Stack'd

Stack'd
A local bar and eatery in Milwaukee's historic 3rd Ward.
Mostly burgers, but everything's fresh and local.  They make a point of mentioning all the vegetables and fruits, beers, and meats are from local businesses or farms when they are available.  They have grass fed beef, organic free range chicken, and organic bison.

I tried the pulled pork nachos served on crispy won ton chips and those were the best thing I ate there.  The french fries were nice and crispy, but the burger wasn't any better than a Five Guys Burger.  Unfortunately, though, the price was extremely high.
My husband ordered the bison burger and a side of mac and cheese.  We had heard from a local reviewer that the mac and cheese was very good so we expected a lot.  The mac and cheese wasn't even as good as some that I've made at home.  It was pretty bland to be honest.  He wasn't impressed with his burger either saying it was a bit plain and needed more spices.
Over all, we had 2 sodas, 2 burgers, and 2 sides, with one appetizer.  $45.00 later we were not going to come back.

I have to give this place a 2 out of 5 forks for good fries and nachos, but overpriced overall, and not as special as they think they are.

Skyfall

Released: 2012
Action, Adventure
Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris
Running Time: 143 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown:  M is in danger as MI6 is under attack from a cyber terrorist organization.

Bond starts out the movie on assignment with another agent as M demands that a hard drive be retrieved, no matter the cost.  Of course, the hard drive is taken by the bad guys and it's super sensitive material about under cover agents.  Bond must do all he can to get it back and get the bad guys.

I really don't want to say too much because, it was a good movie and you'll enjoy all the surprises, if they are surprises to you.

Everything about the film is super solid and I enjoyed it a lot.  The only change I'd make is to not bleach Javier Bardem's hair to blond.  A bit distracting to the character if you ask me, and totally unnecessary, as Bardem is a strong enough actor on his own talents.

4 and 1/5 out of 5 stubs for a solidly entertaining movie.

Dredd

Released: 2012
Action, Sci-fi
Director: Pete Travis
Starring: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey
Running Time: 95 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  Based on the comic book of the same name, and a completely new version of the old Sly Stallone 1995 version, this story takes place in the future where humanity is now limited to the area between Boston and New York where 800 million people are squeezed in and crime is very high.  To handle the volume of crimes, one person is judge, jury, and executioner all in one.

Unlike the 1995 version, this one's not for kids, has no humor, and is a very dark and graphic movie.  Lots of blood, gore, and gun fights, it's not for the squeamish, but it is an excellent movie.
Judge Dredd takes a rookie for evaluation for the day.  In one day she's tested on everything in the real world, and if she passes she can become a Judge.  She's a bit psychic and already failed all the non-field tests, but Judge's boss wants to see if she's any help to Dredd on this one day.

Judge Dredd is called into a mega structure holding a lot of residents of the city.
There's a triple homicide there made to look like a warning to everyone in the building.
During the course of their investigation, the building is put into lock down mode where no one can leave or come inside and the drug lord that controls the building wants the Judge's dead before they open the doors again.

It's a very stylized and interesting to look at film.  I enjoyed everything about it, and have no complaints.  The acting was good, the story was interesting and entertaining, and I can easily recommend it to you.  Go see it.

3 and 1/2 out of 5 for a solid story that's a breath of fresh air.

Perfect Sense

Released: 2011
Drama, Downer
Director: David Mackenzie
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green
Running Time: 92 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown: As the world is enveloped in a disease that slowly takes away all your senses, a scientist and a chef fall in love.


So, from the description, I knew the movie might not be good.  It turned out, it was pretty terrible.
The acting was fine, but the story is so depressing and moves really slow that I checked my watch a lot to see when this movie was going to end.

First people start to get emotionally overwhelmed then they lose their sense of smell.  The scientists are alerted to the possibility that this is a disease when it starts spreading all over the world.  They are at a complete loss as the cases all over the world had no contact with each other.  They don't know if it's a virus, a terrorist attack, environmental, or something else.
Meanwhile the chef takes a smoke break outside the restaurant he works at and starts talking to the scientist through her window while she's at home.  They start a relationship and watch the world around them fall apart.  Soon people lose their sense of taste and the restaurant, of course, is not serving any patrons.  Soon people go into a fit of rage, then lose their hearing.  Finally at the end of the movie they lose their sight and there's no progress whatsoever from the scientific or medical community on what caused this or how to fix it.

Super, super depressing and just not enough subject matter to drive the story anywhere.  I was a bit bored by the characters and the story line and from the beginning, you know these people are all going to lose all their senses.  This was a bad, no, extremely bad idea for a film.

Do not bother to see this one.
1 and 1/2 for Ewan McGregor's full frontal nakedness and good performances from Ewan and Eva, but not much else.

Monsters

Released: 2010
Science Fiction
Director: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Scoot McNairy, and Whitney Able (yes, it's not Scott, but Scoot)
Running Time: 94 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  After aliens have been living on part of Earth for 6 years, humans have to adapt and try to survive in areas called "infected zones."

At the beginning of the film we find out how aliens got to planet Earth through an accident 6 years ago.  Now there's an infected zone in much of Mexico and part of the United States.  Both governments are doing all they can to control the creatures and kill them when they become exposed, but it's not enough to save lives.
A photo journalist gets stuck trying to transport his bosses daughter out of the infected zone, but they miss almost all opportunities to leave safely.  The only option left is to be guided on foot, through the dangerous infected zone and try to make it home to the states.


So, I hadn't heard of this movie before and the premise sounded interesting.  Even though it was a small time film with no one actor you've ever heard of, the special effects were decent and the story well thought out.  I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

It does have a slow pace, which works well for me to build up the characters and the anticipation, but for some, it might seem too slow for a sci-fi film.  I say no, it's good for character development.  I would've liked the creatures to look a little less like a well known sea creature, but perhaps, that's the alien life form mixing with Earth animals, so I suppose, there's a way to explain that.

At the end of the film, I was surprised, but convinced it was a good ending.  My only word of advice is to be very observant in this film.  Pay close attention to the beginning scene and the last one as they have a direct connection to one another, and something I missed on the first viewing.

Enjoy!
3 out of 5 for a solid, very good movie.

Fright Night (2011)

Released: 2011
Comedy, Horror
Director: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  A teenage boy discovers his neighbor is a vampire and tries to convince others to believe him and help stop him.  A remake of the original with same title from 1985.

I've seen the original, but it's been a very long time.  I'm sure there's a lot of updates in this one, but as far as remakes go, this one was entertaining.
A teenage boy's friend points out to him that people are disappearing from school.  They agree to meet at the  house of the latest missing boy to see if a vampire is starting to kill off people like the boy's friend says.  The teenager gets there late, but discovers no one's home and his friend isn't either.
The next day the boy's friend does not show up at school so the boy goes to his house and sees some of the research that his friend was doing.  Looks like his neighbor really is a vampire after all.  The boy tries to formulate a plan of attack and goes to a magician's house to see if he can aid the boy in killing the vampire.

This pretty much follows the same path as the first one with some small changes here and there, but this is a fun ride for anyone familiar or not with the original.

Colin Farrell's a terrible actor, but this role's within his range so he's ok in it.  There are some funny parts as well as some good special effects.
See it if you like funny horror movies.
3 out of 5 for good acting and an entertaining movie.

Source Code

Released: 2011
Mystery, Sci-fi
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga
Running Time: 93 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown:  A military pilot is suddenly involved with an investigation to find out how a commuter train headed to Chicago gets bombed, killing everyone aboard, including himself.

A military pilots last memory was of himself in Afghanistan fighting in the war.  Next thing he knows, he's in a small, cramped room helping the military on a mission.  Source code is a military project where a man takes over another man's body to try to find out who bombed a crowded commuter train.  He travels back in time and becomes one of the victims, not to prevent the bomb from going off, but only to find out who does it.

I really don't want to say much, because this is a good movie.  Better than most I've seen lately.

I enjoyed it.
3 and 1/2 out of 5 for an original idea with a good execution.  See it!

I just ordered P90X

Yes, I finally gave in and ordered P90X yesterday off the tv.  I was going to buy an elliptical machine but it wouldn't fit in our living room, and a good one would've cost thousands of dollars.  So instead, I just spent 150.00 on the basic 12 dvd pack.  Now I need some free weights and a pull up bar and I'll be ready to use it.  I hope to start by Feb. 1st and track my progress closely over the next 3 months.  We'll see how much better/worse it is then just going to the gym and working out.

Under the Tuscan Sun

Released: 2003
Comedy, Drama
Director: Audrey Wells
Starring: Diane Lane, Raoul Bova
Running Time: 113 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown:  A recently divorced writer moves on the spur of the moment to Italy and buys a house in need of renovation.

This movie is based on the book titled, "Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy" by Frances Mayes.
The only plot from the book that's true in this movie, is that this writer did buy an old house in Italy and wanted to renovate it.  After that, the rest is fiction.

Here's the plot of the movie.
Frances, the main character is stuck, socially, after she gets a painful divorce from her cheating husband.  A couple of her friends see she is struggling and instead of taking their vacation, give her one ticket to Italy to straighten herself out and have some fun.  She's reluctant to go, but after she does, she falls in love with an old house in need of some love and renovation and buys it.

She stays in Italy discovering how hard it is to remake a house, how to cook, how to slow down and enjoy things.  She starts a romance with a young Italian man and she is renewed, full of spirit and life again.  She makes some friends, and one of her friends that gave her the ticket comes to visit her as well.  There's a lot more to the movie, but if you'd like to see it, I say, it wasn't too bad.  Kinda' a little above average, but better than most similar divorcee stories I've seen.

It gave me a few laughs.
3 out of 5 for being entertaining enough.

Wimbledon

Released: 2004
Comedy, Romance
Director: Richard Loncraine
Starring: Paul Bettany, Kirsten Dunst, James McAvoy
Running Time: 98 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown: Two competing athletes at Wimbledon meet and fall in love.

So this movie was ok.  Not great, not terrible either.  Another middle of the road movie.  I will say it's better than most romantic comedies since the acting was fine and the story line is fine, just wasn't spectacular.  James McAvoy is in it and he's pretty funny as the loser brother of the main male character.

I can't really explain any more of the plot since my breakdown pretty much covers it.  I could mention the female lead's dad is controlling and doesn't want her to fall in love and the male lead's character is afraid he's too old to get very far in the competition.  Other than that, it is what it is.

2 and 1/2 out of 5 for being an ok movie.  See it if you want, skip it if you don't.

Holes

Released: 2003
Family, Adventure
Director: Andrew Davis
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver
Running Time: 117 minutes
Rated: PG

The breakdown: A boy's detention camp is under the control of a mysterious slave driver that wants all the boys to dig holes all day long in the middle of the desert.

I have to confess, I didn't really want to see this movie, but I did for Shia LaBeouf in his first starring role ever.
If you love him, or have a crush on him, I can easily say, that it's not possible to lust after him in this movie.  He is only 17 when he filmed it and his hair is in bad need of a haircut, but I digress.

The plot....
The boy accidentally gets involved with some stolen shoes and is arrested, even though, he actually didn't do anything wrong.  Instead of going to jail, he has the opportunity to choose to go to a boys camp.  He chooses the camp thinking it will be easier.  Turns out the adults there are mean and insensitive to just about everything related to the kids needs.  They are expected to dig deep holes in the desert everyday and that's the extent of what they're told.  If they find something "interesting" they are supposed to tell the person on guard and if it's good to the warden, they get the day off of digging.
There's also a concurrent story of the wild west where this desert area used to be a town with a lake.  Back then, there was a school teacher that fell in love with the local black farmer and she was white, so that instantly caused problems.
I won't ruin the movie by telling you anymore, but I can easily say unless you're a teenager or a young kid, don't bother with this one.  It's a bit slow paced and silly at times, but it is a kids movie after all.  I suppose if I had seen this one when I was 10, I would've loved it.

3 out of 5 for being an ok movie with a good interracial love story.

The Grudge

Released: 2004
Horror (but really unintentionally a comedy)
Director: Takashi Shimizu
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Running Time: 92 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown: A typical haunted house movie involving a murdered family causing a curse on everyone that sets foot into the house.

This was a terribly stupid and unintentionally funny horror movie.
An American exchange student moves with her boyfriend to Tokyo.  One day she subs for a missing nurse at a house that has an older lady who needs help taking care of herself.  Turns out the house is haunted with a vicious and vengeful spirit that curses everyone to step foot into the house where a family was murdered years ago.

I found the noises that the ghosts made sounded just like someone burping for long periods of time.
Not scary.
The ghosts were painted white with black circles around their eyes.
Not scary.
The movie....
You guessed it.
Not scary.

Don't bother.
1 out of 5 since I like Gellar and I did jump one time during the movie.
I don't understand the obsession of Asian filmmakers with ghosts, but I've seen 3 Asian horror movies now and they are all the same subject.  Someone dies violently, they come back as ghosts, they hunt and kill new people that piss them off for whatever reason.  Boring!  They should try something else like possessed items, or sci-fi anything.  These 3 films I've seen are not scary and not good.

Apollo 18

Released: 2011
Horror, Sci-fi
Director: Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego
Starring: Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen
Running Time: 86 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown:  On NASA's last and secret Apollo mission (18), found footage shows what happened on the surface of the moon and the unfortunate end of its astronauts.

This movie looked really bad from the previews and it was.
Usually "found footage" movies don't work so well and end up being boring to sit through, this one is no exception.

On the final mission of the Apollo space program, 3 astronauts are chosen to go to the moon.  2 of them go down to the surface, while the third stays in orbit to get them all home.
While the 2 are on the surface, exploring, one finds the empty shell of the current cosmonaut moon lander and the single cosmonaut dead in a dark crater a bit farther away.
Upon further exploring, one astronaut has an encounter with something he can't explain.  He was attacked outside the moon lander and the other astronaut has not seen what happened so neither do we.  He has a cut on his suit and the other astronaut hurries him back to the safety of their moon lander so he can inspect what kind of damage was done.  He discovers a large cut on the man's abdomen and he looks as though, he's getting quite the weird infection.  Over the next few hours, his conditions worsens and it's obvious he's been infected with some sort of alien illness.  The other astronaut pulls out a rock out of the man's wound, and the infected astronaut tries to destroy it with a hammer but it just breaks apart all over the lander.
SPOILER
talking about the terrible ending coming up.  But I really suggest you save your time but NOT seeing this movie and just keep reading.
SO by the end of the film, NASA's telling the seemingly uninfected astronaut that they are going to have to leave him behind, and that he is indeed infected.
He's fought hard to save the other guy, but it seems the infected one wants to stay on the moon and tells the other guy to save himself and just leave.
The rocks are the aliens and they pop out legs and look like crabs when they feel like moving or attacking.
Really?  Space crabs?
The 2 astronauts have one final big fight in the dark crater, and the first astronaut has decided to leave, but the infected one comes along with his hammer and decides that's not going to happen.  He smashes the window to the lander with his hammer, so the astronaut inside is forced to take the old Russian moon lander from the dead cosmonaut and try to get that up to the orbiter somehow.  At this point, the astronaut orbiting is telling the other one that they'll find a way to get him home.  I'm pretty sure it's impossible to link the NASA orbiter to the Russian moon lander, but this movie is terrible anyway, so it's not really important.

So anyway, the Russian moon lander is on it's way up and you can see that the guy really is showing signs of infection as well.  NASA's telling the orbiter astronaut to just leave him behind and if he does try to save the other guy, they will leave him in radio silence without any help to get him back to Earth.  It turns out NASA knew that the aliens existed already and were extremely dangerous.

The orbiter guy is telling the other one to slow his vehicle down, but then they crash into each other and everyone's now dead.  NASA says they all died hero's and makes up a story for each one's death, not revealing the truth about the mission or the existence of aliens on the moon.


Space crabs!?  That's what it comes down to.  Everyone had space crabs.  Terrible.  Terribly slow paced, terribly boring, terrible everything.  DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE.
It's a complete waste of time with a ridiculous alien creature idea.
1/2 out of 5 for the possibility of this somehow being a redeemable idea, but completely going wrong, right from the beginning.

Halloween Party Plans

I've been debating whether to have another Halloween party this year or not.  Not due to me not wanting to have one, but because of some complaints I got about my last one, even though, nothing bad happened and everyone had a good time.
I've decided to pursue having one and do my best to make it happen.

It'll be either on October 19th or the 26th.  I'm looking for one of those 2 to have the best weather for outside tables and chairs.  I'm leaning towards the 26th right now, but if we get closer and the weather's not looking right, I have time to change it.

I intend on having just as many people as last year or less, so it'll be a good turn out and not too many people in the house.

Still having great food, a game for prizes of some kind, lots of music, decorations, and fun planned.  If you're one of the lucky few invited this year, I hope you can make it!

The Muppets

Released: 2011
Comedy, Family
Director: James Bobin
Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper
Running Time: 103 minutes
Rated: PG

The breakdown: The Muppets return to their old glory of the 80's television show to save their old studio from being demolished.

What happens when Jason Segel is allowed to write a movie for The Muppets and it gets produced?  This disappointing and depressing movie is released for The Muppets.  I don't want to write this review, but I have to.  : (

I've always loved The Muppets.  Back in the 80's I watched the television show and went to all the movies.  They were so funny, cute, and witty.  Unfortunately this was the worst Muppet film I have ever seen.
In the past, Frank Oz has always had something to do with the directing, and voice acting, for the Muppets, but he left this project because he was unhappy with the script.  So was I.  I don't blame him for abandoning the director's chair on this one.

So the plot....
A pair of brothers, one human, one muppet (don't ask) live together their whole lives, even into adulthood.  The muppet brother is a big fan of The Muppets and watches all the old videos.  When the human brother has his 10 year anniversary of dating the same woman, he decides to take them all on a trip to Los Angeles, but especially to see the old Muppets studio that is now closed (since I'm guessing it's supposed to be 2011 in this movie.)  Anyway, they all get to the studio and through a mishap, the muppet brother is trapped hiding in a room when a very rich oil tycoon comes in and starts discussing how he will buy up the old studio and demolish it for the oil underneath.  After they leave, the muppet tells his brother of what happened and they start a journey to find all the old Muppets to get them back together to find out what to do.  Kermit comes up with the idea of getting everyone back on tv in their old studio to tape a telethon to raise 10 million dollars to buy the studio and keep it safe.
The rest of the movie shows how they find each former tv cast member doing some sad things like owing a plumbing company, or doing a terrible gig in Reno with Muppet impersonators.

What's worse there's a lot of no talent idiot actors in the movie like Jack Black, and Sarah Silverman.

It wasn't a terrible movie, no, but by far, the worst Muppet related one ever.  The lack of Frank Oz's influence over the movie shows immediately, but Jason Segel (whoever he is) isn't a good writer for The Muppets, and isn't a very impressive actor either.

I only laughed a couple times due to a background sheep trying to eat things he shouldn't like blankets and papers.  Otherwise, not even a smile....and by the way, the humans singing?  Really bad.  The movie lacked a connection for me.  It also lacked a heart, laughs, romance, chemistry, oh I could go on.

If you like the Muppets, you might like this despite all of it's short comings.  But if you like Beaker, or Pepe like I do, they are sadly not in enough scenes.  Pepe only has one, and Beaker a few.

2 out of 5 for Beaker, Pepe, and a cute sheep that eats everything in the background in 2 scenes, otherwise, a sad film.

Real Steel

Released: 2011
Drama, Action
Director: Shawn Levy
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly
Running Time: 127 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown:   A down on his luck father finds out his baby mama's died and he has rights to the child if he wants him.  Set in the future, robots fight instead of humans in the boxing ring and the father needs cash really bad.

A small time robot fighter/promoter finds out his son's mother just died and he has to get to court so he can sign off his rights to the boy's aunt, who really does want the child.  He sees him as a burden and has had nothing to do with his son since he was born.  The father's career is not doing well and he owes a lot of people, a lot of money.  He makes a deal with the aunt's husband to "sell" his rights to them for $100,000.  The deal is set and the father will have to put up with the kid just over the summer while the aunt and husband are off on vacation in another country.  The husband gives the father $50,000 up front and promises the rest of the money will be delivered when the boy is handed over to them at the end of the summer.

In the meantime, the father buys a new robot and immediately gets it trashed in the ring against a stronger opponent.  The kid and father break into a junk yard and the boy salvages an old long forgotten about robot fighter that's very out dated.  The boy develops an attachment to the robot and cleans him up to get him ready to fight.  The father knows this robot is old and is really only good for shadow boxing, not actually fighting.  The boy and father end up bonding over getting this robot ready to fight and it starts to win battles.

I won't tell you the rest, even though, the story is very predictable, if you do want to see it.  Fortunately for the ladies there is the required shot of Jackman with his shirt off and he still looks incredible.  Personally, that was the best thing about the movie, but it's not the worst movie I've ever seen either.  Like a lot of other movies I've seen lately, this one just falls into the mediocre category.  They're just making too many movies these days and anything on screen will do for most production companies it seems.

I give it 2 out of 5 for a shirtless shot of Jackman and some good special effects with cool looking robots.  I should mention this is also based on a short story called "Steel" by none other than the amazing Richard Matheson.

The I Inside

Released: 2004
Mystery, Sci-fi
Director: Roland Suso Richter
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Polley
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  A man awakens in the hospital with the ability to time travel, but first he must try to remember how he got into the hospital in the first place.

Phillippe plays a man named Simon that wakes up with a start in the hospital.  The dr. tells him he died, but that they revived him and that he was involved in an accident.  He asks Phillippe questions he should know the answer to, but he's easily confused.  He can't remember what the date is, or the year, and he doesn't remember any accident.  The dr. tells him he may have suffered some memory loss and to give it time, and that it should come back to him.  In the meantime, the dr. asks if Phillippe wants to see his wife, but unfortunately, he doesn't even remember getting married.  Things get weird when the wife slaps Phillipe across the face and starts talking about things he doesn't understand.  Then he starts time traveling between 2 different years, but in the same hospital.

Even though the plot sounded good, it ended up being too much like many films before it, and was doomed to be an overdone plot.  I watched it all the way through, intrigued at the beginning, but by the end, I felt like I was a bit cheated.

Do not see this movie, it was just so-so.
2 out of 5 for a well done, but over done film, and not original at all.

John Carter

Released: 2012
Action, Adventure
Director: Andrew Stanton (same guy that did Finding Nemo)
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, and Willem Defoe
Running Time: 132 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown:  A civil war vet accidentally gets transported to Mars where he finds multiple aliens and humans fighting against each other for domination of the planet.

This was based on a book titled "A Princess of Mars", part of a 12 part series of books, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs back in 1912.
This civil war veteran is "asked" by the Army to join and he refuses.  They lock him up and he tries to escape several times as he's had enough of war.  Eventually, he does break out, but finds a far more dangerous enemy a little bit down into the movie.  Through this chance encounter with a dangerous alien who looks like a man, he gets transported to Mars, but doesn't realize it right away.  Through exploration of the new world, he sees aliens, and humans fighting for control of each other and the planet, at first, he still wants nothing to do with war, but once he sees the beautiful princess, things change a bit.

I know this was a huge bomb for Disney and I'm pretty sure a lot of people were not happy with the film adaptation (since it looks a lot like some other sci-fi films we all know) but I actually thought it wasn't too bad.  Certainly not the best sci-fi film I've ever seen, but not nearly as bad as I expected it to be.

I say watch it before you count it out and say it looks like Avatar or just plain rubbish.

3 out of 5 for being a decent movie with some good special effects.

4:44 Last Day on Earth

Released: 2011
Drama, but also supposed to be something else - I'm going to guess, sci-fi?
Director: (should be taken out into the street and shot for making such a terrible film) Abel Ferrara
Starring: Willem Defoe, Shanyn Leigh
Running Time: WAYYYYYY TOOOO LONGGGGG at 82 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  A couple is shown during their last 24 hours on Earth after it's revealed to the world that the next morning at 4:44, the world will end.

I really was interested from the description of this film on my guide so I decided to watch it.
First off, let me tell you the main plot.
The world is told that at 4:44 am the next day, the world will end.  No one will survive.  This movie shows what a couple - one young female painter, and a much older successful actor do on their last day on Earth.

That's it.

I was thinking there was going to be more to it.  But this might be one of the the most boring movies I have ever witnessed.
Almost the entire movie shows this couple in their New York apartment doing things like calling their loved ones on Skype, ordering take out (why anyone would still be doing their job at this point is beyond me - especially a food delivery boy), watching people on the street, watching the news, having sex, painting, and changing clothes.
Nothing really happens.  I'm pretty sure it would be as interesting as watching my husband and I in our house, for 24 hours on a normal day......boring....or wait no, at least my husband and I are funny, so we'd probably make you guys laugh at some point.

I was so mad at the end of this movie for making me wait for a good story to come along and never delivered.  Actually mad at the writer and director for making me waste an hour and 22 minutes of my life.  A completely pointless movie.

DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE NO MATTER WHAT.
Promise me?
Please.

0 out of 5 for no entertainment value at all.  I like Willem Defoe and I can't imagine why he agreed to do this film.

Maybe Good, Maybe Bad

Seems my period has started up again as of yesterday.
23 days from the date of my last pill, which is good.
I had a headache the day before, which is also good, because it means that's normal.
What's not so good, is that I seem to be bleeding a bit heavier than normal.
I'll have to watch and wait to see if it can stop on it's own this time.
I'm a bit nervous...I'll keep you updated.

Sheridan's Date Night

Hmmmmm mmmm Sheridan's was great last night.  I know I've already done a review for them for lunch and breakfast, but their dinner was just as fabulous.

First off every Thursday night they offer something they do called Date Night.
It just means they have the normal menu or the date night menu and you can choose whichever you like.  Since my husband and I had never done their dinner we went with the date night option since it's pretty cheap.
We shared the Focaccia bread with a little garlic and olive oil.
Then we had a choice between 2 appetizers and went with the bruschetta covered with tomatoes, onions, and a few other bits.
I had the pretzel crusted chicken with a side of carrots and broccoli, and a little scoop of mashed potatoes.
He had the Macaroni and Cheese with side salad.
Then we shared the cheesecake for dessert which wasn't your typical cheesecake.  It was more like a crumb cake with lots of graham crackers and a sliver of cream in the center.  Then on the side was a dollop of flavored cream with a drizzle of caramel on one side and raspberry on the other.
He had a glass of red wine, I had white and that was it, all for $40.00.
The interior is extremely warm and cozy done in an Art Nouveau style.  Candles dot every table and they have a big fireplace.  My husband and I couldn't have picked a better small, quiet restaurant for a romantic meal.
All the food was absolute perfection and the service was great.
I highly recommend you go here if you're ever in the Milwaukee area.

Sheridan's cafe and boutique hotel located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

So tired today

Ugh that road trip was draining.  Lots of rain out of town and on the road.  We passed through fields, cities, and towns, and all the while the weather changed a lot.  From clouds and rain to a little sunshine, but still cool.  Then after dinner back to clouds and cold, followed by snow all over in Indiana.  Chicago had some crazy drivers, even at 9 at night, and Wisconsin was clear and cold.  I went to bed shortly after arriving and unpacking a little.
Big headache today, but tonight is date night at Sheridan's and I'm looking forward to it.

More breakfast please

Well, it's the end of our trip and we're leaving today right now for the long 12 hour road trip.
I wished my hotel had the bagel toppers again since I'm giving them up for my eating-healthier-this-year, new year's resolution. : (
Here we go...

They won

Yeah for my husband's team, they won.  We ended up watching the game in the hotel lobby with a lot of other fans.  Nice people really.  My husband is really happy and maybe tonight he can sleep.  He was too pumped up last night to get much rest.  I on the other hand, was asleep by midnight.  This morning, we're up early to work out and then to have breakfast and do some more shopping.
Roll Tide.

Alabama Crimson Tide

So here we are in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to watch the game with several other nuts, I mean, fans.  It makes my husband happy so I'm happy to do things for him that make his life more enjoyable.  Even though the game's being played in Miami, we are looking for a place to watch the game here with the fans.  I'm sure we'll end up at a restaurant or bar.
Got to Alabama safe yesterday afternoon and had a delicious breakfast today at the Hampton Inn, bagel toppers, my FAVORITE!!!
We'll do some shopping today and then watch the game tonight.  Wish my husband luck!

Leaving Horse Cave

Got to Horse Cave safe and sound last night.  The hotel was almost completely empty, but it is in the middle of nowhere.  Great breakfast in my stomach and we are on our way to Alabama.

Leaving town for T-town

Leaving today for a long car ride to Horse Cave, Kentucky.  We will stay there overnight in a Hampton Inn and then tomorrow we are continuing onto Tuscaloosa.  I'll keep you updated....

What's Your Number?

Released: 2011
Comedy
Director: Mark Mylod
Starring: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Blythe Danner
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  A recently unemployed woman hunts down her old boyfriends to see if one of them is Mr. Right.

This movie had a disgusting premise, but I hadn't seen it and I was bored, so I watched it.  I would've been better off bored.
I don't know who Anna Faris is, but I'm guessing she's from Saturday Night Live since it seems a lot of other cast members were from there too.  If that's not the case, then it sure felt like a movie based on an SNL skit.
You should also note, often times when a movie is starring the same person that's the executive producer, it might not be a good movie.  Meaning no one else wanted to produce the idea but the "star".  That's the case with this one.
Here's the premise.
A recently fired young woman reads an article in a women's magazine that says what the average number of men a woman has slept with in her life.  The woman discovers this average number is much lower than what her personal number of lovers is and is worried after talking to her friends that she won't be able to find Mr. Right in the future.  She doesn't want to sleep with any more guys so she goes to the past boyfriends she's slept with to check and see if any of them might be the Mr. Right she missed.
She hires the Gigolo across the hall of her apartment building to track down the old boyfriends since he mentioned his dad was a cop.

This woman has no job and doesn't look for one, instead she spends her money on trying to find old boyfriends.  Meanwhile, her sister is getting married and is the "perfect" daughter to her mother's eyes.  She spends a lot of buddy non-sexual time with the guy across the hall and you can guess what happens by the end of the movie.  So formulaic!

There's lots of nudity (which in Chris Evans case is good) and lots of cursing so it's not a movie for kids.  There's lot of bathroom humor and gross jokes that aren't funny.  Unfortunately, there's not a lot of entertainment here so if you're looking for a good movie, keep looking.
1/2 out of 5 for a naked Chris Evans.  It's not the worst movie I've ever seen, but it's easily forgettable.

New Year's Eve (the movie)

Released: 2011
RomCom
Director: Garry Marshall
Starring:  Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Cary Elwes, Jessica Biel, and a ton of others who want to ruin their own career.
Running Time: An agonizingly pointless 118 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown: Intertwining love stories shown on a random new year's eve day and night.

First off this was supposed to be a romantic comedy.  With no laughs, and no romantic stories within the film I hardly see how this movie could qualify.  Second, I knew this was going to be a bad movie since Garry Marshall directed it and lately, all he cares about is a paycheck and not his reputation, nor a good movie.  He also made Valentine's Day which was equally bad, but actually made to look a lot better with the release of this new cinematic piece of crap.  Third, there's no story line here, and no interesting characters, so I ask why even bother to make this movie?  A paycheck is the only answer I can think of.  All of the actors included only did this for a paycheck, with no regard to their now dying careers.
I used to respect some of these actors like Michelle Pfeiffer and.....hmmm, well maybe just her.  The rest of them are no talent has-beens, respectable actors that started taking questionable movie roles a long time ago, or just a flash in the pan, hot-at-the-moment type "actor".  And I do use that term loosely.

This formula doesn't work Garry Marshall.  You can't take a whole bunch of actors, throw them together with a laughably bad script and hope that it turns out good....it doesn't.

Stop with the formula's Hollywood.  Stop with the ensemble casts with the terrible scripts.  Stop with the pointless movies that don't need to be made - no one wants to see them.  The movie has no message, the movie has no point really.  When you get to the end of it, you're still hungry to see a fulfilling story.  It leaves you completely empty and feeling as you've just played the fool for wasting two hours of your valuable time.
Here's some of the "stories" if you can call them that:
A man is losing his battle with Cancer and just wants to see the ball drop one more time.

A man is wrestling with the idea of meeting a woman who he's interested in back at the same restaurant he met her at last new year's eve, but she ran out on him and only left a note on a napkin telling him things are complicated and if he's still interested in her in a year to meet back there on next new year's eve.

A couple is about to have a baby and wants to be the first to deliver in the new year to win $25,000.

A 15 year old girl wants to be with a boy she likes in New York's Time Square to watch the ball drop and maybe kiss him at midnight.

An old meek secretary hires a courier boy to make her list of new year's resolutions come true even though they're impossible to do in 24 hours like save a life, go to Bali, and travel around the world.

A man (I'm being generous here considering the "man" is Ashton Kutcher) and a woman (also being generous considering the "woman" is the mean looking, no talent, Lea Michelle) are stuck in an elevator together in their apartment complex and apparently hate each other at first, but of course, fall in love by the time the night's over.

Sappy, saccharine, sugar coated crappy totally unrealistic "love stories" this movie is SUCH a waste of time.
The strongest parts of the movie are De Niro in the hospital one on one with Halle Berry or Cary Elwes just because men really do die of Cancer and have no one left in their lives to die with.  It's the most believable part of the movie, it's not because of great script writing or acting in those scenes.  Anyway, I can't say enough bad things about this movie.  There are no great love stories here, and there are no laughs.  Even at the end credits with the blooper reel running, Marshall decides to plug his other crappy romcom Valentine's Day by showing two DVD copies being delivered by a pregnant actor.  Pure disgust.  Garry Marshall has no shame and no good movies left in him.  I mean, this is the same guy that directed classics like Pretty Woman, Beaches, and Overboard - those were thoroughly entertaining good movies.  What happened?

1/2 out of 5 for too much sugary, unrealistic stories, empty emotionless characters, and an ensemble cast that was brought together for no apparent reason.  DO NOT SEE THIS FILM.

Man on the Moon

Released: 1999
Biography
Director: Milos Forman
Starring: Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito
Running Time: 118 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:
A film about the life of eccentric and ground-breaking actor/comedian, Andy Kaufman.

When you think about a formula for a successful movie, in this case a biographical movie, you have to consider one thing...Does the movie make you want to learn more about the main character?  If the answer is yes, then the movie's a success.

It's too bad that this movie did not get a larger audience or make more money because it was really well done.  I had no interest in seeing it.  I had no interest in learning more about Andy Kaufman, and personally I didn't think he was funny, but after seeing this film, I changed my mind.

Andy Kaufman was at the time a genius for coming up with a routine that no one else was doing, and he certainly was like no one else.  He grabbed people's attention and really never let go.  He blurred lines between himself and his characters so well, that almost no one knew the real person inside, and he fooled people so well, they didn't know what was real or faked.  He did it too well since when he did actually pass away in the 1980's even some of his close friends thought he had faked his own death and would come back to say he had fooled everyone with the biggest gag ever.

Basically, the movie shows Kaufman playing little gigs here and there for small audiences and getting some big attention.  He gets noticed by an agent that wants to represent him, and his new agent gets him on the first episode of Saturday Night Live.  He makes several appearances there and also plays to college campuses and gives other performances around the country.  When the television show Taxi got it's start after seeing Kaufman, the producers really wanted him on their show.  He agreed, but hated the idea of sitcoms, so after a very short time, he wanted off the show.  Eventually, Taxi was cancelled, but Kaufman continued to perform and cause lots of trouble.  Characters that made women angry like the only intergender wrestling champion of the world brought about a fake on-air fight live on David Letterman with Jerry Lawler that people thought was real for years.  Unfortunately, he died of a rare lung cancer though he lived a mostly healthy lifestyle after giving up small amounts of smoking as a young person.  Knowing what we know now about second hand smoke with him playing all those gigs in small bars where everyone smoked, maybe that helped it develop in him.

Jim Carrey did an excellent job and I see why he won a Golden Globe for it, though he should have been nominated for an Oscar in my opinion.  I actually was curious about someone I never liked after seeing a film about him, so to me, that's a successful biopic.

I say, see it if you haven't, even if you don't like Jim Carrey, or Andy Kaufman.

4 out of 5 for making me interested in someone I never even liked before.  I still don't think Andy's funny, but I see why so many people thought he was a genius.

Happy New Year

Just wanted to say
Happy New Year!
Hope 2013 is the best year yet for you and your family!