Mini Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

I had intended to write a review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soon after going to see it in theatres. Two weeks later...that's finally happening.

Luckily it was playing in both 2D and 3D in Midland so we didn't have to go see the 3D version, which, as anyone who reads this blog has come to realize, I hate.

 

We've always known that Spider-Man's most important conflict has been within himself: the struggle between the ordinary obligations of Peter Parker and the extraordinary responsibilities of Spider-Man. But in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker finds that his greatest battle is about to begin. It's great to be Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield). For Peter Parker, there's no feeling quite like swinging between skyscrapers, embracing being the hero, and spending time with Gwen (Emma Stone). But being Spider-Man comes at a price: only Spider-Man can protect his fellow New Yorkers from the formidable villains that threaten the city. With the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Peter must confront a foe far more powerful than he. And as his old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, Peter comes to realize that all of his enemies have one thing in common: Oscorp.

I very much enjoyed this movie. I've never been a super huge Spider-Man fan (especially not the first trilogy) but I liked The Amazing Spider-Man so I was looking forward to seeing number 2. I think Andrew Garfield has done a great job as Spider-Man. And I especially love Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey. The two of them have great chemistry together (obviously as they're actually dating).

There are quite a few funny parts in the movie, as well as a few more serious (and sad) parts. I'm not going to lie, I totally cried at the end. I like how Spider-Man doesn't just fight the big guys, he helps the little guys as well. The movie also managed to balance the action with a story line, which was good.

As a huge Marvel fan (but not so huge Spider-Man fan), Josh didn't have anything overly negative to say about the movie. Which is always a good thing.

Overall I thought it was a very good movie, and at some point will be adding it (and The Amazing Spider-Man) to my collection. I'm very much looking forward to the next, and final I believe, addition to the Amazing Spider-Man series.

Running Like a Girl Review and Update

I finally finished Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Heminsley. It took me a while to actually start reading it, but once I started it didn't take me long at all to finish it. Full disclosure: am writing this over a week after I finished the book. Bad Megan.

I received Running Like a Girl from Simon and Schuster, in exchange for participating in the Running Like a Girl Challenge. For a brief description check out my blog post. I'm going to start by giving you my thoughts on the book and then tell you how the challenge is going.

I actually really enjoyed this book. The first part (which is about 3/4 of the book) is about Alexandra's running journey. It was interesting to read about her trials and errors and her triumphs and barriers. Something always seemed to happen right before a marathon, she discovered she had a misaligned pelvis (a result of being hit by a car 4 years previous) and missed a month of training before her first marathon, and then she got tonsillitis before another one, while reading part of me felt like "really? So many things keep happening to her, is this actually real?" but obviously people get injured and sick and it just so happened that for her it was just before her runs.

She also went through quite a few ups and downs in regards to loving running. She hated it to start with (I mean really, who loves running their first time out?) and then after she ran the London Marathon (her first) she loved it and was so proud of what she had accomplished, and then that excitement wore off and she didn't want to run anymore and let herself go (so to speak) and then a friend asked her to do the London Marathon again 3 years after her first and she started to run again and love it again. Then again, after the race she felt like "what's the point?" she'd run a marathon (twice!) why did she need to keep running? She had proved she could do it. And up and down and up and down for quite a bit of the book.

The book is funny, she's very frank, she talks about in the middle of the run realizing she has to go to the bathroom and there is no way she's going to make it home and "oh my god what do I do?" and she talks about looking for the right shoes (and encounters some very rude store clerks) and the right bra.

 

She does have a very valid point, boobs are awful for running. Mine aren't as big as hers (as she says "a cartoonish size 30FF" pg 39) but they bounce quite a bit and make for an uncomfortable experience. She mentions the Shock Absorber bra, and how it completely changed her life, and when her first one bit the dust, after she reckons 250 miles or so, she took it apart to see how it was made. It was comprised of 72 different parts!

 

What I like about this book is that she's basically telling you things you should and should not do when running, but it doesn't feel that way. It feels like you're talking to your friend who says "I've been wearing the wrong socks for years and just found out you should wear double lined socks!" She's also incredibly stubborn and does not want to listen to her father's advice, regardless of how many marathons he may have run (19, as she's shocked to find out).

 

The second part of the book is essentially all research she's done and tips for running. It talks about the most common running injuries and how to avoid them. She also got to interview a few famous runners, and did quite a bit of research on the history of women's running. It shouldn't really have come as much of a shock learning how long it took for women to be accepted into the Boston Marathon, but it was surprising.

 

She's very right when she says the hardest part about running sometimes is just getting out the door. I usually have to do a lot of convincing and drag myself out the door to try and run. Once I'm out I (sort of) enjoy it, and then I get home and feel like I'm dying and never want to do it again.

 

So on that note, I'll tell you how this challenge and race preparation is going. Not well. I've gone out officially (meaning tracked and recorded my runs) 3 times. And they have not been too great. My most recent was definitely more walking than running and I still can't do stupid hills, which I'm going to be running up for Met Con.

 

I really don't have much faith in being able to do these runs. I'm getting kind of worried and am almost regretting signing up. As much as I want to do the race, I just don't think I'm good enough. I think it's a combination of things making me feel like this. The fact that I only have a month, and I procrastinate and think I have time when really I don't, plus I don't exactly have the most support in it. When someone is pretty much telling you you're stupid for trying to do this, you really start to think that. And I'm a negative person with no faith in myself to begin with. So this should be an interesting month.

 

I'm going to try and write at least one more progress post, and I'll write one after each of my races. So stay tuned for that.

 

If you're thinking about starting running I'd suggest picking up Running Like a Girl, it's very informative in a way that isn't overwhelming. Even if you don't plan on running, or are already a runner, it's a quick read and a good story.

Upcoming May Movie Releases

I'm a little behind this month, but here are the movie releases I'm looking forward to in May. These are all theatre releases because there appear to be no good movies coming out on DVD this month.

Being released today (May 2) is The Amazing Spider-Man 2

We've always known that Spider-Man's most important conflict has been within himself: the struggle between the ordinary obligations of Peter Parker and the extraordinary responsibilities of Spider-Man. But in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker finds that his greatest battle is about to begin.
It's great to be Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield). For Peter Parker, there's no feeling quite like swinging between skyscrapers, embracing being the hero, and spending time with Gwen (Emma Stone). But being Spider-Man comes at a price: only Spider-Man can protect his fellow New Yorkers from the formidable villains that threaten the city. With the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Peter must confront a foe far more powerful than he. And as his old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, Peter comes to realize that all of his enemies have one thing in common: Oscorp.

I love a good superhero movie. And I really like Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. Put those together and add Emma Stone, and I'm sold. I liked the first Amazing Spider-Man and I'm excited to see what the second installment has in store.

Released May 16 is Million Dollar Arm

In a last ditch effort to save his career as a sports agent, JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) concocts a scheme to find baseball's next great pitching ace. Hoping to find a young cricket pitcher he can turn into a Major League Baseball star, JB travels to India to produce a reality show competition called "Million Dollar Arm." With the help of a cantankerous but eagle-eyed retired baseball scout (Alan Arkin) he discovers Dinesh (played by Madhur Mittal from 'Slumdog Millionaire') and Rinku (played by Suraj Sharma from 'Life of Pi'), two 18-year-old boys who have no idea about playing baseball, yet have a knack for throwing a fastball. Hoping to sign them to major league contracts and make a quick buck, JB brings the boys home to America to train. While the Americans are definitely out of their element in India - the boys, who have never left their rural villages - are equally challenged when they come to the States. As the boys learn the finer points of baseball - JB, with the help of his charming friend Brenda (Lake Bell) - learns valuable life lessons about teamwork, commitment and what it means to be a family.

I probably won't end up watching this in theatres (I'm very protective with my money when it comes to spending it on movies in theatres haha) but it looks like an interesting movie.

Coming out May 23 is another Marvel release, X-Men: Days of Future Past

The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in 'X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST.' The beloved characters from the original 'X-Men' film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from the past, 'X-Men: First Class,' in order to change a major historical event and fight in an epic battle that could save our future.







Yay more X-Men! That's really all I have to say haha. It'll be fun to see the old and new characters in the same movie.

And finally, being released May 30 is Maleficent

From Disney comes 'Maleficent'- the untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the 1959 classic 'Sleeping Beauty.' A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal-an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom - and perhaps to Maleficent's true happiness as well.

I like how this is sort of a remake but not. Obviously like the synopsis says, Sleeping Beauty came out in 1959, but they're not just making another Sleeping Beauty. This is the other side of the story. One that I would say the creators have a little more freedom with telling, because people have nothing to compare it to. I think Angelina Jolie will be a fabulous Maleficent, but I'm not as sold on Elle Fanning as Aurora. Either way, I think it will be an interesting movie to see.

So, those are the movie releases I'm looking forward to this month. What movies are you excited to see?

Harry Potter Reread: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

April brings the reread of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The post explaining the reread can be found here, along with a list of other bloggers that are participating.

And in case you don't remember what the book is about, here is the synopsis.

The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and there are spells to be learnt and (unluckily) Potions and Divination lessons to be attended. But Harry can't know that the atmosphere is darkening around him, and his worst enemy is preparing a fate that it seems will be inescapable ...With characteristic wit, fast-paced humour and marvellous emotional depth, J.K. Rowling has proved herself yet again to be a master story-teller.

Warning: This post will likely contain more spoilers that my previous posts.

I can't really figure out how I felt about this one. It wasn't that I didn't like it, but there were just some things that bothered me about it. It's mostly towards the end of the book and they're, I suppose you could almost call them continuity errors. The fact that Voldemort tells Wormtail to "kill the spare" even though he could use his wand at the beginning to kill Frank Bryce. And when Cedric comes out of the wand during priori incantatem, if Wormtail killed him, I would have assumed he would have had his own wand (or at least stolen one) by then and would have used his own wand and not Voldemort's. And then if I remember correctly, James should have come out after Lily because he was killed first. And lastly, when they're leaving Hogwarts at the end of the year, Harry should be able to see the thestrals because they take the carriages back to the station. Why can't he see them?!? The only logical explanation I can come up with is that he's still in denial about seeing Cedric die and hasn't actually come to terms with what he saw.

I also don't like when Ron and Harry are fighting. I just want to smack Ron (or throw a button at his head :) haha) for not believing his best friend when he tells him he didn't put his name in the Goblet.

I do love that we get to see Dobby again. Though it hurts to think what happens to him. But he's just such a happy and ridiculous character you can't help but love him. I love when he gives Harry the gillyweed and says he has to save his "Wheezy".

With this book I couldn't help but compare it to the movies and notice the differences. The first 3 weren't as bad but while reading this one I kept thinking about it. The one part I did like in the movie that they changed was when Beauxbatons and Durmstrang came in. Though in the book it was kind of funny, "It's a dragon!" "Don't be stupid...it's a flying house!" pg 213, I thought the way they did it in the movie was cool.

Random side note for HP/Doctor Who lovers: David Tennant plays Barty Crouch Jr in the movies, in the book he dies (or gets his soul sucked out) in the chapter titled "the parting of the ways" and the episode where the tenth doctor appears is also called "the parting of the ways" :)

Overall it's still a good book. Unfortunately I'm finding that during this reread, I don't quite love the books as much as I used too. And it actually makes me really sad. I don't know if it's because I read them so much when I was younger or just built them up so much, or even just because I'm analysing them more for these posts, but they just don't feel the same. Hopefully it gets better and I stop feeling that way. 3 more rereads to go!

I'm looking forward to next month because we get more of the twins (if I remember correctly), and  Dumbledore's Army. But I am not looking forward to Umbridge. Ugh.

Hope you enjoyed this month's reread and come back next month for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Running Like a Girl Challenge

A little while ago my sister posted something on twitter from Simon and Schuster Canada. They're doing something called "Running Like a Girl Challenge" and it's to promote the book Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Heminsley as well as to try and get more people out, active and running. The basis of this challenge is, you commit to running a race or half marathon in the month of June and blog/social media about it, and they'll send you a copy of the book and a runner's starter kit.

I looked up when Met Con Blue was going to be, and since it was in June I decided, what the hell I'll give it a try. So far I'm not doing very well haha.

I was super excited when I got my package (I don't get many things mailed to me, or free for that matter) but I still haven't actually started the book. The package included the book, a notebook, hair ties, socks, an energy bar, water bottle and nail polish! Apparently these are all things that Alexandra recommends in the book.

In case you were wondering, Met Con Blue is a mountain adventure (or mud) rave that takes place at Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood. I've worked at Blue for the past 3 summers and each year I've wanted to participate so this year I'm finally going to do it. I have just over a month now before the race on June 14.

I'm also going to be taking part in another run on June 4. It's the Westin 5k, also taking place at Blue Mountain, but it's less of a :need to do well" and more just to get active. The Westin has this whole well being movement that they're starting. Trying to get staff healthy I guess. But a girl from work and I signed up together so it should be fun.

Anyways, that's my first of hopefully many updates on this challenge. Wish me luck!

Trip to Toronto

I’ve been wanting to do something with my time off and finally got to go on a day trip to Toronto.

  

 

I found this tour called Tasty Tours Toronto in the Toronto travel guide and decided it sounded kind of interesting. It said it was a sweets tour which, if anyone knows me, is right up my alley. And since it’s free if it’s your birthday month, I decided I wanted to go. Unfortunately it wasn’t what I expected. It was more of a multicultural tour, which is cool in theory, but I’m not big on trying new things. And I don’t recall them saying anything about that on the website (though I suppose if I knew anything about Kensington Market I could have figured that out). Regardless, I did try things.

 

The first stop was a Chinese bakery, and we tried egg tarts. Which are basically a custard tart with more egg than normal. It was too eggy for me, but surprisingly I didn’t mind the pasty (normally I hate pie crusts). Josh didn’t find it too bad.

 

On our way to our second stop we paused out front of a synagogue and then randomly got a tour from one of the employees who passed by us and invited us in. Which was interesting.

3rd oldest synagogue in Canada...I think.

 

The second stop was a Middle Eastern shop. I tried (and did not like) baklava and Josh had Turkish delight. Which I think he was super excited about.

 

The third stop we made was at a Mexican place. So we had churros. I got mine filled with chocolate. Josh said they were “nothing special” but I actually thought it was pretty good. Chocolate kept dripping out the bottom though.

 

On our way to our next stop we passed a comic book store and Josh got very excited about it, but we didn’t think we’d be able to find it after our last stop of the tour so then he was kind of disappointed.

 

The next stop was Wanda’s Pie in the Sky. We (thankfully) didn’t have pie, we got cupcakes (yay!). I’m actually very critical of cupcakes I apparently think I’m some sort of cupcake connoisseur (hah!). The cupcake, well half a cupcake, I had was chocolate and had some sort of cream in the middle. It wasn’t overly fantastic. The cupcake wasn’t anything special, not very moist, and the cream filling wasn’t very creamy or fluffy, it was almost kind of hard.

 

The last stop on our tour was the Blue Banana Market. I actually thought the market itself was fairly interesting. It had things from a bunch of different vendors but none of them were actually there. If that makes any sense. We didn’t buy from individual people, there was one central cash for everything. So there we got to try a very expensive, apparently fancy chocolate. It was dark chocolate, which I’m not overly fond of, and it kind of had a fruity flavour to it that was kind of weird. And since it’s been two weeks I can’t actually remember the name of the company. It’s Canadian. I think. Haha. We also got to try marshmallows. Real marshmallows! They had a maple flavour to them. They were kind of fun.

 

After the tour was finished we went to look around the market. There were so many things. Jewellery and clothes, British and Canadian things, souvenirs and stationary, bath and home accessories, and to Josh’s delight, Jelly Belly’s that you could mix and match your own flavours. So he got some of those and I found myself a Harry Potter magnet. I was torn between getting the Hogwarts or Gryffindor crests but I went with Hogwarts.

 

The market ended up being right next to the comic book store we had passed so I let Josh go in. Since I dragged him on the tour with me I figured it w3as the least I could do. He had a lovely geeked out conversation with the store worker while I looked around. I saw a really cool Doctor Who mug and am now kicking myself for not buying it. (Side note: the guy in the shop was playing music on records!)

 

Overall the tour was alright. I’m glad I didn’t pay for mine but it was interesting. Though I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone else.

 

After the tour we walked all the way back down Spadina again to get to Front Street where we parked. Because before the tour we went to…

 

Ripley’s Aquarium!

 

Josh has been wanting to go for a while now and I was interested to see what it was like as well. We got through the whole place in about an hour and a half. I would definitely not recommend going on a weekend. It was packed. And strollers everywhere! Drove me crazy. I think if it hadn’t been so busy we could have spent longer but since it was so crowded there were some things we couldn’t see that well so we just sort of moved on. Though I did stop and wait to stand on this platform that tells you how much money you would make if you were your weight in tuna. I was $3096!

 

 

There was a really cool little moving walkway that took you all around one section and at some parts there were actually things swimming above you. Josh could actually reach up and touch the glass so he pretended he was rubbing a shark’s belly. I didn’t see the turtles though L and it made me sad. I did get to see some Nemo’s though. And Dory’s and the “bubbles!” fish. And yes, they had information about each of the fish and they mentioned the movie. We also pet little sting ray thingys. They had a hard shell so they weren’t the fun floaty ones. Josh also pet a shark. Which he said was lame because it was just chilling in the corner of the little pen thing and didn’t move at all. There was also one big tank at the end that had a bunch of sting rays that you could touch, as well as some bonnet head sharks that you couldn’t and some staff scuba diving. I left Josh to try and pet a sting ray (he didn’t, they wouldn’t go near him, but the sharks would) to go lok in the gift shop. Where I bought a postcard (obviously…as I have my collection) and a really cute mug with turtles on it, and I bought Josh a shot glass (to add to his collection). It had a little shark in the middle. I thought it was fun.

 

The aquarium was fun. I would love to go again, hopefully when it’s slightly less busy (Ie not on a weekend and not in the first year it’s been open and super popular lol) and spend a little more time there. But unfortunately it is rather expensive so it probably won’t be for a while.

 

So that was my outing. God I sound like I’m being held captive and am barely ever allowed out into the world lol. I probably won’t be going anywhere else anytime soon but here’s hoping.

 

Whovian in Training

About 8 or 9 months ago, I decided that I might want to start watching Doctor Who. However I didn't have anyone to borrow it from, and it wasn't on Netflix so I just brushed it off and decided maybe some other time.

Then a couple of months ago, at work a co-worker and I were geeking out (probably about Sherlock or Harry Potter) and the topic got to Doctor who and she mentioned that it was now on Netflix. "Like Canadian Netflix??" I asked, because Canadian Netflix tends to suck more than the American and it takes longer for us to get things. "Like Netflix that I can actually watch?" she said yeah, so then I decided that's what I needed to do.

And then I realized that the internet at my place isn't the best. It seems like every month we almost or do go over the data usage (land lady still hasn't gotten around to switching it) so binge watching Doctor Who on Netflix wasn't going to be feasible.

Fast forward to about a month ago when I became semi unemployed (slow season = no shifts) and decided to come home for a couple weeks while I had the chance. Now I could watch Doctor Who!

I think I'm just about at the last episode of season 4. Which means Ten is going to be leaving soon. I could have gotten farther but I kept taking huge breaks between some episodes. Like the end of Nine, and the end of Rose, and before Blink because I knew the Angels were coming.

So far I'm enjoying it. I'm not a full blown Whovian yet, though I do tend to talk about it a lot. And post a lot of things on Pinterest... Ok, maybe I'm just in denial.

I started at what I guess some people call "New Who" with Nine. Some day I would like to be able to watch the original Who but I don't know if it's even around anymore. (I keep hearing it was all destroyed in a fire). I have to say I was very fond of Nine. I know a lot of people don't like him as much, but I feel like if he had gotten more than one season people would have grown to like him more. Because when he regenerated, as much as I had heard good things about Ten, I was sad and didn't like Ten for most of the first season. No particular reason why, he just wasn't Nine and I don't like change.

Raxacoricofallapatorius!

The same thing happened after Rose. I loved her. She was hilarious and adorable and totally clueless at times but always wanted to learn and help The Doctor. And then we got Martha. Who really is actually quite intelligent and competent, but she's not Rose, so I didn't like her as much. She ended up growing on me but I still liked Rose better. Now I'm onto Donna, who I really thought I was going to hate, not totally sure why, but I ended up liking her. She's very brash and doesn't put up with The Doctor's crap. And I also like that she's not in love with The Doctor like the other two. Which makes the end of season 4 so much better because if Martha was still the companion she wouldn't be happy about Rose coming back, but Donna is super happy and excited for both of them.

Aside from the characters, the rest of the show is kind of weird and slightly confusing (there's an adult talking about how when he was a kid he saw the doctor and they show Ten and I think "but wait, he's only been The Doctor for two years, he couldn't have...no...never mind". You don't apply logic to Who) and mildly creepy. The pig men creeped me out, the Daleks and Cybermen scared me, and so did the Angels. I am a self proclaimed "chicken shit" so that's not at all surprising. Basically the only reasons I'm sticking it out is that I've heard very good things, the characters and the writing.

There are some hilarious lines. Sometimes they're only really funny if you know some background information (liked the Shakespeare episode, when they mention Harry Potter and the Doctor says "wait till you read the 7th book, oh I cried" well, this episode was released a month before the book). I just applaud the writers of Doctor Who.



Cute fan art of the "oh I cried" mention

It's also fun to play name that actor. It seems Britain reuses a lot of actors in their shows and movies. So far I've recognized Mycroft from Sherlock, Myrtle and Barty Crouch Sr (battling his son, no less) from Harry Potter, Simon Pegg, Giles from Buffy, and one guy who has been in 33 different episodes as approximately the same number of characters. Also, the Twelfth Doctor is in a previous episodes. And these are only the ones I recognized off hand and that I can remember.

Overall it's a great show and I look forward to watching the rest. Unfortunately I think Netflix only currently goes up to season 7, episode 6. So it may take me a while to actually finish the series.

And because I know people always want to know, Ten might be my favourite (obviously I haven't gotten to Eleven yet) but I feel like I will always have a fondness for Nine.