Remember how there was the great period of horror movies where they had to have paramedics on site just in case someone fainted? Remember how there was the terrible period of movies when the last ten minutes should have been cut from the film to make it 9,000 times better? I suffered through the latter one. It was a miserable time for films. Especially those lovely horror films that were remade into something I consider a tragedy to good movies. Lately there has been an uprising of beautifully executed films. I wish that had been ten years ago when the slump was at its worst.
If you haven't seen anything by Guillermo Del Toro you should go change that right now, at least "Pan's Labyrinth". There has also been "Insidious", which feels like an answer to all of our yelling at the stupid characters to do something other than sit there and let the ghosts tear them apart.
6. Good Young Adult Novels (John Green)
I had a very fortunate birth time
in that I got to read Harry Potter the Summer I turned 11, but since then I
have read amazing Young Adult novels that I wish I'd had at a younger age.
For this I would have to say most specifically John Green. Despite not being a
15 or 16 year old girl, I read two of his most famous works, one of which is
currently being cast for filming; both moved me. While reading "The Fault
in Our Stars", I curled up on the bathroom floor and sobbed--full-on wept--because of the emotions it wrought in me. While reading "Looking for
Alaska", I cried again, not as much, but still a lot. Then I realized
I wasn't crying for any character so much as for my own lost Great Perhaps.
These tears ended up being tears of healing, and since I read "Looking for
Alaska", I've found peace in my heart. I really wish I had read this book
ten years ago when I was dealing with the worst of the emotions that were
helped. John Green helped me and I'm not in the supposed target audience. I
just wish I had been when I read the book.Also John Green is an amazing person. If you haven't heard of Nerdfighters or watched any Vlogbrother videos you're missing out. DFTBA!
OK, yes, this one is way more personal and doesn't involve alternate realities where I was born ten years later, instead it involves having more of a social life in my early teens and not living in the middle of nowhere. It sucked a lot. When I started college, I was lucky that I made the friends I made, they introduced me to the wonderful world of gaming and I never looked back until now. True, I doubt my parents would have let me play Dungeons and Dragons at 8, so I'll keep in that it had just happened in my early teens. Truthfully, I don't talk about anything that isn't nerdy in some way these days. How did I survive my youth? What wonderful things I haven't done because I didn't know it existed! Oh, if only I had known sooner!
I'm convinced that the people that grew up around the same time as me, maybe a little bit sooner, all fell in love with these concepts and decided to make them happen. It is what has always happened with technology. Someone makes up something cool-sounding for a story and boom! Several years later it's a reality! Just look at Star Trek or anything by Heinlein.
I have to admit I love watching this technology come into existence, even if a part of me wishes I could have just grown up with it already made.
Please just let it be over. This finally hit the Supreme Court this year and all I want is for it to be over. I understand why religious people are afraid of same-sex marriage. They don't want to perform the ceremonies. All right, fine--you don't have to, but stop being a jerk and forcing your thoughts on other people. How hard is it to coexist?
All the proponents for same-sex marriage just want legal standing and equal protection under the law. Religion is a whole other problem that shouldn't even come into the matter considering the major tenants this country was founded on. Remember separation of religion and government from 3rd grade history lessons? I do!
Time to move into the 21st century - I mean come on we have AR glasses!
Did you know Google was founded in 1998? I didn't until just now when I Googled it--but I'm talking about some of the more wonderful sites, like Kickstarter or Tumblr. Kickstarter is quickly becoming the go-to fundraising site for all things awesome. If you liked Veronica Mars at all then you'll be excited to know it has a movie in the works now, all thanks to donations from people like you via Kickstarter. That's right, your favorite things can be funded by you. How ridiculously cool is that? Imagine if, instead of having been founded in 2009, the brilliant entrepreneurs had started it in 1999. I sure can imagine some amazing things that could have happened if Kickstarter had been around.
This one might be debatable, but if you disagree you're wrong.
Remember that horrible train wreck called "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull"? I try not to. The giant ants, the monkeys, and the aliens are all very painful memories. Remember emo Spiderman? I don't, I didn't watch that one. Now, imagine a world where good writers who actually love the works had control over the stories. May I find a worm hole and find myself in that universe? Disney bought Marvel and said, "Cool, now we're going to get money from the young boy demographic--have fun, Marvel." They then walked to the bank laughing. Seriously, they are leaving Marvel alone to do what they do best, which is write a compelling story. I weep at the idea of this having happened 10 years sooner. I mean, seriously, have you not enjoyed the beautiful creations they've been putting out lately?
Oh if only time warped and ten years of stagnation had never existed we might be in a better world today.
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