Doing a bit of visual upgrading to the site. Later this spot will say/do something more interesting, but for now, you've got this.
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Posted By kelly on May 11, 2011
After being thwarted by opening weekend opportunities, I caught Thor on Monday night. I was pretty disappointed and I’ve been struggling to understand why that might be, considering the acclaim that it has received, both from the real critics, and the comic community. I think I’ve narrowed down why it didn’t resonate with me, and it comes down to a simple fact: Thor is not my superhero. (Keep Reading…)
Posted By kelly on April 18, 2011
It made me want to read the books again, so it couldn’t have been that bad.
There wasn’t much to recommend it, however. I have no idea how you could have followed much of it if you hadn’t read the books, and I certainly don’t know why you’d bother with the second episode. (Keep Reading…)
Posted By kelly on March 27, 2011
Tiny Intro: this is one of (hopefully) several bits of recaps from my experiences at the 2011 Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo. Most of this was written on the train home. The rest has been tweaked a week or so later as I found a bit of time to post things.
Saturday: Panel-Hopping The panel I enjoyed the most was the one I knew the least about. I’m barely literate in Marvel and don’t speak DC at all, hardly, but that’s where the group was headed first, so I tagged along to see what these were like. It was pretty fine, but sitting by Jeff, Louis, and Ali and having a running commentary about who the guys at the front were and what they were (not) talking about made all the difference. (Keep Reading…)
Posted By kelly on March 24, 2011
Spending time in train stations and crowded convention halls last weekend, I’ve seen the “hive mind” of what’s left of our animal instinct kick in. One person gets up without provocation to stand in line. Then 3, then virtually everyone. Those who stay behind start to panic that they’ve missed something. Masses of people can mill around staring at all the eye candy and still manage (more or less) to maneuver around each other without crashing.
On an intellectual level, I do not believe in a predicted “end times”, but the more world events keep stacking up in favor of a man-made apocalypse with a “natural” catalyst, I worry that some sort of end is nearing and that those who consider themselves believers are going to reach a tipping point and their panic will infect enough of us that it won’t matter what I believe anymore.
(I really need to finish The Passage.)
Posted By kelly on March 1, 2011
You know how in Demolition Man every restaurant was a Taco Bell? I think bookstores are headed the same way. Soon every bookstore will be an amazon access point. “Books” will just piles of Kindles artfully arranged to display covers.
Posted By kelly on February 25, 2011
It Continues.
(Keep Reading…)
Posted By kelly on February 18, 2011
It begins.
(Keep Reading…)
Posted By kelly on February 16, 2011
As ultimately pointless as it may be, I’ve always liked watching the Oscars with a well-formed opinion on who and what is the worthiest of awards. Back in the day, movie-going was one of our main hobbies/social endeavors, so chances are we saw most everything that was being nominated. It may have been a challenge to catch the art films, or anything that was in that window between theatrical release and DVD, but we made do with what we knew. As the years have passed, our desire (and ability) to spend hard earned money at the box office has dwindled. I’ve missed “knowing what I’m talking about,” though, even if I’m watching the awards show on my own. (For all his love of movies, Ryan can’t stomach award shows)
A few years ago, a local movie theatre chain made seeing the bulk of the Oscar Nominated films even easier by offering a marathon viewing the Saturday before the Oscars of all the Best Picture nominees. You wouldn’t catch *everything* that was nominated for the main categories this way, but you’d get a pretty crisp picture. I went in 2009, fortunately during a year of great films and got to see movies I never expected to see or enjoy.
I really enjoyed the experience, but I skipped 2010.
Last year, they upped the nominees to 10(!) and AMC spread the event over two consecutive Saturdays. Not only is that a huge commitment, but for the most part, I’d already seen everything that season I’d wanted to see. There were a few that I was curious about, but there was so much that I actively did not want to see. Had they put the right movie on the right day, I may have gone, but it just didn’t feel worth it.
2011 is different. Although I did manage to catch 2 of the films when they were originally in the theatres, this is a list chock-full of potential. There are a couple I probably wouldn’t get around to seeing and one I’m flat out dreading (more on that later), But it’s a good list and there’s something deliciously decadent about turning off the world for 11 hours at a time and just enjoying oneself. When I asked R if he wanted to try and wrangle up some epic babysitting and attempt the two-Saturday affair, he declined. He also practically insisted I go by myself, because he knows how much I dig this sort of thing.
So I’m going!
I’m taking you with me, dear reader. I’ve never been to the movies by myself and doing it 5 times in a single day sort of freaks me out. To give me the allusion that this is serving some sort of “purpose” (and to keep any would-be chatty strangers at arms length), I’ll be blogging the experience. Not during the movies, mind you. That’s horridly rude. There are breaks, however, and in them you will get some raw impressions of both the movies and my experience in general. I”m not quite sure how that’s going to happen, but it will be either in a updating post on the blog, or in the comment stream of said blog post. Wordpress, my iPhone and I still have some kinks to work out on that score.
Watch this space (and twitter), and as long as my phone battery holds up, we should have lots to talk about!
Posted By kelly on January 4, 2011
2010 is officially over now. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it for months, but life got in the way. It’ll be a bit more concise now. Lucky you.
If the second half of 2010 had a theme, it was Challenge is the New Black. A couple of months ago something snapped and I realized that who I think I am isn’t set in stone and even though I’m 33, I can still redefine the things about myself that I’m not down with. (Keep Reading…)
Posted By kelly on November 1, 2010
No, that’s not a typo or a phonetic respelling of how I pronounce nanowrimo. I’m mixing it up and doing something a bit different this year. Instead of writing a 50k word novel during the month of November, I’m celebrating National Novel Reading Month. (Keep Reading…)
