It looks like it may be time to update the site. I am planning on doing some serious reviewing here within the next few months and update what's happened over the past four years. Keep an eye on the site for new info.

February 22, 1998

    I apologize to all of my visitors for not updating for such a long time.  As you may have seen, the website has undergone a few changes, thanks to my roomate Jeff.  Also, my friend Adrian (who has created my earlier logos) created my new one -- the Phantom Eric.  As far as my life is concerned, I am busy with student teaching.  Up until this last week, I've been teaching at Timponogos High School in Orem, Utah.  I'm now being switched to another school, and my supervisors are doing their best to get everything trasitioned smoothly.
    As a student teacher, my free time has been severely limited.  I am still able to check my favorite web sites daily, but that's about all the time I can devote to my computer, aside from creating lesson plans.
    As far as movies, I went to see the Prince of Egypt again a few weeks ago, but other than that, I have not seen anything new.  I've bought quite a few DVDs as well as a few videos which will soon have their own reviews (hopefully).  Keep in touch over the next week, as I will be doing nothing else while waiting for my new teaching assignment.

January 16, 1999

    Welcome to my updated site!  For the most part, almost everything is the same.  I've been so busy with school that I have not had time to update the site.  Instead, my roommate who is a computer engineering major wanted to fool around with my files and work with frames and Javascript, as well as a bunch of other stuff that I have no idea how to manipulate.  I hope that you enjoy the new logo for the site.  The logo was created by the same person who made my old logo.
    In my own life, I have begun student teaching at a local high school.  I'll be teaching Junior English, as well as Junior Honors English.  We're reading My Antonia, which I highly reccomend.
    I'm quitting my job at Suncoast this week, which will greatly alleviate my work load.  Right now I'm only doing the student teaching but it is a full time job, which I will soon complement with a couple of independent study courses.
    I have not seen a lot of movies lately.  Just before Christmas I went to see The Prince of Egypt.  I had my doubts going in, because I don't think Dreamworks has been the most original studio around lately.  However, I must say that I have been impressed with their traditional animation department, and the DVD for the film will be a definite must-get for my collection.
    I finally saw Ever After.  I was also impressed by that movie.  I also felt that the punishment for the mother and sister was quite fitting.
    I bought Armageddon on DVD a week and a half ago at CompUSA for half price.  Normal price is around $30, but they had it available for $15.
    I've also gotten a couple more Disney CD collections.  I bought the Disney:75 years of music and Magic CD at the Disney store and the Ashman and Menken: Magic behind the Music.  Both of them are great, and I've been looking toward getting them for quite a while.
    Well, that's the update for the last month or so.  I hope that after I finish my job I'll have some more time to work on updates.  If you look around a bit, you'll see a few new reviews, plus some more titles that are being worked on.

December 8, 1998
 
    Finals are here.  But, most are ones that I'm sure I'll get through with no problem.
    This last week has been great.  I got to see A Bug's Life.  I recommend it highly, even if you don't have anyone to take with you to the show (like me . . . sniff).  I believe most theaters playing it are also playing Geri's Game, an Oscar winning short by PIXAR which is also a hoot.
    When I went to see the movie, they had a poster proclaiming that only one theater was showing the trailer to The Phantom Menace, so I decided to wait the extra hour just to see the trailer on the big screen.  What a difference that makes!  You can see each character  (even in the boulder/monster chasing scene).
    I rewatched To Kill A Mockingbird yesterday.  Boy, is that one heck of a powerful film or what.  To anyone who has ever been interested in the book, pick it up and read it!  It is one of the best reads I have ever had in a long time, and the film, while not entirely faithful to the book (what movie is?) it is still a great movie.  Watch for the first film appearance of Robert Duvall (Deep Impact, the Apostle, Newsies) as Boo Radley.   The producer died in a car accident a few weeks ago, and it would be a great way to remember his contribution to film.
    Finally, anyone who checks out Ain't It Cool News regularly would be pleased to know that site's webmaster, Harry Knowles, landed a role in the upcoming sci-fi/ horror flick The Faculty, as a . . . science teacher.  Now I think that's funny.  If you know what he looks like, he would make a perfect science teacher.
    P.S.  The new Zelda is awesome.  Well worth the hype and the wait.
 

November 25, 1998

    Well, Thanksgiving is upon us.  May you enjoy your turkey dinners.  I will be out for a bit, but I'm hoping to get some more stuff written up soon.  Finals are coming up in the next couple of weeks, and I'm going to be working quite a bit through the holiday, but I will try to get some more review written and find something interesting to discuss.
    Something cool to check out in the meantime is the new Star Wars trailer.  The Phantom Menace is the official title, and you can check it out for yourself, in all of its glory at www.starwars.com.  If you can't get a download there, there are several mirror sites all over the net, and it does not take too much time to find them.  Only be prepared for a long download (unless you have a T3 or ISDN line).
    Drive safely, and watch out for the Turkey of Aaaaaaggghhhhh, a relative of the Monster of Aaaaaaagggghhhhh as seen in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
 

November 16, 1998

    Well, mebbe I'll update every month or so.  Sorry about the delay in updates.  I've been pretty busy with school work, but I do plan on putting in a lot more stuff.  I've now included a release schedule for videos and DVDs.  I am adding new reviews, and hopefully, my S - Z page will be finished in a few short weeks.
    Star Wars:  The Phantom Menace is on its way.  The first trailer hits a few selected theaters tomorrow, Nov, 17, and across the U.S. on Nov. 20.  If you haven't seen the poster, go to www.starwars.com to see it.  I won't spoil it for ya, but it looks neat.
     I did go get new shoes with my Pell Grant money -- a pair of Doc Martens.  I haven't had a decent pair of dress shoes for a while, and now I am enjoying the torment that can only be known as breaking in shoes.
    Finally, I hope to be watching several more movies over the next month.  My friend who works at a video store will soon be moving out of state.  What will I do?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
    In other news, we narrowly missed hitting Irag.  I ask, why did we stop the mission?  Clinton couldn't possibly do anything more wrong and still be on top of the polls.
    Finally, the best of election results:  Jesse "The Body" Ventura as governor of Minnesota.
    Oh, and even I got the John Glen/Planet of the Apes e-mail.  It went something like this;
        John Glen is in space.  We've only got a few days to get ape masks and fill in the Statue of Liberty before he lands
    And work on James (Abyss, Terminator, T-2, Titanic) Cameron's Planet of the Apes is in the works.
    Until next time, America  . . . . .
    Okay, one more item.  I saw the Waterboy opening day.  I think that Sandler boy's got a lot ahead of him.  Let's hope that his type of movies are not the only things we are plagued by over the next few years (unless they are by him).

October 20, 1998

    Oh happy day when free money shows up in the mail!  Thank goodness for Pell Grants.  Perhaps I'll go get myself some new shoes.
    Even though there have not been a lot of updates, I have been watching quite a few videos.  Look for updates real soon as I get reviews for each film up.

October 14, 1998

    Almost halfway through October!  I don't have much to comment on, but the election is coming up in less than three weeks.  I encourage every one to get out and vote.  Politics have been an important part of national afairs lately.
    Jackie Chan is invading the US!  Almost everytime I've flipped through the channels this week, Jackie Chan has been on.  Chan Power!

October 2, 1998

    Well, October is upon us.  I need to correct my earlier rant.  Star Wars Episode one is actually titled The Phantom Menace, not the Phantom Mystery as earlier reported.  See the Official Star Wars site for more info.
 
    Today is a big one for theatrical releases.  Antz, What Dreams May Come, and Night at the Roxbury are all opening.  I'm excited to see both Antz and What Dreams May Come, and I might force myself to see Night (okay, so I like the skit on Saturday Night Live).  I'm prejudiced against Dreamworks at the moment.  I think they stole the idea for Antz from Disney, but only time will tell which will remain in the memories of movie goers.

    I've recently been reading the John Christopher Tripod Trilogy.  It's set in the future after aliens invaded the earth and wiped out our technology.  The aliens keep the human race under submission by placing "caps" on them, which make humans docile toward the aliens.  Will Parker learns that there is a group of uncapped people living in the white mountains and sets off there with his cousin and a boy they've named Beanpole.  It's been good so far.  I've read the first two books and look forward to the last.  Why hasn't anyone made movies from these books?

    Tomorrow is the two month anniversary of Night at the Movies.  Hopefully, I'll be able to find some time to add some new information.  I plan on making lists of theatrical and video release dates.  Also, I will be changing the format of the reviews somewhat -- nothing material wise, just cosmetic.

    Until next time . . .

September 26, 1998

    Two big news items from yesterday.
    Number 1.)      Star Wars: Episode One is now titled  Star Wars:  The Phantom Mystery
    Number 2.)      Dreamworks has announced open DVD support.  The day has arrived that all the major motion picture studios have comitted to open DVD.  This means that we'll finally see the Speilberg catalogue open up wide.  My picks for Speilberg films next year:  Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, The Indiana Jones Trilogy, Empire of the Sun, a better The Color Purple, ET, and Jaws.
    The Paramount DVD's look pretty good.  Almost all will have the anamorphic widescreen.  The Saint will have a director's commentary, and overall, they look like a solid first entry for the studio.  I hope Fox, Buena Vista, and Dreamworks pay attention to how DVDs should be done.
    In other news, I'm turning in my student teaching materials this week.  Wish me luck.

September 22, 1998

   Well, the President's testimony hit the airwaves yesterday.  Is it just me, or is anyone else getting sick of the whole matter.  I believe the guy should be punished, but the total media coverage is making my brain hurt.  I've got way too many other things that demand my attention.
    I finished Vision of the Future this weekend.  I really liked it and reccomend it to anyone who likes the Star Wars books.
    I saw Jackie Chan's new movie Rush Hour on Friday.  To any Chan fans, it's a good one.  I also got a copy of the A&E biography of him made in 1992, I believe.  He has quite a body of work behind him, and I can't believe it has only been recently that I have heard of him.
    As reported on the rec.arts.scifi.starwars.miscellaneous newsgroup, there are only eight months left before the first prequel hits theaters.  That's less time than a pregnancy!
    And last, but not least, the Star Wars Trivial Pursuit game is great.  There are no dice, but an R2-D2 battery powered randomizer counts out the spaces you should move.  The tokens are pewter figures of Luke, Leia, Han and Darth, and the pie pieces snap into place on the tokens.
 

September 14, 1998
    Okay, maybe this will be a weekly instead of a daily column.
    Kenneth Starr's report was delivered to Congress and that's all I have to say about that.
    School is in full swing here at BYU.  I enjoyed the laxadazy days of summer when I could spend all day on the internet and working on the page here.  Now, all of my time is divided between school and work.  If there aren't a whole lot of updates, it's because I've been busy doing other stuff.  But I hope to have weekly updates and I will soon be leaving the confines of my collection to review films.  I have added some more films to the list to review, and soon I'll have those up.
    In other news, I have been busy reading the new Star Wars novel, Vision of the Future.  It's pretty good.  To anyone who has read the Star Wars books, this and it's predecessor, Specter of the Past, tie up the loose ends that other authors have left after completing thier books.  Here's the basic plotline -- It appears that Thrawn, the Imperial antagonist of the Heir to the Empire books from 91-93, has reappeared from the dead to lead the Imperial forces in one last effort against the New Republic.  He has managed to stir up citizens of the New Republic into starting a civil war and coming in with his forces to destroy what they have accomplished.  It is a heck of a lot deeper than that, but it is a great read.
    I also just bought myself copies of Command and Conquer: Red Alert and Diablo, now that I can afford them.  A good deal of my time has been taken up battling the forces who wish to destroy life as we know it.
    Until next time . . .
 
 

September 7, 1998

    This page is going to be my way of getting what I have to say about things going on in my life, the nation, world, etc.  Some things may be applicable, most things won't.  Keep an eye here to see what I have to say about things.  I hope to maintain the same attitude I have on events around me, just someone observing and commenting.  Hopefully I will be able to add something daily, at the very least weekly.  Keep an eye on this page.