Top Ten Movies to look forward to in 2008

Salutations to all. After a couple weeks of straying from the usual content in my blogs, I am back with another top ten list about movies. I think it is fairly easy to realize that I am an avid movie lover and never miss the chance to talk about them. I would also like to point out that I can only think of two people who look forward to upcoming movies more than I do. I am not trying to brag; in fact, if anything, I think I am pointing out a character flaw in myself that tends to be a nerdy obsession with movies that haven't come out yet. Too often I hype up a movie in such a way that I am inevitably let down once I finally see it... So it is.

Having said all that, whether it is a compliment to my personality, or a personal vice, I can't help but get excited for some upcoming movies. And this year, there is quite a lot to get excited about in my humblest of opinions. The movie to beat, so far, is Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was absolutely hilarious and everyone needs to go see it. But there is still a lot to talk about in regards to the future. So, here goes nothing.

Top Ten Films I am Looking Forward to in 2008:

10. The Incredible Hulk. As I understand it, this is pretty much a do-over from the last Hulk movie, directed by Ang Lee. That movie was seriously one of the worst movies I have ever seen. But this one isn't a sequal; it's a remake, and it stars Edward Norton, which immediately establishes some credibility. I'm cautiously optimistic, but watch out... This movie could sneak up on us and be bad ass.

9. Body of Lies. If I knew more about this movie, I probably would have it higher on this list. But what I do know is that it is directed by Ridley Scott and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. Not bad.

8. Iron Man. Again, I'm cautiously optimistic. I didn't think much of Iron Man in my youth, and I didn't think much of the movie idea when I heard of it. But then I found out that Robert Downey Jr. is starring in it (and I believe i have already expressed my admiration for his work in one of my posts) and saw the trailer. The trailer is sick so I repeat, I am cautiously optimistic.

7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. A lot of potential in this movie. The book was slow so this could be a rare case where the movie exceeds expectations. These movies have fair acting at best, but everything else, in my opinion is usually exceptional.

6. Pineapple Express. If I reveal too much about this movie, then I feel I will reveal too much about my own habits. So you can find out for yourself.

5. Burn After Reading. I know virtually nothing about this movie except that it is a comedy, it is directed by the Coen Brothers, and it stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney. That's good enough for me.

4. Quantum of Solace. It's the new Bond movie. Need I say more? Of course not, but I will anyway. I just took my girlfriend to go see a movie and I saw the illest poster for this movie. I didn't even know they were making one! Well I knew they were making one, but I didn't know it would be out this year! I was almost disappointed with myself for the lack of knowledge, but then I remembered they were releasing a new Bond movie this year.

3. Wall E. There was a huge internal debate for me about the three and four positions on this list. And though the last bond movie was totally awesome, they aren't all awesome. But all the Pixar movies are. I have ZERO doubts that I will love this movie.

2. The Dark Knight. The problem with pre-judging movies based on the trailers and such, is that I have already dubbed this movie as a possibility to be my favorite movie ever. It looks so awesome. And people won't even remember the Jack Nicholson Joker after they see Heath Ledger's. If you haven't seen him in the trailer, you need to. I'm calling it now, he's going to get nominated for an Oscar. His tragic death may have a hand in it, but that doesn't mean it isn't deserving. Granted I haven't seen the movie yet, but in the trailer, he is completely transformed.

1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I don't think I'm going to like this movie as much as The Dark Knight, to be perfectly honest. But how can I not hook it up for Indiana Jones. Besides, sometimes, the older a man gets, the more kick ass it is when he starts kicking ass. Plus, they had to wait this long 'till the script was right... I'm not worried.

Just Missed It:

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The last one was pretty awesome... surprisingly.

Get Smart. Looks pretty funny, but not sure if it will be.

Hello all. So, this week is a special blog post. As most of you know (because most of you are in the same class as I am... BECA 560, the best class ever) this blog coincides with a class I am taking at San Francisco State University. Go Gators! Anyway, this blog post is supposed to be centered around the idea of Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality, for the one person that reads this blog who is not in this class, is basically the idea that the Internet is the last frontier that is completely unfiltered and equal to everyone.

Unlike television, phone networks, radio, etc. the internet has no restrictions about who can use it, where you can go, and how fast you can get there, provided you have the internet, of course. This is, in fact, awesome. But the shitty phone companies in the world are trying to filter the internet for those on top so that they can put a couple of extra pennies on top. Basically, they are trying to designate certain levels of internet connection based on the plan you have, kind of like the phone plans. so if you can't afford the coolest phone plan, then you will probably have an internet that is ridiculously slow. As you can tell, I am completely objective about this.

Obviously there are two sides to every story, but this is pretty much trying to take money away from the little guy. The pros and cons are not even in my book. The good news is at least some people in congress seem to agree with me. It just sucks because they say that the whole world is run by like five companies and the web was the only thing left that we had to be completely equal. It was unfiltered, and awesome. Now they are trying to take that one thing left that we have and rip it apart. I just went off on a little tangent, which I am completely fine with, by the way, but now I should get back to business.

Okay, without further delay, my top ten list for this week is as follows:

Top Ten reasons Net Neutrality restrictions suck ass.

10. The world is full of greedy bastards. This is sort of a general statement about the state of affairs in which we live. But specifically, those companies that due run the universe, Disney, Time Warner, Viacom, Mr. Murdoch and his greedy little fingers, and Sony (I think is the last one), have enough of everything else in the world. They don't need to hog the internet too. Just my two cents. 

9. There are three websites I check in the morning. If I can't check said websites (mlbtraderumors.com, espn.com, and movies.com) then it is almost the equivalent of my mother not getting her coffe fix in the morning. And nobody wants that. Not even the CEOs of those previously mentioned companies.

8. How will they filter pornographic sites? I mean, we are talking about the internet; it is eventually going to come up and be an uncomfortable subject for someone. Does that mean someone has to make restrictions on every porn site that there is in the world wide web? I guess there are worse jobs.

7. These sort of restrictions just remind us about how our society is set up in a hierarchy. Equality and freedom are the two principle that this country is based on, so I think it is bull shit to try and take something like the Internet and twist it into a money making machine. I guess everyone is trying to do that, but they are still not limiting the rest of us to what we can and cannot look at on the web.  

6. How are we going to get cool ideas like youtube and myspace if they take away our freedom. Google would have never made billions of dollars on things like that. Nobody wins there.

5. Think about it... We probably wouldn't be able to do this blog right now if someone restricts net neutrality. And who wouldn't want to hear my opinions? That was more or less a rhetorical question. 

4. I wonder how this would affect the way we all get email. I mean, I get enough shitty mail as it is without some corporate giant getting in my grill with some other mail I don't need. Although it will be a nice change of pace from the Viagra adds. I think it is really funny that everyone seems to be getting those emails too. And if you don't, please don't point it out and make me feel awkward by bringing up Viagra.

3. There are other things for Congress to be worrying about. First off, our economy sucks ass right now. We need to find some sort of boost or none of us will ever be able to find a job. Second, and this probably should have been first, there are thousands of troops that should be allowed to come home soon. I'm not going to get into a huge "War On Terror" debate here, but there is something to be noted when we are messing with a perfectly good Internet instead of getting our soldiers back.

2. The online BECA community will never be seen! Our work will be for nothing!

1. In all seriousness, there is even a greater tragedy at stake, the way I see it. Freedom of speech is one of the most basic freedoms we can possibly have. Other than free will, which is the basis of human existence, freedom of speech is like the freedom. I should be able to say what ever I want, whenever I want, where ever I want. As it turns out, we can't because of censorship of music, movies, and TV. But if nowhere else, I should be able to view and say anything I want on the internet. 

This is a serious issue that the public has yet to realize. To restrict our Internet availability would change our lives drastically and we really need to be ready for it.

What up? This is Josh and you are reading my blog. Usually, I write a lot of lists about movies and music and such, but I feel that this week I need to pay homage to the great city in which we live. I grew up in Oakland, just across the bay, but have lived in the great city of San Francisco for about four years now, and would rather not live anywhere else. It's great; and yet I feel I don't fully take advantage of living in one of the greatest places on earth. Regardless, I would still like to give you some insight on what I think the best things to do in the city are. Some of these activities are general things that can be done regularly, and some of these things are personal events that have happened once or twice that were so much fun. Nonetheless, my list is as follows:

Top Ten things to do in San Francisco.

10. Zeitgeist. Zeitgeist is a bar in the Mission district. Is it my favorite bar in the city? Probably not. Is it my favorite bar in the Mission? Probably. But the reason I'm putting it down is because we once went there during the day to see my friend off, who was moving to Oregon. He showed up a couple hours late, but my other friend and I started drinking heavily anyway. This was at 1pm. It didn't help that they had my favorite beer, Great White, on tap. The moral of the story is, I was so hammered by 6pm that my girlfriend had to come and pick me up. It was awesome. I probably had 12, maybe 15 beers... And a couple jager shots. 

9. Exploritorium. I haven't been there in a while, but it was good times when I was younger.

8. Go to the Haight. Good restaurants, great shops, fun bars... It's just a great time. And there is usually some valuable things that you can find. It is lame when you get yelled at by the gutter kids who think they own San Francisco, but it doesn't ruin my day.

7. Scavenger Hunt. One time my girlfriend made a fatty scavenger hunt for me and our friends, who knew very little about the city. It was an all day event and we had to go everywhere. It was totally cool and one of the best days I've had in the city.

6. Ocean Beach. On a nice day, there are few things better than going to Ocean Beach. Nothing more need be said.

5. Dinner Downtown. Whether it be at Union Square, North Beach, or wherever, dinner downtown, especially during the winter, is really fun. It makes me feel classy.

4. Thursdays. This is just a little tradition that our friends have. It takes place at my buddy's house and it consists of heavy drinking and lots of beer games. Moosehead and civil war are the best ones.

3. Fisherman's Wharf/ Ghirardelli Square/ Pier 39. It's fun doing the whole touristy thing down at the wharf. You have to get some clam chowder in a bread bowl. It's delicious. And on Pier 39 you have got to get the mini donuts. They are so good.

2. Picnic/ BBQ in the Park. I love Golden Gate Park, and on a nice day it is totally awesome to just hang out all day in it. Ultimate Frisby is a must. And any excuse for day drinking is also high on my list. I usually like to get deli sandwiches or subs for lunch. I recommend the Submarine Centere in West Portal, or Marina Sub.

1. A's Games. I don't care what anyone says, this is my blog and I can do whatever I want. And if I say that A's games are part of San Francisco, then in this blog they are. Go A's!