Out and About in California: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

So here’s the deal: I am not a fan of Ronald Reagan. I am too young to experience his time as our President but with enough reading material on him (NEUTRAL I might add) I have a good opinion on the guy. But regardless of how you feel about him he was still one of our leaders; especially in an age where the country almost went into another tailspin. So, for good or ill on HOW he did it, he certainly has a legacy that we all still feel today.

One of the major hotspots my parents wanted to see while visiting me was The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Again, regardless how you feel on the man I have to say: The guy has a hell of a museum decided to his legacy. It might twist some of the facts around and is way too positive at some points for my liking. But overall it was an enjoyable visit. Hell, the views alone in Simi Valley are worth the price of admission. So below are a few highlights of the building and its surrounding vistas. Take your political views out the door and just enjoy what this museum has to offer.

Today in Photoshop: WHM Podcast Presents The Wolverine 4

For today’s Photoshop it is another fandom piece. But this time instead of Funhaus I am going to another amazing set of comedians with the We Hate Movies podcast. They are a podcast that loves to cover bad movies and their most recent episode in The Shadow they talk about unrealistic body types in superhero movies. This, in turn, led to them discussing how they would like to be involved with another Wolverine sequel where Eric Szyszka will play Sabretooth and Stephen Sajdak (and their third partner in Andrew Jupin directs). So you know where this is going…

Out and About in LA: Little Tokyo

Welcome back to our second straight week of enjoying the Asian side of Los Angeles. Last week was Koreatown and this week we are going to the aptly named Little Tokyo. (Don’t forget I visited Chinatown way back when last summer.) I honestly was not prepared for how incredibly tiny this neighborhood is. Considering how close we are, or relative anyways, to Japan I expected a neighborhood solely dedicated to the Japanese be much bigger. But to be honest it is about maybe two blocks wide and long so it is honestly not as impressive as I thought it was gonna be. But hey, I still had fun walking around the neighborhood and as you’ll see there is just enough here to enjoy a light afternoon. Or if you want hit this place up and go to one of the many other locales right smack dab in this area of LA. For now enjoy what Little Tokyo has to offer below:

25 Favorite Films: The Master (2012)

True story (w/SPOILER ALERT): Me and my sister went to see this in theaters. How I convinced her to watch a movie essentially about the history of Scientology is anyone’s guess. But we were watching the movie and enjoying ourselves, me probably more so to be honest, and then one of the final scenes happen in the film. In it we have Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character start to sing ‘(I’d Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China’. It’s an unnerving moment because while the film has these otherworldly elements it never got too surreal. But having this dude serenade to Joaquin Phoenix was just too much for this one dude behind us because in the middle of this he just screams: “This is Insane!” Both of us totally lost it and to this day it has become one of our favorite moments in a theater.

25 Favorite Films: Inglourious Basterds (2009)

There is a scene in Quentin Tarantino’s WWII film that made me realize this was going to be my favorite of his. We get to witness the titular heroes go to town on Nazi’s by scalping them up and down. With only three remaining, Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) is trying his hardest to get intel from them. He threatens the leader with the fact they have ‘The Bear Jew’ who is the scariest of the bunch. What happens next is….Well here let me show you:

Great Movie Scenes #005: Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983)

Whenever we want to talk about the songs Monty Python have given us we usually go with the big one in “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life”. Now I am not dismissing that as anything short of brilliant so hopefully you fans don’t take umbrage when I say I don’t find that to be my favorite. It’s catchy and the message in it is uplifting; which is why everyone goes for it. For me though I have to say another Eric Idle written gem is my all time favorite of the groups musical numbers. It takes place in the fifth section of their final film The Meaning of Life. It’s called “The Galaxy Song” and I’l let you listen in before rattling off my love of it.

Against the Sun (Review)

If there is one thing the public loves it is a good survival story. Put any number of people in an ‘against the odds’ kind of plot and you already hooked the viewer. Especially if we have a story set during any time of war because if there is one thing Americans love is war stories. Type the words ‘World War II’ & ‘Survival’ and you will get tons of media that recounts some brutal situations soldiers got in to. Brian Falk’s Against the Sun is yet another entry and honestly, like the characters involved, it more than likely will be lost in sea.

Against the Sun quickly gets the ball rolling as we witness the plight of three Navy airman (Jake Abel, Garret Dillahunt, and Tom Felton) lost adrift in the middle of the Pacific. While this is based off a true story it certainly does not help this feels like any other lost at sea tale. We go from start to finish with the typical plot points from an arrogant leader, to trying to find food, to the evitable storm that plagues these men. While these three look the part, there is nothing here to make these men memorable or distinguishable. Brian Falk and co-writer Mark David Keegan definitely respect the real survivors but because their tale is pretty typical they do not add any dimension to make us care.

Two people that do try and add something to this picture are Cinematographer Petr Cikhart and Editor Sean Albertson. For a good spell this film is shot amazingly well and Cikhart’s history as a documentarian certainly helps. The day scenes have some beautiful, sweeping shots of the ocean and Cikhart does some innovative things like filming underwater to get some unique angles. Albertson then does some magic by cutting pretty quickly so looking at only three men the entire length is not too boring. It is always difficult to make a film with one setting interesting but to give credit where credit is due Against the Sun is visually appealing.

Actually Against the Sun is visually appealing to a point. A good two thirds through this and the budget seemed to drop dramatically as poor CGI and green screen is used throughout. Let’s put it this way: The sharks from Jaws 3D look more realistic than this film’s. Try as he can, Cikhart can only do so much when the film goes for the cheap so late. That and it must be said that the night scenes involved are infuriatingly dark. It is one way to be realistic but considering we cannot see some key plot moments because of the non-existing lighting maybe it would not have hurt to have some kind of light on these guys.

Unfortunately Against the Sun is one of the more frustrating, true stories to be made. No matter how beautiful this film can look there are countless things that continues to stall it. The characters are not interesting, the writing is too predictable, and the CGI is SyFy Channel level bad. If you are into survival stories or even a WWII fanatic this might be for you. But with so many damn options available you can watch, read, listen, or even play much better stories than this.

Live Tweeting #4: Boyhood (2014)

Just getting in under the wire for Oscars, I have now watched Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. A movie where some are calling his masterpiece because of the way it was filmed. By taking twelve years to film we actually get to see a child grow up before our eyes. It is a great experiment in filmmaking and apart from the famous 7 Up documentaries it is surprising we haven’t seen this more often. Probably because it is a bitch to make sure we corral all of these actors and crew for each set of weeks Linklater filmed each year. I’m looking forward though to seeing if there is more to this film than the gimmick it is advertising. Considering how many Oscars it is up for, especially Best Picture, I have to imagine there is more to Richard Linklater’s….

Live Tweeting #3: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

We are getting close to those Oscars and one of the big surprises is that a Wes Anderson picture is getting nine nominations. Most of the time Anderson’s films do not get much love so it is nice to see him getting some recognition for a change. So without further ado I wish you all to have as much fun as I had seeing such a vibrant universe put on display here. Side note: I saw this on a plane during my trip to Paris. Even with a smaller screen it is hard not to be blinded by the orgy of colors surrounding…

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death (Review)

If you are not aware dear reader, apparently the first Friday of the year is now Halloween. At least that is what the studios want you to believe with the last five years opening with a horror movie. In general January is the month where movies go to die as the unwanted releases come out so the studios can worry about prime movie season later. Which leads us to the unwanted, and convolutely named, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death. When the title distracts you by remembering a killer Slayer song from 1986 you know you are in for a rough outing.