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Thursday, August 14th, 2008
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12:35 am - Carl's Movie Mini-Review: Tropic Thunder
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Tropic Thunder
I don't know what I was expecting from this movie. To be honest, I hadn't actually seen any trailers and had immediately dismissed the movie after seeing the promo posters and cardboard stand-ups in the theater lobby. However, I went to see it because I didn't have an active hatred for what little I knew about it, plus it was one last hurrah with several of the folks from school who'd be moving to seperate corners of the country for their new careers.
The movie is a surprisingly stellar cap to the summer season. It's quotable, surprising, and packs in so much Hollywood (style, studio politics, and unbilled roles). It's just fun. It's not stupid. Go see it. (And most definitely do not come in late.)
Hmm... My mini-review is shorter than my introductory aside...
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| Thursday, August 7th, 2008
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1:02 am - Carl's vehicle is bigger in Texas
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Hey friends, guess what? I'm in Austin, TX, right now for an interview with Midway. I'll be leaving Friday.
I caught up with Corey from school tonight who was flown out earlier for his interview; we were going to go catch Pineapple Express at the Alamo Drafthouse(s), (a movie theater chain w/ meal service) but the showings were already sold out. We wound up just getting some sandwiches at Potbelly's and catching a regular showing. I asked the girl if they had student discounts. No. Military discount? No. Oh...tickets were $7? Works for me. Odd, though, especially since we didn't buy a matinee showing, and it was eight minutes past 6pm.
To kill some more time, we (and by we, I mean I) went to Best Buy. They had clearance video game items, but not really get-rid-of-them-now prices. Halo 3 Legendary was only marked down $20 to $109. However, later in the night I had a craving to get some snack food for the rest of my stay, so we were directed to H.E.B., a supermarket that stays open until 1am. Okay, it's not 24 hours, but why not until at least 3am for all the drunks? They had some very enticing prices, including $2 boxes of Pebbles cereal w/ additional $1 off coupon. Sweet. Also, there's tons of Big Red soda everywhere.
So...They gave me a new Ford Escape to drive around. Yeah, I'm not really an SUV fan. Of course I have to return it to the airport with a full tank, so... However! It does have Microsoft Sync, so I've been enjoying my Zune music while driving around.
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| Monday, July 21st, 2008
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1:55 am - Carl's Movie Mini-Review: The Dark Knight
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The Dark Knight (IMAX)
( A gross aside... )
Summed up, the movie was tense and unpredictable. It was also a long movie. A sort of two-in-one. However, unlike many other films that overstay their welcome, things actually happen and get accomplished.
If I had a complaint, it would be that there were a few too many three-way dramatic tension scenes. Oh no, what's happening over here? And what about over there? Ooh, ooh, and over there?!
It's epic and worthy of the hype. And worthy of your movie-viewing dollar. Worthy of the number one-rated movie of all time on IMDB? We'll have to hose those fanboys down.
So what about the IMAX? It was utilized in a variety of types of scenes, but I only think it really paid off in the scenes flying through skyscrapers.
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| Thursday, July 10th, 2008
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2:19 pm - Simplicity is beautiful
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| Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
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1:15 pm - Superstar
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| Monday, June 30th, 2008
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2:22 am - The real deal
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I just topped 10,000 Xbox 360 achievement points tonight playing Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
The game is the real deal and far from the half-assed stop-gap that GH Encore: Rocks the '80s was. Totally new arenas, cleaner art, new animation systems, tweaked gameplay, etc. The only major downside is that most of the songs are ridiculously long.
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| Saturday, June 28th, 2008
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4:21 am - Carl's Movie Mini-Review: Wall-E
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Wall-E
Unless you're heartless, action-junkie bastards like some of my classmates, you'll like the film. Otherwise you'll call it depressing. Not just because of the sad state of humanity in the future but also because the cute little robot keeps almost dying.
I thought the fairly dialogue-free gamble was worth it, leaving various visual techniques to carry the weight of storytelling successfully.
I have to see it some more times to see how it fits in the hierarchy of Pixar films, but my first impression is that its underlying message is not very timeless. That underlying message being that women are cold, heartless murder machines with raging emotions who won't let you get in a word edgewise. Hmm, wait, maybe that is a timeless message. Oh wait, right. The actual message is something like don't become a mindless slob living your life on auto-pilot, however that's wrapped heavy-handidly in a very modern way, with consumerism and reliance on technology are allowing for both our health and the health of the planet to deteriorate into a sad reflection of its former glory.
What some people may not pick up are the homages to Disney's roots, particularly the Merry Melodies way of using sound, song, and dance as simple entertaining pleasures and the blending of live-action actors into animation, which began with their Alice in Wonderland shorts. The closing titles is also a showcase of the evolution of artwork, from stone-age to computer-age.
The extreme cuteness of the robots will either endear or ruin the movie for you. Gladly, unlike Curious George--another animated film carried on the back of a cute face--there is some substance to make the rest of the experience worthwhile.
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| Thursday, June 19th, 2008
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11:21 pm - Aww, shyeah! Nobel Prize time!
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I think the impossible has happened. I've always doubted the existence of a reheatable french fry, but I think I've found one: the "Oviedo Fries" from Bill's Elbow South. It was kind of like mashed potatoes inside a flaky, crispy shell. I'm a believer.
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| Sunday, June 15th, 2008
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4:36 am - Carl's Movie Mini-Review: The Happening
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The Happening
Weirdest movie about global warming, ever. Or about the repercussions of civic expansion. Or something.
The movie begins in Mark Wahlberg's character's classroom where he asks his class if they have any theories about why the bee population is rapidly declining. He posits that maybe there are just things in nature we will never understand.
Maybe we'll just never understand this movie.
Either Mark Wahlberg is playing an amateur actor in this movie, or it's played for laughs. There's plenty of other things in this thriller that ellicit hearty chuckles.
Personally, I rate this movie a big question mark. However, if you're not as open-minded or forgiving as me, I'd say you'd be better off avoiding it. Especially since Universal CityWalk only has a student discount on just one day a week... What's the deal with that?
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| Saturday, June 14th, 2008
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2:09 am - Carl's Movie Mini-Review: The Incredible Hulk
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The Incredible Hulk
Let's go ahead and address the elephant in the room. What do you want? A thoughtful examination of a troubled character or a pretty picture? If the former, Ang Lee's Hulk is the better one. If the latter, Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk is a monstruous visual spectacular.
I won't really talk about the story in much depth, but my comic book fan friend absolutely hated it. (They had plenty of fan service, though, especially nods to the TV series.) What I can say is that they do a lot of weird things and go a lot of weird place with little in the way of logic or introduction. Of course, the other one had mutant poodles as enemies, so...
If there's one thing I have to give this movie props for, it is that--with the exception of a couple sequences in the climax--the CG is super-spectacular and further puts to shame's Sony's horrible treatment of Spider-Man. Cinematography is also top notch with the camerawork truly playing its own character. Especially impressive is the war-zone photographer framing and dynamic use of focus. Equally impressive is the restraint kept from quick cuts in the action sequences, allowing the audience to really drink in the visions put before them. There is truly a lot of money visible on the screen.
Is it a crowd pleaser? I'd say so. Is it better than Iron Man? Hell, no, and anyone that says so is retarded. Would I recommend it? Well, it is a very, very pretty picture.
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| Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
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4:05 am - I totally live on the wrong continent
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I really should just live in the UK/Australia. For this particular arguement, let's focus just on my taste in music. Vocal groups, particularly female vocal groups: Girls Aloud. Post-punk rock: Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand. The continued existence of disco-dance: the Minogue sisters, Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Wait, who's that last one? See, I never heard of heard until I picked up her album from an MP3 blog, and now I'm hooked! In the car today while I was skipping past song after song on my Zune, Chuck said he normally just listens to one artist at a time. I'm grabbing her solo discography, and I think I might just put in the dedicated study time.
I recommend you start here and continue down the rabbit hole:
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| Saturday, June 7th, 2008
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4:02 am - Video game Producer is the new rock star
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We've not yet graduated to the industry-standard cocaine parties, but we're working our way up. Take a look at Naughty Dog's Jason Rubin, now playing the role of celebrity arm-candy and paparazzo target.
This lifestyle is getting expensive. I don't think I can spend $50-ish dollars every Friday night going out to bars and clubs and such.
We always start off the weekend at happy hour at Vintage Lounge, a rather swank bar downtown, followed by a quick dinner before heading out for the main event.
Tonight (after a whole lot of everybody being late in general and the associated waiting), we went out with a trio of front-office folk, including a pair of non-males (::gasp:: I know) to the Rising Star live-band karaoke club at Universal CityWalk. Fortunately one of the girl's brothers is a big shot at CityWalk, so he slipped our singing requests into rotation despite the otherwise full sets. Jason sang his staple, Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", and rocked it, and I apparently impressed with my rendition of Rob Thomas & Santana's "Smooth." It was much nicer singing here than at Bliss because 1.) they have monitors so that you can actually hear yourself and 2.) the lyrics are properly synched to the band. Though I had monitors, I couldn't hear myself perfectly, so I felt like I wasn't properly pitch-"perfect." Drunk girls don't lie, so I guess I really didn't do badly, but then again drunk girls have tainted perception. Oh well!
It was a night full of good company and good conversations. On no less than four occassions did Universal staff have to prod us to vacate, ultimately only having us walk some yards away to once again pause and continue talking. I think we have some new regulars for our outings.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I am having an absolute blast in this program, by all measures.
On a side note, I totally missed the uber-rare Inspection 12 show in Jax tonight. For one, gas is expensive, so it would have been about $50 in costs to see the show. Obviously I spent the money elsewhere having a good time. Unfortunately, I also had a busy schedule where I couldn't pack up my stuff and leave early enough to make it into town in time for the show and then spend the weekend at home. I really hope they do another summer show. This band's too good to only play twice a year. Tyler made it out to the show, and he texted me saying he wishes I was there. Me, too, pal.
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| Monday, June 2nd, 2008
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5:52 am - "Ooh, pretty...," she said as she touched my hair.
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And I don't think she was drunk yet; everyone was going into CityWalk. But my hair is just so irresistable to touch.
It's interesting working downtown. Friday afternoon my classmates and I went to happy hour at a bar called Vintage and wound up getting VIP passes to Hair-Star.com's launch party at the Red Coconut Club at Universal CityWalk. Unfortunately it was on Sunday night starting at 10pm, so many of our classmates didn't come out, and my friends all had work in the morning. Being "slacker Producers who don't actually do work" (+ our Lead Programmer), we went out to party anyway.
Interestingly, on the moving sidewalk coming into CityWalk, there were these grey-haired women in front of us. Except I use the term "grey-haired" figuratively--they had pink and violet hair. We were almost certain they were going to the same party that we were, but we never saw them there. And ultimately the Carl-hair-appreciating girl and her group that we walked past didn't come in either.
There was a wide range of people at the party and surprisingly little avant garde hair styles. We met the president of the company (a really young guy) and realized schmoozing would be so much greater if we already had business cards for our upcoming business venture. Many photos were taken, and I hope they get put up on a site somewhere I can find because my Facebook photo is in need of updating.
I got an influx of money from the stimulus check and student loans. It's incredibly tempting to spend some of that money on a new non-brick-sized camera, but I've earmarked all the leftover loan money to zero out my credit cards. (For what it's worth, I have my eye on a Canon Elph SD870IS. It's about 50%-100% thicker than many other compact cameras these days, but it's 1. a Canon and 2. has a wide-angle lense.)
I think I may have said it before, but this grad school program has been a totally awesome experience. Not only do I not get stressed about the workload and commitment requirements because it's something I'm truly passionate about, but I've met a great group of friends who I enjoy being around in school and out. And our fun times happen both in school and out; we're partners in crime, through and through.
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5:27 am - Ham it up for the big pig
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EA was casting for their next round of EA Sports games commercials, so several of us at school made audition tapes. You can see the resulting foolishness below. Note how my non-playing of sports games prevents me from directly referencing them. Earlier last week we did callbacks with the actual casting director. We'll see if anyone makes the cut from there.
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| Sunday, June 1st, 2008
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12:40 am - Carl's Movie Mini-Review: The Fall
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The Fall
I filled up my car today, and regular unleaded is now $3.999. The Fall a limited-release indie film, so you may have to drive to find a screen showing it, but gas considered, it will be money well spent.
All I really heard about this film is that it's visually striking and from the guy who made The Cell. Now, that doesn't mean much to me because I never saw that movie, however, despite the bad ratings the movie got, people keep talking about its visuals.
The Fall sports incredibly lavish production for an indie. Cinematography is captivating, purposeful, and complemented by the sets used. However, instead of spending money and time crafting breath-takingly complicated sets from scratch, the production literally crossed all over the globe, showcasing real-life natural and architectural marvels.
The story is of an injured stuntman and a young Romanian girl who meet in a silent-picture-era Los Angeles hospital. The stuntman is not only physcially injured, but also emotionally injured and becomes suicidal when his girlfriend runs off with the leading man. When the young girl asks to be told a story, the man creates a fantasy, high-adventure allegory of his situation. The odd couple develop a tight chemistry that is both touching and comic and altogether enjoyable throughout the film. The girl's broken English and youthful ernestness lend great charm to events and storytelling between the two.
I'd be baffled if this movie doesn't at least get nominated for all kinds of awards in cinematography, costumes, and particularly even an acting award for the little girl. She's incredibly natural and genuinely believable, and not just artificially cute like most other child actresses.
Because of the self-aware corny high-fantasy comic adventure, bedtime story-within-a-story framework, I would have to say this is the best movie of its kind since The Princess Bride. However, there is real tragedy in the movie, expanding its depth beyond that benchmark. Simultaneously while being a story of having purpose in life, it's a love letter to the magic of the heyday of practical cinema, before computer-generated graphics, allowing an audience to see things and people that are larger than life but are the furthest thing from fake.
Highest recommendations! Find a screen that's showing it!
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| Friday, May 30th, 2008
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4:01 am - You're stubborn and will never learn
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During last week's concert-outing, I wore some earplugs that my classmate so generously stole from work. They worked great! I would say it felt like it blocked out one half to two thirds of the volume, but I still could clearly hear the show.
Unfortunately, I forgot to wear earplugs tonight.
I went with my classmates to see Steve Aoki (famous LA DJ, record company owner, son of the founder of Benihana restaurants, and half-brother of wide-face model/actress Devon Aoki) spin a set. I must say it was disappointing. He's slow to transition between songs and not a very creative craftsman. The end of his set was a series of crowd-pleasing classic rock & roll songs, many of which without additional effects; a total cop out. However, he did headbang a lot and play with the crowd, so he's got a sense of showmanship. The house DJ's easily outclassed him in technical ability, though.
My other classmate runs a company that books shows at clubs and such, so he was using tonight to gauge whether or not it was worth it to spend the big money and book Steve for a show in LA. Steve's apparently not the best DJ (as I experienced), but he's a big name, so he should be a big draw. The club wasn't overflowing to capacity, and many people got in for free, or only $7 otherwise. With a "big name" and cheap price not bringing in the bodies, my friend says they'll most likely pass.
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| Monday, May 26th, 2008
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3:10 am - Carl's Movie Mini-Review: Iron Man
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Iron Man
I guess I forgot to write something about this one. I'll keep it short and to the point.
Iron Man puts the comedy back into "comic book movie."
That's a really good thing. One of the greatest problems people have with the movie is that there's no challenge that needs to be overcome. I didn't mind. It's just so much fun to see Robert Downey Jr goof off and experiment.
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2:58 am - Carl's Movie Mini-Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Um. I thought it was okay. If you're cool with the other Indy flicks, this is more of the same, more or less, for better or for worse. I'm sure you've heard it's about aliens, and that's not a spoiler. That subject matter also doesn't wind up being what might break your suspension of disbelief. Somehow, though, I feel that all the incredulous stuff that happened made sense in this universe.
There's plenty of action, of course, but not an incredible amount performed by old man Indy, but he gets in his smirks regardless. It's disappointing that there weren't more practical effects shots, but when George Lucas is operating, of course ILM is on the job.
It's been quite a while since I've seen the older movies, so I may just be imagining it, but this feels a lot more family-friendly than the others. This was definitely a cross-generational viewing, judging by the range of families we saw in the theater.
Your enjoyment of this movie hinges directly on your history with the franchise. As I said earlier, it's more of the same. However, if you're just jumping into this for the first time, the characters are already established outside this movie, and no effort, or time, thankfully, is taken to introduce them to a new audience. Also, this pulp kind of everyman superhero adventure could be too much for some people to swallow. My friends I saw it with were split between either being absolutely disgusted with it or just calling it so-so; I was with the latter.
Ernie Reyes Jr. is in it though. Good to see a fellow Filipino still getting gigs, but this one was pretty anonymous. Surprisingly it was a credited role and he wasn't just a name lumped in with the rest of the stunt people.
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| Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
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2:29 pm - Sucks to be Sony
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Look at these stats. As of May 22 (in Japan), in about six months' time [ Wii Fit ] has sold nearly as many copies as [ Playstation 3 ] has in its whole lifetime. Wii Fit 2.04m vs. PS3 2.10m. If you want to talk about worldwide sales, Wii Fit 3.38m vs. PS3 12.72m, so that's almost a quarter of the PS3 install base, and Wii Fit only just hit stores in the US, but it sold out everywhere before lunch!
We don't think Metal Gear will save Sony. Final Fantasy? Maybe, but Nintendo has Dragon Quest, and that absolutely trumps FF in the homeland.
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| Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
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5:47 pm - Remember Dinosaucers?
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They were anthropomorphic space dinosaurs and had a cartoon series. I don't recall a toy line, but the cartoon would have been pointless without one.
Anyway, so cool stuff has been happening in the Pleo world. For example, there's now a tool that taps into the dino's sensors that lets you see/hear and record what the little dino sees/hears.
There was also this video attached to the latest newsletter. Fast-forward about halfway and look at all the dolphins crowding around to look at the dino!
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