Bob Uecker: National Treasure, Milwaukee Deity

I recently watched an MLB network special on Bob Uecker and tried again to soak in what a blessing and joy it's been to have him announcing baseball games for a perennially poor team for the last 43 years. People my age wonder what/why is Bob a national celebrity? We certainly know his Harry Doyle character from Major Leagues, even fewer may remember him as the Dad on Mr. Belvidere, but there's plenty more than that. Bob was a habitual guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, was THE spokesperson for Miller Lite, and announced World Series games with Bob Costas, Tim McCarver, Joe Morgan, and Howard Cosell. He's widely considered to be hilarious by most people and is generally unencumbered by his massive celebrity, though I've heard a few occasions when he isn't the nicest of people out in public. He's consistently fended off offers from New York, and many other markets offering much more pay and fame than Milwaukee, yet here he has remained. In his own words, he fishes, he plays golf, and he does baseball and he wouldn't know what else to do with himself. Everything he else he did was "nice", but he always yearned to return to baseball while away in Hollywood. He enjoys SO much the fact that current players still treat him as one of their own. I really enjoyed former players talking about how he deserves to be included in the names of: Jack Buck, Vin Scully, and Howard Cosell. Yount makes a great comment that he isn't in the Hall of Fame just because he's funny. If you've never seen his Hall of Fame speech, it's a must-see on Youtube. He has everyone laughing and rolling around for fifteen minutes perfecting self-depricating humor. We certainly won't have a lot of years left with Ueck, so I want everyone to soak it in and appreciate whatever he has left. I want us all to remember the great times we've had and how lucky we've been. Listen to Rock Schroeder to see what normally happens when an athlete hops in the broadcasting booth for their former team. We've been unbelievably lucky and blessed.

Divergent: Brought to you By Under Armor

I saw Divergent on HBO and jumped on board. It was tracking a surprising 71% on Rotten Tomatoes from viewers and I thought that warranted a chance. I was surprised because it wasn't what I was expecting. It's your standard futuristic & the world is separated into 5 factions (just like the areas in the Hunger Games series). You choose at 18 what faction you will join and be a part of for the rest of your life (the Giver-esque). Our heroine decides on joining the police/military essentially. She begins training and diving into becoming a super-soldier. The plot is that some people are part of a resistance called "Divergents", which is what she scored on her test that was supposed to tell her what faction she was supposed to join. She becomes tougher and essentially the Super-soldier they want, but she still isn't blindly conforming to everything. She falls in love with the trainer, who seems easily 20 years older than her and he becomes her mentor in training as well as the outside world. It was better than I thought it was going to be and Shailene Woodley guaranteed herself a career in Hollywood. She isn't Angelina Jolie, but she's good enough during the action and drama that she won't be hurting for work when this franchise ends. Bottom Line: 6.5 out of 10. Better than expected out of the teen-action/drama retreaded garbage I was expecting, but it wasn't anything amazing. If you are looking for something to watch and didn't hate Twilight and the Hunger Games, I'd watch this one.

Two for the Money: Two for the Garbage

This was supposed to be a movie about high-stakes gambling and the excitement of picking the right games and making a lot of money. It's actually crap. It does a terrible job of talking about sports gambling. Matty's character is exciting for a few moments, but then they turn him into a fraud, which totally ruins the movie. They attempt to explore parts of Russo's and Pacino's relationship that goes nowhere. What's really stupid is how they act like the world would end when they go 2-12 picking games on a weekend. The whole premise is that they get portions of all the bets placed, so why would a losing weekend effect them so badly? Why would nobody do 10 team parlays when Matty's character is going 10-2 all the fucking time? It's ridiculous that despite being hotter than the sun at picking games he doesn't actually bet himself. I got pissed off watching this at home dumb everyone was. Bottom Line: 4.1 out of 10. Crap that's not fit to watch at any time on any media outlet.

Birdman: Michael Keaton Can Act

I saw Birdman, AKA critic's wet dream film of 2014. It was very critic friendly with tremendous acting from Keaton (especially), Ed Norton (excellent, but standard excellence for Norton), Emma Stone, Zach Galifinakis & Naomi Watts. The film centers around Keaton's character of Riggan, a once famous actor who played Birdman is 3 insanely successful movies in the early 90's. This role was made for Keaton. Riggan decides to spend the last of his money directing, filming, & starring in his own adaption of a favorite author who gave him a cocktail napkin worth of encouragement during one of his plays at Syracuse. He struggles with many things within himself, but the voice of Birdman egging him on constantly during times of self-doubt. Keaton is incredible navigating through the insane depths of his character. The play is a train-wreck mixed with brilliance with the SUPER temperamental Norton crushing it. It's a very serious drama mixed in with some random humor. It's filmed in generally very tight frames and close up, it's very unique. It's a little to artistic/boring for mainstream popularity, and it was boring at times, but the acting and interesting characters are enough to keep it moving along to be enjoyable (for me anyway). Bottom line: 8.8 out of 10. Impressive efforts from all the actors involved, but it was still boring enough to not get pushed up into the 9's. You can drop coin at the theater, but you'd be better of waiting until it's streaming/rentable for cheap.

The Bears: Bye Bye Tresticles

The Bears this year are just a disgrace to a historic and proud franchise. You can be bad, but you can't be bad and look like you have no balls or desire to play. Tressman has to be gone after this game. It's silly to wait until the end of the year for this ride to stop. It's just embarrassing to watch them struggle through each week looking completely lost and without giving a shit what happens. Matt Forte should really be the only player welcomed back next year, and of course Robbie Gould. This season potentially held promise after having, on paper, the best offense around with Marshall, Jeffery, Bennett, and Forte. Josh McCown looked excellent in his limited action last year, so what could a healthy Cutler do with these guys and an offseason together? The correct response is Cutler doing the same sad shit as always and looking like an Emo kid the entire time. He should probably just pose for memes professionally on the side, it would be less heartbreaking for Bears fans. The hailstorm that's going to follow this team into the offseason is going to be something spectacular. I'll be sitting back and watching the fireworks. At least this year they aren't competing with the Jaguars for the #1 draft pick, we'll leave that for next year.

Goodbye Sons of Anarchy

I was on from Day 1 for Sons of Anarchy, which is very rare. I was drawn in by the story, even though I was extremely skeptical about a show about a bike gang. The cast is phenomenal and impressed throughout. I was already an enormous fan of Charlie Hannam since I saw him in Green Street Hooligans. Despite being much smaller then, you still believed he could fight. There was instant credibility lent with Katie Segal, Ron Pearlman, and the other guys who you couldn't name, like Mark Boone Junior, but you knew films they were in. I still think the first season is probably the best. The love story of Jax and Tara in it's fiery infancy. All the characters being defined and just scratching the surface of their depth and depravity. I know my friend Zach loved the second season adding Henry Rollins, Adam Arkin, and even Tom Arnold (to a MUCH lesser extent) to the mix as the new assholes ruining the little town of Charming was pretty awesome. I was actually struggling with season 3 where they were spending time in Ireland tracking down Abel's kidnappers, but there was TOTAL redemption in the season finale and I was all-in from then on. Things got crazy and when you look back it's hard to remember all the characters that had come and gone. It was just a great show basically from pilot to finale. I'm so glad they allowed so much leeway to Sutter and the writers & directors. It's something that could have only survived and thrived on Cable/non-network TV. You almost wish Sutter would take a run with something on HBO just to see where he would take it even further with NO restrictions. I think this show has made a lot of careers and hopefully will get the cast some work moving forward. I was always impressed by the closeness of the cast & crew and the finale afterword was just a love-fest of mutual respect and love. I actually really enjoyed the final episode as it was the ultimate at "tying up loose ends". I've long mentioned my absolute delight in the idea of a show, or even a sequel of a film, ending in everyone's death so any hope of it continuing is gone. That didn't exactly happen, but it's safe to say Sons of Anarchy is at peace and never returning. Well done EVERYONE associated with S.O.A., it was a great show. Bottom Line: Start watching SONS if you never have before. It's on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant video, and through all other kinds of outlets. You'll struggle to find a better action/drama series ever again probably.

Horrible Bosses 2: The Same Movie, but Paying the Lead Actors More Money!

Horrible Bosses 2 is very similar to Horrible Bosses 1, but without the horrible bosses. The "gang" is back of Charlie Day, Jason Sudekis, and Jason Bateman, also Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, and Jennifer Anniston also lent their talents again. Chris Pine and Christopher Waltz get brought into the fold to complete the stacked cast and they attempt to make kidnapping and ransom funny. There were funny parts, but I really can't get into Sudekis and Day fighting to be dumber in every scene while Bateman plays Michael Bluth again. It's a dynamic that works, but in SO many doses it gets really old and tough to swallow. Everything takes longer because they are too stupid to function at a human level at anything. Waltz is pretty cool, but really limited appearances in this one, just like the other side characters besides Pine. I should mention the premise is the boys decide to make a "shower buddy" that turns your shower into a car wash with soap & shampoo included. They go on a local news broadcast with funny results and eventually get the opportunity to pitch the idea to a huge company in hopes of getting mainstream production going. That isn't important because it's 90 minutes of the guys dicking around with limited supervision or direction. They get pointed in a direction and act like fucking morons to sometimes really funny results. Bottom Line: 6.2 out of 10. Funny enough to watch, but not to pay money to watch. If you REALLY liked the first Horrible Bosses film, you'll like this one too. Isn't reinventing the wheel, that's for sure.

UAB: The Price of Big-Time College Football

UAB may not be your powerhouse program, but you ask the 100 young men on the team what it means to them to suit up every Saturday in the green & gold of UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) and if they think it means more to the players on Alabama, or Oregon, than it does to them. It has been decided that UAB will discontinue their men's football program after this year. Not only that, but this means the Bowl eligible UAB team will not be going to a Bowl game. Everyone on that team it would seem has played their last game of college football for UAB, and probably their last game period. It struck me as so sad and disappointing and I'm very glad they have outspoken support from Roddy White, who played at UAB from 2001-2004 before becoming a first round pick for the Atlanta Falcons, where he continues to play today. Tristan Henderson has received some press for his heartfelt, and really heart-breaking, speech to the UAB President Ray Watts when he announced the team would be disbanding after the end of the season. UAB still plays D.I basketball and often find themselves in the NCAA tournament. It may be too late for UAB, but there are sad lessons to be learned. It's too expensive to compete in D.I football if you don't already have a major program and heritage. UAB shares a board of trustees with Alabama and it would seem they were constantly second-class citizens to almighty 'Bama for everything related to athletics. Alabama refuses to play them in basketball or football. Support is minimal from the one article that I read, so I'm not sure how it works or how true that is. The reality is the cost of the schools who recently have started to play D. I football is a subsidy of at least $16 million dollars annually. That isn't JUST for football, but it gives some idea and perspective. It's HUGE business and how your Alabama's and Oregon's of the world, besides Phil Knight (Oregon alum & Nike CEO) would be through the enormous amount of money paid out to the schools who participate in BCS bowl games. The TV take to be split between all teams in the conference for just one BCS Bowl game is more than these other schools hemorrhage out for the subsidies each year. It's why these selection processes are so important. It isn't JUST for our entertainment and "fairness", but the difference in money to the programs voted in is VERY significant. It was estimated that for UAB to be "competitive" in football it would require around $44 million over the next 4 years for facility upgrades and whatever else would be required to keep up with the Jones'. All other sports with the exception of major D.I men's basketball programs lose money every year. A major football program helps keep the other sports, especially women's athletics because of Title IX, feasible. Travel, scholarships, coaches, facilities, and meal plans (I'm forgetting other big expenses I'm certain) all cost a LOT of money. A D. I football program hasn't been eliminated since 1995, but plenty of other sports have been cut to appease Title IX and the schools budgetary concerns, primarily wrestling & men's swimming/diving are the likely candidates. Without diving into the financial mire, I just think it's very sad for the players on UAB. Do they lose their scholarships? Will they be allowed to transfer to another team without losing a year of eligibility? What is going to happen to the coaches? Was there a way to save the program? How can this be prevented in the future? With the creation of these monstrous "mega-conferences" and their money grabbing ways smaller conferences and their teams will have the monetary gap widen and therefore will not be able to have the "state of the art" equipment and facilities as larger conferences schools. There has to be a better way than our current systems, but I don't see changes coming in the near future. I hope the UAB players can find happiness and continue playing if they so choose, or at the BARE minimum continue on their scholarships to finish their academic careers. If that doesn't happen there should be some real hell being raised.

Edge of Tomorrow: Live, Die, Repeat (Sounds like Tom Cruise's Marraiges...)

This film focuses on the World being under seige by aliens called Mimics. Earth is fighting them, in Europe at the time of the movie. They have ravaged most of Europle and, just like the Nazi's, are having issues taking over Britain. There's a large scale attack/landing planned, landing in France, again taking a page right out of WWII. Tom Cruise is somehow essentially taken captive despite being a Major in the U.S. Army and put on the front lines. They wanted him to film/create propaganda of the landing and ensuing battle. Cruise, despite having no real combat training, miraculously doesn't completely suck and manages to kill one of the alien "Generals". He dies in the process, but absorbs the aliens blood and this starts a "Groundhog Day"-like scenario where Cruise continually replays the day. Insert Super-soldier Emily Blunt (She's pretty awesome) and you've got yourself some fun. It's not a unique idea, but it's explained and done in a unique way. The action and CGI are both excellent as they flawlessly combine CGI with real animatronics. The suits are either rubber or actual metal and it's very impressive. Cruise continually brings the wood in these action movies, so hats off to the little guy. Blunt is awesome, somehow being sexy and tough/strong/scary all at the same time. Her career is definitely going to continue to rise. Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. Good cast, effects, action, and story makes this worth watching. It certainly has a few ridiculous moments, but it keeps it in check for being primarily an action movie. Blunt is excellent in this film and hopefully gets more great roles from this. An Oscar nomination won't happen from this, but I'm thinking soon her name will be called. Editor's Note: She's ONLY 31! (32 in February) Looks like my marriage proposal is on the way across the pond... 2nd Editor's Note: I forgot she was married to Jim from the Office (John Krasinski).

Neighbors: Zac Efron Looks Different...

Neighbors is based on the hilarious idea that a frat house in an ordinary neighborhood can lead to awkward and hilarious situations. This frat house is led by Zac Efron (who is kind of close to college aged) and 29-year old Dave Franco. McGlovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Seth Rogan, Rose Byrne (Very attractive), Ike Barinholtz (Jimmy "The Body" Gibiatti from the League) rounds out a pretty solid cast. Rogan & Byrne are married and just had a child, so they are still trying to be fun while they try to figure out parenting. The frat house & the couple actually start out on a great note & have a great time partying on their first night together. Afterward they are told to always call Efron if they are too loud. The next night they call Efron a bunch of times, he doesn't answer, they call the cops, things go South. The couple is then in a race to get the Frat two more strikes while the Frat tries to ruin their lives and get them to move. It's surprisingly not funny despite all the opportunities and decently funny cast. Ike Barinholtz doing celebrity impressions is probably the highlight of the film, especially his Barack Obama impression. Nothing in this film is new and it's far from special. Bottom Line: 5.8 out of 10. Funny parts, but far from special. I don't recommend buying this thing, but if it's on TV and you have some free time, give it a whirl.

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

I am a HUGE fan of the Hunger Games movies thus far. Jennifer Lawrence has become a certified star through the films and she is surrounded by excellence in Donald Sutherland (Amazing as President Snow), Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and more recently Julienne Moore & Phillip Seymour Hoffman (R.I.P., and he should be proud of his work in this film). The story is clearly great since it's sold an aircraft carrier worth of books, so that can't go wrong. I have been very impressed, so enough on that. This film picks up with Katniss in a "hospital" setting following her shooting an arrow attached to wire to the THUNDERDOME-esque forcefield during the last film. She doesn't know if her family is OK, or what happened to Peeta, which is of significant importance to her. She awakens and shakes off various injuries to find herself in District 13, which she thought was rubble. It's a militarized district that has continued rebellion against the capital. Julienne Moore is the "President", though they insist on democracy. They inform her they are in open rebellion and the other districts are being attacked by the capital via bombings and outright executions. She commits to being their "Mockingjay"/propaganda tool, especially after she is informed Cinna (Lenny Kravitz in a great role) was murdered and her Mockingjay outfit was his work. They show her District 12, her home, which has been destroyed and most inhabitants murdered. She then fully commits to rebellion and fighting against the Capital. Peeta is being used as the mouthpiece for the Capital, but also to taunt and torture Katniss. There is an interesting back & forth between the two that continually escalates. I'm so glad I didn't read the books because the suspense and not knowing what is coming up is fantastic. I don't want to give much of the story away, but I was impressed with pretty much all aspects of the film. Bottom Line: 9.1 out of 10. If you aren't on board, see the other two and go see this. I think the films are excellent. Great acting, story, and pretty much everything. There are a few boring patches, but overall it's excellent.

Interstellar: Stephen Hawking Consulting Firm

Interstellar is a journey more than a movie, like standard Christopher Nolan fare. This movie digs DEEP into Black Hole theory and space/time stuff. Mr. ALright, Alright, Alright, is excellent, as are Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine (SIR MICHAEL CAINE probably), Casey Afflack, etc (Great casting). The story is set in the future where Earth is rejecting us and crop failures are common place. They convince COOP (Not Trey Parker from BASEketball) to man a space craft to go through a Black Hole near Saturn to explore other possibly inhabitable planets to sustain life. 11 missions already went out and 3 were still in contact with Earth and potentially habitable. Anne Hathaway, dude from the Hunger Games with the crazy facial hair who Donald Sutherland has murdered, and a black scientist guy who I haven't seen in any other films go out and attempt to find which planet would be best for Earth part 2. The visuals are excellent in IMAX, though nothing is 3D or anything revolutionary, it just looks great. The bass is overwhelming and it makes for some strange sound related issues, but that was probably the theatres fault. You are subjected to crazy, WAYYYY above your head scientific theories, but the story and acting carry the day. The fact I know nothing of space/time continuum stuff didn't ruin this one for me. It's an emotional rollercoaster that's worth being a part of. DO NOT read into spoilers/etc, the less you know the better, per usual. Bottom Line: 8.8 out of 10. Very good film that is worth throwing $15 at to see properly in IMAX. It's very impressive on all levels.

22 Jump Street: Hill & Tatum Smell Their Own Farts

22 Jump Street had me laughing, a lot. It also had me looking away and shaking me head in disgust a decent amount. It was a crazy blend of hilarious stuff and stupid shit that makes no sense and tries way too hard. The cast is excellent again bringing back a lot of the same dudes, including James Franco's brother & Rob Riggle in a great cameo that's awesome. Add a little Nick Offerman and some Jilian Bell (WORKAHOLICS!) & Peter Stormare (Any movie featuring a dirty Eastern European dude like Bad Boys II & Fargo) and you've got some funny people around some kind of funny people in Tatum & Hill. Ice Cube has a bigger role and he's awesome in it, OF COURSE. Letting him unleash the comically angry and racist black dude is amazing. He needs a spin-off all by himself just yelling at white people. This follows Schmidt (Hill) & Janko (Tatum) into college, because they don't look old as shit or anything, which is a crappy, but sometimes funny running joke, especially with Jilian Bell. They are trying to find drugs, etc, while getting into hijinx that end up just pissing me off so much. The making fun of itself, but still trying to piece together a real plot gets ridiculous and stupid beyond belief or what's acceptable. , or stomachable. If you liked the first one, you'll like the second one. Bottom Line: 7.1 out of 10. Even though I was often openly complaining and making fun of this thing, I laughed a lot, so it's certainly worth seeing. If you dno't give a shit about how ridiculous things get, you'll love this thing.

Heavy Heart and a Head Full of Thoughts

Last Wednesday my Uncle Rob passed away. It's impossible to begin to talk about what he meant to my family and others, but here's where I'm going to try to commit parts of this to memory to reflect on down the road. The closest anyone's come to explaining it was my cousin Eric, who simply stated after explaining he wasn't going to try to commit his love and admiration to words: "He was as cool as they come and always there when you needed him." I've always loved that because it's so simple, true, and lovely. Uncle Rob suffered from pain from his sciatic nerve in his back that would've been unbearable to most. Rob frowned away from painkillers except for when he needed sleep, which I doubt came to him very often. It never seemed to have any effect on his mood or amazing outlook on life. He continued to be the life of the party and funniest guy in the room wherever he went. He was the person you always wanted to come to anything you had going on. Something as simple as playing a board game, or cards, was made special with Uncle Rob there. It's impossible to gauge the impact and how much he'll be missed during all of our family outings. I also would wager that about 5 people would say they lost their best friend. My sister and I were seriously wondering if all of his brother's (4, including my Dad) would have secretly listed Rob as their favorite brother. His love of sports was at various times of his life hampered by his physical ailments, including a couple of heart valve replacements, and eventually a pacemaker. His playing days ended, but his love of the Brewers, Packers, Bucks, and all things WI sports was incredible. I had the pleasure of sitting around going through some of my dad's old sports cards and just hearing some of his stories of the old Brewers, Braves, and Bucks was a real joy I'll never forget. I know there are so many stories and experiences I'm missing out on, but I keep trying to focus on how lucky we were to have Rob for as long as we did and how the myriad of physical ailments are now gone for him. It was so strange to see him without a smile on his face for the last time I'll ever see him because that was the standard. He never complained or even mentioned how much pain he was in. I had to have it explained to me when I was in my 20's because you would have never known. It makes me want to try to live more like that. Joyful despite any hinderance going on, physical or other. There was so much to be learned by the example that was Uncle Rob. Selflessness, humbleness, humor, living life to the fullest, and just being the best you could be on a daily basis. I asked my Dad who would be giving the eulogy and I'm not certain anyone thought they could get through it without crying. They thought about opening it up to tell stories, but I'm certain that could have lasted for a few days. Just someone very special to a lot of people in many different ways. Robert Andrew Boll: "As cool as they come, and always there when you needed him."

Stand Up Guys: Oscars Thrown Out the Door

I decided to buy Stand Up Guys since the pedigree of Walken, Pacino, and Arkin is unreal. I thought it might be equivalent of Glengarry Glenross where you combine great actors and dialogue and get greatness. I knew the reviews were less than kind, but I figured what the hell. Pacino is pretty charming, per usual, and Walken is very good as well, but the story is awful. Pacino is getting out of prison after 28 years. He was thrown in after accidentally killing the bosses son in the crossfire of a messy job gone bad. Walken, his best friend, picks him up from prison for his last night on earth. Walken is tasked with killing him by 10:00am the next morning as final retribution for his past crime. They do old guy stuff and some young guy stuff, but it's all fairly boring and uninteresting. It's awkward because parts of the movie make it seem like old people are similar and can do all the same stuff young people do and other parts make jokes of how old and behind the times they are. It's confusing in the aspect that it tries to combine humor, sentimentality, and a little bit of action all in one, and of course it misses the mark. It's all very strange in the sense that with your last night on earth after just getting out of prison I would do things differently. Walken doesn't even seem to juggle the responsibility and gravity of having to kill his best friend at 10:00am. Maybe that's because he never actually planned on doing it at all. The ending is a strange shoot-out with their former boss who Pacino pissed off by murdering his son, but it fails to bring closure and it's pretty dumb. Bottom Line: 5.7 out of 10. Far from worth seeing, but if it's on TV with nothing else I'd take a flier on it for a little Pacino and Walken together. Jon Bon Jovi wrote original songs for it apparently, which is also inconsequential and pointless, much like the film.

Grave of the Fireflies

Flier #2 was a Japanese Anime film called Grave of the Fireflies. I knew very little heading in and got my lid peeled back. I was expecting something a little tamer than Japanese film about after we bomb the shit out of them and ruin children's lives. Don't let the cartoonism fool you, this thing was SUPER CEREAL. Serious as anything the cute Japanese artistry did nothing to soften the horrific fact the movie was about the last parts and surrunder of Japan in WWII. The A-bomb hits close enough to the hometown of a young teenage boy (I'm guessing his age) and his toddlerish sister (5ish maybe?). Their mother dies from burns suffered in the bombing and their father is in the Navy, so he's certainly dead, though they don't know that at the time. They are taken in by a horrific human being of an Aunt and decide, after several mini blow-ups from the Aunt, they are heading off on their own to lives in a bomb shelter. Things go from bad, to horrible, and it's tough to watch. Bottom Line: 5.9 out of 10. I'm almost certain the fact I was not expecting something this harsh and brutal lowered the rating considerably, but I frankly doubt I can bring myself to watch this movie again. I'm not certain if I opted for the original language with English subtitles if it would have been better either, I just felt like this film was a slow and monstrous gut-punch. SPOILER ALERT: Watch if you enjoy a movie where everyone dies horribly and slowly.

Straw Dogs: The O.G. Dustin Hoffman Version

Taking a flier on some movies that imdb.com rated very highly and that were $3.00 or so online, I stumbled upon Straw Dogs and wanted to give it a run. I knew the premise: SPOILER ALERT! Hoffman and his wife return to her roots to a small town in Ireland where they are generally harassed and her "past" is used to attract the wrong folks from town. Eventually it leads to crazy, blood stained vengence. Hoffman already had the Graduate, but this certainly was some earlier work for him. Sam Peckinpah also wrote and directed The Wild Bunch, so he's far from adverse to violence. He tried some close-ups and camera tricks with this film that were pretty unsuccessful I felt, but you can see where thrillers/action movies borrow some elements from this. 1971 was a long time ago, so I tried to keep that in mind while watching. It was also hard to smoother my violent and rampent jingoism as well, but I tried. Hoffman is unreal and this certainly helped cement his stardom/leading man quality after his turn as Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy & his role in the Graduate earned two Best Actor Oscar nods that he missed out on. He carries the film and the rest of the cast does enough, though nobody else stands out besides a beautiful Susan George for completely different reasons besides acting. Bottom Line: 7.2 out of 10. I thought it was a good movie and the premise of the story certainly didn't help it progress along for me. It's far from exciting until the last 30 minutes where the lid gets blow off. Worth watching at some point, though I wouldn't recommend this one for a date movie...

The Maltese Falcon

I probably have already blogged about this film and my deep love for it. It's Humphrey Bogart's coming out party as before this film he was often a "thug" and usually died in the film. Here he is the definition of a "leading man" and star. He carries a VERY complex and difficult role and film. The premise follows Bogart (Private detective Sam Spade) as a women comes into his office with the proposition of following a "dangerous man" to find out where he is staying. He's "taken" her sister and she worries about her and wants her to return to Hawaii (I think) at the wishes of her family. Spade's partner (Archer) agrees to the task and is promptly shot for his efforts that night. The story bobs and weaves, twists, turns, and contorts for another 1.5 hours until, after you're lost and don't know who/what to believe, it's over and you want to watch it again. There's great lines ("People lose teeth talking like that", or "It's the stuff that dreams are made of"), some great 1930's speak, which I'm a huge fan of, Bogart, film noir, black and white with close-ups, it's all perfect to me. This is a film worth seeing and enjoying yourself. You can see how many other films have attempted to imitate, or borrow ideas from this great film. Bottom Line: 9.7 out of 10. This is probably too high, but it's certainly one of my all-time favorites. The story unfolds and has so many twists and turns that I've seen it 4-5 times and I find myself constantly looking for things and hints. Similar to Memento in that regard, but obviously it's not told in reverse or anything THAT fancy. Bogart is just amazing and it's been out for so long the history and sets are wonderful and special in their own right. The clothes, technologies, speech, everything is interesting and special to me in the film. It does receive an ever so slight downgrade from perfect due to the low quality of some of the extras poor acting, but that's the only knock I can hang on this great film.

Philomena: Judi Dench and Her Greatness

I'm so happy that Judi Dench hasn't retired, or even slowed down her acting career. She is a real treat who can play such an intimidating and tough "M" in the new Bond movies and make it look just as believable as the Irish Grandma who has seemingly never been outside of her small Irish town. The story follows her as she attempts to find her son that was taken from her while she was in an Irish convent working away her debt to the nuns and convent for taking her in for being a pregnant teenager who was disowned by her family. Steve Coogan is also spectacular as a former Government official (his title alludes me) who is asked to resign on a mistaken e-mail that he didn't actually send, it's almost like a running joke. With his spare time and while looking for something to do he decides to start writing again, possibly a book on Russian history. Judi Dench's character (Philomena) and her story falls right into his lap and he decides, originally against his will, to pursue her story. There are a lot of twists and turns and Coogan and Dench are amazing throughout. It's possible I liked it too much Dench's character reminds me of my Grandmother's and I was raised Catholic, so it's easy to identify/understand some of those parts as well. It's based on a true story/book and it's amazing, tragic, sad, triumphant, and so many other things. Bottom Line: 8.9 out of 10. It's easy to see how this was nominated for Best Picture and Best actress awards, and probably a few others (journalistic integrity checked out already, so I didn't bother to look it up).

Madison Baumgartner: That Dude Better Get Paid

Bumgarner put up a legendary performance on par with anything I've ever seen or heard of. An effort expected of pitcher's in the 1910's, but certainly not in the 2010's. Pitch counts, rest, and excuses were all out the window as Bumgarner had his name called in the 5th inning. He calmly dealt 5 scoreless innings and dominated. He didn't become unraveled when CF Gregor Blanco misplayed a fast-dropping single as badly as a drunken 9-year old would. He settled back in and popped out the next batter. This World Series is the kind of effort that will be talked about for years. A man who simply was unhittable on the largest possible stage. Clutch moments were brushed aside as Bumgarner simply made everything seem as easy as Spring Training. He seems utterly un-shakeable at this point. You'd want him in your foxhole, and you like the cut of his jib, let's be honest. How cool is the shaggy-haired and bearded man walking out to the mound and shutting it down in the World Series? I want to be Madison Bumgarner not just for Halloween, but for the rest of my life. Just the epitome of cool and calm. I'm expecting him to guest star in Sons of Anarchy and crush it on the Late Night TV circuit. I love how he seems to detest interviews and tries to give Belicheck/Popovich-esque answers. I'm currently enjoying and genuinely feeling so HAPPY for Jeremy Affeldt talking about how meaningful it was for him to win this one back in Kansas City, the start of his career and a very tough place for him. It made me wish Erin Andrews would just stand there and look pretty while Ken Rosenthal does the real work. For anyone who has never won something like a Championship in a "team" sport, I can say it's like nothing else. The culmination of hard work with your teammates, who at that point are most likely good friends of yours, is amazing and unlike anything else I've experienced. You don't know how to act because it's the last thing on your mind. I threw my racket across myself in an awkward motion and hugged my doubles partner so enthusiastically I almost threw him over my head, Greco-Roman style. I didn't want this to be about me, I just wanted to talk about the great Series and the incredible efforts of Bumgarner. I look forward to talking about watching Bumgarner own the Series like no pitcher before. Bob Gibson comes to mind, but I'm not certain a World Series has had a performance like Bumgarner's. Just a real pleasure to watch and enjoy.

Fury: 5 Rambo's stuck in a TANK

I apparently missed the boat on getting a boner over this one because Fury is still tracking very well on Rotten Tomatoes. The story follows a WWII tank crew, which they lie to you and pretend that being part of a tank crew was equivalent to running around with no gun during the seige or Stalingrad. Tank crews certainly experienced death, as did all parties associated with WWII, but they were far from "out-gunned" by Germany. German tanks weren't individually superior to U.S. tanks, they were just much smarter with tactics than every other country. The movie already pissed me off and that was before seeing Shia Lebeouf, so I knew that was a bad sign. The film goes through a skirmish to show off the skills of "Fury", the tank Pitt, Shia, Michael Pena (token minority), Jon Bernthal (Shane from Walking Dead), and Logan Lerman (Excellent, especially in Perks of Being a Wallflower). Lerman is the new guy, who replaces the first person lost to the "Fury" crew. The movie follows them on a few missions, shows their comraderie and interesting relationships. It's tolerable, though generally unbelievable, like the rest of the movie to follow. SPOILER ALERT TO FOLLOW: The "powers that be" decide that, despite having an enormous force pressing onward towards Germany, they are going to send 3 tanks to defend the medical tents, supply chain, and exposed rear of the entire Army. They engage in a tank fight and lose the other two tanks, leaving just Fury and 5 dudes between a German SS unit and the rear of the line. Their tank hits a mine, the tread falls off, they are immobile. The new guy goes on patrol and find 200-300 SS soldiers marching towards them. They decide, after much drama and intensity, that they are all staying and fighting. The SS is the German elite soldiers, but in this it's like Rambo fighting the Viet Cong. They are too stupid to use guns, or aim accurately, or fire one of the 50 anti-tank RPG's they show them carrying. Meanwhile our American boys kill everything in sight and heroically defend their tank, until they start getting picked off one-by-one. This should happen within 3 minutes, but this takes 30 or so. Bottom Line: 6.3 out of 10. Overhyped and gets into ridiculous mode way too often for me. I was never touched by their "brotherhood" and I couldn't get past the ridiculousness of a tank being completely surrounded by German soldiers who are too stupid to do anything except get shot running around near the tank. See it when it's free, but I wouldn't pay money to watch this thing.

Rushmore: Wes Anderson Starts

Rushmore follows Jason Swartzman playing a 15-year old private school student named Max Fisher who falls in love with a teacher at his private school. His obsession with her and what he does because of it gets him expelled from the school, which is his life. He is a part, usually the President, of about 15 clubs. He's about 10 years too old for the role, but that's the type of kid Max Fisher is. Bill Murray plays an awesome role as a business mogul who has two sons in Rushmore with Max. He falls in love with the same teacher. There are funny moments and your typical Wes Anderson weird, angsty stuff, but it's still good. Bottom Line: 8.1 out of 10. Funny and a lot of really good performances. Bill Murray is the man, simply put.

Gone Girl: A Movie Worth Seeing FINALLY

VERY happy I spent $5.00 to see this one. I knew nothing about the book/film before seeing it, whch is by far the best thing to do. I'm going to avoid spoilers of all kinds, so I'll tread lightly here. Ben Affleck is a husband who finds his wife missing on the morning of their 5th wedding anniversary. He's gone for 1.5 hours, and his house is lightly trashed (tipped coffee table broken, some pictures turned over) and his wife missing. He calls the police because the door was ajar and the signs of struggle and the movie really starts. It follows their relationship from a few major points to give you a picture of what's going on. There are a ton of twists and turns throughout, so you really never know what's REALLY going on, which is awesome. It's very well done and well written. I almost wish it were like Clue, where there are a bunch of different endings. The casting is stellar from top to bottom. I even have to give credit to Tyler Perry as a high-priced lawyer. Affleck and NPH are the other well-knowns who do great work, but relatively unknown Carrie Coon, Rosemund Pike, and Kim Dickens (DEADWOOD SHOUT OUT) really do a great job with very tough roles. Bottom Line: 9.2 out of 10. A really solid film. Having not seen a lot of movies this year, especially lately, this is probably my favorite film of the year that I've seen in theatres. Very well done and interesting. Worth seeing in theatres.

47 Ronin, Keanu Reeves is still not good at acting

47 Ronin is apparently an ancient Japanese tale that I'm going to completely ruin for everyone starting now. Keanu Reeves is a "half-breed" who is saved by Japanese royalty of some kind and adopted in the sense that he lives with them, but is far from family for most of them. Everything gets out of control when another "royalty" family visits with a witch. Keanu's "King" is forced into attempting to kill the other "King" by the witch, he fails, and then chooses suicide (hiri-kiri) to save his families honor. The 47 samurai are forced into exhile, hence becoming "Ronin's". The band gets back together to kill the other "King" and gain justice. Special effects are pretty good actually, but the movie really has no feeling or decent acting, so that gets painful and old quickly. The real kick in the balls is after killing the other King and the witch, they all earn the honor of getting to commit suicide as Samurai. They "win", but then all commit group suicide, so that's kind of a downer, but at that point I cared so little I thought it was fitting because there can't be sequels now. Bottom Line: 3.1 out of 10 for the special effects. Everything else is crap.

Wild Card Play-In Game

I am surprisingly not a huge fan of the Wild Card play-in game for baseball. As I watch a great game between Oakland & Kansas City, though it's been an awesome game, all I can think about is how both teams #1 starters and bullpens are being exhausted for the series ahead of them. I really like both of these teams/franchises, but I can't figure out playing 162 games to find out who deserves to be in the playoffs and then having one game decide the merits of the other 162. PLUS you start your ACTUAL playoff series with your best pitcher sitting on the bench for the first two games. This game is in the 11th currently, meaning both teams have also utilized a decent portion of their bullpens too. How can an odd number of teams be allowed in the playoffs? Wasn't it revolutionary enough to have the wild card added in the first place so at least 4 teams had the opportunity for postseason play, eleviating the soul-crushing the Boston Red Sox felt for many years at the hands of New York. The almighty dollar is certainly at work to keep the 162 games more interesting and allow the playoff race to continue deeper into the season, allowing the Brewers to wait 158 games before being mathematically eliminated. I just don't like the one-game playoff. I realize that the wild card could have a one-game playoff, as did former divisional teams that were tied, but it's clearly not the same. I point out to when the Braves had a 13 game lead in the Wild Card, or something similar, only to lose in the one game playoff to the St. Louis Cardinals, BAIN of the N.L. Central. Of course they went on to win the World Series, but my contention is they never should have been able to play for it. I'm generally all about change and progressing the game, but this idea I can't get behind. It's one step away from being like basketball where over 50% of the league is in the playoffs, allowing a sub-.500 Bucks team to limp in some years, costing us a lottery opportunity, the true goal for any bad basketball team. I don't like the baseball playoffs getting watered down and the one deserving wild card team either eliminated, or, best case scenario, weakened, heading into the Divisional series. BUUDDDDD SEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG (kidding), but give Pete Rose a Presidential pardon of sorts on your way out.

Monuments Men: Not Monumental Enough

Monuments Men was a movie I saw a trailer for while at another movie and got very excited about. Bill Murray, Dan Goodman, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchette, and other VERY good actors, WHAT COULD GO WRONG? A movie with no direction (Clooney's job) is the correct answer. The movie never defines if it's a documentary-like film about the theft of the world's classic works by Nazi Germany. It never buys into being a comedy fully with all the seriousness around it. It tries to be too funny for you to take the serious parts with anything besides a grain of salt. SPOILER: Two guys die and I didn't know if there was going to be a joke, but there wasn't, and it made things weird. The movie has all these different elements floating around, but they come together like shit. The stars are all very solid, especially Murray (Standard) and I really like Clooney's character as well. It provided some HOPEFULLY accurate information about the theft of thousands of priceless artwork from not only cathedrals, museums, churches, but also from private Jewish collections. I hope at least it stayed accurate to that, but it tries too hard to be funny for me to appreciate the real parts of the film. Bottom Line: A cluttered 6.3 out of 10. It's on Starz, or something, so it's worth checking out for free because there was some historical value and good performances worth enjoying in fleeting moments.

Gotham= Shit Garbage

I thought the much hyped show Gotham would come to Fox and a network would learn from AMC, FX, and HBO to make a decent show since they have a ton of money to throw at these things. I love Donal Logue generally, and Jada Pinkett Smith seems too good for TV, you'll also recognize Ben McKenzie (The O.C.) & John Doman (THE WIRE!!!!) as well. I was unimpressed by Logue playing his standard bad-ass role for some reason. McKenzie just seems like a candy ass, but they make Jim Gordon act all tough and it doesn't come through well. Pinkett Smith is interesting as "Fish", but nothing amazing, just pretty good in the role. I love Doman as Carmine Falconi, but we'll see if his role gets more screen time moving forward. It doesn't seem to stay true to the comic with how Gordon and Dent (Logue) act. Dent is Logue's standard, as I mentioned already, being the tough and grizzled veteran policeman who is in with the bad dudes. He seems much more toned down than his Sons of Anarchy character, but Dent doesn't seem believable to me either. I don't like the stylized/ C.G.I backgrounds that don't seem realistic enough at all. This will be getting another chance, but I really don't see it panning out for me.

Ray Rice: Everyone Losing

Ray Rice's catastrophic life mistake of punching his wife in the face, I'm assuming while drinking, is detonating the NFL, Rice, & Goddell. Before the actual video of this thing leaked I envisioned this blowing over, Ray Rice going back to not being a useable NFL running back, and this being forgotten about besides to make off-color remarks during Ray Rice's said lackluster games. The video shouldn't have been needed to confirm what happened. It is rather bothersome that it took the video surfacing for parties involved to do something. It's unfortunate and awful, but it's a safe bet that it won't be the worst thing to happen in the NFL this season. Spousal abuse if awful, but I'm willing to bet someone may become paralyzed, die, or cause the death of another human being. It's days like this I despise ESPN and the 24 hour garbage they throw out. Analysis, highlights, pop-culture references, YES, but the dredging up stories and endlessly clubbing them to death is not what I signed up for. I stopped watching ESPN in college because I was sick of this shit. I didn't need to hear about what Tim Tebow was wearing while being a bad back-up quarterback every day. Sportscenter used to be about news, highlights, and funny people. Now it's pretty much awful and a giant ratings grab of reaching for whatever is trending on Twitter. The stories aren't real news and it's causing flashbacks of MTV when it actually played music videos and the transformation before it became a showcase for idiocy. Trying to bring this back after a quick rant is Ray Rice deserves prison, a suspension, but he also deserves the right to go back to work and earn his living again. An "indefinite" suspension while this is "investigated" and blows over is not fair to Ray Rice and his family, where I'm certain he's the primary wage earner. I don't think it's fair to punish NFL players (professional athletes) much harsher for criminal activities than a typical person. There certainly are jobs that would probably be ruined for spousal abuse, but football player should not be one of them. Their careers are enviably shorter than our average career arc, but this means the years of primary earnings are SUPER SHORT, especially for a player who was not a first round draft pick. Rice is in those primary earning periods where his wage will never be this high again. His contrition, enrollment in anger management classes, constant apologies, various people describing him as an outstanding member of the community and "the last person" they would have guessed to hit a woman. There's no excuse or justification for what he did, but let him try to move past it and not be the only thing that defines him for the rest of his life.

Deadwood: HBO from Before It Was Popular

I've been enjoying Deadwood lately, particularly the Chromecast application that's even easier than downloading episodes from Direct TV. It follows the famous, or probably more accurately, infamous settlement of Deadwood. It follows some people you've heard of in Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, but focuses more on saloon owner Al Swearangen & a few other stalwarts of the community. Al is played brilliantly by Ian McShane, probably know more for being Frank Powell in Hot Rod (Rod's stepdad) than any other role tragically. Timothy Olymphant plays a hardware store owner who is also a main character, though like most HBO shows it follows around several characters, almost all are expertly played. I enjoy the Wild West and it's certainly entertaining. There's a relatively small cast since the settlement doesn't have a lot of people in it, so that's nice. The story is the relationships and how they are manipulated and changed throughout the course of the times in a relatively lawless town. Bottom Line: 8.9 out of 10. Excellent stuff like you expect out of HBO. Highly recommended, right after you watch The Wire...

Guardians of the Galaxy

It was decided that $10 to see the highly regarded Guardians of the Galaxy. The film is loaded with known actors, but few "stars", which I really like. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista (he's decent in this one), the voices of Vin Diesel & Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio Del Toro (Small doses of the last 3) round out the quality cast. The film does an excellent job of creating the story & creation of the team (which I knew nothing about). It starts SOOO depressing that I thought for a bit I was in the wrong movie. It then quickly picks up into the action/adventure tale it wants to be. It moves fast, has some funny stuff, but it gets REALLY heavy on the overdramatic/self-sacrificial stuff. It gets over-the-top and goes even over-the-topper on the "friendship" stuff. Maybe I'm just mean and cynical, but I found it to be a bit much. I liked the movie a lot still, I just know it could have done without SO much of the dramatic stuff. I was impressed by Dave Bautista actually being in character on this one and I didn't think he was capable of anything besides breaking stuff and looking huge. Bottom Line: 8.3 out of 10. Certainly not a necessity to see this one in theatres, but it's your typical big budget, Summer action movie. It just lacks Will Smith, the Summer movie God.

Pain & Gain

Preface: I didn't even finish this thing. The movie follows Mark Wahlberg, an upward mobility obsessed personal trainer. He reads a bunch of self-help books and goes to a seminar along the same lines. He decides that rather than wait out his time until the American dream becomes his, he's going to kidnap a rich client (Tony Shahloub, WI own) and take his fortune from him. He enlists Dwayne Johnson (THE ROCK) and his longtime friend played by Anthony Mackie. I know that Wahlberg's characters name is Danny Lugo, but I really don't remember any of the other characters names. They plan, plot, and get supplies. Surprisingly a bunch of dudes who lift all day and know nothing about anything else aren't criminal masterminds. It's generally ridiculous and boring, but some people may find it funny. Bottom Line: 4.8 out of 10. I enjoyed very little about this film and have about 35 minutes left on it, if I decide to, that I imagine will be even more prolonged misery for me. Don't see this hunk of shit. There is a small bright spot of Ed Harris as a retired policeman who is a private investigator now, so that's something I suppose.

Relay for Life: Sauk Prairie Edition (Soap Box Time)

There was a hollow feeling upon approaching our local Relay for Life even that I've been away from for around 10 years. The complete lack of participation was deeply saddening. An event that used to look like a Summer concert festival worth of tents was now void of any camping equipment besides a few of the portable gazebo-like ones. A once mighty event that packed the high school track and football field area and raged from Friday evening into Saturday was reduced to 14 teams,around 100 people, and was winding down at 10:30pm. I don't know if the hurt was me personally, or the thought of how much the event used to mean to my Mom and the effort put into making it special. The speaker this year entertained not even a section of our high school bleachers, which couldn't have felt goot. That used to be standing room only and deeply uplifting. I don't know where the answers lie in trying to find out what happened to this once huge event for my small town, but I do know that fixing it is something I will work towards. There was a complete lack of energy and once uplifting spirit that carried the event through the 18 hours (or so) of time spent. Teams used to have to take shifts because not only were they so large, but the track was often packed as well. Luminaries used to have trouble fitting around the track, but this year there was plenty of space, and they were set out early and completely ruined by the rain (best $20 I've ever spent). I didn't feel like I honored the memory of loved ones, or accomplished anything to "Finish the Fight", this years theme. It's a very hollow feeling that can only be vindicated by succeeding in doing it right next year, and the years after.

X:Men: Days of the Future Past

The newest installment of the X-Men series focuses on the comic book saga where the future is one giant genocide by the Sentinels. In this feature Wolverine goes back in time to 1973 (I think) to help foil the assassination of Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) by Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). The goal is to reverse the events that follow where Mystique is captured, her DNA is harvested, and Trask's greatest creation of the Sentinel is perfected to become adaptable to anything because of Mystique's DNA. Professor X is in whiny bitch/drunk mode (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is imprisoned for Kennedy's assassination, though apparently wrongfully. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is the only person who can withstand being sent back in time by Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) and I didn't know that was her power either. It is a little strange that Professor X is all fucked up because I never knew his character went into that mode, but I do like the 70's styles and costumes they roll with. Cast is VERY strong and impressive. I like the story, though time travel often lends itself to ridiculousness, though this movie doesn't dabble in it too badly. Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. I was impressed by the cast and most of the film. I wasn't blow away by anything, but it was CERTAINLY worth the $3.00 to see it at the cheap seats. I'd pay that just to see Jennifer Lawrence in the Mystique character.

Riddick: Yup, Still Garbage

Knowing this was going to be shit-garbage I took a flier still on Riddick. This one sucks because it's the same shit, different movie, almost the same name. Riddick is on a standard God-forsaken planet with crazy beasts that kill everything. Despite lacking food of any kind as well for the beasts, there's 5,000 of the fucking things everywhere. Riddick is still amazing at everything and mercenaries are still tracking him down. The only twist is that now it's the Captain from Pitch Black's (I think) Dad looking for Riddick, as well as some other mercenaries. Riddick breaks them down and offers their lives for a ship from the beginning, but a bunch of bullshti needs to ensue where he kills half of them, then everyone gets on board with the idea. Katee Sachhoff is in it (Longmire, Adam's crackhead/bath salt using Girlfriend in the one episode of Workaholics) and I'm a huge fan of her period. Everyone else is garbage, but I liked seeing Johnny Tapia again from Bad Boys 2 though. He's still horrible at everything though. The action was nothing special either, but there is a decent amount of it, so that's a small positive. Don't rush out to watch this one anytime soon. Bottom Line: 4.8 out of 10. If you like Riddick, you may actually enjoy this crap. If you've never seen one, keep it that way.

The Butler: Lee Daniels has something to do with it too

I checked this movie out after enjoying a snip of the trailer that made it seem more historical than the movie was. I have no idea how based in fact or anything else this thing is, but the premise is a former sharecropper (slave basically) learns to serve and rises to eventually being on the President's personal staff for 7 Presidents starting with Eisenhower. His son takes the path of civil rights advocate, and later human rights advocate and attempted congressman. There is a lot of turmoil in his personal life and some interesting things at the White House from time-to-time, but overall this thing is terribly boring. I'm usually impressed at Oprah's acting, and again I think she's excellent in this movie. I didn't feel Forrest Whitaker was anything above decent as was most of the cast. Really nothing special to see on this film. Bottom Line: 5.9 out of 10. Nothing really worth watching, but it's not like it's terrible or anything.

61* AKA the Passion of the Crystal

Billy Crystal is a fanatical Yankees fan. It's impressive to hear him talk about them and his experiences. It's clear he's an autorhity on the subject. 61* follows the magical 1961 season where Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle pursue the sacred home run record of 60 in a single season by the almighty Babe Ruth. It's a portrait driven by Crystal's passion and knowledge, but also his talks with Mickey Mantle about that sacred time. He pulls from that incredible source and all the other sources of history, etc, to really give an amazing look at what was really going on throughout that amazing race to 60. I was impressed when I first saw the film, but the making of featurette took it to another level. Passion projects normally are flawed and overzealous, but somehow this one works out beautifully. Billy's insane love translates beautifully to the screen and the authenticity bleeds out of it. They actually look and play like, not only competent baseball players, but like Maris & Mantle. I was very pleased I sat down to soak this one in again and can't recommend it enough. Looks no further than the future successes Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane enjoyed after their great turns at Maris & Mantle respectively. Bottom line: 8.9 out of 10. Quality is everywhere in this film and it's worth a watch, especially for a history/sports buff. Watch the feature to really get a true appreciation for Billy Crystal's passion for this project.

Basketball Free Agency Insanity

Basketball has had a crazy offseason just because LeBron James returned home to Cleveland via one of my favorite pieces of writing of all time. Now it's a giant chess match of how to get to Cleveland, or how to compete with Cleveland with everyone else in the league. Miami panicked and overpaid severely for Chris Bosh and not as horrifically for an ailing Dwayne Wade. Luol Deng does not replace Lebron James, nor does any other human being on the planet, but Miami is no longer a contender. What I can't figure out is this crazy push to swap Love for Wiggins, but also Anthony Bennett and a first rounder was also getting trotted into the mix. Love for Wiggins is something I can't even get behind for Cleveland, but if the other deal was EVER on the table Flip Saunders would have rented an F-16 to get to Cleveland fast enough to ink that deal. The Cavs can't take the chance on ditching Wiggins for a flawed superstar like Love. Love gets great numbers, but can't defend anyone in the NBA. Wiggins can already defend in the NBA and has the POTENTIAL (Key word in this entire mix) to be a lockdown defender. Touting him as the Pippen to LeBron's Jordan is far-fetched and wrong, but Wiggins certainly has the ability to be a special NBA player. I still won't throw Bennett under the bus yet. He wasn't a star, but he had moments that made you believe he could be a respectable player including back-to-back double-doubles when Cleveland had some issues with injuries and he was given a lot of playing time. He also dumped in far more atrocious games than those fleeting moments of good basketball, but he's not just a throw-in. Cleveland also can't just pitch in first rounders either as, note the gold standard of San Antonio, you will need those picks to be affordable role players, OR if you're VERY good, stars to play alongside your big 3 of LeBron, Irving, Wiggins. Varejao, Waiters, Bennett, Tristan Thompson, Mike Miller, Jerome James, that bench isn't useless either. I think sacrificing a lot of reasonably priced potential stars (Bennett is a real enigma, but who knows) for Love, who will be getting a LOT of money, wouldn't make them prohibitive favorites, and that's the important thing. Love isn't enough to make you think, they can beat the Spurs, or whoever comes out of the West. I think that team still struggles with the Pacers, Wizards, and Bulls in the East. Love would also handicap your free agent potential for the next two year MINIMUM as nobody really knows how the new pending TV deal in two years will change things. The team with Love turns up the offensive potential, but being forced to trot out Irving & Love plus, probably Waiters (I think?) would leave 3 defensive liabilities for James and a fragile Varajao to attempt to cover up and that's impossible against better teams, especially in the playoffs. The T-Wolves need to purge Love before the February deadline and PLENTY can change before that, so I think holding pat is the best course for the Cavs. I just don't see Love making the Cavs an automatic Finals team and the cost is simply too great to roll the dice with that idea.

The Leftovers?

HBO came out firing on this one taking on a drama where 1/200 (not sure actually) of the world's population has disappeared. It's not a "rapture" movie, as some of the people taken were clearly douchers, but there is truly no explanation. The show instead focuses on a town, probably of decent size, but not too large, and how that town keeps moving on despite the craziness that people just disappeared. I recognize a few faces, primarily Amy Brenneman (I think, but I'm not looking it up) and Liv Tyler, but there are no huge stars by any stretch of the imagination. I'm on the fence after a couple episodes as I really have no connection with any character and wouldn't mind all of them shooting it out in the middle of town at this point, so that makes it hard to think I'm going to like this show. It is an interesting take and original, so I will try my best to pay it some just due, but I can't really endorse it at this point. The town is clearly fractured, and they certainly highlight some big parts of it. The sheriff loves to drink and then do stupid things, like shoot stray dogs in the middle of a city street while they feed on a huge deer they mauled to death somehow. There is a weird cult that wears only white clothes and refuses to speak, and despite those OBVIOUS limitations, that cult is growing? There's some random guy who apparently has some powers (Christ-like essentially) that makes no sense to me. I'm still giving it a shot, since besides the new 24 season (thank GOD Jack's back), television is pretty much garbage. Please, some network, save us.

A Bridge On the River Kwai

I always like to watch critically acclaimed older movies. Able to appreciate the excellence of film and ignoring outdated practices and technologies I am usually really pleased. This film highlighted some great Alec Guiness moments that help a younger generation that only knew him as Obi-Won Kenobi appreciate how great of an actor he was. The film follows a prison camp during WWII and the primarily British soldiers involved. Japan is running the camp and Guiness fights their Colonel that runs it (Saito) the entire time. He fights for his officers to not have to work with the rest of the men. Saito is furious the captured men aren't working efficiently to build a bridge he personally needs completed by May 13th or he'll have to kill himself. Guiness is furious that Saito can't figure out to let him and his men run the project to make the bridge superior and efficient. They battle as their wills take the forefront over their men's best interest. An American escapes during this mess to make it back to British command and hopefully be transferred home. Instead he makes it back and is essentially forced into helping the British attempt to blow up the bridge that's being built by their own men. Very interesting story and played beautifully by Guiness especially. It really shows the arrogance of some, especially those in charge, and the insanity of war. Bottom Line: 7.9 out of 10. Excellent in a lot of ways, but I did struggle to get through some of the old-timey things in this one. Guinness' performance is the real highlight here. It did win Best Picture as well, but Guinness is the best part of this entire thing by far.

The Hustler: Paul Newman Gold

I watched the Color of Money with Tom Cruise and 1/4 century older Paul Newman and thought it was very good. When I found out it was a sequel to the Hustler featuring Newman and Jackie Gleason, I knew I needed to see the original. I found it on Starz and DVR'd it since it played at 3am. The movie follows Newman, a pool shark, as he travels a bit to find pool legend Minnesota Fats playing in Des Moines, IA. Newman starts playing and they continue playing high stakes pool for basically a day and some change. You're introduced to George C. Scott's character, who is excellent as all George C. Scott characters all. A very young Pieper Laurie plays Newman's love interest, they bond over having nothing to do but drink and that's the only relationship they have, but it grows from there. Newman debates what to do with himself as pool in the area is drying up since everyone knows he gave Minnesota Fats a run. Scott ends up bankrolling Newman and they start a pool hustling adventure. They move around a bit while Scott pits himself vs. Laurie in a fight for Newman's soul. Newman is fantastic and carries the movie as he needs to as it's essentially a biopic. The final scenes of Newman shooting pool with Gleason again with Scott in the background are excellent, as are their first go-around. It's tragic that Gleason isn't utilized more, he's excellent as Minnesota Fats. Bottom Line: 8.8 out of 10. Excellent movie that shows of Newman's talent in a variety of ways. He's just a great pool player, which is one of the many things highlighted throughout the film. Highly recommend renting this one if you have some time. It's possible it'll find itself on Netflix, or a variety of streaming tools soon as well.

Orange is the New Black: Season 2

Orange is the New Black (ONB from now on) is an interesting show about a female prison who gets visited by Pieper, an affluent, educated, pretty white lady. The show switched quickly from the Pieper pitty show, to really digging into the other characters and season 2 really goes into their backgrounds and it's very good. The cast is very solid and I found out the other day that the captain from Star Trek, I think Voyager (The one with the lady Captain?) plays the great character Red. You'll recognize some of the other characters, but it really is a triumph due to overall strength, not just one character. I strangely thought this show is really good and you actually start caring about the characters and their flaws and problems. It's especially weird since 95% of the show are females in prison (and there is some nudity, so yes, all the stereotypes of women in prison come true). The 2nd season in my opinion is better than the first as the story continues to be less and less about Pieper and even more about the other characters. There's less of Donna from That 70's Show, but she remains a part of it. I certainly think it's worth giving a chance to if you haven't already. Like most shows, give it more than one episode before passing judgement. Strong cast, unique and interesting premise, and boobs, it's a win-win-win.

Thor: The Dark World

The first Thor was a pleasant surprise that added some depth to Thor and his homeworld of Asgaard that was welcome and rather impressive to me. Anthony Hopkins and Rene Russo are heavyweights to place as Thor's parents and Hopkins is awesome as Odin. Loki was introduced and is outstanding played by Tom Hiddleston. Somehow they had Natalie Portman play his love interest. Stellan Skaargard plays a crazy scientist, ALL are excellent in the first one. ALL reprise their roles, but for some reason it DOES NOT work in the second go around. It's so weird, but everyone isn't as good really. Idris Elba is if I'm getting technical I suppose. The story follows Thor as he works on bringing peace to the 9 realms Asgaard oversees/rules over essentially. Thor is still in love with Portman and checks on her from afar. Loki is imprisoned and Russo (His Ma) is the only one who cares at all. There is some crazy ancient evil called the Aether that makes no sense and is really half-assedly explained. The ancient race that once tried to rule the 9 realms with THE AETHER, but Odin's Pappy stopped them. A few survived and that's enough to pose a threat on the world thousands of years later. Once again, not explained for shit. There's some general candy-assed fighting and the story as I said before is insanely far-fetched and weird to me, AKA total bullshit. It really seemed unenthusiastic this time around. Bottom Line: 6. 7 out of 10. I was generally unimpressed by this effort after an impressive run of superhero movies that actually were better than expected. Too much weird cosmic stuff going on that is ridiculous. Pretty much ruined this thing for me.

Kick Ass 2

I took a flier on Kick Ass 2 while it was on Cinemax. It catches up with our characters from the original as Hit Girl starts her freshman year, Dave (Kick Ass guy) goes into his Senior year. They bring in some new characters, Chris Mintz-Pleese (Or whatever McGlovin's real name is) reprises his role as the weird and social media obsessed villain. That social media part was the a little scary thinking of all the stupid things, criminal and otherwise, that go on to get a few million Youtube views. That part did bother me and it was smart to show the utilization of social media for good and evil recruiting purposes. Mintz-Plaase relishes the role of villain and obsesses over popularity and the thought of having Kick Ass' death on Youtube. The fighting is alright, but you have no feelings or vested interest the the charcters, good or evil. The first was a little funnier and did a better job of making fun of how ridiculous the "superhero" idea is. Bottom Line: 5.4 out of 10. Had some entertaining moments as Chloe Grace Moretz is still VERY impressive as Hit Girl for all the stunts, etc she pulls off. Her acting doesn't follow her action abilities, but she's still probably the only thing that's going to come from this series. Jim Carrey has a pretty good turn in it. I really wouldn't recommend watching this one.

I Should have Done This A Long Time Ago: Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

I realized upon jumping into Capt. America 2 that I had forgotten much of Capt. America 1, so I'd recommend a quick refresher before jumping into this one because there are some crossover things involved. ANYWAY, the movie joins us in present day where Capt. is ever-ready, but becoming disgruntled with S.H.I.E.L.D. and their lack of trust and forthrightness (doubt that's a word) in their dealings with THE CAPTAIN. The villian known as "The Winter Soldier" is introduced and he's f*($)&^G awesome because he doesn't talk, or really do much besides kill and kick ass. They do a great job of keeping their cards close to their chest during the movie and the REAL plot is pretty much hidden throughout. It's really an interesting plot that's RATHER far-fetched, but tries to explain most of it and that works for me. The action scenes are excellent and I thought the cast was excellent as well. There really weren't a lot of "That's ridiculous" moments, which is my #1 reason action movies piss me off generally. THis is certainly worth watching, even if it's a rental. It was IMPRESSIVE in theatres though, so if you can find this one at the cheap seats or something I'd recommend it. Bottom Line: 8.6 out of 10. Better than expected and hats off to Chris Evans for going from Jake Wyler to Capt. America. This probably pays much better.

Draft Day Depression

Being a Jaguars fan since their 1995 inception has led to very few rewarding, happy times. Their draft record is atrocious and this year I fear similar mistakes occurred. Blake Bortles was clearly the rookie QB the Jaguars wanted and this is actually not a review of his skill, it's the Jaguars inabilities to gauge other teams and their valuations. Bortles wasn't the consensus #1 QB, the pick directly after the Jaguars (Cleveland Browns #4) was traded for the #8 overall pick, an unprotected first round pick next year (Buffalo Bills= Almost certainly a top ten) plus another 4th rounder. My thoughts were that Bortles could certainly be available at #9 and an additional first round pick next year (the 4th rounder wouldn't hurt either) should certainly be worth trading down 5 spots. Instead the Browns made first round waves this year by getting their desired CB & QB AND secured a positive outlook next year. Could the Jaguars have done something similar? I'd certainly think the Bills offer would have landed at the Jags feet just like it did the Browns. I was also bothered by the fact that Khalil Mack would guarantee a better pass rush and was almost certainly a better value at #3 that would address a need that's been around since the early 2000's with Jacksonville, the complete lack of QB pressure. Bortles could be a good NFL QB. I don't think he could ever be elite and that's my issue. How much beter can he be than Bridgewater (#32), Manziel (#22), even Derek Carr? Certainly not worth the drastic difference in draft positions the others were taken in. He almost certainly wasn't the best player available, a tagline that SO many teams swear by. QB is certainly a "Need" position at Jacksonville but what's been proven time and time again is that you cannot just force a QB, especially a young QB, into a rough situation and expect success. Jacksonville has a lot of needs that could have been addressed with #3. I really liked Khalil Mack as an amazing talent that would certainly help with the pass rush issue. Sammy Watkins (even Mike Evans) would help with the lack of big play talent on the offensive side of the ball. Jake Matthews could have been re-united with Luke Joeckel on the Jaguars offensive line and give them book-ends and the possibility of a very good line for years. I even really liked Taylor Lewan, though he perhaps lacks the "Top-end" athletic ability needed for a left OT in the NFL. In any case I'm just lamenting the Jaguars fucking up again in the very important 1st round. I just don't see Bortles panning out. Even if they put Henne in as the sacrificial lamb for another year while they attempt to accumulate some more offensive talent (though Marquis Lee is a great addition) and more pieces among the line. Instead they've mortgaged another few years in drafting a QB who will not be a star and watching other players who will be stars pass them by. Matt Jones, R. Jay Soward, Derrick Harvey, Reggie Williams, Tyson Alualu, and even Byron Leftwich and Blaine Gabbert. Just a hideous track record. I'm amazed I didn't drink myself into submission Thursday night.

I'm Sure I'm in the Wrong Here, but...

Donald Sterling is without a doubt not a nice human being. I support nothing of what he said, but I also cannot support Adam Silver revocation of his franchise, at least I don't think so. He still needs to be voted out by other owners, but Silver handed him what would seem to be a death sentence. I realize selling the team he bought for pennies compared to what he's going to sell it for may not seem like a "penalty", but owning a team is an ultimate status symbol. Sterling made a few billion dollars, therefore he can own his own NBA team. Being a racist asshole doesn't revoke that right. Apparently the conversation being used to get him tossed from the NBA was also obtained illegally, at least it's illegal to record a conversation without the other parties consent, or at least knowledge. Once again, Donald Sterling is a fucking asshole, BUT we also live in a country where assholes are afforded constitutional protection. I'm a little torn on this one. I think Sterling is a piece of shit, but he was lured into showing those colors, recorded illegally by, and this is paraphrasing, a prostitute, or something DAMN close that this asshole was "dating". I'm assuming there may have ben something ransom related, or something behind the scenes to further cloud this shitstorm, but I'm not certain we'll ever know. This whole things sucks, but perhaps getting him out of the NBA by any means necessary will be worth it and awesome for long suffering Clippers fans. I don't think it's fair to mention that Sterling was a shitty owner, this is separate to the issue, but it also gets tossed in. I do like that a lifetime of being an asshole is catching up to Sterling, even when he's 81. Larry King even spoke ill of him, which made me smile. Moving forward though does an unpopular owner have to be wary of saying something stupid, racist, irrational, etc. in case his franchise can get pulled from him? Does this give more clout to owner via committee like the Dodgers group? Why own a franchise by yourself if it can be taken away for some racial epitaphs and a lifetime of being a fuck? It's similar to the separation of church and state to me. Private industry, which I'm including team owners in, can't be taken away by others in the same private industry. What if a bigger asshole somehow buys the team? Has Sterling's racism hindered the advancement of minority athletes in his organization? I know Elgin Baylor sued him for racial issues, and he has been sued for being racist to his tenants, but doesn't having a few sexual harassment cases make it all better? Wait, so all those things DON'T get you kicked out, but a running talley eventually catches up with you? What offense is bad enough to get a lifetime ban? Gambling on outcomes? I just think we're treading in ugly water here and I needed to ramble about it for awhile. I still find no clarity for myself, maybe you have. Doubt it.

Gandhi: Ben Kingsley's Epic

When I was sick I decided to try to watch Gandhi and soak in an apparently incredible movie. In the beginning it simply explains that a movie cannot encompass someone's life, especially one as amazing as Gandhi. You are thrown into Gandhi's experience on a train where he essentially gets Rosa Parks'd, only it's a bit more violent. The movie then about 3 more hours of an amazing journey through all of his trails and tribulations. His original non-violent strike in South Africa to the one in India that he's a little more famous for, to his hunger strike to stop violence in the newly free India that I actually never knew about. The movie is all about Ben Kingsley performance and it's also why he's still a sought after actor. He is incredible. It's over 3 hours, so it's not going to excite you very much, but if you can enjoy greatness in film, it's certainly all over this one. The other actors are very good, especially Martin Sheen in his small role as journalist "Walker". The cinematography and story are both incredible as well, but once again this isn't Transformers. It's an older, story driven epic about the most peaceful man the world may have ever known. Bottom Line: 8.9 out of 10. I really enjoyed a great deal of this movie. I fell asleep during a portion, on account that I was pretty sick, but everything else was pretty top notch.

Ender's Game

My Sister wouldn't leave me alone for a few years to read Ender's Game. It's a very successful series of children's books that have been around for quite some time. The tale is set in our future that has been forever changed by the invasion of a bug-like alien race that almost destroyed Earth. Kids are taken into special military programs for training and tactics from a very young age. From that group the "best and brightest" are taken from Earth to train in a more exclusive environment under direct military supervision on a spaceship closer to the alien homeworld. The goal is to train better commanders to lead Earth's fleet in the cosmic war against the bug-like aliens. Ender is one of the special ones and his brother and sister were both "special", but withdrew from the program for extreme violence (brother) and too much kindness/empathy (Sister). Ender is the perfect blending of the two and a natural leader, etc. The story follows him through the trainings preparing him to lead an invasion against the alien homeworld to hopefully end the war and keep Earth forever safe. Harrison Ford, who long ago gave up turning down work apparently, plays the General in charge of the training/recruiting program. He's the eternal hard-ass who does the "necessary" down and dirty things that other people aren't willing to do since it's essentially genocide. Somehow Ben Kingsley was convince of having a very minor role, in which he's excellent in (Standard). There's wayyyyy too much for a movie in here, but it does an alright job. It feels a little rushed, but it weighs in at almost two hours. Bottom Line: 6.9 out of 10. The book is probably much better, but this wasn't that bad. Great special effects and an interesting futuristic story with decent child actors makes this watchable. You may want to get on board since I'm pretty sure there will be some sequels getting stacked on to this one.

The Heat: Girl Buddy Cop's

Just in case the "buddy" cop movie with one who is by the book and the other a rogue wasn't beaten to death in the 80's we re-spawned the female version in 2013. Sandra Bullock= Straight laced FBI agent, Melissa McCarthy= Rough around the edges rogue. McCarthy is extremely foul-mouthed and that donates some cheap laughs along the way. Bullock is solid, of course, as the nerdy cop. What was really surprising was the supporting cast of Jane Curtain, Michael McDonald (in a pretty serious role), Michael Rappaport, and Marlon Wayans. I came in with VERY low expectations and was pretty pleased that it wasn't completely awful. Cheap laughs, some surprisingly well done serious moments, and a decent story with plenty of opportunity for side jokes that don't all tank left me pretty happy when it was all over. Bottom Line: 6.8 out of 10. If there's a PG-13 version, don't watch that one. It needs the horrible language to pull you through the boring parts. It's worth a rental, but WAYYYY down the list with all the great stuff that just came out.

The Lone Ranger

Knowing that nobody spoke of this highly, I still watched the Lone Ranger. The story is told from Johnny Depp's perspective as Tonto, though he is currently an old man on display in a museum talking to a kid in a Lone Ranger mask. The story goes through the "freeing" of a prisoner from a train who Tonto is trying to kill, the train crashing, the prisoner being brought back to justice by the Lone Ranger's brother, the "Freeing" again of the same asshole, but this time they kill everyone, except the LONE RANGER. He is dug out by Tonto and their journey begins together. It's pretty ridiculous WAY too much of the time. They do fabricate an interesting story around the bad guys and connect them, which actually surprised me. THe movie just has too much going on and it really didn't hold my attention. I'm amazed this thing got put through with Armie Hammer as the lead, but he's just one of the many things wrong with this pile of shit. Bottom Line: 4.1 out of 10. Tons of money thrown into this thing, but you don't understand how it's possible to suck so badly. Don't watch, it's simply not worth it.

All is Lost: A.K.A. Robert Redford's Sailing Trip

All is Lost got a lot of publicity when Redford was nominated for Best Actor. The film is ALL about him out on the ocean in a sailboat. It follows him for two weeks, or so, and follows the downward spiral of what can all happen when you're BY YOURSELF sailing in the middle of AN OCEAN! It should come as no surprise to anyone that things start going badly. I'm frankly amazed that all of the "stunts" were done by Redford (He's 77!!). There are no frills except the sunset on the ocean. It's just a boat and Redford. He says very little and really is the entire movie. His emotions and struggles are it. It's like a Survivorman episode with better film equipment and more supplies. Redford deserves a ton of credit, so I'm glad he got a nomination on it. Bottom Line: 7.3 out of 10. I really wasn't an enormous fan of watching Redford struggle with the ocean for two hours. It's impressive, but I really didn't dig it a ton. Worth watching when it's on TV for free sometime in the near future, but not worth running out for.

We're The Millers

We're the Millers is the fun tale of a drug dealer, stripper, high school nerdy kid, and a runaway and how they band together to smuggle drugs from Mexico into the good 'ol U.S.A. I do like Jason Sudekis, so that helps. Jennifer Aniston is gorgeous, Emma Roberts is too, so all these things help. The story is a little crazy, but it plays out well and is not far-fetched enough to bother you a ton. The back & Forth banter is pretty solid and really the highlight of the film. The insults are quick and fun and everything moves along at a nice pace. Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) and Kathryn Hahn really are awesome bit characters when the story starts to drag and they help pick it back up and move it along. The outtakes are excellent and certainly worth a look. Bottom Line: 7.8 out of 10. Funny people with a good script that are allowed some room to work and improvise= a good movie. It's certainly worth a rental, or possibly buying since the extras are pretty solid. You're going to laugh, that's very likely.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I jumped on the bandwagon following the advice of critics and fans alike on Rotten Tomatoes and saw the new Capt. America movie. FIrst off, make sure to re-watch the first one. I forgot pretty much everything and, though it wasn't extremely important, there were some things you'll want a refresher on. The movie takes place in the present, C.A. is trying to stay fit and active, he's an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, but disgruntled, and Black Widow is still his Wing-woman. He isn't happy with S.H.I.E.L.D. witholding information, etc. from him and Nick Fury remains the same guy he always has been. Things take awhile to get crazy, but they certainly go batshit insane, and it's pretty cool. I can't throw any spoilers, but the chaos is pretty cool. Sam Jackson, ScarJo, Chris Evans, and Cobie Smulders (ROBIN SCHERBOTZKY from HIMYM!) are joined by Anthony Mackie of Hurt Locker fame and Sebastian Stan playing the WINTER SOLDIER, a relative unknown who I thought was excellent. Cast is solid, story was unique and pretty cool actually. It still had a few moments where you can't help but question them, like all action/superhero movies, but thre aren't too many and they are manageable. I recommend not reading much/watching trailers beforehand. There could be potential spoilers you'll want to avoid, though I feel like it did a pretty good job of avoiding that. Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. Probably higher than I'd normally put it, but it was a refreshingly unique story off the old tales of Capt. America that I was surprised about, so I was entertained for 2.5 hours and that warrants a pretty high rating. I didn't see it in 3D, but I can't imagine it making a big difference. It's worth seeing in theatres if you're looking to go see something since most other things currently playing aren't too special.

Rush- Why didn't Ron Howard Advertise More?

Rush is the story of two Formula One driver's (and previously Formula 3 & 2 driver's, which I never knew existed before this movie) and their incredible fued and rivalry for the 1976 Championship. It's just awesome in terms of realism (I presume) and story. It surprised me that I'd never heard the names James Hunt or Niki Lauda, but this movie certainly glorifies them to new heights. Perhaps it's from a different time, or because it's a more European sport, but I've never heard of either driver before. The acting is very solid and as I said before, the story is dynamite. Hunt is perfect for Hemsworth and relatively uncelebrated Daniel Bruhl is very good in his role as UBER serious Lauda. I knew this movie got rave critic reviews and struggled at the box office, but I still knew very little about it other than it was about Formula One racing. The fact that it's based on a true story just makes it SO much better. I learned some things about Formula One during the 70's and in general. I enjoyed everything about the movie and ended up being surprised it didn't catch more fanfare. Bottom Line: 8.7 out of 10. Very solid movie that tells an incredibly interesting, yet unknown story about sports, which everyone always loves (Air Bud, am I right?) I recommend renting, or even buying it, since I'm fairly sure it's going to be very affordable shortly, if it isn't already. I paid $7 at Family Video for the blu-ray, so that's the way to go.

Later How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM)

I became invested in How I Met Your Mother in my early college years when the show first began. My friend Evan mentioned it was awesome and worth watching, I eventually caught an episode and bought in, HARD. I've been on the wagon for the whole time. I blended some concepts from other games and added my own to create a HIMYM drinking game. I've been a fan for quite awhile due to the amazing fact that the show would juggle great comedy with some crushing drama. It was an amazing balence of the two blended better than any show before. Real life events would happen and you really felt for the characters. It was a powerful drama disguised in an excellent comedy. The talent came together beautifully as the show reinvented NPH (Neal Patrick Harris), gave "The Flute Girl" from American Pie a steady job (Alyson Hannigan) that worked around her pregnancies (or pregnancy, not sure), created a rising starlet in Cobie Smulders, aided to Jason Seigel's meteoric comedy rise, and gave us Josh Radnor. It reintroduced Bob Saget to our living rooms as THE NARRATOR, where he excels. You bought into them being great friends for nine years and explained how people band together in a new city and become family. It was beautiful. It kind of fell of the tracks at certain points, but always rallied with great blockbuster episodes to keep you in. The last season was pretty disappointing though. The signature heart was there, but severely muted. The last episode seemed rushed, covering wayyy too much ground in an hour where the rest of the season encompassed only 3 days. There wasn't the touching cast remembering moments segment that made me love the Office final, and this show NEEDED something like that. We became emotionally invested in the characters, and it kind of felt like the rug was pulled out, though the ending was pretty touching. I once again have to recommend binge watching this excellent ensemble comedy on Netflix as soon as possible. It really was unique and great in a ton of aspects and through 8 seasons. It added "Slapbet", "Legen, wait for it... DARY", "Slutty Pumpkin", and so much more to our vernacular. I'll miss my Monday night fix, that is a fact. So, tip of the cap to you HIMYM, thanks for the memories. Bottom Line: 9.5 out of 10. It's a high rating, but it was a GREAT show in a tough genre that often sees shows struggling in the ratings get jettisoned. Glad CBS and the cast stuck with it for as long as they did.

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I checked in with Hobbit Part 2 today after hearing I really needed to see if in theatres vs. at home. I was pretty skittish after the first one, which was pretty childish and boring for the most part. This movie has a couple childish moments, but it's a lot better and worth watching at the cheap seats for $3.00 if you have one around. I can certainly see where having it in 3D would have been phenomenal, but the big screen was also a treat. Smaug is finally introduced like two hours in, but it's a treat. He's a real mastery of 3D and Benedict Cumberbatch, though his voice is a little over-indulged/out-tuned sadly. You already had a great product, why mess with it? In any case the story progresses nicely, especially with the addition of the elves to the fighting mix. This is much closer to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy than the first one. My recommendation is to check this one out, even if you didn't like the first one. Bottom Line: 8.1 out of 10. This is really a great blend of CGI and acting that's a much better effort than the first one. Check it out while it's still in some theatres if possible.

Friendly Remembrance

Cpl. Nick Anderson may be just another star on the wall somewhere, but he was one of Sauk Prairie's finest. Nick and I were acquainted since Kindergarten, a fact that in a small town never escapes you. He was always the friendly face and a smile walking through the halls, and later always a great person to talk to just for the pleasure of conversation. My class wasn't adverse to suffering, we lost two people in the class above us and one two classes ahead of us, so we knew the pain of losing people close to us at a tragically young age, but before 2005 we avoided such painful days in our own class of 2003. That year brought us a tragic loss of Nick, a great human being with so much to give to our world. Nick enlisted and had his Humvee/armored vehicle roll over during his time in Afghanistan. Looking back I always had only the fondest memories or Nick as the always friendly face to say "hi" to in the halls, or have a few quick words with because we'd known each other for so long. It was really sad I never knew Nick better than that. I see all the facebook remembrances and it bothers me we weren't more than just really friendly acquaintances. He was just a great guy who left this world way too soon. That Summer we followed that tragedy with Andy Roelke, who died in a tragic motorcycle accident. I was playing tennis no more than two blocks from where it occurred, when it occurred. Another great person I grew up playing soccer with and exchanging friendly talks and greetings with was also gone. I attended both funerals knowing that both people meant a lot to me, even though they weren't my closest friends, they were a part of my life that I always appreciated. It's always a reminder that really good people pass through your life without you getting to know the best of them. It's sad that these great men were both gone short of their 21st birthdays, it's a real tragedy. The real moral is you don't know when it will happen to you, or the people you care about most, so always honor those lost and keep your friend's/family as close as you can. I carry memories of these great people with me always knowing that any day could be your last. Cherish your friends, even if they aren't the people you always talk to, or in your closest circle. I know I missed out on furthering my knowledge and friendship with a couple of great people and I feel we should always push to live in the present to capture as much as we can with the special people surrounding us in the now. I usually don't use this for a preaching forum, but I was really compelled on Nick's anniversary to talk about his loss and my regrets for not being a larger part of his life. It's impossible to ever go back, so it's important to learn and move forward knowing special people surround us and they should know how special they are to you.

300: Rise of an Empire

I ponied up and saw 300: Rise of an Empire in 3D since I figured that was the way to watch a bunch of dudes getting stabbed and hacked to pieces. The story actually takes place during the original 300's stand and 10 years before when the Athenians originally defeated Kind Dareus and killed him upon his first attempt at taking over Greece. The movie follows Athenian hero Themistocles (didn't check the spelling) who hit King Dareus with the most impossible arrow shot in movie history possibly and killed him. Artemista (played by Eva Green) is in charge of the Persian Navy and she convinces Prince, now King Xerxes after Dareus is dead, to invade Greece again. For some reason it takes ten years, but they get after it and crazy sea battles ensue. It's entertaining and has some impressive moments in 3D. It's a little crazy how easy some people have it in hacking 10 guys to pieces in a few seconds, but it's to be expected. I imagine it's more impressive in IMAX, but drop $15 at your own peril. Bottom Line: 6.7 out of 10. You know what you're getting in to, so it's easier to let blatently crazy shit not bother you as much. If you liked the original 300, you're probably going to like this one. Certainly wasn't disappointed in my $8 purchase.