Annie Hall

I decided to watch Annie Hall, which I think is my first Woody Allen film. I really don't enjoy his nervous jittery acting and humor. I'm kind of surprised this thing tracks at %98 on Rotten Tomatoes. It's not really that funny or much else. Diane Keaton does a pretty good job, Woody Allen is himself, but I suppose the writing is pretty decent. I don't know if it's outdated, or if I just can't get behind Woody Allen at all. Maybe the romantic comedy bone I don't have is an issue, but I just wasn't impressed on really any level. It won a slew of awards, I just don't understand how other than the fact that it came out in 1977 and it was unique and groundbreaking at the time. Getting to the actually film it is Allen's struggle with his relationship with Keaton's character. Bottom Line: 6.6 out of 10. Lacks humor and punch for my liking, but maybe it's because of a general disdain for romantic comedies, so this probably isn't accurate, so there's the disclaimer. I wasn't a fan of anything, but found Keaton's acting to be strong, but that's about all I can say I was impressed by. Random Fact: This was my 300th post, and that just seems crazy to me.

The Descendants

Now that eight movies get nominated for Best Picture every year, it's perhaps lost it's luster, but I still felt like it meant something. I'm a George Clooney fan and figured it was on HBO, so why the hell not? This was a 1.75 hour long stomach punch, only the pain was slow release. It was simply unimpressive for the most part. They have the beautiful backdrop of Hawaii to rely on, but that's about the only part that I enjoyed. There's a great cast of people you'll recognize, but I found it unspectacular. Matt Lillard, Clooney, and Shailene Woodley (the real star of this) carry it, but only so far. The story is Clooney's wife gets in a boating accident that causes her to be in a coma. Clooney is forced to face the reality that he isn't very close to his daughter's and knows very little about their lives, or his wife's. He attempts to carry everyone through the tragedy as it a lot of things unfold all around him. It really missed me on all levels, but apparently other people like it. Bottom Line: 6.6 out of 10. Saved by a good cast, I really felt no connection to the story.

In Bruges

I heard a lot of good things about In Bruges, but never really actively pursued it until it was on one of the movie channels. It's the very unique story of two hitmen who have been sent away to Bruges, Belgium to hide-out after committing a murder. The story slowly releases itself as a few more characters are released, but it's a very small, good cast. Headlined by Colin Farrell in a role he's very good at, playboy hitman smart-ass. The best performance is from Brendan Gleeson and it's not even close. Forever endeared to me by being Hamish in Braveheart, he excels as the gay, sensitive hitman enjoying his mini-vacation in Bruges. Ralph Fiennes rounds out the cast as the boss of the hitmen and a few other minor characters arise, but I digress. The two hitmen (Farrell & Gleeson) have two extremely different views of Bruges. Farrell detests it, likening it to purgatory, where Gleeson enjoys the majestic archetecture and rich history. They sight-see, tour a little, Farrell meets a local girl he likes because she's hot and it's like they are the odd couple and hilarity ensues. I don't want to reveal anymore of the plot, but it gets dark and serious in a hurry. Excellent, unique story and a great cast are plenty to carry this. Amazing cinematography using the natural and historical beauty of Bruges tops it all off nicely. Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. Well done all the way around and I'd recommend spending a couple bucks and renting this one. It's a quick 1.5 hours and certainly worth watching to a movie fan.

Looper

I was really happy to see Looper this weekend because originality is severely lacking in Hollywod these days. The premise is that around 2070 time travel is invented, but illegal and very limited. Powerful crime syndicates use time travel to send criminals and whoever else back to 2038 to be killed by "Loopers". They know the time & place, they shoot the person and dispose of them. In the future you can't dispose of bodies. In any case the looper gets paid and goes about their business until they shoot themselves and "close the loop", then they have 30 years to live a priviliged life of wealth and happiness. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has his future self come back, Bruce Willis, to try to change the future by assassinating a mysterious "Rainmaker" while he's a child, it gets dark and ugly in a hurry. Willis has limited information to go on, but will save his wife if he finds and kills this kid, so he's focused. Excellent acting, a very good story, and violence normally makes for a good movie, this is no different. DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM IF THE THOUGHT OF DEAD CHILDREN IS CRIPPLING AND EXTREMELY BAD FOR YOU. It's awful, but a part of the story. Friendly head's up, but if you gut it out it's a very solid film. Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. It hits some slow parts, child murder is a horrific thing, but the strong story and cast make for an excellent overall film.

Parks and Recreation

Parks and Rec continues to get stronger. Great ensemble cast that's happy to stay together headlined by Nic Swardson and Amy Poehler. The show keeps expanding and keeps getting better. Ron Swanson is unquestionably one of the best television characters ever as the ultimate man's man. He likes meat wrapped in meat. I don't think I've slurped this show yet, but it's a must see. Aziz Ansari, Rashida Jones, and Rob Lowe round out the people you know, but the unknowns are great. They play hilarious roles to perfection and make simple ideas HILARIOUS. If you have not joined this revolution, I highly recommend it. I'd be amazed if you don't enjoy this show. Very reasonably priced at Target, or Netflix the shit out of it. Great comedy.

Selfish Feel Good Post

I recently had the pleasure/privilege to go to two weddings of a couple of my great high school friends. The marriages were AWESOME, but selfishly the best part for me was to reunite with the friends you grew up with. As we walk through life and get older, you hopefully meet new people, make some new friends, etc, but something has to be said for the people that have known you since before South Park started. There's SO much love and comfort to be found within that group for me it's just amazing. It doesn't matter how much money you make, what you do for a living, how long it's been since you've seen them last, you just feel at home. I hope other people have been so blessed to have great people that have been with them since Kindergarten, or whenever that simply love you for who you are. Whenever I hear people complain about small town gossip I try to remember the beauty of living in a small town where people CARE enough to know how things are going. I was so honered when one of the parents simply said "You guys were the best class ever". I truly believed in those words in the sense that we've all had each other's back, or however you want to say it, since forever, and still do to this day. The other part of that was how close our parent's all became through our sports and other involvements. No parent ever worried when you went to someone's house because they knew each other and knew the care you would be provided with. We resisted drinking, etc all throughout high school for the most part, just a rare feat in WI. We accomplished great things in sports, but made great strides as people too. This is just shamelessly trying to express the overwhelmingly warm and comforting feeling that was the last two Saturday's. It's so hard to put in words. It's just a beautiful thing.

Our Country Sucking

I don't care which side of the political fence you reside on, this has been a BRUTAL stretch for everyone. Negative doesn't begin to talk about how ugly things have gotten. On 9/11 I was reminded of a horrific event that actually brought us together as a nation. We got behind something, the United States of America. We all want more money in our pockets at the end of the day. We all want less national debt and to feel safe and secure at home. Why are the simplicities that bring us together naturally as human beings is completely overshadowed by how we are forced into one of two political parties that form a giant wedge between us. There are substantial things that differentiate people into Republicans and Democrats, but the utter failure to even attempt to work together on basic things is painful. Neither party is infaliable and their hatred for each other is awful and embarassing. I'd like to get united behind something and if tragedy no longer works, let's figure something else out. United we stand, divided we fall. Such a simple saying that keeps ringing true.

Salvador

Going based on the 1001 Moves You Must See Before You Die book, I watched Salvador and was VERY impressed. Oliver Stone directed, James Woods and Jim Belushi and the most notable stars, though you'll see some familiar faces throughout. Stone shows his contempt for our government's involvement in foreign affairs throughout, but he certainly has a point. The story of El Salvador is one I was not familiar with at all, but through this you see a run of the mill(sadly)puppet government we back and put in place because they hated communism. They terrorize their own people, commit acts of genocide, and run their country into the ground. Woods is just outstanding as the sleazy/skeezy and disgraced journalist Richard Boyle. He scratches and claws a gig to El Salvador to document yet another uprising. It shows the crazy life of the photojournalist during war. There's a handful of these war horses that all know each other and follow these bloody wars. It's a real strange fraturnity of insanity. Boyle boozes and slides by, until things get really ugly. It becomes an hour long punch in the stomach when the war torn country slides deeper into violent insurrection. It's just painful and horrific imaginery and events are throw at you, then moved away from so casually it's tragic. I really, for some reason, like the movie throughout. Bottom Line: 8.6 out of 10. Probably too high of a score, but I was very enthralled by this film. Woods is phenomenal and Stone's directing is fantastic. Really this movie should be seen if for no other reason than it's an interesting story people from my generation wouldn't know about as Reagan's support of various Central American dictators that created a decade-long kick in the bags for our global reputation.

Football Madness: Guilty

I'm playing in four fantasy leagues currently and co-chair (AKA I am the voice of wisdom and drafted the team) to one of my brother's teams. I'm amazed at how much "water cooler" conversation is purely football related. I've been asked a LOT about all kinds of players, my feelings and thoughts on a HUGE variety of things, all related to FANTASY football. Nobody asks me about who I think is going to win the AFC East, or anything related to real football, but what round to draft Jimmy Graham or Rob Gronkowski has been brought up a few times. Gambling on individual games has been replaced by trying to run your own team of skill players. Outsmarting your friends in a competitive environment is always fun, but I'm still astounded at the popularity of fantasy football. Work leagues, friend leagues, random people leagues, auction, points per reception, TD only, 10 people, 12 people, 14 people, CRAZINESS. Football naturally has dominated fantasy sports due to the fact it's one game/week per team. Baseball is too long and time consuming, basketball isn't popular enough and is also time consuming. NASCAR and golf are easy and WAYYY more popular than I expected.

Where do fantasy sports go from here? Do they keep becoming more specific and adding new folds into the mix, or will the juggernaut subside at all? I have no clue where this blog is going, so I can't possibly answer that question, but I am VERY interested in it. I normally donate my money to the fantasy monster, but I'm all too willing every year to jump in on a multitude of leagues. I've bought into fantasy everything, I'm just curious as to what's keeping everyone out? Could we play fantasy muciscians? Touring + album sales + MP 3 sales or some equation. Celebrity death pools? There's something for everyone, GET INTO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No idea where this one came from.

Bourne Legacy: It's not Damon-y

I saw the new Bourne movie last week and I didn't want to post about it until I saw it again because I honestly fell asleep during a part of the beginning, so I felt bad not knowing the full movie. Renner is another Bourne agent that, standard, the CIA tries to kill in Alaska (or somewhere shitty cold because I was asleep). They fail, he gets angry and needs his medication to keep going. The lab they manufacture the chemicals at is attacked by one of the chemists who kills everyone except Rachel Weisz. Renner gets to her house ASAP to recover her so he can get his chemicals and stay smart. That's the premise, he isn't trying to rectify wrongs, or get back his life, so it's not as good of a story right out the gates. Pam Landry is trying to get after the Treadstone/Brownbriar factions in court to get all the secrets out in the open. The bad men try to frame her as a traitor looking at things she doesn't understand above her pay grade. That doesn't go very far, Renner is very good in the action scenes and overall, but he's not Damon. It progresses the story, I do need to watch it again after checking out the Bourne Ultimatum to really get the feel for it.

Bottom line: 7.2 out of 10. It's still good and I feel like I would've enjoyed it more if I didn't miss parts, but it isn't as good as the other Bourne movies, that is apparent.