Saturday, November 29, 2008

Computers still dead

Hoping to be replaced soon. Meaning I'm still running on axillary power (Linux live boot CD in a hard drive free laptop). Naturally this has put the kibosh on a lot of things. I still haven't recovered my list of movies for every year since birth list. But I'm hopeful that I can recover that and a few other things.

So since I'm flying without a PC right now I've been slow on the actual DVD watching, I have however been abusing the new XBox NXE's ability to view Netflix streaming now movies. There has been both good and bad.

But before that just a brief note on one of the few DVDs I have actually made the time to watch. "Return to Sleepaway Camp" it was in a word, disappointing. Not that you expect too much from a direct to DVD sequel anyway but still you kind of get your hopes up sometimes. From the uninspired story to the laughably boring dialog to the ending which became so easily obvious that you couldn't call it a "twist" (even though that was clearly the intent) the movie just fell flat.

Seriously all you need to know to see my point is these two small things. During a fight one of the kids says to Vincent Pastore "What are you, a Big Pussy?" And Issac Hayes has a small cameo where he plays "The Chef." This is the kind of writing you'll deal with if you choose to watch. I say do yourself a favor, rent or buy the original, pop some corn and have a fun night pretending this thing doesn't exist... I just wish I didn't have to make that recommendation.


That unpleasantness aside I have been keeping busy with some good stuff on Netflix streaming lately, here is but a few recommendations I can make.

Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior: I resisted the Mad Max flicks for years but as it turns out they (at least the two I've seen so far) are really fun. But man does Mel Gibson look like a fetus here or what?

Heroes Season 3: I've read some people saying they aren't digging this season, I'm not one of those. What kills me is the cliffhangers, which is good they are supposed to. I can see the show building up to something big at the end of this season and I plan to be there to witness it.

Beverly Hills: 90210 Hear me out on this one. I was a little under the age curve when the show started so even though I was inundated with the later seasons of the show (it was EVERYWHERE) I never had the chance to see the beginning. Which is sad because this first season is pretty awesome I must say. Just not in the way that most people explain it. Every episode is like a different after school special, only with the same cast. Drugs, alcohol, cheating (on a person), cheating (on a test), divorce, rape...they covered everything... Also it has Joe E. Tata, which adds awesome points.

Star Trek: TOS If I have to explain why I am recommending this one then obviously my point of view has never come across clearly in my writing.

The Abyss I wasn't sure what to think when I went into this one, I've heard lots of good things but it never intrigued me much when I read about it. The movie was way more intense than I could have expected. Worth your time no question. I wish I hadn't waited as long as I did to watch.

Unbreakable Ok I'll admit it here, I prefer Unbreakable to The Sixth Sense. I like them both, just as I like 90% of Signs but Unbreakable stands ahead for me. It could be that the world of comics etc.. is my wheelhouse but I think it is more than that. The movie is flatout underrated and I feel that time will look favorably on it.

Gattaca This is a very solid film. Performance, atmosphere, even the music made for a great total package. I found the premise to be scarily plausible.



There you go a quick roundup, a small sampling of the craziness that I've been putting in my head.

Also in other tragic news I have a Man Cold...

In case you forget what a man cold is.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Its been too long, but I have an excuse! (yeah thats the ticket) AKA my epic FGFC Fail

So right now you should be reading my thoughts on this months FGFC pick "L'Anticristo" aka "The Antichrist" aka "The Tempter." Well you should be reading that except Netflix had other ideas and didn't seem to have enough supply to meet demand so I couldn't get it from them, then I lucked out and was able to rent it locally, or I would have lucked out if the DVD had been playable. So a full review was just out of reach.

That meant plan B, make glib remarks and/or smartass comments about the trailer. Well you aren't seeing that right now because last week my trusty laptop decided it was time to part ways with its hard drive. That was bad, but not quite as bad as yesterday morning when I woke up to find my desktop giving me the stinkeye and refusing to do a thing. Can you believe it, cataclysmic failure on both of my computers in short order. I'm only able to type this up thank to a Linux Live CD on my hard drive free laptop... I can only blame a failure this complete on one thing....This must be the work of the fucking "Phantom Menace"...Curses!

Also lost (and I'm praying I can recover this) is the first leg of my project, a list. One favorite movie for every year I have been alive. It is a huge pain to go through IMDB by year choosing a list of movies to narrow down trust me. Damn you "Phantom Menace" damn you to hell!

So even though I can't watch youtube videos myself at the moment that doesn't mean I can't link them, so here you watch and you comment. Me, I'll be out searching for a new laptop....



Oh also XBox 360 users, I had a chance to get the NXE a day early. So I can tell you that it is a new experience, it is pretty. The UI isn't my cup of tea honestly, and the avatar thing is a little too Wii-like for my taste. But the menu on the XBox button lets you skip the new UI if you want so that is good, but where the update really shines for me is the Netflix streaming. It was completely simple to set up, the interface there works like a dream, and I actually ended up getting higher quality video on my XBox than I did on my computer. Fun could be had with the feature to sync up a Netflix streaming movie and watch with friends.

Now get off my lawn!