Film
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Today I caught Traitor in Winston-Salem. It was good but it followed the "undercover cop/spy" formula a bit too far. It got very predictable at points but overall it was a good film. It didn't get too preachy about religion, tolerance & profiling.

That brings my film tally to 11 this year. A far cry from last year. With our tour season getting extended & very little time off, I can't imagine coming close to last years count.

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Film update
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Hard to believe that I've only seen 3 films since my last entry but it's true. Here's the update:

- Incredible Hulk, 6/13/08, Winston-Salem, NC: This was clearly better than Ang Lee version but not quite as good as Iron Man. Still a solid film in the genre.

- The Dark Knight, 7/19/08, White Marsh, MD: This was the film I have been looking forward to since the trailer was 1st released. This wasn't just a great "superhero" film it was a great film in general. Great performances all-around & very dark. Ledger literally gave the performance of a lifetime, what a shame, & I kind of feel that no one for at least another generation should be allowed to play The Joker cuz Heath was that good. Best film I've seen this year but there that's not saying a lot.

- Hellboy II, 7/20/08, White Marsh, MD: If I did a modicum of research I could have avoided this. Not very original, its as if they took parts of other films & put the franchise characters in the scenes. Wait, that is what they did. Here's a tip; remember to check the showtimes before going to the theater. Saves time & having to see a cruddy film.

- Tropic Thunder, 08/31/08, Winston-Salem, NC: Admittedly, I was looking forward to this after seeing the previews, then I kind of went sour on it when faced with the revelation that the best parts may be in the trailer. Very funny film that didn't disappoint. Everyine in the theater, myself included, laughed aloud. Cruise was great in his role & Stiller hit on every cliche about movie stars & war films.

Is anyone starting to get sick of 20 minutes worth of trailers nowadays? 10 years ago I was grateful for any trailer now it's just annoying. Especially when I have to sit thru previews for films that are already playing.

I am looking forward to DeNiro & Pacino in Righteous Kill but I don't know much about the director but it looks like they're trying to make a Scorsese film. We'll see what happens. I am a bit cold on Burn After Reading but it's from the Coen Brothers so it deserves consideration. I briefly glanced thru the Entertainment Fall Movie Guide & saw nothing that really piqued my interest, the upcoming DiCaprio /Crowe film looks a lot like Syriana. I am off again tomorrow so I may take in Traitor but I can't seem to shake that I have seen this before, Fugitive 2 or US Marshals perhaps? It's Don Cheadle so it also deserves consideration.

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Film update
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

The year is closing in on being half over & I have manage to only see a handful of films, most of which are not quality. Of course when one actually has a real job, how did that happen?, it gets tough. I haven't had any NYC getaways when I could view 5-7 films in a week. Those days are gone & may not be coming back ever. Damn!

05/12/08: Iron Man in Charlotte, NC: Like this film alot. I thought the origin was very true to the comic book with the update into modern times. I thought Robert Downey, Jr. nailed the role of Tony Stark dead on. Jeff Bridges played a great villain, although I kept waiting for him to say, "the Dude abides." The film was alot of fun & the teaser at the end for the Avengers initiative was great! I like to prospect of Samuel L. Jackson as Col. Nick Fury.

05/23/08: Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in Charlotte, NC: After going for the Holy Grail in his "last crusade," what else is there to go after? The tired plot of aliens being the cause of an ancient & great civilization. Here was a shocker, the alien looked alot the the aliens from other Spielberg films like Close Encounters, ET & War of the Worlds! In terms of the plot, there's just too much to begin. I will say this, if Spielberg & Lucas' names were not attached to the film & hit had a different title, it would have thought it to a somewhat entertaining film. However, as part of the great franchise that is Indiana Jones, it fails.

Frank Darabont, think Green Mile, was enlisted to begin writing this film way back in 2002 & this was the end result? Sequels that are made over a decade later DO NOT work, remember the sequels for Chinatown & The Last Picture Show? Nobody does because they are unmemorable.

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another cinematic experience
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Well I got off my doopa today & managed to go see a film while here in Winston-Salem, NC. I saw the Keanu Reeves vehicle, Street Kings.

It wasn't a bad film, 2 stars out of 4, but it if you see it & you start thinking that you may have seen it before, you are correct.

This film was directed by David Ayer who also directed Harsh Times & he was a writer on Training Day. There is also an LA Confidential feel & that's because James Ellroy was a writer on this film as well.

Keanu was good, a bit too much like Martin Riggs at times, Forrest Whitaker gives a strong performance but he's playing a combination of Dudley Smith & Vic from the Shield, but in a commanding officer role. Speaking of The Shield, I thoiught Mr. Whitaker was nothing short of excellent in his role as Lt. Cavanaugh. I got to start making my way to Commerce, GA so I may stop in Anderson, SC to catch 88 Minutes, but we'll see. I may have to wait around until Iron Man opens, then the summer movie season officially starts.

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More films
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Today I saw 10,000 BC & Doomsday. Could’ve made better choices. Literally two of the more unoriginal films I have seen this year.
***
10,000 BC: This was almost a shot by shot remake of Stargate that comes away as almost a prequel to Stargate. Which makes sense because Emmerich directed that as well. I laughed through this one. There was nothing original about it, almost every scene was lifted from another film. Waste of time.
***
Doomsday: Where do I begin. The film borrows heavily from Escape From NY & Resident Evil but there are also elements of the following film: 28 Days, Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, Judge Dredd, Aliens, V & a host of others, I mean I could keep going but I would be it would take all night. Rhona Mitra, who is something else, is a dead ringer for Kate Beckindale’s character from Underworld. Another waste of time.
***
At the very least these films got me out of the hotel for a portion of the day. That’s it though.

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2007 Film Recap
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

It’s a bit late but here is the recap of the 2007 films that I saw. Research has shown that in addition to The Good German, Babe & Children of Men; Perfume, Alone with Her & the documentary Abduction, were all released in 2006 so they will not count on my final 2007 tally. I saw a total of 47 films of 2007. Here is the ranking from worst to best:
47. Revolver: This movie was just plain awful. Nothing redeeming, no entertainment value at all.
46. Ghost Rider: Just plain bad. Although Eva Mendes is a goddess.
45. Dragon Wars: waste of my time, more suited for the 12-18 demographic.
44. War
43. Fantastic 4
42. Live Free Or Die Hard: ridiculous
41. Ocean’s 13: the tougher call is whether or not it was more ridiculous than Die Hard.
40. Shooter
39. Pirates of the Caribbean 3
38. Spider-Man 3
37. I Am Legend: I was disappointed in this pedestrian Wil Smith vehicle.
The prior listed films were all bad. This next group are films that I didn’t think were bad but they weren’t all that good either.
36. The Simpsons Movie
35. Saw 4
34. Hostel 2
33. Hitman
32. Blades of Glory
31. Golden Compass
30. Resident Evil 4
This next group consists of decent films that either did nothing for me or lacked something to make it a good film in my eyes.
29. Gone Baby Gone: I liked the message of the film but Casey Affleck is not a lead actor. If it had another lead, it could’ve been a very good film.
28. Grindhouse: entertaining but too long.
27. Walker: well acted but dull
26. 30 Days of Night: liked what they did w/the vampire genre but I had a few issues so it gets put in this category.
25. Lions For Lambs: talky rhetoric that really didn’t break any new ground. Although Cruise was good as a sleazy politician.
24. We Own The Night: this was a good film but missing something. again Eva Mendes is a goddess.
23. Look: I liked this because it did something different but it lost me when it tried to tie all the characters together a la Robert Altmen but a good film nonetheless.
This next category will go into the good entertaining type. These are films that I would recommend to anyone.
22. Darjeeling Limited: Wes Anderson does something differs from his past work but if you look past that, it’s a very good film.
21. 3:10 to Yuma: a remake but very good & well acted
20. Bourne Ultimatum
19. 28 Weeks Later
18. Transformers
17. Zodiac: a bit long winded but solid.
16. The Kingdom
15. Michael Clayton: excellent performances all around
14. Elizabeth: The Golden Age: very solid
13. Sicko
12. 300
11. Beowulf
10. The Future is Unwritten
09. Nanking:
08. Lars & The Real Girl
07. Control
06. American Gangster
The top 5 are tough because they all occupied 1 at any given time during the year. so here it is.
05. There Will Be Blood
04. Diving Bell & Butterfly
03. Rescue Dawn
02. Eastern Promises
Tow & three could’ve given 1 a real run for its money but they were released earlier in the year so they get hurt by the year end glut of Oscar hopeful releases.
***
01. No Country For Old Men: not really going out on a limb but it was the best film of the year & won Best Film for a reason.

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Films so far
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

With the newly revamped Army tour I haven’t been able to see any films. Here is what I have seen so far:
Rambo: I liked that Johnny Boy got to go back home finally but I didn’t like the fact they went for the body count. The great thing about the 1st 2 Rambo films was how he evaded his captors & actually turned the tables on them. In this film, he just gunned everyone down. I was a bit disappointed. I did like how they showed the realism of a military attack on a defenseless village & the carnage it causes.
*
Cloverfield: Been looking forward to this one. I liked the POV shots but I can see how some people found it annoying. The fact that you never really got a good look at the creature, the "hide the monster" theory of Alien, made it suspenseful. The characters at the party were a bit much. Where do kids that young get all that money to live in a place like that? That dude couldn’t have been more than 24 years-old. The diversity & attractiveness of the kids at that party were sometimes a bit much as well.
*
There Will Be Blood: Technically a 2007 film & worthy of the Oscar buzz. DDL gives another excellent performance.

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things so far...
Category: Life

Well it finally happened, they offered me the tour manager position of one of the Army Strong Zone tours & like a tool, I accpeted.  I tried to talk them out of it but they wouldn't listen & I reluctantly agreed.  I got into this business to dodge reponsibility now I am hip deep in it.  It's a few extra bucks a week but there is a potential downfall of hazards & annoyances that comes with it. I have managed smaller tours before & those can be a hassle so I why agreed to this is weird.  My theory is that if I didn't take the job then they'd give it to some clown & god knows what would happen.  This way, much of the staus quo from last year will be in place.

Of course we won't be traversing the coutry only the southeast region.  So will be in Daytona, Atlanta (3 times), Gainesville, Bristol & those classic southeastern venues like Watkins Glen, NY, Norwalk, OH & Englishtown, NJ!

On a fun note, I got to catch the Vince Neil show @ the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, MO last week.  We were in town gettig things ready for the tour & we got real lucky with tickets!  I mean the show was sold out & the dude I went with scored tickets!  If that'd been me begging for tickets the ticket guy would've laughed me out of there but this kid worked the magic.  Nice work.  The show was AWESOME!  My ears were still ringing Friday morning.  Vince is a a great showman!

Last thursday, 01/10, I went out with the guys who made the trip from the AAB in San Antonio back to St. Chaz, there were 6 of us but 1 was a STL resident so he went home.  These guys called me 10:15pm & told me tha the cab was already here, hanks for the warning!  We went out to main street st chaz, I haven't been there since 2005!  We had a blast at Lloyd & Harrys.  Of course after a fe wbeers the whiskey starts flowing which usually spells bad news & an elongated miserable hangover for me.  I made the mistake of getting out of a cab after last call & getting a ride w/J-No cuz he had hooked up w/a girl & she was giving us & hgere friends a ride.  We we got to her house & it immediately dawned me, too late of course, that we weren;t going back to the hotel.

So I walk out of there, not really knowing where I am & spend the nex hour trying to get a cab to come pick me up at a bank at 2am.  A st chaz cop swings by to make sure I'm not up to no good  & 15 mintues later he comes back w/Seth, he scored the Vince tix, in the back!  Then I finally managed to flag down a cab.  Upon arrival at the hotel I would spend the next 2 hours talking about 80's music & childrearing w/the front desk staff.  I don't even have any kids either!

I had to bring a trailer to Winston-Salem so my plan was to go to Nsshville for the weekend, a 328 mile drive that I made deprived of sleep but not as badly hungover since I didn't leave until noon.  The Nashville plan was simple, return to Piranha's to see if my Galaga score was still there.  So I go to Piranha's, after an excellent sushi dinner, & to my dismay the game is gone!  If you wautche my reaction to the lack of the Galaga machine, you culd've seen the life being sucked out of me!  I was devestated!

The next day I walked around aimlessly & eventually found a quiet bar to watch the football game.  I had just finished my sandwich when in walks this dude, prbably a homeless or down on his luck guy by the looks of him, & of course he sits right next to me.  Theres 12 people in this place & the bar is 1/3 occupied at best.  Not only does he sit next to me but he strikes up a conversation w/me.  Now I am in no mood for talking because I am still bitter about the Galaga machine.  God forbid a pretty girl sits next to me in the same situation.  I don't know that the gusy was homeless but it he seemed to have been outside all day & just wanted a place to warm up & drink his water.  Don't want to sound like too much of a jerk.

 

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Travel Day
Category: Life

Big travel day today!  After nearly 6 grueling weeks off, I was away for 4 days for Holiday Caravan, I am going back to work!  This is being written as I wait in the airport for my flight to STL.  Once there I p/u a truck & head to San Antonio.  Luckily I get to drive the only 18 wheeler so I don't have to wait for anyone else, just get the keys & bolt!  Gonna try to get to Norman, OK, only 500 miles but I didn't sleep well over the last few days so we'll see how it goes.  If I can make it farther I will.

Been having trouble  sleeping cuz I've had alot on m mind.  The ArmyStrong tour for this year will be different, new crew members, I worried about work in 2009, I gotta actually find a place to live towards the end of the tour season cuz staying w/my folks &/or my sister isn't working.  Technically, it hasn't been working since 2005 but 2008 is the year it ends.  Ive also been mulling over the idea of taking an inside production job for 2009 as well.  A position was broght up for this year but I still wanna be out on the road.  We'll see how the year progresses.

AAB should be interesting.  Alot of suits will be there & only a small road crew.  It also marks another return of the rockwall! I'll have to come up w/a new prayer & offering for the Rockwall Goddess because the AAB is our client's signature event, alot of important people & such.  Or so they tell me.  So hopefully she'll grant us good climbing weather for our activation hours.  I'm also gonna ask the Rockwall Goddess if she can release me from her power since she's got some crazy hold over me.  She's pretty merciful & reasonable so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. 

 

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NYC film fest recap
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

I was able to see 13 films in NYC.  I am on the fence about Antonement though.  It could be part sweeping epic & part English Patient snooze fest.  We'll see how my mood changes.  I was interested in Charlie Wilson's War when I saw the trailer a while back but I think I'd rather see a documentary about the origins of US involvement in the Russia/Afghan war than this, eventhough it has Tom Hanks.    I leave for San Antonio on 12/26 so we'll see what else I can fit in.

This brings my tally up to 50 films for the year so far.  I will try to get a few more in but who knows.

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