Movie Review: The Dark Knight

I listed The Dark Knight #1 on my list of 10 Movies To See This Summer. I predicted it would be the “biggest baddest movie of the summer”. I was wrong! It’s possibly the biggest baddest movie of the year (and it’s only July). I was torn between The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia. I think I made the right choice. The Dark Knight delivers with some good action, plus great acting from the film’s stars.

The Dark Knight begins with a different Gotham than the one we last saw in Batman Begins. The Batman has Gotham’s underworld running scared. He’s also inspired a few copycat Batmans in the process.

The city is soon shaken by the rise of a new criminal named The Joker. With the Joker terrorizing the citizens of Gotham, Batman teams up with lieutenant Gordon and DA Harvey Dent to help bring this madman to justice. Batman has to reach into his dark side to catch the maniac before he tears Gotham apart.

Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Bale is captivating as Bruce Wayne. He breathed new life into the franchise a few years ago. Surprisingly he is very believable as he’s seen exiting the helicopter with three beautiful women. He’s also able to play a darker Batman than we are used to seeing. The great performance from the late Heath Ledger may overshadow the magnificent job Bale did in this film.

When something is new, we are sometimes quick to label it “the best ever” or “all-time greatest” forgetting the work that preceded it. I will say that this Joker may be the best we’ve ever seen. Like most people I was skeptical of this role simply because Jack Nicholson played an unforgettable Joker in Batman
Ledger turned in one of the great performances that I can remember. His role as The Joker may become a benchmark for all movie villains. It wasn’t just the smeared make-up that made him crazy. It was how he constantly licked his lips, that sinister laugh, how he touched his scars, plus the sadistic rational for why he did what he did. I read one review that described him as a “homicidal comedian”. I think that’s pretty accurate.

The other great performance was from Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face. Eckhart plays Gotham’s White Knight, the type of hero that a city really needs. He displayed an approach to fighting crime the straddle the fence between fearless and insanity. You start to see more of the insanity when Dent turns into Two-Face. I get the feeling that he may have a few mental illness. Just a thought. Eckhart’s roughed choir boy look was perfect for both roles.

This movie so likeable because it’s not just a good comic book movie but a good film. At no point did I feel like I was watching a superhero movie. It’s the same formula that made this summer’s other hit Iron Man big at the box office. The latest batch of comic book adaptations have been as much character driven as they have been action packed. You may start to see more A-List actors sign on for these movies in the future.

My suggestion: Movie of the Year! I loved it. You will be glad you waited in line forever to see this film. It doesn’t matter if you are fan of the comics or even a fan of Batman. The Dark Knight is a film that all movie buffs will like. Great story, great characters, and a few laughs sprinkled in as well. If there was one movie to go see this year it would be The Dark Knight. If you can get to the IMAX, I would highly recommend it. I’m already anticipating the next movie.

Why I Hate Superman

I grew up like most guys my age, loving comic book heroes. One hero I didn't like was Superman. Here are a few reasons why:

1. The Man of Steel is way too easy on these criminals. Some would say he has a strong moral compass; I would call him a punk. Why does Lex Luthor keep getting out of prison over and over again? He should be serving triple life sentences for the stunts he's pulled. I think he wants to feel needed because he doesn't have a home. Not being hard on the criminals may be a way for him to stick around. If it was Batman he would have iced Lex in a back alley somewhere in Metropolis. Way to be a softy Superman.

2. In Superman II he gives up his powers for Lois Lane. This is probably one of the most disturbing turn of events in superhero history. If I remember correctly Lois is in love with Superman. If you give up your powers you are just Clark Kent and no longer Superman. She thinks Clark is a buffoon. Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet, but he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. That scene when they fly to the Fortress of Solitude to give up his powers. How did they get back? What kind of hero are you if you are always willing to give up that responsibility? That's like giving up your millions to be with a woman who is only with you because you are a millionaire. You aren't a real hero Superman; you are just using your powers to pick up chicks. I'm done doing your dance. Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu suck!

3. He's an alien. I don't care if you grew up in Smallville. You're from Krypton and we don't want your kind here. Not to mention he mocks us by portraying Clark Kent as an idiot. There is a nice monologue on this in Kill Bill 2. So that's what you think of us Superman? A race of people who always seem to be messing something up. I'll take that as a slap in the face and kindly ask you to leave our planet now.

4. He has a split personality. Call it a secret identity if you want. He obviously struggles with his identity and sense of self (See #9). I could give you the whole "Superman never knew his dad speech" but that would be bailing him out. I think it's hard for him to go from bumbling idiot to hero in 4.5 seconds. We've seen the two personalities mix. He may crush a coffee cup or put a dent in a car as Clark Kent. I don't want to be on that plane that's crashing as Superman morphs back into Clark Kent, fumbling the plane at the last second. I don't trust people who don't know who they are. What if he gets homesick and decides to blow this planet up too? Pick an identity Superman, the world is waiting.

5. He's almost impossible to beat. Super speed, super breath, super strength, he can fly, faster than the speed of sound, the list just goes on. The only thing that can beat him is kryptonite. Cool! Where do I sign up to get one? Oh the planet it comes from no longer exists! What the hell! That's Super-lame. The only shot any of us have at beating him is a rare rock that is probably light years away. Why not just make him God and call it a day. If you ask me it seems like his real weakness is women. If they made a woman out of kryptonite it would be lights out for him.

6. No sense of style. Batman has style, Flash has style, and even Aquaman has some style. Superman is completely boring. He's boring as Clark and even more of a bore as Superman. Not to mention his costume sucks! He rocks tights, cape, and that stupid curl that looks like he spent too much time under the dryer at Gene Juarez. If I was Superman I would wear all kind of different color suits. I'd have the craziest color combinations. There is no reason why he shouldn't look good. I'd throw a Gucci suit in there just to be fashionable. I'd ditch the cape and wear an iced out 'S' on my chest. I think that would be a much better look for him.

Movie Review: Wanted

Have you ever watched a movie that was so over-the-top you couldn’t believe it. Not like the 1980’s Stallone flick where he arm wrestles for custody of his son. I mean more like insane action sequences, unforgiveable violence, plus language that would make a sailor blush. If you like all of those elements, Wanted may be right up your alley.

Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a account manager who is unhappy working a dead end job, headed towards a dead end in his life. Wesley is approached by Fox (Angelina Jolie) who tells him his father was part of an elite team of Assassins known as The Fraternity.

Wesley is introduced to the leader of the Fraternity, Sloan (Morgan Freeman) who informs him that he’s been recruited to assassinate Cross (Thomas Kretschmann), the man who killed his father . Our hero also meets the other colorful members of The Fraternity played by Common, Marc Warren, and Dato Bakhtadze. Each member providing Wesley training in their own specific field to help prepare him for his showdown with Cross.

At first James McAvoy is hard to believe as a hero, but believable as the guy who hates his life.
As the movie progresses he grows into the hero role. Some of the incredible action sequences help enhance that image. By the end of the film I found him more likeable than I did annoying. It’s easy to cheer for the underdog.

I loved Angelina Jolie in this film. One of the things I like about her is that she has the unique ability to look very attractive yet still pull off that tough girl persona all in the same scene. I never thought I could be attracted to a woman and deathly afraid of her all within 30 seconds. I don’t know whether to be happy for Brad Pitt or scared for him. Who else would you cast in a role as a female assassin? I spent the last five minutes trying to think of someone and I’m drawing a blank.

I watched a commercial for Wanted and my parents decided they were going to see this movie because Morgan Freeman was in it. How could I tell them this wasn’t Driving Miss Daisy with guns? I advised them to let me see it first. They aren’t fond of violence in movies. They would have walked out around the 17 minute mark of this film. Wanted is not for the faint of heart. It is violent with some strong language as well.

My suggestion: If you like action, violence, language, some brief nudity from Angelina Jolie, it is a must see for the summer. It doesn’t have the greatest plot or the coolest storyline. The movie is not without it’s funny moments or great one-liners. The action, fight scenes, and dialogue should keep you entertained for the whole film. There are some original action sequences in the film that will definitely have you buzzing in the theater. I wouldn’t say it’s the best movie I’ve seen this year. Just a nice fun/entertaining movie to see for the summer.

BET Awards 2008

It’s time for another installment of the BET Awards. I invited my friend C-Ra over and thought it would be a great idea to do a running diary of this year’s show. Here we go………

The always entertaining Usher opens the show with his hit Love in This Club. I’m not a gambling man but I bet he’s lip-synching. If not he’s the only guy I know who can do consecutive back flips without losing his breath. Decent performance. What you would expect from Usher

DL Hughely is hosting this year’s show. His monologue is not that funny. I have no idea why his jokes didn’t hit…..oh wait they weren’t funny.

Wow a new season of Hell Date. Didn’t know the first one ended.

Young Jeezy performs. I like this track. Looks like Kanye forgot his words. I’m sure he’ll blame BET for it after the show is over. BET is real heavy on the censors this year. Way too many bleeps for this performance. I feel like I’m listening to an Emergency Broadcast.

It’s the best athlete performance. Surprisingly there are no white athletes on the list. Kobe Bryant wins the award this year. C-Ra comments that “he basically won best black athlete.”

How did Keisha Cole’s family get on TV? After they went of screen our exchange went something like this:
C-Ra: HA! Have you seen this show?
Me: Nope
C-Ra: Her mom is a TRAIN WRECK!

Keisha Cole and her new teeth perform. Nice voice! She can really sing. WOW! You gotta love the tear-away dress that turns into an all white cat suit. The crowd seems to really love Lil Kim. Looks like prison has done her some good. I assume there was nothing to do but sit-ups. What happened to her face? I think I’m officially scared of her.

Is it me or is Cuba Gooding Jr. higher than these gas prices. I think he has morphed into Rod Tidwell. I’m waiting for him to say, “Show me the money.”

Ne-Yo is suited up for his performance. It reminds of an old MJ routine. Nice set from Ne-Yo. He’s one of the R&B cats that I really enjoy. He always puts on a show.

LL hasn’t aged a bit. The guy is in ridiculous shape to be 65. I keep waiting to look up and he’s going to be old and flabby. Not sure that’s going to happen. Would anyone be surprised if his name popped up in the BALCO investigation?

Alicia Keys performs with a live band. Good set so far. Kicks it up a notch with an SWV cameo. Whoa! Here comes En Vogue! I know my dad is at home saying, “They still got it!!” If she brings out Xscape, I’m going home. I spoke too soon; TLC comes out and performs Waterfalls. Looks like Chili is drinking from the same fountain of youth that LL is. Nice set from Alicia Keys. The best performance of the night by far.

Best Male Hip Hop goes to Kanye West. He had to win something or he was going to spaz out at the after party. Nice gesture for him to bring Wayne on stage. I loved Kanye’s speech. He’s such an underdog and everybody wants to hold him down. Maybe that’s why he wins all those Grammy’s. (I think they’ve showed Lil Wayne about 50 times tonight. I feel like I’m watching a Lil Wayne reality show)

The Hilarious outfit of the night award goes to T-Pain. His “iced out top hat” his taller than me. Why does he look like the black Mad Hatter? I’m not sure I want to take my kids to his circus. Here comes Flo-Rida in a black tank top and jeans. C-Ra says he thinks that’s the only outfit Flo-Rida owns. Maybe he got a bad record deal, who knows. Here comes Rick Ross with no shirt on! He’s the anti LL Cool J. Let me get this right: BET will censor whatever Kanye was saying but they won’t censor Rick Ross and his man boobs? They should have had one of those parental advisory warnings, “What you are about to see is graphic and may disturb viewers under the age of 14.” I starting to think I should have waited to eat. They perform I’m So Hood Remix. Nice appearance from Ludacris. I’m not a huge fan, but not a bad set from T-Pain. They all put on a nice show.

Video of the Year goes to UGK and Outkast for Playas Anthem. It’s actually a very good video. I’m surprised it won. Real emotional speech from Bun B……….. RIP Pimp C

Here comes the Gospel portion of the show. One performance is not even 10%. This Marvin Sapp performance is not going to save you from the lake of fire BET.

Chris Brown puts on a show. I feel like I’m too old to like him. Nice cameo from Ciara gets C-Ra to sit up in his seat. Am I too old to like her too? It’s been a good show. So far the performances have been on point.

I think everyone and there mom has given Lil Wayne a shout out. Are they filming a DVD about his life?

T-Pain’s slow motion walking is comedy. Me and C-Ra joke that he wouldn’t pass a drug test right now. I’d bet my life on it.

Very nice tribute to Al Green. Jill Scott comes on stage and rips it, followed by Anthony Hamilton. That guy sounds just like Al Green. It must be the Apocalypse because Maxwell just hit the stage. I’m going to church immediately after the show is over. I hope he’s somewhere secretly working on an album. Everyone seems to love Al Green’s set. He is still a showman.

Lil Wayne wins his first award of the night. Somehow he managed to bring his whole family on stage.

Another performance at an award show from Rhianna. She looks like she dressed for the future. No dancers and no frills. Nice set from Rhianna as well.

Where has Nelly been? My first guess would be the gym. Cornelius is actually a good performer. I had no idea there was a, “Stepped on my J’s” dance. Ciara shows up again. I think C-ra’s head is going to explode. Yet another good performance. I must be dreaming.

My mom may read this, so no comment on Lauren London. I just think she should have her own TV channel.

Good to see Alicia Keys win. She has a really good album. Nice acceptance speech for her. She dedicated the award to everyone except me.

There have been a ton of shout outs for Obama. I think everyone in attendance is voting for him in November. I wonder if McCain gets that kind of love at the CMA’s.

T-Pain in another hat. Now he’s a mad scientist. Wayne hits the stage to lackluster applause. Maybe people are tired of Lollipop. I’m shocked they let Wayne say “lick me like a lollipop” on TV. I think the censors missed that one. Once A-Milli hit the crowd seems into his performance or it could be the fact that T-Pain tossed his hat. Nice performance from Wayne to end the show.

Good show from the folks over at BET. The award show has come a long way. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. Some really good performances on this year show. I almost wish I was there. Looks like a lot people stepped their game up. Hopefully they can come with the same energy next year.

Movie Review: Get Smart

Recently we’ve seen a lot of old TV show’s remade for the big screen. Unfortunately not all of them have been a success. For every Star Trek there is a S.W.A.T. This summer we’ve already seen Speed Racer crash after one lap around the track. X-Files is slated to take a second crack at the big screen later this summer. Get Smart is a good movie, but not so true to the TV show.

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is Agent 86, one of CONTROLS best analyst. After CONTROL is attacked by KAOS most of the field agents have been compromised. With little man power to fight Agent 86 is forced out into the field and teams up with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to take down KAOS.

Get Smart was surprisingly funny and full of action. I found myself laughing out loud a few times. Steve Carell was great as Agent 86. Clueless yet smart. His character just seems to be a tad bit socially awkward. Luckily 86 wasn’t a complete dork. He actually does some good fighting in the movie.

Anne Hathaway does a wonderful job as Agent 99. She’s definitely a lot younger looking than Barbra Feldon who was 99 on the TV show. Hathaway added a little more sex appeal to the role and still managed to pull off the fight scenes.

What I enjoyed most about the film was the supporting cast. Dwayne Johnson (looks like he officially dropped “The Rock” from his name) plays Agent 23. He is his usual charismatic self in the film. I’m surprised that he’s turned into a fairly decent actor. I’m going to start a campaign to have him play Bizzaro in the new Superman movie.

Terry Crews and David Koechner play the bullies of CONTROL. They two of them only have a few scenes in the movie, but those scenes have some laugh out loud moments. Crews is great at supporting roles in a comedy.

Masi Oka and Nate Torrence star as the geeks of CONTROL. Both of them seem excited to see Agent 86 out in the field.

My suggestion: Get Smart is a funny movie. Not the funniest movie I’ve seen all year, but worth going to see. The movie is a nice mix of both action and comedy. What I would like to call a nice, clean, family comedy. It’s hard to find comedies that my mom will sit through. This is definitely one of them. If you are going to see Get Smart the TV show, stay home because you aren’t going to get it.

Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

Marvel has done it again. Early this summer it was the surprise hit Iron Man. The good folks over at Marvel followed up with another installment of The Incredible Hulk. A lot of people, including myself, were skeptical of this film because of the last failed attempt at this franchise. This Incredible Hulk is nothing like what we saw in 2003.

The movie opens as Bruce Banner (Edward Norton)a fugitive on the run who is living in Brazil, hiding from who he is, and trying to find a cure. Banner is quickly spotted by General Ross (William Hurt) and is on the run again. With no cure in sight Banner returns home to find some answers.

This movie reminds me of the old TV show that I loved so much. There are only going to be a few scenes with The Hulk. It was important that whoever played Bruce Banner could carry the film. I’ve been a huge fan of Edward Norton since Primal Fear and American History X. In this film Norton does such a great job of playing someone who does not want to be the Hulk. A man who is not happy with what he’s become and wants to find answers. Because of the Hulk he has to isolate himself from other people. You get the sense that he’s not sure he can control the monster within.

One of the great performances of the movie is Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky. An old soldier who wants who is obsessed with the power the Hulk possesses. His obsession with this power only grows stronger as the movie goes on. Blonsky reminded of the steroid issues in our sports today. A person who is past their prime who will inject themselves with anything for the opportunity to “win”.

My suggestion: Go see the Hulk. I don’t think this movie disappoints at all. If you are a fan of the comic book, it is a must see. I enjoyed every minute of it. Good script, great action and even a few laughs to keep the movie going. I loved what I saw out of this movie and I hope to see more. Not to mention there is a cameo at the end of the movie that had the whole theater buzzing. Can’t wait to see what Marvel does next.

Missing: Have you seen this man?

Let me start off by saying that I love Eddie Murphy. I grew up watching him on SNL and have enjoyed a lot of his work. I just wonder if that is really Eddie in all of those bad films. If so, he has the strange ability be involved in really great movies (see Coming to America, 48 Hours, Training Places, The Nutty Professor) and really bad ones. Here is a list of some of Eddie’s worst movies:


Beverly Hills Cop 3 (1994)

Axel Foley is on the trail to find who shot his boss. He stumbles upon a counterfeit money ring run out of a theme park called Wonder World.

This is one of those films I refuse to discuss. As a fan of the first to movies, Beverly Hills Cop 3 really upset me. This movie is a lot like Rocky V, if it wasn’t for the IMDB page, people would have no idea those movies were even made. What was he thinking making this movie? Did they pitch it as 48 Hours meets National Lampoon’s Vacation? He may have secretly been forced to make this movie. In this movie I swear he looked about as comfortable as those guys when they realize they are on Dateline’s To Catch a Predator. The poster in front of the roller coaster says enough.


Norbit (2007)

For some reason everyone I know has seen this film. Maybe they were attracted to see Eddie Murphy in a fat suit again. In this film Eddie stars as Norbit, a mild-mannered man who is trapped in a terrible relationship. He meets the girl of his dreams and tries to find ways to be with her.

Not sure how this movie missed the mark. There are a lot of talented people casted for this movie. For some reason they just couldn’t pull it together. I can see producers sitting around the table and saying, “I got it! Let’s put Eddie Murphy in a fat suit again.” This could easily be Eddie Murphy’s worst movie. The buzz around Oscar time was that this performance may cost him his Academy Award. It’s kind of ironic that one of the funniest comedians we’ve ever had is nominated for an Oscar, but loses because he has a terrible comedy come out the same year. Sounds like the plot for Eddie’s next crappy movie.

Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)

Murphy stars at Maximillian, a vampire who goes to Brooklyn to find a half vampire daughter.

Let’s see this movie is not funny, not scary, and barely entertaining. I didn’t want to see a 90’s version of Blacula. This movie is great if somehow you enjoy bad vampire movies. Vampire in Brooklyn is one of those movies that is so bad, you have to watch it. Eddie did show he could be good at playing a villain. Kudos to Eddie for trying something new, it’s just too bad I’ll never get those 2 hours of my life back.

The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)

The O.J Simpson You-Should-Quit-While-You’re-Ahead award goes to Pluto Nash. Murphy stars as nightclub owner Pluto Nash who, despite pressure from the mob, is trying to keep his club open in space.

Why did I see this movie? Two reasons: Rosario Dawson. Not even her beautiful smile could save this film. Mobsters in space? Really? It’s no wonder this movie was highly unsuccessful. What is surprising is that the films budget was estimated at $100 million (yes Dr. Evil $100 million) with a marketing cost of $20 million. According to Wikipedia as of 2008 this is the sixth-largest financial loss of any film ever made. I would hate to have my name attached to that project. I’m almost certain somebody lost their job behind this movie. I was recently roasted ay my birthday party. One of my good friends who lives out of town sent in a list of things she remembers about me. #10 on the list: Taking me to see Pluto Nash. This movie still haunts me today.


Holy Man (1998)

Eddie plays a man who is in search of enlightenment. During his journey he decides to help a man save his job.

Why make this movie? Was Murphy close to being an insurance salesman so he desperately needed money? I swear he spent 90% of the movie smiling like a crazed mental patient. I’ll stick by my theory that he signed on thinking Holy Man was a movie where he would be playing Jesus. At the last minute they change the script, but he had a legal obligation to make this movie. There is no other logical explanation for him to be attached to this film.


Showtime (2002)

You would think that Robert DeNiro and Eddie Murphy would be a sure hit. Not so much. When you look this movie up on IMDB one of the keywords is “Box Office Flop”. In Showtime, Murphy stars as Officer Sellars. After botching an investigation and shooting a camera the LAPD decided to let this reality TV show follow Sellars and Mitch (DeNiro) around filming what life is like for the LAPD.

Not only is the concept of this film utterly ridiculous, there is zero chemistry between the two stars. Eddie Murphy looked like he was being held hostage, and DeNiro had about as much joy on his face as Hilary Clinton did when she congratulated Barack. I know it’s hard to pass up an opportunity to work with legendary actor Robert DeNiro but maybe Eddie should have thought twice about this buddy cop movie. At least we still have 48 Hrs.

Dr. Dolitte 2 (2001)

Murphy returns at Dr. John Dolittle. This time he’s playing matchmaker for a Circus Bear.

Do you realize he spent all day working with animals, and talking to himself? There has to be footage somewhere of him sitting in his trailer depressed. What gives me a headache about this movie is that it was completely unnecessary. He played the worst movie doctor since Dr. Giggles. I hope a lot of kids loved this movie because I know a lot of people who didn’t.

Bowfinger (1999)

Eddie plays Kit and Jiff Ramsey. A struggling producer makes a movie for Kit. When he’s unable to cast Kit in the film, he cast his not so cool brother Jiff so he can secretly film the movie without Kit’s knowledge.

The movie never gets funny. It’s incredibly painful to watch. Mentioning this movie to Eddie may result in a fight. I saw this movie in Canada and it was beyond terrible. I remember thinking, “Maybe Canada gets different versions of movies. These Canadians are funny! There is no way Eddie Murphy would make this movie in America.” I almost asked for my toonies back. When I returned to the states I realized what I saw was the American version of Bowfinger. If I was Eddie I would use some of that Shrek money to buy the rights to Bowfinger and quickly destroy every existing copy. It only makes sense.

Movie Review: Sex and the City

There is good news and bad news for all male moviegoers.

The good news? There is less than two months until The Dark Knight opens in theaters.

The bad news? It looks like we will be hearing about Sex and the City until then.

The movie starts right where the show left off, following the lives of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) around New York City.

The movie picks up pace rather quickly as Big (Christopher Noth) and Carrie are set to be married. This would be the perfect ending for everyone’s favorite couple. Of course there is some drama that surrounds their pending nuptials. What would Sex and the City be without its drama? Miranda and Steve (David Eigenberg) have a few issues to work out, as well as Samantha dealing with her life adjustment and boyfriend Smith (Jason Lewis).

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a huge fan of the show. I watched the first 2-3 seasons religiously, but found myself bored soon after that. With that said, the movie was surprisingly entertaining and well written. Some of the really tense moments in the film really pull you in and allow you to feel for the characters involved. The funny moments are well placed so you won’t feel like you are watching some serious drama.

Kristin Davis was great as Charlotte. She helped keep the movie light and fun for those of us who were not going to cry our eyes out. Jennifer Hudson plays Louise, Carrie’s assistant, adding some humor and a fresh face to the cast. Louise seems fit right in.

In the tradition of the show, there are some good scenes with the four women discussing their views on relationships. As a man I find these scenes very interesting. Do women really talk like that?

One of the glaring questions I had was, for the male characters in the movie: Where are their guy friends? I know the show doesn’t revolve around the men, but I didn’t see any groomsmen with Big. When I brought this up to my female friends they say “we’ll that’s just how he is” or “he’s always been a loner.” What successful guy has no male friends? The only guy I can think of is Michael Jackson. That’s really not good company for Big to be in.

I wonder if an Entourage movie would be just as entertaining.

My suggestion: If you are a fan of the show, you’d be a fool not to watch this movie. It’s a must see for all Sex and the City fans. Without giving away too much of the movie, I’d compare it to the Lakers making it through the playoffs and then I decide not to watch the NBA Finals. It’s entertaining and has a lot of good points in the movie. There is some nudity and some sex in the movie. If you are offended by that I’d wait for the edited version on TNT. The movie may spark some good conversation. I had a discussion with Ms. LA last night about different points in the movie. She was surprised we agreed on a major point in the movie. I’m not surprised at all; she’s a believer in love. I think most people will enjoy this movie. The film will at least provide you with some fun conversation with your friends at happy hour.

Exclusive Clip: The Fist Foot Way

Is this film box office competition for Sex In The City?

The Fist Foot Way is a comedy about a martial arts instructor whose life collapses after he finds out his wife is having an affair. This sends the our hero Simmons on a journey to find himself by battling undefeated champ Chuck “The Truck” Wallace. This clip is funny enough to make me go see it. In theaters May 30th.

Hollywood's Best Bet

Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep-The Gambler, Kenny Rogers

With a lack of originality in much of Hollywood’s stories, there has been a major push towards reality television. What’s ironic is that the best original story Hollywood could have come up with is a reality for the NBA.

A gambling addict turned NBA ref fixes over 100 games. Just when we think it is a dead issue he blows the lid off the story by saying that other officials, coaches, and players were involved.
What studio is going to pass on that script? Think The Departed meets Hoosiers or Donnie Brasco meets White Shadow.

The 42 year old veteran referee plead guilty last summer to felony charges that involved taking cash payoffs and betting on games he officiated. He faces up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

The story sounds straight forward enough. Here a few points that may make this a more interesting story and possible epic movie:

Tim Donaghy was not caught by NBA Security. He was overheard by the FBI on a mob wire tap, who then contacted the NBA.

During the time period he refereed 139 regular season games and 8 playoff games.

With the investigation still ongoing NBA Commissioner David Stern says at a press conference that he was a “rouge referee” and it was an “isolated instance”.

The NBA has not released a list of games Donaghy refereed from 2005-2007.

Sports gambling expert R. J. Bell tracked every game Donaghy worked from 2003-2007. He discovered that “during the two seasons investigated by the NBA the teams scored more points than expected by Vegas sports books 57% of the time. The odds of such a discrepancy are 1 in 1,000.”

Tim Donaghy told investigators that relationships among officials, coaches, and players “affected the outcome of the games”

Donaghy told investigators about the gambling activities of other NBA officials and about a referee that passed “confidential” information to an unidentified coach.

Donaghy’s attorney suggested that the NBA might have “pressured” the attorney’s office “into shutting down this prosecution to avoid the disclosure of information unrelated to Tim’s conduct.”

NBA referee Bob Delany is a former undercover state trooper with the New Jersey State Police task force on organized crime.

When Bob Delany was asked what illegal activities he participated in Delany said, “stolen property, loan sharking, gambling, purchasing of guns.”

Did he just say gambling? I wonder if Delany and Donaghy worked any games together. What if we found out they were in cahoots? What if David Stern was highly involved along with Lebron James and Steve Nash.

(Opening scene)
Donaghy: (in his car talking on the phone) Okay, Okay. I know I’m in the hole, but I’ll make up for it tonight. I’ll be sure not to make it look too obvious
Voice on the other end of the phone: The boss does not like to be disappointed.
(Kenny Rogers, The Gambler plays as a slow montage of NBA referee Tim Donaghy getting dressed for the game, walking on the court, half court handshake with NBA players. The camera surveys a crowd of cheering fans. One fan is still sitting in his seat with his eyes fixed on Donaghy. He’s there to protect his investment)

The NBA is Fantastic!

Who would play Obama in a movie?

One of the first things I saw this morning during my usual whats-happening-in-the-world-today search(that consist of Concreteloop, CNN, The PI, ESPN, and Allhiphop) was the Obama rally in Portland Oregon this weekend. Obama reportedly drew around 75,000 show up to his rally at Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon. It is one of the largest crowds ever for a Presidential campaign. I’m a little frustrated that there is not a lot of national coverage for this. When was the last time you’ve seen any political figure have that many people come see them speak? I can’t think of anyone. Those are early 80’s Michael Jackson numbers.

I made an attempt to attend his rally in Seattle at Key Arena. I left work early and still wasn’t even close to getting in.

I wonder who would play Obama in a movie? Will Smith? My money would go towards Terrance Howard or Harry J. Lennix. You’ve seen him in Stomp The Yard, Ray, Barbershop 2, and Resurrecting The Champ. He should start working on his Obama impersonation right now.

Trailer: Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

Bigger, Stronger, Faster* is a documentary directed by Christopher Bell that discusses the use of steroids in the United States. Steroid use has been a hot topic for years in our sports culture. It’s amazing how much steroid use can have an effect on the sports we watch every day. This documentary looks to address America’s obsession with body image as well as the notion that you should win at all cost. In the past year we’ve had the Mitchell Report, Marion Jones steroid scandal, not to mention the wrestlers who’ve died before the age of 40. Bigger, Stronger, Faster* was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival. Hopefully it’ll be a hit once it opens nationwide on May 30th

Movie Review: Made of Honor

Patrick Dempsey really fits the mold for “male lead in a romantic comedy”. The success of Grey’s Anatomy in addition to the McDreamy nickname is allowing him to take the crown from the likes of Matthew McConaughey and Hugh Grant. His look is good for about three or four more of these movies.

Patrick Dempsey plays Tom, a rich womanizer, who has a ton of women and seemingly a ton of rules about dating them too. Tom is best friends with Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) and has been since college. While Hannah is off in Scotland for work, Tom realizes that he has strong feelings for her. After Hannah returns they meet up for dinner where Tom is introduced to Colin, Hannah’s fiancé.

Hannah proceeds to ask Tom if he would be her maid of honor. He agrees to be her maid of honor in an effort to thwart the wedding and confess his love to Hannah.

Made of Honor is a predictable romantic comedy that does not offer anything new to the audience. What guy is really going to be a maid of honor? That’s just a little too ridiculous for me. The movie is so predictable to the point I was able to tell my friend how it ended and what Tom was going to say. Maybe I watch too many movies. Maybe it’s just that predictable.

The movie is not without its entertaining moments.

Michelle Monaghan is fantastic in the movie. I enjoyed her last year in The Heartbreak Kid and Gone Baby Gone. I think she’s a very beautiful actress, but they made her look very plain for this movie.

The scenes with Tom and his buddies, played by Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne Wayne where have you been), Chris Messina, and Richmond Arquette help hold the movie together. Some of those conversations are conversations that men have from time-to-time. Each one of them has a different view on life, relationships, and marriage. It was good to see that dynamic in this movie. There is also a hysterical basketball scene with Tom and Colin that is definitely worth watching.

One of my favorite actors Sydney Pollack plays Thomas Sr. who ads some more laughter to the film. I wish he had a little more camera time.

My suggestion: I’m not too high on this movie because I feel like I’ve seen it before. If you happen to enjoy romantic comedies, you can go see it OR you can rent My Best Friend’s Wedding, Love Actually, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and sort of mix and match those movies. Kind of like putting together a Lego set, but only you would be building a chick flick. For those who enjoy this genre they will be pleased with this film. You’ll like it, but not love it.

Movie Review: Iron Man

This summer has officially started off with a bang. I listed Iron Man #2 on my movies to see this summer. The only concern I had about this movie was Robert Downey Jr. I wondered if he could pull of Tony Stark. Would he be Bale in Batman Begins or Ben Affleck in Daredevil? Not only does he pull it off, Downey looks like he’s having fun doing it.

Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, a billionaire weapons maker who is as rich as Bruce Wayne combined with the intelligence of Peter Parker. Stark is kidnapped and mortally wounded on a trip through Afghanistan. His only escape is constructing a metal suit to fight his way out.

After escaping Starks devotes his life to fighting the very people who use his weapons for evil. He uses the prototype metal man suit he made to engineer a sleeker version, giving us Iron Man.

Robert Downey Jr gives us one of the better super hero performances. It’s easy to hold a moviegoers attention in the Iron Man suit. The special effects, gadgets, eye-popping special effects, or even the cool colors can sell themselves. The scenes where he’s not wearing the suit is where we need to see the actor shine. Downey does a masterful job with his witty performance as Tony Stark. He’s so believable as a billionaire/playboy/egomaniac that I’m not even sure if he’s acting.

Terrance Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges round out the supporting cast in the film. All accomplished actors who did a really good job. Whoever casted for this film did a wonderful job of getting actors who could hold up the scenes that didn’t have explosions or cool Iron suits in them. I didn’t find myself bored, staring at my watch waiting for another action sequence.

One of the villains in the movie is Raza played by Faran Tahir. Raza did not have a lot of lines in the movie, but his presence seemed necessary. I look forward to seeing him in some more movies.

My suggestion: Iron Man is a fun ride for everyone. One of the better comic book adaptations that’s been made over the years. Jon Favreau did a magnificent job constructing this film, and including some of the nuances of the comic book. The storyline is good, the action is great, not to mention the script is funny and keeps you engaged for the whole film. The action reminds me of mornings sitting up ignoring my chores, reading comic book after comic book. I would have never imagined we would see those same comic book heroes on such a big stage. Next up, The Hulk!

Top 10 Movie Villains

In no particular order

1. Agent Smith - Matrix Trilogy (Hugo Weaving): One of the coolest villains we've had over the past few years. I loved how he would fix his suit during a fight scene. Don't think he's a great movie villain? What the movie again, you'll see how everyone is completely terrified of him.
Villainous Moment: When the agents have Morpheus captured, Smith gives his speech and says, "I can taste your stink and every time I do, I feel that I've somehow been infected by it."

2. Dr. Hannibal Lecter – Silence of the Lambs (Anthony Hopkins): Creepy is not the word to describe him. I'm not sure if there is even one word that sums up this character. Was what he said scary, or how he said it. You start to kind of like him because he's helping Clarice solve the murders………….then you see him kill someone and you say, "Oh that's they have that mask on his face."
Villainous Moment: Killing the guard then escaping from the cell pretending to be the mangled guard by putting the dead guard's skin on his face. Great costume!

3. Bishop – Juice (Tupac Shakur): One of the first movies of its genre has one of the best characters in it. This guy was crazy! He robbed a store, shot his best friend, showed up at his friend's funerals to pay his respects, intimidated his other friends, shot Radamen, told everyone Q was responsible, and shot Steels. Did I mention he was only high school? One of my favorite scenes is Bishops confrontation with Q at school. He closes his locker and Bishop is standing right there. Q once again calls Bishop crazy. The exchange ends with Bishop saying, "You remember that (expletive). I'm the one you need to be looking out for……..potna!
Villainous Moment: Bishop is trying to kill Q (the only witness left) as Q tries to get away, they both cram into an elevator. What does Bishop do? Pull out his gun and shoot in a crowded elevator.

4. Commodus – Gladiator (Joaquin Phoenix): I remember hating this character as I watched the movie, after the movie, and when I told people about the movie. He was like a spoiled brat. That kid who would take his ball and go home, only his ball happened to be all of Rome. There was also that awkwardness with him and his sister. Sort of creepy if you ask me.
Villainous Moment: The sequence when he kills Marcus Aurelius after he tells him that Maximus will be the leader of Rome, then proceeds to tell everyone that his father passed in his sleep, calls Maximums a trader and has his family killed. All that in the first half hour.

5. Anton Chigurh – No Country for Old Men (Javier Bardem): This Oscar Award winning performance was good. I like to see villains win more Oscars. I know I'm not the only one who felt like something bad was going to happen every time Anton showed up on screen. You never knew what was really driving him, just that he would shoot anything/anybody in his way.
Villainous Moment: He shot a ton of people in the film, but the scene that got me was the old man at the gas station. I knew that if he didn't get the coin flip right, he was a dead man. The scary part was that the old man had no idea.

6. Hedra "Hedy" Carlson – Single White Female (Jennifer Jason Leigh): I have a friend, who has a friend, who sort of reminds us of this character. This is a clear example of when friendships go bad. I always seem to reference this character when a female friend has some stalker friend issues. People can point to this movie and say, "That's why I don't have friends". They'd have a very good point.
Villainous Moment: The scene at the hair salon when she walks down the steps with the exact hairstyle as Allison is out of control. It's both funny and scary……….sort of how clowns for some people. It would be wrong not to mention the scene where she sleeps with the boyfriend pretending to be Allison.

7. Han – Enter The Dragon (Kien Shih): I loved this character as a kid. I remember my uncle having these movie posters in his room. Han always looked mad in the film. To me he is the underrated villain. He had a handicap (one of his hands was missing) that he turned into a weapon with detachable hands. My favorite being the bear claw he used to fight Lee in the final scene. Han was able to host a martial arts tournament to the death, and have slaves underground on the same island. He gets points for multi-tasking his evil plans.
Villainous Moment: Killing Williams with one hand after he thought he was out of his room past curfew. Who gives a grown man a curfew? That's bull Mr. Han Man!

8. Annie Wilkes – Misery (Kathy Bates): Underneath all the nasty stuff, she's just an obsessed fan who wants to see one of her favorite characters brought back to life. That's not so bad right? That's how I felt when they killed off Stringer Bell on The Wire. Except for the fact that she goes overboard in proving her point. A simple letter to the editor might have been sufficient.
Villainous Moment: The scene where she hobbles Paul so that he can't escape. What happened to handcuffs? It is one thing to show her swing the hammer, but it's another thing to show his ankles collapse like they did. I still can't watch that scene.

9. The Terminator – Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – One of the main reasons I'm against cybernetic technology is this movie. He shows no emotion through the whole movie. He wasn't even upset when he couldn't get to his target. He just kept going and going like an evil Energizer Bunny. The Terminator is definition of a one-man wrecking crew. One of the most relentless bad guys we've had in cinema.
Villainous Moment: The famous line "I'll be back." I like how people say that phrase all the time. I wonder if they know that in the context of the movie, he was talking to a police officer. When he came "back" he shot everyone in the police station. That was in the day of cinema where everything bad seemed to happen in California, now it's New York. Good times for the Govenator.

10. Alonzo – Training Day (Denzel Washington): My mom LOVES Denzel. My mom also hates this movie and refuses to watch it. She even despises the fact that he won an Oscar for his performance. This movie came out right after Remember the Titans. For some reason I kept waiting for Alonzo to do something good. To the delight of movie fans everywhere, it never happened. The more I watch the movie, the more I realize how cold blooded he was. The fact that they mention he had a family at the end always cracks me up.
Villainous Moment: I wasn't sure he was a bad guy UNTIL he left Detective Hoyt in that house for dead. I remember thinking, "He's going to come back and get him." He also tells Hoyt "To be a truly effective, a good narcotics agent must know and love narcotic. In fact, a good narcotics agent should have narcotics in his blood."

Forgettig Sarah Marshall

The Summer movie season officially starts in May (at least that’s what I’m told). Audiences are in for a treat with the new comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I love how funny/ironic relationships can be. The same things that can make you laugh hysterically can drive you crazy the next minute. It was great to see some of that on film.

In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Peter (Jason Segel) breaks up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah (Kristen Bell). After being a mess for weeks, he decides to take a vacation to Hawaii and stay at an exclusive resort. The only problem is that Sarah is staying at the resort too with her new boyfriend, rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand).

The premise for the movie alone is pretty funny. I ranked this movie #6 on my list of movies to see this summer. After watching it, I should have ranked it a little higher………definitely ahead of Semi-Pro.

Jason Segel does a great job as Peter. He’s very believable as the guy who dated a girl who was out of his league, then has to come to grips with them not being together. I really could have done without the frontal male nudity. They should have warning signs that pop up on the screen so you know to cover your eyes. He was able to carry the movie and not to mention the fact that I’ve been singing that Dracula song since Friday night.

No comedy is complete without beautiful co-stars. Mila Kunis was great in the film as Rachel. I’ll go on record as saying I didn’t know she was that cute. This role should bump her up a few notches on Maxim’s Hot 100 list for next year. She’ll be the “it” girl that all the guys will be buzzing about after the movie. There is something attractive about someone who can really play the sweet innocent girl or the really bad I-think-you-may-be-a-psycho girl. Maybe psycho is the new sexy. Kristen Bell was last seen in Heroes strike shortened season. Bell was able to pull of her role as Sarah Marshall. She was surprisingly funny in her CSI like TV show.

The supporting cast which includes Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, and Jack McBrayer did a good job filling in for some of the movies funnier moments. The surprise comedy comes from Russell Brand who plays Sarah’s new boyfriend, Aldous. Some of the one-liners he delivers are gut busting. You mix that with his accent and you get a great sleazy Euro pop star boyfriend. The kind of guy that most men love to hate. He may easily win the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain

My suggestion: It’s one of the first “must see” movies of the year. If you don’t like dirty jokes or as my friend would say raunchy comedy, don’t see this movie. It reminded me why I love comedy so much. It’s a hilarious look at one of the most uncomfortable situations, seeing your recent ex with a new love. They make light of the situation, but this film will definitely have you thinking of what you might do in that situations. This is a great comedy and I hope more people go to see it.

Glow In The Dark Tour

The Glow In The Dark tour was amazing. Seattle was the first stop on the tour, and I was able to rock with everybody.

Lupe Fiasco opened the show. If you’ve ever seen him live, you know he’s high energy. He was able to get the crowd hyped. Lupe did Hip Hop You Saved Me that was a crowd pleaser. Matthew Santos and his mohawk joined Lupe to perform Fighters and Superstar. I like Lupe. I wanted to hear more of some of his mixtape music.

N.E.R.D’s performance was crazy. They came out to a new song that was amazing. Its official, the ladies still love Skateboard P. They did some original N.E.R.D songs from their first album In Search Of. One of my favorite sets of the night was when they performed Rock Star. I don’t know if it was the live band or the fact that everybody new the words to the song. I think that’s the point where I started to lose my voice. I’m looking forward do their new album. Pharrell came out after their performance and addressed the crowd. He apologized for losing his voice due to the smoke machine. He said he heard there was a five year old in the crowd and wanted to apologize for using profanity around the kids. I thought that was a good gesture Skateboard P loves the kids!

Even though I don’t own a single Rhianna record, and she’s not on my iPod, her show was good. She had all these crazy colors, dancers, lighting. The crowd seemed really into it. It was an easy transition for the ladies who went from screaming for P to screaming for Rhianna. I feel like I heard Umbrella a zillion times due to radio and TV. Ri-Ri ripped it live. I think we all secretly sing the song when we are alone so it was cool to sing it out loud and guilt free as a 29 year old man.

Kanye stole the show (of course). He was on stage for close to two hours. I couldn’t believe it. He had a whole spaceship theme. I won’t ruin it for any of your readers but he has a lot of visual effects. I was reminded why he was one of my favorite performers. He was insane! He performed for what seemed like forever. How he had all that energy, I don’t know. He really put his all into the show. It was so visually stunning that you didn’t want to take your eyes off the stage. Kanye had everything from smoke to flames, fog, dolls. There weren’t a whole lot of frills to his show. Just Kanye and a microphone. He spit with so much venom. My favorite performance of his was “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” that hit hard. His new version of Hey Mama was good too. The crowed was screaming! It looked like he got a little emotional at one point the crowd cheered even louder. You can say Ye is big headed or egotistical, but he knows how to put on a show. We need more performers like that.

If the show is coming to your town GO CHECK IT OUT. I promise it will be worth every penny. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been too. I would have felt dumb if I didn’t go. All the acts were high energy. I didn’t sit down for 4 hours. I’d go see the concert again if it came back to town. People are in for a treat and they don’t even know it.

Not So Romantic Comedies

SPOILER ALERT!!!!
If you haven't seen any of these movies, I will be giving away some plot details (as if they aren't already predictable). I apologize in advance

I went to see Juno with one of my female friends and they showed a trailer for Definitely, Maybe. My friend leans over to me and says, "Awww that looks cute". I was thinking that movie is about a guy telling his daughter about his past relationships. How appropriate is that? Who in the world would want to watch that?

The sad truth was that a lot of women would watch that movie and movies just like it.

It reminded me of a girl I dated who must have uttered the phrase, "Just like in Love Actually…… (fill in her irrational comparison)" at least a hundred times. Not only that, but she quoted the movie like a preacher would quote bible verses during a sermon.

I think she believed what she was watching was real. I had to remind her that Love Actually is not a documentary. Sadly, after surveying friends and co-workers I realized that the young woman was not alone. Brace yourself fellas, because most women see these movies the same way no matter age, race, class, or even their level of education.

After subjecting myself to hours of "romantic comedies" I realized that most of these movies weren't romantic, most of them were unrealistic, and unapologetically sappy. They were so unrealistic to the point where I felt I was watching the Sci-Fi Channel only all the movies involved earth and people falling in love.

Wow! That was quick

A common theme in these movies seems to be how fast these couples fall in love. How To Lose a Guy in 10 days basically gives it away in the title. After spending 8 days not being themselves the two suddenly fall prey to Cupid's arrow? I find that hard to believe. Has this ever happend? Dishonesty is exactly how I want to start off my next relationship.

Anyone who has ever been in love, or at least thought they were, knows how insane the premise for that movie is.
Fools Rush In may hold the Guinness record for falling in love after 24 hours with a three month gap in between. I wish I could find love that fast! It's like fast food relationships. We all know how healthy fast food is.

That's Soooooooooo Inappropriate

Some of the relationships in these films are wildly inappropriate. Somehow women seem to be okay with relationships in these movies that any rational/normal person would be completely against in real life. Don't believe me?

One of my sister's favorite movies is While You Were Sleeping. The movie is about a subway worker who is obsessed with a stranger. Before she can fall for him, he falls into a coma. His family then mistakes her for his fiancée. Instead of telling the truth, she goes right along with the story. To top it all off, she falls for his brother. How is that okay?

If I read this story on CNN it would be a scandal, and I think most women I know would would be outraged. In this movie you are made to feel for Sandra Bullock's character. She's just a woman looking for love…………..not a liar.

The most draw dropping example is my favorite movie of all time Love Actually. One of the stories the movie depicts is a man who's madly in love with a woman that is recently married. What's the problem? It's his best friend who she is married too. Once she realizes how he feels, he shows up at her door with cue cards (how cute) professing his love to her. Did I mention that it's his best friend's wife? After the cue card stunt, he walks away with this accomplished look on his face, and she chases him down and kisses him. IT'S HIS BEST FRIENDS WIFE!

Maybe that was too soon?

The promiscuity in these movies is off the charts. What's not even on the charts are how damaging it really is.

In the opening scene of How to Lose, one of the characters is complaining that this guy is not calling her back. She mentions that she slept with the guy after two days. After discussing the issue with her friends they come to the conclusion that she calls him too much. Ummmm maybe you shouldn't have slept with someone who doesn't know your last name. I'm not a gambling man, but I would bet that may be why he's not calling you.

Last time I checked, women don't like other women who sleep around. I hear it all the time with my friends, at work, at the gym. If I told my friends I was dating that girl my female friends would give me the "I don't know about her" speech. My female friends also love that movie. Go figure

When Pigs Fly

There are moments in a lot of these films where I say, "Yeah right!"

Fools Rush In is one of moments for me. It's a wonderful story about a man who's on business from New York to Vegas. On this trip he has a one-night stand. He doesn't hear from the girl for three months and finds out she's pregnant. He decides to step up to the responsibility and propose? Maybe he skipped a few steps. I think that's ridiculous

Pretty Woman falls in the category. She's a prostitute (yes she is) and you want her to find love. How ridiculous is that they should do a Pretty Woman II: I Thought You Were Going to Quit.

How To Lose lost me early in the film. The wonderful scene where they are at the Knicks game. It's the NBA Finals and she asks him to get her a drink with 1:00 left in the game. Not only did he go once, but he went it TWICE. He eventually misses the end of the game. I still refuse to acknowledge that scene. As a sports fan you don't know how painful that was to watch. I know some die hard Knick fans. There would have definately been a homicide at MSG that day.

Now I really don't dislike these movies. I think they serve a purpose in film, an even greater purpose for young women. It is good to know that people want the finer things in life like love, happiness, romance. I think both men and women essentially want the same things. I just need women to realize how out of control these movies can be. Women should not be allowed to reference them in arguments, discussions, or use them as measuring sticks for their lives/relationships. When you get down and out (as we all do), don't sulk on your couch eating ice cream thinking, "When is a guy going to come me off my feet". It happens................just not like you see in the movies.

On second thought, the next time I'm in an argument I'm going to make my point saying, "Noooooo because in Batman Begins…"

Trailer: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Am I the only one who can't wait to see this movie? Its ranked #5 on my movies to see this summer. When it's all said it done it could end up being #2. The big elephant in the room is that some believe Han Solo is a little too old to be searching for lost treasure. According to this trailer, he'll be just fine. Here to hoping Shia, Dr. Richard Kimble, and Cate Blanchett can pull it off.

The Hammer

Is it me or does The Hammer sounds like an old 1970's TV show. One of those shows where the lead character is a tough-as-nails detective who's known for roughing up the bad guys. The type of guy who doesn't care about the rules, his only concern is justice……………..STREET JUSTICE.

So when I heard that they were making a film I was shocked to hear it was about boxing; not the action drama that I've scripted in my head.

The Hammer stars Adam Carolla as 40 year old Jerry Ferro. The former amateur boxer who is now a construction worker/ boxing instructor at a local gym. With life now getting the best of Jerry, he decides to take an opportunity at the Olympic tryouts and return to competitive boxing.

Two words to describe this movie: original and funny………… a lot funnier than I expected. (that's more than two words I know)

Adam Carolla is Adam Carolla in this film. If you listen to his radio show or have seen him on Jimmy Kimmel Live, you know what to expect from him. Carolla likes to rant and rave about random observations. Carolla will say, "Do you know what bothers me? What bothers me is…….". I swear the man could go on for hours on one topic alone. That happens to be part of what makes Carolla funny. His character in the film is the same way. Not only does it work well, it works very well.

The movie also has a nice love story involving Jerry and one of his boxing students Lindsay (Heather Juregensen). If you need to convince a woman to see it, here is your angle. There is enough "romance" in the movie that it will keep her interested plus she won't drag you to see 27 Dresses for making her watch this movie.

There is also a funny comedic performance from Oswaldo Castillo as Oswald. Harold House Moore plays Robert Brown, a light heavyweight competing with Jerry for that elusive Olympic spot. Moore does a great job as the young, hot shot, up-and-coming boxer.

My suggestion: Go see The Hammer! If you like Adam Carolla you will like this movie. It's a nice original story that's also funny, and entertaining. It's going to be one of those movies that people will re-watch on cable. Well worth the $9.75 I paid to see it.

10 Reasons I Love Lauren London

Reasons I love Lauren Nicole London

10. She's pretty cute. I don't know if you saw ATL, This Christmas but yeah she's good in those movies.

9. She's the new "it" girl. Beyonce is getting old and Rhianna hasn't caught fire yet. Ms. London is the real deal

8. She's light skin. Maybe it's some post slavery stuff that I'll need counseling for but I love the light skinned girls. Easily the worlds baddest 5'2 light skin girl.

7. Her KING magazine cover and article. That really put her on the map and up'd her sexy

6. Her smile/dimples. You can't fake those. You can augment whatever you want but those dimples are natural. Almost heart stopping

5. She's very likeable. Seems like that girl next door you could party all night with or take to church with mom. If my mom didn't like her.................sorry mom but I'll miss not having you at my wedding.

4. Did you see Rip The Runway? She's a natural with the microphone. Very engaging. I feel like she's talking to my soul. My souls has since written her a four page letter.

3. Her short cameo on Entourage. Somehow she was Turtle's love interest.That was like how they stuck Lisa with Screech on Saved By The Bell.With that said she stole a few scene with that signature smile. It may be the first time I ever wanted to be named Turtle.

2. Her eyes. It's like Medusa in Clash Of The Titans, only instead of dying you fall in love. If you don't believe me go to Google image and see if you don't fall in love for about 2 seconds.

1. Although she's a star she seems "dateable". I feel like if I have a hit move that's going to be made and I bump into her in LA that we could wrap and I could put the charm on her, go to breafast, watch a movie, go to dinner, and watch the sunset on Sunset. I'm frantically writing my script right now

Horton Hears A Who!

As a kid I don’t remember too much about my early childhood. Maybe all the TV I’ve watched has started to replace my memories with TV theme songs. Somehow I never seem to forget those. If they could turn the periodic table of elements into one of those catchy 80’s theme song, I would be the greatest scientist in the world.

One thing I do remember was having Dr. Suess' books. A ton of Dr. Suess’ books. Did I really I have ever single one? I should check with my mom to verify if any of this is true. Either way I had remember having these books and Cat In The Hat bookends that kept them on top of my dresser. Needless to say I was excited to see Cat In The Hat and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. The Grinch I enjoyed but Cat In That Hat…………..not so much.

Why do I see kids movies at my age? I’m still not sure yet. I think it’s because they can do so much more with animation. They are able to make the characters more entertaining and the movie more visually stunning. Look at the way animation was used for huge hits like Sin City and 300. It doesn’t work for every movie because I’d rather drink bleach than watch Renaissance again.

Dr. Suess’ newest book turned kids movie is Horton Hears A Who. The movie starts Jim Carey as the voice of Horton the loveable Elephant who finds a world of people living on a speck of dust. He comes in contact with the Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carrell) and realizes he has to find a safe place for the tiny speck to live. Horton sets off to find a stable home and saving Whoville.

Horton’s neighbors refuse to believe anything can live on a speck. The most notorious of them is Kangaroo (Carol Burnett).

I was very surprised how much I enjoyed the movie. It was funny, heart-warming, and even had a “after school special” point to it at the end. The voices for the movie are casted very well. For some reasons the Who’s always remind me of Planet of The Apes.

One of the movies comedic highlights comes from Vlad (Will Artnet) an evil vulture. Vlad steals a few funny scenes with his ridiculous antics and even more ridiculous accent. Morton (Seth Rogen) is funny as Horton’s paranoid friend.

My suggestion: See Horton! It is a great family movie that continues the tradition of animated movies that both kids and adults can enjoy. I know kids can’t wait for the DVD release. Like any kids movie it will be annoying to the parents who are tortured into watching it every day for two months.

Incredible Hulk Trailer!!!!

The Incredible Hulk has returned in 2008. The trailer looks good. This movie may be better than the pu-pu platter that came out in 2003. No disrespect to Eric Bana ,but I like Edward Norton in this role. This version should be good. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters June 13

Reason # 47 I Love YouTube

I still can't believe this actually aired on TV.

Semi-Pro

I listed Will Ferrell's new movie Semi-Pro #4 on my list of movies to see this summer. Is it too late to change my list? Semi-Pro was funny…just not the type of funny we expect from Ferrell. The movie stars Ferrell as Jackie Moon, owner/coach/player/promoter of the struggling ABA team The Flint Michigan Tropics. With the league going bankrupt, the owners decided that the top four teams should merge with the NBA. In order to keep his team Moon not only has to win games, but have least 2,000 fans in attendance for every home game. To be honest, I like Ferrel, I like him a lot. I loved Blades Of Glory, and Talladega Nights; this sports movie just wasn't in the same league as the other films. Although I was disappointed, the movie was not without its share of funny moments. Semi-Pro opens with Jackie Moon's mega hit "Love Me Sexy" (I'm still trying to find the ringtone) The song just reminds me of one of those sleazy 1970's one hit wonders with lewd lyrics that are almost as bad as the album covers. Will Arnett is hilarious as Lou Redwood, ex-player/Tropics announcer. He has some pretty funny one-liners in the film that kept me laughing. I'm a huge critic of rappers turned actors. Andre Benjamin does a good job as Clarence 'Coffee' Black, the only Tropic with any real basketball talent. It makes me wonder if he will ever go back to making albums. Matt Walsh is priceless as Father Pat the Ref. His, "maybe your mom's not in heaven", joke still has me laughing. My biggest problem with the movie: Not consistent enough. It reminds me of a girl I dated once who was so hot and cold it drove me crazy. We would have these great dates and I wouldn't hear from her the next day. I was frustrated because I couldn't get a consistent feel for the relationship. That's exactly how this movie felt. You would have funny moments that were followed by dry spells. It was hard to get a consistent laugh. Since I listed it at #4 I wish I could have had a few more laughs.Semi-Pro has a lot of ABA references. If you aren't familiar with the ABA and how things were in the late 70's, a lot of the jokes don't make as much sense. I should thank my dad for all of those old stories about Dr. J. Thanks Dad!Since this movie is rated R they can't show a lot of what makes this movie funny on TV. This movie may have been better as a PG-13. When will people realize that PG-13 is where it's at. I know that the R rating is necessary for some films, but Semi-Pro that could have been just as funny if not funnier as a PG-13. My suggestion: If you are a fan of Ferrell you may want to go see the movie. If not, you can easily wait for the DVD. What's crazy is that the funniest part of my two hours at the theater was the trailer for Ferrell's next movie Step Brothers with Talladega Nights co-star John C. Reilly. That's the sort of comedy I can't wait to see.

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Ten 10 List

There are a lot of movies slated to come out between now and the end of the summer. History tells us that not all of them will be good. Advertisements and trailers will label them the “Best Movie of The Summer”. This will only hold true for a few. I thought it would be a good idea to give a list of movies that I’m looking forward to seeing. Here’s my Top 10

10. Baby Mama (Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear) – A single business woman decides to have a child on her own. She soon realizes that she is unable to have children, leaving her with quite a delimit. Still determined, she finds a surrogate mother. Everything is going according to plan until the surrogate shows up at her house with no place to live.

Tina Fey has been doing a wonderful job with 30 Rock. Hopefully she can snowball that success into a hit movie. Amy Poehler and Tina were great together on the SNL’s Weekend Update. The plot seems funny enough, well at least enough to make my #10 on my list. April 25

9. Be Kind Rewind (Jack Black, Mos Def) – After a man becomes magnetized, he erases all the tapes at his friend’s video store. To keep the stores most loyal customer happy, they decide to remake all of the films in the store.

Why hasn’t this been done already? I can see producers sitting around thinking, “why hadn’t I thought of that?” I saw the trailer a few months ago and laughed out loud at some of the scenes. I think this movie will surprise a lot of people. With all the remakes set to come out, an original idea like this is bound to be a hit. February 22

8. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Ron Pearlman, Selma Blair, David Hyde Pierce) – Hellboy is back! After a truce between humans and the invisible realm of the fantastic is broken, earth is flooded with all sorts of creatures bent on having hell on earth. It’s up to Hellboy to send these creatures back to where they belong.

I was pleasantly surprised by the first Hellboy. I refused to see it but when I finally watched it, I enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to this sequel. It’ll be more crazy creatures, special effects and comedy from Hellboy. July 11

7. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes, Peter Dinklage, Anna Popplewell) – The children find themselves back in Narnia only to realize that a year to them is 1,300 years in Narnia. To their surprise things have changes and Narnia is now being ruled by evil King Miraz.

I read these books as a child and loved them. I thought The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe was excellent. They can pull it off again with Prince Caspian. It will be a great family movie. Every summer needs one of those. May 16

6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Paul Rudd, Kristen Bell, Jason Segel) –A man breaks up with his TV star girlfriend and heads to Hawaii for a much needed vacation. When he arrives he realizes that his ex is vacationing at the same resort with her new boyfriend.

The Knocked Up guys are back! Judd Apatow is on a roll with these movies. This movie should be one of the summer’s best and definitely one of the funniest. Anyone who has ever run into an ex at the movies or at a restaurant knows that feeling. It’ll be an easy story to tell. Funny cast plus a funny script equals funny movie. April 18

5. Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (Harrison Ford, Shia Labeouf, Cate Blanchett) – Fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series.

The studios have been very good about not giving away any information on this film. This movie is one of the most anticipated films of the summer. I’m hoping they can restore some of the nostalgia from the first three Indiana Jones moves. Harrison Ford should be able to deliver. This has to be his last one…………….right? May 22

4. Semi–Pro (Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Andre “3000” Benjamin) – The owner/player/coach of a struggling ABA basketball franchise competes to have the team merge with the NBA. The team must do the impossible, win games.

If you’ve seen the Super Bowl ad or even the new Old Spice ads with Tropics star Jackie Moon, you know this movie is going to be a riot. Ferrell is up to his old antics again in this sports comedy. When I heard that his character has a #1 hit song called “Love Me Sexy” I was sold on the movie. Feb 29

3. Hancock (Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron) – A misguided superhero destroys the city in an attempt to save lives. This hardened superhero doesn’t seem to care what the public thinks of him. One day he saves the life of an executive and realizes he may actually have a soft side.

Will Smith is always puts out great films in the summer. Not to mention that Smith and Sci-Fi go together like The Iron Shiek and the Camel Clutch I can’t think of the last bad movie that Smith has done. Maybe it really is the Willenium. Hancock should be full of action and well worth the price of admission. July 2

2. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr., Terrance Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow) – After surviving a kidnapping, billionaire Tony Stark builds a high tech suit of armor. With the suit on Stark becomes Iron Man. He uses his abilities to protect the world from danger.

I wasn’t sold on this movie at first. I thought it was going to be more like Daredevil than like X-Men. That was until I recently watched Dinner For Five on IFC. Iron Man director Jon Favreau discussed having quality actors/actresses in the movie. He wanted the non-action sequences to hold up making this more than just a 100 million action sequence. That was all I needed to hear. Now let’s hope Robert Downy Jr. can pull it off. May 2

1. Batman (Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger) – Batman has teamed up with Lt. Gordon and Harvy Dent to help rid Gotham of crime. Things seem to go south as a new criminal known as the Joker starts his reign of terror on Gotham. It will take everything Batman has to beat him.

I’ve been waiting for this one since the credits started rolling on Batman Begins. The first one was done so well, not to mention all of the great dialogue and action the film had. Rumor has it that the late Heath Ledger did a great job as the Joker. If you’ve seen the 7 minute seen at the IMAX, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Look for Batman to be the biggest, baddest movie of the summer. July 18

A True Hollywood Story

About two years ago I found myself rushing home after work to watch Oprah. Now I’m not a huge fan of The Mighty O, but that day her guest was comedian Dave Chappelle. At this point in Dave’s career he was coming off two very successful seasons of Chappelle Show. His DVD sales were the number one TV show DVD’s of all time, not to mention he just inked a $50 million dollar deal with Comedy Central. It sounded like Dave was living the life all comedians wanted. While filming the third season of his hit show, Dave abruptly left the United States for South Africa. This

The Oprah interview would be the first time that we would hear from Chappelle about why he left his highly successful show. His appearance on Oprah would earn the interview “do not delete” status on my TiVo.

Queen O begins the interview asking Chappelle what most viewers wanted to know, “Why did you walk away from $50 million dollars?” Chappelle replied, “I wasn’t walking away from the money. I was walking away from the circumstances that came with it. I’ve been in show business since I was 14 and it was completely out of my frame of reference what would happen when you break through to the next plateau. I’ve seen the stories and heard the stories. Mariah Carey signs $100 million dollar deal and three months later she goes crazy or Martin breaks through and is found waving a gun on Hollywood blvd screaming.”

He went on to say numerous times in his interview that the environment was “extremely stressful”. If we rewind back to 2004, during a stand-up Chappelle reportedly told a crowd that the show was “ruining his life”. Let me get this right. You have a number one show, number one selling DVD, a $50 million dollar deal in place, and you feel like your life is ruined. Something has to be missing. I decided to do a little research of my own to see what is about Hollywood that is making people crazy.

Martin Lawrence
1996 – After the success of his TV show Martin, Lawrence was starring in A Thin Line Between Love And Hate. He reportedly began having violent outburst on the set and taking drugs. His strange behavior continued after he was seen brandishing a pistol and screaming , “they are trying to kill me” at tourist on Hollywood’s Ventura Boulevard.

Mariah Carey
2001- Carey signs a reported $80 million contract with Virgin Records. A few months later it is reported that she suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. Carey also left very personal messages on her website saying that she was overworked and was ending her relationship with boyfriend Luis Miguel. Carey would later show up on MTV’s TRL in a bath robe handing out popsicles and began what would later be described as a “striptease”. By the end of that month she was checked into a hospital.

2002- Carey is bought out of her contract for $28 million. She would later go on to say that her time at Virgin Records was a “total stress fest”.


You may be wondering why this sounds familiar. That’s because we’ve seen it happen more and more in recent years. Former teen queens Brittney Spears and Lindsay Lohan have taken a turn or the worst. Their stories are so similar that it’s almost scary. Teen stars trying to change their image and be taken seriously, spiral out of control with bizarre behavior, and eventually end up in rehab.

Brittney Spears

2002- Spears very public relationship with fellow pop star Justin Timberlake ends after four years. Timberlake releases his hit song “Cry Me A River”. Most people speculate the song was about Spears being unfaithful since video featured an actress resembling Spears.

2004 – Spears marries childhood friend Jason Alexander at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas. The marriage ended in annulment three days later. Six month later she announces her engagement to Kevin Federline after dating for three months. The two would be married later on in the year.

2006- Spears appears on The Late Show with David Letterman and announces her second pregnancy. She also conducts an interview for Dateline to discuss rumors of a divorce and motherhood. She stated in the interview, “I see a bunch of photographers and I’m scared”. Spears would later file for divorce from Federline, citing irreconcilable differences. According to reports, the divorce caught Federline by surprise.

2007- Spears checks into a drug rehab facility. She is released the next day and is seen shaving her head bald. A few days later she checks into another rehab facility. This erratic behavior continues as she checks in and out of rehab centers. Her antics came to a peak as she was filmed attacking a paparazzi vehicle with an umbrella.

2008- Forbe’s Magazine reports that Brittney Spears has a net worth of $100 million. Police were called to her home after she refused to relinquish custody of her children. Spears was hospitalized after she appeared to be “under the influence”. She was held on involuntary psychiatric hold at UCLA Medical Center.

Lindsay Lohan

2004- Lohan is in three widely publicized car accidents. She suffered minor injuries and was not sued for a any damages related to the accidents

2006 – Lohan tells Allure magazine, “I hate it when people call me a teen queen”. She hoped to be taking seriously as an actress after the success of teen movies Mean Girls and Parent Trap.

2007- Forbes issues a list of Young Hollywood Stars, ranking Lohan #3 at $6 million a year. Lohan would later check herself into the Wonderland Center. She makes the statement that she, “made a proactive decision to take care of my personal health”. A few months later Lohan is in another accident. Police found a “usable” amount of cocaine in her vehicle. She would be arrested for a DUI and later check herself into Promises Treatment Center. In July of 2007, police found Lohan having an argument with a young woman in a parking lot. Lohan refused to take breathalyzer but failed the other sobriety test. While conducting a search police found cocaine in her pocket. She would be booked on felony charges of possession of cocaine and transportation of narcotic.


These stories are all too familiar in today’s Hollywood scene. Recently Eva Mendes checked herself into rehab for “substance abuse”. She admitted needing a drink before filming love scenes for her films Trust The Man, and We Own The Night.

Grey’s Anatomy star Justin Chambers checked himself into a Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA to “get help for a pre-existing sleeping disorder”. He was found reportedly clutching a red bull and stomping on a box of donuts. I have sleep problems too, but I’ve never went Savion Glover on a box of Krispy Kremes.


So what’s making these stars self destruct? Is it the stress? Is it the people around them? Is it the us, the fans? These stars have personal problems like the rest of us. The difference is that their issues are magnified because of who they are. They Lohan’s of the world have to deal with their issues privately and at the same time watch them play out publicly. If you take something as simple as a relationship. If you’ve ever been in a relationship you know how hard it is to maintain them. You couple that with speculations of your boyfriend/girlfriend cheating on the set of their new movie or rumors that your substance abuse is the real reason you aren’t married yet. I don’t know anyone who likes to feel like they are under a microscope.

In Chappelles interview with Oprah he also said, “When you are a person that generates a stream of income, people have a vested interest in controlling you”. Why would anyone want to see someone go through an ordeal like that? If you think about it we’ve seen other stars rebound from bad press. From Robert Downey Jr’s drug issues, Dru Berrymore’s troubled past, to Hugh Grant and his women “issues”. Like the old saying goes, “The only bad press is no press”. My friend pointed out that a Hollywood star may stand to gain from a stint in rehab. I think he’s right! Maybe five years from now we’ll be reading Lindsay Lohan: From Car Accidents to Academy Awards. It’s the American Dream! Fallen star picks him/herself back up and has a successful career. I smell a E! True Hollywood Story coming on.

I think the biggest issue is us, the public/people/fans. We buy all of this crazy behavior and we buy by the boatload..There is a room in my office that is full of People, US Weekly, and In Touch magazines. When you flip through them you get the feeling they build these stars up just to tear them down. It’s as if subconsciously we have some equation in our head that says: tragedy = a good news story. I couldn’t believe that everyone wanted to read about Owen Wilson’s attempt at suicide. It wasn’t as if they were concerned for him, people just wanted to read how crazy he was. Don’t believe me? Websites like TMZ, Concreteloop, and Bossip are becoming increasingly more popular . As long as I can remember there have been tabloid magazines when I check out at the grocery store. Somebody has been buying those magazines because they don’t pay for themselves. The fact that most of these publications are weekly is the most ridiculous part. These writers have to come up with material every week for a 160 page magazine. I wonder what sort of pressure they are under.

We put a lot of pressure on our stars. They know that they are one YouTube clip away from ending their career. Nobody cared to YouTube me falling at the gym the other day. That same clip of Beyonce gets 1,000 views in less than an hour (we’ll at least until her “people” snatch if off the internet). Now we have every cell phone being made with a camera in it. There is really no place for them to hide. Poor Tom Brady couldn’t even bring his girlfriend flowers in peace.

I don’t know if there is an answer to why this is happening. There are a lot of factors to consider and a ton of information to go through. Maybe they are just regular people like you and me, with the same stresses, frustrations, and struggles that we all deal with. Maybe the only real difference is them being household names or having all of their trials play out in weekly gossip magazines and on Entertainment Tonight.

Hopefully things can change for the better. I would hate to see Chris Brown on the cover of People with the headline: Chris Brown – The Real Story of his fall from fame. My niece loves Chris Brown. It would break her 10 year old heart. Let’s pray things change before that happens.