It’s been a bit too quiet on this blog lately, and that’s mostly because I was away last week on a family vacation. My parents rented a lake house in Virginia (in the town appropriately named “Bumpass“), and Shell, my sister, my bro-in-law and myself all joined them. It was a lot of fun and we all really enjoyed our time there. We did quite a few things too. Here’s a brief breakdown of what we did on our summer vacation at Lake Anna: Read More
Tag Archives: Movies
How I Spent My Summer Vacation 2011
3
Filed under My Personal Life
Tagged as battlefield, BBQ, beer, big bad bob, bigbadbob, blue and gray, boating, bumpass, civil war, droid, fishing, fredericksburg, google, google maps, gps, grill, harry potter, internet, lake anna, monopoly deal, monticello, Movies, pool, risk, rock band, scattergories, spotsylvania, summer, swimming, tavern on the rail, thomas jefferson, trivial pursuit, vacation, virginia, wilderness
Tagged as battlefield, BBQ, beer, big bad bob, bigbadbob, blue and gray, boating, bumpass, civil war, droid, fishing, fredericksburg, google, google maps, gps, grill, harry potter, internet, lake anna, monopoly deal, monticello, Movies, pool, risk, rock band, scattergories, spotsylvania, summer, swimming, tavern on the rail, thomas jefferson, trivial pursuit, vacation, virginia, wilderness
Just Saw Battle: Los Angeles (contains spoilers)
Filed under Movies
Tagged as aliens, battle los angeles, big bad bob, bigbadbob, independence day, marines, Movies, Sci-Fi
Tagged as aliens, battle los angeles, big bad bob, bigbadbob, independence day, marines, Movies, Sci-Fi
Once I saw the trailer, I knew that I wanted to see Battle: Los Angeles in the theaters. It was one of those movies that appeared to be “epic”, in that it had to be seen in a theater, and it reminded me of Independence Day. Heck, I’m a sucker for most alien invasion films. The trick was convincing Shell to go with me, and in the end she agreed. So despite the bad critic reviews it received (which I ignore anyway) we headed to the local theater to check the movie out.
Battle Los Angeles is a very fast-paced film which focuses on a group of Marines during an alien invasion of the city of Los Angeles. Like Independence Day, it is a global invasion, and there are alien drop zones at twenty world cities, but the movie concentrates on Los Angeles. The group of Marines endure heavy casualities, amongst themselves and civilians they are escorting, as they try and fight their way through the ruins of Los Angeles in an attempt to get to a military safe zone. Eventually the remainder of the squad find the “mother ship” and attempt one last strike to take it down, in the hopes that with its destruction, the other alien forces will be lost (also like Independence Day.)
Jon Heder Returns as Napoleon Dynamite…As a Cartoon
Filed under Movies, TV Shows
Tagged as animated, big bad bob, bigbadbob, fox, imdb, Jon Heder, Movies, napoleon dynamite, Simpsons, TV Shows
Tagged as animated, big bad bob, bigbadbob, fox, imdb, Jon Heder, Movies, napoleon dynamite, Simpsons, TV Shows
Shell and I were hanging out tonight, and as we were talking we brought up Jon Heder. I didn’t know what he has been up to, so I ventured over to IMDB to see what he had in the works. As I looked at the entries in his filmography I almost froze…it was listed that he would be starring in a Napoleon Dynamite TV series in 2011. As many of you know, I am a HUGE fan of the movie, having paid to see it in the theaters three times! I immediately began to wonder how the cast would be in this TV series, and I craved more information. I eventually found some more news about it, mainly that FOX was picking it up for a six-episode season and it would be animated.
I am wary of this being an animated show, but I am somewhat relieved to see that the movie’s cast are reprising their roles for the show, so I’m hoping it won’t be awful. The show has a lot of potential, as the cast of characters are great (I almost pissed my pants when I saw that above pic containing Rex.) The funny thing is that Shell and I have always talked about how it’s probably a good thing that they never made a second movie, since the first was so different and original that it would be tough to live up to it. Now that there is going to be an animated series, with the original cast, my hopes are high for something decent. Read More
Guys Weekend-In A Success
Filed under Geocaching, Movies, Sports, TV Shows, Video Games
Tagged as 360, ahl, albany devils, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bigfoot, bioshock 2, castle crashers, co-op, east greenbush, fallout: new vegas, final fight: double impact, geocache, Geocaching, Ghostbusters, guys night, guys weekend, hockey, instant, lara croft and the guardian of light, left 4 dead 2, Movies, netflix, peggle, PlayStation 3, PS3, sasquatch, scott pilgrim vs. the world, street fighter puzzle fighter, super mario bros, svr2011, teenage mutant ninja turtles, wwe smackdown vs. raw 2011, xbox
Tagged as 360, ahl, albany devils, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bigfoot, bioshock 2, castle crashers, co-op, east greenbush, fallout: new vegas, final fight: double impact, geocache, Geocaching, Ghostbusters, guys night, guys weekend, hockey, instant, lara croft and the guardian of light, left 4 dead 2, Movies, netflix, peggle, PlayStation 3, PS3, sasquatch, scott pilgrim vs. the world, street fighter puzzle fighter, super mario bros, svr2011, teenage mutant ninja turtles, wwe smackdown vs. raw 2011, xbox
Shell was in Vegas this past weekend visiting with her family and throwing her sister a surprise baby shower. That left me alone for the extended weekend, which proved to be the perfect opportunity for me to throw a “Guys Weekend In” and have my friend Steve come up from Middytown. The weekend was full of gaming, cheesy movies, geocaching, hockey, and lots more. I fine time was had by all.
The main event of the weekend was WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011. I had created a co-op storyline for Steve and myself which followed our rise to the top, and eventually to the tag team titles. The storyline had everything: action, suspense, treachery, comedy, and more. It also included a variety of tag team matches of varying degrees, all culminating in a massive Hell in a Cell match at the PPV for the tag team titles. We also played plenty of exhibition tag team and other matches, including Royal Rumble, Table, Money in the Bank, Elimination Chamber, and many others. WWE SvR 2011 was clearly the winner this weekend.
No Longer Buying Single Player Games
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bioshock, Books, borderlands: goty, cd, co-op, deathspank, dvds, Fallout 3, fallout: new vegas, gamefly, lara croft, library, local, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Movies, netflix, nhl '11, online, Resistance 2, scott pilgrim vs. the world, single player, smackdown vs. raw 2011, svr 2011, trade-in, trine, Uncharted 2, video games
Tagged as amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bioshock, Books, borderlands: goty, cd, co-op, deathspank, dvds, Fallout 3, fallout: new vegas, gamefly, lara croft, library, local, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Movies, netflix, nhl '11, online, Resistance 2, scott pilgrim vs. the world, single player, smackdown vs. raw 2011, svr 2011, trade-in, trine, Uncharted 2, video games
I think I have some kind of crazy, compulsive problem where I have this “need” to have a media collection…I used to buy tons of games, DVDs, CDs, and books just to say “look at my collection.” Tons of CDs were never listen to, even more books were never read, and some DVDs still sit on my case in their original wrapping, having never been watched. Over the past year or two…actually since moving into my current apartment, I have severely cut down on my spending, but there is still one bad habit I maintain…buying single player games.
I really came to this realization this morning. Over the weekend I had beaten Trine, Scott Pilgrim, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue, so this morning I needed something to play while waiting for Shell to get ready. I was lying on the floor, looking at my game collection, and I realized that I had a lot of single player games that I will probably never play again. Games like BioShock, God of War, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, and Dragon Age: Origins were all great, wonderful, classic games, but I would probably never play them again; especially since I always have something new to play through Gamefly. So I sat there, and I said “you know Rob, you paid $60 for these games when they came out, you spent less than a month playing through them, and once you beat it, you move on to the next game.” I realized how stupid it was for me to buy these games that I would never play again. I have Gamefly…I can rent any game whenever I want, and usually get it the week it releases if I plan my queue right. It’s so silly for me to be buying these single player games! Read More
PS3 Review: Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as batman, big bad bob, bigbadbob, Books, casual, challenge, curse, game review, gamefly, harry potter, indiana jones, lego, magic, Movies, PlayStation 3, PS3, Star Wars, trophies, years 1-4
Tagged as batman, big bad bob, bigbadbob, Books, casual, challenge, curse, game review, gamefly, harry potter, indiana jones, lego, magic, Movies, PlayStation 3, PS3, Star Wars, trophies, years 1-4
The first Lego video game I played was Star Wars, and I loved it. The ability of the Lego games to take a well-known franchise and tweak it into a cute, simple, and most importantly, FUN game is what makes them so good. I played quite a few of the Star Wars ones across various consoles, and enjoyed them all. However, when Indiana Jones and Batman came out, I could not get into them. I don’t know what the problem was, but I didn’t find them as enjoyable. It was with this notion that I approached Harry Potter with caution, but the fact that I love the books and movies made me have to do it. I’m happy to say that I do not regret my decision to rent it from Gamefly, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing through it.
As the name implies, the game roughly follows the storyline of the first four Harry Potter movies. I say “roughly” because, as Lego does, they add in humorous little things here and there to change it up. Also, to ensure that there can be two people playing together anytime, there are always at least two characters on screen (which makes some of the levels where it should be just Harry weird, like the Basilisk from Chamber of Secrets and all the tournaments from Goblet of Fire.) Still, a lot of it is done very well, and the game maintains that level of “magical wonder” that the books and movies had.
Movie Review: Toy Story 3
Filed under Movies
Tagged as andy, big bad bob, bigbadbob, buzz lightyear, family, jim varney, Movies, netflix, shrek, slinky dog, toy story, toy story 2, toy story 3, toys, woody
Tagged as andy, big bad bob, bigbadbob, buzz lightyear, family, jim varney, Movies, netflix, shrek, slinky dog, toy story, toy story 2, toy story 3, toys, woody
It wasn’t until Toy Story 3 came out that I realized that I had never seen Toy Story 2. I don’t know how that happened, but it did, and I wasn’t happy. I quickly rented Toy Story 2 from Netflix so that I would be ready for the new one when it hit theaters. I had been hearing a lot of good things from reviews and friends alike, and being the big kid at heart that I am, I couldn’t wait to see this film. What everyone was saying is true…the movie lives up to the others, and delivers a funny and emotional film that is enjoyable to people of all ages.
The movie basically starts off with the toys’ owner Andy getting ready to go away to college. With him leaving, his mom wants him to clean his room up and get all his old stuff either in the attic or thrown out to the curb. A series of events finds the toys arriving at a daycare center, where they dream of being played with all the time (since the now seventeen year-old Andy has not sat in his room and played with his toys in years.)
My Top Three Non-Epic Saga Movies
Filed under Movies
Tagged as ben affleck, big bad bob, bigbadbob, clerks, dogma, empire strikes back, film, indiana jones, jack black, jay and silent bob strike back, jersey girl, kevin smith, lord of the rings, Movies, napoleon dynamite, orange county, Star Wars
Tagged as ben affleck, big bad bob, bigbadbob, clerks, dogma, empire strikes back, film, indiana jones, jack black, jay and silent bob strike back, jersey girl, kevin smith, lord of the rings, Movies, napoleon dynamite, orange county, Star Wars
Being the nerd that I am, it is a given that I am a huge Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fan, and definitely count them among my favorite movies of all time (well, as far as Star Wars goes, that refers to Episodes IV-VI, of course). However, despite how much I enjoy the Star Wars and Indiana Jones universes, I still do enjoy other films. Today I was thinking about what my top three were (aside from the crazy popular epic movies), and I think I widdled down the top three, which I will share in no particular order.
Clerks
This movie made me a fan of Kevin Smith years ago, before the days of Dogma and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. It’s definitely my favorite movie by him, and really does a great job showcasing what he does best: dialogue. Most of his really great movies don’t necessarily have a lot of action going on, but the conversations between characters really tell you all you need about them and who they are. He has a gift for this, and I wish I had the talent he does to have such great speech flow from the mouths of his characters. Clerks, with it’s simple filming and snappy, witty dialogue, really shows that you don’t need a huge amount of money and an all-star cast to make one of the greatest films of all time. Oh, and as a side note, I’m such a huge fan of Kevin Smith that I am not ashamed to say that I loved Jersey Girl!!! That movie got sooo underrated, and I hate Ben Affleck!
Our Massive Movie Collection
I just got finished cataloging our movies, and we own 357. To me, that’s crazy. I had gotten rid of at least twenty movies since we moved in, mostly crap movies that I purchased impulsively from Wal-Mart’s $5 discount bin, but I am still amazed that we own so many. Mind you, this is our movie collection, not our DVD collection. Not included in this count are the various other DVDs we own, whether they are TV shows (Simpsons, Futurama, Sopranos, etc.), music specials, TV specials (all the Christmas specials), and others.
So I figured I would share our movie collection here. There is a lot, and it may not all be in perfect order, but I got tired from just removing our old movies and adding in the ones we have received since moving. Just remember, I do live with Shell, so you know that the nerdy sci-fi movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are hers, and all the really, REALLY cool chick flicks like Footloose and Dirty Dancing are mine…
Movie Review- Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach
Filed under Movies
Tagged as Balls Out, creepy, evil, horrible, Movies, netflix, perverted, Sean William Scott, tennis
Tagged as Balls Out, creepy, evil, horrible, Movies, netflix, perverted, Sean William Scott, tennis
Straight away, I will say this was one of the worst movies Ive seen in a long time.
The movie stars Sean William Scott (Stiffler) as some loser of a tennis player who becomes a janitor, and eventually becomes the coach for the high school tennis team. It sounds like a decent enough premise, and Scott is a decent enough actor, but this time I was proven wrong.
The movie is actually creepy, in a pedophile-like way. I could see Scott’s character being played much better by Billy Bob Thorton, as he was made off to be a creepy perverted old dude, hanging around and hitting on high school girls. That was probably the biggest thing I hated about the movie. That, and the fact that it wasnt funny.
Actually, the only thing that was funny was the very, very minor character of one of the player’s grandfathers. He was Chinese and didnt speak English, so all he would do is stand up, mock-wave his arm like he was playing ping pong, and then laugh hysterically. That was the only thing that made me glad I watched the movie.
AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS!!!
I Heart Hulu
Filed under Randomness, TV Shows
Tagged as abc, heroes, Hulu, lost, Movies, nbc, player, the simpsons, TV episodes
Tagged as abc, heroes, Hulu, lost, Movies, nbc, player, the simpsons, TV episodes
So Ive just begun checking out Hulu this week, and so far Im liking it. If you dont know, its a website where you can watch TV episodes and movies for free. There is no player or anything to download, as you can watch it right off the site. There are commercial breaks, but only 15-30 seconds long, which isnt too bad.
I like it because it is fast, has good quality, and is convenient. I remember having to watch missed episodes of Heroes or Lost on either NBC or ABCs websites, and it was a pain the the butt. You had to install a player onto your computer first, then you had to follow a confusing series of menus to find the option to play the show you want to watch, then you had to guess which was the most current episode (because they werent numbered or anything). Also, the quality sucked, and the videos often skipped, and it took forever to load up.
Hulu is not like that. You just search for what you want, and if its there it comes up. I just watched an episode of the Simpsons that I missed from a few weeks ago and it was great. The episodes are not only labeled with their title, but also the season and episode numbers, so you know where in the season it is. Good stuff all around. I could have used this a few years ago when I was in my first Oneonta apartment, and didnt have television at all.
I highly recommend checking it out. You can find your favorites that you missed, plus some new stuff that you probably would never watch.
Summer 2009 Movies
Filed under Movies
Tagged as fandango, hangover, harry potter, Movies, netflix, public enemy, sherlock holmes, transformers, year one
Tagged as fandango, hangover, harry potter, Movies, netflix, public enemy, sherlock holmes, transformers, year one
Ah yes, its summer time, and the great movies are coming out to shine. Heres what Im looking forward to (in no particular order):
- Transformers- Revenge of the Fallen
- Public Enemies
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Inglorious Bastards
- Funny People
- D-9
- Zombieland
- 2012
- Nottingham (even though it comes out in November, Im excited for Robin-based films)
Theres some others coming out later on that look interesting, like Sherlock Holmes and the remake of Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey as Scrooge, but thats not what this is about. There were more, but the bigger-hits like Wolverine and Star Trek already came and went. Plus, there are probably a few coming out that I havent heard of it.
I know I’ll be seeing Transformers for sure at some point next week. Im pretty excited for it. I really enjoyed the first one.
Movie Review- Fanboys
Filed under Movies
Tagged as DVD, Fanboys, George Lucas, Movies, Prequels, Sci-Fi, Star Wars, Trilogy
Tagged as DVD, Fanboys, George Lucas, Movies, Prequels, Sci-Fi, Star Wars, Trilogy
Ive been wanting to see Fanboys since I first heard about it sometime last year, when it was in production. I had been waiting for it, but never saw it reach the theaters. Then last week, I saw it in Best Buys ad for its DVD release, and that movie jumped to the top of my Netflix queue. I got it in yesterday, and Shell and I watched it tonight.
The movie is set in 1998, six months before the theatrical release of Star Wars Episode I- The Phantom Menace. Basically, a bunch of Star Wars “fanboys” are eagerly awaiting the release, but then one of them becomes terminally ill, and will not be alive for the release. Thus, the friends decide to go on a cross-country road trip in which they plan to break into George Lucas’ house (Skywalker Ranch) and steal the rough copy of the movie, so their friend can see it before he dies. An insane amount of Star Wars humor and other wacky circumstances follow.
So since the movie is about Star Wars fanboys, there is obviously a crud load of Star Wars references, all of which are awesome. One of the greatest parts of the movie is that, since its set in 1998, there is no prequel jargon tainting the Star Wars universe, so all references are based around the original trilogy, which is very awesome. The friends have debates over whether Luke and Leia were incestuous, how cool Boba Fett is, and that Vader is a bad ass even though he has asthma. Also, the movie has the characters show an extreme hatred towards “Trekkies”, whos paths they cross at several points, always leading to hilarious results.
The movie is also full of great cameos. William Shattner plays himself, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher are on hand, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes are ridiculously awesome for their 30 seconds, but the best is Seth Rogan. Rogan plays three separate roles, and at one point two of these roles collide; one being the leader of the Trekkies, and the other being a die-hard Star Wars fan. One of the best parts of the movie is when Star Wars Rogan pulls his shirt off, revealing a tattoo of Jar-Jar Binks on his back, after which he says “Jar-Jar is going to be the shit.”
But the movie is funny even to the non-Star Wars initiate. Shell enjoyed the movie a lot, and Im sure she did not catch the inside Star Wars jokes and whatnot. Its hilarious whether you’re a sci-fi nerd or not. Just watching the antics of the five friends as they head cross country is genuinely awesome. While being funny, the movie also has a heart-warming touch at the end, in which we see the genorousity of Lucas (though Lucas himself makes no cameo).
So all in all, Fanboys was an awesome movie. Its a must-see for any Star Wars fan, sci-fi fan, and just for anyone who enjoys pointless, funny movies. Like I said, its a real trip seeing the friends relate to a Star Wars universe that had not yet been tainted by the prequels. I think the final scene of the movie says a lot too: the friends are at the theater for the theatrical release, and one of them turns to his friends and says, “But what if it sucks?”…after which the credits roll. Purely awesome. Definitely check it out.
