The Hangover - Part 2

Finally watched 'The Hangover - Part 2'. For more info on that movie check out the IMDB Page of 'The Hangover - Part 2'.
Here are my thoughts on that movie: The movie opens exactly the same way as the Part 1. This is a recurring theme throughout the entire movie. By the time the movie is over you've watched Part  1 of 'The Hangover' again. There are 2 things that have changed: The location is different and the picture reel during the credits is different. All in all I would say this movie is quite a disappointment!
The dialogue is by far not as good as during Part 1. The jokes aren't either that funny or a remake of the ones in Part 1. The wedding rehearsal dinner stands out as a scene of social awkwardness. While we watch an copy of Part 1 we meet a slew of characters, that actually don't do anything to the story. We meed Mr. Chow from Part 1 again. Their former nemesis has suddenly become Alan's BFF. No real explanation is given for that. That probably is one if the main reasons why that doesn't work for me. It's just way over the top to be even remotely convincing. Besides that the character of Mr. Chow does very little to propel the story.
There is something about the main characters in 'The Hangover - Part 2' that just doesn't work. Stu is freaking out every 5 minutes for no real reason. Phil on the other hand is just there. He doesn't seem to have much of a character definition. And then of course there is Alan. He just seems way too outrageous and crazy compared to the outer main characters.
After several hits and misses the movie follows the exact same path as Part 1. They find the missing Ted again and barely manage to make it to the wedding in time. We have another appearance of Mike Tyson, that didn't seem to have much of a purpose, except the fact that he had an appearance in Part 1.
All in all an funny movie. On a scale of 1 to 10, I probably would give it a 4.5!!

X-Men First Class

Finally got around to watching 'X-Men First Class'. If you have no idea what movie I'm talking about it, just check out the IMDB Page on 'X-Men First Class'.
It was a really fun action movie and I did enjoy it a lot. I've to admit it's not your typical comic book movie, like Spiderman 2. But it is very well thought through action movie. Some of the SFX like the rockets changing direction in midair were very well done and I enjoyed them a lot.
In general this movie lives a lot from the dialogue. It explains how it all started. In my opinion this movie is way more dialogue driven than many other action movies. There are not many odd jumps within the plot. The actors portray their roll very well, but don't do much on their own with the character. They keep pretty much to the script. If they had done a little more with their character and added some more humor to the character it would have made the movie even more enjoyable.
The movie is set during the Cuban Missile Crises and that works very well. In the movie the setup for the standoff between USA and USSR is done a little too quick to be really convincing. If the producer had spent here a little more time setting things up, that would have been a significant improvement. Although I love the SFX with the rockets changing direction a midair, it also adds an almost comical element to the movie. Not sure how that could have been done differently, but this scene should have been serious.
The scene were Magneto starts moving into the direction he's going to play in the other X-Men movies, is not what I would call a happy fit. It's done too quickly. The producer didn't take enough time to set up things right. There is just too little explanation given to really explain it, so that the viewer would be convinced. And of course I just loved Wolverine's great line!
All in all a very good action movie. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 8!!

What's new in 2012 ??

Well, 2011 was the year of changes on a personal level: I broke up with my partner of 8 years, planned a transcontinental move and finally moved in August back to Austria.
2012 will be a year of big changes on a professional level. Let me explain that a little more in detail. The break-up in 2011 was way more than just the end of a long term relationship. For me it was a time to completely reevaluate my life on a personal and professional level. It was a time to figure out how and in which way do I want to tackle future relationships. For me that was way easier to figure out than the changes on a professional level. I had to ask myself if I really wanted to do what I had been doing the past 20 years. The answer to that question was: No. So I spent several month to figure out what direction I wanted to go. The thing I would love to do, just doesn't pay the bills. So I had to find a more workable solution.
It occurred to me that it is not to line of work that I had been doing during the past 20 years that was bothering me, but the actual job position I was able to get. Furthermore I realized that the right way to go would be to change the job parameters and that can only work by adding to an existing job qualification. Yes, guys you heard right. I'm 40 years old in and in January I will be going back to school! At least for 6 weeks I'll be attending the Financial Academy in Vienna!
In January I will start to go after my Certification as Public Accountant after UGB and IFRC and the certification as EMA (European Accounts Manager). It's a currently well sought diploma and not that easy to get and certainly not what I would call cheap. All in all it will cost me about 2.800 bucks.
First up will be an intensive 6-week course in Advanced Accounting. After that I might take 2 additional classes to refresh my knowledge of Electronic Accounting and Accounting on SAP. That by itself will open up an entirely new 'job pool'.
After that I will be taking evening and weekend courses pretty much for the rest of 2012 and 2013 including the following topics:

• Economical Mathematics
• Human Resource Management & Salary Calculation
• Tax Law
• Value Added Tax Law
• Advanced Tax Law
• Income Tax Law
• Advanced Economical Tax Law
• Cost Calculation
• Commerce Law
• Advance Accounting Rules and Regulations
• Advanced Salary Calculation

After I've passed each of these exams I have to pass the final exam in front of a commission. Once I've passed that final exam I can call myself Certified Public Accountant and European Accounts Manager!!
So there will be lots of going to school in the next 2 years!

New Years Eve

I was invited to 2 parties for this New Years Eve. I was only interested in going to one of these parties. Daisy would have to stay home from the party, since there would be too many "crazy" people and too much noise to be fun for her. This would also be the first New Years Eve in 2 years with fireworks going off left and right, so I decided to spend New Years Eve with Daisy at my parents. 
My parents had invited a former co-worker of theirs, whom I hadn't seen in almost 20 years. So catching up and chatting with them was actually quite fun. For the most part of the evening Daisy was doing just fine. She slept to most of the fireworks that were going off periodically throughout the entire evening. At midnight when all the fireworks were going off at the same time, well that was a little too much for her. First she hid right under my chair. Since that didn't seem to do the trick, she sat right next to me looking for protection. Of course I paid attention to her and it calmed her right down. She still wasn't happy about the fireworks and luckily the worst part was over after about 20 minutes. After that Daisy just chilled out for the rest of the evening. I had to wait till about 2 am to take Daisy for her last walk of the day, since she doesn't do her business with fireworks going off. At that time it was already fairly quiet and everything went off without any problems. So all in all a fairly easy New Years Eve and I'm glad, that I chose to stay home with Daisy!!

The Hangover - Part 1

Well today I finally watched the 'The Hangover - Part 1'. It's one of those movies I never got around to watching when it was out at the movies. For a synopsis and more info check out the IMDB Page of "The Hangover".
Well the movie starts pretty conventional: A few guys going to Vegas for a bachelor party. Yes there are a couple of funny scenes in that: A teacher that steals from his kids and another guy obviously violating his restraining order. Up to the drinking party on the roof of Caesar's Palace, there's not much of the ordinary. Then the fun part starts.
The guys find themselves in a pretty messed up $ 4.200 suite with a tiger, a baby, a chicken and missing a tooth and the groom. The reason for the existence of the chicken in the room is never being questioned and so we never find out where it came from or what happened to it in the end. Then the search for their missing memory begins. It has almost the making of a criminal investigation conducted few entirely inept guys. This part is absolutely hilarious. Their search leads them to a wedding chapel, a sweet hooker, a chinese Mobster, a emergency room doctor and finally to Mike Tyson. The absurdity of the situations keep on increasing. It's one of those movies, where you think you've seen it all...well, but you haven't. The thing about this movie is that you almost find yourself caring about the characters and the fact that you realize that you almost do, makes this movie even funnier.
Zach Galifianakis performance of Alan is truly outstanding! Ken Jeong plays the chinese mobster very well. Of course he plays it completely over the top, but that's what makes it funny. The fact that he finds anything what a fat man does funny adds to his role. Of course we have an added twist, that they get the wrong Doug. That really didn't come as a big surprise. Finally a mattress impaled on one of the statues of Caesar's Palace gives the final clue and they find the missing groom and head back to LA.
The end of the movie is both: A little too over the top and a little too conventional. Well I've lived 8 years in LA and I've never ever seen a mobile tux rental service throw the clothes into their customers car on the freeway. Btw. I've never ever seen anyone change into a tux on a freeway either. Yes it makes a good visual effect, but it's just too over the top, especially when you're already winding the movie down back the the conventional layer. They had to end the movie conventional, since the movie started out that way. But the transition between hilarious part and the conventional part is not what I would call a happy solution. It's just too abrupt and seems to come out of nowhere.
All in all a very funny movie and I definitely was quite entertained all the way through. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 6.5!!

Source Code

Well I finally got around to watching 'Source Code'. Not entirely sure why I never got around to watching  when it was out at the moves, but for some reason it never happened. If you have no idea what movie I am talking about, check out the IMDB Page of 'Source Code'.
Well 'Source Code' starts out great. Loved the SFX and loved the fact that the viewer is kept quite confused at the beginning. That's definitely great storytelling. After Colter Stevens goes through the first 2 rotations, it reminded me about watching TNG episode 'Cause and Effect'. As a Star Trek enthusiast I loved that idea. Well, that love was certainly short lived. As they did way too many rotations and gaining way too much information.
That's the exact point where the story becomes actually quite slow. All the rotations and all the special effects can't mask that. Although Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan do an excellent acting job, the entire story just doesn't seem to make much progress. While I do like the fact that the actor becomes self aware of his surroundings, the lack of explanation how that came to happen is definitely a major disappointment.
What happens next is something that has become typical for American Main-Stream Cinema. Instead of playing off on all the drama that surrounds this story, we get another clone made in Hollywood: Evil terrorist tries to blow up city. Terrorist is dumb enough to warn everyone. Army starts a most questionable experiment to stop the terrorist. We had that concept way too often before, it's brainless and boring! This part of the movie is absolutely awful!!
The could have played off the drama of the morality of the entire experiment. They could have used the inner fight of Colter Stevens between his personal choice and his duty. The could played off the drama that Goodwinn goes through during the experiment. They even could have played off the entire Frankenstein theme. But no, they only scratch the surface. If they had cut out the entire Terrorist vs Army plot and used all the drama, that is contained within the experiment itself, it would have been an amazing movie.
The end of the movie has an interesting twist. Apparently they created an alternate timeline after all. Really love that twist. The fact that Goodwinn finally listens to her conscience is a really great touch. I really would have loved to be given a further explanation for the alternate timeline, but that of course never happens.
All in all a good movie, except for the middle part of course. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would probably give it a 6!!

Jack and Jill

Watching 'Jack and Jill' was certainly an experience of the special kind. If you have no clue what movie I'm talking about check out the IMDB Page of 'Jack and Jill'.
Well there's only 1 way to describe this movie: It's absolutely awful!! It's definitely one of the 2 worst movie I've seen in 2011 and shares that top spot with Apollo 18. If i could say that I was entertained, well that would be something. The sad truth is, that I wasn't.
The movie doesn't start out that bad, but it goes downhill from there. It lines up situation after situation, that are supposed to be funny...but they ain't. They're going way over they top with the allegedly funny situations, that they just don't come of as funny at all. It's just one truly dumb situation after another. If I haven't miscounted, then there are 3 funny situation in there, that actually make you laugh.
With that being said, Sandler really tries to safe this move and his craft shows while he's making an complete fool out of himself. It is sad that they choose to have Sandler portray his sister as a drag queen character, but this situation is actually quite funny.
Of course the real reason to see this movie is to see Al Pacino as a horror -show version of himself. That part of the movie is quite entertaining.
If they had kept the beginning, the 'drag queen' scene and Al Pacino's scene...well it would have been a short movie, but at least it would have been funny.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this movie a 1.5!!