I Am Legend, Hear Me Roar

I forgot to mention that I saw I Am Legend at the new theatre in The Commons At Federal Way (formerly and always SeaTac Mall). I liked it!

I Am Legend is (loosely) based on the book by Richard Matheson. To the best of my knowledge, this is the third film adaptation of this story. The first being The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price, and the second (and arguably more well-known) is The Omega Man with Charleton Heston.

In my opinion, The Last Man on Earth is the most faithful adaptation of the book. That's not to belittle either The Omega Man or I Am Legend. Each movie offers a different interpretation of the cause and effects of the "vampirization" of mankind. I think my personal favorite retelling might be The Omega Man, simply because Charleton Heston has always been the ultimate "post-apocalyptic world in crisis" actor.

As an interesting aside, I always thought the premise behind the story would have been an excellent vehicle for Evil Dead 4 (accepting the Director's Cut ending of Army of Darkness as canon).

Now, I should also mention that my experience at I Am Legend further cemented my resolve to not see movies in the theatre. I much prefer waiting for the DVD, and seeing it in the comfort and privacy of my own home.

Plus, I can tell people to shut the hell up if they start talking during the movie.

You know who you are.

A couple of new purchases

Last week, when we were at Target, we were looking through their budget titles, and came across Donnie Brasco and The Number 23. I've seen bits and pieces of Donnie Brasco on TV, and Bridget thought it would be a good idea for me to pick it up.

The Number 23 piqued our interest when it came out, but it's got one thing really working against it. Joel Schumacher, who happens to be my least favorite director. The only movie I've ever seen by him that had any merit was Falling Down, but outside of that, I can't stand him. I loathe what he did to the Batman franchise, and pretty much everything else he's done is just beyond ridiculous (I actually have never seen A Time to Kill, which may be his only saving grace). So needless to say, I'm not terribly excited about it, but I got it on sale, and am willing to give it a chance. We'll see.

Merry Christmas to ME

Many Americans are oblivious to the fact that Christmas only begins on December 25th. Christmas technically lasts until January 6th, also known as The Epiphany, or Three Kings' Day. That represents the day that the three kings (or magi) arrived with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the baby Jesus. This holiday is celebrated in Puerto Rico, as well as many other Latin American and European countries. My wife and I also celebrate it as another opportunity to exchange gifts.

So this little lesson introduces the post for my Christmas loot!

I actually didn't get a whole lot of DVDs this year, but the ones I did get were awesome.

My brother-in-law and his wife gave me the first season of Rome. Ever since watching the entire Deadwood series (also introduced to us by Jon and his wife), I've become a lot more interested in some of the other HBO produced series (eschewing the obvious 'Sopranos' series).

My parents gave me the Twin Peaks: Definitive Gold Box Edition box set, which includes the complete 1st and 2nd seasons, as well as the previously unavailable (in the U.S.) pilot.

For Three Kings' Day (which my wife and I celebrated early because of an unexpected out-of-town trip we had to take), I got The Bourne Ultimatum.

Of course, I haven't had a chance to watch any of these yet, but if anyone reads this, I'll keep you updated.

Technically, I'm not supposed to buy DVDs in December

Because Christmas is around the corner. However, many of the DVDs I wanted wouldn't be out until well after my family buys my gifts. My wife and I watched the Simpsons soon after getting it, and I have to say... It was funnier than the last five seasons have been. I know I'm getting off-topic a bit, but the Simpsons was funniest when Conan O'Brian and his successor David X. Cohen were the head writers for the show. The movie was nowhere near as funny as some of those episodes, but it was pretty damn good.

I was most excited about Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. I had heard good things, and I was curious to see his take on the story. I didn't expect to see quite so many recognizable (although rarely leading) actors such as Brad Dourif, William Forsythe, Sid Haig, Danny Trejo, Clint Howard, and Udo Kier to name a few. I also enjoyed the direction of the story, focusing more on who Michael Myers was, rather than having him be a (relatively) ambiguous killer. It was probably one of the best horror films I've seen in a while.

Superbad was SuperAwesome.
Not a movie for everyone, but it was pretty freaking hilarious.

November Reigns

November was also a good month for me. If you read my prior post, you know that I got Shrek and Ratatouille. Neither were phenomenal. Ratatouille was pretty funny. Shrek was a little disappointing, though. The first one was fantastic because it had a lot to offer insofar as telling a completely new "fairy tale." The second one was a decent follow-up, but the third didn't really offer anything new. The story seemed forced, and the characters are kinda wearing thin on me.

Live Free or Die Hard was surprisingly good. You can't help but want to make "I'm a Mac" jokes throughout the whole thing.

The highlight of the month was the new Futurama DVD. Since it's been five years since Futurama was cancelled, and this was like an oasis in the desert. For the first time in a long time, I watched every single special feature on that DVD, although I'm waiting to watch it with the commentary track until I make it through the whole series with commentary.

Next update... December!

Man, I'm lazy

It's been a while since I've posted some updates, so here's the latest.

October Purchases:

• Death Proof
• Planet Terror
• Transformers
• White Noise
• Spider-Man 3

November Purchases:

• Ratatouille
• Shrek the Third
• Live Free or Die Hard
• Futurama: Bender's Big Score

December Purchases:

• Pirates of the Carribean 3
• Superbad
• Halloween (2007 Remake)
• The Simpsons Movie

Soon after the last update, I got both of the Grindhouse films from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, Death Proof and Planet Terror, respectively. I personally liked Planet Terror more, because it's exactly what I expect from that type of film. Death Proof was good, mind you, just not as action-packed.

I got Transformers at the same time. Now, I had mixed feelings about it, because I knew there was no way it could live up to my expectations. I was pleasantly surprised. I grew up with Transformers toys, and I used to love the animated series. I think that Michael Bay actually did a fairly good job (although the Chevy product placement was a little annoying). In fact, it seems like it was more faithful than the most recent animated series I caught on cartoon network last week.

White Noise was an impulse purchase. I bought it used at a GameStop in downtown Portland. And Spider-Man 3... Well, it was Spider-Man 3.