The Dates Are Due On Maple Street

It's been a few weeks since I've had the chance to go out to the movies, so I figured I'd use a little free time I had today to go check out something new. November's been kind of a slow month for movies I'm actually interested in, with only Due Date and Unstoppable being the only ones that have caught my eye so far. So I ended up picking Due Date today, and I can tell you that I dug it a lot.

Yeah, the movie hasn't gotten many glowing reviews (according to Rotten Tomatoes, anyway). But I personally thought Due Date was a fun, funny movie. The plot might be a knockoff of Trains, Planes, and Automobiles, but I still had a great time watching it. Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifinakis are entertaining as all hell, and while there are a few parts that don't quite work, it's relatively consistent in its ability to entertain. I'm gonna give it three and a half stars, and suggest that you check it out if you think it might be up your alley. With the new Harry Potter movie out, you won't have to worry about finding a seat in a theater auditorium showing Due Date.

And while we're on the topic of movies, feel free to head on over to the S@TM blog and read my review of Tron. Since the sequel comes out next month, I figured now would be as good a time as any to review the original. Now do me a favor and click the link, won't you?

Still Writing Elsewhere

While I've been trying to come up with more content for the MSX, I've actually been cranking out a ton of stuff over at the S@TM blog. Since I last made mention of new reviews, I've posted eight new ones. Eight. I've actually posted five of them in as many days. I think that may be a new record for me.

The reviews in question.

• Paranormal Activity 2
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Tank Girl
• The Pest
• Back to the Future
• Back to the Future Part II
• Back to the Future Part III
• Maximum Overdrive

I'd been meaning to review the Back to the Future trilogy for several months now, but I figured that since this past Friday marked the 55th anniversary of the Hill Valley clocktower being hit by lightning, I figured that'd be the best time to post it. And the rest of them? That was just me having a little fun with one of my favorite hobbies. So get to clicking and get to reading, and I'll see you next time.

A First Time For Something Fun

Being a geek, I've always been enamored with the idea of conventions, where like-minded individuals will convene upon a location in celebration of a particular theme or genre. The most famous is the annual San Diego ComicCon, but there's conventions everywhere, dedicated not just to comics but things like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, World of Warcraft, video games in general, and horror movies.

I bring this up because I got to attend my first convention yesterday, a relatively new horror-themed convention in Lexington. It started in 2008 with a reunion of cast and crew members from the first Friday the 13th movie, which I sadly had to miss. (At least footage from it ended up on on the movie's Blu-ray, so that's some consolation.) I ended up missing last year's Scarefest too, but 2010 was finally my year.

And to tell you the truth, I had a load of fun. I wasn't able to come home with as much swag as I'd have liked, but that can easily be fixed in 2011. What I really loved was getting to meet some of the celebrities who were there. Getting to meet guys like Danny Trejo from Machete and zombie godfather George Romero was a real thrill, and as a total fanboy, being able to meet two Jasons - Richard Brooker from the third Friday the 13th and Kane Hodder from the seventh through tenth - was absolutely amazing.

The real highlight for me, however, was getting to meat Tom Atkins. He's one of my favorite actors, and was the best part of one of my all-time favorite movies (Night of the Creeps, for you interested parties), so getting to meet him and have a little small talk was something very special. I was totally starstruck, I must confess, but I'm content in knowing that I got to speak to him in person. I doubt it means much to him at this point in his life and career, but it was a very special moment for me.

Here I am, rambling like a big doofus. I don't really have much else to say, other than I can't wait for the 2011 Scarefest. I really need to plan a month or two in advance for it, but we'll have to wait and see what the next year has in store. Until then, I'm doing pretty darn good regardless. Now if I can just find a way to the San Diego ComicCon...

Happy Ninth Birthday, MSX!

So yeah, today is the MSX's ninth anniversary. I say it every year, but I'm still in awe that I've had this silly little thing open in some form or another for nearly a decade. Today actually kinda snuck up on me, and I didn't have anything prepared to say.

When I opened the MSX over on Tripod.com in 2001, I never thought I'd still be doing something with the blog nine years later. But here I am, honoring the ninth birthday of something that's been both an outlet for me and a crazy use of precious online resources. I know I don't use it to its full potential, but I'm satisfied with what I've had the opportunity to make here. It might need a little spit and polish, and I might need a kick in the butt to start posting something worthwhile more often, but the MSX (and S@TM by extention) is my baby. I'm happy to have it here. And if you've been a long-time reader of either the MSX or S@TM, I appreciate your patronage and would hope that you'd continue to come back. I know I will.

Here's to another nine years of MSX shenanigans.