Monthly Archives: February 2013

The Hobbit…eh, or at least the First of Three Movies

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This review is beyond overdue. After returning from Utah, I had planned to watch this movie with my cousin, Jake, and mein bruder, Dougie. Doug unfortunately came down ill and was unable to accompany us. I had read some slightly negative reviews online and carried with me a little trepidation. Not over the material, but the length. Peter Jackson decided that one book would provide enough material to film 3 really long movies. This is exactly the opposite in the trilogy where he had to cut some material just to get it down to a correct length.

I was wrong to be so worried. The movie was beyond sublime. Length was not an issue as Jackson had extra material from the Tolkien histories to flesh out the story. It really felt that it in some ways just flew by. While I don’t want to bore you with the blow by blow, as you should see it yourself, I will leave you with my favorite and least favorite part. I really loved the parts with Sméagol in it. Andy Serkis is a genius, as his facial expressions were well worth the ticket price. My least favorite part was the Ogre King. His portrayal in some ways reminded me of Jar-Jar Binks. I detest Jar-Jar. Other than that, it was an awesome film and I am looking forward to the sequels. 

Super Bowl XLVII

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Last night I enjoyed perhaps the second greatest championship game in my memory. The first of course was when the Saints beat the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. I still remember that day. I was living in Chengdu and had to get up at 5:00 in the morning due to the time difference. I went down to a sports bar. I had been watching games on my laptop but I had really bad internet service in the dorms. I ordered a steak and egg breakfast that morning and it was pretty good. I was talking to a man from Iowa when Tracy Porter intercepted the ball with but a few minutes left. That moment will stay with me forever. Decades of shame reversed in a few moments. But, I digress.

The battle between the Ravens and the 49ers was epic. I thought that in the beginning the 49ers had better playing ability, especially with their quarterback, Colin Kaepernick. His speed and passing ability were utterly amazing. However, the Ravens were able to take a large, early lead. At half, I think there was something like a 21 or so point deficit. The Ravens seemingly had it in the bag. After the half, however, the 49ers came screaming back. It basically came down to the wire. In the punt before the end of the game, I want to point out for consistency sake that one of the 49ers defensive players was egregiously held. I think it was pretty damn blatant, but since I was going for Baltimore I will let it slide.

Now about the half-time show. While I am not a fan of Beyoncé, I think that she is a very talented singer. R&B is just not my style of music. Damn nice legs though. Although a lot of people seemed to really like the show, I was left with the question of what did it all mean. This also leaves the question of whether she helped cause the 34 minute blackout with her over use of lighting. I first heard about it on Facebook from my brother, Dougie. Seems that multiple sources are reporting that her rehearsals had caused a similar situation and it was something that the NFL people knew. I don’t know if her show was more powerful than any other or whether this was circumstance stemming from the whole ‘green Super Bowl’ extolled by Herr President. Let the conspiracy theories begin.

Finally, the winner for me in commercials was the Dodge “Farmer” narrated by the great Paul Harvey. The runner up was the Montana land Tide commercial.

http://youtu.be/AMpZ0TGjbWE