Movie Review: The Golden Compass

I won double passes to this - I actually entered a friend into a radio station competition as well as myself and we both won! We have been trying for several weeks to see this film, but it has been hard to find a time suitable for all 4 of us. I ended up giving a pass to someone from work and went and saw this with another friend from work.

There's a scene where the polar bears are fighting which is tad disturbing in a children's film though. The special effects and the scenes and scenery is just amazing.

I can't wait for the next installment.

Plot: An exciting fantasy adventure, set in a parallel world where people’s souls manifest themselves as small animals, talking bears fight wars, and children are mysteriously disappearing. At the centre of the story is a 12-year-old girl, Lyra, who sets out to find and rescue her best friend, Roger, and ends up on an extraordinary quest to save not only her own world, but ours as well.

Movie Review: 27 Dresses

Instead of our normal catch up over Vienna Chocolate in Osborne Park, Chook & I decided to go see this instead. I've been hanging out to see it for a while. I never got around to seeing Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up (will see it next 'movie night').

I think the scenes with the cab driver in the beginning were hillarious! Overall a very enjoyable film.

Plot: A woman who has made a career out of being a bridesmaid – but never a bride – faces her worst nightmare when her sister becomes engaged to the man of her dreams. Luckily, the wedding brings around the man who may change her bridesmaid status for good.

Random Facts 20

1. Due to its eye placement a donkey can see all of it’s hooves at the same time.
2. When the Eiffel Tower was built in 1884, Parisians referred to it as ‘the tragic lampost’.
3. Fish have been known to kiss up to 25 minutes.
4. If 80% of your liver were to be removed, the remaining part would continue to function.
5. There is more than 25,000km of neon tubing in the signs on the Strip and downtown Las Vegas.
6. A skink can be detected by a human over one kilometre away.
7. Lizards communicate by doing push-ups.
8. A newborn hedgehog starts to get their spines within 24 hours of birth.
9. The art of mapmaking is older than the art of writing.
10. All hurricanes form over water and last about 10 days.

Who Forgot To Pull Out The Plug?

Got to work this morning and was stopped at Reception by our head of security (he's a bit of a stickler for rules and regulations). He informed the group gathered there, that over the Australia Day weekend there had been a flood in the basement, and that all 3 of our lifts (elevators) would be out of action for the whole week.

Apparently somebody decided they wanted to watch the fireworks on Saturday night from the top of a water tank which is at the top of the ramp to our building's parking area underneath. Somehow they managed to break the tap on the tank, and gravity doing what it does best, directed the water into our basement which happens to be where our lifts 'sleep' when everybody else has gone home.

Thankfully I only have to go up to the 1st floor so it's only 2 flights of stairs, but I pity the people who work on the 8th floor, especially if they are smokers.

The funny thing is that all 3 lifts were scheduled to be out of action next weekend for maintenance. Talk about timing!

Movie Review: National Treasure - Book Of Secrets

A couple of weeks ago I won an in season double pass to this movie. I also managed to win in the same week another 2 double passes to the Golden Compass (which I have not yet seen).

I hadn't seen the first one so decided to hire it out so that I would at least know the characters.

My plans to see it with a friend fell through due to a family crisis so I treated a stranger to the movie. There was a father and son seeing it together, so I told the father that I would use my spare free ticket for him, then all he had to pay for was his son's ticket (which is a lot cheaper than an adults). He was so grateful that he bought me some popcorn.

Plot: Ben Gates once again sets out on an exhilarating, action-packed new global quest to unearth hidden history and treasures. When a missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth surfaces, Ben’s great-great grandfather is suddenly implicated as a key conspirator in Abraham Lincoln’s death. Determined to prove his ancestor’s innocence, Ben follows an international chain of clues that takes him on a chase from Paris to London and ultimately back to America. This journey leads Ben and his crew not only to surprising revelations – but to the trail of the world’s most treasured secrets.

Movie Review: I Am Legend

At a loose end with no chores to do I decided to escape for the afternoon to cooler climes - an air conditioned cinema had the greatest appeal.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Will Smith's character is a bit like Tom Hanks' in Castaway where he 'talks' Mr Wilson. A few scenes make you jump in your seat, but it is really well done.

The sets were amazing. Eerie, but amazing. You really felt as though you were there. It's scary to think that with all the great advances in medicine, there could be a downside too.

Plot: Robert Neville is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable…and man-made. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City…and maybe the world. But he is not alone. He is surrounded by “The Infected” – victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings who can only exist in the dark and who will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path. For three years, Neville has spent his days scavenging for food and supplies and faithfully sending out radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. All the while, The Infected lurk in the shadows, watching Neville’s every move, waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind’s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what The Infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time.

Unexpected House Guest

Well... it looks like my step brother will be moving in for a few days until he can sort something out or reconcile with his girlfriend.

This means that my tv room will now be his bedroom (which happens to be right next to mine!) and I will have to share a bathroom (something I haven't done for 8 years).

Ugh!

What's Your Leprechaun Name?

Your Leprechaun Name Is:

Twitchy O'Taters

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Movie Review: Alien V Predator Requiem

When the first one came out here a couple of years ago, I had already seen it on dvd. I have never seen any of the Alien movies and have only seen the first Predator movie with Arnie in it.

This one was much better than the first one. At times the screen was so dark you couldn't see any details (especially those of the hybrid).

It picks up immediately where the first movie ended.

Plot: The quiet town of Gunniston, Colorado is besieged by space-faring creatures when a Predator's spaceship lands to try to clean up an Alien infestation and the age-old battle between the species is renewed.

A Rude Awakening

I had only just gone to bed when I was woken up again around 2AM by my step-brother who was knocking on the front door, wanting to sleep on the couch after he'd had a fight with his girlfriend.

He ended up in the spare bedroom on the double bed - he's over 6 foot so it wasn't a comforatable sleep but he would never have fit on either of the couches.

I didn't get back to sleep until close to 4, and then was up early because I was going to a morning session at the movies.

Haven't heard from him yet, so hopefully he has patched things up and won't be stopping by again at an ungodly hour!