I watched True Grit, one of the best films of the year. It had a PG-13 rating, which made me skeptical, but it didn't effect the realism of the film. It gets a little cute in the beginning, but once they hit the trail, it's for real. The 14 year-old girl, Hailee Steinfield, gives an incredible, career-making performance. Jeff Bridges is a near flawless Rooster Cogburn. Matt Damon is awesome as a Texas Ranger, standard. Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper are severely under-utilized as villains, but their screen time is powerful and well-done. If you don't know the story, you suck, but synopsis: 14 year-old girls Dad is murdered by a drifter who he employed named "Tom Cheney". The little girl handles the affairs of burying her father and selling some of his things to hire someone to hunt down Tom Cheney. Rooster Cogburn is an old, mean, tough, murderous lawman. Matt Damon is a Texas Ranger, Mr. LaBeef, who is on the trail of Cheney for the murder of a Texas Senator. They fight, but work together, sometimes, to hunt Cheney in the Indian territory. It's a bare bones portrayal of cowboy life on the trail and it's AWESOME. Daniels is just amazing and awesome. The only complaints would be the beginning takes too long to get going, and the music is a little off.
Bottom line: 8.8 out of 10. Another must-see film for the end of 2010.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Modern Family, it's famtastic
I bought Modern Family on blu-ray on a whim from Amazon.com for twenty bucks, I am VERY PLEASED with that one. The show is hilarious. I was laughing by myself and out-loud on Thursday while watching it. There isn't a bad character in the entire series. Al Bundy is the dad who re-marries the painfully gorgeous Sofia Vergera. She brings her strange, but funny 11-year old son Manny. Phil has two children, one played by Happy Gilmore's finest Julie Bowen, who is beautiful, and Mitchell, his gay son. Mitchell's lover, Cam, is a huge queen who is hilarious with his over-the-topness in all things. Julie is married to a lovable idiot named Phil Dunfee who tries way too hard to be cool and his kids friends. They have three children, each filling their own hilarious nitch. Boy crazed, genius and brainy, and village idiot would be the roles, each written in elegantly. The shows beauty is in the writing and the strength of the characters. They are put in great situations where their hilarious flaws shine like a Blue Dwarf. I can't recommend the show enough, and you can, for the most part, just jump in at any point and enjoy yourself.
I'm currently watching Capitals vs. Penguins 24/7 and it is severely enjoyable. The language is just staggeringly bad. Sample "This isn't going to turn into another fucking 5-0, or 7-0 fucking laugher here. I've had enough of that shit for a whole fucking year." That's form the Capitals Captain, and the coach is even worse. It's just fucking awesome. Another example, player gets hit in the face with a stick without a call. "Watch the replay, I'm not going to yell, but he hit me in the face with his fucking stick." As he's skating off "My fucking tooth is stuck in my lip." It's a great showing of what makes the NHL special and great. Hard-working, blue collar, TOUGH men.
I'm currently watching Capitals vs. Penguins 24/7 and it is severely enjoyable. The language is just staggeringly bad. Sample "This isn't going to turn into another fucking 5-0, or 7-0 fucking laugher here. I've had enough of that shit for a whole fucking year." That's form the Capitals Captain, and the coach is even worse. It's just fucking awesome. Another example, player gets hit in the face with a stick without a call. "Watch the replay, I'm not going to yell, but he hit me in the face with his fucking stick." As he's skating off "My fucking tooth is stuck in my lip." It's a great showing of what makes the NHL special and great. Hard-working, blue collar, TOUGH men.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Fistful of Dollars
Just watched a classic Clint Eastwood western in Fistful of Dollars. The "Spaghetti Western" trilogy outlier without Lee Van Cleef. Eastwood is a drifter who finds himself a real tough town with two families habitually at war. Eastwood kicks things off by asking the bartender which family is stronger, than killing four members of the other gang in classic fashion. He looks at a guy making caskets, calmly says "get three caskets ready", or something to that effect, then goes and picks himself a fight. He goes over to the cowboys, tries to make them apologize for spooking his "goat", when they refuse, he promptly shoots them all, making four dead bodies. He calmly apologizes/exclaims to the casket-maker, "Sorry, I meant four", and goes about his merry way. Eastwood eventually pits both gangs against each other and makes a huge mess of everything in spectacular fashion. I was a big fan, though I didn't really devote my full attention to it sadly. Eastwood is the quintessential western actor. He's tougher than 1-grit sandpaper and has a voice that could make a drill Sargent cry. Needless to say I'm a biased fan, but Eastwood fucking rocks.
Bottom Line: 7.3 out of 10. You're going to get your bad acting and bad sound, but the flaws are overcome by a really good story, and strong performances from Eastwood and Gian Maria Volonté, who also was the bad guy in For a Few Dollars More. Highly recommend seeing this, but NOT before seeing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and then follow it with For a Few Dollars More. Complete the Man With No Name trilogy and enjoy yourself.
Sidenote: I sincerely hope you view Christmas as a chance to spend time with people you love and celebrate that love.
Bottom Line: 7.3 out of 10. You're going to get your bad acting and bad sound, but the flaws are overcome by a really good story, and strong performances from Eastwood and Gian Maria Volonté, who also was the bad guy in For a Few Dollars More. Highly recommend seeing this, but NOT before seeing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and then follow it with For a Few Dollars More. Complete the Man With No Name trilogy and enjoy yourself.
Sidenote: I sincerely hope you view Christmas as a chance to spend time with people you love and celebrate that love.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Big Blog
Getting down to brass tacks since there's a lot to get out.
Tron Legacy: I have seen Tron, but really didn't remember all that much from it, so keep that in mind. Premise: Jeff Daniels disappears leaving his son and company behind. 20 years later his son is recluse/hell raiser/ genius, you know the type. The company CEO/ his Dad's best friend tells him he got a page from his dad last night, son checks it out and enters Tron. Tron is now a metropolis in which programs are battling it out similar as before, but there are super programs and a leader called CLU who runs things. He finds out his dad is still alive on the outside of the grid of Tron and the son has to fight in the games until he's discovered to be a USER, not a program. I was not a huge fan of the movie, but I didn't see it in 3D, which to me seems like a sure way to experience an epileptic seizure. It was weird and you have to accept a lot of things without shooting all the holes in them to pieces. If you are a TRON fan, then you have to see it, but if you aren't I really don't recommend it.
Bottom Line: 6.2 out of 10. Impressive eye candy, but really is lacking in everything else. Nothing stands out as impressive at all.
The Fighter: I was an enormous fan of this film. I had an epiphany after the film. Mark Wahlberg does a very good job in roles that are exactly like he is in real life. He can play aging athletes from the New England area for DAYS. Christian Bale, and any other great actor/actress, can become the characters that they must play. Bale plays Mickey Ward's cracked out brother Dickey Ward, pride of Lowell, Massachusetts. He does an amazing job, and Wahlberg does what he does well, playing dude's from the New England area. It's a great biopic of Mickey Ward, a guy who I've never heard of, but certainly deserves an ESPN 30 for 30. He was a promising, tough, fighter who was under the management of his overbearing, clueless, and overworked mom, and his crack addicted brother, former middleweight star Dickey Ward. Dickey can't come to grips with the fact he isn't famous or talented anymore and achieves peace by smoking crack. He's constantly late, but does work hard when he's there to make Mickey a better fighter. Mickey is being pulled away from his family by a new girlfriend and every other person on the outside looking in. Great acting throughout and a very good story make this a fantastic film.
Bottom Line: 9.4 out of 10. It is a must-see if you are a sports/drama/good movie fan. It's a great story and it's well-done. My only real complaint was the boxing was done at 50% speed, which might not be all that noticeable, but I really thought it was. Besides that, it is really awesome throughout.
NFL: Jaguars got smacked around like Ike Turner's wives by the Colts. The fact that they have no passing game was highlighted. Any team that stops MJD, stops the Jags offense. They really need him to be involved in the offense, if not through running the ball, then through screens, or SOMETHING. Mercedes Lewis is the best downfield threat. Mike Thomas and Simms-Walker are not good NFL wide receivers. The defense is nothing special and really lacks playmakers. Sean Considine is quite possibly the worst starting safety in the NFL. Watch the Colts TD's and his failure directly results in most of them. He is fucking terrible. Jags are now going to miss the playoffs, butcher another draft, and stay slightly above average for a few more years. I can hardly wait.
MLB: Brewers just swung a couple of massive trades to bring Shawn Marcum and Zach Greinke to the staff to bolster them from among the worst in MLB, to possibly one of the best. The Brewers have a team capable of pushing the best in the NL for two more years. It also opens up the Prince Fielder looming trade. Now the Brewers can shop the best possible deal, they aren't forced to get a starting pitcher. Hopefully there will be a good CF, plus a few good prospects coming over. I'm very interested to see how this plays out for the Brewers for this season, and the near future. They should be topping the NL central for at least the next two years. Now resigning Rickie Weeks becomes paramount for continued success.
UW-Whitewater won another national title, which made me realize how few people I still know in the area. It's nice to see the program continue to succeed from the team of 2003 that barely missed the playoff, to the perennial national title contender. Hard work on everyone in the program has really paid off. Special shout-out to stats director Tom Fick. The man probably works 80 hour weeks during this stretch to be a one-man wrecking crew of stats and facts for ESPN and all other news outlets. I would close out the Williams Center at 11pm after intramurals and would occasionally see his office lights still on.
More to come as always.
Tron Legacy: I have seen Tron, but really didn't remember all that much from it, so keep that in mind. Premise: Jeff Daniels disappears leaving his son and company behind. 20 years later his son is recluse/hell raiser/ genius, you know the type. The company CEO/ his Dad's best friend tells him he got a page from his dad last night, son checks it out and enters Tron. Tron is now a metropolis in which programs are battling it out similar as before, but there are super programs and a leader called CLU who runs things. He finds out his dad is still alive on the outside of the grid of Tron and the son has to fight in the games until he's discovered to be a USER, not a program. I was not a huge fan of the movie, but I didn't see it in 3D, which to me seems like a sure way to experience an epileptic seizure. It was weird and you have to accept a lot of things without shooting all the holes in them to pieces. If you are a TRON fan, then you have to see it, but if you aren't I really don't recommend it.
Bottom Line: 6.2 out of 10. Impressive eye candy, but really is lacking in everything else. Nothing stands out as impressive at all.
The Fighter: I was an enormous fan of this film. I had an epiphany after the film. Mark Wahlberg does a very good job in roles that are exactly like he is in real life. He can play aging athletes from the New England area for DAYS. Christian Bale, and any other great actor/actress, can become the characters that they must play. Bale plays Mickey Ward's cracked out brother Dickey Ward, pride of Lowell, Massachusetts. He does an amazing job, and Wahlberg does what he does well, playing dude's from the New England area. It's a great biopic of Mickey Ward, a guy who I've never heard of, but certainly deserves an ESPN 30 for 30. He was a promising, tough, fighter who was under the management of his overbearing, clueless, and overworked mom, and his crack addicted brother, former middleweight star Dickey Ward. Dickey can't come to grips with the fact he isn't famous or talented anymore and achieves peace by smoking crack. He's constantly late, but does work hard when he's there to make Mickey a better fighter. Mickey is being pulled away from his family by a new girlfriend and every other person on the outside looking in. Great acting throughout and a very good story make this a fantastic film.
Bottom Line: 9.4 out of 10. It is a must-see if you are a sports/drama/good movie fan. It's a great story and it's well-done. My only real complaint was the boxing was done at 50% speed, which might not be all that noticeable, but I really thought it was. Besides that, it is really awesome throughout.
NFL: Jaguars got smacked around like Ike Turner's wives by the Colts. The fact that they have no passing game was highlighted. Any team that stops MJD, stops the Jags offense. They really need him to be involved in the offense, if not through running the ball, then through screens, or SOMETHING. Mercedes Lewis is the best downfield threat. Mike Thomas and Simms-Walker are not good NFL wide receivers. The defense is nothing special and really lacks playmakers. Sean Considine is quite possibly the worst starting safety in the NFL. Watch the Colts TD's and his failure directly results in most of them. He is fucking terrible. Jags are now going to miss the playoffs, butcher another draft, and stay slightly above average for a few more years. I can hardly wait.
MLB: Brewers just swung a couple of massive trades to bring Shawn Marcum and Zach Greinke to the staff to bolster them from among the worst in MLB, to possibly one of the best. The Brewers have a team capable of pushing the best in the NL for two more years. It also opens up the Prince Fielder looming trade. Now the Brewers can shop the best possible deal, they aren't forced to get a starting pitcher. Hopefully there will be a good CF, plus a few good prospects coming over. I'm very interested to see how this plays out for the Brewers for this season, and the near future. They should be topping the NL central for at least the next two years. Now resigning Rickie Weeks becomes paramount for continued success.
UW-Whitewater won another national title, which made me realize how few people I still know in the area. It's nice to see the program continue to succeed from the team of 2003 that barely missed the playoff, to the perennial national title contender. Hard work on everyone in the program has really paid off. Special shout-out to stats director Tom Fick. The man probably works 80 hour weeks during this stretch to be a one-man wrecking crew of stats and facts for ESPN and all other news outlets. I would close out the Williams Center at 11pm after intramurals and would occasionally see his office lights still on.
More to come as always.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Broken Flowers & 30 for 30
I bought Broken Flowers for $2 from Pawn America and decided that because it had the great Bill Murray, it was worth a look.
The story follows Murray, who is a lifelong Casanova and Ladies Man, on a quest he begins after finding out one of his past lovers 20 years ago had a son that she has kept secret. The son is out on a personal quest that she believes is to find Bill Murray, who is still single, but rich from the computer industry. Murray's best friend forces him on the trip by planning it and pushing him.
First woman is Sharon Stone, husband recently died and she has a daughter who played E's lover last season who looks 14, named Lolita.
2nd on the list is a real estate agent who is married to Christopher McDonald, better known as SHOOTER MCGAVIN.
3rd is a lady who can talk to animals after the death of her dog.
4th is, I think Tilda Swinton, who lives is an old house with rednecks fixing stuff in a huge garage out front.
Not too special because Bill Murray is contained and not unleashed. Interesting a sometimes funny about reconnecting with old flames and the awkwardness and feelings that arise.
Bottom Line: 5.8 out of 10. Really not worth watching, but it's not terrible or anything.
30 for 30 was on and I watched the Pony Express, the story of how SMU received the first, last, and only death penalty in NCAA history. I learned a lot about SMU, since their best days were before I were born. SO interesting about their short history of greatness and incredible downfall. It was amazing to see that their recruiting was blatant cheating, but the simple fact was everyone else was doing it as well. SMU just wasn't good at covering up after themselves. Now the first 15 episodes of 30 for 30 are for sale on Amazon.com and I'm having a tough time resisting them. It's only 46.99, and I have not seen them all. It's just so well done, but I can't imagine myself watching the episodes over and over again. Odds are I'll be buying it at some point at a discounted price. I just love the depth that is uncovered in the interviews. I don't even care about the subject matter sometimes, but it's just so interesting and well-done, it makes it worth watching for the education.
The story follows Murray, who is a lifelong Casanova and Ladies Man, on a quest he begins after finding out one of his past lovers 20 years ago had a son that she has kept secret. The son is out on a personal quest that she believes is to find Bill Murray, who is still single, but rich from the computer industry. Murray's best friend forces him on the trip by planning it and pushing him.
First woman is Sharon Stone, husband recently died and she has a daughter who played E's lover last season who looks 14, named Lolita.
2nd on the list is a real estate agent who is married to Christopher McDonald, better known as SHOOTER MCGAVIN.
3rd is a lady who can talk to animals after the death of her dog.
4th is, I think Tilda Swinton, who lives is an old house with rednecks fixing stuff in a huge garage out front.
Not too special because Bill Murray is contained and not unleashed. Interesting a sometimes funny about reconnecting with old flames and the awkwardness and feelings that arise.
Bottom Line: 5.8 out of 10. Really not worth watching, but it's not terrible or anything.
30 for 30 was on and I watched the Pony Express, the story of how SMU received the first, last, and only death penalty in NCAA history. I learned a lot about SMU, since their best days were before I were born. SO interesting about their short history of greatness and incredible downfall. It was amazing to see that their recruiting was blatant cheating, but the simple fact was everyone else was doing it as well. SMU just wasn't good at covering up after themselves. Now the first 15 episodes of 30 for 30 are for sale on Amazon.com and I'm having a tough time resisting them. It's only 46.99, and I have not seen them all. It's just so well done, but I can't imagine myself watching the episodes over and over again. Odds are I'll be buying it at some point at a discounted price. I just love the depth that is uncovered in the interviews. I don't even care about the subject matter sometimes, but it's just so interesting and well-done, it makes it worth watching for the education.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Saints and Soldiers
Saints and soldiers is a story of four soldiers who escape after being captured during the execution of the other prisoners. The story follows them through their journey through the winter in occupied France. It's really a character study of the four soldiers and the British paratrooper they find along the way. It's pretty slow going as their isn't really fighting, or war of any kind. It's very well done for an independent war movie. It's your typical the Germans are more like us than you think type stuff. There isn't much fighting, just really small skirmishes here and there. It's PG-13, which is always disappointing for a war movie. It does stay pretty realistic despite the childish rating. It's actually very gritty and the wounds are very clearly shown for a PG-13 movie. It won the independent Spirit award and some other independent awards. It's a decent enough story. Not sure if it warranted the $2 purchase from Pawn America, but I'm going to give it to my dad as a Christmas present anyway. Pretty much a rather dreary, dark story for the most part.
Bottom Line: 6.5 out of 10. For sure it's worth watching if it gets picked up on cable or something, but don't search for it. A free Netflix viewing would also be acceptable on this one.
Bottom Line: 6.5 out of 10. For sure it's worth watching if it gets picked up on cable or something, but don't search for it. A free Netflix viewing would also be acceptable on this one.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
King of Kong
I just watched this documentary that reeks of mockumentary because of the hilarious characters that embody it. It is a story of the two best (by far by the way) original arcade Donkey Kong players in the world. THE Billy Mitchell, owner of most video game records and deity for nerds vs. Steve Weibe, school teacher and burned out musician. Billy had the record for almost twenty years before Steve shocked the world with a Donkey Kong game in his garage by posting a score beating Billy's untouchable 847,000 and some change by over 100,000. The nerd world is stood on end and insanity ensues. Steve plays at big-time arcade venues where Billy refuses to show up at to play, but he does submit a video tape with over 1 million points on it. The back and forth continues, but the real greatness is in the incredible nerdery exhibited. It's indescribable and makes this a must-see. It's free on Netflix to stream if you get down like that. I bought it for $2 at Pawn America, along with 15 other DVD's because I'm an addict. Seriously, it's like intervention-like behavior. I browsed the shelves at that place for like 1.5 hours digging through 100's of DVD's. I will they had TONS of the following: The Manchurian Candidate, all the Matrix's (especially Matrix Revolutions), and Austin Powers: Goldmember.
Bottom Line: 8.6 out of 10. I can't give it a higher rating because it's so strange, but don't get it twisted, it's a must-see
Also: Liston to Wiz Khalifa "Black and yellow" and Rick Ross "Blow Money Fast" or "B.M.F". Both are very addicting and pretty good in my opinion.
Bottom Line: 8.6 out of 10. I can't give it a higher rating because it's so strange, but don't get it twisted, it's a must-see
Also: Liston to Wiz Khalifa "Black and yellow" and Rick Ross "Blow Money Fast" or "B.M.F". Both are very addicting and pretty good in my opinion.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Stuff
Lebron stuck it to Cleveland and that's how it's going to be forever. LeBron was selfish, but can you really look yourself in the mirror and say I'd rather play in Cleveland with Anderson Varajao, Mo Williams, and Antawn Jamison than in MIAMI with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade? It's not even a comparison. He was an fuck clown about the whole DECISION thing, but EVERYONE kept asking him every three fucking seconds what he was going to be doing in 2010. At least he gave the money to the Boys and Girls Club. He did him, that's what it was. He looked at the next 6 years of his life and decided that Miami was the best place to get titles... As soon as they fire Erik Spoelstra. That fucking guy is a few losses away from updating his resume.
Sons of Anarchy ended with an enormous thumbs up. It was just amazing how they wrapped up loose ends while creating very intriguing ones. Nobody kills people like FX, they are like HBO on regular cable. I am amazed what they get away with and once again can't recommend watching the show enough.
Saw the new Harry Potter, it was a 2.5 hour continuous punch to the gonads for Harry, but a good movie. It deals with a lot more emotion and actual acting with the main three than what they are used to, mixed results, but it's pretty good. I'm glad I don't know how the whole thing ends, but I am getting really pissed off with the random witchcraft bullshit that they can't seem to figure out. They teleport freely all the fucking time, but when they get into trouble they run like regular ass people and refuse to teleport? They could teleport all the fucking time, but they always fuck that one up for some reason. Harry out-duels Voldemort, yet is habitually bested by lesser bad guys. Why are the bad guys SOOOO much better than the good guys? I want to see some fucking shanking going down in the last episode to kill the bad guys. Hermoine gets held at fucking knife point with a tiny blade. If that's the thing to do just fucking do the "Epeliamus" thing that makes the wand fly out and run up on them with a bowie knife and fucking gut them. Kids movies made simple by Me.
Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. A very solid addition to the Harry Potter movies that is a little long and slow, but deals with a lot of the emotions and undertones from the first 6. The kids are growing up, yet they are still weak as shit for the most part.
Sons of Anarchy ended with an enormous thumbs up. It was just amazing how they wrapped up loose ends while creating very intriguing ones. Nobody kills people like FX, they are like HBO on regular cable. I am amazed what they get away with and once again can't recommend watching the show enough.
Saw the new Harry Potter, it was a 2.5 hour continuous punch to the gonads for Harry, but a good movie. It deals with a lot more emotion and actual acting with the main three than what they are used to, mixed results, but it's pretty good. I'm glad I don't know how the whole thing ends, but I am getting really pissed off with the random witchcraft bullshit that they can't seem to figure out. They teleport freely all the fucking time, but when they get into trouble they run like regular ass people and refuse to teleport? They could teleport all the fucking time, but they always fuck that one up for some reason. Harry out-duels Voldemort, yet is habitually bested by lesser bad guys. Why are the bad guys SOOOO much better than the good guys? I want to see some fucking shanking going down in the last episode to kill the bad guys. Hermoine gets held at fucking knife point with a tiny blade. If that's the thing to do just fucking do the "Epeliamus" thing that makes the wand fly out and run up on them with a bowie knife and fucking gut them. Kids movies made simple by Me.
Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. A very solid addition to the Harry Potter movies that is a little long and slow, but deals with a lot of the emotions and undertones from the first 6. The kids are growing up, yet they are still weak as shit for the most part.
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