Where Can You Find Aldo?

All over the freaking place!! Too bad I don't update, but that's gonna change. Here's a list of where you can find me now that I'm all motivated to write again (haven't we been through this before?)!

Blogger: A Day in The Life of Aldo
This blog is more or less a place for me to complain. Expect long winded rants, poetry, rough drafts and most anything here.

Blogger: Aldo's Writing Space
This one is my portfolio blog. Reviews and Essays galore.

Tumblr: Aldo, In My Life
Another place for rants and such. Much shorter here than in my Blogger. Expect ideas and thoughts more than complaints and poetry and music.

Tumblr: Panel by Panel
A blog about my personal experiences in my new job at a comic book store. This is more or less like a public journal, but with more centralized material and ideas. Very comic book and nerd stuff related.

Twitter: Aldo531
quick ideas and complaints and jokes. Gonna try using this more.

Social Sites: Of course you can always find me on Facebook and the new (and personal favorite) Google +.
and myspace... but I haven't even touched that in like a year.

Hanna Review

I was lucky enough to go watch a pre-screening of Hanna this last week. I have to say that I quite enjoyed it. Here’s my take on it.
Hanna’s premise is quite simple, She’s a girl who is sheltered and raised in the forest by her dad to become the ultimate killing and hunting machine. Throw a little murder mystery (even though it’s fairly predictable) and government conspiracy into the mix and you have Hanna.
The leads in the movie are Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, and Eric Bana. Cate Blanchett plays the villain and she does a fairly good job. Her villain tends to operate behind the scenes and sends everyone out to do her dirty work and she brings a gun to a fist-fight, so she’s kind of a cheap bitch. Eric Bana plays mentor and father to Hanna. Not much is known about him, but more is slowly revealed. Although he is not too interesting in the story, but his action scenes are VERY fun to watch. and Saoirse plays the titular Hanna. Quite, cute and apparently German, Hanna knows nothing of the real world apart from dictionary facts. Seeing her grow and experience the world is quite fun, as well as seeing her take down three men twice her size.
Like I said, the story is actually quite simple, and the plot twists are given away by the plot itself before the movie reveals them. Essentially you have Hanna who has to fight Marissa (Blanchett) as some sort of birthright fight for revenge… I think. She’s trained to be an elite soldier and hunter by her Father Eric Heller (Bana). She’s chased all the way from Finland to Morocco and to Germany by Marissa and her (gay?) German thugs. Really, the plot just serves as a connection for some wicked fight scenes.
The Fight scenes and Soundtrack are what really stand out here. Fight scenes are choreographed by by the same person who did The Bourne Trilogy fights. So expect fluid, powerful and tricky urban fights. Featuring very few guns, the fights are mostly hand to hand, and not really taking advantage of the surroundings, the fights are more brutal than flashy. My one disappointment is that early on it’s hinted that Hanna is a hunter, I was hoping to see more Hunter/Prey style fights and chases, but I didn’t get that. Instead I found out how well Hanna can hide. How well she can hide and NOT slash someone’s ankle tendons… gosh.
The soundtrack is great. I can describe it as Grunge Techno if that even makes sense. Composed by The Chemical Brothers, expect deep bass and some catchy beats. The music gives the whole movie a little of a sci-fi conspiracy feel, which if that’s what they wanted, then they certainly achieved it.
Overall, the plot isn’t necessarily the strongest part (even though it has one  of the best full circle intro/outro sequence I’ve seen in a long time), but the performances are solid, music is fantastic and the fight choreography is great. Definitely a great spring movie, I’d watch it twice, even if just for the Fights and Music.

Resolution 2011… Failure?

Oh, goodness. I’ve been failing at all this. I feel like I’m preparing constantly to start, but I’m not making any real progress. Anyways, here’s some updates!!

I will rent and review 1 movie per week.

Been renting, but not reviewing.

I will watch at least 2 movies in theaters every month.

This one gets expensive, but I haven’t been trying.

I will review a new CD every 2 weeks.

Got Rhapsody in order to do this, just have to actually listen to the whole album now.

I will redesign my website and maintain it better.

gah! I don’t even know what I would put on it.

I will focus on my Comm. Classes better and pass with a B or better.

Waiting, hopefully going to get a student loan.

I will read 5 books in this year.

I’m going to read Dark Tower over the next couple of days… I have to return it.

I will draw 1 whole image per week. (This means, sketching, inking and coloring; minimum.)

Ha!! I barely even sketched something last week, but I do need the practice something fierce

I will practice my guitar for 40 minutes 5 days a week.

Also… not doing too good. Seems like instead of practicing I’m… blogging.

I will be able to play 5 full songs from memory on the guitar by years end.

It’s still just April, I got a chance.

My resolution for 2011 is to lose 60 pounds.

My checkpoints include, but certainly are not limited to these:

March 20: Have lost 15-20 pounds

Didn’t even come close.

May 20: Have lost 15-20 more pounds [Total 30]

I think I could lose 15 pounds by then, but not the 30 total I expected. At least I haven’t gained weight, I’m still at the same weight I was when I started.

August: Have lost 10-15 more pounds [Total 40/45]

November: Have lost 10-15 more pounds [Total 55/60]

December 20: Have lost 60 pounds total.

Haven’t given up, I’m still hoping that these things will become a habit for next year. My friend said that these things are for self improvement, and we can’t expect perfection from the get-go. We have to work on it, and by year’s end, we should be starting to perfect the items on our list, rather than finishing them.

Late: Inception Review

Well, I finally saw Inception and I have to say, I was impressed. I’m not going to bother with a huge review since I’m sure that 95 percent of people have already seen it, so I’m going to go ahead and just have a quick chat about what I liked about.
First of all, The director. Christopher Nolan. I’m always amazed by his ability to take such an outlandish idea and present it so beautifully and believably. Inception starts out very serious and is played as such. If you don’t know anything about the movie, you could assume the first 15 minutes are from a serious crime drama, then the dream stuff happens and everything falls apart (in the movie, not the presentation) and you quickly accept that this is a movie about dreams until you realize that that was a DREAM WITHIN  A DREAM… proceed to crap your pants at that point. Then it goes back to reality, but the whole time it’s played straight and serious, it doesn’t even seem out of the norm at this point. For that, I applaud you Mr. Nolan.
I was also impressed by the graphics. Had this been any other director, the graphics would not have been as good and it simply would be blamed that they’re not as good because its “in a dream”, but its not an excuse and Nolan does a great job. From the impossible of the never ending stairs to lifting an entire city and mirroring it in the sky, everything looks flawless and believably. The graphics catch you in such awe that you forget that it’s all fake.
Last but not least, I loved the actors. Everyone was fantastic, from DiCaprio playing a nervous and broken architect, to Gordon-Levitt playing a serious business man to Hardy who plays a humorous character to lighten the tension. Amongst these performances are also Ellen Paige, who does a fantastic job as well as Marie Cotillard who plays a memory, and plays it psychotically well.
Overall, Inception was great, fantastic and a thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat, a feat not often done. I recommend it to anyone, for the full experience, I recommend it on an HDTV, Blu-Ray and Surround sound… Just saying is all. Even without the equipment, watch it.

Res. 2011; Second Week Failings…

How goes my first week of resolutions for 2011… eh, not too well. Let’s take a look.

I will rent and review 1 movie per week.

I watched Inception, reviewing it now.

I will watch at least 2 movies in theaters every month.

I saw 1 Movie so far...

I will review a new CD every 2 weeks.

Not Yet…

I will redesign my website and maintain it better.

This one might (still) take a while…

I will read 5 books in this year.

Still not even close.

I will draw 1 whole image per week. (This means, sketching, inking and coloring; minimum.)

I skimped this week.

I will practice my guitar for 40 minutes 5 days a week.

I even bought a new book just for this… GAH!

My resolution for 2011 is to lose 60 pounds.

… Will start soon.

That’s my progress. Doing worse than last week. Well, I’ve been lazy and unfocused. so yeah. February is going to be my month to focus.

Res. 2011: First Week Review

How goes my first week of resolutions for 2011… eh, not too well. Let’s take a look.

Blog Work.

I will rent and review 1 movie per week.

I rented Inception, yet to watch it.

I will watch at least 2 movies in theaters every month.

I saw Green Hornet and posted the review.

I will review a new CD every 2 weeks.

Not Yet…

I will redesign my website and maintain it better.

This one might take a while…

I will focus on my Comm. Classes better and pass with a B or better.

Will also take some time… in 8 months.

Artistic Creativity.

I will read 5 books in this year.

Will probably be last, once I got a groove going.

I will draw 1 whole image per week. (This means, sketching, inking and coloring; minimum.)

I drew and inked… didn’t color.

I will practice my guitar for 40 minutes 5 days a week.

This one is also going to be tough… ugh.

I will be able to play 5 full songs from memory on the guitar by years end.

Even tougher… ugh.

I also want to relax and have fun and I want to be emotionally fulfilled.

I want to have several photo shoots.

HA!

I want to play all the Final Fantasy games from 6 to 12.

HA HA!

I want to play all of the Kingdom Hearts series.

HA HA HA!

I want to kiss in the rain.

HA HA HAAaaaw…

I want to kiss in the snow.

HA HA HAAaaaw… nope.

My resolution for 2011 is to lose 60 pounds.

I need to stop being lazy or this will get very tough to keep up.

So that’s the progress. I’m off to a not very good start, but I kind of expected that. I’m hoping I’ll start picking up the slack and get on it very soon.

Green Hornet Review

I went to go see the Green Hornet in 3D on opening night, and I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. Like I stated I saw it in 3D so I ended up paying 5 more dollars to watch it, and while I don’t feel like I wasted the money, I don’t necessarily feel like I got anything too special out of it. Don’t get me wrong, the film by itself was fantastic, but the 3D wasn’t necessary, but if you have the money for, I definitely recommend it.

Now, For those of you who don’t quite know, The Green Hornet is the original batman type hero. He originate in the 20’s as a daily radio program, released two films and then moved on the TV show in the 50’s starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee. The show only aired for one season, but that blasted Bruce Lee into superstardom (heck, he even kicked the Boy Wonder’s butt in a special Batman crossover) and Van Williams… no so much. Van is still around, and he was even asked to do a cameo for this film, which didn’t happen. Anyways, The Green Hornet was played straight, with both Kato (Bruce Lee) and Green Hornet/Britt Reed (Van Williams) played in a serious detective like manner. The idea was this, They would portray themselves as villains in order to take down the criminal empire from within. Like I said, they were the original Batman, with less Freudian mommy-daddy/rodent issues.

Seth Rogen replaces Van Williams in this interpretation as well a Jay Chou does Bruce Lee. Their relationship plays out like an average buddy cop movie, with Rogen’s typical humor (although toned down for a PG-13 rating) throughout the film. The film starts out with a young Britt Reed being reprimanded by his father for failing to protect a girl in a school yard fight, exclaiming, “Trying doesn’t matter if you fail” and causes Britt to just… stop trying. Instead of trying to do anything with his life he just parties. Until one day, his dad dies, he’s in charge of his father’s media empire and gets drunk with Kato, played by Jay Chou. The two decide to desecrate his fathers tomb as both have unanimously decided that his father was an asshole, and thus end up saving a life. High off of the adrenaline, the two decide to make this into a habit, and exploit their deeds using their newly acquired media empire.

And that’s about the first 20 minutes of the movie. The film gets better even while sticking to the “formula” of buddy action films. The fight scenes with Kato are refreshing and different every time, with an effect called Kato Vision, an ability that lets him see and point out what’s dangerous and useful and use those things to his advantage. This is one of those things that looks better with the 3D. Most of the fights are bookended with a fantastic chase scene featuring their car, The Black Beauty. The Black Beauty is a car that’s filled from top to bottom with gadgets, like reinforced glass windows, rocket launchers, twin gatling guns on the hood, green headlights and power windows. The chase scenes also feel fresh and exciting with added humor and explosions galore.

While I’m still on the subject of the main characters, I’d like to confess my dislike of Rogen’s interpretation. While new comers to the Green Hornet may like and not be bothered by his portrayal, I was. Kato is played similarly to his previous incarnation, just replace Bruce Lee for special effects and the character is basically the same, but the same can’t be said for Britt Reed. In the original series he is played straight, a skilled fighter and often times the brain of the operation. Rogen portrays him as a comical, dumb, horny and drunker character, just imagine Seth Rogen in a suit. While the character works for this interpretation, the jokes and character relationship, I wasn’t too fond of it. I’m just saying is all.

Again, back to the film. Now, all these shenanigans attract the attention of two very important characters Chudnofsky and Frank Scanlon, portrayed by Cristoph Waltz and David Harbour respectively. Chudnofsky is an older criminal mastermind, he’s a little crazy, runs all of the crime in the city and is afraid that he might be losing his edge, which he decides that he needs to change in reaction to the Green Hornet. Christoph Waltz, who was also the main villain, Col. Hans Landa, in Inglourious Basterds, plays the character in a charmingly disturbing manner. Always playing innocent and calm until he pulls his double barrel pistol, which he states “was very hard to make”, and turns homicidal and cynical, but always calm.
Frank Scanlon is over shadowed by most of the characters, but is very well done as an up and coming DA waiting for re-election. His character has a little more to do with everyone else, while I can’t really reveal anything without spoiling the film, though it shouldn’t be too hard to follow if you pay a little bit of attention to him.

The film stays fun, never becoming too serious or too drunkenly funny. It maintains a nice flow of action mixed with story and comedy. The 3D effects are minimal and mostly help the visuals. I would highly recommend this movie, be it a date or just hanging out, easily one of the best movies this year, and the year has barely started.

Before I let you go I want to talk a little bit about the 3D. The whole time I’ve mentioned it and said it doesn’t do much, and it really doesn’t, but for two things. The first was the credits. I enjoyed the outro and credits because of the 3D, without it, they would’ve been just cheesy. The second reason is a fantastic scene in which word is being spread about the Green Hornet; the scene starts out with one person, this person talks to someone else and the scene splits into two, both the people meet more people and it splits into a total of 4, and it continues to divide as more people talk and meet! it all flows as one continuous uncut scene, even as it splits, there are no noticeable cuts or breaks in the scene. Although the scene doesn’t necessarily NEED the 3D, it definitely isn’t the same without it. The entire scene feels like it came out of a comic book, and it looks like it did too.

With a great cast, good plot, fantastic action and fun comedy, I can easily recommend this film to anyone. I recommend a definite Full Price watch at the movies, 3 out of 4 stars in my book.

A New Year, No New Beginnings.

So, Another year has started and the previous one has ended. It’s a good time to look back and see what we learned and how we can all suck a little less this coming year.

So, I’m going to look back. What did I learn?

I’m not really a visually creatively talented person. My whole life I wanted to draw, but I never had the passion or spark for it.

School and Work mix… in small amounts. A couple of semesters ago I had a job and school, both part time. I did great in school. This year I had Full-Time school and work. Not too well. I need to find a balance.

I’m afraid of commitment. Relationships suck, but I’m determined to have one with no regrets going into it.

I’m kind of a selfish douche. It sucks, I learned it, but it’s something I get to work on.

Now, what about this year. What do you got coming?

Well, I don’t have too much coming to me. Which is nice. I have school and my job to look forward to. But there are something I want to improve on.

Being Well Trained. I became a supervisor within 6 months of working where I do. I never got properly trained to do everything I need to know. So, My goal is to finish all of my training for my job.

New Major. Like I previously said,I suck at art. That’s why I’m switching my major to something I’m much better at. Writing. Well, technically, blogging (cause I do it so regularly, right?). I’m switching my major to Communications. I want to write and I want to report, pretty much, what I want to do is have my voice be heard. I’m always reading blogs and keeping up with news and such, its a passion I never really knew I had. To do this though, I do need to go speak with the head of the Communications Department and get going on that. Also, that’s why I’m not going to school this spring semester, I need a little break and most the classes I need are already taken up.

Money Management. I need to better track what I do with my money and where it goes. I think I’m wasting more of it than I should. Know what I mean? Definitely something I’m doing by tracking my money and keeping better accounts on my payments.

The House. I need to be more involved in my own home. I want to help clean up and maintain everything a little better. It seems that in 2010 I became detached, and I kind of regret that.

Anyways, Those are the things I want to improve. You could call them resolutions.

Apart from those, I do have a list of challenges for the whole year. Here’s the list.

Blog Work. I do need to get into the habit of reviewing and blogging and such, here’s how I plan to work on this:

I will rent and review 1 movie per week.

I will watch at least 2 movies in theaters every month.

I will review a new CD every 2 weeks.

I will redesign my website and maintain it better.

I will focus on my Comm. Classes better and pass with a B or better.

Artistic Creativity. Now, I did drop my design major, but I’m not going to drop the arts. I love them and they helped me become who I am, I think by improving in the arts, I’ll improve my self. Here’s how I plan to work on this:

I will read 5 books in this year.

I will draw 1 whole image per week. (This means, sketching, inking and coloring; minimum.)

I will practice my guitar for 40 minutes 5 days a week.

I will be able to play 5 full songs from memory on the guitar by years end.

I also want to relax and have fun and I want to be emotionally fulfilled. So for this I also set up a couple of fun challenges for me to do in the year. These should be fun.

I want to have several photo shoots.

I want to play all the Final Fantasy games from 6 to 12.

I want to play all of the Kingdom Hearts series.

I want to kiss in the rain.

I want to kiss in the snow.

At the end of it all I do have a resolution. I even have little check points to keep me on track.

My resolution for 2011 is to lose 60 pounds.

My checkpoints include, but certainly are not limited to these:

March 20: Have lost 15-20 pounds

May 20: Have lost 15-20 more pounds [Total 30]

August: Have lost 10-15 more pounds [Total 40/45]

November: Have lost 10-15 more pounds [Total 55/60]

December 20: Have lost 60 pounds total.

Realistically this may be a little unhealthy at some points, maybe. I’m not one hundred percent sure, also, I’m going to allow myself leeway in that I may not lose weight, but I may gain muscle. If that’s the case, then I’m okay with no losing the wanted weight, overall, I want to be more fit, but I wanted to be more specific with actual documentable goals.

Anyways, I hope everything goes well for all of you and expect to hear from me a lot more this year.