Movie Review: Elysium

I love watching movies! Joe and I see anywhere from 1 to 3 a week. I like most genres but I can be picky. And what better way to share my particular movie opinions than to write a movie review!

Elysium 

The film is the story of a doomed man who is trying to break into the uber exclusive world of Elysium. It's an action-packed science fiction with mild emotional manipulation (i.e. the use of a dying pet or child, or overly sentimental flashbacks, to elicit an emotional response from the audience). The acting in the movie is good, however it's so action-oriented there is not a lot of time for character development. Matt Damon is great and does not disappoint as the main character. You'll also love to hate several characters. The movie starts out strong but somewhere in between the middle and the end it starts to drag. In the theater my mind started to wonder: what should I make for dinner tomorrow; I should write an email to so and so; what should I post on my blog next; and so on. The unending action wore me down, I mean, how many times do I have to watch this one guy punch, stab, and explode stuff? Although the special effects were impressive. The ending was a little predictable but fine. Nothing about this movie blew me away and I expect this movie to be somewhat forgettable. If you're bored and it's raining outside and you like action movies, then maybe go see Elysium. Or just stay home and watch Terminator again.


Rating: C+

Our Apartment

As mentioned in an earlier post, one benefit of moving to McAllen is low cost of living, lower rent included. To us cheaper rent meant we might be able to have a house with a garden and a grill and privacy, but our online searches proved otherwise. We struggled to find something we liked so we settled on another apartment (it was the only property we could agree on). It was about the same as our old apartment. The floor plan was similar, the amenities about the same. When we visited we couldn't view the actual unit; we saw a model with updates we wouldn't have in our unit. 

While we had hoped for a nicer place, we at least consoled ourselves with the cheaper rent. But the unit surprised us! It had all the updates: fake laminate wood floors, spray-on granite counters, new appliances. And it had a washer and dryer! (Although "boo!" to less storage!). The place is still a work in progress, but here are some pics:

Livingroom

  

Dining room 

Kitchen

My desk

Bedroom (Our dresser, Joe made it!!)

Joe made our nightstands too!

I know there aren't many pics of the actual bedroom and study, but they are small rooms and we're still trying to figure out storage. That concludes the tour of our apartment. Hope you enjoyed it!