus Christ came to Earth as both man and God incarnate. He walked the land, he gave irrefutable proof that he was the Son of God.

Then, he died a painful, lonely, humiliating death.

After three days, he rose from the dead and appeared to a lot of people--seriously, a lot. At one point he appeared to over five hundred people at one time, but that's kind of beside the point.

After a time, Jesus ascended into heaven. Now I believe he's waiting. At the end of time, he'll come back for his followers.

That's what I believe. Today we Christians celebrate the day when Jesus rose from the dead.

He is risen.

He is risen indeed.

On Snow [Review for Disney's Frozen]

*Warning: Unmarked spoilers for the second half of the movie may follow. If you haven't seen Frozen yet but still want to in the near future, I don't advise reading this blog post.*

Dear White Witch (née Jadis),

Elsa is way better than you. 

Sincerely, 
A Concerned Fan

***

So I finally saw Frozen recently, after it was ordered from Amazon and shipped to my family's house because we never saw it in theaters and we were too lazy to drive five minutes to the nearest BX/Target and get it on DVD.

Also, because Amazon is usually cheaper.

Anyway, I finally saw Frozen. I am now sick of it because all the songs have been in my head ever since. But I saw it, so now I'm going to review it.

Onward we go, I guess.

Good/Favorite Bits:

• The songs. Dear StarClan, the songs. They're amazing (except for Love is an Open Door, which kind of annoyed me--but more on that later), and once they get in your head, they won't quit. But they're nonetheless amazing. 
• Anna. Just... Anna. She is so cute, especially as a kid. Really, it's like the animators looked at Rapunzel from Tangled, said, "We can do cuter", and then did.
• Disney seemed to have a blast upending its own stereotypes in this movie, which I always enjoy. The first love doesn't win the girl, the concept of True Love isn't all about your boyfriend kissing you (boy, did I enjoy that one), and the overall theme is love--real love, not just love of the romantic sort. 
• Olaf. I tend to despise kiddy comic relief characters (seriously, don't even get me started on Jar Jar Binks) but Olaf is really just too funny for me to hate. And that's a good thing. 
• Kristoff. Just... Kristoff. 
• Also, I kinda hate to admit this, but Hans really is gorgeous. (Anna's words, not mine.)

Bad/Least Favorite Bits:

• The very end of Hans's Villain Monologue. I was loving it right up until he said (in response to Anna's "You won't get away with this") "Oh, but I already have."
  ARGH.
  I really can't express how much I despise that line. In my opinion it sent all of Hans's characterization up to that point straight through the window as he became yet another Cliché Disney Villain™. Some of that characterization was recovered when we got to admire his acting skills in the next scene, but still...
• As stated above, I really didn't like Love is an Open Door... which is odd, because I really was enjoying the music up to that point. It's probably because it was yet another Cliché Falling-in-Love-Sequence Song™, which are pretty common in Disney movies. It might also be because it was almost immediately preceded by two other songs, both of which were more original and more moving. It got to the point where Love is an Open Door started and I thought Really? More singing? 
• And... that's really all I've got. 

Conclusion:

Frozen is probably the best Disney movie you'll see for a long while. If you haven't seen it already, I highly recommend buying or renting it. It's fresh and original, but not so much as to be unrecognizable as a Disney film, and it's got a great moral and a heartwarming ending. 

All in all, I give it four and a half out of five stars:

***

And so, another blog post ends. Next review will probably be My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (don't laugh), unless I come up with something else or think of another good topic. 

See you next time, and have a Happy April!

So You Think You Can Annoy the Fans?

Every MLP fan's worst nightmare...

If you've read my review of The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, you probably know that I don't take kindly to anyone—be they movie director, novelist, or anyone else—messing with my favorite books and movies. Neither do I appreciate the corruption of a franchise I appreciate, such as My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. 

So, with that in mind, here is a top five list of adaptations, sequels, or thinly veiled marketing ploys spinoffs that I did not appreciate. 

***

#5: The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

I have already taken the liberty of reviewing this atrocious creative movie, so let me just sum up my opinion as this: I didn't like it. The movie in and of itself had some nice moments, and while I didn't appreciate the overtly dark tone, it was overall a pretty fun outing. 

However. 

In the context of being a book adaptation, it was horrid. Almost nothing went according to the original work, characters and backstories were added willy-nilly, and almost half an hour (by my estimate) was spent on a superfluous scene that could have been avoided if the director had just taken the time to expound on the things he should have.

So I didn't like it.
(Please note that the first Hobbit movie, while liberal, was good enough to earn a reasonable rating from me. The second one wasn't. As of the writing of this post the third one hasn't yet been released, but at this point my hopes aren't that high.)

#4: My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks
This one hasn't been released yet, but it's on the list purely because there's a 99.5% chance that it will be just as terrible as its predecessor.

Which leads me to...

#3: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
I've already linked to the Wikipedia article in the picture at the top of this post, so I'll be brief here:

I don't like Equestria Girls because it's cliché. I don't like Equestria Girls because it's childish. It's generic. It's boring. And it ruined a part of the My Little Pony franchise for me.

Now, don't misread me. I like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic because it's the opposite of all the adjectives used to describe EqG above. But Equestria Girls? It was terrible, and frankly I think Hasbro sold themselves short. A My Little Pony movie could have been so much more.

#2: Superhero Squad
Oh the horror...

Okay, so this show is (hopefully) supposed to be a parody. Which I didn't know when I tried to watch it. So I probably ended up taking it way too seriously... but still.

This show is just... stupid.

Seriously, that's all I can think of to describe it. The characters are all one-dimensional to the point of being out-of-character, the villains are that plus being clichéd and brain-dead. And there are no alter egos.

So no Tony Stark. No Bruce Banner. No Carol Danvers, Peter Parker, or Steve Rogers. I didn't know how much I loved alter egos until they stopped being there.

 And there is absolutely no character development what. So. Ever.

Conclusion: If you intend to venture out into the juvenile depths of this show, be prepared to take it with a boulder-sized grain of salt.

#1: Disney's Pocahontas
Admittedly, I had a surprisingly Disney-free childhood. To this day I haven't watched a number of their princess movies, though I do tend to like the ones I have had. So that may contribute a bit of bias to this opinion.

But still...

Disney's adaptation of Pocahontas affronted me, mostly because they, apparently, thought they could play fast and loose with the historical facts. Here's a tip: if you don't think X will make a good movie, then just don't make a movie out of it! But don't, for the love of caramel corn, rearrange facts and redesign characters willy-nilly to accommodate your ideal of the movie!
My other major problem with this movie was its characterization. Both of the main characters were two-dimensional at best, and so was the villain and the one of the two supporting characters. The other supporting character did happen to have some halfway-decent characterization, and he ended up being the only reason I finished the movie.

Conclusion: It's a sad, sad, time when you're watching a historical fiction movie... and end up only finishing it for the sake of the one completely fabricated character.

***

And there you have it! Five complain-y mini reviews, all for the price of one!

Tune in next time to hear me complain about even more stuff!

Or maybe review Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I'm not sure yet. 

And that's all for now, folks!