I saw Iron Man on Saturday. Before I give my opinion, let me say this:

- I want to see Hancock. Any movie that uses "Move Bitch" by Ludacris as its theme song will be an amusing movie at the least. (However, if a movie uses "Get Low" by Li'l John & The Eastside Boyz, I'm gonna give it a wiiiiide berth.)

- I really want to see Hellboy II. Really.

- I REALLY really want to see The Dark Knight. Even if Heath Ledger's Joker haunts my dreams for a week afterward.

- I REALLY really really want to see Indiana Jones 4. Really really.

Okay, now to the actual movie. It's really good, if you haven't seen it already (which you should). Some people might find the relative lack of action unusual (plot? character development? what?) but those two hours go by really fast. I think the choice to go light on the fighting and explosions was a good one, because a) the filmmakers needed to elaborate on the Iron Man origin story more than they would have with, say, Superman or Batman. And b) it gives the movie more of a universal quality rather than a mindless beat-'em-up feel. (See Transformers, which I also enjoyed but was definitely not a plot-heavy film. See also 300 for a better-quality yet still plot-free example).


On Monday I went (with ~TheClaudia and another friend) to Seattle for the Progressive Nation 2008 concert. This was a package deal featuring four bands, essentially three bands opening for the headliners and organizers, Dream Theater. We went just to hear Dream Theater and not really expecting anything good to come from the others.

The "others," by the way, were 3 (much more on them later), Between the Buried and Me (not so much later), and Opeth (a bit more later).

Starting with the low point, Between the Buried and Me is for some reason described as a "progressive rock" or "progressive metal" band. Maybe they were just trying to vary the ambiance, because what I heard was some nice instrumentation with jarring death-grunts that I absolutely abhor. Maybe as an effect, guys, but not as the retarded surrogate brother to real singing and lyrics. And it wasn't like the music was Behemoth-like, either; if the singer had just shut up and played his keyboard, it would have been okay.

Opeth, meanwhile, is an actual death metal band (the singer said so) from Stockholm, Sweden. I find the concept of Scandinavian death metal kinda funny, and I do appreciate the shredding bombast of Finnish metal band Tarot, for example. (Although they aren't death metal.) Anyway, I enjoyed them more because the vocals weren't as loud, so I could ignore them and listen to the (good) metal in the background. Also, the singer had some highly amusing banter, and I respect him as a person.

Finally, I come to the band called 3 (ironically, first of the set). We came into Prog Nation knowing nothing about this band (they aren't "big-name" like DT, Opeth, and to a lesser extend BTBAM). What a pleasant surprise! This comparison doesn't quite do them justice, but think of Coheed & Cambria, then give the lead singer a working pair of testicles. (Or for a less grotesque method, think of Dream Theater's James LaBrie singing Coheed and Cambria.) 3 has some definite talent, and the lead singer Joey Eppard possesses great chops on both vocals and flamenco/slap guitar. Check these guys out; if you like metal, get The End Is Near. If you like more acoustic/alternative rock, get Paint By Number.

Oh, yeah. Dream Theater is amazing. This was my first live show for DT, and while I was slightly disappointed that they didn't play a lot of songs from the albums I really like (namely, Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory and Awake), that was only slight. When the guitarist and keyboardist had a dueling guitar/Keytar battle, I almost lost consciousness. Or that might have been the potsmoke drifting in from the section next to us; I'm not sure.

This is a really long journal. But it is made of SHRED.