I watched the sequel before this one, and I'm glad I did, because as it turns out this was one was really a lot better! Small details, like the Kevlar raft, the human skulls (supposedly) added to the undercarriage of the helicopter, viewing the landscape from a mounted minigun angle, the climb from balcony to balcony, the RPGs, etc, they all add to the action.

At the start, Norris is always in the line of fire and doesn't get hit all. It turns out it's just a flashback though, from when he was prisoner at a hidden camp in Vietnam, before he escaped. His name is Braddock, and the movie starts with him looking out the window of his apartment in the US, thinking back to his time in Vietnam, suddenly kicking over his TV set (where they're speaking about him) and... well, just watch the movie and you'll see.

The movie is about MIAs, former soldiers missing in action. Braddock was one who went missing, and was thought dead, but actually lived through seven years of torture and imprisonment before escaping, and now the Vietnamese accuse him of war crimes against their people. Of course there are two sides to the story, and of course this is the American side of it, but there's a lot of action, there's a rescue mission, death, life, love (just a little), stealth, open fire, freedom and... well just watch the movie. Everything may not be high budget, but it's good action. And did I mention Chuck Norris is in it? Yeah.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

When I heard that the RZA was going to make a martial arts movie, I knew I had to watch it. When I read that Tarantino would be directing it, I knew that I really had to watch it. When I watched the movie, I knew I'd watched it.

So... it turned out to be pretty good! The RZA plays a black blacksmith (Hey!) in some Asian country. You might think that's strange, but wait until they start speaking English instead of Mandarin (or whichever Asian language it is they do speak). Sometimes they mix in a little foreign languages (like French and that Asian language) to keep it real, but most of the actors are actually American. Apart from American Asians there are a bunch of Asians who speak English fluently, and a minority who don't. The minority who don't are probably the ones who really are amazing at martial arts. Actually, most of the major actors in this movie don't know martial arts at all, it just looks like they do because the movie is filmed so damn well.

The action is a bit like Kill Bill. It's Tarantino after all! You'll see the same kinds of transitions, a lot of blood and just.. generally good filmography. Tarantino always manages that, somehow. This is all mixed up with RZAs narrative, soundtrack, and a story about a shipment of gold and a lot of different clans going to war and betraying each other. There's really not as much action as I expected the movie to have, so I guess I had my hopes set a little too high for this one, but there definitely is a lot of action. It's good action. It's gritty and brutal and bloody and RZA can't act for shit, but it has a grindhouse feel combined with traditional martial arts and a little exaggerated Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon flying-all-over-the-place kind of fighting. If you like these kind of movies, if you like Tarantino's movies, if you like action and you like martial arts and Asian culture, you're going to love this. Check it out!

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

As far as I know, this is the first special episode in this series of movies. It's not really a movie either, it's more like an episode. It's like a spin-off to the third movie, featuring the same characters you've grown to love, as well as Peaches (Manny & Ellie's daughter) all grown up.

It's a fun episode, in which the whole concept of Christmas is really juggled around with. They invent the Christmas tree (and Manny is like "A tree? What's so special about a tree? That'll never get popular!"). They go visit Santa. Sid, as usual, wrecks things by destroying Manny's Christmas Rock... which is the reason he 'invents' the tree anyway, and departs on a journey to fix things. Peach goes on a journey too, and they all end up having one big adventure together! Like I said, it's a fun episode, and it's all in Christmas spirit... so if you're looking for things to watch this Christmas (or any Christmas) this is warmly recommended. A great movie for anyone, single people or whole families. Great watch!

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

For a long time (until today) I thought that a privacy policy was an obligatory part of any online website to declare to the public how public data is gathered (if it is) and how it is (if it is) handled or used. Though different sites say different things, having a privacy policy on your page is not mandatory at all. People include them simply because it's a practiced practice, and they have (as I had) the impression that it was needed. Don't get me wrong, many sites really do need privacy policies, but most personal sites do not.

If you run a business it may be wise to have a policy in case you collect information and handle it in such a way that it is required you notify the user of it. At the same time, creating a privacy policy is a guideline made as much for the visitor as for yourself, and if you do not follow your own policy, then the real trouble could fire up. So don't create a policy just to have one, and be certain that you'll follow the regulations you create if you do. If you use third-party services, they may require that you have a privacy policy. Apart from that, you do have an obligation to adhere to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), and if you collect data from users of California, there's the California Office of Privacy Protection you need to be aware of. In different countries, different laws may apply, but most don't have any laws regarding privacy policies on websites. Most people don't really care or know about privacy policies anyway, except for the website owners.

I guess I don't need one. This is a personal website, completely non-commercial and I'm not collecting any data from users in Calfornia either. But what happens if a user from California posts a comment? What then? The topic of privacy polices is rather unclear, and it would be nice with some W3C regulations that clearly state what you must have. For now, I'm just posting my 29 cents. If you're interested, there's plenty of debate to look up.

Life is a mess. I'm writing blogs, diaries, reviews, etc, all at the same time. You know what I realize? That it doesn't always work. If I write a diary every night, I stop writing blogs about my life. If I write movie reviews, I stop reviewing things on other sites. If I post at forums I just get crazy and stop writing all other things alltogether. Either that, or I just write so much shit every day that I don't really get anything done. So, how to write different things simultaneously?

I haven't really found the answer yet, but considering I'm writing this, and I'll be writing a diary tonight, and I've written a few reviews today, both here and on another site, and I've spent some time at the forums, and I'll probably write a rhyme after... I'd say I'm doing well. The secret is: just keep going. Don't feel pressured about writing, write because you like to write, and put out all your inspiration when you do write, don't save up, don't keep things bottled in, because the more you put out the more new creativity will surge your brain and the you will have to put out the next day.

I'm attending a Creative Writing course too, which means even more writing, but it's easier to write if you don't stop. If you don't write in a while, and then try to get back to it, then it gets difficult. The right words don't appear as easily and the phrases don't really sound right, so just write. And if you get tired of writing, read. I find it's easier to write after a good nights sleep too. It takes a while to get the brain working properly, but once it does, it's much easier when you're fully rested. The variation when writing different forms of content is probably much better than focusing on a select type of text as well. It's hard writing the same kind of content all over again, you need change. Change in writing, change from writing. So, as my mentor says, just keep the pen moving!

So, Malwarebytes suddenly jumped from red to blue. What, red looked too much like Malware to them? Suddenly it looks so smooth and soothing that I'm starting to doubt that the program really does anything any longer. Oh wth, it looks good, it's a fresh start for a fresh year! It looks fresh. This is what it looks like now.

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