Sometimes an extravagant vacation abroad is just what you need. Other times just a simple lunch and a movie will do just great. In the hussle and bussle that is our normal daily lives it’s important to slow down every once and a while just to spend some time together. This year for our anniversary that’s all we did. We spent the day together enjoying each other’s company.
movie
Avatar
It’s not for everyone but Avatar might just be our favorite movie of all time. It has a lot going for it and Rachel and I both agree: the estimated 500 million dollar budget was worth every penny.
After 2 hours and 40 minutes, I left the theater in panic mode because it was over and there isn’t yet a sequel. In the 10 years it took him to make it, James Cameron created a world I don’t want to just visit every 5 years when they release a sequel, I want to live there, now.
To me, that’s a sign of a great movie. Every movie I’ve ever truly loved has left me with some desire for a part of it to be real. Everything about Avatar is completely different from the norm and that’s exactly the point. It’s so unique and different that I wish I could experience it myself. They even create a rational for how things work rooted in (a tiny bit of) science. The characters quickly develop into emotional connections, to each other and the audience. On top of that the effects, the animation, the scenery, everything about the movie was stellar.
We didn’t watch it in 3D, but I’m seeing the movie again with coworkers this Tuesday at the IMAX in 3D so we’ll see how that changes things. From the first viewing I can only assume it makes it even better. There wasn’t a ton of gimmicky things flying towards the screen, just a lot of really stunning scenery that would be all the more impressive in 3D.
Filled with even more anticipation than I was before. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer:
http://movies.apple.com/movies/fox/avatar/avatar-tlrf_h.480.mov
Although written sunday, this post isn’t going up until I’m sitting in the theater on Tuesday. Wouldn’t want to spoil it for my coworkers by giving them expectations before they see it.
My Wife Rules
It was her idea to watch all 6 Star Wars movies in sequence and so we did that recently. Well, we watched the first 3 (chronologically) one day and the last 3 a few days later. It was interesting as I’d never watched them in sequence like that, and I hadn’t watched the new ones since they came out in the theater. I’m positive I’ve never had the experience with my wife, and it was amazing, as she was more glued to the screen than I was and I grew up in love with Star Wars.
What could be better? Star Wars in Concert that’s what.
We’re going to Pittsburgh on the 28th and 29th of November to see Star Wars in Concert for an early Christmas present for the both of us.
It’s gonna be awesome!
The Cloverfield Case
Rachel and I saw Cloverfield on Friday. It wasn’t planned, in fact I didn’t have a whole lot of desire to see it at least not until I heard everyone’s reaction. That being said my friend Brian called and begged us to go (read: asked if I want to see it) so naturally I didn’t want to disappoint.
Cloverfield was awesome. I thought the hand held cameras would distract you from the storyline and takeaway from the overall movie. It had the exact opposite effect. The movie simply couldn’t have worked as a regularly filmed movie, at least not successfully. The reason it worked so well is the home movie added a very personal touch. In the beginning you laughed with the characters and in the end you cried with them all because you felt you were watching your best friend’s Youtube video. The movie also portrays our current generations desire to document everything and J. J. Abrams doesn’t hide that this was part of his motivation for the movie style.
I haven’t been a fan of a movie’s ending in quite a while but Cloverfield’s ending is the only way I can imagine it. That’s not to say it doesn’t leave you with a sense of ‘WTF’ and ‘damn I hope they don’t make a sequal’ but it works regardless.
If you haven’t seen the trailer I’ve embedded it for your viewing pleasure below.
[ifilm]2913955[/ifilm]
Bee Movie
We finally saw Bee Movie the other day and it was quite funny. I rather enjoyed listening to Matthew Broderick and Jerry Seinfeld fight over the plights of life as a bee. The cast was impressive, From Sting to Larry King and Chris Rock. Even though the movie poked fun at the situation, it was interesting to think about how much bees really are needed. Granted lots of other critters pollinate, and the wind even plays its part, but I’d be willing to bet that a majority of pollination happens thanks to our little yellow (and black) friends. What would the world look like without pollination? Rachel would be out of a job (she’s a florist remember?) for sure.
If you haven’t already seen it, take a look at the trailer below, and if you enjoy animated movies like Shrek and Ice Age I’d suggest watching Bee Movie.
Hollywood Sucks but Beowolf Rocks
We saw Beowulf tonight at the IMAX in 3D. Wow. I think any epic movie must be seen at the IMAX and if possible in 3D. It added a whole other level to the movie experience. Until now I had never seen an entertainment movie in an IMAX (I have seen some short educational specials at different times). Adding the 3D effect to Beowulf was simply incredible.
Beowulf the movie itself was okay but without the graphical eye candy it’s nothing special. However; it’s still a must see especially in 3D at the IMAX. The story was changed quite a bit from what I remember of what I’ve heard before. I only have two real complaints. The first is the lack of a fight with Grendel’s Mother. The second is the ending which is horrible and typical Hollywood bull.
Can’t they just let a story be? It’s bad enough that every movie these days is either a sequel, prequel, remake or based on another piece of entertainment(book, comic book etc). Why do the stories of our times need to be left unfinished? The songs of old (such as Beowulf) were never sung until after the story itself ended. Why are today’s stories any different? Isn’t it better to know the ending than to be left in suspense?
Trailer below. (High quality Trailer from stage6 here).
[metacafe]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/920271/beowulf_trailer_2/[/metacafe]
The Mist
Last week at bowling The Zone was giving away prizes for strikes in the 9th and 4th frames. We didn’t get either but figured we’d try our luck with The Zone anyway. As luck would have it they weren’t checking and we walked away with a book (Gone Baby Gone) and free movie tickets for The Mist. I had wanted to see it anyway and this was the preview showing. Great!
I haven’t read any of Stephen King writings yet, but thus far every movie has been awesome. The Mist did not disappoint. I particularly loved the ending. I will have to read the short story now though to find out if it ends the same. I have a hunch it’s at least slightly different. That being said if you like scary movies I’d recommend it.
The only thing left for me to say is “man that bitch was crazy!”
Trailer below.
Ratatouille
We’d been trying to rent ratatouille from redbox for a few days but it was out literally everywhere in Rochester. Finally I found one available at the Perinton wegmans on Wednesday so I rented it online. Yep Redbox now allows you to rent movies online. Well, not streaming or anything unfortunately, but you can reserve it at a Redbox location online.
Ratatouille was a great movie. There was more humor in it than usually is found in the new animated movies. I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. The trailer is below.
[metacafe]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/663432/ratatouille_trailer_tv_spot/[/metacafe]
Into the Wild
It was raining last Sunday and we figured we’d go see a matinee of Into the Wild. I’ve wanted to see this movie since it came out and was glad we were finally seeing it.
The movie was great. It made me want to travel the country and find my own magic bus. It’s amazing the kind of perspective Chris McCandless had on life at such an early age. If everyone thought the way he did at 21 we’d be living in a much better world. Trailer below.
Edit: if you’re reading this in the feed the video may or may not appear. Please visit the article to view the trailer.
SideReel
I just discovered a new site today called sidereel. As far as I can tell they don’t archive videos they just archive links to videos. Every (popular) TV show you can think of is there, along with links to every episode. The more popular the show the more links they’ll have, and the more versions of the particular episodes. They have all the shows from today (Lost, Jericho, Firefly etc) but what I found most impressive was their collection of old shows such as The Muppets. They also have links to movies but I have yet to try those out yet.
Some of the links are dead, others link to videos with foreign sub titles. In some instances they link to the particular networks version, but often that requires you to watch some advertisements and install some proprietary video software. This is an evolving (beta) service though so I can only imagine it will improve over time.
This just made me think about the current state of television and video entertainment in general. With services like this emerging and even better ones (Hulu comes to mind) yet to come we’re getting closer and closer to the streaming world. All that is left is to hook the current internet video sites into your TV and the battle between Blueray and HD-DVD becomes moot. With the ability to watch (stream) any show or movie you want at your fingertips who would want to own a limited library of tangible objects?
A big argument against streaming media has always been that people want to own something tangible. While I can see that argument for the older generations even mine, that need is ending. Todays generations are growing up owning videos and mp3s downloaded in iTunes and Zune. Once they become the buyers in the market the tangible need will disappear. This day is coming sooner and sooner and the market needs to wake up to it.
Randy Aldrich 