Blog's Up!
Entry posted by Nathan Strum
660 views
Well, I've been pretty busy lately, but things are finally starting to calm down now.
Except for the electrical fire in the server room at work yesterday. But hey - that wasn't my fault.
Anyway... the school year at the college I work at ended a few weeks ago. This time with a twist - I graduated along with everyone else!
Well... not everyone. But the graduating class of 2007. Even though I haven't been a student since 1994.
It's a lonnnng story, but I was supposed to graduate in '94. But the college messed up with the number of credits from my previous colleges, and I ended up not having enough total credits for my degree. Thirteen years later, the paperwork finally got cleared up, and I was able to walk across a stage that looked like a giant cake, and get handed a black plastic folder with the college's name on it, which I guess I put my degree in when it actually gets mailed to me sometime in July. But my official transcript now does say "BFA - Character Animation" and it's even dated May, 1994, too. 'Bout time. It's a relief to have that out of the way (especially since I'm still paying for it).
A couple of weekends ago I got to go to the West Coast premiere of "Surf's Up", since I'm friends with the head of story for it. This was the first premiere I've been to, and it was pretty cool. Free parking, free admission, free popcorn and Coke (the kind you drink, not the other kind... I think you had to bring your own for that), and an after-movie party. It was an outdoors, mid-afternoon thing, with a tropical theme. Good food (salmon, grilled chicken, corn dogs, Happy Meals for the kids), and best of all - free swag! I picked up some stuffed penguins (the plush kind, not the taxidermy kind) for my nieces at some carnival-type game booths, and got free "Surf's Up" PSP and PS2 games for myself. (It was, after all, a Sony film - but still, free games are pretty cool and unexpected.) Plus they had a guy in a Penguin suit walking around for the kids, and a couple of really cute hula dancers (non-penguin variety) for the bigger kids. 
It was an interesting crowd of people. Plenty of plastic surgery and face-lifts. Some celebrities were supposedly there, but I didn't see them. Lots of limos though. (I had to drive myself. Can't have everything, I guess.)
Even without the free stuff, it was a pretty good film. There are some good characters (notably the chicken), although the character designs bugged me a little bit because the eyes seemed "too human" to be on penguins, but I got used to it. The scenery though - especially the surfing scenes and some of the tropical locations - was stunning. I really didn't feel like I was watching a CG film, but rather looking at someplace lush and beautiful. They really nailed the water effects. Plot-wise, it's very "Cars"-like, but the filmmakers didn't have the time to change the film once they found out the similarities. I'm not sure I would have picked up on it had I not been told beforehand, and it doesn't really detract from the film. There are some good laughs in it, and the usual handful of jokes that just fall flat, but overall it's a good, enjoyable film. Not a bad choice for a matinee, to be sure. Certainly not a waste of time, as so many mediocre CG films have been. What surprised me, and I think this is the hallmark of any good film, is that I went into the film not having any interest in the subject (surfing), and came out of it with a genuine fascination about it. And while I don't plan to actually try hanging-ten anytime soon, I do want to give those free videogames a try.
Next up, I want to go see Pixar's Ratatouille. From what I've seen so far, the animation looks amazing! But I'm probably going to have to pay for this one. 
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
5 Comments
Recommended Comments