Category: media

it’s a holiday weekend and therefore my family and i have indulged in the consumption of movies. here are my thoughts on what we have watched:

• wednesday i watched “braveheart” for the umpteenth time and as usual it was great. i can’t believe that the yahoo summary of the critics’ reviews is only a “b+“.
• thursday the boys and i watched “the incredibles” and i have said earlier in the blog it was great. the yahoo summary of the critics’ reviews is an “a-” which i definitely agree with (though i can’t believe it rated higher than “braveheart”).
• friday the boys and i watched “robots“. i thought it was great. yahoo’s summary of the critic’s opinion is a “b+” and i would basically agree with that. it was well worth going to see and we’ll buy it when it comes out on dvd. “robots” has some very good themes in it such as following your dreams even when it cost you, discrimination, and an underlying possible discussion of plastic surgery (“why be you when you can be new”). then when you add robin williams to the mix it just gets better and better. if you were worried that you would just see “the genie” everytime you heard robin williams in the movie i think i can rest that fear. i didn’t think it was the same character at all.
• pam and i watched “the forgotten” last night and it was stupid. based on its trailer i had high hopes for the movie. it did not live up to those hopes. yahoo’s summary of the critic’s reviews is a “c+“. i think it was probably more like a “c” at best.
• tonight pam and i are going to watch “cellular“. i hope it’s good because i need something to was the bad aftertaste of “the forgotten” out of my head. i’ll post my thoughts on the movie later.

i watched the movie “constantine” today and i’m still not sure how i feel about it. i definitely liked some of it but i’m not sure that i loved the movie. seemed a bit slow at times.

SIDE NOTE – i found a group on the net called “improv everywhere” today. you’ve got to see what they did with a mcdonald’s restaurant bathroom. i think it’s pretty funny. CLICK HERE to read the story.

if you have not seen this you need to. it’s a game of fictious musical chairs played at a basketball game. it’s definitely worth the time to view it.

SIDE NOTE – happy valentince’s day. if you’re interested in learning a little bit of the history of valentine’s day you can find a good history channel discussion of the holiday here.

i’ve finished the first season of 24 and it kicked rear. i’m so pumped that i went and rented the first disc of the second season. this show is awesome.

i re-watched the count of monte cristo tonight and was reminded of how much i liked the film. i love action flicks that are more than just action. “the count” has a story of spiritual redemption running through out it’s plot. edmond dantes is redeemed by the end of the movie. the desire for vengeance that was destroying his soul is finally beaten down and he is again able to see GOD’s hand in action in the world. this aspect of the plot can be seen in two lines: 1) the warden says “GOD is never in france this time of year” explaining why GOD won’t save edmond from the torture he is about to receive, then 2) edmond’s friend says “once again GOD has noticed you out of the corner of HIS eye” pointing out edmond’s good fortune again.

i’m sadden to say that i have never actually read alexandre dumas’s book. i’m not sure why but for some reason i have never actually be drawn to any of his writting. i’ve heard the movie is quite different from the book. i guess i should read it and find out for myself.

have y’all seen the new vw golf gti commercial? it’s a remakee of gene kelly’s famous singing in the rain scene. in the remake gene kelly is “poppin’ and lockin’“. it’s quite cool.

oh how i love 24. it is simply an amazing show. tonight’s episode was great – as always.

i really don�t like commercial advertisements. i hate the fact that almost every where you look during your day you will see an advertisement. i can�t stand the fact that our schools have ads pasted all over them from the football scoreboard to motivational posters that have been �given� to our learning institutions. i say all this to preface my next statement.

i was really disappointed by the commercials during the superbowl. yes, i know it stands in contrast of my above statements that i would even consider liking the superbowl commercials. it�s just that i really do like creativity and the superbowl commercials are usually very creative. at least they used to be creative because it seemed like this year�s batch of commercials were pretty bland. in my opinion none of them were really very creative with the possible exception of the toyota prius commercial and the emerald nuts commercial that involved a unicorn, santa, and the easter bunny. they were both good commercials but i didn�t think either one of them was amazing or anything.

of course, my feelings on the matter were not helped any by the fact that new england won the game. i can�t really tell you why i don�t like them. in fact, they have the attributes that i usually like within a team – not flashy, major �team� mindset, very well coached, not made up of big names. yet for some reason i have never liked the patriots. it�s not even an anti-boston thin because i like the red sox and i LOVE the celtics. still i don�t like them and i really wished they had not won.

i’ve been sick since sunday afternoon. this has basically translated into me sleeping…alot. all i’ve eaten since lunch sunday has been 4 spoonfuls of soup and 10 crackers. needless to say life has been pretty boring and i don’t really have anything to blog about.

i did watch original the manchurian candidate (1962) today (thanks to my lovely wife who graciously grabbed me a few movies to watch during my convalescence). i usually think that the original of something is typically the way to go. i’m no a real big fan of remakes. but that’s not true in this case. the original manchurian candidate is a good movie and i enjoyed it BUT the 2004 remake of the manchurian candidate is much better. i thought the plot of the 2004 film was much more realistic.

well, i’ve typed as much as i can. i’m worn out and need to sleep.