2011 January-June Movies

Following up to my January movies-watched post

Very Good

Source Code

- pretty much knew that the twist at the end would happen but getting there was an excellent ride.  Suspense was kept up through the movie.

Super 8

- kinda like Goonies without Data (yah, I'm that old).  Storyline and kids' acting are engaging.

Thor

- another great comic book adaptation.  Good characters that are true to their mythology.

X-Men: First Class

- a good villain (and villain in the making) does make up for a legion of superheroes.

Good

Battle Los Angeles

- action is pretty good.  Gritty alien tech is impressive but aliens themselves are just there to be blown away.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

- much better than POTC 2 and 3, which were just confusing.  Stuck to a decent story and ran with it.  
Rango

- very good animated movie.  Westerns are not my thing, but still quite watchable.

Tron 2: Legacy

- decent movie but too much Gladiator-styling for the games instead of Tron-but-updated computer game setting.  Should have gone MMORPG.

The Social Network

- fast pace good.  Too many spoilers from reviews and real-life.

OK only
Bridesmaids
Priest

- forgettable
Centurion

- forgettable

The Resident
 - Not creepy enough
The Adjustment Bureau
- characters lacked chemistry, liked the doors.
Fast Five
- super-bad-physics alert.
I am Number Four
- teenage angsty.
Mars Needs Moms
- typical disney.


Yawn
Green Lantern
- why oh why did they bother making this.
The Expendables
- all those action stars and that''s the best they could do?
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps
- enough with the self-righteous exposition on how the recession happened.
Sucker Punch
- confusing.
The Mechanic
- forgettable.
Season of the Witch
- slow.

Home Project over 4th of July Holiday Long Weekend

The U.S. Independence Day holiday (4th of July) fell on a Monday this year, a nice 3-day long weekend.  Unfortunately, it also had bright cloudless skies and 33-35C high temperatures almost all 3 days.  This meant what I had originally planned as a one-afternoon home improvement project stretched out to almost 3 afternoons. Every 30 minutes I spent outside, I had to cool down inside for 1 hour!  (Why didn't I do it in the mornings while it was cool?  Would you wake up early during a long weekend?)

No, the project wasn't planting flowers.  Credit for the nice foliage goes to Jia Nin (check out her Flickr site here and here).  My contribution is the red-brick that line the walkway.  


The issue is that those flower beds slope away from the house.  Normally, this is not a problem as it helps shed water away from the foundations of the house.  Unfortunately, it also means that good top soil and compost is washed away when there are ultra-heavy rains, like during a few of the spring storms this May.  This exposes plant roots and flower bulbs, not to mention messes up the walkway.  So I decided to hold back the soil by adding a raised brick edge.


The process is well documented on the internet, which is where I did the research, naturally.  Of course, since each DIY site has their own recommendations and methods, deciding which to use is a challenge in itself.  After a bit of trial and error the first afternoon, I chose this method.


I'm only half done right now.  The far end of the line of bricks has to turn the corner in a 90 degree arc.  The long-ish brick we chose did not follow the curve close enough.  Time to go back to the stores and see what they have!