So, sometimes when I am looking for something blog and I know I have to not only be up in about 7 hours for work, meaning I'll need to be in bed in an hour or so... and so tonight, I found this little gem. Well, to me its a gem, to you it might just be something to skim on your daily check of Clouds in My Coffee
...which I've noticed I'm getting alot of traffic daily, probably due to The Summer of Blogging--so... thank you so much...
...anyway, its the lyrics to a version of "Everyone's Free to Wear Sunscreen", done by Baz Luhrmann from 1999.
It originated in 1997, when Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune wrote a column entitled "Advice, Like Youth, Probably Just Wasted on the Young". She described it as "a commencement speech, were I asked to give one". Over the years, it has been erroneously attributed to Kurt Vonnegat, though it became truly famous when, in 1999, Australian film director Baz Luhrmann used the entire essay in a spoken word song entitled "Wear Sunscreen".
And by 2000, this song was everywhere. So, on January 9th, 2001, I did my own version. And I thought I'd give it to you...
"HAVE A QUIET TIME (EVERYBODY'S FREE)"
Ladies and gentlemen of The Deuce... read scripture.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, a daily quiet time would be it. The long term benefits of The Word has been proven time after time by God and joy in your life that comes with Him, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice...
...now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of The Deuce.Oh, never mind, you will never understand the power and beauty of The Deuce until it has disbanded.But trust me, in twenty years, you will look back at photos of Deuce Christmas and an old DeuceFest shirt and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much fun you had and how fabulous the Deuce guys really looked.
They are not as lazy as you might think.
Don't worry about the future or worry, but know that worrying is as ineffective as McLeod trying to be entertained by watching Jason Takes Manhatten.The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that has a Mercedes blindsiding your insuranceless car at 10:30pm on a random Tuesday.
Bring one new person to Common Ground, even if it scares you.
If you are Stephanie Campbell, sing.Unless you are Rebecca Glassco.Then act.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with Delta Zetas who are reckless with yours.
Use coasters.
Don't waste your time on jealousy... if she likes you, great, if she doesn't, being jealous will only turn her off of you even further.The race is long and though you may never reach the end, enjoy the run.
Remember compliments Michael gives you, forget his insults.If you succeed in doing this, you aren't Sarah Hasha.
Keep your old movie tickets.Throw away any bills.
Slam.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 20 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 25 year olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of Hamburger Helper.
Be kind to the Nipp family... you'll miss Sunday lunch when its gone.
Maybe you'll get a date, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll go out twice, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll go stag at Deuce Date Party, maybe you'll eat cheese fries on your 2nd anniversary.
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, dont berate yourself to much either.
God's will is going to happen, whether you like it or not.
Enjoy the Deuce.Visit every chance you can, don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it.It has some of the greatest fellowship you'll ever know.
Watch the History Channel at least once a week, even if there are others things on.
Don't worry about the directions, just shove them behind the DVDS.
Do not read Shawn's Better Homes and Gardens, it will only make you feel gay.
Get to know Factor 7's music.You'll never know when they'll break up for good.
Be nice to your roommates.They are the best link to paying rent on time, and the people most likely to stick with you when everyone else won't.
Understand that friends come and go, but a precious few you should hold on to. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and gender, for as the older you get, the more you'll need somewhere to go and just relax.
Visit Hunter Street once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Visit Brookhills once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Accept certain inaliable truths... Daniel will have his palm pilot,and Ty Coffey will own Samford and Mike Williams will try to date Rebecca.When you get older, you'll fantacize that when you young, Daniel used an ink pen, Mike was meeting girls at Ropers and Ty was merely a Senator.
Respect Wookiee, Sybil and Jimmy, for they are your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to pay your bills.
Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a loaded roommate, but you'll never know when either one will run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you are 40 you will look like you are a minister at Valleydale.
Be careful where you buy your used cds and movies, but be patient with those who supply them.
Know that advice is a form of nostalgia.Dispensing it is a way of sharing your opinions without seeming like you are telling the other person what to do.Usually its recycled advice spoken for more than its worth.
Just got in from recording our podcast, The Deucecast, Episode X: On Stranger Podcasts. Have you heard our show? Then let me tell you about it, so you'll know...
So not too long ago, maybe March or something like that, Mikey sends me a text that simply says, "I think we should do a podcast. Call it the deucecast. what do u think?"
Immediately, I smiled... a podcast? A real, true life, on iTunes podcast? I was down with it, completely. Mikey is one of those guys that, when he is all in, he's all in. He's totally in. He's behind it a billion percent. And this idea had been perculating around his mind for a little while, to the point where he started prepping for it before he even asked me about it. Probably because... well, he' knew I'd be in.
After doing this website for just shy of six years now, I had been thinking of the next step, the next progression. Heck, I had decided a year or so ago that a podcast would be a great idea, one of my own where I could talk about what I want, having guests of all calibers to discuss and debate--don't know if it would have been interesting, but at least I would have enjoyed it.
Problem was, I knew nothing of a podcast. Nor did I have the equipment to even start with it. But Mikey... he had the equipment, or at least some of it. He needed me to kind of put a frame work on the show, maybe segments, games and so on. What we would talk about, do a "rundown" of sorts.
But how to get the show running, the techie stuff? Enter Tommy Mac and Shawn Sharp, who both have a great idea of how this stuff works.
Though Mikey was ready to do an hour plus show the first week, I knew we'd have to build. We met on a Wednesday night about a week or so after our initial conversation, and figured we'd put down some audio, talk about whatever, and that would be that... and after 90 minutes of playing with earphones, wires, sound levels, microphones, filters and so on, Mikey and I finally began to talk with Tommy and Shawn producing.
And it was dreadful. Part of the show is unintelligible due to a bad buzzing noise, the other part was just that we had no idea what exactly we were doing. I don't remember exactly what we talked about (I've never made it entirely through that particular episode on playback), but I do remember thinking that, "Well, that sucked... but it didn't suck as bad as it could have."
The next week rolled around, and this time, I actually brought "show notes", and a written "rundown". The rundown was just the flexible schedule we were going to go by, the show notes were typed out notes for my own use to get my own thoughts out a little easier.
Mikey's brother-in-law, and hubby to Mikey's sister Snipp, Matty, began listening from the beginning. Living in Chattanooga, he would email and text us both some thoughts and suggestions on making the show better... so it didn't take long before he became a "guest contributor", and then into a full fledged co-host.
So the three of us, Matty, Mikey and myselfy have hosted The Deucecast now for what was our 10th episode last night... well, thats 10, but we also did 4 "negative" episodes... meaning we took 4 weeks and did shows as a rehearsal of sorts.
You know how a big attraction at a theme park, or even a big store location has a grand opening, but before that, they do "soft openings" to work out the kinks? This was us. We took four weeks to work out the audio problems, to get our style down, to figure out segments that did and didn't work, games that needed redefining... and by Episode -1, we got it down. In fact, that is one of my personal favorite episodes!
We even called in some "guest contributors" like Hurricane Rhett and The Good Dr. Earl to come in every few weeks and add something different to the show. Perhaps Rhett's Rhants is one of our more popular segments, I'd say. We had best selling author Justin Fisher in-studio to discuss his book as well (and if you haven't read it, shame on you.... its great... book review coming soon enough) for our first in-studio interview.
So, you are asking, what's The Deucecast about? I'll admit, we aren't for everyone. Not that its bad language or anything, but some people (re: chicks) might find us dorky and boring... we talk about movies and music and celebrities and pop culture stuff for an hour every week. Mikey does a music segment where he brings up new music from sometimes obscure bands, and Matty and I make fun of him. Matt does a "smorgasbord" where he discusses whatever, though alot of times it revolves video gaming.
Seagal is all things to all people. And by "all people", I mean Matt Rector.
I do a bit called "Buried Treasure" and discuss movies that you may have forgotten, movies like "Boomerang" with Eddie Murphy, and wrestling film "Body Slam", and sometimes music, like Hootie's "Fairweather Johnson" CD.
There several in-studio games we rotate through from week to week, like "Name That Crap", where everyone has to name the song being played, usually something along the caliber of early Michael Bolton or Lisa Lisa & the Cult Jam... we do a game called "Faux or Show", where we discuss horrible television shows from the past... and a great little movie game that keeps us laughing and bewilders us about how much random crap we know.
We also do an homage every week to actor/lawman/activist/humanitarian/musician/jack of all trades/master of all trades Steven Seagal, mostly catering to Matt's possibly unhealthy obsession to the guy.
And in our "Roundtable", we just talk about whatever. Star Wars is a popular topic, as is Charlie Sheen and I like to discuss Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with), but we cover everything from topical headlines to books to anything else. Just a random free for all, almost like we are sitting in the living room just tossing stuff out there... cause thats actually what it is.
Overall, its a fun show. I think its funny, but again, its not for everyone. However, if you haven't listened to it at all, take a listen.
You can find the website at http://www.thedeucecast.com/ and listen there, or go to iTunes and search for "The Deucecast".
So, before you write us off, give it a listen. When you find out we are actually unfunny hacks who just laugh at our own inanity for an hour a week, then you can write us off. But you have to listen to a show first. Heck, even Amarylis by Morning (up from san antone) thinks we are hacks--but thanks anyway to Painted By U for being a sponsor.
Okay, well, they arent really a sponsor, and legally, our show and her business have nothing to do with each other, and anything we say and do are not representative of the views and opinions of her or her business in any way (and vice versa), but if we DID have a pottery paintin' sponsor, Painted By U would totally be it, and if Painted By U wanted to sponsor a podcast, then... The Deucecast is it! (summer of blogging, day 10)
So, on Wednesdays, I typically work from really, really early in the morning to mid-afternoon, and when I come home, I immediately sit down at the computer and start writing up a rundown and show notes for The Deucecast...
The Deucecast is our podcast, and by "our" I mean my buddy Mikey and Matty, Tommy Mac and Shawn. We've also had Hurricane Rhett in studio, JustFish to promote his new book and The Good Doctor Earl... and so, today, like every Wednesday, I began typing up what would be our 9th episode, "At Podcast's End".
Two hours later, I was satisfied with what we had, having already emailed Mikey and Matty the details, gotten some feedback from them on a few changes and had a finished couple of documents. Glancing at the clock, its a little past five, so its time to finally get upstairs, change out of my coffee makin' gear and put on my not workin' gear and head out for a meeting at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship).
I walk up the steps, not paying much attention to anything, and about six steps in, I notice something drastically different. Its hot. Like, its really, really hot. Like a wall of heat I just stepped through, or ascended into, it was horrible.
The Cabana sports two AC units, one for upstairs and one for downstairs, and the thermostat for the top floor is at the top of the steps... it reads a nice, breezy 85 degrees. Like someone who opens the hood an jiggles a wire when their car won't start, then expecting it to just fire right up, I push a few buttons expecting the air to kick right on... aaaaaand... it doesn't. The thermostat is set on 74, the temp just rose to 86.
And I'm already sweating.
Long story short, some very dear friends of ours recommended someone they knew and used for their AC work--I wont say who the friends were nor who they recommended, not because I dont want to talk about them, but because I don't know if they's appreciate me telling the world who "their guy" is. But... our friends are rock stars and awesome, and The AC Guy is turning out to be quite a find himself.
My father in law, Big Daddy Ron, and Bro in Law Tyler stopped by first to look at the issue--Big Daddy Ron has built a few homes pretty much by hand, so I trust his judgement. However, there wasn't much he could do but try a diagnosis.
When The AC Guy arrived, who by the way was a rock star for even coming to our home at 8pm at night, he did a deeper diagnosis... turns out Big Daddy Ron wasn't too far off base, and myself and The AC Guy found the real problem...
There was water dripping from too much condensation, cause it to fill up the drip overflow pan, which shut the AC unit off for safety issues. Thankfully, the motor is still in good shape, the compressor still works and it seems to be a little cloggy drainage issue... we hope. We hope.
Apparently, some of the parts and labor is under warranty still... but it looks like our issue is not. The important part is, its cooling off right now. I went upstairs a few minutes ago, and it the temperature is around 79 or so, which is considerably better than where it had gotten.
The joys of being a homeowner. Can't wait til we need a plumber.
Many readers of this blog know me really well, because they are close to me, and I "let them in", so to say, to that inner circle of myself that many people don't see--The Lovely Steph Leann, natch, but also a few people like MZ, Mikey, The Good Rever'n Ty, and a few select others. Many more know me from Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), and just know my name or my face, or read the blog and keep up with me there. And still more just know the name, and that I have a blog. (to all of you, thanks for reading)...
Anyway, the ones that know me really well know that I'm dealing with the probability that I will lose my mom in a few weeks... months... who knows. She's not doing well, and every time the phone rings, in those seconds it takes me to pick it up and see who is calling, my mind goes through an entire scenario of my sister calling, tell me the worst. And so far, it hasn't been like that... its The Lovely Steph Leann asking about our upcoming Disney trip, or MZ asking me about picking up some white mocha, or Mikey calling me about a movie at the ghetto theater, or MZ asking me to pick up some grande cups, or... you get the point. Its never my sister. But one day, it will be.
And with the loss of my mom, the inevitable, I will have lost both of my parents. I'm sure that will be a blog for another day.
This past August marks 10 years since my father passed. As the years rolls by, I remember him, but maybe a little less and less... not to say I'll forget John H. Dollar, but its like, your life keeps going. You keep a little piece of him tucked away, your favorite parts, like when we used to do the "Question of the Day" (as a kid, I would write down a question like "Who painted the Mona Lisa?" or "How do airplanes stay in the air?", and he would write down a response later), or when he would take me to get my haircuts as a small kid. I mostly forget the bad stuff, though I'm sure if I thought about it hard, I could come up with something--so I try not to worry about that too much.
John Dollar served in World War II, and in Korea as an airplane mechanic. I've always had the utmost respect not just for veterans, especially in today's conflicts when war is unlike anything we've ever faced, but my feeling towards WWII guys (and gals) is quite simply, they saved the world. Not everything was perfect, not everyone agreed, and our country then--like now--did some dumb stuff, but my father was part of a military that stopped an ever-growing movement of hatred and power, one that was taking country by country. And I'm not even sure we'll ever be successful in such an endeavor again, not with today's culture and society. Just sayin'.
They had a military funeral for my dad. It was one of the most beautiful, powerful things I've ever seen--he was in the Air Force, and a group of Air Force soldiers performed the service, including one of the... well, I hate saying "coolest", but that's what it was... things I've ever seen, that being the flag folding. Taps played. A soldier got on one knee in front of my broken mom, and handed the flag to her, saying, "We present this flag to you on behalf of the Air Force, and the United States of America, and we thank him for his service to our country." Then, a 21-gun salute. Unbelievable.
Today is Veteran's Day. Usually, I save my patriotism for a July 4th post, and I always do something for 9/11, but I thought I would post something I wrote in 2000, discussing my father and myself.
From September 1st, 2000....
My father and I have never had a perfect relationship. As a matter of fact, I've spent the last few years kind of harboring a slight grudge against the man. I know he loved me, he had to of to put up with me for 18 years but the problem was I never really heard it from him. I would always hear it from my mother "You know your dad loves you". Sure, he wasn't the kind of person who expressed it a whole lot in words, but in my mind, his actions never showed it either. He didn't come to my graduation or my Eagle Scout ceremony, along with a few other things that were really important to me, and for some reason, I used those as reasons to be a little bitter.
The last year or so, he's been from the nursing home to the hospital to the nursing home to the hospital, back and forth. Nothing specific, he was just getting older. And older and older. In the 18 months or so he's been away, I've probably seen him maybe five or six times. I think I subliminally used the distance from Birmingham to there as a reason not to go see him, when really it was I wasn't ready to forgive for anything. I've never had a problem with forgiveness, unless it had to do with my very own dad. Imagine that.
This past Monday, my sister calls me at work, and says those words I'd been expecting to hear for a while "You need to come home and see him. He's not doing so well." I had originally planned to take the Labor Day weekend and come see him, and thoughts of doing so still lingered, but I felt the Spirit prodding me "Go on. Its time."
Tuesday, I drove from Birmingham in my new-to-me Blazer and went straight to the nursing home. Once upon a time, my father stood 6'4, topped 220, big strong muscles, a beer in one hand, a remote in the other. Now, he lay curled up, looking about 130 or so, a blank look on his face. Not the man I remember growing up. Suddenly it occurred to me how wrong I had been to wait this long.
I think God had ordained my visit this particular day, because there was no one around. The distractions were gone. And my courage was there. I sat down beside the bed and began to speak. My first words were "Daddy... I forgive you." Not knowing, and still not knowing now, if he could even hear me, I began to tell him of the things I had harbored. The things I had held against him. Stuff that seemed probably stupid to the outside world, but stuff that was really important to me. He just stared at me. Not a sound, not a grumble. Just a slightly open mouth, and a gaze.
Then, I began to tell of the most important part. "Daddy... God loves you. More than you'll ever know, God loves you. And you can spend forever with him, all you have to do is be forgiven and you'll be saved." I used the same words over and over... "All you have to do is think it, not even say it. Forgive me, and save me." I said those words over and over, praying that he would hear me.
And, tonight, while I was at Bible Study, my father passed away. About 8:45 or so. I'm quite sad, actually, but I praise God that I talked to him. I can never say for sure... well, not until I reach Heaven myself... if he understood a word I was saying, but the main thing was that I said what needed to be said.
Now... here's your encouragement.... say it. Don’t hold grudges. Not to rehash the old Life is Short adage, but in a way, that’s right on the money. Don’t wait. Find those people you are angry with, find those people you have a misunderstanding with, and clear it up. The Bible commands us to not let the sun go down on our anger... and I waited many suns... almost too many.
Back to 2010, hope I didn't bring the mood down too much... thanks for reading...
The following conversation happened on Wednesday morning, approximately 8:35am
Mikey, in a text: Wanna go see the new Predators Friday night? Me, responding in a text: Absolutely. Mikey: Which theater works best for you? Me: Lee Branch if that's cool Mikey: 7:40 show? Dinner before? Me: There's a bunch of places around here. How about Zaxby's? Mikey: See ya there.
So Friday night, me and Mikey met up at Zaxby's Chicken Finger Establishment for a quick bite to eat, then drove across the Lee Branch Shopping Complex to the Rave Motion Picture Theater.
The film in question is a sequel to the 1987 Ahnald film, and opens up with our protagonists falling from the sky, parachuting down onto what turns out to be an alien planet. The concept is that a bunch of criminals are dropped onto this planet, and are hunted for sport by The Predators.
All the tokens are here, including Token Asian Yakuza Guy, Token Black Dude, Token Russian Gangster, Stereotypical Stupid American, Token Chick With Bad Accent and Token Mexican Dude... and in the leads, Adrien Brody as Token Tough Guy and Topher Grace as Token Fish Outta Water Guy.
By now, we all know about The Predator. It's this mean alien thing from another world who can camouflage itself, shoot lasery things from its shoulder and talks in clicking noises. Whether you've seen the original or not, you probably know about it at least..
...which is why some of the "charm", so to speak, is lost on this sequel. It will do, if you want it too, and its by far better than Predator 2, which joins a short list of films that most movie buffs agree do not actually exist except in myth--Rocky V, Caddyshack 2, Superman III and The Phantom Menace to name a few. I'm also figuring that Alien vs Predator shouldn't really exist either, though the first one was almost a guilty pleasure of crap.
Anyway, one by one, each Token dies until the big face-off at the end. I'm not telling you anything you can't figure out if you think about it, so don't feel like I'm giving the movie up for you. Laurence Fishburne makes his all-too-short appearance somewhere in the middle, and we are treated to a few different versions of Predators--though the original does make an appearance as well.
Adrien Brody is gruff, buff and almost hard to believe as the main guy, and Topher Grace is almost believable as a "what am I doing here?" guy, though towards the end you sense a twist coming, and you'd be right.
Overall, its loaded with F-bombs and campy alien violence (you know, heads blowing up, people losing appendages and spines, blood splattering), and unless you are the kind of person who likes seeing action flicks on the big screen, it can easily be a rental in October or November. Otherwise, a matinee will do just fine.
Bonus points, though, for the homage and shout out to the original during this one, and for the Token Asian Yakuza Guy's fight scene. He takes on a Predator in combat, and its all kinda awesome.
When I left the movie theater around 9:45, I decided I needed to see the original again. I stopped by Wal-Mart, hoping to find the Blu-Ray cheap, or better yet, the DVD in a $5 movie bin, but found neither. What I found was a combo pack of "Predator/The Terminator" for $20 or "Predator/Commando" for $20, and though I wouldn't have minded owning "The Terminator" or "Commando"(one of the Top Five Most Craptastic Movies Ever), I didn't want to shell out $20.
Smashcut to Sunday afternoon, having to drop by Staples for a few things, I decided to go to the nearby Best Buy and have a look-see for "Predator". The original DVD was $9.99 and it was pretty bare-bones with no special features or anything else. I found two versions of the Blu-Ray, the first being the basic for $19.99 and the next being "The Ultimate Hunter's Edition" for $24.99, but next to a sign that said "Ultimate Hunter's Edition -- $14.99". I took both to the register to see if maybe the regular was any cheaper, and it wasn't, still ringing up $19.99. I bought "The Ultimate Hunter's Edition" and brought it home.
The Lovely Steph Leann and I went to see "Despicable Me" this afternoon (great, great film) and as we were driving home, I said, "Ya know, I want to watch 'Predator' tonight." She grimaced at me, and I said, "Oh come on, I've watched enough Gilmore Girls to warrant this film." She agreed, and consequently, I haven't seen her in the last two hours.
The basic story is that Ahnald and a group of soldiers are dropped into the jungles of the fictional country of Val Verde(the same country that Ahnald goes to get his kidnapped daughter from in "Commando" and the same country that the terrorist is being deported from in Die Hard 2: Die Harder), only to find that something is stalking and killing them one at a time. Lots of F-bombs and lots of alien violence, like heads getting blown off and entrails being scattered hither and yon.
Anyway, its been years upon years since I've actually sat down and watched the original movie, and I gotta tell ya, my youth and memories may have romanticized how good this film actually is. Meaning, its not as awesome as I remember.
Perhaps that is just my expectations talking, or my sensitivity to bad special effects--when Dillion gets his arm blown off, the effect is borderline cheesy--or me wanting this film to be fabulous and it only being somewhat good. And it is in fact, somewhat good.
Here's what I marvel at, though. Seeing this movie for the first time as a kid was absolutely astounding. You don't see the Predator until the halfway mark, you only see the view through the thermal imaging they possess. You see a transparent figure running through the jungles and trees, and its truly awesome when you finally see his mask and armor. Then, when the Predator takes the mask off near the end, its even more awesome. This is all coming from a guy, by the way--my wife could care less about this movie.
Don't get me wrong, its a good film. Its original, its fun, its violent and its Arnold Schwarzenegger in his 80s action prime. The death scenes are ridiculously over the top, including a gruesome end for Billy in a style that was duplicated in the new movie. Just remember, this film is 1987 and things are a little more advanced movie-wise, so appreciate this for what it is.
By the way, this is totally different from "To Catch a Predator"...
For anyone who knew me in The Deuce days, watching "Grown Ups" this past weekend made me think of one thing... this movie is what Deuce: The Movie would be if Deuce: The Movie was in fact a movie.
However, Sandler can still be funny. And when you throw in the likes of David Spade(who, let's face it, hasn't had a truly funny movie since the Farley days), Chris Rock(hasn't truly been funny in a real movie since "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"), Rob Schneider(aside from the random funny cameos in most Sandler movies, he was last seen being funny in... in... well, The Lovely Steph Leann liked 'The Hot Chick"--a movie that I dug not for Schneider, but for Anna Faris and Rachel McAdams) and Kevin James(who was truly charming in "Paul Blart", was the funniest part of "Chuck & Larry" and truly held his own with Will Smith in "Hitch"), you have got the potential to have a pretty funny movie. And for the most part, "Grown Ups" delivers what you would expect.
Its a movie that features a group of guys who were friends back in the day, all playing on a middle school (back then it was "junior high") basketball team that won the championship... they grow up and lose touch, but are all called back together when their coach passes away. They end up spending the 4th of July long weekend together, with Sandler playing Lenny, a successful Hollywood agent, married to Roxanne (Salma Hayek) with three completely spoiled brat kids. Kevin James is Eric, married to Sally (an incredibly good looking Maria Bello) with a couple of problem kids of their own, including a 48 month old son who still likes to nurse... from mom. Yes, that's 4 years old.
Rob Schneider is Rob, and marries a woman 30 years his elder, which makes for a running gag that eventually gets tiresome, while David Spade is Marcus, a player who never got married and still chases women. Finally, Chris Rock is Token homemaker Kurt, married to the bacon-bringer-homer and very pregnant Deanne (Maya Rudolph), with a few kids of their own.
What follows in the course of the hour and forty five is a series of vignette-like scenes that carry the group through the weekend as they catch up, learn about family and friendship and say lots of innuendos and poopy farty jokes along the way. You know, its five guys. They do run into the grown up versions of the kids they beat on the championship team back in the day, allowing for fellow SNL alums Colin Quinn and Tim Meadows to make appearances, as well as Steve Buscemi, who looks like he's playing his squirrely bug-eyed look to the hilt.
Some jokes are funny, some fall flat, but you just have to be into this kind of a buddy-reunion movie to enjoy a film like this. Having lived with three other guys who paid rent and like, seven other guys that didn't, all at the same time, I could relate to this film in terms of how people change, the direction that life takes for some... though I cannot fathom being that close to your homeboys, and then having no contact with them for 30 years. That's just... well, maybe I'm being idealistic, but that's almost unreasonable.
I almost feel like this could be Shawn, Big Tom, Mikey, myself and Tommy Mac in a few years. Or Wookiee. Or Drewski. Or, if you are thinking Chris Rock, it could be The Hall--though I would think if we reunited for a coach's death, it would be for The Hall's funeral. Then again, I don't fish... Just sayin'.
The language is fair, not too bad, and with the exception of Maria Bello's booby coming out for a nursing scene (without showing anything, by the way) there's nothing really bad in this film.
Don't expect to see "Billy Madison" all over again... if you can wait until the Ghetto Theater for a Buck, do so. If you just have to see it now, take a matinee, otherwise catch it on a rental in probably September or October.
By the way... the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic... REO Speedwagon... J Geils... Journey (something other than "Don't Stop Believin'", for once)... Jefferson Starship... The Kinks... Eddie Money's "Two Tickets to Paradise", one of my 100 favorite songs of all time... and Bob Welch's "Sentimental Lady", which Chris Rock's character declares to be, somewhat correctly, "the whitest song in history"... oh, and one more song that's in the movie, but not on the soundtrack...
That's Bob Seger's "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". Bob Seger, what the crap, yo? First, let's be honest, you rock. "Shakedown" from "Beverly Hills Cop II", rocks. "Hollywood Nights" rocks. "Still the Same", "Turn the Page", "We Got Tonight"... they all rock. And so does this awesome song called "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". And you can't find it on iTunes.
If you are Garth Brooks or The Beatles, who have catalogs that are both infamous for not being available, then I can understand. Why sell on iTunes, you got a bajillion dollars anyway. But Bob Seger? Seriously, dude. Open up that catalog. I don't want "Greatest Hits Volume 2", I want that one song.
One step closer to revealing what is the absolute, bar none, most awesome, Coolest Thing of 2009... but first, we have nineteen more things to discuss. And here's ten more, starting with...
The 20th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Where We Eatin', Y'all?" On my blogroll on the right, there are over 20 blogs listed. My rule usually is that if you don't update your blog in two months or so, I take it off the blogroll... of course, I'm still expecting to be on theirs, so its a hard double standard line to toe.
There are several who do update on a regular, or semi-regular basis, which include:
Happy Harper Stories... Married mom of two, Jaime, shares stories of family and kids, but mostly I like to wander aimlessly around her blog--her set up is much better than mine. B&W Daily Photos... Former Deucemate and Pimpalicious Shawn Sharp simply takes a photo each day. Sounds simple enough, and it is, but its a fun little site showcasing some great talent. Life's Random Happenings... One of my kids, Betsy, has this fun little random site she writes on, and I'm actually enjoying her list of things to accomplish before she dies.
And then there's this little beauty... its got this ridiculously clunky title, almost too long to remember, but long enough that you'll remember enough of it, called, "Where To Go Eat Or Not Go Eat... And Why", and its not so much about restaurant reviews as it is about the legendary Barnett Curse.
When its $10, $20, maybe $30 bucks for Amarilys By Morning (up from san antone), her husband Hurricane Rhett and their daughter Raspberry Vinaigrette to eat, they do okay. Mostly. The Lovely Steph Leann and I had dinner with them the other night, things went swimmingly.
When they fork over the $100 for dinner at the fancy schmancy places, they do okay, like you usually do when you are paying that much for dinner.
But when it gets between $30 and say, $70... all bets are off. Everything from waiters making racial jokes to time lapses of more than a few hours from arrival to departure. They wreak havoc on restaurants when they show up, not on purpose... but the Bad Service Fairy hovers over the place from the time the Barnetts walk in to the time they leave. And it makes for a great blog.
The 19th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Sunshine Cleaning" From April 2009 (written a year ago today, which tells you how far behind I am on getting this Top 100 finished)...
A couple of days ago we saw "Sunshine Cleaning". This was one I had been waiting on, as the previews looked wonderful and it helps that I'm in love with Amy Adams. Amy plays Rose Lorkowski, a 30 something woman who's life hasn't turned out like she hoped. Rose is not making much money, her son is a problem child, and she's having an affair with a guy that she knows down deep will never leave his wife. She's a maid for a maid service, and realizes that her life has really hit a wall when she ends up cleaning a house for someone she went to high school with.
I loved this movie in every possible way. It was charming, it was fun and there aren't a thousand subplots to try and tie up at the end. Some of the cliched stuff that you think would happen in a movie like this never does, which was refreshing, and Rose is such a lovable character that you root for her the entire time--and its heartbreaking when the major "event" happens that seems to ruin everything late in the movie. You even end up really liking Norah, despite some of the stupid things she does. What I also loved about this movie is it doesn't' feel the need to resolve every little issue with a Hollywood happy ending. Some things are... well, just done when they are done. Rated R for language and some Amy Adams underwear shots.
The 18th Coolest Thing of 2009... The Adam Carolla Podcast In the years leading up to 2009, namely 2005, 2006 and 2007, I knew only of Adam Carolla from "The Man Show"--no, I never watched it, I just know it was on Comedy Central and Spike TV for a while--and as a co-host of MTV's "Loveline", another show that I never watched, but knew about.
In 2008, Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons started having Adam come on his own podcast from time to time, and they were always podcasts I thoroughly enjoyed. Adam would usually pitch a "movie idea", and it was always something to laugh at... my favorite is the idea for a movie called "Long Snapper", about a disgraced NFL longsnapper named Rush Blitzer... and in it, he'd throw every cliche that movies present, from the cutaways to birds leaving the trees when something traumatic is going on to that weird double take look when someone sees something that surprised them.
I found out in early 2009 that Carolla was getting his own podcast, so I checked it out... and I've been listening ever since. Now, Adam Carolla is not Emmy Turnbow safe by any means--he uses foul langauge, he discusses topics that are not necessarily meant to be discussed at the dinner table, and he is seldom politcally correct... but he's hysterical. And practical. He doesn't pull any punches, he says it like it is, and he makes fun of himself to the extreme sometimes. Its randy but never disgusting, its Rated R but not NC-17... he also has guests in the studio (which in the early shows constituted his couch in his home, and now is a couch in a warehouse) and its fun to watch them let loose and discuss.
He's anchored by his friend Donnie, who he's dubbed "The Weaz", who helps produce the show, and will also feature his friends Bald Bryan and Teresa Strasser, who used to co-host "What Not to Wear" (and has her own funny blog) and many times, depending on the guest, its the first show out of the gate I listen to when I'm scrolling through my podcasts, even beating out Rush. (don't worry--I am now and forever will be a Rush fan until someone can not only convince me he's wrong, but prove it... hasn't happened yet...)
The 17th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Relator" The movie theater isn't the most likely place to discover music you like... but The Lovely Steph Leann and I were sitting, chitchatting away in the dim light, awaiting whatever movie to start to... well, start. The familiar voice of That Guy who does that Movie Tunes broadcast says something like, "Here's the new one from Ingrid Michelson!" and Ingrid Michelson starts out her song "Everyone". You know, "everyone, everyone wants to love, everyone everyone wants to be loved, oh whoa whoa... oh whoa whoa..."
I thought it was cool. I got out my phone and texted "Ingrid M Everyone" to myself. Wanted to do that so I would remember to listen to it, and possibly download later.
And then, after "Everyone" had finished, the same guy rambled on about something or another, possibly telling me I should go get a refreshing Coke for like, $8.75, at the refreshment stand. Then he says something strange--"Here's a new tune from Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson".
Exsqueeze me? Bakin' powder? When did ScarJo become a singer? What did I miss?
And here comes this raspy voice, a voice that I struggled to place with ScarJo... "When I met you... I didn't know what to do... I was hungry, I was tired, I fight..."
And once again, I grabbed my phone, texting "ScarJo P Yorn Relate" to myself. All I've got is this tune in my head, "you don't... relate... to me... no no..." and when I finally get home, I Google the lyrics and it comes up with "Relator", by Scarlet Johansson and Pete Yorn, from their duet (!) album "Break Up". I've listened to most of the tunes on the whole album, and they are alright enough, but "Relator" is the gem. Its a great, great driving song.
Anyone who knows me knows I have an affinity for The Sports Guy. He's a columnist on ESPN.com, a former writer for ESPN The Magazine, and the author of the book that was the 6th Coolest Thing of 2006. His latest book is a must-read for anyone who has ever enjoyed anything about the NBA... its almost NBA overload.
In this 700+ page behemoth of a book, The Sports Guy tackles the Top Ten Greatest Seasons of All Time... He looks back and retroactively awards MVP titles to those who should have gotten them, as opposed to who did get them (many times not the same thing) and his love of the Boston Celtics and the National Basketball Association shines through when he devotes hundreds of pages to the best players of all time, ranked from great to greatest in his attempt to revamp the Basketball Hall of Fame.
There are tons of statistics and names dropped, a few shots taken at players like Vince Carter, Kareem and Kobe, and lots of basketball history--the man did his homework--but what sets him apart from other columnists I enjoy is his pop culture knowledge. Being a pop culture afficinado myself, I not only appreciate, but revel in the jabs and jokes that come along, sometimes making me feel a little special because I know some of his references are harder to identify, and only a few of us can do so. Cause we rock.
Because of time contraints, it took me a solid two months to plow through this book (and I'm actually going back and re-reading my favorite chapters because the start time to finish time was so lengthy), and after his baseball book, and now The Book of Basketball, it makes me wonder if a football opus is around the corner at some point.
The 15th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Rather Unimpressive Illegitimate Children" From a post written on August 23rd, 2009... You know, I take pride in the fact that I'm pretty good with films. I've seen thousands of movies over the years, and many of them are the same, or at least the same type, and you can kind of predict patterns, kind of see where a movie will go, sometimes have a good clue as to "whodunit" before the blood dries on the ground...
however comma
I have to be honest in saying that this film went in a COMPLETELY different direction than what I was thinking it would. The trailer, which was very cleverly uninforming by Tarantino, tells you nothing of what this movie holds and where its going to go.
The Basterds, as they are called, is a group led by Lt. Aldo Raines, played by Brad Pitt, and he wants to kill Nah-zees.
Aldo Raines recruits a group of soldiers to do just that very thing, but along the way, we also see the story (and backstory) of Shoshanna (a wonderful--and gorgeous--Melanie Laurent), who's entire Jewish family is butchered by infamous Jew Hunter, Col. Hans Landa. Landa is played by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, (who ended up winning an Oscar in March of 2010--d$) and the character is played to unsympathetic perfection. You want to absolutely hate Landa for who he is and what he does, but you almost find yourself liking him just because he is so "I'm just doing the job they asked me to do, and I'm going to do it well" blaise about it. Only the job isn't tiling a bathroom or fixing a transmission, its hunting and killing Jews in France.
Anyway, I enjoyed it quite a bit. On QT's movie rankings, I'd still ranking Dogs as my favorite, followed closely by "Pulp Fiction"... and then this one. I look forward to watching it again, enjoying all of Tarantino's eccentricities that he dashes throughout his films
The 14th Coolest Thing of 2009... MZ Gets a Starbucks Its always good when your friends succeed.
When I went to The Happiest Place in the Mall in July of 2008, I stepped down as a manager at Starbucks, and went just part time at a store in Homewood, AL. It was a store that had scheduled to close, and at that time I was almost at 6 years with the company, and I was asked to help the store close down. When it finally did, I was transferred over to the Starbucks on 280, right next to Hwy 119.
Working there? My friend MZ that I had known when she was a customer ordering her Grande Raspberry Mocha on a daily basis. She became a barista, then a shift... and when the long term manager left for another career, she was promoted, much to the chagrin of some who thought she was "too new" and they were next in line.
She was very "new", but she was experience enough to know what she was doing, and humble enough to know she was in over her head. When I found The Happiest Place would become The Emptiest Place in the Mall, I asked her if I could come on full time... and though we were friends, she took a professional stance and actually thought about it and about what would be best for the business. She agreed, and when my job ends, I'll once again be doing Starbucks 40 hours per week.
Its been about a year or so now, and she's learned alot... and I've learned alot from her. I'm excited about working for, and with, MZ, because I've watched her already. People respond to her leadership, which is built on relationships and a fever to help each person do their best in whatever they are doing--that in turn will be best for the business. Maybe she's "new", but she's already miles ahead of many managers who had been doing this for a long, long time.
The 13th Coolest Thing of 2009... Inside the Magic I love audiobooks (I'm right in the middle of a 30 disc narration of "Under the Dome" by Stephen King... which I'll talk about when I finish, because its marvelous) but when I listen to an audiobook (like said 30 disc novel), I always have to play catch up on my podcasts... such as the 1:45 it takes to listen to a complete, commercial free Rush Limbaugh show. Or the 45 minutes to an hour it takes me to listen to either Carolla's podcast or The BS Report with The Sports Guy. Or the 30 minute weekly show called ESPNU College Football, which comes on every other week in the offseason.
And last January or so, I decided I wanted to jump into a few Disney podcasts... I listened to a few, and found some to be either long winded or too random, but one stuck. I listened to "Inside the Magic" again the following week... and the following week.. and the following week... and sometime would go online to watch the videos that host Ricky Brigante would post, various openings of stores, or coverage of a press event or so on.
Each show starts with a "Trip... around the world", with Ricky, an Orlando resident and frequent visitor of the parks, giving news from not only Walt Disney World, but also Disneyland, sometimes parks overseas if the news is big enough, various news and rumors from other Disney areas like movies and music, and even sometimes news and such from other Orlando area attractions like Sea World and Universal.
Ricky's got this odd voice that you think will grate on you, yet in a short time it becomes an easy voice to listen to even for long period of time (his Ear in Review show? Four hours) and his wit comes through as he's not afraid to take a jab at Disney... he's a fan just as much as we are, and with that comes the good and the bad.
Says Ricky: "In the next bit of news, I don't know why I didn't lead with this... huge news for everyone... its officlal. Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato... are dating. You heard it here."
The show sometimes features movie reviews, music reviews and restaurant reviews, many times has interviews with people from the Disney universe, and will often feature a segment called "Cruisin' the World", with Skipper Ben, a former Jungle Cruise skipper who lives in Dallas, TX, but has never lost the Disney bug.
The show has been a valuable source of information for me in my time at The Happiest Place in the Mall, many times hearing rumors and news, getting release dates of certain things like DVDs and such, even before the company let us at the store level know. If you are looking for a weekly podcast, you can find Inside the Magic in the iTunes store, or on their new website, but will also add to the Disney links on the right. Back to yooooooooooou Ricky.
The 12th Coolest Thing of 2009... Disney with The Lovely Steph Leann Once again, for our anniversary, The Lovely Steph Leann and I headed to Orlando, FL, to spend 9 days amongst The Most Magical Place on Earth--that being Walt Disney World.
Now, you may wonder "Why is a vacation with your wife only ranking 12th? Shouldn't that be the most important and coolest thing? What kind of man are you?!"
To that, I answer that yes, this trip was very cool. Any trip with The Lovely Steph Leann is a good trip. A cool trip. But the two reasons that this trip ranks 12th and not 1st are simply... 1) We went with my mother-in-law and aunt. Now, this wasn't inherently a bad thing, it was enjoyable, and Mama Ruthless actually paid for several meals and took care of us through the trip. We hung out with them some, and split up from them some... but the fact that our anniversary vacation was taken with a mother-in-law and an aunt... just sayin'.
And 2) The Lovely Steph Leann got sick. I mean, sick. I mean, sick sick. It started in the middle of the trip, and perhaps began when I didn't feel good. I went through a day or so of stomach issues, with my immune system, usually built like a tank, fighting off the stomach flu. But as the old saying goes, "That which does not kill us goes after The Lovely Steph Leann and makes her sick." And the stomach flu did just that very thing, knocking her completely out of action for one full day and bits and pieces of days after that. She's said it was one of the worst, darkest days of her life.
So the stomach flu was the big hindrance to this trip being 12th and not 1st... but for a few notes from the trip, you can click to the one post I wrote concerning the trip.
The 11th Coolest Thing of 2009... Movies With Mikey There's a road that runs through the little town of Hoover, and on that road--Lorna, to be exact--there's a little shopping center... I say shopping center, but there really is no shopping... maybe its a business area. There's a club there that has been through about fifteen different names, including Frogger's and Roper's, and I think its Bumper's now.
Next to it is a small movie theater that I'm sure in its heyday, back when Ace of Base ruled the charts and perhaps the Dallas Cowboys were beginning a dynasty, was a clamour of activity and profit. You know its an older theater when you walk in and you realize you don't have to climb any steps to get to your seat. Nay, you have to walk down a slight incline and choose your row.
We take for granted stadium seating and you young fellas and gals probably don't remember a time when all seats were on the same level, save for a ramp that took you a little lower the closer to the screen you got.
This is why Mikey and I love this theater... and this is why Mikey and I make it a habit to get together a few times a month for a movie there. Oh, and the fact that its a single dollar to get in. If you've ever walked out of a theater you've paid $9.75 to get into thinking "Man, that movie was terrible... I hate that I wasted a Zaxby's meal and a Chick-fila Cookies-n-Cream milkshake worth to see that."
That's the idea behind The d$ and Mikey Crappy Movie Series. We go see movies that we kinda want to see but don't dare pay $10 for, because we aren't sure we'll even like it. Sometimes we make it a point to go see the worst of the worst. Someitmes we are pleasantly surprised at how much we like a movie. We always have a good time.
Some of the movies we have seen this past year include... "Observe and Report", one of the worst films I've ever seen... "Land of the Lost", a pretty bad Will Ferrell flick... "Men Who Stare At Goats", which I'm still trying to figure out the plotline... "I Love You Man", solidifying my love of Paul Rudd... "Year One", funny at times but only here and there... and "The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard", pushing hard to be worth the one dollar we spent... talk about your epic, award winning films. All were preceeded with a burger at Baha or some other find eating establishment, and all included great conversation with one of my best mates.
Here's to another year full of crappy, terrible one dollar movies.
And finally... here comes the top ten.. two movies, eight people, two songs, a gathering, a toy and a toy ride... the Top Ten Coolest Things of 2009...
There are several videos on this post--if you reading this in Facebook, then click over to Clouds in My Coffee, so you can see everything properly. Then come back to Facebook, search Clouds in My Coffee and become a fan! We're 111 strong! Let's be 115! Yeah!
90... Dairy Queen Real Deals Imagine my surprise when I walked into a Dairy Queen and saw a big square on the menu. Three cubes on top, three on bottom, one on each side, and in the middle, the words, "2 for $3 or 3 for $4 or 4 for $5!". So, for $5.40 (after tax), I can get a hot dog, a cheeseburger, a medium drink and a small sundae with anything from caramel to butterscotch (have to ask for that one) on it. The marshmallow sundae is much better than it sounds, by the way. I've eaten at DQ more in the last six months that I think I have in my whole life, including the year or so I worked there in 1995 at Troy's DQ.
89... Stuff You Missed In History Class I dig on podcasts and audiobooks. I like listening to comedy, fiction, sports, nonfiction and... history. There's this great little podcast from the website "How Stuff Works", which itself is a fascination podcast. Well, "Stuff You Missed in History Class" has two hosts who essentially discuss... well, history. In a fun way. Usually its about stuff you dont know much about, or topics you've heard of, but don't know the whole story... some I've listened to recently include, "Why was Davy Crockett king of the wild frontier?" and "How the Berlin Wall worked" and "How the Emancipation Proclamation Worked"... now, don't ask me to remember any this stuff--I have the absorbing power of a concrete block (unless its about useless information, like what actually happened with the Montreal Screwjob), but nonetheless, its quite entertaining.
88... "Toy Story in 3-D" Double Feature I'd been hearing about this for a long time, and thought The Lovely Steph Leann and I own both Toy Story movies, there is just something about seeing a movie on the big screen, especially a great film like both of these are.
As far as the 3-D goes, ya know... it doesn't impress me as much. I mean, it was good, but not unbelievable. I sort of think that if you don't really notice the 3-D, then it might not be worth it (hence my review on "Avatar"). We saw it with family, which was fun, and its was just such a good time. The problem came in, though, when The Lovely Steph Leann wanted popcorn and candy for the second film. No biggie, right? Go during the intermission... only, during the intermission, they decided they would show trivia, outtakes and other fun stuff. So I missed a bunch of it.
I've known Alissa Kelly, the younger of two daughters of Pastor Calvin (Valleydale Church, an sbc fellowship), for at least 10 years, maybe more. And I knew her before she was dating Joey, and then met Joey when they finally got together. And then watched as they got engaged, and finally as they got married. Perhaps I've not been really tight with either for years and years, but I felt like I've watched them both, especially Alissa, for a long time. So, naturally, it was great watching their wedding, and it was great at their reception. Beautiful bride, great groom, hilarious minister (Andy Murry, student pastor at Valleydale Church, an sbc fellowship) who said "Awesome" about fifty four times during the ceremony. Congrats...
86... "The Smiley Face Commercial" This ad just started coming on television not too long ago, and it hooked me immediately. Its clever, its inventive, and it makes me think of driving... there is a semi-circle crack in the windshield of Toni Rocki Honda, just below my direct sight line of my driver's seat. When I pull up behind someone, if I close one eye and cock my head just so, it makes a mouth to the brake light eyes, and it makes me happy. Its the little things, really.
And I love the music. Too bad its a great commercial concept for a credit card. That's sort of like... well, I'll save the He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected potshot for later... Speaking of...
85... Joe Wilson Speaks What We Think September 9th, 2009. As He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected is spouting off, declaring how his amazing health care reform plan will save this nation, I watched this clip several times, and really, even though Joe Wilson (R-SC) yells "You lie!" at the 1:22 mark, he really could have yelled it at any point. He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected is lying about "death panels" being a fabrication, about tax dollars not being used to fund abortions, about illegal immigrants not being covered under this plan and about tax dollars not being used.
And what happens? Wilson gets censured on the floor for "being disrespectful". Heck, I'm glad that at least for one few shining moment, a Republican actually got passionate and stood up to He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected. Cause in most speeches I've heard from He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected, "You Lie!" would fit. And now you know. And knowing is half the battle... Go Joe!
84... Paepcke Gets Told Speaking of politics... let us turn to NBC Investigative Reporter Jon Paepcke, who is a former co-worker and a friend. On October 28th, 2009, Birmingham's fine mayor, Larry Langford, was convicted on everything from bribery and embezzlement to tearing the "do not remove" tags off of his mattresses. So, he does what he does best... mug for the camera.
Langford is doing a press conference about his innocense, when somewhere in there (its not in the video), Jon Paepcke actually asks Langford what he thinks this will do to Birmingham's Olympic chances in 2020. When I saw that, I thought I was going to absolutely pass out. Langford has been saying for years that the Olympic Games should come here--and he speaks as if this city not only has a shot, but a real shot.
(FYI... whoever loaded this video put their own commentary on screen--its the only copy of the video I could find to post, so please 'scuse)
So then, Langford them proceeds to go off on Paepcke, calling him a snake, the worst reporter of them all, and so on. It was great. I couldn't see the face of the blond reporter standing in front of Paepcke, but I can't imagine how priceless her awkward expression much be. When he came into The Happiest Place in the Mall a few weeks ago, I ribbed him about it, and told him that video would be on this list. He seemed proud.
83... "Men of a Certain Age" I really dig this show. And I would say the diggedness of this show is in no small part to the main three stars, Ray Romano(that "Ray" show), Scott Bakula(that "Leap" show) and Andre Braugher(that "Homicide" show), three guys I have always enjoyed in just about everything they've done.
Essentially, the plot is the friendship between three college friends – Joe, Owen and Terry – who are now in their late 40s/early 50s. Joe (Romano) is a slightly neurotic divorced father of two (Brittany Curran as Lucy, and Braeden Lemasters as Albert) who hoped to become a pro golfer but now owns a party store. Owen (Braugher) is an overstressed, diabetic husband and father, who is a car salesman at his dad's dealership. Terry (Bakula) is a struggling actor dating a much younger woman.
Ten years ago, I wouldn't have really enjoyed this show as much, mostly because I just wouldn't have understood it. But the very first scene we see Owen in, when he's sitting up in bed, slightly overweight, looking frumpy and tired, sighing because its just another day... well, that I can identify with. Its rated MA for language.
Is it bad that I feel like in ten years, this show will be about me, my best mate Wookiee and Mikey? With the Good Rev'rn Ty "Sharpton" Coffey tossed in?
82... "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" I'll be honest, I wanted to see this film from the moment it came out. I knew it would be bad. I figured it would be bad. I mean, its got Kevin James portraying... A Mall Cop. The previews made both The Lovely Steph Leann and I laugh out loud, but they looked a little formulaic, a little cliched, and I thought, "Wow, that's going to be terrible." And then a few weeks ago, I watched it via Netflix's Watch It Now Option.
...aaaaannnnndddddd........
I thought this movie was great, it made me laugh and was a good, shallow movie to sit back and enjoy. I liked it because it didn't try to be anything that its not. I liked it because Kevin James has a knack for being the guy who represents all of us kinda dorky guys who learns he only has to be his dorky self to be awesome. I liked it because Jayma Mays, the ingenue/love interest, wasn't this unbelievable knock-out supermodel that would unrealistic to approach, she was this cute, down to earth girl that any of thinks we could at least talk to, and I liked it because the movie wasn't dirty, it didn't wallow in crude humor, it just told its story, made me laugh, then rolled the credits. Yeah, yeah, its a little unbelievable that a group of robbers could take the mall on skateboards, but go with it...
...and this is unlike the other mall cop movie, "Observe & Report", with Seth Rogan, which might be one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Here's what I said on June 5:
...I saw "Observe and Report" tonight at the $1 theater with Mikey. It was pretty terrible. It was a random (not in a good way) movie, it didn't go anywhere, it veered off into fifteen different directions, it wanted to be a comedy but still wanted to be taken as "smart" comedy, which it wasn't. Out of every character in that movie, including a usually reliable Seth Rogan's Ronnie, Anna Faris and several other "that guys" and B-listers, including Ray Liotta, the ONLY character in the entire movie I actually liked was that of Nell, the Cinnamon Bun stand worker, played by Collette Wolfe... otherwise, the movie was really lame...
81... The Amazing Race This was the 15th edition of The Amazing Race, and the 11th that I'd watched. Unlike Survivor, The Amazing Races all seem to kind of run together (ie, I couldn't name or even describe more then say, two winning teams in all 11 I've seen, excluding the last one), so it's always the contestants that make it for me. And you're telling me that this one has two members of the Harlem Globetrotters named Flight Time & Big Easy? Sold.
I would love to be on Survivor, but The Amazing Race would be awesome too, because its not so much a social game, as its a "get there as fast as you possibly can" game, which is awesome... sometimes, The Lovely Steph Leann and I will sit and watch together, usually picking out the challenges that she or I would do... though I told her that if we came to a 80 foot waterslide, one that was located in a resort, not in a tropical rain forest, and whooshed into a big pool, not a pirahna infested lake, and she refused to go down it--much like Mika did, while Canaan begged and pleaded for her to just let go of the bar--I think we'd get counseling. It didn't help that Flight Time & Big Easy showed up, told her how scary it was and talked her out of it. Mika & Canaan were in fact eliminated.
The big feud was Flight Time & Big Easy against Sam & Dan, brothers were both gay, and really, were just annoying and seriously a couple of jerks. Naturally, though, the couple that fights and whines the most ends up winning, and thats exactly what Meghan and Cheyne (pronouced "shane", though not spelled the same for some unknown reason... perhaps they have a propencity for extra letters in their names. Kinda like if I spelled my name "Dahyvedd". I like it.)
Coming up... A new "Bohemian Rhapsody"... Kate Wins... and more Pickles! And later, could one of my friends be the next American Idol?
"I hurt myself today to see if I still feel, I focus on the pain, the only thing that's real..." Johnny Cash
When they announced several weeks ago that the Academy in increasing the number of Best Picture nominees from five to ten, I, as a movie lover and sometimes critic, had the same question about 2009... "Is there enough quality films to fill all ten spots? Or will spots 8,9 and 10 just be something popular that they had to add in to take up the extra space?"
Well, my guess is that one film that will be there, and would have been there regardless of the five or ten movie limit, even if this film had been released in the vaunted 1993 Great Year At the Movies...
SIDEBAR... I've heard that the year 1939 is considered the best year in film, all time. Its not surprising, because the list of movie classics--movies that to this day, people are still relishing--is long and heavy... in 1939, there was "Gone With the Wind"... "The Wizard of Oz"... "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs"... "Stagecoach"... "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"... "Gunga Din"... "Goodbye Mr. Chips"... and the original "Of Mice and Men". That is a Murder's Row of timeless cinema.
I've also heard that 1993 is a considerable heavyweight when it comes to film. Perhaps because I was 17/18 at the time, aware of the impact of movies in my own life that 1993 probably resonates more... consider this list of movies that came out in 1993... "Schindler's List"... "The Fugitive"... "Groundhog Day"... "In the Name of the Father"... "The Piano"... "Philadelphia"... "In the Line of Fire"... "Dave"... "Sleepless in Seattle"... "Dazed and Confused"... "Tombstone"... "The Nightmare Before Christmas"... "Short Cuts"... "Jurassic Park"... this year alone constitutes 7 films in The Dave100.
Don't know if this is the best year in film or not... but it has to come darn close. Just sayin'.
Been hearing about this film since late summer, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, probably most famous for Keanu "I AM AN EFF BEE EYE AGENT!" Reeves in "Point Break", and wanted to see it. I'm really wary about recent war films, as a few of them have come off very anti-Our Guys and anti-Our Country, so I usually stay away. And, I think everyone else stays away too, as "In the Valley of Elah", "Stop-Loss", "Redition"(which is a waste of my beloved Reese Witherspoon) and "Lions for Lambs" were all disasters at the box office, commonly known as "bombs". I've only seen one of the previous movies mentioned, and it was pretty terrible.
I kept looking for "The Hurt Locker" here in Birmingham, but never saw it. There's a few big theaters around, and perhaps it made it in and out before I knew it, but one day I saw it advertised at the Ghetto Theater for a buck. Called up my Ghetto Theater Buddy Mikey and said, "Hey, let's go see it!" and he said, "Yeah, dog" and so we did. We met up with our friends Jimmy B and The Good Doctor Earl, and settled back in chairs that were probably filled with H1N1, the Avian Flu, lice, gingivitis and clamidia, all at the same time.
"The Hurt Locker" is about a group of solders in Iraq that disarm Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs, which are really just like they sound--simply made bombs that are triggered by tripwires, or remotes or whatever, made to kill people, namely American soliders.
After the Spc. Eldridge and Sgt. Sanborn's team leader, Sgt. Thompson, is killed by an IED, SSgt James is brought in to replace him. James and Thompson are miles apart, with Thompson exact, careful, precise and always putting safety first, while James is borderline reckless, approaching the IEDs with a devil-may-care attitude, alienating Eldridge and Sanborn with his style and his lack of discipline. Still, James is very, very good at what he does.
One of the most chilling scenes is when they run upon a sniper attack, and after they return fire and hunker down, the waning minutes turns into hours, as they sit, hiding, afraid to move, trying to take out the snipers before they get hit themselves.
I've never been at war. I've never been shot at. I've never worn the gear of the military, so I cannot tell you that this movie does or does not correctly identify what these soldiers go through, every day, with IEDs just stuck everywhere from random rubble on the roadside to being surgically implanted in the stomachs of small children. Not kidding.
There are three main reasons why I thought this film was brilliant... first, the lack of superstars helps this movie quite a bit. No Tommy Lee Jones, no Jake Gyllenhaal, no Jamie Foxx... only a cameo appearance by Kate from Lost, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes and That Guy Hall of Famer David Morse, but beyond that, its starring no one you'd recognize. Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty have been in other stuff, but you likely won't remember much of it. Taking away this stardom almost makes this feel like its a documentary more than anything else, like what you are seeing on screen is actually happening 5,000 miles and a half-dozen time zones away--maybe because it is.
Secondly, its not preachy. Anyone who has read this site enough will know I'm not into being preached at by films that are supposed to entertain. It doesn't dive into politics, into why we are there, why we are or are not winning or losing the war, or anything else. It just tells its story.
Finally... its just a really good movie. Its a movie about war, so none of the language is Emmy Turnbow Safe, and it does have its bloody moments, but its paced well, it doesn't veer into subplots (much... there is one small one, but it resolves itself quickly) and after its over, you just nod your head and say, "That's a good movie."
Its hard to imagine that this movie might win the Best Picture, as its not flashy and the marketing machine of Hollywood hasn't taken this film to new heights, but as far as quality, its one of the best films I've seen all year... certainly better than "Slumdog Millionaire".
