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.

Is This What Most People Deal With?

Many people over the past 2 days have said to me, "why don't you blog anymore?", or something to that effect.  Note, I am defining "Many" as 3 people.

But, I do have a blog topic today.  I read a headline today that Rick Santorum is suspending his campaign for President, virtually handing the Republican nomination to Mitt Romney.  Now, I don't think Mitt is a bad guy, and I'll vote for him in the general election, but I'm not excited about it.  I haven't ever been excited about a candidate for President in my voting life...EVER!!! 

I was hoping this year would be the one where I could really get behind a candidate for President.  I assumed, wrongfully, that the debacle called Obamacare and the disastrous Obama Presidency would embolden my fellow conservatives to finally vote for the real conservative choice in the Republican primary.  But, as we do every year, we settled for the "moderate", letting the media tell us that Rick Santorum and Ron Paul wouldn't be able to beat President Obama in the general election.  Too many of my fellow conservatives bought the media lie that Mitt was the only candidate who stood a chance against President Obama, and now we're left with a choice between a moderate conservative and a hard core leftist...just like we had 4 years ago, and we know how that turned out.

But enough of my whining.  What I really started pondering is this...do most Americans feel this way every election year, whether because of apathy or just the general lack of good candidates we seem to be able to find?  I am left to conclude that 75% of the country feels this way, and frankly, it stinks. 

Wouldn't it be fun to have a real debate in this country about the issues of the day?  Wouldn't it be so great to have someone who can really articulate their position without fear?  But instead, we have 2 politicians...we have 2 guys who are gonna sling mud, nuance everything they say, and if elected, there won't be a big difference between the two.  Frankly, I wouldn't vote at all this year, except I am convinced that Mitt Romney will attempt to dismantle Obamacare, or at least he will remove the mandate that faith based organizations have to provide contraception and abortion in their health plans.  That's really the only issue I am voting on this year.

I hope that I'm wrong about Mitt Romney.  I really hope that he has become more conservative than he was as Governor of Massachusetts.  And, I sincerely hope that he gets elected and immediately repeals Obamacare and institutes fiscally responsible policies.  I'm just very skeptical that any of this will happen.

Another Round of Airplane Movie Reviews

Last week's trip to Brazil gave me the opportunity to watch 3 new movies...well, new to me anyway.

"In Time":  Despite the fact that that Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried really can't act at all, this was the best movie I watched on this trip.  The premise is kinda interesting.  Each person on earth is genetically engineered to stop aging at 25 years old.  When you turn 25, a clock on your arm starts counting...you either earn more time like you would earn currency, or you die.  Of course, there are those in the world that are practically immortal, while others live (literally) day to day.

Enter Will Salas (Timberlake), who gets over a century of time when a "rich man" decides he's tired of living and gives him the time.  After being accused of stealing time, Salas and his girlfriend (Seyfried) go on a Bonnie and Clyde type of run, stealing time and giving it away to the masses, thus upsetting the balance of the "time market". 

I really enjoyed this movie, despite the really poor acting.  I was a little surprised there are that many 25 year old people in the world to play parts in this movie, but hey, you roll with it.  I would give this one 4 stars.

"Hugo":  I was really excited about "Hugo" and frankly I was disappointed.  I was expecting this to be a really good movie, but it fell sorta flat from my expectations.  It was still an ok movie, but I'd only give it 2.5 stars.

Let me list out the things I didn't like about this movie, rather than the things I did.

1 - Sascha Baron Cohen is just terrible...he shouldn't be allowed to be in movies.

2- Ben Kingsley is not likable.  For a central character in the movie, you really don't find yourself liking him at all.

3 - The trailers were misleading...based on the trailers, I expected something completely different.

I would say don't spend your time on this one.

"The Adventures of Tintin":  Does Spielberg make good movies anymore?  Another disappointment!  Similar to "Hugo" it just wasn't what I expected, so another 2.5 star movie.  Here's what I didn't like about this movie.

1 - The animation...I'm never going to get adjusted to this style of animation.

2 - The story...it just didn't have a flow.  I was told that Spielberg took bits and pieces from Tintin stories, which Tintin fans really liked, but I found made for a disjointed story.

3 - The comic relief wasn't funny.

So there you go, three movies on this trip and really only one good one.

Manning and Tebow

On Monday, I got the best news a Broncos fan has gotten since they won Super Bowl XXXIII...Peyton Manning will be the next quarterback of the Denver Broncos.  Today, I got the saddest news a Broncos fan has gotten since John Elway retired...Tim Tebow will be traded.  It looked like Tebow was going to the Jets, but that might fall though and Tebow may end up in Jacksonville or St. Louis.

This is a complicated time for Broncos fans.  Who wouldn't be thrilled that the 2nd best QB of all time (Manning) has signed to play in the place where the Greatest QB of All Time (Elway) played? I'm sure it helped to sway Manning that John Elway is the VP of football operations.  They can share stories and talk as peers.  So yeah, I'm thrilled!  If Manning is as healthy as he thinks he's going to be, there's no reason why the Broncos won't be a highly competitive team for the next 3-5 years.  A franchise quarterback can make that big of a difference.

But, at the same time I'm sad to see Tebow go.  Tebow gave me one of the best 12 game rides I've ever had as a Broncos fan.  Taking a team that started 1-4 to a division title, then to a playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers was too good to be true.  It was so good that I even got a Tebow jersey for Christmas.  I think I will frame that jersey some day to commemorate the good memories of the 2011 football season. 

I really hope Tebow ends up in a situation where he is given a fair opportunity to be the started.  I believe he can become a great quarterback and I think he'll become and even greater person. 

Now I have to move on.  It's time to get behind Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.  Obviously, 1 guy isn't going to win a Super Bowl, so it's time to add a few more players and go out there and git 'r done!

Blogger's Block - Part 2

I have blogger's block again.  I can't seem to think of anything to write, more than a few sentences, which I put on Facebook.  Last time I had blogger's block, I wrote about it and a few days later I was able to get rolling again.  I'm not sure if it's going to work this time.  I may be all out of blogging ideas, and that would make me sad.

This started right after we moved to our new house.  We've been so busy that I haven't had time to pay attention to much of anything going on in the world and thus, no blog topics have popped into my head.  That, and we've been working so hard between having 2 houses that I'm just worn out all the time. 

Plus, I'm not watching as many movies (ok, none really), and I'm not reading enough.  Hence, no blogs. Please stay tuned, hopefully ideas will spring forth again soon.

It's All Been Worth It

In the 2003-2004 school year, South Dakota State University began the transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I.  As my Alma mater, I was interested, though saddened because as a Division II school, we were always competitive in the 2 sports that mattered most...basketball and football.  But, being a big D1 school did bring some perks, like more national exposure and the possibility to be in the NCAA tournament.

My favorite sport when I was a student at SDSU was basketball.  I loved going to both the Men's and Women's games and both teams were always competitive.  When the transition to Division I happened, the school went into it's 5 year transition period, which meant no post season play for 5 years.  For the first several years, the Men's Basketball team was terrible, while the Women's team was good right away. 

During their first year of eligibility for the NCAA Tournament, the women's team went 32-3, made the tournament and won a game in the tournament before losing to the #5 team in the country.  The success of the women's team continued, and this season, they won the Summit League title and made it to their 4th consecutive NCAA Tournament.

While the women's team has had tremendous success, the men's team has struggled.  A few years back, they went 6-24...it was brutal!  But, 2 years ago, things started to turn around.  The players started getting better and the record started getting better.  Last season, the Jackrabbits men's team had their first winning season at the D1 level.  This season, the Jacks came into the conference tournament as the #2 seed in the conference with a 24-7 record and they have one of the best point guards in the country in Nate Wolters.

The Jackrabbits easily won their first game of the Summit League tournament, and won the 2nd game with a big second half.  With the upset of the #1 team, Oral Roberts, SDSU was the favorite in last night's Summit League title game.  But, with this team, nothing is ever easy.  They played a very good Western Illinois team, and were down 12 points at one time.  But they rallied back to force overtime, and then won the game by 2 points in Overtime. 

I was so hyped up after the game last night that I really struggled to fall asleep, but I finally did.  Today, several people at work congratulated me on the victories (like I had anything to do with it!).  This win makes the move to D1 and all the heartache that went with it worth it.  We are now a competitive Division I program, and while taking any self worth out of this is stupid, it is fun to be watching and reading about good basketball again.

This is Absurd

I am not going to defend what Rush Limbaugh said earlier this week.  I think the personal attacks he made on Sandra Fluke are ridiculous and a big part of the reason why I quit listening to Rush over a year ago.  I spent all my time listening to him either angry or getting angry at the other side, and it just wasn't worth my time, nor was it helping me to be the person I should be.

However, I am going to point out that what Sandra Fluke is going after is ridiculous!  First the background on what got Rush into so much trouble.  This is from Reuters: 

"Fluke had appeared at a Democratic event on Capitol Hill at which she advocated for religion-affiliated institutions to cover contraception in health care plans. She said female students at Georgetown must pay for contraception out of pocket because the school won't cover it."

Oh my gosh!!!  The have to pay for their own contraception?   Out of Pocket?!!!  No, that's so unfair (he says with tongue firmly in cheek). 

In my opinion, this further illustrates the decline of our society.  When did we get to the point that we felt we were entitled to contraception?!!!  When did it become ok to be irresponsible and expect one's employer, educational institution or government to pick up the tab?  That's what Rush should have said...essentially Ms. Fluke is advocating a world in which anyone can be irresponsible in their "relations" and not have to face any consequences! 

Tell me, where does the Constitution say that the Federal Government has the right to force employers to pay for health insurance that covers contraception?  Where does it say that the Federal Government has the right to force employers to pay for health insurance at all?  Let me give you a little hint...it doesn't say that...anywhere.  Remember, the Constitution is a document of positive rights...if it doesn't say it, technically the Federal Government can't do it.  The Constitution was once a great document.  Too bad we're not using it anymore!

So no, I'm not defending Rush Limbaugh.  What he said was reprehensible, and I'm not going to shed a tear over the sponsors he loses because of this.  But, I'm also not going to defend Sandra Fluke.  What she said and believes is patently absurd.  Sadly, I think she reflects the majority in what is increasingly becoming an absurd country.