Totally the same kid

Part 2: A Song of Ice and Fire
So, if you don’t follow me on twitter, have me as a friend on facebook, watch my Tumblr, or ever talk to me, you might not know I’ve been into a little series called A Song of Ice and Fire. Seriously, I can’t talk enough about how this series is everything fantasy should be. The story starts 15 or so years after the typical fantasy “overthrow the evil ruler” quest has ended, and the country of Westeros is still dealing with the aftermath. It’s quite gritty and far more disturbing than, say, Lord of the Rings, but it’s definitely one of those stories that reminds me that problems aren’t ever really solved. They just morph into new problems.

SAPPHIRES.

This series also has one of my new favorite characters of all time: Brienne of Tarth. I’m planning to do a blog post just about her at some point in the near future.

Part 3: Fanfiction
I found out the other day that George R. R. Martin (the author of aforementioned ASoIaF series) is vehemently opposed to fanfiction. I just, I can’t comprehend this. You know what, I have a lot to say on that too, so I’ll make another post about that later.

Part 4: My life
My life has actually been fairly eventful lately, but mostly in things I don’t desire to post on the internet. I did finally get my air conditioning unit to work, which is great now that we’re no longer in a giant heatwave.

I also got Google+, so if you’ve got an account, feel free to circle me. Is that the correct terminology?

I’m also going to Wizard World Comic Con next weekend. I’m dressing up as Tonks, which essentially involves dyeing my hair pink and tripping over everything. (Well, the tripping comes naturally anyway.)

Part 5: Music
My new favorite song:

I’d like to start this review by saying I thought I’d hate this film. I’ve been a fan of the animated series for quite a long time, and while I never got into the debate regarding racebending, I see where it stems from. While the movie did not hold up to its animated counterpart, it was not nearly as bad as I wasexpecting.

I suppose I should start with my problems with it. As a whole, it lacked the charm and humor that made Avatar: The Last Airbender such an excellent series. I don’t think Aang laughed a single time in the entire film, and Sokka made possibly one sarcastic remark. The characters were very serious and aware of the gravity of their endeavors in a very mature fashion. The first five minutes of the film were essentially the first five minutes of the show with the funny bits cut out.

Also, they changed the pronunciation of their names. This was probably the part that irked me the most about the film. There was no need to call Sokka “Sowe-kuh.” It made it seem like the Shyamalan had never actually watched the television series, and just decided to pronounce the names as they were seen on paper.

Some of the graphics, also, were a bit dodgy. There was one close-up on Appa’s face that was especially bad, but most of the animals weren’t done very well.

That said, I think there was some decent stuff in the film. I was impressed by the fight scenes, and it was interesting to see a “realistic” interpretation of the different sorts of bending.

The movie stayed pretty close to the plot line of the show, so there weren’t too many jarring “that never happened” moments. While Sokka, Katara and Aang seemed different than their show counterparts, Zuko seemed dead on. Besides one awkward scene forced in to reveal his backstory, his personality stayed in line with Zuko from the series. Iroh, while quite different from the show, also was interesting to watch.

The movie felt evenly paced, although there was definitely more room for character development to be inserted without upsetting the flow of the film.

All in all, not a bad film. Not amazing, but not the total disaster I expected. I left it feeling about the level of satisfaction I felt after seeing Percy Jackson and the Olympians or one of the first two Harry Potter films. I’d watch it again, but wouldn’t pay money to do so.

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For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised. The graphics are amazing and the plot, while a bit confusing and helter-skelter at parts, held my interest for the whole film.

The film adds to the story of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass” with the story of a fully-grown Alice (Mia Wasikowska). When pressured to marry someone who doesn’t really like her, she instead chases after a rabbit in a waistcoat and finds herself tumbling to “Underland” once again.

This movie was much darker than I expected, although I should have known better. The original story may be creepy in its own right, but Burton’s touch amplifies it.

One of the most disturbing moments I’ve ever seen in an ostensibly children’s film has a miniature Alice working her way across the moat to the Red Queen’s castle by jumping from one bodyless head to another.

Although I’ve grown up with the phrase “off with their head!” ground into my brain, I still was not expecting to see the gory aftermath.

I found Depp’s Mad Hatter to be problematic. I felt like he, like much of the rest of the movie, was trying too hard to make everything confusing. Although, to be honest, I had a hard time concentrating on what he was saying because his enormous green eyes kept distracting me.

His split personality between a happy hatter and an intense revolutionary with a Scottish accent jolted me out of the story instead of drawing me into it.

The supporting characters were masterfully done, especially Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen and Anne Hathaway’s White Queen. Chessur (Stephen Fry) and Absolem the Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) both are interestingly animated and voiced.

Like most of Burton’s films, it’s hard to talk about this one without mentioning the scenery and costumes. The art, like most of his other films, is simply stunning.

Although the movie did have some excellent parts (including a sword vs. sewing supplies fight), the ending was weak.

Burton created an interesting movie, with a unique plot and memorable characters, and ended it with just another story of a female protagonist rebelling against Victorian gender roles.*

Written for the Royal Purple.

*I’d like to clarify this, which I didn’t have enough time to in the original article. I feel as though far too many films force modern ideals on a historical time. Feminism is an example of this. While I know that there were many women who were ahead of their time socially, I get tired of so many historical films focusing on them. Just because we think a certain way now does not in any way mean that this was always the opinion. I think it’s lazy of filmmakers to always have the protagonist with modern sensibilities instead of taking the time to show us why they might have a different outlook.

No, it’s not really available, but I’d sure as heck buy that.

Due to an overwhelming tsunami of requests from YOU THE PEOPLE, we have decided to TRY and bring this to life. We have no clue if the suits at Lucasfilms will grant little ThinkGeek a license, nor do we know how much it would ultimately retail for. But if you are interested in ever owning one of these, click the link below and we’ll try!

Now I only need to find a child to kidnap.