The Thing (2011) - A Review

 Don't worry. No spoilers.

Here's the trailer for anyone who hasn't seen it.

      

      So, I just got home from seeing "The Thing" and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. The preview makes it look like any other jump-out-at-you scary movie, and it definitely had that creepy vibe where some poor soul is walking around possibly about to be attacked and then RAWR. But aside from that, it also had a creepy psychological feel. You, as a viewer, are making your brain go overtime trying to figure out ways to decide who is who. And it's not always easy-going. There are so many twists and turns in this movie, it's very edge-of-your-seat.

      I heard from a lot of people before going in that the CGI isn't really that great, but considering what they were doing, from tearing people in half to making an alien swallow a human, they did pretty well. There were only a few scenes with obviously digitized computer graphics.

      I really liked how they didn't have any huge A list actors in this movie but that's my own personal preference. When I see an A lister in a scary movie, it takes away from the feeling of the movie and keeps me from feeling emotionally attached to the characters. Although, I did turn to my friend at the beginning and say, "Woah, is that Mr. Eko?" It was.

      For a prequel, it did an incredible job of setting up for the next movie. The last scene in this movie is actually the first scene for the original so the transition is rather seamless. 

I'd give it a solid 8/10.

I am curious as to why an Arctic science research station has all these flamethrowers laying around...

The Blu-ray Conundrum

So, I don't know how many of you know, or even care, but the movie 'Red Riding Hood' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday.

Now, I never saw the movie. I know it was a 're-interpretation' but the fact that the director of Twilight also directed this movie, kinda caused most of my disinterest. But that's not what my story is about.

One of my side jobs is taking care of the movies and helping customers down movies when that can't find what they're looking for.

Anyway, this is a phone call I got at work today.

Me: 'Electronics, this is Travis. Can I help you?'

Lady: 'Hi, I was looking for someone in the movies.'

Me: 'I'd be able to help, what do you need?'

Lady: 'Well, I was in there earlier today and I bought the wrong thing.'

Me: 'The wrong movie?'

Lady: 'Well, no. Kinda. *laugh* I paid the $14.99 and accidentally bought 'Red Riding Hood' on Blu-ray and I don't have a Blu-ray player.'

Me: 'And so you'd want to return it and exchange it for the DVD version?'

Lady: 'Yes, that would be wonderful.'

Me: 'Has the movie been opened?'

Lady: 'Um, yes. Is that a problem?'

Me: 'Well, I have good news and bad news.'

Lady: 'Uh oh. What's the bad news?'

Me: 'The bad news is that we can't accept returns on movies that have been opened.'

Lady: 'Oh, no! Well, what's the good news?'

Me: 'You said you paid $14.99 for it?'

Lady: 'Yeah..?'

Me: 'Well we're selling the DVD for $14.99 and the Blu-ray for $21.99.'

Lady: 'So that means..'

Me: '..that you bought the DVD, not the Blu-ray.'

Lady: 'Oh. Well don't I feel sheepish.'

Me: 'Have a good day.'

And not to sound mean or anything, but what made her think that her DVD was a Blu-ray?
I am confuse.

posted from Bloggeroid

SAW

Now, to be honest, I'm a big fan of the "Saw" franchise.

And even though they seem to come out with a new one every Halloween, and some of the torture scenes still make me cringe after multiple times...

I mean, seriously, the girl's hair in the crank pulling back further and further until her scalp starts tearing?
The girl getting sprayed with water in the freezer until her body shatters?

*shiver

Anyways, I don't enjoy them especially for the torture or the terror scenes, but the way that the entire story fits together perfectly. It is incredibly thought out and intricate in what the audience is told.

The first "SAW" was a great movie in and of itself with wonderful twists and an epic ending.

The second "SAW", now that, it was sort of a flop. I mean, c'mon, Marky Mark? I mean, there were some good parts but in my mind, it was like another version of a "SAW" movie.

The third "SAW" made up for the second. It tied all three movies together and by the end, it felt incredibly well-rounded.

The fourth time around, it asked questioned I hadn't even thought of during the first three and answered said questions.

The fifth time, a lot of people were starting to get sick of the franchise. It was around this time that the slogan, "It's Halloween so that must mean SAW" came out.

And so on and so on. Asking more questions, answering those questions, and explaining more about Jigsaw's past. With time shifts, things happening at the same time as other things in different movies, characters becoming involved when it wasn't previously thought that they were involved, people once thought dead ending up still being alive at the time of events in a later movie, I thought it was all amazing.

I mean, think of the studio's mindset.

They have this major idea for a multiple movie series but they're not sure how it'll all pan out.

They release the first one with overwhelming positive results. But in doing so, they're keeping the movie as one storyline. Things that aren't answers are understood that they're not meant to be answered. It's a perfect sphere in and of itself.

It's kind of like the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. It's a great thing by itself but when you learn about the compass not pointing North, lines from the first one make more sense. "A compass that doesn't even point North..." because it was pointing at what he wanted the most.

WHICH IS LEARNED IN THE NEXT MOVIE.
Mindblown.

So, in closing, I'm about to watch "SAW: The Final Chapter" and in doing so, I'm hoping that it'll be as great as the first few.

The first few minus the second one of course.
Seriously. Marky Mark.

I'm never going to let that go.

I'm a bigger fan than most, I just hope my high expectations will not damper the well-thought-outness of this movie.

"I promise that my work will continue."

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STALK ME!!
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WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?

So, it's recently come to my attention that I have no idea what this is.

This blog, I mean. Not the internet.

Everyone knows that the internet is a series of tubes.

Duh. #oldjokeisold #hashtaggingblogs

What I mean is that I don't know how you guys come to find this blog because, frankly, I got near 200+ hits on my last blog within the first day of it being posted.

WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND HOW ARE YOU FINDING ME?

The internet is a slacker's paradise.
You don't like the video you're watching? Click away.
You don't want to sift through another clip art website from 1996? Click away.
You can go wherever you want whenever you want*.

I have Twitter to thank for a lot of my blog-viewers. My Twitter followers are some of the most awesome people on the internet. And I'm not just saying that because you're reading my blog. I'm saying that partially because you're reading my blog. But that does not account for the hundreds of people visiting my blog-o-sphere so I'm still at a loss.

Blogger lets you put "labels" to your blog which are a version of YouTube's "tags". And even if the tags are what are bringing people to my blog, I'd have to say, I'm surprised.

But thank you. :)

I love being able to have a place where I can put my thoughts down for others to peruse if they so wish and then comment to let me know how they're feeling. Help me help you. Help me figure out what this is. Should I talk about my day and what I did, blabbity blah, or should I use this as a quick 'media discussion' outlet with witty remarks and humorous rants?

I guess it could be both.

I want to hear from you guys. I want to know what you like reading about. This isn't YouTube. It's not me talking at you. This has the ability to become a discussion and I'd love that.

*based on your connection to the internet, the speed of that connection, and if connection is actually made.

Be my NaNo buddy!
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I'm a PC

Today, I am installing a program on my computer to use instead of Windows Live Movie Maker.
I know, I know, seeing as how I'm a video blogger, it's all horrible. I understand.

Believe me.

The issue comes with the fact that I don't like Mac computers yet I am incredibly in-tune with the video and audio software (iMovie, FinalCut Pro, Garage Band, etc) The problem is that I don't trust Mac computers.

Yea, I said it.

I don't trust Macs.

Not because I think Macs will steal my identity or that Steve J is out to get me or anything, but because the software/hardware is so tightly packed and contained that if anything were to go wrong, missing file, accidental overwrite, there's nothing to do but a full system format.

That being said, I think most Mac programs are incredibly user-friendly. Now, do I think that the programs are very user-friendly in order to be able to help out the less-than computer savvy people in the world? Partially.

But that's a different blog for a different day.

I'm not out to fuel the Mac-PC war and I honestly don't care what platform use.

All I'm saying, is that I don't want to own a Mac computer, but I do want to use something better than WLMM. That's why, I got my hands on Sony Vegas Pro and so I'll be testing that out later.

The only other hang-up about editing on this computer is that it's a laptop and I don't have a USB mouse so I have to use the touch-pad for exact cuts which don't /exactly/ turn out the way I want. (SEEWHATIDIDTHERE?)

Anywho, the update is done so here I go, testing this out!

Be my NaNo buddy!
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