So I finally got some time to comment on the Ben Folds concert this past Sunday. It was so worth every single snowflake, every minute I lost sleeping, the crazy and insane ride back home and definitely worth the $40 ticket. Not only did Ben Folds absolutely rock the show but before he even came out, a new band called Miniature Tigers and this UNCG acapella Band kept things extremely entertaining. A total of 3 1/2 hours of non stop music. The music was great, especially Ben Folds banging away on the piano, but what really stole the show was the non stop hilarity. I felt like I was at a comedy show. Miniature Tigers kept saying: “We are the Jonas Brothers”. They just kept picking about it. Ben Folds would talk in between songs and sometimes I was looking forward to that more then the music. The acapella band was awesome. Ben Folds actually did an audition to pick the best acapella band in the US and ended up picking the UNCG guys. He is making an acapella album this year and it will include them. They were amazing I’m telling you.
So anyone I invited to go should feel pretty bummed out about not going, because you missed out on one of the best shows ever. Sorry, maybe next time. I almost wish that he was having another show around here somewhere. I would go again in a heartbeat.
I added a video of him performing the song Free Coffee in which he uses an Altoids can that he places on the piano strings and then ads distortion to it all. It is pretty original I though and gives the piano a whole new meaning to sound. He did this at the show this past Sunday and everybody went nuts. Enjoy…
So I just recently watched Fireproof. I must say that Kirk Cameron has gotten better over the years. I remember the old Left Behind movies and how terrible of an actor he was. I was slightly surprised, too bad the rest of the cast on Fireproof sucked. The movie as a whole wasn’t bad though. Story wise it earned my points, after a lot of frustration that is.
Frustration. That’s what came out of me as I was watching the movie. Not because I was feeling horrible for this married couple but because I was hoping to get some answers for my self. Don’t you just hate it when someone says:” This or that is the reason why marriages don’t work out”, but then you look at yours and the reason is completely different. That’s what I felt like when I was watching this movie. My relationship issues seem to be so drastically different then the regular sob stories I hear day in and day out, like:” He emotionally abused me, or I had to do everything around here, or we had money issues, or he cheated on me.” So cliche and yet I’m still left without an answer.
But then, there was the Love Dare. Kirk Cameron’s character took a 40 day Love Dare to save his marriage and each day he has to do one special thing for his wife. I though this was a great concept but I was frustrated yet again because I wished I could get a hold of this book so I can try it myself. Funny how fate had me in the Bookstore and right in front of me it was. The Love Dare book just as seen in the motion picture Fireproof. I picked it up and I’m on day 2 now. There are already some very interesting things in there. Who knows, maybe it will be my favorite movie of all time if it gets me my wife back. If not, it’s 2 1/2 stars until then.
I have been listening to a lot of music lately. It has sort of been a stress relief. In the process I discovered a lot of new bands and artist that I truely enjoy. Muse is one of those bands. I have heard of them before but could never really get into them. Maybe I just heard the wrong song the first time around. I gave them another listen and I was blown away. They have slowly climbed my all-time favorite list. I think the song Sunburn started my Muse craze. It was their first song off their first album. Ther is something about the keyboards in this song that fascinated me. Normaly people associate Keyboard sounds with a piano and that makes them associate any song that has keyboards in it as boring. Keyboards are like violins to some people. I don’t understand why. Beats me. But just to try to sway some of you, here is a clip of Muse performing Sunburn live. Amazing…
If you liked Muse and would like to check out more of their music, you have to hear the following songs as well: Uno, Plug In Baby, Feeling Good, Time is Running Out, Hysteria, Supermassive Black Hole. Those are just some of my favorites.
Can’t wait till they tour. I would love to see them live. Which brings me to my next point. Concerts. I will try to go to more shows this year. I really miss the atmosphere of thousands of people singing the same songs. Something about it sends chills through my body. So my first concert this year will be Ben Folds, beginning of March. I’m pumped.
I’ve been thoroughly excited about this day. The day for me to finally wrap up what I thought about the movies of last year and to rank them in order of favorites.
I love movies and it’s comforting to know I’m not the only one. They are the escape goat from reality but it’s funny how the movies about reality end up being my favorites. Movies are our way to relate and experience the power of stories and art. They are modern day books. It’s sad to say though that the majority of people watch mainly Hollywood Blockbusters, cheesy Comedies, Romantic Comedies and lame Horror flicks. I’m not judging because I like to watch those as well. I just hope to persuade you to see more movies that will change your life because let’s be honest Spider-Man and Transformers won’t do that.
How hard is life? Most of the times harsh and rarely easy. Often depressing and often happy. Sometimes you feel lonely and sometimes very loved. The reality of life can change a man/woman. It can break you down and tear you to pieces. The reality of life is hard to see. We don’t want to look and analyze it. We fake the smile and let the show go on. This is also true in movies. When I watch movies I look for reality. That is the number one thing. All the rest comes second.
On another note, this has been a record year for me. I have seen 74 films that came out in 2007, by far the most in a year. Last year it was around 50 and I must say that ‘07 was not a bad year at all. It took me a long time to realize that at first because I thought for the longest that it was one of the worst. In January and February we had some great stuff come out and 5 of my top 10 movies came out during those 2 months. After a long stretch of sucky movies finally I started seeing some great stuff coming out of the wood works.
Enjoy and if you haven’t seen the movies from my top 10 then I suggest you check them out and give them a try. You won’t be disappointed. I decided to post all of the movies I have seen this past year. Reason being that when other critics post their top 10 of the year its because they only watched about 20 films. This is not a fair rating so therefore I give it to you all so you can see that I did my work.
1.Once ***** So simple and so quite real. Never seen anything like it before.
2. Into The Wild ***** Amazing story about confusion in life and the search for a greater destiny. Some scenes will have you on the verge of tears.
3. Atonement ****1/2 How important is it to forgive someone and to atone for your mistakes? You learn that here and while you are doing that you will see one of the most beautiful scenes in recent film history. Check out the Beach scene.
4. Juno ****1/2 It’s impossible to not like this movie. It is so easy to watch and so full of new life. A breath of fresh air.
5. Black Book ****1/2 A WWII movie form a females perspective. The best performance by a lady this year for me. Powerful story of survival and a real look at how sex was a powerful manipulation tool even during a war.
6. The Lives Of Others ****1/2 Probably the most touching story of all year. One man sacrifices his life for something he believes in. Not unusual for a movie you say, but he never takes credit for it.
7. This Is England ****1/2 You want to see a movie about the struggles of racism then watch This Is England not Crash.
8. No Country For Old Men ****1/2 Other then it being a bit predictable and reminding me of last years Departed, there is nothing wrong with this movie. Guys will most definitely enjoy it.
9. The Host **** Cloverfield who? Watch the Host instead, at least we know where the monster came from, not to mention it looks a hundred times cooler.
10. The Lookout **** Joseph Gordon Levitt is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. Great performance, great movie.
11. The Bourne Ultimatum ****
12. The King Of Kong ****
13. Lars And The Real Girl ****
14. Zodiac ****
15. There Will Be Blood ****
16. Michael Clayton ****
17. Breach ****
18. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford ****
So this week was a week for the books. Not the books that the public can enjoy but only for the misery of a lone individual and God who reads everything. I watched 4 movies this week and found it hard to focus when so much is on the mind. Either way I pulled it off and here is what I got out of it.
No Country For Old Men (2007) ****
I Am Legend (2007) **1/2
Unforgiven (1992) ***
Changing Lanes (2002) ***1/2
Something I learned by watching all of these movies was how hard it is to make the right decisions and how our will causes our destinies. This could be argued and you could say that God knew it would happen already because he knows everything and like I said last week he is everything. I won’t argue with you because I don’t know whether our decisions drive our life or whether God just wanted it so. All I know is that every human being on this planet has the choice to be a good human being. You make these choices Mon-Sun and the wrong choices seem to always come back and kick your ass. Call it Karma or call it God, I call it both.
In I Am Legend we have a guy that has to make a last minute decision, putting his life on the line for something greater then him. In Unforgiven we have a man that is struggling with his counsciuos throughout the movie. In No Country For Old Men our guy takes the wrong path and although he is a good human being at heart ultimately his decisions come back to haunt him. But no other movie, even though not my favorite this week, showcases this more. Two men cross paths and because of a small error and a wrong decision end up having their life cave in right in front of their eyes and all that is left at the end is right or wrong. Which one will it be?
Its hard, its hard, and once more it is so freaking hard to make the right choices when your feelings and doubts are all you know. Everything tells you to do one thing but the only opposition is right or wrong which is very clear cut but very sharp and lethal. Someone once told me that there is never a right or wrong but just a blurred middle that we have to settle with. I don’t know, I am not all knowing. As a matter of fact I am a man of less knowledge then most. What I pray for daily is wisdom, the ability to make the right decision at the right time. God sure is letting me have my shot at it now. You get what you ask for at a price you didn’t expect, so be careful when you ask next time.
Something new I will be doing is sharing my movie of the week with everyone. In a normal week, which this one was not, I see around 5-6 movies . As you all know I am a lover of films so no need to explain more. Here it goes.
Sweeney Todd (2007) ***1/2
Snow Angels (2008 ***
In The Valley Of Elah (2007) ***
The World’s Fastest Indian (2005) ****
Legend Of The Fall (1994) ****
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007) ***1/2
The Network (1976) *****
It was seven this week and my favorite of them was the Network. One of the best movies I have ever seen. It stands the test of time. Who would have known that in 1976 the makers of this movie would have predicted the lunatic future of today’s world. Frightening dialogue that led me to believe that we are all a bunch of programmed beings, following the steps layed out to us by the demons behind the scenes, who have planned this all along. Is television the Devil? It might just be so. Today we could see 666 flash across the screens of a regular Oprah Winfrey viewing and ratings would catapult like Battlestar Galactica. So do we turn the TV off and dump it out or do we stay tuned and get deeper into the stratisphere of make belief and illusions.
I of all people will have a hard time with this. Movies are what I love and to experience these you have to have a Tube and if you get rid off it you still have its offspring Youtube or otherwise known as the Internet. They work together to bring us all together, to look alike and imagine life to be a soap opera where we can just flip the channel for change and find ourselves in a sporting event and if that doesn’t work we can always fall into the vision of 3 so called leaders of our destructive future nation. All far away from reality. A world of nations is no more, but it is now a world of coorporations.
Do you feel as hot as I do right now? I hope you are Mad as Hell and you stand up for your rights as individuals. All I want to do right now is worhip God in a way I have never before imagined. He is the only truth. He is reality in the midst of all that is fake. And all is fake other then Him.
Soon I will be reviewing my favorite movies of last year (2007). I have 8 more movies to see. I hope you guys take a minute a read over my movie blogs and maybe rent a few of the ones that make it to the top of my list. I also plan on telling you why movies mean so much to me and the reality of it all. Stay tuned and deffinetly check out The Network, one of my top 5 movies of all time now.
So far Once is my favorite movie of 2007. Not many people have watched it so I hope you trust me and rent it. If you love music and movies this is so soothing for the soul. Glen Hansard is one of the most talented musicians in the present and stars in the movie. The soundtrack is unbelievable and is my favorite CD of last year. Pretty amazing I called it way before the Oscars gave it a nod for “best original song in a movie”. Not much more I can say other then go see it. You will love it.
I was angry yesterday. I’m really glad that none of my friends watched the game with me because I threw a fit. When the Seahawks are doing bad or losing a game I am sort of an evil little kid. Once the game is over I realize that it’s just football and life has to go on. But still every time ,during the game, I show frustration. Yesterday was no different, but now that it’s all over with for the Seahawks, I am relieved and happy.
First of all give credit to the Packers who have done an outstanding job in weather like that, with the youngest team in the NFL, and one of the best Quarterbacks to ever play the game. They were unstoppable and Seattle looked like a High School team against them.
So what am I excited about? Next year.
Seattle has seen a lot of trials this year, especially in the running game. For the last 5 years they have relied on the run and this year it was gone. Good for Hasselback as he got to finally step up and be the type of leader the Seahawks needed. He had his best season in his career and will go into next year prepared like never before. The Defense also was much improved this year and if they keep building on it, it could become a force to be reckoned with. Now to the opportunity. The Running back situation needs to be fixed. God puts trials on people so they can learn from them and grow. Shaun Alexander knows this as well as his team. I am sure that the reason for their running back fluke this year was Gods intention to make Hasselback into a leader (mission accomplished). Now Seattle needs to get a good running back in the first round and the situation will be fixed.
The future looks brighter then ever. I can’t wait for 2008/2009.
So yesterday I played some poker with my friends from work. We had 7 people at my house and it was great. I came in 2nd and won $20 but whats even better then this I was playing the best poker of my life. I was reading people so well and made really good decisions. The feeling I get when I play good poker is the type of feeling I want every day. I would love to play professional poker for a living. That is a dream I have had for years now but the urge to play has never been stronger.
Some people claim that poker is gambling and this is possible. The reason why it’s also not possible is the fact that its a game of playing people not cards. Sure luck is involved sometimes but over a long run a person who knows how to read people and their betting patterns will come out on top more then 75% of the time. Why do you think professional poker players make in the money most of the time. The World Series Of Poker Championship doesn’t give a great example of this. When you have a tournament of 3000 to 4000 people playing, sure luck will have a lot to do with winning this monster. Unfortunately this is what we see on TV most of the time. We don’t get to see the cash games and smaller tournaments the professionals play and dominate. Put the guys who luck out at the big tournament on the same table with 8 pro’s and he will fold like a piece of paper.
This is encouraging to me. Hopefully one day somebody will sponsor me to play a tournament and start doing this on a regular basis. But until then I will have to keep improving my game.
So I knew that eventually the time will come and I will cancel my blockbuster account. Officially I get my movies from Netflix now. The in-store exchange was a fascinating idea for blockbuster and I was sold. It seemed as if they had their competition wiped out of this earth. I should have know better then that. Of course the competitors would come up with ways to keep customers around. But it wasn’t what the competition had to offer that made me switch it was just an incentive. The transition happened when blockbuster decided to limit the amount of in-store exchanges. You can’t give and then take it away. That is like giving somebody a Christmas gift and then a year later asking back for it. It’s absurd.
Well I’m happier now knowing I’ll be getting my movies in the mail quicker and not having to drive to the store all the time. Not to mention the online viewing hours Netflix gives you according to your plan. Pretty awesome.To give it all a shot I watched a movie online last night. 12 Angry Men to be exact. I’ve been wanting to watch this movie for a while now. It’s a 1957 classic and one that is on most movie critics top 10 list. Well it made my top 30, ranking in at 21st. I have to say I still like A Few Good Men better as a courtroom drama. Still, this is a nice way to start off the subscription.
1.Once
2. Into The Wild 
3. Atonement 
4. Juno 
5. Black Book 
6. The Lives Of Others 
7. This Is England 
8. No Country For Old Men 
9. The Host 
10. The Lookout 
11. The Bourne Ultimatum 
12. The King Of Kong 
13. Lars And The Real Girl 
14. Zodiac 
15. There Will Be Blood 
16. Michael Clayton 
17. Breach 
18. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 
19. Right At Your Door 
20. Ratatouille 
21. Superbad
22. Gone Baby Gone 
23. The Namesake 
24. Eastern Promises 
25. Black Snake Moan 
26. The Hoax 
27. Knocked Up 
28. 3:10 To Yuma 
29. Death Sentence 
30. Sweeney Todd 
31. Charlie Wilson’s War 
32. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead 
33. American Gangster 
34. Paris Je T’Aime 
35. 300 
36. Freedom Writers 
37. The Darjeeling Limited 
38. Rendition 
39. Disturbia 
40. The Kite Runner 
41. I’m Not There 
42. Rescue Dawn
43. Reservation Road 
44. Hot Fuzz 
45. In The Valley Of Elah 
46. The Brave One 
47. I Am Legend 
48. We Own The Night 
49. Trade 
50. Oceans 13 
51. Reign Over Me 
52. King Of California 
53. Shooter 
54. Amazing Grace 
55. A Mighty Heart 
56. The Orphanage 
57. Things We Lost In The Fire 
58. Man Push Cart 
59. The Mist 
60. Fracture 
61. He Was A Quiet Man 
62. Transformers 
63. Live Free Or Die Hard 
64. Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End 
65. The Number 23 
66. Spider-Man 3 
67. Lucky You 
68. 1408 
69. War 
5. Curse Of The Golden Flower 
4. I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry 
3. Evan Almighty 
2. The Golden Compass 
1. Premonition 