Ok, I'll slow down. Spiderman 2 was a kick ass movie, and I'll review it in a second so as not to spoil it for you people wanting to see both it and some new pictures (of which there are many.)
Well, yesterday was Mr. Austin's 31st birthday and although I don't remember all my birthdays, I do remember my 21st, my 30th and my 13th. When I was 13, I had chicken pox. When I turned 21 I got wasted, I think I got lucky, and I'm pretty sure I got a free cake at Denny's. This year the old man started noticing the small things that lined up nicely on his day of days. After submitting headlines for about a year over at Fark.com, I finally got one listed. I usually scour the local news sites, figuring not many Austinites are both witty and quick with news look ups. So yesterday at two in the morning I submitted a couple things while hanging out with our new child, and later that day it was listed. I'm very excited. Don't ask why, I just am.
Also that day, the guy at my comic store knew my name and greeted me when I walked in. That's sort of a "Hey cool, they know my name" and a "Aw crap, they know my name" at the same time. I figure if I keep talking nice with them they'll be ok with shelving anything I give them. Now I just have to draw and print something to give them.
Part of Mrs. Austin's gift to me was to allow me to get in line for Spiderman 2 early so we could all get good seats. That was very generous of her considering the hell she's been through over the last few weeks. So not only did I get in line for seats early, I got in line first. I some comics with me and I got to the theater at 5:00 for a 7:00 show. Yeah, it sounds lame and waste of time, but if you haven't tried it once, may I suggest it. There's nothing like walking into a newly "cleaned" theater and having your absolute pick of seats. Any seat you want is yours. 6 rows back, dead center. And the movie...well. The movie was spectacular.
Before we go on, I'd like to point out that Little Mr. Austin was born on the same date as John Wayne. So while Giblets and Space Cadet are cute, and what I call him in the real world, for the sake of this blog he will heretofore be known as Pilgrim. Yeah, it's a weird thing to agonize over, but such is life, eh?
Both the kids are doing fine. LMA has, as of today, officially graduated into the big kids class at school. It's the last class they offer before kindergarten. She will be in this class until she's probably 5, or maybe earlier depending on how "good" she is. She's one of the younger ones in this class. These other kids are learning math and nuclear fusion and who knows what else. It's another sign that she's growing exponentially and will soon outdistance the knowledge and aptitude of me, at least. Mrs. Austin probably won't ever admit to not being smarter than someone.
Pilgrim (heh) has actually been doing some sleeping the last few days. Not a lot, but more than before. The lengths of time he's asleep are actually longer, and when it's overnight, it translates to a little more sleep for the adults. Keep in mind, he's still only 5 weeks old and has another 5 weeks yet to go before we should be worried about cycles and patterns and what not, so don't give me any guff about getting them ready now and you have to establish roles and schedules early. Yeah, I'm sure you're right, but I'm going to give the 5 week old a little slack.
Mrs. Austin will of course kill me for that because she's the one that has to handle him. If you put him down, he cries. If he's hungry, he cries. If he has gas, he cries. You see, he's a baby, so he cries a lot. The deal is, he cries when he's hungry. So you feed him. While you feed him he poops, then falls asleep. Well, you can't leave him sleeping in poo, so you change his diaper. He wakes up now, and cries. But you think, he's clean and fed and I've been holding him since Tuesday, he's fine. So you leave him alone. We'll, he'll cry until you pick him up, be that 10 minutes, be that 45 minutes. He will not be quiet or still unless he's being feed or asleep and you can't feed him to sleep, and he doesn't go to sleep easily.
Yes yes, it's a big circle. It's the circle of life. Food. Poop. Sleep. (Or as they say in band camp; food, poop, rest.)
I know we've been short on photos, so you're going to get a glut right now. Hope you enjoy. Hope it doesn't blow your browser up.
Our cat George. Yes, his name's George.
This was four different lumps of Playdough.
Fashion clean up on Isle 12.
No words. Just too cute. See, that's a little pink umbrella...and...ah never mind.
Big Sister helping out. This lasts about 12 seconds.
Head size comparison. My hair adds height.
Again, 12 seconds.
All we need is a small corn costume and we've got ourselves a calendar.
Serenity now. Serenity now!
For those of you that stuck around, here's a quick review of Spiderman 2.
Go see it.
Ok, here's a longer version.
This has to be one of, if not THE best comic book movie ever. EVAH!! I mean, you purists with your Superman: The Movie can't just frellin shut up because no way these two movies come close. Superman was a good flick, for its day. Spiderman 2, also a good flick for its day. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?
You couldn't have a more well crafted movie. From start to finish, I was blown away. The imagery, the writing, the cinematography, the effects, the performances. I'm not a big Kirsten Dunst fan, I wish she'd open her eyes, but even she was palatable. I found it hard to dislike much of anything in this movie, which makes it hard to review.
Rami and company did, what most consider, the impossible. That is to have a better sequel than the original. Some exceptions include The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens and X-Men. But all that is debatable. Spiderman 2 is above and beyond the original installment. You feel every fall, you see every punch. There is no clutter, no darkly lit action scenes, and the campy lines you get are there because it's a comic book and you expect them. Alfred Molina was amazing and the depth of character he brought to the set was evident. It's hard acting against a green screen, most people (*coughnatalieportmancough*) can't do it, but Molina and Maquire did just fantastic jobs. Maquire has always been perfect for this part. At first I thought he'd be too squirrely and whiney to play Peter Parker, but then I remembered that Parker is a dork and it would fit just nicely. Molina's role will be remembered in the annals of villian history for many years. Darth Vader, Hannibal Lector, Doc Ock. I'm serious, he was that good.
Now, the effects are just really good. No need to comment on them, they were top of the line, state of the art. My belief was suspended, nuff said.
I was a little put off by James Franco. It seems in the interim two years he's put on some bulk, aged a little, and nicely, and got a good tan. What I think he forgot to do was learn some acting skills. He's no hack, but you tire of the mumblings and over charm he displays. Kirsten Dunst still didn't open her eyes much. Yes, I saw the Stan Lee cameo. No I don't know what happens with John Jameson. Yes Skoda still steals the show.
There's been some grumblings in some online arenas that this movie was really bad. A few guys I know gave it 2 stars out of 5. I can't fathom that. I mean, the expectations were high, but I don't think they were any higher than the Hulk and THAT movie was not very good. Coupled with the upcoming bomb that is Catwoman and you have a man that doesn't understand what these film buffs are expecting.
Just go see it. You won't be sorry.
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