BlogTopia (now with 11% more blog)

Am I the only one who desperately watches 2 minutes of the latest Family Guy episode in desperate hope that the show will have returned to it’s first three season’s form… and then once again am let down by the garbage that has become Family Guy?

Mildred Pierce - This movie marked Joan Crawford’s comeback. The movie is a great film, a suspenseful whodunit movie guiding you through the life of a single mother and her two children. Joan Crawford won the Oscar for her performance as a loving, unquestioning mother… a real stretch for her.

8.5 of 10

In the Name of King - Have you ever watched a movie and in the first 10 minutes you absolutely knew if you didn’t turn it off, you’d be irreparably harmed by watching the remainder of it?

1 of 10 (at least the first 10 minutes of it)

The Transporter 3 - It was a good film. I’ve liked (not loved) the series so far, it is my guilty pleasure. The first film of the series was the best as it was the freshest. The film itself, I find more “believable” than the second film, the fight scene in the airplane in the second film got to the point of laughable. The second film almost insults the viewer, where as the third film was a bit more respectful, though the ending does get silly.

The killing point for the film is the romance between the two main stars as it steals momentum from the film and really is not warranted. The director in the extras notes that this adds a humanity side to the character Frank Martin… which it doesn’t because that happened in the first and second film. This guy has a heart and a conscience, we learn nothing from this love angle.

The twist, which keeps our characters trapped within the plot is nice and it was refreshing that the writing didn’t cheat on that premise. The train scene, was of course, over the top, but that is what you get with The Transporter series. I’d say this was better than the second film, but the love angle is just finger nails scratching on the chalkboard annoying.

5.2 of 10

I Was a Male War Bride

Brilliant comedy about a guy who gets hitched and how regulations in the military can greatly complicate it. Cary Grant is in typical fashion for this rather funny movie. Not much else to say. The score says enough.

8.5 of 10

Bottle Shock - It is an independent film… It has Alan Rickman, Bill Pulman and the Slayer… I mean Eliza Dushku. Fun movie about the Global discovery of wine from the Napa Valley in California. The pace is slowish, but keeps you interested, especially in light of the simple, non-complicated plot line. The movie is well-crafted, warm and has the Slayer in it… I mean Eliza Dushka.

7.5 of 10

Night at the Opera - One of the best comedies ever. When you I think of Marx Brother films, I think of great comedy with a bunch of musicals, that can sometimes get laggy. Night at the Opera was a great film that keeps its pace and is full of classic one-liners and skits. Not much else to say. One of the best comedies… period.

9.0 of 10

The Male Animal - Wow! Henry Fonda was great in this movie. I’m more used to him playing the straight up guy, but he plays a guy with many more foibles and the drunk scene is worth the price of admission. A movie that is about a simple class that turns into a huge Collegiate free speech issue, very interesting theme on the Red Scare with quite a bit of comedy within it. I only gave it 7.9, but I enjoyed it a ton.

7.9 of 10

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A report released late Monday evening led to Stock market futures being down for Tuesday. The report titled “Daylight Savings Status” noted of a “substantial deficit” in American Daylight Savings.

The report noted that the typical American had a negative Daylight savings rate. Due to the deficit, the US would is due for “perpetual darkness” over the next 31.5 months. “Even though the Bush Admin aggressively extended the period of daylight savings, the change has not been sufficient enough to overcome the overwhelming deficit.”

The Obama Administration has said it is working night and day, while it lasts, to come up with a Daylight Stimulus Package.

LONDON, ENGLAND – Edwin van der Sar may have set the Premiership record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal, at 1,311 minutes, but he himself, is still scoreless for over a decade.

van der Sar, goaltender for Manchester United went nearly 4 months without giving up a goal in the Premiership. Sadly, it pales in comparison to his scoring slump that has lasted well over 130 months since he scored against De Graafschap.

“I hope Obama fails.” Yeah, that is the Limbaugh take on it. It also clearly is becoming the Republican Party’s take on it.

After losing badly in November, the Republicans had a choice. Look at the results and become more moderate as the younger generations are voting overwhelmingly for Democrats… or go completely nutz and somehow think the reason they lost was because they just weren’t “conservative” enough…. They went the latter route.

And in doing so, have filed a naked Credit Default Swap (CDS) with America’s Economy. A CDS, for those still in the dark about those, is a piece of insurance on an investment, like a bond in a company. You pay company B to insure your bond with company A, just in case company A can’t afford to pay off their bond to you. Well, a “naked” CDS was developed which allowed people to buy insurance on an investment they didn’t even own. So the person with a Naked CDS would make money only if the company failed to pay off the investment they didn’t even own. In other words, a naked CDS was a bet that the company would become broke.

And this is what the Republicans have decided to do. They are playing politics with could be the worst global economic crisis ever… something that may actually be too late to react to in order to stop it from imploding. The Republicans are putting all their political capital into a naked CDS that only pays out if our economy crashes. By refusing to even go to the table with President Obama, they are saying that we want the economy to crash.

Is that what they really are saying? Yes. It is, and here is how. If the economy recovers and the Republicans stone-walled Obama’s attempt to revive the economy, the Republicans are absolutely hosed in ‘10 or ‘12. They’ll be trashed in the election. But if the economy does crash/implode/whatever, then the Republicans will be everywhere saying that “We warned you this wouldn’t work, put us back in power.”

In other words, their strategy only pays off, if our economy goes to Hell. Now how exactly is it possible to be any more anti-America than that?

Serenity - If you like sci-fi or like a lesser than mainstream perspective, go out, buy the Firefly Series set, watch it, then see Serenity. It is amazing how the Fox Network completely ruined what could have been a really good thing. Serenity works well on its own, but it is best viewed after watching the series (what was on TV and what wasn’t on TV).

The characters, the plot, the theme, it is so refreshing to watch (there is no sound in space, so when a ship goes from 0 to really fast, it doesn’t make a sound in Whedon’s film… so very refreshing!). You get an action film that is complete and whole, not relying merely on big budget special effects. The plot arc is long enough as well, never staying on a single point for longer than necessary. Most of the actors in the film aren’t the big budget people, but the originals from the show and they play their roles perfectly. Sci-fi movies this good come out about once a decade it seems. 8.5 of 10

Ironman - This movie caught me by surprise. Typically, if it is a super-hero movie, it’ll be a waste of time and money. Ironman somehow avoided this trap. Downey Jr, plays a solid role as Tony Stark (or so I’m told, I’ve never read an Ironman comic). The acting is good, if not formulaic and the plot keeps movie at a brisk enough pace so as not to make you become bored or desire to fast foward through any particular scene. The effects are really good, but remain secondary to the story. 8 of 10

It Should Happen To You - Judy Holliday stars in this film and Jack Lemmon debuts in it! Holliday plays her role perfectly (her character at times had an Edith of ‘All in the Family’ feel to it) and some of the scriptwriting had some impressive wit and timing. The premise of the film is simple, though certainly a bit outlandish. The film holds itself together well. 8 of 10

Hancock - A decent movie with an unusual tack. The super hero that kinda doesn’t give a flip. The movie works well as it doesn’t stray too long with the plot. It has unique qualities, though you probably won’t feel too moved with the film. You really know where the film is going to go, but it keeps the laughs around. You can watch the movie once, but after that, there isn’t much reason to watch it again. 5.6 of 10

Sex and the Single Girl - Curtis, Wood, Becall, and Henry Fonda star in this comedy. Tony Curtis, who looks like Jack Lemmon , is a liar, Wood an egghead, Becall doubting and Fonda is just frustrated. Curtis gets involved with Wood, in an attempt to dig some dirt on the psychologist Wood. Using the current issues Becall and Fonda are suffering in their marriage, a weave of deceit unravels into what is an almost overwhelming climax of lampoonery (yeah, I just made that word up). The oddness is that the ending sequence is almost a tad bit asymmetric with the film. While a comedy, the movie to that point wasn’t exactly a goof ball, slapstick movie.

That said, the movie is quite enjoyable. 7.8 of 10

Flash of Genius (spoilers) - Impressive, how such a “trite” invention by today’s standards would be able to hold a movie of two hours. Loralai Gilmore… I mean Lauren Graham stars alongside Greg Kinnear. The story has been told before. Individual genius stolen by big business, guy loses just about everything but wins just enough in the end to make it worth it. The film is honest, and compelling. About the only thing that the movie doesn’t do is manage to probably show how long the whole process took.

I took a look at the overall reviews. They aren’t kind to this film. Maybe it is because I’m an engineer, but I enjoyed the film, despite the technicality of the movie. The technicality is what kept the movie more of a docudrama, than just a meaningless David v Goliath movie. This isn’t fictional. The guy was robbed by Ford, he lost his wife and I think the honesty and small worldness of the film is what gives it the charm and meaningfulness it has. (7.0 of 10)

LOS ANGELES, CA – While standing at the podium, before a battery of sport reporters, Manny Ramirez announced that he reached a 4 year / $61 million agreement with himself. The contract is a break-through for Ramirez who has been finding it difficult to find a team that would meet what some consider a “steep” salary, especially given his age, fielding ability and questionable commitment to the game.

“I think both sides of this win,” noted ESPN’s Peter Gammons. “Ramirez was looking for substantially more for the salary, but this gives both Manny Ramirez the player a long term contract to finish his career and Manny Ramirez the buyer a price that he can afford to sign himself with.”

Manny Ramirez is expected to report home as soon as this week.

Yeah… there is always going to be partisan calls that the opposing side is insane, but this is less my opinion and more a reality. Where as the Democrats have their lunatic fringe in Democratic Underground, the Republicans seem to be a party of their respective fringe, making it more mainstream than the lunatics of the Liberal side of the spectrum would ever get.

Check out this place (link).

From one thread:

I think as long as Nobama has favorable ratings, he will continue to go down the path he is heading on. Once his approval numbers start to plummet, I think he will move more to the right.

He was abandoned by 2 dads and then his mother. He is a seriously flawed individual, and he craves attention. You can see that with all of his TV appearances, and his contunued campaigning.

Will this lead up to a civil war? A citizen up rising? No one knows, but something is brewing. The populace is growing more angry by the day. All it will take is one “incident” at a Tea Party where there is the lose of a life, then things will spill over. I wonder when Nobama will send his “Brownshirt mob” aka Acorn, to counter one of the Tea Party protests? Violence will break out for certain.

I just want everyone to remember that we are dealing with a very serioulsy flawed individual, and there are dark and powerful forces behind him.

It is incredible the amount of misinformation you see in this post… and this post is actually one of the more “reasonable” of the posts at that site.

- First, ACORN? They were a group that did nothing wrong. Somehow, in these people’s imagination, they are a Voting Fraud Corporation. In reality, ACORN gets people to register to vote. They pay per registration, which leads to fraud… which they pick out before submitting the registrations. The fraudful registrations are noted as being suspected when they submit all the registrations (as required by law), so the state board of elections can make quicker progress in discarding the illegitimate registrations. But somehow, by following the law and actually raising the bar on quality control, they are “Brownshirts"… a reference to the Hitler years.

- Brownshirts, nothing like Godwin’s Law. When in doubt on how to represent your partisan enemy, haul out the Nazis. You can never go wrong with Political Hyperbole when attempting to be as partisan as possible.

- Obama abandoned by fathers and his mother, meaning that he is seeking attention. This is perhaps my favorite part because the author alleges the reason for all the Press Conferences and Public speeches is a cry for attention. What the author seems to forget is that prior to Bush, this stuff was actually common. W, who couldn’t handle himself in a real Press Conference decided to not do them.

- And let’s not forget about the ‘dark forces’ behind the Obama administration. As noted by other people in other threads there, Obama is actually trying to instigate a Civil War (that is right, they aren’t over-reacting to nothing… rather Obama is forcing them to react as they are). Others think Obama is trying to turn America into AmeriKa… a socialistic paradise… and when they say Socialistic they mean the oligarchical dictatorship as seen in the USSR, which had about as much to do with Socialism as Fred Phelps has to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Now, I won’t claim that this site is the typical view of all the conservatives that are left, rather, this group is pretty much in line with the Limbaughs out there and they are not a minimalist fringe of the conservative wing. These people are paranoid, misinformed and a strong block in the Republican Party. Kind of scary. If the economy can right itself in a year or two, they, along with the Republicans, will become very marginalized. I’m hoping that happens.

Quite amazing news (link). The Patriots trade off Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs. The hard part to believe is that the Patriots, who have been quite savvy about receiving draft picks in trades, only get a 2nd rounder. I would have assumed at least an additional pick to that.

Now I understand that Cassel is rather ‘untested’. Yes, he did perform magnificently for the Patriots this year. While his passing stats aren’t blow your mind awesome, what was impressive was that he made few mistakes. Cassel wasn’t the reason the Patriots didn’t make the playoffs… that’d be the inconsistent play of the defense which was riddled with injuries.

But Cassel only has one year of play, so not quite a guarantee Hall of Famer.

So, what did the Patriots get? Well, a 2nd round pick and not having to pay the $15 million in salary. There seems to be a glut of good unrestricted free agent QBs, so maybe the timing just wasn’t the most optimal for the Patriots. But a 2nd round pick and the warm glowing happy feeling that Brady must be in good shape helps take a bit of the sting away.

The Patriots are an in-the-moment, but never not thinking of the big picture minded management team. With the aging defense, this gives them another solid chance of landing a long-term defensive great from the draft, helping keep the Patriots franchise financially viable over the long-term and competitive over the long-term.

I certainly wish Cassel the best of luck in Kansas City. KC have a great guy at the helm in the GM position so maybe the Chiefs can become good again.