http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqwhF6vcylg For some time my favorite Johnny Cash song was "A Boy Named Sue" until in 2010 my history teacher introduced me to this. Mr. Lehman wasn't a very sentimental person, but he was very sincere about a lot of things. Behind all that cynicism was a man who cared a lot and, in spite of his low opinions of everyone, valued them dearly and believed in doing the right thing. In a similar way, I balance an ongoing disappointment with humanity with a belie
They should rename it The Magnificent Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and get an entirely new cast. Kevin Hart Kevin James Kevin Kline Kevin Pollak Kevin Spacey Kevin Costner and of course Kevin Bacon (maybe Macaulay Culkin in a minor role) 24601
So I went biking on Saturday, and by now it's hardly news that I regularly bike 50 miles from Dordt College to South Sioux City, except this time I remembered something. Every time I had made this trip, I saw an old discarded spoon on the side of the road at about halfway to my destination. This time, as I saw it on the gravel shoulder of the road, I felt a compulsion to stop and pick it up, and I put it in my backpack. For some reason, I thought of a very specific friend when I turned it ove
LIONEL LUTHOR CLOSED HIS LABTOP WHEN LOIS ENTERED HIS OFFICE. She closed the door behind her, keeping in touch with the ritual. .........."It's good to see you, Miss Lane," he said. .........."Cut to the chase. What do you want?" .........."Well, if you're going to be that way, I suppose there's no point in being subtle," said Lionel. "Take a seat. Right next to me - there's no point in us letting this desk separate us. They view is too brilliant to enjoy alone." He swiveled his chair back
The LEGO Movie turned out to be what I wanted it to be, which is good. The problem is, how to I begin to explain what my hopes for this film were? Well first, I certainly wanted something that felt definitive, something that wasn't just a LEGO movie but The LEGO Movie. It fit the part by having a good story that expertly mixed together a dramatic narrative with plenty of comic relief. And trust me, there was plenty of comic relief. There were so many jokes in this movie I would have to watc
May I introduce you to the second-ever "photorealistic" use of computer generated environments put to film, right after Disney's TRON. Made in 1984, it's far from realistic by our standards and doesn't even measure up to the expectations we have for a cheap video game these days, but somehow I would say that the effects have aged well. Part of the reason, I think, is that they don't have that manufactures feel about them, and the look of the film somehow shows that it was lovingly put together
Okay, not really. The Dark Knight is better. But I would like to say that Michael Bay actually has his strong points and things that he does better than Christopher Nolan. Nolan actually gets a lot wrong with his fight scenes that he hides in post-production through his editing. Bay does a better job of putting together large action sequences on-set. He gets the logistics right. He also consults the military on how to make action scenes with the military as realistic as possible, so in tha
This is going to be an incredibly short review, because just about anything could be considered a spoiler. Anyway, here are some of my basic thoughts about the type of sequels that this is. John Williams produced three memorable themes in the last one, but I can't think of anything that stood out this time, although I'm absolutely going to rewatch this, so we'll see. But if I re-watch it several times and find nothing new that's iconic, that will honestly be very sad. I'll be listening to the
The heat of the Moruga Scorpion Pepper mixed with great flavor for an all-round excellent sauce. It just came in stock at TheHeatonist.com, and I bought two whole bottles. I can't really swallow exotic textures, but I can stomach most any flavor. I also bought a bottle of the Blazin' Sauce with Ghost Peppers from Buffalo Wild Wings and plan on using as much of it as I can at barbecues over the summer. By the time I get to using The Last Dab, it should be mid-August. There are some people I know
As the athletes of the 31st Olympiad walk into the stadium bearing their nation's flags, I've thought about the elements of good flags, and my attempts to design good flags according to these principles. I do a lot of worldbuilding, which includes designing flags and other symbols for the cultures of my stories. As far as flags go, this is probably my best. It follows every good design principle. It's simple enough that a child can draw it from memory, and even get the exact proportions
Truly, a great film. I remember watching online when it first came out. If only it had had a successful wide release. In an ideal world, everyone would have gone and seen it, and it would have also won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. What a wonderful story! Also, due the the circumstances surrounding the release of this film, I think that it's destined to become a cult classic. 24601
Reentry WE WERE IMMORTAL, BUT IT WASN'T A BLESSING. My name is John Silver, and I have been John Silver for a while. The only friends I have are old friends. It’s very difficult to find anything to do anymore that seems worthwhile. Yeah, it’s that sort of lifestyle. ..........The room was half lit and felt romantic. I was relaxed, sitting next to the fire, politics in the back of my mind. Beside me was another John, this one John Smith. I had known him since the war of 1812. Good tim
The same guy who recast Peter Cushing. Seriously, the only way of moving forward is to create a CGI Hugh Jackman. It would be a lot more convincing than CGI Cushing, too, because he's been filmed in ultra-high-definition, and quite likely has had a digital scan performed on his face. The technology for resurrecting actors will be even better in several years, so if they waited until the early 2020's before debuting CGI Jackman, they could probably make it work. I think that they can do it.
This movie has it all. It can play the balance between simple fun in storytelling while being dead serious. It has great characters, wonderful action, perfect set designs, and a magical world of scenery all rolled into one, all the while centering around a great story. How often do you get all of these things in one package? Almost never. Move aside, Avengers, because it looks like someone came up with something easily twice as epic this year. There is not a minute of this three hour long
When we talk about some of history's greatest athletes, we usually look at winners. But there's really something to be said for those underdogs who never won, and why they are in some ways better athletes overall then the people that beat them. Like Oksana Chusovitina, the multi-national Olympic gymnast only won one gold medal in her first Olympics, but came back for six more and managed to get a silver medal in Beijing. That's not a lot of winning, but that's quite a few Olympics, seven ove
The Good Judgment of Madame the Virgin Mary (scene: The palace of Justice, Paris, 1482) Gringoire: Oh my, the crowd is getting restless! Actor 1: What are we going to do? We’re supposed to wait for the Cardinal. Gringoire: Yes, but if we offend him by starting early, we’ll be hanged. Actor 2: So we wait, then. Gringoire: [pacing] Yes, but then we’d be hanged by the people. Actor 1: Well make up your mind then! We’ve got to do something. I can hear some of them building makeshift nooses al
James was a normal boy at eight years old. He had a happy time at home with his parents. His parents were the coolest people in the world and they taught him many fun things, like how to ride a bike and how to do a bunch of tricks with a yo-yo. He loved his family. Life was good until he learned a new word the hard way. That word was "divorce", and he didn't like it. One day his mother packed her bags and left very quickly. James did not have much time to say goodbye to her. He wished i
I must congratulate the Fab Five for their outstanding victory in team gymnastics. I have never seen anything like it. As far as I could remember, the American team has always been an underdog in the gymnastic arena and medaling has always been a miracle. Never have I seen the American team come in with such clear power and establish themselves as a juggernaut. I still remember the outstanding challenges of the Magnificent Seven back in 1996, Dominique Moceanu's floor routine, and Kerri Stru
Just as I predicted, this movie was twice as good as the original purely by the virtue of having more famous names. How is that supposed to be right? Star power shouldn't be what drives a movie forward, but rather a good plot, and movies that cramp in too much star power are almost always destined to fail by putting together a half-baked plot with too much emphasis on cameos for actors who aren't even going to do the characters justice because their faces are too famous to keep willing suspens
So I've heard that Bionicle is nearing an end. At first I thought this was just speculation, but then the context in which people began mentioning it began to sound much more firm, as if it was fact, not opinion. There have been many times I've felt like I've been under a rock, but none of them compare to how I feel right now. To make things clear, I can accept that Bionicle will end. I do not so much feel shocked as I do curious. Bionicle seems to be a successful product. I wonder what
The interesting thing about this film, if viewed as a prequel to The Room, is that it almost retroactively makes the original film good. Not in a "so bad it's good" way, but actually admirable. You understand what Tommy Wiseau wanted to do. The Room wasn't a pretentious film by a talented director who was patting himself on the back for his talent, which I really hate. It's a sincere attempt by someone who convey life the way that he sees it. Granted, Tommy's way of looking at life is incre
Before I watched this movie, I made a point of not seeing a single trailer. I walked out of the theatres and changed the channel whenever a trailer for The Desolation of Smaug came up. Therefore, I can respect anyone who doesn't want spoilers for this film and I will try to avoid them as much as possible, even though there are things in here that I would love to talk about specifically. The first part of this review will consist of general impressions on how the film felt, and the second part
See, that's good flag design, right there. A child can draw it, and it limits itself to basic colors and geometric shapes. it uses its space quite nicely, has meaningful symbols, and shows a clear connection to its heritage through design similarities with other significant flags, namely Old Glory. I designed a formal flag for my currently flag-less town and ordered the appropriate nylon fabric to piece it together, and hope to present it to my city council before Labor Day. It did not take
