Archive for the 'Movie' Category

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The Dark Knight: In IMAX!

Published on July 18, 2008 in Movie. 0 Comments

I went to see The Dark Knight in IMAX last night. It was pretty good. I mean, as far as movies go it was probably one of the best I’ve seen in years. But there was so much hype leading up to it that the movie was kind of wasted. My co-workers were really psyched about the movie. So listening to them continuously talk up the movie had its effect on me, I guess. If I had come in with no expectations, the movie would’ve been incredible. It still was, and it met the hype, but sometimes I feel the best way to go into a movie is with no expectations at all.

When I went to see Wall-e a few weeks ago (or maybe it was just last week), I had no idea what the movie was about. Okay, so I knew it had a robot in it. And that was about it. I ended up enjoying it a lot! I think we, as viewers, should just let the damn story tell itself. No spoilers, no trailers, maybe just a title.

Knowing as little as possible about a movie going into it probably gives the best chance for me to enjoy it.

The Land Before Time – It Goes To XIII!

Published on June 29, 2008 in Movie. 2 Comments

So while I was checking out IMDB and getting lost in cross-references, I came across the Rob Paulsen guy’s filmography. Rob Paulsen is the guy who does Yakko from Animaniacs and is pretty much in anything that requires voice acting.

Anyway, I saw one of his recent jobs was on The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends. Read that again.

Yes. There are 13 fucking Land Before Time movies!

I think all of them besides the first one were direct to video affairs, but still. Gosh damn! 12 sequels! I guess they must still be profitable if they can still churn them out as much as they are.

Nacho Libre: Movie Review

Published on May 13, 2008 in Movie. 4 Comments Tags: , , .

I borrowed and watched the Jack Black movie from a few years ago, Nacho Libre, last night. I’m not a huge fan of Jack Black but I guess I do find him generally funny. I figured this movie would be pretty good since the Napoleon Dynamite guy directed it and Jack Black stars in it.

I have to agree with Ebert. The movie just isn’t that great. Or rather, it doesn’t reach the potential that it obviously has. There are so many untied loose ends that at the end of the movie, I was really sure there had to be more.

What about the skinny guy’s relationship with the fat woman? What about the skinny guy’s love of science, and not God? Wasn’t Nacho supposed to convert him or something? And wasn’t Nacho going to get married to the hot nun (who I thought was Penelope Cruz through the entire movie but is apparently a different actress)?

None of the characters were really fleshed out that well. The hot nun was just sort of a token hot nun who just looked confused for most of the movie. The skinny dude sort of became a companion to Nacho, but his character really didn’t go anywhere either.

I think part of the problem is that you lose a lot of Jack Black’s funniness when he has to use a fake Mexican accent. Instead of talking like Jack Black, he just does a lame impression of a Mexican dude. It’s like they put really heavy ankle weights on Jack Black’s comedy ankles and they never took them off! Except maybe for the scene where he sang. That was pretty funny.

Also, the movie was a “Nickelodeon” production, which explained the lack of cruder humor and the abundance of fart noises.

Each Day is Valentine’s Day

Published on February 13, 2007 in Movie, Music, School, T-Shirts and Video. 7 Comments Tags: .

So I thought it’d be fun to do a recording of My Funny Valentine, since it’s a pretty cool song and it’s also almost Valentine’s Day. Not that I particularly like the holiday, being single and all… I like the song because it’s got weird mixed signals. Like the lyrics are somewhat upbeat, but the music itself is so freakin’ sad!

Anyway, here’s me playing My Funny Valentine along with a cool dude named Jamey Aebersold. I recorded it using the iSight from my Macbook, and the built in mic, so the sound quality isn’t the best. Also, I screwed up a few times, but hey, the song itself is about an ideal non-ideal valentine, so my solo doesn’t have to be perfect!

And here’s the lyrics in case you don’t believe me:

My Funny Valentine

My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart

Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
Yet you’re my favorite work of art

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is you mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak?

Are you smart?

But don’t change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay, little valentine, stay
Each day is valentine’s day

College Saga – If College Were Like An RPG

Published on January 7, 2007 in Movie and Video Games. 0 Comments

College Saga.jpg

I stumbled upon this movie called College Saga while reading Kotaku. It’s a parody of RPGs in a college setting. The thing is split up into four parts that are about 10 minutes each, so it ends up being a 40 minute movie.

The great part about this movie is that it gets pretty much every gag right. Like the random NPCs just wandering back and forth, and the girl who says the same thing when you talk to her twice. Or the ludicrousness of some small object blocking your path, or how it seems normal to go into someone’s house (dorm room) and steal all of their stuff…

The movie makes heavy use of video game music and sound effects. It’s really sad because I could recognize where almost all of the music came from. You can watch College Saga in 10 minute bite size chunks, or just watch the whole thing right here:

This totally reminds me of my UNM RPG that I made for that video game class I took. I gotta post that online someday…

Books

Hung Truong's book recommendations, reviews, favorite quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists

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