Life as Jacob

On the 4th I headed over to Dixie Dozen and did a matinée showing of Hancock with Will Smith.  Wow, yet another movie of his that’s going to kick some ass.  It has a little bit of everything in it which should appeal to ladies and guys.

When I first saw the previews for this I thought it was going to be a knock off of Superman except he as an ass instead of a good guy.  What was cool was it went in a completely different direction.  There was more of a mythology to it than just some guy dropping to Earth in a spaceship.

Jason Bateman plays the role of a struggling PR director who’s saved by Hancock.  He sort of takes advantage of the situation to help the alcoholic super hero to get back some respect from the community.  You should have been able to gather most of this from the previews if you watch them.  The kicker is thrown in with Charlize Theron gets introduced.  She adds that romantic flare for the ladies.

I think the ending leaves it open for a sequel.  I don’t know where the story would go from there, but writers can come up with some crazy shit.  Something to note however, is that I don’t think Will Smith has ever done a sequel.  Hum…

Secondly, Today I went to see WALL-E.  This was another PIXAR flick.  Man, do they know how to pick the stories!  Every time I go to see one of these cartoons I punch myself for tearing up at a cartoon!

Being the MAC fanatic I am, I thought it was hilarious when WALL-E reached full charge.  Love that little tone!  I heard somewhere the people who created the movie based EVE on the classic Apple design work.  She did look very Apple-esk.

WALL-E has a great story line but something else I wanted to bring up was the stunning CGI work.  There were a few scenes in the movie that looked completely realistic.  It seems like the geeks in Hollywood are getting closer and closer to figuring out what makes something look real.  I guess I notice this since I’m a photographer.  It’s all in the details.

Anyway, both movies were great even though Hancock didn’t get raving reviews.  I would have to say WALL-E is a must see in the movie theater.  You just won’t be able to get the same experience with some of the visuals if you’re watching it on a TV.  That is unless you have a 50″ plasma in your house with surround sound.

 

Well, I just finished up watching the movie Prime.  I moved this up in my queue because of Stacy.  Her review of the movie was glowing so I felt confident in bumping some other good stuff so I could watch it earlier.  Staring Uma Thurman, Brian Green, and Meryl Streep…how could you go wrong?

First thing first.  This Bryan guy, drawn.  Genetically he was gifted a tone and physique which really should exist in human form.  I go to the gym, I eat freakin carrots 6 days a week and still I carry around a tire.  One day scientist will invent a pill which will allow all people to become one with the inner muscle inside.  Damn you Brian, damn you…

He’s also in October Road on ABC.  Not my favorite show, but watch-able when there isn’t anything else on.  Not a strong actor in this movie ( or October Road ) but next to Uma and Meryl, he doesn’t have to be.  I think the director said, “Okay, go stand by Uma and take off your shirt.  Ok, go sit next to Meryl and nod your head.  Ok, here’s your check, hit the gym and be back here tomorrow morning at 6am.”

Then we have Uma.  Man, love that Uma.  She’s too tall for me but I could live with it if needed.  I’ve had a thing for her since she was in Kill Bill.  For some reason I have the hots for women who can beat me up.  When women start doing that Karate and swinging a sword in my face, oh, it’s on!  I wonder what my safety word should be when I get married?

Ok, movie…

So something that caught my attention when I was listening to the director talk about this movie was his purpose for having it.  He wanted to explore if a relationship could end without being a failure.  This is real stuff here.  Too much we have relationships that must end because of the wrong reasons.  Fighting, Money, Cheating, blah, blah, blah.  What about when you still love each other but it just isn’t going to work out.

Can’t you use the relationship to grow and adjust and make life better?  Can’t you still love each other and just not be together?  Oh wait, if they’re “the one” then no… Impossible.

I liked this movie.  I, like Stacy, enjoy a happy ending.  I think this movie has one without being fake.  Even the director said it’s hard to sell real in Hollywood.  Do we always need that hook to keep us watching the movie?  I’m tired of that darn formula which says, ” Intro, meet, Hook-up, Action, Climax, Ending. “  Think outside the box here people.

This review in no way says that Sideways was a good movie.  It was just daily life with no point or reason.  Paul was great but the other dude sucked.

Stacy, why are we not seeing movies like this when we go?  All I get from you is crap, all you get from me is Sci-fi.  Why, when there is a common ground, do we not just go and see the movie!!!

This weekend I was sick which always sucks.  There were quite a few things I could have been doing but I was stuck in bed.  I felt it coming on around lunchtime, Friday.  There was a little tinge in the back of my throat.  It seems like all of my colds end up in my lungs.

As always when a cold is coming on its gorgeous outside.  I’m telling you this weekend was great!  I could have been out with the dogs, running around the neighborhood or anything.  Something I did accomplish however was watching like 10 movies.  Hey, its something I can do while laying down and covered with a comforter.

I’m not going to hit all of them, but I thought I would throw out the ones I liked.

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OK, so this first one was pretty crappy.  It’s called My Little Eye which really has nothing to do with the film at all.  Most of these were on that Netflix Play Now section.  So I was limited as to what I could get off of my queue list.  By the way I have like 400 movies on that list.

This is about five strangers who sign up for what they believe to be an Internet site.  They have to stay in the house for six months to win a million dollars.  The whole movie takes place during the last week they’re there.

Other than a pretty good sex scene between a surprise character and one of the regulars, the movie pretty much sucks.  The only reason I had this in my queue was because of Bradley Cooper.  He played on Alias and I thought he was pretty cool.  I put a few of his movies in my queue to see what else he had done.  Too bad he was only in the movie long enough to screw a main character.

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The next one was Kissing Jessica Stein.  For some reason when I watched this movie, I thought about Stacy.  She can be pretty up tight sometimes like the main character.  One day on a whim, Jessica ( Jennifer Westfeldt ) meets up with a girl from a singles ad.  At first there’s completely no chemistry and Jessica is completely freaked out by the sex part.  As the relationship evolves she starts to realize there are real emotions between the two of them.  She even comes out to her family to prove her love.

Jessica ends up not being a lesbian but that isn’t the point of the movie.  It’s the journey she takes that changes who she is in the end.  She goes from someone who THINKS she knows herself to actually lightening up and experiencing new things.

No, Stacy isn’t a lesbian.

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Jumanji was cool!  Robin Williams always does a good job even if the movie isn’t great.  For back in ‘95 they had great special effects.  I know this is just a movie, but I would love to play a game that cool!  Come on, lions, alligators, spiders, and quicksand floorboards… heck yea!

Something I think would have made this film better, would have been less comedy.  Yes, comic relief is needed in any movie but this one had a little too much.  They could have filled that time with more action or something better for the plot.  In fact, some scenes with the Aunt weren’t needed at all.

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Well, that was my weekend.  Blowing my nose, popping pills and watching movies.  I don’t really lead a great life but it gets me thru.  I’m glad Netflix has opened up the number of hours you can watch over the Internet.  Had this not been done I would have been out of luck for stuff to do.

I don’t have cable and don’t intend on getting it.

I love sex. I think it’s great that this guy did this research when no one else was willing to go the extra mile. Of all the animals on the planet, why in the 30’s were we not studying ourselves?

Kinsey is not really a biographical movie, but does cover the big stuff. From what I have seen on the History channel and other sources, there isn’t any real evidence that Alfred Kinsey was bisexual. On Wikipedia, the article states he was not only bisexual but possibly a porn star and director.

Whatever the flavor of "Prok’s" sex life, he really did drop a bomb on the culture of the day. This movie shows the intense research he conducted to get statistical evidence about the human sex drive. The only way to know something is to prove it thru research and hard work. Not an exact quote but close.

Since the movie is a little loose on the details about the personal lives of each of the main characters, I don’t know where history leaves off and the movie takes over. There are some pretty crazy sex scenes which made me a little uncomfortable watching them with my dogs in the room! Liam Neeson as Alfred Kinsey is a virgin at marriage to Clara Bracken McMillen played by Laura Linney Their first sexual experience leaves much to be desired but not much to be imagined. The facial expressions on the two are all that needs to be shown. It was bad.

We also get to have a full frontal of Peter Sarsgaard. Oh buddy, much to be desired but not much to be imagined. This touch of full frontal leads to Prok and Clyde gettin’ it on in a hotel room. Later we get a butt shot as Clyde gets frisky with Prok’s wife. I knew this was going to be an overly sexual movie, but had no clue to be counting on bare asses on the screen!

The freakiest scene in the movie is when they do a sex history on this guy who’s been with 9000 people and 200 different animals. He has the ability to go from flaccid to fully cocked and shot in 10 seconds flat. We are graced with this act on screen. Prok just watches and says, "Okay, lets get on with the sexual history."

Not only was this a good movie, but I think I’m going to get the book. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male is available at Amazon.com. Even though the information is a little old, I think the basic act of sex hasn’t changed in a while. We might have latex and Astroglide now, but really how much could that have changed things?

Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred Charles Kinsey, Wardell B. Pomeroy, Clyde E. Martin Read more about this book…

I’ve read the book and there was a lot of liberty taken with the movie. Tom Hanks doesn’t do a bad job in the movie, but this wasn’t his breakout performance either. I was really surprised they didn’t do the Angels and Demons book first. There was much more action in that book than in The Da Vinci Code.

One of the methods used to to make the main character, Robert Langdon, a person able to figure out these crazy puzzles was visual effects.  They made Robert able to remember, visually, everything.  Then he plays this back for us so he can solve some 300 year old riddle.

Then on top of the liberties they took with making Robert a super genius, they change the ending of the story!  I’m hoping you’ve read the book and know how robust it is.  There are some twists and turns all the way down to the last chapter.  In the movie though, they rip out that part.  The completely raped the book and took the name but not the essence!  What kind of crap is that?

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Read more about this book…

This cartoon has two of the decade’s better actors doing voices for some pretty phenomenal characters. Then there’s Michelle Pfeiffer playing the goddess of chaos. You would think this would be the best cartoon ever, but sadly no. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t float my boat either. The thing is, I hate bad voice overs. In a cartoon, there is no need to over pronounce ev·er·y·th·ing.

After about twenty minutes into the movie, I was able to phase this little annoyance out. I slowly focused on the awesome special effects and nifty animation. I found the animation for the goddess Eris really cool. She had a fluid / smoky way to her that was unique in the movies I’ve seen. Her hair swayed in her face and her fingers shifted between solid and mist. Cool.

The gist of the storyline finds our Brad Pitt, Sinbad, in need of some magical book of peace. This is to be used as the crew’s retirement funds to go to Figi. Enter a large scary computer generated octopus thing. Sinbad and his dog, who is seemingly a genius tackle the monster and send it into the deep abyss of the sea. Unfortunately a tentacle captures Sinbad in its slimy cups and takes him kicking and screaming off the boat and into the water. This is where Sinbad is given a proposition by the goddess Eris to steal the book for her and bring it to her home past the horizon.

Catherine Zeta-Jones / Douglas make her entrance as the semi-tangled love story interest. Marina was to be the wife of Proteus, Prince of wherever. Problem being, Sinbad is setup by Eris, which makes Proteus put himself in harms way so Sinbad can go get the book back. Marina has to go with this band of bag-a-bonds to make sure Sinbad gets the book or to bring his dead body back if he doesn’t make it.

There’re some great scenes, good action, and a decent storyline. There’re wasn’t any laugh out loud moments or tear jerker moments. It was just a safe movie. I want something a little more edgy. Maybe I should lean towards movies intended for an older audience?

This weekend I checked out Doom.  Although I haven’t played the game myself, I have seen enough video and stuff about it to know what it’s all about.

This movie was a shocker for me because it didn’t suck.  There are a lot of sci-fi films out there that make me what to puke.  They either don’t deliver on the science or the story, sometimes both.  This wasn’t that bad.  The basis of the movie was the game.  They changed the storyline just a bit, but the basics were still there.

In the near future scientist find a portal to Mars.  Once there they discover some bones of the previous inhabitants.  These bones show some amazing characteristics such as a 24th chromosome.  Of course, the mad scientists in the movie have to screw everything up by breaking the rules and testing stuff on people. It’s a mad mad world.  Enter, The Rock!  He’ll fix everything.  They use the bubble thing also known as “The Ark” to fly out to Mars to clean up the scientist’s mess.

Looking at behind the scenes stuff on the DVD really gives you a sense of how much work they put into making the actors look like real special ops solders.  There was training on holding guns, hand gestures, entering rooms the correct way, etc.  It paid off in the movie because I thought they really did look like a group of hired killers.  What cracked me up was that most had a British accent in real life, but played Americans in the film.

I’ll say this movie delivers on the scares as well as the science.  There’s some good technique in the main scientist’s methods.  It’s not completely unbelievable which is what I want from any movie.  The other cool part was a 5-minute “first person” shot, which was meant to mimic the game the movie was spawned from.  It added to the action.  It was a completely different scene, which I’ve never seen before.  I was impressed.

I’d say pick up the movie if you ever need a filler film.  A+, no.  B-, sure why not.  On a side note, who is “The Rock’s” agent?  The man needs to get some better scripts.  He was great in “The Scorpion King” and “The Rundown.”  Now he’s doing films like “The Game Plan.”  Come on people!