IRON MAN III Movie Review (Minor Spoilers):

I worked very hard not to read any reviews so I wouldn’t know what is going on before seeing this movie and still “heard” rumors, even though I put my hands over my ears and sang the theme song to Cheers in a vain attempt to be completely surprised. 

Well, after seeing this flick, I was STILL surprised… several times!

Iron Man III has so many twists and turns, it is a visual twisty, turny, loopy roller coaster. Even when you can see them coming (which was more often than not), it is still a thrill to watch it unfold, like being able to see the tracks of Viper at Magic Mountain; you know what’s next, but your world still keeps turning upside down.

Visually gorgeous (of course) and exciting; where there aren’t twists and turns, there are chases and explosions enough to keep even the most adrenaline-junkie happy, especially after the first loooong half hour or so of choppy and convoluted back story.  Thankfully, this section ends rather abruptly, almost as if the Real Director showed up with his latte and said, “Move it along kid, Daddy’s home.”

As ever, it is Robert Downey Jr.’s movie from start to finish. Downey masterfully brings the character of Tony Stark to a whole new level, taking the fun of the first Iron Man movie, adding in the angst of the second, less fun Iron Man movie and mashing them up into an even better, deeper and more complex and interesting character that drives the story home. 

Infused with enough humor to make me think that Writer/Director Shane Black is taking note of the best of the best of writer/directors (like Joss Whedon or early Steven Spielberg and George Lucas), the writing is mostly crisp and bright, and the movie generally moves along at a fairly brisk pace, spacing the plot twists far enough apart to keep the whole movie from being too predictable.

Casting notes: Guy Pearce is just creepy. Ben Kingsley was absolutely brilliant, as ever. Dale Dickey was perfectly cast for her tiny role, but it felt like she should have been one more scene… perhaps it was left on the cutting room floor.

A couple of irritants: Happy was rather ill-used, too much of a joke and then practically dropped out of the movie altogether.  Rebecca Hall and William Sadler were totally, ridiculously just boring, no presence as all.  And Tony Stark, what, is he made of steel or something?? There is no way any mortal man – even a brilliant one - would be able to withstand even the tiniest FRACTION of what this movie puts him through outside of that suit. It was more than a little ridiculous, especially in the final climatic scene, even in a super hero movie. And what was with the waaay too long, super talky dénouement, after everything, they are suddenly all alone on the… Dang. I promised no spoilers!

Fun stuff: the kid and skydiving! Watch the credits for the, well, monkey credit!  Of course, stay until the end of the credits for a funny extra scene (obviously directed and written by our Joss Whedon).

The end of the film begs more questions… and I am super excited about what Joss is going to do to continue that story in Avengers II!

My rating: 8.5 out of 10

Just Musing,
Susan

 

Movie Review: THE HOBBIT, AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

(MINOR SPOILERS). I have seen the previous movie and TV incarnations of The Hobbit decades ago – sloppy, horrible messes, and could never figure out why they turned out so bad. The book told a fairly simple and very personal story of one person’s journey into something bigger than himself, in finding reserves and strength he would never have know that he had, of a cleverness and ability to think on this feet, of a hero emerging out of a common man… So why did the previous terrible movies even get made?? One was a silly cartoon, stripped of any deep emotion or sense of dreadful urgency, and that other one that was so filled with horrible special effect battles, and very little else, as it they were the whole story.

So. Now, on to Peter Jackson’s interpretation…

After the grandiose vision presented in LOTR, I expected an epic. I expected gorgeous vistas. I expected great special effects and creepy critters. What I did not expect was the humor, the up close and personal aspects of the book coming alive in very capable actors’ eyes.

Ian McKlellan seemed a less sure wizard, a bit more watchful and uncertain of the outcome. Martin Freeman as Bilbo was spot on in his quizzical and comical reactions to the unfolding events. Time was spent getting to know these characters, and most of them got enough screen time to bring them alive, to see the different personalities emerge. They were engaging and fun, powerfully evil (although… is it just me, or did the pale orc just keep ordering his minions to kill/go after/behead our heroes, even though he was standing right there? Seems kinda cowardly to me), majestically ethereal (Kate Blanchette’s Galadriel was perfect; the costuming, the lighting, everything was simply gorgeous), strange and compelling, outrageously difficult and campy.

At 169 minutes, it drags a little in a few places, but quickly steers back on course. Bilbo’s introduction to Gollum was brilliantly creepy and funny, and felt very important, as we all know it was. The riddle scenes and Gollum's facial expressions were priceless!

The special effects were very nearly perfect; the big critters had mass and weight and various realistic skin conditions, each of them was individual, no cookie cutter CGI monsters here! The battles were well lit so discerning what was happening was much easier than in much of LOTR, which at times seemed to be an endless gore-fest. 

There were some places where the special effects took over the movie (the thunder mountain scene is one) to no real purpose other than to put the band of travelers in jeopardy and show off technical skill.

The size differences of the various main characters were seamlessly executed, and after the first few minutes of the movie, I forgot about them and just immersed myself in the film… although the Bilbo’s (and Frodo’s) big hairy feet still looked like a bad toupee had been stapled to a slab of heavy inflexible plastic with barely carved toes.

It has been decades since I have read the Hobbit and LOTR. I have heard that there were changes in this, the first part of what appears to be a trilogy based on The Hobbit, but the story line seems intact and clear; whatever changes there were did not seem to distract from the movie experience. Except the cloak, I did miss the cloak; it seemed weird that Bilbo could just duck down and suddenly no one notices him anymore.

Engaging, fun, intense, epic and personal, I give The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey an 8.5 out of 10. I am very much looking forward to Part II!

ROBOT & FRANK Movie Review

(minor spoilers): A sweet little movie set in the near future and explores some fairly serious issues of memory loss, senior care, family, love and friendship. Frank Langella gives a masterful and moving performance as an aging ex-“second story man” who is has holes in his memory, is slowly sliding into Alzheimers yet remains high functioning. His family, a son (played with just the right amount of exasperation and love, commitment and guilt by James Marsden) and daughter (Liv Tyler playing a bit of a save-the-world/no time for family and something of a political extremist) drop in on Frank to assuage the guilt of family who is aware that something is not quite right with dad, but are busy with their own lives and need some help. Marsden’s Hunter has made the 5 hour trek to check on and clean up after Dad every weekend for just a little too long, and one weekend, brings a Robot to be his caregiver. This is where the movie really takes off.

Watching the Robot (who is obviously modeled after ASIMO, the Honda Robot that is featured at Disneyland’s Innoventions) and Frank’s relationship develop is where the fun and real story is, but watching Frank flirt with the pretty librarian (Susan Sarandon, who looks amazing and is so kind to this man who sometimes forgets what just happened the day before) is the heart.

The effects were very realistic, and the projection of the future of technology feels just right. I loved the little one person car and the wall phone! Robot was appropriately clever, patient, calculating, therapeutic and completely rational, perfectly suited to care of an elderly patient who needs just a little looking after, and is programmed to encourage a systematic strengthening of his patient’s mental processes through schedules and hobbies. I am sure the programmers did NOT have this particular hobby in mind!!

There are places I thought this movie was going to go, but the story veered off into other more interesting, personal and ultimately heart-breaking directions. The music was a little odd, and rather than underscoring the emotional journey, kept things just slightly off… but then again, maybe that was the point, there was something just not quite right about this man, a much as we wanted to believe in him.

The ending is not quite as satisfying as I would have liked and seemed a bit rushed, but I was ultimately left with the afterimage of sweet story of a strong man incrementally disintegrating into a hollowed out version of himself.

MOVIE RATING: 7 out of 10. THEATER RATING, Laemelle Theater on The BLVD in Lancaster, CA: 9 out of 10… as ever, a FABULOUS and very comfortable movie experience!

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Movie Review (Spoilers):

I waited a bit to see this movie, for although I really like the Batman story (comic books, I mean) and the sheer near-reality of the ‘Verse (science-y gadgets and a mortal hero rather than aliens and radioactivity/gammas rays, etc), I have been less than enchanted by most of the Batman movies, except the first one… I really liked Michael Keaton, and Tim Burton was the quintessential director of a dark but fantastic and super-stylized Gotham.

Jeeze. I am going off track here. Back to THIS movie, The Dark Knight Rises.

Yeah, it’s dark. Yeah, Batman’s in it. Yeah, Catwoman/Selena and Batman have a “thing”.  Yeah, there are lots of crazy gadgets.  Yeah, there are lots of twists and an assumption that you remember absolutely everything from the previous movies.

But there is no heart in this movie at all.

My biggest disappointment is probably what so many younger people liked about it. It is relentless, a hugely dark, heavy-handed myopic tour de force that is so extremely focused on its very thin story thread that everything else fades into the background as unimportant. The world is black and white, except that while the black is truly black, the white is varying shades of dark grey. Heroes are conflicted and with few exceptions, horribly flawed and often simply unlikable. The villains are mere caricatures of Pure Evil, without even the slightest bit of humanity to make them interesting or compelling.

And then there are the Plot Holes. Seriously HUGE plot holes. (WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS COMING)  A couple of these leap to mind: WHY did they continue to feed the trapped cops? HOW did they feed a city the size of Gotham for MONTHS while it was under siege? If anarchy was the rule of the land, WHERE were the mobs, the oppressed masses begging for said food? And WHERE were the piles of garbage and wrecked cars/broken store fronts you know would appear all over the city?? How did Commissioner Gordon go from being flat on his back and so weak he can hardly get out of bed, turn into a leaping, running, jumping onto trucks, all better now WITHOUT a hospital/doctors?  How about Bruce, who “shouldn’t go para-skiing” even BEFORE getting beaten down so thoroughly, manage to heal up so very nicely and perfectly while in the avowed “worst prison in the world” with some push-ups and a rope? And just HOW did Bruce make his way across the world to land in front of Selena in Gotham when he was flat broke and Alfred-less? Oh, and in WHAT insane universe is Alfred going to leave Bruce??? No way.  I do not believe it.

In addition, the use of foreshadowing was so blatantly obvious that the movie should have been named The Dark Cliché Rises.  Alfred’s little fantasy. The introduction of the young, fresh-faced, and very smart cop with mad skills (I guessed that one not even a third of the way through the movie).  A declaration that someone was not going to march down the street in his dress uniform. Talk of the autopilot not working. The gathering of all the serious bat-gadgets into one place…

The assumed villain LOOKED bad enough, especially in the beginning (bad guys always seem to kill off their henchmen to make a point), but over-exposure and uninteresting camera angles deadened his presence to simply a guy in a mask. A really big guy in a weird cross between a scuba regulator and a spider leg mask, but still, just a guy.  And that voice… where is James Earl Jones when you need him??  He was mostly unintelligible and eventually started to sound really whiney.  He started out big, and ended small.  Weird choice.

Character holes:

1.       Way too little with Morgan Freeman (Fox)… he was barely in the movie at all, usually alone, and he seemed to be constantly getting caught with his pants down.  He was portrayed in earlier films as much smarter than that.

2.       Scarecrow as Judge. Pretty cool – that actor has serious stage PRESENCE, but shouldn’t the film have been LITTERED with such nods to previously locked up villains? If not, then why him? It felt like there should have been a little bit more back story; maybe his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.

3.       Foley (Modine). He was totally unlikable; I didn’t care about him at all. His defection/hiding was probably meant to seem like a cowardly betrayal of his badge and oath, so that his return to “march down the street in his dress uniform” would feel like redemption of character… but it didn’t. It just felt contrived.

And the bus full of orphaned kids. *rolls eyes* Really? Sticking this in was an obvious attempt as garnering sympathy and a sense of urgency, but instead came off as, well, an obvious attempt at garnering sympathy. It might have been better if they had actually made it off the bridge, but leaving them there while the cops on the other side shot at Blake was simply heartless. The Terrorists won, and individual ethics or heroism were effectively and completely squelched. Yay team.

I will not go into the other obvious political themes of Capitalism=BAD, Rich=GREEDY, when without the capitalistic infrastructure, the city was supposedly reduced to an extreme of anarchistic mob rule, with only the bad guys prevailing. Giving the city back to the people, indeed. 

Having the villain “tell” the story of why all this was happening at the very end was simply lazy filmmaking/storytelling. Another cliché: bad guys always take time before putting the final piece of their evil plot to Destroy the City into action to sit down with the good guys and explain their motivations, giving the hero more time to stop it. You’d think the bad guys would read the comic books or watch their own movies and would therefore know better.  Just push the button already.

The real villain reveal was the only surprise for me in the movie. In as much as I thought the kid in the hole did not really fit the presumed profile, I did not make that leap.

Things I liked:

I really liked Anne Hathaway’s Selena/The Cat. She was completely believable and a wonderfully sympathetic character, full of layers, pathos, fear and confidence. And I Loved THE night vision glasses that flipped up on her head and looked like cat ears. That was very clever and believably done, no Halloween costume for the Cat, but something that was based on “reality”. Well done. Although, looking at her sloppily applied and bleeding lipstick was disconcerting. Hey Make-Up Artist, they sell lip liner at Walgreens for less than five bucks.

Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon was, as ever, very likeable and believable. I do not blame the ridiculous things his character had to do on him; that is all on the script and direction.

Joseph Gordon-Levit’s fresh-faced and eager Blake was nicely done, a voice of bewildered dissention in a world gone mad, and from his very first scene in a background full of cops, an obvious player in the movie.

Michael Cain (Alfred) dominated his every scene in a way that only an exceptionally seasoned and skilled actor can, and managed to evoke very nearly the only real emotion in the entire film. Too bad he was dropped out of the movie halfway through. Still didn’t like that at all.

There were some very cool scenes (trapped in an alley… HAH!!), and the effects were excellent, although the movie in general felt empty and over-produced.  Am I the only one who longs for the classic sleek and elegant SIMPLICITY of Batman’s “cool toys”? 

The Dark Knight Rises could have used a lot more humanity and humor to break up the near unrelenting break-neck pace.  I just ended up with a bit of a headache and a desire to leave the theater the instant the credits began to roll, which if you know me at all, I NEVER do. Everyone else in the half filled theater seemed to be of the same mind, because there was no applause, no exciting chattering, no waiting to see if there were any little surprises buried in the credits; everyone in the theater just got up and left.

My rating: 5 out of 10

Just Musing,

Susan

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Movie Review (Some Spoilers):

I was mildly interested in seeing this reboot of the Spiderman franchise - not wanting to get my hopes up too much - after loving the first Tobey McGuire foray (the second one a little less so and not liking part III much at all), I was curious to see how a new director would handle the story… would he build on the old familiar movie story, follow the comics closely, or take it in a whole other direction? Or would he do a bit of a mash up?

There were a few things I really enjoyed about this reboot: I loved the presence of a backstory about Peter’s parents, the action/web-slinging was excellently rendered, and the 3D, while lightly intrusive at times, seemed to enhance the dizzying effects of swinging through the streets of New York. Casting Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben was an interesting choice, but Sally Field as Aunt May… well. After getting over the shock that Aunt May wasn’t white-haired, I adored Field’s portrayal of Aunt May; sassy, strong, and certainly NOT the sweet little old slightly daft lady who was completely lost after the death of Uncle Ben. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey was, as ever, everything I would have wanted to be when I was her age, pretty, fashionable, very smart, and extremely brave… I mean, really, would YOU go after a %^$*# monster with a high school trophy??? Hmm. Seems like a lot of smart women are showing up in movies these days. But I digress…

The biggest hole – and there were many – in this film was the lack of The Daily Bugle and Editor in Chief Jonah Jameson. To me, in the comics and in the previous movies, Jameson was the bridge between the audience and Spider-man, looking at this guy who just shows up suddenly and does all these weird things, like flying through the city going after blond muggers and messing up the cop’s sting operations. He was also a mirror on the ridiculous, allowing us to suspend our disbelief with incredibly biased and wrong headlines that make us all want to jump up and defend the guy who really just wants to be a hero, even if he is a bit of a show-off. Without that mirror-device, we are left to just follow Peter Parker, who seems to be in just about every single scene, ad infinitum… Sometimes too much of a good thing is just… too much.

The Creature was pretty creepy, but I didn’t get a full on baddie vibe from him, even when he was fully… who he turned into. Other than the scene on the bridge, he never really put anyone the audience cared about in peril. The fact that he wanted to “share” his discovery with the whole city, rather than use his new-found power to rule, watered down his menace. This is no isrespect to the actor, Rhys Ifans, who I like very much; it is the fault of the script. I have seen many a nuanced bad guy who is humanized, funny, even, and you even LIKE them a little, but they are STILL bad to the core and they Must Be Stopped At All Costs.

Without much humor to break up the story, without the Daily Bugle and the ever irascible Jameson, and without a bad guy who was REALLY REALLY bad (he truly wanted to HELP EVERYone, really he did!), the movie could not make it to the next level. I hope in the next movie (because of course there will be a next movie) uses a better script with a better story. Because without the story and the use of all of the disparate elements that make the it work, we in the audience are left trying frantically to fill in the blanks with what we already know about the character in between munches of popcorn.

And, personally, I don’t want to work that hard in a movie theater. I want to be swept up in a story that takes me somewhere.

Oh, and Stan Lee’s cameo… funnnnny! And, probably the most fun scene in the movie. Makes you want to buy a pair of those …!

This movie could have used more of those moments.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Just Musing,
Susan

Mother's Day 2012

Being a daughter and a mother puts me right smack in the middle of a generational triangle of life: being created and living and then creating life.

It is a uniquely beautiful process, being helped growing up and then, using all the lessons imparted by my own mother and grandmother and those that I learned just by living (mostly that we all we can do is our very best) helping someone else grow into adulthood. The bumps and bruises, the joys, the sleeplessness and worry, the regrets and the pride, the giggles and the anger, the tears of disappointment and the feeling of being overwhelmed and the feeling of overwhelming love, most held softly behind a smile that simply says, “I love you” no matter what we are actually thinking…

This is the legacy I have inherited from my own mother (Hi Mom!) and hope that I have imparted on my own children (Dawn, Adam, Mallory and James, Chris and Michael), and opefully, some part of my lessons will be handed down to my children’s children.

I love you, Mom. Your courage and humor through some crazy times held us all together and taught me with love, we can, and will, survive.

And to my children, there are no words to express the joy I feel at what wonderful adults you have become, and what wistfulness I feel at how quickly time has passed and how hard I hope that you have forgiven me my mistakes, and remember that through it all, I have loved you more than you will ever know. And for those not quite flown, I am confident that you will be okay, that you will figure it all out and will go on to make good lives for yourselves.

And that is all a parent really wants.

Just Musing,
Susan

Growing Up Was Not Everything I Thought it Would Be

Time was that I knew everything. I knew what I was going to be when I grew up, I knew all about my future husband and perfect kids and where I was going to live, I even knew what kind of car I was going to drive.

Then LIFE happened. Almost everything I thought I was going to be, everything I thought my life was going to be, has turned out so very differently than my childhood self could have possibly imagined.

It is not always a bad thing, to find that some adjustments have to be made along the way. The big disappointments, things that left me bleeding and broken, eventually healed and have made me stronger. And the little things, the tiny little regrets that creep up and chop at the soul little by little over the years, those are are harder to get over…

What can you do? I guess there is no real answer, just the realization that all you can do it take it day by day and know that things will eventually work out.

Just Musing,
Susan

Do Women have the Right to Be Themselves?

Aside from the obvious, there are some extreme differences in the way that men and women view the world - and each other - in today's society.

Take the issue of protection of a weaker creature vs. and adult’s right to self-determination.

Being female, I can only relate what I have observed in my more than half century on the planet, but it would seem that many men see women as the weaker sex, and must thus be protected. This protective stance no doubt is instinctual and harkens back to when dangers lurked around every corner and the female and any children were extremely vulnerable to animal, element and even enemy attack.

Throughout history, and up until fairly recently, rigid roles of protector and nurturer were, by evolutionary standards, necessary to the survival of the species.

In modern times, the roles of men and women are not so markedly defined, and the advent of excellent shelter and fortifications further protects the Family Unit. In addition, women in the work force also contribute to financial stability, sometimes even surpassing the male contribution. This has necessitated a paradigm shift in the way that gender roles are perceived and fulfilled.

The concepts of Equality and Partnership in marriage and families is being personally worked out every day in homes throughout Western society. Some families use the traditional roles in home and work, although nowadays most major decisions are made jointly rather than assigning all financial and total managerial control to one party in the relationship. Most families work out their own dynamics based on the needs of the family, ability and financial considerations.

Other societies are also experiencing some of these changes, but their timelines and culture are creating their own challenges to these revolutionary concepts.

The world is still a dangerous place, and many men still feel a great need to protect their spouses and children from anything bad that might happen.

This is a fine and even praiseworthy sentiment. However, when that protective stance spills over from basic bodily protection into a conviction that a person should have or has control of another adult's movements, and either directly or indirectly impedes the ability to make decisions about their own life, the dynamic changes from the presumptive equal partnership to that of a parent/child.

This does not include the agreed upon tasks that are mutually agreed to be split, such as grocery shopping, doing the bills/finances, laundry, cooking, childcare, house and yard work, etc. These types of tasks are no longer required to be split along gender roles. Most people figure out who does each of them best and just agree to take specific responsibilities.

But if one person has to ask permission or get approval to run every aspect of his/her life, someone is being caged.

And a cage, even a really pretty one, is still a cage.

It has happened several times in my life that a partner has felt that they had the right to dictate my movements, my thoughts, my activities, my education, my hobbies, even the way I voted. It became obvious over time that these individuals not only did not respect me as a fully grown human adult, but also did not respect me as an intelligent, capable individual. Just the fact that I might make a decision that they did not approve of was enough to set off alarm bells and slam down the bars of the cage.

Protect me? No. You do not respect me. Make sure I am safe? You do not respect my ability to make my own decisions. You want to know where I am every second of the day? Stop stalking me. I reserve the right to take an aimless drive or stop by a coffee shop or feed the ducks at a park without having to ask permission, just as you do.

There have been times when my requests to know when my partner was going to be home (mostly having to do with arranging for dinner, etc.) have been ignored, rebuffed and belittled.

And yet, that same person would stay out very late and come home so inebriated that I feared for his and that of other drivers on the road's safety.

Were the shoe on the other foot, I would be getting phone calls every five minutes, "Where are you? When are you coming home?" even when I have already given answers not 20 minutes before.

It may well be that I overreact to certain situations because my past experiences have led me to believe that someone who tells me what to do is going to get progressively worse and slide into yet another ultra-controlling person who ends up despising me as their respect is worn away by their own controlling actions.

All I ask, and what most women ask, is to be treated with respect as an adult.

Just Musing,

Susan

THE AVENGERS Movie review

(spoilers)

While waiting in line outside the Cinemark 22 on Friday night, I was struck by the diversity of the crowd. All races, all ages, men women, kids, teens, burly types, skinny guys with glasses, grandparents, straight-from-work dressed, stereotypical fanboys, baggy pants with chains hanging out of their pockets… All smiling and waiting, the atmosphere was all giddy anticipation covered with a veneer of “I’m cool”.

Let us begin.

Comic Book movies should ALWAYS be written and directed by people who love comic books. Joss Whedon’s genuine love for the genre comes through in every frame of this blockbuster. There is something for everybody; it is an over the top, energetic thrill-ride, funny and totally fun movie. Rather than treating the characters with deadly seriousness or turning them into jokes in tights, his respect for the disparate backstories as already told in the preceding movies (Ironman, Thor, and both Hulk attempts), shows though and he somehow manages to bring them together in a totally believable and yet still 100% comic-book way.

He also understands that aside from the absolutely amazing (WOW!!!!) special effects, this is still a character story at heart.

In a less complex director’s hands, you could just have The Avengers all be perfectly reasonable and noble, and have Fury send out lovely engraved but cryptic invitations (which they would all politely accept), sit them all down around a round table and explain that Something Big and Bad is out there and they must, virtuously and selflessly, sacrifice their lives to the Common Good. And they would of course, being heroes, immediately acknowledge their moral Duty and, already being suited up in their cute costumes with capes and leather and tights and armor, begin the Battle for Earth without even stopping for lunch. Of course they win. Heroic Music swells and the credit roll.

That’s the way someone who doesn’t really understand the genre may have approached the film.

Not Joss. Our Heroes come from all over the place and only one is already on board with the Avenger Initiative. The rest have to be… persuaded. So how do you get all these guys in the same room and playing nicely on the same side when one had been brain-hijacked, one doesn’t believe the cover story, one doesn’t even want to be there, one is certain this is simply a personal fight, one has nothing left to lose, and one super-spy-intelligence gatherer is being pulled into an epic war with superior firepower?

Do they all just suit up because Nick Fury tells them to in a deeply rousing and inspiring speech? Nope. They walk away with varying degrees of disbelief and I-Have-My-Own-Problems attitudes and snipe and snarl at each other, bicker and fight like a bunch of siblings in the middle of a Testosterone War (apologies to Black Widow).

And when Superheroes fight... Well. Let’s just say things get broken up a bit. They only begin to work together when everything is falling (literally) apart. I guess falling to earth in a broken…. (insert major spoiler here… nah, not gonna do it!)… will do that to a team. Of course they weren’t ALL on board the *********, but they all did literally succumb to gravity in their own way. Everyone gets knocked on the head a bit, shakes it off and realized they had better Do Something.

Working in pairs at first, then cross teaming, they finally get to the point where Captain America is calling the shots with all the assurance of a broken military general who is finally in his element and completely understands his troops. Only then are they The Avengers.

But they still annoy each other, maybe just a little.

Within the scope of the main Save the World from a Terrible Menace plot, there are smaller interwoven stories, many character reveals, and of course, as this is a Joss Whedon project, completely believable and absolutely hilarious humor sprinkled throughout.

The Big Bad, Loki, is as complex as any other character, and is much more menacing than in the Thor movie; less, dare I say, comic book two dimensional. In Loki’s determined and demented quest to be loved, feared and revered, even he understands on some level that he is manipulating forces that he cannot completely control, but he continues to play his part in the game with a grim determination and certain maniacal glee at the thought of beating his step-brother down. Who cares about the puny humans; they are ants, he is the boot.

There is a lot of fighting, amazingly realistic effects, spectacular settings and many surprises. A few questions are answered and some more are raised. My biggest question has to do with the Hulk, if the end is true, then why the first time?? Hmmmm. I have a theory, but will see the movie again tomorrow to see if it bears out.

Quibbles were few and were drowned out by the completely immersive FUN of the overall experience. And as we learned from the other Marvel movies, stay until the very end of the credits. Something happens, and then later, a small, but funny scene. Just stay. And see if you can count just how many special effects companies were involved!

I saw it in a regular 3D (IMax was sold out… *pouts*) in a nearly sold out theater, and suggest that you see it in 3D, too. I can’t believe that Joss has never filmed in 3D before, it was handled MASTERFULLY.

My rating: 9.9999999 out of 10

Just Musing,
Susan

CABIN IN THE WOODS Movie Review

(mild spoilers)
Not gonna be your normal review, by the way. PLUS I am bound by my inner theater maven and will NOT give any of the plot away. Let someone else leak the twists; it’s not going to be me. I am also not a fan of the horror genre in general, usually finding it a pointless and incredibly, insultlingly stupid waste of time. There are some great exceptions (Slither comes to mind) but on the whole, usually you couldn’t pay me to go to the theater just to watch a bunch of dumb teenagers get carved up for no good reason.

That said, let us begin.

CABIN IN THE WOODS, which has been in movie studio limbo for nearly four years (due to MGM’s bankruptcy, not because of anything wrong with the finished film itself) was released, appropriately enough, today on Friday the 13th. A very twisted and uniquely cerebral horror film, it is the brain child of Joss Whedon and his personal cadre of writer and producer friends, and features several of his favorite actors.

It was, in the beginning, eye-rollingly dumb in its seemingly obvious character set ups – except even this was done in such a clever and… manipulative... way that these tropes became something altogether different – it begins to alternately make fun of and somehow pay homage to the very stereotypes it skewers.

It is laugh out loud funny, jump out of your seat scary, startling and brain teasing because you keep thinking you have it all figured out, and sometimes just downright strange and creepy, CABIN IN THE WOODS not only turns the horror genre on its ear, but has an absolutely maniacally gleeful time doing it. It is a twisting, turning, jaw dropping roller coaster ride with more spirals and loops than… well.

The funny thing is, you are in on the joke in the beginning, which surprised me, so I was wondering if there really was anything left to reveal… you know what the BIG DEAL is right up front – more or less – and so there aren’t too many more big surprises, right? Not so fast, Kimosabee. I swear I was afraid to lift my water bottle to my mouth once things got… going, I was sure something would happen and I would spray half the audience!

Enough about the plot; I really, really can’t say anything else without spoiling it. The production values were a little uneven, usually excellent, sometimes mind-bendingly awesome (that was one crazy “elevator”!!), and sometimes a little fuzzy around the edges like they ran out of money or lost interest on their way to the next crazy scene. The heart of the film also not quite up to the standard I expect from a Whedon project, but it may be I was expecting too much after four years of waiting for this release.

Do NOT go if you are in any way squeamish. Do not take the kids, no matter how much they love Buffy; there are some seriously twisted scenes. I am not giving anything away if I tell you that in this horror movie, some folks die in pretty gruesome ways.

I also guarantee it will be talked about by horror aficionados for years, and by those who, like me, thought the genre had nothing really original to say anymore. With Joss Whedon’s name all over the movie, I should have known better.

My rating: 8.5 out of 10

Just Musing,
Susan

“MIRROR MIRROR” Movie Review

4/1/12 (Minor Spoilers)
Taking a well known, well since the Disney version of 1937, fairy tale and twisting it, making sure that it never takes itself too seriously, MIRROR MIRROR was a delight.

Dominating the first half in every possible way, Julia Roberts was obviously having the time of her life playing the evil, vain and petulant Queen to absolute perfection. Every pretty snarl, roll of the eyes and bored, “I am surrounded by idiots” look played off of the incredible, lavish costumes. The movie suffered a little when she was not on screen, for while the entire cast was game, Roberts was so completely at home in the setting and role that even terrifically comic performances by Nathan Lane (Brighton), Arnie Hammer (The Prince who keeps losing his shirt) and all of the dwarfs (really should be dwarves, but that’s a quibble that goes back generations) could not completely save the faltering second act.

Lily Collins as Snow White was lovely, if a bit clumsy and rather weak of character; I would have liked to see more of the spunk and fire she demonstrates at the very end earlier on. And I do admit to being shallow enough to want to pluck those eyebrows, just a little bit.

Many very, very funny scenes and hilarious lines were scattered throughout the film, like candy gaily dropped along the path that we as an audience eagerly scooped up, but the story’s darker themes were barely skimmed over, leaving a bit of an incomplete feel to the film. When absolutely everything is played for laughs, then there is nothing to lose, and therefore, there isn’t really anyone to root for.

The real menace was, of course, the Queen, and just as she was getting to the place where she could expose her really, really “dark side”, she was cut off and her part of the story was essentially over, apples at wedding notwithstanding. ALTHOUGH, Puppy Love, hilarious! The effects were really wonderful, especially the Mirror, and making the mirror image, well, who it was, was a master stroke.

On the whole, the movie was like an apple, tart, juicy and quite delicious, but needing just a little something more to make it a real meal.

(My Rating: 7.5/10)

Just Musing,
Susan

Review HUNGER GAMES

No spoilers - released 3/23/2012

I approached this movie with more than a little trepidation. As much as I tried to shield myself from the media, headlines caught my eye and I was truly afraid that the movie would not live up to the hype, which is what SOME people were saying, while others praised it to the skies.

After this first viewing, it is important to note two things: 1) If you are a fan of the book, it pretty faithfully follows it. 2) If you have NOT read the book, you will still "get" it; this is NOT one of those movies where everyone who read the book has to explain everything that is happening on the screen to those who have not.

It clocks in at 2 hours and 22 minutes, so they packed in as much of the book as humanly possible, without making it seem too rushed. The actors all did an incredible job of portraying the characters and the costumes were excellent, "girl on fire"!!

The changes that were made to the story were minor... and, on reflection, seemed necessary for time and/or clarity. Some ommissions, some additions, most made sense. Except for one ommission that I really missed, but, hey, I really liked the scene in the book, so I was sorry it was cut/changed.

The beginning was very disorienting – loads of camera shake in an in/out of focus montage, but still managed to convey the backstory fairly effectively. That being said, the burnt bread scene, a rather important in the book for a lot of reasons, was chopped into several tiny bits as flashbacks and didn't really work except to confuse the un-read audience. And the flashbacks regarding Katniss' Mom were odd as well, and happened extremely late in the movie, at that point it almost didn’t make sense to have it in the movie at all.

Showing the differenced between the Haves (Capitol) and Have-Nots (everywhere else) was striking. The silliness of the costumes, the inanity and shallowness of the People of Capital as compared to the rest of Panem underscored their differences: the children who are forced to fight (and kill) each other to survive and silly giddiness of those who view the Games as entertainment… and those who exploit the spectacle for political oppression of the masses.

The entire Arena section was a bit compressed, and contrary to some of the other reviews, not really sanitized, just FAST. The effects were excellent, and the whole "Reality Show/Gladiator TV Show Heartless Let’s keep Those Ratings UP" mood was conveyed very well.

There were some brutal scenes, a couple of jump-out-of-your-seat moments, and some funny flashes scattered throughout, enough to break up the tension. Gotta love that Effie!

The heart of the book was the heart of the movie, and I cried during that scene in the film, just like I did in the book... Those of you who have read the book know what I mean.

NOTE: If you have kids who have read the books and who are old enough to actually understand the theme and are able to discuss it, by all means take them to see this movie. Talk to them about it. It was far less violent than just about any Stephen King movie or Jurassic Park, for example. I would not take a young child (under 11) who is sensitive or who has NOT read the books, however.

On the whole, an excellent movie with a few minor quibbles. We saw it in an IMAX format, in perfect seats.

My rating: 9 out of 10. And I will be seeing this one again!

Just Musing,
Susan

Review: Once Upon A Time "Hat Trick"

"Hat Trick" OUAT episode aired 3/25/12

(Spoilers) There were some very good moments in this episode, chiefly surrounding the Mad Hatter/Jefferson, whose performance in Storybrooke really walked the line of creepy/dangerous/sexy and was absolutely riveting.

Wonderland was just a little weird (love those hedges!), but I wonder about the complete omission of a little girl named Alice, and of course, why the cover up of the Queen of Hearts? Are they planning to continue a Wonderland arc? Why?? Leaving so many loose ends dangling ("Grace" in Storybrooke, why/how did Jefferson know, Regina's dad and who the heck is the Red Queen???), in a story that seemed to be mostly wrapped up was just frustrating.

This episode seemed to go off in many different directions, and was almost completely without heart - much like the actual story of Alice in Wonderland... except that I had some hope when Emma started to believe, tears in her eyes and everything! Oh wait. That was a fake out, too. Hmm.

The whole thing was, in too many ways, a cheat. While I expect the Queen/Regina to be evil and manipulative (and Gold to be manipulative and so playing both sides, well actually, he just plays HIS side), every single movement forward turned out to be a lie or mis-direct without any payoff.

This episode did leave with an important question: Is Emma beginning to believe? I hope so, with a healthy dose of skepticism to keep her grounded and with one foot in each world.

All in all, this episode did not resonate quite as well as some of the others, with three steps forward and four steps back. Some brilliant acting and a few fantastic moments could not completely bring it to the level of the best episodes of the season.

My Ep Rating: 6 out of 10

Just Musing,
Susan

Review: JOHN CARTER

JOHN CARTER REVIEW (minor spoilers):

Having never read the Burroughs Barsoom series, I can't say definitively how closely it follows the books, but it was a thrill ride almost from the beginning.

The intro and everything leading up to the eventual landing on Mars was a bit too long and slightly confusing, with a lot of disorienting editing cuts, although in retrospect, they made sense by the end of the movie.

The scenes with the Colonel were pretty damn funny, though, and that is where the move really started to take off.

The effects were simply amazing, even more so than Avatar's for the sheer stark REALITY of the vistas, machinery and all the creatures. And that blue glittery stuff.... very cooooooool!

There was not even a moment when I was bored or distracted out of the movie - I never once wondered, "How much longer??" It was full of a nice blend of adventure, fighting, pathos, a touch of humor and some heart. Oh, and a huge slobbering dog with a blue tongue that runs really fast...

A few quibbles and plot holes, and certainly the science as regards to Mars is totally wrong (considering when the books were written, it is easy to forgive those). It could have used a touch more humor (especially at the beginning) and a leeeetle teeny tiny itty bit more oomph/chemistry/playfulness/​tension between John and the Princess.

I do have a feeling I am going to like it even better the second time around. I saw it in 3D, FUN without being in your face like some others.

MY RATING: 8/10

A NOTE ABOUT PRO-REVIEWERS: Personally I think that most Movie Reviewers have become jaded and stopped really enjoying movies. What on earth is a reviewer who gives John carter a 3.5 out of 5 stars doing heading their review (and spending a lot of time discussing) "It Wasn't As Bad As Expected"???? If you stripped out the getting over her poor expectations, she seemed to really like it, with the correct reservations, and yet she seemed reluctant to give it any praise, disappointed that it wasn't awful. Dumb reviewers. Well. Forget all of them! I shall give my personal reviews of all movies that we see right up here on my blog and on Facebook, so you be able to see if they are any fun at all. Because isn't that what it is all about: FUN??


Just Musing,
Susan

Review: OUAT "Heart of Darkness"

ONCE UPON A TIME “Heart of Darkness”
Episode aired 3/18/12

(MAJOR SPOILERS):

In a TV series that delights in twists, last night's OUAT really skewered convention! Answering a very few questions and raising even more... this series' convolutions serve to interweave all of the individual Tales in unexpected and delightful ways. This week’s theme: Evil isn’t born, it’s MADE, and boy, do they make that case in this episode!

In Fairy Tale, Red fully accepts her Wolf, and uses it to give Charming time to escape - pretty awesome, although they left that there, without the usual flash to Storybrooke and some sort of parallel with Ruby's life.

Snow was verrrrry interesting; Rumple didn't just take her memories, he took her LOVE, so what was left was vengeful, angry and just plain mean. “Once you start down the dark path…” (a nod to Yoda here!)

Charming continues to be... charming (if a little moon-y) and heroic in Fairy Tale, and David just gets less and less Charming in Storybrooke. Watching Mary Margaret’s face in her cell as David tells her he believes the worst just made me mad. What a wimp; I would think that anyone in his position would think, "Hey, something's not right, there has to be another explanation!" How many times is he going to do this to her?? MM deserves so much better.

As ever, the scenes with Rumple continue to be the most interesting to watch (Aladdin's lamp!), and his involvement in the MM's case should prove to be fascinating as he never does anything without a purpose.

Intervention Jiminy, Prophetic August (just who IS this guy and what is his facination with water...??), Loyal Grumpy, keys to the city, who truly holds the real power… So many little bits of so many of the stories in this jam-packed ep. And so much teasing teasing teasing, "invested in your future"... what the heck can that mean?? And the hair, bottling True Love, how is that possible, especially if Charming's doppelganger is not so True?

Ah Rumple, what are you REALLY after? THAT, I believe, is the true heart of this series.

Episode Rating: 9/10

Just Musing,
Susan

MOTHMAN

A short short 200 word story just in time for Halloween (published in the Antelope Valley Press 10/29/2010)

*****

“Dern moths,” old man Hinkle muttered under his breath as he rummaged through the shed for a can of Raid. He impatiently batted at a faint fluttering at his ear. “Gets worse ever’ year!” His gnarled fingers closed around the can and he let out a wheeze of triumph. “Get a load of this, you…” He turned, raising the can high. The room suddenly darkened, the tiny fluttering becoming a roar. “What the…” He stood still and stared in shock as thousands of moths filled the small room like a writhing cloud. The dark mass paused for a second, then converged on the old man, covering his face, quivering in his ears and up his nostrils, writhing through his disheveled grey hair. They covered his hands, fluttered down the loose collar of his shirt and wriggled up the sleeves. An unrecognizable sound emerged from the center of the cloud as the old man gasped for air and swallowed a score of the winged horde. The mass swayed unsteadily and collapsed. The moths cheerfully disengaged and flew way, abandoning a few dying moths with vibrating antennae, and the still figure of one suffocated old man who never did like moths.


*****

Just Musing,
Susan

...and then came Twilight

*****

The current rage of vampire novels, TV shows and movies that pretty up these so-called denizens of the night has its genesis many years ago. Bran Stoker’s novel crystallized and popularized vampires, taking bits of legends and folk stories from all countries and cultures and distilling them into one coherent mythos, one that remains fairly intact. Everyone “knows” that Vampires drink blood, are super strong, do not like garlic, crosses or holy water, and that they will live forever if they avoid sunlight, staking through the heart, beheading or fire. Everyone knows that they have to be invited in, have cold and pale skin, and have powers to persuade or charm. The males are all excessively male and the women highly sexualized. Add to all this is the fact that their soulless state allows them to do whatever the heck they want with no regard for consequence or censure and you have a very compelling story telling device that pits all of these rather exciting gifts against the many societal and moral constraints imposed by our religions, laws and social norms.

No wonder people are intrigued with the concept of vampires.

This latest teen vampire craze, which has its genesis with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, also portrays them as possible boyfriend/girlfriend material. They are beautiful, old/wise, enigmatic, lethal, world-weary, tortured, wear cool leather coats, and, if engendered with a soul, have capabilities that make them veritable super-heroes.

They do still have to drink blood and stay out of the sun and have scary hair-trigger tempers, but that just seems to add to their mystique.

Then came Twilight.

Now suddenly, vampires are not just cool bad boys, they are beyond beautiful, able to withstand the sun, are not affected by weather or religious icons, are incredibly hard to kill and fight epic battles to protect someone they love. In addition, they seem to somehow eschew the much storied “demonizing” effects of losing one's soul and actually retain their human personalities. As such, they can choose to live ethically as “vegetarians” and seem to have no real flaws. They talk about a lack of a soul as an excuse for not wanting to change humans, but really, what is that in comparison to all that great beauty and strength and immortality, too?

Who wouldn’t want to be a vampire?

As much as I enjoyed the Twilight books, there has always been a sense that something real is absent; the lines of good and evil are carefully drawn and in the central Vampire family, the Monster is almost completely missing.

I think the vampire stories are a bit more compelling when things are not so easy, when they are struggling against their inner demons, when they feel the weight of their years and the watch the humans they love die off one by one. How long would it take before they would remove themselves from human society to protect themselves against caring for creatures who are so short-lived? How long can a being live before they begin to look at the human race with the same detached curiosity as a child watches an anthill, sun at his back, magnifying glass in hand…

Being a monster should be a bit messier than current modern pop culture dictates. There should be a price, even if that price is not readily apparent and is found centuries into the future when eternal life and beauty brings nothing but crushing loneliness and despair.

That would indeed be monstrous.



Just Musiing,
Susan

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Do Yourself a Favor...

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I consider myself to be a pretty easy person to get along with. And with that rather gregarious personality I also have become a “Go To” person when people need all kinds of help (usually computer related) or need a question answered on many topics. Usually I don’t mind helping out, most of the time it only takes a couple of minutes and a smile and the deed is done.

Every once in a while the favor is a bit bigger, and requires a lot more time, concentration and focus to complete.

Those favors are a little harder to accommodate, although I do tend to say, “sure!” and, if possible, take care of it right away, letting my work or other projects pile up for a bit longer in order to help. Sometimes I can't do it right away, and have to take care of it later because of my own time constraints.

Again, not a real problem.

The problem that I have is that when people become so used to coming to you for help, they sometimes forget that you are, indeed, doing them a favor and their expectations that everything be dropped in order to accommodate them start to become onerous.

These are the people who seem to think that they then have the right to comment on (or even sneer about) how you plan your day in work or play, simply because they want you to schedule their little project FIRST. They pounce on me before I have even had my first cup of coffee in the bleary mornings, when I come in the door at work or at home, they ambush me in the hall or make disparaging comments about the amount of time I seem to spend on Facebook (not as much as they think – it is on in the background when I am on the computer and I pop in for a few minutes several times a day).

Sometime I have to bite my tongue. What business is it of anyone’s how I spend my time…??? it’s MY time. Just because you don’t “get” the attraction doesn’t give you the right to deride me about how I “waste” the day away. Do you follow people around and deride them about how drinking coffee or chatting over the proverbial water cooler or talking with their child on the phone is a waste of time and they should be working on YOUR little freebie project instead?

For heaven’s sake, if I have promised you that I will help you out with something out of the goodness of my heart, why would you want to antagonize me by appearing ungracious?

And leave me alone about Facebook. I like it, and apparently, judging by the number of people who tell me that they like reading my posts, other people do, too.
And if I do a favor for you, a simple “thanks!” goes a long way.

Just Musing,
Susan


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Ten Things I like About...

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There is a proliferation of TOP TEN, TOP FIFTY even TOP 100 lists out there, especially in entertainment. They always seem to spark tremendous controversy as readers agree/disagree with various degrees of vehemence.

I am CERTAINLY not loathe to jump on the bandwagon… so here’s one of mine:
TOP TEN REASONS I LOVE SUMMER IN THE AV

1. Warm Summer Nights: The days may be sweltering, but the nights… ahhhhh, pure heaven! Balmy temperatures, gentle breezes, the smells of BBQs, children’s laughter. The nights make the days bearable!

2. Pool Time: Until I had a pool, I did not realize how much just having one simply takes the edge off of the summer heat and tempers. A half an hour floating with a light read and a glass of wine after work does WONDERS for I’m-so-hot-I-could-DIE-and-on-top-of-that-I-had-a-horrible-day days.

3. Summer Thunderstorms: The few truly humid days we have during the summer sometime transform into rumbling, flashing downpours… like the sky soaked up all the moisture it can and is just letting it all loose in a torrent of rain and a marvelous light show.

4. BBQs: Suddenly there seems to be no reason to cook indoors… Fire up the Barbie, the burgers are ON!

5. Long Days: The sun is up early and stays out late… somehow the long days create an energy that fosters getting up, getting out, getting things DONE, unlike the early dark of winter that encourages yawning and cocooning.

6. Blue Skies Peppered with Jets: The clear blue sky of summer, the long hours of light seem to call to the jets to come out and play… hearing rumbles in the sky means running out to see what it is!!!

7. Desert Flower Surprises: These strange clumps of flat olive green plants randomly pop up in the desert, usually on the side of the road, that suddenly bloom into huge white and pale pink trumpet flowers in the highest heat of the summer, after all the poppies and other flowers are long gone.

8. Casual Dress/Casual Reading/Casual Movies: Up here in the AV, summer means flip flops, shorts, jeans, tank tops and everyone seems to be just fine with that! Light reading, fun movies, lots of opportunities to lighten up and give your overheated brain a little break.

9. Evening Outdoor Activities: Concerts in the Park, Thursday Night on the Square, Ice Cream Socials, Dive-In Movies at the Pool… The AV is bristling with engaging and light entertainment for just about any taste.

10. AV Fair: Okay, this is the biggie! It may always be held during the hottest two weeks of the year, but there are so many interesting things to do, to see, great concerts of name performers, local talent, livestock and llamas, terrific local exhibits of local photographers and artists of all types.

There you have it! Everyone will have their own lists, tailored to their own lifestyle, but mine is the best… because I posted it FIRST!!!


Just Musing,
Susan


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Transformations...

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Transform –verb (used with object) 1. to change in form, appearance, or structure; metamorphose. 2. to change in condition, nature, or character; convert. 3. to change into another substance; transmute.

It occurs to me that transformations are part of living. Every day we change and we adjust our way of thinking based on our experiences and our interpretation of events.

Even in breathing we participate in a remarkable transformation. We take in oxygen, noting the mundane and extraordinary smells around us. Our exhalations become part of what feeds our greenery, transforming something we DON’T want (mostly carbon dioxide) into something we DO want (mostly oxygen) via a very clever process built into the trees and foliage around us.

We see something on the news from halfway around the world and react, and maybe that reaction changes the way we perceive some person or event in our own town.

We exercise (or don’t) and eat healthy (or don’t) and our bodies become the sum of that care over time.

We age and our bodies slowly become less able to do what they used to be able to accomplish with ease… now we creak or take a few days to recover from hard exercise.

We wake up to the smell of smoke from fires miles away and realize that the difficulty breathing and the ashes in the pool are minor concerns when compared to what those who had to evacuate or who, even worse, lost their homes are going through.

We buy plants and fencing to transform ordinary yard space into something beautiful for ourselves, our neighbors, our home values, just because we CAN.

We work on a difficult project for months, and finally see it to fruition, and we adapt and learn from that experience to draw upon when something similar occurs again.

We hear of a catastrophic event or illness striking someone we know, and suddenly statistics are personal and courage has a face and a name.

Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen. Caterpillars into Butterflies. Thought into Action. Events into Experience. We are all transforming everyday.

The biggest question for each of us is … into what?



Just Musing,

Susan

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