This is BIG year for me... I went to not 1 but 2 movies in the theaters. I probably haven't done that in over 10 years. Since I was turning 37, I wanted to go see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them -- the latest Harry Potter movie. Danielle and Erin agreed to go with me.
Before I tell you about the movie I, better tell you that we went to the theater by my house which I've not been there since they remodeled it. I will be going to Marcus Valley Grand Cinema for all my future movie outings. They have the Dream Loungers which makes watching a movie so much more comfortable. After further research so does Hollywood Theater and it really depends on which theater your movie is shown in. I think all the theaters need to be upgraded to the Dream Loungers.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was original written as Harry Potter textbook/companion book to the Harry Potter books. J.K. Rowlings turned it into a screenplay set 70 years before Harry was at Hogwarts. Instead of being set in London, it's set in NYC. Newt Scammander comes to America to release on of his beasts in the wilds of Arizona. Before that can even happen, his beasts escape and another terrifying beast is on the loose in the city. He is accused of setting the terrifying beast on the city and is sentenced to death. Without giving too much away, I let you know that the world is righted again and no executions take place.
Besides Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, this has to be my favorite Harry Potter movie and Harry isn't even in it. It was funny yet serious. I laughed out loud at several parts. Besides knowing it was based on the Harry Potter textbook with the same name, I really didn't know much about the movie going into it. I thought it might have followed the Harry Potter books in a way but it really didn't. Even if you didn't read any of the books or see any of the previous movies, you would have been able to follow the plot. It had very few references to the series and made a great stand-alone film. It was much better than expected. I really liked that a Muggle or No-Maj (Non-magic people) had an important part in the movie and that he ended up helping the wizarding world.
My only gripe was that I felt jipped at the end. I felt that it just ended with 2 characters recognizing each other and really should have expanded on that a bit more. A kiss would have been nice. However, I think I'm the only that felt this way. Either way it was a great movie with great characters. This one will be bought for sure.
Now I'm off to find myself of Niffler...
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Asylum Revisited Walking Tour
Back in May, I saw that the History Museum was offering a historical walk on the grounds of the old Outagamie County Asylum. It sounded really interesting. Stacy decided to come up and join me on the walk.
The last walk I signed up for was cancelled because of the weather. I was really hoping this wasn't going to be the case since it was calling to be windy with a chance of flurries. It turned a little wind and snow wasn't going to stop the curator but it did keep some people away.
The walk was interesting but I felt it could have been better. I'm not sure if that was due to the weather or not since it was cold and windy -- making it miserable to stand outside in an open field. Because the actual asylum is no longer standing, we mainly walked around the the fields of where the building stood. Nick, our tour guide, would explain about a portion of the asylum that used to be where we stood and occasionally showed us pictures.
The asylum housed the long term mentally ill who had no chance of being "cured" and released back into society. The asylum had an open door policy where the inmates could come and go as they pleased which would not fly in today's society. Although the actual quarters were not very pleasant, most of the inmates had to help around the asylum either working on the county farm or in the kitchen. Some even took care of other inmates especially since at time they had very few paid employees since working conditions weren't very favorable.
After we walked the grounds of the old asylum, we walked down to the Outagamie County Cemetery where several of the inmates of the asylum was buried. Many of the inmates would be buried back in their home towns but if they had no family left, they would be buried in the plot behind the asylum. Since the graves weren't marked, it made it difficult to find where the actual bodies were buried. However, a group of people from the Outagmie County Cemetery Commission (or something like that) with the help of a Lawrence University Professor and his class, they were able to locate the graves and turn a piece of overgrown land into a proper cemetery.
Despite not actually being able to see the asylum, it was still very interesting to hear how an asylum operated. We were told the History Museum at the Castle just started an exhibit on the Outagmie County Asylum and we should go check it out. If I knew about the exhibit beforehand, Stacy and I might have made plans to check out it. Since the exhibit is open for a while, I may go check it out sometime.
There are several other History Walks around Appleton I'd like to do and hopefully they continue them next year. Since they only cost about $7, it is fun way to learn about the area and get my exercise as well.
The last walk I signed up for was cancelled because of the weather. I was really hoping this wasn't going to be the case since it was calling to be windy with a chance of flurries. It turned a little wind and snow wasn't going to stop the curator but it did keep some people away.
The walk was interesting but I felt it could have been better. I'm not sure if that was due to the weather or not since it was cold and windy -- making it miserable to stand outside in an open field. Because the actual asylum is no longer standing, we mainly walked around the the fields of where the building stood. Nick, our tour guide, would explain about a portion of the asylum that used to be where we stood and occasionally showed us pictures.
The asylum housed the long term mentally ill who had no chance of being "cured" and released back into society. The asylum had an open door policy where the inmates could come and go as they pleased which would not fly in today's society. Although the actual quarters were not very pleasant, most of the inmates had to help around the asylum either working on the county farm or in the kitchen. Some even took care of other inmates especially since at time they had very few paid employees since working conditions weren't very favorable.
After we walked the grounds of the old asylum, we walked down to the Outagamie County Cemetery where several of the inmates of the asylum was buried. Many of the inmates would be buried back in their home towns but if they had no family left, they would be buried in the plot behind the asylum. Since the graves weren't marked, it made it difficult to find where the actual bodies were buried. However, a group of people from the Outagmie County Cemetery Commission (or something like that) with the help of a Lawrence University Professor and his class, they were able to locate the graves and turn a piece of overgrown land into a proper cemetery.
Despite not actually being able to see the asylum, it was still very interesting to hear how an asylum operated. We were told the History Museum at the Castle just started an exhibit on the Outagmie County Asylum and we should go check it out. If I knew about the exhibit beforehand, Stacy and I might have made plans to check out it. Since the exhibit is open for a while, I may go check it out sometime.
There are several other History Walks around Appleton I'd like to do and hopefully they continue them next year. Since they only cost about $7, it is fun way to learn about the area and get my exercise as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)