Friday, April 11, 2014

Retro A to Z Challenge: J – John Carter 2012 (and new How to Train Your Dragon Trailer and George RR Martin Killing Characters)

John Carter – 2012

Loosely based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Princess of Mars, this film was supposed to launch a new epic series. A perfect blend of space opera, Western, and pulp fiction, the movie follows Carter as he is transported to Mars (Barsoom) and thrust in the middle of a war. Despite Disney’s mishandling of the marketing, this is fun and adventurous romp that deserved better. Although the material is now almost a hundred years old, it still feels fresh.

2012 fun facts –
*Cost of new house - $263,000.
*Cost of a movie ticket - $8.20
*The Curiosity Rover landed on Mars
*Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour de France
*The LA Kings won their first Stanley Cup
*Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier in a free fall from space
*CassaFire was released!

Movies –
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Avengers
The Dark Knight Rises
The Amazing Spiderman

Music –
Rush – Clockwork Angels
Kamelot – Silverthorn
Testament – Dark Roots of the Earth

Games –
Diablo III
Torchlight II

And why is 2012 so special?
It’s the year Laura at My Baffling Brain started writing – and she hasn’t stopped since!

Laura lives in England and has a Masters Degree in Creative writing. She’s fun, enthusiastic, and very appreciative of this online community. She’s also a real goal-setter and a sweet girl. She’ll go far! Laura blogs at My Baffling Brain


Ninja News

Available today – Meilin and the Challenger by Cate Masters! A futuristic fairy tale/urban fantasy with zombies.


Nigel Mitchell posted the funniest George R R Martin jokes yesterday. So if you like this one, head over to see the rest of them.

Justified

This series started a couple years ago and is based on books by Elmore Leonard.
It follows a US Marshal, played perfectly by Timothy Olyphant, who is reassigned to his Kentucky hometown. There he has to deal with feuding clans, white supremacists, and his old friend Boyd Crowder. (Who's definitely on the wrong side of the law.)
The show crackles with great writing, crazy characters, and a cool as heck hero. It’s in its final season, but you can catch the first four on NetFlix.
Highly recommended!

Latest Trailer

And for your enjoyment, the latest trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2:



Have you seen John Carter or read the Barsoom books? Following the delightful Laura? Need a good laugh? Fan of Justified? Excited for How to Train Your Dragon 2? And what do you remember best about 2012…?

Seeing Rio 2 (the stupid bird movie) tonight, so look for review tomorrow…

132 comments:

L.G. Keltner said...

I enjoyed John Carter, and the Curiosity Rover landing on Mars was a huge deal for me. I watched the footage as it set down.

Yay for Laura! She is definitely a blogger worth highlighting!

Elephant's Child said...

Loved the George Double R Twitter joke. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Great recap. I haven't watched/heard of some of these, but I still see this stuff as recent.

Trisha said...

I haven't seen Justified but I've heard good things about it!

In Australia back in 2012, I'm pretty sure our movie tickets were at least $17.50 AUD. Now they're closer to $20 in most places. Luckily I belong to a "rewards" club that does one $10 movie a week. So I limit myself to seeing movies that go down to that amount.

Suzanne Furness said...

2012 was a good year for you and CassaFire. Love Laura's blog, definitely one of my blogger buddies.

Empty Nest Insider said...

I love Justified! It's had some of the best guest stars throughout the years. Ma was one of my favorites. I'm sad that it's ending in 2015. I look forward to meeting Laura!

Julie

Michelle Wallace said...

Gosh, I'm trying to remember something significant from 2012... the brain's a bit blank...
I'm not sure if I've visited Laura yet... off to check it out---

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Alex .. I must on over to meet up with Laura - she sounds as though she knows her stuff.

Yea for Cassa Star - it's such a good read.. I did see one of your movies - The Hobbit!

Then 2012 - you forgot the British Olympics and the ParaOlympics .. and Bradley Wiggins won gold there too - pretty amazing cyclist.

Cheers Hilary

Rhonda Albom said...

Yay for the release of Cassa Fire. I never heard of John Carter, but we were on the go most of 2012, so we would have missed a lot of movie releases. Sometimes I forgot how cheap movies a still are in the states.

PS: The video won't play here

Anonymous said...

Must be good for Laura to have a degree in creative writing, I have a baffling brain......but no degree.
What I remember about 2012 apart from the Olympic Games I MET ARLEE BIRD IN LA. who can better that?
Yvonne.

Anonymous said...

I had no idea Justified was based on a book. I'll have to tell my hubby. It's one of his favorite shows. Just told him…he said the author recently passed away. Sad.

Elsie
AJ's wHooligan in the A-Z Challenge

Cathrina Constantine said...

I did see the movie John Carter, yet didn't know it was supposed to be a series. It didn't do well. I read your books out of order, first CassaFire, CassaStorm now I have to read CassaStar. The video for How To Train Your Dragon didn't work for me It says video was removed by user...just saying...

Miranda Hardy said...

I really enjoyed John Carter, and wished it would have done better at the theater. Talk about marketing fail.

RaveAir said...

I hadn't got any expectations towards the John Carter movie and I hadn't read any of the books (yet), so the movie was a very pleasant suprise to me.

Jemi Fraser said...

I've never even heard of John Carter - they must have really messed up their marketing campaign!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

LG, John Carter was so underrated.

Trisha, that's expensive!

Julie, it's an awesome show!

Hilary, Wiggins had a good year.

Rhonda, sorry the video won't play.

Elsie, that is sad.

Cathrina, I appreciate you reading them! Will check on the video...

Miranda, I know - there were supposed to be more movies.

Unknown said...

Hope you're having a blast with A to Z! Love the fun facts aspect. :)

SittieCates said...

I didn't watch John Carter. I know I should. I must! :-) I love Disney films. And I know that if it's from Disney, it's definitely good.

Kirsten said...

In 2012 I started the Second revision of my novel. Now I'm thinking of doing a third! Ack!
On the plus side, I wrote the first book of my trilogy. :)
I've heard mixed reviews about John Carter, but sometimes I don't know who to believe. I think I'll check it out.

Frankie Miller said...

I've just joined Laura's blog. Thanks for that one, Alex.
Enjoyed the Twitter joke - that reminds me - I must activate my account!
I'd like to see 'Justified', but I'll probably wait until it's on a channel here.
Still trying to pull myself together after yesterday, ha!

Julie Flanders said...

I'd seen that Martin joke before and it cracked me up. Enjoyed the Justified season finale this week - loved how they set up next year's final one.

Luanne G. Smith said...

2012 was a good year for movies. I think I may have seen all of those. :)

Juliana Haygert said...

Lots of great movies in 2012.
I can't wait for How to Train your Dragon 2! The kid has been watching the mini-series and it's good too :)

Rachna Chhabria said...

There were some awesome movies in 2012, I remember The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman movies being the craze here.

Bob/Sally said...

It's a shame Disney couldn't have marketed that better - John Carter really had the makings of an exciting franchise.

Unknown said...

Mama always said, Stupid bird movie is as stupid bird movie does.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

We were scared off watching John Carter at the time because of the reviews. Might be worth a Netflix viewing, though!

My husband loves George R.R. Martin jokes. :) Will be sending this along (he's afraid that George's next book will come along long after our demise!)

Mason Canyon said...

I haven't seen John Carter, but the movie trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2 makes me want to see it. Looking forward to your thoughts on Rio 2.

Charles Gramlich said...

I was so hoping for a success for John Carter, both because I love the material itself, and because I hoped it would give a jumpstart to the genre my own Talera books are in.

mshatch said...

I love Justified :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Kirsten, watch it for yourself and decide.

Fanny, hope it was a fun day!

Bob, it sure did.

David, that made me chuckle.

Charles, as a fellow writer of the space opera style, I wish it had done better as well.

Bish Denham said...

I have John Carter on my Netflix list. Those Mars stories were the very first SciFi books I ever read.

And I've totally enjoyed Justified -though I'm not sure that's the right word as the series is so... intense.

Christine Rains said...

I've know I've seen John Carter but I don't remember too much of it. I need to catch Gravity this weekend! Those were hilarious jokes at Nigel's blog. :) Have a great weekend.

Unknown said...

Never saw John Carter. :(

Good funny about Mr. Martin. Had me giggling today!

Timothy Olyphant ... Mmmmmmmm delish much?!? Fell in love with him in Deadwood. Now THAT was a good series!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I liked John Carter.

Can't wait for How to Train your Dragon 2!

Heather M. Gardner said...

I haven't seen John Carter. You're the first person to tell me it was good. Now, I will have to watch it.

We wanted to watch Justified but we missed out. Will have to go back. Loved Tim and Ian in Deadwood.

I will wait to watch the trailer with the 8yr old. He can't wait to see this.

Gonna try to catch the Captain this weekend!
HMG

Brian Miller said...

what a great year for superhero movies....i never saw john carter....though i read the comic book growing up...i need to check it out...

Jo said...

I watched Felix Baumgartner. The ascent was incredibly boring, but the descent was really exciting. Of course I read Cassa Fire as well.

Not seen any of the movies.

That TV show sounds like one I would enjoy, will check it out although I don't have Netflix tried it once and they didn't have much I liked.

Leovi said...

Yes, Rush wonderful, I love it!

S. L. Hennessy said...

I'm a big fan of Laura's blog. And I loved having the Avengers and Dark Knight Rises all in the same year.

Bevimus said...

I still haven't seen John Carter, but I enjoy Laura's blogging styles regularly!

Congrats to Cate!

That Martin gif is hysterical- I will have to check out Nigel's site when April is over.

Oh no! Justified is in its last season? *sad face* We only watched seasons 1-3 thus far but I enjoyed them a great deal and I'll be sad to see the show go.

And I am super excited to see HtTYD2- I loved the first one!

Kim Van Sickler said...

I remember hearing what a bust John Carter was--biggest flop of the year--things like that. But you never know. Seems like it could be ripe for a cult following. Who would ever have thought Rocky Horror would be as successful as it is?

Kristin Smith said...

Oh! So excited for How to Train Your Dragon 2!! The trailer looks AWESOME! Love that he "finds" his mother!

2012--Gosh, it wasn't that long ago, but I can't remember anything...Oh wait, we moved in 2012 (only 20 minutes from where we lived before, but we might as well have moved across the country!)

River Fairchild said...

I've never heard of John Carter. Must fix that. And the Martin Twitter joke is hilarious...and true!

Sherry Ellis said...

Laura is a really nice person!

How to Train Your Dragon is probably a movie my kids would like to see. We're going to see Rio 2 today.

RaShelle Workman said...

I am sooooo excited for How to Train Your Dragon 2. You rock, Alex!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Bish, you will enjoy it!

Heather, go see the movie!!

Jo, appreciate that you read it.

Beverly, sadly it will end soon.

Kim, I still don't know why.

Sherry, good luck with the stupid bird movie - we'll compare notes tomorrow.

RaShelle, you rock!

Tyrean Martinson said...

John Carter was fun entertainment, and I started reading the book and then stopped. Maybe I'll pick it up again today. Loved the funny about R.R. Martin. Definitely looking forward to How to Train Your Dragon 2.
And huzzah for Laura!!! Love her enthusiasm!

Andrew Leon said...

Justified is the best show ever.

Rusty Carl said...

So much going on! John Carter was a good movie. Still stunned at the flack it received. Not fair at all.

I have much to check out.

Tony Laplume said...

I love John Carter with a passion, but in hindsight I think someone involved ought to admit it was probably wildly hopeful to expect it to become the next great movie franchise. And I suppose I can admit the same about Green Lantern at this point.

While critics have tended to downgrade The Dark Knight Rises, I love it more and more.

I've only caught bits and pieces of Justified, but it's a series I'd love to catch up on at some point. Lots of Boomtown alum involved. (And I love me Boomtown.)

Jennifer Hawes said...

I loved the new take on Spiderman. Probably because of the amount of parkour involved! Can't wait for the second, How to Train Your Dragon.

cleemckenzie said...

I love How to Train Your Dragon. Have really enjoyed Laura's posts!

Crystal Collier said...

Yay for Laura!

I liked John Carter and was kind of bummed it didn't do better, but I am SO stoked for How to Train Your Dragon 2. #1 is a classic in our home, right along with Megamind.

Birgit said...

I still have to see John Carter. It got blasted by the critics and bombed at the box office but I don't trust either until I see the movie. saw all the other films except the new Spiderman-I love Tobey McGuire but I should give this one a chance. 2012is a reawakening-my spouse and I weathered the storms (illness, my mom) and we rose from the ashes like a phoenix feeling brighter and lighter. Amazing with the costs of houses now as compared to the early 80's-I think it went nutty

Huntress said...

Another post chock-full of info.

I could watch The Avengers over and over. Love those Marvel characters. All of them.

Justified. Writers should watch every episode. It a great example of Show vs Tell done right. So amazed by this series. It has one season left starting next January.

If I had to chose between Justified and Walking Dead, I don't know what I'd do. Good thing I don't need to worry about that.

Arlee Bird said...

Still haven't seen John Carter and after what I've read about it in various places I'm not sure that I care that much. I think it's on my Netflix queue though.

Lee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Rusty, it wasn't fair. Could've been a huge franchise.

Tony, I knew Green Lantern wasn't great, but I still enjoyed it. Would've been nice if the Barsoom series had become the next big science fiction epic.

Birgit, that's called extreme inflation.

Huntress, Justified is brilliant writing.

Robin said...

I really enjoyed the John Carter movie. And you are right... the marketing department really fell down with that one.

I have the first three seasons of Justified on DVD, but have only watched the first two thus far. It is a great show!!!! I didn't know it was in its final season... boo.

That George R.R. Martin graphic was hilarious. For the record, Eric Kripke is also notorious for killing off his main characters. He wrote the show Supernatural (still on, but he has stepped back) and now writes Revolution.

Robbie Walters said...

I thought John Carter could have been better. I think Disney put too much cutesyness (is that a word) into at times. The marketing was almost nonexistent. A surprisingly bad move by Disney.

On another note;

DRAGONS!!! Can't wait for this one.

Maurice Mitchell said...

The year Batman ended and Spider-Man began. I didn't like John Carter at all, mainly because I'ma huge fan of the books. Thanks for linking to Nigel!

SK Anthony said...

Liked them all: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises,The Amazing Spiderman. Not sure about favorite but this spiderman is at the bottom of this list for me lol

Aww Laura started writing this year, yay for her ;)

George R.R. Martin joke...hahhahahah LOVE it!

Nicki Elson said...

Thanks for the reminder that John Carter exists -- I want to see that.

Hope Laura enjoys everywhere her writing adventure takes her.

Susan Kane said...

So looking forward to How to train your dragon, 2.

We read the Burrough's books, re-read them. While the Carter movie was ripped, we enjoyed it. Go figure.

David P. King said...

That trailer just made my day (a little surprised they used the same song used in the Owls of Ga'hoole trailer). I'm glad the world didn't end that year. :)

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Disney blew the marketing: they should have gone with Burroughs' original title - A PRINCESS OF MARS (exotic and teasing0

Like you, Alex, I enjoyed the film, and I read all the Barsoom novels which starred John Carter.

Thanks so much for revealing the new HOW TO TRAIN A DRAGON 2 review. It looks amazing and fun. But if any of the characters or draqons die, I'm gonna sniffle!

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

The release of CassaFire certainly makes 2012 an important year! Really am enjoying the events list. Thanks for making such a fun blog!

ilima said...

I wrote REMAKE and signed with my agent in 2012, so a great year for me writing-wise. I can't WAIT for Amazing Spiderman 2!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Robin, I wonder how many have died in Revolution?

Maurice, those Martin graphics were hilarious.

Susan, yeah! Go figure.

Roland, the name of the actual book would've been far better.

Mary, glad you're enjoying them!

Cate Masters said...

Can't wait for How to Train Your Dragon 2! I love it as much as the grandboys.
Thanks so much for the shout out, Alex! And for the good wishes, Beverly.

Laura Clipson said...

Alex, you've made my day! Thank you so much for featuring me today, it was totally unexpected!

Chrys Fey said...

John Carter had great visuals.

Yay for CassaFire's release!!!! :D

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Need to see john carter. Love the Hobbit.

Mark said...

Luv the George R. R. Martin pic! I saw him in person once, and he is a bit old fashioned, but man, still so cool. Also, a real nice guy...despite what he does to his characters:)

D.G. Hudson said...

Recently watched John Carter, and I liked it, especially the ability to jump about. Wish we could do that here. Hubs liked it, sometimes fromage is fun to watch. . .or at least digestible.
A true scifi fan likes the story, so says I.



msmariah said...

Great post Alex! I personally really enjoyed 'John Carter.' I just think they should have marketed it differently. It could have been better, but it was a decent film. It's the true predecessor of 'Avatar.' James Cameron took a lot from these books.

Unknown said...

My manly man watches Justified- It's an ok show. He read John Carter- but I watched the newer movie- it was so-so- lol.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tip on John Carter, I have never heard of it even. I have seen Justified but only the first season. I thought it was just ok and these days I am enjoying other shows (mostly Scify) too much. 2012 was the year my son visited Norway for the first time :)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tip on John Carter, I have never heard of it even. I have seen Justified but only the first season. I thought it was just ok and these days I am enjoying other shows (mostly Scify) too much. 2012 was the year my son visited Norway for the first time :)

klahanie said...

Hey Alex,

First of all, a number of us want to know how you manage to comment on our sites just as the posts get published. Other than clones, what would be your answer?

Moving on, if Laura lives in England that's good enough for me. Never heard of John Carter. I always need a good laugh. I train my own dragon, thank you very much.

Where do you find the time to see a movie?

Yes, questions, questions....

Enjoy your half a weekend. Evidently, you get Sundays of for good behaviour.

Gary :)

Karen M. Peterson said...

I'm almost done with the second Game of Thrones book and I'm very distressed because I keep hearing that EVERYONE DIES and it's freaking me out.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

I love Justified. I wish I could meet the writers and thank them for such great dialogue. Raylan and Boyd are such great characters.

Liz Blocker said...

I haven't seen John Carter. The marketing was so awful, I didn't want to! But I'll reconsider now :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Cate, you're welcome!

Laura, I'm glad - happy to feature you.

Mark, as long as he doesn't kill real people...

DG, I agree.

MsMariah, yes he did.

Gary, because I am always lurking. (And always refreshing my Feedly reader.) Have to make time for movies!

Karen, you'll be more freaked when it happens.

Kyra Lennon said...

I love Laura Clipson - she's a great girl! :D

Carrie-Anne said...

I love the George R.R. Martin joke. I can't imagine the kind of emotional fortitude, or complete emotional detachment, it takes to off so many characters so regularly.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi, ALex...

Laura is a SWEETIE!

Really looking forward to seeing HTTYD2. The first was a wonderful movie. I just hope the second on is as good!

Rio 2... hmmm. I'll have to see what you think tomorrow.

randi lee said...

Hi Alex! I never watched John Carter, but now I'm wildly curious and might just have to pull it up on Amazon On Demand. I'm a huge Avengers and Dark Knight Rises fan. Those two movies were just so wonderfully done in their own separate ways (in my opinion.) Oh, and by the way? I was just over at Candilynn's site and your comment made my weekend! You're simply the best!!

Donna K. Weaver said...

We were always big fans of the John Carter books, so we were really interested in the movie. After hearing that it hadn't been done well, we were pleasantly surprised.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

That's very self-sacrificial of you to see Rio 2, Alex. At least, it should have some fun music and animation. Thanks for the intro to Laura. I'll go meet her.

Have a great Friday and weekend,
xoRobyn

Unknown said...

That's funny - when you mentioned the pre-production The Martian, I almost wrote that I hoped it would be better than John Carter. I hate to disagree with you, but that movie reminded me of Flash Gordon - cliched and ridiculous. (Although Flash had the excuse of being a 50s TV series - Disney has no such excuse.)

Rush is still releasing music? They must be as old as the Stones! Love the picture for "Diablo III".

Congrats to Cate! I'm looking forward to the dragon movie. :)

Timothy S. Brannan said...

I loved the John Carter books when I read them years ago. The movie was good and fun but it lacked something to make it perfect.

2012? Stupid-ass predictions about the end of the world. Mayan's foresaw the end of the world? They didn't even foresee the coming of the Spanish.

--
Timothy S. Brannan
The Other Side, April Blog Challenge: The A to Z of Witches

Chancelet said...

What a cute tribute to Laura! Haven't seen John Carter, but I am a follower of My Baffling Brain. :) Writer’s Mark

Tara Tyler said...

we have john carter - i think it was okay and my boys liked it - but it was a little too strange for the general public, i guess...
you're still the number one a to z er!
it's going by quick!

Unknown said...

Loved that trailer- I know what movie I'm going to see this summer!

Unknown said...

I'm so excited to take my kids to How to Train Your Dragon 2! (I may be more excited than they are.) I also loved John Carter. The books were good, though got a little repetitive after book 5 or 6. Thanks for taking the time to comment on my blog. You're doing a great service to for authors like me! Can't thank you enough.

Tracy Jo said...

I can always use a good laugh! I sometimes still can't believe how expensive it is to go to a movie. My guy, Terry LOVES Justified. Have a great weekend!

Pat Hatt said...

Avengers was the best movies in a long time. Justified is a good show indeed too. 2012 sucked a ton for me though, we'll forget that year

Loni Townsend said...

This was a good year for movies. Or at least it's fresh enough in my mind. I did enjoy John Carter. It completely surprised my husband, because he wasn't expecting a sci-fi flick.

I loved the GRR Martin jokes! Thanks for the link.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Carrie-Anne, I'd vote for detachment.

Randi Lee, you are awesome!

Lexa, they are still going strong and in their 60's.

Timothy - good one!

Tara, just trying to keep up!

Tamara, happy to visit.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Okay, so I've got to start watching "Justified." I think I've been missing out on this one.

Chemist Ken said...

There's a new How to Train Your Dragon Trailer? I'm sure my daughter spotted it the microsecond it came out. I'm sure she'll be wanting to show it to me soon.

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

The Avengers! an all time fave!

Need to check out Nigel--that made me laugh! and I still have not seen How to Train Your Dragon although my family tells me I will love it!

thanks! jean

Unknown said...

I haven't seen John Carter. I actually have the Princess of Mars and several of Burroughs' other books but just haven't had the time to read them yet. There are so many books and so little time!

And is it just me or do all movie tickets seem to cost $10+ now? I mean the last time I went, it was $13 for a ticket, lol.

Cathy Olliffe-Webster said...

Saw John Carter - really enjoyed it, and have absolutely no idea why it bombed the way it did.

Just checked to see if Justice was on Canadian Netflix yet (sometimes stuff differs) and it IS!!! I added it to my list.

Isn't Netflix the best? Dave and I have been discovering shows we'd never seen before and then ODing on them in marathon sessions we're just loving. No commercials. No waiting until next week... except with Dusk to Dawn, which is being released here as a weekly series.

Anyway, looking forward to Justice - Dave being a big western fan and all, and I trust your recommendation. Have a great weekend!

SpacerGuy said...

The Avengers is one of the true greats full of action scenes and fun punch lines. ... and he's my brother" "He killed 80 people in two days" "He's adopted.

Lisa said...

I LOVE the John Carter books and have seen the movie. Too bad it was so disappointing... They really could have done a better job story-wise. It was beautiful to watch but that's about it... sad to say...

mooderino said...

Ah, 2012, I remember it well...

I thought John Carter wasn't all that great, a bland central performance and a bit of a stilted ending.

LynNerdKelley said...

I LOVED the movie John Carter!

Congratulations to Laura as Alex's pick for this post!

J E Oneil said...

I've never read/seen John Carter in any form. Truth be told, I heard neither books nor mvoie was very good.

Unknown said...

John Carter was great! I wanted more!

Patricia Stoltey said...

I intend to watch Justified starting with Season I as soon as I have a little spare time (and after watching the new season of House of Cards).

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Ken, I'm sure by the time I leave this comment, you're already seen it!

Lanise, the books are really good as well. We always hit the matinee, but it's still ten bucks for 3D.

Kathy, you'll enjoy it! And yes, I am watching so many new series on NetFlix at work...

JE, to me both were great.

Patricia, you will dig season two of House of Cards!!

farawayeyes said...

Although not a big Sci-Fy fan, I really liked John Carter. Sadly is was poorly marketed and there will be no more.

Don't know the TV show, but that's just me. No TV.

I find it interesting that GRR has been SO successful, even though he kills off EVERYBODY. I was pretty surprised at all of the shock and awe over the ending of the last seasons HBO Series - didn't anybody read the books.

Anonymous said...

I remember wanting to go see John Carter when it was in theaters, but missed it. Then some bad movie reviews made me decide to pass. If it ever pops up on Netflix maybe I'll check it out.

~Patricia Lynne~
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, YA Author

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I love Justified. It just finished season 5 and next year is its last year. I liked John Carter too.
2012 was the year my youngest child graduated from high school.

Michelle (A Thousand Lives Lived) said...

Awesome post! John Carter wasn't that good, in my opinion, I've seen better movies in that genre.

Michelle @ A Thousand Lives Lived

(thatgirlybookworm.blogspot.ca)

Ava Quinn said...

Okay, so now I need to check out Justified and Dragon 2!

Unknown said...

So many great films released that year! Oh, that George Twitter joke is hysterical:) I remember the video of Felix vividly--it's pretty intense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtvDA0W34I

WriterlySam
Echoes of Olympus
A to Z #TeamDamyanti

Leslie S. Rose said...

I will never forgive George R.R. Martin for the Red Wedding. My grudge shall not wane.

Lydia Kang said...

I'm really looking forward to the HTTYD movie! Also, that GRR Martin joke is hilarious--and I don't even watch the series (and I haven't read the books yet). Someday!

Helena said...

I know the critics weren't very kind to John Carter, but I enjoyed it. I would have made some of the action sequences shorter (and thus saved the Disney several million), but Edgar Rice Burroughs' story really held up well. I especially liked the bookending set-up with the opening and closing scenes.

Deniz Bevan said...

Know what? The only thing that's familiar to me from this post is the Rush album :-) And my niece loves How to Train Your Dragon... Must explore the other stuff you've featured, including fellow author Laura!

G. B. Miller said...

What I remember most about 2012 is signing my very first (and so far, only) contract to have my first erotica novel published (which will be featured next week on my blog).

A-Z Challenge at Father Nature's Corner

Tina said...

Curiosity landing was a big deal around here. We love that kind of stuff.
What I remember most about 2012 was being a co-host for the first time, and being hospitalized for the first time for an illness as opposed to an orthopedic surgery or baby being born. It was definitely more scary.

Enjoyed the trailer, but I hate when they give away most of the movie...That was like the whole outline of the novel, and now we just get some more details when we watch it. I've kinda stopped watching trailers for that reason.

Tina @ Life is Good
A to Z Team @ Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2014

Suze said...

TOTALLY agree with you on John Carter. Nicely said.

kjmckendry said...

Yay for the year of Cassa Fire!!

AJ Lauer said...

Haha that George RR Martin thing was great! Also, my husband suggested that I write about Justified for J! We love that show :)

Happy halfway-point, super awesome co-co-host!

AJ @ Naturally Sweet
An A-Z Co-host blog
Tweet me! @ayjaylauer

Pat Tillett said...

Justified a great show and I really did like John Carter. You are right to say that it was mishandled.

Ella said...

I too am baffled, these days!

Wonderful post! I will have to visit Laura.

Oh, I loved the first Train Your Dragon-I must go~

Congrats on your success Captain!

The Happy Whisk said...

Justified for sure has that wit to it, which I enjoy. Looking forward to seeing Dragon Two.

Fe said...

So many wonderful movies this year with The Hobbit as my favourite but I'm a real Tolkien junkie so that's not surprising...