I finally watched the Hobbit ...or did I?

I finally watched the first two movies in the Hobbit movie trilogy.  I knew they had added new story elements but I was not prepared for the hatchet job they made of mr. Tolkien's work.  Given how faithful to the original material Jackson was with "Lord of the Rings" I was astonished to see him butcher "The Hobbit".  Over half the film is comprised of completely made up story or heavily modified pieces of the book.  Very little of the original work makes it through untouched.  The result is a movie that loosely follows the story outline of "The Hobbit".  They even change minor story points that don't need changing.  It's as if Jackson said to himself "Tolkien did some good work, but I can make it better for the screen".  I feel like Azog the orc was added to the movie for merchandising purposes.  I will always treasure Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but I wouldn't wipe my ass with his version of "The Hobbit".  The fact that "The Hobbit" started as a two movie production and then was later changed to a trilogy smacked of a cash grab as far as I was concerned, so I was already prepared for some changes.  The original book would barely fill two movies, so to make it into three meant they would have to add a lot of material never in the books, which is just what they did ... in spades.  I expected better from Peter Jackson.

Yo Joe ....Gimme my money back

So I just got back from the GI Joe movie midnight showing.  I know, I know, why in the hell did I go to a midnight show of this movie.  Well, ...because I grew up with GI JOE and I wanted this movie to be good.  To be fair I don't think it was horrible, but it wasn't very good either.  It's certainly not worth the cost of seeing it in the theatre unless you are simply going to see the cool effects on the big screen (and the special effects are certainly top notch).  It's certainly not the worst movie I've seen.  I was a bit upset at their treatment of Storm Shadow, cause he was the man as far as I was concerned at 8 years old.  They make him out to be so badass and then let snake eyes smack him around, which was hardly the case in the cartoon and comics I remember.  Perhaps I'm overly critical since GI Joe was such a part of my early childhood, but I don't think so.  I recommend you save your money and rent it, unless you absolutely must see it on the big screen.

Weekends are over too quick

Went to see "The Ugly Truth" yesterday.  It's a pretty good movie, worth seeing in the theatre if you are interested.  Butler's character is very funny and Heigl is great as always.  After the movie I went to Minado with my friend and had some awesome sushi.  If you love sushi and there is a Minado or Nori Nori near you, you MUST GO.  It was definitely an excellent Saturday.  Think I'll start the day off today with some scrambled eggs and toast ....maybe curl up with some of my unread comics, or maybe the One Piece manga I picked up at Otakon.