IM IN UR U-TUBZ WATCHIN UR CAT VIDZ!

may i present to you NINJA CAT


and a very disappointed feline...


and for those who don't know (where've you been?)
lolcats.com

How to fail a breathalyzer test..

too funny....

synecdoche new york - mini (mini) movie review

Synecdoche New York
(synopsis & trailer)

Very interesting. Surreal. Well Acted. Reminds me of why I (sometimes) like Charlie Kaufman.

absolutely unbelievable.. knievel would be proud..

if you've seen this already, it's worth another look.
if you haven't...
watch the whole thing 'cause the end is just as crazy as the beginning...

wow.

"This is (my) CNN"

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is a seriously funny show. Sadly.. it is my only source of political news (Well,.. almost. I have been known, on occasion to actually watch the 'real' news or even a debate or two). Why it's so great is that it's all true. That plus throw in a bit of tricky editing and satirical commentary and you have a very humorous 1/2 hour of television.

The October 14th, 2008 episode was particularly funny. (I'm referring to the first part of the four that make up the entire episode)

McCain's not so subtle facial reaction to the crowd's comments is classic.

I'm not a geek. ....I'm a level 59 Night Elf Druid.

Uh-oh. Looks like more sleepless nights in my future...

Are the developers and designers at Blizzard Entertainment bored?
As they finish up another expansion pack for World of Warcraft are they now looking for other things to do?

Through my on-again, off-again history with video games there are a few companies that I truly admire and that seem to continually put out top notch games. One of them is Blizzard. I actually sent a resume once ... no reply. boohoo. But I don't hold it against them :P

Even though I haven't played anything in some time, while trolling gamespot.com I noticed some games that will definitely be tying up my time to the chagrin of my wife, I'm sure.

The one on top of my list to look out for is Diablo III. I always saw this as the mother of WoW but I'm happy that they decided to continue this franchise as it was. I remember when I first got my hands on the original Diablo during university. I played it straight for almost a week (again, to the chagrin of my then girlfriend and future wife).

There's also the upcoming Starcraft II. And even though I've fallen off the RTS (Real Time Strategy) bandwagon a while ago this is definitely a significant mention.

My only saving grace is,.. like all things worthy of greatness these titles may not be ready for awhile. Blizzard's standard answer when asked when the release date is 'When it's ready' which is fine by me. It will hopefully give me enough time to figure out how I will fit some one-more-level gaming sessions in around the more responsible things to do in my life.

Cloverfield - mini Movie Review

Cloverfield

(synopsis & trailer)

I was kind of excited about seeing this one. It's been a while since I've watched a mindless action flick.. and like many males of our species I get a craving for them if I don't get enough exposure to explosions, car chases and gun fights.

The point-of-view camera angle was done well... for what it was. I thought the idea of being able to watch an entire movie with this type of filming was more interesting then perhaps the movie itself was. It reminded me of The Blair Witch Project which was a lot better and made with a miniscule fraction of what Cloverfield was probably made for.

Overall a really cheesy script is probably the root of all the other woes: immature underdeveloped acting, contrived directing and a meandering story with uninvolving characters. Cloverfield's only saving grace was that it partially satisfied my thirst for shiny visual effects.

A 6/10 if you thirst for a digital effects laden Hollywood blockbuster or a 4/10 if you don't. In either case it is juussst sorry enough to get a thumbs down.

Juno - mini Movie Review

Juno

(synopsis & trailer)

Typically I don't like contrived, over-written dialog. The type of dialog that in the real world would take you a week to think about and put together so that it's just perfect but in certain movies spews unnaturally and instantly from a character's lips. Sometimes it works (Clueless -whatever happened to Alicia Silverstone?), and sometimes ... ahhh,.. in my opinion,.. not so much (Clerks).

Well, when the characters in Juno started talking I had instant flashes of Kevin Smith at a typewriter and started to wonder if this Academy nominated (Best Picture, Directing, Actress & Original Screenplay) film was going to be sadly disappointing. I'm glad to say it wasn't. As the movie went on and you get more involved with the characters and their lives you forget (although not completely) about the very stylized dialog. Actually you eventually enjoy it.

A cute little film with great main characters (Ellen Page has a lot of screen presence and Michael Cera is now one of my current favorites ever since Superbad) great supporting roles (both Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner suprised me in a good way (am i the only one that hated Alias?!)) and really liberal parents (by my dad's standards anyway) this one goes in my books with an 8/10 and a very happy thumbs up.

NBA Playoffs,.. excitement! action! ..romance?

After the Houston Rockets beat their franchise record with a 22 game winning streak in the regular season they hit a wall during the playoffs with a 0-2 record against the Utah Jazz. During the closing seconds of pivotal game 3 Carl Landry's monumental block of Deron Willams' layup guaranteed the win for the Rockets. An overjoyed Rafer Alston was so grateful that he gave Landry a kiss.

Not that weird I say, but perhaps the exact style and delivery of kiss was perhaps .. ... at odds.. to this specific enviornment. As duly noted by Landry's expression... as well as the inevitable backlash poor Alston will receive....

(the action starts at exactly 1 minute in)
"That was nasty" -Tracy McGrady

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who! - mini Movie Review

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!

(synopsis & trailer)

Do you enjoy Dr. Seuss? If you do then you can't go wrong with this one. Unlike some other screen adaptations of Dr. Seuss books (How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat) this one is very true to the book.

The art work is just as wonderful as in the original story just brought to vibrant life by the very capable magic workers at Twentieth Century Fox Animation (Ice Age, Robots, etc).

Not only did the movie deliver characters that were very likeable, voices that were well done and animation that was top notch and very stylistic (in a good way) it was also one of the few ... (ahem... maybe the list is a smidgen larger then 'few') .... that made me swell up with tears of hope and happiness.

Maybe not perfect for the person in the mood for more mature themed fare but definitely a great movie overall. An 8/10 and an enthusiastic thumbs up!

There Will Be Blood - mini Movie Review

"There Will Be Blood"
(synopsis & trailer)

I was kind of looking forward to this one as many of the academy nominated films have been pretty good so far (won: best actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), nominated: picture, directing, art direction, cinematography, editing, sound editing, adapted screenplay). But I must say I was a bit disappointed.

Daniel Day-Lewis definitely deserves to win the Best Actor award. His believable portrayal of the oil baron Daniel in the movie was very complete and reminded me of Lewis' version of the main character in My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown if only because of his depth of talent at his craft as an actor.

The story was mildly intriguing but a bit too slowly paced for my liking. And even though Lewis' portrayal of Daniel was superb, the character himself was a bit uninteresting.

Overall it was worth the rental.. but not much more. I give it a 6.5/10 a take-it-or-leave-it sideways thumb.

Ever watch Fast Lane Daily? & Reading on the 'throne'..

Just in case my previous posts have not satiated your search for knowledge in respect to my private life, here's another tidbit: to say it in the most polite way possible... i am the quintessential demographic for books like Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. ...'nuff said.

This brings me to my relatively recent purchase of the very cool and ultimately very practical Apple iPhone as a gift to my wife on her birthday. To the chagrin of my better-half I sometimes smuggle the iPhone to accompany me in my ... 'brain storming' sessions. Which is great since YouTube is one of the built in functionalities of this little gadget.

Which finally brings me to a little find called Fast Lane Daily (well, if you can call a YouTube channel with over 13,000 subscribers a 'find'. Also available on iTunes, Veoh, Tivo, etc.). It's a fast little 5 minute daily take on what's happening in the world of cars. They have great videos with some interesting personalities in a well done, informative, neatly packaged production. Obviously they also have a website which includes a blog.

The production company Next New Networks creates a whole whack of other similar episodic type videos as well, all based on different subject matter. Check out their website to see if they have anything you might be interested in.

Personally I haven't even looked yet. But if i do find more interesting stuff... I may actually have to buy my own iPhone.

(come to think of it... my wife will probably want the new .. un-soiled iPhone)

Ultimate Fighter Season 7

I've been so busy lately I didn't realize Ultimate Fighter, one of my favorite shows, started it's new season.

Good thing for WatchTVSitcoms (trust me, this is a keeper).

Best quote of the first show (Quintin Rampage Jackson after the contestants are told something very unexpected): "Think someone crapped their pants. I smelled it."

Here's the link right to the Ultimate Fighter Season 7 first 2 episodes.

fun.

The Daily Show - 5yr Anniversary in Iraq

Without this 'news' show I would be clueless about politics,.. instead of cynical, sarcastic, left-winged, propaganda spoon fed to me by a bunch of comedy writers.
Voila! Informed! ....nice.

Another interesting commentary by the folks over at The Daily Show on 'Iraq: The First Five Years'

I wasn't a youtuber until recently.. re:"arby'n'the chief"♦

i was never really into youtube. the occasional video i was coaxed into watching was fun but a lot of it i could live without.. especially those annoying emails from people who ask you to watch something that turn out to be no fun to watch at all. well, thanks to the iphone i started to surf youtube (there's only so many times you can 'wow' yourself with a minature version of google maps) and i became one of those people (except i don't spam.. i do it in my blog ;)

well i found something the other day that i thought was pretty fun to watch. so far the only 'webisodic' type show i found that was worth watching more than one of. i subsequently found out that i'm not the only person who seems to like the show (re: a lot of fans).

welcome to arby'n'the chief:

disclaimer: it would greatly increase your chances of liking this 'show' if you are into video games,.. and video game culture.

come to think of it, if you like video games,.. more specifically RPG's (role playing games),.. more specifically MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing games),.. specifically WOW (world of warcraft) then .. well,.. then you've probably seen this,.. but it's so funny it's worth another look (Make Love, Not Warcraft):

disclaimer: it would greatly increase your chances of liking this 'show' if you were a fan of south park, world of warcraft or both.

Enchanted - mini Movie Review

"Enchanted"
(synopsis and trailer)

What can I say,.. Natalie wanted to watch this. And after soooo many rentals of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Transformers it was only the right thing to do. Actually, I was thinking that it would turn out perfect for me because I was tired.. Tobias and mom were out.. I could take a nap beside Natalie while she watched the movie. Well,.. I couldn't help myself. My right eye kept popping open... and I'm actually glad that it did. Eventually Tobias and mom came home and we restarted the movie. I don't know if it's because we were all there but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Amy Adam's (I'm a fan now) perfect portrayal of Giselle had the purity of Will Ferrell's Buddy in Elf surrounded in a world with less sarcasm and a lot more romance. It had all the fun typical music numbers (nominated 3 times in the same catagory of Best Original Song), all the characters were perfectly casted and the story, although formaliac (it is a fairy tale in the classic sense...) kept me interested in what was happening from beginning to end.

It was a funny, fun... and a... oh-so-happy movie that had Natalie clapping by the end. How can that not get an 8/10 and a very satisfied thumbs up.

I Am Legend - mini Movie Review

"I Am Legend"
(synopsis &n trailer)

I didn't know anything about this movie but I enjoyed watching it. I think not knowing what to expect actually helped me enjoy it that much more. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. Will Smith's 'going-crazy-from-solitude' was done well enough even though Tom Hanks' version in Cast Away is the yardstick to measure all other performances by (I actually started welling up when he got separated with the volleyball... but that's another story...).

Perhaps an over-used story (but what isn't?) but done with an interesting spin if not a bit too uneventful for the first half. With competent acting and cool enviornment visual effects, this was worth the video rental.. but just. 6.5/10 and it just eeks out a limp sideway thumb that manages to turn up.

What happened to good ol' DDR? (re:guitar hero)

remember when DDR (dance dance revolution) was all the craze? and then all these videos started popping up of people doing crazy fast moves while playing the game...
CLICK HERE TO BE AWED. FOR BETTER OR WORSE.

well, it's guitar hero's turn
CLICK HERE TO BE AWED. FOR BETTER OR WORSE.

i think this is a sign,.. ..no, not the end of the world.. but i guess that too.. but a sign that this is the beginning of the end for guitar hero. now-a-days the video game landscape evolves too quickly for one game to stay on top for too long. i think it's time everyone whips out their microphones and start rattling the windows with their vocal chord stylings.
CLICK HERE TO BE AWED. FOR BETTER OR WORSE.

i can't wait to try Rock Band and have as much fun as these guys!! .. really.. i can't wait... ... i can't..

No Country For Old Men - mini Movie Review

"No Country For Old Men"
(synopsis & trailer)

Ever since I first watched 'Raising Arizona' I've been a fan of the Coen brothers. I later found out that the things I liked about that movie were trademarks that they used in all their movies. Strong, well developed and introspective actor roles, well written interesting stories and really engaging cinematography. Why 'Raising Arizona' may not have been the best first foray into Coen territory is that that movie was perhaps a slightly more comedic,.. slightly more fast paced film then their usual. Even though I continued to enjoy the quirky character driven movies these auteurs made they tended to be a little too slowly tempo'd for my liking. Well, No Country For Old Men has rekindled my admiration of the Coen craft.

Don't get me wrong, this had all the traits of what you've come to expect from a Coens production but either the Coens' film making is evolving or I'm maturing (most likely the latter) because I didn't find myself waiting for things to happen.

A captivating multi-layered story, very interesting, believable characters (including the minor roles), excellent directing... no wonder it was nominated for 8 academy awards and recipient of best supporting actor, best screenplay (adapted), best directing and best motion picture.

I didn't really know of the movie until the academy awards news started to leak out. I also didn't really understand the title but now after watching the movie I remember the appreciation I had for directors like the Coens who took time to intertwine and look after the details.

(*possible SPOILER*)

I have to say even though I understand and appreciate (and probably learn to appreciate more as time passes) the ending I am a product of the Hollywood machine and expect a certain type of conclusion. But that's a small gripe.

I give this an enthusiastic 8.5/10 and a big multi 'thumbs-up'.

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Cowardly Robert Ford - mini Movie Review

"The Assassination of Jesse James By the Cowardly Robert Ford"

(synopsis & trailer)

I didn't really know what to expect with this movie. All i knew about it was that it was filmed in Calgary and that Casey Affleck was nominated for an Oscar.... and rightly so.

Brad was his usual good self but Casey really did 'star' in this film. Because of his brother is so famous (Ben Afflreck) you can't help but do a comparison. Even though Casey has only been in a couple of big films I'd have to give the nod to Casey for the quality in his work over his brothers quantity solely based on this film. ...Did he know how creepy that shifty eyed half smile would make him look? Because if he did he's a gifted actor.

The story was evenly placed and even though not crammed with action I did not lose interest. It was a bit 'name-filled' .. and my memory being what it is it got a bit confusing at times. I give it a limp 7.5/10 and a lukewarm thumbs up. But a thumbs up nonetheless mainly due to the memorable character of Robert Ford.

What's recently caught my eye in the world of video games.

My involvement with video games is an on-again off-again affair. My last fling was with the MMORPG World of Warcraft (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Now you know why it's an acronym).. it lasted until i had my very own level 59 Night Elf Druid. ... {sniffle} .. maybe I'll see him again one day... {quietly weeping}

That was over 2 years ago. Well i recently got hooked again.. for a bit..

I was bored and downloaded the demo for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was really good. ... good enough to play the whole game. It's one of those rare-ish classics that you pick up and don't let go of until you see the credits roll. For any casual to hardcore gamer.. especially the ones into First Person Shooters I highly recommend this game.

Of course, now with two young kids the little video game time that i do have is usually playing with them (more specifically with 'him') so this little release on the wii has caught my eye: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A long anticipated multi-player fighter starring many of the Nintendo franchise characters.

But there are a few games on the horizon that are more my particular taste that have piqued my interest. This official trailer of Street Fighter IV caught my eye, not only because it looks like a lot of fun to play (ohh,.. the arcade memories..) but also the style of the animation is very cool.

I guess when the game actually comes out this 'blog' phase might of worked itself out of my system and I can swap one unproductive hobby for another.

Michael Clayton - mini Movie Review

"Michael Clayton"
(synopsis & trailer)

The fact that this was an oscar pick (best picture, best actor, best supporting actor and actress, best screenplay, best director) probably gives you a clue on the quality of this movie. a legal drama that had me interested from the opening titles to the end credits. smart, riviting and great acting from all.

a definite must-see .it gets an 8.5/10 and an enthusiastic thumbs up.

We Own The Night - mini Movie Review

"We Own The Night"

(synopsis & trailer)

I don't know if it's because i'm tired but the movie never really engaged me. it crawled in parts. and the story was a bit formaliac and a bit cheezy. the acting was ok (it reminded me i'm not a big duvall fan) and it was watchable.

i give it a solid 6/10 and sideways thumb. you'll watch the whole thing .. but your craving for a good movie may not be satiated.

true convergence is finally here..

watching ufc 82 on the www through my lcd tv via the wii.
cool.

for those using a conventional computer setup:
http://www.watchtvsitcoms.com/fighting.php

The Darjeeling Limited - mini Movie Review

"The Darjeeling Limited"

(synopsis & trailer)

kind of reminded me of "Bottle Rocket".. maybe only because owen was in it.. maybe because it's the same director.. maybe only because it's one of those dry, quirky comedies.

interesting take on a road movie. interesting characters. slow to start... kind of slow when it gets going too.

if you're in the mood, then it's more quirky (funny) than dry. if you're not in the mood, it's more dry (boring) than quirky.

i give it a 7/10 with a solid 'sideway thumb slightly turned up that's jittering a bit'.

A night at the opera.

we went to our first opera last night. it was ok.
it wasn't exactly what i expected.. i don't know why though...
whenever i think of opera i get this type of vision in my head: opera chick

there was a lot more 'acting' than i thought. i can clearly see now that the 'musical' is north american's take on traditional opera.

even though (surprisingly) i stayed awake the whole time there was a lot of head nodding, quick but small body spasms and even some snoring in the auditorium. i don't blame them though.. dark lights, soothing live orchestra and the average age of the audience was... well,... let's just say it was nice for the wife and i to be the 'kids' of the group again.

it was fun and i'm glad i went.. but i don't think i'm going to get my opera membership card anytime soon. ...and i don't feel bad about it. i don't feel like i fall short in any kind of cultural or good breeding index. i mean opera was popular waaayy back when .... there was no informational, culturally expanding intelligence box... or what is popularly (and mistakenly) referred to as a tv.

trying to see if the guy next to me is actually sleeping or just has his head cocked in an unusual way

What's on my TV now:

Celebrity Apprentice
it's nice to see celebrities get out of their comfort zone with an unscripted reality tv show...

America's Best Dance Crew
it's ok and it fills the gap until the next season of So You Think You Can Dance

........ did i just type that? .... i know, i know,.. shameful...

... i blame it on my wife... :p