A Movie Review: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs". This was another enjoyable cartoon. I've now seen two decent cartoons after going through a drought on cartoons, the last one being "Monsters vs. Aliens". The other great cartoon is "Up". "Ice Age 3" has the herd of mismatched animals now dealing with the coming birth of a mammoth baby. Meanwhile, Sid the Sloth decides to adopt a trio of eggs, which turn out to be dinosaur eggs. The eggs hatch and out come a trio of dinosaurs. The mother soon comes looking for them and takes the three babies along with Sid back to a secret world filled with dinosaurs. The mismatched herd goes off to save Sid the Sloth and have various adventures trying to avoid the dangers of this hidden land.

It is a fun movie that shows the importance of sticking with the ones you love. I have to admit I saw it while somewhat tired so I suspect I would have enjoyed it all the more if I was fully awake. This is a cartoon with some nice lessons as well as moments that will make you laugh.

AMC Theatres: Rant

AMC Theatres. I go to the AMC 16 Theatres in Burbank on a regular basis. I've always been allowed to bring in food. Suddenly, today, I was told that a Chipotle burrito was no longer allowed inside. They said Corporate had changed the policy. Now I wasn't the only one caught in this change of policy, because two other folks were also told that food was no longer allowed. AMC actually said that the policy wasn't changed. They said that the policy was just never enforced. Yes, not enforced for close to a decade, which means it was a suspended policy.

I asked to talk to the manager, but got no where with him regarding allowing a pass this time around. I then went online to see if I couldn't send a complaint to the corporate offices. You can't even send an e-mail complaint to AMC. You need to write a letter.

I don't have an issue with AMC saying that they're no longer allowing food inside their theatres. It is their right. But it is a bit irritating for such a sudden enforcement of the new policies without having a grace period. You have people who've gone to AMC 16 for years and always spend a few bucks on food to bring inside the threatre. I find it a bit rude for them to say to people, "Hey, we're changing a policy we've had for years. We're not going to have any grace period and by default we don't really care that you just spent money on food that we now demand that you toss." Oh, they said I could put the burrito in my car, but putting a burrito with sour cream in my car for three hours in our August heatwave sounds like a recipe for food poisoning.

What did I do? I asked for my money back.

Will I go to the AMC 16 theatre in the future? Yes, but I felt that in this case I just couldn't hand over my money and still keep a sense of self-worth.

A movie review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

"Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I think this movie is just brilliant. I consider this movie like a set-piece. It is a movie that is saying, "Hey, the final battle is about to begin, but just not yet." In a situation like this, the movie could be a total flop. It could bore the pants off of you, but the movie is executed so perfectly that it really didn't bother me that the movie just sort of trails off at the end with a, "Hey, we're not exactly leaving you on a cliff hanger, but we are leaving you with the anticipation that a battle is about to begin."

The romance. They're all starting to become attracted to the opposite sex in this movie. A lot of smooching going on. A situation like this in a movie like this could be painful, almost a side show that you don't really want to see, because it takes away from the driving conclusion, but it actually worked in perfectly. It gave a bit of a lightheartedness to the movie that has an obvious dark overhang to it.

UCP with Shakers, Silver Needle and Clark 8 at Juanita's

UCP wants to get their new album out, but first they need to raise some funds. So to help raise some funds they held a fund raising event. There were five bands that played that night as listed below.

The Shakers

Silver Needle

Pu$$y Cow

Underwater City People

Clark 8

The Shakers started it off at a little after 9:30.



Next up was Silver Needle. I believe they played a new song.

Pu$$y Cow was next with a violin bow used for a song.

Underwater City People played. The police showed up towards the end of their set.

The night ended with Clark 8.

A Movie Review: Public Enemies

I'm up and down on Michael Mann. I loved "Collateral." I hated "Miami Vice." Now comes "Public Enemies." I did not like it. The movie centers around John Dillinger. The first half or so of the movie was okay, the second half was just a dud. Here's my problems with the movie:

In the scenes at the Wisconsin hotel, Michael Mann decided to go with what appeared to be an "inspired by the TV show Cops" type of filming. I just found it over-the-top and actually a total switch in style from the rest of the movie.

I also wasn't sure how John Dillinger was being portrayed. Was he a cunning bank robber? Was he a playboy? Was he a vicious killer? I don't know. If he was cunning, the movie surely didn't show it very well. I couldn't help but wonder: After awhile, wasn't John Dillinger sort of surprised that where ever he went, often times the FBI was around somewhere? Didn't he perhaps wonder how the FBI was tracking him?

Anyways, not one of my favorite summer movies.

A Movie Review: Transformers: Rise of the Fallen

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." I liked this movie far more than the first Transformers movie. I remember sitting through the first one and wondering what all the hype was about. This one was much more fun as a summer popcorn movie. Of course, this movie will hardly go down as a classic of any type. There are some real plot holes. This link goes through some of them.

The Plot Holes

For me, point 7 is a real biggie. Sam, Mikaela and Simmons go into the Smithsonian. They walk out into a plane grave yard. I don't know about that one.

Point 8 is a biggie. Where did Israel go.

I also can't help but see this movie as making fun of Obama to a degree. The real idiot in this film is an Obama official. You know this when you hear that Obama has gone into hiding in middle America.

Even though this movie has some real stupid holes in it, it is enjoyable for what it is: a summer popcorn movie.

One could ask: This movie doesn't rank up there with last years' Dark Knight and Iron Man so how can you like it? Can't we ask for a summer pop corn movie that is both action packed and intelligent? Yes we can, but for the most part last summer was probably an anomaly and we must live with what we are given. And with that in mind, I say this is a good summer movie, flaws and all.

I'm up on intraffik with my August list of bands

Check out some of the local bands I've seen over on intraffik.com.

Here's the list though you should still go to the site to see some added videos and notes.

The Faraway Places - ”The Sun Goes West”
The Monthlies – “Hip Girl”
The New Pornographers – “These Are the Fables”
Tegan and Sara ” Back in Your Head”
Big Stone City ” She’s Always”
Pretty Mess - “Despair”
Dirty Filthy Mugs - “Frontline Hooligans”
Delta Spirit - “ Children”
The Romany Rye - “ Old Soul”
The Parson Redheads – “You Can Leave It”
She & Him - “ Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”

Great Northern at Pershing Square

I'm keeping this brief as there might be a future write-up on intraffik.com. Now admittedly I've done something on Great Northern already on intraffik.com, but I'm thinking of trying something new.

Anyways, I caught Great Northern at Pershing Square.

They were the only band. Great Northern had killed the opening band and was planning on eating them later that night.

It was a chilly night, but a great one. More on the night will be coming soon.

Below are some below-average shots of the night.

A Movie Review: Moon

"Moon". This movie has some interesting concepts behind it, but it just doesn't deliver at the end. The story is about a guy who is alone on the moon. The moon is being mined for an energy source. He is the only person on the moon. One day, he gets into an accident. He awakes back at the station, unsure how he got there. It quickly becomes more complicated. Due to the accident, the corporation assumed that Sam died in the accident. They decide to activate a clone. My impression was that the memories transferred over to the clone and he can't recall how he got back to the base. He decides to investigate the accident scene. He ends up finding Sam and brings him back to the base. It so happens that they're both clones. The corporation is sending out a group to recover what they assume is the dead clone. If they find both clones alive, they'll have to kill both of the clones as a cover-up.

Here's what I'd like to know more from the movie:

1. It would seem hard to believe that this corporation is the only one that uses clones. There must be a cultural shift on the world that accepts clones. I wish this was explained a bit more.

2. I wish the film gave more insight into what happened to the original Sam. There is brief contact with the daughter via phone -- who then calls out for her father. You sort of wonder if perhaps the original Sam survived his 3 year commitment and the corporation creates clones to keep doing the same work. Of course, the film also hints that Sam's wife was straying after three years apart, indicating that perhaps Sam's daughter is calling out for her step father.

Aaron Beaumont @ Life on Wilshire

As mentioned on an intraffik.com column, Aaron Beaumont was doing a set at Life on Wilshire. He did an 8 song set starting around 11 p.m. There was a nice group of his friends there, wishing him well as he was kicking off his US tour. He had some back-up musicians for a handful of songs. There were also a couple other musicians who warmed up the crowd prior.

All in all, a good night.

Saw "Shaq vs."

I just saw Shaq vs. This was the first episode with Shaq going up against Ben Roethlisberger. I'm a big Steelers fan and a big Lakers fan -- and even though Shaq is no longer a Lakers, I still remember those Shaq days. I am not a big reality TV fan. "Survivor." "Apprentice." Whatever. And honestly I probably won't watch the remaining episodes of "Shaq vs," but I have to say that this one episode was funny. And for the benefit of Shaq, wasn't that interception he threw a result of pass interference?

A Movie Review: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3". This movie is a box office disappointment. On the otherhand, it is a good movie. I'm not going to say it is a great movie, but I will say it was well written and acted. I usually try to poke holes into movie plot lines -- like the recent Star Trek movie. I can't really say I found any serious holes in the storyline. It just felt like a really tightly written movie that made sure that the storyline made sense in every possible way.

A Movie Review: GI Joe

"GI Joe". Oh, such an awful movie.

A Movie Review: Away we go

"Away We Go". I thought this was an okay movie. I think there are better road trip movies out there like “Little Miss Sunshine.” Also, I just found this movie lacking when compared to “Revolutionary Road,” which is also directed by Sam Mendes. The one note about this movie is that I think it shows us that we’re all broken – broken in the sense that our lives are not perfect. We’re all screwed up in large and small ways.

A movie review: Hangover

"Hangover" has made an enormous amount of money and has had some really long legs, indicating that it is a really loved movie. As for me, I liked it, but I didn't love it. I think my problem was that I came into this movie with very high expectations. I walked away thinking, there were probably better comedies out there this year. Over-all, though, it is a funny story about people who have a little too much fun in Las Vegas. It is a movie that flows rather well and makes you yearn for an adventure in life.

Spaceland: Local Natives and their residency

I invited a friend to come out to Spaceland. This was her first time at Spaceland. Before she arrived I saw a band called Rademacher. A friend told me at a Saturday night party that she planned on coming to check out this band. She never arrived, but I did get to see them and I thought they were rather good.




Red Cortez was the next band up. The lead singer was having some fun on stage. At one p0int he started to sing-chant, "Local Natives. Local Natives. Local Natives." He then broke up laughing, saying some like, "I'm just having fun." Interesting note about Red Cortez, there were four photographers with their SLR cameras taking photos of Red Cortez. I just found that interesting to mention.

Next up was Local Natives, the band I gave as the reason my friend should come out to Spaceland for the first time. Now my friend isn't used to staying out late, being a teacher and all. So before Local Natives started she said, "I might just leave at 11:30 p.m." I replied, "You've got to stick around for their whole set, this is why I invited you to come." She said, "If they're awesome, I'll stick around." She stuck around, because Local Natives were awesome.

It appears that Local Natives used to be called Cavil at Rest. Now the LA Weekly made fun of the band's name in a recent write-up. I also heard a couple guys talking after the set. One said, "They used to be called Cavil at Rest. They made a really dumb mistake changing their names to Local Natives." Actually, I like the name Local Natives.

Another interesting side note: For Red Cortez we were in the loosely defined second row. Someone how for Local Natives we got pushed back to the third row, not bad, except for the fact that the people in front of us were all like 6 feet tall. I was like, how did that happen. It wasn't like we couldn't see the band, it was just an interesting note.

While my friend took off after Local Natives, I stuck around briefly for Swim Party. If you've read my past music blogs, you know I hate staying out past midnight. I stuck around for three of their songs and took off myself. What did I think of Swim Party? I wouldn't mind seeing a full set, just hopefully when they have a start time before midnight. Half the audience had split by that point. The lead singer of Swim Party stated, "I know we all have to work tomorrow. We'll try to jam through our set as fast as possible."

Diane Birch column up on Intraffik.com

I'd mentioned previously that my Diane Birch column on Intraffik.com would go up in the later half of August. Oh well, it is up early. Check it out here.

If you want to see a video of her on David Letterman, click here.

Good reading I hope.

Jessie Deluxe at Fox and Hounds

I got to catch an acoustic set by Jessie Deluxe at the Fox and Hounds on Saturday night. I previously saw her in her two piece band at the Roxy. She mentioned during her set that she decided to go acoustic/solo, because she was afraid that her two piece would be too loud. I don't know if she needed to worry about us, I think the Fox and Hounds has handled some rather loud bands. It was thoughtful of her and over-all, it was a nice set. She had one song that was dedicated to an opera singer, can't recall the name of the singer. To end her set, she played a song called "Bi-polar," which actually included some opera-like singing.

After her set, she walked around handing out her CD to those in the audience. Friendly personality, I say.

LA Lakers: Kurt Rambis to become head coach of Minnesota Timberwolves

Long time Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis is moving on to become the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. From the LA Times (“Kurt Rambis will become coach of Timberwolves, Mark Medina, 8 Aug 2009): Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis has agreed to become coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, accepting at least a three-year deal. A news conference will be held early this week announcing the deal . . . Rambis, who made a name for himself with his rugged play during the Showtime era of the 1980s, spent the last 10 seasons as an assistant to Phil Jackson . . . The coaching announcement caps off a busy summer for Rambis, who was chosen for the Minnesota job over TV analyst and former star point guard Mark Jackson and Houston Rockets assistant Elston Turner. The Sacramento Kings offered Rambis their head coaching position but ultimately chose Paul Westphal after Rambis asked for more than the two-year contract and money that was offered. He was also interviewed for the head coaching vacancy with the Philadelphia 76ers.

My comments: Congrats to Kurt Rambis. I grew up watching this guy play for the Lakers. I hope he has great success, just not too much success. Of course, in a couple years he might be coming back to the Lakers.

Montrose: Artificial turf war versus water usage restrictions

I’m not sure about using turf in one’s front yard, but here’s an amusing example of conflicting city laws (Glendale News-Press, “Not the typical turf war,” Melanie Hicken, 6 Aug 2009): David Wood has become ensnared in a web of competing city codes and bureaucratic headache — and all over a desire to be green. Last month, with mandatory water conservation in place, he installed artificial turf in front of the house he built on Piedmont Avenue, but the fake grass is illegal under a city ordinance that bans it anywhere that’s visible from the street. But in order to receive final city approval and adhere to his approved landscaping plan, he will have to replace the artificial turf with live grass. The new sod, though, requires daily watering to take root, which would violate the two-days-a-week irrigation limits imposed by the Crescenta Valley Water District. But if the grass dies, he can be cited by code enforcement for dead landscaping in a front setback . . . With local utilities limiting irrigation to only a few days a week, Wood is one of several residents across the city who say they feel caught between adhering to the water conservation measures and Planning Department design standards while avoiding penalties from Neighborhood Services inspectors who can issue citations for brown lawns.

My comments: The article does a nice job of explaining the arguments that support each of the conflicting issues: no artificial turf, brown lawn citations and water restrictions. I have to admit finding these sort of conflicting city laws amusing.

Switchfoot and Blue October at the Wiltern, August 6

This has been a fun week of music. Sunday started off with No Doubt and Paramore. And on Wednesday, Switchfoot and Blue October. It started off getting stuck at work a little longer than I wanted, but off I went eventually. I hung out with some friends across the street at a Japanese restaurant. Around 7:45 p.m. we headed over to catch Switchfoot. Yes, we missed the first band. A number of friends were already inside the Wiltern so I was able to squeeze in with them. We were in the second section of the general admission area, right by the railing.




I'd gone to the Wiltern website and it mentioned that no flash photography was allowed. So these photos are taken using 3200 ISO. Since we weren't right next to the stage, using flash wouldn't have mattered anyways.



I think the below is the best photo of the night.



And this one comes in a close second.



The lead singer, Jon Foreman, at this pointed started to make his way through the audience.



He went through the first section of the general admission area and ended up standing on the railing of the second section. And as I mentioned above, my friends and I were right there. So you see some rather close shots of him. I guess I could have turned on my flash, but I was a bit concerned about blinding him, considering the fact that he was on a railing.



My cute story. There was a young girl, perhaps 12, who I suspect was right by the stage. As Jon Foreman made his way through the crowd, I think she followed him. When he got to our railing, she squeezed herself towards the other railing and then sat atop of it. Now I suspect that security usually frowns on this. I waited for security to come by, but none did. She just sat there, looking in awe as Jon Foreman sang atop the railing. After a few minutes her mother (or guardian) came over and tapped her on the shoulder saying it was time to come back over. The young girl didn't complain. She got back down on the floor and they headed back towards the front of the stage. I wonder if Jon Foreman noticed this. I thought it was a very sweet moment.

And on my front. For a brief moment, Jon Foreman started to shake hands with the audience. I said to myself, why not, and briefly shook his hand.



Something that I've noticed at various music venues also happened here. Actually, some of my friends had passes for a meet and great with Switchfoot so they left the area. And in surged a number of Blue October fans: Switchfoot fans out, Blue October fans in. I say the super cool thing about Blue October, they have a violinist. The guy also plays the guitar so when he was playing his violin, he'd have his guitar, also. So you had a guy walking around with to instruments -- anyways, I found that interesting.

Blue October started off with a bang.



A lot of their songs had very personal lyrics.



And the fans ate it up.



Blue October did have an acoustic three song set. I was sort of surprised by this -- of course, this is the first time I've seen them. In my opinion, it was taking a chance that the audience would stay focused. I more than respect them for that move.



For some reason, I think I got better shows of Switchfoot than of Blue October. I think it had something to do with the lighting that each band used. Each used different lighting, Switchfoot had more white while Blue October went with . . . blue.

Switchfoot played for about an hour. Blue October played for about 1 1/2 hours. I'd say the audience was 60/40. 60% Blue October fans. 40% Switchfoot fans. I was told that when the doors opened, the line outside stretched around a corner. Who do I think had the better set? Well, I'm bias, of course. I think Switchfoot had the better set; however, I think their set at their Bro-Am was just slightly better. I think perhaps it had something to do with the crowd. Obviously, at the Bro-Am, 100% of the fans were there for Switchfoot while the fan base at the Wiltern was more diverse. As for Blue October's set. I liked it, but I thought it was a bit up and down at moments. I'm not sure they're really able to carry a 1 1/2 hour set. Hopefully, that isn't seen as too big of a knock, because there were definitely moments where they rocked it and I thought the acoustic set was great. It is like seeing a good movie, but thinking, it would be great if they'd trimmed 15 to 20 minutes off.

A movie review: Up

After seeing a number of cartoons and not enjoying them at all (Monsters vs. Aliens, as an example), I was wondering if I’d gotten too old to enjoy cartoons. That fear was tossed to the side after seeing Up. This movie is brilliant from the very start. It starts off by pulling at your heart strings and then sends you off wanting to do good. (Even the short cartoon was brilliant – of course, for Pixar, those usually are.) The first five minutes or so of the movie has to be one of the more beautifully crafted cinematic expressions of a lifetime of love. The middle is an enjoyable (though admittedly somewhat predictable) romp through South America

The coda shows how great emotional despair doesn’t need to create long-term depression. With the Academy now expanding the best picture race to the top 10 (which I don’t fully agree with), I think this movie is a shoe-in for a nomination. And if it isn’t, then it becomes obvious that expanding the nomination to 10 is a mistake and that it should get reduced back to five.

No Doubt on Sunday August 2nd, Irvine

For those who've come across my music blogs, you know the standard which is . . . here's some photos and a column will show up on intraffik.com in a month. (If you've never been to this blogsite than you have no clue what I'm talking about; however, you should check out intraffik.com if you have the time.) Well, that's true in this case as well, though I'm being slightly more wordy than in previous heads-ups-about-upcoming-intraffik-column blogs . . .

First off, we missed the first band, which I regret because I really did want to see them. We also missed about a third of Paramore set which I found really sad because I really really wanted to see their whole set.

We did get to see two-thirds of Paramore; however. And they rocked it.




To end their set, you can see below a number of costume characters.



Then up came No Doubt. The next two photos are shots of the projector screen.

I think the below is actually a rather good shot of the stage. The security guards were tight on the cameras. When walking towards the gates, I saw a woman carrying back her camera -- a non SLR camera. I made a comment to my friend. The woman heard me and replied, "No large cameras allowed." My camera I guess didn't look that large to the security guy. Unknown to him, my camera is far better than that woman's camera -- though obviously not SLR quality.

Another stage shot. Zoomed in so it didn't come out as solid.

This shot is towards the end of their set.

Awesome cool. No Doubt, during the encore three song set, had the two other lead singers come on stage to help with Stand and Deliver.

What a night. Gwen and gang delivered an awesome 1.5 hour set.

Intraffik article on Local Natives and The Monthlies

As promised, an article written on Local Natives and The Monthlies is currently up on Intraffik.com. Go check it out.

The Tempest: Independent Shakespeare Company at Barnsdall Park

This was my second time going to Barnsdall Park to catch some Shakespeare in the Park. Last year was Henry IV parts one and two. This year was The Tempest. The play is put on by the Independent Shakespeare Company. Their season at Barnsdall ends August 30th. The Company is rotating between The Tempest and Henry V.

I'm not a Shakespeare guru or fan so I can't really do a proper review. (I've seen perhaps 4 Shakespeare plays ever.) I will say I enjoyed The Tempest. Last year, I found Henry IV a bit confusing. Of course, this year, someone gave me a quick low down on The Tempest, which helped reduce the confusion.

Random thought: the programs were made of much higher paper quality than last year, meaning that even during this recession they're getting better funding?

My general comments:

Reservations are key. They let the general public in at 7 p.m. (the play starts at 7:30 p.m.), but the area fills up rather quickly. It appeared that some people had to watch from outside the boundaries.

If you have a large group, I'd recommend getting there at 6 p.m. (they start letting people in at this time) so that you can all sit together.

I'd also suggest bringing a jacket or blanket. Even though the plays go on in the middle of the summer, there is a nice breeze that comes through.