The Venice (CA) Canals

This weekend was gorgeous! KT and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to explore Venice Beach and the Venice Canals. Despite being in LA since I was 4, I had never been to the canals. They were so beautiful and peaceful! It's only a matter of blocks, but its a whole world away from the Venice Boardwalk that thrives with personality and street performers.

There were cute ducks everywhere!

Weekend Movies

Happy Presidents Day! I hope you all are enjoying your day off work (if you have the day off like me). For Valentine's, KT and I saw Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightening Thief and The Wolfman. Below are my thoughts on the films.

The Wolfman
This movie has been sitting on the shelf for almost 2 years. They showed some footage of it way back at Comic Con 2008. Back then, I wasn't too impressed with it and had no desire to see it. But then when it came out, it looked like it had been improved during its post-production limbo. I should have known better. This is a B-Movie with far too much money. It had some great effects, but the story and acting was bland. Rating: Skip it.

Percy Jackson & The Olympans: The Lightening Thief
I hadn't read the book, but had heard great things from my roommate. I really enjoyed this! I'm glad they aged Percy - in the book he's 12, but in the movie he's 16-ish. The action would have felt like too much with a 12 year old at its center. The adventure to find the pearls was exciting and I couldn't see what villain/mythological creature would show up next. While the 3 kids at the center of this film are unknowns, there's some big star power with Pierce Brosnon, Sean Bean, Uma Therman, and Daniel McKidd. I wish there had been more with Poseidon,

Both of the movies had a small success this weekend at the box office, but I hope Percy Jackson can pull in more money. I would totally watch the next chapter in this franchise. I hope it doesn't become an aborted franchise a la The Golden Compass:

Linkulous: Chick Flicks, Leno, Chuck, and more

Happy Friday! I hope you all had a good week and are looking forward to an even better weekend. I know I'm excited since it's a 3 day weekend for me! Maybe now I'll be able to do my taxes?

Well, in less boring news, here are some interesting articles I read this week:

The Mystery of the Chick Flick - maybe this wouldn't be such a mystery if they had more women behind the scenes.

Three Things I Learned From Leno

Money Can't Buy Happiness: Man Gives Away His Fortune

The Top Lost Fan Videos

How a Big Win For "The Hurt Locker" could change the Academy Awards

Shows That Could Have Canned Laughter

All in the Modern Family - a look at the evolution of the sitcom and how Modern Family fits in it.

Best Picture, Uncut - TIME analyzes the best picture oscar nominations

The Construction of Canadian Identity in How I Met Your Mother

Have you guys heard about the Chuck controversy? Apparently fans are threatening to boycott the show now that Chuck and Sarah are interested in other people. I don't get the logic behind that. Here are some great articles about the whole debacle:

The Double Edged Sword of Devotion: Chuck vs. The Entitled Fanbase

Chuck vs. The Fanbase - completely agree with this take on the events.

Chuck: Shwartz vs. The Controversy

The Chuck Crisis of '10: A National Dialogue

The Watcher's Take on the Chuck Controversy

ABDC: West Regional Crews

The West Crews are in the house!

Hype 5-0
Hawaii
Drop it Low by Esther Dean w/ Chris Brown
Grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts, cute. Loved the opening and storyline. There's a lot of people on stage, it's a little hard to keep track of everything going on at once. Their final move was really cool. The mark of a good routine: I didn't want that to end.

Heavy Impact
Los Angeles, CA
Raindrops by Jeremiah
These are all some big dudes! I was surprised by that back flip series! I did not need to see those tummy roles. They were pretty good, and definitely a surprise given their size. They had smooth moves and were in sync. Shout out to Nappy Tabs! One of the guys was wearing their shirt.

Blended Projekt
West Covina, CA
Get Involved by Genuwine
They're babies! Again, this is a very large crew with 8 members. They were really together and had great lines, but we have seen this before. I just don't see another clogging crew making it through after Dynamic Edition's appearance. Plus, we already have one out-of-the-norm crew with Saltare. I don't think there's enough room for two.

Break EFX
Denver, CO
All Eyes on Me by Clipse
Why are all these crews so large?! Evidence of over-population. I liked the hat trick move where they scooted on their hands and head to the center. They were a lot of fun, but I was expecting more from the ONLY B-Boy crew in the West. Their odds are good to making it through though.

Poreotix
Westminster, CA
Love Story by Taylor Swift
Wow, they are my favorite, no doubt! They were so precise, they had humor, they had story, they had it all. I loved the Kanye interruption ending. I really want to see these guys in the coming weeks.

The crews were all really strong, which is to be expected of the West Coast Crews.

Wow, I am very surprised Heavy Impact got the other spot to the finals. I thought for sure it would go to Hype 5-0 or Break EFX.

Sudden Death
Showdown by Black Eyed Peas
Break EFX and Hype 5-0 had great last ditch efforts. Yeah! Glad to see the Islander crew make it through, gotta represent! We're a minority, so we have to stick together. I am very surprised no b-boy crew made it through from the west, but that style has had its time to shine. Now it's time for new and hybridized styles to be front and center.

It's really early to predict, but here are my picks for the Final 3 Crews:

Blue Print Crew
Poreotix (if people are feeling their humor and style. If not, they don't stand a chance)
Hype 5-0

I don't think Saltare is going to last long, just because the gimmick crews never seem to crack the top 5 (except for Break Sk8te).

Toy Story 3: New Trailer

Speaking of Disney sequels, here's one that I am excited for!