Saw more than my fair share of movies over the holiday.  Might be the last time I can see movies for free.  Dang!  Anyway, here they are, ranked from FIRST to WORST:

Black Swan (2010)

Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Genre: thriller, mystery, drama

Trailer Black Swan

by CinemaRx

1) Black Swan – I give this one top honors because it kept me on my toes all throughout the movie.  If you’re thinking this is just a delightful little movie about ballet, you’re way off.  I think I was most shocked by the various horror-inspired thrills placed throughout the movie.  Natalie Portman obviously prepared well for the role.

True Grit (2010)

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Genre: western, drama, adventure

Trailer True Grit

by CinemaRx

2) True Grit – I’m not a fan of westerns, but this was a really well done movie, and I suppose it’s now my favorite western.  I liked the smallness of the story; it wasn’t a grand adventure where our heroes set out to save the world.  Plus, the cast was nice and small which lent itself to good character development.  My favorite scene was the long night scene at the cabin.

The Tourist (2010)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Genre: thriller, romance, mystery

Trailer The Tourist

by CinemaRx

3) The Tourist – I don’t know why this movie got so hammered by the critics.  Maybe because it wasn’t edgy or didn’t challenge anything.  It was just a basic, light intrigue, movie with big stars set in Venice.  The setting certainly gave it a bonus.  This one’s good if you’re in the mood for a low intensity and enjoyable movie.

The Fighter (2010)

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams

Director: David O. Russell

Genre: drama, biography, sport

Trailer The Fighter

by CinemaRx

4) The Fighter – Big drop-off in quality now.  Sorry to all of you who enjoyed “The Fighter”.  I thought it was pretty lousy.  It just felt like a two-hour Jerry Springer show.  Even the heroes and heroines (save maybe Mark Walburg’s character) couldn’t help lowering themselves to idiotic bickering and trash-talking.  The fight scenes were surprisingly sparse and goofy – the guy gets beat up for a few rounds then happens to suddenly throw a couple of choice punches (that his crackhead brother told him about) which ended up winning him the fight by KO.  Uh huh.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

Cast: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes

Director: Michael Apted

Genre: fantasy, family, adventure

Trailer The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

by CinemaRx

5) Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader – Now we’re in to the real dregs.  I enjoyed the last Narnia movie, but i just couldn’t wait for this one to end.  The new cousin character was beyond obnoxious (big relief when he was turned into a dragon).  I found myself not caring one bit about the various emotional scenes.  Especially the awful teary-eyed goodbye.  I didn’t even think the effects were anything special.

Unstoppable (2010)

Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson

Director: Tony Scott

Genre: thriller, drama, action

Trailer Unstoppable

by CinemaRx

6) Unstoppable – Not much to say here other than ‘awful’.  There were lots and lots and lots of shots from the perspective of the tracks.  Next in frequency of appearance were the zoomed shots showing the train approaching.  That’s about it.  Both characters had personal life issues that had no bearing on the story. I fell asleep a few times.

We’ve finally put together the video for our performance at barZ!ing.  The show was a lot of fun, especially Saturday night, when we ended with the new song that just rocked the house.  Most all of the footage is from Saturday too because the camera battery died almost immediately after first use on Friday.  That’s the second time I thought I charged the camera but I hadn’t (or the adapter came loose or something).  Not matter; as with “Outside My Window”, the second performance was much better than the first.  Enjoy!

I was able to adjust right away to the new time.  I slept well and got up at a reasonable hour, maybe 6:30, which is pretty good after traveling to the other side of the world.  We decided to spend my first full day back in the US at the Georgia Aquarium which is a really impressive and worthwhile destination.  I went with my sister and little niece and watching her was probably the highlight.  The aquarium is interactive; one of the first things you can do is go to a small pool full of sting rays which you can touch.  The assistant told us:  “Use two fingers”.  I don’t think that sort of thing is possible in a place like China (nor many other things we enjoy in the US).  The beluga whale exhibit is fascinating to watch.  I was really blown away by the size of the various artificial habitats.  The main one was tremendous, featuring a sixty-foot (I think) viewing window.  Another viewing area was a clear tunnel passing through the base of the aquarium.  This tank held all sorts of fish including a couple of immature whale sharks, the biggest critters on site.  One of the neatest exhibits was the penguins exhibit which featured crawling tunnels and small glass domes that allowed for up-close ‘n personal viewing.

We went on a Thursday and there was practically no one there.  If it weren’t for a couple of schools who were there, it would have been practically empty.  But, there were a few times where we were completely alone and many times that there were only a few folks enjoying the same exhibit.  I hear the aquarium can get really crowded some days.  Got lucky there.