MI:4 =Ghost Protocol

I really enjoyed this film. I figured I'd check it out after I read a 3 1/2 star review, and I wanted to see an entertaining film as well. Very solid cast highlighted by Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, and Jeremy Renner. Cruise doubles as an amazing stuntman climbing around the tallest building in the world like it was a play-toy. Paula Patton does very well in the first movie I've seen her in. I can't say enough about Cruise doing stunts that VERY few other legitimate stars would do. It's an amazing effort, and I'm not a real big Tom Cruise fan generally. The story line follows Cruise and his team attempting to get to Soviet launch codes before a rogue extremist "Cobalt" gets his hands on them. Inevitably things get completely fucked up and "Ghost Protocol" is enacted, meaning the U.S. Government has disavowed any knowledge or dealings with MI: 6. It's an entertaining action movie, but it really controls the ridiculous factor and doesn't get too out of hand with insane stunts that lack any hint of reality. Entertained you will be, I'd say the 2nd best of the MI series.

Bottom Line: 7.6 out of 10. Very solid and entertaining. Great story and cast that carry along effortlessly. You certainly don't feel like you've been there for 2 hours watching a film. I'd check it out in theaters, it's worth a watch.

So you're saying there's a chance?

So now the steroids setback with Braun has become insanely convoluted and we may actually have some sort of season to look forward to, if Greinke screws his head back on straight and decides to buck up, or we trade him for Hanley Ramirez. I really felt like Braun was done for and that meant the Brewers were done for, at least 50 games of struggling to score a couple runs awaited us. I really believe this will still somehow not work out and Braun will face a 50-game suspension, but how is baseball getting private medical tests that they should have no sort of access to? That's a frightening, strange occurrence that ESPN should have never ran with, but that will never stop them. Real journalism is pretty well gone and a quick quote from some cousin twice removed or some bullshit source throws something out there, I'm thinking there should be a little more fact checking involved.

Side note: I'm in a fantasy basketball league that I am struggling to get through. I realize most of my basketball knowledge isn't up to par, but this season is set to be a mess. Back-to-back-to-back games crushed into a 66-game shortened schedule means a lot of the old horses of war (Looking at you Timmay) are going to be hurting quite a bit and missing time. I went with a youth movement which at one point had Amare Stoudemire as my oldest player, currently that crown rests with Mo "Chewbacca" Williams. Check this out, offer some advice if you feel up to it: Russell Westbrook, Amare Stoudemire, John Wall, Eric Gordon, Andrew Bynum, Demarcus Cousins, Andray Blatche, David West, Stephen Jackson, Tyler Hansborough, Nic Batum, Trevor Ariza, Brandon Knight, Ed Davis, Mo Williams. Rotisserie scoring, thinking assists & assist to turnover ratio is going to be hurting, but I like the youth and expect more than a few breakouts from that squad. Roster pick-up ideas are encouraged if y'all have some ideas.

Steroids, the New Vitamin C

Upon the recent news Ryan Braun just punched every Brewer fan in the back of the skull testing positive for some substance MLB has banned, I've taken the approach that everyone is guilty, some are just better at hiding it. If you just assume everyone is taking PED's (Performance Enhancing Drugs for people who aren't sports junkies) it's easier to not want baseball to burn in it's own flaming hell. Somehow the sports is growing in popularity despite Bud Selig being ugly, old, and behind the times. Was blissful ignorance the best way to go about things? I don't think so, but I really hate watching the ensuing shit-show of positive tests we are privy to. A-Rod, Manny, Big Papi, and Bruan are perennial fan favorites and legitimate superstars who aren't smart enough to dodge testing, or good enough to not have to use PED's. For whatever reason each one of these megastars have decided to juice up and roll the dice. Braun is the most painful for me, not only because I'm a Brewer fan, but he was so young and promising. This will follow him for the rest of his career and life. Who knows if people forgive/forget with time, but currently that steroid tag is keeping a shit-ton of great baseball players out of the Hall of Fame, all hatred for the voting fuckfaces aside.
He cripples a small market franchise for 50 games, or enough to severely fuck them if they can't score runs. This is the last year this team is a contender, and that's with two enormous holes to fill at 1B (more importantly the clean-up spot) and SS. Aramis Ramirez was an enormous signing, but without Braun or Fielder I fail to see it having a huge impact. Hopefully they can tread water for 50 games and stay above .500 and turn it on with a healthy Braun for the last 112 games, but if things start going South there's going to be a fire sale on Grienke and Marcum probably and the Brewers will be a few years from being much of anything unless lightning strikes twice and they find willing traders of quality pitching.
Not sure how Ramirez is going effect Taylor Greene being on the club, but I was a fan of Greene. Compact, quick swing, and pretty athletic. Not sure on his outfield/first baseman ability, but I liked his swing and hope he can turn into a productive player ASAP.
Braun is the villain for now as details will come to light and blame will be thrown around. Damage isn't done for sure, but nobody has won an appeal. I'd like for someone to admit it was their urine and lay on this grenade for us, but since that isn't possible or feasible, we probably just witnessed the failure of our only legitimate shot to win the World Series in my lifetime, last year being excluded.

Baseball Hall of Fame Voters- Unfuck yourselves

Ron Santo has been denied the Hall of Fame for the last 27 years. The year after he passes away, he's in the Hall of Fame, voted in by the same fucking clown shoes shitheaded idiots who've denied him the last 26 years. Did Santos start playing again at 70 and improve his stats in 2010? NOPE, he just died, and for some reason rather than letting a lifetime "baseball man" and damn fine player in THE HALL when he could enjoy it while alive with his family and friends, some other player gets to eulogize him for a Hall of Fame speech. It fucking sickens me. Buck O'Neil had the privilege of announcing 17 Negro League players into the Hall of Fame in 2006, but he didn't get in, he fell short of the needed votes, though posthumously he got THE FUCKING PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM for his efforts. Anyone see an issue here? These fucking idiots who never played baseball sit in a luxurious room with fine wines and smell the farts from one another while pontificating and acting better than everyone else. They have no real code or standards, just bullshit and people they like, or don't like. Mark Mcguire played in a steroid littered era and admitted using androstenidine (something like that), which was legal, but he's not in the hall despite worthy numbers due to his steroid use, yet felonies and violent racism isn't enough to keep people out of The Hall. The Era they played in and the stats provided should be the major determining factor. You shouldn't need a fucking media campaign to get voted into The Hall like Bert Blyleven. Shameless begging and pandering hasn't gotten Pete Rose in, who played the game as hard as anyone and left the career hits leader among a litany of other accomplishments, but HOLY SHIT, he gambled on baseball games while being a manager and 26 years later he hasn't learned his lesson or been forgiven. He should plan on being put into the ground before he gets in, so hopefully he selects someone to give a good speech on his behalf. Fuck the Voters and expand the veterans committee before I run around beating the shit out of writers I find out have voting rights.

General Summary: Each voting cycle, qualified members of the BBWAA name no more than 10 eligible players whom they consider worthy of Hall of Fame honors. To be enshrined, a player must be named on at least 75% of the voters' ballots. Currently, players are removed from the ballot if they are named on fewer than 5% of ballots or have been on the ballot 15 times without election.

Qualified my fucking ass.

Adjustment Bureau

Matt Damon kicks some ass as a NY politician who is running for Senate. He meets a girl in a bathroom after losing the election of 2006, they kiss, he becomes infatuated with her, but can't be with her because men in hats tell him he can't. They tie together religion in an interesting fashion with the "Adjustment Bureau" because essentially they are angels who lead you into decisions and make sure "the right things happen". Excellent cast and a good, unique story that we never get these days. Damon is great as always and nobody else disappoints on any level. I was a big fan of this movie. It's dynamic and combines action with a love story. It's so rare we get something unique and decent, it was refreshing.

Bottom line: 7.7 out of 10. Really worth a rental or it's currently running on HBO.

Contagion

I was excited about Contagion because watching Gwyneth Paltrow die an agonizing death made me joyous. Contagion became like Outbreak where an unknown disease comes to our borders. Contagion is really interesting and has a strong ensemble cast including Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Lawrence Fishbourne, Elliot Gould, and previously stated target of my hatred Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow comes back from a business trip to Hong Kong with flu-like symptoms, but ends up dying two days later. Other people start dying who were exposed, an epidemic ensues, this is the story of how it gets contained and treated in essentially real-time. I was a big fan, though the bouncing from story to story got a little old because I wanted a greater focus on Fishbourne and the CDC, but the other characters are interesting enough to not ruin the movie. It gives a little bit of a worldly view of the outbreak, I just don't care about Hong Kong villages as much as I should perhaps. I love the inside look at the CDC and damage control during crazy times. Fishbourne is rock solid in his role as CDC director. He's the best part of the film as he deals with the various bombs getting dropped all around him. This was better than expected and worth a viewing.

Bottom Line: 7.0 out of 10. Worth a rental, or if you live in the Madison area, a viewing for $3 at Market Square on Odana (I probably should get sponsored by them...) I can't imagine anyone being disappointed as this movie maintains tension and a general sense of unease and excitement throughout.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I saw this at the cheap seats for $3, so I didn't go in with a lot of risk here. This film attempts to explain how the previous Planet of the Apes films are possible. I like how it tries to make it possible for monkeys to become smarter, it's not too crazy. James Franco is a scientist possessed to find a cure for Alzheimer's because his dad (John Lithgow) suffers severely from it. His company tests on monkeys, monkeys get violent and need to be put down, Franco can't put down an infant ape who was born with the chemical in their bloodstream so he sneaks it home and treats it like his own child. Ape attacks a man who attacks John Lithgow, gets thrown in an ape prison of sorts (Brian Cox of course runs it) and is mistreated. He trains the other apes, breaks out, exposes them to the chemical to make them smart (Alzheimer's Cure) which Franco has now produced in gas form because liquid form wouldn't combine with his dad's tissue for an extended period of time. Ape's get smart, escape, run wild and piss me off. If anyone can explain to me how ape's can overrun a SWAT team with guns without getting shot to shit reasonably, maybe I would have cared about this film. I made no emotional attachment to the ape-baby thing, so the movie didn't work for me. Franco and the cast is solid, story is respectable, I just got pissed when apes are lightening quick, bulletproof demons. It was preposterous.

Bottom Line: 6.1 out 10. You can watch it when it's free, just don't expect to be wowed by really anything.

Penn State- YICK

I stand on the outside of this for the most part because everything about this pisses me off. I am one of the few that finds the blame heaped on Joe Paterno as unwarranted and unfair. I will throw about some arguments that you may or may not agree with, but I feel without question his departure was unceremonious and unfair. Before I argue for him he spent 46 years at that University making it something. He donated over $5 million dollars in the last 10 years to build a library and hospital. I really think Paterno has done more for Penn State than any other man has done for any other University in history. On to the uncomfortable stuff.

Paterno is a head football coach and at the time in question he was 70-something years old. A graduate assistant says, with NO conviction or specific graphic language, that your colleague and probably close friend of over 30 years was doing something in the shower with a boy. Paterno goes to his A.D. & the campus police with the knowledge, which underwent two investigations that NEVER became a case tragically, and when nothing becomes of it that's the end for him. He's not a detective, crusader, or anything besides a 70 year old football coach. McQuery deserves the most ire for his failure to better portray what he saw into something meaningful. He's the witness, the person who actually saw a sexually perverse act, but somehow failed to convince anyone of it's seriousness. His wholesale failure is the issue. The scorched earth policy of condemning other people is a bullshit cop-out by the University to distance themselves from something they completely failed to deal with. Universities will try to handle things are their own instead of jumping to the police, my sister explained that to me about the situation following her three years stint as a Hall Director & her husbands experience with campus security. Paterno went up the chain of command, passed his limited knowledge to those in power to do their jobs. Paterno is the biggest name, so he gets the biggest blame.

A group of trustees and gutless assholes decided to use this to finally get him out the door. They wanted him out in 2004 but Paterno refused to resign. His life is so intertwined to Penn State I feel like he can't live without it. He's given more years of his life to Penn State than anyone reading this has lived. To think he'd do anything to bring shame to the school makes no sense. I don't understand how anyone could want him to do more than what he did. He took the limited information he had to the people he was supposed to and they failed the victims, just like McQuery failed the victims. Paterno has no reason to get crucified on this. There were 50 other people who have more blame than Paterno, but this gets heaped on him to force him to stop coaching football to save the University his salary, but to lose their souls. Penn State is fucked either way, now they are fucked and without honor or loyalty. Rolling over on Paterno solves nothing and proves nothing. Salinsky will still burn in hell and prison for the rest of his days, Penn State will suffer in recruiting and enrollment for the foreseeable future, and Joe Paterno will still be involved in trying to make Penn State better even after it threw him on a grenade that they pulled the pin on.

The Rite- It's Alright

Being a fan & genuinely frightened by exorcism and demonic possession (and Anthony Hopkins) I felt like I needed to give The Rite a shot. The central character is a non-believer going through school to become a Priest because it's a free education and what his family (Dad) wants it. He has a creepy past of working in his dad's mortuary and it's creepy. He questions God & his purpose, but with a few threats from the Montsenior he goes to Rome to learn about exorcism. While in school the friend of the Montsenior sets him up with Anthony Hopkins who is a living legend of exorcism. He starts treating patients suffering from demonic possession, most notably a pregnant lady probably raped by her father. Young guy thinks she not possessed, but psychological trauma is causing her problems and Hopkins refutes that by having him witness crazy shit. It's pretty decent effects and creepy acting. The mood and setting is great, good use of lighting. Pretty good acting, Hopkins is excellent. The movie hits a fever pitch when Hopkins is possessed and pretty much terrifying. His possession is the best part, but WAYYYY too short. It ends way too quickly rather than reaping the benefits of a crazy Hopkins who is genuinely scary.

Bottom line: 6.4 out of 10. I'd recommend it. I watched it On Demand and it's totally worth it for Hopkins alone.

Ides of March

Ides of March is a story about the political machine in America. Trying to elect a man President involves shady back-dealings and side deals. Ryan "Baby Goose" Gosling is the up and coming superstar in campaign planning. He's #2 to the wise old hand of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. George Clooney is the can't miss Democratic party candidate who is running neck and neck with some other schmuck. Other schmuck is lead by the craft Paul Giamotti and political dealings and and craziness ensue. All mixed up in this is the cute intern played by a pretty blond chick I'm too lazy to look up. Gosling is doing mad work for Clooney who should be doing great, but the Republicans are voting for the other schmuck so they have a better chance to win the upcoming election. Things take a crazy turn when Giamotti attempts to seduce Gosling to his campaign calmly telling him that he's on the wrong team and that they will win Ohio and NC, wrapping up the election. Gosling starts banging hot intern, hot intern bagged Clooney and got knocked up in an amazingly short timeline by him. Everything goes into crazy tailspin mode and it's pretty good. Very solid acting all around, but the story is frankly pretty boring and lacks suspense and action. Certainly worth watching when it's nice and cheap/free for you.

Bottom Line: 7.3 out of 10. Very solid movie through and through. Big fan of Clooney directing and the great ensemble cast he put together.