Slowly Learning...

So here's a quick update for all you that like to keep tabs on my activities...

-I've moved into my new apartment in Dryden, very nice, very spacious, sulfer smell seems to be working it's way out of my water system (always a plus)

-Caught a couple movies: Chronicales of Riddick (Babylon 5 meets the Transformers Movie), Saved! (made me respect Mandy Moore, sort of), On the Run (holding off judgement till I see the other 2 in the trilogy), Spring,Summer,Autumn,Winter...And Spring (well done Korean flick), and probably another one tonight.

-Ran over a pitch fork in the middle of Rt 13, the car seems ok, managed to miss both front tires.

-Getting my internet connection (and cable) back on Tuesday so I can once again have contact with the world outside Ithaca (thank god!).

-Preparing myself for a long summer of work, starting with the next 4 days

That's about all for now. I've got to run back to the new appartment and play with power tools.

Posted by Thom at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So this may sound like so sort of sci-fi type movie, and it is, to some extent. But mostly it's just a movie that's so bizzare and out there that it almost seems real. It's almost like a B-movie with it's acting and writing. This plays great with the storyline and characters, if it's what was intended. If they were actually going for a more solid A-movie then they failed horribly. But for the sake of arguement let's say that the generically cheesy acting and almost pun-like script was what they were going for (and that's not too big a stretch seeing as how they casted not only Christopher Walken, but also Jon Lovitz). So based on that assumption I loved the movie. It was funny, corny, and suburban sci-fi all in one. The plot doesn't really leave you too in the dark or on the edge of your seat, but it's clever enough to keep you entertained. Sure you have the pointed digs at things like AOL, reality TV, and Connecticut (like in say 'A Fistful of Yen') but going on the B-movie plane of writing they work. And as a last note, and most impressive of all to me, they actually managed to make Nicole Kidman attractive, which is quite an accomplishment in my eyes.

RATING: Worth a Full Price Ticket, Worth a Rental

Posted by Thom at 7:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I brought a DVD up to my room to watch, and promptly lost it in the mess that is my room. I mean I set it down, checked my email, and it was gone. The mess that is my room right now just managed to devour it in the 2 mins I looked away. But don't fret, after only 10 mins of searching I managed to pry the DVD out of the mess (yes it really took me that long to find it in my tiny room). I believe that this is just one of many signs that I've been out of it recently (and that I need to clean up a little around here). Not only has my room deteriorated to the state of post-CS211 project conditions, but I've also managed to fall way behind in my blog reading, which is pretty hard to do when I only check in on Dan and Katie. So to catch up on everything blog related I'd like to say congrats to Dan on the birthday, the new job, and of course on the sword. And just so everyone else doesn't feel left out, congrats too all of you too on all the cool stuff you've done recently.

As for personal news I've decided to try and expand my semi-educated semi-read pusblished views to include music reviews. This is just another step in my progress towards more opinionated babble. Now since my ticket price rating scheme won't really work in the musical genre I've devised another measurement scale composed of an alphabetic rating. All albums will be rated on a scale from A to Z, describing said album's attributes. Hopefully this further distraction will keep me posting and keep me from going completely stir crazy once my roommates leave in little over a week.

Posted by Thom at 1:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been a while, but I finally made it back to the movies. This time I caught the foreign film I'm Not Scared. This movie proves to me just how good young italian actors can be, as the majority of the film is centered around a bunch of 10-year old boys. The film is an eerie juxtaposition of beautiful landscapes and the disturbing nature of kidnapping and ransom. I can't say it was quite as mysterious as the poster led me to believe, but it was still well told and brilliantly shot. I must say that this movie was right on for setting the mood and draw in the audience. The story was also something new and different. All in all it was a solid film.

RATING: Worth a Full Price Ticket, Worth a Rental

Posted by Thom at 1:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So this is the thrid review of the night, so I'm gonna keep it short. After my brief run-in with main stream hollywood I've decided to get back to my true love, Indie/Foreign Films. Here we have a documentary where one man tries to discover the true ills of fast food as he embarks on a 30 day trial of only eating McDonald's food. As he tracks his progress and health, he also gives us clips and interviews with lawyers from the fast food lawsuit, to nutritionists, to regular people on the streets. Much like the style of Micheal Moore, Morgan Spurlock (our hero?) uses his comic wit to delve into the issue of America's obesity problem. And as you watch you really do begin to wonder if maybe those lawsuits weren't quite as frivilous as you first thought (they are). Unlike Moore though, Spurlock doesn't come off nearly as preachy about his side of the issue. None of the scenes or timeframes fall into that problem of being doctored to give a greater impact to them. What you see is exactly what you get. Sure you still have to take some of the stuff with a grain of salt as he is trying to prove his point, but you won't get highblood pressure from the salt intake in this film.

RATING: Worth a Full Price Ticket, Worth a Solid Rental (Maybe a Purchase)

Posted by Thom at 1:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After the terrible chain of movies (Godsend, Troy, The Day After Tomorrow) I really wasn't going into this movie with any hopes whatsoever. I mean first off it's a sequel (which means rehashed jokes), it's overly commercialized (Oh let's throw all those products into the movie in inappropriate situations!), and I'm not much for anooying smartassed animals (especially in cartoons). But about 5 mins in I was already feeling good about going to see this with my roommates. True I never saw the first one, so I can't say if any of the jokes were just rehashed material, but I'm guessing not. Add to that the fact that I don't think I saw a sinlge real product placement in the entire movie (minus a couple of joke references, which are always ok) and you get rid of the 1st two problems. As for the donkey...I didn't mind him so much. Maybe it's because the movie as a whole takes itself very lightly, nipping off bits and pieces from all the classic fairytales, so he seems to fit in. In any case none of my suspected problems arrose. This also wasn't just a movie directed towards kids (although I'm sure children will enjoy it). It had many referential jokes that adults would get, and did get (the auidence for the 9.40 showing we went to was all over the age of 20 after all). It's also beautifully done. It's the closest thing to realism I've seen since The Spirits Within, but it still held onto the cartoonish feeling. Unlike The Day After Tomorrow, this movie actually seems to rejuvinated my faith in mainstream cinema (how long this will last will depend greatly on how well done the next couple of movies I see are).

RATING: Worth a Full Price Ticket or Two, Worth a Purchase (Especially if with some extra features)

Posted by Thom at 1:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I don't quite know where to begin here. There are so many problems with this movie. In fact I walked out of the theatre with one thought in my head, well two thoughts actually. The first was "who the hell brings their infant to a 10pm showing of the Day After Tomorrow?" but the second was "what the fuck." Now disaster movies are always a little out there, but they try to at least loosely base themsevles in plausible reality. This one, no. Dawn of the Dead was more believable than this movie. Now before you say that I'm exagerating to get a point across, I'm not. With all the unbelievable weather conditions presented here I can mcuh more easily believe that plague of zombies will overrun my neighborhood this evening.

But I'll get back to that. The other thing that is more believable about Dawn of the Dead are the people. Yes, when disaster strikes there are those brave souls that will risk their life for others, but get real, the majority of Americans are selfish as hell and would go into pure survival mode. In Dawn of the Dead we're given this with the constant questioning, the unwillinginess to let people in, the paranonia about the virus spreading, and the complete jackass. The Day After Tomorrow? None of this is found. Instead everyone is righteous and out to save everyone else. Case in point:

FATHER: I'm going to trek hundreds of miles through extreme cold, most of the way on foot to save my son who's probably already dead in NYC!

COWORKER#1: I will help you even though I have no reasonable attachment to your son!

COWORKER#2: I will also go with you even though I have no attachment to either you or your son!

Hmmm, no. Now make all characters out to be like this and you see how the movie goes. I know Hollywood has to be full of heroes and such, but this is crap. Give me something more real. Just as groups complained about the lack of minorities in films and such I would like to complain about the lack of real people in films. I'm willing to allow you to shove one or two over the top people down my throat, but not an entire cast of them, it's just unbearable.

But as for the main plot with the weather... Ok I'll give them the explanation of why the world may experience another iceage because of the icecaps melting, but how does this translate into 5 massive tornados ripping through LA? Or how does this happen in the matter of a week? Or if the temperature drops to -150 degrees F (very unplausible) would it really be necessary to outrun the approaching ice? And would a thin wooden door really hold this extreme temperature back? Or my favorite of all: The ice caps are melting, so the water levels rise drastically, as in 25 ft in the matter of minutes. Ummm...what? Not only would you have to like melt the entire icecaps for this to happen, but how would this happen so fast when all the northern hemisphere has already begun to freeze over?

This movie just tries to shock us into thinking about global warming and the consequences, but it goes so overboard that it just makes a joke out of the whole concept. Sure we may now be an overly anxious people who are frightened into many stupid things, but I like to think we're smarter than being frightened by this.

So please, do not see this movie. Appart from the problems above there are so many other script issues that just make this movie horrid. It's just so bad on so many levels, and too long on top of that. This film almost made me lose all faith in Hollywood (or what little faith remained).

RATING: Try to Avoid Theatres That This Moive is Playing In If At All Possible.

Posted by Thom at 12:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)