Justin Wright » Entertainment

10 Movies I’ve Seen This Month

Justin Wright — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:41:53 +0000

Over the last few weeks I’ve been watching a lot of movies. I guess you can blame it on the 100+ degree weather. Or perhaps due to the fact my girlfriend and I both work from home.

Here’s a bunch of reviews of some of the movies I’ve watched over the last month:

500 Days of Summer

The main reason we went to see this move is because it was playing at the Alamo Drafthouse. If you’ve never heard of it, it is a movie theater that serves food and alcohol. I figured it was better to watch a random movie with beer than to go see a different one at a normal movie theater.

Luckily, this movie turned out to be a great movie. It was funny and a lot more entertaining that I would have thought. It’s a story of a guy that dates a girl for 500 days and over the course of the movie it looks back at each day of the relationship.

Highly recommend checking this one out if you get a chance.

District 9

I was not sure what to expect from District 9. I had never seen any advertisements or anything and simply heard of it through word of mouth. All I heard was that it was an awesome alien movie that was shot in a documentary style like Blair Witch Project.

Wow was I impressed! This movie was awesome from the beginning to the end. It’s basically a movie that shows exactly what it would be like if aliens really did come to planet Earth. The movie is seen though the eyes of a news channel so it feels like the real thing.

It sort of reminded me of Independence Day only better. Probably the best alien movie I have ever seen.

The Hangover

I’ve seen the Hangover a few times now and it’s still one of the funniest movies I have seen in a LONG time. The entire movie is straight up hilarious. From missing teeth to tigers in the bathroom, it’s a trip. And nothing beats watching Mike Tyson sing Phil Collins.

I would probably say this is going to be my favorite movie of the year. Unless something super funny comes along.

Public Enemies

One of the main reasons I wanted to see Public Enemies was because it was shot where I used to live in Wisconsin. I thought it would be cool to check it out and see if I could remember any of the buildings in the background.

The first thing I recognized in the movie was the Oshkosh Public Library. It was an easy one to spot out since there are two lion statues in the front of it. Here’s a picture I took of it back in college:

If you watch this movie, you’ll probably notice it as they drive by it.

As far as the movie goes, I really enjoyed it. It’s a gangster type movie about bank robbers and all that good stuff. My girlfriend on the other hand did not like it. It’s a long movie so you really need to be in to it otherwise you might get bored with it.

The Ugly Truth

Romantic comedies are usually a hit or miss for me. I’ve seen some I really liked while others I hated. This was one of the ones I liked. Gerard Butler was hilarious in this movie and I really liked it.

The plot of the movie is pretty funny as well. Gerard Butler is the host of a late night TV show about sex, dating, and women. He ended up getting a job on a regular news channel to spice things up a bit. He then ends up liking the producer of the show and the movie goes on from there.

Overall, it’s a pretty good movie and has some funny parts that will make you laugh.

Sunshine Cleaning

Just watched this one yesterday and actually thought it was pretty good. It was another movie I hadn’t heard of prior to watching so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Turns of it’s a movie about two sisters that start up a murder/crime scene cleanup business.

What can I say, it was pretty interesting. A good movie and different than some of the other ones I’ve seen lately.

The Brave One

The Brave One was a great movie. A very good thriller style movie that had me interested the entire time. Jodie Foster loses her boyfriend in a street beating and she is also hospitalized. She wakes up to find out that her boyfriend hadn’t make it and she struggles to pull it together.

She then decided to get revenge and buys a gun. From that point on, she starts to take out bad guys and ultimately hopes to kill the guys who attacked her and her boyfriend.

Great movie and I recommend checking this one out if you like thrillers.

Watchmen

I’m not going to lie but I hated this movie. Not only was it like 4 hours long but I could not get into whatsoever. I kept drifting off and ended up sitting on my computer the entire time because I was so bored with the movie.

I guess I’ve never really been in to comic books so that might be one of the reasons I was not in to this movie. Though I did love the Batman movies as well as Spiderman.

The Soloist

This was another one of my favorite. I’m a big fan of movies that are based on true stories because they feel so much more real. Jamie Foxx did an amazing job and made the movie was it was.

It’s a sad movie because it makes you realize that things can happen to anyone. It makes you look at people on the streets in a completely different way.

Lakeview Terrace

For me, this movie was nothing but a waste of two hours. The plot was pretty boring and it never took off. A couple moves into a new neighborhood and their neighbor is a cop who’s overly protective of the neighborhood.

That’s about all I have to say about this one.

Any Recommendations?

Have you seen any movies you would recommend checking out? If so, feel free to leave a comment and let me know. I’m always looking for some more movies to watch.

The Most Interesting Academy

Justin Wright — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:14:48 +0000

Last night I attended the Most Interesting Academy party, which was hosted by Dos Equis. It was a place to learn and try awesome things in hopes of making us “more interesting.” The only downside was the fact that the actual guy from the Dos Equis commercials was not there. Damn it.

The event was completely FREE! Free beer, free food, and free transportation. Nothing beat’s that. I probably slugged down about 15 beers in the 4 hours I was there, plus a half dozen sliders and a grasshopper (read below).

What made the party even more amazing was where it took place…

The Falkenstein Castle

The party took place at the Falkenstein Castle, which is located in Burnet, Texas. It’s a castle that’s located in the middle of nowhere. It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be judging from some of the pictures.

Here’s a few pictures taken outside of the castle:

Pretty cool looking huh? I must say it was the first time I ever attended a party at a castle. The inside was also pretty cool looking. Here’s a picture of “The Most Interesting Man in the World” hanging up inside the castle:

I totally want that picture for my living room. It was like 6 feet tall and would take up the whole wall.

The Activities

So what was there to do at the party? The answer was a whole bunch of random stuff. Eating and drinking were the main events of course. But they also had a wind tunnel, a live band, and a salon to get your hair styled and cut.

My favorite part of the party was the bug eating station. Check out what they were serving at this party:

Looks pretty normal right? Let’s take a closer look:

Yep those are bugs. Not sure what kind but they had all sorts of different ones. My girlfriend tried the grasshopper tacos as well as a scorpion. I settled on eating a grasshopper with an Oreo. It was actually pretty good.

I’m More Interesting Now

Overall, the party was a fun event. I had fun trying some new stuff and drinking free beer. I hope to find more free parties like this because it sure feels nice knowing you spent absolutely nothing.

Check out the Most Interesting Academy photo album to see the rest of my pictures.

Me Eating A Grasshopper

Justin Wright — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:32:44 +0000

Last night I went to an awesome party that had all sorts of things going on. I’m still working on getting my photos up so I thought I’d share a quick clip of me eating a grasshopper:

Stay tuned for a detailed post about the party later today!

5 Things I Learned While Buying A New TV

Justin Wright — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:40:12 +0000

If you still don’t have digital cable, you probably have seen the big analog symbol at the top of your TV. They constantly remind us about getting a converter box. However, my girlfriend and I decided it would be better to just by a new TV. So we went out looking this weekend and ended up buying an LCD TV (I’ll review it later this week).

Anyways, here are a few things I learned from the whole experience:

1. Best Buy Employees Are Annoying

In my opinion, Best Buy has gotten even worse than it used to be about their employees constantly asking you if you need help. Maybe they are trying even harder now that Circuit City is gone…who knows.

Yesterday, I managed to get 6 or 7 employees to come by me and ask if I wanted some help with something. And this happened in less than 20 minutes and I only looked at one section of the store. So all of the employees came to me.

If that wasn’t enough, I even managed to get two Best Buy/DirectTV employees to come over and offer me some information on their new “pilot” program. Luckily, I lost them at “neither” when they asked if I had Satellite or Cable.

2. Target Has Some Weird Sale Prices…

Another thing I learned when shopping for TVs is that Target likes to “cover up” the real prices. Or at least that’s what it seems. Almost every television had a sale sticker stuck on it, but a quick look under the flap revealed a price sticker that had the same price, sometimes even less. And these stickers were stuck right on the shelf so they were definitely not temporary stickers.

And the TV that we ended up buying had a sticker under the flap that said $299.99. Their was no actual price so we had to ask for help…guess what? They decided it’s now $329.99. Even after talking to the departments manager and the store manager, they still wouldn’t match the price it was supposed to be.

3. TV Stands Are Pretty Important

Something I quickly learned after getting home with the new TV, is that my girlfriend and I didn’t have a place to put it. It’s pretty easy to buy a TV and totally forget about the TV stand. Luckily, Wal-Mart had a few for less than 40 bucks and it actually looks pretty cool.

4. Cables Are A Ripoff

After buying a new TV, I knew that I was going to need some cables to hook it up right. Specifically, an HDMI cable for the DVD player and some sort of cable for my computer. So I looked at Target and Best Buy, only to see that most of their HDMI cables were more than 50 bucks. Ouch! Worse yet, I needed a DVI to HDMI cable for my MacBook and Best Buy had one for $100!

So instead, I hopped online and did some browsing on eBay. Next thing I knew, I had ordered a DVI to HDMI cable for less than 7 bucks. Sure, a lot of people will argue that the cable is far less quality but I just don’t believe it. Especially when it comes to a 22 inch LCD TV. How much different can the quality really be? So the lesson I learned is to buy them online and save a boat load of money.

5. Paid TV Is A Waste Of Money

For the past 8 months or so, I have been cable free. Relying on bunny ears to get all the of the basic channels. But the thing is, almost every show I watch is on free TV anyway. Lost, CSI, Big Bang Theory, even Two and Half Men. All free of charge.

And now that I am using an HDTV antenna, most of these channels come in HD with no static what-so-ever. They look better than a DVD and cost nothing. There are even a few extra HD channels that the TV is picking up now. So now I have no worries about ever getting cable again.

Have you purchased a new TV lately? What was the experience like?

Season Premiere Of Lost Tonight!

Justin Wright — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:39:41 +0000

Well it’s finally January 21st…the day that season 5 of Lost Premiers on ABC. It’s one of the only shows I watch these days so I’ve been waiting for this day to come.

Funny thing is, I have never watched Lost on TV before. This past Christmas, I rented season 1 and 2 and started watching them. After watching the first two seasons, I became super addicted to the show and couldn’t stop thinking about it. So over a period of like two weeks I managed to watch all 4 season of lost. Yeah it’s pretty pathetic…

The hard thing was, I watched all of them back to back. When I got done with the season 4 finale, I was ready to drive to the studios and demand answers. Luckily, the premier is tonight and it starts with a 1 hour recap followed by two episodes. Woo!

Season 5 Trailer

Here is a trailer for the upcoming season:

Check It Out

So tune in tonight at 7 C and watch it. It’s a great show and even if you haven’t watch it before, the recap should clue you in on some of the things that are happening.

West Wind Scottsdale 6 Drive-In

Justin Wright — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:30:10 +0000

This past weekend, I did something I haven’t done in a few years. And I have certainly never done it in the month of January. What I did, was check out a move at a drive-in. Actually, I saw two movies for the price of one. Even better…

The Experience

The West Wind Scottsdale 6 drive-in is a pretty cool place. They have six screens all laid out in a circle type pattern and had a really good selection of movies. The price was $6.25 per adult, but this included two movies. It was even cheaper than seeing one movie at a movie theater.

Overall, this place had a lot of positives.. First off, it’s nice being able to pack a cooler and bring your own food. It’s also nice to be able to lay back in your car with some blankets and not have to listen to screaming children in the background. During the first movie, I even sat outside for a few minutes since the weather was nice. We had no problems finding a good place to park and the movie was pretty clear on the screen.

The only negative I can think of was the sound. During the second movie, the radio was picking up some static but it went away. It seems like the radio is better in certain places depending on where you park. If you keep that in mind when you are driving around, you will be fine.

Now I’ll give you a quick review of the two movies I saw.

Seven Pounds

I really enjoy Will Smith movies and this one was pretty good. I believe it was made by the same people that did The Pursuit To Happiness so it did have a little bit of the same feel. However, this was a much more dramatic and sad movie than that one was. Even reading the synopsis for this movie bummed me out.

After seeing it, I would definitely recommend seeing it. It’s a little long but the ending is where it all comes together.

Gran Torino

The main reason we went to the drive-in was to see this movie. I had seen previews in the theater for this movie and it looked great. As it turns out, it was even better than that. The movie was awesome. Clint Eastwood was amazing in this movie. It is true that movie is pretty racist and does have a lot of foul language in it. However, the movie is very entertaining has sends a strong message.

I would recommend this to anyone going to the movies. It’s a great flick and easily once of the best ones I have seen in the last 6 months.

A Great Place To Spend A Saturday Night

Overall, going to the drive-in is a great place to spend a Friday or Saturday night. It’s cheap and it’s a great alternative to going to the bar. Next time around, we plan on picking up a pizza and eating that while we are there. So just plan ahead and bring something to drink and some food. That way you will save a lot of money.

A Long Overdue Drinking Story

Justin Wright — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:10:38 +0000

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a good drinking story to share with everyone. Luckily, this past Saturday was a great time that is worth sharing.

The Beginning

My Saturday started like any other day, with a bowl of cereal and some orange juice. Little did I know, I would end up consuming like 8,000 calories after that. The drinking started when my girlfriend and I decided to go to a Mexican bar and restaurant here in Phoenix for some fajitas and margaritas.

Of course, we order a pitcher of Margaritas instead of small ones. Might as well get the best bang for your buck. After drinking those I already had a little buzz going and I was stuff from the fajitas.

The Cardinals Party

From there, we went to Cadillac Ranch for the Cardinals viewing party put on by Buweise. I was jacked up for the game because I knew the Cardinals could win. We got there around 2:30 so we could get a seat somewhere by the TV. Unfortunately, this gave me 3 and a half hours of drinking time before the game even started.

I started with the 2 dollar bud lights and probably had like 4 or 5 of them before kick off. At that point, I was starting to get a little drunk but I was too occupied with the game to notice.

Time For Some More Food

By the 3rd quarter, I was hungry again so I ordered a hamburger and french fries. I also switched over to Captain Morgan since I was getting sick of beer. This was probably not a good idea…

Anyways, the game was awesome and the Cardinals totally blew the Panthers away. Next stop is the Eagles at home next week.

Go Home Or Go Out?

Once the game was finished, the question was: should we go home or go out to the bars? Unfortunately, I had the idea of going out and that is exactly what happened. My girlfriend and I went to a few bars and a nightclub where I managed to have yet a few more drinks.

But that’s not all…I also managed to find my way to the pizza place after we left the bars. Next thing I know, I have two huge pieces of pepperoni pizza in my stomach. Funny thing is, I was still hungry!

At that point, we decided it was a good idea to go home. It was already midnight and we had been drinking since 1 or so. Now if only I would of stopped eating at this point. But nope, instead I made my way to Burger King which is across the street from our apartment. I ordered a chicken sandwich and tossed it back like it was nothing. Ugh…

And Then Came Sunday Morning…

I woke up feeling like complete shit. I was pretty much useless the entire day and watched a lot of TV. I barely ate anything all day (I wonder why). It sure made me realize why I don’t drink as much as I used to. LOL.

But oh well, it was still a great weekend. Now I just have to wait until next Sunday for the Cardinals vs. Eagles game. Let’s go Cards!

Zack And Miri Make A Porno Review

Justin Wright — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:42:53 +0000

Last night, I went and checked out the movie “Zack And Miri Make A Porno.” If your not familiar with the movie, it is a movie about two people that are broke so they decide to make a porno to pay off their debt. The movie stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as the two main characters.

Check out this trailer to see a glimpse of the movie:

If you can’t see the video, click here.

What I Thought

I personally thought this movie was hilarious. I laughed more during this movie than I have in a long time at the movie theatre. What isn’t there to laugh about when people are making porn?

There are a few guest stars including Jason Mewes, the guy that plays Jay in other Kevin Smith movies. Justin Long also has a short appearance in the movie sporting none other than a…iPhone. He plays a gay porn actor visiting a high school reunion with his boyfriend. Very funny.

The movie sort of resembles “40 Year Old Virgin” when it comes to the comedy which is probably why I enjoyed it. Some of the things that happen during the “filming” of their movie are downright hysterical. Lets just say constipation is one of the things that results in something…

Go Check It Out

So there you have it, my Zack And Miri Make A Porno Review. If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, go check it out and let me know what you thought. If you enjpy funny sex humor and awkward moments, you will love this movie!

The Dark Knight

Justin Wright — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:34:50 +0000

I went and checked out the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight” this weekend. I thought I would share my thoughts about the whole experience.

Purchasing Tickets

From what I heard, a few theaters here in Phoenix were sold out of tickets to see “The Dark Knight.” However, I did not have any problems purchasing tickets online prior to the show. I thought it would save a lot of time if I bought them online.

Arriving At The Theater

When I arrived at the theater the first thing I saw was this:

The line may not look big there, but it starts inside, loops around to the outside, and then loops one more time around the outside wall of the theatre. At first, I figured it was the line to purchase tickets to the movie if you did not already have them.

WRONG!

It was actually the line to get in to the movie to get your seats. So I ended up having to stand in this line just to get in to the movie. If you have never been to Phoenix, it is hot right now. Like 110 degrees hot! Standing outside is not all that fun right now…

Luckily, the line ended up being for two showings at the same time in to different auditoriums, so it made finding a seat a little more bearable. But of course, I still ended up being a pain in the ass

When I first got in the theatre I saw a bunch of open seats. But people apparently like to hold seats for their 9 closest friends. Every fricken’ seat was “taken”, even though there were no people in them. UGGGHH!

I ended up sitting in the 4th row, which was 4 times better than the first row. My neck was a little sore at the end, but not broken.

The Movie

“The Dark Knight” was an awesome movie. By far the best I have seen this year. I thought it was better than the first one “Batman Begins”, which was also a great movie.

Heath Ledger played the Joker better than I would have ever imagined. I heard he was good, but I wasn’t expecting that kind of performance. He was terrifying, yet funny at the same time. He literally was the Joker. I couldn’t even tell it was him because he took on the role so well.

Christian Bale did another amazing job playing Batman. He is a far better Batman than the older films I remember watching as a kid. Batman got a new outfit, a little more modern from the looks of it.

The film was a little long, but it wasn’t boring long. I have been to a lot of longer movies where I was itching to get out before it was over, but not this one. The ending was a little different than I would of expected, but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone.

My Rating

I would give this film a 5/5 any day. It was a little long, but I recommend it to anyone. If you haven’t seen it yet, go check it out. Just beware that you may end up standing in line…

Have You Seen it?

If so, please let me know what you thought of “The Dark Knight.”

Weekend Drunkfest

Justin Wright — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:01:18 +0000

Happy Cinco De Mayo to Everyone!

This weekend was…well, pretty eventful. Saturday was a drunkfest like no other.

It all started with volleyball around 2 pm, which is when the tequila first made its appearance. It was all down hill from there. We played for a good 4 hours and drank a few pitchers of Margaritas before we decided to call it quits. By the end of it, everyone was so drunk it was nothing but bitching and complaining about teams cheating.

So did everyone go home and call it an early night after we were done? Of course not…and this is was happened.

Friend 1:

He got kicked out of the bar for no apparent reason. He tried wearing my hat to hide but within a few seconds the bouncer shined a flashlight in his face and escorted him out the front door.

Friend 2:

He did not get kicked out of the bar, but instead got red flagged at the door trying to get in. They said he was already to drunk so he had to go to a different bar.

Here is where things get interesting. I was passed out in my bed around 7 am when he comes rolling into my room and tells me what happened. He ended up walking halfway home from the bar, and then deciding it was too far to continue. So instead he slept in a bush underneath the highway overpass. He left his phone there but ended up finding it the next day.

Friend 3:

Much like friend 2, this friend also failed to make it home after bar close. However, there were no bushes for this kid. Instead, he tried walking home from Tempe and made a wrong turn. Where did he wake up? On a bench at a bus stop somewhere in Scottsdale…

So lets just say it was one heck of a Cinco De Mayo weekend. I just hope tonight has no stories resembling these or it is going to be one long work week…