Monday August 13, 2007 Family Things
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Three family activities over the weekend. |
Last Friday I bought a copy of Rayman Raving Rabbids for the Wii. When Bunnies go bad. Fun for all the family indeed. Big time. There's something blissfully compelling about shooting rabbits with plungers and making them cry. And you should have seen Disco Dad with a remote in one hand and the nunchuck in the other, trying to keep time to the music and keep a load of bunnies dancing. Or whirling the remote around over his head in preparation for throwing the cow as far as possible. Best game I've played in years! I can see some Wii games replacing my previous exercise regime.
On Saturday afternoon we all sat down to watch Bridge to Terabithia on Comcast On-Demand. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. Seriously, if you haven't seen this film yet and don't want me to ruin it for you, then don't read the rest of this paragraph. All I'd seen previously for this film, was the brief preview that Comcast provided, and from that I thought it was going to be another Narnia-like movie. So that was my mind-set going into it. Then, about two thirds of the way through the movie, we're told that Leslie Burke, the lead girl, was dead. I'm thinking, nah, she's just over in Terabithia and it'll all be sorted out by the end of the movie. I continued to be in denial right up until the end. What a bummer. Still, nice to see a Disney movie without a sickly sweet happy ending.
On Sunday evening at about 10pm, we headed over to the playing fields
at Duncan's school, to try to watch the
2007 Perseids
meteor showers. It's still unclear to me just how interested Duncan is in
all this or whether he's getting swept along by what his old man likes,
so rather than do the special Perseids event at Montalvo's gardens
(thanks Alex), we'd try something simpler. It was a New Moon, so potentially
good viewing, but we found that there was still a lot of distributive
ambient light from the surrounding buildings, roads etc. Plus, by the time
we got there, there was a little bit of cloud cover. In short, at that
time of the evening, I only saw one meteor (Duncan and Lynea missed it).
I then said I'd try to wake up in the middle of the night, and if the
viewing was good, then I'd wake Duncan up. I got up at about 3:00am this
morning, and saw four meteors within five minutes, so I went back in to
try to wake the boy up. He was just too tired and didn't want to get up.
Fair enough. I stayed watching for a few more minutes then went back to bed.
Next year, assuming the viewing is potentially going to be as good,
I again think we'll compromise, but probably go up into the local
mountains hills away from the city lights and try that.
( Aug 13 2007, 01:35:09 PM PDT ) [Listen] Permalink Comments [9]
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I'm appalled how Disney misrepresented the film as another Narnia, which was a terrible disservice to an interesting film. Evil Disney.
Posted by Alan on August 13, 2007 at 02:28 PM PDT #
I haven't seen the movie, but her death doesn't happen until about 80% or 90% of the book. There's clearly nothing fantastical about Terabithia, aside from the creative imaginations of its residents -- it is a fabulous world of its own, but it's still just a hop away from reality. If the movie leads to a different Terabithia, I don't think I want to see it...
Posted by ephemient on August 13, 2007 at 02:30 PM PDT #
Maybe it was later than 2/3rd. There was at least
10-15 minutes left (in a 90 minute movie). Okay, 5/6th's of the way though.
I hadn't read the book (and ironically Duncan got a copy of it at a library book sale this weekend), and maybe that would give you the feeling that the film was more grounded in reality instead of fantasy.
But from watch Jesse and Leslie sharing the fantasies, I naturally thought it was a fantasy film, and these joint experiences were really happening to them. I mean, if you could invent a real-world product where 2 or more people could share a compelling same-fantasy-type experience in the same way, you'd have the next BigThing(TM) and could make a fortune.
Posted by Rich Burridge on August 13, 2007 at 02:52 PM PDT #
>Duncan found out that it's not a full
>blown browser and he can't play his shockwave games on it.
The Opera browser used in the Wii is pretty modern actually and it has Flash 7 support. If the games support flash 7, they will work.
More over, it is really nice to watch YouTube videos in a big TV via the Opera browser in the Wii. That's the main reason we use the browser for.
Posted by Eugenia on August 14, 2007 at 10:37 AM PDT #
Hi Eugenia,
Thanks (I think) :) That wasn't obvious. I only
got to it (the browser) via the Channels (i.e.
the news channel).
I'll have to look into more closely.
Posted by Rich Burridge on August 14, 2007 at 10:50 AM PDT #
The marketing for this film was horrible. For those that hadn't read the book, they were expecting (like you said) another Narnia-style film. For those that HAD read the book, they were thinking that the film would be one of those that had nothing in common bar the name.
If you'd like to see a fantasy film that is fairly close to the book, see Stardust. It's out now, but given its numbers, I'd be surprised if it lasts beyond this weekend. And yet it's a good, fun film.
Posted by Mark J Musante on August 14, 2007 at 12:31 PM PDT #
I've now read the book. It is oh so different from
the film in so many ways. The family dynamics. The
school dynamics. There are countless differences
(some minor, but some major). Different people
saying different things. Contrived plot devices.
For example, it's clear in the book that
Terabithia is just make-believe between two
young friends, and not the fantasy world that
Disney portrayed in the film.
It's also very clear that Leslie is dead.
If I was the author of that book, I would be furious at the hack job those Hollywood screen writers did to it. That's when I wasn't counting
my money. I hope she was paid well.
Posted by Rich Burridge on August 14, 2007 at 07:31 PM PDT #
Before somebody else mentions it, I should add that I found out that the author's son worked with the film writers and producers to try to make sure that the film captured what his mother wrote.
Personally, I don't think he succeeded, but from the comments for the film at www.imdb.com, I would appear to be in the minority.
Posted by Rich Burridge on August 14, 2007 at 07:40 PM PDT #
You guys are lucky i have no time on my hands for family activities. i guess it could be worse but it is not that bad looking at the bright side
Posted by leon a on August 16, 2007 at 12:54 PM PDT #