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#Movie Review, #Away We Go, #Indie, #John Krasinski, #Sam Mendes, #Film

When I first saw the trailer for Away We Go, I thought, "This movie's trying too hard.". It had John Krasinski, and the last movie I saw (well, advertised anyway) that had him was Leatherheads, which looked, well, not great. And although I love Krasinski on The Office, it was this that made me wonder - would I be able to see a difference? Would a movie with John Krasinski just be a movie with Jim using a different name? And now that he's famous, will it be a good movie regardless of cast, or one that is simply riding his coattails?

#Photoshop, #The Gimp, #Web Design, #Opinions, #Review, #GIMPshop

I've been using photoshop for a few years now, and I really love it. I find it easy to use, and it's the defacto web design software available. But some years ago I heard about the Gimp, which is a completely free, open source graphic design package which, while it doesn't claim to be a photoshop clone, a cheap replacement for everyone's favorite photo editing software is what it's most often used for, and what I use it for whenever I decide I'd like to try something a little more on the OSS side.
Well, there are a number of differences between PS and Gimp, mostly in it's presentation within Windows. GIMPshop, a derivative of Gimp, sets to change that. Does it succeed? Find out my thoughts below.

#Anime, #WHR, #Witch Hunter Robin, #Bad, #Boring, #Slow, #Anime Review

I have always heard good things about Witch Hunter Robin. Reviews all say great things. And it seemed interesting: an anime about hunting witches? Sounds good. Alas, it is not good.

#Movie Review, #Review, #DVD, #Movies

Well, another week has passed... actually I think 2 weeks since I last sat down and wrote out something for this site. At any rate, I'm back with a couple quick reviews; I'll throw in some of last weeks stuff (if I can remember back that far) and hit up tomorrow's releases best I can. Enjoy, after the break.

#Personal, #Movie Review

Well, I've lost ALL interest in maintaining this website. Nobody visits it, it would seem (although I suppose my google adsense could tell me, I don't even care enough to check that). So, here are a few VERY quick movie reviews... perhaps I'll take the site in this direction later on, when I get a better job that lets me like movies again.

Bear in mind that I'll be doing these half-assed and very quick. No real in-depth looks at anything, no fancy language, metaphors and flowery... um, language. For now, I just want to bust out the reviews.

#Wild Hogs, #Movie Review, #Reviews, #Opinions, #Lame, #Unfunny, #Tim Allen, #William H. Macy, #John Travolta, #Martin Lawrence

Wild Hogs is, for some reason, the comedy hit of the summer - well, a third place hit, but top ten none-the-less. But I can tell you from first hand experience in a video store that it's a HIGHLY anticipated movie - I've had people asking for a release date for months now, and have heard many customers say they won't be renting Wild Hogs come this Tuesday - they'll be buying. And I simply couldn't get why until tonight when I sat down to watch it.
[review continued after break]

#Indie, #Music, #Epitonic.com, #Website Review

Okay, this review article has an ulterior motive: you see, a couple years back I stumbled upon (with no help from stumble upon, at that), a little website called epitonic.com - it was chock full of indie music, with many songs available to download, and tons of info about each band, intertwining each listing with related listings, as any good 2.0 site should. It helped me check out some new artists easily and not always have the same old things sitting around. And then I forgot about it.
A while back, I somehow found it again and also found that they had a new site design - one which is strange yet, very very cool. And I found that their little playlist music player was very good at doing that - playing music. It's attractive, cool, easy to use - and never misses a beat, such as when you click on the album art to check the band out further. And then, I forgot it again.
So today I was trying really hard to remember what the site was, and finally, luckily, found it. Epitonic is not exactly something that was easily searchable on google, since so many sites are 'indie-download.com' and 'indie-indie-bo-bindy.com'. Looking for new indie music from a particular site was a bit of a bother. But now that I've rediscovered it, I ain't losing it again - now it's BLOGGED, bitch.

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#Spoon, #Music, #Indie, #Rock, #Review, #Music Review, #Kill the Moonlight, #Indie Rock

I believe it was my senior year of high school when I first heard Spoon. Their single " Lines in the Suit" (Girls Can Tell, Merge Records, 2001). It was a great, catchy song, and probably one of my first introductions to Indie music. Since then, I've kept away from TV and the radio (except internet radio occasionally, I mainly listen to CD's or mp3's), and thus, forgot all about them. But the continual advertising at my retail job brought the single "The Way We Get By" into rotation, and I started to remember why I love their sound. So I went ahead and picked up the CD "Kill the Moonlight to see how the rest of the album holds up.
(Continued after break+videos)

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#Movie Review, #DVD, #Stranger Than Fiction, #Will Ferrell, #Dustin Hoffman, #Maggie Gyllenhaal, #Queen Latifah, #Emma Thompson

Stranger Than Fiction is a movie of interesting premise: Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is an average man leading an average life as an IRS tax collector- until he one day hears this average life being narrated, as he puts it, "accurately... and with a better vocabulary." As Ferrell soon discovers, he is the character in a novel being written; the author, Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson), has already decided that Crick will die, but how, and when, is still a mystery to all. A minor case of writers block for Eiffel, but a major life change for Crick. The premise is interesting, and I've always found Ferrell funny. So funny premise plus funny actor equals funny movie, right? (story continues after break)

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#Movie Review, #Movies, #Man of the Year, #Robin Williams

Let me be honest: I didn't expect greatness from Man of the Year. I'm not a huge Robin Williams fan, and sometimes find his constant barrage of jokes, his seeming need to be "always on," to be a bit annoying. But I thought the premise of him as the President of the United States had promise; I thought Man of the Year could really go somewhere, with the right writers. Throw into the mix a favorite comedian of mine, Lewis Black, add some cow bell with Christopher Walken, and basically the movie's done. You can bet it will be formulaic and silly, but suddenly I'm thinking Man of the Year will be an entertaining movie. With the right writers.

But apparently the right writer wasn't chosen, nor the right director, nor the right producer, who was, for all of the above, Barry Levinson (Envy, Wag The Dog, Good Morning Vietnam). The movie simply never decides what it wants be: a silly comedy? A political drama? Maybe a scary thriller? Sometimes the direction of the movie changes so quickly it's hard to tell where we're at.

Robin Williams plays Tom Dobbs, a political talk show host in the vein of Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) or Bill Maher (Politically Incorrect). The movie begins with Dobb's manager, Jack Menken (Christopher Walken), quickly recounting the host's rise from talk show host to Independent candidate for the presidency, explaining as well how the year's election would be decided by electronic vote. This all happens within about the first half hour, with Dobbs touring the country giving speeches about what he believes is wrong with our political system and what he would like to change. Most of this is fairly straight-forward, with a few jokes thrown in to keep us believing that maybe this is a comedy.

(Article continues after break; spoilers ahead!)

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