The Last Airbender

Holy crap! Posts two days in a row! And maybe another tomorrow for Eclipse (I have my ticket for midnight tonight). Whoa. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Anywho, I was lucky enough to win and get into a screening of M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation of The Last Airbender, based on Nickelodeon's pseudo-anime tv show. We got there an hour early, which is typically generous for screenings, and the theater was packed. In preparation for the movie, like any good nerd would do, I watched the show. I was only able to make it through the first season, Book 1: Water, which is basis for the movie. (Disclaimer: I do have Books 2 and 3 at home and will watch them soon; I promise!)

Short review: Airbender = Awesome

Long review:
As someone who reads many books, and reads many just because there is a movie being made from it, I have been disappointed over and over again for film adaptations. I went into this knowing it would be different than the show, especially since you cut hours and hours and hours of a tv show into a movie that is an hour and a half. The big screen and a cartoon on Nick are two very different mediums, and Shyamalan has not done an adaptation before.

Saying that, I was very impressed. The landscapes and graphics are quite impressive, creating a setting that extends beyond the physical land and into a world of benders. Shyamalan's story is much more serious, which adds the humanity to the new human characters. One plot point that I do think was well done was the introduction of Azula, Fire Nation Princess. Most importantly, I do think that the spirit of the story was the same. Several of the shots and language were taken from the story, including an opening sequence.

Now, the not so good. Little things irked me, such as instead of calling them Benders they also called them Nomads. It was disappointing that they only glazed over their journey north, although I understand why it had to be done. There were a few plot points that felt forced, like "We have to explain this! Let's just stick it in there." An unfortunate side effect of squeezing the story into the shorter time but still awkward. Sokka also had a much more subdued part. In general, humor was very rare. There were a few laugh-out-loud moments which were appreciated, but the light-hearted humor, Sokka's goofiness, and Aang's playfulness were missing.

*Minor spoiler below*
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Except for the humor, the only thing I really missed was the acclaim of Katara as a water bender. They did not include the girls-not-allowed-to-bend issue and she was just another student who happened to be friends with the Avatar.
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*End spoiler*

Overall, a fantastic adaptation. I left giddy and was quick to tell the people that work for Paramount (embarrassing Husband a bit, I'm sure). Now I can't wait for the DVD to see if there are additional scenes! There are many more little things to gush about and to nit-pick, but it stands as one of the best adaptations I have seen. Avatar: The Last Airbender fans will not be disappointed, and newcomers to the story will enjoy the drama, (non-graphic) action, and adventure of this world.

2010

Wow. It has been a heck of a year. As many of you know, September 2009 I was transferred from one library branch to another about 45 minutes further away, and my job changed from teen services to youth services. While I enjoy what I do, the geographic location of this job did not fit our plans for living in Cincinnati, buying a home, etc. So I spent the next many months job hunting. In the midst of this, I also planned this little thing I call my wedding, which was in April 2010. Needless to say, it has been a busy year. But shortly after returning from my honeymoon, I had my third and final interview with another library system. They then offered me the job as a Children's Team Leader, which I enthusiastically accepted. Beginning on Monday, July 5, I will lead the team of Children's Services, birth through teen. I am excited and terrified and cannot wait to start.

However, all of this excitement has not kept me from thinking of my current system. I had planned to work in this system for many, many years to come, but this transfer changed that. Still, I have had many fantastic library experiences and met so many amazing people, both patrons and staff. If anything, I am most sad to leave my coworkers. These are some of the nicest, hardest-working people that I have ever met. There are even staff who I have never met but know that they are wonderful simply through emails and phone calls. Facebook will help keep in touch with these people, no doubt, but it will not be the same as talking to them every day, as making faces at them as they walk by, as sending random chats on gtalk throughout the day. While I am sure that my new job will have awesome people as well, I will remember the great people I have worked with here. I will now get off my soapbox o' cheesiness.

Splice violated my brain

Over two months of no posting. I'm a bad blogger. OH WELL.

So last night Dan and I saw a screening of the new movie, Splice, in theaters on Friday, June 4. I went into this thinking it was splicing human and alien DNA, as well as picturing the creature killing everyone. This was not that kind of horror.

The film began as a scientific challenge. Two scientists, married and at the top of their field, have successfully spliced several animals (I remember a pig and chicken, there are a few more... but no aliens) together to create creepy little slug things. But these slugs produce a chemical that could be used to cure diseases. But as is science, that is not enough for the ambitious duo. Let's add human DNA to the mix. The sheer creation and development of this creature was interesting to watch.

The two scientists spend the middle chunk of the movie growing attached to the creature, later named Dren, and hiding her from everyone else. However, there is one scene towards the end that destroys the whole film. At our viewing, the whole audience freaked out and some people left. Then it was all downhill from there. It got to the point that a woman hit her head and the audience laughed. Honestly, if they had taken out two to three extremely awkward scenes, the movie could have been great. But there are some things our society is just not ready for... human DNA being spliced with animal DNA and this story.


*SPOILER SPACE*

A few more notes...
So these awkard scenes. No suprise, it has to do with sex. The married couple has sex, which is not a big deal. But Dren witnesses it. Dren starts to develop an almost hypnotic power, which is not really explained. And yes, the scientist man has sex with her, chicken legs and all. And at the very, very end, the scientest woman is raped by Dren (who since changed into a male... another plot point under-explained). Unfortunately, these disturbing scenes are too distracting to give the rest of the movie proper credit, although most of it was well-done.