Divergent - Film Review

Very often, we see movies before we read the books. This was reversed when I read the Harry Potter series, as I read all of the books THEN watched the films as I grew up. When I ventured into seeing the movie Divergent by myself one late winter night (this was around a month ago - old story) I wasn't too sure what to expect, due to me seeing the movie before the novel.

Please note - I kept spoilers at a minimum today for your sake, just go see this movie!

One of the many posters. Used from Summit (Owners).

After seeing the film in all of it's post-apocalyptic/future glory, I now understand why A) People see movies sometimes before reading the novel, and B) Why Divergent is so successful as a film AND novel.

I really, really enjoyed the film. As a 19 year-old, I had a lot in common with the main protagonist, who was going through a some-what identify crisis, and is eventually literally thrusted out of her home into a new life of adulthood and humanity. The film works on many unique and interesting ideas of humanity, while maintaining an atmosphere both pleasing to the viewer, and keeps them on their toes. I felt a real connection to the actress Shailen Woodley (Main character). She continues her journey through life, unsure, yet wants to keep going forward. Honestly, she's VERY good looking, but she did an excellent job acting as well. The audience really connects with her character and I can feel the connection with her character and the events in the story.

Overall, I highly recommend the movie, and LOVED Shailen in the film. I am excited to read the book now due to me having the connection with the characters, and having an easier visualization of the world. Sometimes, this can damage a connection with a book, but in this case, I think it is going to assist due to the movie being so well thought-out and done. Overall, I feel a 9/10 for this film *personally!

My Generation and the Future

In the end, I am both nervous as well as excited. My generation in the future will have many serious challenges to face, yet also many wonderful and exciting things as well! Here are some personal thoughts about the cons and pros (save the best for last!) about my generation and our future! Please note, I am not a scientist and the following are just opinions. I was just bored and wanted something to do...

Negative Future

• Environment: Devastation of forests, greenhouse gasses, pollution, toxic chemicals, etc... contribute negatively to the world
• Privacy: Computers and social connections, government internet tracking and more in such a digitalized world will privacy almost instinct!
• Handwriting extinct: The skills of handwriting is sadly a dying art as phones, computers and other technologies take over our lives. Now we must only speak and technology such as Apple's Siri can write for us.
• Social skills: Less physical interaction with people can take away social skills and even produce more anxiety and depression due to isolation.
• Healthcare crisis: The baby boomers will be reaching the age where heal care is needed in daily life. The Canadian healthcare system is already stressed without a generation of boomers to worry about

Positive Future

• Improved medicine/ technology in healthcare: Possible lengthened lifespan from new medicine and medical practices
• More green energy development: Hopefully, the world will move towards a higher usage of renewable energies such as wind and solar
• Space: Development of the commercial and private sectors will make space travel available to a higher number of people than ever before
• Transportation: Easier means of transportation. From new, more efficient cars to better aircraft and cleaner boats
• Politics: Possible that our generation is a lot more proactive and accepting than generations before

Disney's Frozen

The Digital Cast of Frozen. (From: Disney)

One of the most talked about and popular movies amongst my age group at the moment remains to be the Disney movie 'Frozen'. While it has been out since late 2013 and is soon to be released on Blue Ray, DVD, etc... The film continues to capture the hearts of kids, teenagers and young adults everywhere. Possibly the most notable impact is amongst young women due to the general idea of sisterhood, being yourself and growing up. However it also had a large effect for those around my generation that were raised with the magic of Disney movies, and continue to look forward for more heartwarming productions from the studio. Today, I am going to go over what made it special for me (both as a person and as a guy) and explain why I actually liked the film.

Besides the fact that most of my friends, both male and female like the film, I wasn't really interested in the trailers and what-not. I was skeptical and didn't necessarily have high hopes for the film. That's how I was, well, until after I saw it. From the fun references to other classic childhood disney movies to the beautiful soundtrack and Oscar winning song "Let It Go", the movie was a refreshing move from Disney.

---Spoiler Warning(s)! You have been warned! ---

All of us young adults, male, female, black, white, purple, young, old, short, tall, straight, gay, fit, fat, etc... We all are different people with our own unique gifts. That is what makes the world such a wonderful place. Elsa, the older sister in the movie, has special ice powers (that through a series of events and an accident regarding her "normal" sister, Anna) is forced to hide her powers from everyone else and make sure she controls and assimilates herself to be a "perfect queen" for her kingdom. Eventually when they grow up, her power overwhelms her and accidentally shows her powers off in front of everyone. This forces her to flee her home and become an exile in the tall, lonely mountains. While being exiled, Elsa discovers that she could now be herself, release anything holding her back from being not herself and learning to "Let It Go" (As one can possibly tell, this is where the famous song comes in with a very epic feeling to it). This is a very iconic moment and pivotal part in the story. This gives a real personal view with the themes of "staying true to yourself" and "Love yourself". Many, many young adults have these pressures in the real world today. From social media, family issues to body image, youth today are continuously assaulted with images and thoughts of the ideal person. Filled with fear and regret, many people never stay true to themselves and learn to resent their natural gifts. they hold themselves hostage within their own body. Not until they let it out, and learn to take their fear and societal conventions and "Let It Go", will they learn of true happiness and joy.

The next most iconic part of the film was that Disney actually did something new! Yes, they actually added a twist to this film! While just like other Disney stories such as Cinderella , there is a love interest involved. Anna, looking for her sister, accidentally has her heart "Frozen" (movie title!) by her sister's fear. While only true love can save her, another protagonist, tries to save her with his love for her, but surprisingly he is too late and to the viewers sadness, Anna is Frozen forever, that is, until a love even more powerful appears. Elsa cries for her fallen sister and gives her a warm hug, in term de-frosting her and saving the day. For once, the "stereotypical prince" didn't save the day but instead, the love of two sisters.

In the end, Frozen is a well produced, marketed and overall great joy to have experienced. While ending it perfectly, I was satisfied, among millions of others with it's loveable characters, themes and story. I am no longer skeptical, and have learned to keep an open mind! All of us have been reminded the important lesson of taking our fears and the past, and learning to let it go.

First time at Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

The other day, I was invited by my friend Kyle to his mixed martial arts club called "Empire MMA". While being a little nervous, I decided to accept his invitation to this new adventure.

As I stepped into the building, I was greeted by a tough, heavily tattooed man, yet he had an honest smile as he greeted all kids, teens and adults to the class. As I met up with my friend Kyle, the class began. I was surprised to see around thirty people already doing some kind of wrestling in the ring. They were all seniors practicing Jui-jit-sui.  As the seniors cleared out and we and our fellow beginners entered, our class began our intense warm up, and then proceeded to Muay Thai, otherwise known as traditional "kick boxing". 

Kyle was an excellent peer, as well as teacher. As the entire class practice it's movements and tactics, Kyle and I went over every single detail and scenario, he taught me both persuasion and form. The next few days that proceeded were full of body pains from stretched muscles that I never knew I had! It was a very positive experience for me, and just goes to show what fun can be had when you are spontaneous and try new things.

Growing Up, Differently? ~ Haiku Poem

Creative dreamer

Falling leaves landing softly

Not easy nor hard

~H

Winter Olympics Sochi 2014

While it is outdated now with them long over, I still wanted to post this (I have been too busy).

Putting all of the politics and problems aside, I [was] very excited about the olympics in Sochi this year!  As Canadians, we own the slopes and rinks when it comes to the Winter Olympics. "We are Winter" as the company 'Sports Check' says!

I was very excited to see the skaters this year due to Alex and Mitch from Barrie Ontario going to the olympics. I know them, and know that they have worked their butts off (like everyone else there) to get where they are. Both of the hockey teams did excellent getting gold, and every other athlete from Canada did amazing as well.

While I am going to cut this post short due to it being so late, I just wanted to share my feelings of pride and joy to each and every one of our athletes, for they both inspire and dream beyond most others. Thank you, and see you all in Korea, as well as the Paralympic athletes in the weeks to come!

First Rink Shoot

Yesterday, I woke up bright and early before College and joined the AMAZING skaters at Mariposa. I know a few of them, and they said that they would be delighted to help out with my personal portfolio (and they knew they could get some cool shots too!).

The shoot started out with a very warm welcome from all the skaters on the ice. From young to old, their spirit was absolutely breathtaking, as they both trained, yet  played hard as well. They glided across the ice just like birds on a warm summer's day.

They were all excellent, and very photogenic. Camera wise, the rink is a mess trying to get a decent shot. The lighting is horrible and skaters move very fast, which is a terrible combination for photos. As I described to the skaters about the situation, they seemed surprised how hard it was. They pointed to the lights above and said that it was very bring in the rink. That maybe so to the human eye, but not to an SLR camera. Since the skaters were moving so fast, I had to change the shutter speed so it was going very fast (around 1/500 of a second) But since the shutter was moving faster (so they wouldn't be blurry) there was less light coming into the lens, so I had to raise the ISO (the sensitivity of the camera in regards to light), however, a greater ISO means more fuzziness, so I needed to find the right balance (which turned out to be a shutter speed of 1/500 and an ISO of around 800). I shot in both JPEG and RAW formats, so it would be easier to edit most shots.

 After just over an hour of fun, I believed I got my shots. I still cannot believe that such an amazing place is so near, yet I never spent time at the rink. A small yet important lesson learned.

In the end, the shots turned out, and many friends were made. I spent an hour or two fixing the salvageable shots up and uploaded them to Facebook for the skaters and my website. I learned that RAW makes it so I don't have to worry 'too' much about the lighting in the rink, however, I learned a lot in regards to both the camera (and different lenses and filters I used) as well as the social and editing aspects of photography.

I can't wait for next time!


All of the new photos can be found at http://www.henrybailliebrown.com/sports.html

An amazing practice.