Simple Randomness

Vantage Point Review

Last night my wife and I rented and watched Vantage Point for the first time.

That was one intense movie! I had heard a lot of really good things about it, and I really wasn’t disappointed at all. At first when they started going back I was thinking, “oh no…the same thing again just from a different angle is all.” But i was way off. It was really cool how every person not only had a unique viewpoint, but also a unique role to play in the whole story.

Overall I would have to say I really really really liked this movie. It might even be good enough to go onto my current favorites list. So if you haven’t seen this one, I’d recommend you do!

I No Longer Have a ‘Favorite Band’

I remember back in high school, I always had a favorite band.  For the most part, it was always Queensryche, Dream Theater, Led Zeppelin, or Collective Soul.  As you can tell, it would change from time to time.

But just last night my wife and I were talking about music and what my or her favorite band was, and I realized that I don’t have one anymore.  I have certain bands that I really like their music, but it’s no longer just one.  It’s different types, and it depends on my mood.

So I’m wondering if the whole ‘favorite band’ thing isn’t really just a glorified high school concept.  And the more I think about it I would have to say that it is.  Instead, it is so much better to just have certain types of music that you like to listen to.

So my advice, don’t limit yourself to one band.  Branch out and learn to appreciate other types of music.  Though I do have to admit that I can’t find an appreciation for rap, most R&B, or country…

The Dark Knight - Just Plain Awesome

So over the weekend my wife and I and her friends in Idaho went to a showing of The Dark Knight.  Now, if you’ve been reading this blog you know that I’ve been excited to go see this one for some time now, and I was extra excited when we had the chance to see it opening weekend!

This movie rocks.  It’s everything that you would want to see in the Joker vs. Batman saga.  I know when I first heard that Heath Ledger was going to be the Joker I wasn’t too thrilled about it, in fact I thought it was going to kill the movie.  And I know that I’m not the only person that thought that.  In fact, this morning on a radio show the main guy said he felt the same thing.

But man….Heath Ledger plays one creepy creepy Joker.  He played it perfectly if you ask me!  So he definitely proved a lot of us out there wrong!

One thing that I really appreciated about this movie is that it really could have been a whole lot more graphic.  But they didn’t take it that way.  They didn’t put in all the extra gore that a lot of movies would.  We knew when the joker would have cut a smile on someone’s face, but they didn’t show it.  They didn’t need to.  And that is one of the things that made this movie great.  They focused on the story of what was going on, not the stupid gore.

Anyway, great movie.  I’ll need to go see it again sometime, and if you haven’t seen it yet you should highly consider it!

Review of Hancock

Well, I know that my reviews are really never all that deep.  Mainly because I’d hate to give the whole movie away.  Well, this one is going to be no exception.

I know that a lot of people have thought that this movie was really lame for one reason or another.  My wife and I actually liked it!  I liked it mainly because it was a different take on super heroes.  It wasn’t just the standard ‘I got (fill in the blank) by some radioactive (fill in the blank) and now I can (fill in the blank)” that so many other super hero movies fall into.  (Batman being the wonderful exception of course to this formula ).

Well, I don’t want to give anything away, but I liked that way that the back story in this one worked out.  I think that it could have been developed a little further, and it is by no means a great movie, but I still liked it.

P.S. I Love You Review

One of the other movies that we watched on Monday was P.S. I Love You starring Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Bates, and Harry Connick, Jr.

Definitely a chick flick.  No question about it, this was a chick flick.  But then again, I knew that just be reading the title.  But as far as chick flicks go, this one wasn’t bad.  It wasn’t all that sappy, and there were some parts that were genuinely funny.  Harry Connick, Jr. was really funny as a really blunt character who claims that he’s supposed to be on pills that will keep him from being rude.  Most of the other characters were also really good as well, but I’m not going to go over all of them.

Funny quotes:
Holly Kennedy: Oh, stop being all *bilingual*!
Gerry Kennedy: Kiss me arse!
Holly Kennedy: Kiss mine! In English!

Leprechaun: Are you Holly Kennedy?
Holly Kennedy: If I am will you sing at me?
Leprechaun: Yes.
Holly Kennedy: No, I’m not.
Leprechaun: Please don’t make this an issue. I gotta sing and deliver a letter.
Holly Kennedy: A letter? What’s the song?
Leprechaun: Ya I’m ‘gon be there.
Holly Kennedy: Oh please don’t, just give me the letter.
Leprechaun: I could get reported!
Holly Kennedy: By who? The leprechaun union?
Leprechaun: You know, I was in an off-Broadway play with Al $%@*! Pacino I don’t need this shit. Want the balloons?
Holly Kennedy: No.
Leprechaun: Fine!

Holly Kennedy: I don’t want to make any mistakes.
Gerry Kennedy: Then you’re in the wrong species, love. Be a duck.

Any way, pretty good chick flick. Go watch it for a good date night!

The Bucket List Review

With my wife being sick on Monday we decided to have a movie day.  I had the day off anyway, so we figured it was a good way to have a relaxing day.

The first movie we watched was The Bucket List starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.  It’s a pretty funny movie about 2 guys that are told that they have 6-12 months to live, so they decide to make a list of all the things they would like to do before they “kick the bucket.”  Some of the things on the list include skydiving, driving a Shelby Mustang, etc.

Overall I thought it was a good movie.  I have to admit that Jack Nicholson still kinda freaks me out, but it was fun to see the way that he and Morgan Freeman interacted.

I was thinking of coming up with an overall moral for the story, but there are really several.  So rather than trying to state the obvious or be extra philosophical, I’ll let you go watch the movie and figure one out for yourself!

I Am Legend Review

So over the weekend my wife and I rented the movie I Am Legend staring Will Smith.  I must say that Will Smith really is an awesome actor. It’s actually funny to go back and see him in Fresh Prince and then see some of the things he’s done the last couple of years.  Who would have ever expected him to go from that to an action movie star?

Anyway, this movie was ok.  His acting was great, but the story itself was pretty weak.  I think it had a lot of potential, but it seemed like the just sort of ended it at the end.  That was very disappointing.  In fact, at the end my wife and I just looked at each other with a puzzled look on our face saying, “That’s the end?”

I read a synopsis of the book, and I think it sounds like the book would be quite a bit better.  But, isn’t that how it normally is with movies?

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets Review

So last night my wife and I watched National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets for the first time. I’ve been interested in seeing this one for awhile, so here’s my take on it.

I thought that overall it was what I expected: just a fun, family friendly, history filled movie. Nothing too spectacular, and in my opinion it fit pretty well what I expected. It was fun, a little cheesy at times. I don’t think it’s a movie that I would watch over and over again, but I enjoyed it.

I also have to mention here that I think the first National Treasure movie was much better than this one. I know sometimes that happens because the with the first one you really don’t know what to expect. But it seems like in so many situations the first one of a series really is just a better movie. This isn’t always the case (for example, I think Return of the Jedi was way better than A New Hope, and it was the 3rd movie to come out!), but seems to be all too often. I’m hoping that The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie that comes out soon, won’t follow this trend, but I guess we’ll just have to see.

V for Vendetta

I know I’m a little behind the times on this one, but I finally saw V for Vendetta over the weekend. I’ve been wanting to see it for some time now, but just never got around to it.

So what did I think of it? I thought this movie was awesome! Honestly I’ll have to watch it again to really get all of what’s going on, but I thought it was a really good movie. In a lot of ways it reminded me of Equilibrium, at least there were some similarities with all these different things being on the blacklist.

One of the coolest things about this movie is how Hugo Weaving put so much emotion into his acting behind a mask. Just based on the way he would move his head you could tell how V was feeling, even though his face is a solid mask.

Anyway, really cool movie. I’d highly recommend it!

The Joys of Not Watching TV!

So when my wife and I moved into our new place back in August, we quickly found out that the company that was supposed to connect us with cable was in no rush to actually do it.  We even followed up with them a couple of times but were never able to get a hold of someone.  So instead of complaining, we decided to just not worry about it and try life without TV.

And you know what, it’s actually been great!  So I haven’t really watched TV for several months now and I have to admit that I don’t really miss it.  We’ll keep up on some of the shows that we like either by renting the season on DVD or watching it online.  For example, I love the show Lost, and we’ve kept up on it by watching it online.

If you’ve never tried going without TV, you should give it a try.  Honestly, whenever I watch TV now I’m amazed at the kind of stuff they can show on TV.  I was probably just desensitized to it before…