The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

     I'm pretty sure that J.R.R. Tolkien would be spinning in his grave in protest against an elven/dwarven dalliance of the love kind. That sort of thing just isn't done. Elves and dwarves do not fall in love. They are not capable of true attraction to each other. They just don't do that. Hey, Hollywood, you fecked that up rather badly. Fortunately, the love affair between the elven maiden dressed in green [with red hair] and the dwarven male was short-lived.

     Other than the stupidest idea going regarding inserting romance into an otherwise pretty cool movie, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was worth viewing. I like special effects and there were lots of those in this movie. Smaug is totally awesome and his flying around and voice were both spectacular. I think Orlando Bloom is one of the hottest looking actors going these days-- total eye candy-- and his presence heated up the screen.

sapphoq reviews says: If you like the other hobbit movies, then you will like this one too. Highly recommended except for the elf/dwarf love thing.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

N.B.: http://www.thehobbit.com/ is the website to check out for the names of the actors and actresses and other stuff if you want to.

I went to the movies recently-- which was a costly but fun treat-- with my mate who was determined to see the second Hobbit movie. The exact title is The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. We did use the 3D glasses but both of us declined to sit in the special moving movie theater seats which apparently is all the rage. I sat in the demo seat later and quickly determined that it was not thrilling.

I like special effects in movies. I always have. Things that go boom or hiss or slither or explode-- I'm for all of that. There was plenty of that in the movie. My favorite character was Smaug the Dragon who was played by a guy named Benedict Cumberbatch. His voice was perfect for the role. The dragon himself slithered around in a most satisfying way. That combined with the voice produced a rather creepy effect. Smaug was worth the admission price of the movie.

The other thing I really liked was the village set on water. I think I would like to live in such a village of little houses surrounded by water and having to use boats to get around. Here I am not thinking of Venice and the canals (although canals also fascinate me). I am thinking more of houses connected by ramps and footbridges out in the midst of a large lake in the wilds somewhere.

The funniest part of the movie for me was the escape scene featuring the dwarves and some barrels and a river. It was thrilling and slapstick at the same time. 

As in the first movie, this one had its' share of eye candy. Elves are beautiful creatures in particular. There were no sex scenes. But the elves were classy fantasy material, even with their pointy Spock ears.

sapphoq reviews says: Reading the Tolkien books helps in understanding the intricacies of the Hobbit movies. For those who love fantasy and beautiful movie sets, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will fill the bill. Highly recommended. And yes, my dear Noodle K., endorsed for the eye candy!

*potentially triggering* *WWASPS* Come Back by Claire Fontaine and Mia Fontaine

If you are a survivor of a WWASPS teen industry facility or other abusive place please please please ~ STOP ~ and ask yourself if you want to read this particular book review.  Mia Fountaine was placed in Morava in the Czech Republic and then at Spring Creek Lodge once Morava was closed.  The book Come Back glorifies WWASPS, its' staff, its' methods, and its' programs.  You may not want to read this review.  If you find it too triggering, please x out this page.  I care about you and you have gone through way too much already in the troubled teen industry. 

Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back, Claire Fontaine and Mia Fontaine.  New York: HarperCollins e-books, 2006.  e-book, 332 pps.

Sigh.  It had to happen I suppose.  A whole book justifying some of the abuses inherent in the WWASPS ways of doing things,

     [ http://radicalsapphoq.blogspot.com/2012/12/w.html 
       for a brief history and timeline if you are unfamiliar                  
      with WWASPS.  A search engine will reveal quite a
      bit more on many many other sites maintained by survivors]. 

embracing the alternative history that WWASPS provides to its' adherents, singing the praises of the troubled teen industry that is at the core of WWASPS and Spring Creek Lodge and Morava [or whatever they are calling themselves these days].  The Pullin brothers appeared in the same sentence as the word "love."  Just one example of the Fontaine team buying into WWASPS.  Geez.
One thing that has not changed its' name is The Hobbit.  The Hobbit is a tiny building to which a recalcitrant teen is brought for an unspecified period of isolation.  It is punishment.  Justifying its' use by the sentiment that the particular teen housed in there doesn't know that she can change and she has the tools to do so is sickening.  It repulsed me.  The images of a teen banging on a glass window, screaming and crying.  Yeah.  By all reports, The Hobbit continues to exist at Spring Creek Lodge [or whatever its' current name is these days... keeping track of all of the name changes induces vertigo].

This is The Hobbit.  A small room where a teen was placed into forced isolation.  The shelf is actually a "bed."  The walls and floors have been described as "disgusting" and full of feces and urine.  A Focus On: Spring Creek Lodge has now been published at: http://radicalsapphoq.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwasps-focus-on-spring-creek-lodge.html.  Picture was taken from: http://wwaspsurvivors.com/wp-content/gallery/spring-creek/307893_857215012653_57202884_38839285_1862728866_n.jpg . 

The description of a "Discovery Seminar" courtesy of David Gilcrease and company, at the time of the book-writing called Resource Realizations, Inc., was also nauseating to me.  In other places on the web, Gilcrease has been described by survivors as being a cult-like figure, greasy, and creepy.  I can't vouch for any of that since I have never met the man.  Certainly, the description of a few things that went on in Claire and Mia's seminars lend credence to the idea that the seminars are pseudo-pop-psychology at best and dangerous to the unhinged at worse.

I could go on.  The Fontaines wax eloquently over Morava-- the "school" in the Czech Republic that got shut down-- and what a shame that a couple of kids who lied about being abused there were able to get the place shut down.  The description of the food did in my sensitive stomach.  The descriptions of the rest The acceptance of the culture at Morava was enough to leave me gasping for air.
Morava was the first place that Mia did time in.  She was quickly transferred to Spring Creek Lodge when Morava closed and the beat went on. 

sapphoq reviews says:  Yeah, while the writing style of mother and daughter displayed native talent, Come Back is a relatively useless dual-memoir.  This book adds nothing to the debate on the troubling troubled teen industry.  Survivors of WWASPS and other places would do well to skip this particular piece of propaganda [unless they are in a place with their recovery where reading this trite garbage might encourage them to continue to educate the masses about what life was/is really like in a WWASPS facility].  Others would do well to read Maia Szalavitz instead.  Again, parents for crying out loud, please do your own research before agreeing to sign your teen up for a stint at any of the Mormon gulags that is WWASPS.  Or any other behavioral treatment facility, troubled teen facility, residential facility, rape and death camp.
Totally and emphatically not recommended.

Morava was closed.  The folks running it never answered in a court of any law to any of the abuses that [legal word: allegedly] occurred there.
Spring Creek Lodge is reportedly closed and the facility in Montana has been sold.

[legal crap: The opinions expressed here are mine. I could be wrong.  But at least no teens were raped, beaten, or killed in the manufacture of this review.  Which makes this blog post much safer than time spent by a teen at Spring Creek Lodge.  Just saying].