Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan

Today, December 28, 2009, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan was found dead. When I heard this, I was so shocked. He was the drummer of my second favorite band Avenged Sevenfold and my favorite drummer of all time. To me, this if by far the biggest death this year. I loved Michael Jackson but for me personally, this one tops even that. Avenged Sevenfold changed a lot of things for me and I've always talked about The Rev being the best drummer of all time.
Not only was he an incredible (to say the very least) drummer but also a great singer. He has the most unique voice you'll ever hear (He fronts a band called Pinkly Smooth, also an amazing band).
As horrible as I feel about this, I can't imagine how bad his friends and family must feel. A7X is clearly a very tight group who are all about their friendship.
I'm watching Avenged Sevenfold's live DVD, "Live in the LBC" as I type this. Also I'll be wearing Avenged Sevenfold all week. My thoughts are with his friends and family. I know he will be missed.

RIP Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan

Avatar Movie Review: Part 1

This is going to be a two part review of the movie Avatar! The first one is the original, not in 3D and the second will be in 3D which I'll be seeing soon.

Avatar's $237 million budget makes it one of the most expensive movies ever produced. The hype for this movie was insane and if you're worried that it won't live up to it, don't be. James Cameron manages to not only use groundbreaking technology for visual effects, but he does it well and lives up to the hype surrounding Avatar. This movie is incredible.
Like I said, the visual effects are what really make this movie as great as it is. From the beginning of the movie, it is very clear that Avatar isn't like anything you've seen in a movie before. From handheld computer screens to the Na'vi people to the world itself, everything was stunning to look at. Everything looks so beautiful that you actually feel a connection to the world and everything in it.
The story is basic but far from bad. Some plot points have been done but it's not a major flaw.
The acting was good. You can feel the connection between the characters. A great performance from Zoe Saldana (also in the Star Trek movie) who plays Neytiri. She acts as a Na'vi the whole time and does a great job. Sam Worthington as Jake Sully also did a great job. I think his voice was perfect for the role as he had to do a lot of narrating.
The movie is long. Just under three hours, but I saw this movie at 9:30 and got out past midnight and I was entertained throughout the whole film.
Anyway, Avatar is definately a must see. One of the best films of the year. Come back for my review of the 3D version of the movie in a couple of days!

-Josh CV

PS: To those of you who said I probably didn't like Paranormal Activity because of the hype, this movie had waaaaaay more hype than PA. The difference between this movie and that one is that Avatar is actually good and could live up to that hype. If a movie goes around saying its the scarriest movie of the last 30 years, it should probably be at least the scarriest movie of the year. It wasn't and anyone who thought it was probably saw The Exorcist as a kid and hasn't watched a scarry movie since... Just sayin'.

30 Seconds to Mars: This Is War Review!

Four years after the release of 30 Seconds to Mars' "A Beautiful Lie," their highly anticipated third release, "This Is War" is finally released. With a 30 million dollar lawsuit with their record label behind them, 30 STM set out to make an album that would be a true experience to listen to.

Now 30 Seconds to Mars' last two albums were both very different from each other and "This Is War" carries on that tradition. All three sound like the band but at the same time they are very different which is a great quality in a band.

From beginning to end this album is BIG. The songs are mostly around five and a half minutes long which makes it not super accessible but if you're into that "epic" sound this album is a perfect example of it. Most of the songs have a very large choir vocal that adds to that sound and it definately enhances the songs.

Jared Leto said that he wanted to make this album a visual experience as well as a listening experience and that is very much accomplished. In songs like "Hurricane," "Kings and Queens," and the title track, "This Is War," you can picture in the head the settings that the band may be performing in.

Technically, this album is not a concept album but many of the songs have similar themes of going to "war" and fighting for something. Religeon is also brought up often throughout the album.

While going through this album, every song made me want to re-listen to it because it was so good but what stopped me was the first few seconds of the next song ALREADY having me hooked.

There are few problems with this album but there are some. Like I said before, the length is not for everyone. Also the last few songs of the album seem to be better suited for "A Beautiful Lie" than this album. "Alibi" sounds VERY similar to "A Modern Myth," and I think we all could have done without the creepy chanting at the end of "L490." It wasn't a cool kind of creepy, just an annoying and unnecesary chanting.

Overall, straight up buy this album and you will not be disappointed. Every song is worth listening to multiple times with the exception of "L490" which is worth at least one listen.

All the songs are great but top songs would be: "Hurricane," "This Is War," "Night of the Hunter," and "Kings and Queens."

-Josh CV

Quick Post: Update and December!

Hooooooly crap, it's been a long time since I've posted on here! Sorry, a lotta stuffs been goin on with me and I wasn't able to really do anything.
I just got 30 Seconds to Mars: This Is War. Haven't listened to it yet but I will later tonight and I'll review it by the end of the week.
Also Avatar! Gonna see that when it comes out and review it.
Quick update on me: First episode of the new season of Scrubs was awesome and I'm really excited for the rest of the season, lately I've been doing a lot of writing for my band despite the fact that we're probably gonna be putting out 3 new covers this month. Aaaaand not too much else.

It's December! Great month. My bro, Eric Striffler is doing a 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways on his youtube channel and Twitter so subscribe and follow him and you can win stuff and watch some great videos. He does make really good videos. Links: Eric Striffler's YouTube  Eric Striffler's Twitter
You do need to be subscribed on YouTube AND following him on Twitter to win.

Also, I got a DOPE Christmas list going this year. This is probably my first year putting real thought into my list so I'm excited. If I don't get any of it, I'll probably end up buying it because I really want everything on it!

And I wish I could wear these clothes every day cuz I love them! (Picture v) Ok bye!

-Josh CV