Belated Promise part 5: Resolutions

First you will notice that I have skipped my happiest day as requested by Adam. Well you probably didn't actually notice but let's pretend you've been paying attention to previous posts and comments. The reason for this isn't because I don't plan on writing about it, but rather because I want to do it justice and not turn it into a depressing blog post. If you are going to write about something happy it should stay happy and I just can't wrap my head around how to do that with that specific day yet. It will be written about, just not yet.

Anyway Derek wanted to read about my New Year's Resolutions. Well first off an update of sorts on my LAST resolution. As you could probably guess once my updates dropped off the face of the planet I failed. I did make it considerably farther than my last update though and I came quite close. I made it as far as Superman IV to be specific which is about 25-30 movies short. I'm a little disappointed in myself but at the same time I really didn't think I was going to make it that far. A lot of extenuating circumstances led to this failure but in the end it was just me realizing that this was a really stupid resolution and I had better things to do with my time. I guess what I am saying is I actually listened to all of you eventually and gave up. I plan on revisiting this challenge eventually but right now I think I'm going to come up with some serious resolutions for this year. I've come up with a little bit of a list for you guys, let's see what you think.

I want to:

1. Walk around Green Lake twice a week.
2. Read all three of the books I got for Christmas this year.
3. Read my scriptures all the way through at least once.
4. Be more active at church.
5. Learn to appreciate my calling and become active in it.
6. Humble myself.
7. Create a regular sleeping schedule.
8. Move out of my parents house and stay out.
9. Be honest with everyone. Yes EVERYONE.
10. Update this blog regularly. Maybe not as regular as Amera updates hers (she's a blogging machine) but still more than I have been lately.
11. Take a lot of pictures with my new camera.
12. Save money.
13. Live in the present and not think so hard about the future.
14. Have the biggest and best 30th birthday party OF ALL TIME.
15. Go on one date a week. It doesn't have to be with different girls, or the same girls it doesn't matter, just as long as it's once a week.
16. Clean my room once a week.
17. Give Jen Nuckols a hickey.
18. Watch all 8 seasons of Smallville that I have on DVD.
19. Attend Opening Day.
20. Travel somewhere that isn't related to eating challenges.
21. Swear less.
    

That's just a small sampling really of what I want to do this year. Will I accomplish it? I hope so. I will with any luck keep you updated as to what's going on and how I am doing with these challenges. If any of you wonderful people out there would like to help me with these in some way I am certain I will need all the help I can get.

What the EF?

I watched a lot of movies recently so I could catch up. Here are the E's and F's of my collection.


In alphabetical order- E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas, Eragon, The Family Man, The Fast And The Furious, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Fifth Element, Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Best Movie: Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I absolutely love this movie and one day hope to recreate it in my every day life.

Worst Movie: Eragon. Okay there were so many things they could have done with this to make it good and the cast was there but instead it fell flat and came across cheesy. How do you screw up Jeremy Irons and John Malcovich in the same movie? HOW?

Favorite Movie: The Fifth Element. It's a beautiful message and a wonderful story, combined with some of the most breathtaking visuals ever done in a movie either before or after it. Timeless.

Most Surprisingly Good Movie: The Family Man. It stars Nicolas Cage and yet it didn't suck. I know that's hard to believe based on his recent track record but no he actually is good in this.

Most Surprisingly Bad Movie: Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas. I am chalking this one up as simply being out of season for watching it because I know around Christmas time I absolutely love the Gift of The Magi acted out with muppets.

Most Surprising Movie I Don't Own: The Exorcist. The absolute perfect scary movie. I have already praised my love for this movie enough early on in my blog so I won't again but that is more the reason why I am surprised I don't own it.

Why In The HECK Do I Own: Honestly I know why I own every single movie on there and I am not embarrassed by any of them, yes even Emmet Otter.

And with that I am all caught up with my blog updates for my resolution. Next up, G and H. Wish me luck there's a lot of bad out there with those ones.

I can't think of a clever title for my D movies

I have a lot of catching up to do with my resolution and I am actually surprised how long this has taken me. It has become increasingly easier for me to just watch my Netflix movies instead of my own movies when I come to a movie I really don't want to watch. I also had my first scare of this whole thing when I got to Die Hard 2 the disc was missing. Turns out whoever borrowed it from me last forgot to put the movie back in the case. Thankfully Netflix was there to save the day.


In alphabetical order- The Dark Knight, Death At a Funeral, Definitely, Maybe, Deja Vu, Delirious, Die Hard, Die Hard 2 Die Harder, Die Hard With a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard (Note: I put this one in as Die Hard 4 because I hate the Title Live Free or Die Hard), Dirty Dancing, Dirty Love

Best Movie: With so many good movies to choose from I am going to have to go with The Dark Knight as the best movie. It is simply a wonderful dark and twisted movie that proves that comic book movies don't have to play nice.

Worst Movie: There are a few movies in there that are extra horrible but I think for worst movie I will have to pick on Deja Vu. There were too many plot holes filled in with gibberish and way too many characters saying or doing something very, very stupid in it. And it just got under my skin.

Favorite Movie: This is an easy one for me: Dirty Dancing. I have a lot of fun and wonderful memories of this movie growing up. I was continually tortured to the soundtrack when I was growing up but it is through those memories I will always have fond memories of this movie. (if I am taking nostalgia out of the equation the actual answer to best movie is Definitely, Maybe)

Most Surprisingly Good Movie: Delirious. Now I am a huge fan of stand up comedy which has already been discussed and this is a classic Eddie Murphy stand up movie. However I wasn't quite sure how well it would stand the test of time. Would the things he talked about still be relevant to today? And would it still be funny? The answer was for the most part yes. I was slightly put off by his blatant homophobia that he opens the show with but then I remembered it was the 80's and that's just how things were.

Most Surprisingly Bad Movie: Death at a Funeral. This movie had a lot of hype thrown at it from friends but in the end I just didn't get a lot of it. Maybe I just hate British humour. I did enjoy bits and pieces of it but not enough to warrant watching again.

Most Surprising Movie I Don't Own: Dogma. With my obsession with Kevin Smith and his movies one would think I would own them all. Apparently I don't, which is a shame because Dogma is quite good.

Why In The HECK Do I Own: Dirty Love?????? This movie was atrocious on all levels. The writing was weak, the jokes fell flat, the love story had no structure. I had no feeling for the characters that is required to make a romantic comedy work. And yet I own this movie. I have a feeling the fact that I once thought Jenny McCarthy was one of the hottest women on the planet played a pivotal role in me purchasing this horrible, horrible film.

So far I think I would call D my favorite of this movie watching journey, the good were really good and the bad weren't really that horrible with the exception of Dirty Love, and I will forgive them that one horrible movie for the sake of the rest.

Movies in the Key of C

Honestly I have been done with these for awhile now and I was just postponing writing about them because I didn't want you guys to think all I do is watch movies all day. I mean that is all I do when I'm not at work but still I want you to think I have a life. Anyway I have 8 movies that start with C and so here is the picture.

In alphabetical order- Catch Me If You Can, Charlie & The chocolate Factory, Charlie's Angels, Chasing Amy, Clerks, Clerks 2, Click, and Cloverfield.

Best Movie: Catch Me If You Can. Granted it doesn't have the best morals to it but I really enjoyed this movie. Tom Hanks is quite simply amazing and Leo actually made me like him which is a surprise.

Worst Movie: Charlie's Angels. Okay I remember when this one came out and really enjoying the campiness of it all, but for some reason or another I really, REALLY didn't like it this time around. Maybe I have grown past the hot chicks + Explosions = great movie phase.... or this one is just really stupid. (thinks) yeah it's just really stupid.

Favorite Movie: Chasing Amy, Clerks, Clerks 2 (tie). I love Kevin Smith. I couldn't simply choose between the 3 (gun to my head Chasing Amy) so I didn't, after all it is my movie collection so I don't have to.

Most Surprisingly Good Movie: Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. Now I will admit to having very low expectations about this movie because I really haven't liked anything Tim Burton has done since Batman Returns but despite being twisted and creepy I actually liked the movie. Still doesn't touch the original but I still like this one.

Most Surprisingly Bad Movie: Click. Going in I didn't know what to expect. Sandler is touch and go in so many movies. He is either really good, or really bad. I wanted this one to be good though because the story had so much potential. One fat suit and happy ending later and I was thoroughly disappointed. I would have cut the crap about his fat slab, I would have gotten rid of the whole (spoiler but who actually cares?) it's all just a dream thing and ended it when he died. You still have the moral, and the movie would have been better for it. Not enough movies end sad these days.

Most Surprising Movie I Don't Own: Casablanca. As a certified movie nut how I don't own the single greatest love story of all time I will never know. It might have something to do with me being a boy, but as you will see later on that fact is kinda up in the air.

Why In The HECK Do I Own: Cloverfield. Okay I like monster movies. And I like romances. I do not like romances thinly veiled as monster movies. Do not give me Godzilla and turn it into when harry met sally. And yet, because I enjoyed a lot of the scenes and it did legitimately scare me at times I own this movie that as a whole I detest. Sometimes I don't get me.

Alright folks that is it for the letter C, I will be back with a Bruce Willis infused D list for you in the near future. In the mean time I suggest you check out my new side project and another blog that I write Mom 'n' Pop Video Shoppe. It's a movie blog that focuses more on older movies or lesser known movies that you may not have ever heard of. I will be essentially reviewing every movie that I watch until I get bored. This is where you see how big of a nerd I am and how I waste my free time.

This post is brought to you by the letter B

Well this took a little longer than I thought it would but I finally finished with B which of course means it's time for another new update for my new year's resolution you have all clearly stopped caring about if you even did to begin with. Anyway here are the movies I watched.


Starting from the top Left - Bad Boys, Bandits, Barbershop, Batman Begins, A Bee Movie, Beyond The Mat, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Black Snake Moan, Blankman, Borat:Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy, Bowfinger, Bring It On

I decided I was going to stick with these same categories that I set up for A just to help create some sort of uniformity to these posts.

Best Movie: Batman Begins. Quite simply this is the movie that reminded me that Batman movies can be good. Everything was excellent and just further cemented my love of Christopher Nolan.

Worst Movie: Black Snake Moan. Quite honestly I thought this movie had potential. Despite the fact that Sam Jackson appears in at least 800 movies a year I still basically give any movie he is in a chance. Throw in Christina Ricci and you have an amazing cast that usually brings the goods. Unfortunately the movie that had so much potential to serve as a metaphor for addiction and overcoming clearly just came across as a movie created specifically to see Christina Ricci naked and beaten severely as much as possible.

Favorite Movie: Borat. From the country bumpkin claiming that Borat should save his mustache in an effort to not appear to be a terrorist Muslim, and perhaps "pass as one of the EYEtalians" to the drunken frat boys acting like...well drunken frat boys, the beauty of this movie is that these people are real and it showcases the ignorance and bigotry we would like to pretend doesn't exist any longer in the country.

Most Surprisingly Good Movie: Bowfinger. All I have ever heard was how much this movie sucks. However I wound up enjoying it greatly. Admittedly this one you kinda have to be a movie buff to get all the jokes in it but they are still there, it's just a shame we live in a society where we expect the jokes to be blatant and over the top.

Most Surprisingly Bad Movie: A Bee Movie. Jerry Seinfeld what the hell were you thinking? Could you have fit MORE Bee related puns and play on words into an hour and a half? Yes I know it's a kids movie but come on! I haven't seen this much cheese and bad puns since that those horrible Flintstones movies. You could have done so much better, and yet here you are being horrible.

Most Surprising Movie I Don't Own: Bourne Ultimatum. I love the first one, I thought the second one was confusing and had way too much shaky cam though I wound up enjoying it more on my second viewing at home. I loved Ultimatum when I saw it in theaters. I am also a completest when it comes to series of movies so why don't I own this one?

Why In The HECK Do I Own: Blankman. This one I honestly do not even remember buying. It's just kinda always been on my shelf. I will admit to seeing it before and laughing a little. I was 14 most likely and as we all know most 14 year olds should NEVER be allowed to make entertainment choices. Still I sat there and I watched, and the entire time I thought to myself why did I buy this? I am not a Wayans Brothers fan. I only laughed when I was realizing just how stupid this is. Well I also laughed heartily at Derek and Kurt's reactions to watching this drivel with me as well. Though let's be honest, after watching the trailer below I am still not convinced this movie is real AND I OWN IT.


Alright that's all I've got for you today, the letter C is next and thankfully it's a little shorter than the last two groups.

This post is brought to you by the letter A

Well I thought I would have had something interesting to talk about in between movie posts but it turns out no my life is quite boring. Instead I now provide you with the wonderful bit of information that is a continuation of my resolution. I have made it all the way through the A's! 12 movies down. Let me break down the viewings that I made -


Starting from the top Left - Accepted, Aeon Flux, Alex & Emma, Alien, Alvin & the Chipmunks, American Gangster, The Amityville Horror (2005), Antitrust, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, Artificial Intelligence: A.I., Austin Powers International Man of Mystery, AVP Requiem.

I've decided to break this discussion into categories in order to skip over the boring stuff and keep it interesting. Let's hope that actually works.

Best Movie: Easily the best movie in this set is American Gangster. they managed to convince me that a man smuggling heroin into the states in order to sell pure dope was a good guy. that isn't easy to do. Denzel is amazing simply put.

Worst Movie: This one may surprise people but the worst movie in this selection is Alex & Emma. It was a jumbled mess that didn't make sense. the leads had no chemistry at all. It was just horrible.

Favorite Movie: Alien. I could watch this movie every single day for the rest of my life and be content. It was a wonderful WONDERFUL relief to watch in between two steaming piles of crap in Alex & Emma and Alvin & The Chipmunks. This one is different from Best because while I thought American Gangster was a wonderful film and above the rest quality wise, I don't know how many times I could watch it and not get tired. Alien i have no such issue. Also this is my own list and I make the rules deal with it.

Most Surprisingly Good Movie: Artificial Intelligence: A.I.. I mean I knew I liked it the first time I saw it but I forgot how much I liked it. The story and subtext drives the human heart and really gets to the viewer. Sure it's a little weird and disjointed at times but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and will recommend it to anyone to watch.

Most Surprisingly Bad Movie: I wanted to like Antitrust. I really really did. Instead I found myself lost as to what was going on and what motivated the characters. The main plot point revolved around technology so convoluted and pointless that I had no idea why anyone thought it was something people wanted.

Most Surprising Movie I Don't Own: Quite simply my favorite movie of ALL TIME, Animal House. I will wind up owning this by the end of the year.

Why In The HECK Do I Own: Alvin & the Chipmunks. I mean I know how it came into my possession but I don't know WHY. I know I'm not their target demographic but I enjoy a kids movie every once and awhile so I gave this one a chance. I regret that. My only solace in my life right now is the knowledge that I can't watch this monstrosity again.

Alright well that about covers it, next up is the B's and I'm actually looking forward to most of these, it will be hard to pick a least favorite.

Revisting my Resolution

Okay so there has been a couple votes placed and since it's looking like a landslide I figured I would post a followup to my resolution. If you are unfamiliar to my resolution I direct you here.

Officially now the rules are as follows:

1. The movies must be watched in Alphabetical order. (for this purpose it's A-#'s)
2. If I watch a movie out of order I have to watch it again when it comes up in it's order.
3. Once I have watched the movie in order I CAN NOT WATCH IT AGAIN until finished.
4. The exception for #3 is if it is part of a group viewing where I have no control over the movie being played.
5. If a movie is added later in the year when I have already passed it's place in order it is added to the end of the list in alphabetical order.
6. TV shows DO NOT count, but rather will be added as a secondary goal depending on when I finish with my movies.

I kinda want to keep this short but at the same time I want to give you an update as to how I am doing. So far the rules have been pretty easy to follow though I admit that they are definitely set up to add difficulty later on in the journey.

I've watched 6 movies so far and I'm not even out of the A's yet. For some reason I expected to be out of the A's quickly and onto the B's. For those of you who are curious (and I know there probably is just me) here is a breakdown by the letter of how many movies I have for each letter:

A - 12
B - 13
C - 6
D - 9
E - 3
F - 2
G - 3
H - 5
I - 2
J - 3
K - 1
L - 4
M - 11
N - 1
O - 2
P - 3
Q - 0
R - 7
S -15
T - 8
U - 2
V - 0
W - 5
X - 0
Y - 0
Z - 1
# - 1

TOTAL - 119

I've also decided to do a blog post keeping you updated as to my progress every time I finish a letter. Just to keep me in check.

One of the main concerns from my friends was that I was putting a lot of time into this while neglecting physical activity and a social life. It is a very good and valid idea however I assure you that I am going to be doing more with my time than just watching movies. I am currently reading 2 novels, walking almost every day, still going out every opportunity that I have to be social and see people, and working 40 hours a week. If you do the math I only have to watch a little over 2 movies a week over the next year in order to be successful in this ordeal.* That's about 6 hours at most a week. I think I can spare 6 hours of relaxation time to watch a movie and not have my world fall apart.


*yes I am aware that is contingent on me not buying any more movies and the chances of that are slim and none since I have already bought/received 7 movies since making this goal.

My New Year's Resolution

Well it's that time again and I've decided to give myself an actual resolution that I can in fact achieve. I am going to watch all of the movies that I own in alphabetical order by the end of 2009. Now I know this sounds very much like a stupid goal especially considering I already watch enough movies but the bottom line is I realized I own a lot of movies that I have never ever seen. Shoot some of them I have never even had the desire to watch them, and yet I own them. I don't know why I own them, most likely they were cheap and I lack self control. I added the alphabetical order thing to make it slightly more difficult but still obtainable. Now I own 117 movies and I will most likely wind up adding more movies throughout the year so I have devised a some rules that I must follow in order to achieve this goal.

1. The movies must be watched in Alphabetical order. (for this purpose it's A-#'s)
2. If I watch a movie out of order I have to watch it again when it comes up in it's order.
3. Once I have watched the movie in order I CAN NOT WATCH IT AGAIN until finished.
4. The exception for #3 is if it is part of a group viewing where I have no control over the movie being played.
5. If a movie is added later in the year when I have already passed it's place in order it is added to the end of the list in alphabetical order.

I still haven't decided if I have to watch the TV shows that I have on DVD as well simply because of the HUGE amount of time I would have to dedicate to watching those episodes. I mean I own 13 box sets of seasons of TV shows. That would add 8,687 minutes or 144.78 hours to my already huge number of hours tied up in watching my movies that I am afraid I would run out of time to watch everything else. Still I am leaving it up to you, my faithful blog readers to decide if I should add the TV shows to my goal. Whatever you decide I will go along with. So all I am asking you to do is comment on this entry if you think I should or shouldn't with a brief explanation why. By January 1st I will close the ballots and post a new entry about my resolution.

The power is in your hands people!

*voting is closed for an update on my resolution please read this*