Silent Thunder
Becky and I experienced our first Thunder Over Louisville last night. Well, not all of it... we didn't participate in the daytime stuff, like the air shows and concerts and other similar festivities. We just wanted to see the fireworks show. Getting there was quite an exercise in human-dodging, however. We parked at the federal building garage and walked the 10+ blocks to the waterfront, which wasn't too bad, but once we got north of Main Street, well, that's where all the people were. We had to thread through the throngs of people walking, standing in line, or doing whatever it is that people do. I was sorta frustrated by some peoples' rudeness though... the closer I got to the Coast Guard cutter near Joe's Crab Shack, the more people refused to move even for a slight second to let people pass. I had one fellow I had to step over because he was sprawled out, and the only clear path was over him. He was kind of a dick... "Ain't no room over there, man, you may as well turn around." I told him I was going to the CG area, and he grumbled something about me not being able to get in and concluded with "Yeah, right!" I ignored him and stepped over him, Becky in tow. We got to the roped off area with no further incident besides grumbling campers who didn't like the idea of people walking on their blankets. Tough shit, clear a path... we're not the only people who need to walk through the area.
The fireworks display was nothing short of incredible. It started off the way most "normal" fireworks shows end; a huge grand-finale display of orgasmic pyrotechnic glory. Watching the 2nd Street Bridge all lit up was quite a sight. I watched Thunder on TV last year due to the cold weather, and while it was broadcast in HD, it was nothing like actually being there. We pretty much had the best seats in the house, right up front and center, between the 2nd Street Bridge and the fireworks barge hovering just west of the I-65 bridge. The show was about 30 minutes long, and it was all eye-candy. I'm glad I got to experience it!
However, the trip home was a huge pain in the ass. We had to compete with 800,000 other people trying to go home. Getting to the truck wasn't that big a problem, but the traffic control to get out of downtown was confusing and hectic. We ended up going west on Broadway into the "wrong side" of town, and that was an interesting experience. We ended up taking Dixie Highway south to the 264, then wrapped around the whole thing to the 71 to get home. We basically went about 30 miles out of our way to get to a destination that is 10 miles east of downtown. Meh.
Good show, though. We might do it again next year, but it wouldn't break my heart to watch it in HD from the comfort of my living room. :)
Becky and I went and saw Silent Hill today. The movie pretty much got ripped apart by critics, which is unsurprising... any time a movie comes out that's based on a video game, critics go in with a preconception that it's going to suck, and frankly, most game based movies do in fact suck. My take? Silent Hill is the best video game based movie to ever be made. But that isn't saying much...
I think the movie tried to stay true to the source material, but unfortunately, Hollywood had to step in and make changes. Those changes, in my opinion, do more harm than good. Sean Bean's character has no place in the movie. In fact, the movie could be shortened a good 15 minutes if his scenes are removed. There are lines of dialogue that are laughably bad, as well. Why can't writers do a better job at this stuff? When an actress says, in all seriousness, that "Everything's gonna be all right!" after a scene that shows that NOTHING is gonna be all right... it just jars you. Ugh.
There are good things though... the movie recreates the atmosphere of Silent Hill very well. There are sounds, music, visuals, and hell, *camera angles* that come directly from the game. Those are all plusses in my book. To the average viewer, however, all that stuff will go over their head. Becky, having never seen nor played the games, thought the movie was merely okay, and not nearly as scary as she thought. She was impressed with the special effects, though, something that I agree with... they did a great job with sets and effects.
Overall, I'd give the movie a B-. I wanted to like it a lot, but there are just too many things that detract from it, like extra plot points not in the game, and bad lines. The main story may prove to be confusing, but then again, so are the games at first. The games benefit from having multiple endings which explain more of the story, whereas the movie of course can only have one... until the DVD comes out.
Next up for me and Becky at the movies: The Da Vinci Code.
One last thing: It's been 20 years since the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Check out some of these pictures:
BBC
Some tourists.
More tourists.
Why anybody would want to tour that place, I'll never know. Crazy Europeans.
Pripyat may as well be a real-life Silent Hill. Sheesh.
-Charlie
Pyramid Head was cool... but still strangely out of place.
The fireworks display was nothing short of incredible. It started off the way most "normal" fireworks shows end; a huge grand-finale display of orgasmic pyrotechnic glory. Watching the 2nd Street Bridge all lit up was quite a sight. I watched Thunder on TV last year due to the cold weather, and while it was broadcast in HD, it was nothing like actually being there. We pretty much had the best seats in the house, right up front and center, between the 2nd Street Bridge and the fireworks barge hovering just west of the I-65 bridge. The show was about 30 minutes long, and it was all eye-candy. I'm glad I got to experience it!
However, the trip home was a huge pain in the ass. We had to compete with 800,000 other people trying to go home. Getting to the truck wasn't that big a problem, but the traffic control to get out of downtown was confusing and hectic. We ended up going west on Broadway into the "wrong side" of town, and that was an interesting experience. We ended up taking Dixie Highway south to the 264, then wrapped around the whole thing to the 71 to get home. We basically went about 30 miles out of our way to get to a destination that is 10 miles east of downtown. Meh.
Good show, though. We might do it again next year, but it wouldn't break my heart to watch it in HD from the comfort of my living room. :)
Becky and I went and saw Silent Hill today. The movie pretty much got ripped apart by critics, which is unsurprising... any time a movie comes out that's based on a video game, critics go in with a preconception that it's going to suck, and frankly, most game based movies do in fact suck. My take? Silent Hill is the best video game based movie to ever be made. But that isn't saying much...
I think the movie tried to stay true to the source material, but unfortunately, Hollywood had to step in and make changes. Those changes, in my opinion, do more harm than good. Sean Bean's character has no place in the movie. In fact, the movie could be shortened a good 15 minutes if his scenes are removed. There are lines of dialogue that are laughably bad, as well. Why can't writers do a better job at this stuff? When an actress says, in all seriousness, that "Everything's gonna be all right!" after a scene that shows that NOTHING is gonna be all right... it just jars you. Ugh.
There are good things though... the movie recreates the atmosphere of Silent Hill very well. There are sounds, music, visuals, and hell, *camera angles* that come directly from the game. Those are all plusses in my book. To the average viewer, however, all that stuff will go over their head. Becky, having never seen nor played the games, thought the movie was merely okay, and not nearly as scary as she thought. She was impressed with the special effects, though, something that I agree with... they did a great job with sets and effects.
Overall, I'd give the movie a B-. I wanted to like it a lot, but there are just too many things that detract from it, like extra plot points not in the game, and bad lines. The main story may prove to be confusing, but then again, so are the games at first. The games benefit from having multiple endings which explain more of the story, whereas the movie of course can only have one... until the DVD comes out.
Next up for me and Becky at the movies: The Da Vinci Code.
One last thing: It's been 20 years since the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Check out some of these pictures:
BBC
Some tourists.
More tourists.
Why anybody would want to tour that place, I'll never know. Crazy Europeans.
Pripyat may as well be a real-life Silent Hill. Sheesh.
-Charlie
Pyramid Head was cool... but still strangely out of place.