The Social Porcupine

I was first introduced to Ender's Game through the movie  at my friend, Mary's place. It's hard to not fall in love with the plot. It's combined emotions and facts into this perfect mush of confusion. What would you have done? How would you have felt? What was really right? I loved the movie even as I hated it for so many reasons. Because I understood the " bad guys". They did they right thing. They weren't really bad. They were thinking long term: "Save the world, prevent the Formics from every trying to destroy Earth again." So I understand a lot of people have told me that the movie wasn't nearly as good as the books. So I may not have as full of an understanding of the Formics as I could. But here are my thoughts about the movie and the Ender's Shadow audio books. Though one blogger  did say she preferred the movie for various reasons, one being there was less inappropriate content in the movie. Also, be warned, I'm not...

Who would think that something could make you laugh so much before tearing you to pieces, making you want to do nothing but cry? You  relate .   Grief  and  laughter  are something most can understand - but I don't know if I've ever seen any other movie capture both of these human emotions so simply perfectly. (This is not a review, but my thoughts. This entire post contains spoilers and references that may not make sense if you have not seen the movie.) Life is full of confusion – and often time it feels that it shouldn't be so – that the confusion is caused by mere stupidity . Grief is strange. It is wrong. It can never get better - you may learn to become numb. But that is all.  It holds a power over us. One who grieves can not just decided to be happy. They can want it so bad – but how do you smile when the world feels like a dark hole sinking into nothingness while not even letting you have the pea...

I have this thing for plot-driven action movies. I like a good, balanced movie. Of course many of these sort of movies aren't always 100% appropriate, so that is sad. And I wonder if they are even worth watching - sure you may be inspired, encouraged, or entertained...but at the cost of loosing more innocence and having your mind stuffed fuller with rotting garbage. I am finding that it is not stupid to be extremely cautious with what we put into ourselves. Food. Media. Fulfilling desires isn't always enough...sometimes one needs to also eat to grow and strengthen.  I actually don't watch many movies any more. Too busy. Too tired. Or too something ;p. But a while back I felt like sacrificing all the too's to just take a break and watch a movie.  Daredevil was the one I decided upon ;) I kinda like unique superhero stories. Drama + action might = awesome. I will say, I was surprised by how much I liked it. To such a point that the o...

I have always thought the idea of homosexuality disgustingly sad. I feel sorry for those that are separated from God and do not understand or experience what He has designed for their lives. I can not understand how many do not recognize the sin of homosexuality, or claim that the Bible has nothing to say on it when it obviously does. (Romans 1:26-28, Jude 1:5-8, 1 Timothy 1:8-11, Leviticus 18:22) I do not see how one can find beauty in two people of the same gender loving each other. Of course most people are delusional to what love really is. But still... how can one be like, "Well, if they love each other.." I do not see how any one with a brain would think there's any sort of logical reason why two such people should be together. I know that it's partly due to the fact that most do not understand the meaning of love, or marriage, or truly know God or His word. I understand that sin is in the world and that people are affected and embit...

I just recently has the opportunity to watch the animated movie Inside Out. Let me just say it was sooooooo good! In this post - because you can find so many reviews on it - I'm going to just give my thoughts on Inside Out . It was beautiful. The makers of this movie were brilliant. They took a deep concept and made a simple children's movie. Full of fun, craziness, and plot centered around an 11-year old girl, Rylie,  you wouldn't expect to be bombarded with the importance and complexity of one's brain. Her five emotions, Disgust, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Joy, were all ruled by Joy, the logical most important part of one's life - for with out Joy we are not happy. Rylie lives a carefree life, always laughing, the sign of eternal happiness all because of Joy. Core Memories were comforting and always there. Just a couple days before seeing this movie, I asked a friend if she had certain memories, maybe not big, but important. I descibed...

While in Tennessee I had the opportunity to meet and make a wonderful friend, Anna Webster . She was so fun and had so many talents and hobbies. I'm going to be sharing about one of those today :). Sheep to Shawl by Creative Country Media Producer/Director: Anna Webster Genre: documentary/ teaching video. Approximately 73 minutes. Rating: 5 stars Buy here: Creative Country Living Back Cover: Master the amazing transformation from wool-on-a-sheep to shawl-on-your-back. This entertaining and educational video series shows the strand-by-strand way to create warm and lovely shawls from your own fleece and yarn. Award winning fleece producers and spinning demonstrators Jill Wood and Anna Webster break down the process into 5 do-able stages. 1-Shearing and Sorting. You'll learn two ways to remove wool from your sheep: On a shearing stand and on the ground. The session also explains how to sort good wool from bad and minimize waste. 2-Washing and Dyein...

A true adventure story, filled with faith and fun. 72, The Movie starring Samuel Gilmore, Crusoe Johnson, Sharar Johnson and Zadok Johnson. Buy here. My Rating : Five stars; Family friendly. Running time: Approximately 1 hour, five minutes. Back cover: What Would happen if you were to spend the next 72 hours out in the wilderness with only what you could fit into a quart-sized container and the clothes on your back? Do you think you could survive the experience? What if it were the dead of winter... What if there were no modern conveniences... Would you be tough enough to make it through? My review: It all starts out with four friends and brothers ready for adventure and a new challenge. For 72 hours they will live in the wilderness and bring nothing but what they are wearing and a quart jar. To make it even harder, they will go in the middle of winter, when few animals are to be found, and even fewer plants. It will take a lot of ima...

PG-13: War, violence, brief language and some disturbing images. My rating: 5 stars. World War II is all around Louis Zamperini, former star Olympian Athlete. In the air, surviving multiple times, witnessing death, and more, he just wants it to be over. His memories of the past come to him, reminding him of the struggles he had over come, and the good times that were no more. But the words of his older brother keep him going. "If you can take it, you can make it." After surviving a dangerous plane landing, Louis and his team embark on another mission only to crash out on the ocean. The survivors stay alive on a raft, praying to be rescued. For days, they go through many harrowing, near-death encounters only to be rescued by something even worse. The torture, humiliation, starvation and horror that follow test him to his limits. No one should survive. Most would give in. But Louis remembers "If I can take it, I can make it." Even if he doesn...

Warning: -For those of you that have watched the movie, you may not like this review. -For those of you that have not watched the movie and plan to, there are several major spoilers ahead. -For those of you that have not watched the movie and do not plan to, proceed and learn. You are missing out on nothing. Read the book and be satisfied. Getting ready to see the movie. I went with some friends, Tuesday night, to see The Battle of The Five Armies (the last installment of The Hobbit). The best part was that it was IMAX 3D - I'd never seen one before, and it is totally awesome!!! Very expensive though. I loved how the fire and snow seemed real, and to be coming towards you, and quite often logs, rocks, and arrows would be "coming" straight for you. The movie had a glitch, and we had to wait like 45+ minutes for it to work, so pretty much every one was given back their money. To the movie itself. If you like movies and have read the Hobbit bo...

Here is post number two!!!! Post #1 This post isn't really about movies, but short YouTube videos made by the Jost family, a homeschooled Canadian family with 11 kids. They ( the kids ) have a YouTube channel called Jostie Flicks...and it is so good! Every video is hilarious. I have liked all I saw so far, but some of my family has not liked the Martha videos. Some good ones to check out are A Suitor's Tale, Fork Control, Why A Microwave is Harmful, Pretty Stripes, Home Alone, and Now And Then. I first found out about their videos about a year ago. I've watched them off and on since then. Then they ( the Jost family ) came to visit a church nearby about three weeks ago, and we got to see them. They are really funny ( and mean to each other ;b ), and sing REALLY good. - They had the entire church service, and sang the whole time. They make wholesome comedy videos with occasional morals, lots of pun and twist, and much craziness ( it's fun :D ). Quite si...

So, we all know that movies have a huge impact on us. They inspire, teach, discourage, guide, and so much more. I love movies with a strong plot. Effects and all those awesome little things that give a movie depth. I love a movie that is well-made ( to all of those out there that know the book lover I am - no, I'm not turning traitor. Books still top it on my list. But there are some pretty good movies ). So, everyone, I'm going to do a two part blog post on two of my new favorite movie makers... and these two have lots of talent - and comedy! Today's will be about a small independent company called Heumoore Productions. We first saw their movie in the Vision Forum catalogue. For some reason the movie caught our kids' attention. We ordered it off of Amazon ( since the catalogue is no longer available). I tell you, it was sooo good! THE WIDOW'S MIGHT five stars ( I don't care for what others may say about the poor acting or such. It was fabul...

available here. Back Cover: It’s great to be Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield). For Peter Parker, there’s no feeling quite like swinging between skyscrapers, embracing being the hero, and spending time with Gwen (Emma Stone). But being Spider-Man comes at a price: only Spider-Man can protect his fellow New Yorkers from the formidable villains that threaten the city. With the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Peter must confront a foe far more powerful than himself. And as his old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, Peter comes to realize that all of his enemies have one thing in common: Oscorp. My rating: Three stars.  Rated PG-13. There is some kissing, violence, disturbing images, sci-fi action. My review:   Spoilers Alert!  I like this genre. I like lots of action, drama, and "unique". But I must say, I was a little disappointed in the movie. It felt like the authors spent most of their time on the action and effects ( which was very awesome, by the...