On the subject of...

[missroserose]

The Dark Knight Rises: First act gets a 7, second gets a 5, third a 9 - would have been a 10 but for a fairly obvious plot hole. Still, it ends on a very strong note, which almost makes up for the just plain lazy writing during the middle section. Frankly, that part was more puzzling than anything, as Christopher Nolan's screenplays are usually very good about having all the loose ends tucked away (in appearance, if not actuality). Still, the ending is appropriate and uplifting enough to earn forgiveness. Also, a big gold star to whomever designed Anne Hathaway's costume - in addition to the catsuit looking practical *and* flattering, the goggles-that-suggested-cat-ears were a great touch. B+

A Game of Thrones: Watched the first three episodes over the past couple of weeks. That actually does a pretty good job of summing up my reaction to it; the production values are fantastic, but the characters have been stock and rarely likable, which leads to most of the drama being frankly ham-handed. Still, things have gotten gradually better over the course of said episodes, so I'll probably watch at least the next couple. It's just unusual for it to take this long for me to decide whether or not to watch a show. Also? More Tyrian and less of the rest of the Lannisters, please. C+ (so far)

My boobs: Tried on some bras at Victoria's Secret while I was waiting for the movie. Either their sizes have gotten smaller, or I'm a solid 34C now. o.O I knew I'd gained some weight, but still...never thought I'd make C-cup, especially that firmly (no pun intended). I guess there's an upside to putting on a few pounds. C (what I did there?)

Comments

[ivy]

I agree with you about the Batman movie... I didn't think they could do it, but they did it. Good for them! And yes, I loved Hathaway's Catwoman and the costume was excellent. And she can fight! Properly, rather than halfassedly until someone needs to go save her! I was really pleased with that. I also pretty much loved Robin.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

She could fight properly! I was pleased enough about that that I didn't mind so much the "ow ow who does anything that requires fighting/running in stilettos ow" that was running through the back of my head. I admit, though, I was somewhat amused when they put her on the BatPod - totally not a reason to pick camera angles to show off her ass. (Not that I'm complaining.)

And yeah, Robin (I feel a little silly that I honestly didn't see that one coming until the reveal) did great - idealistic without being annoying, which is harder than it sounds to pull off. And the final shot of him discovering the Batcave is pretty well impossible to watch without grinning - it'd be like Christmas time, except with explosives!

[vindaloo-vixen.livejournal.com]

I like the 'stealth pun' of the caption declaring him the Batman's successor.

I didn't expect to like Anne Hathaway's Catwoman as much as I did (I'm very fussy about my Catwomans).

What, pray tell, was the plot hole you mentioned?

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Nothing wrong with being fussy. You'll find plenty of that around here. :)

Thing is, I'm not usually fussy about plot holes on the first viewing, but there were several that were annoying enough to snap my disbelief suspenders mid-movie. The biggest one was at the Great Big Climax (so, uh, spoilers). They'd described it as a fusion power source that was modified into a neutron bomb (which actually work on an entirely different principle than a power source, but whatever, movie magic). Thing is, water is a neutron moderator - so the Batman didn't have to do his big "fly it out over the bay and sacrifice himself so it could explode harmlessly" routine; he could have just dropped it into the bay. I realize that not everyone is a science geek like my husband and I, so I might have been willing to forgive that, except that they had gone to great lengths to specifically describe how its chamber could be flooded to stop its destructive power. You could argue that Batman knew that and was just using it to take the biggest, most dramatic exit he could, but Lucius Fox (the dude who supposedly knows the science behind all this stuff) was standing right there while they were planning and it apparently didn't occur to him either.

The other one that annoyed me - after escaping from prison (and I did like the symbolism of the prison looking exactly like a larger version of the well from his childhood, though I thought they pounded the point home a little heavily), how did he get back to Gotham so quickly? The prison's location is never established, but it seems pretty clearly to be located somewhere in the Middle East, or at the very least a foreign country. (There's another question - how did Bane, the supposedly most-wanted terrorist, get there and back to Gotham, too? Without anyone noticing his absence?) And supposedly Bruce Wayne is broke, so he couldn't have just bought a plane ticket like normal, and Alfred wouldn't have come and gotten him like in the first movie. And then there's the question of how a recent traction patient manages to fall a long ways onto a rope tied around his waist twice without apparently any ill effects. That one especially jumps out at me, since I recently injured my back for the first time and have some idea of exactly how debilitating back injuries are. I know Bruce Wayne is supposed to have near-superhuman physical endurance, but...seriously.

Then there were the minor-but-still-annoying things like how Bane seemed to know absolutely everything that was going on in Gotham so he could always thwart Robin's plans despite the fact that it's never explained *how* he knows of them. Honestly, given the sort of fever-dream mentality that pervades the whole second act, I'm kind of tempted to write the whole thing off as a loneliness-and-illness-deranged Bruce Wayne in bed, dreaming of a world that needs him again, his brain mixing and remixing the elements of his life up until then - Jonathan Crane's appearance (which was, admittedly, pretty solid gold), the Wayne-Enterprises-misplacing-dangerous-technology plot point, the reappearance of Ra's al Ghul, et cetera, et cetera.

[alexmegami]

I think the idea with the bomb was that it was the only way Batman could appear to be dead in order to be able to leave his life.

The returning from prison DID bug me, admittedly. (I think that has to be chalked up to the fact that Nolan's Batman is much less super- than even normal Batman; Ra's al Ghul, etc. have pretty magical powers in canon.)

Don't a lot of Robin's plans get discussed with Lucius and Tate?

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, perhaps, but like I said, Lucius Fox was RIGHT THERE. You know, the guy who'd designed the immersion system in the first place.

You might be right about Tate. Her last-minute O HAI I'M ACSHUALLY THE BAD GUY turn really didn't work for me either, but that's not a plot hole issue so much as a combination of lazy writing/her acting.

[alexmegami]

Talia I think is there for the Batman fans; as Patrick pointed out, Ra's al Ghul only has one child, and she is Batman's (other) love interest, so if there are two women in the movie and Catwoman is one of them, well...

[vindaloo-vixen.livejournal.com]

Yes, I wondered about the return to Gotham at the time, but I must have adrenalined it out. He's not even in a position to be 'Batman the Crazy Prepared' at this point. Or it's part of Bane's mess-with-Bats'-head plan that the prison is only a couple of kilometres outside Gotham. (Oh, crap, that almost works.)

Nuclear business isn't my area of science geekery, but you're right, they explain that in the film. Frustratingly, a change of a mere line or two would do it.

Though question I had about that is why Batman spun the 'broken autopilot' line to his gang just before he left. They're all people that he reveals his survival to in the epilogue anyway. Maybe he just felt bad about lying later on.

[pleiadeslion.livejournal.com]

I've heard that Game of Thrones doesn't get good until quite a few episodes in.

My bra size seems to vary from 32D to 32DD depending on the brand and time of the month. Usually in the more lingerie-ish brands (as opposed to sports bras and plain everyday bras) I tend to be more likely to be DD, so it might be a thing. Can't comment on Victoria's Secret sizes as we don't have them over here... as far as I know. Some people find they go up a bra size if they're pre-menstrual.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

I generally go with Victoria's Secret, despite my general dislike of their sorority-set advertising - their products are better quality than you find at Wal-Mart et al, and somewhat less expensive than Frederick's of Hollywood or the other higher-end lingerie makers (not that we have any of those around here, anyway). I was just surprised, because I have several older VS bras that seem to fit fine that are 32C and 34B. Stretching might account for some of it, but the difference was so great (especially in cup sizes, which I don't imagine stretch as much as the band) that I'm really wondering if their newer bras are designed for vanity sizing. Seriously, the new 34B wasn't just a "slight dent where the edge of the bra is holding in the boob", it was a "Deepwater Horizon-style gushing out from all sides" situation. Sheesh.

[jamesd.livejournal.com]

I think that vanity sizing is certain and it's just a question of how cleverly the marketing people are directing people to specific brands or lines. So much press about women wanting to be or should want to be bigger or smaller or whatever else and it's sure to create an "anything but the size I actually am" market.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Which then just makes things annoying for those of us who're fine with the size we are and just want to be able to consistently find bras that fit. :P