623 replies to this topic

[Mara=^.^=]

Been watching the retro cop drama Columbo on Netflix

 

 

This show is so boss

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

Ugh, why do I get into so many shows?

 

Love both Sleepy Hollow and The Mindy Project. 

[Mara=^.^=]

The other day my cousin Emily and I were screwing around on Netflix, when we stumbled upon "Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse". We decided to watch for lulz, and oh my Lord, it was SO UNBELIEVABLY BAD that we fell all over each other laughing for the duration of the episode.

 

I immediately proceeded to gif my favorite scene.

 

 

Because the evil hot guy was unquestionably the greatest character in the show

 

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Mara=^.^=]

OMFG. This show is so endlessly giffable I can't even

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK I'm done now. For real. Probably

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[SweeneyxxTodd]

OMFG. This show is so endlessly giffable I can't even

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK I'm done now. For real. Probably

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

 

LOL these are brilliant.

 

I kinda wanna watch it.

[Mara=^.^=]

Just saw Thor: The Dark World. It was everything tumblr told me it would be, and more

I was NOT pleased about the use of a certain trope cough women stuffed into the fridge cough, but I did NOT see the ending coming, and it thrilled me greatly.

 

But mostly the whole time I was just like Ehmergerhd! LERKE

 

Also laughing at this

 

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Mara=^.^=]

Now that I've had a conversation with my friend Shaun about this movie, I have to post some more. Mostly about Loki.

 

OK, entirely about Loki.

 

So I'm feeling like a bit of a dumbass now, because when the first Thor movie (and Avengers, for that matter) came out, I could not FATHOM why so many chicks seemed to be swooning over Thor's dickweed adopted brother. I mean, the guy DID try to take over the world, amirite? Naturally, I scoffed and sneered and mocked the fangirls with wild abandon.

 

But after seeing this movie, I suddenly get it. I understand the character's appeal. I still don't think Loki is attractive per se, but Tom Hiddleston is just having SO MUCH DAMN FUN with the role that you cannot help but like him.

 

I mean, he REALLY goes for it. I'm watching these videos of Tom doing what basically amounts to Loki-comedy, and I'm laughing my friggin ass off.

 

 

 

Yeah, that's right, Loki mah boi. Work it.

 

what has tumblr done to me

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs this past Saturday! First time ever!! So CUTE!!

[TheKingInTheNorth]

Just saw Thor: The Dark World. It was everything tumblr told me it would be, and more

I was NOT pleased about the use of a certain trope cough women stuffed into the fridge cough, but I did NOT see the ending coming, and it thrilled me greatly.

 

But mostly the whole time I was just like Ehmergerhd! LERKE

I just got back from it. I thought it was pretty fun, though liked the first one more. I'm a huge fan of Loki, so I was disappointed he wasn't in it more, but he was still one of the best parts of the movie!

Spoiler

As for the ending, I guessed that Loki wasn't really dead as soon as I saw the guard report to Odin - I knew that was him. I DIDN'T expect him to actually BE Odin in that last scene though!

It also does raise some interesting questions for me. Was this his plan all along? Or did he just seize the opportunity to escape when Thor thought he was dead? Was he genuinely upset by his mothers death? Was he genuinely touched by what Thor said about him at the end? And most importantly - What did he do to Odin??

Loki's small traces of humanity I think are what make him such a great villain.
As such, I believe he was genuinely upset by his mother's death and did truly want to avenge her, and I think he did have some lingering affection for his brother as well - he COULD have just let the big bull dude kill him after all.

 

I'm VERY curious to see what they do with him after this.

[Mara=^.^=]

Spoiler

As for the ending, I guessed that Loki wasn't really dead as soon as I saw the guard report to Odin - I knew that was him. I DIDN'T expect him to actually BE Odin in that last scene though!

It also does raise some interesting questions for me. Was this his plan all along? Or did he just seize the opportunity to escape when Thor thought he was dead? Was he genuinely upset by his mothers death? Was he genuinely touched by what Thor said about him at the end? And most importantly - What did he do to Odin??

Loki's small traces of humanity I think are what make him such a great villain.
As such, I believe he was genuinely upset by his mother's death and did truly want to avenge her, and I think he did have some lingering affection for his brother as well - he COULD have just let the big bull dude kill him after all.

 

I'm VERY curious to see what they do with him after this.

 

Spoiler

Oh, I agree! I figured he wasn't dead, but I was NOT expecting him to be Odin lol. I don't think it was his plan all along...Loki's a cunning manipulator and a trickster, and those types of characters tend to be opportunists. I think he saw his chance for freedom and took it, using what he knew about his brother's personality to aid in his machinations. I think he WAS genuinely saddened by his mother's death, if only because he conjured up an illusion to cover up how upset and broken he was. I'm less sure how he feels about Thor deep down; I think his emotions are probably mostly negative, but also confused. I want to see how they handle his character after this as well - I actually really hope he makes a good king, despite his lies and nasty personality. Thor seems to hint at this toward the end of the movie.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Men In Black, the first one. Ch-YAH!!

[Katia11]

"Victory should be naked!" -one of the Slaveen, Doctor Who. 

 

What even is this show. 

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Just saw Thursday's episode of Dragons: Defenders of Berk. Love love love this show, though this episode wasn't as good as some others have been this season. Like episode 7 from last week--that was the most hilarious episode probably of the entire show. I just about died every two and a half minutes. Very obvious use of getting crap past the radar. You literally cannot miss it if you're over the age of 10.

[TheKingInTheNorth]

Just saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

 

All in all, I thought it was great! Admittedly, it didn't need to be as long as it was - some of the action scenes could have been shorter, but it didn't bother me too much.

 

(I'm not gonna give any big spoilers, but I'll put a "Spoiler" tag anyway)

Spoiler

I thought Smaug looked awesome, and Benedict Cumberbatch did a great job voicing him.
It was great seeing Legolas (and I loved the little exchange between him and Gloin), and I thought the new Elf character, Tauriel, was pretty badass... though I didn't care much for the rather pointless semi-romance they inserted between her and Kili.

I liked Bard as well - Luke Evans did a good job, and they seem to be giving him more development, which I like, seeing as he's a fairly important character in the book.
Stephen Fry as the Master of Lake Town was fun - he plays the slimy politician so well. I also enjoyed his wormy little sidekick.

The parts with Gandalf were cool, and I loved how they pulled off that whole... reveal... with the Necromancer (though it might have been better without that line Gandalf said to Radagast earlier...)

I was surprised by where the movie ended, but after seeing it, I can now more easily see how they are going to do a third film.

 

[Mara=^.^=]

I saw the Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug yesterday as well. My Mom, who is a MEGA fan of the book and has watched the first movie like 35 times, hated the second film. Like, she complained about it all night, and the first thing she did when I woke up this morning was come in my room and bitch about it some more. I'm not a fan of the book (It lacks proper character development, in my opinion, and the last 1/3 pisses me off every time I read it because it's such a disappointment), so I had more mixed feelings about the movie. At points it felt almost...fanfiction-y

Spoiler

I liked many of the changes they made. I had no objection whatsoever to Legolas' involvement, despite his absence in the book - I enjoyed seeing him as a colder character, since that means he warmed up significantly once he became friends with Gimli and the other members of the fellowship As far as Tauriel is concerned, I understand the need for a female character, since the book has ZERO WOMEN (Tolkien isn't exactly renowned for gender-balanced casts), but was the cheesy romantic subplot with Kili really necessary? It was SO AWKWARD, and it turned her role in the movie from "elf chick who kinda doesn't agree with her people's isolationism" to "love interest", which is significantly less interesting. It would have been better to leave out ALL romance and just have Tauriel and Legolas be buddies who decide that this whole 'proliferation of evil critters' issue DOES concern them. As for Kili, they should've been using his time in the spotlight to develop his relationship with his brother and his uncle, since they're all gonna kick the bucket together in the third act. Kind of important.

I'm glad that they decided to give Bard a personality and a family. His character development in the book was so minimal that I really didn't give two shits whether Smaug destroyed Laketown or not, so it was nice to actually care about him in this version. I think they could've done even more with his second-hand shame concerning his ancestor's "failure" to kill the dragon, though, so that when he eventually shoots Smaug in the third movie, it would seem more triumphant. As for Laketown itself...the atmosphere was fantastic. They really brought the setting to life, in all its watery, Medieval disgustingness. I just wish they would've made the Master and his crony less comical. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Stephen Fry and wish he would appear in every movie ever made - but their dialogue sounded like something you'd hear in a British comedy skit about snobby royalty. I know they wanted to show unrest in Laketown, but condescending remarks about elections and unions? Really? Where would those ideas even come from in Middle Earth, where top-down rule is the norm? Those political ideals come from our world, and they seemed really out of place in The Hobbit.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug was, of course, perfect. With a voice like that, how could you NOT play a dragon at least once in your career? The CG for Smaug was pretty impressive; he looked much better than the orcs chasing after the dwarves. I think one of the biggest production mistakes in The Hobbit was the decision to use CG orcs instead of humans in costumes. The Uruk-Hai and orcs in LOTR were f*cking GROTESQUE and TERRIFYING because they were right there, solid, next to the characters. Azog the Defiler doesn't seem as real or as threatening as any random given orc from LOTR for the simple reason that he's not actually there. For a character like Gollum, CG worked fine, because the voice-actor brought SUCH personality to the role that you actually forgot he was animated while you were watching. With Azog, not so much. He's neither complex nor particularly scary, so he just kind of falls flat

As far as action scenes go, I liked the down-the-river barrel fighting. It seemed to operate under the "rule of cool" at times, but hey, it was cool, so who gives a crap? I wasn't a fan of the last 10 minute action scene, though; it was too drawn out, and what the heck was up with the melting statue? Semi-solidified gold does not look or behave like that. The way they animated it, it looked more like liquid mercury. It seemed far-fetched and unnecessary, because Smaug had already decided to go attack Laketown after talking to Bilbo (who should've had more screentime anyway...in the book, that whole section was waaaay more about him, and waaay less about the dwarves). It seemed odd that Smaug would get splashed with molten metal and then go after Laketown, rather than stick around and try to barbeque the people who'd just given him a gold bath. But whatever. At least I got to hear more of Benedict Cumberbatch's perfect, perfect voice.

Not a fan of the way they handled gandalf's subplot though. Way too heavy handed, and continuity errors abounded.

Anyway, that's my two cents or six paragraphs. Whichever.

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[TheKingInTheNorth]

Spoiler

I haven't read the Lord of the Rings books, so I can't speak to that. But I never got the feeling in the movies that NO ONE knew Sauron was back - It seemed to me that the wizards at least knew, given the conversation between Gandalf and Saruman in "Fellowship". I had the impression that they had been searching for the Ring for years, as they knew it was the key to Sauron's strength, and just never suspected that it was right in the Shire the whole time.

So, I had no problem with that part of this movie.

 

As for the CGI Orcs... honestly, I'm just one of those people who doesn't really care about CGI. Yeah, they're not really there, but they still looked fine to me...

I think Azog looks pretty badass, personally.

 

About Tauriel - I agree. She and Legolas should have just been friends, and she should have just been the Elf who went against her people's ways, and wanted to help others, stand against evil, etc. I actually liked that part of her character a lot, and I thought she was pretty badass. Sadly, the whole romance subplot kind of lessened it...

 

I agree on the "drowning Smaug in gold scene" too. What was the point of that? It seemed more like something that would be in the Extended Edition. Should have been cut.

That whole action scene could have been shorter too. I wouldn't have cut it altogether, but maybe trimmed it a little.

 

I see where you're coming from with the more sort of "modern day" talk with Stephen Fry and his sidekick. I guess it just didn't bother me as much...

 

I think one other thing I will add about the movie is the soundtrack - It was by NO means bad, and I liked it while I was watching it... but unlike with the other 4 films, I didn't walk out thinking "Oh my god, i have to buy that and listen to it NOW!"

[Mara=^.^=]

I haven't read the Lord of the Rings books, so I can't speak to that. But I never got the feeling in the movies that NO ONE knew Sauron was back - It seemed to me that the wizards at least knew, given the conversation between Gandalf and Saruman in "Fellowship". I had the impression that they had been searching for the Ring for years, as they knew it was the key to Sauron's strength, and just never suspected that it was right in the Shire the whole time.

 

Well yeah, Saruman had been using the palantír to watch Sauron regain strength for several years. He tells Gandalf this during their visit; Gandalf counters that there is still time to stop him if they move quickly. Saruman, who had of course been spying directly on The Enemy's army, was like "lol no, you have no idea, there's no hope, we should just join him". Gandalf is shocked, both my Saruman's assessment of Sauron's capabilities and by Saruman's betrayal of their wizardly Order. It seems weird that he'd know with 100% certainty that Sauron was back 60 years prior to that convo - because dude, the thing you have to remember is that 60 years goes by between the end of the Hobbit and the beginning of The Fellowship. That's an awful long time for the world's leaders to be sitting around if they know Sauron has returned. If it had been 5, or even 10 years, then OK. But 60 years of everyone except Saruman being like "eh, he's not that much of a threat"? Does not compute. Unless the timeline for the movies and the books is different, or they neglected to show the steps that had been taken to counter Sauron in between the two stories. Who knows. 

 

And Gandalf actually knew about Bilbo's ring during the Hobbit, though he did not know it was a ring of power and never connected it to Sauron (Gandalf's knowledge about the One Ring is a point of contention though...there are actually a number of contradictions between The Hobbit and LOTR, because Tolkien wrote the former as a fun tale for kids and the latter as a serious epic years later). Actually, I think a lot of the problems regarding sequences of events in the movies stem from the fact that Tolkien himself was prone to discontinuity and retconning

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[TheKingInTheNorth]

Well, I don't exactly think they had been sitting around - I think Gandalf had been actively searching for the Ring during that time (taking occasional breaks for Bilbo's birthday and stuff). He just didn't suspect that Bilbo's was The One, because it seemed to be having so little effect on him... Then when he called it "My Precious" in "Fellowship", that was what tipped Gandalf off.

 

Though I will give you that 60 years is a long time for the thought not to at least cross his mind that, maybe he should check out Bilbo's Ring just to be safe.

 

Of course, this is all just my interpretation.

[Mara=^.^=]

Well, I don't exactly think they had been sitting around - I think Gandalf had been actively searching for the Ring during that time (taking occasional breaks for Bilbo's birthday and stuff). He just didn't suspect that Bilbo's was The One, because it seemed to be having so little effect on him... Then when he called it "My Precious" in "Fellowship", that was what tipped Gandalf off.

 

Though I will give you that 60 years is a long time for the thought not to at least cross his mind that, maybe he should check out Bilbo's Ring just to be safe.

 

Of course, this is all just my interpretation.

 

LOL, like I said, the ring issue is just a mess, because when Tolkien was writing the Hobbit, he himself didn't know it was a ring of power, because he hadn't come up with the LOTR story yet. So the continuity and characterization problems stem from the source material, but are just thrown into sharper relief in the movie because of the way they portray the rise of Sauron and the ring's discovery. Maybe the real issue is how The Desolation of Smaug really hammers home the whole "this is the evil One Ring!!" thing. In The Hobbit book there weren't really any clues about the Ring...it was inactive. It didn't have the presence and sense of "sentience" it has in LOTR, and didn't really tempt Bilbo the same way it would later tempt other bearers. Nobody made any references to it being "precious" or "mine" etc. I think it's just too obvious in the movies about both Sauron and the ring. I'm sure the audience would have been able to handle more subtlety, since hey, we KNOW what's gonna happen in the LOTR trilogy.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[TheKingInTheNorth]

Agreed - It would have been better if they had been more subtle about the Ring's power.

 

Still doesn't ruin it for me though. It's just not as strong as it could have been.

 

I guess I just see it more as Bilbo only really being affected by the Ring when there's a threat to his ownership of it. Otherwise, it doesn't affect him like it does others (like Smeagol).

Maybe I'm just making excuses now though...