NovelSisters

watching, reading, and writing stories

May 11

My Favorite Character in LOTR

by lydiamhill

Image Source

Well, I was thinking recently over one of my favorite movie/book series: Lord of the Rings. I admit I’ve watched the movies more times than I’ve read the books, so my opinions are mostly based on the film version. But I’ve been a fan for sometime now, and I’ve noticed that over the years my favorite character or the one I connect to most has changed.

When I first heard of Lord of the Rings I was in 5th grade and a teacher tried splitting us into teams based on if we liked Frodo or Sam better. I barely knew anything about the story, but I knew Frodo was the main character. And in almost anything I read or watched, the main character was my favorite. This seemed to hold true as my classmates began choosing Frodo. So I jumped on the bandwagon and said Frodo was my favorite.

Image 2 Source

Well, when I finally got to read and watch the movies for myself, I was offered so many more options for a favorite character. There was Gandalf the wise and powerful wizard, Gimli, the grumpy yet loveable dwarf, Legolas the attractive and agile elf, Merry and Pippin the mischievous and hilarious hobbits, Sam, the best friend of Frodo, Arogorn the mysterious and humble ranger, and a host of other side characters. Faramir and Eowyn also come to mind. In any case, picking a favorite character just got a lot harder. There were so many great characters, how could I choose? After watching the movies, and the extended editions, and the behind the scenes features, I finally settled on Aragorn. For one he was good with horses, not only as a character, but the actor too. And he was the good king that came from humble beginnings. So he was wise, yet fierce, loyal and brave. He led his friends, and he was good looking too. Plus I felt as if he was genuine because the actor wasn’t completely acting; he would fight for real with the stuntmen. And so the character of Aragorn was more and more attractive.

Viggo as Aragorn

Aragorn remained my favorite character for sometime. How could anyone compete with him? But what do you know, as I got older, the one character I rejected even from the beginning when I was choosing between Sam and Frodo has made a comeback. When I rewatched the LOTRs recently, I found myself more and more impressed and attracted to Sam. He may not have a lot going for him on the surface, he doesn’t go on all the crazy adventures that most of the characters do, he isn’t even the one carrying the ring. He’s short, a bit plump, and not as funny as Merry or Pippin. But Sam has something that I’ve come to value. He is honest, he is faithful despite the circumstances, he is protective and hopeful and looks for the bright side. He encourages Frodo and just as Frodo said, “Frodo wouldn’t have gotten far without Sam.”

Without Sam, the quest would have failed, yet he stays back in the shadows, he doesn’t look for glory or respect. He’s just doing his job, looking out for his friends and putting other’s needs before his own. In my eyes, he’s doing what God has called each Christian to do: to serve, to love, to point the people around us to the truth and hope we have in God and to keep going, even when it’s hard. Sam’s speeches are the most memorable part of LOTRs for me. So I’ll end with my favorite.

Image 3 Source

Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.

Books Christian Life Movies

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May 7

Avengers: Age of Ultron

by lydiamhill

Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer Hits Early

So I got to see the new Avengers movie yesterday and it definitely was a summer blockbuster. It had plenty of action, all the returning Avengers, plus several new faces. It was 2 hours and 20 minutes long and I never got bored during the whole thing. The director also did a good job of balancing fast action with slow character development. The movie definitely was a thrill ride. And if you haven’t seen it yet, go ahead and stop reading now, and see if for yourself. Otherwise, beware of spoilers.

One of my favorite parts of any of the Marvel Universe movies is the banter and jokes between characters and this film did not disappoint. Whether it was in the middle of a thrilling action sequence, or while our heroes are taking it easy at Avenger’s tower or their safe house, there is always a cleaver line thrown in. Even our villain has several humorous comments to add, probably because he was developed by Tony Stark and inherited some of his wit. I also loved the bit about Thor’s Hammer and how no one could pick it up, though Captain America did manage to move it. And then in the climax, our new hero Vision is able to pick it up easily, proving that he can be trusted.

The one downside to this movie is that there is literally so much going on that it can be hard to follow the plot or connect with new characters. It could have just been the mood I was in, but I didn’t get as caught up in this story as I have with other Marvel movies. I didn’t cry when Quicksilver died or when the the Avengers saw their worst fears or memories. Maybe I will the second time through, but the first time I was constantly trying to keep up with who was who, and what was going on so that I didn’t get emotionally invested.

But in any case, it was a fun movie to see and I enjoyed it and will probably see it again soon.

Movies

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Apr 20

Christian Movies and TV Shows

by lydiamhill

Person, Men, Theater, Curtain, Stage, Human, Silhouette

Image Source

There seem to be more and more movies and TV shows about Christian topics these days. Recreating Bible stories has become especially popular in the entertainment industry.  For example, “A. D. The Bible Continues” is a new TV show that has started quite recently. But recreating Bible stories is not the only Christian themed entertainment out there. There have also been a slew of Christian films coming out in theaters. One such film that I got to see recently was “Do You Believe?” As a Christian, or Christ follower, I thought I’d give my opinion on these most recent Christian entertainment pieces, and how we as Christians should react to them.

 

Image 2 Source

I’ll start with A.D. Since Easter this new drama has been playing on NBC. It follows the stories of Christ’s disciples and what they had to face in the early days of the Church. The network picked the right time to start the series, launching the show on Easter Sunday, with the Resurrection of Jesus being the main focus of the first episodes. The 3rd episode showed last night. As a Christian, I was naturally interested in this show. I’ve read about the history of the early church in the gospel accounts and in the book of Acts several times, and I was excited to see how this TV show would portray it.

But just as a movie can take liberties with it’s source material, (It seems like fans of books that were made into movies are never satisfied with the outcome), so this show can take liberties with the Biblical accounts. And I admit, there were a few instances when something was left out of the story. For example, in this most recent episode I was looking forward to seeing Peter give his sermon that brought thousands of people to believe in Jesus. In the Bible, this happened right after the Holy Spirit came, as a result of people asking questions about the disciples strange behavior. But this part of the story was skipped over in the episode, and instead the focus was put on Peter and John getting arrested in the temple.

From what I’ve seen of this series so far, the focus is on how hard it was for early believers, and the trials they had to overcome. It also gives us a look into the Roman ruler’s life and how they viewed what was going on. And although it is enjoyable to watch, and much of the story is consistent with the Biblical account, you can tell that this is meant to be a drama. And just like any cop drama on TV, there are good guys, bad guys and action and adventure with the audience always left hanging, so they’ll want to watch more. I will probably keep watching this show with interest, and I think the quality of the plot line and acting is all nice and good. But in the end, this is a TV show, not God’s Word. So keep that in mind, and remember that the screenwriters have taken a creative license with their source material.

Image 3 Source

Next, I’d like to talk about “Do You Believe?” Like so many other Christian films, this movie attempts to give a Christian message through the telling of a compelling story. It ties together the lives of several characters all with the focus of if they will choose to believe in Jesus and act on their faith. The movie was well made, the story compelling, and I liked the character development. I think the film had a good message; that Christian’s can’t just say they believe and then go on living however they want to, that it takes commitment to follow Christ. It can be an encouraging story to see played out. But in the end, it is just a story. The events did not really happen, and even though God is at work in our lives for real, we often don’t see things work out as nicely as it does in a movie script.

So in conclusion, here’s a few things I think we should remember when watching Christian entertainment, whether it be a movie made by Christians, or by Hollywood, or even a TV show.

1. Always Come Back to God’s Word. 

Don’t base your faith on a movie or TV show. Base your faith on Jesus Christ and no other. He didn’t leave us a movie when he went back to heaven, but He did give us His Word, the Bible. Don’t take his gift lightly. Use it, and get to know Him for yourself. And make sure your view of God is shaped more by His Word, and a pastor’s teaching, than by the entertainment you watch.

2. Don’t let watching something become a substitute for doing it yourself.

If can be easy to watch some compelling movie or show, get caught up in all of the emotions, and enjoy the thrill of it. But don’t confuse it, with real life. God didn’t just use the disciples in His work, He wants to use you too. It’s not enough for us to watch and clap when someone else does the right thing, we need to do the right thing in our life. And we need to keep doing it, even if things don’t work out the way we want, or we don’t get the happy ending that we expect. God’s plan is so much bigger than our own, so much bigger than a human writer’s script. We won’t get to see the Big Picture in our lifetime. Maybe we’ll get hints at it, little previews of how God is working things together for good. But even if we don’t see it all, we can still have faith that it will because God is Faithful, and He is Good.

Christian Life Movies TV

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Jan 19

Movie Musicals: Into the Woods Annie

by lydiamhill

This past week I had the opportunity to see several movies, including the musicals: Into the Woods and Annie. I don’t recall seeing Into the Woods before, but I knew the general plot of rewriting the old fairytales. And Annie has been one of my favorite musicals ever since I was a little kid. I’ve seen it multiple times on stage and I’m pretty sure the old movie version was watched at least once by my family. In any case, I usually like movie adaptations of musicals. I like the music, even if it gets stuck in my head and generally the storylines of musicals are just as compelling as other movies. So into the movie theater I went to see these two movie versions of classic plays.

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Woods_(film)

I’ll start with Into the Woods, since I saw it first. Even with the familiarity of the fairytale stories, I enjoyed getting to see the characters fleshed out by new actors and I particularly liked seeing Little Red Riding Hood being a sneaky little girl who took way more sweets than she needed. Since I hadn’t seen this play before, I actually thought the movie was over when everyone was getting their happily ever after. I had the brief thought of “what about that other bean stalk?” but everyone was so happy that I thought it wasn’t a big deal. And then the change came, people cheated, died and the happily ever after became a lie. I liked the realism this change brought to the characters and I especially liked the song about who to blame. It’s easy to get caught up in finding someone to blame for our problems, when the truth is we are just as much to blame as they are. So in the end, even though the story changed, I was pleased with the outcome, and how the characters who were still alive had changed too. And the “Into the Woods” song won’t be leaving my thoughts anytime soon.

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_(2014_film)

Onto Annie, this story I know very well, and I was intrigued by the preview for this movie and how they were updating it for a new generation. A lot of the classic songs were still included and even a tip of the hat to the old version with the opening scene showing a little red headed girl tap dancing who was also named Annie. But then the story shifts and we get to see a world more similar to what we know. And even though new songs were added, characters were changed, and the story departed from the original, I still found myself enchanted by this movie. I especially liked how the lady who boarded the orphan girls had more of a backstory and was more relateable to the audience. I enjoyed her character a lot more than the previous version and was happy that she got to become more of a heroine than a villain in the end. The only complaint I would have is that a few of the songs sounded a little “fake” to me, as if they were recorded by a different actor and then lip-sinked to the one playing the character. But even with that, I still enjoyed the movie.

So if you too enjoy a good musical, I would highly recommend either of these movies.

Movies

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Jan 5

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

by lydiamhill

Image Source: http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/The_Hobbit:_The_Battle_of_the_Five_Armies

So I finally got through the holiday busyness and had time to go see a movie. I had been wanting to see the Hobbit for quite some time. Since I saw it so late, I inevitably heard people’s opinions about it, before I could see it for myself. One person basically said, “If you liked the others, you’ll like this one,” but wasn’t too impressed with it. Another friend hated it, but mostly because her favorite characters died, which was true to the book. And someone else commented on the movie’s simple message, “Don’t be greedy.”

So as I watched the movie, these opinions stayed with me. And now it’s my turn to add an opinion. I agree that this film is on the same standing with the other Hobbit films. They were good movies, but I connected more with the Lord of the Rings trilogy than this one. I think the characters in the Lord of the Rings were based more on the books, whereas a lot of the Hobbit characters weren’t even in the Hobbit, like Legolas, Saruman, and Azog. And certain relationships weren’t ever in the book either, like Fili’s romantic interest. I think that Peter Jackson tried to add so many extra storylines to the Hobbit, that the original story and it’s charm got a little lost.

But even with these separations from the book, I still liked seeing the same characters from the first two movies develop and the action of the story come to a satisfying end. I may not have connected with the Hobbit as much as LOTR, but I will say I enjoyed the movie. I liked seeing Bard kill the dragon, which I originally thought would be the climax of the second movie. And I particularly enjoyed seeing when Bilbo went home and his neighbors were buying all of his stuff because they thought he had died. And I really enjoyed how Thorin’s greediness was portrayed as coming from the dragon and even melded Cumberbatch’s voice with Thorin’s to show the connection to Smaug.

And at the end of the Hobbit trilogy, I can say Bilbo is my favorite character; his courage and wit, loyalty, and wisdom make him a lovable character. And can I say his face expressions are priceless! So if you haven’t seen the Hobbit movies yet, I hope you do.

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Dec 8

Mockingjay Part 1 vs Interstellar

by lydiamhill

Trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

https://www.flickr.com/photos/goddin/15643285129

So I’ve gotten to see two movies in the theaters recently and rather than posting two posts, I’m going to talk about them both in one post. Can you guess which one I liked more?

Well I saw Interstellar first, and boy was it a ride. I felt like I was on a space ride at Epcot. This might be because the volume was turned up super loud in the IMAX theater I watched it in; there were even times I had to stop up my ears. So it did feel as if I was a passenger along for the ride. I enjoyed the exploration of space and how the laws of physics were used fairly accurately in this movie; such as time being relative. I loved Astronomy in college, and I enjoyed this movie’s use of real physics. It was a very unique space movie, and I generally liked the characters and storyline. I also liked the commentary on where our world is headed with all of it’s overproduction and extra stuff. I think the fictionalized future made sense; how the world would come back to a more basic kind of living. And I really liked how history was handled in the film, with the use of interviews throughout the movie, and the government changing the history books to say they’d never gone to space. It reminded me of how history even today can be tweaked depending on our current culture.

So there were a lot of intriguing parts of this movie, and I appreciate the uniqueness. However, I have to say I enjoyed watching the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 more.

For some reason, it was hard to really empathize with the characters in Interstellar, so I didn’t care very much about what happened. And when I left the movie theater, I just felt numb. But I really did enjoy the new Hunger Games movie. I’ve enjoyed all of the Hunger Games movies, and this new one was no exception. It stuck close enough to the book that I didn’t notice any missing details. And I thought they did an excellent job of creating a compelling story arch out of only half of the final book. It starts with Katniss wanting Peeta back, and wishing they had rescued him instead of her, and it ends with Peeta finally rescued from the capitol, but so messed up psychologically, that he’s still separated from Katniss. So she got what she wanted, but is still disappointed. Which sets up the story nicely to continue in the last film.

I also really liked the comic relief of how Katniss can’t act to save her life, and only is compelling onscreen when she’s just being herself. I also enjoyed seeing how the side characters, like Finnick, Effie, Prim, and Haymitch are continuing to develop. And man, I cannot get the Hanging Tree song out of my head. I loved how it was used as a rebel anthem. So, all in all, Mockingjay did not disappoint and I’m looking forward to the last film installment next year.

Movies

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Nov 11

Big Hero 6 and the Importance of Relationships

by lydiamhill

Image Source: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Hero_6_(film)

I really really really wanted to see this movie and I got to go see it this past weekend. I usually love the animated Disney movies and this one was no exception. It had great characters, a well developed plot line, jokes and touching moments. Everything you would want in a good Disney movie. If you want to stop reading here and just go see it, that’s fine. Maybe you can read the rest once you’ve seen it, if you don’t want any spoilers.

But now on to my thoughts about some of the deeper messages in this film. One thing that stood out to me was the importance of friendships. It can be easy, especially in America to take the individualist approach and say I can handle it on my own, I don’t need help. The protagonist of the movie, Hiro, felt this way. But as the plot progresses, we see the importance of strong relationships. Not only are friends and family important in working through life’s difficulties, like grief, but they also help us stay on track and keep us from making mistakes that we’ll regret later.

In the plot of the movie, I really liked how close Hiro comes to playing a villain role, I think it shows that every person is capable of being a hero or a villain. Indeed Hiro and and the villain share similar goals; taking revenge on the person who was responsible for the death of someone they loved. But because Hiro has friends to tell him what’s right, even if he doesn’t want to hear it, he eventually becomes aware that revenge will not heal his hurt and he must let that desire go. He even tries to help the villain in this story see what he learned and stop the destruction, but it is too late for the villain and he continues down the path he has chosen.

These lessons of friendship and the ability in each person to be a hero or villain remind me of truth in my own life. As a Christian I know that I am a sinner, and that I am capable of horrible things and am no better than any other person, even a murderer. Just like Hiro, I have the capability of being a villain. But because Jesus has saved me, I can choose to follow Him, to do what is right and good, and be heroic. But I cannot do it alone, I need Jesus’s help and the help of a church family. It makes me sad to think that a lot of Christians think they can watch a sermon online or listen to some worship music and that’s all they need, when it really isn’t. Just like Hiro needed his brother, Baymax, and his friends from school to keep pointing him back to what was true and right, I need people in the church to remind me to follow Christ, to not give up, and encourage me when I’ve had a bad day.

So, that’s what stood out to me from this movie. I hope you’ll go see it, if you haven’t yet. I’d like to see it again, that’s for sure.

I’ll end with a preview.

Christian Life Movies

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Oct 24

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

by lydiamhill

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_and_the_Terrible,_Horrible,_No_Good,_Very_Bad_Day_(film)

Have you ever had a bad day? I know I sure have. Most people do. There are some days where everything seems to go wrong.

Well, the other night I went to go see Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Although the title seems a little over the top, this movie was actually quite good. It struck at something that most people go through in life, at least eventually: a bad day. A day when everything that could go wrong does, and you just have to deal with it. I enjoyed the fact that a lot of the things that went wrong in the plot of this movie were ordinary things, but when piled on top of each other, they turn into something that’s really hard to deal with. (Just like in my own life). I know I’ve had my days where it seemed like I was being overwhelmed with all the little things going wrong.

But this movie included a positive message, and I didn’t find it cliche. The message was not “be positive and you’ll automatically get what you want, or everything will work out,” but more like, “stick together through the tough stuff.” Bad days are hard, and your attitude may be able to help, but one of the biggest things that helps is going through it with someone else.

Oddly enough, this is also what stuck with me from my church’s sermon on Sunday. Our pastor mentioned the fact that we should have joy in suffering with Jesus, or in joining in His sufferings. I never really understood that before. How is both of us suffering a good thing? Why should I want that? Hasn’t Jesus suffered enough for the both of us? I always took it to mean that Jesus was with me when I was suffering. But then my pastor said, when you suffer together you’re relationship deepens. And it just clicked. Like of course! You have friends that will have fun with you, and stick with you on your good days. But the people who stick with you in the hard stuff, that’s who you’re really close to. And that’s how close I want to be with Jesus.

Just like in the movie, the family drew closer together through all the hard stuff. This realization brought to mind another show I had recently rewatched: Band of Brothers. This TV show follows the story of a group of men who served together in WWII and details all that they went through together. Even though it was horrible stuff, it made their relationships supper deep, to where they really felt like brothers; like family.

So, maybe this week, you’ve had a bad day, or several bad days, but maybe if you step back and look at the relationships you have, and remember what you have to be thankful for, those bad days, as Alexander said, “can help you appreciate the good ones.”

Christian Life Movies TV

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Sep 9

Classics from Childhood

by lydiamhill

So a lot of people from my generation grew up with the classic Disney movies like Pocahontas and The Lion King. But one movie I also loved growing up is not a Disney movie at all, it’s a Dreamworks movie. I hadn’t realized how much this movie really stuck with me, because until a few days ago, I had never owned it. But through renting it multiple times, I learned its plot line by heart, not to mention several awesome quotes that I still use today.

Here are a few of them:

“Well don’t blame me!”
“I blame you!”

“You’re not a god? You lied to me!”

“Both?”
“Both.”
“Both is good.”

“What trail?”
“The trail we blaze… That trail we blaze!”

“You fight like my sister.”
“Ah, I’ve fought your sister, that is a compliment.”

Can you guess which movie it is?

Well here’s a few pictures to help you out:

miguel the road to el dorado tulio rted

Image Source: http://giphy.com/gifs/miguel-the-road-to-el-dorado-tulio-2UWyCjNXy5fig

miguel the road to el dorado el dorado tulio tulio miguel

Image Source: http://giphy.com/gifs/miguel-the-road-to-el-dorado-tulio-ICMe1I6fiGX6M

 

cartoon miguel road to el dorado tulio

Image Source: http://giphy.com/gifs/cartoon-miguel-road-to-el-dorado-m9VKulbFCXkBi

 

If this stirs up some memories for you too, let me know. And maybe if you’re feeling nostalgic go re-watch the movie.

And if you’ve never seen it, it’s called The Road to El Dorado. And it’s one of my favorites. There are unforgettable characters, an awesome storyline, great music from Elton John, and it makes me laugh every time I watch it.

Life Movies

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Aug 18

The Nut Job

by lydiamhill

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nut_Job

So I got on Netflix today and found that The Nut Job was available to download. When I saw commercials for this movie I thought it looked like a generic kids movie, and one on the lower end of the spectrum. So I never went to see it in theaters and didn’t have much interest. However, when I saw it on Netflix, I thought eh whatever, might as well watch it.

If you haven’t been reading my blog, here’s a tidbit, I love kids movies. For some reason it’s the genre I like the most. So, here I am watching this movie, expecting some silly storyline and undefined characters and a lot of cheap jokes. But as I kept watching, I was pleasantly surprised.

I actually enjoyed the storyline. The movie seemed to be based in the not too distant past, when bank robbers pulled big heists. The plot weaves around two separate heists, one a group of animals is trying to pull off, in order to survive winter, and the other, a group of thugs who are robbing a bank. There’s some interesting correlations between the two groups, so the audience can see their similarities but also their differences. And there’s enough twists and turns in the storyline to make it interesting.

The characters are fairly well developed as well, especially our hero who goes from a selfish independent scrounger, to a reluctant hero. And the villain is also well hidden so that their real motives are a surprise to the audience.

Even the humor was okay, it’s not a roll on the floor laughing kind of movie, but the jokes aren’t too dumb.

So if you enjoy a good family/kids movie like me, check out The Nut Job on Netflix.

Movies

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