The Simpsons

The Simpsons: Elementary School Music directed by Mark Kirkland
2010
★★★★★
So I was loving television the other night (see here) and stumbled across The Simpsons season premier.  I kind of lost a little interest in the show last year (it is still one of my favorite and have watched it since it was on The Tracey Ullman Show) but the stories just didn't jive with me.  I was totally blown away by the pairing of The Flight of the Conchords and The Simpsons for the premiere.  Truly awesome songs and fantastic story (although the Krusty/Nobel Prize segment was a little weak).  Anyways, my love affair with The Simpsons is back and I hope they can keep up the great episodes in their 22nd (WTF?) season!

Top Gear

Top Gear: Series 15, Episode 1 presented by Jeremy Clarkson, James May & Richard Hammond
2010
★★★★★
So I watch entirely too much television.  Almost every night, a couple of hours.  I need to cut back but last night was scorching hot (a new record in Los Angeles: 113º!) so we were stuck on the couch trying not to move and make it hotter.  I turned on Top Gear, one of my favorite shows, and was excited to see that it was the BBC America season premier.  It was hilarious!  It had the standard stuff all the episodes do but what put it over the top was the segment Clarkson did on the Reliant Robin.  Only 10 seconds of driving the car, he rolls it and needs some passers-by to flip him over.  I has laughing so hard I thought I might wake up the kids.  I still can't fathom how people thought that the Robin was a good idea!  Anyways, check out the episode if you haven't seen it and if you have never seen Top Gear before, start watching it now!  Its the best show on the telly!

The Fourth Kind

The Fourth Kind directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
2009
★★✰✰✰
So I like horror films and I didn't know much about this movie (I didn't even know it was on the Netflix queue).  It turned out to be alright.  Not great but certainly not horrible.  The interview parts of the film made us laugh as they are imprinted with "Chapman University," my sister's alma mater.  Plot was iffy but some parts certainly made you jump in your seat.  Bummed there were no aliens although the owls make for a creepy idea.

Santa Barbara

So I just got back from Santa Barbara. My wife and I went for the weekend for our 8th wedding anniversary. We had a great time and we did the Santa Barbara Red Tile Walking Tour. It was a nice, free tour of some of the historic sites of Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara Red Tile Walking Tour

What's this?

Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans directed by Louis Leterrier
2010
★✰✰✰✰
So I think this may be the worst movie that I have actually watched the whole thing on (of course some fast forwarding was involved).  I liked the campy, stop-motion 1980s film much more than this one.  The movie was so slow and boring with lame comedic relief and horrible acting.  I felt so bad for Liam Neeson and Ralph Fienes.  Sam Worthington is a horrible actor.  This movie could have been fun but it wasn't.  Boo. 

Jumper

Jumper directed by Doug Liman
2008
★★★✰✰
So I have seen this movie before but we were vacationing in Santa Barbara and in for the night.  This was on television and we started watching it again.  It isn't that bad of a film.  It is a fun action-y movie.  The biggest drawback is Samuel L. Jackson's stupid silver hair.  I originally gave this movie two stars but I think I can move it up to three.

Inception

Inception directed by Christopher Nolan
2010
★★★★✰
So I really wanted to give this movie five stars but just couldn't.  Too many little things that bugged me that my wife and I have discussed at length.  Don't get me wrong - it is a great movie and well worth seeing (we actually got to see it in the theatre!)  There are just some things that didn't sit right with this mind-bending-alternate-reality.  At times, it did seem like it was a bizarre mix-up of Nolan's Memento and Batman Begins films (a lot of cast members) but all in all it was a great film.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt may be my new favorite actor - he is awesome in this movie.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid directed by Thor Freudenthal
2010
★★★✰✰
So I read a little of the books this movie is based on (actually listened occasionally as my wife listened to them on CD).  The movie really painted Greg in a super annoyingly dweeb light that I didn't get out of the book.  Rowley was fantastic and aside from a few changes to make the movie run better, pretty true to the stories.  Entertaining for kids in 4-6 grades. 

Whip It

Whip It directed by Drew Barrymore
2009
★★★✰✰
So I actually liked this movie.  It is you typical "cute rebellious teen controlled by her conservative beauty pageant, postal working mother that takes up roller derby, loses her best friend, gains her back, and wins the respect of her family."  Great music throughout and Andrew Wilson (brother of Owen and Luke) is simply awesome as the "Hurl Scouts" coach.  Fun flick.

Date Night

Date Night directed by Shawn Levy
2010
★★★✰✰
So I was really into this movie as it seemed to mirror our life (5 AM wake up call)  and then Steve Carrell and Tina Fey had to run for their lives and I got bored.  Then Mark Wahlberg showed up, movie got funny again, then Carrell and Fey had to run, got bored, crashed into a taxi, got funny, etc.  Very up and down.  Very funny then not.  Still got a few chuckles out of it.

Invictus

Invictus directed by Clint Eastwood
2009
★★★✰✰
So I think this movie could have been great.  However, Clint Eastwood really blew it with the music throughout the film.  Stupid pop songs in the middle of a Clint Eastwood drama?!  What?  Incredible story of how rugby helped unite South Africa.  The rugby story was good but the Nelson Mandela story was better.  I could have seen more of that.

Disneyland Fabulous 5k Results

So I did not get any official results from the Disneyland 5k.  I am simply going off my time from my Nike+ iPhone app.  My worst time yet but it is only due to the lack of chip timing and crappiness of the course.  This will definitely not be in my list of races for next year.  Now to find another run for September 2011...

Planet 51

Planet 51 directed by Jorge Blanco
2009
★★★✰✰
So I didn't really want to see this movie but it seemed like a good one for the boys to watch.  It was a cute film with a lot of subtle sci fi references from famous movies.  I was surprised to see that this was a Spanish movie that was then dubbed into English.  It doesn't normally go that direction for cartoons.

Disneyland Fabulous 5K Photo

So I got the photos from the race and I am still waiting on the results.  I actually don't think that results are posted for the 5K since it is more of a fun run rather than an actual race.  We will see.  Anyways, this was the best photo of the bunch as most were too scary to post.

Idiocracy

Idiocracy directed by Mike Judge
2006
★★★✰✰
So I have seen this movie before and it is great.  A little scary due to the accuracy of what could happen to humanity but nonetheless very funny.  Everyone's name in the future has corporate names so they can make money off them.  My favorite: "Beef Supreme"  Hah!

Disneyland Fabulous 5K

So I was kind of excited to run this race since it got to wind through Disneyland and California Adventure.  I was very disappointed.  This race is not for runners who enjoy the competition.  It is for people who like Disneyland regardless of running ability.  There were over 4,000 participants and the course is not wide enough to fit everyone, therefore forcing you to walk parts of the course.  Additionally, far too many walkers line up near the front and create even more traffic than necessary.  The registration process and staging were horrible.  Also, the medal that all finishers receive is just a piece of rubberized plastic.  So cheap!  (Update:  Apparently, they ran out of medals so not everyone received one!)  I am bummed but at least I know not to do this race again.  Perhaps the half-marathon is better (but I'm not ready for that yet).  $50 entry fee + $15 parking is not worth this race.