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.

White House Down

I jumped into this garbage after seeing a higher than expected 4 stars on Netflix & 6.5 on IMDB. This follows the story of Gerard Butler's character on his journey from being on the President's security detail to working at the Treasury, to becoming Rambo and America's greatest hero. I'm going to, rather than do a review, tell you where this movie pissed me off and got me to not care. In the first 10 minutes the President's motorcade is driving too fast on a cliff in Winter and the First Lady dies when Gerard Butler saves the President, but not the First Lady. Apparently this makes the President no longer his buddy, so he is put in a different department doing security on the Library, Treasury, or something like that. Where I pretty much lost all interest and started making fun of the movie and cursing at it is when the attack on the White House starts. The Korean's some how have an American plane equipped with video game gatling guns that are independent and utterly ridiculous. The plane SHOOTS DOWN two jets escorting it with the video game machine guns, then strafes the White House for awhile firing bullets into everyone and everything. It avoids some anti-aircraft fire by deploying more chaffe than 20 planes have. After that bullshit we have 30 Koreans take over the White House, which I could write a paper on how ridiculous it was. The military takes forever to get to THE WHITE HOUSE mind you, and is completely useless. From there Butler takes out basically all the Koreans himself in a preposterous hour of insanity and stupidity. I didn't understand how anyone could like this movie, but I have a low tolerance for ridiculousness in action movies and this hit the limit quickly. To enjoy the movie, ignorance must truly be bliss. Bottom Line: 3.9 out of 10. Even the CGI is crap. This really has few redeeming qualities other than laughing at a lot of the ridiculousness.

House of Cards: Season 2

House of Cards is perfectly tailered for Netflix. It seems like it belongs on HBO, but I love being able to rip through as many episodes as I want to without waiting until the next week. If True Detective were on Netflix I would've ran through all episodes in one sitting, possibly would have bought diapers so I wouldn't have to move... In any case House of Cards Season 2 jumps in at a break-neck pace and rarely slows down. It's a political drama/thriller that moves at such a crazy pace you can't question if everything happening even makes sense. Your inability to think about why that person would go along with almighty Frank Underwood's plan (Kevin Spacey's character) helps out a lot. Robin Wright is just incredible. Not being an enormous fan of her, or really knowing a lot of her work, I can still guarantee this is the best she's ever done. Everyone is excellent, but Spacey and especially Wright are phenomenal. The show follows the twists, turns, plots, and schemes of their fake White House. It's pretty awesome and I can't recommend catching up on Season 1 and then plowing into season 2. Bottom Line: Up there with True Detective and Breaking Bad as the best drama in television

Olympic Love

On the eve of the 2nd week of the Winter Olympics I can hopefully say goodbye to all the figure skating and welcome in more curling, hockey, skiing, etc. Olympic hockey is just fantastic. Larger rinks, less stopages, and giant all-star teams assembled with national pride on the line. It's like if everyone played balls out in the all-star game, which nobody ever does. It's just wonderful and I highly recommend it. I was watching the replay of the USA vs. Russia game to just relive how great that game was and hanging on every shot of the shoot-out and how much fun it was. T.J. Oshie said something just wonderful after the game when he was called a hero, he simply said "The heroes in our country were camoflague and that's not me". All Oshie did was individually go 4-6 in the shootout and with the help of goalie Jonathon Quick carried the USA to victory over Russia in Group Play. It's true the game didn't have immediate ramifications, but it was still special. I was cheering out loud hungover at 9am in the morning, it was special. Oshie hit on two goals that if he would have missed would have lost the game, so it was just gut-wrenching. That's why the Olympics are so special, there are moments where EVERYTHING hangs in the balence for your country. It was further heightened by my personal favorite announcer Dr. Mike Emrick, AKA "Doc". He is truly a national treasure and the best announcer around. I can't wait for the medal rounds where everything is even further heightened. I've also renewed my love of curling and still yearn to learn more about strategy. I can't help but be confused by watching Great Britain and Norway battle not understanding why GBR wouldn't try to put one on the button as they say where they would throw up blocking stones and not go after the middle. There are things I still need to learn, but I THOROUGHLY enjoy curling. I've also been watching skeleton, luge, skiing/snowboarding and bobsledding. I feel awful for Bob Costas knowing how he completely dominates the Olympics every 2 years, but his horrific eye infections leave him too ugly for HD. I miss Costas doing the NBA Finals and the World Series. It saddens me we're missing out on him just because NBC doesn't pony up the cash for the big events anymore. It's criminal actually. It's the same reason we get Jim Nantz for the NCAA Tournament and not Costas, Vitale, or anyone else not affiliated to CBS. It's not fair that we don't get to enjoy the best and brightest because of contractual obligations. I'm one of the only people I know who thoroughly enjoys the NBA and the All-Star game festivities. The rivalry of the East vs. West seems more real and serious than in years past. LeBron vs. Durant being the Marquee, but the more deep West vs. the front heavy East is also interesting. Having LeBron and Paul George playing together should be VERY interesting too, so there's a few things to watch for during the game. Hopefully they don't mail it in and fuck around for the first 3 quarters and try to pull something together in the 4th resembling real basketball. The game is much better than it was 10 years ago, or whenever the watershed moment that made people stop watching and like NCAA much more than NBA ball. If you're one of these people the game is much better and worth watching again, especially the playoffs. That's when things go up to 11 and quality is all over the place.

Fast 6 Furious 6: GO TO THE WELL

So clearly this franchise apparently just prints cash because they really should have stopped this train after the first one. I am not up on all the Fast & Furious movies, nor should I be as someone with dignity and self-respect (a shred at least), but there's your preface. This one finds us all over the globe as Tyrese is flying somewhere tropical with a bunch of women, LUDA is in a Spanish speaking country, Paul Walker is playing daddy somewhere and Vin Diesel is still in Brazil banging the hot police lady from the other 5 Fast 5 Furious movie. The asian dude and German lady are globe trotting all over and in love still apparently, forgot about them somehow... ANYWAY there's an amazing heist that could only be done by that crew since it's involving driving from Mario Kart and makes no sense. THE ROCK and newcomer Gina Carano round them up to help them because Ledy (Michelle Rodriguez) is still alive and rolling with the bad guys. Insanity ensues, one fight and race scene more insane than the next, until you no longer care who lives and dies or the story. Gina Carano was better than I thought, though that's based solely on her fighting and the fact I find her very attractive. The story probably holds together, but the instanity of the stunts and fights just gets old. That encompasses half the movie, so if your brain doesn't work and you don't mind impossible things happening constantly, you may enjoy this one. I can only focus on how many times everyone should have already died horribly as I watch. Bottom Line: 6.2 out of 10. If you liked the other movies, you're going to like this one. It was a bit much for me in all aspects really.

The World's End: AKA the Movie with the Shaun of the Dead guys, not Jonah HIll, etc.

SO this was Britain's answer to This is the End, or This is the End was AMURRICA'S response to The World's End, but there are some similarities clearly. In The World's End Simon Pegg (Red haired dude that's in a lot of stuff) plays "The King", a 40 something year old loser who can't get over, or past how cool he used to be. He arranges for his high school mates (friends for you Yanks) to make another run at "The Golden Mile", a 12 pub crawl across their hometown where you must down a pint at each one until you end at The World's End Pub and are declared God's, or some-such. They only make it 7 deep as 18-ish year olds, but somehow all 5 agree that as 40-something year olds it's a great idea. During the tour they notice things are a bit different and things keep getting stranger. I really wasn't an enormous fan and felt things moved extremely slow. There was a lack of jokes and the usual fun accompanying Simon Pegg's movies like this. I really don't want to point out all the shit that couldn't happen, etc, but it really was stupid and I didn't care about any of the characters, etc. Bottom Line: 4.1 out of 10. Sad I spent $3.45 for it online and I'll be donating it to pawn America of something soon.

The Internship: The UNRATED Version

The Internship I originally looked down upon baed on it's PG-13 rating. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson need to be in R-rated comedy where they can curse and explore the vulgarities of our language. The unrated version accomplishes that and more. I can't imagine seeing the PG-13 version now, and you shouldn't either. The movie follows Wilson and Vaughn as they are unceremoniously told they no longer have jobs selling watches where they've worked for YEARS. Now, they attempt to figure out their careers as the world has passed them by. Wilson starts a job selling mattresses when Vaughn tells him of an internship opportunity at Google, where they are going to bring their "old school" ways to new school technologies. There's obviously some cheap thrills along the way based on them being technologically stupid, but there's a lot of heart and comedy based on the strength of the characters. I really liked the movie and the unrated version really earns the tagline unrated, which is pretty awesome considering how rare that happens. It's a lot of fun with a lot of heart mixed in. Bottom Line: 7.9 out of 10. I enjoyed it a lot more than the rating it's generally tracking and I'm overjoyed to have bought it for $3 online. It's worth a viewing for some harmless fun.

Fruitvale Station

I went on a limb to buy Fruitvale Station because I heard great things and winning a bunch of stuff at Sundance generally means good things, and in this case it's spot on. It's Michael B. Jordan's show and he crushes it as a guy in Compton trying to get rid of his life of dealing and move on. He's got a girlfriend and daughter and a close knit family. You find yourself pulling for him and he tries to get his life together and move on. The film follows him the 24 hours before the Fruitvale Station "incident". It's really a character study on Oscar Grant and attempting to humanize him. The cast is fantastic and it will probably make careers for Jordan and Melonie Diaz. It's not extremely exciting, but it's just excellent. He goes from being a nice man to a beast at he flip of a switch. It's very interesting and I highly recommend it to all. Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. It's certainly worth watching however you come across it. I don't want to tell you too much about the film since I need to avoid spoilers of any kind. Soak this one in because you'll be seeing a lot more of these actors in the near future I'm guessing.

Black Sails, also a little Phillip Seymour Hoffman Talk

Black Sails is a pretty grandoise pirate show on Starz. I'm hoping it fills the Spartacus void for me, but it lacks the amazing sword play currently. It takes a rather realistic look into pirating and follows around a crew as they search for a grand Spanish ship carrying the King's gold to the tune of $5 million of whatever their currency is. I enjoy the time spent on shore on an island that accepts pirated goods that turns around the sells them to respectable merchants. It's very interesting to see how pirating may have worked. I'm currently a fan and I think it's going to get great when they are back on the seas hunting the treasure galleon. I don't know any of the actors by name, but I see a few familiar faces and they are all currently pulling their weight. It scares me how much the "cook" looks like Rafael Nadal, it's honestly bothering me. I think we're on to something good with this show and I'd put it on the DVR list if I were you. Phillip Seymour Hoffman died of a drug overdose and it's awful news. He was a rare talent who really could dominate a role. Capote was such an example, but he really BECAME the character. Everything he's in is just a great example of him becoming a role. I think when he goes back and forth with Meryl Streep in Doubt is just incredible acting on both ends (also Amy Adams is great). He was underappreciated in almost everything he was in. It's really too bad he was taken at just 46 years old from us. Drug abuse is really tragic and after he sought rehab I was hoping things were in the right direction for him, but clearly this was not the case. I recently purchased "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" to try to experience more of his work that I'm unfamiliar with. I know it's just going to futher sadden me about the loss of a great actor before his time. PSA- Stop fucking around with heroin everyone.