Month: June 2013

  • Time to Say Goodbye...

    Not that I blog as much as I did anyway.  Still, it was always there if I ever wanted to take it up again.  But it appears that there's a strong possibility that Xanga will go kaput after July 15th, less than a month away.  Funny that actually coincides with the time frame in which I'll be moving to Florida.  Talk about a year of major changes.  Anyway, when it comes to Xanga, it seems they're trying to raise funds to renovate and keep their site running and eh, obviously that guarantees nothing.  It may still survive, but if it does, it will be massively renovated, possibly in WordPress style.  But since I already have a WordPress, there likely won't be much reason for me to stay.  Unless I simply "merge" the two.  *shrug*  But whatever happens happens.  I'll always be here until I literally can't come anymore, I suppose.  I'm downloading my final archives as a precaution. Memories are memories after all.  

    Should this site not survive, I can be found at other blog sites, which I haven't really decided on a favorite yet.  Neither one of them are fully finalized, but eventually will be I guess, once my blogging self reawakens again.  So as of now, they just exist to exist.  

    Blogger (http://www.lyndarey.blogspot.com/
    WordPress (http://maulindy.wordpress.com/)

    And of course, my Facebook:  (https://www.facebook.com/IslaLin)

    If Xanga survives, I'll still be here, though.  We shall see.  Until then, I'd like to offer a "thank you" to anyone out there who stuck around to read my nonsense, even if it was sparingly, even if I had nothing but crap to say, even if I was a failure in offering the same thing.  I may not say it much, nor even express gratefulness, but it's there.  I'm very appreciative of you fine folks who were always lurking there in the shadows to make the inner me feel desirable.  I thank you for your attention, your thoughts, your advice, your kindness, and your mere presence.  Even if I sucked in offering you back the very same treatment.  There are some great people out there, and I feel privileged to have socialized with a small bundle of them right here in Xanga-land (or in some cases, even before and after Xanga-land).  Hope to always see you guys around. :)  

  • Man of Steel

    I can't quite word everything I want to say in a nice, review-like manner. It was just...., well of course excellent. But also a bit weird to get accustomed to. Obviously, I know Donner's Superman and this was definitely NOT Donner's Superman. While I have no attachments and/or obsessions with that previous installment, it certainly has been "the norm" for awhile. So this Snyder version, while friggin' EPIC, was still such a massive, massive change to swallow.  I had a somewhat difficult time doing so.

    I loved what I was seeing, hearing, witnessing, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have to really shut up that side of me that was looking for the "playfulness" of Donner's version, for lack of a better word.  Donner's world of Superman was not what I'd call epic; it was very, hmm....well small.  Very non-comic book.  Very OUR world in all its littleness with Superman guest-starring in it.  While on the other hand, Snyder's version is a freaking behemoth in terms of a comic book movie. It was still our world, but having a head-on collision with Superman's world, which was like an explosion of nuclear caliber.  The effect for me, as a result, was admittedly a little jarring.

    Now on to what may be some semblance of a review.  

    I have a few complaints, but I can't help wonder if they're really complaints about aspects of the movie itself, or complaints about what the movie had (or didn't have) in comparison to what I'm used to.  Either way, they're nothing more than mere quibbles that are pretty much powerless in the grand scheme of things.  They still need to be mentioned, though.  I didn't care for the death of Clark's dad.  It was heroic, sure, but also lame and preventable. It felt flawed and...awkward.  There's no reason Clark had to be stopped from that rescue, especially given how it concluded: with Pa Kent being swooshed away to his death.  Given the desperate scenario, people screaming and panicking because of a sudden tornado threatening to engulf them, I'm quite sure Clark could have totally gotten away with saving the dog and then just getting swooshed away just the same.  Who'd have seen his face anyway?  Nothing he would have done would have been any different than what Pa Kent did.  The only different is, he'd have walked into his front door later that day, and his dad wouldn't have had to die.  So...really didn't care for that at all.  I do understand what they were going for, having Pa Kent sacrifice himself to protect Clark's secret, forcing Clark to accept the fact that he has no right to decide people's fate, but still. Don't let Clark just stand there and be forced to watch.  To me, that's like saying, "Let 'em die, Clark. Let 'em all die." Sure, protect yourself and your secret, but at what cost?  *sigh* But I suppose that therein is STILL the point.   

    The only other "complaint" (and I use it lightly in this case) was the action.  Not the action itself, but the circumstances in which it was taking place. Of course it was amazing.  But almost a little TOO amazing, maybe even a bit over the top. I did, here and there, find it so hard to believe that Superman was perfectly willing to engage in such epic battles around city buildings, which were always too conveniently empty.  I guess Superman doesn't have time to wonder if any people are coming to harm in all those buildings in the paths of choppers, cars, missiles, and of course, Superman himself.  And not that the action and fights weren't awesome (they so were!) but come on now.  Buildings being demolished to practically dust, and then it's all happy go lucky the next day (so to speak; I know it wasn't really the next day literally) at the Daily Planet?  I guess, though, that this is the price to be paid to make the movie feel like it's a comic book come to life.  Because that's definitely what it did feel like to me.  A comic book coming to life.  Can't say I really liked the fact that a lot of people know Superman's identity either.  But I haven't determined if that's because I am still thinking of Donner's Superman or I really just don't like the idea of a secret identity being that much a NON secret.  Then again, I guess it is rather lame that no one was ever able to see how exactly the same Clark and Superman looked in Donner's version. I wish I knew what the norm truly is.

    Those were the only complaints I had, really. Not much and most certainly not enough to damage my experience.  Pretty much everything else just...goes without saying.  Either that, or there just doesn't exist any words to describe it.  This was one AWESOME movie, very epic in feel.  I loved all of his flying moments, how the camera's angle was often right behind him so I can feel like I'm flying along with him.  Expectantly, I LOVED the score. I do wish where was a bit more variety to the main b-b-b-b-b-babum theme, but all in all, very worth of my collection and another Zimmer treasure to behold.   I purchased it before the movie's release, but held off listening until I saw the film. Now that it's been seen, I'm blaring the score as I type. :D  I loved Cavill's performance (and has he ALWAYS been that hot? My goodness), and I can't wait to see more of him in nerdy, Clark Kent fashion.  And whoever that woman was...Feorah or something?  What a fun character to watch!  She was mind-blowingly awesome as a villain and I loved watching her every scene, which fortunately weren't minimal, but I wish they were even more MAXIMAL.  She seemed far more menacing than even Zod himself.  The visuals were amazing, the sound, the heroic moments brought to even more vivid life because of the score accompanying them.  Loved that feeling of watching a comic-book movie with the most iconic character as the star while still feeling like I'm watching a sci-fi movie at the same time.  

    I'm sure there's plenty more to say, but the disadvantage of viewing a later show is sleepingess starting to kick in before I can really gather all my thoughts.  Perhaps after some sleep, and maybe a second viewing, can help me out with that. Either way...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz