Monthly Archive for May, 2007

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean 3

Published
by
Austen
on May 31, 2007
in Movies and Reviews
. 1 Comment

Okay. I’m going to try and be as truthful as possible with this review, and not let any reviews that I’ve read or things that I’ve heard persuade me in my opinion of this movie. Which is hard because on one side I have Rotten Tomatoes telling me it’s a “glazed, inhuman, cluttered piece of work” and then kids at school telling met that the end fight scene was “So awesome!!! That whirlpool was amazing!” Now, I try to mix both of these sides into my review fairly…

After the somewhat dissappointing Pirates of the Caribbean 2 I wasn’t originally planning to see the 3rd film in theaters. But the magic of advertising got me excited about it and, well, I saw it last Monday.

“Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End” is really not a good name for the movie. Sure, they go to the end of the world. But a more aptly named title would be “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, in Singapore, in Antartica, and of course the Caribbean.” The movie is all over the place. They’re in Singapore, then snap they’re on the largest waterfall you’ve ever seen, then snap they’re back in the Caribbean. Much like the second movie, the storyline is confusing because the characters seem to suddenly be on the other side of the world whenever they need to be.

I’m not going to explain any of the storyline, because there’s just too much. And you probably know most of it. But anyway, Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer tried to mix in waay to many stories into this movie. Having so many stories and substories is confusing and just drags the movie on longer.

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News for May 30, 2007

Published
by
Austen
on May 30, 2007
in News
. 1 Comment

Sorry it’s been so long since the last one… Anyway this is both news and other stuff.

Photoshop gallery

Published
by
Austen
on May 29, 2007
in Photos
. 1 Comment

I’ve been working on a bunch of different photoshop pictures recently, both at school and at home so I thought that I’d just take this post to showcase some of my best photoshopped pictures. Note that only the picture with Warren and the train picture’s originals were taken by me.

At left is the Empire State Building - only much, much taller. I extended the building up really high (and also the image this one is twice as high as the original). And yes, that’s King Kong flinging around an airplane on top (tell me that doesn’t look awesome.) I did a couple more pictures like this, which you can see after the jump.

Next is an image that I really wanted for people to just say “Wow” to. Below is the original:

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Pirates!

Published
by
Austen
on May 28, 2007
in Movies
. 0 Comments

Why is this movie series so popular? One word:

Pirates.

Everyone loves pirates. I mean, who doesn’t. I mean - they’re pirates! Don’t you just get giddy when you hear that word? Pirates, stealing treasure, and riding the seas in ships. Wearing eye patches, etc.

Of course, the whole killing, robbing, and burning down villages thing is usually left out of the Playskool toys, but who cares? It’s pirates! That’s why everyone loved the first one: It was a pirates movie with the special effects available to recreate the world of pirates. Awesome!

Unfortunately, the last 2 movies have been just a bit too much. Too many plots and too many special effects. But still, these movies are so fun to watch! I mean, it’s pirates we’re talking about. Mixed with the hilarious Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, sword fights, huge sea monsters, Davy Jones and buried treasure the Pirates of the Caribbean movie have always managed to give me a fun time. I’m seeing the 3rd one today, not as a “work of art” but as a popcorn flick.

I mean, come one - it’s pirates!

The Trip Upstate 2007

Published
by
Austen
on May 27, 2007
in Life and Photos
. 0 Comments

We just got back from our trip upstate to see Elo, Andrew, Vance, and Lulu. I’ve edited down over 100 pictures to less than 40. You can see all of the photos here. Among the activites documented are biking, hiking, and fixing flat tires.

I seriously have never had allergies before, but this weekend they hit me like crazy. That’s why I look like a zombie in this picture, I was about to sneeze.

Going Upstate

Published
by
Austen
on May 26, 2007
in Life
. 0 Comments

We’re going upstate to Elo and Andrew’s this weekend! (Only Saturday and Sunday.)

Yay! I’ll try to do a post tommorow (Sunday) and then on Monday I’m planning to see Pirates 3. Anyway… gotta go now we’re literally leaving right now.

Check out some photos from previous trips here and here.

Lost Season Finale

Published
by
Austen
on May 25, 2007
in Television
. 0 Comments

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Oh. My. God.

They killed Charlie. They actually KILLED CHARLIE!!! They went into the future. Thery actually WENT INTO THE FUTURE!!!!!!!

Did you know that 15 people died this episode? (There were the 10 Others who went to the camp - all killed. Then there was Charlie, the two women in the under water hatch, Mikhali (he couldn’t of survived that mortar blast), and finally Naomi. So, they killed 4 major characters!!!

Anyway, aside from the people that died: THE FLASH FORWARD. I had an inkling when I saw Jack’s phone. It’s the Motorola KRZR, and that wasn’t out before 2004. (Yes, I’m a geek.) Actually, I might have caught a whiff of the word “flash-forward” on TV Squad and on the comments on this blog. (Don’t worry Uncle Bob, it would’ve happened anyway) But I didn’t put 2 and 2 together until we saw Kate.

Who’s funeral was it? I’d like to think that it was Ben’s, but who knows?

THEY KILLED CHARLIE!!! I thought they would get Desmond to trade with Charlie and he would die instead. The scene when we see Penelope on the screen is awesome, and I really hope that she comes to the island sometime next season. And now I wonder, is Mikali REALLY dead this time? He wasn’t the last two times. I swear that he’s my dad’s evil twin brother or something, though - they both have the exact same chin. But he really creeped me out (Mikhali, not my dad.)

Oh, and Naomi is now dead, Locke is alive, Walt is back (and he’s like 20 years old) and Mr. Friendly/Zeke/Tom is dead. Too bad, I liked Tom. Anyway, this episode has re-instated my trust in the show. The season started off horrible, but by the end it became Lost’s best season yet. I haven’t even said half the things that I’ve wanted to say, and this post is really a mess, but here’s an interesting interview with Lost writer Damon Lindelof.

Favorite moments:

  • “Alex, meet your mother”… “Can you help me tie him up?”
  • Hurley comes in with the van!
  • Charlie sings “You All Everybody” to try and cover up Desmond coming into the hatch
  • Sayid breaks the Other’s neck. With his FEET. The look of surprise on everyone’s faces was priceless.

Bad sequels make me mad

Published
by
Austen
on May 24, 2007
in Movies
. 0 Comments

Bad sequels make me mad, and so far this summer is litered with them. Spider-Man 3 could have been a wonderful ending to trilogy, taking it’s place next to it’s previous two films as perhaps the best superhero movies ever. But no, it didn’t. 61% on RT.

Shrek 3 was preceded by two great movies, but no: 42% on RT. And now, Pirates of the Caribbean 3: preceded by a great movie and a mediocre one: 54% on RT, giving it the same score as Pirates 2. So basically, it’s just as good as the last one.

It should be noted that I haven’t seen any of these movies (yet) but from Rotten Tomatoes and other reviews that I’ve read, all 3 of these 3rd installments appear to not live up to their predecesors. But they do good in the box office, so now Spidey 4 is probably going to happen, Shrek 4 is already in production, and Pirates spinoffs are being hinted at. And how often in a movie series has there been a bad one, and then a good one. Like, almost never. One one of the movies isn’t good, the rest of the series is usually ruined.I like sequels - as long as they’re good. Spider-Man 2, Shrek 2, Empire Strikes Back, Harry Potter 2, The Lost World - those are all good sequels, and they make me happy. But that doesn’t happen too often.

So bad sequels make me mad. They take a great movie, and try to do it again, or do it better, or just make money, and it doesn’t work and they completely ruin the other movie because it will be forever associatted with the sequel.

How many of you think that Rush Hour 3 is going to be any good? I can almost guarantee it’s going to be horrible. WHY CAN’T HOLLYWOOD JUST MAKE GOOD SEQUELS, OR NOT MAKE ANY SEQUELS AT ALL????? Because all they care about is the money, basically. But that’s not right.

TV Season Finales

Published
by
Austen
on May 23, 2007
in Television
. 2 Comments

This post is just a way for me to comment on the season finales of various shows, all of which are ending around now. I’ll update this post when more finales air. If my some off chance you have DVR or TiVo and you haven’t seen one of these finales yet, spoilers follow.

  • Jericho - It just ended with them shooting? That was it? It literally ended with Jake saying “Wait… wait… wait.. FIRE!!!” *boom-blam-kaboosh-sploom-shroom* (lots of gunshots) on blackness. And guess what? No second season for Jericho! Gee, thanks for the cliff hanger faller.
  • My Name is Earl - This show is like coffee. Really. I didn’t like it at first, but once you add some sugar and milk it’s really good. The same goes for Earl. It’s a sweet show that, unlike every other show on television, actually teaches good morals. I mean, it’s about a guy trying to make up for his crap life. Anyway… the season finale was great, but what are they going to do with the show for the third season? Community service? Or will he be stuck in jail for the next two seasons? I thought the look on Joy’s face when she said thank you was really good, she’s really a good character.
  • The Office - See my previous post.
  • Scrubs - AGAIN??!!! J.D. and Elliot have seriously gotten together at least 4 times before. Now, they just decide to kiss right before J.D. becomes a father and Elliot gets married? I though that they didn’t have feelins for each other anymore, like, 2 seasons ago. Still, I’m glad that Scrubs will be coming back for a 7th season next year.
  • Heroes - Didn’t really live up to the hype. Heroes isn’t THAT great. They killed too many people and the show is too unrealistic - when you have people with a dozen different superpowers it pretty much leaves everything up to what the writers think should happen. Still, season 2 looks cool with the old Chinese stuff and the “When I look for him… he can see me!” stuff.
  • 24 - Eh. No deaths? No assasinations? No dead wives? No Chinese abductions? Just Jack looking out at the ocean? That’s all that you can give us for the last few minutes of the show? Boooring!

Summer

Published
by
Austen
on May 22, 2007
in Life
. 3 Comments

Today is May 22nd, and a month from today is my last day of school. School doesn’t officially end until June 27th, but the last week of it is all final assessments. I’m going to have to schedule my appointments with teachers accordingly so that I get everything done by Friday the 22nd.

Why? Because we’re going to Colorado!!! It’s a college reunion of my mom’s but we’re also gonnna go out and do things on our own. Anyway, that will be fun. Then I think on July 2nd camp starts! Creative Arts is just across the park (Central Park) and I’m doing that all through July.

On July 7th, Harry Potter 7 comes out and this time I’m NOT going to be spoiled about who dies. *digitally looks in the direction of a certain person who shall remain unnamed* It just wasn’t the same KNOWING that Snape killed Dumbledore while reading the 6th book 2 years ago… it was never the same. But this year it won’t happen. I’m going to wear earplugs whenever I leave the house until I finish the book. (Okay, maybe not. But I’ll be prepared) Oh yeah, and then the 5th movie comes out shortly afterwards.

Then, around July 15th (the middle of July) I might be able to possibly have a chance to maybe get a new computer. Then, skipping ahead to the end of August there’s (as usual) our trip to Maine!!! And then, there’s that horrible dreaded thing. Summer is a dreaded, horrible cycle that always ends up exactly where it started… at school.

Borat

Published
by
Austen
on May 21, 2007
in Movies
. 2 Comments

I just saw Borat last night. This isn’t a full-fledged review, just a quick tidbit about it…

It was… hilarious, stupid, racist, rude, and funny. Some of my favorite scenes:

  • NYC Subway scenes
  • Borat thinking that the elevator was the hotel room
  • The bear in the ice cream truck! And it roaring at the little kids! Hilarious!
  • Bag of crap… no comment
  • The antique store. Sometimes I just wish that I could do that

If you, like me, are wondering about how many of the scenes were real or staged, be sure to check this out. It seems like the Pamela Anderson thing was staged, but aside from that it all seems to be real. I understand the controversy over the movie but… it makes for some really good comedy. And he’s really a comic genius… although his tactics are a bit… extreme.

Popcorn

Published
by
Austen
on May 20, 2007
in Life
. 4 Comments

2 minutes ago, I was sitting at my computer. I had just gotten back from a food festival (really a food-dominant street fair) on 9th Avenue. I was full when I had gotten home half an hour before, but then I decided to try some of the popcorn that we had bought there from “Kettle Corn NYC.” Obviously, it was delicious, which is what has led me to write this post.

The reason why we bought it was because recently, our special treat popcorn place called Dale and Thomas had closed, and we (meaning me and my Mom, my Dad doesn’t like popcorn) had been craving it for a month.

Anyway… it’s soooooooooo good. Why don’t movie theaters just carry this popcorn? They would make millions of dollars more than they already do. Both the Dale and Thomas and Kettle Corn NYC “sweet and salty” flavors are delicious. SOOO good. Not like “oh, that was a good movie” good, but like “OMG that movie was AMAZING” good. You know, really good.

That’s all that I have to say. Just that I looove good sweet and salty popcorn. Like really LOVE it.

(Photo from Kettle Corn website)

Dunder Mifflin Website

Published
by
Austen
on May 19, 2007
in Websites
. 0 Comments

Dunder Mifflin is the fictional paper supply company that the characters work at in The Office, a popular TOTALLY AWESOME show about, well, characters working for Dunder Mifflin.

Anyway, aside from telling you to go out and buy the first 2 seasons on DVD now, I’m also telling you that this afternoon I whipped up a little website using the popular TOTALLY AWESOME open source program Nvu.

It’s really not much, just a basic table set-up with the Dunder Mifflin logo and me blabbering on about “quality paper” and “customer service representatives.” But I believe that if Dunder Mifflin were real that this is a pretty fair representation of what their website would look like.

Dunder Mifflin - Paper Products Supply Co.

On an unrelated note, nobody has posted any comments for like 10 posts! Please comment it you have anything to say, because I value your opinions and like to hear other views about stuff.

Thanks Mike for alerting me to the problem with the AJAX commenting. I’ve disabled it, and it seems to work now. Sorry about that.

Mr. Deity

Published
by
Austen
on May 18, 2007
in Humor and Videos
. 0 Comments

Mr. Deity is a hilarious video podcast about… well, God and his minions. It’s really funny. See my friend Aaron’s post:

I discovered an amazing new video podcast today. It’s called Mr. Deity (iTunes link). Basically, Mr. Deity, which comes in 2-5 minute episode installments, follows the story of “Mr. Deity,” a.k.a. God, Larry, Mr. Deity’s assistant, Jesus, the reluctant guy who gets promoted to co-partner if he redeems mankind, and Lucifer, or “Lucy,” the Devil. Together, these characters, combined with some terrific writing, take a humorous and witty look at some of theology’s toughest questions. It’s a great little video podcast and definitely worth checking out.

- AaronFreedman.com

The Office Season 3 Finale

Published
by
Austen
on May 17, 2007
in Television
. 1 Comment

Wooooow. I really didn’t think that the writers would be able to top off last years finale. But they did. The last 10 minutes seemed to be getting a bit mushy… a little bit soft, but then when THAT THING at the end happened, it took me completely by surprise

DON’T KEEP READING UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SPOILED IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE YET.

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