Potter again

I saw the new and extremely underwhelming Harry Potter movie Wednesday evening.

Don’t get your panties in a bunch yet! Before I start bitching, I want to praise what were some very strong aspects of the film.

The acting is great, and I’m not just talking about the secondary players like Jim Broadbent, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman. They’ve always been awesome and could be considered one of the greatest ensembles ever assembled. Instead, it’s the “kids” that blew me away. They’ve matured well, sharpened their acting chops and have truly made the characters their own. For example, in the earlier movies all Rupert Grint had to do to play Ron Weasly was make funny faces and pretend to be scared of everything. Here he shows a full range of emotions, but more importantly he really nails his comedic timing. His scenes are far and away the best in the movie.

The Quiditch scenes are the best yet. It’s like you’re flying along on your own broom, dodging bludgers and trying to avoid cheating Slytherin players. It’s the little things you can see that really make it worthwhile. Players grab at one another, can be seen shifting their balance from one side of their brooms to other and best yet, CRASHING! Very cool and very exciting.

The special effects are fantastic. Not much to say here as it should be what the viewer expects. They’re realistic, tangible, cold when they should be and hot when it’s appropriate. Very well done.

Okay, on to the bad.

Story. Anyone who has read the novel knows that this book is kind of one big set-up for the finale. However, that being said, there are some very important and enlightening scenes that take place that really make the world and the characters realistic for the reader. While they may not come to much in the endgame, they’re why the books are so well loved.
Unfortunately, the movie leaves these scenes out for scenes that amount to even less in the grand scheme of things. They reveal little, add little and are boring, which brings me to my second point…

Pacing. The pacing in this film is awful. It drags with beautiful but pointless scenery, repetitive dialogue and…well basically, it’s filled with long scenes about things the watcher doesn’t really give a crap about. For the record, very uninteresting things that people don’t care about make for a bad cinematic experience.

Last and probably the most grievous mistake takes place in the Finale. Oh wait, what finale? Get it? You won’t get it in the theatre either.

Writing

I'm doing it! I'm doing it!

I've written the first 500 or so words for my newest story!! Now I just have to keep it up.
Anyway, I'm on my way to see the new Harry Potter movie with my Mom and Dad. Will give short review tomorrow.

Just do it

It's a lame marketing ploy but from now on I'm just going to do it. I will update on a regular basis, at least once a week!

If I don't may the devil fill my ass with red hot coals and slather my in a nice honey glaze when I get down there.

Universal Truths that only I seem to know

I’m not sure why, but there seems to be a handful of Universal Truths that only I know. In an attempt to remedy this here they are, in no particular order:

1. Julia Roberts is not attractive.
2. Reading a comic book is considered reading.
3. It’s important for people to have hobbies and to spend time alone enjoying them.
4. Crocs, the plastic shoe/sandal things, are hideous.
5. “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” is the worst movie ever made.
6. You can learn life skills playing Dungeons and Dragons.
7. Robin Williams is extremely creepy.
8. It’s fun to play board games.
9. Visible thong underwear is not attractive.
10. Listening to National Public Radio will keep you well informed.
11. Being oblivious to the world around you is dangerous and will cost you and possibly the rest of the world in the long run.
12. Sooner or later people become slaves to the things they own.
13. Men should not have smooth hairless bodies. Some grooming is good, too much and you’re a narcissistic asshole.
14. Automobiles are more dangerous than guns and we treat them like toys.
15. Introspection is the most important step in improving oneself.
16. The smell of one’s own farts is comforting.

Stimulate me baby

Social Service Stimulus

This part of the package is aimed at increasing the number of workers in the field of social services. Again, money will be funneled into scholarships and school programs that focus on social work, i.e. school councilors, drug and alcohol abuse councilors, child protective services workers, prisoner rehabilitation specialists and so on. Like the healthcare stimulus the ultimate goal is to get services to everyone who needs them. Feeling unusually down at school, there are always school councilors available. Experienced a period of rage aimed at your child last night, a councilor at your hospital takes walk-ins.

There are currently too many forgotten people in our country. They are the addicts, the homeless, the hungry, the hopeless, sometimes the lazy and the mentally ill and more often than not they end up costing the country a lot of money. Since they have no insurance they use emergency rooms for healthcare, they end up in jail, they live off of disability payments and welfare but most vexing it is these forgotten who become criminals. It’s the lady with untreated schizophrenia that stabs a stranger in downtown Sacramento , the hopeless and depressed teen who takes a gun to school and kills 4 classmates and so on. By reaching out and helping the lost instead of following our current course of inaction, it’s my hope that we can save money and save lives.

Up next…Education Stimulus

Social Stimulus Interruption

Taking a quick break from Will’s Social Stimulus Plan, to ask a question about gun owners.

I’ve been cruising the conspiracy theory site Above Top Secret for awhile and the gun rights advocates there have got me thinking.

The site is filled with very vocal gun owners who are radically opposed to any type of gun control. Any political thread introduced to the site, be it about the economy or congress, is fair game for the Second Amendment to be brought up. And lately it has been brought up a lot, with New World Order, One World Government, Obama the Socialist theorists frantically posting about any perceived threat.

I’d blame it all on site members but I’ve seen the same anti-regulation vigor in numerous other places. Most famous would be the late Charlton Heston’s proclamation that he’d only relinquish his gun after he was dead.

What is it about guns that inspires such passion in some Americans?

That brings me to another question which delves slightly deeper into the one above, what is it about gun ownership that has caused it to become so intrinsically linked to being American and to the freedoms that we are guaranteed?

Social Stimulus

Recently the government has thrown a lot of money at our collapsing financial institutions. Right or wrong, I can’t say, as the problem is just too big for me to grasp in any real sort of understanding. They say without the money our business infrastructure will collapse, but I can’t help but feel that by propping it up we’re keeping an innately flawed system in business.

Anyway, in thinking about all the money flying around I couldn’t help but question where else it could be used. Hence, I’d like to introduce the Will's Social Stimulus Package!

Here’s how it works, money we dumped in banks and lending institutions will instead be used on people. This social spending will ultimately result in a better educated and more responsible populace and a more stable economy that is based in social service and not irresponsible consumption.

We begin the package with a focus on healthcare, starting with more doctors and nurses. Money will be funneled into medical schools and scholarships for students pursuing careers in the world of healthcare. Students will be encouraged to intern in neighborhood clinics, schools and social service centers. The ultimate goal of this package is having enough doctors and nurses that anyone in need of medical attention is able to get it at a variety of different locales. Public schools will have a nurse on duty at all times, if a workplace has over 200 people at a site they’ll be encouraged to have a doctor or nurse visit once a month or even more often and grocery stores and drug stores that have clinics will see some kind tax incentive.

I’m convinced that this healthcare stimulus will also lower healthcare costs by providing more supply thus meeting all the demand. Sure, drugs and treatment will still be expensive but not as much so because we’ll have eliminated examples like this which increase everyone’s insurance premiums.

Up next…Social Service Stimulus