Archive for February, 2005
I haven’t posted in a while because I have been super busy with being in Sharepoint training last week and making lots of phone calls to buy a new Nissan Quest. Training was good and I’m very happy with my purchase, so I’ll try to blog about both of those later. In the mean time, I’m going to do a quick post about the Oscar results and then I’ll do posts for the last 3 movies I saw. I also saw Are We There Yet? with my nieces and nephew on Saturday, and I’ll spare you all with that review since that movie truly stunk.
Anyway, I had to drive home from San Antonio on Sunday afternoon, so I only caught about the last hour and a half of the Academy Awards. I really thought that The Aviator was going to take home most of the Oscars, but after seeing the Golden Globe and BAFTA results, I figured that Million Dollar Baby was going to take home the big awards. I really didn’t get that many of my predictions correct, except for best original and adapted screenplays, best animated film, and visual effects. But here’s my question: when is Scorsese going to get recognition for his talent in directing? Is he really not that good and just happens to be involved in really good movies? What gives? So, I hope to see both The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby soon to judge for myself.
February 28th, 2005
Ray, starring Jamie Foxx, is a biopic about Ray Charles and his rise to music fame, despite the struggles and obstacles he faced. I really liked the movie, but I didn’t love it and I don’t think it deserves Best Picture at the Oscars, even though I haven’t seen all the nominees yet. I think the nomination is warranted, but I have a feeling that the other nominees are much better movies. However, I think Jamie Foxx will probably win Best Actor for his role as Ray Charles, but only by a hair over Leonardo DiCaprio. Foxx just blew me away in this movie - I had no idea he had it in him.
As far as a review of the movie, I have to give props to the writers and producers of the film for not pulling any punches in telling Ray Charles’ story. They could have made him out to be a victim of drugs, or fluffed over that whole aspect of his life, but they didn’t. I would almost go so far as to say that they painted Charles’ character in a bad light, until the very end of the movie. The acting was done very well by the whole cast - even the folks with little screen time. I was also suprised to see Curtis Armstrong (played Booger in Revenge of the Nerds) in a high profile movie like this. And of course, the music and soundtrack in the movie is awesome. There were a few times where they dubbed Charles voice over Foxx’s, but Foxx did appear to be singing for most of the time, and he did a good job. One way I could tell I liked the movie is that I wanted to see more at the end - and this is a 2.5 movie!
February 16th, 2005
The Manchurian Candidate is a remake of a movie of the same title starring Frank Sinatra in 1962. I meant to see it before the 2004 version, but I’ve read the synopsis, and it sounds pretty much the same except not as sci-fi. The premise of both is that the son of a US political figure is brainwashed by a group that wishes to control him for their politcal gain. The plan is hatched by taking the entire army squad the son is in and brainwashing them all to believe that the son saved them from a perilous ambush. For this, the commanding officer of the group nominates him for the medal of honor. Years later, the commanding officer starts having nightmares about being brainwashed and goes on a dangerous journey when he starts to investigate.
The 2004 version was watchable and entertaining, although Denzel Washington (played the officer) didn’t really bring anything new to the table and Liev Schreiber was miscast as the son, in my opinion. Meryl Streep played the mother, and did a very good job. She was in a scene that made me very uncomfortable to watch, but I think helped to confirm her insanity and corruption. The screenplay was decent, but predictable at times. Positive things to note about the movie are the sci-fi technology, and the way the movie just makes you feel uncomfortable. I know that sounds like something you don’t want, but it enhances the movie because we are supposed to be uncomfortable with the thought that something like this (as remote as it may seem) could happen.
February 12th, 2005
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a 1930’s style sci-fi adventure about a mad scientist using robots to try to take over the world. It stars Jude Law as Sky Captain, the hero, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Polly Perkins, the daring reporter covering the story and playing Law’s love interest. Giovanni Ribisi and Angelina Jolie have supporting roles as well.
This movie is incredible to watch, or rather, to see. Not because it is an engrossing story or has tremendous acting (which it doesn’t), but because the moving pictures are stunning to watch. I can best compare it to watching a movie through a blurred sepia digital camera filter, which gives it the old 1930’s look. Add to that the old-style comic book sci-fi imagery, like giant metal robots, and you have this movie. The story is good, but you have to appreciate the dialogue for the attempt at making everyone sound like the movies from the 30’s, or you’ll just think it’s cheesey. Despite that, Paltrow still manages to do a sub-par acting job, with hardly any emotion at all.
I think what most amazed me after seeing the movie and researching it, was that it was Kerry Conran’s first writing and directing job on a major motion picture. Sky Captain is the first thing listed on his IMDB page, and not much else! After much research, I can’t figure out how this movie got major Hollywood actors and into large scale distribution by Paramount. I read that it started as a short film and Paltrow signed up immediately after watching 6 minutes of it. I’m sure there is a story behind the making of this somewhere.
February 9th, 2005
I know I just posted something Google related, but this has to be mentioned. Google just released Google Maps, which I think is probably the coolest online map service on the Net! But, what else would you expect from Google, right? It does all of the things that most map services do - maps and directions. But, what sets it apart is the interface and the integration with search. At any point you are looking at a map, you can do a Google Local search by clicking on Local Search at the top, where it will find the closest 10 businesses relating to your search.
Take a tour of google maps here to learn about all you can do with Google’s new offering.
February 9th, 2005
The Forgotten is about a woman, Telly, (Julianne Moore) that is told by her husband and psychiatrist that she’s made up 9 years of memories of a son that she miscarried. But, she finds clues that she might not have made it up and searches for her son. I was really looking forward to seeing The Forgotten just for the scenes I saw from the trailer where you see some guy get sucked out of a house along with the roof and into the night sky. Unfortunately, those were the only really the only cool parts to the movie. It’s not a bad movie, because I think it is told in a way that convinces you that something like this could really happen. But, when you start analyzing it at the end of the movie and after it’s over, you really start to see how silly the story, and the way they support it, is. Moore does a really good acting job, as usual, and so did the man that played Ash, Dominic West. I was glad to see Gary Sinise, but his character wasn’t very prominent in the movie, so he didn’t really act all that much. Maybe I give him too much credit after seeing Forrest Gump. One thing that really irked me in the movie was the scene when Telly and Ash go to a cabin in the woods. Maybe I missed it, but how in the heck did they get in that place? Ash tells her that they need to get out of the city, and then all of a sudden, they are in this cabin in the woods. Anyway, I gave it 3 stars on Netflix because I was entertained by the film and I can’t get enough sci-fi movies.
February 7th, 2005
When I logged into Gmail this morning, I noticed a new block on the left underneath my labels. Now, I have 50 Gmail invites and a convenient way to send them. I wonder if this means that Gmail is ramping up to let people sign up without invites. So, if you are reading this and you want a Gmail account, just leave a comment and I’ll send you one.
February 6th, 2005
I installed and played Painkiller last night. I’ve been really out of touch with the gaming world the past couple years because my priorities have changed (family, work, other grown-up responsibilities), but I try to keep up with what games people are raving about. I got a free subscription to Computer Gaming World and received my first issue last Friday, which included their games of the year awards. Painkiller beat out Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 for single player action game. And since I loved HL2 so much, I had to try it to see for myself.
The premise of the game is that you and your girlfriend have been killed in a car accident, and while she’s gone on to heaven, you have been chosen to bring down Lucifer’s generals before God lets you in. I don’t think that really meshes with Biblical doctrine, but I guess it makes for a good story. Anyway, you accept this assignment and start out in a graveyard that goes well beyond the description of haunted. I played through the first level, and so far, I don’t agree with the award it was given - Half Life 2 was much more involving and original. BUT, this is a pretty fun game to play. Unlike HL2, the action is completely non stop and you are constantly shooting bad guys. It feels very much like an arcade game, and I think that was the point because there are high score markers at the end of the level. I took a couple screenshots, but the level I played was way too dark, so I’ll make sure to get in some lighter areas before I snap another. I’ll keep playing for a while, but I don’t know if I’ll finish it.
February 3rd, 2005
I went to the 2005 Houston Auto Show last weekend with my family and am just now getting around to putting up the pics and posting about it. After entering the showroom at the Reliant Center, we were almost immediately greeted by the Ford GT display, one of my favorite cars to look at. You can see the rest of the highlights by either clicking on the picture or using this link. Other highlights included just about all of the Mercedes models, a cool-looking Ford Bronco concept, getting to sit in a convertible 350Z, all of the Audi models, seeing the Mini Cooper convertible, tripping over myself to see the Saturn Sky, and being impressed by the length of the Cadillac Sixteen concept. Dissapointments included almost all of the Lexuses (will they ever update their look?), the new Mercedes CLS class (yuk), and the fact that I didn’t get to stay in the Audis as long as I wanted.
February 1st, 2005