The Allie Alley

Here's a belated rundown of all the cool stuff we did during Spring Break.

First off, we went to the movies TWICE! As a family! The last movie we had all seen together was Monsters, Inc., last November. So, it was a real treat to go! Plus, I saw another movie with Adam, Chad, and Carissa. Here are my reviews:

The Fellowship of the Ring: 10 out of 10! I was spellbound from the first minute. In fact, the first 10 minutes were the best of the entire film. I was awed and amazed at that fantastic army sequence, and when Sauron struck at the elf/human army and knocked his foes into the air, my mind boggled. It was so incredibly well done, which is certainly not the norm for fantasy-inspired movies. Compare FotR with Dungeons and Dragons, for instance. I certainly won't wait 6 months to see The Two Towers! Favorite character: Sauron! (I liked Megatron and Cobra Commander as a kid, too!)

E.T: 20th Anniversary Edition: 9 out of 10. I get the willies when I hear the E.T. theme anyway, since we played it in marching band in high school. The new scenes and alterations were seamless and added to the story. Watching it again from the perspective of a parent was even more meaningful. Seeing Elliot's pain when E.T. was dying was very hard; I just imagined how I would feel if it were Brandon or Connor in his shoes. And when he says goodbye... Umm... something just flew in my eye, I better move on before I get too sappy.

Blade 2: 8 out of 10. If you didn't like the first one because it wasn't violent enough, you will love this one. Not for the kiddies or the squeamish, there were some truly grisly scenes. One cool thing was that the new, mutated vampires looked just like the Nosferatu from that old silent horror movie. I've always thought that look was creepy and it was awesome watching Wesley Snipes shred 'em. The last fight was one of the better special effects-enhanced scenes in recent memory, evoking the Matrix and the Lightsaber duels from Episode 1.

I downloaded a demo of and subsequently bought a copy of Freedom Force. The game is so cool! It's like playing a comic book! For a comic book fan and computer gamer like me, it's the best of two loves. Sorta like if Deana wore clothes made out of Beef Jerky. Well, not exactly like that, but I think you get the point. Anyway, one feature is you can download new characters off the internet and make up powers for them! So, I grabbed a Blue Ranger from the internet, colored him up, and Brandon and I made a squad of Power Rangers to destroy the city with. You can throw cars at each other and whack each other with traffic lights. There is a fantastic story mode and strong multiplayer, too. I have played EQ 3 times and Magic none since I got FF. That says it all.

There's the highlights! Maybe I will add some more later.