Jumper
I saw
Jumper this weekend. Twice. The redundancy was not because I love-loved it, but just because that's just how it happened. That said, I had the opportunity to both have an initial opinion and then to refine it.
It is a fun superpower flick, although the character is too openly selfish to be considered a super
hero. I didn’t recognize Hayden Christensen in the leading role, but actually had to be informed by my sister that it was him. This is a good thing, since I was not wowed by his work as Anakin back in the day. Though his character is less than likable, it was well-presented and pretty believable given his circumstances. I feel like the director got in Hayden's face and told him, "You are a selfish, conceited 23-year-old. Sell it." Sold.
The film really was very well executed (PG-13). It looks pretty and the action flows really well. In fact, I'm going to go so far as to say that I really
liked the action. There's no blood to speak of -- not that that sort of thing usually bothers me much, but I find it preferable to get good action without blood if given a choice. The action itself is fun and relies on the watcher to be intelligent since we ARE talking about teleportation, after all. Not to mention all the fun that comes from the teleportation. Talk about a grand scale! The writers also are to be commended for not using dialog as a crutch to quantify the rules of teleportation in their universe. Very clear. Very naturally communicated, by and large.
The script had some minor flaws. The biggest flaw in my estimation was that the film feels like a prequel to the movie-yet-to-come where the main character actually decides to act like a superhero, developing selfless and noble characteristics, etc. I have not heard any murmurings about a sequel (nor have I looked), but the assumption of one makes the movie work way better for me. It felt very much like the back-story for Peter Parker or, to a lesser extent, like
Batman Begins, but then they deprive you of the redemption portion of the story! Yes, I believe the characters are poised to be interesting with significance-packed relationships, and that the main character would have one heck of a compelling emotional journey in Movie Two, so THEY'D BETTER MAKE IT!
Lots of promise... but not an excellent movie on its own.
I has silunt gygglz
In case you've never checked out
http://icanhascheezburger.com/, here's a taste:
Happy Valentines Day to All You Singles Out There
"I have my standards where men are concerned and I have no intention..."
"I know all about your standards and if you don't mind my sayin' so there's not a man alive who could hope to measure up to that blend of Paul Bunyan, Saint Pat, and Noah Webster you've concocted for yourself out of your Irish imagination, your Iowa stubbornness, and your li'berry full of books!"
The Novice Learns a Trick
This story involves admitting that I fraternized with the vending machine yesterday, but as it was the day before
Lent, I’m counting on you all being understanding.
So, I went to the VM, chose to get the Chex Mix, paid, hit “vend”, and… it got stuck. Now, this is often the case with Chex Mix in that machine (okay, so I indulge more often than just on
Fat Tuesday), so I went through my normal routine of modestly shaking the vending machine and waiting for some guy to walk by and help me with it. Actually, about half of the time I can get it myself, but about half of the time I end up needing the Strong Guy. :o) [Well, let me make a distinction and say that the guys often offer help me before I get to the point of giving up, so I’m not quite as helpless as I may appear given the stats.]
Okay, back to yesterday: I shook the vending machine and just really wasn’t getting anywhere. A random guy walked by and I could see in the machine’s reflection that he paused and was conflicted about whether to stop or not… and then kept going. Ah, well. I can’t really entirely blame him.
I was just about to either give up or pay for another (chancing just getting one for the price of two), when a couple of gals walked by and noticed me standing in contemplation facing the vending machine. They offered a supportive, “Oh, did something get stuck?” and I replied in the affirmative. Then one of them approached and said, “Yeah, I don’t know if I could get this one myself… ” then turned and body-checked the machine with her bum! And topple-topple, down came my Chex Mix. I was so shocked and happy and tickled that I laughed. I thanked her, and I continued to giggle. I complimented her on her nifty maneuver and she seemed rightly proud. The best was her meek presentation of her
skill. All that to say, I learned a new trick!
For Everything There is a Season Month
You’ve got to love the random tidbits that come from the daily e-mails you get in the workplace -- or at least in
my workplace. Every day, we get little nuggets of wisdom and/or some useless facts for our lives. :o) I really don’t mind, but it’s usually stuff that makes me smirk.
Today we got an e-mail listing all of the (supposedly) celebration-worthy topics specific to February. They are:
“Black History Month”
“Valentine’s Day” (though it
feels a little like Valentine’s
Month)
“National Wedding Month” (what does that even
mean?)
“International Expect Success Month”
“American Heart Month”
“Relationship Wellness Month”
“Library Lovers Month”
“National Bird Feeding Month”
“National Cherry Pie Month”
And, of course, the invaluable…
“Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month”
Apparently, we are just leaving January’s newest Special Observance*: “National Mentoring Month”,
now a true, American holiday.
And since it has become the craze to add our own druthers to the mix,
I hereby deem February, “Kates are Awesome Month” in honor of the up and coming little Kate Meredith O. who could potentially share my birthday!
Which ones do you plan to celebrate? ;o)
*Galatians 4:10 - You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!
