Foiled By the 5:00pm Saturday Closure...

Apparently that means they don't give out computers past 4:30. Not even at 4:32. Gr. So anyway here I am with various things to talk about.

Let's get some movie reviews out of the way first. This weekend I actually watched three, including two with Matthew Broderick, which was funny given I didn't know he was in either. The first was War Games starring him and Ally Sheedy when they're both like 16 or something. Pretty entertaining, it's from something like 1983 and about a kid accidentally hacking into a computer capable of starting a nuclear war. This was back when U.S. vs U.S.S.R. was big and that's prevalent throughout. The technology is pretty laughable twenty years later though. We'll go with 4 M's just because it held my attention even though it's two decades old. That's pretty tough to do, believe me. Old movies that are supposedly amazing tend to not score too well.

Next up we have The Matrix: Revolutions. Now this one is going to get 4 M's for a very different reason. Saturday night I drove downtown to see what there was to see, and ended up over at a section of the Riverwalk that ends in a mall. The Riverwalk is a pretty awesome place, tons of restaurants with tables right up to the edge of the water, so if you lean towards it you'll just kerplunk on in. Literally every kind of food imaginable, although it was pretty packed given it was a Saturday. I came across my first Hooters, which I guess is a staple around these parts. Also had another first, which was watching a feature film in an IMAX. IMAX are pretty much a movie geek's dream. You've got this gigantic screen taking up most of the room, and a sound system that is pretty much top of the line. This combines to form a pretty awesome movie experience. Either the tickets cost a bit more than average (9.95) or prices are high around here, but in my opinion it's worth it. I'm sure there are discount coupons or something, and now that I think about it I didn't even ask if there was an active military discount which I'm supposed to do all the time now. So anyway, they actually assign seats so if you're a single person and show up 5 minutes before the show you might still snag a pretty nice one, which I did. I literally just happened to be walking through that section of the mall and saw that there was an IMAX, the movie was playing there which I hadn't seen, and the show started in 5 minutes. Spontaneity as usual reigns and boom I was in the theater. So yeah, the fact everyone was several stories high gave this movie a boost. I like many others have to give the nod to the first one as being the best. Still some cool action scenes in this one, but it seems like they've gone from remotely realistic to very unremotely realistic as the series has continued. You have the infamous lobby scene in the first, the "I can take 100 guys at once" park scene in the second, and then the "I'm gonna have a brawl right here in midair while traveling at the speed of light" scene in the third. It just loses its luster for me when it gets to that point, I can't even pretend like it's possible. Pretty confusing ending too, people are dead yet they're not, you think someone just bit the big one then there they are talking to someone. Maybe if I see the trilogy all at once again I'll understand more. I don't see that happening though. I liked the instrumental at the beginning of the closing credits by the way, just as a random sidenote.

Okay last on the list was last night's fare of Glory. Now this had come very highly recommended by someone I've known for quite some time, and I finally got around to watching it about five years later. This one takes home 6 M's for a few reasons. First of all yes I'm probably biased, because yes it's a military/war movie. Second of all, I felt the acting as a whole was pretty amazing on all fronts. The one kink in the armor I felt was casting Matthew Broderick as the lead. Now obviously I'd just watched him as a teenager just beforehand, so trying to imagine him as a Colonel leading batallion is a large pill to swallow. But he just didn't give me the I'm in charge aura, seemed to unsure of himself. Afterwards thinking back I figured part of that was intentional, because he was young and not entirely positive of what he was doing. But even when he was laying down the law, he didn't exactly have me quaking in my boots, whereas any of his costars would have. Still, this one tugs at you, and as usual the fact it's based on a true story gives it even more power.

Yikes longer than average post here, I'll leave some more babbling for the next one (yes, I forgot the quote again).