Thundercats Reboot and My Lion-os Tee

Cartoon network aired their revamped Thundercats series on Friday night. Thundercats was literally my favorite cartoon as a child. I very much enjoyed the redo, was nostalgic for me. I did giggle a few times while watching, because it was so “very epic”….

Lion-o, (who clearly needs to work on growing his mane) is heir to the throne (his older “brother” Tigra is adopted, and therefore not eligible, even though the people of Thundara feel that Tigra would be a better choice for king.) However, he also has his head in the clouds dreaming of finding “tech”. Basically, Lion-o, in this iteration is a geek.

In the opening scenes we saw Lion-o having lots in common with your average Disney princess (visiting the “bazaar” in disguise and getting in trouble ala Jasmine, collecting objects from the “outside world” and neglecting his duties ala Ariel) but it was a nice introduction to see who our new Liono is. We also end up with a touch of Thor with the weapon deciding if its owner is worthy or not.

I am not going to recap the whole episode, you can watch it here:
http://www.megavideo.com/?d=38LNLOU1

I did enjoy this iteration and will be watching it weekly. Loved the “hot” new Cheetara, loved the kitty (big cat) sounds during the fight scene. I was amused by the over the top soundtrack. Also, I HATED Snarf in the original series, but he is sooooo cute in this one. Almost like a Lion-o Chibi. I did note that while lizards may have had some tech to use, they are terrible at shooting. Just awful.

In the original series, Lion-o was 12 when Thundara was destroyed, and aged in body but not in mind in the escape pods. Which is why he seemed slightly dense at times, he was a child in a man’s body. Tigra was not all related to him. Also, Thundara was an entire planet, and during its destruction, they escaped but crash landed on “Third Earth” which was supposedly our Earth, after Mummra killed all the humans. I don’t know if any of this will tie into the new series, or if it’s a complete reboot with a totally new past, but it will be interesting to see what happens moving forward!

Check it out!

Thundercats airs Friday nights at 8:30 / 7:30 central on Cartoon Network

Here I am in my Lion-O's tee :)

Cowboys and Aliens and Photos

This is a Spoiler Free Review, so feel free to read if you have't seen it.

Cowboys and Aliens has received really good reviews, from the geek community, and really bad reviews from film critics at large. The film is of course somewhere in between. Now firstly, what does one expect from a film called "Cowboys and Aliens"? If you are thinking its going to be some deep, thoughtful film about co-existence between species, just stop right there. If you want some campy fun with lots of Western film stereotypes and the typical alien invasion stuff, this is your movie. Clearly, I loved it.

The actors brought it. David Craig plays Jake Lonergan, and at the beginning of the film, Jake wakes up in the desert and has no memory of who he is, or where he has been. He plays his character to the letter, the quintessential "loner"cowboy. The other half of this buddy film partnership is Harrison Ford, who plays (General) Woodrow Dollerhyde, oh that name!!, a local cattle baron. his character was supposed to be more complex, I suppose but I actually ended up a little confused by who he was. Ford did a great job with what he had and most of his lines were brilliant. Supporting cast was all really good too. The mysterious beauty, Olivia Wilde, had me thinking of Angelina Jolie throughout.

The story line was ridiculous of course, and that was the beauty of it. "Old West" Stereotypes galore. Several moments in the film will have you saying "ohh, that was convenient". But lets be honest, this is summer blockbuster film at its finest.... action at every turn, an alien invasion, a chase film, a mystery, fantastic. I do wish this had been the START of the summer season as it would have fit better before we saw X-men and Captain America, but was good nonetheless.

All in all, a great watch, and if a movie entitled "Cowboys and Aliens" piques your interest, you must go see it. You won't be disappointed.

Oh, and here I am with Daniel Craig's hindquarters.



Nice bracelet....where did you get it?

Captain America and What I Wore :)

The following discussion of Captain America MAJOR plot spoilers. If you have not seen this movie, you have been Warned :)

When I left Captain America today I felt like I had seen a good movie. Similar to, but not as deep as my feelings right after Batman Begins.

Before I go any further, I would just like to commend Marvel/Disney for finally writing a love interest (i.e. woman) into the film that was 1. a person and 2. had a personality. Agent Carter was amazing and Hayley Atwell was wonderful in the role. She did not feel like someone stuck in the film to attract female moviegoers with a half ass love story (looking at you Thor). I would, however, like to ask what Marvel has against our heroes getting the girl in the end LOL. Clearly heroes are made for the solo life, but man, let me tell.... you I didn't cry once during Harry Potter, and I found myself sniffling all through the "Valkaryie goodbye scene". Tangent: Valkyrie was a interesting name for that plane, bc in Norse, it refers to the women who chose which warriors die in battle. Ok, sorry, Back to Cap.

My next comment is that I LOVED the 40s styling they gave the whole movie. I watch a lot of classic films from the 40s, and they are CHEESY. Capt America and most comics in general can be a little cheesy. This movie was excellent at holding that hokey/nostalgia feeling, without making it dumb. The costuming was brilliant too. If Anna Shepard is not up for an Oscar this year, someone wasn't paying attention. Fun side note, she did the costume work for Shindler's List and Inglourious Bastards. I guess she knows what she is about when it comes to that time.

This movie opens with poor, insignificant Steve Rogers. The movie did a great job of showing who he was, and getting us all to understand his motivation, and frankly, fall in love with him before any of the action began. There were many great moments in these opening scenes, including our introduction to Howard Stark. All of the characters that we met during this portion of the movie were acted so well. Kudos to Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci. I think many people will say Jones "stole the show", truly, he is the best part of the MIB movies IMO, so I was not surprised. His comedic timing is perfection, as always.

We move into the part of the movie where Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. I really enjoyed how they introduced us to his new capabilities with the extended chase scene through New York. That was entertaining and moved the plot forward at the same time. After a few false starts, and more comedy, Capt America moves into the role we have been waiting for, and it was so well done. Bad ass perhaps? The introduction of the Howling Commandos was perfect. We didn't get to see much of them, but what we did see was very enjoyable. Side Note: The moment I saw Neal McDonough as Tim Dugan I was very amused. His appearance was quite changed for this film. (he was my darling boy from Boomtown, one of the most tragic cancellations in Primetime TV)

Hugo Weaving, as the Red Skull gave a great performance. I mean what can I say about it. He hit the note just right ~an evil, dastardly comic book villain. I was amused slightly by my passing fancy of him popping up in Asgard after his "demise", since he claimed the Cosmic Cube was from Odin's treasure room...well, anyway, the thought was there and made me giggle. The only dang person who giggled in the theatre when he evaporated. Oh well, that happens to me alot.

I also found the end of this movie satisfied the Captain America story AND provided a segway into the Avengers perfectly. I felt like I got a full story for Captain America, and not just a prequel to the Avengers. Him waking up and finding himself in modern day New York was...clever. And Nick Fury (Sammy J) popping up got a HUGE response from the crowd, not sure why? Maybe they were expecting the Agent Coulson, the SHIELD agent from the other films.

Lately, we have been treated to a certain kind of Superhero - Moody/Brooding ie Batman, Hulk and clearly the new Spiderman LOL, Or Arrogant a la Iron Man, Thor and Green Lantern...but I felt like this was the first time in a while we have had a humble, honest genuinely good superhero that wasn't all messed up with internal demons.... which was.....different. Maybe this will help get more backing for our upcoming Superman saga.

After the film ended, I waited through the 5 hours of credits for the Avengers trailer. It was great. I am going to be VERY interested in seeing how Joss Whedon handles the ensemble cast. So many big personalities in one film. I want to see how he keeps from being annoying :) I also can't wait to see how the hell Thor made it back to Earth.

Over my thoughts are that I really enjoyed this movie. This goes up there with Batman Begins and Iron Man 1 for me.

For my comic friends, I would have liked to see some sort of cameo featuring the Black Widow during Cap, since she is going to be in Avengers, and knew Captain America (and Wolverine) in the 1940s. Yes, she's in the Avengers. Looks like I'm stuck with the blank stares/dead eyes of ScarJo for another movie. Yay. And speaking of Black Widow, I wonder if Marvel/Disney has really "finished" Bucky, or if we see him pop up again at some point.

If you lasted this long, wow! THanks!! XD. If you just scrolled down to see me posed with the movie sign you are in luck. Here is me and Cap.

I bought this dress at Ross for $25 and my shoes are the Lucky Brand/Vince Camuto which I bought during 75% off clearance for $27. XD

My Harry Potter Review and What I wore

I went to see the finale of Harry Potter over the weekend. I am going to keep my review super short and sweet.

It was great. Every scene that fans of the books would want to see made it in. There were a few side stories that did not make it (Dumbledores history etc) but I found it unnecessary - think of it as a bonus for the people who read the books :) I felt they did a great job and ended it perfectly.

My Harry Potter Outfit!






Crimson Dress from Ross

Gold sweater from Talbots

Nude shoes by Guess

For the finale of Harry Potter, I went with Gryffindor colors :) Oh, and I did really cool eye makeup that did not come out in photos, gold, burgandy and black in the crease.

Did you see HP7 part 2 (lol)? What did you think?

Transformers:The Dark Side of the Moon Review

I went and saw "Transformers Three, the DARK SIDE OF THE MOOON" this past weekend. It has everything you need in a summer blockbuster! An alien invasion! Lots of HUGE EXPLOSIONS!!! The Asian guy from the Hangover!! Wait what? Yes. its true. Ken Jeong made an apperance that garned a few giggles.... in my showing anyway.

What did I think of it?

Overall, I was very entertained. It was a lot of fun, and very summer blockbustery. The only weird thing about it was it was sooo uneven. The interactions with people were almost unwatchably cheezy!! The action was sooo pumped up and amazing! The Decepticons had more interesting personalities than the Autobots. At times I felt like rooting for the bad guys. Then I felt bad about rooting for the bad guys cause they made me care about the good guys again.

The Good -

• The plot was entertaining, and I loved the aspects of history they drew into it.
• They had some cool cameos, John Malovich, Ken Jeong, Buzz Aldrin and Patrick Dempsey all showed up ready to go.
• Lots of action, explosions and cool graphics.
• Also some really great scenes with driving and transforming. One of the best scenes in the movie (IMO) involved Sam Witwicki and Bumblebee during a chase scene.
• I LOVED the invasion aspect of it. Poor Chicago.

The Bad -

• Bad dialogue that had the theater silent, not a single chuckle in a very mixed and diverse crowd.
• Tyrese lives on. LOL.
• Also, the ending seemed well, quite abrupt after the whole 2.5 hours previous. But maybe they figured the $195M was enough.
• A couple of odd side storylines I felt didn't tie up satisfactorily, but that's nitpicking.
• It felt like they crammed alot of stuff in here. Like they really wanted to include Josh Duhamel and Tyrese, so they did, but perhaps at the expense of the viewers.

The Meh -

• Sam Witwicky had another stunner of a girlfriend who's job was to scream real loud, make disappointed faces and look amazing in spandex clothing. I mean come on, Whats a girl got to do to be beautiful and get some dialogue?
• Also, the movie was 2.5 hours long. It didn't feel extremely long or drag, but I was in that theater for a long a$$ time LOL.

Bottom line, I enjoyed it, and I would recommend seeing this one on a big screen, with surround sound, if you can. Its one of those that is better on a large, clear screen.

I would like to point out that this film took in $372 million in opening weekend, so I assume some of you guys saw it too! LOL! What did you think of it?

I totally forgot to take pics of what I was wearing so I owe you. :-/

What I Wore Saturday

Pretty basic stuff - just ran some errands and did some shopping before coming home to do more packing etc. Woot.



Jacket - Loft - they actually have some VERY similar ones on clearance right now.
Tee - Old
Capris - Loft

Bracelet - Loft

Necklace - Judith Ripka

The Amazon Android Market

Several months ago, Amazon opened their "own" version of the Android Market. The app is called Appstore (sparking threats of legal action by Apple) and can be downloaded on most Android Phones on most carriers. (Sorry AT&T users.)

Now that there has been some time for the dust to settle, I would like to share a little about the Amazon appstore, pros, cons and maybe hear from you as well. You can access their market at Amazon.com/ or through their App.

I am not entirely sure why Amazon decided to take on their own version of the Android Market. There are rumors about a possible Amazon Android tablet or a Android powered Kindle (like the Nook) that might be in production. If they aren't planning on putting Honeycomb on it, this makes sense, bc they would not be allowed to put the official Market on those tablets. Whatever the reason, there are a few great reasons to use it.

1. Free app of the day - Each day Amazon provides one free application, that will cost you $$ on the Android Market. (If you are curious to see what has been offered already, click here) While the free app has been game heavy, I have downloaded some really neat apps and am irritated with myself when I forget to check and see what's free! I click the "buy" button and it appears in my Amazon Appstore right away. I can actually download it whenever I want. So I have grabbed a few just in case, and will dl them onto the phone if I find I need the app at some point.

2. Discounted Apps - If I am planning to buy an App, I check both markets, and find that sometimes, its cheaper on Amazon. One example at the time of this writing: Xtralogic's remote desktop client is currently $24.95 in the Android Market, but only $12.99 in Amazon's store. Xmen will run you $3.00 in Android Market and $1.50 on Amazon.

3. All Apps stored for you - I recently had to change my phone out. One thing I realized, is that the Android Market only tracks your paid apps, not your free apps, and its a huge hassle to re- download everything. With my Amazon apps, I just re-downloaded the appstore and hit one button, all my apps, free and paid that I purchased through Amazon were restored on the new phone.

4. Test Drive - Some (not all) of the apps have a "test drive" feature where you can preview the app, and see how it works. Click here for a list of all the apps you can test drive before downloading.

Some of the cons

1. Its another market - This may be a con only for me, but I am not a huge fan of having 2 markets to look for what I need. Which leads to my next con...

2. Fewer Apps - I have noticed some devs have one app on Amazon, and several on the Market. There are many many fewer apps on Amazon. One reason, is Amazon says they have a vetting process for apps to their Appstore. This is supposed to lead to safer apps (no viruses) and only "high quality experiences" (no junk apps). However, this also shrinks their offerings. Of course, on the other hand developers may not want to go through the process of submitting their apps two places etc.

3. It stores your Apps for you - Hah, i know I listed this as a pro above, but its a tiny, nitpicky con as well. If you decide you longer want an app on your phone, you remove it the same way you remove any other app. However, you cannot remove it from your Amazon account, so the app will continue to remind you that you have updates for it, even though you don't care about it anymore. No big deal, but it happens.

So far, I have overall liked what Amazon is doing. Its been easy to use, and made me phone switch much easier than the Android market. The free apps don't hurt either.

Are you currently using the Amazon Appstore? What say you?

Green Lantern - Review and What I Wore :)

Green Lantern - the spoiler free review:

I went and saw Green Lantern today, and wanted to share some thoughts about it. I do my best to not read reviews before going to see a movie, however, I still managed to hear that the film was not fairing so well in the review arena. With the low reviews in mind (Rotten Tomatoes was at 17% at the time) I was expecting another Catwoman, or Elektra.

I am glad to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Now that's not to say it was a perfect movie, or the best comic movie I have ever seen, but it was pretty decent.

My first disclaimer is that I don't know a whole lot about Green Lantern. I have never read those particular comics, and am only somewhat familiar with his story/powers thanks to Super Friends and Justice League cartoons.

My second disclaimer is that I also love sci-fi, and fantasy films. I thought Green Lantern brought a cool blend of elements from these genres as well. We had lots of space/interplanetary travel as well as alien lifeforms giving a very science fiction feel.

Overall, I liked the plot, found the acting to be "believable?" and thought the music/sound effects were good. This was primarily an "origin" movie - like Batman Begins and so much of the movie was "teaching" the audience about the Green Lantern Corps and who Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) is. At the same time, they still included lots of special effects and action which was great.

I felt the film was a nice "in-between" to the darkness of the "Dark Knight" films (amazing, but I don't want to take my daughter) and the lightness (almost cotton candy vibe) of the X-men trilogy of the early 00s.

I was slightly disconnected from the CGI in the opening scenes of the film, and felt that in some cases old fashion Hollywood makeup and prosthetics would have been superior to some of the CGI. But overall, I got used to it, and it almost grew on me.

I suspect many of the low reviews might deal with CGI OR the acting and perhaps a not so true portrayal of the Green Lantern story. I do not follow GL closely, so I have no idea how close to Hal Jordan this was. To me Ryan Reynolds played him just like he played DeadPool in the Wolverine origin film. This may be correct, and it may not be. It provided much of the comic relief that kept the film fun.

My fourteen year old daughter LOVED the movie, and thought the CGI was AWESOME. So there's that. She also indicated lots of the other kids her age were loving it as well.

Overall, I felt it was well worth the money and time I spent in seeing it. I am really rooting for a sequel on this one.

What about you? Did you see it? What were your thoughts?

What I Wore:

Sorry for the terrible pics. Bad lighting + cell phone camera = bad juju

Off brand dress - Ross $14

Guess Shoes - TJMaxx $40

Cami - Loft (old)

Here is a photo and myself and my new boyfriend Hal Jordan. He loves to hold my hand when I get too scared of the other, less attractive Green Lantern Corps members.

Hello

Hi! Welcome to my new blog, Brown Girl In the Ring. If you are coming over from my old blog, Deals - welcome and thank you. I hope you will enjoy this blog. I still will post shopping and clothing stuff, but am adding other things I wanted to blog about as well, movies and books etc.

Oh, in case you are wondering, I named my after a song we used to play in our house when I was a small child, Brown Girl in the Ring, by Boney M. Thanks for stopping by!!