Monday, March 30, 2015

Mind Sieve 3/30/15

Morning!




Fan Fun


SPECTRE Trailer - White fluffy cat and all! Sweet! 



SPECTRE Teaser - totally different info. Things are about to get tense! 



Disney's BAMBI - SNL Skit - It's a Darker Bambi all right! lol. Ran across this and had to share. :P



Slow West Trailer - looks like weird, but fun one!







Social Media/Author Platform

Marketing 101: Creating a Strategy — Guest: Jennifer Fusco at Jami Gold's Blog.





Writing Advice

Should You Quit Writing by Chuck (NSFW) Wendig at terribleminds.com - tell it Brother Beard!



Have a great week!

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Virtual Tourist - TERA 3/29/15

Morning!

TERA
Westonia
Citadel of Torment


This is the Torment part of the Citadel. Eek!


The Goddess


The floor was more intricate than I thought at first site.


Bizarre baddies amidst the torture machines. Eek!


But they do look cool! And intricate!


See?


Battle Time!


That is one impressive doorway!


Weirdest pet ever!


Good bye Intimidating Building!


Good bye frozen wastes!


Hello hot house? DOH!

Have an awesome Sunday!

Friday, March 27, 2015

Movie Review - HOME

HOME


Starring: Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Jones, Brian Stepanek, April Lawrence, Stephen Kearin, Lisa Stewart, April Winchell, Derek Blankenship, and Nigel W Tierney

Directed by: Tim Johnson Screenplay by: Tom J Astle and Matt Ember Based on the Book by: Adam Rex Music by: Lorne Balfe

Premise: After the Boov take over Earth, Oh finds his new life there unexpectedly much like his old one. But when he makes the mistake of sending off a party invitation to ALL, which includes the dreaded Gorg his people had run to Earth to escape, Captain Smek and all the Boov want to arrest him. Realizing he made a mistake and trying to hide, Oh inadvertently runs into a human girl. One who accidentally didn't get carted off to Humanity Land like the rest of the Earth's population two weeks before. Now they need to make the effort to understand each other before things get any worse. (Rated  PG)

Review:

1) Voice Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Jim Parsons is fun as the clueless, well meaning Oh. Rihanna is totally adorable as Tip. Steve Martin as Captain Smek was a perfect choice. Matt Jones also added some great levity as Kyle.

2) Artwork/Animation - Total Thumbs Up: Dreamworks Animation did an awesome job on the film. The Boov's cool color changes and gradations were neat to watch and gave a different dimension to the alien characters. The circular thematic theme for all things Boov was also very well done. Watching iconic Earth structures floating in bubbles left no doubt things on Earth had changed.

I loved the bizarre clumps of floating things considered useless Earth items by the Boov. The weirdness of the Captain as he found other items to adore and use in non-human ways was highly amusing. There are four quick shorts at the film's site that are basically taped experiments of human devices - definitely amusing.

Pig, Tip's corkscrew tailed cat, was a hoot. His fur swayed and moved even as he purred. The silent but no less entertaining character added a lot of lovely flavor.

The Slush Car, a weird amalgamation of 7-11, Back to the Future, and Herbie the Love Bug, was totally awesome. Talk about using the resources available to the most advantage! The car rocked!

The Gorg ships and their planet destroying Mother Ship were quite impressive.  The Gorg in all their forms were fascinating as well.

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: The commercials and the original "Almost Home" short shown as part of Mr. Peabody & Sherman conveyed a somewhat wrong impression of what the movie would be about, so it takes a little adjustment. The film though does pick up exactly where the short left off.

As the title implies, the main theme of the film is an exploration of what we emotionally call/feel is home and our struggles to fit in in society. Family is also a large theme in the film, as well as friendship and reaching mutual understanding between species.

The plot is pretty straightforward, containing few surprises, but it will definitely stir your emotions at a couple of spots. The reunion scene was quite moving. Some of Boov's reactions were most amusing. Though I have to say that with the things they eat for sustenance, some of the jokes with regards to things best not eaten, fall slightly flat.

Conclusion: HOME is entertaining and cute and will move you, but it won't excite or surprise you. Plenty of fun and action for the kids. The animation is great and has lots of nice inventive touches.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Better for Matinee)


In case you missed it - this played before Mr. Peabody & Sherman - ALMOST HOME


Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Picture Kaleidoscope - AllCon 2015

Two weekends ago was ALLCON!

And the costumes were everywhere and fantastic ones at that! Here are the ones I got to take snap shots of.


Big Hero 6!



From Gravity Falls - Wendy and Dipper!


Tried to catch him like 3 times. He had a mouth beneath the mask part - he looked great! 


He looked very dapper!


Loved this umbrella! Looked like fluffy clouds. 


Nice detail.


This hat was FABULOUS!


Look at all that awesome detail!!!!!


He Who Shall Not Be Named after seeing the Face Off guest for a little touch up. :)


She looked great. Didn't get her cool back hair in the pic though. 


Zoom in on this dress. Let them eat cup cakes!


Chuck! (Aka Prophet, aka God?) 


He came out very well! X-Men, better get ready!


Tim Burton would be proud. :)


A gun totting, western Medusa! Check out her arms! Awesome detail!



Chappie!


What I totally loved was the ship in the wig being attacked by Kraken Tentacles. Sweet!


Isn't she adorable?


Gruncle Stan and WADDLES!!!!  OMG he's so cute!!!!!


Beeker and the Chef - flashback time! 



Our bud across the aisle, after getting worked on by the guest special effects lady. Nice Beast!

Sweet!

Monday, March 23, 2015

Mind Sieve 3/23/15

Morning all!




Fan Fun



Con-Man Teaser - Campaign by Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion - this looks like so much fun!




Pixels Official Trailer - this will either be a lot of fun or a big bomb. lol.


Inside Out Official Trailer #2 - this is going to be a wild ride. Heh heh


Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - would not let me share the video. Waaaahhh! Look great!




Social Media/Author Platform

Make Your Videos Even More Interactive With Cards by YT Creators.


Should We Change Our Blogging Style by Jami Gold. Food for thought!




Writing Advice

Want to Start a Writing Related Company? guest post by Kathryn Golman at Jami Gold's blog.


The Flip Side to my Writing Tirade by Chuck (NSFW) Wendig.



Heck must be about to freeze over. I did a full post! *pumpsfists*
If you guys only knew all the stuff that has NOT been working out. Bwahahahaha

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Virtual Tourist - Sherlock Holmes Crime & Punishment 3/22/15

Morning!
Let's get touring!

Sherlock Holmes Crime & Punishment
Half Moon Street Case



Sherlock in disguise!


The circus's main building. I thought we were going to do a lot in this area, but...


What some would call an opportunist. Heh heh


House where Sherlock's new chums plan to rob the last of the three pieces of jewelry. Sherlock has his own plans for the place.


The place is in pretty good shape despite being boarded up.


Using what presents itself to make some traps. Heh heh


Mycroft and his views on the current matter.


The game is done... Some cool visuals in the credits


Showing crime scenes with see through perpetrators


Rather neat!



Ah! Look at the light rainbow! Nice touch guys!


Sherlock pondering how he will entertain himself next! :P

I want to go back and get take the Roman pics! Now just need to find time to go do it! Wheee!

Friday, March 20, 2015

Movie Review - Insurgent

Insurgent



Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, Jai Courtney, Mekhi Phifer, Ansel Elgort, Daniel Dae Kim, Octavia Spencer, Naomi Watts, Zoë Kravitz, Cynthia Barrett, Ashley Judd, and more.

Directed by: Robert Schwentke Screenplay by: Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, and Mark Bomback Based on the Novel by: Veronica Roth

Premise: Having escaped Jeanine after foiling her plans, Tris finds her inner self conflicted with all that's happened, especially the loss of her mom. And a new wrinkle presents itself, Jeanine found a vessel that contains a message from the Founders, but only a Divergent can pass the tests necessary to open it. And she very badly wants it opened - as she believes it will give her a way to get rid of all Divergents once and for all. So she's more than willing to break even more rules than before to reach her goals. (Rated Pg-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Shailene Woodley did well as the unbalanced Tris. She and Theo James oozed chemistry throughout the film. Miles Teller was fun as bad boy Peter. Kate Winslet was cold as ice as Jeanine. Naomi Watts as Evelyn was rather interesting. Very hard to tell what side she's truly on.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: The cool effects start with the credits. The Summit Entertainment and Red Wagon Logos looked amazing as they introduced them in the 3D and morphed them into Jeanine's image. The visuals were very good - like late in the film, when the city is coming totally apart during two of the sims.

There's one scene with Four where the image falls slowly apart that made for a great visual. Also the weird nano spider things looked very cool.

3) Story - Neutral: Sadly, the film makers forgot some basic rules: a) Not everyone has read the books b) Not everyone will have seen the first film c) Those who did see it, have probably forgotten a lot of details by now.

So instead of doing a quick recap of events, the audience is thrown into things with nothing to guide them. While it's easy enough to remember the main characters, the details behind Peter and Caleb were not as memorable, so it made it incredibly hard to understand some of what was going on or the feelings being kicked about at the beginning. Very bad move. The excitement that could have been built right off is instead hampered and made twice as hard to light.

As happens in a lot of science fiction movies and some books, they can never seem to find a balance between the science level indicated vs. other tech used. If you can make nano machine spiders that are intelligent enough to try to fight against you taking them out, then why can't you make them good enough to heal your wounded hand? Through the entire film, Jeanine is cradling her bandaged hand. This from a culture with science that can make virtual reality feel real, put living nano technology inside you without any drawbacks, and use other tech to take over your mind. Yet no tech to help your booboo? Right...

There were some definitely good moments -  some snappy zingers cropped up here and there. But they were only moments. The whole concept of the 'secret in a container' seemed out of place and contrived, as I don't believe it was ever mentioned in the first film. The leftover bad guy from the first film had to reach useless heights of depravity just so there would be sufficient reason built to shoot him while he was helpless with his hands tied. Which pretty much overrides the act, making it wrong as well. (Though it will uncannily resemble a later act by his mother...)

The ending was odd as well. The message in the container did not surprise me, but the mass exodus of the population did. They all know there's at least thirty miles of desert out there - we had some awesome shots of it in the first film! - so where do they think they're going without transportation or water?

There are two more films coming out for the series - but the ending of this one, made us think there this was it. Only found out there's two more while doing research at IMDB. Would a tiny hint have hurt? "The Maze Runner" did that much at least.

4) Stunts - Thumbs Up: There are fights in several parts of the film, but most were the usual. The fight on the train was very nice though. Some explosions and decent stunt work, but again nothing overtly unusual.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Somewhat outdone by the sims, there were still some great shots of the real city. The collapsed areas and people having to traverse them by foot were definitely impressive. The dried up river with the half drawn bridges was definitely a nice visual. (Though why in 200 years you'd not done some renovating seems rather weird - especially with some of the grandiose buildings in some of the sectors.)

Conclusion: With the lack of a recap putting the viewers off center, the film never heats up as much as it could have with the audience. Some cool sims, some snappy lines, but really nothing much to get really excited about. Which was a pity. You'll think this is the end, but there's two more movies coming. But no hint of it in the film at all. Too bad.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Virtual Tourist - TERA 3/15/15

Morning!
Trying to slap this together before starting the final day of All-Con.


TERA

Westonia
Citadel of Torment


Huh, did I share this one already? Oh well!


More evil denizens of the place!


So roomy!


A nice forbidding doorway.


Shshshshsh we're hiding...


He looks like he's gonna tell on me.


Isn't he gruesome looking?


I do love these hallways!


Now this is a library~!


Looking down into the next level


How cool is that!


Uhm, flowers fed by blood? Not so cool. I like to keep my blood on the inside. Heh heh


Have an awesome Sunday!
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