Crackle

Ferris Bueller

2012-01-26T16:28:00.000-06:00

I have a confession to make. Hold on to your hats. I have never seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I know, I know, everyone else in the world has seen this movie. I wasn't seeing many movies when this came out back in the '80s. Then it became a cult classic and I always thought I should see it just to get up to speed. But I still haven't gotten around to it. And now I have to see it sometime before the Super Bowl. Why, you ask?

Matthew Broderick is reprising his character from the movie in a commercial to air during the Super Bowl. Below is a trailer for the commercial. Yes, we have become a society that now gets excited to see a trailer for a commercial.

Behold!

Movie Review: Haywire

2012-01-23T11:37:00.002-06:00

It has been a while since I saw a movie. Then I saw two on Saturday. Well—one, actually. But I saw it twice. The wife was gone all day to girlie stuff: a tea party and a ballet. So I took the opportunity to go see Haywire at a matinee. I had heard about Gina Carano being a former MMA fighter and I thought this might lend a bit of realism to the action sequences.

I was not disappointed, but let’s start here: This is not your typical action movie. While this is Carano’s first entry into this genre, there were plenty of other well-known names, if not big stars. Michael Douglass, Antonio Banderas, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum. It was not pure non-stop action. It seemed more like a drama with action. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. The presentation was somewhat stylized. It lent a pleasant dramatic effect to the action sequences, particularly the chase scenes.

Let’s cover some of my pet peeves first. There are three things I hate in movies. The first and worst is rain at night. For some reason filmmakers love rain at night. They think it is making some grand statement. It is not. All it is doing is confusing the scene. Nothing I say will keep them from doing this but I absolutely hate it. That was not an issue with this movie but I just hate it so much that I had to include it. The next is “shaky cam.” I suppose filmmakers think this adds a sense of realism to fight scenes. Again, it doesn’t but they still think it does. It's real function seems to be covering up for poor fight choreography. This was the only bad thing about the Bourne movies, btw. Haywire contains a few brief “shaky cam” sequences which irritate me but, thankfully, they were short enough to not cause major problems. The third thing I hate is breaking glass in fight scenes. Why must this be a part of every fight sequence in film? Don’t you think that is just a bit overused? This first started to annoy me watching Steven Seagal films in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Every time two people get in a scuffle they have to be crashing through huge amounts of glass. Maybe filmmakers love the sound it makes. But let’s get real. How can you repeatedly slam someone’s face into glass shelves, vases, dishes, bottles, goblets, and such without seeing any blood? Get real. The only purpose this serves is to annoy. Just stop doing it. Okay? One of the fight scenes in a hotel room in Haywire has this breaking glass stuff. Aarrrgh!

Now I have told you everything negative about this film. Everything else about this movie was fantastic. Mallory Kane (Carano) works for an agency run by a man named Kenneth (Obi-Wan—oops!—I mean Ewan McGregor). Kenneth does contract work for messy situations people need fixed. Mallory is his star employee. So much so that people begin to request that she be part of a job or there will be no contract. Kenneth becomes concerned lest she leave his company and take his clients with her.

Kenneth gets a request for a job from two gentlemen named Coblenz (Douglass) and Rodrigo (Banderas). Rodrigo, it turns out, has ulterior motives. Coblenz I can’t figure out so you need to watch this and tell me what his role is. Anyway, Coblenz insists on Mallory as a condition of the contract. And since he is paying eight figures, he feels he should have some say in that matter. While Kenneth is surprised that Coblenz's concerns extend to personnel issues in his company, he agrees to free Mallory up. Naturally, she pulls off the job including tying up a loose end. That is why they like her.

Kenneth shows up at her place some time later to ask her to help with another job. She would be working with Paul, an MI6 agent (Fassbendor). This is where the intrigue begins as she is set up and barely gets away with her life. The rest of the film sees her running from bad guys or trying to track down the bad guys who set her up.

As I mentioned earlier, I was hoping that Carano’s MMA experience would lend realism to the fight scenes. Boy, did that come through in spades. The reason I saw this film twice was that when my wife arrived home she asked what I did. I told her I saw Haywire. She said she wanted to see it so I took her that evening. Her comment coming out of the movie was how realistic the fight scenes were compared to Angelina Jolie. Carano is muscular but not in an unfeminine way. It is just that she has some mass to her and is not a skinny little Hollywood waif. She is by no means fat; she is just extremely athletic. She actually looks like she could kick someone without breaking her leg. This lends a tremendous amount of realism to the fight scenes. On top of this, the fights are not choreographed as if they were a ballet. They look gritty and nasty. Chokes, kicks to joints, a bit of grappling. In a word: real.

The action is great. The plot is complex. It improved on the second viewing.

Grade: A-. I will definitely be buying this when it comes out on DVD.

As an aside, I have a fantasy now. I want to see a movie with Carano and Jason Statham. They could be enemies or colleagues. I don’t care. I just want to see them on the same screen together. Perhaps she could reprise her Mallory Kane character in Transporter 4. She and Frank Martin could be thrown together by circumstances and wind up beating up all the bad guys in Europe. Just a thought.

Finally! The Hobbit Teaser Trailer

2011-12-21T08:35:00.000-06:00

There are very few films I go absolutely stir-crazy, midnight-showing, show-up-in-costume for. This is one. Months ago I told my boss I needed vacation days on Dec 14, 2012 and Dec 13, 2013. What do you need those for? Midnight showing of the Hobbit, what else?

Behold, the first trailer! It goes by quick but notice that Gloin looks like Gimli from LOTR. Do I detect a family resemblence?

Movie Review: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

2011-12-19T11:31:00.000-06:00

As I understand it, this film is in limited release until sometime later this week. Not sure why they do things that way. It was only playing on two screens locally here in Des Moines. One was in the theatre farthest from my house. The other was on the IMAX screen downtown. Since the latter is a much shorter drive I chose that option. Had I the opportunity to do this again, I would have chosen the longer drive. While my experience with IMAX is limited, I think only a few movies would show well there. You have to sit high and in the middle. I got there late and sat lower and on the side as that was all that was left. Everything looked distorted. The closeup scenes are impossible to make out. Just not a good experience.

Having said that, this film was so good that even with the lousy theatre experience, it was well worth seeing. For the life of me, I can never figure out why people bash Tom Cruise. His acting is more than adequate and his on-screen presence and charisma are off the charts. This is a fabulous old-fashioned cloak and dagger movie with an upgraded technological spin to it. It is well cast. You are seeing several parts of the world. Loads of action, adventure, excitement. (As an aside, I was sitting next to some folks from India. When the movie moved to Mumbai and the city named flashed across the screen, they whistled their approval.)

The bad guys in this film believe that the world needs to be rebooted. Their plan to do this is to start a thermonuclear war. In the ash afterward, the world can start afresh. Ethan Hunt's mission, should he choose to accept it, is to shut these bad guys down. Unfortunately, a bombing at the Kremlin has been blamed on IMF and the entire cadre of agents have been disavowed: Ghost Protocol. Ethan and his team will have to operate outside of normal parameters. They are on their own. No outside support? The world tettering on the brink of nuclear war? No problem!

Breaking out of a Russian prison, fast roping out of the world's tallest building, sneaking into a secret military archive, a foot race in a desert sand storm, driving a BMW off a parking ramp and plunging a hundred meters to the ground. All in a day's work for the IMF team. Loads of action and suspense. You need to see this film.

Grade: A-

Movie Review: Hugo

2011-12-19T11:04:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago my daughter and I went to see Hugo. It is an immensely enjoyable film. I have not blogged about it because I have been thinking about it for quite a while. I don't know what I was looking for. Perhaps I thought there was some deep meaning I should have gleaned, a message for the ages of something. After much time stewing about this, I don't think there is anything like that. I think it was just a great show. Visually spectacular, the colors were vibrant and the scenes were exciting. I don't know how to describe this film as it seemed in some ways so different from others I have seen. We saw the 2D version as neither of us cares for 3D.

The story centers on a young boy named Hugo, the son of a clock maker. The father dies and which leaves Hugo in the care (and I use that word in its loosest possible sense) of his uncle, a drunk whose job it is to maintain the clocks at a massive railway station in Paris. The uncle lives and works behind the scenes at the station where Hugo joins him and learns how to work all the clocks. Eventually the uncle disappears. Much later in the film his body is pulled from the river where it is clear that, in a drunken stupor, he fell in many months previous. In the meantime, Hugo continues to maintain the clocks so it won't be discovered that he is a child now living alone. If he is found out, he will be sent to the orphanage. We are told that would not be a good situation.

The only thing Hugo has that belonged to his father is an old automaton that doesn't work. Hugo has been trying to fix it and when he thinks he has completed the task, he finds he needs a special key to make it operate. He believes it will be a written message from his father. The remainder of the story is about how Hugo finds a friend who happens to have the key he needs. Together, they get the automaton working and try to solve the mystery it creates.

This is a captivating story with a happy ending pulled at the last second from the jaws of misery. Very well worth seeing on the big screen.

Grade: A-.

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

2011-12-16T20:45:00.004-06:00

The wife and I saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie today. My son went to the midnight show last night and said it was better than the first one. That is a tall order since the first was pretty darn good. But if he was not right, he was close. The sequel was fantastic. There are two things these movies have that make them so.

First is the editing. Holmes sees in his mind how a fight will play out in slow motion before it begins. If you have ever seen the movie Hero, and I highly recommend you do, it used a similar technique. Here it is used repeatedly. One would think that it would get annoying. On the contrary. These scenes are so well edited that you are excited even when the final one begins. And the final one is the best.

Second, I guess you could call this a buddy film of sorts. You know, where two main characters have a load of smart alec dialogue with one another. No one has ever done this better than Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law. These guys make it look effortless. The timing playing off one another is impeccable. This is another thing that could get annoying but because of the skill of these two actors, it is pure enjoyment.

This film pits Holmes against his intellectual equal, Dr. James Moriarity. Holmes has been trying to unravel his scheme but Moriarity seems always a step ahead. The two play a deadly game. I don't want to reveal any more. Just go see this movie.

Grade: A. This was easily the most fun and enjoyable movie I have seen so far in 2011. Best film of the year (so far) for me is between this and Of Gods and Men.

Barry Bonds

2011-12-16T09:15:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note. Barry Bonds is to be sentenced today for obstruction of justice. He was also accused of three counts of perjury but the jury failed to reach a verdict on those charges. I have to say that this shocks me as I thought that we as a society had determined there was nothing wrong with stuff like lying under oath.

Expendables II Teaser Trailer

2011-12-15T09:24:00.000-06:00

This was the first movie I put on my 2012 movie list. Currently slated for release on August 17, I can hardly wait for this film. I thought the first Expendables was great. Now keep in mind that "great" in this context does not mean this film will rival Casablanca or Citizen Kane. Nothing irritates me more than people who judge action films by this standard. That is not why people go to action films. They go for--well, you know why they go. Anyway, the teaser trailer has been released. Fantastic. When I see stuff like this I can feel the testosterone rushing into my bloodstream.

Alison Steadman

2011-12-09T12:57:00.001-06:00

Once or twice per year I watch Pride and Prejudice. We have many versions of this film in our house. In fact, all that I know of. But the best is still the 1995 BBC version. You know, this one:

I started it again yesterday and finished it today. I am now fully convinced that this movie contains the single greatest acting role in the history of film. Alison Steadman plays the part of Mrs. Bennet. She is the mother of five daughters and the wife of Mr. Bennet, owner of Longbourne Manor. If you have read the book you know that Mrs. Bennet is a tad--shall we say--eccentric. To capture the right blend of stupidity, silliness, and charm must be quite difficult. However, it was done by Alison Steadman. Here is what she looks like in real life:

Here she is in character:

I despise Mrs. Bennet. Because of this I must admit that this is the finest bit of acting I can ever remember seeing. What do you think is the best acting in film? I am not talking about a single scene. It has to be the whole role. Leave an answer in the comments.

Movie Review: Puss 'n Boots

2011-11-19T09:28:00.001-06:00

Last night the wife and I took in dinner and a movie. I loved the Puss 'n Boots character from Shrek. I was glad to see him get his own film. We find Puss was delivered as a kitten to the doorstep of an orphanage in the small town of San Ricardo. There he befriends the chief misfit of the orphanage, Humpty Alexander Dumpty. They become two bit theives until Puss saves the mother of the head constable. He is rewarded with a pair of boots and his trademark hat. This is the end of his life as a thief and the beginning of his swashbuckling ways.

The main body of the story tells of a falling out between Humpty and Puss and the attempted reconciliation. We meet some interesting characters along the way including Kitty Soft Paws, the world's greatest thief; Jack and Jill who carry the magic beans; a gosling who lays the golden eggs; and a few others. The animation is excellent, particularly the dance scenes. The story, though, was lacking. It dragged in a few places and was not very captivating at any rate. I hated the Humpty character.

As I have always said, my ratings are very influenced by expectation. Here, expecation was high and I was disappointed. Nevertheless, the film was worth seeing.

Grade: B- because the animation was really good and the Puss character is fantastic.

Whiskey Economics

2011-11-19T09:18:00.001-06:00

I am not much of a whiskey drinker. In fact, I don't drink whiskey at all. But this post only touches on whiskey tangentially. This is not a drinking discussion but one of economics. Jack Daniel's is distilled in Lynchburg, Tennessee, a town of less than 6000 people located in the south-central part of the state. But is it possible that the venerable old distillery could be leaving the state for Michigan?

According to one story, Speaker of the Michigan House, Jase Bolger, has written a letter to Daniel's GM Tommy Beam welcoming him to relocate to the great state of Michigan. There he will find everything he needs to operate the famed distillery: fresh water, a willing labor pool, and, of course, a business-friendly tax code. Now we are getting to the crux of the matter.

Lynchburg is located in Moore County. Apparently, county officials are discussing whether or not to levy a new $10/barrel tax on Jack Daniel's whiskey. The measure could come up for a vote as soon as next March. Now, I don't think it has a prayer of passing. I assume the good folk of Lynchburg are a little smarter than that. Michigan doesn't need to roll out the red carpet just yet. But what fascinates me is some of the discussion on this issue by a concerned citizen, one Charles Rogers.

Chuck thinks that Jack has built an image around the town of Lynchburg. Therefore, “We are entitled to more money from the only industry in the county.” Excuse me? Because this is the only industry in the county you are entitled to steal more of their money?!? Isn't Jack paying taxes already? Don't they employ 365 workers in your county? That is 365 people with productive jobs, supporting families, buying groceries, cars, houses, insurance, utilities, and all the other expenses it takes to live in Lynchburg. Oh, yeah, and they're paying taxes.

This highlights two gross errors that the left continues to perpetrate on the rest of society. First is the entitlement mentality. What entitles you to more of Jack's money? Nothing is the correct answer. Any other is a bunch of crap that spring from your basic misunderstanding of how economics actually work. And that leads us to the second: no business ever pays taxes. Not just Jack, mind you, but no business of any kind ever pays taxes. Ever. Businesses are not bottomless wells of revenue for governing authorities. That money has to come from somewhere. Taxes are a cost of doing business. As such they must be recouped in the cost of the product or service sold. This is done by raising the price for which it is sold. Only end consumers ever pay taxes. Every tax increase is a hit to the consumer in some way. If you raise Jack's taxes, Jack has to raise the price of its whiskey. That means that John Doe in Moore County must pay more for his bottle of Jack. And that means he has less money to spend on other stuff to stimulate the economy. Like the gas he needs to drive outside of Moore county to buy his Jack since Moore is a dry county.

Charles Rogers and his ilk, should they have their way, can say goodbye to the only industry in the county. If they succeed, Michigan will have the red carpet ready.

Decision Time

2011-11-16T11:19:00.001-06:00

I was looking back through some old posts and noticed this one from July 2010. There I was speaking about the potential slate of candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. My conclusion was that Mitt Romney was the best chance the Republicans had and that was not good. I panned Huckabee as unappealing and Newt as having too much baggage. In fact, I panned all the potentials. And I missed Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, and others. Time to re-examine this issue because we here in Iowa are quickly closing in on decision time.

In the older post I mentioned that we needed a Ronald Reagan but have nothing even close in the offing. As it turns out, there is one candidate who has emerged as an acceptable substitute. It is not:

Rick Perry. I had so much hope for Perry when he got into the race. I had read a little about him but had never heard him speak. Rightly or wrongly, a president in the 21st century has to be an excellent communicator. Rick is woefully deficient in that department.
Herman Cain. Some of the most refreshing comments of the campaign have come from Cain. When he was told that a good candidate needed to have political experience his reply was, "How is that working out for you so far?" But the sad fact is that a candidate does need political experience. Cain has no grasp on foreign policy. Even if he surrounds himself with good people in that area he needs a base to work from. He doesn't have it. That is dangerous in a president as we can see from our current . . . oh, I'm not going there.
Jon Huntsman. Who?
Michelle Bachmann. She has some good ideas but has been painted into a religious fundamentalist corner by the media. This is mostly her own doing. I don't understand why some Christians have to be wackos to convince themselves they are taking a tough stand.
Rick Santorum. I think he has a good grasp on many issues, especially Constitutional ones. But he is garnering so little support because he is not very inspiring. You have to be able to inspire and motivate. This was McCain's problem in 2008.
Ron Paul. I'll tell you what, this guy understands the economic issues facing this nation like no one else does. He knows the true causes and how they can be corrected. This is the strength of the Libertarian position in general and Austian Economics specifically. Unfortuately, Americans don't have the stomach to bite this big of a bullet. Paul has a cult following but it is not large enough to give him the nomination. He is viewed as too radical by most people. Also, I think the world has become too small to move too far toward isolationism. Whoever wins needs to sign Paul up as SecTreas. Or maybe Fed Chair.
Mitt Romney. I am still not convinced that he will not win the nomination. There seems to be a lot of money and behind-the-scenes voices pushing hard for Romney. But his numbers never budge. People are looking for the non-Romney candidate. If it comes down to Romney vs Obama, I think most Republicans, myself included, will hold their nose and vote for him. But we shouldn't have to.

So who does that leave us with? A friend sent me a video clip a few weeks ago. As soon as I saw that it was Newt, I dismissed it immediately. But then, as a courtesy to my friend, I listened to the clip. I have listened to dozens of clips since then. Newt is the communicator we need. Newt understands all the historical issues related to this campaign. Newt is far and away the best candidate on foreign policy. He understands all the domestic issues though he needs to adjust his positions on some of these. His consulting firm has taken money from Freddie Mac. Government needs to get out of the mortgage business. Newt doesn't agree with this. There are other issues Newt needs to think through better. But overall, Newt is the best of the current candidates, even with his baggage.

Gingrich says that if he wins the nomination he will immediately challenge President Obama to seven Lincoln-Douglas style debates with no moderator asking questions. Each will discuss the issues at hand without such a guide. Newt seems to think that Obama's ego will lead him to accept this challenge. It will not happen in a million years precisely because of the president's ego. Newt will win any and every debate with Obama but he would absolutely destroy him in such a format. The president can not let that happen. Nor would the normal moderators want to be excluded from the debates. It's a big ego boost for them too. They like to see themselves as kingmakers. Expect the usual debate formats with the usual stupid questions from the usual talking heads. And if Newt is the nominee, expect him to thrash Obama. This would be worth seeing.

Does Newt measure up to the Gipper? No, but he is far closer than anyone else on the Republican slate.

Movie Review: Immortals

2011-11-15T08:58:00.001-06:00

This will be a short review. There was some diversity of opinion in the reviews about this film. Ebert completely panned it. Some rated it as high as mediocre. I thought it was closer to the latter. Good effects and I thought Henry Cavill did a good job. In fact, throughout the entire movie, whenever I saw him on the screen I kept thinking he will make a good Superman. I can't wait for that movie. In other words, this movie didn't hold my attention well. Mickey Rourke did a good job with his role. Unfortuanately, there wasn't much around him as support. Okay but nothing to write home about.

Grade: C

Penn State: The way forward

2011-11-14T09:02:00.001-06:00

It has been a long time since I blogged about anything but a movie. I was in conversation with a co-worker today about the Penn State debacle and I had a revelation. First, the case needs to be investigated leaving no stone unturned. Everyone involved in abusing kids or covering up the abuse of kids is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. No shenanigans. Just get it done.

But Penn State needs a way forward. That is why if I am the athletic director, I get on the phone to Tony Dungy. Dungy is a man of peerless character. I ask him to come and coach at Penn State. I realize he is retired from coaching but I don't take no for an answer. If I have to, I beg him to come. I tell him that money is no object. I give him complete control of the program. He can keep the current staff or fire them all. It is up to him. What I need is a man who has unimpeachable character and knows football backwards and forwards. I need such a man to come and clean house and get this program back on its feet and, more importantly, the people involved back on the straight and narrow. I explain that it will only be for a few years then he can re-retire and we will bring in someone else.

Dungy is a man so highly esteemed that even the most cynical journalist would understand the statement Penn State would be making. This will never happen here again.

Movie Review: The Way

2011-11-07T15:04:00.005-06:00

Saturday evening the wife and I went to see The Way with some good friends. This film is about an American ophthalmologist, Tom (Martin Sheen), who seems to be semi-estranged from his son, Daniel (Emilio Estevez), who has quit his pursuit of a doctorate degree and is traveling the world. Tom thinks Daniel is wasting his life. Daniel thinks Tom is not living his.

One day Tom gets a call from France saying that his son has died in an accident. Daniel had begun walking the El camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage path from a town in southern France over the Pyrenees into northwestern Spain. We are not told exactly how Daniel dies but Tom travels to Europe to bring back the body. He receives all of Daniel’s possessions in a backpack and while going through them he decides he will finish the path for Daniel. He informs the authorities he wants his son cremated and sets out the next day with Daniel’s ashes in a box.

Very soon he encounters the spot where Daniel died and leaves some of his ashes there. He continues to leave a small amount of ashes at different places along the trail. The walk becomes a metaphor for life: the important thing is who you meet on the way. Tom encounters many people but makes most of the journey in the company of Jack, an Irish journalist; Joost, a dope-smoking but lovable Dutchman (“it’s Turkish!”); and a cynical Canadian woman named Sarah. The camaraderie they share is enjoyable to watch. When Tom get drunk and shoots off his mouth, his friends do not abandon him.

The fellowship they enjoy is the best part of the film. One of the most poignant scenes occurs when they come across a luxury hotel. Having slept outside or in crowded hostels the whole trip, Tom offers to spring for a night in the lap of luxury for everyone. We see each of them in their respective rooms enjoying the amenities but before long there is a knock at Tom’s door. It is Sarah who comes in and plops herself down on Tom’s chair, picks up his TV remote, and starts flipping through channels. Tom no more than sits down when there is another knock. It is Joost with a couple of bottles of wine. Shortly thereafter, Jack appears. We see the four of them, each with their own room but crowded into one, laughing and talking and enjoying their wine. They have come to prefer one another’s company even to the luxuries afforded by the hotel.

When I started writing this I was going to give the film a B. It was thought-provoking but disappointing in that I came to no real conclusions about it. The ending was unsatisfactory in that no one seemed to be changed by their journey. Sarah was going to quit smoking and indeed laid her cigarettes down at that statue of St. James in Santiago. A short time later, we see her smoking again. Joost, a big bear of a man, had been looking to lose weight so he could fit into his old suit for his brother’s wedding. After a profound act of contrition at the Cathedral, he just winds up declaring he will get a new suit that fits him. Jack was never in it for change. He was just writing for his travel magazine and taking notes for a book he was hoping to write. But then, as I wrote the previous paragraph, I got the little insight about who you live life with. It seemed so appropriate that we saw it with the couple we did.

I cannot tell if Tom changed or not although the final scene indicates he probably did. Did he just give up on the American dream and take up Daniel’s dream instead—to travel the world? It seems like it. He is out living life, meeting new people, and living it up with old friends.

Grade: A-

Movie Review: In Time

2011-11-05T22:11:00.000-05:00

When I saw the trailer for In Time, I knew I would have to see it. Not because I am a huge Justin Timberlake fan. I'm not. I mean, the guy can't be too bright if he dumped Jessica Beal, right? No, I wanted to see this because it looked like something original from Hollywood. I know, I know, we have not been able to use the word original in the same sentence with the word Hollywood since the last century. But this actually looked like a clever idea.

And it was. People are born into the world in genetically modified bodies. They age until they are 25 and stop aging. Of course, when they hit 25, they have a built-in clock with a digital display on their arm that begins counting down one year. No one lives past 26 unless they can get more time. And time has become the currency in this futuristic world. You go to work, you get paid in minutes. You buy a coffee, you pay in minutes.

Naturally, there are still rich and poor people. It's just that the rich have, quite literally, all the time in the world. The poor live in ghettos and are often their last day and only get small additions at a time. There are dead bodies laying all over the place from people who have “timed out.” The rich live in opulence and are essentially immortal. It is here we learn that for some to be immortal, others have to die. After all, the time has to come from somewhere.

Will Salas (Timberlake) saves a guy with over a century on his clock. We don't know where he got it but we know he wants to die. It's time. He gives his time to Salas leaving himself with only five minutes. He times out as he is sitting on a bridge. Salas sets out to fix the system. On the way he picks up a girl. You gotta have a love interest in a Justin Timberlake movie.

There are run-ins with bad guys, rich guys, and time-keepers (the cops of the day). There is some action but it is mostly a drama and—I can't believe I am saying this about a movie with Justin Timberlake—a pretty good one.

Grade: B+. Well worth seeing.

Movie Review: Anonymous

2011-11-05T18:41:00.001-05:00

My wife was an English major in college. She teaches literature and especially likes British lit. We have been married for over thirty years and most of those have been spent with me telling her Shakespeare was gay and didn't write his own stuff. This is just to get a rise out of her. Never fails.

Anonymous is someone putting my taunt to film. Not the gay part but the other part. The contention is that Shakespeare's works were written by the Earl of Oxford. He loved writing but couldn't be known as a writer so he recruited Ben Jonson, a famous playwright of the day, to pose as the writer of his works. Jonson had pride in his own works and so didn't want to take the credit. Meanwhile, there was an average actor who could read but not write. Kind of a doofus, a real low-life sort. After the first performance of one of the Earl's plays, the crowd screams their appreciation and demands to see the playwright. Jonson will not take the stage so the doofus actor goes out instead. Some guy named Will Shakespeare.

The Earl is disappointed but goes with the flow. He comes to the performances and secretly relishes in the appreciation the crowds express for his works. It is not until turmoil simmers below the surface in court politics that the Earl decides he can sway the political intrigue his own way with mere words. He begins to write his plays with more political overtones, criticizing real-life characters by distorting them in his plays. His efforts don't quite work out the way he hoped they would.

This film is one of those that I have not been able to get out of my head since I saw it. I spent last night dreaming that my estates were being confiscated and my future was dashed. I was in financial ruin. One cinematic device made the film difficult to follow. The film starts in the present time as a man on a contemporary stage telling “the true story” about how Shakespeare's works were actually written by the Earl. On the stage things cut to the early 17th century. From there, they jump around in time a lot. We see the young queen Elizabeth in one scene and the aged queen in the next. Same with other characters. This was somewhat hard to follow. I think it would improve on another viewing.

This film was very well done. Better than I expected. Of course, I missed half of the movie because my wife, who is convinced that the author of all this stuff was indeed William Shakespeare, was whispering in my ear the whole time about the historical inaccuracies. Still, it was much better than I was expecting.

Grade: A- because I told the wife it was a documentary. “See, he didn't write all that stuff.” Oh, and he was gay.

Movie Review: 13 Assassins

2011-11-05T18:13:00.003-05:00

Japanese Samurai movies are some of the best films ever made. Even when they are bad they are good. I remember a climatic scene in an old black and white Samurai movie where the good guy cuts the bad guy across the abdomen. Blood sprayed out like a garden hose. It was so phony that it made me laugh even though it was supposed to be gross. Good stuff. Makes me want to watch Sword of Doom.

But there is a long tradition of excellence in Samurai movies. The Samurai trilogy starring Toshiro Mifune is a classic. I paid good money for this trilogy on DVD many years ago. Against my better judgment, I lent it out to someone and forgot who that was. Of course they never returned it even though I told them how precious this was to me. It's not that I'm bitter towards the sneaking, conniving thief. But stealing someone's favorite Samurai movie is lower than a snake's belly in a wheel rut. It's lower than seven tons of whale poop.

But I'm not bitter.

When I first saw the preview for 13 Assassins I knew I would have to see it. It was one of those limited release films that never made it here to Des Moines in spite of the fact that I wrote to one of our indie theaters and assured them that there would be no end to the lines if they got this movie in. Alas, they were not persuaded. I finally saw it earlier this week on Netflix.

There is the typical way Japanese dialogue works in a Samurai film. When a Samurai is excited he starts to sound angry. But his sentences come out in a rather unusual way. It's like he has five seconds to complete his sentence and then midway through realizes he has been speaking so slowly he has used up four of his seconds. To complete it in time, his pace speeds up dramatically and he gets louder so he can make sure you don't miss the important info at the end of the sentence. “We – must – recruit – that – RONINFOROURWORTHYCAUSE!”

But the main thing you watch Samurai movies for is the expert swordplay. In many of these films you can tell the actors have made some effort to study the sword. At least enough to make it look good on film. They say the sword is the soul of Japan. I have to say that 13 Assassins misses it on this account. Except for one scene the sword work just looks like random slashing. The plot of the movie is excellent and it resolves about how you would expect it to. But the sword play is disappointing.

Grade: B-. Worth seeing but not up to expectations.

Movie Review: Killer Elite

2011-11-05T17:35:00.000-05:00

I love action movies. I love watching Jason Statham in action movies. He is like the Steve McQueen of the present generation of stars: Mr. Cool. My favorite Statham line is from one of the Transporter movies where he is going to fight a bunch of guys but must take his suit coat off first. After all, it just came back from the cleaners. Ahhh, that Frank Martin, he is such a card.

Killer Elite is supposedly based on a true story. Of course, the true story is based on a novel but, hey, it could be true. You know how these government spy things go. Statham plays an assassin whose former partner (Robert DeNiro) is taken hostage to force Statham out of retirement to do a particularly nasty job. On the other side is Clive Owen, a former British SAS operative who is determined to catch him. Both of these guys have formidable skills but the task given to Statham is impossible to complete successfully.

As the film unfolds we see Statham not just in a physical battle but in a battle of wits with Owen as well. The action plays out well but it is the unexpected ending that really satisfies.

Grade: B+

Movie Review: Columbiana

2011-11-05T17:18:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted a movie review for a long time. That is because I haven't seen much in a long time. However, I am three posts behind and it is time to catch up. I am a sucker for a good hitman movie. I don't know why this type of film appeals to me. Perhaps it is because, unlike in real life, the bad guy always gets what is coming to him. Of course, Colombiana is more of a hitwoman movie. I saw this when it first came out but am only now getting around to writing about it.

Cataleya is the young daughter of some Colombian gangsters or spies for America. I can't remember which. I told you it's been a while. She witnesses her parents get killed by some other bad guys. She, too, is about to be killed but has received a jump drive filled with information from her father just prior to his demise. He tells her it is her ticket out of the country. She shows her resourcefulness in taking off and evading the bad guys trying to catch her. Eventually, she winds up at a US consulate and makes her way to America. Because she is so young she is being guarded by the authorities. No problem. Once on American soil, she evades them as well and makes her way to Chicago where she moves in with an uncle who teaches her certain "skills" she wants to learn but also makes her go to school.

A quick time jump and Zoe Saldana is playing the grown up Cataleya who is now a very efficient hitperson. In her spare time she is tracking down the people who killed her parents. This is Hollywood, right? So, eventually she finds them and plots to take them down. Lots of action here and Saldana plays it well. There is something about seeing a woman in a traditional male kick-butt role that usually irritates me. Call me crazy but I don't think a lot of 120 pound chicks can easily beat up a 230 pound guy who is also skilled at what he does. But Saldana makes it work.

As I have mentioned before, expectation plays a lot into how I rate a movie. I was expecting about a C- from this but it was pretty well done. I wouldn't mind a sequel.

Grade: B, but you might not like it that much.

Movie Review: Conan the Barbarian

2011-08-23T17:52:00.000-05:00

Critics almost universally panned this film. If you are trying to view Conan as a potential contender for Best Picture, the problem is with you, not the movie. Films of this genre are not done for critical acclaim so why judge it that way? I never understood that approach. You don't expect a Ford Escort to be the same as a Ford Mustang so why try to make the comparison? They are different vehicles for different audiences. Conan is not trying to be the next Citizen Kane. It is action and adventure. Leave it at that.

The wife doesn't see such movies so I took this one in alone. Lars Walker reviews it here and my sentiments are with him. He makes quite a comparison with the 1982 version starring Arnold and this one comes out way ahead.

Lots of great action. The plot is not the most cohesive but it is not hard to follow. The action is what you see a movie like this for anyway and there is plenty of that. Did I mention the action?

Grade: B. See it, you know, if you like action.

Movie Review: Another Earth

2011-08-23T17:40:00.000-05:00

Let's not worry about the insurmountable physics problems presented in this movie. We will suspend our disbelief and go with what we are given. The premise is that astronomers discover another planet earth. One assumes that it occupies the same orbital path as our earth but has been exactly opposite us and so has been hidden by the sun. We are not told what makes it suddenly reveal itself but there it is in the sky. I don't know about you, but for me that makes a pretty good premise for a movie.

But this isn't about astronomy or even getting in touch with the other earth except as a plot device for the story. Rhoda Williams has grown up with a fascination for astronomy. She has just found out she has been accepted at MIT. After celebrating with friends, she hears that about the discovery of the other earth. Driving home, she is looking out the window trying to catch a glimpse of this in the sky when she collides head-on with a family waiting at a stop sign. The mother and child are killed. The father lives. Rhoda is comparatively uninjured but winds up doing four years in jail for her part in the accident.

Meanwhile, the man, John Burroughs, never goes back to his job as the head of the music department at a university. Instead, he pines away in his messy home drinking whiskey. Rhoda is riddled with guilt and eventually builds up the courage to go to his home to apologize. When he answers the door, she chickens out. Instead, most of the rest of the movies is about the relationship they develop.

Rhoda wins a contest to travel to the sister planet and decides she will go. Our earth has learned that the other earth is not only inhabited but is essentially a parallel earth with the same people as here. They have developed in the same way. It is not until the mutual discovery that the two planets begin to diverge in their paths. Rhoda wonders what life would be like on the other earth. Perhaps she was not in an accident there. This fascination plays along with the relationship between her and John until he finds out that she was the one who caused the accident.

I won't say anymore to avoid spoilers but the wife and I really enjoyed this film. It is very slowly paced but still keeps your attention. Well worth seeing.

Grade: B+

Upcoming: Expendables 2

2011-08-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

The folks over at Collider posted some news about the upcoming Expendables 2. Donnie Yen is being offered a role in the film. Yen played Ip Man in two films about the great Wing Chun artist and teacher of Bruce Lee. I sure hope this works out. It would be a fantastic addition.

But the post also indicates expanded roles for Arnold and Bruce Willis along with appearances for John Travolta, Chuck Norris, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Whoa! I got a rush of testosterone just reading that. Check it out.

Movie Review: Cowboys and Aliens

2011-08-18T14:14:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, the wife and I arrived home from a week of vacation. We got stuff unpacked but after that decided we were still on vacation until Monday morning. So we took in Cowboys and Aliens.

Come on! This movie was preposterous. Totally unbelievable. It was absurd, ridiculous, and outrageous. It was fantastic! No deep message. No thought provoking dialogue. No witty one-liners. Just great summer action.

Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes up in the desert. He has some type of gadget attached to his wrist that he can't get off. Oh, and he can't remember who he is or where he comes from. Kind of like an old west Jason Bourne. Other than that, everything is normal. Just like Bourne, he remembers his fighting skills. He quickly overcomes three nasty bandits, appropriates their clothing, weapons, and a horse and wanders into town.

It turns out that Lonergan is a notorious bad guy himself and is taken prisoner. But aliens show up before he can be dealt with. He winds up saving the day but a bunch of the townsfolk are taken away. The rest of the film is how various factions, the townsfolk, the town's big cattleman (Harrison Ford), Lonergan's own band of thieves, and a band of Native Americans join together to take on the aliens. It is all great fun and very entertaining. This is what summer movies should be.

Grade: B+

Movie review: Captain America

2011-07-27T16:05:00.000-05:00

Like much of the country we went to see Captain America last weekend. The Marvel movies just keep on coming and they keep hitting the ball out of the park. And if you stayed until after the credits you were rewarded with a glimpse of the Avengers movie coming next year.

The film was well done. In the WWII era, the military is looking for a way to build a super soldier to help defeat the advancing Germans in Europe. The first part of the movie built up Steve Rogers as a man of character and shows how important that was to the doctor conducting the super soldier experiments. Clearly, he had learned his lesson in the past. But how clearly we do not know until the back story of Red Skull is divulged. Hugo Weaving plays one of Hitler’s henchman who develops a little too much lust for power. He is injected with the same serum that Rogers gets except prior to all the bugs being worked out of it. The contrast of the character of these two men is played out in the rest of the film.

Acting is good. Story is good. This was a fun film to watch. My only disappointment was with the ending. It didn’t seem like they were tying up the Captain America film as much as they were setting up the Avengers film. It wasn’t that I didn’t get the ending. It’s just that it was too focused on the next movie and not concluding this one very well.

On the whole, though, well worth seeing.

Grade: B+

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

2011-07-16T18:22:00.000-05:00

It has been while since the wife and I saw a movie. We got back into the swing of things with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, which we saw opening night. It was well worth seeing. The crowd was large but there were still many empty seats. Having said that, the reports are that HP7.2 shattered both the midnight showing and opening day records.

The movie was faithful to the storyline of the book deviating in only minor ways. One of these disappointed me but we will come to that. The film picked up right where the first one left off. It repeated the brief final scene from HP7.1 where Voldemort picks up the elder wand then launched into the movie. Harry, Ron, and Hermoine (HRH) are pursuing the remaining horcruxes, those objects into which Voldemort has left a portion of his soul. If they can destroy these, when Voldemort dies he has no way of coming back.

For the most part the film was excellent. The action was good. The main characters got their scenes. I am going to assume that you have read the book but if not: spoiler alert! After I read the final book I realized that this whole film series was going to come down to a single scene. When Snape dies Harry captures some of his memories of Lilly. Harry views these in a pensieve. I knew that this scene would have to be done right or the movie would be crap. Indeed, the whole series depended on this scene. All of Snape’s actions are explained here. The scene did not disappoint. The memory montage was excellent and I let my breath out when it was over.

The confrontation between Mrs. Weasley and Belatrix LaStrange was there and well done. The house erupted when Belatrix was gone. The crowd also went wild when Neville separated Nagini’s head from his nasty, serpentine body, a genuinely wonderful moment.

So what disappointed me? A couple things. First, the battle raged all around but you never got to see anyone fighting it. The camera was always on HRH as they moved through the chaos. In the book you saw key characters go down fighting. You didn’t see that here. They were just dead at the end. It made you feel like they died for no reason.

Second, in the book the climatic scene between Harry and Voldemort takes place in the main hall in Hogwarts. Everyone is around waiting to see what happens. Harry does a little plot tie-up with comments to the dark lord that Snape never did serve him but instead was Dumbledore’s man. When Voldemort goes down, the crowd breaks into cheering. Two things are clear to everyone: Snape was a good guy (for the most part) all along and Voldemort is finally and really dead. In the film, however, the epic struggle between the two is waged alone apart from everyone else. The final scene is in an empty courtyard. No one finds out about Snape and no one sees the dark lord die. Where is the closure, man? When I left the theatre I thought I had seen a pretty good film but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much this detracted from the story. I was very disappointed.

Still, overall, I was glad to see the movie and may go see it again.

Grade: B+

Movie Review: Green Lantern

2011-06-20T11:56:00.000-05:00

I was aware that there were quite mixed reviews on Green Lantern. Some people panned it horribly. Too much obvious CG, too lame of a script to take advantage of decent acting, worst comic book movie ever. On and on it went. On the other hand, one review said it was tied with the first Ironman movie as the third best comic book movie of all time. It seems people either loved Green Lantern or hated it. All the trailers I saw looked pretty good and I honestly believe that many movie reviewers have no idea why people go to the movies anyway. I would have to see for myself.

The wife and I went to a matinee on Saturday with a small group of friends and family. What we saw left me wondering if either of the extremes had been paying attention. This was a pretty decent movie. It was enjoyable to watch and the story was adequate if not outstanding. It was no where near the worst comic book movie of all time. That distinction clearly belongs to Catwoman, Halle Barry notwithstanding. This was not even close to that. Nor was it close to Ironman on the other extreme. But this was still a fun movie to see.

I think that unless you are looking for obvious CG issues, you aren't going to notice them in this movie. The climatic battle between GL and Parallax was too short and not suspenseful enough. Still, the movie was one I would not have wanted to miss.

Grade: B-. When I compare this to Thor, which I gave a B+, it comes up quite short. I probably should rated Thor higher because it was quite a bit better than GL.

Movie Review: X-Men: First Class

2011-06-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

This was a great movie. Fun, exciting, action. We get the whole back story on the main X-Men. A young Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, Beast, and others. It's just that I never knew that there were mutants involved with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Man, the government can sure keep a secret.

We find out that the radiation unleashed in the testing of the atomic bomb is what caused the sudden rise in mutations in the first place. Kevin Bacon plays the bad guy. He can absorb and redirect energy. He also believes that the normal people are eventually going to try to take out the mutants who he sees as the next step in evolution. So he hatches plot to cause a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the US. His theory is that more radiation will be bad for normal people and great for mutants thus hastening evolution's next stage.

This movie was well worth seeing. A quick cameo scene was especially enjoyable.

Grade: A-

Movie Review: Priest

2011-05-14T10:20:00.000-05:00

Last night, the wife and I went to different movies together. I wanted to see Priest which she had no desire to see. While I was there, she went to Jumping the Broom in a different theater in the same complex. She rates in a B by the way.

Priest is a movie in an apocalyptic setting. The world has come through a time of war with a race of vampires. If you’re thinking of the guys from Twilight, well, this ain’t it. These are bloodthirsty monsters with no eyes who readily defeated the race of men until the church produced a group of priests who specialized in fighting these critters. Eventually, the priests prevailed and the few remaining vampires are put on reservations. In the meantime, people have retreated to walled cities ruled by the church in a situation reminiscent of 1984. The book, not the year.

The priests are put out to pasture. That is, until the vampires return. It turns out that one of the priests was captured by the vampires whose queen turns him into the world’s only human vampire. That proves that all that Twilight stuff is just crap. Anyway, this guy, played by Karl Urban, has bred a new army of bloodsuckers and is planning on taking out the race of men once and for all. The bulk of the movie is about a priest played by Paul Bettany who tries to stop the new apocalypse.

Good fantasy, decent acting, good action. This was a fun movie, albeit gruesome in a couple of spots.

Grade: a solid B.

Movie Review: Thor

2011-05-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

I was looking forward to Thor. I remember watching the cartoon as a kid. I was a little worried that this would wind up being campy and silly. The trailers I had seen didn't give any hint of that but you never know until you see it. Well, the wife and I saw it. No need to worry. This film was well done. The acting was adequate. Chris Hemsworth made a great Thor and the story was well thought out.

If I understand the plot line correctly, Thor is not a god but a member of an advanced civilization called Asgaard. The Asgaardians have a device called a bifrost that allows them to create wormholes from their planet to any of the other nine realms which are also planets apparently nearby in the galaxy. Because they are so advanced, primitives on other planets, e.g., medieval peoples on earth, would worship them as gods when they show up here. I thought it was interesting to read an article today where there are some pagans who still worship Thor and are expressing concern about this movie.

The plot has Thor about to inherit the throne of Asgaard from his father, Odin, when a series of events take place that culminate in Thor being expelled and banished to earth. The action sequences are excellent. Thor is truly a mighty warrior and Hemsworth plays the part to the hilt. On the one hand the story is a setup for the upcoming Avengers movie. On the other it is a film that stands all on its own. Really well done and well worth seeing. The wife actually rated this higher than I did.

Grade: B+

Movie Review: Hoodwinked, Too! Hood vs Evil.

2011-04-30T16:20:00.000-05:00

The original Hoodwinked was an A movie. Well-written, a great stable of well cast characters; just excellent all around. There was much delay over the sequel but I was excited when the release date was finally announced. So much expectation. Of course, there was much apprehension too. Could it live up to the original?

Turns out the answer is no. Not even close. I had trouble staying awake. I don’t even want to talk about it.

Grade: C+ and that is just because the first one was so good that there is still some residual fondness.

Movie Review: Of Gods and Men

2011-04-24T17:59:00.000-05:00

The wife and I went to the Saturday matinee yesterday with some friends. We saw Of Gods and Men, a French film (with English subtitles) about a group of Trappist Monks at a monastery in Algeria. The film was long and slow but not in the least bit boring. And this coming from a guy who loves a good, fast-paced action movie. The slow plot movement was an excellent device for showing the way the monks lived: the simplicity of their lives, their interaction with the Muslim community, the harmony of their lives with that community. They lived liturgical lives. The pace reflected the sacredness of everyday life. I think this was one of the keys to this film.

Also boldly proclaimed was the doubt and fear some of the men faced as their lives become endangered by advancing Islamic fundamentalists. One of the brothers in particular struggles greatly. The leader of the small enclave eventually speaks with him in what felt to me like the pivotal scene in the movie. After that, his heart is settled. The men vote unanimously to stay. The tale is one of the extraordinary emerging from the ordinary. Ordinary men, sacred men, devoted men become extraordinary men in the midst of ordinary lives as trial comes upon them.

I was not halfway through the film when I knew I would purchase the DVD when it became available. I thought it was amusing to, afterward, read Roger Ebert's review in our local paper. He thought it was a good film but he also thought the monks made the wrong decision. He only has the ability to see such a film from a humanist perspective. He misses so much.

Grade: A

Movie Review: Atlas Shrugged, Part 1

2011-04-16T14:52:00.001-05:00

Who is John Galt?

It seems that people either love or hate Ayn Rand. There is only a small group of people who are in the middle where I find myself. I read the massive Atlas Shrugged many years ago. I used to travel a lot for my job and I carried this book with me for most of a summer as airplane reading. In fact, I bought it in an airport bookstore. I still think it is something every American should read and understand. Not that I agree with Rand’s Objectivist philosophy but she had a pretty good grasp of the dangers of socialism.

I have often wondered if this book would ever be made into a movie. It seems like there were always rumors about such a project starting but they never came to fruition. But here we finally are with a film project actually being released in theatres. But how will a massive book translate to a two-hour movie? Fortunately, we don’t have to find out. This is going to be done in three parts, I believe, so what the wife and I saw today was only part 1.

The only review I had read prior to seeing this film was Ebert’s negative assessment. I was not swayed. I figured he was a socialist and just didn't care for the subject matter. Others, however, share his view. This latter I read after seeing the movie. I had also seen a trailer that I thought wasn't too bad. So how was the movie? I very much enjoyed it. I thought it was well casted and well acted. There was a lot of drinking as Ebert mentioned. There was a lot of trains as the other reviewer complained. But the protagonist runs a railroad. Wouldn't you expect to see some trains?

The heart of the movie is that there are producers and those who mooch off of them. To be fair, there is also a third category of people who don't come into play much in the plot, those who work for the producers and are compensated accordingly. The moochers are represented by politicians who feel that the producers need to be more generous with their money. Things need to be spread around more to benefit everyone equally. Some of the producers are getting tired of all the new laws being passed that are detrimental to their businesses. Rather than continue to contribute, they are simply disappearing, usually after a visit from a shadowy figure who asks for a moment of their time.

On the whole, I thought the film was pretty true to the book as I remember it. As I stated above, I thought the casting was very well done. The film got better in my mind as I thought more about it afterward. I think you should go see it. I will readily confess that I am biased toward the economic view the movie promoted. But that can only account for a portion of my respect for this film. The rest is earned.

Grade: A

Update: I read an article yesterday that said that this movie is getting universally panned by professional reviewers but that the average Joe who goes to see it loves it. I'm thinking that is because most reviewers are politically liberal with an axe to grind while most people who see the film would side with its message anyway. But no one is biased on either side, of course.

Movie Review: Source Code

2011-04-15T21:25:00.001-05:00

The wife and I just returned from seeing Source Code. We both greatly enjoy science fiction so this was one we had to take in. More of a drama with a little science fiction thrown in for good measure. Captain Colter Stevens wakes up on a commuter train heading into Chicago. He is very disoriented and clearly doesn't know why he is on the train. The last thing he remembers is that he was piloting his helicopter on a mission in Afghanistan. While he is trying to get his bearings, the train blows up killing all on board. Stevens awakes in a strange capsule, again trying to get his bearings.

This movie is like time travel without the clock. Stevens continues to relive the same eight minutes on the train because he has been inserted (and re-inserted) into the Source Code. Each pass through he learns something more. He is supposed to be finding out who bombed the train but he is also learning more about himself.

Throughout this film I really enjoyed what was going on. But after it was over and I was reflecting on it, it somehow didn't seem quite as good. I have no idea why. Perhaps it was because the ending was not possible given what we were told in the movie about how the Source Code works. I'm not sure. It is worth seeing but not as good afterwards as it was during. Go figure.

Grade: B- although the wife rated it a full letter grade higher.

Movie Review: Rango

2011-04-09T17:27:00.001-05:00

This seemed very good in some places and had me wishing it was over in others. Old west, bad guy controls the water in a desert town. Kind of a standard story. Even includes the standard unlikely hero. It would have been nice to see a little variation in the story. But it was still a decent show. A lot of clever dialogue, a lot of nods to old westerns, especially when we meet the Spirit of the West. That was a nice touch.

Grade: B-

Movie Review: Sucker Punch

2011-04-09T17:21:00.000-05:00

Sorry, I just don't get it. My son is going to explain this to me tomorrow. A mistreated teenager is committed to a mental institution by her wicked stepfather. She "escapes" through a mental exercise that takes place while she is dancing. But will she ever really escape?

Grade: C, at least until my son explains it to me.

Movie Review: Jane Eyre

2011-04-08T22:26:00.000-05:00

I was a little disappointed that Jane Eyre was in such limited release. It did not make it to our town until several weeks after the initial release date on the coasts. It was, however, well worth the wait. This film was a superb adaptation of the Charlotte Bronte novel. Rich scenary, a good script, wonderful acting.

I don't know why movie directors feel so free to take liberties with others' material but they do, usually to the detriment of the story. This film started in the middle and flashed back the earlier scenes. Not bad, just mildly annoying. That was the only real negative about the film. Everything else was just wonderful. It was a true and faithful rendering of the novel telling of Jane Eyre, a young girl whose parents have died. She is a sent to live with an aunt who mistreats her and sends her off to a boarding school. She endures further harsh treatment there but does profit greatly from a superb education. When she is grown she takes a position as a governess to a young girl at Thornfield Hall, the home of the wealthy Mr. Rochester. I can scarcely tell more for fear of revealing the plot for those not familiar with the story. Suffice it to say, the story is well told. Did I mention that the acting was superb?

There is one thing that is lacking but I can hardly cast it as a negative. The movie runs 120 minutes. It would have benefited greatly by adding a bit more time for character development. There is a surprise character in the middle of the story. We needed to know more about that person but were not given enough info. A key scene from the book involving this character was missing and should have been included. It would have rounded things out nicely. Further, Jane has three distant cousins that she lives with for a while; it would have been nice to see a little more development with them. As it was, they were not even portrayed as relatives in the film.

However, none of this detracts greatly from an excellent film. I can assure you that we will own the DVD the first week it is available.

Grade: A-

Movie Review: Paul

2011-04-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

What shall we say about Paul? We went to see this last weekend but I haven't had the time to blog about it until now. Two British comic book geeks are true believers in aliens. They make their way to the US for ComiCon and follow it up with a road trip to see the great alien sites of the western US. Rozwell, Area 51, a few more. What they don't count on is meeting an alien who has escaped from Area 51 and is trying to get to a rendezvous site so he can go home. The alien's name is Paul.

This movie is filled with good laughs but these come at the expense of religious folk. The film is also laced with profanity and crude sexual humor. There are plenty of good comedies to show that this stuff isn't necessary. Normally, I would not go to see a movie like Paul but I went with some other folks who were dying to see it. It was about what I figured.

As I said, some good laughs but the bad stuff pulled it down.

Grade: C-

Movie Review: Another Year

2011-03-27T07:34:00.001-05:00

The wife and I went to see Another Year, a British film about a happily married couple and the life they live. Tom is a geologist; his wife, Gerri, is a counselor; their adult son, Joe, is a lawyer. We see each of them briefly in their work environment which establishes them as “normal” people. They live through a typical year as portrayed in the seasons beginning with spring. A common thread throughout the film is trips to their plot in a community garden which aids in showing the seasons passing.

The movie weaves several characters in and out of their lives. One is Ken, an old friend who has let himself go. He eats and drinks too much. He could retire but he is afraid of what he would do with himself without his job to complain about. There is Ronnie, Tom’s older brother, who loses the wife who has taken care of him while he has done next to nothing. We meet Katie, a lively young woman that Joe has begun seeing. She is one of the few other normal people in the film.

There is one character who is constant in every season: family friend, Mary. Mary works with Gerri and she is the poster child for the word “needy.” She is one of those people who cannot get their lives together and seem to make any progress. She is a middle-aged divorcee who lives in a small rented flat and holds down a secretarial job. She makes bad financial decisions and drinks way too much.

The film is well worth seeing but don’t expect much in the way of answers to straighten these friends out. Instead, it is a study in how a compassionate couple graciously handles some of the difficult people in their lives without imposing themselves on their friends.

Grade: B+

Movie Review: Battle: Los Angeles

2011-03-22T11:16:00.002-05:00

I must have seen this trailer a dozen times. Initially, I had no plans whatsoever to see this movie. I like a good alien invasion movie as well as the next guy but something about this one didn't appeal to me. But after seeing the trailer six or seven times something inside of me wanted to go anyway. After ten times I decided I would definitely take it in. The wife went with me. She likes sci-fi too.

Aliens invade earth but this is not a half-comedy movie like Independence Day. This is a tough, gritty war movie about the military forces who would actually fight such a war were one to occur. Let's forget that a civilization that could travel many light-years to earth would probably have more advanced weaponry that this group of aliens did. Let's forget that our weaponry might not be very effective against them. Let's just suppose that they are only slightly more advanced than we are and that we have tactical advantages because we are on our home turf. Then let's film this as a war movie not an alien invasion movie. You end up with a product that is, surprisingly, not too bad.

I always feel expectations play a huge role in my enjoyment of a movie. I think I wasn't expecting much so I enjoyed it when it turned out to be okay. Much of it was very predictable but all of it was filmed well. One thing I love about Marines is that they can stay awake for days at a time without any sleep. They can fight ferociously without taking any breaks for food. Oh, wait, maybe that is just Hollywood Marines. In any event, this movie was a pleasant surprise. I wondered how this was going to end. The classic scenario seems to be that the aliens cannot live on earth. Some virus kills them or something. They didn't do that here. The ending was quite good in that our forces didn't just find a way to crush the enemy but had to discover a breakthrough then go back and finish the war.

Grade: B-

Movie Review: Limitless

2011-03-19T14:02:00.001-05:00

This film was on my list since the first time I read about it. I think it is interesting how appealing the idea of having the upper hand on everyone else is. A good plot device for a story. Like Superman being stronger, faster, etc., than everyone else. Everyone is looking for an unfair advantage.

Bradley Cooper plays Eddie Morra, a wannabe writer who can't write. Just as he is thinking he might have to move back to Jersey to work in his dad's business he runs into a former brother-in-law, Vernon. Vern gives him a pill that allows him to access all of his brain and vast numbers of scenarios open up for Eddie. He is limitless. First, he finishes his book in four days. Then he starts day trading and earns some huge returns. A few run-ins with a Russian mobster, a Wall Street big shot (Robert De Niro), losing, regaining, then again losing his old girlfriend are just a few of the situations his pill gets him through. But it seems there is a heavy price to pay in terms of his health.

I thought the acting and script were good. It was nicely paced and had some interesting twists and turns. There were some annoying visual effects used to show how Haller's mental functions were speeded up and to illustrate some of the problems the pill was causing. A little would have gone a long way but they chose to give us too much. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable movie to sit through.

A couple words of caution: there is a graphic scene involving blood that is unpleasant to see. And, like so many movies nowadays, there is several sex scenes which show no real nudity but imply too much. The latter is one of my pet peeves. I don't know why moviemakers rely so much on unneeded sex scenes. It is irritating. What? You can't tell a decent enough story so you have to plug in a little sex every few minutes? Give me a break.

Grade: B.

Movie Review: The Lincoln Lawyer

2011-03-19T11:12:00.002-05:00

My wife and I don't like a lot of the same movies but she does, on occasion, go with me to mine so last night I returned the favor. I had not planned to see The Lincoln Lawyer but she did. I'm glad I went. Personally, I don't really care for Matthew McConaughey. I'm not sure why. But I have to admit that he is an outstanding actor. He pulled this whole movie together.

The film was far better than I anticipated. McConaughey plays a wise-cracking lawyer named Mick Haller that works out of the back seat of an old Lincoln Town Car. He deals with a shady clientele like motorcycle gangs and such. A young rich kid, obviously innocent, wants Haller to represent him for a charge he insists is trumped up. But, as they say, the plot thickens. There is a lot of tension as the mystery slowly unravels. Even then, you don't know for sure how this is going to end.

Excellent acting, a well-written storyline, lots of action though in a drama sense not an action movie sense.

Grade: A-. It got better as I thought about it overnight.

Old Spice Scholar?

2010-08-20T10:52:00.000-05:00

Movie: The Expendables

2010-08-16T14:04:00.003-05:00

This was my number two movie to see for 2010. I could not wait for it. I knew it would be good even if it was bad. It was, and it was. Not many people seemed to be aware that there was a viral movement to make sure that The Expendables beat out the Julia Roberts film Eat, Pray, Love. This is exemplified in a trailer referred to as "A Call to Arms," complete with insults to manhood everywhere should Roberts beat Stallone.

Incidently, I learned this weekend that the man who plays the main bad guy in The Expendables, Eric Roberts, is actually Julia Roberts' brother. You probably knew that but I didn't. Anyway, the opening scene is the mercenary team of expendables taking out a Somali pirate crew, ya know, just to show what they're capable of.

Then the movie had several scenes where it just dragged a bit. These were character development scenes that were not very well written. Alas. The cameo appearances of Schwarzeneggar and Willis were great in that it was fun to see both of these guys present and accounted for in such a movie but, again, this could have been better written. If Arnie had not been the governator, it would have been great to have him reprise his role as John Matrix from Commando and have a bigger part in the film. Oh, what might have been.

At this point, the movie picks up considerably and I won't spoil it for you by revealing the plot or by describing the action at length. Suffice it to say, it was well worth seeing. I may wind up seeing it again. There were two scenes that stood out to me. The first involved Jet Li. Throughout the early part of the movie he is pushing for a pay increase. He gives various reasons why he deserves this. However, it is not until a scene where he and Stallone are driving along in a pickup that we get the real reason. It is because he is so small. No kidding. This was hilarious. He proceeds to explain that when they have to go somewhere, relative to the other guys he has to travel farther. When he gets hurt, his wounds are bigger. Several reasons are given having to do with his small size. Suddenly, the bad guys come upon them and start shooting at the pickup. Stallone tells him to get outside the truck and start shooting back. "Why me?" he says. "Because you're smaller," is the reply.

The other scene involved Mickey Rourke talking with Stallone about an incident in Bosnia many years previous. This scene was so well done, so poignant, that it seemed out of place in this movie. There was actual acting skill on display that threw me for a loop. CrackleSon also saw this movie and pointed out this scene before I even mentioned it. For a space of maybe forty seconds Rourke took my breath away. No machine gun fire, no explosions, just a man painfully recalling an incident earlier in his life and desparately wishing he had acted differently.

Anyway, this movie has all the action you could want to see. Most of it is a group of guys battling against all odds and, in typical '80s action sequences, coming out on top. Go and see it or you are not a man, you pansy.

Grade: A-. You don't go see a movie like this for the award-winning dialogue. You go see it for the action.

Republican hopefuls?

2010-07-30T08:45:00.008-05:00

My previous post reminded me of just how cynical I have become. I have outlined how Hillary will become our next president. This could be forestalled if the Republicans could put forth a decent candidate. Let’s look at a few of the possibilities.

Mike Huckabee. There is something intangible about Huckabee that I just don't like. He just doesn't seem competent. The media has portrayed him in part as a religious nutcase. Somehow he has successfully kept from being branded with this label. But he is altogether unexciting. I don't think he can win.

Newt Gingrich. There is much talk of Newt running. I think Newt would actually make a great president. I think he understands the issues, both foreign and domestic, that need to be addressed and he knows what needs to be done. But let’s face it: Newt is unelectable. This is because of the way the media have portrayed him. And the American public believes every lie the MSM and the liberal bloggers spew. Newt can’t win and he shouldn’t try. But he will. Sigh.

Sarah Palin. Palin is witty, charming, smart, beautiful. Her nomination as McCain’s VP electrified the base. I couldn’t have cared less about that election until she was named. I picked her way back in the primaries before we even had a clear presidential winner but I never dreamed she would actually be picked. Then two things happened. First, her handlers from the McCain camp would not unleash her. They put a straightjacket on her and asked her to perform. Idiots. Robert Dole’s handlers did the same thing to him in 1996. Result: Loser! Second, she too became a victim of the left-wing media. She has been permanently marked as damaged goods in the minds of a huge chunk of the American public. One thing the right has to do is learn to deal with the media. It is not going to change any time soon and the Dems have been masters of this for decades. The right doesn’t have a clue.

Jeb Bush. If it were not for the baggage he is carrying from 41 and 43, he would be the candidate we need. He would beat even Hillary. Unfortunately, there is no way to get rid of the albatross around his neck. He won’t even run.

Jan Brewer. The governor of Arizona is fighting an uphill battle on the immigration issue and she is doing it with courage and fortitude. She might be a possibility but whoever runs in this day and age must be articulate. The days of Bushisms are over. You need a better strategery. You have to be a communicator. She is not.

Mitch Daniels. The governor of Indiana was my pick for 2012 two years ago. He put his foot in his mouth a while back but I can’t remember what he said. Something about leaving the right wing social issues behind, I think. That will not play with the conservative wing of the party. He is out.

Bobby Jindal. The governor of Louisiana is awesome but he needs four more years. Ring him up in 2016.

Mitt Romney. This is probably our best hope for 2012. And that, my friends, is the perfect illustration of the trouble we are in.

We need a Ronald Reagan. Someone who can electrify crowds wherever he goes. And not just because he is a good speaker but because he truly understands the issues and what needs to be done and can articulate this to the American people. We need someone who has skill in dealing with the media. “Well, there you go again.” This media thing cannot be overstated. I remember a question from Sam Donaldson, something like, “Do you feel that you bear any responsibility for the current situation?” Reagan’s response, without the slightest hesitation: “Yes, because for many years I was a Democrat.”

We need someone who can bypass the media when he has to and successfully appeal directly to the American people. Someone with the balls to do the controversial thing just because it is right. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

I remember hearing Reagan speak in La Crosse, Wisconsin when running against Carter in 1980. He was describing the difference between a depression and a recession. “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his job.” The crowd went wild. That is what we need. Someone who understands the issues, someone who can articulate the issues, someone who has rapport with the American people and can wake them from their socialism-induced slumber.

We have no one like this. No one.

The American people are stupid

2010-07-30T08:38:00.003-05:00

Over at Redstate, there was a post last night by Michele Bachmann lauding the Tea Party and how the Democrats are underestimating them. Bachmann, if I am not mistaken, is the congresswoman from Minnesota who recently organized the Tea Party caucus in the House. I hate to disagree with such a well-intentioned individual but here is my take.

Democrats underestimate the American people again? Surely, you jest. The American people have been completely seduced by the Democrats. They are politically and socially fornicating with them. Don’t forget it was the American people who voted the current administration into office against all logic, reason, and common sense.

Let me tell you how this ends. The Republicans win big in November, perhaps taking back the House. The backlash will be that Dems/liberals everywhere will abandon Obama. Within a month after the election, Hillary resigns her position as SecState. Within a week after that she quietly begins her campaign. It quickly builds steam and she crushes Obama in the 2012 primaries. In November 2012, the same mindless, unthinking euphoria that swept Obama into office will now do the same for Hillary.

The Republicans have the opportunity of a lifetime and we have no one to step up. No one! Where is Reagan when we need him? Get used to the idea of another President Clinton. That’s how stupid the American people have become.

GPS: Darth Vader

2010-07-19T11:13:00.002-05:00

How would you like Darth Vader on your GPS?

2010 Robert James Madden Highland Games

2010-07-18T19:00:00.004-05:00

More than a year ago a friend extended an invitation to me to attend their annual family gathering. Now, normally, I wouldn't think of invading someone else's family get-together unless the was a truly compelling reason. In this case their was. Their family gets together on an annual basis to compete in their own Scottish Highland Games. I was unable to attend last year due to a wedding that conflicted with the date of the Games. However, I was invited again this year.

Their games consist of four events, three of which I have never done before. The other is a foot race. The first was the stone throw. This is very much like the shot put from track and field except you are putting a big rock.

The second event was the caber toss. Think of a small version of a telephone pole. The pole is stood up with the wide end on top. Then you pick the pole up at the narrow end such that you are holding it with both hands on the bottom and the pole sticking straight up. Believe me, this is quite a balancing act. Then you step forward and toss the pole up such that it flips over so the top end hits the ground and the small end then falls over farthest away from you. This is not done for distance but accuracy. Whosever pole lands closest to 12:00 wins.

The third event was a sheaf toss which consists in using a pitchfork to toss a 20-pound sheaf, a burlap sack filled with hay, over a bar. Think of a pole vault set-up. You get three attempts to make your toss. Once you are successful, the bar is raised and you go again. Whoever throws it the highest wins.

The final event is the foot race. In this case the race was mostly uphill on a gravel road, perhaps a quarter of a mile or so. A winner is declared in each event then points are assigned to determine the overall winner.

I won the stone toss by a few inches. Actually, one competitor threw a couple of inches further than me but faulted so his throw didn't count. I tied for second in the caber toss. Then won the sheaf toss. Naturally, I finished dead last in the foot race. Nevertheless, I accumulated enough points to win the overall. My first Highland Games. What a thrill!

Movie: Inception

2010-07-17T08:57:00.004-05:00

CrackleBabe and I jumped on the bandwagon and went to see Inception. All the reviews were raving about how good this movie was. They spoke about the many layers in this movie and that it was a bit confusing. I don't feel it was confusing at all but I may think differently on a second viewing. This was an extraordinarily intricate plot but not that hard to follow. It was an excellent film but I honestly think it will take another viewing to fully appreciate it.

Supposedly, Christopher Nolan has been working on the script for this film since the time he was directing Momento back in 2000. It certainly shows in the amazing creativity on display. As CB and I drove away from the theater I asked, "What kind of mind comes up with stuff like this?" I am so tired of Hollywood redoing everything. Everything is a remake of something older, or a sequel, or worse, a prequel. This film is a great example of the creativity we should, but evidently can no longer expect from Hollywood on a regular basis.

I realize this is a senseless review but you really should see this film. You won't be disappointed. Perhaps I will blog again after a second viewing.

Grade: A. It might even deserve an A+ but then I have no where to go if I find something better than this one.

Movie: The A-Team

2010-07-16T08:27:00.005-05:00

I am going to try to recap some of the movies I saw earlier this year. In the 80s, CrackleBabe and I didn't have a TV. Too much to do to waste life sitting on the couch. I have a brother who is ten years my junior who was still living at home at the time The A-Team made its run on TV. He loved that show and was always quoting lines that I never understood. I never saw even one episode.

I knew they were in the process of making an A-Team movie but I paid no attention to it as I never had any interest in the TV show. When the trailers started playing, however, I thought this might be a decent action film. Just a little escapism, ya know? So I put it on my list not expecting much. Sometimes I think the key to enjoying a film is not expecting much. CB and I both came out of the theater afterwards loving this movie. Totally preposterous, totally unbelievable, totally funny and exciting at the same time. This film is what going to the movies is all about. Just a whole lot of fun.

I came home so excited about this that I logged onto Hulu and watched the pilot episode of The A-Team TV show. I think the movie captured the unique humor the show had and it had much better action.

Grade: because of the pleasant surprise, A-.

Movie: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010-07-16T07:56:00.003-05:00

I need to get back to blogging about movies again. The CrackleBabe and I have seen quite a few this summer. Last night we, along with CrackleDaughter2, went to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice. There is a bit of a back story to this so bear with me. The last two years I have made a list of movies I want to see in the coming year. I post this on a cabinet in my kitchen and check them off as I see them. In fact, recently, I started to grade the movies instead of just checking them off. A couple of weeks ago, CrackleSon was looking at the list and asked increduously, "You want to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice?" "Yes," I said. "In fact, I'm quite looking forward to it.?" Apparently, he had other opinions about this film.

Flash forward to last night. CD2 always wants to know what we are going to do on Thursday night. I said we could go see this movie. She scowled as did CB. It seems women do not like Nicolas Cage. At least this seemed to be the main rub. CB had read a few reviews that were none too kind. Then they reminded me that I had taken them to The Last Airbender which had not panned out well. But I had a gut feeling that Airbender would be bad and I still wanted to see it. While some of the reviews of Apprentice were panning the show, I had a feeling about this one that it was still going to be good. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, CB and CD2 were already talking before the movie was over that it was well worth seeing. This, in spite of Nicolas Cage.

The story centers around a young college physics whiz who becomes an apprentice to Balthazar Blake (Cage), one of three disciples of Merlin--yes, that Merlin. One of these disciples, Horvath, wonderfully portrayed by Alfred Molina, betrays Merlin and joins his arch enemy, Morgana. Morgana is imprisoned until the time a new sorcerer will arise who is able to defeat her. Balthazar spends the next several centuries looking for this sorcerer who winds up being the geeky physics kid, Dave, and begins his training. Too soon, the kid must face his destiny.

The whole story was wonderfully told. Most of the time I hate when there is a romance as a side story but this one was told quite well. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and well worth seeing.

Grade: a solid B.

Movie: Knight and Day

2010-07-06T09:25:00.004-05:00

Brief: CrackleBabe and I saw Knight and Day last week. This movie was a lot of fun. No great moral to the story or anything but it sure was fun to watch. The plot was good enough to carry you along but there was only one reason this was enjoyable. The sheer personality of Cameron Diaz and especially Tom Cruise. Cruise has always been somewhat of an annoyance to me. He is not a great actor but he is competent. However, his charisma onscreen is through the roof. That especially comes out in this movie. The timing between Diaz and he was perfect. I thought it was well worth seeing in the theater. CrackleBabe would have been content to wait for DVD.

Grade: B.

Movie: The Last Airbender

2010-07-02T21:37:00.004-05:00

The reviews were very mixed for this movie. Some saying it was fabulous, others saying it sucked. It was somewhere in between. CrackleDaughter2 said it was just a bunch of Ghandi one-liners. CrackleBabe claims she said it wouldn't be any good. She never actually said that but she claims she did. If she had, she would have been mostly right.

This movie was not as bad as I thought it might be but it was definitely not as good as I hoped it would be. In fact, it was on the lower end of the scale. As I was watching I kept thinking this could be good but it is not living up to its potential. Cheesy acting, poor timing with lines. I don't know. It just wasn't very good.

Grade: C-. And that is being charitable.

Pee Wee Herman

2010-07-02T08:58:00.002-05:00

Paul Reubens is making a movie based on his old Saturday morning TV show, Pee Wee's Playhouse. I used to watch this with my kids. My favorite character was Randy, a scoundrel of a puppet who was Pee Wee's foil to teach the kids some sort of lesson like "it's not nice to kick people in the shins." If they pull this off, I want Lawrence Fishburn back to play Cowboy Curtis again. That would be too cool.

What is the extent of the Commerce Clause?

2010-07-01T09:12:00.004-05:00

Wow! Senator Coburn questions Elena Kagen at her confirmation hearing about the extent of the Commerce Clause. This is the clause that liberals use to justify all the otherwise unconstitutional stuff they do. Coburn has her stammering. I wish he would have let her continue to try to answer rather than giving her a well-deserved lecture. I think it would be good for people to see that legislating justices have no Constitutional leg to stand on.

HT: Curmudgeon's Corner

Leviathan

2010-07-01T08:09:00.000-05:00

Leviathan has been found.

The Supremes on Gun Control

2010-06-30T10:53:00.002-05:00

When I first heard about the Supreme Court decision I blogged about the other day, my first thought was, "When is the Anarchangel going to weigh in on this issue?" He has done so.

The Obama Birth Certificate--Again

2010-06-30T10:19:00.004-05:00

George Rebane raises the issue of Obama's birth certificate again. He asks, "Why doesn't this issue go away?" That is a fair question considering how easy it would be to make it disappear.

Obama could get rid of this issue once and for all by producing his Hawaiian birth certificate. That is going to cost him somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 to get the document. Maybe a few cents more for postage. Instead, he hires three teams of expensive lawyers to obstruct the whole matter. That speaks volumes but is of no interest to a media that panders to the president rather than assume its role as the watchdog of truth.

If it can be shown conclusively that he is not a native-born citizen, he is disqualified from the presidency. If he refuses to resign with such a disclosure, which I expect to be the case, it could potentially throw the country into a Constitutional crisis. Hopefully, impeachment would take care of the problem. Hopefully, the Democrats would go along with impeachment in that case but they have no regard for the Constitution in other areas so why would they care about this? But can you imagine federal agents stepping into the Oval Office and forcibly removing him?

And, as one of the commentors at Rebane's site suggests, what happens to all the actions he has taken since he became president? Are they void? Would they stand and we are just content to be rid of him? That is a huge Constitutional can of worms.

Hopefully, it would be a smooth transition to President Biden. (Excuse me. I just had a shiver go down my spine.) In any event, I don't realistically anticipate a change. This issue will never be resolved and Obama will continue as president.

Recent Supreme Court Decision on Gun Control

2010-06-29T16:24:00.002-05:00

Here is an editorial in the NYT bemoaning the fact that the Supreme Court made the Constitutionally correct decision the other day regarding the gun control situation in Chicago.

Money quote:

"The court’s members ignored the present-day reality of Chicago, where 258 public school students were shot last school year — 32 fatally."

Something is fishy here. These numbers cannot be correct. We need to have guns banned so people don't get shot. Check. Chicago banned guns. Check. So, without any guns at all (because no one would ever violate the ban) 258 public school students were shot. And 32 of them died. Without any guns at all. Stunning.

Conservatives on top?

2009-10-27T06:45:00.003-05:00

Here is an article about Americans moving to the political right. I find this extremely hard to believe given we have a leftist administration in power that is succeeding in destroying the country once and for all. This nutcase crowd was voted in by conservatives? Someone doesn't know what a conservative is.

There is another possibility. It looks as though maybe--MAYBE--some of the "moderates" who voted for Obama are seeing the error of their ways and are becoming more conservative. We can only hope.

ObamaCare Dies

2009-10-06T09:05:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of Brother Lew, this is hilarious.

Baseball prediction

2009-10-02T09:04:00.001-05:00

This is pretty cool.

HT: Challies

Good clean fun

2009-09-30T14:39:00.001-05:00

These guys are just out having fun.

HT: From the Study

He's Back!

2009-09-29T08:20:00.002-05:00

I knew it! I knew it! And quite frankly, I am surprised it has taken almost a year. Kim du Toit is BACK!

Two words: Brett Favre

2009-09-28T15:28:00.004-05:00

I am a lifetime Packer fan. When the Pack squares off against the Vikes next Monday night in the Dome, you can bet your cheesehead I'll be rooting for the Pack. But I love Brett Favre. Brett brought the Packers franchise back from a post-1960s black hole that I thought would never end. He brought Packer fans back from chronic despondency. He brought a twelfth NFL title back to Titletown.

One thing I cannot understand is the animosity of Packer fans toward Favre over the last two seasons. Don't give me that traitor talk. As soon as you say that you have disqualified yourself from being classified as reasonable. You can say all you want about what Brett Favre owes the Packers but you can't even calculate what the Packers owe Brett Favre.

Having lived in the Twin Cities for six years during the '80s and '90s, I can tell you that the sports media there incites the most fair-weather fans I have ever seen in any sport in any city. When the Vikes won a game they were on their way to the Super Bowl. No one could challenge them. When they lost a game they were the most hopeless and hapless franchise in the history of the league. I hated the Minnesota media for that. When Favre signed with the Vikes, plenty of them were whining. I wonder if they're still whining after this:

You see, I've seen it before. Many times. I have also seen Brett throw countless interceptions in such situations. That was part of the excitment of having Favre as your QB. You just never knew what was going to happen. Favre is one of the greatest ever and at nearly 40 years old, he still has the magic.

For good measure, here is the video of the catch with the call from the Vikings radio announcer, Paul Allen. Radio announcers are always better than TV announcers anyway. A spectacular throw and a spectacular catch by Greg Lewis. What a play!

They don't make cars like they used to

2009-09-21T08:32:00.003-05:00

They don't make cars like they used to. Apparently, that's a good thing. Here's an video clip where they crash a 2009 Chevy Malibu into a 1959 Chevy Bel Air just to show how far crash protection in vehicles has come. Eye-opening to say the least.

HT: Sense of Events. Donald Sensing relates the story of a crash in his 2004 Malibu at 70 mph that he apparently walked away from.

Carter, Obama, and racism

2009-09-16T08:24:00.001-05:00

One thing that I have always granted the left is that they know how to play the game much, much better than the right. Witness the latest racism charges. We would all benefit immensely if Jimmy Carter would just go back to Plains and never be heard from again. He was a worthless president, entirely clueless while in office and clearly has learned nothing since he left. But he indicates that disagreeing with President Obama is because of racism. Never mind that Obama’s policies are leading to disaster. We can’t possibly be worried about that. The only conceivable reason we would oppose him is racism.

Now, I am not here to say that there is no racism left in this country. But I am here to say that it is ideas like this that perpetuate it. I don’t care if our president is black or white, Asian or Eskimo, Slavic or Indian, male or female. I care about two things. First, is the president a naturally born citizen per the Constitutional requirement? (That pesky Constitution. Just think of how much progress the left could make if it wasn’t for that.) Second, can the president run the country competently? With regard to Obama, we simply don’t know about the first. We are told not to worry. Of course, he was born in Hawaii.

“I have an idea. They think I’m not a naturally born US citizen. I could spend $12.50 and produce the official birth certificate that would remove all doubt. But, just to spice things up a bit, I will instead hire three teams of high-priced lawyers and spend millions and millions of dollars to obstruct all these requests. Using lawyers. Nothing more American than that. That’ll prove my citizenship.”

Regarding the second, all doubt has now been removed. Nine months in office has demonstrated that Obama is in so far over his head that he may be more clueless than Carter himself. He has no idea the damage his budget-busting antics are doing nor what will befall us if he gets his way in other areas. The federal government cannot even run a cash-for-clunkers program for a few weeks and we are supposed to trust them with our healthcare? We are supposed to roll over and let him do what he wants or we are racists? I think not. He is an utterly incompetent bumbler at best. It doesn’t matter if he is black or white.

The God Gene

2009-09-09T11:26:00.001-05:00

I don't care what you say, this here's funny.

HT: Crosstalk

Sounds like life to me

2009-09-09T10:37:00.003-05:00

CrackleDaughter3 got married this last Saturday. What a blessed and wonderful time. Having so many family and friends together at once was great. But I dropped my car off at my mechanic prior to leaving for the wedding. On the drive up to Wisconsin he called and said the tranny was bad and not worth fixing. So, I need to find a new car. While I was there to pick up the car, my wife started up the van to leave. The mechanic said, "Wait!" We popped the hood and found out the water pump was going out. We left the van and limped home in the car with the bad tranny.

This was after CrackleDaughter2 had just finally replaced her old car. And when I got to Wisconsin for the wedding, I had a conversation with CrackleSon who said that the tranny had gone out on his car. Thankfully, his was rebuilt last year and is still under warranty. He is driving CD3's car while she is on her honeymoon. With all this stuff going wrong I feel like I should be depressed. But I think there is such a spike of joy in my life right now that I just can't seem to get upset about it.

Found this song this morning which discusses the trials and tribulations we face as just regular life. The guy in the video is me right now except I don't have the temptation to drink or get depressed. Just life. Oh, and my wife's not pregnant either.

HT: No Looking Backwards

Rain

2009-09-02T14:21:00.001-05:00

This is pretty cool.

Blood Drive

2009-08-28T08:24:00.003-05:00

Today is Blood Drive day at work. I think this comes twice per year. Traditionally, I have objected to giving blood at work. It seems like they get everything else, I don't want to give them my blood too. However, I have matured in recent years and now am willing to see things in a different light. Last time they were here I gave double reds. This time I'm not giving.

All this is neither here nor there. What I wanted to comment on is smoking. Because of state laws and company policies there are only two places on our grounds where people are allowed to smoke. I'm sure your workplace is similar. One of these is a suitable distant from the employee entrance that I use. Today, as I walked up, there was a small knot of people smoking right outside the door. This was well within the suitable distant radius so they were in clear violation of state law. I thought of making a citizen's arrest but, oohhhh, the paperwork. I let it go. I didn't recognize any of them anyway. When I got inside I could see out of one of the front windows in our office that the bloodmobile was sitting in the lot. Aha! It was the bloodmobile staff that was smoking outside the door. Does anyone else see the irony in this?

Crushing Debt

2009-08-27T09:36:00.002-05:00

If Obama's policies continue, we are going to be destroyed as a nation. We cannot sustain this level of debt.

Money quote:

"Figures released by the White House budget office foresee a cumulative $9 trillion deficit from 2010-2019, $2 trillion more than the administration estimated in May. Moreover, the figures show the public debt doubling by 2019 and reaching three-quarters the size of the entire national economy."

HT: Gene Veith

Catwoman

2009-08-26T17:17:00.005-05:00

Truth or rumor? Who knows? But the latest is that the next Batman movie will have the Catwoman once again. And who will play the feline fatale? None other than Megan Fox.

Oooo, CrackleDaughter1 will love this.

John Campea thinks this is akin to Santa being real.

Octavia

2009-08-26T08:34:00.003-05:00

I have long been impressed with the excellent production qualities of The Onion's parodies. However, this one may be the best ever.

HT: Mises Institute

Speechless

2009-08-24T15:05:00.002-05:00

This left me speechless. There are still real Americans out there after all. Of course, he's a Marine.

HT: Caffeinated Thoughts

Sigh, the ACLU

2009-08-21T13:17:00.002-05:00

Our friends at the American Civil Liberties Union are at it again. Now the ACLU is outing our undercover CIA agents to our enemies. Details here and here. I am trying to think of a word for this. It's on the tip of my tongue. It's coming--oh yeah! TREASON!

HT: The Jawa Report

Usain Bolt

2009-08-21T08:54:00.003-05:00

Let's face it. This man is insanely fast. I was a high school track and field athlete and have had a life-long love for this sport. Bolt was amazing at the Olympics last year in Beijing. But what he is doing this week at the World Championships in Berlin is even beyond that. He has lowered the WR in the 100m as much in the last year as it had been lowered from the early 1980s until 2007. I heard one reporter trying to explain how fast he is. If his WR 100m time were extrapolated to the 40 yard dash run as a standard test in the NFL combine, he would have run just a hair over 3.8. The fast guys in the NFL run 4.4. The really fast guys run 4.2. His last 40 yards of the 100m race were run in 2.9.

In the two events (100m, 200m) where the WR typically improves by 100th of a second at a time, he broke both his Beijing records by 11/100ths of a second. This is just unheard of. Words escape me. In one of the video clips I watched the announcer summed up my feelings precisely. "19.2 seconds. Are you kidding me?" Just phenomenal.

The video clip below is the 200m final where the WR was broken. Notice the great race between the mere mortals. It is a photo finish from 2nd to 5th. But Bolt is 6 meters in front of them all! I wonder how fast he could run if he actually had someone pushing him. I wonder what he could do if he trained for the 400. Wonder. Yes, that's the right word.

A Freak Tornado and the ELCA

2009-08-20T09:18:00.002-05:00

Now here is a strange thing. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is gathered in convention this week in Minneapolis. The biggest item on the agenda is a statement of sexuality that would allow clergy who are in monogamous homosexual relationships to serve its churches. This measure was to be considered at 2 PM on Wednesday. "Out of the blue," as it were, a tornado strikes the location of the convention. At 2 PM. On Wednesday.

Gee, I wonder if someone is trying to send a message. Details here.

Optical illusion

2009-08-20T08:44:00.003-05:00

This might be the best optical illusion I have seen. The squares are actually arranged in concentric circles.

DNA Evidence Can Now Be Fabricated

2009-08-19T10:46:00.003-05:00

Oh, this is nothing but good news! Apparently, science has progressed far enough that we can now fabricate DNA evidence. Money quote:

"You can just engineer a crime scene," said Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper. "Any biology undergraduate could perform this."

Did you catch that? It said, "Any biology undergraduate could perform this." Great. All we need is a bunch of sophomores with too much time on their hands doing to our crime scene evidence what hackers do to computer systems.

Does this spell the end of justice as we have come to know it? At the very least it will spell the end of all the various CSI shows.

Mozart's death

2009-08-18T11:14:00.002-05:00

Until now, there has been no firm consensus on how Mozart died. However, Dutch researchers are now saying that he probably died from complications of strep throat.

What? Are they crazy? This is already a settled matter. Salieri did it. Didn't they see the movie?

Oh, the suffering; oh, the humanity!

2009-08-18T09:18:00.003-05:00

Can you believe this? In this bad economy, some people are having to scrape by on only $300,000 per year. I just don't know how they do it. If things get any worse, she could be forced to let the pool man or the gardener go.

Two Face

2009-08-11T09:31:00.003-05:00

There is a character in the Batman comics called Two Face. He made an appearance in the latest Batman movie where he died at the end. It appears, however, that the announcement of his death was premature. In fact, he now appears to be running the country as this video clip shows.

HT: No Looking Backwards

I don't care who you are . . .

2009-08-10T13:28:00.001-05:00

. . . that there's funny.

Barney Frank

2009-08-04T08:44:00.001-05:00

Unless there is a change of power in Congress in 2010, America is done, finished, kaput!

Quote from Barney Frank:

"I've had people come to us and complain, "Well, if you do that, I can't make any money." The answer is that's not my job. We're not here to help you make money. We are here to help have a system in which you will make money as an incident of your providing funds to those who will use it productively."

Apparently, I was wrong

2009-08-04T08:22:00.001-05:00

Clearly, I was wrong about Obama and the Dems. Cash for Clunkers has worked so well that I think maybe it IS time to give them a shot at healthcare.

The Curmudgeon wants a divorce

2009-07-17T14:13:00.004-05:00

Me too. I think he has the basics of a workable plan.

.

Calvin at 500

2009-07-10T09:35:00.003-05:00

Today is the 500th anniversary of the birth of Jean Cauvin, or John Calvin as we call him outside of France. The impact of Calvin on western Christendom and western society in general cannot be overstated. The reforms of the sixteenth century took different paths in the seventeenth century. While Lutheranism, for fear of salvation by works, descended into dead orthodoxy, Calvinism reached somewhat of a golden age in the seventeenth century. Many of Britian's divines wrote prolifically during this time and many of these works are still in print and still speak boldly across the centuries.

But perhaps the biggest impact was on the political scene. Much of this could be attributed to the The Geneva Bible, the first edition of which was published while Calvin was still living. It was an English translation and had a large number of study notes based on Calvin's theology. This was the Bible of the early Puritans and Separatists. (Incidently, it was also the Bible of Shakespeare.) This was the Bible that made it to Plymouth Colony on the Mayflower. It was notes of interpretation in this Bible that justified Christian citizens standing up against tyrants. In fact, it was these latter references that were responsibile for the appearance of the King James Bible in 1611. King James felt threatened by such interpretations. They opposed his rule by "divine right." He authorized the translation of what became known as the King James Bible to refute the Geneva Bible's claims.

Nevertheless, the Calvinistic interpretation held sway for the next centuries and helped to shape and mold the colonies, and later the new nation, in America.

Happy birthday, Jean.

Michael Jackson as Messiah

2009-07-09T10:15:00.002-05:00

You think I'm kidding? Money quote from this article:

"It's almost like a crucifixion, in terms of the cross you have to bear," said professor Cornel West. "We reap the fruits of the resurrection, in terms of the power that emanates from [Jackson's] sacrifice. He sacrificed his childhood because he loved us so. He didn't just entertain us, he sustained us."

HT: Between Two Worlds

Ark of the Covenant, reprised

2009-06-30T09:50:00.003-05:00

It looks like the story of the Ark being revealed was false hope chalked up to a possible translation error. So, Indy needs to get busy again. I saw it in that warehouse in the fourth Indiana Jones movie. He needs to go back and find it.

Bones of the Apostle Paul

2009-06-30T09:37:00.003-05:00

The news has been circulating the last few days that bones found in a sarcophagus in Rome have been confirmed to be that of the apostle Paul. Not sure how this could be done without some type of DNA sample known to be from Paul. They did some carbon-14 dating which indicated that the bones were from the 1st or 2nd century. But that only shows they could have been the apostle. The tradition was that these bones were Paul's and that was undisputed, as I understand it. These very well may be the bones of the apostle Paul. And that brings me to this question: So what? I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. I just can't see how it could have any bearing on the faith regardless of whose bones they were. What do you think?

$10M

2009-06-29T13:47:00.001-05:00

What would you do for $10M? If somebody dropped ten million dollars in my lap, I would certainly try to convey my appreciation. But I wouldn't do any of these things for it.

Transformers 2 Movie Review

2009-06-27T11:34:00.003-05:00

You have got to be kidding me? I can review this movie in one word: stupid. If you need three words, let's try stupid beyond belief. The first part of this movie was so bad, so inane that, had it been a video rental, I would have ejected it from my DVD player, thrown the now soiled player away, taken the movie back to the store and demanded my money back. I just wanted to get out of the theater.

Too much profanity and sexual humor for the number of small kids in the theater. The biggest action sequence of the movie involved getting something from point A, where it was found, to point B, where it was needed. The sequence would have been much better had it been cut by twenty minutes.

Perhaps this stems from the fact that I did not grow up watching Transformers cartoons. CrackleSon loved this movie. But beyond the main Autobots, I could not tell who was who. Half the Decepticons looked the same to me. The result is that I could scarcely tell who was fighting who. I think the idea of robots fighting each other is stupid in itself but I can see how some people like it. The special effects of the robots changing forms was spectacular.

CrackleBabe couldn't get over how Megan Fox was only in the movie as eye candy. "She was only there to look good running across the desert." The Babe says she is a real genuine movie critic but I can't help believing this is a jealousy thing with women. Clearly, the crowd this movie most appeals to went because of fighting robots. But Fox is certainly a draw with this crowd as well precisely because she does look good. We can rest assured that there will be another sequel if they can find someone to direct it. Whether it will be worth seeing or not is another matter altogether. This one was not.

Another bad day

2009-06-25T16:23:00.000-05:00

It's only water.

The Ark of the Covenant is about to be revealed

2009-06-25T10:59:00.002-05:00

Legend has it that the Ark of the Covenant has been in Ethiopia since the seventh century. It has been secretly ensconced in a church there but it looks like tomorrow is the day that it is revealed to the world. At least according to this article.

Time will tell but I read the whole article and saw no mention whatsoever of Indiana Jones.

Having a bad day?

2009-06-23T13:48:00.001-05:00

I know, I know. All I'm posting lately is a lot of videos. But if you're having a bad day, is it as bad as this guy's?

So, you think you can dance?

2009-06-23T11:09:00.002-05:00

A friend sent this to me. Starts slow but finishes well.

The king of hammers

2009-06-22T14:43:00.003-05:00

This video clip is in German. No matter. You will still get it. This guy is quite impressive.

Women and Talking

2009-06-22T08:10:00.000-05:00

Apparently, they are born with it.

PETA and the President

2009-06-18T11:39:00.004-05:00

So, apparently the president, while doing an interview the other day, was bothered by a pesky fly. I saw the headlines but did not deem them worthy of my attention. That is, until today when CrackleDaughter1 sent this article.

With a display of skillful dexterity, the president killed the fly by swatting it with his hand. Video here. It's quite impressive. Easily the most impressive thing he has accomplished since taking office. However, the article tells the story of how PETA was upset with the president for killing the fly. In fact, they have sent him a special trap with which flies may be caught alive so they can be released unharmed outdoors.

Money quote:

"We support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals," PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich said Wednesday. "We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals."

Excuse me, you lefist wacko, while I embark on a very brief rant. Are you telling me that I should show compassion to a disease-spreading insect by catching him alive and releasing him into the wild but I can legally and morally slaughter a child a moment before it is born? I hope you will excuse me if I don't quite see things your way.

These people have no moral bearings anywhere. They are adrift in a sea of relativity with nothing to anchor them to reality. As Francis Beckwith said, "their feet are planted firmly in midair."

It was a fly!!! Insect life does not equal human life. Even the most liberal president the country has ever seen understands this and demonstrated such by killing the fly. IT WAS A FLY!!!!