Saturday, December 20, 2008

Recent article I wrote for a Class


Graduation Tomorrow


Oklahoma Christian University will hold their fall graduation ceremonies at 2:00 pm Friday Dec. 19th in the Payne Activity Center but most non-graduating students will not be there to support their peers.

Guests attending the ceremonies are advised to wear Sunday dress or business casual, but if your not attending you could wear just about whatever you want.

  • Many students at OC who are not graduating do not attend the ceremonies. When asked if he will attend the ceremonies, Andrew Bedford simply said, “no, I will go when I graduate.” Leila Keihani does not plan to attend but has in the past. One student who was interviewed is going, “I’m going because I club sisters, friends and roommates that are graduating,” said Daleena Burton. “If you’re not graduating or know anyone who is why would you want to go?” said Bedford later in his interview.

Some students have other issues with the ceremonies.

  • At OC the graduate students are included in the same ceremony as the undergrads. “Instead of graduating with the undergrads they should have their own private ceremonies,” said Burton who believed that OC should make the graduation ceremony feel more prestigious for graduate students. Bedford believed the graduate students should not have a separate ceremony, “they should be differentiated but not highlighted,” said Bedford. Other students were not sure. “I don’t know, maybe there should,” said Keihani.
  • The second issue is the graduation hoods. OC students have mixed feelings on the OC tradition. “Waste of money,” said Bedford, “but the ones without the hoods are ugly.” “With my family the hood is not something we would probably appreciate as much but for some families that is more important,” said Keihani.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

An Inconvenient Truth

Al Gore stars in a documentary about his slideshow
he uses try and reach people with his message on global warming.

I'm leaving out my rating scales I usually put at the top and bottom of the review because they really don't apply to a documentary.

This is a film that everyone should see, not because Al Gore is completely correct in everything he says, nor because I want everyone to his apparent stupidity. This film supports a side of an issue that has somewhat dropped from public debate lately but should be really important to Americans, Global Warming. This issue should be important whether you believe its happening or not. If you believe global warming is happening you should fiercely voice for change. If you believe the inverse you should loudly voice that we not put in place costly legislation. Which ever side you are on you should listen to every perspective on the issue and this movie is a fairly decent representation of the more"left" side view of the issue.

There are some issues with the movie. The movie is unabashedly one sided. This was to be expected though considering that it was meant to promote a particular side of the argument. Also those expecting an explosion of facts and statistics in the movie will be a little disappointed. Al Gore does present facts and quotes in the movie but those figures and charts will leave you asking lots of questions that he does not try to answer in this movie.

On the movie's official site the same facts from the movie are represented and they ask for your action to curve global warming. Brad MacDonald would like to present a counter view to an Inconvenient truth at theTrumpet.com.

Step Brothers

-Waste-
-Rent it-
-Buy it- 
-Leave Now-


Will Ferrell and John C. Reilley star in a slapstick comedy movie about two middle-aged men who still live with their parents and have to move in with each other after their parents get married.

I did not expect much from this movie and I did not get much.  The entire movie is repulsive and wildly inappropriate.  

The acting in this movie was horrible.  Having said that, the acting is about what you would expect from a slapstick comedy.  It does disappoint somewhat though considering the amazing acting job Will Ferrell did in Stranger than Fiction.  There is an interesting juxtaposition of the serious acting style used by Mary SteenBurgen and John C Reilly who played the parents and the slapstick unserious acting style used by Ferrell and Reilly.

SPOILER WARNING

The plot in this movie is extremely thin.  When you watch this movie for the first time there are really only two pieces of the plot you don't already know.  The first is Brennan, played by Will Ferrell, has a brother Derek, played by Adam Scott, that is supposedly the pinnacle of success and the affair that Dale, played by Reilly, has with Derek's wife Alice, played by Kathryn Hahn.

Robert Ebert also found the movie distasteful and poorly written while the movie goers at Fandango on the average say that you should see it.

EXPECTATIONS:
-WHO?-
-I think I'll take a Nap- 
-Sounds Good-
 
-I Had to See it-


ACTING:

-Get a DAY JOB-
-Ive Seen Worse-
-Decent-
-Real Enough-
-I Was Convinced-
-Was that Real?-

PLOT:
-Shallower Than a Puddle-
-Just Enough-
-Just Right-
-I'm Lost-
-I'm Drowning!-


Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Vantage Point

-Waste-
-Rent it-
-Buy it- 
-Leave Now-


Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox star in a psychological puzzle directed by Pete Travis.


I wanted to see this movie in the theaters when it first came out but I never got the chance.  I had high expectations for this movie and I was not disappointed.


The acting in this movie was very good.  Dennis Quaid gives a good performance but has a few less than stellar moments.  Most of the supporting actors did well.  There was a little girl, the character Anna, who's acting was horrid but she is a young girl so maybe I should cut her some slack.


SPOILER WARNING


The plot in this movie was actually very simple, the president gets shot.  The great thing about the plot in this movie is the intricacies.  The movie goes through the same sequence of events multiple times from the perspective of different characters and adds detail each time.


You can see a positive and detailed review at the Blogger News Network or read what other viewers thought at Fandango.


EXPECTATIONS:
-WHO?-
-I think I'll take a Nap- 
-Sounds Good-
 
-I Had to See it-


ACTING:

-Get a DAY JOB-
-Ive Seen Worse-
-Decent-
-Real Enough-
-I Was Convinced-
-Was that Real?-

PLOT:
-Shallower Than a Puddle-
-Just Enough-
-Just Right-
-I'm Lost-
-I'm Drowning!-


Links:
See the Official Site
See the Rotten Tomatoes Rating
Get the entire movie spoiled at Wikipedia

Monday, November 24, 2008

Madagascar 2



-Waste-
-Rent it Later-
-See it on the Big Screen- 
-Leave Now-


Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, and Alec Baldwin star in an animated blockbuster by DreamWorks Studios.

The original Madagascar was a smash hit and quite enjoyable.  Sequels are notorious for not living up to the level of the original and this sequel is no different. I was hoping for more considering how much I liked the original but it was not there.  

The plot in this movie was a little thin.  Luckily for the movie there was just enough to cover the entire 90 minutes.

This movie's largest problem was originality.  The content relied heavily upon the previous installment which is typical of sequel but this one even more so.

SPOILER WARNING

The group of raised in captivity zoo animals tries to fly back to New York but crashes in Africa.  Alex finds his real father there on a wildlife preserve and a classic struggle ensues for Alex to win his father's and tribe's respect.  The idea of it is over used in movies and became old very quick.  The funniest story-line in this movie is Melman and Gloria.  As some may have expected Melman has feelings for Gloria and the insanity that ensues from that fact becoming public is hilarious.

You can read a more positive review at the Blogger News Network and find out what other viewers thought at Fandango.

EXPECTATIONS:
-WHO?-
-I think I'll take a Nap- 
-Sounds Good-
 
-I Had to See it-


ACTING:

-Get a DAY JOB-
-Ive Seen Worse-
-Decent-
-Real Enough-
-I Was Convinced-
-Was that Real?-

PLOT:
-Shallower Than a Puddle-
-Just Enough-
-Just Right-
-I'm Lost-
-I'm Drowning!-

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Stargate Continuum

-Waste-
-Rent it-
-Buy it- 
-Leave Now-


Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Michael Shanks, and Richard Dean Anderson star in a direct to DVD sequel to The Ark of Truth.

This movie is meant to tie up all the loose ends still left over from the TV series and The Ark of Truth.  The movie does a fairly decent job at doing just that.  The acting in the movie is pretty good.  Just like in The Ark of Truth the performance is on par with the TV show, probably a little better than in most direct to DVD movies, but not as good as would be expected from a movie shown in theaters.  Richard Dean Anderson is probably the best actor in this movie.

I am a fan of the original TV series and so my expectations for this movie were pretty high.  This movie met my expectations better than the first one but receives the same rating because I still would not recommend buying it for your own collection.  If you were a fan of the original TV show then this movie is a must see.  If you were not then this movie would be very confusing.

The plot in this movie is not overwhelming but could be confusing to viewers not familiar with the series.  For fans of the series the plot is thick enough to intrigue but not so thick that it confuses.

SPOILER WARNING

This series is notorious for messing with the timeline, in this movie they do it again.  This time they have to go back and fix problems that Ba'al went back in time and created.  This series has been inconsistent with how time travel should effect the current timeline.  Since no-one has ever traveled through time shows like this one are free to make assumptions about how things work.  This method works as long as a particular series is consistent with itself, this one is not.

You can read a positive but more critical review at The Constant Cynic and see what other viewers thought at Rotten Tomatoes.

EXPECTATIONS:
-WHO?-
-I think I'll take a Nap- 
-Sounds Good-
 
-I Had to See it-


ACTING:

-Get a DAY JOB-
-Ive Seen Worse-
-Decent-
-Real Enough-
-I Was Convinced-
-Was that Real?-

PLOT:
-Shallower Than a Puddle-
-Just Enough-
-Just Right-
-I'm Lost-
-I'm Drowning!-

Links:

Monday, November 10, 2008

Disturbia

-Waste-
-Rent it-
-Buy it-
-Leave Now-


Shia LaBeouf star in a DreamWorks mental thriller directed by D.J. Caruso.

This movie is good enough to watch couple of times but will get boring after that. The acting in the movie was pretty good overall. LeBeouf is convincing as a spoiled problem child who was traumatized by the early death of his father. The killer played by David Morse was very convincing and had the best acting performance in the cast.

The movie's plot is small and simple but adequate for a movie.

SPOILER WARNING

The idea of "Every killer lives next to somebody" gave this movie great potential that it did not quite live up to. Viewers may have trouble making the mental leaps that the movie asks you to make. Early in the story Kale (Shia LaBeouf) and two of his friends are convinced that their neighbor is a killer and start messing with his car and house and stalking him around a local store. The leap from creepy neighbor who kills rabits to psycho serial killer happens to fast and many viewers will be left behind.

You can read a short more positive review of the movie at Film and Movie Reviews or see what other viewers thought at Fandango.

EXPECTATIONS:
-WHO?-
-I think I'll take a Nap-
-Sounds Good-

-I Had to See it-


ACTING:

-Get a DAY JOB-
-Ive Seen Worse-
-Decent-
-Real Enough-
-I Was Convinced-
-Was that Real?-

PLOT:
-Shallower Than a Puddle-
-Just Enough-
-Just Right-
-I'm Lost-
-I'm Drowning!-

Links:
See the Official Site
See the Rotten Tomatoes Rating
Get the entire movie spoiled at Wikipedia