Divergent (2014)

Title: Divergent

Director: Neil Burger

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet

Rated: PG-13

Released: 2014

Personal Rating: 4.5/6

Oscars: N/A

Plot: In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.
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From Book to Screen
I have read Divergent and so when I saw this movie I couldn't help but compare it to the book. One thing that bothered me was the fact that Peter is actually sort of likable in this movie. In the books there is no doubt that he isn't a good guy (and his arc in Allegiant will mean jack shit if they don't build him up to be a total asshole). I thought that the Tris/Four love story was done well. They at least got it out there though I think it was a little bigger in the book. Only problem with Four/Tobias was that I believe he was revealed to be Divergent earlier. I think double checking these facts is a good reason to re-read the trilogy!

Caleb
Okay, I won't say where his storyline goes for those who haven't read the book but...it's so heartbreaking seeing him on screen. I like how he is portrayed by being the brother who Tris admires. It's great seeing him be an outstanding member of the Abnegation faction and then seeing he wanted to be Erudite all along. The makers of the movie did a good job with this character.

Special Effects
They were good. There are different points in the movie where Tris goes into either her's or Four's fearscape. The fearscape is somewhere you enter by way of a serum and its purpose is for you to face your fears. It's used by Dauntless for their initiation. Besides the fearscape, the testing that Tris goes through in the beginning of the movie another serum is used. I especially liked the testing, though it didn't go down as in the book, since the effects used really contributed to the atmosphere the scene needed.

Final Thoughts
This movie was very enjoyable. The movie does a decent job at explaining the book's material to a theater audience. So if you know nothing about Divergent, when you leave the theater you should understand the world people like me have fallen in love with. If you see the movie and want to read the books I would say that's not a bad call as it will expand your understanding of the world of Divergent. I am probably one of the few hoping that a certain event in Allegiant isn't changed for the movie version. Here's hoping!

Let's Play Dead Space: Extraction (Parts 9 & 10)

I do some extra shooting fun and say good-bye for the evening.

Let's Play Dead Space: Extraction (Parts 6-8)

After many moons I return to the horror.

Shipping Confessions: Sifay (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Among many of the fandoms that I am in, I am a Whedonite. A Whedonite is a fan of Joss Whedon. Whedon recently made The Avengers and his show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which I will call AOS for the remainder of this post) is airing as of this blog post.

AOS takes a look at the S.H.I.E.L.D. members who don't have super powers and is a glimpse into the every day life of an agent. The cast includes Phil Coulson and Melinda May among others. As AOS is still in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), there have been cameos from characters from the films.

The cameos include: Nick Fury, Stan Lee, and Sif.

This will be a first for Shipping Confessions as this pairing has only one episode together. I am hoping that they'll have a chance to be reunited again.

The ship of today's post is between Melinda May and Lady Sif. Someone on Twitter gave me the shipping name of Sifay so thank you very much person whose name I forgot!

Melinda May is a fierce fighter and has earned the nickname of "The Calvary". She doesn't like the nickname used, however.

She's loyal to Coulson but she seems to have other motives for helping him. May does reassure him on numerous accounts and there seems to be a very deep friendship between them, whatever May's ultimate allegiance is. Not necessarily romantic, but like a long-time friendship.

May looks at everything as how useful it will be for a mission and so at one point appears to help Skye get kicked off. However, it's later revealed that May did so so that Skye could work the mission better.

In short: May is someone you would never want to fight against.

Lady Sif is an Asgardian warrior. Besides her cameo appearance in this episode, she has been in both Thor movies. She has also shown herself to be a woman who is also not to be messed with.

In the first Thor movie she, with some other Asgardians, go down to check up on Thor. Yes, she is a love interest for Thor but the guy has his eyes set on the Misgardian (aka human) Jane. So there is a little jealously.

However, she is able to overlook her jealousy and helps Thor escape with Jane in Thor: The Dark World. So it's not like emotional ties would be the end of her. She knows when to let her emotions in and when to keep them out.

In the episode she is in ("Yes Men") she has obviously been hurt by Lorelei in the past, but doesn't let her hatred of the woman make her act foolish or slip in any major way. If Lorelei had thrown some of those burns at me I might've broken.

And the episode "Yes Men" really shows why I like this pairing so much and would love to see Sif appear again so I have more moments to add to this ship.

May and Sif are very much alike and the plot of the episode seems to go out of its way to show that. Even though it might be so that Sif can give useful information, it also gives the viewers a look at how well the two could work together.

Both May and Sif are able to put emotions out of the way when on a mission. Even though their emotions effect them more than they think, both are able to get through the mission of capturing Lorelei without their emotions causing too many problems.

Both May and Sif have lovers that Lorelei has used.

Both May and Sif are loyal to their causes. They are both warriors in their own rights.

There is a scene in "Yes Men" that really highlights the similarities between the two. Sif seems to know that May isn't telling the full truth because looking at the other woman is like looking at herself. There is a sense of bonding between the two throughout the episode and I highly suggest checking out "Yes Men" to see what I'm talking about.

Before I announce the next ship I must remind you why this post isn't as indepth as others: there has only been one episode with the two. While I can start to ship something in one episode, I can't put a lot of things up about it. I am posting this now because I'm unsure if Sif will return or not. And, if she does, I might do a special Shipping Confessions where I put an update about my feelings on Sifay.

What will I talk about in the next Shipping Confessions? A tough human and a sassy wizard ship from The Dresden Files! I will admit I haven't finished Cold Days yet and I tried to do a brief search to see if it's canon now or not. From the brief search it appears not so I'm going forward with that information in mind.

Picture From HERE

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Shipping Confessions Table of Contents

New Steamwork Devonti and Torrent

Ah, the dancing is delightful and new Steamwork pets have been added! Yep, more lovable mechanical pets can be yours to own and treasure.

The Steamwork Devonti seems like it's ready for a fight. It just looks really angry to me and I don't think you should dismiss it. It's metal, it can do serious damage if it wants to.

The Steamwork Torrent has such beautiful eyes. Its blue eyes are just mesmerizing. It looks more playful than scary.

Mean Green Shagging Machine 6

-This is a Mature Story (if in content if not plot)
-It's a The Avengers/Aliens fanfic
-It's a Bruce Banner/The Hulk fanfic

You can read it HERE

Pretty Little Liars (Season 4)

Show: Pretty Little Liars

Season: 4

Episodes: 24

Executive Producer: I. Marlene King

Released: 2013-2014

Rating: 3.5/5

Basic Plot: Four friends band together against an anonymous foe who threatens to reveal their darkest secrets, while unraveling the mystery of the murder of their best friend.
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Dark Plots
This show doesn't go dark like some shows I watch (looking at you, Hannibal) and so saying part of Pretty Little Liars is dark isn't usually saying much. But this season we got a look at Spencer's drug addiction. They did that very well and I was so hoping that Spencer would turn out to have been a murderer. Though I was disappointed by where that plot line went, but I had already guessed the show wouldn't go down that road as it's currently airing on abcFamily, I was delighted by where the Alison plot line ended up by the finale.

Ezra Fitz
I am one of those people that wanted Ezra to be A. As an English Major, it'd delight me to no end to see an English Teacher be a bad person. While you may think us English Majors just quietly read and write, we can be deadly! Anyways...a mystery of this season is if Ezra is A or not. How that mystery is resolved really hits Aria in the guts because she trusted and loved the man. It was really great for Aria to not immediately go back to him and say everything was fine.

Film Noir
There was an episode that was a film noir styled one. The reason in story to do this was that Spencer was hallucinating from taking drugs. The episode was beyond wonderful and the girls all looked great in their outfits. The episode is called "Shadow Play". Even if you're not a fan of the show, that episode is good for the style alone.

Final Thoughts
This season did go darker than previous ones, especially the Season Finale. Caleb ended up leaving the show and went to star on the spin-off show Ravenswood. No, I haven't seen an episode of that show but might in the future. Especially if any of my readers wants to know my opinions on it. There are so many questions at the end of this season that I can't wait until Season 5 starts!