MOVIE: The Prince of Egypt (1998)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Prince of EgyptYear: 1998Rating: PGLength: 99 minutes / 1.65 hours As far as Biblical stories go, the Old Testament’s account of the life of Moses is one of the more frequently represented passages in film. While the epic The Ten Commandments (1956) is usually the gold standard for these adaptations, I would argue that The Prince of Egypt (1998) has the benefit of animation to provide better accuracy to the scale of these events. I’m amazed a movie like this was made, but glad that it exists because of its excellence. One thing that struck me when I was re-watching this movie was how many famous people provided their voices for these characters. The list itself reads like a “who’s who” for late ‘90s actors. Unfortunately, this is occasionally distracting with actors who have more distinct voices (like Jeff Goldblum, Steve Martin, and Martin Short) as I can’t hear these voices as anything other than those actors. Otherwise, the other voices...
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BOOK: Die Trying (1998)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Die TryingYear: 1998Author: Lee ChildLength: 859 minutes / 14.32 hours After reading the first Jack Reacher book, The Killing Floor, I wasn’t terribly impressed by the overly macho, masculine wish fulfillment presented in that book. Despite this, I gave the second book in the series, Die Trying, a shot. I was much more impressed with this book as it seemed to contain an actual plot and plenty of intrigue. Of course, it still had the random male wish fulfillment bits in it, but I’ll take any improvements I can get. I definitely see why the series has continued for so long after this outing. The appeal of Jack Reacher as a character is his complete competence based on the specific skills he obtained while serving in the military. And while a case of mistaken identity kicked The Killing Floor off, Die Trying leaned into the “wrong place and wrong time” trope to get Reacher tied into the main series of events. That...
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MOVIE: The Big Lebowski (1998)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Big Lebowski Year: 1998 Rating: R Length: 117 minutes / 1.95 hours In the last year or so, I've tried to watch a few cult classics that had escaped my purview. I'm familiar with their cultural significance, and I can understand why they are beloved by many, but they aren't necessarily perfect films by any means. Movies like The Goonies (1985) and Mean Girls (2004) are mostly known via their memeable moments. This was why I already understood the gist of these movies before actually sitting down and watching them. The Big Lebowski (1998) was yet another cult classic that had these same strengths and weaknesses. First off, Jeff Bridges is "The Dude." If he didn't provide such a solid performance, I doubt this movie would have become nearly as memorable. However, what people might forget about this film is how weird it is. Many sequences left me scratching my head and wondering what the heck was going on. And perhaps it's this kind...
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VIDEO GAME: Ocarina of Time 3D (2011)

by benmweilert2 Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Year: 2011 Rating: E10 Time Played: 16.95 hours When I was cataloging my video game collection a few years ago, I realized how I seemed to have a lot of Nintendo console games that I also had in a Game Boy version. While this seems to indicate I was the prime market for the Switch decades before it came out, I never considered the “portable” versions of these games to be that good. With the recent uptick in remakes and re-ports to newer hardware, I can’t claim that I appreciate buying the same game I already own and can still play on an older system. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is the exception to this. While it had been some time since I played Ocarina of Time, it was one of the first Zelda games I actually completed when I was growing up. So, with a bit of nostalgia tinting my play-through of the...
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VIDEO GAME: Link’s Awakening DX (1998)

by benmweilert1 Comment
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX Year: 1998 Rating: E Time Played: ~16 hours With the recently-released Switch remake of this game, I realized I never actually managed to play through the original Link’s Awakening. Perhaps one of the first Zelda games my family-owned, I decided to pull out my copy of Link’s Awakening DX and play through it (and thus, save me the $60 on a “new” game). While I played for a bit on the Super Game Boy to get that “big screen” feel, the colors I experienced on the Game Boy Advanced made playing in a handheld mode that much more enjoyable, if not more intimate. After running through the first few dungeons, it became evident to me that I never made it very far in this game when I was 20 years younger. I was content just exploring what I could at the time. However, this also highlights how there were some moments where the next step in completing the...
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BOOK: Heartfire (1998)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Heartfire Year: 1998 Author: Orson Scott Card Length: 728 minutes / 12.13 hours It’s been a while since I read this far into a series, and I can start to see why I like trilogies and stand-alone books. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think this series had evolved into a courtroom drama instead of a historical fantasy. At this point, the whole premise of this series seems to have veered off course and has lost its focus to tackle unrelated issues that were somewhat prominent at the time. Or, at least it’s merely acting as a chance to name drop historical figures and take the side of history against well-known issues that haven’t aged well over time. If anything, Heartfire could have easily been the fourth book in the series, since Alvin Journeyman added nothing to the story. Even so, Heartfire didn’t feel as strong as earlier books in the series. It almost seems like there’s more of a focus on world-building. There...
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