I saw The Hangover the other day. Decently funny. I probably wouldn't say it was worth the ticket price. I'd wait for this one to come out on DVD and then rent it. It definitely wouldn't have much in the way of replay value.

The movie follows four guys on their trip to Vegas to celebrate the Bachelor Party of one of their number, soon to be wed. Predictably, something goes wrong and shenanigans ensue, which of course involve drugs, alcohol, ridiculous near-sadistic violence, raunchy perverted humor, irresponsible behavior of every kind- basically everything you would expect from a guy comedy of this kind.

Some familiar faces include comedian Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms (Andy from the Office), Justin Bartha (Nicholas Cage's sidekick from the National Treasure Movies), Heather Graham (She's been in a couple different things, but I best remember her from the second installment of the Austin Powers Franchise. That was quite a few years back, I'm sure she's been in stuff since then.), Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers, Failure to Launch), and a predictably violent extended cameo by Mike Tyson. Ed Helms was impressively funny. I was worried his performance would be sub-par after seeing how unimpressive his fellow Office star, John Krasinski's forays into film were. License To Wed has a 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (generally a fairly accurate gauge). Ouch. Leatherheads, wasn't as bad, but still nothing to blow my skirt up. Ed Helms though is naturally funny, and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.

As I said, the movie was decently funny, and who knows, may actually defy my predictions and be even better on the second viewing. Definitely not for the kids though, or anyone sensitive to crude stuff.

By the way, I haven't forgotten about my Zombie tirade. I will bring more examples of Undead Entertainment soon. Just taking a break.

Wish List

If I had a million dollars.... There is so much cool stuff I would buy. But I don't.

So for now this sweet Maxpedition Versipack is relegated to my wish list of goodies, which I only hope to some day acquire. The Maxpedition Versipack line is renowned, like most Maxpedition products, for it's ability to suffer extremly heavy wear and tear without failure. The particular model I am eyeballing is the JUMBO model, which features 50% more space. These days carrying some sort of messenger bag, or "man purse" is becoming almost a necessity as more and more items are added to a guy's everyday carry loadout. Cell phones, IPods, keys, waterbottle, portable hardrives, documents, cameras- that's just the begining for some.

If you have a concealed weapons permit, and regularly carry, than you just quadrupled the amount of gear. Pistol, spare mags, back up gun- all of this can be quite an uncomfortable and impractical inconvenience to jam into your pockets and belt. Even if you've got a well made holster (a topic for another post), sometimes you've got to go in a hurry without having to take the time to assemble your checklist of gear like it's a Batman utility belt. As you can see from some of the promotional imagery from Maxpedition, this bag is definitely marketed towards the CWP crowd.

Which isn't to say that the bag isn't great for everyone else too. I don't carry a weapon regularly, and I still would find this bag highly useful, especially for carrying a pocket knife, tactical flashlight, multitool in addition to my normal stuff like a cell phones, and an IPod. The more inconvenient a piece of gear is, the more likely for you too leave it behind, and rationalize that you won't need it while your out. Which isn't smart since you never can predict when you'll want to have it with you until it's too late.

Expect other gear to show up in future posts. Some of it will be wish list items, which I havn't actually tested, or used. Others will be stuff I actually have had experience with. The Maxpedition JUMBO Versipack is available from LA Police Gear. They've got some other good stuff there as well, some of which will be featured in the aforementioned "wish list" posts.

Excellent Zombie Entertainment Example #2

#2 28 Days Later

28 Days Later is notable for pushing back the boundaries of the stereotypes that stigmatize zombie films.The film is directed Danny Boyle, by the critically acclaimed Englishman behind Trainspotting and this years hit, Slumdog Millionaire. I actually haven't seen Trainspotting but I've heard some good things and it is on my to-see list. Slumdog I have seen and did enjoy a great deal, even though it was a bit syrupy and sappy and over-the-top at times. It was still one of the best movies that came out last year.

As the movie begins, the protagonist, a young bicycle courier named Jim (Cillian Murphy), awakens from a coma to discover that over the course of the past 28 days a pandemic "rage" virus has swept across the land, infecting all but a few survivors. Jim meets a handful of other survivors and navigates the post-apocalyptic London and English countryside seeking refuge.

While one could argue that 28 Days Later is technically not a zombie movie, since the so-called "infected" are not at all undead, merely enraged and rabidly cannibalistic, in my opinion it still fits the bill. The difference though, does make the movie much more of intensely frightening experience than the traditional zombie movie. Whereas in a traditional zombie movie, the zombies are reanimated corpses, slow-moving and dimwitted, and only killed by destroying the brain, in 28 Days Later the infected can be killed just like normal people, but are much faster and stronger because they have constant rage and adrenaline.

The movie is not so much about the threat of the infected though, as it is about the survivors and their interactions- how they work together to survive, and the interpersonal relationships that form between them in light of the extreme circumstances. Under the stress of extremely horrible times, people usually reveal what they are made up of at their core. Some are survivors, some are heroes, some are evil.

A sequel came out in 2007 called 28 Weeks Later. I saw it. It was an okay movie I suppose entertaining enough, but it completely lacked the originality and thematic vision of the first in the series. Not to mention the acting wasn't as good. It was a fun movie to watch, but just not anywhere near the same calibre of film as the original.

Live and Let Undead...

I was going to title this post "Live and Let Undie" for better continuity with the song in reference. But I was afraid no one would get the main reference I was making towards Zombies, and would instead believe this post to have something to do with underwear.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So. I have a variety of diverse interests. One of them, is zombies.

Seriously. Stories in film and literature relating to zombies are highly underated by the majority of the populace. Despite being its own unique genre that lends itself to a varitety of engaging and interesting possibilities for a story, most people associate films and other media relating to the undead with gore loving adolescent males and hokey, campy films from yesteryear.

But this is simply not fair. The idea of an uprising of a living dead horde, intent on the consumption of human flesh and the spread of their own kind, especialy with apocalyptic ramifications, opens a realm of possibilities. What I'm saying is that in a good Zombie story, the focus is rarely about the Zombies. The focus is on the specific characters or point-of-view a given narrative chooses to follow, and how they react to an unbelievable and outright horrifying situation.

Apocalytic genre stories insert normal people into extraordinary circumstances, and observe what plays out.

So in my defense of the Living Dead Narrative, I will cite a few examples of some excellent Zombie entertainment:

#1 World War Z

Max Brooks expanded the undead genre and gave it literary credibility with this 2006 work of brilliance. The novel is written as an anthology interviews of various survivors of zombie war taking place early in this century. Brooks explores how humanity would react to the spread of a global undead virus and how individuals would fight, adapt, and survive. Brooks novel is a shrewd commentary on the nature of human prejudice and uncertainty, as well as the dangers of government bureaucracy and incompetence. Written Post-Hurricane Katrina, notable parrallels can be seen in peoples reactions in the novel, and to their events surrounding that real world tragedy. The disbelieving government and populace fails to take the threat seriously enough until it is too late. Profiteering, looting, and crime run rampant. Heroes emerge from the ashes, as well as villians, but in the fog of the tragedy, it is difficult at times to tell who is who.

The book is an excellent read, and goes well with Max Brooks' previous work, The Zombie Survival Guide, which is somewhat more light hearted, though completely consistent with World War Z, and even referenced in the latter work. I reommend both. A film version of World War Z is in the works, but I will refrain from endorsing it until I have seen it. As well as the book succeeded in moving the Zombie genre from film to paperback, the story may be lost in the transition back.

The Armpit of the Internet

If you're reading this, you probably know me personally. What else could have possibly brought you to this dismal, armpit of the internet, unless you are one of my friends, who I specifically invited. Even if you are one of my friends I understand if you don't care.

What you see here will will just be stuff happens to occupy my mind at the time. I'm not going to elaborate because if I do you will realize this blog only seeks to acheive what every other blog before it has already done, a thousand times over.

Man, I'm really not making much of a case here am I? I mean if I want anyone to read this friggin thing I ought to really try to sell it.

Maybe....

READING THIS BLOG WILL CURE ALL DEADLY ILLNESSESS!

AND IT WILL FIX ALL YOUR ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION PROBLEMS!

JUST ASK BOB DOLE, HE'LL TELL YOU.

AND MONEY.

IT WILL MAKE MONEY MAGICALLY PRINT FROM YOUR COMPUTER. LOT'S OF IT.

BUT ONLY IF YOU READ IT. ALL THE TIME.

Hmm....

Actually that comes off as just a little bit desperate. Plus it probably makes me liable to some kind of a lawsuit. I don't want Bob Dole coming for me.

Well. I will say that I won't be posting some Emo Diary Crap about how my geef left me for some other tool in girl pants, and how nobody understands me but my own pain, or about how pissed I am about missing the My Chemical Romance concert last night.

Ahh crap. I probably just alienated away one of the two guys who was actually reading this thing. "My Chemical Romance owns your face!!!!!!" he says in righteous angsty teen indignation.

In any case, my reason for creating this blog is that I used to run the Mann Show blog, which kept viewers up to date on the activities of Mann Show, the best professional quality theatre production company in the South Carolina, based in Greenville, SC. However my quality as a blogger declined as my responsiblities in the company increased. I am, lamentably no longer a member of Mann Show, having graduated from J.L Mann High, out of which it is based, and now find slightly more time on my hands.

Since I so enjoyed running a blog previously, and subjecting a small community to the random offspring of my unfortunate psyche, I've decided to try it again now. So tune in if you're interested in any of this crap. Said crap consisting of whatever should catch my eye at the time of posting.