Drive

Drive came out in September of 2011 but sadly I was never able to see the movie at the theaters. I think the first time I was able to see it was on dvd when I rented it from my library job, yes they do have some good dvd and now bluray choices at the library now a days. I recall my brother really liked the movie, I even bought him the bluray for his birthday last year.

Drive is a movie that some might not get or like and I can somewhat understand while they would have some minor gripes but for me Drive is slowly becoming a modern day favorite of mine. I have seen the movie two times now and the second go around was just as enthralling as the first time I saw the movie. Drive is a crime movie a romance movie and a heist movie all rolled into one amazing movie. The actors are all top notch, so many good performances from Ryan Gosling, Albert Brooks, and Bryan Cranston (to name a few).

The movie just is flat out cool. It has a retro 80's vibe to it but the movie isn't trying hard to look like it was from the 80's. I think a lot of it has to do with small choices the director Nicolas Winding Refn made. The first heist scene really gets the movie started with a bang. The movie features some amazing stunt work and all without CGI stuff you get in most movies today. Gosling kills it as Driver (he is never named) a true hero who steps up to help the people he cares about.

The music of Drive blew me away. Just last night I couldn't get A Real Hero by College out of my head and decided to buy the entire album which has a great mix of songs and score. The music really just makes the movie all the more better, I love the choices they made with the music.

To me when a movie makes me think that was cool is sort of rare today. Drive is a movie what I would consider cool and has a very unique style to it, a style I do not see in most cinema today. Gosling and Refn will be teaming up again for Only God Forgives which should be released this year. I cannot wait to see what they do next.



If you haven't seen Drive I suggest you get and do so!

(I am posting some of the posters this movie has inspired  glad to see that many other people have enjoyed this movie and it moved them to create this art)

6/11/93

I can still somewhat recall the events of me seeing Jurassic Park for the first time one June 11, 1993. I was 13 at the time, and in 7 days it would be my birthday. My brother took me as a birthday present to see the movie at the Century 21 theater in San Jose. This was back before I could find out all I wanted to know about the movie by hopping on the internet, so all I knew is what I saw from commercials on TV, movie previews, or magazines including comic book advertisements. I remember that they wouldn't show the entire dinosaurs head in any print or commercials because they wanted to keep it a secret, something I am not sure you could get away with in todays show me everything now media. So going in all I knew that is the next big thing from Steven Spielberg and that it had dinosaurs, who I had yet to see an entire one of. Spielberg was coming off of Hook, a movie that was pretty much a big disappointment in 1991 even though it had found a cult following with people around my age.

In fact my wife just bought it. Here is that story: It was buy one get one 50% off at Toys R Us. They had a great deal on Close Encounters of the Third Kind on bluray for only $9.99! This is the 3 disc edition version. So we looked for another bluray that we could get and I didn't see anything I wanted but my wife wanted Hook, fair enough as it completes a Spielberg double feature and is a movie that appeals to kids and adults, well mostly kids. It was the same price as the Close Encounters so it all worked out. I took the movies up to the guy who was working the movies/video game section to buy. He said he didn't even know they had Close Encounters on bluray for so cheap. I was thinking I must look pretty smart to this 20 year old guy working at TRU! But then he saw the second movie and he just had to give his two cents on a movie I was actually buying from him! He pretty much went onto say that it was one of the worst movies ever made, up there with the Super Mario Brothers movie in the pantheon of shitty movies. I started feeling bad for Hook now, OK, it is not the best movie ever made but come on! This is not Super Mario Brothers bad! I mean you have Ruffio for fucks sake! Anyway I still bought the movie, it was after all 50% off.

So I was saying Jurassic Park was big return to what Spielberg could do well, an action adventure movies with frickin dinosaurs! The Century 21 was a once screen theater and from what I was told has one of the biggest single screens in all of the bay area. People would often camp out and wait in line for hours. It was something people used to do more before all the midnight screenings and online tickets, and I miss some of that. We waited in line for what seemed like days, mind you we couldn't just pull out a smart phone but had to talk or read a newspaper or magazine. I even remember the friend who I decided to take bought me a soda waiting in the line as an early birthday present (not the worst bday gift I ever got!). Finally we got to go inside...

As for the movie, well what I can recall was how loud it was. For some reason they sound seem to be extra awesome for Jurassic Park. They had the digital sound and I recall the seats shaking when the T-Rex roared, it was just so cool. The movie was just a perfect blend of special effects and practical effects, showing that CGI was the wave of the future that it has now become. It was just a pure exciting thrill ride of a movie, one that you get out of and want to go right back inside and watch again. I do not remember a lot of movie experiences as well as I remember the time I saw Jurassic Park for the first time, I guess it just goes to show you how special it was to me. And the following Monday me, my brother, and my dad all went to the Century 21 to see it again. The movie was just as amazing on that Monday as it was a few days ago on that Friday. I believe I went onto see the movie 2-3 more times in the movie theater altogether

I recently saw the Jurassic Park in IMAX 3D and I am happy to say it play just as well now as it did those twenty (wow) years ago. The 3D is actually very well done for an older movie and really does add to the overall experience of the movie, something that most 3D is lacking in todays market. I was happy to see that Jurassic Park is one of those films that will forever be a fun thrill ride (like Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark).  I also watched the sequels to complete the trilogy since I had them on bluray. Each sequel does get progressively worse but The Lost World: Jurassic Park does have a lot of the fun elements going for it after the half way mark it just becomes a non-stop thrill ride. The third one has a nice nod by bringing back Sam Neil (Alan Grant from the first movie) but overall the movie falls flat.

While Jurassic Park is not a classic movie it is one of those movies that I will easily be able to watch over and over again and one day share with my children. I will always remember the experience of seeing the movie and all the things that went on that day twenty years ago in June.

2013 Baseball

My 2013 Baseball Predictions!

American League

EAST

Toronto Blue Jays …. 92-70

New York Yankees*.... 90-72

Baltimore Orioles …. 84-78

Tampa Bay Rays …. 81-81

Boston Red Sox …. 75-87

I think with all the major additions the Blue Jays made this offseason (adding Melky Cabrera, Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, etc)they  are due for a lot more wins, similar to how the Orioles came from nowhere last year. With all the Yankee injuries they will get off to a slow start but somehow make the postseason because of trades they make. Rays and Red Sox seem to be declining right now, both losing many quality players.

CENTRAL

Detroit Tigers …. 100-62

Cleveland Indians …. 82-80

Kansas City Royals.... 81-81

Chicago White Sox …. 78-84

Minnesota Twins …. 62-100

The Tigers should continue to dominate the division and I think they will avoid the slow start that plagued them last season, sure the Indians and Royals have gotten better with some nice additions but not enough to get more than around .500, but they will much more fun to watch then in years past.

WEST

Los Angeles Angels …. 93-69

Oakland A’s …. 89-73*

Texas Rangers …. 87- 75

Seattle Mariners …. 73-89

Houston Astros …. 58-104

The West continues to be a very good/tough division. I had a hard time deciding between the Rangers or A’s, but I figure the A’s pitching is good enough to give them a 2 game advantage. The Angels have an amazing team on paper, this should be the year it all comes together.

National League

EAST

Washington Nationals …. 96-66

Atlanta Braves* …. 90-72

Philadelphia Phillies …. 78- 84

New York Mets …. 70-92

Miami Marlins …. 66-96

The Nats are the best in the NL but the Braves also have another good season thanks to the Upton brothers who shine now that they get to play together. The rest of the division is getting older or needs help. Miami should be pretty bad because they traded everyone.

CENTRAL

St. Louis Cardinals …. 91- 71

Cincinnati Reds …. 88- 74

Pittsburgh Pirates …. 80-82

Milwaukee Brewers …. 76- 86

Chicago Cubs …. 69-93

No more Houston to kick around now! I feel the Reds are in for a bit of a harder season and they barely miss the wild card (by 1 game to the Dodgers). The Pirates miss that elusive .500 season yet again and the Cubs continue to stink, no longer having those easy wins against the Astros to rely on.

WEST

San Francisco Giants …. 92-70

Los Angeles Dodgers* …. 89- 73

Arizona Diamondbacks …. 79-84

San Diego Padres …. 73-89

Colorado Rockies …. 63-99

The Giants have the pitching that continues to get them through the season and another chance for a Championship. The Dodgers make 3 big trades and squeak their way into a playoff spot. The Diamondbacks and Padres play well early in the season but cannot stay with the big boys.

*-Denotes Wild Card

WILD CARD GAMES:

Los Angeles defeats Atlanta

New York defeats Oakland

ALDS:

Detroit defeats New York (3-1)

Los Angeles defeats Toronto (3-2)

NLDS:

Washington defeats Los Angeles (3-0)

San Francisco defeats St. Louis (3-1)

ALCS:

Detroit defeats Los Angeles (4-2)

NLCS:

Washington defeats San Francisco (4-2)

WORLD SERIES:

Detroit Tigers defeat Washington (4-3)

(all predictions as of 3/19/13)

Cinematic Alphabet

My friend le0pard over at It Rains...You Get Wet inspired this blog. I read his and thought it would be fun to make up my own cinematic alphabet. So this is just a fun little blog showcasing some of my favorite movies in alphabetical order. Enjoy!

A is for Alien

B is for Blazing Saddles 

C is for Clerks

D is for The Dark Knight

E is for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

F is for Ferris Bueller's Day Off

G is for Good Will Hunting

H is for Halloween

I is for In Bruges

J is for Jaws

K is for Knocked Up

L is for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

M is for Major League

N is for North By Northwest

O is for Once Upon A Time In The West

P is for Psycho

Q is for Quiz Show

 R is for Raiders Of The Lost Arc

S is for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

T is for Terminator 2: Judgement Day

U is for Up

V is for V for Vendetta

W is for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

X is for X2

Y is for Young Frankenstein 

Z is for Zodiac

Flea Market Report

I have done similar blogs in the past, click HERE to read that one. Recently I have been going to flea about once a month or so, when the weather is nice out. Last Sunday I went to the capitol flea market in San Jose. The market that I used to sell at as a kid with my brother and dad. This flea market has gotten more and more popular in the last few years, once again it was packed by the time we arrived around 9am. Here are some of the finds that I was able to get last time out and even a bonus flea market find.


When we arrived it was busier then usual, maybe people are starting to arrive earlier now because it gets so crowded lately? We usually stick to the same search way, start at the left side of the market and work our way right, its sort of a tradition we always do. This time though I know I wanted a few blurays and we headed to see the guys who sell cheaper then any store blurays. The bad news is that when we got to the table they had nothing out. At first I thought, this serves me right for starting off a different way then usual. I asked the guy for the two blurays I wanted, Skyfall and Argo. He said he was sold out of Skyfall but he did have Argo. I ended up haggling with him for the price until he eventually gave it to me a dollar cheaper then usual.

After that little detour we headed back on our usual track. There was a lot of sellers out and usually an early find can lead to a good day. Dennis made a few small scores and got caught up looking through boxes and boxes of old VHS tapes so I did a solo walk and found something I wanted. I saw the golden Nintendo cartridge and knew this had to be something I wanted, it ended up being Zelda II aka The Adventures of Link. Anything Zelda related is usually somewhat rare and I was thinking they would want a lot, turns out it was mine for $3 and a small bonus was that it was in a black case.

Shortly after that last find we came about a guy with a bunch of T-shirts on a blanket, I think it was Dennis who saw something and started looking. My eyes saw a cool book about Friday the 13th. I had seen it before when I worked at Barnes and Noble, it is a gigantic book yet cool for any fans of the series. I sort of thought the seller would want a lot so I passed and went to look at the shirts with Dennis. I started to notice that some of the shirts were from comic book conventions (having gone to my fair share of them over the years). Dennis saw a few he wanted, I liked many of the shirts but wasn't seeing anything I liked or thought would fit me. One shirt I liked was in pretty bad condition the tag was ripped out leaving a hole in the neck. I almost took off but then I saw a shirt that I liked and it was in pretty good shape, it read FLYNN LIVES.

I knew this shirt was from the Wondercon and was somewhat rare. They filmed a scene for the bluray extras in San Francisco at the Wondercon and I think they had a crowd of about 250 people who were given the shirt during the filming of the scene. I asked the guy the price on the book and he said $5, not too bad for the massive book. I asked if he would take $5 for the book and the shirt, he agreed and I scored two quality items for a mere $5.

That was a great day at the flea market!

BONUS FLEA MARKET REPORT

Every first Saturday of the month they hold the De Anza flea maket if Cupertino. I have been once before and decided to take my friend Wes since he had never been before. We also had plans to see a movie across the street afterwords.

I didn't really get all that much since the market is much different then the superior Capitol flea. But this time around I did make a really cool score, two old Star Wars glasses. When I first saw them I really liked the look and wanted them. Anything Star Wars that is older usually fetches a high price at the flea. I asked how much for the glasses ecpecting at least a $10 price per glass. I was shocked when he said $2 per glass. I double checked to make sure they were not reprint. The glasses said 1980 so I nabbed those quickly. I got the Luke Skywalker and Lando glasses from the Empire Strikes Back. I hope one day to complete the set! Here are some pictures of those glasses.

Thanks for reading/commenting!