Delusions of Grandeur

I really gotta stop this updating once a month thing. Hello all! and Sorry I havent been the best commenter on people's ljs either. I really do read pretty much all the journals on my flist so if I dont comment its not cause I dont care! I just lack time and energy lately for this whole blogging and online friend thing. In fact I think I've been a bad friend in general. It's not uncommon for me to end up in a mood and avoid or ignore people in favor of my work or other distractions like movies, tv, books and video games. I know I suck :(
So I fell into one of my moods as I do, feeling put out and went on a big movie spree recently, in part because I FINALLY put in a netflix subscription, and the other reason was I find them rather energizing for my creativity (when they are good anyway). I really cant wait for my classes to end because I so want to use my freetime to write and also take up painting again. Ever since I took that art appreciation class a year ago, I've been wanting to paint again badly. Anyway today I felt pretty good! So I decided to write up an lj post entirely about movies! Yay!

How to Train Your Dragon: I saw this in the theater last weekend and I LOVED it! The story itself is nothing new or very novel, yet the execution was excellent and I rarely enjoy this kind of story as much as I did when I watched this movie. Certainly I would not call myself a fan of the "Boy and His Dragon" stories simply because they are often very narrow in scope, saccharine, conventional and more often than not, just plain dull. This film however is none of those things (well it's a little conventional but forgivable I'd say). I really found myself incredibly fond of Hiccup, he was a little dorky, a little inept, alot scared but never cowardly or pathetic, and he was also incredibly compassionate I thought. Basically he is a very likable lead character, this and the movie taking at least some effort to incorporate girls into what is essentially a typical "boy hero" story made this film very endearing to me. I really liked Astrid, I liked that she was tough and didnt let Hiccup get away with anything, I liked also that she didnt soften on him until she went on a magic carpet ride an amazing dragon ride with him. Speaking of the dragon riding, it is the flying scenes that really carried the film, they are just so free spirited, beautiful, hopeful and pure. I totally had a big silly grin on my face throughout every flying scene!
My favorite thing however was the very strong and sweet bond between Toothless the dragon and Hiccup, it was just so precious and believable and I found myself really caring caring about them from beginning to end. There is a bit at the end that was a wee bit disturbing to me simply because I was not at all expecting it and was surprised in fact the movie went there. ( Just the barest hint of a spoiler~ )
Basically this is an awesome movie, so if you are fond of animated films and open minded about children's films, then I say go see it!

Princess and The Frog: I have very mixed feelings about this movie, my main concern before watching this was how Disney would handle Tiana (the main character's) race, before I watched this I read enough of other people's reactions to know that the film did rather well in this regard. Indeed when I watched it I felt that this may in fact be Disney's most racially/ethnically sensitive film ever produced (which is not saying very much) however, there are two big issues I had wit this film which greatly diminished my enjoyment of it.
Problem the first, Tiana and her beau Naveen spend 85% of the film as FROGS. I knew she became a frog, I knew she was a frog for most of the film, I had no idea however that she would be a frog for THAT LONG. I really hadnt signed up for that, but considering this is a Disney film I should have at least seen it coming -_-
Problem the second, ( cut for spoilers and ranting/ragey typing ) Anyway, the animation is lovely and I did enjoy the characters and the music but I think this is definitely not gonna go on my list of favorite disney films anytime soon. Such a shame. I hope Disney goes back to the 2-D animation again soon though, watching this (and Book of Kells not long ago) I realize how much I've missed it.

Fantastic Mr Fox: I just saw this last night and it was EXCELLENT. Wes Anderson is always amazing, and this movie is no exception. I also find that I am yet to run into a film that is based on a Roald Dahl book and not enjoy it. (well no wait, I didnt like The Witches at all....) Anyway despite the source material being a children's book (albeit one with a slightly dark sense of humor) it has a very adult sensibility. Kind of like Where the Wild Things Are which, despite being a film about a ten year old boy is probably a film that will resonate far more with adults and teens that it ever would with little kids.
Unlike Wild Things though, i do believe this film will be enjoyable and accessible to youngsters, however I think it is probably even more enjoyable if you are over the age of 13. I loved the usage of the stop motion animation here and I think greatly added to the whimsical atmosphere of the movie, the voice cast is excellent and very well chosen (oh man Michael Gabon as the main villain and George Clooney as the hero could not have been more perfect in their roles) and the characters despite all being forest critters feel very human and real. With the dysfunctions of the Fox family the film somewhat reminded me of the Royal Tenenbaums (a movie I also love <3) but this is much more light hearted than that film was. Basically I cannot recommend this film enough, its quirky, its fun, the characters are very engaging, the animation and colors are beautiful and eye-catching, the voice cast is great and the story itself is both thoughtful and ultimately uplifting. Basically very strong all around. Everyone go see it!
(I also wanna add that the score and music throughout the film is also A+ and I found myself dancing to the song in the closing credits.)

ETA: Yes I have seen A2A season premiere and the new DW episode! and I loved both immensely, perhaps I will blog about them in more detail in my next post (or I'll just wait till this week's eps come out and blog about those)

Mary Sue
I hate hate HATE this term. Just about every fandom I have been in has used this term to either discredit and undermine a female character and her numerous accomplishments or skill or to justify their dislike of her. Usually both. Yes there are underwritten, poorly developed female characters on tv. I can understand not liking them or feeling indifferent to them or if you are like me secretly resenting the writers for doing a shit job with their female characters but putting more effort on the male ones.
However I have rarely in the many years I have spent in fandom, felt the term Mary Sue was ever justified. I am sick to death of hearing this term, it is used frequently by just about everyone in every fandom imaginable. and It's been annoying me for years but after seeing it once again in the comments of a blog for a writer of (one of) my favorite shows (Leverage) I'd finally just had enough. So I am going to rant about it big time right now. If no one wants to read it, feel free to scroll past.

( Let the ranting begin )

The thing I hate the most though? If a female character in a show full of strong people is less than competant, people will STILL bitch and call her a waste of space. Which just goes back to how arbitrary and nonsensical the whole Mary Sue thing is. and I'm so so sick of hearing that fucking term. I wish people would just be honest and say "gosh I dont like her cause she's new/gets in the way of my ship/rubs me the wrong way/makes me feel insecure/I always prefer male charas to female ones/I hate women" it would make fandom so much more tolerable. But of course I know, I am asking way too much.

Hello flist! Lots to cover today but first things first:

Happy birthday kipani_mariko!

I suck so much for not doing this yesterday but I had my reasons, namely being very out of it for most of yesterday and not realizing it was the 21st until very late. Tai's summer usually involves walking around barely realizing what time of day or date it is and plenty of junk food. I am so fat now. I'VE GAINED FIVE POUNDS *SOBS*

Anyway whining and excuses aside. You are a wonderful friend <3 and the last two years knowing you have been great, well not great in general but the time spent speaking to you itself was great! yes and I hope you have a really great year!
Ok ok that was the worst birthday blog post ever. -_- Hopefully my gift will make it up to you though, it should arrive by the next week or so. :D (with a colorful sappy card! yay!)

Tv: I have been watching alot of stuff lately! YAY. Mainly though I've recently gotten into Gossip Girl. Yes Gossip Girl. DEAL WITH IT.
Ahh it is such a great trainwreck show, with crazy drama and bitchy ladies and hot...everybody really. What I love most about gossip girl though? NONE of the female characters annoy me! NOT EVEN ONE! and The fandom isnt full of woman hating pyschos and slashers! (like almost every other fandom on the internet. But best part is there is FEMME SLASH. WAH IT EXISTS. It also has the best couple to ever exist on tv ever. Chuck & Blair. ( My glee tis a gleeful thing! )

Also Gossip Girl makes me really want to watch Skins. Which I have been meaning to watch for the last YEAR AND A HALF and still havent gotten around to it. FAIL
Speaking of BBC shows I want to see. North & South! I so need to see this! It looks awesome and sounds like a period drama with a bit of a romance plot which is my fave combination in a bbc drama! They do period dramas so so well.
In fact I was really looking forward to checking out their newest period drama Desperate Romantics. I was like "Ohhh a drama about the pre-raphaelite painters? Sounds interesting!" So then I go read up on the Pre-raphaelite painters, in one of my big art history books. So I can better appreciate the drama...BIG MISTAKE. ( Allow me a moment of ranting if you will ) That being said the New Romantics were totally the rock stars of their time in a way and so I do get why the BBC would make a show about them and I dont discourage anyone from seeing it. But then I would never discourage people from learning about history in any way. Perhaps more people will become interested in art history because of this show!

True Blood ep5: Alot of people hated this episode because it was slow moving and repetitive. all of this is true. however I did not hate it. Why? Because of this scene:

PURE EPIC. I suddenly wish the whole show was now about vampire viking erik and his pretty vampire buddy Godric and their travails through ancient Scandinavia.

Leverage: BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER BABY. Oh how did I manage so long without this show? ;_; I love how the shit has been switched up on Nate. Because after pretty much looking down on his team all of last season for being criminals (despite WORKING for him and using their shady expertise to help people the entire time) they have now latched unto him and own his apartment and they will never ever ever leave. plus Sophie moved on and got a new man! SUCK IT NATE. I also died laughing when I found out his apartment was placed OVER A BAR which is hilarious only if you know he's a recovering alcoholic. I swear that man is a masochist or in Eliot's words "Very Catholic". Also the Parker/Hardison moment <3
I am so looking forward to tonight's episode and YES I DID NOT FORGET THIS TIME ABOUT IT.

I really want to do an OTPs ranking lately. Mostly so I can have an excuse to gush about chuck/blair some more but really it sounds like a fun idea. I wanna do one for my platonic OTPs too actually...
Well that's all! You know you love me~XOXO (yes that is a gg reference. *dodges rocks*)