Movie Round-Up: November 12th, 2010

Unstoppable Morning Skyline GloryUnstoppable: (official site)

Train A loaded full of kids leaves the station heading east going 40 miles per hours.  At the same time Train B loaded full of deadly chemicals leaves the station heading west going 100 miles per hour with no breaks.  With both trains on the same track and neither one able to switch, how long will it take Denzel Washington and Chris Pine to save the day?  If your answer is between 90 minutes and 2 hours, you are correct!  Despite what at first glance (and second glance and third glance, and pretty much every glance, long look or deep meaningful stare) appears to be a silly silly movie, it does look like it will be full of action and excitement.  And honestly, Denzel is fun to watch even when he’s chewing scenery in bad films.  There must have eleven thousand free screenings of this film and I didn’t manage to get into a single one.  I really want to see this film, but that said I probably won’t catch it in the theater.  It will move straight to the top of my Netflix queue the moment it is available.

Morning Glory: (official site)

This movie looks funny and heart warming.  If the wife were to pick a movie to see this weekend, this would be it.  And I won’t even pretend to not want to see it.  The critics who don’t like it are saying things like it being “derivative” and “pandering to the lowest common denominator” which pretty much means that your average movie goer, the lowest common denominator who actually likes seeing the same stories told over and over in new settings with new actors, will love this film.

Skyline: (official site)

I want to play this game.  What?  It’s a movie?  Well, it looks cool, I guess.  No, seriously… this movie looks like a video game.  Aliens attack and you spend the next ten hours plastered to your TV with a controller in your hand trying to escape from and ultimately defeat the invaders.  If I were to pick a movie to see this weekend, this would be it.  But I may not need to as supposedly Skyline is part of a deal with Netflix to bring theatrical releases to Netflix sooner.  So I may save my $10 and wait for Netflix.  Or maybe I won’t.  We’ll just have to see…

Movie Round-Up: November 5th, 2010

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Megamind When The Due Date Is EnufFor Colored Girls: (official site)

As always, I remain not a fan of Tyler Perry’s work.  I’m sure other people like it, they must since he keeps on making movies, but it just isn’t for me.  If it’s your thing though, I’m certain it’ll be worth the money to see it in the theater.

Megamind: (official site)

Animated kids movies are all the rage.  Seriously.  When I was growing up I don’t recall there being so many.  Maybe I was too busy buying tickets for Transformers: The Movie and seeing Aliens instead.  And every single animated kids movie is in 3D.  This certainly looks like a lot of fun though.  I may not catch it on the big screen or in 3D, but I’ll definitely watch this the first chance I get.

Due Date: (official site)

In Hollywood, movies are often pitched by shorthand.  You say, “This movie is like Die Hard, only it happens on the Goodyear Blimp!” or something like, “It’s like Steel Magnolias meets The Godfather!”  I imagine the pitch for this film as being, “It’s as if Planes, Trains & Automobiles and The Hangover had a baby!”  And if that was the pitch, if that was the intent, then this movie delivers.  Two guys traveling cross country together.  One just wants to get home to his wife for the birth of their kid, and the other is going the same way, is a little weird, and really wants to be friends.  And the whole story is told with the comedic style and tone of The Hangover.  I got to see a screening of this last week…. I laughed.  I cried (with laughter).  I wet my pants (when I laughed so hard I peed, just a little).  To say that I loved it would be an understatement.  It was fantastic.  Well worth your hard earned dollars.

Movie Round-Up: October 29th, 2010

3D SawSaw 3D: (official site)

I actually like 3D.  I want them to continue developing it and one day perhaps have it without needing the glasses.  I love movies filmed with the 3D cameras, and pretty much universally hate the 3D in every movie that does it in post processing.  I even like horror films in 3D.  That said, I just have absolutely no desire at all to see a Saw film in 3D.  There is just too much blood and gore and torture in the Saw films, and I don’t want that leaping off the screen at me.  I just don’t.  Of course, the 3D isn’t really the turn off I’m making it out to be.  I haven’t seen a Saw movie in the theaters since Saw II.  In fact, I have seen a Saw movie since Saw II.  I might watch them some day, but after the second film and all the copycat torture-porn films, I just don’t have much interest in watching two hours of people being killed in horrendous ways.  However, if this sort of thing is up your alley, the trailer looks like more of the same and in 3D, so you should probably go see it.

Are you going to the movies this weekend?

Movie Round-Up: October 22nd, 2010

Paranormal Hereafter ActivityHereafter: (official site)

For about the last decade, Clint Eastwood has been knocking them out of the park as a director.  Sure, he has some great films from before that too, but the last ten years have just been great.  Matt Damon’s decade hasn’t been too shabby either.  Those two elements had me interested in the film… then I watched the trailer.  A reluctant psychic, a woman with a near death experience and a boy who lost his twin brother.  I’m very interested in how their stories intertwine, what the lynch pin is going to be.  This is a must see film for me.

Paranormal Activity 2: (official site)

I saw the original with absolutely no knowledge of the film going in, and that was probably the best way to see it.  If you know too much about it, most of the film is ruined.  It is a slow burning build up with a few tense or eerie moments building to a chaotic and partly ambiguous end.  You have to be willing to get swept into the story.  So with that experience in mind, I had avoided all mention of this film.  I wanted to see it with no expectations.  And I did… and it was good.  Once again, if you are interested in this movie, don’t watch the trailer, don’t read any reviews that actually talk about the film, just go see it.  See it and just let go, relax and watch the movie unfold.  Had I not seen it for free, and having enjoyed the first one so much, I’d easily have paid full price for this.  And I might, since the wife was sick and couldn’t go to the screening.

Movie Round-Up: October 15th, 2010

Red 3-DJackass 3-D: (official site)

Ummm… yeah.  I was never really a fan of America’s Funniest Home Videos and their constant barrage of men getting hit in the nuts and other zany antics caught on film, so when Jackass aired on TV and it was essentially people doing the AFHV stuff on purpose, I tuned out.  On the other hand, people doing crazy stunts was pretty much made for 3D.  I’ve been trying like hell to get into a free screening of this, because that’s the only way I’d ever see it, but have had no luck.  I suppose I’ll never get to enjoy Jackass in 3D.

Red: (official site)

Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Julian McMahon, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, Karl Urban, and James Remar.  That’s eleven reasons to see this movie right there.  Add to that the fact that the trailer looks awesome, and it’s based on the Warren Ellis comic book about an ex-CIA agent who has been targeted for assassination, and you’ve got a must see film for me.  I’ll be there.  Count on it.

Movie Round-Up: October 8th, 2010

My Life as We Buried Secretariat to TakeSecretariat: (official site)

Another inspiring movie about a horse.  I’m sure it will be good.  It looks good.  But I’m just not going to spend $10 to see this in the theater.  However, the wife and I will happily watch it the minute it’s available on Netflix.

Life as We Know It: (official site)

Two people who don’t really get along find out they are the intended caretakers of their best friends’ child when the best friends die in a horrible car accident.  As they learn to raise a child, they also learn about themselves, and that maybe they get along after all.  Honestly, there is nothing surprising about these sorts of films.  Sure, they may have a particularly clever joke here or a particularly romantic turn of phrase, but you don’t go to these sorts of films for their originality.  You go because they are fun and make you feel good.  I got to see a screening of this a short while back, and I can say it delivers.  Personally, I’d say it’s worth a matinée price, but if these sorts of films are right up your alley, go ahead and see it.  It’s worth the money.

My Soul to Take: (official site)

Wes Craven.  I have loved, for one reason or another, every film that he has made.  So I’m sure I’ll love this too.  Plus, it’s horror.  In 3D.  If any movie earns my money this weekend, this might be it.  There is only one thing that could possibly stop me…

Buried: (official site)

… and that would be this film.  Not only am I a huge fan of Ryan Reynolds, but the mere idea of this film intrigues me.  Practically the entire film taking place inside a box where the main character is buried alive with a lighter, a knife and a cell phone.  I know plenty of people who can’t see this film.  Not won’t, but can’t.  They would have to leave from all the claustrophobic feelings.  But I want to see this.  I must see this.  Luckily for me, this weekend is my birthday, so I might just get what I want.

Movie Round-Up: October 1st, 2010

Case 39: Let Me In The Social NetworkCase 39: (official site)

It’s nice to see Renée Zellweger return to her horror movie roots.  (Her first big role was in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.)  However, this movie was made in 2006, released in other countries last year and finally getting its US release now.  The US release was delayed a few times.  All those delays don’t speak of confidence in the film, so I’m worried this is going to suck.  I want to see it, because it does look a little bit interesting, but there is no way I’ll drop $10 to see it.  Netflix for sure.

Let Me In: (official site)

A remake of the film Let The Right One In.  I’ve had the original in my Netflix Instant queue for a while, but I have to really be in the mood for a foreign film.  Seeing as how I don’t speak any foreign language well enough to watch without English subtitles, a foreign film means more effort.  That said, I’ve heard it is incredible, and I really want to see it.  And I will… probably at some point after I’ve seen the remake.  I’m going to try my best to see this in the theater, but don’t know if I’ll make it.

The Social Network: (official site)

Facebook.  A place on the Internet that I both love and hate.  But this movie isn’t really about Facebook as much as it is about the personalities behind its creation, or at least the perception of the personalities from the outside.  But being directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, I can’t possible see how this is going to be anything less than good.  Early reviews are even saying that it’s great.  This movie will probably be the reason I don’t see Let Me In until next weekend.

Space… the final frontier

I actually posted this on the D*C MMO site a few weeks back, but I really wanted to repost it here.  Do yourself a favor, switch it to HD and watch it in full screen.

EVE is a game I wouldn’t really recommend to most gamers I know.  It takes a certain couple of specific mindsets to really get into the game (hint: I don’t play either), but you cannot deny that it looks good for what it does and any fan of spaceship science fiction has got to find the imagery breathtaking.

Writing and writing

Script Frenzy has begun.  If you care, you can follow my progress on their site.  A good start for two days, I’m on target anyway.  While working on it, I found myself needing to step away, not from writing but specifically from the script while I sorted out a detail, and found myself polishing up chapter 2 of T.A.S.E.T. I finished it.

It feels good to make progress.

If Only Spam Were True…

Having run a blog for quite some time now, I’ve seen my fair share of spam.  Since installing Akismet with whatever version of WordPress it became included with, my site has blocked over ninety-six thousand spam comments.  This number is actually low because for a period of time I also ran the Bad Behavior plug-in that would block some spam before it got to Akismet (I had to disable Bad Behavior because it was causing other plug-ins to fail – long story).

Because of this, I have seen spam evolve over the years.  You still get the usual vigra and tramadol and other pharmaceuticals, and you get the porn, but as administration and spam catching have changed, so have the spammers.

One of the more common spam protections is to simply force all comments to be moderated.  Then, when a valid comment comes in and you approve it, that poster, assuming they use the same credentials, will bypass the moderation queue from that point forward.  To that end, more than half of my spam these days are attempts to get approved.  They say things like “Love your site. Adding it to my bookmarks!” and “I never thought of it that way, but now I am. Thank you for posting this!” and other similar things.  They almost look real.  In fact, if you dig through my comments you’ll probably find one or two that I’ve let slip through.  Of course, I don’t use that level of moderation, I use Akismet, so being approved once doesn’t mean you are approved in the future, and the ones that have slipped through are likely early spams before Akismet learned it was spam.

According to my feedburner and a few other tools, there are about 100 people who are not bots (as far as I and my tools can tell) who read this site.  Less than a dozen have probably ever commented.  Perhaps that is because I’m not writing things that are comment worthy.  Or it could be when people agree they are less likely to reply than if they disagree.

In any event, one of the things I am going to try to do in the future is to comment on the blogs that I read.  Maybe not every post, but at least every once in a while just to say “Hey, enjoyed reading this!” or something.  Because, you know, it is kind of lonely when only the spam tells you you are doing a good job.  Heh.