"The Silmarillion" is the mythology behind "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". It follows the time of the elves and the time before. The creation of Middle-earth and how it came to be the way it is in the time of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. It follows various important characters and their families as they live in Middle-earth.
Upside
Details on stories only referred to in Tolkien's other works
A better understanding of Elves and their cultures
Getting to know the land of Middle-earth and why places are named the way they are
Explanation of alliances based on families
Downside
Personally when characters have multiple names because of language translations I can get confused
Hobbits are barely mentioned
The creation of tree Ents is mentioned but I wanted to know more
Thursday, 4 May 2017
The Circle (2017) !Spoilers!
For less major spoilers skip to last paragraph.
The Circle follows Mae as she starts work at the new tech company The Circle. She learns that "Sharing is Caring" means everything. The weekend optional activities on The Circle campus become necessary and she soon stops going home at all. As she becomes more integrated into the company community she loses touch with her friends, including the one who got her the interview. When things at home take a turn Mae turns to solitude of a night kayak trip. She is capsized and rescued by connection through The Circle. As a result of this rescue she is convinced that when people are watching she is her best person. Mae then decides to go transparent and live stream herself 24/7. This further sharing of information pushes even her family away. As a test of a new program The Circle attempts to find an old friend that Mae had pushed away. This results in an accident that causes his death. Mae returns home and unconnected, as she reconnects with those she pushed away she decides that The Circle needs to change and that she can do it. She returns to the campus and her transparency. She finds a way to change the way the company is run and because she is transparent with millions of watchers her ideas are heard and implemented quickly.
The Circle is a scarily relevant film about privacy, secrets and safety. The Circle started with having one account using your real name, so there aren't different passwords and security for everything you do online. In the film they liken it to needing a different vehicle for every errand you do online and now just needing one. All interaction is filtered through smiles and frowns and participation meters. It becomes cult-like in the fanaticism of those inside, to the point of suggesting mandatory signup so voting can be done through The Circle platform.
Upside
Very relevant and thought provoking - this could be reality just months into the future
To me it felt similar to "1984" though the plot is quite different
Downside
The ending felt wrong - I think the end would come across better in a book than it did in the film
The Circle follows Mae as she starts work at the new tech company The Circle. She learns that "Sharing is Caring" means everything. The weekend optional activities on The Circle campus become necessary and she soon stops going home at all. As she becomes more integrated into the company community she loses touch with her friends, including the one who got her the interview. When things at home take a turn Mae turns to solitude of a night kayak trip. She is capsized and rescued by connection through The Circle. As a result of this rescue she is convinced that when people are watching she is her best person. Mae then decides to go transparent and live stream herself 24/7. This further sharing of information pushes even her family away. As a test of a new program The Circle attempts to find an old friend that Mae had pushed away. This results in an accident that causes his death. Mae returns home and unconnected, as she reconnects with those she pushed away she decides that The Circle needs to change and that she can do it. She returns to the campus and her transparency. She finds a way to change the way the company is run and because she is transparent with millions of watchers her ideas are heard and implemented quickly.
The Circle is a scarily relevant film about privacy, secrets and safety. The Circle started with having one account using your real name, so there aren't different passwords and security for everything you do online. In the film they liken it to needing a different vehicle for every errand you do online and now just needing one. All interaction is filtered through smiles and frowns and participation meters. It becomes cult-like in the fanaticism of those inside, to the point of suggesting mandatory signup so voting can be done through The Circle platform.
Upside
Very relevant and thought provoking - this could be reality just months into the future
To me it felt similar to "1984" though the plot is quite different
Downside
The ending felt wrong - I think the end would come across better in a book than it did in the film
Tuesday, 18 April 2017
Aliens in the Attic (2009)
Aliens in the Attic is a family summer movie. It centers around a group of cousins on the first day of vacation. They find some aliens that are trying to invade the world from their lake house. The cousins work together and save the planet without telling the adults what is going on. The oldest girl is busy with her boyfriend for much of the film but once she finds out what is going on is quickly on board. The youngest is understandably scared of the aliens but also befriends one of them. The friendly alien then helps the cousins stop the invasion.
Upside
quoteable
very cool anti-gravity fight
the why don't they call for help conundrum is solved smoothly
Downside
The main character had bad grades on purpose because he was trying to be cool, he uses math once in a fight and now wants to be smart again - the lesson is super obvious
characters often state the obvious
the twins are basically one character and don't even have names for most of the movie
Upside
quoteable
very cool anti-gravity fight
the why don't they call for help conundrum is solved smoothly
Downside
The main character had bad grades on purpose because he was trying to be cool, he uses math once in a fight and now wants to be smart again - the lesson is super obvious
characters often state the obvious
the twins are basically one character and don't even have names for most of the movie
Tuesday, 4 April 2017
Total Recall
This is part of a paper I wrote focussing on visual effects.
Both “Total Recall” movies are full of
visual effects. They both use a lot of holograms. Holograms are part of the
world of the original 1990 movie. They look old and grainy compared with the
world which is how you can tell they are fake. The tennis hologram is very 2D
when Quaid walks through it. Later in the story there are better holograms that
are known as holograms because they have no shadow. All these holograms have no
logical source. Holograms allow Quaid and Melina to win a fight in the reactor
by using them as distractions. The holograms generated by the watch are opaque
and look real which is why they work as distractions.
In
the 2012 remake holograms are interactive rather than only mimicking movement.
They are 3D and have an obvious source. The hologram at the piano has to render
before playing and is semi-transparent. Holograms are also used in advertising.
There is at least one sign in the Asian part of the city that Quaid walks
through before it re-renders behind him. Holograms are also used instead of
screens. The holograms in Rekall are interactive to touch and display
information. Other uses are in the info backpack after the small cameras were
launched in Rekall to display all the camera views. They are used again to display
Quaid’s memories for others to see and decode. Whenever there is hologram
technology that is supposed to look futuristic it is blue. The only hologram
that looks real in this movie is the technology that disguises Quaid as an old
Asian man at security.
Saturday, 18 March 2017
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins is a series of books, a Disney film and a stage musical.
The series of children's books by P.L. Travers consists of 8 books written 1934-1988. Mary Poppins is a magical nanny who takes the Banks children on adventures.
Upside
There are 8 of them
If you know the movie, there is still plenty of new adventures in the books
Downside
They are darker than the Disney film, Mary Poppins' magic isn't so whimsical
There are 5 Banks children by the end of the series, including twins, which can make remembering characters difficult-especially if you are used to Jane and Michael from the film
The Disney film Mary Poppins was released in 1964 and received 13 Academy award nominations. The film is based most on the first book of the Mary Poppins series. It is a musical with songs written by the Sherman brothers.
Upside
Bert-the books have a few minor characters instead
The music!
dancing animated penguins - a new system of filming with a yellow background (like greenscreen) allowed this to work
Downside
Accents - Bert's accent is listed as one of film's all time worst (because it changes throughout the film)
Random magic - the moment on the roof when Bert gets swung out off the edge has always bothered me because he isn't magical so it doesn't make sense that it would happen that way
The stage musical is based more directly on the series of books than the film. It includes dancing with statues in the park which happens in the books but not the film. As a musical it uses some of the songs from the film but also changes them. Verses are changed to be more accessible to the stage story. Listen to the difference between Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in film and stage(at 3 minutes).
Upside
Live entertainment
Mary Poppins actually flies! (at least in the production I saw)
The clean up song was so cool to watch with the props in the kitchen tidying themselves up
Miss Andrews, Mr Banks' childhood nanny is a great antagonist
Downside
Different music
More characters
Mary Poppins is one of my favorite films so I also recommend Saving Mr. Banks. Although not entirely accurate, Saving Mr. Banks is a biopic about P.L. Travers during the making of the film.
The series of children's books by P.L. Travers consists of 8 books written 1934-1988. Mary Poppins is a magical nanny who takes the Banks children on adventures.
Upside
There are 8 of them
If you know the movie, there is still plenty of new adventures in the books
Downside
They are darker than the Disney film, Mary Poppins' magic isn't so whimsical
There are 5 Banks children by the end of the series, including twins, which can make remembering characters difficult-especially if you are used to Jane and Michael from the film
The Disney film Mary Poppins was released in 1964 and received 13 Academy award nominations. The film is based most on the first book of the Mary Poppins series. It is a musical with songs written by the Sherman brothers.
Upside
Bert-the books have a few minor characters instead
The music!
dancing animated penguins - a new system of filming with a yellow background (like greenscreen) allowed this to work
Downside
Accents - Bert's accent is listed as one of film's all time worst (because it changes throughout the film)
Random magic - the moment on the roof when Bert gets swung out off the edge has always bothered me because he isn't magical so it doesn't make sense that it would happen that way
The stage musical is based more directly on the series of books than the film. It includes dancing with statues in the park which happens in the books but not the film. As a musical it uses some of the songs from the film but also changes them. Verses are changed to be more accessible to the stage story. Listen to the difference between Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in film and stage(at 3 minutes).
Upside
Live entertainment
Mary Poppins actually flies! (at least in the production I saw)
The clean up song was so cool to watch with the props in the kitchen tidying themselves up
Miss Andrews, Mr Banks' childhood nanny is a great antagonist
Downside
Different music
More characters
Mary Poppins is one of my favorite films so I also recommend Saving Mr. Banks. Although not entirely accurate, Saving Mr. Banks is a biopic about P.L. Travers during the making of the film.
Saturday, 18 February 2017
Waldo - Robert A. Heinlein !Spoilers!
The short story "Waldo", follows James Stevens and the circumstances which lead to his meeting with Waldo.
Waldo is a reclusive genius who is contracted to discover why a piece of standard technology continues to fail. In his research he discovers that the source of magic is another dimension. Upon this discovery he repairs the technology, creates access to clean and free energy and heals his body of its genetic muscle weakness.
Upside
The descriptions of technology are very vivid, especially the waldoes and Freehold
The description of the science and the analogies used to describe it are easy to grasp
Downside
The beginning is confusing
For some reason I found it hard to keep the names straight for quite a while
Waldo is a reclusive genius who is contracted to discover why a piece of standard technology continues to fail. In his research he discovers that the source of magic is another dimension. Upon this discovery he repairs the technology, creates access to clean and free energy and heals his body of its genetic muscle weakness.
Upside
The descriptions of technology are very vivid, especially the waldoes and Freehold
The description of the science and the analogies used to describe it are easy to grasp
Downside
The beginning is confusing
For some reason I found it hard to keep the names straight for quite a while
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
Nightfall - Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg
"Nightfall" is based on a popular short story of the same name published in 1941. The novel is broken into three parts: Twilight, Nightfall, Daybreak.
Twilight begins introducing all the main characters separately and their individual discoveries. Slowly the characters begin to meet and share information at the University which leads them to believe that their world of Kalgash with six suns will experience darkness on a global scale. This understanding leads the characters to Nightfall a year later and together for the event that will change the planet's understanding of the world. Never having experienced night the planet had never seen stars. In the darkness people panicked but the appearance of stars brought the population to madness. Daybreak is the experience of the characters as they regain sanity and move about the planet in a new society governed by crazies.
Upside
The premise of a whole planet experiencing night for the first time together and discovering the existence of stars
Sheerin is just an enjoyable character
It is really fascinating Sci-Fi as there isn't any Science that doesn't already exist on Earth
The forward by Asimov and Silverberg explaining that it is an alien planet but the translated to English terms so it would be easier for the reader to understand
Downside
Nightfall section lost momentum when it jumped nearly a year in time
The names are so different it really took me a while to get the characters straight
The reveal about Mondior at the end didn't have as much punch as I am sure it was supposed to just based on the fact I have read other similar reveals recently
Twilight begins introducing all the main characters separately and their individual discoveries. Slowly the characters begin to meet and share information at the University which leads them to believe that their world of Kalgash with six suns will experience darkness on a global scale. This understanding leads the characters to Nightfall a year later and together for the event that will change the planet's understanding of the world. Never having experienced night the planet had never seen stars. In the darkness people panicked but the appearance of stars brought the population to madness. Daybreak is the experience of the characters as they regain sanity and move about the planet in a new society governed by crazies.
Upside
The premise of a whole planet experiencing night for the first time together and discovering the existence of stars
Sheerin is just an enjoyable character
It is really fascinating Sci-Fi as there isn't any Science that doesn't already exist on Earth
The forward by Asimov and Silverberg explaining that it is an alien planet but the translated to English terms so it would be easier for the reader to understand
Downside
Nightfall section lost momentum when it jumped nearly a year in time
The names are so different it really took me a while to get the characters straight
The reveal about Mondior at the end didn't have as much punch as I am sure it was supposed to just based on the fact I have read other similar reveals recently
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