the Time that is Given Me: September 2016

As you might already know, over the summer months I decided to up my "film major" game, and actually watch some of those movies I kept purposing to watch but never did. "Some" being fifty. Which was a ridiculous but also awesome idea.

So, today, the last day of September, I'd like to finally give you guys the recap of those fifty films and what I (personally) thought of them.

(in order of release)

Inception (2010) - Lives up to the hype. 5/5
I Was a Male War Bride (1949) - Pretty bland; funny at parts. 2.5/5
Hercules (1997) - I understand why I hadn't watched it until now. 3.5/5
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - Man destroys family for aliens. 1.5/5
The Emporer's New Groove (2000) - Amusing but not quite my sense of humor. 2.5/5
The Tree of Life (2011) - Absolutely brilliant journey through life. 5/5
Beyond the Mask (2015) - Pretty solid and really fun. 4/5
Gone with the Wind (1939) - I loathe this well-made film with a burning passion. 1.5/5
The Love Bug (1968) - One of the genuinely funniest movies ever; also Dean Jones. 4.5/5
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Ehm, it was rough. 2/5
Psycho (1960) - Not sure what made me think I should watch this. 1.5/5
Now You See Me (2013) - Not great, not terrible. 3/5
Rear Window (1954) - Murder seen through the window really is a murder okay then. 3/5
Belle (2013) - Surprisingly great; a different kind of period drama. 4/5
The Ten Commandments (1956) - Moses' hair just keeps getting better. 3.5/5
Alice in Wonderland (2010) - Could've been way better. 2.5/5
Hail, Caesar! (2016) - Seriously amusing commentary on classic Hollywood. 4/5
Days of Heaven (1978) - Boring movie, bad subject. 1/5
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) - The first one is the only good one. 2.5/5
Citizen Kane (1941) - I can go along with the opinion that it's the greatest film ever made. 4.5/5
Saving Mr. Banks (2013) - Absolutely beautiful story of the power of filmmaking. 4.5/5
Zootopia (2016) - Could barely get past the political correctness. 2.5/5
The Martian (2015) - Fantastically made, seriously fun. 4/5
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Well made but kinda boring. 3.5/5
Bella (2006) - Great subject, but not super interesting as a whole. 3.5/5
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - Not bad, but not really my cup of tea. 3/5
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) - Just watch Prince of Egypt instead. 2/5
Faith Like Potatoes (2006) - A surprisingly good movie about a Christian in Africa. 3.5/5
An American in Paris (1951) - Gene Kelly isn't my fav. 3.5/5
And Then There Were None (1945) - Not as good as the book, but still good. 4.5/5
Spider-Man 2 (2004) - I didn't hate it... maybe even enjoyed it. 4/5
The Maltese Falcon (1941) - Depressing, but not bad. 3.5/5
August Rush (2007) - Except for the not-so-great backstory, wow so pretty. 4/5
End of the Spear (2005) - Uhmmm my parents wanted to watch this. 3.5/5
The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) - Seriously so nice. 3.5/5
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - Nothing short of magnificent. 5/5
Mr. Holmes (2015) - Most boring well made film ever. 2.5/5
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - It's not bad, it's not great -- it's just fun. 3.5/5
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) - Somehow it ended up being a good story. 4/5
Love & Friendship (2016) - Slightly problematic period drama. 3/5
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - Barely got through it. 2.5/5
Fahrenheit 451 (1966) - Actually upheld the spirit of the book, I felt. 4.5/5
The Swan (1956) - The ending ruined everything they were going for. 2.5/5
Les Miserables (1998) - An important story. 3.5/5
The Finest Hours (2016) - Chris Pine was reason enough for me to dislike it. 3/5
In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - Wow, yes, a solid "I liked it." 4/5
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - Brilliance (that probably informed Winter Soldier). 5/5
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - That dear Mr. Smith though. 4.5/5
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) - Hm, not bad, not great, and too long. 3.5/5
Stagecoach (1939) - Surprisingly good for a western that I thought I wouldn't like? 3.5/5

And there you have it. That's kind of alot, right? Not sure if I'm going to do this 50 films thing again next summer... ;)

Before I get back to working on feeling better from my annual Fall cold, here's a few of my favorite movies from the list that I can whole-heartedly recommend:

Inception
The Tree of Life
Beyond the Mask
The Love Bug
Saving Mr. Banks
The Secret World of Arrietty
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Manchurian Candidate (a bit mature, but really good)

And there you have it, friends! Which movies from my list have you seen?? And would you agree with my assessments of them? :)

So, my second year of college is going fantastically. But instead of doing the whole "weekly update" thing that I did last year, I think I'm going to give myself a bit more freedom this time 'round and just blog about what's been goin' on in my life as I feel like it blogging about it. And so, the first of these posts from sophomore year is this one right here, featuring my next cosplay...

With just 53 days (I'm definitely not counting) until the latest Marvel Studios film (Doctor Strange) is released, my costume for opening night is starting to take shape. And the shape looks pretty decent so far, too, which is always a good thing.?? ;)

I've been working on it on and off the past few weekends and weeknights when I don't have homework (or when I want to avoid homework... shhhh), and I've also been doing a ton -- and I mean a TON -- of online research for it as well. You don't really think about all those random little things like his pendant (the Eye of Agamotto), the belts, the trims on the armwraps, etc etc, until you sit down and try to figure out where/how you're going to buy/make all of it.

But! Both the sewing and the research proess have been going fabulously, and I'm already way ahead of schedule to finish this costume by November 4th. ;)

Okay I seriously need to cut the chit-chat and get to the pics.

To start off, I altered (transformed would be a better word probs) this jacket and pencil skirt set, donated to me by my grandmother, into the main tunic. Seriously, Grammie, thank you so much for the contributions, they could not have been more perfect. :D

The alteration process was seriously so fun, and since the garments were already nice, high quality pieces with lining and everything, the tunic turned out to be way higher quality than I would have made it otherwise, which is kinda cool. OH and did I mention freeeeee??? Budget cosplaying for the win.

First of all, I altered the jacket into an attractive size and removed those depressing sleeves and shoulder pads:

Pinned.

THAT COLLAR/NECKLINE THOUGH. And the fabric. UGH I don't think I will never get over the perfection of this thing. Gorgeous and actually quite screen accurate.

Then, I neatly destroyed the pencil skirt to form the bottom half of the tunic...