Remember, Remember...

...the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I can think of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.

And remember, it ain't just some line from a recent movie.

The Saints Are BACK!

Brian has just let me know that All Saints Day, the sequel to The Boondock Saints, has officially begun filming.

'Scuse me while I do my happy dance.

As A Fan of Firefly...

...I'm not ashamed to say that this left me with tears in my eyes.



Big, BIG hat tip to Caleb at Call Me Ahab.

Aaaand, I'm gonna have to add him to the blogroll now, methinks.

Dark Knight Rocks!

Friday afternoon Dick, his brother Drew, and I went to the Imax on Chenal in Little Rock to watch "The Dark Knight". I was fully prepared to hate this movie. Frankly, looking at the previews, I expected Heath Ledger to have butchered the part of the Joker. It looked like he was taking the role too far on the straight psychotic side, not having the fun that the Joker would with his sadism.

The very first scene where we actually got a good look at him proved me completely wrong.

Ledger did an amazing job. His Joker was vicious, cruel, and, above all, revelled in his sadistic nature. He was the perfect foil for Bale's Batman, another acting choice that I misjudged at first. As a matter of fact, I have only one gripe about the whole thing: Two-Face.

Maybe I missed some of the conversation between him and the Joker. It's possible I suppose. But frankly, I think that the script kinda fell flat with providing him with the motivation to take the actions that he did. I don't have any problem with the dark turn he took. He had plenty of motivation for that. Even the beginning few targets for his rage made sense. But when he turned on one of the main characters, I was completely lost. It was almost like the script writers needed a way to push him over the edge from simple revenge-driven killing to lashing out at innocents so that the audience would no longer be sympathetic to him but they had no idea how to go about doing it. So they just said, "Okay, let's have him turn on his allies for no reason."

But overall, I loved the film. I give it a 4.5 out of 5. And I recommend you go watch it at the theaters. You'll be glad you did.

And After an Almost Three-Week Hiatus...

You'll remember that two posts back, I mentioned a second movie that Richard and I watched the previous Friday. One that I was too sick to remember. Well, Richard stepped up and reminded me. Tremors II. Hilarious. And the gunplay is fun and accurate. I highly recommend it.

Also, you'll remember that I was sick due to allergies. Thankfully, I've pulled through and have managed to find an effective method for preventing allergy attacks of such drastic size. After talking it out with my dad, we came to the conclusion that it was mowing my yard that triggered my attack. I was then informed that there's this invention out there called a "filter mask". It's just a bit of formed filter paper that fits over your nose and mouth and is held in place by a rubber band.

Genius!

Sarcasm aside, I've mown my yard once since purchasing a pack of masks and nary a sniffle.

Again With The Allergies?

You know, ever since Spring has sprung around here, I've had the absolute worst allergy attacks of my life. This past weekend is an excellent example. I had a stuffy nose and a headache Friday morning. By Friday evening, I had a fever and sapped energy to go along with it. I'm pretty sure I was a moderately crappy host (sorry Dick).

I bought some Claratin that night and it seemed to help. Then I decided Saturday that the yard absolutely had to be mowed and the oil changed in my bike. That was a mistake. I didn't get the oil changed. After mowing, I was wiped out. I couldn't go to sleep last night for the life of me. I was still awake at almost 1 in the morning after getting into bed at 10. I woke to my alarm this morning at 7. The next time I looked at the clock, it was 10 after 8. Guess I'd fallen back asleep but I don't remember it.

When I'm feeling better, I'll try to write a review of the movies that Dick and I watched Friday night: AVP: Requiem and ... Holy crap, I can't even remember the second movie. How messed up is that?

Organic LEDs

One of the high points of the vendor visit that I mentioned in the previous post was a mention of a new technology that I hadn't heard of before. Organic LEDs. Sony has already presented prototype televisions using this technology. This was brought up in the context of using LED touchscreens in place of the old mechanical switches that are the staple of our industry.

One of the things that really excites me about this particular technology is the ability to deposit the organic compounds that the OLEDs consist of onto flexible substrates. I'm sure most of you have seen the sci-fi movies/tv shows where the characters pull out a long but thin device about the size of a large tv remote and pull on one side to unroll a flexible touchscreen. With the research into this technology, those special effects gurus could be modern-day prophets.

I want one.

I'm Ba-aaack...With Presents!

Welcome back everyone! Here's hoping you enjoyed your break and had a merry Christmas. I know I had one.

Now, I'm sure everyone is just itching to find out what I got. Well...

In clothing I got: A t-shirt that says I'm right You're wrong Any questions? (The graphic is a little different on mine); A fleece pullover with pockets on the sides; Socks. (Of course. But hey, they're insulated and I didn't have any like that); An insulated jacket; Slip-on type shoes to replace the ones that I ruined while mowing the lawn a couple years back. (Hey, at least I didn't lose any toes)

For entertainment: Jeff Dunham's Spark of Insanity DVD. (F-U-N-N-Y...funny!)

In cash: $160.

And finally,...

Used the cash to buy: Kel-Tec's PF-9. I got a deal on a slightly used pistol at a pawn shop in J-boro. The $160 didn't quite cover the cost but it did cover almost 2/3. And now I have a pocket pistol!

I Am Legend

I watched Will Smith's new movie last night with Randy. It's based on the book by the same name and is the most recent of several movie adaptations. The one that you might be most familiar with was Omega Man starring Charlton Heston.

Basically, this movie just felt rushed. It's only 100 minutes long and felt like it really should have been at least two and a half hours. The ending scenes were disjointed and should have been fleshed out for more interaction between the characters. It was almost like the director thought "Oh, this is getting too long, let's just put the ending here."

On the other hand, what interactions there are between characters are quite deep for the lack of dialog. Smith's portrayal of a man who has been out of contact with humanity for three years is very believable.

The action sequences were pretty good and I like the rifle setup they chose to have Smith use. His character is a research scientist who is also a Lt. Col. in the Army. It makes sense that he would use the weapon most familiar to him. The animation for the creatures isn't bad but it is, unfortunately, obvious. You don't look at the "Darkseekers" and think that they are real. I really think that they should have left the animation for the action sequences and used make-up for the tight shots.

In all, I'd say that this was a movie worth going to the theater to watch but you wouldn't miss much if you waited to get it on DVD.