What's Worth Seeing?

I'm going to try to post a little section here every Wednesday after the Malco movie listings are made. I will use this little blurb to give my two cents about what's worth seeing at the cinemaplex this weekend.

Two items blip on my radar on this first weekend of March:

BLACK SNAKE MOAN:
Craig Brewer returns to the dirrty south for his much anticipated follow-up to Hustle and Flow. This time his cast is a lot better, his budget a lot bigger, and the pressure a lot heavier.
Plot: (FROM IMDB.COM) A God-fearing bluesman (Samuel L. Jackson) takes to a wild young woman (Christina Ricci) who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, looks everywhere for love, never quite finding it.
The movie also features Justin Timberlake.
My $.02: I think that this film has the potential to be great. Sam Jackson seems to be right back into fine form after a short detour with Snakes on a Plane, Freedom Land, and The Man. It looks like a lot of fun.
Anticipation level for this film: 7.5 (out of 10)

ZODIAC:
David Fincher. That should be enough to make your mouth water and your hand to rezach into your pockets and pull out 10 bucks to see this film. For you haters out there, Fincher is the man responsible for Se7en, Panic Room, and Fight Club. Here he takes on another serial killer; The Zodiac.
Plot: (FROM IMDB.COM) Based on the Robert Graysmith books about the real life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr.
My $.02: This movie should have all the right stuff to be a classic. A great director. A great leading actor. And a scary plot full of suspence and intrigue. Will it live up to it? Only time will tell, but my guess is yes!

Anticipation level for this film: 8 (out of 10)

Movie Review

THE NUMBER 23 starring Jim Carrey

I checked out the movie "The Number 23" last night. After seeing that it was damned by critics across the globe, scoring a powerful 09% on rottentomatoes.com, I was sure that I was in for 95 minutes of pure suckage.

The truth is the movie didn't have a lot going for it. A February release nearly always means that it is a dump film. Some poor studio getting rid of its trash just before the summer season heats up. Plus Joel Schumacher behind the camera is never a sure thing. I have three words to prove my point. BATMAN AND ROBIN. Aside from that the 68 year old director is also responsible for 8 MM which I thought was a horribly pointless flick.

But, Mr. Schumacher and I do have a history. See, he directed The Lost Boys, one of my all time favorites. He also directed Flatliners, The Client, and A Time To Kill. So he has earned a few "passes" in my book. But nevertheless, him being the director was another reason for pause before heading off to see it.

The last cause of concern of course was Jim Carrey playing it straight. Now I am one of the folks in the camp of belief that Carrey should continue to stretch out and play a few more serious roles. Beyond Ace Venutra, Liar Liar, and Me Myself and Irene I have no use for the man's comedy. I know I am in the minority but The Cable Guy, Mask, and Dumb and Dumber were all a big waste of my time. (I hear frat boys groaning at me from all across the globe right now). The Truman Show was brilliant and I can't say enough about him as Andy in Man On The Moon. So I'm cool with Carrey giving the scary a try, even if I had my doubts about it.

So let's get into the movie. Carrey plays William Paul Sparrow, an everyday dog catcher with a sweet wife and a good son. His life is normal and boring until one day a series of unfortunate events lands a strange self-published book called The Number 23 in his hands.

As he reads through the book he discovers a string of erie events that seem to all revolve around the number. He delves deeper and deeper into the book until he becomes obsessed by the relevance of the number.

His wife, played by the always excellent Virginia Madsen, trys to get him back on track. When she can't do it she enlists the help of their son and then a family friend. As Carrey's character unravels we see a deeper mystery unfold between flashes of the novel and real life. Some of the book sequences are well done, but its noir tone and dialogue seemed to be a bit out of Carrey's league. In these breakaway scenes Carrey plays the book's main character Fingerling and Madsen plays his lover Fabrizia.

Honestly the movie had a good pace to it until the end. My interest was kept and my mind didn't seem to wander too much. Minus a few too many scenes with a strange dog I was right there in the mix.

The end managed to tie everything up into a nice little bow, which I appreciated. As an avid reader I hate when a mystery is left too open ended. What I didn't care for was how long it took to explain the mystery away. I think Schumacher assumed his audience was too dumb to draw a few conclusions on their own and he ended up over-explaining everything.

I know that I am and will continue to be in the minority when it comes to this movie, but I liked it. I didn't love it. I won't buy it. I won't put the poster up in my media room. I won't go shouting from the rooftops for you to see it. But I will tell you that I enjoyed it. And for a run of the mill February Tuesday it was a nice retreat from reality.

GRADE: C+

Exciting Drug Information

In Pharmacology, all drugs have two names, a trade name and generic name. For example, the trade name of Tylenol also has a generic name of Acetaminophen. Aleve is also called Naproxen. Amoxil is also called Amoxicillin and Advil is also called Ibuprofen.

The FDA has been looking for a generic name for Viagra. After careful consideration by a team of government experts, it recently announced that it has settled on the generic name of Mycoxafloppin. Also considered were Mycoxafailin, Mydixadrupin, Mydixarizin, Dixafix, and of course, Ibepokin.

Pfizer Corp. announced today that Viagra will soon be available in liquid form and will be marketed by Pepsi Cola as a power beverage suitable for use as a mixer. It will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself a stiff one. Obviously we can no longer call this a soft drink, and it gives new meaning to the names of "cocktails", "highballs" and just a good old-fashioned "stiff drink". Pepsi will market the new concoction by the name of: MOUNT & DO.

Tattoos

So I am thinking about getting a third tattoo. Can't quite decide what I want. I've thought about a dragon on my left shoulder that would also stretch out onto my chest and should blade. Major, huge, big, ginormous. I've also thought about a smaller more tribal dragon.

Maybe not a dragon at all. Maybe an iron cross...or is that too cliched? Do you guys have any suggestions or ideas? I want something that has some meaning. I also thought about sticking with the phoenix rising from the ashes theme and am considering maybe a half sleeve based on that entire concept. Maybe some flames, some ash, and of course a Phoenix rising up towards the sun.

Here is a pic of a tribal dragon that I was looking at. Let's hear your thoughts, please.

I Suck I Know

I am the worst blogger ever. Just when i think that I am about to get back into the groove its like BAM, something happens and I stop blogging. I actually almost forgot my username and password to my blogger account.
Personally I think everyone should have a blog. I mean it is such an easy way for everyone to keep up with one another. I can tell everyone I know my opinion on something at once. And I can read everyone else's opinion on that or similar topics. But that's asking too much. I still can't get all of my friends to sign-up for stupid ol' myspace.

Anyway, I watched the movie "Man of the Year" last night. It has Robin Williams and Laura Linney in it. It wasn't extremely funny or anything, but it made some excellent points about politics, big business, lobbyist, and oil. It dogged political campaigns, ad revenue and spending, and behind-the-scenes favors. And then it capped it all off by proving that no matter what, all serious contenders for political office are basically the same people. Cookie cutter representatives.

This cookie-cutter issue is none more apparent than the coming Presidential race. The biggest "what's the difference" issue is in the democratic party. Hillary Clinton vs Barack Obama. A woman versus a black man. Hmmmm....couldn't be more different, right? Wrong they couldn't be more alike. Thy have voted the same or nearly the same on every single issue they have faced in the senate. The biggest difference: Clinton supported going to war, but now supports a gradual pull-out of the troops in Iraq. While Obama never supported the war, he too supports a gradual pull-out of the troops in Iraq. Other issues are identical as well, but the main issue at stake is the war. No other topic will hold as much weight this time around as what to do with our involvement in Iraq.

This war-heavy election could easily be won by democrats if they would cease the in-fighting. People seem to be tired of a winless war. But if the dems can't get their heads out of their asses long enough another central figure in the war on terror might become our next president. Rudy Giuliani. You remember him, right? He was the mayor that so delicately handled the 9-11 tragedy. He is also responsible for cleaning up the city of New York and making it an attractive, safe, tourist friendly city again. And if you take him too lightly he might sneak up on you.

Ok, enough politics. I promise to write more. I swear it. But only if you promise to read it.

Cree