Shade & Sweet Water

100 "new-to-me" movies doesn't seem that hard, and yet, I've never made it.  Last year, I saw 80 movies.

I'm hoping to watch more classics and really study and understand what makes a movie good... or, at least, I want to be able to better articulate why I like or dislike a movie. Hopefully, thoughout the year, I'll post movie reviews again... both long form and shorter capsule reviews. But until then, I hope that I'm at least learning.

As always, I'll have a brief rating that gives a glimpse as to what I felt after the initial viewing.

5 STARS Life changing.  I love this movie.

4 STARS An excellent film.  Highly recommended.

3 STARS Competent film.  Neither good nor bad.

2 STARS More bad than good but still had something one can appreciate.

1 STAR Ugh.  Not pretty at all.

Here's to another year!

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By the end of 2017, seventy "new-to-me" movies were consumed. I keep hoping that I'll get to that fabled "100" movies, but I can't seem to get over that hump.

This year continues the trend as I continue to document and log the movies I've watched through the course of the year.

As always, the movies on the this list will consist of "new-to-me" movies... movies, no matter how old or new, that I had never seen before.  No tv shows.

I will also rate the movies on a 5-star scale (with 1/2 stars to give the ratings more nuance).

Here's my scale:

5 STARS Life changing.  I love this movie.

4 STARS An excellent film.  Highly recommended.

3 STARS Competent film.  Neither good nor bad.

2 STARS More bad than good but still had something one can appreciate.

1 STAR Ugh.  Not pretty at all.

And with that, let's start the list:

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Another year, another list.  Like years past, I will track all of the "new" movies I haved watched throughout the course of the calendar year.  I am making it a personal goal to watch as many movies as possible from as many genres as possible.  Just like previous years, "new" refers to any and all movies that I watch that I have not watched before.  So this can include new releases as well as catalog titles.  TV shows will not be tracked.

Also, I will, again, rate the movie on how much I enjoyed them.  The rating will be a snapshot of what I felt after it's initial viewing.  However, know that my tastes tend to shift and sometimes, after a while, a movie that I liked might become a movie that I hate.... but regardless, the ratings that you see will be my first blush impression.

Here's my rating scale:

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It's been almost 2 years since I've really stepped foot into the halls of LiveJournal.  I skipped last year's movie list completely.  But with this new year,  I realized how much I missed seeing what new movies I've seen through the course of the year.  So here it is, I'm back again to track my movie viewing over the course of this calendar year.

Like in years past, I will list any "new" movie that I watch during the course of the calendar year.  "New" does not only refer to movies released this year (whether that be in the theaters or on disc) but also to any older movies that I haven't seen before or so old that I don't remember ever watching it.  I will not include TV shows because, if I did, then this list would get long and ugly.

Also, I will, again, rate the movie on how much I enjoyed them.  The rating will be a snapshot of what I felt after it's initial viewing.  However, know that my tastes tend to shift and sometimes, after a while, a movie that I liked might become a movie that I hate.... but regardless, the ratings that you see will be my first blush impression.

Here's my rating scale:

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For the last couple of years, I've been tracking my movie watching habits and keeping track of every "new" movie I watched throughout the course of that year.  Initially, I had the lofty goal of watching 100 new movies in a year but, as the years progressed, I got further and further away from that goal.  In fact, last year, I hit an all-time low of 53 movies (2009 was the year I saw the most new movies... 76 total).  Now, to be fair, last year was a rather craptastic year for me on a personal level and so I didn't get much "me" time to sit and watch movies.  Also I was still finishing up my quest to watch every episode of STAR TREK from the Original Series to Enterprise.

Well... it's a new year and STAR TREK has been completed!  My slate is clear and I can watch movies to my heart's content... once I get past that whole "working" thing.

Anyway, like in previous years, I'm going to track any "new" movie I watch during the year.  As always, "new" refers to any movie I watch that I had never watched before.  So classics like GONE WITH THE WIND can sit side-by-side with the upcoming IRON MAN 3... as long as I've never watched it before, it'll go on the list once I do watch it.

I am going to alter things a little, though.  I'm getting rid of the NO STARS rating.  The reality is, I try and find something positive in any movie I watch and I've never found myself using that rating.  Also, It shifts the ratings a bit so that 3 STARS is right in the middle... it's a movie that is okay but by no means a great film.  Also, half stars are used to give broader range for rating purposes.

Don't worry though... if a movie does someone manage to make me want to gouge out my eyes, there is still my rating system for that.  You can read that here http://krono0666.livejournal.com/1140.html


5 STARS Life changing.  I love this movie.
4 STARS An excellent film.  Highly recommended.
3 STARS Competent film.  Neither good nor bad.
2 STARS More bad than good but still had something one can appreciate.
1 STAR Ugh.  Not pretty at all.

Here hoping I watch a lot of movies this year!


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I’ve been meaning to update this blog for awhile now.  I don’t know… every time I sit down in front of the computer, typing about myself or doing a movie review, I just don’t feel like it.  And yet, I keep saying that I will.  I’ve been promising myself that, even if no one reads this, I need to do this.  Not only to keep my writing sharp, but to also just put myself out there more. (Okay, that’s a lie.  My writing has never been sharp… but hell, even a dull knife cuts through a bagel when you work on it long enough).

So, anyway… I know I tend to play things close to the vest.  Most of the people I consider my friends probably don’t really know much about me at all.  Sure, they could probably predict that I won’t kill someone (or won’t I? Hmmm…), but most folk don’t know me on a deeper level.  If I keep this up, hopefully you’ll understand me a little bit more.

But enough about that…



I’ve been four weeks out on the field with my new job as Retail Representative for Sony Playstation.  I know… fucking cool, right?  I work for Playstation!  Of course, you’re probably wondering what exactly I do for them.  At the simplest, I make sure that Sony Playstation is represented well throughout various retailers that we deal with.  It involve making sure that the sections are merchandised well, that I put up marketing to highlight Playstation product, and I have to make sure that the employees are educated enough with the product to be able to do basic selling.

The job involves a lot of driving… working from my car… and dealing with stores where the employees just sometimes don’t give a shit about what they’re selling.

I’ll admit, this has been a different experience.  If I seem a little “blah” about the job when I talk about it, please don’t mistake that for me not liking my job.  It’s just… different.

After working almost 20 years in retail, this job has been a breath of fresh air.  It’s still full-time so I still work 40-ish hours and I get benefits.  But then I get most weekends off.  Mind blown!  In almost 20 years working, the only time I ever really got a weekend off was when I requested it or used vacation time.  And because the way the job works, it’s up to me to make sure I get my stores visited in my 40 hrs.  So, if I work a little bit over on a day, by Friday, I might only have to make up 4 hrs. so I have a shortened day.  As long as I get to my stores by the end of the month and as long as I don’t go over 40 hrs, I’m good.  Crazy!

Now, of course, there are some drawbacks.  There’s a lot of driving.  A lot!  Just this past week, I racked up over 400 miles on my car.  The good thing, though, is that they at least pay for mileage.  And considering what they pay, and considering my car gets good mileage, I’m making out like a bandit on this deal!  Oh, and my garage has been overtaken by an abundance of Sony propaganda… posters, boxes, clings, controllers... Yeah, my garage isn’t for cars anymore.

I do miss interacting with customers, though.  Not surprising since I’ve done it for 20 years.  But there’s something about helping people find what they’re looking for that I find fulfilling.  Yeah, it’s only helping them find a game, or a CD, or a movie, but I like the idea that I made their day a little brighter by finding them their product. And I’ve got way too much video game information floating in my head that, except for that small portion that’s dedicated to Sony product, it’s now going to waste.  And, what can I say, I was good at my job… you’ll have to forgive me for missing it.

I guess that’s why it’s so frustrating going into a Wal-Mart or Target (and to a lesser extent, Best Buy) and I’m dealing with employees who don’t give a fuck about what they’re selling.  They’re just there because they have to or they’re just collecting a paycheck.  Fuck that!  If it were me, I’d make sure to be the best damn sales person out there… even if it was for a lousy $7.50/hr.  My job requires me to give the employee product knowledge to help them become better sales people.  I give them the info they need to sell.  But I’m greeted with so many blank stares and “I’m just covering so-and-so’s shift” excuses that it’s no wonder so many people bypass brick-and-mortar stores and just order straight from the internet.

And I hate to admit it, but I miss my GameStop people.  Not only the regular customers, but also my employees and my fellow managers.  Sure, some of them were insufferable, but we were a family.  A dysfunctional family… but a family nonetheless.



I know I’m only 4 weeks in, but I still can’t help feeling like I’m flailing about.  Flapping my wings and hoping that I don’t fall from the sky.  I’m trying to get my timing down so that I’m not at a store too long that will prevent me from visiting my planned stores for the week.  And I always feel like I’m forgetting to do something… or I should be doing something more.  Maybe it’s because, when you sit down and think about it, this job is really, really easy.  Maybe I’m psyching myself out and making this more complicated than I need to.  I’m filled with such uncertainty when I walk into a store because I’m not used to being on the other side of the counter.  I’m usually the one doing the selling.

I guess, the bright side is that one of my “co-workers”, the lead rep in my district, recently visited and travelled with me to some of my stores.  She seems to feel that I’ve acclimated myself well.  I hope so.  I’ll be visited by my district manager next month…so we’ll see then.  My DM says that she’s not expecting perfection right off the bat… in fact, because of the weird time that joined the team, she’s not expecting me to feel fully comfortable with my job for at least 6 months.  I guess I just expect more from myself.

Anyway, I do like the job.  And with the Playstation 4 launching soon, this will be some exciting times.


Hope you’ll stay with me for this ride.

I'm beginning to wonder if the magic that permeated the early Pixar films is beginning to run out.  I mean, it's completely unreasonable to expect that every movie they do hits you in the feels every time.  And yet, I think that that's the expectation that so many people have.  And when you just make a movie that's "good" as oppose to "heart-tuggingly moving", it's not difficult to think that somehow Pixar has failed.  Yet, this is far from the truth.

What we have with MONSTERS UNIVERSITY is a movie that is well done, enjoyable, and fun to watch.  It's funny, with likable characters and has moments that makes your realize that the folks at Pixar are masters at their CG craft.

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So I lost my job yesterday.  After almost 7 years with Gamestop, they let me go.

The official stance is that, for a variety of reasons, almost all stores have been running at a very minimum number of hours.  Managers were working upwards of 55-60 a week just to make the schedule work with the hour they were provided.  And this was even for the very large stores (stores that make over $1M).  So to try and have more hours to spread to the larger stores, they created a MANAGER II position.  Basically this would only affect stores that make under $1M but the stores that it impacted would see one manager oversee two stores.

You can already see the math there.  Someone would have to go.

And so, in the grand scheme of the things... I was the one let go.  It was my district manager who had to make the final decision and I asked her what made her consider me and it came down to just how poorly my store performed last fiscal year.  That, combined with some honest conversations I had with my DM about how I felt about working for the company in it's current state, and that was how she arrived at her decision.

It came completely out of nowhere.  I thought she was coming by for just her regular store visit.  But when she asked for extra coverage for that day... well, I'll be honest, I figured something was up.  I knew the tendency was the store always got busy whenever I needed to get something done, so I thought that, maybe, she just wanted to have an extra person so that we could focus on tasks. But I joked with one of my co-workers that, usually, the only time she asks for extra help was for when someone was about to get fired.  Heh... who knew?

I think some people are expecting me to be angrier than I am.  Or, at least, more upset.  And I'll admit, after I was escorted out of the store and I called a friend to let her know, it did hit me and I did cry.  And throughout most of the day, thinking about what happened made me tear up.  But what can you do?  There's no sense in getting angry or indignant.  Decisions had to be made and I was just the unfortunate one to be on the receiving end.  Put in her position, I would have made the same decision.

But it does suck... sucks because I didn't get a chance to leave on my own terms.  Sucks because I didn't get a chance to tell my regular customers that I was leaving.  Sucks because I didn't get a proper chance to say "Thanks" to my employees. Sucks because I won't get the chance to go to Vegas with my peers.  Sucks because i didn't get a chance see if I'd get a free PS4 or XBox One from conference.

I think what really sucks though, is once this new fiscal year started, my store was doing really well.  Top in the district for 3 months straight.  It would have been nice to see where it all would have gone.

The door is still open for me to return to the company in some capacity some time down the line.  And maybe, if things don't work out , maybe I'll consider it.  But for right now, I just need to rest.