Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

All pictures courtesy of the
 Captain America: The Winter Soldier IMDb page

This isn't going to be a spoiler-free review. I'll do my best to not spoil anything huge, but there might be small ones here and there. You have been warned.  

I knew I was going to enjoy this movie, because Steve Rogers is my favorite Marvel character. I didn't know that it was going to be the best Marvel movie I've ever seen.

I don't try to over-analyze superhero movies. I expect them to be action flicks with more explosions than plot, so I'm not disappointed when they are action flicks with more explosions than plot. I also have to mention that I know next to nothing about the original comics, so this review is purely going to be evaluating the movie.

(I've heard that some of the comic-lovers think that The Winter Soldier would have been much more powerful if Steve had died, and The Winter Soldier had taken on the mantle of Captain America, like what apparently happens in the comics. I can relate to being upset about movie adaptations not following the source material, but seriously. If Steve had died, I would have walked out of the theater and never gone to see a Marvel movie ever again.)

Going back to my original statement about superhero movies, The Winter Soldier has more than enough explosions, shootouts, and dramatic chase scenes, but there's also so much more to it than that. Saving the world is almost a side issue. The movie is about its characters, and about their convictions, courage, loyalty, friendship, and self-sacrifice.

 I feel quite sorry for the other people in the theater with Katie and me, because we spent most of the movie either gasping, clapping our hands over our mouths, flailing, sobbing, or doing a combination of the above. Anyway. Moving on.   

Good Things
I expected this movie to be more of a sequel to The Avengers than to Captain America: The First Avenger, because of the seventy year time gap. They actually tied the two Captain America movies together incredibly and painfully well, especially at the climax, with Steve being too brave AGAIN.

I like to tell people that I like Steve Rogers better than Captain America. I adore the first half hour or so of Captain America: The First Avenger, before Steve goes through the experiment, and while I obviously still like him afterwards, I will always prefer pre-serum Steve. The last thing I ever expected to see in The Winter Soldier was NEW FOOTAGE with pre-serum Steve, and I was hyperventilating so hard during that one scene that I was barely paying attention to anything that was going on. All the flashbacks were so painful, but so wonderful. Argh. And then there was Steve's visit to an old friend of his, and that's when I started sobbing.

I found it very refreshing that in this movie, the antagonist actually isn't a super villain. (The Winter Soldier is not the antagonist of this movie. He's a weapon that's being used by the antagonist.) The true antagonist is one of the most powerful kinds of villains--the frighteningly normal kind. He doesn't cackle evilly over his plans of world domination; he at least seems to believe that he's fighting to make the world a better place.

Sprinkled in with all the pain in this movie is just the right amount of humor to lighten the mood without detracting from the emotional impact of the story. Natasha's attempts at matchmaking in the middle of all the chaos are probably my favorite. Speaking of which, that leads into another point. One of the things that really sets this movie apart from several of the other recent Marvel movies is that there is absolutely no forced or rushed romantic subplot purely for the sake of a romantic subplot. (I'm looking at you, Thor.) Steve isn't ready to move on while Peggy is still alive. Sadly, he doesn't tell Natasha that.

Steve and Bucky's friendship was already decently developed in The First Avenger, but they didn't leave it at that. They kept developing it in this movie, probably just for the sake of making everything more painful. "I'll be with you 'til the end of the line." Excuse me while I cry.

The Characters

Steve Rogers is still every bit the awkward, old-fashioned, gentlemanly soldier and captain in this movie. I was a bit worried about where they were going to take his character, but that didn't end up being an issue at all. If anything, I like him even more now.

I've always liked Natasha, but if anything I respect her more after this movie because of the sacrifices she was willing to make. When it comes to her action scenes, nothing in this movie even comes close to her introductory sequence in The Avengers, but it was still very fun to watch her. And her attempts at finding Steve a date added some much-needed and light-hearted fun.

Sam Wilson. Not knowing anything about the Falcon, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I ended up absolutely loving him, and the way he supported Steve right when he needed it most. "Don't look at me. I do everything he does, just slower."

The Winter Soldier had all of five lines in this movie, and as Katie pointed out, the first one was in Russian. For being the character that the movie is named after, he doesn't really start being involved until surprisingly late in the movie. But as soon as he does come into play, the emotional trauma for anyone who cared anything about Bucky's friendship with Steve in The First Avenger begins. Sebastian Stan's acting is phenomenal, because he's forced to act mostly with his eyes and body language instead of words, and if your heart doesn't go out for the Winter Soldier, then you don't have one.

Music
I don't usually like it when a sequel has a different composer than the first movie, but I think Henry Jackman does a good job of capturing the overall feel of the movie. I heard hints of the original Captain America theme, which made me happy, and the piano solo in "The End of the Line" is beautiful and hurts my emotions.

Rating
This is possibly the cleanest PG-13 movie I have ever seen. Swearing and profanity is at a minimum. I think the rating is purely because of the intense action, and that one scene with Bucky. And because of the emotional trauma these fictional characters will put you through. 

Bad Things
Seriously my only critique of this movie is that there's too much action. "Well, of course," you say. "It's an action flick." I know. But I watch these movies for the characters, not for the shoot-outs and intense car-chases. However, I do have to say that the action that is in the movie is very impressive, especially the hand-to-hand combat scenes.

Overall, I give this movie six out of five stars, and declare it as a must-see for anyone who's a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because it's so much more than your typical superhero action flick, and I'm pretty sure it's going to end up on my list of top favorites.

~Kellyn~

The Sherwood Ring, by Elizabeth Marie Pope

Picture from Bing Images

I hadn't even heard of this book until a friend of mine said that Arsene Lupin reminded her of a character from it. Well, that sounded promising, so I looked it up on Wikipedia. It sounded interesting, and I decided to give it a whack.

Heh.

I obviously wasn't expecting it to suck me in, make me fall in love with the characters, cause me to stay up until midnight reading it, and to leave me so satisfied at the end.

The Sherwood Ring, written in 1958 by Elizabeth Marie Pope, is about a newly-orphaned seventeen-year-old named Peggy Grahame who goes to live with her eccentric uncle at the old family estate in New York--and she quickly discovers that when her father told her that Rest-and-Be-Thankful was haunted, he meant it.

However, these ghosts aren't transparent tortured souls looking for revenge. They're Peggy's ancestors from the Revolutionary War time period, and they only want to tell Peggy a story.

A story filled with suspense, excitement, and romance, of course.

Seriously. This book basically takes everything that I love (amazing, relatable characters,
lyrical prose, and clever dialogue) and wraps it up in a package made out of one of my favorite time periods. And I think the author was an anglophile, to boot.

The characters, both in modern day (Peggy Grahame, Pat Thorne, and Peggy's uncle), and in the 1700s (Richard Grahame, Eleanor Shipley, Barbara Grahame, and Peaceable Drummond Sherwood) feel very real and relatable to me. And Peaceable Drummond Sherwood went on to earn a place on my list of favorite fictional characters, but more on that later. (Actually, that might have to be its own post. :P)

I don't often notice the prose in the books I read as much as the dialogue, but I love the prose in The Sherwood Ring. It can be slightly sarcastic (which I adore in books), and it fits both time periods very well. The pacing is also pretty much spot-on, in my opinion. There were times when I wanted a bit more detail, but there was never too much. Also, I normally don't enjoy reading books that switch perspective practically every chapter, but Pope does a masterful job of weaving the two stories and time periods together so that you're left wanting to know what's going to happen next in the past, but not annoyed to return to the present, either. In the Sherwood Ring it's also kind of fun to notice the slight narrative differences between the ghosts. And when I realized that it was Peaceable Sherwood's turn to tell his bit of the story, I might have gotten  just a little majorly excited.

The dialogue. I loved the dialogue. There are several spots where the characters start bantering with each other, and then there's the one bit that I loved just because of how strange it sounds out of context--

"You're not by any chance the fool ancestor who began the fool custom of leaving the punch bowl in this particular corner?"

"No. Only the fool ancestor who didn't get himself hanged on a fool gallows because the punch bowl happened to be in that particular corner."

 One last thing before I move on to the ending. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't name the characters, but the romance between two of the Revolutionary War era-characters that develops during the course of the story made me ridiculously happy, because it came out of nowhere and yet made so much sense.

And then there was the ending. I haven't read a book with an ending that made me that happy in forever. Everything was wrapped up perfectly and yet still left me wanting more.


The Sherwood Ring is a perfect book to curl up with on a chilly autumn afternoon and lose yourself in, and I'm sure I'll be re-reading it way too many times. I'm very thankful to the friend that introduced it to me, and I hope that this post has inspired you to go check it out as well. :)

~Kellyn~

The Code of the Woosters, by P. G. Wodehouse

Picture from Bing Images.
Extremely disturbing book cover,
fantastic book. :P

Bertie Wooster's task was simple. All he had to do was visit an antique shop in Brompton Road and convince the owner to lower the price of an eighteenth-century silver cow-creamer. But when things go wrong, and Bertie finds out that the woman he was once accidentally engaged to is threatening to cancel her wedding to one of Bertie's old friends, our hero is determined to get them back together--and, once again, the answer lies in securing the very same cow-creamer, and also in finding a little brown notebook in which the groom wrote some very unflattering things about his future father-in-law. That's my best attempt at explaining the plot. :P A much more coherent summary can be found here. But if you really want to know more about it you should go read the book. *nodnod*

I grabbed this book off the shelf when I wanted something fairly short and entertaining to read and was seriously laughing within the first few pages. P. G. Wodehouse is a good writer, and Bertie is a hilarious narrator. Combine the two, and you have a very enjoyable book.

The plot is seemingly simple, but right when you think everything has finally been fixed, Wodehouse throws in another twist that makes you laugh, shake your head (or roll your eyes), and keep on reading until the end.

I don't normally read books that are purely supposed to be funny, because a lot of times the humor is too slapstick for my taste, and the characters annoy me more than anything else. But Wodehouse is a master. None of the characters in this book are overly annoying, I actually found the book extremely entertaining, and did I mention that Bertie is hilarious and ridiculous and endearing? And Jeeves is just awesome.

Another thing that I have to mention: there was hardly any swearing or anything like that in this book at all. Wodehouse gets major bonus points for that.

Anyway, if you like humor, the first few decades of the twentieth century, and British literature, go look up P. G. Wodehouse right now. I will definitely be grabbing more of his books off the shelf in future.

~Kellyn~

P. S. I am determined to review All Creatures Great and Small...as soon as I figure out how to write the blog post on it. Inspiration has not been my friend when it comes to that post, for some reason.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

"The sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange!
Sunset Towers faced east and had no towers. This glittery, glassy apartment house stood alone on the Lake Michigan shore five stories high. Five empty stories high.
Then one day (it happened to be the Fourth of July), a most uncommon-looking delivery boy rode around town slipping letters under the doors of the chosen tenants-to-be. The letters were signed 'Barney Northrup'
The delivery boy was sixty-two years old, and there was no such person as Barney Northrup...."


The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The Westing Game is a favorite book of mine, if for nothing else because of the unique layout of the story and the way the plot progresses. Generally, in a mystery novel, there are a couple of main characters, a victim of some sort, and a trail of clues and plot twists that lead to the resolution of the mystery. While, of course, clues and plot twists are essential to a mystery story, in The Westing Game, there are several main characters and a rather unorthodox "victim." The main characters all have distinct personalities, and, well, perhaps the book itself can describe them better-

"Who were these people, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake. Barney Northrup had rented one of the apartments to the wrong person."

While the book is a fairly easy read, the quality of the mystery is not. I, myself, have read the book three or four times. The first time I read it, I was held in suspense until the very end. The flow of the story was so beautifully complex that I was never able to guess the ending. It was immensely fun going back through the book again, looking for all the subtle hints and connecting elements. The unique layout of the story keeps you interested all the way through; it keeps the gears turning in your head as each character finds a new piece of evidence to further the "game" these tenants are in the midst of.

I quite enjoy this book, and would recommend it to anyone who wants a fun, light read and an intriguing mystery.

~Katie~

 

That Hideous Strength, by C. S. Lewis

According to C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength is a fairy tale for grownups. You have villains that are clearly villains, and heroes that are clearly heroes, and high stakes (They just have to save the world again. No biggie.), and even magic of sorts.

The main characters are Mark and Jane Studdock, a newly-wed young British couple who aren't getting along as well as they thought they would. As they grow farther apart, they find themselves on opposite sides in a battle between the blatantly evil National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments  (oh, the irony), and the small group resisting them.

The first half of the book starts out pretty slowly, and the villains are, well, bad, and not very pleasant to read about, especially if you're reading the book for the second time.  And the ending has a very different feel from the beginning, because it's much more fantasy-ish. Also, That Hideous Strength is the third book in C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, and though it technically can stand alone, the ending would be very confusing if you haven't read Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra.

I started reading the Space Trilogy because I grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia and wanted to check out some of C. S. Lewis' other fiction work. I enjoyed the trilogy, but I probably won't be re-reading the first two books very often. I liked That Hideous Strength much more because it's set on earth and starts out fairly normally, allowing the reader to adjust before the really strange things start happening.

Things I liked about the book:

I love the way that Lewis takes a neutral couple not directly involved with either side and uses them to illustrate the differences between the N.I.C.E. and the group of people who stand against it. I also like Mark and Jane, although when I re-read it I really just wanted to slap some sense into them and tell them to stop trying to be too modern and politically correct and start behaving like decent people. :P Really, though, it's amazing to watch Mark's change of heart (it happens to Jane, too, but it's not quite as marked.), and to mentally yell at him when he's being an idiot and to cheer for him when he finally sees the light.

And Mr. Bultitude. Mr. Bultitude really made the book for me. Even though he's only in a small part of the book, he provides a wonderful bit of comic relief when things really begin to get disturbing.  C. S. Lewis's way of describing animals and giving them personalities is just amazing. I found trying to picture a bear "meditatively boxing a punch-ball" quite entertaining. XD

Things I didn't like about the book:

The villains are bad. Like, send-shivers-down-your-spine-how-could-they-possibly-be-so-convoluted bad. I know that those are the best kinds of villains, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy reading about them.

The book does get kind of strange in the middle/end. Once Merlin is introduced (Yes, that Merlin) the whole feel of the book switches completely and leaves you thinking "Okay, what just happened?" If I remember correctly, this is also when the villains start to get really bizarre.

There's some swearing. And it isn't just the obviously bad characters who do it. After a while I just wanted everybody to shut up.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I would recommend it to teenagers who like science fiction and C. S. Lewis and want to be challenged by a book that makes you think a little.

~Kellyn~

I'm Not Dead...

...I'm just having problems actually finishing blog posts. And it's also really hard for me to not majorly overthink things when I'm trying to review books. I keep thinking that my reviews have to be all professional and intellectual, and that's not the point. :P

So. List of  reviews that I've started working on:

-Three Men in a Boat
-That Hideous Strength
-All Creatures Great and Small
-North & South (The BBC miniseries)

I promise that I will have at least one of these finished and posted by the end of the week, and yes, you can hold me to that. I think I need accountability.

~Kellyn~

Gaudy Night

This is pretty much a blogging fail of epic proportions. We went to see this play on October 19th of last year, and I've been working on this post ever since then. I am determined to get it posted though, even if it is old news by now, because this play did so much for my literary tastes that I've just got to give credit to it. I'm still including most of the original post that was written within a few days of seeing the play, but I've added comments looking back on it in parenthesis. So...

I walked into the small theatre and settled myself in my seat in almost the exact middle of the second row and only feet from the small stage.  As I gazed at the table set for dinner with a card announcing that it was reserved for a Lord Peter Wimsey, I couldn't help but wonder if Gaudy Night would be worth my getting so excited about it.

Within minutes of Lord Peter and Harriet settling themselves down at the table and beginning to talk, all my concerns were forgotten. Taproot Theatre, I am so sorry that I ever doubted you. This was the first play that I'd been to in years, and it was splendidly well-done. Harriet was lovely, Lord Peter was wonderful, their relationship is beautiful, and I'm now obsessed with the 1930s. (Is that when it started? I'd almost forgotten. Now I'm kind of obsessed with the whole first half of the 20th century. Do you see the effect this play had on me? It's shocking.)


(And here comes a not-very-concise and rambly summary.)

Gaudy Night is set in England in 1935. The main character (unlike all the other Dorothy L. Sayers mysteries)  is Harriet Vane, a mystery writer, who is invited to attend what is basically a ten-year reunion for the graduates of Shrewsbury, the very first women's college at Oxford. When she arrives for the gaudy, she learns that someone is leaving people obscene notes and vandalizing college property. The dean asks if Harriet would be willing to look into the matter, since calling in the police would ruin the reputation of the college. But, just because Harriet writes mysteries doesn't mean that she's an expert in solving them. However, Harriet accepts the case, and also receives help from Lord Peter Wimsey, an aristocratic amateur detective who saved her life five years earlier and has been proposing marriage to her at regulated intervals ever since. (His first proposal? "What I mean to say is, when all this is over, I want to marry you, if you can put up with me, and all that.") 
Harriet, who thinks that Lord Peter is just a rich idiot and desperately wishes that she didn't owe him for saving her life, has refused him every time...but also hasn't sent him away.

For much of Gaudy Night, Lord Peter is away on the continent, working for the Foreign Office. (You see, Harriet? Maybe he's good for something after all.) And, as Harriet is at Oxford trying to work on the case, she finds that she can't get him out of her head. (She even dreams about him, much to her annoyance.) What's worse, she literally runs into his nephew, the Viscount St. George, a silly but decently well-meaning young man who, after he finds out that she's the person he's heard lots about from his uncle, immediately starts calling her Aunt Harriet.

The part of the play that I think probably sealed my like for these characters (and the play on the whole) was when Lord Peter comes back to Oxford for a few days, and he and Harriet go window shopping in the town. One of the stores they stop at has a set of ivory chessmen in the window, and, and they catch Harriet's attention. Lord Peter, like the gentleman that he is, offers to buy them for her.

Now, Harriet didn't ask for a well-off, quirky aristocrat to fall in love with her, save her life, hang around, and fly to her rescue at a moment's notice without her even asking for it (Have His Carcase), and she's certainly never been interested in his money or anything like that. If she wanted something she'd get it with her own money, thank you very much.

But , as things have been changing lately, and Harriet has learned things about Lord Peter she never knew, in a burst of charity, she allows him to buy her the ivory chessman. I can't remember all the details, but she either has the package sent to her room or drops it off, and she and Lord Peter go off again and do something else.

When they return to her room, she finds that all of the ivory chessmen except one have been removed from the box and smashed on the floor.

And the strong-willed, independent Harriet Vane starts crying. I wish I could quote the conversation right (because it was amazing), but as she's crying Harriet says something like, "I loved them, and..you gave them to me," and this upsets Lord Peter, who says something to the effect of "If you'd said 'You gave them to me and I loved them', that would have been all right, but you had to say 'I loved them, and you gave them to me.'" My reaction to this? I was crying, as well. Because the ivory chessman that marked such an important development in Lord Peter and Harriet's relationship had been ruthlessly smashed before they could even use them.

The other part that I just have to mention is that at one point towards the end, the Poison Pen starts targeting Harriet directly, and Lord Peter worries for her safety in case things get any uglier than they already are. So he buys her a dog collar for her to wear around her neck so that it'll be harder for her to be strangled. (There are reasons why I like this character so much. XD) Harriet promises to wear it, and it ends up probably saving her life when she's attacked, just like Lord Peter feared.

Some time after this, Lord Peter has to leave again, and things begin to come to a head at the college. And, at the very moment when Harriet at last realizes just how much she needs Peter, he isn't there. She calls embassy after embassy, and he's always just left.

But it's because he's already on his way back to the college. He's solved the mystery, as he always does, and upon his arrival he identifies the "Poison Pen". Everything is cleared up, and everyone can go on with their lives.

But, before they leave Oxford, Lord Peter has one last thing to do. He proposes to Harriet one last time--and in Latin, no less. And, after five long years of Lord Peter respecting Harriet's feelings, keeping his distance, and graciously accepting each of her refusals...Harriet accepts him.

Now for the play itself.

The acting was very impressive. In two hours and twenty-something minutes the only real mistake was when Harriet starting saying "unbeastly and generous" instead of "beastly and ungenerous". And it was all so believable, and really swept me up into the story. And the thing that's wonderful about this theatre in particular is that it's tiny, and the actors often come up and down the aisles and even stand in them sometimes, and it all almost feels like you're participating in the story along with the characters, which is something you miss when you're watching a movie. It's true that in plays the amount of special effects is greatly limited, but on the flip side it's amazing how much they can do without them. And it's just so much fun watching actors live.

Overall, Gaudy Night was just...so amazing. The acting, the set, the costumes, the props, the story-- everything was a much higher quality than I was expecting (shame on me). In short...

I don't normally use GIFs, but this was
 just too perfect to pass up...

I couldn't stop talking about it practically all the way back home in the car. And of course as soon as I got home I dug the Dorothy L. Sayers miniseries out of the DVD cupboard, and the rest is history.

~Kellyn~
 

A Christmas Carol






  I had hoped to get this posted before December was over. That didn't work. :P Then I was hoping to get it posted before the Twelve Days of Christmas were over. That didn't work, either. But, it's still the first week of the new year, so...have a post.

Beautiful picture (that has nothing to do with anything
besides the fact that it's somewhat Christmas-y) courtesty of Clip Art.

It's a tradition in our family now to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol every Christmas eve, and this December was even more A Christmas Carol-y than usual, what with our going to see Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol (which was amazing, by the way) and my deciding to read the book itself again because it's short and I can and it's written by one of my favorite authors. The funniest part is that I actually finished reading the book right after we finished watching the movie. :P

This is the part where, if I knew what I was doing, I would write a meaningful little review about the themes of the book and how powerful it is and how the thought that even someone as bad as Scrooge can repent and turn around should give us all hope for humanity.

Instead, I'll just do the thing that I'm actually good at and quote some dialogue and bits of prose that I found interesting/entertaining.

 " 'A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.
'Bah!' said Scrooge, 'Humbug!'
He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.
'Christmas a humbug, uncle!' said Scrooge's nephew. 'You don't mean that, I am sure?'
'I do,' said Scrooge. 'Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough.'
'Come, then,' returned the nephew gaily, 'What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough.'
Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, 'Bah!' again; and followed it up with 'Humbug.' " -Pg. 9*

And another bit from a few sentences later:
" 'Why ever did you get married?' said Scrooge.
'Because I fell in love.'
'Because you fell in love!' growled Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. 'Good afternoon!'
'Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. Why give it as a reason for not coming now?'
'Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.
'I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?'
'Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.
'I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I'll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas, uncle!'
'Good afternoon!' said Scrooge.
'And A Happy New Year!'
'Good afternoon!' said Scrooge." -Pg. 11

I don't think I've ever noticed before how wonderful Fred is in this part. I mean, he has every right to lose it, yell at his uncle, and storm out of the office--but he doesn't. He stays polite and cheerful to the end, and what's even more impressive is that he stays respectful.
And then there's Scrooge. "GOOD AFTERNOON." XD 

And now here's a short bit of prose that has absolutely nothing to do with the two scenes I just quoted:

"They were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile of building up a yard, where it had so little business to be, that one could scarcely help fancying that it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again." -Pg. 15

And this is where anthropomorphizing becomes hilarious. XD *tries to picture a little house playing hide and seek and fails*

Anyway, if you haven't actually read A Christmas Carol, I highly recommend it. It's a good book to read around this time of the year, and like I said earlier, it isn't very long at all.
 

~Kellyn~

*Pages numbers are from my Kindle. We have the real book around here somewhere, but I didn't feel like going to the trouble of finding it. My Kindle is making me lazy, apparently. :P

Quotes from The Warden

Some quotes that I enjoyed from The Warden, by Anthony Trollope:

"They say that faint heart never won fair lady; and it is amazing to me how fair ladies are won, so faint are often men's hearts!" -Pg. 43*

"'Tis a pity that he should not have recognised the fact, that in this world no good is unalloyed, and that there is but little evil that has not in it some seed of what is goodly." -Pg 94

"Nobody and everybody are always very kind, but unfortunately are very generally wrong." -Pg. 98

"There were quantities of books, and long rows of sofas. What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?" -Pg. 107

"A man is never the best judge of his own position." -Pg. 111

And this is why Anthony Trollope is in danger of being added to my list of favorite authors.

~Kellyn~

*Page numbers are from my Kindle

Amazing Grace (The 2006 Film)

"Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly. I'm a great sinner, and Christ is a great Saviour." -John Newton, Amazing Grace

This is a beautiful movie.

And I don't describe movies like that very often.

Amazing Grace tells the story of William Wilberforce's fight for the abolition of the slave trade in the British empire. It tells the story of his struggle with the British Parliament; the story of his struggles with failing health; the story of times of sadness and joy; the story of triumph.

Inspirational? I think yes.

I'm afraid that I can't really review this from the historical angle because I don't know much about the actual William Wilberforce, so I'll be coming at this from the angle of story, which I can safely say that I know a bit more about.

So. Cinematic aspects.

The Acting: Ioan Gruffudd's portrayal of William Wilberforce is fantastic. I don't know if it's accurate to the historical person, but from a story standpoint it's perfect to the point that I was cheering for Wilberforce after he said one line. In the movie trailer.

The Score: The movie's soundtrack is so beautiful and fits the movie so well that it makes me want to cry whenever I hear the main theme. My only complaint is that it's always over too fast whenever I listen to it. Can each of the songs be about five minutes longer, please? :P

The Costumes: The costumes fit the characters very well (sometimes I honestly wish that people still dressed like that) and are true to the time period, as far as I know. I'm not exactly an expert. :P

The Dialogue: Maybe I've started noticing things like this more now, but it isn't very often that a movie causes me to honestly say "My compliments to the scriptwriter" less than twenty minutes in. The dialogue impressed me that much. It had the two things that I look for--clever, playful bantering between friends, and epic profoundness. I want my book to have dialogue like that.

Story-wise, this movie is amazing. Most of the movie is dark and serious, and there isn't really very much happiness over all until the end, but that ending is wonderful because of it. And isn't that really the best kind of story? After all, good news isn't good until you hear the bad news, and triumph isn't impressive unless you know what someone's triumphed over.

William Wilberforce gave his health and youth for the cause that God called him to fight for, and he was rewarded--he lived to see his anti-slavery bill passed.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come;
'tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

~Kellyn~

And Amazing Grace played on a bagpipe is without a doubt one of my favorite sounds ever.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Happy Tolkien Week, everyone, and happy Hobbit Day!

Today, September 22, is National Hobbit Day. Yesterday, September 21, 2012, marked the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit. And December 14 of this year marks the beginning of an epic three-year journey through The Hobbit as a film trilogy:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: There and Back Again

To make a long story very short, The Hobbit is a film series that almost never was. After a myriad of issues including production rights- starting back as early as 1995 (Peter Jackson kept purely with The Lord of the Rings instead), other legal issues, and multiple delays, the two movies finally got the greenlight. Filming commenced from February 2011-July 2012, and, as it was announced on July 30th, 2012, what was once a two-part adaption had now been confirmed to become a trilogy.

I am so excited to be reporting on this movie- as we now stand less than three months away from its world premiere! I was originally planning to do some speculation on the plethora of pictures for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that have been released over the past couple of weeks. But on September 19, The Hobbit's second movie trailer was released, and I just couldn't resist the chance for some serious spoiler speculation! I won't elaborate on everything (That would be called a book, in my case :P ); I'll just pick a couple little bits from the trailer that stood out to me the most.

So, on that note, I think it only fair to warn you, there are ***SPOILERS*** from here on out, for those who haven't read The Hobbit.

First of all, for any out there who haven't seen the new trailer-
http://video.uk.msn.com/watch/video/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-msn-full-length-trailer/2tv1rprl
(The teaser trailer is down the suggested videos list a little, if you haven't seen that one either.)

Well, I really don't know where to go from there... ;-) There was so much awesome in those 2 minutes, 19 seconds, it's hard to find a place to begin.

One thing that caught my eye, however, was Thorin's map.

It looks like PJ and Co. have done some updating on the map. There are subtle changes to a few key elements. Here is a shot of the map from Fellowship of the Ring, for comparison-

The first change is the addition of Ravenhill. As the place has a small, but key part in the story, it makes sense that PJ would give viewers a better sense of where that is. The second change is the mountain itself. The whole thing is turned clockwise a little. Instead of the secret door facing straight on, it's turned a little more to the northwest. (East is the top of the map.) The final and most important change is in the wording below the mountain: "Here of old was Thror King under the Mountain"... Wait a minute... Thror? In the bottom picture, as well as the original map in the books, it says Thrain, not Thror. (Thrain is the son of Thror and father of Thorin Oakenshield.) It's interesting, because technically Thror *was* the King under the Mountain, not Thrain, even though Tolkien made the map and appeared to suggest the latter. Hopefully the movie will clear that intriguing change up.

Another part that really caught my eye was the (all too brief) glimpse of Radagast the Brown. What with the impressive shroud of secrecy surrounding Radagast's image until now, this was quite a revelation. I feel Peter Jackson's image of this eclectic, hermit-like, animal-loving wizard is very true to the books. Just look at him! However, being a Doctor Who fan, it was very odd seeing the seventh Doctor as...well, as Radagast, but let's not get into that right now. ;-)

 



One last specific thing I will mention is Gollum.

Is it wrong to say that he actually looks kind of...cute in that shot? :P

Gollum is definitely still that shriveled, grey, creepy creature we've all come to know in Lord of the Rings, but here he seems a little different. He's not *quite* as skinny, he doesn't have all the scars from his torture at the hands of Sauron's goons, and his eyes are bluer (and prettier O_O). Possibly the Ring still having a direct influence on him accounts for the slightly younger, healthier look? The amount of thought Peter Jackson and Co. put into these small details is incredible. I'm definitely looking forward to "Riddles in the Dark" most of all, in this first film.

Overall, my official thoughts on this new trailer boil down to me being extremely impressed with everything we've seen and heard thus far.

I am very impressed so far with Richard Armitage's portrayal of Thorin. Thorin is the leader of this company of dwarves, and heir of the King under the Mountain. Armitage is a talented actor, and he has this presence about him that embodies the quality of the "noble leader and warrior" very well. I think I'm going to be quite the Richard Armitage fan once The Hobbit is all said and done.
That being said, we've only made it to the second trailer for the first movie, and I'm already falling in love with Thorin, Fili, and Kili... I suppose that's the point, but...really? Not cool, Peter Jackson. :P

I absolutely cannot wait to see more of Martin Freeman's portrayal of Bilbo. I can already see why he was chosen for the part. Freeman embodies what it means to be a hobbit so well, and he has that wit and charm we all remember Bilbo having in the book. I also love that this new Bilbo seems to have a touch of Ian Holm's portrayal in the LOTR films, but is undoubtedly still very much Martin Freeman's own Bilbo.

If you haven't caught on that I'm extremely excited about these films, I'll say it once more. I love Tolkien's books- I always will, I loved Peter Jackson's film adaptations for LOTR, and I cannot wait to see what he does with The Hobbit. :)

~Katie~

"Home is now behind you. The world is ahead." - Gandalf, from the trailer.



All images copyright New Line Cinema, MGM, WingNut Films, Warner Bros., etc.

Arséne Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar

Anyone who reads books and watches movies and TV shows will meet hundreds of characters in their lifetime. Some of those characters will be easily forgotten. Others are interesting, but are lost in the crowd. And then there are those who march into your head with their coat hanging on their arm and a suitcase trailing behind them, and they never leave.

I hope to write several character studies during the next few months, in which I will examine the characters who have taken up residence in my head and try to discover what makes them unique and why I love them so much.

One of the newest of my favorite characters--and the one who in some aspects is the least deserving to be on that list in the first place--is Arséne Lupin (Ar-son Lu-pen), Gentleman-Burglar.

Arséne Lupin finds his origin in a series of short stories written by Maurice LeBlanc, a French contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Lupin actually goes up against the great Sherlock Holmes in several of the short stories.

So who is this Arséne Lupin chap, exactly?

He's a nigh-uncatchable thief. A master of disguise. A brilliant strategist. A solver of mysteries. He's witty, clever, just a little bit impudent, and arguably the best pick-pocket ever. (More on that later.) If I had to describe him in one sentence, I'd say that he's a warped combination of the Scarlet Pimpernel and Sherlock Holmes.

And he somehow snuck his way into my collection of favorite characters ever.

I think it's because he's unique, fascinating, and really well-written, Props to you, Mr. LeBlanc.

Yes, he's a thief. I'm neither condoning nor excusing him. What sets him apart, however, is that he's a gentleman-burglar. He only steals items of value--antique furniture, paintings, jewelry, and the like--and only from people who (according to him) aren't properly appreciating the items and can afford the loss.

As his Wikipedia article says, Lupin "is often a force for good, while operating on the wrong side of the law. Those whom Lupin defeats, always with his characteristic Gallic* style and panache**, are worse villains than he."

His thieving career began when he was a young child. The first thing he ever burglared was a famous necklace, and he used the proceeds from selling its jewels to support his working-class widowed mother.

Why did he keep stealing after that? He's far too clever for his own good, and I think he gets a thrill out of it. And he finds it far more interesting than working for a living. :P

But, there is one person who can get him to give things back--a young lady by the name of Miss Nelly Underdown who has secured the affections of Lupin but does not openly return them. There is an occurrence when Lupin is robbing a house that Miss Nelly is staying at. She hears a noise in the middle of the night and goes downstairs to investigate, catching the gentleman-burglar in the act of emptying out a glass cabinet. The larger articles of interest to him have already been removed.
And when Lupin recognizes Miss Nelly, he promises to return everything, and starts with dropping the things that he was in the process of removing. Nelly chooses not to sound the alarm, and Lupin, true to his word, returns everything the next afternoon.

You see? There is some gentleman in the gentleman-burglar. :)  

All right, let's look at each of the characteristics of Lupin that I've mentioned in turn, now, shall we?

A nigh-uncatchable thief--Lupin is the French police force's worst nightmare. When he is captured it's only because 1) he allowed himself to be and 2) he wanted a change of scenery. On the upside, he actually helps to apprehend people every once in awhile. A word to the wise: don't tie up, gag, and rob Arséne Lupin. You won't get away with it.

A master of disguise--Lupin actually makes a comment once to his friend (who is basically the Watson to his Holmes) that he can't recognize himself in the mirror anymore, he's worn so many different disguises. *deadpan* Maybe that's why he's so hard to catch.

A brilliant strategist--Lupin can rob a house while he's in jail. In a different part of the country. 'Nuff said.

A solver of mysteries--In "The Seven of Hearts", one of my favorite short stories in The Extraordinary Adventures of Arséne Lupin, he tries his hand at being a detective and succeeds so admirably that he gives Sherlock Holmes a run for his money.

Witty, clever, and impudent--I think my favorite example of Lupin's sense of humor (and also a good example of his impudence) is a note that he leaves at the site of an intended robbery--"Arséne Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar, will return when the furniture is genuine." -The Extraordinary Adventures of Arséne Lupin, pg. 4. I bet the recipient of that note was thrilled.

The best pick-pocket ever--The first time that Lupin meets Holmes, they run into each other on the side of a road in France and engage in a few minutes of polite conversation. They part cordially. Later, on the way to the railway station and home, Holmes receives a package from Lupin. In it is a pocket watch. Holmes's pocket watch.

Arséne Lupin steals Sherlock Holmes's pocket watch--probably out of sheer force of habit--without Holmes even noticing.

Well, done, my dear Lupin, well done.

And there you have it. Arséne Lupin, flaws and all.

Why is he one of my favorite characters? Well, his personality is part of it. I love his humor and wit and audacity. But he's also a refreshing change from the characters that are too perfect. He's realistic, and it's easier to relate to him.

 At the same time, you can tell that he just needs enough of a nudge to become something better--to use his incredible talents the right way. And if he was a good guy...he would be fantastic.


~Kellyn~


*"Gallic"--a synonym for "French". I think.
** "Panache"--"A grand or flamboyant manner; verve; style; flair." Definition courtesy of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. This thing is three -and-a-half inches thick. I would not like to drop it on my foot. :P

An Introduction

 Hello, there!

...It's really amazing how hard it is to come up with stuff to say for the very first post of a shiny new blog. Once all the excitement of naming and designing it is over, you hit the "new post" button...and then stare at that menacing white bit of screen, trying to think of a way to make yourself sound interesting and clever.

I suppose it's really just a matter of finding the balance of obsessing over our favorite subjects of the day and writing a decent paper. I'm really excited about this blog, because not only does it give us a great opportunity to share with others some of the crazy and fun thoughts that run through our brains, but as aspiring writers, it also helps us cultivate our writing skills as we discuss fun, casual topics.

Well, I suppose we should probably start with telling you a bit about ourselves.

My name is Kellyn, and I'm a Christian homeschooled teenager who is an avid book reader, an aspiring writer, an anglophile, a casual photographer, a collector of hats and scarves, an enjoyer of music, and a violinist of three years.

Hi! I'm Katie. I also am a Christian homeschooled teenager. Among other things, I am a hopeful writer- who also loves a good book- a bit of a cinephile, as well as an anglophile. I love the arts- acting, photography, and dancing. As of this school year, I have been dancing for 12 years.

I'm also really extremely excited about this blog, and I hope that you'll enjoy reading it as much as we'll enjoy sharing our love for some of the things we're passionate about--books, movies, music, characters (Don't say they're fictional! You'll hurt their feelings! :P), song lyrics, epic quotes, and whatever else we end up talking about.

First of all, I think we ought to acquaint you with the stories we'll be discussing the most. You should expect to see plenty of posts involving Tolkien's legendarium- both the books and the movies (including the forthcoming Hobbit trilogy)- Doctor Who, and the Marvel cinematic universe. Those, I have a feeling, will be the subject matter of many of our posts. We will also be picking apart our favorite books, talking about our favorite movie soundtracks and composers, and a few other things besides.

We're still working out our posting schedule, but we'll most likely alternate, unless one of us has something that we absolutely have to report on right away. Which will probably happen. ;-)
The green and blue text colors let you know who is typing. Green:  Katie, blue: Kellyn.

I can't really say how often we'll be posting, but we'll try to have something up every other week, at the very least.


Some Upcoming Topics:

Kellyn:
-A character study of Arséne Lupin
-Out of the Silent Planet, by C. S. Lewis
-A review of a stage adaptation of Gaudy Night, a Dorothy Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey mystery

Katie:
-Speculation on the potential movie spoilers surrounding the trailers for The Hobbit, as well as the images that have been released over the past couple of weeks.
-The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
-A review of The Avengers

Thank you so much for dropping by! We hope you enjoy The Inklings of Rivendell!

~Kellyn~ ~Katie~