Prometheus Review

Last night I saw Ridley Scott's newest film, Prometheus.  Ridley Scott is an excellent and highly renowned Director, probably best known for the Alien series.  Ridley Scott directed this movie.

While most of the cast is relatively unknown, Charlize Theron was in the film, and was one of the better characters, and even participated in one of the movie's two cool moments.

Speaking of, those two moments were quite entertaining.  One involved fire, and the other, surgery.

As far as the non Charlize Theron characters, most of them had lines, and some of those lines caused some people in the theater to audibly react.

The character of David, a robotic robo robot man, elicited the most reaction and was a highlight of the film.

Outside of the aforementioned scenes, other highlights include (spoiler free) and in no order: a pretty waterfall in the first 5 minutes of the movie.

The simple plot allows for anyone to follow along, even babies!  Though the movie is rated R due to about 3 scenes with some minor action, so no babies allowed!  There's also a few twists thrown in there for fun, but don't worry- they thankfully make them very obvious so as not to make you think too much while you're half-asleep and zoning.  They were also nice enough to ask a lot of questions and not answer them, knowing full well that if they answered them the movie would have to be longer, and most people in the theatre would not want the movie to be longer.  That was swell of them.

Finally, the movie should be commended for making me appreciate other movies more, from classics like Alien itself, to even less classic Alien films that no one remembers like John Carter.  Yes.. John Carter.

Thanks for reading!  Remember that if you are going to the movies anytime soon, Prometheus is a movie.

Due to those two cool scenes and a pretty waterfall, I give this movie 1 Guy Pierce in an old suit out of 5.

Flash Animation Review: Fusco & Four Homepage

I am reviewing the splash page for http://fuscofour.com/



Peruse it here.


This web page has QUITE the flash intro. The color choices are extremely pleasing to the eye first of all. Purple is a majestic color, and therefore I immediately get the impression I am at a King's website, one I shouldn't even be looking at with my peasant eyes! This is exciting for me, and instantly intrigues me on a deep and emotionally complicated level.

Additionally, the purple isn't a bright gay homo purple like people of a homosexual variety might put as the main color of their homosexually-themed websites. Excellent decision darkening the color so as not to confuse people!!!

Now let's discuss the Flash intro itself. The simplicity, first of all, should be applauded right away. This isn't a website for the Cirque De Soleil, so a busy, colorful, ridiculous flash intro would be totally the WRONG way to go. Unlike other websites, this flash represents the core fundamentals of the company it is for: professional, classy, welcoming, and not overdone.

The choice to have the two lines meet, then to have the vertical line disappear into oblivion while the horizontal one remains is fantastic symbolism probably only noticeable by the most educated flash enthusiasts! The horizontal line, of course, represents the Public Relations portion of the company. Once it comes onto the scene it will stay there and support you the entire stretch of the way. It is the public face which stays, unchanging in spite of all that is happening around it.

The vertical line is, naturally, the Marketing portion of the company. It appears as a flash then fades off into the outer boxes of our imaginations. It still exists, but remains in the back of our minds silently influencing our everyday thoughts and actions.

The lines of course meet up, showing the relationship between the two fields, then go off in their own intended directions to accomplish what they do best.

Pure genius. Clearly, this flash creator needs to be commended!

Finally, probably my favorite part of the whole animation is the subtle but all too effective way in which the "Click to Enter" button appears in the bottom left, almost quietly enticing you to step further into this fantastic new world, yet not making it seem like you are being forced to. You don't have to click until you want to, after all. It's your life- they are just there to help you market it.. and.. relate to it.. publicly..

Anyway, due to the fantastic design choice, subtle but incredibly intelligent symbolism and design choices, and the fact that the creator is a very good friend of mine, I give the Flash Intro for http://fuscofour.com a full glass of delicious Adobe Flash juice. MMM.

Concert Review: KC & The Sunshine Band

Last night, closing out it's Free Summer Concert Series, Oldies 103.3 Boston FM presented KC and the Sunshine band, FREE at the Hatch Shell.

If you didnt catch this before, this concert was Free. $0. No money!

I can definitely say that this concert was well worth the price of admission.

The hatch shell is a fun venue to go to a concert, providing the weather is good. Last night, the weather was spectacular! We also got good spots on the lawn thanks to friends that had been there before saving a spot. We let them use our blanket, it was a fairly even exchange.

We blew bubbles, I like blowing bubbles.

Now, about the concert. The opening band was a band called.. I think.. Hole in a House? Hole in the Wall? Ball in a Hole? Balls to the Walls?? Anybody know?? Whatever. They were pretty great. They were a capella and did all the instrumentals with their mouths, including, but not limited to: drums. (Perhaps limiting to, I cant remember any other instruments)

They sang covers and some original stuff. I really liked the covers! They were fun to sing along to.

Next was the leading band, KC and the Sunshine Band. I think they also did some covers because last time I checked they didn't sing every single popular disco song in the 70's. I could be wrong though. I am no expert.

The concert was, for the most part, very upbeat and dancey. And I did a lot of dancing. Most had an easy melody to get into so even if you didn't know the song it was easy to pretend. There were four dancers. One of the dancers was good! They also sang, and some of them could really wail. I really have a lot of respect for strippers who are triple threats.

For a brief period they slowed it down. This gave me an opportunity to use a new applications I downloaded on my iPhone which is essentially a virtual lighter to hold up during slow songs. The lead singer tried really hard on these songs to not sound horrible, and his effort clearly was there! He was trying really hard. The dude was also really funny, especially when he made fun of himself.

We didn't catch the very end of the show because we wanted to beat the rush, but a lot of other people stayed for THE WHOLE THING! so I bet the rest of it was good!!

For being a Free concert on the Hatch Shell, and giving me an oppurtunity to dance like an asshole and blow bubbles, I declare that the KC and the Sunshine Band concert was a 1/2 Glass FULL of Disco Deliciousness.

Yay!

Netflix DVD Review: Hot Fuzz

Hmm, Hot Fuzz, Hot Fuzz...

Just saw this, got it through Netflix.

Ok, well, I LOVED Shaun of the Dead. It is one of my favorite comedies and the movie had a real emotional impact towards the end. It was just plain fabulous.

This movie had the same leading duo as in Shaun of the Dead, two very funny actors in their own right. They are also pretty funny in this movie!

This movie parodies Buddy Cop films like Bad Boys II and Point Break. I have never seen those movies, so I didn't understand a lot of the source material. Still, in spite of this, there were jokes in Hot Fuzz. And jokes are good to have in a comedy!

There was one scene that was very funny involving the lead guy from Shaun of the Dead, when he was a cop in this movie. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but it was a funny scene, and I laughed, and anytime I laugh is good if the movie is a comedy.

Due to HOT FUZZ having the two lead actors from a movie I liked a lot, Shaun of the Dead, and due to that funny scene where I laughed, I would say that HOT FUZZ is a 1/4 FULL CUP OF NETFLIX DVD.

MOVIE REVIEW: PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

Since this is the most relevant thing I've seen lately, I thought I would write a little review on Pineapple Express.

The opinions expressed herein are merely my opinion. You may also cite them as fact.

First of all: I saw this movie for free, as an advanced screening in the Loews Boston Common theatre (a gorgeous movie theater which was origionally a hotel, but, BAM: it's better as a movie theater). AND IT WAS WORTH THE MONEY! But here is an interesting twist on an old tale: I would have paid to see this movie!

Going into this movie I was hesitant. As someone who no longer smokes The Great Green Fad I wasn't sure I could relate with the film, or its characters. Certainly not a problem. While this movie IS a stoner film, it is an excellent one than trancends beyond its predecessors with its smart comedy, excellent acting (who knew James Franco could be funny as a pot dealing super-stoner?) and great characters. The relationships between the characters was definitely the biggest positive I could gather from this film. You cared about these characters, and wanted them to succeed, yet you weren't afraid to laugh at them when things went to Hell. The relationship between Seth Rogan and James Franco was also definitely a friendship we were all rooting for, even though it was at times it was bordering on homoesexual. (Note: I am a homosexual, therefore me calling them gay still constitutes as a positive note). Anyway, that just goes to show how well the story works. It was definitely a Buddy Comedy, which is essentially the same as a Romantic Comedy minus all the romance. (I would consider Brokeback Mountain more of a Buddy Comedy than a Romantic Comedy)

One final thing to say about this movie: the last half hour of this movie is flipping awesome. Now, I don't do spoilers, not on purpose at least, so I won't go in depth except to say this movie definitely goes out with a bang. I wasn't expecting this level of ridiculousness from what was seemingly a simple stoner pal movie, but damn this movie definitely had me leaving the theatre smiling.

Anywho, in case you didn't notice, I was a big fan of this movie. It's easy writing a positive review when you've got nothing negative to say.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, due to it's origionality, clever comedy, and well rounded characters, is definitely A FULL GLASS OF MOVIE.

Welcome to Glass Half Full

I live by the mantra, "If you don't have something good to say, don't say anything at all".

Your momma said it when you were 5, and guess what, SHE WAS RIGHT.

That pearl of majestic wisdom is the inspiration for my new blog, "Glass Half Full Reviews".

Yes, I will be reviewing various media pieces, whether it be Movies, TV Shows, etc. or even videogames or Hardware, i.e. iPhone stuff. Whatever I feel like, essentially.

In these reviews, I won't pine over those "negative" remarks that make reviewers seen as such pessimists. Why bother? We all know that the purpose of reviews for the reviewers is to bitch, moan, and be all elitist about things they consider themselves experts in.

The purpose of reviews for the reader? More often than not, it is to justify a purchase they are going to make and regret, or possibly have already made and need some sort of validation for. I am your validation. I am the elixir to rectify your regret. If regret and validation were twins, I would separate them and put them into different orphanages while at the same time making sure they are never adopted.

That being said, I will have an almost arbitrary rating system on things I review.

Things will either be full, 3/4 full, 1/2 full, 1/4 full or yet to be filled.

Hopefully I will have a neat graphic to go along with this, but don't count on it.

Anyway, that's it for my inaugural post. Stay tuned to see my reviews in action. Oh, and if any fancy movie folks want to send along free passes to any of your shows, lemme know, I promise to be nice.


Derrick