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Copyright |
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©2005 Jason Cross
All Rights Reserved
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 Wednesday, July 31, 2002 |
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Had lunch at Spaghetti Works with Brandon today. That's right, THE Brandon from the band Elixyr.
If any of the 5 readers are music company moguls, check 'em out! Heck, the rest of you can, too. |
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Sunday, July 28, 2002 |
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For this weekend's movie "review"...Austin Powers in Goldmember.
I generally liked the movie. There were some really funny parts (such as the opening sequence) and some really unfunny parts (such as Goldmember himself). Many of the jokes were retreads, but that was kind of expected. The cameo by The Osbournes was a funny bit for me, as I've recently started watching their show (better late than never!).
I don't really get why they even used the character of Goldmember as he was fairly pointless. I was hoping he'd be the central villain (you know, like how James Bond has MORE THAN ONE VILLAIN!), with Doc Evil in the background, but it was not to be.
As with most third-or-higher sequels, if you liked the earlier movies, you'll probably find this one worthwhile, otherwise odds are you wouldn't be considering it anyway! |
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Friday, July 26, 2002 |
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My car is starting to worry me. First the A/C, then the brakes, and now the CD player and the driver's door lock is acting up. It might be time to cut my losses and trade 'er in. I mean, you'd think these are unrelated parts, so it's not like one leads to the other.
So this raises the question... what next?
Maybe a used Mercedes M-Class... Luxury SUV... Mmm... |
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Sunday, July 21, 2002 |
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This afternoon, Ian and I braved the 100+ pre-heat-index temperatures to go see that fine cinematic masterpiece...Eight Legged Freaks.
An homage to those giant bug movies of yesteryear (think "Them"), Eight Legged Freaks (or ELF as I will call it, as these were the guys behind ID4) was all spiders, little plot, which was expected.
David Arquette wasn't TOO spastic, and Kari Wuhrer is always nice to see (it's been a while since her stint on "Sliders" but, yeah, she's still got that sci-fi cheese charm). And Scarlett Johnason from Ghost Worlds was in it. And the spiders were funny. And most of the town died, but in none-gruesome ways.
Isn't it weird how in movies spiders make all sorts of noise, but in real life never a peep? Hmm... |
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Saturday, July 20, 2002 |
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Yowza, it is too hot outside.
I'm going to be on Gnomeradio Sunday at 7pm, so for you readers in the DSM area, tune into 1350am. Oh, and please call with your questions! Give us something to do! |
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Sunday, July 14, 2002 |
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Crikey! Did every movie come out at once this weekend or something? Yeesh! I haven't yet made it to Croc Hunter: Collision Course yet, but I did make it to two movies, both of which I will treat you, the faithful five, with a review of in my oh so special style.
Reign of Fire
Reign of Fire was a movie I had been looking forward to for a couple years, pretty much since it started production. I first heard about it a while back when I read somewhere the Alexander Siddig (formerly Siddig El Fadil) - Dr. Bashir of DS9 fame - was in it. As I read more, the concept of dragons in modern day against modern weaponry sounded cool. So now, years later, I have seen it.
I really liked the movie, more so in retrospect as I think about it. Ebert gave the movie a horrific review (1.5 stars) which had me scared, so I waited to read his take on it after seeing the movie for myself. I think he was WAY off base, nitpicking at the most minor details and in general acting like an elitist ass who made his decision to not like the movie from concept alone.
The dragon designs were cool, the action and concept had some originality, and it wasn't afraid to keep things dark and sacrifice the lives of characters for realism in the situation.
Road to Perdition
I don't envy Sam Mendes. His Freshman effort was American Beauty (for which he won an Oscar and forgot to thank the writer, Alan Ball) and now his Sophomore effort looks like it could pretty easily do the same. Now THAT is a tough act to follow up on. He and Tom Hanks probably get together and talk about this expectation of greatness that now hangs over their heads.
It's a sumptuous movie, unafraid of going slowly and letting people simple *act*. It's full of shades of grey characterwise, the blurred line between good and evil, and boils down to a father's acceptance of his own decisions in life yet not wanting his son to follow the same path.
Funny thing, it really pulled the old people into the theater. Hearing this old woman next to me say "get him!" before someone got shot was odd. I suppose maybe she lived in 1931. |
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Tuesday, July 9, 2002 |
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Today I took the day off from work and went to Adventureland with my sister Misty, her husband Keith, and my nephews Sebastian (almost 5) and Nate (2.5).
It was a great day for it, as there were relatively few people there despite being a nice sunny day, so the waits on all of the big non-water rides were pretty much nothing. I was very surprised to find that despite not being 5 yet, Sebbie was tall enough to ride the rollercoasters, which he did, including sitting in the very front seat on two of them with me!
Nate really like the ladybugs ride, though I think he liked looking down at the fish in the "river" and visiting the candy shop just as much!
I'm now kind of sunburnt, but ah well, it was worth it! |
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Sunday, July 7, 2002 |
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A quick blurb for those who look to JasonCross.com for your movie reviews...
Watched Shallow Hal on DVD this weekend. Jack Black looked more cleaned-up than normal, which kind of detracted from his funniness, though Gwyneth Paltrow was great. Great performance and great looking. Mmm...Gwyneth...
I give the movie a general recommendation. You don't have to drive so fast to the video store to get it that you hit the occasional curb, tree, or schoolchild, but if you're looking for a flick with some fun and a good message, get it eventually.
Ms Paltrow, as I'm sure you are one of the five JasonCross.com readers, I would just like to say that I think all those who claim to dislike you for this or that reason are just suffering from sour grapes syndrome. |
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On Friday I bought Warcraft III for my PC. This is a big deal for a couple reasons:
1 - I don't actually buy computer games that often.
2 - I don't usually play computer games that often anymore, as I tend to lose interest pretty darned fast. Short attention span. Ritalin needed.
3 - Blizzard, the creators of such minor games as, oh, Diablo, Starcraft, and, oh yeah, Warcraft I and II, are known for top-notch games, and the buzz had been killer on WC III for some time.
So I stopped by my trusty local Best Buy and spent $60 on the game.
It's held my attention for a day so far, which is better than many (and no, that's not a day solid - probably more like 4 hours). The graphics are very good, not the best ever, but still really good. The gameplay is solid real-time-strategy fun (none of that turn-based junk here!), and it's got a decent storyline.
Hmm, now I have an excuse to upgrade my computer! ;) |
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Saturday, July 6, 2002 |
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After some time without, it has begun to rain in the last few days. Unfortunately, it hasn't been enough to make much of a difference, yet at least. My hostas are wilting, my grass is brown, my ground is cracked and seething (well, maybe not seething, but it sounded good.)
It was funny yesterday, when it was pouring like crazy when Ian and I left Best Buy (I bought Warcraft III for the PC - more on that another time), but halfway between Des Moines and Indianola is was completely dry and sunny. Weird.
A couple hours later I was driving back to DSM to get a new battery for my car, and there was this point about halfway there where while I was driving in dry sunlight, I could see about a quarter-mile forward on the highway a wall of rain. It's always odd to just drive immediately into a downpour that you can spot rather than a gradual start of rain. |
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Monday, July 1, 2002 |
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My uber-secret radio contact - code name "Eric" - got me a pair of tickets to the Star102/Lazer103 screening of Men In Black II this evening. I had enjoyed the first MIB so I was looking forward to this one, plus the added cool-factor of seeing it early. That's not to mention the whole free part.
What did I think? It was fun. I really like the whole MIB world, with the black suits, chrome guns, and wacky alien designs. Lara Flynn Boyle was hot as hell, and Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith continue to make a great contrast in style with each other.
So will you like it? If you liked the first one, odd are this one is a good bet. Is it the most original thing ever? No, it's a sequal. Is it a fun 90 minutes? You betcha. |
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