Look up in the sky....

You know no one looks up anymore and I think they should. Now before the wiseass remarks come in , I am not talking about looking up when driving, or walking, or operating heavy machinery etc. I am talking about at times say on your break if you are able to go outside or even when leaving work.
I try to do this everytime I leave work. Its amazing how relaxing it is. Especially on sunny days...not so much on rainy days but still. We plow ahead through life constantly looking forward, gotta get to the car, gotta get home, etc. I think we get tunnel vision and forget how big the world out there really is and how small our part is.
I am sure I have written about this subject before but I felt like bringing it up again because of how stressful things have become at my job as of late. I come out of the building still wound up by the days events but if I just stop , look up and at times take a deep breath, much of the day melts away.
Anyway I just wanted to say that maybe everyone should just stop and not smell the roses but instead look up. Unless its high noon in which case you may want to wear your shades before you do it.

What to write hmmm

I have been very neglectful to my blog but its nothing personal to it. Just busy. In a good way, Last week I finished an episode of my Final Cut Movie review show I use to do on YouTube. I broke away from it for about a year or so. Not sure why just did. But now I am a bit older, wiser and through lonely trooper a little more experienced I dare say in doing a short show. Anyway I have gotten good feed back from it and plan on doing one a week at least. It is after all a show about something that I just don't shut up about. Movies.
The challenge is that I want to present it like a real show but don't want it too long for it is a youtube audience who are looking for short bits.
I also try to do it like a real show...well as real as I can make it with the production tools I have. I don't want it to just be a "Yeah I am in front of my web cam here's what I think." I am striving for the show to be a little bit different. I get soo passionate about movies and I want to convey that through the show...share some of it. The first episode went well and I think I was able to reach my goal. Hopefully I can achieve that every week. I am always looking for feed back and have gotten good stuff back from those who have watched it. I have graphics in there but they look rather primative because well I have not the experience or the equipment to make really cool graphics. Mostly the expereince. So here's hoping I can keep it going. This I then hope will help build momentum to lead to doin other video projects. We will have to see. All I know Is I need to do something to help keep my work work from over taking me.
Anyway I have rambled long enough
I will say this Puberty was very kind to Hermonie Granger.

Misery and Woe = Torchwood

Ok so I just realized that in the last 20 days I blogged 4 times. I just thought I had my birthday but it was two weeks ago already. Anyway I gotta work on that, among other things. Though I did acomplish one thing and that was watch the entire Torchwood series as it is so far. We had the privelage of watching the BBC releases. I know they are currently being showed in the US so I will not give away spoilers. I will say this. Russell T Davies knows Misery and woe and man do his characters suffer because of it.
Torchwood, the more mature doctor who spin off, has always seemed to be about misery and woe. Every episode though had been resolved ended up in some part of it being very bitter sweet, teetering on the unbearable.
Now we get a 5 part miniseries that takes it up a notch. I will say this about the miniseries is probably some of the best written episodes written for the show. On the other hand Russell T Davies pisses me off. Almost as much as he did with the Doctor Who Series. Please please please don't get me wrong , I love the fact that he managed to bring the franchise back AND write it in a way to where it wasn't just for geeks anymore. But the scope at which he liked to do some of his episodes really make you go "Oh Come On." I know I have commented on this before when I talked about the last Doctor who episode he wrote for season 4.
This man has a thing about having his characters unhappy. Now I am all for grit and dirt and yes even misery and woe with the characters I fall in love with in shows I watch but for fuck sake I also love when the after they go such things they get a happy ending for all the crap they suffered. Instead they just get more crap. I enjoyed Battlestar Galactica, the new gritty no holds barred version that came out but damn even those characters sometimes got a happy ending to their episode.
Davies just didn't seem to want to do that with the shows he did . I won't tell you if he has changed his ways or not for the 5 part miniseries. I will just say he pisses me off and not just now but has for a while.
I know they are his characters and yada yada but come on a show is supposed to make you forget your misery and woe in real life for a while....not add to it.

Anyway thats all I got. Still recovering from the series and hope they make more Torchwood. Now I just gotta wait for the Sara Jane Adventures to start up again.

Been gone awhile

Hi all. Can't believe I have not posted in almost two weeks. I had been doing so well until now. But it is that time of year . Busy busy busy. I had a good birthday. everyone invited showed up surprisingly and people didn't die from my cooking so all is well.
So whats been going on the last two weeks...work work work work work ...sleep torchwood work.
Yeah that about sums it up. Work has been running me ragged this month. So much so that when I get home my mental energy level is nil and about all I have the energy to do I enjoy some TV time with the wife or kids... Mostly the wife.
I work too much and I know it. I have an excess of vacation days and running out of months to use them. We just lost a guy in our dept. so time off will be even harder. The workaholic in me that I have managed to subdue is all for this while the rest of me goes "oh boy!".
I have been working on some more sides and will post soon. And once again I make the promise of doing the movie review show this week. One of these weeks I will actually do it. along with other projects in the wings. Ah well thats enough mental dump for the day. I know I am probabyl repeating myself but when you do nothing but work there ain't a whole lot to say.

Busy week kinda

LAst week I was so fried that I vegged all weekend. Even had a whole day where I was not on the computer. Instead I read through the Stephen King Novel Cell....interesting book. It caught me right away and I was compelled to see it all the way through. Its a lighter read for King but still had the gore and carnage of his other horror books. I also went to the fireworks with the kids.It's taken me a long time to enjoy fireworks again. I think it was having the kids be interested in it the helped me get over them.
Saw Transformers 2....and that's all I have to say about that ...for now. I will be reviewing the movie in full tonight as I finally record a Final Cut episode. Plus I am going to start populating the Moviemaniac's Manic Movie musings with some past reviews and such. Not that I will get a lot of hits and I doubt I will become an internet movie review sensation...there are so many nowadays. But its something to just share my opinions on movies to those who are interested.

The kids are at camp for the next four days. I am sure they are having fun. House is almost too quiet with out them. On one hand its great but on the other hand their is that "something is missing feeling".

And tomorrow I turn ....34!!!!! The day is unavoidable so I guess I should just face it like a good soldier.

Short but ....ok just short.

Had a plesent day off. Not really productive at all but I guess a day off doesn't really have to be does it. I was completely fried from this past week from work and I know more is coming. So today I just spent hanging about and oh yeah watched some more Who with da wife. She really is getting the hang of sci fi lingo. Its rather attractive to state how the Master is dead only until they find a hole to a parallel universe or another rift appears in the fabric of space in time or some other timey wymie thing happens that will allow the master to return.
Anyway.
Tomorrow is the fourth. Americas indpendence. My friend and I plan on seeing the 2nd transformers movie. Expectation level is not that hi so should be fairly enjoyable. I hear they upgraded the CGI Megan Fox for this one.
Well off to watch more doctor. may end up writing another who story ...but Sides is calling me to work on it some more. Hope you all enjoy it.

Been a while

Yes it has been a while since posting. Been busy busy busy busy busy with work which has drained me so. My job seems to be getting tougher and I know I could be doing better at it than I have been but I think it could be burn out. MY yearning to do something different for a living that would flex my creative muscle more doesn't help either. Part of the reason I have not posted as of late. Its also that whole "time flies" thing. It is true that time seems to fly by. Here I think its Tuesday and its actually thursday. I think Its only been a day or two since I posted and its been a week.
Been rough but there have been some bright spots in the past week or so. Been watching the Doctor Who series with the wife. the new who or the 2005 doctor who. She says I am forcing her to watch them yet she is the one saying "ah just one more". IT fun watching them again and catching things I hadn't before. Also fun seeing her reaction. I have been trying like hell to control the ..turn your head to see how they react to something you knew was coming ....thing. You know when you have seen something cool and are watching it again with a new person who has not seen the program.
Anyway its been a fun time and she is enjoying it. She made mention though the now my buddy Doc's stories make way more sense. Between her watching that and buying trade books of the Buffy comix the geekization of the wife is coming along nicely.

Movie Note...GO SEE THE HANGOVER. Funniest movie I have seen a the last few years. One of those where you are laughing about it 10mins after you left the theatre or you meet someone else who has seen it, they quote or you quote the movie and both laugh out loud. Its that good.

On another note I am trying to put forth the movieman's final cut AND also start a blog here that will just feature movie reviews by me. I will post when I have it in some assmeblence to read. I hope people read it and all. I wouldn't mind being recognized as one of those fairly well regarded Movie Review personalities but thats probably reaching too hi.

Welp off to more dr who watching with the wife.

Post if your interested in more sides or not. I plan on posting more this weekend, but if it is not of interest I will not bug ya all.

Dog on Pixar and stuff

Gonna keep it short. Been missing alot of days this month but it has been a busy month. In any case went to see UP with the little one , Ethan, today. His brother had seen it over the weekend. Eric was at his friends for a sleep over and they went to see the movie...he said it was kinda good and kinda not. This is because he was a kid, UP is definitely made for grown ups in mind as well as kids. Pixar once again does that excellent balance and walk that fine line of making a movie with mature enough elements that grown ups really get it and enough elements for the kids to laugh at the animals.
Now I am sure many have read the critic reviews and all and know the first 10 mins or so of the picture...might be less but who is counting minutes when you are watching... and the montage sequence that pretty well sets up the main character. I admit I got a little watery eyed which doesn't really happen to me at movies. This one some how got to me in spite of myself. That's how I knew Pixar had another winner on their hands.
Pixar still puts out the best animated material out there. Though Dreamworks is close behind. They mostly have the Shrek franchise which unfortunately they have run into the ground. They are showing promise though with their most recent pic Monsters vs Aliens. That was near Pixar level. I really enjoyed that one as well though they did more of the 3D schticks that you see in a 3D movie , still Monsters vs Aliens did make me laugh out loud more times than expected which is good thing...at least for me not sure if the other audiences liked it.
Anyway if they are still in theatres go see both movies. Better than most of the remakes and sequels and Comedies that have come out this year. Hell even some of the Dramas don't match up to UP and aren't nearly as funny as Monsters vs Aliens. I hear the Hangover is quite good but its not exactly kid friendly, even if it does have a baby in it.

Just another Saturday...and some more sides

SIDES by Mark Krawczyk

I updated the page for Sides...for the curious. I may actually get ambitious and dust off the old HTML editing and come up with a whole like site for Sides. I have some great ideas just need to relearn things. Though everything now is in Java, I am not looking to go that fancy...yet. Also wrote a couple pages on the script and am putting together my thoughts for a music video. I hope tomorrow to record a final cut episode and script out the next LT. Yeah sounds like a lot but I am finding I work better with self applied pressure than just goin eh. I am so far able to keep the projects seperate but it is fairly easy considering each is unique.

I did watch PotC:The Curse of the Black Pearl again today. Not sure why, probably because I enjoy that movie alot. Alot more than I should for a disney film but it is such a fun adventure film that I can't help but enjoy it. What does help is Johnny Depp's character that had definitely become a classic character already, Capt. Jack Sparrow. You can tell that this is a character Johnny loved playing, even if you didn't watch the interviews where he said he loved playing the character. Sparrow is supposed to be the bad guy, and he is a bad guy who lies, cheats, steals, double crosses his way through life but you can't help but cheer for him when he succeeds in escaping and feel bad for him an his terrible luck. That's why he is such a great character that truely could only be played by Johnny Depp who really helped carry the movie. Sure they had a great supporting cast and effects and real pirate ships, etc but what people come to the movie for the most is Capt. Jack. Johnny just can't help but steal every scene he is in with that character. I also think he had one of the greatest entrances that a character could have. In the first two minutes we see of Capt Jack, he says one line while bailing his sinking ship but by the time he has reached the dock we know exactly what kind of character he is. From how he holds himself to his attitude towards the dead priates hanging at the entrance of the cove, you can tell at least a little of what is in store for this character. I mean he is sailing into harbor on a sinking ship yet you would think he had the best vessel in the sea by how he handles the situation.

Sorry really didn't have much of a point other than that characters like Captain Jack aren't as easy to find in the movies of today. It is refreshing when you do get one. I hope to be able to write a part like that for a talented actor who will be able to sell the part like that. But only time will tell.

On a roll, 100th post

SIDES by Mark Krawczyk

Ah and so here it is. I am only 400 behind my good friend the Doctor. I would spend time reflecting on the blogs of old but the old montage show is just so played.
Some sappy song like "Through the years" by Kenny Rogers and...oh dear lord did I just make a Kenny Rogers reference. I feel so dirty now.
Anyway I did update the sides web page with a few more pages of writing for any curious folks.
Its been a good run and I have somethings on the horizon I plan on sticking to. So since this is a blog lets talk about my day

I ate three meals.
Went to the bathroom.
Went to work.
Worked my ass off
Drove in my car home.
Made Blt's
and currently I am writing a blog on Blogger. I am writing this Blog about it being the 100th Blog. In it I mention about my day. I will give you the highlights
see I talk about eating three meals a day, going to the bathroom and working, and some other things like my friend Doc who has like 500 blog postings. You should check it out.

Wow I need to follow my son's advice when says.

"Stop Staring into the Future."

Whats funny is one could get philosophical about it if one wanted too.

Anyway I quoted Clue the movie today and it got me thinking about that movie and it still makes me laugh. I think thats why I consider it a classic comedy, just like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankstein (that's frankenschtein). Those are three movies that I have fairly memorized and when I watch them I laugh my ass off. Litereally not a pretty sight but Duck Tape fixes everything.
Actually I think these movies are even funnier now because I anticipate the jokes. I find my self laughing before the joke is played. The jokes don't really get old to me. Now some people may disagree but these jokes in these movies stand the test of time and are very often quoted. Much like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Clerks and Clerks II. These comedies sit up there with the classics of the Marx brothers and yes I shall even envoke the Three Stooges. Which gets me to my point,yes I did have one.
DON"T REMAKE THESE CLASSICS.
Not that Hollywood would listen to me. They are after making a movie based on Battleship.
I am too late in this matter though. Yes Virginia they are making thinking of remaking Clue and it has been greenlighted , THE THREE STOOGES. Nothing is truely sacred they even have a cast. No its not Seth Rogen as Larry, Steve Carell as Moe, and Anthony Anderson as Curly. no no instead of this group of talented comedians who I think would actually make this remake tolerable They have
prepare yourselves
Sean "I have done nothing but drama most of my career" Penn as Larry.
Benicio Del "Yeah I have done even more drama then Sean Penn" Toro as Moe.
and
Jim "I am one of the skinnest comedians out there who needs a new boost in his career" Carrey...who I am assuming will be in a fat suit.

I shit you not ...its on IMDB ---> Say it aint so Moe!

Why why why why why would they they risk choosing two drama boys who decided to stretch their acting chops to be such classic characters as the Larry and Moe. And Jim carrey, while he is a talented comedian, is about the skinnest guy in hollywood to play the large source of comedy Curly. I mean whats next a movie about Monopoly the board game...Oh Dear god no