Movie Reviews

Can you believe it?  I have gotten around to finish some movie reviews I started, a long time ago.  Here is my review of March of the Penguins.

 

White Noise

I posted a review of the movie White Noise.  Click here to check it out.

 

Comments

As always, I prefer and encourage everyone to make comments on my blog.  That's what makes a blog fun, it's interactive and everyone can participate.  Recently my blog  has become a "little" more popular and I have actually been getting what is called "Spam Comments".

Basically people go around or use an automated program to post comments on blogs that are really just advertisements.  It's a little annoying and I have been deleting them to spare you all from the ad's.

There is a new system that blogger has included called Comment Verification.  You will see this the next time you post a comment.  Basically all you have to do is type in a word that will appear on the screen (in a weird font) and that verifies your comment, it means that you are not just a program spamming me. 

It's one more step to post a comment, but believe me it's not difficult or confusing.  So please continue or start to make comments.  However, if the Comment Verification becomes annoying and distracting, please let  me know and I will remove it. 

March of the Penguins (* * * *)

March of the Penguins was a really good movie, especially for a documentary.  I highly recommend this movie to anyone, even some kids if they are into science and nature.  I am giving this movie four stars because I really enjoyed it and I think most people will as well.

Keep in mind March of the Penguins is a documentary, although a well done documentary, it is still slow moving but highly informative.  But that's what I really enjoyed about this movie, there is a ton of information regarding the penguins and their habits.

The movie does have a plot, well somewhat.  It follows a group of penguins for about a year on Antarctica.  They are followed as they migrate, breed, feed and return.  The movies central focus is the breeding habits and the way the animals raise their young.  This movie is very interesting and I really learned a lot about penguins.  I am not sure that information will come in handy in the future, but I thought it was cool.

There is some really great camera work and footage in the movie.  The people who went to Antarctica to film this really sacrificed.  The shots are clear and there are some great moments caught on film, such as when an egg falls onto the ice, freezes and cracks.  There is also great moments as the young are reunited with a parent who has been gone for a while, when the penguins find their mates and tons of other great scenes.  The content is emotional and you will find yourself drawn into the movie and the penguins as characters.

Morgan Freeman does the narration for the film and he does a good job.  He helps make the movie more interesting than it would be otherwise.  He is at sometimes funny and other sentimental.  A lot of what these penguins go through to raise their young will really astound you.

March of the Penguins is rated G, there is no questionable content.  Young kids will most likely be bored with the movie, although some older kids who enjoy educational movies will find it interesting.  This movie is similar to what you would see at an IMAX theater, just not on a big screen.  It's short, coming in at 85 minutes, although they could have made it shorter but the length didn't bother me.  Go out and see this movie on the big screen, if it's not already too late.  The impact won't be as good if you see it on DVD. 

Comments

As always, I prefer and encourage everyone to make comments on my blog.  That's what makes a blog fun, it's interactive and everyone can participate.  Recently my blog  has become a "little" more popular and I have actually been getting what is called "Spam Comments".

Basically people go around or use an automated program to post comments on blogs that are really just advertisements.  It's a little annoying and I have been deleting them to spare you all from the ad's.

There is a new system that blogger has included called Comment Verification.  You will see this the next time you post a comment.  Basically all you have to do is type in a word that will appear on the screen (in a weird font) and that verifies your comment, it means that you are not just a program spamming me. 

It's one more step to post a comment, but believe me it's not difficult or confusing.  So please continue or start to make comments.  However, if the Comment Verification becomes annoying and distracting, please let  me know and I will remove it. 

White Noise (*)

White Noise was really not a good movie. I was just about to give it 2 stars but decided that there really isn't any redeeming value, so it's a one star movie. The movie wasn't scary or interesting, the acting was sub-par, it was boring and there was not much explanation at the ending to close up many loose ends.

The movie's plot is about a man named Jonathan Rivers, played by Michael Keaton. Jonathan loses his wife, Anna in a supposed tragic accident. Confused by the death of Anna, Jonathan can't seem to let go. During his grief he meets a man who claims to be able to communicate to the dead through noise on audio tape and sometimes even video. Jonathan becomes obsessed with this activity in the hopes of being able to contact his wife. He becomes somewhat of a hero as the dead seem to be able to see the future and can tell him how to prevent accidents. But some of the dead aren't too happy that he is dabbling in their world and they come to attack him.

The intention of the movie was for it to be a scary movie and it was very obvious they tried to rip off several elements from the largely popular movie "The Ring". It just wasn't scary and it was almost laughable because it was so ridiculous. I admit that I didn't really want to see this movie in the first place, but we rented it and decided to give it a shot. I at least thought it might be kind of interesting and string me along, it just wasn't. The concept was really stupid, it's all based on EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon), which I find ridiculous. The crazy thing is there are people out there who study EVP, in real life. It just didn't work, it wasn't effective. What's so scary about hearing voices on a tape recorder, what is a voice going to do to you? Nothing, that's the problem a voice can't kill or hurt you.

With Michael Keaton starring in the movie you would expect the acting to be pretty good. He is really the only person anyone will recognize in the movie. He didn't do anything special, he wasn't necessarily believable, but he did ok. I just don't think the movie was well written, so it's not really his fault.

This is one of those movies where you invest your time into it hoping that the ending will pay off and tie up all the loose ends. Well it doesn't, really it raises more questions than answers. There are these mysterious shadows of three men that happen to show up and there is no explanation on who they are or what they are doing. It just doesn't make any sense at the end.

The Bottom Line... I don't recommend that anyone see White Noise, maybe if it's on TV someday on a Saturday afternoon. I just didn't find any real reason why this movie should have even been made. The plot was lame, it wasn't scary (maybe one or two scenes that will make you jump), the acting was on par with the movie. I really think White Noise is trying to ride on the heels of the newly successful scary movie genre. But it's not as good as it's predecessors, like The Ring that I didn't even really like in the first place. It's rated PG-13, for some violence, disturbing images and some language. But even if your kid is 13, he is better off not seeing this movie anyway.

Happy Birthday Aunt Darlene!

It's my Aunt Darlene's Birthday today, so from Utah to California, Happy Birthday!

 

Molly's Famous

Have you heard of Net 10? Neither have I, but they are doing a contest for someone to sing their jingle.

A friend of Brooke and I, Molly Chapman (Some of you know her) has entered the contest and is a finalist. She needs everyone's help in voting for her so she can win and be famous.

Click here to vote for her.

You do have to register, but it's ok because you can win stuff.

She is in group 29. So go check out the site and vote so she can win.

Oh and by the way, she really is a good singer in the first place.

Joseph Smith

Well tonight I discovered something interesting that I thought I would post about. This may be old news for some of you, but I stumbled upon a really great web site tonight. Click here to check it out.
The site is an official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and is dedicated to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Check it out, there is a lot of good information. I especially enjoy the feature that tells what the prophet was doing on this day in history. Very interesting.

Lack of Posts

Well there has been a lack of posts on the blog lately.  It's either because I am too busy to post, or there is just nothing to post about.  I am not sure which one yet.  But don't give up on me, I will put something interesting up soon, I hope.  Feel free to make comments on any previous posts I have made. 

I did do a quick entertainment roundup on my other blog, check it out here.  (Or click the link to the right)

Brooke and the baby are doing good.  Hailee now has a very pink and green room.  It's not completely finished, but the painting is done.  Once it's finalized we will make sure to post pictures for all to see, as Brooke would say, "The Cuteness".  We have been working hard organizing the house and getting the nursery ready for the baby.  

I have been doing better but still feeling some effects with the illness I have had.  This has prevented me from doing some of the fun things I usually do during the summer, hence the lack of things to post about.  Blake, be careful with the jerky, you don't want food poisoning.  I am hoping to completely recover soon.

 

Entertainment Stuff

I know I haven't posted much lately, probably because I have been out there seeing movies rather than writing about them.  Here are a bunch of movies I have seen recently that I hope to have reviews of someday (soon?).

 

National Treasure (DVD) (* * *)

Hostage (DVD) (* *)

Donnie Darko (DVD Directors Cut) (* * *)

White Noise (DVD) (*)

March of the Penguins (* * * *)

Sin City (DVD) (* * * *)

 

As you can see, most of them were DVD's.  Brooke and I have taken full advantage of Red Box.  Check out my review of Red Box here.

 

As far as music goes I have been listening to some good stuff lately.  Here is a quick synopsis.

 

I highly recommend Led Zeppelin: How the West Was Won.  This is a 3CD set of live Zeppelin recordings that is really good.  I now have a greater appreciation of this band, they are great live.  Truly the greatest rock band of all time, listen to the live version of Stairway and you will see why.

 

Fallout Boy: From Under the Cork Tree.  This is a pretty good disc if you are into the Emo/Punk thing.  The CD is good and I like pretty much all of the songs on the disc.  There isn't a whole lot of listening longevity there, but it's worth a shot.

 

Jacks Mannequin: Everything in Transit.  I have only had this disc for a day now, it was released yesterday, but I really like it so far.  This is a side project from Andrew, the lead singer and piano player for Something Corporate.  If you enjoy SoCo, I am sure you will enjoy Jack's as well.  It's a lot more mature than the SoCo stuff and it's somehow supposed to tell a story, but I haven't figured it out yet. 

 

Because it's summer there hasn't been much on TV, but here are some shows I am watching and enjoying.

 

Inked, on A&E this is another reality show but with a little twist.  It's a show about Carey Hart (Pro Motocross Rider) and his tattoo shop that has recently opened in the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.  I can't really tell you why I like it, but it seems to be fun to watch.

 

Over There:  This is a drama by the creators of NYPD:Blue.  The show follows a group of Army Soldiers fighting in Iraq and their families.  It's a little overdramatic, but I have enjoyed watching it.  The characters and the stories are compelling. 

 

If you really want to watch something on TV during the summer.  I recommend reruns of The King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond and Seinfeld.  They are all on several channels about a dozen times a day, you shouldn't have any problems catching them. 

 

I am looking forward to My Name is Earl this fall.  It's a new show starring one of my favorite actors, Jason Lee.  Then of course, there is the new season of Lost coming up.

 

There is a quick entertainment briefing.  I haven't given up on the blog yet, so I will get something interesting to read up soon.  Keep checking, and feel free to make comments on any previous posts.

 

 

 

 

Happy Anniversary!

Today Brooke and I are celebrating our 5th Wedding Anniversary. I thought it would be fun to put up a picture of the big day 5 years ago.

Happy Birthday Josh!

Happy Birthday to my Nephew Josh Donahoe Today!

I hope he likes his "Bug Vacuum".

Hailee

Here is a new ultrasound picture of Hailee. Hopefully everyone can see that it is a little profile shot of her and she looks like she is sucking her thumb.

Widescreen DVD's.

I posted an article and some examples of why you should always buy Widescreen DVD's. Go check it out here.

Why Widescreen?

When you by a DVD, should you buy Widescreen or Full Screen? I think everyone knows the answer is, Widescreen! Buy why?
The easiest answer is that in the future, you "will" have a Widescreen (rectangular) TV instead of a square TV. In fact, if you go to any electronic store you will have a hard time even finding a square TV anymore. Anything you see in a theater will be Widescreen and in fact most prime time TV programming is in Widescreen now.
I know a lot of people hate the black bars on the top and bottom of their TV's. But what those bars are doing is ensuring that you see the entire picture, instead of a portion of the picture. Trust me, you get used to it after a while and once you get a Widescreen TV, they will either be very small or gone entirely. Prepare for your Widescreen TV now and get the Widescreen DVD's, it's worth it to have the little black bars.

Here are some examples of what you are missing if you but a Fullscreen DVD instead of Widescreen. Taken from the Fullscreen and Widescreen versions of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The square is what you will see if you buy the Fullscreen version, and the full image is the Widescreen version.


In this first example you can see that Uncle Vernon is looking into Harry's room as Harry pretends to be asleep. But how do you know Harry is pretending to be asleep, if you can't even see his face. You also have no idea that his bird Hedwig is in the room.


Another example showing that you don't even know Harry is in the room at all.


What is the class looking at? If you don't have Widescreen , you don't even know that Hagrid is standing there.


More of the same stuff, you can't even see the Hypogriff that the Computer Animators spent so much time and money to create.

I think by now you get the idea, here is one more good example of what you would be missing.

The people who make the movies Fullscreen choose what you see and what you don't. Maybe they choose something inconsequential, maybe they don't. Either way, as you can see, you are missing close to "half" of the picture. That means if you buy a Fullscreen DVD, you are really paying twice as much as people who buy Widescreen, you only get half of the movie. Unless a movie is really bad I don't think many people like to turn it off half way through, but that is essentially what you are doing if you by Fullscreen DVD's.
Which brings me to my next point. If you buy Fullscreen, you are telling the manufacturers that you want Fullscreen, so they will keep making it. The majority of consumers actually want Widescreen. Most people that purchase Fullscreen do so by accident and then can't take back the DVD because they have already opened it. Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, Widescreen version, has a sales rank at Amazon.com of 35 on the Top Sellers List. The Fullscreen version is way down at 433 on the list.
Next time you buy a DVD, make sure it's Widescreen. As consumers we can continue to purchase our Widescreen DVD's and hopefully the manufacturing community will quit making Fullscreen all together.
If you want more information and more examples like I have posted above. Check the following links.
Widescreen Advocate
Widescreen.org

Harry Potter

With all the Harry Potter hype going around right now, I thought I would write a short article on why we all, even adults, should read the books and get involved. 

Click here to read it and make sure to let me know what you think.

Red Box

If you are like me, you hate Blockbuster. I hate how it costs $6.00 to rent a movie when you can buy it for $15.00 at Target. I hate how Blockbuster "pretends" they don't have late fees. I hate how the movies are due by noon. I hate that they never have the movie you want.

There is an alternative if the movie you want to rent is a new release. McDonalds now has "Red Box", you can rent movies through a vending machine at McDonalds. They only have new releases, but they only cost $1.00 per night. You can rent from any Red Box location and return the DVD to any Red Box location.

Currently if you want your first DVD free, use the promotion code "free". I have tried it a couple of times and I think it's a great idea. Look for McDonalds to expand Red Box all over the nation, plus other companies are sure to join the trend. Dinner and a movie is on the way home.

Harry Potter Mania

Why you should read Harry Potter and get into the hype, even though you are an adult.

Especially with the most recent Harry Potter book just released many of us are overwhelmed with "Harry Potter Mania". There is a new Harry Potter movie coming out this fall, another book in a couple of years and several more films planned. Don't think you are going to escape the hype so easily.

When I first heard about Harry Potter I didn't think I would like it, in fact I started to read the first book and had a hard time getting into it. However, I am here to say that I have been converted. I have now read all of the Harry Potter books once, some of them twice, and I have seen and own all of the released movies.

I recently read a short article that someone had written called "You, as an adult should read Harry Potter, Here's Why". I thought it was great and decided that I would write a similar article.

Note: For those of you who haven't read the books, I won't spoil anything.

1. First of all, the books are really easy to read. They are not written at a really high skill level, although you may not recognize many of the words or terms. This is good for those of us who read to relax, because you really can just get lost in the books and enjoy reading them.

2. The Harry Potter books are full of imagination and creativity. Many of the books that we as adults read are redundant and lack imagination. The Harry Potter books really have a great plot that continues with each volume and they are flooded with creative descriptions, imagery and truly original ideas.

3. These books are not necessarily written for kids. Many of the ideas in the books have moral lessons and values, something that adults as well as kids should appreciate. The lessons however are neatly disguised and the books do not "preach to you". Contrary to what many groups think, the books do not promote "witchcraft", but in fact have many good, ethical themes and lessons.

4. The movies are also really good. Of course with all movies based on books, the books are always better. It's fun to read the books, watch the movies and compare the differences. The movies are very well done but lack the detail of the books, so if you can get into the books I believe that you will enjoy the movies. Read the books for the details, but watch the movies for fun.

5. You won't be the only one and you won't be embarrassed. There is no reason to think that just because the books are highly popular with kids that you won't like them. In fact, statistics prove that most adults have read at least one Harry Potter book. Chances are that if you are "caught" reading the book you will be caught by someone who has also read the book.

6. If you have kids, they are probably reading them. We are always told to know what are kids are watching and reading. What better way to find out than to read them to our kids or along with our kids. It also will give you something to talk about with your kids, other than lecturing them, and will help build relationships with them.

7. There is a lot of depth in the books if you want it and they are very well written. As I mentioned in #1, the books are an easy read but they do have very complex and deep plots if you are looking for that. You can do research and get really into the details. Some resources are Muggle Net and The Leaky Cauldron online.

8. The books just keep getting better. Many of the critics agree that as you read the books they get better. Maybe this is due to the attachment that you will have with the characters. Truly, the first three books are good, but they are merely a setup for what is to come. The fourth book is my favorite and five and six will hook you within the first few chapters. You won't be able to put them down.

9. Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon. Don't try to be a rebel and refuse to read the books because they are popular. Embrace the popularity and get into it, you might even have some fun. Due to their insane success these books are going to be around for a long time. Be a part of the chaos while you can.

10. It's fun to feel like a kid again. As we get older many of us forget that imagination and creativity are not just for kids. As you read the books you will no doubt form a type of sympathy for the main character, Harry Potter. It's fun to put yourself in his shoes and remember what it was like to be that age. Although none of us have the magical abilities that Harry has, it's fun to imagine what it would be like in his magical world.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

It's my Grandma Gibson's Birthday today.  Happy Birthday to her!

Where Are You?

Where have I been, why haven't I posted anything?  Well there are a couple of reasons. 

First of all, I have been pretty sick the past two weeks.  Let me just tell anyone out there, you don't want to get something called Campylobacter.  My Dad is always worried that he is going to get Salmonella, which is the second most common food borne illness in the US.  Campylobacter is the most common, so Dad start worrying more about that.  The Doctor gave me some drugs so I should be feeling better soon, which I am very much looking forward to.

Second, Brooke and I have been really busy lately.  July seems to be one of the busiest times of the year for us.  We have had a lot of fun activities with family and friends visiting from out of state.  We went to Bear Lake and had a great time, except the fact that I was sick for the entire drive.  Brooke had her first baby shower and we received many great gifts, (Thank you to all who participated).  We have been working hard to get the baby room decorated, painting intricate wood cutouts.  Of course seeing lots of movies, many of which I hope to post reviews about.  And of course, reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  More on Harry Potter another day.

Brooke is feeling much better, but does occasionally get sick.  The baby is moving around a lot and is keeping Brooke up at night.  We can actually watch the baby move now, it's pretty fun to see Brooke's belly randomly protrude.  We have a good head start on the baby preparation but there is still a lot of work to do.

In the future I will try to post more often and more interesting things to the blog.  I have a bunch of pictures I want to share as well.  So don't give up hope on me, I haven't quit posting yet.