Batman The Dark Knight Rises: Movie Review

“You think this is going to last. There is a storm coming Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches. Cause when it hits, your all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large, and leave so little for the rest of us.” ~ Selina AKA Cat Woman

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

The Dark Knight Rises takes place eight years after 2008's The Dark Knight.  The city is in a state of peace, thanks to the Dent act which has helped captor criminals and keep them off the street.  Author Dent is a hero and Batman, who killed Dent to save Commissioner James Gordon's son, is the villain.  Gordon of course feels terrible over this, wishing to reveal the truth about Dent and his crimes as Two Face, but for the sake of peace he's kept silent.

Bruce has spent these years as a recluse in Wayne manor, avoiding parties that are held in his home.  He's almost in ruins, thanks to investing in Miranda Tate's (Marion Cotillard) clean energy project, who's goal was to produce fusion energy, but was disbanded when Bruce realized this power core could be turned into a nuclear weapon.  It's Selina Kyle/Catwomen (Anne Hathaway) who steals right out of an unbreakable vault that forces Bruce out of hiding.  And it's the new villain Bane (Tom Hardy) who helps Bruce to don the bat mask.    

Selina is in it for herself.  She feels the riches of the wealthy are owed her, and through jewelry Cat burglaries, she has no problem helping herself to the property of others.  Along the way she's become an associate of Bane's, and helps him in his goals.  But what are his goals?  Throughout the film we have an idea, but it's not till the end that we truly find his motive.

I like Tom Hardy as an actor, but I didn't like him as Bane.  The brilliant performance of Health Ledger's Joker is a hard one to live up to.  Of course it's hard to act behind a mouth piece, but the accent he uses was hard to take: it felt cartoony.  The sound mixing of his voice was jarring and too loud.  I kept thinking of Darth Vader and wishing for James Earl Jones, though that wouldn't have quite worked.

Before coming into the film I thought I wouldn't like Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, but by the end of the movie I grew to like her in the role.  Surprisingly it was Marion Cotillard's Miranda Tate that I disliked.  Not once did I warm to her character, which is a shame.  The plot would have meant a lot more if I had connected to her.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is another new addition to the cast as John Blake, the intuitive cop who sees things as they are, and is courageous enough to stand up for what he believes in.  He was my favorite new character, and I liked his place in the movie.  Another favorite of mine was Michael Caine's Alfred who kept the story grounded.

There was a lot of talk when it was discovered that Bane would be the main villain of the movie.  A lot of discussion has been made wondering if there was a Mitt Romney connection, with one of his businesses being Bain Capital.  Of course there is a problem when you realize that, like Bruce, Mitt is in the 1%, and Bane attacks the wealthy.  In terms of choosing Bane, instead of The Riddler or Poison Ivy, I understand.  The character was created in 1993, and in Batman Comic Canon he brakes Batman's back.  The Dark Knight Rises is the end of the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy, so why not bring in a character that helps bring about Batman's end?  But there was great debate on the web if this would really be the end of Bruce's Batman.  Well, you'll have to see the movie to find out.

Then there are the political undertones.  Nolan denies that there are any, saying he was trying to tell an interesting story.  But that doesn't stop the online debate.  It started back during filming when it was discovered that Nolan wanted to film Occupiers and use shots from the Occupy Wall Street movement in the film, only to change his mind.

Even Christian Bale, who plays Batman, couldn't believe during filming how the Occupy movement had similarities in the script.  He told OnTheRedCarpet.com "There's something quite uncanny that happened during 'The Dark Knight Rises' and I think you'll see that there's a correlation in the Occupy Wall Street movement and some themes within the movie here."

The movement shown in the movie has Occupy supporters nervous.  Harrison Schulz states, ""I’m glad that themes about wealth inequality and class conflict have entered into the zeitgeist of popular culture. In this case, however, I would rather see the these themes in The Dark Knight Rises remain free of any association with the Occupy Movement ... They in no way resemble the comparatively impoverished, peace-seeking protesters who armed themselves with signs, sleeping bags, tents, and iPhones at best in their attempts to fight for social justice."

On the right Christian Toto writes, "'Rises' never mentions the 99 percent or other overt Occupy Wall Street slogans. But Nolan clearly summons the spirit of the ragtag movement with a propensity for violence. Bane's henchmen literally attack Wall Street, savagely beat the rich and promise the good people of Gotham that "tomorrow, you claim what is rightfully yours." The Catwoman's gal pal (Juno Temple) assures her at one point, when they enter a swanky abode, that "this is everyone's home" now – in perfect Communist fashion."

No matter how you see it, there is a strong French Revolutionary theme that's hard to ignore.

The movie isn't perfect, but it is a good movie, one I enjoyed, and it's my favorite of the three.

Sarah                           

Poem: Don't Quit

(At Zion this past year)

I came across a poem that perfectly reflects my experience with the cover song "Payphone."  I've had it a long time, but haven't read it in years.  I wish I knew who wrote it, but I'm glad we have these wonderful words.

"Don't Quit"

"When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit, 

Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

"Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

"Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit."

~ Author Unknown

There's a fourth verse to this poem, but I've gotten so use to it this way, that the extra verse feels weird to me.  I love these words, and I wish to thank whoever wrote them, as they've been such a great help.

Have a great Sunday

Sarah

Confessions of a Wheat Addict

(Photo source info)

I love sweets, cookies, and pretty much any delectable morsel that contains sugar.  And I love bread.  Really, really love bread.  I love the smell of freshly baked pastries and muffins.  Have I made you hungry?

Only problem is the fact that I'm hypoglycemic, and being hypoglycemic automatically makes you pre-diabetic.  It's a fact of life that's haunted me for years, and yet I couldn't stop eating sweets, even though they made me super sick.  But knowledge of the situation didn't seem to stop the cravings.  

I've tried on several occasions to give up sugar, soda, and chocolate.  A few times I even made it a month-and-a-half until I gave in.  Even with this gallant effort sugar still haunted me and everyday was torture. 

Then a couple weeks ago I realized I was approaching this from the wrong angle.  Even when I was not eating a lot of sugary treats, I was still eating a lot of bread and pasta, so I set out to study what being on a low-gluten diet was all about.  Through a couple of searching I found Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis.  I haven't finished reading the book, but last week I decided to first focus on cutting out all wheat.

The withdrawal period was awful, getting a terrible migraine and dreaming about bread.  But this week I've noticed something interesting.  My cravings are completely under control.  

Yesterday I went to the mall with my family to the food court and I got a chicken salad from Chick-fil-a. Suddenly I remembered how amazing their cookies are.  The restaurant heats them up so that they are warm and the chocolate is melted.

Then the mind games started.

"I really want one!" I thought.  But did I?  Did I want one because I was craving one?  Or did I want one because I remembered how good they were and wanted to experience that again?  Did I really want one?  Really?  For a few minutes I stood there, thinking, playing angel and devil, and realized I didn't want one!  

So you know what I did afterwards?  I went to See's and got a chocolate lollipop, which I didn't even finish.  Even now, right next to me in a bag, is a dark chocolate almond candy bar.  I don't have to have it.  There's no desire.  It's sitting there just in case I have a breakdown, which hasn't happened yet, or a little indulgence, but I don't want to have an indulgence.

It's so weird!!  So I've realized, all this time, I was never a sugar addict.  I was a wheat addict.  When I thought I was craving sugar, I was really craving the wheat and flour.  

I'm on my second week, so we'll see.  The real test is how I am at the one-and-a-half week mark.  The point that always brings me down . . . and leads to unhealthy, sick inducing binging.   

So go have a cookie!! . . . or not:0)

Sarah

EDIT: May-06-2013, I must admit that I couldn't stay away from wheat.  Wish I could!  I really do like bread.  But, in reflection, what I experienced was quite real . . . I need to find a way to balance it all.

Payphone: Behind the Scenes of Cerulean Jade's latest Cover Song

Payphones in Santa Barbara

On June 19, a month ago, I promised the "Payphone" cover Steven and I was working on would be released that week, but it wasn't until this week we finally got it up. 

When I first found out about the song, I was browsing the Billboard Music website, checking out new songs for cover ideas.  The clean, rap version of Maroon 5's "Payphone" was doing very well, and I instantly fell in love with it and convinced Steven we needed to do this song.  Everything was going well with the Steven's arrangement and recording went smoothly, so on June 22 I went to bed while Steven was mastering the song.  

That morning he uploaded the song privately on Youtube, I gave it a listen, and knew there was no way we could make that version public.  The problem?  The vocals were so loud that the arrangement was dwarfed.  It was impossible to hear what made the music unique.  Unfortunately I didn't know anything about mastering to help, and Steven was stressed, having stayed up all night, and having obligations to his friends wedding (he was a groomsman) that's where his mind was, and needed to be.  But that night Steven was so warn out and stressed that he got really sick.  It was a very low point for both of us, and we needed to distance ourselves from the song and figure things out.  A break was needed.  

My Grandpa had suffered a heart-attack, he's doing better now, but my Mom was in California helping him, and since she didn't have a car to get back to Utah, Steven and I drove down to help her out.  We spent that week providing a service to both my Mom and Grandfather.  

When we got back we were ready to tackle the project again, but we still were having a hard time, and I was at a loss to how I could help.  Then earlier this week Steven was ready to throw in the towel and pay one of his friends to master the song.  In my gut I knew we couldn't do that, and Mom and I went down again to listen to the latest stage of the master.  Between the three of us we took the song bit by bit, and offered comments "Can you turn the voice down?"  "That instrument, yeah that one, it's too loud" "You're going to turn that instrument up?  Oh wait, that's a little muddy" "Make the voice flat" "Up the piano, it might balance the sound" etc.  By the end, and after trying the song on many players, we were finally happy with the finished product, and knew it was something we could all be proud of.

Originally the video was going to be just Steven and I singing, the studio shot with us behind the mike, and that was it.  Nothing more.  But if you've seen the video you know that's not what we ended up with.  A couple mornings ago I realized how cool it would be to show the music in action with screen shots, so Steven set out to figure out the best way to achieve that.  And then he decided it would be fun to do behind the scenes video as well.  This worried me, because of time, but we decided that taking a couple more days was worth it.  We dug up some video we taped while working on the song, and then shot new video with us outside and next to the piano.  Overall I loved the affect, and the added material makes for a video that's more fun to watch.    

This was such a learning curve!  But I'm glad for it.  The video is better then it would have been a month ago.  And I learned a lot too.  I may not know how to master, but I can learn, and it's a skill I can, and should, develop.  Technology scares me.  I'm afraid of messing up, not learning the software properly, etc, but this fear is only holding me back.  There's a lot more I could be doing.  

Steven and I learned the most important lesson.  Never give up!  Never quit.  If you keep at it, you can solve the problems that are plaguing you.  

And we learned more about ourselves as artist and what we're capable of.  That knowledge is invaluable.   

If you haven't seen the video you can watch it by clicking on these words. 

Have a great day,

Sarah

The Cover Paypohone is Online!!

Finally, after a month of waiting, I'm ready to announce that Cerulean Jade's Cover of "Payphone" is now on Youtube.  I'm so happy!  And I'm so proud of the work my brother Steven and I have done.  This has been quite a learning process, one we gained much from.  And I hope our music will continue to get better.

It's interesting and fun doing covers, but the experience we gain will only add to the original songs we're working on.  

Hope you had fun watching the video:0)
Sarah

Snow White and the Huntsman: Movie Review

"Oh, how I wish that I had a daughter that had skin white as snow, 

lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony"

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

I just finished reading my Grimm's copy of "Little Snow White."  In this version Snow White is seven when she comes of age and is sent into the woods to beg for her life, only to be tricked three times by her wicked step-mother and die by poison apple.  She awakes not by true loves kiss, but by the jostling of her glass coffin causing the apple to dislodge.  The Prince bought the coffin from one of the guarding dwarfs (no idea how old he was) after falling in love with her beauty.  

All throughout Europe there are different variations to the Snow White tale.  In some her heart is wanted by the queen, in other versions it's her lungs.  The dwarfs are even, in one incarnation, robbers.  And as we've seen this year, Snow White has been retold three times, in three entirely different ways, and I'm sure we haven't heard the last of Snow White.  She's been around since the 1800's after all.

 

So what makes this retailing different?  Snow White and the Huntsman, according to the title, highlights the connection between these two characters, but by the end of the movie you can't help but feel this wasn't achieved.  Charlize Theron as the evil Queen is clearly the star of the movie, and it seems a movie title "Fairest of them All" would have been more accurate.  

Charlize steals the movie with her screen presence and beauty.  She commands attention and gets it, though I feel at times her need for control comes off temper-tantrum like, garnered through years of getting her way

In the movie, after Snow Whites true mother dies, the King is a total wreck, and like the great father figure he should be, he runs off to battle, leaving his daughter to be raised by others.  Because his pain obviously is greater then Snow White's.  They're fighting a dark army when a carriage pulls up.  A prisoner has been captored!  One prisoner!  It's a beautiful women!  Marry her tomorrow!  And he does, which leads to his immediate demise after she kills him.  

I have to stop and wonder how great a King he really was.  Everyone says he's great, and yet he selfishly and foolishly leads his Kingdom to darkness and ruin.  But he's great!! We need to honor him!  And of course Snow White, at the tender age of seven or eight, is thrown into a tower, because the queen doesn't want to kill her.  Let her live and grow old in a tower . . . just because.

Enough of that, back to the review.  Snow White comes of age and is fairer then the Queen, not necessarily thanks to her looks, but her heart.  Snow White has a pure heart, and that gives her magic powers.

 Snow White flees to the forest, a Huntsman is sent to follow, only for them to become love interest!  Well, the movie is called Snow White and the Huntsman after all. We expect it.  Only Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth don't have believable chemistry.  And the plot misses opportunities to bring them together more often then not.  Then you've got the Duke's son trying to find Snow White, running with the bad guys as an archer.  Honestly I like Sam Claflin's William, the Dukes son, and by the end of the movie I felt real bad for him.

The tragedy of this movie is that there was a lot of promise.  I loved the darker tone, but it was a little too much at times.  Too many battles.  And the movie felt long.  A mark of a great movie is that you don't feel the time pass, but I did with this movie, and it was painful at times.  

The movie clearly wants the Huntsman and Snow White together.  He teaches her a fighting technique that helps her defeat the Queen.  He kills the Queens brother which weakens her.  At the end it's the Huntsman's kiss, not the Duke's son, that awakens her, only she never learns this.  Snow White just wakes up and gives a rousing speech which leads everyone to battle.  The last shot of the movie is Snow White being queened and the Huntsman looking on from the back of the hall.  It feels empty, hallow even.  

I like the idea of the Huntsman getting together with the princess.  Like I said before, there's so many versions of this tale that this would be an interesting twist, and in the story I read Snow White doesn't even get kissed.  (And if you think I read a version that appeals to children, you should read Rapunzel.  That girls got problems!!)    

What the movie gets right is the incredible CGI.  The visual affects are amazing, and I loved the fairy forest.  The dwarfs were fun.  And I heard other people say Chris Hemsworth's Huntsman felt like Thor was cosplaying.  I didn't feel that way at all.  I liked his portrayal.  I didn't care so much for Kristen Stewart's Snow White.  Gennifer Goodwin, from Once Upon a Time, wins the Snow White wars.  She is hands down my favorite.  

I can't really say I recommend anyone see this movie, though I must admit I have seen it twice.  I'm sure the producers and studio was hoping this movie had the same success as 2010's Alice and Wonderland, which grossed over a billion worldwide.  Snow White and the Huntsman, since June 1st, has only grossed $151,630,800 domestic and $370,430,800 worldwide.   Not bad, but not great. 

One last comment.  Florence + the Machine's end credit song "Breath of Life" is epic.  I've been listening to it on loop.

                     

 Have a great day!

Sarah

Albert and Music

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. ... I get most joy in life out of music.” 

-Albert Einstein

Spider-man: Movie Review

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

A few years ago, after the debacle that was Spider-Man 3, there was promise of a Spider-Man 4, with a possible 5 and 6 to go along with it.  The first movie was great, and the second movie was brilliant, so maybe those behind the 3rd installment learned their lesson and the 4th would lead the franchise back on track.  Well, needless to say, everything fell apart, and two years ago Marvel announced they were going to reboot the whole thing.  The next Spider-Man movie was going to retell the origin story with a whole new cast of fresh faces and go under the title The Amazing Spider Man. 

But do we need another one!!??  That was my reaction.  Spider-Man, the first, came out in 2002 to great success, only a decade ago.  Why the reboot?

For the longest time I was hesitant, skeptical, but the last trailer that was shone proved intriguing, and last week I saw the movie and loved it.

I didn't keep up with the cartoon series of the 90's, nor have I read the comics, but my brothers are in the know when it comes to all things geek, and they gave me the heads up about the Spider-Man film trilogy that broke with cannon.  MJ was a love interest later in Peter Parker's life, he's supposed to make his own web, there's a humor about the fight scenes that were missing, etc, so even though the trilogy was well received, true fans wished the movies stayed truer to the comics.  A reboot was the fans hope that the movies would get back to canon, and they did.

What I liked:

Though I'm not a die-hard fan, I do like the fact that The Amazing Spider Man got back to the heart of the comics.  Gwen Stacy was Peter's first love, and they did justice to her character.  I loved Emma Stone's portrayal; she and Andrew Garfield (who plays Peter Parker) have fantastic chemistry (they're also dating in real life, which proves how great they get along together).  I never cared for Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst as love interest.   

And, like the comic, Peter makes his own web device.  He also comes across as the geeky nerd he's supposed to be.  I think Tobey Maguire is a fantastic actor, but Andrew is the Peter Parker I imagined.  Overall I'm delighted with Andrews performance.  There was a lot of debate over who was going to be the better Peter, but I give the win to Andrew.

I liked Rhys Ifans as Doctor Connors.  He's a brilliant actor, and I've enjoyed some of his other work.  

Overall this was a fun movie flick.  Not perfect, but enjoyable.  All the characters felt real and relatable.  They were real people in extraordinary circumstances.

What I didn't care for:

I don't know how it was done in the comics, but I didn't like how Peter Parker ordered the web he uses from OsCorps.  Maybe its just me, but wouldn't someone figure out who is ordering all the web?  And what happens if it is no longer produced?  It's probably just a personal gripe, or a potentential plot point, I don't know.

Also, at the end when Gwen gets the antidote (to cure Doctor Connors and the police men who were turned into lizards) who gives it to her father, who then gives it to Peter, and a great antidote gas cloud heals the city, why wasn't Peter's mutation cured?  And that leads me to the mutation, animal DNA situation.  Peter gets bit by a spider and attomatically transforms.  Dr. Connors struggles, with Peter, to create a lizard formula that won't kill whatever is getting the new DNA.  How is it Dr. Connors overlooked the spiders?  And how were the spiders able to cause the mutation in the first place?  I do have to admit, the scene where Peter is in the secret room surrounded by all the spiders was really well done.

Also, one thing I think the original trilogy better accomplished was creating tension and tragedy surrounding the death Peter's Uncle, and how that ultimately shaped Peter into the hero he is.  In the new movie it was amusing watching Peter catch all these criminals, but there was something slightly hallow in it.  Though there was a great build up of Peter's character, always feeling abandoned by his parents. That struggle was believable and nicely done.

Even with those gripes, I did like the movie, and will easily see it again.  Is it up to the slandered set forth by The Avengers?  No, but it's still a fun romp.  There's been a lot of buzz that Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man is going to make an appearance in the next Avenger movie, but according to a panel this weekend at the San Diego ComicCon, Spider-Man won't be teaming up with the Avengers.  I'm honestly very dissapointed with this information.  It would have been fun to see.  Does that mean he might be in the movie, but not team up with them? . . . .

Ah well,
Have a great weekend!
Sarah             

An Accident happened on the way through Baker California

On June 26, 2012 my brother Steven and I drove from Utah to California to join my Mom who was there taking care of my Grandfather.  I was supper stressed, as this was my first 13 hour drive with just the two of us, and when we got to Baker there was bumper to bumper one lane traffic.

I have no idea what happened, but was able to get these shots.  I've googled "Accident Baker 2012" but there was no information.  From the looks of it, it looks like a truck exploded from the inside. 

I hope no one was hurt as it looks quite serious.  I'm glad Steven and I got a late start, because being next to the truck when it exploded would have been no fun.

Have a great day!

Sarah

Tsunami: Warnings and Guidelines

On a recent trip to Santa Barbara I noticed these signs all along the beach.  They weren't there a year ago, and I imagine these were put up thanks to the earthquake and tsunami that happened in Japan on March 11, 2011.  On that day, an article was published outlining tsunami risks in Santa Barbara.

The city started putting the signs up, along with a couple other coastal communities, in December 2011.  They did it in an effort to become "Tsunami-Ready," to let people know, in an emergency, how far inland they must travel to be safe.  Of course, the sign pictured above is located next to a park, and I wouldn't feel safe at this location.  I would keep running.  But the guidelines are a nice measurement.    

I always get nervous now when I drive along Highway 101 between Ventura and Santa Barbara, because it's a road that runs along the ocean for a good 30 minutes with no way to travel inland.  It's beautiful, I love it, but it's amazing that something that seems so peaceful can become quite violent and deadly.  The Japan Earthquake, though terrible, woke us up to the dangers we face.  There's a possible 1 in 7 chance in the next 50 years for an Earthquake off the Oregon Coast; it would have the same repercussions of the Japan quake, which would cause a huge tsunami along the pacific coastline.    Where I live in Utah, scientist say there is a 1 in 7 chance of a 7 point magnitude striking the Wasatch mountain range, which I live next to, in the next 50 years.  Crazy how both fault lines have the same percentage and odds.  Over 90% of Utah's population lives along this mountain range.  It's humbling and scary.  We can't take anything for granted. 

Sarah