Some reviews

Unless food is involved, I'm a fairly cheap person. I don't go to movies unless my girlfriend or I really want to see. I don't buy videogames anymore, I just mooch off friends, er, friend for that fix. Music is pretty crummy today as well, so I haven't been buying a lot of music.

Well, I actually bought a CD on iTunes , saw a couple movies and played a new videogame in the past month, so here are some reviews.

2012: I have a man-crush on John Cusack, and you probably do too but are afraid to admit it. That was pretty much my reasoning for seeing this one, especially because I find disaster films to be boring and predictable.

To say I was pleasantly surprised with 2012 is an understatement.

The action is pretty much nonstop for almost three hours. The special effects are fun and there is a good amount of humor to balance with the thought of the world pretty much falling apart. There won't be any Oscar buzz, but I found it a lot more fun to watch this than award winning movies like "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood". Let's be honest, both those movies were bores and "There Will Be Blood" would have been unbearable if not for Daniel Day Lewis.

B+

A Christmas Carol: Nothing special here. The animation was cool, but it's the same story that we've seen in about 20 movies over the years and didn't do anything to stand out. Animated movies need to take a lesson from "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within". Awesome animation can only take you so far.

C-

Weezer - Raditude: For those of you (Greg) who wonder where the name came from, Rivers Cuomo asked Rainn Wilson (Dwight from the Office) to come up with a title for CD, and that's what he came up with.

As for the music, it's very poppy and fun. Rivers and the rest of the band are happily married and living the good life, so there is no angst and or emotionally stirring songs that filled Pinkerton. Instead we get catchy pop tunes that are fun to listen and sing along to.

I enjoy it, especially some of the bonus tracks, but a lot of old school Weezer fans hate the album. Everyone wants to hear Blue or Pinkerton again, but those days are long gone. The band is making music they want to and not just trying to please old fans, which is admirable. I recently had a friend who said they were one step away from being a boy band, but he's an idiot.

B+

Left 4 Dead 2: I love killing zombies with guns, chainsaws and frying pans, and L4D2 delivers. The much anticipated sequel is awesome. The new special infected are challenging and fun to chop with a katana. The new guns and use of melee weapons keep it killing zombies fresh and it's just a lot of fun.

Imagine running along a building ledge when a freaky character jumps on your back and tries to pull you off the ledge, all the while, a fat blob of a zombie is puking on you to get more zombies to attack you. It's spectacular. Unless you fall or are beaten to death.

Mike has not yet invited me over to play online, but we'll get there eventually. I'm sure it's awesome and frustrating all at the same time.

A+

Bruce Springsteen - Where the Bands Are