2006 September » Reviews and More

The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)

4-Star Movies, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Comments Off

Sep 302006

When Fight the Future came out in 1998, director Rob Bowman and creator Chris Carter said they believed they had succeeded in making a movie that not only would advance the plot of the television series, but also appeal to people who had never watched The X-Files before. I had no way of testing that theory back then because I was a regular viewer of the series and pretty much knew everything that was going on with it.

Now that The X-Files has been off the air for so long, I figured this would be a good time to test Bowman and Carter’s claims. I didn’t remember anything about the whole “mythology” story arc or the government conspiracy, so I was basically just going to watch Fight the Future as a stand-alone movie.

I have to say that Bowman and Carter were right! The movie is fantastic on its own and is definitely worth watching even without the benefit of having seen the TV show. I didn’t realize how much I missed the Mulder and Scully banter (I was a total shipper!) and I just loved seeing them together again. The beginning of the movie was a bit slow, but then it picked up the pace and got interesting. Plus, I spotted Terry O’Quinn (whom I now know as John Locke from Lost) — with hair!!! That was a treat in itself.

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, go ahead and watch it. I give it 4 stars out of 5 and think t’s definitely worth your time!

The West Wing: Complete First Season DVDs

Products, TV Shows Comments Off

Sep 292006

The West Wing was one of those rare television shows that I knew was going to be great from the very first episode. If you think back to other popular TV shows (Friends and Seinfeld come to mind), many of the pilot episodes (or even most of their first seasons) were weak. But The West Wing had me hooked right from the start and Season One was a very good one.

I bought the complete First Season box set from Wal-Mart for $19.99. This was a bare-bones copy that had no extra pamphlets or anything inside the box and didn’t even have graphics on the discs. All the episodes are there, and they’re great of course. But I found it a bit hard to navigate through the DVD menus and didn’t think the extra features were anything special.

Overall, this is definitely a fantastic price for an entire season of TV shows, but just bear in mind that you won’t be getting much else for your money.

Grey's Anatomy 3x02: I Am a Tree

TV Shows Comments Off

Sep 282006

I don’t have time to talk about everything that happened in tonight’s episode, so I’m just going to give a quick run-down here. I hope I remember the important things! Overall, I thought it was a very strong episode and still think that Grey’s is the best show on television right now.

Izzie: Off the bathroom floor and out of that prom dress, thank god. But now she’s baking, which is her way of coping with things. That might all change very soon, though, because Bailey comes to see her and tells Izzie that she (Bailey) let Izzie down by not teaching when it was needed most.

Meredith: Decides that she’s going to “date” both Finn and McDreamy at the same time. She’s not going to sleep with either of them, but is going to go the old-fashioned route and actually go on dates. The guys agree to this, so we’ll have to see where this leads.

Cristina: Burke’s parents walk in when she’s in a rather compromising position (i.e. ON TOP of Burke!). Not a great way to meet your significan other’s parents, there. Anyway, Diahann Carroll was fantastic as Burke’s mother; I hope they bring her back for more! I can see some great battles between her and Cristina in the future.

George: Still was being wishy-washy over Callie for most of the episode, but finally got his act together by the end. Looks like they’re all going to have another roomie, as Callie got kicked out of the hospital basement.

Alex: Getting physical with patients, indeed!

Rudy (1993)

5-Star Movies, Drama Comments Off

Sep 242006

Whenever I want to watch an inspiring film about sheer determination and perseverance, all I have to do is pop my copy of Rudy into the DVD player. This is definitely one of the best films I own (granted, I don’t have a huge collection or anything) and I never get tired of watching it.

Rudy is the true story of a young man named Daniel Ruettiger, who has dreamed of playing football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish ever since he was a little boy. He comes from a blue-collar Irish-Catholic family in the Chicago area, and the entire clan gathers around the TV to watch Notre Dame games on Saturday. None of them think Rudy will ever make it to Notre Dame because he’s too small, isn’t the greatest athlete, and doesn’t even have the grades to be admitted to the university.

But Rudy never gives up. He spends time at a nearby college called Holy Cross until he boosts his grades enough to enroll at ND. Once he finally gets there, he has to fight for a spot on the football team. He doesn’t make it, but earns a place on the practice squad instead. His dedication to the team and his never-say-die attitude pay off in the end when the coach allows Rudy to dress for the final home game of his senior year. He even gets to play and records a quarterback sack in the process.

If you don’t get goosebumps and/or well up with tears by the end of that movie, you’re just a cold-hearted person! What a great movie!! I give it 5 stars out of 5.

Movie Review: Friends With Money

3-Star Movies, Drama Comments Off

Sep 222006

I’m a Jennifer Aniston fan, so I’m glad that she’s been able to have a somewhat steady film career now that Friends is off the air. I have to say that I like her much more in dramas/dark comedies like Friends With Money and The Good Girl than in romantic fare like Picture Perfect or whatever.

In Friends With Money Aniston plays Olivia, a single woman whose friends are all married and are much more financially secure than she is. In fact, Olivia is a maid and actually has to work hard for whatever money she can get.

The movie shows the usual complications that arise in situations like this: Olivia can’t afford to go to the same restaurants, parties, shopping, etc. Plus, her friends are always trying to set her up with single men.

Anyway, as the movie progresses, we see that Olivia really does want to be in a steady relationship and really does want to have money like her friends, despite her protests to the contrary. Will she find what she’s looking for? I won’t reveal the ending here, of course, so you’ll have to see the movie for yourself if you want to find out!

I’ll say that it was an ok film. Not as good as it should have been with the cast that it had, but not bad at all. I give it 3 stars out of 5.

Payday Loans

Grey's Anatomy 3x01: Time Has Come Today

TV Shows Comments Off

Sep 212006

TR Knight I can’t tell you how excited I was about the premier of Grey’s Anatomy tonight! This has become my favorite show and I could barely get through the summer without it. Here’s what happened in the first episode of the brand new season.

Izzie, of course, is still suffering from the loss of Denny. She literally spent the entire episode in her prom dress on the bathroom floor in Meredith’s house and wouldn’t get up or even move despite the pleas of her friends. At least we were treated to some fun flashback scenes of the interns’ first days together. Alex told Izzie she wouldn’t make it past the first year, and it looks like he’s going to be right about that.

In other news, Addison has found Meredith’s panties in Derek’s coat pocket, but she doesn’t know who they belong to just yet. What she does know is that Derek was cheating on her, so her marriage is definitely over this time. Maybe.

The hospital scenes were pretty good in this ep. A newborn baby was found in a dumpster behind a high school, and Alex and Addison work together to try to figure out which girl (from a group of young suspects) is the mother.

Meanwhile, Derek and George get quarantined in the locker room for a while as it’s suspected that a patient might have been infected with the plague. This gives them a chance to talk about things, but I don’t really like the Derek/George dynamic. Derek is so smug and condescending all the time… George/Burke is a much better friendship, IMO.

Oh yeah, the whole Finn/Derek/Meredith triangle doesn’t get sorted out yet… but you didn’t expect it to, did you?

More next week!

Essential Japanese Verbs

Books Comments Off

Sep 202006

J-verbs When I first started studying Japanese, I found a book called Essential Japanese Verbs by Setsu Migita and Y. Yoshimura to be extremely helpful. The book features more than 1,000 Japanese verbs and shows the various conjugations of each. Plus, a lot of the entries contain sample sentences in both English and Japanese so you can figure out exactly how to use the verb when writing or speaking.

The only drawback to the book is that it only shows the kanji for the featured verb on the page. Thus, the book isn’t particularly helpful if you’re looking to improve your Japanese reading abilities.

Overall, though, this is an excellent tool for beginner and intermediate language students. The only thing is, I bought it in Japan and don’t know if it’s available in the States. If you can find it, I suggest snapping it up quickly!

Nikon D70 Digital SLR Camera

Products Comments Off

Sep 192006

I want to preface this review by saying that I know next to nothing about photography, digital or otherwise. However, I really wanted a digital SLR camera because I was tired of the long delay between pushing the button and capturing the image on my last digicam. I take a lot of pictures of my husband at the motocross track and the cheap-o point-and-shoot that I had been using simply wasn’t cutting it anymore.

I actually bought the Nikon D70 about a year ago, so there are probably better products on the market now. But I decided to go ahead and write this review in case you have an opportunity to buy a used D70 or something.

Anyway, I really like the D70 for several reasons. First of all, the camera takes very crisp, sharp images — even with the standard lens that comes with the starter kit that I bought. So I can only imagine what the camera could do with a better lens, external flash, etc.

Another thing I like about the D70 is that there’s virtually no delay between clicking the button and caputring the image. What you see in your viewfinder is typically what you’ll get in your image.

There are a lot of different settings that users can fiddle with in order to get the camera to do exactly what they want. I had a friend set up my camera so that it was just like his, and I never touched the settings after that. As a result, I’m not quite sure how advanced users would like the camera’s performance under extreme circumstances.

I feel that I made a good purchase decision when buying the D70. The camera has done everything I’ve needed it to do, and I’ve never had a single problem with it. Check it out!

Brideshead Revisited

Books Comments Off

Sep 182006

Since I have such a huge list of books that I want to read at some point in the future, there are very few titles that I bother to read more than once. But Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh is an exception to this rule. This is one of my all-time favorite novels, and no matter how many times I read it, I never even skip so much as a page. This book is a masterpiece!

Brideshead is told from the point of view of Charles Ryder. It’s told in flashback, as Charles comes upon the Flyte family home known as Brideshead when he is a Captain in the army during World War II. The home has been abandoned due to the war, but it still holds plenty of memories for Charles, as he spent his college days with Sebastian Flyte, and, later, spent a lot of time with Sebastian’s sister Julia.

There are religious themes throughout the book, which I normally would frown upon. But for some reason, I didn’t mind the way Waugh treated the subject. I don’t pretend to understand everything Waugh was trying to say, but I think I took away a good deal from the novel.

On the whole, this is a book that I think you’ll enjoy. Give it a try, particularly if you’ve never read Waugh before. In my opinion, this was the best work of his career.

Thelma & Louise

5-Star Movies, Drama Comments Off

Sep 172006

Some movies hold very special memories for me, and Thelma & Louise is one of them. I clearly remember the first time I saw it with my best friend in high school. We didn’t really know what the movie would be about before we watched it, but we quickly got into it when we realized it was about friendship.

I still watch Thelma & Louise every once in a while, and today was one of those days when I felt like reliving the past. The story is every bit as powerful for me now as it was back when I first saw the film. If anything, it’s a bit sadder, considering the fact that I drifted apart from my best friend soon after high school ended. But I still think of her from time to time, never more so than when I watch this movie.

The story, of course, is about two women who start out on an innocent weekend getaway that goes horribly wrong. Louise (Susan Sarandon) ends up shooting and killing a man after he attempts to rape Thlema (Geena Davis), and the two women end up on the run. They’re trying to make it to Mexico, but the cops, led by Harvey Keitel as Hal Slocumb, are on their trail. I’m sure you know how the story ends: with that freeze-frame of the car heading into the Grand Canyon.

This movie definitely earns 5 stars out of 5 from me!

Older Entries