Geek!

A high school friend of mine posed a question on Facebook earlier this week:

"to all my geek friends, can magneto lift thor's hammer? think about it."

The question made me smile, as did the responses from all involved, and I went ahead and commented that I approved of the question and the answers provided and that they had brightened up my day ever so slightly. Next thing, I was getting a message from this high school friend asking me since when was I a geek.

It was a question that I was quite surprised at as I have always considered myself to be, well... not a full blown geek, but certainly at least slightly geekish. I have always liked computers, have felt more comfortable talking over IM or mIRC than talking in person and a lot of the friends that I have made over the years, even the friends that I made at varsity, were made through chat and forums and just generally online.

Sure, I was never geeky in the super smart way, nor was I very into comics, Star Wars or Star Trek. But does that exclude me from being a geek? What is it that you define as being a geek then? How limited is your perception of what a geek is? 

I know that I identify myself as a geek, and here is why: I may not be into comic books, but I am into superheroes (and particularly superhero movies... I am not good with the backgrounds, but I am very into pretty much every superhero movie that has come out over the last decade or so.) I am into certain computer games - not very many of them, because

a) my computer sucks, and
b) I am not particularly good at them.

But I do have a deep love for World of Warcraft, a feeling that I will very much enjoy Portal when I eventually get around to playing it and a fondness for online games. I have a feeling that I would love dungeons and dragons if I were ever to play it, but for the moment I do enjoy Munchkin on occasion, which is geeky in itself. And, as of this week, I am addicted to Magic the Gathering. So much so, that in a half-comatose state on Sunday evening (I was so far gone and exhausted that I couldn't remember if I had the discussion or if it was a dream when I woke up the next morning) I decided to turn our cat into a Magic card, in such a well-thought-out way that Grant ended up making the card for us. And that is what you see on the right side of this  paragraph. And if playing Magic with the kind of obsessiveness does not make you a geek, well... then... good for  you. But it certainly makes me consider myself to be one.

Oh, and you know what makes a geek more than any of the things above - fondly referring to yourself as a geek. It is something that I am proud of, and it someone were to drive by and throw it at me as an insult, I think that it  would warm my heart more than cause any profound pain. 

Movie Review: One Day

I have been wanting to watch One Day for quite awhile now, since seeing it advertised on DSTV's Box-Office. I love Anne Hathaway and enjoy most of the movies that I have seen her in, and this one was no exception.

Based on a book by David Nicholls (which I am now going to have to find) One Day is the story of two people, Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess). The two meet at university and the movie shows how each of their lives progress, dropping in on them both each year after their initial meeting. Some years they are together, some they are apart, but they are always thinking of each other in some way or another on the day. We watch them grow up, grow together, grow apart and grow wiser. We witness joys, pains and everything in between.

I thought that the storyline of the movie was very good. It was an intriguing concept to pop in each year and see how one night can change two people's leaves for the better and for the worse. I thought that the acting was brilliant on both parts and I thought that it was a wonderful movie overall. It had funny moments, mostly at the hands of Sturgess whose character was a bit of a wild child when compared to Hathaway's straight-arrow. Not that Hathaway's character doesn't face struggles of her own, but she tends to deal with them more serenely than Sturgess deals with his difficulties, which on reflection are a lot more life-altering.

I wouldn't call One Day a comedy though, despite some comedic relief on occasion. It is a romance and it is a drama, but the issues that come up throughout the movie can certainly not be called comedy. If you are looking or a good romance to watch, I would highly recommend this one, and would certainly recommend it above some of the others making the rounds at the moment including The Vow and Like Crazy (I never did review that one... perhaps a task for another time). Overall, I would give it a 5/5 because I honestly can't think of anything that I would criticise.

Review: Adventureland

Hey all

It has been awhile since I last posted, but I have spent a day in bed thanks to pain and sinuses and watched a lot of movies, so you can expect to see a lot of reviews. The first is for a movie called Adventureland starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart.

The story revolves around James (Jesse Eisenberg), who has just graduated from university and finds out, on his graduation day, that his plans for a trip to Europe over the summer and his plans for grad school in New York have fallen through thanks to his dad losing his job. Instead of travelling, he is forced to find a job back home where the skills he has learned from his degrees will not come in any use at all. He manages to find a job at a local carnival and, despite the lacklustre work, he makes some good friends and has some great experiences, one of which being falling in love with Em (Kristen Stewart). Of course, he has no idea what he is getting himself into, as Em is complicated and currently having an affair with a married man (Ryan Reynolds) and so James finds himself stuck in a complicated situation.

I thought that the movie was pretty good. The story line wasn't exactly thrilling and was predictable, but the acting was decent enough. Kristen Stewart surprised me a little as I was expecting something more along the lines of her role in Twilight and thought that she pulled off the character quite well. The character is still a bit of a mopey, depressed, oh woe is me type, kinda like Bella Swan, but I thought that she pulled herself off better in this movie. I haven't seen Jesse Eisenberg in anything else as yet (I am one of the few people who haven't seen The Social Network) but I thought that his acting was pretty decent as well. Ryan Reynolds was very much a sideline character and acted as one - nothing special from him in this unfortunately. I got the sense that the cinematography was very artsy, very indie and the movie reminded me of a mix between the styles of Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist and Juno, both of which I felt pulled the style off better.

All in all, I would give Adventureland a 3/5 rating. I thought that the movie was decent enough and I do not regret watching it, but it could also have been better. The storyline was a little bit shallow and very predictable and the acting was fairly average. If you have some time on your hands and are looking for a bit of a fun, but not particularly funny, rom com, I would go for this.