Mini-Reviews 34

Redrum-- Not too bad. Kind o' campy, kind o' funny. Mediocre at best, boring at worst. And kind of ridiculous at times.Definitely could have done without the cartoon montage, aussi. I get it, low budget, ran out of money to shoot, do a cheap cartoon. Doesn't make it any less crappy. So, yeah, it has its moments, but, I wouldn't necessarily recommend watching the film just to see them.

Tiny update

Two new games were purchased yesterday. Prince of Persia for the Xbox 360 and Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys! for the Nintendo DS. That is all.

Instead of a mini-review.

So, I didn't watch any new movies again this week. Whoopsy. But, I did play and beat a game this past weekend called Clock Tower 3 for the Playstation 2, so, I'll talk about that a little here, eh?

So, to start with, it's a pretty short game. First playthrough was about five or six hours. It doesn't feel long either, it definitely feels short as you're playing through it. The story moves quickly. And it's probably shorter if you don't get stuck wandering around and dying like I did at a couple points.

Which works as a natural segue into my next point that it's a pretty easy game. I know I just said I got stuck, but, those were mostly my own fault because I had not explored thoroughly or I simply didn't notice something. There's only one moment I can think of in the game where it's not immediately apparent you're supposed to interact with a part of the environment, but that's it. The only difficult part, really, can be the combat.

I don't know if it's me or the controls, but it took me a little while to get used to it. Once you get the hang of the battle controls, though, [which I did after the second battle] it's incredibly simple, even for the final battle [that one's time consuming, though.]

What else can I say about this game... it ranges from mediocre to bad, really. Though, bad in a way that you can laugh at, like some of the voice-acting, of course, but also some of the character movement in the cutscenes. Alyssa, the main character whom you control throughout the game, reacts in some strange ways to her fear, it's quite comical.

That brings me to another point, maybe it's just because it's a somewhat older game and it takes more to scare me, but, there are very few scary parts. There's definitely some tense moments where you'll wonder if you're going to get caught. And, I don't want to take everything from the game, there are some startle-scares when someone jumps out at you. But that's all, which could be attributable to its brevity.

To close out, it's not likely to be replayed much either, unless you fall in love with the story. You unlock some costumes once you've beaten the game. Most of which are somewhat risque, and all show some skin. Oh, did I mention these are for your fourteen-year-old character, no less? Yeah, another bit of, I imagine unintentional, hilarity. And if you play through again on your Cleared save, the game's difficulty is bumped up. As far as I know, though, there's nothing to be gained by completing this harder playthrough, so, unless you're a gamer who plays for the challenge, there's not much incentive. And yeah, that's it. Kind o' fun for the six or seven bucks I got it for, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it unless you can get it dirt cheap as well.

Mini-Reviews 33

Funny Games-- An interesting movie for most of it. I dunno if I would have called it good or bad. The fourth-wall-breaking was kind of interesting. But then there comes a part where one of the antagonists picks up a remote control and rewinds the movie. Whatever the film had going for it died at that point, at least as far as I am concerned.

Mini-Reviews 32

Dance of the Dead-- With a title like that and the premise of the film [a zombie attack on prom night and the only people left to stop the zombie apocalypse are the losers who didn't have dates to prom] I expected this to be a "so bad it's kind o' good" gory zombie flick. As it turns out, though, I really liked it. It's a good movie, funny little zombie comedy with plenty of gore and a touch of heart to the plot. The actors did excellent jobs, for the most part, and the writing wasn't too bad at all, dialogue-wise. The plot itself has some obvious foreshadowing, but, not bad at all. It broke one or two of my personal zombie rules, as well, but definitely worth seeing.


13 Hours In A Warehouse-- I'm not sure just what the problem is, but I was unimpressed. From about 10 minutes, maybe less, in 'til the end I was uninterested. I spent most of my time wondering what the hell it was they stole. I don't imagine I was supposed to. The acting's about what I expected, some decent B-level and plenty of terrible B-level acting. Same with the special effects and writing. Maybe its extreme mediocrity is its downfall?

I found this thing called YouTube

A four part Collection Update of everything I've purchased in the past year or so. Or, at least, all the Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo games and DVD's.

The audio sounds like butt, I got lazy and decided not to clean it up. And I left a lot of blank spaces, I got lazy with the cutting. Bah.

Also, I didn't mention my two new CD's... because that's pathetic. Yeah, I only bought two new CD's. Kerli's Love Is Dead and Disturbed's Indestructible. So there you have it.

Put it in your mouth

So, y'ever heard of something that you had never heard of before and then you hear about it everywhere after that? I had something like that recently. I heard of something called FA [fat appreciation/fat appreciators]. Feeders and feedees. And now I'm hearin' it all over the place.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. At first, I was all right with it. Hells yeah, I appreciate me a thick chick. Or curvy/chubby/big, whatever you want to call it. But the more I hear about it the less supportive I am of such a lifestyle. It sounds like the extreme end of the spectrum so far. And then there seems to be a fixation on the weight number, which I am never comfortable with and I don't think anyone should care about that number or their BMI, which is even more fuckin' ridiculous. But, I digress, and I'm getting a little off the topic I intended. I was talking about the extremity of this FA thing. People insisting on being 500, 600 pounds, insisting that anyone less than that is immediately unattractive. I think it's wrong.

If there's anyone who thinks I'm incorrect in my understanding, please, correct me. I'd like to find that this isn't common in the FA lifestyle.

Explanation for the missing mini-review.

Mein chickadee called me on it, heh. I didn't watch any movies last week. At least, nothing new to me. So, no mini-reviews to share this past Friday, sorry.

Mini-Reviews 31

Trailer Park of Terror-- It's not very subtle in its charicatures and there's plenty of foreshadowing, but it's fairly well-acted, well-shot, and an entertaining, somewhat cheesy, gory little horror film, with a few [albeit sometimes fucked up] laughs along the way. Pretty good soundtrack involved, too. And an interesting cameo by Trace Adkins, though I don't think anyone who reads this will recognize him.


Watchmen-- Pretty damn good film. Insanely well cast, especially the Comedian, Rorschach, and Nite Owl II. To be perfectly frank, I still wasn't a big fan of the man chosen to play Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt. He did a well enough job, he just doesn't fit the character, visually-speaking. It wouldn't bug me so much if so much of the other cast didn't fit well. Only other minor complaint is the soundtrack. I mean, I understand that it's sort of a period piece, but, it was just somewhat jarring and entirely out of place to hear a lot of this old music start playing. Personally, I feel it should have been scored, no soundtrack.

3 Steps

A new Tebo Productions film! Entitled "3 Steps". Enjoy!

This is that vid we were working on like mad for a few days. I blogged about it a few ago.

A little bit of bitching

This may end up being very stream of consciousness. I've been weird the past... well, my whole life, but, more acutely the past few days. Or past... week? I'm really not sure. But... yeah. Like, I'm feeling much less talkative and I feel like I'm not engaging in conversation. Normally I do so by just asking a buttload of questions or asking for explanations/elaborations. But I'm not so much lately. I mean, I'm still just as curious, I just feel like... it's not my place, I guess? Like, it's none of my business, I shouldn't even be asking. And I find myself with nothing to say in response to things. Like, anything, even simple things. So, being that I am a very boring person with little to be talked about from my own life, I seem much less talkative. Or, I am much less talkative. I dunno. Speaking of being boring, I feel much more boring as well. I mean, I've always considered myself to be exceptionally uninteresting [which is kind of oxymoronic, now that I think about it], but, again, more acutely lately. Perhaps that has to do with being less talkative? Having these big gaps in conversation, long periods where I say/type absolutely nothing. Could be. To segue again, I think that's all I have to say. To end this, I am trembling uncontrollably for some reason... oh, wait, it passed. So, I'll end this with something else... oh, I've been eating a ridiculous amount of cereal lately. I don't know why.


EDIT: No, wait, I do have more. I feel very distant from everyone lately. Again, I'm pretty sure all of this goes back to being less talkative. Except for the cereal thing, I think that's unrelated. But, less conversation, less sense of connection? Maybe? When did I become reliant on that connection to feel well? Blegh. The internet's also very frustrating lately, for somewhat related reasons.

Enneagram

Your result for The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test...

6 - the Questioner

Thanks for taking the test !

you chose CY - your Enneagram type is SIX (aka "The Loyalist").

"I am affectionate and skeptical"

Questioners are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family,
friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved
and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

• Be direct and clear.


• Listen to me carefully.


• Don't judge me for my anxiety.


• Work things through with me.


• Reassure me that everything is OK between us.


• Laugh and make jokes with me.


• Gently push me toward new experiences.


• Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a SIX

• being committed and faithful to family and friends


• being responsible and hardworking


• being compassionate toward others


• having intellect and wit


• being a nonconformist


• confronting danger bravely


• being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a SIX

• the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind


• procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence
  in myself


• fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of


• exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger


• wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right


• being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations
  

SIXes as Children Often

• are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and
  stubborn


• are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger


• form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent
  


• look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel


• are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

SIXes as Parents

• are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty


• are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence


• worry more than most that their children will get hurt


• sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele

The Enneagram Made Easy

Discover the 9 Types of People

Harper
SanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages

Take The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test at HelloQuizzy

M.I.A. but not K.I.A.

So, I've been disappeared for the last couple o' days, for the most part. I popped in for a short while on Friday to see what the internets were up to, but, mostly been gone.

I've been working with Tebo on a new film, and we've got a sort of deadline. There's a film festival coming up, the SUNYWide Film Festival [SUNY stands for State University of New York, it's... I don't know what to call it, but, it's a family of dozens of colleges] and Tebo and I wish to enter our short film [called "3 Steps"]. All entries must be in by March 6th, though, so we've been working pretty hard and relatively non-stop to get it done in time. For example, I got up at 7:16 AM yesterday, Tebo came 'round about 8:00 AM or 8:30-ish, somewhere in between there, we went to his house, and worked on the film all day until we left his house at 12:30 AM today, technically. Only time we weren't working was when made a quick run to the post office and when we had some dinner at around 7:40 PM. We didn't rush it, mind you, we just sort of worked on it all at once instead of in bits and pieces over the course of a week or more.

Anyway, so, we finally completed "3 Steps" and I'm exceptionally pleased with it. We put a lot of work in it, did some new stuff for Tebo Productions vids, and it all came out great. Now! The trick is finding some way for anyone other than ourselves to see it. That includes the SUNYWide Film Festival, as we're having issues getting it into the format they want; we'll have to see if they will accept other formats or if it's a "Do it this way or you don't get in!" situation. But, aside from that, we've started working in a much higher quality of video and sound as of "3 Steps", which of course ups the file size, meaning it may not go up on YouTube, we'll see. We far exceed the 100MB file size limit set on non-Partners and I'm not even sure how small we can make it, no matter how much we degrade the quality. It's less than five minutes long and it renders out at 771 MB. So... yep. It may be the greatest Tebo Productions film so far that only a half of a dozen people will ever see.

Not to mention some crediting issues that are starting to aggravate and, to a certain degree, offend me.

Fun little post script to all of that:
At least my body was kind enough not to rebel against me until after we were finished with everything. As I said, left Tebo's at about 12:30 AM and got home around ten to 1:00 AM. Went to bed at 1:30 AM. Woke up sometime around four with awful stomach pains and very nauseous and... just not feelin' well at all. So, y'know, at least this bloated, disgusting carcass within which I reside had the courtesy to wait. It's not usually so kind at all.

Mini-Reviews 30

No Reservations-- Not too bad. I love Aaron Eckhart, that guy's a great actor, and Catherine Zeta-Jones isn't too bad, either. Not a big fan of films that kind of crash-land into the ending, though, and it's fairly cliché, but not a bad little rom-com.


Jet Li's Fearless-- Excellent film. Great fight choreography and a wonderful story. But, if you're someone who hates reading your movies, you won't like it, 95% of it's in Chinese and subtitled English.

Because of the two bowls of Lucky Charms?

So, I'm off to college. Weird start to begin with. I have no idea where, consider it an unnamed location. And it's... odd. We [folk incoming] are all outside on a huuuuge lawn, just chillin'. Oh, P.S., Tebo's apparently going to this college as well. I don't remember him being around at this point, but, it's just dream-knowledge, y'know? Anyway, I don't know who any of the people around me are, but I'm goofin' off with some of them and, of course, checkin' out the ladies present.

So, some sort of announcement is made and we're all heading inside, and people are grabbing their pillows, as we were told to do, and some people are also getting a blanket. One of the people nearby me has a stack of around 15 pillows or so, but I think it may have just been a communal pile because several people are grabbing pillows from it. And, in my dream-head, I wondered if this was something being offered by the facility, but I decide not to chance it and I look around for other alternatives. Because, y'know, I can't go in without a pillow. Lo and behold, I see a pile of my stuff, with a pillow on top! So, I grab it and head inside.

Once inside, we're all herded along to various auditorium/theatres. I walk inside the one I'm directed toward and see that there's not a lot of people yet, so, there's a good choice of seats. I look around and see a relatively empty area off to the left. I take a seat there, near the back, and sit and wait. There is a person [I'm honestly not sure of gender, but I think perhaps male?] to the side of the screen in the front with some sort of machinery, possibly a computer? It kind of looks like a projector, but, clearly a poor angle to project anything on to the screen. Anyway, remember that person is there. As the lights start to dim, a young lady [who looks like Nora Zehetner, but isn't actually her or any of her characters, y'know what I mean? Well, maybe her short-lived character in May. Anyway, it just looks and sounds like her] asks to sit next to me. Being the courteous gentleman I am, I agree.

This part gets kind o' fuzzy [I should have written this down sooner, it's already starting to fade]. A movie started playing on the screen. I don't know exactly what it was, all I remember is that it was lame. And somehow I started to hit it off with the young lady. Then, again somehow, it came to my attention that Tebo was in the same row as me, just across the aisle [did I mention I was sitting in the seat right next to the aisle? I don't think I did] dickin' around on his laptop. And we got talking to something about Batman costumes that we were going to dress up for [not Halloween, I know that much] and he was going to just do his Joker thing again, and he was asking me if I was going to go as Harley Quinn. Or maybe I suggested it? Can't remember for sure. But the young lady [have you noticed I don't know what her name was yet?] interjected with a question about two Batman books [one of which was Joker, I don't remember the second] which we obviously answered for her.

Also, there was something about the kind of humor I'm into that Tebo mentioned. He said something about me being into things that play-on-words, or jokes based around mishearing or misunderstanding. He even had an example from a film, but, I don't remember either the film or the example, but it had something to do with paying for something with a Mandarin orange [that was the misheard line]. I don't even know if that's from a real film or not, but, dream-I was familiar with it.

At this point, the film stopped, the lights turned on, and whomever the guy/gal down at the front was started yelling at me and Tebo to shut up. XD Then the film resumed.

The young lady opens her own laptop and we start typing messages to each other in Notepad. I don't remember what exactly [at least for this part], but I think it was just kind o' light flirty stuff and just general get-to-know-you conversation.

Okay, here's where it gets really weird. A man gets up on the opposite corner of the room and walks around in front of the screen and then up the aisle toward us. Bringing two bags of clothing and his pillow. That's not the weird part, because, and I shit you not, it's Broly. For those of you not as geeky, that's a character from a few Dragon Ball Z movies. Not the television series, the movies. And I don't mean, like, a real person version, either. I mean a cartoon was walking towards us. Like a scene straight out of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, man. How I didn't notice the animé character earlier on in the dream, I don't know. My sub-conscious is just making this up as we go along, it's all ad-lib. And it's not out of place, dream-I does not question it. And he's huge! Not just muscle-bound and ripped, he's also about nine feet tall.

So, anyway, he comes up and he starts strutting and trying to show off for the young lady. XD She shuts him down, though, and in a final effort to show off how strong he is, he throws his two bags and pillow across the auditorium/theatre. The first bag of clothing doesn't make it, it lands on a guy in the audience, who kindly just throws it along to where it's meant to be. The second bag of clothes makes it, and then the pillow doesn't fly far enough and hits another person. Funniest part, a little more dream-knowledge, it's not that his throw isn't strong enough. His aim is awful. XD Broly sulks back to his seat.

We're nearing the end, I promise. The young lady and I resume our Notepad chatting, and she asks me a question... I don't remember what it was, but I remember it being poignant and I turn the laptop away from her so she can't see what I'm typing in response. After a few moments, in the middle of my typing, she teases, "You could have just said 'It's all right.'" To which Tebo pipes up, not even bothering to look up from his laptop screen, "Good luck with that. He's quite verbose." She laughs and smiles at me and then I wake up.

Y'know, dream-Tebo is correct, I'm quite the verbose motherfucker.

I'm Just A Statistic!

I found a study that I can't argue against personally. But I still don't buy it. XD It's worth a laugh, though.

Mini-Reviews 29

Max Payne-- Pretty much boring. I mean, the acting is great, I love Mark Wahlberg and Ludacris was a nice surprise, I didn't know he was in this film, and visually it looks cool, has a very nice comic-book-movie feel to the lighting and shots, but... it just didn't hold my interest, the story was kind o' blah, felt like it needed to be fleshed out more. Y'know what it feels like, to me? A very long first half.

I hate titles, I'm bad at them

The venerable Mr. G mentioned earlier the fact that I don't really update much. I mean, I do the mini-reviews each week, but, I think he meant more of legitimate updates. And there's a good reason for that. First of all, I can never remember details to put into a blog when treating it like a diary or journal; when recounting events. And I the few times I have tried that style of blogging I hate it, I always feel like I'm forgetting something. I'm just not good at that.

As for my usual bloggings about random things or just ranting about how I feel... haven't had any random things I wanted to blog about. I take that back, I did earlier this morning, but I put it off and now I can't remember what it was. And I haven't done any introspective rants about myself because, well, for anything I want to talk about here is someone I don't want to read it whom may or may not still read this blog.

There's something: I never assume anyone reads this thing. Is that strange? Like, I'm always a little bit surprised any time there's a comment. "Oh, whoa, someone read that." Y'know? I dunno, just a little aside.

So, that's why there've not been any updates, except for the mini-reviews, if anyone else was wondering.

Mini-Reviews 28

Knockaround Guys-- Decent movie. I'm really not sure what else to say about it. I don't know that I would recommend it as a must-see to everyone, but, it's still pretty good.

Mini-Reviews 27

Taken-- Excellent film! Liam Neeson kickin' ass and even takin' a few names.


Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist-- Very sweet movie, I think, albeit fairly cliché at times. Still good, and not just because I adore Kat Dennings!


Brick-- Excellent film! I'm not sure I would recommend it to everyone, though. It's a bit quirky and stylized, but an excellent film that keeps you watching. Think film noir with teenagers. There's enough you can figure out on your own but still some things that'll come out of nowhere and surprise you.