Shazam! mini movie review

 

Rating: A-

In some unknown realm in a hideaway lair sits the Wizard Shazam, aging, alone, desperate for an heir.  The World is on the verge of chaos and a champion must be found.  Meanwhile Billy Batson is a boy on the run, desperate for a family and a home, in and out of foster care.  After a course of events (simply stated, you know, spoilers), Billy is chosen.  A 14 year old boy who, when he shouts "SHAZAM!", becomes an adult superhero. Zachary Levi brings the fun, and seriousness, to this new Shazam, an adult kid learning to harness his powers.

In Shazam! we find ourselves watching a more lighthearted DC superhero movie mixed with a little 1988 "Big", humor, a family tale, and horror fantasy.  But don't let the movie trailers fool you, there is still a darker element to this big screen superhero telling.  It's not all jokes and fun as a boy discovers how to become a hero.  There's a real balance in tone between hero and villain, electric light facing grim envious dark.

Shazam! really is a fun movie.  A nice departure for DC who tends to take themselves seriously at times.  Unlike the other DC heroes we've gotten to know through the years, Shazam is lesser known, but equally deserving of our time and attention.  Though he wasn't in Justice League, I'm glad we got a proper introduction to his interesting origins.

And, with this being a DC film, we get to see the other side of this superhero universe from those on the outside looking in.  There's nods to all the other heroes.  Backpacks.  Memorabilia.  Souvenirs.  Newspaper clippings.  Even if you didn't know this was a DC film, there's acknowledgments here and there to Superman and Batman all over the place.

It's nice seeing a movie focus positively on family, as family is a strong thematic element.  In Shazam! we see a family made up of foster kids, which is really nice to see attention placed on some of the difficulties kids can face in the foster system, but also positive elements as well.

For those with kids, this is a PG-13 movie, and it earns its rating.  You might want to see it first and then decide if you want to take your kids, and then you'd be seeing it twice: win-win.

(PS. Stay for the very end of the end credits.  There's more than just the mid credit scene, and I'm amazed how many people left the theater and missed it!)

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material.
 

Pearls of Wisdom

Going through my file cabinet this last week I stumbled upon a folder full with cut out newspaper comics and scraps of paper with quotes scribbled on them.  I'd completely forgotten that I once had a cork board right behind my door where I pinned all these pearls of wisdom and scraps of humor.

It was all in the name of encouragement and motivation.

Henry David Thoreau: "You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment."  This was pinned on my board, but thanks to Google I just found the rest of the quote.  "Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land.  There is no other land; there is no other life but this."

Seeing this quote complete gives it so much more meaning.

The first part feels hallow now without the second.

"Hopes and desires often fail to materialize with many of us because we lack faith--the one great motivation force with makes all things possible." Howard W. Hunter

 "Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means you are strong enough to let go." ~ Author Unknown.  I've found great solace with this quote.

This next quote is great for college students

"I urge you to not take counsel of your fears.  I hope you will not say, 'I'm not smart enough to study chemical engineering; hence, I'll study something less strenuous.' 'I can't apply myself sufficiently well to study this difficult subject or in this comprehensive field; hence, I'll choose the easier way.' I plead with you to choose the hard way and tax your talents.  Our Heavenly Father will make you equal to your tasks.  If one should stumble, if one should take a course and get less than the 'A' grade desired, I hope such a one will not let it become a discouraging thing to him.  I hope that he will rise and try again." ~ Thomas S. Monson.

And with these quotes I had several cut out comics: Calvin and Hobbes, Non Sequitur, Get Fuzzy, and The Peanuts.

I also had a cut out of the Pass it On from Values.com with Kermit the Frog: "Eats Flies. Dates a Pig. Hollywood Star. Live Your Dreams, Pass it On."

Man, I feel like I've gotten so off track with my life.  I've been organizing my files to sort out projects and ideas, but I didn't realize how much finding my childhood, youth, teenage, young adult tidbits would effect me.  How much I've let some of my dreams and aspirations to slip.

Well, thinking of that guy from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "I'm not dead!" And that knight, "Tis but a scratch!"  Two different parts of the movie.  I need to see that movie again!  And now my thoughts are drifting.  How you watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail with the Shakespearean subtitles on?  It's impossible.

Nerd Tuesday! The Ultimate DC vs Marvel Battle!

 Okay, I probably made this sound a whole lot more Epic then it really is, but when I went to Sensuous Sandwich for lunch today with my Dad and brother Steven, they had this Marcel vs DC fighting brackets on the giant chalkboard.  It's going to play out over 12 weeks, as voting is done while paying tips.  (It's a good way to make a little extra tip money.)  So, for fun, I pulled out a pen and we cast our own votes on a napkin.

Voting had already started for the first bracket, and Wolverine had already won, but I would have chosen his win as well.  I'm honestly not a huge Hulk fan, and the Wolverine is hard to kill.

Jean Grey vs Black Widow.  This was a tough one.  I personally chose Jean Grey, because she's crazy powerful, but I think, in the restaurant, Black Widow will win thanks to popularity.  But regardless if it's Black Widow or Jean Grey going against Wolverine, Wolvie will win.  He would kick Black Widow's ... and we already know Jean Grey asked him to kill her, though if she fought all out and didn't want to die, Jean Grey would win.  Her loss is due to a mental/emotional breakdown.

Loki vs Bucky.  Yeah, I don't even need to think this over.  Loki.

Ironman VS Captain America.  I personally would want the Cap to win, but thanks to the comics (and potential spoilers for the future of the Marvel Movie Universe) Iron Man wins.   Didn't mean to spoil anything there.  We'll know when the movie come out, but I'm thinking of the comics and Sebastian Stan's Marvel movie contract.

Now Loki against Iron Man?  I'm giving it to Loki again.  It did take, what, how many Avengers to beat him?  Yeah . . . and Iron Man is going solo.

And the final Marvel clash, Wolverine against Loki.  I'm giving it to Loki.  They're both super popular characters, super popular, but I just like Loki, and he's got skill.

Okay, now DC.

Aquaman vs the Green Lantern . . .

Yeah . . . not a fan of both.  On this my Dad and brother had a small debate.

Steven: Aquaman needs water to fight.  All Green Lantern has to do is throw him into space and he's beat.

Dad: If Green Lantern finds Aquaman in a bathtub, he's toast.

Okay, disturbing visuals aside, I'm giving it to Aquaman because, in the case of this fighting scenario, Green Lantern stumbles upon Aquaman swimming in an Olympic sized pool.  Case close.  And I really didn't like that movie.

The Joker vs Catwoman.  I personally think Joker would win, but my Dad said she's hot, so go with her.  (That spurred a "which version of Catwoman do you find hot?" discussion, but I won't get into that here.)

Batman vs Wonder Woman.  Batman.  Not going to think this one through.

Superman vs Sinestro.  Superman.  Another one I don't need to think through.

Back to the top!  Aquaman vs Catwoman.  I'm saying Catwoman, because this battle was fought in a desert.

Batman vs Superman!!  The great debate!!!  Technically, if Superman wasn't all small town moral and all that, Superman would pulverize Batman from miles away.  Kryptonite would have no effect.  Laser eyes.  But since the comics always paint Batman like a genius, and Superman as an idiot, Batman always seems to win in the comics.  And Batman wins here, too, though if Superman didn't hold back, he would win faster than a speeding bullet.

Now Loki vs Batman.  Honestly, unlike Superman (who has a weakness against magic and deception, proven by Wonder Woman), Batman would stand a fighting chance.  He's smart and knows how to exploit an opponents weakness, yet Joker is not nearly as powerful as Loki, and Batman has yet to defeat him, so in this battle . . . 

Loki Wins!

Now the real question . . . where was Thor during all this madness?

What's Next for Cerulean Jade?

Goodness, where do I start?

The problem with Steven and I is that we have so many ideas . . . and we're in love with all of them

For me I'm working on a cover of a song from Brave, "Into the Open Air."  I'm playing the piano on this one, and overall it's going to be simple.  For starters, I don't have Steven's amazing ability to sit down at a piano and just play.  We're different like that.  He has a couple months of piano lessons.  I have years!  Plus a music degree.  I'm sheet music dependent.  That's going to change!  This project is going to help me with this, but it's a bit scary.  And I don't know what I'm doing.  Music Theory was the easiest out of the Music Theory core for my degree (which also included Music Dictation and Sight Singing).  My fingers don't work the way I want them too!  This is a skill I really want to learn, and this is a great start.  I also want to throw in some Irish flute.  Steven's never mastered anything other then voice and electronic instruments, so this will be good practice for him, too.

The next combined Cover we're doing is Andy Grammer's "Keep Your Head Up."  It's a fun, upbeat, positive song, and it will be a little like the Payphone cover we did.  I'm not going to promise a release date for this!  I've made that mistake before.  Not doing that again.  But it is a really fun song:0)

And . . . wait for it . . . we're working on an online graphic novel!!!  Surprised?  Before my youngest brother left on his mission, he came up with the bases of a story idea.  We promised him that we would turn it into a graphic novel, as a gift, only that hasn't happened yet.  I'm still in script phase and Steven's developing art concepts.  Our goal is to get the first 10 pages up by the end of September, right before he comes home.  I've been having so much fun playing mad scientist with this world  . . . or should I admit to a slowly developing God complex?  Ehhh, I will admit that I'm having way too much fun.  Think slight Steampunk, slight sci-fi, and Final Fanstasy-ish world, and you have something akin to what Steven, Robbie, and I have dreamed up.  Art Concept drawings coming soon!

Oh, and of course original music.  Steven and I are working on an original song, and the sounds he's coming up with are super fun!  That's 2-3 months out.  Then we're going to do an original song based on the graphic novel world we've created (I can't wait to do the music video for this . . . we just got a green screen :0).  And there's a few jazz songs I've written that I was just going to release under my name, but Steven's like "it would be really cool to do electronic jazz!"  And I'm like "What!?"  He thinks it can work.  We'll see.  I'm slightly doubtfull.

Anyway, are we crazy?  Probably, but insanity is fun.
Sarah