12 posts tagged “review”

i just read the previously mentioned f s fitz "curious case of benjamin buttons" and it was a pretty interesting short story. theres really not much to it but the mere fact that it handles the enormous hurdle of encompassing a persons life and events within 20 pages is pretty amazing. the beginning and ending are well done, with sort of filler in the middle. but really the focus at first is how bb's birth is such a mysterious thing, and how his father handles it. and then as the story ends it becomes how people will not put up with him because of how he is unable to handle himself. its strange but worth of discussion, which will surely be done in my new book club!

abs and i started a book club. we'll see how far that goes in terms of getting people together and having them all read the book proposed.

other reading ive done? just tpb comics i picked up from matt. hes got this huge collection and i went through and started picking off some of the well recieved titles. i think ive become an even bigger nerd in the last year than all through high school. anyways, finished BPRD vol 1 + 2, goon vol 0 + 1, battlepope 1.

it has been 9 days since my order has been shipped. i give them until monday, and then i plan on writing a very nasty complaint about timeliness and beg for them to maybe send another tshirt because it is very awesome and i must have it. please? what is wrong with the mail this month? ive recieved an onslaught of random catalogs from companies ive never order through, but not the two packages i want; one being the shirt, the other a business card case.

i have given in to my deepest, gluttonous desires. since missing gillies breakfast last weekend due to lunch plans, i have craved a spanish fritatta like a pregnant woman desires [strange food combination ex: peas & turkey gravy]. so in lieu of my usual, i created a similar yet different version of my favorite breakfast utilizing what was left in my fridge.

my less_spanish fritatta contained:
3 egg crepe
roasted red peppers
previously baked, quartered red potatoes stir fried with salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, oregano, dill
onion
spinach (raw)
capers
mozzarella cheese
raspberry walnut vinaigrette salad dressing

it hit the spot. optional salsa. it wasnt quite the same, i really need the artichokes and feta, but everything else seemed accounted for. i think the real key to recreating a similar fritatta is the potatoes and vinaigrette. the crunchiness of the potato and the sour from the balsamic vinegar is a crucial representation.

i have also been really into fast food and greasy food. in the past two weeks ive eaten out several times and have always ordered something deep fried. from chickfila to gordon biersch fish and chips, from boston beanery fried haddock sandwich to roger moore's catfish po' boy. but still not satisfied, there resides in me a deep desire to try a sausage mcgriddle. i dont even know why. actually, that last part is a lie, ive been talking about trying one for like 2 months now; ever since i found out its a sausage patty held between two flavored pancakes. its a good thing i started swimming again.

one more craven thing: i fell into the peer pressure hole and went out (for a short period) last night to bar norfolk. ann was working and matt said he was going, so i felt i should hold up my end of the bargain and be social. turned out to be a fun night. ann hooked me up and things were just becoming interesting when i had to leave because of work the next morning. so maybe the real cowardly thing was going in early. i suppose theres always next week. i had never been into bar, but it was pretty much as i expected. strange regulars, tons of squid, hot girls. odd choice of music though. the dj was pretty content with playing current pop/rock hits with the occassional country song. lots of panic at the disco and fallout boy followed by some hiphop and some justin timberlake. not very impressive transitioning either. maybe im just spoiled though.

i dont make many movies opening night, its usually got to be some kind of a big deal for me to do that. but few movies actually have midnight screenings on their release, and well, harry potter is kind of a big deal for me. abigail and i were really excited about order of the phoenix and we sort of sweet talked todd and wes into coming along. they were a little upset that we arrived at the theater an hour and a half prior to screening, but they appreciated it by the end of the night.

in preparation we stopped by starbucks and had coffee and then went directly to the theater around 10:30pm. we were second in line! i thought we would be first, i was sort of disappointed by that, but its ok. the mere fact that the two ladies in front of us were... unadmirable gave me a little relief.

the movie itself was pretty good. very fast paced, covered most of the big and small things from the book, well acted and decorated and all that, and nice special effects. a very high review from me, especially having a big book to compare it to. i didnt know how dark they were actually going to make the movie, but it was quite a stepping stone for childrens movies. i mean, on-screen death. not that the material is really all that suited for kids, but they seem to be the biggest demographic. anyways, since its pg13 rated, it had some decent previews attached to it. namely: golden compass, bourne3, stardust and some other one?

we saw transformers the day before, which was also really good. i was quite surprised.

ps. 30 days of night movie!

the swim team took a trip to baltimore, maryland this weekend. much to my delight, the past few weeks i have been training and entered myself into the meet. i did pretty well, got my AA in 100 free Long Course Meters, AAA time in 50 free LCM, 26.68 which isnt half bad. its actually fairly impressive, so the senior kids made up a new term, bbc: beat by curtis. its an honor, really.

besides the meet, there really wasnt much else this weekend. i got to drive another 15 passenger van. its quite fun, sometimes. and besides being stuck in so much traffic, the journey up and and around baltimore were pretty decent. i had to stay an extra 4 hours at the meet to watch one of our star swimmers, hes 12 so hes in a different session. i rode back with him and his father. THAT drive left a bit to be desired. but i slept most of it, as i had been up at 6 and spent all day in the sun. the one night we were able to get out fairly early, we headed into baltimore harbor and ate at espn zone. which was awful. the service there was horrendous. food was ok, but really, that was the worst service ive had from a upper mid-range restaurant ever. especially for being so empty and overstaffed.

on an unrelated note, i just watched the painted veil while typing this up. it was quite good. ive never read love in the time of cholera, but i would assume it is similar. even if its not, its a tensely emotional film that completely overwhelmed me with tone and period feeling.

also, i have a hard time uploading pictures from my external hard drive, so im forced to upload to flickr first, and then import them through vox. weird.

ill be in blacksburg from thursday till sunday. i should have plenty of time to waste thursday and friday while you all have classes (ha.) so if you dont have classes, or have a large break or something, let me know and we'll hang out. i also do not have plans for the weekend, so if you have suggestions on things i could be doing, you should drop a note.

i saw the prestige last night, it was spectacular. i loved it. well, i liked it. it was really reeaaaaally dark, but good. a little confusing at a few points (scene changes), but it all made sense by the end. i liked the character types, the acting was pretty good, and i thought the whole image of 19th century magic and such was pretty well drawn. and it includes mention of tesla, which boosts my thoughts about the movie as a whole through mere association.
also last night, i attended a marching band competition for high school. i was out there with kris and todd, in support of todds little brother and salem high. they put on a good show. i would have more to say about the event had i not been so cold and focused on staying alive. we had played football for the first time since... probably last thanksgiving; and it had been a nice 65 or so degrees which was plenty warm for us since we were running around. after rushing home to shower and make it back to todds in time to leave for the band competition, i was unaware that the night would drop the temperature to somewhere in the lower 40s. i was still wearing shorts and sandals, but had the foresight to at least bring a hoodie (and of course my awesome glow-in-the-dark skeleton gloves). i knew it was going to be cold, i just didnt know it was THAT cold. or that we'd end up staying for 3 hours. i suddenly realized what my parents had to sit through, and what it meant to be a sideline supporter for your children. and i made a mental note to remind my children that i will love them under every circumstance, but that they may not see me in the audience.

i went with some swimming kids to the Hunt Club Farm halloween scarything. i dont know the actual title, but the farm puts on three events, a haunted hayride, an undead walkthrough, and a cornfield walkthrough. it was ok.  it would have been better if there had been girls/screamers in the group. also, it would have helped if we were all younger (ie:13-15). but it wasnt bad. just... no longer scary. they relied on a lot of jump scares, which have basically no effect on me because i dont pay attention in addition to a history of slow reaction times. so in the dark, when i bumped into the actors all gored up, i kept saying "oh, im sorry" and then moved around them before realizing they were frightening looking. i know, its depressing that such mischevious fun is lost on me. also lost on me is how fun being lost in a completely dark shipping container can be. im not sure the entire purpose of it, other than perhaps adolescent opportunity for groping. in any case, the whole ordeal was not worth $15. i do not recommend it. i certainly dont see the point in buying the $20 wristband to do it as many times as you want. i suppose as a middle schooler, you might find this sort of thing as a perfect opportunity to do something with friends, without supervision; but other than that, id rather spend my money on food.

having an income is causing me to readily dispose of such an unusual bank account. at this rate, i will never move out of this house. ...and that also translates to: i will die alone.

its hard to believe how much work these classes require, but i dont really mind it all that much so i guess its ok. i do feel like a bum though. i have very little human interaction it feels like. however, thats all going to change soon. i started coaching again! the ol' swim team picked me up as a coach, and im running a late night practice. it would be better if i had more hours, but ... oh well. its not like i have tons of free time anyways.

saw the jet li movie "fearless" on sunday. it was good. not on the level of hero, but still pretty good. the fights were... also only pretty good. there wasnt much of anything super cool or special about the entire movie, but it was decent. it was kind of drawn out, but lacked the punch of real drama. mostly because the character just wasnt that interesting.

so today, ive only got one class, public speaking. its a handfull at 7am, even if its only an hour. anyways, i have the fortune of having a teacher who loves her job, and who loves to promote what good communication skills can do. so rather than lecture, we watched a 15 minute clip of the west wing and held a discussion about ethics. this wasnt so bad of a lesson, and regardless of the stupid answers people gave to prompts, it was fairly entertaining.

however, i lost all respect for my teacher about halfway through the class when she tried to make a point about the kkk having the right to speak about whatever they want and credited this to the fifth amendment. now, i realize shes been out of school and civics lessons for about... 6-7 years (guessing, and giving her benefit of the doubt), but she had previously mentioned working for congress. and, well,  i just cant forgive her for this mistake. im not saying that i could list off every article of the declaration or each of the amendments; but if you were to know one amendment, it should be the first amendment. it comes up in court cases every 6 months. its the subject of multiple movies and television episodes. its in the news every day. mixing freedom of speech up with the right to abstain from self-incrimination is like mixing up a palm tree and a redwood. so now i will hate this class even more than normal; because i have no respect for anyone in there.

saturday night, we saw little miss sunshine. awesome. pretty funny, and highly entertaining in all other aspects. great movie, go see it now. theres some critical scenes that just wreck your heart, and others that make you wonder why the family has any problems at all. its just so good. go.

tonight, we saw snakes on a plane. also pretty funny, lots of immediate gratification, so id say its a go see too. i only wish samuel l jackson would have fought snakes with a lightsaber. and i suppose learning about real snakes would have been pretty cool too.

and, since im watching iron chef right now, i decided to try and find a recent episode on youtube. watch this short clip.

i went to see the descent last night, and i was disappointed. rotten tomatoes has it at 80% (as in 80% of critics liked it), but i thought it was crap. most of the movie is completely dark with the characters' lights bobbing up and down. only towards the end is there light and real action, and even that is frantic and hard to follow. my review: dont see it. save your money for krispy kreme. now would be a great time for a lj-cut, but since i cant, if you dont want to "ruin" the movie dont read on. 
SPOILERS. the movie doesnt try to make up a clever plot, which is good. its very straight forward and pretty boring. theres a real low point as the movie starts off with a quick bang bang double execution to the head and then just drops to nothing for an hour. but when you finally see the creepy dudes, it picks up enough to jar you awake from your slumber and theres a bunch of decent gore scenes. its not super especially gory, especially if youve seen a scary movie in the past few years, even though its hailed as being so. this is mostly because of the filming style which follows the latest american scare craze in its !!rapid camera movement = exciting!! this of course, detracts from actually determining who bit what, and who is running this/that way. the editing puts multiple cameras on the same frenzied scene, which makes it even more impossible to conclude who died. but, maybe im just being too critical? i suppose it doesnt help that the crew is all women and almost all similar when dirty/covered with blood. there is a pretty good eye gouging scene. i think that was my favorite. everything else was pretty textbook horror flick + wilderness first responder (theres a gruesome compound fracture that magically gets worse and grossed out most of my friends). oh, and then the end, that sucks. its a "ghostly surprise" that doesnt make any sense, at all. the whole theater was a bit confused at the ending. /SPOILERS.

in non sequitor: buy me this sweet router/hdd server thing. mmm. sexy.

you mean the two halves of my brain... ... ....are competing?
whoah.  excellent! ::plays air-guitar::

we went to see keanu's new movie a scanner darkly last night, and it was really good. while not being nearly as entertaining as clerks2, it was really interesting, weird, and kind of inspiring (in a darkly sort of way). its not quite as revolutional as waking life or some of the other reality/perception movies, but it hints at the idea a good bit. also, i was really interested when the two psychologists talked about keanu's head, it was just like my cognitive psych class.
the way that it looks on the screen is amazing. its really cool to just watch everything move around. i really like the style that it gives the whole movie. also, the things that go on are pretty crazy, so its really helpful to not be in the real world where these things may just have seemed too unnatural. i really wish the marvel movies had been done in this fashion.
but yeah, keanu wasnt nearly as bad as some of his other movies. it was all pretty natural. in fact, if anyone has a poor performance, id have to say it was winona ryder. she didnt seem to really come across in an interesting fashion.