Sons Of Anarchy Season 1 and 2

" A true outlaw finds the balance between the passion in his heart and the reason in his mind. The outcome is the balance of might and right."

Viewed March 2011

I have to admit that I was very skeptical of this show and refused to watch it for a long time. I had heard that it was really good, but come on, a show about a motorcycle gang? Not for me. My siblings eventually became obssessed with it which was really weird, and my brother ended up putting it on my ipod over Christmas break (he always loads my pod full of movies and tv shows for me, so I'm kind of at his mercy). After I had watched everything else that was on my ipod I reluctantly started in on Sons. I wasn't sold after the first episode. In fact, I had a hard time even paying attention cause I bored and still overly skeptical. I texted my younger brother and asked if it was really worth it and he assured me it was. So I watched another episode. Then another. Then another until finally I was really hooked. This is not a show about a bunch of long haired, tattooed, Harley loving thugs who drive around on their motorcycles all day and cause trouble.... Except it sort of is... But it's even better. The Club is involved in many legal and illegal business ventures and the ATF is on to them. The first season deals mainly with the ATF trying to bring them down, and the second season mainly deals with another "business" man coming into town and trying to take over all the illegal activities in Charming. There are brawls and gun battles and plenty of motorcycle riding, but there's also some romance and some hard issues as well (I even got all choked up in one episode!). Sons of Anarchy has a butt load of really great under rated actors as well including Kim Coates, Ron Perlman and Tommy Flanagan (just to name a few). I now definitely love this show and the second season was even better than the first, so I hope that it continues to get better and better! Oh, and when did Katy Segal become super hot!? A

The Hunger Games (book)

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Written by Suzanne Collins

I've decided to start writing about books as well... I've read 7 books since January since I have way too much down time at work.... So here it goes...

The Hunger Games takes place in the dystopian country of Panem. Panem is split into districts (there were 13, now only 12) that each serve the Capitol. The Capitol is rich and it's people are extravagant. District 2 is a little less so. Each district is poorer and more impoverished than the one before it. Every district is basically enslaved and provides the Capitol with a natural resource. Before this book begins, District 13 staged an uprising and rallied the districts to revolt against the Capitol. They failed and the Capitol retaliated by first destroying District 13 and then creating The Hunger Games to remind them of their disobedience and how powerless they are against the Capitol. The hunger Games is a fight to the death that takes plae every year and is televised throughout the country. One boy and one girl
(called tributes) from each district between the ages of 12 and 18 are randomly chosen to participate. The last one standing at the end of the Games is the victor.

Katniss Everdeen is the main character. She is 16 years old, lives in District 12 and takes care of her frail mother and her younger sister Prim. During The Reaping (the ceremony where the tributes are chosen) Prim's name is pulled and Katniss rushes in to take her place in the Games. Katniss is brought to the Capitol along with Peeta (the boy tribute) and Haymitch (District 12's only past victor who serves as a mentor) for training and then the Games. Katniss must survive many horrors and must kill or be killed in order to survive.

I loved this book, actually I loved this entire series. I think this is my favorite young adult series. I might get beat up for saying this, but I loved The Hunger Games more than Harry Potter. This book is super intense, so definitely not for those who don't like suspense. Katniss is sometimes a frustrating character, and a little dense as well. She has a fiery temer and over reacts/over analyzes frequently. She makes up for it by being a really strong female character though. There were a few plot points that I had figured out, but Katniss took longer to realize, but I also remembered that Katniss was 16 and not 27, so maybe that was ok. What I liked the most was the attention to details. For example in the arena Katniss is searching for water and gets dehydrated and her lips get dry and her tongue swells and she gets a headache and sluggish. Its details like that that make the whole story seem more real. It's also told from Katniss' perspective so you really seem to feel what she's feeling. This is definitely a must read. A

My Oscar Predictions

I haven’t seen very many of the movies that are up for Oscars, and I haven’t been getting Entertainment Weekly this year either… So here are my Oscar predictions based on basically nothing except Digg headlines. Last year I guessed every Oscar except for 1.. We’ll see how I do this year. I’m putting them in the order that they’re in on the Oscars website.


Actor
Javier Bardem in Biutiful
Jeff Bridges in True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
James Franco in 127 Hours



And the Oscar will go to: Colin Firth in The King’s Speech. He’s been getting an enormous amount of buzz for his performance especially since he has to pull off a stutter…



I’ll be annoyed if it goes to: Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network. He plays the same exact character in every single movie. This one is no different.





Supporting Actor
Christian Bale in The Fighter
John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner in The Town
Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right
Geoffery Rush in The King’s Speech



And The Oscar will go to: Christian Bale in The Fighter. Christian Bale was amazing to watch as Dicky, a druggie washed up boxer.



I’ll be annoyed if it goes to: Jeremy Renner in The Town. The Town was an excellent movie, but I don’t really feel like Jeremy Renner deserves to be up there. I didn’t really feel like he was outstanding in any way.



Actress
Annette Bening in The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine



And the Oscar will go to: either Annette Bening in The Kids are All Right of Natalie Portman in Black Swan just based on various buzz that I’ve heard. I’m leaning more toward Natalie…I haven’t seen any of the movies in this category.



Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in The Fighter
Helena Bnham Carter in The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom



And the Oscar will go to: I haven’t heard much buzz for this category so I’m just going to go ahead and throw out Melissa Leo in The Fighter. She was so great as an overbearing mother/manager. I also really enjoyed watching Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit, however I can totally see her being snubbed since kids usually don’t win…



I’ll be annoyed if it goes to: Amy Adams in The Fighter. I feel like she’s only in here because she isn’t playing her usual cutesy character. She didn’t particularly stand out as being exceptional in this movie.





Animated Feature Film
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3



And the Oscar will go to: How To Train Your Dragon has been getting a lot of buzz and just might breakup Pixar’s monopoly of Oscar wins… However, I won’t be surprised if Toy Story 3 takes it.



Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit



And the Oscar will go to: I’ve been trying to look up and see exactly what art direction means and I can’t really find anything… So I’m just gonna go out on a limb and take a wild guess that maybe Alice in Wonderland will win… No ideas here…



Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit





And the Oscar will go to: So as I understand it the cinematography is the overall look of the movie. The depth of field, the camera movement, the contrast etc. I really liked how True Grit looked as well as Inception, however I’m thinking Black Swan could take this one, but I haven’t actually seen it… So I’m going to just to say Inception.



Costume Design
Alice In Wonderland
I Am Love
The King’s Speech
The Tempest
True Grit





And the Oscar will go to: The Tempest. I’ve heard that there are some really amazing costumes in this movie.



Directing
The Black Swan- Darren Aronofsky
The Fighter- David O. Russell
The King’s Speech- Tom Hooper
The Social Network- David Fincher
True Grit- Joel and Ethan Coen



And the Oscar will go to: This is a hard one since again, I haven’t seen all of these movies. I’m leaning toward Darren Aronofsky or David Fincher… To bring it down to one I’ll just say David Fincher.



Documentary Feature
Exit Through The Gift Shop- Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
Gasland- Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
Inside Job- Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo- Tim Hetherington and Sebastion Junger
Waste Land- Lucy Walker and AngusAynsley



The Oscar will go to: I haven’t seen any of the films in this category. I want Waste Land to win because it’s about a community living in a garbage dump in Rio de Janeiro and it sounds so interesting since I visited a community like that in Nicaragua.



Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name- Jed Rothstein
Poster Girl- Sara Nesson and Mitchell WW. Block
Strangers No More- Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
Sun Come Up- Jennifer Redfearn and Time Metzger
The Warriors of Quigang- Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon



The Oscar will go to: I never know with the short film categories so I’ll just say Strangers No More…



Film Editing
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network





The Oscar will go to: This is hard because I think that Black Swan might take this one as well, but it could also be 127 Hours’ chance to shine. But since 127 Hours seems like a long shot I’ll again go with Black Swan… I keep forgetting that The King’s Speech has gotten a ton of buzz and that it’s in all these categories too… but since it doesn’t interest me I guess I just don’t ever pick it lol.



Foreign Language Film
Biutiful -Mexico
Dogtooth- Greece
In a Better World- Denmark
Incendies- Canada
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)- Algeria



The Oscar will go to: Biutiful



Makeup
Barney’s Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman



The Oscar will go to: Well the only movie in this category that I’ve even heard of is The Wolfman so I’ll go with that…



Music (Original Score)
How To Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network



The Oscar will go to: I’m totally guessing out of nowhere at this point so I’ll say Inception. I loved the music if I remember right…



Music (Original Song)
Coming Home (from Country Strong)
I See The Light (from Tangled)
If I Rise (from 127 Hours)
We Belong Together (from Toy Story 3)



The Oscar will go to: We Belong Together… It’s Randy Newman!



Best Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone



The Oscar will go to: This one is SO hard for me! I’ve only seen half of these films. I’m going to have to say that The King’s Speech just might take it with all the buzz and all the awards its been getting.



Short Film (animated)
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)



The Oscar will go to: Day & Night just because I thought it was cute and it’s the only one I’ve seen…



Short Film (Live Action)
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143



The Oscar will go to: God of Love…. Just cause…



Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable



The Oscar will go to: Inception



Sound Mixing
Inception
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit



The Oscar will go to: Inception



Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2



The Oscar will go to: Inception… or maybe Alice in Wonderland… But Inception was so amazing!



Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone



The Oscar will go to: The Social Network or True Grit… I can’t decide which…



Writing (Original Screenplay)
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech



The Oscar will go to: The King’s Speech



So there you have my very uneducated picks! What are some of your predictions?

The Business of Being Born

Directed by Abby Epstein

2008

This is a documentary about how expensive giving birth is and how much doctors push you to deliver whether its time or not and the rise of the c-section as a way to empty hospital beds. Basically hospitals are evil and home births with a midwife are perfect. I kind of feel like it’s not that cut and dry, but it was still a good documentary. There was plenty of footage of home births, so if you’re squeamish about that kind of thing then do not watch this movie. I, however, thought it was so amazing and beautiful and the idea of letting your body do what it was created do is such a beautiful thing. In some of the water births they had the women actually reach down and pull out their own baby which was such an amazing thing to watch and I can’t imagine how wonderful it must be to experience that. I definitely think that I will have my first child in a hospital, but I do want to have at least one home birth. It seems like such a beautiful experience. B

Machete

“We didn’t cross the border. The border crossed us”

Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis

2010

Date Viewed: Saturday February 12, 2011

Danny plays Machete, a Mexican in Texas who kills people with a Machete…. I don’t even really remember the plot to be honest… But in true Rodriguez style there is plenty of over the top gore and violence. There was too much boring talking and I lost interest, but the little fight scenes were hilariously over the top. C

The Social Network

“They came to me with an idea…. I had a better one.”

Directed by David Fincher

2010

Date Viewed: February 2011

I never had any interest in this movie. A movie about the birth of Facebook? A bunch of nerds doing computer stuff? Boooooring…. But it kept getting so many really amazing reviews… And then Oscar nominations… I started wondering about it and decided to finally break down and watch it. I was very pleasantly surprised. This is actually a pretty good movie. Mark Zuckerberg is in the process of being sued by The Winklevoss twins who claim that the idea for Facebook was actually their idea (it’s called intellectual theft… I never knew that existed). Zuckerberg is also being sued by his former best friend and business partner Eduardo Saverin who was basically cut out of the company. The story of Facebook is told mainly through testimony in the two cases. It was really interesting to see why Facebook began, how it began and then watch it explode into something huge. Justin Timberlake was great as Napster creator Sean Parker who took Zuckerberg under his wing in a way. Jesse Eisenberg is the same as he always is as Zuckerberg, who he portrays as a naïve kid who got caught up in it all and taken for a ride. I don’t know if that’s really how Zuckerberg is, but that’s how he’s portrayed in the movie. This movie was definitely not as boring as I thought it would be. B+

Jesus Camp

"It's no wonder, with that kind of intense training and discipling, that those young people are ready to kill themselves for the cause of Islam. I wanna see young people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam. I wanna see them as radically laying down their lives for the Gospel as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine and all those different places, you know, because we have... excuse me, but we have the truth! "

Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

2006

Date Viewed : Tuesday January 19, 2011

This is the second time that I have seen this film and I was even more terrified this time than I was last time. This is about radical evangelical Christians and how they “go for kids” because they’re so impressionable (That wording is the exact wording of the pastor). The things that struck me this time were different than last time. This time I noticed all of the militaristic and almost violent wording and depictions. After the shooting in Tuscon happened and Sarah Palin came under all that criticism for her website and other things that she’s said I read a news article that talked about how when your whole life is immersed in guns and using military words etc. then seeing the world as a battle field is just what happens. You consider every person who disagrees with you as the enemy that you must do away with. I really started thinking about that while watching this movie. They’re using kids as a way to promote their political agenda and the kids do it to please their parents and so they don’t burn in hell. It shows an intense church service where these young kids (not even teenagers, but kids) are being told that if they mess up and say a bad word then they’re a sinner and God doesn’t want sinners. They’re also told that if they say they want God but then don’t stand up for Him against their peers then they’re weak and phony and God doesn’t want phonies. These kids give their all in worship and they weep to God. I’m all worship and for giving your all for Christ, but the anguish on these kids faces just really got to me. Loving Christ is not supposed to hurt your heart so much. This church totally forgot about the whole Grace aspect of Jesus, which is sort of a huge part. During the movie there was a radio talk show host who was talking about the ultra conservative right wing Christians and how they attack and attack and attack and he says something to the effect of “The thing that they forget is that Jesus said ‘blessed are the peacemakers.’” which really got to me too because I feel like there's so much militaristic talk amongst this group and there's not a whole lot of peacemaking. Anyways, this was a super well made documentary. I highly recommend it. A