Christmas, Narnia, and whatnot....
Happy holidays everyone! Or um...happy December for those of you who are not holiday celebrators (celebrants? *shrugs*) I hope everyone's well. Of course, I hope that every day, not just today in particular, so I don't know why I bothered typing it to begin with.
This was a fabulous Christmas. It was exactly what I needed to sort of feel evened out and happy and healthier--spiritually, if that makes sense. It's no secret that I've been somewhat down in the dumps for awhile, and last night and today just really helped remind me of all the wonderful, amazing things I have rather than focusing on the stuff that I don't.
Now, to fully understand my joy (that is sort of double-edged in this instance), you have to know that every year since I've been born, my father, mother, sister, and I have been required to spend Christmas day at my mother's parent's house with the extended family on that side. Now, maybe when I was growing up, this wasn't such a HUGE ordeal, but now, they are nearly four hours away. Besides that, they are not really...pleasant...a lot of the time. It's not that I don't love them, it's just...well, my grandparents are a handful all on their own, loud and forgetful and cranky and grandpa can have a mean streak without realizing what he's saying (this is making them sound awful--they're not. They just require a lot of energy to deal with and come out unscathed.). My uncle got remarried a few years ago to a woman we barely know who has four boys, all under the age of 14. As a group total, they are loud, brash, and can be...just...I don't know. A lot, I guess. My immediate family is small, quiet, and generally fairly pleasant with one another, so this atmosphere creates a lot of tension and can screw us up for days--not to mention the travel, which might not be THAT much, but we don't travel well at all. Mom and sis both get carsick, I'm too tall to comfortably fit in the backseat of any car, and my dad hates stopping on the road for bathroom breaks. It's just this big hassle and it adds to the overall uncomfiness of my family.
This year, we decided early on that we were putting our feet down--we were NOT going. My grandmother actually seemed relieved, as she's been having a hard time of it lately with my grandfather's declining health and subsequent surgery--the last thing she needed was house guests. My grandfather is still in the hospital after the neurosurgery, though they've transferred him to a physical therapy building to get him back on his feet. All in all, it was a good thing, even if my uncle was a bastard about it.
This means that for the first time in my entire life, my immediate family was free to do whatever it pleased on Christmas.
Yesterday, sis came over for the weekend. She, dad and I played this insane card game that dad and I bought as an impulse buy. (Munchkin. Best. Game. Ever.) We had a sort of smorgasbord dinner of cold honey baked ham sandwiches, really great cheese, fruit salad and a veggie platter. Then we all got dressed up and went to Christmas Eve service, where for the first time in our lives, we all got to sit together in the congregation. (Normally, my mother and/or sister, and on a few occasions long ago, me, is singing in the choir.) This was lovely. I'm not a huge church fan, in general--I tend to think more spiritually than religiously, if that makes any sense at all--but I love the ritual of Christmas Eve, the comfort and warmth and love it invokes.
We came home, played some more, and then my sister and I retreated to my room where we fell asleep to A Muppet Christmas Carol--a long standing and time honored tradition.
This morning, it was presents. My mom does great stockings, and they're always my favorite part really, and she met expectations with a magnetic bookmark, three pairs of socks, a necklace and earrings, some fancy chocolate, and a few other random small items. The presents themselves were a bit less than we normally get, but more than we probably should have considering our money situation, so it worked out. A DVD player for my room (I can fall asleep to Austen!movies now!), a cookbook, Serenity (DVD and visual companion), March of the Penguins, a sweatshirt, and my dad is going to upgrade my computer (WAHOO!!). Plus, a stuffed Snoopy, which I have been carrying around with me all day like a two year old. (We have this family theory about the Peanuts characters and how important they are and how I AM Snoopy. My sister is Woodstock and appropriately, got a stuffed Woodstock. My mother also managed to find outfits for them--blue pajamas with little bird prints on them for Woodstock and Snoopy's WWI aviator costume for me. So adorable.) Also in glee!ful present news, my dad really seemed to like his presents, and considering all but one of them was my idea, I feel particularly vindicated by this.
We then had a lazy breakfast, got dressed, and went to see Narnia as a family, which was amazing and which there shall be more about below. We came back, had a dinner that was ham and turkey FREE for a change, and stuff that we all enjoy. After that, we played silly games for the rest of the evening. (My dad kicked our asses at Disney Monopoly. We then played several rounds of an old family card game that I'm convinced no one plays but our family. I kicked ass. As I love cards, this was not HUGELY surprising.)
Overall, it was just this really great, laid back holiday spent with the people I love best in the world. The fact that I could have a weekend like this reminded me that for a lot of people, family time is akin to a death sentence and holidays are open invitations for nothing but hair pulling out, etc. I'm just really thankful that my life isn't like that.
I loved this movie. I'm one of those people who read the books so many times as a kid that the covers fell off. Who watched the BBC miniseries over and over and over, even though it's really not that good at all. So it was sort of a given that I was going to obsess over this movie. But oh, lordy...so so so good. I shall now try to be more specific.
I thought the family dynamic was interesting. They make it a point to establish a tension early on, and then as they go through these things, they all slowly grow closer and sort of remember that they love each other for more reasons than their convenient sharing of genes. It's just so nice that they're not these perfect children and that Edmund isn't painted as bad so much as reserved and headstrong, in turn--independent in a family that doesn't want to pay attention to him. Middle child syndrome, maybe? *shrugs* Anyway, he was somehow easier to like here, maybe because you really did see that at times, they were too hard on him, without good reason.
The White Witch. I've heard people say they weren't sure how they liked this portrayal of the character, but I enjoyed it. Yes, it was a more subtle performance--but I liked it that way. In the beginning, there was just this subtle sneakiness to her, very serpent in the garden-esque. You can see why Edmund is taken in, why a child might not identify the danger lying beneath all that calm and charm and cold beauty. And I liked that she slowly grew more and more disturbing and scary, until the final scene where she's downright terrifying in her blood-thirsty glory. (The red eye-liner was an especially nice touch. Though I obsessed over where she kept a spare stick of red eyeliner in that sleigh of hers.)
Aslan. Ah. So good. See, at first I was nervous--for one, I have this beef with entirely CGI characters. Remember, if you will, my irks abouts Yoda in Episode Three. I just don't buy it typically. But here, it worked. The CGI was especially good, and when it did sort of look unreal, you could justify it because Aslan by his very nature should have this sort of unreal, ethereal quality to him. I was sure about Liam Neisson as the voice at first--I thought it was too high, pitch-wise. But the first time there was a little bit of a snarl in with his dialog, the pieces clicked into place for me and then, it sounded perfect. (Also, I loved the cameo of Rupert Everett's voice as the fox. Fabulous.)
I know they must have cut things out, but I can't for the life of me remember any of them, and all my favorite scenes (Santa giving the gifts, for example) were in there, so obviously it was a very well-done script in that respect. They even added a few scenes, I think--I'm fairly certain the whole riding a piece of ice down the river wasn't in the books, and I KNOW that much detail wasn't about either the war in London or the battle itself. But it was lovely. The one beef I *might* have is that the sacrifice on the stone table seemed a bit toned down--it didn't *quite* capture the true terror and horror of the events as much as I would have liked. But then, they really had to downplay it to keep the PG rating, I suppose. I just...I don't know. I'm not sure if it was less emotional because uh, I'm older now, or if it really was a bit rushed and underplayed. But either way, it lost some of its effectiveness for me.
What *did* work for me was the heightened religious metaphors. They really played up a lot of subtle things, down to giving Aslan all five stigmata marks. Normally, religious parallels can annoy me if they're overdone--but here, in this context which could be a metaphor or just a good story depending on how you told it, they seemed to fit. You really get more out of even the obvious connections, like Turkish Delight = 30 pieces of silver and the solitude of Jesus, etc.
Mr. Tumnus. OMG. Well, first off, I've always liked the actor--hell, I sat through all four hours of Children of Dune mainly for that actor. And he did this part so well. And I felt slightly dirty by the end of the movie because um, I really, really, REALLY want to write angsty, we are seperated by our races and stations in life love, grown up Lucy/Mr. Tumnus fanfic, because OMG, they played off together so very well and it would have been such a pretty theoretical pairing. I shall refrain though, because...uh...yeah.
I'm sure there was more I wanted to say, but I can't for the life of me remember it right now. So I shall just end there, as Christmas has officially been over for 11 minutes now. Happy Boxing Day?
This was a fabulous Christmas. It was exactly what I needed to sort of feel evened out and happy and healthier--spiritually, if that makes sense. It's no secret that I've been somewhat down in the dumps for awhile, and last night and today just really helped remind me of all the wonderful, amazing things I have rather than focusing on the stuff that I don't.
Now, to fully understand my joy (that is sort of double-edged in this instance), you have to know that every year since I've been born, my father, mother, sister, and I have been required to spend Christmas day at my mother's parent's house with the extended family on that side. Now, maybe when I was growing up, this wasn't such a HUGE ordeal, but now, they are nearly four hours away. Besides that, they are not really...pleasant...a lot of the time. It's not that I don't love them, it's just...well, my grandparents are a handful all on their own, loud and forgetful and cranky and grandpa can have a mean streak without realizing what he's saying (this is making them sound awful--they're not. They just require a lot of energy to deal with and come out unscathed.). My uncle got remarried a few years ago to a woman we barely know who has four boys, all under the age of 14. As a group total, they are loud, brash, and can be...just...I don't know. A lot, I guess. My immediate family is small, quiet, and generally fairly pleasant with one another, so this atmosphere creates a lot of tension and can screw us up for days--not to mention the travel, which might not be THAT much, but we don't travel well at all. Mom and sis both get carsick, I'm too tall to comfortably fit in the backseat of any car, and my dad hates stopping on the road for bathroom breaks. It's just this big hassle and it adds to the overall uncomfiness of my family.
This year, we decided early on that we were putting our feet down--we were NOT going. My grandmother actually seemed relieved, as she's been having a hard time of it lately with my grandfather's declining health and subsequent surgery--the last thing she needed was house guests. My grandfather is still in the hospital after the neurosurgery, though they've transferred him to a physical therapy building to get him back on his feet. All in all, it was a good thing, even if my uncle was a bastard about it.
This means that for the first time in my entire life, my immediate family was free to do whatever it pleased on Christmas.
Yesterday, sis came over for the weekend. She, dad and I played this insane card game that dad and I bought as an impulse buy. (Munchkin. Best. Game. Ever.) We had a sort of smorgasbord dinner of cold honey baked ham sandwiches, really great cheese, fruit salad and a veggie platter. Then we all got dressed up and went to Christmas Eve service, where for the first time in our lives, we all got to sit together in the congregation. (Normally, my mother and/or sister, and on a few occasions long ago, me, is singing in the choir.) This was lovely. I'm not a huge church fan, in general--I tend to think more spiritually than religiously, if that makes any sense at all--but I love the ritual of Christmas Eve, the comfort and warmth and love it invokes.
We came home, played some more, and then my sister and I retreated to my room where we fell asleep to A Muppet Christmas Carol--a long standing and time honored tradition.
This morning, it was presents. My mom does great stockings, and they're always my favorite part really, and she met expectations with a magnetic bookmark, three pairs of socks, a necklace and earrings, some fancy chocolate, and a few other random small items. The presents themselves were a bit less than we normally get, but more than we probably should have considering our money situation, so it worked out. A DVD player for my room (I can fall asleep to Austen!movies now!), a cookbook, Serenity (DVD and visual companion), March of the Penguins, a sweatshirt, and my dad is going to upgrade my computer (WAHOO!!). Plus, a stuffed Snoopy, which I have been carrying around with me all day like a two year old. (We have this family theory about the Peanuts characters and how important they are and how I AM Snoopy. My sister is Woodstock and appropriately, got a stuffed Woodstock. My mother also managed to find outfits for them--blue pajamas with little bird prints on them for Woodstock and Snoopy's WWI aviator costume for me. So adorable.) Also in glee!ful present news, my dad really seemed to like his presents, and considering all but one of them was my idea, I feel particularly vindicated by this.
We then had a lazy breakfast, got dressed, and went to see Narnia as a family, which was amazing and which there shall be more about below. We came back, had a dinner that was ham and turkey FREE for a change, and stuff that we all enjoy. After that, we played silly games for the rest of the evening. (My dad kicked our asses at Disney Monopoly. We then played several rounds of an old family card game that I'm convinced no one plays but our family. I kicked ass. As I love cards, this was not HUGELY surprising.)
Overall, it was just this really great, laid back holiday spent with the people I love best in the world. The fact that I could have a weekend like this reminded me that for a lot of people, family time is akin to a death sentence and holidays are open invitations for nothing but hair pulling out, etc. I'm just really thankful that my life isn't like that.
I loved this movie. I'm one of those people who read the books so many times as a kid that the covers fell off. Who watched the BBC miniseries over and over and over, even though it's really not that good at all. So it was sort of a given that I was going to obsess over this movie. But oh, lordy...so so so good. I shall now try to be more specific.
I thought the family dynamic was interesting. They make it a point to establish a tension early on, and then as they go through these things, they all slowly grow closer and sort of remember that they love each other for more reasons than their convenient sharing of genes. It's just so nice that they're not these perfect children and that Edmund isn't painted as bad so much as reserved and headstrong, in turn--independent in a family that doesn't want to pay attention to him. Middle child syndrome, maybe? *shrugs* Anyway, he was somehow easier to like here, maybe because you really did see that at times, they were too hard on him, without good reason.
The White Witch. I've heard people say they weren't sure how they liked this portrayal of the character, but I enjoyed it. Yes, it was a more subtle performance--but I liked it that way. In the beginning, there was just this subtle sneakiness to her, very serpent in the garden-esque. You can see why Edmund is taken in, why a child might not identify the danger lying beneath all that calm and charm and cold beauty. And I liked that she slowly grew more and more disturbing and scary, until the final scene where she's downright terrifying in her blood-thirsty glory. (The red eye-liner was an especially nice touch. Though I obsessed over where she kept a spare stick of red eyeliner in that sleigh of hers.)
Aslan. Ah. So good. See, at first I was nervous--for one, I have this beef with entirely CGI characters. Remember, if you will, my irks abouts Yoda in Episode Three. I just don't buy it typically. But here, it worked. The CGI was especially good, and when it did sort of look unreal, you could justify it because Aslan by his very nature should have this sort of unreal, ethereal quality to him. I was sure about Liam Neisson as the voice at first--I thought it was too high, pitch-wise. But the first time there was a little bit of a snarl in with his dialog, the pieces clicked into place for me and then, it sounded perfect. (Also, I loved the cameo of Rupert Everett's voice as the fox. Fabulous.)
I know they must have cut things out, but I can't for the life of me remember any of them, and all my favorite scenes (Santa giving the gifts, for example) were in there, so obviously it was a very well-done script in that respect. They even added a few scenes, I think--I'm fairly certain the whole riding a piece of ice down the river wasn't in the books, and I KNOW that much detail wasn't about either the war in London or the battle itself. But it was lovely. The one beef I *might* have is that the sacrifice on the stone table seemed a bit toned down--it didn't *quite* capture the true terror and horror of the events as much as I would have liked. But then, they really had to downplay it to keep the PG rating, I suppose. I just...I don't know. I'm not sure if it was less emotional because uh, I'm older now, or if it really was a bit rushed and underplayed. But either way, it lost some of its effectiveness for me.
What *did* work for me was the heightened religious metaphors. They really played up a lot of subtle things, down to giving Aslan all five stigmata marks. Normally, religious parallels can annoy me if they're overdone--but here, in this context which could be a metaphor or just a good story depending on how you told it, they seemed to fit. You really get more out of even the obvious connections, like Turkish Delight = 30 pieces of silver and the solitude of Jesus, etc.
Mr. Tumnus. OMG. Well, first off, I've always liked the actor--hell, I sat through all four hours of Children of Dune mainly for that actor. And he did this part so well. And I felt slightly dirty by the end of the movie because um, I really, really, REALLY want to write angsty, we are seperated by our races and stations in life love, grown up Lucy/Mr. Tumnus fanfic, because OMG, they played off together so very well and it would have been such a pretty theoretical pairing. I shall refrain though, because...uh...yeah.
I'm sure there was more I wanted to say, but I can't for the life of me remember it right now. So I shall just end there, as Christmas has officially been over for 11 minutes now. Happy Boxing Day?