Don't Make Spontaneous Statements About Your Facial Hair

In my opinion one of my friends is spending way too much time with his girlfriend. For a physical representation of this I came up with an idea. The last time I saw him I told him I would not shave until the next time we hung out. Since I only see him every month or so, the next time I saw him he would go "Whoa you have a mustache I guess I haven't seen you in awhile."

Well this happened over a month ago. And since that time I have not shaved, I have trimmed some spots but kept the main areas of my facial hair untouched. I now realize that I haven't seen him in liked 5 week and I think he is going on vacation for a couple of weeks so I probably wouldn't see him anytime soon. So I need to break my promise and shave it all off. Its starting to feel really itchy sometimes and it's not a good look at all. I also need a hair cut but thats unrelated.

Knowing (2008)

2008
Thriller
Nicholas Cage, Rose Byrne

In Knowing a time capsule is dug up at an elementary school. In the capsule there is a piece of paper covered in random numbers. As it turns out, they are not random as Nicholas Cage's character finds out, they tell the time place and death toll of major disasters from the time it was buried and written (1959) until the present day, and into the near future. When the characters figure this out they scramble to see what if anything they can do with this information to avoid what is coming, which may just be the end of the world.

I never really heard too much positive stuff about this movie. The only reason I rented it was I saw that one reviewer said the disasters shown in this movie look really good, and he was right. In Knowing they probably show the most realistic plane crash I have ever seen in a movie. Not just the impact of the plane on the ground but the aftermath. Flaming bodies and debris everywhere. The disasters in this movie are vey realistic. They do not tone it down. There is a lot of blood and body parts flying around on screen. It is gritty, realistic, exciting, and it all looks fantastic.

This movie stars Nicholas Cage. He somehow is considered a good actor (critically), while at the same time being horrible in a bunch of movies. I think he was perfect for this role. I mean he plays kind of a nervous professor which I think fit him well. Knowing was directed by Alex Proyas, director of the fantastic Dark City. If you haven't seen Dark City, check it out. With Knowing and Dark City under his belt (and iRobot but I haven't seen it) it is clear that he knows what he is doing with a movie. I already mentioned it, but the whole thing looked incredible. I can't wait to see the next movie he directs.

There is a great documentary about doomsday cults and apocalyptic beliefs on the DVD, so if you rent it, make sure to watch that too.

When I said I didn't hear too much positive stuff about this movie it was because most people said the ending sucked. Stuff like "it was okay until the ending." I do not agree. When you look at what is going on in the movie (parnormal things) and everything before it, the ending made perfect sense to me. In fact, I liked the ending.

I say ignore the negative you heard about this movie and rent it. Just be ready for an interesting sci fi thriller that is a little deeper than plane crashes and explosions (though those are probably my favorite parts).

3 out of 5 Stars

Factoid: During one disaster scene there is a shot of the hotel (and the specific room) I stayed at in New York City, blowing up.

Pineapple Express (2008)

2008
Comedy
Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride

From Hot Rod we come to Pineapple Express. This is the next movie I am talking about after Hot Rod for 2 reasons: Danny McBride, and I took way too long to see it.

The premise follows Seth Rogen as a process server (gives people summons for court) who is a pot head. After buying some special new weed from his dealer, James Franco, he goes to serve someone with a summons. When he gets there though he witnesses a murder. And the chase is on. He and James Franco are on the run from the murderers because they know they have seen too much. That's the set up. They run into various characters along the way including Danny McBride's Red, Gary Cole, and"that black guy from the warehouse on the Office."

James Franco basically made the movie for me. His character is high and/or burnt out throughout the whole movie, and it's hilarious. He goes on these rambling run offs about random shit and easily gets distracted by anything goin on around him. Basically everything he said made me laugh. Which is sort of ironic because if I with somebody like him in real life I would probably be super annoyed.


Seth Rogen is of course the main character of the movie. He has some funny parts but for the most part plays the straight man for the all the ridiculous situations around him. Danny McBride isn't in much of the movie, but when he is on screen it's great. There is a scene at the end of the movie with three leads having a conversation which made me laugh the whole time it was going on.


Regardless of whether I got the point of across in the above writing or not, Pineapple Express is one of the funniest movies I have seen in well probably forever. Probably my favorite comedy since Superbad. I am so mad at myself for not watching it sooner, especially since my brother had a copy of it the whole time. Even though this was advertised as a pot comedy, you don't have to know anything about marijuana in order to enjoy it.

4 out of 5 Stars

Hot Rod (2007)

2007
Comedy
Starring: Andy Samber, Danny McBride, Bill Hader and many more
"My name is Rod, and I like to party."

Recently I have watched a few movies that when they came out, people told me were "okay" or "had a few funny parts." Basically, nobody gave them rave reviews. One of these movies I put off watching until today was Hot Rod. And I am mad I put it off so long.

For those who don't know Hot Rod follows the exploits of Andy Samberg's character Rod. Who is an amateur stuntman, whose stunts usually end up failing. But he has to pull off a major stunt (jumping 15 buses) to raise $50,000 for what one of the characters calls "a conveniently priced surgery" to save his step dad's life. Of course he only wants to save his life so he can beat the crap out of him to hopefully earn his respect.

The first thing that struck me about this movie was the amount of note worthy actors in it. Basically every major character is somebody you recognize, and most likely found very funny, from another movie. I mean the cast is: Andy Samber, Bill Hader, Isla Fischer, Danny McBride, Ian McShane, Sissy Spacke, Will Arnet. That is quite the line up, for me at least. I should focus on Danny McBride because I didn't know he was in this movie before I watched it. Afer some of my recent viewing I have come to the conclusion that he is one of the funniest guys around. He makes me laugh in everything he has done. In Hot Rod he has what I think is the funniest scene in the movie, where he flips out for no reason.

I will admit that most of this movie is really stupid, but that doesn't matter, because it's funny. Its comedy is a mix of slap stick and one liners, from basically all major cast member. It occasionally lovingly mocks 80s movies, but only for short bursts because it is not a spoof or anything. Though the use of 80s music during montages is perfect for the feel of the movie. I am mad I put off watching this for so long. It kept me laughing throughout, which is all I really ask for

3.5 out of 5 Stars

Factoid: This movie was originally written for Will Ferrel

My Top 11 (plus some) Albums of 2008

* I am only posting this because I already had it written up and figured I might as well post it here. I also added some myspace links for the lesser known acts if you want to check the bands out. My rankings may have changed since I made the list, but how it is now is fine. I am sure there are albums that I like from 2008 that I left off the list but thats okay (like I just added on the Demi Lovato album, it should probably be in the top 10 but I dont want to think about where). Onto the list...

Honorable Mention:
Motionless in White - When Love Met Destruction
The Crosstown Rivalry - Pull Down the Sky
Valencia - We All Need A Reason to Believe
T.I. - Paper Trails
Superchick - Rock What Ya Got
Lil Wayne - Carter III
Anberlin - New Surrender
Underoath - Lost In the Sound of Seperation
Sugarland - Love on the Inside


Runners Up:
16. Fireflight - Unbreakable
15. Driving East - The Future of the Free World
14. Fight Fair - Settle the Score (http://www.myspace.com/fightfair)
13. Jacks Mannequin - Glass Passenger
12. Demi Lovato - Don't Forget

11. Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge - Alestorm is a metal band from Scotland. To be more specific, they are a pirate metal band. Which means all their songs are about being pirates and stuff related to being pirates. Its over the top, sort of ridiculous, but totally awesome. I love them. They had an EP come out this year too, but I dont think they both needed to be listed.
http://www.myspace.com/alestorm

10. Taylor Swift - Fearless - I love Taylor Swift and am not afraid to admit it. I expected this album to be #1, but was let down by it. Too many slow songs for my tastes, but no real bad songs. I am excited for her next effort, since she recently got dumped and that usually precedes quality music.

9. House of Heroes - The End is Not the End - Great rock album from a Christian band. Just listen to the song Codename:Raven, its good and like most other stuff you hear.
http://www.myspace.com/houseofheroes

8. Hit the Lights - Skip School, Start Fights - Great pop punk from my boys from Lima, OH. If you want pop punk, they should be in your first few choices. I am not sure if I like this more than their debut or not, but they are both good.
http://www.myspace.com/hitthelights

7. Less Than Jake - GNV FLA - If you don't know what to expect from a LTJ album by now, you are missing out. I have not seen another band keep up the quality after so many releases like LTJ does.
http://www.myspace.com/lessthanjake

6. Lady Antebellum - s/t - A great debut from this country trio. Just quality pop country. They remind me of Little Big Town (one of my favorites), but with less focus on vocal harmonys and more on excellent individual parts in songs that both males and females can relate to.
http://www.myspace.com/ladyantebellum

5. Shai Hulud - Misanthropy Pure - New singer, but SH still brings it. One of my all time favorite bands, though I can admit I like their other albums more. This is a great album, good imagery, good breakdowns. They invented metalcore and are the best at it.
http://www.myspace.com/profoundhatred

4. Addison Road - s/t - Another female fronted band. Just heartfealt light rock here. Just a lot of great songs you'll want to listen to again and again.
http://www.myspace.com/addisonroad

3. Hey Monday - Hold On Tight - They are basically Paramore, but better. The songs are catchy, the music is good, the singer has a good voice, and she is hot
http://www.myspace.com/heymonday

2. A Day Away - Here We Go Again - The best pop punk I have heard in years. I usually think debut albums have the most heart, and this reinforces that. For whatever reason many pop punk fans have not even heard of this band, which boggles my mind. If you want pop punk, check them out.
http://www.myspace.com/adayawayband

1. Krystal Meyers - Make Some Noise - Usually when an artist decides to drastically change their sound, I don't like it, but I love the change KM has made. She went from a very pop rock, almost Avril Lavigne vibe, to a euro pop dance club vibe, and pulled it off. I don't listed to that kind of music at all, but I love this album. Check out the songs Shine and Make Some Noise, they are my favorites.
http://www.myspace.com/krystalmeyers


Closing Thoughts:
The main thing this list shows, is that I have a hard time making a list of only 10 things. Every few minutes I kept remembering another album from this year that I liked. In all reality the number 1 and 2 spots could easily be switched and I wouldn't care. They are both albums I like a lot. I guess this year was a big year for female vocalists for me, taking almost have of the top 10 spots.
Now time to start listening to 2009 albums...

I need to watch some newer movies

At most I usually am only interested in watching one movie that is released on DVD each week. Well lately not even that many have interested me. Lately all I have been watching is TV shows on DVD or anime. Well Watchmen finally came out and I added that to my queue so I will finally see that. Most of the TV shows I am watching are from HBO since it is one the few channels I do not get. They also take their time (take too long) to release stuff on DVD after it has aired.

What I've watched the last few weeks: Entourage, Eastbound and Down, Neon Genesis Evangelion

DVDs out Soon I want to see: Adventureland, I Love You Man, Flight of the Conchords Season 2, Watchmen

I also need to stop being lazy and write up some recent movies I have seen (Gran Torino, Surveillance) before I forget what I want to say about them.

Push (2009)

2009

Sci-Fi/Action

Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle
Similar to: X Men, Heroes, The 4400

I heard a lot of reviews comparing Push to Heroes, and even though I have never seen Heroes, it sounds like comparison is about right. In the movie a bunch of people have special powers, results of experiment done by the government. Well of course, there are good guys with powers, and bad guys with powers. Based on the previews and the name of the movie I expected everybody to have the same power. I expected them to all be throwing objects and people all around the screen using their mine, but thats not the case. There are a bunch of differnet power sets, each with their own cool name, "Wipers" "Sniffers"etc. "Pushers" seem to be the most powerful, they can make anyone believe anything as the truth just by looking at them. This power causes some problems though, because everytime a Pusher in on screen you never know whether what other people are doing is real, or if they are bein manipulated.
I heard a lot of people describe this movie as "the one where Dakota Fanning wears a skirt." And that is true, she wears a skirt the whole time. Not in this movie, but I am calling it, in like a year or so, she is going to be really hot. I think the only other movie I have seen Dakota Fanning in was War of the Worlds where she was the most annoying character in the history of film. So thankfully she is not that annoying in this movie. This movie also co stars Camilla Belle who I think is probably the hottest actress working today, even though I have never seen a movie with her in it before. Her acting isn't anything special in this movie, but then again this isn't really a good movie to showcase acting talent in.
Based on the trailer for this movie you would think that there is a lot of action. There really isn't though. However the bits (including a big scene at the end) where there is action are really welld done. There should have been more.
One of my favorite things about this movie was that it was set in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is probably the place I want to visit the most in the world. If anybody wants to go with me, let me know, it would be real bonus if you speak Cantonese by the way. I blame my love for Hong Kong on watching too many John Woo and Chow Yun Fat movies. Hong Kong is such a big and colorful city, only Tokyo comes close in comparison. It provides a great back drop for this or any story. I am about to post a link to a picture that shows what an awe inspring place Hong Kong can be WARNING THIS IS A GIANT PICTUE, so it will take a while to load, but it is totally worth it.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Hong_Kong_Skyline_Restitch_-_Dec_2007.jpg
The plot of Push starts off okay but gets really muddled down as it goes. All the various powers really just make the story confusing. When you have characters that can predict the future and others that can convince you that you are really on the other side instantly, its hard to know what is real or what is going on, or why. Half of the set up for the finale of the film is just setting up fake events to confuse the people who predict the future but all that does is waste time and probably confuse some people in the audience.
So what did I think of this movie? I really don't know. I can't tell if I liked it or not. There are some things I liked about it, but parts of the plot were stupid and distracting. I also predicted teh final scene with about an hour left in the movie, not to brag or anything. I guess there are worse ways to watch 2 hours watching a movie.

2 or 3 Stars... aka, I am still not sure