So this summer, I know I'm gonna get bored, so more to just do it for me I'm going to do more blog posting over the summer and just mess around with my social networks more. It will be focused on cool things I discover and that I need to tell people about. So yeah just want to put that out there.
-server
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Battle of the Bands (Pre Vid)
I can tell a school year was good depending on how awesome Battle of the Bands is at the end of the year. This time it was no different. The music was loud, the bands were rocking, and by the end of it all, everyone was hyped!. Near the end of the school year here at Oregon State, we hold a day long concert called Battle of the Bands. Going into it my first year of college, I didn't know what to expect, in high school the bands were just punk band wannabes, but at the concert it was so much better all around. What instantly got me was that year's winners Honest to Empire. They still brought it this year as the headliners of Battle of the Bands. When they closed the show, the entire quad erupted and it was just fun. I didn't get to check them out, but this year's winner were Pseusoboss. My friend Michael's band Target for Tomorrow got third place which is impressive. The lineup for this year was what brought down the show, as the good bands were placed at sporadic times instead of being the showcase at the end of the show. I got some poorly shot footage from the last 2 hours of the show, and my camera sadly croaked out during Honest to Empire. I'm going to compile this footage with tomorrow's footage of the Shwayze concert on saturday, so stay tuned.
Honest to Empire's website: www.myspace.com/honesttoempire
Target for Tomorrow's website: www.myspace.com/target4tomorrow
Honest to Empire's website: www.myspace.com/honesttoempire
Target for Tomorrow's website: www.myspace.com/target4tomorrow
Sunday, May 24, 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review
So I finally got down to watching the Wolverine movie that was released recently and good god i am raging. I might be just being bias for being a comic book reader and actually knowing the backstory of Wolverine and not getting that this movie appeals to a wider audience. But whatever, here's my critic of the latest movie in the X-Men saga and if you haven't seen the movie yet, there will be spoilers so beware...
One Dimensional Characters
Besides Wolverine, every other character seemed to have one purpose and then were killed off. This ticked me off because many of the Weapon X characters have very deep backstories and certain aspect of their characters that were unique and made them interesting, like Deadpool and Agent Zero. But they were reduced to either two type of characters: those who help Wolverine or those who try to kill Wolverine, either way they end up dead which just was dumb.
Too Buddy Buddy Story
Ok Weapon X had to be the absolute worst part of Wolverine's life. They grafted the adamentium to this bones, brainwashed him, and turned him into an animalistic killer. This movie seemed to take all that toned it down and made it PG. But come on, Wolverine volunteering to let this happen to him, who the hell would do that? They even put in that funny scene with Wolverine staying at the old people's home accidently breaking their bathroom apart. This isn't Spider-Man this is Wolverine, get your script straight. Finally, this version of William Stryker was sinister enough, and was too much of a friend to Wolverine to make any of this make sense.
CGI How Could You Let Us Down??
So yeah, CGI was done horribly in this movie, its almost laughable. The biggest thing was Wolverine's metal claws, they just didn't look right and looked out of place. The claws looked the size of an arm one minu
te and the next skinny as chopsticks. Also most things in this movie didn't cut into stuff, it just kinda phased into them. Backgrounds done with green screen were very blantant, they didn't try much to make it look real.
Noone Really Cares About Continuity Do They?
Ok first the comic stuff, I'm just gonna list them off:
-Wolverine wasn't the groundskeeper's son, Sabertooth isn't his brother
-It was a few years after Team X that they get involved with Weapon X
-Wolverine didn't volunteer for Weapon X, and goes on an animalistic rampage until involvement by Alpha Flight
-Entire movie should take place around the 70's not 90's if that's what the movie is implying
-Wolverine never met Scott Summers, Emma Frost, or Storm in the past, ages would be way off
-Blob and Bradley aren't on Team X
-Deadpool likes to use guns, i'm just saying
-Emma Frost and Kayla Silverfox aren't related, first of all they have different last names
-Deadpool, Emma Frost, Kayla have the wrong powers
now based off the other X-Men movies:
-William Stryker should be really old if he's involved in Weapon X, but he's in X2
-same with Scott, his age should be off, and he would be a student of Xavier's by now
-the term mutant shouldn't be coined yet, since noone knows there are mutants yet
and quickly what I did like...
-Hugh Jackman did some good acting for the part, can't imagine anyone else being Wolverine in the movies
-The fight scenes were pretty fun to watch, for some reason that's all they were going for, last one was kinda weak though
and finally will.I.am shouldn't act ever again.
One Dimensional Characters
Besides Wolverine, every other character seemed to have one purpose and then were killed off. This ticked me off because many of the Weapon X characters have very deep backstories and certain aspect of their characters that were unique and made them interesting, like Deadpool and Agent Zero. But they were reduced to either two type of characters: those who help Wolverine or those who try to kill Wolverine, either way they end up dead which just was dumb.
Too Buddy Buddy Story
Ok Weapon X had to be the absolute worst part of Wolverine's life. They grafted the adamentium to this bones, brainwashed him, and turned him into an animalistic killer. This movie seemed to take all that toned it down and made it PG. But come on, Wolverine volunteering to let this happen to him, who the hell would do that? They even put in that funny scene with Wolverine staying at the old people's home accidently breaking their bathroom apart. This isn't Spider-Man this is Wolverine, get your script straight. Finally, this version of William Stryker was sinister enough, and was too much of a friend to Wolverine to make any of this make sense.
CGI How Could You Let Us Down??
So yeah, CGI was done horribly in this movie, its almost laughable. The biggest thing was Wolverine's metal claws, they just didn't look right and looked out of place. The claws looked the size of an arm one minu
te and the next skinny as chopsticks. Also most things in this movie didn't cut into stuff, it just kinda phased into them. Backgrounds done with green screen were very blantant, they didn't try much to make it look real.Noone Really Cares About Continuity Do They?
Ok first the comic stuff, I'm just gonna list them off:
-Wolverine wasn't the groundskeeper's son, Sabertooth isn't his brother
-It was a few years after Team X that they get involved with Weapon X
-Wolverine didn't volunteer for Weapon X, and goes on an animalistic rampage until involvement by Alpha Flight
-Entire movie should take place around the 70's not 90's if that's what the movie is implying
-Wolverine never met Scott Summers, Emma Frost, or Storm in the past, ages would be way off
-Blob and Bradley aren't on Team X
-Deadpool likes to use guns, i'm just saying
-Emma Frost and Kayla Silverfox aren't related, first of all they have different last names
-Deadpool, Emma Frost, Kayla have the wrong powers
now based off the other X-Men movies:
-William Stryker should be really old if he's involved in Weapon X, but he's in X2
-same with Scott, his age should be off, and he would be a student of Xavier's by now
-the term mutant shouldn't be coined yet, since noone knows there are mutants yet
and quickly what I did like...
-Hugh Jackman did some good acting for the part, can't imagine anyone else being Wolverine in the movies
-The fight scenes were pretty fun to watch, for some reason that's all they were going for, last one was kinda weak though
and finally will.I.am shouldn't act ever again.
Friday, May 22, 2009
A&P Vlog 3
So I was able to make another Austin and Paul vlog thingy, I made my first ever intro for any video, so I'm pretty psyched about that. The footage however isn't much but just talk this time, though Eric does have a good one liner at the very end. I am thinking about remastering this one with sound fx's since I just found a free sound fx site online, I have enough footage for 2 more A&P vlog, so stay tune
-Server
-Server
Thursday, May 7, 2009
the austin and paul show
So it all began when I was able to film one of Austin (my roommate) and Paul's (friend from down the hall) little quarrels. I got about 2 minutes of footage and broke it down into about a 1 minute clip, calling it the Austin & Paul Chronicles. Its a constant struggle between macho man, Austin and the brains of it all, Paul. I'm still wondering how i'm gonna take these videos for the next episodes, since they really don't seem to be going anywhere, but hopefully i'll come up with something.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
My Most Favorite SuperHero Movies as of Today
So yesterday I went to see the new Watchmen movie and I thought it was pretty amazing film. Though I thought it was pretty good, it wouldn't be my most favorite hero film. So I gave it some thought and here are my Top 10 most favorite superhero movies, as of March 8th, 2009...
10. The Incredibles (2004)
Ok what is up with Disney and Pixar doing a better fantastic four movie than the real fantastic four movie. DJ argues that this is too much of a family movie, but Pixar makes good movies with good scripts. It mixes in a lot of intriguing ideas of superheroes being retired and called back up to save the day. It also deals with betrayal, finding yourself, and family bonding and all that goody-feel good stuff. And you can actually watch this one with your little kids, so that must be good for something.
9. X-Men (2000)
And with this movie the modern age of superhero movies arrive. You watched the movie and wait to see if your favorite mutant will show up. Then fan favorite Wolverine joins the team. Mix in this story of using the mutant Rogue. And wrap it up with an epic battle between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. This movie set a standard that all superhero films now follow and add and that's why it made the list.
8. Batman Begins (2005)
So Batman Begins brought up a brand new concept in comic book movies, the reboot. The old Batman movies from the 90's, the first two were good and the rest just went downhill from there. Batman Begins ran Batman from his roots and showed the true side of Batman from the comics and not the silly Adam West kind. It had a really good storyline including a twist over one of Batman's best not known to much of enemy, Ra's al Ghul. With a darker undertone and giving a real basis over why Batman does what he does, it was a good all around package, and the most epic moment at the end of the film, leaving it wide open for its much sucessful sequel.
7. Spider-Man (2002)
The first Spider-Man will always have a special place in my heart. Spider-Man has always been my favorite comic book character and many others, a symbol of the normal everyday man now gifted with powers. Along with X-Men, Spider-Man ushered in the new millenium age of comic book movies and giving you something to look forward to every summer from here on out. Though I have seen this to death because of cable TV replayness. But seeing Pete put on the suit and soar through the air on line of web for the first time is just pure epicness.
6. X2: X-Men United (2003)
So yeah, people love everything there is about Wolverine, which is why he gets his own film coming in a few months. I don't think that's what the X-Men are about, but it still makes a good movie. In this one, Wolverine's past comes back to haunt him in the form of William Stryker. So Wolverine and apparently his X-Men go to stop his diabolical plan to destroy all mutants. Now my one pet peeve is when characters that don't exist at all in the comics are placed as deux ex machinas in movies, as in Jason Stryker. Though they did in this movie show just how friggin powerful Professor X really is. As in most trilogies, the second of the X-Men series was the best, while the third was other crap. Someone has to break this trend! Please!
5. Superman: The Movie (1978)
Ok so I haven't seen this movie in ages, and I'm completely trusting DJ on this, but yeah we say Superman: The Movie is #5 on our list. And I'll just say this, probably without this movie, there wouldn't be any other superhero movies out there. This defined the genre and it belongs on the lis, nuff said. Now someone just needs to make another good movie about the man of steel for the modern age and do it right (stupid Superman Returns).
4. Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man was the biggest surprise superhero movie of all time. No fanboy gave it much thought. The thing that probably made it work was the fact that everyone knew who Iron Man is, but didn't know much about him, so they could've wrote anything they wanted. Also the fact that Iron Man has been getting bad rap in the comic world ever since Civil War. All of this seemed like a very bad idea. Robert Downing Jr. made a really beliveable Tony Stark however and combined with very neat graphics it made Iron Man look amazing. It was a good movie and like all first films for heroes they have to spend that time introducing everything, meaning there was lacking actual Iron Man in the movie. Also the introduction of the Arc Reactor has made it ways into comics so that's always cool. How long this series survive will be a toughy since Iron Man doesn't have many interesting characters besides the Mandarin. But we'll see once Iron Man 2 comes out.
3. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Now this was a throw up for us, which was better Spiderman or Spiderman 2? Since Spiderman is now played the hell out of on cable TV, I would say 2 was better. Since everything is defined by the first movie, they can work on just making an interesting storyline. Doc Ock was made to look for cool for the first time in like, well ever. This movie really defined the relationship of the characters with one another. What I didn't like is how Spiderman's secret identity was just shown to just about everyone, in which he was like what only about to keep it secret for a good 2 years? Wow, that's not that long. The ending left much potential, but Spiderman 3 killed all of that with trying to finish a story/please the fans/make things look interesting.
2. Watchmen (2009)
There is no other movie that kept to the original source material than the movie I just saw the other night, Watchmen. As having read it, I just felt nostalgia from seeing everything I read coming alive on the big screen, and Zack Snyder didn't miss much. There was a slight tweak of the ending, but it made it still work. Rorschach was just about everyone's favorite character in the movie, being just a total badass and the actor eeriely resembled the comic character. There is that feeling that Snyder adapted it a little too well and didn't add his own touch, and that what made it for me #2 and not #1 just cause I've seen it all before and there were little to no new surprises. But still, seeing them say the epic lines from the comics word for word on the big screen was worth it.
1. The Dark Knight (2008)
So it's been almost a year since it came out and I am still love the Dark Knight. So yeah you know already why I like this movie and you have your reasons why you like it too. And Heath Ledger's Joker has become almost synonymous with the character itself and the Oscar isn't too bad either. It catches you immediately with the first scene and pops twists and turns as the movie continues. It draws influences from many different stories including Batman: The Long Halloween and melds them into a genius storyline that pushes Batman to the limits. It also just builds on the dynamic that Batman and the Joker have together and you can't really go wrong with when you a write a story with them in it. When they go against each other, it will be epic (not even Superman vs. Lex Luthor or Spiderman vs. Green Goblin can top it). Know we just wait to see what the next in the Bat franchise brings.
Honorable Mention: Hellboy (2004), Superman II (1981), Batman (1989), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
10. The Incredibles (2004)
Ok what is up with Disney and Pixar doing a better fantastic four movie than the real fantastic four movie. DJ argues that this is too much of a family movie, but Pixar makes good movies with good scripts. It mixes in a lot of intriguing ideas of superheroes being retired and called back up to save the day. It also deals with betrayal, finding yourself, and family bonding and all that goody-feel good stuff. And you can actually watch this one with your little kids, so that must be good for something.
9. X-Men (2000)
And with this movie the modern age of superhero movies arrive. You watched the movie and wait to see if your favorite mutant will show up. Then fan favorite Wolverine joins the team. Mix in this story of using the mutant Rogue. And wrap it up with an epic battle between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. This movie set a standard that all superhero films now follow and add and that's why it made the list.
8. Batman Begins (2005)
So Batman Begins brought up a brand new concept in comic book movies, the reboot. The old Batman movies from the 90's, the first two were good and the rest just went downhill from there. Batman Begins ran Batman from his roots and showed the true side of Batman from the comics and not the silly Adam West kind. It had a really good storyline including a twist over one of Batman's best not known to much of enemy, Ra's al Ghul. With a darker undertone and giving a real basis over why Batman does what he does, it was a good all around package, and the most epic moment at the end of the film, leaving it wide open for its much sucessful sequel.
7. Spider-Man (2002)
The first Spider-Man will always have a special place in my heart. Spider-Man has always been my favorite comic book character and many others, a symbol of the normal everyday man now gifted with powers. Along with X-Men, Spider-Man ushered in the new millenium age of comic book movies and giving you something to look forward to every summer from here on out. Though I have seen this to death because of cable TV replayness. But seeing Pete put on the suit and soar through the air on line of web for the first time is just pure epicness.
6. X2: X-Men United (2003)
So yeah, people love everything there is about Wolverine, which is why he gets his own film coming in a few months. I don't think that's what the X-Men are about, but it still makes a good movie. In this one, Wolverine's past comes back to haunt him in the form of William Stryker. So Wolverine and apparently his X-Men go to stop his diabolical plan to destroy all mutants. Now my one pet peeve is when characters that don't exist at all in the comics are placed as deux ex machinas in movies, as in Jason Stryker. Though they did in this movie show just how friggin powerful Professor X really is. As in most trilogies, the second of the X-Men series was the best, while the third was other crap. Someone has to break this trend! Please!
5. Superman: The Movie (1978)
4. Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man was the biggest surprise superhero movie of all time. No fanboy gave it much thought. The thing that probably made it work was the fact that everyone knew who Iron Man is, but didn't know much about him, so they could've wrote anything they wanted. Also the fact that Iron Man has been getting bad rap in the comic world ever since Civil War. All of this seemed like a very bad idea. Robert Downing Jr. made a really beliveable Tony Stark however and combined with very neat graphics it made Iron Man look amazing. It was a good movie and like all first films for heroes they have to spend that time introducing everything, meaning there was lacking actual Iron Man in the movie. Also the introduction of the Arc Reactor has made it ways into comics so that's always cool. How long this series survive will be a toughy since Iron Man doesn't have many interesting characters besides the Mandarin. But we'll see once Iron Man 2 comes out.
3. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Now this was a throw up for us, which was better Spiderman or Spiderman 2? Since Spiderman is now played the hell out of on cable TV, I would say 2 was better. Since everything is defined by the first movie, they can work on just making an interesting storyline. Doc Ock was made to look for cool for the first time in like, well ever. This movie really defined the relationship of the characters with one another. What I didn't like is how Spiderman's secret identity was just shown to just about everyone, in which he was like what only about to keep it secret for a good 2 years? Wow, that's not that long. The ending left much potential, but Spiderman 3 killed all of that with trying to finish a story/please the fans/make things look interesting.
2. Watchmen (2009)
There is no other movie that kept to the original source material than the movie I just saw the other night, Watchmen. As having read it, I just felt nostalgia from seeing everything I read coming alive on the big screen, and Zack Snyder didn't miss much. There was a slight tweak of the ending, but it made it still work. Rorschach was just about everyone's favorite character in the movie, being just a total badass and the actor eeriely resembled the comic character. There is that feeling that Snyder adapted it a little too well and didn't add his own touch, and that what made it for me #2 and not #1 just cause I've seen it all before and there were little to no new surprises. But still, seeing them say the epic lines from the comics word for word on the big screen was worth it.
1. The Dark Knight (2008)
So it's been almost a year since it came out and I am still love the Dark Knight. So yeah you know already why I like this movie and you have your reasons why you like it too. And Heath Ledger's Joker has become almost synonymous with the character itself and the Oscar isn't too bad either. It catches you immediately with the first scene and pops twists and turns as the movie continues. It draws influences from many different stories including Batman: The Long Halloween and melds them into a genius storyline that pushes Batman to the limits. It also just builds on the dynamic that Batman and the Joker have together and you can't really go wrong with when you a write a story with them in it. When they go against each other, it will be epic (not even Superman vs. Lex Luthor or Spiderman vs. Green Goblin can top it). Know we just wait to see what the next in the Bat franchise brings.
Honorable Mention: Hellboy (2004), Superman II (1981), Batman (1989), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
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