My Week In Blog Form

It's experiment time guys. No, not that type of experiment. I mean the type that involves typing and trying something new.

Up until now this blog has been sporadic at best. My last post was my first in quite a while. It was also a movie review of sorts which I never planned on using this blog for when it was in its early stages. Of course things change, and while I do still plan on following a career in some sort of film/media format like I motioned towards in earlier posts, due to a couple binding issues, I'm more or less staying put for the time being and for what looks to be the near future. But that's ok. I'm ok with it. I like where I'm to right now. I'm moving back into my old digs downtown at the end of the month. Nothing against the other people in my current living arrangement, but this area of town(the asshole of it) is shit. Suburbia is not for me quite yet. And after a few weeks of tedious apartment searching I came to realize that everything I was looking for was what I had in my last house before I moved here. So, due to some stroke of good luck(which is nice for a change), that old place of mine has once again become available and I have staked my claim once again.

I've also made a major step in the right direction for myself artistically and have gone and purchased a fandangled new camera. A Canon 60D DSLR to be exact:

I call her Caron. Well... I don't really, but we'll see what happens after this post.

Anyway, this is my new toy and I plan on spending a lot of time with it in the future. I haven't used it too much in the recent couple of months because of Newfoundlands lovely weather, and there's only so many pictures you can take of your dog before she starts to get some sort of complex. But now that the sun is starting to shine and the birds are starting to chirp again, I plan on getting as much use out of this as possible.

Another thing I have done, and plan on continuing to do a whole fucking lot, is watch movies. Like, a lot of them. At the beginning of this year I did up a rough figure for the amount of money I spent at Empire Theatres in the good ol' 2012. I won't get into exact amounts but I feel like I may have paid for a few of those comfy new chairs that everybody is rubbin their arse into. I am totally fine with this though because it was all money well spent. I enjoy going to the theaters quite a bit. But I think it may be time to do something productive with all that spent money as well.

So, like my previous post, I'm going to be sharing my thoughts on here regarding the movies I watch. It won't always be in the form of a full review like my Evil Dead post. Nor will it always warrant its own blog post. There may be some of those for movies I have strong thoughts/opinions on. But for the most part I'm going to make these mini reviews a part of a weekly blog post, commencing tonight. And I plan on taking a couple hours to do this every Sunday night since it's the only night I'm guaranteed to not be busy with work and generally have a few free hours somewhere in the day to do this. I'm thinking I may add some other material into each post as well but for now I'll start with just the movies I've seen. This should at least give anybody who reads this a bit of a more reliable reason to keep checking back here.

Now, without further adieu:

My Weekly Thoughts 

Jurassic Park 3D 10/10

Possibly one of the best sci-fi films of my generation. Steven Spielberg did something amazing back in 1993 by making you believe in dinosaurs with technology that still looks amazing 20 years after, and superb performances by a cast of characters you no longer see in hollywood films. The Ian Malcolms are now replaced by arrogant, save-the-whale, humanitarians that would have died trying to free the dinosaurs from their entrapment's. The John Hammonds are now replaced by power hungry corporate CEO’s who would have become tragic(not so tragic) victims of their own creations. Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Alan Grant would be swapped for much younger, sexier versions of themselves. And Dennis Nedry probably would have been left in the dust all together. The release of the dinosaurs being explained by some non-realistic technological malfunction. We also probably wouldn't have gotten one of the most quotable lines in movie history, “Clever girl”. 

That is how a movie like this would be made today. But back in 1993 it was made differently, it was made almost perfect. Of course there are some flaws, but no other movie in recent memory has struck the same jaw-dropping, awe inspiring chord that this did. 

Adding IMAX and 3D to the package is a respectable mixed bag. 3D only slightly works, being so bad at times it becomes distracting, and not seeming to do anything at all at other points in the film. 

IMAX on the other hand is the format this movie was born to be seen in. Hearing a T-Rex bellow in ear-shattering loud sound quality is the way it’s supposed to be heard. And the added screen size shows the crossbreed of CGI and mechanical dinosaurs on a scale that would only be rivaled by seeing them in the flesh. 

All in all, seeing this timeless classic for the first time in its big screen glory sent me home with a giant smile on my face, even 20 years later, and anybody who’s a fan should see it as well.

Revolution 6/10

While not as good as his first attempt, Sharkwater, Revolution is a visually striking documentary that exceeds its grasp on the subject of saving the world, but still manages to inspire a change. 

It’s nice to see that Rob Stewart has so much passion for what he’s doing, and it really shows. It gave me a sense of entitlement to change some of my ways. But the film seemed to have issues with staying focused, and with the subject matter he’s dealing with it’s a hard task to stay on one individual topic for too long. One of the things that was great about Sharkwater was how specific it was. It covered one topic and it did it well. It gave the sense that the director was trying to step in to make a change. That he was going above and beyond to assist with something he cared passionately about. Even risking prison time at one point. 

Revolution however, doesn't seem quite as personal. You know there’s a good cause here but I never feel like Rob was putting himself in danger to change anything. He’s still trying but this time it’s a different struggle. He’s trying to fit all the worlds problems into a mere 1hr and 25min. He’s trying to show the damage and the solutions at the same time. It’s very admirable but it causes the film to feel a little rushed and almost as if something is missing. 

The purpose of the film isn't lost with this though, it merely feels like a filtered version of what it could have been. It’s still a beautiful film with some great imagery, a great message, and something that anybody who cares about the environment should take the time to watch.

So there you have it. My first in hopefully an ongoing weekly update. I would greatly appreciate any feedback with this as time goes by. Positive and negative. I'm trying to get serious about this and want it to grow into something regular.

I'm also going to be changing around the layout of this site to try to find something I'm a little more comfortable with and appealing to the senses. I've changed it to a pretty safe style right now but I'm going to look for something a little more my own. Any feedback regarding this will be taken to heart as well.

Thanks again to anybody who reads this and hopefully I'll see you back here next week!