Movie Review - "Boys" 02/09/2014 Netherlands

Doing research for a tale I am attempting to write, I decided to watch "Boys" which was a TV movie aired on February 9, 2014 in the Netherlands. This is the review for that movie.


Watched on Netflix: 11/29/15
Original Language: Dutch
Subtitles: English

Trailer:

Plotline
This is about four boys on the cross country team and their lives trying to ready for a relay tournament. The main character is named Sieger and he finds himself torn between liking a girl named Jessica and liking a boy named Marc, whom happens to be on his relay team.
The plot is well done to show character development and relationship development. I thought that the amount of instances between Sieger and Marc to create the relationship was a decent amount - not too many times and not too intense. It was like watching a "slowly getting to fall in love" hetero romance, but not hetero this time. It wasn't too hot'n'heavy and had no sexual content - it merely showed how they were getting to know each other.


Relationships
Sieger and family - Sieger's Eddy seems to trying to rebel and have a wild life full of fun. Their father doesn't agree. The two of them constantly have confrontations. One confrontation even had Eddy say "I wish you were dead" to his father. The relation between Sieger and his father, though, was able to show that Sieger cared for his father and tried to help his father out. Sieger ended up searching for his brother to say 'come home' and 'work it out between dad and you please'. Especially after their mother passed away (not knowing how long ago that was), it was a good thing that Sieger did try to keep the family together. By the end of the movie, it seems like the family will stick together.

Sieger and Marc - The four relay race members hang out with each other because they are the best of the cross country club. Once, they decided to go swimming after practice. Sieger and Marc spend more time together swimming and skipping stones and chasing cows, after the other two members leave. It was during this meeting that they exchanged kisses. Innocent kisses - 2 pecks only. Sieger says "I'm not gay" and Marc says with something like 'Of course you're not'. They have a few conversations, hanging out as friends, and continue their lives. Through the pauses that Sieger makes, though, we can tell that he is somewhat conflicted - he would like to be accepted (as all humans want) but he does like Marc. There is a bit closer to the end where the relationship between the two is strained though *spoilers* they still end up being friends. No indication about what happens regarding telling their families or whatnot, so the strain is not fully resolved [in my opinion].


Character Development
The main thing in this movie, aside dealing with familial issues and conflicting feelings, is the development of the main character Sieger. He has to develop as an athlete but he also has to figure out what he wants to do with his life. As a teenager, it is difficult (even in the best circumstances) to choose a life for oneself and to make the right decisions. While some heterosexual people are blatantly making out, he has to decide between appearing normal and making out with the girl {Jessica} or to sit awkwardly next to her. None asked him if he was queer, which was a good thing, but he was definitely trying to make it seem like he was "normal" having Jessica around. Closer to the end, someone asks why Jessica wasn't at the relay race and Sieger brushes it off. *Spoilers* He also ends up hanging out with Marc, which might have meant that he just didn't want to see Jessica anymore or that he knew what he wanted, even if it wasn't 'normal'.


Music
There was a song while they were camping, sung by Marc, and I was half expecting for Marc to say to Sieger that the song was meant for him. Actually, Marc was quiet about the whole thing and let Sieger make the decisions/moves after the first peck, which was quite nice to see.
The other song I recall was the very ending scene. The same song is in the trailer that I posted above. I kinda wished it was a Norweigan song but that's okay, I guess.



Criteria:
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.


4/5 - I think this was a good movie. It wasn't too "homosexual" though some people might see the two guys kiss and freak out. There was no actual sex, unless it was implied or happened off screen. I was disappointed in the fact that Sieger didn't tell his father about Marc but at least the two seemed to patch it up in the end. A good story but definitely not for everyone and I probably won't watch it again, but not repulsed by it.



A note on Dutch: I have never spoken, listened to, or read Dutch before this movie. Oh dear! It is interesting and unintelligible to me. Sorry to say to those that Dutch is their first language, but wowee! -.-; It seems to be an interesting language and I would like to look into it some more, but not right now. Maybe in the future. :-)


~yume

Movie Review - "The Sum of All Fears" 05/31/2002

Movie review for "The Sum of All Fears", released May 31, 2002, watched Nov 23, 2015.


Trailer

This movie had some pretty recognizable actors: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell (Warden Hal Moores in "The Green Mile"), Ken Jenkins (Kelso from the show "Scrubs"), and Colm Feore (Lord Marshall in "The Chronicles of Riddick" and King Laufey in "Thor"). We watched it for Freeman, of course, but it was fun recognizing the other actors. ;-)


Plotline
The basic plotline is exploring the fact that Russia and the United States of America were enemies in the Cold War. This is after the Cold War, set around 2002.
A nuclear bomb was lost in Israel and was found. Neo-Nazis want to get the two countries (Russia and USA) to get into a war against each other. They get a chance to do so after the obese president of Russia passes away and a new president is appointed. Since the new Russian president seems to be a hard-a**, the Neo-Nazis take the chance and, after fixing the lost nuclear bomb from Israel, send it to the USA camoflauged. Of course, it gets complicated from there because *spoilers* the CIA doesn't find it and stop it from going off. What is to keep the two countries from exploding into bits? That's what the rest of the movie is about...


Character Development
The main development in the movie is Affleck's character Jack Ryan and his relationship with his gal. At first he tels her that he is a historian but, at the suggestion of his boss DCI William Cabot (Freeman), he tells her that he is part of the CIA and has to go to Russia instead of make it to a date with her. Through Cabot's suggestions, he ends up making it up with her and getting closer to her through the movie. That's pretty much ALL the character development.


Music
The music at the very beginning of the music was depressing though it was merely the setting up of the movie - ominous as if foreshadowing. Aside that, I do not recall any major incidences where the background sounds overwhelmed the move.


Interest
I found this to be an interesting movie. It was a bit slow at first but it did keep my attention. Hubby didn't think it was really something that he wanted to watch, mid movie, so he fell asleep during the movie, but I definitely thought it was something interesting.
This was based on a book by Tom Clancy. I have never read the book but it might be something I want to look into eventually.



Criteria:
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.




4/5 - I don't know what it could have used to make it better but this movie was pretty good. I would watch it again but am definitely not super excited to watch this again. Nor do I think I would buy the DVD. I think I would read the book first before buying the DVD.

High recommended.

Movie Review - "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" - 11/11/2010

Here is the movie to finish off the Millenium series. I watched this movie about 3 months ago, so this is going to be a really short post.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was released in the US on November 11, 2010. I watched the film in the original Swedish with English subtitles.

Trailer:

Most of this movie was about Lizbeth trying to prove her innocence regarding all the things that happened in the first two movies. At first she dressed like they wanted her to dress but later, she was given permission to dress as she wanted. So cocky young adult in black garb, spikes on her clothes and her hair in a mohawk in court! - that was pretty awesome.

I liked the fact that Blomquist was there to help her out after she helped him previously. She was also able to finally get peace, after a few people died that were trying to go after her. In all, it was a very good ending for Lizbeth. On the way to the ending, of course, there was violence and death and pain. Sometimes you really do have to go through a lot of s**t to get to the ending.

As this is 3 months after I watched the film, I cannot remember much else to add regarding the film. It was a good film and it was very riveting. I enjoyed it.


Criteria:
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.


I definitely would give this movie a 4/5. It is a decent movie to watch after the other two movies, though it would not be good as a stand alone movie. If you are going to watch the other movies, then definitely watch this one! :-)

Movie Review - "Along Came a Spider" 04/06/2001

Well, I figured that since I haven't posted a movie review up here for a while, I might as well post what I can when I can. ;-) Here is the most recent movie I have watched: "Along Came a Spider", released in 2001. This movie was chosen by my mister because of Morgan Freeman, who is the main character of this movie. He is one of our favorite actors, along with Pesci and deNiro and a few others. :-)

Trailer:

Plotline:
A child is abducted by a man who was her computer tech teacher at a private school. We see so many guards and whatnot at the beginning of the movie so to say that it is a well guarded place. So to see this young child ( "three feet tall" ) abducted so quickly and easily from the school is a bit disturbing.

The abductor gets a hold of this guy named Dr. Cross , played by Freeman, who is a criminal profiler. He lost a partner 8 months prior to the child abduction and the abductor calls him out as a chicken. He also wants to get Cross to profile him and practically immortalize him as someone similar to the person who abducted Charles Lindbergh's child back in the 1930's, or so we are led to believe.


Music:
I couldn't hear much in this movie. I am glad that I didn't hear much because it was hard to hear sometimes anyways.


Character Development:
There isn't much character development in this movie though the abducted child does show her wit/intelligence trying to leave the abductor and blocks one out of the room that she was locked in, but supposedly she was this clever/intelligent at the beginning of the movie because she was sending digital notes to a friend before she was abducted.


Relationships:
Relationships are not a main focus in this movie because the main character is trying to find the abductor before the child gets killed. The first 48 hours are the most important in those kind of cases so the action needs to be quick.


Mental Stimulation:
I liked this movie a lot for the mental side of the story. How do you understand an abductor or a criminal? That's the main job of a profiler. [See the show "Criminal Minds" for something similar.] The way that Cross tries to think like the abductor and plays the game that the abductor set up is quite interesting indeed. It definitely made me think a bit and made me wonder if I would be able to do the same things that he did - criminal psychology.


I'm not going to say much more about this movie because (in general) all the above is all that has to be said, without giving spoilers. The plot twist in the movie was amazing but you have to see it for yourself because knowing it previously would ruin the movie, I think...


Criteria:
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

I personally put this at a 4/5. It was pretty good and I definitely recommend it, but it isn't one of the movies that I would want to go buy the DVD. Well worth the view, especially if you like the criminal psychology / criminal minds / criminal profiling stuff. :-)

~Gracie Mae DeLunac

Regarding Kahlen

On Twitter today, a friend of mine and fellow writer named Jewel ( @JewelELeonard ) asked me to say something about one of my favorite characters from my Work in Progress.

I said:
My fav char is definitely not "write what you know". He says his mind and is artistic. Loves sketching and painting.
He is kinda feminine, long blue hair, lavender eyes, blue-grey skin. From Cael, a Caeln. (Prev. known as Uranus by Earth.)


I've been thinking (I know, that's a catastrophy in the making) about Kahlen. He is from a different planet, hence the different race, different skin color, different hair color, and different eye color. Yes, the description above is totally natural for him and his kind.
I like that he is artistic (sketching and painting). I love him because he is a mystery and yet not a mystery because he is so honest. I love him because he is different to me and very progressive, compared to how I was raised.

Right now, the character profile I have built for him questions me if I can write him the way I want to write him. Or how he needs to be written. Can I portray him properly?



I have one other thing that I guess I will divulge here. This has already been said, when I made Kahlen cry the other week - his race is naturally male. All male offspring. They have to undergo a procedure to become female. {No, not tranny. Thanks.}

Kahlen says that he wants to fall in love with my other Main Character [if you have been watching #TheValaWing on Twitter, you might be able to tell who it is...] but the first MC is traditionalist male-marries-female. Kahlen said that he is willing to change for the other MC, but I am having issues getting the two of them to bond before the surgery...
But even Kahlen himself said that love does not base on gender.


My main hiccup is that I was raised traditionalist male-marries-female. I support other relationship configurations and I support those that chose those relationships. I agree that love does not base on gender.

So how do I show love growing between two men (as friends first)? Or more importantly, how do I show love growing between two characters, regardless of gender?


This writer is stuck. I have to go think more on this....



Comment here or on Twitter if you have an idea or support. Thanks for listening to me admit my block.

~ yume <3

Challenge - Writing (pt. 2)

I said that I would make a part two to finish off my challenge presented by S. Hunter Nisbet. Part one of the challenge is located here. This is the part two I said I would post. Better late than never. ;-)


What is the best writing advice that anyone has given you?
Put time aside for writing. {The problem with this is life likes to get in the way... And when I do sit down to write, my characters are sitting next to me throwing a temper tantrum and refusing to talk to me. It is hard being a writer....}



What advice would you give to another writer?
"Write what you know" - is bull, unless you want to go and research how others react, how they think (psychology), and all that kind of stuff; or unless you are writing a memoir.
It is good to write what you know but at the same time, we are writing to create stories that are not out in the world yet so how can you "know" it? CREATE!!

Also - SAVE your work. In multiple areas. I have had a few times where I saved it to one place and then could no longer get to that place - floppy drives are out of date now, fyi. Luckily, I had some of them printed off so I can retype them, if I want to.



What are your favourite writing sites or blogs that you turn to for help, tips or encouragement?
Twitter - hands down. Have not found a site/blog that I like aside asking writer buddies on Twitter opinions on things. Makes me a loner, slightly, but that's kinda how I like it. Yes, introvert and writer makes me a complicated antisocialist.
Suggestions are always welcome, especially with trying to get beyond road blocks in the tales [like the last 1.5 weeks has had].



Besides writing, what else do you enjoy doing? What are your hobbies?
I enjoy playing Legos on PS2/Nintendo DS/GameCube: Legos Indiana Jones, Legos Star Wars, Legos Harry Potter years 5-7, Legos Pirates of the Caribbean.

I also enjoy watching Doctor Who, House MD, and a few other shows. I just spent the last few days watching the first season of Once Upon a Time. Good storyline and great characters! One character made me want to write, though I feel un-creative.

I consider myself to be a hobby artist/photographer/writer. Some of my photos can be seen on DeviantArt {margem.deviantart.com}, though I haven't updated that in a WHILE. I recently got my camera to work again, and fully charged, so I may be posting pics up there every so often to share some. Who knows....?



What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
Reading.....? >.> I'm reading "From a Buick 8" by Stephen King but I have only read like 80 pages in 4 months. Slowly....



What’s the best movie you’ve seen this year?
Ummmm.... The Green Mile? Cat's Eye? Both based on Stephen King tales.



What is your favourite book or series of all time?
Book... Um.... I know what the (most favorite firsts) two books are but I can't remember the titles. Also can't find them in the books that I have on my shelf. They might still be in the garage. One is about a time traveler that uses the powers to better the world, making him nearly like a god and called himself (at the last of the tale) Loki.

The other is a post-apocalyptic tale about two characters trying to survive and, even with mutations and violence happening, they end up falling in nearly-love (mutual respect).
After researching and digging on the Internet 11/20/15, I found this tale:
"False Dawn" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Same description as above but I can't find my book.... :-(

I also like the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card. I love the sci fi behind it and how intelligent Ender is, even with him trying to atone for what he does in the first book.

Another mention would be "The Eyes of the Dragon" by Stephen King - fantasy, horror, mystery/crime all in one. Very thrilling. The first Stephen King I ever read.
And "The Dark Half" by Stephen King - the personification of a writer's pen name coming after the writer for revenge/survival. :-D



Who is your favourite author?
Science Fiction - Orson Scott Card
Horror - Stephen King



What are your plans for the rest of the year in terms of your writing?
"Rest of the year" is 1.5 months. I hope to write more. Get over this blocky feeling. Maybe finish The Vala Wing tale finally (after 5 years, since it was my NaNoWriMo tale in 2010 under a different working title). I would also like to do some research for CfD and for CS, both of which are wanting to but silently refusing to be written. :-P



Where else can we find you online?
Twitter - Gracie_DeLunac

Facebook - GracieMaeDeLunac

GoodReads - Gracie-DeLunac

DeviantArt - Margem {Margem was my "pen name"/screen name before Gracie Mae DeLunac and haven't changed my name on there...}




I think that's everything. Question if you want to know more about me. ;-) Thanks for listening!

Challenge - Writing

A Challenge Has Been Accepted

"Okay, it’s sort of a lame-sounding game, but we’re writers and writing the answers to big long lists of questions about not only us, but our WRITING, is what we do best."
- S. Hunter Nisbet
 @ShunterNi on Twitter challenged me to do this "game" so let's get down to it... :-/ {Here is her blog post, if you are interested in what she had to say.}

When did you first start writing?
I first started writing when I was in elementary school. We had a quiet period where we were suggested to write some in a journal. I ended up jotting down ideas and coming up with a plot line here or there. I would have to say that I really "started writing" was around 5th grade - 1996/1997 ish. That's when I started the first piece that I actually remember working on. [See answer further down to here more about that.]



Was being a writer something you always aspired to?
Being a writer was not something I "always aspired to" but it was something that I always have enjoyed doing. I love telling tales and coming up with new places that are not in the real world. Writing allows me to do tell the tales, invent places, and connect with others. It has gotten harder lately since I realize that writing is not just about putting "the dog sat down on the rug" together but actually making a plot that is conclusive and makes sense. The 'makes sense' part is always the hardest for me. What 'makes sense' in my mind might never make sense to the readers out there, so it is hard to quantify if the tale is told correctly.





What genre do you write? 
I prefer to say that I usually deal with fantasy works. I have a tale in my mind that is a fantasy/supernatural/horror tale that I definitely want to bring to light, but the idea is still simmering on the mental stove top. I have always loved working with dragons, fairies, and mystical creatures. I also love to delve into mythology - Greek, Roman, Tolkien, and my own. So I would have to say that my favorite genres to write in are varied. Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction. One of my current pieces, however, is changing from a Sci Fi Fantasy to a Romance.  ....all because the plot line has two characters that are going to eventually get together, the plot screams at me saying "I AM A ROMANCE" (though I don't like reading romance novels...).



Can you tell us a little about your current work in progress? When did you start working on this project?
I have three Works In Progress (WIPs).
The most prevalent one is The Vala Wing - see #TheValaWing on Twitter to get glimpses of that one. It is set on a living forest planet named Hejkerba, species Savbri. The wing is a habitation wing on said planet and has eleven occupants. The Main Character (MC) is Kitrik Veran. He used to live on Gaia [previously dubbed "Earth" by the inhabitants] but was bought out of his family farm for development purposes. So he came up to Hejkerba so that he could have a quiet life. Obviously, Kitrik never realized that Gracie Mae DeLunac is not a "have a quiet life" kind of writer... So, I'm currently plaguing him and torturing him. Mainly through an old colleague of his from when they were at the university together, 15 years ago. And then there is the problem with trying to make one's own life and find a meaningful relationship, all while wondering if the neighbor is going to go INSANE on you. :-P  [This is what being a writer is about!] Oh, I started this one for a National Novel Writing Month [NaNoWriMo] challenge back in 2009/2010? Had to scrap the whole bit {20,000 words?}, pick up the characters, throw some characters out, redo the plot, and try again. I've been typing this version since spring of 2015 and am currently at 59,000 word count total. I wanted to call it Sci Fi/Fantasy but this is the one screaming that it is a Romance.

The second WIP is CS. Haven't done much writing on this one.Try 260 words total? Started thinking on this one back in August 2015 and just started typing on it in October 2015. Main points will be the concept of beauty, the view on female role in society/household, and feminine problems {That are downgraded and not understood by men!}. Yes, I do have some experience in these topics so it will be interesting....  Set in the future - DNA modification in utero and all that. Sci Fi? Maybe. A bit of Romance.

The third WIP is CtD. Also haven't written any on this one but I have been thinking about this for a few months now. The main topic in this one is rental issues. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get some sleep with a crying child next door or a drunkard who comes in at 2:15 AM every morning after bar close? ... I don't have to deal with the crying child nor the drunkard right now, but I have been there and heard that. It is annoying and my MCs are a family who want to get away from that. They are going to get into a house, for rent, that will have more issues than they want to deal with. I want this one to definitely be supernatural Horror. :-D




What was your first piece that you can remember writing? What was it about?
The first piece that I started writing was about a school bus that was like the Magic School Bus {I loved that show!} but could change the dimensions inside of the bus. The family, me of course being the mom, could have three bedrooms, a playground, a yard, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a few other things all inside of a bus. All we had to do was push a button and the rooms would change to include/not-include a room. :-D  [This was before I knew of Doctor Who, mind you. But maybe that means that I am a Timelord that has a TARDIS shaped like a school bus!! *squee!*]





What’s the best part about writing?
The best part about writing are my colleagues/friends, especially on Twitter. There are times that we just bicker about who is going to get a certain amount of words first. Other times, we are bouncing ideas off each other. I couldn't begin to mention the awesome people on Twitter because I would feel like I  am leaving someone out if I did.





What’s the worst part about writing?
Writing. No, seriously. The worst part about writing is trying to write when the words aren't there to help you tell the tale. When the characters and the plot line are not giving you any ideas on how to move forward with the story, it can be very frustrating. I ended up working on two other tales just so I could keep writing....






What’s the name of your favourite character and why?
Right now, my favorite character is Kahlen Nrio Zhe, from The Vala Wing. I can't say why. ;-)




How much time a day/week do you get to write? When is the best time for you to write (morning or night)?

It depends on the day, when I have to work, and how I am feeling. Sometimes the headaches and the feminine issues don't let me write much.
Night time is the best time for me to write because I can actually think without light. Brittany @scribalreverie says I'm a vampire for that. Maybe so.





Did you go to college for writing?
No. Spanish and Accounting. Not worth a penny, though.


What bothers you more: speeling errors; punctuation, errors, or errors for grammar?
Depends. Probably spelling the most, with punctuation right behind it.






Part two of challenge will have to wait as the library is ready to kick me off of the computers. They're closing for the night. :-P Laters!