Top Five Best Movies of 2011

I decided on five as I cannot currently think of ten. And yes, I do realize this is a few months late. And these are in my opinion, although I think I am being as objective as possible. In no particular order:

1. The Artist
2. War Horse
3. Super 8
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
5. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

I am in a bit of a hurry, so feel free to suggest movies to me. I did not see all of them, and I enjoyed several that I simply do not think ought to be honored due to my critical side. But I definitely recommend all five of these to anyone who loves a very well-made picture, regardless of genre.

-- Lewis

Let the Games Begin! A Post About Upcoming Movies

Two months until the Hunger Games movie. Squee! They'd better not ruin it like Stefen Fangmeier and 20th Century Fox did with Eragon. Grrr. But it looks promising. I do like Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark) and Donald Sutherland (President Snow), and Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen) is supposed to be a good actress as well. I am also aware of the making of The Hobbit. I can't get the tune right for the dwarves' song in the trailer, yet neither can I stop attempting to sing it. Christopher Nolan is coming out with a new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, which I really want to see. Only there's one unforgivable fact:

I've never seen any Batman film or even read the comics. Shoot me. I am interested, I just never found the time - that and I can't sit still with rentals (Tim Burton's Batman with Michael Keaton), and when the last Nolan one came out (The Dark Knight), I was thirteen and my parents thought I was "too young" even thought it was rated PG-13. THIRTEEN. Gahh.... Anyway, I'll try and get to it eventually. My parents didn't let me see Lord of the Rings in theaters, or Mr. Burton's version of Sweeney Todd. They think I'm younger than I am, apparently. I think I might just do a post of censorship. I've not done that one yet, have I? I don't recall one.

Battleship. What can I say? It's not so much that they're making a movie BASED ON A FREAKING STRATEGY GAME, but that it's from the makers of Transformers. Oh, lovely! I bet it's another film primarily based around special effects, no sense of plot coherence, stupid characters, and the charming message that women are sex objects - the last one being presented to a target young audience of males and females who may grow to believe this is true. The Three Stooges? Alvin and the Chipmunks AGAIN? Neither looked very appealing; Stooges just looked like a recycled excuse to remake something already existent, which looked unfunny enough (eye-pokes get old, and that looked like the whole joke of the entire movie). Alvin has been stretched so thin I won't see it (double meaning intended). Tintin looks excellent and I cannot wait to see it. I just saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows yesterday with a friend, and it was superb. And I hear Janet Evanovich's novel One for the Money is being adapted! Haven't read that one, but I did read her nonfiction book How I Write, which contained samples from her fiction. She's rather funny. Then there are the clueless-but-confident directors who can't stop making the same mistakes, particularly Roland Emmerich and Tyler Perry. I don't know or care what's next for them, but they can't seem to stop making film after painfully terrible film. Michael Bay...don't get me started. But Tim Burton and one of the other producers of Shane Acker's gem 9 are producing a movie based on a novel I have yet to read with a very odd title: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Yeah.... But I trust them. It sounds goofy, and might be, but I'm rooting for them to make it count. Two movies about Snow White are being made: Mirror, Mirror - which looks funny - and Snow White and the Huntsman, which looks more serious and deliciously dark. I want to see both. And there's a remake of Jack the Giant Killer, which looks cool, but I haven't actually seen the old one. The last few mentioned titles remind me of this really awesome miniseries I saw when I was nine or so called The Tenth Kingdom. I need to re-see it, but it was amazing, as I recall. That's enough for now.

Au revoir!

- Lewis

Critical Enjoyment

"A film is--or should be--more like music than fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later." - Stanley Kubrick

"I don't take movies seriously, and anyone who does is in for a headache." - Bette Davis

"You're only as good as your last picture." - Marie Dressler

---

I think there's a difference between types of good and bad movies. One is whether it is well-written, acted, directed, etc., and the other is enjoyment. Sure, they're contributory to one another, but one doesn't entirely change the other. For example, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides had a few plot holes (and I'd  have to give it a C rather than my earlier B), yet it still was funny and exciting. Same with the newer Star Wars films, Eragon (the movie), Van Helsing, and the Inheritance books as well (which include Eragon and don't have bad plots, just somewhat unoriginal ones). There is a book I had to read for school called Anthem (by Ayn Rand) that was terribly lazy in its plot, had ridiculously blown-out ideas, and took itself way too seriously. Not something I'd read for pleasure, yet it somehow stood the test of time and is for some reason hailed as a "philosophical" classic.

Sometimes what we watch for fun isn't award material, but still fun. Also I wanted to mention that a movie based on a book can be unfaithful and still good, if done well in its own right (such as several Dracula films, Stardust, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory [the old one], Frankenstein [1931], etc.) I haven't read The Lovely Bones, but I enjoyed the adaptation. Stanley Kubrick's version of Stephen King's contemporary horror classic The Shining is disliked by many who have read the novel, yet I and many others love it (funnily enough, despite my being a King fan, I haven't read the book). I've heard similar things about Secret Window, another Stephen-King-based movie derived from "Secret Window, Secret Garden" - a novella featured in his collection Four Past Midnight. But Johnny Depp is in it and he's great. Plus I recall the writing and directing being interesting. But who knows? It has been a while.

James Cameron's Avatar is often accused of relying on special effects to tell a story. I disagree. While the story may not have been the most spectacular tale ever spun, there was not much wrong with it. I would say that there are two directors who do use effects to tell a story: Michael Bay (Transformers 1, 2, and 3 - please don't make a 4) and Roland Emmerich (2012, Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow). At least Mr. Emmerich does not include as much sexism and racism as Mr. Bay. I think. I don't actually recall, but I won't willingly watch them again, although the effects in 2012 were at least entertaining.

But some movies are just torture to watch, like reading a phone book or tax records in place of a novel. These include Michael Bay films, any parody along the lines of Epic Movie (though I saw part of one Scary Movie installment, and it seemed OK), Son of Godzilla, Land of the Lost (Will Ferrell one), and anything by Tyler Perry. The reason I dislike Perry's movies is that they seem to all resolve in luck, meaning something JUST HAPPENS to go perfectly out of the protagonist's control, like a rich relative he or she didn't know about dying (Meet the Browns, which I was forced to watch once). And the humor is repetitive.

But don't worry, I do like plenty of movies. Just pointing out the not-enjoyable ones for me. I also have to wonder at people who base their opinions off of those of critics, such as my maternal grandmother. Many people I know didn't like the new Clash of the Titans, whereas I thought it was better than the original - a rare case with me. Maybe I missed something.

The point is, people should be free-thinking on media, not love everything but not hate everything either (like someone I know does [the latter]), and take in multiple factors. Don't ruin a movie for yourself because of a couple plot holes. And at the same time, look out for them! And don't love a movie because it's critically good but not enjoyable.

To quote a movie I don't remember the goodness of, but remember loving the book it was based on:

"Yes! That is all!" (Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen [also Gandalf], The Golden Compass, 2007 - based on the novel by Philip Pullman)

----Lewis

Thoughts on the Hunger Games Movie Rumors

So far as I know, they are truly making it now and it is due in March of 2012. Someone I know said that March is a bad sign for something of this magnitude (the books are huge nowadays, if you didn't know), and I asked why. He proceeded to explain to me that movies aimed at minors tend to come out in the summer or late spring, while adult movies intending to score with critics tend to come out from November to January. Other areas are left for movies which don't expect to do well, or at least not to be Oscar winners. This concerns me. I try not to go to a movie these days unless I think it will be good, though I do sometimes see a film more than once if it's that enjoyable.

I've read the Hunger Games books, and I have my expectations. I was quite disappointed in the Eragon movie, although some bits in it were OK. But they butchered Paolini's novel and demolished chances for a sequel by killing off the wrong characters too soon. I remember many people not liking the Golden Compass film, but it's been so long since I read or saw The Golden Compass. And I still haven't read The Amber Spyglass, or The Return of the King.... Need to stop starting these series and start finishing them. Olivia says that many series tend to worsen over time, and I could see that: Ranger's Apprentice is supposed to be an exception, and I know Harry Potter is. I also seem to remember liking the later Spiderwick books and all of the Hunger Games novels: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. But I'm not going to waste my time trying Robert Jordan, whose books appear to take forever to come to a close - and I've also heard as such.

So. The Hunger Games film. I like the burning mockingjay logo I saw on a website, and I hear Suzanne Collins (the books' author) will be writing the screenplay, but it doesn't seem too confident if they decide to put it out in March. Come on, Lionsgate, have some conviction! It has also come to my attention that there will possibly be four movies. There are three books. I understand with Harry Potter, what with the huge last installment, and the rumors of The Dark Tower movie in 2013 or so, hell, even Breaking Dawn - I'm not a Twilight fan, but with all fairness, the last book is big - but each Hunger Games volume is under 400 pages! They're great, great books, but they are not huge like the others mentioned. Three movies will do, say I. This could be just a rumor; I don't know.

I'm going to read a blog from a long-lost friend now, here, but maybe I'll post in a bit. We'll see.

Calins,

Lewis

Book Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker

My first experience with Count Dracula was the movie Van Helsing, and my second a play from Cary Applause! in October 2009. Shortly after that I watched the 1979 film with Frank Langella, then the 1992 one with Gary Oldman, and earlier this year (I think) the one with Bela Lugosi, released in 1931. I loved all of these, but the book is better than any of them.

For those of you unfamiliar with Bram Stoker's classic horror novel, woe unto thee, it is set (and was published) in 1897. Jonathan Harker goes on a business trip to the Carpathian Mountains of Romania to work for Count Dracula, who he soon realizes is not altogether human. The Count later shows up in Harker's home of London, where he hopes to make his residence and take over, for during his lifetime the Count was a fierce warrior who conquered lands. Harker and a small band of vampire hunters team up to hunt down the terrible Count before it is too late.

This novel started out rather slow, but one, I don't mind slow and two, it was written in 1897, before people had the distractions of video games and telly and all that. It had a very gloomy tone to it, which I loved. The only thing that I didn't quite understand was how Dracula transformed himself into a vampire without being bitten. I often wonder at this, and for werewolves too: where did the first come from? Before there was one to be bitten by?

Otherwise I really loved this book, and it's about time I've finally read it. I recommend it to any horror, vampire, or dark fantasy fan.

Final grade: B

Another New Blog

http://criticalwinter.blogspot.com/

Here I review films, television, plays, and such.

And I'm Nearing the End

"Even if I knew for certain that the world would end tomorrow, I'd plant an apple tree today." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (approximate quotation)

I heard something interesting this morning: that the world will end tomorrow. Will it? I have my doubts, but if it did, would it be worth panicking? I should think not. If it did, I'd like to spend my last day in this world with friends. I'm not the type to freak out about death; I either laugh at it or calmly accept it.

That's not the original purpose for this post's title (which is an ALL CAPS lyric, by the way). The original point was about yet another school year ending. It's not quite over yet, but it will be soon, and then there are only two more before I get shipped off to college somewhere. I feel like this has more or less been the best year yet, largely thanks to Creative Writing, but also due to other things. Even though I've much to work at, I am happy. I am still trying to break into acting, but I have some time. Book club goes well. I had my third meeting today, and it was the first one at which I reviewed a book (The Floating Islands - the review is on my other blog, Winter Reviews).

I saw a play last night, titled The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood. It was funny, and I recognized one actor from my school. I think I could write plays as well as act in them. Why not? I'm still young.

I might have my first guitar lesson this weekend from Hannah, but nothing is certain. That being said, I might go to this Autism Society campground tomorrow to look around. That might be interesting.

I watched Thor last Sunday, and it was excellent. I really loved Loki. I might see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides this weekend, if lucky.

Summer will hopefully be spent reading, watching movies and Doctor Who, and writing and blogging. I might do something I have not done in many a year: attend a camp. I'm thinking writing and/or acting camp.

The Last Post of 2010

Probably. I could spontaneously have another thought and post again, but in theory, this is my last post of 2010. It has been a good year, I'll say that. I wrote and read plenty (although I probably could have read more), and met lots of cool people. Many awesome movies came out, so I suppose I'll list my favorite ten in no particular order:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
• Toy Story 3
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice
• The Social Network
• Alice in Wonderland
• How to Train Your Dragon
• Clash of the Titans
• Iron Man 2
• Despicable Me
• Inception

Yeah, so that was eleven. Whatever. In other words, we had some good ones this time. I just realized that I missed Dinner for Schmucks, Tron: Legacy, Megamind, and Shrek Forever After, but I can't push it too much...can I? I also have yet to see some of them, such as True Grit and Gulliver's Travels. Either way, I enjoyed 2010 very much. I got a saltwater aquarium in the spring, which is still amazing (though we seem to have an invasive anemone on one of the rocks); we got my sister a dog (sister Laura, dog Launa - Laura's REALLY clever); I met Cory Doctorow, who was a really cool bloke; we went to Disney World in late September and stayed into early October; and I this year took up the name of L.M. Winter.

Overall, this was probably one of my favorite years. I probably ought to write a poem on the year, but this will be off the top of my head:

From eyelash wishes

To marine crabs and fishes,

From Health-class antics

To a scene from The Frantics,

From writing group

To picking up dog poop,

From reading Stephen King

To some other thing,

And I suppose while this lasts,

I'll mention Doctor Who podcasts,

The year is nearly gone,

So now my music's on

As I write these words

And time flies like birds

To the worlds beyond ours

And soon there will be flowers

Sprouting from the soil

And then the sun will boil

Even icy water.

And then Harry Potter

Will conclude its epic story -

Viewing will be mandatory -

Somewhere in July.

Time still will fly:

Death and birth will both occur,

Of that we can be sure.

Then Old Man Winter and his Young assistant

Will come ready and persistent

To sweep away daisies

Pushed up by old crazies

And the year along as well - 

We see that there is no hell

Or heaven in the end;

There is only death, and life to spend.

But this year has been great

And is now getting late.

We had great snows early

And again at the end: surely

There will be more?

I hope to open the door

Next year to a field of white

Which glimmers quite bright

In the sun, bouncing off crystals

As I put away pistols

To bring out a seasonable

Weapon, one more reasonable:

A ball of white snow

To hit my rivals before they know.

No matter what year,

There, then, now, here,

No matter what splinter

Of summer or winter

Or spring or autumn,

Top class or bottom,

We are alive

And should always strive

To make the very most

Of the moment, whether writing ghost

Tales or tales otherwise tall,

Or if you're not writing at all,

You must pay heed to time, and yet

You must not by any means get

Sucked into its void,

Whether it's ever toyed

With your concepts of progression

Or makes you think of regression.

Time is complex, but do not worry:

Just live your life, for there is no hurry.

Man, that went on for a while! Like I said, it was written just now, so it probably needs some work. But what I was trying to convey was that time may fly, but while the future needs planning to a certain extent, I choose to focus primarily on the present moment.

All in all, the year ends soon, but what is it but numbered dates? Life moves on at any rate. I plan to do many things still, such as complete my novel, improve my piano skills (I think a teacher at my elementary school might still be teaching), learn guitar and maybe join marching band with some other third instrument, take Drivers' Ed, learn about filmmaking, et cetera. I have plenty of things I plan to do, but now is now, and I'm blogging. But not for long: I think I'll check my email and then read my first Jane Yolen story. Oh, and speaking of firsts: I watched a small part of a Doctor Who today, called "Midnight." I think it was a newer one, and that just might have been this David Tennant everyone speaks of.

What a long post (mainly due to the "poem")!

Happy New Year!

Lewis M. Winter

Hello!

My name is Lewis Mason Winter, and this is to be my new blog. I had one before, but I somehow got locked out of my email and now I am restarting. L.M. Winter is actually my pen name.

Now, a bit about myself:

I am an avid reader, writer, and moviegoer. I enjoy mostly fantasy, horror, and science fiction, but I will read, write, or watch anything as long as it interests me. My favorite books are the Inheritance series and my favorite movies are all of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. I enjoy a great variety of music. I am not into sports. My writings, as well as things I aspire to write, include:

• Novels
• Short stories
• Poetry
• Essays
• Scripts
• Journals
• Articles
• Letters
• ...and blog posts!

So, this is my first post. I should have more soon.