media, movies comments edit

Why can’t Hollywood make movies that look cool and have a good plot?

Went to see UltraViolet this weekend because I couldn’t stay away from the cool factor. Plus, being a Milla fan, I had to see her in this super-techno-fied world that the previews had pimped so well.

Dammit!

The visuals were beautiful. Stunning, really. Graphically, it’s everything I hoped it would be. Gorgeous effects. Awesome fight scenes. It reminded me of the first time I saw the effects for the first Matrix movie - it was just cool. (Yeah, it was overly CG. Some folks might not be into that and bitch that it’s “not real enough.” I dig CG effects and ate it up.)

That said, what happened to the plot? I mean, seriously, where was the QA department on this thing? Did they actually have test screenings?

The idea is that, sometime in the indefinite future, this virus got out and basically created vampires (“hemophages” in the movie). The government worked to wipe them out rather than looking for a cure. Sounds good, right? Then they introduce this kid who is… uh… some sort of weapon or something (supposedly) and we get caught up in Milla trying to save the kid and fight the government simultaneously, all the while looking for a cure for the hemophage virus… I won’t spoil the mediocre plot twist.

The point is, all this is happening in 88 minutes, so it’s moving altogether too fast. Fast enough that I really didn’t get a chance to care about why this person was shooting this other person. Fast enough that I had no idea who this rival gang was or why I should be afraid of them, and definitely fast enough that there was no import when they got wiped out by a single person.

Interesting premise, but it reminded me a lot of Underworld

  • great principle, cool world, horrendous execution. We left confused and feeling like we got ripped off. Except for the “Milla Factor” (she was hot - the whole time, Milla was just hot), I want my money back.

Skip this one, folks, lest you feel duped out of your $7.50. Instead, go buy a copy of Equilibrium and soak up what UltraViolet could have been.

General Ramblings comments edit

It’s been pretty stressful at work, so I took this weekend to play.

Friday night Jenn and I went to the Winter Hawks game. They only really “showed up” in the final ten minutes of the game, so I was a little bored and, frankly, pissed off until then, but they ended up winning 3-0 (yeah, scoreless until the last ten minutes) so it wasn’t too terrible. Plus we got to see a bunch of friends of ours that we don’t normally see, so that was good.

Saturday is usually chores with some gaming thrown in, but like I said, it was playtime. Stu, Tif, Jenn, and I headed out to play laser tag for a bit, which we totally kicked ass at. (Considering the competition averaged about 12 years old, not terribly surprising, but a couple of them were animals.) Played a couple of games of that and felt we got our exercise for the day.

We followed that up by a trip to the movies to see UltraViolet. Ugh. I reviewed that earlier, but the quick answer is: skip it. Looks beautiful, sucks donkey. Dammit.

Jenn and I rounded off the night by a trip to the Corillian “Casino Night” event. I didn’t anticipate too much about this one, but it turned out to be a total blast. Talked to some folks from work that I don’t normally talk to and hung out much of the night with Chris and Julie, Chris teaching Julie, Jenn, and me how to play craps (much more fun than I thought). Neither Jenn nor I won anything, and we both lost our “money,” but it was awesome and we’ll definitely make the next one. Hopefully we can convince Stu and Tiff to go as well.

Sunday Stu came over and we blasted out some Paper Mario. About seven hours of that and we had made quite a bit of progress. Lots of fun - I haven’t played much of that sort of game and I’m really digging it.

I have the 24 game and we’ll probably fire that up in the next couple of weeks after we finish Paper Mario. I find I need to focus on one game at a time or I forget what’s going on.

Good times this weekend, and helpful in recovery for the week.

General Ramblings comments edit

Jenn flipped on Skating With Celebrities last night as we were waiting for How I Met Your Mother. As we were watching, we noticed that [3-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist] Dorothy Hamill was one of the judges.

For those not in the know, one of the defining aspects of Dorothy Hamill’s appearance was her haircut. The phrase “Dorothy Hamill Haircut” conjures images (for most folks in the US) of a particular short hairstyle. Life magazine called it “one of the most important fashion statements of the last 50 years.”

Anyway, while we were watching, the conversation went something like this:

Jenn: Hey, that’s Dorothy Hamill! Trav: Yup. She’s a judge. Jenn: Holy crap, she still has a Dorothy Hamill haircut! Trav: You are the smartest woman alive. Jenn: Shut up, you know what I meant. Trav: Yeah, I get it. Dorothy Hamill has a Dorothy Hamill haircut. I never would have guessed. Jenn: You’re an asshole.

Jenn doesn’t think it was funny, but I’m dying.

General Ramblings comments edit

Yeah, the title makes me sound like a total stooge, but hear me out.

Jenn got this book several weeks back in an effort to get us to work out some and look better by the time the wedding rolls around in October. Neither of us really did a whole lot of exercise before this, and while the book is primarily a weightlifting sort of workout, something is better than nothing.

The thing is, though, working out sucks. We work out Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so I’m thinking right now about how I’m going to have to go home after work and work out, and I’m dreading it. I can make up 1001 reasons not to work out, and even though I know I should work out, it doesn’t mean I want to.

Working out is boring. I’ve never found exercise that I enjoy doing that I can really do on a regular basis. I sort of like swimming, but I don’t have a pool and having to go to the gym isn’t really something convenient or conducive to me exercising. I sort of like biking, but the weather around Oregon is sort of prohibitive to getting outside on a regular basis (it’s reasonably unpredictable). I sort of like skating, but that’s not really much of a workout and, again, the weather sort of screws you. Even if I could do one of those things, doing the same thing all the time gets old, so it would only stave off the boredom for a short amount of time. I need variety and I need it to be fun.

It only wears me out. I hear folks who work out talk about the “second wind” they get, or the energy they somehow magically come across when they work out. Never once in my life have I experienced any of that. I’ve done my share of running (can’t do much - got flat feet and, no, orthotics do not help), weight lifting, biking, etc. I don’t get any extra energy. I don’t “feel better.” I don’t get whatever chemical rush it is that most people seem to get. All I get when I work out is tired. That tiredness lasts through the end of the night and into the next day sometimes. No, I’m not “overdoing it.” If it’s enough exercise to feel any sort of “burn,” it’s already too late - I’m going to be wasted. Effort == Tired.

I’m not patient. I fully admit that. I’d like to actually see some sort of results within a week or two. On no occasion, with any type of exercise, have I ever actually “seen results.” I’ve been at this weight training for like eight weeks now. Can I feel the weights getting easier? Sure. I can sort of feel that I’m a little stronger. Is there any visible result? No. Do I “feel better?” No. The effort for result ratio is feeling a little off, here. I’m doing my best to eat well - more veggies, less fat, less sugar - but I’ve got nothing to show for it. Seeing nothing is generally demoralizing.

Maybe it’s just bad attitude. That’s very well possible. I can’t say I haven’t tried a million things, though, and all of them seem to fail for me. I’ve done the yoga thing and it was OK for a time but I got bored with it (plus they usually throw in all this spiritual crap that I really just don’t buy into). I’ve tried the cardio kickboxing thing and got more worn out than with anything else and saw absolutely zip from it. Weights? Boring. Running? Boring (and painful - flat feet, right?) I was doing Dance Dance Revolution for a while, and even that gets boring after the umpteenth day of doing it. (When I say I’ve tried this stuff, it’s not “three days and I quit” - it’s “do it for a month or more, two-to-four times a week, and see how it goes. I’m giving it all a fair shot.)

Anyone got any ideas? I’m sick of this crap.