Spending my free time either playing Star Trek Online, or… Well, playing Star Trek Online. Nadia and I still go out and do things, like see Blue Man Group or watch movies, or maybe even just walk around Town Square, but mostly I’m playing STO. I’m trying not to get hooked, but I think I’m failing.

I want to get back into writing again, either short stories or maybe a more reliable comic. I’ve got my fancy tablet, and I think I might even have just enough talent to make it on the internets, but it’s the ideas I’m running low on.

I’m reading more, although there’s not been anything that’s grabbed my attention like the Percy Jackson series in a little while. I think I’m nearing time for my semi-annual Hitch-Hiker’s Guide re-read, and that’s always fun.

The movie is, in all ways that matter, a return to form for Raimi – The cheap scares, the camera tricks, the goofy humor, the fast-paced story, the sympathetic (if slightly clueless) characters, the slapstick, over the top action… Everything you might have loved from the Evil Dead franchise makes it into this movie. In many ways, this film proves that he’s still a good writer/director, and when given a chance he can still tell a great story and entertain the hell out of an audience.

That is not to say that this movie is for everyone, far from it. This movie is for fans of Raimi, first and foremost. Then, it’s for fans of horror films, of chillers and thrillers… It’s for fans of scary films that don’t rely on great effects or scary creatures – but what you don’t see, what you can’t fight.

The Birth of a Cult Classic

From start to finish, top to bottom, this movie will keep you entertained and leave you wanting more. There are few dull moments, but they are there to serve a purpose: Let you catch your breath, just for a moment, until the next drop on the roller-coaster ride to hell.

So, if you enjoy good horror/thriller movies, go see this one. Right now.

Sunday I watched BSG while Nadia napped – and I’m wondering just how the hell they plan on wrapping up the series, and just how much more depressing things are going to get. It’s really getting bad.

I also – over the course of the weekend – managed to re-watch the entire run of The Middleman, my favorite show of 2008. Turns out it’s available for free watching on the ABC Family website – you just gotta dig for it a bit.

I also stumbled across the new Batman cartoon, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Damn fun stuff, that. Kind of light hearted, very much just for fun… and it made me realize that Coldiron is Aquaman.

Dunny0 - XBox Avatar

The Avatar on the left is me… As you can see, it’s a slightly more sophisticated version of the Mii. As of right now there are a few (three) games that will allow you to play as this little bugger. Creating one isn’t too difficult, and once done you can spend some time playing dress up too. Right now the clothing options are a bit sparse, but I’d expect that to change quickly as game devs jump on the bandwagon and offer branded shirts for your little guy to wear.

Netflix streaming is another neat toy added to the XBox’s repository of stuff it can do – and one that I expect to get a lot of use from. The interface is very Mac like, which is a plus, but you are unable to browse for content on it, which is a minus. You still must build your queue on your PC, and then the XBox will see it and allow you to play the movies – kind of cumbersome, really, but not too horrible I suppose. Works great for people who plan out their movie nights, but for those who just want to sit down, find a movie and watch it… Extra work. But, all considered, it’s a darn good service.

Finally, there’s the new UI – which I’m not really liking. It’s been re-done into some mash-up of Apples’ FrontRow and the PS3′s XMB. The whole thing is pretty, but messy. Some options, like friends list management, are not available from the normal menu, you gotta dig into the “other”, secondary set of menus to do that…

So far I’m not a huge fan – the old system worked just fine, this new one just seems like a hasty way to make aging hardware seem hip and current. I’m sure, over time, I’ll get used to it, but I still would rather they had allowed people to decide between using it and not using it.

First, the Doctor Horrible Sing-A-Long Blog went live today. It’s pretty much what it sounds like, a new web based TV mini-series written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon. It stars Neil Patrick Harris, and it’s also a musical.

About a super villain, who’s not really all that villainous. He’s a bit like Doctor Forester in that department, the wanting to be more evil than he really is.

Secondly, E3 is underway right now, and today Nintendo and Sony took the stage, following Microsofts conference yesterday.

We go now, live, to Commander William T. Riker of the USS Enterprise for his take on the Nintendo Conference:

Riker Watches Nintendo E3 Conference

Thanks Will.

The Sony conference? Fucking sweet. Movies, more fun games, PSP stuff… It was what gaming used to be.

It was awesome.

Finally, I saw Wanted tonight.
A fucking fine movie, hilarious and good action.

Although, part of that might also be based on who I saw it with.
More on that… Later.

It’s a movie… Not sure if it’s suspense or horror or satire or what… Maybe it’s just one of those odd movies that fit in no genre at all, a “WTF” movie…

All I have to say about it is: Puppies in the trunk.

Seriously, track a copy of this movie down.

So, I moved a few things around, and by the time I’m done this will be a pretty kick-ass pad. I’d offer up some pictures, but since it’s a major work-in-progress I’m going to have to say no. Maybe tomorrow.

Other news… Other news…

I think I mentioned it a time or two before, but I recently bought a new Mac mini, and I’m really enjoying it. It has taken me a while to get it setup correctly, but I think that I’ve got the majority of the kinks worked out. It’s been dubbed Gibson, and has been playing well with Dystopia since it’s inception a week ago. It’s a bit fun having two computers again, if a bit overkill in some respects. Hopefully having some of the workload removed will encourage Dystopia to last a bit longer – I can’t afford a new Macbook yet.

I think, at some point, I’m going to attempt to get Gibson facing the outside world: OS X ships with Apache, and it seems a horrible waste not to use it. Maybe something simple, we’ll see.

I saw Indiana Jones and the Encounters of the Third Kind, and I have to say it was good. I enjoyed the shit out of it – the reviewers are wrong. It is campy, but the old movies were too. It doesn’t mesh with the average modern movie, no – but it’s not a modern movie. It is made in the same damn style as the old ones, with the same damn writing and the same damn stunts and the same damn plot. It’s an Indiana Jones movie all the way, and if you think that the previous ones were somehow better movies then you’re thinking about them through a thick helping of nostalgia, nothing more.

Why do I say this? Because although I didn’t think it was the single most awesome movie of all time, the way I did about Raiders or Temple, the kids behind me were totally fucking stoked the entire god damn movie, and were acting out their favorite scenes as they left.

They are who the movie was made for, not us. More to the point, they reacted in the same damn way I did years ago when I first saw the movies, so that just shows I’ve changed, not the writing. If kids go batshit for it the way I did, then it’s probably a fitting sign that the movie was right on target.

The pacing was perfect – not so fast that you’re left wondering what the hell is going on, but not so slow that you’re wishing it would get to the good bits. The story is pretty solid, doing a good job of setting up Tony Stark, his world, and then bringing about the changes that cause him to become Iron Man – all in a rather believable way.

The acting is pretty darn good, although not entirely perfect. I wasn’t too fond of one or two side characters, but all said it works very well.

All told, there are six characters in the movie. That’s not a whole lot, but that’s fine since the majority of the time it’s focused tightly on Tony “Iron Man” Stark, and how he’s reacting to his environment. Although the final fight between him and the baddie – no spoilers – is fucking awesome. Not quite epic, but still damn awesome.

I can easily recommend this to any fan of action films, comic-book movies or just good films in general. It’s good fun for pretty much everyone.

Oh, and do yourself a favor when you go: Sit through the credits.
All of them. It’s worth it.
It’s EPIC.

As of the time of this writing, my head still bugs me. Even worse, however, is the burning sensation in my eyes. A mild itch, it’s more annoying rather than actually painful, yet it’s still quite unpleasant.

Sent in the majority of the paperwork for my home loan; the process is nearly complete, all I need is a couple W2′s and a happy miracle. To think, just a scant few weeks ago I had plans in motion to move out of state – if not further – and now I’m looking to cement my stay in this town I love for at least six more years. How quickly one must adapt to the changing times and situations in ones life.

Speaking of changes and situations, I had the chance to see a movie last night, Spiderwick Chronicles, with my new friend Katt. The movie was rather fast and fun, a sort of light fantasy movie where the disgruntled and disillusioned youth discovers a world of magic and mayhem, quite literally, in his own back yard. There are life lessons to be learned by all, and in the end it’s a happy ending for (most) involved, if somewhat bitter sweet. The CG was rather cartoony, as befitting the nature of the movie.

We caught it in IMAX, and what I found oddly refreshing – People were actually quiet, and there were almost no children in attendance of this particular showing. All considered, probably my best movie going experience since Cloverfield, a view I’m sure I share with few.

On thing, though, that did catch my attention is how over priced IMAX is. The whole claim to fame for IMAX is the fact that it’s all digital on a huge ass screen. Well, it just so happens that my local megaplex is also all digital, and I’d wager that the screens are at least as large as the IMAX, and if they aren’t one can quite easily get the same experience by sitting a few rows closer. Also, it’s a whole seven bucks cheaper per ticket, a savings that quickly adds up for the avid movie goer.

The next movie I hope to see is the Jack Black/Mos Def comedy Be Kind, Rewind, the tragic tale of two hapless video store clerks who… do something. Not totally sure, but the previews are somewhat funny and include Jack and Mos doing their own low budget versions of the classic movies Ghostbusters, Robocop and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Not sure when I’ll be free to actually watch it, as I’ll be busy with the move (work, not personal) this whole weekend. Downside, stuck at work; Upside, 10+ hours of overtime.