College

This is exciteing. The first blog entry since 2009. Almost a year. I haven't been blogging because I think that blogs are for people who can't express their feelings to humans so they write it on the web hoping people will read it and give them their shoulder. So I'm back because I ran out of shoulders.

I started at Weber State University this week, and I'm not sure that I really could give you a description on what college is like for two reasons:

1. I'm going part time. 9 hours to be exact.
2. I've only been here a week.

I'm still living at home, ladies. Not so I can save money either. It's not an issue. It's because I don't know who I'd live with. I'm not going to be paired up with some random glue sniffer from Futtbuck, Wisconson. The kind who doesn't know how do use a washer and dryer. So I'm stuck washing his Wal Mart polos and fart jeans, only to wake up one night with him standing over me with a toothbrush shank. When I find someone I know who wants to get a place we can. Until then it's home.

Also, just from this week's experience, I'm not sure I'm totally blown away by campus. The Starbucks in the Union got my dirty Chai wrong, and they made it hot when I asked for iced. Who wants 150 degree tea at noon in the summer? So there I am drinking my boiling coffee trying to look like I'm studying when in actuallity I'm just flashing around my American Civ book hoping some hottie freshman cheerleader will ask me for directions to the bookstore. We all know cheerleaders are dumb and need help, it was a solid plan.

Movie Review: Whip It

Intro: Drew Barrymore's directorial debut. She's still got 20 years of kick ass under her belt.

Synopsis: Comedy, Romance, and Friendship ensues when a 17 year old small town girl joins a tough ass roller derby team to add excitement to her life.



Review: Drew Barrymore has been in the business for a hell of a longtime and her family has been very much involved in film. So she has come a long way since the little girl in E.T. to direct her first film Whip It. I thought at first that it might be sort of be an act of desperation from Drew to get herself back on the A list, but looking into it more she does exhibit a strong passion for the industry.



Camera work was creative, especially with what was being shot. It's not easy shooting roller derby and keeping it interesting at the same time when all you do is go round and round.



She actually did though she kept me watching and it wasn't hard to keep track of and follow at all. The story had its slow parts in the middle. There is a relationship established between our lead and a boy, but the whole think was like a bottle rocket. The whole aspect of the relationship flew by and it was a little unsatisfying.



It was very funny, tips of the had to Kristen Wiig, Jimmy Fallon and Andrew Wilson. Drew Barrymore also gave me a good laugh.One thing I especially like was that this movie actually kind of got me interested in Roller Derby. So I've made a goal to go to one someday.



Conclusion: Ellen Page plays a familiar role. I would check it out though.



Grade: C+

Movies You NEED To See: The Shining (1980)

I found out recently that people weren't annoyed enough with my reviews on movies that were about to hit theaters so I decided to step it up and annoy the internet community with movie reviews on film that have been out for some time now! So enjoy.

THE SHINING (1980)


I think the first time I saw the shining I was at a buddies house when i was about 14 years old; and I think that's why it took me so long to see it again becuase from what I remember it scared the hell out of me. The story was a book written by the master of creepy books Stephen King. After reading the book, film legend Stanley Kubrick decided to adapt it into a screenplay and the rest is history.

If you do not know what The Shining is about allow me to enlighten you...


...with the synopsis take off IMDB.com: A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

Yes and if you think twins and elevators full of blood are scary this just might be your movie.

Jack Nicholson plays such an iconic character in this movie. I don't know why, but he is just so good at playing a psycho. This role also earned him the honor of spitting out one of the most famous lines in film to this day: "Heeeeeeere's Johnny!"

I guess this was a good movie to talk about since Halloween is coming up and I'll probably end up doing a lot of scary movies this month.

Random Triva:This was voted the ninth scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.


Trailer:

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/the-shining/trailer

Movie Review: Zombieland

Intro: Zombies and Laughs. Bill Murray too!




Synopsis: In this horror comedy, Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies.




Review: I apologize, usually when I do reviews I do them before the movie is released. I saw it yesterday and am kind of late on the review. Zombieland to me at first looked like another Shaun of the Dead, however it still looked like a fun flick. I'm telling you right now that is exactly what this movie is.

The movie is centered around our hero Columbus (Played by Jesse Eisenberg), a eighteen year old loner who claims the only reason he is alive is because he was always very distant from people in the first place. He has also compiled a list of rules to follow if you want to survive in zombieland. These rules pop up in titles randomly throughout the movie as they are demonstrated. A very funny, unique, and effective element in this movie.


Our loner eventually meets up with a twinkie loving badass named Talahassee (Woody Harrelson). I think this movie is the most that Woody Harrelson has stuck out since Kingpin. He was fantasic in this movie, very humorous and in some parts pretty emotional. After seeing this I can't imgagine anyone else playing this character.


Also thought it was funny how Abigail Breslin (My Sister's Keeper, Signs) was brought into this movie to portray such a badass little 12 year old. She was great and has come a long way since the little girl in Signs. Emma Stone was good in Superbad, I'm not really going to say much about The Rocker. In this she seemed a little darker then the normal teenage girl that she usually plays which is good because it kind of lets me know she can play more then one character.


The screams were good, but if there is any part of the movie that pushes a screm out of you, there will definatly be a laugh to follow. This movie's gore was fantastic we definatly get too see a good look inside the human body during some parts of the movie. There were a lot of creative zombie kills in this film, particularly one that takes place on the blast off ride at the amusement park (watch for it). They did add camera splatter in this movie which is sometimes overused, but in this movie is used a lot better then I have seen in the past.


Now if you don't do good with horror I wouldn't worry too much because this movie is one of the funniest that I've seen all year. It effectivly uses a lot of random humor, and the characters work off of each other so well. Bill Murray also made a fantasic cameo and definatly added a very memorable scene to his career. Overall I think I will probably go see this again more then once.


Conclusion: If you love fun flicks, laughing and gore. See it now. Don't take your kids though.


Grade: A-

Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer

Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer

Intro: Zooey Deschanel is looking better then ever... what a bi***.

Synopsis: An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman (Deschanel) who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man (..Gordon-Levitt) who falls for her.

Review: My friend Moses Joshua "Ghetto Fly" Robinson had the privilage of seeing this film during the Sundance Film Festival and has had nothing but good things to say about it ever since. Hearing all this hype got me excited. After some trailers got released I got even more excited, and after seeing it I do have a few thoughts...

Number one, this movie was directed my music video director Marc Webb. I have seen his music videos, but didn't know what to expect from him in film. Now that I saw the film I can't see anyone doing it better then he did. This movie really did it for me.

Amazing acting not only by the two leads, but also my all of the supporting cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has not really proven to me what he is capable of until I saw this movie. He was funny and did very well with the more dramatic scenes. Zooey Deschaned played almost this emotionless pit of a women, and I know that doesn't seem hard, but somehow she convinced me that there was more to her character then the movie leads you on to believe.

The cinematography and visual effects were stunning and creative on a level I haven't seen in a romatic comedy, but having said that, this is not your average rom-com. The story was fantasticly written, a little comfusing because it jumps back and forth but it all falls together in the end. I can honestly conclude that this could be one of the best films that I have seen all year.

Conclusion: Go see it now.

Rating: A

Photo Blog: Dr. Eadful Night.

Today a great friend was having some problems due to a nano-robotic infectious virus caused by the exposure of a poorly assembled Nintendo Wii system. So we had to rush him to the hospital, and I took some pictures to share with everyone. So here they are :]



This is actually the only REAL picture I took, the rest are just of funny words I found on signs.




Sorry for and offense.

Scott Who? Pilgrim!

Lately I haven't really been doing any posts because I have been leading a pretty boring life, and I have nothing to write about. However, I decided that I'm just going to write about anything even if it doesn't have to do with me, So this weeks topic is....

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD!

For those of you that don't know what that is, It's Edgar Wright's (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) new film starring Michael Cera as the lead protagonist. The story is about a guy named Scott who plays bass in a band called Sex Bomb-Omb. The plot picks up when he falls in love with the rollerskating spitfire Ramona Flowers, he shortly finds out that in order to win her heart, he has to defeat her seven ex-boyfriends.

This is probably my most anticipated movie right now, not only because Scott Pilgrim is awesome as hell, but Edgar Wright, a hero of mine, is directing!


The movie is an adaptation of the popular comic book written by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Sunday Bloody Sundae

So today some friends and I went on a little adventure :]

Once upon a time....



There were 4 friends: Moses, Jordan, Weston, and Chloe

First the got very hungrey and went to the best Mexican diner north of the border, Chipotle.





After that, the friends went to see what trouble they could stir up at Barnes & Nobel



While there, we found epic books about babies, kittens, and gay sex





Then they were off to Denny's to get the sundaes they had been waiting for all day!

While at Denny's, Moses had a laugh attack



and Chloe enjoyed her Oreo Blast



Also, Weston got creative with his food!



After Jordan finished his Sundae..



He found out his camera phone has picture frames!



The End

5 a.m. No zzz's

I've realized that after pulling this all nighter in celebration of Steve going back to Draper (Yes we're celebrating his departure) being super tired brings out the devil in people,

Examples:

Jordan Ballou: Grouchiness, Excessive use of the F word, and the phrases like "shut up", "you bitch", "don't touch me" and "Stallone!"

Dan Lollar: Failure to sleep and violence and anger towards noisy people mainly Jordan Ballou.

Steve Canaan: silence unless being taunted, teased, or shot with a Nerf gun. Any of these result in violence, severe whining, and tattling.

Jordan DeLaCruz: Wearing long johns, listening to Mariah Carey and feeling sorry for himself after being called "Stallone" excessively. (really Ballou is emotionally destroying me)

If any of these mentioned symptoms occur while pulling an all nighter, you might be socially retarded. See your doctor.

Goodnight(morning)ish

My Top 5 Movies of 2008

The only reason I'm doing 5 is because I still have not seen Milk or Gran Torino. So I might revise this.

1. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
2. The Dark Knight
3. Wall-E
4. Iron Man
5. Cloverfield

Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

3. 3 hours. 3 amazing hours. 3 amazing hours of Brad Pitt. I'll be honest I don't think any movie should be longer than 2 hours. I'm a very picky man when it comes to runtime, but I did not want this movie to ever end. David Fincher's last production was Zodiac, now I personally haven't seen Zodiac but people have said that Zodiac was a little slow. So when I found out how long this movie was I got the sure feeling that a lot of this movie would be boring. For me there was never a dull moment, from the moment the opening credits ended this movie grabbed me and did not let go. The movie opened up a whole new perspective on how people should look at the joys of life and the sorrows of death. The messages this movie is sending are ones people need to listen to. One notable one is that of the so called "Lightning Man," and when you see it you'll know what I mean. Notable performances by the stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. On that note, this is Brad Pitt's best performance to date. If he does not walk away with the Best Actor Oscar this year, then the academy needs some work. Also a very extremely notable performance is that of Taraji P. Henson, who plays Benjamin's adoptive mother. The only other movie I have seen her is was Smoking Aces, and man can she throw down a performance, she was one of my favorite. So long movie short, if you haven't seen this, see it now, and I'll state this now and stand by it forever. Best movie of 2008.
5 Stars.

We Bid Farwell to Music Legends

This week has been a rough one, the indie/rock band Phantom Planet best known for their hit "California" from the O.C. has gone on hiatus. What this means for the future of the band I do not know at the moment. all i know is that Phantom Planet superfans such as my very good pal Jordan Ballou are crushed by the news. The details are extremely limited but Phantom Planet guitar player Darren Robinson has released some information on his Myspace blog. "To answer many of you- this hiatus is entirely amicable," says Robinson. "There has been no fighting involved, I assure you. All four of us need some time to figure things out and just to be home. Fifteen years together is a long time indeed."

The band will be playing a very special last show on December 12th at the Troubadour and L.A. according to the band this is the venue where they performed their first all ages show. Weather they will return at this moment is unclear, but either way we'll never for one moment forget their music and charisma.

Band Of The Week! 11-24-08

Woo! Music! Doesn't get any better than this, and today I'm bringing you a recently discoverd band that I personally think can wale!

This Week: The Morning Of
Genre: Indie/Pop/Rock
Awsomeness: Lots of it.

I remember checking these guys out on Myspace.com awhile ago and I think they only had like 1 or 2 songs on their page. I quickly lost interest and stopped with them. In these recents days a young lad by the name of Jordan Ballou has once again sparked my intrest, but this time they have a full length album titled "The World As We Know It". I've had time to check it out and I must say it's impressed me. The Morning Of is much like the late "1997" in that it has Male and Female lead vocalists, they also mix in elements of Hard Rock and Indie, they also have a great piano player, and we all know I'm a sucker for the keys.

The Morning Of has just set up a west coast tour that will start in the beginning December with Danger Radio and My American Heart for more information about that go check out their myspace page at www.myspace.com/themorningof You can also find links to their merch shop at that same link.

Movie Review: Twilight

Ever since I hear the premise of the story I did think it was slightly cheesy. Also I thought that the books were kind of a trendy thing, and yes I did use to make fun of them a lot. So going into this I wasn't too pumped. So here goes:

First off I actually like how they took they age old idea of vampires and changed it. I think it was a bold move on Stephane Meyer's part. I find myself sometimes bored with the concept of vampires because they're all the same. So it was a cool change of pace. Also let me mention that i think Catherine Hardwick is a very talented director. That being said let me dive into what I didn't like.

1-Special FX-I've seen countless vampire movies. This had terribe flying effects, and speed effects. They should have put way more money into the effects. I think even the concept of wires would have been better for the flying.

2-Acting-Rob P. is not the best actor, neither is Kristen Stewart. I did howeverlike it more as it went along. The beginning was just terrible though.

3-Excessive pop culture-Catherine Hardwick can be a little too trendy, the soundtrack was kind of an awkward thing for me. It almost seemed like she wanted it to be more like a music video rather than the movie actually having a score.

Now we move onto the good things.

I did very much like the Cullen Family, I think they were casted very very well. I loved that each one had their own little personality, and I will continue too as long as they keep Nikki Reed's acting to a minimum. Another thing that struck me as cool was the artistic feel for the movie. Watching this I felt that the story was very poetic, and C.H. brought some hardcore visuals to go with it.

Story=B+
Effects=D-
Acting=D
Overall=C-

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