6th Floor Blog's Academy Awards

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Sara, Frank, and Scott.

Subject: 6^th Floor Blog Oscars

Again, please update your links to www.ceetar.com/6thfloor The blog will be updated there shortly. Likely this is the last post via blogger.

Presenting 6^th Floor Blog's Oscar nominees for must-see movies!

The Dark Knight

It seems like this movie only got recognition because Heath Ledger died after doing an excellent job portraying the Joker, but it was really an excellent movie. I'd even venture to say the best Batman movie ever.

I agree. It was a great movie; suspense, action, excitement. It borrowed from the comics obviously, but it was an original story, and a compelling one.

Quantum of Solace

Spectacular or not, you have to go see a Bond movie.

Action, explosion, gadgets, cars. It's hard to make a bad Bond movie, and that means it's always worth seeing.

The only thing to debate is if you liked the Bond Girl, or if the movie didn't have enough over the top explosions.

Wanted

This is certainly not a serious movie, and as such would never ever be considered a 'great' movie, but I sure enjoyed watching it.

Sometimes complete ridiculousness, like curving bullets, is fun. All the silly stuff they do such as Angelina Jolie (and that's almost enough of a reason to see a movie in it of herself) scooping up the cowering 'hero' with her car., is just zany. Sometimes it's more fun to just say 'screw physics'.

That was my entire college philosophy!

Cloverfield

We may be biased about this one, being in New York, but I felt this was a rather compelling movie, despite all the crazy cult hype.

The problem was people looking for a monster movie or comparing it to Godzilla. It wasn't about the monster, it was about the journey of the characters through the city while the monster attacked.

The reason they didn't just run for the border was a little bit of a stretch, but after you accept that, it was interesting. I enjoyed the different way it was filmed, as if from the camera the guy carried around the whole movie.

Now that was a little contrived. Who would keep carrying the damn thing around at that point? It must've been an awesome camera, but still, good movie.

Iron Man

I liked Iron Man. I know some didn't, but it was a good comic book movie, and he had some excellent cars.

It was half Iron Man, half Tony Stark. I think it was rather well done for an origin story movie. I'd like to see more.

He'll be in the Avengers movie right? When's that come out?

2011.

Damn.

6th Floor Blog Goes to the Movies: Taking Woodstock

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Frank.

Subject: 6^th Floor Blog Goes to the Movies: Taking Woodstock

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Please update any links and such to www.ceetar.com/6thfloor. Sometime this week I'll be switching everything to there and updating the blog at that url and via wordpress. This is also the perfect time to contact us about exchanging links or site suggestions or whatever.

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Sara and Frank stroll into the 6^th floor Wednesday night and Ann looks up from her book.

“Where have you guys been?”

“I got these two free tickets to see a pre-release screening of a movie. Sounded cool, so I took Frank.”

“Aww, a date. How cute.”

“He was just the only one around when I got home today to go with me.”

“The benefits of not having a 'real' job!”

“What was the movie?”

“Taking Woodstock, directed by Ang Lee.”

“It was surprisingly good. Based on the autobiography of Elliot Tiber.”

“His parents owned a failing motel upstate, and he helped get the Woodstock people to come play there.”

“There was plenty of raving nudity and drug use too. The whole movie was like a 'free love' rave.”

“Seems to be how I'd think of Woodstock.”

“I was surprised how much I liked it actually. Woodstock wasn't really my scene. And he never even made it to the stage!”

“That amused me too. And how the Turnpike was backed up for miles that they had to close it. You know they're having a Woodstock 2009 right?”

“It can't be the same. You can't recapture that peaceful mania.”

“There would be too much security, too much worry, too many restrictions.”

“The police would be there in force, arresting thousands of people. No way people would be skinny dipping, doing drugs, and having sex all over the place these days.”

“No way. Like I said, no way you can recapture that. It's pure nostalgia.”

Franks Tests M & Ms

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: Melts in your mouth, and in your hand

Frank tests the M & Ms premiums "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand" quality.

M & Ms and Chocolate Ice Cream

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha

Subject: The Girls Eat More Chocolate

“Hey Ladies, Look what I found!” Sara says, to Tabitha and Ann who are hanging out in the living room.

“M & M premiums? Mint Chocolate sounds interesting. Are they like the Indiana Jones ones?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t tried them yet.”

“Well, what are we waiting for!”

“I've got some new ice cream in the freezer too as long as we're taste testing things.”

“Can't hurt.” Sara says, opening up the M & Ms.

They all grab a couple and look at them.

“They look like rocks.”

“They do a little bit. And they don't have their signature crispy shell.”

“Does that mean they disprove the whole 'melts in your mouth, not in your hand.' theory?”

“Probably. They're kind of chewy. But good.”

“What's the description say?”

“Ann picks up the box. It's white chocolate mint wrapped in dark chocolate.”

“I don't think I care for them. The chewiness is throwing me off. I think they're a little too sweet.”

“They are a little sweet, but I really like them. They don't feel like I'm eating M & Ms though. It lacks that satisfying crunch when you bite into them.”

“I could live without the candy shell I guess. I do like these though.” Sara says, reaching for another handful.

“Someone should pick up some of the other types and try 'em out.”

“I'd like to try the mocha.”

“Coffee flavored? Of course you would.”

“Okay, break out the ice cream. What flavor?”

.“Costa Rica Rainforest Vanilla and Chocolate. It's made by Choctal. Actually, I looked up their website, and it turns out they're environmentally friendly and eating ice cream supports the rain forest and all that.”

“All well and good...but does it taste yummy?”

“Let's find out shall we?” Ann grabs three spoons and the pint of ice cream out of the freezer.

“Oooh. It's all swirly.” Sara takes the first spoonful. “Mmm...It is very good.”

The others dig in.

“Excellent ice cream. Rich and creamy. They make other flavors?”

“Yeah, I love the flavor, and I like the vanilla and chocolate mixed too. Much better than your average vanilla/chocolate supermarket brand.”

“They have just chocolates and vanillas. They have single origin chocolate or vanilla though.”

“Single-origin? I guess this one is Costa Rica. They've been doing that single origin thing with chocolate more lately.”

“It does make sense. Cacao beans, vanilla beans, coffee beans...What's the difference?”

“Very true. Wow..I guess we're just going to finish the pint?” Sara asks, looking at the rapidly disappearing ice cream.

“Might as well. You know Billy or Scott would finish it off on us anyway if we left it.”

“In that case, dig in!”

6th Floor Blog Reviews Lost

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Billy and Scott.

Subject: 6^th Floor Blog reviews: Lost Season 4

Warning: May contain, and most definitely will contain, Lost Season finale 4 spoilers and insanity.

“So, I finally finished watching the newest season of Lost. Insanity!”

“Only a month later. That's not too bad.”

“I don't know how you guys can watch that show. It's insane and you never know what's going on.”

“I know what's going on..I'm just not sure why.”

“Polar bears?”

“They never adequately explained that.”

“Well they had Sawyer and Kate locked in the bear cages at one point..so theoretically it's an escapee..but how and why and what were they doing with it?”

“And what's with these Dharma Experiment dudes? What the hell were/are they investigating? Did they figure it out? Time travel?”

“I hate how they just kill characters so easily on that show. I really liked Boone!”

“Yeah. At least it seems pretty safe to like the 'Oceanic Six'. Seems like they're going to be around a while.”

“When they first started talking about that, I was trying to figure out how they were going to have a show about the Island with six characters actually off the island.”

“Yeah, well it looks like they'll be going back or something. Although the Claire bit makes me think there will be some sort of warring factions again.”

“Definitely. This show taking place in like four different times gets confusing, and it looks like they're going to continue it.”

“Two more season right? I think they're going to almost leave this cliff hanger until the final season, and use next season to segue to that, as ridiculously evil a cliffhanger as that is.”

“That show has no qualms about being horribly evil.”

“And that's why I no longer watch it. I decided the show title was how they decided to make their viewers feel.”

6th Floor Blog Reviews Chocolate

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: 6^th Floor Blog Reviews Chocolate and M & Ms

“So I love reading those chocolate review blogs we have linked on the blog, and Billy gave me an idea.”

“Does it have anything to do with all those M & Ms he brought home yesterday?”

“Yup, you got it. I've never tried either of those flavors.”

“Wildly Cherry? Are they really that wild?”

“Guess we'll have to find out. Were you guys really going to scarf down all these M & Ms without waking me?”

“Figured you needed your beauty sleep.”

“Beauty sleep? He'd have to sleep for a month.”

Frank punches Scott. “You got these at M & M world I assume Billy? Why are they differently shaped?”

“Well, the Mint green ones are crisps. They're promoting the new Indiana Jones movie. What is it about the green ones anyway?”

“I guess that's why the green ones have what look like images from the movie on them. Green ones are the sexiest M & M.”

“Have you ever seen the Crispy Orange one? He looks...well, Crispy.”

“Yeah, he's a little jumpy. Paranoid.”

“Damn, he needs to lay off the drugs.”

“Hey, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean someone's not out to get you.”

“Maybe the purple M & M is gunning for his job or something.”

“The purple one probably wants a promotion or something. He or she is the equivalent of an M & M intern.”

“Okay, everyone is here so I'm going to taste these things.”

“Wow, this cherry is surprisingly good. I like it.”

“Yeah, a nice warm cherry feel to it.”

“The mint crisps are okay. I think the mint is a little strong.”

“I like mint, so I like these, but you may be right. I wonder why they decided to make them crispy anyway.”

“Maybe crispy is back in style? I like the cherry ones too. I hope they keep these around.”

“It's got a cherry flavor without erasing the chocolate flavor, which is nice. I don't know why some seem thicker than the others, they all seem to be the same solid chocolate inside.”

“Beats me, I almost thought they were crispy at first, but they don't seem to be.”

“You should've stopped into the Hershey store and gotten those New York Cheesecake Hershey Kisses. I've been wanting to try them.”

“Actually, I did! They didn't have them.”

“The Times Square Hershey store didn't have New York Cheesecake Kisses? How ironic”

Ready, Set, Brawl!

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Sara, Frank, Tabitha, Scott.

Subject: Super Smash Brothers: Brawl!

Sara stumbled out of the apartment Sunday morning to pick up her copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and returned to the apartment to find Scott and Frank semi-awake in the living room.

“Sara, you went out this early? What’s wrong with you?”

“Smash brothers! It was tough, but I wanted to play video games to fight the hangover.”

“Is that a Box of Joe from Dunkin Donuts? Are you going to drink that all by yourself?” Scott looks at Sara longingly.

“I bought it expecting to share, but I would drink it alone if no one else wants any.”

“No way, I think we both want some. You set up the game, and I’ll pour.” Frank pulls himself off the couch and reaches for the coffee mugs.

“I hear Sonic’s a good character, can I be Sonic?”

“You have to unlock him first. I think you can unlock most characters just by playing versus though, so eventually.”

“I’ll just stick to random, I like trying out all the characters.” Frank says, grabbing a controller and handing out coffee.

“I'm going to use the gamecube controller.”

“I'll stick to the Wiimote. Works well enough for me.”

“I hate wires. I'll take a Wiimote too.”

“Dibs on Kirby!”

“Kirby, damn cream puff.”

“Falcon Smash!”

“Shoot, we have it on time play. Remind me to change it to stock after this.”

“What's that glowing ball thing floating around do?”

“The Smash Ball. You gotta hit it, and then you glow and can do your smash attack by pressing neutral B.”

“That's the insta-kill attack?”

“It varies for each character, some are pretty close to insta-kill, some you have to be close to your target, some shoot in a straight line.”

“No, jump! Higher! Argh! Yoshi's pretty crazy. I keep rolling off!”

“That's why I like Kirby. Lots of floating to get back to the board.”

“Kirby's a beginner's character, I like Ness, or Lucas.”

“Fine, no Kirby. I'll be Pikachu this round.”

“There are way too many pokemon in this game.”

“Yeah, there are a lot.”

“Did I just see Little Mac from Punch Out in that blue thing I opened?”

“I think so. Those things help you kill people.”

Wii: “Pika! Pika! Pika!”

“Geeze, Pikachu's annoying. Shut up!”

“I want to strangle the little yellow bastard. Very anti-hangover.”

“Aha! Take that! Killer angels!” Frank, as Pit, gets the smash ball and kills Scott and Sara.

“Coffee refill!”

“Yes!”

“This is fun. We'll have to get Ann, Tabitha and Billy playing when they wake up. We'll have those other characters unlocked in no time.”

“I think StarWolf is in the game. I want to play with him.”

“They have Mr. Game and Watch again?”

“Who the fuck is Mr. Game and Watch?”

“Yeah, he's in here. Mr. Game and Watch was the mascot for the Game & Watch series of games, which was basically the precursor to Game Boy.”

“I see, so he's an old school type character.”

“yeah, he's basically just a 2-D silhouette.”

“Okay, Bowser time. You are going down!”

“Bowser's a pushover!”

Tabitha emerges from her room. “What's with all the shouting? Don't you have any respect for the hung...ooooh, coffee!”

“Grab a controller Tabitha. Let's Brawl!”

6th Floor Blog Goes to the Movies: Saw 4

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: 6^th Floor Blog goes to the movies: Saw 4

Possible spoilers ahead for Saw 4, you have been warned.

Sara, Ann, Frank, Billy and Scott are walking back from the theater after seeing Saw4. “Well, that was gruesome.”

“It’s to be expected in a Saw movie.”

“The timeline of this movie was a little confusing. I couldn’t tell if the last scene was supposed to be the beginning of the movie, or the end..”

“I was thinking end. But after the first scene.”

“Yeah. I think so too.”

“So this movie took place at the same time as the third one then right?”

“I barely remember the other ones. I think it would’ve been a little less confusing had we watched them before we went to see this.”

“There did seem to be a lot of references to the other movies. And the other characters. I think we were supposed to recognize most of those names. Especially the other officers.”

“Plenty of gore though. I liked the first game, where the junkie had to get out of the chair.”

“Yeah. That one was good. It helped explain the beginning of the story.”

“Right. It was the fourth movie that took place during the third movie, after the third movie, and before all the movies. Quite a fucked up timeline.”

“So I assume there is going to be a fifth movie too?”

“Certainly seems like it. But I’m not sure how exactly. I guess there is some sort of bridge story to connect the fourth movie to the others..”

“Probably.”

“This movie rocked. Way better than two or three. Could be that I liked it better than the first. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that flic though, so it’s hard to tell. I'd definitely go See Saw5. ”

"There's a playground a couple of blocks that way with a seesaw if you're really set on that."

"Are you going to make that joke every year Billy? It's getting old."

"If they stop making Saw movies, I'll stop making the joke, how's that?"

"Terrific. Just terrific." Ann says, unlocking the door the apartment as they arrive home.

6th Floor Blog Goes to the Movies: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: 6^th floor Blog Goes To the Movies: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This post is about the new Harry Potter movie, and since the book has been out for a while, and the movie for two weeks, this post will be a little more detailed then it would for a different movie. We'll refrain from the big spoiler(s) but if you really want to see this and don't know what happens yet, you probably should skip this post.

“That wasn't too bad.”

“I think I still like the third one the best.”

“I haven't seen any of the others.”

“Really? You didn't coming with us to see Goblet of Fire last year?”

“We didn't see Goblet of Fire together. It came out four months before we moved in.”

“Oh. Who'd I see it with then?”

“The third one was the one with the time travel right? I did like that one.”

“This one was so choppy! The plot didn't flow at all.”

“Did it? I thought it was alright.”

“I was annoyed at all the inconsistencies.”

“Well, it's hard to convert a long book to a movie without cutting some stuff.”

“I don't mean cutting stuff, I mean the stuff that was just wrong. The stuff with Cho, the missing trip to the hospital, and the ending was completely butchered.”

“That ending was pretty cool on the IMAX:3D though. I wonder why they didn't let us keep the glasses like they did for Superman Returns.”

“No idea, I didn't really need to keep more junk though. I usually don't get too tied up in consistency as long as the movie flows by itself, but they could've left in easter eggs for the fans. They don't necessarily have to mention that Ron's a prefect, even though him getting the badge and Harry not getting it would've added to his anger at Dumbledore, but they could've at least given him the badge for us to see. Or at least a shot of Hermione rolling her eyes or chastising George and Fred about their business and testing on first years. Of course, they barely mention that they're going into business anyway. It also wouldn't have been too much of an effort to show a knitted sock or shirt or something in one of the common room shots. One of the items of clothing Hermione was knitting to try to trick house elves into being free. Something.”

“I agree. Adding in those little details would really add a depth to the movie that might have made the die hard fans really enjoy it.”

“It kind of felt like a clip show.”

“I know what you mean. It's almost like they chose random scenes, made cool CGI stuff for them, and then just pieced them together. They left out so much of the overall plot it's not even funny.”

“I didn't really get what was going on. They were focused on the school and that teacher, but every once in a while they'd mention Voldemort. Then suddenly they're dispatching the teacher in the forest and run off to fight Voldemort at the ministry. Fred and George dropped out of school then? Or got expelled or what?”

“Yeah. They start selling all those prank candies as a business. Harry actually funds them with the money from the Goblet tournament. Which reminds me, they really glossed over a lot of the Weasley parents' stress. Between them not talking to Percy who is siding with the ministry and worry about what Fred and George are up to with the pranks and their bad O.W.L. scores, they had a lot of depth in the book that was overlooked in the movie.”

“I really liked how they did the Black house though. It looked just like I thought it should, and they even had Kreacher being a pack rat. Of course, they neglect the part about Kreacher being the one that tattles on them later.”

“They left out a lot of the school stuff. Classes, the centaur teacher, how hard they study for O.W.L.s and how overworked Harry is between quidditch, detention, homework and studying.”

“Yeah. I find myself more and more disappointed the more I think about it, and the more I remember from the book. They really should have Rowlings in on the script writing.”

“Well, she's not writing books now, maybe she can help with six and seven. I doubt it though, It's almost like the five movies are barely related, they really gloss over the series-wide plot points.”

“Oh well. 16 months until we can be disappointed with the next one. Are we seeing the Simpsons movie this week?”

“Yeah. I'm in for that. I actually heard it got good reviews and all.”