The Last Two Weeks

It's been a week or two since the last post. I've seen a few movies since then. I saw "RED," starring Bruce Willis and a bunch of other famous people. I thought it was pretty good. It's at least worth a matinee. John Malkovich was the highlight for me. I also like Mary Louise Parker, who I haven't liked that much in the past. It seemed like she always played abrasive characters. But she's quite good in this. The movie is fun and I recommend it. B+

I finally saw the new Karate Kid movie, starring Will Smith's son. When I first saw the trailer, I really had no desire to see it, but after it came out, I heard enough good things about it, to put it on my Redbox list. So I rented it over the weekend. It was pretty good. I mean, it was really formulaic and predictable, but it had enough charm to be entertaining. It was also a little long, but nothing too bad. Jaden does a great job and of course Jackie Chan is good. Is it better than the original? Probably, but the original has such nostalgia for me and many others that it's hard compare the two. Yes, the original from a non-biased perspective is probably not a very good film, but I still have a fondness for it anyways. Sweep the leg!

We bought a few blu-rays in the past week. We bought "Beauty and the Beast." And it looks spectacular in blu-ray. Well worth upgrading to. The special features are pretty great as well. I love watching the behind the scene features on the classic Disney movies. My wife gave me "Iron Man 2" for my b-day. I still really enjoyed it. Yes, I can see the flaws that others mention, but for whatever reason they don't bother me. The special features on this disc were also quite good. Finally, I bought "Dollhouse" season 2, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. But I did see the special features and watch about 10 minutes of an episode and it looks great in High Def. When it was on the air, it always looked horrible because we didn't have a high def TV and the Comcast signal was crap. We have since upgraded and I am very happy.

What am I looking forward to in the next few months:

Harry Potter 7 (part 1)
MegaMind
Tangled
Tron 2
True Grit.

Definitely not interested in:

The Little Fockers

I enjoyed the original, but the sequel was sooo awful. The trailer for this one looks very similar.

What are you all looking forward to this Winter?

Or are you like me and think for the most part the movies look weak and are really looking forward to this summer with such gems as:

Thor
Captain America
Cowboys and Aliens
Green Lantern
Super 8

See ya next time.

Where have I been?

Where have I been the last few months? I don't know. I don't really have an excuse. I will try to do better, but who knows, I may not blog again for a few months.... so... yeah.

Since we last talked I have seen a few movies. I'll start with "The Social Network" which I thought was great. I was a big "West Wing" fan and have enjoyed Aaron Sorkin's writing in the past. But it's not just the writing that's great in the movie, the acting is great, the directing is great and the music is great. I just really enjoyed this story.

I also saw "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" which wasn't bad. It was a little slow in parts but it's worth a rental. Unless you hate Shia Lebouf (which I have been told some people do).

I saw "Kick Ass" and "Shutter Island" on DVD and thought they were very good. I saw "Clash of the Titans" which wasn't very good and "Prince of Persia" which was ok.

As far as the TV season goes, I haven't been that impressed. I think "The Event" holds promise... I'm just hoping it doesn't turn into "FlashForward." "Lone Star" which had promise was canceled. "I've given up on "No Ordinary Family" but may come back to it if I hear good things. I couldn't muster the energy to give anything else a try (except for Hawaii 5-0 which was good, but I'm not a big 'procedural' person). I think the best thing to do is to stick with older shows. "Fringe" is still amazing. "Chuck" and "House" are still entertaining. "Modern Family," "The Office" and "30 Rock" are still funny. And I'm excited about "Smallville" this year. He better fly and put on the suit before this whole thing is over or I'm going to be ANGRY.

As far as books go, I haven't read too much lately because I don't have a commute anymore to listen to audiobooks. But I really enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy, even though the final book was a major downer. I'm trying to get through the biography "Truman" which is good, but unbelievably long. 48 discs!

And music is just falling through the cracks. I really need to get back on track there. How do you sift through all the stuff that is out there?

Let me know what you're enjoying and what I should make sure to listen/read/watch.

Bye.

P.S. Bring it down a notch America!