It's Trailer Time!

First, a moment of silence for those in Boston today. Our prayers are with them.




 

  If you're a huge Hunger Games fan, you've probably seen the new Catching Fire trailer five billion times, right? And after watching all that, you're probably having a hard time breathing and sorting through all your awe-filled thoughts. 
  I'm going to make things a little more difficult for you and add my own thoughts, just because I'm cruel.

 The first thing I noticed is that the brilliant advertising team at Lionsgate is reusing their past strategy and keeping all the arena scenes hidden and unmentioned. There are hints about it throughout the trailer, for example, President Snow saying,”there whole species needs to be eradicated," and such, but we see neither head nor trident of Finnick Odair, Johanna Mason, or even brave little Beetee. 
    Most fans will probably agree that this marketing strategy is pure genius. Instead of focusing on Katniss going back into eh Hunger Games, the trailer focuses on the rebellion, leading movie goers to realize this is not just a cheap repeat of the first film, and that if they spend their money on a ticket, it will be to watch something new, exciting, and different. Once again, Lionsgate, genius.
  
  The next thing I noticed is that Katniss acts a lot younger in this film, but in a good way. There were times, while watching The Hunger Games, when I felt Katniss acted or looked a little to mature to pass off for a sixteen year old. Of course, this might just be all in my head, since each time I see Katniss my brain screams out "Hey, there's that twenty two year old Jennifer Lawrence on screen!" 

   Even without my brains nasty tendency to shout out annoying things in the middle of movies, Katniss does indeed seem more like a desperate sixteen year old, just wanting to "save her skin" as Snow put it. Her voice is so helpless and scared in the scene with Haymitch in the D11 attic and her face is so frightened, every image of the confident and cool J-Law that I'm familiar with vanishes in a whiff of smoke. Or should I say, "Vanishes as it quickly catches fire." Ha ha ha, that was a lame joke.
  And then there's Peeta. His face is full of shock after he sees the D11 man get shot. Like, really shocked. If Beetee had wrapped his coil around him, let the lightening strike him, then burnt a perfectly good piece of bread for no reason, Peeta couldn't have looked more shocked.
  Poor Peeta. 

Next, of course, are the costumes. Effie seems to be wearing a grey mouse ears type wig before entering Snow's huge party, and Katniss dress seems to qualify as a lethal weapon. Look at all those spike feathers! Peeta, like usual, is wearing a classy suit type thing. There's probably a more accurate term, but I don't know it. Leave a comment explaining exactly what he's wearing, if you can.
  Also, Caesar’s hair is pink. Like a boss.

   Next, how dare they burn up the Hob! Then there's Gale, who, despite what the book says, is still conscious. Poor poor poor Gale. It looks so painful I cried. And ugh, that did not look like a gentle slap, Katniss. Put some snow on that--wait, where's the snow?

Okay, if I stay on here much longer, I'll just start crying again, so I’ll sign off.
  May the odds be ever in your favor.

Weekly Round Up

   Somewhere out there, there is someone else also calling there news round up "the Weekly Round Up" but I can't remember where, so...

1.) The Hunger Games teaser for the teaser trailer (Yeah, it's a real thing) has come out. Let me here a "whoop whoop!" And this Sunday at the MTV movie awards, the full teaser trailer will be released.

2.) The Divergent movie has officially started filming. 

3.) This Wednesday at 9PM ET, Stelecast, a Mortal Instruments podcast, will air it's first episode. So get your Steles and Witchlight rune stones ready and buckle down for a great time.

Watch out for demons all you Shadowhunters, and stay away from blue drinks!

A Few Good TV Shows

    Okay, so you've just read the best book of your life and already stated having symptoms of book hangover. However, there are no other good books available at your disposal, and you're beginning to go a little crazy. So of course, you turn on your computer, log onto Netflix instant and--
   Silence. Because you've just realized that no amount of TV is going to take the place of a good book, or speed up the wait until the next great book comes out. There is no Harry Potter TV show. The Hunger Games is fictional. Delirium's TV show won't be out for months. You start to panic.  
   The next thing you know, you're curled up on the floor, sucking your thumb and cursing the world's TV overlords for not inventing something to help. You're about to scream.
  Thankfully, all is not lost!
  Although a TV show can never truly take the place of a good book, here is a list of awesome shows that will help you through your book hangover rough patch, or simply waste an afternoon! Who knows, maybe you'll be sucked into a few TV related fandoms along the way as well.
 
1.) Firefly. I can't emphasis this TV show enough. In a nutshell it's a western dystopia in space, but crack open the nut and it's much more. The characters leap off the screen. The dialogue is genius. The settings seem so natural you won't believe they're not real. So watch it. PG-13.

2.) Dollhouse. It's a pretty complicated show, but another work of art created by the supreme ruler of all nerds and geeks--Joss Whedon. Therefore, it is good. Dystopian fans will really like this, especially if you enjoy things like "Divergent," "Matched," and "Delirium" but are a little sick of all the romance. PG-13.


3.) Teen Wolf. Many will pass this off as just a goofy Glee or Vampire Diaries spin off, but it’s less about the romance and more about the mythology. The characters break all stereotypes. There is action to spare. Of course, there is plenty of romance, but it's not as goofy as Glee, and the primary focus of the series isn't just on the main characters love life. It's about werewolves. And it rocks.
  Fans of "Wolves of Mercy Falls," "Delirium," and even "Percy Jackson" will enjoy this. Don't remember if its PG or PG-13, but it's usually appropriate if you have younger ones around. At least, most of the episodes are...

4.) Supernatural. This is all about monster hunting, ghost chasing, and sibling rivalry. There are guns, awesome cars, funny dialogue, (and after a few seasons) Angels and Demons. If you want something action packed and love interesting ghosts and monsters, watch this now!
Not sure what the rating is, but most episodes are probably PG-13ish. Some scenes are worse than others by far.

5.) Doctor Who. This needs no explanation.

6.) Once Upon a Time. It's a great fairytale meets reality show, but not in the same way "Enchanted" was. The actors are brilliant too.

7.) Sherlock. This is probably the best show currently on TV, and it is unexplainable. Watch it and wait for your mind to be blown. TV-14, because it can be a little dark...

8.) Arrested Development. Definitely TV-14, but totally hilarious. You will never laugh as much at a show than you will at Arrested Development. It's a true cult show, and it's so good, you'll thank me for the rest of your life. Plus, Netflix is ordering another season! Double awesome.

9.) Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog. And everything else by Joss Whedon.

   I realize there are about a dozen more great shows out there for people looking for awesome entertainment, but that's all for now. So get off this blog and start browsing Netflix!

Weekly Round Up: Early Edition

Since I will be missing most of the weekend, here's this weeks Weekly Round Up.

1.) WE HAVE A TRAILER!!!!
 Okay, I know I just broke a bunch of Internet grammar rules, but COME ON! Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters finally has a trailer! Unfortunately, the only way to see it in high quality is if you're willing to cough up ten bucks for a movie ticket to see The Host, but it might be worth it!
  I managed to find one single video on the web, and it's not high quality, but it's still awesome. Check it out!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xykl5z_percy-jackson-sea-of-monsters-2013-trailer_shortfilms

Is Nathan Fillion great or what? But no matter how great he is, if he doesn't make a few Firefly references in PJO, then I will...uh.... do nothing, but get very upset....I guess......

2.) In other trailer news, Cassandra Clare, author of The Moral Instruments and Infernal Devices books has released stills of the new theatrical trailer which will debut on April 1st. (That better not be a prank...) Anyway, for the full story Click here!

3.) Well, this isn't really "news" but it's still pretty cool.

  The Hunger Games Fireside Chat has released "100 Things to Do Before 'Catching Fire'" video, which is both creative and funny. Go check it out!

And that's it for the week!
  May the odds be ever in your favor, the Force with you, your sword ever sharp (or what ever Christopher Paolini uses to sign off) your wand held high, and your life awesome, good bye for now.

What's Up with Reality?

     If you've been reading this blog for a while (which not many have) you've probably noticed I spend a lot of time on the internet, especially fan sites, which I usually love. The one thing I don't especially enjoy is haters. But the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen a hater say is "I don't/didn't like the book because it doesn't seem/wasn't realistic." Despite that, they love fantasy.
    Is walking into a wardrobe and finding a magic land filled with talking beavers realistic? No. Is living in a world where children are shoved into an arena and forced to fight to the death realistic? No. Is getting a letter accepting you to a school full of wizards realistic? Still no? What about finding out one of your parents is a Greek god? Or that there's a civilization of fairies living under ground? Or that there could ever be a world where love is a disease?
    The answer to all of that is no. None of those scenarios are realistic in the least. The characters aren't that true to life either. What 11 year old would really go off by themselves to defeat a dark wizard who killed his parents without any adult help? Would a 12 year old really have the guts to walk into Hades realm and back? Why would anyone let a bunch of 16 year olds lead the country into rebellion?
    NO!
    And that’s the point! The whole point of reading fiction is because it's fiction. Our beloved characters are not real people, they do not really exist, and their purpose in the real world is to take us into their own. People read fantasy to escape their everyday life. They read to forget that they're just another random unimportant guy in a boring office or that they're just a wimpy high school nerd.
    People love fantasy because it draws us out of ourselves and transforms briefly into the characters we're reading. When they're scared, we're scared. When they're crying, we're crying. When they're safe, so are we. When we read, we leave all reality behind and let ourselves get lost in a world that we could never imagine otherwise. We can fly on the backs of dragons, journey to the end of the earth, fight wars with swords led by a 12 year old general, and just stop being us.
    So what is wrong with unrealistic books?

Weekly (or something) Round Up

 Here's a new feature I'm adding to the blog--Weekly Round Up! Each Monday I'll give a quick (or not so quick) run down of recent Fandom news!
 So here I go.

1.) Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Ben Lamb, and Christian Madison have been casted as Will, Edward, and Al, respectively, in the "Divergent" movie, coming out next year. Yippee! We're one step closer to completing our Divergent cast!

2.) Cassandra Clare's new book "Clockwork Princess" has finally arrived, leaving the whole Mortal Instruments fandom in a state of complete emotional overload and the urge to strangle/hug/scream at Cassandra Clare.

3.) The Hunger Games Fireside Chat (http://www.hgfiresidechat.com/podcast/2013/03/hunger-games-fireside-chat-podcast-100 has just aired it's 100th episode! I stumbled upon this amazing gem in the middle of 2011, while browsing the internet for Hunger Games news, and was so glad I did--if you're a Hunger Games fan, click on the link and check it out!

That's all for this weeks Weekly Round Up! Tune in next week for another Round Up!

Happy (belated) Pi Day!

  Happy Mathematical and Food-like Pi day!
  Today is the day when nerds from all over the world congregate and celebrate the magical nerd number that the geometrical world seems to revolve around! ( That really didn't make sense but it makes me sound smart, so...)
  In honor of  this Day of Extreme Math Nerdiness with Regular Nerdyness (which is the correct way to spell the state of being of being a nerd? I'll never know...) here are some Pi related things to go check out.

 First, a stupidly ridiculous song I made up about Pi.
  Yes, I'm that much of a geek.

Happy happy Pi Day, may all your dreams come true!

I wish I brought some pie with me so you could taste it too

Happy happy Pi Day, we all know it's the best

to celebrate this holiday we'll have a Pi/pie fest--er, uh... Festival? But that doesn't rhyme.....

(And I don't know why the font is blue either... I guess I'm just having one of those weird days...)

   And next, since no holiday can be perfect, here is a video about the wrongness of Pi. Ha ha ha, I am such a negative person..... Sigh.

          Okay, so now that you've wasted all this time learning aobut a holiday that has probably already ended, since most of you won't read this until the 15---

  Oh forget it. Just go get some pie and leave a dozen comments under this blog about the ways you celebrate Pi day, and the correct way to spell "Nerdieness" Then get some more pie. And bring me a slice too.....

Oh, and I don't own the video.