Transformers 2: Almost Perfect in the Eyes of Devon

I went to see the fabled "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" the other day. I was ready for this movie to absolutely suck no matter what anyone says about it. The first one was pretty good and I figured there was no way for these guys to make another one that was anywhere near being called good.

First thing I noticed, it got a little bit long for me. It could have ended about a half hour sooner and I would have been fine with it. I don't need hours and hours of a movie to make me happy.

The next thing that I didn't really like about the movie was the amount of swearing it had. I do not remember the first movie having this much swearing in it. I thought that was a really stupid move on their part. You don't need swearing in a movie to make it good or cool. I felt like I was being vocally assaulted by a group of middle school boys that just heard a new swear word from a video on the internet and think they are cool for using it. It was a little bit much for me.

Another thing that I really didn't care for was I thought they were trying to be way to funny in parts that didn't need it. Like who were those two mentally retarded Autobots that they decided to put in the movie? Those two were definitely not necessary and I could have done without them. And how about when the giant, construction bot is climbing the pyramid and we get a nice gander at his 'wrecking balls'? That was also a quick little shot I didn't need to see.

One of the other things that kind of bugged me was Sam's roommate Leo....There's not much else to say than the fact that he bugged me. Sorry.

How about those action packed battles though. They were awesome right? Except for the fact that they were so cluttered, everything was moving so fast and the camera was shaking so bad that you couldn't tell what was going on. I think that's why everyone is so in awe about how awesome the battle scenes are, because obviously if you can't tell what's going on, it must be amazing. Just take my advice, watch the movie again and see if you can actually tell what is going on in during the battle scenes. Is that his leg or his head?

All-in-all, I thought it was a lot better than it was going to be. Good second try Michael. Maybe the third time will be the charm and it will be perfect. But until it is, I'm going to keep pointing out the flaws.

Two Thumbs 'Up'?

I think when there is so much hype for a movie that everyone has seen it and everyone knows what its about, I start to form an opinion already. For some reason, it seems like no matter if people really like it or people really hate it, if its a big movie, I tend to pick the opposite opinion than everyone else.

So right off the bat, I didn't like 'Up' because everyone else did like it. It's also a Disney movie which makes me less likely to like the movie because I'm not a seven years old anymore. So 'Up' already had a couple of strikes against it before I walked into the theater.

I just want to say up front, I thought the movie was very illogical, irrational and highly improbable. Let's start with the easy one, Carl floated his house away with baloons....really? If that was anywhere near possible, somebody probably would have done it by now. But sadly, it isn't possible, don't try it. And especially don't try to steer it with the curtains....

Then there's the dogs with the talking collars and the crazy bird that is similar to the Road Runner but is faster and can teleport.... I'm not going to go on though, you've seen the movie, you know how out there it is.

But alas, I am onto my second year of college and probably just can't appreciate the masterpiece of a children's movie that this is. I guess when you look at Disney's greatest classics, there isn't much more sense. The Jungle Book, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Shrek, the list goes on. So all in all, it's another great, off the wall, crazy Disney movie.

Make sure you check out my website, DevonSchreiner.com, and Kevin Loker and I's new podcast, HeyTalkTo.Me.

On Tour

3/9/09

Well as some of you may or may not know I guess, I am a member of the Chamber Singers at the University of South Dakota. We have been on tour now for a couple of days, since the 6th. We have already done concerts in Mitchell, Rapid City and Bell Fourche and we are on our way to Pierre right now to do another. If you haven't gotten a chance to see the concert and would like to see it, shoot me an email and I will reply as soon as I can get to it and let you know where and when the other concerts are.

I am currently on the bus right now, riding with my fellow Chamber Singers and watching a movie. The majority of the bus picked Wall-e.... How does this happen on a bus full of college students? And how was Finding Nemo picked yesterday for the bus ride? I don't get it. Is Disney still that appealing to adults that a bus full of college students chooses to watch them over anything else? I guess I'll just preoccupy myself with my computer here.

Speaking of which, I finally got a new laptop. I got rid of my randomly restarting, unbootable Macbook Pro and picked up a nice, new Macbook Air. Yes, you read that right, a Macbook Air. I never thought I would say that, but I guess here I am. Just so everyone knows, I'm not filthy rich, I sold my old Macbook Pro and got a heck of a deal on this thing and only ended up paying around $200 for this thing. Wouldn't you take a Macbook Air for $200? Ya, that's what I thought. I'll probably do some sort of review on it here in the near future, probably after tour sometime.

But I suppose, I'm going to get back to Wall-e, either that or read my book.....

Movies Lately

So just last night I finally rented '21'. I sat down with my girlfriend and a couple of other friends and we watched it. I don't think it was as good as everybody made it out to be when it was in the theater. When it was on the big screen, I had never heard of it but everybody going to it said is was amazing and that I should see it. I didn't take their advice to go to it, I just rented it now....It's cheaper....

So if you haven't seen '21' yet, its about a couple of MIT students that go to Las Vegas every weekend to make money counting cards because they are smart enough to do it. Then of course trouble ensues, not to give the whole movie away, but you could have probably guessed as much. But I think this movie did about as good a job as you could, making a movie about college kids counting cards. I think it was a well done movie, it just couldn't have gotten any better than about average for me based on the plot of it.

Then a couple of days ago I saw 'The Dark Knight'. I first just want to say that it is not my favorite movie of all time but it was a good movie. I loved the Joker and how Heath Ledger played him. I think that had to be one of the most fun parts you could ever want to play. The whole, I am going to blow things up to make a statement and just because its fun, not because I want anything, is priceless. It gives the villain one up on the hero because he really doesn't care what happens.

But just because I liked the Joker doesn't mean I liked the whole movie. Now Batman....Why Batman do you talk like you smoke a carton a day. I don't get it. You sound dumb. That right there ruins the whole Batman is cool thing for me, (Batman is still cool, just not Christian Bale as Batman). But maybe thats just me, I'll just have to get over it.

That brings us to Two-Face, behind the Joker, probably one of the coolest characters out there. I think that is a cool concept for justice, just give everyone an unbiased 50-50 chance at life. So while the character is cool, what the heck happened to his face? I don't know but I am pretty sure fire isn't that generous. 'I think I am only going to burn half of your face. How does that sound Mr. Dent?' No....I am pretty sure it would have burned all of it, if it burned that half so badly. And wouldn't his eye like kind of dry out without having an eye lid there....Maybe we need to go and rethink everything a little bit and redo Mr. Two-Face a little.....Thanks.....

Ok, One more movie. On a past episode of Our Perspective, Kevin talked about the movie 'Rendition'. So I figured I would go and check it out. I got it home and popped it in and was very surprised. I thought it was a good movie. *Warning, do not get this movie if you do not want to see blood, torture, etc. Also, don't get this movie if you are not interested in the Middle Eastern conflicts and things like the Patriot Act.* So about three fourths of the way through I thought this movie is getting really long and it isn't very good. Then everything started falling into place and I just about crapped a turtle. If you get this movie, make sure you watch it all the way to the end, it is worth it. Again, not a top ten movie I think, but definitely a good one.

So there is my little post about movies I have been watching. Thanks for reading. Make sure you listen to our podcast, vote in the poll, and let us know what you think about everything.