.jeri.

Van Helsing

Never mind that Dracula and Frankenstein are old favorites of mine and how I was incredibly incensed when the hideously adapted (into love stories) "Bram Stoker's" Dracula and "Mary Shelley's" Frankenstein were released into theatres. Never mind that Van Helsing was one of my favorite characters from a "monster" novel.

And never mind that the rose window in Notre Dame was crushed, or that Mr. Hyde was more like Quasimoto, or that the makers of this movie had an affinity for bad teeth, or that wooden carriages can explode, or that everyone in this movie is dirty except for Kate Beckinsale, or that this is yet another movie in which werewolves break out of clothes and then magically get them back when they turn into humans, or the myriad coinicdental/conveniant occurrences in this movie.

Never mind any of that.

This movie was meant to be one thing: entertaining.

The action is almost nonstop, lots of humor, it doesn't take itself too seriously, it's creative, it throws every old fiction monster into one pot, and somehow, through all of this, it works. It's got everything, including vampires, werewolves, an exquisite ball, Frankenstein's castle, Dracula's lair, cliffs, broken bridges that must be jumped over, fun weapons, a secret Roman league, memory loss, a funny sidekick, tons of shattered windows, elaborate costumes, and expensive sets. Even the one-liners don't seem tooo cheesy. A couple of hokey moments happen (see: the brides), but overall, I was thoroughly surprised to find that I enjoyed myself.

Who knew?!

p.s. Dollar theatre was okay this time. Josh went with us, and we all got a kick out of the family behind us, who seemed surprised to find that this movie was full of monsters.

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Not 9/11, 451!

When I was a kid, my family was watching Fahrenheit 451 on tv. All I can remember from that moment on was a woman who burned with her books. It scared me and kept me from watching or reading anything Fahrenheit 451 for several years. In fact, I just gave in and read the book this past weekend.

For those who live under a rock, this is a book in which a futuristic society burns all books. A "fireman" is no longer a protector against fires, but a firestarter. One of the firemen, Montag, manages to steal a few books from the homes he sets fire to, and starts to read them. His life begins to change as he discovers the history behind books and why they are burned, and as his relationship with his wife is teetering on the edge of either death or divorce, since her entire life revolves around the interactive TV walls of her living room.

Something really grabbed me when I read this book. Maybe it's the fact that I had been reading so many short Grimm's Fairytales (I'm only 250 out of 600 pages in) that it felt good to get into depth with a character again, or maybe because it raised so many still-relevant points about society and literature. Whatever it was, this book made me want to pick up a million books, to let them offend me, to let them teach me, or challenge me.

I'll have to admit that this is the first book I've read by an author who's still alive. I always thought it was funny that one Buchanan in the English Dept always made it a policy to never read dead authors. I was always his opposite. Not that this book is very recent, but it made me laugh to think about. I think a lot of modern authors write a lot without necessarily saying anything. At first, this book irritated me because it had that similie-filled wordiness that drives me crazy, but once it got rolling, I got involved and enjoyed his writing style.

Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit more than I expected and look forward to reading more of Bradbury's work.

Posted by wendytime at 02:31 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

catching up

What a weekend! Fun times, definitely.

On Friday night, Judi and I went to see Yo play with his band. They were playing with a couple of other bands. The show was at a little whole in the wall that some guy in the other band found, Fitzgerald's in HB. Now, if you look up a place online, and it calls itself a "pub" and a "sportsbar," wouldn't you expect a somewhat decent array of ... food.. and sports stuff? This place is tiny. One TV on, playing Fox Sports Network. No food. Bah. I had to walk over to Taco Bell, which was the only other place around. Booooooo!

Anyway, Yo's girlfriend is moving out, which means we can be friends again, more than just by email. We can actually call each other and hang out, like we used to. His ultimate plan is to have me play keyboards for him in the studio he's set up in his house. Then he wants to play live shows, and I've just been informed that I'll be performing at those. Booooo! All in all, it was a good night - especially when Yo said, "You've been working out, haven't you?" Yes! Someone can finally SEE the difference. It's been about 10 pounds since mid-May.

Saturday, I worked out in the a.m., went to bed for 5 hours, did laundry at my parents, and got ready for Nate and Lindsay's wedding. Lo and behold, as I'm driving down Imperial, the clutch goes down and never comes up! I coasted down the block and into residential zone. Called my mom, had her pick me up, dropped her off, and borrowed the car to go to the wedding. I get there 5 minutes before it begins, look over, and see my in-laws. Could have carpooled! Doh! I see Kristen too, which is another could have carpooled moment. Oh well. The wedding was great. Two people who deserve all the happiness in the world. The reception had a great atmostphere, with white lights everywhere. Good cake too. :)

Sunday was a cleaning day after church. Man, my house had gone to pot. It is now happy again. We went to the Fullerton Trainstation to hang out and watch trains. I swear, there are so many roaches in that area. I'm going to come with roach killer next time.

Posted by wendytime at 04:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Home on the Range

Yes, I went to see this movie on purpose. Shut up. It was early on a Friday, I had a dollar to spend, and wanted to see... anything except Scooby Doo 2, Johnson Family Vacation, or New York Minute. :)

Actually, I have a soft spot for animated features, and I also have a soft spot for criticizing the downward trajectory of Disney's animated features. Thus, filled with doubt as swarms of children stood in line around me, I made my way to the theatre, where I proceded to give little 11-year-olds the evil eye every timet they stared at me. I think it freaked them out.

Everything was going fine for once, at the dollar theatre. I knew it was too good to be true. A quiet audience with no mishaps? Impossible! About 20 minutes in, two fat ladies bumble in, one of them walking straight into me.. when she ran into me, she said she was sorry, and then proceded to sit on the chair next to me. I tried to be quick, but it was too late. My popcorn, which had been sitting on that chair, was smooshed. I gave her some attitude. Then she sat down with her friend and they verbalized all of their internal thoughts until I stared at them for a good amount of time, and they shut up. What morons.

Oh yes, the movie. The movie is filled with background songs, kind of like Shrek. No characters actually singing songs, with the exception of the villain. The background songs are horrendous. The voice of Roseanne as the main cow is a bit weird to get used to. All I could do at first was think about the humor of how she provides the voice for the fattest cow in town. Besides the odd feeling of hearing Renee Zelwegger's and Judi Dench's voices come from cows, the humor itself is horrible. Remember when Disney used simple humor, situational stuff? Well, that's all gone, and Zelwegger's cow is a hippy who rambles on about creating a "wholistic" solution to a problem and "bad energy." I'm trying to remember other bad humor, but to be honest, most of the movie has already left my memory. Sad, really.

It was mildly entertaining, with cute characters such as the pigs, chicks, and goats. A yodelling villain, however, isn't very impressive. I didn't laugh out loud once, but some of the scenes were lively, and enough to keep me amused. The animation reminded me a little bit more of older Disney, which was refreshing. But overall, the movie never really picked up. Oh well. I guess that's what I was expecting.

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bizarre things on the web

http://www.tourbus.com/bizarre.htm

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Hellboy the second

So last night we went to the dollar theatre to watch Hellboy again. I'd have to say that I enjoyed it even more sober, which surprised me.

The one thing about this movie experience was ... this guy in front of us, to the right. He thought he was damn smart and decided to let everyone hear his intelligent commentary on the movie.

Thus, as Hellboy has his first onscreen encounter with Liz, this guy says aloud to his friends, "HUH HUH... SHE'S HELLBITCH! A-HUH HUH HUH HUH HUH HUH HUH!" His laugh is kind of like goofy mixed with a real person's laugh. It's horrid.

Other such comments continued throughout the whole movie. One of my favorite moments of brilliance was when Hellboy followed Liz and Myers on their "date." The guy said, "HUH HUH... STALKER! A-HUH HUH HUH HUH HUH HUH HUH!"

I started mimicking him throughout the movie, although I don't think he heard me over his own laughter. And this wasn't some dopey teenager, or even an annoying college kid. This guy was like 35 years old.

I just don't get it.

Posted by wendytime at 03:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

fun times

Fun weekend.

I'd like to extend another happy birthday to Brendan. We had a good time at the Mongolian place and Coldstone, and then went back to Gron's to watch Battle Royale. The Lowitskis joined us for dinner. That was nice of them. :) Battle Royale was awesome.

And I'd also like to extend another happy birthday to Dan and Jenine, who had a great party on Saturday. They revamped their entire apartment with cloths and lights and decorations. We had "cocktail" foods (finger foods) and there were plenty of cocktails shaking up. The hookah was especially sweet. The games were great fun. Overall, it was quite a success!

Of course, Sunday was Father's Day. I didn't have any time for my own father. Oops. We went out to dinner with Ric's family to a place where you either choose a steak or ribs. I had all of the side dishes: baked potato, corn on the cob, salad, bread, etc.

Overall, it was a really fun weekend. I even had a chance to go see the Harry Potter movie again. I liked it better than the first time, but I still have issues. Seriously, consistency is key. If an animal turns into a human and has clothes, then why does he lose the clothes when he turns back into an animal?

Posted by wendytime at 01:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Chronicles of Riddick

I enjoyed the movie Pitch Black for what it was. When I saw the trailers for Chronicles of Riddick, I noticed how elaborate the new movie seemed in comparison with the old. That worried me. But I kept up hope and went to see COR. And, of course, I was disappointed.

It's not that I didn't like it at all. I thought it was entertaining. I actually still like the character of Riddick.

What I had a problem with was: insane editing, over the top acting, and incomplete storylines (as pointed out by Ebert).

The editing was horrible. Especially in the fight scenes, the flashing sequences left me wondering in what proximity the characters were to each other, or even where they were.

What I liked about Pitch Black was its simplicity in style. The lead was a very animalistic person who approached things simply. The direction didn't need flare - the story and characters were enough. In this movie, it was as if they had to do everything extravagantly, and with a higher budget come the stupid things to focus on: how many shots of Diesel looking strong do we need? I get it - the man has muscles!

Thandie Newman (Dame Vaako) seems to have lost talent rather than building it up. She's gone from the subtle woman of a Bertolucci film to on overblown, ridiculous character. Vaako is the epitome of terrible acting. And what is Judi Dench doing in the middle of all this? Sticking out like a sore thumb, that's what.

And, as Ebert pointed out, the movie starts up some characters and drops them for the majority of the story. Whatever happened to the little girl, Ziza? What's up with Aereon?

Although it didn't always make sense (see: running away from the sun scene) overall, I don't want to say I hated COR. It was definitely entertaining, but it seems to have lost the quality with its bigger budget.

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3-D Ultrasound of my nephew-to-be

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Whataweekend

Friday: Went to get tanned, a haircut, went baby shower shopping. I love short Fridays. We closed escrow on our AZ house! Tons of paper-signing with the notary. We ended up going out to eat with Ric's family to celebrate.

Saturday: Workout in a.m. Met up with Joe Lee at Disneyland. His wedding gift was to sign us in to the park. So we got to go to both parks for free. Joe has turned quite peppy since being hired there. That's an understatement. Joe made us try out the Tower of Terror ride. There's no way in heck I'm ever getting back onto that ride. I hate straight drops, and the impredictability of how far we were going to drop each time drove me crazy. But we had a fun time. At night we went to see Chronicles of Riddick. Review coming soon.

Sunday: nothing day. We went to church, hung out at home, did laundry, deconstructed a shelving unit we had stored in our hallway, and I rewatched The Funeral and Trainspotting. I also watched Hannibal at my parents' when I did laundry. I'm glad I didn't spend money on it at the theatre.

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Fun stuff

80s Games... Nothing new, really..

But the funnest part for me is playing with the border around the page.

Posted by wendytime at 03:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

R.I.P.

This man has made me smile almost any time I see his face or hear his voice.

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Hidalgo

Surprisingly enough, this movie wasn't all that bad. Some of the side characters were a little bit much, but overall, Viggo Mortensen has proved himself again. If he can speak the languages of Elves and Native Americans, I'm impressed.

This movie isn't just about a race. It's a lot slower than I expected, but I enjoyed it. The horses are beautiful. Some of the cinematography is too.

It wasn't Oscar-worthy, but it was a good little flick to watch for free (yes I know it seems cheap, but I have all of these certificates for free movies at the dollar theatre).

This was our first time back to the dollar theatre since our incident at Secret Window. Some college kids were a little bit annoying, but 20 times better than what we experienced before.

Posted by wendytime at 03:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Checked it out first thing on Friday. I was disappointed. I just re-read the book in anticipation of it, so maybe that's my fault. But when Ric pointed out things he didn't like about the movie, it was either stuff that didn't receive enough attention in the movie, or stuff that never happened in the book.

I appreciated that the movie felt more mature, but I think it lost the charm. It's like the magical world is simply a background, and didn't seem so special anymore. The music was a big part of creating this feeling in the first couple of movies. I really felt like overall the movie could have been a bit longer. Yes, that would be bordering on LOTR length, but in order for the story not to seem so choppy and unsettled, I think it's necessary. They left out the history of the four friends, HOW Sirius escaped (or how he knew he needed to), almost everything having to do with the actual school year, an intro to Cho Chang, they didn't really emphasize Hogsmeade or what the big deal was about it, or why the shrieking shack and the womping willow were created, or the first time Gryffindor actually won the school quidditch series. There's more.

But basically, I think this rendition is very much an adaptation. It lost the feel of the book for me, it lost the charm, and it left out so much. Sure, it looked great, and was more mature, but I really think it lacked in storytelling and "magic." And it lacked timelessness. Putting the kids in regular school clothes does give them individuality, but it makes the setting seem less magical. Does that make sense?

I'm going to to back again and give it a second shot, but at first impression, I appreciated the look, but was really disappointed.

Posted by wendytime at 12:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Saved!

Saw it on Friday. I liked it.

I think it pokes fun but is not aggressively mean to Christians.

Overall, this movie was rather light-hearted and not the blasphemous controversy-starting movie it sounded like from all of the attention it received. I don't agree with the overall conclusions at the end, but I don't think one has to agree in order to enjoy it. The characters are all an exaggeration of the types of people I've encountered through 17 years of Christian schooling. But that's the thing - they were obvious exaggerations, and nothing to take seriously.

Oh yeah:
1) they give Christians too much credit for quality of chapel music
2) Christians don't have proms!! they have "Spring Banquets"

Posted by wendytime at 12:34 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Which Pirates of the Caribbean Character are You?

Aye Mate you're Jack Sparrow, savy? You are fun to be
with and your word can always be trusted even
though it may not seem like it sometimes. You
Don't need romance because all you want is a
ship and crew to sail, steal, and plunder!


Which Pirates of the Carribean Character Are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

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tommy & pieces of april

Tommy

All right, I finally made myself sit down and watch The Who's Tommy. Previously, I had seen bits and pieces of it and always thought it was ridiculous. I started watching it, with an extreme dislike of the music, but the storyline was drawing me in. As the plot progressed, I hated the storyline and liked the music more. Nice reversal. Watching Tommy is definitely a psychedelic experience. It doesn't really make any sense, and you basically have to let go and just accept that a blind guy is a pinball wiz who is worshiped by many adoring fans.

For those who haven't seen it, basically a woman whose husband is supposedly MIA in the war has a baby, Tommy. When she remarries and the father shows up, Tommy witnesses the couple murdering his father. He then becomes psychologically blind, deaf, and mute. He grows up, and after a bunch of junk happens, he discovers a pinball machine in a junkyard and becomes "the pinball king" or something to that effect.

I basically followed up to that point, and then just watched to see what happened. The acid queen was crazy but entertaining. The crap having to do with mirrors must have meant something, but I didn't look into it too deeply. The mother rolling aroud in.. mud or chocolate.. was INSANE.

Anyhoo, seeing Tommy go through so much crap and seeing the mom always be so tormented just got me more and more upset. I just wanted to smack them both. And the movie itself just because it was crazy.

Pieces of April

This is a nice little IFC movie about a) a long lost daughter (Katie Holmes in a somewhat non-believable getup) of the family who is trying to fix up a nice Thanksgiving dinner for her family and b) the family's drive to her place in New York - the entire family is skeptical that a former rebel will produce anything good, the grandma doesn't recognize anyone in the family, and the mother is dying of cancer.

Very pleasant movie. The neighbors April meets in her quest to find an oven to bake her turkey are all interesting and offer a lot of humor. I have a hard time believing that a character played by Katie Holmes has ever done anything REALLY bad, but I got over that and enjoyed it for what it was. Oliver Platt is wonderful as always, and Patricia Clarkson was a special treat as the mom.

Good movie.

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Which Villain are You?

I took the most accurate villain personality test
created by: The Arch Villainess Gracie

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Which Book of the Bible are You?

You are Romans.


Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

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The Saddest Music in the World

If only this movie were truly about finding the saddest music in the world! Imagine immersing an audience into a wide variety of sad music, from all parts of the world, telling the stories behind each type of music. I think that would make an interesting movie.

Instead, the actual contest in this movie puts one type of music vs. another in practically a gong-show like atmosphere, where the winner of each round slides down into a giant swimming pool of beer. The announcers explain the music, in exaggerated tones that must exist to make the movie audience laugh. But why? Why does the music have to be taken jokingly? I guess because the movie is actually a comedy - something I had to look up online to confirm for myself after having seen it.

The "saddest music" contest, started by Lady Port-Huntley in Winnepeg, 1933, is not truly a contest, but rather a backdrop to the story of the Lady's amputated legs, her canniving lover, his nymphomaniac lover who is actually the missing wife of his grieved brother, and a drunken father whose purpose in the story is mainly to provide a pair of glass legs to the Lady.

The story of the characters is random, exaggerated, and uninvolving for the audience. I didn't feel for any of the characters (not sure if I was really supposed to or not), not just because of who they were, but also because I could hardly ever tell which parts of the movie I was actually supposed to take seriously (if there were any). It may have looked neat with the differently sized film and the transitions here and there from black and white to color, but the visual stimulation can't make a ridiculous story any less ridiculous - at least in this case.

I spent the first half of The Saddest Music in the World trying to decide whether I thought it was imaginative or lame. Once I reached the halfway mark, I was ready to go, but somehow compelled to stay. By the end, I realized it was both imaginative AND lame.

But it may click with other people out there. I guess since I went in not really knowing what to expect at all, it really confused me when it turned out to be a comedy - and the type of comedy it was just didn't make me laugh.

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map of springfield

This is interesting.

Posted by wendytime at 10:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Day After Tomorrow

Like I thought, this movie was not made to make an audience think OR act. It was fun to watch some of the weather abnormalities (although most were in the trailer). It was basically eye candy here and there, with a little bit too much character/story development.

At the very end, the President gives a speech that basically spoon-feeds the audience with the whole "we're burning up our resources" idea, but really, all anyone cares about is seeing shots of the earth covered with snow or water.

The parts having to do with Americans illegally crossing Mexico's border were a bit much as well.

Overall, entertaining for the weather, but absolutely nothing special otherwise. I got what I expected.

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