What is On Jeffs' Mind

I missed 2010, but thought that it would be fun to list my top Movies and TV shows for 2011.

Movies 2011

Due to a few different factors this year, the amount of movies I saw were much less then I had in the previous years. In the past, I would go to a movie every week, and I would see good movies, and ones that were not as good. But over the past few years, I have gotten much more selective on what I see, I think a lot of it has to do with the cost of Movies in general, and that I am married now, so I would be paying for 2 instead of one. But here is my list for the year 2011

1. Super 8

I have to say, I really love this movie. When I saw it in the theatre, it just really grabbed me, and gave me a real good feeling. I think a lot of it has to do with it being such a nostalgic movie with it being set in the late 70′s. The kids were right around my age, and I could really relate to them. At times it felt like I was traveling through a time machine back to a time when things just seemed a bit more simple. The story as well was very much a throw back to some of those great Steven Speilberg movies of the 80′s, but as well felt very fresh compared to the movies we have to day. Not saying there is anything wrong with today’s movies, but it was nice break. All the actors in the movie were top notch, the Alien creature was cool, and the story for me left me with something to think about. This movie is a movie that I feel I can watch again and again, just because of the nice feelings it gives me.

2. Thor

I have to admit, that  going into the summer movie season, I was starting to wear down on Super Hero movies, as we had gotten so many the past few years, and this summer there were going to be a lot. But I think of all the Super Hero movies, this was the one I was looking the most forward to. I know nothing of Thor as I have never read the comic, but I liked the idea that he was sort of tied to the past, and also that he was from a different planet. I think maybe for me, it added something a bit different to the genre that some of the other Super Hero movies did not have. I saw this movie, and I have to say, I enjoyed it from start to finish. I saw it again on Blu-Ray and enjoyed just as much and maybe even more. I found the story moved very well, and that it took place in a few different locations, that were both very different, Asgard and Earth. There is something about this movie, just like Super 8 that left me with a very comfortable feeling. There was a post on the Treks in Sci-Fi forum about comfort movies, and if I was to add movies to that list, This one and Super 8 would be added to that list.  This movie I can watch over and over, and always find some enjoyment out of it.

3. The Adventures of TinTin

I normally don’t like movies that are a mix between life action and cartoon, so when I heard that TinTin was going to be that, I was a bit let down as I was hoping for live action.  I have to say after watching this movie, I was very pleased with the result. I felt they did a Fantastic job and it matched up with my idea of him from the comics. The story was action packed and a lot of fun, the 3D was awesome in this, and I was really pulled into the story. This movie was based off some of the comics, and I recalled parts of the stories. It has been years since I had read the comics, but after watching this movie, it has made me want to read the comics again. I really hope they make another, as this movie was really great.

4. Cowboys and Aliens

This was the movie I was most anticipating for the summer. Just the concept of a Western mixed with Sci-Fi had me really intrigued, and I could not wait for this to come out. I was pretty pleased with this movie, I thought it caught the wild west pretty well. Sort of left me wishing they would do more westerns, as they just don’t make many of those anymore. The Sci-Fi element was pretty good as well, and it was fun to see how the Cowboys took on the Aliens at the end. I will say I was hoping for maybe a larger Alien presence, but I guess from a story aspect, if there is to much Alien technology, then it would have been to much for the Cowboys to over come. But I have to say, this is two thumbs up from me, and a nice change from movies we might normally see.

5. Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon

I was never a big Transformers fan when I was younger, as it sort of got popular when I was getting into my teens, so I guess you could say I was a bit to old at the time . But the 3 movies so far I have really enjoyed. I know a lot of people have a lot of complaints about them, as they find that they are not as true as they could be to the cartoons, I can’t really argue with those comments, since I never really grew up with Transformers. This movie I really enjoyed, and I found that it was very well filmed, the 3D was awesome, the movie had bright and vivid colors. I really like the full out carnage that happens in this move, and really enjoyed nearly every piece of it. I also did not miss Megan Fox at all and found Rosie Huntington-Whiteley to be a good replacement. I guess the complaint is that the female leads might be sexualized to much, and maybe that is so, but I thought for what the movie was about, she did a great job. My one complaint about this movie, which is weird, is I really disliked the NASCAR tie in, as the scenes they had just really threw me out of the movie, but besides that, really enjoyed the movie.

Honorable Mention: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

I just went to this recently, more so because my wife wanted to see it. But I have to say, it was really good, maybe almost good enough to make my top 5. I find Tom Cruise the person a bit weird, but as an actor he is top notch. This movie was really stunning and all the tech gadgets really cool as well. Every time I see a Mission Impossible movie, it feels like it is better then the last one. So I have to say, I thank my wife for making me go with her.

Regrets

I think my main regret was the amount of movies I missed this year, as I saw way less then I normally would. Top of the list would be X-Men first class, as for some reason, when it came out, I was either busy or something about it was holding me back from seeing it. I picked it up on Blu-Ray and will be watching it soon, but I am thinking that I might regret not seeing this one in the theatre. I also regret that I fell behind on the Harry Potter movies, as I missed the last one, since I had not seen the one previous. So it is another I will have to wait and see later. I missed a few others like Conan that I wanted to see in the theatre, and really wanted to see more movies this year.

Television – 2011

These were my favorite TV shows for 2011. Was hard to come up with a list as liked a lot of shows and found a lot of them really close in how I felt.

1. Fringe

Great show, I really love it. It is a show both my Wife and I can watch, which is rare as we don’t watch many of the same shows. The past season has been awesome, with Episodes occurring in different universes with the same characters, but slightly different. The 4th season started off with Peter missing, and leading up to him coming back. They have really taken this show in a direction I never dreamed of. They have a good mix of episodes that tie into the mythology of the series, as well stand alone episodes. Just a really great show, that I enjoy a lot.

2. Hawaii 5.0

This reboot I really like a lot. Normally I like more of the shows with a bit of a Sci-Fi angle to them, but this show is just a lot of fun, with a lot of action. I like all the actors on the show, I like the cool sets and scenery, makes me really want to go to Hawaii. I find as well they have a good mix of stand alone shows and ones that tie into a larger plot of the series. This is one show that I make a habit to watch pretty quickly each week.

3. How I met Your Mother

I really enjoy this show a lot, it is very funny, but also has some deeper themes to it as well. I think as well this show has a lot of hidden geek cred to it, which they pull off so well. It sort of comes off much more real then a show like the Big Bang Theory. Every time I watch this show, I get some good laughs, as the comedy they do in it is something I really like. They had some deeper episodes last year as well, like when Marshall’s Dad died, it was so unexpected and just very well done. Another show that I try and watch as quickly as I can.

4. The Office

I still really enjoying this show, even with Michael Scott leaving. I found his replacement Robert California to be just as funny and given the series a bit of a different feel. Some of the episodes still feel very close to what it is like to work in an office, so at times it is fun to laugh at things that might be very true.

5. Person of Interest

This was a new show in the Fall, and I have to say, I am really enjoying it. I like the idea of being able to predict crimes that will happen, and then having a pair of vigilantes working to prevent them. It has a bit of a loose sci-fi twist in how they are able to predict what will happen, and they are just starting to get into deeper elements of the story, which I feel are going to get real interesting in the second half of the season. I like Michael Emerson in this show, I feel it is a great followup from his work on LOST.

Honorable Mention: Castle/The Mentalist/Terra Nova

I could not decide between these 3, and truthfully, these could have all hit my top 5 list as well. Terra Nova I felt got better as the season progressed, but it started out very weak. I have been enjoying Castle and the Mentalist as well, they are always very solid, but for me, from a strict crime based show, I will give Hawaii 5.0 the nod. But with that said, both Castle and The Mentalist are great shows that I look forward to watching every week. Again, any 3 of these shows could have easily been put on my top 5.

Regrets

I think my largest regret for 2011 is the lack of Sci-Fi shows. I really enjoy Sci-Fi, but there just was not much on for me to watch. I am hoping in the new year with Space Channel being broadcast in HD on my cable provider that I might find a Sci-Fi series I have been missing out. People talk about a few, but I have never seen them since they were never on HD, so hopefully I can go back and catch up.

Tags: Castle, Cowboys and Aliens, Fringe, Hawaii 5.0, How I met your Mother, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Super 8, Terra Nova, The Adventures of Tintin, The Mentalist, The Office, Thor, Transformers

Warning

There will be Spoilers below for the following shows I watched regularly in the 2010-2011 season:
Castle, The Mentalist, Fringe, Hawaii 5-0, How I met Your Mother, The Office and The Big Bang Theory

Castle

Really enjoyed this season, each episode is usually a lot of fun, with an interesting murder and light moments throughout the show so that it does not get to heavy and depressing. The Mythology of the show is Kate Beckett and her search for the killer/reason behind her mothers death. They pushed that story arc a long quite a bit this year. The finale was completely focused on it, and blew it wide open, with the revelation that Captain Montgomery was involved. That led to some deaths and a rather large cliffhanger involving Beckett. I will be honest though, I prefer the stand alone episodes over the story arc, they are just more fun.

The Mentalist

An interesting season also, dealing a lot with the investigation of event from last season in the CBI office. A lot of twists and turns in Patrick Janes investigation into Red John and the murder of his wife. A lot of the story arc was around Agent Laroche investigating the fiery death of a prisoner related to Red John, and interviewing the different members of the CBI team. Those investigations have brought to light something that the respective members might not want known. Midway through the season, there was a setup of Agent Hightower, which saw Patrick Jane come up with a plan to get her away, so he could continue investigating the murder, CBI corruption and Red John. The finale saw the revelation that Agent Van Pelts fiance, an FBI agent, was responsible for the death of the CBI inmate from last season. That really did not come as a shock to me, as I pretty much suspected that guy for the whole season. The finale also saw Patrick Jane come face to face with Red John and led to him killing him. For me, I am not really sure if that was Red John, and I am not sure where that leads us to next year, as Patrick Jane will probably be arrested for killing the so called Red John. A lot happened, but I am not sure how next season will play out, looks like it could be heavy on Mythology of the show and the overiding story arc. I just can’t see them letting Patrick Jane off so easy, and I really don’t believe that was Red John.

Fringe

A great season of Fringe, which saw episodes in the Red Verse and the Blue Verse, with many of the episodes focusing on the shows story arc. I came to enjoy both verses and the characters in them, the cases they worked on were really interesting, with so many twists and turns. They had a really cool partially animated episode where Peter and Walter traveled into Olivia’s mind to help free her from her bond with William Bell. That episode also saw the end of William Bell, or did it??? Also there was another flashback episode that saw the first meeting of Peter and Olivia as kids, and showcased Olivia’s abilities which led to her tipping off Walternate on the fate of Peter. Another great episode had Christoper Lloyd in it, in which we see the consequences of Walters actions for bringing Peter to the blue verse from the red verse. The final set of episodes focused on the machine, and the prophecy of Peter using it to destroy the other verse. In the end, it was Peter trying to turn it off, and then us as viewers being transported into the future 15 years to see the fate of that decision. We are left with the decision of Peter to go back in time after future Olivia is killed, thus Peter wiping out his own existence. So many questions for next season, what happened to Peter, how will the Blue Verse and Red Verse work together, and what state are the worlds in, are they still being ripped apart by the actions of Walter.

Hawaii 5-o

Great first season of the show. The episodes have great scenery, great actors and really fast moving stories with lots of Action. The story arc of the show is Steve McGarrett is looking for the murderer of his mother and father. He is working off the case files of his fathers, and work on a unit called 5-0 which gives him immunity above what a normal police officer would get. The supporting cast is great with his right hand man Danny Williams, a New Jersey cop who moved to Hawaii to be close to his ex wife and daughter. Chin Ho Kelly is another member of 5-0 who used to work with Steve’s father. He was accused of corruption by the HPD and spends the season trying to clear his name. The final member of the unit is Kono, a rookie officer and cousin of Chin, who used to be a surfer. Over the season, the team has had to do some things that were not by the book, in an attempt to solve crimes, bring down a Hawaii crime ring and search for the murderer of Steve’s parents, that led them to stealing some money form HPD. In the finale, it was discovered that the Governor who appointed Steve to form 5-0 was involved in his families death. The governor was killed along with an aid, and Steve was framed for it. They leave the season hanging with 5-0 being disbanded and Steve being arrested fro murder, Kono arrested for stealing money from HPD, Chin reinstated to the force, and Danny reuniting with his ex wife and going back to New Jersey. I can’t wait for next season, should be great.

How I Met your Mother

This was the first season I have watched fully, but I have seen nearly all of the episodes in the series. This season had it’s up and downs for me, as I really did not like the lady Ted was dating for most of the season. But like the other seasons, it was a lot of fun, with a lot of laughs. There were some more deeper episodes as well, such as the mid season shocker where Marshall’s Dad dies, the way the episode was done was great with a countdown the whole way through to the reveal. Also this year, Barney meets his real dad, who doesn’t really live up to Barney’s expectations of a wild crazy partier.  Ted is focused on designing a new building for GNB, Marshal and Lily are trying to have their first baby, and Robin takes on a new job and trying to get over her last relationship. They leave the season off with Ted breaking up with his girlfriend, Lily getting pregnant and the real shocker, what looks to be, Barney getting married. Earlier in the season Barney met a lady named Nora, that he liked, but could never get serious as he did not want to drop his Bro lifestyle. They left it of with Barney meeting Nora on the street and taking on the challenge of a relationship with her. But I am not convinced that Nora is the one Barney will marry, as still get the feeling it might be Robin, based off the look on Robins face when she saw Barney and Nora together. Great series, looking forward to next season

The Office

The Office is great, and this was a big season, as Michael Scott left Dunder Mifflin. The season was a bit of a build up to him leaving, and then the fallout after. I have to say, I was thinking that after Michael left, that the show might take a dip, but have found the episodes after have been really funny. Now the search is on for a new manager. They had a manager played by Will Farrell come in for a few episodes, and they were cool. The Farrell manager brought a different dynamic to the office, and his idiosyncrasies really did come out. I think the episode where he formed an inner circle at the office was really great and rang true for me. But now they are in search of a new manager, and who knows what that will be, the the finale focused on that search and all the crazy candidates.

The Big Bang Theory

A great season with some fun episodes. Sheldon new friend Amy Farrah Fowler was more involved this year and thinking her and Sheldon are headed towards a relationship. Howard is engaged to Bernadette. Leonard is dating Raj’s sister Priya, much to Raj’s chagrin. Nothing to big in the finale, beyond it looks like Leonard and Priya are headed for breakup as she is going back to India and Raj hooked up with Penny. Penny did admit that she felt she should have never broken up with Leonard, so will be interesting to see how Raj thrown into the mix now will affect the Penny/Leonard relationship. I was always a bit on the fence with Penny, but in the episode where she takes the guys to retrieve Sheldons WOW items that were stolen, was great, and really showed how much they rely on her, and how she fits in with them.

Tags: Castle, Fringe, How I met your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, The Office

Today was a productive day on the computer for me. I spent some time working on my websites, I always get satisfaction out of working on them. First thing this morning, I was able to make some updates to my friends over at the Anomaly Podcasts new site. It was a bit of a challenge, but using Google Chrome inspect element tool, I was able to locate the code I needed to change. I have been feeling pretty good, as I am able to understand more and more php and CSS sheets and what they are doing, and how to change them around to get the results I want. One day I would like to be able to create my own, but for now, I am pretty happy with being able to modify what has been done, and understanding what they do.

Next up I spent some time upgrading the versions of my WordPress sites to the latest 3.1 version. I was a bit nervous at the start as I was not sure how it would interact with the plugins and themes I have installed, but looks like it went in alright and no issues. I think I was most worried about the gallery on my main site  here, as in the past I have done upgrades and it stopped working. After I was done doing upgrades to the sites, I upgraded both Google Chrome and Firefox to the latest versions of the browsers. Will take some getting used to with Firefox 4, but I think I might start to use Google Chrome more. Last week I upgraded Internet Explorer to version 9, so that it was current as well. I have not really used ie9 much, but at least my collecting site looks a bit better then it did before, but still the gallery pictures do not display properly. That is sort of disappointing, as I would like that my sites behave the same regardless of browser. As I work with my sites more, I will work towards maybe identifying which browser is being used, and what loads and what does not. But I still have a long ways to go before I can figure that out.

After I was done with my websites for a bit, I did some work in my basement. I put away the items I did not sell at least weeks toy show, and rebuilt the shelf I had taken with me to the show. After I was done that, I worked on taking some pictures of the collectible I will do for my next collecting podcast. I have been delayed on that, as I was sick for the past few weeks, and that set me back unfortunately. Hopefully I will have the podcast done in the next week or so, as I want to get to a regular schedule. Tonight I will probably work on taking some more pictures to prepare for the podcast. I seem to be getting my Photoshop skills better as well, as I was able to modify the pictures after more efficiently. That will help me in the future with getting the podcast out faster.

A few non computer notes

Good news, my favorite show for this year has been renewed for a 4th season. It was announced at the end of the week, that Fringe will be back for another season. I have to say that makes me very happy, as the story line this year has been great. I am not sure how I would have felt if it got cancelled, and left with an unresolved story. I think also, I am happy as in terms of first run Sci-Fi shows, I am sort of running out of shows to watch. I record a lot of shows, but only a few are Sci-Fi based ones, so the thought of no Sci-Fi shows is not one I really want to think of. So regardless, great news for Fringe, looking forward to the season finale this year, as I get the feeling it is building up to something pretty cool.

The racing season for me starts this weekend. Both Formula 1 and Indycar are starting their seasons on Sunday. F1 is in Australia this weekend after the Bahrain race was postponed due to all the problems in the country. I have to say I am sort of happy they are starting in Australia, as it feels more right to me. It will be interesting to see if Red Bull can repeat all the success they had last year, or if Ferrari or McLaren will knock them off. From the first qualifying, looks like Red Bull is still fast, with Sebastian Vettel getting the pole, but my favorite Lewis Hamilton is right behind. Will also be interesting to see how the Teams handle the KERS that was reintroduced this season, also the new Pirelli tires and how the teams adapt to them. Also F1 has brought back the 107 percent rule, and looks like HRT was the first victim, as they were not fast enough to qualify for the race. I guess that will force that team to get faster, or it will hasten their demise and if they miss a few races, might just fold. Hopefully it does not come to that, but I guess we will see.

On this side of the world, Indycar is starting up at St. Pete.  Hoping for a good race tomorrow, and looks like Will Power has picked up where he left off with taking the pole for that race. I am also very interested to see how Sebastien Bourdais does, he is back in the series and racing for Coyne. Not a very good qualifying today, so hopefully Bourdais can show more in the race. Definitely will be pulling for Bourdais to do well, as it would be nice to see, after all his success in Champcar. I have to admit, I am not really really excited about this years Indycar season. I am sort of just wanting them to get to the new engine and chassis for 2012, so I think I might find 2011 long at times, as I am really not excited at all about the current Indycar specs. Jason and I will be back this year for more Champodcasts, and hoping it will be a good year. Last year we sort of fell off our schedule, but this year, I think we will commit ourselves to putting out the podcasts on a more regular schedule.

Tags: Anomaly Podcast, Champodcast, Formula 1, Fringe, IndyCar, Jason, jedijeffs basement

The Final episode of LOST was wonderful, just a great ending. Thinking about after, leaves me very satisfied, and I like how they have ended it, but have left it open to each persons own interpretations, faith and belief of death and the afterlife.

To me, the Island was real, the characters lived an important part on the island. The final seasons flash sideways was of the step to the Afterlife after each has died.

What Jacob and the Island gave each passenger on Oceanic 815, was a chance to change their course in life, to change the person they were, to lead them to the point to going to the after life, and then passing over. Once each person died, they enter into the next phase, a different life, where they are a different person, but without the island, but with the same people that they were with on the island. Once they as a group were ready, that life ended and they moved onto Heaven. If we don’t work together, we will die alone. Very touching.

Thanks so much to LOST for 6 great seasons, and such a great ending, that has given me the chance to reflect and maybe strengthen my beliefs and faith on what is next after this life.

Tags: LOST