Movie Review: Taken

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

Think of Liam Neeson saying those words...sort of gives you chills, doesn't it. Those words really start the whirlwind that is "Taken" starring Liam Neeson. In this action film, Neeson plays Bryan Mills, an ex-government agent trying to reconnect with his daughter. But, about 20 minutes in, his daughter is kidnapped by the mob in Paris, and the action ensues.

"Taken" is a 90 minute thrill ride. It starts out very nicely, building the somewhat strained father/daughter relationship, while giving us glimpses into Bryan Mills, the character. Then, as soon as the kidnapping occurs, the action builds and builds to the final scene where Mills rescues his daughter.

Liam Neeson is fantastic in this movie. He is really proving that he can play an action role, from Qui Gon Jinn in "Star Wars" to Raz Al Ghul in "Batman Begins", to this role. As a big man, Neeson seems to fit perfectly into the action role, and while I'm sure camera work helps, he pulls off the fight scenes very well. The rest of the cast doesn't really matter, because "Taken" is about the 2 sides of Neeson's character...the loving father, and the highly trained government agent.

If you are an action film junkie like me, you'll really enjoy "Taken". It's a 4.5 star movie...I wish I could give it 5, but when I compare it to other 5 star movies, it's not quite on the same level, but definitely worth 90 minutes of your time.

So let me get this straight...

First, the Federal Government spends all kinds of money to bail out GM and Chrysler, because bankruptcy would mean death for them and their suppliers. "Nobody will buy a car from a bankrupt company" was the drumbeat from those in favor of the bailout. So, we did the bailout, and now, the Federal Government basically owns GM and Chrysler, and Barack Obama is essentially Chairman of the Board of both companies. This was supposed to fix GM and Chrysler and save the day for the auto industry.

Here we are some months later...Chrylser is in Bankruptcy and GM is preparing to enter Bankruptcy protection. As a taxpayer, I have to ask...what was the bailout for? Why was my money wasted? As taxpayers, we should be outraged! But, Barack Obama sounds good when he reads his teleprompter, and the media doesn't do any real reporting anymore, so my guess is this will be largely ignored or unnoticed by the masses.

This is just another example of why the Government can't fix anything. There are 2 things the Federal Government does well...build roads and blows things up. The government doesn't do retirement well...Social Security is going to bankrupt this country. The government doesn't do health care well...Medicare and Medicaid are full of fraud and waste. The government can't even implement a decent standard for national education...see No Child Left Behind.

Face it, the Federal Government fails at almost everything it tries. Yet, we keep electing the same imbeciles to go to Washington D.C. and they continue to fail us! Elections have consequences, and unfortunately for all of us, and our children, and our grandchildren, recent elections will have repercussions for generations to come.

The Solution to North Korea...Jack Bauer!

Ok, so North Korea is acting like a spoiled 2 year old again. All the pundits are offering an opinion on what President Obama should do. I've got a 2 word answer...Jack Bauer. Ok, I know Jack is a fictional character, but here me out.

First, we give Jack 24 hours. To make his job easier, we lock his daughter in a very top secret location, and make sure she is guarded by the entire US Marine Corps. Because if we don't, she'll surely get kidnapped, and then Jack will have to go rogue to save her.

Ok, so he has 24 hours...we fly him to North Korea. We give him a PDA, a cell phone, a 9 mm, and a direct line to Chloe O'Brien. The biggest struggle for Jack will obviously be figuring out which residence North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Il is staying at. But, I'm sure he can capture some random North Korean military officer and make him talk. Jack always makes them talk.

Somewhere around the 8 hour mark, Jack will capture Kim Jong Il. After another hour, Jack will get Kim to spill the beans about the entire North Korean nuclear program. Then, Jack will use his remaining 15 hours or so to destroy the entire Nuclear Program, and safely escape North Korea. And he'll do all of this with just his 9 mm, his PDA, cell phone, and his direct line to Chloe O'Brien.

Who Needs to go to a Restaurant?

This holiday weekend has been filled with 2 fantastic home cooked meals. I'm not trying to toot our own horn, but these were some solid meals.

On Saturday night, I decided to grill steaks for my wife and I (the kids had hot dogs). We don't do steak very often because it's pretty expensive, but I got a good deal on 8 oz. Ribeye steaks. I seasoned the Steaks with Hy Vee Grill Seasoning, which includes pepper, garlic, salt, and a few other things. Then I marinated the steaks in Lawry's Steak and Chop marinade (garlic and black pepper are the primary ingredients). I grilled them for 6 minutes per side to get medium well. The were very good.

Then we added some steak fries. Last year, we found a great steak fries recipe...basically you cut up some potatoes into wedges, coat them with olive oil, add a little corn meal to make them crispy, and a seasoning if you want (we like Lawry's Season All). Bake them at 375 degrees for 1 hour, and they turn out great. Finally, we added a salad with Caesar dressing.

On Sunday night, we decided to try a recipe from the Pampered Chef Cook Book for Ratatouille. It was a vegetarian meal...I grilled egg plant, green bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and sweet onions. I had never grilled veggies before, but it worked out ok. We invited our neighbors over for dinner. They brought fresh fruit, we cooked the Ratatouille and some garlic bread...it was delicious.

Unfortunately, tonight we have nothing so grand on the menu. But, we had a great 2 days of meals, and my wife and I had a lot of fun cooking together.

Iowa Renaissance Festival

Yesterday, we went to the Iowa Renaissance Festival in Amana, Iowa. What a great time! This is the 2nd time we've gone as a family. If you've never been to a Renaissance Festival, you should go. You can see everything, from Jousting to sword fights to fire jugglers and on and on.

The highlight of the day for me was the food. I love fair food...it's fried and greasy and great. I ate "kinky fries" which were fried curly potatoes covered in melted cheese. We also had homemade root beer, homemade chocolate and some fried mini-donuts. The other highlight for me was the McCracken Brothers, who were 2 guys dressed in Scottish Kilts, and they had a golf setup. They had some hickory shafted clubs and the goal was to try to chip one in while they were yelling insults at you...great fun. I didn't chip one in, but I came close.

For the kids, the highlights included story time with William and Blackjack, the fire jugglers and the sword fighting demos. The other highlight for everyone was the knight demonstrations. It started raining, so we didn't get to see the jousting, but we got to see the test of skills for the knights.

It was a fun day, and I can't wait for next years Renaissance Festival.

Movie Review: Seven Pounds

It's going to be hard to describe "Seven Pounds" without giving away too much of the plot. I didn't like this movie...there were moments I liked, but I didn't like the overall premise of the movie. Furthermore, I really don't understand why people like movies like this...but the reviewers on Netflix all seemed to love it. I give it 2 stars, proving that it is possible for me to dislike a Wil Smith movie.

So, what was good about this movie? Rosario Dawson was terrific, as was Woody Harrelson in his limited role. What was bad about this movie? Pretty much everything else. Wil Smith is not that great in a dramatic role. Smith needs to be able to be funny and charming...or at least funny. Smith plays an IRS agent determined to improve the lives of people who otherwise wouldn't have a chance. Nice try at a story, but the way they go about it is predictable, and the ending is stupid.

If you want to watch this movie, go ahead. If you want to know more about why I didn't like it, I'd be happy to tell you, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who wants to see it.

5/28/09 - Spoilers posted in the comments. Nuke recommended I put them in.