May 2002 Archives
Paul should get a kick out of this one. John Kovalic is very apparently a Mac fan. :)
Posted on May 2, 2002 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Woo! I won the ADDreviews 1000th Review Contest! This is an exciting day for me and I can't wait to listen to my prize. Woo!
Posted on May 8, 2002 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Though he somehow managed to avoid being in the picture in this article (despite being seated between the two guys who actually ARE in the picture), my younger brother's quoted in this Christian Science Monitor article. His paragraph's the very last one. Go, John! Teach them students!
Posted on May 15, 2002 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Being the geek that I am, I went to see Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones today. Perhaps I was going into it with fairly low expectations after the huge disappointment of Episode I, but I actually enjoyed it. I'd read several reviews before going and I think they were all a wee bit too harsh. Yes, I'm a pretty big Star Wars fan and I do feel George has lost something since the original trilogy. The past he's creating for the characters we know and love isn't what I expected and maybe isn't even what I wanted. And it drives me nuts sometimes that there seem to be some established things that he keeps ignoring. But it's his story and he's got the oodles and oodles of money, so... that's the way it goes.
There were certainly things about the new movie that got to me. The almost laughable love scenes, the complete lack of chemistry between Anakin and Senator Amidala, the whole notion that she'd even fall in love with this guy, some of the contrived plot bits, and these incredibly wise Jedi acting like complete morons sometimes. But it still managed to be a lot of fun. And, even though I'd completely failed to avoid knowing a lot of what was going to happen, I still was riveted and wanted to keep watching. And not just to see if it'd get any better, as was often the case with Episode I. It was a fun sci-fi flick. Hopefully George can tap into some of that old magic to make the last one be not just a good movie but a great one.
One thing that really nagged me a bit was that I remember reading a quote from Lucas saying that the reason Qui Gon didn't fade away like Obi Wan and Yoda did in the original trilogy would be explained in this movie. And it wasn't. Maybe he said in the next two movies. I hope it's explained at some point. Drives me nuts.
Yoda kicks ass, though. :)
Posted on May 16, 2002 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
A new feature for vestibule.org. The MP3 of the Week! I thought I'd give it a shot and see how it works out. It'd at least give my page SOME sense of purpose. Enjoy.
Posted on May 17, 2002 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Just gotta say... the people who make Smallville are very very very very evil. :P
Posted on May 21, 2002 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Last night, I watched Legend, one of my all-time favorite fantasy movies which finally came out on DVD. I watched the director's cut, which not only had extra footage but also had the Jerry Goldsmith score that the UK version has had for all these years. I'd never gotten a chance to hear it at all, so it was great finally getting to hear it. It was also cool seeing some of the extra footage. I honestly don't get why most of it was cut, really. What was cut really doesn't make sense, though I know he was trying to shorten it, so I guess the inconsequential stuff had to go. But I think keeping it in definitely made the film flow better. There were bits that seemed completely choppy before that worked much better in the director's cut.
As for the score... well... I've seen the US version so many times with the Tangerine Dream score. I think part of the reason I liked the movie so much was the score. It was different and innovative. The Goldsmith score is great, but it's your standard classical fantasy score. The Tangerine Dream stuff was so different. And it actually fit very well, I thought. It's interesting to see and hear the choices the different composers made. There are scenes where an entirely different mood is being created with the music and it's amazing how both seem to fit the scene for entirely different reasons. It's interesting to see which aspect of the scene each score tries to play up.
I'm probably biased about the Tangerine Dream score. But I like it a lot and I honestly thought it worked extremely well and was something different and new for a fantasy film. Very ethereal and magical but still electronic. It'll be difficult to get me to stop thinking of that score when I'm watching the director's cut. Luckily, the US version is on the other disc.
All in all, I like both versions. I'm sorry the thing ever got cut, since it really shouldn't have been, but I'm glad that led to the creation of the alternate score, because I think it's an impressive piece of music. More impressive is the fact that they scored the thing in 3 weeks.
I'm just happy it came out on DVD at last. I was starting to think it'd never come.
Posted on May 23, 2002 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Though we hadn't planned on it, we're actually going to go to the Indigo Girls concert tonight. The latest album was subpar, but they always put on a good show. Sarah hadn't wanted to go when tickets first went on sale, so I didn't get them, but then she couldn't decide whether she wanted them or not. Yesterday, her boss called and said she now had an extra pair of tickets, so we decided to help her out by buying them from her. Aren't we nice? ;) I'm sure it'll be nice 'n' hot out there. Though not nearly as hot as I'm sure I'll feel when we go see Mandy Patinkin in late June at the Kennedy Center, when I should dress much nicer.
Posted on May 30, 2002 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Well, we're back from the show and it was actually very good. Our seats were surprisingly good for how far back they were. We were behind the sound guy, but everything was O.K. when he sat down. And when the main act came on, the sound was done from a booth a bit lower, so it didn't matter at all. The opening act, K's Choice, was great. Sarah was a pretty big fan and I thought they sounded pretty good, but they were really good in concert. The Indigo Girls, as usual, were awesome. Even the stuff from the latest album sounded better live, though I still prefer the older stuff. Great time, pretty good crowd, and it turned out to be a little cooler than I expected. Good show.
Posted on May 31, 2002 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)