Snow White and the Huntsman

“...Have you visited the storehouses of the snow
    or seen the storehouses of hail?  

 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble,
    for the day of battle and war.)

Where is the path to the source of light?
    Where is the home of the east wind?..."

~Job 38:22-24 (New Living Translation)

Hello!  When I found this verse, I thought it was very beautiful and relevant to this post.  It's about Snow White.  The newer movie called Snow White and the Huntsman is much darker than the more light-hearted Mirror Mirror.  I enjoyed Mirror Mirror, but I also enjoyed this movie.  You just need the controllers to fast forward past the weird creepy scenes that the evil queen preforms.  Those scenes are unnecessary to the plot and if there were less of them, less critiques would be saying that the evil queen stole the stage of the movie.  Anyway, the reason why I enjoyed this movie a lot is because it shows that Fairy tales aren't just for children.  Tolkien said the same thing.  He himself began to embrace fairy stories more when he grew up than when he was a child (although he somewhat enjoyed them as a child also).

We need fairy stories because of the light it gives us and the hope.  If you have a handy controller to fast forward some of the darkness, you'll see the light better.

My favorite scene was when Snow White awakens.  Then she steps forth to give a beautiful speech that makes me cry.  Her speech is relevant to today.  The light that burns in us.  The embers must turn into fire.  It's very encouraging for Christians, even though the movie is probably not made by Christians.

Fairy tales/stories are about darkness and light, hatred or fear, and love which melts fear.

The story of Snow White is about innocence like snow and the fall of man (the Dwarves in the movie mention something like that. "We pilfer and drink and dream about when we didn't").

I'm still working on the research paper on fairy stories, so if you have any suggestions for books on the subject (like Tolkien's essay On Fairy Stories and critiques of that essay.  I don't know where to find a good analysis of the essay), they are welcome!

By the way...  the dish Ratatouille sounds really good right now.... 

God bless you!

~Emilyn J Wood

 

"Lay Mizz" and Top 3 Movies

"Come, kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is our God.  We are his sheep and he is our Shepherd.  Oh, that you would hear him calling you today and come to him!"
Psalm 95:6-7 (you know, the old paraphrased version that's in black or dark green hardcover and says "The Living Bible" on it with a symbol above that and "Paraphrased" beneath it)


Ever tried a candy cane in a hot drink?  Like tea?  Or like hot chocolate?  Ooh, or sierra mist?  Interesting concept...
Well I'm just about to... there tried a candy cane with hot tea!  Not bad.  I am not speaking of the candy canes with too much food coloring and artificial flavours (Ah, the English way to spell flavour!).  I am talking about the traditional peppermint one red stripe and then three thin red stripes on white.
Working on a research paper on Tolkien and Fairy Stories... writing stories myself, wanting to escape into the pages of Les Miserables (because I am enjoying it so far and I want to escape, not because I am in danger though).
Made cinnamon rolls.  Had a good Christmas.  Got books, saved some money to begin saving up for a harp.  On the first day of the year we saw the movie Les Miserables.  It's a mixed bag.  There's good stuff, and not so good stuff, and stuff you want to close your eyes to, and stuff you really wish wasn't in the movie because it did nothing to advance the plot and wasn't necessary.  Didn't like the constant close-ups.  Very much enjoyed the music.  Did not get tired of it even after two and some hours of it.  Very condensed version of the book.  Liked little Cosette very much.  Acting was good.  I didn't cry though.  It was sad but I didn't cry till afterwards.  It was a delayed reaction. 
I get a lot of delayed reactions.
The title of this post tells you how some people call Les Miserables for short.  In french it is pronounced Lay Mizz-A(like in Lay)-robl (if you can't pronounce the l right don't try to because some people don't say that part).
So far I am enjoying the book better than the movie.  But I did enjoy the movie overall. 

My top movies of 2012:

1.  October Baby

(it wasn't preachy as I thought it was going to be but it held great characters and a great message anyway, and it was funny to make you laugh and it made me cry also so that is one talented movie)

2.  Rise of the Guardians

(the unexpected plot/movie is really about Jack Frost.  The unexpected plot was mysterious and great and made me cry and the animation was beautiful, the night and the moon and the characters, and the characters were three dimension too.  This one is almost tied with the first one because I enjoyed it a lot and it pulled me in, partially because it reminded me of my own characters of my own stories and my own plot.  The only thing that kept it from being number one is that it is a secular movie that doesn't mention Christ around Christmas or Easter.  Even though one could find some symbols of Christianity in there if they looked hard enough, the secularism bothered me just a touch.  But surprisingly there isn't any crude humor in it so that's another plus!  Go see the movie!  It's still in theaters.  Paying four dollars or one won't hurt you.)

3.  Brave (great authentic Scottish accents and the Scotland highlands and a Princess who doesn't want to get married?  Just those things get it on this list.)

I wish I could have seen the adaption of Great Expectations that came out this year with the guy who played the guy in War Horse as Pip.  The trailers made it look like it was well made.  But sadly it is only in the UK right now.  Maybe it will travel to the US... probably not though.  It might have been on my list.  I'd have made the list longer.

I did see the Hobbit Part One and it dragged some for me.  I'll probably like it better the next time I see it, and there were a lot of good scenes in it.  I'll just have to get used to the fact that this is The Hobbit and NOT The Lord of the Rings.  For some reason I felt like it should have the same feel to it as the Lord of the Rings but of course the Hobbit was written for children and the Lord of the Rings was for adults. 

Anyway, what matters is God.  The light.  The hope.  And here is another scripture verse for you as I say good bye. :)

"10The Lord loves those who hate evil; he protects the lives of his people, and rescues them from the wicked.  11Light is sown for the godly and joy for the good.  12May all who are godly be happy in the Lord and crown him, our holy God."
Psalm 97:10-12, same version as the first scripture verse at the top of this post