Movie Review Monday: Star Trek - Insurrection

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is 1991's Star Trek: Insurrection, the ninth film in the Star Trek franchise and the third film in the Next Generation series of feature films.

I've reviewed some of the Star Trek films on here before (Generations & The Motion Picture) and I have seen all of the films now with my recent viewing of Insurrection, and I must say, none of them really live up to the television series for me.

Insurrection follows a plot by the Federation to take advantage of the unique life preserving properties of a remote planet. Once Captain Picard and his crew discover this, they rebel against the officer responsible to protect the peaceful citizens of the planet.

The story borders on potential depth, but ends up just being a shallow action movie with some decent twists and turns. Star Trek is always at it's best when it deals with moral and philosophic quandaries and none of the movies (this one included) ever seem to really live up to that mark like the various shows did. All this movie made me want to do is go dig into Deep Space Nine (since so many people have recommended it to me).

I'm bummed that Insurrection wasn't better. It could have been much better but the end product isn't bad in itself, it's just disappointing in comparison to what it could have been.

I'd be interested to hear what others thought of this movie (and the other feature films of the franchise).

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 07/31/15

Greetings!

Here's what was going on in my world this week:

• Ex Machina

I rented this movie from Redbox the other day and it was certainly worth it. I had heard a lot of good buzz from its initial release but just never got around to watching. Once I saw it available to rent, I put it on my list. It is a haunting, intriguing, original, disturbing, and entertaining sci-fi thriller that confronts the realities of artificial intelligence and human hubris. I really enjoyed the movie and it is definitely worth checking out for any sci-fi fans out there. It is easily the Snowpiercer of this year for me.

• Twitter

There has been some interesting news lately about Twitter, it's revenues, possible changes, and overall the future of the site in the social media landscape. They have already made changes that make it feel more like Facebook, and it only seems to be wanting to go more in that direction if all goes according to the recent rumors. I love Twitter, and I don't think it needs to alter the core of the site too much. It has been my more preferred social media site for the past couple of years, and I hope it continues to be that way.

• Live Maine

I happened upon this cool lifestyle company recently and ordered a few goodies from it. They have shirts, stickers, hats, and pint glasses with cool Maine logos on them. As someone who was born here, it always will have a soft spot in my heart, and getting stuff from local companies like this to represent my home state makes me happy. Buy local, people!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thoughts on the Movie "Admission"

So I finally watched Admission the other day, as it had long been sitting in my watch list but it never found its way to Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime (as far as I could tell), so I rented it from iTunes with a gift card I had. I had high hopes for the movie and felt intrigued (as I often am) about it since it was all about higher ed. I always find myself interested in how movies and television shows depict college, and this movie was just another recent movie on the list to check out. With all that considered, I felt the need to write down my thoughts on the movie since it seems especially relevant to me and my intended audience for this site.

Unfortunately, Admission is a mixed bag for me. It felt original and fresh in some ways, but frustrating in others. Part of both the good and bad with this is that the story doesn't give you what you expect. There are twists and turns but some of them feel unnecessarily forced. The plot feels very jerking in the sense that it seems to be going somewhere and then just stops, and then goes somewhere else, and then stops. There is a lot going on in the story that all does get resolved, but I'd say it doesn't get resolved terribly well.

The basic premise is that Tina Fey plays an admissions staff member at Princeton University and has her world turned upside down by an old college acquaintance, played by Paul Rudd, who reaches out to her about a special student of his. Much of the story is revealed in the trailer, and the whole experience is enjoyable but as a dramatic comedy, it doesn't go far enough in on either of these to either just be fun or deep.

Admission does feel like it has something to say about higher education and their admission processes but it gets lost amongst the jumble of everything else for me. The whole final product feels like it must have been tinkered with too much with edits and notes from too many people to where the message gets too mixed up in the end. The best takeaway I gathered after I watched Admission is that colleges should try to take a chance on students that have potential and would benefit from the higher education experience, rather than those students who have been given every opportunity already and college is just another road mark to them.

I'd be interested to hear other's thoughts on the movie if they've watched it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Movie Review Monday: When Harry Met Sally

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 1989 romantic comedy classic, When Harry Met Sally, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.

This movie came out the year I was born and has been referenced and given homage to many times over the years. I feel like I had seen it already but I had never sat down and watched it from start to finish. It felt like a good choice to watch on a lazy night with my partner and we were right.

The story follows the long, winding journey of the friendship between Harry and Sally (Crystal and Ryan respectively). They fall in and out of contact over the course of over ten years, sharing a special connection neither dares to speak of. Their friends all know it, but they feel as though what they have is good and they don't want to ruin it by trying to make it more.

This movie is a wholesome, fun, relatable story about love, friendship, and the courage to take a chance. It is a very timeless story (other than some of the fashion choices and the use of pay phones) and I'm sure will be a classic in the genre for many more years to come. While it isn't uproariously funny, it more than makes up for it with heart.

I definitely recommend checking out When Harry Met Sally, which is streaming now on Amazon Prime Instant Video.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 07/24/15

Hello, friends!

I know it's been a little while since I've posted one of these, but nevertheless, here's what was going on in my world this week:

• The Daily Show

Jon Stewart's time on the venerable fake news show is coming to an end soon, and his final stretch of episodes began this past Monday. The Daily Show has been mandatory viewing for me for years now and the quality of every show has been consistently amazing. All of Jon Stewart's episodes over his 17 year run are live streaming on the Comedy Central website (through August 6), where you can also find extended interviews with recent guests. Bid Jon adieu with me and the rest of his fans in these final weeks.

• Routine

Lately I've been feeling a bit both in and out of sync at the same time. I have been keeping with my regular sleep routine (which is very important to me) but I haven't been writing as much as I would like. Inspiration certainly has it's place and sometimes I just have to wait for it to come, but I feel strongly that consistency and hard work are important, especially with where I hope for this whole thing to go. I think my recent travels earlier this month and last month has played a role in upsetting my rhythm. I'll be staying local for the foreseeable future so hopefully I can meditate, reflect, and write.

• Thrift Shops

My partner and I (now that she is back in Maine) have been shopping around for some new things to decorate and furnish with. We got some great deals and found a solid bookshelf (we'd been needing one badly for a while now) to house all our books and my movies. I have donated often to various thrift shops and have found a lot of cool stuff at them over the years. I highly recommend supporting your local shops or places like Goodwill, Salvation Army, or Plato's Closet. You save money, help people, and support sustainable reusing of all sorts of stuff.

Thanks for stopping by!

How Running a Successful Orientation Can Impact Student Retention

* This was originally posted on The OOHLALA Blog.

With summer upon us, it is the season of New Student Orientation for colleges and universities across the country. Incoming students, fresh out of high school, are becoming acclimated to what will (hopefully) be their home away from home for the next several years. Orientation programs come in all shapes and sizes, and there will always be different form of programs that fit better for every institution. Nevertheless, the overall importance of a proper New Student Orientation program cannot be understated. It is the first chance to engage new students in the culture, expectations, and resources your institution has to offer, and the impact of your efforts, is increased retention and student success as a result of their preparation and knowledge that they are supported as students at your institution.

Here are 3 specific ways New Student Orientation programs impact student retention and success (and what you can do to maximize this potential).

1. Encourages Social Involvement

A great part of orientation is the fact that it is the first time a big batch of incoming students are all coming together ahead of the start of the semester. There may have been disparate open houses and other chances before, but all of these students are committed to your institution and are all together. This changes how they interact with you and how they interact with each other. It's important to get the students to connect with their fellow peers rather than having you being the main conduit for their interactions and questions. The bonds that students make at orientation can be their saving graces in those first few weeks as they are still figuring everything out and wanting to meet new people. If they feel alone, isolated, and like no one cares, then they are far more likely to check out of the whole college experience altogether. More possibilities for social involvement at orientation are chances for incoming students to interactwith current students. This could be through icebreakers with their Orientation Leaders, student panels, or engaging with student clubs at a fair type portion of the day where all the organizations table and speak to their offerings.

2. Builds Student Pride

An important component of New Student Orientation is welcoming the incoming students into your community. This includes getting students excited about being a part of it and partaking in the traditions of your campus and institution. Incorporating your mascot, branded swag (shirts, hats, prizes, etc.) and having students participate in a tradition such as learning the student slang or signing a class banner (Don't have a tradition? It's never too early to start!). Even at the very least, just having a fun, engaging, positive, and friendly atmosphere for students is the least you can do to get students excited about attending your school. They could have chosen any number of other places to go, and they should feel like they can't wait to get the school year started!

3. Provides Support

Something more practical and functional to accomplish during New Student Orientation is to make students (and families) feel like they are supported and guided through the process of getting into and through college successfully. It can be a very confusing and stressful experience to get acclimated to the large bureaucracies that many campuses have become. We shouldn't assume students and families (especially those that have never gone to college before) can just figure it all out on their own. We need to make everything as simple and efficient as possible while also letting everyone know how to reach out if they need some more help. Orientation can be an overload of information for everyone involved, so the most basic thing we can do is make sure that students and families feel like they are cared for and supported by our staff. That goes a long way since we can't anticipate every single need that could ever arise, and we shouldn't just dump information on everyone to try to solve all the questions ahead of time.

I believe New Student Orientation is one of the most important functional areas in student affairs since it brings together every other area to help shepherd in students and make them feel valued, excited, and supported. The tone that is set and the investments made at orientation can pay dividends later in huge ways. I encourage you to continue to tinker and improve your New Student Orientation programs and make sure as many students attend as possible. Your students and your institution will thank you for it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Movie Musings: Ant-Man

This past weekend, I saw the new Marvel movie Ant-Man with a group of friends. It's been an anticipated movie for me since it continues the long, positive streak of films and television shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). While the trailers had me a bit worried, there was a lot of good buzz going in ahead of Ant-Man's release and the movie lives up to it's Marvel pedigree. It's a lot of fun and further builds upon the established MCU in some very cool ways.

The story surrounds Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his redemption through his origins as the classic Marvel hero Ant-Man. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who created the Ant-Man suit decades earlier, needs Scott to use the suit to stop the evil plots of Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), his former assistant who has been obsessed with recreating Pym's work. With the help of Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Scott devises a plan to break in and destroy Cross's work for good.

This film is another fun, light-hearted entry in the MCU. It is most like Guardians of the Galaxy, which also has a very different tone and vibe to it. Ant-Man is a heist movie (for the most part) much like GotG is a sci-fi, space-faring epic. None of the other Marvel movies really come close to embodying the unique feel of Ant-Man. What they do all have in common is the fun, humor, and increasingly rich universe they all share. They put Hank Pym into the history of the MCU properly and set up new characters too.

I really enjoyed Ant-Man and I hope people will check it out, especially if you're a fan of the MCU.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I Was Geeking Out About: June 2015

Hey there! Here's what was going on in my world last month:

Every Friday, I share what's on my mind from the past week. There was so much to awesome stuff to geek out about last month, and to help you sift through it all, here's my monthly wrap up of all the stuff that was going on in June:

• Week of 06/05/15
• Week of 06/19/15
• Week of 06/26/15

Thanks for stopping by!

Some Final Thoughts on San Diego Comic Con

San Diego Comic Con is the pinnacle of geek culture. Pretty much everything you can think of in the entertainment world is somehow represented there. From Power Rangers to Galactus to Buffy to Peanuts and Charlie Brown, and everything in between. It's a great melting pot of fandom, with people coming from all over the world to take part, but there are some elements that were distressing to me as a newcomer, much like with national student affairs conventions.

The Verge did a great piece that gave voice to some of my concerns, and The New York Times highlighted well the convention experience as a whole. The long lines, the shallow industry showcases disguised as fan service, the overwhelming crowds, and the exclusive, fairly expensive nature (especially with airfare, meals, and hotels) of it all just seemed very privileged to me. The convention lost some of its immediate luster to me after spending a few days there. Maybe I just didn't do it right, but I didn't feel like the point of it all was to spend half of your hard fought ticket to SDCC waiting in lines for a short session that essentially was just a studio patting itself on the back for how great their thing is (and then the trailer you saw being released the next day online). There was a lack of depth that annoyed me to most of the proceedings. There was so much going on it's not surprising. There just wasn't a time or place for it.

Maybe the whole event has become a bloated version of what it was originally intended to be and it will eventually deflate back to a more focused event. Or maybe that is what the other conventions are for. Nowadays though, a lot of comic conventions seem to be trying to model themselves after SDCC, becoming huge entertainment industry showcases versus a focus on panels, artists, and personal interactions. Also, it's a whole other post in itself about the problems SDCC has with consent and cosplay.

Don't get me wrong, I had a great time. It just feels like it could have been even better. Maybe if I get the chance to go again it will be different. Maybe I'm expecting too much or maybe it's all just not for me. The crowds were frustrating for me at times, I couldn't buy a lot of stuff even if I wanted to (I didn't that much), and I got confused many times about just how the convention worked. Maybe I should have done more homework and preparing.

Well, either way, until next year, here's to the memories and the weird, wild, and one of a kind San Diego Comic Con.

Highlights From #SDCC15

From July 9-12 I was at 2015 San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), which was my first time ever attending this mecca of sorts for geeks and nerds (and my first time ever in California). It was a whirlwind trip that had a lot of great highlights for me.

First off, the weather in San Diego was beautiful for the weekend I was there. The sun was out, it wasn't too hot, and overall it was just a great setting to be able to explore and experience the area. I did a lot of walking over the few days I was there, which wore me out a bit and gave me a solid sunburn towards the end of the trip.

On the first day of the trip (Thursday), I walked to the convention center to check in and just walked around the show floor and other off-site events to see everything and get a lay of the land. I eventually made my way to the San Diego Central Library for the panel I was helping to cover. This was definitely a huge highlight and it was what enabled me to come out in the first place so I'm really happy I was able to sit in and take a bunch of photos of the session.

After that panel, I crashed back at my room since I had to wake up early that day for my long flight from Boston. On Friday, I did more exploring, got tickets for a session, popped in for a panel, and then played the new Star Wars Battlefront game on the PlayStation 4. The Nerd HQ was demoing the game and it was incredible! I would contemplate getting a system to play this game it was that good. Then I went to the Nerdist Conival to see of their speakers (mainly Felicia Day). Both the Conival and Nerd HQ were free to anyone to come in, no SDCC badge was required. They both a lot of fun activities and it was nice that they were there as accessible options for fans to enjoy.

My favorite session that I got to go to was the Nerdist Podcast Network Podcast Jam (an unwieldy title to be sure) that featured Jonah Ray, Matt Mira, Pete Holmes, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Gordon, and Sandra Daugherty. There was also a kid who does a podcast apparently on the network (The Mutant Season) that I had no idea who he was but it was sort of neat to hear from a young person and the impact doing a podcast has had on him. I had never seen all these people in person, much less all at the same time. It was hilarious! They provided some neat insights as well from their collective years podcasting. As a fan of the medium and an avid podcaster myself, it was definitely a major highlight of the whole con for me.

Saturday was spent checking out a local beach and dipping my feet in the Pacific Ocean (a life goal for me). I came back to SDCC later in the day to check out Adam Savage from MythBusters do a Q&A session as well as a session from the folks at Nerd for a Living about doing just that; how to get into nerdy creative fields like costume design, movie makeup and effects, comic writing/illustrating, etc. I have appreciated the work they do for a little while now so it was cool to be able to check this panel out.

After all that, I packed up and got to bed so I could head out the next morning for my flight back to the East Coast. It was an awesome trip and experience that I did not expect to have so soon in my life. I'll try to capture more of my in depth thoughts in a future post, but I just wanted to share some of the cool highlights from the trip with you all. If you haven't gone before, I hope you get the opportunity to do so at some point. It's an amazing experience to behold, and will definitely be memorable for you for your own awesomely geeky reasons.

Thanks for stopping by!