Movie Themed Bedroom

      There are very few good things about a housefire but the one thing I have enjoyed is decorating my new bedroom. To honor the filmmaking industry of North Carolina, I came up with the idea of doing a movie theme with the colors red and a "gunmetal" grey on the walls. I got most of my decorations from Cracker Barrel and one from Hobby Lobby. I found a Love Actually poster at a flea market and a Repo! The Genetic Opera poster at the local comic shop. The poster Done The Impossible is from Amazon because it was less than $2. I even have a pair of Harry Potter 3D glasses from the last movie and a little Joss Whedon next to my tv.
      I love movies so I thought a movie themed room would fit perfectly. I collect movies the way nerds collect comic books and jocks collect trophies. I used to have a bookshelf that I emptied off to put all my dvds on and I did have close to 300 dvds. One of the things I am most passionate about is movies because like books, they allow you to escape reality if only for an hour and a half. They have the ability to teach kids about right and wrong, good and bad, and that life can suck sometimes but you have to bounce back. I don't have a favorite genre because I love almost everything from Harry Potter and Star Wars to Taken and The A-Team to Dear John and PS I Love You to The Incredibles and Finding Nemo to It's a Wonderful Life and Singing in the Rain. I have found that the more a movie includes a good family dynamic (whether blood relatives or not) I will usually enjoy it. My most favorite movies involve a strong father daughter relationship which might say something about my own. Moving on, my movie theme - here it is:

 

Movie of the Day: This is 40

Song of the Day: The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows by Brand New

 

Teen Television Shows: Then and Now

      I've been skipping through the channels lately around 8pm looking for a good teenage drama tv show that would remind me of my teenage years. I was disgusted at almost everything that is aimed at teen viewers. Other than Switched at Birth, I really couldn't find anything good that I would want to watch if I was a teenager. I remember growing up on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, 7th Heaven, Dawson's Creek, Charmed, and One Tree Hill. There was a short lived show called Life Unexpected that reminded me what good television could be but it was cancelled after its second season. Pretty Little Liars, Greek, The Lying Game, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager are all teen shows but as an adult (and showing my age) I wouldn't want my teen watching a tv show that makes it look okay and easy to be a pregnant teen. I don't really like the idea of any teen tv show that has lying and liars in the title - I think teens have enough problems with lying without tv shows telling them that it is okay. As for Greek, I didn't really like sororities or fraternities in college so that kind of skews my view of the show.
      I remember how excited fans of Buffy and Angel got over the characters, the actors who portrayed them, and the creator Joss Whedon. Now Joss Whedon is a commonplace name after The Avengers but he was already well known and well respected by fans of Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse. The shows that are aimed toward teenagers these days don't give them the same passion to follow the stars or the creators and the characters don't grab your heart from the first show. Anymore, the looks of the character is more important than how the actor portrays the character. It seems like the shows are trying to pick no name actors and actresses with no experience making the show a stepping stone to bigger and better jobs. The only problem is the actors they are picking to portray the characters are not good. Buffy casted people who had been on soap operas where filming was almost every day all week all year. Actors these days don't have the opportunity to come out on a soap and gain experience. They gain experience by being awful in a position that should've been a good story.
      I miss caring about characters like they were family. I started watching NCIS, Castle, and Grey's Anatomy after high school (when all the good shows ended) and they appealed to my adult side but they still had characters that captured my attention and my heart from the very first episode. Very few new shows capture my attention these days but I've found Revolution, Arrow, and 1600 Penn to begin filling the gap between good character driven television and mind numbing cliche television (although even that is better than reality tv shows with the exception of The Biggest Loser which actually helps people). Even when I was a teen, the most influential show I watched was The West Wing. I think teenagers these days need a show like that that gets them engaged with current issues and makes them care about something other than themselves. In most of the teen shows on the CW or ABC Family, the characters all seem winy and they complain about every single thing bad that happens to them. We need more characters like Buffy who instead of bitching and moaning, actually do something productive.

As a side note: Joss Whedon is a part of making the new show SHIELD so I guess there is still hope for the human race.

Movie of the Day: Abduction (yes it's the Werewolf from Twilight but shut up cuz it's a good movie)

Song of the Day: Before My Time by J. Ralph feat. Scarlett Johansson and Joshua Bell

 

The Hollow Oak

      I have finally gotten settled in the new place and by that I mean I actually have furniture. I am still missing my books, movies, and cds but I can live without those for a while. This past week I got a job working as crew for an independent film called The Hollow Oak. It is a horror movie about a girl who goes to a family campground with her mother, makes a bunch of new friends, and is then terrorized by a ghost. I spent the entire week living out of a camper with the cast and crew and working 16 hour days. This was my first opportunity to work on a film set and I really enjoyed my time. I learned a lot about how a film is made and all of the jobs associated with making a movie.
      The film has taken on a curse of its own though. The main character has already been recast five times and is in the process of being recast again. Almost the entire cast and crew were replaced and everything had to be refilmed. On my last day working, the lead and her character's boyfriend both quit so now they have to be recast and everything has to be refilmed yet again. The director was in tears and the film is supposed to be finished by the end of May. Honestly, I don't see the film being finished in time. I enjoyed my time on set but I am weary of working with the people again.

      On to a happier note, my brother, his fiance, and my niece visited over St. Patrick's Day weekend. My parents and I were trying to convince my soon-to-be sister in law to move down to North Carolina. We took them to Margarittaville and Ocean Isle Beach. They found some really nice sea shells and they really enjoyed the nice weather. We took them to a fun center where we all played mini golf, pool, and arcade games. I think we finally convinced her but now we just have to wait for my brother to gain some experience in his job so that he can move without any economic problems.
      In my last post I crapped on the Canon T3i/600d because mine froze and wouldn't turn on at all. I have no idea what the problem was but after three days of sitting and doing nothing it simply turned on without a problem. I'm still cautious about using Magic Lantern on it now but it has been running fine since it's reincarnation.


Movie of the Day: Atlas Shrugged

Song of the Day: I Don't Wanna Be by Gavin DeGraw

 

Canon T3i 600d Review

      Well my beloved T3i has 'shit the bed' so to speak. It was only two months old, I got it for Christmas and I can't believe it stopped working. So here is what happened:
      I was filming a Youtube video but I wanted more space on my memory card so I took the sd card out of the camera to put in my computer. I emptied everything off of the card and placed it back in the camera. I tried to turn the camera back on and I got nothing. Even the LED light doesn't come on even when I take the battery out. I've recharged the battery, tried another sd card, cleaned the battery connectors, removed the battery pack, downloaded Canon's origional firmware onto the sd card, downloaded a led blinking test which didn't work, I downloaded a startup logger that didn't work, and checked the card slot to make sure none of the pins were bent or broke.
      I've been checking online and the camera not turning on is a common problem. I wish now that I had done more research and went with my initial choice of a Panasonic Lumix GH2 but I chose the Canon T3i because it was cheaper and more easily accessible (even Walmart sells it) where the GH2 I would've had to buy exclusively online. I've had a Canon camcorder for almost two years and I love the little thing so I figured Canon would be a good brand to buy. I couldn't have been more wrong. Now I have a very expensive paper weight.
      My overall view: good camera if you can afford $700 every two months otherwise choose a different brand of cameras.