More Movies & Christmas Eve

Today I continued my movie watching marathon with 50/50 and Happy Feet Two.

I wanted to see 50/50 when it came out in the theater, like most movies but at the time I was in the middle of a lot of crappy stuff (work). Previews and commercials kept tauting this as a comedy and though it had elements of humor I think I cried more then I laughed. I mean the story is about a young man who finds out he has cancer. I enjoyed the acting very much, the story was good and not complicated at all. Watching the main character go through the process of finding out he has cancer, chemo, finding out it's not working and then surgery reminded me of my Dad and how alone and scared he must have felt when going in for his first chemo treatment. My only complaint if you can call it that was the main character not breaking down or crying sooner. He eventually does and it's a huge emotional moment but I think it came a bit too late in the film.. but then again I guess to each his own. I'd call his a Dramady and give it a solid B rating.

Next was Happy Feet Two. I had seen Happy Feet in the theaters and was surprised at how much I enjoyed the first movie. And I have to say this was a pretty good follow up. I don't think the songs were has catchy as the first but I enjoyed the "simple" story and the interactions of the characters. I think if you enjoyed the first movies you'll enjoy the second movie. I rate this film with a B-

After the movies I headed over to my brothers where I would be spending the night since I wanted to be there in the morning when my nephew Kenobi (now 2 1/2) would be coming down to Christmas after Santa was there. This is the first year that he actually kinda understand about Santa and gifts. So I opted to go down tonight and stay over.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!!

Catching Up On Movies

Though I had other things I should have been doing today I sat down and watched three of my DVD screeners.

First up was Puss in Boots. I wanted to see this when he came out in theaters but just didn't have the time. I enjoyed the character from the Shrek movies so it was nice to see him get his own film. I really enjoyed this movie. It was fun, whimsical and had a good story. A very nice addition to the "Shrek" universe. I give this movie a B

Next up was The Help. Again wanted to see in the theater but didn't. I was really excited when I got the screener even though it had been out on DVD for a week or so. Anyways I loved this movie. I thought the acting was fantastic, the character were engaging. I loved the "good" people and hated the "bad" people. Every time I watch one of these movies set in the "civil rights" era it amazes me at how horrible human being can be. This was just over 50 years ago. I know there are still bigots out there, especially in the southern states but how could anyone treat any human beings that way... it just makes me sick to my stomach. At least they showed that not all "white" folks were bad or racists. Wonderful movie a must see for sure. I give this movie an A

And finally I watched Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which actually opens on Christmas Day. This is the Tom Hanks/Sandra Bullock movie about 9/11. Well it's really about a boy who loses his father at the World's Trade Center on 9/11 and how he deals with it. This was very dramatic, lots of emotions. It was heart wrenching at times but also heart warming. It would flash back and forth from 9/11 to one year after 9/11. I love both Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, though Hanks really doesn't have a huge role in this. The movie really relies on the son and he's a very troubled boy (may have Asperger’s), to the point where it's sometimes hard to watch. This is the actor Thomas Horn's first movie role and I think he does a pretty incredible job. Though I can't watch this movie over and over again I'm glad I saw it and I can see it getting some Oscar buzz. I give this movie a B+

So all in all a pretty great day of moving watching. As I've said before if you wish to join me for a movie or two let me know. I have lots of the current movies in theaters and always welcome the company.

Confessions of a Fanboy #5

Spent the day editing and posting Confessions of a Fanboy #5

On today's episode we have the Confession of a Fangirl, Rachael Berkey. Here's a quick bio on Rachael. She has a great blog that you can read HERE , you can also follow her on twitter @bookoisseur, where she shares her musings on books, Star Wars and whatever TV show she’s currently obsessed with despite her lack of cable. She is a writer living in New England and learning the ins & outs of trying to get a book published. Don’t get her started on her favorite book; she may never stop talking.

So take a listen as I chat geek with Rachael.

Download  from Itunes: ow.ly/88ozz or listen/direct download ow.ly/88ozA

Dating... Again

Wow.. never thought I would be doing this again.. but after eight years I'm getting back out there in the dating pool. I hate dating, I've always hated dating but it's a necessary evil to find that person whom I'm going to spend the rest of my life with. The scary thing is I'm currently 40 pounds heavier and have less hair on top then I did eight years ago and I had a hard time then finding someone to love me.

Upside is I'm much wiser and more determined to find that special someone whom I will spend the rest of our lives together. I know what I like and what I don't like. I've learned what I can live with and what I absolutely can't live with. I know now if I see "red" flags, I need to pay attention to them and not ignore them like I've done the past.

It's always tough finding people to date since I don't do the bar scene and most of my gay friends are taken. I do have some straight friends who tell me they have the perfect person for me and then send me a link to their friends facebook page and I read what they like and we have nothing in common, other then both being gay. So I'm not opposed to being set up with someone but please make sure that we have something more in common then just being gay. I may go back to online dating since that is how I found my ex eight years ago.

So wish me luck.. there has a be a geek out there who will love me for me.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Trailer

So they just released a full on 2 plus minute trailer for the first half of the new Hobbit movie. We knew it was going to be playing in front of Tin Tin which starts tomorrow but a few hours ago the buzz started popping up on twitter that they were going to release it at 7pm PST on Apple Trailer website. And about 6:45pm it was up and I spent the next hour watching it 15 times and reading all the very excited buzz happening all over the social media. From the first music note I had chills and by the time it was over and we hear that now famous word "Precious" I was in tears. It's going to be an amazing film. I'm so glad Peter Jackson took control of the movies as they have the same look and feel as The Lord of the Rings trilogy and that is AWESOME!!! Here's the trailer is you haven't seen it yet.

PGA DVD Screeners

One of the big benefit of being a member of the PGA, Producer's Guild of America is that I get movie screeners towards the end of the year. Every year I get about 25 to 30 movies. Most years I would say that about half of the movies I get are ones that I know very little about and really aren't movies I would normally watch. But this year has been a pretty good year and I've gotten some top notch screeners. Of course I can't loan these out to anyone (against PGA rules) but I'm always open for doing movie nights at my house or your place if you want to see some of these. Let me know if you're interested in watching any of these.

The Help * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 * Rango * Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close * Kung Fu Panda 2 * Puss in Boots * The Descendants * Bridesmaids * The First Grader * Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides * Cars 2 * Like Crazy * The Adventures of Tin Tin * Young Adult * Hugo * Super 8 * A Dangerous Method * Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy * Happy Feet Two * Carnage * Rampart * War Horse * Moneyball * Midnight in Paris * The Ides of March * Warrior * J. Edgar * The Tree of Life * Contagion * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo * 50/50 * My Week With Marilyn * The Artist

Geek Love

TLC's "Geek Love" aired two half hour episodes of what could be a new series depending on the ratings. When I first saw the preview I wasn't sure how they were going to portray us Geeks so I was a little tentative when I sat down to watch both episodes. After 2 minutes I was loving it!!

The premise is cameras follow Ryan Giltch, founder of a service called Sci-Fi Speed Dating and these two episodes take place at New York Comic Con. They focused on 3 people in each episode. The characters are endearing, maybe it's because I can identify with them. With the first episode there were 2 guys and a girl. One guy was your average geek, was into video games and comic books. The second guy was really into Star Wars but was extremely socially awkward (he talked mostly in wookie) and the girl was in between having never been on a "real" date and she was 22. When watching this they really make you want these guys to find love.. and by the end when 2 out of the 3 find a date you really feel bad for the one who did not. They then follow those who found dates on their first date and it's cute to see them connect and really hit it off.

The Second episode followed 2 girls and 1 guy and like the first episode you instantly care about these people and want them to find true geek love. One of the girl brought her mom with her to con and there are a few awkward moments when the girl and a guy who connected with her during speed dating are trying to have semi-date walking the floor of comic con with mom by her side. The other two people they are following actually meet and go out on a date and there seems to be real chemistry there.

I hope they pick up this series as I think it's a really cool concept. Yes it shows geeks at their worse (extremely socially awkward) but it also shows geeks at their best (just die hard fans). It shows a wide variety of geeks and that not all of us are basement dwellers with very little social skills. I actually saved these two episodes as I will be watching them again, as there is something endearing about this series that really touch my heart.

Kenny's 1st Annual Christmas Party - Day Two

I was up around 7:30 but stayed in bed and wanted to wait for the majority of the folks to get up. Around 8:30am most folks were up so I went into the kitchen and did a little clean up so I could have some working space to make breakfast.

For breakfast I made eggs, hash browns, sausages, bacon and toast. While I made breakfast folks played a few games of the card game Flux. Breakfast took me a bit longer then it normally does as I was making double the amount of things I normally make. But we finally ate breakfast around 10am.

After breakfast a few of the ladies left leaving 10 people to continue the party, Chris, Josh, Jes, Anthony, Doug, Kevin, Luis, Aaron, Rupert and of course Me... we voted on either doing a hike at Vasquez then coming back for a Christmas movie or doing a movie first then a hike at Vasquez Rocks. Well hike first won out so we jumped into several cars and drove over to Vasquez Rocks. Once again our fearless leader Chris took us on an adventure. We had seen a cave on our previous hike and he wanted to hike to his cave today. We had brought plenty of water this time so I was all for the hike. About halfway to the cave we lost one member of our party. Actually Luis wasn't feeling so hot so he opted to sit and rest while the rest of us continued. We told him we would make our way back to him on our hike back. I didn't like the idea of leaving someone behind, especially since he wasn't feeling good. But he was sitting on a hill that we could see while we continued to hike.

We made it to the cave and hung out there for fifteen minutes or so before starting the trek back. I noticed that we weren't going the same way back and inquired about picking up Luis. Chris informed me that Luis texted him and said he not feeling well and was going to go back to the car himself... yeah I didn't like this idea. Anyways we made our way back to the car and the trip was pretty uneventful. As we were getting close to the car Josh says.. Hey there's Luis, who was just getting back to the car as well. Thank goodness as if we would have gotten back to the car and he wasn't there I would have panicked and called in the national guard to search Vasquez Rocks. The hike was a success and we all had a really good time and as always Chris is a fantastic navigator.

After the hike we headed back to my house to watch a Christmas movie. Again we opted for two movies A Christmas Story and Scrooged. We voted and A Christmas Story won out. So we all gathered into my TV room and watched A Christmas Story. After the movie it was lunch time and as tradition calls for we went to Islands for lunch.

Once we were back from Islands the party was officially over and folks started to pack up and leave. A few folks stayed behind as we were exchanging gifts. I had made extra special homemade gifts for my friends Chris, Anthony and Josh. And I also bought some Star Wars gifts for my buddy Chris. Chris got me some AWESOME Star Wars 12 inch figures in great display cases, there were three C3PO, Redeemed Anikan Skywalker and Aurra Sing. And the final gift tonight was from my buddy Josh who hand made me a golden snitch from Harry Potter.. it was incredibly beautiful and a perfect way to end this wonderful weekend.

I just want to thank Chris, Josh, Jes, Anthony, Doug, Kevin, Luis, Aaron, Rupert, Jen, Anne, Nicki and Kim for making my 1st Annual Christmas Party Extravaganza a success. This has been an incredible year of ups and downs for me but finding you guys (my friends) and celebrating one of my most favorite holidays couldn't have been a better way to end this year.
 

You can see more pictures from this fun weekend HERE