Source of inspiration 5

     While working in the library today something incredibly annoying happened. My laptop died and as usual there were no outlets open. So instead of sitting there and doing nothing I decided to try and do what work I could on my phone. Looking at this blog on my phone I realized that this blog has a very boring design. Yes there's a background image and a splash of color, but there isn't really much to look at other than a crap ton of words and blocks. I realized I needed some more pictures to help break up some of the monotony. If it wasn't for my computer dying and the library's lack of sufficient outlets on the second floor (seriously there are only like 4-5, that's not enough) then I never would've noticed that. Now I know to add some more images to help spice some of the posts up a bit. 

Let's talk about Bruce Banner

     After my rant about how great a character Tony is I started thinking about each individual character and how they have progressed. One character in particular was standing out to me: Bruce Banner. While quiet and sarcastic tends to describe him, most people forget about his sense of humor. Remember the scene in Ultron where they were all trying to lift the hammer and he kind of pretends to turn into the hulk and no one gets it? He's funny and smart and just a typical person like you and me. The difference is just don't catch him off guard. It's only when he's caught off guard that he really is a threat to people.
     People tend to tiptoe around him, scared of setting him off and unleashing his rage. The thing with Bruce though and we see it a bit in Ultron is that he does control the hulk to a certain extent. He can control and channeling his anger and actions to help the Avengers. This has to do with what he said in the first Avengers film when he tells cap that his secret is tha he's always angry. And it's true. Banner is sick of everyone being scared of him and tip toeing around him. That's one reason him and Tony (Science Bros forever!) get along so well and become such fast friends. Tony isn't afraid of him and jokes around him. He treats him like a normal person. I'm pretty sure I mentioned in an earlier post about Ultron that the only persons behavior that makes sense throughout the movie is Dr.Banner. His quote "I could strangle you and not turn a single shade" really shows how much self control he has and that the only time you need to worry is when he's caught off guard. People tend to think of the Hulk as angry and destruction and associate him those things. For me though I think of him as more a protector and fearful. The Hulk is there to protect Banner from things that could hurt him like a bullet or falling onto concrete. He's a protector. He's like a father who goes on a rampage whenever his son is upset; or, a son going on a rampage to defend his father. Either way there is a protective instinct there, even with people other than Bruce himself. In the first Avengers movie it's the Hulk that saves Tony's life. Granted you can make the argument Thor was about to go too, the Hulk got there first and then screamed when he didn't immediately wake up. The hulk saved Tony for Banner and helped wake him up for Banner.
     So now back to the character himself and his actions around others. Bruce is sick of being used for the Hulk plain and simple. He's angry. He's really angry. That's where the I could strangle you line comes in. He knows what they are doing but no one will actually admit it. Then there is Natasha and the love story that makes no sense what so ever and is basically poorly written fan fiction by Whedon. Natasha blatantly uses him at the end and even says "I need the other guy". That was the absolute last straw for him. He's done. After the battle he takes a stealth plane and flies away, ignoring Natasha's transmissions to try and help him change back. He's done and running away again.  Bruce is constantly taken advantage of and its destroying him emotionally. He can't take it anymore. People see him as quiet and usually in the background and yes he tends to blend in and people tend to forget about him which is tragic. He's a beautifully complex character and Mark Rufflao does an incredible job of portraying him. There's so much eye acting with him and if you haven't before you really should pay more attention to him and the things he does and how he says them. Banner is a terrific character and I could go on for days about him. But for now I'll just wrap up with 3 paragraphs.

Why Tony Stark is my favorite super hero

     Okay so I know that I have previously discussed Iron Man 3 and why that movie is so wonderful, but now I want to talk about the man himself: Tony Stark. I had a discussion with someone today who said to me that she hated Tony and that he was the worst Avenger out of all of them. Personally I just don't understand that. I can understand not liking his seemingly okay attitude but to say he is the worst is a bit much. First off, none of the Avengers are the worst because they are all great and unique in their own way. And if I really had to pick one it would be Thor cause frankly he is so gullible and boring I can't even bring myself to watch his movies more than twice. But regardless of that, he is still a great superhero. Tony though is different. Most people don't like him because they say his super power is his money and he is too cocky for his own good. If you believe that I really hope you hate batman too because you just described him as well, with the exception of Tony actually cares about other people where as Bruce is normally just going about his own agenda (like most DC characters but thats an argument for another day).

     If the only Iron Man movie you've seen is the first one that I totally understand why you don't like Tony. I didn't like him then either. He's self-centered and unaffected by other people and what their needs/wants are. He believes that he is invincible and powerful and basically owns the world. When we really start to see him develop as a character though is in the second film. Spoiler alert, Tony almost dies. He ends up having to rediscover a new element on the periodic table to save himself. What makes this film so great though is his character changes as the story progresses. He suddenly starts caring about other people, mainly Pepper. Yes he becomes more of a self centered jerk, but you could make the argument that it was an act to hide his fear. Knowing this helps us interpret his previous behavior as well. Tony is lonely and scared but due to his upbringing he doesn't feel like he can show that to others. He has to keep it to himself and deal with it on his own, but in IM2 that shell begins to crack as he is faced with his own mortality. His development goes even further in The Avengers and the biggest change coming in Iron Man 3. Yes Tony is still cocky and rich, but he has changed and developed as a character and isn't the same person as he was in the beginning of the story. The proof of this lies in Age of Ultron. Wanda shows Tony a vision that will consume and destroy him and eventually leads him to create the ever boring villain Ultron. The vision she shows him is of everyone he cares about dead lying in a pile, and it was all his fault. This vision consumes him and almost does lead to his self destruction. If Wanda had showed him this during the first film, or even the second film for the matter, it would not effected him the same way it does later. It may have upset him a bit but it would not have consumed him the way it does in Ultron. Tony has undergone significant character development and is not the same person he was in earlier films.

     And quickly for those who think his power is his money. Shut up and actually think about the things Tony has done. His whole story starts off with him creating this technology in a cave with nothing but scrap metal. When everyone believes Tony is dead in IM3 he has little to no access to his millions of dollars. He still manages to create and design weapons which he uses to save dozens of people and catch the "Mandarin". Bruce Wayne's super power is his money, Tony Stark's super power is his brain. This man creates all of his ideas and designs himself, after coming up with them himself. In the Avengers he is asked "when did you became an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics" to which he replies "last night". I don't don't doubt for one minute that Tony was up all night reading about this incredibly difficult stuff and understood it perfectly. Tony is a certified genius who just so happens to have money as well. Does it help him in the creation of his suits, absolutely yes. But when he doesn't have his money it doesn't stop him. He is still able to create his inventions and they still work perfectly. Tony Stark's superpower is his brain and no one can take that away from him or hinder him. Super man can't even compete with that.

photo credit: http://ironman.wikia.com/wiki/Tony_Stark_(film)

Source of Inspiration 4

 

     So oddly enough one of my inspirational pieces actually came from another blog. Morgan's post on Hamilton inspired me to think more outside the box to add something new to my blog. Her post was about doing a song of the week, and that inspired me to do something kind of similar. Instead of doing a song of the week though I would do either a movie/TV show of the week or even a different poll for each week. I love the idea of adding something weekly like that so I decided to try and make it fit my own blog. The polls could be done on multiple different things such as favorite Marvel film, favorite genre, favorite actress or actor and so on. These could be changed every week or even every 2 weeks. Either way it creates a more interactive element to the design that I think people would really enjoy. Personally I know I love participating in the polls and love coming back to see who won. Morgan had a brilliant idea and I'd love to one day be able to incorporate it into my own design. 

The Wilhelm Scream

 
     I can almost 100% guarantee that at some point in your life you have heard the Wilhelm Scream (WS), whether you realize it or not. The WS is probably one of my favorite things about films and I love hearing it when I'm watching a movie. Movies such as Despicable Me, The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Monsters University, and every single Star Wars movie has featured this one sound clip. But what is it and where did it come from?

     It's actually a lot older than people might realize. The scream was recorded in the year 1951 for a film called Distant Drums. In the scene where the sound is used, a man is dragged underneath a swamp by an alligator. That's it. That's the origin story for the Wilhelm Scream. So why has it become such a widely used sound effect? Well for a long time the sound actually wasn't used. until Stars Wars came around. They started using that screaming and have used in every single movie since. After Star Wars, other editors and filmmakers have started using t more as well, turning this man being bit by an alligator into a little game for movie goers. Nothing makes me more excited when watching a film than suddenly hearing that scream in the background. And trust me once you know what it sounds like you'l hear it everywhere. It's a blessing and a curse.

     I'm going to leave you guys with a compilation from YouTube of Wilhelm Screams in films. Feel free to watch it and see if there are any films you have seen before! I'm also going to give you guys a link to IMDb that has a list of movies that have used the WS at some point during their story. There is probably one if not more movies on that list that you have seen.

 

image: http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/pictures/films/chargefeatherriver/featherriverwil.jpg

Source of Inspiration 3

     Let's talk about borders. Not the ones surrounding the country, or even the country; but, the ones surrounding pictures. In some of my earlier posts the images always looked a little out of place to me, but I never really had an idea of what to do to fix them. Until one afternoon when I was looking around at some of the pictures around my desk. On the bottom shelf I have my sorority composite, and on the top shelf a collage my best friend gave me and a picture of my favorite soccer player Ali Krieger, The one thing that all of these pictures had in common was a gray border around them. So after noticing I decided why not give it a try on here, and I ended up loving it. The border I feel just completes the post and ties everything together somehow. 

9 Interesting Firsts in Film

1. First stunt woman on Indian screen: Fearless Nadia aka Mary Ann Evans (Mary Evans Wadia)
2. Toy Story was the first CGI feature film 
3. The Power of Love was the first 3-D film released in the year 1922
4. The first film to be rated PG-13 was Red Dawn (1984)
5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was the first film to have a commercially released soundtrack  
6. The first Shakespeare adaptation was King John in 1899
7. The first Sherlock Holmes film was Sherlock Holmes Baffled in 1900
8. The first Woman to win a Best Director Oscar was Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2010)
9. The first black person to win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel in 1940 (photographed above)

All information and image found at the sites listed below:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/72060/36-film-history-firsts

http://cassavafilms.com/list-of-9/nine-unheralded-firsts-in-film

http://listverse.com/2009/11/24/top-10-firsts-in-feature-films/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cinematic_firsts

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/african-american-oscar-winner-oscarssowhite-870533/item/common-john-legend-african-american-870592

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/02/_75_years_ago_hattie_mcdaniel_became_the_first_african_american_to_win_an.html

Source of Inspiration 2

     For my second source of inspiration post I'm going to talk about fonts. So I was kind of struggling with what font to use for my title and the article titles, and then I ended up getting a new movie and that changed. The movie I had gotten was the Bill Condon film Mr. Holmes, which gives people a brand new view of the infamous detective. While the film is excellent and the acting tremendous, that's not what inspired my font choice. What inspired me was the cover. What you have is this dignified, very sophisticated character but the title looks a bit sloppy for lack of a better word. It's done in handwriting style font so it looks almost like Sherlock Holmes is signing the cover. I really liked the look of the handwriting style and thought it looked a bit amateurish but also a bit dignified much like Mr. Holmes himself. I don't know I just really liked the look of that font and decided that would be a good model to follow for my own blog, which unfortunately will never be as good as Mr.Watson's.

What Im looking for

     Everyone views movies differently and looks for different things when they are analyzing them. So in this post, Im gonna talk to you guys a bit about what I personally am looking for when Im watching a film. This can vary from person to person and no one person is right. Film is an art form that can be seen by thousands of people, and each person can have their own idea about what the story meant. But for me, the main points I look at are dialogue, plot/character continuity, and action.
     One thing that always ticks me off and will immediately get me walking out of a theater is crappy/choppy dialogue. For instance one thing that always ticks me off is when the characters say the names of over characters in practically every sentence (Im looking at you Voyage of the Dawn Treader). Or if the dialogue sounds forced or awkward coming from a certain character, unless its done for a certain reason within the plot. If it's not though it just sounds stupid.
 
   Another thing is plot/character continuity, specifically in sequels. I talked about Age of Ultron in an earlier post and how it basically just pretended that two movies didnt happen and threw the characters personalities all out of whack. It was pathetic actually. Like can we please just get rid of Joss Whedon as a director because he has no idea how to do sequels that arent almost exactly identical to the first film. Also you cant just spring things on people all of a sudden, like a family, without them being somewhat alluded too in earlier films. Like why was no one concerned about his family when he was compromised? Why was he not concerned about them when he "woke up"? It doesnt make sense.
   
      The last big thing Im look at is action. Balancing action and plot can be a very difficult challenge for some directors. For example, the movie World War Z (which I highly recommend no one ever watch) sacrificed most of the plot for action sequences. I get that it's an action movie, but when you have that many plot holes because of the action it starts to become a problem. Why did cutting off the one girls arm save her from being turned into a zombie or why were there people on a plane getting ready to take off when they were in the last safe place on earth? Oh, or why did the phone ringing not attract a lot of zombies when it's established that they are drawn to sound? These things dont make sense and yes its just a movie but when things are established within the film you cant just suddenly take them back to further your plot and make the next sequence look cool.


A couple of movies I think handle these 3 things perfectly:
1. Captain America The Winter Soldier (I watch a lot of Marvel)
2. The Imitation Game
3. Pans Labyrinth
4. Inside Out
5. The Hobbit (all three of them)

photo credits:
http://aretheyoldenough.com/are-they-old-enough/project/chronicles-narnia-voyage-dawn-treader/
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/avengers-age-of-ultron/4025-1563
/http://www.wholesalehalloweencostumes.com/blog/are-you-prepared-for-world-war-z/

Source of Inspiration

     One of my sources of inspiration to improve this blog comes from some books sitting on my desk. The blog was lacking some color and was mainly black, white, and gray with a splash of purple thrown in. But overall it was pretty boring color wise. So while I was redesigning it and trying to think of a color to introduce I saw a couple books off on the side and I really liked the color. I used those 2 books and tried to duplicate some of the color on the page. The books were a poetry book for my English class and a sorority workbook. I really like this color and feel that gives the blog a little bit more life as opposed to the original dark colors. I also got the idea for the title to have a horizontal line across the top like the poetry book picture on the left. I really like the way it stood out against the light colors of the rest of the cover. I hope that this inspiration improves the overall quality of the blog.

Who lives, who dies, who tells your story

I really hope at least one of you gets the title reference. The idea behind it kind of relates to the film Im going to be talking about in this post. The film is called The Imitation Game and it's based on the true story of Alan Turing and his contributions to the success of the Allies during World War II. More than that, it's also the story of how this incredible war hero, someone who helped create so much of the technology we take for granted today, was treated horribly by the very people he had worked to save. 

The film opens up in what appears to be a man sitting in an interrogation room, and another man walks in a throws a folder on the table. The screen goes to black and the audience hears a voice telling them to pay attention, because if they don't they'll miss things. Important things. This voice over almost makes the audience feel like they are being talked to directly by the main character and it makes them pay close attention to what is going on in the story afraid of missing something. It is later revealed that that voice over is from the interrogation scene from later in the film where Turing tells his story to the officer seen at the very beginning of the film. 

The film follows a three time line story structure linking them together through similar themes. They focus on three different points in his life: his childhood, his time at Bletchley Park, and the time during his arrest. This way of telling the story really helps the viewer learn a lot about Alan Turing and why he is the way he is. The whole idea of the film is judgment and how you shouldnt just someone by things that they cant change such as looks, brains, or sexual orientation. Alan Turing was an incredible brilliant man who was one of the only people who decided to tackle the problem of solving what was thought to be an unbreakable German code during World War II. Enigma had over 159 million million million different possibilities for the answer, and the Germans changed the code every single day making it even more difficult to break the code. The film focuses a lot on the hardships of cracking this code and how difficult it truly was on him. 

After all this man did for his country during the war one would think he would be treated fairly well afterwards. This however is far from the truth. He continued his work into a field of study pretty much started by himself until it was discovered he was a homosexual, which at the time was illegal. He was convicted of indecency and put on hormonal therapy which severely messed with his mental abilities. The irony of this ending is that they treated just like the computer/machine that Turing theorized in his famous paper. They treated him like he was a computer that could just be reprogrammed and have his settings altered. This movie is one of my all time favorites because with most historical films they tend to focus on the event rather than the person, but with this movie its a little bit of both. They tell the story of the event, but they mainly use it to tell the story of the man. 

photo credit: https://twitter.com/imitationgameuk

Philomena

One film that I couldnt wait to see after I first saw the trailer was Philomena. Staring Steve Coogan (Night at the Museum, Around the World in 80 Days) and Judi Dench (Skyfall, Casino Royale) and based off a true story, the film follows journalist Martin Sixsmith and an old woman named Philomena Lee on the journey to find her son who was taken from her when she was a young girl. The child was stolen from and given up for adoption without her consent by the nuns who she lived with at a convent when she was young. Decades later she is introduced to a former BBC Correspondent named Martin who decides to do a a human interest story on this woman and help her find her missing son. [SPOILERS AHEAD]

The two go on an interesting journey together starting with the very unhelpful nuns at the convent where she was forced to work. While there, Martin discovers that the nuns had in fact been lying about losing the records in a fire when in fact they burned them in a large bonfire to hide what they had been doing. With the little information they can get, they manage to trace him from that small town in Ireland to the United States where most of the adopted children ended up going. The two make the voyage overseas to Washington DC where they discover that Martin had actually met her son before. Her son's name changed from Anthony to Michael Hess and he was a prominent member of the Republican National Committee during the Reagan Administration. When Martin still worked for BBC he had actually met her son at the White House. The two go and meet one of his colleagues where they find out his was gay. His colleague also gave them the name of his adoptive sister where they find out he died of AIDS and get the name of his partner. While with his partner the biggest plot twist of all happens. Her son had actually gone to the convent in Ireland looking for her but the nuns lied and said they had no way of contacting her since she gave him up. Their journey literally came full circle as she discovers her son was actually buried in Ireland at the very convent that Philomena had visited multiple times trying to find him.

Even though she had the right to be angry and rude to the nuns about lying to both her and her son and keeping them apart forever, she wasnt. She forgive them for what they did and told Martin that she doesnt want to hate anybody and how his anger "must be exhausting." Her story is published to help bring to light the tragedies that happened to these young unwed women in Ireland who are still trying to find their children.

This film was not at all what I was expecting. When you watch this kind of film you pretty much expect a happy ending, and when one doesnt happen it kind of just leaves you hanging in disbelief. The only issue I have with this film is that it felt way to rushed at the beginning and the viewer was just immediately thrown into this story. Other than that I love the dialogue between the two characters and how the story is told. While in a way it does demonize the nuns a bit, Philomena is there to remind the viewer of forgiveness and how holding a grudge and being upset cant change anything. The film I believe is a great lesson on forgiveness and moving on. Even when you have the right to be upset, do your grieving and move on. Don't dwell on your anger too much or it can destroy you as it almost does to Martin at the end. This film is one I highly recommend everyone seeing, but definitely have the tissues ready.


photo credit: http://netflixlife.com/2015/09/25/50-best-movies-on-netflix-philomena-is-added-to-the-ranking/

A Man Out of Time

Steve Rogers started out as a small kid in Brooklyn who didn't like bullies and turned into America's hope for defeating the Nazi's during World War II. Steve, or Captain America as most people know him, was an experiment in a "new breed of super soldier" through the US Army. He became a lot more than people realized when he saved the world from Hydra in "The First Avenger." Cap was later discovered frozen and still alive after decades of being an icicle in a ship. In the first Avengers movie we see Steve begin to deal with all that has changed since he'd been asleep; but, it's not until "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" that we really see Steve coming to terms with his situation.

Steve Rogers holds his values very close to his heart, and is rarely compelled to compromise. When Steve first wakes up from the ice he tries to just jump back in and follow orders; but, he finds out from Fury during this film that America isnt the same place it was when he left. He discovered that people are willing to sacrifice those values that were once more important than anything else, "by holding a gun to everyone on earth and calling it protection." It's at this moment that Steve begins to show his frustration and anger towards not only what happened to him, but what people are letting happen to the world. The beginning of the movie opens with this conflict of interest between Steve and Nicholas Fury, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. when they discuss compartmentalization and how they need to take the world how it is and not as Steve would like it to be.

After this conversation Steve goes on a little reminiscing tour through DC and visits the Smithsonian exhibit on himself and goes to visit Peggy Carter from the first film. After his little visits to these places he goes to visit Sam, a man he met at the beginning of the film, where he is leading a meeting at the VA about learning to deal with their baggage. This is done on purpose because this is what Steve is struggling with and needs to hear. It is also during this scene where Sam, Falcon, explains how he lost his best friend in battle. His story is almost identically to the story of how Cap lost his best friend Bucky. And it's not accidental that the next scene is the first scene where the audience sees the Winter Soldier, who you later find out is in fact Bucky Barnes who survived the fall from the train.

One of my favorite things about this film is that all of the action sequences advance the plot in some way. They arent just thrown in there because why not. They make sense and dont feel forced. They even use deception in the mall in order to avoid an action sequence. In my opinion this movie is an almost perfect balance between character development and action sequences. It's not without it's faults of course, but the good definitely outweigh the bad. This movie is definitely one you want to see, especially if you like the Marvel movies. Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Iron Man are in my opinion the jewels in the Marvel Universe crown.


photo credit: http://www.designbolts.com/2014/03/18/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-hd-wallpapers-facebook-covers/

Elle Woods for President 2016

If you've never seen Legally Blonde Im going to need you to get off this post right now, get on Netflix and watch it immediately. And then since you're there you may as well watch the second one too. Reese Witherspoon plays the incredibly intelligent and energetic Elle Woods in this beloved film. The film starts off portraying her as an unintelligent, crazy, sorority girl who does nothing but obsess over her boyfriend. After her boyfriend breaks up with her (she thought he was going to propose, ouch) she decides to become what she thinks he wants in a woman: a law student. Elle then throws herself into her final semester of college studying and skipping Greek Week to study for the LSATs and trying to get into Harvard Law School to follow her boyfriend. She manages to make into Harvard and heads off to the biggest wake up call of her life.

One thing everyone in this film seems to take for granted at the beginning is how intelligent Elle Woods truly is. She is constantly looked down upon because she likes to party, likes shopping, and wears a lot of pink. What they forget though, is this girl got into Harvard Law School, one of the most prestigious law schools in the country. You have to be pretty smart to make it there, and unlike her former boyfriend she got in all on her own and wasn't wait listed. Even though she is constantly looked down upon and often times humiliated by classmates and professors she is always true to herself. Her bright pink wardrobe and natural blonde hair isn't exactly the norm for the law profession, but she doesn't care. She is very driven and knows what she wants and will always go after it. Elle is the prime example of how just because you don't fit people's expectations doesn't mean that you don't belong there.

Lets talk the what people think of as intelligence for a minute. The people at Harvard looked down on her because she was fashion major in college and they believed her to be lesser than them because she didn't study history or law instead. They believed fashion and hair care maintenance to be useless information not worthy of them to know,; however, this information ends up helping Elle solve her first case, save an innocent woman from prison, and shock everyone in the process. Most girls like her are seen as shallow, vain, and stupid for knowing things like this, but Elle proves that this information is useful and not to mention, difficult to learn. She rattles off fashion information about stitches and fabrics like its everyday knowledge and stops a worker from thinking she can take advantage of her simply because she's a blonde. Elle Woods is intelligent and if she wasn't she never would've made it to Harvard.

She goes through a transformation throughout the film and her motivations change as she matures and discovers who she is. She goes from wanting to win back her boyfriend, who she later turns down at the end of the film, to wanting to work at a law firm and become a lawyer. She also helps change one of the characters (her ex boyfriends new fiance) and they both ditch the guy and become best friends. This act is rare in Hollywood is probably one of the reasons that this movie is still so popular among women.

photo credit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250494/

I know my value, anyone else's opinion doesn't really matter.

     In the show, the leader of the SSR is easily swayed and manipulated by corporate powerhouses. He's too scared to stand up and fight for what's right. He just rolls over and plays dead whenever trouble arises. Peggy is the complete opposite. She doesn't know the meaning of the word surrender. She'll walk into something knowing 100% that it's a trap without a drop of fear on her face. She has no problem with a challenge. In fact she relishes it. That's what this show is about. It's about this incredible woman who has to face all these impossible odds and gender stereotypes and overcome them to prove everyone wrong. This is a valuable lesson to learn not just for women but for everyone. Everyone is going to face impossible odds sometimes, and sometimes it's easiest to just role over and give the person what they want. The hard part is fighting. Fighting for what you believe in and never giving up even when everything is against you. Peggy doesn't give up and refuses to let her frustrations get the better of her. At the end of season 1 she says one of my all time favorite quotes (which I just so happen to have hanging on my wall next to me right now), "I know my value. Anyone else's opinion doesn't really matter."

     My ultimate favorite Marvel superhero is as underrated as they come, and also easily forgotten about. Agent Peggy Carter's first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was in Captain America: The First Avenger. She was a strong, hard working and incredible capable agent of the SSR who not only helped train Captain America, but inspired him to be more than a dancing monkey. Peggy is more than just Steve Rogers love interest. She is responsible and strong and more than capable of taking down anyone who gets in her way. Peggy is such a popular character that Marvel decided to create a spin off series all about Agent Carter and her adventures after Steve is pronounced dead. This series comes at a perfect time within the Marvel world as Peggy is one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D which was just dismantled in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It's an interesting time for these to be airing because it gives Marvel a chance to fully explain the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D and why certain scientists were brought in to work for them in the beginning.
     The show starts off explaining the situation Peggy is currently in. She's being unappreciated at her job and being treated more like a secretary rather than a qualified field agent. Then Howard Stark shows up and asks her to commit treason in order to help him recover his stolen inventions and prove his innocence. This conversation sets up the entirety of season 1 of the show. This will not be the first time Agent Carter goes off on her own and ends up cracking the case because her male counterparts refuse to listen to her unless its to ask for their lunch order. Ms.Carter is is constantly belittled in post-WWII society due to her gender and though it bothers her considerably, it never fully effects her ability to do the work she tasks for herself. Even when other people get the credit for her work simply because it's just not possible a woman just saved the entire city so there's no way she was involved, she doesn't let it phase her. Yes she gets frustrated, but she knows how to handle it and how to manipulate them in a way that gives her more freedom.
     While she does have love interests in the series, they are never the true focal point of any episode. She has two men, of whom she is very much interested in, but she never sacrifices who she and what she wants for them. Ms.Carter does not need a man in her life (except Mr.Jarvis cause they're bffs) and she never puts her relationship with either of them above the mission and above herself. She puts it off to the side and says okay we'll deal with this thing later its not important right now. She never thinks about anything other than the mission and protecting people from those who want to hurt them. Once the mission is over then she'll take some time for herself, but overall Peggy's true love is her job. What made her and Steve such a good pair was how dedicated they both were to their jobs. They loved what they did and understood that sometimes they didn't come first.
     Agent Carter is strong willed and never takes no for an answer, The show gets a chance to explain to people just how amazing this woman is and how talented she can be. And this post basically turned into a giant rant about how much I love Peggy Carter more so than an analysis but she's to underrated not to talk about. The show is all about female empowerment and how women can be just as powerful and strong as men can be no matter the job they are tasked. Agent Carter is the perfect example for people everywhere about how to act in the face of adversity and how to overcome it. I highly recommend watching this show as it shows so many parts of the Marvel Universe that we love today. For example you get to see the Howling Commandos, the place where Black Widow was trained in the Soviet Union, Jarvis in the flesh, Howard Stark, and the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus the characters in it are wonderful and incredibly three dimensional. It's a wonderful show that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys the Marvel Universe.

photo credit: http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Agent_Carter_(TV_series)

Age Of Ultron and why it's my least favorite Marvel Movie

     Im sorry this post is a couple weeks behind. I got really sick and was unable to post for awhile. Im feeling a lot better now though and will be get back to talking about my favorite (or in this case least favorite) films.

     I know a lot of people who really enjoyed Age of Ultron (AOU), and truthfully if it had come at a different point in the Marvel Universe I probably would've too. In my opinion, it's as if Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier never happened in this film. The characters almost appear to go backwards in their development. In Winter Soldier Steve is unsure whether or not he wants to continue in his military career, but in AOU he is suddenly all for it and is at home there. With Tony, he goes from having a panic attack just from the mention of New York City, and now he is suddenly talking about flying through a wormhole in space like it means nothing to him. Yes the film implies that time has passed but what happened during their adventures is not shown or talked about so it's impossible for the viewers to understand the developments, especially between Natasha and Bruce Banner. 

     My biggest issue with this film is the relationship between Bruce and Natasha. How can Natasha go from being terrified of the Hulk to suddenly being comfortable enough to touch his hand? It doesnt make sense. The only character in this film who I believe acted as they normally would was Bruce. He gets to a point where he is tired of everyone using him for the Hulk, which is exactly what Natasha does and that is why he leaves at the end of the film. A vulnerable Natasha does make sense after the events of Winter Soldier and how she began to show a more vulnerable side to Steve; but, what does not make sense is her sudden change of heart towards the Hulk. Maybe it wasnt sudden in the story line, but on screen and whats shown to the viewers (not in the implied timeline) it is random and appears out of nowhere.

     The film also has a lot of pointless action sequences. The final sequence is incredibly long and gets quite boring after the first 10 minutes. There's no purpose for the action sequences to be that long and that flashy. At least not at all of them. Yes it is an action movie and its Marvel so those two things are expected. but if you dont deviate sometimes and all of your films are set to the exact same template its going to get old real fast. I think that's why I like IM3 and WS so much. It's not just filled with action sequences for the sake of having an action sequence. There is good characterization as well as a well paced film. Ultron has no pace and is all over the place. It's boring frankly. There are some good one liners but that's about all this film has to offer. To me it just feels like a filler movie. It's just there to tie things together and set up the next one. The next one being Civil War, which the first reviews are coming in for now and frankly I cant tell if Im excited or scared, probably a little of both. 

     Though I really dont like this film, I do recommend seeing it. It has some funny moments and things that you need to see for the next films, but dont expect a lot from it. 

photo credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peONizo8PbU 

Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist

Tony Stark is all of those things listed above and so much more. In this post I want to talk about what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest superhero movies of all time: Iron Man 3. Most films of the genre end with the battle and the heroes saving the day and woohoo all is great and life is swell. What's interesting about IM3 is that the story takes place after the battle. Things happened to Tony during the battle of New York (The Avengers) that would seriously mess a person up mentally. What I love about this film is that the screenwriters didn't portray Tony as unscathed. He's scarred like anyone would be after flying through a wormhole into space thinking you were going to die and then falling back down to earth and your best friend, who happens to be a giant green rage monster, catches you and saves your life. IM3 shows the downsides of begin a superhero and also helps explain his actions in later films that led to the creation of Ultron who you know tried to kill everyone on earth. Tony Stark loses his suit and is shown for what he truly is: human.

Tony loses a bit of himself after the battle of New York. His wit and charm is still there but he has more of a darker tone when he says things or does things. He tries to hide it but slowly realizes he cant always do that. The first instance we see this in the film is when he's out to lunch and some kids ask for him to sign a drawing they did of him going through the wormhole. Upon seeing this something happens to him that makes him run out of the restaurant thinking he was poisoned; however, Jarvis informs him that he just had a panic attack. One of my favorite things about this movie is how it portrays mental disabilities, such as panic attacks, and doesn't try to sugar coat it. He has them multiple times throughout the film and they are always shown in their entirety. Here is this superhero, who millions of people look up too, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This subplot is all about Tony finding himself and reconciling with who he is as Iron Man. The entire middle part of the movie he spends out of the suit with a little kid named Harley and has to solve everything without his gadgets. Even without Jarvis. Tony goes completely on his own and has to figure out who he is and how to stop the villains with nothing but his brain.

The film doesn't have a lot of action sequences such as earlier films like The Avengers and Iron Man 2. What it lacks in action though, it makes up for with superb character development. Tony Stark is the control freak of all control freaks. He is a man of science who desperately needs to be in charge of the room and control everything that's happening in it; however, after New York that changes. He just fought off an alien invasion and flew a bomb through a wormhole into outer space. I don't think control is exactly what he's feeling right about now. So now that suddenly he can't explain what happened and the science behind it he has to go back and re-evaluate his entire life. Imagine tomorrow finding out that everything you ever though to be true was a lie. Anyone would struggle with that. That's one of my favorite things about the film is that it shows that even hero's suffer this way. And at the end of the movie, Tony isn't even the one who saves the day and beats the villain. It's his girlfriend Pepper that ends the fight against Killian (villain of the film).

One of the unsung heroes of the film is Harley, the young boy who Stark spends a lot of his time with in the film. Tony discovers that he wont be able to have the suit for his next attack and has another panic attack. Harley basically says okay you cant have what you're used to, so go make something else to help. Without Harley Tony never would've been able to help stop Killian and who knows if he would have reconciled with who is he and the problems he experiences. That moment is the last panic attack we witness Tony having, showing the importance of Harley's words.

The superhero genre is usually filled with lots of action and little character development; but, Iron Man 3 does the complete opposite, and it works. With so many films in the Marvel Universe non-stop action would get boring and repetitive and would sacrifice plot to add more action sequences so the plot makes no sense with the rest of the films *cough cough Age of Ultron cough cough*. Iron Man 3 is, in my opinion, what all superhero movies need in their sequels. Personally I'm not a fan of one or two dimensional characters. They're boring. Iron Man 3 expanded the characters and who they are and created some incredible three dimensional characters that were beautifully crafted. Only to have it all torn down and ripped to shreds up the monstrosity that was Age of Ultron... but we'll talk about that next week.


photo credit: http://www.comicsonline.com/2013/05/movie-review-iron-man-3/

No more rhyming now I mean it!

Its a movie everyone can quote, but almost no one has seen. Yes, Im talking about The Princess Bride.While it didn't do well at all at the box office, once it came out on VHS it became a hit. The entire script is both quote worthy, and cringe worthy. It's about as corny a movie as it gets. The first time you watch it you cant believe people actually like it; then, you watch it again and can quote the entire movie.

So what is it about this movie that keeps people coming back? The plot is standard: boy and girl fall in love. boy goes away and is presumed dead, girl has to marry another boy, 1st boy isn't dead and comes back to save her. Pretty straight forward. What is so significant about this movie though, is the script. While is gets awfully cringe worthy in some places ("But death cannot stop true love... All it can do is delay it for a little while") it is also insanely clever and frankly hilarious in others ("Surrender!"..."You mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept.") The script is very clever and hilariously quote worthy, which keeps people coming back for more.

Another reason the film has remained in people's minds, are the characters. While Westley is the main hero of the story, he's not the only one. Inigo and Fezzik are two incredibly caring and passionate characters who lead the subplot in all its glory. Inigo is trying desperately to avenge his father's death, and Fezzik does nothing but try and help him accomplish that. The sub plot is the one everyone whose heard of the film either knows about or can quote, and they may not even realize it. Inigo's mantra is "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Everyone knows the line but not everyone truly knows the meaning behind it and why it's important. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Towards the end of the film when he is fighting his father's murderer he says that line over and over and over and over and over again to the point where it gets annoying; however, it was explained to me why he was doing that and now it makes complete sense. Inigo is injured and has already lost to this man once in his life. He does not want to let his father's death go unavenged, otherwise he will have wasted his entire life training and preparing for nothing. That is why he keeps saying that line over and over again. Not just to say it, but to inspire himself to keep going and not give up. He says it to remind himself that his father is gone because of this man, and the more he says it out loud, the more angry he gets which only refuels his energy though he is seriously injured. The audience loves his courage to keep going, and also people love the story of an underdog not only storming the castle, but tearing it down.

Buttercup, though the only woman in the film (and frankly quite annoying at times), is quite a strong character when you think about her. She's a woman of action (except in the fire swamp but I wont go there) and isnt afraid to step in and say no. She's strong willed and if she says shes going to do something, shes going to do it and that's the end of it. The film toes the line between fantasy and reality so well that all generations can relate to its story and its humor. The interesting characters, the hilariously witty script ("You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."..."You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."), and the plots of the century there's really no question as to why The Princess Bride has become the success it is.

photo credit: https://www.guthriegreen.com/event/638

"If we numb sadness, we also numb joy"

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While some argue that the Disney Pixar's film Inside Out is to lighthearted for the subject matter it deals with, I have to respectfully disagree. While yes the film does deal with very heavy subject matter, the lighthearted nature of the characters and plot makes it easily accessible for the audience they are trying to reach: children.

I remember sitting in the theater with my mom watching this movie and talking with her about it afterwards. I brought up all of the incredible ideas and lessons that the film talks about and she asked me "do you really think a kid is gong to pick up on all of that?" Kids are a lot more perceptive than people realize. This movie is so fantastic that psychologists and therapists are using it to help with their patients. If that doesnt tell you how wonderful it is then Im not sure what will.

The story starts with an 11 year old girl named Riley who moves with her family from Minnesota to San Francisco. Her parents, particularly her mom, inadvertently tell her that it's not okay to be sad about the move and she needs to keep being happy to make things easier on her dad who is struggling with a new business. Her parents don't mean to harm their daughter and push her away, but that's exactly what they do. By telling her she has to be happy they force her to hide her real emotions and withdraw from her friends and family because she believes it's not okay to feel the way that she does.

Though Riley is the source of the plot line, she is not the main character. The main characters are her emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger. Fear, and Disgust. Joy is the undisputed leader of the group and is always doing what she can to keep Riley happy, even going to extreme lengths like trying to keep sadness away from the control board and staying in the "circle of sadness." Joy sees Sadness almost as an enemy at the beginning of the film, but throughout the movie she discovers how closely intertwined the two emotions really are. The film deals with the idea that joy can be bought on by sadness and letting oneself feel sad. If you allow yourself to feel that emotion and tell your close family or friends or someone else in your support system, then they will most likely come to help you and comfort, bringing a sense of belonging and love to the person feeling that emotion. Joy realizes this when she is looking at a memory of Riley's. Riley was upset about missing the winning goal in a hockey game, but the only part of the day Joy remembered was that the team and her parents came to cheer her up and made her happy. "They came to help, because of Sadness."

 Dr. Jania Scarlet, a licensed clinical psychologist, illustrated the idea above when she said "if we numb sadness, we also numb joy."   Emotions are very closely intertwined with each other and often coexist in specific events. For example at the end of the movie Riley finally comes clean to her parents about how she feels. She's sad of course, but once her parents begin to comfort her she also feels happy. The memory for her is two emotions at once. This shows kids that emotions are a one or done deal. You can feel multiple things at different times and that's okay. It's okay to feel sad or disgusted or confused or happy or all of those at once. Emotions are important and they are there for a reason and you should never have to hide them, especially from the people you love. You also cant force yourself to be happy if you arent. Sadness will keep creeping until eventually you've worn yourself out and dont feel anything. The movie addresses this with kids by Joy and Sadness physically not being at Headquarters and saying the its impossible for Riley to be happy without them there. People make the argument that this takes away a persons freewill in how they act and feel, but they have to remember it's a kids movie. This is the best way to address the problem they are trying to address. That if a person tries to force themselves to be happy then happy disappears.

The main takeaway from the movie is that emotions are okay and its okay to feel them. There is no villian in this film. Sadness is not evil and it's okay to give in to that emotion. It's okay to feel things and express those feelings to people. It's possible to be happy, sad, and scared at the same time. It's possible to have everything be going great in your life but still be sad. This movie shows kids these things and tries to enforce the idea of expressing yourself. It also warns parents about accidentally forcing emotions onto your children and instead accepting how they feel and not invalidating their emotions because of age or gender. Every person in the film has the exact same emotions. Their brains might be run by different characters, like sadness for the mom and anger for the dad, but they all have the same characters inside their heads. Everyone feels emotions and Disney Pixar wants everyone to know that it's okay to express them!

Holy doodle, here we go.

So the first thing I want to talk about is in my opinion one of the best shows on television. The lead actress is so incredible she causes an uproar when she doesn’t get an Emmy nomination, and then again when she doesn’t win. This show is making people realize that Science Fiction is an incredible genre that deserves recognition and shouldn’t just be thrown to the side during award season. The show I’m talking about is Orphan Black.

Orphan Black opens by introducing us to one of the main characters, Sarah Manning. She is, in the words of Paul, a “punk rock hoe”, who has come to her home in Canada to get her daughter back Kira back from her foster mother Mrs. S. Things don’t exactly go as planned though when Sarah runs into a woman on the train platform who looks exactly identical to her. Think Parent Trap but with a less happy “reunion”. Then as soon as they look at each other the woman, looking defeated, turns and walks on to the tracks getting hit by a train and killing herself. Then Sarah steals her purse, decides to have her foster brother say that Sarah is the one who killed herself, take the dead woman’s identity, con her bank and steal all of her money, and then run away with Kira with all of the money she steals. And that’s just the first 15 minutes. The rest of season one involves corporate espionage, illegal cloning experiments, a Ukrainian serial killer, murder, and a kidnapping. And again, that’s only season one. The show only escalates from there.

Now It is a clone show, so there has to be someone playing two characters right? Or twins who are both actors play the characters! That’s it! Yeah no that’s not it. This is the reason that people cause an uproar when this woman isn’t nominated for an Emmy. Tatiana Maslany plays every clone on the show. Oh and she also plays clones pretending to be other clones. She’s so good, she confuses her own mother when she’s watching the show. As of now shes played: Sarah, Cosima, Alison, Katja Beth, Helena, Rachel, Jennifer, Tony, Krystal, as well as a tiny imaginary scorpion named Pupok. The title of this post is actually one of my favorite quotes from Alison. Along with holy freaking Christmas cake and what the dickens.  

This show’s importance doesn’t just sit with the incredible acting done by the entire cast, but with its incredible plot that introduces all different kinds of people and doesn’t define them in their “typical” roles. There was a transgender character on the show in an episode along with multiple gay and lesbian characters. There may even be a bisexual character but due to the nature of the show to not focus on that aspect of people’s lives we don’t know for sure. The show focuses on people and how far they are willing to go to protect the people they care about. It also shows how families aren’t always blood. Family is what you want it to be and the people in your life who will fight for you and do whatever it takes to protect you. This isn’t always an easy task and sometimes sacrifices have to be made, and those aren’t always easy to make. Felix summed it all up when he told Krystal (an unaware clone), “The only thing you need to know is that you are one of a kind. You’re a survivor, Krystal, and you’re not alone.” People are stronger when they band together. Sarah starts off the show fighting for herself and by herself, but by season 3 she has the equivalent of a small army backing her up. They are stronger together and face the unimaginable and sometimes they lose, but they do it together.

The show deals with a lot of issues such as bodily control, forgiveness, family, protecting those you care about, sacrifice, gender roles, LGBTQIA issues, and the empowerment of women. If you are looking for mystery sci-fi adventure thriller that also tackles serious moral dilemmas then this is definitely the show for you.

What This Blog Is About

All of my life I have loved analyzing films. My friends and I always spend hours after watching a movie discussing the various plot points and camera angles and what worked and what didn't. I've decided to take that love of movies and turn it into a blog. Here I am going to discuss my personal opinions on both films and tv shows and what I think makes them great, or in some cases not so great. There will be posts comparing movies in a series or spinoff series that are more important to a universe than people realize. I'll discuss films from The Hobbit to Age of Ultron, and shows like Orphan Black and Agent Carter. These are the pieces of work that mean the most to me and ideas that I am truly passionate about. Characters that are underestimated and forgotten and movies that sacrificed their plot for an action sequence. On this blog, I'll talk about them all.