Christmas is here and it’s so hard to believe!  This is Lori and I’s first married Christmas together and we’re excited!  Not much to say here but Merry Christmas to you all.

Few Christmas related links:

There’s a special Jesus Christ Show on KFI 640 tonight from 5 - 7pm, which should be good.  If you miss it and my computer decides to record the show, i’ll have it in my archive for you.

Track Santa:  Original Norad Website and if you have The Google Earth Open This Link to Track Santa.

Also annoy this guy’s neigbors by Turning Christmas Lights On And Off!

King Kong, where do I begin?

Quick Review: One of the best movies I’ve seen and I loved it!!!

It’s hard not to like this movie! I’ll spit out some brief points and hopefully I don’t give away any spoilers…

The CG is phenomenal and proves once again that Weta is king. The King Kong character is so well done and I liked him better than Gollum/Smeagol. Kong was very expressive. It’s amazing to see this in a character that doesn’t speak and only has movement or noises to convey it’s emotions. The relationship between Ann Darrow and Kong is also sweet. The scenes are beautiful and it’s great to see a depression era New York fully recreated. The island is dark and creepy at times (literally)!

The acting. Many people doubt Jack Black, and let me say he did a fine job, didn’t break character and yes people, he can be serious. Overall no one person was larger (in acting ability and size) as the Kong character. Everyone filled their parts well enough and were able to balance the Kong character.

The sound. Kong roars… and you feel it. Make sure you see it with the largest speakers possible. In this film screen size is as important as speaker power. This is probably the best use of surround channels I’ve ever heard!

The Movie’s pace was a bit slower in the beginning (and probably only because they build up the island up so much and you just can’t wait to see it). When the action finally slams in (literally it does) it really doesn’t stop until the movie’s over. There’s a possible tear-jerker in the end!

Overall the movie was AWESOME and I will see it again. I recommend you go see it on the largest screen and biggest sound possible and don’t drink much beforehand, you will not want to miss a minute (however if you do have to pee, try to go within the first ¼ of the movie!).

The Motion Picture Association of America gave an NC-17 rating to a documentary about the MPAA Film Ratings System and the Impact it’s had on American Culture.  The documentary is called ‘This Film is Not Yet Rated’.  Even if this movie sucks, way to send a message MPAA, you morons!

Full Article on Yahoo News 

Lori and I just got back from seeing Chronicles of Narnia; short review: we enjoyed it much!!

Having read this book (The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe) when I was in 4th grade, my recollection of the story was not as detailed as Lori’s, who reads the entire series to her class every year.  She does tell me they did justice to the book and she was satisfied and didn’t miss the little differences, so i’ll take her word.  For me, it’s like being exposed to it for the first time.  The story is fantastic and taking it in at my age now, I can really appreciate it.

Most of the actors were not big names and others were animated.  Some of the dialogue was cheesy at times and it was hard to believe that the kids were nobility, but I guess that’s the beauty of children playing make believe.  Despite the lack big name actors, I had little problem getting into the story and was quite touched through out the movie.

I watched a few documentaries and read articles on about the SFX work that went into making the movie.  So I was excited I was going to see the fruits of having the largest SFX houses in the world working on the same movie.  I found that I spent very little time picking apart the SFX (like I did in the LOTR trilogy).  The scenes were beautiful, I liked seeing the mix of live action and CG animals (fake and real wolves, how cool!) and it was interesting to see mythical / humanistic creatures.  The talking animals at first were a little hard to swallow but you get over this once you see the majestic Lion, Aslan.  Reflecting back on the movie, it’s hard to understand how a CG lion was able to evoke emotion from me, but *he* did!  So if this is the benchmark I use to rate the SFX houses they did well!

Overall, It seems to be targeted towards kids and some of the kid acting was a little lame, but I wasn’t disappointed and I enjoyed the story and the character Azlan the most.  It’s a good family movie delivering some good messages.  I’d recommend you go see it on a big screen and enjoy a good (Disney) movie.  It’s really hard to believe Disney had anything to do with this movie, well the two cheesy songs, that must’ve be their input!!

Lori and I finally made it to see Walk The Line and the short summary is we loved it.

The following is my opinion on the movie:

I will admit that I was apprehensive to see this movie. While I love the music of Johnny Cash, I do not like the usual media attention that surrounds movies like this (Ray Included). This attention is usually given to the singing performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. While I commend their singing efforts, they do not approach the original sound or emotion of the singers they are portraying. This is not to take away from their overall performance, because I think they did an awesome job and I’d see it again.

For me, this movie (and Ray) is purely about the story of the life, struggles and love of the great Johnny and June Carter Cash. Not a, how well / accurate this actor can sing the part, because most actors can’t sing. That’s why their actors and not singers and there are a few who can cross the line. With this point in mind (the actors telling the story and conveying some emotions of their lives), this movie was amazing! Johnny and June Carter Cash’s life story is a very interesting and great (if you can see past the drugs and infidelity) love story.

This is where the makers of Ray got it wrong. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy Ray, I just don’t enjoy all the praise that Jamie Foxx gets for being exactly like Ray Charles. I found that in Ray, I spent too much time thinking, wow Jamie Foxx looks like Ray Charles, and he sounds like him too and I forgot to pay attention to the story. Again, no! While he did a fine job playing and acting like Ray Charles, when it comes down to the music, if you listen to original Ray Charles and compare, Jamie does not convey the same emotion and soul. Both movie have a great and similar story (with the political / civil rights issue being different in Ray, of course).

In Walk The Line, they seem to have taken the approach of knowing they were not going to be able to perfectly match the look or sound (and it doesn’t matter), so they get actors who can effectively tell the story and have a decent likeness (you see this with the Elvis, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis characters). For me, that was enough, my mind filled in the gaps automatically and I was able to sit back and get wrapped up in the love story. Thumbs Up!

In summary, Walk The Line was awesome (and so was Ray). Go see Walk The Line and try not to be concerned with the technicalities of whether the actors could really sing the parts or look exactly like the people. Watch the movie, get wrapped up in the story, and if the music caught your ear, or you liked the singing of the actors, go and buy the original recordings from the artists. If you liked Johnny Cash, I’d recommend to get the American III album. Here he is covering popular songs, which is a cool thing for an artist as accomplished as Johnny Cash, to be so humble to say, I really like that Tom Petty song, I Won’t Back Down or U2’s One. Next you could pick up a greatest hits package (vol 1 or similar), and there you’ll hear Ring of Fire, It ain’t me babe, and walk the line. There are so many good Johnny cash albums and songs, you can take in so many directions.