Movie Monday: Nightcrawler & Gone With The Wind

Recently, I was thinking about movie reviews, and movie critics, and how they are typically negative and seem to always be looking for what's wrong with a movie, and virtually ignoring what is right. I always find it hard to write about movies because I read so many of these reviews and feel like that's the only way you can talk about a movie is to talk about it's flaws. I have a pretty open mind when it comes to movies, and it takes quite a lot for me to think that a movie is bad. I believe that even if a movie isn't perfect, as long as you enjoyed it, you haven't wasted your time. So I decided, rather than let that keep me from writing about movies I enjoy, I'm going to embrace it and write the way I want to. Thus, I'm starting a new regular feature called Movie Mondays! Here we go!

Nightcrawler

I had the opportunity to see an early screening of Nightcrawler last Friday at Beyond Fest. Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this thriller/drama about a creepy guy who gets involved in the surprisingly crazy world of video-taping accidents and crime scenes and then selling them to news stations.

Jake Gyllenhaal's incredibly creepy portrayal of an amoral guy trying to find his way in life is amazing. If there were an Oscar for Best Creeper, he would for sure win it. Seriously though, I don't see why he couldn't be an Oscar contender for this role. He does such a great job at being an overly friendlyish creeper, which is the worst kind of creeper. With his bug eyes, and over-earnestness, you both kind of hate him and kind of root for him. The lengths to which he goes to to secure good footage is chilling, and even more chilling is how matter-of-factly he does them. The world of crime scene journalism is really interesting and one that I'd never really considered before. You just don't really watch horrific accidents on the news and think about how they got the footage. I really hope that this film does well when it opens wide on October 31. It's such a great, original film, and it deserves to find an audience.



Gone With The Wind

OMG this is my favorite movie of all time. OF ALL TIME. Cinemark is doing a Classics series this summer, and Gone With The Wind was thankfully included. I haven't seen it on the big screen in either a long time, or never, I can't remember which. Though I have it on DVD and Blu-Ray, I actually hadn't watched it in a long time, so I was seeing it with somewhat fresh eyes this weekend. I realized that it was STILL AMAZING. Even at four hours long, my attention never wavered, I didn't wonder how much longer; I just sat there, entranced.

It is as much Scarlett and Melanie's story as it is Scarlett and Rhett's. Both women must figure out how to survive in the post-war South, and despite being very different, they both do. Scarlett is manipulative and ambitious, willing to do anything (before the war) to land Ashley Wilkes as a husband, or (after the war) to never be hungry and powerless again. Melanie may appear weaker than Scarlett, but her quiet strength holds everyone together.

Anyway, Gone With The Wind is amazing and everyone should see it. I read the book several times when I was much younger, and now I have a hankering to read it again. I wonder how different it will seem 10/15 years since I last did.

Salt Lake Comic Con 2014

A couple weeks ago, I started writing this blog post about attending Salt Lake Comic Con, but because I am the world's worst (or is it best??) procrastinator, I am only now finishing and posting it. So, this is happening.

SLCC is another new (to us) convention! This is the second year of the con; last year made records as the biggest year for a debut convention ever! Pretty impressive! 

We arrived in Salt Lake City on Thursday, staying at a hotel next to the convention center with a great view from our room! On our way to the hotel, we saw the line going into the convention center, and figured that we would relax a bit and have dinner, and let the crowd dissipate so that we could waltz right in and check out the exhibit hall for a while. So we checked into our hotel, had a nice dinner at Red Rock Brewery down the street, and then went over. The line was still long, but there were two separate ones, one for for regular attendees and the other for people with gold passes, which we had. For some reason that no one could really explain, they stopped the Gold Pass line, while continuing with the regular attendee line - for like 2 hours. A guy in line behind us actually got out of our line, went into the regular line, and got through before we had even started moving again. It was totally ridiculous and a sour start to the weekend. We did eventually get through the line and got our passes, but by then the exhibit hall had closed, so we didn't get to do anything.

A real live owl!

The next day, Friday, we finally go to see the convention! We checked out the exhibit hall and purchased a few goodies. There was lots of awesome cosplay - several people dressed as Lego figures, several Jack Frosts and Elsas, a couple of Star Lords, and a ton of female Loki and Thors - like, literally more female ones than male ones. C'mon dudes, step it up! There seemed to be a lot of live animals out on the floor - there was a booth with snakes and lizards, and a guy walking around with a real live owl! I even held a bearded dragon who I found oddly adorable!

We also attended a couple panels. Alan Tudyk (of Firefly fame)'s panel was pretty unique - for the Q&A, he had each person who wanted to ask a question sit on stage with him and answer a question from him! And then he gave them some 'shit', as he called it - incredibly random stuff like CDs, programs, a harmonica, some sunglasses. Later, we went to Manu Bennett's (of Spartacus and Arrow fame) panel. He was incredibly open and honest about his life and his career, and he seemed so grateful to have fans. He answered a few audience questions, for which the lines were awkwardly off to the sides of the stage. At the end of every answer, he made sure to direct his attention back to the person who asked the question, which I thought was a very nice and personal touch. There was this one question about Arrow, about what would it be like if he and the main actor traded roles, and he gave this incredibly honest answer; that Hollywood relies a lot on stereotypes, and so someone who looks like him (meaning Maori and thus somewhat dark-skinned; probably not referring to his super buffness), simply doesn't get those kind of leading man, hero roles. He could have given a fluff answer to that question, and instead choose to be super honest, but not at all bitter; simply stating a fact. I always liked him on Spartacus, now I like him even more, and I'm definitely going to have to check out Arrow now.


Saturday! The last day of the show, unlike most cons that also have Sunday. I guess it's the lord's day, and this is probably the lord's town, so no sinful cons on Sundays! 

Upstairs from the exhibit hall, they had an area dedicated to a few rows of arcade games! We played Captain America and the Avengers until we beat the final boss. I played Iron Man and hit those buttons until my fingers were sore! 

Later, we went to a panel featuring Simon Helberg from Big Bang Theory. This panel was more of a traditional moderated one with Q&A. Most of which, to be totally honest, sucked. I guess they didn't take a page from San Diego Comic Con, and didn't screen the questions before they were asked, leading to a lot of annoying 'Can I have a hug?" questions, questions that had already been asked, and questions that were just plain lame. I'm gonna be harsh for a second and say that the audiences in SLCC seemed to be a bit less... savvy... about how things work. Like, someone asked if Simon could have Howard and Bernadette have a baby on the show - as if the actors just show up and make things up themselves. These kinds of questions make for an awkward moment (and wasted time) as the actor then has to explain how writers and actors and television works. Also, there were a ton of questions from little kids. Is TBBT really a show for small children?? You know, it's cute maybe once, but when every other question is a small child, it gets old fast. SLCC definitely needs to step up it's game, Q&A-wise.

Clearly I needed a drink after all that, so we hit up Bourbon House for some bourbon, and some delish bacon wrapped jalapeno tator tots! We then bar hopped over to The Red Door, which had some very clever Comic Con themed cocktails!

All in all, Salt Lake Comic Con was a decent show. It definitely has some growing pains, and some improvements to make. Does it compare to San Diego Comic Con, though? No, it doesn't, and they should stop saying that it does, and that SLCC is for quote-unquote real fans. Can't we all just get along? Hopefully, they will take a page from SDCC and learn from mistakes year-over-year. SDCC makes a huge effort to do that, and it is always noticeable that when something isn't working one year, they do something to improve upon that the next. Hopefully, SLCC comes back next year bigger and better (maybe not bigger; it's already pretty huge).

Some goodies I purchased

I am Balloon Groot.

Seattle, Redux!

Last weekend, I accompanied my boyfriend on a business trip to Seattle, Washington! We were actually just there a few months ago for Emerald City Comic Con; this time, we were in the city for just 25 hours!

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza, in the heart of downtown Seattle. Because I am a member of the very exclusive rewards club (not really that exclusive; any club that would have me as a member, etc.) our room got upgraded to one of the top club floors - we even had to use our key in elevator to get to our floor! Super fancy! It also came with a cocktail hour and complimentary breakfast buffet! And the view from our room was amazing - we could even see the Space Needle and the ocean!



Upon arriving, we had dinner at Hattie's Hat in Ballard. I had a really yummy Voodoo Burger with pico de gallo on it, plus a drink called Bill Murray! It's their #1 best selling drink; I can only assume because it's called Bill Murray, and who doesn't like Bill Murray? Nobody, that's who. It consisted of bourbon, amaretto, and probably Bill Murray's actual blood.

Last time we were in town, we didn't have enough time to go to the Space Needle, so I really wanted to go this time, to add it to my list of towers I have been in. We got all the way there, only to find out that the next available time to go to the top was 3 hours later! No, thank you. Whatever, we got some great pictures from the bottom anyway.






While the boyfriend was working at his business job, I went to check out the Nordstrom Flagship, mere blocks from our hotel downtown. I believe it's the first Nordstrom ever, but don't quote me on that. It was 5 floors of shopping goodness! I checked out every single floor, and even went across the street to the Nordstrom Rack! Our one checked bag was already packed full, so all I could buy were some socks and underwear!










Later on, we went to Pike Place Market, which was surprisingly packed for a Monday afternoon. Don't you guys have jobs? We went directly from there to the airport, back to our home in LA! What a wild 25 hour trip!

The End of Bar Method Month

I can't believe it's been 30 days since I started this challenge, and I can't believe I finished all 15 classes! I feel amazing and kind of really proud of myself for sticking to it and really pushing myself each class to do better.

I can definitely tell a difference in how I feel from when I first started. I'm able to push myself further, sink down more in Thigh, crunch more in Abs, and even do pushups on my feet instead of my knees. Plus, I haven't had any more trouble with my shoulders, my hip flexors, or my knees, all of which had caused me pain in the last several months. My body just feels really great, less creaky and crunchy and jiggly, overall!

It seemed appropriate that for my final class of the challenge, the instructor was Mimi Fleischman herself - the owner of Bar Method Los Angeles, and sister of the founder of the Bar Method! I felt really honored and lucky to be in her class, as she doesn't teach very often anymore. She was, of course, amazing, which I'm sure is why all the instructors at Bar Method are also so amazing! They are a huge part of why I love and keep coming back to Bar Method.

After 15 classes, you think I'd be sick of Bar Method classes, right? Wrong! Here's a twist ending - I actually have 6 more classes to take, from a series I had purchased previously! Woo hoo! However, instead of taking them 3-4 times a week, I'm going to just do a couple times a week, and combine them with Zumba and other classes. I really enjoyed dedicating 3 to 4 times a week to exercising, and I want to keep up that pace. 

Halfway Done with Bar Month!

Monday marked my 8th Bar Method class of the month - just over half of my 15 total goal! I almost can't believe it because it's gone by so fast. I'm not even bored of class yet; I actually still look forward to going! I've gone every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and took a class last Sunday!

I've been trying to do the harder options the instructor gives for some of the exercises, to push myself even further. I feel like at this point I really should, to challenge myself. I do feel stronger and more capable. 

At the beginning of the month, I measured various body parts to track the change. I meant to wait until the month was over, but I couldn't wait and measured my waist and found out that I've lost 3 inches! My muffin top is now a bran muffin. It's amazing the way it can change your body, and so quickly. 

7 more to go!

Week One is Done!

And week two is here! I've had the whole weekend to rest up, and I'm ready to go! I'm planning on the same Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule as last week, with an additional Saturday or Sunday class this time. I'm actually looking forward to class tonight, something that doesn't always happen with me and workouts. I'm feeling a tiny bit stronger this week, so I know I can push myself a bit harder this week. Yikes! Here we go....

2 Down, 13 to Go!

I took my second of 15 Bar Method classes last night! I was still a bit sore from Monday's class, so I knew it was going to be particularly brutal. After a rough day at work, I was ready to shake it out. And boy, did my thighs perform their own personal earthquake. Ashley Glenn put us through a workout that had people uttering audible 'JESUS' and 'WOW's. She was actually the instructor at my very first Bar Method class, so I kind of <3 her. She actually remembered me when I checked in!! 

I'm trying to start a non-matching sock trend at my studio. This is only partially because I often can't find matching footy socks and just grab whichever ones are clean. As you may or may not know, Bar Method requires you to wear socks only, so they are of the utmost importance. The ones with the grippy soles are the best, but I only have one pair of those. I have dozens of footy socks with various cute patterns. Yesterday, for example, I wore one polka-dot one and one striped one. There was actually another girl in class doing the same thing, so I think it's going to catch on.

One Month of Bar Method Classes!

In which I try to take 15 Bar Method classes in 31 days. 

Bar Method had an 'August Commitment Sale' offering a series of 15 classes to be taken during the month of August. I've been super slacking on my fitness as of late, so I thought this would be a good way to get back into it in the most painful, yet somehow still enjoyable, way possible. My goal is to go Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then once on the weekend for a couple weekends. 

Last night was my first class. I really pushed myself and felt amazing and incredibly sore afterwards (and today!). As usual, 15 minutes in, halfway through Seat, I was thinking to myself, "I've made a huge mistake." But I pushed through the pain and persevered, and also didn't die.

The teacher, Kym Hoy, was absolutely fantastic - she was everything that I love about Bar Method teachers. That's one reason why I prefer Bar Method over other barre classes I've tried - the instructors remember everyone's name, and will call out adjustments and praise throughout class. They're also very hands on and will help you move into exactly the position you should be. This is SO helpful, especially if you're new and have no idea what you're doing, and sometimes even if you do. 

One down, 14 to go!!

Comic Con 2014!

I'm hoping that writing a post about Comic Con will help keep me from sliding further into post-con blues! This was my 11th year attending (!!!) and, as usual, was unlike any other year. Thinking back to my first time, I can definitely see a lot of changes, both bad (much more crowded, longer lines) and good (more off-site events, more organization). But since I've been attending for so many years, and because this is one I attend with not just my boyfriend, but also my aunt, mom, and best friend, it holds a very special place in my heart. SO anyway, on to the recap!!

WEDNESDAY:
AKA Preview Night! This is the best time to check out everything in the exhibit hall since there are no panels or other distractions! First off, we had to go to the Town & Country to pick up our badges. Once they were acquired, we walked around the Gaslamp District, which was already kicking off the week. The new Sean Bean show, Legends, was handing out USB drives in the shape of a Sean Bean driver license. They had a code on the back which, when entered into the combination of a suitcase by 2 guys in suits and sunglasses, as seen in the picture below, could win you a variety of prizes. While in line, we saw one guy win something. He was quickly taken away, so I have no idea what he won. None of us had the winning combo, but hey, free 2g flash drive!




The exhibit floor was full of fun things like this Hunger Games: Mockingjay area, where you could get your picture taken with a peacekeeper straight from the movie. Smaug presided over the Hobbit/Weta booth. Thankfully, he did not breath fire.

Oh hey, Joe Manganiello and Joe Manganiello's abs, promoting his new fitness book. Speaking of pecs- I mean, books- there were a lot of book publishers giving away free books!! It was probably one of my favorite parts of Preview Night. I managed to grab 3 books, which I'm very excited to start reading. 

Lots of awesome cosplay abounded, like these cool cats. So many Elsas and Annas from Frozen (only one Jack Frost, unlike every other con I've been to in the last year, for some unknown reason). 

 

THURSDAY:
The first real day of the con! We volunteered bright and early, and then were free to roam. After a quick look at the exhibit floor again, we took a look at the Simpsons-themed Bayfront/Hall H lawn. Lines were long for everything (what else is new at Comic Con?!), so I really only walked by. I don't know what was going on in this Homer dome, but it took a really long time for them to finish setting it up. There was also a carnival game where you could win a blow-up sprinkle donut, blue cotton candy as Marge's hair, and a candy shop. Nearby, a Gotham zip-line had a line that apparently lasted for upwards of 3 hours, so that was not to be for me either.








That night, we attended a Hero Complex party thrown on the roof of the Hotel Solamar. It was pretty awesome with an open bar (omg yes) and pool cabanas where I saw Michael Rooker, an Imax-sponsored giveaway of Guardians of the Galaxy phone cases and Hercules tank tops for posting a selfie with a hashtag, and a photobooth complete with superhero/space themed props that gave you not a photo, but an actual flipbook of the seconds they were filming you!!! I haven't been to many Con parties, but I thought this one was fantastic!







FRIDAY:
Friday would have been our Hall H day, but it was not to be. This year everyone in the world got together and decided that getting in line for Hall H at 3pm the day prior sounded like a great idea. I disagreed and was not allowed in. No offense to anyone that does camp out in line, but my pampered princess butt just cannot handle it. Oh well. Instead we viewed the Hall H panels from the playback room in the Omni (let's keep this our little secret because it honestly was not a bad way to get to see most of the big Hall H panels. The room was not ever maxed out, it was nice and air-conditioned, and we didn't even have to wait in line. So, shhhh). We got to see Bones (which I don't watch, but Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz aka Angel were very entertaining), Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones. The one downside of the playback room is that they don't show the clips, but those are up online in a minute anyway, so it's not that big a deal, really.


After the playback-ing, we walked around outside the convention center some more. The Hilton across the way, which had the Terminus sign I posted last time, also had an actual Terminus map, as well as Terminus' other signage from the show.


We DID make it into Hall H for one panel, though - the annual Kevin Smith panel! He showed a trailer for Tusk, and it looked pretty great! This is the first year, however, that we haven't spent at least one whole day in the big H. 







SATURDAY:
Again, there's no way in hell I'm waiting outside for 24 hours for Hall H, so once again it was playback room to the rescue! This time we saw the Simpsons and Once Upon a Time panels (which are actually from Ballroom 20), and the Warner Brothers panel (with Ben Affleck, Henry Cavil, and Gal Godot making an appearance for Batman v. Superman, Channing Tatum for Book of Life, George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road, and the Hobbit with Stephen Colbert hosting). We also checked out the Nerdist panel, which featured the editors of a lot of the different sections of the Nerdist.com site. I listen to approximately 37,000 of the Nerdist Industries podcasts, so you might say I'm a fan.

Khalessi's dragons and Pokemon trainer Ash, together at last

SUNDAY: 
We started off Sunday with the Sesame Street panel! They showed 2 skits from upcoming shows - one with Elmo attending NumeriCon (obvs a parody of Comic Con!) and one that was a trailer for Star Smores. Murray Monsters, Grover, and Cookie Monster himself were on the panel, along with their puppeteers. There were a lot of muppet fans in the audience - Gonzo and Fozzie were there, along with what appeared to be a bird from Disneyland's Tiki Room. It was probably the cutest panel I've ever been to, with audience questions not only from kids but also adults who loved the show. 

The next panel I saw was a Quentin Tarantino one for Django Unchained. If that doesn't show the dichotomy of Comic Con, then I don't know what does. Really, we were just there early for the Buffy the Musical sing-along, though! For the 4th year in a row, Nicholas Brandon, aka Xander, showed up to see how much of his song he remembered and to do the Snoopy Dance. What a good sport!

Then it was good-bye, Comic Con 2014! See you in 347 days! I may not have waited in very many lines this year, but the longest one was definitely the 5 freeway back to LA. The normally 2 hour drive took me 3.5 hours!


SWAG:
The swag was somewhat light for me this year, and I didn't buy all that many things. I got 5 Funko Pops (Sookie and Alcide from True Blood, Maggie from Walking Dead, Silent Bob, and the Hulk); a She-Ra sword/letter opener); a seal in a bunny suit (or is he being eaten by the bunny? Unclear.); Funko Disney Minis; and a mystery bag from a booth I can't remember that had a cute cat, seahorse, elephant with wings, and a mini lunch box (you know how I love a grab bag, and this one was great!). Swag-wise, I got a Disney Princess sticker book, those 3 books I talked about earlier, a Hercules tank from the Hero Complex party, a Grumpy Cat temp tattoo, and some other miscellaneous things.

Bonus Care Bear!

Hello from San Diego, Pre-ComicCon!

I am in San Diego, several days before the Con of all Cons starts to get a little relaxing in before there will be no more relaxing for several days. It is so weird to see the convention center and the Gaslamp District empty; I'm accustomed to seeing it teeming with costumed humanity. Here's a peek at my adventures thus far:

Welcome to the Historic Heart of San Diego, the Gaslamp District! This is where the majority of the off-site events take place during the Con. There's a ton of great restaurants and shops to check out here.

So this is what the convention center looks like with no people! Super weird. 

Where is everyone? I should probably get in line for Hall H right now, maybe I'll actually have a shot at getting in.
















Look, I found Terminus! And it's at a Hilton, how convenient. I believe there's a BBQ taking place there that you can go to if you tweet a selfie of yourself in front it, and then be one of the first 200 people to show the tweet to the people at at the entrance. Hopefully this works out better for you than it did for the gang in The Walking Dead...

 I guess there's Game of Thrones beer (sorry, ale) now. If only I liked beer...












Seaport Village, which is northwest of the convention center, hosts quite a large number of shops and restaurants. I had no idea there was so much back there! It's definitely worth checking out.

There was this awesome guy balancing rocks using magic/physics. While I was watching, he balanced was working on the tower in the right of the picture. He put a huge rock on top of a very small rock. It took a couple minutes, but then it magically balanced. I've seen pictures of this kind of thing but never seen it done in person, so I was really really happy to see this!