SHOWS
I've been to see a few shows lately so I figured I'd give my opinion of them.
Pride and Prejudice
As I'm sure most of you are aware, this is just about my favourite book. It most definately has the best first line ever and if you don't know what I'm talking about just check out my favourite quotes on this blog. Prior to seeing this movie I had read the book twice and watched the BBC mini-series about a hundred times (ok well maybe not that many) so I have a pretty good background on this story. This version was definitely quite entertaining and for the most part well done. All the important points were included and the dialog was quite true to the book. Seeing as how it was only about a 2-3 hour movie everything had to be brief and to the point. For someone with a good knowledge of the book this would not be a problem at all, however, if you had no prior experience with this story I would think one would find it choppy and a little confusing. In any case, I really enjoyed Mr. Bingly and Jane in this version more so than the mini-series. In the BBC version they really weren't very good looking. Now I'm not saying that all people in movies should be good looking, but it's clearly stated in the book that they are, especially Jane. So in this repect I like this movie better. The relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth however was not, in my opinion well done. The movie really does not convey how Mr. Darcy came to love Lizzy in the first place. One day he hates her the next he's in love with her. Once again though, it must be recognized that this was a short movie and only so much could be done. It was definately worth watching so go check it out if you get the chance.
Swan Lake (the lake of swans)
I went to go see this Ballet with some friends last week. I had never heard the story before so I really didn't know what to expect. Over all I'd have to say it was ok but at times I found it to be long and the dancing unvaried. The entire thing was saved in my opion though by the spectacular act with all the swans dancing. It was absolutely beatiful and the dancers were just amazing. At one point four of the swans linked arms and danced together in a row for around 5-10 minutes without one step out of place. I was just amazed by the talent. The story itself was kind of weak. A guy falls in love with a swan, then thinks this girl all dressed in black was the swan, then a flood kills everyone in his castle, he fights with some fool and then dies in another storm and only the swan is left. It was one hell of a blood bath. For some reason I always thought it was the swan who died at the end after being shot by a hunter. Who knows, maybe there is more than one version or maybe I'm just confused. In any case, it was a fun evening.
Harry Potter and the Gobelt of Fire
I really liked this movie. Being one of my favourite books in the series I was really hoping it would be good and it most certainly met my expectations. Sure a lot had to be left out but all the important stuff was included. In general I found the movie to be more amusing than the others and I absolutely adored Fred and George with their longer hair. The seem to have gotten a lot better looking as they grown up. In the first movie I wasn't all that fond of them but they're really growing into their characters, everyone is for that matter. The only part I didn't particularily like was the last task of the tri-wizard tournament. It seemed really short, almost rushed and I didn't really like the way Voldemort looked. He didn't seem evil enough. Anyway, I can't wait for the next book to be released. It'll be the seventh and supposedly the last but I'm unsure how Rowling is going to fit everything in. I doubt it'll be out in the next couple years anyway so there's no sense in thinking about it now.
This weekend I'm going to another anime convention, "Con no Baka" (idiot convention?), hopefully it'll be really fun and I'm sure I'll have some pictures to put up here. I'll also be going to my first ever Barmitzva (that definitely is not how you spell it). It's for a second cousin of mine. Not being Jewish myself or even living around or knowing many Jewish people I've never been invited to one. So this should be really fun (or at least I hear that they are fun). I'll definately do an entry on it so check back soon!
I've been to see a few shows lately so I figured I'd give my opinion of them.
Pride and Prejudice
As I'm sure most of you are aware, this is just about my favourite book. It most definately has the best first line ever and if you don't know what I'm talking about just check out my favourite quotes on this blog. Prior to seeing this movie I had read the book twice and watched the BBC mini-series about a hundred times (ok well maybe not that many) so I have a pretty good background on this story. This version was definitely quite entertaining and for the most part well done. All the important points were included and the dialog was quite true to the book. Seeing as how it was only about a 2-3 hour movie everything had to be brief and to the point. For someone with a good knowledge of the book this would not be a problem at all, however, if you had no prior experience with this story I would think one would find it choppy and a little confusing. In any case, I really enjoyed Mr. Bingly and Jane in this version more so than the mini-series. In the BBC version they really weren't very good looking. Now I'm not saying that all people in movies should be good looking, but it's clearly stated in the book that they are, especially Jane. So in this repect I like this movie better. The relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth however was not, in my opinion well done. The movie really does not convey how Mr. Darcy came to love Lizzy in the first place. One day he hates her the next he's in love with her. Once again though, it must be recognized that this was a short movie and only so much could be done. It was definately worth watching so go check it out if you get the chance.
Swan Lake (the lake of swans)
I went to go see this Ballet with some friends last week. I had never heard the story before so I really didn't know what to expect. Over all I'd have to say it was ok but at times I found it to be long and the dancing unvaried. The entire thing was saved in my opion though by the spectacular act with all the swans dancing. It was absolutely beatiful and the dancers were just amazing. At one point four of the swans linked arms and danced together in a row for around 5-10 minutes without one step out of place. I was just amazed by the talent. The story itself was kind of weak. A guy falls in love with a swan, then thinks this girl all dressed in black was the swan, then a flood kills everyone in his castle, he fights with some fool and then dies in another storm and only the swan is left. It was one hell of a blood bath. For some reason I always thought it was the swan who died at the end after being shot by a hunter. Who knows, maybe there is more than one version or maybe I'm just confused. In any case, it was a fun evening.
Harry Potter and the Gobelt of Fire
I really liked this movie. Being one of my favourite books in the series I was really hoping it would be good and it most certainly met my expectations. Sure a lot had to be left out but all the important stuff was included. In general I found the movie to be more amusing than the others and I absolutely adored Fred and George with their longer hair. The seem to have gotten a lot better looking as they grown up. In the first movie I wasn't all that fond of them but they're really growing into their characters, everyone is for that matter. The only part I didn't particularily like was the last task of the tri-wizard tournament. It seemed really short, almost rushed and I didn't really like the way Voldemort looked. He didn't seem evil enough. Anyway, I can't wait for the next book to be released. It'll be the seventh and supposedly the last but I'm unsure how Rowling is going to fit everything in. I doubt it'll be out in the next couple years anyway so there's no sense in thinking about it now.
This weekend I'm going to another anime convention, "Con no Baka" (idiot convention?), hopefully it'll be really fun and I'm sure I'll have some pictures to put up here. I'll also be going to my first ever Barmitzva (that definitely is not how you spell it). It's for a second cousin of mine. Not being Jewish myself or even living around or knowing many Jewish people I've never been invited to one. So this should be really fun (or at least I hear that they are fun). I'll definately do an entry on it so check back soon!
Posted by *marla* at 12:38 p.m. |
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER RIBON
Well I'm a little late with my October Ribon so I figured I'd just do October and November together.
October's cover wasn't the greatest. I'm not really sure who the guys on the front are but I do believe they have something to do with a story that started recently called Ya-Ya-yah ga Yattekuru. The issue did come with quite a bit of furoku though. The main item was a Love Berrish purse type thing to hold make-up, hair clips etc. To go in the purse were hair clips, hair elastics, and a Love Berrish compact mirror and comb. In addition to these items there was an Animal Yokochou plastic bag, Shinshi Doumei Cross sticker (forgot to put it in the picture), Ageha 100% book cover, and a Choco Mimi paper doll set.
November's issue has a very cute cover. This issue has a ton of advertisement in it for the Animal Yokochou anime that recently started. The manga has been getting colour pages in the past few issues as well. It's the first pannel comic in Ribon that I've seen get colour pages since I starting buying it last January. The furoku with this issue was just awsome. It came with a Love Berrish wall clock, Love Berrish stickers, and and Animal Yokochou deck of cards. It seems that every month more and more awsome furoku are given out with the magazine, and when you consider the price it's even more awsome.
I think that I will definitely be getting a subscription for 2006. I didn't get one this year because I wasn't sure if I really would like the magazine. Lately, however, I've been able to read through entire chapters (which is something I most definately could not do when I first bought the magazine). So it's most certainly worth it for me to continue to buy the magazine... for the reading practice... and for the free stuff hehe
Well I'm a little late with my October Ribon so I figured I'd just do October and November together.
October's cover wasn't the greatest. I'm not really sure who the guys on the front are but I do believe they have something to do with a story that started recently called Ya-Ya-yah ga Yattekuru. The issue did come with quite a bit of furoku though. The main item was a Love Berrish purse type thing to hold make-up, hair clips etc. To go in the purse were hair clips, hair elastics, and a Love Berrish compact mirror and comb. In addition to these items there was an Animal Yokochou plastic bag, Shinshi Doumei Cross sticker (forgot to put it in the picture), Ageha 100% book cover, and a Choco Mimi paper doll set.
November's issue has a very cute cover. This issue has a ton of advertisement in it for the Animal Yokochou anime that recently started. The manga has been getting colour pages in the past few issues as well. It's the first pannel comic in Ribon that I've seen get colour pages since I starting buying it last January. The furoku with this issue was just awsome. It came with a Love Berrish wall clock, Love Berrish stickers, and and Animal Yokochou deck of cards. It seems that every month more and more awsome furoku are given out with the magazine, and when you consider the price it's even more awsome.
I think that I will definitely be getting a subscription for 2006. I didn't get one this year because I wasn't sure if I really would like the magazine. Lately, however, I've been able to read through entire chapters (which is something I most definately could not do when I first bought the magazine). So it's most certainly worth it for me to continue to buy the magazine... for the reading practice... and for the free stuff hehe
Posted by *marla* at 1:13 p.m. |
HALLOWEEN FUN
The week before last Friday, Linda, Rachel and I had planned on going to Wonderland for FearFest. Unfortunitly it was raining and quite cold so we ended up just hanging out at my house and watching scary movies. Since we really wanted to go to FearFest, we postponed it a week and went this past Friday. Since it was the Halloween weekend it turned out to be quite busy but was still a lot of fun. The entire park was decorated in a haunted theme, all the lights were replaced with red bulbs and there were smoke/fog machines everywhere. It definitely gave the park and eerie atmosphere. Basically a bunch of haunted attractions were added to the park and many of the good rides which were left open. The attractions were very similar to the kind of stuff at Screemers. The only problem though was that there were so many people. This made it difficult to be scared by anything since a monster etc would jump out at the people in front of you so you would know (most of the time) what was coming up. In any case I still had an awsome time and am glad that I got to go. One attraction in particular was really great. They drained all the water out of the white water rapids ride (the one with the inner tubes) and let us walk through it. The whole thing was turned into a kind of ancient scary ruins attraction, which eventually ended us up in the forest where we were chased by a guy with a chainsaw. I don't think there is anything more scary than a guy with a chainsaw... it's definitely a heart attack inducing experience.
Yesterday, being Monday, I got to go over to the school I volunteer at. Luckily for me Halloween fell on a Monday this year. All the little kids were dressed up in their costumes and having a great time. In the morning all the grades and classes were mixed up and everyone got to rotate classes and participate in different Halloween activities. In the afternoon our class had their own mini party and everyone brought snacks. The whole day really got me feeling nostalgic.
That evening I was in charge of handing out the Halloween candy. Since we only got between 20 and 30 kids last year, we decided to just buy large candy bars this year. I think we ended up getting about 30 kids so it was a pretty good night... ah but I remember a time when we got close to 200 kids... everyone has really grown up in this neighbourhood, it's kinda sad but what can ya do.
The week before last Friday, Linda, Rachel and I had planned on going to Wonderland for FearFest. Unfortunitly it was raining and quite cold so we ended up just hanging out at my house and watching scary movies. Since we really wanted to go to FearFest, we postponed it a week and went this past Friday. Since it was the Halloween weekend it turned out to be quite busy but was still a lot of fun. The entire park was decorated in a haunted theme, all the lights were replaced with red bulbs and there were smoke/fog machines everywhere. It definitely gave the park and eerie atmosphere. Basically a bunch of haunted attractions were added to the park and many of the good rides which were left open. The attractions were very similar to the kind of stuff at Screemers. The only problem though was that there were so many people. This made it difficult to be scared by anything since a monster etc would jump out at the people in front of you so you would know (most of the time) what was coming up. In any case I still had an awsome time and am glad that I got to go. One attraction in particular was really great. They drained all the water out of the white water rapids ride (the one with the inner tubes) and let us walk through it. The whole thing was turned into a kind of ancient scary ruins attraction, which eventually ended us up in the forest where we were chased by a guy with a chainsaw. I don't think there is anything more scary than a guy with a chainsaw... it's definitely a heart attack inducing experience.
Yesterday, being Monday, I got to go over to the school I volunteer at. Luckily for me Halloween fell on a Monday this year. All the little kids were dressed up in their costumes and having a great time. In the morning all the grades and classes were mixed up and everyone got to rotate classes and participate in different Halloween activities. In the afternoon our class had their own mini party and everyone brought snacks. The whole day really got me feeling nostalgic.
That evening I was in charge of handing out the Halloween candy. Since we only got between 20 and 30 kids last year, we decided to just buy large candy bars this year. I think we ended up getting about 30 kids so it was a pretty good night... ah but I remember a time when we got close to 200 kids... everyone has really grown up in this neighbourhood, it's kinda sad but what can ya do.
Posted by *marla* at 12:32 p.m. |