Movie: Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans

A friend of mine told me that I should be a movie critic, since I spend a lot of time watching movies, and I'm very critical of what I see. So, I figured, why not, it's my blog, I can talk about what I want to.

Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans

I went and saw this on opening night with my friend. Now, for those of you who have not ever seen an Underworld movie, have no fear, this movie stands alone. That's actually very novel in this day and age, too. This is more of a prequel to the first movie. I'm not really going to go into the details of the movie, because that would spoil it for people who have yet to see it, and there are movie sites that can do that for you.

The movie takes place in the past, I'd say a bit before the dark ages. Naturally, Underworld focuses on vampires and werewolves, or lycans. The costumes that the vampires wore were very intricate, and in the case of many of the female vamps, sexy, and very modern. At the same time, the humans were depicted in clothing that was more in style with what would have been worn back then. As for the lycans, well, when they had cloths, it was more of a type of old fashion armor, generic, something you'd find in any movie that likes leather. Yes, lots of leather, enough to make your mouth water, people.

As for the story, well, as I said before, you really don't need to know a thing about Underworld. This movie really explains some of the things that came up in the first two movies, actually. So, the story was detailed, but it didn't feel over-done. Parts of it felt a but rushed, however. There were time skips in a lot of places, and some of them were not too clear. Also, the passage of time during the battle scenes seemed off. For instance, this one section starts at what you assume is nightfall, and while you're aware that there is a good amount of time passing, next time you see outside, it's well past dawn. It was convenient for the plot, and these problems were easily overlooked, but if you're a fan of logical progression, then it's a little ridiculous.

Another thing to talk about is the characters. Now, the Underworld series tends to have very strong female characters, as well as male ones, and in my opinion, this story fell a bit flat. The two main leads came off as a bit flat. The man was at least slightly more believable, and he became a bit more rounded as you got to know him. The woman, however, remained a bit flat, or at least, a very bad contradiction. She's supposed to be this super-cool vampire warrior-princess type, and yet, there are times she just comes off as the traditional wussy heroine, waiting for her knight. As for the other characters, they were all very flat. You don't really find out anything about any of the other vampires or lycans. The only reason I knew some things was because I've seen the other movies. It was a little frustrating, because these people affect the flow of the story and you have no clue why they are acting the way they are.

The special effects were not bad, though not the best I've seen. As the movie is dark- it's at night, after all- the special effects worked really well. I wish some of the things had been done in the day, like a transformation, so I could have gotten a better look, but oh well. The fights were very nice, defiantly a highlight of the movie. That is where this movie was at it's best, lycans mauling vampires, and vampires defying the laws of gravity.

In all, if you've seen the others in the series, it's worth watching this one, since it does really help explain some things, but because it's a prequel, you kind of know how it's going to end. If you havn't seen Underworld, I wouldn't really recommend this one to start with. However, if you're in the mood for gratuitous violence and scantily clad people duking it out with moves you only wish you could do, then this is a good movie. It was a good movie to see with friends, and most of the people who were at the theater seemed to be in groups. Not really a date movie, fellas, and defiantly not a chick flick, ladies.

I give it an 8/10

Just checking in

Have you ever noticed that you never think about your toes until you can't feel them? Obviously, since I bring them up, I can't feel my toes. I'm still half frozen, waiting for this cold snap to break. So, now you're thinking, "Well, Sprig said there would not be a post until something happened or there was a thawing...so, what happened?"

In one word, Nothing. But I felt like sharing some stuff, so I'm on anyway. First off, and this is going to be a gripe that gets repeated, why is it that any time I want to go somewhere within a certain amount of time, I get stuck behind someone going at least 10 under the speed limit? Now, I live in the middle of nowhere, so I'm used to the people driving really slow for random reasons, stuck behind a tractor....a bear or a cow in the road... ice, a fallen tree, you know, normal stuff. One thing I can't stand, however, is Sunday Drivers. I know it's not very fair of me, after all, they're just out enjoying themselves, but I get annoyed just the same.

Admittedly, I'm territorial, so that has a lot to do with it. What really ticks me off is when they drive real slow, like they're lost, and you know they're not lost at all. Of course they aren't, you can see their GPS! They're "enjoying the sencery", particuarlly in the fall. Enjoying the veiw is fine, people, you're more then welcome to, but before you do, get off the damn road! For crying out loud, if the speed limit is 50, you sure as hell better be doing over 45 in good weather. Anything under that should be criminal.

I'm no speed freak, and on an empty back road I've been known to drive really slow, windows rolled down, all so my dog can enjoy the view. But that's an empty back road, not one of the two the main roads that goes though the area. So, if you're ever crusing though the country and suddenly want to slow down to take it all in, please remember that people actually live out there (I know, shocking, no?) and need to use those roads to get to work and such.


In other news. I ordered Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog on DVD. If you haven't seen it, you really should, it's one of the most entertaining things I've seen in a long while. The DVD should arrive sometime next week, and I'm really looking foward to enjoying the awsomeness.

Well, That's it for now, I'm off to watch the rest of Mimic 2 and maybe head to bed in a bit.

~Sprig

Freezin

Like most of the other people I have been talking to, I'm freezing. But, in other news, I have uploaded a profile picture. Don't I look nice? Yes, people, that was sarcasm. You're not going to get a real picture of me, my friends, not here anyway.

Tomorrow I'm off to get the rest of the move over with. As for now, well, today was freezing, but other then that, nothing of note occurred. I'll write next time I have something to share, or I thaw out, which ever one comes first.

~Sprig

Batteries not Included

So, for my new home, I had to get a new storm door. Being sure that if anyone really wanted to break in, they'd go in though the big-ass fake glass windows of my patio, or though the large-ish windows of my kitchen, I went with a glass and aluminum door. For some security, and because I never remember my keys, I went with the whole key-pad thing. I thought it looked shwank. Naturally, I paid someone to come and install it, I wasn't going to mess with that, no-sir.

And just as naturally, I had to fork out an additional $400 on top of the $300+ the door cost to get all the wood work repaired around the door. It was rotted, just my luck. So, I truck back to the store, lay down the extra money and make time for the guy to come back and fix the whole thing up.

The guy came yesterday. Nothing wrong with him or the store, everything was quid-pro-quo, very professional, all on the up and up. In case you were wondering, Lowes was the store I went with. Good people at our Lowes, of course I know a bunch of people who work there, so I'm a bit baised. Anyway, as I was saying, the guy came in nice and early, and after making sure the animals couldn't get to him (they tend to like going for open doors) he got to work. I must say, I was impressed, he was at it all day.

So, finally the door is in, and all that's left is setting up the key pad and the thing that automaticly closes the door. The guy comes up to me and says, "ok, do you have the lithium AAA batteries?"and naturally, I did not. Yes, I knew batteries were going to be needed. But silly me, I figured that if I spend $20 for a toy, and it comes with batteries, so be it cheap ones, then the door I just dropped nearly a thousand dollars to get installed would. Hell, for the amount I spent on the door you'd think they could include the $10 in batteries. We tried just plain old AAA, and that didn't work. He calls Lowes, who calls the manufactuar and they tell us that only Enigizer lithium ion AAA batteries would work. So, I now I have the batteries, and I haven't put them in yet. Lowes has called to see if they work, and they'll call me back again tommorow. I'll get to it tommorow.

The stupid door could have come with a "Batteries not Included" tag.

Kitten Crazy

My little Maine Coon kitten, Mukki, is the cutest little thing. Just a short while ago, Mukki and I were just playing fetch. Yes, fetch, my cat will bring a ball back to me and drop it for me to toss it again. Very cute. Of course, he's got a tiny attention span (as my mom puts it, he has the attention span of a hummingbird) so, if he's distracted durring our game, he wanders off, leaving me to wait for a ball that will never come.

He's also got a severe case of hero worship when it comes to my elderly dog, a toy poodle by the name of Copper. He follows the dog everywhere, no lie, and what Copper does, Mukki does as well, even if it's eating a dog biscuit. In the end, it works out well that both of them get along so well, since they spend a lot of time together. My mom's cat, Oliver is tolerant of the dog and the kitten, but he's two, and won't lower himself to play with them often.

Also in residence are a rat (Mikie), a female betta (Crypt), a dormouse (Puck), and a group of five finches, 2 society finches (Rocket and Diver) and 3 zebra finches (The Twins, and Gandolf~ though his name may change)

That's all I really have to say for now. More then likely in the next few days you'll find out more about the animals, or I'll start ranting about country drivers.

~Sprig

Sleep

Oops, looks like I slept the day away. Well, I needed the sleep. You see, recently, I've moved into a new home, and I've been moving things from the old place to mom's new place every day. Then, at night, I'm kept awake by the new cats. Mom's place is right above mine, with a connecting door, so I live in basically an inlaw suite. It's independence while being close to family. Anyway, after I moved in, Mom is about half moved in at this point, we got a Maine Coon Kitten, and a two year old Maine Coon. Both are male, and both love to play. They are very vocal about it at night, and when you mix in my elderly dog and the fact that he and the kitten sleep in my bed, I don't get much sleep.

There's really no problem with me sleeping all day, since it's been snowing all day. I didn't plan in moving anything from the old house today, and other then playing a game, I had no real goals. I do need to play a bit more of my game. I may deside to just go back to sleep again. Got to go, Mukki is trying to get to my rasinets.

The first time is always a false start

I am really pathetic it took me more then an hour to set up this silly thing. I had trouble picking a name, then a title, you know, all the stuff people do off the top of their heads. So now, I'm absolutely exhausted. All I want to do is go to bed. So, tomorrow I'll start this thing up properly. Right now, I'm off to bed with the dog and kitten. Here's hoping I get any sleep.