On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering
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| I Am John's Stomach Pains. On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering |
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 Who Watches, Yadda-Yadda-Yadda... Caught Watchmen on IMAX over the weekend - of course - and I loved it. I simply could not believe how faithful the flick is to the source material... I mean, when I saw the first teaser attached to The Dark Knight last year, I know I recognized multiple scenes pulls right form the book, but wow, Zak Snyder pretty much translated the page to the screen (as much as he could over course). Of course, the big bitch that will come from fanboys will be the change in the ending. But you know what: I (and Night Nurse, who just finished reading the trade paperback a few days before) think that this ending works even better than the book. The book's threat is all made up, and something that the rest of the world has to watch and suspend disbelief for - as well as experience secondhand. The movie's threat is actually something that the entire world can understand and comprehend. Overall, I liked it. Also, FYI, my non-geek wife actually told me afterwards she caught the Squid anyway in an acronym on the computer... I missed it! My wife has surpassed me in picking up geekdom minutia. Acting-wise, I found Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach (and more importantly, Walter) to be spot on. The entire prison scene was awesome. I didn't really know Patrick Wilson from anything but he treated Nite-Owl pretty much how I always pictured it... disappointed that the "impotent" line didn't make it into the flick, though. Malin Ackerman... eh, she was okay, just think she got the short end when it came to character... the book had much more of a defeated tone to her. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was spot on as The Comedian, and I was happy they were able to give him such a big part. Matthew Goode exuded self-righteousness quite well as Adrian, however I think a better actor could have done better. And Crudup as Dr. Manhattan... well, when you need a great voice, go with MasterCard. I'm giving the flick 4.5 out of 5 Stars, mainly because I think it was hampered in the music department. There's no solid score recognizable throughout, and while some of the soundtrack was pitch-perfect (The Times They Are A-Changin' and Sounds of Silence were great!), some were downright laughable (especially Hallelujah for the gratuitous - but admittedly book-loyal - sex scene).
posted by Holz |
3:02 PM |
Rant & Rave, Bitches! (10)
Tuesday, March 03, 2009 Behold the Wonder: 2009 Edition Three years ago, in the fledgling weeks of Night Nurse and I's relationship, I took her to a comic book convention. Amazingly, it all worked out for the best, and we've since married eachother. As Kate said at the time, that pretty much proved she was a keeper. Anyway, this past Saturday, we headed down to the city once again for WonderCon 2009. The schedule seemed to be fairly light compared to the previous time we went (no Bryan Singer, no Kevin Smith, McG seemed to be the big draw) so both of us assumed this year would be a little more low-key. In a word: Pshaw. WonderCon '09 was wall-to-wall jam-packed with geeks. Nearly every hourly movie screening filled up with 5,000 seats and was watched carefully by the fire marshal. When we got there, we thought we'd have the same luck of walking right in since we had tickets already. No luck this time, as we had to get in a line that wrapped around half the Moscone Center, then re-wrapped itself around again. By the time we got in, it was about 11:15, and the Watchmen panel was scheduled to start 15 minutes later. Shockingly, when we went to get in, they informed us it was full and turned us away. Which, while it sucks we missed it, it turns out the panel was pretty much seeing the first 20 minutes of the flick, which I'd much rather experience this Saturday in IMAX (tickets already bought, bitches!). Anyway, after doing some quick browsing on the floor, our first real stop was for a half hour discussion between Michael Chabon (Pulitzer-Prize-winning author) and Matt Fraction (rising writing guru for Marvel). It was quite entertaining, mainly focusing on Chabon, and how much he loves comics books, horror movies, and basically fandom, in general. It was quite an interesting discussion, and convinced me I really need to read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Linds' has only been telling me this for like 8 years, heh... The Matt Fraction portion was a bit of a disappointment, not much shop-talk from him (I have a feeling that occurred in the Fraction/Brubaker panel on Sunday), but overall, I enjoyed it. Our next stop was up to the Esplanade for some movie stuff. When we got in, they were just starting the panel for a 1950's sci-fi invasion movie homage called Alien Trespass. If your a fan of these type of flicks, it looks like they are really doing it justice. Not exactly my cup of tea, but it looked fun, really bad special effects, total over-the-top acting, exactly what you'd expect, and it seems like the cast (starring Will from Will & Grace, the T-1000, The Wonder Years' dad, and some random 4400 chick) has some genuine love for it. The next one was the biggie: Star Trek. Now, I've been quite hesitant about this prequel/sequel take off. I mean, sure, they've got Sylar and Harold (of Harold & Kumar) , plus JJ Abrahms, one of my faves is helming... but really, I've always found The Original Series stories weak... always been a TNG and DS9 fanboy. But, seeing the new trailer (that's coming out with Watchmen) made me fall in love: This. Movie. Looks. Amazing. Like leaps and bounds beyond what I was expecting. After the trailer, JJ led the panel, and reminded me why I love him so much... the guy, even when he's not a fan, totally immerses himself in a project. Zachary Quinto was there (which Night Nurse loved... I think she has a new crush) and was quite cool. The new Uhura and Kirk were there as well, but they both left me kinda cold... honestly, this Christopher Pine dude they have for Kirk seems like he was pulled directly from an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue. After a quick jaunt out for lunch at a great sushi place in the Metreon, we headed back for some more Hollywood love. The line was excruciating... so excruciating, we stood by while it shuffled through for 3 or 4 minutes, then slowly joined them. Yeah, I'm not proud of it, but I wasn't missing the Watchmen panel AND the Terminator: Salvation panel. So yeah. Terminator 4. The start of a new trilogy. Directed by... McG. I'll give the dude this much: he sure seems excited about this flick. He has his canned stories to get the crowd excited, but it doesn't seem fake. Screening wise, we got to see the new trailer (also attached to Watchmen) which honestly looks amazing. It sure looks like the work ILM had done on Transformers has really stepped up their game, and the effects look fantastic. I'm not entirely sold on the cast, though (other than Christian Bale and Bryce Dallas Howard). The fact that the panel seemed to push the "diversity" more than the "acting skill" of the group is a tad sad. We then got to see two full scenes (with temporary effects). The first one was a great attack scene followed up by a chase scene that may rival Matrix Reloaded. The second scene was a bit more... I don't know, emotional? It had John Connor chatting with the good-Terminator. It kinda fell flat with me, as I think you had to be invested in both characters to truly get it. The rest of the time spent at Wondercon had Night Nurse and I making our way through all the booths (I was within a few feet of Adam Baldwin! Sweet!), and did a little shopping. There was really only one thing I wanted, and that was volumes 1 and 2 of Mage: The Hero Defined, but after looking at half a dozen vendors, NO ONE had it. Finally, I got lucky at one, and found volume 2, but no volume 1. Then they all started to close down, and as we passed a vendor on our way out, I happen to ask him if he had it... and of course he did... but there wasn't time to dig it out. Which... sucked. Oh well, some other time. * Oh, on a totally unrelated note: I got a job! Yep, same company, pretty much same position, much better pay! I'm quite happy... plus, Loki has learned to roll-over this past week! Good times...
posted by Holz |
2:21 PM |
Rant & Rave, Bitches! (11)
Tuesday, December 02, 2008 Blog Apathy You would think after the stellar election season, me being the political junkie I am, I would have plenty of blog-worthy thoughts. But the truth is, I was simply burned out. I tried to get back into the swing of things with a few posts here and there, but the itch just wasn't there. I spent most of my time during the election scouring blogs and news sites hourly (with 538 being a favorite), that by the time I felt like giving my thoughts, I pretty much would have been parroting others. I think it was pretty clear I was a huge Obama supporter, and find his election victory amazing on numerous levels (not the least of which was conservative friends and family admitting to voting for the guy), that anything I said afterwards would have been pretty hollow. Anyway, onto life. I ran my second mafia game on HCR recently, based on The Dark Tower. It was alot of fun, and probably syphoned off any of my remaining creative writing juices. I think this one went over better than my first one (even though one of my favorite roles - played by Chris - was killed off night one!). My next game is gonna be based on The Princess Bride, but won't take pace til' after my honeymoon next month. Work has been a tad crazy lately, as my company is undergoing a huge upheaval staffing-wise, and it's sort've like the Sword of Damocles is hanging over my entire team, as we don't have any clue as to how our group will look come January '09. I'm hoping for the best, but ya' never know. Night Nurse is only a few hours away from living up to her alias, as she has only one more day left in her preceptorship (basically an unpaid internship) before she can get a job as a nurse. She's been coming home with some kick ass stories that are certainly a nice tease that I will be entertained for a long time, even if my cable goes out. She's been getting great comments already, and just as all her friends and family knew, she's gonna be a great nurse! Comic book thoughts of late... Secret Invasion has been awesome, Final Crisis is a shitfest of epic-proportions, and Ultimatum certainly looks pretty, but I'm not quite sure how it's shaping up. The jewel of late, however, has been Fables, which has gone into a whole new direction since Geppetto was dethroned. Jack of Fables, however, can be ignored. It's too cheeky. Movie-wise? Let's just do some quick hits:
Still: Zombie Strippers was pretty cool. Well, there's more I can say, but I've been getting hounded to get *something* up here, so hopefully this will get the juices flowing again. Labels: comics, life, movies, review posted by Holz | 1:50 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (0)Wednesday, September 24, 2008 The ABCs of My Summer '08 Hiatus As you may have noticed, I've been pretty lax when it comes to blogging lately. Plenty of reasons (although Kris would say there's really only one... found below, under 'B'). Here's a mix of things I've been up to, been thinking about, liking, hating, and pretty much experiencing. Atonement - Caught the movie for the first time this weekend, and... I think I liked it. Honestly, it's not a very easy movie. Thematically, I was quite lost. I took a very nihilistic message from the movie... in light of thousands upon thousands of death, the lives, lies, and misunderstandings of a family really amount to nothing. Of course, the message might have been the exact opposite. I didn't find it worthy of the praise from the Oscars last year, but it was interesting at least. Pretty hot sex scene, too. Barenaked Ladies Mafia - After playing a bunch of Mafia games over at HCRealms for the past few months (thanks Stan!), I'm in the middle of moderating my first mafia game, based on the music of Barenaked Ladies. Yeah, kinda weird, but I'm having fun with it. Already looking forward to running my next one, based on either Stephen King's Dark Tower series or the music of Jonatan Coulton. Of course, it depends on how the players feel this one went come end-game. I already feel I've made it too mysterious. Oh well, I'm having tons of fn with it, and it's getting my writer's juices flowing Chrome - I've been an avid fan of Firefox for a while now, but over the past week, I've been using the new browser, Google's Chrome, and I have to say I like it. Some definite problems in comparison to Firefox (Ctrl-B doesn't bold things, it takes your Bookmarks toolbar away; no drop-downs across the top is confusing). Still, it's never crashed on me (like FF does often), and I like the windows that come up on a new tab. Day of Sharing - Did some community service last week at a food bank in Sonoma called Food For Thought, a foodbank for those afflicted with HIV. We spent a few hours cleaning out a garage, then another hour picking vegetables in an organic garden. Fun time. My company sets up a day or two a year that we can take off and give back to the community, which is quite nice. Feels good to give back. Election '08 - Us Democrats have been in a bit of a tailspin these last few weeks, but thankfully we appeared to have recovered. The Palin nod certainly threw the campaign for a loop, but seeing as it gave some of fence-sitting donors (like me) a quick kick in the ass, triggering $66+ million last month, I think it's a short run play that will lead to an even bigger margin of victory come November. Now, it's not to say I'm not a bit worried... the American people can deeply stupid sometimes, and there will be a certain portion of the population that will be snowed in my what's been happening. They're not sheep... they're ostriches, sticking their heads in the sand, ignoring everything going on around them (and to them), as they stick with the long held beliefs that Republican economic policy is better for them (and America) than Democratic policy (which, surprise, surprise, is utterly false). These final weeks are gonna be exciting and scary... Fantasy Football - Ugh, I am in 4 leagues this year, which I'll never do again. Simply impossible to keeps things straight. One benefit though is I only had Tom Brady in one league... and Colston in another. Week one I only won 1, and it was close. Sadly, I'm just not feeling it at the moment... maybe if Carson Palmer starts MAKING SOME FUCKING COMPLETIONS... *sigh*... there's always next year. Golf - As a sure sign that I'm getting older, I can officially say I've become a golfer. I was given a full set of clubs for my birthday by the Outlaws, and went on my first full 18 hole excursion with Captain Awesome (my brother-in-law) and others the day before his wedding. I'll say this... I beat my weight. Still, I had a great time (actually getting 3 or 4 bogeys, which I was happy with), and I've already had an actual training session, and hit the driving range on numerous occassions. What can I say, I've been bitten by the bug. Now if I can just get rid of this slice. It's wicked. Hurricanes - I truly hate this time of year. With nearly all my family down Florida, I have to keep an eye out daily on the weather, as to whether (okay: hee!) I need to be worrying alot, or just my normal worrying. They got off lucky with Ike... but damn, was Texas spanked. Holy hell, just scary as hell. Indignation - More posts to come, I'm sure, but can I just say how disgusted I've become with John McCain? I used to have respect for the guy, but jeez, has he become the ultimate sell-out. I have tons of problems with the man's policies, but the selection of the worst Vice Presidential nomination in modern history, simply made it clear to me the man has lost any right to the presidency. And the lie after lie the campaign is vomiting out into the ether day after day is disgusting. McCain should have held a press conference apologizing for that "sex ed" advertisement alone, it was the ugliest thing I've seen since Willie Horton. Jogging - For the first time ever, I participated in a 5K run last week... I wanted to beat 45 mintues, and actually came in at 39 minutes... not even close to stellar, but really, at least I finished period. I may have lost some weight, but I haven't been exercising that much lately, and I've lost what little endurance I have been building up. Next year, I hhope to be able to come in under 30 minutes. Kristine: Political Junkie - It's official: I've created a monster. Maybe it was overhearing hours upon hours of rants from Olbermann in the background as I watched Countdown each night. Maybe it was the constant flipping of AM stations while in the car. Whatever caused it though, my wife has officially become a political junkie. You know how I called Palin the worst Veep candidate in modern history? Well multiply that feeling by 5 for Night Nurse. She's dove head first into this thing, guns blazing. It's fun to answer her questions on things ranging from tax policy to Israel to the Supreme Court to just who Karl Rove is. I just hope others are getting as fired up as her. I told her this weekend she had her Howard Beales moment, and that she's mad as hell, and not gonna take it anymore. She stared blankly. Gotta watch Network, now. Loki - Puppy is getting big... she's 7 months old now, pushing 45 lbs, and has learned how to talk. And by talk, of course, I mean bark. And bark loud. She barks when there's a noise outside. She barks at her toys. She barks at her sister when Chloe is chewing on something Loki wants. And she likes to get right up to my head when I'm on the computer or watching TV and bark right in my ear, making me deaf for a good few minutes. But... still love her. She's cute as hell, and she's great with strangers. Aside from a growing case of the poopy-foot (she steps in her pile while shitting, then tracks it in), she's perfect. Marriage - Married life is treating me well, after more than a month... I recommend it :-) In case you couldn't tell from the pictures, the wedding day went off absolutely perfect. My wife was stunning... and even I cleaned up pretty good. As I hinted at earlier, my groomsmen and I entered to the Star Wars Imperial March; the table assignments were all comic book/fantasy locations (head table was Asgard, natch); we entered the reception to Metallica's Enter Sandman (frakkin' awesome); and my girl played White & Nerdy for me, giving me a chance to show my kick-ass white-guy dance moves. I pulled out the lawnmower, the sprinkler head, and the running man. Yeah, I went there. Netflix - Night Nurse finally got me to cave, and we're now Netflix subscribers. And we're loving it... so much easier to put crappy movies on a list and not feel guilty. Plus, get to see flicks I probably never would have (see: Atonement, above). For anyone like me, who had a habit of buying movies because they thought they'd like them (I'm still apologizing to Night Nurse - and myself - for spending $20 on Ghost Rider) it's worth the investment. One Hundred Five - That's how many days until Night Nurse and I head out for our actual honeymoon in St. Lucia. It can't get here soon enough. I am really glad we waited to go on our honeymoon though, as if we had headed out right after our wedding, I think we would have slept during half of it. Plus, it gives us something to look forward to. Philly Cheesesteaks - It's finally arrived: a cheesesteak shop worthy of the name "Philly". The Cheesesteak Shop opened up 20 minutes away last month, and it is everything I've been waiting for: thin steak, great toppings, Whiz optional, and most important, Amoroso rolls. When Kris heard about the grand opening on the radio, she surprised me with a trip, and it was sheer heaving. My 15" over-stuffed King of Philly was gone in under 2 minutes. And the best part? Tastycakes for dessert. Simply awesome. Quick & Dirty - This was my first season coaching a softball team, and while I think we did well, we took third, getting spanked 20-1 in the final loser's bracket game, while I was on a business trip in Minnesota and our star first basewoman was out sick. Not fun there. But as we lost our entire infield - save me - from last year, this was a bit of a rebuilding year, and the team actually meshed really well. Rachel Maddow - The liberal-radio talk show host I can listen to has been given her own show, following Keith at 6, and as expected, I'm a fan. Rachel avoids the pitfalls that plague many left-wing editorialists, in that while she does have a righteous anger, she tried to back it up with a clear set of facts, and does not allow herself to get blustered. I also appreciate that she's already had people on from the right, especially her interactions with Pat Buchanan, which always is a good back and forth between the two. The only problem with the show? They really need a new sound engineer, because I can hear cell phone rings and things dropping on the floor in the background constantly. Secret Invasion - Brian Michael Bendis' grand opus he's been planning since Avengers Disassembled is in full gear, and in my opinion it's come off amazingly well. The Skrulls have always been a bit of a joke in Marvel comics, but Bendis and the entire Marvel crew have really brought the fear-of-the-other full force. The main book is stunning to look at, and jam-packed with excellent dialogue, and the "flashback" stories taking place in New & Mighty Avengers give a great foundation to the house being built. Even sidebooks like Avengers: Initiative (they made 3D Man cool!) and the Young Avengers/Runaways mini were a great read. In comparison to the shitfest Grant Morrison is spewing out in Final Crisis, this is how you orchestrate an epic masterpiece. Three-Ply Toilet Paper - Got this link from my boy Lushy... but I had already bought a 24 pack a week ago. And yeah... it's as good as it sounds. Two-ply? That's like saying I'd only use a two-blade razor (mine has 5, bitches!). And I don't care if that article says it's aimed at 45 year old women. It's my sanctuary, too Ultimatum - Even with Secret Invasion going full force, Marvel and Bendis are setting up a truly intriguing storyline in their separate Ultimate Universe. While I've never been a huge fan of the Ultimate X-Men book, the Spider-Man and Fantastic Four core books have proven to be some of the most original comic book stories out there. I was afraid Ultimate Spider-Man was going to be hurt with the departure Mark Bagley (one of my personal faves), however Stuart Immonen has stepped up to the plate. I can't wait for the "end of the Ultimate Universe"... the foundation book Ultimate Origins has been quite mysterious. Vampires - Finished reading Book One of the teen-romance vampire novel, Twilight on Night Nurse's urging. It actually wasn't half bad. The author has taken some unique liberties with the notion of vampires, and its actually intriguing. Although I'm usually not a fan of first-person narrative books (Koontz has burned me on 'em), I actually find the protagonist well fleshed out and believable. Really looking forward to how they do the movie in a few months. Weddings - This seemed to be the Summer of Marriage, and Night Nurse and I found ourselves sandwiched in between friends and family, all outdoors. First was Michael Scott and Ms. Teacher, who had a great ceremony in Calistoga, then us, and finally Night Nurse's brother, Captain Awesome to his beautiful bride Blondberry (although Kris says she needs a new nickname now). Anyway, their wedding was simply awesome, taking place in Reno at the Montreaux golf course. I was a groomsman (had to returnn the favor for him doing me the solid of being one of mine!), and after a ceremony that had an appearance by a mini-horse (I kept my composure, don't worry), we had a great time at the reception. I'm not saying there's video of me making an ass out of myself doing the epitome of white-boy dancing... but I'm also not saying there isn't. X-Factor: Layla Miller - I've said before I stopped reading the X-books a while ago, however I still read Peter David's run of X-Factor which has been spectacular. Honestly, I don't think there's a cooler character in the Marvel universe today than Jamie Madrox. That being said, there was a recent one-shot focusing on the Bendis-created character Layla Miller that was simply phenomenal. If you're a comic book fan, I highly recommend picking it up, it could quite possibly be the best Layla Miller book you'll ever see. Plus, you get to finally see what The Summers Rebellion is that was hinted at dozens of time after Bishop hit the funny books in the 90s. You know what... it's not easy coming up with a Y. Let's skip it. Zombies - I recently read the latest trade paperback of the stellar zombie-epic, The Walking Dead, volume 8: Made To Suffer. For fans of horror, I don't think you'll read a better presentation of a world infested with zombies than Robert Kirkman's genius opera. I will have to say, the latest trade - which takes the story up to issue #50 - has some of the most gut-wrenching panels in it. Characters die in ways that you won't easily shake, and Kirkman does things you won't see coming from a mile away. 2 pages in particular (Stan will know the two I'm talking about) still make me queasy. Labels: comics, ff, golf, life, mafia, movies, review, TV posted by Holz | 9:49 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (9)Thursday, June 12, 2008 Bad Form So Night Nurse has been on me for not blogging... truth be told, I feel pretty crappy about it. It's not for lack of big things going on, it's more a combo of work, Angel DVDs, my new mafia addiction (thanks alot, Stan), playing with the puppy, and general malaise when it comes to typing. That being said, quick thoughts:
Labels: comics, excuses, life, matrimony, movies, random thought, review posted by Holz | 2:32 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (11)Monday, May 12, 2008 To Peace! I know I've been very lax with blogging lately (I have my bachelor party recap halfway done, and I need to get some pics up of the ever-growing Loki), but wanted to give my two cents on Iron Man, which Night Nurse and I have already seen twice. As you can imagine from the fact I've seen it twice in the span of a week, I absolutely loved it. For a character I've never had much love for (honestly, I never minded the character, it's the fact his villains all sucked ass), and for one who's pretty much become the asshole of the Marvel universe over the past few years, I wasn't chomping at the bit for this one when it was originally announced. But then they cast Robert Downy, Jr., and I thought, wow, that's pretty much the most ingenious casting every. Then, The Dude was brought in as Obadiah Stane, who I didn't have much knowledge of, but come on, it was The Dude. Finally, Terrence Howard as Rhodey... not who I would've gone for - I find Howard to be weak in the voice and kinda scrawny - but the guy is a good actor, so it had promise. Then all the previews came out, and I was hooked. I was amazed the Superbowl trailer didn't go over well (I seem to remember it was at the bottom of the pack according to USAToday's audience ratings). But man, the look of the Mark I in action, the visuals of how they would do Tony inside the suit, I was enthralled. And when all the stellar reviews started trickling in from earlier reviewers, I knew the summer season was gonna start with a bang. The flick starts off very strong. It's amazing how much they can set up the character just with a shot of a glass of whiskey in his hand, and some hilarious one-liners. And that's the first thing to say, this movie is very funny. And not canned, crappy humor either, each joke and one-liner is set up perfectly... Jon Favreau really impressed me as a director this time. I particularly loved the interaction between Stark and his robot arm Dummy... not something I think was in the comics, but a hilarious interactions, very similar to a boy and his dog... The geek moments sprinklered throughout are awesome. All the mentions of SHIELD and it's mouthful of an acronym. Jarvis. The fact Tony is drinking nearly all the time. Rhodey's simple yet awesome "Next time, baby" line towards the end. Even the fact they somehow included the Mandarin in the story without using the outdated name. And of course, the reason I went to see the flick a second time, the final 20 seconds of the movie... the one scene I wanted to see and was pissed wasn't included. Just goes to show I was a bad geek not to wait til after the credits. Visual effects are nearly seamless, with my only problem being when Stane is in the Iron Monger suit. Other than that, there are times I can't tell what's real and what's FX-driven. The battles were well-thought out, and while I wish the final battle occurred in the day time, I suppose I imagine having it dark helped with the special effects... still, even after two viewing, I'm still not sure what Iron Monger hits Iron Man with during the fight... a motorcycle? Not much more to say. The movie doesn't quite garner 5 stars, due to a weak score (this is a Marvel movie, of course), and Happy Hogan getting the short-shrift (come on Jon, just 'cause you're the director doesn't mean you're scenes should be the first cut). Gwyneth Paltrow was okay as Pepper Potts, but again, I don't know the character at all, so all I saw throughout the moie was Gwyneth, not Pepper. 4.5 out of 5 Stars posted by Holz | 9:55 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (1) Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Two Quick Movie Reviews Caught No Country For Old Men finally, and in a word: Overrated. I was expecting genius, but as happens nearly every time I see a Coen brothers flick (except for The Big Lebowski) I am completely let down and annoyed at the shitty cinema I'd just seen. What the hell are critics smoking? The flick has one - one - somewhat entertaining scene with Josh Brolin sitting in silence in a hotel room, and other than that, it's a bore from start to finish, emphasis on finish. It's not that the ending is stupid, or makes you think, it's simply fucking annoying. I'm sorry, I need closure in a movie... or at least an ending that gives some type of payoff to the viewer. I don't know why I let myself get excited for Coen brothers flicks, they leave a bad taste in my mouth every time. 1.5 out of 5 stars, if only for Act II of the flick. Second, Night Nurse and I had our first date night in a while last night, once more before we bring Loki into the house, and we caught Vantage Point. We'd heard critical drubbing of it, but all-in-all, we both enjoyed it immensely. As long as you know going into it you're gonna see the same 20 minutes or so from different perspectives, it's a helluva good time. And while one of the "surprises" is telegraphed so badly the descendant's of Samuel Morse deserve royalties, I have to say the flick got better and better each time, recommended for fans of 24 and the like. 4 out of 5 Stars. posted by Holz | 2:24 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (3) Tuesday, January 29, 2008 Movies of 2007: More Than Just Threequels Okay, very late, but thought I'd put together my list of best and worst of the year at the cineplex. Looks like I saw 39 of last year's releases, and while sadly there was no 5-Star worthy flick in my opinion, there were plenty of great movies to flesh out a top ten list. Of the 39, I gave 15 either a 4 or 4.5 outta 5... now whether that means my star rating is meaningless, I don't know, but I will say I did enjoy almost all my visits to the theater, especially the new theater in our hometown that has digital projectors... simply beautiful. Just missed the list: Knocked Up, Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 1408, Disturbia, and Zodiac. Honorable mentions go to Disturbia, Harry Potter V, and Mr. Brooks. My Ten Favorite of the Year (okay, 12) 10) Grindhouse - Maybe it was the fact I caught it at midnight with a crowd that totally understood what the purpose of the flick was, but I just absolutely loved it. I still like Planet Terror a bit more, for sheer absurdity and grotesque reasons, but I will say that Deathproof grew on me upon second viewing, mostly for the entire second half though... I still find the first group of girls and their Tarantino dialogue annoying. Sucks it didn't do better in the theater, but in this ADD-culture, not a surprise two D-movies back-to-back (especially without nudity) would fall on its face. 9) Hot Fuzz - I've never been a huge British-humor fan, but like I said at the time, this was the best action-comedy I'd seen since True Lies. It wasn't simply a parody of the action movies of the 80s, it was a heartfelt and hilarious homage (marvel at the alliteration!) to all of those flicks. The ending is so over the top, it becomes a live-action Loony Toons cartoon, that if I remember correctly, is perfect for the sheer lack of death, it's all just destruction. And the Point Break love is just icing on the cake. 8) Live Free or Die Hard / The Bourne Ultimatum - Can't really split these up. Both were action-packed romps that starred just unbelievable cartoon-y heroes. Honestly, anyone who says Bourne is realistic is fooling themselves, the guy is the ultimate comic book character. Same goes for John McClane, who used to be the "Everyman" character but has since then become Wolverine-like unstoppable juggernaut. That being said, who the hell needs realism when you're watching a live-action video game. Stunning effects, great action, great humor, just an overall damn good time (if you don't mind the occasional motion sickness creeping up). 7) Breach - Missing on almost all top ten lists, this was a real acting tour de force, on both sides of the hunt, that still sticks with me. Honestly, we all know that Chris Cooper is a helluva actor, but who coulda guessed Ryan Phillipe could hold his own with a great. This is both a great thriller (there were times I remember holding my breath for a full minute), as well as a great subtle drama centering just why an American hero, a family man, would sell our his own country. 6) Juno - Just saw this last week, and it makes the list, for the sheer joy of experiencing such a refreshing, adult comedy. Every actor is pitch perfect, the dialogue seems flawless, the humor both subtle at times and gut-bustingly funny, and to top it all off, it has the best soundtrack I've experienced since Garden State. I don't know why I've fallen in love with Kimya Dawson's music so much over the past week, but I have. 5) Pirates of the Carribean 3: At World's End - Despite the naysayers, this one was easily my favorite threequel of the year, with the biggest ending, coolest effects, and really the best character in Captain Jack Sparrow. Wish they had used Chow Yun Fat more, but I just remember leaving the theater with a big grin on my face (and this is coming from someone who wasn't a huge lover of the first one) 4) 300 - Visual spectacular. Great heroes. Great villains. Violence the way violence should be, brutal and bloody. I remember being in awe of what Frank Miller did with the graphic novel years ago, and to see some of the panels and dialogue created verbatim was a joy as a comic book fanboy. 3) Superbad - The second Michael Cera flick on the list, and it's not a surprise, as the guy is a comic genius. Him and Joanh Hill make the best comedy duo since Jay & Silent Bob. I hope I never outgrow the teenage sex comedies, they are the ones that I always want to watch again immediately. 2) Stardust - This was hard, because I almost put this as number one. It's been a long time since I've seen a flick to rival my love of The Princess Bride, and I should've guessed it'd be Neil Gaiman to get me to love the fairy tale romance again. Other than the fact I didn't really connect with the main lead (more because I don't think I'd ever seen him before), I can't remember a single thing wrong with the flick. It's funny, it's sweet, it's exciting, it's visually fun, it's got great action, great romance, and it's just a really fun time. Amazed more people didn't love this one. 1) Transformers - Being the child of the 80s that I am, I'd been waiting for this movie from the initial teaser, and it didn't disappoint me at all. My feeling can be summed up form my initial review: "CGI? Flawless. Voice acting? Peter Cullen is a God. Live action acting? I trust in Spielberg that Shia is The Shia-t. Eye Candy? Don't think I've seen better anyone better than Megan Fox in that department lately. Story? Honestly, who fucking cares when you have 100ft robots duking it out?!?" I didn't think any movie would come close for the rest of the year for sheer enjoyment, and it didn't. Transformers is the reason I still go to the movies. Big. Fast. Loud. Love it. Worst of the Year 5) National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets - Honestly, it's not that bad. If you see it, chances are you'll have a good time. But wow, is it completely unbelievable. And I'm not talking cartoon-y unbelievable like Bourne or Die Hard, I'm talking "oh you've gotta be shitting me" contrivances throughout. This flick is the definition of disposable. I can't imagine anyone buying this to put in their collection, saying "hey, let's watch Book of Secrets again". The veritable Bazooka gum of action movies... 4) Blades of Glory - Just more annoying than anyhting else. I'm pretty much through with Jon Heder as an actor, and Will Ferrell's "I'm Shouting So It Must Be Funny" style of comedy. And like I said before, Dodgeball did this joke better. 3) Wild Hogs - Just... how sad is it that this almost made it into the top ten grossing flicks of the year... if it wasn't for I Am Legend, it would've made it. This movie is how studios make a film. They throw together actors who can't carry a movie of their own anymore, have a semblance of a following, and write an outline that passes for a story, and unleash it on the masses. And we gobble it up, don't we? Let me just say the only reason I caught this flick was that it was on a plane, and I already had earphones. 2) Perfect Stranger - Very bad movie, from an actress who continues to disappoint. Honestly, Halle Berry has an Oscar, how? Okay, I'll admit, I've never seen Monster's Ball, but this flick just adds to the dreck. The character are completely unlikable, and our "heroine" is the worst of the bunch. And the ending is simply horrid. Not because I didn't like it, but because it doesn't add to the movie at all, other than to say "wow, that was stupid". 1) Ghost Rider - Very rarely is there a movie that I can't enjoy on some level; especially when it comes to comic book flicks. I'm the guy who loves Fantastic Four. I find Ben Affleck to be the perfect Daredevil. Hell, even Batman & Robin can be enjoyed for the so-bad-its-good factor. But this movie is just horrid. Horrible casting. Horrible dialogue. Horrible villains. Horrible stunts. Horrible drama. Horrible humor. The only redeeming factor, and the only reason it rises to half a star instead of zero, is the design of the motorcycle and ghost-horse. That's it... even the flaming skull is unimposing, and for a character design who I still marvel at sometimes in the books, that's just pathetic. Avoid at all costs if you still can. Labels: movies posted by Holz | 1:51 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (3)Friday, November 30, 2007 Cold November Historically, I have a habit of falling off the blog-radar whenever November rolls around. Not sure why, probably a combination of year-end crunch-time at work, various vacation time, November sweeps, and a general malaise after daylight savings time is lost. So, that being said, a quick rundown on the life of Holz over the past fews weeks: The new house is just awesome, and I think it's safe to say we are now fully 100% moved in. I say 100% because I don't think you feel comfortable leaving clothes lying around as you're trying to move in :-) That's what I've noticed lately, as we were unpacking everything, and getting it all set up, we went out of our way to keep the place immaculate... now that it's done... that imperative is kinda gone. Well, it's gone for me at least... sorry, babe. To get to 100%, we had to get some final touches done on what's considered "my" room. This room is the computer room, along with a new futon we got, and all the video game systems we have hooked up to one of my old TVs. Plus, my comics books have for the first time undergone a complete new ordering, as I transferred the last 7 years of comics out of a dozen long boxes (which previously took up tons of space as a monster cube) to 30 (yes - 30) short boxes that now fit in comfortably in a big closet. The new boxes are those new-fangled houses which allow easy filing and pulling of back issues, instead of having to move tons of boxes to get to the X-Men that are always at the bottom of any ordering system. For fellow fanboys out there, I really recommend them (note these don't have the new catch in the back some other companies provide, so I don't know how well those work). Let's see, what else. Well, I took off work the whole week of Thanksgiving, and finally got around to playing Kingdom Hearts II, which I got for Christmas last year. It's just as much fun as the first, and I imagine I'll be playing that for the next few weeks, and then get towards the end and not finish it... like I always do with video games. Still, as a huge Final Fantasy fan, as we well as enjoying Disney (this may come as a surprise, but I'm a huge fan of Winnie The Pooh and the gang), it's easily one of my favorite games to play. It's a tad too easy at times, but it's get a less button-smashing tendency than the first one, so that's cool. Thanksgiving was awesome, as the Outlaws once again put on a delicious spread, as well as had a nice crowd, with some of Night Nurse's family came in, and I got to meet them before the wedding, very nice people (and I could even deal with the occasional John Kerry sniping... because, come on, if your go-to gut liberal hit is Kerry, I'm not that worried). Best part of the meal though was my girl's contributions of some of the best yams I'd ever had, as well as hands down the best thing I've ever had in my mouth, a new Pumpkin Cobbler that better be on my Thanksgiving plate every year. Swear to ya', it had everything that's great about pumpkin pie (re: the pumpkin), minus the crappy part of pumpkin pie (re: the crust), plus cake mix, butter, and sugar. Absolutely delicious. And in case you were wondering... yeah, I threw my diet out the window during the T-day weekend. Gained 6 lbs, but I'm already back to below 200, so allz good. Let's see... movies. Amazingly, haven't seen much recently, other than Beowulf, which I caught last weekend in the new 3D theater we have in town. Visually stunning flick, with a pretty engrossing story (which should be a given, as it's a story that's lasted for centuries). I found the 3D a bit migraine-inducing sometimes, but it was a pretty cool effect that I enjoyed alot more than I didn't. The final dragon fight could've been better in my opinion - too many far shots, not enough closeups - but the format worked for me. Solid 3 out of 5 Stars, and definitely worthy to see if you can in 3D. TV Shows... hmm, I'm still loving Pushing Daisies and Journeyman, and I'm annoyed the latter isn't doing better in the ratings, 'cause it's totally working (although some of the time-travel rules are conflicting with each other already). Chuck and Bionic Woman have gotten good, and they are must-watches for me, but if they went off the air, I wouldn't be crushed. Kris and I have just recently gotten to catch a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory, which is quite possible the funniest sitcom I'm seen in years, but seeing as I'm a comic geek, and I've had some of the conversations the character have almost verbatim, I'm a bit biased. Finally, Kris has become a big fan of Criminal Minds and Bones, lately, and they've both become staples of our joint-viewing. Funny thing, she only realized that David Boreanaz was from Angel this past week... so here's hoping I'll get her into watching all my Buffy and Angel DVDs next summer (or next month of the writer's strike doesn't clear up) Music... well, really, the only thing I've been listening to with regularity is Jonathan Coulton. First heard him through Jenna Fischer's MySpace song Re: Your Brain, then tracked down some further stuff through TAMSY. Since then, I've downloaded Smoking Monkey and Thing a Week One from ITunes and can't help listening to them constantly (listening to my favorite De-Evolving at this precise moment). Not sure who I'd recommend him to... if you like BNL, maybe. Gotta like funny songs (but not really Weird Al-funny). I'd recommend listening to Smoking Monkey first... Finally, I'll leave you with a math problem I found on Fark this week. Sadly, it took me three guesses til I got it... and I consider myself a math guy (or at least I used to be). ...note the puzzle is updated weekly, so it's changed since I blogged. Labels: comics, life, math, move, movies, music, review posted by Holz | 11:02 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (1)Wednesday, November 14, 2007 BSG Razor: Frakking Good Time Swung down to San Rafael with Night Nurse on Monday night to catch a sneak preview of the upcoming Sci-Fi movie, Battlestar Galactica: Razor. It was pretty good, and definitely had everything that's made the show so good these past few years. The new main character the flick is based around is awesome, and even though she's coming in without any established backstory (that I know of), she easily becomes part of the BSG established mythos. The ending is both interesting and frustrating (for any fans of The Stand, there's a moment that reminded me of Nick's death). Plus: old school Cylons! I had some problems with it, mostly stemming from the fact that you *really* had to know ever single episode of the show to get alot of the stuff, and seeing as the movie is basically set around season 2 - which is when I missed a few episodes - I was a little lost. I also didn't watch any of the webisodes leading up to the flick, so I think I missed a little background on young Helena Cain and Adama. You can just imagine how Kris felt, as she had maybe seen half an episode that I was watching. I had to lean over a few times to tell her when a human Cyclon showed up... then afterwards trying to explain just who The Four are and the whole Starbuck is-she-or-isn't-she conundrum we fans are facing in the final season. Speaking of, afterwards they aired a 30 second preview of the upcoming final season, and it just looks balls to the wall. Tigh pointing a gun at Adama, Starbuck in jail, possibly tortured, and Baltar (who sadly wasn't in the movie) leading some religious movement and healing people. Should be awesome. I don't think the flick did much for a non-fan like Night Nurse, as I had to also explain that Six and Starbuck were not the same person, and just what the hell "frak" meant... she thought it was stupid and they shoulda just said fuck (or nothing at all). But she was a trooper, and the movie choice is definitely in her corner now. posted by Holz | 9:05 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (2) Tuesday, September 04, 2007 The ABC's of My Summer Hiatus While I have put in the occasional entry, this summer has been fairly light in regards to my blogging, and Kris has recommended me putting in another alphabet entry similar to the one I put in a year ago. So here goes... warning, could be alot of movies and comic book discussion... gotta love the summer TV hiatus... Annihilation: Conquest - I haven't done too much comic book reviewing lately, but I gotta say the sequel to last year's surprise sci-fi event is already surpassing the original. Consider this the Godfather II of comics... unless of course you're like me and have never seen the Godfather flicks... then consider it The Empire Strikes Back of comics. Just as the universe is calming down after the horrendous Annihilation War that decimated the Skrull homeworld, the Kree are attacked by The Phalanx and conquered in just a few hours. Nova has become more than a second-rate Green Lantern, the new Quasar is bringing renewed life to two second-tier female characters (plus the lesbian relationship is being handled well), and in Starlord we get a walking tree and the return of Rocket Raccoon! Add in the fact this is an awesome story that utilizes the Borg-knockoffs to the ultimate extreme (for those who loved The Phalanx Convenant from the 90s, it's a cool return to the scary villains), honestly the best comics of the year. Bourne Ultimatum - Although I think I dig At World's End more from a three-quel standpoint, Bourne brings the goods with a non-stop action flick that is *almost* as good as Casino Royale. Blame it on the fact the romantic lead here is snaggle-toothed Julia Styles. Greengrass somehow tops the action and chase scenes from the previous flicks with an intense foot-race that puts the chase in M:I3 to shame. The only complaint I have is that it was almost too intense... I literally left the theater with a headache from the over-use of shaky-cam. 4 out 5 stars Countdown - The last time I did the alphabet thing, I glowed over the weekly comic 52 that DC was putting out. Here I come not to praise the weekly comic, but to bury it. Wow is this comic shitty. Stupid characters, incoherent action (sorry, I can't pick up 19 other comics to understand what's going on off-panel), and an over-reliance on knowledge of Kirby's Fourth World. Yeah, I understand there are some that have a love for that stuff, but there's a reason anything that involves those characters (sans Darkseid) always fails. It's because those characters suck balls. I'll be dropping this within the next few weeks if something, anything, cool doesn't happen. D'oh! - Caught The Simpsons Movie a few weeks ago, and overall enjoyed it, of course. Laughs were quite constant, and the "full frontal Bart" scene had me cracking up... the way they blocked it all up to the point of exposure was hilarious. Best line of the flick goes to, of course, Ralph, with the still-makes-me-laugh "I like men now". Definitely a good rental, but I don't think we need a sequel anytime soon. 3 out of 5 Stars. Emo Hair -  My hair is getting a bit long at the moment, and I'm currently working an Emo mop-top with my hair brushed forward. Probably stems from watching a My Chemical Romance concert on HD this past weekend. On the one hand, it works for my cowlick as it weighs it down, and it's really easy to set up in the morning. But on the other hand... well, Night Nurse hates it. So I imagine I'll be cutting it off soon. Fantasy Football - (that's a double in Scattegories!) Yes, it's that time again. I'm involved in two leagues this year, one of which I'm commissioner. I'm happy with both my teams at the moment, even though I was on the bottom rung in the draft order in both. Got Peyton in one, and a Maroney/Alexander double-team for RBs in another. Only crossover in both leagues? My boy Wes Welker, who absolutely dominated last year because of fluke in return yardage points, and newbie Jerious Norwood, who I'm thinking is gonna be a dark horse this season... I'm predicting Warrick Dunn is gonna get shelved by week 4. Good Luck, L.T. - This happened a while ago, but I had to mention the celebrity golf tournament Night Nurse, Robin Hood, Blondberry and I went to a few months ago up in Tahoe. This was my first time at a live golf game, and I wasn't sure what to expect, but I gotta say it was a really fun time. We walked around to half the course or so, then settled on (I think) the 17th hole as most of the celebrities passed by. Some of the coolest moments? From a golf standpoint: seeing Al Michaels sink an amazing 50 ft chip shot for par was awesome. From a never thought I'd see it standpoint: John Elway throwing a pass caught by a stogie-smoking Lawrence Taylor as they walked past us. And from an OMG-HE-ACKNOWLEDGED-ME standpoint: getting within 2 feet of Michael Jordan and Ladainian Tomlinson, and as they pass, giving a "Good Luck, L.T.", and he responded with a "Thanks". I don't know why, but that just made my day. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Really should do an entry by itself on this, but I just don't think I'll get around to it. Anyway, Night Nurse and I were part of the crowd that bought our books at midnight, and thanks to her we were out of there by 12:05 with the book. The drive home consisted of me reading the first 4 or 5 pages to her. I crashed around 1:30, but Kris pushed on to 4am or so, finishing the book the next night. As a finale to a truly amazing series, it was perfect: great character work, some surprisingly emotional deaths, a final action scene that did the magic war justice, and an epilogue that - while a tad sappy - is really the best way to've ended it (I say this because I predicted the flash-forward epilogue months ago). I'm not ashamed to admit that JK actually had me tearing up at one point, as Harry is undergoing his Death Walk in the forest... damn that was great writing. The book had some surprising redemption themes that resonated well. Kreacher obviously comes off much better, Draco improves - slightly - and while I wish it was Lucius who inspected Harry towards the end instead of Draco's mother, the entire Malfoy clan turns out to have some heart. Probably more later, but I'll end this by saying the book lived up to and exceeded all my expectations... and somehow washed the poor taste The Dark Tower left in my mouth a few years ago. iPhone - Still loving it, but also still annoyed at the volume for both the regular phone call, as well as a call on speaker phone. My old phone, on speaker could be heard rooms away. The iPhone speaker can barely be heard sometimes when it's literally in the palm of my hand. Which makes no sense really, because I can play iPod songs and YouTube videos at a fairly high volume through the speaker without any problems. Anyway, aside from that, I love having my personal email back (for those who don't know, my email has changed from Drozy... just highlight the HOLZ at the bottom of this post and you'll find my new one). The YouTube videos work really well when a Wi-Fi is accessible, but that's really the only time I'd recommend using it. Also, for anyone who was worried about the battery life, I've had absolutely no trouble. At the end of the day, it almost looks like I still have a near full charge. Jeffrey & James (Donovan & Roday) - Yeah, it's a cheat, but I gotta talk about two of USA's summer programming, Burn Notice and Psych. First, I've been a fan of Jeffrey Donovan since his early Pretender appearances, and then became a huge fan when his short-lived - but awesome - Touching Evil was on the air. Combine him with cult-fav Bruce Campbell and still-uber-hottie Gabrielle Anwar, and it was a given I'd become addicted to this show. It's a great blend of the action-comedy, almost with a MacGuyver-like feel. On a similar vein, the procedural-comedy blend of Psych has easily been the funniest thing on TV this summer. The chemistry of Roday and Dule Hill rivals my appreciation for Spader/Shatner during the regular TV season. The one liners thrown throughout each episode often has Kris asking from upstairs just-what-is-so-funny. I'll tell what... both these shows. Kristine: Wedding Planner - Last time I did the ABCs, I said wedding bells weren't in my future... cut to a year later, and obviously that's changed. As we come to the end of the summer, our wedding is 11 months away... but Kris being the amazing bride-zilla she is (and I mean that in the nicest way), it's nearly all done. I swear she's finalized everything aside from the clothes. She's busy hand making the invitations and response cards; our save dates arrived yesterday and will be going out in November; addresses have been gotten for all but 4 people, and that's because I, myself, haven't gotten those last one's yet; ceremony/reception has been finalized; and the cake's been designed and ordered. She's a wedding machine. Lisa Lampinelli - This is more of advance hype entry, but I'm so excited to see LL on the 21st with Kris... hope she can appreciate the humor. I doubt that our viewing, which was an awesome birthday gift from the Outlaws, is going to live up to the experience from the Punchline, but I'm sure it's going to be hilarious. Mafia - Taking a cue from Stan, I've been playing in some online games called Mafia. It's basically Murder In The Dark, if you ever played that in school/camp, but it's done in an online discussion forum over a few days. Sadly, I was killed nearly immediately in the first one by the mafia (my character was a Judge, so I had fun trying to 'be fair'), and the second one I was strung up by the townspeople immediately basically because I got investigated the first night and got unlucky (in that one I was Boba Fett, and I just got singled out immediately before I could even do anything... oh well). Still the game is pretty interesting, and it's cool to be able to be involved in some type of strategic online game that doesn't involve me spending hundreds of hours building up characters. Nutrisystem - So two weeks in on my diet, and I'm down 16 pounds. Yep, my second week goal of 6 pounds was exceeded, as I stepped on the scale Labor Day morning and read 226.6, capping a 9 lb week loss with a 7 lb week loss. Just awesome. I'm definitely noticing a difference, as my belly doesn't have that squishy feeling anymore. I mean, I'm still way overweight, but it's a nice start. I'm starting to feel better, my stomach has more good days than bad days, and even when I cheat, or "go off-plan" as the forum boys dub it, I'm learning to control the intake. I've said it before, I really see this plan as honest-to-God lifestyle change, that after two weeks, I really think will stick with me. Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the - Still have yet to see this on IMAX, but the regular version was awesome, and certainly exceeded my expectations after the very talky-book. The final action scene was everything and more I expected out of a true magical battle, and for the first time, you can really see Daniel Radcliffe coming into his own as an actor. True standout of the show though was Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge. A character that had the possibility of coming off cartoon-y over-the-top was brought to life as one of the coolest villains in years. There were a few problems with the movie though... it is over way too quick. For the longest book in the series, the movie skims over so much, at times it feels like a rush to get to the end, and some of the tension is lost. Also, the supporting cast has very little to do this go-around. Maggie Smith is relegated to a single - still awesome - scene, and while I understand Dumbledore is supposed to be in the background this time, it was depressing not getting more Michael Gambon. 3.5 out of 5 Stars. Password - Kris and I have a near weekly game of Password we play with the Outlaws, and while the game initially started with the couple of 40+ years together kicking our butt, in recent weeks Night Nurse and I have won our fair share of heads up matches. It's a fun game that really works best when you are teamed up with someone with similar experiences you can call on. Quick(sand) and Dirty - I've been wary to discuss my softball season this summer, mainly because I didn't want to jinx anything. Sadly it was all for naught, as for the third season in a row, Quick & Dirty entered the playoffs in first place, with a 9-1 record, but ended the seaosn without the trophy. On the pathway there, I had arguably my best pitching season, with a four game no-walk streak, and an ERA that is just unheard of in slow-pitch softball. My batting average was a little weak, hovering around .400-.450 (which for our team is low), though I can say I led the team in doubles this year. But anyway, back to the playoffs. Historically, our team falls apart in the playoffs for some reason, but this time we actually got to the championship game in a double-elimination bracket without a loss... then we faced a team we'd beaten twice in regular season, and once in the playoffs. And we fell apart. Game one, we were missing our star 1st baseman, and the shuffling of the fielders led to over a dozen fielding errors, which carried over to weak bats and pathetic base running... and still we only lost 11-10. Then comes game two, and this time, we just can't hit at all when needed, as in 7 innings we left 15 runners on base, losing 9-7. Oh well, as they say, there's always next year. Redwoods - I didn't mention that my parents came out in July for a weekend visit. It was a great time, that was over too soon, but my Dad & Stef were able to meet the Outlaws, and the families got along great. The highlight of the trip for me was that we all went up for a nice little hike in the NorCal Redwoods. I'd seen them before on a short little jaunt, but this time we were able to walk the full path, and can I just say the sight of some of these trees is truly awe-inspiring. If you ever get out to the left coast, it's quite a sight. Stardust & Superbad - Short little blurbs, on two truly awesome movies. First, I've been looking forward to Superbad for months, and it did not disappoint at all. It's no secret that these high-school teen sex comedies are a favorite of mine, and this is up there with the best of them. Cera and Hill were simply the best comic duo in years. And the McLovin storyline with the cops had me cracking up the entire time. 4 out of 5 Stars. On a completely different movie vibe, Stardust is easily one of my favorite movies of the year, and seeing as I hated the book so much I couldn't finish reading it, that's saying something. I'm amazed the flick isn't doing better, because there wasn't a single thing wrong with it. It had a great story, very funny throughout, stellar cast, and just an overall great time. I think the only knock it gets is that the male lead is so unrecognizable, but I think it actually works in its favor to get that Everyman appeal. And trust me, Robert Di Nero steals the show... possibly the funniest performance of the year. 4.5 out of 5 Stars. Training - Probably the biggest reason I haven't felt like blogging has been my constant regional training for my company. We finished deploying our new system around May, but all summer I've been having to visit different parts of the country for additional on-the-spot training that the field has requested. It's really gotten to be a pain, because now it's just like the people don't *want* to learn the system. I mean, I understand that there are troubles with any new tool, but jeezus, it's almost like these people have never seen a hyperlink before... which sadly, is true in some cases. Thankfully, I think we're finally done, especially seeing as my last "visit" I couldn't' even hide my disdain for some people. I mean when you are helping the same people over and over again... ugh. Fingers crossed that's over. Umpiring - This summer, I took a more active role in the umpiring aspect of the softball league, umpiring more than a dozen games. At $25 a pop, it was a nice little side job, and since our league isn't technically supported by the ASA, I didn't need any accreditation. It was a great training ground for a rookie umpire, and though I blew some calls (biggest: for some reason I always thought a ball hit into the plate was a foul), overall it was really fun, and I'm definitely doing it again next year. Plus, it gave me the bug, and over the next year, I'm going to look into actually getting certified and maybe doing some real games outside of the work league. And since my dad has been doing basketball refereeing for the past few years, I guess you could say its in the blood. Vapid Sluts - I'm gonna keep this short, but holy hell, what the hell is going on with celebri-sluts these days? Was it like this when we were kids, and if so, did we think it was cool? I think Drew Barrymore needs to go to the houses of Lindsay, Britney, Paris, and Nicole, and just slap the living shit out of each of them. I think Joel McHale, Keith Olbermann and The Soup hit it on the head last weekend... this used to be funny, but now it's just sad. Walking - I never thought I'd be one of those people who considered walking half an hour a day to be viable exercise, but my daily excursion out of the office at lunch time has been a nice break from the monotony of cubicle work, and being able to go out with various coworkers each day, and pushing eachother to beat the previous day's time is great encouragement. Today CK and I pushed hard and broke the 20 minute barrier for around our campus by a full minute (it's about 1.2 miles, so it's not a bad jaunt). I'm ary to move my walking up to actual jogging just yet, but I'm getting there. Xkcd - I'm amazed I haven't mentioned this site before, but for those who love online cartoons, xkcd.com has some of the most simplistic but hilarious weekly comics out there. Some of the math/computer stuff goes over my head, but alot of the time, the majority of the laughs come not only from the picture itself, but the image tag that pops up when you hover your mouse over it. Alot of the time's, you really have to get some geek reference... for instance, this recent one, Nighttime Stories. If you've never heard of Orson Scott Card, that'll go right over your head... but trust me, it's on point and hilarious. Spend a few minutes... hours... just scrolling through, you won't regret it. Yoga - One of the activities I'm trying to incorporate into my workout routine. I've followed Yoga and Pilates DVDs, but the former just makes me feel better afterwards. Plus, I'm amazed sometimes just how far my body will stretch. I'll still do both in the future, but I honestly see myself getting into harder routines in regards to Yoga... as long as do it in the confines of my own home. I'm just not that cruel to subject the public to my noisy bowels. Zeros - Now, I'm not the best when it comes to grammar or spelling, but when Kris put that down in a Scrabble game of ours a few weeks ago, I immediately challenged, simply assuming the proper pluralization is 'zeroes', same way as Hero to Heroes. But no, I was wrong, and the original was correct. Actually, both are considered correct, but I don't know why. Sometimes I hate the English language. Anyway, our Scrabble games are going strong, with Kris beating me quite often now... looks like I need to start studying the three-letter words, now that we've both got most of the twos down. Labels: comics, diet, holz on the internets, iPhone, movies, review, TV posted by Holz | 9:45 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (5)Friday, July 06, 2007 Yippie Ki Yay, Mother Trucker. I'm once again on a bit of business travel this week, driving every morning to one of our field offices about an hour and a half away. For those who don't know, the idea of me being a "morning person" is just false. Fingers crossed that this is the last training support I'll need to provide for a long time. It's not that I don't like it, it's just... man, it can be boring, and it's not really the job I envisioned for myself. Anyway, onto two movie reviews. First, Live Freed or Die Hard. Honestly, I didn't go into this expecting much, mainly because of how it filmed an R-rated flick, and then got edited down to a PG-13, I imagine mainly so it could compete with the other big action movie that came out a few days later. Amazingly, it was all for naught, because the flick lives up to the previous three flicks, I absolutely loved it. Sure, the fact that the only blood you really see is on John McClane, and the re-dubbing of dialogue in some scenes is incredibly noticeable, but really, the action scenes are super-crisp, the storyline is actually pretty cool, the humor and one-liners from Bruce are great, and did I mention the final "kill" is pure Bad-Ass? It wasn't better than the latest Bond flick, but it certainly got close in the action sequences. Truly excellent summer action movie, and I can only imagine that the unrated DVD will be even better. 4 Out of 5 Stars. Then, Monday at 8pm, Night Nurse and I filed into theatre 1 to catch the first showing of Transformers? You know how last week I said the previews were just making me more and more excited? Well it positively lived up to every single one of my expectations! CGI? Flawless. Voice acting? Peter Cullen is a God. Live action acting? I trust in Spielberg that Shia is The Shia-t. Eye Candy? Don't think I've seen better anyone better than Megan Fox in that department lately. Story? Honestly, who fucking cares when you have 100ft robots duking it out?!? One of the complaints I've been hearing is regarding the humor throughout, but both Kris and I laughed out loud throughout the flick at all the right parts. That hiding-outside-the-house scene was slapsticky gold. Might go further into it in the comments, but really the only drawback I had with the flick is the part of the storyline they rip directly from Independence Day. If it was an homage/reference to one of Bay's own flicks (like the Bad Boys II 360 gunfight or the Armageddon line) I suppose I woulda been fine with it, but really it just irked me (in the same way the villain story in Fantastic Four was a carbon copy of Spiderman). Just for that, I feel like I need to knock it half a star grade, so I'm giving it a strong 4.5 outta 5 Stars, gonna be hard to top this one for sheer enjoyment this year. Finally, the other great thing about the flick was the teaser trailer for the new movie "Cloverfield". For those who don't know, that was the trailer that was shot with handheld camcorders at a party, that didn't have a title. Even "Cloverfield" isn't the real title, hence the quotes. Why am I excited? Three reasons. First, it sure looks like it's gonna be a humongous monster movie, and honestly, I don't think we've really had a good one in the past decade outside of the Jurassic Park flicks. Second, it's from JJ Abrams and Bad Robot, who honestly has done no wrong in my mind yet. Starting from Felicity, to the ass-kicking Alias, then add in Armageddon and MI:3, with a sprinkle of Lost, this could be gold. And finally, the flick is written by a little guy called Drew Goddard. For non-Buffy fans, lemme just say Drew is a bit of a wunderkind, penning some of the best episodes of the waning season, including the amazing Anya-centric Selfless, as well as two of my favorite Angel episodes, Origin and Why We Fight. Again, add in his episodes of Lost this season... there is nothing I'm more excited for in the coming months (it comes out 01/18/08) than "Cloverfield"... and I don't even know what it's about! ...ETA: AICN links to a site they says is related to the flick, www.ethanhaaswasright.com. It starts with a little memory game to unlock a video, in case you're interested Finally, some more news on the iPhone front. I've had it for a week now, and I must say it was worth the hefty investment. I've never owned an iPod, and almost caved when the Video iPod came out, but really, this is the gold star I've been waiting for. The interface is incredibly easy to use, and the internet is just as good as a computer... for a politico-blog junkie like me, it's nice to have it at the tips of my fingers whenever I want. I'm getting used the the earbuds and the iPod, but after relying on my Oakley Thump for the past two years it's a comfort improvement. The weather function is a hit with the outlaws and Kris, and it's great to have maps available when the need arises. So far, there's only been two drawbacks. One, the internet over the Edge network is pretty slow at times, but honestly, it's fine, as really all I'm doing is reading, so I don't need to load complex pages. The second problem is one I faced with my Razor, in that the volume for the phone calls (when not using a headset) is sadly low, and it makes it hard to hear at times. Looking into other people's experiences, it's pretty clear I'm not the only one facing the issue, so I'm hoping Apple will be able to fix the volume issue (even it it cuts into the battery life). Of course, I could just be going deaf. Labels: Cloverfield, iPhone, movies, review posted by Holz | 8:51 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (6)Thursday, June 21, 2007 Geekgasms Couple things that just make this geek squirm in his seat.
Labels: comics, life, matrimony, movies posted by Holz | 4:21 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (4)Tuesday, June 19, 2007 To Whom It May Concern To the person who called me before 6am this morning: I understand that it's possible to call a wrong number once. Listen, I'll even allow the second call that goes to voicemail, in which you clearly here my name mentioned as to the number in question. But to call a third time in less than two minutes is simply unacceptable. Fuck You. And I won't even get into the irony of the fact that you were calling from a headache-medicine company. Listen, I need my beauty sleep. You think my adonis-ness can survive on six hours alone? To the mother who allowed her daughters to pass in front of us at the movie theater a dozen times: I understand that Fantastic Four is a kids movie, and I should allow some type of leeway for children's behavior. And if your kids go out for food, then come back, that's fine. Even a bathroom break, I'd understand. But the next four times, running back and forth... what the fuck is wrong with you? What the fuck is wrong with your kids that they can't sit still for 10 fucking minutes? And to top it all off, you family of fucking degenerates have the gall to have conversations each time they return from whatever "adventure" they've been on? Fuck You. Wait at least a week before going to see the latest flick, and allow us to enjoy the flick in peace. The only reason I didn't bitch at you right then and there was that I was still enjoying the Taco Bell I'd brought in, and didn't want that to be an issue. To the critics and fanboys who are lambasting Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver: I really don't understand the hatred. The flick is just as much fun as the last one, which some of you remember I also thoroughly enjoyed. I think alot of people are just expecting high art from these things now, when it's just good old-fashioned popcorn fun. Johnny and Ben still have great chemistry, the one-liners and funny visual gags are still ever present (my biggest gripe with the Spider-Man flicks has been the absence of humor), and the basic premise of the FF, a family in constant cosmic crisis is perfect. The complaint I've been hearing is the petty bickering that's going on when they try to save the world... that's exactly how the comic book is, and has been for 40 years! Quit your whining, and enjoy the introduction of one of the coolest Marvel characters to the masses. Now all we need is Squirrel Girl to make an appearance and I'll be happy. 4 out of 5 Stars (but you can wait for DVD). To Judd Apatow: Thank you. Thank you for just being you. You haven't disappointed me yet. Knocked Up was just as good as the people who caught advanced viewings have been saying for months. Great dialogue, that didn't feel at all Tarantino-forced. Great cast, with Seth Rogan moving up in the race as a suitable Tom Hanks replacement. Katherine Heigl is still a favorite of mine, and she even delivered the funny. BTW, if you haven't caught the special deleted scenes found on YouTube yet (Dr. Kuni, Brokeback), you gotta. Solid 4 out of 5. Can't wait for Rogan's Superbad. Labels: bitching, movies, review posted by Holz | 11:37 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (5) |
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"Let a man get away with fuckin' you once, you stay bent over so's he can fuck you again whenever he damn well pleases. An' if one man can do it? Another will too. An' another, an' another still. So's being fucked, that's yer life. 'Til who you were, you ain't. 'Cause all you are is an asshole." 100 Bullets #42 | |||||
