Giving Your Best To God

I'm about to get personal here for a moment.  For those that know me personally, you know I'm a Christian, but I mainly use this blog to spout out about the pop cultural things that I enjoy.  So, just indulge me as I have to get a little something off my chest.  As I go through this season of my life, I may get a little more off my chest in these pages in the future as well.


There is a saying, "Do Your Best and Let God Do the Rest."  A lot of people struggle through the storms of life and simple little advice like that is hard to follow.  How can you give God your best when you are constantly having barrels of beetle dung dumped on you in a constant rain of poop.  You find yourself believing that God is turning his back on you and letting you fend for yourself amongst the salivating wolves of the world.  I believe we have all felt this way at one time or another.  Some have felt it earlier in their lives and have now thankfully passed through it and realized it was simply a rough season in an otherwise fine life.  Some have yet to experience the pain.  A lot of us are going through it right now.

For those people, I have no concrete answers.  The only thing I know for certain is that turning from God, if you are a believer, is exactly what Satan wishes of you.  Sometimes I think we are on the verge of doing something awesome with our lives when the rain begins to pour and we tuck our tails between our legs and scurry back into the shadows, which is exactly where our enemy wants us.  Were we on the verge of doing what God wanted us to do for the betterment of our lives?  How can we know when we throw our hands up and say "heck with it"?

Fighting through the crud is hard, make no mistake.  When we decided to follow Christ, we were never promised an easy path.  In fact, I believe our paths get harder, because that is when the enemy is at his most vicious.  To get through these times, it may be prudent to concentrate on the small victories that we often overlook.

Did your car break down and someone let you use a loaner to get you through until you could afford to fix it?  Give thanks to God for that.  Did you get a sizable pay cut at work and had to drop a few things, but you still manage to put food on the table for your family.  Thank God that you aren't starving.

The point is this; we may not enjoy the circumstances we find ourselves in.  Our situation may cause great discomfort or drive us on the brink of depression, but through it all God somehow keeps providing exactly what you need when you need it.  I've found myself in situations such as these more times than I care to think.  There have been times we were worried sick that we would be out on the street because of the shambles life and our own unwise decisions have made of our finances.  Somehow, when things were at their worst, provision was given.

This is why I refuse to give up.  This is why I will continue to at least mount a concerted effort to give my best to God. If I find myself in a job I don't exactly enjoy going to, I will do my best.  My employer is not my real boss, God is.  I will do my best for Him, keeping the faith that being a good servant will allow Him to trust me with the new doors He wants to open for me.

How can I believe this so strongly?  The answer is simple; I've seen the proof.  No matter what I've gone through, I've always eventually made it through to the other side a slightly stronger person than before.

Super 8 Came Out On Blu Ray This Past Week.

I remember seeing that movie.  If I recall correctly, I quite enjoyed it.

My Review

Top Five Indiana Jones Moments

These are my 5 favorite moments where Indiana Jones is at his most awesome.  Some are actions he takes, others are just iconic images of the famed archeologist.  All are awesome.


5. You don't know him!  In the opening sequence to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indy gets away from some Commies and his traitorous friend by doing some typical Indiana Jones dering do, accidentally shooting a goon's foot, taking off running and using his whip to swing around like a fedora wearing Tarzan.  They give chase and Indy winds up commandeering a truck and proceeds to play chicken with a Commie and his former buddy, Comrade Mack, who warns the driver "You don't know him!"; knowing that for a guy who takes dives out of airplanes in an inflatable raft, playing chicken with a Red is his view of normal.

4. No Ticket. While trying to sneak away from a lead Nazi on a blimp, Indy does what he usually does; knocks a useless Nazi cold and steals his uniform.  When the bad guy recognizes Sir Sean Connery, Indy walks up behind him, gives him a beat down and tosses his Swastika bearing butt right out the window in front of all crew and passengers.  As they stare at him, Indy thinks a second before coming up with the zinger, "No ticket!" and the legend of the awesomeness that is Indiana Jones is further cemented as the rest of the passengers pull out their tickets.

3. Indy vs Child Labor.  A Thuggee is whipping a child as he goes about his manual labor.  They go off screen, a punch is heard and the goon is thrown back into view as the camera pans over to our hero. This scene is pure awesome, from the music swelling at the iconic reveal of Indy, standing at his most heroic pose with an expression that says that no Thuggee will be spared.  The way Spielberg designed this scene certainly had a part in imprinting the not to be trifled with version of Indy in my young brain as a lad.

2. Bringing a Gun to A Sword fight.  This is the action that to me defines Indiana Jones.  It's humorous and Indy's half-casual way in dispatching the sword wielding thug highlights the very attitude of the character.  The scary thing is, this scene was almost not to be.  An elaborate sword fight was planned between goon and Dr. Jones, but Harrison Ford and a lot of the crew had developed a severe case of the runs and couldn't shoot long, so he suggested this swifter alternative.  Funny how one of the most iconic scenes of the series happened because Harrison Ford had to drop a deuce.

1.Taking the truck.  If there's one thing Indiana Jones is good at, it's commandeering the bad guy's trucks.  I could do a top five commandeering truck section if it hit me, but that might be redundant.  Either way, Indy chases down the caravan bearing the Ark of the Covenant on horseback, swashbucklers his way onto the side of the truck, and kicks his way into the cab. That's only the beginning.  He uses the truck as a Nazi Slayer of Doom, before He get's shot, thrown out and works his way back up to the front, then turning the steering wheel into a drum with a Nazi driver's head as the sticks.  Then he tosses him through a window and goes about his day, taking the Ark with him.  Not only the most awesome scene in an Indy movie, but one of the greatest action sequences of all time.

Top Five Legend of Zelda Games

I'm not sure if you've heard or not, but there's been a new Legend of Zelda game released here recently. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has been sent down from the gaming deities to bless your wear worn Nintendo Wii and unleash the power of the Master Sword unto it.  As per usual when it comes to these types of things, I have more important things to put my money into right now (like a new used car so I can get to work and back) other than what could be the most awesome thing that could come in contact with any gaming system I've ever owned.  Sigh.

So until the glorious day when Skyward Sword may grace my humble console, I thought I'd throw down what I find my Top 5 favorite Zelda games.  Keep in mind that this series of games is so untouchably awesome, the margin between them is so narrow as to almost not exist.  Even the games that didn't make the top 5 are still some of my most favorite games of all time.

Number 5:

I've only played a couple of Zelda games on handheld devices and Minish Cap is so good, it would be worthy of a console release.  If I have one problem with it, it would be the length.  It is simply too short.  But what there is of it, is Gameboy Advance bliss.  It takes the look and character models of Wind waker and sets them in a Link to the Past style of "look down" perspective.  The merge works very well.  As Link, you are sent on a quest to repair the Picori blade, stop the evil Vaati and turn Princess Zelda back from stone.  Typical Zelda fare, I suppose.  Except you are joined by Ezlo, a wizard of sorts that looks like a green hat that you get to wear.  He drops hints now and again.  You are also aided by the Minish, a race of tiny folk living unknown amongst the humans and doing most of their dirty work for them (leaving them to think they did it somehow).  You can shrink down to Minish size and explore Minish villages hidden throughout the land.  Another cool side quest is the fusing of Kinstones.  You find a half of a kinstone and look for someone that has a matching half.  Together, you fuse them and something happens in another part of the land that will be helpful to you like revealing a new path to explore along your journey.  This game is tons of fun and deserves the Zelda trademark.

Number 4:

A lot of folks find Twilight Princess to be the very best of the series, and I won't argue with them. Being the best of this series generally comes down to taste of tone, graphics or gameplay.  I like this game a lot.  It is truly epic in scope with hours upon hours of exploration and dungeon crawling to be had.  The graphics are what a lot of Zelda fans have been looking for since they began their trek through the series.  I have the Wii version, so I was impressed with the motion controls.  A quick waggle of the Wii Remote and Link attacks with his sword.  I love how you can map your items to the D-Pad and quickly equip them to use.  The use of the bow and arrow has never been more fun and a lot of the puzzles are very clever.  I'm a big fan of the spinner tracks.  All that said, it did feel like at times I was playing an updated version of Ocarina of Time.  A lot of the temples were very familiar in that way and the look of the game kind of felt a little OOT retread.  There is also a bit of time spent as a wolf early on in the game, sending you on a fetch quest before you can shed your canine identity.  Later in the game when you could switch back and forth at will, this was no problem.  I just wasn't a big fan of some of the wolf levels.  That being said, this is still probably the most epic in terms of scale in the Zelda family up to this point and provides hours of fun.

Number 3:

Oh yes I did.  What is widely considered to be "The Greatest Game of All Time", I have at number 3 just in its series.  Do not get me wrong.  I appreciate this game for what it is and how it brought Zelda swinging into a 3D landscape.  I love the storyline and the play on time throughout.  For it's time, this game was huge, with cavernous dungeons and bosses that had to be seen to be believed.  For me, this Zelda found its place in history because of how it totally updated the gameplay with Lock On targeting and great use of the other items.  As usual, points must be taken away because of your annoying fairy guide, Navi, who is downright obnoxious in the way she tries to get your attention.  "HEY!" indeed.  Still, she did usually have some helpful advice, if only she had a more subtle way to dispense it.  I also like how it put Link in a believable fantasy world with a captivating story line with quirky and endearing characters.  It made Hyrule come alive in a way that it never had before; it put a realistic spin on things.  You felt like you were Link, the Hero of Time, called into action to save the kingdom.  It did that very well.  One day, when I am able to get a 3DS, I look forward to playing this game in 3D with updated graphics.  There's not a lot of bad to be said here.  Even the much maligned Water Temple didn't bother me like most (I think I hated Jabu Jabu's belly worse).  The only reason this isn't my favorite falls squarely on my age and what game came out when I was at my most impressionable.

Number 2:

The Wind Waker is easily one of my favorite games of all time.  It takes the proven Zelda formula and shakes it up a bit.  Instead of trudging through Hyrule for the thousandth time, you find that the land has been flooded for a hundred years.  The events of Ocarina of Time have been put into legend and Link is of age where he must wear the costume of the Hero of Time on his birthday, as is tradition for boys his age.  Turns out, of course, that he is the chosen one and is sent off into an adventure that includes Sailing, pirates, post office workers and giant birds.  What Ocarina of Time did by bringing Link and Zelda into a believable fantasy world, Wind Waker takes them through a more swashbuckling adventure with fantasy mixed in.  I love the story and execution of this game.  It takes what Ocarina did, control wise, and perfected it.  This thing controls like a dream and requires very little to master it and get comfortable.  I don't know why I dug this game as much as I did.  Maybe it was because, like many before me, I was a a little put off by the initial reveal of the cartoony cell shaded graphics.  Because of that and the fact that the story didn't seem to be super traditional Zelda, my expectations were lowered.  Turns out those couple of issues were the biggest selling points of this game for me.  The graphics work so well, you feel like you're playing a cartoon.  Movements, flow, character expressions, these are all unmatched in the series (including Twilight Princess).  The story is not kid dumbed down at all, it is epic in it's own way with a lot of good surprises and moments.  Playing a game where Ocarina of Time is part of it's ancient history and seeing the characters discover that history and how it pertains to them is a good story move and keeps you interested throughout your play time.  I can't quite remember when I've had this much fun playing an adventure game.

Number 1:

Actually, yes I can.  It was this game.  I played the original Legend of Zelda when I was younger.  Loved the heck out of it, the exploration, the "being a hero" aspect of the whole deal.  When this game was released for the Super Nintendo when I was about 11 or 12 years old, it was like the culmination and perfection of everything you could ever expect from a Zelda game.  As I hinted at in the Ocarina section, I was at the perfect impressionable age when this game came out.  I loved fantasy, and this game was like an interactive fantasy novel in which you were the protagonist.  Surely no experience in the world could match such a feeling at such an age.  The story was huge, in comparison to the original.  You weren't just collecting shards of the triforce to rescue Zelda and save Hyrule, you were called to collect crystals so you could go about finding the Master Sword, so then you could really begin your quest.  And what a quest it was.  Traveling between the light world and the dark world where something you did there would affect the other world were just gameplay mechanics that blew my young mind.  This game wasn't about the journey of a hero, but it was the epitome of the Hero's Journey, from frightened farm boy to savoir of Hyrule.  There's really nothing else I can add to this, other than to say that it is the perfect adventure game, even if the graphics aren't as awesome as it's later cousins or gameplay mechanics aren't as refined.  This game was about the journey and what a journey it took you on.


As for the games that didn't make my top 5, like I said, they are still better than the majority of games out there.  I still love the original Legend of Zelda, it was the first game that showed me that you could have exploration and go on an adventure in video games.  It's just simply outdated now, in terms of story and graphics and immersion.  Still a great game though.  Zelda 2: Screw Zelda 2.  That game is no fun.  Links Awakening on Gameboy showed me that you could have big, fun games on little devices.  Even if some of the things are a bit silly, looking back on it.  Never played any other handheld Zelda, like Oracle of Seasons or Oracle of Ages, or any of the DS ones.  I've only played a bit of Majora's Mask, and I know it's different.  I have it on Virtual Console and when I finally get a chance, I look forward to delving into that ball of mystery.

And I'm really looking forward to Skyward Sword.  It looks as though it combines the art direction of Wind Waker and A Link to the Past, which to me would make the totally perfect merge.  Can't wait to play it (eventually).

How To Get A Free Nintendo 3DS!

Get a free Laptop!  Get a free MacBook!  Get a free IPhone!  Get a free IPad!  Get a free X Box 360!  Get a free Playstation 3!  Get a free Wii!  Get a free Nintendo 3ds!

You see these websites pop up all the time, screaming a deal that's literally too good to be true.  Just enter in some information and that free MacBook is yours!

A scam.  It has to be.

Only it's not a scam.  It's totally legit.  Millions of people do it and millions of people get their stuff.

But there is a hitch.

These companies basically are paid to advertise certain offers, trials or deals.  And the more people they get to sign up for these deals, the more money they earn.  So places like Netflix, Blockbuster,  and freecreditreport.com will pay these websites to offer trials of their services.  In exchange, these websites are able to give people these items or even the cash equivalent if you don't want the goods to those people good enough to sign up for these deals.

That's the easy part.

The hard part, and the part that really makes these people money is referrals.  In other words, if you want that free Xbox 360, all you have to do is sign up for the required number of deals.  And then get a few of your buddies to do the same under your referral number.  After you've done that, your get your goodie in the mail.

This is where people give up.  It's virtually impossible for people to convince their loved ones to do this, because their loved ones think these are scams.  Still, it can be done.  You can get referrals.  But we'll get to that later.

First let us discuss the basics on how to get your freebies.

First: Find a freebie site that might have some swag you would like to have.  There are plenty of sites like...

You have to sign up for the site.

This seems obvious, but there it is. The rub is you have to be honest with the info you give.  Valid phone number, valid email address, valid address.  Be upfront with them, or you'll get your account canceled for fraud.  Once you sign up for your account, you'll get a referral link that you can give all your buddies or family members to sign up under.

Next, it's time to do an offer or two.  Depending on the site you pick and the prize you pick, you may have to do one or several offers.  Some of these offers are signing up for things, some are discounted trials of services, and some are free.  You need to complete the required number of offers to go green on the site.  Going green simply means that you have met your obligations to get a credit (or more credits) that the site requires you to have to get your gift.

When completing the offers, I would be very careful about reading the terms of the offers.  Some require you to keep the trial membership for x amount of days before you can cancel.  If you don't meet their requirements, you will not get credit or credit will be revoked and your green will go away.  So be very careful about meeting the requirements.  The requirements are spelled out very clearly for you when you click (or hover your mouse over) an offer.

Be organized.  If you are signing up for a free trial or something you intend on cancelling before you have to pay (or pay more), I suggest you keep a spreadsheet or even a good old fashioned notebook handy to write down what offer you completed, the day you completed it and the requirements or terms of conditions.  If you have a 7 day trial for a credit report site and you have to keep it for 5 days, write that down in the book.  If you forget, your credit card can and will be charged extra money when the trial expires.

I myself would try to do offers that you have a genuine interest in.  I love movies.  I signed up for a Blockbuster online trial that I will use.  I love to read, I've signed up for book clubs and gotten some very cool books very cheap.  If it's something you would pay money for anyway, all the better.

In fact, a way to offset the cost of a book club membership is to pick a couple of books you really like and grab another two or three new books from hot authors and sell them on eBay.  I did this and ended up getting twice what I paid for the initial membership plus shipping.

When going to complete the offers, same rules apply for signing up for a freebie site.  Be honest.  Give true information, or once again, the credit can be revoked.  They do look at these types of things as fraud if you put in a bum street address or phone number.  To them that means you are not interested in the trial.  You need to at least act like you're showing a legitimate interest.  Your credit card number will be as safe as entering it in any online merchant account.  The offers are generally presented by truly legit and well known companies that aren't in it to steal your identity.

When you go to complete an offer, it is recommended that you use Firefox as your browser.  Turn your pop up blocker off and turn your cookies on.  Before you click on an offer, clear your cache, history and cookies to make sure the crediting goes through.  It is highly suggested that you repeat this procedure between each offer you complete.  When you are done with an offer, let the landing page (the "congratulations, you are signed up!" page) sit for a few minutes before closing it out to ensure the credit goes through to the freebie site.  Trust me, there's nothing more frustrating than completing an offer and not getting credit because you didn't take a few precautions to protect yourself.

Just be careful and be honest when completing your offers and you should go green with little problem. Going green is the easy part.

Getting others to go green for you under your referral link is the challenge.

As I said, getting referrals is what you really need to concentrate on to get your new Nintendo Wii (or Xbox, or Playstation 3).  How does one go about getting them?

*Ask friends and family.  The trick is, it can't be someone in your household.  Using the same computer or phone number or street address is forbidden.  This is considered fraud in the freebie world.  Find a cousin or an aunt or uncle or good buddy who would be willing to go under your referral link (make sure they sign up as soon as they go through your link if you want it to count) and do an offer or two for you.  Offer to comp 'em that 4.99 it takes to sing up for a month of Blockbuster.  That's small potatoes when you consider the IPad you want goes for hundreds of dollars.

*Put your referral link in your email or forum signature.  Don't spam it, just have it there so when people at a web forum you frequent see your signature, they may click on it and be interested in what the freebie site is all about.

*Write a Facebook note or MySpace blog about it.  Explain what it is you're doing and ask whoever's reading to do you a solid and sign up under your link.

*Make a blog post.  If you have a blog, write a post about your freebie and ask for referrals that way.

*I've heard of people making flyers and passing them out with their referral link on it.

*Trade something for them.  If you have a couple of DVDs you don't watch anymore, post them on craigslist and don't sell them for money, sell them for a referral or two.

*Join a freebie forum. There are a few forums out there full of folks who do this as a part time living.  You can find people to trade referrals with and some will actually pay you to do offers under their referral link for them.

That's just a few suggestions. Get creative and get referrals!

Below are my referral links to Freebie sites I'm signed up for:

Get a Free Nintendo 3DS!

Get a Free Playstation 3

Get a Free 16GB IPad 2

Get a Free IPhone

Get a Free Copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops

Get $75 in Your PayPal

Get Free Power Tools

Expendables 2 Poster!

I didn't know one poster could contain so much awesome.

I really enjoyed the first Expendables.  It was a lot of over the top action with very little story.  There were some neat fights between some pretty big names.

In Expendables 2: The names get bigger!

Cannot wait to see Van Damme and Chuck Norris mix it up with the crew from the first flick!  This is probably like my 12 year old Dream Team movie.  I guess it's also my 32 year old dream team movie...

Macho meter exploding at 11!

Ogopogo, Canada's Loch Ness Monster is Caught on Tape!

Finally! It's here! Documented proof! We've all been waiting for a long time to see some sort of video evidence that there are weird things going on out in the world. I mentioned in a previous blog that the unknown intrigues me, but I remain a skeptic. I do require proof and it now seems as though it is in our hands. Frankly, I'm surprised the Internet and the Nightly News hasn't blown up with this story yet, as inescapable proof has been presented of an actual Lake Monster!

Granted, it's not everyone's favorite, the legendary Loch Ness Monster (Nessie to her friends). It's not even Champ from Lake Champlain. But hey, we'll settle for the fourth rate Canadian lake monster, Ogopogo of Lake Okanagan in British Columbia. We'll take whatever crumbs you can throw at us, and if it's our hockey loving friends from up north, so be it!

Here is the video. Prepare to shed tears of rejoicing....



Wait. What?

Well that was anti climatic, wasn't it? Ogopogo is just a couple of logs floating in the water? Hmmm. Who would have guessed.

Sorry folks, nothing to see here. Move along, move along.

Thank you Yahoo News for giving people hope of something terrifyingly amazing, only to dash them into the ground before stomping on them and taking a poop over the pieces.

Terminator 2: Skynet Edition Blu Ray

I found this bad boy at Target for five bucks and that was just way too good to pass up.  It's been a while since I watched this flick and I figured now would be as good a time as any to revisit.  I won't get too wordy, because everyone and their mother knows this movie inside and out.  It was one of the most influential flicks when it was first released, especially in the terms of visual computer effects.  The effects still hold up, after all this time.  James Cameron, Stan Winston and the team of practical and visual effect folks on this movie are at the top of their game, delivering a movie that looks better than a lot of todays FX fests.

I'm one of the few that actually prefer the first one over this one.  To me, the original Terminator was scarier and creepier.  The thought of an unstoppable killing machine on your trail with the only human (yet very resourceful) Kyle Reese to protect you.  It was more of sci-fi meets horror and it was extremely effective in what it set out to do.  The sequel is more of a blockbuster sci-fi action movie that does what it sets out to do just as effectively, so which one you prefer probably depends on what genre you prefer your Terminator in.  That said, Terminator 2: Judgement Day is still flat out full of awesome.  It does a lot of things right; you have Arnold at the very top of his game, Robert Patrick makes a very worthy opponent as the liquid metal T-1000.  The action is top notch and delivers the goods in very satisfying ways.  The major flaw I find in the film is that it suffers "Annoying Kid Syndrome."  I understand that John Conner is an important part of the story and in fact what drives the story along.  But man does he come off as a whiny little brat.  Cameron has a little too much fun trying to make Conner the quintessential early 90s rebel teenager with all the outdated slang and annoying attitude that goes along with it.  Sorry, it just seems too self aware and corny, especially for this day and age.  That aside, I did like the relationship John developed with the Terminator, I felt that part of the story rang true.  A boy and his killer robot.  Like I said, though, I won't get too wordy, you already know if you like this movie or not.

The blu ray portion of the movie, I feel is kind of a mixed bag.  I've always like the blue-tinged look of the movie and it's about as sharp and crisp as I've ever seen it.  I'm currently in between surround sound systems at the moment, so it would have been nice to have a 2.0 audio option to help out with the sound on my TV.  I'll be honest, I don't have the ideal setup to fully take advantage of the Blu Ray experience, but I would imagine that the surround sound audio option is fantastic for those that have it.  For those with wireless internet turned on, the menu (while it does take a loooong time to load) becomes unsettling, as it takes on the persona of Skynet who is tracking your every move.  It's almost durn near convincing as I find myself looking over my shoulder now to see if Skynet is hovering behind me somewhere watching me type this out.  Of course, it's probably in my personal computer too.  Dang.  Anyways, I thought that was a nice touch to give it a feel of Terminator conspiracy.

The special features are where I feel a little cheated.  Now there are directors and crew commentaries, and that's always nice, but other than that, there's a few deleted scenes and promotional trailers for the film.  The regular DVD had a ton of special features and I love me some special features.  I will say that the Blu Ray Live portion of this DVD has the most stuff I've seen in my meager Blu Ray collection.  You can watch a nice 30 minute making of doc, another doc that takes you behind the scenes of the "extended version" of the movie with all the scenes put back in and whatnot.  There's some Japanese promotional trailer material and stuff of that sort.  It sort of makes up for the lack of special features and docs on the main disc, but it would have been nice to see a more current in depth look at the making of the movie with the people involved in the movie.

Despite the gripes, I enjoyed the Terminator 2: Skynet Edition Blu Ray immensely.  It's a fun action movie on a great format for that type of movie that you can find for an outstanding price at the moment.

Horror Movies: Have They Lost Their Effectiveness For Me?

When I was a teenager and on into my 20s, I used to love watching horror movies.  I was talking to a friend recently, and I mentioned that as much as I loved those movies then, they just don't hold the appeal to me that they used to.  I still enjoy a good scary flick when the itch hits, but not like before.  It was a bit of a depressing thought, because for me it was yet another sign of growing up.  As if having a wife and kids wasn't enough of an indicator, but for some reason I can flow with that.  The changing of ones tastes hits a little harder.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that back then, horror movies were a good bit of catharsis.  Like riding a roller coaster, you can release nervous fear in a non threatening way.  The jumps were good and I always enjoyed the thrill of watching a character I could relate to put into horrifying circumstances, going through hell and coming out on the other side (for the most part) victorious.  As a teenager, I got a rush out of it.

Now as a dude in my 30s, horror has different meaning.  It's no longer about being scared of things that go bump in the night.  Now I have kids.  Fear is not the bogeyman coming to get you, its about "what if my 1 year old sticks a pair of scissors up his nose?  Because that's the kind of thing that little madman would do!"  There's still a bit of fear of the bogeyman, but as an adult, you know it's fantasy.  And the reality of how the heck will I be able to provide for my kids hits a little harder than Michael Myers slicing and dicing moronic teenagers.

Quit Staring!

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy a good horror flick, but it's hard for me to sit and watch any generic slice and dice anymore.  The wife and I currently enjoyed the two Paranormal Activity movies and found them suitably creepy.  But I've not seen any of the newest installments of the Halloween or Scream franchises and back in the 90s that just wouldn't have happened.  Opening night, baby!  Now: maybe Redbox.  Or Netflix Streaming if I can't jump on the Redbox.

I still enjoy them, though.  The original Halloween doesn't creep me out like it used to, but I still enjoy watching it nonetheless.  Carpenter's atmospheric direction and the great Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis still hold up and bear repeat viewings.  Just give me good atmosphere and characters and I'll be all about your movie, horror or not.

Still Number One, Baby.

Now it's October, Halloween time, time of horror movies.  I might have to track down a couple of scary flicks to watch this month.  Maybe I'll even take a crack at the Halloween remake, just to see if I can punish myself that harshly.

I kind of miss the horror and scary things in my life being the harmless make believe stuff.

Woman Sues the movie "Drive" for it's Misleading Trailers.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/10/11/woman-sues-because-drive-isnt-enough-like-fast-and-the-furious/

Holy wow, we are suing movies now. Okay, technically, I guess she's suing the studio behind the movie, but still. Come on. This is not bordering on ridiculous, it has crossed the border and has pitched a tent and built a campfire in the heart of ridiculous. Sarah Deming felt the trailers for the movie "Drive" built it up to be more of a Fast and Furious type of movie than the more, I guess character study of a stuntman-turned-getaway driver it delivered. I cannot speak personally for this movie, I have yet to see it. The word from critics is good, and that should have been her first clue. Critics don't "love" movies like The Fast and the Furious.

I can understand the disappointment in going to see a movie and it not quite living up to your expectations. Back in '99, there was a little movie called Wild, Wild West (betcha thought I was gonna say The Phantom Menace :), and I was disappointed that the funny, quirky and imaginative sci-fi comedy I thought I was getting was a long, unfunny snore fest full of actors who are above that type of thing. I didn't like it and simply never watched it again. I didn't file a suit against Will Smith for making a crappy movie that didn't live up to my expectations.

LIAR!!

Here's the thing; trailers are not and never have been the greatest representative of what you are going to get on the screen. They are elements put together to get your butt in the seat and hopefully the movie will pull you in and entertain you. If it didn't, that's a chance you took when you punched your ticket. It's job is to get your interest, and I guess the trailer for "Drive" did it's job concerning Sarah Deming.

In this day and age, there are COUNTLESS ways to get info on your upcoming movie releases. People pretty much crap out reviews by the hour on the internet. You can get professional reviews, movie-going public reviews, geek reviews, women reviews, Christian reviews, reviews from every viewpoint you could never dream existed! There are forums, metacritic, rotten tomatoes, websites that tell you what to expect from the movie. I understand that even with all this info, a movie can still surprise you in a negative way. Again, this is the chance you take as a movie-goer. It's the deal you make with any movie; I hope to be entertained, but there's that good chance you will disappoint me.

Speaking for myself on the subject at hand, I don't know a lot about "Drive", but I don't think I thought it was going to even approach Fast and Furious levels of craziness and testosterone infused action. Here's the trailer....



I actually think it looks like a really good movie, but nothing in that trailer suggests it has anything to do with any movie series that is graced by the thespian superstar known as Vin Diesel.

I just don't see the point in suing because you were disappointed in the movie. She's only suing for the price of the ticket, but that's already been reimbursed by the theater. She's simply grandstanding now. Rip it amongst your friends, or start a flame war on the internet, but don't take this highly publicized stand as if this movie personally kidnapped your puppy.

The Avengers Official Trailer!

Today is a monumental day. For today is when the full official trailer for Marvel's The Avengers is unleashed unto the public! Personally, I think it looks really cool. Nice action, nice humor (especially love Tony Stark's line to Bruce Banner at the very end) and really nice to see the team interacting and fighting with each other.

Like every nerd, I've been looking forward to this movie. Kinda wondering if they could pull it off. Thor came out, it was amazing. Captain America came out, it was awesome. With the release and success of those movies, anticipation for The Avengers is at an all time high for me. I honestly can't see them screwing this up with how well they've handled the movies leading up to it. The trailer is also very promising. See for yourself....

Son's reaction to 'Empire Strikes Back' reveal!

The video below, found on YouTube, of a person taping his little son's reaction to Darth Vader's big reveal to Luke Skywalker is genius. I'm a Star Wars nerd through and through, and this type of video gives me hope for a future generation of nerds. It's nice to see a generation pass it down to another generation.

Also, it must be noted that the parents seem to have decided to show the kids the Original Trilogy before the Prequel Trilogy, otherwise this reaction wouldn't have been much of a shock. I've often wondered, when my kids were finally old enough, which order I would take them through the Star Wars saga. I thought it would be cool to do it chronologically, but this one twist; the twist that the whole saga turns on, is what keeps me from doing that. You gotta get that full "Holy Crap!" effect of that scene, otherwise... well, it just wouldn't be right. I fully endorse this parent's decision. It appears to have been the right one.

John Travolta and Nicolas Cage Face Off: Civil War Style!

In one of the weirdest coincidences I believe I've ever had the privilege of witnessing in my young life is the appearance of old timey photos of "Vampire Nicolas Cage" and "Time Traveller John Travolta" within a week of each other.  Someone posted a picture of what looked exactly like a young Nicolas Cage taken a hundred years ago on ebay for thousands of dollars, claiming it was proof that Nicolas Cage was indeed a vampire.  Not long after, an eerily similar picture of John Travolta, who it was concluded that since he is a Scientoligist, he must have the ability to travel to and fro in time, popped up as well.

You can't argue how similar these photos are to these very modern celebrities.  I usually veer on the skeptical side of things, but let us be honest; it certainly would explain a lot about Nicolas Cage.  The man couldn't figure out what to do about his hair even then.  And if the other guy isn't John Travolta, he certainly passed down his chin of steel to the dance happy actor.

Personally, I see a great opportunity and excuse for a Face/Off prequel set in the civil war where John Travolta's Sean Archer goes back in time to prevent Nic Cage's Vampiric Castor Troy from causing a century's worth of death and mayhem.  Somebody call John Woo and get him on this thing!

Get To The Movie Early, Moron!

So you're aching to go see the new movie coming out this weekend. It's being hyped to high heaven and commercials are everywhere. The movie itself may deal with Jedi, superheroes, Hobbits, Boy Wizards or girly-man vampires and everyone you know wants to see this flick.

Okay, you think to yourself, I'm gonna check this bad boy out! You grab a group of friends, maybe six or so, and on opening night, you are more than ready. You check the listings online to confirm that it's a 7:30 showing and at 6:50 you leave, knowing you have plenty of time. Heck, it only takes five measly minutes to even get to the Bijou. Goodness, your stomach is rumbling and your friends agree that a run to the Border is in order.

Chowing down your chalupas and gorditas, you make it to the theater two minutes before showtime. Perfect timing! Ooh, ooh and bonus! You don't have to suffer through the annoying advertisements the theater insists on forcing down your throats. Its movie time, baby!

Then you step into the auditorium right before the lights go down and you are shocked, absolutely stunned. The place is packed. Oh... my.... GOD! And the only six seats you can find together are on the front row. The neck breaker section. But you don't give up, not right away. The theater darkens and you audibly grumble as you go up and down the aisles, attempting to find something. You can't even find two seats together. You and your posse head up to the front, pissing  and moaning the whole way. Unbelievable! No seats! What kind of place is this!

From my seat, I roll my eyes as I watch you trudge to the worst seats in the house. I shake my head at your pitiful grumbling. That's right, I shake my head and I don't pity you. I'm sitting in a great seat because I actually had enough presence of mind to get there 20 or 30 minutes early for the opening weekend of a high profile movie, you idiot. You get there that late, you lose your right to grumble, so sit down and be quiet so I can enjoy the show.

Enjoy that well deserved crick in your neck.

Super 8

Finally got out to see Super 8 last night. This was a movie, when first announced, I had no interest in seeing. But then came the Super Bowl and the first real footage I saw of the movie and I was sold from then on. Even before seeing online all the "early Spielberg vibe" reaction to the trailer, this was exactly how I felt as I watched it. This was a type of movie I'd not seen in a loooong time. A Stand By Me, Goonies, ET, kids on adventure movie the likes of which I had grown up with and loved as a youngun. I freely admit that the Nostalgia factor played a big part in drawing me in. Whatever the case, the preview worked. I would see this movie.

So, going in, I knew only what the previews had shown. I didn't have much in the way of preconceptions of what the movie was really all about. The only thing I was hoping for was a fun little kids on adventure movie, and the movie delivered that. The kids were all great. The way they talked, busted each others chops, and in general related to each other was very nicely handled. There was an emotional core to this story that I felt was very strong. This was a movie about a kid, his struggle with his relationship with his newly widowed father and the fun he has making a Super 8 movie with his group of friends to counteract that. It's about the fact that sometimes your situation in life changes and you need to accept that and move on with the people who are still there.

These are strong coming of age type of themes most associated with drama, but here they are set against the backdrop of something weird going on in the neighborhood. I've seen that some think this part of the story feels tacked on, rushed and doesn't gel with the kids' part of the story. For me, the sci-fi element, while cool, is not the focus of the story. Rather it is the effect that part of the story has on the kids' and their relationships and life struggles that's important. It's the complimentary piece to the main meat of the story and I think it works just fine like that.

Obviously, I can never say this movie is better than E.T., The Goonies and their ilk and that's because I saw those movies when I was a kid. And movies like that affect you more when you see them as a kid than an adult. Super 8, had I seen it when I was 10 around the time those movies came out would probably today be one of my more favorite movies of all time. Seeing it as a dude in his early 30s without the rose colored vision that comes with being a 10 year old, I can say that I enjoyed the heck out of it for what it was and it'll have to settle for being one of my more favorite movies of the year instead.

Lonely Island Boys "Jack Sparrow" feat. Michael Bolton

My viral video obsession for the past couple of weeks.  It has become a bit of an earworm for me.

Warning for those reading this that do not like to hear profanity, there is some in the video.

Now back to the good part:




I saw this thing on Saturday Night Live a couple or so weeks ago and it just made me laugh.

Some people love Michael Bolton, a lot of people outright hate the man.  Me, I could care less about the guy. I honestly don't know any of his music, save whatever he did for the Disney movie Hercules.  All I really know about the man is once he had really long curly hair, then he chopped it off.  But this video almost makes him cool.

I love how he waxes poetic about Jack Sparrow: "The pauper of the surf, the jester of Tortuga."  Michael Bolton, getting all literary on us!

Michael Bolton as Scarface: Not too shabby.  Michael Bolton as Forrest Gump: A little akward.  Michael Bolton as Erin Brockovich: The stuff of my worst nightmares.

I will no longer be able to watch these films without this dang song playing in my head.  Thank you Lonely Island and Michael Bolton.

Now to watch it again!

The Force Unleashed II

The Force is unleashed yet again on my Wii and boy is it kinda fun. I'll be upfront: I totally enjoyed the first installment of the Starkiller franchise. The feeling of wielding a lightsaber and controlling the Force in a way my young pre-teen mind could never have ever conceived of while playing the super fun Super Star Wars trilogy on my ol' SNES is enough to make your brain explode from the sheer nerdiness of it all. The game made you feel powerful. Could it have been better, definitely. But I still enjoyed it.

The sequel, on the other hand... I should start out by saying I found it used at Blockbuster for 10 bucks. I only say that because how much money you spend on it might dictate what you ultimately feel about it. The game is short. Very short. Just when I was getting in the swing of things, the whole show is done. In short, I'm glad I only spent 10 bucks on it. The original 50 dollar price tag would have left me feeling very ripped off.

Starting out, I was a bit thrown off by the controls, as they have been changed up a bit for this installment. I'm the first in line to poo-poo change in anything, so I started out thinking it was all balderdash. These were not the controls I had grown accustomed to from the first game! How dare they! Getting used to this led to a couple of early cheap deaths with me trying to dispatch of enemies using the same gestures and buttons from FU1. But get used to it, I did, and realized that the control scheme wasn't so bad after all. There are a few new Force moves, like Force Sight and Force Rage that use the Wii Remote very effectively and give you a feeling of even more power. Plus, two lightsabers. That's always awesome.

Unfortunately, there's a laundry list of things that I feel let this game down from the previous one.

- It's SHORT
- Lack of variety of levels
- Lack of variety of enemies. Stormtroopers, spider-bots, robots bearing shields and a few two legged walkers. That's about it.
- I enjoyed the story of FU1. This one doesn't feel like much of a story at all
- SHORT!

I wish they had fixed a few of the shortcomings of the first game (as much as I enjoyed it, it ain't perfect). The levels can be repetitive. The quicktime "waggle your wii-mote" scenes are nice, but I would like to be a bit more hands on in those parts of the game. After fighting through endless stormtroopers and it gets to the cool part, I wanna piece of that action, not be relegated to the sidelines to watch while I swing the remote left or right and Starkiller does something impossibly awesome.

I will say I thought it was very fun, what game there is of it. I don't regret buying it (because I bought it stinkin' CHEAP). I'm a Star Wars nerd and I always enjoy romping around in the universe wielding lightsabers. The couple of boss fights are pretty fun.

Apparently, there's a mulitplayer, but I don't really have anyone near me at the moment to jump into the arena with and kick their butts, so I really can't comment on that aspect of it.

I just felt it was waaaay too short. I got through it in about 6 hours. And they way the story ends in a cliffhanger, it really just feels like a couple of bridge levels simply to have a reason to bring the character back to life (in a manner of speaking) after the first game to kick more butt in a meatier story in the inevitable next game. I think a game like this would have been a great use of downloadable content for whatever system it was on and could have accomplished the same thing.

However, any excuse to go crazy with the Force, I'll take.

The Oscars 2011

The Oscars 2011!


I honestly don't know how much I can comment on this. I must be honest: I've not seen a lot of this past years nominated movies. It was a bit of a stay at home year in our household with a new kid and some work issues. In fact, one of the nominated movies I saw because we took our daughter to see it and have subsequently seen it about 5,202 times since she got it for Christmas on DVD.

I'm looking at you Woody and Buzz.

  

The other best picture nominee I saw was Inception, which I loved to pieces, but realized was not the kind of movie that wins Best Picture at the Oscars.

So as far as the nominated and the winners, I cannot say too much. My lack of info on these subjects is truly depressing.  I do know I thought that The Social Network would get more love, but there was a point in the show you just realized The King's Speech was gonna tear it up. I haven't seen the movie but there's no doubt these guys looked at the blueprints on how to win an Oscar and followed it to a "T".

What I can comment on is the presentation, which seems to be getting a lot of crap dumped at it's feet. I'm not sure it deserves all the bile being hurled its way, but it was definitely not the greatest ceremony to ever feature the little gold naked dude.

Let us start with the hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco. I know Anne Hathaway annoyed some viewers, but at least she showed some energy and seemed like she was interested in the proceedings. Franco, on the other hand, spent most of the time standing stiffly by her side staring off somewhere just off center with a strained smile plastered on his face.

Most of all, I think the duo was let down by the writing. There are some hosts, the type of hosts the Oscars usually get; your Steve Martins, your Billy Crystals, who have a background in performing comedy in front of live audiences and probably help come up with their own material and are able to make it work and flow a lot more naturally. When you get a couple of young actors who don't appear to have such a background, I think it's unfair to expect them to do anything other than keep the show moving. The bits come off more stiff and unnatural and definitely fall flat.

That being said, I think the biggest problem with the Oscars this year was that they were flat out trying to go young. From the hosts to the presenters, there is no doubt they were reaching for that demographic. I'm sorry Oscar, your demographic is not the hip Jersey Shore generation, it spans the generations of movie fans. Specifically movie fans that see the kind of movies that win Oscars. I have a hard time believing many Justin Timberlake fans went out of their way to see The King's Speech or even know what the heck Winter's Bone is, except for the fact that the Wayne's World guys found the title hilarious.

Let's forget young, hip and edgy. You're the Oscars, not the MTV movie awards. Act like it. When the highlight of your show is Billy Crystal introducing the digital ghost of Bob Hope to introduce the effortlessly funny duo of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, that should tell you something. Give the keys to the thing back to Crystal or Steve Martin, or heck, even Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Because if I find out Justin Bieber is hosting this thing next year, I'm out.

Super Bowl Movie Trailers!

The Super Bowl came and went. The game, by all accounts, was pretty good. I missed it, due to having to work. Of course, the biggest news the next day, the thing that most people talk about is not whether or not Big Ben was eyeing some college gal in the third row or if Brett Favre was home crying, but the commercials. And due to the miracle that is DVR and the internet, I was able to catch up with the commercials that personally get my man juices flowing; the movie previews.

There were a lot to choose from, but here, I will only highlight the ones I'm looking forward to...

*Battle: Los Angeles

Every other month, we are treated to another alien invasion movie. I remember seeing previews for Independence Day all those years ago and getting so pumped to see that massive scale of alien destruction and getting all that and more in the final product. Ever since then, that scale of destruction has become sort of common place and as epic as Battle: Los Angeles looks, and it does look epic, I hope there's something more to it than eye candy. The preview has me intrigued, but I will have to wait and see more before I make up my mind whether or not to get seriously pumped for it.



*Transformers: Dark of the Moon

I know it's hip to hate on the Transformers movies and Michael Bay, but they are wildly popular for a reason and that is that they are entertainment. That being said, part 2 pushed it about as far as I think you can push it as far as sensory overload plus movie running time and if this one tries to out do that installment, it could jump the shark something fierce. I'm simply hoping for some good old fashioned entertainment and robot mayhem and it looks like that will be delivered. Just don't go all Batman and Robin on sensory overload and silliness.



*Thor

I grew up a bit of a Marvel nerd, no doubt, but Thor was never really a favorite. It just seemed a bit silly. Yet I was never really into Iron Man and that movie was all kinds of rocking, so Thor, especially with the impending Avengers movie coming out, has got me a bit excited. Plus, this movie has Natalie Portman in it, whom I've crushed on since The Phantom Menace.



*Pirate of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Captain Jack is back and as far as I'm concerned, that's never a bad thing. I thought the last movie was a bit too long and over convoluted, yet still had some good action and entertainment. This one looks as though it's going to be a nice little one-off adventure in the vein of the first Pirate's movie, which can only be a good thing, if true. I like the idea of these movies keeping it simple with a nice adventurous tale than getting bogged down in it's own mythology.




*Captain America

Oh yes. This looks pretty dadgum awesome. I love the World War II setting and I love the look of the movie. If this can be the good old fashioned pulpy period adventure movie that it looks like it's gonna be, then there's no way I will not like it. I've always had a fondness for ol' Cap and it's great to finally see him getting some big budget love. This could easily slip into cheese, but if they keep the tone right, we could be in for a classic comic book movie.



*Super 8

I'm officially juiced for this movie. I wasn't at first.  Seemed kind of interesting, I guess, but didn't have much to go on.  Then I saw this preview.  Still not a lot to go on, storywise, I guess, but the whole feel of it screams classic 80's Speilberg and that in itself pushed all the right nostalgic buttons for me. I'd still like to see a whole trailer to get a feel for the story, but the images and the feeling the clip was going for did it for me. I love those old 80s Speilberg directed/produced kids on adventure movies like E.T. and the Goonies and here's hoping this delivers on that promise. If the movie captures even half the magic of those movies, I'm a happy man. The fact that Speilberg himself is actually producing this is a promising sign.



*Cowboys and Aliens

I love the idea of splicing the Western and the Sci-Fi genre together. There's always been something old-westy feeling about a lot of space set movies and it seems only right that they would join forces. I love the it's directed by Jon Favreau, the man who brought us Iron Man. I love that Daniel Craig's granite faced steeliness seems to fit that of a cowboy. More than anything, I love that Harrison Ford is playing a grizzled, hell raisin' mean sunuvagun who hates Craig's character. Lordy, I've missed Harrison Ford the past decade or so (not counting Indy) and I'm happy to have him back.