Saturday, February 11, 2012

Film Review: Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol




I know - film review is a bit of stretch, but it's for the sake of categorization. I could probably write a whole post just on that poster - I mean look at it, the hood, the smoke...but I digress. I think this is going to be less of a review, and more just a series of observations. Here we go. 


1. Have you ever noticed how crazy Tom Cruise looks when he runs? I've thought it looked a little funny before, but in this movie it's a whole new level of hilarity. Honestly, I think it's worth going to see this movie just to see this running. It's like something stuck up the back of his pants.  


2. It seems that we've caught up to the technology of Mission Impossible. Remember when the agents had all these cool gadgets and your mind reeled with possibility? Well now they have iphones and ipads, and we have those too. A countdown clock on an iphone? Really? You can do better guys. 


3. "Your Mission Should You Choose to Accept It" - I also loved this when I first heard it, but when you think about it - it's kind of silly right? What are you going to do? Say no? I know it's from the original TV show and all, but let's all just admit, it's pretty ridiculous. And of course they had to say it about 10 times in this movie to remind us we were watching Mission Impossible. 


4. I love Simon Pegg. Maybe it's because he's British, or because he's in Hot Fuzz, but I really love that guy. I'm glad he was in this movie to provide some good non-Tom moments. 




5. Tom Cruise is just too weird. I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt and try to forget how weird he was for 2 hours. But I couldn't do it. He strutted around in white jeans. His hair was straight out of the 90's - all colored and flowing. It all felt so "try hard". And this is coming from someone who really loved him back in the day - I remember thinking I would love him forever when he rode into the sunset on that motorbike, but alas, his weirdness is just too obvious now to overlook.


Summation: it's a decent "action movie" for your money. All the things you'd expect - hanging off buildings, fast cars, explosions. And hey, those things are pretty fun. But depending on how you feel about Tom - it is kind of a distraction. In spite of the criticisms above, I did like it - and it provided some excellent joke material on the ride home. And let's face it, sometimes that's the most entertaining of all. 

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

February Confessions


It's February right? Now I can do a new set of confessions. It's a bit early for it I know, and I may have more to add, but I think I'm going to go for it. 

1. This "Lion King Surrey" joke going around is kind of bugging me. Typically I wouldn't want to give a "reaction" because the angry reaction just makes you look silly. But here's the deal - to me it seems like the lowest level of humor joke, like "oh Surrey sucks" - as if this is a joke we've never heard before. I just think - Surrey isn't so bad, and you can do better than this kind of joke. Reach a little higher. Come on. 

2. I am starting to have "Driving to White Rock" resentment. I never thought it would happen, because I love White Rock so much. But this week for example, I've had to drive there every night and it's kind of starting to irritate me. It used to be the other way around and I resented driving to Langley, but I'm afraid the switch might be occurring. I'm always happy when I get there though, so maybe I'll just try to remember that on the drives.

3. I think it's time for me to break up with U2. Yeah, I said it. I think it's over between us. We had a good 15 years together but I think it's time. When songs come on the radio, I switch them off. They used to be my first answer to "my favourite band", but I'm not sure they are even on the list. I hope this doesn't make me pretentious. It's just crept up on me and I can't deny it anymore.  

 4. One of the reasons I like house hunting is because you get to peek into other people's homes. That's kind of weird right? Or is this true for everyone? I sort of like thinking about who lives there, why they would have chose that sofa, or that colour for the wall. It's like this strange little insight into how people live, and I kind of like imagining their lives. This is either really creepy or a great inspiration for a book of short stories. 

5. I like reading Bestsellers. I'm reading one right now, and really liking it. It's true - probably the last 5 books I have read have been Bestsellers. And sure, they got to be bestsellers for a reason, they're pretty addicting to read. But something about it makes me feel kind of cheap, like I should return to my English major roots and started reading something of "substance". But then I remember - that's just being pretentious and I go back to reading what I want. 

There you have it - the first round of February confessions. I guess they're more statements than confessions, but it's a way to collect some random thoughts together anyway, and isn't that pretty much what blogging is?