2007 Summer Movie Preview

These aren't all the big movies coming out this summer, but they are probably the seven films I am most likely going to get excited/brave the crowds for.

Spider-Man 3
Looking to start the summer off right, the third installment in the ongoing battle of juggling a normal life as Peter Parker and protecting the city from super evil as Spider-Man will hit theaters on May 4, most likely setting the tone for a huge money-making season.
This time around, things look to be going great for Parker as he has confessed his undying love for Mary Jane and plans to marry her, but turmoil is never far in the superhero world. Not only must Spider-Man face off against his newest adversary Sandman and an old friend in the form of the new Green Goblin, but he must also cope with an alien entity that bonds with Spider-Man's suit, giving him limitless powers and emotional instability.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Picking up where Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest left off, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and the rest of the Black Pearl travel off the edge of the map in an attempt to rescue Capt. Jack Sparrow from a watery grave at the hands of Davy Jones. They traverse the seas and join newest cast member Chow Yun-Fat, as Sao Feng the Pirate Lord of Singapore, in a final battle that will decide the fate of all piracy.
The trilogy will come to a close on May 25, but talk of a fourth film has already started brewing even before the third one is released.

Ocean's Thirteen
Save the date of June 8 when Danny Ocean and his ragtag gang of oddballs attempt to pull off another heist with the help of their old opponent Terry Benedict.
Joining the crew this time around is Andy Garcia's Benedict and Ellen Barkin, supposedly as the love interest for thief-in-training Matt Damon. These two will take the place of Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who are not featured. Not much is known about the plot outside of Ocean and his team targeting their man for revenge, but the mark in the third crime caper from Steven Soderbergh is scenery-chewer Al Pacino.

Transformers
Growing up as an 80s baby, there were certain television shows that molded me: "The Smurfs" taught me about kindness and morality, "He-Man" gave me courage, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" were my comic relief and "Transformers" was just the guilty pleasure of my childhood.
Although a 1986 animated film was already released about the Transformers, explosion-happy Michael Bay is giving it another try, but this time using live-action actors and computer-graphic Autobots and Decepticons in his version of the universe's ultimate battle between good and evil.
The dueling alien races are traveling to Earth on July 4, which seems to be a popular day for alien species to decide to annihilate our planet. Although the movie is about the Transformers, which was simply a product-driven television series that led my generation's parents to spend small fortunes on Japanese-manufactured toys that could transform from cars and trucks into robots, it will most likely be a one-time viewer for me.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Despite never having read a single word of J.K. Rowlings' magical series about the wizardry school of Hogwarts or its students, I am a huge Harry Potter movie geek. July 13 is the release date of the fifth film in the series. After Harry's nemesis Lord Voldemort returns, Harry and Dumbledore are under fire from wizard authorities that are in denial of their warnings. As changes begin to take place and a dark, sinister evil reaches out across the world, are Harry and his friends prepared for the ensuing battle that lies ahead?

The Simpsons Movie
It has been more than 20 years since the Simpson family hit the airwaves on the "The Tracey Ullman Show." They have had 19 successful seasons as an award-winning animated comedy on FOX. Pop culture has certainly been impacted from Homer's idiotic antics and the English lexicon has also been influenced by the show's catchphrases. Plenty of merchandise has been sold and hundreds of millions of dollars made from television's middle-class royalty. So, why did it take this long for a movie to be made?
Moviegoers will finally be given a full two hours to enjoy their favorite hapless family on July 27, but little is known of what the movie is actually about. Besides the usual town regulars, frequent guest stars, such as Albert Brooks, Kelsey Grammar and Joe Mantegna, and new guest stars, including Minnie Driver and Erin Brockovich, will provide voices.

The Bourne Ultimatum
It is one of the greatest spy book series to finally be made into movies in the last several decades and the third film will be released on Aug. 3. Jason Bourne is an amnesiac who is slowly recalling his previous life as a government assassin. The Bourne Ultimatum will place Bourne everywhere from London, Madrid and Moscow to Paris, New York City and Tangier as he continues his search to find the truth about his life.

Adios Awesome Apartment

I spent my final night in my Ennis apartment last night. After two years in Ennis I am moving back to Arlington. Although everything is not yet quite packed up in boxes I have taken posters and pictures off the walls and boxed up all my books and DVDs, resulting in a very bare, colorless living quarters.
Despite moving back home into my grandmother’s house, which has been remodeled and almost completely restored by James, my mom and myself (mostly James though), I still have my journalism job in Ennis. I will be commuting everyday back and forth. Not the ideal situation, but it is better than being unemployed. Hopefully I will find a writing/photography/editing job soon in the metroplex that will put me closer to home.
Outside of working on the house I haven’t had much time to do anything else. I was able to get away for the weekend last week for some camping. That was quite an experience. I will go into greater detail later.

House And Job Updates

The Norwood house is really coming together now. My mom, James and I have painted the nursery entirely, with James' room almost complete. The carpet will be delivered and installed a week from tomorrow. A wonderful man named Hugo came over and ripped up our jungle of a yard and even trimmed the hedges that were starting to grow into the driveway. He also pulled out the metal fence that was in the backyard. This has all been done without a mention of payment. It is great.
The best part of all this is that the hole in the roof has been partly patched. Mark, Clint, James and I put forth our best effort to fix it but couldn't seem to get the sheet rock to fit. After Mark left the three of us refused to let the hole defeat us so we gave it another crack. A few hours later the hole was closed up and insulation was installed. Now we just have to tape it up, plaster it down, shoot the popcorn on the ceiling and paint. Simple, right?
I have applied for a new job as a city government reporter for the Dallas Morning News. They are asking for a veteran reporter, but hopefully I can at least get an interview to show that I want this job. I doubt I will go from a small paper to a large publication like the Dallas Morning News in just two years, but I also didn't think I had a shot at getting the job in Ennis either.
I will be praying that God blesses me with this job, but if I don't get it then I will continue my search and make the hour drive to Ennis until then.

I Have The Right To Change My Mind

I just can't bring myself to delete this thing... again. It is going to stay up even though I don't update it, nobody checks it and there is nothing to talk about.
I did change the template so maybe that will inspire me to write a little more on it.