The Dark Knight Review

Shattering box office records, The Dark Knight stormed into theaters this weekend with rave reviews on not only the late Heath Ledger's performance, but the entire film as well. The Dark Knight opened to record numbers for it's opening night, and weekend as a whole, beating last years box office smash, Spiderman 3. 

The Dark Knight is clever, sinister, dark, epic, and perfectly brilliant. It blends its films and ideas with the characters that we came to know and love in the first film, as well as some newcomers such as Harvey Dent/Two Face and The Joker. Everything that can be said about Ledger's performance has already been said, so I will simply say this. If he is not awarded an Oscar for this role, I will be sorely disappointed. 

In short, The Dark Knight not only succeeds as a comic book film, but also as a great psychological thriller.

Go see it. Now.

9.5/10

Originality in Films Today

Remake, sequel, fanboy bait, conversion from book to film, SitCom, just some of the words to describe the lack of originality that can be found in todays film and television.


I was watching the t.v. show Get Smart today (Recently released on the silver screen with Steve Carell as the lead) and it struck me how much better the t.v. show was as compared to the film. It has also become apparent to me that Steve Carell is a fairly useless actor for anything other then portraying a complete buffoon. In both his role in this film, and his role in The Office, he plays a complete idiot. Both, of course, are remakes of original t.v. shows where the same roles were portrayed quite differently. In the UK version of The Office David Brent (Michael Scott) was cruel, and insensitive, but he wasn't quite an idiot. Where as in the US version, Michael Scott is the definition of moron. Quite pathetic that Steve Carell chose to go with this rendition of the character (albeit expected).


Excuse the Steve Carell tangent, back on track. Moving away from remakes, and on to sequels. Now I have nothing against sequels if it is the case of The Lord of the Rings where the story needed to span three films due to it's extreme length (even then, it's still just a conversion from book to film, not exactly brilliance on the part of the film makers). But films like Shrek 2-3 which were clearly only made due to the success of it's predecessor.


Situation Comedies are a perfect example of the unoriginal crap that we see on television today. good for a few popcorn like laughs, and nothing more to be bothered with. Following the exact same formula for all of their mundane courses, they consist of comedy, comedy, comedy, heart moment, the end. They run six or seven seasons, and are never heard from again. Thankfully some have broken this mold with shows like Seinfeld, or at the very least defined it (Friends). It seems these come far too often in various incarnations (Everybody loves Raymond, My Boys, Ten Items or Less, etc.) that inevitably go nowhere.


In short, we need to see more original movies, and less rehashes of old stuff we've all seen before. We don't need to see hundreds of CGI heavy, brainless action flicks that don't leave you with anything. If it doesn't leave you with anything, if you leave that theater with the exact same thing you came in with, the movie didn't do what it was supposed to do.


Audiences today deserve more then a popcorn flick, and I would like to think most film makers would like to give them to us.

A Boy is Decapitated At Six Flags Over Georgia

Yesterday, at about 2pm, a boy was decapitated by Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Over Georgia. He and a friend had left the park for lunch, and instead of going back through the main gate hopped over a perimeter fence, and then another fence into the ride area. When he tried to grab riders feet on one of the low points of the ride, his head was removed by the training, which was travelling at around 40mph.

The boy, who was seventeen years old, was at the park with a church group and his family. You can find a full news report here.

I feel sorry for the boys family. It must be tough to lose a son with the full knowledge that he was at fault for his own demise. Lets hope the family will respect what happened, and not sue.

Wall-E Review

Pixar is at it again. They have brought us heartfelt movies with the most interesting choices for characters. We've had everything from adventurous toys to friendly monsters, and now, a robot in love? Wall-E is a brilliant love story whose message comes across loud and clear, but throughout the whole movie never takes anything away from the true story. 

Throughout the whole movie I was hoping that it would never end. Something I have not felt about a movie since The Return of the King. The beautiful graphics display, linked with a marvelous story and memorable characters make Wall-E a film to cherish and remember - for infinity and beyond. Oops, wrong movie ;).

10/10

Job Update

Hola, bonjour, hello, etc. 

So, as the title states, I have a bit of a job update. I know, you're jumping out of your chairs in excitement. You, with the headphones, contain yourself. Thank you.

Anyway, I called my friend at the hotel, and she is going to see if there are any openings presently, and the get back to me. So I'm hoping for the best, because I can't do much more then that.

However, there is more exciting news then that. I have a job at Cal Poly Pomona this July, for three weeks. I will be working from Monday to Thursday all three weeks and from about 8am to 4pm on each of these days. I will also be making approximately $10 an hour, so for those of you that are math impaired, that's $100 a day, for twelve days. That's right, $1200 in three weeks. Pretty awesome, eh? 

So I will then be able to save half for a car, buy an iPod Touch, and get a Disneyland season pass once mine expires! 

Speaking of a car, I will be starting drivers training very soon, all I have to do is make a $20 deposit, take my permit test at the DMV, and then start my behind the wheel training! After I've finished that, I'll drive around with my parents for six months, get my license.. and then we'll see what comes next.

I've also written, directed, shot, starred, whatever in a new science fiction series I'm working on called "The Noise". So, once I have that all done, I'll upload it on to YouTube, my website, etc. Thanks to those who are actually reading this, I appreciate it.

Until we meet again..

The Adventures Of Jake Sundstrom: Job Hunting

So I've been searching around for a new job lately, as my current job pays poorly - to say the least. I've tried AMC, Albertsons, Yogurberry, Jamba Juice, Starbucks, and in a way, McDonalds. All to no avail. However, I do have a friend that works at an Ayres Suites that gave me her work number.. It has always been a dream of mine to work in a hotel, so perhaps I'll give her a call.

It would give me valuable experience, since I want to major in hospitality when I get to college, and eventually manage my own hotel. I know, Jake doing a job involving people, who would have thought it? Well, I think I have convinced myself. I will call my friend tomorrow, and see if I can get anything to come of it.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and I recently watched War of the Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, The Amistad, and Munich. All of which were excellent, and I would recommend them all. I also have ordered a new Jurassic Park poster, which has been shipped.

Until next time..

A Brief Memoir of Stan Winston

Special effects fans mourn the loss of the best in the business today, as Stan Winston has lost a long battle with cancer. This great man has brought us special effects in Jurassic Park, The Terminator, Aliens, Indiana Jones, and many, many more. From building live sized T-Rex's to killer robots and eight foot aliens, this mans legacy will live on for eternity.

Stan Winston

4/7/1946 - 6/15/2008

Wikipedia page.

IMDB Profile.