DKR Trailer Review

I love Batman. I really do. Alex Ross’s cover from Batman RIP is and has been my PC background for ages. I have a vintage 60s era Batman poster hanging up in my room. I want to name my firstborn son Bruce, for chrissakes.

And for the most part, I liked Christopher Nolan’s approach to the franchise. Okay, Dark Knight was a bit long-winded but who didn’t love that Joker and that take on Gotham? Still, I  loved the movie and was a little more than distraught when I heard about the casting for the final part of the trilogy. Really, it’s just like Chris Nolan took Inception and shook it really hard into the set of Dark Knight. Even the buildings look the same. Doesn’t the WHOOOOMP sound at the end of the clip sound a bit like the Inception whooomp?

I know this is just an initial trailer, but it’s sparse and in all honesty quite awful. Rather than collecting clips from the past two movies and showing bedridden Gordon for the entirety of the trailer, it probably would have been better if they had held out and developed something more interesting to engage audiences. Hell, quick glimpses of characters in costumes would have been sufficient. Gordon in bed, cut. Bane fishing in the sewers, cut. JGL in Gotham blues, cut (because really, the only reason why he is at all acceptable in this movie is because I want to see him in some sort of uniform).   Marion Cotiliard attempting to seduce Bruce, cut. Anne Hathaway stripping out of the Catwoman suit, cut. Batman swinging off of a rooftop, cut. We can even have an Inception WHOOOMP in between each cut scene! Then we can have Commissioner Gordon blathering on some cheap one-liner about Batman being not the hero we need but the one that was on sale so Gotham had to learn how to take what it could get, etc. etc. etc. Quick cut scene to Batman and Bane duking it out, Selina Kyle/Cotiliard catfight, then fade to dark, bat signal, DARK KNIGHT RISES 2012.

Instead, we get something that resembles a half-assed Naruto episode, replaying scenes we’ve seen before. Nolan, I had faith in you but I am losing it fast! YOU CAN’T TURN EVERYTHING INTO INCEPTION. It would please me to no end if instead Nolan went in the complete opposite, unpredictable way of turning this movie in the campiest piece of shit ever and made JGL Boy Wonder. (Full disclosure: That’s just me wanting to see him in the Robin suit.)

Heads Up!: Guest Blog Post at MacGuffin and Puffin

Those of you that know me know that I’m a huge comic book fan and generally appreciative of well done comic book movies. Anyway, while I am usually a DC Comics girl, I have always had a soft spot for Marvel and X-Men was the first title that got me into comics anyway. So, I wrote a review of the latest X-Men movie (supplemented with photos and captions by MacGuffin herself) over at MacGuffin and Puffin.

Enjoy, comment, and continue reading MacGuffin’s blog regularly. It’s wonderful and always interesting!

Illamasqua…bringing entirely new levels of creepy to the world of makeup

A couple days ago, I stumbled upon what may be the creepiest thing I have ever seen. Now, I like makeup as much as the average woman does. Maybe even a little more. I’ve seen Illamasqua kiosks at my local Sephora and their palette, while generally a bit too risque for my tastes, is generally something I don’t find offensive. Maybe if I were five years younger and planning to hit clubs in Ibiza I would even purchase some of their stuff.

This stuff aside, their recent attempt to branch out into other markets is horrifying. Several days ago, Illamasqua launched mortician services.

That’s right. Illamasqua will make your corpse look like it’s ready to get busy out in da club and drop it like its hot (or whatever euphemisms the kids are using these days). Even better is what they’re calling the service: “The Final Act of Self Expression.” WTF? 1. How incredibly morbid is that? 2. Who the hell are they trying to market this to anyway? Your grieving loved ones after you’ve passed on? “Yes, I think Audrey would have really liked to have gone to her grave looking and feeling like the true hipster that she was!”

And I love the poster they’re trying to sell. Because, really, we all want to reach the pearly gates looking like a painted whore.

Breaking: The Dark Knight Rises Movie Poster!

While I’m getting increasingly skeptical about this movie (mostly due to its increasingly expanding cast), the new poster looks good.

Can’t figure out how to insert a photo when I’m emailing a post, so here’s the link: http://splashpage.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/tdkr_poster.jpg

My Blues.

Since January, I’ve been running on tanks. My Asics are legit clunkers, weighing in at 2.4 lbs a piece. The drops on these are something near 2″. Great stability, of course, but I sometimes wonder how I manage to pick my feet up in these things. (And, of course, that means sometimes I don’t.)

I’ve been increasingly swayed by the minimalist movement. Vibram Five Fingers still scare the shit out of me, but I’ve been telling myself that I’m going to get serious about running. I’ve also been telling myself that I want to improve my form. Someone, I think Berticus, told me that I should try running in flats. Other friends were a bit more traditionalist and recommended sticking with stabliity shoes.

I went into the Princeton Running Store a couple of weeks ago and they recommended these Kinvaras. As far as aesthetics go, I’m absolutely in love with these shoes. Berticus calls them a blueberry torte with raspberry filling. I know its ridiculous, but somehow sleek, vibrant shoes make me feel fleeter of foot.

I’ve only had a handful of runs in these babies, but I’ve clocked in a good couple of miles. (Did 4 miles today–not shabby…for me, anyway.) These guys clock in in around 7 oz. They’re also significantly roomier (my old tanks are a full size smaller than the Kinvaras, and they used to make my toes tingle/lose feeling).

Maybe it’s just having something new, or maybe its just because I’m thinking more consciously about it than I did before, but my form does seem to have improved. So far I love them. My knees, normally rickety, haven’t felt too weak. Certain muscles are getting more of a workout than they usually do, but nothing is inordinately sore. Then again, I haven’t tried these guys out on anything but a treadmill. I have hopes to work them on a trail run over the weekend; more word then!

This Week’s Menu!

I’ve always been curious about making my own potato chips, so I decided to give it a try this past Sunday. All in all it was pretty easy, but slicing the potatoes thin enough to get them crispy was difficult. Perhaps it would have been easier with a mandolin.

For a first try, they weren’t bad. They still left a little to be desired, though.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 russet potato
• Olive oil
• Garlic powder
• Sea salt
• Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice the potato (as thin as you can! — it wasn’t as thin as I’d like it, and a lot of them came out wedgey)
3.  Soak in water for 5-10 min, and then drain. Pat potato slices dry.
4. Toss slices in the olive oil, and then lay slices out on a baking tray.
5.  Dust with sea salt and garlic powder.
6. Cover with parmesan cheese. I bought a block and used  a microplane zester to grate over it.
7. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes. Make sure you keep close watch over them (some of the thinner ones burned).

Hopefully I’ll have a follow up post where I try this again, only with more success.

I’ve been itching to try my hand at making gazpacho as well. Turns out, it was a pretty quick and simple thing to throw together!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 large cucumber, diced
• 5 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 zucchini, diced
• A dash of salt
• 1 quart of tomato juice
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar (but I eyeballed it — to taste)
• 2 tablespoon white sugar
• 6 dashes tabasco
• A dash of black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl if you have an immersion blender or in a normal blender if you don’t.

2. Blend.

3. Chill (I let it sit in the fridge overnight).

4. Serve! It’s as simple as that. I added some avocado to garnish (because avocado is delicious).

Gnomes.

I am generally a fan of gnomes. They’re cute. They’re friendly. And apparently, they also secretly masquerade as superheroes. These are totally going in my house one day.

[Credit: CRAFTblog]