Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Trailer.

I just purchased Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part one and watched it for the first time last Friday. Today I watched the trailer for part 2 and I'm very excited to see the conclusion. It looks like it's interpreted from the book and it looks like it was really done well. I can't wait for it to come out. This summer is going to be awesome. 

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 MOVIE Review

This last Friday I was able to go watch Atlas Shrugged Part 1. First of all this particular review is going to be as apolitical as possible. I hope to make this review more about the quality of the film in terms of story, plot, acting etc. With that in mind just remember that this movie is implicitly political.

So the filming of this movie is every bit as high quality as any Hollywood film. The images are well framed and artfully done. The color doesn't seems to lend to anything other than "realistic" portrayal of the world that we live in now. The book was written over 50 years ago and if I were to create an artistic version of this I would give the colors a hue that gives a little more noire and perhaps even a sepia tone...but since they placed this movie in the near future it made sense that they would use real colors and hues.

The plot was strictly following the book...which is both good and bad. Ayn Rand was over the top in so many ways and it was really hard to overcome that in her plot and the stilted and halting way the dialog progressed was unfortunately carried over to the movie. People do not speak the way that Ayn Rand wrote her dialog. On the contrary she seemed to think that people used words that were on the average over 3 syllables long. Her characters are deep but in an almost inaccessible way. People find traits that they have in common with Hank, Dagny, and others but in the end they don't identify with any of the characters completely.

After watching this movie I find the same flaws from the book. The screen writers needed to interpret Rand's novel in a way that would make it more modern and accessible. If/when they produce the remaining parts of the story they need to put more effort into making the dialog smooth, natural, and most importantly believable. If they overcome that the production quality is sufficient to give them a shot at making this a great movie rather than a passable book conversion. Because ultimately that is what this is, nothing more than a copy of the book in an audio visual form. If this is to reach the heights that are due Rand's greatness they need to allow the medium to be the message and not be subject to a strict conversion of her original text. On a scale of 1-5 I give this a 3. Have you seen this movie? Tell me what you think.

Pretty sure I hate car repairs!

I hate car repairs

So we're a day from leaving for vacation...the first in a very long time and I keep hearing a high whine like a jet engine from our car. At first I thought it was the new tires we put on it...then I started thinking it was something else. Karen's dad checked it out and agreed that it was not the tires. Took it in last night to get it checked out. Guy says that it's probably the rear differential pinion bearing. Estimates that it would cost $500-700 to replace the damaged part. So I'm thinking 'this is not good...I hope we can get it fixed tomorrow so we can still leave for our vacation'. This morning is the day we're supposed to leave. We'd like to leave town around 2:00 p.m. after the kids are out of school. So we call a couple of places for an estimate...the first guy we call says $800 but it could be something other than the pinion bearing and he'd need to look at it but it's not likely he could finish the job today. So we take it to our "guys" who have done all the repairs and maintenance on this and our other vehicles. They take it out for a drive and come back and demonstrate that it's not likely the bearings but rather the "gears" in the rear differential. So I call my little brother who is far more mechanically inclined and he says that if it's the whole back end he could replace it in no time flat. He also suggests that we find one at a junk yard and get it for a lot less than a new one ($1500-2500) and he could put it in really quick. So I call Karen and talk to her and get all snippy with her (Sorry) and now I'm just feeling bad and wanted to vent just a little. I'll complete the post when the damage is done...but don't count on me being a happy camper over this.

UPDATE: So the final tally is coming in at $1960...yup there is no question that I HATE car repairs. The gears in the differential were chunking off and we won't be leaving until tomorrow...sometime. Meaning we probably won't leave for vacation until mid-day tomorrow. Today just got a whole lot worse. 

Pia Toscano American Idol Winner?

Image via Wikipedia
So last week America said that they didn't want Pia Toscano as their American Idol. They voted for other singers and said that they no longer wanted boring ballads akin to those sung by the great diva's of the 90's and early 00's. They said they'd rather listen to voices that are more unique. They said this with their phones, text messages, and online voting. In the end...it didn't matter.
Pia Toscano is a remarkable talent with incredible looks and a voice to make any Top 40 diva jealous. She held her self with dignity befitting the most practiced talent. For some people it was her biggest flaw. I'd even wager it was the reason she was voted off. In the end the result was not what the people voted for.

Pia signed a recording contract with Interscope within days of "losing" on American Idol. There are so many problems with this that I can't even begin to cover them all. The biggest problem that I have is that this is remarkably unfair to the "winner" of the show. It also reduces the integrity of the show. It makes the premise of the show a fallacy and creates an audience that no longer cares for the outcome. I think Pia should have been a top 5 contestant on her talent alone. But the fact that she's signing a contract with the same company that will sign the eventual winner is a slap in the face. Not only will she break an album before the winner but she'll be raking in the money far sooner than the winner. If I were a contestant still on the show I'd be trying to throw the show as soon as possible and testing the waters for my own contract.
Shout out for your favorite contestant and let me know what you think of Pia's contract.

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