Ravy Comics 2010 Movie Deview

I had an interesting little revelation: going to see a movie in the theater is cheaper than buying the DVD, and takes up less space on the shelf. A DVD can cost anywhere from $10 to $20 dollars, and you only typically watch it once. A matinee costs about $7 and if you have the patience the second run theater costs about $4. And you only watch the movie once anyway, unless it was Star Trek.

This year was a banner year for me going to see movies in the theater. I think I saw a total of 15 movies, more than I have seen in the theater in my whole life. I admit, I'm bored and got nothing better to do on a Saturday night. (Which probably explains my comic update schedule.)

I am not going to talk about every movie, just a few that run the gamut from what I thought was good to not so good.

Iron Man 2.

The first thing I like about this movie is that you don't need to have watched the first movie, or read the comic book to get it. It's pretty much self contained. Fortunately the inevitable slow down in the middle, you know, the hero's house has been destroyed, his weapon has been stolen, and the bad guys are running amuck; is kept to a minimum amount of time.

I think it still ran a little longer than it needed to, but it was worth the full price I paid.


The Bounty Hunter.

One of those in which the trailer has all the good parts. Dollar theater.


The A-Team

Let's see how an Eighties TV series can get totally screwed up. I was pleasantly surprised. It was pretty good. I got my matinee price for it. I did call B.S. out loud in the theater a couple of times. First of all, a United States Veteran's Administration Hospital in Mexico? Then a UH-1 doing barrel rolls? And, stalling and restarting. AFTER making my thoughts to the annoyance of the other movie goers, I double checked with a friend who spent thirty years flying and fixing UH-1s. He didn't say B.S., he used the whole word and spent the next hour or so explaining the finer details of fixed wing Vs. rotor-wing aircraft.

I also thought the part with the flying tank was hokey.

I loved the shout out to Dwight Schultz's and Dirk Benedict's other T.V. roles.


The Expendables.

I didn't like how graphic the bodies being blown up where. And too much time was spent talking about unrelated back stories.

Other than that I was thrilled to see such a throwback action flick. Good guys stomping a mud hole in the bad guys and walking it dry. Rescuing the girl and saving a nation. All those action stars in one place! Dolph Lundgren! Where the hell has he been? I actually wanted to go back and see it again.

Definitely worth the full price I paid. Wasn't it great to see Stone Cold in movie that didn't tank on its first day?


Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

The commercials I saw.... (okay, fast forwarded through) really didn't prepare me for this. Once I figured out this was a video game universe, I thoroughly enjoyed it after that.

This movie and comic book series has some very positive aspects to it that time is not allowing me get into at this time. Later I will.


Hot Tub Time Machine.

I declared this the first great movie of 2010. Why? Nothing to do with the plot. Certainly nothing to do with the subtle callbacks to Quantum Leap or Back to the Future. The snow bunnies were nice. (I miss Spandex.)

After the sausage-fest of 2009, boobies live on the big screen. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

The scene that had me on the floor coughing up blood over how funny it was: the guy having to listen to his sister have sex with his best friend. Then the kid returning from nowhere after she says she feels pregnant.


Last movie: The Wrath of Tron.

So, they are in this mainframe in the cellar of an abandoned arcade. No connection to the internet. No one knows about the internet. So how did Clu get the page sent? There has been power going to this system the whole time? No brownouts or blackouts? No floods, windstorms, earthquakes, mice chewing through power cords, somebody accidently knocking a boom truck into a light pole, squirrel in to substation? None of that to interrupt power? No parts wear out? Seriously? I just had to re-install Win 7 after just over a year. Sure, it's no Encom O.S. 12, even you have to do that with Linux and Mac when the hard drive quits.

I have more to say, but hey, it's getting late, and I'm much more interested in seeing those snow bunnies on the back of my eyelids.

Merry Christmas.

Rosenkreuzstilette Oddities.

A fellow devotee of this fine video game, Super Justin, who has done the real yeoman's task of spreading the word that is Rosenkreuzstilette to the masses has come up with his own alternate sound track. After unzipping  the download this happened:

When using Windows 7 Explorer or unzipping utility the text comes up green. But if I used QuickZip the text comes up normal.

The next odd bit is these two images:

 

and

Out of the literally thousands of images on this site. These are the only two that ever show up on my visitor's log. The only real difference from the rest is that these two are the only bitmap images on my site.

The .25 Cent Workaround.

By the way, If you want to skip the next several paragraphs of nonsense, just scroll down until you see "The Paper Clip Trick."

Before I get started on this miracle cure, I need to digress and somewhat fondly reminisce.  As many of you know (okay, both of you) I used to be in the Army. After having read the Army Comics section (okay, none of you) may have guessed one of my jobs was truck driving. I actually enjoyed that and sometimes wished I had gone for that job. Imagine if I had, I probably would have been promoted quicker. Gone to different places. Probably never would have met the guy that introduced me to sprite comics.

Well, one of the things that was most un-enjoyable was dispatching the trucks and trailers. You see one of the major headaches was trailer lights. They didn't like to work. Even in the middle of the day they had to work. Having the brake lights work wasn't enough, no, ALL THE FRAKKING LIGHTS had to be on. It's not good enough that the county mounties, city, state, and for the most part DOT really don't care. The people who couldn't hack it in a maintenance section really did care.

So, we would have to tell our squad leader, he would get a mechanic NCO. Then the mech NCO would tell one of his soldiers to fix the malfunctioning lights on the trailer.

Those two lines took me about a minute to type out. Take that minute times however many minutes in a nine to five duty day. If we were lucky we could get the equipment dispatched after duty hours and signed by the commander before we had to take off first thing in the morning.

Enough bitching.

The Paper Clip Trick.

If only we had known about the Paper Clip Trick. All the time that I spent driving for the Army I never saw one person do this. I learned about long after leaving from an old driver. I say that ironically because he has been driving longer than me, but is a year younger. He told me to stick a paper in the light cord.

 

 Big surprise, these lights don't work.

 

 

Get yourself a paperclip. Don't use one that big. I'm using one like that here because it photographs easier.

  Bend one end into a horseshoe.

 

Clip off the excess.

 

Stick it into the ten-and-two positions in the end of the light cord.

Plug it back in and you should have lights. If not, you may have to get a new light cord, check the fuses, or turn the light switch on in the cab.

Be warned: There is the possibility of a short circuit which could lead to a fire. I have seen the After MASH of such. Due to a little point two-five cent paperclip.