Top movies of 2003

I figured that I would look back at 2003 by giving a breakdown of the best movies that the year produced (in my opinion). Without any further adieu...

#5 The Matrix: Reloaded: This was the first (and only, I think) movie which I reviewed in blog form immediately after seeing it. I gave it 4/5 stars at the time, and for good reason. I thought the movie totally lived up to the hype and that it delivered exactly what Matrix fans were hoping for. Even though Revolutions totally sucked, Reloaded was an excellent follow-up to the original Matrix.

#4 School of Rock: A hilarious movie in which Jack Black performed extremely well. It was a feel-good movie that made me laugh and also want to rock. In short, it was definately a face-melting movie (that joke only makes sense if you have seen the movie. If you have seen the movie, the joke probably still sucked anyway. I'm sorry).

#3 The Last Samurai: The best action movie since The Gladiator. Tom Cruise was awesome, and the movie inspired Shawn and I to immediately go to Wal-Mart and buy brooms so we could fight samurai style (we took the broom heads off of the brooms). The ending was a slightly lame, but the rest of the movie more than makes up for it.

#2 Finding Nemo: I have not met one person who did not love this movie. The characters are hilarious and well acted, the storyline is intriguing, and the animation is absolutely beautiful. I don't really need to say anything else, except that if you haven't seen it, you need to get on that. Like, now.

#1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The only movie on the list which I did not see in the theatre, Disney's swashbuckling adventure easily takes the cake as the best movie of 2003. It seamlessly combines comedy, action, horror (kind of), and adventure to deliver a near-perfect movie experience. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly, and Geoffry Rush all give wonderful performances. What a GREAT movie.

Honorable Mention: Elf, Seabiscuit, Bruce Almighty

I wish I would have seen: Open Range, Secondhand Lions

There you have it. The top movies of 2003. I am looking forward to what 2004 has to offer (The Butterfly Effect, Shrek 2, Harry Potter 3, Spiderman 2, King Arthur, Troy, The Polar Express, etc.).

I am a reality show junkie.

I saw an advertisement this afternoon promoting the new episode of "Friends" tonight, followed by the season premier of "The Apprentice." I was busy from 7-9, so I had to tape Friends, and I figured I might as well also tape the Apprentice. Friends was really good, as always. I don't laugh out loud at very many tv shows, but Friends does it for me. Anyway, I thought I'd break down a list of some reality shows and my affiliation (or lack thereof) to each one. Beginning with, naturally...

The Apprentice: I loved it. Everyone from a copier salesman to Harvard business school graduates are vying for a job underneath Donald Trump which includes a "huge salary". The first episode pitted men against women with a competition to see who could be the most profitable selling lemonade in NY in one day. Now that's good television. I'm looking forward to next week.

Survivor: The king, in my heart, of reality shows. I didn't see season one, but I watched all of season two and three. Then I started losing count of the seasons. I missed a few, but I did watch the last season, Survivor: Pearl Islands. I love how they have to survive on a spoonful of rice per day for forty days and then they have a bow and arrow contest for 1/8 of a Snickers bar. Poor suckers. If I were 21, I would apply to be on the next season. The day is coming, my friends. The day is coming.

The Real World: Sucks (sorry Sam). I have never liked it, and I never will. I would get more satisfaction watching a webcam from my grandparent's living room than I do from this show. The closest I ever came to liking it was when I accidentally watched an okay episode of Road Rules once. Besides - it airs on MTV, music television. Good logic.

American Idol: My generation's "Star Search." Sure, they have tried to bring back Star Search, but only because of American Idol. The new Star Search sucks anyway... it doesn't deserve to be mentioned in my blog, but I couldn't help it. American Idol is awesome. We all know that Clay Aiken should have won season two. His album is better, and he has receieved loads more publicity than Rueben. Rueben's new song is called something to the effect of "I'm Sorry 2004." Does anything scream "I ran out of topics for songs" more than a song with the year in it? No offense to Prince or whatever his name or symbol is now. "1999" is still good, dude. Needless to say, I am looking forward to season three. It premiers in two weeks. As for Simon: yeah he's mean, but he's just saying what we are all thinking. These people probably need to hear it anyway.

The Bachelor/Bachelorette: I had not seen an episode of either show until the middle of the last "Bachelor." I try to resist the power of the reality show, but I am just too weak. I was mad that he didn't pick Kelly Jo, but what can I do about it? That's right! Watch The Bachelorette, which premiers January 14.

Average Joe: I started this one in the middle of last season, too. I was mad that after a few episodes they brought in some not-so-average Joe's, and that one of them eventually won, but it was still a good show. I missed the first episode of Average Joe: Hawaii, but the show and I have a date for next Monday at 9pm. Please don't interrupt us. Thanks.

Fear Factor: Does this count as a reality show? I don't know, but I do know that it is fun - in a really creepy way - to watch people eat pig penis and cow testicles. Don't deny it.

There have obviously been many more reality shows than I have listed, and there are sure to be many more. Lots of them suck (Temptation Island, Star Search, The Real World), but there are those few that don't suck. Maybe they all suck, and I am just a slave to the media.

Regardless, reality shows are undoubtedly the crowning achievement of humanity. I'm serious.

What an absolutely crappy night.

Well, not the whole night. Just my conversation with Hannah. It sucked. The first thing that she asked me when I answered the phone was "Are you as happy as you used to be?" I guess her friends think that I don't like them as much as I used to and that they like Hannah's friend's boyfriend more than me for some reason. It would take forever to explain the whole thing, but needless to say it wasn't fun listening to her talk about it. Then later on in the conversation I mentioned an ad that I saw about how our kids will be working to make up for Bush's 1 trillion dollar deficit, and we got on to the topic of supporting the President and war and all this stuff. Somehow she got mad and stopped talking so we just hung up.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Really. Frustrating. I hate it when we get off of the phone mad.

**Update: I just called her again and everything is okay (for now).

My J-Term class is going pretty well. I actually like it alot. I've only had two classes, but I've learned quite a bit. In case you don't know, I am taking "Internet Technology and Web Design." We turn in our homework in the form of a webpage. You can see tomorrow's homework assignment here (if you're really curious). By the end of January we are supposed to have a complete website made, and for mine I plan on making one for Undeclared. I'll post the link as soon as I start it. Since this is the only class I have, from 10:30-12:20 M-F, I have afternoons off. I took a nap today and accidentally slept through dinner... I hate it when I do that. I think I am going to go into work tomorrow. I don't really have set times to work, and it's pretty easy stuff (I just sit at a computer the whole time) but a guy needs to make some money, eh?

The Bush ad(s) about which I was talking is located here.

Why Must I...

I have lateley been having urges to write a song or two. Or five. I really have only ever written one song, entitled "Sleep Sweet (Hannah's Lullaby)". Let me get to the point. I was messing around on my guitar and I stumbled upon melody that I liked. I added some words and recorded what I had. I used my computer to record myself singing harmony above... myself. The short segment that I recorded would most likely be the chorus to a song but who knows.

The mp3 file can be downloaded here.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below (where it says "Comments (#)"). It you think it sucks, tell me. Seriously.

Oh yeah... here are the lyrics for anyone who cares:

why must i say goodbye
why do these hearts divide
i can't look back with these tear stained eyes
why must i...

Christmas is over. So is New Years. So - more or less - is my entire Christmas break. It's back to school in a little over a day, and unfortunately I've already said goodbye to Hannah because she is at a weekend conference.

Speaking of Hannah... On Friday, December 19, I gave her a diamond promise ring. I had her go on a scavenger hunt which included dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Drake Diner. Her final stop on the hunt was the treasure, a seven-diamond ring. I told her the two hearts on it (there are two hearts on it...) represent us and that I want them to stay together forever. She LOVED it. Are we engaged? No. Are we NOT engaged? Yes? Ha.

A few days ago my muffler fell off of my car. While I was driving it. In traffic. I'm not joking. Not to worry... mom came through in the clutch (as always) and payed for a new one. Thanks, mom.

If you haven't heard Dance Dance Revolution, then you need to. Why? Because that is precisely what it is - a revolution. The game is called DDRMax2 and instead of controllers for the PS2, you plug in two dance pads and dance to the steps the game gives you, all to a bunch of sweet techno songs. I am going to try to get some casual games and a tournament going in my dorm during January. More on this story as it unfolds.

Overall, I had a great break. I played a whole lot of video games, played some disc golf, watched movies (Dreamcatcher - Sucked... real bad; Paycheck - Great; Freaky Friday - Surprisingly not sucky; Pirates of the Caribbean - Amazing... loved it), ate lots of food, spent time with my family, broke my mom's antique window with a football, spent time with Hannah, bought some new jeans, broke open a friend's defunct PS2 and fixed it, and didn't think about school whatsoever. Now onto a relaxing yet hectic January.

Here we go...