There Is Not Enough *headdesk* In The World...

They're splitting Allegiant into two movies. Sweet Mother of Rassilon - WHY?

And yet... no one can muster up the gumption to do a Wonder Woman movie...

I swear I read something a couple a weeks ago that said unequivocally that this was NOT going to happen (Can I find that article now? Of course not!) And I was quite relieved. Apart from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which actually had enough material to warrant a split (Goblet of Fire also should have been split, but let’s not open that wound today - since I already did it here), none of these YA novel adaptation movies have needed that extra film to tell the whole story. But I guess someone changed their mind. And I am really tired of this trend. It was good for the first one, but now it’s just stupid. I mean, they might as well just trot out promotional materials that say “We don’t give a shit about your favorite stories - we really just want all your money!” Usually I’m happy to give them my money if the product is good and I feel like I'm getting of quality in return. But when it’s so blatant that this is what they’re doing, it makes me nervous about the kind of movies they’re going to put out.

Let’s just break it down here - like I said, Harry Potter needed the split (more than it actually got, if truth be told). Breaking Dawn (fourth book of Twilight)... well, we could have a whole conversation of whether the fourth book was even necessary, let alone an extra movie (Full Disclosure: I only saw Breaking Dawn, Part 1, with the caveat that I would watch it with RiffTrax commentary. Even that couldn’t salvage the sheer awfulness of that movie and I didn’t even bother with Part 2).

The next one on the chop is Mockingjay, which is still baffling to me. I mean, they got all of the necessary material from Catching Fire into one movie. In terms of essential plot elements, Mockingjay does not have anything more than Catching Fire does. In fact, I would venture to say that Catching Fire actually has MORE in terms of story and would have needed the split far more than Mockingjay does. But it’s Mockingjay that gets the split, simply because the studios don’t feel the need to go out and find something else to fill that release date with. Or whatever the thinking is behind this stupid fad.

If The Hunger Games films don’t need this trope, the Divergent trilogy needs it even less. While Divergent the book and Divergent the movie were so good that it hurts - there is still a long way to go with these movies. Insurgent as a book suffers the most from being over-long (I’m right in the middle of re-reading Insurgent and I’m already finding places where the story could be edited down to be more interesting. It’s not a terrible book by any means - there are some very excellent scenes and character moments in this story. But material around them is padded down with a lot of excess that isn't needed and I’m hoping that gets worked out of the screenplay). Allegiant returns to the greatness of Divergent, but that ending is a sore point of contention with many of the fandom (personally, I see why it ended that way. I may not like the way it ended from an emotional standpoint, but from a storyteller’s standpoint it was a gutsy call and I applaud Veronica Roth in taking such a risk. And it doesn't bother me the way it bothers other people. Hell, I’m re-reading the whole series, aren't I?) Now that I think of it, Insurgent could probably be pared down enough to give some of Allegiant’s story to that movie! (There is precedent for such things - some of what happened in the book The Return of the King went into the movie for The Two Towers and vice versa. But that was a situation with timelines and plot-threads running through the whole series. Still - it works out in the long run).

The Divergent series does NOT need four movies. But it’s going to get them anyway. And the storytelling is going to suffer because of it. That makes me sad. Because the overarching story is SO good and SO worth your time, but the executives and the accounting eggheads just see dollar signs and want to bleed these franchises dry until there’s nothing left to enjoy anymore. Part of the fun of these things is that there is an ending and they don’t go on and on forever and they don’t overstay their welcome. We as fans may say “it’ll be sad when this whole thing is over” because we’ll have to say goodbye to our favorite characters and we love them a lot - but there is such a thing as too much. And if you had an endless supply of just one thing, it would become stale and boring and you’d get sick of it. And there is nothing more tragic than having something you once loved so much become stale and boring.

Obviously YA fiction is a viable market for filmmakers - maybe these efforts would be better suited to finding other YA properties that would lend themselves to good film adaptations. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier comes to mind, as does Matched by Ally Condie and Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. In fact, I would sacrifice my left kidney for a good Shadow and Bone movie. As much as I love Divergent, Shadow and Bone is in the same class. But no, we have to keep beating the same franchises to death instead of trying to find something new and interesting.

C'mon, Lionsgate! You know you want to!

Well - at least we’ll always have the books. They don’t disappoint as easily.

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Seeing as how a lot of my initial reviews of a lot of these books are on my now-defunct book review blog, I really need to keep up with my "Throwback Thursday" thing that I've let lapse AGAIN! (argh)

A Note on My Review of "Brave"

I saw Brave almost a month ago and I loved it.  But I have had the hardest time writing up a review that accurately reflects what I thought of it.  I have probably started five different reviews of it and subsequently deleted them because I got sidetracked or I was being unnecessarily unfair to someone else.  Suffice it to say that I had a lot of ~*~FEELINGS~*~ about this movie - mostly reflected in my own past experiences with life and people in general.

I AM going to write this review.  Even if it kills me, Merida's story will get space on this blog and it will be a fair assessment of the movie and my experience with it.  Just, bear with me while I get it all out, 'kay?

Something to Live For - Review of "The Dark Knight Rises"

Went and saw The Dark Knight Rises, like I'd originally planned to.  And, oh boy, do I have things to say about it.  Spoilers ahead!

(Not kidding!  You don't want to read ahead if you haven't seen the movie yet!)

(I warned you!!!)

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(Okay - on your own head be it)

This was a great cap to the whole trilogy.  It really felt like the entire story coming full circle, which I really didn't expect after seeing The Dark Knight. Actually, I had no idea how they would pull Bruce Wayne out of his absolute freefall at the end of TDK.  I knew he'd have to come out of it somehow - how do you have a Batman movie without Batman?  Would they pull Robin out of the audience?  Maybe get Alfred to suit up or something?

(Before anyone starts going all Nasally Pretentious Nerd on me - I called that whole Blake-is-Robin thing with the first trailer he showed up in.  I'll get to that in a second).

I want to talk about Gotham City for a bit.  This is a city that, at the beginning of Batman Begins, was awash with crime and corruption.  Bruce Wayne created Batman as a way to fight against what the police and rule of law almost couldn't handle.  Then, in The Dark Knight, the Joker surfaces as a representation of what happens when you have an opponent so evil and psychotic that Batman's usual tactics just don't work and he has to resort to things he'd rather not do (this ends badly for all involved).  At this point, Bruce has every right and reason to give up on Gotham City and just let everything go to hell.  Which, he pretty much does.  We're told at the start of The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce has been holed up in Wayne Manor and hasn't been seen by a soul in eight years.  By extension, neither has Batman.  Crime has been drastically reduced to almost nothing.  Gotham's police force has pretty much nothing to do except go after overdue library books (which garnered a chuckle from me.  We wouldn't send in police for something like that.  That's a job for SWAT).

Except - the League of Shadows is back (remember those guys? Headed up by Liam Neeson?)  And there's still the teensiest bit of corruption that's gone unnoticed because, hey, that's how the League of Shadows operates.  And there's a super-cool lady cat burglar of dubious moral conscience.  And Bruce Wayne starts thinking (ever so slowly, but he catches up - thank you Alfred) that maybe Gotham City is worth saving in spite of all its problems.

That right there is where this trilogy works.  It would be so easy for Bruce to give up and retire to Guam or wherever and say to hell with this stupid city that can't even stay saved from one cocktail party to another.  Even when Bane has him locked up in that pit in wherever-the-crap-that-was, he could have gotten out and high-tailed it somewhere nice and sunny.  But he goes straight back to Gotham City, hooks up with Selina Kyle and Commissioner Gordon and proceeds to save everyone.  All because he thought Gotham City - for all its faults and problems - was worth saving.

There was a TON of story to get through and I wasn't sure how they were going to pull it off without giving the short shrift to any key plot points.  But there was a nice balance between Selina's backstory, Bane's backstory, what Bruce has been up to since The Dark Knight (pretty much nothing), how Commissioner Gordon and the police department has been faring, the setup for Bane's Diabolical Plot, and so on.  Partway through, I wasn't sure what Miranda Tate was supposed to be doing - was she just a vague shadowy replacement for Rachel?  But then came the Big Reveal that she was really Ra's al-Ghul's daughter and the actual mastermind behind the whole Occupy Gotham thing (I knew there was a reason I didn't like her). Anyway - the story was well-balanced and everything blended well together.  It felt like all the key elements had just enough time to flourish that the audience could work with and accept what we got.  By the end of the movie, I was quite satisfied with how everything unfolded and all credit goes to the editing department.  Bravo, guys!  (if I had a clapping Joker gif to put here, I'd do it)

Can I talk about Blake for a second?  He was flat-out awesome.  From the first part where comes to the boys' home to confronting Bruce Wayne AT FREAKING WAYNE MANOR to helping Commissioner Gordon (and ignoring that one officer - old what's-his-face that wanted to arrest Batman) to getting the boys out of Gotham City - facing down the bomb squad that was going to blow up the bridge if he came anywhere close.  And then - you find out what his real name is??  Damn - I want a whole movie of Blake being amazing.  Which, you know, is slightly plausible now that Bruce left the Batcave to him (plausible, but unlikely).  Gave a whole Batman Beyond vibe to the ending, which I quite enjoyed.

I've always liked Catwoman.  You never quite know if she's really a villain or just a creature of opportunity.  And there's something to be said for the classy cat burglar tropes as well.  I quite like that, in this movie, Selina Kyle's just a regular person whose make mistakes and it trying to get her life back together even though she has to resort to stealing and petty thievery - culminating in being forced to help Bane in his conquest of Gotham.  But then she has her own Heel Face Turn and pretty much saves the day after that Miranda chick turned out to be the real villain of the story.  Not much else to say except it takes a real woman to kick ass in high heels.

Since the first time I saw The Dark Knight, I haven't been able to watch that movie very much just because of the absolute downer note it ends on.  But I think I can stand to watch the entire trilogy from start to finish knowing how this ends.  Batman saves the day - but Bruce Wayne gets his life back.  Gotham is safe (and watched over, if Blake has anything to say about it).  Compared to the pure despair this trilogy has been soaked in, I'm glad that it ends on a high note (seriously - you didn't think Batman was dead for dead when that bomb went off, did you?)

The Bottom Line - Fantastic movie, fantastic trilogy. I almost wish there was more to come, but I'm okay with this being the end.  I have this little policy - better to end while you're still on top than overstay your welcome and have people wish you were gone.  Christopher Nolan and company have done an excellent job with one of the most beloved comic book heroes (one that sorely needed revamping).  There's a great underlying message in these films - one that I hope people pick up on and not let the darkness of reality get in the way of a great story.

A Time for Heroes

I've always loved cartoons, fantasy novels, science-fiction movies (and fantasy movies and science-fiction novels).  Loved them when I was a kid, love them as an adult.  Even when I get funny looks and ignorant comments about "What do you do that stuff for? Grow up already! That's for kids!" (all the while I proudly proclaim I saw The Avengers three times).  My readership (all five of you) get it.  Because you do the same thing.  There's something about believing in the possibility of magic that allows us to hope.  To hope that in the face of senseless tragedy that there are still heroes.

You've all heard by now about the shootings in Aurora, Colorado at a movie theater during the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.  I've been to plenty of midnight movies.  They've become a big part of fandom - there's something special about being one of the first people to see the movie that you've been excited to see.  Movie theaters make it a big party.  The people who come are the fans.  They get the hype behind the stories and the characters.  You feel like you've found your tribe.  It's a glorious thing.

But then, some nut decides they want to ruin the whole thing and he comes in with tear gas and guns like he's the Joker or whatever.  And now, instead of talking about movie reviews and record-breaking box office numbers, we're asking How Could This Happen?  Of course, you have the requisite idiots in the media pointing fingers at the completely wrong guy and ruining his life too. Not to mention all the politicians and their minions scrambling to score political points with calls to ban this or ban that (as if banning anything's going to do any good).  All the while, you've got victims, family members, friends and the movie theater employees dealing with the horror and loss that resulted of the actions of one completely insane lunatic.

And here is where I pause and think - Where is the real-life Batman?

Think about it - the Jokers and Banes of this world are a dime a dozen.  Crazed psychos who use any reason under the sun to instill fear into people.  You see them all the time on the evening news (I think news anchors love this kind of tragedy.  It gives them job security).  And it's times like this I have a little tiny wish that Batman was real.  Or Superman.  Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Doctor, Jack Bauer - hell, I'll even take the Power Rangers at this juncture.

I'm not saying there should be some guy dressed up as a bat enacting vigilante justice on the baddies of the world.  Certainly, we have excellent police officers and military who stand in harm's way all the time and they are most definitely heroes (even this morning, officers risked life and limb to get into this crazy guy's apartment that was apparently booby trapped).  It's just a stray thought that nevertheless gave me pause this morning (and eventually became a blog post).

I don't know about other people, but that's one big reason I'm into science fiction and fantasy.  There's always a superhero or a white knight or a Time Lord or a bunch of hobbits ready to charge out against the evil people of the world.  Even if the heroes don't have a clue what they're doing and all they've got is the fact they know they're right and the bad guys are wrong - somehow, they manage to come out on top.  All the while their fans, readers and audiences cheer them on and feel safe and happy that the good guys kicked butt.

I'll be honest - this whole thing has me shaken up.  I go to midnight showings and other fandom-related things.  Shootings are supposed to happen in schools and malls and public places - places where the general populace are involved.  Not where a bunch of nerds have gathered to celebrate their nerdery.  That sounds kind of callous and naive, but that was one of my first thoughts this morning.  I feel horrible for the victims and their loved ones and I feel bad for the theater employees.  I feel bad for the filmmakers and anyone else that's going to get fingers pointed at them in the next few days because that's what's going to happen.  I want there to be a superhero (or ten) to stop these things from happening.

While there's no guarantee of a caped crusader to swoop in and rescue people from danger (and it's almost certain something like this will happen again), there is comfort to be had in stories we love.  I'm still going to go to the movies and read books with stories of improbable heroes winning impossible fights against villains that (more or less) come from the headlines of the ten o'clock news.  Because if ever there was a time for heroes - real or fictional - this qualifies.

As always, my thoughts and prayers go to everyone who was affected by this.

ETA: RandomGuy of Marvel/DC parody video fame has this to say.  I don't think I'm overstepping when I say that all of the geek community feels like this right now -

I Have a Really Stupid Question

It's suddenly become The Thing for big-movie-franchises-spawned-from-books to split the final installment into two movies.  With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it was justified.  Breaking Dawn, not so much.  Now we have news that Mockingjay, the third and final installment of The Hunger Games, will be split into two movies and released with a year between the two.

I'm not opposed to the idea - Mockingjay has a lot of material to cover (oh, shut the hell up.  Mockingjay was NOT that bad).  However, why just do it for Mockingjay? Catching Fire has probably just as much - if not more - material packed into it and it could certainly warrant a second movie as well.  Victory Tour?  Wedding planning?  Setup for the Quarter Quell?  The Quell itself?  Does this not ring a bell to anyone?  I'll be intrigued to see how well they get everything in Catching Fire stuffed into a 2 1/2 hour movie and I'm sure they'll pull it off (witness the wonderful handling of The Hunger Games) - but I'm not sure the stuffing is necessary.  And don't tell me that this idea to split movies just now occurred to the producers - they could have been planning this from the moment Deathly Hallows made bank.

(This is where I turn and shake my fist at the universe that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was not split into two movies.  Because there would be precedence for the middle part of a series to be split.  But no - we had to have a useless dragon chase scene and sacrifice any real plot the story had to offer, making my favorite HP book (to that point) a useless pile of horse manure as a movie.  Forever shall the name Mike Newell be cursed in my speech.  Actually, Alfonso Cuaron deserves some of that blame as well because he was the one who convinced Newell he could do GoF in one movie, even though Warner Bros was originally opened to doing two.  As if screwing up Prisoner of Azkaban wasn't enough.  Idiot).

Bottom Line - Mockingjay as two movies: Good Idea.  Catching Fire as two movies: Better Idea.  Someone should have thought of it before I blogged about it (and by "someone," I mean Lionsgate).

Ending of Childhood, blah, blah, blah

It's funny - I was on Tumblr and there were a few people lamenting the end of their childhood with the release of Deathly Hallows part 2 tonight. Now, this is just me and my own feelings, but my childhood "ended" 4 years ago when Deathly Hallows was released in book form.  Don't get me wrong - I enjoy the Harry Potter movies. But they aren't the books. I'm just not emotionally invested this go around. And it's not like the franchise is ending forever (hello Pottermore!)

Still, it is the end of an era and I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge it in some way. Harry Potter was my introduction to the ideas of fandom and - truly my first real obsession. It was the first fantasy I read while realizing that I enjoyed the fantasy genre and it was my gateway to British culture in general (which led to other things as well). I also credit (or blame, depending on how you look at it) Harry Potter for the fact I majored in English and wanted to become a writer. I admire JK Rowling for everything she's accomplished and the good things she's done with her fame and money. And, for a while, the fandom was a great place to be (even though it got a pretty exclusive there toward the end.  Sorry, but the HP fandom is just not something I want to spend my time in anymore).

So - in honor of the occasion and for your entertainment, here's a light-hearted recap of all the movies.

Weekend Roundup

That video makes me squee so happily. I don't even know why.

It's been a busy weekend, to be sure. So, I'll just hit the highlights and move on with my life.

- I. LOVE. STUDYING. LIBRARY. SCIENCE. Laugh if you must, but this weekend I went up to Salt Lake to meet up with my MLS Cohort buddies and enjoy a full weekend of discussing collection development. Beyond getting all this new information so I can be a good librarian when I get to that point, I just love being around my classmates and colleagues. Maybe it's because I had a real downer week (the kids at school were being little twerps and I'll just leave it at that), but it felt good to get away and do something that makes me feel good.  I honestly can't wait to do my practicum this summer.

- While I was up north, my dad had me move some of my stuff that's been in storage since we moved nine years ago. We'd had it stored at this old house my parents own but are now selling (which, why we didn't sell it years ago is beyond me, but I'm not the one calling the shots). But since I don't have my own place to move all my stuff to, it just moved into another storage area (into a friend of mine's garage - I'm going to be living with her this summer anyway). Most of my stuff ended up getting thrown out because I didn't need it or because of mice (yeah...), so I actually have less stuff than I thought I did.

- Here's a funny story - for my class weekends, we meet in a small-ish library in Salt Lake City down the road from the University of Utah. It's right next to a Barnes and Noble, which does not help my finances at all. I'd arrived at the library early on Friday night, so I thought I'd go browse B&N to see if they had anything good. I ended up in the DVD section, perusing their Doctor Who DVDs to see if there was something I really wanted that 2Entertain wasn't planning a Revisitation version of later. Turned out they had the Black Guardian Trilogy at a decent enough price, so I bought that. The guy at the counter noticed what I was buying and actually seemed impressed that I was buying a Doctor Who boxed set and he started asked me who my favorite Doctor was - I replied that I really didn't have a favorite yet (well, I do, but I haven't seen them all yet, so I'm reserving judgment), but I'd been on a Peter Davison kick lately (hence, my purchase) and I really liked both David Tennant and Matt Smith. I think the guy thought it was cool that there was a 20-something girl in Utah that actually knew what Doctor Who was - even enough to buy some of the Classic series on DVD (or maybe I'm just giving myself gratuitous pats on the back).

As I left the store, I had to get on the escalator down and I noticed a guy walk in with either his wife or girlfriend. This guy had a black t-shirt on with white lettering in the shape of a TARDIS that said "Bow Ties are Cool" and a white image of a bow tie above that. I wanted to yell out "Nice shirt!" to the guy, but he'd passed by the time I got to the bottom of the escalator (plus, I'm a little shy about yelling out in a crowded store - and I try not to get too over-zealous about my love of all things Who, especially in public. I don't do well with awkwardness). But seriously - how cool is it that I encountered not just one, but TWO people who seemed to know what Doctor Who was and even were fans of it? 'Course, I was in Barnes and Noble, which I lovingly refer to as "The Geek Store" but it just made my heart happy ^_^

So, I'm feeling pretty good about life right now. And I'm off to listen to Radio Free Skaro's latest episode while the rest of the world sits and snores at the yearly parade of Hollywood's Most Pompous (or as I like to call it "The Best Movies No One Cares About." With the exception of the year "Return of the King" cleaned everybody out, nothing I like ever wins so I don't even bother)

Cheers!

TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!

It was exactly nine years ago today that "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was released in theaters!  I know - it freaked me out when I realized it.  I was still in high school, for crap's sake!  Mom let me skip school that day (she called the school and told them I had an appointment... which is partially true, if you think about it) and I camped out at the movie theater for tickets.  The newspaper even came down and took pictures of people waiting.  I had been reading "Prisoner of Azkaban" and the newspaper folks got a shot of me reading my book, which ended up on the front page of the paper.  To this day, it remains one of the best photos ever taken of me (and I'm looking down ^_^  I probably have a copy of it in  shoebox somewhere).  Seems fitting, seeing as how this Friday, part one of  "Deathly Hallows" is coming out.

But nine years ago today - the SQUEE was unleashed.  Enjoy some nostalgia:





(Everybody's thinking it, I'm just going to say it: HOLY CRAP THEY'RE SO LITTLE!!!)