On my mind

1. Job is secure - for now *gulp*.
   
2. Current home - Should we hire a property manager or ask a friend who has experience to help us? Mixing friendship and business is always tricky but I (naively?) think it can be done.
3. Future BA home - Less expensive bay area home + private schooling vs More expensive bay area home + better public schooling? Strictly from a $ point of view, I know the number of kids greatly influences the ROI. If I draw from my own public schooling experiences, I would have never thought that I would even consider private schooling but with the looming budget cuts I am wondering if even schools that are historically above average to excellent will still be that way 5 to 10 years from now. I really don't want us to have to move every 5 years.
   
4. Just about done with 2008 taxes. Thank you Turbo Tax!
   
5. Not looking forward to all the cleaning and packing in the upcoming months.
6. 401K & investing - from all accounts, this year looks to be just as scary as last quarter. Should we reallocate more to cash? Or go long on oversold blue chips? Tough call.
   
7. Street Figher IV is out tomorrow. Hadouken!! The X-arcade stick has a few quirks with the PS3 but for single player action, I am good to go.

Blockbuster movie marathon

Well, I can safely say that I've caught up on a lot of movies. I signed up for the Blockbuster "3 at a time + unlimited in store exchange" plan. Jan was a good month to cram in the movie watching since it's gonna be busy for us in the coming months in terms of finding a tenant, preparing for the move, and Viks needs more quiet time before her last set of OKAPs. I had to get it out of my system! With a few exceptions I was able to see most of the desired Blu Ray movies on my list. If you follow the boards, there are complaints for both Blockbuster and Netflix with regards to wait times on certain popular releases but Blockbuster had a lot of the Blu Ray movies I wanted to see in their brick & mortar stores when the online service had a short to long wait and vice versa. It worked out pretty well for me. That being said, I think HD movies on demand can't come soon enough. Given that we live in an age of "ITunes / instant gratification" I felt silly that I needed to constantly drive back and forth to exchange movies or use the snail mail option to receive the next set of movies in my queue. I think for movies I just want to rent, I would be willing to watch a more compressed HD lite version if I had unlimited on demand and the price was less than say, $20-$30 per month. Here's what I watched,

1. Bank Job - Nothing groundbreaking here but a good Jason Statham / bank heist movie.
2. Under Siege 2: Dark Territory - This is my favorite Steven Seagal movie. I hadn't watched it in years so I wanted to revisit it. I forgot that Kathryn Heigl was in this movie before her rise to fame. PQ is surprising good for a movie this old but it breaks my heart that this movie does not have a lossless audio track.
3. Street Kings - If you enjoyed Training Day, you might like this one although Training Day is easily the better of the two IMO
4. Pineapple Express - When you need your stoner comedy fix, give this one a rental. I usually don't like James Franco's characters but he is pretty damn funny in this film. A very different type of role for James Franco and he pulled it off very well.
5. Eagle Eye - I can't help but think that Shia Labeouf plays the same character in all his movies. A decent rental.
6. There Will Be Blood - Daniel Day Lewis was really, really good in this film. I enjoyed watching the similarities as well as the differences of how he and the minister treated the people around them. This is one of those films where I appreciated the story and the acting but it's not a film I would want to revisit over and over.
7. Babylon AD - I knew this was a bad movie but I had to satisfy my curiosity. But yes, the movie is craptastic!
8. Death Race - The trailer for this film is ridiculous but the action is actually entertaining and I liked that the film didnt take itself too seriously. A very good rental with great PQ and the audio is excellent demo material.
9. Event Horizon - Meh..mediocre sci-fi horror. Another movie where I needed to satisfy my curiousity.
10. Gone Baby Gone - A good crime thriller that really seems to immerse you into the heart of Boston. I say "seems" because I've never been to Boston. This was a good movie that I enjoyed watching for the acting and the story pacing (nice direction from Ben Affleck) but I don't think I'll revisit it again.
11. Doomsday - I think one of the best dystopic / viral outbreak movie that I have seen is 28 Days Later. After seeing Doomsday I still feel that way. Still, I thought Doomsday was an OK rental.
12. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Not as funny as I was led to believe but it had it's moments and overall it's an endearing film. The chemistry between Jason Segel and Kristen Bell or Mila Kunis just wasn't there for me. The Blu ray has mediocre PQ which is disappointing considering how recent the film is.
13. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - I miss Rachel Weisz. For me, the Mummy movies are not the same without her. And there was not enough Jet Li! I liked this movie more than the critics but it's mostly forgettable. Picture and sound are excellent.
14. Shinobi - this film is sort of like the anime Ninja Scroll crossed with Romeo and Juliet. Some of the visual effects were a bit on the cheese /amateur side but I did enjoy the choreography of the fight scenes. Good rental!
15. Righteous Kill - Maybe for diehard DeNiro and Pacino fans only. The twist was way too predictable. Rent this if you have nothing better to queue up.
16. Clear and Present Danger - I love Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan. EE and DNR are an annoyance but I would not mind picking this one up in the < $ 10 Blu Ray bargain bin on the strength of the movie itself.
17. Chungking Express - I have the DVD but I wanted to see if the Blu Ray produced a substantial upgrade in picture and sound quality. I would say there is a noticeable upgrade in PQ but I think the film itself was never razor sharp to begin with. So this Blu Ray is not the best HT demo material in my view but if you are a big fan of the movie then it's well worth checking out.
18. The Forbidden Kingdom - Entertaining and some good choreographed fight sequences between Jackie Chan and Jet Li. A good rental!
19. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - This should have been a straight to video release. Nice try George. Picture is good. Sound is average - I expected more given the Star Wars universe. While the feature film was ok, I am actually interested in the TV series now.
20. 10,000 BC - Based on the reviews, I came in with really low expectations. And it helped. This movie is not great by any means but I've seen worst.
21. The Condemned - Kind of a rip off of Running Man. I the film itself was confused of it's intent. It preaches against violence but it has a ton of violence to appeal to it's target audience. Nonetheless, it's a decent rental if you're in the mood for some gratuitious violence.
22. The Doors - I am a big fan of Oliver Stone but I couldn't really get into this movie. Maybe because I am not a big fan of The Doors. Still, it was interesting just to see Val Kilmer in this role.
23. Smart People - It's not a fair direct comparison to films like Garden State or Juno but I think the reactions are the same. You either think it's off the beaten path or pretentious drivel. I was a bit worried in the first 20 minutes that it was trying too hard to be "off the beaten path" but I ended up enjoying this movie in the end. It's not really a purchase for me though. I couldn't quite swallow Dennis Quaid making out with Sarah Jessica Parker . Like Juno, Ellen Page is a bit too precocious in this film to be believable.
24. Burn After Reading - After the dark "No Country for Old Men" this is a nice black comedy from the Coen Brothers. Brad Pitt is hilarious in this movie! "Osbourne Cox? I thought you might be worried... about the security... of your sh*t. "
25. Max Payne - I know the critics hated this movie but I actually enjoyed it. No heavy thinking required. Some nice "bullet time" action sequences. The picture and sound is amazing on this disc. Good rental.
26. Dead Space - I really enjoyed the PC game. So watching this Blu Ray rounded out the experience for me. A good rental if you're a fan of the game.
27. Anger Management - Average comedy that kind of requires you to suspend disbelief at the end in terms of how things are wrapped up. A cheap ending if you ask me. An OK rental.
28. Enchanted - A little too girly for me but still an OK twist to the Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty formula. Very Disney I must say.
29. Bangkok Dangerous - Based on reviews, I came in with really low expectations. And this might have helped my reaction a little bit. Some of the action sequences are done well but the overall direction is awkward with some really silly moments in the second half. The film tries to portray the lonely assassin but it doesn't quite hit it's target (no pun intended). The character arc just felt forced and not very convincing at all. An OK rental.
30. 21 - Based on the true story but follows the usual Hollywood formula - Decent rental. Has a nice documentary that explains how to count cards. Now everyone who watches this will think they can beat the house. Nice!
31. Vantage Point - The different "vantage points" didn't gel all that well together. Meh. An OK rental.
32. Rocknrolla - Be sure to pause if you get up to go pee or grab a soda or you might miss an important name that is key to understanding just exactly what the hell is going on. The film almost seems too slick for it's own good. I think Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is still Guy Ritchie's all time best but I enjoyed this film.
33. Gone in 60 Seconds - I'll stick to The Fast & the Furious when I need my car fix.
34. The Sum of All Fears - I don't understand all the Ben Affleck haters. I thought he was actually pretty good as Daredevil and in this movie, he does a respectable job in portraying a younger, "green" Jack Ryan. Oversharpening and overzealous scrubbing hurt the video presentation but if this disc goes < $10 Blu Ray bargain bin, I'll consider a purchase.
35. Deception - Terrible script = terrible movie. But if you want a Hollywood depiction of sex clubs..
    
36. 3:10 to Yuma - I normally don't watch too much from the western genre but I did enjoy Unforgiven and I fgured 3:10 to Yuma would be good too and it was a good watch.
37. Earth The Biography - I learned a lot in this documentary about Earth's history and how the Earth "works.". PQ is not as good as the Planet Earth Series so it's not a disc to demo your home theater but it's a good rental if you like documentaries like Planet Earth.
38. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Good movie. Mediocre picture quality but the soundtrack on the other hand = WOW. This Blu Ray has one of the most immersive 5.1 DTS HD MA surround tracks I have ever listened to. The audio is demo material! I wish the same could have been said of the picture quality.
    
39. Serenity - I never saw Firefly but I really enjoyed this movie. The picture is sharp and pristine. The DTS HD MA 5.1 is sure to make the neighbors angry - very demo worthy. If Frys still has the HD DVD version (which "only" has a DD+ 5.1) I might pick it as a stop gap until the Blu Ray becomes cheaper.
40. The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Great performances here, especially from Brad Pitt. This is a more character driven film so don't expect a re-spin of 3:10 to Yuma.
41. A Scanner Darkly: I fell asleep 30 min into the movie and woke up at about 50 min into the movie. The movie is not bad by any means but I think the rotoscope animation is just not for me but I can understand the effect on the viewer that the filmmakers were after.
42. Baraka - I read a lot of buzz about this film so I decided to check it out. I can see why people appreciate this film as much as they do. It's sort of a meditation on life and challenges the preconceptions that one might have about the world. Yes, I live in a bubble! Sometimes it does borderline on the preachy side. Part of the buzz was the stunning transfer from the original 70mm (65mm for image, 5 mm for sound) print. Very rich contrast, color, and the image is razor sharp - the level of detail is astonishing. The lossless sound is excellent too. For the videophiles, there is a nice documentary about the painstaking 8K (!!!) ultra high resolution scanning and restoration process. So for the Blu Ray, the image had to be down rez'd to a pitiful 2K resolution (1920x1080) :P

Superbowl Sunday

Several of Viki's fellow residents came over today for Superbowl Sunday. Although it was a heart breaking loss for the Cardinals, I think many people would agree that it was a great game. A lot of memorable plays. I had my fair share of unhealthy food (but I'll work it off to the Lakers vs Knicks tomorrow night). I was able to adjust the projector to "Sports" mode + high bulb setting and with the blinds down, the image was very watchable even at 3:30pm. Given the age of my bulb, I was pleasantly surprised. The image contrast was much better when it got dark at around 5:30pm. I haven't watched a big game on the big screen for a long time and I forgot how much fun it is. The wires hanging down from the projector are indeed an eye sore. I can't wait until we move into our next house where I can hopefully hide the wires.

Edit: I forgot to say that we also tried out the Intel 3D glass right at the end of 1st half. I did see the balls coming out at the beginning of the Monsters vs. Aliens trailer but for the most part the trailer did not seem very 3D like to my eyes.