The Plows! The Plows! (update)
Just a brief update. Another snow day here. It's the last one, they promise, barring further Wrath-of-the-Gods weather arriving. The school system is in a swivet--uncertain how to re-schedule the school year, especially considering the high stakes tests that they spend February prepping/cramming the kids for. There are rumors as to extended school year, cancellation of spring break, extension of the school day. I hope, for once, they take the parents' lives into consideration when they make these decisions.
Like that's going to happen! R and I have taken turns going into work, weather permitting and sometimes unwisely. I'm feeling a bit Norman Maine-ish about the whole work thing. No emergency calls or conferences from home for me.
Insomnia is back, and it didn't help that last night the snow plows arrived around midnight. They worked our street, front-loaders and plows, for HOURS, widening the lanes and clearing intersections. We now have 6-8 feet of snow in our front yard, and I think my heather garden is probably crushed to death *mourn* but I won't know for weeks/months probably.
Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief is a pretty good romp, and I love anything that makes kids wild about Greek mythology.
The NY Times review rather disgusted me because they complained about the lack of sexual tension(!) The books are designed for pre-teens (the protagonists are 11 and 12 in the first book). They aged the kids up in the movie, which would actually lead to sexual tension, but you still have the problem of the target audience. Not that they don't feel some tension at that age, but it's different in tone and intensity. Plus, does the summer camp idea make sense for 16-17 year olds??
Really, the aging only makes sense if they wanted certain actors, or because they wanted them to drive for plot reasons. That's undercut by them driving from Nashville to Vegas in about a day in a beater truck. Dudes, really.They wanted to do some adult-ish stuff in the Vegas scenes in the movie, too. Personally I think the connection between gambling and video game addiction in the book is well made.
And the Grover/Persephone thing was a bit much. Persephone's not even in the first book! You lose all the middle school angst in the movie, which is highly detrimental IMO. Percy's focus on saving his mother is 'aw cute' when he's 11 and a little odd when he's 16.
There was a lot of chatter about the lack of 'ground-breaking special effects' in the movie, which I found odd. I think we're in an escalation period for special effects; the next movie has to have something Bigger and Better, or it is automatically made of Fail. I only notice effects when they don't work. If they are the point of the movie, it generally means it's a bad movie. This is not a bad movie. It's not a great movie either, but for a Cabin Fever struck family on another in a never-ending series of snow days? It's a good movie.
The best parts were #2's occasional whispered commentary on the use of Greek mythology which had adults around us giggling or goggling in awe, and my sotto voce interaction with #1 on plot points. Oh, and just so you non-parent types know, family movies are a bit more lax on noise in the theater, especially the early shows. It comes with the territory, and you get used to it.
I'm reading the books now, which delights #1 no end. Having some trouble putting off the writing goggles so I can read without critique, but enjoying them nonetheless.
Chuck continues to delight, although some inconsistencies are piling up as S2 winds on. I had my first slash moment (ever) during an episode night before last--the first one with Jill, or maybe it was the one before that. Casey made some sideways comment about Brice ('everyone's slept with Brice') and Suddenly I thought--OMG Casey. And Brice. It was over in a flash, but it was so very weird. Is this what watching with slash goggles is like? It was sure strange.
Chick Flick is over 19000 words now. I've written all around the pivotal main scene upon which the whole story hangs--and which is still very unclear in my mind. Still, I have hopes it will be finished soon, although it may be incoherent and messy.
Like that's going to happen! R and I have taken turns going into work, weather permitting and sometimes unwisely. I'm feeling a bit Norman Maine-ish about the whole work thing. No emergency calls or conferences from home for me.
Insomnia is back, and it didn't help that last night the snow plows arrived around midnight. They worked our street, front-loaders and plows, for HOURS, widening the lanes and clearing intersections. We now have 6-8 feet of snow in our front yard, and I think my heather garden is probably crushed to death *mourn* but I won't know for weeks/months probably.
Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief is a pretty good romp, and I love anything that makes kids wild about Greek mythology.
The NY Times review rather disgusted me because they complained about the lack of sexual tension(!) The books are designed for pre-teens (the protagonists are 11 and 12 in the first book). They aged the kids up in the movie, which would actually lead to sexual tension, but you still have the problem of the target audience. Not that they don't feel some tension at that age, but it's different in tone and intensity. Plus, does the summer camp idea make sense for 16-17 year olds??
Really, the aging only makes sense if they wanted certain actors, or because they wanted them to drive for plot reasons. That's undercut by them driving from Nashville to Vegas in about a day in a beater truck. Dudes, really.They wanted to do some adult-ish stuff in the Vegas scenes in the movie, too. Personally I think the connection between gambling and video game addiction in the book is well made.
And the Grover/Persephone thing was a bit much. Persephone's not even in the first book! You lose all the middle school angst in the movie, which is highly detrimental IMO. Percy's focus on saving his mother is 'aw cute' when he's 11 and a little odd when he's 16.
There was a lot of chatter about the lack of 'ground-breaking special effects' in the movie, which I found odd. I think we're in an escalation period for special effects; the next movie has to have something Bigger and Better, or it is automatically made of Fail. I only notice effects when they don't work. If they are the point of the movie, it generally means it's a bad movie. This is not a bad movie. It's not a great movie either, but for a Cabin Fever struck family on another in a never-ending series of snow days? It's a good movie.
The best parts were #2's occasional whispered commentary on the use of Greek mythology which had adults around us giggling or goggling in awe, and my sotto voce interaction with #1 on plot points. Oh, and just so you non-parent types know, family movies are a bit more lax on noise in the theater, especially the early shows. It comes with the territory, and you get used to it.
I'm reading the books now, which delights #1 no end. Having some trouble putting off the writing goggles so I can read without critique, but enjoying them nonetheless.
Chuck continues to delight, although some inconsistencies are piling up as S2 winds on. I had my first slash moment (ever) during an episode night before last--the first one with Jill, or maybe it was the one before that. Casey made some sideways comment about Brice ('everyone's slept with Brice') and Suddenly I thought--OMG Casey. And Brice. It was over in a flash, but it was so very weird. Is this what watching with slash goggles is like? It was sure strange.
Chick Flick is over 19000 words now. I've written all around the pivotal main scene upon which the whole story hangs--and which is still very unclear in my mind. Still, I have hopes it will be finished soon, although it may be incoherent and messy.