The Post with me giving some thoughts on the situation at hand
If you haven't noticed lately I've not been writing as much in here as I normally would. In fact, the main thing I write about is my weekend recaps (which reminds me I have another one that needs to be posted from last weekend). There is a simple reason for this: things have been going pretty good as of late.

Right now I'm on this incredible hot streak (more personally, than professionally) and it feels like I'm a poker player who is getting pocket aces every hand. In fact I can honestly say I don't remember the last time I've felt as good about myself as I do right now. And when things are going good, it's hard to find the inspiration to write. Most of my writings come from anger, or some sort of sadness.

Really it's no secret that the best art comes from bad emotions- whether they be sadness or anger. Happiness very rarely leads to anything worth reading or listening to. Need proof? Just look at Alanis Morissette's career. She releases her first album Jagged Little Pill which is a brilliant piece of angst crafted into album. She followed that up with Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie which wasn't as brilliant but was still a very good album. After that though release two happier albums which weren't near as good as the original two. This was because she was dating Ryan Reynolds and felt good. About 2 years ago they broke up and now she is out with another great album that is all about how badly the break-up with Reynolds screwed her up. So see- the best art comes from bad places.

(SIDE RANT: Ryan Reynolds had to have completed what is arguably the greatest trade-in/up in the history of mankind. He went from Alanis Morissette to Scarlett Johannson. Now look, nothing against Alanis. I do find her attractive in a certain way but Scarlett is in another league. She would be for almost any other woman let alone someone who is very ordinary. Again no knock on Alanis but if you gave a guy a choice between

this



and this



I know where most guys would go)

Ok! So what I'm saying is this. You may have to deal with happy me and my boring entries for a while. But I promise I will try to find some shred of anger to swell on to give you something worthwhile to read now and again. I'm currently working on a post about the classifications of women which is pretty good.

But until then- patience.
- posted by Brian @ 5/28/2009 04:06:00 PM

 
The Post with a double weekend recap
I ignored the weekend recap last weekend because I was entertaining myself with my lists of nonsense. Well I also had not really much of interest from last weekend but that’s not really the point, because I’ve forced my boring weekends onto people before. So that means today you get a double weekend recap- Last weekend and this weekend. One was far more entertaining than the other, but you’ll need to figure out which one is which.

Two weekends ago:

Friday night I hit the gym on my way home and got in a decent workout. It wasn’t as good as I’ve been having recently because I changed up my routine a little. I’m going with longer running periods at a slightly lower intensity trying to build more stamina. Previously I was going the other way trying to build up time but it didn’t seem to be doing anything so I went with the change. It feels better but my leg strength isn’t quite where it needs to be yet for that. However in a few weeks I should be fine. So basically I had like negative energy in the tank by the end of that so I didn’t really do any weight lifting.

Friday night then Joel and I went to 80’s night which was kind of not good. Crowd was real low for that type of evening and I’m just sick of seeing the same people over and over again. So I paid attention to the sports on TV more though. I miss having WGN out at school where I could watch Cubs-Brewers games. And I really miss watching Cubs games now that Aaron Heilman is with them. I always love watching him give up runs and then make the little kid, “Give me back my toy” face.

Saturday morning I got up and started doing some gardening work around the place. Thankfully I don’t have to do any mulching this year since that was done last year. That just means a lot of weeding and nothing else. I can deal with that. Got two big flowerbeds done before calling it a day. After that I went in and made myself dinner which was chicken and cauliflower. Later that night my parents got home with their friends and they all sat around talking and bothering me while I was trying to watch the Cavaliers game.

Sunday I went and taught Sunday School and then came home to do some more work around the house. Dad and I were starting to rip trees down in the backyard. So we hooked chains to the truck and then we were pulling them down. Got a few down until we started ripping up the yard so that put an end to that. After that it was time for softball so I headed down to the game. Great game we played that ended with us winning 21-20. Someone had the game winning hit. I won’t tell you who but the hint is you are reading his blog right now. Add that to a 3 run home run and some great defensive plays and you are looking at a true slow pitch softball superstar. The one guy on the team and I sort of have a friendly rivalry about the offense. We usually hit next to each other in the batting order and he had hit a home run earlier in the game. So after I hit mine I told him, “I couldn’t let you have bragging rights.” That’s actually a pretty fun part about the game. Of course another guy on our team hit 2 in that game so he took the early lead. However, it’s nice to have some power at the middle of the lineup.

So that wraps up two weekends ago which as I said was fairly uneventful and boring.

This weekend:

Friday I only had a half day at work so I could go pick up my tuxedo and everything for the wedding Saturday. I stopped in at the tux place and got everything fitted and was set. Stopped at the gym after that to try and wedge in a quick workout since I wouldn’t get there on Saturday. It was real quick because I got hung up some getting out of work which backed my schedule up pretty much. Got home and got ready and then headed up to the church for wedding rehearsal.

Really nice church. Beautiful looking inside and much bigger than it looked like from the outside. We got through the rehearsal in two tries and thankfully the pastor kept it moving. I’ve been at ones where they micro-managed us through everything and it was insanely annoying. Afterwards we headed to Golden Oaks Country Club for dinner which was absolutely excellent. I had chicken parmesan with angel hair pasta and chocolate cake for desert. Just outstanding food, all around.

I went home then thinking I would try to get into bed at a decent time as soon as the Phillies game was over. Of course they decided to play extra innings so the game ended up going until 11:30. After that I went into bed to try and get some sleep since I knew I had to be up on Sunday and wasn’t going to get a great amount of sleep Saturday night.

Woke up Saturday morning around 7 and did some things around the house before getting ready to head out for the wedding. Met up with my buddy Joel and we went out to the Miller’s place to head up. I drank two beers while we were there before heading up.

Got to the church and seated everybody like I was supposed to do although some people are real hammerheads about the seating at a wedding. Now at the church they had these real long pews but there were center dividers in the middle so you had to walk around the aisle at to get to the other side of the pews. So as we were seating people some were being cool and moving all the way into the middle while others were spreading out over the whole row. So we would try to seat people in the same row as people who moved over and they wouldn’t do it. It’s seriously 20-30 minutes in a church. You can sit next to someone you don’t know. It’s really ok.

Afterwards we took pictures which took a while, and then we got into the Dodge pick-up trucks and headed out to Penn State Berks to get pictures taken. Pictures went well there but they really didn’t need to wedding party at all because we were in maybe 6 pictures and that was it. Fine by me though as I’m not big on having my picture taken.

Once we got to the reception I started working on the bride to let people clown around hen they enter. She agreed it was ok and it was on. Of course I have no idea what anyone else did because I only worried about myself, but Mandee and I rocked it. Dinner was pretty good but took forever to get everyone served. After that we finally got to dance and as I promised people leading up to the wedding I owned the dance floor. So yeah, I back up what I say. To recap- I slow danced with a couple beautiful women, I fast danced with a couple beautiful women, I got into a dance battle with an 11 year old (and lost), I slowed dance with both the bride and groom at the dollar dance which included me lifting the groom over my head. I also drank a lot of beer, and way too many shots of Peach Schnapps during the dollar dance. (Side note: C’mon people- drink your shots. It’s a swallow of alcohol. Even if you’ve never touched a drop of alcohol in your life it’s not going to do anything to you) I lost count after I got to 12. Word the following day was I was up over 20. I can neither confirm nor deny that number, but it felt like a lot. I’m like that Montgomery Gentry song that is out right now. The whole there is one in every crowd who brings the party, and gets rowdy- and it’s usually me.

Everybody pretty much cleared out by 10 and til I got home and went to bed it was 11:30.

I had to get up at 6:15 to go take firewood to someone’s place and surprisingly I was able to get up without much problem. Actually considering all the beer and alcohol I drank I felt really good. I ate someone when I got up to make me feel even better.

Dropped off the firewood and did some other things before dropping my tux off back at Jack O’Reilly’s. Came home then and did some things around the house before heading up to the party.

The wedding party-plus some extras- got together to eat some of the leftover food so there wouldn’t be as much left. We met around 1 and had a really good time. I made the comment that I really think that’s a fun group of people and it would fun to hang out together once a year or something at a picnic or some such.

Unfortunately I had to leave around 4:30 so I could get to my softball game. So I hurried from Oley down to New Hanover area to get ready. By the time the game started I was starting to drag a little, and the 6 pack of Labatt I drank at the lunch thing kind of made me turn for the worse. I sort of played half speed for the whole game.

However, we stomped the other team 26-8 which was nice. I went 3 for 5. So glad I made the adjustment in my hitting stance to improve the offense. The guy who had hit two home runs the week before hit another one in the 5th inning and I made the comment to the guy I have the battle with, “Now we’re down 3-1-1 on the leader board.” So in his at bat he hit one that missed being a home run by about 1 foot. I came up next and crushed one to left that had I hit it 5 feet to the right was a home run. The driveway came down about 20 feet wide to a point and then went down to 10 feet. 5 feet to the right and I don’t hit it into that cutout. Oh well. We still won and that’s all that matters.

Came home and watched some of the Saturday Night Live: Just Shorts special before crashing around 10.

Now guess- which weekend was the better one.
- posted by Brian @ 5/18/2009 02:44:00 PM

 
The Sexiest Women on TV- TOP 5
We have finally reached the top of the mountain (well after the first 4). The point though remains the same. After about 2 weeks of running down #40-6 we have reached the 5 women who I think are the absolutely sexiest women on television today. Some are obvious, some are not. As I said before- some you may never heave heard of, the ones you haven't you will want to search out. On with the finale





5. Eva Longoria Parker, Desperate Housewives, ABC

- The 34 year old Parker for 5 years now has had men trying to catch pieces of the ABC Sunday night soap. Like many actresses she got her start in soap operas before moving onto the big show. Then it a great use of her sexiness she married San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker and elevated him and the NBA to a new level of awareness. As the other stars of Desperate Housewives leave or lose looks Parker hangs on with her beauty.



4. Evangeline Lilly, LOST, ABC

- This 29 year old basically came out of nowhere. Her main credits included numerous guest appearances. Then in 2004 she landed the role of Kate Austen on the twisty, trippy ABC drama. People fell in love with her pouty looks and long dark hair. She also had viewers melting with the heat she was able to generate in the love triangle between Jack and Sawyer. Easy to see why people would be chasing after her.



3. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ghost Whisperer, CBS

- Ms. Hewitt is another one who feels like she has been around forever. At the age of 30 she has starred in numerous films (Can't Hardly Wait, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Heartbreakers) and hit television shows (Party of Five, Time of Your Life, Ghost Whisperer). On top of that she has had a semi successful singing career overseas. She combines a bubbly personality and two big beautiful- well look at the picture to turn up the sexiness. On top of that she is currently dating Jamie Kennedy which means, she's attainable.



2. Kaley Cuoco, The Big Bang Theory, CBS

- 23 year old Cuoco got her first big role on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules which was John Ritter's last show. On her new show she plays the beauty surrounded by geeks which opens up the blonde to a whole new audience of men who previously thought her an unreachable goal. She has a new level of confidence and her looks and ability to poke at herself give her enough sexiness to land at number 2 on our list.



1. Minka Kelly, Friday Night Lights, NBC

- I know some won't agree with me on this but the 28 year old to me is about as sexy as sexy can get. She basically had starred in nothing of note before she landed the role of head cheerleader Lyla Garrity on the NBC drama. With her dark hair, bright eyes, and pouty lips she has a way of making men do what she wants without saying a word. When she does talk then you get a soothing carefree sounding voice that is music. On top of that she does fine work in her role on the ratings challenged (and you should watch the show if you don't, arguably the best drama on TV) drama. In fact, the only negative about her is she dates Derek Jeter of the Yankees. But that does give you a new level of respect for the guy.

And there you have it. 1 man's opinion of the 40 sexiest women on TV. Have at it.
- posted by Brian @ 5/14/2009 05:50:00 PM

 
The Sexiest Women on TV #10-6
Here we are. We have hit the top 10. For one reason of another the ten women you will meet in the next few days are the sexiest women on television if you ask me. They represent the whole end of the spectrum- broadcast tv to cable. Some have been on tv for a while and some are relative newcomers to the box. Some you may never have heard of, but you definitely need to check out.

So let's move into the top ten and start our journey into the hottest women on television (that sounds like a pun but it's really not intended). Look for the top 5 on Thursday night.




10. Olivia Wilde, House, FOX

- 25 year old Wilde is moving backwards compared to most acting paths. She got her start by doing a bunch of movies including The Girl Next Door, Turistas, and Alpha Dog. During this time she also landed a major role on the FOX teen drama The O.C. Lately she has been appearing on House for the past two seasons. On the show she plays a character who is a lesbian and goes by the name of Thirteen. Fans of the show hate her character and have started websites saying she needs to be removed. That though is about the writing and has nothing to do with her looks.




9. Eliza Dushku, Dollhouse, FOX

- In the interest of full disclosure- numbers 7,8, and 9 were changed around a few times before I settled on the way it is now. That means at 9 we have 28 year old Dushku who feels like she has been around much longer than her age would suggest. She made Kristen Dunst look homely in the cheerleader comedy Bring It On. From there she starred in other movies like Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, Soul Survivors, The New Guy, and Wrong Turn. Many know her though from her many TV roles that include Angel, Tru Calling, and the current FOX show. Dark hair, pouty lips, and a frankness in her comments are all appealing attributes for this woman. Hopefully FOX gives us another season of the show she is on.




8. Christina Hendricks, Mad Men, AMC

- This 34 year old from Knoxville, Tennessee basically made a career for a long time at being a guest star on TV shows. She had one episode stints on shows like Angel Miss Match, Tru Calling, and Cold Case. She then landed the role of Joan on the AMC drama focusing on the 1950's advertising world. The show revolves around the men's club of the time and women are treated as objects. Even wearing the style of dress from that time period it is hard to miss that Hendricks is pretty curvy. Match that with the fire engine red hair and the milky colored skin and you have a recipe for one sexy woman.




7. Jordana Spiro, My Boys, TBS

- This 32 year old born and raised in New York City is sexy in a different way than most anyone on the list. She very much fits the description of the girl next door. Spiro had done bit parts on a number of shows before landing the lead on the hit TBS comedy. On the show she plays PJ Franklin, a Chicago sportswriter who hangs out with buddies, and plays poker. It is basically the perfect package for a woman- great looks and a complete knowledge of sports, especially baseball. Here's hoping we see more of her in the future. And that more people watch the very funny TBS comedy.





6. Adrianne Palicki, Friday Night Lights, NBC

- Toledo, Ohio is the home of this 26 year old actress who is heating up Friday nights in her role of Tyra Collette on the wonderful, but ratings challenged NBC show. if you're into tall women- Adrianne stands 5'11". On top of that she mixes in a piercing set of eyes and blonde hair that varies between short and long looks. Unlike most women she easily pulls off both looks. Also she is an excellent actress who has done fantastic work in her role. You'll definitely be seeing more of her as time moves on.
- posted by Brian @ 5/12/2009 07:14:00 PM

 
The Sexiest Women on TV # 15-11
We inch closer to the top ten as you'll get to see the 10 women I consider the hottest on TV. But before we get there we need to highlight the 5 women who are hot, but not quite hot enough, IMO, to crack the elusive top 10. Without delaying it any further let's move into the ones that are top 15, but not quite top 10. Again we start in Canada




15. Missy Peregrym, Reaper, The CW

- This 26 year old most recently has been playing the son of the Devil's girlfriend and co-worker on the clever, ratings challenged CW show. She has starred in many television shows playing bit parts. Her biggest role came next as she starred in the movie Stick It- which focused on the world of gymnastics. On top of looks she is smart as she is bilingual being fluent in French as well as English.





14. Jenna Fischer, The Office, NBC

- 35 year old Fischer has been making all men who work in offices lust after someone in their workspace. On the show her character mixes girl next door looks with a sense of humor and a warm personality. The show itself launched her into feature film roles where she has been getting some starring gigs in Blades of Glory and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. In addition to her work on screen she works with various animal rescue groups to help abandoned animals.




13. Lizzy Caplan, Party Down, Starz

- 26 year old Caplan first caught my eye when she starred in the bizarre FOX comedy The Pitts. From there she has yo-yo'ed back and forth between uber hot and just ok. The result of her trying to lose herself in roles. She has starred in movies like Mean Girls and Cloverfield. She has also been all over tv with parts in Related, The Class, and True Blood (where she did a topless scene in the first season). She also voices a character on American Dad. Currently she is on the absolutely hilarious Stars comedy which is well worth seeking out. It's funny and it has the ultra hot Caplan and her eyes.




12. Katy Mixon, Eastbound and Down, HBO

- Mixon I believe is somewhere around 27 years old and absolutely amazing. Her ample chest has something to do with it, but her eyes and voice are complete turn-ons as well. She currently plays the minor helium voiced love interest of gruff Kenny Powers on the HBO comedy. Mixon has been popping up in more roles as of late, (Four Christmases, The Informers, and State of Play) here's to hoping we see more of her in the years to come. And I do mean more.





11. Tina Fey, 30 Rock, NBC

- 38 year old Fey is the classic example of how smart and funny can be as sexy as any physical feature a woman has. Fey became the first female lead writer on the legendary Saturday Night Live in 1999. Under her tutelage, SNL had a great run of shows that represented a great modern period. In 2006 she left the show to move over to her NBC hit 30 Rock which has won numerous awards and critical acclaim. Also during the 2008 election she won rave reviews impersonating Sarah Palin. Hopefully Fey can continue the hot streak she is on and give us a few more years in the spotlight.
- posted by Brian @ 5/11/2009 05:19:00 PM

 
The Sexiest Women on TV # 20-16
The past couple days we have covered 40-21. The women who are sexy- no argument from probably most anyway- but in my opinion just aren't quite hot enough to break the Top 20. These next 5 are the ones who probably could've went either way. To me though they are fine enough to be solidly in the top 20. Without any more delay let's start with the top 20 by heading back across our Northern border.



20. Anna Paquin, True Blood, HBO

- When she was 11 years old Paquin won critical acclaim, and an Academy Award nomination for her turn in The Piano. At 18 she got the role of Rogue in the X-Men movie franchise opening eyes as people saw her attractiveness. In 2008, this 26 year old landed a role though on the HBO vampire drama True Blood where she set hearts a fire as the Bayou born waitress tempting a centuries old blood sucker. Also, in a major surprise she did a topless scene which was the #1 Freeze Frame of the week according to Mr. Skin.



19. Miriam McDonald, Degrassi: The Next Generation, The N

- We stay in Canada for this 21 year old who has been gracing tv screens for years in the main role of Emma on the Canadian teen melodrama. In addition to her acting skills she is trained in 4 different types of dance. To this point she has really done nothing major here in the states. Unless of course you count her most recent role in Poison Ivy 4 where she did her first topless scene. Pretty nice.



18. Lori Loughlin, Beverly Hills 90210, The CW

- Yes it's who you think it is. Young men my age everywhere had a crush on Aunt Becky from the sappy sitcom Full House. After that show she appeared in very little before bursting onto the scene again in her show Summerland. In addition to coming back she gave herself plenty of scenes wearing a bikini top. Currently the 44 year old can be seen showing up her younger female cast members on the CW remake of the original drama. She shows them up by looking like she at least eats a meal once and a while. In addition to that she has a whole new generation of young men developing crushes on her




17. Nadine Velazquez, My Name is Earl, NBC

- The 30 year old actress/model of Puerto Rican descent has been igniting up the hilarious NBC comedy for years now. On the show she plays Catalina- a housekeeper/stripper which fulfills two fantasies for many men. Her storyline as a stripper has contained her perfecting the "Jump for Joy," routine. She also recently appeared in an ad for peanut butter where she was smeared in the product. No words to describe that.




16. Abby Elliott, Saturday Night Live, NBC

- To be totally honest- 6 months ago i had never heard of this 21 year old. She showed up on SNL and started tearing it up with her hilarious impressions of Angelina Jolie, and Rachel Maddow. In addition to that great sense of humor (which is the biggest turn on) she combines fire red hair and big blue eyes into a mischievous grin. She has a career that will be worth watching.
- posted by Brian @ 5/07/2009 05:34:00 PM

 
The Sexiest Women on TV # 25-21
Back to the list as we hit the ones who weren't quite good enough to make the Top 20.



25. Hayden Panettiere, Heroes, NBC

- The 19 year old actress has been acting since she was a baby and did a long stint on the daytime soap opera, Guiding Light. From there she moved onto parts in Remember the Titans and voice roles in some animated films. Currently she is playing Claire on the NBC drama. The show followed the slogan of Save the Cheerleader, Save the World- and with her in the role it's easy to see why so many were trying to help.




24. Jennifer Morrison, House, FOX

- Like so many actresses, this 30 year old got her start in horror movie roles when she was in Stir of Echoes and Urban Legends: Final Cut. From there she moved onto bit roles in films like Surviving Christmas and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Then she landed one of the main roles on the hit FOX drama. Last season the producers cut back on her time which has coincidentally led to ratings dropping. Yeah- coincidence, that's it.



23. Roselyn Sanchez, Without A Trace, CBS

- Puerto Rico is where this 36 year old beauty is from who has been heating up screens for years now. She had roles in Rush Hour 2, The Game Plan, and Boat Trip on the big screen. On television she has had small roles on hit sitcoms like The Drew Carey Show and In-Laws before landing on the CBS procedural. One look at her and you can see why she has been voted to various men's magaziness hottest women lists.




22. Rutina Wesley, True Blood, HBO

- A search of the web did not turn up an age for Ms. Wesley (I'd venture mid to late 20's) who burst onto the scene playing the very sultry Tara on HBO's vampire drama. This after she had her part cut out from the Will Smith movie Hitch. Here's hoping they keep her in every piece of work she does going forward.





21. Cobie Smulders, How I Met Your Mother, CBS

- The extent of this 27 year old Canadians work was small parts in a a bunch of projects like Walking Tall, The L Word, and Smallville. Basically she wasn't denting Hollywood. That all changed when she landed a major role on the hilarious CBS comedy where she has been the object of two different men's affection over the course of the show. Easy to see why
- posted by Brian @ 5/06/2009 07:27:00 PM

 
The Sexiest Women on TV # 30-26
Normally I would give you the weekend update but we'll delay that for now and get back into the list as we push forward



30. Poppy Montgomery, Without A Trace, CBS

- The woman named after a flower started out by doing parts in many small films, most notably the massive bomb Dead Man on Campus. The 36 year old Australian actress took off though when she landed her current role on the CBS show that became a huge hit following CSI before moving over to Sundays. She's reason enough to watch.



29. Blake Lively, Gossip Girl, The CW

- This 21 year old actress became a hero to tween girls everywhere when she landed a role in the movie adaptation of the hit teen girl novel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. That alone would give her a solid career. But then she landed a role on the buzz heavy, critical favorite on the upstart CW network. Girl is a pretty good actress to boot.



28. Summer Glau, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, FOX

- 27 year old Glau is a huge hit in the geek community. She had a big role on the Joss Wheldon critically loved, ratings challenged Firefly. She later reprised that role in the movie following the show entitled Serenity. Most recently she has been playing a Terminator (a very hot on) on the FOX show which may or may not be canceled. The geek community will be crushed if it is true. Probably more so Glau will be off their TV than the show being canceled



27. Sarah Chalke, Scrubs, ABC

- 32 year old Chalke has pretty much made her living on television. About 16 years ago she played Becky Conner on the hit ABC show Roseanne. 8 years after starting on that show she joined the medical comedy Scrubs on NBC and has been with them for the duration of the show including the switch over to ABC.



26. Sarah Wayne Callies, Prison Break, FOX

- 31 year old Callies did small bit parts on a number of TV shows before landing the role of Sara Tancredi on the intense FOX drama. Her character was killed off early in season 3 but fan outrage over the death led to the producers finding a way to bring her character back. Prison Break may suffer from its own silliness at times but there is nothing silly about this statement- Callies is one sexy woman.
- posted by Brian @ 5/05/2009 07:10:00 PM

 
The Post with the movies I've seen so far
Here is the list so far this year

The Day the EArth Stood Still- The original is a sci-fi classic and is still revered today for it’s topic and the execution of the story. The remake is a sloppy mess of a film that is boring, and Keanu Reeves does his normal method of “acting” throughout. Which is to say he stares blankly at people and says lines in a barely audible monotone while furrowing his brow.

Bedtime Stories- It’s your typical Adam Sandler movie with a Disney twist. It has a goofy man-boyish lead but in this case he keeps the swearing to a minimum and goes for softer jokes. It’s not a bad little film though and a fine time waster.

My Bloody Valentine 3D- The 3D experience totally makes this film. Without it the film would probably be a boring pile of shit. With it though (and the Real D 3D is spectacular) the movie just pops off the screen and the kills become more breathtaking and the story plugs along with enough sight gags to make you jump.

Gran Torino- A really excellent film. It’s a little rough to sit through if you are majorly turned off by racist slurs because they come fast and there are many of them. It’s a really great story though and Eastwood does fine work with a cast of relatively young actors.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop- Look I like Kevin James a lot and this movie has some funny stuff but more importantly has its heart in the right place. They weren’t setting out to make a real raunchy comedy movie. They wanted to make a film you could take your family to and it works in that regard. It’s funny enough for the little guys, and not insulting to adults.

The Reader- At first I wasn’t sure about this film, but the more I’ve thought about it the more I really enjoyed the film. I’ve read a lot of discussion on this film and a majority of it centers on whether they are trying to make a Nazi a sympathetic character. I think that is kind of missing the point of the story. The story is around the choices we have to make where we have the choice to look the other way on an issue whether we understand the consequences or not. Very moving film.

The Uninvited- As I wrote before in the blog- I really enjoyed this film up until the twist ending where they sort of ruined a good thing. Still worth seeing but be prepared to most likely be disappointed at the end.

He's Just Not That Into You- It’s an ok film but it doesn’t feel nearly as insightful as it thinks it is. Some really good actors in the film but too many of them are not given enough to do which is sort of disappointing in the end. On a purely guy note though- Scarlett Johannsen is super hot. I mean super, super hot.

Fired Up- I was expecting a stupid, typical teen comedy movie and instead got a film that was much funnier than I was prepared for. There are some truly funny scenes in the film even though the actors are clearly about 10 years to old to be playing high school teens anymore.

The Wrestler- A truly sad, heartbreaking film. If you’re looking for a sunny story or a happy ending then you’re probably not going to get that from this film.Mickey Rourke is great as a wrestler who is still trapped late in life trying to be a somebody in front of 300 people every weekend. In chasing that he has alienated his daughter and stumbles over himself trying to start a relationship with the one woman who sees him as a somebody outside the ring. Great film.

Watchmen- A faithful retelling of the graphic novel. The movie works on one level because it does stay so true to the source material and doesn’t try to make a whole new story. However, it really makes it feel long in the middle because you already know where it is going. Plus coming after The Dark knight it had a ton to live up to. Both films cover the same ground, and even though Watchmen came first it feels inferior to TDK.

Last House on the Left- This is a very unsettling film to watch. Much more so than the original which was a jumbled tonal mess of a film. This film strips away all the excess and leaves one incident to stand alone by itself. If you can get through that moment (and it ain’t easy) you’ll be with the film and rooting for the protagonists. If not then you’ll find this film to be offensive and in poor taste all around. Actors performances are pretty good though throughout.

I Love You Man- A truly, very genuine funny film. It doesn’t feel like actors trying to be funny. It feels like you’re watching two people who are just naturally funny interact with each other. Jason Segel and Paul Rudd play their parts perfectly and the amount of quotable funny lines just rises as the film moves forward. Rudd is especially excellent as the awkward guy trying to figure out how to be friends with another guy.

Knowing- Much better than I anticipated it being. It has its moments where it is silly and it does everything it can to take you out of the film. The main crux of the film is the battle of randomness vs determinism. At the very least it provides some thought provoking stuff and might stir some debate as you leave the theater. Also, it has some really neat special effects which match any summer movie. The plane crash scene is one of the more breath-taking things I’ve ever seen on TV.

Adventureland- Funny and sweet film about a kid just out of college trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life when the plan he had falls apart. There are some good lines, and some really good performances throughout the film. What hurt the film some is the fact that it was marketed as being from the same guy as Superbad. It is, but it is really nothing like that film as it has more heart and is trying to convey a bigger story arc. Works for me.

Taken- Good action film even though it gets pretty implausible as it moves along. Also Maggie Grace is like 25 in real life so seeing her play a teen girl and stomp away from her dad was beyond cheesy. Liam Neeson was ok but as the credibility gets stretched he gets harder to buy into as the lead.

Crank 2: High Voltage- Very simply, it’s not high art. Not by any means. However, it is a world of fun from start to finish. Just when you think the events can’t get any crazier they find a way to raise the bar to all new levels. The guy starts with a fake heart, then he starts zapping himself with a dog collar, then he has wild sex with his girl at the horse races, then he gets into a crazy gun battle. Plus the one guy has full body tourettes and he tries to have karate battles with people. Then it turns into a Godzilla movie. Big, loud, stupid- but a helluva good time.

State of Play- Excellent movie. Great performances all around and a really good story. This has twists aplenty and most of them are truly surprising and you won’t see them coming. Russell Crowe is excellent as the frazzled reporter and everyone around him raises their game to meet him as the story plugs along to a satisfying conclusion. Deserves to do better at the box office then it is.
- posted by Brian @ 5/01/2009 02:31:00 PM