SPAWN of KONG

Follow this link to the beginning of my fic, Captain Jack Sparrow and the Island of the Skull.

Swarmageddon has begun.

Fortunately, it will (supposedly) only last a month.  Unfortunately, I predict it'll take less time than that for me to go insane. D:

Link, complete with a video compilation of the creatures and images he created.

( The full text )

I personally didn't see any of the films with which he was involved until my college years, but when I did, it was quite easy for me to fall in love with them, and to recognize his enormous contribution to the world of visual effects. My personal favorite has always been The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, followed by Mysterious Island.

...Huh.

So, on the one hand, very entertaining; you definitely get your money's worth.  On the other hand, though, the whole thing is extremely uneven in terms of pacing, tone, and characters' motivations.


Also, for those who have the patience to sit through the credits, there's a pretty funny post-credits scene, with a nice surprise cameo.

"B"

I've always been a sucker for dinosaurs/monsters/creatures of unusual size.  That's what drew me to my usernamesake, King Kong, and that's what also drew me to the 1998 version of Godzilla.  At the time, I thought it was an awesome movie, but hey, I was roughly 11 at the time.

Over the next 15 years, I became aware of the movie's many, many flaws, especially very recently, since I've now watched all the Heisei-era Godzilla films, plus nearly all the Millennium-era ones, as well as both versions of the 1954 film that started it all.  But the funny thing is, I still have a soft spot for the 1998 film.  Maybe it's the fact that it was my first experience with Godzilla, maybe it's the surprisingly good music (which is arguably even better than the movie itself), maybe because of the monster's design (which is not to bash the more traditional look of Godzilla).  In any case, in spite of being aware of every single flaw with this version of Godzilla, part of me still enjoys watching it.

...I think I figured out what it means for something to truly be a guilty pleasure.

That said, I look forward to whatever Gareth Edwards and Legendary Pictures have in store for us with their version of the King of the Monsters.

My first reaction was that I hated it.  Now, after some reflection (as well as reading TV Tropes and IMDB to figure out what the hell was going on in the night scenes, since I could barely see a thing on my laptop screen), I can kind of see what director Gareth Edwards was going for, but still can't help feeling somewhat short-changed.

Admittedly, I only checked this film out in the first place because I'd heard Edwards is directing the new American version of Godzilla, so perhaps I started watching it with certain expectations; not the best way to watch most movies, I've found.  That said, I can only assume/hope that Edwards won't try to emulate Monsters while making Godzilla.

Final grade: C+ -- it's a nice effort, even if it falls short of being satisfying.

...is the NRA completely incapable of realizing there are other ways to solve problems than with guns?

Oh, and, uh... here's to the world not ending today, I guess.

I was already horrified by the shooting that occurred today, but the following quote from this article especially made me cry:

First grade teacher Kaitlin Roig, 29, locked her 14 students in a class bathroom and listened to "tons of shooting" until police came to help.

"It was horrific," Roig said. "I thought we were going to die."

She said that the terrified kids were saying, "I just want Christmas…I don't want to die. I just want to have Christmas." [bolding mine]

Maybe I just don't understand how SERIOUS this is, but I'm inclined to agree with snacky  on it.

Well, Super-Storm Sandy has left our neighborhood, and I temporarily have internet.  Just letting everyone know I'm okay, but that it'll be some time (up to 2 weeks!) before we get power and internet back (although we do have water back, so yay!).

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who sometimes feels this sensation.

There's a great horned owl living in my backyard.  I know this because when I'm up late at night, I hear him hooting.  To hear a sound like that coming out of an otherwise quiet night is seriously creepy.

Happy Birthday, Sep!  Also, wow, you're only a year older than me?  Fancy that.

The most beautiful analogy ever (seriously, I was crying from laughing so hard), and my initial response was, "Cut plz"?

*hangs head in shame*

I just learned that Mary Tamm died nearly a month ago.  She was one of my all-time favorites.

Too many of the best Doctor Who companions have died in the past few years.  ;_;

You were right, tez -- the EMP is absolutely badass, especially their sci-fi/horror section.

Why yes, I am the only one in my family who doesn't give a crap about the Olympics.

Other than that, my two-week trip to the West Coast has been pretty awesome.

First of all, my condolences to the families of the victims of the Aurora, CO shooting.  From this incident, I doubt movie-going will ever feel as innocent an activity again.

Now, the film itself.

After reading about the movie theater shooting in Colorado, I really hope that Carrie stayed steadfast in her decision not to see The Dark Knight Rises.

It doesn't help that there are already people asking her on her FB if she was at the theater, and she hasn't posted any replies yet.

ETA: She's okay!  :D