'Oblivion' (PG-13) **3/4
The year is 2077. An alien race destroyed the moon, which in turn caused cataclysmic events all across the globe. From there the aliens invaded. We won the war, but the planet was ruined. Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and Victoria (British actress Andrea Riseborough) are part of a clean up crew left on Earth that repairs the drones that roam the Earth to protect it from any of survivors of the invading alien race. They also oversee that the Earth's remaining resources are gathered and sent up to the new human colony on Titan, one of the moons of Saturn. They have two weeks left to go on their assignment until they can leave Earth and join the rest of humanity. A strange vessel has crashed and Jack goes to investigate. There he meets Julia (Olga Kurylenko, the main Bond girl from 'Quantum of Solace') who claims to know him, and this throws everything out of wack in Jack's world. To describe anymore about the plot would be spoiling it as there are numerous twists and turns throughout the movie. Describing Morgan Freeman's character would be spoiling too much.
'Oblivion' has a great musical score, and pretty good special effects for the most part. Performances are fine, but no one really stands out. It has it's moments where it kinda drags along, though the suspense and twists and turns piling on later in the movie do make up for when it slows down. I wish I could go into a little bit more detail but I can't without spoiling the movie. This movie was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who also directed 'TRON: Legacy'.
Overall, what did I think of it? Well, I saw it. It's an all right movie that really isnt anything all that special apart from a nice musical score, good special effects for the most part, and the twists that kept me entertained and still kinda invested in the movie. After watching it and sitting in my car and now hours later after having seen it I don't really feel any lingering effects from the movie. While I didn't really feel anything after seeing it I still didn't feel like I wasted my money. I've seen better this year, I've seen worse this year.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Updates and Random Thoughts
Lots of things to talk about today so let's get the ball rolling
UPDATES
With this being the last week of class and next week being finals week, I will be a little bit busy studying and finishing up homework and projects and have less time to write. So, at least for now anyway, I will be posting twice a week. When I first started this I was posting once or twice a day for almost a week straight. While it's been fun, I also feel that doing that everyday is over kill and I do have things I need to do to finish the semester strong. Hence the decision for now to keep blog posts to twice a week, unless something occurs. Here is the tentative schedule for April/May:
TODAY - Updates and Random Thoughts
4/27/2013 - REVIEW: 'Oblivion'
5/1/2013 - (topic yet to be decided)
5/4/2013 - REVIEW: 'Iron Man 3'
5/7/2013 - (topic yet to be decided)
5/10/2013 or 5/11/2013 - REVIEW: 'The Great Gatsby'
5/14/2013 - (topic yet to be decided)
5/17/2013 or 5/18/2013 - REVIEW: 'Star Trek Into Darkness'
5/21/2013 - (topic yet to be decided)
5/24/2013 - REVIEW: Either 'Fast and Furious 6' or 'The Hangover Part III'
5/28/2013 - REVIEW: Whichever one I didnt see the previous week
Eventually there will be topics decided for the days that none have been decided on yet, but you'll just have to wait and see what those are. And yes, the summer will be quite busy for me juggling duties for my summer job, writing for this blog, and seeing movies but all that will be discussed in a later post. And hopefully when I have some free time I'll be able to create a better layout for this blog rather than the default one it's on now.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
I could have written a whole other blog post about the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. The photoshopped images that permeated through social media, the suspect's various family members reactions, how Ball State's student newspaper The Daily News covered the events (let's just say I was not a big fan of their decision to use 'BOSTON MASSACRE' as the headline, nor did I like how the editor ran an editorial trying to defend it and defend how they covered the events), and about the massive manhunt that shut down Boston and the surrounding areas. Suspect #1 is dead, Suspect #2 has been arrested, and we can now start to piece together what drove the suspects to do such a heinous act. The various police departments, the FBI, the CIA, the ATF, the DEA, the NCTC all deserve to be commended for their bravery, for doing their duty to protect the citizens of the US, and more importantly bringing the surviving suspect to justice. But in the midst of the praise and gladness that the suspect has been captured, let us not forget the four victims who had died as a result of the actions of the suspects. Three were from the bombings, one was at the start of the manhunt late Thursday night at the campus of MIT. May God bless and protect them, and bring them to eternal happiness.
On a much lighter note, this week there were announcements that involved two comedies that will be getting sequels in the near future. 'Pitch Perfect' was a surprise hit last year that focused on college level competitive acapela singing, featuring Anna Kendrick ('Up In The Air' and the 'Twilight' movies) and Rebel Wilson ('Bridesmaids'). I know many people who like it a lot, I only thought it was okay. I chuckled every now and then, some of the music was good and other songs didnt sound so good. Regardless of my opinion, Universal has the Bardem Bellas returning in 2015.
The other comedy I heard about getting a sequel was 2004's 'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'. This is a movie I find to be absolutely hilarious, and I am glad it's getting a sequel. Based on the little information I've heard about it 'Dodgeball 2' will allegedly have Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller teaming up to take on an even bigger threat. Vaughn and Stiller were on opposite sides in the first movie, so it could get interesting. No release date has been announced, only that a writer has been hired and that Vaughn and Stiller will be in it. If and when it finally comes out, I hope it'll be as funny as the first one. Doesn't happen a lot with comedy sequels, but I'm optimistic.
I'm still waiting for an 'Indiana Jones 5' and an 'Austin Powers 4', but oh well. I can keep waiting. At least 'Anchorman 2' is actually happening.....
The NFL Draft starts Thursday night, and honestly this year I couldnt be less interested. Lots of names have been floating around ESPN the past few weeks, but no one has been standing out. I will be interested in who the Colts pick up and I'll also see where Notre Dame TE Tyler Eifert, Notre Dame LB Mani Te'o, and West Virgina QB Geno Smith end up. It'll also be interesting who the Chiefs pick as the Number 1 overall pick, but I'm more interested in how these prospects perform down the road in the fall with whatever team picks them. While I don't have much interest in the draft, there probably will be a post down the road talking about the results of the draft and who went where.
Lastly, I am in need of feedback. If you're reading this I wanna know your thoughts and ideas about this blog. What works, what doesn't work, what I need to improve on, topics I could write about, etc. Positive feedback and constructive criticism will be much appreciated, overly negative or derogatory comments will not be. I have it set up so that anyone can leave a comment on my blog posts, but if you don't want to do that you can also comment on the Facebook post or just send me a message. Twitter followers that read this could tweet me or DM me about it. People I know could leave comments, send messages on Facebook or Twitter, or send me a text about it. I'm having fun writing and posting these, and I hope your enjoying reading these.
Well I think that about wraps it up for now.
UPDATES
With this being the last week of class and next week being finals week, I will be a little bit busy studying and finishing up homework and projects and have less time to write. So, at least for now anyway, I will be posting twice a week. When I first started this I was posting once or twice a day for almost a week straight. While it's been fun, I also feel that doing that everyday is over kill and I do have things I need to do to finish the semester strong. Hence the decision for now to keep blog posts to twice a week, unless something occurs. Here is the tentative schedule for April/May:
TODAY - Updates and Random Thoughts
4/27/2013 - REVIEW: 'Oblivion'
5/1/2013 - (topic yet to be decided)
5/4/2013 - REVIEW: 'Iron Man 3'
5/7/2013 - (topic yet to be decided)
5/10/2013 or 5/11/2013 - REVIEW: 'The Great Gatsby'
5/14/2013 - (topic yet to be decided)
5/17/2013 or 5/18/2013 - REVIEW: 'Star Trek Into Darkness'
5/21/2013 - (topic yet to be decided)
5/24/2013 - REVIEW: Either 'Fast and Furious 6' or 'The Hangover Part III'
5/28/2013 - REVIEW: Whichever one I didnt see the previous week
Eventually there will be topics decided for the days that none have been decided on yet, but you'll just have to wait and see what those are. And yes, the summer will be quite busy for me juggling duties for my summer job, writing for this blog, and seeing movies but all that will be discussed in a later post. And hopefully when I have some free time I'll be able to create a better layout for this blog rather than the default one it's on now.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
I could have written a whole other blog post about the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. The photoshopped images that permeated through social media, the suspect's various family members reactions, how Ball State's student newspaper The Daily News covered the events (let's just say I was not a big fan of their decision to use 'BOSTON MASSACRE' as the headline, nor did I like how the editor ran an editorial trying to defend it and defend how they covered the events), and about the massive manhunt that shut down Boston and the surrounding areas. Suspect #1 is dead, Suspect #2 has been arrested, and we can now start to piece together what drove the suspects to do such a heinous act. The various police departments, the FBI, the CIA, the ATF, the DEA, the NCTC all deserve to be commended for their bravery, for doing their duty to protect the citizens of the US, and more importantly bringing the surviving suspect to justice. But in the midst of the praise and gladness that the suspect has been captured, let us not forget the four victims who had died as a result of the actions of the suspects. Three were from the bombings, one was at the start of the manhunt late Thursday night at the campus of MIT. May God bless and protect them, and bring them to eternal happiness.
On a much lighter note, this week there were announcements that involved two comedies that will be getting sequels in the near future. 'Pitch Perfect' was a surprise hit last year that focused on college level competitive acapela singing, featuring Anna Kendrick ('Up In The Air' and the 'Twilight' movies) and Rebel Wilson ('Bridesmaids'). I know many people who like it a lot, I only thought it was okay. I chuckled every now and then, some of the music was good and other songs didnt sound so good. Regardless of my opinion, Universal has the Bardem Bellas returning in 2015.
The other comedy I heard about getting a sequel was 2004's 'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'. This is a movie I find to be absolutely hilarious, and I am glad it's getting a sequel. Based on the little information I've heard about it 'Dodgeball 2' will allegedly have Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller teaming up to take on an even bigger threat. Vaughn and Stiller were on opposite sides in the first movie, so it could get interesting. No release date has been announced, only that a writer has been hired and that Vaughn and Stiller will be in it. If and when it finally comes out, I hope it'll be as funny as the first one. Doesn't happen a lot with comedy sequels, but I'm optimistic.
I'm still waiting for an 'Indiana Jones 5' and an 'Austin Powers 4', but oh well. I can keep waiting. At least 'Anchorman 2' is actually happening.....
The NFL Draft starts Thursday night, and honestly this year I couldnt be less interested. Lots of names have been floating around ESPN the past few weeks, but no one has been standing out. I will be interested in who the Colts pick up and I'll also see where Notre Dame TE Tyler Eifert, Notre Dame LB Mani Te'o, and West Virgina QB Geno Smith end up. It'll also be interesting who the Chiefs pick as the Number 1 overall pick, but I'm more interested in how these prospects perform down the road in the fall with whatever team picks them. While I don't have much interest in the draft, there probably will be a post down the road talking about the results of the draft and who went where.
Lastly, I am in need of feedback. If you're reading this I wanna know your thoughts and ideas about this blog. What works, what doesn't work, what I need to improve on, topics I could write about, etc. Positive feedback and constructive criticism will be much appreciated, overly negative or derogatory comments will not be. I have it set up so that anyone can leave a comment on my blog posts, but if you don't want to do that you can also comment on the Facebook post or just send me a message. Twitter followers that read this could tweet me or DM me about it. People I know could leave comments, send messages on Facebook or Twitter, or send me a text about it. I'm having fun writing and posting these, and I hope your enjoying reading these.
Well I think that about wraps it up for now.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Backtracking Part III (Final One) - Reviews of "Warm Bodies", "Hansel & Gretel", "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Zero Dark Thirty"
I know I said that I'd do this sometime next week but I decided "Screw It" and decided to be all caught up with these before I move on to other things to blog about. So, without further ado, the rest of the movies I saw earlier this year:
'Warm Bodies' (PG-13) ***
Essentially this is 'Twilight' but with zombies. R (Nicholas Hoult from 'X-Men: First Class' and 'Jack the Giant Slayer') is a zombie who falls in love with a human girl (Teresa Palmer from 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' and 'Take Me Home Tonight'). However, where 'Twilight' fails and 'Warm Bodies' succeeds is that it has
1) - a much better story.
2) - An intentional sense of humor. It's a romantic horror comedy, and it is genuinely very funny. Rob Corrdry as a zombie is awesome.
3) - An awesome soundtrack.
4) - Doesn't completely mess up with the 'mythology' of zombies. There is a part where I guess the zombies in this universe gain the memories of their victims when they eat their brains, but that's minor since it's still zombies eating brains. It's not too gory (it's PG-13 after all) but still does deliver with the zombie kills.
Overall, it's a funny enough zombie movie that I can recommend. Not as funny as 'Zombieland', but I still liked it. I guess it was originally a book, something I didn't know about until the opening credits were scrolling along. So I guess check that out too. Someone tell me if the book's any good.
"Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" (R) ***1/4
A continuation of the Brothers Grimm tale in which a now grown up Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) go from village to village fighting witches, and stumble upon a case that might have a clue to their childhoods. It's Hawkeye and a former Bond girl fighting witches....what's not to like? Lots of violence and buckets of blood saturate this grown up fairy tale, and it's awesome. At one point they're using a blessed machine gun to mow down hundreds of witches. Yes. A blessed machine gun in the 18th or 19th century, firing off at witches. It. is. Awesome. And quite funny. I had a blast watching it.
'Silver Linings Playbook' (R) ***1/2
Nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Pat (Best Actor nominee Bradley Cooper, from the 'Hangover' movies) just got out of a mental hospital and is living with his parents (Academy Award winner Robert De Niro and Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver) in Philadelphia trying to put his life back together. Along the way he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who also appears to be a little bit crazy herself. Eventually they have to compete in a dance competition, which has more at stake than just a trophy. I guess this movie is also based on a book I had never heard of, but in regards to it's adaptation I liked this movie a lot. It's funny when it needs to be, it's dramatic when it needs to be, just the right balance of both. Performances are all great, with Jennifer Lawrence actually winning the Best Actress Oscar for her role. I guess that kinda sums up my thoughts about this movie. I highly recommend checking this one out.
'Zero Dark Thirty' (R) ***1/2
Nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, this 2 hour and a half movie sums up almost ten-year manhunt for Osama Bin Laden, with the first few minutes entirely in black while listening to phone calls made on 9/11 to the last 40 minutes spent on the actual raid of Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Liberals say it's too conservative with it's scenes of torture, conservatives say it's too liberal since Obama happened to be president at the time, so what did I think of it? I thought it was very suspenseful with a very strong lead performance from Best Actress nominee Jessica Chastain (who's also in 'Lawless', 'Tree of Life' and 'The Help'). It is a little bit of a long sit and sometimes a little difficult to watch, but if you have the time I do highly recommend watching this one.
Well, I'm all caught up. Tomorrow (4/19) I will be posting what to expect the next few weeks from me on this blog. Stay tuned.
'Warm Bodies' (PG-13) ***
Essentially this is 'Twilight' but with zombies. R (Nicholas Hoult from 'X-Men: First Class' and 'Jack the Giant Slayer') is a zombie who falls in love with a human girl (Teresa Palmer from 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' and 'Take Me Home Tonight'). However, where 'Twilight' fails and 'Warm Bodies' succeeds is that it has
1) - a much better story.
2) - An intentional sense of humor. It's a romantic horror comedy, and it is genuinely very funny. Rob Corrdry as a zombie is awesome.
3) - An awesome soundtrack.
4) - Doesn't completely mess up with the 'mythology' of zombies. There is a part where I guess the zombies in this universe gain the memories of their victims when they eat their brains, but that's minor since it's still zombies eating brains. It's not too gory (it's PG-13 after all) but still does deliver with the zombie kills.
Overall, it's a funny enough zombie movie that I can recommend. Not as funny as 'Zombieland', but I still liked it. I guess it was originally a book, something I didn't know about until the opening credits were scrolling along. So I guess check that out too. Someone tell me if the book's any good.
"Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" (R) ***1/4
A continuation of the Brothers Grimm tale in which a now grown up Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) go from village to village fighting witches, and stumble upon a case that might have a clue to their childhoods. It's Hawkeye and a former Bond girl fighting witches....what's not to like? Lots of violence and buckets of blood saturate this grown up fairy tale, and it's awesome. At one point they're using a blessed machine gun to mow down hundreds of witches. Yes. A blessed machine gun in the 18th or 19th century, firing off at witches. It. is. Awesome. And quite funny. I had a blast watching it.
'Silver Linings Playbook' (R) ***1/2
Nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Pat (Best Actor nominee Bradley Cooper, from the 'Hangover' movies) just got out of a mental hospital and is living with his parents (Academy Award winner Robert De Niro and Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver) in Philadelphia trying to put his life back together. Along the way he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who also appears to be a little bit crazy herself. Eventually they have to compete in a dance competition, which has more at stake than just a trophy. I guess this movie is also based on a book I had never heard of, but in regards to it's adaptation I liked this movie a lot. It's funny when it needs to be, it's dramatic when it needs to be, just the right balance of both. Performances are all great, with Jennifer Lawrence actually winning the Best Actress Oscar for her role. I guess that kinda sums up my thoughts about this movie. I highly recommend checking this one out.
'Zero Dark Thirty' (R) ***1/2
Nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, this 2 hour and a half movie sums up almost ten-year manhunt for Osama Bin Laden, with the first few minutes entirely in black while listening to phone calls made on 9/11 to the last 40 minutes spent on the actual raid of Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Liberals say it's too conservative with it's scenes of torture, conservatives say it's too liberal since Obama happened to be president at the time, so what did I think of it? I thought it was very suspenseful with a very strong lead performance from Best Actress nominee Jessica Chastain (who's also in 'Lawless', 'Tree of Life' and 'The Help'). It is a little bit of a long sit and sometimes a little difficult to watch, but if you have the time I do highly recommend watching this one.
Well, I'm all caught up. Tomorrow (4/19) I will be posting what to expect the next few weeks from me on this blog. Stay tuned.
BACKTRACKING - Part Deux: Reviews of "Die Hard 5", "Side Effects", and....."Safe Haven"?!?!?!
A few other movies I saw earlier in the year.
"A Good Day To Die Hard" (R) **1/2
Bruce Willis is once again in the wrong place at the wrong time for a 5th time as he heads over to Russia to help his estranged son Jack (Jai Courtney) who is in legal trouble. Some good action, sure, but there's also an unfortunate amount of shaky cam action that makes things a little bit confusing to watch and figure out what's exactly going on. There's also almost no villain, with one person that they follow around who might be the villain, no wait it might be this guy, no wait the villain is this guy, nope it's someone else. In addition to their action the 'Die Hard' movies are also known for their sense of humor, which is mostly irritating in this movie and not very funny. Overall, if your a fan of 'Die Hard' I'd say watch it once just so that you're all caught up with the franchise.
"Side Effects" (R) **1/2
To write out the plot of this movie would be giving away too much. Let's just say from the director of "Contagion", the "Ocean's" trilogy, "Magic Mike", "Haywire", "The Informant!", "Traffic" and "Eric Brokovich" comes a legal thriller involving Channing Tatum, Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones and prescription drugs. Lots of twists and turns, and it just felt uneven. When it was slow, it felt very slow. When the pace quickened it was very suspenseful and entertaining. But it seemed to alternate between the two almost every 10 or so minutes. Overall, it's okay. Could've been better.
"Safe Haven" (PG-13) **1/2
Yes.........I saw this movie. My Valentine's Day plans included seeing this movie. My then-girlfriend wanted to see this movie, so I took her to it. She had read the book, I clearly did not. Our expectations were dramatically opposite. Hers were very high, mine were extremely low. The plot revolves around Katie (Julianne Hough, from 'Rock of Ages' and the 'Footloose' remake) on the run from the law and winding up in a small, lakeside town where she strikes up a romance with the store clerk (Josh Duhamel from 'Transformers'). Once the twists and turns pile on in the third act and at the ending the movie gets crazy. I did go into it with an open mind and what did I think? Overall I didnt think it was that bad (trust me, I've seen far worse) but I am not the target audience of this. My then-girlfriend disliked it since the movie took a few liberties with certain plot points in the book.
There will be one more 'Backtracking' post sometime next week. Tomorrow I'll lay out some random thoughts and other things with Saturday more than likely having an 'Oblivion' review.
"A Good Day To Die Hard" (R) **1/2
Bruce Willis is once again in the wrong place at the wrong time for a 5th time as he heads over to Russia to help his estranged son Jack (Jai Courtney) who is in legal trouble. Some good action, sure, but there's also an unfortunate amount of shaky cam action that makes things a little bit confusing to watch and figure out what's exactly going on. There's also almost no villain, with one person that they follow around who might be the villain, no wait it might be this guy, no wait the villain is this guy, nope it's someone else. In addition to their action the 'Die Hard' movies are also known for their sense of humor, which is mostly irritating in this movie and not very funny. Overall, if your a fan of 'Die Hard' I'd say watch it once just so that you're all caught up with the franchise.
"Side Effects" (R) **1/2
To write out the plot of this movie would be giving away too much. Let's just say from the director of "Contagion", the "Ocean's" trilogy, "Magic Mike", "Haywire", "The Informant!", "Traffic" and "Eric Brokovich" comes a legal thriller involving Channing Tatum, Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones and prescription drugs. Lots of twists and turns, and it just felt uneven. When it was slow, it felt very slow. When the pace quickened it was very suspenseful and entertaining. But it seemed to alternate between the two almost every 10 or so minutes. Overall, it's okay. Could've been better.
"Safe Haven" (PG-13) **1/2
Yes.........I saw this movie. My Valentine's Day plans included seeing this movie. My then-girlfriend wanted to see this movie, so I took her to it. She had read the book, I clearly did not. Our expectations were dramatically opposite. Hers were very high, mine were extremely low. The plot revolves around Katie (Julianne Hough, from 'Rock of Ages' and the 'Footloose' remake) on the run from the law and winding up in a small, lakeside town where she strikes up a romance with the store clerk (Josh Duhamel from 'Transformers'). Once the twists and turns pile on in the third act and at the ending the movie gets crazy. I did go into it with an open mind and what did I think? Overall I didnt think it was that bad (trust me, I've seen far worse) but I am not the target audience of this. My then-girlfriend disliked it since the movie took a few liberties with certain plot points in the book.
There will be one more 'Backtracking' post sometime next week. Tomorrow I'll lay out some random thoughts and other things with Saturday more than likely having an 'Oblivion' review.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
RANDOM WRITING SAMPLE - "Summer Mornings and Summer Nights"
For the first unit of my Creative Writing class we looked at poetry and had to write a poem. The below poem is my Project for that particular unit. The poem is not about recent events, rather it is about a hypothetical day working at camp last summer that just didn't start off right. NOTE: This was written for a project for school. I have ever experienced a day like this at camp, not even last year when it got extremely hot. Camp has been nothing but fun, enjoyable, and I have learned a lot from the Scouts and my awesome fellow staff members. Anyway, here it is:
SUMMER MORNINGS AND SUMMER NIGHTS
-->
It was a cool and quiet night,
The days events
Have become the past.
All that was once filled with excitement,
has quietly retreated into the darkness.
Laying on an uncomfortable rickety cot
Had never been so comforting before.
I close my eyes
And my mind races with a myriad of thoughts.
But to my surprise
My sadness that opened the day
had been Replaced
with the solace I had been yearning for.
I breath a sigh of relief
as I drift off
to sleep.
SUMMER MORNINGS AND SUMMER NIGHTS
-->
It was a cold and bleak morning,
The once green pasture
had the appearance of a barren wasteland.
The long and lonely walk
Did not provide any solace at all.
It was only the start of the day,
and things had already rolled downhill.
The sky
was grey and dismal.
A façade
shall be put on
To carry on
My duties for the rest of the day.
had the appearance of a barren wasteland.
The long and lonely walk
Did not provide any solace at all.
It was only the start of the day,
and things had already rolled downhill.
The sky
was grey and dismal.
A façade
shall be put on
To carry on
My duties for the rest of the day.
It was a cool and quiet night,
Have become the past.
All that was once filled with excitement,
has quietly retreated into the darkness.
Laying on an uncomfortable rickety cot
Had never been so comforting before.
I close my eyes
And my mind races with a myriad of thoughts.
But to my surprise
My sadness that opened the day
had been Replaced
with the solace I had been yearning for.
I breath a sigh of relief
as I drift off
to sleep.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
BACKTRACKING, PART ONE - Reviews of 'Evil Dead', 'Croods', 'Oz'
I thought it would be fair to post quick reviews of movies I saw earlier in the year. I won't be posting full reviews since for some of these movies it's been awhile since I had seen them so just some quick thoughts on each movie.
'Evil Dead' (R) ***1/4
Five people go to a cabin in the woods. One of them reads from the Book of the Dead, and creepy things start to happen. If you've seen the original, you'll know where this one's going. A little bit of a slow start, but once the abundant blood and guts and gore (with allegedly no CGI, all practical effects) start to the fan, it get's awesome. Predictable? Sure, to an extent. Scary? No, though there are some jump scares. Bloody? Extremely. Better than the original? It's been awhile since I've seen the original so I can't judge it on that, but if you are a fan I do highly recommend the movie. Also, there is a brief scene after the credits so if you are a fan of the original movies stay in the theater. Overall, it's a bloody good time.
'The Croods' (PG) ***
A family of cavemen, after surviving by abiding by strict rules, are forced to leave their cave and journey out into the real world. Along the way they meet another human named Guy (voice of Ryan Reynolds), who helps the family along and catches the eye of the daughter Eep (voice of Emma Stone) and the ire of her father (voice of Nicolas Cage). Nicolas Cage grunting and yelling like a caveman is awesome, and Guy's pet named Belt is quite funny. I saw this in 3D, and indeed the 3D effects were worth it. Then again, most animated movies Ive seen in 3D have excellent 3D. Overall it's a funny and charming story with good 3D effects. Not really sure if it would be someone I'd watch again, but for a one time viewing it was worth it.
'Oz: The Great and Powerful' (PG) ***
First off, dont go in expecting something like "The Wizard of Oz". Once you're expectations are lowered a little bit by doing that, you'll be able to enjoy the movie. Oz (James Franco) gets whisked away into the land of Oz when he meets three witches (Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams) and is told that he has to defeat the Wicked Witch (and he has to figure out which one is the Wicked Witch) and rightfully claim the throne and riches that were promised to him in a prophecy. The first 10 minutes of the movie in black and white and then moving to color once we were in Oz was a nice touch, the flying monkeys are a lot scarier in this version, and most of the special effects in the movie are great. In particular there is a China Doll character who not only actually looks like she's made of China but she also looks real. The Munchkins do get a quick musical number, but it's nothing worth remembering. I also saw this one in 3D as well, and once again the 3D is great. Overall it is a good movie with great special effects that should be judged on it's own merit, not being compared to 'Wizard of Oz'.
There will be two more parts to this, and then I'll finally be all caught up. Part Two will probably come within the next few days.
'Evil Dead' (R) ***1/4
Five people go to a cabin in the woods. One of them reads from the Book of the Dead, and creepy things start to happen. If you've seen the original, you'll know where this one's going. A little bit of a slow start, but once the abundant blood and guts and gore (with allegedly no CGI, all practical effects) start to the fan, it get's awesome. Predictable? Sure, to an extent. Scary? No, though there are some jump scares. Bloody? Extremely. Better than the original? It's been awhile since I've seen the original so I can't judge it on that, but if you are a fan I do highly recommend the movie. Also, there is a brief scene after the credits so if you are a fan of the original movies stay in the theater. Overall, it's a bloody good time.
'The Croods' (PG) ***
A family of cavemen, after surviving by abiding by strict rules, are forced to leave their cave and journey out into the real world. Along the way they meet another human named Guy (voice of Ryan Reynolds), who helps the family along and catches the eye of the daughter Eep (voice of Emma Stone) and the ire of her father (voice of Nicolas Cage). Nicolas Cage grunting and yelling like a caveman is awesome, and Guy's pet named Belt is quite funny. I saw this in 3D, and indeed the 3D effects were worth it. Then again, most animated movies Ive seen in 3D have excellent 3D. Overall it's a funny and charming story with good 3D effects. Not really sure if it would be someone I'd watch again, but for a one time viewing it was worth it.
'Oz: The Great and Powerful' (PG) ***
First off, dont go in expecting something like "The Wizard of Oz". Once you're expectations are lowered a little bit by doing that, you'll be able to enjoy the movie. Oz (James Franco) gets whisked away into the land of Oz when he meets three witches (Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams) and is told that he has to defeat the Wicked Witch (and he has to figure out which one is the Wicked Witch) and rightfully claim the throne and riches that were promised to him in a prophecy. The first 10 minutes of the movie in black and white and then moving to color once we were in Oz was a nice touch, the flying monkeys are a lot scarier in this version, and most of the special effects in the movie are great. In particular there is a China Doll character who not only actually looks like she's made of China but she also looks real. The Munchkins do get a quick musical number, but it's nothing worth remembering. I also saw this one in 3D as well, and once again the 3D is great. Overall it is a good movie with great special effects that should be judged on it's own merit, not being compared to 'Wizard of Oz'.
There will be two more parts to this, and then I'll finally be all caught up. Part Two will probably come within the next few days.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Boston
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As I was sitting in a chair at Bio Life donating plasma, I was listening to music on my iPhone and scrolling through
Twitter as I do for almost every donation. On my Twitter feed I had read that two explosions had
occurred roughly 50 yards and 100 yards away from the finish line at the Boston
Marathon, roughly 4 hours and 9 minutes into the race. After finishing my donation and heading
back to my dorm room I tuned on ESPN, where they were showing video clips of
the first explosion going off.
About 15 seconds later you could hear the second explosion occurring. I watched the news conference that was
held by the Boston Police Commissioner, and I even watched President Obama give
his remarks on this tragedy. The
last I heard there were two fatalities as a result of the explosion and over
100 injured. One of the fatalities
was an 8-year old child. An event
like this is very shocking and very sad.
From what Ive been hearing today as a holiday in Boston known as
“Patriot’s Day”, which celebrates the first battle of the American
Revolution. In addition, the
Boston Marathon is held annually on this day and the Boston Red Sox even play a
home game at Fenway Park. It’s
supposed to be a day of jubilation and freedom and unity, with people from all
over the globe coming to Boston to compete in the marathon. Sadly this year it has been marked with
a senseless tragedy that had left many hurt, two dead and the rest of us
scratching our heads in utter confusion as to what kind of sick, cruel person
would do such a thing like this.
The older we get, the less we look at the world with wonder
and awe. Replacing the wonder and
awe as we get older is the shock and horror of all the atrocities and senseless
acts of violence that seem to happen almost on a daily occurrence. The past year alone we’ve read about
seemingly endless gun violence happening across the country, constant threats
of nuclear war from North Korea, soldiers dying overseas, natural disasters,
kidnappings, abortions…this list could go on and on of the atrocities of the
world we live in. What bugs me is when people twist some of these events to fit their own political agenda. I read a post on my Facebook wall today
in which the person said “I have a great idea everyone,
lets ban guns... so what to the 'bad guys' do they go out and set bombs up at
the end of the boston marathon. Oh but you can't buy a gun so here is a bomb
instead. How sick are these people? God please watch over those innocent
victims in Boston. How horrible!” Throwing
the gun control debate into the tragedy that happened today in Boston. Today’s tragedy had nothing to do with
the gun control debate, so why bring it up? There's a time and a place for that, but now right now. Now is not a time to bring up something that divides
us. Now is the time for
unification. Now is the time for
prayer. I pray that God blesses
and protects the victims of this horrible tragedy and that He blesses and protects the victims of all senseless acts of violence and atrocities all over the world. I also pray for peace in the
world and an end to these horrible situations.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
REVIEW - 'Scary Movie 5'
'Scary Movie 5' (PG-13) *1/2
Ive seen the other four 'Scary Movie' movies....even though this looked bad I figured I might as well stay caught up.
The 'plot' is a little something like this. After he's killed by a possessed Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen's kids go missing and are found in a cabin in the woods. His brother Dan (Simon Rex) and wife Jodie (Ashley Tisdale) adopt the kids, and soon strange events happen around the house. The main plot parodies "Mama" and all of the "Paranormal Activity" movies, with side references that spoof "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", "Sinister", "Black Swan", the "Evil Dead" remake, "Inception", "The Help", "127 Hours", the tv shows 'Real Housewives of (whatever random city)' and 'Honey Boo Boo', and the infamous Twilight fan fiction 'novel' 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.
Humor is subjective. What I might laugh other people might not laugh at, and vice versa. Prime examples: 'Wedding Crashers' and 'There's Something About Mary'. I only thought those were okay movies that were kinda funny, other people I know think that both of those are hilarious. To each their own, it is not wrong to have an opinion on something and for people to disagree with it. Now, is 'Scary Movie 5' funny? Not really. I chuckled every now and then but most of the time it was just me in an empty theater staring blankly at the screen, with Scary Movie 5 acting desperately trying to get me to laugh and failing most of the time.
I do like dumb spoof movies for the most part. 'Airplane!' is great. I even like 'Scary Movie', 'Scary Movie 3', 'Scary Movie 4', 'Date Movie', 'Epic Movie', and the 'Naked Gun' movies. I completely abhor 'Meet The Spartans', 'Superhero Movie', and 'The 41-Year Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It". 'Scary Movie 5' is better than those spoof movies that I hate, but it's not by much. Even if you like dumb spoof movies, I still don't think you'd like 'Scary Movie 5'. But, to each their own. If you want to see it I'm not stopping you, if you enjoy it then that's great. I personally didnt like it or find it all that funny, but whatever.
Well that's it for this weekend in regards to reviews. Throughout the week I'll be posting some brief reviews of movies I saw earlier in the year, along with a sample of something from my Creative Writing class. Might see 'Oblivion' next weekend. Not 100% sure about it. Might just go see it since I might get asked if I saw it. We'll see.
Ive seen the other four 'Scary Movie' movies....even though this looked bad I figured I might as well stay caught up.
The 'plot' is a little something like this. After he's killed by a possessed Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen's kids go missing and are found in a cabin in the woods. His brother Dan (Simon Rex) and wife Jodie (Ashley Tisdale) adopt the kids, and soon strange events happen around the house. The main plot parodies "Mama" and all of the "Paranormal Activity" movies, with side references that spoof "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", "Sinister", "Black Swan", the "Evil Dead" remake, "Inception", "The Help", "127 Hours", the tv shows 'Real Housewives of (whatever random city)' and 'Honey Boo Boo', and the infamous Twilight fan fiction 'novel' 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.
Humor is subjective. What I might laugh other people might not laugh at, and vice versa. Prime examples: 'Wedding Crashers' and 'There's Something About Mary'. I only thought those were okay movies that were kinda funny, other people I know think that both of those are hilarious. To each their own, it is not wrong to have an opinion on something and for people to disagree with it. Now, is 'Scary Movie 5' funny? Not really. I chuckled every now and then but most of the time it was just me in an empty theater staring blankly at the screen, with Scary Movie 5 acting desperately trying to get me to laugh and failing most of the time.
I do like dumb spoof movies for the most part. 'Airplane!' is great. I even like 'Scary Movie', 'Scary Movie 3', 'Scary Movie 4', 'Date Movie', 'Epic Movie', and the 'Naked Gun' movies. I completely abhor 'Meet The Spartans', 'Superhero Movie', and 'The 41-Year Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It". 'Scary Movie 5' is better than those spoof movies that I hate, but it's not by much. Even if you like dumb spoof movies, I still don't think you'd like 'Scary Movie 5'. But, to each their own. If you want to see it I'm not stopping you, if you enjoy it then that's great. I personally didnt like it or find it all that funny, but whatever.
Well that's it for this weekend in regards to reviews. Throughout the week I'll be posting some brief reviews of movies I saw earlier in the year, along with a sample of something from my Creative Writing class. Might see 'Oblivion' next weekend. Not 100% sure about it. Might just go see it since I might get asked if I saw it. We'll see.
20 questions
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Got bored last night waiting for Saturday Night Live to start so I wrote up over 50 questions, put them in a tin, and randomly selected 20 to answer.
Cats or Dogs?
I like both, but I prefer dogs.
Cats or Dogs?
I like both, but I prefer dogs.
Favorite comedy?
A tie between ‘Anchorman’ and ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’.
3D or 2D?
Depends.
A tie between ‘Anchorman’ and ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’.
3D or 2D?
Depends.
Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Wars.
Star Wars.
Favorite Season?
Fall.
Fall.
I am Ron Burgundy?
I guess someone put a question mark at the end of the teleprompter.
I guess someone put a question mark at the end of the teleprompter.
Broken any bones?
No.
No.
Republican or Democrat?
Neither, but I tend to lean Republican
Neither, but I tend to lean Republican
Burger King or McDonalds?
McDonalds. Used to be Burger King until they kept changing to look more like McDonalds. And they changed their fries.
McDonalds. Used to be Burger King until they kept changing to look more like McDonalds. And they changed their fries.
What did you have for breakfast today?
Chocolate chip pancakes and apple juice.
Chocolate chip pancakes and apple juice.
What’s in your pockets?
My wallet
My wallet
Favorite color?
Blue
Blue
Why is this blog called ‘Jake says stuff!!”?
Because I am usually a rather quiet person.
Because I am usually a rather quiet person.
Current job?
Dishroom/Dining Room attendant at Woodworth Commons, Ball State University Dining Services.
Dishroom/Dining Room attendant at Woodworth Commons, Ball State University Dining Services.
Favorite soda?
Pepsi
Pepsi
Favorite alcoholic beverage?
Beer – Bud Light.
Other – A tie between Long Island Ice Tea and Jack & Coke.
Beer – Bud Light.
Other – A tie between Long Island Ice Tea and Jack & Coke.
Do you like soccer?
No.
No.
Favorite actor?
Don’t really have a favorite.
Don’t really have a favorite.
Favorite college football team?
Notre Dame. Go Irish!
Notre Dame. Go Irish!
Would you rather be forced to write a history-based research
paper or be forced to retake your high school Pre-Calculus class?
Kind of an apples and oranges question, but I don’t know. As much as I like History sometimes History books can be quite boring and a History-based research paper is basically taking ideas and thoughts from other people and blending it together to form “your own” ideas. I also don’t like math at all, so this one’s a coin flip. (Flip). Tails. Retake Pre-Calc. $#%@!
Kind of an apples and oranges question, but I don’t know. As much as I like History sometimes History books can be quite boring and a History-based research paper is basically taking ideas and thoughts from other people and blending it together to form “your own” ideas. I also don’t like math at all, so this one’s a coin flip. (Flip). Tails. Retake Pre-Calc. $#%@!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
REVIEW - '42', plus a few other things
This past week has been very tough for me emotionally, mentally, and
academically. I'd like to thanks my friends and family for their love
and support and advice in this difficult time. It truly does mean a lot
to me.
Now originally I did not have any intention of seeing this movie. I had not heard much about it, didn't see too many ads for it on TV, seen any trailers, nothing. Sure the past few days I've seen a few commercials on ESPN but that was all I had seen of it. I usually like sports movies, and after the week I had and after seeing that it's been getting a lot of good reviews, I decided to check this out. A free small popcorn coupon from AMC Theatres also helped too.
The movie is a biopic of famed baseball player Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) that focuses on his rise from playing short stop for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League to being the first African American baseball player in the history of MLB playing first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers. This comes about due to the determination of Dodgers executive Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) who not only sees potential in Jackie as a ball player but also sees an opportunity for money to be made and a chance to finally break the color barrier in baseball. By being the first African American baseball player Jackie has to go through a lot. Despite the constant racism and discrimination that comes his way from teammates, pitchers, umpires, policemen, townsmen, opposing team managers, and the Jim Crow laws Jackie keeps his head calm and turns the other cheek. It doesn't go through his entire baseball career with the Dodgers, just through his rookie season.
I found the movie to be very good and inspirational. The baseball scenes are a lot of fun, though a few are a little difficult to watch. The sappy inspirational music works without getting too sappy. The movie is shot well. There are two performances I want to highlight, and a third that bugged me throughout the entire movie. Chadwick Boseman (who I've never heard of before) is great as Jackie Robinson. Alan Tudyk ("Serenity"/Firefly, Transformers 3) is the manager of the Phillies who during a game shouts out extremely racist things at Jackie while he is at bat. The things that came out of Tudyk's character's mouth during that scene genuinely shocked and offended me. And the worse part is that's how people did act back then, and how sadly some people still act today. By far the best scene in the movie, when Jackie gets out and goes down to the clubhouse and smacks his bat repeatedly against the wall, venting and releasing all the frustration that had been building on the field but he could not release on the field. The performance I had a problem with was Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey. Whenever he popped onscreen I was quietly groaning to myself. I know Harrison Ford can be a good actor, but whenever he spoke the dialogue seemed to be very clunky and unnatural, though a few one liners did manage to make me chuckle and he does have one good speech towards the end of the movie.
Ford's performance and the first hour of the movie were the main things I disliked about the movie. Usually I don't check my phone at all during a movie though I found myself wanting to check my phone several times during the first hour, eventually checking it once. The first hour or so is a little on the slow side. But thankfully it picks up. I like baseball, but I don't follow it professionally. Comparing it to other baseball movies I've seen, it's far better than that Clint Eastwood baseball movie 'Trouble With The Curve'. 'Moneyball' took me a few viewings to finally appreciate and call it a great movie. 'Field of Dreams' is a classic. And then there's 'Major League'.....which is a whole other wild thing entirely (see what I did there?).
Overall, even if you aren't a baseball fan I do recommend this movie. It's a very inspirational story that for the most part is well acted, well shot, but could use quicker pacing. And less Harrison Ford.
Yep, Im blogging now
I have finally caved in to the world of internet blogging. This has been something I have thought about doing for awhile now but I never got around to actually doing it. In the fall I even wrote up few sample blog posts in one of my seemingly hundreds of notebooks I have lying around. But school got in the way and I gave up on it.
This semester I am taking a Creative Writing class. In January I decided that to keep me in the writing mood I would create a blog where I'd write about whatever was on my mind, but it would mostly be about movies I had seen. I even wrote reviews of 'Silver Linings Playbook', 'Beasts of the Southern Wild', 'Dredd' and 'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters'. But once again, school and procrastination....(mostly procrastination)....got in the way.
Last week I saw the 'Evil Dead' remake, and once again the urge came to me to start a blog and write movie reviews and write whatever else has been on my mind. I decided that I would finally start one up after I was able to get through a rather busy week of school work. Other events have also made this a very rough week emotionally and mentally, but I decided this morning that I would go through with my blog plans. So, here it is!
As stated multiple times in the paragraphs above, this blog of mine will primarily consist of written movie reviews. I'm not exactly someone who dissects movies and discusses them uber in depth, I just simply write my thoughts about the movie. Is it good? Is it bad? Why did I think it was good? Why did I think it was bad? Acting any good? Music good? Adapted well? Original? Does the story work? Does it not? Does the movie at least look good? Good dialogue that rolls off the tongue and feels real and genuine? Clunky, bad dialogue that just sounds forced? Okay maybe I dissect them a little bit, but I'm no snob. I will watch any movie and give it a fair shot.
Along with reviews there will also be random thoughts from me, some sports talk, some samples of work from my Creative Writing class, random things I found to be funny, and just whatever else I decide to write about. This should be a fun creative outlet for me, and I hope whoever reads this will get some form of enjoyment out of this.
-Jake
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