Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Monday, July 28, 2008

You say July, I say To-mat-oh...

Things have been a little hectic in the Vegasadelphia household as of late, hence the lack of updatieness. Here is a recap of what I have been up to.

Dark Knight: What can I say that hasn't been said already by every person ever? Amazing film, amazing story, amazingly realistic take on something that so many of us view in such a brightly colored and animated way. Also, it wasn't too long, it was the right length given the story that was told. One of my favorite parts is the Joker telling Batman they will probably be doing this for the rest of their lives, a nod to The Killing Joke, but with the roles reversed. As for Batman 3, I say we will be seeing a Catwoman centric plot.

Hellboy 2: Simply put, the most amazing visual experience since Moulin Rouge or the Matrix. Yes, I just lumped those movies together.... G. del T. has an amazing visual style to most of his work, and he pulls out all the stops in this one. While the story felt a little too stuffed at points, and too slow at others, Hellboy 2 surpassed the original for me. Now if only they could get rid of that horrible opening scene...

Step Brothers: Go see this movie. It is one of the flat out wackiest movies in ages. They make no attempt to be anything other than a random almgamation of words and sounds, and it works out wonderfully. My two favorite lines are "It's like masturbating in a time machine" and "that was like a combination of Fergie and Jesus." The serious part went on a little too long in my opinion, but that made the funny parts even funnnier. Will Ferrell and John C Reily should do every movie together.

Dr Horrible: In case you missed it (what is wrong with you?!!?) Dr Horrible made it's debut earlier this month, and was as wonderful as I hoped. I wish there was more duet work between NPH and FelDay, but it was the best 45 online only super villain musical I have seen in years. I will keep everyone posted on the DVD release, which is reported to include a musical commentary track.

Eddie Izzard: I saw Eddie Izzard this past Saturday night, and he was astoundingly funny. At one point (jazz chicken) I was unable to breathe for a minute as I was doubled over in hilarity, my body trying to continue laughing, but no oxygen was available. By the end of the show, I was so tired from laughing, I had to check my watch to see how long it had been. He did a solid 2 hours of comedy. If you ever get the chance, go check him out, he is one of the most amazing comedic minds in the world, even if he doesn't do jokes you can repeat without telling 15 minutes of sourse material.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Alohamora...

Luna says hi!


A pic from the upcoming (yet, until just now, not previewed in any way) Half-Blood Prince movie. I am excited because HBP is my favorite book in the Potter series.

I have also just started (and nearly finished) the Order of the Phoenix video game on the 360. It is a simple, fun adventure game, plain and simple. You basically have free range of the entire Hogwarts ground, and get to cast magic spells with the right analog stick on everything in sight looking for hidden secrets. I am already 40% through with only 4 hours of gameplay. Again, nothing fancy, horrible story elements, but its just fun to explore the grounds and solve all of the puzzles. A great game for Potter fans and adventure gamers alike.

**Image courtesy Mugglenet

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Weird Al...

Think about it for a minute. When have you felt completely uncool? When have you felt like, even if you had the prettiest girl on your arm, the nicest clothes, the best job, at this moment in time, you are completely and utterly uncool? This is how Weird Al Yankovic must feel all of the time. But the difference between Weird Al and the rest of us is that he doesn't care, as a matter of fact, he relishes in his uncoolness, and loves every second of it.



Last Friday night, Weird Al began the second leg of his Straight Outta Lynwood tour at the Henderson Pavillion, and it was a celebration of nerdiness and geekdom. Weird Al emerged with acordian in hand, long curly hair, pants hiked up to his chest. The show started off with the chicken dance (yes, the wedding-time, kids birthday chicken dance) and his latest polka mash-up (sadly the songs in it are now about 3-4 years old). I felt completely uncool. Me, someone who pointed at a dude in a "Browncoats" thsirt outside of the show and shouted "nice goram shirt buddy!". Me, someone, who earlier in the month, was at the same location for a video game music concert. Me, someone who says "epic fail" multiple times each week, has more than 2 video game shirts, over 20 anime DVDs and proudly displays his signed copy of Serenity for all to see.

In between each song, clips from the Weird Al Show and his MTV interviews and even random cartoons played. These were a fantastic break in the action and were some of the funnier moments of the show. Weird Al is an excellent comedian, perfect for the tv/movie world, and this showed off those skills. His music videos provide further evidence. After each video, Al would emerge in a different outfit, whether it was a red zoot suit for "Wanna B Ur Lvr", a silver track suit for "All About the Pentiums" or an actual fat suit for "Fat."

Stormtroopers in a kick line

Two moments stood out for me that had me screaming and singing along as much as anyone else. A long line of storm troopers appeared on stage, with Darth Vader in the middle. Al emerged in his Jedi outfit, and began to sing "The Saga Begins", not that you could hear much at first over the hooting and hollering. I felt OK when the "cool" guys I sat next to also knew the words. He followed that up with Yoda of course.

The show ended with an encore of the cell phone song, and an extended (yes, extended) version of Albuquerque. I felt a little cooler knowing that 500 other people knew all of the words to this 16 minute rant. The show ran for two hours and had about 10 costume changes. While I doubt I will go see Weird Al again any time soon, anyone who is or was ever a fan, will find something to laugh about, and if your friends are as uncool as you, you will have a great time.