How about some motivation?

Review Tuesday: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

I was a small child when the original Planet of the Apes movies came out. I have very little memory of those movies, but I know that when the remake from a couple years ago starring Marky Mark came out, I absolutely refused to see it. Something wasn't right about the vibe. However, when I recently saw a trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I suddenly felt inspired to see this movie.

A scientist, Will Rodman (James Franco) working for a pharmaceutical company is working desperately to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, less so for the company and more so for his father, Charles (John Lithgow) who is fading fast from the disease. The rest of the movie stands as a warning about drug testing, toying with nature, and the accidental damage that good intentions can create.

I walked in with very low expectations. It's Planet of the Apes. Will it really be provocative? Indeed, it IS! It's riveting. It pulls you in. The bulk of the movie is from the perspective of Caesar, the lone survivor of the original test. You get to see him grow in age, size, and intelligence. The perspective was almost haunting. You get a guided tour of Caesar's life while his and Will's lives start to crumble some 7 years later.

The original Planet of the Apes movies dealt with the major crisis of the time: The Cold War. War breaks out, we destroy ourselves and our planet, and the Apes inherit the Earth. This time around, Will Rodman plays around with the brain and viruses, and unwittingly unleashes a plague on mankind that, we assume, will decimate the human population of the planet while making the apes smarter. It's a brilliant plan to make this Planet of the Apes vehicle roll! Now, the dire warning about disease is topical today and plays well with the story, it's only really introduced in the final moments of the movie. The bulk of the flick is developing the character of Caesar, and his climb to lead smarter apes to freedom.

I'll call this movie brilliant and the ending is wide open for a sequel, though I'm not sure that it needs one. It also makes clever references to the original movies, so pay attention! Oh! And co-star Caroline Aranha (Frieda Pinto) is smoking HOT in the movie!

Definitely worth watching! Be sure to catch it sooner than later! Movies vanish all too quickly these days.

More on IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1318514/

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

amaranthine \am-uh-RAN-thin\, adjective:

1. Unfading; everlasting.

2. Of or like the amaranth flower.

3. Of purplish-red color.

Amaranthine is a form of the Greek amarantos, "everlasting," ascribed to an imaginary flower that never fades.

humblebrag

• Subtly letting others now about how fantastic your life is while undercutting it with a bit of self-effacing humor or "woe is me" gloss.

Uggggh just ate about fifteen piece of chocolate gotta learn to control myself when flying first class or they'll cancel my modelling contract LOL :p #humblebrag

Trivia

In the Star Wars galaxy, what was the name of Han Solo’s home planet?

• Corellia.

History

• Tower of Pisa: construction on the campanile began; it would take 200 years to complete, and the uneven settling of the foundation would cause it to lean (1173)


• Sistine Chapel: the private chapel of the popes was consecrated and its first mass was celebrated (1483)


• Webster-Ashburton Treaty: established much of the border between the US and Canada (1842)


• 1936 Summer Olympics: Jesse Owens became the first American to win four gold medals in one Olympiad (1936)


• Nagasaki: atom bomb called the Fat Man, dropped by the Bockscar, devastated a second Japanese city (1945)


• Singapore: seceded from and became independent of Malaysia (1965)


• Richard M. Nixon: officially left office as America's 37th president and the first one to resign; vice president Gerald Ford became president (1974)

Birthdays

• Jean Piaget (1896-1980): specialist in developmental psychology


• P.L. Travers (1899-1996): author, Mary Poppins; plus, writers Izaak Walton (1593-1683), John Dryden (1631 [O.S.]-1700), Gaston Paris (1839-1903) and Philip Larkin (1922-1985)


• Rod Laver (73): tennis great; athletes Ralph Houk (92), Bob Cousy (83), Ken Norton (68), Brett Hull (47), Deion Sanders (44) and Chamique Holdsclaw (34) were also born on this date


• Eric Bana (43): time-traveler Henry DeTamble in The Time Traveler's Wife; also, actors Robert Shaw (1927-1978), David Steinberg (69), Sam Elliott (67), Melanie Griffith (54), Amanda Bearse (53), Whitney Houston (48), Gillian Anderson (43), Jessica Capshaw (35) and Audrey Tatou (33)

Read more: http://www.answers.com/

Weekend Box Office: 08/08/2011

Box Office

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes $54M
2. The Smurfs $21M
3. Cowboys & Aliens $15.7M
4. The Change-Up $13.5M
5. Captain America: The First Avenger $13M

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the prequel for the 70s franchise, handily took the #1 spot. Last week's top flick Cowboys & Aliens slipped into the #3 spot. My review of Planet of the Apes will be up TOMORROW!

TV Shows Round Up- Aug 2011

For those of you who think that think that just cause it ain't Fall there ain't nothing to watch on TV, you're so fucking wrong. In fact, there is some really good stuff on TV, right now. Here's a round up for some of the stuff, I'm watching currently.

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

All reviews out of 4 stars (and are based on how the show has been up and until this point in time).

Torchwood: Miracle Day- The fourth series from the BBC show (but the first to be in collaboration with the US), this amazing sci-fi drama on Starz is jaw droppingly good. In it, Miracle Day has come and no one dies. Ever. NO matter what happens to them or is done to them. It brings up some great philosophical questions, that coupled with the great writing and acting make for excellent genre television. Last night's ending, involving what is done to those who should be dead, has a real "HOLY SHIT!! THAT'S fucked up!!!" feel to it. Highly recommended. ****

Thundercats- This update on the classic 80s toon, is like the 2001 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe toon, a HUGE improvement over the original. It's darker, smarter, and more mature. The animation is stunning and action scenes are exciting. Plus, Snarf don't talk, characters die, and Lion-O is cool as fuck. And, Mumm-Ra fucking rules! It's only been three episodes (including the premiere which was two episodes in one), but it's already got my fullest attention. Also highly recommended. ****


G4/ Marvel Anime: Iron Man & Wolverine- Like the two aforementioned show, this airs on Friday night, making Friday nights extra awesome and geeky. They are the first of four Animes based on the Marvel Universe (the next two are The X-Men and Blade). Both feature gorgeous animation. Iron Man is decent enough, Wolverine is the better of the two with some exciting and violent action. Neither are great, yet, but are worth seeing, nonetheless. I like the more mature take on Marvel heroes, as opposed to the usual kid-friendly crap toons. Iron Man- **1/2, Wolverine- ***



True Blood, Season 4- After the highly uneven last season, this one has turned out great, so far. The first episode comes off as all over the place, but it needed to be to set up what would follow. Tara is a lesbian (her girlfriend is HOT!!), Bill is the vampire king of Louisiana, Jason is sheriff, and lot of other plot points. Including the fact that now we got witches!!! And, thanks to them Eric is as sweet and nice as a puppy dog. Sookie and him have hooked up, and it seems to only be getting better and better!! It's good to see one of my fav shows back in form. ***1/2



Celebrity Rehab- In the past I have said I hate most reality TV, but there are always exceptions. I watched some of last season thanks to them having Jennifer "Penny Flame" Ketcham on. This season has Sean Young, Bai Ling, and Amy Fisher, so I had to watch. I have to say I really feel for Ling, her story of what happened to her is heart-wrenching. Steven Adler proves that Axl Rose was not the only asshole in GN'R. In all it's good TV, and I'm glad to be watching it more often, than I had been. ***

Voltron Force- By far the weakest of the shows, that I am reviewing this one ain't bad. But, it's not really great either. It's a sequel to the original TV show. And, it makes up for the errors of that show, IE no corny mice or repetitive episodes, but I still want more Ro-Beasts! Also, I do not like the animation. But, my biggest problem are the kids added to the show. They are suppose to take over for our heroes, when they are done. But, they are mostly annoying, and I wish a Ro-Beast would step on them. I haven't watched it as religiously as I should. But, it just hasn't caught my interest as much. Which means, I forget it is on, sometimes. Oh, well. **

TV Shows Round Up- Aug 2011

For those of you who think that think that just cause it ain't Fall there ain't nothing to watch on TV, you're so fucking wrong. In fact, there is some really good stuff on TV, right now. Here's a round up for some of the stuff, I'm watching currently.

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

All reviews out of 4 stars (and are based on how the show has been up and until this point in time).

Torchwood: Miracle Day- The fourth series from the BBC show (but the first to be in collaboration with the US), this amazing sci-fi drama on Starz is jaw droppingly good. In it, Miracle Day has come and no one dies. Ever. NO matter what happens to them or is done to them. It brings up some great philosophical questions, that coupled with the great writing and acting make for excellent genre television. Last night's ending, involving what is done to those who should be dead, has a real "HOLY SHIT!! THAT'S fucked up!!!" feel to it. Highly recommended. ****

Thundercats- This update on the classic 80s toon, is like the 2001 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe toon, a HUGE improvement over the original. It's darker, smarter, and more mature. The animation is stunning and action scenes are exciting. Plus, Snarf don't talk, characters die, and Lion-O is cool as fuck. And, Mumm-Ra fucking rules! It's only been three episodes (including the premiere which was two episodes in one), but it's already got my fullest attention. Also highly recommended. ****


G4/ Marvel Anime: Iron Man & Wolverine- Like the two aforementioned show, this airs on Friday night, making Friday nights extra awesome and geeky. They are the first of four Animes based on the Marvel Universe (the next two are The X-Men and Blade). Both feature gorgeous animation. Iron Man is decent enough, Wolverine is the better of the two with some exciting and violent action. Neither are great, yet, but are worth seeing, nonetheless. I like the more mature take on Marvel heroes, as opposed to the usual kid-friendly crap toons. Iron Man- **1/2, Wolverine- ***



True Blood, Season 4- After the highly uneven last season, this one has turned out great, so far. The first episode comes off as all over the place, but it needed to be to set up what would follow. Tara is a lesbian (her girlfriend is HOT!!), Bill is the vampire king of Louisiana, Jason is sheriff, and lot of other plot points. Including the fact that now we got witches!!! And, thanks to them Eric is as sweet and nice as a puppy dog. Sookie and him have hooked up, and it seems to only be getting better and better!! It's good to see one of my fav shows back in form. ***1/2



Celebrity Rehab- In the past I have said I hate most reality TV, but there are always exceptions. I watched some of last season thanks to them having Jennifer "Penny Flame" Ketcham on. This season has Sean Young, Bai Ling, and Amy Fisher, so I had to watch. I have to say I really feel for Ling, her story of what happened to her is heart-wrenching. Steven Adler proves that Axl Rose was not the only asshole in GN'R. In all it's good TV, and I'm glad to be watching it more often, than I had been. ***

Voltron Force- By far the weakest of the shows, that I am reviewing this one ain't bad. But, it's not really great either. It's a sequel to the original TV show. And, it makes up for the errors of that show, IE no corny mice or repetitive episodes, but I still want more Ro-Beasts! Also, I do not like the animation. But, my biggest problem are the kids added to the show. They are suppose to take over for our heroes, when they are done. But, they are mostly annoying, and I wish a Ro-Beast would step on them. I haven't watched it as religiously as I should. But, it just hasn't caught my interest as much. Which means, I forget it is on, sometimes. Oh, well. **