This movie had a lot of assumptions made about it, good and bad, from people all over the country before it even ran a single frame. The director, Roland Emmerich, is responsible for such summer blockbuster fare as Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, and the awesomely bad Godzilla. He has earned a reputation of being the “Master of Disaster”, and unfortunately most of his movies have not been well received. This movie also tackles the somewhat controversial idea that the world is going to end in the year 2012. It does however, feature some of the most spectacular visual effects ever put on screen, showing us images that are almost completely overwhelming. So while I think the world can agree that this one’s not going to win any Oscars anytime soon, it’s also going to be an awesome ride.
So let me just start by saying that I LOVED Independence Day. It still stands as one of my favorite movies of all time. That’s just my type of movie, I really dig the disaster genre and so can usually look the other way on the fact that some of them are very poorly made (I’m looking at you The Day After Tomorrow and The Core). But I really do think that this is one of the better ones, certainly Emmerich’s best since Independence Day. The plot is incredibly simple, the world is ending. There is some glazed over semi-scientific explanation that I know wouldn’t hold up to even a Jr. High level science class. We see the bulk of the destruction through the eyes of John Cusack who plays the sterotype divorced guy who’s trying to build some sort of relationship with his kids while his ex-wife is happily living with some boring guy who happens to be great with kids. We find that the government has, of course, seen this disaster coming for a few years and has developed some sort of plan to save as many people as possible. This plan comes complete with the charming scientist who is the moral center of the universe and the stuck up government stooge who thinks he knows what’s best for the entire human race. There’s a hilarious cameo by Woody Harrelson as the conspiracy theorist hippie who sees it all coming but ends up getting baked (by lava, what were you thinking?) Oh, and the President of the United States is played by Danny Glover, how awesome is that?
So the stage is set, and before you know it the explosions begin. The idea is that the Earth is basically being cooked by solar flares, so we first see an increasing number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The first target of course is California and we see one of the most amazing scenes of destruction ever put on film. It literally looks as if the planet simply opens up and swallows Los Angeles completely. For anyone who enjoys seeing the incredible and unbelievable, this is a visual feast for the eyes. For the next hour and a half, we get treated to more mayhem including Washington DC being crushed by a tidal wave, the eruption of the Super-Volcano in Yellowstone Park, and the flooding of the Himalayas. All the while John Cusack and his family narrowly escape death at every turn. The ending does disappoint me a little as they don’t cash in on the seemingly obvious and slightly more awesome way to wrap things up. I don’t want to spoil anything though, so you can ask me on Facebook if you want more thoughts.
All in all, I had a lot of fun in this movie. Let me be clear, it is not a high-class piece of art. It’s sheer popcorn, but sometimes I love me some popcorn. The dialogue is pretty bad, it takes itself just seriously enough to give you some emotional investment. But you don’t want to invest in some characters too much, because you never know who’s going to be the next to fall into an earthquake or get swallowed by lava. 2012 relies on all the well tread formulas and stereotypes that you want to see in a movie like this. A lot of the characters are pretty weak and their relationships seem a bit forced, but you simply don’t have time with everything else going on to focus on a budding romance or a subtle interaction between a father and a daughter. But let’s face it; you’re not going to see 2012 for the characters. It honestly would’ve been a perfectly good movie without any real characters at all, just lots of action and explosions. It’s certainly not for everyone, but judging by the $300 million it pulled in on it’s opening weekend alone, plenty of people are enjoying the end of the world.
away by the crowd that was gathered in this smaller theater even when the movie has been out for a week or more. Every age group was represented, from the two REALLY old ladies sitting next to me, to the posse of twenty-something girls two rows back, a lot of folks who looked to be in there 30-40’s (probably Jacko’s prime audience). There were junior high and high school students, teens on dates, and strangest of all to me was the group of about 5 young boys who couldn’t be older than 9 or 10 years old. At the end of the movie, one of these young kids even spouted “I got to hear my jams!” I couldn’t believe the sheer amount of draw that this one man’s music holds over this country even though he’s been out of the music scene for the decade. He hasn’t recorded a song since that little boy was born and yet he was a hero to this kid. Now granted, Michael has had his fair share of press, good and bad, in the last few years, but even that situation is not exactly prone to ingratiate him into a young boy’s heart if you know I mean. The truth of the matter is, irregardless of what you think of Michael as a person, his music has absolutely transformed American pop culture.
young to remember his early days with the Jackson 5 and even for the bulk of his solo career. The only thing that I specifically remember about Michael Jackson’s music from my youth is the song that he recorded for the soundtrack to Free Willy (which is still an awesome movie and the song “Will You Be There” is still one of my favorites). Maybe it’s also got to do with the drastic changes he made to his appearance and the outrageous life that he lived, but I really thought of him more as a character on TV than a real life celebrity. This movie certainly removed that false notion, you see Michael in a very human light, no make-up, no pretenses, just him doing what he did best.
mean, he really was one of the most creative and innovative dancers to ever live. He’s doing moves in his 50’s that most people couldn’t pull off in their 20’s. I mean, think about it, he was 50 years old, you know what other celebrities are in their 50’s, try Alec Baldwin, definitely not going to be pulling any moonwalking anytime soon, he’d have a stroke trying to do what Michael’s doing.
Or try even another guy famous for his dance moves, Patrick Swayze, he died just recently at the age of 56, but he sure wasn’t shaking those hips anytime in the last decade. Michael was the consummate performer, he knows every note and every word of every song he’s ever released, and can dance flawlessly along with each one. I wonder what would happen when he would be in his car and one of his songs came on the radio, I don’t think he could help but to do all the moves right there is his seat.
So if you’re anything like me, when it comes to my computer and files, I like things organized and easy to use. Especially when it comes to my music and videos as that is a large part of what fills my computer. Unfortunately, that seems to be the antithesis of what iTunes is all about. Now I’m a Windows user, never owned a Mac in my life. So that obviously puts me at a disadvantage when it comes to using iTunes. But I like podcasts and I like a large selection of music available to me, and that’s why I’m forced to use iTunes. I know that I can download podcasts from other sources like Zune Marketplace, Winamp, or straight from the source site, but the truth is, no matter what your preference is, you have to admit that iTunes simply has the most podcasts available and the easiest method of acquiring them. Also, when you are looking for music to buy, the iTunes store has a selection like no other. They are unmatched when it comes to having smaller artists and great deals. Plus, they give out more free material than any other download site. This fall, as primetime TV shows were premiering and returning to the air, iTunes offered free HD complete episodes of shows like Trauma, Community, White Collar, and much more. As well, they can offer discounted CD’s, pre-orders, rental movies, audiobooks, and entire season passes of TV series. So basically, they are as close to one-stop shopping as you can get for music and video content.
alphabetizing your songs. The playlist controls offer nothing to someone who might use it to DJ a party or something like that. The most annoying thing is that Apple, in all their self-righteous wisdom, makes ALL of their files use a proprietary file format so that songs and videos are incompatible with any other piece of software. But the thing that has set me off today is their ridiculous update strategy. Just about every two weeks like clockwork, they release an update which is anywhere from 50-100MB (no small amount for a simple software update). Each update requires a system restart, re-reading and accepting their terms and conditions, reloading your entire media library (which is HUGE for me), and then after all that time and effort, you realize that the update has changed NOTHING. In fact, it’s running even slower now than it was before, and it’s always been a memory hog. I just don’t understand how the most popular software of the most popular computer company in the world can be so absolutely lame. I mean, even my highly advanced Adobe Master Suite software which is a professional level creative engine can update itself in about two minutes without having to restart the computer.
iPhone. I personally think that these devices are mostly overrated. I’m not a fan of the Zune either, same 
overblown price for worse hardware. Personally, I’m completely satisfied with the much simpler (and cheaper) Sandisk line of MP3 players. You can get an 8GB player with a 2” screen for $49.99 online that is way easier to use than an iPod, sounds the same, and even has a microSD slot so you can add as much memory as you like. Honestly, the only Apple product that I could see myself ever owning is the iPhone, and even then only really for the Apps. I just can’t bring myself to spend such a ridiculous amount of money for something like that.
2. Guys! Get your wife a Snuggie…
can’t get out jogging like you talked about doing during the summer). Some good choices might include Predator, any of the Die Hard movies, Armageddon, Terminator, and anything starring Steven Seagal. It’s also a good time because the big summer block-busters come out on DVD and Blu-Ray in the early winter (i.e. – Transformers 2, Star Trek, Terminator 4).
are some romantic comedies like Love Actually or Sleepless in Seattle that you can enjoy as a couple and have it be ok because , well hey it’s the holidays. As well, around Christmas time, everyone has some movies that are a tradition, it’s just not Christmas until you watch… The Christmas Story or Ernest Saves Christmas or whatever. My personal favorite, one that I absolutely HAVE to watch at least once per holiday season, is A Muppet’s Christmas Carol. Don’t judge me, the Muppets are awesome.
novels to text books to theleogical studies and so on. I’ve also recently started listening to the audiobook while I’m reading along with it. It allows me to read faster than I normally would, and I seem to process more of the material. There are a lot of great websites to get cheap audiobooks to download, I personally use Audible.com (if you’re interested, I can tell you how to get your first book free), and there is also a site out there that works like Netflix for audiobooks. Some books in particular that I’m reading currently or am planning on reading are Desiring God by John Piper, Sticky Church by Larry Osborne, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, Prophet by Frank Perretti, and The Pleasures of God by John Piper. Also, Mark Driscoll has a new book coming out in January called Doctrine, but I’ll post more about that when it comes out.
So after a long time of having to wait, I finally got to see District 9 last night. I’d been careful to avoid listening to too many reviews or spoilers because I really wanted to experience this movie on its own merits and not just follow the hype. I’ve got to say that I’m glad I did, because it proved just how good this movie is.
Two things that I mostly noticed about this movie: First of all, this whole movie was shot on the Red Camera. The Red Camera is THE hot item in the video world right now. It’s digital rather than film, is fairly compact, but shoots probably the most incredible and detailed high-definition video of any camera on the market ever. The footage that comes off of these cameras is, in my opinion, the best picture you can get. If you ask me, it looks better than actually being there. Mars Hill Church uses these to film their sermons and they maintain that the video is better than what you see live. The other feature that makes this the ultimate camera is that they are cheap! While $18,000 may not sound like a steal, it really is if you’ve ever shopped for professional cameras. Hollywood studios can shoot on five of these for the price of one of their normal film cameras. Honestly, while it’s beyond my wildest dreams to buy one of my own, if I could I would buy one in a heartbeat. This is going to revolutionize the film industry because it allows almost any aspiring filmmaker to get ahold of the best camera on the market. While this will undoubtedly lead to a proliferation of crap being produced, it also means that the gold that has been buried for years in film makers who never get their shot in Hollywood will finally see the light of day thanks to the Red.
Spielberg, this was directed by a virtual unknown, indie film maker Neill Blomkamp, a prodigy of Peter Jackson who produced District 9. It takes place in Johannesburg of all places, not New York, not LA, not even America. The story is unlike anything ever seen before. The parallels between apartheid, the concentration camps, and the genocides in Africa serve to root the emotional foundation for the story in a way that far surpasses the cheap, melodrama that we are offered in less quality films like Transformers 2. For those who say that there are no new ideas and that the movie industry is getting stale, this movie is a shining example that there is a long and exciting future ahead for movie fans.
Scrubs – In it’s 9th season, this classic comedy is also based in a hospital, but rather than romantic comedy, it leans all the way over to the slapstick. The earlier seasons are all really cheap right now if you want to catch up on this show which is hilarious!
CSI – The original CSI just got a face-lift last year, with the departure of Gil Grissom and the new arrival of Lawrence Fishburne. I can tell that they are trying to stay relevant and tell good stories, and the characters are still great, but they’ve got to prove themselves this year still, to me at least. I think this show will be like Law and Order though and go on forever.
How I Met Your Mother – This is tied with The Office for the best comedy on TV right now if you ask me. The story follows Ted, a young New Yorker who is looking for true love, the story is all told as one giant flashback as an older Ted is relating the story to his children in the year 2030. Along the way, we meet some of Ted’s friends, such as Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris. Barney is one of the funniest TV characters since Cosmo Kramer and has a variety of catch-phrases which you can’t help but incorporate into your own vocabulary. The main drawback of this show, as is this case with most comedies, is that it’s full of crude humor, which isn’t to say that it’s not funny, but it’s definitely not something I could suggest to anyone under the age of 18.
House – House is probably the premiere I’m most excited for next week. The story of an angry, crippled old doctor with a dry wit and cutting sarcasm who also happens to be a medical genius. This show tackles some really brave story ideas like the fact that the main character is a drug addict, who as of the end of last season finally decided to go to rehab after being haunted by hallucinations of dead colleagues. House is truly one of the most enjoyable hours of television every week, it is just so fun to watch!
The Office – I hope that you all are aware of just how awesome The Office is. In it’s sixth year now, the fake documentary about the employees of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton, PA is still bringing in laughs with the best ensemble cast in the business. This season kicked off on Thursday night with the revelation that Pam and Jim are indeed pregnant, Andy Bernard questioning his sexuality, and sadly that Stanley Hudson (my favorite character on the show) is having an affair. Hopefully this season will still be able to perform, that’s what she said.
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien – Red-headed leprechaun Conan O’Brien made the move to the captain’s chair last May, finally inheriting the Tonight Show throne from Jay Leno after 17 years. While Conan has always been my favorite of the late night talk show hosts, he really now has come into his own. He seems to have adjusted fairly well to Los Angeles (he moved from New York to LA as part of the transition). He’s finally back with his old partner in crime, Andy Richter. And all in all, the Tonight Show has really been solid gold so far. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect, the occasional joke falls flat or an comedy bit plays stupid, but it’s certainly the best option out of all the rest, especially with Jimmy Fallon (I HATE Jimmy Fallon), and Jay Leno’s show is really just lukewarm. Conan is certainly the king of late night comedy. Some of his best new segments are “Twitter Tracker”, which reads celebrity’s Twitter updates and kills birds, or the Mexican telenovela, “Noches De Pasion” featuring Conando!
