Friday, May 27th, 2005 - At last! I finally made it to the theater to see Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. Better late than never, right? So...how can I describe George Lucas's latest opus? Let's put it this way... If Episodes 1 and 2 were train wrecks, then Episode 3 is merely a six car pileup. That is to say, it's nowhere near as bad...

If you've seen the movie, READ ON for my Review/Story Analysis. If you haven't seen it, read no further! My review is one spoiler after another... I will post a permanent link in the Musings Section.

Have you seen the "Superman Is A Dick" website? If not, you should check it out. I laughed my ass off when I saw these...

I also Archived all news from November and December of 2004 and January through March of 2005 so the page will load faster...

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, May 26th, 2005 - Went to see Mindhunters last night at Star Cinema. I had seen a trailer for it at some point and thought it looked pretty cool. I'm not sure what the studio executives were thinking, though, releasing an R-Rated Horror/Thriller whose prime target audience is late twenties/early thirties men on the same opening weekend as Star Wars: Episode 3??? Morons...

Anyway, my girlfriend and I were two of only three people in the theater. It starts out really well and the plot is solidly set up in the first fifteen minutes or so. As it moves along, the film becomes a Horror/Suspense vehicle that plays like a cross between Identity (which I loved) and Saw (which also kicked ass). There were some great twists and turns along the way coupled with enough action and suspense to keep the audience (all three of us) watching and interested.

Christian Slater, Val Kilmer and LL Cool J all deliver worthy performances. LL is especially good, believe it or not. He really shows quite a range here... You're going to want to kill Patricia Velasquez by the end of it, though. She is just plain AWFUL in this movie. I don't think it's her, though. I think it's her character that just sucks. And sucks BAD!

The movie falls apart in the last fifteen minutes or so, however, in what amounts to the worst hero/villain showdown in cinematic history. I'd love to ruin it for you, but I won't. Eh...okay...can you say "Underwater Gunfight?" *shudder* I shit you not... You'll wet yourself. (No pun intended!)

There's also some really bad writing near the end that involves "he's the killer," no "she's the killer," no "HE'S the killer"...and so on and so forth. Logical (and logistical) leaps abound at this point in the film, so just shake your head and deal with it. In the end, you won't question it... You'll just leave the theater saying, "Woo hoo! I was just entertained for a full one hour and forty-six minutes!"

If you like Suspsense/Horror films, don't bring your thinking cap with you and you'll probably enjoy Mindhunters...a lot. I know I did. If you want to see it in theaters, though, get out there soon. The total gross so far is only $3.5 million. The plug will most certainly be pulled...and quick.

I'm going to see Episode 3 tonight. Why do I get the feeling I'm going to enjoy Mindhunters more? =)

Tuesday, May 24th, 2005 - Went to Chilton, Wisconsin this weekend for their 11th Annual Beer Fest. An entire day dedicated to drinking micro-brews from around the state. Can you beat that? Nope... A great time was had by all...

I'm going to see Episode 3 on Thursday night with the boys. Most of them have already seen it once, but they want to punish themselves again. That review I promised last week should be posted this week, later on.

A friend of mine sent me this link to the Enterprise's bridge built out of Legos! Geeky fun...

You know what the most frustrating thing about looking for a job is? When you apply for a position and you're waiting to hear back and you get nothing. Then, out of the blue, you look in the Sunday paper and you see the job posted AGAIN! It's like WTF? No interview? No acknowledgement of resume receipt? Lovely... Oh yeah. Job hunting continues to be the great joy in my life...

Speaking of which, I'd better get back to it...

Thursday, May 19th, 2005 - Well, my alarm didn't go off this morning, so I missed my chance to see Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith...crap! Ah, well...I'll see it eventually. Probably in a few weeks when some of the hype (and long lines) dies down.

Speaking of hype and long lines, I thought this comic strip was a pretty funny commentary on the kind of fans Star Wars has. Heh...

Wednesday, May 18th, 2005 - Hello all... Tomorrow's the big day! Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith is here and I'm going to see it with the Raven Software crew at 10:00am tomorrow morning. Honestly? I'm expecting the suckage to end all suckitude... I don't expect the movie to be great. Hell, I don't even expect it to be GOOD. I just want to come out of the theater and say "that was okay." That would be much better than what I said coming out of the theater after Episodes 1 and 2.

Check back later this week for a full (no punches pulled) review...

Friday, May 13th, 2005 - Happy Friday The 13th! I'll have to check the cable channels tonight. I'm sure someone will be showing film on America's favorite hockey masked killer... Woo!

Eh...what a dreary couple of days. Madison has been like Seattle in the fall this whole week. Yuck... Not doing wonders for my mood, I can tell you that.

The final two episodes of Enterprise are on tonight. I'll be curious to see how that goes... The last five or six episodes have really been good, believe it or not! It's funny...I got an e-mail from a reporter at the Wisconsin State Journal asking for my opinions about the final episodes and the state of Trek in general. Flattering... I guess I must still be somewhat of a local celebrity. *laughs* Speaking of which, here's the article from today's paper featuring quotes from yours truly... =)

I added a few more Movie Quotes to my favorites page. Other than that, not much going on. Maybe I'll have something enlightening to say after the weekend.

In the meantime, back to the job hunt. Yay.

Monday, May 9th, 2005 - Haven't had much time for updates lately, but I'm not really sure why. I guess I'm slipping in my old age... So...where to begin?

Last Sunday, May 1st, I went to see the Anthrax Reunion Show at the House of Blues in Chicago. Great time! I haven't seen Anthrax with the original lineup since 1991 as part of the Clash of the Titans tour (with Slayer, Megadeth and a then unknown Alice In Chains). Had a blast! The place was packed to the gills and everyone was rocking out. I guess they're going to use the shows they're playing to put out a live DVD at some point. Should be pretty cool...

I installed a new counter on the page, since the old one was b0rked. It was nice to find a "free" counter that's actually free. I posted a link to their counter service on my Links Page.

Caught a new episode of Family Guy last night. I had forgotten they were releasing new ones again... Funny stuff! I was worried there would be a major dropoff in quality from the earlier shows, but I was relieved to see that's not the case. A dropoff was there, but it was certainly minor... I watched American Dad afterward and was disappointed. There was some funny stuff here and there, but overall, Family Guy blows it away. I'm sure it will get better, though. I see a lot of potential there...

After starting out 5-3, the Milwaukee Brewers rattled off seven straight losses and seven straight wins and are ultimately sitting at .500, in second place, with a 15-15 record. Pretty good start, actually, considering how bad they were last year. They're actually FINISHING games now! Here's hoping it continues (and I didn't just curse them)...

I continue to hurl resumes and cover letters into the jet black void that is the job market. I just re-did both (resume and cover letter), though, and sent out a huge wave of apps, so here's hoping the interviews start coming in... A job would be a nice change of pace. =)

More soon, I'm sure... That's about all that's going on around here lately. Thanks for stopping by!

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