2011 Movie Recap

Apparently I can't exceed 70 movies in a year. For some reason I thought I had seen less last year, but I watched 66 movies last year and have managed to watch 69 this year. Only 3 more! I suppose I did beat my actual goal of watching at least 50, which is impressive since half of the year I was finishing grad school. Course, I suppose I did have 6 months to catch up too. :)

Of the 79 movies I watched, 22 were movies from last year or earlier, so a good chunk were this year. It is funny seeing what movies I watched in the beginning of the year because it feels like they were in 2010 and not this year! I do suspect the beginning of 2012 will be a lot of 2011 movie rentals, though. It's pretty natural given their DVD release dates.

With that said...I found last year's recap of movies and I did pretty well on my 2011 movie release list and pretty bad on my 2010 movies to watch in 2011.

I didn't watch from 2010 (out of 11):

• Eat, Pray, Love
• The Legend of the Guardians
• The American
• The Social Network

I know, I know! I must be in the minority of movie watchers who has NOT seem The Social Network. I started it. Does that count? LoL I watched literally 5 minutes of it. I need to get back to it, but there are so many other things to watch! I feel like I might have seen Eat, Pray, Love because I saw the trailer so often, but I didn't. Didn't manage The American and The Legend of the Guardians either. Don't miss those so much. :)

And I didn't watch from 2011 (out of 12):

• The Hangover 2
• Puss in Boots
  

Both of these will be, for sure, on the DVD rentals for 2012. Hangover 2, when it came and went, just felt like a DVD rental and Puss in Boots was skipped due to money. So look for their reviews in 2012.

With that said...On to favorites of 2011 movies (will not include movies that came out in 2010 or earlier)!

Favorites of the year (no particular order):

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (surprised, surprise :P )
• Captain America
• X-Men: First Class
• Crazy, Stupid, Love
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
• The Help
  

Definitely a short list of favorites this year...Kind of weird.

Must see movie of the year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Runner-ups: Nothing as a *must* see, but I *highly* recommend The Help, X-Men: First Class, and Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Favorite stupid comedy: Bridesmaids
Runner-ups: Just Go With It (I can't help it. Aniston and Sandler not making a TOTAL dump of a movie?! Beating expectations by a long way is worth a mention! With that said, don't get your hopes up if you watch it. :P) and Horrible Bosses

Romantic/Romantic Comedy: Crazy, Stupid, Love
Runner-up: Friends with Benefits

Horror: N/A - Didn't seen any this year (highly likely I won't ANY year)

Family film (non-animated): Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Runner-ups: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Family film (animated): Rio
Runner-ups: Cars 2 and Gnomeo & Juliet

Action-Adventure: X-Men: First Class
Runner-ups: Source Code, Lincoln Lawyer, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Comic: Captain America
Runner-up: Thor

Drama: The Help
Runner-up: Moneyball

Worst of the year: So many bad ones this year (Sucker Punch, Hoodwinked Too, Change-Up, 30 Minutes or Less, etc), but I do think Bad Teacher was my least favorite and that's saying something given I had a string of bad movies the latter half of the year!

2011 Movies to See on DVD in 2012 (no order):

• Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• J Edgar
• Happy Feet Two
• Hugo
• The Muppets
• New Year's Eve
• The Adventures of TinTin
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
• War Horse
• I Don't Know How She Does It
• Hangover Part II
• Ides of March
• Real Steel
• The Descendants
• What's Your Number
  
• My Week with Marilyn
• Puss in Boots
• A Dangerous Method (curious since I read a Jung book in HS and the actors are good)
• Beginners

Three shy of doubling last year's previous year's movie watch list...A lot of these are all movies that came out in the fall and winter and have not made it to DVD yet. I'm sure my list will get added to when the Oscar nominations come out; though, predictions show that I may end up watching all the Best Picture nominations on my own. We'll see!

2012 Movies I Want to (Most Likely) See (release date order):

• Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance (2/17)
• Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (3/2)
• Mirror, Mirror (3/16)
  
• The Hunger Games (3/23)
• The Avengers (5/4)
• MIB 3 (5/25)
• Snow White and the Huntsman (6/1)
• Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (6/8)
• Brave (6/22)
• GI Joe: Retaliation (6/29)
• The Amazing Spider-Man (7/3)
• Ice Age: Continental Drift (7/13)
• The Dark Knight Rises (7/20)
• The Bourne Legacy (8/3)
• Taken 2 (10/5)
• Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (11/16 - Maybe...I don't want to help it beat HP's records!)
• Rise of the Guardians (11/21 - Know little about it, but it's a DreamWorks Animation)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12/14 -- Guess who's watching The Hobbit for her birthday?! Course, maybe I should do a midnight release...I bet they'll have one!)
• Life of Pi (12/21 - Maybe)
• The Great Gatsby (12/25)

I am most excited for The Hunger Games, The Avengers, MIB 3, Brave, Dark Knight Rises, and The Hobbit! Can almost guarantee I'll see those in theater. I'm interested to see the contrast between Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman. 

So...Next year's goal will be to have watched at least 70 movies. We'll see. That seems like an awful lot at this point...but...If I watch every movie I just said I want to see in 2012 (DVD and new), I'd have exceeded half of my goal (39 movies). That's also scary. :P

Anyway, on to 2012! Happy New Year everyone!

LAST movies of the year! (and mini life update)

Highly unlikely I'll watch anymore movies this year since I've only got one more day and I think I've watched almost everything I want to watch that's out and available on RedBox (whoa is me without any Netflix!).

At any rate, the last 3 movies!

Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts) - It's a cute romantic movie that is somewhere more in the drama realm than the comedy realm. I'm still having troubles with Roberts's and Hanks's characters connecting so quickly, but maybe I'm missing something. I just found it a little unbelievable (or too fast), but I enjoyed the film. It's a little more slow-paced, which works given Hanks's character has lost his job over the fact he doesn't have a college degree and, thus, decides to go to college. Let's also not forget that his house is upside down so he's troubled with money woes too. He meets a young college student who instantly takes a liking to him when they meet each other at the scooter parking zone his first day of school. She takes him underneath her wing and helps "spruce" him up. Roberts's character is basically in a rut with her husband and in an unhappy relationship with him and with her career. Movie really is about finding yourself later in life, especially when your life hasn't quite gone the way you wanted it too. It's cute. If you're looking to waste an hour-and-a-half of your life, this would be the movie to watch. It's mostly gentle and non-demanding, but it is also isn't anything too fantastic or necessary to watch either. You're not missing much if you don't watch it, but it's also just "okay" too. Grade: C+ (perhaps B-)

The Help  (Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, etc) - Yes, it may water down the whole discrimination aspect; yes, it may not be as powerful as the book (though I haven't read the book so I can't judge that); and, yes, it may have some historical things wrong and situations wrong/improbable and yaddy, yaddy, but I found it rather good. The acting is really good and the female cast is a lot of people you see here-and-there in other movies (at least for me). I cried while watching it, but you can't always consider that as I tend to cry through almost any remotely sad part in any film (case in point: I teared up in Conan....Really? Conan?!). The beginning is where it really tries to lay down the foundation for how strong the discrimination between white and black was back in that day in Mississippi and, from there, sort of eases its way around the issue. It made me angry in the beginning, but sad (laced with anger) later on as you really get to know the women and the abuse they receive. There are some funny moments and some tender ones too. I thought Emma Stone did a good job, but it really is Davis and Spencer who make the movie. Dallas Howard is also definitely despicable and comes off really well as the queen bee and no one goes against her. At any rate, I see the Oscar attention, but we'll also have to see when the nominations come out and I start watching those movies. I do recommend seeing this movie if you think it's something you'd like to see. It's a good film and I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Don't think I'd own it, but maybe if the price came down to $10 I would. Grade: B+/A-

Midnight in Paris (Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams) - Well, I can't say the relationship between Wilson's and McAdams's characters had a surprising ending. I knew from the get-go the way it was heading, but the film was rather cute. I don't think I've ever watched a Woody Allen film before, but who doesn't know of Woody Allen? At any rate, I enjoyed the concept and the nostalgia. It's fun seeing famous people from the 1920's (e.g., Hemmingway) and Wilson's modern character interacting with them after midnight (in Paris). The film is a mix of modern and nostalgia and is an interesting film about the past and where we think we'd rather be (era or situations). I like to think its underlying message is that the past is the past and we need to come to terms with our present and learn to live within it and with what we have. We can't go to the past to a better time. Even if we could, we wouldn't belong. So it's best we look to our present and find and do what makes us happy. At least, that's what I took from it. At any rate, I enjoyed the film and am glad I watched it. Grade: B+

Well, the last of the movies of 2011 that I watched!

Life is good. Got my first paycheck today! It feels good to be making money regularly, again! I like my co-workers and the environment is pretty good too. It's an interesting and different experience than working at Borders. You think retail is retail, but people treat Goodwill differently. There are some things you'd never do in a Borders or normal department store that people do at Goodwill, but there are also relationships you build with your customers that you don't really do at most department stores too. It's really common at Goodwill to introduce yourself or have a customer introduce himself/herself to you. I don't think any customer at Borders during my 5 years there ever introduced themselves to me. Granted, if they did, it was more because I was ordering something for them and I maybe formally shook someone's hand and gave them my name maybe a dozen times. At Goodwill, it's kind of the norm to get to know your regulars on a more personal level. It's also protocol to greet and say hi to everyone, but it was at Borders too. So, who knows. I am enjoying it, though. It's a little more laid back too. Being a lead is fine too.

Come January, I start my 2nd contract with the Aquarium. It's a big report so I'll start working on writing and researching that. It'll be interesting to work 40 hours a week and do that. I'll also continue to do MOPS twice a month before work at Goodwill. So...life went from basically nothing to a lot! It's kind of nice, but it is also a big adjustment for me too. I'm still adjusting to the standing for 8 hours at work and also just expending more energy throughout the day. I'm basically coming home tired and don't want to do much. I'm hoping after the holidays it'll get better. I've been working now for 3 weeks and all my days off (most of today even) have been filled with something to do and so I haven't had a real day of just doing nothing. New Year's Day -- nothing! At any rate, things are good. :)

Last movies of the year?

There is a small possibility I might manage to watch another 1 or 2 DVDs before the year is out, but it's iffy. At any rate, with these 4 reviews, my movie count is set at an ominous 66. So I almost feel like I need to watch 1 more to make it 67 or something. Considering I totally forgot about Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts), perhaps I'll make it. The Help seems to be in great demand (or simply not being returned there) and is not showing up at the RedBox I have been frequenting. So The Help might have to wait till next year. At any rate...Here's my backlog of movies I have watched. I actually reviewed two of them and then my Internet ate my blog post. Didn't have the desire to rewrite it at that time, but I suppose now is as good as any time to do them!

Friends with Benefits (Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake) - More curious than anything to watch this and compare it to No Strings Attached (Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher). I think I like Friends with Benefits just a little more. Even though the concept for both is the same (sex without the attachment/relationship with it), the concept is truly set around what the movie title is. Might be hard to understand, but FwB really is the story of the friendship between Kunis/Timberlake and how they just throw sex into it, but remain friends. They have a fun friendship to see and they obviously get along well. It's cute with the quirky things they end up doing (e.g., the flash mobs). Portman/Kutcher really is just sex and nothing more. They're old friends, but they don't have the friendship like Kunis/Timberlake have so it really is just, well, no strings attached sex. Those two differences, for me, makes the difference in which movie I enjoyed watching more. I also felt No Strings Attached was a little too "heavy" towards the end and it sort of makes sense given the way the movie is set-up. It doesn't have the same cuteness or lightness that FwB has (no clue why FwB seems longer to type than No Strings Attached and hence the acronym for one over the other). With that said, neither is particularly that great for a RomCom, but I would recommend FwB over No Strings Attached. Grade: B-

Change-Up (Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman) - So not a family movie, a female chick-flick, or anything that I expected it'd be. Well, I didn't expect it to be a family movie or a chick-flick, but I didn't think it'd be so heavily on the side of male interest comedy. There is just nothing really appealing in it for a female, which is kind of weird (I suppose) given who the two actors are. With that said, I said it's quite on the male side because the movie is all from a male's point of view, which isn't bad, but when it centers around two males switching and a married man with a family becoming single and a single man becoming a family man, there are just certain male-ishy things that come about (e.g., suddenly being single and the possibility of sleeping with your #1). However, I will say, Bateman's character does not become a total loser and realizes that he really does love his wife and loves his life and wouldn't give up it up. In addition, Reynolds's character does learn to grow up too. So, I guess it's got that, but you gotta wade through a lot of bare breasts and some foul language and, well, yeah. Wouldn't recommend to most people. Grade: C-

Warrior (Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte) - This was good. I think I like it better than The Fighter, but I can't say the acting was as good as The Fighter. The acting in The Fighter really was superb. Not to say that Warrior's acting is really bad, but it's just not on the same level. I'd say it's more B-level acting. With that said, both movies sort of had the same storyline of forgiveness and how a messed up family can come together in the end (all in the climax with the final fight). The MMA fighting was interesting to see; the story did pull at your heart; and the ending was interesting to see how the family made up. I do think this one is more action based with the drama story, whereas The Fighter really is more a drama with the action in the background. It was a little predictable too given what the trailer shows you and how the movie sets up, but I liked it. Grade: B

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace) - I do believe I enjoyed this more than the first one, which is kind of amazing; however, I might need to rewatch it first before I make that an official statement! I enjoyed how this one was more clue-hunting and game play focused than the first one. I do think this does make the movie a little more "intellectual" for an action film, but that's what I kind of enjoyed about it. I even knew to make sure I note when Holmes took interest in something and I still would forget and go "Awww..." later on in the movie. I like things like that and the replay value of this movie is just as good as the first. Plus, I'm forever going to quote, "They're dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle." Not to mention the next sentence, "Why would I want anything with a mind of its own bobbing about between my legs?" So funny! Best scene ever that whole lot. I laughed so hard. At any rate, I recommend it. I'm not sure why it's not doing as well in the theater. It did seem, to be fair, a little long in certain parts and there was something a little more "rough" about this movie than the first. There is a little less intrigue than the first since you know instantly who Holmes is after and who is orchestrating everything, whereas the first is sort of puzzles each time and in this one Holmes is more playing a game and taking clues one after another. It's different, but I think it works in both movies. I think Rapace did a great job and it was nice seeing her in her outside of Girl with a Dragon Tattoo (the Swedish versions). Grade: A- (perhaps a B+)

Well, the year is almost to an end, which means it's almost time for my 2011 Movie Recap, what I'm looking forward to in 2012, and what I hope to see in 2012 that came out in 2011. The "to watch from 2011" list is sort of long, but I guess I'll see if it's truly bad or not when I figure it out (somewhere around 15 movies right now). :)

With that, time for bed!

3 more movies

More summer releases now on DVD:

30 Minutes or Less (Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride) - Predictably stupid-funny. If you watch the trailer, the trailer is pretty much what you get. Not a whole lot else to say about it since the trailer kind of says it all. :) Can't say it's a particularly good stupid-funny movie either (e.g., Hangover), but it's far better than Bad Teacher. Grade: C

Crazy, Stupid Love (Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone) - This was rather delightful. The reviews for it were pretty favorable so I wanted to see it in theaters, but just couldn't get myself actually to want to see it in theaters. It was probably for the best since I saved a ton of money watching it at home on DVD and it didn't need a big screen to enjoy it. It's almost a dramedy (drama-comedy) because there are some pretty funny moments in the movie, but it's also got the sense of a drama too. It's sweet about the various kinds of love and how you can be affected by love. Each person in the movie, pretty much, experiences a different type, but mostly the movie revolves around Carell and his broken marriage to his wife (Moore). The climax I should have seen coming (one of those "didn't see that coming, but should have" moments) and was funny at the same time. I liked it. It was probably one of the better movies I've seen recently, which is kind of saying a lot. Can't say it's quite movie ownable, for me, but it's close. I just don't rewatch dramas (95% of the time) is my big problem. If it was more comedy (e.g., The Proposal), perhaps, but it's just a little on the too much side of a drama. It's good though. Grade: B/B+

Water for Elephants (Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon) - Don't watch it if you can't watch animal cruelty. There are two scenes that make me cringe and they make me cringe now just thinking about it. One you don't see, but you see the aftermath and the other is just, well, hard to watch because someone is being mean to an animal. I knew there was going to be animal cruelty in it (knew it from the book), but I still couldn't stand watching it even know I knew it was coming. Aside from the animal cruelty, it wasn't that greatly acted. I've watched RobPat in some of his films and this was one of the bigger films he's done that is not small production, non-Twilight, and Harry Potter almost doesn't count since he's in it for such a short time. So I figured I'd see it given it's based on a book (by Sara Gruen), I like Reese Witherspoon well enough, and it'd be something to see RobPat in that's different. I will say, before this movie, I didn't particularly like RobPat's acting. I find him unbelievable most times; however, as I said, this was a different sort of film so I gave it a shot. Well, let's just say I was disappointed. I still do not like RobPat's acting. I find him unbelievable and sometimes just cheesy. It was so bad, in fact, that I felt like he brought down Witherspoon sometime into the unbelievable/cheesy aspect of it. So, it was rather disappointing. My other, sort of funny, issue with the movie (and with the book) is it starts somewhat similar to Titanic. Come to think of it, it's kind of Titanic and The Notebook mashed into one that revolves around a circus. Huh. Didn't think of that till now. So the beginning and end are rather touching with the old man, but I didn't particularly enjoy the middle. Get's a C+ instead of a C because I liked the animals (especially Rosie the Elephant). Grade: C+

More Movies

More movies. It's that time of year when all the summer movies I missed are now coming out on DVD for the holidays. I'm sad Red Box is uping their prices, but it still beats going to the theater...

Anyway...

Tree of Life (Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, etc) - I can see why this movie you either loved or hated. I think there's a middle ground (I fall into it), but it's more to do with "Wow, that was an interesting style of a movie to watch and good acting, but boy I am never seeing this again." It does help if you learn what the movie is about beforehand because this movie is very much a movie of artistry about life. There is very little dialogue in it and when there is, it's sometimes (not always) floaty and ethereal in some sense. More like someone watching the scene and making comments/questions during it, rather than within it. There is some actual dialogue, but not much. In addition, its time line is a little skewed, but as bad as some people made it out to be. The movie has a 20 minute sequence of watching Earth come into being (that took me a little while to understand) in the beginning. It's all imagery of space, the sun, volcanic eruptions, moment of dinosaurs, ocean being populated, etc. At the end, there is about 5 minutes of Earth being consumed by the sun. The movie starts in a place that sets the tone for the adult Jack (Sean Penn) and where he is in life, but the majority of the movie is him remembering his childhood. That I did not know. I knew it was about, well, life, but I thought it centered more on the adult and it doesn't. The adult basically sets it up and finishes it, but that's about it. The acting was good, especially for a movie with little dialogue and the dialogue that was said was pretty important. I can't say I'd recommend it to everyone. It's a 2:18 hour movie that is, as I said, very artsy. I've read some places that it's considered very impressionistic and it is. It's pretty slow paced and it's not a movie you can just casually watch. You really need to sit and have your attention on it at all times or you might miss something and the movie, as a whole, is the point. The point of it, though, seems mostly to be grace vs nature and which side we as humans decide to embrace and, in the end, coming to terms (or I guess for Penn's character, forgiveness and understanding) with the the two. If it sounds like your cup of tea, go for it. If not, I wouldn't bother unless you're curious as I was. It definitely wins, hands down, for artistry in a movie this year that I've seen. However, I can't say I loved or hated it. I am glad I watched it, but there is no way I'm watching it again. :)  Grade: B

Cars 2 (Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine) - Dawwww....I liked Cars 2! Not to say I was thinking I wouldn't like it beforehand, but sequels can always be questionable (even if it is Pixar). My only complaint is sometimes Mater annoyed me because he is just soooo obtuse. I know it's Mater, but there was a minute where I was just, "Gah! Why does he have to be so obtuse?!" And then it kind of goes away later. I can't say I particularly liked Cars 2 more than Cars, but it's close. I liked how Pixar managed to get in the eco thing again, but without bashing anyone's head over with it. I wasn't sure about the whole spy thing either, but I liked the way they did it. I also liked the little "mystery" they threw in there too. With that said, if a Cars 3 came out, I'd go see it. Though, next is Brave (2012) and then Planes (2013). Chris almost fainted when we were watching the DVD preview of Planes and we had no clue what it was yet (the animation for some of it looks real) until we finally figured out it WAS an animated film and Chris says, "What? Is this a new film about planes...? *pause for 30 seconds to watch the trailer* And it's called "Planes"?" End of the preview...It goes "PLANES 2013" Chris was appalled he was right and they'd be that cheesy. :P It'll be interesting, though! Now back to Cars 2... Grade: B+/A-

With that...Animated films of the year I've seen have come to...

Rio
Rango
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil
Kung Fu Panda 2
Gnomeo & Juliet
Cars 2

The only animation I maybe will not see before the Academy Awards is Puss in Boots ('cause of money woes). Hopefully the DVD will come out before the AA. With that said, I think Rio (Twentieth Century Fox), Cars 2 (Pixar), and Puss in Boots (Dreamworks) will be the three pictures up for the award. So, yes, I really want to see Puss in Boots! Plus, I want to see Kitty Softpaws. :P There is a chance Kung Fu Panda 2 might make the list over Puss in Boots (both by Dreamworks), but I don't think it's likely. There is also the chance they will pick another foreign film animation like last year (The Illusionist) and one of them won't get nominated. Gnomeo & Juliet (Touchstone) was also pretty good, but it's hard to go up against Dreamworks and Pixar and Twentieth Century Fox did an excellent job with Rio and I do like their Ice Age series too. In fact, I'm almost inclined to say that Rio might have been my favorite animation this year -- just barely. Cars 2 is close on its heels. Animation wise, Rango and Hoodwinked were both excellent, but Hoodwinked was not great and Rango (to me) just doesn't quite live up to the others. Though, in ways, I think Rango had the most realistic animation of the group. Anyway, I guess we'll see in a few months if I'm right or not. :)

With that...Time to head off!

Zenyatta Celebration (and a new movie)

*Sigh* This year the Breeders' Cup threw a Zenyatta Celebration at the Kentucky Derby Museum and it just sounded like loooooads of fun -- not to mention they got favors or some sort that I'm still trying to find pictures of! Here's an article from the NYT of someone who attended: http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/the-zenyatta-experience-one-year-later/

I am quite jealous and with the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita in Arcadia, CA next year...I hope they do it again because even if I can't afford to attend the Breeders' Cup, I'm going to the Zenyatta Celebration! Cost $170 this year to attend all the events from 11:30am to 9:30pm. They also did "packages" for chunks of time in between (lunch was $95 (11:30-3:00), hospitality $75 (3:30-9:30 -- includes a buffet), and after party (7:30-9:30), but you might as well go the whole time, IMO, to enjoy it. Plus, they stream the Breeders' Cup. I REALLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY want to go next year. I will even put on hold going to Florida for Wizarding World of Harry Potter to go. :P

At any rate...I miss Zenny and am wanting her new poster like nothing else (I hope it's cheap....!)! I hope they also make her street signs available and all the other stuff that was made available during the party. Her new web store goes up the end of this week...so...hopefully!!! Oh, yeah, LA Zoo's new carousel has a Zenyatta to ride. :) The Mosses helped fund the carousel so, in addition to the zoo animals, they added Tiago, Giacamo, and Zenyatta to the carousel. Costs $3 to ride, but all the money from the carousel go to conservation efforts for the zoo. Never managed to go to the LA Zoo when I was in Santa Barbara, but now I really want to go. ;)

Anyway, the Breeders' Cup last weekend was good. I can't say I was as disappointed as some people, but it definitely wasn't last year. In some ways that's good because I thought I was going to be ill last year and then cried when Z lost, so I guess in comparison this was just better. :P Of all the scenarios I thought about for the Classic and who won, I didn't factor in Drosselymeyer and Mike Smith winning. In a lot of ways, it was kind of therapeutic for Smith to win this year since he lost last year by such a little amount with Z. It was one of those "See that, world!" moments since he won. It makes up for Zenny's loss by just the smidgen of margins.

Anyway...movie!

Watched Horrible Bosses yesterday. It was funny in a kind of stupid way. The bosses were TRULY horrible, though. And they made it so the bosses were total jerks that they couldn't just "leave" their jobs easily and then they had the dose of reality that they'd have to go into new trades to get new jobs and the job market wasn't favorable. It had its funny moments, its stupid-funny moments, and just its stupid moments. Can't say it was as bad as some people thought, but it also wasn't great either. At least I didn't feel like I wasted 1.5 hours of my life watching it, though. :) My real complaint, though, is I felt the end was a little off. Or perhaps the part right before the conclusion. It was tied up too neatly for where the movie went, but it was okay too, I guess. Anyway, I'd give it a C. It was a good solid C.

Movies & Other Stuff

Movies and a few TV show comments.

Bad Teacher (Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake) - Er...Yeah. I knew it was R-rated, but I so did not think it was this type of R-rated. This movie is somewhere between chick flick and a "guy" comedy (slap-sticky type). I thought it was more chick-flick and it's really not. It's like this movie was supposed to appeal to chicks and to guys (date movie?) and just doesn't quite work for either gender (in my opinion, at least). Diaz's character is a money-grubber and is engaged to this wealthy guy whose mother convinces him to call off the wedding because the mother knows she only wants his money (and spends $16k in a month). So she ends up back at her teaching job (she was there for a year) and talks trash about the guy to make it so she had an excuse to break-up with him (slept with his sister, dog, etc). She decides she needs breast implants to land a rich, cute guy and so she does all these schemes through the whole movie to make the almost $10k to get them. At any rate, I don't recommend it. Also, Timberlake really wasn't that big in the movie. He's her new conquest because his family is rich, but you don't see him a lot. He's also wimpy, kind of "sappy" and everything she's not. Segel is her "equal." Anyway, don't recommend. Grade: D

Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil (Animation - Glenn Close, etc) - I saw Hoodwinked so I wanted to see the second one to see how it lived up to it. Other than the interesting nursery and fairy tale scenarios and characters, it's not that great. Maybe for a younger kid (around 10), but it didn't really appeal to me. I think I liked the first one better and I didn't really like the first one either (guess who the bad guy was in the first 30 minutes). Though, it is fun seeing the nursery and fairy tale references, though. I kind of amazed myself with how many nursery rhymes I remembered and different fairy tale stories. Chris kept going, "Huh?" Like...A girl on a "tuffet" eating something in a bowl gets attacked by a spider (I forget for what reason) and he had no clue what that referenced and, suddenly, I start saying, "Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet eating her bowl of whey..." It was kind of funny because it just popped into my head! Anyway, maybe for younger kids (not too young because the evil witch is a little scary with these red eyes (mask) so 8+), but not adults unless you gotta watch it. :) Grade: C-

Something Borrowed (Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield) - On a role for unsatisfactory movies! This is a chick flick (phew), but wow...Hudson's character drinks herself to being drunk FAR too often and then you find out she's slept around and...Goodwin's character ends up getting into an affair with Hudson's fiance and yeah...No good morals in this movie at all. At least if it's a good story you might be able to get away with some of it (SOME, my goodness there was a lot of drinking), but since it wasn't that great of a story...er. Yeah. Maybe the book is better (by Emily Griffin -- and the reason I wanted to see the movie). At any rate, Hudson makes a great semi-deranged (attention seeking) best friend and Goodwin plays a good "good girl" in comparison. Acting was good, story was just not. In comparison to Bad Teacher, though, I'd watch Something Borrowed in a heartbeat (that's how bad Bad Teacher was). Grade: D

So...Fall TV shows have been interesting. So far, my favorite show that I'm watching (I'm by no means watching all the new fall shows like Pan Am and others) is Prime Suspect. It's an interesting show and good acting. It's pretty episodic right now, but I assume at some point an arch might develop after we've gotten to know the characters. I enjoy Revenge far too much. It's definitely a guilty pleasure as I don't think revenge is the answer to anything, but the acting is so good and there's just something about it that draws you in with all the duplicity and fake smiles. Anyway, I'm enjoying it and it's a close 2nd. Just started watching Once Upon a Time since it aired yesterday. So far it's interesting. Some of the acting I felt was a little cheesy, but it's interesting and an interesting concept. I'll really have to see how it is over the next few episodes, but it was interesting seeing all the different fairy tales and then connecting who they were with who they are in "our" world. Grimm starts on Friday, which is another fairy tale based TV show (think crime-drama, but with fairy tale (-like?) characters -- Grimm is named after the Grimm Brothers). We'll see how that goes, but I'll watch it. Fairy tales, of late, has really come into fad. Hoping it might permeate the books so we can get away from paranormal romances, but we'll see. If the two new Snow White movies do well in 2012 (one with Julia Roberts as the evil queen and the other with Kristen Stewart (Snow White) and Charlize Theron (evil queen)), it might just might be a new wave of fairy tale books. We'll see.

With that...I'm off to do some reading! Apple hiring seminar on Thursday.

Born Pretty Store Giveaway

Just wanted to participate and let you all know that Born Pretty Store (beauty and nail stuff) is having a One Year Anniversary party and is giving away and discounting lots of stuff.

Right now, they're doing a giveaway that ends the 31st for nail stuff (mostly). You can check the link out here (hyperlink) to see how to also participate!

Upcoming movie reviews will be Something Borrowed and Bad Teacher (watching Bad Teacher tonight). Watching Hood Winked Too later this week.

In the life of me, applied to random retail jobs recently (Costco, Kohls, and Apple). We'll see how it goes -- that and my aquarium jobs still pending. *sigh* Job hunting...

USA Network Shows

Of late, I have decided I wanted to watch every original show that USA Network airs.  It came after the realization that I watched 4 of their original shows on a regular basis and really liked them (Psych, White Collar, In Plain Sight, and Burn Notice).  If a network has good shows and not too many of them, why not try the others?

Let’s not discuss the amount of hours it takes to watch all these series.  It’d just be embarrassing for both you and me to know how many it took, especially since 5 of the 9 shows I only started watching in the last few months.  Yes, I have put in a great many TV watching hours, but most of the 5 are relatively new and, therefore, low on seasons (and episodes).

I must admit, I wasn’t wrong about USA Network.  USA really does have a stellar group of original shows (excluding Law & Order: CI, WWE Raw, and WWE Tough Enough – I am not interested in watching those and L&O isn’t that original given all the spin-offs).  They’re all enjoyable in their own way and seem to all appeal to me (more-or-less) as a type of show I’d like to watch. I can’t say, originally, I’d watch some of them (e.g., Necessary Roughness), but I found I did enjoy them regardless.

For the sake of comparing all the shows, though, I’m going to write about each one (in no particularly order) and then rank them in some order of preference at the bottom. 

Fairly Legal – A legal drama based on a legal mediator.  I’ve always known what a mediator does, but I don’t think a show has ever been about a mediator before.  The shows are fairly episodic and her personal issues are what carries from episode-to-episode.  My main complaint about this show is that Kate’s life is basically in complete shambles: Her husband is estranged and they’re close to filing for divorce, but keep sleeping with each other; her step-mother and her do not get along at all and she’s the managing partner of the firm, she’s trying to get over the loss of her father, and it goes on. She is very much one of those personally flawed people where they tend to hurt, push, and drag the people they love through the mud while treating everyone she mediates for in a heartfelt and justice seeking manner. So, in ways, she’s just annoying, and the episodicness of the show gets a little boring too. However, I look forward to season 2 because season 1 left it in an interesting place for her personally. Grade: C+

Psych – This is a fantastic show that I have been watching for a while now. I even met the two main actors and the producer/creator. It’s a fun show that is kind of like a comedy crime drama. The main guy, Shawn, is a “psychic” (hence the name psych – which is a plain on words too), but, in truth, he is just hyperaware and quite nosey. So with his hyperawareness, he and Gus (his best friend and co-Psycher) go out to solve crimes for the Santa Barbara police as consultants. It really is a show that is sillier than it is serious, but it still has that police drama system of solving crimes. It just adds a humorous twist to it all. There are a few more “serious” episodes, which are quite good. I do enjoy this show and it doesn’t seem to get old for me. Grade: A

Suits – This is a new USA show and it’s fantastic. It’s interesting from a legal perspective, but the cast has a great chemistry and the characters are fantastically portrayed and acted. It just works. I cannot praise this show enough and look forward to the next season and hope for its continued enjoyment. This one takes place in a big law firm where, Harvey, has been promoted to senior partner and needs to find a junior associate. Mike, through a series of bad events, ends up interviewing and spilling the beans to Harvey and, at the same time, proves he’d be a good candidate. Harvey hires him, but under the knowledge that Mike does NOT have a law degree. And, there’s your “will they find out?” for the show. They solve interesting legal cases and it’s kind of fun learning about some things along with Mike. He’s got the legal knowledge (he remembers everything he reads), but he missed how to do certain things (like filing for a patent). It’s an interesting show and good. Grade: A+

White Collar – This one is a similar situation to Suits, except it deals with white-collar crimes division (hence the name) of the FBI.  I really like the relationship between Peter and Neal. Peter has a lovely and supportive wife and is a good FBI cop who is tenacious and ends up catching Neal twice (three times?). Neal is very personable, charming, and handsome for your thief and conartist. On top of it, Mozzie, Neal’s old time friend and mentor, is a great quirky character. He’s likable in that geeky kind of way and you can’t have Neal without Mozzie, pretty much. The actors work well together and make a great cast. The shows are interesting too as each one basically involves a white collar crime and they have to infiltrate (usually) to get to the bottom of the crime. There is an overarching story too that builds upon each other, but also changes (so one thing gets solved and it brings up a new and different issue). It’s nice having the arches build on each other, but you also (more-or-less) complete an arch too. Grade: A

Burn Notice – Good show, but I started getting tired of it recently because it’s always he’s almost figured out who burned him or getting unburned and then it’s back to square one again or something. It’s the same thing all the time, until…this last season. Whoa! All those people I kind of wrote off before are coming back and now I’m starting to have to try and remember who people are and what happened from before because they just brought it all back to the first season! Crazy! And I kind of love it. It makes it more interesting now. I’ve always loved the episodic scenarios of helping people who are in trouble, but I’d like the big arch moving too and I feel like it’s going new places now. The cast is likable and I enjoy their chemistry too. Grade: B+

In Plain Sight – Show about the Witness Protection program of the US Marshals. It’s an interesting show and I like Mary who is a no-nonsense tough gal with a father who is a wanted man (disappears on the family) and her mother and sister are not quite stable all the time (i.e., Mary ends up picking up after them). I do like their dynamic too and they just aren’t ALWAYS falling apart. Marshall, her partner, is a great stable guy who is understanding, a little soft, but loyal. You can’t not like Marshall. The show will have a short (10 episodes?) last (5^th) season coming up and then it’s going bye-bye, which is a little sad. I do enjoy the show and its ratings aren’t so bad, but USA tends to rotate shows a lot (Psych is the longest running original show for USA and it just started its 6th season). Grade:  B+

Covert Affairs – Covert Affairs is about a CIA operative that goes undercover all over the world for various missions. For some reason, compared to the other shows, this one feels the most like a “fluff” show and hence has some weird appeal to it. I’m not sure why, but it does. It’s not bad and I enjoy the cast (go Auggie!!). I will say that this show has the BEST locations as she ends up somewhere in the world and they tend to shoot there. The scenery is pretty amazing and it’s one of the only shows that gets you outside of a building on a pretty regularly basis. The main character, Annie, basically has to dodge around her older sister who she lives in their guesthouse and there’s an interesting story there. Annie’s supervisor, Joan, is a female head of department and her husband is the CIA Director of the National Clandestine Service, which also makes for an interesting storyline. Grade: B

Necessary Roughness – Interesting new show from USA. Dani is a psychotherapist (finds the true root of the problem and can do hypnotizing) and finds out her husband is cheating so she files for divorce. She’s got two teenage kids and ends up being the therapist for a football team called the New York Hawkes. She’s one of those tough love types of people and the show is about the various “famous” people that come to her for therapy help to solve their problems. Her primary client is a Hawkes player named TK and, of course, the football team’s employees she interacts a lot with. The show is interesting as it touches upon her trying to juggle her two teenagers as well as her work. The show is pretty episodic, but had an interesting end so we’ll see where it goes for its 2^nd season. I enjoyed it, even though I’m not a big football fan and most of it really isn’t about football. It’s more the scene than the story. The show is based off a true story/person, Dr. Donna Dannerfelser, who was a therapist for the New York Jets. I’m not 100% won over, yet, but I’ll watch season 2. Grade: B/B-

Royal Pains – Hank is a concierge doctor for the residents of the Hamptons. He used to be a great doctor in New York, but a high profile guy died after he attended to him and left someone else finish up a “routine” procedure because he went to go keep a young kid from dying. So he basically gets shunned and ends up in the Hamptons with his brother, Evan, to get him out and about (he’d been in his house moping mostly). Long story short, they end up setting up a concierge’s practice so they meet people wherever to attend to them and keep things quiet. The medical stories are kind of interesting because they’re not always “obvious,” but they’re not WAYYY out there into left field like House does too. Sometimes the issue is clear, but he has to be like McGyver to save the person. So it’s interesting. The personal dramas there are a lot of, but they’re not too bad. Grade: B

So, if you were keeping track my grades…They go in this order:

A+: Suits
A: White Collar - Psych
B+: In Plain Sight - Burn Notice
B: Royal Pains - Covert Affairs
B/B-: Necessary Roughness
C+: Fairly Legal

My personal preference is just slightly different, though…

• Suits
• White Collar
• In Plain Sight
• Psych (just the barest of margins splits In Plain Sight and Psych, they’re almost equal)
• Royal Pains
• Burn Notice (just slightly underneath Royal Pains because I got tired of the never ending burn notice thing, but now that’s it’s interesting, could swap with Royal Pains)
• Covert Affairs
• Necessary Roughness
• Fairly Legal

And...there you have it. :) I will watch all next seasons of the shows, though, and none of them are (just yet) canceled. Fairly Legal will have to change a little, though. She's just too irritating and annoying the way she stood in the first season.

Drive and Moneyball

Movies #51 and #52!

Drive (Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan) - At first I thought this was an action film, but, honestly, if I had truly THOUGHT about all I had read and heard about the movie, I'd have realized that it's a drama. Gosling and Mulligan are not action stars. With that said, I can see why the critics love the movie and fans don't. It does set-up in the trailer to be more of an action film (kind of like Transporter) and people tend to like Gosling and Mulligan for their dramas. This is a drama to its core and very much an indie type film. I enjoyed it for what it is, but I don't love it like the critics. It has a sort of sad ending and it is a little dark towards the end, which critics tend to love those nitty-gritty type of films. I will say that it definitely earns its R-rating. I'm glad I watched it and the acting is pretty superb, but I don't think I'll watch it again. It also will appeal to a very specific audience and not the general public for sure. Grade: B

Moneyball (Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill) - It's a good film. I can see why it's getting the rating it has been getting, but it did seem a little drawn out to me. I think the problem for me is it felt like it was your typical sports film and where it would normally end was not where it ended. It ended about 20 minutes past that point and the point was because the movie is about Moneyball. It is also about Billy Beane because Beane used the theory of moneyball, but the movie really is about the reason for moneyball, the way he was going to use moneyball, the way he got moneyball into action (took a little time), the end results, and the furthering of the theory beyond just the Oakland A's. If I understand that, I wouldn't have felt like it kind of dragged on at the end. I do have to say, Pitt-Beane has some anger issues. :P There are some chuckleworthy moments in the movie and I couldn't help but think occasionally, "I wish this was how Secretariat was handled." Secretariat could have been a great sports movie, but they botched it. I think they could have done a much better job, like Moneyball. One that really draws you in whether you're a fan or not. When you watch that gut wrenching 20th game, you are tense as can be because it's got you on the edge of your seat. Pitt does a good acting job too. I can't say I was too fond of the acting because there was something slightly off-putting about Beane so it was, at times, hard to warm up to him as a person, but you get there by the end (and his daughter helps you too). Anyway, it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be because I probably had too high of expectations, but it was still enjoyable. Grade: B/B+

Still waiting to hear back from the Aquarium about the job. Was officially told I did not get the assistant job (no surprise there), but my Seafood Watch app is still in progress. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but I'm going to say "good" as my assistant app went into "processed" pretty quickly and I didn't get it.

Mid-Sept and I'm at 50 movies for the year!

By no means is 50 movies on DVD or in theater a big deal, but it's the most movies I've seen in a year and the year isn't even finished! Most have been on DVD, but with the price of movie ticket and how most movies are not theater must-sees, it's not a big surprise.

So what was my 50th movie? My 50th movie is the 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (Magneto in X-Men: First Class). Other noteables are Jamie Bell (St John Rivers -- I recognize him from King Kong) and Judi Dench (Mrs. Fairfax). It's a fair adaptation, though my remembrance of the book is a little hazy as it was my senior year in high school that I read the book (so this fall it makes 8 years), but things came back to me as the movie progressed. The most confusing thing for me was how the movie actually starts in the middle and then flashes back to her childhood and then ending up as a Governess at Thornfield Hall. Once I figured out everything was taking place in flashbacks, it made loads more sense. Wasikowska is an excellent Jane Eyre and I do appreciate the fact she looks the age of Jane Eyre (as intended by the director or producers). Fassbender doesn't look like a Mr. Rochester, but the director or producers knew that and said his spirit reflected Rochester better. He was okay. Once again, having read the book so long ago, it's really hard to say. I think the biggest problem I had with the adaptation is it felt like the romance was obvious after the 3rd meeting, which is much too quick (seems out of the blue); however, it's a 2 hour movie and you can't get everything paced correctly to get in all the other necessities too. Other than that, though, I enjoyed it and I enjoyed how they tried to keep some of the gothic feel of the book in the movie too. I remember being slightly creeped out as Jane walked down the hallway after hearing someone outside her door. So, it works in the movie. It's not overly done and it's not completely omitted either. Rochester and Jane do seem to kiss a lot, but it's nothing that makes it modern or anything. Some reviews say this adaptation of Jane Eyre is the best one ever and I haven't seen enough of them to give a comparison, but this one was enjoyable. It does lack a certain "oomph" for me, but I was never a big fan of Jane Eyre (the book) either. So maybe I just feel the same way towards the movie as the book it's adapted from. Grade: B

It's been a while...!

So...Life...Not much has changed since graduating. Finished my contract position and am job searching/applying. Slow going in the market, but I've got a hopeful job that's seasonal I will be applying for this week (app goes in tomorrow) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's a seasonal job through 2011, but they want to make it a 3-year stint, so...hopefully I get it! It's pretty similar to the contract jobs and when I told my contract contact I was interested in it, she said she was glad to hear I was interested.  Being jobless and having a friend recently get into it, I have gotten into nail art, which has been interesting and fun. Boy is there are a LOT you can do with nail stuff. :P

I also have started to immerse myself into dressage as my goal is to understand the sport and the key players/favorites for the 2012 Olympics. It's been a little brain numbing because a lot of the names are not easy to remember (German, Danish, etc). And then, just like horse racing, you need to know the horse, but also the rider. At least trainers don't really exist as world top riders tend to also be the horse trainer (with maybe a side trainer there too). Farms/breeders/owners are also good to know, but aren't AS key (same in horse racing). So...yeah. Working on that. It's been interesting. I have learned all the movements and can identify them and learned the basic history of modern and classical dressage.

At any rate...MOVIES! I've seen a few movies since my last update.

Cowboys & Aliens (Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde) - If you go into the movie knowing it is NOT a comedy and understand that the movie IS the title, then you'll get through this okay. For some reason people thought it was a comedy and it's not. You also have to realize what the title is and that it MEANS what it is. It was a good movie if you understand the two aforementioned things. Harrison Ford is certainly looking old, but at least his character was supposed to be his age. Daniel Craig I'm sure has it in his contracts that he's not meant to speak a lot because he does more "looks" than speaking. The looks are good, but it is an odd thing. Olivia Wilde is okay and has her own moment of "weirdness" in a movie that is already somewhat "weird". I enjoyed it, but it's nothing near great movie anything. I might buy it when it comes down in price just for the action (and the horses...hahaha). Grade: B/B-

Source Code (Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farminga) - What a predictable and also mind bending movie. It's an interesting movie and once you understand what is going on, it's pretty easy to predict the end. At the same time, you get to the end and you go, what just happened? Course, movies that play with time always end up in headaches, I think. At any rate, it was an enjoyable film. Interesting concept of the Source Code and pretty good acting. In some ways it reminds me of the Adjustment Bureau, but instead of altering our choices by a spilled coffee, trip, or whatever without us knowing, this one is reevaluating a certain time period as many times as it takes to stop tragedies. Grade: B

Conan the Barbarian (Jason Momoa, Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang) - Does this really need a review? My gosh...I went out of curiosity as I never watched the Schwarzenegger one (I still find it sad I can spell his last name correctly first time around...) and fell asleep through it attempting to watch it. Chris has played the game and read the entire series so he wanted to watch it. It's your typical male movie and it was okay, I suppose. Some of the green screen shots were horrible (could it be more obvious you're in front of a green screen?) and let's not discuss the blood flying everywhere either. Not to mention the sex scene, which goes on just a little too long. So, yes, male movie. Funny enough, almost everyone in the theater seemed like on a "movie date." Males still ruled the theater, but there were more couples than singles. Chris does think Conan is not of our generation, though, as most people in the theater (especially the couples) were all older (40's at least). Anyway, it was okay. Wasn't horrible, but I definitely won't be watching it again. Grade: D

Beastly (Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens) - Surprisingly, it's really not that bad of a movie. It sticks to the story of Beauty and the Beast, has an even more blatant message of not judging people on their looks (as it's set in modern times of high school), and doesn't have any swearing and/or sex in it! Amazing! At any rate, Mary-Kate Olsen plays the witch. Neil Patrick Harris makes an appearance as a blind tutor and Vanessa Hudgens, of course, is the the love interest with Pettyfer as the "prince" or rich, snobby, good looking guy. Can't say it's the most amazing movie feat or anything. It's "sweet" I suppose is the better way to describe the movie as it's not really riveting and not really boring, so it falls somewhere in between there. So, in ways, I suppose it makes the best type of DVD rental movie because I can't see myself buying this film to watch it again, but it was a decent watch that kept me awake too. Grade: B

Sucker Punch (Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, etc) - Wow...Somewhere between Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Anime, and a video game for the movie style. The end, I have to say, is highly unsatisfactory and I still don't get the connection to the rest of the film. I think it was trying to have some sort of "meaning" in it and it just gets lost till the end. You get to the end and I went, "WHAT?!" Really unsatisfying for an ending. The middle of the movie is okay...The little side-scenarios as the girls try to collect these objects to escape (put themselves into an "alternate" world to fight to get the object that they get in the "real world") are interesting to watch and are probably the best thing about the movie, but the movie just felt a little disjointed and I'm still a little confused as to what was real and what was not. So there's that too. Perhaps I'm overthinking or something, but it just baffled me at the end. I'm still baffled at the entire thing. Grade: D (almost an F)

Rio (Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway) - This animation was a good one. I think I liked it better than Rango, but Rango will always be tainted because of my first experience too so I may be slightly biased; however, this was a good movie. The voice cast for the minor characters is a little fun (Jamie Foxx, Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, etc). The story itself is good and interesting. You don't feel like you're being bashed over the head with an environmental message (Rango, you can't miss the environmental message, unless you slept through the end), but it is subtly there about exotic birds, poachers, and the Rain Forest. It had its sweet, funny, scary, and adventure moments. It's also a little musical. It starts with a singing number and there are a few throughout it too. They're not bad and somehow seem appropriate in the film that is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (hence the movie name). I enjoyed it a lot and now am kicking myself quite profusely for missing Cars 2 in theaters to compare. However, since Cars 2 comes out November 1, I can see it before the Oscars at least (one good thing about summer movies -- will always be out before the end of the year!). At any rate, it's a good family film and I'd recommend it. Rango is a little on the older end for animations (Rango says words that even make me, as an adult, go, "Whoa...Big word for an animation..."). This will be a movie that I will eventually buy. Grade: B+/A-

Next movies...? Not sure. On the list for high possible theater watching is Three Musketeers, Puss in Boots, Twilight (do I want to? LoL), and Sherlock Holmes. I did want to see Crazy, Stupid, Love in theaters, but just can't find the absolute need to go see it. Almost saw it twice and ended up skipping it. Would eventually like to see The Help (I think...still debating that). I might want to see Contagion and The Debt at some point (DVD probably). There are more than a few upcoming movies movies I might want to see too (most will be DVDs, but some may not): 30 Minutes or Less, Drive, I Don't Know How She Does It, Moneyball, Footloose, In Time (looks interesting...), The Rum Diary, J. Edgar (Eastwood's new one and a friend is an extra in the court scene), Hugo (liked the book), The Muppets (they filmed at Santa Anita for a little AND I saw some of the props for it), Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (will it be as good as the Swedish version?), and The Adventures of TinTin (I'm curious), and maybe War Horse (play is supposed to be good for families and I'm sure Speilberg will do a good job (he wanted to keep it so families could see it together), but...I don't know if I can watch it).

So...yeah...that brings my movies to now and my movie watch list up to the end of the year. Next year is already looking to be an interesting year for super hero/comic movies: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (Feb), The Avengers (movie I'm most excited for, so far - May), GI Joe: Retaliation (June), The Amazing Spider-Man (prequel - July), and The Dark Knight Rises (tied runner-up for most excited - July). I suppose we should be lucky Man of Steal (Superman movie) got pushed, once again, to 2013 (was summer 2012, fall 2012, and now 2013). Not to mention, a totally different Bourne Legacy (different character -- Aug), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (tied runner-up for most excited - Dec), Brave (Pixar's next one - June), MIB 3 (10 years since MIB 2 - May), Hunger Games (show for most excited for - March), Wrath of the Titans (sequel to Clash of the Titans - March), Battleship (looks lame, but there's your game movie - May), Madagascar 3 (June), Ice Age 4 (July), and Twilight Sage: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (Nov). Phew...And those are just the big named ones!

Anyway, with that, I'm off to water marble my nails (it was that or this cool purple with this cool glitter on top or stamping...so many things!).

Harry Potter and Movies

Where to begin...It's been a while since I've updated! Not a whole lot has been going on. Still no job (other than the contract position), about to move back to Marina on the 26th, and that's about it.

However, last week was the release of the VERY last Harry Potter movie -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. It was an excellent movie (A+) and kept true to the tone of the book, even though things were changed and removed. It was a satisfying end to an era and it was a great last midnight line-up! Funny thing that happened during that week proved that life can be very serendipitous. A friend from the Aquarium contacted me saying that a Monterey County Herald writer was looking for big Harry Potter fans and to contact him for if I was interested in being interviewed. So I did and he called me the next day. We chatted. I told him about going to Edinburgh, Scotland for the final book release, working at the Leaky Cauldron, and other things. He wanted a photo of me and I didn't have my books, but it ended up coming out (when I sent him some personal photos) that I have a robe (dress robes to be exact that mom made me). So he asked if I'd come down to do a photo shoot. I did! Brought some random books I had (my books were actually in Santa Barbara at the time) and they took photos and the article went live on the 15th! It was a fun experience and totally random. Who'd of thunk?! :) The writer was very nice and it's a good article too. Article and photos here: http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_18482909 (have to create a free account to see it)

About to move back to Marina. Got an apartment that allows pets and everything. Move back on Tuesday the 26th, which should be "fun" and interesting. Haven't started to pack that much, but it'll start soon (our boxes arrived -- bought used boxes to make life easier). My computer desk sold via craigslist and it's being picked up tomorrow for $75. We were going to list it for $50 and then list it for free, so $75 ain't bad (we paid $120 or $140 for it via craigslist)! I love that desk (it's perfect for what I need and want) and wish I could take it, but it's just TOO heavy and I don't want to bother moving it. So I'll get a new desk some other time.

At any rate, on to movies! I'm really far behind, but I also haven't seen that much till this week too.

Green Lantern - It was okay. Ryan Reynolds was okay as Hal. I expected it to be better, I think, for it having Ryan Reynolds and the hype behind it. It wasn't a horrible movie, but it just lacked in something. I'd see a sequel (and there should be a sequel), but it's not my favorite. For a first movie, you can hope that they have a better sequel, but at the rate sequels go, I'm not holding my breath. I know, generally, the reviews weren't that great (it's kind of a "par" movie). I'd see it if you like comic book characters, but other than that...You're not missing much or wait till it's on DVD. Grade: B-/C+

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Talk about your LOOOONG movie and feeling every inch of it. What a movie...The special effects and the beginning of the movie make up for the never ending action scene that happens in the latter 2/3 of the movie, but it is seriously the longest action scene I think I have ever seen. Since most of the movie is action, the actors end up mostly yelling at each other too. The thing I do enjoy about this movie is that the "human fighters" are more prominent in this movie than the others. They seem to get more camera time as each movie goes on. The new chick (who replaced Megan Fox) is okay. She gets a lot of lines, weirdly. She's not horrible, but she's definitely there for the sex appeal and she's sometimes a little too "motherly". She wasn't a horrible actress, though, but the end she does have some really odd scenes that you just kind of want to slap her for. Like I said, first 1/3 (maybe even 1/4) of the movie is far better than the rest since it's all action. I did enjoy Leonard Nimoy (Spock in Star Trek) who voices one of the new Transformers and Patrick Dempsey is in it (which was interesting). I do really like the special effects, though. Those transformers are just amazing in terms of CG and I tend to like them more than the humans. :P Grade: B/B-

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 - What an excellent film. It keeps the essence of the book, while changing/removing/adding things. There's one quibble I have with it, which is at the very end, but the rest of it I pretty much enjoyed. You can always complain about things that are adapted (and I've gotten into some nitty-gritty things), but, overall, it's a good film. It's a good finish to the movies and I'm glad. Go out with a bang and it certainly did. I recommend everyone to see this because it's great. You laugh, you cry, you kind of sit on the edge of your seat, etc. There are touching moments too. It's a good film and think they broke the two films up from the one book appropriately. The last film is a little more running around and action orientated, but it has its moments to let you breath for a minute or two also. And, to boot, it's been getting fantastic reviews from fans and critics (and critics won't be so sentimental). Grade: A+

Lincoln Lawyer (Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe) (DVD) - Better than I thought it would be. It's an interesting movie that makes you somewhat question what our justice system is. It's not as good as Law Abiding Citizen, which really does throw how our justice system works back into your face, but Lincoln Lawyer is an interesting question of morals and innocence. Basically, the main character, Mick Haller (McConaughey), is a shady lawyer who takes jobs with, well, shady people who typically would be seen (or are) guilty for their crimes. He's a good lawyer, though, and typically gets their sentences lowered or completely dropped. However, he takes on this client (Phillippe) who puts his whole "ethics" (if you will) to question and he has to figure out how to get out of the situation without putting himself or his family in harms way (what the movie revolves around is this case). It's not as mind twisty as you think, but it has an interesting thing at the end. Haller is an interesting character because he deals with shady people who we, normally, wouldn't agree with, but they somehow also like him somewhat likeable too. It's like you don't quite like him and you don't quite hate him either. It's an interesting balancing act and it played out pretty well. Grade: B

Adjustment Bureau (Matt Damon, Emily Blunt) (DVD) - Not as bad as I thought it would be. This was one I wanted to see in theaters, but Chris didn't want to see it. It's a definite movie rental so I'm glad I didn't see it in theaters. It's okay. The chasing actually doesn't happen to the end of the movie, which is nice because it would have gotten old really fast. The movie is mostly about "fate" and "chance". And the "Chairman" maps out our entire lives so the Adjustment Bureau goes around to do "adjustments" to make sure we stay on track. They have an ability to pass through doors to get from one place to another quickly. It's an interesting question of "fate" and "freewill", but the end premise is about determination and, in ways, love. The end of the movie ends kind of abruptly and quickly so it's a little awkward. You go through this chase scene and it just kind of "finishes" and it's kind of like "what?" With that said, the movie was interesting. It plays more like a drama in most of the film (till the end). It's okay if you're bored or interested, but I don't think I'd readily recommend this (it kind of drags in the middle a little). Grade: C

Captain America (Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving) - SO much better than Thor! Kind of a sad romance story at the the end, but it's a nice story arch compared to Thor and Chris Evans plays a good Captain America. It's interesting to see a Marvel character within a real time period also (or any time period, I suppose). Captain America was created in 1941 for the purpose of being patriotic (hence the American costume and shield) and he fought against the Axis Powers. His "super power" is essentially being super human by a serum also. So, the comic resonates that time period pretty well. At any rate, it was a good movie and they do a clip at the very end (as all the Marvel movies have had) and they also do a little trailer-thing for The Avengers movie coming out next summer too. The trailer got me REALLY excited for The Avengers movie next summer. It looks good and since they've introduced so many of the SHIELD operatives now, you feel more invested in it. Plus, they have a good cast too. Moving on...Chris Evans plays a likable Captain America and the reason he was picked for Captain America (or at least the initial and only test subject) was because of who he was inside -- a genuinely good, down to earth guy. Hugo Weaving's character (the enemy of Captain America -- lead of the Hydras) was a bad guy and took a portion of the unfinished serum that Captain America has and so he became more bad. So, anyway, nice arch, nice tie in for The Avengers and Captain America 2 and 3 (Chris Evans has already signed on). It has a complete story that is more along the lines of building up Iron Man than plopping you into the middle of Thor's story (granted, Thor, has a longer and more complicated history than the others). Grade: B/B+

Next movie is Cowboys & Aliens, which I can't wait for. Not because I'm super excited to see the movie, but because I can FINALLY stop seeing the trailer! I swear, I kid you not, that every movie I have seen in theater has had Cowboys & Aliens before it since January. It has been MONTHS of seeing the trailer. I'm tired of it! So, anyway, going to see it next week and hopefully I can finally put to rest Cowboys & Aliens! :P After that is the Change-Up (Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds) and maybe Crazy, Stupid, Love (Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling). After those is Conan the Barbarian. Chris wants to see it since he's played the MMORPG and has read all the books -- makes sense. At some point, would like to see Horrible Bosses, but it might end up being a movie rental. Missed Bad Teacher and Cars 2 also so...maybe movie rentals. Might be able to wiggle in Cars 2 when we move back, but with others more pressing to see (that we both want to see), Cars 2 might be a movie rental (first Pixar in years I haven't seen in theaters!). We'll see!

Time to go nap and then start packing...Ugh.

End of an Era (and a few movies)

I graduated! No more school posts! I can now say I have a Master of Environmental Science & Management with a specialization in Economics & Politics of the Environment! Now to wait for grades...

It was a good graduation and I really enjoyed it. It hadn't really sunk in that I graduated until last night when I got an e-mail from Dave Parker (director of our career services) giving us a congratulations and I went, "Oh my gosh. This is one of my last e-mails from Bren ever again!" For two years I have received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails from Bren and now I won't be getting that many! Kind of weird. At any rate, it feels nice to be finished, but it's also scary, sad, and just a little weird. This is the first time in 25 years of my life that I have not known what I was going to do next. I know I'll be getting a job, but the questions just compound upon each other. Where will I get a job? What will I be doing? WHEN will I get a job? etc, etc, etc. Looking for grad schools was similar, but did not come with the same feeling and I think it's because I am NOW entering the REAL WORLD! We joke saying school is the "snooze button on life" and has been for me) for the past two decades of my life. Now I don't have school!

A PhD is not out of the question and, if I was honest with myself, I am leaning towards wanting a PhD, but I don't want to go into a PhD program just because "I want to." Honestly, no one would take me on with that kind of answer and I don't have a topic/question I really want to spend 4-5 years of my life on. So maybe with experience I'll find something I want to get my PhD in and I'll go back and do that, but we'll see. Maybe a PhD is also not in the works for me too. Who knows. Time will tell. :) I would like to get a PhD in marine policy (you know, just saying. :P ).

I did get a contractual job with the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's short term (only 6 weeks), but pays pretty well for only 35-42 hours of work. I'm basically going to be a "beta tester" for their new Seafood Watch Program criteria system so that'll be interesting. It's something I like to do and it will be interesting. It's not a lot of money, but...hey...money is money and it'll be good not to have a "gap" in my resume from the time I graduate to the time I get another job. Plus, this gives me another thing on my resume, another contact, and perhaps a full-time (or even part-time) job down the road. I'm taking it and running with it!

Now, on to movies!

Green Lantern comes out this Friday so we'll see that sometime this weekend or the following week, but this past week was Just Go With It and Super 8!

Just Go With It (Adam Sandler & Jennifer Aniston) - It's not as bad as you think given the two main actors. Chris and I saw a preview for it and instantly went, "We gotta watch it." It didn't let us down. It met expectations, which is "It won't be great, but it won't be horrible." It gave laughs here-and-there and it was an interesting storyline that did set itself up for some funny situations. Basically, Sandler's character has gotten into the habit of lying to chicks saying he's married and his wife beats him up, yaddy, yaddy, and gets pity sex from them. Aniston is his secretary at his plastic surgeon office. Anyway, he finds a girl he really "connects with" (like no other girl) and she finds the wedding ring and he gets tangled up in these lies that he drags Aniston and her kids into. Anyway, it's pretty funny. There are quite a few sexual-ish jokes made throughout the movie (what kind of Sandler film would it be without those?!), but they're not too bad. We enjoyed the movie. It wouldn't be a buyer, but if you want to watch a rom-com that Aniston isn't actually that bad in (it's almost a miracle, I swear!) and Sandler is good in too, I'd recommend it. It's a good rental film. Nicole Kidman is also in it and is pretty funny too. Grade: B

Super 8 (Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, etc) - I won't spoil it for those who are going to watch it (as I try not to do for any of my reviews), but if you've seen the preview even once you know the general gist of it (as far as we can tell at least). So...This movie is like (and you'll understand if you watch the movie) an alien version of The Goonies (if they had cameras). I kid you not. It's a good film and it's not scary. It's more suspenseful than scary. It has its lulls, laughs, touching moments, suspense, slightly scary moments, etc. It's a nice balance of everything and seeing the Super 8 cameras was pretty neat. I enjoyed the movie within the movie too. :P I don't know if I'd say it's my favorite movie of the summer (so far and I know others who say that), but it's a good film and holds up well against PotC 4, X-Men: First Class, and soon-to-come-out Green Lantern. In many ways, it's just nice having a non-superhero-ish, non-comic/action figure, non-sequel, and non-book-related film for once! It kind of makes you go (like Inception did), "Wow, Hollywood CAN make good original screenplays and movies!" At any rate, if you like suspenseful type movies, I'd recommend it. It's a good movie and it's nice having child actors being the main actors. Like I said, it has that The Goonies feeling and it's nice and a change from what is normally in theaters these days where the children are supporting actors or there's only one and not a bunch of them. My only complaint about the movie is the flow seemed a little choppy sometimes and something just doesn't quite jive with me (perhaps it's the quick ending). Other than that, I liked it.  Grade: B+

One of the best things about seeing Super 8 was I got to see the latest Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 trailer on the big screen! It totally rocked and I had to restrain myself from cheering. I'm like a little kid, but it really does look like a fantastic movie and I can't wait!

Now, with that, time to eat, and play Minecraft. :)

Pandas and Mutants

I watched Kung Fu Panda 2 and X-Men: First Class this week. The goal was to watch Fast Five instead of Kung Fu Panda 2, but a mix-up over movie times occurred and so we went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 instead. Fast Five is no longer showing in SB anymore either, but there's always the DVD!

Kung Fu Panda 2 (Jack Black, et al.) - I enjoyed the movie, but a 1.5 hour movie does feel really short these days. At any rate, this movie had the theme of finding "where you belong" and "who you are". In particular, it touches upon adoption (Po (the Panda) has a goose father). It's a cute movie and has some good animation that I enjoyed. It's a definite family film and I enjoyed Kung Fu Panda 1 and I also enjoyed this one just as much. I'd probably say this would be more of a movie rental than an on-screen watch, but that also comes down to preference. Dreamworks does put out good animation films too. I'm looking forward to Puss in Boots in the fall. They do seem able to push out 2 movies a year vs Pixar's 1 and their quality is still pretty good (How to Train Your Dragon is now apart of my "comfort movie" list. I watched it again just this past week and I've watched it more times in the past year than any other film). At any rate, watch it in theaters if you like the franchise, but other than that, I'd wait for DVD. Grade: B/B+

X-Men: First Class (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon) - I really, really enjoyed this film and it's been the first summer film that I can actually say I really enjoyed. It's also been getting good reviews. I kind of feel like THIS movie is the start of the summer blockbusters than Thor or some other movie. It was excellent. It's a character driven movie rather than action movie like the triology (X-Men, X2, X-Men: Last Stand). I'd even say it's more character driven than X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Wolverine's movie was supposed to be his background and how he came to be. It certainly makes up for X3 and even Wolverine; it basically gives me hope that the franchise isn't going down the tube -- it's that good. McAvoy and Fassbender do a great job in developing a friendship despite their characters' differences and gathering forces to save the world and then the end when they split you feel that they're both sad for the differences they can't agree on. There's a smattering of action here and there, but the end main fighting scene isn't drawn out and long (like sometimes I felt PotC: At World's End sometimes felt like). You feel sympathy for Erik (aka Magneto) in his early years and even in his adult years to avenge the man who killed his mother and turned him into who he is. You respect Charles (aka Professor X) from the get-go for for his knowledge and compassion for mutants. It's just a well done X-Men movie and makes me glad I went to see it in theaters. I could even be talked into seeing it again in theaters if need be. Would I buy the DVD? I'm not sure. I might when it gets cheaper. The movie also reaffirms my appreciation for McAvoy. He's done a lot of different films (Family (Narnia - Mr. Tumnus), Drama x 2 (Becoming Jane, Atonement), Action (Wanted), Animation (Gnomeo & Juliet), and Sci-Fi (Professor X)) and I've enjoyed him in all of them (except Atonement since I have not seen it).  Grade: A

Farewell grad school

I finished my last class today at Bren and turned my final two assignments in tonight. I had another 5 days before my final two assignments were due, but I had already written and edited them. They were just looming over my head the past few days so I decided to just bite the bullet and say farewell to my Master's program all on the same day instead of dragging out the papers when all I could do was quibble over a word here-and-there. It's a little weird and bittersweet. I am FINISHED! No more classes and no more assignments. It's all in and finished. All I have to do is graduate and wait for grades. Weird...

Now if I can only find a job...

With that...I'm off to continue to not do too much besides read, watch TV shows, and job hunt. Graduation is next Friday, though!

Movies and Fish

Apparently I am a bad keeper-of-the-fish (i.e., fish tank owner) because I just noticed I'm missing a fish...I'm down to 3 neon tetras (red and blue) and only 2 glowlight tetras (orange). It's my big, fat glowlight tetra that is missing (I assume the oldest since it was always the biggest of them all and the glowlights were the first ones I bought). I'm kind of appalled that I never noticed it died because it would take the snails and shrimp a few days to eat it... : I'm sorry little fishy that I did not save you from being consumed; however, as I have been told by Chris, "It's what happens in the wild." I just hope I don't find some errant body part when I'm cleaning. Ick. I doubt I will since my shrimp are quite the carnivores and they burrow into my gravel. At any rate, I am keeping a close eye on my last shrimp since she's the last one. She has molted twice since the male (and last shrimp) died so that's a good sign, but it seems like the last two kind of died randomly. So...who knows.

On to movies!

Gnomeo and Juliet - I rather enjoyed this. It's a "random" animation company and not one of the major ones, but it was rather cute. They liked to throw in random Shakespeare lines in, but the movie was good. The voice caste is amazing too: Emily Blunt, James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Jason Statham, Julie Walters, Hulk Hogan, Ozzy Osbourne (I know...), etc. It was fun picking out everyone's voice. You know the general premise based on the title, but how they did it and the funny moments were cute. The end, of course, is different than the actual play given it's a family movie. :P The animation was also well done and you never lost sight of the fact that these are ceramic gnomes and not, well, people. I would recommend people to watch it. Families with young kids (around the 6-8 range) would probably enjoy this the most. Grade: A-

I Am Number Four - Definitely has a 2nd movie lined-up, but I don't think it did well in theaters so I don't know if they'll try for a 2nd one; however, it was okay. It wasn't a great sci-fi, action film, but it wasn't a total dud either. Chris and I were trying to guess the entire way what would happen and who this beagle was that showed up (we thought it was a bad guy, then that it was one of the 2 chicks on the cover, and then decided we had no clue till the end of the movie). It was your pretty typical Hero's Journey (mentor and hero, mentor is killed, hero goes on alone, etc) so we knew the mentor (or guardian, in this case) was doomed from the get go, but it was interesting. I don't think I'd readily recommend this for anyone. It's pretty average... Grade: C

We might go see Fast Five later in theaters, but we'll see. Not sure if we'll see X-Men: First Class in theaters (comes out June 3rd). It's an iffy one. Won't see Hangover 2 or Kung Fu Panda 2 in theaters either (will watch it on DVD). After that, it's Super 8, Green Lantern, possibly Cars 2, Transformers, Horrible Bosses (we liked the trailer for it), Harry Potter, Captain America, Cowboys and Aliens, The Change-up (also liked the trailer), and Conan (for Chris).

I think that's all the summer movies. Friends with Benefits and Bad Teacher will probably be movie rentals. I still joke that we saw the entire movie for Conan when we saw the trailer (we've seen it twice in theaters). There's this particularly long one with lots of snapshots of everything and it really felt like you watched the whole movie in 2 minutes! Oh well. Chris has read most of the books in the series and also plays the MMO so we'll go see it (we're struggling through the Schwarzenegger version on Netflix right now, or I'm struggling through it at least).

With that...One week left of classes! I have to edit a paper and write a paper by next Saturday and I'm finished! :) That is both a terrifying and exciting thing...

PotC and Misc

Went and saw Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides today. It was good and it had some funny moments. The battle scenes still sometimes feel a little long, but the story was infinitely better than Dead Man's Chest (#2) and At World's End (#3). I enjoyed Penelope Cruz's character and Jack is just as ever, well, Jack. The movie doesn't QUITE set up for a 5th film, but it doesn't mean a 5th film can't happen. Since this movie was a story that started and ended in the movie (not even a trailer like Jack leaving with the Fountain of Youth Map at the end of #3), it'll have to be something totally new. I'm sure they could accomplish it, though. I do find it a little difficult to pick the "good" guy and the "bad" guy. I guess that's the problem with pirates. :P You end up picking the lesser of two evils, so to speak. The bad guy (Blackbeard) this time was like Davy Jones vs Jack. You always side with Jack, but Blackbeard's crew you felt a little sorry for since they were coerced into service and didn't know they'd be working for Blackbeard. So, it's sometimes a mixed bag. The sideline stories (in particular, the priest and the mermaid) were interesting. It was kind of "out there", but I liked it. I still want to know what happened to the priest, but the story was a little "Beauty & and the Beast" (with the roles reversed). At any rate, I recommend going to see it based on the PotC franchise more than anything and it is a good film. Grade: B/B+

I rewatched Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 the other day. It really is an excellent HP movie. I'm resisting buying it so I can buy the two parts together, but it's hard!

Any any rate, school is almost over!! I've got TWO classes left: tomorrow and next Wednesday. I've already written a rough draft of my final paper and I have my presentation tomorrow. I keep having to alter the paper a little because the shark fin ban, recently, has picked up steam (passed the State Assembly on Monday) so that's a little annoying, but oh well. I just hope it doesn't pass the Senate in 2 weeks or the purpose of my paper is moot (one of my question is "Will it pass?") and then I'm in trouble. I doubt it'll pass the Senate, though. It's still in the Rules Committee for the Senate. At any rate, almost finished!!!

I applied this week to a temp, part-time, contractual job with the Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program. Since it's contractual, it's off-site and I can do it remotely in Santa Barbara. It's basically research and report writing based on literature reviews, but...hey...it's money! It's also only 10-hours a week, which works out nicely in case I DO get hired for a full-time job I can take the job and do the SWP work until it's over (either through Sept or Oct). I've had my resume bounce around a lot recently so I'm hoping networking solves my problem of finding a job, but we'll see. A lady with BLM who works in the CA Coastal Monument department emailed me recently (thanks to our BLM client!) and wants to talk about what I'm interested in. They're short on money (as everyone in the government is), but at least she's willing to talk with me. At least I'm not the only one in the "no job, yet" boat. It seems like a good portion of our class is still struggling to find jobs. Most have applied to things and some have come up with interviews. I've heard of 4 people having jobs so far, which isn't too unusual since I don't really converse or hang out with my class, but still. Usually Bren has about a 60-70% rate of students having jobs by graduation and around 90% by September (even last year's stayed this way). We'll see if our class can keep tradition or not. If anything -- as we're all QUITE aware of -- December is the deadline because loans start to be due January.

Well, with that, time to go play Lego PotC! It's all 4 movies and I'm almost finished with movie 1. I doubt I'll get to 4 (doing a day-by-day rental from Redbox), but we'll see. It's quite fun and it's hilarious because Lego Jack Sparrow runs like movie Jack Sparrow. :P

Bridesmaids

First off, I forgot to mention that Thor's director Kenneth Branagh did a good job directing his first major movie. Still kind of surprising since he's more known for Shakespeare, but this movie does have a lilt to it that's kind of reminiscent of Shakespeare (in a deep undercurrent kind of way).

At any rate...Chris and I went and saw Bridesmaids today. It's funny, but it's more of a physical/potty type of humor (in some places). Oddly to say, The Hangover has a more wide appeal sense-of-humor than Bridesmaids to most people. The Hangover is more just silly and funny and Bridesmaids definitely is a little more potty humor (there's an instance where they all get food poisoning...it's rather gross and funny in certain spots). There are some rather funny parts that are just funny. For example, the main character (Annie) is trying to get the attention of this cop who she hurt and she does all these silly things in the car (speeding, cruising like a gangster, doughnut, etc) to try and get his attention. Some of the situations between the bridesmaids are also funny (jealousy playing out mostly). I don't know if this movie is for everyone because of its humor, but it's pretty amusing and you laugh throughout it. You just have to get past the couple spots of more potty humor and then it's just like The Hangover and pretty funny. I would say that The Hangover is the better of the two films, though. Grade: B

PotC 4 will be during the week sometime to try and avoid the crowds.