No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on May 5, 2011

This is a pretty spoiler free review of Thor. I can’t promise that the comments won’t be since I want people to be allowed to discuss the film.

Yesterday Caroline, Peter and I went into the city to see the Marvel preview of Thor. Getting into the city and then across the city was more of a challenge than usual but the iPad and Garmin manged to get us through part of it before they both dropped out.

It was nice seeing people that I haven’t seen in a while and catching up on news and families.

The film itself was excellent. Kenneth Branagh gave the film a Shakespearian quality that kept it from being camp which, with another director, would have been easy to do. He also used his music go-to and had Patrick Doyle compose the soundtrack. So rather than having lots of pop music, this had an almost classical soundtrack however there is no use of the Ride of the Valkyries but it comes close a couple of times.

Acting is solid over all. Chris Helmsworth does a really good job with Thor and he is very nice eye candy. Tom Hiddleston is excellent as Loki. You really don’t know where he stands and just when you think you have it sorted out, it goes another direction but in the end Loki is very much Loki. Natalie Portman is fine as Jane Foster and she is sort of the weak link in the chain. Kat Denning was a lot of fun as the sidekick/intern. She has some of the best lines for the humans and delivered them with great glee. Stellan Skarsgard, back from the briny deep, did a wonderful job of basically a utilitarian character that seemed to be created to allow for the Norse Myths to be brought into the mix for those who don’t know them. And then there is Sir Anthony Hopkins. If you need a Human to play Father of the gods you need him or possibly Sean Connery but Hopkins is better that emoting and yelling so he’s the better call for this.

The plot is rather simple over all but there is a complexity because they try to give you the back story to all the characters on Asgard without any flashbacks. By the end of the film you know who each of these gods are and what their motivations are. It boils down to Frost Giants vs. Asgardians with Mitgard sort of in the middle. The other part is Thor finding that within him that is the hero rather than just a warrior.

It is a good spring/summer film. It does need to be seen on the big screen because you will lose all kinds of detail of Asgard, however if 3-D is not your thing, then go see it in 2-D. There were a couple of kind of cool effects but not enough to say you must see it in 3-D. I had to leave at one point to get my equilibrium back since I was getting motion sick. I am glad I saw it in 3-D but I want to see it in 2-D so I can see what is going on in the realm of the Frost Giants and some of the other colors that are so muted because of the 3-D process.

Do stay through the credits for the tag. It is so worth it.

I am grateful that Marvel let Peter bring the family to see Thor.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 4, 2011

Sort of in the middle of a bunch of stuff.

Going to see the Marvel screening of Thor this evening.

Still have a bunch of stuff to do.

However I had to post today since it is International Star Wars Day.

Star Wars has been very very good to me.

I have friends I have met through both the fandom and my time working at Del Rey on Star Wars fiction and non-fiction.

I am grateful for all the lovely things that have happened in my life due to Star Wars.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 3, 2011

This is sort of the crafty equivalent of Random Thoughts Before the Coffee Kicks In aka RTBTCKI.

New Things I learned on the last project:

Hair can make or break a doll. It is amazing how much the hair can dictate the look of the doll. Granny didn’t really come together for me until I had the hair in place. But once that was there, the rest of the doll came into focus.

I can freehand coats. All the clothing on both dolls was created without a set pattern but me eyeballing the size of the doll and making a couple of measurements. After that I pulled out my chalk and tape measure and created the pieces I needed to make the clothing. Pants still have some mysteries for me but I got coats, shirts, and vests pretty much down.

Hands and I are getting long but I just need to practice hands while watching TV or something. Considering what my original hand sculpts looked like and what I can do now, I have come a long way but with practice I can get even better. I seem to be able to get the left hand pretty easily but the right hand can be a real pain to bring into being.

Working Towards the Next Set:

I need/want to redo the DiscWorld dolls before I send them off for the DiscWorld convention. I like Granny and Nanny is fine but I want to redo Greebo so it looks more like the cat in my head and Magrat was a rush job so she need to be redone from beginning to end.

Then there is DragonCon. I need to figure out what I will be showing there. I will have some things at Shoreleave. I have a feeling I am going to be doing more animals with a steampunk twist.

Maybe some marionettes this time around but that’s on the back burner for now.

In the Future:
I want to put something on my esty site and figure out other good places to sell my dolls and puppets. I don’t think this blog is a great place but I need to learn how to get the word out about my stuff so I can find buyers for it.

I am grateful for creative impulses.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 2, 2011

But first a side note. I was working at Del Rey in the Bertlesman Building in Time Square when the Twin Towers were hit. A lot had changed since then. The news about the death of Bin Laden is significant for many reasons. Some of them, for me, are deeply personal. I am still processing what happened but I think I heard the collective letting out of breath by many here in the US. This won’t solve the problems of the world but it might give us and those effected by the events on that day some sense of peace that we haven’t felt in a very long time

I am grateful to everyone who worked so hard on this problem.

Now onto the Review. As always there will be spoilers behind the cut and in the comment section. And I reiterate that the current discussion is only for everything up to and including this episode.

I will say that the episode moved very fast and it did end with more questions than answers. The solution to the problem was rather elegant. And it reminded us that the Doctor tends to play the long game over the short win. The Doctor playing with history or being put into historical events can be a fun story which this was.

I am not dissatisfied with the conclusion because I know that Moffat is playing the long game. But there were a couple of things that I just said “Real?” in my best Heinz Doofenshmirtz impression.

Overall I was pretty happy with these two episodes and am looking forward to next weeks, which looks like Dr. Who vs. the Pirates of the Caribbean.

This is a prime example of the Doctor working long term on a plan to defeat an alien menace. The plan was conceived and executed like clockwork and once they let you in on what they are doing, it all makes sense.

And of course there was some of pipe-work laid last season to get to this point or Moffat noticed that he was repeating himself. I’m going to go with he knew what he was doing.

I think Amy’s pregnancy is a potential rather than a fact that this point. There is some time factor that is either going to cement it or kill it depending on what they are doing. Just because we have a regenerating little girl at the end of the story doesn’t mean it is either the Doctor’s or Amy’s nor is this positive proof that River is of time lord lineage. Remember Moffat tends to play the long game.

I am going to miss Delaware.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 29, 2011

After about two and half weeks of either cold, foggy, or rainy weather or a combination of these. This morning the sun is out and the skies are clear. I haven’t been outside but it is suppose to not be that cold today so I can open the windows and let some air into the house.

Cam Newton went first in the NFL draft which was not the most interesting football story of the day. The judge upheld her ruling and told the NFL to lift the lock out or pay some serious fines. But with no union, will the players get their salaries or bonuses? And how many are going to be ‘let go’ during this non-union time. I am hoping for a football season this fall but I have a sad feeling it is going to be a very truncated one.

Mets lost after winning 6 but they made it a fight all the way. Tonight is going to be the real test since they have been winning against midlist teams.

Basketball is still going on as is hockey but I haven’t been keeping up.

There was a wedding this morning, actually I am betting there were a lot of wedding but only one took over the airwaves. Will and Kate got married in front of G-d and country. I wish them much happiness and a long and loving married. Harry is probably going to become even more of a spare which I don’t think he minds at all.

Still sorting out today but I know I have laundry in my near future.

I am grateful that Caroline is enjoying walking to school.

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