my wife seems to be stretched to the max these days. she is doing good and her tum is getting bigger by the day. we found out that we are having a girl (katelyn marie), which we are really excited for. nothing else really to report on that front. she's pregnant and we are happy.
school sucks as usual. actually, i'm just not that interested in data comm. my telecom class has been really good, but i know the final is going to destroy me. i find it more and more difficult to wake up at 6 each day for class. only a few more weeks left for the semester, but i still have a paper, presentation, paper, lots of homework, a letter to write, and two finals.
next is the job situation. i am still working for hollywood video, probably the most hostile work environment i've ever been a part of. employees can't get along with other employees or customers for that matter. it's always a good time at 64th and sheridan. they want to make me a shift lead, which could be fun i suppose. there's nothing like a quarter raise. but i do get free rentals, which almost makes it all worth it. and actually, there are a few people there who i really enjoy working with. the only problem is that one quit two weeks ago and another is leaving in a week. so i guess that's out. we'll see how long i last here. i was also offered an internship this week for level3 in stinky broomfield. i can't say that i'm not excited for it. five days a week and anywhere from 20 - 40 hours a week, depending on school, etc. it should be fun, good opportunity, possibly a nice foot in the door, and almost three times as much as hollywood is paying. can't argue there. so, two jobs, school, and a pregnant wife equates to some interesting days ahead. free movie rentals don't mean much when there is no time to watch them.
my little sister has called off the called off wedding and is currently planning on getting married in june. my bro is just getting going on this season with his cycling. i don't know how he does it week after week. day after day for that matter. haven't heard from my other brother. i feel bad that i have no time to hang with him or even give him a call. a nice summer break from school will be nice. maybe we can get things going then. my sister in law is getting ready for college this fall, assuming she can get out of standley. my brother in law wants a sword, knife, and air guns for his birthday. tom is getting ready for life after college this summer, assuming he can get out of college. actually, he's all set to walk, so yea for t. that's all.
Trust the Man (2006): a relationship story about people our parent's age. it starts off with a pretty generic montage of nyc. thanks, but nyc intros have been done more than enough times. if you are going to do it then add some originality. the movie starts out with them just sitting around yakking about relationships and sex. sex and they city type boringness. garry shandling plays a pretty lame character. there is a really cool sex idea in the movie. check it out if porn is your thing (no nudity). it has funny moments, especially david duchovny, but it felt long. the only thing i got out of this movie was that guys suck at relationships. don't see.
poor effort, D+
Goodbye, Lenin! (2004): a pro-socialist mother from east germany has a ridiculous heart attack and goes into a coma prior to the berlin wall crumbling. after she finally wakes, communism is over and her stupid twenty-something year old son thinks he must protect her from the truth. thus, ridiculous lies begin in order to cover up why mcdonalds begin to pop up down the street. it starts off alright. i liked how they did the story of the son as a kid. there is maybe too much narration. some of the things he would do for his mom seemed a little far fetched. the lengths that this son would go through to keep the current events a secret from his mom were pretty unbelievable. the idea behind this story is cool, but they didn't go deep enough i felt. there was too much light heartedness, whereas it should have been more dramatic for everyone. by the time she discovers the lies that her son has been feeding her, she should have disowned him. it also seemed like the writers created medical conditions for her that were not plausible just so that she could die when needed or always be on the verge of death. didn't believe that stuff for a second. there was potential for an interesting story, but it fell flat. don't see.
disappointing, C-
The Number 23 (2007): jim carey finds a book that makes him go crazy for the number 23. he then goes on some mental quest to find its origins. i thought the introduction to the movie was pretty cool. it is obvious what they are going to do with this number, and what i'm sure jim carey will be doing can be done with any number by the way. there are two intertwining story lines that are going on, which is jim carey and his problems with the number, and then a story that he reads from the book. watching the book's story line was a lot like the gritty style of the video game max payne, making it cool to watch and well done, among other things. but it was so different than what was going on in his real life and the real plot, that it felt out of place in the movie. the movie was kind of boring and loses momentum at the end. although the end is surprising and the pieces are tied together fairly well, it still doesn't make up for some of the negative things about it. dont' see.
disappointing, C-
Premonition (2007): a lady wakes up one day and her husband has died, then the next day her husband is still alive, then dead, etc. basically, she is experiencing the present on one day and the future on another. i think. sandra b's character really handles herself well after she hears of his death. it could have been the shock i guess, but still. at the start of all the crazy crap happening with the days, i felt she didn't act in a reasonable manner. she never just sits down to talk to someone about these completely unexplainable things going on. sandra would never cry like a real wife would each time she would find out that her husband was really dead, then alive again, then dead again, etc. the whole puzzle to the story wasn't really complicated and was even less interesting. the mystery was lacking and if she just sat down to think about it, she could have worked out some of the pieces herself, instead of just waiting for stuff to happen. and i've seen enough six feet under to know that a severed head would not have just dumped out of a casket if it fell out of a hearse. that was so absurd. it was really confusing for the audience to keep track of which day it was and what day would come next. there seemed to be no pattern to the madness. my wife kim was trying to explain it all after the movie got out, but even then i was never satisfied with her take on the plot. there is some priest she goes to who randomly has a book of stories where people are going through exactly what she is having to experience. did he just conveniently pull this book out of his ass? and this priest was such a useless character if you ask me. he is just two minutes of inspirational garbage dialogue. why does sandra b smoke ciggs in two random scenes at the beginning, then never again in the movie? i think i noticed a few plot holes that i won't even try to explain. i'm sure the writers could sit down and map it all out for us, but movies shouldn't require that. audiences should not have to sit through multiple viewings in order to understand a plot, unless the ending of a movie changes the entire movie altogether. a quick example of this is obviously sixth sense or fight club. usually only then should a second viewing be recommended. some of the big revelations in the movie aren't all that surprising. if you are trying you can predict events of this movie usually about a minute before they happen, and sometimes even an hour before. the only good thing about this movie is the title and that you get to see feast your eyes on the beautiful sandra b for 2 hours. it was a valiant effort, but it sucked. i guess if you loved the lake house, you might like this also. otherwise, don't see.
an all time worst, F+
Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny (2006): two losers start a band and suck. so they go on a quest to find the guitar pick that will make them good. the beginning scenes with young JB and meatloaf are really good. the whole intro is basically a rock opera and ends up being actually quite good. couldn't say that for the rest of the movie though. the plot is weak and slow and usually dumb. the character's personalities were pretty inconsistent. at one point kyle acts like a nazi and the next he is a little bitch. a few of the songs are really funny. and usually ever 5 minutes or so i would let out a hearty laugh. all in all, it's a pretty big let down. i would must rather recommend their album from 5 or 6 years ago which this movie is loosely based on. go buy that instead. the movie passed the test, but barely. you know what they got? F plus. click. no not that bad.
dreadful, D
Reign Over Me (2007): done cheadle meets up with his long lost college roommate who has since gone crackers. the rest of the movie unravels the mystery behind sandler, his family, and video games. it starts off with a really good opening in the streets of nyc, but after that it is pretty slow until cheadle and sandler finally meet. the movie turns to gold any time cheadle and sandler interact. they really play off of each other well. in one shot when they are riding away on sandler's scooter like two little gay boys, you could clearly see another cameraman filming just up the street. the plot never really intensifies. sandler's character is crazy and throws tantrums from beginning to end, so it gets a tad old. and poor don cheadle is always trying hard to do the right thing, but ends up getting the shaft from everyone in the movie, even his own selfish wife. i didn't like any of the music. the movie is and feels pretty long. they could have definitely cut down some of the scenes. i'm no psychologists, but some of what sandler does is a little extreme. it is like they created a character with a mental illness and included extreme versions of every type of symptom possible. not saying that there aren't people out there like this, but they didn't have to put so much into it. and no reasonable girl like the one in the movie would ever go for sandler's character. sandler's crazy looks aside, the stuff that she sees him do and the brief time they knew each other would drive any girl away. unless she's also not completely mentally there. i guess it is a good look at how traumatic events in one's life (i.e. 9/11) can extremely alter someone's state of mind, but as far as entertainment value, cheadle is the only thing that holds this movie together. still not worth seeing though. see rain man or one flew over the cuckoo's nest instead.
mediocre, C
