Rami Ungar The Writer

I just had my last midterm of the quarter today, so I though I’d celebrate by going to see a free movie at the Union this evening (for those of you who don’t know, the Union is the place where the Student Government, several different important offices, and some classes are housed, as well as social events and club meetings). This week they were showing Captain America. I had virtually no knowledge of Captain America, except that he fought Nazis and that he was somehow supposed to be an Avenger in the 21st century (oh, he was cryonically frozen in the Norwegian ice? Oh, that makes perfect sense–not!). I didn’t even know that the villain’s organization was the same name as my fictional gang (I’d swear in court on that!). So, I was wondering how my first impressions would go.

Well, the movie lived up to its hype: the characters were believable and the actors that played them brought the right emotions to the screen. The villains were menacing enough (though that salute of theirs is a little ridiculous), and the scenes had the right emotion and drama. Special shout-outs to Chris Evans as Captain America/Steve Rogers, the latter person a very relatable character, Hugo Weaving for doing an amazing job as a villain again, this time as the Red Skull, and Tommy Lee Jones as the irrascible Colonel Phillips.

Just one complaint: the villain’s weapon of choice was lasers.

Lasers. God, you had to use the oldest futuristic weapon in sci-fi technology.

Even worse, they were blue lasers. And not just any shade of blue, they were fairy-princess blue! Hard to take those battle scenes seriously when you’re about to be taken out by Cinderella’s fairy godmother. I’m laughing just typing about it.

Many people were doubting that Paramount could really remake such an iconic 80’s film as Footloose and expect it to be any good with audiences. To those naysayers, I say: Go see the movie, ’cause you are missing out! The film takes a lot of liberties in order to make the remake appealing to GenX audiences, but instead of detracting from the film, it makes it better, something you can imagine happening even today. There’s no one moment where Rev. Shaw realizes that things need to change (like the book-burning scene in the original 1984 movie), but I think that this movie almost doesn’t need it. The modern music helps draw audiences in, and the more ethnically diverse cast members help solidify the film.

You can actually believe this film could happen somewhere in Georgia.
Just two comments I’d like to make before I’m done: one is that Ariel (Julianne Hough) looks and sounds like Miley Cyrus without the salvia, and Ren’s (Kenny Wormald) Boston accent is hard to find at times. Still, both could have some great careers in film, especially Wormald. Also, am I the only one who sees parallels between Bomont and the Prohibition? I keep wondering why they don’t put Prohibition in Ren’s argument! It’s a valid point about a religiously-motivated law that fails miserably and needed to be taken down.

With the new season just starting, I got to admit, even with a change-up in cast with the death of Roy Montgomery and the introduction of Captain “Iron” Gates, ABC’s Castle is still totally awesome. Castle is still wild about Beckett, and Beckett is still dealing with trauma from her recent shooting, which makes coming to terms with her own feelings difficult at best. The person who shot Beckett is still at large, and Castle continues to delve into the mystery, even after recieving a mysterious phone call from someone who says he has all the answers (this’ll probably be a plot arc throughout the rest of the season). Alexis is getting ready to move out and go to college, much to Castle’s depression, and the addition of a new captain, Victoria “Iron” Gates (played by Penny Gerald Johnson), finds Castle and Beckett having to deal with someone who doesn’t think too highly of their partnership. All in all, I’m looking forward to the next few episodes.

By the way, did I mention that Castle is what started me watching and reading all the crime shows and novels I’m into now? I’m particularly interested in Law & Order: SVU, NCIS, and the Alex Cross books by James Patterson, along with Castle of course. Check any of them out, they all have their merits that make them great.

People love unique things, something that doesn’t feel like the same old crap but something brand-spanking new and never been done before (those that make books and movies love that as well, especially with books). So that’s why I love the Kieli series by Yukako Kabei. A series of short novels from Japan, it’s the story of a young girl who can see ghosts becoming the traveling companion of an immortal soldier. Add in the setting on another planet, steampunk elements, and some really complex characters and interesting episodes, and it’s a very compelling story. The first four volumes are available here in the United States and the fifth will be out next month.

(As I’m writing this I’m in the midst of the fourth book and I want to read more even though I know I have to be somewhere soon. Agh! What’ll I do!)