MOVIE: The Final Destination

More of the same. It was a yawner. My son asked me if it scared me at all, and I said now (neither did it scare him). It's worth a matinee if you're really bored, that's about it.

Burning Retinas Out

I was told today that if there was not enough light in a room, certain monitors can actually burn your retinas out (because it's a "high contrast" monitor?!). I was amazed at hearing this 'fact'. I *must* contact my eye doctor about this to protect myself.

(I'm not sure if this is a joke or not; just thought I'd share, just in case) :-P

MOVIE: The Time Traveler's Wife

Of the last four movies I saw in a week's period (this being the fourth and final I am posting today), this was probably my favorite, which is hilarious. I knew going in that it was a chick flick with science fiction mixed in, but I *really* enjoyed it! My kids enjoyed it! You'll enjoy it! (I think). I think I've seen enough of Eric Bana's buttocks for my lifetime (though perhaps not enough of Rachel McAdams' - when did she suddenly grow up and get truly foxy?!). I've seen this twice, actually. I expect to get it when it's released on DVD/etc.

MOVIE: District 9

I of course had to see this scifi flick. It was certainly under-advertised (which intrigued me - so many movies these days OVER advertise, for months before the movie comes out). I had heard barely anything about it, and the commercials only give you a slight glimpse at the really awesome CGI-to-reality immersion that the entire movie gives you. The special effects were truly awesome, and the story was basically an old story (racial hatred) turned futuristic (species instead of race). Pretty neat story. I'd bet mainly scifi fans will go see this, but that's a shame because the fact that it stars a bunch of CGI aliens is really secondary to the actual story. It could have just as easily been about "black vs white" or "east vs west" or other such human silliness. Check it out...

MOVIE: Funny People

My mother hated this movie - probably because it was about someone who is in the slow process of dying - and though it ran a little long for the type of movie it was, I still found it funny. My daughters were ga-ga over Seth Rogan (whatever...). It was not exactly an "uplifting" movie but of course it did have it's funny moments since it stars Adam Sandler. Don't see this movie if you want something peppy or to get out of a funk, that's for sure. But it's still worth seeing otherwise.

MOVIE: A Perfect Getaway

I went to this movie with Chris on the advice of my daughter Amanda. I thought the commercials were ho-hum and had no interest in seeing it. I'm glad I did, though. It had a pretty massive twist (even though you were expecting a twist as the movie progressed) which was hard to predict (I certainly didn't). For simple shock-value of having a relatively unpredictable story and ending, I'd suggest people see this thriller-mystery. It also stars the woman I base my Mass Effect personas on ('cause she's hot, okay?).

GAME: Mass Effect

Lately, I've been taking it easy physically after having some "minor eye surgery" (I'm not supposed to be exerting myself and popping my eye which actually has three stitches in it -- yum).

So on the input of a co-worker who has similar game tastes to me, I decided to seek out Mass Effect for the XBox 360. K-Mart was going out of business in Port Orange, Florida, so I bought the Platinum Edition with extra content for $15 there brand new. Good deal.

So far.. I've put over 85 hours of recorded game play into this game. No joke (because it shows your time spent). If you are on XBox Live, look my family up as "Malena Family" and you'll see that I've gotten most of the achievements (and an debating getting the rest of them). This game is totally full-on addictive! If you liked KOTOR (Knights Of The Old Republic) at all, you'll probably(?) love this game. My kids love, and hate, it (because they see me hogging up the giant screen TV all weekend and occasionally cursing out the scenario I might be playing -- currently I'm finishing up the Insanity level with a brand new character, so I can experiences the absolute hardest game possible with the lowest level character possible).

Anyway, I highly suggest this game to people who enjoy strategy/RPG type games.

The sequel is due out in 4-6 months, which is only slightly depressing (as the game itself is already a couple years old). You get to pull your character(s) forward to the next game (and/or start from scratch if you need/want to).

This game, if I were giving ratings, gets a FULL five stars (out of five), definitely.

MOVIE: G.I. Joe

I had told my kids I was not very interested in seeing this movie, because the commercials really made it look baaaaaaaaaad. I was convinced the way the commercials were presented that all the "Joes" would have Master Chief (a la Halo) exoskeletons, and that the movie really should have been called "Halo meets BioShock". We ended up going to a Matinee showing, and I have to admit that thankfully I did not allow myself to judge the movie by it's commercial.

It was actually a fun movie, though of course, for a movie made about toys that kids play with, it just *had* to be riddled with random curse words (sigh). But that aside, I found myself laughing and enjoying much of the flick.

I actually would recommend this movie if you're into action/adventures. It blatantly ends on a cliffhanger (which was expected) as well.

William Shatner - What A Liar

"I have not seen the new Star Trek movie," the old guy that used to play Captain Kirk said. (yes, said with much disrespect).

What a liar. The link I've posted also shows him acting like he's "confused" about the difference between "youtubing, twittering and emailing" someone. What is wrong with this individual? He "writes" a bunch of novels (thanks to those who did most of the writing based on the ideas he gave them) and is just "so clueless" (trademark eye roll courtesy of my mother inserted here).