| The Dark Knight |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|02:57 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  satisfied | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Batman Theme Song (in my head) | ] |
Wow...
So, the big question is...Heath or Jack? Who is better? Well, I can't answer that. They are two completely different versions of the same twisted character. What I can say is this: Heath is closer to the elemental nature of The Joker, whereas Jack has that pop-comic feel. Jack made me laugh because he made me forget that what I was laughing at was a psychopath...Heath made me feel like a bad person every time I laughed, and then showed me how wrong I was for laughing by scaring me just a little in the very next instant.
The point is, they were equally good at portraying someone who is inexplicably the greatest thorn in Batman's side. They made it believable that they could rattle Batman so easily and have such a difficult time keeping the "Clown Prince" under lock and key.
Now, as for my overall assessment of the movie... It was incredibly smart and filled in several parts of Batman's personality / mind / ability that were missing. Granted, it didn't go the full distance...much like Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne / Batman's intelligence is very watered down. He is portrayed as having a brilliant tactical and resourceful mind, as well as his budding detective skills, but there was little development or mention of his knowledge of science in either movie. He pretty much defers to Lucius Fox for most of the really technical stuff. Of course, I think Nolan has brought the character very much down to Earth, grounding him solidly on the not-quite-extreme edge of what is plausible. This gives him a lot of room to play, because he can then do what he did with this movie: take a superhero movie and instead turn it into a crime drama that happens to have a "super" hero in it. "The Dark Knight" is a very heavy movie; most definitely not a "popcorn" flick. I don't really think there is a lot in it that someone under the age of 13 or so would even like, except some great fight scenes and fx. The story wouldn't really keep a child involved, and I doubt too many kids would be awake by the end of the movie. There's just too much of a psychological factor to it...a deeper level of enjoyment that only adults could really get into. Twists and turns abound!
I won't be giving anything away, don't worry. Just go see it. You'll understand what I mean. Oh, and incidentally, The Joker is one helluva magician...HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! |
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| Home! |
[Jan. 19th, 2008|02:22 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
We made it home safely.
Zod got voted off Project Runway, so I can put away Gay Wayne now. Sucks to be Zod, but hooray for me! |
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| A DM's Musings... |
[Dec. 21st, 2007|05:34 pm] |
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Kathamakon Swiftslayer Thakegoa’makuu was born |
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| Bum Rush Party |
[Dec. 19th, 2007|11:55 am] |
For anyone bored and having extra free time:
http://thebumrushparty.blogspot.com/
I've been running a D&D 3.5 Eberron game for a few months now. Recently, we decided to start up a blog about it. In just a few days, it has resulted in some amusing commentary and creative exerpts. For those that are interested...enjoy! |
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| Par-tay |
[Dec. 9th, 2007|12:47 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
So, I went to a party last night hosted by my boss...Chrissy accompanied me. It was a blast! After some chit-chatting, listening to Christmas music, and people other than me drinking...a lot...we broke out the karaoke machine. I won't go into it all that in-depth, but I did Baby Got Back and Like a Virgin. Chrissy and I dueted Come to My Window. The best was when the wife of a co-worker got completely smashed and insisted on singing "harmony" with everyone, regardless of the song and whether or not she knew it. FYI...YOU CAN'T HARMONIZE WITH BABY GOT BACK!! It just...doesn't work. The same thing goes with female involvement in the song "Beer for my Horses" (a Toby Keith/Willy Nelson duet). So...you can all take that little nugget of wisdom home with you.
I did try one alcoholic concoction, though. It was something Layne (MSgt Nelson, my boss) had come up with at some point in his life. It was this yellowish alcohol that smelled of licorice (Chrissy knows the name...I have no clue what it is called) and hot coffee mixed, with whipped cream on top (that ultimately ends up blending into the drink). It's meant to be taken in a small cup or shot glass...we used small plastic cups. Anyway, I expected it to taste like raw @$$, given that it had alcohol and coffee (two things I'm not big on) mixed...but it was actually pretty good. I sipped it initially, but then downed the rest in shot-like fashion. And, despite my jovial nature for the duration of the evening, that was the only alcohol I imbibed. Of course, I'd only had about 6 hours of sleep in a 48 hour period at that point, so I was probably as "drunk" as anyone else there, but it was a (mostly) alcohol-free stupor. Good times.
It did help that I knew 9 out of every 10 people there. I tend to clam up initially around strangers. Go Introversion!!
Do you hear that? A whale is crying for help...I have to go. *loosens tie and runs off* (Al Gore's cameo in 30 Rock was great...now if only *he* would have taken up a bid to run for president...) |
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| Back from Californ-i-a |
[Dec. 7th, 2007|01:52 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  jet-lagged & fluey | ] |
I just got back from 4 days and nights in the wonderful land of Monterey, CA. I stayed at the Embassy Suites for a Command Language Program Convention, which was informative, if a little long-winded (I'm the Command Language Program Manager for my Squadron...I manage linguists & take care of their issues & training). The hotel was pretty damn nice. It had a tv in the bedroom *and* the living room area (which were separate)...a little gluttonous, but ok. It had a great breakfast buffet and free happy hour bar (though I don't really drink, so I didn't take advantage of this). The worst part about the trip: I went out there Sunday...by Tuesday morning, I had come down with a bad cold. I'm still getting over it, actually. Most of Tuesday, I was simply miserable. Fortunately, Tucker, the guy I went with (the Wing CLPM), keeps a pharmacy on him, so I bummed some Nyquil liquigels and had a blissful night.
We weren't very adventurous, but we ate at a *really* great Chipotle (real Mexicans and everything!), a pretty decent Mexican restaurant (the name I do not recall), and a few stops at Chili's near the hotel. We ate at the bar and on Monday night (and Tuesday night, but that was uneventful), had an awesome conversation with one of the managers and bartenders (who chided me about my choice of drinks...Schmirnoff Ice). The manager bought each of us a round (otherwise, I would only have had one...oh, I got so plastered!...in my head).
All in all, an ok trip. Worth the flight anxiety? Not sure. I'll probably lean towards the "yes" when I receive my $300 in per diem, though. :-) (Yes, Daniel, that's the money I'm going to buy your 360 with...so don't waste your time asking) |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 1st, 2007|06:54 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  Faithful | ] |
God, give me the strength to avoid buying the X-Box 360 Elite and giving Daniel my current 360... Give me the wisdom to realize that this would just be a really smart purchase and in no way whatsoever a bad expenditure of over $500. Grant me the serenity to accept that I am a consumer whore (and how!) and the courage to find a better deal (though there really isn't one...the Elite is a great deal...). Amen.
I hate you, Microsoft.
God, give me the strength to forgive Microsoft for teaming up with the devil (or ousting him from power and taking over Hell) and battling shamelessly for my eternal soul.
Amen...again. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 24th, 2007|03:26 am] |
Rock Band...uh...ROCKS!!
I especially love the customizability of characters, though I'm disappointed that you have to play through with each character to earn money for new crap for your closet. Ah well. Tats are free, and you earn some free gear along the way. Also, while I haven't done it yet, the band mode (where 2+ people can play for $$$ & gear) might do what I want the game to do (a generic closet of stuff for any character). We'll see, I guess. The drums rule, singing is fun (though very hard when you don't know more than 25% of the songs), and the new guitar is very sweet. No clicking sounds!! Unfortunately, I've run into a problem with mine...it is doing this double-strum thing. I suppose I'll have to send it in and get a new one. Ah well. I also haven't tested to see if a headset/HALO wireless "bluetooth-esque" headset will work in place of the mic. If so, I see some guitar/singing action in my near future. :-)
The best part about the game is playing with other people, though. Hands down. Now, if only they would take songs from GH 1-3 and from the various KR games and convert them to Rock Band. With the exception of a handful of songs, it just feels like Rock Band got the leftovers.
After the newness of Rock Band wears off and I've unlocked *everything*, I'll move on to Ace Combat 6. I plan on getting into some sweet dogfights with Xander. :-D
Good times. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 17th, 2007|02:48 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | Barbaric | ] |
" *slowly strips off his clothing, moving closer and closer* Do you want to kill me?!! Then kill me!! *takes off more clothing* Fight me, demon! I am not afraid! *now everything is just swinging in the wind* See if you can kill me! Here I am! Do it!!" -Wayne Myers as Beowulf
*bows, showing more than just his kibbles & bits to the folks standing behind him*
"The reason he did that is because no man wants to fight another naked man...he's afraid that he might touch the guy's dick or something." -Christina Adkison on Beowulf's proven battle tactics |
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| Writer's Block: Top Five Video Games |
[Nov. 15th, 2007|09:59 pm] |
1. Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition for the Sega Genesis.
2. Bloody Roar 3
3. Batman (Nintendo game based on 1989 movie)
4. Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
5. Romance of the Three Kingdoms 3 for Super Nintendo.
With the exception of Hulk, which is just a truly solid game overall, my other favorite games are based on good memories surrounding those games. #5 made it because it's the only game I ever played for *24* hours straight, non-stop, until I beat it. Incidentally, that was from the 4th to 5th of July, 1996, from roughly 10am-10am. *bows* |
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| Friendly Friendiness |
[Nov. 15th, 2007|07:11 am] |
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Leave a comment here and I will:
1. Tell you why I friended you.
2. Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a colour, a photo, etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must post this in your LJ (if you have one). |
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| Whole Lotta Love in Harlem City...yeah... |
[Nov. 2nd, 2007|10:00 pm] |
American Gangster will be the movie to beat this year.
While not as poignant as I thought it would be, nor as fast-paced, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe command the screen with thundering acting prowess...and when they finally meet and converse...wow. I, personally, thought they played off of each other very well, and it was obvious two giants were squaring off (initially, anyway). I would say it was as equally titanic as Pacino and DeNiro in Heat. Of course, this isn't their first film together...that would be Virtuosity (a little-remembered film, but what I would consider Russell Crowe's first real movie). There was a slight role reversal in that, though, and it wasn't really meant to be a film of great depth. American Gangster, however, is about as deep as it gets...for a gangster movie, that is. It isn't Godfather, but then...what is (besides Godfather...I know what all you sarcastic bastards are thinking).
Basically, if you get a chance to see it...see it. For a little background film on the person Frank Lucas works for in the beginning of the movie, "Bumpy" Johnson, check out one of my other all-time favorite gangster movies: Hoodlum (the guy that plays Bumpy in American Gangster has a prominent minor role in Hoodlum, oddly enough).
'Tis all I have for now. |
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| STUFF!!!! |
[Oct. 28th, 2007|04:38 pm] |
I have too much stuff. And no, Daniel, you can't have my tvs, video game systems, video games, DVDs, RPG books, or other gaming items.
One room at a time is how I'm going to attempt this...maybe I'll be able to let go of some of it...maybe E-Bay and/or a used book store will help.
One thing I don't have too much of is clothing...I have too little of that...(especially right now...you know what I'm talkin' about, ladies...and Daniel...).
Disorganization bothers me...but procrastination rules me...what a painful life I live. Chrissy makes it easier, though...it's nice to have someone who can't escape when I'm complaining in their general direction. >:-)
ASDNKFFEWOPIQWENQWEFPOINDQBOIBINPJBPE34ENBPNR
Just felt like typing a bunch of random keys...don't read too much into it. |
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| Seen |
[Oct. 26th, 2007|12:41 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | satisfied | ] |
I saw Saw IV and I must say...who the heck is coming up with these plot lines?? I mean...I have never seen a series of movies, especially of the horror variety, that has been able to maintain the same edge-of-your-seat atmosphere and keep-you-guessing mindset in the 3rd, let alone *4th*, movie as you get by watching the 1st!! But...Saw seems to pull it off brilliantly.
I would've bet real money on the 4th installment being an incredibly cheesy, hacked up script, and last-minute throw-something-together-to-make-money type of movie...especially since there was practically no advertisement for it. "If it's Halloween, it must be Saw..." That's pretty much their entire ad campaign. Well...I'm here to tell everyone..."If the movie is called Saw, it must be good." I'm now convinced of this...and it only took 4 movies to do it. I was skeptical every step of the way, even though I have been a big fan of every movie from the first time I saw the first one.
So...if you get the chance to see one horror movie this time of year...see 30 Days of Night. But if you get the chance to see two...don't miss Saw IV. So say we all (and by "we all" I mean me...which is the "we all" that matters).
Alright, that's all I have for now...buh-bye. |
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| ...or is he? |
[Oct. 21st, 2007|09:32 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  confused | ] |
Dumbledore is not gay. I refuse to believe it. I think people are taking what JK said out of context. It is possible to love someone emotionally but not have the sexual desire to ruin their anal retention. Dumbledore is not gay. A-sexual, at best (that's why he's such a good wizard...all that pent up "magic").
Oh, and I just read the full article about it...she does say she always thought of him as gay. F U J K!!
It has nothing to do with homophobia. If she wants to make Sirius gay, I would buy that in a heartbeat. Except he has poor housekeeping skills. But otherwise, he is totally gay for Lupin and James. Makes you wonder what else they did beneath the Whomping Willow... |
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| Worthy |
[Jul. 11th, 2007|02:45 am] |
I just got back from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I have to say...it is the best movie so far this summer and something worthy of breaking my long silence on LJ.
That being said, I have yet to decide if I actually like it more than the first movie, which before now, was without a doubt the best. Some, if not many, would disagree, but here are my criteria for judging the HP movies...
1. Accuracy. The first movie had it, the second movie had an accurate feel but deviated in a variety of areas, the third movie disregarded the book almost entirely, the fourth was accurate to a point but tried to cover too much in too small of a timeframe, and the fifth...the most accurate since the first, if you allow for storyline deviations caused by the 2nd-4th movies.
2. Acting. None of the movies have lacked this, at least on the part of many of the major characters save one...Dumbledore. Richard Harris was brilliant in the first two movies...his death, though, caused a great blight to be placed on the subsequent films by the choosing of a less-than-worthy replacement. But...I don't believe it is entirely the "new" actor's fault (I say "new" but he really isn't...he has been in more HP movies than the original Dumbledore now). In fact, I would go so far as to say that now I *know* it isn't his fault. THE NEWEST DIRECTOR AND SCREENWRITER HAVE FINALLY PUT A LEASH ON DUMBLEDORE!!! Yes, many of you have heard me rant incessantly about how much Michael Gambon ruined a great character...but in Order of the Phoenix he made me feel like I was actually watching the book again...like Harris did. The gold star for this film, however, has to go to Imelda Staunton's portrayal of Delores Umbridge. She summoned every bit of loathing I felt for the character as I read the book for the first time, and I *loved* it. Perfect presentation. Luna Lovegood is definitely worthy of an honorable mention. Cute and crazy at the same time, just like her literary counterpart.
3. Story. Like I said...it is as accurate to the book as it possibly can be when allowing for time constraints and deviations caused by the previous films. It is by far the most accurate since the first movie.
4. FX. AWESOME!!! 'Nuff said.
Bottom line: see this movie!! It has truly brought the magic back into the film series.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to bed. |
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| Blah |
[Dec. 28th, 2006|07:53 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blah | ] |
Blah about covers my status right now. I am looking forward to my trip to Texas. Maybe D and I can get each other motivated to work out enough so that it's habit by the time I leave and we both keep up with it. Do I hear the words "New Years Resolution?" That would be a good way to doom such an endeavor to failure. Oh well...you can never succeed if you don't try. You can never fail either, now that I think about it. Hmm. What a stupid saying.
I need to get back on a regular sleep schedule, a good diet, and some exercise. I have been completely lethargic since returning from my Spanish class. LETARGICO!! I'm pretty sure that's how you say it in Spanish. Good to know your government dollars are being put to good use, huh?
I need a vacation. |
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batwayne's journal
mischievous