TechProsaic

Now these guys are true nerds. It’s actually quite well done.

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Ok, I saw the Lemon Snickers movie this past Sunday. I don’t know the real title, but that’s suggestive of it. Oh crap, I have to put the title in or nobody will find my blog entry…hold on…wait for it…ahh! Lemony Snicket, that’s the name.

Anyway, what a disappointing movie! I use the word very deliberately. This movie could have been so much more. I like well-made moves, no matter the intended audience (e.g. Pixar movies), so it wasnt’ a case of me not being the right age to appreciate the movie. I liked each and every actor chosen to play a role in this movie; Jim Carey was great, as were the child actors, and the tiny role John Cleese had. The plot was even headed in the right drection, but then it stopped!

This movie was a story of a wonderfully imaginative casting director, screenwriter and set designer, afflicted by a horrible producer. Or maybe the screenwriter died 1/3 through the moviemaking. Hard to tell.

Continue reading to see plot discussion that some may consider spoilers.
Read the rest of this entry »

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My good friend Keith loaned me The Hulk DVD a few weeks ago. It took me forever, but I finally got around to playing it. I grew up on Marvel comics, man. It’s a good time to be a moviegoer! All of my favorite superheroes from when I was a little nerd (as opposed to the grown-up geek I am today) have been recreated in a spectacular fashion on the big screen, now that CG special-effects can really do my imagination justice. (Not to change subject in mid-stream but wow, I also grew up on LOTR.) It’s awesome. I was a big fan of X-Men most of all and X and X2 did not let me down. Spiderman was excellently done. Then–I saw Daredevil. The huge balloon that represented my fascination and pleasure at seeing my fantasies come to life was immediately deflated. Wow, that movie sucked!

I think that the fear that The Hulk was going to be another Daredevil is what caused me to keep the case on my desk unopened for those weeks (nor did I attempt to see it in the theater). Anyway, let’s not dwell on the negative. The Hulk was actually pretty good. Eric Bana was very credible I thought. I recall when the movie first came out, reviewers cried that there was only 7 minutes of Hulk “face time” during the entire movie, or something like that. To be honest, I didn’t even notice. The pace was good. The ending with Superbad-Dad was a little cheesy, but I liked the rest of it. Good job Marvel. Can’t wait for Spiderman 2 and X3 and whatever else they come up with!

I give The Hulk a 7 out of 10.

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The wife and I went out for a big date last night and wanted to see a movie. We sent the kids to her mother’s house so we could “stay out late”. Haven’t done that in a while. We had a nie dinner at Rafferty’s, then grabbed tickets to see Matrix 3 at 8:15pm.

I liked the movie. Not a lot, but it was good and definitely worth seeing. I guess after seeing Matrix 1 and being blown away by the special-effects, then seeing a couple of new things in Matrix 2 (like the virii), Matrix 3 didn’t add a whole lot but to complete the storyline. Read the rest of this entry »

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I went to the “hundred-dollar depot” twice this weekend. Therefore, I had a good weekend. Too bad everybody else in the family is sick…that did kinda drag things down a bit. The illnesses range from a head cold to pneumonia + fever & ear infections.

Saw U-571 today, starring Matthew McConaughey (thanks Netflix). Very good movie. Sorry it took me so long to watch the darn thing. It sat on my entertainment center forever. I am definitely one of Netflix’s best customers in that respect. I’ve only seen McConaughey in comedies before, well no I guess he was in Contact too. Anyways, he’s an excellent drama/action actor. The movie was really solid and quite believable I thought. At no point did I look down at my watch wondering how much was left, it was pretty engrossing. I opted to watch it on my computer downstairs instead on the TV upstairs and that worked well. I’m nearly blind so I have to sit so close to the TV to enjoy a movie it’s not even funny. Sitting with my eyes about 10″ from the monitor is much easier to do.

I give U-571 an 8/10 and would have said 9 if there was a little more plot development.

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This is my movie review for School of Rock, starring Jack Black.

First, let me say I’m not a huge Jack Black fan. I think he’s funny, great character, and his band Tenacious D has some funny and memorable songs (f*ck her gently is great if you can get over how crude it is), but the music is overall, not that great. My thing about his acting is that he’s too over the top when over the top doesn’t fit. However, I respect his band because they make their live shows available for free on etree.org. (Check out this list of all the bands on etree, your favorites might be there.)

Anyway, back to the movie. The concept has been done many times, most of them with Whoopi. You put a non-conforming person in a situation where conformity is expected, add music. Long story short, Whoopi’s first try was better than Jack’s. The first 10 min of the movie, and the last 15, were actually pretty funny and I enjoyed watching. Unfortunately, the movie ran for 108 minutes. My wife and I were checking our watches a couple of times during the film. It felt REALLY LONG for a movie with a bunch of kids in it. Joan Cusack was her usual slightly odd self, whom I like usually. Jack’s buddy Ned was really kinda sad. I don’t even want to give him a hyperlink here, folks. Let’s just say he played his role perfectly. Those who have seen the movie will understand what I mean by that. Some of the children actors did a pretty good job, and I commend them.

Overall the movie was lackluster and as good as the climax was, it wasn’t enough to pull the whole movie off of the ground. Might be a good movie to rent for some teenaged kids. (Note there is a tiny bit of cursing, but not a lot.)

I give it a 4 out of 10.

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No, its not a new movie by any means, and I saw it on a crappy loaned VHS tape, but I am glad I finally watched it. Dragonfly, with Kevin Costner, was a damn fine piece of work. It’s billed as a sci-fi paranatural thriller; much discussion of near-death-experiences and life after death. The movie was creepy in all the right subtle ways that a good thriller should be. I give it an 8 out of 10.

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