Wonder Woman '84 Review

 First things first, this review is full of spoilers! Beware!

Generally speaking, I try to enjoy things on their own, as they are. So if a movie doesn’t exactly follow the book it was based on it’s ok as long as it was enjoyable in its own right.  I don’t want to be one of those fans who constantly complains that everything is awful because it doesn’t completely conform to previous iterations. Therefore I am a bit disappointed with myself because I am really annoyed with some of the decisions they made in the new Wonder Woman movie, it could have been much better. But here we are. When we initially watched the movie I enjoyed it but didn't think it was great. It was fun while we were watching it but afterward, the more I thought about it, the more I disliked it.

Drive-in Etiquette Tips

Over the weekend, we made our first trip to the drive-in movies this season. We saw a double feature with Kung Fu Panda 3 and Batman vs Superman. It was a bit chilly but we made sure we had extra blankets to snuggle up in so we stayed nice and cozy.

These pictures show the weather before we left the house and at the end of the first movie.

We also had a hybrid homemade/ takeout dinner. We made orange chicken at home and packed it up in a couple of bento style lunchboxes we have, then picked up appetizers on our way to the theatre. We also made what I consider an important purchase to upgrade the experience. For around $7 we got a car console organizer to use as a cup and snack holder in the back.

We had a great time, but also some problems with bad drive-in manners. So here are some tips for enjoying the drive-in without disturbing others.

Things to do before you go:

1. Make sure you know how your headlights work.

For example do they come on automatically when you start the car? How do you turn them back off? What about when you have your car in the accessory position? (Don't know what the accessory position is? Read this.) Check to be sure you know how to turn your lights out quickly and keep them off while driving at the theatre.

2. Check how to turn off your interior lights.

Most will automatically shut off after a certain amount of time. The front light in our truck takes a really long time to shut off so we usually bring along a piece of cardboard to tuck behind the visors and cover it up.

3. Know how to quickly turn off your alarm.

Just in case you accidentally bump the alarm somehow or set it off by opening the door to go get popcorn you should know how to quickly disable your car alarm so it doesn't disturb your neighbours.

At the Theatre:

1. Keep your lights out.

Driving at the theatre with your headlights on does two things. First, the extra light makes it difficult to see the screen. Second, it's super bright and will hurt everyone's eyes after they have adjusted to the dark. Turning on your interior lights creates the same problem although on a smaller scale. This extends to people not watching the movie. We had a situation where the car in front of us obviously ran down their battery and another car drove in to give them a jump. The problem is they drove in with their lights on, shined them directly at us while getting into position, and left them on for the duration of the charging.

2. Try not to leave during the movie.

I know there can be circumstances that would cause you to need to leave early but try to avoid it. Even if you turn your lights off immediately after starting your car it will still be a major distraction for those still enjoying the movie.

3. Obey the policy on pets.

Not all drive-in allow pets but some do. But, that doesn't mean you should bring every dog to the movies. We're looking forward to a time when we can take our dog but right now he gets bored easily and when he's bored he gets into stuff and whines, all of which would be disturbing to people around us. Likewise, if you have a dog that barks a lot or isn't great around strangers or other dogs it's probably not a great idea to bring them to the drive-in. However, if you have a quiet dog who's content to hang out at your feet for a few hours by all means enjoy a night out with your favorite canine companion.

We made sure we took Gil on an extra long walk before we left so he was tuckered out and ready to sleep. Then when we came home, even though it was nearly 1am, we let him out of the kennel to play for 45 minutes or so before going back to bed. I'm pretty sure he forgives us because before this he never wanted to get in the car but after that walk in the park he tried to get in the truck twice today.

Death Star Fascinator Hat

While I was sewing our outfits for The Force Awakens I tried to think of something I could make as a fun accessory. I didn't really feel like I had time to make a purse... or at least not the random idea I had to try and make something that looked like a lightsaber hilt but was hollow and could double as a purse. I also wanted something that I could make without spending a lot of extra money on supplies so most of the jewelry ideas I came up with were out. I finally decided that I would try to make a fascinator style hat.

Here's the final result:

 

It didn't turn out exactly the way I intended and I ended up not actually wearing it to the movie for a variety of reasons but I thought I would share how I made it anyway. That way if anyone is inspired to make their own they can have a starting point and learn from my mistakes.

Supplies:

4 inch Styrofoam Ball (I used one labeled Smooth Foam)

Paint in 2 shades of grey

Felt for the base

Tulle in flame colors (1/8- 1/4 yard)

MicroMachine Tie fighter and Millennium Falcon (Used this set)

Thin Gauge Wire

 White Craft Glue

Needle and Thread for hand sewing or sewing machine

Clips or Hair pins to attach to head

Step One: Paint the Death Star

Even though the one I had was smoother to begin with I still painted it with gesso first. My thought was that since I was using craft paint I didn't want it to get sucked into the foam and dry unevenly. I think that if you used spray paint for the base color you could skip this step but I was trying to use up paint I already had. It ended up showing a lot of brush strokes even after I sanded it down a bit.

If you look closely you can still see a bit of the original texture on right hand a bit above the center.

Paint the base grey first then add details in darker grey. I started by painting over the center seam of the ball and adding in the circle for the laser array. After that I filled in using a random pattern of squares and rectangles.

As a side note, you can see in the above picture, I stuck a few push pins in a scrap board to make a tripod to set it on while painting/ drying.

Step Two: Cut down the Death Star

At this point it seemed a bit too big for my head and I felt like a flat base would be sturdier so I cut the base off at an angle.

Step Three: Cut Base

Find a piece of felt to use as the base and trace around the bottom of the Death Star. I used red because my goal was to make it look like the Death Star was in flames. (In spite of my husband's Imperial truck and how dark side our outfits look, I'm a Rebel.) 

Step Four: Create Flames

Cut small strips of tulle and gather, bunch, and smoosh them into an arrangement that gives the impression of flames. You can put the Death Star on top and hold everything in place to get a general idea of how it will look.

After that pin everything down to the felt base and sew over the ends to hold the tulle in place.

Step Five: Prepare Ships

Twist the wire around the ships to secure them. We wanted to be able to use the ships for other things later so we needed a non-permanent way to attach them. Be sure to leave an extra long tail for attaching it to the base.

Our kitten kept trying to attack the Tie Fighter so I couldn't get a good picture but the wire is wrapped against the inside of the wing on one side.

Step Six: Attach Ships

Decide how high up you want the ships to be and test the placement. Bend the wires so the ends go under the styrofoam.

Make another bend and stick the end of the wire down into the foam. Place white craft glue over the hole and the wire along the base. Initially I used a clear glue but it melted the foam a bit and didn't hold correctly. The goal is first to make sure the wire doesn't fall out, and second keep it from turning and letting the ship fall to the side. 

Step Seven: Attach Clips

Choose clips and sew them on to the base on the side opposite the tulle. 

This is where I made the biggest mistake. The clips I used have to bend to open and close and once everything was assembled they were extremely hard to open and close, and that is the major reason I didn't wear it to the theatre. I knew it would be a pain to get on and off and that I'd need to remove it during the film. It was easier to just not deal with it. If I were to make something like this again I would most likely just add a few loops of ribbon to stick hairpins through.

Step Eight: Final Assembly

Use craft glue to attach felt base to the bottom of the foam Death Star.

Another change I would make would be to sandwich the tulle between two pieces of felt. I tried to get a good picture of it but it didn't work out well. Basically what happened is that the felt is glued to the tulle and the tulle is glued to the foam, but the felt and foam aren't really connected.

Here's a picture of us all dressed up and ready to celebrate. 

The dress uses Simplicity Pattern 1155 and both the dress and shirt use glow-in-dark fabric from Joann Fabrics. You can see how I made my earrings and the shirt for my husband in these posts:

http://eclecticotter.blogspot.com/2015/04/easy-geek-earrings.html

http://eclecticotter.blogspot.com/2015/12/star-wars-shirt-diy.html

Even if the hat didn't work out at least our cats thought it was exciting.

Star Wars Crunch Time

I never got around to searching my cabinet for the missing quilt squares but that's alright because that project is officially on hold. In fact all craft projects are on hold except for work on our Star Wars opening night outfits. I had intended to start them way before now but I havn't so now I feel a little bit time crunched. I know there's more than a month but I'm slow sometimes.

First of all I needed to find the fabric I bought way back when. I found the black I got for my husband but not the blue piece I thought I bought for myself. After searching everywhere I thought I might have fabric I'm beginning to question whether or not I really did actually buy it. However I have reviewed what I did find and come up with a revised plan that I think will be even better.

The Darth Vader fabric is for Bear's shirt and the other two will be used with plain black to make a dress for me. If I have time I also want to make a petticoat for underneath and a fascinator style hair clip with the Death Star on it. I may be biting off more than I chew with this because I didn't realize when I chose my pattern that it uses boning which is something I've never done before. It's also something that my Mom has never done before and she's my go to person for sewing questions and advice. I'm really excited about it but it could turn out terrible, either way I'm pushing forward. The first step was to wash everything so that it does any shrinking before I sew it, and then iron it all smooth again. 

5 yards to iron....

All of which is easy enough if you have uninterrupted time and a regular ironing board. It becomes more difficult when all you have is a small countertop ironing board and three cats who want to "help".

I also started to cut out all the pattern pieces but I haven't gotten very far yet. I like to keep the option to be able to reuse a pattern later in another size so I don't cut along all the pattern lines. I usually just fold the pieces down to the size I currently need and cut along that line, like in the picture below.

However with this pattern I think I'm going to have to revise that plan and use some transfer paper to mark the design to cut out. Otherwise there is no way I'm ever going to get this piece right...

Celebrating 8 Years Together

My husband I spent this past weekend celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary and it was a perfect mix of activities and lazy nothingness. We both took a couple days off work so we had a four day weekend together. Initially we didn't have anything planned, just the time off but as things got closer we made a rough list of things we wanted to do. Nothing really had a specific day or time that it needed to happen.

First of all we spent most of Saturday running errands and doing a bit of cleaning to get it out of the way so the rest of our time was clear. We did our grocery shopping and picked up a stack of DVDs we had on hold at the library for later plans. One thing that we meant to do but didn't was to buy pumpkins to carve later in the weekend. We specifically had an idea for using a white pumpkin but because we couldn't find any at our grocery store it got dropped of the list. Then that night we attended a Halloween Party hosted in part by my sister-in-law, Bev, where we dressed as Superboy and Wondergirl.

 (You can see how I made our costumes in last week's post.)

Then we spent all day Sunday reliving our childhood, by staying in our PJs and watching old cartoons. Admittedly a lot of the cartoons we ended up with are more from our teen years but that doesn't really matter, we worked with what the library had. We ate cereal, Honey Nut Cheerios and Boo Berry. For lunch we had dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets with mac and cheese. In the evening we had talked about ordering pizza and calling it a slumber party and getting old movies but never decided what movies would be best. So we just kept watching cartoons and ordered chinese instead of pizza because its something we did a lot while we were dating. We also snacked on pizza rolls and Little Debbie cakes at various points of the day. It was pretty awesome.

Gotta Love the Library

Monday we decide to go out and see The Last Witch Hunter because it seemed interesting and has some connections to DnD but also because it was showing at Cinetopia and I wanted a chance to try the Living Room seating. That ended up not working out for us because they lost power just before we arrived to buy tickets. We went to a later showing at Ward Parkway shopping center but had time to kill before the movie started. Since we ended up wandering around in Target for part of that time we bought another couple of Lego Minifigures and some Star Wars Micromachine blind packs. I hope to be able to use the micromachines in a terrarium like those I linked in the last post.

Tuesday was the actual day of our anniversary and we went down to Union Station to see the Da Vinci exhibit. It was very cool. It talks a bunch about his notebooks and the kind of things he drew and studied, how his studies of birds and flight lead to plans for flying machines and that kind of thing. 

Then it has recreations of a bunch of his inventions alongside the sketches from his notebooks. Most of the machines/ inventions can be touch and tried out but not all. At least for my husband and I some of the ones that sounded like the most fun to try were the ones that said Do Not Touch but that's alright. We seemed to be the only ones really interested in playing with the machines anyways. 

 There is everything from models of his plans for diving suits, to simple pulleys, to crazy war machines like the scythed cart.

We didn't get a picture of this one but they had a small scale replica and a full scale model of a different version.

After that there is section discussing his anatomical studies and how it related to his art. Following that there are reproductions of some of his paintings. Several of them discuss how he used the golden ratio in his work. It was really interesting but they didn't have an explanation of what the golden ratio is until the very end. I already knew a bit about it but if you didn't the pictures of the paintings divided up with red lines to show the ratio or spiral don't really mean much. The final little bit talks about some of his less known interests which included cooking, planning theme parties and weddings, and stage production. For an interesting read you can check out Da Vinci's Kitchen which uses notes for parties and grocery lists from his notebooks along with general cooking history to create recipes that Da Vinci may have eaten.

Overall we had a great time and got an awesome photo of me looking much to excited to be in a Da Vinci tank. It was also fun to look at replicas of things that come up in Assassin's Creed like the pyramid shaped parachutes, and they have a kid's room with blocks to build your own ideal city or flying machine. They have a basic paper gyrocopter plus paper and tape with a sort of wind tunnel where you can try it out. 

The final part of our day was supposed to be a nice dinner out but it turns out that my husband broke a tooth over the weekend and was in too much pain so we had dinner at home. I'm appreciate him hanging in as long as he did although I wish he'd agreed to go to the dentist sooner. He had it pulled Wednesday afternoon and is already feeling much better. And as a side note we had the greatest misty fall weather just perfect as far as we were concerned.

Taken using the Instaweather app

Here's to many more great years and fun times!

Geeky Weekend Fun

It has been a really fun weekend for our household, starting with Free Comic Book Day on Saturday, opening of Avenger's: Age of Ultron, and now Star Wars Day. (May the Fourth. . .)

Free Comic Book Day

This is only the second year we've ever been to Free Comic Book Day and we had a great time. I had to work in the afternoon so we had time limit but we actually managed to swing by a couple of locations this year. Our first stop was Pop Culture Comics. It's close to home and they give an extra comic for each food item donated to Harvesters so you can help other and get a stack of books. We arrived shortly after they opened and there was already a line out the door but it moved very quickly. We got in choose our free comics, browsed a bit and made a purchase in around 30 minutes. There were quite a few family with kids there and it was fun to see how excited they were.

Free Comics- Plus Purchased Legend of the Guard Volume 2

Some have different comics on the back side

After that we had some extra time so we stopped at BBop Comics just to see if they had any different titles. We grabbed two more free books and purchased Lady Mechanika which I've looking for since I came acrossed it on Goodreads in 2013 and also a Wonder Woman comic. I was looking for the free Cleopatra in Space and Steampunk Goldilocks but either the were gone before we arrived or neither location had them to begin with, I know titles can vary by location.  Nonetheless we still have an impressive stack of comics to read over the next few day.

Age of Ultron at the Drive-in Movies

While I headed off to work my husband and some friends got together to play Star Wars Imperial Assault. Sunday we got up early to run some errands so the we had the evening free for a trip to the Boulevard drive-in to see Age of Ultron. We love the drive-in and make a point to go at least once every year. (Last year we went 5 times.) It seems like whenever we mention it there are people who didn't realize there were still any drive-ins around so if you've never been to the drive-in here's some reasons you should check it out.

1. The main reason to visit the drive-in is that it's very family friendly. 

Some of the other reasons will expand on this idea but generally its just fun for all ages. You can bring young kids and not have to worry about them crying or talking and disturbing other patrons. We've even seen people who brought the family dog along.

2.  It's cost effective, especially for a family. 

My husband remembers going to the drive-in as a kid because, as one of four at the time its was the only way they could afford to bring the whole family along. Our local movie theater charges $4.40 a person for a Matinee showing and the drive-in is $10 a person for a double feature. So a trip to the drive-in works out to about the same price as two matinees but still at night. If we went to an evening showing at the regular theatre it would cost us $6.40 apiece. Once you start adding in kids the drive-in wins hands down with kids 11 and under free versus $4.40 each at the regular theatre.

Note: This is based on prices for these 2 specific theatres prices in your area may not be the same.

3. You have control of the volume.

My mom constantly holds her fingers in her ears when we go to the regular movies because its to loud at the drive-in you can turn the speaker or radio in your car to whatever volume you want. During Ultron we had the radio up to the point that the floor shook a little if there was an explosion and that was pretty cool. You can even watch with no sound at all and make up your own dialogue. There's a lot of room for personal preference there.

4. You can bring your own food and still get fresh popcorn from concessions.

We have never gone to the drive-in with bringing dinner. For us it's usually a pizza or chinese take-out but any kind of picnic or take-out food would be fair game. There is a no grilling rule at the Boulevard but with a little planning it should be no problem to grab dinner from your favorite barbecue joint on the way over. If you're still hungry or need a drink refill you can go the concession stand for popcorn and other snacks.

Our trip this weekend included pizza and garlic bread, chocolate mini donuts and a bag of candy.

5. You can talk during movie or not.

Half the reason we like drive-in movies is that we can talk about what's happening without disturbing other people. Kids can ask questions without being shushed, babies can cry and you won't be asked to leave. If everyone in the car is like minded you can watch in perfect silence.

6. You can go in your PJs.

While there are some limits based on basic decency the drive-in is very causal. You could dress up for date night or just come in sweatpants. Plus since movies run late you bring the kids in their pjs and be ready for bed as soon as you get home.

7. Added Value from Bonus Activities

This may not be true for all drive-ins but the Boulevard frequently has additional attractions based on the current movies. For example, last summer they had local fire department trucks for Planes: Fire and Rescue and some of the cars from Transformers. The also had a fireworks display before the movies on July 4th.

8. Leg Room

When we go to the movies we back into the space and open up the tailgate. Throw a few cushions in the back and its like being at home stretched on the couch with your feet up. When we have kids we plan to take lawn chairs for us and leave the kids sprawled in the back.

9. You can enjoy the fresh air.

We like being outside and getting fresh air and this is a great way to enjoy the weather on a summer evening.

                      

Weather Before Movies

Weather at Intermission

                                       

10. Festive Atmosphere

Going the drive-in is almost like a big neighbourhood party. Before the movies they have a camera up that surveys the crowd and projects it on the screen. You have people dancing to the music, waving at the camera and just hanging out having a good time. Lots of people, my husband included, have a certain nostalgia for the drive-in and you can kind of sense that feeling from the crowd.

To be fair there are a few downsides to the drive-in movie but in my opinion they are small.

1. Dark Scenes can be hard to see.

Sometimes if a scene is particularly dark it can be hard to see details on the drive-in screen. If I had to guess I'd say it has to do with other lights in the area.

2. Weather Factors

The Boulevard is open rain or shine and with our setup most weather isn't an issue, but high winds, heavy rain or other weather factors can be a problem. For one it decreased visibility somewhat and the wind can sometimes cause issues hearing but you can always turn up the volume.

3. Cash Only

This may not be true for all drive-in theatres but the Boulevard is a cash only business. This is barely worth mentioning as downside. Really not a big deal just takes a moment of pre-planning to stop by the atm or get cash back when we stop to grab dinner.

4. Trains

As you can see from my picture up there our drive-in is very close to train tracks. We usually don't have a problem but sometimes an ill-timed train whistle will cause you to miss bits of dialogue.

Drive-in movies are one of our favorite summer activities so if you've never been or even if its just been a while go check it out. They'll still be showing Age of Ultron next weekend and we know you want to see it more than once.

Star Wars Day

The final part of our weekend is today. (I know not technically part of the weekend but Mondays are my day off.) Because our regular Monday night gaming group is between games at the moment we're taking advantage of the timing to celebrate Star Wars day or May the Fourth Be With You by planning some old Star Wars board games from the 80s. Most of these have seen better days but I know they have all the pieces...even if one of them is a homemade replacement spinner.

Have a Great week and May the Fourth Be With You... Watch out tomorrow for the Revenge of the Fifth.