Movie Review: Terminator Salvation

(All images copyright of Warner Brothers)

I waited for this movie for a long time and I was not disappointed. A good continuation of the Terminator franchise that I loved throughout the years. The effects are great and the action is intense. Being set in a post apocalyptic landscape, it looks the part. The new style Terminators are great, too. Although, when I first saw the giant "Harvester" Terminator in previews months ago I could not help but think "Transformers". But, once I was watching the movie, those thoughts never even cropped up. 

I also like the new character they introduced, Marcus Wright, as a "lost soul" in search of who he is. I think if the movie was just about the story of John Connor himself, it would have been a bit less interesting as all the movies before this one had already worked his story too much as it was. Adding a fresh angle to the story line made it more enjoyable. Like in any new frontier, there are heroes and villains all around and nothing says there only has to be one of each. 

A lot of the professional critics panned the movie, but one would have to be a fan of the series to really appreciate the nuances that are put into it. A few too many inside bits and it gets lost to most people unfamiliar with the franchise. That being said, it is still enjoyable strictly from an action movie point of view. To me, the Terminator mythos is there and the quality is there to enjoy. A worthy continuation of the franchise in my opinion.

Only Three Months Left

A New Plaything

I know I've said this many, many, times before, but time really, really, does fly!  It's now only three more months left before I head to South Korea to begin my new life, and new job. In the mean time, I'm doing my best to get ready.

During the spring session, my Korean class was cancelled for the second time due to insufficient enrollment. So, I'm currently learning Korean from a private tutor. It's coming along quite well as I'm learning quite a bit. And, amazingly, I seem to be retaining most of what I am learning. I'm also finding a bit of similarity between Korean and Chinese. Some of the words are the either the same, or quite close. This really helps as I speak two Chinese languages fluently. The real acid test, though, will be when I am there all alone. Then, I'll see how well/poorly I do. Never fear, at least I can now order food and won't starve! LOL 

Concurrent with the Korean lessons, I'm currently in the middle of getting all my paperwork done and ready for the work visa. Most of it is now together with a few bits left to go. There's even an in-town orientation day for all of us who were/are hired for this September. That's in less than two weeks time. I'm looking forward to it as it's a chance to meet some fellow teachers. It's also a chance to make some new friends so that the time over there will not be such a shock to the system. This should be fun!

I am also gaining some limited real-life teaching experience by shadowing my former English grammar teacher while she teaches her ESL class during regular daytime school. I had taken a refresher course from her last fall and she has graciously offered to allow me to watch and learn from her teaching methods. I must say this is very helpful for a person without any formal teaching experience in a school setting. I've attended over a month's worth of classes so far. I'm also supposed to do some practice teaching in her class, too. This should prove interesting!

I will also take this opportunity to thank Allison Justice at Canadian Connection for all the help and support during this visa process. She really keeps me up to date with the latest news and forms that need to be filled out for everything. Canadian Connection is the agency who hired me for my new job. I had actually read about them in other teacher blogs before I even applied to them. All blog entries were positive and I can see why as they do keep you in the loop throughout the entire process. Highly recommended. Plus, they are in town, if you happen to live in Toronto anyways.

Well, that's the news for now. I will spend the next few months making as many 3d images as I can because once I am on my way, time will become very short and limited. I wish I could continue a life of leisure, but that does not pay the bills! LOL Oh, yeah. One last thing. The web hosting service for my two personal websites is shutting down later this year. A casualty of the financial meltdown of Q4, 2008. As such, I have decided to take them both off-line early myself. There are a few problems doing that as I can't seem to access everything I need to access in order to do that. So, parts of them are still up and parts of them are gone. Another result of what they are trying to do no doubt. In any case, you will find me on this blog and at the DA link in my main profile. My 3d art will go there and my photography will be here. And, that's all the news fit to print.

Movie Review: Star Trek

(All images copyright of Paramount Pictures)

It seems all I do lately are movie reviews. Well, this is about as exciting as my life gets these days! Anyways, this is the very first showing of the movie in the city where I live on the very first day of its release here. The theatre was not full to capacity as this day is still a regular work day for most people and tomorrow as well.  It was well over three quarters full, though. I usually do not go to opening night due to the crowds, but this one I just had to see as soon as it came out as I was too hyped not to go. Most reviews I read were very positive and I was expecting great things from it. I was not disappointed at all. And, I'm a hard one to please when it comes to movies.

For anyone not a fan of the original, and all the following series there after, nothing will be lost in watching this movie. That being said, some of the inside jokes and characterizations will be richer for your experience if you have at least some working knowledge of the original "Star Trek" series from the 60's from which this is based upon. But, this movie stands very well on its own merits without any of that back history.  The action is there, the effects are there, the story is there and, most importantly, the characters are there.  And, there are a lot of great, funny, moments scattered throughout the movie that do not detract, but actually add to the experience.

You will notice I do not usually give any plot synopsis in my reviews, but just an overall impression of my experience of a movie and its overall impact on me. I think  this is a better way for me to convey how I feel about a movie as this is what counts in my experience of it. You can read about plots in any general review in any newspaper, or website. To me at any rate, if I do not like something I will not write about it. If I do write about it, it means it had an impact on me. And, that's usually a positive impact.

Now, tIme for you to go and see the movie for yourself!