Gluttony and Extravagance

Events: The Utah Arts Festival- Follow Up

2010-07-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

I realize as I write this that there seems to be somewhat of a delay in my covering of events and media. After all, the festival was two weeks ago. Oh well. I promised pictures and now here they are.

Peter Breinholt

I enjoyed my people watching and listening to live music and just all together wandering the square. Caught a glance at Peter Breinholt's performance as well as a few others. I had a BLT Wrap at Lucky 13's stand. I'll just tell you now that there was more meat in this BLT than most hamburgers. It was delicious! I was glad I went. I hope you all made it out for the fest!

Events: The Utah Arts Festival

2010-06-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

Let it begin!

This weekend is marks the 34th Utah Arts Festival, being hosted downtown at Salt Lake City's Washington Square. The largest gathering of visual, performing, culinary and literary artists in the state. The best of of the best from around the beehive state (As well as from across the world) pull their talents over the next four days, and you had better believe I'm going to be taking advantage of it!

I have a sad confession to make. As much as I love the artistic community and the performing arts, I'm surprisingly illiterate when it comes to the latest and greatest. When I pulled up the headliners list off of the UAF's website (link above) the names simply bounced off my retina with no recognition. But then that's why I go to these events. So that my culturally illiterate self gets to meet new friends.

Even though I couldn't put a finger on a single headliner I did notice a lot of local performances that I won't want to miss: Ririe-Woodbury Dance, Ballet West, Wise Guys Comedy troop, University of Utah Jazz Ensemble... the list goes on. There's also a 24-hour Iron Pen Marathon that I plan on following. Never know, there may be the next Mary Shelly there.

Admission is not just reasonable. It's ideal. Dinner and a movie costs more than attending the festival for a day. So grab a date (If you're looking for a good icebreaker event to attend with a certain someone you've had your eye on this is perfect. Think of how cultural you'll come across inviting them to the festival.) and head downtown. Gates open at 12:00pm each day and stay ajar well into the evening.

See you all at the festivities! I'll be there toting around my camera and taking in the sights and sounds. Hopefully this weekend will be full of posts.

Movies: The Losers

2010-04-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight I did something that I rarely ever do. I went to movie based off of castmembers.

I tend to hate films that pull together a ludicrously large ensemble of "A-list" actors and ignore the story. While tonight's film wasn't top billing names, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans caught my eye the moment I saw the posters at the theater. Chris Evans has always been a fun actor to watch, I've personally had my eye on him since his first noteworthy screen appearance in Cellular. Now we get to see him play the geek. Zoe,however, has had me from day one when I saw Center Stage way back when (yes, I watched that chick flick, and yes I enjoyed it). I love her attitude, her look, and the fact that she (for the most part) seems to make fantastic choices in her projects. Some of her most recent hits included Avatar, Vantage Point and Star Trek. Now I get to see her packing a bazooka and blowing up the bad guys? Oh yeah!

So with two of my favorites on board I hurried home to watch the trailer. (Which, by the way, has not been playing! I had no idea the film was coming out till a week before the opening! Whats up with that Warner Bros?)
Anyway, moving on.

The trailer sold me and I hit the showhouse again. When the Vertigo Comics logo came up on screen I found myself getting pumped for whats ahead. (note: Vertigo Comics are a branch of the famous DC comics ie Batman, Superman. Vertigo was the comic brand that gave us V for Vendetta. Nuff said there)

Now this story is nothing new: A group of rouge soldiers breaking the law in order to save the day and clear their good names. So let me just say this up front. You're not going to this film because it's a great new twist on an old story. You're going for the characters.

Jeffery Morgan plays Clay, the harda** team commander that's been set up and left for dead by the absolutely soulless bad guy Max, played beautifully by Jason Patrick. While Morgan isn't much to watch, being the tight lipped leader, his crew is one of the most entertaining troop I've seen put together. From Evan's (the tech guy) lack of mojo, Saldana's (the Money) Sydney Bristow moves to Columbus Short's (Pooch- the wheels)bobble head Chihuahua that magically seems to make it out of every vehicle they destroy and into the next... this show is a purely entertaining ride. It's all about the characters. So for a purely frivolous night of shoot 'em up/blow 'em up mayhem and good laughs it's worth the price of the ticket.

Rating: Rated PG-13 by the motion picture association. I'd definitely agree. Saldana gets topless in scene and of course struts her sexy stuff throughout the show. There is quite a body count by the end of the film, but thankfully not a lot of graphic deaths. (******Spoiler!!!!- part of the body count are 25 kids that are blown up in a chopper. It's a catalyst for the conflict in the film. You don't see anything more than an explosion, but if the thought of kids getting killed makes you squeamish then you might wanna pass or at least show up 10 minutes late to the movie*******) There was very little blood spilled for the amount of men going down in this one. As in all '13' shows the language is out there and they felt the need to drop the, now one-per-film, f-bomb out there.

Audience: So this is an adult date night or guys night out film.

Movies: How to Train Your Dragon

2010-04-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted but I've decided to keep this blog focused on the things I'm passionate about. So you'll probably see a lot more video games and animated films showing up on here and sadly fewer restaurants given that I'm starting P90X and won't be indulging my inner glutton as much.

This week, How to Train Your Dragon.

Dreamworks loosely based this film off of British author, Cressida Cowell's, 2003 children's novel of the same name. While the scraggly young viking, Hiccup, and his befriended dragon are pulled from the book, the adventure aspect was decidedly put in by Dreamworks. After all, you don't break a box office with a 3D film without some eye-popping action sequences and a lot of fire breathing reptiles (Both were beautifully done in this film! Well done artistic department at Dreamworks).

I'll admit going into this that I was hesitant. After all, the studio's track record of bad plot choices encourages me not to jump with joy every time they announce a new film. (Shrek 2-4 anyone?)But something about the trailer caught me and I found myself buying my ticket for the 3D matinée.

I was not disappointed. Beyond the beautifully rendered set and fantastic animation I found myself being invested in the characters. The young generation of vikings are being trained as the newest batch of dragon fighters. This is a right of passage in this village because all they do is eat, sleep and fight these scaly pests. The attitude of dealing with dragons in this world is like our suburban life setting raccoon traps. It's just a way of life.

Among this troop of young would be dragon slayers is the viking chief's son, Hiccup. An intelligent, creative kid with no muscle to be found. He's absolutely worthless as a viking.

Through a turn of events Hiccup takes down one of the dreaded Nightfurys, a breed of dragon that no one has seen before and feared above the rest. Instead of slaying him, Hiccup strikes up a friendship with this dangerous creature whom he calls Toothless (So named for his retractable teeth that disappear into his gums).

With out going more into the story lets just say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride this film took me on. I was also greatly appreciative of the message that is sent to it's young audience. We live in a world with so many prejudices that are passed onto us from our parents. It's nice to see a movie that shows kids to challenge those prejudices. I was purturbed that they felt the need to throw in a romantic interest sub-plot to the film. Why does Hollywood feel the need to press for the "Happily Ever After" bit in EVERY film? Anyway, that would be the only downer I found. So enjoy this film and I would highly recommend the 3D show. Well worth it!

Rating: PG It's family friendly with mild violence. You can't hunt dragons without a little bit of fighting.

Target Audience: Definitely for the whole family, though I would cut the age limit off around 4 or 5 years old. Anyone younger may find it a little too much.

Movies: Sundance: Please Give

2010-02-08T11:13:00.005-08:00

Starring Oliver Platt and Catherine Keener, Please Give is the story of a normal Manhattan Family. An emotional wreck of a mother, a sexually un-satisfied father and acne ridden teenage girl with self-esteem issues.
This families' lives are thrown in with their sickly neighbor's when they purchase her apartment with plans to expand their own living space once she dies. The intended emotional tug was in the relationship that developed with the next door neighbor's daughter, and care giver, Rebecca.

Over a dinner party, hosted by the family, in honor of their soon to be departed neighbor's birthday, the parents (Platt and Keener) become involved in the lives of the care giving daughter and her worldly, baked skinned sister. The emotionally overloaded mother pushes away her own pain by focusing on the pains and disadvantages of others. Naturally she latches onto the daughter who is about to lose her mother while Platt's character attaches onto the busty bronze beauty of a sister who could care less about her mother's death.

Please Give was the standard film festival film in my mind. It was full of deeply imperfect and emotional characters all thrown into a very awkward situation together. Like so many fest films, it lacked finality, it lacked sentiment and most importantly it lacked any sort of ascending action. In the end I wasn't connected with these characters and didn't feel for them as deeply as I should. The only sense of relief I find is in the mother finally focusing her anxiety where it belongs, on her daughter who is in so much need of support. Other than that all we've seen is a husband cheat on his wife, a mother die and no body cares about it.

Rating: I would place this one into the R category as well.

Target Audience: The artsy fartsy indie film crowd that never really understood the concept of a complete storyline from 9th grade English.

Movies: Sundance: Hesher

2010-02-08T11:13:00.003-08:00

For those who follow my other blog, you're aware that I was fortunate to volunteer at the Sundance Film Festival this year. The benefit thereof was free tickets to screenings! Booyah! The Sundance Film Festival can be a pricey event to attend and so I was thrilled to get on as a volunteer. So with the next few post I'll be giving you my take on the screenings I attended.My first film was Hesher, starring Joeseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson and Devin Brochu as the troubled pre-teen, T.J.
T.J. has lost a parent as is clinging to the last object connected with her death, the family station wagon which his dad just sold for scrap. He and his now heavily medicated father (Wilson) have moved in with their aging, and very giving, grandmother. Through a coincidental turn of events, T.J.is landed with two new people in his life, the sweet, protective and beautiful Nicole (Portman) and the 80's rocker, Hesher(Levitt.) T.J. accidentally gets Hesher evicted from the vacant home he's been squatting in. Now T.J. is stuck with Hesher, the embodiment of the name he's given himself, squatting on his grandmother's couch.Hesher's role in this film is that of an irreverent, acid trip Marry Poppins. Forcing himself into this broken home as payback for losing his pad, he inadvertently becomes the voice of reality and reason, making father and son realize they still have each other, and still more they could lose. I have to say I greatly enjoyed this film. The very potent and awkward emotional moments were so true to real life that I felt entirely embarrassed in my seat. The only drawback from this film was it's level of crudity. While excessive use of vulgarity and profanity are common in our society, it comes to such an excess in this film that it distracts from how emotionally beautiful this story really is. Aside from needing to dial down the language, I'd say this was a great film.

Rating: Festival films have not yet been rated by the Motion Picture Association but I'd place this one well into being R for language and sexual crudeness.

Target Audience: College Liberals and all the "Heshers" out there that are still living in the 80s metal world.

Movies: the Princess and the Frog

2009-12-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

Over the years many in my generation have watched the slow, and painful, decline of the Disney Corporation. From the expansion of their parks and resorts, to their pioneering efforts to take on live action films. And the most belittling and disgusting financial tactic, the Disney Sequels. Taking films of their hey-days such as Cinderella, Aladdin, the Little Mermaid and the Lion King, and expanding upon them. "Happily Ever After" no longer existed once the big wigs realized that every screaming little girl holding her Belle Barbie doll could be used to milk more money from parents with a "straight to DVD" hit!
With Pixar holding up the box office for the company no one was worried. Till that fateful day when Pixar's sentence was up and they would be free to go where they wanted leaving the Disney Company stripped bare. Luckily enough for all of us the Pixar's head honchos took the reigns of the once famous feature animation department and brought the powerhouse Disney back to life with the Princess and the Frog.

Once again a new twist on an old fairy tale that only works when it comes with the Disney name on it. (Funnily enough, they make constant reference to the original tale through out the film) The Beautiful Tiana is mistaken for the the Princess of Mardi Gras down in New Orleans. On entering a deal with the cursed frog version of playboy Prince Naveen her kiss lands her in a similar, mucus coated, flipper footed predicament. The rest of the magic carries them through the bayou to meet up with the hillbilly Ray (the loose toothed firefly) and family. Along for the ride is jazz band hopeful Louis, the heavyweight trumpet playing croc.

For the first time since Hercules, Disney has released a film worthy of it's predecessors. MUST SEE! With music by Disney's newly acquired composer from Pixar, Randy Newman. Vocal talent from Dreamgirls' Anika Noni Rose, also including Disney alumni John Goodman.

Rated G by the Motion Picture Association (and rightfully so)
Target Audience- This of course is targeting the kids in the family. Though that's honestly just a cover to make it easier for the parents to see the film as well. This is a film for any audience that has taste. Ain't nothing wrong with adults enjoying an animated film.

Travel, Food, Accommodations: San Diego

2009-09-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

I had a bit a of a disappointment this past week. I was all set to hit Peru starting on wednsday. Sadly I wasn't able to get ALL the time off needed to make the trip so I was forced to cancel. To supplement my loss I used two days to go to San Diego, CA instead. (I live a rough life)

Courtesy of Hostels.com I found accommodations at the old YMCA Building right downtown. For anyone that's used to a luxurious padded hotel room with all of the amenities, this dorm room would definitely not have met you're standards. But for my fellow frequent travelers this was everything a hostel should be. Clean, secure and great staff. All of this on only about $20 a night. The dorm room I stayed in was small but there weren't any squeaky bed frames or annoying roommates. And when you're travelling its more fun to be out traveling, not staying in the room.

Being only blocks from the ocean waters I was dying for some time in the surf. An MTS trolley to Old Town and then a bus ride later and I was sitting pretty on Mission Beach! (well, sitting white and pasty would be more accurate) I love Mission Beach. Just a over a 3 mile stretch of beautiful, hairless beach ape infested, Pacific Coast sands. Warm sun, cold surf and plenty to do. Volleyball, Frisbee, skateboarding, biking, joggin or just people watching. I love that beach! After a few hours of baking I high tailed it back to the downtown area for a quick shower and shave to get ready for the evening.

At the prompting of my sister I trucked it down to the Gaslamp Quarter come dinner time to see what it was all about. Walking down 5th ave is pure ecstasy for one on an empty stomach. Restaurant after restaurant billowing sweet fragrances out onto the street enticing you inward! Steak houses, Grills, Itailian, Irish Pubs... this was the Portobello Rd of eating! I finally rested my eyes on Taka, the best Sushi I've ever eaten. I sat at the bar and watched my personal chef prepare everything right in front of me! The Philadelphia Roll was great, as always, I had a hand of Spicy Scallops, then a cut of Yellowtail and a taste of my neighbor's jumbo shrimp. (it was still moving when they put it on her plate!) I wish I had taken pictures! Ugh, I need a high quality point an shoot camera!
The atmosphere was lively and very friendly. Some of the the clientel, mostly regulars it seemed, were very outgoing when it came to recommending dishes to try. The manager came across as being overbearing, the way she paced the floor watching everything but never associating with her guests seemed cold to me. The experience, on the whole, was fantastic! I would definitely recommend trying the yellowtail! Caught fresh that day and served with rice. Amazing!

After stuffing my face I didn't dare attempt dessert at Chocolat. But the Gelato looked delicious. Definitely putting that one on my list for next time. I walked the avenue watching people and talking till I couldn't stand and hoofed it back to my bed to sleep off the sushi.

Upon waking, the first impression my body gave me was that it was time to eat again. Such a greedy little organ. So I asked the awesome lady at the front desk where to eat. She directed me to Richard Walker's Pancake House. Oh my gosh! I won't comment much on the food because my ability to describe the tastes will fall short of the real deal. I was able to snap this with my camera phone to give you an idea.Southern Pecan Flap Jacks with whipped butter and maple syrup! The pecans were fresh! Not like the hardened crushed ones we get in bags at the grocery store. No, they were hot and light! When combined with maple syrup, the results were purely narcotic for a breakfast lover, like myself. I had to force myself to stop eating when my stomach was screaming for mercy. I regretfully had to leave two bites on my plate pleading to be eaten.

After checking out the Seaport Village, just south of the restaurant, I hiked the 3 miles to the airport in an effort to work off everything I'd indulged in. What's eaten in San Diego should probably not be carried home as an extra inch of fat around my waist. :)

Movies: 500 Days of Summer

2009-08-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

Twenty minutes to show time I noticed an IM from an old friend, Dave, inviting me along to see 500 Days of Summer. A little bewildered I looked up the title. I'm the kind of nerd that checks Apple.com each week for the newest movie trailers and their release dates, and so rarely have I not heard of a movie title that's in theaters.

(Usually when this occurs the film in question is some sort of poorly scripted Indie film filled with a numerous amount of quirky, over-the-top characters driving around in a Volkswagen Bus while listening to Indie music and having therapeutic conversations about how their parents just died and they've lost their way in life only to find it again in the company of friends and a great cup of locally brewed coffee. )

Fearing that this was the case, I was wary to answer Dave's invite to 500 Days. After a quick glance at the trailer, however, I found that it featured Joseph Gordon-Levitt and sported a rather brilliant concept. (Everybody loves a good concept! Come on!) So I ran out the door and made it just in time for the lights to dim.

The best aspect of this movie was the editing. Brilliant, brilliant editing. The general idea behind the film is that you're jumping back and forth through the 500 days in which Levitt and the woman of his dreams, Summer (played Zooey Deschanel) , had together. Reliving their fights, make-ups, flirting, getting together, breaking up and getting together again you get a very un-easy feel of déjà vu. (I did at least) The visuals used to view the timeline were simply perfect. I loved the way they portrayed the counter that told you what day of the relationship you were on. Along with the day, the sketched drawing in the background would change seasons and color to display how well the relationship was going at this point. Not a new idea but visually done so well here! Also, I have to mention the totally Broadway dance number that Levitt breaks out after their first night together! So freakin hilarious!!

The leads portray a twenty-something couple so well! It's almost painful to watch. As the tag-line says, this is not a love story. Remember that when you watch the film. Guy's, I believe, will have a harder time watching this than girls. As I listened to the audience I noticed that most of the exclamations of anger and pain were coming from the guys. The story was definitely written by a male.

I had a hard time with the choice of costumes and music. Let's all go to the coffee shop in my in sweater vest, man-bag and thin tie while you sport your cute but cliché 1950's blouse and we'll listen to music from a local band on vinyl. Okay, so that's a little over the top, but you get the idea.

All in all though I was thoroughly impressed with the film! I loved it! Given the last few films I've seen in theaters I was so pleased to see this one! I'll have to keep my eye on the little known circuit of movies for more like this. Definitely a good one to see.

Break Down:

Rating: PG-13 for sexual material and language
My take on the rating: Very sexual. Not in the sense there was a lot of questionable scenes, just that it was a rather open topic, mostly in the form of humor but there just the same. It was stronger than most PG-13 films. Typical language for a PG-13 film.
Target Audience: 20-30 year olds. It's about adult relationships and life. Not for teenagers, honestly don't think they'd get it.
Suited for: Liberal college student and professionals. Not nessicarily a film for the more conservative crowd. As I mentioned on the rating, a lot of sexual humor so if you're not comfortable with that... well, there ya go.
Recommendation: If the above doesn't turn you off to it, then definitely definitely see this movie! Worth the theater ticket price.

Movies: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2009-07-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

*warning: a few spoilers*

I was thoroughly pleased to see that David Yates would be returning to complete the series after his success on the Order of the Phoenix. In my opinion his visuals are the closest to how I viewed the Harry Potter universe in my mind. He also manages to get a realatively casual performance from the young actors. While some scenes in the movie seem somewhat forced, most of the time Harry and his comrades seem comfortable in their parts. My favorite moments were usually the interaction between Ron and Harry, just talking like teenagers would.

The visual aspects, again, were beautiful. The effects were not over the top or too 'in your face.' So many modern fantasy and sci-fi films lean too heavily on the capabilities of 3D effects. A good director will only use them to supplement the story, not dominate it.
The demon fires and the movement of the Death Eaters still remain my favorite visual creations by Industrial Light & Magic and MPC (Moving Picture Company). A new addition in the computer effects was the details given to the Penseive and the memories as they came into focus. The look of mixing two liquids of different consistency was brilliant!
The only thing lacking, I think, was the look of the Inferi (the Un-dead). Something about their texture and skin seemed too fake. I know they could have spent more time on those. But when you have a few thousand dead creatures crawling around in one scene, texture mapping isn't what you're looking at.

(When I say texture mapping, I'm referring to the way their skin looks, both color and depth. If you look at your skin it has bumps, and contours. The Inferi didn't have any texture.)

As for the story. Well, most out there have read the famous Harry Potter series. This move held to the story fairly well in my opinion. Things had to be dropped of course because of time and story constraints. But over all I loved what was kept.
The aspect of relationships was obviously a priority to the director. The ongoing relationship of Ron and Hermione was treated extremely well, while the newly realized romance of Harry and Ginny was introduced. (Just have to say, I love that Bonnie Wright, the actress playing Ginny Weasley, is turning out to be taller than Daniel Radcliff. Too perfect!) The love stories were fun to watch, though at some points over played. Some of the time spent on the romance could have been dedicated to the rebuilding of the D.A. (Dumbledore's Army from the previous book. Coincidentally the battle at the end was one point that was left out entirely. I was sorely dissappointed by that. I totally wanted to see the D.A. duke it out with the Death Eaters at Hogwarts.) This also meant that there would be no one protecting the castle when Harry and Dumbledore came racing back from finding the fake Horcrux. (Also, didn't like that Dumbledore could apparate within school grounds. I love in the book that they had to fly back from Hogsmead when they saw the Dark Mark over the castle. It created so much more urgency and dread that they were rushing back to a dire situation while the headmaster was already weakened.)

Other scenes made up for some of what was cut. Aragog's funeral for instance. Exactly what I had thought it would be. I was chuckling through the whole thing just like I did in the book. Also, the fight between Malfoy and Harry was great! The colors and the mood of the scene was beautifully done. I was so happy with Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) in this movie. He played it so well! I seriously felt for the kid and the situation he was put in. The new dynamic created by Harry's pity for him was great! Cheer Felton!

The finale was sadly where I felt shorted. While Dumbledore's death was moving (I could have done without the slow-motion shot of him plummeting from the tower. Total Peter Jackson move.) I was sad that they didn't hold his funeral! That was such a powerful moment! How could they drop it!? So the finally that was written into the screenplay was somewhat anti-climatic. Ron, Hermione and Harry sitting in the tower talking over their upcoming mission was deary and slow. I wanted more. Fan fare and an ensemble of everyone we've seen thus far coming to mourn Dumbledore while the three sneak away to plan their next move.

Aside from the loss of the funeral, the movie was really well done! I was happy to see it. Darker, of course, than the others and so probably not suited for the younger Potter fans. But overall, fantastic. Can't wait for the finale films.

Movies: Transformers- Revenge of the Fallen

2009-07-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

Transformers is a guys franchise. I often referred to the first Transformers film as "a moving Auto Trends Magazine cover." Amazing machines and hot women. With such a combo slipping nicely into the overwhelming fan base for the comic book genre films that are making the big bucks, how can you go wrong? Well, there's that little thing called a story.
Now don't get me wrong, I loved the first film. While it didn't have a resoundingly good story itself, it was far better than Revenge of the Fallen. In this sequel we miraculously find that Transformers have been to the planet Earth before Megatron crash landed in the previous film. A few thousand years ago one of them was trying to steal the power of our sun for himself, in turn it would destroy all life in this solar system.
Huh, that's funny. Out of the billions of stars in our galaxy, this douche bag (called the "Fallen" in the movie) had to choose Earth. Okay. Well I'm a sci-fi fan, I guess I can grant you that one stretch.

Well he was beat out by some special blood-line (can I use the term blood-line when referring to living machines? Oil-line maybe?) called the Primes. Obviously ancestors of the infamous Opitmus Prime. Well, with Optimus being dead within the first half hour of the film and the Fallen returning to end life as we know it, eh, you get the picture. For some reason, only a 'Prime' can defeat the fallen. Why? We don't really know. Since Optimus severely got his can kicked by Megatron last time, how is he supposed to beat a super duper ancient transformer? Well he does. Through a daring and dangerous turn of events Sam and Mikaela find ANOTHER all-powerful life-creating source of energy (convieniently found in the desert near Giza. What a poor choice of setting when you're going to be adding in 3D characters with lots of reflectivity. The tones and lighting in the desert do not agree with animated characters!) that brings Optimus back to life. (Could have sworn the Cube was the only one out there, huh...) He takes on the Fallen and saves the day! Wahoo!... wow. All that really needed two hours to show?!

(Oh, point of order. If the Fallen was here centuries ago, why didn't he just sense the Cube was here and take that instead of trying to steal the power of the sun? According to the first film, the Cube was here for just about as long. It's called a continuity clerk Michael Bay! You might want to employ one on your staff next time!)

The largest downer of the film was that Bumblebee, Shia's 2009 Camaro bodyguard, was downplayed to make room for the white trash of the Transformer universe, Skids and Mudflap. Probably the most annoying 3D Animated characters to hit the screen since Jar Jar Binks. I really was hoping they'd blow up these two ghetto baby, Chevy compacts at the finale.
Along with the twins, other characters were kept (the over the top Agent Simmons of Sector 7) while better characters were dropped (the beautiful British computer hacker Maggie and the Secretary of Defense played by Jon Voight).
Compile these directorial cuts alongside the crude and pointless potty humor (I really don't see any reason for robots farting or having genitalia) and bad script writing laced throughout the movie and I'm just depressed. Millions spent and even more millions earned for such a poorly made movie. Michael Bay, you've outdone Disney with your devastating sequel. Well done!

The one positive thing to come out of the movie was the introduction of the character Sideswipe, who was represented by the new Chevy Corvette Stingray. Isn't it beautiful?!

Television: Kings

2009-06-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge television watcher. Don't get me wrong. Back in the day I was a devout follower of the Disney Afternoon lineup. Such amazing viewing as Darkwing Duck, Gargoyles and Chip N' Dale! As I grew up TV seemed to have lost it's potency and so I moved onto other things like Nintendo. A much more powerful and dangerous drug, in my opinion.

As an adult my tastes in television are fairly pretentious. I am only taken in by a strong concept and it has to be followed by an even stronger writing team to keep it up. The only cocktail that satisfies my cravings for mind-numbing entertainment. With Battlestar Galactica having run it's course and becoming immune to the effects of ABC's Lost and NBC's Heroes, my fixes have been few an far between. While Dollhouse is shooting season two I'm starved one might say. Showtime's Nurse Jackie is keeping company for the summer thus far but I've found myself attached to another NBC creation, Kings.

Kings is a very creative re-telling of the Bible's David and Goliath story and the politics that followed up to David's becoming King. The concept is there. The characters pulled me through the first episode and on through the currently running season. The big lacking in this show is the script writing. The underlying story really does have something to it but the writers come to conclusions too quickly and resolutions are given too easily. A good show would carry out these over the course of a season and even a series. The characters of Kings often fall from hating to loving each other and then back to hating all in one episode. Stretch it out people! Come on!

The two character storylines that have grabbed me the most are those of David, with his forbidden love for the princess, and the gay prince of the kingdom, Jack. (played by Sebastian Stan) I'll admit that the "forbiddeness" of David's infatuation with the King's daughter was not well conceived but the followthrough has been somewhat captivating. Plus it's hard to go wrong with a story where love is denied. Everyone eats that stuff up. The fact that we know David will eventually be the King kinda ruins it but the drama keeps ya watching.
The conflict of Jack's situation is this. The Prince of the kingdom just can't be gay. It's unheard of. He's supposed to marry and have a Queen sit at his side, and not the kind of queen we associate with homos. Simple enough to understand and opens up mounds of controversy and story devealopement. He has to play it straight to keep up appearances but lets face it... appearances are only as deep as the media portrays. I also give NBC credit, placing a gay character into a re-telling of a Bible story is gutsy in the wake of Prop 8 and the fight over gay rights these days.

The reason I'm finally writing about Kings while they're mid season is because of episode eight, 'Pilgrimage.' The conflict this week was on the truths we tell and the truth's we don't. Kinda Sunday schoolish for me, I know, but this one hit a button. In this episode David and Jack's paths cross in that Jack's homosexuality and his sister's indiscretions with David are threatened to be made public. The facade Jack has built has been nothing but poison to his life. In an effort to purge what his double life has brought, he offers to sacrifice his reputation to save his sister's. When his sister comments that he's saved her life by protecting her reputation he responds by saying that he really hasn't. He continues, "the truth doesn't get any easier to tell, it gets harder, until it's gone forever." Michelle (the princess) realizes the wisdom of this and confesses to the king about her love affair with David. Catharsis. (Happy Mrs. King?)

While the overall show does tend to be on the weak side this episode hit home. The things we lose by pretending to be something we're not is a common theme these days. So if Kings can continue to pull out episodes like this every now and again it will stay on my Hulu queue. All episodes can be viewed here if you're interested in taking a peak. Not the best of shows to grace my viewing list and probably not going to be gracing my DVD collection, but worth the hour of mind-numbing it gives every week.

Food: Mikado's

2009-06-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

Following a terrible week of work, moving and more work I was fortunate to have a friend introduce me to a new restaurant, Mikado's. Mikado's at the South Towne is buried among other chain establishments such as Rumbi's Paradise Bakery and Chipolte. Paradise aside, I usually won't give any mini-mall eatery's a second thought. And so I was fortunate to have my friend Chad introduce me.

Other than my sister, Amy, I'm the only one in my family that has acquired a taste for Sushi (something that used to prompt a gag reflex even at the mention of it) and so it's hard to find excuses to go out and eat. On top of being alone in my tastes we're inland. VERY inland. Seafood is never what is should be by the time it's refrigerated trailer reaches the kitchen and so I don't often love seafood in Salt Lake. Well I was pleasently surprised by Mikado's.

I'll admit I played it safe and ordered two salmon items, the Philidelphia Roll and the Salmon Crunch. You really can never go wrong with salmon. The Philly has always been a favorite and of the two choices it still is. (Thank you Chad for suggesting that I always get at least one item I love when ordering sushi, its safer) The Salmon Crunch wasn't bad but it wasn't my favorite. We also had the Vegas and the special of the day called the Layton Snap. (every time our waitress, Jackie, named the dish she would pop her hip to the side and snap her finger with attitude.) The Vegas Roll had the best bite to it, which I love. And the Latyon *SNAP* was fried and so had a phenomenal flavor... as most fried things do. This would definitely be a recommendation for Mikato's. Good Sushi for all of us inlanders. どうぞめしあがれ

Music: David Nail

2009-06-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

I know that a great many of my friends and family are not huge country fans and so I keep my love of country music in the closet, as it were. When my buddy Dalin jumped in the passenger seat a few weeks ago and Eagle 101.5 was on the tuner he just turned to me with a look of disturbed bewilderment. I quickly hit the preset for X96 and the awkward moment passed, though I'm sure he's still a little shaken by the experience.

So I continue on with my love of country music in the solitude of my iPod and now here on my blog.

Through a chance meeting I was introduced to a new country artist today (well, new to me) via iTunes 'Single of the Week.' His name is David Nail and he sings country the way it's meant to be. A southern accent, a strong acoustic guitar and good lyrics. No tales about his women leaving him and taking his truck and his dog with her. So for those of you fellow closeted country listeners, go check him out. His single "Red Light" is a free download on iTunes this week and he also has an album coming out next month entitled "I'm About to Come Alive."

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh so visually stimulating...

2009-06-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

Lets get the bad over with first, shall we?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I have grown thoroughly depressed over the past few years with terrible films making money off of their superior predecessors. I get so pissed off at studios that create one great film and then produce four sequels that do nothing but taint the franchise. (Pirates of the Caribbean anyone?) While Disney has been the most rampant offender in this department over the years, 20th Century Fox made it's serious followup felony when they decided to continue the X-Men films without the Director and Writer that made them so popular, Bryan Singer.

After the initial ground breaking of modern comic book cinema in 2000 with Singer's X-Men, the movie industry found a new genre to draw from. Fox knew they were in the lead. So to head up the next wave of comic book heroes brought to the big screen, Fox swiftly signed Singer on for the 'better than it's predecessor' sequel, X2: X-Men United (2003). This film easily blew away Daredevil and Hulk which released in the same year. Then the serpent of temptation slimed its way in.

With the renewal of action heroes Warner Bros was looking to resurrect the long dead Superman franchise and of course offered Singer to breath life back into ancient superhero. Despite the fantastic finale to X2 with the teaser of the Phoenix plot, mouth to mouth with the man of steel was too tempting for him. When Fox said, "it's either him or us" Singer left to work on Superman Returns (2006). The torch was then passed onto Brett Ratner, the man who brought us Rush Hour 1& 2 as well as the Madonna Video Collection. Well done 20th Century Fox.

After the train wreck known as X3 (also premiering in 2009) we all hoped that the X-Men would be laid to rest until Singer decided to come back and resurrect them as he did Superman. We would only be that lucky. Gavin Hood took the reigns with a prequel plot to the now fatally injured franchise. His repertoire gave nothing to indicate that he would be capable of repairing the damage. Wolverines amazing healing abilities would not save him from the two hours of destruction that was to come. Hugh Jackman's testy and pig headed Logan that he worked so hard to embody in the first two films was now gone only to be replaced with a sappy weak character with no real draw. He was downright boring to watch. Not even the action was up to par. Other than Ryan Reynolds interesting depiction of the assassin, Deadpool, most of fight sequences and battles were slow and weakly choreographed. The graphics weren't even right! Wolverine's claws that had appeared so real in the other films now looked like they had been composited in by an elementary school student! ARRRGH! Bad form! I will admit the one redeeming part of this film was the one character that was neglected in the Singer films, Gambit. My favorite X-Men (even now I have an action figure of him on my desk... yes, I'm a dork) and I was not completely disappointed by Taylor Kitsch's depiction in this film. Though he lacked Gambits trademark Cajun accent, the special effects relating to his mutation were beautifully done. I was stoked to see him rip out his bow staff and kick some butt. Sadly his presence was short lived and weakly written into the plot so he was not enough to save this one for me.

Needless to say, X-Men Origins, like X3, will not be gracing my DVD collection. I will forever be wondering what really happened to Jean Grey and if she ever became the Phoenix. *sigh* oh well...

Next up to bat, the best film I've seen this year, Star Trek.

Now I will admit that was brought up to be a Next Generation kinda 'trekky' but J.J. Abrams has changed my religion. With the re-invention of the Original Series' crew Abrams has single handedly saved the deceased franchise. The slow death following Voyager and DS9 was completed by the lack luster series Enterprise. With no chance of continuing the Next Generation cast after the failure of Nemesis, it looked like Star Trek's 39 years of traveling the stars was over. Thank you Abrams for stepping in there.

Like Mission Impossible 3, Star Trek has proved that Abrams should stick to movies and not television. Had Alias or Lost been movies or even mini-series they would have never become so... well, lost. He has a knack for creating entertaining relationships withing extenuating circumstances. In Alias, Jennifer Garner's character, Sydney, had to walk the fine line of being a double agent working for the CIA with her estranged father as the only person she can trust. In Lost Abrams dropped, literally, a group of strangers on a uncharted island and put them through the paces of trying to survive the wild and each other. In Star Trek with a little bit of time travel and some planetwide destruction he brings the crew of the USS Enterprise together as comrades, sets up a captivating love triangle (Kirk, Spock and Uhura), and rebuilds the Star Trek Universe all within two hours! And what a beautiful bunch of comrades! Seriously!

I don't remember the crew of the original 1701 being that good to look at. Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana alone are enough reason to go see this film. Lots of visual stimulus. Not just from the crew either.

Industrial Light & Magic out did themselves on this film. From the visuals of going into warp to the interaction of actors with green screen (ie, transporters, alien creatures and pyrotechnics) the movie was flawlessly gorgeous. I am so mad that I missed the IMAX engagement cause I'm sure it was borderline orgasmic! (sorry, but that was the only adjective to describe the digital beauty of the film) Anyway, nuff said. This one will definitely be sitting among the prestigious DVD collection once it's released.

Till then I have to see it at least three more times to catch all of the trekky references.

Disney/Pixar's 'UP'

2009-05-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

The trailers have kept me captivated for months and the days on my calendar have been slowly ticking down to the release of Pixar's newest creation, Up. You have to understand that being an animator and student of digital arts I have been impatiently watching the trailer for this film since it was released last year.

First off, I have to admit that Up didn't reach the same level that other Pixar movies have for me. The story moved altogether too quickly in some places and didn't seem to give enough in others. That said, I was far from disappointed. The characters were definitely up to par with Pixar's game, Doug the Dog being my personal favorite. And above all else the studio continued their excellence in story telling.

Far beyond anything Dreamworks or Disney Feature Animation could accomplish in a computer animated feature, their focus is still not on the animation but the story. The medium of computer animation remains merely a medium. The main characters, Carl and Russell, are not accurate human re-creations but are certainly captivating in their journey to Paradise Falls. You don't mind the fact that Russell is basically a flesh colored egg with hands and feet or that Carl's ears are polygons. You're too focused on Carl reaching his goal and in Russell finding the father figure that he's been missing. The army of dogs in the film appear so cartoonish in their life like surroundings, but you don't care because you are caught up laughing whenever they see a squirrel.

The art of the movie is brilliant and I'm so glad to see that they have raised the bar on what can be done with computer generated images. From the rainbow in the mists of a waterfall to sunlight as it passes through a thousand colored balloons you're just in absolute awe of what you see.

The movie is more frightening and a little more serious than previous Pixar releases. With the sight of blood on a cartoon character and some very touching and sad themes involving death and promises you may want to think twice if you're taking kids that don't like scary parts in movies. Still, do not miss this one. I will be seeing it again in "Disney 3D" as soon as I can.

On a related note, Disney/Pixar has announced their next film for June 2010. I've been scared to death they'd try to pull this one off, but lets hope they amaze me. Pixar's Toy Story 3 is official and the release date set for the 18th of June next year. You can view the teaser here.

Coming Up: Wacom's Bamboo, Google's Android on the G1 as well as reviews of Star Trek and X-men Origins.

"Do you know what your sin is?"

2009-05-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

"Heck, I'm a fan of all seven"

Welcome to Gluttony and Extravagance. Yes, this blog is named for the first two of the Seven Deadly Sins. I can honestly admit that these are my favorite sins on so many levels. I love my toys, my entertainment, my food, my food, my machines and my food. Those things most often referred to as "the finer things" in life.

While I know that these aren't the most important aspects of living, I merely acknowledge that they sure make it easier. It's important to find a good movie to take the kids too, or dine at a great restaurant on those rare occasions that you find a sitter. For those of us that haven't acquired a spouse and kids, or landed that dream job that will help us remain financially stable we look for the things in between. And that's what this blog is about. Mostly just a review of the extravagances that help us keep our sanity.