Last night I turned on the TV to watch the fourth quarter of the NBA finals. I'm not really a big fan of either team playing (Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs), but I decided to watch the end because I was hoping to see a thrilling game ending like game six was. I use to hate the Spurs because they would also beat the Suns in the playoffs, and that was about my the only reason actually. Every since the Suns swept the Spurs in the 2010 playoffs I actually don't mind them any more. With the Heat I'm not fan, but I also don't hate them like a lot of people do. So anyways, what I'm trying to say is that this game had no real meaning for me.
At the end of the game though I was really impressed with the way the both teams handled themselves. Before celebrate Lebron James walks up to Tim Duncan and gives a big hug. Then I see Dwayne Wade and Gregg Popovich hugging and talking. Next thing I know I see players and coaches from both sides hugging and congratulating each other. Usually I see players and coaches give a quick high five or something, but its rare to see players act the way they did last night, and really show some emotion.
Having played many sports in my day I've been on both ends of losing big games and winning big games, and let me say when you lose, especially when you gave it your all, it's not easy to go straight up to the other guys and congratulate them. And also when you win, it's hard to contain your excitement and say good game to the guys who just lost, so for both teams to do that I was pretty impressed.
It was awesome to see guys like Tony Parker, Wade, Lebron, and Tim Duncan, who are players that everyone loves to talk trash about, myself included at times, were able to show the world great sportsmanship. Even if it was for show and this guys didn't really mean it, (which I'm sure many people think) I'm glad they did because it show to the rest of us that if these superstars who play at this elite level can have sportsmanship, we can all do it. Sports can be ugly and even downright horrible at times, but it can also be good and have incredibly positive affects on people. I'm glad that these players showed the good side last night, that no matter what, win or lose you still hold your head up high and respect one another because at the end of the day it is just game.
Lately I have been interested in learning more about the life of Joseph Smith. I find the early days of the
church so fascinating because it was a time when the early saints were trying to find their place in the world, and adjust to their new teachings. It was a time of learning and also a great deal persecutions. Joseph introduced the world to something unlike anything they had in world. It was something that had only existed in Bible stories. This was something new and exciting, but for many it was also threatening. It was a lifestyle change, and it was both glorious and incredibly challenging at the same time.
I often find myself wondering if I were to have lived in those days, would I have been able to accept all the things Joseph Smith taught? It's interesting for me to see the
lifestyle of Joseph and the early saints and how they evolved. The more I learn of Joseph the more I come to see that he was a flawed man just like you and me, which for some can cause them to doubt his prophetic calling.
Along with my curiosity of understanding Joseph and the early saints, I have also been pondering on my own testimony, especially of Joseph Smith's calling as a Prophet of God. I find myself asking
sometimes, was he really a prophet? Did he really see God? Or even things like
maybe he did lose his way as he grew older. In the word today the values of the
church are being mocked and everywhere we turn there is opposition to it. It's
hard sometimes to remember why we live the teachings of the gospel or why we
need to listen to a prophet. I feel maybe I have let myself succumb to the world?
I see things and I wonder why am I not participating in those things again? The
natural man tries to tell me that it's natural; it's part of life to experience
all it has to offer in every facet.
This other day I was reading in the Joseph Smith history, and these thoughts were pressed upon my mind. I was reading about Joseph's vision and as well as the persecutions he received afterwards because of it, and I came across this statement:
As I read this I was
reminded once again why I believe in this incredible experience and this young
prophet, who was both a flawed human being, but also an inspired servant of God. It took me back to the time when I was 14 years old and I received my first
answer to a prayer, or when I was 18 years old sitting on my cousins couch, reading the Book of Mormon, and I had the most overwhelming and sensational feeling of
gratitude, excitement and love like nothing I had ever experienced. Or when I was at the funeral of my best friend and it should have been a time of darkness, but instead it was a time of peace, because I had the most reassuring feeling
that I would see him again one day. Or
the time when I was a missionary and changing mine and other peoples lives for the good, or the day I looked across into the eyes of my soon to be bride
and told her I wanted to marry her for all eternity. All of these experiences
and many more help remind me that I knew, and that God knew, that I have a firm
testimony and understanding that Jesus Christ is real, and that he has called a
prophet to teach us of him. They were moments of God's love and mercy, and moments when God was telling me He knows me. I realized once again something I already knew,
which is something that I cannot deny.
The month of May has always been one my favorite months of the year. If I had to rank the months, May would probably be a close second behind December. Some of the reasons I love May is because its the end of the school year, the NBA playoffs, the Arizona heat begins (I love the heat, and I find the month of May's temperature to be perfect before we get the to 110 plus weather), swimming season begins, and Memorial Day. There's a lot of things I love about May, but I think two of my favorite might be the summer blockbuster season begins in May, and season finales of my favorite TV shows!
Over the years May has given my friends and I some awesome memories in the form of attending movie premiers and watching season finales of TV shows together. Some of those include the Star Wars Episode 3 midnight showing where my buddies and I ran all around dueling other fans with lightsabers in anticipation, and to last year's opening day premier of The Avengers. In this particular month, where we saw the end of Dunder Mifflin, the return of the Bluths, the adventures of USS Enterprise, the return of an Avenger, and so much more, I couldn't resist in sharing my two cents about what I thought about all of them. So what I'm going to do first is give a quick review of all the season finales I was able to watch, and then move onto to the most recent movies that were released. For each one I review I'm going to give it a score out of 10. And as the Joker once said:
"And here...we go..."
TV Shows
The Office- "Finale"
*just a heads up, there are a few spoilers in this part so if you haven't seen it yet then I wouldn't read it.
I don't think I've ever been so excited to watch a season finale of a TV show as I have with The Office. My last blog post was dedicated to my favorite episodes of this amazing shows, and if I were to redo that list I would definitely include this episode in my top ten favorite episodes. The characters of this show have almost become old friends and with saying goodbye to the show I felt like I was saying goodbye to old friends. This show always was so great at balancing comedy as well being heartwarming, and this finale kept to that same formula. I expected to laugh during this finale, but I didn't expect to be moved the way I was. This episode had all the humor that you expect from the Office, and as well as the great character moments. Every character had their own moment and each of them were able to say goodbye in some form. I laughed, cried, and enjoyed every minute of this finale, and I would think that anyone who is a fan of this great show will also enjoy it!
There were a few things in particular that I really loved about this episode. The first of course was the return of greatest boss in the world, Michael Scott! His introduction was perfect, and I think I laughed for about 5 minutes afterwards (and shed a few tears). The next thing I loved was Andy's quote "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them". That silly but profound quote reminded me that it's important to always live in the moment, and enjoy what's around us now. And lastly I really thought Pam's whole ending speech was amazing. The part where she talked about not waiting for things to happen, but that we need to act was very inspiring. (My brother Myke wrote a great blog post about this) The last phrase of the whole thing was probably my favorite though "I think an ordinary paper company like Dunder-Mifflin was a
great subject for a documentary. There's a lot of beauty in ordinary things.
Isn't that kind of the point?"
For those that have not heard of this show it is amazing! It was created by Jonathan Nolan, brother of Christopher Nolan, and produced by J.J. Abrams. It's kind of like a mix between Batman, the Bourne movies, and the movie Minority Report. It's about two guys who try to prevent murders from happening before they actually happened. This show has great crime drama, with great a great cast. Every episode is always so unpredictable and exciting. This season did a great job at building up to epic climax and it definitely delivers. The only complaint I have about this show is sometimes I have know idea what is going, and it takes some pausing and rewinding to figure it out. Besides that though this is one awesome show!
This is the television show about the DC superhero the Green Arrow, who is one of DC's lesser known superheroes. When I watched the first episode I wasn't very impressed, but after watching a few more episodes this has become one of my new favorite TV shows. The season finale was probably the best episode yet. It did something that a lot of shows don't do. The bad guy was caught, but his plan went through, which was blowing up half the city. This show usually always has great action, and it has great characters. I didn't think I'd ever like a show on the CW this much!
Score 9/10
Parks and Rec - "Are You Better Off?"
The Parks n Rec finale didn't really feel like a finale episode, it played out more like a normal episode you watch during the season., but that is okay because this is one of the best shows on TV. This episode started out with Andy trying to figure out which one of the female characters is pregnant and ends with an unexpected twist for one of the characters. Lots of great laughs and a good ending to another great season of the best comedy series still on TV.
This came out in April, but I think I watched most of it during the month of May. This show had some great interpretations of the famous Bible stories, but there were a few that didn't quite work too well. Some of the stories I thought they did a good job of depicting were David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion's den, and the life of Christ. The way they depicted Christ and some of the events of his life was the highlight of this mini series, but it was also fun to see some of the old testament stories as well. The crucifixion and resurrection scenes were especially done very well. It did a great job at showing the depth and pain the Savior went through for each of us. These scenes really touched me, and it was a great reminder of the importance of the atonement. I would definitely recommend this part of the series. Overall I'm glad I watched it, even if some of the other stories didn't get as much attention as others. If you decide to watch it be aware they do change a few things.
The return of the crazy Bluth family has been long overdue and long anticipated. This wasn't a season finale but a whole new season four that debuted on Netflixs on May 26th. The show was cancelled in 2006 due to poor rating, but it has gained a huge following since then. I didn't really get into the show until about 2011. While this isn't my favorite TV show, its probably my favorite comedy show, so I was very excited to see this show return. But did it live up to the hype and excitement? Yes and no, but mostly yes. With so much hype going into in it's very hard to meet all the expectations. The thing that made the first 3 seasons great was all of the characters worked so well together, and in these new episodes we didn't get to see all the characters together, due to the actors busy schedules. In these new episodes they gave each character their own episode, and while it was a neat idea, it wasn't as fun as one would think to see the focus on just one character at a time. The episodes that focused on Lindsey particularly were my least favorite. Many of the episodes seemed to drag on a little, many of the new characters weren't very funny, and some of the jokes just didn't seem as witty as they once were in the first three season.
With that said though there was a lot of things that I really enjoyed and a lot of Bluth fun to be had. Whenever the original characters interacted with each other usually provided some of the best comedic moments. This show has always been great at inside jokes, and they continue that with great precision. I was also pleased to see the return of my two favorite supporting characters Barry Zuckerkorn and Gene Parmesan. The episodes that focused on Michael and Tobias were probably my favorite ones. If you're a fan of the the show I think you will enjoy watching these new episodes. They might not as be as entertaining as the first three seasons, there is still a lot of good stuff here.
This movie technically came out in April, but I still wanted to give a quick review of it. Oblivion borrows from a lot of other sci-fi movies, which didn't bother me at all. Tom Cruise does a great job in this movie, but Morgan Freeman's character isn't used as well as he could have been. The three things that I enjoyed most about this movie was the music, the visuals, and all of the twists and turns. Its a little slow getting going in the beginning, but the last 45 minutes or so are filled with a lot of action, and so many plot twists that keeping you guessing to the very last scene. I left the theater still trying to figure out exactly what happened, but I really like movies like that. The more I thought about the plot and once I figured it all out the more I liked it.
Score 8/10
Iron Man 3
Just a heads up this will contain spoilers. This movies has been out a month now, and has made a billion dollars so I think most people have scene it. If you haven't seen it, go see it! If not then I would skip this.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a huge superhero movie fan, especially the Marvel movies. (You can read why I love this movies so much here.) Alright, so I both loved this movie, but I also have a few grips with it. So first thing I wanted to address is the big twist. I love when movies have twists, but with that said I was really looking forward to seeing Ben Kingsley version of The Mandarin. All the previews and the first half of the movie were building him up to be such a bad dude. I was thinking we were going to get another Heath Ledger Joker performance for a while. As a comic book fan I couldn't help be disappointed for a little bit, but I decided I would roll with this plot twist and see how it would play out. As the movie went on I really started to like Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian character, and by the end of it I could see him as the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the Mandarin. Sure he was different from the comics, but he made the movie very entertaining and fun! Just like in comics there are different versions of characters, I think of this as the movies version of the Mandarin. But like I said before I was disappointed that I didn't get see Ben Kingsley's Mandarin. So while I'm a little bit on the fence with the plot twist, overall I thought it worked out. Next time I just think they probably shouldn't use Iron Man's arch nemesis for a plot twitst.
Besides that, the rest of the movie was great! There are some plot holes here and there, but they didn't bother me like they did other people. Robert Downey Jr. is once again amazing as Tony Stark, and I hope that he returns for The Avengers 2. This movie had the best action sequences out of all the Iron Man films, and it was also the funniest. Out of all the stand alone Marvel movies (so pretty much everything except the Avengers), I would say this is my third favorite after Thor, and the first Iron Man.
Score 9/10
The Great Gatsby
This movie has seemed to have caused quite a controversy. I've witnessed quite a few debates about his one, and it seems as though most people either hated it or loved it. Since it was directed by Baz Luhrmann I knew going into it that was going to be have a different vibe to it, and I feel like those that didn't like it were hoping it would be just like the book. I can understand that people didn't like it, but the thing I don't get is why they were upset with the music and style when it was clearly advertised that this was going to be a different take on Gatsby. The previews I thought did a good job at showing you just what the movie was going to be like. It had the modern music, and the unique style to it, so it seems interesting to me that people were disappointed with those things, when that was exactly what was advertised. In a way this was a modern day take on the Great Gatsby, and I didn't mind that all. I mean lets face it, the story of The Great Gatsby, at least in my opinion, is kind of slow, and I thought the musics and the visuals helped make it a little bit more interesting. I thought the cast was great, especially Leonardo Dicaprio, and I even liked Tobey Maguire in this non Peter Parker role.
The story itself is another thing that I have heard people criticize as well because it is about self obsessed rich snobs. I remember when I read the book in high school I was intrigued by the story, but overall nothing from the book really stayed with me. One thing I liked about the movie was that it shows that the superficial lives that the characters are trying to live in the end doesn't bring happiness. That way of life might be fun for a while but in the end it will get you know where. A few others things that I thought that it portrayed well was that adultery only brings about heartache and lies, and that if our lives become focused on seeking riches and a high social status we lose what's most important to us. I think its rare these days for Hollywood movies to address these types of issues, and I felt like this movie did this a bold way. So overall, I understand this isn't a movie for everyone, and it's not necessarily one that I want to watch over again, at least for a while, but it is a very well done film.
I grew up watching Star Wars as kid, and before seeing the 2009 Star Trek movie I had never seen any of the old Star Trek movies, or any of the TV shows. With Star Wars and Star Trek fans being rivals all these years how did a Star Wars fan enjoy the latest Star Trek? I absolutely loved it! For me, it is probably the best movie I have seen so far this year! It's a very fast paced action adventure film, but it also delivers a lot of great character moments. It carries on the momentum and fun that was established in the 2009 film, and adds to it. One thing I love about this movie is how well the characters interact with each other. It's able to focus on the main characters and their progression, but also make very good use of all the supporting characters. The action is incredible, and there are so many twists and turns throughout. This movie had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. The villain, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, was so fun to watch. It also gave me a great reminder of the importance of friendships, and putting the needs of others before our own. Seriously, go see this movie, it's pretty amazing! These movies have made me want to be a trekkie.Watching this movie also makes me so excited to see what J.J. Abrams will do with Star Wars!
I am new comer to this series, having only seen this one and Fast Five. I actually really enjoyed Fast Five and so I assumed this one would be similar. This was one ridiculous movie, but it's also an incredibly fun movie. Don't go into this movie thinking realistic action movie, but rather dumb fun movie, and you will be entertained. The thing this movie knows how to do best is entertain. It may get a little over the top at times, but its still knows how to entertain you. And isn't that one of the main reason we watch movies?
Like Fast and Furious this is also one entertaining movie. From start to finish this movie kept me in wonder and guessing what's going to happen next. If you like Ocean's 11 or The Prestige (while it's not as good as either of those) then you will enjoy this one. The cast is great, but some of them don't have too much do it. This movie was a nice change of pace from the typical summer blockbusters. There are a lot of twists and turns in this movie and most of them work out great, but there's one towards the end that I wasn't too sure about. Overall this is a really fun movie and I would recommend it as a fun summer blockbuster.
This is the newest Will Smith film that pairs him with his son Jaden and struggling director M. Night Shyamalan in a Sci-Fi adventure film. I had really high hopes for this. I've always enjoyed Will Smith, and I loved the movie The Pursuit of Happiness, which also started him and Jaden. I have also been rooting for M. Night Shyamalan to make a comeback. I loved his first few films (Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village), but his more recent movies (Lady in the Water, The Last Airbender) were pretty bad. The trailers made it look like this was going to be good one. Then the reviews started coming out, and they were not very good. The movie was panned by critics, and this started to get me worried, but I still wanted to see for myself. So what I did I think of it? Well is wasn't ground breaking, but it also wasn't a total bomb like all the other reviews say. The story is pretty straight forward, but I think that is the part I liked. It's a story about survival, and the relationship between father and son. It was really interesting to see this new evolved earth, but I wish they would have shown us a little more. It's a little slow at first, but once little Smith is out on his adventure things start to pick up, and there are some really great moments. The music is great in this film, but the special effects are a little hit and miss. For the most part they are good, but there are a few scenes that feel like they should be something on the Sci-Fi channel. The acting is also hit and miss, with moments of greatness, and then sometimes it's a little stiff (but I think that was Will was going for). I had good time watching it, and the movie had the potential to be great, but instead it settles on being decent.
Score 6.5/10
Man I watched a lot TV and Movies this month. After writing all this I started to think that I had no life this past month, but then I remembered that the first part of May I finished up the spring semester, started summer school, worked 30-35 hour weeks, went to traffic school, spent hours on homework, and went to all of my mutual activities. Its been a pretty busy month!
Well thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun! Who knows maybe I'll start doing this every month!
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