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Reviews of Movies, Games, Books, and Things I Enjoy

Sherlock Holmes was a pretty good movie, but definitely not one of my favorites for the year. It might put it in my top ten for the year, but no higher than number six. I do enjoy a good mystery movie here and there, but this wasn’t really a mystery movie that made you guess as to who the villain really was or made you do any real thinking. The movie was enjoyable, especially the fight scenes where Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) breaks down each move he makes before it happens, usually exploiting a weakness. It was also interesting how both he and Watson (Jude Law) can dissect a crime scene and tell exactly what happened and where the victims may have been. It could be a lot like the C.S.I. shows, but I never really pay attention to them when I see them on TV.

The movie is centered around the relationship between Holmes and Watson, and how Watson always comes to the aid of Holmes, even though he should be spending time with his fiancee-to-be. They team up to track down a murderer named Lord Blackwood who practices dark arts and magic. His goal is to take over England and eventually the world by using cheap tricks to scare people to submit to his rule. Holmes’s weakness for a certain woman (Rachel McAdams) gets him into trouble and ultimately reveals another villain, even more wily than Blackwood.

Unless I missed something, I don’t remember Holmes speaking the classic line of “Elementary my dear Watson.” That kind of left me unfulfilled with the movie. I did like that they did leave the movie open for a sequel which brings out an important character in the Sherlock Holmes world. What movie nowadays doesn’t leave the ending open for a sequel though?

Important Info: Fantasy Portfolio traded on Wall Street Survivor using principles learned from Jim Cramer’s Action Alert Plus.

The year is winding down to an end, and the stock market is starting to see the “Santa Claus Rally” that usually happens towards the end of every year. Merry Christmas to us investors and traders! With the end of the year coming soon, I haven’t quite decided whether I want to start over my investments in my fantasy portfolio from scratch or trim back some of my positions, so I can take better advantage of pullbacks. I may go with the latter.

I also haven’t been as active with my portfolio as I have in the past. The stock market still interests me very much, but I just haven’t been able to find the time to do the homework needed on the stocks I own in order to keep up with the turns in the market. I guess that’s partially what Jim Cramer is for. My portfolio has consistently beaten the S&P 500 all year, but it has been creeping up on me since I’ve been fairly inactive.

I’ve always been interested in being more of a trader than an investor, but it’s far more risky, and takes a lot more capital than I have. My new strategy for the year might combine a little of both sides. I’m leaning toward selling a stock once it hits a ten percent gain, but only selling my initial investment so I let the gains ride. If I invest in dividend paying stocks, I’ll be generating some passive income along with the appreciation in the price of the stock. Once the stock pulls back five to eight percent, I might buy in again, and repeat my strategy for another quick gain with the extra that I gained earning dividends for me.

I’m really looking forward to a new year with new investing strategies. I would love to hear input from anyone else who will be dabbling in the stock market as well!

S&P 500 at Year Start- $903.25
S&P 500 at End of Week – $1,126.48
S&P 500 Point Gain – +$223.23
S&P 500 Percent Gain – +24.71%

Portfolio at Year Start – $104,435.54
Portfolio at Week End – $135,585.96
Portfolio Total Gain – +$31,150.42
Portfolio Percent Gain – +29.83%

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When I think of movies in 3D, I think of going to children’s movies for the whole family while wearing the big dorky looking glasses. I was initially put off, and even hesitated to see Avatar when our theater only had 3D showings that they were charging eleven dollars for; three dollars more than the regular tickets. The ticket taker asked us if we needed glasses, and I paused at first thinking Avatar would be fine without wearing the glasses, but he mentioned somebody hadn’t worn the glasses and couldn’t fully enjoy the movie. I tried watching the first few minutes, but I could tell right away that it wasn’t going to look right. Seeing Avatar in 3D was definitely worth it, however I would not pay that much more to see every movie in 3D, as most movies wouldn’t be worthy of it.

The movie Avatar is about a paraplegic soldier, Jake Sulley, who is asked to be an Avatar in place of his brainy twin brother who was killed in a random act of violence. Jake, played by Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation), joins a mission where he will control an alien body from a pod, and do some reconnaissance work for a company that wants to mine a mineral called “unobtainium.” I found the name of that mineral funny since it is the same name of the alloy the ship was made from in The Core. The richest deposit of which is lying directly under the sacred tree and village of the indigenous race of Pandora called the Na’vi. His main objective is to convince the Na’vi to relocate. He is given three months to achieve this task, but unfortunately is unable to do so, which leads to the humans using deadly force. This puts Jake in a difficult position, as he has grown to respect the ways of the Na’vi as well as fall in love with one of their women.

Jake has to live two different lives. During the day, he is out running around with the Na’vi, and when they all go to bed, he has to record his personal logs and report to his superior officer, not to mention finding time to eat and not to mention getting some sleep. It would seem to me that somebody would go insane after doing this for three months straight.

Sigourney Weaver plays a supporting role as the head scientist who had her own school to teach the Na’vi English and human culture. Even at 60, she is still very attractive and couldn’t help sneaking in a scene where she would be half naked.

Avatar is a great movie to end 2009 with. It was the most fun movie I have seen all year, and I will never think of 3D movies the same again.

Important Info: Fantasy Portfolio traded on Wall Street Survivor using principles learned from Jim Cramer’s Action Alert Plus.

S&P 500 at Year Start- $903.25
S&P 500 at End of Week – $1,102.47
S&P 500 Point Gain – +$199.22
S&P 500 Percent Gain – +22.06%

Portfolio at Year Start – $104,435.54
Portfolio at Week End – $136,263.77
Portfolio Total Gain – +$31,828.23
Portfolio Percent Gain – +30.48%

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