Another Hobbit Poster

As a tag-along to my last post, I also found this poster. It's probably my favorite so far of the Desolation of Smaug posters. (And it's now on my Christmas list...) Enjoy!

Isn't it awesome? Anyway, that's it. I'm done (for now).

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Just a heads up, this isn't really a review. It's just some of my thoughts, what I liked or didn't like, and hopefully no big spoilers (similar to what I did with the first Hobbit movie). Now...

I just found this new poster. :) I showed you the other one before, but I think I'll still put it here because it's epic.

Anyway, now for my thoughts on the movie. Like the first one, I really liked it over all. There were some (ok, several) discrepancies from the book which was a bit disappointing, but I try not to have too high of an expectation so it's harder to be disappointed. Usually works pretty well.

I'll start out with what I didn't like as much just to get it over with. First, there were times (especially at the beginning) where I felt like they were speeding over the stuff that was actually in the book so they had time for the extra stuff they added. Seems kind of backwards. But it was some of the extra stuff that wasn't my favorite. Like Tauriel. (Just for background, Tauriel is a female elf they made up and added because they felt like there were too many male characters... or something.) She's interesting on her own, and helps create some conflict, but other than that... you can just tell she doesn't really fit in the story. At least, that's how I feel. And the whole thing with her and Kili... *shudder*. Not sure why they did that.

Well, that about covers what I didn't like. This movie was kind of the opposite of the first in closeness to the book--the first one was closer at the beginning, but I think this one was closer at the end (kind of...) So more of my favorite stuff was later in the movie. Anyway, I liked the part with Gandalf in Dol Guldur, which, although it isn't in the book, is still consistent with the story over all (as in it actually happened). Also, I did like how they extended Bard the Bowman's character so you have a chance to get to know him a little better before... well, I can't spoil that for you! Read the book.

Probably my very favorite part of the movie was when Bilbo and the dwarves are at the mountain. And SMAUG! Oh my goodness. He was incredible. And gigantic. It was amazing. He's such an intelligent villain (and unlike the Pale Orc and his helpers, Smaug actually speaks English). I can't even describe it, and certainly not without giving spoilers.

Kind of along with that part, I really liked how they showed Thorin starting to change. He starts to think more about the treasure and especially the Arkenstone, which would give him the right to be king. And he demonstrates how valuable it is to him, kind of. I'm sorry, I'm really trying not to spoil anything, but it's hard to describe without that... but they really did fantastic with that, I thought.

And then Bilbo. He is probably my favorite character in both Hobbit movies, but definitely in this one. You can see him kind of 'coming into himself' so to speak. You see he's gotten a lot braver over this journey. And maybe a little smarter too. His conversation with Smaug... wow. Probably my favorite part of the movie. Oh, and something a little interesting they did in this movie: in the first one (and in the book) he found the Ring in the goblin tunnels. He doesn't know what it is, and it's not super important to the story other than that he can now turn invisible. But in this movie, they show a little bit of how protective he is of the ring already and how he can hardly keep his eyes off it. It's not in the book, but I really like it. It kind of foreshadows what's to come (many years later in the Lord of the Rings, but still.) Well done.

One thing I'm not sure how to feel about is Thranduil, the king of the elves in Mirkwood (and Legolas' father). He wasn't what I expected, but at the same time I'm not sure what I expected. I think he's a little more... reckless or temperamental than Elrond, and it's good that he's different, but I'm not sure what to think. Also, the fact that there's supposed to be a bit of enmity between the dwarves and the elves (and the movie is focused more on the dwarves) gives him a kind of sinister feeling. (Actually, I'm not sure if that's really there or if I just imagined it in because for some reason he reminds me of Lucius Malfoy.) He is certainly not wanting to get involved in anything that doesn't concern him, but most elves are like that to some degree. Maybe it is just the slight recklessness and that I don't know how to handle a reckless elf. Anyway, didn't mean to confuse you or anything there, just something I was thinking about.

To sum that all up, I feel kind of similar to how I did about the first movie. I love seeing the characters on screen and I really love the parts of the movie that are close to the book or just really well done. I still like the book better and wish they could have stuck closer to it, but I'm content to think of them as similar but separate stories and continue liking both book and movie. I'd certainly recommend the Desolation of Smaug, but only if you've read the book ;).

More Pinterest Fun

Let's do another 'cool things from Pinterest' post! I had fun with the last one, but I've found some more fun stuff since then.

She's so cute. I really like different colored hair (sometimes), and bright red is so fun. I think it's actually supposed to be a costume of a real-life Ariel (The Little Mermaid), but I still like it as any other character.

I really like this picture. It's a cool setting, and the dragon really fits in with the snowy place. And he's feathery. Then we have all these greys and blacks and muted colors, and then the dragon's holding something reddish and glowing. Now that doesn't fit with what we expected. And it's interesting. It makes me wonder, what is the dragon doing? What is that thing? I kind of get the idea that he's sacrificing something of himself in order to help... something or someone. Fire and ice don't mix too well.

This is just plain cool. I mean, a city made to look like a desert from the top. I have no idea what I'd use it for, but it's a fascinating setting.

This is a fantastic drawing, not to mention really cute. But it's also from the Pixar short 'The Blue Umbrella' that plays before Monsters University. It is an adorable short. And incredible animation. I can't find the video anywhere online, but you should still watch it. Oh, and Monsters University is good too. :)

YES. I would watch that. You know, we should do this. Like just get together and nominate books for different 'awards' and then vote/have people vote. Wouldn't that be fun? And we could make special labels and put them in our copies of the winning/nominated books: 'Winner of the Best Antagonist Award 2013' '2013 Runner-Up Best Plot Twist' 'Nominated for 2013 Hardest Thrown Across the Room Award'. Maybe I'll just do this with all my books anyway. It is fun!

This compass. I love it. It looks so cool! It has kind of an old-fashioned look, but in a different way. It's unusual, but still has some 'classic compass' to it. Anyway...

This is the last one. It just makes me laugh. I hadn't really thought about it until I saw this, but it's true. The recent Disney (princess) movies are all just named with adjectives! Anyway, just thought it was cool.

Thoughts on Writing

I've been thinking a lot about writing today. Partially because it's always in the back of my mind and partially because I was trying to formulate my thoughts into something to blog about. Whether or not this attempted formulation was productive remains to be seen.

I don't have any updates to share on my Other Worlds novel. I've updated stuff, of course, but I don't feel like any of it's clear enough to share here. It's all incredibly complicated. I knew that already, but it became super obvious when I tried to explain things about the story goal to my mom at lunch. I think she got the basic picture, but... I guess I hadn't realized how many details I'd put into just the small things even! One thing I did recognize in that conversation was that my hero and my villain have very distinct goals. Part of the problem I still have is that they don't seem to connect super well, but it's good that they're distinct characters and not just there to oppose each other.

Probably the reason I realized that was because I'd just been reading this blog's posts about villainy (which is what the link should go to). Not only are they super fun and creative, they're also informative on how to make (or be) a better villain. It's also where these came from:

This one accompanied my post on villains

I like this one. A lot. :)

This is what I was talking about with my characters.

Anyway, great stuff.

I've also been reading the OYAN blog, which has a bunch of excellent posts from Mr. S, other OYAN staff, and some older OYANers. The latest one:

Which I also just read today. It's about how writing hurts a ton because you're putting a part of yourself into it. Your story won't mean as much if you don't have to give something up, I guess. It's a wonderful part of writing (and makes reading better too!) but it's so, so hard. I think it's probably the biggest reason I avoid writing. It feels unnatural to make myself vulnerable through my writing, not to mention it's not easy. In the end, I suppose it comes down to whether or not I think it's worth it. Giving up is a whole lot easier, but it doesn't have as much reward. Deep down I think I realize that, which is why I still keep trying to write. And keep thinking about the other stories I've worked on.

Like Aubrinn's story. My first OYAN. Which I've never finished. I still think about it a ton, way more than I think about Bryllen's. It kind of surprises me, since the first had (has) WAY more problems, but maybe that's just because I was willing to risk not getting it right the first time. Or I just had no idea how wrong it could go. Ah, the innocence of inexperience. Maybe I just think about it more because I know it better. I never really got too far into Bryllen's story (although I do know the characters pretty well!) I'd really like to work on and finish both of those stories someday. And finish the one I'm working on now. I just have to be willing to take the risk of it hurting. I haven't given up yet!