By the numbers

I guess it's a Stephen King kind of day. After posting the trailer for The Mist on here earlier today, I ended up seeing 1408, another film adapted from a King short story, at the budget theater this afternoon. I'm typically not a scary movie type of guy, but the trailer for this one had done an effective job in selling the story. Plus, I'll usually go see anything that Samuel L. Jackson is in.

The premise is sound enough; John Cusack plays an author who writes about famous haunted locations, despite being a skeptic that there is any such thing as paranormal activity. That skepticism is then put to the test when he spends a night in the mysterious room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York. Despite a strong story and decent actors, the film left me a fairly empty afterwards.

They appeared to have done the bare minimum with what they had here. Both the execution of the action and the performance of the actors leaves a lot to be desired. Throughout the film there are a number of moments that leave you intrigued to see how they'll play out, but they never ended up getting fully played out. Likewise, I thought we would learn more about the primary characters but they are kept at a superficial level. Sam Jackson as the hotel manager is a particularly confusing character. The final scene that we see him in leaves you to wonder what role he truly had in all that happened in the film.

There are a few decent scares in it, but the film in general isn't thrilling enough. The whole idea is that Cusack's character is a skeptic who has his beliefs turned upside down while staying in the room. Yet he stays grounded enough, which prevents the viewer from becoming concerned with his well being. Why should we be scared of what's happening when he acts more annoyed than scared about what's happening.

The one thing that I will give them credit for is their fake-out ending. It appears that the film is going to end with a horribly cliched ending that we've seen countless times, but then swerves you and keeps going. Having said that, the way Cusack ultimately frees himself from the room is an idea I came up with about 10 minutes in after he first went into the room.

I won't say that this was a bad film, because really there's nothing actively wrong with it. It just came off as disappointing, given what I had hoped it would be. I haven't read King's short story, so I would be interested to know if a lot was cut from it for the film or if it's a pretty true adapatation.

I would say that your best bet would be to rent this when it comes out on DVD, if you are still interested in seeing it. However, the better plan would probably be to just watch the trailer again and let your imagination fill in the rest of the blanks. Chances are you can create a more imaginative and interesting story than the one that unfolded on the screen. Grade: C+

Play Misty for me

OK, I've had to make a change to my fall preview and put Stephen King's The Mist in my top ten after seeing the first trailer for the film. Just like with previous King films, this one is also directed by Frank Darabont and it looks really good. Check it out for yourself:

Summer's over! Time to get back to work!

I'm bouncing off the walls with excitement over this. Sept. 27 cannot come quick enough.

Fall TV scooplets

Just a little bit of new info that might wet your whistle.

Heroes has created a 5-part faux documentary on Takezo Kensai which you can view over at this site. Only part 1 is up right now, but the rest will be coming out in the days and weeks to come. Fun fact: the documentary's narrator is John Rhys-Davies. Too bad in this he's talking about Takezo's sword and not somebody's AXE.

The title for The Office's season premiere has been revealed: Fun Run

Finally, Jeff Fahey (probably best known for The Lawnmower Man has been added to the cast of Lost. No word yet on who he will play.

Triple play!!!

Fall film preview

Well with no movies of interest coming out into theaters this weekend, I suppose now is as good of time as any to preview the films I'm looking forward to in the next few months. I've finally gotten a chance to read EW's Fall Movie Preview issue and I've found ten films that at least sound intriguing on paper. The crop certainly isn't as good as summertime, but I think there are some decent ones here. Here now, in order of my interest level are my most anticipated films for fall.

1. American Gangster: Based on a true story, Denzel Washington plays a black crime boss and Russell Crowe plays the cop trying to take him down. Thrown in Ridley Scott as the director and you got yourself a recipe for success. (Nov. 2)

2. I Am Legend: Will Smith plays the last man alive on Earth. Or does he?? Looks like it could be a cool post-apocalyptic thriller. (Dec. 14)

3. National Treasure: Book of Secrets: Sure this isn't going to contend for any Oscars, but the first one was a fun ride and it looks like more of the same here. Plus, adding Ed Harris and Helen Mirren to your cast certainly can't hurt. (Dec. 21)

4. Fred Claus: Vince Vaughn plays the slacker brother of Santa Claus (played by Paul Giamatti). If this comedy is in the vein of Wedding Crashers, it could be great. However, the trailer has me a bit worried that it'll be more like Elf rather than Bad Santa. Kevin Spacey as the villain looks like it could be fun too. (Nov. 9)

5. Rendition: This politically-charged thriller (a common theme this fall) boasts an impressive cast including Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, and Peter Saarsgard. This will either be a big Oscar contender or suffer from a "too many cooks spoil the soup" problem. (Oct. 19)

6. Shoot 'Em Up: The title pretty much says it all. Clive Owen plays a mysterious loner trying to protect a baby while Paul Giamatti tries to kill him. Looks like a lot of action with some humor peppered in. Has the chance to be a very fun film. (Sept. 3)

7. The Heartbreak Kid: Ben Stiller teams up with the Farrelly brothers once more, hoping to recapture some of that There's Something About Mary. The trailer looks funny enough, but I wonder if after the "Summer of Apatow" if the Farrellys have become passe? (Oct. 5)

8. 3:10 to Yuma: I typically don't dig Westerns, but this one boasts a cool cast headed by Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. It's September release date makes me think it's not as good as it appears, but the trailer makes it look decent. Who knows, maybe this is the film that reinvents the genre. (Sept. 3)

9. Charlie Wilson's War: As time passes, this may move higher up on my list, but with no trailer, I'm currently reserving judgment on it. This is another politically-based film which examines a U.S. congressman's role in ending the Cold War and helping us start our war with Afghans and the Middle East. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts star. It also has Mike Nichols directing and Aaron Sorkin as the writer. It's good to see Sorkin go back to his bread and butter (politics) after his embarassing failure with Studio 60. (Dec. 25)

10. Michael Clayton: The trailer for this film doesn't make the plot completely clear. But it has George Clooney playing a lawyer, who suddenly has to grow a conscience when everything in a big case starts to go awry. Another this is another thriller, but tis the season for them. This film also marks the directing debut for Tony Gilroy, who wrote the last two Bourne films. (Oct. 12)

Honorable mentions: The Brothers Solomon (Sept. 3), The Brave One (Sept. 14), The Kingdom (Sept. 28), The Comebacks (Oct. 26), Lions For Lambs (Nov. 9), Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Nov. 16), Stephen King's The Mist (Nov. 21), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Dec. 21)

Somebody get Turbo and Laser on the phone

American Gladiators is coming back!!! Read more here.

First day of school

I don't know what it is, but the first day of school is always an exciting one for me. I guess it's a good thing I'm going into education for a career. Seeing campus buzzing again is always fun. And I always get a kick out of seeing clueless freshmen with their campus map looking completely loss. This year's first day for me was a relatively quiet one as all I had was to teach one class this morning. Time will tell what type of group these students are, but hopefully they'll be a lively bunch. Given that the class is at 9am though, makes that less likely.

The rest of my week is pretty lax. All of the classes I'm taking are on Mon. or Tue. so I won't have to worry about them until next week. I'm sure within a month from now I'll be bitching about the amount of work I have, but for now, it's great to be back at school!

Ocean breaks even with Thirteen

With school starting back up tomorrow, I figured I would sneak one more film in, since I'm not sure how much time I'll have to go to the theaters after this. Luckily, the budget theater was showing Ocean's Thirteen; the last of the three-quels I've seen this summer.

After the Ocean's gang ruined all of the goodwill they established in Eleven with the abysmal follow-up Ocean's Twelve, I had some trepidation about how this one would be. Fortunately, they got their groove back here and returned to their roots. What is interesting though is that while the film was good, I felt nothing leaving the theater. I was thinking to myself what I would write about because there was nothing glaringly bad about the film, yet nothing significantly great about it either. I enjoyed myself watching it, but I'll also probably forget most of it by tomorrow.

As I mentioned above, this one feels more like the original film and I feel a lot of that has to do with the gang returning to Vegas. There's just something about these characters and that setting that makes for a good fit. Cavorting through all of Europe in the second film came off as boring and uninspired. It also helps that they have a fresh new target to spring their trap on in the form of Al Pacino. Playing Wally Bank, Pacino hams it up just enough to make the character a fun villain.

While all of the characters that make up Ocean's gang are great, the one who truly shines in this film is Matt Damon. While many of the guys have been shoehorned into their specific role, Damon's Linus has evolved over the course of the three films. He has some genuinely funny lines throughout the course of the film and also appears to be the only one who's trying. That's not necessarily a knock on the other actors, but guys like Pitt and Clooney just seem to be there to have fun instead of giving their best effort. Damon, on the other hand, never phones it in and is becoming one of my favorite current actors.

Lucky for me, Damon gets a lot of screentime in this film, including a number of scenes with the other newcomer to the franchise, Ellen Barkin, who plays Pacino's assistant. She is fantastic here and brings an energy to the film that Catherine Zeta Jones wishes she could have done in the second film. I haven't seen a lot of other stuff that she's been in, but she was perfect in this role. It also helps that she was also damn sexy in that "cougar" sort of way.

I should also mention that there are a handful of cameos from guys like Eddie Izzard, Super Dave Osborne, and Julian Sands who add some additional flavor to the film. These roles could have been done by anyone, but using some relatively well-known actors provided some additional importance to the roles.

There are only two real negatives I had with the film. The first is Soderbergh's stylistic direction of the film. While I will always respect a director for trying to take an unconventional approach in presenting the film's events, I felt that at times it was unnecessary and annoying. The other problematic area of the film is that Ocean's plan to screw Wally Bank is really complex, and I mean really complex. There are several things that need to be accomplished for the plan to be a success. And they are all dealt with at the same time by going back and forth between each of them. At times it was tough to keep up with where they were at and what still needed to be done. I'm sure on successive viewings it won't seem as complicated, but on this initial viewing, I felt like I needed a checklist in front of my to keep everything straight. While I mention these negatives because I picked up on them while watching the film, they really weren't severe enough to detract from my enjoyment of the film.

I have a feeling this will probably be the last in this series. Not because the film really provides a sense of closure on the characters, but because I think the primary actors are ready to move on to other projects. But if they do decide to do another one, let's hope they just ignore Twelve ever existed and make them more like this one. This one does a nice job of redeeming the franchise and making the audience remember why we liked this ragtag bunch of con artists and thieves in the first place. Now that it is at the budget theaters and soon on DVD, I can say with confidence that it is a safe bet you'll get your money's worth out of seeing this. Grade: B+

Lots of Fall TV news

We'll kick things off with the announcement (finally) of the cast for the new season of Survivor. Notables include a professional poker player, a grave digger, and a WWE diva (seriously). I could type out the dossiers of the 16 new players here, but instead, I'll just direct you to this TV Guide site, which not only gives the players' names, ages and jobs, but also Jeff Probst's take on each of them as well.

*UPDATED* CBS has put the castaways up on the official Survivor homepage. You can learn more about the newest contestants here.

Secondly, a bit of Heroes news. Hooray! They just announced that Kristen Bell will be coming on midseason for a multi-episode arc. For those not familiar with Ms. Bell, she played the title chracter on the critically-loved, ratings-challenged show, Veronica Mars. This is an interesting bit of casting, because it seemed that every show in town had been trying to add her onto their show (including Lost, who tried and failed). So for Heroes to get her seems like quite a coup. For more on who Kristen will be playing on the show, click here, but WARNING, the article includes some spoilers for the upcoming season.

Speaking of Lost, they've been doing some casting of their own. Even though the show won't return until February, they announced the hiring of Ken Leung. I'm not too familiar with the guy (the only thing on IMDB that I recognized him from was he played the mutant with the spikes coming out of him in X:Men - The Last Stand), but it's always good to get any kind of Lost scoop. You can read more about his character here, but again WARNING, there are spoilers found in the article.

Finally, for those interested, I added a countdown clock to indicate the start of the new fall TV season. The clock can be found on the left side of this blog, right before the list of my favorite TV shows. Only 30 days to go!

Would it be uncreative to say Superbad was Supergood?

So my movie-filled vacation came to an end yesterday, appropriately enough, by seeing the last big film of the summer, Superbad. The film proves once again that anything Judd Apatow touches turns to gold. This is an extremely funny film that puts most high school teen sex comedies to shame.

What has always been so refreshing about Apatow comedies is that they present scenes that seem so relatable to you, even if you have never even remotely experienced the events you see up on the screen. The characters and stories created in these comedies never are those Hollywood fabrications of what reality is supposed to be. Instead, they are cut straight from the ordinary world, only way more funny.

Clearly, the best character of the film is Fogel aka McLovin. His adventures with the cops (played by Seth Rogen and SNL's Bill Hader) produce an endless line of laughs. The kid is clearly a nerd, but his antics are so charming that you can see why people would want to hang out with him.

Also great is Michael Cera as Evan. I was apt to like him given my undying love for Arrested Development, but he was great, even if I was unfamiliar with him. He spouts off one-liners that are so innocuous, yet absolutely hilarious. It's like he always verbalizes his stream of consciousness and frames his inner monologue in a way that always is funny.

My only displeasure of the film comes from the Seth (Jonah Hill) character. I'm still not sure if it was his character or him as an actor that I don't care for, because I thought he was one of the weaker characters in Knocked Up as well. His Tourette's style of delivery can be too much at times and makes the character appear more like a jerk than just being funny. The way he treats his best friend Evan, as well as Jules, the girl he's lusting after, is done in a way that makes you wonder why anyone would want to be around him. He has funny moments, but I typically found myself more enjoying the scenes that didn't involve him.

One interesting feature about this film is the way it plays with time. The film is currently set in modern day, yet it also tries to evoke a feeling of previous decades. For instance, most of the film's music is from the 70s. This effect could have been annoying or confusing, but I think it works to produce a sense of timelessness to the idea of high school boys wanting to get laid.

As I mentioned before, I had some problems with the Seth character. I also found the film kind of spun its wheels in the middle and I found myself wondering why it was taking so long for them to get to penultimate party that marked the climax of the film. However, these complaints can be somewhat nullified given that ultimately this is a damn funny film and that should be the most important criteria when evaluating this film.

There are moments of sheer comedic genius found throughout this film. Like when Evan compares Seth's sex life to Orson Welles' film career. It such an intelligent observation (one that sadly will go over the heads of most of the film's target audience) and yet hilariously appropriate. It's moments like that that make this film stand out from other teen sex comedies.

Even though, I moving further and further away from my high school days, this film doesn't make me feel like I'm out of touch with the current high school generation. Anyone watching this film can understand what these characters are going through and think back to an instance in their lives that somewhat resembles what happens here. If you're looking for two hours of consistent laughing, this film will fit the bill nicely. Superbad's comedic excellence makes me Superexcited to see what comes next from Apatow and the gang. Grade: B+

New Dark Knight photos

No need to say much here, I'll let the photos speak for themselves. All I can say is that these make me continue to want to see this film right away.






There are some other photos. If you want to check them out, go here.

Well, he just lost a sale

So I happened upon The Colbert Report last night and my ears perked up when Stephen talked about his guest, Andrew Keen. Apparently, Mr. Keen has written a book about how the Internet is killing our culture. Given the PhD program that I'm in and my interest on technology's impact on culture, I was very interested in what he had to say. Sadly, as soon as he opened his mouth, I lost all interest in what he had to say. This guy came off as the biggest self-involved, elitist prick. Colbert didn't even need to play a character in order to reveal what an ass this guy was. Needless to say, I won't be purchasing this book. To see what I mean, check out the video of the interview below.



If you notice, this is not a YouTube video, but rather one from Comedy Central's website. In case you haven't heard, Comedy Central's parent company, Viacom, is currently suing YouTube. So it's unlikely you'll see any Viacom content on their site for a while. Or if you do, it'll be yanked off there before you know it. Which is a shame, because as you see, the quality of an embedded Comedy Central video pales in comparison to the ones from YouTube.

As an interesting side note, it was just reported the other day that YouTube has requested Jon Stewart and Colbert to give depositions in this case. Here's the article on that. I'll certainly be keeping my eye on the developments of this lawsuit and post any interesting new updates.

A not so fabulous time

The week of movies continues as today's flick was I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. I've typically found Sandler's films funny and I'll always be on the record for saying that The King of Queens was one of the most underrated sitcoms of all time. Unfortunately their talents are put to waste in this very uneven comedy.

The film is not without its laughs, but that was to be expected given the two leads and the usual crew found in Sandler's movies (Rob Schneider, Steve Buscemi, Nick Swardson). However, Chuck and Larry's primary problem is in it's story. The premise is sound enough, but the filmmakers had no idea what to do with it. It appears that they want to get across of message of tolerance, but they can't help but do anti-gay jokes themselves. It's like they want to have their fudge and pack it too (Too crass?).

From the start, you can pretty much see how everything is going to turn out. 1. Chuck and Larry pretend to be gay. 2. Hilarity ensues with said fake relationship. 3. Side characters are introduce who belive fake relationship is real. 4. Fake relationship is exposed and those duped are offended. 5. Liars are quickly forgiven and learn their lesson. I'm sorry if that spoils the film for anyone, but if it did, you obviously have never seen a movie before in your life.

While the film's story doesn't reinvent the wheel, the problems go beyond its predictability. Here are some of the bigger ones: 1) The ancillary characters who gay bash Chuck and Larry in order for the tolerance theme to be developed do it in such overt and eye-rolling ways that you can't sympathize with main characters. What the gay bashers say isn't hurtful, it's laughable. 2)The film takes way too long in getting to climax where Chuck and Larry stand trial for a fraudulent partnership. They do such a lousy job pretending they're in a real relationship, yet it takes forever for anyone to figure it out. 3) The conduct of Chuck and Larry's lawyer, played by Jessica Biel, is completely unprofessional and unrealistic. There is no way that a lawyer would socialize that much with a client.

Now while the character is unrealistic, the addition of Jessica Biel to the film is quiet welcome. Especially when there are scenes requiring her to be in her underwear or a sexy catwoman costume. However, I must say that those scenes are only enough to negate the scenes involving a naked Ving Rhames (who needs to see that?) and not enough to make the film must-see.

The only character that works in the film is Kevin James as Larry. The backstory involving his dead wife and his failure to move on is touching. Seeing him struggle as a single dad, desperate to have his kids receive the appropriate benefits in case he dies as well makes you want to see him pull off this charade, no matter how ridiculous it is. It's just a shame that that heartwarming aspect of the film is buried under the crass and juvenile antics of the other characters.

In better hands, this story might have worked. But there was no chance of that happening by the guys who created Billy Madison. Even hardcore Sandler fans will have tough time really enjoying this one I believe. There's no need to still catch this in the theaters and only if you're desperate should you rent this when it comes out on DVD. Grade: C

Indians punch me in the gut again

In an all-too-disturbing trend, the Indians' offensive futility continues as they lose the first game of a crucial two-game series against the Tigers. Things seemed like they were going to turnaround with Grady's first inning home run, but that would be all the offense we would see tonight. Once again, a wonderful pitching performance gets wasted by our lack of hitting.

There's no doubt that a lot of the blame is placed on the players, who just aren't hitting. But when the team is in a slump like this and needs some kind of spark, I place a lot of fault on Eric Wedge, who's decision making continues to befuddle me. This guy is so robotic and by-the-books that he can't realize the error of his ways. Cabrera should have pinch hit for Peralta to advance Gomez over to third in the 9th and then there should have been no way that Borowski comes in in a non-save situation. These moves seem so obvious, yet Wedge continues to blow it.

I'm so angry right now with this team. I was lucky enough to score tickets for tomorrow night's game, so they better not disappoint me. Watching this on TV is bad enough, I don't know how I'll be able to handle it seeing it in person.

Helpful OOTRR links

This post only applies to those of you who are readers of my OOld Tyme Rasslin Revue column on Online Onslaught. For whatever reason, two of the columns I did were never properly archived on the site. Since so many readers always email me about where to find them, I decided to link them here for all of you to enjoy them.

1999 King of the Ring OOTRR

1999 Fully Loaded OOTRR

Happy reading!

Bourne to kick ass and learn his name

Usually my reviews are rather lengthy because I've got plenty to nitpick or outright complain about the films I see. This is not one of those reviews. In my week of catching up on all the big summer films, I got to see The Bourne Ultimatum last night and it was just terrific.

Unlike many of the three-quels that have come out this summer, this one just seems like a natural progression of the previous film. Most of these sequels struggle to create new stories while still including all of the elements that made the original films great. With Bourne, there has been this ongoing storyline of "Who is Jason Bourne?", and the filmmakers should be commended for giving a few pieces of the puzzle with each film.

This one basically gives us all the remaining answers, but also leaves itself open for more films in this franchise. Matt Damon has said he's done with Bourne, but as they say, never say never. And I'm torn on that thought. On one hand, they have completed a trilogy that is just perfect as is and you would hate to see it ruined with another film; but I just enjoy this character and his interactions with the CIA so much that I would love to see another film. Thankfully, I have confidence after seeing the work put into these past couple of films that the crew will only do another one if they feel it can be of the same level as the ones they've done so far.

Some people will not care for director Paul Greengrass' style, which uses the handheld camera to give it a more realistic look. Some can't stand the shaky camerawork because it's difficult to grasp what's really going on. While I wouldn't enjoy seeing every film done this way, it works perfectly for this series. The action is so frenetic that by filming it this way just adds to that feeling.

Kudos to this franchise also for continuing to add top notch actors to their fine cast. In addition to Damon, Joan Allen and Julia Stiles are back from the previous films. Both understand their roles and play them appropriately. Then, this time they also added David Straithern and Albert Finney who were excellent as people who had various levels of involvement in Bourne's past.

Finally, I'll just add that the action sequence are top notch and some of the best you will see in any action film. The scene where Bourne is trying to help a journalist escape the CIA's clutches is just this wonderfully tense moment that is perfect for this franchise. Then there's the chase and eventually fistfight in Morocco which is another stellar action sequence.

In case you can't tell, I just loved the film. If you've seen the other films, you definitely want to see this one. And if you haven't, go rent those and get caught up on one of the best action franchises in some time. You won't be sorry! Grade: A

Time to whet your appetite

Desperate for any sort of news on the upcoming season of Heroes, I did some searching on YouTube and discovered this leaked clip from NBC's upcoming fall primetime preview show. Here's your first look at Season 2:

Another magical outing

I'm writing this kinda late, so it may be short, but I hate doing my movie reviews too long after I see the movie. I feel my best analysis comes when the film is still fresh in my head. And in case you couldn't tell by the title, tonight I got to finally see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In summation, I thought it was fantastic. Given that this was my least favorite book in the series, I had some trepidation, but I really enjoyed it. I think it's too early for me to compare it with the other films. Prisoner of Azkaban is still my favorite movie, but this was one was highly enjoyable. I think part of my enjoyment was just seeing all of the characters once again. Seeing each of these films almost feels like a family reunion now in an odd way. The casting for these films has just been fantastic. There has never been an actor who I felt was miscast for a role. Credit goes both to the casting director and to J.K. herself for creating such well-defined characters.

And as great as it was to see such favorites again, I really loved the new additions in this film. The young woman who played Luna Lovegood nailed the flighty, free-spirited nature of the character that makes her so odd to the other students and so likeable to the audience. Then, you have Imelda Staunton who was picture perfect as that bitch Delores Umbridge. She got all of her mannerisms perfectly and did a wonderful job of really making the audience despise her, despite the fact that we only see an abridged version of her heinous actions in comparison to what she does in the book. Finally, while in small roles, I enjoyed the performances of the actresses who played Tonks and Bellatrix Lestrange.

As for complaints of the film, they are minor. The only noticeable thing was that I was not keen at times at the visual liberties the director took with the film. His decision to expidite certain plot points through montage was a bit irritating. He also visually changed things from the previous films. For instance, the depiction of Sirius in the fireplace is different than the way it was done in Goblet of Fire. I know consistency is difficult when each film has a different director, but those small things shouldn't have required alteration.

I could complain about the fact that the film leaves out a lot of stuff from the book, but there are two reasons why I won't: 1) I've come to expect that from the Potter films and 2)Most of the stuff gutted from this book was rather inconsequential to begin with. However, like I said, I would have liked for the director to give more time to the plot points he did include. For instance, I thought Sirius' death in the film lacked the gravity that the scene had not only in the book but on the series as a whole. He does make up for that by doing a nice job on the following scene involving Dumbledore and Voldemort's duel.

At the end of the day, this winds up being another fine addition to the series. This review will probably be pretty useless though as non-Potter fans aren't likely to see it and Potter fans have already checked it out (some more than once). I will definitely be seeing this again when it comes to the budget theater and then of course, buying the DVD. Hopefully by then, I'll be able to better assess where this one fits amongst the films of this fantastic series. Grade: A-

Be Kind Rewind

I just caught this trailer online and found it to be very funny. It's got an interesting premise and I'll be curious to check it out when it's released. Unfortunately, it's unclear when it's coming out. It looks like it will probably be either late this year or next year. Anyways, this is from the director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so if you enjoyed that, you may like this as well. My only concern is that all the funny aspects are being shown in this trailer. But if it is, then at least you can see it now. Please to enjoy...

The Simpsons on the big screen = A D'oh brainer

Being back up in Cleveland, I'm getting a chance to see some movies that are still in the first run theaters with family and friends. Today it was The Simpsons Movie. I've had an interesting relationship with the longest running animated show in history. When it first debuted, my parents forbid us from watching it, believing it was too racy for us. Then when I got older and began to watch it, I absolutely fell in love with it. There was a couple of years where I was all about everything Simpsons. Recently though, I've grown somewhat bored with the show. While it still has it moments, it's been difficult for them to seem fresh for the past few seasons. For this reason, I was cautiously optimistic about their jump to the big screen.

Now having seen it, I'm not sure how to feel. On one hand, the movie was more consistently funny than the show has been lately. By bringing in some of their old writers, they collectively were able to deliver a solid effort. However, there was nothing truly special about the film. Like many have said, it truly does play like a 90 minute version of the show.

The story is a solid one where they tackle timely issues of the environment and immigration. While only 90 minutes, the film does a good job of giving each of the primary four family members a storyline that was able to be developed and become integrated into the overall plot. Albert Brooks' role as the head of the EPA is very funny and a welcome addition. There are also a couple of decent cameos that I won't spoil for you here. On the disappointing side, though, a lot of of the beloved side characters don't get a lot of screen time. Burns and Skinner, in particular are pretty MIA.

I was also surprised by the adult actions seen by some of the characters. We get full frontal nudity from Bart, Homer giving the double bird, Otto smoking from a bong and Marge using God's name in vain. While they don't offend me, I do have two problems with it. Yes, the film is rated PG-13, but you know little kids will watch this film and they really shouldn't see that. Secondly, part of the show's appeal has been its ability to convey adult actions and jokes without actually doing them. It just seems lazy to have those things in there now.

That's also been a problem I've had with the show in general lately. Computer technology has allowed the show to illustrate things that previously weren't feasible. By expanding their universe, the Simpsons seem less intimate. You don't feel the same connection with them as you once did.

I feel like this review has been too negative, which I don't mean it to be. It's just easier to remember the bad things, than the positive ones. Overall, this is an enjoyable movie and anyone who has ever seen the show should do themselves a favor and go see this movie. Hopefully it's success will push the creators to consider ending the show and instead just producing solid efforts like this for the theaters every couple of years. Grade: B

The monster that is "Dear Sister"

This past weekend I caught a SNL rerun that had an absolutely hilarious Digital Short. Of course, everyone is now familiar with "Lazy Sunday" and "Dick in a Box", but this one was absolutely hilarious. Titled "Dear Sister", it's a parody of a death scene from the show The O.C. where a character gets shot and then this ridiculously schmaltzy song starts playing. Here's the SNL short:



But here's the thing...I thought this was something that I found funny, yet no one else would appreciate. Then I go on YouTube to watch it again and find out that there are a TON of parody version of this short. For example, here's a favorite of mine from Heroes:



If you find this as funny as I do, you can watch a bunch of them here or you can just do your own YouTube search.

Once upon a time, they ran out of fairy tale puns

So yesterday, with no computer and my AC broken, I needed to get out of my apartment and do something. I decided to go check out Shrek the Third at the budget theater. Sadly, the most positive thing I can say is that I was cooled off for 90 minutes.

I'm not sure what happened here. While I wasn't the biggest fan of this franchise, I had enjoyed each of the first two films. The first one did a nice job of presenting an alternative take on classic fairy tale characters, while also creating some nice parodies of current pop culture concepts. The second film then took those qualities and amped them up to the next degree.

In this third film, it appeared that everyone involved was just looking to make a quick buck. All of the charm and humor found in the previous films were nonexistent this time around. And I wasn't alone in feeling this way. I sat with an audience of children who barely laughed either, except at some of the egregious physical comedy.

The premise for the film sounds decent on paper, but isn't really executed properly. Shrek looks for a new king for Far, Far Away while Charming tries to take over the throne himself. All of the plot points, however, are underdeveloped leaving the audience emotionally unattached as to the outcome of all this. We never really see what's so horrible about Far, Far Away with Charming in charge. We never learn why Arthur is such an outcast and thus don't care whether he becomes king or not. We don't get a good sense of why Shrek fears being king or a father when it seems that everyone around him has no problem with him taking on these roles.

All of the side characters are back once again, but bring nothing fresh to them. Gingy, in particular, who was such a delight in the first film, comes off especially grating here. The film also introduces a slew of new characters, but none of them get enough time to develop any sort of personality.

The only moments where the film shows any energy is in their use of familiar songs. The funeral scene involving "Live and Let Die" and the battle scene which involved a Zepplin song are the best parts. But then I felt like I only enjoyed them because I recognized the songs, not because it was particularly creative on the director's part.

Clearly this film made oodles of money, but this film is nowhere near the caliber of the previous two. Because of its financial success, I'm sure we'll be seeing more from these characters in some capacity. But if it was up to me, I think it's time that we say "The End" to Shrek and co. Grade: C

Trade deadline depression

So the MLB trading deadline came and went without the Indians making a peep. Well, they did get Lofton; but as nice as it is to have Kenny back, we did not need another outfielder. We had other areas of concern that just got ignored. Once again it appears that frugality and mismanagement will prevent us from having a real chance at a championship.

Clearly, the big winners today were the Red Sox and the Braves; two teams who were already pretty good, yet recognized their weaknesses and got deals done to improve themselves.

Then, as if the Tribe's inactivity wasn't depressing enough, the team's offensive futility continues, as they lose tonight to the lowly Rangers; a team that seemingly traded 3/4ths of their roster today. The only bright spot is that the Tigers are going through similar woes, which has kept us close to first. This team needs to wake up and get their act together so that they can make a move and return to the playoffs.