Movie Review: The A-Team

"Still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team!!!"

Yes, I broke down, went to the cheap theater and saw "The A-Team" movie. Starring Liam Neeson and a bunch of other guys I don't know, "The A-Team" acts as a reboot of the 1980's TV series. I don't know if there will be more movies or not...I guess that depends on how this one did at the box office.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the plot of this movie, because there isn't much of one. Liam Neeson is Hannibal Smith, and he is the leader of a crack team of Army Rangers who never fail, because of Hannibal's planning. After all, he "loves it when a plan comes together." When they are wrongly jailed, Hannibal sets about breaking his team out and finding those who sent them to jail. What follows is so much over the top action that it reminded me of last summer's G.I. Joe movie.

There was a lot of nostalgia for me with this movie because I remember the TV Series so fondly. Plus, Gerald McCraney was in the movie, and he was part of one of my dad's favorite 1980's shows, "Simon and Simon." Double nostalgia. As an action junkie, I found this movie really fun. I can honestly say this is the first movie where I've seen someone "fly" a tank. Watch it and you'll understand. There was enough plot to make this pass as a movie, but it was all about the action. It's way over the top.

The nostalgia, coupled with the over the top action made this a 4 star movie. Most people will disagree with me, but that's fine. I'm used to that.

TV Series Review: Eureka, Season 3.5

I've been away from blogging for a while. Been really busy and blogging would have added stress, and since I started this as a stress reliever, blogging when stressed would have been the opposite of my plan.

So, season 3.5 of "Eureka" is awesome. I think Sheriff Jack Carter (played by Colin Ferguson) may be my new favorite TV character. While I think "Psych" is the better show, "Eureka" is close...and SyFy's other hit "Warehouse 13" is getting close as well. I just love these quirky, "mystery" type shows.

In season 3.5, major changes are afoot in Eureka, America's smartest town. Carter is still Sheriff, and still dealing with more than his share of scientific mishaps coming from the research of the town's geniuses. Along with the constant trouble, Carter also has to deal with a daughter getting ready to leave for college, acting as the birth coach for Dr. Allison Blake and finally meeting a new love interest in Dr. Tess Fontana. It all makes for a series of 10 quirky, compelling stories that, at times, are laugh out loud funny. This is a 5 star series (unlike Nuke, I'm not stingy with my 5 stars).

I think it's amazing that the cable networks are now making the best TV. Even if you excuse my strange tastes, most of the really critically acclaimed shows seem to be on cable. My 3 favorites, "Psych", "Eureka" and "Warehouse 13" are all cable network shows. It just seems that the over the air networks have gotten lazy.

By the way, now that we finally have a DVR, I'm watching season 4 almost live. The goodness continues.

Maybe They Have a Money Tree?

Today the Senate passed a bill to extend unemployment benefits...yet again. To get the bill through, the Democrats had to break a Republican filibuster, which they succeeded at today.

Contrary to the way the Democrats and their loyal media portrayed this, the Republicans weren't opposed to extending unemployment benefits. In fact, they were in favor of it. However, they were opposed to adding to the deficit to extend the benefits. This was a puny $34 Billion dollar bill, and the Republicans dared to suggest that $34 Billion in cuts should be made to free up the money for this bill. The Democrats, who like much of their base, are afraid of hard work, refused to make any cuts to existing spending and instead chose to pile more money we don't have on the debt.

This is sad and pathetic...$34 billion is less than 1% of the federal budget, and if those we elect can't make decisions about small amounts like this, then how can we trust them to solve any of the really big problems that we have? The Democrats have proven once again that they have no interest in real reform in Washington or in solving any of our country's money problems. In fact, all the Democrats appear to be interested in is demonizing the Republicans to secure a longer reign in power.

Well, November is fast approaching. If you are at all concerned about our national debt, remember today when the Democrats continued to pile on the debt, rather than make a simple decision to shave $34 Billion off the budget to fund the needed unemployment benefits. Remember it and vote anyone with a D next to their name out of office...really any incumbent should go, but definitely those with a D next to their name.

Movie Review: Alice In Wonderland

I watched "Alice In Wonderland" last week, but due to busy family circumstances I'm just finally getting around to reviewing it. This is the Johnny Depp version from earlier this year.

In this version of the story, Alice Kingsley is now 19 years old and is contemplating some life changing decisions. All her life she has lost sleep due to dreams about falling down a rabbit hole into a strange world. While chasing a white rabbit, she does indeed fall down a rabbit hole into a strange world called Underland, where everyone knows who she is, but she doesn't know anyone. In this strange world, she meets the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the evil Red Queen, and the good White Queen. But, can she become the hero that Underland needs her to be to save Underland from the grips of the evil Red Queen and her Jaberwocky?

I actually enjoyed this movie, though I wondered for a long time if I was going to. Alice is played by Mia Wasikowska, who I didn't know before this movie. She took a very long time to develop a personality in the story. Johnny Depp plays his usual weird self...he never does a normal role, have you noticed that? I was really happy to see Crispin Glover as the Red Queen's right hand man. He hasn't gotten enough action since "Back to the Future". Helena Bonham Carter was just average as the Red Queen, while Anne Hathaway was airy and semi-mysterious as the White Queen.

One thing I liked a lot was the vocal talent that the movie provided for the animated characters. Alan Rickman was awesome as the blue caterpillar...can't remember it's name right now. Rickman's voice is so distinct. The other voice I was glad to hear was that of Christopher Lee (a.k.a Count Dooku). See if you can find him...I won't tell you the character.

Overall, "Alice in Wonderland" was a good movie. It wasn't so great that I wanted to save it for my kids to watch, but it's an entertaining 2 hours.

It Makes No Sense

As I write this, the unemployment rate in the country is hovering close to 10%. I could go look up the exact number, but it's about 10%, and that's good enough for this blog. During the Bush years, when everything was horrible according to the media, unemployment dropped to less than 5%, which is considered full employment. What did George W. Bush, who's not very smart, according to the media, do nearly right away? He lowered taxes. One could make a compelling argument that the Bush tax cuts were at least partly responsible for the economic recovery following 9/11.

Now we have a really smart President, at least according to the media, in Barack Obama. What does this super smart awesome guy plan to do in the midst of 10% unemployment? He plans to raise taxes in 2011. That's right, he's going to let at least some of the Bush tax cuts expire for the higher income brackets. Now before you lecture me on civics, I know that the Congress passes legislation so Congress could extend the tax cuts and is choosing not to so far. However, with no pressure from El Presidente, Congress has chosen not to act. Presidential pressure goes far...after all that's why it's called Obama-care, even though Congress technically passed the legislation.

In addition to letting the Bush tax cuts expire, all of us who get company paid health care will begin to face a tax on our health benefits in 2011, as part of the Obama-care package of joy. That's another new tax...which we should be happy about according to our really great President.

I admit, I'm no economist, but I can think a problem through. We have 10% unemployment, and we still have a sluggish economy. Next year, the government is going to start taking a bigger piece of everyone's income (or at least those that actually pay taxes). So, they will start taking a bigger cut of 53% of the country's income (thank you liberal policies). These people will be forced to spend less because they will have less. That means that businesses will have to make cuts to survive, which will probably lead to higher unemployment as businesses lay off people to survive the lean times. Since less people will be working and businesses will be making less money, that means the government could actually take in less tax income, even with the higher tax rates.

You know, I think the media might be exaggerating how smart our President is. It seems to me that his economic policies are designed to actually make the economy worse. I would bet we could see 12-15% unemployment and the dreaded "double-dip" recession if these policies are allowed to go on unchecked. Maybe our current President should check his ideology at the door and take a lesson from his predecessor. You don't raise taxes in lean economic times, you lower them to get the economy going again. But then again, I've never done any community organizing, so what do I know?

TV Series Review: The IT Crowd, Season 1

"The IT Crowd" is an Emmy award winning British comedy series that follows the hi jinks of the IT staff at a company in London. The IT workers are Moss (Richard Ayoade) and Roy (Chris O'Dowd), and they are managed by Jen (Katherine Parkinson).

Season 1 of this series introduces us to Moss, Roy and Jen, along with several others in the office. Jen gets a job managing the IT department with a crafty resume and the usage of multiple IT buzzwords. However, she really has no clue about computers and the guys quickly figure that out. But, they reach an agreement and manage to work together. Though not much work gets done over the 6 episodes of season 1.

"The IT Crowd" seems to be very random. Each episode can pretty much stand on its own, though there are occasional references to previous episodes. Moss is my favorite character in the series, though I also really like Denholm, who is the CEO and appears in about half the episodes. Overall, this is a 4 star series. It's some pretty unique British humor and that makes it good, not great, but good.

Not Very Kingly of Him

I bet you think this is going to be an Obama post based on that title. Well, you'd be wrong...this is a post on Lebron James (a.k.a King James). I would have posted sooner but I've been at Cub Scout camp with my oldest son. For the non-sports fans out there, Lebron James was a basketball player with the Cleveland Cavaliers until last Thursday when he announced he was leaving Cleveland as a free agent to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat. Lebron has won the last 2 league MVP (most valuable player) awards.

From a basketball standpoint this makes sense. Lebron James and Dwayne Wade are possibly the 2 best players in basketball, though Kobe Bryant fans would argue with that. Chris Bosh is in the next tier of great players in the NBA. With the 3 of them together, they should be formidable and should win many championships. Dwayne Wade already has 1 title, in 2006 when he pretty much carried the Miami Heat to a title. Lebron James got close in Cleveland, but never closed the door. Chris Bosh has been stuck in Toronto and hasn't come close at all.

So, from a basketball standpoint, I understand Lebron's decision. He wants to win titles and he's going to be playing with a proven winner. I even understand it from a personal standpoint. Miami is a better market than Cleveland, and frankly the taxes are better in Florida.

However, we have to consider that Lebron James was raised in Akron, Ohio and, up until last Thursday, he was a hero in Cleveland and really all of Ohio. They had a 10 story mural of him in downtown Cleveland. Cleveland is a sports town that is starved for something good to happen, and Lebron James was going to bring that to them. In short, he was very important to Cleveland and all of Ohio.

Considering all of that, I have serious problems with the way King James went about making this move. He agreed to do a 1 hour show on ESPN during which he announced his decision. He didn't let the management in Cleveland know what his decision would be, so they had to watch the show and find out. And when he finally did make his announcement, he told a national audience that he was going to Miami...basically sticking it to Cleveland on national TV. Clevelanders were devastated, and the Cavaliers are left with a bunch of below average NBA talent. Pretty classless in my opinion.

Lebron James may win multiple titles in Miami, in fact he should win multiple titles in Miami. But, he lost a chance to be a role model in a city for years to come, and he lost millions of fans that he may never get back. I hope it's worth it to him.