Can I have one?

A Dragon.  I want one.

Again this past weekend I went to a movie at the dollar theater.  However, this time I wished that I had gone to see it earlier.

How to Train Your Dragon - I went to see this movie late Friday night.  In short, it blew me away.  I had heard good things about it from friends, and I had read a few reviews of it online, all of which were full of praise for it, but I didn't want to get my hopes up to high.  I mean, it's from Dreamworks, after all.  They make good solid movies, but let's face it, they're no Pixar.  Perhaps it was because of my low expectations that I was so thoroughly impressed.  Hiccup, a misfit viking in a village full of dragon-killers, finds and befriends one of them, a dragon.  All sorts of hijinks ensue, both funny and touching.  This is probably the first non-Pixar movie that I would feel perfectly fine putting up on the same level with the rest of Pixar's films.  And coming from me, that's high praise indeed.  If you have yet to see this movie, go see it.  Like, right now.  Final rating: 4.5/5

Also, I hear there's a sequel in the works too.  :)

The Dentist: Why this could be the title of a horror film

I don't much like going to the dentist. 

Intellectually, I understand that it's important to get my teeth cleaned regularly.  I know that I need to have them checked out by a professional, especially since my teeth are so messed up.  But I still don't like it.

This irrational dislike of dentists probably goes back to when I was a kid.  You see, I didn't really lose my first tooth.  My permanent teeth were coming in weird, so I had to have two teeth pulled.  My recollection is that they were the first two teeth that I 'lost,' although that could be inaccurate.  One way or another, early on in my life, I had to have teeth pulled.  And it wasn't just those two, either.  I ended up having to have several teeth pulled.  Thus began my turbulent relationship with dentists.

Now, the reason this could be a horror film.  My younger brother was also having problems with permanent teeth coming in weird, and he'd been to the orthodontist who said that he had to have two teeth on the bottom pulled.  So he goes to the dentist, who proceeds to pull those two teeth, as well as two more on the top.  Apparently, this dentist just liked to pull teeth.....  Now, imagine if such a dentist were to go clinically insane, and start kidnapping people just so he can pull their teeth out?  That's a horror movie that I would never see, if only because dentists are scary enough to me as it is.

The great irony in all of this is that I had a great orthodontist, and I didn't mind going there at all.  I still haven't figured that one out.

Anyway, I went to the dentist on Tuesday and I can now check off another task on my 101 list.  And, like I said, my mouth is pretty messed up.  I'll eventually have to get around to talking about my 10 missing permanent teeth and the surgeries to have them replaced.  But that's a story for another day.

Movie reviews

So, over the weekend, I watched three movies in three days.  As part of my goal to blog about all of the tasks on my 101 list, I'll be doing reviews of all the movies that I'm counting towards the list.  Below I'll provide some short (mostly) spoiler-free reviews.  Enjoy!

Clash of the Titans (2010) - I saw this movie at the dollar theater Friday night.  Let me just put it this way:  I'm definitely glad that I waited for the dollar theater to see it.  It was an enjoyable flick, don't get me wrong, but it wouldn't have been worth paying full price to see.  Some movies make you think.  Some movies create deep, thought provoking discussion.  This is not one of those movies.  This is a movie that you simply turn your brain off and enjoy the action.  Even taking that into consideration, however, it was still merely mediocre.  The acting was fairly shallow and the plot fairly thin.  The special effects were pretty awesome, and I can't really complain about any movie with Gemma Arterton in it.  Final rating: 2.5/5

Toy Story 3 - I got to watch this movie at a 3D showing on Saturday with my family.  In a word, amazing!  Honestly, a Pixar movie has yet to disappoint me.  I don't think I like it as much as I like the second one, but it was still awesome.  The whole film has a bit of a melancholy feel to it, since Andy is moving away to college, and leaving his toys.  I'm not going to lie, there was a sequence near the end of the movie that nearly had me in tears.  And I don't cry in movies.  Trust Pixar to create an awesome movie that also touches people emotionally.  One of my criteria for judging movies is how much I can feel for the characters, and believe me, you're feeling everything right along with Woody, Buzz, and the whole gang.  Also, as a side note, they got the same voice actor back to play Andy.  Just another example of Pixar being amazing, down to the fine details.  Final rating: 4.5/5  (Bonus info: go here)

Behind Enemy Lines - Sunday night I watched this movie that I got from Netflix and I've had sitting on my desk for probably a month.  I had just never gotten around to watching it.  I wasn't expecting a whole lot, so I think I ended up enjoying it more.  I had heard that it was cool, but not much more than that.  I was impressed with certain action sequences, and the story was pretty gripping and intense.  I do have a few complaints, though.  Admittedly, I know next to nothing about war and military activities, but it seemed that much of what was going on was somewhat abnormal even to the point of 'that could never happen in real life.'  Also, the soundtrack was a bit eclectic and didn't always fit together that well.  For example, I don't imagine patriotic marches with snare drums galore next to a bass-heavy, techno-inspired piece underscoring a chase scene.  All in all though, a good movie, and one I'd recommend watching at least once. Final rating: 3.5/5

Also, as an aside, I accomplished my goal of climbing a tree this afternoon with two friends.  Admittedly, I didn't make it all the way to the top, but that's because someone was already up there, and she had to come down.  So I'm now 2/101 on my list, along with progress made towards watching all the movies as well.

E3 Recap

So, for the past few days I've been following E3 news online.  (For the uninformed, E3 is basically a huge show where video game companies get together and show off all the cool stuff they've got coming up.)  I was pretty impressed with E3 this year.  All three major companies (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) had pretty strong showings, though I must admit I'm kind of a Nintendo fanboy.  I watched their press conference live Tuesday morning, and I was pretty much blown away.  Some of the announcements were expected, but others were a complete surprise.  Below I'd like to highlight several of my favorite trailers and upcoming games of E3, first with a couple of non-Nintendo games.

The Old Republic - This trailer is just made of all kinds of awesome.  This is for an upcoming MMO by BioWare.  I say, why not just let BioWare do the Star Wars movies?  They'd do a better job than the prequel trilogy or the animated Clone Wars show.  (The E3 2009 trailer is pretty ridiculous as well.)


Portal 2 - Sequel to one of the best games I've played.  It looks like the puzzles are going to be even more awesome, and it sounds like the trademark humor is still there.


The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Now we move into the Nintendo section of my recap.  This is the game that we've been waiting for information about since last year at E3 when they showed one piece of artwork.  Although Miyamoto's on stage demonstration had a few hiccups, everything I've read from people who played it on the floor said that it works perfectly.  This is probably on the top of my must-play list.

Kirby's Epic Yarn - This was one of the big surprises of Nintendo's conference.  Kirby hasn't starred in a console title since the days of the N64.  This unique art style struck me as charming the first time I watched this trailer, and it just keeps growing on me.  I can't wait to play this game when it comes out this fall.


Donkey Kong Country Returns - Yet another huge surprise from the press conference.  There had been rumors for a few days before E3 about Retro Studios, the genius behind the Metroid Prime Trilogy, working on a revival of Donkey Kong for the Wii.  It turned out that those rumors were completely true.  I loved the old DKC games on the SNES and I'm extremely excited to play this one soon.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn - This game was first announced at E3 last year.  Since then, I've been waiting (mostly impatiently) to hear more about the sequel to my favorite RPGs of all time.  The gameplay looks to be pretty much the same as the first two entries in the Golden Sun series, which is by no means a bad thing.  Obviously the graphics have gotten a big bump up the the level of the DS, and the summons look like they're going to be pretty epic.

Kid Icarus Uprising - This is the kicker.  Kid Icarus hasn't had a new game in the series since the Game Boy in 1991.  He did make an appearance in 2008s Smash Bros. Brawl, but he hasn't starred in his own game in nearly 20 years.  Not only do we get a new Kid Icarus game, but it's the headlining title for the new 3DS system, which will display the graphics in full 3D without the need for glasses.  Excited?  Very yes!


For all kinds of Nintendo E3 goodness, visit e3.nintendo.com.

101 in 1001

So, I've decided to create a list of goals using the dayzeroproject.com website. The idea here is to make a list of 101 things that you are going to accomplish in the next 1001 days (roughly 2.75 years). One of these things is to create a blog, another is to blog about every task accomplished, so I figured that posting the list itself would be a good way to kick of my blog. Also, comments, suggestions, and encouragement is always welcome. :) Well, here's the list!

1 - Fly a kite on the beach

2 - Reread the Harry Potter series

3 - Read my height (5' 8") in books

4 - Attend the midnight premiere of a movie in costume

5 - Watch 26 movies I've never seen starting with each letter of the Alphabet

6 - Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day

7 - Don't complain about anything for a week

8 - Complete a coloring book

9 - No fast food for a month

10 - Go on a road trip

11 - Visit the Grand Canyon

12 - Program a video game

13 - See a movie I've never heard of without learning anything about it

14 - Run a 5K race

15 - Beat all the Zelda games

16 - Go to a movie by myself

17 - Visit one new state

18 - Bowl at least 150

19 - Start a blog and write once a week for at least three months

20 - Read the Book of Mormon in Russian

21 - Visit St. Petersburg

22 - Be in a musical

23 - Go for a week without watching any tv/movies

24 - Watch all of Avatar: The Last Airbender (TV show)

25 - Go to every temple in Utah

26 - Pay off my loan

27 - Kiss someone at midnight on New Year's

28 - Go for a week without Facebook

29 - Dye my hair

30 - Go to New York City

31 - Complete Ocarina of Time in one sitting

32 - Give a 100% tip

33 - Collect (and cook) 50 new recipes

34 - Run through the sprinklers

35 - Go barefoot for a day

36 - Sleep under the stars

37 - Buy a MacBook Pro

38 - Tie a note to a balloon and let it go

39 - Eat Dinner by Candlelight

40 - Eat at 20 new restaurants

41 - Don't spend any money for 1 week.

42 - Get a credit card- and pay it off every month

43 - Go to an outdoor concert

44 - Pay for someone else’s food behind me at the drive-thru

45 - Watch the entire series of Lost

46 - Memorize a favorite poem

47 - Vote

48 - Stay up for 24 hours with a good reason

49 - Stay up for 24 hours for no reason at all

50 - Make an iTunes playlist of 101 of my favorite songs

51 - Learn to play drums

52 - Give money to a street musician

53 - Go to 5 concerts

54 - Learn the alphabet in ASL

55 - Buy flowers for someone.

56 - Dress up for Halloween

57 - Journal every day for a month

58 - Make a wish at 11:11 on November 11, 2011

59 - Watch all six Star Wars movies in one day

60 - LOTR marathon

61 - Wear an entire outfit that was purchased at DI

62 - Full Combo 5 songs on Expert on Guitar Hero (any)

63 - Go to the dentist

64 - Attend E3

65 - Read a whole book in one day

66 - Play a full game of monopoly

67 - Have a flour bomb war

68 - No soda for one month

69 - Smile at a stranger

70 - Go to an amusement park

71 - Write a sincere letter

72 - Listen to 26 bands I've never listened to starting with each letter of the alphabet

73 - Climb a tree

74 - Go to Disneyland

75 - Hike Timp

76 - Learn two songs on guitar

77 - Buy a pair of Orange Converse

78 - Learn to knit

79 - Teach someone to drive a stick shift

80 - Make a false book

81 - Learn to play all the hymns in the book

82 - Go geocaching

83 - Write a letter ransom-note style (magazine cut-outs)

84 - Celebrate an obscure holiday

85 - Relearn all of the scripture mastery scriptures

86 - Read the standard works all the way through

87 - Buy a moleskine

88 - Make something out of duct tape

89 - Write a fan letter to someone famous

90 - Buy a Canon Powershot

91 - Do 365 day photo challenge

92 - Go to a national park that I've never been to

93 - Decorate a gingerbread house

94 - Blog about every task completed

95 - Make a video and post it on youtube

96 - Join LPU

97 - Go to Warped Tour

98 - Go a week without texting

99 - Go a week with no video games

100 - Get a library card

101 - Write the next 101 to start when this set is over

Also, as of just now, I went to the Provo City Library and got a library card. (1/101) :D I then proceeded to sing to myself the song from Arthur, "Having fun isn't hard, when you've got a library card!" Now THAT was a quality kids TV show.