Movie Review: Scary Movie 3

One day at work, I threw out a quote from "Airplane", which started a 5 minute discussion on great spoof films. Toward the end of the discussion, I stated that there hasn't been a good spoof film since "Hot Shots, Part Deux," and even Part Deux is debatable. At that my friend told me that I had to watch "Scary Movie 3" because it was different, not like the other "Scary Movie" films.

Well, "Scary Move 3" had Leslie Nielson and Charlie Sheen, which helped. But it's still a 2 star movie, and I'm ashamed I watched it. I will stop blogging about it now to maintain whatever dignity I have left.

Book Review: Glenn Beck's Common Sense

I finished "Glenn Beck's Common Sense" a month ago or so, but haven't blogged about it to this point. The actual title of the book is, "Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine." I've been trying to figure out what to say about this book in a succinct blog, and I really can't come up with a short, succinct review. However, I'm going to try.

In his one of a kind way, Beck chronicles the ever increasing control the federal government has taken in our lives, starting with Teddy Roosevelt and continuing today. Beck contends that, along the way, our elected leaders and government officials have set themselves up as a group of elitists, apart from those they represent. This separation has resulted in a sort of ruling class that is primarily concerned with maintaining their power, at all costs. I believe this "ruling class" theory, and how We The People overcome it is where Beck effectively draws inspiration from Thomas Paine's original work.

I believe everyone can benefit from reading this book, no matter your political affiliation, or whether you agree with Glenn Beck. His point of view is one shared by many Americans, and deserves to be understood. Also, Glenn Beck is a better writer than a radio show host in my opinion, so you may enjoy his writing, even if you don't like his radio show. As an added bonus, the paperback book includes a copy of Thomas Paine's original work. So, even if you don't like Beck's book, you get the original work that inspired our young nation.

Not Oscar-worthy?

In light of the "climate-gate" scandal, 2 Hollywood conservatives have called for Al Gore to have his Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth" rescinded.

For those who haven't heard of "climate-gate", private e-mails from researchers at the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit have surfaced showing an apparent effort to manipulate climate change data. This manipulation was allegedly done in an attempt to show greater warming, while ignoring potential cooling trends. These e-mails have led to the resignation of the director at the East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. My understanding is that the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit is one of the foremost climate research centers in the world.

An aside...why is every scandal called "something-gate"? I mean it was the Watergate hotel! That was it's name. They didn't throw gate on the end to make it sound more dramatic or evil! Seems like a misuse of the "-gate" to me.

Okay, back to the topic at hand. In all of this I feel bad for Al Gore. First, it was discovered that he didn't actually invent the Internet. Next, he loses his bid for the Presidency and doesn't even win his home state. Then he goes off the deep end with his "he betrayed this country!" rant. Now some Hollywood types want to take away Gore's Oscar. Poor guy...what's next? Are they going to go after his Nobel Peace Prize that he won for making a movie that is completely unrelated to peace? Come on people, let the man keep some shred of dignity!

My Opinion on Afghanistan

Today, one of the people I share an office with wanted to know what I thought of the President's speech last night and his decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. So, here's what I think (Note: I was out last night, so I didn't watch the speech).

A while back, I wrote that the President only had 2 choices. Well, apparently I was wrong...he picked choice #3...send more troops, but don't really try to win. I'm befuddled by this decision. He is sending less troops than the General on the ground requested, and he is telling Al Qaida and the Taliban when we are leaving? So, won't they just sit back and wait for us to leave? Also, won't the Afghan people be afraid to help us, for fear of retribution from the Taliban once we leave? Remember, according to Obama, we are leaving in July 2011.

In fairness to the President, representatives of the administration were backpeddling on that today, saying that date is only a goal. Either way, the President has made it clear that the US isn't in this for the long haul, and really isn't in this to win it...in my opinion. And, I'm not the only one who believes that...the NY Post says Obama is setting our troops up to fail.

I hope I'm wrong about all this. I hope this works out and we can bring our troops home as soon as possible. This is one time I'm actually rooting for Obama's strategy to work out.

But, I have to agree with the NY Post columnist on this one...why are we even sending more troops? It's clear to me that the President doesn't believe in the mission in Afghanistan, but he's playing politics in order to fulfill a campaign promise. You can't play politics with our troops...it's not fair to them or their families. If the Commander-in-Chief doesn't believe in the mission, he should just bring them all home, rather than fight a half-hearted war that will accomplish nothing more than putting our troops in harms way.

Movie Review: The Rocker

I haven't been watching many movies, other than "Star Trek" lately, but last night, I watched "The Rocker," which stars Rainn Wilson (a.k.a. Dwight Schrute in "The Office"). "The Rocker" was recommended to me by a coworker several months ago, but I hadn't gotten around to watching it.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting with this movie. I think I was expecting either ultra goofy or super sappy. Instead, I got a really nice little film, that was funny in a good way and also a little sappy, but not too much. The best way I can describe "The Rocker" is that it is a crude version of "That Thing You Do."

Rainn Wilson stars as Robert "Fish" Fishman, an 80's drummer who is booted from his band, right before they hit super stardom. Twenty years later, we see that "Fish" hasn't changed much. After losing his latest job, he moves in with his sister's family. Due to the loss of it's drummer, Fish's nephew's band recruits Fish to play with them for their Senior Prom. This starts a ride that culminates on a big stage for this little band. Along the way, we see Fish form bonds with his 3 band mates, while doing a lot of growing up himself.

I rated this one 4 stars on Netflix. It really is a feel good story that keeps you laughing. If you liked "That Thing You Do," and can handle a little crudeness that comes with Rainn Wilson, I think you'll like this movie.