Movie Review: Enemy At the Gates

My Netflix queue is definitely deficient right now in movies I really want to see.  "Enemy At The Gates" is one that Netflix figured I'd give 3.5 stars, so I gave it a shot.  It's not a bad movie, but there were enough things that I didn't like or that made me uncomfortable for me to drop this from 4 stars to 3.

"Enemy At The Gates" stars Jude Law as Vasilli Zaitsev, a renowned Russian Sniper during World War II.  I believe this movie is loosely based on actual events, though the movie is largely fiction.  When the Russians start using Zaitsev as propaganda during the war, the best German Sniper, Major Konig (Ed Harris) comes to Russia to kill Zaitsev.  What follows is a battle of wits between the 2 snipers that ends in the death of one of them.

Like I said in the opening, there were a few parts of this movie that I didn't like.  The opening 15 minutes is really hard to watch, and I nearly shut the movie off.  Additionally, I was sort of annoyed that all the Russians spoke with a British accent...come on, it's not that hard to do a Russian accent.  But, there were enough redeeming moments for me to rate this 3 stars.  The battles between Zaitsev and Konig are done very well.  And, for the most part, Ed Harris didn't annoy me like he often does.

I don't know if I'd recommend this.  I think if you like movies like "Saving Private Ryan" and other WWII movies, you might like this, but be prepared for some hard things to watch.

Why Not Jack?

It's pretty much official now that I'm a weekend blogger.  When I get home at night, I just don't feel like being on the computer.  Next week, I'll be on business travel all week, and then we'll be outta town for the weekend, so I might get one more blog in before a pretty long hiatus by my standards.  Though, if my energy level allows, I may blog while I'm on my trip.

Anyway, this blog is not about my lack of blogging.  This blog is about the pick of Tiger Woods to be on the US President's Cup team.  Fred Couples, the team captain, said that Tiger is the best player forever and had to be picked.  I hate to disagree with Fred Couples...he's a likable guy, but he's flat out wrong with this pick.  Tiger is not the Tiger of old...Tiger isn't even in the top 15 Americans right now.  I could name off at least 15 Americans that I'd rather have on the team before I get to Tiger.  In his last 2 events, he finished T-37th and missed the cut...those finishes coming off 4 months off due to injury.

But, if I use Couples' logic, then why not take Jack Nicklaus for the team.  Sure, he's in his 70's now and can't play anywhere near how he used to play, but Jack Nicklaus has more career wins than Tiger Woods and more career majors.  Jack is obviously the greatest player ever, so shouldn't he be on the team too? 

I wish I could take credit for that one, but a friend at work made that point last week.  I thought it was great, so I used it.  This pick doesn't make any sense to me, and it's not just because I'm not a Tiger fan.  I enjoy the President's Cup and I'd like to see America win.  I believe that to do that, we need our current 12 best players on the team...not our 12 best of all time.

Another of the Things That Make Me Go Hmmm...

Last night, my wife and I watched the movie "Tristan and Isolde", which was billed to me as a love story with sword fighting and battles and such.  Well, it's not...it's a star-crossed love story with a few moments of action, followed by long moments of heartache and sorrow.  I only rate it 2 stars, because I'm a happily-ever-after kind of guy.

This got me wondering...why do people like to watch movies and read stories that end poorly?  Why do we want to end up sad or scared or both?  I've never been a fan of movies that have sad endings, and I'm also not a fan of horror movies, and frankly, I don't understand people who are.  If I'm going to invest 2 hours of my time into something, I'd rather laugh than cry, and I'd rather my heart start pumping because of action as opposed to something scary.

This is another blog without any real point, other than to wonder in writing about things that I think are weird about other people.  I guess to each his own.  I'll stick with my over the top action films and sappy happily-ever-after stories, and the crazies out there can watch their horror films and shows with sad endings.

Movie Review: Tangled

Last night, we decided to watch "Tangled" on Netflix Instant Watch.  The boys had already seen this in the theater with their grandmother, but my wife and I had not.  After some recent flops in "Princess" movies, Disney tried to create a "Princess" movie that would also appeal to boys.  I think they've succeeded based on the reaction my boys had to it.

"Tangled" tells the traditional Rapunzel story with a new spin.  As in the traditional story, Rapunzel is living in a tower and she has never cut her hair.  The spin is that Rapunzel is kept there by an evil woman who has convinced her that staying in the safety of the tower to protect her hair is the best thing for her.  What the woman really wants is to keep Rapunzel and her magical hair all to herself.  But that's all about to change when Flynn Rider, a thief, stumbles upon the tower and sees it as a place to hide.  When Rapunzel gets the drop on Flynn, Flynn is forced to take Rapunzel out of the tower to get what he wants.  Along the way, Flynn discovers there's more to life than money and doing whatever you want.

I think "Tangled" is a 4 star movie.  We all enjoyed it.  It's a musical, so it borrows from the tradition of many of the older Disney "princess" movies, but the animation is updated to the computer generated animation we are familiar with today.  The songs are good, but nothing really sticks out.

Overall, "Tangled" would make a great family night movie for most anybody with kids under the age of 10 or so. 

I'm still choking!

Today was my annual trip to Finkbine Golf Course with a group of golf friends.  Finkbine is the golf course for the University of Iowa, and is one of my favorite courses.  Playing at Indian Creek Country Club this year, I haven't gotten to play golf at many courses besides my club, which is ok.  But, my club is unique...it's short with very small greens, so going to a place like Finkbine which is longer and has huge, sloping greens, can be a bit of a shock.

Today was a beautiful day...85 degrees, light humidity and not much wind.  We tee'd off at 8:10 am, and finished around 12:10, so a perfect golf day...except for my game.  I started out really well...in fact, I shot 35 (1 under) on the front 9.  How I shot that score was a little weird though.  I made 4 birdies, including a chip-in and a 50 foot bomb that would have run 10 feet by if it would have missed the hole.  Really, all the breaks went my way on the front nine.

Now, I've been playing pretty solid golf lately, but I haven't shot a real low score all year.  My best 18 holes this golf season is +2, which I've done 3 times.  So, here I was today, going to the more difficult of the two nine's at Finkbine 1 under par.  I striped my drive at 10, and that's when my brain shut off.  I screwed up my approach into 10 and made bogey.  Then I doubled 11, before righting the ship a bit at 12 with a par.  But, then I made 3 more double bogeys, 2 bogeys and 1 birdie over the final 6 holes to shoot a 46 on the back nine, for a very mediocre 81.  I really choked away a great chance for a good round.

I'm really not sure why I'm struggling to shoot low scores this season.  Last year, I shot under par a couple of times, and even par a couple more times.  I know I'm capable, but I seem to be getting in my own way too often this season.  I know that great round is out there, and hopefully I can figure out a way to quit choking long enough to allow it to happen.

It's a Trap!

That title contains the famous words uttered by Admiral Ackbar when the Rebel Fleet gets ambushed by a fully functional Death Star at the conclusion of "Return of the Jedi."  Why is that my title?  Well, it's because I believe we all have an Inner Admiral Ackbar.  We all know when we are heading for trouble, and we need to listen to our Inner Admiral Ackbar prior to engaging in that trouble.

Some examples of when we should listen to our Inner Admiral Ackbar:

1 - When a politician tells us they will do what we want them to do if elected...all we have to do is vote for them.  It's a trap!  They never do what they say they are going to do.

2 - When someone asks for you to come over and help them move a few things.  It's a trap!  You're going to be moving their whole house!

3 - When your kid offers to do any chore.  It's a trap!  They want something. 

So, listen to your Inner Admiral Ackbar and everything will go more smoothly for you. 

My Happy Place

I've had a good couple of weeks at my new Happy Place...Indian Creek Country Club, where I've been playing my golf this summer.  I realized this was my happy place about 10 days ago.  I was playing golf on Men's night with a group of great guys.  The weather was hot, but not raining, and I was playing pretty good.  My family was at the pool, swimming and eating supper.  I knew they were having fun, and I was having fun, and I realized that I was a happy camper. 

We've really enjoyed belonging to this little 9 hole country club here in town.  We've enjoyed the pool immensely, and both boys have exponentially increased their swimming ability.  I think we've made some good family memories around that pool.

I've really enjoyed the golf as well.  At first, I was struggling with my golf game as I adjusted to a shorter, tighter golf course with small greens.  But, I've made some strides and seem to be playing pretty good now.  I've also met some really nice people...in fact, everyone has been super nice. 

And, I've managed to do fairly well in some golf events.  I finished 6th in the Club Championship, which is pretty good given that I played pretty poorly the first day.  Last Sunday, my friend Jared and I finished 2nd in the "Ryder Cup" format tournament.  We played 9 holes of best shot, 9 holes of best ball and 9 holes of alternate shot.  We shot -3 in the best shot, -1 in the best ball and +2 in the alternate shot to finish 1 shot behind the winners.  Jared blames himself for us not winning...I blame him too...lol.  No, not really...we both missed a few putts we should have made, but overall, we played very well, and we lost to 2 really good golfers.

Today was another great day.  I have been busy at work lately and feeling somewhat stressed out.  I left early today and planned to play 18 holes if I could.  I had about 3 and a half hours, which is doable if it's not busy.  Well, I got to the course, and it was not busy...in fact, it was slow.  I finished the first 9 holes in about an hour, so I played a second 9, and finished with 1 hour and 20 minutes before I had to be anywhere.  So, I went around again...I walked 27 holes and had some good company from some of my fellow members along the way.  Just a great way to let my stress out and relax.

I am so glad that we chose to join Indian Creek Country Club.  It's a great place for the family and for my golf game...it's a win-win!