Josh's blog so he don't forget stuff: June 2007

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Movie Review: Friday Night Lights

Summary: True story about a high school football team and the pressures that can come from all around.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Review: Take the movie Varsity Blues (teen-oriented football film) and subtract out the humor, sex, and emotional attachment to characters and add in more football. That's Friday Night Lights in a nutshell. Lots of football. They take a very brief stab at some character backgrounds, but the viewer doesn't really care what happens to them in the end. Not that great of a movie. On another note, see if you can spot Tim McGraw (yes, the coutry singer). He does a great job of acting. Seriously.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Movie Review: The Departed

Summary: Two guys from opposite sides of the law meet with lots of bloodshed, violence, and twists.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10

Review: Huge cast of actors. Jack Nicholson was great. But, overall all, it was all blood and violence and not a great ending. The first third of the movie was kind of slow, but it was the setup. So, I'm okay with that. The middle half was good. Lots of twists and you didn't know how it was going to wrap up. Well, I guess the writer didn't know either. Disappointing ending.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Movie Review: Ocean's Thirteen

Summary: More of the same. Good plot, excellent thievery, and lots of twists.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review: This is the third movie in the Ocean's movies. I don't want to give away anything, so I will not reveal any of the plot. Just take my word, if you liked the other movies, this will not disappoint. There is not much more I can say. Good Sinatra-era cinematography that has a sort of retro feel. Excellent cast of actors (including two great new additions, click here and here to see who). While this movie is not as hard to follow as the previous movies, it still has some good twists.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Movie Review: The Weatherman

Summary: A fairly depressing movie about a weatherman, his kids, and his divorce. Sounds like a good one to me (sarcasm implied).

Rating: 5 out of 10

Review: Not much to say about it. Weatherman starts to have a nervous breakdown and it affects his career, kids, and ex-wife. It's a comedy (not). Oh, and Nicholas Cage was in it. That doesn't help a movie. Oh well, feel free to skip this one. I've seen much worse, but it was not memorable.

Movie Review: Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny

Summary: The story of how the greatest band in the world got together and saved the world by rockin'.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Review: If you like Tenacious D (a band consisting of two people, Jack Black and Kyle Gass) you will probably like this movie. Otherwise, probably not. The movie is full of music by the "D". But, most of it I have heard before. And the movie is very juvenile. I mean, really juvenile. And I thought they could have done a better job with the ending. Not as climactic as it should have been. But, it's fun. And there is a lot of good music. The "D" rock.

Book Review: Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

Summary: A "true" telling about the vikings and the mist monsters.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Review: A fake true telling about how the vikings lived and the battle against a group of savages called the mist monsters. The story was told through an outsider visiting the vikings. He gets wrapped up in their feud against a warmongering tribe in the mountains. This book was interesting and held my attention through most of it. Fun but nothing that eye-opening.

Movie Review: The Fantastic Four

Summary: Another comic book turned movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review: This was fun. Nothing very deep, at all. Four people get superhero powers and discover how to use them. What this movie is NOT about is the "Fantastic Four" team. It is about how the Fantastic Four got together. At least there is a sequel coming out where they get to do some Fantastic Four stuff. Plus the Silver Surfer will be in that one. Excellent.

Book Review: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

Summary: A very logical argument against the belief in God. OR How to debate those Jehovah's Witnesses when they come to your door?

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review: Have you ever been stopped by some total stranger and asked if you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart? And, did you have no idea what to say? Well, if this has happened to you and you are an atheist or agnostic, this is the book for you. This book is basically a point by point (almost, I will get to that in a moment) debate against Christianity and the belief in God. Dawkins takes all the standard points made by theists and explains why they do not hold water. He also talks quite a bit about the bible and why it should not be a textbook for human morality (much less a history book). All in all, it is a fairly good book. He goes into so much detail that it can seem to drag on in some sections, but I enjoyed it for the most part.

My biggest problem was when Dawkins would mention a major debating point and then say, "Well, I've talked about this in my other book, so I won't talk about it here". He does this a couple times and it got annoying. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book. It probably won't be read by too many theists and get them converted, but that's not really what it is for. It is for those atheists and non-theists that want some ammunition in the anti-Christian arsenal.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Josh's Next Car

Ok, I will need a new car here in about 2-3 years. I've been looking at the market and there is not much that I like. All the cars look the same. So, I'm compiling a list of "different" cars that I will have to keep my eye on. (Click the car names to see their websites)

The Smart Car
(under $12,000, only all gas car on the list, 45 mpg)