RandomMuch

June 28, 2009

Surprise Lynching

Filed under: Movies — Tags: , — Arturo @ 11:50 am

So, I was sitting here on the Maccy, lamenting the fact that I only had 9 views for the day and my wife was watching a movie she DVR’ed.  At first I was thinking “only” 9 views, but then I looked at the bright side.  I had 9 “whole” views.  The glass IS half full my friends.  So once I snapped out of it, I caught some glimpses of the movie she was watching and it caught my interest.  Psycho cops, druggies, a family on vacation, and a seemingly familiar visual style that I couldn’t exactly place.  So, I closed the Maccy and finished the movie with my wife.

The movie is “Surveillance”.  Like I said, I didn’t really catch the beginning, but it seemed to start with an attack scene in a hotel room.  Then 2 FBI agents show up to help investigate what looks like the beginning of a killing spree by some real nutjobs.  At this point the FBI agents are overseeing the interviews of survivors of another attack, this time on the highway.  The cops themselves turn out to be off their rocker, and it makes for some uncomfortable watching.  Made me think I might not take a road trip any time soon.  I won’t give away anything, but as I was watching, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching Natural Born Killers sans the psychodelics.  As it got deeper, I remember thinking that it felt very David Lynch-ish.  And as I was doing some research right now before I started writing, it turns out this is a film by Jennifer Lynch and executive produced by David Lynch.  “AHA!!!  I do know my movies.”  So if you liked Natural Born Killers(not Lynch), Lost Highway, or Mulholland Drive but wished it hadn’t been so freaky, then this might be for you.

Bill Pullman always does a good job.  And every time I’ve seen Julia Ormond(not that it’s been many times), she always seems to be that tender girly girl with the big eyed, batty lashes look on her face.  See Sabrina for reference.  But she steps out of that role and does a heck of a job in a stronger one.

I thought this movie was a mild trip.  This would be a good way to test the waters.  If you like this and want to delve deeper in to madness, you can step up from Jennifer Lynch to David Lynch.  Make sure to leave breadcrumbs, you may not want to stay once you get there.

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AC

P.S.

Re: My comment about the glass being half full… my philosophy is “Half full, half empty, who cares?  Just get a damn refill already.”

June 25, 2009

MIchael Jackson Dead.

Filed under: Celebrities, News, Personal Thoughts — Tags: , — Arturo @ 4:12 pm

WOW… that’s all I can say.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/25/michael-jackson-dies-death-dead-cardiac-arrest/

Edit: OK, that was my initial reaction.  I was at work at the time and posted a quicky.  Now that I’ve had some time to get my thoughts together, here’s my real post.

Even now I find it hard to decide how I really feel.  I was a pretty big fan back in the day.  I come from the LP record days and I had Thriller and I bought Bad, that’s right I said it, I bought it.  I thought he was the greatest entertainer I had ever seen.  Maybe because it was my era and I couldn’t really appreciate the artists that came before him.  But let’s be honest.  He was one of the first TRUE entertainers.  He sang, he danced, he put on one hell of a show.  There have been concerts for many years, but very few artists before him could do what he did.  I consider him to be the prototype of the modern entertainer.  Not just as a musician or artist.

On the other hand, he had his faults.  Even I admit that it tainted my appreciation of the guy.  I found myself backing off as a “fan”.  The thing is, in my opinion, no one can say if he was guilty or not.  That’s for him, the children, and God to sort out.  No one outside of that group knows what happened for sure.  Did he mess up by even putting himself in that position?  Of course.  But no one is in the moral or legal position to make a 100% judgement.  Yes, he settled out of court, and a lot of people see that as guilty.  I might agree, but on the other hand, if I was one of the parents, no dollar amount would have sufficed.  I would have fought for life in prison.  I might “settle” for a locked room, no windows, some power tools, and one hour alone with him.  But no money would have kept me away.

Like I said, no one will ever really know for sure.  I look at him as a human being that died.  For him and Farah Fawcett I say: I feel for their families’ loss and wish them all the best.  They both entertained and gave of themselves to the  world.  Goodbye to a great artist, a great actress, and two fellow human beings.

–

AC

June 24, 2009

How do you stop a cell phone from charging?

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, Tech — Tags: , , — Arturo @ 8:16 pm

Take away it’s credit card?  No.  At this point in the advancement of technology, it seems that even taking away it’s power cord won’t stop it.  For us iPhoners, there’s THIS.  That’s right.  A simple charging pad.  Put it by your door, walk in the house and set your phone down with your keys, on the pad of course, and you’re charging.  Ready to go out, pick it up and it’s charged.  No more messing with the cable.  You know it’s happened.  You want to charge your iPhone, but you last used the cable to sync your music.  So you have to go allll the way to the computer room to get the cable, find the adapter, and plug it in.  No more cable.

Now hold your horses.  You may be saying, “But that still limits you to a specific area.  I still have to get up if the phone rings.  Then set it back in the same place.”  Au contraire.  Reportedly, THIS is in the future.  Now you can charge when ever, where ever.  Now those radio waves will be sucked in to the phone instead of our bodies.  All kidding aside, I love technology and this only makes it deeper.  The only thing is I wouldn’t be surprised if companies get together and offer up a huge check to keep this technology in the vault.  Unless of course Nokia sells the tech to Duracel, Energizer and the like, and they all make their own models.

Imagine harnessing this tech and then WiFi being available everywhere… I can take my Maccy(Macbook) any where at any time and write my lovely posts.  How cool would that be?

–

AC

June 23, 2009

Righteous Spill?

Filed under: Movies — Tags: , — Arturo @ 11:27 pm

If the rumors are correct, Arnie and Sly will FINALLY be making a movie together, but not how some of us action fans had hoped.  They’re making a Bollywood love flik.  Too little, too late as far as I’m concerned.  But it is what it is.  There is one team up that I personally wanted to see happen more often.  It has happened three times, but not to my satisfaction.  I am speaking of Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro.  I just finished watching Righteous Kill and felt the need to share.  Let’s take a look at all three fliks while we’re at it.

The first time they teamed up was not to my satisafaction for one reason only.  They were in the movie together, BUT never in the same scene.  I speak of course of The Godfather II.  A fantastic movie to say the least.  It only makes sense that Al playing Michael Corleone couldn’t be in the same scene as Bobby D, being that Bobby was playing the young Don Corleone and Michael wasn’t born yet.  Like I said, great movie, but it left that urge in me to see Bobby and Al really do their thing.

It then took 21 years… that’s right 21 …to make another movie together.  Heat.  Not liked by many, but I loved it.  I am not a big fan of caper/heist movies like the Oceans series, or the Thomas Crown Affair, and such.  This was great because it was a caper/heist film of sorts, but felt more like a drama.  As much as I loved it, I was upset they didn’t do it sooner and more often.

This time it took 13 years to make the latest film, Righteous Kill.  I was SOOO excited to see this movie.  Then I saw the reviews.  I thought, “Surely, these are youngsters that have no idea what they are talking about, I’ll see it anyway.”  But then more reviews concurred and people I knew were also confirming the horrible rumors.  ”It can’t be”, I thought.  But alas, I was convinced and postponed the inevitable.  I finally broke down tonight and it’s true.  This was not their best work individually, much less together.  The story was just another “look this way, now that way, and TADAAA” the ending was nothing like what you thought it would be.  This is happening too often I think.  Writers are trying VERY hard to out smart the audience but few writers and directors have the talent to pull it off.

I guess, in the end  I’ll just have to enjoy their individual movies and dream of what could have been.  I was disappointed, but at least I got to see 50 Cent get shot.  *smile*

–

AC

June 21, 2009

Happy Father’s Day

Filed under: Personal Thoughts — Tags: — Arturo @ 10:41 am

Unfortunately I lost my dad too soon, and I have not been blessed with my own kids.  But I do play dad to my niece and nephew, so I sympathize with all the dads out there.  I extend all my well wishes to you.  I know this day isn’t made a big deal for you like Mother’s Day, but it should be.  Your role is just as important in the raising of your children.  And don’t let the diminished interest in your day make you feel any less necessary.

I believe there is a difference between a father and a dad.  The word “father” seems more like a technical term.  Every man that parents a child is a father.  But not all fathers are dads.  Dad is the one that’s there to play ball.  That’s there to teach how to hammer a nail.  That’s there to watch  movie.  That’s just there.

So to all the dads: Keep up the good work and if today doesn’t reflect your true value, know that there are some of us out there that appreciate what you do.

To all the “fathers” out there:  Get on the ball fellas.  You can make a difference.

–

AC

June 20, 2009

Two Thumbs Way Up

Filed under: Movies — Tags: , — Arturo @ 11:14 am

So, I’m sitting here watching The Dark Knight on HBO for the bajillionth time and I started thinking of Up.  I know what you’re wondering… “How on Earth do you connect TDK to Up?”  The note that Judge Surillo is given before her car blows up?  NO.  When I saw The Dark Knight at the theatre, it became MY best movie experience, ever.  I can’t pinpoint it, but it just sucked me in and captivated me.  I remember feeling like I was treated to two movies in one.  I remember thinking it was lasting a long time, but I didn’t want it to end.  But then came Up.  And now I have a tie.

This movie was great.  It was funny, sad, entertaining, well made… I can’t say enough.  The story was fantastic.  I love how the kid was not your typical blue-eyed, blonde-haired boyscout.  Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but we need to embrace the beautiful diversity of this world.  The dogs are funny to watch.  And I couldn’t help but chuckle when ever the bird was in the scene.  I admit that I am a bit of a softy and one of very few men that will confess to crying during movies.  But animations?  I did shed a tear or two when Mufasa died in The Lion King.  I was very close to my dad and that hit a nerve.  Come on, you know you felt it.  How Simba was alone and scared… *tear*.  Anyway… *clears throat*.  Up got me again.  I won’t give anything away for those “under a rock” people but the first few minutes are some of the most touching you’ll see in any movie, animated or otherwise.  If for what ever reason you haven’t seen it, finish reading this, close that lappy(laptop), and go right now.

You’re still here?  GO!

–

AC

P.S.

I just realized and you’ll probably notice that movies will be my main choice of topic here.  New releases and old favorites.

All things being Equilibrium…

Filed under: Movies — Tags: , — Arturo @ 10:54 am

I used to watch more than my fair share of movies.  Unfortunately, I don’t watch as many as I used to, but I try.  Thanks to Netflix, streaming to Xbox 360, and “other” means, I am trying to catch up on movies I haven’t seen and trying to keep up with current releases.

Whenever I read or hear of a movie that people are buzzing about, or make an interesting remark about, I add it to my list.  One that really caught my attention was Equilibirum solely for it’s comparison to The Matrix.  Which happens to be one of my, admittedly many, favorite movies.  So I added it to Netflix and bumped it in my queue.

I don’t like many B movies or straight to DVD releases(which I believe this was), but this is definitely one of the exceptions.  This movie was well made and entertaining.  Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Taye Diggs, William Fichtner, Angus Macfadyen, and Emily Watson… not a bad group by any means.  If you somehow managed to get The Matrix and Demolition Man to have a baby, Equilibrium would be it’s name.  Good action sequences, interesting plot, and well acted.  Not an Academy Award winner, but it was a good movie.  I’m actually holding on to it so I can watch again with my wife.

Maybe not a must own, but definitely  must watch.  For action fans anyway.

–

AC

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P.S.

Please remember to comment.

June 19, 2009

Locked in a cell… contract

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, Tech — Tags: , , — Arturo @ 6:39 pm

So here’s my first real post.  Let’s hope it goes well.

So, the iPhone 3GS came out today.  I’ve been seeing online, mostly Twitter, that people are happy as clams with their new toy.  I, myself, did not get one and yes it had to do with the surcharge.  If I had pushed a little harder, I think I could’ve gotten some help from a rep at one of my local AT&T stores but I thought hard and I decided not to get one.

First off, it’s too expensive.  I mean, if you’re upgrading from the original iPhone, it’s not too bad.  But if you are mid contract, with a 3G like me, it’ll cost an additional $200 on top of the $199 to upgrade, PLUS $18 just for upgrading.  Also, I am currently paying $90 extra dollars, JUST because I have an iPhone.  Now, let’s say your rebuttal is that I’d still have to pay for a data plan with any other smart phone.  OK, that’s like maybe $20?  That means my wife and I pay $40.  OK.  So I go from paying $90/month to $50/month right.  That’s still $600 a year, JUST for the privilege of saying that I have an iPhone.  Really?

Now let’s look at the device itself.  We get Cut, Copy and Paste!  We should have had it with the first gen.  We get landscape!  We should have had it with the first gen.  We get Universal Search!  We should have had it with the first gen.  And of course, we get MMS.   Not only should we have gotten it with the first gen, but that’s some thing the FREE phones have had since forever for crying out loud.  But the MMS isn’t even complete.  If I want to share my niece looking cute while dancing around, I can’t because there’s NO VIDEO.  Oh, others get it with the 3GS, but not us 3G people.  Not with 3.0.  Why the heck not?!  I know for a fact that it has the capability.  Jailbreak proved that.  So is that how you get people to shell out $399.  Offer them better speed, and make video exclusive to the 3GS?

In the end, I did buy an iPhone 3G last year, so I did it to myself and shouldn’t really complain.  But trust me, if this exclusivity ends next year along with my contract, I will NOT be renewing with AT&T.  I may take my iPhone elsewhere if possible.  Or I may even forget about the iPhone all-together and just get another phone.  It’s like I tell people when they ask me about the iPhone.  “If you want a SUPER cool mobile device that is also an “OK” phone, the iPhone is for you.  If you want a GOOD or GREAT phone that does other things “OK”, go with another smart phone other than the iPhone.  The iPhone is just a way of not having to carry your crappy FREE cell phone and iPod Touch.  Just carry your iPhone and save pocket/purse space.”

P.S.

I wrote this all out on the iPhone I can’t live without.  LOL  </joke>

P.P.S.

Please remember to comment.  I love feedback, of all kinds.

June 18, 2009

Welcome

Filed under: Welcome — Tags: — Arturo @ 10:52 pm

Welcome one and all to my blog. It’s technically NOT my first attempt, but it will be my first serious attempt. The others were just messing around type stuff. I’ve read up on blogging and I’ve read here and there that keeping the theme focused is highly recommended. I don’t like focused. I am the least focused person I know. And my thoughts are far from focused. So I wanted a place to dump my ranDUMBness since my poor wife has gotten more and more jaded when I rant about anything… actually everything. So here it is. Randommuch.com.

I will be posting on whatever I’m thinking most about at the time. I may post once every couple days, I may post two or three times EVERY day. I’m random like that.

If for some strange reason you want my opinion about something, ask and I will consider it. I’m pretty good about giving my opinion. I may post it, I may answer privately. Believe me I know I am no one special, but everyone’s opinion is special when expressed in the right context. Enjoy your stay, however long or short it may be.

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AC

Theme: Shocking Blue Green. Blog at WordPress.com.

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