The Forced Vacation Of Illness

*cough*

*hack*

*wheeze*

*croak* Hey, wassup?

Sometimes it takes a well-timed lung plague to slap you in the face and say "YO! YOU BEEN WORKIN TOO HARD! SLEEP, DANGIT!"

Because when every breath feels like you're breathing in finely ground glass and your head feels like it weighs about 50 lbs, all those homework projects you had to finish don't seem quite so important. You know what does seem important?...Just about anything else.

And so, here I am, giving you what is apparently a bi-weekly blog update (assuming bi-weekly actually means once every other week, and not twice a week...I can never keep those straight...). But don't worry, this post won't just be all about homework and the joys of being sick. Nope, this week,  I decided to take a look at what was going on with the Hunger Games movies, as I've been a bad fangirl and failed to check on it in a while andHOLY COW I'VE BEEN NEGLECTING THE HUNGER GAMES FOR TOO LONG! Stuff happened! And I missed it! So, just in case you missed it too for some reason, I am here to fill you in. You're welcome.

And in case you've forgotten (somehow) or are new to the insanity here, The Hunger Games is a trilogy of super excellent books by Suzanne Collins about a futuristic dystopian society where the ruling capitol demands that two kids from every district take part in the annual Hunger Games: Last one standing wins. The story centers on Katniss, her co-tribute Peeta, and their attempts to survive the brutal rules of the game. Lionsgate bought the rights to the movie, Suzanne Collins is on the screenplay-writing team, Gary Ross (of Seabiscuit) is directing, and Hugh Laurie is not going to play Katniss and Peeta's drunken mentor Haymitch. Alright? Everyone's caught up now. They had been holding auditions for the main roles for a while now, but sometime between when I last checked and now, they found their Katniss, Peeta, and Gale already.

Katniss Everdeen is going to be played by Jennifer Lawrence.

Yeah, she's blonde, but seriously, Hollywood magic has dealt with more. According to an interview with Director Gary Ross, he and Collins are pretty excited about her potential to play Katniss. And while a lot of other fans are focusing on the fact that she's too old (a whopping 20) to play a 16 year old, Collins' main fear was that they would cast someone too young, which I agree with. Katniss may be 16 physically, but she's much more mature than that, and with a little movie-magic, Jen could do a pretty good job. And in case you're blanking out as to where you've seen this girl before, you might recognize her from the Bill Engvall show, or as the Oscar nominated actress from the Oscar nominated movie Winter's Bone. Yeah, I can see it. She'll also be in X-Men: First Class this summer as Mystique/Raven Darkholm. My hopes for this girl go ever higher. But what would Katniss be without her boys?


Next up: Peeta Mellark, the strong, witty baker's son that gets chosen to compete alongside Katniss. He's officially being played by Josh Hutcherson.

Who you may or may not know from such films as The Kids are Alright (Laser), Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (Steve), Journey to the Center of the Earth (Sean), The Bridge to Tarabithia (Jess), oh, and a voice in the English version of Howl's Moving Castle. Yep. That's all. (That's not actually all, that's just all I felt like listing). And if you're not convinced he'll do a great job as Peeta, check out what this quote from the thehungergamesmovie.org: "I was fortunate enough to be in the room with Gary Ross when Josh came in to audition,” said Collins, in a statement. “Three lines into the read I knew he’d be fantastic. Josh totally captured Peeta’s temperament, his sense of humor and his facility for language. I’m thrilled to have him aboard.” Well. There ya have it. 


But those of us who have read and love the books know that the dynamics between Katniss and Peeta are nothing without that added complication from Gale Hawthorne, Katniss'...friend/brother/lover/friend/person. He shall be played by Liam Hemsworth.

Yes. I can already see it. A little more hair and that's Gale all over the place! What, you need more? Ok, granted, his filmography isn't very impressive. The best known movie he was in was Knowing...and, well....ya know how well that one turned out. Unless you've heard of the The Last Song. I haven't, but he was in it, so if it was good...well there you go. But just like the previous two choices, Collins seems quite thrilled with his addition to the cast. And I say that if the author's happy, I'm happy. So there. 


Anyway, that's all I've got for now. I'm gonna go take a nap. See you next week (or perhaps the following week...) for some more average nerdiness!

Potpourri

You know, like the Jeopardy category that could be about anything and everything? So is this week's post. Also, in case you couldn't tell, the Grad School Beast has finally resurfaced after it's long winter break and snow day hibernation, and it's hungry for some student attention. So the "weekly" posts may become less wonderful as the semester continues, but I'll do what I can!

So! Captain America!

Patriotically smashing into theaters this summer!

Now, granted, I'm not as familiar with the Captain America mythos. All I know is that he was a WWII hero and the first Avenger, so the movie can't really ruin anything for me. The casting all looks pretty good too, Hugo Weaving and Tommy Lee Jones are both set to be in it. But who's going to play the Captain himself?

um, hi. Imma war hero 'n stuff

Now, if he could look more like this for the role:

I could see it better. Rugged looks good on him, makes him look older and whatnot. But military is all about clean-shaven, and Captain America was a military hero, sooo....

iz me again. hai. 

But you may or may not recall the role he already played in a major Marvel franchise:

Yep. Somehow, I feel like playing two major dudes in different Marvel universe films will cause some kind of breach in the Marvel-space-time-continuum. And one more breach would probably just be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back, because the Marvel universe is pretty precarious as it is. 

But enough about that. I have a question for you, internet: Did you see Inception? And if so, did you get it/enjoy it? It was never supposed to make perfect sense, the whole point is for it to be kind of a mind trip that leaves you questioning, but wasn't that the best part? I ask because I had an encounter with some non-nerds the other day. I was a little shocked, as I've somehow imagined the whole world was populated with nerds on some level. Apparently that's not true. Inception came into discussion, and these are just some of the heated complaints that suddenly flew around the room:

"Oh man! I can't believe I wasted my life!"

"It was so boring!"

"I just didn't get it! Why did he keep spinning that thing?"

"I tried watching it, but I just ended up texting the whole time."

I wanted to cry a little. I always thought that even non-nerds could appreciate some nerdy things on some level, why else would Spiderman and Star Wars have been so huge, right? Nope. My faith in humanity was killed a little bit that day. So to feel better, I obsessed over the soundtrack (yeah Hans!), particularly this one:

Quite possibly one of his best tracks ever (and why he didn't win the Globe, but Social Network did, I'll never understand)

Speaking of the Globes, what's up with the Social Network? No, I haven't seen it yet, but did it deserve best film score, best screenplay, best director, and best motion picture-drama? Especially if that meant beating Black Swan and Inception? It didn't even stay in theaters for very long, it acted like it was a bust movie, and now all of a sudden it's expected to win every Oscar it's been nominated for (which is like all of them, apparently)? What happened? 

Me too, baby, me too

Finally, in the world of the Hunger Games movie, Debra Zane has been recruited to be the casting director for the movie. They aren't holding any open casting calls as of right now, if you had high hopes, but they are working on the cast. So far, we just know that Hugh Laurie is unavailable to play Haymitch, which makes me sad. Also, Lionsgate has announced the opening date for the movie: March 23, 2012. Why is this brilliant? You may recall a certain other wonderful movie releasing about the same time last year, How to Train Your Dragon. It works because all the other big young-adult movies of the year like to be released in late summer or November, so now the Hunger Games won't have anything to compete with. Smart Move, Lionsgate, smart move. 

Well, that's all I've got for this week. Tune in next time for some more average nerdiness!

Ashley: "Oh yeah, didn't you notice the lettuce growing on my balcony?"

Britt: "How did it survive the snow?"

Ashley: "It's iceberg."

*and yet, if someone had written that into a sitcom or something, it just would have been corny*

Just Kidding!

Now that I've already posted that "I'm not posting anything" disclaimer, I found the time and necessity to make a post for New Years. Happy New Years, by the way. I've been watching some of the talk show type things doing their "A look back at 2010" specials, and I noticed that nobody seemed to want to do anything about the fact that we're about to start a new decade! The 2000's are over people, we're about to step into the teens again (but the twenty-teens now, which are older and more mature than the nineteen-teens were), and I felt it was necessary to take a look back at the last 10 years. So let's get started, shall we?

Who can forget the tension of Y2K? I was still being an elementary schooler, not really caring whether or not the computers would be able to track my stocks properly when the year turned over (I felt I had kept them secure enough, after all), but I do recall the mounting panic. And thennnn, nothing happened. I don't think there has ever been a more anti-climactic January 1st.

Since the Academy Awards honor the movies from the previous year, but are held in the next year, it's entirely possibly I'll mix some stuff up and be off a year while talking about various movies, for which you shall forgive me (because I said so!). But anyway, this was the year that Gladiator won the academy award for best picture, Russell Crowe won best actor for the same movie (and now I realize why he seemed out of place in Robin Hood: he needed Romans!), Julia Roberts was best actress, and Traffic won Steven Soderbergh best director. But the academy aside, 2000 also gave us X-Men, Meet the Parents, The Contender, and of course Castaway

Don't look at me like that, Wilson!

Billboard has lists of the top 100 songs for each year, and I'm not going to list all of them because that would be ridiculous. But the number one song for 2000 was Breathe by Faith Hill, but it was also the year for 3 Doors Down, Destiny's Child, Santana, Brittany and Christina, N'Sync and those Backstreet Boys. 

2000 marked the beginning of the intense and seemingly never ending custody battle over a little boy between his American relatives, his Cuban father, and both of the respective governments, said to be the biggest dispute between the two countries since the Bay of Pigs (which seems a tad exaggerated to me, to be honest). Meanwhile, a concord plane exploded during takeoff for the first time ever, which soon ended the use of all concords (in France anyway, where the original exploded, not sure if everyone else agreed). It was a happy year, to be sure. Anything else? Oh yes, it was election year here in the US, the year of the recount, the hanging chad, and "good lord, Florida, just pick one already!" Finally, after all of the hooplah, George W Bush became president, and Al Gore decided he preferred global warming and inventing the internet anyway.

This was a heavy year in the US, the year that terrorists hijacked some planes and crashed them into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center towers. A fourth would have hit the White House, had it not been for the bravery of the passengers who decided it would be better to die overpowering the terrorists and preventing further tragedy than to allow the crash to continue as planned. This was the year that the major Bad Guy status officially went from the communists to the terrorists (and I use officially quite loosely here, but Russian-Cold-War style characters in the media certainly seemed to make way for a wave of middle eastern terrorist types). It was the start of the war on terror, and one of the rare times that the entire nation was truly united, however briefly it lasted.

In the meantime and on a lighter note, the number one song was Hanging By a Moment by Lifehouse, and this was the year that Peter Jackson gifted us nerd-types with the first installment of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The snooty academy snoots preferred A Beautiful Mind for all the awards, but at least LOTR was nominated, and put up there with Moulin Rouge, Shrek, and Bridget Jones' Diary. This may have been the first year that Animated Feature Film was taken seriously as a category, but don't quote me on that. It also marked the beginning of Daniel Radcliff  et. al's decade long childhood in the Harry Potter world.

You're a wizard, Harry...and will be for the next 10+ years!

2002 marked the first total solar eclipse in whatever time span is generally between solar eclipses, but you couldn't see it properly unless you happened to be in Africa at the time. Jimmy Carter won a Nobel Peace prize, Halle Berry became the first African American woman to win an Academy Award for best actress (for Monster Ball), and Michael Jackson said hi to some fans by waving a baby around off a balcony.

"Hey look! I has kid!"

(bad taste? Well, it was still dumb...)

This was the year of sequels, with Hollywood sending us Star Wars II, Lord of the Rings II, Harry Potter II, and the Santa Clause II, all in 2002, which was clever on their part in retrospect. Chicago was awarded best picture, Spirited Away won best animated feature (hooray Miyazaki!), and How You Remind Me by Nickleback was declared the number one song (well I certainly don't remember that song, but billboard seemed to like it).

With the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad, we all got excited at the thought that it was finally finished! Woo! We won! It's over! Except it wasn't. The space shuttle Columbia exploded upon re-entry to the earth's atmosphere, all due to a loose outer tile. Meanwhile, the Martha Stewart issues gained some real momentum as she got indicted for embezzlement, and the great SARS scare began on the other side of the world (no, I'm not suggesting that the two events were related....or am I? No, not really). But it was a happy year for us bio-nerds, as the Human Genome Project was officially finished, and the human genome was declared to be sequenced to 99.99% accuracy. Woo!

science jokes!

And finally, making it a year I shall never forget, the Florida Marlins won the World Series after soundly defeating the Yankees. Yeah Marlins! (they were subsequently traded away, and have barely won another game since. Sad times). In movies, Buddy the Elf taught us the true meaning of Christmas, the king returned in Lord of the Rings, we all met the infamous yet strangely lovable Captain Jack Sparrow, and then we found Nemo. Peter Jackson and Return of the King finally won best director and best picture, and 50 Cent claimed the number one song title with In Da Club.

In case you couldn't guess/recall, the 2004 Summer Olympics were held in Greece, a big deal since that's where they originated from and all. The internet planned to rejoice when Facebook was officially launched, but quickly learned of the website's procrastination powers. Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake performed the Superbowl Halftime show, which nobody would remember if not for Janet's infamous wardrobe malfunction. Lance Armstrong won his 6th consecutive Tour de France, and Florida (and surrounding areas) were beaten to a pulp by Hurricanes Charley, Ivan, Frances, and Jeanne (personally, I recall 2004 as the year of evacuation road trips, blue roofs, and generators, all of which seemed a lot more exciting as a kid when it mostly meant road trips). But as much as it sucked in Florida (and surrounding areas), Indonesia had a much rougher time when that giant earthquake caused that even gianter tsunami. Yeah...I'll stick with hurricanes, thanks. 

Girls across the nation watched the Notebook and then swooned. Or something. I was busy watching Harry Potter do magical things again, Jason Bourne make his supreme comeback (hehe, pun), and Nicholas Cage go on a good treasure hunt before he made another string of terrible movies. Also, The Incredibles. Best animated feature film. 'nuff said. Million Dollar Baby pretty much dominated the rest of the awards, while Usher's Yeah made top song of the year. 

The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics declared 2005 to be the World Year of Physics, which is just so nerdy it makes me smile. Hurricane Katrina was late to the previous year's Stomp On North America party, but tried to make up for it with an extended visit to New Orleans. Needless to say, that didn't end well. President Bush started his second term, and male citizens in Saudi Arabia were allowed to vote for the first time. 

The Academy awards were mostly given to socially controversial films released this year, such as Crash and Brokeback Mountain. As for other movies, Narnia showed us what happens when you mix a lion, a witch, and a wardrobe and let simmer for approximately 2 hours (you get a movie! who knew?), Batman began, and Harry Potter came back with his goblet of fire. The Star Wars saga ended, for better or worse, with Revenge of the Sith, and we all stepped back to take a long look at our prides and prejudices. Mariah Carey sat on top of the billboard chart with We Belong Together. 

The first bird with Avian Flu was found this year, and Al Gore came back from his internet workshop to inconvenience us with his truths. Pluto began it's swift decline out of planetary status, suddenly declared to be merely a dwarf planet. The Iraqi Special Tribunal officially sentenced Hussein to death, and North Korea decided to let us know all about their continued nuclear weapon hobbies. 

It was a fairly widespread year for movies, with releases including everything from Cars and The Santa Clause 3 to The Prestige and V For Vendetta (Remember, remember, the 5th of November!). The Departed won best featured film, and Daniel Powter sang about his Bad Day enough to put him at the top. 

This was a magical year, the one that marked my highschool graduation. Ok, other stuff happened too. The final Harry Potter book was released and sold out faster than you can say Avada Kadavra, with the book in general causing one of the largest nerd uprisings since the last one. The writer's guild went on strike, resulting in one of the weirdest seasons of television in a while as everybody else in the studio scrambled to find reruns and acceptable excuses for shows to keep the public entertained. Yet it gave rise to the fantastically wonderful Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, which should be a part of everyone's life. 

Otherwise, Bourne issued his famous ultimatum, Harry Potter joined the Order of the Phoenix, and Juno had a baby. The Academy declared their love for No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, and Beyonce declared that you're not Irreplaceable (sorry, I'm just the messenger). 

Gas prices went extra nuts this year, Fidel Castro finally resigned, and there was a total eclipse of the heart....I mean moon. A star exploded somewhere, and if you happened to be stargazing it was officially the farthest object to be seen with the naked eye. Medvedev replaced Putin as Crazy Dude In Charge of Russia, and we waited to see if he would be a better kind of crazy. Meanwhile, Bill Gates decided to end his 30 year position  as chairman of Microsoft, and somewhere you could here Steve Jobs rub his hands and chuckle maliciously. Michael Phelps set a new record, winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, and the world didn't end after the Large Hadron Collider was turned on for the first time. Financial crisis ensued when certain banks decided to give out loans willy nilly and whatnot, and Barack Obama became the first African American president after the election. 

Heath Ledger gave us one last brilliant performance as a truly demented Joker in the Dark Knight, and then died for several alleged reasons that I don't think anybody ever actually agreed about. Slumdog Millionaire stole the show at the Academy awards, and Twilight...well, was Twilight, much to the thinking populace's disdain. Prince Caspian ruled Narnia, and Tony Stark built that immortal iron battle suit, all to the tune of Flo Rida's catchy tune, Low. 

Remember the Swine Flu? H1N1? You bet you do! This also marked the year that Michael Jackson died suddenly, taking everybody by surprise. I'm starting to suspect a celebrity serial killer is on the loose, or some kind of conspiracy. Or perhaps both. President Obama won a Nobel Peace prize for....being president? Still working on that one. The Large Hadron Collider was turned on a second time after needing some repairs and adjustments. And again, the world did not end.

In Hollywood, Avatar made a mark with it's amazing visual effects annnnd....was there a plot? But let's not forget about Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek (which unlike a lot of purists out there, I rather enjoyed, thanks very much), and Up. The Hurt Locker won the Oscar for best film, and I still haven't seen it. Meanwhile, Beyonce and her single ladies topped the music charts for the year.

And finally, we get to 2010, the last year in this wacky decade. It was kicked off with a devastating earthquake in Haiti, shortly followed by an even bigger one in Chile. Not the best way to start off a new year. An oil platform exploded in the Gulf, causing all kinds of environmental, financial, and general humiliating issues. And about a week ago, we saw the first total lunar eclipse during a solstice since 1638. Also, I moved to grad school; a major headline in the world to be sure ;)

In the movies, we learned how to train dragons, watched the end of the Toy Story saga, and saw the first half of the final movie in the Harry Potter lineup. There was also Inception, Scott Pilgrim, another Narnia movie...pretty much a great year for movies all around. The Oscars haven't happened yet, but here's hoping Pixar's animated film winning streak will be stopped by the wonder of dragon training. But then, I may be biased. Just a little. The Billboard list hasn't been made yet either, so here's hoping Bieber isn't on top. Or near the top. But watching the Twilight phenomenon...he probably will be.


Anyway, this has been more post than any one blog post needs to have, but it is here and complete. Here's to a new year, a new decade, and all kinds of new opportunities for some average nerdiness. Happy New Year!

Robin Hood vs. King Arthur: The Final Showdown (among other things)

Before I get into the second and final round of our legend battle (which I know has been keeping everybody on the edge of their seats!), this needs to be shared with the world, because it's just so darn cute in that cavity-inducing kind of way:

Don't be smiling by the end, I dare you

But if you're one of those that can't handle too much niceness, there's always the world's most disturbing holiday peanut commercial (not a very populated category, but it doesn't change the fact):

Yep. I can now sense demented nutcrackers going for my head when I'm sufficiently sleep deprived.

Also, in the world of the Hunger Games movie, Gary Ross is to be the movie's director. He's the guy that brought us Seabiscuit, but otherwise hasn't really done much of anything. Suzanne Collins seems to like him, which is a good sign, but time shall tell. Now that a director has been chosen, a casting director and subsequently, a cast, is only a matter of time. Here's hoping they don't go with Kristen Stewart. 

Ok, now onto the moment you've all been waiting for (or perhaps not, but here it is anyway): Robin Hood vs King Arthur, Round 2-Movies.

Here's a doozie. Just like there have been crap tons of King Arthur books, both terrible and great, there have been tons of King Arthur movies....mostly just terrible. Robin Hood, on the other hand, has a bit more of a 50/50 chance of getting a decent movie. Let's start with the obvious, the Disney incarnation. King Arthur had the classic Sword in the Stone, which focused on Arthur's childhood and training with Merlin.

It all looks so magical and pretty!

Too bad it's anticlimactic (oh yeah, spoiler alert, I suppose). It's technically based off of TH White's version of the story, including all of Merlin's more magical lessons that required being transformed into various animals that don't have kingdoms or something like that. Of course, Disney being Disney, they took a few....artistic licenses? Hey, everybody else who read The Once and Future King, I have a question:

Do you remember her? No? Me either...

I can only assume she's supposed to be Morgan LeFay or something....oh good lord. Now, granted, I didn't grow up with this one, somehow it slipped under my radar and I didn't think to watch it until a year or so ago, so maybe it just wasn't enough for my inner child. Or maybe it just wasn't that good. But it seems to me that the only part of this movie that really lasted was it's depiction of Merlin. You don't see little Arthur in Kingdom Hearts, do you? No. You know who shows up? Merlin. (It all seems to keep coming back to him, doesn't it?). 

Ok, Robin Hood's turn. This movie I DID grow up with, what with all of it's anthropomorphic animals robbing each other and whatnot.

Oh, the memories!

So, of course Disney had to take some liberties with this one as well, but I feel like it didn't take nearly as many, except for the ending (another spoiler alert, they never actually get married according to a lot of versions. Sorry Robin!). Perhaps the minstrel rooster was unnecessary, but you have to admit those songs were catchy, or am I the only one who can instantly recall the tune to "oo-de-lally oo-de-lally, golly what a day"? 

And maybe I'm just biased towards this movie as opposed to Sword in the Stone, but what the heck, it's my blog and that's my right dangit! I say Robin Hood wins the Disney movie. But what about all those other movies?

Thanks to Mark Twain's book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Hollywood has been asking what would happen if various modern day people found themselves in Medieval Camelot. And asking. And asking. And asking some more. We get it, alright? Modern day technology+medieval culture=InstaWizard (just don't let Merlin catch you!). So you know what? I'm just going to skip all those. There were a lot and they were mostly dumb. There was that newest King Arthur movie titles, you guessed it, King Arthur. Remember? That one with Kiera Knightly and some other people? Ok, like a bad nerd, I haven't seen it yet, though it is on my list. Although I have to say that the reviews did not seem astounding, so I have my doubts. 

I already expressed how underwhelmed I was with Russell Crowe's Robin Hood. He's just too darn old and grizzled. 

I feel like that image would work better with a burning skyscraper behind him and a machine gun instead of a bow and arrow in his hands. And also an eye patch. And a lit cigarette in his mouth. So it's not like he's a pansy or unfit for the outlaw role, he just doesn't seem the medieval outlaw type. Therefore the movie was interesting enough in it's own right, what with the political intrigue and sword fights, it just wasn't really a Robin Hood movie. You know what it was missing? A tournament. Robin Hood must win an archery tournament in disguise or else it's just an incomplete movie. And I'm pretty sure this one didn't have a tournament. If it did, it was just THAT uninteresting. 

Then there's the always fantastically awful Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. That's already been demolished in full by the Sugary Cynic, so I suggest you go read it if you haven't already. Or go get a refresher. It's ok, I'll still be here when you get back. Ok, back now? Pretty terrible, right? But it's because of Prince of Thieves that Carey Elwes graced us with Robin Hood: Men in Tights, which is just always entertaining to watch and great for so many reasons, not least of which include Patrick Stewart playing King Richard and a subtle-ish Abbot and Costello reference. 

Ok, So far the movie score is King Arthur: 0, Robin Hood: 2, but we owe our legendary king a few more movie chances. Hey! How about that one, First Knight, starring Sean Connery as King Arthur! You know, because he's Scottish, and Scotland is on the British Islands, so it counts, right?

Oh, right, he's old enough to make me cheer Guenevere on towards Lancelot myself (Sorry Sean, nothing personal, you just needed more roles with leading ladies who didn't look like they could be your daughter...or granddaughter, for pete's sake). Also, most of the costumes looked like bad sci-fi movie leftovers. Just sayin.

Oh hey! Remember that not so great book from round one, that one by Meg Cabot? Well Disney channel made it into a movie! Now, I know what you're thinking. "Hey, her books may be subpar, but they can make a decent movie out of them. Princess Diaries was lovable, right? So maybe it's just one of those things where she translates better onto film than page?" Yeah, probably not. I couldn't bring myself to watch it the first time around, and since Disney doesn't seem to be cramming it down it's viewers throats, it must not have been all that successful. But then, it's just a tv movie, sooooo......

So for the movie round, Robin Hood is the victor! Both have had terrible movies, but at least Robin Hood had some more lovable ones. But wait! With King Arthur winning round 1, Robin Hood winning round 2, it's a tie! That means it's time for

SUDDEN DEATH!

Where we have the two legends face off, mano y mano, one final fight to the death! *cue fanfare and whatnot*

So, who would win in a fight? Robin could pick off Arthur from a distance with his sharp shooting skills, no contest. But that's boring. Robin Hood was supposed to be a expert swordsman as well as marksman, so we'll say that both contestants are limited to steel and steel alone. In this case, as long as Arthur has his magical sword of cheating death in battle (Excalibur, duh), Robin has no chance. But what if this is post-Guenevere/Lancelot affair? Then our brave king has no will or spirit left, so he's dead, sword or no sword. But you know, it's the other characters that make each legend what it is, so let's bring them in too. Arthur had his Knights of the Round Table (minus Lancelot, let's say), all pretty much undefeated in battle, all pretty much walking tin cans (have you seen those suits of armor? What would it take to just push them down a hill?). Robin Hood's Merry Men have speed and stealth on their side (plus Little John's massiveness, Will Scarlet's knife prowess, and Friar Tuck's, you know, Catholic Church) and are infinitely more nimble without all that armor. I'm going to say that if this was the final lineup, Robin Hood would win. BUT! Who's King Arthur's favorite trump card? MERLIN! If he's not trapped in his cave yet. In that case, Robin has no chance. None. It's over. No contest. Unless Morgan LeFay joined Robin for some reason...but that's just ridiculous. 

I guess that means that, with the old sorceror, King Arthur pulls ahead. Without, however, Robin Hood destroys Arthur, most likely with a hand tied behind his back. So if Arthur's victory is dependent solely on Merlin's influence (I mean, all the best Arthur-related stories and movies, and also that one tv show, are only the best because of Merlin), is it really a victory for Arthur, or just for Merlin? Food for thought. 

Ok, I need to sleep, but in the meantime, I'd say this sums most of Arthur's...Arthurness nicely. 

If you'd like to see any other face-off's, do tell, and I'll see what I can dig up. Tune in next time for some more average nerdiness!

Sheldon: "Why did the chicken cross the mobius strip? To get to the same side! Bazinga!" ~Big Bang Theory

Who needs a turkey when there are dragons??

Happy Turkey Day, Internet! And what better way to celebrate this classic American holiday than with the time honored traditional element: dragons! No, you heard me, I'm celebrating my Thanksgiving with dragons.

 

Be Jealous

But why, you may ask, am I forgoing the traditional turkey and stuffing for a more mythological approach? I dunno, I'm bored, so why not. 

Technically it all started with a movie that is apparently still underrated, given the amount of people I've introduced it to since it released on DVD. I'm talking, of course, of the Dreamworks gem, How to Train Your Dragon.

Don't tell me you don't want three

Seriously, if you haven't seen it yet, what in the world are waiting for? Sure, it's no Shrek, and it's no Pixar movie, but there have by far been worse movies in existence (really, just look at last week's post). It's cliched, but who cares? It's pretty; I'm sorry if you missed the chance to see it in 3D in theaters, but blue ray on a good tv comes pretty close. It sounds freaking awesome

It's hard to just pick one to post, so you're homework is to listen to more!

and ultimately, it's FINALLY a good movie about dragons! I mean, what great dragon movies have we had lately? No, wait, what good movies containing dragons at all have we had lately? 

ok, there's one. A minor character, at best. And before that?

that's the Harry Potter dragon, if you forgot about it too. And before that?

uuummm, not so much. Great books, lousy movie. Before that?

granted, it was awesome when I was 12, and I haven't seen it since, but that alone should be a good indication of lousyness, right?

Anyway, you get the point. We were due for a good dragon movie. Very, very due. 

And to continue my newly created tradition, today Cartoon Network premiered a new movie "Firebreather," about a 16-year-old half human half dragon named Duncan. I was bored, it promised dragons, and so I watched it. 

Honestly, I wasn't expecting very much, and that's exactly what I got. Not very much. But come on, you promise some dragons, at least just make all the "monsters" dragons, not...wierd...demon...things. They did, however, enlist the voice acting of one Dante Basco to play Duncan's friend. You may recall him as the firebending Prince Zuko in the Avatar cartoon, and also as American Dragon: Jake Long (yeah, remember that one?). Basically, Basco can't seem to stay away from those dragon-fire related roles, eh? 

Finally, I've been reading a new book (I know, shock!) that seems like it holds some promise. It's called Starlighter, by Bryan Davis. 

Looks promising, though, right?

I'm not very far in yet, but so far there are two separate stories going on (I can only assume they merge at some point). One involves Jason Masters, who's of the warrior variety in a world that merges sci-fi photon ray guns with classic medieval swordsmanship, and his mission to locate a gateway that may or may not exist. Meanwhile, Koren is a human slave girl in a world ruled by dragons. Real dragons. Real dragons that have more society and civilization (and...slaves) than any dragons I've seen or read about so far, but hey! You can only establish so many rules about mythological creatures, right? Anywho, we'll see how this book goes. In the meantime, go enjoy your new Turkey Day tradition (or just stick to the old ones, I'm not picky). But don't forget to tune in next time for some more average nerdiness!

A Post That Could Only Dream Of Being That Epic

I had a hard time deciding what to post about this week. There hasn't been anything too geek-tastic to give me any jolts of inspiration this week. And then a miracle occurred in the student union theater on campus, where we students get to see wonderful pre-release movies for a dollar: they're showing Scott Pilgrim vs The World!

The tagline speaks the truth

I realize that I'm late to the Scott Pilgrim party (sorry, internet!) but at least I'm attending, right? 

Anyway, it's playing all weekend, and I may or may not start classes on Monday having seen it once each day...shut up. It was great. Well, it started great, anyway. 

If you didn't already know, the movie was based off of a series of graphic novels. I did get a chance to read the books before I saw the movie, but I feel like it might have been better the other way around. Don't get me wrong, it was still an excellent movie, and "the book is always better than the movie," I just felt a little...let down, I guess. Perhaps that's largely due to the fact that they followed the first two books almost completely exactly, even most of the third one. Everything after that just kind of got lost in translation, like they said "Oh, crap, we have to start summarizing some of this or the movie's going to be like 3 hours long!" 

I have to say, though, I loved that they acknowledged the fact that they changed so much. Towards the end, the second time Scott runs into the Chaos Theater, instead of saying something about which album is better, you can hear Comeau say "...based off of them. And the comics are way better than the movie..." which made me giggle a bit. So, if you saw the movie, but haven't read the books, good! There's so much more to get now! If you read the books and haven't seen the movie, go see it! It's still a great movie. If you haven't heard of this Scott Pilgrim phenomenon, I'm just not sure what to do with you ( I mean, if I'VE heard of it, you don't have a lot of excuse, honestly). 

Finally, remember back in post number one, when I mentioned that I dabble in various dorky things, but there's always someone nerdier out there? Here's a good example: I was watching the movie last night, and had the good fortune of sharing the theater with some guy who was just too excited about it. Every joke (and there are so many of them), he'd release this odd wheezy laugh. And sure, the whole audience would laugh at the jokes, but you could ALWAYS hear this guy above everyone else. And after every battle, he'd clap and cheer, like he forgot it was just a movie and that he really just witnessed someone exploding into a bunch of coins. I mean, I enjoyed it too, but I wasn't quite that overcome with emotion at every victory. But, to each his own, I suppose....

On a separate but slightly related note (by which I mean we are still on the topic of books-turned-movies), remember the Hunger Games? Yes, I read the next two, and yes, they were everything I hoped for and more! Well, Lionsgate is officially making the movie, set to release in 2013. WOO! Why can I afford to be excited? Because Suzanne Collins, the genius behind the books, is ALSO set to do the adaptation. There's just something comforting about movies when authors do the adaptation themselves. You know the movie will catch as much of the original vision as possible, and that it will come as close as it can to showing you what the author saw when writing it. Because, you know, otherwise you get jerk-faced director/screenwriters who think THEY understand what it's all about, and, well,

this happens. 

ANYWAY, that won't happen with the hunger games. No word yet on who will play Katniss. Some rumors flying around have suggested that Twilight's Kristin Stewart play the leading lady, a suggestion that made me throw up a little. Other rumors, however, have been suggesting that they cast Kick Ass's Chloe Moretz, a suggestion I think I could approve of. Ultimately, we'll just have to wait and see, but you can bet I'll be sharing updates as they become available!

Anywho, that's all for now. Tune in next week for some more average nerdiness!