Movie review: Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer

On June 18, I saw Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer. Of course, this is a sequel to Fantastic Four. Seeing the first movie is probably a must, since all the main characters are established in it. On this sequel, we get right in the story and your supposed to know who the FF are, as well as Doomsday. There is of course a few new characters, the more important of them being the Silver Surfer, whose main purpose seems to be destroying planets. We learn his motivation in this movie.

The special effects are top notch, the story is interesting and there is a good amount of humour, once again. On the first movie, I didn't have much expectations, since I didn't know the background of these characters. But now, I knew about that first movie and seen several episodes of the animated cartoon on TV. I had some expectations this time and they were met. I liked the movie very much and I'm looking forward to the next one, which I'm sure they are already working on. The superhero type of movie is just perfect for sequels, after all.

Movie review: Surf's Up

On June 17 (still catching up!), I saw Surf's Up, the latest computer generated animation from Sony. Another penguin movie...! will they take over the Earth? I won't hold it agaisnt Sony, since these movies takes a long time to do. I mean, I see plenty of movies with humans in them, after all. And the animation is very good, has we have come to expect. Some of the evening/night scenes in particular looked absolutely real.

The story, as the title implies, is about surfing and the creatures that practice it, mainly penguins, but also a chicken. It's very funny and the voices are well chosen for the characters. If you like funny animations, you should like this one. For those who leave during the credits, be warned that there is one final little scene at the very end...

Movie review: Ocean's 13

On June 15 (yeah, I'm late), I went to see Ocean's 13, the sequel to Ocean's 11 & 12. Again, it's the same core cast, the main addition being Al Pacino, who plays a casino owner with very little ethic and against which the Ocean's gang will get revenge, after one of their own get screwed by him.

Again, the story revolve around a complex heist, which will require the talents of the different members of the group. It's starting to be a bit repetitive, but there is new material and hooks, so I still found it quite entertaining, with a few twists and lots of humour. It's not necessary to have seen the previous ones, but it would help.

A nice movie to see if you liked the previous ones.

24 Hours of Flickr in Montreal

Yesterday evening, I went to a cool party at the Société des Art Technologiques in Montréal, organized -and paid for- by Flickr (owned by Yahoo!). It was one of only four cities worldwide to host such an event (the other three were Paris, London and Berlin). There was plenty of schwag, food, booze and music to make it a success. I hope they do it again soon!

The theme, "24 Hours of Flickr" (or "24 Heures de Flickr", the official name in French), was from the book of the same name, featuring pictures taken around the world on May 5th, 2007. Several copies of this book were among the schwag available to party goers.

I wasn't sure if I was going to attend at first, but I sure am glad I did. Fortunately, I knew some of the people that were going, so it made it an easier choice.

This being a party for Flickr users, there were cameras everywhere on the floor. Flashes were going off pretty much all the time. The food was good and so was the music. It was scheduled to be from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, but it was still going strong when I left at 10:30 PM.

Click here for pictures taken at this party by many of the participants.

Thrilling day at La Ronde

Today was the annual picnic day at work and we went to La Ronde, an amusement park here in Montreal. I had not gone there for many years.

The day didn't start so great, with the people over there forgetting to order the prepaid breakfast, but they made it up at lunch time.

Of course, the main attraction are the rides and I discovered a few of the newer ones with great pleasure. They were pretty intense, throwing us sideway, up, down and sometime upside down.

The rides I went on were "Le Monstre", "Goliath" (twice!), "Orbite" and "Le Vampire". They all are in the "Thrill Rides" category, the most intense ones. While I was somewhat regretting going at first, I'm really glad I did go in the end. Good times. :-)

(The picture is of the sculpture at the main entrance.)