Movie Review: Holes

I rented "Holes" from Netflix because I thought this might be a movie that my 8 year old and I could watch together. I previewed it last night, and while it was an ok movie, it definitely wasn't worth another viewing.

"Holes" is set in a fictional Green Lake, Texas, where it hasn't rained in forever. The lake is all dried up, and there is now a children's correctional camp there, where the kids dig holes every day as a way to build character. The main character is Stanley Yelnats, played by Shia Lebouf. Stanley is wrongly sent to this camp. As the movie wears on, Stanley makes, then alienates, a group of friends, runs away, and eventually ends up exposing the camp for what it really is...which you'll have to watch to find out.

I actually found the story sort of hard to follow. The movie often bounced back and forth between the history of Green Lake, and current day. The history was supposed to give us a picture of why the camp is what it is. The problem is, there's no one really telling the story, so all of the sudden, we're in the past watching a story between 2 people we don't know. Eventually we find out who they are, but it took FOREVER!!! Maybe some people like that type of story telling but it's not for me.

I rate this one 3 stars...I'm glad I saw it once, but it's not worth watching again. I think the story is really complicated for littler kids, so wouldn't recommend it for under age 10.

My Favorite Iowa Golf Course

This week, I've been fighting a terrible cold. Today, I woke up around 4 am and was so stuffed up that I couldn't sleep anymore. This was a major bummer, because today was supposed to be a Finkbine Friday. Finkbine is the golf course at the University of Iowa, and my favorite course in Iowa. Admittedly, there are a lot of Iowa courses I haven't played, but currently, Finkbine is my favorite.

Well, as I said, I was feeling terrible, and was considering cancelling. But, the smartest person in my house (probably the world) told me I should just go and that I would start feeling better once I was out there. So, I got heavily medicated and went to meet the 3 guys I was going to be golfing with.

Before I met the guys, I stopped at McDonald's for a large orange juice. Never order a large orange juice at McDonald's. It's a 32 oz. orange juice. That's a whole lotta juice. But I digress.

We arrived at the course early, and got to tee off about 20 minutes early. I rented a cart because I didn't think I could walk the course with the way I was feeling. On the first hole, I ripped a perfect drive, right down the middle. From there, I proceeded to have a bit of a rough go of it on the front nine, but the weather was perfect, the course was in great shape, and I had good company. That really smart person in my house was right...I was feeling a little better, though still glad I had a cart.

Well, the effects of my cold must have helped me as the round wore on, because I made an eagle and 2 birdies on the back 9 to end up shooting a pretty respectable score...and my personal best at Finkbine. I can't wait to get back there again.

Sometimes Glenn Beck Makes Sense

Today I was at work, doing really boring stuff. So, I tuned in Glenn Beck's radio show. I don't listen to Glenn Beck that often, because he can be depressing at times (though I've loved his books). But today it was a toss-up between Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio and Glenn Beck, and I picked Beck.

During the 2nd hour, Mr. Beck made an excellent point. I wish I could just include the transcript of his monologue, because I'm going to have a hard time doing it justice. But it's not available on Glenn Beck's website, and I suck at google searching.

Anyway, the jist of what he said is, this is a Center to Center-Right country. This country is not a far left country, or the country of Michael Moore as Beck so eloquently put it. This is not a far right country, or as Beck described it, the hold you down and baptize you right. This country, for the most part, is respectful of others, and respectful of the Constitution. Most people love this country and don't want to see it completely remade...maybe tweaked in some areas, but not remade. However, the message in this country has been hijacked by the extremes in both parties, leading to fear mongering on both sides, and very little real dialogue.

All good stuff so far. Then, Glenn hit the nail on the head, by saying that the fate of our country is currently in the hands of the blue dog democrats. If the blue dog democrats stand strong now, and say no to the current Obama/Pelosi/Reid liberal express (my words, not Beck's), they can retake their party and force President Obama to govern from the Center/Center-Left, which is about as good as we can hope for now. This is the same thing that happened to Clinton in the 1990's when the Republicans took power. If the Blue Dogs go along with the Obama/Pelosi/Reid machine, then our country will cease to the United States that has stood for so long, and become something only the Michael Moore types can be proud of.

Like I said, I wish I could have found the text and pasted it directly in here. That 15 minutes of radio was the best 15 minutes I've heard in a long time. Maybe if people realized how stupid both sides sound now that the extremes are in control, things could change and we could solve real problems. Sadly, only a handful of people, such as Glenn Beck, seem to realize what is going on.

Labels...check it out

At the suggestion of the smartest person living in my house, I've added labels to all my blogs. Further, I added a gadget to the right side of my blog to let you click on a subject and see all blogs related to that subject. This really smart person thought it would be nice if anyone ever wanted to quickly see what I thought of a certain movie, now that person could just click the movies label, and see all movies I've rated since I started this blog.

Here are the labels:
Movies - Movie ratings and random movie thoughts/information.
TV - TV series ratings and random TV thoughts/information.
Sports and Leisure - Sports, Activities, Family Outings, Vacations, etc.
Books and Music - Review of books and music.
Politics - political musings from a right-wing nutjob.
Humor - anything that's just there because it's funny.
Random Thoughts - other stuff that doesn't fit into a category.

TV Series Review: Psych, Season 3

"Psych" is the best show on TV...period. I know there are those out there who will disagree with me on this, but, they would be wrong. : )

Season 3 finds our heroes, Shawn and Gus, still running their Psychic Detective Agency. As you'll remember, Shawn isn't really psychic, he's just super observant, so he's able to fake being psychic. What makes this show so great though is the cast and the quirky things that happen every episode.

Every character is a bit unusual, but also very likable. I don't think there is a bad character on the show...I even like Corbin Bernsen and Shawn's dad Henry. I find myself rooting for each of these characters, even Detective Lasseter, who was sort of the foil for the first 2 seasons.

The unique stories that they weave around the largely formulaic mysteries each week are ridiculous and funny at the same time. One of my favorite episodes this season was "Murder?... Anyone?... Anyone?... Bueller?," which was an homage to 1980's teen films. The entire episode takes place at Shawn and Gus' 13 year high school reunion, and throughout the entire show, Shawn is trying to figure out which 1980's film they are in. Another great episode was "Tuesday the 17th", which is a lot like a "Friday the 13th" movie. The season finale, "An Evening with Mr. Yang," takes a slightly more serious turn, but still kept me laughing at the same time.

This is a great show...best on TV. Five stars, 2 thumbs way up, and several other good things.

Movie Review: Race to Witch Mountain

"Race to Witch Mountain" is not a remake of the 1975 Disney film "Escape to Witch Mountain". Instead, it's an entirely different story, with Witch Mountain as a common theme. My younger brother was a big fan of "Escape to Witch Mountain" when we were kids, so I got to watch that movie several times. I was excited to see "Race to Witch Mountain" to see where this movie would go in 2009.

"Race to Witch Mountain" is an action-packed, family adventure film. Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. The Rock) stars as Jack Bruno, a former criminal turned cab driver, trying to make an honest living. Jack's life takes a surprising turn when 2 teenage siblings get into his cab and ask him to drive them into the middle of the Nevada desert. The siblings turn out to be aliens, who are being pursued by US Government agents and an alien assassin. Jack helps the kids escape these agents in a desperate attempt to get valuable data back to their home world, all in an effort to stop an alien invasion of earth.

I really liked this movie. It's a 4 star movie. I've liked Dwayne Johnson in every movie he's been in that I've seen. He'll never be an Oscar winning actor, but he makes a good action hero, and he's definitely a better actor than wrestler. The 2 teenagers in the movie, do a good job with their oddball rolls. Rounding out the cast was an entertaining appearance by Garry Marshall.

This movie is rated PG, and I think it's ok for kids about 8 years and older. I think the action is too intense for younger kids, plus there's a fair amount of suspense, which is hard for younger kids to take.