Spider-Man 3 - Attack Of The Nerds

I went to the midnight showing of Spider-Man 3 last night. Before I chime in with my two cents let me point out a few other reviews. I didn't read any of them in their entirety before watching the movie, but scanned them to get a general consensus. That consensus? Blind, seething nerd rage.
There is no better example of this than the guy who stood up in our theater, just as the final credits began to roll, to vent his frustration with one of the villain's use of pronouns.

"Venom says 'we', not 'I'!"

He raised his hands to incite the glorious nerd revolution that surely would come, but was met with blank stares and sarcastic jeers (I have to admit I took part in the latter).
Oh, did I mention he was wearing a Venom shirt? Did I also mention that when someone else walked into the theater in a Venom shirt prior to the movie, he bragged to his friends that his was more authentic?

This is the environment in which I watched this movie. And I thoroughly enjoyed the hell out of it. Spider-Man 3 is at least as good as its predecessors. Anyone who says otherwise is suffering from a severe case of Star Wars Syndrome, a brain fluctuation that raises the quality of previous films to such legendary heights that any sequel (or prequel) is doomed to be a let down. My comparison ends there, however, because the Spider-Man movies are far superior to anything in the Star Wars prequels. My point is that many of the fans are walking into this movie with the misconception that the first two were perfect gems. Let's not forget that they were riddled with groan-inducing dialog and (dare I say it?) obvious CGI animation. That didn't stop them from being highly entertaining and engrossing. Because despite their flaws both movies felt like real portrayals of Spider-Man.
Spider-Man 3, to me, is no different. The action is amped up, as is the tension between Peter, MJ, and Harry.

Parts of this movie were astounding to me (mild, obvious spoilers): Harry's betrayal of Peter, Peter's subsequent betrayal of MJ, Peter's dark side, everything with Topher Grace and Venom. There are other, smaller details and scenes that are also very excellent.

Parts of this movie were cheesy and heavy handed: Peter's strutting sequence (which is funny but would have serviced the movie better if it had been cut in half), Harry's fatherly butler providing some much needed exposition that leaves you wondering why the hell he didn't speak up sooner, some mild contrivances. Although, if you can't handle a few contrivances in a movie about a man with spider powers and a giant made out of sand...well, I don't know what to tell you. It also seems that Sam Raimi wants to turn MJ into the next Minmei. And if you don't know what I'm talking about than you are out of your league, young nerdling.

All I can say is, if you liked the first two movies then you'll like this one. Provided you don't go into it with your nerdometer turned up to eleven.

Final comments: Um...nerd.

Decisions, Decisions...

This rant is only marginally related to Zhubin's latest post. Or rather, it's a continuation of the comment I left on that post.

I've noticed a disturbing inability of many adults to make the smallest of decisions for themselves. It seems that much of the time these people would much rather be led by the hand like a child than make up their own damn mind about anything. This is something I've noticed in particular at my work, a certain coffee shop at a certain mall. I couldn't tell you how many people have come to my window and prefaced their order with, "I don't know what I want." This was even more infuriating when I worked at the movie theater. I was dumbfounded by the number of people who would walk in the place without having the slightest idea what movies were even showing, let alone what they were going to see.
My instinct in both these instances is to ask, "What are you doing here? Do you even like coffee/movies? Do you know where you are?"
Often these people expect me to decide for them.

This stupid customer came in a week or two ago and asked Bone which was the best type of cookie. This happens a lot, people want to know what the best flavor of Freezer is, or (for some reason) which is the most popular. As if they'll be accepted into some exclusive club for ordering it.

So this guy asks Bone what the best cookie is, and Bone's response is along the lines of a hesitant, "Well, it depends..."
I use this response myself, because it does depend. I have no idea whether you prefer chocolate over caramel, or some other thing. If you have no preference, than it doesn't make any difference which cookie/Freezer/latte you order, because (imagine this) they're all good.

But this response wasn't good enough for the idiot customer, who begins backing away with his arms up saying, "None of them? None of them are good? Okay..." in this smug, passive aggressive way that seems to say, "Well, I guess you don't want my business."

So I chime in, "I like the peanut butter," good salesman that I am.
The customer comes back toward the counter and eyes the peanut butter cookie.

Bone says, "They're all good." Again, a valid statement. But one that would lose us the customer, who suddenly had his selection of cookies knocked back up from one to eight.

And he walked out.

I was absolutely pissed. Not because we lost his money (really, I could give a shit). But I felt personally insulted by this man's inability to decide which type of cookie he wanted. An indecision that ran so deep it not only hinged on someone else's opinion, but apparently a unanimous decision by everyone who happened to be on staff at that moment.

So how does this relate to Zhubin's post? Well, it's more of a stream-of-consciousness, synaptic connection more than anything. Something about cultures that stress the importance of following orders blindly, actually encouraging people to emulate sheep and children. Plus, I just like the cut of Zhubin's jib.

Dragonforce - "Operation Ground And Pound"

My vocal juries are tomorrow, and I'm am a bundle of nerves. So, I'm posting this to blow off some steam:

Be warned: This might be too much rock for some of you. The guitar player apparently stole his hands from the Robot Devil.

Peelander-Z

I celebrated my birthday by seeing one of my favorite bands, Peelander-Z.










This girl and her boobs really enjoyed the show:







Before the show Peelander Yellow sung happy birthday to me. You can see the reminder he wrote on his hand in this picture. That's my name in Japanese:







For the finale the band members switch out with people from the opening band:






Finale: Human bowling!

This is the last thing my camera saw before it was destroyed by a freaking mosher:

Alanis Morissette - "My Humps"

Props to Valerie for bringing this one to my attention:

The video itself is a mediocre parody of the original Black Eyed Peas version. What I like about it is that it points out just how incredibly inane the lyrics to this song are.

Here are some of the lyrics to "My Humps":
What you gon' do with all that junk?
All that junk inside that trunk?
I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my hump.
I think that's actually kind of gross.
"My Humps" is one of the worst songs written in any language, and I believe it may have set English culture back by decades.

Another song that I take offense to is "This Is Why I'm Hot" by Mims. First of all, if your name is Mims (even your nickname) just quit and die already.
Here are some of the offending lyrics:
I'm hot cause I'm fly
You hate cause you not
This is why (this is why)
This is why I'm hot
I'm hot cause I'm fly
You ain't cause you not (MIMS!)
Ah yes..."You ain't cause you not." *Begins loading shotgun*

Mainstream music has actually found a way to get worse. This is why I have stopped listening to radio entirely (NPR excepted). So I ask you: what awful song have you heard recently?

Addendum (thanks, Rachel):