Die Hard: Second thoughts

Even though I'm not going home this Christmas, turns out life is still really busy when you're shopping, preparing for a week alone and still suffering from serious mobility issues. The new place is a lot closer to campus and really close to a grocery store (I can get there very easily if I use the chair, with some difficulty on the crutches) but for actual shopping I need a drive or a bus. And the bus is not in a great place. So this is me coming back from Christmas shopping after waiting for way longer than you'd ever want to outside in the cold. I like the cold, normally. On crutches, not quite so much.

Lucky for me, it's been raining (it's been raining STUPID HARD around here) instead of snowing, so I dodged a real bullet. Can't imagine having to fend for myself with snow and ice around. I like a white Christmas as much as the next guy but all I'm picturing is me splayed out on a patch of black ice like a swatted bug. Winter on crutches is going to sssssuck. Transitioning to the cane will suck too. What's your point, Jeremy? My point is... it's good to be back on my ass watching movies with friends again. I've got to find time in my life to do more of this. You have no idea how much I missed it. And this was a pretty fun movie to come back on.

Die Hard: First impressions

Hi folks! I'm back from exams which suuuuuuuuuuck and finally have some time to get back to what I like to do best. Unfortunately, since I don't have the mobility to get back to what I like to do best (it's hockey), I'm going to have to settle for second best. That's right, it's time to share another movie with your friend Jeremy, and this time we're going seasonal :D

Since I can't afford to get back to Cape Breton for Christmas this year, I'm going to bring in the season with Roomie until he goes off for family whatnot. Lacy's here tonight too, and them arguing about Christmas movies is why we're now sitting here with a crowd-voted-up movie in hand. Lacy would like you all to know that it's one of the ones she wanted and that Roomie lost and is a loser. Normally I'd tell her to do her own dirty work but she brought egg nog so she wins :D

NO TIME FOR MY OWN well you get the idea

The epic story of three people who got smacked in the face by truckloads of Real Life and ended up having no time to follow up with a little blog... okay fine it's not that epic. But I do have some good news for everyone! ...Anyone! No idea how many people are still looking for me here anymore. Hopefully someone. I'm rambling. Let's do the break thing.

I'm not dead!

I guess I should have titled this with Week Whateverthisis, but we kind of lost the streak with the net outage and my lovely hospital visit. Hoo-flippity-ray for that, by the way. Assuming anyone wants to read about that and what else is going on in life, here goes!

Jeremy is back in the hospital

Just posting this to let everyone know who might be concerned or watching for updates: as of yesterday morning, Jeremy is back at the hospital. He'll be there for a few days. I checked in on him last night and he's doing okay except for the pain. He's not in life threatening trouble. There's a problem with his leg that they need to deal with and it's just going to be a big setback for his rehab.

Jer says hi to everyone and hopes you're all doing well. He misses the blog and told me to write "fuck squirrels" so there it is. I'll keep an eye on the comments here and pass along any well wishes and comments when I go in to see him next. You can also send them to my email (pixelacy at gmail) or email Jer and he'll get your messages when he's out of the hospital.

The Patreon plan is getting shelfed. Between school coming up, rehab and this happening, I don't know how much time Jer will have for blogging anymore. Contributions are still welcome but Jeremy basically just had the month taken out from under him and I'm not going to make any promises on his time or availability.

I know how Jer feels about the whole thing, so I'll put it out there that well-wishes are more valuable than dollars right now. I'd like some nice things to take in to him when I go visit on Thursday ^_^

The Hobbit: Ch7 Queer Lodgings

Folks there it is again in the chapter title and I still haven't seen an explanation. Did it just mean "strange" or something back then? That's kind of unfortunate, considering... anyway, I'm not gonna step in it just because it's a slow week for comments, but if someone could pleeease enlighten me it would be great. Anyway.

BEORN IS AWESOME. :D

The Hobbit: Ch6 Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire

I don't know, folks, this book has set itself a really high bar and I'm sort of getting tired of things dropping out of the sky, figuratively or (in this case) literally, to save the collective butts of Mr. Baggins and company.

The Matrix: First impressions

Here we go, and I am really excited, I know a lot about this movie, because this was the one, folks. This was the movie I was not allowed to see as a kid and always wanted to. There was a convenience store where you could rent movies, and it had posters up for some movies. For years and years, the poster that was always up right near the door was The Matrix. It looked serious and dark and awesome and of course Nan would always say "we're not renting that, it's too violent."

Well fine, Nan, I won't rent it. I will, however, accidentally push the Play button. :D

The Not-So-Great Internet Outage (is fixed)

Squirrels. Mother beeping squirrels. I thought they were supposed to be, you know, cute. Industrious. Fat-cheeked. Kind of like nature made rats 2nd edition, the not-terrible version. Turns out they are in fact rats 2nd edition, the chews-on-wires-because-go-fuck-yourself version. Now when most people have no Internet, they go outdoors, maybe hit up a cafe with free wireless. For some of us that's not an option. Needless to say it's been a fun week of "we fixed it" "no you didn't" "no we didn't." I got one forum message out during the however long of "fixed" they had before they broke it again.

Big Trouble in Little China: First impressions

So yesterday I was sick. Not just sick. Sick. That kind of sick where you wonder why you can't remember the drinking because holy smokes did you ever earn a mother of a hangover. I haven't been drinking because I'm not a complete moron, but all yesterday and most of today I've just been a human pile of nope. This is my first movie in just about a week, I think, and I could reeeeeally go for something fun right now. If this is another Big Lebowski, I'm gonna have a very very bad two hours.

Week 7: Adjusting to meds is lots of something

Something, yes. Fun not quite so much. Turns out I was having a reaction to the hydrowhatsit, so I had to go see the doctor on Monday. New pain meds are... a thing. I feel like they've slowed me down. I definitely did almost nothing this week until today, which I spent hanging out with my uncle. Which was awesome.

The Hobbit: Ch5 Riddles in the Dark

A longer chapter that might just be the best one so far and by might I mean definitely is. Can a literary character give a tour-de-force performance? Because I'm pretty sure one just did.

The Hobbit: Ch4 Over Hill and Under Hill

Oh it's on now. Not it it, but the general sort of "it." A dungeon of caverns, a horde of goblins, magic weapons, wizards throwing fireballs and/or bolts of lightning, and of course my favorite thing to tell people not to do ever, splitting the goddamn party. Accidentally, of course, but still.

Star Trek: S1E18 Arena review

On top of the breadbox in the kitchen, there's a curious sort of thing. Located right next to a wooden hammer on a clothespin called the Cape Breton Quarter Pounder (there's a quarter, it hits it, it's funny) is a flat, circular bit of ceramic on a cork base. It is the most useful tool in the universe, for want of which, as my grandmother explains it, so many tasks cannot be accomplished. I don't have one handy myself, but when it comes to watching more Star Trek I can finally say that I have at last gotten a Round Tuit.

HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE???

Roomie just came home and showed me a thing. Did you folks know there's a counter on the right hand side that shows how many times the blog gets visited? Because I did not know that and it is my blog and I have just seen it and HOLY SMOKEBALLS HOW DID I GET TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND VIEWS

Jaws: Second thoughts

Duhhh-NUH. Duhh-NUH. Duh-NUH. Dud-DUN-dun-DUN-dun-DUN-dun-DUN-dun-DUN...

The Hobbit: Ch3 A Short Rest

Another short chapter sees the return of the narrative voice of my grandfather, skipping trivial details (he's not wrong, this narrator, it's lots more fun and more to talk about besides when things are all going to hell) to get to even more of the stuff I enjoy and hints about the next trials to come. Stoked. :D

The Hobbit: Ch2 Roast Mutton

I'm pretty sure the party once won an encounter using Hold Portal, but never before have I seen such effective use of the Ventriloquism spell.

Of course, never before have I seen a critical fumble  on seventeen consecutive Intelligence checks, but the dice gods will have their wrath and their due.

Jaws: First impressions

So Jaws was late, and I'll tell you why, and incidentally if someone has a protip on how to keep a party cool when it's a hot day that would be super appreciated.

Obviously the answer is there was a party. Big drunk one. Pizza and roofs torn off, that kind of good stuff. Nah, wasn't really "big," just seven or eight of us, but definitely booze. Since I can't drink, I was on glowstick and music duty. We made this really awesome sort of glow ball thing with eight or ten or however many little flexible glowsticks and threw it around. Also we played a game called Cards Against Humanity, which is really fun but apparently my sense of humor isn't quiiiiite up to par for that game. I lost a lot.

So to answer what I'm sure is the question on everyone's mind going into this, yes I know about the shark.

Week 6: I am Jeremy, and Jeremy means me!

I'm sure I was going to go with another title, but then, of course, I read the first chapter of The Hobbit, and there seemed to be no other choice. This week I had surgery, watched two dumb movies and one excellent episode of Star Trek, and picked up a book. I was going to pick up some music but I think I lost my list.

The Hobbit: Ch1 An Unexpected Party

In a hole in the ground there (sometimes) lived a Jeremy. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with worms and smells, nor a dry, sandy hole with nothing to do. It was a basement hole, and that means curiosities.

The Hobbit: Starting point

Judging from the comments I've seen (let alone the ones I'm sure Lacy and Roomie have seen), The Hobbit would appear to be a super popular book. Now that my head's a bit more clear and I'm not due for any more surgerying in the immediate future, I think it's high time for me to dive in on my first book read! :D

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: Second thoughts

Really starting to notice a burn in my left leg, so I'm glad surgery's coming up. On the bright side, the god-burrito was fantastic and I'll have to post a picture later. Thing was utterly ridiculous.

Speaking of things that were utterly ridiculous and consumed voraciously, I just watched a really stupid fun movie, folks! :D

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: First impressions

One of my lovely readers made a donation of a most unusual kind: a "god-burrito." So I'll be seeing that for dinner today and it should be quite the thing. If it's half as godly as the rumor suggests, I'll be a pretty happy fella.

Folks, I just watched another Usual Suspects and I'm feeling the need for simple. Something to relax the ol' brain. Besides the codeine, I mean. Hopefully this film will be... dare I say... Excellent? :D

The Big Lebowski: Second thoughts

 I was recently sent a lot of music to listen to, and I'm really looking forward to diving into it. I've also got my copy of The Hobbit in the mail. And today, apparently, I'm going to be experiencing an Excellent Adventure. Really hoping that the combined forces of those things will be enough to scrub the dust of this movie out of my brain. Time to help out the cleaning process with a big old thought dump.

The Big Lebowski: First impressions

This movie inspired a snort of disdain from Roomie. A snort. Of disdain. Plenty of people I know like it, though, so that's a thing. I'm on board for giving it a go; I understand the recommend came from a good and trusted source. At any rate, I've got pizza, an orange pop and absolutely zero context for what this film is about. A large Polish man, maybe? -ski is Polish. Enough dallying, let's hop in. :D

Star Trek: S1E16 The Galileo Seven review

I'm going to start this one off with a relevant joke, because I keep noticing this and I find it funny and you all probably don't get it. There's a ship captain, and whenever an enemy vessel is sighted coming towards his ship, he always orders the first mate to bring him his red shirt. Every battle, as soon as the enemy appears, it's "bring my red shirt." One day the first mate asks him why, and the captain explains that it's important for morale, order, decorum, what have you that the crew not see him injured in the course of battle, as it would be a distraction from their duties, so he wears a red shirt to hide the blood.

One day they sight ten enemy vessels, and the captain asks for his brown pants.

Labyrinth: Second thoughts

Puppets are pretty awesome in these movies, not gonna lie. The practical effects in Labyrinth were always fairly good when they weren't plain ingenious (I'm still a big fan of the Helping Hands). What a surreal and wacky dungeon adventure this one was. :D

Escape From New York: Second thoughts

This one's brief, because I didn't find a lot to really analyze in the movie. It definitely didn't hit all the notes I expected; in fact, I didn't expect that sort of rescue plotline at all. This is a movie that succeeds on the strength of its atmosphere and its lead. Decent entertainment.

Week 5: Moon Mist is the best ice cream

This was the week of Moon Mist, missions from God, challenges from Boxing God, repartee with Silent God, stolen planes, stolen Presidents, stolen babies, stolen hearts, stolen love and whatever the duration of Ladyhawke was in stolen time. I'm going to talk about a few things today, but the general tone of the week was pretty upbeat and I'm in an excellent mood. :D

Holy shit you guys are awesome

Roomie just came in and showed me a bank deposit to my account for over a hundred bucks and he told me it's all donations from you guys. What the ever loving hell is going on behind my back that you all schemed to do this? Is that what Lacy posted about? I don't even know. I'm just floored right now. Thank you all so much!

Labyrinth: First impressions

Roomie and Lacy are seeming very pleased with themselves about something, and I'm hoping it's not this movie, because last time one of them was very pleased with herself about a movie I had a night straight from Hell. Let's hope this is nothing like that.

The Blues Brothers: Second thoughts

About a month ago, I asked the lovely posters of the RPGnet forums to recommend movies and TV shows and even books and video games for me to experience for the first time. This was a massive oversight, since I forgot the most important thing of all.

Music.

Escape From New York: First impressions

Waking up to construction noises isn't really the best thing, but to be fair it was like 11:30 when they were going. When I sleep, I reeeeeally sleep, it seems. Anyway, I've got a morning Gatorade and some One-Handed Bacon & Eggs and there's a movie preset on the TV, so I'm going to skip finishing the Blues Brothers second thoughts for the moment and plow right in.

Also apparently Lacy can post on this blog. I didn't know that. What secrets is she sneaking to you all, eh? S'rude, that one is.

Jeremy, don't read this post please :)

Everyone else, read this post please!

The Blues Brothers: First impressions

Let me tell you about the wonderful person you all know as Roomie. Roomie was out in that hot misery that some people call a city. He was out with a car. The car had a cooler in it. I don't know where either of those things came from, but that's incidental, we don't care about the story of how Roomie became an ice ride pirate. Actually that sounds awesome. Anyway.

Ladyhawke: Second thoughts

I'm sure a lot of you got taught about the old saw, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I'm going to pretend like I don't know that one; if I don't, this will be an awfully short review.

Ladyhawke: First impressions

So today, Tropical Storm Arthur came to visit us, and it...

Whiffed.

It whiffed, but it also took out power intermittently to long-term for a lot of the city and probably the province, too. It definitely got us. Roomie tells me that signs and flags and whatnot were torn down, and all the while I'm just looking out the window and seeing blue skies and bright fluffy white clouds. It looked like the most benign and cheerful disaster ever. So yeah, this movie ended up much later in the day than I wanted.

Rocky: Rocky second thoughts

In 2007 the New England Patriots were coming off a bloodying. They got walloped out of a massive lead by the Colts, lost two wide receivers, and at the start of the season they got in trouble because Belichick was cheating. They went on to win every single regular season game that year and were headed for an incredible perfect record, going right at the Super Bowl where they were favorited over the Giants.

Well, Giants are Giants, and sometimes momentum isn't enough. There was no perfect season, but it was a hell of a ride and one hell of a game.

Jeremy waves hello!

I said I'd put this up, because we got a picture of it and some people are curious. WARNING: This is a picture of a hand injury. Don't click if you don't want to see.

Week 4: My overconfidence is my weakness!

...your faith in your good friend Jeremy is yours. BOO YEAH. LOOK WHO'S QUOTING STAR WARS LIKE A MASTER JEDI NOW? Come pretty far in a month, didn't I? :D

Anyway, I was all sure that this was going to be this great back to business kind of week, forgetting two important things: 1) Canada Day, and 2) that it's summer. Allow me to elaborate!

Rocky: Rocky first impressions

Someone told me over on RPGnet that they were getting tired of my first impressions posts because I comment way too much and make it hard to follow. To that I say: yeah, that's probably my bad. Going forward, I hope to do better, and since this is my first sports movie...

Well I might be in trouble.

Star Trek: S1E14 Balance of Terror review

When I started watching Star Trek, I was positive that it was too dated and blah for me to enjoy it. A few episodes in, I forgave the look of the thing and came to enjoy what it wanted to be. Last episode, I finally saw what I thought the show strove to be, coming out bold and entertaining and cementing this troika of men at the helm of a space ship.

Color me blown away.

Groundhog Day: Second thoughts

Apparently the difference between traveling in time and getting stuck in time is a cool car. I'd like to say that I'm confused about why, but really I think I've just met a film that's the definition, more or less, of "allegory."

Star Trek: S1E10 The Corbomite Maneuver review

If you want to play me at tarbish, or at cribbage, I have to warn you in advance that I had very good teachers. Poker is a different story. I really like poker, but good god do I ever suck at it. I can't tell you whether Captain Kirk is any good at it either, since he didn't really have chips on the table, but I can tell you that there was a lot of charm to this episode.

Groundhog Day: First impressions

We're finally back! About time, too. It's not been the best week here in Wonderful Noiseland, but I'm back on my... ass, where I've been all along, but you get what I'm trying to say. Back in the saddle, how about that? So folks, after a long and just super crappy gulf between That Movie and today, we're back with what I've been told is a lighter movie.

Given what the last one was, that tells me nothing.

Week 3: Jeremy has a bad week

Happened sooner than I expected, but I finally had just a really, really bad week. There was bad news, there was stress of the real-life variety, there was trying to find answers to some really inconvenient questions, there was pain, and of course, That Movie. Got to pull myself up and keep going, though. Don't know how many of you are still here after The Week Jeremy Was Gone, but for those who stuck it out, I owe it to you and to myself to grit up and keep going. Sarah Connor style.

Regular posts will resume this week

Sorry about the delays, friendly readers; I've been having a couple of really crappy days with pain management. As soon as I bounce back, we'll be in full form once again.

Alien: Second thoughts

My accident was a terrible experience. My legs are both wrecked; one to the thigh, the other just the lower leg with a patellar fracture. Both feet have been worked on. My right talus has been chipped and the chip dislodged severely enough that they're going to have to go in, take it out and then shine up the cracked area so my tendons don't catch and tear on it. My right shoulder has a severe fracture. I've got a fun scar on my face. My ribs on the right side are bruised. I consider myself lucky; I could be dead right now. Oh yes, there's one more noteworthy injury I got from it. My right middle finger will never fully extend again.

So I can't flip it up at all of you.

Alien: First impressions

Yes! We're doing it! Roomie had a night out, so Lacy's got me set up tonight with one of her favorite movies. Don't know what to expect here beyond it being a controversial choice and everyone wanting me to watch it. Excited? Worried? Little of both. What am I getting into?

Star Trek: S1E6 Mudd's Women review

Well congratulations, Star Trek. It took six episodes to get here. You did a pretty good job. And then I met Harry F. Mudd. I'll let you guess what the F. stands for.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Second thoughts

Whoever recommended this movie knew exactly what they were doing. Star Wars is something I would have loved to have seen as a kid, but Pirates of the Caribbean would have sailed right past me (haha!) if I had seen it when it came out. This is a film packed with special effects, but it's at its best when they're not in play. Funny how that keeps being the case. :D

Pirates of the Caribbean: First impressions

Arr. Rum... something. Rum's Caribbean, anyway, and I'm pretty sure it's a piratey drink. Or maybe that's grog. Glog is a spiced wine that some sort of non-French Eurofolk enjoy at Christmas (Jeremies also enjoy it and got to try it this year, it was very nice), and screech is Caribbean run of the most particularly cheap and horrifying sort, which the Newfies try to pass off as something one can drink. They are liars. And probably pirates. So as I was saying, rum is a pirate drink!

Of course, I can't drink anything fun right now, so I'm going to settle in for piracy on the sunny seas with a tall glass of... milk. You know, for strong bones. Oh the irony.

The Usual Suspects: Second thoughts

The deke is a basic part of offense in hockey. The idea is to lead the defender into overcommiting to the wrong direction, trying to get him to get ahead of you and then switching it up while he's too overreached to recover. You deke defensemen, you deke goalies, and The Usual Suspects also dekes goalies. IT IS EXTREMELY RUDE FOR A MOVIE TO DEKE THE GOALIE.

Goddamn do I hate getting deked.

Star Trek: S1E5 The Enemy Within

A friend of mine played as a monk for a while. His Stunning Fist would always be "neck pinch!" whenever he used it; if he didn't say it, someone else would. I got into the habit at one point just because it's what we did. I'm sure at some point someone must have tried to explain it to me, but back then I would have reacted to anything Star Trek with "boring" and moved on. Man, I was a dumb kid.

Week 2: Time travel, liquid metal murder and dinosaurs

I don't imagine anything's going to be topping Star Wars for a while, not for me or for you guys - Roomie says the first Star Wars post has like 1/5th of all the reads on the blog. That's an unreasonable standard to set, though, and this week I got to see a lot of movies that set different standards for action, wonder, great music and in at least one instance just plain no. Also, I'm boldly going where no me has gone before: Star Trek! Let's talk about the week.

Star Trek: S1E4 The Naked Time review

Sulu is also not left-handed. Are there any true left-handed fencers out there? I'll have to find out. But first, the review!

The Usual Suspects: First impressions

The movie title reminds me of one of my favorite laugh lines from Casablanca, delivered by the police captain, himself the funniest part of a great cast. I have absolutely no idea what to expect from this movie, though. Seriously. I have nothing. Genre? Reason I'm watching? I suspect it's a comedy that makes a lot of references to Casablanca, which could be really good since it's a favorite of mine. Anyway, it's time for me to round up The Usual Suspects. :D

Star Trek: S1E3 Where No Man Has Gone Before review

I can appreciate that this was a really early roll of the dice that just got scrambled in release order, but that doesn't really excuse how much it isn't very good at all. It's my own fault, though.

Conan the Barbarian: Second thoughts

Roomie described it as a "classic gamer flick," which means Roomie talks like an old movie because who says "flick" anymore? As you all knew already, of course, he was absolutely right.

If you will not hear me say that I enjoyed this movie, then TO HELL WITH YOU. :D

Conan the Barbarian: First impressions

I played a barbarian once. Didn't go so hot. He was excellent at finding traps, in much the same way that a wooden pole is excellent at finding fire. Still, I played him resolutely right to the end. The end was a mind flayer. I bet it didn't find him very satisfying at all.

So it stands that I could take a lesson in barbarian...ishness... from the original barbarian, the iconic barbarian, the guy who is to "the Barbarian" as Merlin is to "the Wizard." The UR-barbarian, one might say, if one were disposed to describe things as Ur which are not Sumerian cities. I've already got a head start: I'm eating ribs and doing so with great vigor and all the mess that implies. MEAT GOOD. Why no pizza? Because ribs, don't ask stupid questions. Pizza tomorrow. MEAT ANSWER TO ALL QUESTION. I'm in the zone, let's get barbaric.

Back to the Future: Second thoughts

If you're going to make a car into a time machine, do it with style. And always pack spare stolen plutonium.

GOTTA GET BACK IN TIME to write up full second thoughts!

Star Trek: S1E2 Charlie X review

There was a book in the school library that I never read but I remember seeing it numerous times. Space Brat. I'm betting it was all about Charlie Evans.

Back to the Future: First impressions

Sometimes Jeremy has a clever thing to say before the jump break. Sometimes he's got no such thing. Sometimes he's impatient and just wants to get to the movie. This is one of those times.

Star Trek: S1E1 The Man Trap second thoughts

I'm going to keep this one short, because I'm still running off of Jurassic Park energy and I'm sure I'll fall back into talking about that movie if I type for too long. I said I'd be fair to Star Trek, so let's see how I did.

Jurassic Park: Second thoughts

I had two English profs in my first year at university. The second one had a pretty specific paradigm to advance - she was British Indian and her ethnic and cultural background basically set the whole tone for the semester's reading list. It was interesting, but ultimately didn't make for the kind of overview I was expecting when I picked the course. I remember, though, when she told us about the Indian version of Hollywood, called "Bollywood" for some reason. She told us that in India, people demanded everything from every movie, or it wasn't worth their time, so a Bollywood movie would have action, romance, scares, songs, explosions and choreographed dance sequences all in one go.

Jurassic Park has no songs or dancing, but I'm pretty sure it's a gigantic box full of every reason people go to the movies.

Star Trek: S1E1 The Man Trap first impressions

Without further ado, I give you Star Trek. A really old television series. Roomie tells me they remastered these episodes and updated a few of the space shots. I'm going to try to give this series a fair shake; wish me luck!

Star Trek: Starting point

First off: anyone interested in Star Trek specifically or in my upcoming TV show posts generally should take a look at this post. If you don't care about Star Trek, skip right to the end.

That said: let's talk about Star Trek.

Jurassic Park: First impressions

As you may be aware, the last Steven Spielberg movie I watched was all kinds of fun, boasting fantastic action, a great score and a breathless pace that kept me glued to my seat. Not that I was going anywhere regardless but still.

Now when I was a kid someone brought me a present of dinosaur stuff from the Royal Tyrell Museum out in Alberta. Dinosaurs were my thing at 5-6 years old. I could spell Tyrannosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus, and I could also spell Tyrannosaurus Rex. No I didn't have a favorite, why do you ask?

Getting back on topic: I know there will be dinosaurs in this movie. I'm grinning like an idiot.

Terminator: Terminator 2 Judgment Day second thoughts

Folks, let me explain about action movies. John Wayne is in them. They're kind of corny, there's oftentimes a great deal of noise and you get a few opportunities to feel that primitive masculine instinct surge for preposterous reasons. Sometimes things go kaboom. It's nice, light, cheap entertainment.

EMOTIONAL PUNCHES ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THAT DEFINITION. YOU ARE ALL BAD PEOPLE WHO RECOMMENDED THIS MOVIE.

Terminator: Terminator 2 Judgment Day first impressions

We're going to kick this one off not with a witty quip but with a big congratulations for the Los Angeles Kings on their win. I'm pretty sure we all knew that one was coming and I'm sure the headlines would have been good either way - "Kings Crowned Again" vs. "Kings Dethroned" or something yes I know they didn't win last year shut up they got it in 2012 ANYWAY back on track: the Rangers were outclassed but they played one hell of a tight game all the way through to a double overtime. It was tense, exciting, action-packed and why am I talking about all this now?

Because that's what I'm expecting from Terminator 2. :D

Terminator: Terminator 2 predictions

Hey look! A sequel! You know what that means... standalone prediction post! :D

I haven't gotten to do this since Star Wars. SO MANY IDEAS.

Week 1: Jeremy Watches Awesome Movies

I'm going to give this a try in celebration of a whole week completed of awesome movies and the frantic and crazy reactions that went along with them. This is just me talking about stuff from the week and various related thoughts. Everyone should comment on whether this post is something they'd like to see on occasion or if it's a total disaster that should go away and never come back, so I'll know whether the experiment works and what to do or not do in the future. Onward to my brain words!

Terminator: The Terminator second thoughts

Don't really feel like doing this right now, but I'll be back.

 So tempted to just leave that as the whole review. Stupid personal standards.

Terminator: The Terminator first impressions

Two Terminator movies back to back means it's time for a new post tag. Rumor has it this movie is just full of catchphrases I should know. Who knows? At any rate, it's time for The Terminator and I to get acquainted.

Raiders of the Lost Ark: Second thoughts

I can't express how cool it was to see Indiana Jones on film. I had a couple of old Indiana Jones books that I read as a kid and I loved the adventures; I think it's one of the things that drew me to gaming in the first place. Of course all this time I was expecting the movie to be called, you know, "Indiana Jones." The first Star Wars film is Star Wars, after all, and I'm sure when I get around to it the first James Bond movie will be James Bond. Thankfully, I'm getting smarter this week thanks to the mind-expanding experiences of the past... wow that's been six films now! and so it didn't take me long to figure out that I was seeing an already-enjoyed character on film.

Raiders of the Lost Ark: First impressions

Rangers are keeping the series alive, improbably. Fortunately, no overtime means I've got sufficient time to settle in with another new movie!

(By new, of course, I mean new to me. I know you've all seen everything ever, shut up.)

Ghostbusters: Second thoughts

The best, most completely out-there and unpredictable thing in the whole movie, and they put it in the DVD play menu. They really did. It's a good thing Lacy's on the ball about all this or that would have been a big no-no. Seriously, are DVDs only intended for people who already saw the movie?

Anyway, I digress. I was expecting a sort of haunted house thing, where a bunch of bumbling but well-meaning morons pulled an Abbot and Costello Meet The Afterlife routine. I definitely wasn't expecting the story I got, and folks: it was fun. :D

Ghostbusters: First impressions

WHO YA GONNA CALL?

Catchy Halloween song, it's time for me to meet the movie that made you. Tonight we're doing it differently, with a full viewing party of seven, including my roommate and our excellent comment-filtering mademoiselle.

Tonight's forecast calls for thundershowers (no, seriously!), pizza and just a lot of fun.

Princess Bride: Second thoughts

There are movies that sweep you off your feet, that transport you to amazing imaginary worlds full of Munchkins and droids and jinns. There are great films about the passion of love that was lost, love getting found again, love being made brand new. There are epics filled with thrills and tension and the sorts of incredible peril that gets people to sit down for two hours or more to watch a whole story play out in front of them, chases and gunfights and swords made of laser hissing at one another like two bits of the rainbow having a feud. The Princess Bride is not one of them.

But I like it anway. :D

Princess Bride: First impressions

Alright, since this is apparently a standalone movie I'm not going to put up a separate post for predictions and whatnot. I know of this movie even less than I knew of Star Wars. For the record, though, I've enclosed my starting point on Princess Bride just so we're all on the same page.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi second thoughts

It feels like it's been more than two days since I started watching the Star Wars films for the first time. Each of them packs in so much that it's like I've watched far more than a mere three movies. I'm sad that it's over, but I'm looking forward to switching into something new.

The Star Wars trilogy was an awesome way to kick off my journey through popular culture. Mindblowing, gutwrenching, wondrous, dizzying - I think it's fair to say that I was completely swept up in what started as a simple narrative and turned into so much more.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi first impressions

Burger. Frosty beverage. Total lack of readiness. Complete and utter excitement.

I'm on the last film, folks.

Let's do this.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi predictions

Well, now that I've been blown to pieces (and corrected on the title of the last film) it's time for me to get on with it. I need the ending of this series and I need it right now, but I'm not going to deny interested parties one last good chance to laugh at my wrongness before we go in.

I'm so not ready for this.

Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back second thoughts

So this was it, then. This was the big thing, the reason to watch the whole series. What a swerve. I was not ready for that. This film is completely different from the first one, but in so many good ways.

Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back first impressions

That was a long game. Nice to get home to half a pizza and a screen already set up for viewing.

Expectations seem to be high for this one. Me, I don't know what to expect. I'm just excited. Nothing to skip this time, just straight on through. Here goes nothing!

Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back predictions

Everyone told me they wanted this, so here it goes. I'm betting most of these will be a swing and a miss, but a few of them I stand by as really good bets.

Already posted these over on RPGnet, but for anyone who missed them, here's my list of predictions for this movie (I am going to be so wrong).

Star Wars: Star Wars second thoughts

Reading over my first impressions, it all comes right back to me. Folks, I didn't sleep much last night, and while a lot of that was definitely the pizza having its filthy way with me, I'm not gonna lie.

I'm hooked.

Star Wars: Star Wars first impressions

Alright, here we go. Just have to push play.

Star Wars: Starting point

It's this huge pop culture phenomenon. I know it is. I saw an army of Star Wars robots marching in a St. Patrick's Day parade, of all things. People in my gaming group reference things I don't get and then give me this look like I'm a talking ostrich as they go "You know! Star Wars!"

Well, I don't know Star Wars. Yet. I'm certainly about to, though. Turns out there wasn't really much of a choice when it came to what I should review first - as soon as Roomie found out that I'd never watched Star Wars, he put his foot down. So this is going to be a thing!

A quest for pop culture!

I'm Jeremy, aka Wonderful Noise, and I have a confession to make. For 19 years I have lived on this earth and in all that time I have failed to absorb almost any modern contributions to culture. Movies, TV, literature, video games - you name it, I was somewhere else that day. I'm an athlete and tabletop gamer and those hobbies took up a lot of time; I wouldn't have passed them up for anything. For the first time in my life, however, I've got a real Internet connection for personal use, a media library at my disposal courtesy of my roommate ("Roomie"), and a lot of free time to kill. And when I say that, I mean it - I won't be going anywhere for a long while, so I need whatever I can get to entertain myself in the meantime.

The friendly chaps and... lady chaps... at RPGnet's forums have been rattling off a big list of media that I should look at, and this is the place where I will be putting my thoughts. I would post them right on the forums, but for fear of leaks (justified, according to Roomie) we figured that a setup with a sort of Chinese wall going on would work best. I'll still respond to whatever comments come to me pre-filtered by our media-savvy friend (hi Lacy! Thanks for helping!) who will pass along anything that doesn't contain plot details I shouldn't be privy to yet.

So yeah; welcome to my blog! I hope you enjoy reading my reactions to things that you probably saw ages ago and which I am just now (finally!) catching up on!