Blog # 4: Movie Review on The Social Network

Professor Purdy

10/11/10

Blog #4

Movie Blog and Review: The Social Network

            Over break I went to go see a new movie called The Social Network, which is based on the true story of the formation of what is today known as, Facebook.  I went to see this movie late on Friday night with a few family members and friends.  We were all very excited to see the movie because we all knew about the creation of Facebook and some of us even have one of our own.  We all also knew that there was a controversial story that surrounded the creation of Facebook and could not wait to find out all about it.  This movie starts out with introducing the main character, Mark Zuckerberg, and showing how he eventually stumbled across creating Facebook.  Mark is a student Harvard University and known as a programming guru amongst his friends.  The night Mark’s girlfriend breaks up with him he goes back to his dorm and blogs about his ex-girlfriend in a really bad way and a lot of people see it.  Also while doing that he creates a degrading website that has male Harvard students compare the pictures of two female students at the university and choose which of them is better looking.  Mark’s website gets so many hits that it overloads the servers at Harvard and crashes them.  For creating this website and having the university find out about it Mark is put on academic probation for six months.  The story goes on with Mark meeting three Harvard frat boys who have a social network idea in which they need the help of Mark to create.  Mark in turn uses their idea as a basis to create his own social networking site and from there the movie takes off.  The movie explains to the audience why Mark’s friends have sued him and what has actually happened.  Overall, this movie helps to put out the true story on the creation of Facebook, which was very interesting because there are now five hundred million Facebook users and the company is worth twenty-five billion dollars!  However, at the end of this movie I was left with some unanswered questions, but all-in-all if you are a movie fan and want to find out more about the one true social network go see this movie.

Blog # 3: Thursday Night Live (September 23rd, 2010)

10/5/10

Professor Purdy

Thursday Night Live September 23^rd: Dave and Chi Chi Concert

About a week and a half ago I went to a concert on Thursday night at Art Street located in the ghetto on the campus of the University of Dayton.  This concert highlighted performers that are students of the University and are also peers of mine.  The students included that I personally know were David Fresh, Dave Zup, and Chi Chi. David Fresh opened up the concert by performing four songs.  Three songs that he performed were covers and one of them was his own original piece.  One of the covers that David did was “Cats in the Cradle” which was originally performed by Harry Chapin.  I really liked David’s performance of this song because “Cats in the Cradle” is one of my favorite songs and his rendition left me wanting more.  David’s acoustic performance of all four songs was very interesting and fun to listen too.  Next up after David Fresh was a performance of two students who sang a version of “Hallelujah” which was originally performed by Jeff Buckley.  They sang it well and the performance overall was very unique.  The final performance of the night highlighted a group called Isomatic, which includes members Dave Zup, and Chi Chi. Their performance was all hip-hop and had Dave Zup rap quite a few songs.  These songs were original, remixes, and covers.  While Dave rapped Chi Chi ran the beat station and created many different and unique tunes.  Dave and Chi Chi definitely stole the show and entertained me for the entire time they played.  Dave’s original and remixed songs were my favorite and listening to Chi Chi’s beats go along with these songs was truly an experience.  They both are great artists and even after the concert ended I found myself looking up more of their songs on YouTube.

Movie Critique

10/4/10

Professor Purdy

More Than Just a “Toy Story”: Toy Story 3Movie Critique

            This summer the famous Toy Story trilogy was completed with the release of Toy Story 3 in both regular format and even 3D format.  I was fortunate enough to get the chance to see the third movie about a week ago.  I had previously seen both Toy Story and Toy Story 2 numerous times and was very excited to get the opportunity to see the third.  My previous experiences with the first two Toy Story movies had been so delightful that I had only the highest hopes for the third film.  Sometimes movies that create sequels, trilogies, or even more than that actually end up ruining the first movie. However, I felt that since the first two Toy Story movies left me wanting more, how could the third movie fail.  I expected the third movie to be even better then the first two and my expectations were more than proven true by the end of the film.

I’d like to explain where the third movie picks up and in order for me to do that I need to tell you about the first two.  In the first movie all of the characters are introduced as Andy’s toys.  Andy is the owner of these toys and when Andy isn’t playing with them and is out of the room all of his toys come to life.  The first movie gives a great fun story that has Andy get a brand new toy named Buzz Lightyear for his birthday.  This is problematic because Andy’s favorite toy has always been his cowboy doll Woody.  When Buzz comes along, a space ranger from another galaxy, Andy begins to neglect Woody and the other toys. This sets up for an enjoyable movie where in the end all of the toys even Buzz and Woody become best of friends. 

The second movie shifts the story to be all about Woody.  The main point of the movie revolves around Woody being taken by a mean toy collector in order to be sold to a museum for a lot of money.  The reason why Woody is going to be sold to a museum is because Woody is a rare toy and he will be able to complete a rare collection of what Woody was once part of, known as Woody’s Roundup Gang.  Woody finds himself feeling at home with his new friends who feel like family, but then he realizes he already has an owner, Andy, and a family, Andy’s toys.  Woody then figures out away to bust out before being shipped off to the museum, but in order to save himself he needs the help of all of Andy’s toys including, my favorites Buzz and Slinky.  Andy’s toys all band together to save Woody and actually end up saving Jesse, Woody’s partner-in-crime, and Bullseye, Woody’s valiant steed.  They all become great friends and go back to live in Andy’s room, just like they should.

Well enough about the first two movies, let’s talk about the third film.  In order to give a proper critique I have to give a little background on the movie.  Walt Disney Pictures released Toy Story 3 in June 2010 and the movie features lead actors Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear.  The movie was directed by Lee Unkrich and written by, Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich.  The movie brought in an outstanding 411.1 million dollars just at the box office and has yet to be released out onto DVD.  From start to finish the movie grabbed my attention and never let it slip.  I found myself not even taking the time to worry about having anything to drink or munch on, due to the nonstop action, comedy, and fun.    All my favorite characters from the previous movies were in it again like Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Bullseye, and Slinky.  Those are just some of the few characters I really enjoy, but it is the way in which all of the characters interact with each other that I truly appreciate.  The main storyline that the third movie follows is that Andy has grown up now and is going off to college.  He is unsure as to what he should do with his toys that he has kept so near and dear to his heart for his whole life.  He knows that he cannot take them to college with him as much as he would like to, but he also doesn’t want to sell them for any money.  Mainly Andy wants to find someone who will care for and play with his toys as much as he did.  Andy ends up accidentally giving away all of his favorite toys to a pre-school, because his mom takes the wrong box to donate.  All of Andy’s toys are donated except for one, Woody.  However, Woody wants to be together with everyone else and ends up getting himself to the pre-school only to find out that the toys that were already at the pre-school are pretty mean.  The other pre-school toys end up running the pre-school and tell all of Andy’s toys that they can’t play with the kids who treat toys nicely.  They have to play with the kids who are too young and damage any toy they play with.  The storyline then goes on with Woody and Buzz teaming up with the gang to break out of pre-school and back to Andy’s room.  In the end the movie adds a twist that not even a huge fan like myself saw coming.  In order to not spoil the movie I will spare you the details, except for the fact that I definitely had quite a few tears in my eyes by the end of this wonderful film.  Overall, I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars and it may even be on my top ten movie list.  Who wouldn’t want to imagine that when they aren’t looking all of their toys come to life and have the greatest time interacting with each other?  Toy Story is a landmark trilogy and a must see for the whole family.

Blog #2: Toby Keith Concert Review

Patrick Kane

9/23/10

Blog # 2

Professor Purdy

Toby Keith Concert: Personal Review

September 18^th, 2010

Tinley Park, Illinois

            Last Saturday night I attended a country music concert just outside of Chicago, Illinois at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre.  The headlining act of the concert was Toby Keith and the opener for him was Trace Adkins.  I arrived at the concert at about 7:15 PM and with the concert starting at 7:30 I definitely left myself enough time to find a good seat on the lawn.  As I walked into the amphitheatre I found myself wondering why I had under dressed, because the temperature outside was a low 60 degrees, and I only had on a pair of sweat pants and a long sleeve t-shirt.  As I contemplated why I had not dressed warmer for the concert I felt a cool drop of water hit my hand and before I had time to look up a steady drizzle of rain began to fall.  Nonetheless, this was the night of my nineteenth birthday I was ready to have a good time and push aside the poor weather conditions.  As my friends and I searched for a spot on the grass to stand and watch the concert we figured it would be easier to stand on the cement walkways, due to the fact that they were a lot more dry.  Also the walkways gave a great view of the stage.  Just as we found a spot to stand on the cement Trace Adkins hit the stage and started to play his hit song, You’re Gonna Miss This.  We had just made it to our seats on time and once Trace started to play it was hard to remember that it was raining at all and my friends and I were just enjoying the music.  The volume level inside the amphitheatre was a little loud, but then again it is a concert and I would rather it have been too loud then quiet.  Overall, Trace’s performance was exceptional, considering I am not a huge fan of his and he was only an opening act, but he was still able to take my mind off of the weather and enjoy myself and his music.  With Trace just wrapping up his set, and the rain letting up a bit, my friends and I decided that it would be a good time to snag some food while we waited for Toby Keith to come on stage.  Once we grabbed a few sodas and snacks we headed back to our “solid” seats and within a few minutes Toby took the stage.  As he came onto the stage a curtain dropped and he was sitting on the back of a truck playing his guitar sitting right next to the Stanley Cup.  I was so excited to see him with the cup, seeing as I am a huge Chicago Blackhawks hockey fan, and from that point on Toby sang a great set of his classic songs including my favorites, Beer For My Horses, American Soldier, and As Good As I Once Was.  The sound quality was great, I never noticed the rain, and all of my friends and I had a great time.  Overall, the whole concert was excellent, despite a few raindrops and a low temperature, Toby and Trace really put on a wonderful show.

Blog #1: Peter Gooch’s Art Exhibit at Art Street Studio D

Patrick Kane
Professor Purdy

9/15/10

Blog # 1: Peter Gooch’s Art Exhibit at Art Street Studio D

            Just recently, no more then two days ago, I stopped by Art Street in the ghetto of the University of Dayton to check out an art exhibit.  The exhibit was titled Project Ethiope – Works on Paper and Small Panels by Peter Gooch.  When I walked into the exhibit I noticed that the studio in which the artwork was in was a very spacious room.  This allowed a lot of open areas for each painting to be placed in a spot where someone who wanted to examine the painting, like me, could truly experience the work of art.  Within the exhibit two of Peter’s paintings stood out for me.  The first painting was titled, Lalibela - #12 (BIG) Acrylic/panel.  This painting stood out to me because of the amount of detail in which Peter puts into this piece.  Peter uses a blue/turquoise, as one of the main colors in the painting and that happens to be one of my favorite colors.  Therefore, the painting immediately drew my attention.  I then looked deeper into this painting and started to notice the smallest of details that appeared all around the main center of focus on the painting.  Peter was able to use so many different colors to offset his painting that every color seems as if it is there for a reason, not just some random color that he decided to throw on his artwork.  The second painting that was located diagonally across from the first one I talked about was titled, Lalibela – Yellow Acrylic/panel.  This painting was definitely another one of my favorites.  However, the only reason I actually liked this painting was due to the vibrant yellow that acts as the base of this piece.  Without the yellow I pretty much would be bored by the painting, but the yellow color just brightens everything up and truly illuminates the entire exhibit.  Overall, the experience that I had at the Art Street exhibit showcasing the artwork of Peter Gooch was pretty average.  I was not at all blown away by any of the paintings and I also thought most of them were boring and redundant.  If I was asked to go see it again I would probably say no, seeing as I feel the artist is not very creative and uses the same base every time.  Nothing wowed me at all, but I did enjoy experiencing the unique style that Peter has.