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And we're on to the Bs!  And what better way to go back to doing movie reviews than to review the Back to the Future trilogy?!?

Movie Review #18 - Back the Future

 Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?


Everyone has seen this movie by now, right?  Well, I actually know one friend who hasn't seen this, but she has a valid reason.  But besides her, everyone has seen this multiple times, right?  I mean, it's a classic and it still holds up so well.  Whenever I think of Michael J. Fox, I think of Marty McFly.  Whenever I think of Christopher Lloyd, I think of Dr. Emmett Brown.  These are iconic roles in a classic movie and I can still watch this over and over. 

What makes this film work so well?  For one, Fox and Lloyd are absolutely perfect.  But it is not just them who make this movie.  The supporting cast is outstanding as well and totally complete the film.  The story in itself is hilarious and just so much fun.  I am sure it also has a ton of nostalgia for people born in the 50s, but I appreciate it no less by being born in '78.  Plus, it has the Sci-Fi elements that give an added element to the plot.  Overall, it just seems to have a little bit for everyone.  4.5 out of 5 cheeseburgers!

Movie Review #19 - Back to the Future II

You're not gonna believe this, we gotta go back to 1955. 

When I was a kid, the time between Back the Future and its sequel seemed like decades.  I liked the first movie so much and with the first movie ending on a partial cliffhanger, I eagerly awaited the release of the second film.  Now that I think of it, the 4 years in between wasn't THAT long for a sequel to come out, but it seemed like the longest wait over.  Was the wait worth it?  Well, as a kid, it totally was.  In fact, there was a time where the sequel was my favorite of the series.

So why did I enjoy this film so much?  Well, as a kid, all of the futuristic stuff really appealed to me: the flying cars, hover boards, multiple TV shows on one screen, holograms, etc.  This was awesome, imaginative stuff and I totally ate it all up.  Add all that to the already well established awesome characters and this movie had great replay value.  Now that I am older, I actually find the futuristic aspects of the film to be the weaker points and really feel like it doesn't reach its high point until they go back to 1955 in the final third of the film.  The future parts, while still fun, are a little over the top and cheesy.  They aren't bad by any means, but it lacks some of the magic of the first film.  But once they go back to 1955, all the greatness of the first one instantly return.  It's almost like revisiting an old friend for the first time in years and finding nothing has changed at all.  As a kid, it was the weaker part of the film, but not that I have grown up, the roles have changed.  These scenes turn a pretty good film to a really good film.  3.5 out of 5 cheeseburgers  

Movie Review #20 - Back to the Future III

 I wish I'd never invented that infernal time machine. It's caused nothing but disaster.

If the wait for the second film in the series was agonizing, the break between the second and third films, only months apart, was a welcome relief.  Filmed back to back with the second film, the third film in the Back to the Future trilogy was a good way to end the series.  Yes, the quality went down even further, but the film was anything but a disaster or a complete letdown.

As the first film went a few decades in the past and the second film went in to the future, the writers had to come up with another time frame for which to base the third film.  The old west seemed like a pretty logical choice because of the nostalgia factor.  And overall, it did pretty well at achieving this.  But by the third film, things were starting to get a little goofy, both in story and in character.  Yeah, it was  Back to the Future film, but the charm of the first two films had pretty much warn off.  Still, it does a good job of giving closure to the series and the characters.  3 out of 5 cheeseburgers

 
  

The Break, Explained

I haven't given up on my goal of watching every movie in my collection in alphabetical order.  In fact, I am on to the Bs and have three movies to put a review up for in a few days.  But as I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks, why I haven't I been watching more movies?  Well...




 


That kind of explains it all, right? Truth be told, I am a HUGE Olympics fan and watch as much of it as I possibly can.  Of course, soccer is more of a priority for me than ever now and I have watched a TON of soccer, I am still trying to watch as many sports as I possibly can.  And I am enjoying every single minute of it.  But I'll be back to watching movies sometime next week, I'm sure.

 So what else have I been up to the last couple of weeks?  Well, again, a picture should explain it:

Yeah, I broke my ankle.  Years of playing soccer on a terribly weak and unsteady ankle finally caught up to me while playing soccer a couple of weeks ago.  I never imagined I would do something like this, but I guess I was just testing fate by continuing to play on it.  I initially thought it was just a bad sprain as I practically sprain my ankle every time I play outdoor soccer.  So, like any dumb individual, I continued to play on it for another hour.  It actually started to feel slighter better by the end of the hour, but maybe that was me going into shock.  A couple of days later, it was was actually feeling worse so I decided to get it checked out.  Sure enough, it was broken.  It was pretty devastating, actually.  The first thing I thought of was that Jess and I were two thirds of the way through P90x and I would have to abandon that goal of completing the workout routine.  To come so far in a program that many people quit and have to quit myself was just not acceptable.  Then I also started thinking of my weight loss and how hard it would be while living a sedentary lifestyle for a month, at the minimum.

The first few hours were actually pretty depressing, but I figured I could sit and be depressed over it while accomplishing nothing or I could continue to exercise as best as I could and just know that I was doing all that I possibly could.  A couple of weeks later, I am actually doing pretty well.  I am still getting a decent sweat while I exercise while doing many exercises from a chair.  The pain in my ankle is still there so hopefully that will going away soon.  My only hope now is that when I see the doc in a little over two weeks, we can take this cast off.  I do NOT want to have this thing on any more.  The next step is a walking boot, but that is nothing like a cast.  Fingers crossed!

And to end on a happy note, here are a couple of pics I have taken lately.  Enjoy...