movie review time

I'm sitting here at work, hoping to get off as early as possible so I can go home and go to bed. I'm waking up at 4 am and heading to the airport (courtesy of my bubby Tim) and flying out to Utard Land for 13 days of bliss. So to pass the time, I figured it's about time I share my thoughts on some movies I've seen as of late.

First up - 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'

I was VERY excited to see this movie (see previous post) when I first heard about it. I continued the "going to the midnight showing of the first big movie of summer on the first Friday of May" tradition ('Spider-man 3' - 2007, 'Iron Man' - 2008, next year will be 'Iron Man 2') and purchased my ticket ahead of time. The plan was to go with a big group as usual, but one by one they dropped out, until it was just Adam, Erica and me. I was giddy during the previews, partly because they rocked (especially the 'Transformers' one) and partly because I was so excited to finally see Wolverine again after a three-year hiatus (which seems to be the trend with the X-men movies so far). All in all, the movie wasn't too bad, but I really wanted to like it more than I did. Even though Erica, who doesn't know Gambit from Gandalf, really liked it, I just couldn't. I guess the main turn-off was all of the violence, which oddly enough, hasn't really bothered me too much until recently. Actually it's not odd at all, I know exactly why it bothers me now but that's not what this post it about. Anyways I also thought a lot of the special effects were just plain shoddy. I was amused to see Hugh Jackman jumping down a waterfall - naked - but his bum wasn't anymore impressive than the next guy's (not that I've seen the next guy's...). I don't know, I feel bad for not liking it more but I guess I can't change how I feel about it. And really, who cares? I know nobody reading this does, I'm just writing this because I'm bored. So humor me, please. Next movie.

'Star Trek'

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again - I have never seen a full episode of anything involving 'Star Trek'. By default I do know who Capt. Kirk and Spock (remember that eraser we had of Spock's head?) are and I've heard the lines "to boldly go where no man has gone before" (I also remember from some English class that it should be "to go boldly", but anyways...) and "live long, and prosper", but all that is about the extent of my 'Star Trek' knowledge. The only things I knew about this movie were that it would probably be a good action flick, the guy playing James T. Kirk was kind of attractive, and Karl Urban would be in it (as Bones). I kind of really like Karl Urban, ever since he played Éomer in the second and third 'Lord of the Rings' movies. I also really like him as the bad guy in 'The Bourne Supremacy'. I think he looks like Brad Pitt, with bigger eyes or something like that. So anyways I wasn't in any hurry to see this particular movie but I knew I wanted to see it (and by hurry I mean seeing it at the midnight showing - instead I waited until the day after it came out - pshaw). More awesome previews ('Transformers' again and this time one for the GI Joe movie) and then an even awesome(r) movie. I loved it! It was made for everyone (except for maybe Mom and small children), not just diehard Trekkies, and I was entertained the whole movie through, AND it was surprisingly tame - not too much violence (well not the gory kind, there was a lot of fist fighting) and no token "fword". I absolutely love it when PG-13 movies do not take advantage of their "1 fword allowance". And James Tiberius Kirk was pretty darn cute. The only thing I didn't like about him was his voice. I hate when famous guys who are very attractive have a very wimpy voice (like David Beckham, for instance, who sounds like a 14-year-old schoolgirl) but I guess they can't have it all! Anyways the whole movie was a thrillride and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

'Seven Pounds'

I checked this out from a Redbox with my free rental code I get via text message every Monday. I hadn't used it in ages, since I've been somewhat studious this past semester, so on my first free Monday I started off summer right with a trip to Wal-Mart, then an extra-large strawberry snowcone and some strawberry SourPunch while watching this flick in the living room with the blinds closed and fans on full blast. Nice. Anyways this movie was pretty good. The trailer for it is very cryptic, but being the genius that I am - ;D - I kind of figured out what was going on. But not enough to not be surprised throughout the movie. It was pretty inspiring, but kind of in an extreme way. I liked it for the most part, because come on, who doesn't like Will Smith? He was uber serious though, and I'm used to watching 'The Fresh Prince' every morning when I wake up (my TV is my alarm clock) so that was a little weird. What I liked most about this movie: four of the characters were named Ben, Dan, Tim and Sarah; there was a mantle Great Dane featured; there was lots of medical goriness (the kind of goriness I like - as opposed to war/fighting goriness). So I guess you could say that I liked it for the most part.

Well, now that I've wasted an hour and a half writing a post that no one will probably care to read, I have managed to pass the time pretty quickly and I'll be getting off soon. Utah, here I come!

happy mother's day!!

Here are some little movies I made for Momma (when you start to watch each click on the HQ button and the video quality will be a lot better):



Every flower featured in the video has been cultivated and cared for by my own mother.

the longest time

So I think this song has made it onto my top-10-greatest-songs-of-all-time list. Watching the video makes it even better.



What's even more amazing is that Joel is the one singing every vocal part even though it shows the rest of those guys doing the backup. He recorded 14 different background tracks which were mixed into the song so it's all him, with a little bass guitar and maybe a closed hi-hat hit with a brush. Awesome possum.


Now I don't remember much of the 80's but this video seems to epitomize that decade in my mind. Another classic: 'Maneater' by Hall and Oates.

j'ai fini!!!

I had my last final today - Cajun French - and finished up around 2 pm. I don't think it has fully sunk in that I am done for three and a half months. I have so many plans for the summer but now that it's officially here I don't know what to do with myself. Fortunately I don't think that will last very long. Last night I procrastinated studying by looking up the books I'll need for next semester - being the nerd and over achiever that I am I plan on reading some over the summer to get a head start. I also plan on updating my blog a bit more often now that I have no excuse not to. So for starters, here are some things floating around in my mind:

1. Erica and I just watched 'Bridge to Terabithia'. She had never seen it but I own it and have seen it quite a few times. But I still cried like a baby. I don't know if any other movie makes me cry so much. 'Ladder 49' and 'The Notebook' come close I guess but 'Bridge to Terabithia' is such a wonderful movie. If you haven't seen it, go out and buy it. NOW. You should probably buy some kleenexes, too.

2. I LOVE being a history major. Maybe it's because just about every other subject just gets old to me (no pun intended). It seems like there's always a stopping point somewhere, but not with history. It never stops, and everything has a history - people, places, things. You can make learning it as simple or as difficult as you like. I also love being a history major because I was just awarded with two scholarships from the history department, worth a total of $1500. And I got to have lunch with the chair of the department (soon to be dean of the College of Arts and Sciences) and the dean of students for the department. They are both such interesting people, in their own way, and I love how their names match perfectly with their specialties - Gaines Foster (New South) and Karl Roider (East Central Europe). I enjoyed chumming it up with them. In this small ode to history I must give a shout out to my History of France professor - Dr. Martin. He is probably the best teacher I have ever had. I learned so much in his class and hung on to his every word, trying to write everything he said. I remember just about every lecture separately and distinctly and wish I could have recorded him. The man is brilliant. Yesterday before our final started he told us about the cheetah he adopted in Africa with the royalties of his published works. As I went to hand in my final the girl in front of me asked him to sign her book, the one he wrote that we were required to read this semester. Now I am not one to patronize people but I just had to get him to sign mine as well. Unfortunately I can't really read his handwriting, but hey, at least I have it.

3. As stressful as this past week has been, I have had so much fun with Loren. She is one of my best and longest-lasting friends (we've known each other since kindergarten but weren't really best friends until sixth grade) and we always have so much fun together. Recently we have enjoyed eating lots of 'possicles' and 'poppincone', making a mockery of the swine flu (see below: bumper stickers from facebook), napping, discussing the benefits of coming from a large family, planning out how we will decorate our new apartment, watching old Billy Joel music videos, and studying while listening to Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, and Copland. And laughing. A lot. Maybe that's why we've never had a fight. Or why I've never been really mad at her for as long as we've been friends. Seriously. There is something in my mind that does not allow me to get mad at her. We were enemies in fifth grade but it's been smooth sailing since then. And that's awesome.
4. All-nighters are insane. I pulled my third one ever on Tuesday night. I don't think it would have been so bad if I had been well-rested the previous few nights. 6 hours Sunday night with a final at 7:30 Monday morning, 5 hours Monday night with lunch with the deans, a final from 3 to 5, the institute crawfish boil, then another final from 8 to 10 (yes, that's pm) on Tuesday. I am an 8 hours a night kind of person, so I was already exhausted. But I had a final at 10 am Wednesday morning that I had not studied for at all, so staying up all night was really my only option. Fortunately I had Loren pop my back before she went to bed at 1 but after that staying awake felt like torture. I slept from 3 to 3:20 and then again from 5:30 to 5:45. After that second little nap I was totally zoned out, just sitting at the table staring into space, so I then I took a shower. By that time Loren was up studying, and she enjoyed laughing at me try to eat my cereal with my head on the table. It was so weird. I had taken my contacts out from about 3 to 7 so they could get their required minimum four-hour soaking but when I put them back in I felt cross-eyed. I could not focus on anything, and I'm sure that was fun to watch as well. At 7:30 I laid down on the floor to study because my head didn't hurt as much in that position - according to Jon (Loren's bf) because I getting some blood flow to my brain that way. Of course I fell asleep again until 8 and then tried to study some more. I moved to the recliner and was trying to rewrite some notes when I realized what I was writing was coming from somewhere else in my head and was complete gibberish. I was scared I would fall asleep at the wheel on my way to campus. But I made it through the two essays and then came home for nap time. Of course I didn't feel as tired then but after watching an episode of CSI with Loren we were both out like lights. It was nice to get a full eight hours last night. And now, it's almost 2 am Friday morning and sitting here in the living room writing on my blog when I have the whole summer to do this. I must be certifiably insane. But hey, at least tomorrow I don't have to set any alarms and I can get up when I please.

Good night.

for jared

About a month ago, one of the guys in our ward passed away. He was such a sweet kid and just starting to come back to church. I didn't know him very well but he always had a beautiful smile on his face. His sister just made this video about him. I'm thankful for the blessing of eternal families.