Movies, Music, Video Games

Well I have been quite a slacker on the blog lately, especially with my posts regarding entertainment.  So here is a run down of what's going on lately in that area.

Movies:
I really haven't seen a lot of movies lately.  But I have seen a few that I wanted to mention.

21 (* * * *)

I went a couple of weekends ago to see 21 and I really liked the movie.  It's a story about a group of students from MIT that figure out a system counting cards, then head to Vegas to make some money.  It was a really good movie, it was stylish and interesting, it was really fun to watch.  It's based on a true story, I am not quite sure how accurate the movie is.  There was a documentary about it that I have seen, but it's been several years and I don't remember the details.  But I really do recommend the movie, the plot was good and there was a few twists here and there that I wasn't expecting. 

October Sky (* * * 1/2)

I know this movie is old, but it was on TV the other day and I remember liking it when it came out so Brooke and I caught it.  They have been playing it on the weekends on USA or something, so if you catch it, check it out it's a good movie.  It's the story of Homer Hickam, about when he was a boy and he experimented with rockets. 

I Am Legend (* * *)

Brooke and I checked this out on PPV a few weekends back.  I thought it was a pretty good movie, it was intense and pretty scary.  The visuals of the city sort of rotting away were cool, although I think the time line for that was way off.  It was a fun movie to watch, if you like those kind of movies,  but there were tons of plot holes.  I think it's a cool idea and it was probably a good time to revisit and older movie, The Omega Man (which I haven't seen, but now want to).  It's worth seeing but don't have too high of expectations.

Dan In Real Life (* *)

I thought this movie was really boring.  Brooke and I got this on PPV a week or so ago.  We both thought pretty much the same thing, the movie was super slow and the casting was way off.  I guess we really didn't know what we were getting into, but you see Steve Carrell's name and you expect funny.  There were a few laughs here and there, but the movie just drags on and nothing happens, the plot hardly moves forward.  I think the casting of Juliette Binoche as the love interest of this movie was a huge mistake.  She has no charisma on screen and you really wonder why these guys are even interested in her. 


Music:

I am in a huge music slump right now, so anyone out there that wants to recommend something good, post it in the comments.  I was really disappointed that the Jack's Mannequin CD got delayed I was looking forward to that.  I do listen to an immense amount of music every day, so I can get burned out very easily.  I listen to morning radio on the way to work, but then I listen to my iPod a few hours a day at work while I am drawing and the entire commute home, afternoon radio is awful.  So I generally average the equivalent of several CD's a day.  That's a lot of music and I need a lot of variety, but my taste is pretty specific.  But I have found a few good things.

Joshua Radin:  We Were Here
Josh F. hooked me up with this and it's mellow, but it's really good.  It's a lot of acoustic guitar and stuff, it's relaxing. 

Ashes Divide:  Keep Telling Myself It's Alright
This is essentially A Perfect Circle, without Maynard from Tool.  So if you like A Perfect Circle, you will like this album.  It's a good mix of some heavy and some mellow stuff.  It doesn't have the longevity that I wish it had, but it's good.

Mae: Singularity
I have actually had this CD for quite a while, but I haven't really listened to it much until now.  It's pretty good and it's much better than Mae's earlier efforts, the production value especially.  If you like the whole pop-punk thing, check out Mae.

Video Games:

Well I have been playing video games a decent amount lately.  Brooke has continued to go to bed quite early every night, although she is doing much better and stays up much later on some nights.

Grand Theft Auto IV
I wasn't even planning on getting GTA IV, I have played most of the other games in the series and nothing has been good since GTA III.  But the game got such stellar reviews that I had to check it out.  It is a good game, it's fun and the open world environment has never been better.  It's the best GTA that they have put out.  Having said that, I wish it was cleaner, I really do.  I know they were trying to push it as far as they could, but they went too far.  Luckily most of that stuff is optional. 

Rock Band
I really love this game, it's so much fun.  When I got Guitar Hero 3 I wasn't really interested in Rock Band, I thought that Guitar Hero was fun and I didn't really want a bunch of huge instruments around the house.  I was wrong, in fact unless they drastically change Guitar Hero, I won't buy another version of it.  Rock Band is so much better right now, it's a blast especially with a big group of people.  If you have a console that supports it, go get it. 

Call of Duty 4
Still one of the best games I have ever played and for sure the best game I have played online.  It's so much fun and it's got great game play.  Again, if you have a console that has COD 4, go get it and play it online, it's a blast.  Be aware, it's addicting.

So that's what's been going on lately, well the past 2 months or so.  It's actually more than I thought I would have to write about.  Make some comments and let me know about good movies to check out and especially some good music, I am in need.