Sky Captain and the World of Metropolis

I’m starting to discover the true evils of streaming Netflix. Earlier today, I watched Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (about half of it so far, to be fair). On the face of it, it’s actually rather difficult to watch because it uses a lot of what would be novel in a movie in the 1920s that really isn’t novel at all now. There are long scenes of people talking to each other…in a silent movie…in a GERMAN silent movie. This is followed up by one dialogue card with one sentence on it. Also, the actors grossly overact everything (this complaint is weird because if it were a talkie, I’d be calling them hams, but since this is a silent film that requires people to clutch at their chests and swoon in a significant manner to get their point across…well…just how the times were). These things get a little frustrating after awhile. That aside, it makes use of the matte paintings and backgrounds as well as models to great cinematic effect. It really feels like there’s a large city all around you with zeppelins and biplanes all over. And huge machines that run the entire futuristic world. The plot is also very familiar, but I think we can let this one win the originality contest since it is a 1920 silent movie. It’s mostly enjoyable if you keep in mind that this movie is almost 100 years old.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a far more recent science fiction movie. This movie is hugely influenced by old Republic serials that were included as one reel additions to films in the 30s-60s. If you aren’t familiar with serials, they’re stories told in about 15-30 minute episodes that are played every week or so (I’ll have to talk to someone who actually watched serials in theaters to make sure). The reason for this also escapes me (yet more things to ask about!) and often had some amazing science fiction element set in a “modern” time (a guy flying around with a jetpack stopping gangsters from using atomic ray guns to destroy infrastructure so that the Moon Men can begin to invade the Earth a la Commando Cody vs the Moon Men or a guy in a P-40 Warhawk shooting at robots attacking New York as in Sky Captain). Sky Captain is set in 1938 and it’s a fun movie. It relies quite a bit on visuals and definitely does not worry too much about making scientific sense and sometimes not worrying about the minute details of the plot. It’s fun, but I wouldn’t call the movie great.

I’ve got my eye on some other movies. I did notice the Human Caterpillar available for streaming Netflix. I might sacrifice some sanity points to view that movie…

I’m Adventurously* Trying New Things

So, about two Sundays a month for the last four months, I go out and try to cook something I’ve never tried before. I don’t always stick to even that lax schedule, but I’m expanding my horizons. Sometimes, I simply bake bacon to see how that goes (works out well, much cleaner than pan frying), other times I try to make shrimp scampi (total disaster the first time, rescued the main ingredients (shrimp) for a second that same day, made it work), or I go way far outside of my comfort zone and make pad thai (cooks really damn fast, I was caught by surprise…it came out too sweet, but I really thought I did okay.)

This Sunday was quite clearly my biggest stumble. One of Stacy’s favorite quick things to do is mac and cheese with sliced up hot dogs in it. She loves it, and it’s very easy to make so we have it about twice a month. I figured, why not try to make something a little more jazzed up. So, I got some smoked sausage, and a recipe for welsh rarebit pasta (it’s mac and cheese-ish but not a straight take off) and tried it out. Like most first times through cooking, I almost completely botched it. Left out a major ingredient, and forgot to preheat the oven (turns out I didn’t need the oven so…meh). Halfway through I tasted the sauce, and I almost cursed very loudly. One of the main ingredients to welsh rarebit is porter. It’s a chocolaty/coffee hinted dark beer. But like most dark beers, it has a bitter back end, and there it was, plain as day in the cheese sauce. I liked the taste and though the back end added a little something special, but I knew Stacy would not like it.

So, I soldiered on, finished the recipe and served her about two bites of it. I got the reaction I expected. I appreciate her trying it since I knew she wasn’t going to like it, and I did rather well on some of the other recipes, so I shouldn’t be too upset about how this turned out. I’m a bit down because I know I can do better.

So, like any athlete or MMO raider I like to sit back and figure out what went wrong, what can I do better, and what should I do to change this?

1) Get an actual mac and cheese recipe. Welsh rarebit is too out there for Stacy.

2) Change the sausage. She didn’t like the one I used either.

So, that’s about where I stand. Fortunately, I’ve learned from all of my cooking. I made shrimp scampi again earlier this week. I wasn’t caught by surprise, and I made a very tasty version. A bit too much lemon juice, but I used a much larger lemon this time around. Live and learn there too.

*Admittedly, I’m not trying anything I’ve never had before, mostly just learning new things. To paraphrase Leonard from Big Bang Theory “Way to think outside but press all the way up against the box, Chris.”

Harry Potter and the One Movie I Acutally Liked From the Series

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
2. Inception
3. How to Train Your Dragon
4. RED
5. The Social Network
6. Alice in Wonderland
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
8. Rifftrax: The House on Haunted Hill
9. Iron Man 2
10. Toy Story 3
11. Megamind
12. Due Date
13. Despicable Me
14. The Town
15. Killers
16. The A-Team
17. Leap Year
18. Valentine’s Day
19. Knight and Day
20. Eat Pray Love
21. The Last Airbender
22. Clash of the Titans

To say this right now: I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. I’ve read all the books more times than any person really should read a book. I have the audio books that I love to listen to on slow work days, and I don’t like any of the movies because they leave out too much from what I loved so much about the books.

My problems with the earlier movies are like this: the first two were filmed and edited rather poorly in my opinion. The child actors did as well as kids can do, but they’re 11 and 12 and now required to hold up entire movies. It didn’t go so well for them. The third movie was better, a bit divergent at times from the original story but better written (for the screen) and the main characters started to do better in their roles. I always had a sense that they were leaving out what made the books fun for me, and that’d be time in the classroom watching them learn, or reading about this thing they did in that one class. I understand the need to take it out of the story for the movie, but it inevitably made the movie less interesting to me.  When they said that Book 4 was going to be one movie, I felt like they were going to have to take so much out of it that it wouldn’t be any fun to watch for me. Sadly, I was right. Just the three events of the tournament took up so much time that it left out a lot of the subplots and side characters that I didn’t really enjoy it at all. Book 5 had its own trials because I wasn’t a huge fan of the book to begin with and the movie again had to stay focused to the main plot which made it all one big meh to me again. Book 6′s movie started to get its feet under it, but I’d been so underwhelmed by 4 of the last 5 movies, I didn’t really get into it. I saw it at midnight (probably a mistake, since I fell asleep in it). I went into this movie with such low expectations, I may have actually helped myself enjoy it (not the first time this has happened…).

So, that’s why I was surprised at how much I liked the movie. The reasons for that is two fold. The first is that they took this fairly long book and split it into two movies. This is what I’d hoped they’d be doing since the fourth movie, but they didn’t think it was a sustainable business venture. The second is that there was enough that could be removed from the book to not make me feel like I was missing something. It’s probably more about the available time now since 2.5 hours is enough time to film a good 350-400 pages of any book.

Also, part of reading the series means you know when the “Gotcha” moments of the movie are coming. You know the plot twists and the surprises. It probably really hurts that I knew all of these things were coming. If I’d never read the books, the movies would be a lot more interesting to say the least. That said, Stacy nearly tore my hand off a few times in the movie. She didn’t take my hints early on when I knew scary parts were coming and she got to see things like a giant loud snake leap out from nowhere and things like that. She also has the tendency to curse that makes me laugh. (Sorry, honey, but it’s true. )

So, from a Harry Potter fan who doesn’t like the movies…I think it’s worth seeing.

Motivation

Lately, I’ve been hearing or reading someone comment about their weight or figure. Usually in a negative fashion. I’ll admit to being part of that chorus. At some point I realized simply stating the need to lose weight or tone up or get stronger isn’t enough. You do actually have to commit to the change. I’ve reduced my calorie intake and dramatically increased the amount of exercise. It doesn’t really matter what you do as long as you do it! That’s the key.

So don’t wait. Make today the day you change what you’re doing. It will make a difference to you. You’ll feel better both about yourself an just physically. Admittedly I still get embarrassed when someone notices how different I look but isn’t that something we all want?

Sweating won’t kill you. Soreness isn’t forever. Exercise now so it’s easier to do later.

Megamind, fun but a couple of complaints

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
2. Inception
3. How to Train Your Dragon
4. RED
5. The Social Network
6. Alice in Wonderland
7. Rifftrax: The House on Haunted Hill
8. Iron Man 2
9. Toy Story 3
10. Megamind
11. Due Date
12. Despicable Me
13. The Town
14. Killers
15. The A-Team
16. Leap Year
17. Valentine’s Day
18. Knight and Day
19. Eat Pray Love
20. The Last Airbender
21. Clash of the Titans

As far as Dreamworks animation goes, How to Train Your Dragon was a lot better. Megamind was entertaining, and it did show how that if you plan to take over a city, you should have a plan if you actually do. Overall, Will Ferrell was amusing as the main character. It definitely had a lot of signature “Ferrell moments” such as his need to mispronounce words (sort of a take off of his Anchorman bit where he makes up definitions). The story itself is different from the typical superhero story because it actually has the villain as the protagonist. That bit of juxtaposition does help quite a bit.

My major concerns will have to be prefaced with me saying that I’m going to spoil this movie for you if you haven’t seen it. If you haven’t seen it and like to discover everything for yourself, stop reading right now.

Still with me?

Okay, part of the problem is that he actually defeats his nemesis and wins and has no plans from there. I suppose that’s nice in its own way and gives a path to fulfill his base desires and then make him realize that this isn’t what he wants. Towards the end as he defeats his created foe that was on a rampage, the city comes forward and starts to applaud and congratulate him. About the only reaction to that scenario you could classify as genuine was Megamind’s reaction to try and shoot everyone who was closing in around him. I sincerely doubt after having terrorized the city for years that the citizens of Metrocity would take to Megamind immediately after having saved them. I honestly would be confused and wonder what his angle was.

But that’s where I stand with this movie, ranks in the top 10. Certainly the more enjoyable movie I’ve seen in the last two weeks.

Galifinakis is Funny Most of the Time, RDJr Plays It Straight Quite Well

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
2. Inception
3. How to Train Your Dragon
4. RED
5. The Social Network
6. Alice in Wonderland
7. Rifftrax: The House on Haunted Hill
8. Iron Man 2
9. Toy Story 3
10. Due Date
11. Despicable Me
12. The Town
13. Killers
14. The A-Team
15. Leap Year
16. Valentine’s Day
17. Knight and Day
18. Eat Pray Love
19. The Last Airbender
20. Clash of the Titans

Up to 20 movies this year, and I’ll quite easily see five more before the year is out…it’s like I work in a theater again.

Due Date is a movie that both caters to my sense of humor and then completely annoys me in the same go. Robert Downey Jr. does a great job as the straight man/foil for Zach Galifinakis’s rather odd far out persona. There were several times where I was laughing, and not just at the people around me with their reactions to the film. Some scenes I could definitely done with out. There were more funny scenes than extremely awkward scenes for which I’m  quite happy. There were also some really touching scenes that shows that Zach can really play it straight if he wanted to, or at the very least he can display some real emotion.

The masturbating dog I could have done without…it really did not add much to the film except for an absurd anecdote. Take the dog out and all you really lose is the funny scene of RDJr spitting on it and that’s all.

So, it gets my 10th most enjoyable movie of the year for being funny, but it’s so low because…well, I don’t do awkward too well.

Concentration on Soccer Training

One of the things I’m starting to consider is a focus on getting what remains of my soccer skills back in some semblance of order. Mostly I need one other person and about a dozen soccer balls. I need to get used to reacting to a ball that is shot to go past me rather than hit (or thrown) so I can catch it. Also I need to get used to throwing myself on the ground and standing up again as quickly as possible. Trust me. Do that 30 times in an hour and you’ll be dead on your feet.

Story time! My three favorite saves when I was playing. First occurred on a very wet day. The McKinley field was a mud pit and you could slip just walking a few feet. At one point, I was facing a one on one breakaway with a usually speedy forward. I sprinted towards him and slid at him hands first, like you’re supposed to. He jumped over me and left me to take the ball. Downside was I couldn’t stop sliding. I then slid another 30 ft holding the ball out of the penalty box and then out of bounds…oops. Handball on the keeper is usually a foul that comes with a card, red most often because we are supposed to know better. My luck held out and I hauled ass back to the goal.

My second favorite one was on a much drier day also at McK. Playing against some guys that I played rec ball with. To give you a clue as to how strong the shooter’s leg was, I saw him score a goal from 60 yards out. The cross came in and dropped at his feet. He then wails on this thing from 5 yards away from me and it goes into my side and out of play. Ow…next morning you could see the stitchings of the ball in my side. That thing hurt! >_<

Last one involved when I played amateur soccer. The worst feeling as a keeper is to see the ball get behind you. The shooter puts a shot low and to my right. I stick my foot out and get a piece of it and it bounces up and starts to go over me. I kept my eye on the ball, twisted after it, leapt from the crouch I'd found myself in and caught the deflection before it bounced on the ground. I was pretty relieved to catch that ball let me tell you.

I’m so Smart that I’m Really Kinda Stupid Somedays…

So, when I’m motivated I read fast…I mean 100 pages an hour fast. It’s not speed reading, but if I’m into the story, I can blitz a book. Case in point: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire took me 12 hours to read, and I did it all at once. From 2pm to 2am in one day. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was an 8 hour read. Got it at midnight, read it until 8am. Again, just couldn’t put it down. The same was true for the Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows. Just plunked down on a couch or in my bed and ran through it cover to cover.

In a couple of cases, I closed the book, went to sleep, got back up, and started reading the book again. I don’t like to miss things, but I read so quickly that I’ve found plenty of instances where I do miss them. So, that’s how I make sure I don’t miss anything…by reading it at least three times. Yes, I know I’m weird, but I get to read the book a lot…

The Towers of Midnight was no different, well, okay a little different in that I had to sleep and go to work…but I’ve still finished the book within a day of buying it…

Time to start over again! (Also, at some point I’ll be making a list of the Harry Potter books, which I enjoyed the most and least and why, as well as the Wheel of Time).

That Wheel of Time list is going to be hard…