I saw a wonderful quirky movie yesterday titled Napoleon Dynamite. Napoleon goes to highschool, is misunderstood by most people and generally thought of as a spaz. The movie takesyou through his life at a slow cruise speed. I found it quite refreshing thatthe directors were not obsessed with cutting out the little things that make up the seldomshown moments of life. This mature perspective made me the movie all the more real and helpedforge a tighter emotional attachment to all the characters.

Is every interaction you have with someone a rehearsed, moving speech of monumental emotionconsequences? No. So why should all movies be the same? They shouldn’t and with that said Ihave to proclaim that this movie is not for everyone. Hate everything shown on the IFC channel?Perhaps Die Hard 12 “Christmas Coupons” would be more up your alley. If however you like a movie that makes you think a little bit a feel good then check out NapoleonDynamite.

Somewhere in between Lost in Translation (awesome) and Sky Captain (awesome in a different way) liesNapoleon Dynamite. But don’t take my word for it. *Reading Rainbow SFX* *ba dum bump*

I’m currently stationed in Texas for Interface Engine training (don’t ask, it’s not exciting at all) so I’ve had a chance to live like a bachelor again. Some men may favor this lifestyle but I truly miss my wife and our wonderful relationship. I’m more than halfway through this journey so I’m sure it will be no time before we are reunited again.

I’ve been exploring the local area a bit, got lost pretty bad at one point but otherwise its been an enjoyable experience. Went clothes shopping, picked up DDR Extreme (can’t wait to get home for another reason now), been eating out a lot and saw a few movies.

One of the movies I had the pleasure of seeing is Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. It’s truly a fun and entertaining film and I would gladly purchase he DVD of it when available.

The style of the movie is retro futuristic. Robots, lasers, flying aircraft carriers and hi-tech electronics. Only… assembled from heavy gauge steel and other seemingly crude components. Another thing you’ll notice is that the film has a soft filter on it, similar to the Prince of Persia game but tailored for another universe. I found it quite pleasing although I did wish I could examine some of the beautiful textures in more detail at times.

Textures? That’s right. Almost everything in the movie was rendered, modeled or painted. Quite impressive considering there were only a few times I consciously noticed something not looking quite right. The cast spent a relatively short time filming the whole movie in front of green/blue screen and the end result is very convincing.

The story of Sky Captain can probably be summed up as an exploration adventure. Travel to new places, fight bad guys, repeat. It’s quite fun a the occasion comedy is refreshing so I say the formula works.

Bottom line is if you like adventure, sci-fi or B movies then you’ll not be disappointed by… SKY CAPTAIN *echoes*… AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW!

In an unrelated topic…

Two girls were walking toward the movie theatre giggling. One of them said “Arrowed” and they both laughed. I waited a second till I passed them and shouted, “homestarrunner.com!”. They paused for a second, then continued to laugh.

Nice to know there are hidden Strong Bad / Teen Girl Squad fans out there.

Getting my hair dyed black again tomorrow. Now if I can just get a nice gothic outfit. Bet I can talk Parr into getting me a fluffy cuffed vampire looking artisan shirt. Hehe.

I saw Alien vs. Predator on Saturday and I have to say I enjoyed it. It’s not like DVD buying caliber for me but I’m glad I saw it in the theatre. I kinda expected super cheese but instead I got a few parts horror, sci-fi and a bit of comedy. I’d recommend the movie to you if you have enjoyed any of the Alien, Predator or horror sci-fi genre type movies. Actually if you like huge rasta aliens looking cool then you should probably also go.

Now part of the theatre experience is always the audience and the people I happened to be watching the movie with were hilarious. At one point a few people in the audience were making the clicking purring noise of the predators which was being used a lot. The rest of the audience was laughing.

A few parts of the movie really stood out for me. The first was the researchers watching Frankenstein meets the Wolfman in black and white. It twas an homage to an older mix of monsters movies. The second was when our lead Predator made some armor and weapons from a slain alien for our human heroin. Very cool gesture. Lastly, I really enjoyed the lead predator / king / father or whoever he was (definitely older looking) gave one of their weapons to the human female who proved herself in battle.

Maybe I just have a weak spot for ceremonies dealing with honor. Perhaps that is one of the reasons I like Japanese culture.

Anyway I had fun seeing Predator and managed to do a few useful things this weekend. Pretty much finished my brothers web site. Hope he likes it!

The enema of my enemy is my friend?