Optimistic thoughts on this day of thanks

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May your turkey (or turkeys) be fat and tasty and may the holiday cheer bring you much joy before you are trampled under the feet of crazy shoppers tomorrow! Now, onto a completely different topic...

I believe my cousin may be dragging me to see the last Twilight movie. Yes, I am thankful she's in town; no, I am not thankful I may have to waste ten dollars. I must admit, I'm a little curious as to why everyone is freaking out about the ending. Didn't they all read the book? I would think the book and the movie would match at least a little bit. Hmm. Maybe I should be optimistic about this movie. Bill Condon, the director, has also directed Dreamgirls... Interesting switch here, Mr. Condon. In any case, he's not most known for this latest installment of the Twilight "saga," which I'll take as a good sign. OHHHHHH OUCH. Just looked at the IMDb rating for Breaking Dawn Part 1... I know a 4.8 would hang over my head for a very long time. Optimism levels just plummeted.

Speaking of Stephenie Meyer (I'm really bad at segues today), I just saw the trailer for The Host. Ten times. This movie looks like an actual winner! I hope. I haven't read the book yet, but according to a couple of Twihards I've talked to, it's a lot different from the rest of Stephenie Meyer's books. Optimism levels are slowly rising... Looking through the comments of the trailers (because I read those obsessively), it seems as if a lot of people are not happy about the casting choices. Personally, everything looks pretty good from where I'm sitting. Saoirse Ronan did an amazing job in The Lovely Bones, even though the movie freaked me out in general. What also freaks me out is how she can look either 13 years old or 25, depending on how she wears her hair. Moving on... I'm actually a little less optimistic about Max Irons. Without looking into the other movies he's been in, I just got the "awkward" vibe from him throughout the trailer... I'll remain hopeful. And last but not least, there's Jake Abel. I don't get it. How has he never been the leading role? I Am Number Four, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Lovely Bones... He's always that background guy, but he's a very good actor in my opinion. Maybe that's just because I've seen him in I Am Number Four, acting next to Alex Pettyfer...

Anyways, have a look. I'll just go back to watching it for the 11th time... Or was it the 12th? The song in the background is "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons (in case it gets stuck in your head too).

Parodies, Covers, and Mash-ups (Oh my!)

So here's a hypothetical conversation:

Friend 1: "Hey man, do you like that new song?"

Friend 2: "Nah, it was kind of lame. I liked the Glee version though."

Friend 1: "We are no longer friends."

Apparently, it's not ok to like a song if it's not the original version. It's probably more apparent if the word "Glee" pops up... Also, the opposite is true: apparently, it's not ok to like a cover of a bad song. WELL, ladies and gentlemen, I am about to prove you all wrong. See, it's heroes like the band Pomplamoose that are saving this generation the shame of becoming the "Bad Taste in Music Generation." (Honestly, when I talk about rap, I don't even refer to it as music).

I mean, who would think to make something so awesome out of three not-so-awesome things? (I admit, I liked "Somebody I Used To Know" until I had listened to it about 10 too many times) I was going to make a reference to the saying "quality over quantity" but the thought got lost in my brain somewhere. Help me out if you want.

Also, I like parodies. Lots and lots of parodies. I even watch the homemade ones made with cheap cameras because believe it or not, movies can still be funny. You just need to get over the fact that not every movie will have 1080p and come with surround-sound. We techies are spoiled in this digital age...

Can I bombard you with parodies? I think I shall.

The Vampire Diaries:

The Hunger Games:

The Little Mermaid: (heehee)

Ok, so that last one is actually an alternate ending, but just... it's too good...

Writing vs. Acting

Have you ever watched a movie thinking that the actors were being awkward? You're probably right. It's called bad acting. What I used to do is notice the awkwardness, disregard everything else, then give it a low rating on IMDb. But that's not all there is to a movie or TV show, is it?

How many of you watched Snow White and the Huntsman to get a good laugh out of awkward acting? I know I did. After coming across the trailer again, though, I noticed something-- is there some reason everyone is so angry? I mean, I get that everything is supposed to be more intense, but I can't help but imagine the director running around like a madman on set, telling the actors to be way more angry than they should be.

That time of the month again?

I didn't actually dislike the movie itself. The plot was good, the effects were awesome, but the acting just made me chuckle (I don't think the rest of the theater really minded). 

What truly bothers me is when a movie has it the other way around. The example I give is a TV show, but my point still stands. When I first started watching Kyle XY, I knew none of the actors in it. It was recommended to me with the promise that the plot was awesome, and it was. I might have mentioned this before-- Julie Plec is AWESOME. Her ability to make three-dimensional characters and put them into addictive television shows never ceases to amaze me, but I digress...

Kyle XY had some very good actors in it. I still can't pronounce the name Marguerite MacIntyre, but the great acting job she does in both Kyle XY and The Vampire Diaries kind of makes me wonder why she isn't in more than a couple of crime show episodes (thank goodness she's in The Vampire Diaries). The rest of them, though... I can't stand Amanda. I'll give Kirsten Prout the benefit of the doubt and hope that she doesn't actually always pout. Because that's not what acting's about. 

Time to go out...side and get some fresh air. I'll stop now.