Thor: The Dark World Review

*SPOILERS*

Yes, another superhero movie. No, I still haven't watched Sunshine.
So, Thor was pretty good. I mean, after watching Captain America, everything is going to look weak, but Thor: The Dark World had some shining moments.

1) Visuals
 This movie was a visual feast. The colors were astounding and the shots of space were breathtaking. Heimdall (Asgard's gate keeper) and his golden eyes were my favorite. The whole Bifrost bridge was gorgeous too. Although less noticeable, there were slightly moving pictures in the book Odin opened in one of the beginning scenes. The symbols seemed to be almost holographic, which was a very subtle, but nice effect. The costumes, the spaceships, Odin's temple, Asgard's scenery, everything was very on point and mesmerizing. In my opinion, the graphics and quality of CGI were the strongest elements of this movie.

2) Characters
One of the reasons I was so interested in seeing this movie was because of one of the new characters in it. Malekith, the Dark Elf, played by Christopher Eccleston. It wasn't so much the character as it was the actor that I wanted to see. I love Eccleston as the 9th Doctor, but as Malekith, I was a little unimpressed. Not that it was Eccleston's fault, I just think Malekith wasn't written scary enough. The stakes weren't high enough for me. By the end of the movie, when all 9 realms were about to be taken over by darkness, I wasn't worried at all.
Of course all the old familiar faces we know and love are back as well; Thor, Jane, Loki, etc. But one thing that made itself apparent in this movie that hadn't in the past, was the complete lack of chemistry. Jane and Thor weren't together too much in the first movie, but in the second, the awkwardness came out. They were not compatible in my opinion. It wasn't necessarily the characters themselves, but Chris Helmsworth and Natalie Portman. They have no chemistry. I don't think Portman is the best actress to play that role either. She seemed out of place in that role.
The introduction of the new intern was a great comic relief though. The chemistry between Darcy (Kat Dennings) and Ian (Johnathan Howard) is so light-hearted and fun.
And of course, the crowd favorite, misunderstood, trickster Loki lived up to his name as always. 

3) Story
Overall, the story was a bit confusing to me. But that may be just because all of Norse mythology is confusing to me. The introduction of the Dark Elves in the beginning and the random war on one of the realms that Thor fought in were all confusing. Not to mention the multiple plot holes. How did the Bifrost get fixed? In the first movie, it was destroyed, preventing Thor from ever seeing Jane again. Yet, he still gets to her, and the Bifrost is fixed without explanation. Getting past the fact he was able to return to earth, could he at least do it in style?! I mean, c'mon, she turns around and he's just standing there! Where's the lighting? The fireworks? And when Jane asked why Thor didn't come back, he said it was because he was busy defending the 9 realms, not because the Bifrost was broken. It's like they decided that the end of that movie never happened. And what about when Jane happens to find the Ether? Locked in the deepest part of the 9 realms, intended for no one to fine and she just walks into it? Too convenient.
When the Dark Elves invaded Asgard, it seemed they got in way too easily. At first I wondered why they got past Heimdall, but later I think they mentioned something about how he was blind to their attacks... If that was the case, they should have made it a little more evident.
And what's with the Asgardians sucking at fighting? Are their only good warriors Thor and his gang? Because the Dark Elves kicked there butts way too fast.
I'm ragging on this movie a lot, but there were some really good part to it too.
The not one, but two twists with Loki were very well done. Both of them I didn't see coming, which is rare because I'm normally good at calling all the twists.
The weapons in this movie were sick too. Black hole bombs? I was freaking out when I saw the first one go off and suck three Asgardians away.
The greatest plot device they had, however, was definitely the portals at the end. The way the were able to fight through multiple dimensions and seeing objects from different realms pop into other realms was very entertaining.
Also, the juxtaposition of the fantastic versus the mundane was a big aspect of this movie that really improved it. The audience was constantly flash back and froth from earth to Asgard and back again. Every visit to earth seemed to get more and more banal as the movie went on, where as the opposite happened whist in Asgard. The final scene of Jane and her team on earth was of them sitting and eating breakfast, like life was back to normal.

If you didn't stay past the end credits, you may have missed out on a major event to the movie; one that I thought deserved to have screen time. Jane and the team are finished eating their cereal when Jane hears thunder. She runs out to the roof to see Thor has returned to her once again, and they are reunited. I don't know about you, but I think the audience would've liked to know that they got their happily ever after and Thor didn't leave Jane waiting again for 2 years. It was a tricky scene that even I didn't expect because it was the second scene to come after the credits. Very tricky, Taylor, very tricky.

Overall rating: 6.8/10

T3i Canon Rebel

I haven't posted on here in a while, probably because i haven't seen a new movie in a while. Sorry about that. But I'll give a little update about what's going on in my movie making, screen-writing, extravagant life. Okay, maybe it's not that extravagant, but I have started to write more of my screenplay in my spare time. It's quite exciting seeing everything get pieced together in my head. It's like the movie is playing itself out in my mind, so that's pretty awesome.
I'm also saving up to get a camera. The one I want is a T3i Canon Rebel. Not the best camera out there but it's a great camera to start on, and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to do rookie photography or filming. It's $630, but it comes with a whole bunch of stuff including 3 lenses, and SD Card, a case, a stand, and more!

Get it here!









So I'm really excited for that. Hopefully I can get a good editing software for pictures and videos. I have a friend who is already pretty good at editing videos, so he'll probably teach me.
Other than that, I'm chillin' and enjoying the summer! Hopefully I'll watch a new movie by either tonight or tomorrow, so expect a new review soon! Jimmy and I want to watch the Sci-Fi thriller Sunshine, but with us things never really go as planned.
Until then, go watch some good movies! 

Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier Review

*SPOILERS*

Last night Jimmy and I decided to go out and see a movie in theaters (something we hadn't done the whole 4 months we've been dating). Overall, we were very impressed and inspired by the movie. When I say inspired, I mean inspired to work out because, let me tell you, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans looked GOOD. And they kicked major butt. Which brings me to the first point I want to talk about.

1) Action!
This was the most action-packed Marvel movie I have seen, by far. Jimmy and I were constantly cringing throughout the movie as one bad guy after the next was pummeled to a pulp by our heroes. There was one scene in particular in which Captain America gets into one of SHIELD's elevators, which mysteriously fills with people at each floor it stops on. Of course, it is revealed later on that they are double agents for Hydra (as seen in the first Captain America) who have been secretly growing within SHEILD ever since World War II. The men in the elevator all attack Steve Rogers and somehow he makes it out alive. It was one of the most intense fighting scenes Marvel has ever done. Or so I thought. Until I saw Captain America Fight the Winter Soldier (aka Bucky). Bucky is probably the most badass character you will ever see. Not only does the all black uniform and flowing dark hair reflect it, but his moves take it over the edge. He gives Cap. a run for his money, even without an indestructible shield. Over all, I was very impressed with the fighting sequences in this movie. In fact, I would say the fighting alone in this movie made it as big as The Avengers.

2) Characters
Another reason I think this movie was such a success, was because of all the characters in it; old and new. Of course we have our wonderful, handsome Captain America in it, as well as some expected others- Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Agent Maria Hill. But, there were some old characters reintroduced as well, some that we weren't expecting. Of course, if you've read the comic, you know everything, but we'll just say it was a big surprise, at least for Captain America. He discovered that his best friend, Bucky Barnes, was still alive, and just as super of a soldier as he was. When rescued from the HYDRA's headquarters in the first movie, Bucky had been experimented on. As it turns out HYDRA was experimenting with their own Super Soldiers as well, and that is how he was able to live for so long. Another character who was back, who I wasn't expecting was the Red Skull's side kick from the first movie, Dr. Arnim Zola. Well, technically he wasn't really alive, but his brain was. His being alive and what that meant for Captain America and the rest of the world was a crucial part of the story that I will get to later. One character I almost expected (at least hoped) to make an appearance was Iron Man, but we all know how much Robert Downy Jr. costs and it seems they spent most of their budget on fight scenes and special affects.
A couple of new characters in the movie that I think really added to the overall affect were the new villain and a new hero. The hero, although pretty minor, was so awesome to me. He was, wait for it...... Captain Falcon. He had these metal bird wings that he used to fly and he was pretty good with his fists. When it came down to it, he saved Black Widow and Captain America, and they saved everyone so without him, tons of people would have died. That's a pretty rad hero in my book. The villain, although most people would think it was Bucky, was actually Alexander Pierce. A member of the World Council and mentor to Nick Fury, Pierce was a secret member of HYDRA who controlled SHIELD from the inside, secretly causing chaos throughout the world. Although it was completely obvious he was the villain from the beginning, it was still a good effort and a nice attempted twist.

3) Technology
With every new movie Marvel comes out with, it seems their technology gets more and more advanced. To me, it started with Iron Man 2 and from there, technology took off. I think it's important for these movies to be ahead of their time technology wise because in a world of superheroes (especially Tony Stark), that's what is expected. The plots of all these new superhero movies are based upon this type of advanced technology. Not only is it important for the story, but it's also visually pleasing. I personally was drooling over Nick Fury's crazy car that somehow kept him alive as 20+ cops not only shot at the SUV, but bazooka-ed it. Jimmy wouldn't stop talking about how he needed that car.



4) Story
Now, for the most important aspect of a movie, in my opinion. You can have all these visual goodies that get people into the theater, but it's the story that keeps them watching. The story, overall was good. Like I mentioned before, parts of it were predictable, but there were some twists that I really appreciated. The fact that HYDRA had been sustaining themselves all along within the protection of SHIELD was one thing I didn't see coming. Although foreshadowed from the beginning of the movie that Nick Fury was hiding something, I never thought it would be this. I also enjoyed the mind games they played with the audience. Until Pierce is relieved to be the villain, they leave you wondering whether Nick Fury was a traitor or not. Of course, in superhero movies character development is almost non existent, unless to reveal someone as a villain. However in this movie, I could see an attempt.  Natasha Romanoff ends up opening up to Steve as they're hiding out from HYDRA. They almost seem to have a romantic relationship going on, if it weren't for Natasha always suggesting dates for Steve.
The main plot of the movie was very relate able in this age of technology as well. It was based upon an algorithm Dr. Zola wrote that predicted every human beings future and weather they would be a threat to HYDRA based on their internet history, phone trends, etc. It's a parallel of a big fear of people have now a days too. How much can people access about you online and what can they do with that information? Personally, I thought that the idea of that was a brilliant one to put in a movie coming out in such a technology based time in our history.

5) Easter Eggs
There were two specific things I noticed in this movie that I thought were cool.

1. When the air ships are locking their thousands of targets above the city, they list the names of the people as they lock each one down. If you look closely, one of the name's you will see is Tony Stark (I guess he was in the movie after all).
2. Natasha Romanoff's necklace. If you look closely, its a small golden arrow. You know who else likes arrows? That's right. Hawkeye. Coincidence? Maybe. But probably not.

Overall Rating: 8.3/10

Objectives, Obstacles, Premises, and Descriptions.

Today, thousands of students rejoiced as they stepped out of their final exam. That's right, friends, it's summer. And with summer comes beach trips, movie days, and relaxation. Expect a lot of updates coming from me over the next few months, as I will be writing a screenplay, acting in a friends movie, and hopefully diving into multiple movie projects over the summer. I plan to watch a ton of movies as well with my boyfriend, Jimmy (who I'm sure you'll hear a lot about in this blog). He's a math major and a nerd, but also a huge movie buff. He used to work for Tivo in Cali and his uncle is in The Business as well! He's work on major productions like the TV show Psych. I'm not saying I have an in, but I have an in.

My last final today was Writing for TV and Film, which happened to be my favorite class this semester. The final was extremely easy, see as we only had to do 6 things.

1) What is your life objective?

This question was particularly easy, the only tricky thing was how we had to word it. I simply stated: To create.

2) What are your obstacles?

For this question, I had to look deeper into myself to find what could hold me back from being able to accomplish my goal. I answered: Fear and Doubt.

3) How do obstacles help a character?

An odd question, but really quite simple when you think about it. If a character, being yourself, can overcome their obstacles (in my case fear and doubt), then they do in fact come out stronger and they are ready and able to fulfill their objectives.

4) In Egrian terms, write your moral premise.

Egri was the master of The Hero's Journey- the basic plot to every epic story ever told. Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, you name it, all movies follow this journey (which I'll talk about in another post). Along with the hero's journey, he explained how to write a moral premise. Basically, it's just cause and effect. To do this means this will be your outcome. My professor designed these questions so that 1, 2, and 4 would all flow together. For example, my answer was: To overcome fear and doubt is to achieve expressive freedom and limitless creations.

5) and 6) 

Basically asked us to describe our rooms in static description and then describes ourselves as the character of the piece, with clear objectives, in active description. What is static description verses active, you ask? It's quite simple. You would use static description to describe something static, or unmoving. 

The in the dark and dank, scents of mold and must linger deep within the walls. As seconds tick by, the room seems to close in on itself. 

This is an example of static description, in the format of how you would write in in a screenplay. This just means you would use active verbs instead of passive (linger instead of are lingering), and in present tense in stead of past or future. 

Active description is what you would use to describe something moving.

A girl darts through the room, her eyes swimming back and forth. Finally, they rest on a dust coated object. She smiles.

This is an example of active description. Full of verbs and direction. You can think of it kind of like stage direction in a stage play or musical. 

So that was my final. Easy peasy if you ask me. I'm so excited for summer to start and for all the new experiences I'll have. Keep an eye out for more film facts and movie reviews! 

Newest Project

Yes, I know I've already posted today. Sorry. But I wanted to talk about one of my latest projects. It's for one of my film classes this semester. The assignment was to create an original story idea and turn it into a screenplay. It's supposed to be a full-length movie, but we only had to turn in 22 pages for the assignment. We got to choose whichever 22 pages we wanted to write and fill in the rest of the story with a story outline. However, being the ambitious  screenwriter I am, I plan on finishing this screenplay over the summer. I think it's got a lot of potential and has a really fun premise. It's about this man, Silas, who's parents are the most evil super villains in existence. When Silas's parents are tragically killed by the city's hero, Mr. Man, Silas is given the responsibility to take over the world in their place. The only problem is that Silas is OCD and is the nicest person you'd ever meet.

So, I'm really excited to finish the whole thing. I've got the first five pages, 7 middle pages, and the last 10 pages of the screenplay already written and ready to turn in. And best of all, my professor seems to love it! She really want me to turn it into a movie, so that's really awesome.

Who knows, maybe I'll be posting a casting call on here in a couple months...

Hello blogging world!

This is my very first blog! Woohoo! I don't really know what to expect, but I thought I'd give it a try since I'm about to be off for the summer, and I wanted to try something new. But, knowing me, I don't really keep up with these things well.I guess this will be a diary of sorts; something I can use to record my thoughts, my latest projects, and what I learn. As a film major, I know I'll be learning a lot of new and helpful things for the business, and I thought it'd be cool to share some of my knowledge with fellow bloggers!

So, feel free to explore!