Sunday Movie Day 2: Special Halloween Edition

So I know that Halloween is still a few weeks away, but it’s one of those holidays that is worth thinking about, if not celebrating, for more than one day and one night. Or half of one night depending how protective parents are of their children, or just how they dictate the celebration of Halloween.

So, in our ideal weekend fashion, we drove our 20 miles ( I’m sorry Earth 🙁 ) to the better AMC theatre in the area. We saw the 9:40 showing of Hotel Transylvania and the 11:45 showing of Frankenweenie. Here are some quick reviews: But first, let me tell you that we guiltily spent more money, almost, on snacks in between movies, than on our tickets. Nearly 20 dollars for some very greasy waffle fries, a small bag of Reeses Pieces, and a small bag of popcorn. It made us feel bad, mentally and physically. Lesson learned? Doubt it.

Hotel Transylvania: I know, we knew, what the critics said and that it has a pretty bad score on Rotten Tomatoes. But when have I ever cared what the critics say? Sometimes, I love bad movies, because they can be very entertaining. Let’s just say that I’m open to anything. So, the voice acting cast was stacked… Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, and there were definitely others I forget. It was super cheesy and I’m sure all of the kids in the audience loved every bit of it. I enjoyed most of it. It was no How To Train a Dragon or Shrek, but it tried to do the same thing more or less and still entertained although it lacked that lasting impact which is why it probably didn’t do too well with the critics.

Nevertheless, we had our eyes glued on the screen the whole time. Good animation, voice acting, a cheesy but cute story, and every monster you want to remember a few weeks before Halloween. How much I enjoyed it? A lot. But as a movie, if I were a critic… probably a 4/10. You know what… it actually accomplished more or less what it was trying to do so I’m going to give it a 5/10. It wasn’t trying to win any awards, just put some smiles on little faces.

Frankenweenie: If you didn’t know Tim Burton directed this before stepping in the theatre, and he wasn’t in the credits, it wouldn’t take any movie fan more than two minutes to figure it out. The puppets, the soundtrack, the feel is completely Tim Burton. Again, to consult the critics, this one has very positive reviews, but Alana and I both enjoyed this one far less. It was Edward Scissorhands, The Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas… just not as good. Well maybe as good as the Corpse Bride, probably better in my book, I saw the latter in theatre long ago. Danny Elfman does a great job on the score as always, and the voice acting fits the dark feeling. There is plenty of wit behind it, but it tries to accomplish too much and some of the messages get slightly blurry, especially for young children, who can see this movie. It is not graphic or nasty. And it has good messages. To be fair, it was a fun adaptation of the Dr. Frankenstein stories. A little different. Also, a 5/10 in my book. I don’t always agree with the tomatometer.

We would have also seen Paranorman but they decided to release it in August… I’d love to know why. To avoid competition? Not worth it if you ask me. Oh well, we have our pumpkins soon to be jack-o-lanterns, candy dish of candy corn, and window decorations but we still need more! Get in the Halloween spirit if you want to, we do!

Oct082012

Back to The Movies: Double Review of Taken 2 and Pitch Perfect

So, despite being very busy and having more important chores to do… we decided to start going back to the movies on Sunday mornings. AMC has a great deal where any pre-matinee show is only 6 dollars a ticket, unless its 3D or something else fancy. So we decided on these two:

Taken 2: We loved the first one and Liam Neeson is just awesome. While this movie was more or less the same as the first, and any fan would enjoy it for sure, it did have a lot more love and fluff. For a 90 minute movie, at least half felt like fluff so the action was shortened but it was still very entertaining. Not as clever, but still worth seeing if you enjoyed the first. It was somewhat entertaining. 3/10

Our boy, Liam

Pitch Perfect: Alana convinced me to see this, which wasn’t hard because I actually love acapella. She wanted to see it because of the Australian roommate of the main character from Bridesmaids. Seeing her hilarious acting was well worth our money and while the movie was predictable, it had some great musical arrangements and some decent acting. It was very entertaining. 7/10

Next weekend we plan on doing another double to get into the Halloween spirit, by seeing Frankenweenie and Hotel Transylvania.

I never wanted to see Looper but I do like Bruce Willis and the reviews are top notch so I’ll consider it. As for other future movies, my three most anticipated of the year are obviously, in no particular order because it’d be too hard:

The Hobbit (!!!)

Les Miserables

Skyfall

Otherwise, I plan on seeing Alex Cross with Tyler Perry and Matthew Fox, Silent Hill Revelations 3D, Cloud Atlas, Chasing Mavericks, Wreck it Ralph (Looks great), Man with the Iron Fists, and Rise of the Guardians.

Let me know if anything else coming out this year looks worth seeing! We love movies of all kinds, just no zombies for Alana.

🙂

Sep232012

Ashton Parson in Artist Spotlight 1

(Foreword: Written as a friend, like an older brother)

I love music, and I have a very very personalized taste in music. Alana has started to get used to it. I’ve assimilated her to K-Pop already! While my favorite genres are probably R&B, k-pop, and soundtracks (video games, anime, and movies) there is tons of other stuff I like to listen to. I have my favorite artists like everybody else and then there are tons of songs that I can just listen to and never need to know the artist, such as all those easy-listening-natural-waves-in-the-background ambiance tracks. Eventually, I’ll do some posts on favorite workout songs and favorite artists in more detail, a introduction to k-pop so that people new to it don’t just associate it with PSY, and who knows what else.

In the meantime, I would like to introduce to you an artist on the rise, a truly talented vocalist whose passion for music cannot easily be matched. When you watch American Idol, X-Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, or the Voice, you see countless passionate individuals that just unfortunately don’t have the vocal prowess or musical skills to live up to their desire to succeed in the music industry. Nowadays, it’s hard to support yourself as a singer. Even if you have the vocals, the skills, the ability to write, the ability to play an instrument, and even the charisma to get up in front of a crowd… you need a lucky break. There are tons of deserving individuals that are far more talented than successful artists in the industry because they haven’t had that break. And then you have individuals that work endlessly to create their own lucky break. More of less, that is what I see when I think about my friend, Ashton Parson.

Ashton grew up in Cheraw, South Carolina, raised by his absolutely amazing and loving mother. Ashton was born with raw talent in the form of an unexpected voice that you would never see coming. Ashton’s love for music and ability to stand in front of a crowd brought him to various competitions as he grew up in the South. With a vast interest in the music industry and artists from all genres, especially those from Great Britain (Ashton knew who Jessie J and Adele were before anyone else), Ashton sought to live his life doing what he loves.

With that, Ashton came to the Bronx and attended Manhattan College, hoping that being in New York City would lead to his lucky break. While at Manhattan, Ashton’s vocals were featured at countless sporting events, as the school’s go-to-guy for the National Anthem. Ashton sang everywhere, making sure to maintain and improve his ability. Ashton even entertained one of his RAs, me, with some amazing sessions in the residence hall. We spent hours singing, making acoustic versions of every good British and American r&b or pop songs. I felt lucky enough to be able to sing with him, since we were in totally different leagues.

And I knew, that one day, he would be famous.

Ashton left Manhattan and the Bronx to attend the New School. He found himself in Brooklyn, a great place for aspiring artists. Ashton is one of the most likable people I have ever known, and he used his charm and well-mannered self to gain friendship’s with prominent individuals in the music industry. Nevertheless, Ashton kept grinding, working shows downtown and in the Village, performing every week whenever he could to do what he loved and get his name out there. Ashton started loading his Myspace and YouTube channel with amazing new videos and track recordings. Some tracks, that I thought were pure gold, were never even released. His Twitter never stopped… tweeting.

And finally, I was relieved to find his tracks on iTunes. I have studio versions and raw recordings from our sessions and his professional sessions, but these are mastered and top notch. You can find his first single, Rolling Stone, and his first EP, a four track classic entitled Walk on the Water, on iTunes now. It’s a well spent four dollars. The songs are all different, unlike some of the recent platinum albums that feature recycled beats, like Kanye’s 808&Heartbreaks. His vocals are rich and his range is grand. The lyrics are meaningful and honest, the beats are catchy, and the feeling is good.

He should record the next soundtrack for True Blood. You can feel the South in his music. Hopefully, this album can pick up some steam, months and years after being recorded, like many greats in the past. And hopefully, Ashton can find himself signed to a label that can support him in the near future so that we have the opportunity to listen to his amazing voice.

Please consider watching his YouTube videos and buying his music on iTunes. It’s well worth it, especially compared to the garbage on the radio now.