Pulp Everything

RIP everyone

2009-06-25T22:00:00.003-04:00

Michael Jackson died today. Say what you want his eccentricities (perhaps best said by Roger Ebert here), Michael was a great performer. He was called the King of Pop for a reason - he was the greatest pop singer of a musical era. What frustrates me is that it sounds that this time Michael was gearing up for a real comeback, complete with FIFTY performances in the London area. It would have been great to see what the King of Pop still had at age fifty.

Farrah Fawcett died today. Known forever as "the angel" in Charlie's Angels she inspired beautiful blonde bombshells the world over to try their luck in Hollywood. Its too bad that her storybook romance with Ryan O'Neil will not get the end they intended (O'Neil had said they were finally going to marry).

The big three

2009-06-25T14:27:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about the NBA what with all the blogging about the upcoming NBA Draft and now this Shaq trade. To touch on the latter first the trade will be great for the NBA what with all of the Shaq v Dwight Howard and Shaq v Kobe talk not to mention the Shaq v Stan Van Gundy and the Shaq v Phil talk.

But what really interests me is Free Agent Summer of 2010 - the one that everyone else is talking about. Everyone keeps jabbering about how teams need to approach the Free Agent Summer of 2010 - acquiring shitty players with expiring contracts to free up cap space for the bidding bonanza that will ensue to capture the likes of LeBron James. But how should PLAYERS approach the Free Agent Summer of 2010?

So the top free agents of 2010 - just to keep things simple we'll talk about the really big guys - LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. Wade has a ring but hasn't tapped the potential bling he could be reaping, and everyone knows King James is ring-less. So considering the millions upon millions these kids have already made, don't you think they'd want a championship a little bit more than the 5-10 million more a year they are going to hold out for? What if these "Big Three" could agree to play for ten million a year each - for the same team? They would clearly make the difference back in the ridiculous endorsement deals they would yield together. Not to mention the shear ridiculousness of forcing teams to play against an All-Star team every night. With the rest of the 30 million or so the team could field some good supporting players - maybe even another star like, I'll just throw Yao Ming out there...the possibilities - financial and athletic would be amazing.

Just something to think about.

Music Quick Hits 1

2009-06-23T15:13:00.002-04:00

Here are some quick thoughts on some of the new albums I listened to yesterday.

Dan Deacon's Spiderman of the Rings - this was a massive disappointment because I expected something akin to Girl Talk's Feed the Animals. What I got instead was some boring electonica-ish mash-ups that did not hold my attention.

Hello Saferide's More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide - I had been obsessed with this album's "Anna" for several weeks and I liked some of the other songs so I quickly began to lust after this album. Its good but not great, I like some of the other songs like "Overall."

The Kills' Midnight Boom - I got this because I was reading up on Jack White's new band, The Dead Weather which features The Kills' Allison Mossheart. Reading up on The Kills I read that they were "The British White Stripes." While this album was "ok" it was short and left a lot to be desired - far short of The White Stripes' major label release White Blood Cells.

Eminem's Relapse - It feels good to listen to Eminem. The last time I REALLY listened to Eminem was when The Eminem Show came out. While I'm not sure Relapse will be as good as The Eminem Show, it has Em's fire and spirit that makes it fun to listen to. But it's a hell of a comeback for sure - and the addictive chorus of "We Made You" will always be somewhat entertaining.

The Greatest

2009-06-15T15:24:00.002-04:00

No, this article is not about the Cat Power album "The Greatest", although I did listen to that yesterday (and was disappointed at how boring it seemed from when I liked it a year or so ago). Rather, this article is about two of the greatest people to be involved in the NBA. I'll talk about the obvious one first, Phil Jackson.

Jackson just won his tenth championship, passing Celtic legend Red Auerbach's nine. I grew up watching Jackson lead the Bulls to championships and his move to the Lakers made me partially a Lakers fan. To me, he was the most dominant coach of my generation, someone who had no equal - who else had won more championships (in this generation)? I read an article where Red Auerbach's repeated mantra was that Phil Jackson never had to "coach" talent, he just had to coach stars. Before delving into the debate over coaching/teaching vs managing stars I think its important to point out how flawed that statement is.

Yes Phil inherited Michael Jordan, the best player to play the game, but the players around them were almost entirely drafted by that franchise and coached by Phil Jackson. Jackson was an assistant for two years with the Bulls working and teaching players that would win rings for him. In 1987 the Bulls drafted Horace Grant and traded for the other rookie, Scottie Pippen. In 1988 the Bulls drafted Will Perdue and in 1989 the Bulls drafted BJ Armstrong. All of these players were the major factors in the first three championships. And the second three were on the backs of Pippen and Jordan along with Ron Harper and Tony Kukoc (two other players drafted by the Bulls). Rather than inheriting those first six championships, it seems like Phil had to scrape them out amid the Bad Boy Pistons, Larry Bird Lakers, Pat Ewing Knicks, Pat Riley Heat and other powerful Eastern Conference competitors not to mention beating Magic's Lakers, Clyde's Blazers, Barkley's Suns, the Payton/Kemp Sonics and the Malone/Stockton Jazz.

Yes Phil inherited Kobe Bryant, probably the best player to follow MJ, as well as Shaquille O'Neal in his prime when he was dominant, but he acquired a team that hadn't changed much in two years that hadn't had serious playoff success without Phil. The major change to their roster was Ron Harper who was probably influenced by the Lakers' decision to hire his former coach. Then he had to defeat Reggie's Pacers, AI's Sixers and Kidd's Nets. Sure at the end (for one season) Phil got Malone and Payton to join the fold but 1) he was probably one of the reasons they came and 2) they didn't even win that year so his "star power" shouldn't take away from his championship credentials. I'm too lazy to go into the players Phil developed with the Lakers (Odom and Bynum and the entire Lakers' bench).

Now. Let's be real. How many coaches could convince MJ to come back after the way he left (the shock over the death of his father)? How many coaches could control Kobe's ego for three seasons? How many coaches could reconcile their relationship with Kobe after calling him "uncoachable"? Just one, just Phil Jackson. That's all I'm going to say on why coaching stars is no easy feat.

When it comes down to it, look at the math - Phil Jackson has the most rings (with the two he has as a player, he has TWELVE total).

The second person I want to talk about is Michael Jordan. I'm afraid that in this shuffle of Kobe vs LeBron and the never ending SportsCenter love-fest of LeBron highlights that people are starting to lose sight of the greatest player to play the game. That even in this era players pale in comparison is remarkable. Let me throw some numbers at you. 6 NBA Championships, 6 NBA Finals MVP Awards (one for every time he played), 5 NBA MVP Awards, 14 NBA All-Star Nominations, 3 NBA All-Star MVP Awards, 2 NBA Slam-Dunk Championships, 10 NBA First Team Nominations, 9 NBA All-Defensive Team Nominations, and of course, Rookie of the Year (1985). Oh yeah and he has an NCAA Championship too.

How do you judge the best? So many talk about legacies being tied to championships - how Kobe needed Shaq and all that BS. Fine, lets look at the championships. If you look at all the championships and the MVP's as a telling factor for who dominated those series, no one else comes close. MJ has one for EVERY Time he played in the game. Shaq, Duncan and Magic have 3 MVP awards and 4 championships. Their math is close but not clear. Shaq was a body, Duncan an athlete and Magic a phenom but MJ was the greatest. He didn't have the physical advantages of Shaq and Duncan in terms of being imposing physical forces. Nor did he have the shear opportunities Magic had (7 finals appearances, 2 loses, 2 times losing the MVP award). I didn't want to get into this but Magic played with two of the players whose names are up there in discussions for the top ten players of all time. While Scottie Pippen was great and vastly underrated, he was no Kareem. MJ also was far and away the leading scorer in the playoffs of anyone.

The reason I wanted to write this article - beyond proving Phil's teaching prowess was what I believed to be the greatest sports tragedy of our generation. Personally I will forget the steroids blip but I will never forget the championships and the games we lost that MJ could have given us. Three issues to consider, 1) the "retirement" where he played baseball for two seasons, 2) the lockout/Krause force-out, and 3) the Wizard years.

The retirement robbed the Bulls - and MJ of two more championships. MJ was nearing his peak and any losses in free agency" would have been easily absorbed by MJ. Despite returning at half-speed, MJ almost led the Bulls over the Magic in 1995 but the Bulls were too rusty and didn't gell yet. The lockout forced MJ to make a decision he might not of made - retirement. Sure in his book he says that he considered it way back in 1992. But come on, if you're going to come back and play for a team like the Washington Wizards you don't want to retire - you clearly love the game too much. So lets talk about the Wizards. As an aside, what were you thinking MJ? You could have probably played for anyone and you picked a terrible team with little shot of contention for what, to "help" the team you had been GM of? Weak. But at the age of forty MJ was averaging 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1+ steals, and 20+ points. AVERAGING - he still dropped 40 a game from time to time. This is a forty year old man! If he could do that in 2003, just think what he would have been if played from 1985-2003? Or even just until 2000?

Did I mention his Olympic gold medals?

Referees please!

2009-05-21T23:24:00.002-04:00

I usually write off the refs as being pretty good or when they are bad as not being very bad - to the effect that I never thought refs would ALTER the course of a game/series. However, this year that opinion has changed drastically.

In the Bulls-Celtics series I was disgusted by all of what Rajon Rondo got away with. He went from an aggressive, physical player in the first game or two to being a violent player. Rondo split open Kirk Hinrich's eyebrow, knocked out some of Brad Miller's teeth and picked up where he left off with Hinrich by throwing him into the scorer's table. His foul on Miller came at a critical point of the game where Miller had to make free throws for the Bulls to stay in the game. Knocking Miller to the floor on a fast break that also knocked out his teeth did not even draw a flagrant foul (although replays showed Rondo hardly attempting to swat the ball). Furthermore Rondo's Hinrich/scorer's table incident further puzzled me. Replays showed Rondo blatantly dragging Hinrich backwards and then throwing him into the scorer's table - an incident that two years earlier resulted in a TWO GAME suspension for Robert Horry. Remember that this foul came after refs were supposedly going to watch Rondo with a closer eye after he bloodied two Bulls' starters. Why the different treatment? Why is the NBA inconsistent? Why are there different repercussions for different players? I'm not sure there is an answer. But Rondo should have a) fouled out of a game b) been suspended. So this series frustrated me by MISSING CALLS.

In the Lakers-Rockers series as well as the Lakers-Nuggets series the refs are nothing short of trigger happy - calling anything and everything a foul and being generous in heaping on technical fouls. Again, why the inconsistency? In particular it seems that in the Lakers-Nuggets series the refs have returned to being generous in what they allow as "defense" by the Nuggets (do not get me wrong, they play great defense but enough is enough) while being very harsh on the Lakers' stars when the Lakers try to play defense. It seems like if a Laker touches Chauncy Billups the ref is there to call a foul but if Kobe has a defender smacking him on the head and tripping him, he has to look up from the court as Denver moves the ball back down the court. And then Kobe asks a little to aggressively about the previous call and gets a technical. Hmmm. So this series frustrated me by MAKING CALLS.

Historical "fiction"

2009-05-16T22:17:00.002-04:00

I love reading historical fiction. Lately I've been obsessed with Sharan Newman's Catherine LeVendeur series and C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake series. I love the books a hell of a lot - they're drastically different beyond both being historical mysteries but I strongly recommend both series. Anyways, I love reading historical fiction because I love history and also because, if I had the discipline and focus to write a book, I'd want to write historical fiction. In both of these series the main fictional characters interact heavily with real historical figures. This led me to the issue of, how important is it to rely heavily on historical characters? Or for that matter, historical accuracy? Like, it's one thing to build your book around popular (of that historical period) controversies swirling around a major historical figure, but how strictly do you stick to the facts? Will your readers be happy if you invent a character to be Abelard's protege or Cromwell's steward? I kept turning this question over when I was thinking about how to build a story around characters - are you hindered by history? Or can you embrace the time but not all the minute details (does it matter if Cromwell's steward is not the same character you create in your book?) I guess I don't really have an answer but I feel like I would lean heavily for "creative application of history" as I call it - being faithful to the times yet not constrained by fact. Cromwell's steward could be whomever you want as long as the steward is not a pregnant African lesbian who believes in Kaballah. Not that there is anything wrong with any of those things, there just weren't many of either of them in England five hundred or so years ago.

F**K Madoff

2009-05-16T22:14:00.004-04:00

So I was reading up on Elie Wiesel today because I was trying to remember which book he wrote that deals with the pre-Israel Zionist terrorist group that executes a British soldier (it was Dawn). Elie Wiesel is famous for Night, his autobiography about the Holocaust, of which he was an Auschwitz survivor. Wiesel is pretty much "the guy" when it comes to Holocaust awareness and he has done so much. He even has one of the most successful charity organizations for running Holocaust education events.

But you know what's coming based on the article title...the organization lost all of it's money in the Madoff scandal. Oh and Elie Wiesel lost all of his personal wealth too. Wow. Kind of ridiculous.

Random funness

2009-05-14T17:59:00.003-04:00

Back in the day when writing my column, The Buzz, was my favorite thing to do for my old e-zine, SaltyStix, I stockpiled a lot of interesting articles about movies for my "around the internet" section, or whatever I called it. I might even have written about a few of these, but that was so long ago, so, cleaning out the bookmarks.

* 25 Most Influential Directors of all Time - This was interesting albeit pretty predictable. But it's great if your Netflix queue is empty and you've forgotten about the classics for awhile.

* Best and Worst Musicians in Movies - This is kind of amusing in a pretty way but once again, is pretty predictable.

* New York Times Romantic Comedy Analysis - Surprising that the New York Times found page space to talk about rom-coms but this was going to be the locus for an article about rom-coms, breaking down their formulaic structure, etc.

* Top 20 Rom-Coms - This is another page I found doing some research for that article - the other links turned out to suck.

* 25 Most Watched Movies - This list is pretty close to mine which is why I liked it so much. Obviously it's heavy on recent movies.

* Worst Movie Remakes of All Time - This is worth some good laughs and might also help you fill your Netflix queue if you want to compare some of the originals vs their remakes.

* Criticizing the AFI - I've never been a fan of the AFI (I think Citizen Kane is overrated) and anytime someone has a laugh at their expense I laugh with them.

* Linsey Lohan's Marilyn Phase- Before Lindsay was into Samantha she was into Marilyn and these pictures aren't half bad.

* Comics Old School/New School - This came out amid the summer comic onslaught and provides a great fanboys perspective that gets lost amid the Hollywood.

* 20 Tips for Starting Your Own Movie Blog - Maybe if I would have followed this SaltyStix would be alive and kicking, but instead, here I am.

* Forbes Writes about the best Movie Blogs - This is pretty unfulfilling but there are brief snippets on Forbes' take on other themed blogs (beyond just movies).

* Become Indy! - I was Indiana Jones for last Halloween, and a damn good one. But if you want to take your costume to the next level, this site is a must.

* Best Graphic Novels of all Time - There are some interesting choices on here - especially ones that stray to the non-superhero variety. I still want to get my hands on Ghost World.

* Read Twilight for Free - This craze left people without books or with empty pocketbooks. This website provided a solution to both.

* Top 20 Rappers of All Time - I started listening to a lot of rap and this page provided a brief overview that helped me get my bearings.

* 25 Movies about Foreign Affairs/Diplomacy - This is a fun article if you think you are educated on foreign affairs and diplomacy and also like movies (like me of course).

MTV Madness

2009-05-11T23:03:00.001-04:00

I have never been a fan of MTV or award shows really, so it should be no surprise that the combination of the two – MTV award shows would not be something I was a fan of. For some reason in particular, this year’s MTV Movie Award nominees have particularly angered me. One thing that stands out is Twilight’s SEVEN awards, sure the movie made a shitload of money and has a fanatic teen following, but the movie was a disappointment across the board – acting, writing, action and here it sits, but lets look at all the categories.

Best Movie
The Dark Knight
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
Twilight

Three of these movies are really good, one is a disappointment, but one is a travesty. You realize they put The Dark Knight and High School Musical 3 in the same category, as near equals? I’m not going to say anymore. MY PICK: Slumdog Millionaire. WHO WILL WIN: The Dark Knight.

Best Male Performance
Christian Bale (The Dark Knight)
Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious)
Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man)
Zac Efron (High School Musical 3: Senior Year)
Shia LaBeouf (Eagle Eye)

Bale and Downey were amazing (of course) but the rest of these hacks are definitely outclassed. Vin Diesel is struggling to get back into character, Efron is struggling to get out of character, and Shia LaBeouf doesn’t even have a character. As a point of clarification I meant that Eagle Eye sucked – A LOT. MY PICK: Robert Downey Jr. WHO WILL WIN: Christian Bale.

Best Female Performance
Anne Hathaway (Bride Wars)
Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Angelina Jolie (Wanted)
Kristen Stewart (Twilight)
Kate Winslet (The Reader)

The selection of these nominees is even more confusing than their male counterparts. Hathaway’s nod here is more of a slap in the face considering her performance in Rachel Getting Married while Henson’s performance was okay but seems well short of the “Best Performance” level. Jolie’s nomination reminds me of LaBeouf’s nom in Eagle Eye – both Wanted and Eagle Eye sucked – and did not have any performances that were even “adequate.” Winselt’s performance doesn’t need much comment here – she was great. Kristen Stewart was the one bright spot in a disappointing movie – but was it the best performance of the year? Was she better than Winslet? MY PICK: Kate Winslet. WHO WILL WIN: Kristen Stewart.

Breakthrough Performance – Male
Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)
Taylor Lautner (Twilight)
Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
Robert Pattinson (Twilight)
Bobb’e J. Thompson (Role Models)

This category is “better” only in the sense that there are two noms I like – Dev Patel, who did a great job and truly “broke out,” and Bobb’e J. Thompson, whose role in Role Models was not only hysterical but also probably opened a lot of doors for him. Two noms for Twilight is a little disappointing – I had to look up who Taylor Lautner’s character was (Jacob) and then scratch my head about his screen time. MY PICK: Dev Patel. WHO WILL WIN: Robert Pattinson.

Breakthrough Performance – Female
Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana: The Movie)
Kat Dennings (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playllist)
Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical 3: Senior Year)
Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire)
Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!)
Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical 3: Senior Year)

I think this category has the most competition. The High School Musical 3 noms confuse me because it would seem like the third time around these Disney-made actors do not have much “breaking out to do.” If you’re in the public consciousness enough to have sex tapes and racy photos, you probably don’t need “breakout performances.” Same goes for Miley Cyrus considering she has a show that already helped her “breajout”. That aside, I love the other nominees – I’ve been a big fan of Kat Dennings since Charlie Bartlett (so much so that I forgave her for The House Bunny). Frieda Pinto is obviously gorgeous and did a great job and Amanda Seyfried really did break out – showing she had talent beyond her Mean Girls-glazed eyes looked. MY PICK: Kat Dennings. WHO WILL WIN: Miley Cyrus.

Best Comedic Performance
Steve Carrell (Get Smart)
Jim Carrey (Yes Man)
Anna Faris (The House Bunny)
James Franco (Pineapple Express)
Amy Poehler (Baby Mama)

I think all of these actors are generally funny and generally pretty good actors but their performances came in movies that ranged from laughless (The House Bunny) to downright painful (Baby Mama). While Pineapple Express was entertaining, it was not all that funny. There was one that stood above the rest – Steve Carrell in Get Smart – a movie that exceeded expectations across the board. MY PICK: Steve Carrell. WHO WILL WIN: James Franco.

Best Villain
Luke Goss (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)
Dwayne Johnson (Get Smart)
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Derek Mears (Friday the 13th)
Johnathon Schaech (Prom Night)

I don’t know a hell of a lot about most of these flicks because I never really had extra cash I wanted to burn by seeing Friday the 13th and Prom Night but I don’t think this matters because I would be shocked if Ledger lost. MY PICK: Heath Ledger. WHO WILL WIN: Heath Ledger.

Best Fight
Bride Wars
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Pineapple Express
Twilight

This category gives me the most problem because I have very little idea what people are going for here. If you like cat fights it’s kind of tough to beat Bride Wars but if you want true action scenes The Dark Knight and Hellboy II are going to stand above the rest. Pineapple Express’ scene was pretty funny and pretty good in a general sense, but not a hell of a lot that really stays with you. Twilight on the other hand showed that if the scene sucked in the book, it will suck even more in the movie. MY PICK: The Dark Knight. WHO WILL WIN: Twilight, maybe?

Best Kiss
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Zac Efron/Vanessa Hudgens)
I Love You, Man (Paul Rudd/Thomas Lennon)
Milk (Sean Penn/James Franco)
Slumdog Millionaire (Dev Patel/Freida Pinto)
Twilight (Kristen Stewart/Robert Pattinson)

Milk stands out for it’s political statement, which gives it a slight edge over some teenie favorites like HSM3 and Twilight. Frankly the Twilight kiss wasn’t much to write home about – much like the rest. Slumdog Millionaire’s kiss was something special – it sent shivers down my spine and was the perfect climax to a great movie. MY PICK: Slumdog Millionaire (Dev Patel/Freida Pinto). WHO WILL WIN: Milk (Sean Penn/James Franco).

Best WTF Moment
Baby Mama (Peeing in the Sink)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Naked Break-up)
Slumdog Millionaire (Jumping in the Poop Shed)
Tropic Thunder (Tasting the Decapitated Head)
Wanted (Curved Bullet Kill)

While this category seems the least “legit” to me it also seems the closest category. Peeing in the sink might be the best part of Baby Mama, the naked break-up defines FSM just as the curved bullet defines Wanted, the poop shed sets the course for Slumdog and the decapitated head makes you realize just how far over the line Tropic Thunder has gone. MY PICK: Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Naked Break-up). WHO WILL WIN: Baby Mama (Peeing in the Sink).

Best Song From a Movie
Hannah Montana: The Movie (Miley Cyrus’ The Climb)
Slumdog Millionaire (A.R. Rahman’s Jai Ho)
Twilight (Paramore’s Decode)
The Wrestler (Bruce Springsteen’s The Wrestler)

These choices cross lots of genres and lots of generations. I loved all of Slumdog’s music but Jai Ho was not the song that spoke to me, kind of like how I like Paramore a lot of times but not Decode. I don’t really want to talk about Miley but Springsteen’s The Wrestler blew me away. I don’t usually like the Boss, but this song was so perfect for the film. MY PICK: The Wrestler. WHO WILL WIN: The Climb.

To sum up: Twilight is overrated, each of the categories have one legit nominee, and the lesser qualified person will probably win.

I'm so over blogging

2009-05-11T21:46:00.002-04:00

...but here I am.

For so long I thought that maybe my blogging would become something - whether it was here or at Salty Stix but then when the cold hard truth set in I got extremely disenfranchised. I didn't think there was a point anymore. But then I realized that I had to write something, somewhere. To me writing is like cooking (well, everyone has one, cooking is mine) in that writing also relaxes me, it helps me focus my mind, and so, here I am.

Disney Devils?

2009-04-22T00:22:00.002-04:00

After watching the movie Mickey Mouse Monopoly and reading THIS, I got very interested in reading about Disney's not so subtle racism/sexism.

If you want to watch Mickey Mouse Monopoly, I attached the youtube links below.

MICKEY MOUSE MONOPOLY, PART 1
MICKEY MOUSE MONOPOLY, PART 2
MICKEY MOUSE MONOPOLY, PART 3
MICKEY MOUSE MONOPOLY, PART 4
MICKEY MOUSE MONOPOLY, PART 5

2008 Favorites: Books

2009-01-03T12:06:00.008-05:00

I returned to reading again in 2008 for various reasons beginning with a need for books for my travels through Europe when I read Next, unfortunately the last Creichton book I will ever read as the author who blurred nonfiction and fiction to create an altogether unique experience passed away.

I also started reading comic books, or graphic novels, for the first time in my life. My closest friends joined me, as we shared novels we had bought and I soon started gobbling up all the library could offer in this regard as well. I quickly graduated from "comic" graphic novels featuring superheroes to graphic novels that depicted stories without heroes.

Then again the last couple of months of 2008 my voracious appetite for reading returned in force. Perhaps it was because I felt isolated living at home away from my friends, but either way, I started reading a lot. So much so that I even started reading the books my students were reading - from Brave New World to Twilight. The Twilight books were so interesting on so many levels - on one I found the books online, for free, and also because I too became quickly addicted to Stephanie Meyer's stories. Looking back I realized the deep flaws in Meyer's characters and concepts but still had to respect her ability to rope in teenage girls with ease.

That being said this list will seem quite eclectic as it jumps all over the place, featuring graphic novels, historical fiction, and "classic literature".

5. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
I had a lot of fun reading Marjane Satrapi's books. I read this book in a day and devoured Persepolis II (Persepolis: The Story of a Return) the next. The story is so much fun, full of a resounding humor that pierces the seriousness of Satrapi's look at history, religion, and family. The drawings complement the story just as well, sticking with you for quite some time. For me, it took me a while to get the story - and the images - out of my head. And to me, that is the mark of a great book.

4. World Without End by Ken Follett
Pillars of the Earth is my favorite book of all time. The story roped me in being as I was, susceptible to historical fiction, an intriguing story, and relishing the concept of becoming lost in a world that spanned over 1000 pages. So it is no surprise that Follett's sequel to my favorite book would be something that interested me. I loved the book - and really do need to give it another read - but it was a tad disappointing - following Follett's Pillars of the Earth formula way way too closely. Characters were slight variations of Pillars characters, plotlines developed along identical lines...you get the point. But still very good.

3. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
The hype surrounding this book from my friends, as well as the movie promotion, made me skeptical of the quality and power my friends would not stop talking about. But then I read Moore's book and it knocked my socks off - I read the book in a handful of days, unable to put it down. This examination of superheroes and of people in general is particularly striking, making Watchmen so much more than a comic book or even a graphic novel. Each character seemed to be so vivid, so different, so much more than the average novel character. I considered putting Loeb and Sale's The Long Halloween in this superhero/graphic novel slot but the Watchmen were too much for Batman to handle.

2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I needed a book to read for my month in Europe so I went to the used book store and bought a couple and I took some of my favorites that I wanted to read again. It wasn't until I got to Italy (three weeks later) that I finally cracked The Road and read it in a day or two. It was another book that simply mesmerized me, as All the Pretty Horses had the year before. I could not put it down as I frantically turned page after page, dieing to know what happened to our two protagonists walking the desolated world that remained. The book, like many of McCarthy's other novels seemed to be a perfect blueprint for a movie and I soon found out that a movie was already in the works, with Viggo Mortensen to star. Viggo is the perfect choice and I look forward to seeing the movie of the book that blew me away.

1. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
I set out to read the classics I never read in school, and so I read a good deal of Steinbeck novels. This one rose above the rest to become my favorite book of the year. There is something about simplicity that is so appealing, so difficult to vanquish. Here the story of two men, their friendship and their struggles seemed so powerful. I don't really know what else to say besides to urge you to read this book if you have not already, for it will stay with you forever.

2008 Favorites Introduction

2009-01-03T12:01:00.001-05:00

Last year I thought I was so clever with my rant on why these lists should be called favorites instead of best ofs. This year, everywhere I look it seems like every blog and their brother are spouting similar thoughts on “favorites” over “best ofs.” Basically I’m saying I’m a genius who was way ahead of the curve.

2008 was a weird year for me. It began weird and ended in a way I never would have believed. Here on pulpeverything there were just 16 posts in all of 2008 – less than the entire month of July 2007. Hell, I couldn’t even get it together to post ANY of these lists until early January, but it is what it is.

I got caught up in the burst of my other blog, SaltyStix, which became more and more of the webzine I wanted it to be – only to die abruptly towards the end of 2008. I left my apartment and my independence to return home while I was a student teacher. Beyond consuming loads of my time this also reduced my daily music consumption from four albums or so a day to less than half and my daily movie consumption from about one a day to about one a week. While media consumption decreased I found my appetite for reading return, allowing me to post my favorite reads of 2008!

Again, for all of the lists I will post – books, songs, albums, movies, and dvds – I use a sliding scale where each is relatively better than the one before – to me of course, since this is all about opinion.

Pigging out

2008-07-23T22:26:00.002-04:00

Penelope - Mark Palansky - 2006 - 5/10

This was a pretty entertaining flick that had a great concept with only an "okay" follow through. Most of the film left me pondering what it could have done, what it could have been, and also, how similar the concept was to Shrek.

Summary:

Christina Ricci plays Penelope, a kind girl who's great great grandfather's actions brought a curse on the family that in turn left Penelope with a pig's snout and a pig's ears. However, there is a way Penelope can break the curse - if she can get "one of her own kind" (presumed to be a blue blooded richman) to fall in love with her. Her overbearing mother (Cahterine O'Hara) has tried everything, finally bringing in a high profile matchmaker and installing one-way glass for Penelope to stay behind as her mother carefully guards the family's embarrassing secret. Then one man doesn't run away (James McAvoy), and in fact keeps coming back. Will he be the one?

Critique:

The acting is one of the best parts of this movie which would have been little more than passing amusement without great performances by Christina Ricci, Catherine O'Hara, James McAvoy, Richard E. Grant (her father). I'm a big McAvoy fan and he carefully steers his character away from the cliched reactions most actors would have succumbed to - especially his facial reactions which are especially scrutinized because of Ricci's face.

Peter Dinklage's amusing yet mysterious investigative reporter is also played well but the movie misses every opportunity to flesh out his character. Most of his actions have no depth behind them - why he does things has almost no answer. This is especially puzzling because his actions are the turning points of each act and his story provides most of the conflict for the film. At the end, you aren't sure whether you should pity him, empathize with him, or just shake your head at him.

Speaking of the film's "acts" the movie hurt itself with a surprisingly short act that failed to develop Penelope's first true romance which was really necessary to set up the whole drama of the rest of the movie. This in turn makes me question the revelations and growth of each of the important characters because they are supposedly because of their connection and inspiration by Penelope. The other implication is a way too long second act that makes the film sort to drag and is further plagued by unnecessary characters like Reese Witherspoon playing the rom-com friend without any of the good parts of the rom-com friend (like emotional explanation and establishing character goals).

I did like the few twists the movie through in - which surprised me because of the movie's generally weak script. I thought through most of the movie that the ending would leave me unsatisfied, but instead I loved the ending and it brought a smile to my face. It also made me think that the rest of the movie could have been better...

Sexually Charged

2008-07-23T18:54:00.003-04:00

Sex and the City: The Movie - Michael Patrick King - 2008 - 8/10

There's nudity, graphic sex scenes, flatulence jokes and pubic jokes, and this isn't Beerfest or the next movie from the directors of Beerfest, but Sex and the City: The Movie. The movie struggles from a bout of identity confusion as it waffles between Vogue fashion show and humor even Adam Sandler wouldn't touch. But for the most part, it works, despite the movie's loss of the show's perfect balance between witty humor and dramatic sexcapades.

Summary:

The movie picks up four years later after the dramatic conclusion of season six with Carrie and Big about to live happily ever after in a new apartment, Samantha in LA managing the career of her boy-toy, and Charlotte living with her beautiful adopted little girl Lily. And then there's Miranda. I always hated her character and her character's plotline but Miranda's career is destroying her marriage and blah blah blah it just gets annoying from there. But happiness starts to unravel when Carrie's wedding plans begin to wear down the happiness she and Big share and Samantha grows tired of monogamy and that evil "R" word, relationship. Charlotte meanwhile enjoys total happiness while Miranda quickly descends into yes-I-can-be-more-annoying-than-you-even-thought-possible mode.

Critique:

The first half IS little more than a Vogue fashion show and it does it in a way that gratuitously genders the movie. Sure the show is for girls, I get it (cue comparisons to why Entourage is for guys) but the show was still funny and a bunch of guys watched it for the sex (for a kid who never had cable before to discover Sex and the City...). But the movie's fashion is thrust down your throats in pointless inefficient scenes that have the nerve to inform you of the exact designer names, sizes, and prices. Do you want your receipt?

The second act of the movie moves in a much better direction - a much more entertaining one - albeit at the cost of some respect for the show. While the humor on the show was usually based on the hilarity of awkward situations or the fact that one character could be so blunt, "Bye. Good Sex." But the movie struggles to reach that witty humor nexus and instead relies on cheap gags that would seem politically incorrect in most frat comedies. Apparently women find crapping your pants and disgusting pubic hair hilarious. And guys are the "pigs" who go crazy when they see boobs in National Lampoon direct-to-DVDs but Sex and the City can't wait to up the ante and throw in a little male frontal nudity.

By the end of the movie its become painfully obvious that all of the other characters and plotlines have received painfully short shrift due to Carrie's storyline hogging all the attention, aided by an unnecessary new character to the show's dynamic (played very well by Jennifer Hudson). Charlotte's absolute happiness is pretty much assumed from the get go and her character pretty much has ZERO conflict. Samantha's "conflict" seems a little petty and the resolution seems like a foregone conclusion. Miranda's conflict is probably the most realistic and I would have liked it if I would have sympathized (or empathized) with Miranda at all, but I just learned to hate her more.

But then in the car ride home with a die-hard Sex and the City fan awaiting my opinion of a movie she'd already seen several times I realized that the movie was actually pretty good. Sure there were things I would change to be more true to the show. But what they did change appealed to their core viewers - who rewarded them by buying tickets several times. Just accepting the movie for what it was did a hell of a lot for me to realize that for what it was, the movie was pretty good. In terms of the story that fans wanted to see, the story delivered. In terms of following the characters and trying hard to reach the same tempo of the show, the movie succeeded.

The acting was good, which was hard for me to admit because besides these two characters, I pretty much hate Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth, but they did wonders. The rest of the characters had little screentime to really do more than they did in a 25-minute episode but the addition of Jennifer Hudson added a solid performance from a character who seemed genuine, and someone that most fans could relate to.

What really surprised me was (despite how predictable the ending became after a few scenes) was that the movie did not leave itself open to an obvious sequel. This surprised me because I thought the show would reach a midway point - resolution of the storylines so half of the girls were still out in the cold. But there wasn't and now there is a push for a sequel and even I don't have an easy answer for what direction it could/should go in.

Wheezing

2008-06-15T23:20:00.002-04:00

I've liked Weezer for a long time and I've enjoyed their transitions from the Blue Album, to the Green Album, and now to the Red Album, their latest. They seem to be able to seemless integrate new sounds and influences into a distinctly unique sound that is still Weezer. This album is more different than most of their other album maturations but it is still a decided Weezer album. When I get back to my apartment and buy a bunch of CD's this has got to go to the top. Almost as much for curiosity's sake as much as it is that I want to listen to the album. If that makes much sense.

The first single, Pork and Beans is pretty good - containing an even greater than usual amount of pop culture references among Rivers' lyrics and unexpected Weezer rifts (that are now paradoxically expected). It has a great sound but more importantly it has a really cool music video that seems to touch on a lot of the major viral experiences of the last few years. The video is fun and seems to lend even more heart to a song that already has the normal endearing feel of Weezer's usual songs.

Another song I really liked is "Heart Songs" which is already receiving a bunch of fan buzz. For a Weezer ballad it seems to stand out to me for a reason that I can't quite put my finger on yet. But it is worth checking out for sure. Clicking that link will take you to a youtube link with just the audio really which is also a place where you can listen to the whole album essentially. Before you buy the album of course.

Too Many Dresses

2008-06-15T21:59:00.001-04:00

27 Dresses - Anne Fletcher - 2006 - 4/10

It’s never good to start anything on the defensive, but I have to say I saw this movie on an airplane, so give me some slack.

Summary:

The summary goes like this: that old HILLARIOUS phrase “always a bridesmaid never a bride” applies to our main character Jane (Katherine Heigl)! No way. But she does have this guy she’s crazy about, her boss, George (Ed Burns). But he’s just fallen for her super hot, super slutty sister Tess (Talin Akerman). No way. But since Jane is such an expert wedding planner she agrees to plan her sister’s wedding to her dream guy. Oh my God. Along the way she meets this guy who is falling all over himself to ask her out (James Marsden) but she keeps refusing, only relenting when she needs to vent about her sad marriage woes. But then as he starts to make her laugh and integrate himself into her life it turns out that he’s really this super sexy wedding-beat reporter whose writing Jane loves! No way! (Stiffles yawn). Make your own conclusions, most of which probably do not require seeing the movie, or after this summary, any of the preview.

Critique:

I don’t even know where to begin. I feel like I’m being pulled in all directions. On one hand my mom really liked it so I know it’s a chic flick that I’m obviously biased against. On another hand I think, as a chic flick, the movie was good at what it was. BUT the chic flicks Achilles heal – unoriginality and cliché cluttering comes out in strong force here. We’ve got the “best friend,” “the perfect guy,” “the perfect sister” (I love how a woman like Heigl is supposed to be jealous of Akerman, I mean really, they’re both freaking knock outs) and everything else. Nromally I wouldn’t dwell on the clichés so much but it really sucks a lot out of the movie, especially when Marsden looks like he’s actually acting without his Cyclops goggles for a change and Heigl is ALMOST likeable. One other glaring thing that popped into my head is that bosses like George don’t have assistants like Katherine Heigl for years on end and not sleep with them. I mean, that’s why they hire them! And he hasn’t noticed her? Or realized she worships him? Come on. I hate movies that can’t respect the viewer because we’re “stupid” or “fickle” and need to be force fed this crap.

Oh well. This review has left me feeling widely unfulfilled and like I poored out a nonsensical rant but hey, its just another rom-com chic flick.

Indiana Jones and the Disappointing Cracked Skull

2008-06-15T21:44:00.000-04:00

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Steven Spielberg - 2008 - 4/10

I cant quite figure out if writing this review is really even close to worth it. I had enough Indiana Jones type hurdles of my own that stood in the way of me finally posting this: writing SaltyStix articles, studying for a test, general laziness…lots of things. But I decided that per Spielberg and Lucas’ dues ex machina of Indy, I had to find some unnatural power to finish the review.

The first thing that comes to mind is that the film was soo disappointing it was almost sad. I felt like crying. Sure I knew what Lucas does to sacred trilogies (defiles them) but I thought Spielberg’s directing and another writer would balance old George out. FALSE. Instead the movie is full of Lucas’ overindulgence – unnecessary special effects. While this movie just has monkeys to compare to Jar Jar, it still makes me wince – especially because the first movies did not seem to be cluttered with Lucas’ ILM crap. Jar Jar was annoying but by the end of the trilogy you saw the point of him – what was the need to swing from the vines? Or survive a nuclear blast?

Perhaps the movie was doomed from the start with the absence of Denholm Elliot (who unfortunately passed away in 1992) and Sean Connery (who stubbornly maintained he was ‘retired’). To fill the gaping hole of Elliot’s Dr. Marcus Brody the film inserts another character designed for comic relief: Ray Winstone. Winstone’s character is supposed to have this deep relationship with Indy which is supposed to yield deep humor as well as clever plot twists but fails in both because he is just too brand spanking new to the franchise. To make up for the comedy of Connery-Ford they try for Ford-LeBeuf and almost succeed but LeBeuf’s character is just so ridiculous.

The largest problem for me is more conceptual in that the movie moved away from the religious occult (the arch, pagan religions, and the grail) and into well, something else. Maybe they needed a new frontier and I understand that what they chose was based on 50’s era pulp-themed movies that they loved. I get that. It still sucked. The religious occult had a different feel to it as well as more history and more lore that gives an ephemeral feel. What we’re left with here seems forced and feels like you’re watching bad Sci-Fi reruns again. Chalk up that the “puzzles” and “clues” as well as the “answers” are dangerously close to modern pretenders like National Treasure and the like, and Indy quickly loses his mystique.

What helped saved the movie was Karen Allen’s character. I hope that isn’t really a spoiler because she IS in the movie. Once she hit the screen the Indy charm and humor seemed to replace the old-tired-act Harrison was sleepwalking through. Combined with the action in the last hour, the last half really shapes up to be pretty good. I will say that the story timeline liberties Spielberg and Lucas pulled a long time ago damaged the franchise here. Not many know that Temple of Doom was made as a prequel to Raiders which was then followed by Last Crusade. So events that happened in Raiders, say, socially, are not that far removed from Crystal Skull.

The best thing Spielberg and Lucas did was pay homage to the first part of the series with references to Raiders in the opening scene and good throwbacks to the value of Indy’s hat from nuclear explosions to chapels including some scenes that might have people thinking if “Mutt Williams” is going to take over the franchise.

I’ll close with the three things this movie needed to be really good – to give Last Crusade a run for it’s money. First, a younger Harrison Ford – which was quite possible if it hadn’t been for Lucas’ constant screen revisions and stubborn refusal to accept earlier story send ups – we’re talking a good seven to ten years here – Air Force One Harrison Ford instead of, well, Crystal Skull Harrison Ford. Second, the appearance of Sean Connery – which again, was possible if the film had been made earlier. It is curious that Connery’s part – supposedly a small cameo is SO small that Connery must have really thought the script was crap. Third, no CGI bullshit – this would probably have changed the whole opening scene and made the film a hell of a lot better. Maybe given us a classic intro where Indy is in the field looking for some treasure and bam! Cate Blanchett swoops in. But alas, no such luck.

Another month

2008-06-08T22:15:00.003-04:00

I just got back from Europe and my head is chalk full of things I'll never get to blog about - basically detailing all of my adventurous exploits, commentary on the obama/clinton/2008 mess, and lots of other things that suddenly are not coming to me.

About books - all the ones I read toward the end of second semester that I thought would help me start posting book reviews here (mostly classics I never read in high school) or the ones I read on my trip (mostly Cormac McCarthy's The Road).

About all the gelatto I ate in Europe - my rankings of the cities (1. Rome, 2. Florence, 3. Trier, 4. Meersburg, 5. Lindau, 6. Venice, 7. Bregenz, 8. Munich, 9. Gindelwald, 10. Lux City, 11. Paris, 12. Kaysberg (Alsace), 13. Sion, 14. Zurmat

But I will start blogging again since its summer for whatever its worth.

The Kingdom...a crowning achievement

2008-05-10T21:58:00.005-04:00

The Kingdom - Peter Berg - 2007 - 9/10

Summary:

A terrorist attack on U.S. citizens on Saudi Soil draws the personal attention of FBI Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) who cuts every corner to make sure his team (Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman) gets on the ground despite the massive physical and political obstacles. Their liaison who has been tasked as more of a baby sitter, Colonel Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom) tries to everything he can to help Fleury's team because he wants the men who killed his guards. The movie shows the different cultures that are strikingly similar as the team seeks to uncover the group responsible for the largest murder in modern Saudi history.

Critique:

I'll be honest - I had low expectations for the movie. It started off with an efficient, audio and visual history of western involvement with Saudi Arabia using real footage and real audio from the different times as well as powerful quotes to convey a complex story in a few words. I thought the movie would be downhill from there, but I was wrong. The name "Peter Berg" flashed, reminding me that the creator of Friday Night Lights was at the helm. Actually that was just a shameless plug for my favorite TV show, and while Berg IS the director of the movie, the movie itself showed how great it was. I will take the time to praise Berg now though. His style from FNL shines through loud and clear - his attention to small story detail as well as close camerawork is evident - he even shows similar musical choices. The small story detail is a pleasant bonus because it brings life and personality to every part of the movie - the family scenes on both sides of search show the similarities - and differences between our two cultures. The political scenes are unbiased, yet show the political tiptoeing that is necessary in these issues.

The acting - all around - was very good. Which says a lot coming from me because I went into the movie thinking most of these actors (minus Chris Cooper) weren't very good. Jamie Foxx always annoyed me as his general personality does. Here he chose to act for once and played a good part. There were definitely scenes were the Jamie I hate was trying to rise to the surface, but this acting Jamie kept him down and played a good role. Jennifer Garner was good in her limited scenes causing me to consider that I might have given her a harder rap than she deserved considering I've started to notice how good she is in a couple movies. Chris Cooper was great as always in his few scenes - not much more to say on him that I haven't already said elsewhere. Jason Bateman was pretty good - clearly the weakest link of those four because he overacted in some parts. But it is what it is. The real scene stealer was Ashraf Barhom who was GREAT as Colonel Ghazi. I have a feeling that in longer cuts his family scenes were longer and more numerous but beggars can't be choosers. I'd like to say I look forward to seeing him in more movies, but that seems unlikely.

Generally I really enjoyed the movie. It was tense, fast paced, and different in the sense that it wasnt the guns-blazing movie I thought it would be. Berg's "blockbuster" was much more of just a solid movie that really took pains to show the culture clash as well as the American influence in Saudi politics and Saudi oil as well as the repercussions of those actions. When I thought about the intro while the movie was just starting I smiled at the fact that they had used their title sequence and a handful of minutes to do what Syriana did - except better and in a more entertaining way. That held true for the whole movie because the style was very similar to Gaghan fast-camera, multi point storytelling with the pleasing difference that there was a clear central story (and set of characters). That Gaghan chose a macro-issue (oil) in our relationship with the Middle East was brave but fatal. It accomplished less that what a microcosm could do. The Kingdom's smaller story that accessed the big issue in everyone's mind - terrorism killing westerners (yes, cliche, but unfortunately true) seemed to be a better route. And to think that The Kingdom did it in about twenty minutes less and in a much easier way only made me enjoy the movie more.

When my brain was churning about what I would rate The Kingdom I had almost decided on an "8" because I thought the movie was pretty much as good as it could be yet it didnt have the 9 and 10 level power that the classics do. Then two amazing scenes at the end made me realize that giving the movie less than a 9 would be ridiculous. Two scenes at the end - between Jamie Foxx and a Saudi boy and a parallel scene that involved Foxx and his team really brought the movie together. The positive similarities of our culture and the importance of US-Saudi cooperation as well as the negative similarities of how our cultures are so similar. That the movie made such a pointed argument about how violent both of our cultures are - and how true it was - really pushed the movie over the top.

Verdict:

Buy it now!

If you liked this movie, see...
...Syriana
...Three Kings

I'm back - kind of

2008-05-10T21:43:00.003-04:00

Wow - no posts since January 27th! Any readers I had probably abandoned this sorry rag ages ago. Three months passed without a single thing written. Then again, I did find that my last attempt at blogging about politics was not published but saved as a draft (I just published it if anyone cared about reading a non-topical political rant). In my defense - I did THINK about writing one of these "i'm back" segments. School piled up, laziness seized hold of me, and I was killing myself trying to keep SaltyStix afloat. Which was painful because I wanted to write about other things - so much sports stuff to talk about - especially on the home front with the Cubs surging and then slumping and Alfonso's woes as well as the Bears pathetic season followed only by a pathetic offseason marked by the signing of two quarterbacks - that we already had! And then the Bulls' season coming to a close in a sorry disappointment, the departure of Skiles and a crazy job hunt. Not to mention all the DVD's I saw that I wanted to write about! I would say there was music, but that's mostly a lie. The only new music I started listening to was Eric Shiveley. Although I could have written about how purchasing old records of new faves (Kimya, Stars, and more) was sadly anti-climatic.

And now I'm off again - a school trip to Europe will keep me from my computer for a whole month! But I wanted to touch base - say my say about the above and write ONE article about a DVD I saw that made me really happy. But its been so long since I reviewed one here on the site that I have to look to check my formatting!

Prepare for the worst

2008-03-14T12:06:00.002-04:00

Yeah. I haven't blogged since the end of January. I've been REALLY busy. BUT this kind of got me out of hibernation and served as an impetus for a few comments I have wanted to write about for quite some time. Before getting to THE issue, I want to go into two of my main thoughts on Obama. My apologies for rambling nonsense - as usual I'm pretty much just writing as a stream of consciousness.

First and foremost, I'm really afraid that Obama is set to become our generation's Jimmy Carter. The parallels between the two are almost frightening. The obvious ones being that both are campaigning as Washington outsiders, both are considered young guns in the Democratic party and both are trying to ride general opposition to the previous Republican administration to victory in November. The less obvious ones involve their promises of shaking up the Department of Education (moving away from No Child Left Behind) and the Department of Health (health care reform/insurance, etc).

However the risks seem to be greater than any possible benefits. My general view of the office of the President is that the person who is most competent, and can get the most done should be elected. But also related to that is what is the damage that President will cause? And in that regard I fear that the foreign policy arena is one ripe for Presidential failures. Most presidents have so little foreign policy or executive experience that they make serious mistakes. Let us consider Carter, who sought to reduce troops in Korea, much like Obama wishes to reduce/withdraw troops from Iraq and they seem to generally stand for similar outlooks of how the US should act.

Then let me remind you of the Iran Hostage Crisis. Carter's blatant support for the Shah of Iran (admittedly not his burden) sparked backlash in Iran (again, not really his fault). What WAS Carter's fault is how he responded to the crisis. He pretty much choked. His ultimate course of action, Operation Eagle Claw, was not only a pathetic failure, but made the United States look terrible. It also did not occur until almost 6 months after the hostages were seized. Even if this WAS his "best" response, he took his time. The application of this example and perhaps how Carter handled the situation can be debated, but either way, Carter did not know how to handle Iran. This is a pressing issue of our times too as we fear Iran's nuclearization, their support of Hezbollah and Hamas, and their aid to insurgents in Iraq. How will Obama deal with them? The greater question is, how will he determine how to deal with them? What in his experience, his campaign, or much of anything does he have to offer that will help him choose the right course of action?

The implication of this is more nuanced than simply ruining the US' image. Taken in a big picture sense the Carter Presidency set up a decade of neoconservativism. Carter's failures abroad as well as his domestic ones (serious inflation) gave ammunition to neoconservatives who could say - we were right - liberal democrats spend spend spend and aren't hard on enemies. Do we want that today? Jeb Bush is waiting in the wings and he could be the most moderate of conservatives who could gain from a miserable Obama presidency.

The second issue I have is that Obama is going to change Washington. You have to have hope. Look. This is ridiculous. How do you change a system that has been embedded into our culture for two hundred years? How do you shake up a political system that is determined NOT to change. You want to challenge special interests? How do you distance politicians from special interests? Obama could probably handpick a majority of congresspeople in the midterm elections who he thought would support his political morality type spin/platform and get nowhere.

If his calls for change are more about the policies of the system (ie health care is flawed, education policy is flawed) then how do you work outside the system? It's like, how do you get the ACTUAL LEGISLATION passed if you refuse to use the system, and more likely considering Obama's inexperience, know how to USE the system? We sure as hell know Hillary knows how to use the system and we have seen, and listened to her, explain how she would change the system. This level of explanation, of what she is going to do, is far and away beyond any of the detail Obama has provided. Hillary's early claim that she is the candidate for change because she's been doing it longer is simply fact.

Uh...really? Quantum of Solace?

2008-01-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

Quantum of Solace comes from the title of a short story in Flemming’s For Your Eyes Only. But it still seems to come from NOWHERE. What does it mean? Are they serious? I waited so long to write this in the hopes that it was a joke – a prank – anything but the truth. But finally reality has sunk in.

Daniel Craig says: "I was unsure at first. Bond is looking for his quantum of solace and that's what he wants, he wants his closure. Ian Fleming says that if you don't have a quantum of solace in your relationship then the relationship is over. It's that spark of niceness in a relationship that if you don't have you might as well give up. Bond doesn't have that because his girlfriend has been killed," [and therefore, Bond is] looking for revenge [...] to make himself happy with the world again. But the title also alludes to something else in the film."

Here is the summary every other website is copying and pasting:

Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M (JUDI DENCH) interrogate Mr White (JESPER CHRISTENSEN) who reveals the organisation which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.
Forensic intelligence links an Mi6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille (OLGA KURYLENKO), a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene (MATHIEU AMALRIC), a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organisation.
On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano (JOAQUIN COSIO). Using his associates in the organisation, and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country, giving the General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land.
In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop his organisation.

Related reading:

"Quantum What?" @ SaltyStix
"Everything changes but bond" @ The Guardian
"The Title is Meant to Confuse" @ This is North Scotland

Colin Powell Live from Millett Hall

2008-01-27T15:15:00.000-05:00

Colin Powell Live from Millett Hall

Last week (January 22nd), I got to see Colin Powell speak at Miami. The one speaker I had seen previously in this speaker series was Mikhail Gorbachev who’s speech was in Russian and the translation took a lot out of it. Powell though, was interesting and a very good speaker. He mixed in a lot of humor, about retirement, old age and stuff along those lines. He spoke for about an hour and the first half hour was mostly his standard speech-circuit routine about him and what he is doing/did.

Finally, for the last twenty minutes or so he talked about the topic – Democracy. He talked about Russia, China, Japan, and a few other countries and regions more vaguely. He had a great story about Russia, about how he talked with an angry Gorbachev who berated Powell – and the U.S. – for not giving him more support. And then he calmly called Powell out and said, “you liked having us as an enemy, but now you will need a new one!” And Powell admitted that the stability of the U.S.S.R. as an enemy had been the bedrock of his career in the military.

He talked briefly about how Deng Xiaoping was a great leader who modernized his country.

More entertaining was his story about Koizumi – whom he called his favorite world leader – where Powell talked with him and after they were done Powell asked Koizumi if it was true that he loved Elvis. And Koizumi grew very animated and gushed about how much he loved the king. And Powell responded by saying that he had known Elvis in the service, and Koizumi grew even more excited.

Powell also talked briefly about some of the things he did as Secretary of State and certain ongoing crises. He talked about the shock of 9/11, the necessity of Afghanistan, the hardline on Iran, the impetus for the Iraq attack and the steely resolve of North Korea.

He talked about how he thinks we do need to finish what we started and that he has a lot of faith in General Petraeus to make the surge successful. He thinks Guantanamo Bay should close down because he worries about the strength of the Geneva Convention.

I was really liking his speech overall until he ended with this bull shit hot dog story about how this one hot dog vendor recognized him and told him that Powell didn’t have to pay for his hotdog because, “America has already paid me.”

He took six questions –
1) A German student asks about Iraqi intelligence from foreign services and Powell said that everyone believed the intelligence and he thinks they got some stuff right, and a lot wrong, but the consensus was firmly behind the intell they had.
2) this scatchy guy began his question with a “don’t taze me bro” joke which was not funny – and then he asked a cliché question about what Powell thought the greatest issue facing our generation was and Powell answered with some b.s. about getting involved and voting – yawn.
3) Some guy asked this boring five minute question and the crowd started yelling “taze him” and the question basically called Powell out for getting fat off of the lecture circuit and Powell was kind of like, I already said I did that – big deal.
4) Then this other guy asked Powell, the military guy, an economic question about the devaluation of the dollar and china – Colin said that it wasn’t his area of expertise, but he didn’t think the government could do anything. Apparently the guy was a Ron Paul supporter because he asked about the gold standard, which Powell rightfully laughed at.
5) Someone asked what to do about global warming and Colin just said – adopt Gore’s café standards. Another yawn.
6) Then someone accused Powell of sanctioning the use of nuclear weapons because Powell okayed depleted uranium bullets – the crowd booed and Colin asked the crowd to let the kid finish his long question and then cut the kid down and said – “those weapons are effective, and science is on my side – they aren’t a radiological risk – I guess we’ll agree to disagree.” It was a strong end to an entertaining speech.

Down with Brown

2008-01-14T16:50:00.000-05:00

The Cavs did one more thing to ruin the career of LeBron James. Extending the contract of Mike Brown is another nail in the coffin for LeBron. Did they think Mike Brown was LARRY Brown? WHAT is going on? He is clearly one of the worst coaches in the NFL. Any other coach could have (a) taught some talent, (b) retained some talent, (c) brought in some talent, or at least (d) gotten the best out of their players.

Instead possible talents like Varejao and Gibson haven't developed. Varejao has turned into a contract baby who can't do much more on the court than flop. Gibson, last year's playoff hero has been about average, instead of the dominant guard pressence LeBron needs.

Meanwhile the Cavaliers have had trouble holding onto their marginally good bench players and have basically had the same team for the last three seasons. Does no one else realize this? Why is this? Coaches like Jackson can bring in players, Brown can at least keep his stars on the roster.

Just a feeling

2008-01-13T11:45:00.000-05:00

So I was thinking about playoff structure in the NFL. And I just read some article that ranted about how the 1 seeds always get upset. Combined with a few other things, the idea that began to form in my mind was that the 1-4 matchup was almost always harder than the 2-3 matchup. Not because of that stupid expectation of upsets, but more about the structural factors.

Like it used to be in the NBA, divisional champs get the top seeds. BUT, because of the NFL playoff structure where the top two seeds have round one byes while the two wild card teams square off against the two lowest divisional seeds. Since no division is ever truly equal - say...the AFC south, there are usually a good chance that the wildcard team gets to slay a weaker divisional champ in the first round.

Now when you get to the second round, the top seed usually has to square off against one of these wild card challengers. Now, I understand that the chances of the three seed getting upset (like the Steelers did this year, and when they did the upsetting when they one their last championship). But this year is a strong example that proves that the opposite is more likely the case.

This year, as a reward for being the best team in their conference New England got to square off against the surging Jaguars and Dallas has to face what many people have chosen as a Super Bowl darkhorse, the Giants. Dallas may have edged the giants for the division, but having to face such a tough team seems a little harsh. When you consider that Green Bay got to embarass a lackluster Seahawks team and the Colts get to play a fatally wounded Chargers team (the loss of Antonio Gates), being number two is pretty good.

Favorites? Best ofs?

2008-01-07T23:54:00.000-05:00

I love lists. I mean, "Top 10" is one of the major phrases of my vocabulary. And now that I read a lot more blogs, end of year time pushes that into overdrive as there are retrospective lists as we all fall all over ourselves to outdo the next person. Sometimes these best of lists boggle me. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead? Really? That goes on there? Ratatouille? BEST of? I think that it just begs the question of opinion.

As all my favorite movie blogs posted their “best of 2007” lists I tried to write mine. Then something dawned on me. I didn’t remember 2007! No, my realization was more along the lines of, what makes a movie the best? I mean, when it comes to entertainment, nothing is objective, you like what you like. If I said Knocked Up was the best, my friend Katherine (Heigl – we go way back) would probably call me a chauvinist while if I said No Country for Old Men over There Will Be Blood some might say I chose blood…over oil? Maybe there isn’t a good joke to be made there. But what I’m trying to say is that favorites are the way to go because it (barely) escapes the pretension of “best of” lists.

2007 Favorites: Movies

2008-01-07T23:50:00.000-05:00

So I have two lists: the favorites I saw on DVD (Nitflix+HBO=Godsend) and the favorites I saw in theatres. All in all, since we started the blog in May, corresponding to when I started keeping track of all the movies I saw, I have seen 175 movies. I know, I know, I should go out more. Blah blah blah.

So, if you want, you can peruse the list of movies below. Forgive me for not hyperlinking all of these badboys. There are a HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE of them, so cut me some slack. Another preempt, living alone (mostly) all summer (like, literally, middle of nowhere with your friends six hours away) makes you watch lots of things you wouldn’t watch, like ANYTHING that’s on TV. Hence, the cornerstone of my defense as to why I watched so many romantic comedies – hey, they were on HBO (or the airplane…). They are rated mostly contextually (confusing, I know) – The Protector was leaps and bounds better than Ong Bak, just as I thought Shooter was way better than The Bourne Ultimatum, Hidden Fortress was the most entertaining (first viewing) Kurosawa movie I saw, and so on. Also, keep in mind I’m trying to keep it short and sweet how I feel about the movies – a lot of them have full reviews here at PulpEverything or at SaltyStix and I would have hyperlinked them but my internet is too sluggish. If you’re really curious why I liked Superbad better than Knocked Up, sack up and read my whole review.

Pride and Prejudice (2005) 10, Love Actually 10, Knocked Up 10, Ghost World 10, Amelie 10, Bad Education 10, Juno 10, 12 Angry Men 10, He Got Game 9.5, Sideways 9.5, Imagine Me & You 9.5, Sweet Mud 9, Cold Mountain 9, Million Dollar Baby 9, Serenity 9, North Country 9, Pan's Labyrinth 9, Me, You, And Everyone We Know 9, The Dreamers 9, The Fountain 9, Freedom Writers 9, Human Nature 9, Superbad 9, The Incredibles 9, Dark City 9, 3:10 to Yuma 9, Gone Baby Gone 9, No Country for Old Men 9, Attonement 9 Hollywoodland 8.5, Brick 8.5, Bend it Like Beckham 8.5, Chasing Amy 8.5, Tristan + Isolde 8.5, Elephant 8.5, Shooter 8.5, Hard Boiled 8.5, Badlands 8.5, All About My Mother 8.5, Newspapers and Flowers 8, Little Heroes 8, Jarhead 8, Y tu Mama Tambien 8, Poseidon 8, In Her Shoes 8, Live Free or Die Hard 8, Great Expectations 8, Sicko 8, A Very Long Engagement 8, A Better Tomorrow 8, A Better Tomorrow 3 8, Constantine 8, Red Dragon 8, About Schmidt 8, Hot Fuzz 8, Papillon 8, Thumbsucker 8, Shoot em' Up 8, Mississippi Burning 8, Amarcord 8, La Dolce Vita 8, The Protector 8, Hable Con Ella 8, American Gangster 8, Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 8, Hidden Fortress 8, Ransom 7.5, Point of No Return 7.5, Catch a Fire 7.5, The Tao of Steve 7.5, The Age of Innocence 7.5, The Mark of Zorro (1974) 7.5, The Flower of My Secret 7.5, I Am Legend 7.5, Charlie Wilson's War 7.5, Paper Dolls 7, Spiderman 3 7, La femme nikita 7, Dream Girls 7, Napoleon Dynamite 7, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer 7, The Painted Veil 7, The Constant Gardener 7, Clerks 7, The Bourne Ultimatum 7, Run Lola Run 7, The Mark of Zorro (1940) 7, Swept Away 7, O 7, Breach 7, Akahige/Red Beard 7, La Strada 7, Black Robe 7, Bad Habits 7, I'm Reed Fish 7, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets 7, Young and Innocent 7, The Killing 7, The Great Debaters 7, Casanova 7, Days of Thunder 6.5, Highlander 6.5, The Last King of Scotland 6.5, Hitch 6.5, Kinsey 6.5, sex, lies, and videotape 6.5, Once a Thief 6.5, The Golden Compass 6.5, Janem Janem 6, John Tucker Must Die 6, Ocean's 13 6, Music and Lyrics 6, Stranger than Fiction 6, Monsters, Inc 6, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry 6, The Simpsons Movie 6, Practical Magic 6, Before the Devil Know's You're Dead 6, Rashomon 6, Cellular 5.5, Natural Born Killers 5.5, The Conversation 5.5, Because I Said So 5.5, Eragon 5.5, Clueless 5, The Holiday 5, Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End 5, Bloodrayne 5, Suspect Zero 5, The Pacifier 5, Cecil B. Demented 5, Last Kiss 5, Ghost Rider 5, The Ron Clark Story 5, Teaching Robert Lee 5, Detroit Rock City 5, Raising Arizona 5, Just Friends 5, The Rocky Horror Picture 5, Good Luck Chuck 5, Letters from Iwo Jima 5, Hitman 5, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 5, The Family Stone 4.5, She's the Man 4.5, For the Love of the Game 4.5, For Love or Money 4, 16 Blocks 4, A Scanner Darkly 4, Bad Girls 4, Sunshine 4, Rumor Has It 4, A Better Tomorrow 2 4, Rising Sun 4, Message in a Bottle 4, Mean Streets 4, The Brother's Grimm 4, The Boys Next Door 4, Heart of Darkness 4, The Perfect Score 4, Luther 4, The Producers 3.5, Robots 3, The Goonies 3, The Chinese Connection 3, Ratatouille 3, My Super Ex-Girlfriend 3, Princess of Thieves 3, Lady Jane 3, The Ultimate Gift 3, American Dreamz 2.5, Bandidas 2, Sexy Beast 2, Evan Almighty 0, Be My Baby 0

Top 10 Favorite Movies (I saw at home) in 2007

10. The Protector
This was a movie that was a pleasant surprise because after Ong Bak, I expected the worst, and instead, got ridiculous original fight scenes and a much better plot.

9. Amelie
This movie was simply too beautiful to not make the list. No, not in that flowery romantic way, but the colors and cinematography…and Audrey Tatou…

8. He Got Game
Probably the grittiest movie on this list, so intense it almost hurts, another movie that is great cinematically as well as for it’s story.

7. Imagine Me & You
Piper Perabo and a pre-300 Lena Heady are great in this movie; it’s a different kind of romantic comedy that keeps you guessing until the end. Beat out Tristan + Isolde on ingenuity alone.

6. The Dreamers
What year goes by without a sexual awakening? This movies do a damn fine job of exploring sexual taboos and edges out Y tu Mama Tambien by having a great ending (or maybe just better than Tambien).

5. Pride and Prejudice
Keira vs Keira! P+P narrowly beats out Love Actually here because I thought P+P was literally a flawless movie, not just a perfect romantic comedy.

4. Ghost World
Thora Birch is simply amazing in a story that should have seemed slow but never was. I liked Thumbsucker here too, a similar movie that took the road more traveled.

3. Serenity
Serenity got a big push because it was another huge surprise: I had seen the previews, and posters, and the movie looked like a cheap imitation. But it brought some serious game, causing me to scramble for the only season of Firefly (I failed). Dark City was close here too.

2. Me, You, And Everyone We Know
Just as Amelie scored points for beauty, this scored points for total originality – not sure I experienced a movie that was so un-Hollywood yet so good.

1. Brick
This movie’s unique take on film noir (a la high school) was extremely powerful, as was Josephy Gordon-Levitt’s performance, which made it an easy choice for my #1 favorite.

Top 6 Films (I saw in theaters) in 2007

6. Knocked Up
This movie heralded the return of the R-rated comedy, launched the careers of Apatow, Heigl, Rogen, and showed comedies can have (serious) plots too.

5. Superbad
The follow up to Knocked Up just did a lot more for me because it was just seemed truer – more real – maybe I can relate to a high school story because I’ve been down that road but not a pregnancy because, I haven’t been down that road.

4. Gone Baby Gone
This movie was a pleasant surprise (I thought both Afflecks would disappoint) but instead turned out to be a more entertaining and suspenseful version of Mystic River (I use “version” very loosely here).

3. No Country for Old Men
This movie is usually in the top two of most of these lists but the weak ending and the convoluted “message” that comes out pushes this movie back behind some stiff competition.

2. Atonement
I expected something drastically different, and like I said in my review, the first hour of this movie was close to the best I have ever seen. Why is it #2? I said the first hour was perfect, but the second half was about average.

1. Juno
This movie was my favorite by far and the only movie of 2007 that I saw twice in theatres. The story, the music, the characters, the…everything…just sort of clicked for me, like I assume it did for a lot of other people.

The movie had a lot of hype – the threequels toward the middle of year and a few other movies that were big disappointments, but the year ended strong, hopefully 2008 will be even better!

2007 Favorites: Events

2008-01-03T00:07:00.001-05:00

Here’s a brief look at 12 events that intrigued me. Some you will remember, others you won’t, but at the very least, hopefully it will be education.

January 4: Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
Talks a pretty big game but doesn’t really end up doing anything, and a few days later Bush announces a troop surge in Iraq. Other Democratic goals like the Minimum Wage Bill and SCHIP (Children’s Health Care) can’t survive vetoes and the Dems continue to fail to change course on Iraq. I thought Pelosi would be good, but she didn’t really do anything and proved herself to be just another politician.

February 4: The Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI
A great season by the Bears who were exciting to watch, and managed to overcome some serious injuries to put up a pretty good game against the heavily favored Colts, steered by a great season by Rex Grossman. The loss was disappointing, but not nearly as disappointing as the Bears’ follow up season in the later half of 2007.

March 8: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admits Israel had planned an attack on Lebanon in the event of kidnapped soldiers on the border, months before Hezbollah carried out its kidnapping.
Probably no one really knows what this story is about, but it references the Israeli-Lebanon war during the closing months of 2006, an embarrassing debacle for Israel. Olmert’s admission confirmed that many thought that the US and Israel had been looking for a way to strike Hezbollah. I guess it interests me because it’s closely tied to this year’s debate topic…

April 12: Don Imus is fired by CBS for making controversial comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Seems like we average about one of these a year now since the Limbaugh-McNabb fiasco a few years ago. It boggles my mind that people say this stuff, ON THE RADIO! What were they thinking? Even if you do harbor those thoughts, why would you broadcast that? Anyways, the story damn near KILLED my interest in EVER watching ESPN, as they just would not let it go.

May 6/May 10: Nicholas Sarkozy is elected as President of the French Republic and Tony Blair announces he will resign as British Prime Minister.
The political dynamics of Europe take a strange turn when the pro-Bush PM Blair leaves office in disgrace while the pro-Bush President Sarkozy takes office with great flair. While Blair’s successor looks to push Britain farther away from the U.S., Sarkozy looks to strengthen US-French ties. Blair seemed kinda cool, Sarkozy seems kinda weird, although his girlfriend is totally hot.

June 29: Apple’s iPhone is released in the United States.
Steve Jobs’ company is great at churning out hip new toys, and the iPhone is no different. It started with a great ad campaign during the Super Bowl (or maybe it was the Oscars) with typical Apple-Cool fashion and a catchy song by Eberg. The touch screen interface and vertical and horizontal sensor feature, people couldn’t get enough of it, snatching up this $500 toy like there was no tomorrow. My interest in this skyrocketed when one of my roommates got one, sparking jealous desire.

July 7: Live Earth concerts are held in nine cities throughout the world.
Featuring a great, diverse collection of musicians, nine near simultaneous/consecutive concerts happen to raise awareness about climate change. The 22 hour live (web)broadcast set a record with 15 million internet streams. I planned on watching it, but never got around to it.

August 7: Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron’s home run record with his 756th home run.
To many this was inevitable, while I was one of the few people who hoped and prayed Bonds would suffer a career ending injury. Instead, he pulled it off, albeit he did have to wade through all the steroid talk and the humbling hilarity of his record-setting ball being branded with an asterisk before being given to Cooperstown. I never liked Barry Bonds because he seems to have serious attitude problems while also coming off as the type of guy who wouldn’t hesitate about cheating.

September 26: Emperor Akihito swears in Yasuo Fukuda as Prime Minister of Japan.
Another even that probably went unnoticed by everyone. But it ended the reign of Koizumi, another extremely pro-Bush PM who was one of my first favorites. Well, in the sense that I did a lot of debate-related research regarding him over the last few years. But most Americans will probably never remember him, considering they’d heard of him before.

October 28: The Boston Red Sox win the 2007 World Series, completing a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies.
The Red Sox getting a second World Series so soon made me jealous that the Cubs continued to go without one of their own in the last century or so, losing this year to the Arizona Diamond backs in three straight games. I guess there’s always next year.

November 27: The Annapolis Conference is held in Annapolis, Maryland, to try to restart the Middle East Peace Process.
I thought it was hard to tell whether Bush was actually trying to do this, or just trying to mend his image and attempt to get something done on which he could hang his legacy. The conference including many nations with tenuous relations with the United States, which is an accomplishment in itself, but it achieved almost nothing. Again, this interested me because of this year’s debate resolution.

December 27: Former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto is assassinated, with at least 20 others in a bomb blast at an election rally in Rawalpindi.
This tragic event capped a momentous December. What makes this all the more shocking is how an event on October 18 is overlooked when Bhutto returns after 8 years in exile to barely escape a suicide attack that killed 136. This time, she did not escape. The incident pushed Pakistan even closer to the breaking point than it was with all of Musharaaf’s States of Emergencies. Hopefully 2008 will bring peace to Pakistan.

For more 2007 events, click here.

2007 Favorites: Songs

2007-12-28T12:33:00.000-05:00

While a bunch of these songs are just my picks from my favorite albums installment below, there are a few songs from albums that didn't quite get the cut or were too "old." Basically, this is what I like to think of as the soundtrack of my 2007, but it's really just some slim pickings. So this is my 2007 playlist - the songs aren't "ranked" - it's pretty hard to do that considering they are all so different!

I posted links to the music videos because I lack the ability to post streaming clips. But there are some pretty cool music videos and live clips. Baby's Gonna Die Tonight gets pretty interesting in the end, Men's Needs is pretty funny, and Music is My Hot Hot sex is pretty cool throughout.

"Baby's Gonna Die Tonight" by Adam Green
This is a recent discovery but I love it! The song is addictive, and the cool stuff he does with the drawings at the end is cool.

"Men's Needs" by The Cribs
This was the first video I watched of them - and I was read the top comment on the youtube board and it talked about some naked girl. So I was ready for the girl that danced/stumbled across the screen while the band was playing, but the black boxes covering her were a surprise - and pretty clever.

"Girls Who Play Guitars" by Maximo Park
This is just the song with some random-ass pictures. Sorry. But the song is pretty good.

"Chillout Tent" by The Hold Steady
One of my favorite songs of late. I think I'm a sucker for pop duets with a female voice and a male voice.

"Who's Gonna Sing" by The Prototypes
The dude in the video is pretty funny. And the vibrant colors are pretty crazy.

"Music is My Hot Hot Sex" by Cansei De Ser Sexy
It took some wikipedia reading for me to realize that all the girls were not the same, but the 5/6 girls in the group! The bass line is ridiculous, and the part that goes beyond the iPod commercial is awesome.

"Jerk it Out (Ahlund)" by The Caesars
I know I know, three iPod commercial-songs in a row, but I do have this whole album. The energy of this song has a certain air of fun that the other songs on this list don't.

"Liquefy" by The Servant
I'm probably the only one in the world who loves this guy's voice - but it sounds kinda like how I would sing if I had those skillz. Perhaps that's not a ringing endorsement.

"Your Honor" by Regina Spektor
I LOVE the drastic contrast between the hard/soft screaming/sweet singing. And I'll admit I like the soft part better - that chorus is amazing. Live recording from Bonnaroo was the best I could do.

"Loose Lips" by Kimya Dawson
Not surprising that Kimya doesn't make music videos, but this is a live recording. I love this song for so many reasons - the chorus is great, the fast talking intro is awesome, and the lyrics throughout are only rivaled by "Underground."

"Famous" by The Magnetic Fields
This song is such a great beginning to such a good album.

"In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel
I love the strumming beginning and when he first begins to sing...so good.

"Our Swords" by Band of Horses
I couldn't get enough of this song for the longest time, playing it over and over.

"Take Me to The Riot" by Stars
Deeply emotional, I've already waxed poetic about this song on my 2007 albums send-up, just enjoy the song.

"Pick Up the Phone" by The Notwist
I loved this song mostly because of the video's funny rabbits. But it's also kinda awesomely-haunting.

"2nd Period: Shoot Down the Stars" by Gym Class Heroes
My favorite video of theirs is probably for Cupid's Chokehold, but this is my favorite song of theirs for the tempo and the delivery.

"Don't Forget 'Em" by Consequence
Probably the most boring video on this list, but I played it back to back to back to back so often and put the page in the background. It just has a great hook.

"Everything I Am" by Kanye West
Again this song was discussed in detail in the 2007 albums send-up, but it's another addicting song that is great.

Other 2007 Favorites:
2007 Favorites: Albums

2007 Favorites: Albums

2007-12-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

So I’m stuck at the airport and I finally had the motivation (and time) to finish off this article that it seems like I started ages ago. So I guess, out of the bad, comes some good, much like everything else. Also, for some of the song stuff I attached the link to the youtube video for their music video because I don't know how to stream songs. I know, no point in having a music blog without that vital skill, but I'm trying here people. And besides, some of what drew me to these bands are these music videos I'm linking up here.

One of my friends who have their own music blog asked me what my favorite group was. After answering “The Red Hot Chili Peppers” I was informed that my music sucked and I had to start listening to “good” music. What followed was the beginning of a humongous amount of new music that I listened to regularly in the last six months. I also started using youtube more as my own private radio station – something I strongly suggest. Unable to get a hold of most of these albums, I bought a bunch of them on Amazon, used, for a few dollars, and Amazon, being the trusty sales-person they are, recommended some more music. Checked those out on youtube, and bought some more.

I started listening to a few instrumental acts (Explosions in the Sky and Ratatat) after I discovered explosions on NBC’s Friday Night Lights. I also started listening to a bunch of lo-fi/indie-pop/anti-folk acts (Stars, Neutral Milk Hotel, Regina Spektor, Kimya Dawson) suggested by my friend. When Kanye’s new CD, Graduation was about to come out, I bought a bunch of CD’s from “harder” rappers (Nas, Jaylib, Madlib, Madvillain, Danger Doom, MF Doom) and checked out Gym Class Heroes after I saw them on the MTV Video Music Awards. My last discovery came when I was tinkering around on youtube and stumbled into foreign (mostly European) pop music (The Cribs, The Servant, The Prototypes, CSS, Maximo Park).

So that was a pretty big span of four drastically different genres. And bear with me here, since I didn’t do this last year, and my friend did, there were a bunch of great 2006 albums, so this year I included 2006 albums in my top ten, while notably including some of my favorite older albums I started listening to this year: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998) by Neutral Milk Hotel; Soviet Kitsch (2004) by Regina Spektor; Holiday (1994) & Get Lost (1995) by The Magnetic Fields; Neon Golden (2002) by The Nowtist. Also, since I didn’t really have time to do album reviews this year, this article is really my only chance to blog about them, and so if the entries get a little long for you, I apologize.

First, the close but no cigar discs: Prototypes (2006) by the Prototypes which had a lot of energy and flair, but not quite the, how do you say, English lyrics to realty compete here. I mean, I loved two of your French singles, but asking me to find a spot in my heart for those French “filler” songs that I can’t understand, is a lot. Our Earthly Pleasures (2007) by Maximo Park was an album that I liked, that I thought was similar to The Cribs’ Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever, but I was wrong. While it has (maybe) a better single in “Girl’s Who Play Guitars,” it just doesn’t have the consistency or the quality of Men’s Needs. Boys and Girls in America (2007) by The Hold Steady was the closest, and the hardest one I had to cut. It might be better than some of the albums on this list, and I listened to it about ten times in the last week or so, but I couldn’t take one of the albums below, off that list. Although I have to say that “Chillout Tent” is probably one of my favorite songs of the year. Now, Here are my ten favorites:

10. Don't Quit Your Day Job! (2007) – Consequence
Favorite Song: Don’t Forget ‘Em
Favorite Lyric: “Man I promise, when I get old enough/I'ma buy you a limo, and we gon' go to Red Lobster"
I foolishly missed Consequence despite loving Kanye’s The College Dropout, where Consequence guest starred on two tracks. However, my dad sent me an article from the Cinci Enquirer about him early in the year when he heard I had started listening to some rap music. I tried to get a listen on iTunes, but those samples don’t tell you much, and I soon quit. When I started using youtube again, I remembered and I checked him out. The first music video I watched, “Don’t Forget ‘Em” was boring and not very flashy, but the song was downright addictive. Of all the songs I have watched on youtube, I struggle to think of a song I listened to more. It didn’t take me that long to get my act together and buy the album on Amazon for $2. ‘Quence uses a few pretty funny skits (which is saying a lot because I normally get annoyed by most rappers’ skits) to tie together a strongly thematic album about the desire to make it big, and also the fears of making it too big. The singles on this album are very strong: Don’t Forget ‘Em, Callin’ Me, Grammy Family, The Good, the Bad, the Ugly. The filler around them is just okay, and for a while I thought the album wasn’t going to make it. But it sneaked in, right here at #10.

9. How to Destroy a Relationship (2007) – The Servant
Favorite Song: Hey Lou Reed
Favorite Lyric: “I don't want to be no one/I dream my dreams/Suck in my screams/I don't want to be no one”
These boys should not to be confused with the Christian rock band of the 70’s. I stumbled onto these boys when I was bored in my room one day and it suddenly came to me that I wanted to listen to that crazy song from the Sin City preview. I finally found them and on the iTunes comments page, someone had posted their website where they have their entire discography posted for you to listen to in streaming. This was AWESOME – I got to listen to both of their full-length albums and their half-length albums and really got into them. They were really the first Euro-pop group I started listening to before I started looking for more. How to Destroy a Relationship is a pretty good album, but it isn’t nearly as good as their self titled, The Servant (2004). That was the album I really fell in love with at first – it had more and stronger singles, and the filler didn’t seem like filler. But that album was too old for this list, and I started listening to How to Destroy a Relationship more. It’s still pretty damn good, and the single, Hey Lou Reed along with a bunch of the other songs have more humor than the group’s more serious debut. And I think that humor pays off and makes some of the non-singles sound better and more fun to listen to.

8. Cansei De Ser Sexy (2006) – Cansei De Ser Sexy
Favorite Song: Music is My Hot Hot Sex
Favorite Lyric: “Why is that we stand so still?/People gonna start thinking we're statues”
I will be the first to admit that I found these girls (and one guy) when I went looking for, “that song from the iTunes iPod touch ad”. And I found them, in a big way, and after some wikipedia reading, I found a bunch of their songs and music videos on youtube. This time, I wasted ZERO time in buying their album on Amazon. This also helped me rediscover The Prototypes, who I had listened to earlier in the year (also because of their American single being used in an iPod ad – what can I say, they pick good music). CSS’ music video for Music is My Hot Hot Sex is really cool – they do some cool things with light and texture that make the video a lot of fun, and all the girls have a good stage presence that this video accentuates. When I first got the album and listened to it on my way home one weekend, I thought that one good single couldn’t push them into this top ten list. After a few more listens I realized that I loved a bunch of the other songs: Patins, Alala, Art Bitch and Alcohol (plus the obvious singles). I loved their attitude, I loved the flavor they brought to their music, and the bass beat they lay is damn good. The strongest personality though, front woman Lovefoxx has a great voice that fits perfectly for the group. I’m looking forward to their follow up to their first internationally released album.

7. Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever (2007) – The Cribs
Favorite Song: Men’s Needs
Favorite Lyric: They were all equally intriguing...(okay, I'll be honest, I plain couldn't choose - it's not about the lyrics with them)
I found this group all on my lonesome and mostly by accident. During my obsession with Quence’s “Don’t Forget ‘em” I would occasionally branch out to listen to his other songs when I grew tired of listening to “Don’t Forget ‘Em” four or five times in a row. So one time, after typing ‘Consequence’ into youtube, I clicked on the song “Consequence” by The Notwist. And then I somehow found The Cribs. Hmm…that story doesn’t make a lot of sense to me now, but it did when I started writing it. More substantively, this album was probably my favorite Euro pop-rock album that I started listening to, and the album has this great energy that makes it easy to listen to and easy to get into. The funny music video for the single, Men’s Needs sure helped too – it’s pretty funny, and shows off everything the band is about. This album earned it’s spot here though because the whole album is consistently good, without any major disappointments, as each and every track is just as strong as the next, with a few standout favorites of course (Our Bovine Republic, Moving Pictures, Men’s Needs).

6. Everything All The Time (2006) – Band of Horses
Favorite Song: Our Swords
Favorite Lyric: “Out on the wall sounds of banging is constant coming from your head/And desperate the calls came and ringing from those wanna wring your neck”
The best part about being given this album was how good it was. The worst part was buying their follow up album, 2007’s Cease to Begin and being completely disappointed. But this album is great. It has a sort of soft intensity that is hard to explain. Maybe that’s a poor word choice, but that’s what comes to mind. The words and lyrics fit perfectly with everything else they have going on, and contrary to most of the other groups I used to listen to, and characteristic of my favorites now, you can really enjoy the lyrics. I got this CD toward the end of July right before I did a lot of driving in my car and I basically alternated between this album and two others. I probably listened to it over ten times in about five days. The album doesn’t get old, and only gets better. I became addicted to “Our Swords,” often listening to that song alone even if I just had to run a short errand. After that I developed other favorites: the aptly titled “The First Song,” “The Great Salt Lake,” and “St. Augustine.” It seems to me that the songs on this CD have perfect beginnings and endings. And the middle parts are damn good too.

5. As Cruel As School Children (2006) – Gym Class Heroes
Favorite Song: Shoot Down the Stars
Favorite Lyric: “This isn’t how it was supposed to be/Reminiscing don’t stand so close to me”
This is another album where I can almost pat myself on the back for finding it on my own, but it was really my search for the destruction of my soul (the weird desire to watch the MTV Video Music Awards to blog about them). I decided to check out the music for the big single from the artist of the year award (or whatever it’s called) that led me to the great video for “Cupid’s Chokehold.” The song was pretty good, but the video was hysterical, and I loved it so much because it actually fit the song (one of my pet peeves are abstract music videos). On a whim I decided to buy the album for a couple bucks when I bought Quence’s album – never thinking that this poppy-er, more accessible album would be the one I liked more. Again, this was another album where I really loved every song – and the flow and the mix were perfect. Just as people jumped on the (unfortunate) Limp Bizkit bandwagon over rap-rock, I would love it if Gym Class Heroes led a rap-pop wave. The only (mild) annoyance was the three skits on the album that were mediocre at best and made me want to skip over them when I listened to the album frequently in one car-sitting.

4. Begin to Hope (2006) – Regina Spektor
Favorite Song: On the Radio
Favorite Lyric: “But I wake up in fear/You will never be my/You will never be my fool”
This was the first album I got this summer that really took me. I thought that if I was actually disciplined enough to make a top ten list, this would surely get the top spot. Why didn’t it? Not for lack of trying. I love every song through and through, and the first four, Fidelity, Better, Samson, and On the Radio, are downright addictive. To illustrate how much I liked this album: I listened to it over twenty times in the last four months, on my laptop alone. That doesn’t count my iPod or in the car. That’s a hell of a lot. Three things contributed to this album slipping to fourth place. First, I loved Soviet Kitsch a hell of a lot too (listened to it about just as much as BtH) and it was tough to separate the two, and when I did I realized I didn’t get “Your Honor,” which might be my favorite two-minute song ever (I guess Band of Horses "Our Swords" is pretty close too). Second, the albums below really stood out, and it should be a testament to them when I say how much I loved this album. Third, in particular, the album below took a little bit of the wind out of Regina’s sails – not that they are that similar, but I viewed them as similar, and in the last month or so, Kimya leapfrogged Regina.

3. Remember That I Love You (2006) – Kimya Dawson
Favorite Song: Loose Lips
Favorite Lyric (this is the only place where I indulged myself and refused to make a choice): “Call me up before your dead, we can make some plans instead/Send me an IM, I'll be your friend”; “So I tattoo instructions on my ass/That say "don't ever put this body is a casket/Burn it and put the ashes in a basket/And throw them in the Puget Sound”
I think I’m done beating the “before Juno” drum and I can get into the comments. This album knocked my socks off. It took me two or three times through before I realized that some of Kimya’s songs were REALLY sad. Maybe that means I’m a shitty listener, but the WAY she sings to me seems to be so happy and light that I couldn’t believe the songs were that sad. By the fourth or fifth times (and I lot more times after that) I began to really get to the depth of the emotion in these songs. Instead of making me sad, I just developed a deep respect for the album and turned it on a lot. Regina’s lyrics were great, and pretty clever too, but Kimya’s here are leaps and bounds above. Of all the albums here (and first place makes this close, but Kimya still wins), this album has the best lyrics. I downright love almost every word she says (the one bump on an otherwise perfect stream is her “FUCK BUSH” rant on Loose Lips that seems out of place to me). What she says just rings so true, and obviously I don’t have to deal with things like a child growing inside me, but I like to think I can relate to some of the other stuff. And the stuff that I haven’t had to deal with now, I feel like I will relate to those events based on these songs, especially “My Mom.” If Juno didn’t make you run out and buy her latest, hopefully I convinced you. Maybe? A little? Come on…

2. Graduation (2007) – Kanye West
Favorite Song: Everything I Am
Favorite Lyric: “Everything I’m not/makes me everything I am”
I started this list a while ago. And up until about five minutes ago, this album was in the top spot. It felt so right for me to put it #1. It represented a lot of what I wanted to say I did in 2007. To me this album shows a confidence, maturity, and skill that were missing from Kanye’s first two albums and mix tapes. I feel like I could talk about each of those three factors in relation to every song on Graduation, which, apart from Barry Bonds and Drunk and Hot Girls, is the closest to perfect of any rap album I’ve listened to (I’ll admit that’s pretty limited). Instead, I will focus on my favorite, Everything I Am, which crystallizes all three factors. A huge part of confidence is identity, knowing who you are (and who you aren’t) goes a long way to shaping your conception of self, which seems to be the cornerstone of confidence. Everything I Am’s premise, is obviously a song about identity, and Kanye’s confidence in the lyrics go beyond his boyish arrogance to reach true confidence “I never be picture-perfect-Beyonce/Be light as Albi or black as Chauncey/Remember him from Blackstreet/He was as black as the street was/I'll never be laid back as his beat was.” He calls out a bunch of people and identifies some stereotypic paths he could have pursued, but he didn’t. The next line is a piece of wisdom beyond Kanye’s years – “I never could see why people'll reach a/Fake-ass facad they couldn't keep up.” I think this speaks to his maturity, as a person, and as a performer. He clearly understands the faces people put on to make it big in the business and he didn’t mince words here, or leave this open ended. Additionally, a subtler sign of maturity is the efficient, waste-free album free of skits and jokes – some miss those skits, but I sure as hell don’t. Also adding to the polished, less-rap feel of the album is the intro, Kanye’s best (Good Morning) that mixes the benefit of the classic rap intro with, well, a song. Now the chorus, or the repeated verse, “Everything I’m not/makes me everything I am” is ridiculously addictive (yet simple) and represents a new stage in Kanye’s skills. Before, I was drawn into Kanye’s songs by his hooks and his beats, that were different than other rap acts – they were poppy-er, and more musical (to me). What made me love his songs, like Never Let You Down, was the beat. You sang along with the song Kanye sampled, and that was what stayed with you. On this album, you better believe you’re singing along with, and loving the lyrics themselves – the beats are still great (much better than on Late Registration) but the words are even better. Those three things meant a lot to me for a while, confidence, maturity, skill. I thought I’d come a long way in all three. Then I realized that my confidence boost was artificial, I still felt like a teenage kid, and “skill improvement” was just out of reach. But still “Everything I’m not/makes me everything I am” stuck with me, and almost pulled off the top spot. I don’t think I have a clue who I am, or who I’m going to be, but I did know who I wasn’t, and that was a big part of who I was – who I am. If you can’t look past “Stronger,” you need to; Champion, I Wonder, Good Life, Flashing Lights, and Everything I Am are too (ridiculously) good for you to not listen to.

1. In Our Bedroom After the War (2007) – Stars
Favorite Song: Take Me to the Riot
Favorite Lyric: "You despise me and I love you/ It's not much but it's just enough to keep...”
Bedroom was another one of those three CD’s, along with Everything all the Time and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea that I burned at the end of the summer and kept in my car for a while. It must be obvious now that the album that received significantly more play that Everything, was this album. I was much more likely to listen to this song back-to-back-to-back than probably any other album I listened to this summer (and maybe ever). The album benefited from the fact that it was so different than everything else I was listening to at the time. It’s tough for me to really say that this album is “better” than Set Yourself on Fire, which I just bought recently, but I know for sure that this album will always mean more to me. And one of the reasons this song squeaked into the top spot was that this album, and Stars, brought a substantial wave of new music down upon me. Much more than Kanye did. Or at the very least, the music that I started listening to because of Stars was a lot better than the post-Kanye/Graduation music. Perhaps this disc got an unfair advantage because I listened to it an hour before I completed this list (and made the switch), but I would like to think it was much more than that. I mean I could talk about how great the music was – I loved the synergy and flow between the first three songs, and while I think every other person who has blogged about this song has hated the second track, The Night Starts Here, I loved it as a great lead in to my favorite song, Take Me to the Riot. After that the album continues it’s greatness and takes me to synth-pop-bliss. Maybe that’s not what I should call it, but I just did anyways. I do like to think that the greater reason this album is my 2007 favorite is that it really captures my most powerful memories from the course of the year. Well, for the most part, my life is pretty simple, but that simple life changed a hell of a lot between May and July and I think I will forever remember some of them with In Our Bedroom After the War as their soundtrack, or maybe their anthem. Again, I could probably go through all of the songs – because the whole album, really does speak to those experiences, but I will focus on my favorite, Take Me to the Riot. Now I’m not the only one to pick this one as their favorite song, and those music purists probably know more about why the song is so “good,” but I’m talking about why it’s my favorite. I won’t pretend to know the meaning of the song (can you ever know for sure?) but I will talk about what the song means to me. I’ll start with my favorite lyric of the year, “You despise me and I love you/ It's not much but it's just enough to keep...” It is a phrase that I find incredibly powerful and exceptionally heart breaking. Not sure what else to say about that, I shouldn’t really have to. The two verses a verse or two before make it even more powerful, “What now kid?, which way love?/Will we ever make up and be friends?” Another somber question that is (perhaps) answered by the sad “answer” above. The synth charged ending, the repeated “let me stay” wraps it all together…begging to stay and falling on deaf ears. Cut away all that emo crap I just mumbled out and you still have an amazing album.

I think I'm in Love

2007-12-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Over this summer one of my new friends introduced me into some great new music - and I listened to a lot of that biz and didn't really realize what I was getting myself into - indie pop. I kind of let that simmer for awhile - wearing out those copied CD's, listening to them over and over and then I started reading up on those bands, checking out some of their other stuff on the new internet radio (youtube - duh!) as well as taking full advantage of the 30 second Amazon clip feature and this led to me buying a bunch more CD's - mostly European pop acts that weren't quite the same as those original indie pop CD's that had quickly become near and dear to my heart.

Then I saw Juno. First, I have got to say that I was way early on the Kimya Dawson train before the flick (my summer friend turned me onto her about three months ago, so not THAT early I guess). And I just had to find out more about her. She seems totally chill - found out she's friends with one of my favorite acts from junior high (Third Eye Blind - singing on some of their songs and appearing in some of their music videos - btw - where have they gone?). I also found out she was in The Moldy Peaches. Calm down if you're the one person who visits the site and if being that one person, you're also into indie pop and you knew that - of course, you say. So I listened to them some on youtube and then started listening to Adam Green's stuff - which is a lot more radio friendly and accessible than Kimya's stuff and also checked out some of the other groups on the Juno soundtrack (so it did influence me a little) and did some we browsing and found plan-it-x records.

Anyway. What I'm trying to say is that I really love that stuff, and it's kinda changed me. Well. Definitely the music I listen to.

I love Apple, but...

2007-12-23T22:17:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or is the iPhone product placement getting to be a little too much? It seems like every TV pilot can't seem to get off the ground without having at least two characters sport an iPhone. Then it seems like it has been creeping into everything else.

Perhaps I'm still just super jealous of people who have iPhones and I'm bitter. But come on. Most of the times, in REAL LIFE, I can make it down the street without seeing FIVE people with a $500 phone!

Sheesh. Okay, I admit it, I want one SOO badly...

What the hell

2007-12-07T14:43:00.000-05:00

I was really hoping to see Juno and Atonement sometime over winter break. BUT...none of those movies are showing anywhere near me.

So now I am totally bummed about it. Those movies looked amazing and will probably be dark horse Oscar candidates for best picture, while Juno will most likely win original screenplay. Then you chalk up all the other anticipatory factors: Michael Cera, Keira Knightley...

I am kind of surprised that Juno's release is SOO limited considering the trailer aired in front of some major movies, AND has seemingly had lots of promotion (for an indie), and it seems like it has some serious commercial upside as Cera is pretty big now after Superbad and Keira has emerged as a strong, commercial, leading actor. Instead, the movies that are showing in town: Awake, Dan in Real Life, Enchanted, The Golden Compass.In the surrounding area there are just a bunch of mediocre movies, or good movies I saw a month ago.

While I wrote about Enchanted on on my other blog, SaltyStix, I'm just not that motivated to see it anymore now that I really want to see Juno and Atonement. I do want to see The Golden Compass thought, and probably will, but it just isn't the same.

Obama deserves one thing

2007-12-01T18:03:00.001-05:00

I was never THAT big of an Obama fan and thought he was barely tolerable until I saw the Obama Girl Music Video that made me smile (and she was really hot). Beyond that I am mostly annoyed by him ruining what would be a good candidacy in eight years by running now. Sure you had so much buzz, but you have never:

(1) won reelection, proving that you were not in fact a fad, but that you had the ability to win over the public and stand up to a real campaign, and even a real candidate (most people don't realize that alan keyes, a transplant from new england, still managed to win over 30% of the vote).

(2) written/proposed legislation, does he even know how the political system works? can he use it? how is he supposed to run it? all his amazing new ideas won't mean shit if he can't get them through congress and use some real politik to influence senators and get some hard votes.

(3) had ANY exeuctive experience, I mean, he has never really even run an office, or any organization, and certainly not in the political realm. our past few presidents - Clinton and Bush both had exeuctive experience from being governors. When it comes down to it, Obama doesn't really have ANY experience generally because he has only been in Washington for 2 years.

So what does he deserve? He deserves to get stomped AND not be chosen as a VP candidate. He should not be rewarded for jumping the gun and letting his political desires get ahead of him.

This is the End

2007-11-30T19:04:00.001-05:00

I was sitting on the bus today. I was surrounded by college students hunched over in their seats, their eyes glowing in the blue light inches from their faces, fingers rapdily punching in letters in their cell phone. Texting! I thought bird flu was bad.

It's one thing to walk around, constantly talking on your cell, but it is another to be launching text after text to all your friends. or *gasp* mass texting. Phone conversations at least include the exchange of oral communication, almost like actual interaction. But one of my friend's sisters accurately described her love of texting by saying, "it's like, communication without acitonal social interaction!"

And all the old people complain about the death of culture and ask why people don't talk anymore. The answer? Because they have nothing to say. By the time you're actually in the same room with your friends, they already know all about what has happened to you, because every waking moment, you are punching away at your cell key pad, sending them a text about what happened.

Furthermore, texting cemented "aim speak" into people's lexicon. I wouldn't be surprised if the new generation stats abreviating their words for everything. "Why not? We do it on the cell," they will say. Young inexperienced teacher familiar with texting quickly crumbles, unable to find an answer that will satisfy her own laziness to abbreviate everything.

Perhaps this is an overreaction (it is - for sure), but it could also be serious. Maybe.

Um...really

2007-11-30T02:08:00.000-05:00

Does he still write on this thing? Oh yeah, he does...kind of.

I've been REALLY busy keeping my other website (www.saltystix.com) afloat so i have neglected lots of fun stuff these last four months (has it really been that long?!) But I shall return.

Things to look forward to:

Movies: most anticipated movies and Oscar run-up

Music: my top CD's of 2007 and my 2007 playlist

Sports: baseball offseason and NFL playoffs

Rants: do ron paul supporters know ANY of his views?

I'm excited...hope you are too!

Damon v Marky Mark

2007-08-08T23:10:00.001-04:00

After leaving The Bourne Ultimatum a few days ago, someone said, “That was the same as Shooter.” Then it clicked – Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg are two sides of the same coin – their projects ALWAYS mirror each other (see right). Well, almost always. This is not the first time two rising Hollywood stars have churned out similar projects, but this time seemed to be TOO similar. But just like any other “product” one is better than the other, one is the established “name brand”, while the other is the latecomer, the “generic brand”. So I decided to run down through the films and see who the real McCoy was, and who the pretender was.

Continue reading this article at SaltyStix.

The Fountain...springing forth

2007-08-07T23:08:00.000-04:00

The Fountain - Darren Aronofsky - 2006 - 9/10

Summary:

This summary likely won't do The Fountain justice, but here goes. The movie intersperses three stories which I ultimately decided (you could come to another conclusion) that one was reality, one was a dream, and one was a story. In the end, which was which is mildly debatable. So the first one follows Tommy (Hugh Jackman), a doctor looking for an experimental cure for tumors, in the hope he will find a cure for his wife, Izzy (Rachel Weisz). The second one follows a hairless Hugh Jackman piloting a nebulous orb incasing himself and a tree that he is steering torward a dying star. The third one follows a conquistador, again Jackman, who's unshakable loyalty to the Queen of Spain, again Weisz, sends him to the lands of the Mayas in search of the tree of life. Each story looks to take place 1000 years apart from each other, but all three stories share one thing - Weisz is Jackman's everything.

Critique:

This movie was really powerful. I'm new to Aronofsky's genius - I haven't seen Pi or Requiem (I know, I know, I'm working on it). Beyond calling the movie "powerful" its tough about where to go from there. It's Aronofsky's show through and through - he wrote the script, wrote the story, directed it, even had his girlfriend play the lead female role. I guess I can go from there. Rachel Weisz is GREAT. She shows real acting chops that really distances her from the drudge she had to dish out in The Mummy movies. She has the same sort of inner confident sadness with the outward optimism that we see in The Constant Gardener - playing a somewhat similar, less metaphysically charged role. Jackman is no slouch either - playing three roles that take us to the edge of each possible character - a high tempered, pigheaded doctor, a deeply calm buddhist?, and a loyal but solemn conquistador. Each role is given the same dedication and the same reality. Jackman's facial features are especially endearing as we can feel all of his sadness, all of his frustration. To top it all off Aronofsky makes the movie look very classy - everything is beautiful, and it's easy to understand why. A little imdb background revealed that Aronofsky shunned CGI for micro photography of chemical reactions in petri dishes. The result is something that is truly masterful art that makes a huge difference in creating an atmosphere that is leaps and bounds different than what we would have seen with CGI. So I was clearly blown away by the movie - but I will say - the movie probably needs to be watched a few times so you can really appreciate it (probably like Aronofsky's other movies I hear).

Verdict:

Buy it (multiple viewings).

If you liked this movie, see...
...Pi
...Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
...Solaris

Pacman enters the ring

2007-08-07T11:07:00.000-04:00

Adam "Pacman" Jones, former Titans cornerback, who has been suspended for numerous clashes with the law, IS going to enter the pro wrestling game. If that wasn't embarassing enough, this quote, from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling co-Founder Jeff Jarrett was in the paper today: "He [Pacman] wants to prove he's the best team sport athlete...He wants to concentrate on the tag-team aspect of wrestling."

So Pacman is "justifying" his decision to become a pro wrestler because he wants to be a team athlete? That's pretty pathetic. Maybe a good team athelte wouldn't have gotten in trouble with the police so much so he could help his original team, the Titans improve. Instead Pacman is going to make himself even more of a mockery (it is remotely possible that pro wrestling will make him more of a joke than he has already made himself).

Bourne Again

2007-08-07T09:44:00.000-04:00

The Bourne Ultimatum picks up exactly where The Bourne Supremacy left off – with Bourne (Matt Damon) running from authorities in Russia. And he never stops running, throughout the whole movie. Thinking he is finally leaving it all behind, Bourne picks up the paper to read a column about himself and a possible CIA cover-up. When Bourne inquires into the story he uncovers a new operation beyond Treadstone – Blackbriar. Deputy Director Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) benches Pam Landy (Joan Allen) and takes over – ordering his agents to shoot to kill Bourne. Bourne gets the message early, and as his memory starts to return, he begins to uncover more and more that connects him, to Blackbriar.

Continue reading this article at SaltyStix.

Tristan + Isolde...atop the round table

2007-08-06T23:32:00.000-04:00

Tristan + Isolde - Kevin Reynolds - 2006 - 9/10

Summary:

The story that many say influenced Arthurian lore begins in the early Dark Ages, shortly after the end of Pax Romana where a weak Britain is mired in war as several clans jockey for control. The "good" one the movie focuses on, is Marke (Rufus Sewell), who tries to unite the country and defeat the rampaging Irish army led by their ferocious general, Morholt (Graham Mullins).
On one of these raids Morholt destroys the British, taking many slaves, and killing the parents of Tristan (James Franco), a young boy who Marke saves, although he loses his hand in the process. Years pass and Tristan grows into a great fighter who finally meets Morholt in battle. Although Tristan kills Morholt, Morholt's sword delivers a powerful blow that posions Tristan. Believing he is dead, Tristan's friends and fellow soldiers launch his funeral boat into the tide. The ship washes up on the shores of Ireland, where it is discovered by Isolde (Sophia Myles) who cares for the wounded Tristan. Isolde tells Tristan another name instead of her own, fearing he will realize she is the princess of Ireland. The two slowly fall ddeeply in love, but Tristan is forced to flee when his boat washes ashore. King Donnchadh (David O'Hara) decides that he will hold a contest for the hand of his daughter, Isolde, for whoever can win her - in an attempt to create a false peace with the British tribes. Each tribal leader sends a champion in their stead, and Tristan begs to go, hoping to see his love, unbeknownst to him that his love is the woman he will be winning for Marke.

Critique:

I loved this movie. I'm a sucker for action movies with good love stories, but this movie is advertised as the greatest love story of all time - and then the movie crams in a bunch of really good action scenes. And Franco shows us how he learned to act between Spiderman and Spiderman 3 - by making real movies instead of slacking like Tobey. Sophia Myles is great too - playing her role perfectly as a woman who is torn by the passion she feels for Tristan and the respect she has for Marke. Just as Tristan is distraught by the choice he has to make - loving Isolde or fulfilling his duty to Marke. Rufus Sewell turns in a great performance as Marke, creating compassion for a face I associate with the evil Armand from A Knight's Tale. Woven into the love story is more than just good fight scenes - there is also a bunch of great history and folklore here that sets the movie apart from just another love story. Things are realistic too - from Tristan and Isolde's love to the fight scenes, to the characters - and I'm left with a big smile on my face at the end of the movie, despite the somewhat bittersweet ending.

Verdict:

See it now!

If you liked this movie, see...
...King Arthur
...Troy
...Kingdom of Heaven

Elephant...abandoning the ivory tower

2007-08-06T23:02:00.000-04:00

Elephant - Gus Van Sant - 2003 - 8/10

Summary:

Elephant shows a normal day of high school from many different perspectives. We see students going in and out of class, the cafeteria, the gym, the library, the office, and more. The long shots and the unique camera angles combined with the "non actors" (what imdb refers to them as) gives the film a documentary feel. We see boyfriends and girlfriends, cliques, outcasts - everyone as they experience the day - often seeing the same shot from the eyes of those different characters. It keeps building and building, and you start to wonder what Van Sant has in store. Then you remember what you read on imdb - the movie is about a school shooting. And then you begin to fear what is coming.

Critique:

I thought this movie was really good. At the same time - it's really hard for me to write about the movie. Especially "summarizing" what happened. The movie was only eighty minutes and spends most of its time building characters and showing how ordinary they all. And then when they start dieing, you really care about these characters. I guess my biggest problem is that the shooters - the antagonists - get very little screen time. I won't be one of those people who want to know WHY they started shooting up the school - but I want to be one of those people who pushes for well developed characters all around. What else is there to say about a movie that tells the story of a school shooting? It was well done - excellently shot, and all of the characters are believable. The shooting itself is done right too - Van Sant recreates the fear students would have as two guys walk through the school shooting at anyone that moves. And Van Sant's showing multiple scenes over again from different viewpoints was really intense and lent a lot of depth to the movie.

Verdict:

If you can stomach it, sit down and watch it.

If you liked this movie, see...
...Brick
...Mean Creek
...Bowling for Columbine

Bunny rabbits and Office space

2007-08-06T16:57:00.001-04:00

Last week’s Entourage episode centered on a bet between Drama and Vince about who could have unemotional sex first – E or Turtle. The guys think E cannot sleep with any girl without looking for a relationship – and E thinks Turtle flat out cannot sleep with anyone. Meanwhile, the Gold storyline about Ari’s son not getting into private school was revived and Ari’s son is being denied entrance to every private school in the valley. Generally, the episode is pretty weak, which is to be expected with so much happening in the first couple episodes.

Continue reading this article at SaltyStix.

The Dreamers...something to dream about

2007-08-06T00:45:00.000-04:00

The Dreamers - Bernardo Bertolucci - 2003 - 9/10

Summary:

Matthew (Michael Pitt) is an American who finds himself in Paris in 1968. Despite the tumultous political landscape, Matthrew is absorbed in his studies and his intense love for the cinema. That is, until he meets Isabelle (Eva Green) at a rally and she insists he come with her and her brother Theo (Louis Garrel) to escape the Paris mob. Matthew goes with them and his life changes forever. Completely swept away and falling deeper into Isabelle, the siblings insist Matthew stay with them when their parents leave the country. The three become inseperable, sharing their love for movies and relishing their discussions on everything from movie directors to politics. But when Matthew starts looking through looking through closed doors, and Louis and Isabelle push Matthew's desire for Isabelle too far, Mathew has to deal with conflicts of love, jealousy, and friendship - then mix in some rebellious Frenchpeople and movie trivia and you have The Dreamers.

Critique:

I'd heard about this movie a long time ago when one of my friends blurted out that Eva Green had a nude scene in The Dreamers. And does she have a nude scene. In my defense - I watched the movie because it came highly recommended, not for the nudity - but once the nudity came, it was hard to think about much else. Once the movie crosses that threshold, it refuses to go back - when do they actually wear clothes? It took me a long time after watching the movie to realy appreciate how good this movie was - beyond its soft core nature featuring the Bond girl my friends would not stop raving about. One thing that stands out is how Betolucci integrates scenes from famous movies when the characters are talking about those scenes. Along with how the movie is shot, this splicing of classics gives the movie a surrealistic power that makes the movie memorable. Then you can talk about the powerful performances of the three actors. Michael Pitt is amazing as Mathew - his shattered innocence and clear cut principles of love, friendship, family and right and wrong are right on. Eva Green's confused carelessness - with her body and mond is equally great. Louis Garrel's Theo probably gets forgotten among American audiences who relate to Matthew, are attracted to Isabelle, and are repulsed by Theo - but that doesn't change the fact that Garrel is great. The movie is a deep look at not just leaving behind your innocence - but also an intense look at sexuality and the bonds of friendship. There isn't much else for me to rant about this movie - the only thing that prevented this movie from being a perfect ten is that the movie forgot to develop a linnear plot. But that's not really the movie's fault - it was a snapshot of life. And life, does not always have a straight path for us to follow.

Verdict:

Rent this one ASAP.

If you liked this movie, see...
...Y Tu Mama Tambien
...Last Tango in Paris
...The Motorcycle Diaries

Me And You And Everyone We Know...everything you could want

2007-08-06T00:21:00.000-04:00

Me And You And Everyone We Know - Miranda July - 2005 - 9/10

Summary:

Richard Swersey (John Hawkes) is a shoe salesman who's life seems to be slipping away from him. His wife wants to separate and he struggles to raise his two boys (Miles Thompson and Brandon Ratcliff) while coping with the loss of the woman he thought was his soulmate. Into his life comes Christine Jesperson (Miranda July basically playing herself) an artist who decides she and Richard are meant to be together. Christine is outgoing and goes for what she wants, whether it is the publication of her work, or winning over Richard. Richard can't take Christine's forwardness and panics. Meanwhile, Richard's friend Andrew (Brad William Henke) tries to control his urges when two neighborhood teens (Natasha Slayton and Najarra Townswend) start aggressively flirting with him. When the girls aren't trying to get into Andrew's pants, they try to get into the pants of Richard's eldest son Peter (Miles Thompson). Not to be left behind in the sexual practice ground of their wild neighborhood, Richard's six year old son Robby (Brandon Ratcliff) engages in a quirky internet relationship with a perfect stranger.

Critique:

This whole movie is amazing - it looks good, feels good, and is frankly, really good. Everything has the perfect tempo, and there is just enough indie movie and arthouse flavor with a small amount of romantic comedy to make the movie special. Each of the stories are so compelling - Richard's profound hurt at losing his soulmate, Christine's unrequitted love, and the kids using each other to learn their way in the world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. It's one of those movies where you can relate to ALL of the stories - each character is a protagonist in their own right. This unique aspect sets the movie apart and makes it one of the best movies I've seen this summer. July should be commended for working in her own sort of performance art and creating such a powerful story. I especially like how the two boys - in their childlike innocence chance upon drawing a picture, of which Peter explains to Robby that becomes the title of the movie - and somes up everything July wishes us to take away from the film. But for that, you have got to see the movie yourself.

Verdict:

See this movie NOW.

If you liked this movie, see...

...Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
...Broken Flowers

Briggs - seeing the light

2007-07-25T19:15:00.000-04:00

The news finally broke that the Bears and Lance Briggs have agreed to a deal, meaning Briggs will play this season.

Honestly, I'm pretty surprised. With Drew Rosenhaus, the team-breaker, behind the plate, I expected Briggs to throw away a season or two being a whiny little baby. He rejected a contract that would have made him one of the highest paid left outside linebackers, but that didnt cut it for Lance and Drew. No, they wanted more. He wanted to test the waters. What for? Lots of money AND getting to play on a Super Bowl Caliber team isnt even enough anymore?

One of my friends thinks Briggs' stats are inflated because he gets to play next to one of the best defensive players in the game in BBrian Urlacher. Next to Urlacher, Briggs' tackles have steadily increased because the ball carrier doesn't want to run into the Urlacher wall. So they run by Briggs and he hits them. Its kinda like Briggs is in the perfect place. Sure, he could be star somewhere else, but his numbers would probably decline and he probably wouldnt get to play for a contender.

I guess I am a little relieved, because now we don't have a gaping whole at left outside linebacker, and we get some value out of Briggs for another year before he leaves. I do wonder if relations can be repaired to the extent where he would resign with the Bears. Would that be a good thing?

Ballpark bankrupcy

2007-07-24T16:00:00.001-04:00

I went to a baseball game yesterday (an exciting Reds victory in 12 innings) and I have this pet peeve about not buying food at the ballpark. Or really any sporting event, because the prices are so inflated. I'm really annoyed by this, to the extent that if I think I'm going to want any food, I sneak it in. Honestly, things are about FIVE TIMES what they should be. Bottles of water and candy bars are FOUR DOLLARS. Vending machines have that stuff for like, seventy-five cents. Why is it so much more expensive? I guess they assume they can get people to pay that, but that doesn't really make it right in my book.

Yesterday was different. After munching on candy for awhile, one of the people I was with wanted to try "fried cookie dough." Yes, FRIED cookie dough. I'd never even heard of it before. I'll admit it sounds pretty good. So I decided to make an exception and try the cookie dough. But when I got to the vendor, I saw that the price was $7. SEVEN DOLLARS. I thought that it was a lot, but that I probably wasn't going to try it again, so I might as well do this considering it was a once in a lifetime thing. Needless to say I couldn't really finish it because it was DOUGH. And it made me kind of sick to my stomach. And since I'd been chomping on candy for about six innings, my stomach was starting to crave "normal" food. And the only normal food I could really get my hands onto was pizza. So after all that sugar, all I could do was get something greasy to "calm my stomach."

The slice of pizza was five dollars. Frankly, I was okay with that. And I guess it was worth it. But I'm not used to spending $12-$15 at the ballpark.

Chuck and Larry...pretty hairy

2007-07-24T15:55:00.000-04:00

We’ve all seen the preview, so we know that Chuck (Adam Sandler) and Larry (Kevin James) are two firefighters who get married so they can get couples benefits. Larry is paranoid about dieing because due to an insurance quirk, he can’t make his kids his beneficiaries. When Larry saves Chuck’s life and Chuck promises to do anything for him, Larry thinks that means getting hitched. Frankly, there isn’t much more to the movie.

Finish reading this article at SaltyStix.

Poor Previews

2007-07-22T21:36:00.000-04:00

I went to the new movie theatre this weekend to see an over-hyped, disappointing movie (Ratatouille), which I’m not going to talk about. Instead I’m going to talk about the only thing worse than the movie – the previews. Previously, I wrote an article about how previews gave away too much of the movies, which dissuaded me from seeing them. This batch of previews dissuaded me from seeing the movie because they were so miserable.

Finish reading this article at SaltyStix.

Cecil B. Demented...very demented

2007-07-20T21:18:00.000-04:00

Cecil B. Demented - John Waters - 2000 - 5/10

Summary:

Baltimore's native director Cecil B. Demented (Stephen Dorf) leads a band of radical movie revolutionaries bent on making a truly good movie. To do so, they kidnap the starlet Cecil's script has been written for - Honey Whitlock (Melanie Griffith). After an all out kidnapping that includes guns, grenades and carefully planted bombs, the gang drags Honey back to their studio-lair where they force her to begin learning lines and shooting the movie. Each crew member is a sort of over the top eccentric - from satanists to rappers. The movie is little more than live action reality, featuring the Hollywood star Honey, the nymphomaniac Cherish (Alicia Witt) and the drugged out Lyle (Adrian Grenier) raiding a multiplex, a Maryland Film Commission press conference, and the set of a "Forrest Gump" sequel (my favorite). Adding to the tension is Cecil's insistance that the crew be celibate so they focus on their work and channel their sexual energy into the production.

Critique:

The movie is really "too good" at what it does. Meaning it is simply too crazy. It took me awhile to really get into the feel and tempo of the movie and then I really enjoyed the middle of the movie. But then the end was even more, all over the place, and I began to get mildly annoyed again. The acting is over the top - its probably supposed to be. But the problem is, it's over the top to the point that the acting is BAD. I was especially annoyed by Maggie Gyllenhal's satanist character because the character was pretty flat - and her lines were stupid to the point that they caused me pain. I was hoping she'd be in the movie more - maybe be a little bit more like herself instead of some crazy devil worshipper. At the same time, when the movie was good, it was good - pretty funny, lots of good movie references, and other little things that I really like. But not enough to overcome all of the bad.

Verdict:

If you want to do something crazy, its an ok flick to watch

If you liked this movie, see...
...Death to Smoochy
...Celebrity
...Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

A Better Tomorrow 2...not so good

2007-07-20T20:37:00.000-04:00

A Better Tomorrow 2 - John Woo - 1987 - 4/10

Summary:

Ho (Ti lung) has been serving time for killing boss Shing at the end of "A Better Tomorrow." The police try to recruit Ho to go undercover and find out if his friend Lung (Dean Shek) is the source of a new surge in counterfeiting. Ho refuses. But when he finds out his younger brother, Kit (Leslie Cheung), has gone undercover to infiltrate Lung's shipbuilding business Ho agrees. While Kit's wife (Emily Chu) is pregnant, Kit has to put his family life aside to seduce Lung's daughter Peggy (Regina Kent). However, Lung is framed for killing a rival gang leader who has been trying to take over Lung's shipyard and Ho has to smuggle Lung to New York. In New York, Ken (Yun-Fat Chow), the twin brother of Mark is operating a Chinese restaurant and trying to repel the advances of the local Mafia who are roughing him up for protection money. Lung arrives in New York but becomes mentally unhinged and Ken has to literally nurse him back to health so he can regain his sanity so they can return to Hong Kong and take back what is his.

Critique:

My biggest problem with this movie is probably my own fault. That is, that I thought Dean Shek's Lung was supposed to be the new Yun-Fat Chow character but I also wasn't sure if Lung was supposed to be Mark. So I was pretty confused for awhile, almost until Yun-Fat Chow actually did come onscreen. With that out of the way, I guess I can focus on all the substantive reasons why this movie was a disappointment. I guess I was expecting a little more considering the first one was so good and EVERYONE, the director, the writer, the producer, the actors ALL came back. But the movie makes little sense and is connected by too many coincidences and happenstances. Also, by now, I'm pretty sick of Kit - why won't he go away. Basically the movie just seems to have senseless action scenes whenever it realizes the movie is getting to be THAT bad. I wanted a lot more out of this movie. It would have actually been more respectable if Mark would have lived instead of inventing this twin character for Yun-Fat Chow to play. It reeks of cheap soap television instead of badass Hong Kong cinema.

Verdict:

The first one is all you need.

If you liked this movie, see...
...A Better Tomorrow
...The Killer
...The Replacement Killers

Rumor Has It...failure to graduate

2007-07-20T20:06:00.000-04:00

Rumor Has It... - Rob Reiner - 2005 - 4/10

Summary:

Sarah Huntington (Jennifer Aniston) attends her sister's wedding with her fiancee Jeff (Mark Ruffalo). There, while she drinks with her grandmother Catherine (Shirley McClane), she begins to form an idea that The Graduate was based on her family. Convinced that since she's nothing like her father, her dad must have been the mysterious Dustin Hoffman-like character her mom ran off with before her mom's wedding, Sarah sets out to uncover the clues. Finally she finds the charming Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), now an internet millionaire and tries to find out if he's her father. Will Sarah succumb to the charms of the man who charmed the rest of the women in her family? Will she find her real father?

Critique:

This movie took a pretty clever idea - The Graduate - and basically turned it into shit. It wasn't even like these people were off their game - I think the acting was great. Especially Shirly McClane and Richard Jenkins (who played Sarah's "father"). But the movie is just a disaster. The pacing of the movie is really weird too (the three act formula seems to have fallen away here). It's also tough to decide if you really care. Granted, Ruffalo is doing a good job and Anniston is kind of along for the ride as well, but the characters themselves - their stories and lines are just not, not really doing it for me. So much of like the little things don't really work. The camera work also leaves lots of excess shots, or shots that seem unnecessary or do not fit with the rest of the movie. It doesnt seem like it, because I didnt say that much I guess, but the movie was a big disappointment.

Verdict:

Stay away.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...The Graduate
...The Family Stone
...In Her Shoes

Go Cubs

2007-07-20T19:21:00.000-04:00

When the Cubs, a favorite to win the NL Central before the season, began to falter, I gave up on them pretty quickly. Hell, I thought with the signing of Alfonso Soriano, the influx of new pitchers, and the generally expensive offseason they would be good. But as usual, they were sucking and I quickly forgot about them and instead turned most of my attention to fantasy baseball. My thoughts of the Cubs, and the National League generally, began to fall away as my main fantasy baseball league was an AL-only league.

But as the All-Star break approached I was forced to notice the Cubs as they finally started getting those late game, one-run wins. And they were winning generally too - and catching up on the lagging Brewers. Well past .500, closing in on the division lead, and riding a ridiculous win streak, I knew I had to weigh in on this. Plus, the Cubs have done some deals of late.

First the transactions. The big one - the Cubs got Oakland's Jason Kendall for LHP Jerry Blevins and C Rob Bowen. It's a pretty good deal that gives the Cubs a good offensive catcher since we shipped Barrett west. And Kendall is a veteran pressence in a dugout that is getting increasingly younger. At the same time Kendall is getting pretty old and it seems like Koyie Hill is pretty good too (he had a 5-rb game this past week). The other move was the Cubs ditching Cesar Itzuris (sent to Pittsburg) - a guy who the Cubs got that was supposed to be an amazing fielder, fast on the base paths and who's hitting would improve. Instead he was pretty useless and left me begging for the likes of Ronny Cedeno and Neifi Perez. In fact, I'm actually thinking I'm starting to like the two Louisiana boys the Cub's have. Theriot to Fontenot - there's a double play combination that rhymes.

Now if the Cubs keep playing the way they are, I think they could easily contend for the NL Central crown. But that's really their only chance - I think it would be a stretch to say the Cubs could win the wildcard with all the competition out west.

Also, there's been all this talk on ESPN (a week or so ago) about how A-Rod might opt out of his contract. Among some of his destinations that were considered, were the Cubs. The Cubs might even have an advantage, because they would let A-Rod play short stop. Before we talk about how realistic this is, lets talk about how amazing this would be. The hitting of Soriano, Rodriguez, Lee, Ramirez...that's amazing. The Cubs would go from the butt of jokes to the NL's version of the Yankees. Throw in a solid leadoff hitter (Theriot, Fontenot, whoever) and you have a pretty formidable lineup. Now the reality - most people don't think the Cubs could pay A-Rod and Soriano. They might be right, but I'm more worried that an A-Rod contract would come at the cost of a Carlos Zambrano contract. Big Z is a pretty good reason the Cubs starting rotation is so solid, and losing him would be a big blow. Most commentators have already counted the Cubs out because there won't be enough ownership stability (because the Tribune is selling the Cubs) for a deal to happen. Lets hope something happens.

Well Cubs fans, cross your fingers.

Ratatouille..vermin

2007-07-20T18:46:00.000-04:00

Ratatouille - Brad Bird - 2007 - 3/10

Summary:

Remy (Patton Oswalt) is a rat who loves to cook and his high standards for food have gotten him in trouble before. Besides that, Remy's brother and father prefer that he eat garbage and stay close to the nest so they can use Remy's super-smell skills ti determine if their food has rat poison on it. But the family is separated and Remy ends up in Paris. And this time, Remy's stomach gets him caught by Linguini (Lou Romano), in the kitchen of Gusteau's resteraunt, adding ingredients to the soup. Luckily for Remy and Linguini the soup is very warmly received and the chefs thing Linguini is responsible. In order to keep up appearances and fulfill his dreams, Linguini and Remy team up (Remy hides in Linguini's chef's hat, literally controlling him) to become one super chef. It's not that easy. Strange things are afoot as the manager begins to suspect Linguini is not the real chef. But Remy and Linguini must hold together to keep people coming in and defeat their nemesis - Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) - the man who's harsh review gave Gousteau a heart attack.

Critique

The animation was great - simply amazing. It all looked so so so good. And in this regard, the movie really was "the next step" in the evolution of animated movies. Also, the use of voiceactors instead of allstar "regular" actors is an admirable move to create the best possible movie instead of just cashing in on big names. However. my friends really hyped this movie, so maybe I went into it expecting too much. Being called "Pixar's best movie" really raised my guard. And unfortunately, this movie was far from it - barily coming close to A Bug's Life (the low end, not the high end of Pixar's greats). The movie is simply not that great. From the story. to the dialogue, the movie is nothing new. The characters, what they do, the plot progressions, the "jokes," all seem very old. And not anywhere close to old in a good way. Not a single line or plot point is unpredictable - you can practically say the lines before they're even prompted - its like a computer playing chess. And frankly, while the voiceactors are a good step forward, some of the voices are just downright annoying (unintentionally so). I don't think the laughter or adventure was anywhere close to either of the Toy Story movies. The puns and clever inside jokes meant for parents are even cornier - characters named after foods is not funny - its just cheesy (forgive the pun). And a criticism that can destroy any movie even applies here, which children's movies usually escape, is that the you just don't care for the characters.

Verdict:

Way overrated.

If you liked this movie, see...
...Toy Story
...Toy Story 2
...Monster's, Inc.

A Better Tomorrow...bright outlook

2007-07-19T22:43:00.000-04:00

A Better Tomorrow - John Woo - 1986 - 8/10

Summary:

Mark (Yun-Fat Chow) and Ho (Lung Ti) are friends and couriers for a Hong Kong crime syndicate specializing in largescale counterfeiting operations. During a sale in Taiwan, Ho is double-crossed and surrenders to the police so the boss's son can escape. Enraged, Mark goes to the traitor's resteraunt and kills him and all his men, but is shot during the shoot out. Meanwhile, Kit (Leslie Chung), Ho's brother, is a rookie cop whose reputation is tarnished by his gangster brother. When Ho gets out of prison, he wants to start over. Unfortunately, Ho is haunted by his past, and Mark pressures him to return to a life of crime as his partner. The rest of the plot is pretty straightfoward - with the boss's son running things, Mark gets no respect and Ho is worried for his life and his brother's so Mark and Ho must team up once more to topple the big boss.

Critique:

This movie was awesome. Surprisingly good character development too and an especially great performance by Yun-Fat Chow who is AWESOME as Mark. I can definitely see how this movie influenced reservoir dogs - the same sort of crime lifestyle, the suits, the seemeless killing, the butchering of people left and right, intense shootouts - it's hard to see how John Woo would go on to make crap movies like Mission Impossible 2. The action, while excesssive is not unrealistic - and looks like most of the stuff could be possible. Lung Ti is great too as a man who is torn by his loyalty to Mark and his promise to his father to keep Kit out of a life of crime. The movie is a great actioner driven by Yun-Fat Chow's superb character and Woo's brilliant direction which is fast and furious, and never lets up.

Verdict:

Buy this one.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...The Killer
...Leon (The Professional)
...Reservoir Dogs

My Super Ex-Girlfriend...super bad

2007-07-19T22:24:00.000-04:00

My Super Ex-Girlfriend - Ivan Reitman - 2006 - 3/10

Summary:

Luke Wilson is Matt Saunders, an overnice architect who somehow can't find a girlfriend who isnt crazy. So his friend Vaughn (Rainn Wilson) pushes him to talk to a woman on the subway (Uma Thurman). Despite many weird quirks, Matt sticks it out with Uma's Jenny for awhile. But Jenny has a secret - she's really G-Girl, New York's superpowered savior - complete with interspace powers. She can fly, is impervious to any weapon, can shoot lasers from her eyes, has supersonic hearing and a lot more. Matt realizes he's not really in love with Jenny and does his best to end their relationship so he can move on. To say the least, Jenny is a little vengeful.

Critique:

The movie had a pretty good premise, but goes wrong soo often and so early, it's hard to let any of the good aspects rise to the top. It's too bad because between Luke Wilson, Uma Thurman, Anna Farris, Rain Wilson and Eddie Izzard, there are some pretty funny people on cast. But instead of laughing, the only thing you want to do is cover your eyes. The movie is pulled in too many directions as they try to have "action" scenes with a comic book type action heroine and then a "villain" is thrown into the mix as well. It's supposed to be a romantic comedy! Why do we need this villain plot?! There is enough going on without clutterin an already weak movie. And these good actors don't get nearly enough screen time - especially Rainn Wilson and Anna Farris who seem to be near afterthoughts in some scenes.

Verdict:

Please please please, do not see this movie.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...Deuce Bigalow
...Scary Movie
...Click

Underrated comics flicks

2007-07-15T16:12:00.000-04:00

In the past few years, since the success of Spiderman, the movie industry has been over-saturated with over-hyped comic book movies. This recent success has made us forget the comic book movies that came before these new blockbusters. Some of those movies were really good, and there are A LOT of them. Most of these movies had solid acting and were good enough to capture a cult following while still small enough to fly under the radar. Hopefully you will realize what you’re missing out on – and take note of the strong showing of 1994.

Finish reading this article at SaltyStix under "Fanboys #2"

Clerks...hard at work

2007-07-15T15:28:00.000-04:00

Clerks. - Kevin Smith - 1994 - 8/10

Summary:

Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) is woken by his boss who wants him to come in on his dayoff to work at the QuickStop, where Dante is a store clerk. Dante's friend Randal (Jeff Anderson) works at the video store attached to the QuickStop. Things dont go very smoothely for Dante as he has to deal with a moralistic salesman, revelations about his girlfriend's "history," the immature antics of Randal, his desire to squeeze in his hocky game, his obligation to go to a classmate's funeral and much more. While the movie shows "only" one day of work for Dante - a lot of stuff happens. The glue throughout the movie is the conflict Dante has to overcome: whether he can come to grips with the fact that he is still obsessed with his high school ex Caitlin while he is in a long time relationship with Veronica who really cares for him. Throw in some ridiculous humor, Jay and Silent Bob, and you have a pretty sweet cult classic.

Critique:

I was expecting a little bit more. Sure, I loved the film, but it was so hyped. It's kind of tough because it's hard to tell exactly what this film is about - slackers, wastrels, punks, lovers...the themes are all over the place and nothing really gets resolved. Sure, I'll give Kevin Smith some credit - life is all over the place and usually has no resolution. At the same time, a movie is a movie and so much stuff is just thrown out there that I was curious about. Sure, it might be the credit of a good movie that I have to think about it a lot, but it's also frustrating. On the lighter side, the movie was pretty good - and we get some of Smith's best nerd debates here - Return of the Jedi v Empire Strikes Back in particular, stands out. The acting is suprisingly good, especially considering that O'Halloran and Anderson haven't made any other movies before or after this one. In the end, this movie is missing a spark to push it over the top, something or someone, like...Rosario Dawson.

Verdict:

It's worth seeing.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...American Splendor
...Clerks II
...Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Sicko...very healthy

2007-07-09T15:41:00.000-04:00

Michael Moore’s Sicko was a pleasant surprise. For once, Moore’s touch is perfect. Instead of politicking and engaging in ridiculous attacks on political officials, Moore makes a movie where his message isn’t lost amongst his liberalism. Bowling for Columbine was a great documentary that got swept away under the wave of conservatives who defended the NRA and the National Guard. And Fahrenheit 9/11 had many ideas that should have been heard, but weren’t because of Moore’s blatant political commentary.

Finish reading this article at SaltyStix under "Aaron's Sicko Review"

Sunshine...not very bright

2007-07-09T13:26:00.000-04:00

Sunshine - Istvan Szabo - 1999 - 4/10

Summary:

Sunshine follows a Hungarian-Jewish family lhrough three generations, around the turn of nineteenth century. The family's patriarch rises from nothing, aided by his spectacular miracle drink he calls "Sunshine" after the family name, Sonnenschein, which means sunshine. The story begins to follow the patriarch's favorite son, Ignatz (Ralph Fiennes) becomes a fast rising judge who faces serious questions about his Jewish name when Ignatz begins to rise through the court ranks. Drama heightens when Ignatz's family's pressures him not to marry the woman who becomes his wife (Jennifer Ehle) and the radical communist antics of his brother. World War I comes and Ignatz goes to war, only to come back bitter and estranged from the love of his life. The film then begins to follows Ignatz's son Adam (Ralph Fiennes) who becomes a great fencer under the tutelage of his brother. In order to make the next step and make the Hungarian national team, to compete for an Olympic gold, Adam has to decide whether he can continue as a Jew, or as a Hungarian. Everything comes tumbling down as World War II starts to rumble and anti-Semitism sparks to new highs. The family is separated, torn apart, and thinned out, and only Ivan remains, finally returning home to live with his grandmother (Rosemary Harris taking over from Jennifer Ehle). Fueled by anger over what some of his countrymen did to his family, Ivan becomes a Communist Party secret policeman and quickly rises through the ranks. Sure, there's some time for each character to get all introspective, but its not really part of the plot.

Critique:

The movie looks really good - a sort of (I'm using this term generously) faster paced combination of Giant and Dr. Zhivago. Giant's whole deal was the three generations and Dr. Zhivago had the whole, "I lived through everything," but in a boring way, unlike the amusing portrayals of historical events in Forest Gump and Little Big Man. Unfortunately, Sunshine seems to have learned little from Giant and Zhivago because the movie is like a carbon copy - it has almost exactly the same progression and events that Zhivago does and all the extra drama of Giant (but with a lot more explicit sex). Beyond the close connections to two of the most overrated, most boring, overlong movies - Sunshine tries too hard to express themes the movie just doesn't have time for. Critics and fans and even the writers seem to think the movie is about "identity" and "loyalty" and "religion" and I can kind of see that. But those are themes that receive cursory screen time. The whole, "we have to make sacrifices to get what we want" falls flat pretty quickly because there is little debate, little hesitation before sacrifices are made, so its tough to tell if the characters were actually even torn between two choices. Another thing that makes this movie hard to get into is that none of the protagonists (Ralph Fiennes plays all three) are particulalry sympathetic. Some of them are downright disgusting. They engage in questionable sexual practices, sever their family and cultural ties at will, seem to be easily swayed by those currently in power...the list goes on. When a character dies, you almost breath relief because you know there are only three, and when one goes down, you know the movie is closer to finishing.

Verdict:

If you don't have to see this movie, you probably don't want to.

If you liked this movie, see...
...Giant
...Dr. Zhivago
...Enemy at the Gates

Genre genre genre

2007-07-06T09:49:00.001-04:00

What is a genre? “Genre” is defined as “a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique.” So a movie genre is a category in which to group movies. What makes a genre? A good movie. Movies, unlike plays can’t be grouped into simply “tragedy” and “comedy.” Instead, over time we have created the action movie, and then the action comedy, and so on. There are some movies that helped jump-start these genres, and the movies that followed them took a lot from these movies...

Finish reading this article at SaltyStix.

Evan Almighty...a mighty mistake

2007-07-02T18:46:00.000-04:00

Evan Almighty - Tom Shdyac - 2007 - 0/10

I’ve been able to put off my review of this movie for so long because no one else that writes for us has been stupid enough to see this movie. I can confidently say Evan Almighty was one of, if not THE, worst movie I have ever seen. As a “comedy” it takes the cake for THE worst. I think I laughed once, maybe twice. The only mildly funny thing was the credits, and that was too little too late...

Finish reading this article at SaltyStix, under "Evan All-terrible"

The Last King of Scotland...Oscar worthy

2007-06-22T23:53:00.000-04:00

The Last King of Scotland - Kevin Macdonald - 2006 - 7/10

Summary:

Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) is a Scottish doctor looking for adventure and excitement and chooses Africa as the field of his dreams. He goes to help a clinic in Uganda where he quickly falls for the married Sarah Merrit (Gillian Anderson). He becomes fascinated by the passion of Uganda's new leader, Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). After Garrigan sees Amin speak and Sarah forces him to leave, Garrigan is called to Amin's side to help him after he is in a car accident. Enamored by the fact that Garrigan is Scottish, Amin asks his name and shakes his hand and then begs for Garrigan's Scotland football t-shirt. The next day Garrigan is summoned to Amin's estate and after being wined and dined, agrees to accept Amin's offer to become his personal doctor. Garrigan quickly becomes much more than a doctor, becoming Amin's "friend" and advicser, helping to build a new, independent Uganda. But its not all roses forever as Amin's dark side and hard fisted politics begins to close in around Garrigan.

Critique:

First, I have to say that Whitaker is GREAT as amin. The clip they showed at the Oscars is AMAZING - "you did tell me, but you did not CONVINCE me." Very nice. McAvoy is great here too - a pleasant suprise considering I didn't know what to expect. Well, I did expect James Purefoy, but James McAvoy is quite different, and quite good. The story moves almost too fast - following the history with some scenes of action without really spinning much of a linear story. I want to see more of [MILD SPOILER...] of McAvoy's relationship with Kerry Washington's character. They clearly have some pretty good chemistry but there's just not enough of their relationship onscreen. Likewise of Gillian Anderson's character. As an aside, this is one of the few times I thought Anderson was attractive. Back on topic, Gillian Anderson's character seems to come and go in relation to the story with little explanation. In the end, Whitaker is AWESOME, McAvoy is solid, the movie is good, but the story is done a disservice.

Verdict:

If its good enough for Oscar, you should check it out.

If you liked this movie, see...
...Catch a Fire
...Blood Diamond
...The Constant Gardener

Too much roadkill

2007-06-22T23:43:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a lot more driving lately and I have seen a lot of roadkill. Too much roadkill.

Honestly. Have animals gotten dummer? Has their intelligence regressed? Have their adaptations to life among humans been somehow weeded out? Are we driving faster so they can't get out of the way? What's the deal.

Frankly I don't care, I just do not want to have to steer my car around a dead animal everytime I get on the road.

Another thing that bothers me about the roadkill I have been seeing is that some of them are squashed birds. Seriously, come on. If you're a bird, and there's a car coming FLY AWAY. You have wings, use them. You should never be at a loss for getting out of the way. You should never have to WALK across a busy road. In fact, you should always be able to fly well above the road. Birds are actually the only animals I don't break for either. Because if they can't get out of my way, I'm only helping their species evolve.

Highlander...too high

2007-06-21T23:53:00.000-04:00

Highlander - Russell Mulcahy - 1986 - 7/10

Summary:

Christopher Lambert is the Highlander, an immortal who has lived for more than four centuries. The Highlander, who now calls himself Nash is in for a rough ride as The Gathering, the time when there remains only a few immortals, draws near. At the time of The Gathering, all of the immortals will feel the pressence of their kinsmen and gather to fight to the death for the fabled "Prize." Lambert has a hard time though as he is wanted for the murder of an immortal who tried to kill him. Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart) is close on his trail, trying to unravel the mystery of this weird longswordsman. Spliced throughout are flashbacks to Lambert's training, in the mid 1500's when he first became aware of his immortality, by Juan Ramirez (Sean Connery, playing an Egyptian Spaniard next to Lambert's Scotsman). Frothing over The Gathering is the evil Kurgan (Clancy Brown), Lambert's nemesis through the ages. There can be only one.

Critique:

I first wanted to see Highlander after I saw the Bunny Video that hammered home the line "there can be only one." The movie is pretty good, mostly because I think the entire idea of the Highlander, of the immortals is so great. Just the idea of living forever - all that you see, all that you lose, all that you can't have despite having eternal life, is all so intriguing to me. It also helps that half the movie is flashbacks to the fifteen hundreds which helps you see past the cheesy eightiness of the movie. The beginning of the movie was almost hysterical as two men in suits pull long swords out of their suits and begin dueling. The duel was expected, but the swords seemed to come out of nowhere. After that though, its very easy to get caught up in the movie, because, as I said before, the story is so compelling. Lambert is good and bad. Good in the sense that his attitude and look fits very well, especially in the ancient scenes. He is bad in the sense that he seems to be overracting. Sure, that might be his lines or the story, but its too much some times. Clancy Brown on the other hand is able to walk the fine line between great villain and overacting joke, and does so quite well. Connery, as usual, is great here, despite playing a character you could never actually picture him as. An Egyptian Spaniard? Ha! What suprises me so much though is that Connery and Lambert came back for a pathetic sequel that has to do with the ozone! How does that make any sense (the plot)? What is even more embarassing is that Lambert lets himself get roped into two more movies, playing the Highlander for four movies.

Verdict:

It's worth it.

If you liked this movie, see...
...Judge Dredd
...Demolition Man
...Time Bandits

Constant Gardener...very green

2007-06-21T23:50:00.000-04:00

The Constant Gardener - Fernando Meirelles - 2005 - 7/10

Summary:

The movie picks up when Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) learns that his wife (Rachel Weisz) has been murdered, and the early suspect is her "lover" Arnold (Hubert Kounde). Crushed by her death and the information that she had been cheating on him, Justin begins to investigate the matters of her death. His wife had been investigating a pharmaceutical company she suspected of falsifying drug tests. As Justin begins to uncover more and more, he learns that he has no one to trust, and that this scandal runs all the way to the top. But the question that keeps running through Justin's head, is whether his wife loved him. Uncovering who murdered her is important to him, but he longs to know, if their life together had been a sham.

Critique:

I'd heard mixed reviews of this movie from my friends and I was pleasantly suprised with this movie. Fiennes was great here, and I wish he'd make more movies - it seems like he's been AWOL since Harry Potter. Weisz is great too, and I can understand all the Oscar consideration. Her character is played perfectly, reminding me of Catherine McCormack's character from Spy Game, except much much hotter. The movie has a good pace, one that reminds me a of Syrianna a little bit. But this movie is much better because it is simpler - it is one story, or two rather (there are flashbacks of Fiennes and Weisz falling in love). And it works much better because you don't have to wait until the end to get the big picture, what is the message - instead you can see the themes throughout. I don't have much more to say beside the fact the Darren Aronofsky is one luck man.

Verdict:

Definitely worth a Blockbuster run.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...Syrianna
...Blood Diamond
...Traffic

Goonies...anticlimatic

2007-06-21T23:48:00.001-04:00

The Goonies - Richard Donner - 1985 - 3/10

Summary:

A bunch of kids led by Sean Astin's Mikey discover an old treasure map in their father's museum things kept hidden away in the attic. After tieing up Astin's older brother who attempts to dissuade the kids from going searching for burried treasure, the kids embark on a bike ride to the coastline where they hope to pick up the trail of the treasure map. Along the way they pick up two of their brother's friends, one who wants to be more than friends with him....To make things a little more interesting, the kids run into a recently escaped convict and his family, intent on carrying out more criminal acts. Will they find the lost treasure of One Eyed Willy?

Critique:

This movie was an extreme let down. With the direction of Mr. Lethal Weapon, Richard Donner, the story from Indiana Jones' Steven Spielberg, and the screenplay from Chris Columbus, the director of Home Alone, I expected a hell of a lot more. Instead the movie surrenders itself early to an overruse of childish distractions like gadgets and cheap Rube-Goldberg antics. Sean Astin delivers a strong performance that can't quite pull the movie out of the quagmire it sank itself into. As a short side note, the fat kid was annoying as hell and way way way too stupid, even for a kid. The villains seem to be overracting and way too ridiculous. The one brother the family shuns is an unbelieavable characiture, even for a kids movie. While the mother is a mildly amusing, frightening villain, the main villain overdoes the Italian bit and the brother is too stupid and underdeveloped to have much of an impact. Besides that, the movie follows an overly predictable course, with most of the jokes' punchlines being evident the second they were uttered.

Verdict:

If like me you didnt see this movie when you were a little kid, DON'T see it now.

If you liked this movie, see...
...Adventures in Babysitting
...Willow
...Shipwrecked

Slammin Sammy

2007-06-20T01:30:00.000-04:00

Sammy Sosa was always my favorite Cub when I was a kid, mostly because he was the only good player. Sure there was Mark Grace, but he was pretty flat. Sammy had some flair - he had some personality (a personality that rubbed a lot of Cubs the wrong way). When he was young, he was pretty fast, one of the few young Cubs back then, and he hussled on defense. Sure, everyone made fun of the fact that he always sprinted to the outfield from the dugout, but that showed heart and energy.

But Sammy was run out of town after he seemed to be abandoning his teamwork and hardwork principles for selfishness and loud boomboxes. He was shipped to Baltimore for little more than prospects - players who never really payed off for the Cubs. In Baltimore Sammy quickly lost the fans there too, looking sluggish and hitting poorly. He was kind of run out of Baltimore too.

When Sammy said he wanted to come back and play in the majors, I was a little dubious. The Cubs DID offer Sosa an unguaranteed minor league contract. Sosa turned it down and went to camp with the Rangers, the team he started with in the majors. Back then, the team was owned by GW. Now, Sammy has had a resurgence with the Rangers, proving to be just what they needed (after they lost all of their outfielders), playing with another former Cub, Kenny Lofton.

Now, Sammy is swinging for 600 home runs. With the whole Giambi business and a lot that other crap, I'm suprised there aren't more people whinning about if Sammy deserves it, deserves to be in that elite group because they assume Sammy used steroids. Sure, he had a year when he bulked up, but he was pretty consistent - lots of strike outs, lots of home runs. He IS the only player to ever hit over sixty home runs three seasons in a row. And now, he belongs in the 600 club.

Bond goes Stranger Than Fiction

2007-06-20T01:09:00.000-04:00

A story today provides conclusive report that Marc Forster who directed a diversity of movies like Monster's Ball, Stay, Stranger Than Fiction, and The Kite Runner. I'm not sure which way I want to go with this one. I think its definitely a risk, considering the guy hasn't directed a solid action movie, and he definitely hasn't done a Bond before like Cambell has. Also, even the movies he has done (I know nothing about Stay) do not seem to be close to the type of movies that are "Bond-like." At the same time, this could also be a really inspired choice - a risk that could pay off with a new touch on a franchise that is looking to keep growing past Casino Royale. Hopefully Forster will look to keep doing something new, like he has in his other movies. To me Forster seems to be an interesting choice because most of his movies have characters that are deeply introspective. While Bond was certainly introspective in Royale, it would seem that the Bond in the next movie should be cold and bitter. In this sense, Forster's introspective speciality would seem to translate little more than brooding sadness - not exactly exciting action fare.

Defending the Silver Surfer

2007-06-20T00:45:00.000-04:00

Which was worse, Silver Surfer or World’s End? What a terrible way to look at a movie. It’s like not even giving a movie a chance to be good. Where Pirates lacked depth and piggy-backed off of a three hour second installment, Surfer went places and developed superheroes that honestly, are pretty unswashbuckling-ly lame. I should clarify before I continue. What I mean is that the Fantastic Four are unfortunately weak source material that is not quite as glamorous as sexy pirates played by Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp.

Finish reading this article at SaltyStix.

One of THOSE previews

2007-06-20T00:42:00.000-04:00

I had the sudden realization that previews ruin good movies. Instead of ranting about how the amazing Spiderman 3 trailer hurt what could have been a great movie, I want to talk about previews for movies that haven’t come out yet, for movies that were ruined for me recently when I went to see Knocked Up. That way, I can potentially finish ruining the movie in case the preview didn’t do the job...

Finish reading this article at SaltyStix.

Diablo on the big screen?

2007-06-20T00:17:00.000-04:00

A story today on Joblo mentioned that a Diablo movie is in the works. That sounds pretty cool to me. Diablo II was the only RPG I could ever really play because it was pretty easy and fun to play. As a movie, it could be really cool. What immediately comes to mind are movies like BloodRayne and Resident Evil, video-game to movie stories that feature groups of characters who battle evil. Those movies go from awful to decent and I hope Diablo is pretty good. With some inspired casting (as in not The Rock as the warrior) the movie could be pretty solid. Think Val Kilmer's Willow but with better special effects and a little darker. If the movie shot for a PG13 rating - a hard PG13 with some action and some blood, it could be good AND capture some of its younger fans. The real question is, is Uwe Bol going to direct?

Music and Lyrics...and more

2007-06-19T23:45:00.000-04:00

Music and Lyrics - Marc Lawrence - 2007 - 6/10

Summary:

Hugh Grant is Alex Fletcher, an 80's has been from the pop group Pop! who's career went nowhere when the lead singer dumped him and the rest of the band, taking Alex's three singles. Mired in the past and living on cheesy gigs at reunions, hotels, fairs and anything Fletcher's fanatic female followers will follow. Finally, Fletcher gets a lifeline when his manager (Brad Garrett) stumbles onto Cora Corman (Haley Bennett), the new pop sensation who wants Fletcher to write the last song for her album, but she needs it in mere days. Unfortunately, Fletcher's strong belief in melody and his diminished confidence after his miserable solo album has given him lyrics writing block. Coincidentally, one of those Fletcher fanatics is Rhonda Fisher (Kristen Johnson) who's sister Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) has begun to water Fletcher's plants in his Manhattan apartment. On one of her days when she goes in to work, when Fletcher is working, Sophie displays some suprisingly good talent as a lyricist. Fletcher becomes obsessed with having her write his lyrics and does whatever it takes to build up her confidence and keep her in her genius mood. When Fletcher and Sophie begin to start sharing the feelings they're writing about, their complicated personalities begin to clash and suprise, you have a romantic comedy.

Critique:

I actually thought this was a pretty original movie that used a lot of devices that haven't been used before. You have a song writer, and a tortured novelist, and you have some other good things going on. The movie is pretty funny, especially Hugh Grant who plays a great Fletcher. What immediately comes to mind is to contrast Bill Nighy's eighties has been from Love Actually to Fletcher here. They are very similar, but Fletcher has significantly more screen time, and Grant uses that to deliver some pretty good lines. The movie also does a hell of a lot in a short amount of time - cramming a lot of backstory and development into fifty minutes before the romantic comedy part of the movie begins to come into play. This kind of lets the movie be funny - with quality jokes you don't usually get to see in romantic comedies. Barrymore isnt too bad here either, actually showing that she can look pretty attractive AND be funny. Her quirky personality and weird mannerisms are hysterical and finally prove to me that Barrymore can act.

Verdict:

All in all, a pretty solid romantic comedy.

If you liked this movie, see...
...About a Boy
...You've Got Mail
...Love Actually

Arrington crashes

2007-06-18T23:35:00.000-04:00

A story today details how "former" star LaVar Arrington was in a serious motorcycle crash. This starts so many different questions running through my mind.

Such as, why was he on a motorcycle? At 29 was he honestly going to retire? Is the guy an injury magnet? Is he just the unluckiest guy in the world?

Seriously though, after the amount of high profile athletes from Jay Williams (anyone remember him?) and Ben Roethlisburger most recently. Most players have contracts now that prevent motorcycle use because they are so dangerous and the injuries can be so terrible. Had he just decided he didn't want to sign with another team after the Giants let him go?

And at 29, he is still pretty young, and he was supposed to be great. And he plays a position that many teams are looking for skill at - outside linebacker.

But the guy is an injury magnet. He comes back from injury, only to get injured again.

Basically, I don't know where else to go with this, except to say that this guy somehow wasted his talent. But at the same time, he's not wasting his talent like Pacman Jones or all those Bengals that had jail ruin their careers.

Why Did Nancy Drew Flop?

2007-06-18T23:20:00.000-04:00

A new movie opened this last weekend, that not a lot of people knew about - Nancy Drew. To me, the movie seemed like the perfect Disney audience movie. Finally, here comes a girl that espouses all the chiched girl-isms of the Disney characters. She has the perfection, the looks, the attitude, the new girl feel. The only difference is her story doesn't revolve around her makeover, or winning the boy of her dreams, or coping with her parents' divorce or matchmaking her parents, or any of that old jazz. Instead, the movie is a mystery - with an intelligent female protagonist who has to solve a crime. And it isnt one of the lame Mary-Kate and Ashley crimes (at least I don't think so).

Why did the movie flop? The little kids didn't go to see the animated film (that one flopped too), and I guess they could have gone to see the Silver Surfer, but come on, why didn't the Disney kids flock to this one? It's even got Julia Roberts' niece in there to rubber-stamp the movie for the kids parents' who should have no qualms to fork over the money.

Is Arnold Right?

2007-06-18T22:49:00.000-04:00

I read a story today that bashed Arnold for saying something along the lines of, "immigrants should stop watching Hispanic television and watch English-Language television, because that's how he learned English when he came from Germany." To provide some further context Arnold preempts his statement by saying, approximately "I know some might think this isn't politically correct, but I'm trying to help."

What have things come to that people can't even speak from their own experience AND say things they know could get them into trouble, but say them because they think it could be beneficial. Arnold KNOWS some might be offended and essentially says, I don't mean to be offensive, but this is what helped me.

For instance, at the second Democratic Debate they asked all the presidential hopefuls which one of them would make English the National Language. One guy was brave enough to say he'd do it. Before people jumped all over him he said that he would do it, because in America, people speak English. Whether or not you speak it at home, you're going to speak it most of the time in school, work, everywhere else. Sure, that might not be politically correct, but its TRUE.

Besides, I'm tired of political correctness.

Kobe Kobe Kobe

2007-06-18T22:12:00.000-04:00

A story today points out how Kobe has been blogging that he wants to be traded. What's with this constant back and forth? I've already talked about how I think this could ruin his legacy, so instead I'm going to talk about my dream trade. Yes, Kobe to the Bulls. In my defense, this was mentioned as a moderately high possibility in a few previous articles.

So. Kobe goes to the Bulls and the Bulls send the Lakers Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon, Victor Khryapa, and their first round pick. Lets talk about the plausibility first. Frankly, it doesn't seem like the Lakers have a lot of options. Kobe can opt out after this year, so at most they get one year of unhappy Kobe and media debacle. When they dished Shaq they dished him because he was aging and they wanted value before he completely deteriorated. Kobe is similar in that the Lakers need to grab value where they can here. Getting a potential mega star like Ben Gordon and they also get two pretty complete guards as well as some potential in Victor and a decent seventh overall pick in a pretty good draft. That would let the lakers continue to reload and they could pair Gordon and Duhon who already know each other, and then they put the guards with a pretty strong big (literally) three of Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and Luke Walton that can continue to grow together. The Bulls on the other hand get an allstar, a scorer in the vein of Jordan to take their franchise to the next level in the anything goes, star driven east. They would be able to keep two of their big three - Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich and get value out of the other one of the three. They keep the budding star in Deng and keep the stronger defender of their guards and they still keep their sixth and seventh men in Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefelosha and keep a starting lineup of Ben Wallace, Andres Noicioni, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, and Kobe Bryant. Seems like it could be good for both of them.

The Painted Veil...painted well

2007-06-17T22:53:00.000-04:00

The Painted Veil - John Curran - 2006 - 7/10

Summary:

Edward Norton is Dr. Walter Fane, a microbiologist specializing in infectious diseases. While home in England he immediately falls in love with the spoiled socialite Kitty (Naomi Watts) and he asks her to marry him. Anxious to escape the tyranny of her mother, Kitty seizes onto the proposal despite clealry not loving Walter. Walter must return to Shangai where he runs a laboratory and Kitty joins him, quickly falling for the smooth talking Charlie Townsend (Liev Schreiber). The two begin a heated affair and Kitty begins to think she loves Charlie - and then Walter discovers the affair. He threatens Kitty that he will have a very embarassing divorce if she does not accompany him central China where a vicious Cholera epidemic rages. The self centered Kitty is in for a wakeup call as she sees suffering unlike that she has seen before and begins to respect and admire the man the town calls, their vallant doctor. Both Walter and Kitty battle the hurt each of them has inflicted on the other as they try to love each other again as outside their home, Cholera draws closer and closer as do the aggressivly Nationalist forces of a China on the brink of rebellion.

Critique:

This is a really solid period piece and love story. It's pretty simple, for the most part, contrasting physical love and spiritual love, love at first sight and love over time. Norton and Watts are excellent together, especially Watts who shows something different here that I didn't see in King Kong or The Ring - a touch of personality. While her characters in those movies are flat at best, Kitty is multi layered, both a selfish socialite and a wounded optimist yearning for love. The story that swirls around Walter and Kitty is intriguing too, as they have to be on the watch for both Cholera and the Nationalists (as an aside, the movie seems very historically accurate). There is little more to say without giving the plot away, although the scenes with Watt and the mother superior (Diana Rigg) and Wadington (Toby Jones) are very good and very well written. Both Norton and Watts do an exceptional job at making you care for both of their characters, even as they cruelly torture each other.

Verdict:

Netflix it!

If you liked this movie, watch...
...Pride and Prejudice
...Indochine
...The Quiet American

Bonds - closing in

2007-06-17T22:44:00.000-04:00

Barry Bonds is closing in on Hank Aaron's alltime home run record. It kind of bothers me because Aaron was always one of my favorite players growing up. First off I liked his name, and second off, my parents used to see him play at Brewer Stadium when they were the Milwaukee Braves. Aaron's record stood as a milestone not just for his accomplishment alone, or the consistency, but also as a racial mark - where an African American took ahold of the record.

Now the debate over whether or not Bonds deserves the record or if he used steroids or all that jazz has been debated and debated. But its going to be debated again here. First and foremost I am completely annoyed that he thinks this is about race. The comissioner and the Babe's widow didn't go to Maris' games, why is it so suprising that Aaron won't be waiting for Bonds to hit one out that shaters Aaron's milestone? And it isn't about race because Bonds is the same race as the guy who holds the record. The issue is about steroids. You used them Barry. How you have managed to stay ahead of the checks and balances so long is beyond me - whether its a restatement of an earlier admission or the timely termination of a trainer linked to steroids distribution. Hell, just look at the guy from his days in Pittsburg when he was lean and fast. Now he's huge and slow. Aaron was a man who stuck it out, played hard, played everyday for a long time, and consistently piled up the home runs. Bonds just doesn't seem like he's put in the time or effort to earn one of baseball's most fabled records. He plays a few games a week at most and seems to think he doesn't really have to field. If Bonds didnt have a looming record, he would probably be benched by any other team, because his fielding is that terrible.

In the end, everything has already been said on this issue, but I wanted to touch on it as the day creeps closer and closer when Bonds name has to go down above Aaron's. What do you think about it?

Bad Girls...extremely bad

2007-06-17T22:14:00.000-04:00

Bad Girls - Jonathan Kaplan - 1994 - 4/10

Summary:

Anita Crown (Mary Stuart Masterson) works as a whore in the west and when one customer tries too hard to kiss her, Anita cries for help and as the customer begins to beat her, Cody Zamora (Madeline Stowe) shoots him dead. This shocks Cody and Anita's friends Eileen Spenser (Andy Macdowell) and Lilly Laronette (Drew Barrymore) who have to save Cody from the noose. As the four girls flee, they hatch a plan that with Anita's deed to land in Oregon and Cody's savings in the bank, the four of them can make it happen in Oregon. But there's some serious hitches. The man Cody shot has hired Pinkerton Detectives to track her down and when Cody goes to retrieve her funds from the bank, the bank is robbed by an ex-lover, Kid Jarrett (James Russo). Now, the girls need to hatch some sort of plan to rest their money back from Kid's gang before the Pinkerton's catch up to them and drag them back to the noose.

Critique:

I know all of you are reading this saying, WHY DID AARON WATCH THIS MOVIE, and trust me, those words kept ringing through my head too. But there was another question that rang through as well, WHY DID THESE ACTRESSES MAKE THIS MOVIE? Sure Barrymore was trying to escape her Poison Ivy phase and MacDowell probably didn't have much to do, likewise for Masterson and Stowe. But despite their meager resumes, they're pretty good in the movies they do make. It's hard to say however, if they're good here. This movie is terrible in so many ways. The movie, which should have it easy just by slipping into the cliche of the tomboy, the dark past, the flirt, and the shy one can't even keep it together to do that. The four women are clearly those categories, but its only by doing a lot of work for the story that you can begin to see that. Madeline Stowe's Cody is the one that has the dark past, and is arguably the lead here, but the movie engages in poor half steps to explain her past. Her relationship with Kid and Kid's father is never really clarified. There are hints throughout the movie, such as the split second scene of her back with whip-scars and the scene where Kid has a whip, but you can't piece everything together for them. While her relaitonship with Josh (Dermot Mulroney) makes sense, it has lots of holes in it as well, as does Josh's backstory. Anita who should be the shy one has a fairly lame excuse for her shyness, and one that isn't fleshed out because, despite being the "cause" for the turn of events in the movie, is largely ignored. Barrymore is an easy choice for the tomboy but her tomboyishness is never explained, nor is her seemingly un-tomboyishness before having to leave the whorehouse. Finally, MacDowell's seductive flirt gets a half explanation but little more is done for her, and her possible relationship with Tucker (James LeGros) gets little if any real screen time because the movie reaches a point where Tucker is just off camera for awhile. I don't think there is much good about this movie, and it seems like a poor feminist knock off of A Fistful of Dollars.

Verdict:

If this is on TV, turn the TV off.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...A Fistful of Dollars
...The Quick and the Dead
...Unforgiven

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer...rising to the top

2007-06-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - Tim Story - 2007 - 7/10

Summary:

Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) is about to marry Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) amid the incessant gossip and paparazzi invasion of the private lives of the Fantastic Four. Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) is in a good place right now with his girlfriend Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington) but Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) is not in a good place. While Johnny tries to convince the Four to give way to marketing schemes he's hatched, and surrounding himself with the best eye candy, he fights to hide the simple fact from himself and everyone else, that he desperately needs someone - desperately needs a real relationship. Meanwhile, a strange "comet" has appeared, a fast moving force emitting its own energy that creates strange weather conditions. After this "comet" has a literal run in with Johnny, the name him "the Silver Surfer." Reed looks into the other places the Surfer has visited and finds that within eight days, those worlds have been swallowed up. It becomes crystal clear that the clock is ticking down until an all powerful force destroys Earth and the Four have to battle both the Surfer, and Doom (Julian McMahon), who has reemerged with a new plan. Their attempts to finally finish off Doom are thwarted when General Hager (Andre Braugher) forces them to work with Doom. While the Four are professionally forced into relationships they don't want, Reed tries hard to maintain the relationship he wants as does Johnny who pursues a relationship with the one woman in Manhattan who seems to want nothing to do with him. With the clock counting down, the Four have no choice, but to accept the help of one of their two enemies, the Surfer, or Dr. Doom.

Critique:

Quite simply, this movie FAR AND AWAY exceeded my expectations. My expectations were pretty simple though, I just wanted this movie to be better than the first movie. While the first movie was a very solid origin story, it was little more than that. In that first installment Story showed some promise but couldn't quite finish his vision, perhaps because actors like Gruffudd and Alba couldn't act and their chemistry seemed forced at best. In those movies, all of those things change as Story keeps his movie running fast and sure - charting a plot that is pretty good, pretty airtight, and pretty simple. Additionally, Gruffudd and Alba have learned to act in the last year, making their relationship light years ahead of other atrocious fanboy movie romances like Hayden and Natalie. Instead, their relationship is beleivable, and so are they. Plus they get to execute a tight script with plenty of humor and plenty of clever lines. Story also tries pretty hard to give Johnny more depth and push his character to grow. Honestly, I'm not sure I would consider it a complete success, but Evans and Story are trying really hard. Frankly, the only reason this movie isn't better is because the Fantastic Four suck. I just don't think its good source material for a sustainable franchise. It seems to me that both their powers and their personalities have already been greatly expanded upon in just two movies. Even looking to wikipedia for some help, I can't really think of another villain for the Four for a possible third movie. But, these macro-issues aside, I really liked this movie. It was fast paced, lots of development, simple "believable" story (in the superhero sense), and a very good ensemble comic book movie.

Verdict:

It's worth $9

If you liked this movie, see...
...The Fantastic Four
...X2: X-Men United
...X-Men

Knocked Up...a real knock out

2007-06-17T12:52:00.000-04:00

Knocked Up - Judd Apatow - 2006 - 10/10

Summary:

Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl), a producer/director for E! gets a big promotion when her reluctant superiors decide to put her in front of the camera. To celebrate, she and her sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) go out clubbing and after a lot of liquor, she meets Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) and they both have a pretty good time together. Too good of a time as in their drunken rush to consummate their new friendship, Ben doesn't put on a condom. The movie then takes some time to show the mildly tragically funny marriage of Debbie and Pete (Paul Rudd) and also Ben and his lazy friends who are "working" to create a website that tells you how far into a movie you see nudity, and which of the various kinds, it is. Alison later realizes she is pregnant, and the only possible father is Ben. Honestly, it's pretty hard to explain more of the movie without ruining a bunch of jokes. You know Rogen knocks up Heigl because of the title, but he movie does do a pretty good job of also showing Debbie and Pete's relationship.

Critique:

This movie is really really good. One of the best comedies I have seen in awhile. The movie definitely goes to another level, moving beyond the traditional frat pack comedies we have seen from the likes of Ferrell and Wilson and gives way to something new. Beyond being a hysterical comedy, the movie also tackles real emotions everyone can relate to and its not just a good comedy, but a good movie. There is drama and laughter, well developed characters and funny characters...All in all, very good. Apatow keeps taking his game up another level, doing DIFFERENT things instead of just new twists. Instead of falling into the romantic-comedy genre, Apatow conquers it. The result is a movie that couldn't really be described as a chic-flick, but it has more than just guy humor - a movie both boys and girls can enjoy.

Verdict:

Buy your ticket now!

If you liked this movie, watch...
...The 40 Year Old Virgin
...Wedding Crashers
...The Break Up

Continue reading more like this at SaltyStix.

Paging Jimmy Fallon

2007-06-17T00:03:00.000-04:00

My question is, where in the world is Jimmy Fallon? I thought he was going to start to dominate the romatic comedy market because he's a good guy, nice, not terrible looking, and he's pretty funny. The guy has the added bonus of capturing some cross-over viewers who liked his stuff on SNL. Furthermore, I thought Fever Pitch was pretty good - an original story that had its fair share of old cliches with also some pretty good new ones. And I thought that Fallon would start to cash in on the fact that Adam Sandler was aging, and moving toward more serious fare.

But what did Fallon follow Fever Pitch up with? I wouldn't know. He has two movies that are supposed to come out pretty soon, but they haven't yet and seems like forever since I've laughed at a Jimmy Fallon joke. Instead I've had to weather the likes of Shia LeBeuf and Justin Long, hapless pretenders trying to be more than they are - two-bit supporting actors good for a laugh or two. So, will the real Jimmy Fallon please stand up?

Are the Spurs a Dynasty?

2007-06-15T14:26:00.000-04:00

Since the Spurs victory has seemed inevitable for a long time, and LeBron hasn't given the sportscasters much to talk about, the only real debate about this year's championship was whether or not the Spurs are a dynasty. Here are some compelling reasons for both sides.

~ Three reasons why the Spurs ARE a dynasty ~

1) The Spurs have won four championships in nine years, more than the Kobe-Shaq Lakers, and any team since the Bulls and before the Bulls, passing the Bad Boy Pistons and the Larry Bird Celtics. And the team that is usually considered an unquestionable dynasty, the Bulls, won six championships in eight years, dominating the eighties. The Spurs have won four in nine years, being a consistant force since 99', through the two thousand's.

2) The Spurs have been able to win while still passing the torch - David Robinson handed his team over to Tim Duncan and the transition hasnt sparked a massive rebuilding effort or the premature, management-enduced exodus some championship teams have had to deal with (like the Bulls). Additionally, Michael Jordan helped thirty people, over six championships get rings, while Duncan has already helped thirty-five people, over four championships get rings.

3) The Spurs have been able to get to the finals and win despite a tough, difficult level of competition in the vicious western conference. They have had to defeat championship caliber teams like the Suns and Mavericks year in and year out before even playing for a ring.

~ Three reasons why the Spurs ARE NOT a dynasty ~

1) The Spurs have not been able to win consecutive championships, and certainly not three in a row like their immediate dynasty predecessors the Chicago Bulls. This inability to put back-to-back wins together has undercut the argument that the Spurs are a consistent contender as the front runners year in and year out are the Suns and the Mavericks, not the Spurs.

2) The Spurs have not had star-laden teams that usually put the finishing touches on a "dynasty" label. While this is not really a criteria for being a dynasty, it helps explain why people have not labeled them a dynasty - because they don't have that flair. Sure, Duncan is a great 20/10 guy but he's not Kobe, and he's certainly no MJ.

3) The Spurs have not been dominant in their conference. The mold for a dynasty was carefully built by the Chicago Bulls, a team that rose from the east amidst competitive Cleveland and Detroit teams that were in their division, as well as strong Knicks teams, Heat teams and a few others that made the east the cream of the crop. The Bulls were still dominant in the more difficult conference - winning 72 games one year, the most ever. The Spurs on the other hand had only the third best reccord in the east, once again behind the Suns and the Mavericks.

You decide...

Captain America leads war on terror?

2007-06-14T14:23:00.000-04:00

A story today confirms Marvel is going to go ahead with a Captain America movie. The article discussed the posibility that Captain America, a storyline that almost exclusively took place in the WWII era might get a facelift and be updated for modern times.

I think it would be nice if the franchise sacked up, and decided to set themselves apart from other comic-book storylines and keep their hero in the past. It would be refreshing to me to see a hero fighting back then. Hey, The Phantom producers rightfully chose to keep the man in purple in the past and the finished product was one of my favorite comic flicks. Think about how good King Kong looked in the first fifteen minutes - yeah, that would have been a pretty solid movie if Peter Jackson could edit movies.

When it comes down to it, I think the Super-Soldier-Serum belongs in the WWII era when scientists were trying to create super soldiers and harness unnatural weapons, a la Raiders of the Lost Ark. Frankly, when I think about the SS Serum I think more of Black Cat, the Spiderman character who took the animated show to the next level.

And again, my knowledge of Captain America is limited at best, but I do know that he is a complete badass in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, so it seems only logical that if he's hella cool in the videogame, he'll be even more awesome on the big screen.

Who should play Captain America? Some names to throw out there: Jason Lewis; Mathew McConaughey - I thought he was solid in the underrated Sahara, and he could be a pretty solid action guy who isn't attached to any other comic franchise; Paul Walker - showed some acting chops and the endurance for a fast paced movie in Running Scared, which was another great underrated movie; and Josh Lucas - who showed me just enough in Poseidon for me to want more.

Jessica Alba on Sportscenter?

2007-06-14T10:43:00.000-04:00

I got a nice suprise this morning when I turned on Sportscenter while I got my bearings and woke up. There on the running Sportscenter headlines was Jessica Alba! Instead of rushing to get up and get to work, I lazily waited for Alba's turn to come on the moving headlines. They even managed to advertise Alba's upcoming turn on the Hot Seat a few times before add breaks.

Finally she was on and they asked her some pretty powerful, journalism type questions. Like, who is the bigger basketball fan, you or Eva Longoria? Alba thought about it for awhile and said Eva was just marrying into it, while Alba was really diehard. Then again, Eva does more for her team - her Spurs are on the brink of their fourth title while Alba's Warriors watch at home. The other question was about Nascar *yawns* and it was kind of lame.

Honestly though, besides the fact that Alba is extremely hot and that her name on the headlines list was able to keep me watching the show, sitting through ESPN's ads, why was she on the show? Does ABC (ESPN's parent company) own Marvel or the studio that is releasing Fantastic 4 Rise of the Silver Surfer? It seemed like if they were going to have a hot woman on the hot seat they could have at least gotten Michelle Wie to answer some tough questions for them. Especially after PTI called Wie a bigger baby than Paris Hilton. At least give her the chance to hit back!

Casino Royale v Batman Begins

2007-06-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

Two great movies came out recently that reinvigorated two of my favorite franchises - Casino Royale for James Bond and Batman Begins for Batman. Aided by creative directors and brilliant young actors with new attitudes and ideas, both movies were a financial and popular success.

Those movies were so good they got me thinking which one is the better franchise reinvention? Which franchise needed their respective “restart” the most? Some background on each franchise helps contextualize this question....

Finish reading this article at SaltyStix under "Fanboys #1"

Happy Anniversary Jerry Krause

2007-06-13T00:31:00.000-04:00

Today, or yesterday rather, was the anniversary of the Bulls's 1991 NBA championship, a championship largely due to Jerry Krause's ability to gamble on an unaccomplished coach, Phil Jackson, and his eye for talent that helped Krause assemble a team behind Michael Jordan.

Krause joined the Bulls in 1985 shortly after the Bulls settled for drafting Michael Jordan. Krause's best move came early when in the 1987 draft he selected Central Arkansas' Scottie Pippen and Clemson's Horace Grant, two fowards who would win three championships for the Bulls. I like this in particular because Pippen and Grant could perhaps be two of the most underrated players ever as Pippen, a truly great foward, was constantly overshadowed by Jordan. Grant on the other hand is barily remembered despite his hard play in three championships. In 1988 Krause took a risk by trading Charles Oakley, Jordan's best friend on the team, for Bill Cartwright, a slightly older, less defensively skilled center. The move panned out and Cartright shut down Patrick Ewing to help the Bulls win three championships.

In 1993 the first post Jordanera began and Krause continued to find good talent, acquiring Toni Kukoc and Ron Harper. Kukoc was great a fan favorite that is possibly the best six man ever, and he won that award many times. Kukoc was so important because he forced GM's from all the teams to look at European talent, paving the way for the likes of Dirk Nowitzki. While Harper could not replace Jordan as a prolific scoring shooting guard, he did win three championships for the Bulls as a point guard. Those championships happened in 1995 when Jordan returned. Krause helped put together what some called the best team ever when he acquired Dennis Rodman. After the team won 72 games, Krause won his second Executive of the Year award, and rightfully so as Rodman was a hardnosed defensive player who's ridiculous rebounding skills made the Bulls a dominant force for three years. Rodman's hairstyles and public life also proved interesting (although not the kind you see now with jail and all, just Carmen Electra type stuff).

In 1998 Jordan and Phil were essentially forced out as Krause's ego proved too much and Krause dumped the championship veterans to draft Elton Brand, Ron Artest, Marcus Fizer, Jamal Crawford, Jay Williams. Krause follows this up with a huge gamble in the 2001 draft, trading Brand for high schoolers Tyson Chandler ("the next Garnett") and Eddie Curry ("the new Shaq"). Frankly, especially the first five, were really solid. Elton Brand is extremely good and so is Ron Artest (minus his mental problems). Eddie Curry has turned into a scoring machine that is unfortunately too similar to Shaq (cant make free throws, is too slow, and plays little defense) while Tyson Chandler had a break out year (after the Bulls finally gave up on him. The only thing I really don't like that Krause did was trade Brand who is one of the great fowards and thinking about how good the Bulls would be now, with Brand, sends shivers down my spine.

In 2003 Krause retired and would eventually be replaced by former player John Paxson. All in all, he should get some credit where credit is due - he was a big part of why the Bulls were really good.

Love Actually...actually pretty good

2007-06-12T11:50:00.000-04:00

Love Actually - Richard Curtis - 2003 - 10/10

Summary:

The movie begins with Billy Mack (Bill Nighy), an old British rock star trying to get back into the game after battling addiction, recording a Christmas song bastardizing one of his earlier hits who's premise was once, "love is all around us" and is now, "Christmas is all around us." John (Martin Freeman) and Just Judy (Joanna Page) fall in love over the course of shooting a pornography movie together. David (Hugh Grant) has just become Prime Minister and immediately falls in love with his catering manager Natalie (Martine McCuthcheon). David's sister Karen (Emma Thompson), is married to Harry (Alan Rickman), who runs a local magazine where he is smitten by his seductive secretary Mia (Heike Makatsch). Harry's editor Sarah (Laura Linney), has been obsessing about the office hunk Karl (Rodrigo Santoro), who likes her as well. Karen's friends both Daniel (Liam Neeson) has just lost his wife and discovered his stepson is in love with a young American girl. Karen's other friend Jamie (Colin Firth), walks in on his girlfriend (Sienna Guillory) and his younger brother (Dan Fredenbergh), forcing him to move to France to continue writing his novel while falling for Aurelia Lucia Moniz), a young Portuguese woman who can't speak English or French. Juliet (Kiera Knightley) has just married Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor), without realizing Peter's best friend and best man Mark (Andrew Lincoln) has loved her since they first met. Colin (Kris Marshall) is desperate to have sex and believes American girls will find his British accent sexy, so he hatches a plan to visit Wisconsin. And that's just each character's/story's first scene!

Critique:

Everyone's favorite British-Romantic-Comedy writer Richard Curtis directs a really good movie here that benefits from featuring a cast of who's-who of British actors. He also works in a pretty good short performance from Rowan Atkinson as well as cameos from Billy Bob Thornton, January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert, Claudia Schiffer, Shannon Elizabeth, and Denise Richards. The movie IS the best romance movie (maybe I should say romantic comedy) because it tells too many stories to be bad. Let me explain. Romantic comedies can be good, sometimes bad, but in both realms there are cheesy and corny parts to the movie as well as the predictable progression and finish. "Love Actually" is so good because it doesn't suffer from any of these symptoms - cramming in so many solid stories with great actors means there isn't time for you to dwell on what you think is going to happen next with each story or bemoan the corny way the boy gets the girl back (because those lame scenes don't even make the cut here). All of the stories come from different angles, spanning the whole genre of romantic comedies. You have the coincidence love at first sight for two shy people, the now classic Hugh Grant I'm-to-befuddled-to-tell-you-I-depserately-love-you, the trials of a long marriage and raising two kids, the lust and allure of something dangerous, the cutesy love from affair crush, powerful first love, rebound love, forbidden love, and desperate love. Beginning and ending with Billy Mack's "Love is All Around Us" song is very fitting for a movie that tries so hard to show us that everywhere we look, whether we are searching for it or not, there is love - for someone.

Verdict:

Must see (especially if it's your girl's turn to pick the movie).

If you liked this movie, watch...
...Pride and Prejudice
...About a Boy
...Garden State

In Her Shoes...big shoes

2007-06-12T00:54:00.000-04:00

In Her Shoes - Curtis Hanson - 2005 - 8/10

Summary:

Rose Feller (Toni Collette) is enjoying finally landing the man of her dreams when she gets a call to pick up her drunk sister Maggie (Cameron Diaz). This opening scene is spun as the story of Rose's life - constantly bailing out her out of control sister. While Rose is a well established Lawyer at an accomplished Philadelphia law firm while Maggie is jobless - coasting through life by having men pay for her lifestyle. Rose tries to balance an office romance with a partner while also trying to get Maggie a job so she will get out of her apartment. When both of those dreams/intentions are snapped in one action, Rose is crushed and her life as well as Maggie's spins out of control. A little dog helps Rose get back on her feet and taking a chance brings her more happiness than she could have ever dreamed. Maggie, a self depreciating woman who thinks little to nothing of herself receives some confidence when she pursues the sender of an old letter.

Critique:

Just for the reccord, I tried to keep the summary down to a minimum in terms of what I reveal, because some interesting stuff happens, especially for a chick flick, the ideas are pretty original. Another Diaz movie, The Holiday should take note of how well this movie seemlessly moves between two different storylines while tracing the growth of two powerful women. The movies are similar, but In Her Shoes is a few shoe sizes better. While I haven't seen a lot of her movies, this is probably the best performance I've seen from Shirley MacLaine turn in. Furthermore, this movie broke my long held belief that Diaz can't act - because she is great her. She finally stops paying the ditzy girl, or the perfect girl, or stuck up girl and plays, the ditzy-stuck up-flawed-tormented-naive girl who is the perfect counterpart to Collete's Rose. The movie does have some fast turn arounds from some characters at the end as well as the "mildly" unrealistic premise that a high profile lawyer would become a dog-walker. I would also like to thank the writers/director for not having Diaz do anything with that guys son the doctor - that would have been totally corny.

Verdict:

If you need to watch a chick flick, this flick is pretty good.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...The Holiday
...The Devil Wears Prada
...Love Actually

North Country...very strong

2007-06-11T01:15:00.000-04:00

North Country - Niki Caro - 2005 - 9/10

Summary:

Charlize Theron plays Josey Aimes, a single mother trying to run from her past, her present and run into a new future. A future where she is planning on making a lot of money from her new job at the mine. The mine however, has yet to warm to the idea of having women in the mine, and the men are less than welcoming. In fact, they're downright ridiculous - writing profane patriarchal slurs on the walls along with lewd pictures are the little things they do. They talk to the women harshly, physically harass them, sabotage their bathroom, leave dildos in their lunches, beat them...the list goes on. Josey's dad, Hank (Richard Jenkins) who has worked at the mine since he was a kid, is not exactly supportive. Whether its giving her a hard time about leaving her husband (who was beating her) or how she's foolish to think she's as good as he is, he doesn't exactly inspire her. While not critical, Josey's mother Alice (Sissy Spacek) is far from comforting. Josey finally turns to her best friend (Frances McDormand) and her husband (Sean Bean) who helped her get into this mess, but they're dealing with personal issues. To make things worse, a dance with a co-worker stirs up the local women into making a scene and embarassing Josey's son Sammy (Thomas Curtis) who starts to hate his mother. As things continue to get worse and Josey has no one to turn to, she meets Bill White (Woody Harrelson), a lawyer who becomes her one ray of hope

Critique:

Charlize proves that she doesn't have to dress down, put on the pounds and make out with a girl to turn in an Oscar-worthy performance. Furthermore, the film is close to, if not the best of its genre. The acting is great, the story is strong, and the film itself doesn't disappoint. Like I already said, Charlize is great, but so too is McDormand who returns to the country she knew before as Oscar territory. The movie does have some problems. For starters, the movie is totally killing - I liked the splicing of the court room scenes, the flashbacks, all that is going well until the last twenty minutes or so when they get to the court room for real time and the court scenes are unrealistic and borderline corny. At least Erin Brockovich spared us a cheesy court room scene. Additionally, the growth of the characters, especially Josey and Josey's son Sammy is very realistic, but the sudden changes in Josey's Mom and Dad as well as Bobby's is unpredictable and unlikely. The ending sort of lets itself become a warm and fuzzy happy ending, which kind of was what really happened, but it seemed unrealistic.

Verdict:

If you're looking for a serious movie, this should be close to the top of the list.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...Erin Brockovich
...A Civil Action
...The Pursuit of Happyness

Napoleon Dynamite...explosive

2007-06-11T00:54:00.000-04:00

Napoleon Dynamite - Jared Hess - 2004 - 7/10

Summary:

Jon Heder burst onto the scene in this modern cult classic as Napoleon Dynamite, that paid him a measley $1000. Heder is great in this movie, although it's hard to understand how he could do it, considering his eyes are closed all the time. Anyway, Heder's Napoleon is kind of the school joke until he lucks into a friend when he shows the new student from Juarez, Pedro (Efren Ramirez), around. Pedro and Napoleon are fast friends while at home, while Napoleon's Grandmother is in the hospital, his Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) comes to stay. Along with Napoleon's pathetic older brother Kip (Aaron Ruell), Uncle Rico causes bunches of trouble as he embarasses Napoleon at every turn. There are other subplots and storylines, but really, the movie is driven by the great characters/acting, and there is much less emphasis on the story.

Critique:

One of the few movies I've seen recently that has lived up to the hype. The movie was such a joy because all of the characters were really funny. Heder is dead on as the loopy Napoleon while Ruell is equally great as his weird brother who "is a cage fighter in training who chats online with babes all day." Gries is also superb as the crazy bumbling uncle who's get-rich-to-buy-a-time-travel-machine provides plenty of laughs. Tina Majorino is great as Deb (although I don't really understand how they could make her un-hot). Majorino's Deb has a certain way about her that is both funny when she needs to be and alluring at those other times. When you start to consider that the movie was made for next to nothing and that this was a firs time affair in terms of acting-writing-directing, its pretty impressive. And the movie is really clean too, which is nice for once in awhile.

Verdict:

Watch it.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...Garden State
...THe Royal Tenenbaums
...The Breakfast Club

REVIEW: American Idiot

2007-06-09T23:45:00.000-04:00

American Idiot - Green Day - Reprise - 2004 - 8/10

I never thought I'd say this, but Green Dayreally showed their maturity in this album. Previously their longest song, ironically called “Longview,” was about 3:40, now most of their songs on this album are at least 4 minutes. I hesitate to compare this to both the album, and the group's growth, but this album is mildly similar to The Who's "Tommy." This album, like "Tommy" could easily be called a rock opera, although I would probably call it a "pop opera" or a "popera" if you will. By the way, I coperated "popera" so don't even try to use that again without expecting to send me a quarter. I saw Green Day when they were almost done, touring behind a greatest hits album, playing second fiddle to Blink 182. Luckily, they pulled themselves together, put out their best album and began (hopefully) a shift back to the concept album as we know it.

Sure, some critics said it was much of the same, and they're right but they're also wrong. It does sound the same, but at the same time, on each and every song you can see the growth, you can see where that song would have been before, and what it is now. (1) “American Idiot,” the title track has the vocal progression and same rhythm part as “Maria” with the vocal delivery of “Basket Case.” The song pushes anti-conservatism observations about the media and homophobia with little behind the buzz words. (2) “Jesus of Suburbia*,” has the tempo of “Waiting,” the feeling of “Macy’s Day Parade,” and the guitar chords and progressions of “Redundant.” The song is a multi part “opera” seemingly all parts introspective about Billy Joe’s upbringing. (3) “Holiday,” has the vocal progression of “Poprocks and Coke,” the guitar chorus of “Longview,” with the greater guitar parts of “Walking Contradiction.” “Holiday” is essentially a harsher “American Idiot” that uses stronger language and more allusions to sarcastically light into American conservatism. (4) “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” the humongous video single about being lonely has similar stop go lyrics and guitar parts as “Brain Stew” combined with the guitar buildup of “Walking Contradiction.” (5) “Are We the Waiting,” is a throwback to the old Green Day Standard “Waiting” except that was a non emo version that shares the intonation of this newer track accompanied by the guitar rifts of “Redundant” and the tempo of “She.” The song is pretty deep, probably beyond a random guess but it seems to be about the urbanization of dreams, and the side effects of the wheels of progress. (6) “St. Jimmy,” about a funny character who gets his own song here while being name checked throughout the album, has the guitar parts and vocal delivery to match “Maria” and the drums of “Jaded” with the fast delivery of “Stuck With Me.” (7) “Give Me Novocain,” which has amusing lyrics metaphorically about pain and loss, is played at a tempo between “She” and “Redundant” but with the vocal delivery of “Macy’s Day Parade” and lyrics like “Longview.” (8) “She’s a Rebel” is a simple tune with the vocal delivery of “Welcome to Paradise” and the cool intro of “Jaded” that seems to literally be a new take on “She.” (9) Continuing the trend of revisiting “She,” “Extraordinary Girl” is the song from her point of view and has the long instrumental intro of “Longview” but the tempo and feeling of “Stuck With Me” and the guitar parts in “J.A.R.” (10) “Letterbomb,” a possibly metaphorical song about ignoring obligations, uses the little girl sound effect and powerful guitar intro we know from “Maria” with the lyrics “Stuck With Me.” (11) “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is begun with a guitar intro like in “Warning” and recaptures the feeling of “Macy’s Day Parade” to comment on how quickly time passes. (12) “Homecoming*” has the static guitar lead in just as “Welcome to Paradise” did with the vocal inflection of “Basket Case” and the guitar of “She.” The song, like “Are We the Waiting” has no obvious explanation and could perhaps be praising returning from war. (13) “Whatsername” is a new take on the progression of “She” that goes from the introduction to the main meat of the song using similar voice inflection to finally end the story of “She.”

What annoys me the most is that whenever I want to talk about this album with some of Green Day's fans, they say stuff like, "I liked them before they were political." Honestly, come on. The album is NOT political. There are TWO songs that are MAYBE politica. Sure, some of the others have tenuous allusions to mildly political concepts, but this album is not really that big of an outcry about the war. If you don't believe me, you could read all of the lyrics. What would have made this crystal, is if the album had been named something more logical, like St. Jimmy, a character who is mentioned throughout, but that probably wouldn't have been marketed as well as "American Idiot." Or another thing they complain about is that Billy Joe sold out and went "goth." Does it matter? The music has gone to another level. Yes its poppier, yes its a little more emo, but its still Green Day. I hope my song-by-song break down above can prove that to you, but if it doesn't it doesn't.

When it comes down to it, most of these songs are catchy as hell, and this is a really really good pop album. Accept it for what it is, a pop album, and then you have to admit, its a pretty damn good pop album.

Ocean's Thirteen...murky at best

2007-06-09T23:11:00.000-04:00

Ocean's Thirteen - Steven Soderbergh - 2007 - 6/10

Summary:

Ocean's (George Clooney) pal Reuben (Elliot Gould) enters into a shaky deal with big man Willie Bank (Al Pacino) who promptly double crosses Reuben, causing Reuben to have a severe heart attack. Gathered by Linus (Matt Damon), the gang start to esemble after Ocean gets Rusty (Brad Pitt). And they're all back, the computer wiz Livingston (Eddie Jemison), the British bomb expert Basher (Don Cheadle), the agile Yen (Shaobo Qin), the fast talking Frank Catton (Bernie Mac), the smooth talking actor Saul (Carl Reiner), and the cahos brothers the Malloys (Casey Afleck and Scott Caan). Determined to pressure the board of directors to ditch Willie for the recovering Reuben, they have to make the casion lose a bunch of money so it can't make the 500 million dollar profit threshold they have supposedly imposed. So the gang has to whip together as many ways as they can to rig the casino games to dump the most amount of cash. With Willie Banks' right hand woman Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin) chomping at their heals as well as the imposing obstacle of beating the world's most intelligent security system the world has ever known. Do you have any doubt they can pull it off so Reuben's heart can recover with joy?

Critique:

There just is no tension in the movie. You're never really left wondering if they're going to be able to pull it all off or if they'll get caught - because you know they won't and whenever someone gets close, they just buy them off. In order to enjoy this movie, you pretty much have to throw everything to the wind and just let yourself be swept away by Soderbergh's over-smooth cinematography and fast shots. Yes, the movie is more like Ocean's Eleven then Twelve, but that is not saying a lot, considering twelve was one of the worst movies I ever saw with a cast that ridiculously good. So if you want, you can pick the movie apart, or just enjoy the fast talking Bernie Mac, the antics of the Malloy brothers and their amusing Juarez revolution, the new addition of the enjoyable Eddie Izzard as Roman, another fast talking idea man who helps Rusty and Ocean out (except not really because they just use him to walk you through their preparations).

Verdict:

It can wait for DVD.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...Ocean's Eleven
...The Italian Job
...The Heist

Read more about what I think of Ocean's Thirteen at SaltyStix.

Cleveland v Chicago

2007-06-09T17:16:00.000-04:00

I know I'm biased, because I'm from Chicago, but who are we kidding, Cleveland sucks. Their sports teams make every other city's look like All-Star teams. They have been so inept in nearly a whole half century that they have won one championship since 1964. Since then, the Chicago Bulls have six championships, the Chicago Bears have one championship, the Chicago White Sox have one championship, the Chicago Wolves have three championships, the Chicago Fire have five championships, and the Chicago Rush have one championships. That covers Basketball, Football, Baseball, Hockey, Soccer, and Arena Football. That pretty much covers the spectrum.

Sure, Chicago sports teams have their curses and have their own droughts to deal with (the Cubs), but at the same time, at least the other teams have provided fans a crutch to hold onto. Cleveland, on the other hand, has no crutch to lean on. Hopefully the Cavs can end that drought, although I strongly doubt it.

Suspect Zero...somewhat suspect

2007-06-09T16:05:00.000-04:00

Suspect Zero - E. Elias Merhige - 2004 - 5/10

Summary:

Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) is an FBI agent who is sent away to Arizona to be out of the spotlight after he bungles a major case. However, someone has different plans for him, committing high profile crimes and sending Mackelway special clues. Mackelway is beginning to get into the case when his old love, Fran (Carrie-Ann Moss), another FBI agent, is also demoted to Arizona and joins him on the case. As Mackelway begins pursuing the man who keeps sending him these clues, he comes across the trails of several serial killers and begins to think that his mysterious pen pal is really a powerful empath bent on vigilante justice. Either way, he has to stop the killer who keeps stealinig little children and murdering them by the roadside.

Critique:

For being a suspense movie the movie takes a lot of the suspense out right away. Its hard to even see where the writers/director thought they were generating tension. It's too bad really because Eckhart works really hard to portray a character who is supposed to be consumed by this case. Carrie-Ann Moss is probably the best I've seen her here. Although she plays the same type of character over and over again, she's pretty convincing here. Carrie, and her character, could have used a lot more screen time too, to sort of flesh out her character a little more and actually have an impact on the stuff that was going on. What makes me feel badly is that the idea for this movie is pretty good, and all the little twists are pretty cool, plus the acting is pretty solid. But at the end of the day, the movie just falls kind of flat. There are too many questions at the end for it all to be resolved.

Verdict:

Eh. If you like these kind of movies, there are probably better options.

If you've seen this movie...

I thought Ben Kingsley was a give away the whole way through. There was not a chance of suspense that he WASNT an FBI agent or really, that he would harm anyone that wasnt a serial killer. The movie would have been a lot better if you had thought that Kinglsey could be the killer, but you almost never did. Despite being a "chase" movie, you never really know what Eckhart is chasing, because you see everything Kingsley does, and you already know he's not the killer. It's also kind of weird how Kinglsey chose Eckhart...but I guess I'll chalk that one up to Hollywood.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...Zodiak
...Memento
...Manhunter

Bend it Like Beckham...just as good as the real Beckham

2007-06-09T13:37:00.000-04:00

Bend it Like Beckham - Gurinder Chadha - 2002 - 8/10

Summary:

The movie follows the lives of two young women who's whole lives are soccer. Unfortunately, they also have the lives they lead with their families (who don't like soccer). Parminder Nagra plays Jess, the youngest daughter of a traditionalist Sikh family with an older sister who is soon to marry - a big deal for the family. Kiera Knightley is Jules, a tomboy who recruits Jess to play on her amateur soccer team coached by Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers). Besides Jules, Jess doesn't have a lot of confidants, with the one exception of Tony (Ameet Chana) who everyone assumes is head over heels for Jess. Things start to get tricky when Jess endangers her mother and sister's happiness and her dreams of playing soccer in America are jeopardized. With things beginning to crumble, Jess can't even turn to Jules who won't speak to her after she feels Jess betrayed her.

Critique:

First, I have to say that Parminder Nagra looks pretty good for thirty. I'm not saying that thirty is old, it's just that it's still ten years older than Kiera Knightley. On a more substantive level, I thought this was a pretty good movie that had a good mix of family drama, sports excitement, and romance. It's almost like a movie that set out to be the perfect halfway point between a sports movie engineered for boys and a chick flick for girls that gets to that point with a little culture too. For all that, I have to applaud the director, Chadha, for maintaining that balance. However, the formula isn't flawless. Because of all the stories, from Jess', Jules', the sister, Tony's, the father's, the culture stuff, to Meyers', some of the stories do get the short end of the stick. Unfortunately for Rhys-Meyers, it was his story. I thought that his character was pretty good, with a sort of new British twist on Estevez's character from The Mighty Ducks. However, Estevez had the old guy to talk to as well as the mom because he was the star of a kids movie that could get by with only developing his character. Rhys-Meyers isn't so lucky, and much of potentially deep character isn't really developed. That's the big stuff, but some of the little things that put me off were how some of the sports scenes were shot in this lame slow-mow type format, which I thought took away from the excitement, especially for a sport like soccer that is all about speed. Chadha didn't do this for the training scenes/montages though, and those were still pretty cool.

Verdict:

A great movie to watch with your girlfriend.

If you've seen the movie...

My biggest question throughout the movie was, how did they fall in love? Like, for the most part, there weren't that many scenes of them together. They talked a little bit at the beginning and the end and they did have some chemistry, but it was a little much to expect that this guy would fall in love with this girl. Then the ending seemed a little too easy - sure the dad's speech was pretty good, and predictable, but why did the mother suddenly just buckle? Furthermore, how did Kiera just forgive Jess and move beyond her obsessive, all consuming love for Joe? It seemed like she was able to move past the pillar of her life (besides soccer) pretty quickly. And if her mom was so freaked out that Kiera was a lesbian, why didn't she say something the first time, when she thought Jess was her lover? And I guess this question is kind of because of the childish "epilogue" type ending, but how did the family just change? Sure, letting Jess play soccer in America was a big step, but welcoming Joe into their family with open arms is a little suspect. Oh well, still a solid movie.

If you liked this movie, watch...
...Monsoon Wedding
...She's the Man
...A League of their Own

Homer brings it on home

2007-06-09T13:23:00.000-04:00

I was at Great America Ballpark the other day to see Homer Bailey's first major league start. And as you can probably determine from the article title, he won his first start.

He wasnt amazing, but he was pretty damn good. He made a lot of mistakes, but he also made a bunch of good plays. He threw around 120 pitches in just five innings, mostly because he didn't have a lot of control on the first two pitches and he was behind on most counts. The first inning was a little rocky after he gave up a single to Travis Hafner and then a rbi double to Victor Martinez due to the lethargy of Adam Dunn. But Brandon Phillips hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning and Homer was back on steady ground.

There were two real bright spots in his starts beyond the little things like how Homer remained pretty calm and collected throughout his start, showing suprising composure and maturity. The first spot was Homer's domination of Grady Sizemore, who Homer struck out twice. The second bright spot was right after Homer seemed to be slipping, allowing a single and then back to back walks to load the bases with two outs. Dellucci stepped up to the plate, and with his pitch count already very high, Homer burned Dellucci with a few fastballs to get out of the crunch he had created, and become eligible for a win.

After Stanton pitched two suprisingly strong inning and the rest of the bullpen managed to scrape together a few outs, Weathers earned the save and Homer got his first win.

What does this mean though? I think it means the Reds have another piece to begin their crawl up through the central. While I would be shocked if Homer's call up would spark the reds to a playoff berth this season, I think Homer can alleviate some of the stress on the Reds weak (at best) final two rotation spots. Being only 21, Homer has a bright future, and so to do the Reds.

Jericho survives

2007-06-08T11:59:00.000-04:00

I know next to nothing about this show beyond that it has earned a vigilant cult following. This following was able to keep the show afloat despite CBS trying to axe the show. Numerous postings and such from viewers were able to convince the CBS executives that the show was worth a shot.

Frankly, I'm pretty suprised. The show seems kind of lame to begin with, sort of The Hills Have Eyes, but for TV. But I guess the fans love their Skeet Ulrich. At the same time, I am pleased, because it shows that shows people love can survive despite minimal ratings.