Fiscal Cliff - This is Absurd!

I haven't taken to this blog for politics in quite a while, but I decided it's time to do so today, as we edge closer to the so called "fiscal cliff".  If the Congress can't reach a deal today, mandatory tax increases and spending cuts will go into effect tomorrow, affecting every American.  I've followed the debate and have come to the conclusion that this entire thing is just absurd.

First off, the only reason we've reached this point is because our Congress couldn't agree on a deficit reduction deal after the Simpson-Bowles committee made their recommendations.  So, they kicked the can down the road, and here we are.  The fact that our elected leaders can't ever compromise and figure anything out is completely absurd!  This is why we need term limits.  Our leaders are so concerned about protecting their power and getting re-elected that they are paralyzed when it comes to taking action.  Seriously, give me a team of 5 people and we could fix this...it would be painful, but we could fix it.  It's just a math problem, there's always a solution.

Secondly, make no mistake the entire debate going on right now is about nothing more than raising taxes on those making over $250,000 (or maybe it's $450,000 depending on the day) per year.  Sure, our so-called leaders are paying lip service to spending cuts and unemployment benefits, but this all comes down to tax cuts.  President Obama and the Democrats are willing to drive us over the fiscal cliff to get their precious tax increases on the "wealthy".  Obama and the Dems are confident they can go down this path because they know the left-wing media will paint the Republicans as villains for wanting to protect tax rates for "the rich", while sacrificing the middle and lower incomes.  And, sadly, Obama and the Dems are right, this is exactly what the media will do.

Now, the Republicans are far from perfect, and I think they are being stupid right now.  Even though I'm completely against tax increases without meaningful spending reforms, the Republicans have to give in on this one.  Obama is going to get his tax increases one way or the other.  That's the key point in all of this...Obama gets what he wants whether or not Congress comes to an agreement here.  No matter what happens today, Obama will get the higher taxes on the rich he campaigned on!  To me, that's the biggest story here.  For someone who claims he cares about the middle class, Obama seems more than willing to play chicken with middle class taxes to get his coveted tax increases. 

This is the ugly truth about this President and his left-wing cronies that no one in the main stream media will say.  At the end of the day, President Obama cares more about advancing his Socialist agenda than he does about protecting the "middle class".  The "agenda" is more important than the people this agenda will hurt. 

The Republicans are not blameless in this.  They should have realized this by now and acted.  With the fawning left-wing media, there's no way the Republicans come out of this looking good, but they should have the guts to act and do what is right for most Americans.  We do not need a tax increase in this economy...not unless it's accompanied by meaningful spending reform, which it most certainly will not be at this point.  But the Republicans can't win here.

Frankly, the Republicans shouldn't even be afraid to take this loss.  If you believe in the conservative economic theories, any tax increase at this point, even if it's just on "the rich", will result in some type of economic down turn.  So, if the Republicans just get out of the way and let this go through, then Obama and the Democrats have to own the consequences of this action, which I believe will be another recession.  Make no mistake, the next recession will be Obama's recession.  And that should lead the way to a Conservative revolution in 2014 and 2016.  The Republicans have to think long term here, because in the short term, they are going to lose.

The Biggest Movie Truths

I am a big time movie fan, as anybody who has read this blog knows.  As such, I have realized certain truths about the movie universe and the movie watching experience that I want to share with you, my faithful readers (I'm not giving away all my movie truths here, just the most important ones from my first 100 movie truths):

Movie truth #1 - Low expectations are the key to a good movie watching experience.

Movie truth #7 - Ryan Reynolds and Brendan Fraser automatically suck the life out of a movie.  My recommendation is to avoid movies with these actors.

Movie truth #12 - Denzel Washington always make good movies, except when Movie truth #7 is in place.

Movie truth #17 - All Keanu Reeves movies that don't require him to act will be passable to good (see "Bill & Ted" or "The Matrix" for examples).

Movie truth #24 - Once an actor or director has won a multiple Oscars, they believe the hype about themselves and make movies that are "Critically Acclaimed."  For examples, see Tom Hanks or Steven Spielberg and note that Clint Eastwood seems to be the exception to this rule.

Movie truth #25 - "Critically Acclaimed" is code for "93.64% of the population won't actually like this movie."

Movie truth #37 - Kristen Stewart is on her way to being the female equivalent of Ryan Reynolds and/or Brendan Fraser.

Movie truth #39 - Pixar movies are almost always better than Dreamworks.  The exception to this rule seems to be "Kung Fu Panda".

Movie truth #40 - Jack Black's best character is a talking panda.

Movie truth #49 - Everything J.J. Abrams or Christopher Nolan touch is gold...pure gold!  If they ever team up on a project, my head may explode.

Movie truth #57 - Frodo was annoying in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Movie truth #61 - There is a place in this world for Cheesy Feel Good Disney Movies, and we all secretly like them, though we pretend that we don't.

Movie truth #73 - James Cameron is overrated...like highly overrated.  Personally, I wouldn't want him directing my son's middle school play.

Movie truth #80 - Green screens are over used in movies today.

Movie truth #84 - If Will Smith is in the movie, it will do a huge box office, but will probably be slightly disappointing.

Movie truth #91 - When in doubt, watch a movie about super heroes.

Movie truth #100 - If the masses voted for the Oscars, Bruce Willis would win Best Actor every other year, and nobody would know who Daniel Day Lewis is.

Top 5 Fictional Coaches

Earlier this week, my friend sent me a youtube video of Coach Norman Dale's speech prior to Hickory High taking the court in the 1952 Indiana State High School Championship against might South Bend.  It's a great speech, and it's all fictional.  Yes, this is the speech from the classic film "Hoosiers", starring Gene Hackman as Norman Dale.  That video got me thinking, who are the top 5 fictional coaches from the movies.

I tried to stick to fictional characters, so while Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks in "Miracle" was great, "Miracle" is based on the 1980 USA vs Russia Hockey Game, so I didn't count Herb Brooks as a fictional character.  Anyway, here's what I came up with:

Honorable Mention is Gordon Bombay from "The Mighty Ducks".  Go check 'em out...those movies are fun.

5 - Bagger Vance ("The Legend of Bagger Vance") - Yes, he was Ranulph Junah's (Matt Damon)caddie, but he's also the guy who helped Junah find his "one true swing".  And I'm a sucker for golf movies with lines like this...
"Yep... Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing... Somethin' we was born with... Somethin' that's ours and ours alone... Somethin' that can't be taught to ya or learned... Somethin' that got to be remembered... Over time the world can, rob us of that swing... It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas... Some folk even forget what their swing was like..."

4 - Mickey Goldmill ("Rocky") - What can I say?  Mickey was the classic boxing coach, and father figure to Rocky.  Plus he said this line..."You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!"  How can you not love that?

3 - Jimmy McGinty ("The Replacements") - Not only does McGinty (Gene Hackman) pull a rabbit out of his hat when his Washington Sentinels beat Dallas, but he plays a significant role in making Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) into a cult hero for sports movie junkies like me.  Plus, he wears a cool hat.  This is my favorite Jimmy McGinty quote...
"Listen up! By this time tomorrow the strike will be officially over and you men will be out of a job. Up until now Dallas hasn't been afraid of you, and they should be because you have a powerful weapon working for you. There is no tomorrow for you, and that makes you all very dangerous people!"

2 - Lou Brown ("Major League") - Lou Brown (James Gammon) can be the manager of my baseball team any time.  With his dry delivery and no nonsense approach, Brown turns a bunch of baseball castoffs into a playoff team by rallying them against the evil owner of the Cleveland Indians.  "Major League" is still my favorite sports movie, and Lou Brown has to be near the top of my list of top 5 fictional coaches.  Here's my favorite Lou Brown quote..."Forget about the curve ball Ricky, give him the heater."

1 - Norman Dale ("Hoosiers") - You had to see this one coming.  Gene Hackman's second entry on this list is the greatest fictional coach there is.  Norman Dale takes little Hickory High all the way to the top by doling out tough love, working hard, pushing fundamentals, and taking risks.  "Hoosiers is a great movie, and Norman Dale is the greatest fictional coach there is.  The best Norman Dale quote is his speech before the championship game, and it's good enough that I'll post the youtube video here:

Turkey Enchiladas

I'm pretty happy with this meal I made tonight.  I was trying to find something to do with our leftover turkey.  I saw a recipe for Turkey Enchiladas...I wasn't keen on the particular recipe I found, but I liked the idea.

So, off to HyVee we went to get tortillas, cheese and enchilada sauce.  Unfortunately, the brand of enchilada sauce we like was gone, so I quickly googled on my phone and found this recipe for a quick enchilada sauce.  So we got some tomato sauce and I decided I'd give it a shot.  I ended up modifying the recipe for the sauce quite a bit, and I'm really happy with the results.  I even added chocolate, so it probably counts as a mole (MOL-AY).

Here's the recipe for the sauce:

Ingredients:
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup canola oil
3 TBSP Chili Powder
3 TBSP Semi-sweet or Dark Chocolate
2 TBSP Wheat Flour
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Emeril's Southwest Seasoning
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion salt

Directions:
1.  Combine oil, flour, chili powder and minced garlic and heat over low heat to form a roux.
2.  Stir in remaining ingredients, bring to a low boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  The sauce will thicken as it cooks.

The flavor of this sauce is very similar to some mole I had at my favorite mexican restaurant in town, so I think it's fairly authentic.  It has a mild-medium heat and lots of flavor.  I had semi-sweet chocolate chips, so that is what I used. 

So now that I had the sauce, it was time to make the enchiladas.  Here is the recipe I used for the enchiladas:

Ingredients:
4 multi-grain tortillas
8 oz. shredded Cheddar-Jack Cheese
Enchilada Sauce made above
2 cups shredded turkey (you could use chicken)
1 diced bell pepper (red or yellow would be best)
1/2 diced yellow onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 TBSP olive oil

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Add oil, onion, bell pepper and garlic to a saute pan and cook vegetables until tender.
3.  Add turkey (or chicken) to saute pan and heat through.
4.  Add two ladles of sauce to the turkey/vegetables and mix thoroughly.
5.  Spoon about 1/2 cup of the turkey/vegetable mixture down center of each tortilla.  Top with 1-2 tablespoons of cheese. Roll up and place seam-side down in 9x13 dish.  For best results, grease the baking dish first. Top with remaining sauce and cheese.
6.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Serve immediately.

As I said above, I'm very happy with how this meal turned out.  I thought it was very close to the enchiladas I had two weeks ago at my favorite Mexican Restaurant here in town.  I'm so excited to make this again real soon! 

Greatly Overdue Movie Reviews

I've got six movies to review.  It's been a while, but I have some good ones in here, so keep reading.

"Battleship":  This movie is the surprise of the bunch.  I had super low expectations, and found that I really, really enjoyed the 2 hours and 11 minutes I spent watching "Battleship".

Taylor Kitsch stars as Alex Hopper, a Navy Lieutenant who never quite manages to realize his full potential.  While participating in Naval exercises, Hopper receives some bad news.  Before he can realize the full implications of that news, the earth is attacked by aliens.  His ship is at the center of the initial wave, and after his captain and first officer dies, Hopper finds himself in command of the only ship left with a chance to stop the aliens before they establish communications and send for reinforcements.

Is the premise a bit far fetched?  Sure is...but it's a fun movie that is decently acted and packed with cool Naval battles.  Liam Neeson plays an Admiral, and as he generally does, Neeson raises the class of the movie just by his sheer presence.  Kitsch is better in "Battleship" than he was in "John Carter" and I think he has a bright future ahead of him.

This is a 4, almost 4.5, star movie.  "Battleship" is a great popcorn eating movie.

"Men in Black 3":  Yes, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back again, and as good as ever.  I watched this one on my recent trip to Brazil, and was not disappointed.

"Men in Black 3" finds us 14 years after the original "Men in Black".  A ruthless alien that Agent K put away in 1969 has escaped from his prison on the moon, and is looking for revenge.  When the Agents face off against this menace, Agent K suddenly becomes very secretive and protective.  The next day, Agent J wakes up to find that he's the only one at MIB that remembers Agent K.  Deducing that the timeline has been changed, Agent J, with the help of one of the many crazies living in New York, goes back in time to 1969 to find a younger and happier version of Agent K (Josh Brolin).  The two of them have to work together to save the world once again.

I have always liked the "Men in Black" movies.  I find them entertaining first and foremost.  Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are always a great pair.  The majority of this movie is Will Smith and Josh Brolin, but that's ok.  Brolin does a great job playing a young Tommy Lee Jones. 

"Men in Black 3" kept me laughing and entertained for 2 hours of a 10 hour flight.  For that alone, it gets 4 stars.

"The Muppets":  David became a big fan of The Muppets earlier this year, and he begged me to get "The Muppets" from Netflix.  For those of you who are Muppets fans from way back, this movie will bring back a lot of nostalgia.

The premise is pretty simple.  The Muppets have fallen on hard times.  They aren't relevant any more, and the implication is that kids today have moved beyond the relatively tame comedy that the Muppets bring to the stage.  But, when Walter (a muppet), his brother (Jason Segal) and his girlfriend (Amy Adams) visit The Muppet Studios, hi jinx ensues to bring the Muppets back.

I really enjoyed this movie.  It took me back to when I was a kid...from the opening theme to Rainbow Connection, it was great stuff.  Although Jason Segal is not a great actor, he sings one of the best songs in the movie, asking the eternal question, "Am I a Man or a Muppet"?

This is a 4 star movie...really good stuff!

"The Hunger Games":  I read all the books in "The Hunger Games" trilogy, and while I was disappointed with the 3rd book, this was still a good book series.  I wasn't sure how the series would translate to a movie, so I skipped the theater and waited for the DVD.

In case you aren't familiar with the premise, "The Hunger Games" is set some time in the future.  The United States has fallen, and is divided into 12 districts, controlled by The Capital.  People in the Capital live high on the hog, so to speak, but as you get out into the districts, life gets harder and poorer.  In response to a rebel uprising, each district is required to send two tributes, age 12-18, to compete in The Hunger Games, a "Survivor" type show with only 1 survivor.  Our hero, Katniss Everdeen, finds herself competing along with her fellow district 12 competitor Peeta.

"The Hunger Games" made a very compelling movie, and stayed relatively true to the book.  I thought Jennifer Lawrence was a great choice for Katniss, and I liked Donald Sutherland as President Snow.  I had heard the camera work was shaky and hard to follow, but I didn't seem to have trouble with it at all.

"The Hunger Games" is a 4 star movie.  Lets see how Hollywood handles the next 2 movies.

"Man On A Ledge":  I was intrigued enough by the trailers to put this movie in my DVD queue.  This movie was on it's way to being really good, but somewhere along the line it took a detour and ended up at mediocre.

"Man on a Ledge" stars Sam Worthington as Nick Cassidy, a former cop, who is sent to prison for committing robbery.  When Cassidy escapes prison, he ends up on the ledge of a building.  This is where a suicide specialist (Elizabeth Banks) is brought in.  However, it quickly becomes obvious that Cassidy is not on the ledge for suicidal reasons...he definitely has something else in the works.

The parts of this movie where Cassidy is actually on the ledge are really well done, other than the fact that Sam Worthington keeps slipping in and out of his natural Australian accent.  However, when his plot is discovered, "Man On A Ledge" turns into just another action movie, and not a great one at that.

I'll go with 3 stars for "Man On A Ledge".

"Snow White and the Huntsman":  I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this movie.  This was another airplane movie.  I knew it had gotten rotten reviews, and my friend Nick said it was terrible, but there wasn't much selection on the plane, so I decided to give it a whirl...what a waste of time.

This movie is a new telling of the traditional Snow White story.  Kristen Stewart plays Snow White, Charlize Theron is the wicked queen, and Chris Hemsworth is The Huntsmen. 

Here are the problems I had with this movie:
1)  The story is horribly weak.  Snow White never appears heroic or particularly inspiring, but at the end of the movie, all of the sudden she is supposed to be heroic and inspiring.  It just doesn't work.
2)  Kristen Stewart is terrible.  She spends most of the movie looking stoned.
3)  Charlize Theron way overacts...I mean almost Shatner overacting, but not in a good way.
4)  Chris Hemsworth is wasted.  He was so good in "Thor" and "The Avengers" and could have been good in this, but the movie was so bad, he never got a chance to be good.

I rate this one 2 stars, only because Ian McShane has a cameo appearance, and I still think Chris Hemsworth is pretty good, despite being set up for failure with this terrible script.

Things to Do Tonight Instead of Watching Election Coverage

I started this blog about 4 years ago, right before the McCain/Obama election.  I have no idea how tonight's election is going to turn out.  I suspect Obama will win, but who knows.  I don't plan to watch any of the election coverage.  Here are some things I may consider doing, instead of watching election coverage.

-Reorganizing my sock drawer
-Washing my hair (but I don't have that much left)
-Start working on my memoirs...I'm thinking the title is "Too Many Buffalo Wings, Not Enough Veggies"
-Finally getting started on that workout regimen
-Watching reruns of Super Bowl XXXII
-Figuring out how to incorporate the Hot Pocket into gourmet cuisine
-Reviewing online articles discussing the merits of Lawn Gnomes
-Watching a "Once Upon a Time" Marathon with my wife
-Learning to dance Gangnam Style
-Playing online poker for fake money

So, as you can see, I've got lots of options tonight.  I hope you have options as well.  If not, perhaps you will consider one of the endeavors I listed above.

Enjoy not watching election coverage!

Championship Dip

Today, we held our 2nd Annual Department Dip Day contest at work.  The rules were simple, anyone who wanted, could bring in a dip (sweet, savory, salsa, etc.) and the department would provide the dipping vessel (i.e. chips, pretzels, veggies, etc.).  Everyone would sample the varying dips, and then vote for their top 3.  A first place vote was worth 5 points, a 2nd place vote was worth 3 points and a third place vote was worth 1 point. 

We had 19 different dips entered in the contest.  Interestingly, not 1 salsa.  Anyway, my Buffalo Chicken Dip won first prize.  I get bragging rights, and the Henck Cup, named after the winner of our first dip day contest.

I'm pretty thrilled since this is the first time I've made this dip.  I found the recipe a couple of months ago, and decided on Monday that it would be my entrant into the contest.  I based the dip off this recipe from allrecipes.com, but I modified it to fit my tastes.  I should have taken a picture, but I failed.  However, if you like Buffalo Chicken Wings, you will really like this dip.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup Frank's Red Hot
2 cups cubed grilled chicken (dice it up very small)
3/4 cup Bleu Cheese Dressing
1/4 cup Bleu Cheese Crumbles
1 cup Mild Cheddar Cheese

Directions:
1 - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2 - In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese and Frank's Red Hot until well blended
3 - Add chicken, cheeses and dressing to the bowl and mix
4 - Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and bake for 30 minutes
5 - Transfer to a crockpot to keep warm.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Homemade French Dip Sandwiches

I've gotten a lot of criticism from certain people about not blogging, so I thought I'd share a recipe tonight. 

We have our Catholicism study in about an hour, so we ate early tonight.  Since we were being sorta lazy this afternoon, I did a crock pot meal .  I made French Dip Sandwiches, which turned out to be super easy and super good.

Ingredients:
1 3-4 lb. Beef Roast
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
Steak Seasoning (use whatever steak seasoning you prefer)
1 TBSP Minced Garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
Hoagie Rolls
Sliced Provolone Cheese

Directions:
1.  Prepare Roast by trimming off excess fat.  Liberally rub steak seasoning and minced garlic on the roast.
2.  Put beef stock, soy sauce, thyme, black pepper and bay leaf in a crock pot on low.  Add roast and cook on high for 2 hours, then on low for 2 hours.
3.  Slice roast beef thin and serve on hoagie rolls topped with provolone cheese.  For extra goodness, place the rolls (buttered) with cheese under the broiler until cheese is melted and roll is golden brown.
4.  Serve with the au jus left in the crock pot.

I love French Dips, and this was a really good one.  I can't wait to make this again!

Blue Top Ridge at Riverside

One of the great things about where I work is that I got today off as a company holiday in addition to yesterday.  So, what to do when your kids are in school and your family is going about their normal routine?  Well, I chose golf, and I decided to play Blue Top Ridge at Riverside, which is about an hour from my house. 

I was joined in this golfing adventure by 3 friends/coworkers, and we tee'd off at 9 am.  As has been the pattern all summer, it was really hot, so I was very glad for the cart that was included in the green fees.  Blue Top Ridge is a Rees Jones design and is extremely hilly, so walking would have been really silly.  To make the day a little more difficult, there was some kind of PGA Club Professional Tournament going on later in the day, so the pins were in some really tough locations.  I don't recall one pin being in the middle of the green.

Overall, I liked this golf course. I played from the $500 tees. Since the course is associated with Riverside Casino, all the tee boxes have dollar values assigned. The $500 tees were 6,989 yards, and had a course rating of 75.2 and a slope of 144. What that means is that the course is difficult!  There was a $1000 set of tees, but that set of was over 7,400 yards, and I don't need that kind of challenge. I was plenty challenged by the tees I chose.

If I had my way, I would like to see a couple of changes. I think the back nine should be the front nine and vice versa. Holes 1, 2, 4 and 5 are all blind tee shots, which is a really difficult way to start off a round of golf, especially when you don't know the course. After that, there aren't any blind tee shots until #13. If the nines were flipped, I think the course would be more fun, but it would also be easier, which maybe isn't what Rees Jones wanted. The other change I'd like to see is faster greens. I was expecting really fast greens, but they were just moderately faster than what I am used to from my club. Granted, it's been super hot this summer, so the grounds crew is probably leaving the greens a little longer to keep them alive.

I've got a few pictures to share.  The first picture is of #16, which is a 633 yard par 5.  I hammered a drive down the middle and still had around 330 yards left to the green.  I got virtually no roll off the tee shot, which surprised me because the tee shot was straight down hill.  After I thought about it a while, I think this was actually smart by the grounds crew because if the fairway was firm a lot of balls would run into the water hazard.  So this spot was obviously watered more than the rest of the course to keep it soft.  The 2nd shot is straight back up hill, and I proceeded to dork up the hole and make a 6.

The next picture is of the 14th hole, which is a short par 3.  There's a cool barn off to the right.  The hole itself wasn't overly memorable, but I thought the barn was cool.

My favorite hole on the course was #12.  It was a 540 yard par 5 that goes straight up hill.  I played it as Driver, 6 iron, 9 iron and made par.  It's a great hole, because it's a true 3 shot hole, but one that allows you to be as aggressive as you want on your 2nd shot.  I chose to lay back on my 2nd shot, but I could have tried to sneak a fairway wood in the narrow part of the fairway if I wanted.  I took this picture from the green looking back down the fairway.

Like I said above, I really liked the course, and I would play it again.  I thought the green fees were a little steep, and for the money, I'd rather play Finkbine in Iowa City then this course.  I think the next time I play Blue Top Ridge will be when the rates are cheaper, such as spring, fall or twilight golf.  I think the course is tough, but fair.  You do have to hit it straight, and wild shots are penalized.  I had two penalty strokes, and had to play out of 6 bunkers.  The course has good variety...I used every club in my bag, except my hybrid iron.

My score was an 83, which wasn't as good as I had hoped, but not too bad considering the difficulty of the course.  I had 10 pars, 6 bogey, a double bogey and a triple bogey (yuck!).  Not making a birdie was pretty disappointing.  I think it's a course where I could break 80 if I have an above average day driving the golf ball, but if I start hitting it crooked (which I can do), I could also shoot in the 90s pretty easily.  If I were to rate golf courses like I rate movies, I'd give Blue Top Ridge at Riverside a very solid 4 stars.

Not Too Exciting Movie Reviews

I have four more movies to review, and sadly, none of them were super good.  In fact, all were in the 2-3.5 star range.

"Safe House":  Anybody who knows me, knows that I believe it's not possible for Denzel Washington to make a bad movie.  I think he's one of the best actors in Hollywood, and I've really liked pretty much every movies he's made that I've seen.  Apparently, my hypothesis was wrong.  All you have to do is add Ryan Reynolds and he immediately sucks the life out of the Denzel movie.

"Safe House" is really about Reynolds' character.  He plays a relatively inexperienced CIA agent, Matt Weston, who is in charge of a safe house in South Africa.  When Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) walks into Weston's safe house as a prisoner, Weston's life changes forever, and he is faced with challenges he never expected.

My biggest problem with this movie is the way Ryan Reynolds plays a CIA agent.  He spends the entire movie looking horrified or about on the verge of tears because of what is happening to his character.   My thinking is, "Dude, you're a CIA agent...man up!"  Denzel does a nice job, as always, but he cannot overcome Reynolds' ineptitude.  This is a 2 star movie at best.

"Mission Impossible:  Ghost Protocol":  I've never been a big fan of the "Mission Impossible" series, but the trailers for "Ghost Protocol" looked cool enough that I decided to give it a shot. 

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt.  Hunt has been in a Russian prison for an unspecified amount of time.  Early on, he is broken out by 2 other IMF agents, and put on a super-secret mission by the IMF secretary.  In fact, this mission is off the books, so they have to invoke "Ghost Protocol", meaning the agents are on their own and are the only thing standing between the world and nuclear war. 

Lots of cool action here, but not much of a plot.  Basically, it's Tom Cruise running around, fighting and shooting things...oh and scaling the side of the tallest building in the world.  Jeremy Renner is added to the "Mission Impossible" team, and he's excellent...is anyone surprised?  After all, he played a character in "Avengers" that was from Iowa.  Just the association with Iowa helps. 

Overall, the cool action manages to elevate this movie to a 3 star movie.  I can't see giving it any higher than this, but it's worth a watch if you are in the mood for mindless action.

"I Am Number Four":  I really liked the book, "I Am Number Four".  After resisting for quite a long time, I watched the movie after hearing from others that it was actually a pretty good movie.  Well, it's not a terrible movie, but I wouldn't classify it as pretty good.

The premise of the movie is much the same as the premise of the book.  Nine aliens and their guardians from Lorien are on earth.  The evil Mogadorians, who destroyed Lorien, are hunting the nine because the nine possess special powers that are a threat to the Mogadorians.  Each of the nine are assigned a number, and a special charm requires that the Mogadorians kill them in order.  As the movie begins, Number Four is with friends as number three is killed.  A scar is burned into Number Four's leg indicating the death of number three, and meaning the Mogadorians will be coming for him next.  So he and his guardian, Henri, flee and end up in Paradise, Ohio where Number Four takes the name John Smith and begins a new life.  But, he quickly gets too involved, his secret gets exposed, and a battle with the Mogadorians ensues.

"I Am Number Four" is a three star movie.  I thought the cast was actually chosen pretty well, though I always pictured John's friend Sam as more nerdy than he was portrayed in the movie.  Plus, it's always tough when you are getting 20 somethings to play high school sophomores and juniors.  Overall though, it was a nice job of casting, especially Timothy Olyphant as Henri.  But in the end, the movie doesn't quite do the book justice, hence my 3 star rating.

"John Carter":  This is the best movie over the four I'm rating, and I'll put this one at 3.5 stars.  My wife actually liked it more than I did, which is rare.  She says that she like it "a lot".  I know Nuke also really liked this movie.  Maybe that set my expectations too high.

"John Carter" is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs "Barsoom Series".  Starting out in 1868, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is in a cave on earth where he has just found gold.  After fighting with and killing an alien, John Carter wakes up to find himself on Mars, which is in the midst of a Civil War.  Due to the different gravity, Carter has the ability to leap extreme distances and possesses great strength.  After some struggle with the aliens who initially find him, Carter comes to the aid of Princess Dejah Thoris in the Civil War.  But how much difference can one "earth man" make in the struggle?  And what of the mysterious Thern (sp?)?

I liked "John Carter" well enough.  It's not fantastically acted, but it's not bad either.  I think where it fell short of 4 stars for me is that it just never quite reached the epic status that I think it was trying to reach.  I am interested enough, based on the movie, to read the Edgar Rice Burroughs series, or at least add it to my list to read. 

So my basic review is "John Carter" is a good movie that falls a bit short of really good, and well short of great.

Audio Book Reviews

We've been doing a lot of travelling lately, and when we travel, we listed to audio books.  Here are four books we've listened to lately...obviously these are all kid appropriate:

"Happenstance Found":  We listened to this one on our way to Aberdeen, SD for a family event.  I was really excited, and since this book is the first in a series, I thought maybe I'd have my next great series to read.  Instead, "Happenstance Found" was slow to develop and really didn't leave me wanting to read more of the Books of Umber series.

P.W. Catanese has a really neat idea here.  Happenstance is a boy, we don't know exactly how old, found in a buried city by Lord Umber and his band.  Happenstance is different in that he has bright green eyes, can see in the dark, and seems to possess a few other abilities.  As they return to Lord Umber's home, we learn that something is following them, and it's not good.  The rest of the tale takes place in and around Lord Umber's home, and we learn a little more about Happenstance, where he came from, and we find out more about Lord Umber. 

A neat premise, but it just didn't move fast enough for me.  I don't plan to read any more books in this series.

"Peter and the Starcatchers":  This is the story that we listened to on the way home from Aberdeen, SD.  This was a really good story by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.  What Barry and Pearson have done is kick off a series that tells us all the origin of Peter Pan.

Peter and 4 other orphans are being sent away from their orphanage for unknown reasons.  They are told by their caretaker to board a ship called The Neverland, but they don't know why.  On the ship, the boys are treated very poorly, and as the leader of the group, Peter takes to stealing food to make sure the boys have enough to eat.  It's on these food missions that Peter comes to know Molly, and they embark on an adventure to secure a chest of "star stuff" (the little bits of a star that falls to the earth and grants powers to the user), and keep this chest from falling into the hands of the Evil Black Stash.  Along the way, we find out how Peter gains the ability to fly, how he doesn't grow old, and how he and the lost boys end up on that island.  Oh, and we meet Captain Hook for the first time.

I really liked this story!  I'm hoping to read others in the series soon.  There's humor and plenty of action, and it's all offset with a story of friendship and loss.  Just a really good book.

"Holes":  I had seen the movie based on this Louis Sachar book, but David really wanted to listen to this one on our trip to Kansas City so we gave it a go.  With only 4 discs, it was a quick listen and one that David and I enjoyed.

Stanley Yelnants is an unlucky kid.  After being accused and convicted of a crime he didn't commit, Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake.  Upon arrival he first discovers there's no lake, then he meets Mr. Sir, who informs him that he is to dig 1 hole, every day.  The hole must be as deep and as wide as his shovel, which happens to be 5 feet.  As an overweight kid, this is arduous work for Stanley.  Almost as difficult is finding his place with his bunk mates.  Over time, Stanley gets better at digging holes, and befriends Zero.  When Zero runs away, Stanley goes after him, but with no water or food, how long will the boys survive, and will they break the curse that has haunted Stanley's family for over a hundred years.

"Holes" the book, is very similar to "Holes" the movie.  There's a bit more on the back story of Green Lake and it's inhabitants, as well as the back story on the Warden.  But, if you've seen the movie, you pretty much know the book.  Still, if you liked to movie, I think listening to or reading the book would be worth your time.

"The Graveyard Book":  I don't use this term often, but this Neil Gaiman book is great, not good...great!  I suspect it was even better because we listened to the audio book, read by Gaiman himself.  Such an interesting and compelling story, I couldn't wait to hear what came next.

At the beginning of the story, we happen upon The Man Jack as he's in the process of murdering a family (trust me it's ok for an 11 year old kid).  But, he fails in his task as the youngest boy, a toddler, somehow wanders off before The Man Jack can complete the job.  They young boy wanders up to a nearby graveyard, where it's ghostly inhabitants give the young boy the freedom of the graveyard and decide to raise him as their own.  They name him Nobody Owens (after the Owens family who takes him in), and the mysterious Silas agrees to be his guardian.  But how can a live boy grow up in a place of the dead?  And what will happen if he ever leaves the graveyard with The Man Jack still out there, ready to finish the job?

I loved this story.  It's so interesting to meet the various inhabitants of the graveyard, some dating back even farther than Roman times, and it's interesting to see the influence they have on young Bod (Nobody gets shortened to Bod).  Bod's forays into the living world make for some excitement, and the secondary story about Silas keeps mystery going all throughout the book.  I highly recommend giving this one a read, or even better, a listen.

Let's Just Stop and Think About This

So, I was playing Sudoku while watching Wheel of Fortune on NBC, mainly just to kill time until the Olympics started.  During one of the commercial breaks, I saw a brand new ad by President Obama.  In this ad, the voice over guy is saying that Mitt Romney only paid 14% in taxes on his $20 million dollar income in 2010 and that this is likely less than you pay.  The ad goes on to say that Romney wants to give tax breaks to millionaires while taxing you more. 

There is so much in here.  First, Obama and his team are again playing the "class card" pitting us "commoners" against the "elites."  Further, while this ad is not wrong, it's somewhat misleading.  A quick google search uncovered this article from the Tuscon Sentinel.  First if you look at strictly income tax, the ad is a lie...only 3% of the population pays a higher income tax rate than Mitt Romney.  However, if you include payroll taxes, then the ad is correct, as most of Romney's income is from dividends and capital gains, so he doesn't pay the typical payroll taxes that most people do pay.  Also, in fairness, Mitt Romney does pay a lower tax rate than most people at his income level, largely due to the fact that he donates a significant portion of his income to charity.

Finally, the ad concludes with the point that Romney's tax policy as currently stated will eventually have to result in tax increases on the middle class, but doesn't explain why.  Again, a little digging on google is required, but you can quickly find out that a report by the Tax Policy Center determined that Romney would have to eliminate certain tax breaks that middle class families rely on in order to 1) reduce income tax rates across the board and 2) remain revenue neutral.  Most of the media is reporting this as positive for Obama, but again, a little googling and you can find that Romney's plan isn't specific enough to really draw the conclusions that were drawn.  Forbes has a nice article on this that I think is somewhat fair, though I'll admit Forbes is typically right leaning.

Ok, this is gonna be a long blog, because it took all that background to get to my main point.  The President's point in this ad is obviously to get you 1) mad that Romney pays less in taxes than you (again, debatable) and 2) fearful that Romney's policies will result in higher taxes on you.  Frankly, the President is doing you and I, all of us really, a disservice by this type of campaigning.  In fairness the Romney camp is doing the same thing with some of their advertising, but given that I am conservative, Obama's ads tend to get my ire up more so I'm focusing on this ad.  There are so many conversations we should be having based on the material just in this ad, but both parties have decided that we're too stupid or lack the attention span to hold these conversations.

Here are two examples of real policy debates we should be having based solely on the material in this political ad:

1)  Is it right to tax investment income at a lower rate than earned income?  That's contributing to Romney's tax rate being so low.  I think that would be a good debate to have in the country.

2)  Our tax code is screwed up.  Who among us wouldn't do what Romney does and take all the deductions possible?  We all do it...leaving money on the table is not smart, especially in this economy.  How are we gonna fix the tax code to make it more simple and more fair?  That's a debate some have tried to have in the past and they get vilified...see Steve Forbes and the flat tax.

Sadly folks, we've brought this upon ourselves.  We've become a generation of sound bytes.  If you can't get it in 10 seconds, it's not worth it.  Both candidates for President are just campaigning to us in the way that is most effective, and that's a sad commentary on the state of our society. 

We can change this though, and we have to start now, because I believe our nation is on the precipice.  My personal belief is that if we tip one way, we go the way or Western European Socialism, but if we tip the other way, we can recapture what has made the United States the greatest nation in the history of the world.  But, we can only do this if we get informed and start thinking about these issues. 

How can we do this?  Well, here's what has worked in my life.  First off, stop listening to or reading only one news source.  I had to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh, as all it did was made me mad at the other side and being angry prevented my from thinking about what it is I really believe.  Turns out, I believe most of what Limbaugh spouts, but now that I don't listen, I'm capable of articulating it in my own words.  I've also started reading multiple news sources, especially on controversial issues.  You often have to go to Foxnews and MSNBC or CNN to get the entire story, since the new agencies are very biased one way or the other. 

The second thing I've had to do is not let myself react emotionally.  If I do that, I've failed.  Instead, if something hits me emotionally, I stop and think about why that is.  Then I analyze the issue and determine where I really stand. 

Finally, we all have to do some research and get informed.  I spent 40 minutes tonight on this blog and researching.  That's not much time really, and now I'm much smarter on this issue. 

I'm hoping this doesn't come across as preachy.  I'm hoping that it will come across as a plea for all of us, Democrat, Republican or Independent, to get informed and start having meaningful debate on the issues, rather than just reacting with hate or anger towards the other side.  That's the only way we're gonna fix this mess.

This Ad is Wrong...but Educational

Yes, I'm actually sharing an Obama ad...


I'm choosing to share this ad because I think it's educational.  In this 1 minute spot, the President mentions the wealthier or "those at the top" twice, and he mentions the middle class twice.  The reason this is interesting to me is that this is how President Obama truly sees America.  Through his actions and words over the last 4 years, it's clear to me that the President doesn't see us all as Americans.  He sees us a rich or poor, black or white, democrat or republican, etc.  So I ask, who is responsible for dividing America?

I also believe this is the most all-in that I've ever seen a Democrat on class warfare.  Democrats always play class warfare, but with Clinton, Gore and John Kerry, I always felt like it was lip service to win votes.  President Obama, in my opinion, is showing that he is a true believer in the Marxist philosophy of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

Finally, the President states that the "Top Down Approach" proposed by Mitt Romney is the same thing that got us into this mess in the first place.  We can argue whether or not that's true, but there's no arguing that Obama's approach hasn't fixed anything.  President Obama is not proposing any new ideas from 2008.  His 2008 ideas have resulted in an exploding national debt, unemployment over 8%, a wildly unpopular health care law and fears of a 2nd recession.  You'd think the President would moderate and look to adapt, but instead he's doubling down.  The definition of insanity is to continue doing the same thing and expect different results. 

Super Awesome Rib Cooking Method

I've shared my experience with smoking ribs on this blog before, and it's been mixed results.  I was planning to try again today, but then David's baseball team won their first round tournament game, which meant they would be playing baseball today.  But, I had already put the rub on the ribs, so I knew I had to get the ribs made this weekend.  I decided to try cooking them faster than normal and see if I could get them tender that way...as I said, mixed results with low and slow.

So, I fired the smoker up to 250 degrees (that's about as hot as I can get my smoker), and put the ribs on the smoke for 2 hours.  I used St. Louis Style Spare Ribs.  After two hours, I brought them inside and wrapped them in foil.  Usually when I do the foil wrapping, I put a little cider vinegar and BBQ sauce on the ribs.  Frankly, I didn't think this helped at all.   After watching several episodes of BBQ Pit masters, I decided to try something I saw Johnny Trigg (the rib king) do.  I put honey, brown sugar and butter on the ribs, then sealed up the foil and put them on the grill at 400 degrees.  I let them go 1 hour and 15 minutes at 400 degrees...then tested them for tenderness.  To test for tenderness, you pick the ribs up with tongs, and the ribs should bend about 90 degrees but not tear apart.  The tenderness seemed about right, so I glazed the ribs with my sauce for 15 minutes and served them.

I have to say, these were the best ribs I've made, by far.  The smoke flavor came through, with a nice smoke ring.  The ribs were tender, but you could still leave a clear bite mark.  The addition of the brown sugar, butter and honey in the foil wrap added a little extra sweetness that came through nicely.  I'm really happy with the way these ribs turned out.  I forgot to take a picture and now they are gone.  Can't wait to make them again! 

As an aside, I served the ribs with both my traditional sauce and a new spicy sauce that David requested.  To make the spicy sauce, I simply made my traditional sauce, but I doubled the black pepper, then added 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 2 tsp of Frank's red hot and 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper.  The result was a sauce that hit you with sweet, then followed up with a pretty good burn.  David loved it, and I thought it was pretty good too.

A Nearly Perfect Ending to the Trilogy

Before I review "The Dark Knight Rises", I'd like to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the shootings in Aurora, CO. 

I saw "The Dark Knight Rises" this afternoon, and loved it!  Of the 3 movies in the trilogy, I think this one is the 2nd best.  My favorite in the series is still "Batman Begins", but I'm a Batman nerd and I just love the way Director Christopher Nolan did the back story.  All three movies in this trilogy are 5 star movies, so it's splitting hairs to say which one is better than the other.  This may be the best trilogy in the history of movies...there, I said it.

"The Dark Knight Rises" begins 8 years after the events at the end of "The Dark Knight".  Batman has not been seen in 8 years, and Bruce Wayne has become a recluse.  But, beginning with his meeting with Selina Kyle (a.k.a. Catwoman), events conspire that bring Batman out of retirement.  When terrorist Bane begins a crime spree in Gotham City, The Dark Knight has to rise to save his beloved city, but has he been gone too long and will he have what it takes to stop Bane from destroying Gotham?

At two hours and 45 minutes, "The Dark Knight Rises" is a very long movie, but it didn't seem like a long movie.  It moves very quickly and is simply packed with story and action.  I know some other reviewers have complained that Christopher Nolan tried to do too much and that, while the movie was good, it would have been great had they left a few characters and plot lines out.  Personally, I think the movie was nearly perfect.  Yes, there was a lot going on, but it was never hard to follow and all fit together nicely.  I did find a couple of plot points a little predictable, but was very satisfied with the ending.

The cast of "The Dark Knight Rises" is fantastic.  Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne/Batman to me.  He's fantastic in the role, but almost takes a back seat to a few of the other characters.  Anne Hathaway is surprisingly good as Catwoman.  I've always liked Hathaway in her roles, but I just wasn't sure if she'd make a good Catwoman.  Not only was she good, but she nearly stole the show.  I say nearly, because Tom Hardy does a fantastic job as Bane.  Hardy will inevitably be compared to Heath Ledger, but the Joker and Bane are completely different characters and it's not fair to compare them.  The rest of the cast, from Gary Oldman to Joseph Gordon Levitt to the incomparable Michael Caine round out the movie really nicely.

I must admit that I'm a bit bummed that we won't get any new Batman movies for a few years.  I'm sure it will get rebooted at some point, but topping Christopher Nolan's epic trilogy will be nearly impossible.  If you liked the first two movies, I think you'll be really happy with this finale.

Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

On Saturday night, I went to see "The Amazing Spider-Man" in the theater.  I didn't know what to expect, but I saw that it was doing reasonably well on Rotten Tomatoes (73%), so I decided to give it a whirl.  I typically want a movie to be over 70% on Rotten Tomatoes before I'll consider seeing it in the theater.  This is the reason why I did not see "Snow White and the Huntsman" or "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" in the theater.

But I digress.  As I said, I didn't know what to think about "The Amazing Spider-Man" so I had relatively low expectations.  And we all know, the key to a good movie watching experience is low expectations!  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  In fact, I enjoyed it more than any of the three Tobey Maguire Spider-Man flicks.  I went back and forth on whether this was a 4.5 or 5 star movie...I settled on 4.5 stars.  It's a notch below "Avengers", but on par with the first "Iron Man" movie.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" is a reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, and if you saw "Spider-Man 3", you know that this franchise needed a reboot.  Because it's a reboot, we get a retelling of the origin story, but with a few new twists.  Once Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), discovers his calling as a hero, the movie takes off and Spidey has to face off against The Lizard and save New York City from certain doom.

The cast is much better than the original movies.  Andrew Garfield is wittier and more confident as Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire ever played the character.  Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacy, and is really good in the role.  Some might remember Emma Stone as Wichita in "Zombieland", which is another great movie by the way.  A nice addition was Denis Leary as Police Captain Stacy, Gwen's father.  Leary has come a long way since doing crude comedy in the early 90s.  Martin Scheen and Sally Field sort of round out the cast as Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and both are excellent as one would expect.

The biggest problem with Spider-Man is his villains are sorta lame.  The Lizard is actually Dr. Curt Connors after a science experiment gone bad.  Connors is played by Rhys Ifans, but in my opinion never rises to the level of the great villains (see Joker or Loki).

I'll be very interested to see where director Marc Webb takes a second movie.  We are definitely set up for a second movie in this darker reboot.  Hopefully the momentum from the first movie will be sustained going forward.  Sadly so few super hero movies succeed with sequels, so we'll have to wait and see.

Many Many Movies to Review

It's been a while since I've reviewed movies, so this will be a long one with a record number of movies...for this blog anyway.  I still can't compete with Nuke's blog for movie reviews, though I'll try to put more behind my reviews than Nuke does (see how I complimented Nuke and picked on him in the same sentence):

"The King's Speech":  Amanda had watched this one a while ago in the theater and she loved it.  Netflix kept recommending it for me, so despite my usual tendency to not watch Oscar Winners, I decided to give "The King's Speech" a try.

I really enjoyed this movie.  I give it 4.5 stars.  It was funny, clever, heart warming and moving all in one.  This is the story of King George VI, who struggles with a speech impediment...or as he put it in the movie, "I bloody stammer!".  After not having success with any doctor, George's wife introduces him to Lionel Logue, who helps the King and forms a life long friendship. 

Colin Firth is fantastic as King George VI.  I can see why he won best actor for this role.  Helena Bonham Carter plays Queen Elizabeth (George's wife), and she does wonderfully.  It was so weird to see her play a "normal" character.  Finally, Geoffrey Rush portray Lionel Logue.  Rush is such a great actor.  I'm very glad I decided to see this movie.

"Defiance":  Why is it that Daniel Craig is so good in everything, except James Bond movies?  I haven't found a Daniel Craig movie I don't like, yet I think he's completely ruining James Bond. 

Craig stars as Tuvia Bielski, one of 4 Jewish brothers who escape the Nazis in Belarus during World War II, and survive in the forests of Russia for the duration of the war.  "Defiance" tells the story of how Bielski eventually saved over 1200 Jews, forming a community in the forest, while being constantly on the run from the Nazis.

This was another really good movie...another 4 stars.  Daniel Craig is excellent as the tough, yet compassionate Tuvia Bielski.  I found the story compelling, and decided to read a little more.  From what I've read, the movie is fairly accurate, though somewhat dramatized.  If you are a fan of World War II history, "Defiance" should be on your list.

"Planet Hulk":  Based on how much I enjoyed "Avengers" as well as the fact that I've enjoyed many of the DC Comics full length cartoons, Netflix has been recommending a set of Marvel cartoons for quite a while.  With the family gone, I decided to give these a shot over instant watch. 

"Planet Hulk" was the first movie I watched.  It was ok...3 stars.  The premise is interesting.  The heroes of earth, tired of the Hulk's constant raging, banish him to a far away planet.  But the Hulk gets angry and throws a fit causing the ship to go off course.  Hulk ends up on a planet ruled by an evil dictator, and through a series of Gladiator like battles earns the respect of the people of the planet.  Hulk then participates in/leads a revolt against this evil leader.

Not a bad movie, but not on par with the movies that DC comics has been putting out.  It may just be due to the fact that the brooding Hulk annoys me a bit.

"Ultimate Avengers:  The Movie":  This was the worst of the movies I saw.  There's just too much going on in the Avengers to pack it into 81 minutes.  Plus, the Hulk was able to lift Thor's hammer...that's just not accurate and really annoyed me. 

This movie is mostly a story about Bruce Banner and Captain America.  Iron Man, Thor, Giant Man and Wasp play supporting roles.  While I really enjoy Captain America, the version of the Hulk in this movie is not likable at all, and really saps the entire movie.

I'd give this one 2 stars and suggest not watching it.

"Doctor Strange":  I think "Doctor Strange" was the most well done of the 3 full length cartoons I watched.  Perhaps because he's a more obscure Marvel character, we got a lot more plot development in this movie than the other two. 

Doctor Strange is actually a medical doctor, until an accident ruins his hands.  After hitting rock bottom, he meets a mysterious man who tells him he can heal him if he comes to Tibet.  Why do you always have to go to Tibet?  Anyway, Strange makes his way to Tibet and discovers his power as a magician, and begins to use those powers to save humanity from the forces of darkness.

As I said above, this movie was really well done.  I actually rated it 4 stars, and think it's on par with anything DC Comics is putting out there.

"Hoosiers":  I've seen this movie before, but I've never reviewed it.  I decided to watch it on Tuesday night, as I was off on the 4th of July.  It had been years since I'd watched "Hoosiers" all the way through, and I'm so glad I decided to watch it again.

For those who don't know, "Hoosiers" tells the story of the fictional Hickory High School basketball team.  Hickory is one of the smallest schools in the state of Indiana.  When Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) comes to town to coach the team, he initially turns off the townspeople with his style of coaching, and his attitude.  But through the movie, Dale turns the team and the town around, eventually leading the team to the Indiana High School basketball championship  This story is loosely based on the 1954 Milan High School team that won the title against the big schools

To me, "Hoosiers" is Gene Hackman's defining performance.  He's perfect as Norman Dale.  The rest of the cast compliments Hackman well, including Dennis Hopper who nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.  This movie has everything you could want in a sports movie.  Easily 5 stars and definitely worth watching over and over again.

"Gettysburg":  Rarely is a movie worth over 4 hours of my time, so when I got this one from Netflix a while back, I ended up sending it back without watching it because I just didn't have 4 hours.  I borrowed it from Nuke a few weeks later as he agreed that I didn't need to return it right away.  I told him it would probably be Christmas break before I got to watching it.

Well, with the family away, I spent the evening of the 4th of July watching this Civil War classic.  "Gettysburg" tells the story of the most famous battle of the Civil War from the perspective of several of the participants.  Most notably, Colonel Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels), General Buford (Sam Elliot), General Longstreet (Tom Berenger) and General Armistead (Richard Jordan).  General Robert E. Lee (Martin Scheen) also plays a prominent role.

This is a fantastic, epic movie.  I learned a lot about this famous battle by watching this movie.  The story jumps around to each of these characters, but not in a bad way.  You really see the struggle that Armistead feels, going up against one of his best friends.  To me, the story surrounding Chamberlain was the most compelling, as I was not aware of his contributions to the Union victory...darn public schools! 

"Gettysburg" is a 4.5 star movie and definitely worth 4 hours and 14 minutes of your time.

"Real Steel":  Hopefully you are still with me.  This is the last movie I have to review.  I had heard "Real Steel" was a chick flick, dressed up as a robot boxing movie to attract male viewers.  That's not quite an accurate description, but close.  Think "Rocky" but with robots instead of real boxers.  Throw in a tenuous father/son relationship and you have a good idea of what "Real Steel" is all about.

It's the year 2027, and Robot boxing has replaced human boxing and become one of the biggest sports going.  Hugh Jackman is Charlie Kenton, a down on his luck former boxer, trying to make his way in the robot boxing gig.  Early in the movie, he finds out that the child he fathered (Max) 11 years ago is now in need of him after the death of his mother.  Kenton plans to sign custody rights over to Max's aunt, but swings a deal to take Max for the summer.  After Max finds an old fighting robot and begins to restore/reprogram him, Charlie and Max's relationship takes off.  With Charlie to teach the robot how to fight, they begin to win some bouts and catch the attention of the world champion's team, leading to a turning point in the father/son relationship and a bout with the undefeated world champion.

This was a really good movie...again think "Rocky".  If you don't get a little choked up at the end, you have no heart.  I liked "Real Steel" a lot and give it 4 stars.  Jackman continues to impress as an actor, and the kid that plays Max (Dakota Goyo) is actually a good actor, which is rare for so many child actors.

A Slippery Slope

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States (henceforth known as SCOTUS), upheld pretty much all of President Obama's healthcare law, including the individual mandate, which says that individuals are required to have health insurance.  In the 5-4 majority ruling, John Roberts, Chief Justice of SCOTUS, said that while the Commerce Clause does not allow the Federal Government to force individuals to purchase a product, the individual mandate is essentially a tax and Congress can levy taxes so therefore, it's legal.  Do you follow that?  SCOTUS said that the Federal Government forcing an individual to purchase a product is a tax!

Let's forget for a moment that President Obama said way back in 2009 in an interview with George Stephanapolis that the individual mandate wasn't a tax.  "You can't just make up that language and decide that that's called a tax increase," is one of the quotes from the interview.  Let's just think about the consequences of this ruling...it is now considered constitutional for the Federal Government to force you to buy a product under the guise of it being a tax.  What's next???

-Don't want to buy those fluorescent light bulbs?  Too bad, you have to, it's just another tax.

-Hate working out?  That's too bad, we're an overweight society so you have to join a gym.  Don't worry, it's just a tax.

-You have to buy a more fuel efficient vehicle.  Sorry, just another tax.

-All Americans have the right to defend themselves, so everyone has to buy a gun.  Just a small little tax.

Are some of those absurd?  Maybe, but even 5 years ago we would have thought the Federal Government forcing people to buy health insurance was absurd.  Where does it end?

This is one of the worst decisions ever made by the SCOTUS.  Right up there with saying slavery is okay back in the day.  I expected the 4 liberal judges to go this way because they don't typically follow the law, they just advance the liberal cause.  But Chief Justice Roberts is supposed to know better.  I guess Washington D.C. corrupts some faster than others.

If there is a bright spot in all this it's that President Obama now has to defend this atrocious law all through the election, and maybe we'll all finally find out what's in the law, unlike the people who actually voted on it in the first place.

Recent Funnies

My wife and I love to watch comedians together.  Recently we've watched two comedic specials:

Jim Gaffigan:  Mr. Universe - Jim Gaffigan continues to be one of the funniest comedians going.  Following "Beyond the Pale" with the famed Hot Pockets riff was gonna be difficult, but Gaffigan knocks it outta the park with "Mr. Universe".  Taking shots at his own physical fitness, McDonald's, Disney World and overweight whales, my wife and I were laughing from start to finish. 

I highly recommend watching "Beyond the Pale" before you watch this one, or at least one of the jokes won't make a lot of sense to you.  Gaffigan ranks right up there with George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Mitch Hedburg in my pantheon of great comedians.  This is a 5 star comedy special and definitely worth watching.

Gabriel Iglesias:  Hot and Fluffy - "Hot and Fluffy" was recommended by a coworker of mine.  I had never seen Gabriel Iglesias before, so I wasn't 100% sure what to expect.  Overall, Iglesias is a fairly clean comedian that loves to make fun of himself, his friends and the police.  While not as funny as Jim Gaffigan, this was a fun comedy special that kept both my wife and I laughing.  I'd give this one 3.5 stars and I'll commit to watching more stuff from Gabriel Iglesias.

The Reason for Bad BBQ

Today I was instant messaging with my good friend Nuke during lunch.  I was lamenting the fact that we don't have good barbecue where I live, with the exception of a food truck that is only open part time.  We don't even have a Famous Dave's, which is top notch chain BBQ.  You would think that a community with a reported metropolitan area of over 250,000 people would have some good ole' BBQ, but alas, we do not.

Nuke asked me if I had any theories as to why it was this way, and it hit me like a bolt of lightning...Democrats are to blame for the lack of good barbecue around here! 

Before you say "Jake, you're nuts", hear me out.  Where I live in Iowa is an increasingly Democratic area.  We have a democrat Congressman and we voted for Obama in the last election.  Add to that the fact that the best BBQ comes from the South and Texas, traditional Republican strongholds, and one can easily see that Democrats are to blame for the lack of good BBQ in my city. 

But let's take it a step further.  What do Democrats value?  Farmer's Markets!  And we have several kick butt farmer's markets around here.  I don't think I need to say any more.  I believe my point has been made.

With this knowledge, I'm now resigned to the fact that I will have to make my own BBQ or travel for good BBQ until such time as the Republicans seize control of the population in my little corner of Iowa.

Another Trip, More Movies To Review

So, my blog has basically become a movie review blog.  I just got back from another trip to Brazil, and I watched 3 more movies:

"Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows":  I watched this movie on the way to Brazil.  I liked it a lot...at least a 4 star rating.  In fact, I think it's better than the first "Sherlock Holmes" movie.

Robert Downey Jr. is back as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law is back as Dr. Watson.  The two actors are really great in these roles.  In this movie, Dr. Moriarty is more than a shadowy figure manipulating events, he is now Holmes' #1 nemesis, and is capable of matching wits with Holmes throughout the movie.  In fact, it seems that Moriarty often has the upper hand.  With the fate of all of Europe hanging in the balance, Holmes has to overcome his greatest nemesis to stop all out war.

As I said above, "Game of Shadows" is a very good movie.  With lots of action and humor, I found this was 2 hours well spent.

"We Bought a Zoo":  I have to admit, I was very skeptical about "We Bought a Zoo", but after hearing rave reviews from many friends, I decided to give it a try on the way home.  I was glad I agreed to give this a shot, as it turned out to be a really nice feel good story.  And anyone who has read this blog knows how I love feel good movies.

Matt Damon stars as Benjamin Mee, a recently widowed journalist raising two children.  When his son is expelled from school, Benjamin decides to move the family.  The family settles on buying a great home in the country that has one small catch, it's also a zoo.  With the help of the zoo staff, led by Scarlett Johansson, Benjamin and his family set about repairing the run down zoo, and in the process they repair their family and learn that life moves on, even after great loss.

This is a very touching story.  It's based on actual events, but from what I've read, Hollywood changed it up a bit.  Matt Damon does a great job in this role.  Add in the always capable Johansson, rising star Elle Fanning and Thomas Haden Church as Damon's older brother, and you  have a cast that melded really well. 

There is a little language and innuendo, but I think this is a family appropriate movie.  I think we'll watch it as a family at some point.  I give "We Bought a Zoo", 4 stars.

"Haywire":  Don't watch this movie...1 star.  Sometimes when on a plane, you pick a movie because the time it runs happens to fit the schedule you want prior to going to sleep.  That was the case with "Haywire".  It's a really stupid movie, and I'm sorta ashamed that I watched the entire thing.

The biggest thing I don't understand is how the producers got Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Ewan McGreagor and Channing Tatum to appear in this movie.  Didn't they read the script? 

Avengers Assemble!

At the Super Bowl about 16 months ago, the first trailer for "The Avengers" debuted.  This was before we had even seen "Captain America" or "Thor".  That's a lot of hype to live up to...and "The Avengers" lived up to that hype.

Marvel has done a wonderful thing here starting with "Iron Man" in 2008.  For the last 4 years and 5 movies, Marvel has been building toward this...the first big super hero team up movie.  And while I don't think "The Avengers" qualifies for "best movie ever" status, it is an exceptional film.  I do think Marvel has elevated the super hero movie with this film, and I expect it will be hard for others to keep pace in the short term.  I'll be really interested to see what Chris Nolan does with "The Dark Knight Rises" later this summer.  "The Avengers" is gonna be really hard to top.

This movie picks up about a year after "Thor" ended.  Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has allied himself with an evil alien race, and is planning to use these aliens to help him take over the earth.  Loki's grand plan is to rule the planet his half brother, Thor, loves so much.  Somebody has "family issues".  To secure the aid of the aliens, Loki must give them the Tesseract (see "Captain America"), which is currently on earth.  So, Loki begins a war, which S.H.I.E.L.D, led by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is powerless to wage.  But, Fury always has a plan.  He enlists the help of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemmsworth), The Black Widow (Scarlette Johannson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).  But, these heroes have egos and agendas...can they co-exist in time to save the world?  I know the answer, and you'll find out if you go watch. 

Joss Whedon directed "The Avengers" and did a masterful job.  No one character dominates...in fact, Whedon does this movie so well that fans of each hero will be satisfied with the role their favorite hero plays.  Each character has his or her moment to shine, and the cast meshes very well.  Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo seem to really mix well on screen.  I hope we will see another standalone Hulk movie with Ruffalo playing the part of Bruce Banner...he's perfect.

As with any great super hero movie, you need a great villain.  Tom Hiddleston provides that great villain as Loki.  For those that thought he wasn't evil enough in "Thor", he's one bad dude now.  Hiddleston is the perfect actor for this role, and he has great interactions with each character, but especially with Chris Hemmsworth (Thor).  You can really see that Thor wants his brother back, but Loki has truly grown to despise his brother, which makes for very good on screen dynamics.

As with all Joss Whedon directed movies and TV shows, "The Avengers" is very funny, but not in a ridiculous way.  In fact, the mix of humor, action and drama is just about right.  And the length of the movie is not overwhelming.  Though it's about 2 and a half hours, nobody was getting up to go to the bathroom...in fact, I didn't even check my watch.  Time flew by.

So, "The Avengers" is a 5 star movie.  I highly recommend it.  I think PG-13 is the right rating, but it could really be PG-11 or so.  There is nothing gratuitous, just a lot of fantasy action, and a few scary moments with The Hulk.  I'm gonna take David to see it later this weekend. 

Recent Movies

Another Double Movie Review...and fittingly, the first movie is...

"The Double":  This is a movie that Nuke described as a "twist-a-thriller".  I like that description, so I'm gonna steal it, but give credit, so it's not really stealing.  "The Double" is similar to "Salt" in a lot of ways, except instead of Angelina Jolie, it has Richard Gere and Topher Grace.  I'll leave it to you to decide which is better.  Honestly, I think the two movies would be great in a double feature.

I really liked this movie.  I don't think Richard Gere is getting too old to play these roles, which was one of the comments Nuke made.  What I really liked about "The Double" is we get a twist in the beginning, another twist at the end, and a satisfying ending. 

I wish I could tell you more about the plot, but it's hard without giving things away.  If you like "twist-a-thrillers", I suggest you give "The Double" a shot.  I liked it enough to go 4 stars on my rating!

"The Eagle":  I have to admit, I was semi-disappointed by "The Eagle".  From reading the latest Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan, I was very excited about this movie, which mixed in the Roman Eagle.  I thought we'd get an action packed, thrill a minute, sword fighting, axe wielding action flick.  Instead, we got a largely dull film, punctuated by a few really good action scenes.

Channing Tatum is fairly wooden as the lead actor, which I think contributed to some of the dullness.  Despite this, I think the Eagle had a lot of promise until the end when the last battle sorta fizzled in my mind.  I'll give this one 2 stars and recommend you stay away.

Why Don't These Super Heroes Have Movies?

I am very excited about the upcoming "Avengers" movie.  In fact, I may be excited enough to go to the midnight showing.  I can't really decide if the midnight showing is for 30 something married dads though...but I digress.

Over the last 15 years, we've had tons of super hero movies.  Everyone from Spider-Man to the X-Men, from Daredevil to Elektra, from Superman to Batman has had a super hero movie made.  Well, that's not true...not everyone has.  Here are some of my favorite super heroes who have yet to grace the big screen, but should be considered very soon. 

Author's Note:  Come to think of it, Marvel will make a movie about any character they have (Ghost Rider, The Punisher, etc.), so this list is going to focus on the DC Universe.

-Captain Marvel - ok...maybe a story about a 10 year old boy who says "Shazam!" and turns into Superman's equal is a bit awkward, but come on, we had to sit through 3 Blade films and soon to be 2 Ghost Rider films!

-Wonder Woman - She had a run on a TV series...but it's time for a movie.  Yeah, the costume is a bit out of date, and the invisible plane is sort of hokey, but she is the queen of the DC universe.

-Aquaman - Ok, so he's not that powerful out of the ocean, but who didn't love the underwater scenes with Jar Jar Binks in "The Phantom Menace"???  This could work...couldn't it?

-Green Arrow - It's gotta be better than "Green Lantern", doesn't it?

-Martian Manhunter - This is one I'd really like to see...the others are sorta tongue in cheek.  Martian Manhunter is one bad mama jama...this would seriously be a cool movie.

Ok, if we actually got Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman and Aquaman movies, to go along with the lame Green Lantern movie, The Dark Knight series and the new Superman film, we could easily roll into a Justice League movie!  That would be most excellent.  Hey, if they can pull it off with "Avengers", why not the Justice League???  It would be superb!

10,000!!!

Google has this neat tracking feature, and through this neat tracking feature, I learned that my blog hit 10,000 page views recently.  I started this blog on the eve of the last Presidential election, so in a little under 4 years, I hit the 10,000 mark.  Now I know, there are some web pages that get 10,000 hits in an hour, or even faster, but I'm thrilled to hit this milestone.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to check out my blog and read my thoughts.  I hope that I've been thought provoking, funny, and recommended some good books and movies.  I'm planning to keep this blog going for the foreseeable future.  In fact, I've got a couple of new movies to blog about real soon.  So stay tuned!!!

Two Movies in One Week!!!

It's been sort of a crazy week.  I watched two movies!

"The Three Musketeers":  This updated version of the classic tale is wall to wall fun.  With lots of action, some humor, and a great role for Orlando Bloom, this is easily the best movie I've seen in quite a while. 

The story has all the elements of other Musketeer stories, including young D'Artagnan coming to join the Musketeers, the evil Cardinal Richelieu, the battle against Europe's foremost swordsman and finally D'Artagnan's acceptance into the Musketeers.  But, what this story has that others don't is some really good effects, updated stunts, and great action sequences.  Plus some of the more traditional battles are reinvented. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hours I spent watching "The Three Musketeers".  This is easily a 4 star movie, and I recommend it if you are in the mood for action and a good laugh.

"The Last of the Mohicans":  It's entirely possible that I am the only person in the world who hadn't seen "The Last of the Mohicans", and frankly, I could have remained the only person in the world to not have seen this movie.  I just don't get it...I don't understand how it can be so critically acclaimed?  I think Nuke put it best today when he stated something to the effect that I have the movie tastes of the average Joe, and to truly appreciate this movie, you need to have the movie tastes of a film critic.

That said, I did feel like this movie had one of the best film scores ever, so I still rate it 3 stars.  But it would have been 2 stars if not for the seriously good music.  If you like movies such as "The English Patient", and if you haven't already seen this 1993 film, give "The Last of the Mohicans" a shot.  If you didn't like "The English Patient", you won't like this.