Sunday, January 30, 2011

A Saucy Line Will Not Get You Far With Me

So if you haven't heard, the Oscar nominations for 2010 were announced a couple of days ago and I must say I'm very pleased with the results. Many of my favorite films of the year have been nominated but I think I was most happy to see that Hailee Steinfeld, the incredible young actress of only 14, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Mattie Ross in True Grit). I think it's a bit of a shame that she was not recognized as the lead actress of the film merely because of her age but it is certainly well deserved for a fantastic job nonetheless.

As usual I somehow missed the movie that received the most nominations (The King's Speech) but I did manage to see a fair amount of the other films nominated including 127 Hours - which I just saw yesterday. If you're unfamiliar with the film (which I think most people are at this point) it's an adaptation of the very true story about how hiker Aron Ralston became trapped under an 800 pound boulder for 5 days before amputating his own arm with a blunt pocket knife. As you can imagine, it's not the easiest film to watch, but with Danny Boyle (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) at the helm it was incredibly well done. James Franco received a nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal and I do believe it's also well deserved.

I think I'll actually keep this post short (which I always say but never do) and end it with this paragraph. I'm sure I'll talk more about the Oscars as they draw nearer and I will also try and post an update about what else I've been playing, watching, and generally what's been up in my life (spoiler alert: mostly school). Until then, have a great day and go read my older posts :P

~Ben Gentry

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Midnight Ponderings

I haven't done a plain old blog post in a while have I? It's all been lists and advertisements and blah blah blah. Well in honor of the fact that I'm still awake and it's 12:30 (WAAAAY past my bed-time) I thought I'd ramble on for a bit. Let's start with how I'm doing. Generally I'm feeling pretty well. School's started up again and it's been good so far. My new classes (Brit Lit, Ethics, Nonfiction Workshop, Humanities 2) all seem to be pretty solid and I think I'm going to have some fun this semester and learn a lot. There's definitely a couple places where I feel I'm struggling though and unfortunately those places are the most important ones.

The first is in a subtle loneliness. I feel as though I've come a very long way with my anxiety issues and the day to day but I often still feel lonely at times if I'm being honest with myself. I feel like I have a hard time making friends and meeting new people in New Hampshire. I love the friends I've made and appreciate everything they do but it seems like all my friends are from high school. Despite my best efforts I can't help feeling, at times, that I am per chance slightly unlovable.

Everything in the above paragraph leads into the second stumbling and struggling in my life - which is church. I'm not sure who's reading this or who will be reading this but I feel that I really need to find a church around here so if anybody has any ideas please let me know. I find it more and more difficult to find a solid church where I really fit in the older I get. Perhaps it's simply the changing times or the area I live in but it has been difficult nonetheless. I remember a few years ago feeling as though everything made sense and God had brought me to this point in my life after so many moves and changes for a reason. I still believe that but I feel like some of that feeling of direction has faded and I want to find it again.

Well before things get too depressing I should inform you that I received a letter the other day informing me that I'm on the President's List at my university after last semester's straight A's (w00t!) and every class I take I feel I am closer to becoming the writer I want to be. Speaking of which, I don't know if I've mentioned my novel much on here ("Hunting the Seven") but I am still working on it. I actually have a query letter worked out and the novel has been completely edited several times now. As I take new classes and grow in my writing though, and I can't help but go back for one more edit. Hopefully this summer will be the summer I finally send it out to some publishers and see if it'll catch. I really feel like I'm finally ready.

I'd say that's probably enough rambling for now though so I'll leave you with a song to inspire (though it may not seem like it at first). Deathbed by Relient K is by far one of my favorite songs of all time. Here it is:



Make sure you listen to and read the incredible lyrics. God's grace is completely and wholly awesome and undeniable.

I'd also like to share another one of my all-time favorite songs that I share with everyone. Some of the best advice I can think of. Enjoy!



~Ben Gentry

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Listen Bud, He's Got Radioactive Blood!

I thought I'd do just a little post here in honor of everyone's favorite wall-crawler since I haven't done a non-2010 list post in nearly a month. Before I get to what I have to say about Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter-ego though, why don't I fill everyone in on what's been going on.

Gentry Update: Well firstly, I went up to Montreal with my friend Eric last weekend and it was a blast. We didn't really do much other than eat at some sweet restaurants (La Belle Province, Cote St. Luc, and Tim Horton's ftw) and see Season of the Witch - which I really wouldn't suggest... and I LIKE Nicolas Cage unlike most people - at le colisée (the coliseum - a huge movie theatre). We tried to go to the Biodome in downtown Montreal but it was obviously only closed on Mondays in January and February... probably just for us. Anyway we plan on going back probably in the summer since I don't know if Spring Break will work (and it won't be snowing in the summer... hopefully...). Oh I also was lucky enough to see a bunch of my old friends (miss you guys!).

Friday, January 14, 2011

The Top 22 Films of 2010

I've been promoting this list for a while now and I think the reason is that it has been the most difficult for me to put together. There were a ton of great films this past year and ranking them has been near impossible. Before I actually get into the list let me remind everyone that I DID NOT see every movie that came out in 2010 (not even all the films I wanted to) and this is purely my opinion. I will include a few lines with each film choice explaining why it is my choice. Most importantly though: enjoy and let me know what you think! (Also, I just couldn't cut it down to 20... so um yeah.)


The Top 22 Films of 2010

Saturday, January 8, 2011

The Top 20 Games of 2010

(Yikes, sorry it took me so long to get this out. I probably should have posted something in the mean time. Anyway here it is.)

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! It's taken me a while to sort out all of my favorite games from 2010 but I think I finally have a pretty solid list here (there are still a few more films I'd like to see before I make my movie list so sit tight for that one). Without further ado, here are my top 20 favorite games of 2010.

Honorable Mention

Before we get into the actual top 20 there are a few titles that I either did not play enough or didn't get a chance to play but deserve mention and possibly a position on a future list. These are:


Fallout: New Vegas
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Super Mario Galaxy 2

Perhaps I'll get a chance to play them sometime soon but with LittleBigPlanet 2 just a few weeks away chances are looking slim. :P