betz.org a journey through the very ordinary

This movie was another one of those movies that sold me from the trailer. I think it was when I saw Beowulf that the trailer for Jumper came on and I got it in my head that I really wanted to see the movie. Shame on me! However, before I actually made the final decision to go see it, I took a quick look at Yahoo! Movies, predominantly to get the movie times, but I couldn’t help but see what the critics and the Yahoo! users had to say about it. The critics gave it a C-, while the Yahoo! users gave it a B-. I paused a minute and had the thought that I should just save my money and stay home. Alas, the trailer got the best of my better sense and I decided to go see it anyway.

Sadly, I should have listened to my hesitation. This movie pretty much sucked all the way around. The plot was ridiculous. The special effects weren’t very special. The acting was mediocre. Put it this way, it was so bad that even my nine year old son thought it was bad. That is a pretty good indication of how bad this movie was.

In my opinion, the movie was so bad that I am not even going to waste any more energy trying to give any more detail on why this movie was so bad. Personally, I recommend waiting until this movie hits regular television to watch it. Well… actually, I wouldn’t recommend even wasting the time. Some times, things are better left alone and this stinker is one of them.

That’s all I got to say ’bout that.

There have been many occasions in my life where I have been completely blown away at how sheltered I must be. See, I believed myself to be widely exposed to many types of music, particularly when I was younger. But how in the hell did Jeff Buckley not even hit my radar? I am ashamed that I have never heard one single track of his until just a few hours ago.

I was perusing through the music discovery service called Last.fm. On a side note, if you love music and you haven’t used it yet, start. After this gem of a find, I am now sold on it’s usefulness. After all, I found Jeff Buckley’s music just by happenstance.

It’s hard to peg Buckley’s music into a single category. This task gets even more difficult if you listen to his entire collection. My guess is that if your musical tastes are very narrow, you might not find a lot to like because this artist isn’t afraid to drift around the genres like he were changing his shirt. But as each track flows through your iPod, you come to the sudden realization that this cat has some serious talent. It is nothing short of phenomenal.

I am obviously not the Jeff Buckley expert, being that I have only recently discovered his music. But what I lack in time with his music, I make up for in sheer excitement in the discovery. I am so excited, in fact, that here I am punching away at the keyboard writing about an artist I hardly know, doling out my strongest recommendations that you have a listen for yourself. It’s that damn good!

What strikes me most about the man and his music is his incredible ability to sing almost any style of music. I have heard many others attempt the same thing and it usually somehow falls flat. But his voice just seems so capable of just about any genre. However, where I was totally sold on Buckley was his cover of Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah. I have heard many artists cover this incredible song. I have had favorite versions before, but Buckley’s rendition blows the doors off all the other covers. Cohen wrote this amazing song, but Buckley makes this song totally memorable.

As for Buckley’s music, it’s just plain interesting. As I mentioned, he bounces all over the genre tree, playing whatever strikes him. You can hear an amazing range of influences from all over the world. He also drew inspiration from some of the great rock artists such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and The Who, though you would have to be seriously versed in these artists to really catch the influences. Regardless, what he did, he did it right.

Sadly, this story doesn’t have a happy ending. Jeff Buckley died in May, 1997 when he drown while swimming in Wolf River Harbor, a tributary of the Mississippi river. He died at the age of 30.

But, we still have an incredible collection of music from Jeff Buckley to rejoice in and be thankful for. I, for one, am incredibly grateful for this amazing find.

• Official Jeff Buckley Website

I Am Legend was another movie that I had on my short list of movies where I would actually burden myself to go see in a theater. Furthermore, I like Will Smith and a think he is an endearing actor. Though I don’t much care for his relationship films (read “Chick Flicks”), I can’t point to any particular movie in which he starred in that I wouldn’t see and probably enjoy. He, like Danzel Washington and Tom Hanks, is one of those actors that I really like and will, for the most part, go to see their films.

This movie is yet another adaption of the Richard Matheson novel that shares its title with this movie. As a kid, I had seen the second filmed adaptation of this novel titled “The Omega Man“. This 1971 film, staring Charlton Heston, deviated wildly from the novel; a point I didn’t realize until I had read the Matheson novel several years later. But I have warm memories of watching The Omega Man on television and recall that I really liked it. So there was little question that I was going to see this movie.

Initially I was a bit miffed that the plot line in the Will Smith version changed so dramatically from the book. A tweek here and there is fine with me. But to completely remove key elements from the book, which alters the original meaning, is nothing short of scandalous. I understand that the film producers are trying to weave a tale that is meaningful to today’s audience. But to give the movie the exact title and to change it so dramatically is a bit of a sucker punch in my opinion. I was expecting the book, or rather something close to the book, and what I got was completely different.

Nevertheless, I really liked this movie. Barring the cavernous plot deviations, I still think the film made me not care so much about the changes and rather allowed me focused on what the film was trying to say. I liked the changes they made in the relationship between Smith’s character (Robert Neville) and the dog. This created the setup for some enduring and touching moments and it helped to finalize the film by solidifying the reasoning for why Robert Neville does what he does in the remaining moments of the movie. The ending, just as in the book, gives insight to the title “I Am Legend”, but their meanings are vastly different. The book juxtaposes our notions concerning who is the real monster while the movie takes on a more literal meaning to the word “legend”. Both are equally good and impactful, but their meanings couldn’t be further apart.

One of my biggest critics is that there were a lot of things they used from the book that probably wouldn’t have made a lot of sense if you didn’t previously read the novel. These points were just left unsaid and it made for a lot of unanswered questions. At these points I kept feeling as though I was missing something and found myself drifting back and forth between searching my short-term memory and the film. This made the experience a bit clunky at times. It wasn’t until I let the movie digest and mesh with my memories of the book that those specific scenes began to click and make sense. I suspect those that haven’t read the book are probably going to get a bit lost at times.

But all in all, this movie was certainly enjoyable and I would recommend it whether you read the book or not. It is the typical Will Smith movie, which is actually a compliment.

I finally got a chance to see the movie Beowulf this weekend. I will admit that I was chomping at the bit to see it. I am a real sucker for these types of movies and generally like them when I do see them. Being as excited as I was, I had to see it in 3D IMAX; No exceptions. So I shelled out my $15.00 to see what I thought would be an awesome film.

As the movie started, I was impressed with the 3D. It’s been a long time since I have seen a 3D movie. I believe the technology has come along way since Friday the 13th in 3D. Things were popping out of the screen and it gave you a general sense that you were part of the action. However, the glasses soon became a nuisance. The one size fits all pair doesn’t really work well for me given that I already wear glasses. It’s basically wearing two pairs of glasses for two hours and trying to ignore it. It just doesn’t happen. After a while, I just want to tear the glasses from my face and walk out in frustration.

About 1/3 of the way through the movie I started thinking that the motion capture didn’t look as good as it did in the trailer. I remember being amazed watching the trailer and thinking that I HAD to see this movie. It looked stunning. But as I was there, watching the movie, I found myself often thinking, “It doesn’t look as good as I thought it would.” The animation was touted as being the same technology that was used in The Polar Express, only better. Don’t get me wrong, the animation was good. Probably the best I have seen yet. It was a lot better than The Polar Express. But there were moments that it just looked Shrek-ish to me. I was left a bit disappointed.

Then we have the story itself. The plot was loosely based on the actual Beowulf poem. I had to read the poem in Mr. Hinkle’s high school literature class, so I was familiar with the story. But, to my further disappointment, this screen adaption took many liberties in altering the story line to weave in a modern message. Totally unlike the written narrative, Beowulf isn’t really a hero… he is just a fallible man, corrupt and easily tempted. This isn’t what I understood Beowulf to be. He was a bigger than life superhero who slays dragons and becomes a king. His men respect him because he fights along side of them on the front line. In fact, he is the mightiest and bravest warrior of them all. This movie makes him out to be a sort of chump with a tall tale and a big ego. Though he certainly is brave, he is brash in the act of being brave.

However, I got the message that the movie was trying to convey and it may ring true. But I am kind of getting tired of screenwriters robbing us of our heroes. First, Superman is a deadbeat Dad who refuses to mention his famous tag line, “Truth, justice and the American Way”. And now Beowulf is a boastful looser who happens to be able to kick a little ass when he needs to? What’s next, Santa Claus is a pedophile?

I was disappointed with many aspects of the film, but I didn’t wholesale dislike it. It had its moments and I guess the message was fine if you think about it. But the bottom line is that I just don’t think it was really worth the $15.00 I paid to see it. It was one that I should have just waited for it on pay-per-view.

I guess I just miss the days when there were clear heroes and villains; unlike in real life. But I guess that is why they say that art imitates life. No?