Daniel M. Hendricks » review

The Dark Knight

Daniel — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:46:22 +0000

Wanda and I finally went to see The Dark Knight tonight. The Batman films aren’t usually Wanda’s favorite kind of movies, but she wanted to see it because of Heath Ledger. As everyone said, he did an amazing performance. I liked the movie a lot – it was different from the other Batman movies, which was cool. I thought Christian Bale played a decent Batman, although I’m not sure about the raspy “in-suit” voice – perhaps that was part of his clever disguise. The movie was a little violent for kids, but I guess that’s why it’s PG-13.

I also saw a preview for the next Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. It looks like it should be good.

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

Johnathan’s Italian Bistro

Daniel — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 03:28:39 +0000

We went to Johnathan’s Italian Bistro tonight. It was our second time there. The prices are a little high, but the food and atmosphere are very good. I don’t know a whole lot of people in the Fox Cities anymore, but if you’re in the Appleton area and are looking for something more romantic, I’d recommend it. For those familiar with the area, it’s off of Casaloma near the Timber Rattlers’ stadium.

Best of all, they don’t play Italian music while you eat.

Of course, if you’re looking for Italian for a bargain, you can’t beat Victoria’s on College Ave.

Revenge of the Sith

Daniel — Mon, 23 May 2005 15:48:36 +0000

Wanda and I saw the new Star Wars movie on Saturday at the Hollywood Cinema UltraPlex in Grand Chute. It was great. We got our tickets a few hours early and the attendant said we should show up about 2 hours before the movie started to get a seat. We opted to show up an hour early, which was about right as we got a good position in line and the wait didn’t seem too long. Time flew as we made fun of the geeks in costume who were shoring off their mega-media-player-cell-phones and other gadgets that they probably spent more money on a whole year’s rent.

I had never been much of a Star Wars fan in the past, mostly because I couldn’t get past the dated effects and 1970′s look of the older movies. However, the new ones have ignited my interest in the story as a whole. After the movie, I went home and watched Episode IV again because I couldn’t get enough. Perhaps this week I’ll watch 5 and 6 too, but I’d like to wait until I have them on DVD (currently, I only have them on VHS).

Episode III was great. All the hype was true, and it tied things together quite nicely. I can’t believe I paid $5 for a large soda!

The Melting Pot

Daniel — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:25:22 +0000

Wanda and I went to the The Melting Pot for Valentines day. It was extremely expensive, but I knew that getting into it. I though it would be nice to make up for Valentines days that I wasn’t so thoughtful for We had a good time – it was nice spending time together over a nice meal. A very nice place, indeed, but I don’t think it was our cup of tea.

For those who have never heard of it, The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant. We got “The Big Night Out,” which consisted of about four courses – veggies and bread to dip in a tastey cheese fondue, salad, a main course of shrimp, fillet mignon, lobster, and stuffed ravioli, and desert of fruits and chocolates dipped in a white chocolate fondue. It was tastey for the most part, but not quite worth the price tag in our opinion. The lobster was terrible, although the rest of the main course was pretty good, though meager. The desert had too much bourbon in it and tasted like booze. A neat experience and a very nice place, but we’ll probably stick to our other local favorite, Good Company, in the future.

The Notebook

Daniel — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 17:15:21 +0000

We watched the movie, “The Notebook,” this weekend. If you’re looking for a tear-jerker to watch with your significant other, this would probably a good candidate. It was quite long and the ending was very predictable. However, even though you could predict WHAT the ending was, you still wanted to watch to see HOW it happened. Definitely a chick flick, but I enjoyed it.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Remake

Daniel — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 05:11:31 +0000

Amazing. Tim Burton is remaking one of my favorite childhood stories – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And Johnny Depp is playing Willy Wonka. Does anyone else think Depp looks like Michael Jackson, or at least a run-of-the-mill child molester? This is gonna be weird. Depp was the bomb in Blow.

Spanglish

Daniel — Sun, 12 Dec 2004 14:35:40 +0000

Wanda and I saw Spanglish this weekend. It was pretty good. It didn’t have the ending the audience expected and wanted, but that could be good or bad based on your preference I suppose. The casting was good, although you wanted to strangle T?a Leoni by the end of the movie. I think it’s a movie that couples can enjoy together. It may not have been the movie of the century, but it’s a great date movie.

Kill Bill

Daniel — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 19:39:50 +0000

If you haven’t seen them yet, I highly recommend Kill Bill Vols 1 & 2. The story is brilliant and the fight scenes are amazing. Volume 1 is full of martial arts fight scenes where Uma Thurman kicks ass and takes names. Volume 2 has less action, but bring the whole story together in an entertaining and unpredictable way. I thought both movies were equally good.

Spider-Man 2

Daniel — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 14:23:53 +0000

Well, all bets are off with Spider-Man 2, which I saw with Wanda, et al yesterday afternoon. The question is, which bets? Apparently at least some of the screenwriters had some personal bets like “I bet you can’t write the script while high on Ecstacy!” or “I bet you can’t write the script more disappointing than Matrix Reloaded!” Perhaps the bet should have been qualified with the words “good script”. The impatient 4-year old sitting in front of us didn’t appear to be very interested either. I can’t imagine why a toddler wouldn’t interested in a love story seeded with clunky dialog.

Maybe I’m just bitter because I paid $4.50 for a soda. Yeah, I know, I didn’t have to buy it, but I think they put something in the air to make you extremely thirsty when you walk in the door. Damn you Shell Silverstein!

Fahrenheit 9/11

Daniel — Mon, 28 Jun 2004 03:37:30 +0000

Well, we saw the movie Friday night. It was quite entertaining. I’m not entireley sure what to think of it since Moore’s mocumentaries have been notoriously full of half-truths, which makes sense given that it is a mocumentary. However, the movie does bring up some good points and adds fuel to the fire of those who already dislike Bush. I probably won’t vote for him, not necessarily because of his actions before and after 9/11 so much (although my verdict is still out on those events), but more likely because of the poor economy and hemorrhaging of jobs we have seen since he was elected. I recommend anyone see the movie, liberal, conservative, or otherwise.