My Fading Youth... Going to the Mall

In less than two months i will no longer be a teenager... and i felt this more than ever going to the Greenwood Park Mall. It all began when i walked through the doors, when i saw a group of kids. While they were young, bright eyed, individuals, i am a tired, world weary adult, who's eyes have grown a little dull. I walked through the music store...I have know idea who Sean Kingston is or what a Justin Bieber could possibly be. I am no longer up to speed with the current trends of the youth, and this hit the hardest when i went to my favorite store... Hot Topic. I looked around at the clothing, the shoppers and i could only think..."my god, what's happened here." The store i had usually made a priority on my mall trips was a completely foreign place, the music was too loud, it was full of little emo kids, and i kept thinking about where i could find better deals on clothing, i bought a Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt and left hastily. The mall was just one of those things that used to be special, like how driving was this crazy intangible thing, or owning a cell phone, now all these things are fairly hum drum. While i probably will never look at the mall, i can still remember it fondly along with all the other things i experienced during the teen years that were so special to me, no matter how mediocre they might be now.

Fabulously Awful; I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Review

I had heard alot of negative things about this movie but geez, i was unprepared. The movie stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James as two firefighters pretending to be gay to ensure James's children get his insurance in case he dies. There were talks about the movie being offensive, but i didn't see anything to bad aimed at the gay community, any real negative things said are retracted after the whole "What i Learned" part of the movie. That does not mean that this movie was not completely inoffensive, Rob Schenider does plenty with his Asian character, and it is a doozy. At one point he pronounces the word "ring" "ling"... that's just the most glaring aspect of his scenes, what the hell. Aside from that horrible stereotype ridden character the rest of the cast is pretty underwhelming, Ving Rhames and Dan Aykroyd do a pretty good job though standing above the rest of the mediocracy. The film is just boring, the jokes are incredibly lackluster, and the worst part of it all is that there was a lot of promise in this film, but it is really hard to see what could have been done to make it work. Sandlers annoying, James is forgettable, and this film is a 2 Out of 5.

Great or the Greatest?; Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Analysis

So i've been debating reviewing "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" for awhile because it would basically go like this, "At least the best computer animated movie, maybe best animated movie of all time? 10 outta 5!" But i thought it would be better to look at why i like it so much, i've watched it at least 20 times, and i still want to watch it. From the outside it looks like a typical computer animated movie, but theres so much more going on.

1)The Cast--Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, James Cann, Mr.T, Will Forte...This is an assembly of some of the funniest/talented people out there and they really get into ...

2)The Characters--They're relatable and, aside from the monkey, none of them seem like they were created to spew catch phrases and sell happy meal toys. They also do a good job of fitting into their respective "disaster movie" roles without sacrificing...

3)The Story--The writers/directors of the movie, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, sought to make a movie in the vein of "Armageddon", "Twister", "The Day After Tomorrow", all the crazy weather films released in the past decades, the end result is a movie with a great structure it has a compotent, start, middle, and end, all decent length and supplemented by...

4)The Animation--While it may look simplistic, once you watch the movie it's very clear this was intentional. They werent trying to push the limits of character design, but in a way they were able to translate would would have been a standard 2D movie into a breathtaking 3D affair. The animators really cared about making this film be above and beyond, so much so that an engine was created just to make the food look realistically good...

5)My Opinion--SEE THIS MOVIE, it is great, it might not be worth 20 watches, that's just me, mostly because im such an animation fanatic and i try to absorb as much of the animation as i can. But i think this is the perfect movie for kids to look at while adults watch, there is so much going on i don't think any normal kid would get it all their first time seeing it. The movie has MR.T in it, what person under 15 is really going to get humor out of that? Rent, buy, however possible, at least give it a try, i had really low expectations for it and im about to watch it for the 21st time.

Oorah!; Green Zone Review

The war in Iraq is a tricky subject to tackle, it's a little soon for a retrospective, but "Green Zone" does a great job of presenting it's story without getting too politically one sided. The film takes place in 2003 as the invasion of Iraq heats up. Matt Damon plays Roy Miller, a warrant officer who is on a task force who are looking for WMD's. As most people know none were found, so this film follows Damon's quest to find "Magellan", the informant supplying the, possibly, faulty intelligence. Matt Damon is pretty good, and i really Khalid Abdalla's performance as an Iraqi citizen, it felt genuine. The movie is kind of a slow burn, but once it gets to the climax things really rev up. Countries are not vilified in this movie like they are in alot of other war films, it comes down to individuals. So if you want a mindless action movie, don't see this, the Iraqis aren't just painted as "bad guys", and there are some pretty sketchy Americans too, and that feels more realistic. The only real issue i have is that it does some weird fiction mixed with non fiction stuff that can be kind of off putting, either you make a "real" movie or you stick to your own "world" you've created. I definitely deserves a 4 outta 5.

This Rollercoaster of Life; Adventureland Review

"Adventureland" is one of those movies that you can tell the writer had in their head for a long time. It's set in a very specific time (the 80's) for no real apparent reason, and it stresses that o' so important "coming of age" message all movies starring "teens" have. It's appropriate it takes place in the 80's cause it easily fits with "The Breakfast Club", "Sixteen Candles", and every other John Hughes movie. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg (the poor man's Michael Cera), Ryan Reynolds (The rich man's Ryan Gosling) and Kristen "Bella Swan" Stewart. These three are the main focus of the story and surprisingly despite all the trash i have heard about her acting in "Twilight", Stewart was probably my favorite actor in the whole film. The supporting cast, especially Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, could have been in the movie more, but the scenes they do have are pretty memorable. Story is pretty good, and it feels more realistic than most films out there about growing up. There are good times and bad and the characters are able to convey this quite well. My only gripe is that the movie is set in the 80's, im assuming it's cause the writer, Greg Mottola, was about the same age as the main character at the time. He also wrote "Superbad" but this felt like a much more coherent heartfelt piece. It's got depth and the characters, for the most part, are likeable. 4.5 outta 5. Phew, almost done with all these movies i've seen over Spring Break, last is the new Matt Damon thriller "Green Zone"

Where's your Head at?; The Crazies Review

The whole "The town's lost it" genre has been around for quite awhile, but "The Crazies" manages to be it's own thing and not get bogged down in cliches. The movie revolves around Sheriff Dutton (Timothy Olyphant), his wife (Radha Mitchell), and Deputy Clank (Joe Anderson) as they attempt to escape the small town of Ogden Marsh after an "incident" turns the civil citizens into savage sociopaths. The acting is definitely better than most "zombie/crazy people" movies, because you actually care about the survivors making it out, and the sane people trying to quarantine the town can be just as terrifying as "the crazies." The story is fast paced and doesn't go off into random paths, and there was a coherent narrative. The "crazies" are the only issue i have with the movie as some seem totally out of their gords while others cooperate with each one another, but that really is nit picking to a degree. I guess i lied, there were alot of jump scares, but unlike "The Wolfman" the jump was aided by the intense atmosphere that was created. If you like your horror movies to be some what intelligent, it's no District 9 (yes i consider that a horror movie), than here ya go! i'd give it a 4 outta 5, now onto the "Adventureland" review!

Going Crazy; Shutter Island Review

Film noir can either be awesomely clever or painfully cheesy, but Martin Scorsese's film adaption of the book "Shutter Island" hits all the right points to making an engaging and dark movie. The film stars Leonard DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels and Mark Ruffalo as Chuck Aule, U.S. Marshals who have been tasked to find an escaped mental patient of Ashecliff Hospital located on Shutter Island. Along the way they run into various workers and inmates, most notably Dr. John Cawley played by Ben Kingsley. The deeper the two dig, the more it becomes apparent that much more is going on in the hospital. The cast is great, especially DiCaprio, and even people who are only on camera for a few minutes make an impression, and the acting makes the characters feel genuine. The story keeps you guessing as to what's going on and like any good mystery there is a great "aha!" moment at the end. The tone seldom shifts and there is little sacrifice of story to appeal to the masses. Great movie i can literally think of no negatives, so this gets a 5 outta 5, i think a first for me? Well at least on this blog, tune in next time for my review of "The Crazies"

WTF; "The Box" Review

I've already mentioned how trailers can be deceptive, just check out "The Stepfather" review for an example, but man o' man "The Box" knocks it out of the frickin' park. Check out the Trailer.

This is a slightly inaccurate depiction of things to come. This movie is weird weird weird weird weird weird weird, maybe not inna good way. The cast is decent, Diaz and James Marsden pull their weight and Frank Langella plays up the mystery of his character, but the supporting cast, especially the son, are kinda weak. The main issue comes up when the movie starts diverging into a completely unexpected path. Im all for putting twists and turns in a movie, but after awhile it gets really ridiculous and it comes at the expense of decent pacing and overall enjoyability. I spent most of the time scratching my head trying to figure the film out. A little too much going on and it doesn't really pay off in the long run, this film strives to be a 5 but ultimately winds up a 2.5. I don't think i'd even recommend it as a rent, watch "The Number 23" it's a similar style movie, but isn't as pretentious.

So same pic, just attempted to give it some old movie poster look

The Creature from the Black Lagoon Drawing

So here's a pic i drew, just kinda attempting to get a feel for coloring with photoshop. It's got a lot of little imperfections but i think over all it turned out pretty decent. I love all the old horror movies like "Creature from the Black Lagoon", so i think i might do some more in the future.

RAGE OUT!-Skull Candy rant

I promised myself i wouldn't be one of those people that got a blog solely to complain about things but i've decided to make an exception for Skull Candy headphones, specifically the ear buds. I love listening to music, i have 3224 songs on iTunes, and for the longest time i have spent my money on Skull Candy headphones, cause i always thought they were the best, i'm starting to reconsider that thought, they are CRAP. In the last 6 months i've gone through at least 7 or 8 pairs of headphones ,and i am pretty careful with my headphones. The thing that really ticks me off is the declining quality of the products. Now that the Skull Candy name is pretty much "out there" it seems like they stopped caring about the durability of the headphones. Sure they have a warranty where you can send in the headphones for free and get them replaced for free, but what does that say about the companies faith in their products? When i buy something i expect it to last for more than a month. I just got my new "Full Metal Jacket" (like $60) headphones in the mail from Skull Candy because the last pair went to crap...The left ear bud is already losing sound quality...LESS THAN 8 HOURS FROM OPENING THE PACKAGE. So im placing a personal embargo on the Skull Candy line of products, and trying out a new brand, if anybodies got suggestions im open to em.

The Great Social Experiment(s)

So there's a whole world wide web out there i think it might be fun to try out some of the hottest social devices out there and put my two cents in about em'. So right now i've got my sights set on a couple and they will be the first i focus on.

Chat roulette- The craziest thing i've seen/heard of in awhile, basically it's just a site that sets up random web cam chats with people from all over the world.

Skype- I know little to nothing about this but i have an account now and am gonna try it out.

Those are the big two right now, and i plan to try em out during spring break, if you'd like to aid me in my internet socializing my Skype name is "Jaydw519", that way i got someone i know to talk to. Also if there's some kinda crazy internet chat/social thing you know of let me know im trying out as much as i can.