Movie Review: Cloverfield

This movie just came out on DVD yesterday, and I received it in the mail via Blockbuster yesterday and watched it. It's been awhile since I've done a full movie review, but this one was surprising good to warrant one (plus, I need to post this week). Let's hit the highlights.

Plot: A creature attacks NY. The movie is the footage from a personal camera found in Central Park.

Starring: A bunch of people you have never heard of. However, I didn't argue with this casting (Jessica Lucas).


Review: The film starts at a going away party, and the camera is used for "testimonials" and "documentation". After about 15-20 min. of character introduction and development, the poop hits the fan. From this point on, the next hour or so is nothing short of a tense, edge of your seat ride. Despite the overall serious mood, the person doing the camera work (a character known as Hud) serves as narrator and might be one of the most socially inept people ever. This serves for some funny lines in grim situations. The creature is very interesting and certainly scary. In one of the featurettes on the DVD, the use of the monster was treated as playing "peek-a-boo" with a 30 story monster. That's an accurate description of how the monster makes appearances in the film.

I do have some complaints though. The characters decision making is certainly questionable. I forgive this to a point. Seriously, if you buy a monster attacking NY, then 20-somethings not thinking straight is certainly more believable. The dialogue is questionable, but again in the situation (real-life) it can work. My biggest complaint is true for nearly all movies with this film style (aside from shaky camera...which wasn't terrible on my TV...certainly worse for those that saw it in theaters). [Potential SPOILER] That complaint is already knowing the fate of characters whenever footage is "found".

Final Analysis: 4 out of 5 stars. Highly recommend viewing, certainly one of the most unique films I've seen in a while.

Want to see the monster? Scroll down for a pic.

















Did you really think I would give that away? I wouldn't want to ruin the suspense. Check out the movie.

Because I Just Don't Know What to Post

I often get all these grand ideas for posts during the course of any given day/week. The problem being, the ideas come to me when I'm not in a position to actually make a post. Sometimes it's something someone (that's a lot of "some" compound words...hmmm...interesting) says, something I read, something I see on TV. Sometimes it's current events, sometimes funny, sometimes random. But it all comes down to not ever being posted about. It's not really a busy thing. I frequently take 15 minute breaks at work that could easily be used to type up a post. For that matter, I spend a lot of time watching TV, movies, and playing video games (and my TV is awesome!!!), of which a short break would also be easy. Regardless, all of these great posts just disappear. Occasionally I'll think of the same topic multiple times, but still never actually post on it. Is it possible that I actually procrastinate doing an activity that serves partially as procrastination itself? Wow, am I really that bad...it is certainly a possibility. Anyway, here are a few of the things that I've thought about as topics:

Tiger Woods - must be rough when you finish second in a major and everyone talks like it's the end of the world...insane, isn't it?

Star Wars - over the past two weekends, I've watched the entire saga either on DVD (Episodes III and IV) or on Spike (the rest). It truly is one of the best stories ever put to film...classic.

Confronting the Controversies - This is the book that my Sunday School class has just started going through. It's by Adam Hamilton (if you were curious), and should be decent. For the most part, many members seem to be of similar mindset...which can make learning difficult, but should lead to good discussion without bitter arguments.

The Prayer of Jesus - This is the book that I've just finished reading by James Mulholland. It describes what the Lord's Prayer should mean for our lives. Certainly a challenging book, but excellently written with phenomenal points.

Movie Reviews - I still have my Blockbuster thing going on, so I get several movies a week. I've made it a habit to comment on the movies I've seen on Facebook, and I give a star count on the Blockbuster website, but I've not posted a movie review for a while. Then again, I've not watched anything that has been super-awesome.

Politics and other things - There are always current events happening that might pique my interest enough to post about. However, I'm always hesitant to do so. I'm pretty sure most people who read this know what I think about most things, and therefore, I don't really need to express myself. On the other hand, they might not, which could make for some good posts. I never like just laying my views out there, because I hate to flat out offend someone, or not fully present an issue.

Oh well, one of these days I'll actually make a habit of posting. As of now, I'll try and stick with the once weekly aspect of things. Hope all is well for you out there.

How Did I Do in March Madness?

Well, the basic answer to the question is: NOT good. I finished next to last in the pool that I ran, but enjoyed the tourney and most of the games. The real fun will be seeing how my predictions (several posts back) fared...also not good...but let's take a look.

Prediction: All 4 number ones won't make the final four. It's never happened, and it won't happen this year.
Reality: All 4 number ones made the Final Four...for the first time ever.

Prediction: First rd upsets: 11 St. Josephs over 6 OK, 10 Davidson over 7 Gonzaga, 11 Kentucky over 6 Marquette, 10 St. Marys over 7 Miami (FL) [8-9 matchups don't count as upsets]
Reality: Wrong on St. Joes, Kentucky, and St. Mars; Right on Davidson

Prediction: 12 over 5 upset special (it seems to happen every year), Western Kentucky over Drake (partially out of spite, but it isn't a bad choice)
Reality: Western KY beat Drake on a buzzer beater...great game, and I got this one right

Prediction: The Big East is overrated and crazily got 8 teams in the dance. However, the Big East will be out before the Elite 8. (potential exceptions being Louisville and Georgetown, but I have them losing).
Reality: Only Louisville made the Elite 8 out of the Big East. Wrong, but oh-so close.

Prediction: Surprise Sweet 16 appearances: 7 Butler, 6 Purdue
Reality: Butler lost to Tenn is OT in the 2nd rd (should've won though); Purdue lost to Xavier in the 2nd rd (good game)...Wrong on both accounts.

Prediction: Surprise Elite 8 appearances: 7 Butler, 4 Vanderbilt, 3 Wisconsin
Reality: Butler, see above; Vandy lost in the first round...ooops; Wisconsin made the Sweet 16, but fell to Davidson; Wrong on all three accounts.

Prediction: My Final Four: 1 UNC, 3 Wisconsin, 2 Texas, 1 UCLA (NOTE: I never, ever, get the final four right)
Reality: Since only number 1s made the FF, I got 2 right...therefore this one sorta counts.

Prediction: National Championship: UNC defeats Texas by 7
Reality: Kansas over Memphis in OT...clearly I was wrong again.

Prediction: First number 1 to lose: Kansas, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's Memphis.
Reality: These were the last two teams standing...My bad.

Prediction: I'm guessing that 80% of these predictions are wrong (including this one).
Reality: Of the preceding 9 predictions, I only go 19% correct...which means 81% wrong. However that means, I go number 10 right, which puts me at 27.5% correct...therefore I got number 10 wrong...if you know what I mean. Fun with math, huh?

It was a good tourney. Solid upsets in the first round, a few buzzer beaters, a Cinderella to root for (Davidson), and a great Championship game. Anyone taking bets whether Memphis focuses on free throws in practice before next season? Until next year...I'm out.

T-Shirts I need....

I enjoy a good funny shirt. I own several and am always on the lookout for a few others. In the past day or two, I've bummed around on the internet and found a few shirts that just really seem to fit me. So, I've opted to post the picture and describe why I need said shirt. Without further ado...

Shirt #1From SnorgTees.com. You might remember from several posts ago (click here if you don't), that I like DeLoreans. Plus, I often will randomly quote Back to the Future. All things put together mean that this shirt is cool.

Shirt #2


From PhDcomics.com. If you can't read it, it says "GRAD SCHOOL, It seemed better than getting a real job." Now this wasn't my full reason for attending grad school, but still it's funny and still kinda works.

Shirt #3

From the site xkcd.com. I'm trying science here at grad school, so it fits what I'm doing, and is humorous. This one (and the previous) are more specific to what I'm doing and not as overall funny, but hey, still good.

Shirt #4

From Bowlingshirt.com. This one works for several reasons. 1) I like the Lord of the Rings, 2) I like puns/word humor, and 3) It's on a retro bowling shirt. Ok, I guess you could sum all those up with I'm a bit of a dork, but I already have 2 shirts that claim that one.

What? No pharmacist shirts? Well, there are a boatload on cafepress.com, but I do own two pharmacy t-shirts, so I'm exactly lacking in this area. Plus, it wasn't worth digging through cafepress to find the coolest ones.

There you go. Some funny shirts that I think are awfully humorous. Have a great weekend, my cool and most awesome readers