X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review

I had some high hopes for this one. The previews and early buzz were positive. But what happened was really a mess of a movie. I think I hate seeing a mediocre movie worse than a bad one. At least a bad movie is all bad, whereas a mediocre one has glimpses of greatness that tend to make the bad parts stand out. This is the problem with Wolverine.

The BAD:
1. Special effects at times looked awful and cartoonish.
2. The story was muddled and silly.
3. So many mutants! So many wasted characters!
4. Breaks continuity from the other films.
5. Lots of other nitpicks available on request.

The Good:
1. A few great scenes. The best being when he gets his adamantium
2. Liev Schrieber- Outstanding actor. He was my pick for Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight. Has lots of menace in his presence.

5/10

Summer Movies

I can't believe that May is almost over and I have not yet written my list of movies that I look forward to seeing this summer. I think part of the reason for that is that there are not as many this summer that I can say that I am really excited about. As of right now, here goes the list:

MUST SEE
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2. Terminator: Salvation
3. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
4. Public Enemies


If I can get around to it
1. Star Trek
2. Land of the Lost
3. UP

I'm sure that there may be one or two that I'll see that I'm not expecting to.

I forgot to add one category

Want to see but don't want to see
1. G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra
I loved G.I.Joe as a kid, so I was excited when some of the first images came out. But now that I've learned more about the plot and some of the concepts in the film, I hear the words of Han Solo ring out, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Bad Christian Films

It's been awhile since I've posted here. I can't say why except for the fact that I have just been too busy with life.

Needless to say I love movies. Good movies. I've had some recent and some not so recent conversations about why I think most Christian movies are not worth watching. Not too long ago my wife and I watched "Fireproof." While it certainly had the same flaws that all Christian films have, the biggest being that there MUST be a happy ending no matter what, it's production and acting were better than anything I had seen in some time.

But this article from another blog that I read has really hit the nail on the head. While I disagree with his belief that Hollywood is actively looking for faith-based films, his assessment of Christian movie making, in my opinion, is spot on.

I hope you enjoy it.
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/djenkins/2009/04/29/why-are-christian-movies-so-bad/

Funny Night Ahead

I've been waiting for this night since the beginning of December. For Christmas I got my wife and I tickets to see comedian Brian Regan at the Vaun Braun Concert Hall here in Huntsville. The night has finally arrived! If you have not heard Brian Regan before, you are missing out! He is very funny, but also very clean. What I appreciate the most about him is that he makes real life funny. I'll be back with a review soon. But for now, I'm counting down the hours.

Lies To Believe In

I am a lover of good fantasy. I cut my teeth on Tolkien when I was young, and have always been looking for good stuff ever since. I enjoyed David Eddings and Terry Brooks, and love Terry Goodkind and George R.R. Martin. But I have found that good fantasy is really hard to come by, and that there is usually a long wait in-between books by good authors. So I have been searching for more good stuff. And boy did I find it. I won't go into detail about how I found it, but I will say that Scott Lynch's books are fantastic. I think that far too many fantasy authors these days think that good fantasy has to have lots of epic battles, magic and monsters. I don't think that is the case. I think that good fantasy has to have believeable characters, and the reader has to believe that the world in which the story takes place could actually exist. That means that the author needs to provide enough details about the world, but not get bogged down in those details. Who cares about magic, monsters, and battles if you don't care about characters? Lynch does both of those well. I cared about Locke and his friends, and they functioned in the world that they were in. I wont go into plot details, but I will say that the plot of the first novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora, is like a fantasy version of a crew like in Ocean's Eleven, whose plans go south. The second novel is very different because of how the first ends, and has a very different feel, but enjoying the characters of Locke Lamora and his companion Jean make these worth reading. I just found out his next book comes out next month. I am really excited.

Poor Spidey

When I first heard that this issue was set to hit the stands next week, I thought that it was just an attempt to cash in on the upcoming festivities for our next president. Anything with Obama's face on it is sure to sell. .No big deal. Sure, it turns my stomach a little bit to see my favorite hero of all time getting the bump from Obama, but I was willing to leave it at that. Then I did some more reading. Now the content of that issue makes me angry. It's enough already that Hollywood is so far left that most of what we get is biased towards that end of the political spectrum, but our comic heroes too? Please!!!!! I don't have a problem with a story about Spidey saving the President-Elect from an assassin, especially if that assassin is a classic Spidey villain. What I have a problem with is Spidey telling the President he did it because he's glad that the "right man is in the Oval Office." What??? What makes Spider-Man so great, or MADE him great, is that he was prepared to do what was right no matter what it cost him. Shouldn't a superhero save the President because he is the President? What chaps me too is that there are plenty of instances in Marvel comics where it has been made clear that our last President was the wrong man in the Oval Office. From the Punisher threatening a drunken Bush, to a horrible "Civil War" storyline that was clear in its parallels and thoughts on the War on Terror and its leader, to hints of Captain America being killed because he knows the truth about Bush an 9/11. The Bush of The Ultimates is a stupid cowboy dictator. But nothing about Presidents on the other side of the aisle. COME ON! Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, can we please just have our heroes be heroes? Joe Quesada has destroyed Marvel with this junk. I no longer recognize the hero of my youth. I guess this bothers me so much because in our country politics has become our Golden Calf. We look for it to save us, so it has saturated everything we do and say in this country. This may be the last straw for me as far as current Spidey goes, not because of ideology, but because I want my Spider-Man back.

Just for fun

I love reading The Onion. This is a cover of one of their weekend magazines. If you need a laugh, check out the Onion. Be warned though, there is some language in some of the articles.

Reality Bites

Many upon many teenage girls have been waiting for this day, because on this day Twilight comes to theaters. A lot of the girls that I teach every day already have tickets to go tonight. In case you don't know what this phenomenon is all about, Twilight is based on a book of the same name written by Stephanie Meyer, and has spawned three sequels. These books are about a girl named Bella who moves to a small town in Washington state, who falls in love with a stange guy named Edward who just happens to be a vampire. These books have been flying off the shelves. Some would even compare this series popularity to Harry Potter. I would disagree with that assesment, but that is a topic for another time. Being a high school teacher I have seen many female students with these books under their arms, trying to grab any spare minute they can to read a few pages. When I've asked about these books, I find that I get the same answer, which is that they are a "Vampire Romance." When I ask more questions, I find out that girls are attracted not to the story, not to the characters, but to this idea of a perfect romance that lets nothing stop it, not even the need to drink blood, avoid sunlight, and go easy on the garlic. I have some concerns about this, especially because of its popularity among young girls. It has nothing to do with vampires. I actually like vampire stories, but for other reasons. Vampires are simply a plot device for these books. I also want to make it clear that this is not a knee-jerk reaction like the one that so many gave about Harry Potter. I like Harry Potter and again that is a discussion for another day. Harry Potter did not make kids think that they could go to school and become a wizard. What is dangerous about Twilight for girls is the same thing that is so dangerous about pornography for boys, well, one of the things about pornography that's dangerous. That danger is in unreal expectations. Pornography builds this idea about sex for boys that is completely unrealistic and dangerous because it makes them expect certain things about women and sex, and when the real thing comes around, there is a big letdown because expectations were so high. The same is true for the perfect romance. Just like guys want perfect sex, girls want the perfect romance, and books like Twilight make them think that it is possible. Then those expectations are never met, which can lead to many a problem later in life. What's harder about things like Twilight is that you can't just make a blanket statement about it like you can pornography. I don't think that I would say don't read it, but I would say let's read it together and talk about it, because any unrealistic expectations hurt the one who has them, but it really hurts the one they are put upon. Marriage and romance and sex for that matter can be hard and diffiucult at times, and it takes work for them to work. The best thing to do then is put a stake in the heart of unrealistic expectations. Sorry, but the pun was there so I had to use it.

Quantum of Solace

It has been awhile since I have gotten to see a movie in the theater, so I was really excited to see the next installment of Daniel Craig's Bond. I absolutely loved Casino Royale, but I think that was due in part to having low expectations going in. As far as Bond films go, From Russia With Love was my favorite until Casino Royale, which meant that I had to really keep my expectations in check last Saturday night, because having high expectations can kill a movie. But Quantum lived up to my expectations. There is no way that it could be better than Casino Royale, but I was not expecting it to be. I loved it anyway. I like our modern Bond, who actually opperates in the real world, where the bad guys have a shade of gray, and you actually have some continuity between the films and the action scene at the beginning and the rest of the movie. That last sentence will make more sense if you are a Bond fan. Action was real and brutal, the relationship between Bond and M worked very well, and the sexual aspect which is so heavy in other Bond films was almost absent from this one, which is a welcom change of pace. Craig makes a perfect Bond because he is his own, not trying to re-create Connery, which is what all the others were trying to do, or have done to them. I also liked the nod to Goldfinger. My only complaint was the exploding hotel at the end, which had the whole "evil lair self destructing" feel to it. I would also say that I can't understand most of the negative reviews. As a friend pointed out to me, everything that Roger Ebert loved about Casino Royale, he did not like about Quantum. I for one don't get it. But this is one I'll be getting come DVD time.

Quantum of Solace gets a 9/10
Casino Royale got a 10/10

Farewell Michael Chrichton

Michael Chricton died on Tuesday, Nov 4. I have been a big fan of his work since my Algebra teacher in 7th grade showed us the movie version of "The Andromeda Strain." Most folks probably know him as the author of "Jurassic Park" which Steven Spielberg turned into a wonderful film. I think the one thing that I always enjoyed about his storied was that they always had a sense of caution to them. The whole point of "Jurassic Park" was that these great leaps in genetic engineering had been made, but were they the right leaps to be made? I also appreciated how in his later days he was one of the few who in the name of actual science, cautioned against global warming hysteria, like Al Gore's "An Inconvienient Truth." His books had a very naturalistic worldview, but were still great stories. Not all of his books have grabbed me, "Rising Sun" being the most notable, but I do look forward to the next one that he completed before his death.

Fun at School

Every year for Homecoming Week at school there are dress-up days and it's a great opportunity for this Star Wars geek to let the Dark Side out with his kids before school.

Don't Go Outside!!!

Hey kids, when you go outside this afternoon, be sure to stay away from the GIANT SPIDER EATING A BIRD by the fence!!!

This picture was taken in someone's backyard in Australia. It's real!

I am constantly amazed by God's creation.

This speaks for itself

Here's a great cartoon by Erin Bonsteel from Americanthinker.com.

Seriously....

What I can't understand is why so much "Christian" stuff out there is simply a knock-off of some other popular product. Guitar Hero is a very popular and, yes, fun game. So does that mean that by default someone in the church has to copy it? I'm thinking especially of t-shirts that take a motto or a phrase that someone has worked hard on and invested a lot of time and money in only to have someone else come in and make it sound Christian and put it on a shirt or other product. The "Got Jesus?" shirt comes to mind. How much time and money was invested in coming up with "Got milk?", only to have that idea highjacked by a christian t-shirt guy wanting to make a buck using our Lord's name. If anything, should we as God's people be creative and inventive, and not simply copying or stealing other ideas?

In Times Like These...

I miss him...

Enough Already

Even though I got my major in Politcal Science, I have a real love/hate relationship with our electon cycle. I get tired of the commercials, and I really think that the debates need some overhaul. The debates should feature questions created by us, not journalists. That way we get to issues that matter to us, not some talking head who has an agenda, and moderated by one who will keep the candidates under control.

What concernes me more now is what Washington is doing with our current financial crisis, which it is in large part responsible for by pushing lenders to lend to folks who a) don't have the money to pay back what they borrow, b) buy much more house than they need because they can borrow so much, and c) are not smart enough to understand the difference between fixed-rate and variable-rate interest rates. This problem came from flawed liberal thinking that believes that owning a house is a right. Sorry, but owning a home is a privilage and a responsibility. The book of Proverbs has much wisdom about being wise with our money.

Who Do You Say That I Am?

I am not showing this picture to reveal my thoughts about who I am supporting for President in November. Why I am bringing this up is because of the assumption that some in our day make about who Jesus Christ is. It is very common today to say that Jesus was just a good person and had some good teachings that we can learn from. That is the assumption behind this pin. Jesus was a do-gooder. That begs the question of the title of this post. Who does Jesus say that he is? John 14:6 says "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus is more than just a good teacher. He is the only way that sinful man can have any hope of salvation. The Gospels are full of places where Jesus claimes to be not only the way of salvation, but God himself. In John 10:30 Jesus says, "I and the Father are one." Somehow I don't think that those who would make this claim connecting Jesus as a community organizer to their candidate would also want to claim that he is also God. But that shows ultimately what they believe about Jesus. He was not a community organizer. He was the one who, "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men......Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:6-11. The work of Christ was more than a political slogan. It has restored the broken relatioship between man and God. I know that's not community organizing.

The Geek Unleashed

What a great day yesterday was to be a life-long Star Wars fan and a casual gamer like myself. This is one game that I have been waiting for since I heard of its inception. In fact, it was one of my primary motivations for upgrading to the Xbox360. I have only played for about an hour's worth, and what an hour it was. While I have to say that the best overall StarWars game goes to Knights of the Old Republic, this one gets a close second. Finally the Force is done right! Now if I only had the money for that Ultimate Vader costume. I am taking donations if anyone wants to help this Star Wars geek become even more geeky.

Messin with Sasquatch

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Bigfoot. I think growing up in prime Bigfoot country and being related to an eyewitness adds to my fascination. That being said, the beef jerky commercials that are titled "Messin With Sasquatch" get me every time. Good stuff.

It's been awhile

Wow. I can't believe that I have not posted since March. Sorry to all my faithful readers who are probably no longer readers! Since I am such a movie lover, I'll rank from best to worst the films that I saw over the summer. Here we go....

1. The Dark Knight
2. The Incredible Hulk
3. Iron Man
4. WALL-E
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
6. Prince Caspian
7. Kung Fu Panda
8. Tropic Thunder

You may notice that there were a few that are missing from an earlier post of the ones that I wanted to see, and some that are new. That's just how the summer goes I guess.