Avengers

Excited doesn't even scratch the surface of my emotion for this movie.

Movie Hype

Yup... geeking out again, can't wait for this movie.

Inception

It's not very often that a movie exceeds expectations in my mind.  Mainly because if I'm super excited about a movie I build it up and build it up to a level where, I'm not even really sure if it's possible for anything to live up to it.  All of the above is why Inception was such an awesome surprise.  I was pretty excited about seeing the movie, but didn't have a lot of expectations going in other than being entertained.  I was entertained and then some, the movie blew me away.  I liked this movie a lot.  It was visually stunning and the story was really smart and really well written.  I was initially angry at the ending but upon reflection I think it was very smart and I get it now.  I honestly think Christopher Nolan is becoming my favorite director.  Who, upon some imdb research learned directed Memento, which is another little known great movie.  Anyway, this makes two for two, Dark Knight and now Inception.  I don't buy many movies but Inception will be purchased immediately.  If you haven't yet seen this movie I highly highly recommend it, visually it's awesome on the big screen so I'd recommend seeing on the silver screen.  Oh, btw, when did the geek from Third Rock from the Sun become a bad ass?  He was awesome.  He is for real, I was sceptical after the abomination that was GI Joe, but he was really good.

This movie also brought about something a bit disturbing to me.  I think Leonardo DiCaprio might be my favorite actor.  I shudder even writing it, but you can't deny he's come a long way since Jack (Titanic).  Before you judge, look at the resume since: Gangs of New York, Blood Diamond, The Departed, Inception, and while I haven't seen them yet I'm pretty sure I'll put Shutter Island and Body of Lies on this list.  Two of these movies are probably in my Top 10, Inceptions and The Departed.  So yeah... I'm now a Leo fan.  Crap.

Sugar

So the reasonible thing to do on a Monday after waking up at 4:30 in the morning to travel to Minneapolis would have been to sleep.  However like a moth to flame I was drawn to HBO. Sugar was the move dujour.  First off the movie was not a good one to watch whilst sleepy because 95% of it is subtitled.  But alas, I made it and turns out it was a really good movie, it followed a group of Dominican baseball players as they tried to make it to the majors.  I won't spoil too much but if you like sports movies that aren't either way over the top or super "win one for the gipper" then I'd recommend this one.  Great story, that wasn't as cheesy as I feel like most sports movies are.  I feel like it was pretty "real" as far as what it might be like for someone who is trying to come up through the big leagues.  Which, as if that weren't daunting enough, these kids were trying to do so without many of the advantages that are afforded to stateside players.  Now the movie wasn't a true story, which makes it even more impressive because it felt like it really could have been.  Anyway, I liked the movie a lot so if you are looking for a good Netflix rent, look it up.

Avatar

Went and saw Avatar yesterday with the in-laws, the movie was awesome.  Not sure I was a huge fan of the 3-D experiece, but the movie was, for lack of a better word, beautiful.  The CGI was flawlessly integrated into the picture, at no point that I can recall did I notice a clear distinction between "green screen" or CGI and the real living breathing actors and sets.  The plot, while simplistic and slightly transparent, remained very entertaining and kept your attention, keeping you excited and engaged enough that you really don't notice the nearly 3 hour run time.  So don't listen to the boo birds out there complaining about the plot, sorry critics no meaning of life in this movie, but it will entertain you from begining to end for sure.  You got invested in the characters and they did a really good job of not prolonging certain scenes that could very easily have gone the way of Dances with Wolves and just made you want to claw your eyes out in bordem; it refrained and kept a good pace that made you feel like you knew what you needed to know without taking forever and a month full of Sundays to get there. 

Bottom line I give this movie an amazing and it's probably the best I've seen this year with Watchmen being right up there as well.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the sci-fi type movies I will most certainly be adding this to my Blu Ray movies to buy list.

Childhood Memories Ruined...

The utter destruction of my childhood televison heros was complete on Saturday with the viewing of GI Joe Rise of Cobra.  As if the Chevy commercial, I mean Transformers wasn't bad enough... this movie was such a disappointment.  I was going to write a lot on it, and actually had a rant all written up but deleted it because it made me sad.  I'll just say this: perhaps the saddest and most disappointing thing was the lack of the "moral" or "lesson" at the end of the movie, GI Joe fans know what I'm talking about.  And knowin is half the battle... this small little 1-2 min. clip could very well have saved the movie in my mind, but without it I'm left with a very bitter taste in my mouth, and that's all I have to say about that. 

Transformers 2 Revenge of a Movie That Made Me Sad

So I was looking forward to seeing this movie, not with the child like eagerness that was attached to Call of Duty, but still I was really wanting to see the second installment of the Transformers movies.  The first one was good and I liked it a lot save for the fact that they sold out to Chevy by making iconic Bumblebee a Camero versus the true to form, VW bug.... but that's a different rant and I've since moved on and accepted that when the opportunity to seel out for money presents itself, you can count on Hollywood.  I digress.  SO Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen.  SOOOOO LOOOOONNNNNGGGG.  This move was about 30-45 minutes longer than it really needed to be.  I found myself sitting there and I literally said outloud (I was alone, Elizabeth was in Cali), "Seriously, this isn't over yet?"  I mean it took them roughly an hour to cross this little patch of sand.  All in all it was a decent movie, I was very upset that I didn't catch it on the big screen, on a postive seeing it made me happy that I spent $1.08 at Red Box versus $20+ at the theater.  Since everyone is doing the trilogy these days, there's little doubt there will be a Transformers 3 in the future and lets hope they can redeem themselves, cause this one fell short.  Sadly though, based on my lukewarm feelings toward the Fallen, I think it'll be a renter.

9

Once again a movie that I am super excited about is one of the animated variety. This takes me back to Mr. Tim Burton which I think is a brilliant, brilliant film maker. This movie just looks plain awesome. The only unfortunate thing is that Frodo is the voice of the main character, not a fan of Frodo outside of his Hobbit gear. Sadly, I doubt I'll drop the $18 for 2 tickets to the movie, I'll wait until it comes out on DVD and will likely purchase it for $16 and take the remaining $2 to buy some candy.

Live Long and Prosper

Finally saw Star Trek on the plane this morning. If you have not seen it, stop reading and go rent it NOW, fantastic movie. I was blown away it was WAY more than I expected. I plan on renting it immediately when I get home because I couldn't see it very well on the plan so I feel like I missed the full effect. But my excitement for the movie (which was moderately high) was increased exponentially.

***UPDATE Star Trek doesn't come out on video for purchase/rental til Nov

Wolverines, Tacos, and Rock n' Roll

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, I'm not Mexican and I'm not 100% sure what exactly the details are behind the holiday (I believe it's their 4th of July though), but hey it's a reason to drink Mexican beer and eat a lot of Mexican food.   And I did both, had some of Beth's co-workers over and made a Mexican spread good times were had.  Tried my hand at tamales all in all, they were okay a little dry though so we'll adjust the recipe and try again.  I did eat way too much chips and cheese dip - one of those things that is very hard to walk away from, it's just so scrumtrulesant.

Signed up for 1/2 marathon #2 today, the Chicago Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon, Aug 2nd.  Looking forward to it, since it's in Chicago it should be FLAT no damn hills like Springfield.  So hopefully that will translate into a faster time, I'm going to shoot for 1 hour 45 min, it's a pretty big jump from last time, but hopefully the combo of weight training and flatness of the course will work in my favor.  The organization of the event itself is pretty cool, the course is lined with live bands, like one every mile, providing a constant soundtrack for the run.  Should be a good time.  Well, as good a time as running for 2 hours can be I guess.

Saw two movies this weekend X-Men Origins: Wolvernie and Slumdog Millionaire.  Wolverine did not disappoint, not as good as I had hoped, but still was a very good movie.  Make sure you stay through the credits...  Slumdog however was a BIG surprise, much better movie than I'd thought it would be and I'd highly recommend if you haven't seen it already you rent it.

Oh and as an update to my post on the A-Rod book, Jason Whitlock wrote a scathing article in his FoxSports column about the credibility issues surrounding the author... here's a link:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9542614/Bio-hazard:-A-Rod-author-has-credibility-issues

Chicago... and Random

What is going on with the weather?  I know April showers, but this is getting insane, so cloudy and dreary out it's downright depressing.  Hopefully May will bring some flowers and some stinkin' sun.

I did get out yesterday and had my first experience with an experienced trainer at the gym, kicked my arse.  It was good to work with someone to tailor some lifts to what I want to do, best part was the workout was intense and lasted 1 hour.  Which is perfect, I'm not trying to spend 3 hours at the gym every time I go.

Weekend outlook is good I'm hoping to go see X-Men Origins: Wolverine which opens on Friday I'm pretty excited about, mainly because of Gambit, my favorite X-Man.  Even more excited that Taylor Kirsch is playing the role, big fan of him in Friday Night Lights.  So hopefully he won't disappoint.

For those Facebook users out there, change the language on you page to Pirate.  That's right Pirate, go to the very bottom where it says English (US) click and change to English (Pirate) beta, hilarious.  The phrases are priceless and will provide you with lost to laugh about.

Other than that it's been a pretty quiet week, busy with work, rearranged the living room furniture ya know real exciting stuff.

Monsters vs Aliens

Okay... I'm 27 years old. But I absolutely can not wait to see Monsters vs Aliens. I mean in what is sure to go down as the greatest summer of movies ever for movies as far as I am concerned (Wolverine, Harry Potter, GI Joe, Transformers 2, Terminator 4, Star Trek, and I'm sure I'm missing one or two) I am really looking forward to this cartoon. I was lukewarm about it as first and just said ehh another cartoon comedy. HOWEVER. I saw the "making of" special on HBO while on the road this week in Visalia, CA and the cast of this movie will be absolutely hilarious. Add to that the fact that it is being presented in 3D and I'm sure this will be awesome. 

Let's start with the Monsters:

Reese Witherspoon

Seth Rogan

Hugh Laurie

Will Arnett

The Alien

Rainn Wilson

The Humans

Stephen Colbert

Paul Rudd

and last but not least...

Kiefer "I SHOUT ALL THE TIME" Sutherland

Watchmen

I can't wait for March 6, 2009.  For those of you unaware that is the date when the Watchmen hit theaters.   Now I will admit right upfront that a LARGE majority of my hype for this movie is self built and is largely tied to two things 1) the amazing previews, that make this movie look larger than life and 2) Director Zack Snyder.  I know it's very odd to see a director's name listed as a reason for being excited about a movie.  Usually its the the leading man or lady that gets you hooked into a movie.  However in this case I'm betting on Zack Snyder throwing down another awesome movie, he was the man behind 300, a movie that I consider one of the best movies of my generation.  It's really hard to describe the style, I call it brilliant, but I've also heard that it's "all or nothing."  You either love his style or you hate it, I've heard very little in the way of middle ground.  

Watchmen isn't an "original" idea it's an adaptation of a comic book series released in the late 80s and later as a graphic novel.  Its the latest in a line of comic books to silver screen movies (Daredevil, Hulk, Batman, Superman, X-Men, I could go on and on).  Based on the success of past movies why not.  I'm particularly excited about this movie because I have only a slight idea about the plot and story.  Whereas with more "mainstream" characters, you have a good idea going in what "could" happen.  I was never into comics and I have never read the graphic novel but I am so intrigued by this story that I plan to read it on my trip to Australia in a couple of weeks.  Hopefully soon after the 6th I'll be able to provide a movie review.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about there's tons of preview floating around on Youtube, you should check them out.