Shameless Plug (But Wait, There's More!)

   Alright I'll be quick about this, but I just wanted to let you all know that we've started a "KHOU Promotions" page on youtube.  We've been uploading some of our recent work and we're going to keep expanding it as time goes on.  It'd be great if you'd subscribe and give feedback on any of the spots that you like (or don't like).  Just do me a favor and keep it clean.
   While I'm on this kick, I just want to throw this out there and see if I get anything back.  Has anyone you know, or have you, had a direct experience where 11 News, or Gene Norman, or anyone in particular here at the station has had an impact on your life?  For example, we got an email from a lady thanking us for helping her during Hurricane Ike.  Not only was it nice, we were also able to create a promo centered around her that I thought came out really nice.  We're always looking for more opportunities like that, so if you know anyone can you drop me a line or leave a comment?  Thanks. 
   Alright enough of that... though I have to admit, all I really have this week are movies.  Oh well, here goes...

Deception
   A nerdy accountant who lives a lonely, single lifestyle, meets a cool lawyer who seems to have it all.  He of course becomes buddy buddy with the guy, but when his lawyer friend leaves the country ("accidentally" switching cell phones with the lawyer), things get a little crazy.  And, you guessed it, things aren't quite what they seem.
   I rented this movie because it had big names and slid under the radar.  Kind of like "Equilibrium," which, if you haven't seen it, is friggin' awesome.  So I'm thinking this movie has to be good, right?  Well, kinda.  I thought both McGregor and Jackman both did good enough jobs with their roles... my main problem with this movie was the story.  It was fairly predictable, and sort of forgettable.  A lot of the writing was shallow (and pedantic?), it didn't really feel like the writer knew his characters very well, if that makes sense.  Some of the lines felt tacked on, or cliche... like "oh here's a chance for me to show people that this character is MORE than just a surface-level asshole."  I'm not describing it very well, but you'd definitely understand if you saw it.
   The music, sound design, and directing weren't offensive in this movie.  There were some cool shots of luxurious offices emptied out while McGregor's character sat alone and toiled away at his boring work.  There were also some very attractive women in this movie, which I can't ever complain about, and the concept of the movie was very interesting and unique.
   Overall, it was a nice try by these guys.  Will it live forever, "Equilibrium" style?  I can't say it will... but is it worth two hours of your time?  Sure, why not?

Surrogates
   In a not-so-distant future, everyone lives their lives through robots called "Surrogates," which transmit the user's consciousness via headphones that you wear over your eyes instead of on your ears.  But this marvel of technology isn't without its downsides.  Why, even the creator of the Surrogates works against the company which he founded, saying they're not good for humanity.  There are also pockets of humans who refuse to use Surrogates, and they live in slum areas barely clinging to civilized life.  Enter Bruce Willis, an FBI agent, who discovers a conspiracy where Surrogates are being killed (and actually killing their users, which is new), so he embarks on a quest against all odds to find the killer and stop him BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
   Oh Brucey, you're breaking my heart.  I'm going to get into some spoilers here, so if you want to see this movie, you should skip this one.  You probably don't need to see this movie though, just fyi.  So this movie wasn't BAD, and I can see why Bruce Willis might be interested in the concept.  It's sort of an i-robot knockoff, and it's based on a comic book which I'm sure is pretty cool.  I was hoping for another "Fifth Element" gold mine here, so maybe my expectations were set too high, but this movie was definitely no "Fifth Element."
   First, the effects.  It was some impressive makeup work going on here, but I didn't really feel convinced that I was watching Robots instead of humans.  You could make the argument that the robots were SO lifelike that you couldn't distinguish, but I have a hard time believing that.  If the world hasn't modernized cars (there are several 2000-ish models in this movie) or changed our televisions, how the hell am I supposed to accept the fact that they can create completely life-like robots?  It comes across as laziness in my eyes, like the producers said "oh no one will notice that."  Maybe, but that's a big risk.  Take "I-Robot," for example, which integrated technology into existing stuff, and at least had me convinced that SOME changes had taken place to keep up with robot technology.
   Another big complaint I have is that this movie lacked personality.  Bruce Willis was very 2-dimensional, even when he wasn't a robot.  The story was predictable and lame, with almost no excitement and really no surprises.  The big bad guy was lame, and there was no real grand finale.  It just didn't feel like it was going anywhere, and there weren't even any twists to speak of.  Or maybe there were but I (and hopefully you) saw them coming... I dunno.
   What I hate about this movie is that it has so much potential.  This was a decent-to-good concept that, if handled right, could have been really, really interesting.  Instead it presented a lot of cool ideas, but never delved into any of them.  The movie was incredibly short, not sure why, and even the deleted scenes were pretty pointless.  If you are going to watch this movie, go in with low expectations and you might be alright.  Otherwise, pass.

Liberation
   A documentary that uses "never-before-seen footage" to shed new light on the terror that was the Holocaust during World War 2.  It's got some great narrators, including Ben Kingsley, Whoopi Goldberg, and Patrick Stewart.
   And there's why I rented this movie.  Patrick Stewart can narrate how to churn butter and I'd watch it.  That guy is just awesome.  However, I did not finish this documentary.  True, the DVD was scratched and wouldn't play more than the first half, but I was kind of fading out of it by that point anyway.  The main problem with this documentary is that it's not what it sells itself to be.  Sure the holocaust is mentioned, and the footage I saw may or may not have been "never-before-seen," but in the end this was just another World War 2 documentary.  Boring, same-old same-old, and almost no narration from Mr. Stewart.  Or is it "Sir" Stewart now?  Anyway, I've seen better stuff on the History Channel, so don't waste your time with this one.

The Girl Next Door
   A nerdy guy in his senior year of college starts to reflect on life.  With his high school years almost behind him, he really doesn't have anything memorable to move on with.  He's pushing for a big scholarship in school, and he's got a couple of (also nerdy) friends, but secretly he wishes for more.  He wishes for the life of the jocks, the popular kids, the people he mockes openly he secretly admires.  But he also lives with the depression of knowing he'll never achieve that status.  Enter the Girl Next Door, who's smokin' hot, and who changes everything for this kid and his friends.  Of course, there's more to her than meets the eye, and all sorts of shenannigans ensue.
   I had SUCH high hopes for this movie.  The first 45 minutes or so were the stuff dreams are made of.  Lame, but in a lot of ways I identified with this kid.  I could understand you wanting to have something you could look back on and be happy about, and I think it's kind of every guy's dream to have a ridiculously hot girl move in next door, one who actually likes him.  I sat on my couch with a huge smile on my face watching this movie unfold, the slow-mo dreamy sequences, the expressions on this kids face when he couldn't believe his luck.  I remember thinking "oh this is going to be awesome."
   And then it all comes crashing down.  Spoiler but who cares: turns out this chick is an ex-porn star.  Naturally the high school kid doesn't know how to handle this, so he starts acting like a dork, and then the porn star agent comes into play and starts screwing everything up.  Blah blah blah, the movie lost all of its magic for me at that moment.  Sure it may be more realistic, but I don't think they should have gone for realism here.  It almost, ALMOST degrades down to the level of a typicall high school senior movie like "American Pie," only redeeming itself at the very end.
   So should you see this movie?  I don't know.  I mean, in some ways it's really great... it's sort of a thinking-man's high-school chick flick.  But right when it's about to reach greatness, it cheaps out... and really it hurts even more because the movie started at such high point.  So I don't know.  It might piss you off, but you might enjoy it too.  The chick is EXTREMELY hot, so at least you've got that going for ya.

   Well, happy valentine's day everyone.  I hope you have someone special to spend it with, and if you don't, I hope you have a lot of booze.  I certainly do.  If you're planning on getting gifts, let me give you some advice.  Don't waste your money on flowers.  I saw a bouquet this morning that was $700.  For flowers which will die in a few days.  I can think of no bigger waste of money than this.  If your woman gets angry because you didn't drop a load on flowers, you need to drop her.  Happy VD.