Movie Review: Taken

This isn’t a very detailed review or anything, just my thoughts on said movie.

“Taken” is about a girl who goes to France and is kidnapped by traffickers, and her father who stops at nothing to rescue her. The filmmakers handle the subject matter well and delicately except for a part we fast-forwarded.

But I could only stand to watch the movie once, not because of that, but because of the nature of the violence in it. The violence itself doesn’t bother me (it’s more Jason-Bourne than blood-and-guts), but the girl’s father kills a lot of the people related to her kidnapping – including some who aren’t armed or threatening him. That bothers me.

I like that what saves the girl from an icky fate until her father rescues her is the fact she is still a virgin. Perhaps that will have a good influence on teens (and others) who see the movie. I also like that we can consider how her father stops at nothing to save her, and compare that with our heavenly Father’s love for us. Also, maybe the film will raise awareness about trafficking. I hurt for those girls…

If you want details about positive/negative elements of the movie, read pluggedinonline.com’s review.

Dad, Writing, Sewing, Trust, and Singers

They discovered my father did have a heart attack that was caused by a blood clot, but very little damage was done. He came home the Tuesday after he was admitted to the hospital and he’s doing fine – back to running errands, cutting the grass, exercising…The doctor told him to take two weeks off his job.

I have little else to say that would likely be of much interest to much of anyone. I’ve wanted to get back to writing stories but while I had ideas and inspiration, I had little motivation. But I recalled a story I started last year and never finished and decided to go back to that. I don’t remember enough of the details so I’m skimming what I wrote before I start writing again, but I think I’m over my writing block now.

I sewed a lot last month and some this one – a dress, two bodices, two shirts/chemises, two hats, two pouches. I’m working on a skirt and another bodice now. I should update my costume blog. I have quite a bit to add, but I need to take some pictures of separate items first (I have pictures of me wearing many of them combined, at the Renaissance festival, but I think I want them separate for my blog so I can do separate entries).

I’ve been thinking about trust lately and wondering how to learn to trust people in general and more specifically after bad experiences, and wondering how much I should allow myself to trust them, how much I should open up to them, etc. It’s difficult, because I’ve discovered that good communication is very important and that when you close everyone out, you become hardened, distant, and lonely. But figuring out how much and how to trust people when they could hurt you isn’t easy. My expectations of people have been significantly lowered and I don’t know if it’s unhealthy or not.

I’m not sure I actually meant to write about that. Oh well.

I am so glad Kris Allen won American Idol and not Adam Lambert (any comments defending Lambert will be deleted; you’re entitled to your music tastes and I to mine – post them on your own blog) due to both ethics and talent. I like Kris’s singing much better. Adam has a nice voice when he doesn’t sing so high, but he usually sounds creepy and/or like he’s screeching, and he creeps me out for other reasons.

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

Jousting Knights and Heart Problems

I’m tired of writing about unimportant and mostly uninteresting things, which is why I haven’t blogged in a while. My older sister took my younger sister and I to the Ren. faire again on May 3rd. I had fun, got to give the favor to the noble knight, was recognized and yelled at (though I didn’t hear him; he told me later on Facebook. He yelled my name and gave me grief about sitting in the other knight’s section, apparently. Hehe) by the “bad” knight, and bought a snood and a bottle of water (that cost a whopping $2.75).

I woke up to something very unpleasant this morning (er…afternoon). My older sister came in my room and told me our father was having heart problems and Mom was calling 911. He’s at the hospital now, doing better, but they don’t know what happened. The test they did in the ambulance said he had a heart attack, and the test they did at the hospital said he didn’t. Please pray for him.

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

GARF

I haven’t updated in a while…and I forgot to comment that the title of my last entry, while it sounds interesting, doesn’t actually make sense.

I went to the Renaissance festival on the 19th. I enjoyed it, especially the jousts. I watched all three.

This one-eyed chihuahua was there, dressed as a pirate.

I took around 700 photos (though I deleted some while I was there and left with 670). Those are the only two I feel like posting because they’re already the right size and uploaded to Photobucket.

I wore my 42 inch-long sword. There are swords plenty bigger, but for me, it’s pretty big (in hindsigh I probably should have gotten a shorter one). A man at the faire said something along the lines of, “Holy cow, that sword’s as big as you are!” Or bigger than, or something. He added to his companion, “If she could actually wield that thing, I’d be scared.” Another man, trying to get me to come see the “Parrots of the Caribbean,” referred to me as “The lady with the long sword.” It was amusing.

I should practice being in character. When people at the festival (or, often, other places) say anything to me, my brain generally goes blank. My younger sister actually had a mildly witty conversation with someone. She usually has much better social skills than I do and doesn’t freeze in such situations. I did manage an accent a time or two.

I bought this dagger for $10:

We saw several different acts, including a juggling, whip-wielding, poodle-balloon-blowing-up fellow, a man who strapped firecrackers to his chest with duct tape and had the audience throw water balloons at him after they went off, a horse show, and a sword-fighting show. The first fellow I mentioned was funny except for some off-color “humor” but we thankfully didn’t run into much more of that. I had a good time and hope to go back again this year.

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM