I'm tempted to head to Santa Anita on the 26th, but I won't. It's opening day for the winter meet and it's the day they give their calendar out to everyone who enters! I've had to buy the last 2 year's calendars since I've never managed to make it opening day. People always sell them on-line and it's now become one of my "must" calendars to get every year. I like Santa Anita (have I said that before?). Not sure what 2013's theme will be, though. 2011 was movies; 2012 was retired Thoroughbreds.
It's been a crazy movie watching week! I've managed to watch 7, which puts me at 94 movies. There is a good chance I'll make it to 100 or 101! Crazy...I should say that this would be all new movies I've seen this year. I've rewatched at least a dozen films this year (if not more) and, let's be honest, the extended version of LotR should be counted as watching 6 movies, not 3. :)
The Hobbit (High frame rate, 3D) - Not counting this in my count since I already watched it, but I wanted to do a review of the HFR 3D compared to the normal 2D. There were a few moments (especially in the beginning) that felt like they were on fast forward and they were sporadically here-and-there, but it wasn't enough to really bother me. The really interesting difference between HFR and the normal rate, was the clarity of the picture. It felt sharper and less "movie looking." Typically, when the movies go through editing, they throw a patina over the entire movie to equalize the colors/lighting of the film and so forth. The HFR made it look crisper and sort of removed that patina that movies tend to have. It made it look more realistic in the filming (like a low budget film or one that's made to look like it's raw). It was kind of weird to watch because my brain would sometimes be awed by the HFR and how it made the movie look. Most impressively, despite the "look," the CG still looked amazing. In some ways, I think it made the CG look more real. I did find the movie a little longer the 2nd time and the preface (of the preface) was a little weirder the 2nd time, but I still would see it again. I did enjoy the CG more the 2nd time than the first (i.e., the Gollum riddles scene). I don't think I'd see it in 3D again, though. The 3D was good, but it wasn't a type of movie that had "extreme" 3D so you sort of forgot the movie was in 3D even though there was depth to where people were standing in relation to each other. The most times you noticed the 3D were during the captions. If they did HFR in 2D, I'd be all over that.
Savages (Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson) - What a boring movie. The actual plot of the movie happens about 40 minutes into the movie! I guess the point was to set up the scenario and their drug making? I don't know, but it wasn't that great. I liked Salma Hayek's character the best. She had the most interesting role. The acting wasn't bad, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Grade: D
The Watch (Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade) - I wasn't sure what to expect considering I knew it was an alien movie. It was definitely silly, but it wasn't too bad. It was funny and over-the-top, but I liked the family message. Vaughn's character might not be the greatest dad, but, when it came down to it, he loved his daughter and was more concerned about her than aliens taking over their neighborhood. He basically rescued her from being raped when she went to a party against his wishes. His character also told Stiller's to be honest with his wife about his fertility issues. It was silly and crud at times, but it was an okay rental when you knew it was going to be silly. Grade: C
Silver Linings Playbook (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence) - I liked this. There's a fair amount of cussing, but I liked it. It's humorous and everyone does a great acting job. I really liked Cooper in his role and Lawrence was also good. De Niro as Cooper's football obsessed father was also good. It was a cute film about family, moving on, and finding the "silver lining" in things. The dancing was definitely NOT what I expected, but it definitely worked for them (even the awkward part, which was funny). I'd watch it again if it came out on DVD, but I don't know if I'd want to own it. I can see the Oscar buzz, though. Grade: B+
Resident Evil: Retribution (Mila Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, etc) - I've always wanted to see the Resident Evil movies, but have never managed to do it (the last movie wouldn't play on my computer, weird). I FINALLY got to watch one (this one) and I was warned that the story is pretty bad and it's mostly all action. Yeah, it pretty much lived up to the warning. I like over-the-top action films (fluff action films!) so I enjoyed watching things blow up and the special effects, but the story was definitely lame. I was 3/4 paying attention to it and I had to have someone explain to me what was going on (didn't help that I missed the other movies prior). Basically, she was escaping the facility that was below ground. That was the entire story, mostly. At any rate, the special effects during the fighting was good, but not much else was there. Grade: C (C- for the lack of story)
Arbitrage (Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon) - I had to watch this on closed captions the entire movie (long story why) so I got to watch a movie as if I was deaf. It was kind of a new experience. Silent films and this were two different things since I had to pay attention to the closed captions while a silent film is mostly you just watching and no dialogue. I'm not sure if I missed something or not, but I got the feeling the end was just like, "That's it?! He doesn't get in trouble?" At any rate, the acting is good, but Gere's character just digs himself into a bigger and bigger hole from the very start. He sort of get's partially out of it at the end, but goodness...You feel really bad for his family! Maybe the point was it'll all come back to haunt him or something. I don't know, but I wasn't satisfied with the ending. Grade: D
Premium Rush (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, etc) - This wasn't too bad. I like the whole bike messenger angle and those poor actors REALLY had to learn to bike! Wow! The story wasn't too bad and I was glad there was a better reason for him being tracked down then an illicit drug deal or something. It was a better reason than that. Everyone got his/her due in the end too. It was an okay movie. It wasn't fantastic, but it passed the time and I like Gordon-Levitt. Grade: C
Now to nails...This won't be all of the ones I've done, but my two favorites since my last post.
The left one is Smitten Polish Frost Fairies (base) with KBShimmer Peppermint Crush on the top. Peppermint Crush was scented to smell like vanilla peppermint. It smelled so good I could have eaten my nails. Oh man, it smelled good. It lasted about 2 days. The 2nd day it was less strong, but I could barely smell it. The first 24 hours it was really strong.
The right one is Contrary Polish Frozen (base) with DollishPolish You'll Shoot Yer Eye Out, Kid on top. It looked really cool in person. Frozen had a blue micro glitter in it (not a lot) and these iridescent micro-flakes. Then with the Dollish on top, it had irridescent and white hexs and the snowflake glitter. It looked like a snowy scene! It was really pretty and impossible to capture with my camera.
With that, I need to finish packing, redo my nails, and get ready for bed! I got an early flight!
The right one is Contrary Polish Frozen (base) with DollishPolish You'll Shoot Yer Eye Out, Kid on top. It looked really cool in person. Frozen had a blue micro glitter in it (not a lot) and these iridescent micro-flakes. Then with the Dollish on top, it had irridescent and white hexs and the snowflake glitter. It looked like a snowy scene! It was really pretty and impossible to capture with my camera.
With that, I need to finish packing, redo my nails, and get ready for bed! I got an early flight!
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