I’m on vacation! I tell you the complete plans I’ve been working on for the past few months and share my summer reading!
Monthly Archives: August 2007
Episode 62: Request Show #2
I go digging through my hard drive, and find a couple of requests I haven’t played yet! Sounds like it’s time for another request show!
Episode 61: 10 Seconds at a Time
It’s a short show this week as I complain about my landlord, give you the Indiana Jones update, and celebrate a special anniversary.
Episode 60: Lots of Stuff
I talk about “Weird Al” Yankovic’s upcoming projects, show off my new digital camera, continue planning my upcoming vacation, and reflect on my high school grad.
Movie Review – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Directed by David Yates
Starring the voices of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, Jason Isaacs, and Michael Gambon.
Backstory
A lot of people are stunned when I tell them that my exposure to Harry Potter has been purely cinematic. I haven’t read the books, and I really don’t have much of an interest in picking them up. However, I do like to keep up-to-date on my pop culture phenomena, so I make it a point to go see the movies. Besides, they’ve been pretty good movies so far.
Plot
It’s year 5 at Hogwarts, and Harry Potter is a haunted young man. He still has nightmares about the death of his friend Cedric (see the last film or book) and the return of Lord Voldemort, the evil wizard who killed his parents. Throw in the fact that the Ministry of Magic is trying to cover up Voldemort’s return…they’re playing it up as a plot by Professor Dumbledore and Harry Potter to overthrow the ministry. This leads to Ministry Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge becoming the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and she proceeds to run Hogwarts in a manner that would make Big Brother proud. This, in turn, leads Harry and the gang to form “Dumbledore’s Army,” an underground group that teaches themselves how to defend themselves against the dark arts for the forthcoming battle with Voldemort. And all the while, Voldemort waits to make his move.
What I Liked
It’s still a rollicking fantasy film, with lots of new twists and turns in the Potter universe. I was particularly impressed with the Ministry of Magic. I also enjoyed a new character thrown into the mix, a rather vacant, yet haunted young woman named Luna Lovegood.
What I Didn’t Like
Gotta agree with some critics…all the films are kind of starting to blend together at this point. But then, isn’t consistency from one film to the next something that all us nerds want?
Final Assessment
A whole lot of fun and it just might finally get me to pick up the books.
3 Nibs
Episode 59: The Simpsons Show
Upon seeing The Simpsons Movie, I reflect on this cornerstone of pop culture…and let you know about and episode of the show coming up next season.
Movie Review – The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
Directed by David Silverman
Starring the voices of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardly Smith, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, A. Brooks, Green Day, and Tom Hanks.
Backstory
Wow. A Simpsons movie has been rumored ever since…well, at least season 3. And now, this 18-year old cornerstone of pop culture finally gets the big screen treatment. I went into the film kind of wary. The popular belief is that, when you do a movie version of a TV show, you’ve got to take it to “the next level.” But I wasn’t getting that vibe from the trailers. Would the movie take it to “the next level?”
Plot
The plot is kind of hard to explain, but I’ll do my best. Homer gets a new pet pig and starts dumping all the pig crap into Lake Springfield. Lake Springfield gets so polluted that the Environmental Protection Agency seals the town in a giant dome. But, the Simpsons manage to escape before being lynched, and start over in Alaska. In other character arcs, Bart adopts Ned Flanders as his new father figure, Lisa gets her first boyfriend, and Tom Hanks has a great cameo.
What I Liked
The animation is kicked up a notch, and that’s nice to see. The voice acting is kicked up a notch, too. You can actually hear that the stars of the Simpsons really are trying harder and putting more…acting into it. The nude skateboarding scene. As mentioned above, Tom Hanks’s cameo. And it is just darn funny.
What I Didn’t Like
Sadly, my fears were somewhat confirmed. It doesn’t really kick things up a notch plot-wise or character-wise. I could quite easily see this being broken up into 4 or 5 episodes.
Final Assessment
It’s a wonderfully funny movie, but I was expecting a little bit more.