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admin on Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 |
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Rating: One star out of five stars
My teenagers have been huge Avatar fans for years, so I have watched many of the cartoon episodes with them on Nickelodeon. While the cartoon can be a bit goofy, the story is entertaining, even captivating — and even for a woman in her 40′s! I’m also a fan of Mr. Shyamalan and have enjoyed his films. However, his live action version of the Avatar story was agonizing to sit through!
The scenery and special effects were good (which is where the one star rating comes from) — it seems no expense was spared on visuals — but the script, the acting, the direction were FAR below par. Even in the action though, there was an almost comical display of martial arts (in “bending” the elements) with very little affect. For example, when bending water (in the cartoon version), the water moves with the bender even as he/she is preparing to cast it. In this live action version, the benders would make a dozen or so moves before the elements (air, water, earth or fire) would even begin to respond. (Yes, we chuckled at that! And no, those moments weren’t supposed to be funny….)
I heard that M. Night watched the Nick cartoon version with his daughter…. Why then did he choose to mispronounce the names of the main characters? (Agonizing!)
I rarely find it difficult to sit through a movie, but it was all I could do to make it through The Last Airbender, much to my disappointment.
IF M. Night decides to make additional films in this series, I hope he will turn his attention to acting lessons for the main actors (although the actress playing Katara (sp?) did a really good job!) and have a seasoned professional write the scripts — specifically a screenwriter who will maintain the integrity of the cartoon story that so many of us have grown to appreciate.
Watch the trailer and save your money. And hope for better things from M. Night in the future….
Joyfully,
Mary
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admin on Monday, June 28th, 2010 |
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I watched a PBS special on Haiti last night. It was filmed three months ago, three months after the earthquake that leveled the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
When the earthquake happened initially, I missed all the television broadcasts. I didn’t see the video footage or the photographs — yes, I know, I must’ve had my head in the sand! — so as I watched this documentary last night I was astounded by the widespread chaos, suffering, and devastation. The documentary was extremely graphic, and more than once my stomach turned over at the gruesomeness. Read the rest of this entry »
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admin on Friday, June 25th, 2010 |
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I had a rather surprising lesson in gratitude a couple of nights ago.
My husband, daughter and I decided to go see a movie after dinner (–don’t you love summertime?!), so as we waited for the movie to begin we decided to kill that time doing a little shopping. Joel and Jenna headed for Best Buy. Me? I went for the boutique. ;)
So I was shopping, taking my time looking through all the fun, girlie things in the shop and finally decided I’d better make my purchase so as not to be late for the movie. As I was checking out, I asked the owner about a recent event she’d had — on her birthday she had a big celebration at the store with lots of fun giveaways, etc. — and she began to fill me in on it. During the course of telling her story she mentioned several times that she was having difficulties “getting out of bed.”
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admin on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 |
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In an article last Friday the Washington Times reported enormous discrepancies in Planned Parenthood’s federal tax grants as compared to actual spending. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is the largest proponent and purveyor of abortion in the U.S. with arms that reach around the world. This organization wears the facade of being about “women’s health.” I would suggest a more insidious and ugly truth lies beneath that mask.
While I admittedly hate abortion — you would too if you saw how dramatically it devastates lives, oftentimes for generations! — I also care deeply about the people who promote, perform and/or procure abortions.
I do hope PPFA is held accountable for their actions, but I also hope the truth will be brought to light in such a way that fewer women and families will fall prey to the lie that abortion “helps” women.
The truth is that abortion doesn’t make it as though you were never pregnant…. Instead it ends the life of the unborn child. For many of these mothers and fathers, abortion creates a soul wound that can wreak havoc on the remaining years of their lives — unless or until they actively seek healing. For information about compassionate and caring recovery and restoration from the pain of a past unresolved abortion, contact me at marycomm(at)gmail.com. There is help and hope for you!
Kudos to The Washington Times for reporting this story!
Joyfully…!
Mary
Visit SafeHaven, SaveOne, In Our Midst Ministries and A Safe Place to learn about or find abortion recovery.
