Redbox Mania

I was going to go see 'Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2' in 3D but I ended up sleeping in yesterday morning so I decided to get something from Redbox.  Originally I was going to only get one so naturally I ended up getting three.  What?  I can't pass up a good deal on Redbox....okay I usually can but today I decided why not and went for it.  


'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' (PG-13) **1/4
Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) are Las Vegas magicians who were once successful but their audience is dwindling from a stale show and competition from Steven Gray (Jim Carrey), a Criss Angel/David Blaine type street performer who mostly does stunts involving bodily harm and mutilation.  With Olivia Wilde as Burt and Anton's assistant Jane, Alan Arkin as an aging musician who inspired Burt as a child and the late James Gandolfini as a casino owner.  I chuckled occasionally and laughed out loud once or twice, but most of the time it just kinda fell flat and was mostly forgettable despite the talent involved.  If you want to watch a better magician-themed movie this year, go watch 'Now You See Me'. 


'The Kings of Summer' (R) **3/4
The main movie that I actually was going to rent, but then also rented 'Burt Wonderstone' and 'Movie 43'.  Friends Joe, Patrick, and Biaggio (Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias), in an act of independence, decide to run away and spend their summer living in a house that they built in the woods and live off the land.  The only actor that I could recognize in this movie was Nick Offerman as Joe's dad, but you don't need big celebrities to make a good movie.  Beautifully shot and while it has some funny parts, overall the story is a little uneven, thin, and rushed at times.  Starts off great, but certain events during the second act made my attention wander and made me not like the characters that we're supposed to root for.  It's a solid rental.  Better than the 'Burt Wonderstone' and 'Movie 43' that's for sure.


'Movie 43' (R) **
Now this has been called not only one of the worst movies of the year, but one of the worst movies of all time.  A whopping '19' on Metacritic's scale (signifying "Overwhelming dislike) and a solid 4% on Rotten Tomatoes.  So of course I had to check this out for myself.  This movie's plot comprises of a series of skits from movie pitches that desperate writer Charlie (Dennis Quaid) is giving to movie executive Griffin Schraeder (Greg Kinnear).  This features a huge ensemble cast that also includes Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone, Richard Gere, Kate Bosworth, Jack McBrayer, Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Kristen Bell, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Patrick Warburton, Johnny Knoxville, Gerard Butler, Seann William Scott, Halle Berry, Terrence Howard, Elizabeth Banks, Seth MacFarlane and Josh Duhamel.  It's shocking, strange, raunchy, obscene, foul-mouthed, bizarre, crude, but not very funny.  I chuckled maybe once or twice.  Most of the time I was just kinda staring blankly at my TV.  Now is it one of the worst movies I've ever seen?  No.  Is it the worst movie I've seen this year?  No.  'Scary Movie 5'  far worse, as well as the first half of 'Insidious Chapter 2'.  

Fall/Winter preview - OCTOBER

These movies are on my radar for the month of October.  I probably won't see ALL of these movies, but these are ones that have attracted my attention.  I have attached the trailers for each of the movies so if you want check them out and tell me in the comments what you think of the trailers. 

OCTOBER

• Gravity
     -Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are in space on the space shuttle Explorer.  It's her first mission, it's his last mission.  Space debris hits the Explorer which leaves them stranded in space with a limited amount of air and no means of communication with Earth. This is the latest from Alfonso Cuaron, the director of 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' and 'Children of Men'. It looks like has potential, but for some reason I've been 'iffy' on it ever since I first watched the trailer.  It's received great reviews, but i don't know.  This will be offered in traditional 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D.  If I do go see it maybe I'll go see it in IMAX 3D.  I mean, a space movie on a giant screen in 3D?  Sold.  Then again 'Star Trek Into Darkness' was on IMAX 3D but I saw it in 2D...

• Captain Phillips
      -Remember the story of the Somali pirates taking over an American cargo ship a few years ago?  Well, it gets the Hollywood treatment with Tom Hanks as the titular captain.  Directed by Paul Greengrass, who also made both 'Bourne Supremacy' and 'Bourne Ultimatum', as well as the 9/11 movie 'United 93'.  This movie does look pretty intense. 

• Machete Kills
      -The long awaited sequel to 2010's 'Machete'.  This time around Machete (Danny Trejo) is hired by the President (Charlie Sheen) to stop a madman (Mel Gibson) from launching a missile at the White House.  This one won't be winning any Oscars, but it sounds like it could be a lot of gratuitous, bloody fun like the first 'Machete'.

• Escape Plan
      -Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger attempt to break out of a ridiculously high security prison.  Once again, probably not exactly an Oscar contender, but it could be fun.

• 12 Years A Slave
      -Okay, this one actually DOES look like an Oscar contender.  Based on the memoir by Solomon Northrop, it chronicles how he was born a free man and as an adult was kidnapped into slavery and sold into the deep south.  With Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.  I read an excerpt of this memoir in my Civil War class this semester.  Good stuff. And the movie looks great.
  

• Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa
       -Johnny Knoxville's Bad Grandpa character gets his own movie.  In addition to the usual 'Jackass' stunts and pranks, the 'Bad Grandpa' character also has to escort his grandson (Jackson Nicoll) to his father's house after his mother is jailed.  The other 'Jackass' movies are shocking, borderline offensive, dumb, but extremely funny and the trailer for this makes it look like 'Bad Grandpa' follows suit with the others.  A little warning about the 'Bad Grandpa' trailer:  The end of the trailer features Johnny Knoxville and Jackson Nicoll infiltrating a child pageant and their routine....well....becomes extremely inappropriate to say the least........ 

OTHER MOVIES COMING OUT IN OCTOBER

• 'Runner, Runner' the online poker thriller with Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck
• The 'Carrie' remake with Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore
• 'The Fifth Estate', the Wikileaks movie with Benedict Cumberbatch
• 'The Counselor', about a lawyer who starts delving into drug trafficking.  With Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz. 

I will be doing this also with movies coming out in November and December, so stay tuned.  And once again, I will be attaching the trailers for the movies in those months as well.

NFL Week 4 Pick 'Em

Well....9-7 Week 1, 10-6 Week 2, and 9-7 Week 3.  At least I'm consistent.  Hopefully things fare a little bit better this week.

49ERS @ Rams
RAVENS @ Bills
BENGALS @ Browns
BEARS @ Lions
SEAHAWKS @ Texans
COLTS @ Jaguars
Giants @ CHIEFS
STEELERS @ Vikings
CARDINALS @ Buccaneers
JETS @ Titans
Eagles @ BRONCOS
Redskins @ RAIDERS
COWBOYS @ Chargers
Patriots @ FALCONS
Dolphins @ SAINTS



Last week:  9-7, 56.25%
Total:  28-20, 58.33%

Movie Nitpicks (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

This post features my nitpicks about certain movies and contains spoilers for 'The Wolverine', 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'Paranormal Activity 4' and 'World War Z'.  If you have seen all of these movies, go ahead and read.  If you haven't seen all of these and don't want to know about spoilers, don't read this until later.  If you haven't seen these but you don't care about spoilers, read on. 

• The Wolverine
  
  1. This nitpick threatens to change my opinion of the movie from good to bad.  Towards the end of the movie, Wolverine has been declawed, with the Silver Samurai (revealed to be Yashida, who had faked his death earlier in the movie) drilling through where Wolverine's claws once were and extracting Wolverine's healing ability.  Not only does this heal Yashida's illnesses but it also makes him a lot younger, similar to how he looked during the opening of the movie where Wolverine saves him from the nuclear blast in Nagasaki.  Now this nitpick is where comic book fans can shred me to pieces explaining away everything I'm complaining about.  So why did stealing Wolverine's healing ability make Yashida physically younger?  Wolverine still ages, but his healing ability drastically slows down the aging process.  I can understand the stolen healing ability healing Yashida from his disease and curing him of other ailments, but making him nearly 70 years younger?  Come on, that's a little bit dumb.
     
     
• The Dark Knight Rises
  
  1. No one is able to figure out the connection that Batman hasn't been seen in 8 years and Bruce Wayne has been a recluse almost that entire time.
  2. Detective Blake says that as soon as he looked at Bruce Wayne's face, he immediately knew he was Batman.  HOW???  Bruce Wayne should be able to completely mask his Batman persona while he is going around Gotham as eccentric billionaire Bruce Wayne.  Couldn't he have put two and two together about the length of time that Batman has disappeared to Bruce Wayne being a recluse?  Or even better piecing together that Batman first starting appearing in Gotham shortly after Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham in 'Batman Begins'?
  3. While on the plan earlier in the film, Bane and his henchmen pump blood out of Dr. Pavel's body and put it in a cadaver.  Months later, Miranda Tate says that the doctor had died in a plane crash, which was acknowledged again later when the world is watching Bane start to take Gotham hostage at the football game and Dr. Pavel is seen there.  Sorry, but last I checked just merely pumping another persons blood into a body would not be able to completely change that body's DNA.
  4. Okay, for the sake of a comic book movie, I will buy that a spine can be punched back into place, but that's stretching it a lot.  And 5 five months later not only can Bruce Wayne walk again but he has also retrained to be Batman. Uh huh........
  5. After his escape from the pit, how on earth does he get back to Gotham?  He has no money, no means of transportation, and no means of communication.  Even if he were to somehow get into the United States, there is still no way he could have entered Gotham City without being seen by at least one of Bane's henchman.
  6. Hines Ward can outrun an exploding football field and score a touchdown?  I call shenanigans on this!....okay just kidding....maybe........
  7. Since Bruce Wayne's money was already being squandered away anyway, was it really necessary for Bane and his henchman to get his fingerprints and make fraudulent trades?
  8. Wouldn't someone be able to prove that those trades were fraudulent?
  9. Sending roughly 99% of the Gotham police force into the sewers to find Bane and his men...........not exactly a smart thing to do................
  10. When it comes right down to it, why didn't anyone just shoot Bane in the head?
  11. The end of the movie when it clearly shows that Bruce Wayne survived and went to Florence with Selina Kyle.  NO ONE but Alfred recognizes that a recently dead billionaire is just sitting in the restaurant?
      
• Paranormal Activity 4
  
  1. In the ending of Paranormal Activity 2, the possessed Katie kidnaps baby Hunter from her sister Kristi because their witch grandmother had offered the first son in the family to the devil in exchange for something.  Jumping ahead to Paranormal Activity 4, Katie and 'Robbie' live across the street from the new family that is now being haunted by demons and is trying to capture evidence on it from multiple continuously running laptops, and the Xbox Kinect.  By the end of the movie, the parents of the new family are dead, Alex faces a hundred or so shark faced looking demon people in Katie's backyard and it ends up that Alex's brother Wyatt is actually Hunter.  Wait.....what???  Apparently she already had Hunter and suddenly grew a conscious and gave him up for adoption only to come back for him later...which kinda makes this movie really pointless since she already had him at the end of Paranormal Activity 2.

• World War Z
  
  1. After noticing that zombies haven't been attacking people who appear to be terminally ill, Brad Pitt gets the idea that if everyone were to be injected with a lethal (but curable) pathogen, this can act as a 'shield' of sorts against the zombies.  While at a W.H.O. center, he injects himself with a pathogen and manages to walk right by the zombies.  The movie ends with the W.H.O. mass producing a 'vaccine' to inject into people so that they can be shielded from the zombies.  So to save humanity, Brad Pitt's bright idea is to kill everyone off?  Seems legit. Whats left of the United Nations recruits him to try and find patient zero to discover a possible cure, and instead he decides to put humanity in danger by injecting everyone with a deadly pathogen to shield them.  Apparently this was not the original ending to the movie.  The original ending from what Ive heard about it had Brad Pitt get drafted into the Russian Army, fight against the zombies in Moscow, and then lead an assault against the zombies near the safe zone in Nova Scotia.  This apprently wasn't working well so they hired Damon Lindelof to completely re-write the third act of the movie.   
  
  
  Well, those are some nitpicks I have from a few movies.  Do you have any nitpicks?  
  

Miscellaneous

All right lots of things to talk about in this post so let's get started with what I've watched this weekend.

THEATER
'Prisoners' (R) **1/2
When Keller Dover's (Hugh Jackman) daughter Anna and her friend Joy go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) and the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.  With Maria Bello as Keller's wife Grace, Terrence Howard and Viola Davis as Joy's parents, Paul Dano as a mentally unstable suspect Alex Jones, and Melissa Leo as Alex's caring aunt.  I didn't initially have much interest in seeing this but after reading overwhelmingly positive things about the movie and being bored last Saturday I decided to go see it.  So did it live up to the hype?  No.  Paul Dano and Melissa Leo both are great in their roles, and a few scenes are very tense and suspenseful, but overall I just didn't think the movie was very engaging.  It's also about a half hour too long (it clocks in at around 2 hours, 23 minutes) and a few of the subplots could've been removed or altered slightly.  But I do have to give it this - I couldn't really predict what was gonna happen next during the movie.  Unless you're a huge Hugh Jackman fan or a huge Jake Gyllenhaal fan, then there's no real need to run out and see this.  It's a solid rental.

'We're The Millers' (R) ***1/4
A drug dealer named David (Jason Sudeikis) hires his stripper neighbor 'Rose' (Jennifer Aniston), runaway Casey (Emma Roberts) and his other neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) to create a fake family in order to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. from Mexico and receive $100,000 from his boss Brad (Ed Helms).  While on their rendezvous they are forced to deal with an RV full of pot, Mexican cops, tarantulas, and the vacationing Fitzgerald family (Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Quinn).  I wasn't completely sure about seeing this when it first came out.  I kept hearing a lot of mixed things about it.  Some said it was okay, some said it was funny but too long, others said it wasn't very funny, stuff like that.  Humor is subjective after all.  I thought this movie was hilarious.  Several parts of the movie had me laughing out loud, and had me shocked when it decided to go for shock value.  The cast appears to be having a lot of fun in this and each of the them gives a great performance, particularly Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, and Ed Helms. 

REDBOX
'World War Z' (PG-13) **1/4
A zombie epidemic has struck across the world.  Governments have been toppled, humanity is dying off, anarchy and chaos are everywhere.  Gerry (Brad Pitt) is forced to leave his family and travel the world in order to possibly discover a cure.    This was another one that I didn't see over the summer because of mixed reactions to it.  I mean I heard that it was better than what the trailers made it look, but still didn't really interest me.  Finally watched it because it came to Redbox.  I haven't read the book on which it's based but I've heard that this strays far from the source material.  As it is, it's a forgettable, mixed bag.  Some of the zombie scenes are intense, but as the scene drags out it just becomes less and less intense.  Brad Pitt does all right, even if he does look a little bored.  The CGI in the movie is pretty bad whenever there is a huge group of zombies either running around or piling on top of each other to go over a wall.  Some of the action scenes the edits are so quick cut that it's hard to tell what's happening.  This does come from Marc Forster, who directed one of my least favorite Bond movies 'Quantum of Solace', which also had a huge problem with quick cut editing.  Another problem I had with is the ending of the movie, which I will cover in an upcoming 'Movie Nitpicks' blog post.

NETFLIX
'To The Wonder' (R) **1/2
After falling in love in Paris, Marina (Olga Kurylenko) and Neil (Ben Affleck) come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Their church's Spanish-born pastor Father Quintana (Javier Bardem) struggles with his faith, while Neil encounters a woman from his childhood (Rachel McAdams).  This is the latest from Terrence Malick, who has also made 'The Tree of Life', 'The New World', 'The Thin Red Line', 'Badlands', and 'Days of Heaven'.  Much like how 'Tree of Life' doesn't exactly have a main plot and more or less is a meditation on life itself (including a creation scene, dinosaurs, Brad Pitt raising a family, Sean Penn dealing with the loss of his brother, and an afterlife) 'To The Wonder' for the most part is a meditation on love and commitment.  There is hardly any dialogue, and I only knew what the character's names were because I looked it up in the credits.  Allegedly there was no script while filming, just Terrence Malick telling the actors the emotions and independent thoughts that the characters should be having in the scene.  Lots of poetic voice overs in Spanish and French and the movie is gorgeous to look at.  For half of the movie I thought that it was great.  However, it started to drag on and on and on and on (even though it was under 2 hours) and was getting awfully repetitive.  There was also a subplot involving Marina that I didn't really agree with at all, but that'll be in my eventual 'Movie Nitpicks' blog post.  Great cinematography, but hardly a story with very little dialogue.

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Speaking of Ben Affleck, the internet has been furious ever since it was announced that he will be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in the upcoming 'Man of Steel' sequel, rumored to be titled 'Batman Vs Superman'.  Now what do I think about this casting?  Well it was unexpected.  Am I angry like the internet?  No.  I'm perfectly fine with Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, although the 'Batman' part of the role I'll need a little bit more convincing but I can see him as Bruce Wayne.  In the right role he is a good actor, but I will admit he's far better behind the camera than he is in front of it.  I haven't seen his debut 'Gone Baby Gone', but I have seen his two other directorial efforts 'The Town' and 'Argo'.  'The Town' I didn't really care for but for the most part it was well made at least, and 'Argo' is a great movie.  Who knows, maybe as part of this deal Affleck will be directing the next solo 'Batman' movie.  That I would definitely go see. 

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Okay, upcoming stuff.  As the semester goes on I will be getting busier and busier so posts like these where I see multiple movies will probably be at end for now.  From now on I will be trying to stick with one movie review a week, and if there's nothing at the theater that I want to see I'll go to Redbox and see what's available there.  Down here at BSU Pruis Hall will offer free movies every Friday night, so if they are offering a movie that I havent seen yet I will usually go see it.  Two weeks ago they showed 'The Purge', which I did not see when it came out in June but I missed it at Pruis Hall because I was going home that night.  I'll catch up with it on Redbox.  I think the next one that they will be offering that I havent seen yet is 'Despicable Me 2', but that won't be until November 8.  My NFL picks will still be once a week (more on that next), usually around Wednesday night/Thursday morning.  I'm also working on a few other blog posts that will eventually see the light of day:

•  'Movie Nitpicks' - Self explanatory, just nitpicking parts of movies that bugged me.  Even if I liked the movie there could still be problems with it.  Heck, no movie is perfect.
  
• CCLT 2013 - This was a series I started earlier in the summer concerning my summer job.  I wrote one about Area Director's Week, but then I have slacked off ever since.  Eventually I will be continuing this with entries concerning American Heritage Girls Week, Staff Week, Boy Scout Camp and Cub Scout Camp.
  
• Fall/Winter Preview - previewing the movies that I am planning on seeing for the rest of the year.
  
• And also other blog posts whose topics I will be keeping under wraps for now.

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Okay, NFL time. 9-7 for Week 1, 10-6 for Week 2, and as I type away at this it's looking more and more that for Week 3 I will be 9-7.  Not entirely crappy, but not all that great either.  At least I'm staying consistent.  My picks do tend to be on the safer side (hence why I picked the 49ers to beat the Colts.....look where that got me).  As I said in the initial Pick 'Em post, I am not an expert by any means.  Heck, I'm not really one to get in depth with football.  I just a normal guy who likes watching football.  Hopefully my picks fare a little better in the coming weeks, but we'll see how that goes.

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I have mentioned this time and time again in past blog posts and once again I feel the need to mention it again.  If you are someone who regularly reads my blog or this is the first post you've read, I want your feedback.  Tell me what you like, what you don't like.  I'm trying to do the best I can with this and I can't make any improvements to it without feedback from you the reader.  Please leave a comment on Facebook on this post, tweet me about it or send me a DM on Twitter.  I also have it set up so that anyone can comment directly onto the blog.  You don't even have to put your name, you could just put 'Anonymous', as people have done in the past.  I'm very interested in what people have to say about my blog, and I thoroughly believe in Freedom of Speech.  If you read it and you like it, that's awesome!  I want to hear why you like it and anything you might have to say that I could improve at.  Even if you don't like this blog or you want to criticize something about this blog do not hesitate to leave a comment about it.  I'm all for constructive criticism, not insults just for the sake of insulting me.


Well I think that about does it for today.  Time to get back to reading for class...

NFL Week 3 Pick 'Em

CHIEFS @ Eagles
TEXANS @ Ravens
GIANTS @ Panthers
PACKERS @ Bengals
Rams @ COWBOYS
Browns @ VIKINGS
Buccaneers @ PATRIOTS
Cardinals @ SAINTS
Chargers @ TITANS
LIONS @ Redskins
FALCONS @ Dolphins
BILLS @ Jets
Colts @ 49ERS
Jaguars @ SEAHAWKS
BEARS @ Steelers
Raiders @ BRONCOS



Last week:  10-6, 62.5%
Overall:  19-13, 59.38%

REVIEW - 'The Spectacular Now'

'The Spectacular Now' (R) ***1/2

Sutter (Miles Teller, from the 'Footloose' remake) lives in the now.  He's the life of the party, self-obsessed, has a steady job at a men's clothing store, is a borderline alcoholic, and has no plans for the future.  After his girlfriend dumps him and he goes on a drinking binge, Sutter is woken up in a stranger's front yard by Aimee (Shailene Woodley, from 'The Descendants'), a not-so-typical nice girl from his high school who might just be the one to change his philosophy on life.

It's about that time of year when I start hearing about and reading about smaller, independent movies getting glowing praise from various film festivals.  Usually once it finally gets to a movie theater near me, I'll try to go see it.  These are a bit of a mixed bag.  Sometimes they're great, such as 'Safety Not Guaranteed', 'The Artist' and 'The Tree of Life', '  Sometimes they're okay, like 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' and 'Lawless'.  And other times they're so pretentious and slow that they just make for one very miserable experience in the theater, such as 'The Master' and 'The American'.

So with all that said, what did I think about 'The Spectacular Now'?  I thought it was very very good, and honestly one of the better movies I've seen this year.  The actors all give great performances, notably Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley.  It's funny, though it is more of a drama.  The humor flows naturally without being forced, and the dramatic scenes are handled well and feel realistic.  And that's another great thing about the movie:  For the most part, much like (most of) 'Perks of Being A Wallflower' it's realistic.  You can actually see these characters existing and acting this way and talking this way in a real life.

The only negative thing I can think of is that the movie opens a little slowly and it doesn't really pick up until Aimee wakes up Sutter in the front yard.  But from there on out, I had a smile on my face for most of the movie.

Overall 'The Spectacular Now' is a very good/nearly great realistic movie that's funny, sad, and sweet with great performances from the two leads.  

REVIEW - 'Insidious Chapter 2'

'Insidious Chapter 2' **

This movie picks up literally right where the first one ends.  As the police start investigating their house after the events of the first movie, Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) and his family temporarily move in to his mother's (Barbara Hershey) house.  But spooky things are still happening to the family at Grandma's house.

 The first third of the movie I just kinda watching this movie, moving around in my seat, and kept thinking in my head this is one of the worst movies I've seen this year.  It wasn't scary, it wasn't even trying to be creepy and the acting and dialogue were both flat out horrible.  It might as well have been called "Orchestra Stings:  The Movie" with the amount of times orchestra stings pop up at "supposedly" scary parts.  It's startling since it's a sudden loud noise but that's not scary.  And when you actually stop to think about it, the movie makes no sense at all.  The middle third of the movie, which goes into the back story of one of the spirits haunting the Lambert, is just flat out strange and weird. The final third of the movie is when it starts to actually get creepy and tense, and it is the best part of the movie.  Sure, the actors do a semi sufficient job in their roles (except for that opening scene) and the movie has intentionally funny moments so it never takes itself too seriously.

The first 'Insidious' I kinda liked.  It was fairly creepy for the most part.  Not the most original horror movie ever made and predictable for the most part, but it was fun.  'Chapter 2' isn't much fun until the final third of the movie.  And yes, the first 'Insidious' is much better than 'Chapter 2'.

Overall 'Insidious Chapter 2' is a little bit of mixed bag.  I hated part of it, liked the final part of it, and thought parts were really strange.  If you liked the first one, you might as well go see this one so that you're all caught up.  If you hasn't seen the first, don't watch this one.  Now by the end of the movie did I still have the thought in my head that this was one of the worst movies I've seen all year?  No.  Trust me, 'Scary Movie 5' is far worse.  If you want a much better horror movie this year (from the same director, no less) go see 'The Conjuring'.  That movie is actually scary.  And far, far better than 'Insidious Chapter 2'.





 

NFL Week 2 Pick 'Em

Week 1 already in the books, going 9-7 with my picks.  Not too shabby, but could have been better.  Played it safe.  At least the games I got wrong the team I had winning didn't lose by much.  Oh well, on with the picks:

Jets @ PATRIOTS
Rams @ FALCONS
Browns @ RAVENS
PANTHERS @ Bills
VIKINGS @ Bears
Redskins @ PACKERS
Titans @ TEXANS
Dolphins @ COLTS
Cowboys @ CHIEFS
Chargers @ EAGLES
LIONS @ Cardinals
SAINTS @ Buccaneers
BRONCOS @ Giants
Jaguars @ RAIDERS
49ERS @ Seahawks
Steelers @ BENGALS



Last week:  9-7, 56.25%
Total:  9-7, 56.25%

NFL 2013 Week 1 Pick 'Em

Football season is upon us once again.  I am by no means a football expert, nor do I pretend to be.  I'm just a normal person who likes football.  With that disclaimer out of the way, here are my picks for Week 1:

(picks are in bold and capitalized)

Ravens @ BRONCOS
PATRIOTS @ Bills
SEAHAWKS @ Panthers
BENGALS @ Bears
DOLPHINS @ Browns
VIKINGS @ Lions
Raiders @ COLTS
CHIEFS @ Jaguars
Falcons @ SAINTS
BUCCANEERS @ Jets
Titans @ STEELERS
Packers @ 49ERS
CARDINALS @ Rams
GIANTS @ Cowboys
Eagles @ REDSKINS
TEXANS @ Chargers

Last Week:  0-0
Regular Season:  0-0

Well, we'll see how this goes.  No replacement refs to worry about this year.  And hopefully no 30 minute blackouts...

Redbox Round Up and Many Other Things

All right I've got a lot to talk about so let's get things rolling. 

REDBOX
'The Last Stand' (R) **3/4
After  the leader of a drug cartel escapes custody and is making a break for the Mexican border, it's up to small town Sheriff Ray Owens (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his inexperienced deputies (including Luis Guzman, Johnny Knoxville, Jaimie Alexander, Zach Gilford) to stop him.  It's a fun, solid rental with plenty of explosive action and bloody violence to go around.  Nothing too special.

'Gangster Squad' (R) **3/4
Set in Los Angeles in 1949, 'Gangster Squad' tells the story of a secret group of police officers (Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Robert Patric, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Pena) who leave their badges at home and go to war against Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), a former boxer turned gangster from Chicago who has Los Angeles under his control.  With Nick Nolte as the Police Chief who creates the Gangster Squad and Emma Stone as Mickey Cohen's social etiquette coach/lover and Ryan Gosling's love interest.  When you break it down it pretty much is a more stylized version of 'The Untouchables'.  But taking that out of the equation, this is another fun movie that's also a very solid rental.  The performances are all pretty good, and the movie itself has a fun stylized 1940s look to it.  This is from the director of 'Zombieland' (great movie) and '30 Minutes Or Less' (bad movie).   

'The Host' (PG-13) **
Really Jake?  You redboxed 'The Host'? WHY??  Yes, I redboxed 'The Host', the latest adaptation of a Stephenie Meyer book.  I didn't like any of the 'Twilight' movies (though a few are more tolerable than others in how hilarious they are), so why did I rent 'The Host'.  Reason being:  This is getting worse reviews than any of the 'Twilight' movies.  Heck, it's getting worse reviews than any of the 'Twilight' knock-offs.  Looking at Rotten Tomatoes, the worst-reviewed 'Twilight' movie, "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" (by far the worst of those movies, and the most hilarious) is sitting at a 24%, meaning out of all the reviews tabulated 24% were positive.  'The Host' is sitting at 9%.  Worse than 'Twilight'?  I better watch this and find out for myself!

So the plot:  The human race has almost been wiped out by a parasitic alien race known as 'Souls', who inhabit the bodies of humans.  Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) is captured and infused with a soul who is called 'Wanderer' in order to find any remaining human survivors.  Usually the human's personality goes away as the soul takes over.  But not in Melanie's case as she fights for control over her mind and her body from 'Wanderer'.  Admittedly, this is an interesting concept.  But the first thing that bogs the movie down is that it's slower than molasses and it NEVER picks up or gets interesting again after the initial 10 minutes.  The voice over that makes up Melanie's thoughts gets a little irritating, but that's something I just got used to.  The slow pace was already infuriating me enough but then the love square kicks in, and it is forced like no other.  There are far more interesting stories that could've been told in this world, but instead thanks to the imagination of Stephenie Meyer we get a love square.  So what's the final verdict on 'The Host'?  It's an interesting concept that gets ruined by a slower than molasses pace, some rather poor acting, and a forced love square.  The only positive is that 'Radioactive' plays over the closing credits.  What?  I like that song.

NETFLIX
'A Haunted House' (R) **1/2
Malcolm (Marlon Wayans, who also co-wrote) decides that his girlfriend Kisha (Essence Atkins) should move in with him.  As soon as she moves in, spooky things start happening around the house.  With Cedric The Entertainer as Father Doug, David Koechner as a surveillance camera technician and paranormal investigator, and Nick Swardson as a gay psychic.  This is a spoof of found footage movies in general, but most of the time it spoofs the first three "Paranormal Activity" movies and "The Devil Inside".  I did chuckle more during this movie than I did during 'Scary Movie 5' which I know isn't saying much so take it for what that's worth.  I actually chuckled many times for the first half of the movie, and then it just got less and less funny as it went on.  If you like spoof movies, this one's okay.  There's better spoof movies ("Airplane!" still remains the best) and far far worse spoof movies ('Meet The Spartans' and 'Scary Movie 5'.....enough said).  I won't exactly be the first in line to buy a ticket to 'A Haunted House 2' next year. 



Well now that those are out of the way it's time to switch gears a bit.  School has started back up.  If all goes well this will be my final semester at Ball State University, which means I will be graduating in December.  Am I excited?  Currently, no.  There are far too many things that need to be done between now and then for me to get excited about graduating.  And then after that comes the real world....which will be a topic for another post somewhere down the line.  Anyway, in addition to being my last semester this will also be my busiest semester I have ever had.  18 credit hours.  To answer the next question, these are the classes I'm taking:
          MWF
          HIST 407 - The American Civil War and Reconstruction
          HIST 415 - History of Indiana
        
          TUES/THURS
          HIST 373 - History of the Middle East
          POLS 210 - Political Science Research Methods.  Very heavy on statistical analysis, I barely failed this class last fall.  After taking another statistics class in the spring (but in Sociology) I decided to retake this class.
          SOC 341 - Sociology of Health & Illness

          MW (starting mid-October)
          WPP 393 - Writing Proficiency Course.  A requirement to graduate is to either pass the Writing Proficiency Exam or take the Writing Proficiency Course.  I have too many credits to take the exam, so I'm stuck with the class.  Oh well.

          ALL SEMESTER          HIST 440 - The Big Senior Year History Major research project.  I will be working with a professor on this project, which will roughly be between 3000 and 6000 words.  When finished, this will be the longest paper I've ever written, academically or not.  Somehow I've been able to get by at Ball State without having to write extremely long papers.  The longest paper I've written at BSU was an 8-page book review.  That's it.  The topic I chose for this project was the Presidency of Andrew Johnson.  The US presidency sparked my interest in history, hence why I decided to do a project about it.  I'll need all the luck I can get on this project.  My procrastination habits sometimes get the better of me on big projects.


Another question you might be asking:  Why didn't you just break this up into several different blog posts?  Well, this blog is called 'Jake says stuff!!'.  Today I just happen to have a lot to say lol.

The NFL is back, with Thursday night's opener featuring the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens (BOO!) traveling to Mile High Stadium to play Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in a playoff rematch.  Throughout the season I will be posting up my picks of who I think will win.  Look for the first of those posts to come on Thursday morning, just ahead of the Broncos/Ravens game.  We'll see how I do picking the games.

Which leaves me with the last topic I want to write about:  The September Schedule for this blog.
9/5 - NFL Week 1 Pick 'Em
9/8 - REDBOX (not sure yet)
9/12 - NFL Week 2 Pick 'Em
9/15 - REVIEWS 'Insidious Chapter 2' & 'The Purge'
9/19 - NFL Week 3 Pick 'Em
9/21 - REDBOX (not sure yet)
9/22 - SUMMER
9/26 - NFL Week 4 Pick 'Em
9/28 - REDBOX
9/29 - MISCELLANEOUS


Well that about does it for today.  Time to get back to a Labor Day full of reading, quizzes, and finishing up my End of Year Report for camp.