Let's Watch Some Star Wars!

So I saw this movie watching schedule on Facebook and I think I'm going to give it a shot. Which means I need to watch that first one soon!

Who's with me?

Movie Review: Star Wars VII The Force Awakens (Spoilers!)

Movie: Star Wars The Force Awakens
Genre: SciFi Fantasy
Starring: Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega
Rating: PG 13
My Rating: Two thumbs up

So. I think it's time for me to write down my thoughts. Spoilers ahead, some mild, some not so mild. Beware if you haven't seen it, but I've a feeling you've probably seen it by now.

What I liked:

• The new characters were awesome. Loved them actually. Daisy (Rey) reminds me a bit too much of Kiera Knightly, not my favorite actress, but it wasn't too distracting. So no matter. She was awesome. As was Finn. Fun, funny, quirky, strong, likable characters. Oh, and let's not forget Poe. Awesome!
• Yes, I even liked Kylo Ren. At first I wasn't sure. Upon viewing number two, I decided I didn't mind his angst and out of control emo-ish-ness. I think it makes sense for this character. It makes me feel for him as I tend to do these type of villains. 
• At first I thought BB8 would just be an R2D2 rip off, but then he came into his own and I warmed up and fell in love.
• The nods to the old movies, both in some phrases, some onscreen appearances, etc. It felt like coming home, just as Han says!
• The music, as always.
• The space shots, the battles, the gun fights, the lightsaber fights, as always.
• The end, that intensity, those looks from both characters, the setting, the music, the pan around shot... all of it. 
• Han was awesome. Chewie was awesome. Luke was awesome. Loved the beard on him. 
• The Imax 3D viewing experience. LOVED this. Saw it the second time at a normal theater and thought... wait... where's the screen? Where's the sound? LOL.. getting very spoiled by the Imax theater stuff. 

Poe!

Finn and Rey

Chewie and Han

Kylo Ren

Luke in a beard.

What I didn't like:

• I was bothered that the plot was basically A New Hope re-do. I mean, yes, it was fun to have the nods to the old stuff, but to totally use the same plot? Disappointed in that.
• Um. Han. Why why why!!! (Still, it made this movie especially emotional, yes?)
• Kylo Ren, the fact that the actor portraying him wasn't over the top gorgeous. I feel like he needs to be over the top gorgeous. Agreed? I think it would add to the drama of what's going on, plus given his parentage, I mean, you know?
• Princess Leia was... weird looking. She kinda gives me the creeps these days.
• That weird Nazi/Hitler scene. Where did that come from? Just... weird.

General Leia

The weird Nazi scene

Questions I Have:

• Did Han yell... BEN??? (Is Kylo Ren's real name Ben?) On the second viewing I paid very close attention to this and yes, it totally looks like he calls him Ben. For some reason, the answer to this question is very important to me!
• What is Rey's parentage? Where does she come from? Who is ripping her away from her family in the flashback? (Did you notice they played Luke's theme whenever she was onscreen there toward the end?
• Is Kylo Ren alive? I mean, I'm pretty sure he is, but I didn't get a confirmation that it's a sure thing. He has to be though, right? That planet collapsed pretty fast!
• Will we get some love stories going on? Don't skip over this stuff writers! Romance please!!! :)
• We will get much more Luke Skywalker in the next movie, yes?

Yeah, that's pretty much all I have to say about it right now. What are your thoughts? Are we on the same page or totally different? 

Bottom line: I have loved the re popularity of this movie this past weeks and months. It makes my heart so happy!

Trailer:

Book Banter Topic 5: Understanding Tom Hiddleston

Okay, so technically, Tom Hiddleston is not a bookish topic. But hey, he does play F. Scott Fitzgerald for a brief moment in that lovely movie Midnight in Paris! And he does play one of the best villains in all of literature because Norse mythology is literature, am I right? Anyway, when the subject of Tom came up the other day, as it often does, and Jenny said, "I just don't get him."  I was like, what??? Gasp.  I don't get that you don't get him! And thus, yet another banter topic was born!

Suey says:

Let me just illustrate my first argument, summed up in one word: SMILE

I think this will go down as one of my favorite collages ever  made!

Smile: While I agree that he might not have the typical look of a heart throb, (though it can be argued that his untypical look is quite  heart throbby enough)  you can’t deny that he has one of the best smiles in existence. And I, for one,  think that smile supersedes anything he might lack otherwise. (Though I could still argue that his eyes, his dance moves, and his general classic tailored polished look has a lot going for him too!) But his smile! It’s so contagious. It’s so brilliant and beautiful and bright. Seeing that for the first time in the theater watching Thor, I pretty much totally forgot Thor (who DOES have every single “normal” heart throb attribute going on in his favor) because of that Loki/Tom smile.

Jenny says:

K, I'm focusing on looks because I think Tom has a fun personality. I just don't get the attraction aspect. Here goes. I hope a lynch mob doesn't show up.

1. He's Soooo Pale!

Give him white hair and he could play an albino with no makeup needed. Seriously. He's not some southern bell! This isn't the old south! Go to a tanning salon! Go outside! It's called the sun, Tom. Try it!

2. His hair looks so greasy!

Take 1 cup of oil (preferably olive oil). 2 Eggs (for all day hold) and 1/2 cup water (to mix it all together). Apply liberally and scrunch with fingers. Let Dry. Watch girls swoon....for some reason. Ewwww! 

3 His lips...or lack thereof.

Alright, some people just have thin lips. I have thin lips but I don't walk around trying to duck face with them. Look at that those pursed lips! It just makes them suck into his face. Yuck! 

Suey says:

Okay, I didn't just focus on looks, so I have more arguments below. That being said, I'd love to rebuttal the above thoughts.

Pale...yes he sometimes seems so, especially in the role of Loki, which I think is part of that character. Other times, not so much. Many of the pictures I've used in my collage he has pretty normal coloring. But that look adds to his overall aurora I think. It doesn't bother me in the least!

Greasy... WHAT? That's only for his Loki role and only during certain parts of the film! His normal hair is beautiful! (See my pictures above.) Besides, long stringy hair is a turn on for some.. even Thor has it! And Aragon, and oh, so many others!

Lips...never really actually thought about his thin lips because... HIS SMILE! It sort of distracts from the lips thing. And the duck face? What? His face is beautiful...not your conventional manly man face, but insanely beautiful.

P.S. Do you have a problem with his eyes? Because... THOSE EYES!! Sa-woon!

And my non looks reasons:

Charm: Of course we none of us know what Tom Hiddleston is like in real life. All the celebrities put on a face for us no matter who they are or what they’re doing. But I feel that Tom must, he MUST truly have the charm that he exudes for us all. That charm, I think even more than the smile,  is what has made so many of us fall for him. He is charming as himself, he’s charming as Loki, he’s charming as whoever he is in that haunted house movie (even though I haven’t seen it I’m pretty sure he’s charming, in  creepy way, am I right?). It doesn’t matter the role he’s playing, or the face he’s presenting, he can’t help but be charming.  The style he sports, the gentlemanly manners he practices, the ideas he professes to…. all charming and perfect.

Acting/Singing: So I’ve only seen him in a couple of movies and I really haven’t seen him sing yet except random YouTube clips. But what I HAVE seen makes me tend to declare that he is one amazing actor. And I can’t wait to see him in more stuff, especially the upcoming singing one! I find it interesting when someone like him plays a role for someone like Loki and we all fall in love with Loki, the villain, and a pretty awful sad sorry mean old villain too, then that says something for the way that villain is acted. Know what I mean? He’s amazing. AMAZING!  I don’t know how else to say it. Just. . .amazing.

Bottom Line: Tom Hiddleston has something going on: smile, charm, eyes, acting, singing, gentlemanly class...I don't know what... that is definitely swoon worthy.

What do you think? Let us know in comments! And be sure to check out Jenny's take on this subject and her rebuttals to my reasons over on her blog!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Movies I Want to See

At first I thought I didn't know what movies made from books are coming up! I could think of a few, but then ran out pretty quickly. Then I looked it up somewhere and was blown away by what's in store for us next year! I pretty much want to see them all!  Here's what I'm listing:

Books to Movies Coming Up (this next year ) that I Want to See:

1. Mocking Jay Part Two (next week!!!)
2. The 5th Wave
3. Me Before You
4. A Monster Calls
5. Allegiant
6. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
7. Legend
8. Shatter Me
9. The Death Cure
10. The Selection

(Hopefully my source is true and all these really are becoming movies! Maybe some of them are just rumors. I can't remember now where I was looking.)

Bonus: I'd love to go to the Sundance Film Festival in January and see the independently made I am Not a Serial Killer.

Oh, and there's that new Harry Potter one! The magazine came to house today will beautiful Eddie Redmayne on the cover. I'll see this move just for him.

What bookish movies do you want to see? Or have you net yet seen? Link up over at The Broke and the Bookish.

Movie Review: Jurassic World

Movie: Jurassic World
Genre: Adventure
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
Rating: PG 13
My Rating: Two thumbs up

This movie came out the weekend before our big trip. And there was absolutely now time for us to go then. When we came back, I was worried we'd missed our window to see it on the big screen, but it was still here. And then, it took us two more weeks to find time to get out to it! But we finally did and I was pleased that all the buzz about it was correct.

So much fun!

What I mostly loved about it was all the nods to the original Jurassic Park. Not just the relics that they find lying about but, the actual story too. Very similar. Just bigger and badder. Sort of. I mean nothing really compares to that first one, right?

And as you all said, what's his face Chris Pratt was perfect! I'm liking him better and better! The girl, played by Bryce Dallas Howard... she was okay. But the boys, spot on. Loved them.

Anyway, do you want a fast summary? So, the park is back... the vision is pretty much what the grandpa from the first movie wanted. And they have bred some pretty ruthless cross breeds of dinosaurs in the time being. So, when one of them gets out... then lots and lots of bad stuff happens.

But what's his face saves the day! Because he is a dinosaur whisperer! And the girl, who was straight laced and stiff as a board.. she is suddenly all loose and her hair even went curly, right in the middle of all that fighting!

Pre-fighting

Post-fighting

And  of course, there's the music. Such awesome music. Even though John Williams didn't actually do this one, they left all the themes in. Perfect.

Here's the trailer:

Movie Review: The Theory of Everything

Movie: The Theory of Everything
Genre: Biography
Staring: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones
Rating: PG 13
My Rating: Two thumbs up

We are meant to think this movie is about Stephen Hawking, the brilliant scientist with theories about space who ended up in a wheelchair. And it is, but it's really even more about his wife, Jane.

They meet at college. They fall in love. He is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and told he has about two years. She says, I don't care and they get married.

Falling in love.

From there, it's story of how she takes care of him, has his three babies and gives her whole self to his work. Many many years go by.

And I thought this would be the whole story. But that's not how it ends. Things start to become too much for her. They get help. She falls in love with the help. But does nothing. Then, after things become even worse for him (after he loses his voice for instance) they get more help. Now he falls in love with the help! And he does something.

The help.
(Aka. her church choir director!)

Which makes him look bad on the surface, but I think, really, he was setting her free.

Fascinating story, truly.

Eddie as Stephen

And yes, the acting job deserved an Oscar. He made you think he was truly and genuinely losing his ability to move. Amazing.

I've been wanting to see this movie forever! So glad it finally happened!

Eddie and Stephen together.

Here's the trailer:





Speaking of movies and trailers... here's one you should see if you haven't already:




FREAKING OUT!!!!

Two Mini Movie Reviews: The Good Lie and Big Hero 6

Movie: The Good Lie
Genre: Drama
Starring: Reese Witherspoon
Rating: PG13
My Rating: Two thumbs up

We rented this one night at the strong urging of my kids who had already seen it. It's a very moving story about a bunch of refugee kids from Sudan who, after their parents were killed, trekked across Africa to reach a refugee camp in Kenya. The hardships were terrible and many of them didn't make it. Those that did,  stayed for many years and actually grew up in that camp. Then one day, their names came up to make the trip to America and start a new life. This story follows several of these kids as they adjust to their new life.

This is one of those bittersweet movies. Very funny in parts as the kids (well, now young adults actually) learn to adjust in a place where they have food, don't have to worry about wild animals, can sleep on a bed, and etc. But the story of how they ended up here, being separated from their brother, and their sister and leaving people behind, is so so hard. The end will have you very much weepy, but in a good way.

I loved that the boys who acted in this movie are real true life refugees.

Bottom Line: It's an awesome inspirational movie. See it!






Movie: Big Hero 6
Genre: Animation
Starring: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit
Rating: PG
My Rating: One thumb up

Lots of talk about this movie, lots of buzz, lots of expectation! Finally, I watched it with my daughter and found it to be as cute as expected, but not as funny and much more sad. (She started warning me that it was sad as we began, and so I was, wait, what? I thought it was funny!)

It's about a genius boy and his brother, who invent things for fun. His brother makes a healer/doctor robot called Baymax. The boy, Hiro, bonds with this robot especially after the sad circumstances. But there's a bad guy that needs to be stopped who steals Hiro's own invention, nano robots. So, he gathers his friends, creates super powers for them, and they are off to stop the bad guy!

Yes, Baymax is very cute! But the story itself is a sad one. The villains reminded me what I used to watch on Saturday morning cartoons and made me roll my eyes a bit. The friends are awesome and quirky. But in the end, I was just eh, it was okay about this one. I have other animated movies that still maintain my top spot. (Up and Toy Story for starters)

Bottom Line; See it if you're fan of animation, and super hero movies!

Movie Review: The Imitation Game

Movie: The Imitation Game
Genre: Historical Drama
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley
Rating: PG13
My Rating: Two thumbs up

Well, it took me long enough to get to this movie! And we barely sneaked it in as it's now having its last days at the "dollar" theater.

As you all know, this is a fascinating look at the experience of Alan Turing during WWII when he and a bunch of others cracked the Enigma code that the Germans were using to wage war on the Allies. He built a machine (ie. computer) that calculated the code every day which in turn let them be prepared to fight certain battles and in the end, win the war years before they would have otherwise.

Though we did learn that in order to keep the Germans from knowing that they had in fact actually cracked the code, they had to let some attacks go un-fought. Which must have been heart wrenching for them.

Alan Turing is a British mathematician, who, as the movie portrayed him, was extremely socially awkward and my guess, a bit autistic. Not to mention the fact that he was also gay, which was illegal in England at the time. When he was found out, they made him take drugs which appeared to be his downfall and he ended up committing suicide. Sad sad stuff.

With his machine.

After the movie first came out, I read comments that people thought the movie took some liberties which makes me wonder what the real  true story is. I had to come right home and look stuff up on that all truth place, Wikipedia! :) The stuff mentioned there seems to be fairly close to what the movie says, although they do suggest that it could be that he didn't actually commit suicide and that it might in fact have been an accidental poisoning. Still, sad sad stuff.

The whole group.

Anyway, we pretty much have him to thank for saving a ton of lives in the war and for thinking up the computer. I'd say that's some pretty big things. Too bad we don't know his name a little better.

I totally enjoyed the movie. Benedict, as always, is amazing. Keira didn't irritate me too much, and the music was beautiful. If you haven't seen it, put it on your list. It'll be at the Redbox soon I'm sure.

This is the big lesson learned from the movie.
Well, one of them.

Here's the trailer if you've missed it somehow:

Movie Review: Insurgent

Movie: Insurgent
Genre: YA Dystopian Drama
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Theo James
Rating: PG 13
My Rating: One thumb up

I don't know, it was a fine fun movie, but I guess it didn't blow me away or anything. As my husband says, it's a middle movie/book, so what can you expect?

This movie is mostly about Tris having to deal with surviving all five (is it five?) tests that Janine puts her through in order to get the mysterious box open. The box with a message. The message that lets everyone know what's REALLY going on! Thus, much of the movie are these simulations and sometimes you get tricked into not know what's real and what's not and thus getting a little feel for what Tris is going through.

There's lots of Four to enjoy  and lots of Caleb (aka. Ansel aka. Gus, which is really trippy after seeing TFiOS) to get frustrated with. Peter was also quite the fascinating character in this movie.

I don't know, but he kinda scares me.

With Caleb and Peter

During a simulation

I didn't remember a thing from the book, which made for a better movie experience I think. Though I still have suspicions that the movie ended very differently from the book. I don't know. Someone (aka Jenni) will have to tell me.

Anyway, I still say see it. Go and enjoy!

Here's the trailer:

Movie Review: Jupiter Ascending

Movie: Jupiter Ascending

Genre: Science Fiction
Starring: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Sean Bean
Rating: PG 13
My Rating: One thumb up (oh what the heck... make that two!)

Well, wow. What an interesting movie! We found ourselves here last week for a spur of the moment Valentines Date. I may have said this before but there are some movies that just need to be seen on the big screen and I knew this was one. (We did not do 3D this time... OR Imax though. Oh, well.) So we picked it over, say, The Imitation Game which I still want to see, but that's much less a big screen one, know what I mean?

Anyway. I pretty much have no idea what the plot was for this movie. It was more about all the special effects and such. But you know, special effects are cool!

But... if I had to guess I'd say it was about a family who owns and runs the solar system (universe maybe even?) Three siblings are in charge and they are each ruthless and mean and over the top awful! When they find out that Jupiter, a girl living on Earth helping her mom clean houses, has the DNA that matches.... something... they all start fighting to get control of her.

One of them hires a renegade ex-soldier type dude to snatch her up. So he comes and snatches her up, but quickly falls in love with her. Though he's never going to to admit that!

Yep. You can see it happening right here!

So she ends up meeting these three siblings, each at their own realm. I'm not sure if they all live in the big storm on Jupiter, or if only the one does. But anyway. Stuff happens and it's all peril and craziness and the soldier dude saves the day every time.... though Jupiter is a pretty strong character too and does some of her own saving also!

I think if we HAD seen this at the Imax in 3D, it would have been AWESOME. Also, quite overwhelming to the senses. Wow. The music is crazy. The special affects are crazy. The characters are crazy. All over the top and exaggerated.

But awesome!

Sheesh. I have no idea how to review this movie. It was terrible in a fun way. One of those kind. Know what I mean?

Most people go to see it for Channing Tatum. I went for Eddie Redmayne. Channing was pretty swoony as expected. And Eddie was magnificently creepy. Oh. My. Word. He totally grates on your bones in a perfectly disgusting way!

Swoony Channing.

Creepy Eddie.

But I actually kinda ended up swooning over this guy!
Even though... SLIMY! 

Sean Bean (aka. Boromir) was also really awesome.

Awesome!

I don't know. I'll just say. . .if you love over the top science fiction, you've gotta see this one. If you can't stand that sort of stuff . . .it's definitely not for you!

The trailer:

Getting to Know You: Celebrity Crushes

Jenni Elyse has started a new feature! She wants to get to know her bloggin' buddies better, so each week, on Thursday, there'll be a new category of  "getting to know you" stuff. Head on over and check it out!

First up is celebrity crushes. It's a topic I tend to enjoy, so I don't think any of my choices will be surprises to my regular readers. I wanted to "copy" Jenni and do a collage and ended up going with the 16 frame layout, so we can enjoy more pictures! You're all good with that, right?

Just in case you don't recognize them, from top to bottom, left to right, (and in no particular order of ranking!) we have:

Richard Armitage
Kyle Chandler
Tom Hiddleston
Andrew Garfield
Antonio Banderas
Cillian Murphy
David Tennant
Johnny Depp
Robert Downey Jr.
The Hemsworth Brothers: Liam and Chris
Hugh Jackman
Eddie Redmayne
Benedict Cumberbatch
Aidan Turner
Zachary Levi
Colin O'Donoghue

Anything you find in common after looking at their pictures all in one place? Hmmmm....interesting.

Who's on your list? Make a post and link up over at Jenni's! 

Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience 2015

This past weekend was a play hard, get your nerd on kind of weekend. And it was so much fun. Intense, exhausting and fun! And just in case you are into these kinds of things I thought I'd give my run down.

First of all, the thing about these comic cons is that there are several different sorts of things going on. I find that people usually fall into one or two of these categories. Here's how I see it breaking down:

** Cosplayers. Some people go to see and be seen. They dress up and they walk around hoping that lots of people want to take their picture. Or.. they walk around seeing how many pictures they take of other people's costumes. And let me just say. the costumes are amazing for the most part, and the walking around bit is in and of itself quite the show.

** Spenders. These people figure they've spent a ton just to get in, might as well keep on spending! For them, a big part of the experience is buying a ton of stuff in the vending area, the place were hundreds of booths are set up selling things from comic books, to tshirts, to swords, to paintings and posters, to all sorts of gizmos and gadgets. The things people will buy never seizes to amaze me.

** Face to Face Celebrity Time. If you buy a photo op or decide to get an autograph, you are in for another whole crazy experience. This means buying usually $100 more dollars then standing in line for your turn at the celebrity. But you walk away with an awesome picture and the feeling of having said celebrity's arm around your back! And if I understand right, you can also pay a smaller amount and just take a selfie with your own phone. Which sometimes means you by past the line, and might even get the arm around your back after all. Anyway, I'm a little jealous of the people who end up with pictures.

** Celebrity Q and A Panels: This being herded into a big huge room and seeing the celebrity come on stage and answer a ton of audience questions. While you don't get the arm around her back, and the up close look in their face, you do get a feeling for their real life personalities and enjoy lots and lots of laughs usually.

** Regular Panels: Going on throughout the whole event are tons and tons of presentations and panels and pretty much any nerdy topic you can think of. If a person doesn't want to fight the crowds so much and doesn't care about celebrities and feels they have spent as much money as they spend, then this is the part of the con they might enjoy best.

For us, this time, we decided to focus on the celebrity appearances and not worry so much about the panels and other things going on. Last time in September I felt like it was a good mix between the two, but this time... it was all celebrities... or nearly.

Lucifer from Supernatural

DAY ONE: Thursday

We started the day off straight away in the big ballroom to see Mark Pellegrino. He wasn't someone I knew from anything, but we really had to be in the room for Karen Gillan who came after him! But he was a lot of fun and very engaging with the audience. They love him as Lucifer from Supernatural. I really should know Supernatural, but I haven't made time to watch more than the first few episodes! Gasp! I know! He's also in Dexter and something else that I forgot at the moment. Oh! I remembered! Jacob on Lost of course!

My capture of Karen
on the Jumbotron!

Next up was Karen Gillan who recently got done with her gig as Amy Pond on Dr. Who. She was fabulous in that role and everyone just love her. So cute with her red hair, mini skirts and strong Scottish accent! She was also in Guardians of the Galaxy as Nebula. It was awesome to see her and hear her stories.

We actually left the big ball room to see a Star Wars panel after that. The speculated on what the new movie will be, which was kind of fun. They played the little teaser trailer, LOUD, and it gave me chills so bad! Gah, I can't wait to see what this movie ends up like!

Laurie aka. Andrea

Then back to the ballroom where we listened to Laurie Holden who plays (played!) Andrea on The
Walking Dead. SPOILER ALERT: She talked a lot about when their characters die how they go to a restaurant for a "dead party"  and everyone cries. It sounds like it's such a tight cast, which is sad when they never know when people will be killed off. She knew the day before. Can you even imagine? I was sad that the other two cast members from The Walking Dead (Glen and Beth) did not do a panel. They only did photo ops. Lame.

The last thing we went to that first day was a Marvel Universe Trivia game. We met up with Kami and her brother and they wanted to play! What? I was there just to watch! Anyway, it was fun to see the level of geek in that room and realize that the geekiness I think I have is NOTHING compared that!

(On the way home that evening, I got word that my grandpa, who had gotten really sick a few days before, was pretty much on his death bed.)

DAY TWO: Friday

Kami waiting in line. 

Toto waiting in line.

This second day was a big big day of celebrities for us! We had plans to camp out in the ballroom the entire 10 or so hours! We started the day off sitting on the floor, waiting in line, hoping they'd let us in. It didn't take long and pretty soon we were rushing to try and get seats as close to the front as we good. We didn't do too bad!

Great Scott!

First up was Christopher Lloyd of Back to the Future fame. He was funny, as you'd expect, but had a hard time understanding everyone's questions. He talked a lot about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which was a huge deal for him. He liked the third Back to the Future the best, since it was a western.

I tried really hard to get the smile.

Here's the smile!

We moved forward a few seats and Brandon Routh! Oh my
gosh, but he is cute! He played Superman in Superman Returns and was picked in part because of his uncanny resemblance to Christopher Reeve. But I know him currently from Arrow where he plays Ray Palmer and is about to embark on his adventures as The Atom. Anyway, the whole audience swooned whenever he broke into a smile. I was not the only one!
had an excellent view of the next dude,

Nichelle Nicholes

Nichelle Nichols, from the original Star Trek series was up next. How cool
to see such an icon from TV history! She's done a lot in her career and it was fun to learn about it all.

We stayed put for Felicia Day even though we really had no clue who she is! However, people POURED into that one screamed like crazy for her. She is dang popular! She is in Supernatural too, and did Dr. Horrible's Sing Along  Blog, and is in a lot of YouTube things. I can't remember what else. But she was fun!

We didn't want to leave the room, basically, because after her was Tom Felton and we knew he would be huge too! Yes, he's Draco

Tom Felton

Malfoy from Harry Potter! And what a cute, sweet, lovely (he used that word a lot!) person he was. Man, he's a good actor, yes? You think of him as just a slime and so conniving and sneery, but no, that's just his character after all! :) Funny how that happens! We loved his stories about Harry Potter, and learning that in fell in love in real life with a Griffendor extra and that his blond hair was died even blonder for all those years. He defends his character and feels he was redeemed in the end.

The Holding Pen!

Our line friends! They looked
totally authentic!

After that they kicked everyone out because it was time to get ready for the big Dr. Who Experience. This was the event that we had to pay extra for! And so we left and got shuffled into different lines according to what we paid, and what wrist band we had. I called it the holding pen. By the time we got out there, the line was already completely out of control, and it only got worse. We sat there for an hour and half, which wasn't that bad except that several times they made us think that we would move any second, only to let us stand there forever still! And after awhile, it got to be the time for them to start and we were still out there in line. I was thinking, they can't start until all these people get in there, right? Well, they finally let us in and it started just after that. And we screamed and screamed and screamed! So cool to see Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor, along with his companion, Karen Gillan also Billie Piper who played Rose, both the 9th and 10th Doctor's companion. They were awesome with their stories and their laid back-ness. It was worth the extra money. We filmed them a bit. We tried to upload it but it was too long. Stay tuned and perhaps I'll post that later when we figure it out!

You can't see him good,
but this was how
close we were.

When that was over, we moved closer for Ralph Macchio who was up next. My 18 year old self was DYING at the fact that the Karate Kid was RIGHT THERE! As cute as ever! The very same hugebrown eyes and amazing smile! He looks so good still! We came right home that weekend and watched Karate Kid... again for me, for the first time for my daughter. I was like... see what I mean? See how cute he his?? Lol! Now I want to watch The Outsiders again too. I hardly remember that movie.

The last panel of the day was Ray Park, and by this time we were

How can this guy be Darth Maul?

so close to the front! Go us! He played Darth Maul in Star Wars The Phantom Menace. And guess what? He was sweet and funny too! What's with the villains who are sweet and nice in real life??? :) We loved him and in fact, if we had to rank all the celebrities as to which ones were our favorites, he just might get the top spot. At the end, he had all (well, all the ones that ran up) the kids come up on stage with him and he shook their hands, learned their names and taught them a Darth Maul move. It was so awesome. He's a martial arts teachers and you could totally tell that he loves kids and
is so good with them.

Ray Park teaches kids
Darth Maul moves!

It was an exhausting day, but we had SO MUCH FUN!









DAY THREE: Saturday

Billie on the Jumbotron

We started the day out in line again, waiting to get back into the big ballroom. First up was Billie Piper, from Dr. Who, who had her own panel, like Karen did the other day. What a sweetie she is too, and seems so down to earth. We learned that she was a teenage pop star in Britain before she got the Dr. Who gig. We came home and looked her up. Eh, we didn't fall in love with her songs. But we sure love her as Rose!

Carrie Fisher on the Jumbotron!

Then they had a last minute surprise panel with Carrie Fisher! She wasn't going to do one because of her contract which doesn't allow her to talk about the new Star Wars at all! Boy they are freaking nervous about stuff leaking with regard to that movie! Anyway, she was only on the stage for a half hour and what a weird half hour that was. She is a DIVA in all sense of the word. A very strange duck. And she doesn't look at all like a certain character we know as Princess Leia. If you stare at her hard, you can kind of see it in her eyes. Just barely. Anyway, she hammed it up and joked around, had her dog come on stage with her, and pretty much didn't answer one question. But we all screamed and loved it just the same. I mean, hello. Princess Leia!

We didn't know where else to go and besides we wanted to keep our seats, so we stayed put for the next panel which was the Lannister twins from Game of Thrones. Okay, so that was a weird panel too. Yeah, even the panel was not great of young ears! What a twisted show this is, yes? I've only watched one episode and that was enough for me. Anyway, we squirmed until that one was over. I must say though, Jamie Lannister is very nice to look at. He's from Denmark by the way. :)

Paul on the Jumbotron

Paul Wesley and Pheobe Tonkin from The Vampire Diaries was next. It was hard to believe that Stefan was right there! I was so into that show. I haven't watched it for awhile now though. And the Pheobe girl, I didn't know her. I think she's on The Originals... a spin off, which I haven't watched but I should because it also stars Elijah! Too bad he wasn't there! But they were cute and fun too. Paul Wesley looks like what I pictured Edward (from Twilight) to look like in my head. Oh, well.

After that we were sort of lost as what to do. We actually left the ballroom and wandered around, shot some GoPro video and ate a piece of pizza. We wandered through celebrity row and stumbled into the line for the photo ops. And were busted! Boy they hustled us out there fast! Then, we found our way back to the ball room where we caught the end of the panel with Jim Cummings and other voice actors. They were awesome. The audience was rolling on the floor with laughter. We were tripped out at hearing the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger come out his mouth! Great stuff!

The rest of the day was a little boring we wandered through a few random panels. Mostly we were just overwhelmingly tired and ready to come home! But we ended up listening to one about the movie industry. It turned out to be mostly about acting, but we were hoping to hear some about other aspects like editing, make up artists, cinematography etc. But oh, well. Then we went to one were we learned about the movie they are making for I am Not a Serial Killer. They hope to get that inot Sundance next year. I would love to go to it! Also, we went to one about the general art of stories, in all it's mediums. I'm fascinated with this, but the panel was, eh. And finally, we ended the day learning about the history of The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. Pretty interesting!

On the way home, I stopped off at my mom and dad's house and held my grandpa's hand for minute and said goodbye to him. He passed on Monday morning, so, I'm glad I made the effort, tired as I was, to see him one last time. Bittersweet stuff. It was time. But we'll miss him!

And then we came home and crashed! What a fun time Comic Con is! I can't wait to do it again! :)