Alice in Wonderland

I've been trying this new movie-watching technique lately - go in with absolutely no expectations, no preconceived personal opinions. It's what phenomenologist Andrew Dudley (or is it Dudley Andrew? I can never remember...People should not have reversible names...) would call "clearing a space." So as Alice in Wonderland was beginning last night, I did just that. I closed my eyes and expected nothing. And I highly recommend the experience.

Now, the film would probably not be enjoyable for original Alice die-hards. I dunno, maybe it could be. But since I am not the biggest fan of the original Alice story I can't comment on the movie in their behalf. All I can say is that the film stuck with me after I saw it. And that is one of my criteria for a good film. It stuck with me visually - the images were wonderful. The whole time I was sitting there thinking, how did they do that?! So beautifully shot and constructed. I just ooooed the entire time. I did not see it in 3-D for monetary and enjoyment purposes (see my review on Avatar for a more in-depth discussion). I found the story quite engaging. It was a fun twist on a familiar tale. I loved the performances of the actors - Tim Burton always assembles an amazing cast. My favorite discovery was realizing that the Knave was played by Crispin Glover of George McFly Back to the Future fame. That was a pleasant surprise. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter never disappoint - I absolutely loved the Mad Hatter. He was so lovably mad. "All the best people are." The lines were highly quotable, which made it even better: "I love my fat boys" and "cup" and "spoon" and "I sometimes believe in 6 impossible things before breakfast." Wonderful. Though the story was at times predictable, it was not boringly predictable. I enjoyed watching the events unfold. The film was not perfect - there was a bit in the middle and other elements throughout that just seemed random and out of place or perhaps slow. If it had been traditional Alice that would have been a good thing, but in an Alice that actually has a plot it was not entirely welcome. I'd have to watch it again to verify. Danny Elfman composed the music, so it was naturally wonderful - I have decided that he can make any film magical with his tunes. I thought seriously about buying the soundtrack so I could have some magic to study to. Overall, I think it is a film that you have to take on its own. Certain things about the film are made enjoyable if you know the original story. It is a "sequel" type film after all. However, you can't go in expecting the traditional Alice in Wonderland and you can't go in expecting your typical adventure film. It's a mix that I found pleasing.

I often forget how much I love seeing movies in the theater. This was the first film I had seen in a theater in around two months. I was practically tingling with anticipation as the actual film started. I can feel magic right before I see a movie in the theater, especially if it's the first time I'm seeing it. It's a tangible force that just sucks me in and envelopes me. The moment the film begins rolling, I just feel this wave of possibility wash over me - this could be a wonderful movie. And sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. But the journey of discovery is half the fun. And watching it with friends and even strangers makes it even better.

So...what should I do with my life? I hate not having a direction. I mean, I have a direction, but is it the direction I should be taking? Is it the direction that is best for me? In the next year, the next few months maybe, I have to decide whether I should go on a mission or stay and finish my degree first. Then, after I graduate from college, I want to go to graduate school. But in what? What do I want to do? I used to know exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to make movies and change the world. I still want to do that. But there's another side of me that says I need to do something else. Like making movies doesn't totally fit anymore. There are other ways to change the world that I may be better at.

There's no point in my changing my major now - not only do I absolutely love it, but I can do pretty much anything with it. The question is, what am I going to do with it? Graduate school is my next step. But what do I study? I don't necessarily want to study film in graduate school, because that doesn't qualify me to do very much...do I want to study it more? I don't know. My fall back has always been medical school (I know...intense fall back) but that doesn't interest me as much anymore. Humanities? Possibly. But what can I do with that? Teach? I may like teaching. Ugh, I dislike this decision-making business. Sometimes I wish the Lord would just tell me what to do. But I know that's not part of the plan. I have to figure it out.

Yay for successful diets!

Okay, so one of my New Year's resolutions was to get in better shape and lose weight. My mom and I decided to do it together. We both bought copies of You: On a Diet and started reading. They give you an exercise plan as well as a dietary plan. It's super flexible and the food is really good! The goal of the book is to help you eat and live healthy for life, not just to lose pounds. In fact, they focus on slimming your waist size instead of pounds, and they educate you about why your body stores fat and all the physiological aspects behind weight loss too.

Now, I know that I'm not overweight or anything. I just want to feel and look my best. So I started the diet and exercise plan two weeks ago. I didn't stick perfectly to the diet because I don't want to miss out on the fun stuff my friends are doing - which often involves food - and I love ice cream far too much :) And I didn't do the exercise plan perfectly either. I walk a lot for school so I don't feel entirely guilty about missing a day of running. Anyways....I started at a 34 inch waist and I lost an entire inch! In two weeks! And I've learned to cook! I cook different kinds of chicken and salmon and I make chili and pizzas and wonderful foods now! And it's all healthy stuff! And the plan actually works! I am so excited to keep going. I feel great. I'm getting some muscle to beat up my flab and kick it out, and I'm never hungry or in pain or anything. In fact, I went from a 15 minute mile to an almost 10 minute mile in the past two weeks without much difficulty! I highly recommend the book. It is so good! And it actually works. I work out every day, and I read my homework while I do it. It's been successful so far. In fact, blogging about how I'm doing with my diet is actually one of the things I'm supposed to do as part of the program. Anyways, I just wanted to celebrate a little bit and let everyone know that the book actually works and it's really not that hard. My goal is to get down to a 32 inch waist at least (since that's what doctor's recommend) and then continue to eat my healthy foods because they're actually way better tasting than the microwave/canned stuff I used to eat. Operation LGN is well on its way ;)

What an awesome semester!

I have had some of the most fun of my college career in the past few weeks - holy cow! And it's all due to my awesome friends and family. They come up with some of the most fun things to do. Here's the list - each activity is highly recommended:

• snowmobiling
• jeeping/4-wheeling which included a mud fight
• been to the hot springs twice with a party after at my place which included parachute men off the loft sadly with a few casualties, a huge foam disk war, awesome treats provided by Mom, and watching the torch lit in the Olympics Opening Ceremonies
• watched Newsies with boys who came dressed as actual Newsies and tried to do the dances
• went Skittle Bowling where each skittle color is a different crazy task, like spin around 5 times or bowl on one leg
• study parties in the library where, let's be honest, not as much studying as possible happens
• super fun group dates
• dance parties in our kitchen, which sometimes include making music videos
• Super Bowl party at my parents' house with Grandpa and Grandma Hardy and Aunt Jorji and Uncle Keith
• hot chocolate party
• gave my first hair cut ever - thank you Trevor for trusting me :)
• went to The Importance of Being Earnest, the first of our season tickets at Hale Center Theater in West Valley
• and many more are yet to come!

And now, and ode to my mother: Mom, you are the best mom I could ever ask for. You drop everything to help me out, even at a moments notice. You teach me, you laugh with me. We are best friends. You adopt all of my friends as your own children and make them always feel so welcome. They absolutely love you, but not as much as I do! Thanks for being my mummy! I love you!

Ward Talent Show

Below is a music video my roommates and I made for my ward talent show. It includes people from my ward as well as friends of our apartment. Please enjoy! And now the disclaimer - I don't own the song, we are not making this for money-making purposes. No copyright infringement intended :) The video is kinda small, so if you want to see it bigger you can use the ctrl+ trick to magnify the screen.

End of 2009, Beginning of 2010

I'm back at school with another semester underway...blargh...but here's some stuff that happened over winter break:

I saw three new movies - Invictus, Sherlock Holmes, and Avatar. And here's what I thought...Invictus was very good, though it took a while to get going. Also, I don't think we saw enough of the rugby team. It should have been more equally distributed between Mandella and rugby in my opinion. However, the message was wonderful and the movie told a story that I had never heard before. Loved that. And I love rugby :). Sherlock Holmes, the more I think about, the more I like. It was fresh and new and the characters all worked really well together. It was a little too violent for my personal taste, but I love mysteries and watching great minds solve them. Robert Downey Jr. has a wonderful appeal and I enjoyed his performance very much. I think the film could have built up better towards the climax. It felt like the climax was suddenly upon us instead of smoothly building. But I saw it when I was tired, so maybe that affected things. And now for Avatar...well, I liked it a lot. The visuals were stunning, and it didn't entirely bother me that it was a blue version of Dances With Wolves (though I generally don't like to be able to entirely predict a storyline...). I just didn't like having to wear glasses to see the world. It made me constantly aware of the fact that I was watching a fabrication. For some reason I feel like 2D films are more engaging to me. I don't by any means think that 3D is going to revolutionize filmmaking. Maybe I just need to get used to 3D and the way it looks to fully appreciate it. Though I really liked Avatar, I don't think I'll be going back to see it in theaters unless someone can convince me that I need to look deeper into the film.

The biggest things I watched over the break were Doctor Who: The End of Time Parts 1 and 2. Holy cow, what a finale to David Tennant's Doctor. I'm still in mourning. He was absolutely fabulous in every single episode he was in, and I nearly cried watching him go. He will always be my Doctor. His acting was fabulous, as was that of John Simm and Bernard Cribbins who played the Master and Wilf respectively. There was a twist at the end that totally surprised me - such wonderfully written material! Thank you Russell T. Davies! So great. And I know now that Doctor Who is now officially definitely my favorite TV show ever, closely following it Frasier (but that's another kettle of fish). Isn't wonderful entertainment just WONDERFUL?! And I can't wait for the new season of Doctor Who. Though I will immensely miss Tennant, and Matt Smith is really going to have to prove himself in my eyes, I have a marvelous feeling that it's going to be absolutely FANTASTIC:).

Now, for 2010...I also have a feeling this year is going to be great. I have a new niece coming, I'm going to London in April, there's a new season of Doctor Who, and I have season tickets to Hale Theater in West Valley - absolutely marvelous! I can't wait :)

This is a video of me being bored during finals...yup... :)