Top 10 Movies of 2008

I'm participating in a "Top 10 Movies of 2008" Blogroll that my Bro-in-law organized.

One caveat, I'm not a huge movie watcher, so there are still a few "must watch" movies that I haven't seen yet, therefore are not on the list. I'm sure, there still quite good.

10) Jumper
I know, I know, the plot was pretty weak, it left a lot of questions unanswered. But, still a cool idea for a movie, I enjoyed it.

9) Cloverfield
Definitely a much anticipated movie for me. A bit of a letdown in some ways, but still kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It did feel really realistic, with the amateur camera shots, no name actors. It all worked well, and didn't feel cheesy.

8) Tropic Thunder
7) Step Brothers
6) Forgetting Sarah Marshall
I'm combining these 3 movies, because they all kind of fit the same category: they won't win any awards, don't have anything intelligent to offer, but really made me laugh my ass off the entire movie. I can't say that about most comedies.

5) Burn After Reading
Also made me laugh a lot. But, this one was definitely a smarter comedy; much drier, but very funny.

4) The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
What can I say...very glad they put the Narnia series into quality feature-length films. C.S. Lewis's stories are timeless and inspiring, but he's not actually that great of a fiction writer. The films are taking his great stories telling them better on screen than in the book. Prince Caspian was no exception.

3) Wanted
While not entirely a unique story line, this Matrix meets Fight Club movie is still well done and exciting, touching upon themes of masculinity and fate. Pretty good review of the movie from Christian point of view.

2) Iron Man
Another great super hero movie with great spiritual themes of repentance and a changed heart. Here's another good review.

1) The Dark Knight
It's nearly unanimous that this was the best film of the year. And this is saying a lot for me, who has never liked any of the Batman movies. Excellent action, excellent acting. Aptly named, it is a dark movie and makes you think while keeping you glued to the action. My church has monthly viewings of popular films followed my discussion. I think I might go to the showing of The Dark Knight they will host on January 23rd.

Other Top Ten Lists:
Cam's at Camknows
Joel's at The Mayward Blog
Carlos' at The Carlos Word
Jason's at The LaFavorites
Charlie's at My Stupid Thoughts
Brian's at The Humphreys Blog

Sorry to interrupt

We are far too polite. We're taught that it's rude to interrupt people and to wait our turn. I'm sure that many of you, like me, are tired of watching debates that are anything but....debates. No matter whom you support in this election, I'm sure you'll agree that no one is consistently answering the questions directly and rarely are directly addressing and countering on a point-by-point basis claims and arguments by their opponent. Isn't that what a "debate" is supposed to be?

I put the blame squarely on the moderator. Too much emphasis is placed upon them asking clever questions (which by the way are always the same easily predictable questions) and barely any emphasis on actually moderating. I want to see them interrupt the candidates and same "no, you may not change the topic...you did not answer the question...please respond to your opponents claims...and beat them over the head until they do so!

I don't need another opportunity to hear them tell me their positions, which we're already acquanited with!

Repatriation - 1 step at a time

I just completed an important step in becoming an American again: I bought a car!

It's interesting, I've only been out of the country for two years. But, it was surprising how much I forgot about the car buying process, logistics of getting insurance and how much, the little things of taking care of a car. These are some of the things that are unique to life in America; or at least life outside of Hong Kong. Life as an expat in Hong Kong can be...too easy in some ways. You don't have a car to take care of, wash on a regular basis. Labor is cheap, so you pay people to wash your clothes, clean your house, drive you from point A to point B. It makes you a bit lazy in many ways. Although, I recognize that there were many unique chores and hardships to that lifestyle as well.

On to the next steps: 1) start my new job as Business Systems Analyst on Monday 2) Find and move into a new apartment! I'm strongly leaning towards West Seattle and have a couple places there I really like.

500 Miles

Thanks to the power of spreadsheets, I know that I have just passed 500 miles run! I started my new life of running at the end of April, last year. I am planning on a long run of 9 miles this Saturday. The weather is supposed to be great, high 60's! I'm progressing well on my plan towards running the North Olympic Discovery 1/2 marathon in early June!

Wish me luck!