May Geeky Faves

About a month ago I started a little end-of-the-month series, and I can't believe we're already into the second version. Here is a little collection of things I did over the past few weeks and a few plans for June. What did you do last month? What are you looking forward to this month?

Captain America - I'd been looking forward to the Ultimate Captain America marathon all Spring. When Civil War's release date finally arrived, it was the best thing ever. My sister and I had so much fun seeing the five movies in one day, and then seeing Civil War an additional two more times. Definitely one of my favorite movies of the summer.

Florence Welch concert - To celebrate my sister's birthday, we attend our first Florence and the Machine concert. Her performance was nothing short of amazing and thrilling.

Twister 20th Anniversary - Twister is undoubtedly one of my all-time favorite movies. May 10th was the twentieth anniversary since it was in theaters. My family and I celebrated by having a mini-Twister party - watching the movie, having an Aunt Mae-esque dinner (steak, mash potatoes, corn, etc.), and I wrote a little post about the movie's leading ladies.

Try Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans - One of my goals for May was to try Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and I was really happy to check it off of my Harry Potter-esque bucket list. While I can't say enough good things about flavors like marshmallow, equally so, soap and dirt flavor. BLECK.

Watched X-Files Season 10 finale - This only took me about two months... I still don't know what to make of it. Thoughts are still reeling in my brain because it was everything I expected but also....not. Expect a very-belated post coming soon.

Plans for June: continue avoiding Walking Dead filming spoilers, see Me Before You, read The Martian, prepare Independence Day cosplay costume for Resurgence in July,  re-instate Walking Dead Wednesday posts, and start Everything Movie Wordsearch book.

Ranking the Best and Worst Every Flavor Beans

One of the best things about being a fangirl is when food, places, or merchandise come to life straight out of a book, movie, or television show.

Every Harry Potter fan has wanted to live out fantasies from J.K. Rowling's series - receiving a letter from Hogwarts, having the wand choose us, and so many other things. We've all definitely wanted to snack on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Honeydukes. When I got my hands on some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (truly from HoneyDukes!), it was pretty freakin' magical.

What's fun about Every Flavor Beans is that you never know what flavors you're gonna get. I'm not sure if the manufacturers have a quota for certain flavors to be in every package, or if it's just random. Mine had at least one of every flavor, so I felt very lucky.

(If you're looking to try some of these out for yourself or haven't visited Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks yet, you can also find them here!)

For my first try, I picked random ones and tried guessing the flavor. Let me tell you, I didn't think a jelly bean could get as good as Marshmallow and then as bad as Vomit or Dirt. Gradually I ranked the best and worst, and thought it'd be fun to share my thoughts below.

Initial Thoughts: 

Banana - Sorry Minions! It's not a good flavor, no matter what incarnation it takes.
Black Pepper - Pretty spicy!
Blueberry - Strongest flavor next to cinnamon and soap but tastes GOOD.
Booger -  Doesn't have a specific taste but feels slimier the longer it lasts in your mouth. UGH.
Candyfloss - Cotton candy with a hint of floral-scented perfume. Nice!
Cherry - Already my favorite flavor, so it's hard to not love this. Tastes exactly like cherry.
Cinnamon - Maybe my tongue is just sensitive but it's HOT! so so HOT!
Dirt - Imagine garden manure as a taste. Yep, that's it.
Earthworm - Doesn't taste too different from dirt, maybe slightly less stronger.
Earwax - It's deceptive to tell Earwax apart from Sherbert Lemon. Their colors are pretty similar. It's surprisingly crunchy.
Grass - Pretty sharp flavor, kinda like the smell of freshly mowed grass.
Green Apple - A little disappointed. It's not as sour as you would expect.
Marshmallow - Like a fluffy mini-smores you can pop into your mouth anytime. COOL!
Rotten Egg - Actually, sweeter than expected. I thought it would be muskier.
Sausage - A little difficult to tell Sausage apart from Dirt. Simple BBQ flavor that's not overwhelming.
Sherbert Lemon - I can see why it's Dumbledore's favorite. Sweet and not too sour.
Soap - YUCK. NASTY. Actually made my stomach churn.
Tutti-Fruitti - Fruitilicious with a hint of bubble-gum, but not very memorable.
Vomit - ABSOLUTE WORST. Exactly like bile.
Watermelon - Some tasted like fresh watermelon, others tasted warm and rotten.

Official Rankings:

Best: Marshmallow, Cinnamon, Blueberry, Cherry
Personal faves: Marshmallow, Candy Floss
A-Okay:  Banana, Sherbert Lemon, Sausage, Tutti Frutti, Watermelon
Most Creative: Bogie and Dirt. Bogie doesn't have a strong flavor but creative texture. Dirt is right on with its flavor (I'd imagine anyways).
Could Be Stronger: Green Apple, Rotten Eggs, Earwax, Grass
Worst: Vomit, Soap, and Dirt. Interesting to try, but all made me absolutely nauseous.

Have you tried Every Flavor Beans?
What's your favorite or least favorite flavor?

♫ Florence and the Machine Concert ♫

Music isn't my go-to topic to geek about here. Mostly because it's a little bit more personal than movies or books. I can't express how a song can make an impact on me physically and emotionally. A little less than the mental commitment it takes to engage my imagination towards books but more as a song can wash away stress, make me blissfully on top of the world, and transport me to another place.

After attending a concert by Florence and the Machine recently, there was just no stopping me from gabbing about it everywhere. 'Cause it was AMAZING.

Captain America: Civil War (2016) Beautifully Hangs Up The Shield

Photo Credit: Captain America: Civil War / Walt Disney Studios

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is arguably one of Marvel fan's favorite films of all time. For the next installment of Captain America's franchise, the series' fate rested on hardcore hype. After the amazing press tour and anticipated excitement this year, Winter Soldier solidly has some tough competition against Captain America: Civil War.

The old foe known as Hydra takes a backseat as a new question looms: should the Avengers face political consequences when innocent bystanders are killed and countries' security feel threatened as a result of their missions? 

U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross and the United Nations believe so. The Avengers are presented with an Accords, a document which the world government control their missions and dole out punishments if they step out of line. To not sign the Accords forces the Avengers into retirement or face charges as criminals if they act out.

Stark believes they should sign to stop more senseless deaths, but Rogers fears how much of their liberty they'll lose if they do. The line drawn in the sand between the Avengers is much deeper than who's team we are on. (Though I am Team Cap all the way.) This is just the start of the brewing feuds. Woven into their dissension are motivations dealing with vengeance, betrayal, justice, regret, fear, grief and responsibility.

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo unite a lot of amazing combatants to make this civil war come to life. Familiar faces like Hawkeye, Black Widow, Falcon, and Bucky keep the battle tied to previous Marvel movies, but also fresh by adding (fairly recent) newbies like Vision, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Spiderman, Ant-Man, and Rhodey. We'd assume with so many personalities squaring off, the freedom to explore who they are would be limited. But that's not the case.

Every character moves somebody else forward either to victory or demise. How the teams form plays against the action scenes and also raise the stakes for certain characters in peril. The airport showdown, in particular, provides a lot of laughs to see all these new superheroes battle it out, but it's also so creative with how they pull out all of the stops against each other - not necessarily to kill but because the dynamics are so dysfunctional (like people on a reality show who talk over each other and in confessionals about their problems but not to each other's faces). The Russos pulled maneuvers out of their hat which was just plain cool. You'll find yourself more invested than just in Roger and Stark butting heads, and that is pretty awesome.

Though the film toys about which team we're on, other villains heighten our sense of whether the Accords is needed or will do more harm than good. Zemo, a bereft war operative enacts revenge for what happened to his homeland Sovokia. Many have said that he doesn't offer much, but I thought he adds a lot of parallels to the Black Panther's agenda and corrects his course before it goes too far down the wrong road. The intricate story of Cap versus Iron Man, Zemo vs the Avengers, and the mix of political issues is full of action, humor, heart, and never loses its ability to entertain.

The film comes down to family: old and new, deceased and reborn, lost and rediscovered. Stark and Rogers are head the Avengers clan, and skeletons in their closets affect how the group moves forwards.

Tony *brush it off* Stark becomes a more conflicted leader, and in doing so, Roger's side of the struggle feels a little less intimate than how we've seen him before. He is not entirely missing in action, but Stark's obstacles are focused on more strongly for a fair portion of the film. Even if Rogers and Bucky's friendship successfully pummels our feels into a pulp, a more personal epilog to one of his other important relationship with Peggy would've made Rogers story more touching and complete. Her death was explored too quickly and delivered for laughs rather than something heartfelt. Chris Evans is wonderful as always (as is Robert Downey Jr,) but the old chapters Cap closes and the new ones he opens feels less detailed than the attention he's given in The First Avenger and Winter Soldier...at least until we're near the end of the line.

With so many superhero films released already, and Marvel making more films well into the future, it's hard to say Captain America: Civil War is the best there ever was or will be. It's too tall of an order and to each their own. But it's even harder to find a movie entertaining on its own, builds upon the comic book universe we (might) already know, and launch the next era of multiple franchises. The cast, story, and action is all great. There's nothing else to say except: I could watch it all day.

Rating: ★★★ Have you seen Captain America: Civil War? What are your thoughts?

If You Love Agent Carter, You Might Like....

Peggy's legacy is one of the most beloved and inspiring examples of female characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hoping her journey on television would fare better, it was a disappointing loss when Agent Carter was one of many, many shows to be cancelled.

Even though the spirited leader's spin-off was critically acclaimed and adored by fans, ABC studio execs weren't convinced to keep the crime-and-sexist fighting maven around longer.

Marvel and ABC may be short-sighted in fully exploring the female protagonists we want to see more of. For what it's worth, we'll always have both seasons of her show and Peggy's presence in the Captain America franchise. We know the value of Miss Carter, and anybody else's opinion doesn't really matter.

If you're still head over heels for the brains, brawn, and beauty kick-assery that Peggy inspired, you might like some of these similar books, movies, and tv shows. Know of a book or movie that's not on this list? Feel free to share below in the comments! Hope you enjoy!

Read

Letters Home by Bernice Falk Haydu - avaliable here
Bernice Falk Haydu attempts to become and remain a pilot in the 1940s. Her mother's saved letters of their correspondences describe her training and tour of active duty. It's recommended this book is purchased at Wasp Letters Home as profits will go to towards the WASP scholarship fund.

Millions Like Us by Virginia Nicholson - available on here
This account doesn't simply one protagonist, but multiple accounts of women who raised families, worked, and stepped up to the frontlines.

The Wolves At The Door by Judith Pearson - available here
Virginia Hall is one of history's greatest spies. As a secret espionage, she slinked all over Europe to come to the Allies' aid, leaked the sources for weapons and money exchange, among other dangerous exploits.

Stream

Bomb Girls - available on globaltv
Venturing to Canada, this mini-series profiles four women who work in a munitions factory beginning in 1941. Fans prized the show for its ability to explore gender roles, female-centric storylines, and tackling difficult issues from PTSD, physical abuse, sexual harassment, and patriotism/nationalism.

Jessica Jones - available on Netflix
Former superhero Jessica Jones uses her gift as a private eye to open up a detective agency and hunt down a past tormentor. (Thematic warnings for the show include rape, assault, and posttraumatic stress disorder - so it's definitely for a mature audience!)

Supergirl - available on CW
Melissa Benoist balances life in and out of her superheroine persona known as Supergirl. So this may be a DC series, but Supergirl explores the journey of a human being really realizing their potential!

Watch

Keep Your Power Dry - available on DVD
Lana Turner, Laraine Day, and Susan Peters star as three women from very different backgrounds who join the WACs (Women's Army Corps) during WWII.

Restless - available on DVD
Hayley Atwell stars in an adaptation of William Boyd's novel of a young Russian woman who is recruited as a spy by the British secret service in World War II.

So Proudly We Hail - available on DVD
Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, and Veronica Lake star as U.S. Army nurses when their active tour duty begins after the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the time of its release, the film's situations realistically portrayed what female service members experienced as they came to the aid of wounded soldiers.

Liebster Award + Fellow Nominees

Sarah at How To Watch a Motion Picture nominated Oh So Geeky for a Liebster Award. Thanks so much!

Rules:
1. Answer the 11 questions given by the person who nominated you
2. Nominate other bloggers (up to 11) and give them 11 questions to answer.

Here are Samantha's Questions:

1. Favorite movie genre, and why?
Comedy and drama are pretty equal genres that I love. It's good to have a healthy amount of laugh riots and tear jerkers in our lives. But I also really love movies that feel like plays - limited cast, a lot of the action or conflict is through the talking, so....

2. Favorite movie that's an adaptation of a book you've read?
Not sure it's a favorite but I really like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire's adaptation. It certainly has it's issues. Moaning Myrtle scene, anyone? But a lot of the book felt like it was dragging out the story, like Hermione's S.P.E.W., so I was happy to see a lot of stuff cut.

3. An actor or actress you're enjoying who you've only recently noticed?
Hayley Atwell. I went full fangirl mode over Steggy / Peggy Carter this Spring. I read all sorts of fanfiction and watched Agent Carter season 1 (so far). Her filmography is something I'll be going through over the summer when my Civil War obsession quiets down.

4. A favorite "unexpected surprise" movie?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I was never a big Star Wars fan, and have a post in the works about how the latest installment made me a bigger one. It's technically a remake of A New Hope, or at least has similarities. But it offered a lot of what I thought was a bit missing in the original. *don't hate me*

5. A movie that has a cast catered to you?
The Dark Knight Rises. It was so awesome and hard to hear the casting for Christopher Nolan's last Batman movie. The film was shot in my hometown. All of the awesome actors hung out around my childhood city...but I lived 2,000 miles away. No special sightings for me! It was still pretty cool.

6. An obscure movie that you think is great and you wish more people knew about?
The Odd Couple with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The film's story has trickled down through the generations, but I'm not sure how many people know or have seen the original. It has such good performances and Neil Simon's writing is phenomenal. It's the type of movie (one of those talkies) that I'd love to see get made more often.

7. A movie that has a great soundtrack?
Anything by Trent Reznor And Atticus Ross is G-R-E-A-T. Everyone needs to just set their lives aside for two hours and do nothing but listen to The Social Network or Gone Girl soundtrack.

8. A movie that reminds you of summer?
Jaws, even though I'm terrified of the ocean/large bodies of water...so going to the beach is kinda out for me. But my family watches it all the time, even when it's not summer.

9. A movie you loved as a kid and still love (not because of nostalgia)?
Hercules. It was the first movie I remember feeling so euphoric when the credits started. Disney released plates with all of the character's faces on them. I had the entire set. I wanted to be Megara. I loved the music. It's still one of my favorites.

10. Plot device pet peeve?
When humor plays to the audience too much. I call it the SNL Effect. Some comedies will play the same joke over and over again to make sure the audience laughs, even though it's not a live production. I guess movies that go overboard in making sure the audience "gets it" are a bit annoying.

11. Ending preference for movies, and why?
Nothing ambiguous. Well maybe nothing ambiguous. Certain movies pull off "cliff-hangers" well like Birdman or The Wrestler. But there are others where it just seems like they didn't know what to do with the ending or just want people to keep the conversation about their movie going after it's done like All is Lost or Prisoners. Sometimes I'd rather an ending be complete than to be forced to use my imagination.

I'd like to nominate these great blogs:  A Space Blogyssey, Rambling Film, Almost Ginger, Big Screen Small Words, Ever So Ethnically Confused, MettelRay, DePepi, Cuteek, On The Screen, The Geek Simple, and Paper Fury.

Here are my questions: If you're not interested in filling out your own blog post, feel free to answer the questions in the comments below. Thanks everyone!

1. Fictional location you'd love to visit or live in?
2. A character you'd love to have on speed dial/text to get advice when you need encouragement or help?
3. If you could save any character (movie/book/tv) from dying, would you save someone? If so, who?
4. If you were a superhero, what superpower would you have?
5. Is 42 the answer to life, the universe, and everything?
6. Describe yourself in 3 words
7. An actor or actress whose films you always see/watch?
8. What famous person would you like to see get a biopic?
9. Favorite movie to watch on a rainy day?
10. An actor you'd love see win an Oscar some day?
11. A goal you really want to achieve this year?

Wonder Women of Twister (1996)

It's no secret that Twister is one of my all-time favorite movies. I've watched it to the point of having memorized it, raved about it, and visited the now defunct movie attraction at Universal Orlando Resort. Now with the 20th anniversary around the corner, I wanted to celebrate the film's two main women: Melissa Reeves and Jo Harding. Let's be honest: they are both true boss ladies of the disaster genre.

If you want to celebrate even more Twister (who doesn't?), check out: 5 Epic Facts You Didn't Know About Twister!

I Survived The Ultimate Captain America Marathon

Batman used to be my favorite superhero, and I was mostly obsessed watching every franchise from Tim Burton to Christopher Nolan. It's fair to say I was far outside the Captain America bandwagon when The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier hit theaters. And, at the time other movies picqued my attention more like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. When my sister introduced me to the Sentinel of Liberty with The Winter Soldier in 2014, a whole new world opened up.

My first time watching the movie sparked an obsession for everything Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes, and their whole universe. Two years later and I was quite literally jumping out my pants for the Ultimate Captain America marathon. I didn't know I could get so excited! It was months in the making, and then it was finally here!

April Geeky Faves

This is a new little end-of-the-month series I'm hoping to start - a collection of things I did over the past few weeks. I didn't realize it was May already! Crossing my fingers this will help me keep a better track of time. Here's some things I did in April. What did you do last month?
Read Me Before You - It may be obvious a little but I'm obsessed with the book, and a little more importantly, the movie coming out this summer. Finishing it actually helped me reach good ol' number five out of sixteen books for this year's goodreads challenge.

Went Bowling - For my sister's birthday we went bowling. We actually haven't done it in years. If a few pins were knocked down, we'd be pretty happy. My goal was to get at least one strike, and I did! But my poor sister, it was one gutterball after another. I'm only a little sorry to say (she's older and beats me at everything), I scored highest. Love ya sis!

Enjoyed Blue Skies - Here in Florida we seemed to skip winter and spring entirely this year and just move straight into summer. I definitely enjoyed some blue skies and sunshine.

Worshiped Agent Carter - With Captain America: Civil War yet to be released in the U.S. I found other ways to get excited. Around the Ol' Blog we celebrated with a blog challenge and artwork . And, of course, continued my worship of Agent Carter. I actually watched the whole first season of her spin-off (shall be making a post soon!) and can't wait to start the second after Civil War.

"Visited" a Museum: My sister performed in her first play this month - a five minute hilarious one act. But we got to the theater a little too early before her performance. With nothing to do inside the theater, we wondered to the museum across the street (which was closed) and spent some time in the garden.

Watched Shall We Dance: The original lovely Japanese film has been on my radar for...I don't know how long. I finally managed to watch it and loved every minute. A review of this film shall be posted in May too. It's a definite can't miss movie.

Plans for May: survive the Captain America marathon, see Captain America: Civil War three times (Challenge accepted MettelRay!), read The Martian, celebrate Twister's 20th anniversary, avoid Walking Dead filming spoilers, finish X-Files Recap (OMG, I'm so far behind), and try Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

Favorite Captain America Tumblr Posts

Tumblr is a pretty amazing epic blog space for everything and anything you're a fan (or hater) of. So this post doesn't even scratch the surface of Captain America awesomeness you can find on there from gif sets to artwork and meta.

I couldn't resist putting together just a smidgeon of my favorite posts. (Credit links are available where I could adequately find them!) Follow an awesome Steve Rogers / Captain America tumblr I should know about? Feel free to leave a link in the comments!