Fury Road

The latest Mad Max movie is fantastic. Great acting. Great practical effects. Great music. Literal non-stop action. Cool camera and filming techniques. And also not the misogynistic type that most action movies tend to be. It was actually pretty much not a Mad Max film and more of a Furiousa film. Charlize Theron is fantastic.

I wanted to see it anyway, but I wanted to see it way more after reading that some "men's rights advocates" were upset about it. It lived up to their fears and was amazing. There is nothing romantic between the lead characters. There is only give and take equally. Furiousa is strong more than just physically. And Max recognizes this without even having it test it. And the Vuvalini. I don't think I've ever seen badass older women in a movie before.

It still retains the trademark of Mad Max films. It's odd. It doesn't have a whole lot of dialogue and what it does have often doesn't make a whole lot of sense. There's a lot of death and disease and general bleakness. Characters, places and events aren't really explained fully or fleshed out. This leaves a lot to the imagination which is occasionally frustrating, but mostly makes it a bit more realistic.

There is really nothing about the movie I don't love. I need to see it again in 3D.

Trailrun Tuesday (again, finally!)

I had a really nice run today. It was rough for many reasons though. One is that I'm not in shape, so like several before it, it was half hike half run. Another was that it was wet and muddy in a lot of places and that caused some complications. Also it was very humid today. Ew. This was the longest "run" I've ever done and I really started to peter out after mile 8 or so of the 10.

The good news was that it was beautiful, even if the day was cloudy and smoggy. Also, I ran/hiked 10 miles in two and a half hours. Not so bad at all.

I went to someplace new today, Green Mountain aka William F. Hayden Park. I don't know why I've never been, it's actually closer than the ones I generally go to. It's also huge, with many interconnecting trails. There weren't many  people for about 3/4ths of the run. Toward the end, I came upon more trail heads and quite a few people. But there was plenty of room to spread out.

see what I mean about the water on the trail?

You might- might- be able to make out Denver's skyline under the smog.

bumble be doin' his thing. 

pretty, no?

There's a prairie dog yelling at me in this one.

beautiful single track for miles.

this one was result/solution to the muddy trails. It was nice to train barefoot.

of course.

Avengers (Spoilers maybe)

I watched Age of Ultron today. I liked it well enough. Interestingly, I don’t actually like superhero movies all that much and I generally wait until they are on DVD. However, I do watch Agents of SHIELD, so I needed to see the film to tie it all together. Also Joss Whedon is a sort of hero.

Anyhow, I liked the film well enough. It was a fun surprise to see Andy Serkis and Paul Bettany. I really dislike Tony Stark. I really love Natasha Romanov. I also like Clint, but I really dislike the actor, so it’s sort of hard to reconcile that. I really enjoyed his little family twist.

The film and Whedon have been getting some criticism (rightly so) for Stark’s primae noctis line. My theory on that is that it isn’t so much just a cheap rape joke put into the script for fun. It’s Stark. His character is real. I mean, it’s horrible of course, but it’s his character. And it’s also something that comes up in real life. What was upsetting perhaps more than the joke itself, was that no one called him out on it.

That’s what Joss Whedon’s strength is: making real people. These characters aren’t just archetypes, they are more real than any of the other superheroes I’ve seen, including the other Marvel ones with the same characters. They all have weaknesses. And they all have strengths other than the obvious. I think the main reason I love Natasha is that she doesn’t have super powers. She’s just bad ass. And that’s why I like SHIELD as well. Real people. Humanity. And Joss does that so well.

So yeah, no real spoilers I guess, just my thoughts. Now I can go back to watching SHIELD and wishing for a Black Widow movie.

Lucy

I’ve had “Lucy” on my list of movies to watch for some time now. It didn’t do so well with ratings and all, so I decided it was a drinking movie: one I wouldn’t have to pay too much attention to.

I actually liked it. It was strange to be sure. The premise was unreasonable (we actually don’t use only 10% of our brains. We just don’t use it all at once). ScarJo was great of course. As was Morgan Freeman. I really enjoyed the style. Flashing back and all, delving into human evolution. (Seeing the writing/direction credit - Luc Besson - explained it all.)

I do feel that it lacked real impact, though. But the potential was there. She mentions that she feels less human as the human emotions melt away.

I think that that bit should have been the focus. Because- as I’ve stated before- humanity is the real subject of sci/fi. So if I were writing the film, I’d say she learns everything she can. Everything there is. She unlocks it all, but ultimately chooses to remain human, understanding that knowledge and power aren’t the goals of life. It’s the raw, experienced, emotions that make us who we are.

Trail Tuesday

I did a really nice run/hike today as a sort of last hurrah before surgery. I’m sure I’ll do a hike this weekend, but I wanted a nice long run also. It was a new park- White Ranch Open Space Park-  that I recently discovered and it has many diverging trails to choose from. It’s rather steep most of the time, so I didn’t really run up it, mostly just fast hiked. And then I ran all the gradual bits and the flat bits and downhill. I saw maybe half a dozen people the whole time.

obligatory trail selfie...

It was a blast. I cannot wait until I’m healed up enough to go back and explore more.

RMNP fun

I need to post about my adventures more. I always upload the photos to facebook, but I never get to really talk about them. So-

On Saturday we went up to Rocky Mountain National Park. We headed up to Mills Lake, which we did earlier this winter, but went well beyond it, following some ski tracks along the creek. There was a good three foot base of snow, but luckily the trail was (mostly) packed down enough that I didn't need snowshoes. However, by the time we were heading back, the temperatures had risen so much that we were in shirt sleeves and the snow was getting slushy and sticky. It was sort of gross. But it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky until early afternoon. I got a sunburn on my neck from the snow reflecting. We even got to glissade down a section. It was a really great day.

up the ski track

a fun glissade

Mills Lake

Mills panorama

Snow.

I really like snow. Really. Almost every thing about it. The only thing I don't like is driving in it. Mostly because I now drive a tiny little car and I'm afraid of all those people who drive big ones as if they think four wheel drive means that they are impervious to slipping...

Anyhow. Snow. We have it. It's been an odd winter. Snow dumps down then melts in a day or so leaving thick mud and/or layers of ice. Then we have a few days of 60+ temperatures. And now three solid days of snow. Fun!

Except I have to drive to work tomorrow.

I also like to hike/play/ski/snowshoe/run in the snow. I did a couple of those things today. We went to a park and played with the dog. He's also a big fan of snow. Then I went for a nice 7 mile run. It's so refreshing. Until my eyelashes start freezing.

Last week was really rough. I'm still feeling the aftershocks of emotional stress. A lot of things happened with a lot of my friends at work. I just want everyone to be happy and healthy. I wish I could fix everything back up. I am confident that everything will be okay. It will just take time. Some really rough, emotional time.

I found out a few things:

I don't actually handle well under certain sorts of stress. I need someone to give me direction.
I am not used to high emotional stress and it exhausts me.
Though he may make it hard to see, my boyfriend has a huge heart.
My roommate is actually a really good guy to have around.
I really love my friends.

What a day. Consultation with the surgeon (more on that here). Phone tag with the surgeon's office and the medical flex card company to determine if I can use the money I allotted. Very pleasant four miles along Cherry Creek opposite the paved trail. Locked out of my car and waiting in the cold for rescue. Listening to my roommate tear up the kitchen floor that is not only moldy but also has asbestos tiles. Sushi.

Ugh.

I just watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel again. I first watched it on the plane back from Iceland.

It's really quite amazing. A bit of a comedy, but mostly drama. Great scenery, music and acting. I absolutely love Dame Judi Dench. But there are so many other older British actors as well.

My boyfriend's synopsis: "Super Excellent Hotel"  It's about a bunch of old people who go to India to die.

Not exactly true, but not entirely false either. Basically, it's really good and I think everyone can get a little something out of it. I think I may even buy it.

Oh, and they're making a sequel. I hope it doesn't disappoint.