On HBO Bill Maher has a regular weekly talk show titled Real Time with Bill Maher. Apparently, it started in 2003, but I've only started watching it recently. Yes, I don't have a direct link from Amazon.com for his show, because they just don't offer his show on dvd. Most likely because it's a current events show. It's like trying to watch a news broadcast from 2005, what's the point? Just try to catch on HBO, Friday nights at 9:00 central time, but is a live program so plan accordingly.
I've thoroughly enjoyed it and it's refreshing to watch a show that is mentally and conversationally stimulating for once. The show is an hour long and the first few minutes is Maher's opening monologue. This is my least favorite part of the show and I think is just a waste of time. He's usually not that funny during this segment and the time could be used better for panel discussion. So, after the monologue he usually has someone in studio or beamed in on satellite where they discuss items specific to his guest for about 10 minutes. He could have anyone on from a former governor to a New York Times reporter to a former Government worker (senator, president, etc.) This is a hit or miss segment, sometimes it's really interesting, and sometimes it's just really boring.
My favorite segment is the longest - the panel. Bill invites 3 different people with 3 different backgrounds (black, white, woman, man, conservative, liberal) to discuss current events and political matters. Last night for example he had an older white male tea party movie director, an older white female editor of her own website for politics, and a black older male astrophysicist. The person who made the most sense and got the crown riled up in a positive way was the astrophysicist. I've seen him in other talk shows and he always has a good sense of humor, he's well spoken, and of course, incredibly intelligent. So the panel talked about things like the end of the NASA space shuttle program, the debt ceiling crisis, the president's performance, cutting taxes for the rich, and the tea party. Then about 30 minutes into panel Bill has one more guest come out to join them. They are usually a bit more famous and main stream like chefs, actors, directors, or someone in the Hollywood industry. I think they are supposed to represent a normal, non political person, but sometimes they can't keep up with the discussion and just fall into the background. You have to be a strong smart person to be on the show or else you'll embarrass yourself or just not say much. For the last 5 or 8 minutes of the show is the New Rules segment. This is where Bill gets to openly make points about whatever he feels like and take a strong stand on something. Usually I agree with him and he makes me laugh my ass off with his humor.
Of course, he's not always right, but quite often he makes a lot of sense and points out how wrong the US Government and/or people have things.
Things like taking the profit out of health care. Making the rich pay more in taxes. Bringing jobs back to the US instead of outsourcing everything. Big corporations get too many tax breaks and never care about what's right or fair. The Government sucks and they are run by special interest groups that line the Senators pockets with money for passing bills that give them more profits. So many good discussion starters are throughout the show that I frequently have to pause the program to talk about what's being said with who I'm watching it with. It's a great show and if you haven't seen it, you should be watching it.
It's just too bad that all these great discussions are going on every week and none of it is being heard by the people who can actually put the policies into practice.
sunrise
Sunrise over the Atlantic
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
TLC channel/Critical Analysis
There are a few tv channels that really irk me. Channels that seem to play absolute crap all the time. Today, I'm going to discuss TLC. The letters stand for The Learning Channel, but I'd like to refer to it as something else - Truly Laborious Channel - as in, it's hard work to watch most of the shows on this network. I'm not sure what you could "learn" from this channel but how to be annoying.
Let's start with the shows that are horrible.
19 Kids and Counting - This show is about a family of gross proportions. 2 adults spawn 19 children? If these were animals or items, it would be called hoarding and it's an illness that needs to be treated. No one should have 19 kids unless you're the director of an orphanage. I've never watched the show, nor do I even want it on the air. It's only glamorizing an illness.
Kate plus 8 - See above, except for the fact that the mother of these kids is a fame whore who will do anything to make more money off her kids. Not only does she do this show, but has been on countless talk shows about her very public split from her husband at the time, plus shows like Dancing with the Stars that pays $20,000 a week, for every week that you stay on, with a bonus of around $50,000 for whoever wins. Synopsis of TLC's website, "Join Kate and the Gosselin kids on new adventures - from activities at home to exciting field trips, experience all the fun with the family." Wow, I really want to follow them around while they go grocery shopping and take the kids to the dentist. That's so much better than my reality!
Extreme Couponing - TLC describes the show on their website as this, "enter the world of bargain shoppers who have mastered the art of saving! In Extreme Couponing, meet the everyday people who save hundreds of dollars in a single trip to the store." But, it's not really like that. The people that do this show are addicted to shopping and use the excuse of "well, I'm just trying to save money on groceries for my family." They spend all their free time day, and night, clipping coupons, digging in dumpsters for old newspapers, searching online for sales, driving around to multiple stores to bargain shop, and miss appointments and family get togethers to do stuff like shop. It's still an illness. Hmmmm, I see a pattern developing here.
The Little Couple/Little People, Big World - Same idea for two shows. You get to watch little people get married, buy houses, do normal everyday mundane things except the draw here is that they're small. I think this is a bit disturbing, to draw so much attention to someones growth problems and then for the people to agree to be on the show? Anything for money.
Toddlers and Tiaras - Mother of God! This is the worst show on this channel for many reasons. First of all pushy parents make their little children get dressed up in hair, makeup, spray tans, and small outfits to parade around for judges to see and possibly win money.
Little girls are supposed to look like this:
This is one of the "contestants" on the show according to TLC's website.
After she's all whored up, she looks like this for "pageants"
This girl who can't be much older than what 6, 8 maybe, looks like she's 23 with all the make up. No little girl wants to work for a living doing this at single digit ages. NO ONE! When I was little, sure I liked to get dressed up in my mom's high heels, and play with make up, but I didn't want to eat, breathe, and sleep it. That was play time, all I was concerned about was having fun. These little girls don't choose this. The parents push them into it. What's more disturbing is how accepted it is. These little girls are being exploited by their own parents to make money and get them some fame on tv. Meanwhile, pedophiles everywhere are probably rejoicing about how long this show has been on (4 seasons I hear) and how they get their fix of new girls to fantasize about. There is nothing about this show that's redeeming, there's nothing about this show that isn't sickening, and nothing about it that's ok. I'm not the only one that feels this way. On the shows website there are a TON of comments about how wrong this show is and how ashamed TLC should be for airing it.
Sister Wives - Show synopsis from TLC, "Meet Kody Brown, his three wives -- Meri, Janelle, and Christine -- and their 13 children. Follow the Brown family and see how they attempt to navigate life as a normal family in a society that shuns their polygamist lifestyle." For one thing, it's not legal to marry more than one person at a time in this country, that might be why society shuns them. For another thing, who wants to have sex with the same man that your other 2 sisters are doing? This is another form of mental illness on the women's parts (along with low self esteem that they can't have their own monogamous man) and a greedy horny repulsive man who wants to have sex with as many women as he can using the excuse that religion makes it acceptable. Haven't had the stomach to watch one second of this show, I've only seen previews and that's more than enough.
My Strange Addiction - pure, pure exploitations of people's mental issues. Of course, the people do agree to be on the show, and America is full of idiots, but still I'm blaming TLC for starting this show up at all. I've never seen this show, but I did see a preview of their last episode. A woman had been eating dryer sheets (the kind you put into your laundry) for 7 years. EATING them piece by piece because she apparently, loved the smell at first. Well, who doesn't like the smell? I do, of course I do, they are meant to make your clothes smell good for days, but eating them, no, I never thought of that one. The doctor said with the level of chemicals in those things she would be dead soon if she persisted. The other woman was someone who dressed up like a baby with adult diapers, a whole NURSERY in her house for herself, baby bottles, toys, you name it. I've heard of people having sex dressed up like babies, but not someone who does it all the time for just fun. These people are sick and need help, they shouldn't be on tv advertising it.
Now since I've said I've seen previews of all the above shows that happened while I was watching the few shows that I do like on this retched channel.
What Not to Wear - Great show that doesn't exploit people (too much, but still a bit). Someone gets nominated (I would love to nominate myself, but I'm not allowed) for a $5,000.00 wardrobe make over. The 2 hosts are top notch stylist that get secret footage of the target in terrible clothes and approach them to take over their lives for about a week. The target agrees or doesn't (usually does) and gets flown to New York City along with their entire closet. Usually the hosts make them try on certain outfits and tell them what's wrong with it, why it doesn't suit them, etc. then they throw out the clothes that aren't any good for the target to wear (lots of resistance from the people getting the make over at this point). Then they get their credit card to shop for a day by themselves after hearing the hosts recommendations. The camera follows them around as they struggle, and then the 2nd day of shopping the hosts go with them to help pick out the right new clothes and spend all the money. After that, they get make up tips from an expert, and a new hairstyle. The show concludes by following the person back to their hometown where they have a party to reveal the new them. What I like about the show is that the hosts, though they may be harsh, are trying to help the people to feel more confident, to get farther in life, to accept themselves, and be comfortable in their skin. And the thought of $5000.00 just to spend on clothes makes me jealous every week. Lucky bitches!
Hoarding: Buried Alive - I've already covered this show in another post, but I'll be brief. I like this show because of my psychology background and studying mental illness is fascinating to me. This show is still exploiting the people on it, but the hoarders do agree to be on camera beforehand, plus their families are always seemingly desperate to get help any way they can for their loved ones.
Say Yes to the Dress - I like almost all versions of this show (Atlanta, Bridesmaids, New York) primarily because I get to look at gorgeous formal gowns, that's the biggest draw for me, but even this is a problem show. Mean spirited, backstabbing, jealous women are constantly on this show demanding lots of attention and causing lots of drama for all involved. This, I realize, goes on everyday, all over the world, it's just that this show is making money off it. Still, the brides and women all know they are going to be on camera so......
The only version I don't like is the plus sized brides. I know, they are allowed to get married too, but the dresses are so huge I can't relate to those brides, and large or "curvy" women as they like to think of themselves, are not healthy, and large is not attractive. Curvy women are sexy, in shape women, chunky is the word I used to describe the women of this show. I'm not trying to be mean, I know over half the population of the United States is overweight, but it remains a fact, that that is not healthy for a human body. There's no reason to be morbidly overweight, or even 100 pounds overweight. It's too much for our bodies to take, increasing all kinds of risks for disease and death. I'm all for people accepting themselves for who they are, on the inside, when it comes to the outside, obesity should be corrected into a healthier way of life and not be tolerated by anyone who is in that position. I can probably do an entire post on why I think obesity should not be tolerated, but I will stop with this for this post. Plus sized brides should be focusing on how to lose weight before they buy the dress, and before they get married. It's a lifestyle change that can only bring about positive results for their entire lives.
Let's start with the shows that are horrible.
19 Kids and Counting - This show is about a family of gross proportions. 2 adults spawn 19 children? If these were animals or items, it would be called hoarding and it's an illness that needs to be treated. No one should have 19 kids unless you're the director of an orphanage. I've never watched the show, nor do I even want it on the air. It's only glamorizing an illness.
Kate plus 8 - See above, except for the fact that the mother of these kids is a fame whore who will do anything to make more money off her kids. Not only does she do this show, but has been on countless talk shows about her very public split from her husband at the time, plus shows like Dancing with the Stars that pays $20,000 a week, for every week that you stay on, with a bonus of around $50,000 for whoever wins. Synopsis of TLC's website, "Join Kate and the Gosselin kids on new adventures - from activities at home to exciting field trips, experience all the fun with the family." Wow, I really want to follow them around while they go grocery shopping and take the kids to the dentist. That's so much better than my reality!
Extreme Couponing - TLC describes the show on their website as this, "enter the world of bargain shoppers who have mastered the art of saving! In Extreme Couponing, meet the everyday people who save hundreds of dollars in a single trip to the store." But, it's not really like that. The people that do this show are addicted to shopping and use the excuse of "well, I'm just trying to save money on groceries for my family." They spend all their free time day, and night, clipping coupons, digging in dumpsters for old newspapers, searching online for sales, driving around to multiple stores to bargain shop, and miss appointments and family get togethers to do stuff like shop. It's still an illness. Hmmmm, I see a pattern developing here.
The Little Couple/Little People, Big World - Same idea for two shows. You get to watch little people get married, buy houses, do normal everyday mundane things except the draw here is that they're small. I think this is a bit disturbing, to draw so much attention to someones growth problems and then for the people to agree to be on the show? Anything for money.
Toddlers and Tiaras - Mother of God! This is the worst show on this channel for many reasons. First of all pushy parents make their little children get dressed up in hair, makeup, spray tans, and small outfits to parade around for judges to see and possibly win money.
Little girls are supposed to look like this:
After she's all whored up, she looks like this for "pageants"
Sister Wives - Show synopsis from TLC, "Meet Kody Brown, his three wives -- Meri, Janelle, and Christine -- and their 13 children. Follow the Brown family and see how they attempt to navigate life as a normal family in a society that shuns their polygamist lifestyle." For one thing, it's not legal to marry more than one person at a time in this country, that might be why society shuns them. For another thing, who wants to have sex with the same man that your other 2 sisters are doing? This is another form of mental illness on the women's parts (along with low self esteem that they can't have their own monogamous man) and a greedy horny repulsive man who wants to have sex with as many women as he can using the excuse that religion makes it acceptable. Haven't had the stomach to watch one second of this show, I've only seen previews and that's more than enough.
My Strange Addiction - pure, pure exploitations of people's mental issues. Of course, the people do agree to be on the show, and America is full of idiots, but still I'm blaming TLC for starting this show up at all. I've never seen this show, but I did see a preview of their last episode. A woman had been eating dryer sheets (the kind you put into your laundry) for 7 years. EATING them piece by piece because she apparently, loved the smell at first. Well, who doesn't like the smell? I do, of course I do, they are meant to make your clothes smell good for days, but eating them, no, I never thought of that one. The doctor said with the level of chemicals in those things she would be dead soon if she persisted. The other woman was someone who dressed up like a baby with adult diapers, a whole NURSERY in her house for herself, baby bottles, toys, you name it. I've heard of people having sex dressed up like babies, but not someone who does it all the time for just fun. These people are sick and need help, they shouldn't be on tv advertising it.
Now since I've said I've seen previews of all the above shows that happened while I was watching the few shows that I do like on this retched channel.
What Not to Wear - Great show that doesn't exploit people (too much, but still a bit). Someone gets nominated (I would love to nominate myself, but I'm not allowed) for a $5,000.00 wardrobe make over. The 2 hosts are top notch stylist that get secret footage of the target in terrible clothes and approach them to take over their lives for about a week. The target agrees or doesn't (usually does) and gets flown to New York City along with their entire closet. Usually the hosts make them try on certain outfits and tell them what's wrong with it, why it doesn't suit them, etc. then they throw out the clothes that aren't any good for the target to wear (lots of resistance from the people getting the make over at this point). Then they get their credit card to shop for a day by themselves after hearing the hosts recommendations. The camera follows them around as they struggle, and then the 2nd day of shopping the hosts go with them to help pick out the right new clothes and spend all the money. After that, they get make up tips from an expert, and a new hairstyle. The show concludes by following the person back to their hometown where they have a party to reveal the new them. What I like about the show is that the hosts, though they may be harsh, are trying to help the people to feel more confident, to get farther in life, to accept themselves, and be comfortable in their skin. And the thought of $5000.00 just to spend on clothes makes me jealous every week. Lucky bitches!
Hoarding: Buried Alive - I've already covered this show in another post, but I'll be brief. I like this show because of my psychology background and studying mental illness is fascinating to me. This show is still exploiting the people on it, but the hoarders do agree to be on camera beforehand, plus their families are always seemingly desperate to get help any way they can for their loved ones.
Say Yes to the Dress - I like almost all versions of this show (Atlanta, Bridesmaids, New York) primarily because I get to look at gorgeous formal gowns, that's the biggest draw for me, but even this is a problem show. Mean spirited, backstabbing, jealous women are constantly on this show demanding lots of attention and causing lots of drama for all involved. This, I realize, goes on everyday, all over the world, it's just that this show is making money off it. Still, the brides and women all know they are going to be on camera so......
The only version I don't like is the plus sized brides. I know, they are allowed to get married too, but the dresses are so huge I can't relate to those brides, and large or "curvy" women as they like to think of themselves, are not healthy, and large is not attractive. Curvy women are sexy, in shape women, chunky is the word I used to describe the women of this show. I'm not trying to be mean, I know over half the population of the United States is overweight, but it remains a fact, that that is not healthy for a human body. There's no reason to be morbidly overweight, or even 100 pounds overweight. It's too much for our bodies to take, increasing all kinds of risks for disease and death. I'm all for people accepting themselves for who they are, on the inside, when it comes to the outside, obesity should be corrected into a healthier way of life and not be tolerated by anyone who is in that position. I can probably do an entire post on why I think obesity should not be tolerated, but I will stop with this for this post. Plus sized brides should be focusing on how to lose weight before they buy the dress, and before they get married. It's a lifestyle change that can only bring about positive results for their entire lives.
Monday, August 8, 2011
No Kids Allowed
I wanted to repost this article I read online to discuss it.
Original publishing on shine.yahoo.com
by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff
July 26, 2011.
The no-kids-allowed movement is spreading
"What's the matter with kids today and why doesn't anyone want them around? In June, Malaysia Airlines banned babies from many of their first class cabins, prompting other major airlines to consider similar policies.
Lately, complaints about screaming kids are being taken seriously, not only by airlines, but by hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, and even grocery stores.
Earlier this month, McDain's, a Pittsburgh area restaurant that banned kids under 6 became a mascot for the no-kids-zone movement.
According to a Pittsburgh local news poll, more than half of area residents were in favor of the ban. And now big business is paying attention.
"Brat bans could well be the next frontier in destination and leisure-product marketing," writes Robert Klara in an article on the child-free trend in AdWeek.
Klara points to Leavethembehind.com, a travel website for kid-free vacations, with a massive list of yoga retreats, luxury resorts and bargain hotels around the world that ban children.
"Call me a grinch, a misanthrope, a DINK (dual-income-no-kids), or the anti-cute-police, but I hate (hate a thousand times over) ill-behaved children/infants/screaming banshees in upscale restaurants (ok, anywhere, really, but I don’t want any death threats)," writes Charlotte Savino on Travel and Leisure's blog. She lists a slew of a popular destination restaurants with kid-free areas and policies for travelers looking for quiet vacation dining.
Traveling is one thing, but what about in kids' own hometowns? Should kids been banned from local movie theaters, like they were at a recent adults-only Harry Potter screening? In Texas, one cinema chain has even flipped the model, banning kids under six altogether, except on specified "baby days".
Even running errands with toddlers may be changing. This summer Whole Foods stores in Missouri are offering child-free shopping hours (kids are allowed inside but childcare service is available for parents who want to shop kid-free.) Meanwhile in Florida, a controversy brews over whether kids can be banned from a condominium's outdoor area. That's right, some people don't even want kids outdoors.
When did kids become the equivalent of second-hand smoke? Blame a wave of childless adults with money to spare. "Empty nesters continue to wield a huge swath of discretionary spending dollars, and population dips in first-world countries mean more childless couples than ever," writes AdWeek's Klara.
Catering to the child-free community may be good for business but is it good for parents? It could help narrow choices and make kid-friendly environments even kid-friendlier. And let's be honest, babies won't miss flying first class. They won't even remember it. But their moms and dads will.
Most parents with young children have self-imposed limits on spending and leisure. This new movement imposes limits set by the public. And the public isn't as child-friendly as it used to be. As businesses respond to their new breed of 'first-class' clientele, are parents in danger of becoming second-class citizens?"
End of article
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My soapbox moment -
I personally love this new information I'm hearing about banned children.
There's nothing worse than being stuck on a long flight with a headache and having some screaming ill-mannered baby or child behind you kicking your seat, throwing a fit, or crying the entire time. You're either not supposed to do anything and let the flight crew take care of it (yeah, sure), or you say something to the parent and look like an asshole for saying something, since "kids will be kids, she/he's teething/sick, we couldn't get a sitter" whatever.
Just because everyone else on the planet wants to have children and thinks they have beautiful angels spewing from their loins doesn't mean I have to enjoy kids around me.
I enjoy going to the movies, but not hearing children yell out in the middle of the film at the top of their lungs, "Who's that? What's that? NO! Bottle, bottle, bottle! Candy!" etc. I want to be in a quiet dark theater so I can enjoy the $10.00 movie I just paid for.
I'm not sure what the obsession is with having kids. I've never saw the need to, and still don't at 33. It's estimated that in October of this year the 7 billionth person will be born in India. The Earth is in a fragile state right now, and I'm not sure it can withstand more people demanding resources from it.
My friends and acquaintances that don't want kids, have all shared our horror stories of how society has tried to tell us we're are wrong. "When the right one comes along, you'll feel different" "You don't want kids? Can you not have any of your own? Do you want to adopt them? What's wrong with you? You'll change your mind."
I am fully capable of having children. I would be a great parent, and loving mother. Yes all of those statements are true, but it would not make me feel fulfilled as a human being or happy to have one. I am a complete person, right now, as I stand, without children. Most importantly I do not want a child. I don't need to have a child. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
I am fulfilled. I am happy. I'm not missing out on any experiences I want to have. I think it's ridiculous how firm I have to be speaking with people about what I know I want. I can't count how many conversations I've had where the other person's trying to convince me I don't know what I want - that somehow I really do want kids.
In fact, if I did have a child, I wouldn't be able to do the things I now enjoy....like have sex whenever I want, or sleeping. Like dropping everything and leaving the house to go shopping with friends, or taking a month long vacation. I don't need to worry about babysitters, childcare and losing the babyfat, affording college, or letting them borrow my new car.
Very few people accept that I don't want kids. My parents do thankfully. Most of my friends do, but not all. I think it's the last thing in society that a person can be persecuted for. If you want a child-free existence be prepared to defend your own personal choice to 99% of all people because they will all try to convince you, that's not what you want.
I'm pretty sure that this post is going to infuriate some people. I can't help how I feel. I don't apologize to society for being myself, or being different. I'm not being selfish, or close minded, I'm not going to change my mind when the right guy comes along. I'm now at the stage in my life that it is becoming unsafe to my health and any unborn child's health to have a child. The older you get, the more risk you take on getting pregnant. I realize that soon, I will be past my own personal time limit for having a child. I am ok with this. I have not yet found mr. right, nor am I sure, I will ever find him. But, if I do someday, we will have to agree to both not want children, or he's not my mr. right.
Original publishing on shine.yahoo.com
by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff
July 26, 2011.
The no-kids-allowed movement is spreading
"What's the matter with kids today and why doesn't anyone want them around? In June, Malaysia Airlines banned babies from many of their first class cabins, prompting other major airlines to consider similar policies.
Lately, complaints about screaming kids are being taken seriously, not only by airlines, but by hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, and even grocery stores.
Earlier this month, McDain's, a Pittsburgh area restaurant that banned kids under 6 became a mascot for the no-kids-zone movement.
According to a Pittsburgh local news poll, more than half of area residents were in favor of the ban. And now big business is paying attention.
"Brat bans could well be the next frontier in destination and leisure-product marketing," writes Robert Klara in an article on the child-free trend in AdWeek.
Klara points to Leavethembehind.com, a travel website for kid-free vacations, with a massive list of yoga retreats, luxury resorts and bargain hotels around the world that ban children.
"Call me a grinch, a misanthrope, a DINK (dual-income-no-kids), or the anti-cute-police, but I hate (hate a thousand times over) ill-behaved children/infants/screaming banshees in upscale restaurants (ok, anywhere, really, but I don’t want any death threats)," writes Charlotte Savino on Travel and Leisure's blog. She lists a slew of a popular destination restaurants with kid-free areas and policies for travelers looking for quiet vacation dining.
Traveling is one thing, but what about in kids' own hometowns? Should kids been banned from local movie theaters, like they were at a recent adults-only Harry Potter screening? In Texas, one cinema chain has even flipped the model, banning kids under six altogether, except on specified "baby days".
Even running errands with toddlers may be changing. This summer Whole Foods stores in Missouri are offering child-free shopping hours (kids are allowed inside but childcare service is available for parents who want to shop kid-free.) Meanwhile in Florida, a controversy brews over whether kids can be banned from a condominium's outdoor area. That's right, some people don't even want kids outdoors.
When did kids become the equivalent of second-hand smoke? Blame a wave of childless adults with money to spare. "Empty nesters continue to wield a huge swath of discretionary spending dollars, and population dips in first-world countries mean more childless couples than ever," writes AdWeek's Klara.
Catering to the child-free community may be good for business but is it good for parents? It could help narrow choices and make kid-friendly environments even kid-friendlier. And let's be honest, babies won't miss flying first class. They won't even remember it. But their moms and dads will.
Most parents with young children have self-imposed limits on spending and leisure. This new movement imposes limits set by the public. And the public isn't as child-friendly as it used to be. As businesses respond to their new breed of 'first-class' clientele, are parents in danger of becoming second-class citizens?"
End of article
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My soapbox moment -
I personally love this new information I'm hearing about banned children.
There's nothing worse than being stuck on a long flight with a headache and having some screaming ill-mannered baby or child behind you kicking your seat, throwing a fit, or crying the entire time. You're either not supposed to do anything and let the flight crew take care of it (yeah, sure), or you say something to the parent and look like an asshole for saying something, since "kids will be kids, she/he's teething/sick, we couldn't get a sitter" whatever.
Just because everyone else on the planet wants to have children and thinks they have beautiful angels spewing from their loins doesn't mean I have to enjoy kids around me.
I enjoy going to the movies, but not hearing children yell out in the middle of the film at the top of their lungs, "Who's that? What's that? NO! Bottle, bottle, bottle! Candy!" etc. I want to be in a quiet dark theater so I can enjoy the $10.00 movie I just paid for.
I'm not sure what the obsession is with having kids. I've never saw the need to, and still don't at 33. It's estimated that in October of this year the 7 billionth person will be born in India. The Earth is in a fragile state right now, and I'm not sure it can withstand more people demanding resources from it.
My friends and acquaintances that don't want kids, have all shared our horror stories of how society has tried to tell us we're are wrong. "When the right one comes along, you'll feel different" "You don't want kids? Can you not have any of your own? Do you want to adopt them? What's wrong with you? You'll change your mind."
I am fully capable of having children. I would be a great parent, and loving mother. Yes all of those statements are true, but it would not make me feel fulfilled as a human being or happy to have one. I am a complete person, right now, as I stand, without children. Most importantly I do not want a child. I don't need to have a child. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
I am fulfilled. I am happy. I'm not missing out on any experiences I want to have. I think it's ridiculous how firm I have to be speaking with people about what I know I want. I can't count how many conversations I've had where the other person's trying to convince me I don't know what I want - that somehow I really do want kids.
In fact, if I did have a child, I wouldn't be able to do the things I now enjoy....like have sex whenever I want, or sleeping. Like dropping everything and leaving the house to go shopping with friends, or taking a month long vacation. I don't need to worry about babysitters, childcare and losing the babyfat, affording college, or letting them borrow my new car.
Very few people accept that I don't want kids. My parents do thankfully. Most of my friends do, but not all. I think it's the last thing in society that a person can be persecuted for. If you want a child-free existence be prepared to defend your own personal choice to 99% of all people because they will all try to convince you, that's not what you want.
I'm pretty sure that this post is going to infuriate some people. I can't help how I feel. I don't apologize to society for being myself, or being different. I'm not being selfish, or close minded, I'm not going to change my mind when the right guy comes along. I'm now at the stage in my life that it is becoming unsafe to my health and any unborn child's health to have a child. The older you get, the more risk you take on getting pregnant. I realize that soon, I will be past my own personal time limit for having a child. I am ok with this. I have not yet found mr. right, nor am I sure, I will ever find him. But, if I do someday, we will have to agree to both not want children, or he's not my mr. right.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The Colbert Report
Started in October of 2005, this political satire show has become one of my favorites. Stephen Colbert started as a correspondent for the The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and was so funny, he got his own show that follows behind The Daily Show. It seems like people I know only like one or the other, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, but I like both.
Stephen Colbert is hard not to like. With him playing a conservative anchorman of a news show, he constantly points out stories I would not notice otherwise and makes plenty of good points about current and controversial events. I learn a lot from his show and it exposes me to a lot of new viewpoints.
The first half of the show is his routine at the news desk reporting on current events. The second half contains a guest that comes on to promote their new book, movies, etc. Stephen Colbert has a "just kidding" endearing kind of delivery about his jokes that make him lovable even if he's saying something terrible.
It's always a good way for me to end my day with a few laughs and if you haven't watched it, you should. It's on the Comedy Central Network and first-run airings are at 10:30pm. He has four shows a week airing Monday-Thursday.
You can check out his show anytime on colbertnation.com.
Stephen Colbert is hard not to like. With him playing a conservative anchorman of a news show, he constantly points out stories I would not notice otherwise and makes plenty of good points about current and controversial events. I learn a lot from his show and it exposes me to a lot of new viewpoints.
The first half of the show is his routine at the news desk reporting on current events. The second half contains a guest that comes on to promote their new book, movies, etc. Stephen Colbert has a "just kidding" endearing kind of delivery about his jokes that make him lovable even if he's saying something terrible.
It's always a good way for me to end my day with a few laughs and if you haven't watched it, you should. It's on the Comedy Central Network and first-run airings are at 10:30pm. He has four shows a week airing Monday-Thursday.
You can check out his show anytime on colbertnation.com.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
My Top 10 Best Romantic Movies I Have Ever Seen
I know I'm opening myself up to debate here, but I am going to preface this list with the notes that I said Best Movies I have ever seen, not that exist, not that were ever made.
Lists drive some people crazy because I always see comments that say things like, "what about this one?"
"you totally forgot about fill-in-the-blank" "How could you put that movie on your list?!"
It's fine. I am expecting a lot of different opinions, but I will explain my choices today. Say what you will, I love these movies for a reason. In no particular order, 'cuz I know I can't pick a favorite among them.
1. The Lake House -
This is a remake of Il Mare (Italian for The Sea), a South Korean film. Don't ask me why it's titled in Italian if it's a South Korean film ok? I don't know why.
Some critics really hit this one hard. I know since Keanu's in it that automatically he's going to get hit with the normal critique that he has no depth, no inflection in his voice, he's monotone and emotionless. Yes, in one scene he's supposed to be crying and I just don't buy it, he could be crying that he just let a tomato fall off the kitchen counter for all I know, but it's still a good movie. The premise that 2 meant-to-be lovers are kept apart is usually a good start, but with this film, they are separated by years. Him in the past, Sandra Bullock in the future, or at least ahead of Reeves by a couple of years. I know the critics also did not like the idea of the magic time warp mailbox that they communicate through. I didn't get stuck on that plot point, I just accepted it, and it made the movie a lot more enjoyable. I'll let an otherwise good movie get away with little impossibilities if I really enjoy the story, which, I do here. The chemistry that these two share while dancing is my favorite part. By the end of the dance, they seem to be holding on for dear life to each other, and sometimes love is like that. I'll agree with Roger Ebert who said something like never mind the magic mailbox, time paradox stuff, I responded to the romantic threads of the movie.
2. Sweet November -
This is a hard one for me to watch, but not because of the reason you think. The first time I saw this I was sitting wrapped up with the love of my life that eventually left me so I have a strong emotional connection to this movie. That aside, had I seen it alone, I would've liked it just as much. Again for the Keanu critiques see above, and despite him being in it, it's still a great love story. This one is a remake of an older film which I haven't seen yet, but it's on my to do list. The critics didn't like this film, I don't know why, I love it. I feel the story has a lot of gravity, pulls a lot of heart strings, and makes a lot of sense even if you don't agree with the ending. I understand why it happened the way it did. I still cry my heart out everytime I watch this film for many reasons. It is highly recommended by me if you've never seen it. I love the character arc that Reeves character makes through the film.
3. Moulin Rouge
I didn't really know what to expect with this film. I was very surprised that over time, I loved it more. I love the singing (especially Ewan), the visual spectacle, the luxurious overindulgence of the theater dressings, oh my goodness and the wardrobe of Kidman! Some of those dresses are to die for! It's a bit manic yes, but at the heart of the movie is the love story between McGregor and Kidman and it is an epic one. She's torn between being married to a wealthy man she's basically already been promised to by her boss, and the broke man she truly loves. I love, love, love this love story. I can't say enough about it. The tension is high, the drama is there, the story is powerful and sad. I cry at this one too everytime I see it. You just have to see if you haven't.
4. City of Angels
I really don't like Meg Ryan. I never understood why so many other people do, but she just happens to be in this movie. I think it would have been just as good with another actress or better. But anyway, an angel of death (one of many around the world) falls for a human being. The only way he can be with her is if he gives up his special immortal job, and becomes human and mortal. It's been done before, but he's a bit conflicted since he has no idea what to expect. For some reason, she can see him before she's supposed to. Normally human beings don't see these angels until they are dead, but she's a doctor so maybe she's used to seeing death all the time? I enjoy the fact that Cage's character experiences things for the very first time that we take for granted. Things like touching skin, eating fruit, showering, feeling pain, etc. I like the yearning that Cage shows for his lady love, and I like seeing him able to have her fall in love with him too. This is also a remake of a 1987 German film titled Wings of Desire.
5. Sabrina
Lots of remakes on this list I know, I can't help what I like. Anyway, here's another remake by the same name from 1954 which, in turn, was adapted from a play named Sabrina Fair. I have to warn you the first hour of this movie is pure romantic magic. Stuff of dreams, fairy dust, winning the lottery, eating chocolate bars late at night good. The second hour, if you're a true romantic, might bore you a bit. I'm in love with the first hour. Sabrina is a young girl who has a crush on the younger Larrabee brother, but he hardly notices her. She's a bit awkward and she's the chauffeurs daughter. The chauffeur has saved a lot of money to send her to work in Paris and she hates to leave because she will not get to see her love everyday. So she leaves, but keeps him on her mind. While there, she has a romance, gets a job, learns about herself and grows up of course. The movie never says, but she must be there for about a year or a little more. When she comes back, she's blossomed into a woman that the youngest Larrabee can't ignore even though he's now engaged to someone else. Just when all the magic starts bubbling between Sabrina and the youngest brother, the oldest brother and mother steps in to intervene. The youngest brother is engaged to a daughter of a business associate and the family wants to merge the companies. If the youngest brother screws that up now, they will never forgive him. He has a record for being a lazy Playboy and doesn't know anything about the company. The family figures Sabrina must be dealt with. The older brother puts the youngest brother into an extended state of painkillers (don't ask just see the movie) and he's basically comatose so he can't talk to Sabrina. Meanwhile, the older Larrabee starts working his way into her life. This is where the second hour starts and things aren't so magical anymore, they are just ok. Anyway, they start dating for lack of a better term and things work out the way they should by the end, but not for me. I would've liked her to choose who I would've chosen, but alas, it is not my movie to direct. It's well worth viewing for the first hour alone, I'm telling ya! I'm in love with both Larrabee brothers and Sabrina's dress from Paris that she wears to her first Larrabee party. Watch for it. She looks stunning!
6. Ghost
A modern classic for sure. A love so strong that death can't even separate them. The late great Patrick Swayze plays a murdered man who never told his girlfriend that he loved her. He always said ditto, but not I love you too. It's something he comes to regret when he realizes he's dead and can never tell her now. She (Demi Moore) is lonely and lost without him after seeing him murdered before her. His killing was not random and the people responsible are targeting Moore next to get what information they need to acquire a lot of money. Swayze's character finds a medium who he can talk to and help protect his girlfriend. It's a great love story, drama, and comedy all in one. It'll make you cry for sure if you're a girl and it has a happy ending to some degree, so watch it if you haven't yet.
7. (500) Days of Summer
This movie is the most realistic love story that I have ever seen, and the one I've related to the closest. Joseph Gordon-Levitt falls for a new girl at work (Zooey Deschanel who's compelled to sing in almost every movie I've ever seen her in, even though she can't sing worth a crap.) They carry on an office romance and he falls deeper and deeper in love with her all the time. For the entire duration of this romance she's emphasized that she's not looking for anything serious and that she doesn't believe in true love. He should have listened to her more closely. I cried throughout because the story is not linear and jumps from day to day to day of their relationship showing all sorts of stuff out of order. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's honest, refreshing, and written from a place of experience and it shows.
8. Somewhere in Time
A complete polar opposite to the movie above in everyway possible. Oh this movie is so good, as long as you don't mind remembering it was made in 1980 and the wardrobe's a bit dated. It's actually based off a novel of Richard Matheson's titled Bid Time Farewell. It's a science fiction romance. The late great Christopher Reeve (we lose too many too young) plays a very famous and successful playwright who at the beginning of the film is celebrating with his friends after a play of his closes. An old woman who he's never seen, comes up from out of the crowd and gives him a stop watch. She says, come back to me, and then leaves. No one knows who she is and Reeve is dumbfounded and a bit creeped out. He needs some time off. He finds an old grand hotel to take a break and relax for awhile. While he's there he sees a portrait of a beautiful woman (Jane Seymour) and becomes obsessed with her. The portrait is from 1912 and she is a famous actress of her day. He researches all he can about her and self hypnosis (stay with me here, the plot's about to go sci fi on us). He dresses himself as he would for the early 1900's and hypnotizes himself to travel back in time to find her there at the hotel. He's successful and he finds her. They are instantly attracted to each other, but her overprotective manager tries to keep her away from him, thinking he will derail her career and prove to be too much of a distraction. Reeve is determined (we find out how determined by the end of the film) to be with her and he sneaks around the managers back to find time with her. Everything is perfect until something terrible happens. I can't tell you what, you'll have to see it to be surprised, but it's an excellent love story and has a HUGE following from women, men, young and old, and I'm one of them now.
9. & 10. Well, I didn't mean for this to happen. After racking my brain for weeks, I have not been able to come up with any more that are my favorites. I have a list of some left overs that I liked, but they weren't good enough to finish off the list. I guess, it's just my 8 favorite love stories.
Titanic
Down with Love
Wall-e
Kate & Leopold
Pretty Woman
Lists drive some people crazy because I always see comments that say things like, "what about this one?"
"you totally forgot about fill-in-the-blank" "How could you put that movie on your list?!"
It's fine. I am expecting a lot of different opinions, but I will explain my choices today. Say what you will, I love these movies for a reason. In no particular order, 'cuz I know I can't pick a favorite among them.
1. The Lake House -
This is a remake of Il Mare (Italian for The Sea), a South Korean film. Don't ask me why it's titled in Italian if it's a South Korean film ok? I don't know why.
Some critics really hit this one hard. I know since Keanu's in it that automatically he's going to get hit with the normal critique that he has no depth, no inflection in his voice, he's monotone and emotionless. Yes, in one scene he's supposed to be crying and I just don't buy it, he could be crying that he just let a tomato fall off the kitchen counter for all I know, but it's still a good movie. The premise that 2 meant-to-be lovers are kept apart is usually a good start, but with this film, they are separated by years. Him in the past, Sandra Bullock in the future, or at least ahead of Reeves by a couple of years. I know the critics also did not like the idea of the magic time warp mailbox that they communicate through. I didn't get stuck on that plot point, I just accepted it, and it made the movie a lot more enjoyable. I'll let an otherwise good movie get away with little impossibilities if I really enjoy the story, which, I do here. The chemistry that these two share while dancing is my favorite part. By the end of the dance, they seem to be holding on for dear life to each other, and sometimes love is like that. I'll agree with Roger Ebert who said something like never mind the magic mailbox, time paradox stuff, I responded to the romantic threads of the movie.
2. Sweet November -
This is a hard one for me to watch, but not because of the reason you think. The first time I saw this I was sitting wrapped up with the love of my life that eventually left me so I have a strong emotional connection to this movie. That aside, had I seen it alone, I would've liked it just as much. Again for the Keanu critiques see above, and despite him being in it, it's still a great love story. This one is a remake of an older film which I haven't seen yet, but it's on my to do list. The critics didn't like this film, I don't know why, I love it. I feel the story has a lot of gravity, pulls a lot of heart strings, and makes a lot of sense even if you don't agree with the ending. I understand why it happened the way it did. I still cry my heart out everytime I watch this film for many reasons. It is highly recommended by me if you've never seen it. I love the character arc that Reeves character makes through the film.
3. Moulin Rouge
I didn't really know what to expect with this film. I was very surprised that over time, I loved it more. I love the singing (especially Ewan), the visual spectacle, the luxurious overindulgence of the theater dressings, oh my goodness and the wardrobe of Kidman! Some of those dresses are to die for! It's a bit manic yes, but at the heart of the movie is the love story between McGregor and Kidman and it is an epic one. She's torn between being married to a wealthy man she's basically already been promised to by her boss, and the broke man she truly loves. I love, love, love this love story. I can't say enough about it. The tension is high, the drama is there, the story is powerful and sad. I cry at this one too everytime I see it. You just have to see if you haven't.
4. City of Angels
I really don't like Meg Ryan. I never understood why so many other people do, but she just happens to be in this movie. I think it would have been just as good with another actress or better. But anyway, an angel of death (one of many around the world) falls for a human being. The only way he can be with her is if he gives up his special immortal job, and becomes human and mortal. It's been done before, but he's a bit conflicted since he has no idea what to expect. For some reason, she can see him before she's supposed to. Normally human beings don't see these angels until they are dead, but she's a doctor so maybe she's used to seeing death all the time? I enjoy the fact that Cage's character experiences things for the very first time that we take for granted. Things like touching skin, eating fruit, showering, feeling pain, etc. I like the yearning that Cage shows for his lady love, and I like seeing him able to have her fall in love with him too. This is also a remake of a 1987 German film titled Wings of Desire.
5. Sabrina
Lots of remakes on this list I know, I can't help what I like. Anyway, here's another remake by the same name from 1954 which, in turn, was adapted from a play named Sabrina Fair. I have to warn you the first hour of this movie is pure romantic magic. Stuff of dreams, fairy dust, winning the lottery, eating chocolate bars late at night good. The second hour, if you're a true romantic, might bore you a bit. I'm in love with the first hour. Sabrina is a young girl who has a crush on the younger Larrabee brother, but he hardly notices her. She's a bit awkward and she's the chauffeurs daughter. The chauffeur has saved a lot of money to send her to work in Paris and she hates to leave because she will not get to see her love everyday. So she leaves, but keeps him on her mind. While there, she has a romance, gets a job, learns about herself and grows up of course. The movie never says, but she must be there for about a year or a little more. When she comes back, she's blossomed into a woman that the youngest Larrabee can't ignore even though he's now engaged to someone else. Just when all the magic starts bubbling between Sabrina and the youngest brother, the oldest brother and mother steps in to intervene. The youngest brother is engaged to a daughter of a business associate and the family wants to merge the companies. If the youngest brother screws that up now, they will never forgive him. He has a record for being a lazy Playboy and doesn't know anything about the company. The family figures Sabrina must be dealt with. The older brother puts the youngest brother into an extended state of painkillers (don't ask just see the movie) and he's basically comatose so he can't talk to Sabrina. Meanwhile, the older Larrabee starts working his way into her life. This is where the second hour starts and things aren't so magical anymore, they are just ok. Anyway, they start dating for lack of a better term and things work out the way they should by the end, but not for me. I would've liked her to choose who I would've chosen, but alas, it is not my movie to direct. It's well worth viewing for the first hour alone, I'm telling ya! I'm in love with both Larrabee brothers and Sabrina's dress from Paris that she wears to her first Larrabee party. Watch for it. She looks stunning!
6. Ghost
A modern classic for sure. A love so strong that death can't even separate them. The late great Patrick Swayze plays a murdered man who never told his girlfriend that he loved her. He always said ditto, but not I love you too. It's something he comes to regret when he realizes he's dead and can never tell her now. She (Demi Moore) is lonely and lost without him after seeing him murdered before her. His killing was not random and the people responsible are targeting Moore next to get what information they need to acquire a lot of money. Swayze's character finds a medium who he can talk to and help protect his girlfriend. It's a great love story, drama, and comedy all in one. It'll make you cry for sure if you're a girl and it has a happy ending to some degree, so watch it if you haven't yet.
7. (500) Days of Summer
This movie is the most realistic love story that I have ever seen, and the one I've related to the closest. Joseph Gordon-Levitt falls for a new girl at work (Zooey Deschanel who's compelled to sing in almost every movie I've ever seen her in, even though she can't sing worth a crap.) They carry on an office romance and he falls deeper and deeper in love with her all the time. For the entire duration of this romance she's emphasized that she's not looking for anything serious and that she doesn't believe in true love. He should have listened to her more closely. I cried throughout because the story is not linear and jumps from day to day to day of their relationship showing all sorts of stuff out of order. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's honest, refreshing, and written from a place of experience and it shows.
8. Somewhere in Time
A complete polar opposite to the movie above in everyway possible. Oh this movie is so good, as long as you don't mind remembering it was made in 1980 and the wardrobe's a bit dated. It's actually based off a novel of Richard Matheson's titled Bid Time Farewell. It's a science fiction romance. The late great Christopher Reeve (we lose too many too young) plays a very famous and successful playwright who at the beginning of the film is celebrating with his friends after a play of his closes. An old woman who he's never seen, comes up from out of the crowd and gives him a stop watch. She says, come back to me, and then leaves. No one knows who she is and Reeve is dumbfounded and a bit creeped out. He needs some time off. He finds an old grand hotel to take a break and relax for awhile. While he's there he sees a portrait of a beautiful woman (Jane Seymour) and becomes obsessed with her. The portrait is from 1912 and she is a famous actress of her day. He researches all he can about her and self hypnosis (stay with me here, the plot's about to go sci fi on us). He dresses himself as he would for the early 1900's and hypnotizes himself to travel back in time to find her there at the hotel. He's successful and he finds her. They are instantly attracted to each other, but her overprotective manager tries to keep her away from him, thinking he will derail her career and prove to be too much of a distraction. Reeve is determined (we find out how determined by the end of the film) to be with her and he sneaks around the managers back to find time with her. Everything is perfect until something terrible happens. I can't tell you what, you'll have to see it to be surprised, but it's an excellent love story and has a HUGE following from women, men, young and old, and I'm one of them now.
9. & 10. Well, I didn't mean for this to happen. After racking my brain for weeks, I have not been able to come up with any more that are my favorites. I have a list of some left overs that I liked, but they weren't good enough to finish off the list. I guess, it's just my 8 favorite love stories.
Titanic
Down with Love
Wall-e
Kate & Leopold
Pretty Woman
Friday, August 5, 2011
The Top 10 Scariest Movies I Have Ever Seen
Scary movies are only something I've been able to enjoy recently. I've always had a very good imagination and when I was a little girl, I could never get to sleep after seeing scary movies. At long last, I can handle them and even make fun of the terribly not scary films. In no particular order here's my list:
1. Event Horizon -
I actually saw this in the theater and haven't been able to watch in its entirety since. After getting a distress call from a long disappeared space ship "Event Horizon" the Lewis & Clark ship goes to its aid. They discover the ship has come back from a black hole and the entire crew was dead. It's been missing for 7 years and has many mysteries to discover on board. While trying to find out what exactly happened, bad things happen for the crew of the Lewis & Clark. Though seeing bad things happen is scary, sometimes not seeing what happened is worse. From little bits and pieces that the crew sees through video logs, things left behind on the ship, and what's not clear makes this idea horrific for me. Whatever the ship went through, and before people started dying they were possessed or went crazy first in the most cruel and inhumane ways. Just thinking about the psychological terror of this movie makes my skin crawl. It's way up on my list of scariest movies ever made.
2. The Mist -
The reason why this is so scary is because most of the horror comes from the general public's reaction to a lawless society in crisis. The viciousness of people when there is no rules, there is no law, there is no protection from one another, and you can only rely on yourself for safety. Yes, it's scary to think about what unknown creatures are out there in the mist, but by the end of the movie, I'm more afraid of what my neighbor might to do to me so they can survive.
3. The Box -
An old story of Richard Matheson's turned into a movie. His short story called "Button, Button" was turned into an hour long episode of "The Twilight Zone". This movie basically redoes that hour and then adds another hour to it. I know Richard Matheson did not approve of this being done, but I did like it. A couple (in the 1970's) receives a strange box with a button on top. Along with the box is an offer from a strange man that asks if you press the button, one person will die in the world whom you don't know, and you get a million dollars tax free. If you do nothing, you get nothing but $100.00 for your time. You have 24 hours to decide. The couple struggles with the decision and then struggles after making the decision. Thought-provoking and enigmatic, you have to put yourself in the position of the couple to realize how hard and horrific a single decision can be.
4. Signs -
I waited at least 10 years to see this film from all the people who told me how scary it was. They were right. I watched it alone and certainly got scared in quite a few scenes. The tension, drama, and good acting made this movie a must see to me. A small farm family has a limited view of the alien invasion that takes over the entire world. I like the restricted point of view in this film. You definitely feel cut off from the general public here and isolation is a key element to making the viewer very uncomfortable and paranoid. The back story of why Mel Gibson's character stopped being a believer in God is interesting as well. A nice blend of emotion, anticipation, even a little humor, and aliens.
5. The Thing -
A classic! What could be more scary than an alien entity that can look like anything living? Nothing I can think of. A remote team of scientists are in the Antarctic when they discover an alien "thing" living amongst them. It shape shifts and keeps eluding the team's frantic attacks to kill it. With a bone chilling simple musical score, compelling story, and great acting, it is a scary movie everyone should see once. I saw it for the first time last year (28 years after it's original release) and it translates incredibly well. Special effects still stand up and it's still terrifying.
6. 28 Days Later -
The scariest things to me are certainly things that could actually happen like virus outbreaks killing most of the world's population. The central character in this movie awakes in a London hospital to discover most of the country has died or been transformed into zombie-like beings out for blood. It all starts when a medical experiment monkey is freed from its cage by some animal loving radicals. Animals being injected with unknown illnesses being freed by some animal PETA extremists - yeah, that can happen. The animal bites one person and it spreads with no way to stop or cure it - yeah that could happen. And that's all it takes to start scaring the crap outta me.
7. The Shining -
Another great psychological thriller. I know for a fact, Stephen King did not like what was done in the adaptation of his book. I have to say, both the book and the movie were scary to me. In the movie plot, a family moves into an incredibly large, isolated resort hotel over the cold Colorado winter to take care of it. With the roads simply impassable, someone needs to take care of simple basic stuff for the hotel. The father is a writer and he figures he could have plenty of quiet time to write a book. The wife is devoted to taking care of their son and is a homemaker. The idea of being shut off from society, and completely alone in a terrible winter environment is horrible enough, but then add a huge unfamiliar hotel to live in and you've got yourself some terror. The man is completely taken over by some sort of (ghost/force/devil?) possession and comes entirely unglued. Say it with me, "Here comes Johnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyy!"
8. Psycho -
An oldie but a goodie. A woman on the run from the world is too tired to keep driving out of state late at night, and decides to stay in a little motel off the road. The motel owner seems nice enough, what could be scary here? No one knows how depraved the innocent looking owner is until he starts acting funny. Even so many years later this movie is still scary enough to make me not want to close my eyes in the shower. Anthony Perkins knocked his performance out of the park!
9. Misery -
Another Stephen King thriller, I know. It's a horrific idea to me to be trapped in the middle of nowhere with an out of control fan who is willing to do anything to help you get another book of her favorite series out on the shelves, even if the author doesn't want to write anymore books. Being tied to a bed with no one knowing where you're at and no way to communicate with the outside world? Being tortured to do what someone else wants? Ugh, that sledgehammer scene always gets me.
10. Zodiac -
This isn't your typical scary movie. The reason why I picked it was how unnerved I was at the end of it. This is the true story of the Zodiac killer that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area for years killing randomly and sending cryptic messages to the local newspapers daring someone to figure them out. The reason why this movie is so scary to me is to think about the depravity that the human mind can go through to produce a human being capable of torturing people for fun or because they need the "fix" again of killing. They never caught the killer. The movie focuses a lot on the lives of the people who are trying to figure out who it is before they kill again, but there's plenty of uncomfortable murder scenes. It's disturbing because this actually happened, and can happen again all over the world at any time. If you don't find that horrific then you're a stronger person than I.
I was also thinking of a few others but I just couldn't put them on the list, but they were close....
The Sixth Sense
Jaws
1. Event Horizon -
I actually saw this in the theater and haven't been able to watch in its entirety since. After getting a distress call from a long disappeared space ship "Event Horizon" the Lewis & Clark ship goes to its aid. They discover the ship has come back from a black hole and the entire crew was dead. It's been missing for 7 years and has many mysteries to discover on board. While trying to find out what exactly happened, bad things happen for the crew of the Lewis & Clark. Though seeing bad things happen is scary, sometimes not seeing what happened is worse. From little bits and pieces that the crew sees through video logs, things left behind on the ship, and what's not clear makes this idea horrific for me. Whatever the ship went through, and before people started dying they were possessed or went crazy first in the most cruel and inhumane ways. Just thinking about the psychological terror of this movie makes my skin crawl. It's way up on my list of scariest movies ever made.
2. The Mist -
The reason why this is so scary is because most of the horror comes from the general public's reaction to a lawless society in crisis. The viciousness of people when there is no rules, there is no law, there is no protection from one another, and you can only rely on yourself for safety. Yes, it's scary to think about what unknown creatures are out there in the mist, but by the end of the movie, I'm more afraid of what my neighbor might to do to me so they can survive.
3. The Box -
An old story of Richard Matheson's turned into a movie. His short story called "Button, Button" was turned into an hour long episode of "The Twilight Zone". This movie basically redoes that hour and then adds another hour to it. I know Richard Matheson did not approve of this being done, but I did like it. A couple (in the 1970's) receives a strange box with a button on top. Along with the box is an offer from a strange man that asks if you press the button, one person will die in the world whom you don't know, and you get a million dollars tax free. If you do nothing, you get nothing but $100.00 for your time. You have 24 hours to decide. The couple struggles with the decision and then struggles after making the decision. Thought-provoking and enigmatic, you have to put yourself in the position of the couple to realize how hard and horrific a single decision can be.
4. Signs -
I waited at least 10 years to see this film from all the people who told me how scary it was. They were right. I watched it alone and certainly got scared in quite a few scenes. The tension, drama, and good acting made this movie a must see to me. A small farm family has a limited view of the alien invasion that takes over the entire world. I like the restricted point of view in this film. You definitely feel cut off from the general public here and isolation is a key element to making the viewer very uncomfortable and paranoid. The back story of why Mel Gibson's character stopped being a believer in God is interesting as well. A nice blend of emotion, anticipation, even a little humor, and aliens.
5. The Thing -
A classic! What could be more scary than an alien entity that can look like anything living? Nothing I can think of. A remote team of scientists are in the Antarctic when they discover an alien "thing" living amongst them. It shape shifts and keeps eluding the team's frantic attacks to kill it. With a bone chilling simple musical score, compelling story, and great acting, it is a scary movie everyone should see once. I saw it for the first time last year (28 years after it's original release) and it translates incredibly well. Special effects still stand up and it's still terrifying.
6. 28 Days Later -
The scariest things to me are certainly things that could actually happen like virus outbreaks killing most of the world's population. The central character in this movie awakes in a London hospital to discover most of the country has died or been transformed into zombie-like beings out for blood. It all starts when a medical experiment monkey is freed from its cage by some animal loving radicals. Animals being injected with unknown illnesses being freed by some animal PETA extremists - yeah, that can happen. The animal bites one person and it spreads with no way to stop or cure it - yeah that could happen. And that's all it takes to start scaring the crap outta me.
7. The Shining -
Another great psychological thriller. I know for a fact, Stephen King did not like what was done in the adaptation of his book. I have to say, both the book and the movie were scary to me. In the movie plot, a family moves into an incredibly large, isolated resort hotel over the cold Colorado winter to take care of it. With the roads simply impassable, someone needs to take care of simple basic stuff for the hotel. The father is a writer and he figures he could have plenty of quiet time to write a book. The wife is devoted to taking care of their son and is a homemaker. The idea of being shut off from society, and completely alone in a terrible winter environment is horrible enough, but then add a huge unfamiliar hotel to live in and you've got yourself some terror. The man is completely taken over by some sort of (ghost/force/devil?) possession and comes entirely unglued. Say it with me, "Here comes Johnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyy!"
8. Psycho -
An oldie but a goodie. A woman on the run from the world is too tired to keep driving out of state late at night, and decides to stay in a little motel off the road. The motel owner seems nice enough, what could be scary here? No one knows how depraved the innocent looking owner is until he starts acting funny. Even so many years later this movie is still scary enough to make me not want to close my eyes in the shower. Anthony Perkins knocked his performance out of the park!
9. Misery -
Another Stephen King thriller, I know. It's a horrific idea to me to be trapped in the middle of nowhere with an out of control fan who is willing to do anything to help you get another book of her favorite series out on the shelves, even if the author doesn't want to write anymore books. Being tied to a bed with no one knowing where you're at and no way to communicate with the outside world? Being tortured to do what someone else wants? Ugh, that sledgehammer scene always gets me.
10. Zodiac -
This isn't your typical scary movie. The reason why I picked it was how unnerved I was at the end of it. This is the true story of the Zodiac killer that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area for years killing randomly and sending cryptic messages to the local newspapers daring someone to figure them out. The reason why this movie is so scary to me is to think about the depravity that the human mind can go through to produce a human being capable of torturing people for fun or because they need the "fix" again of killing. They never caught the killer. The movie focuses a lot on the lives of the people who are trying to figure out who it is before they kill again, but there's plenty of uncomfortable murder scenes. It's disturbing because this actually happened, and can happen again all over the world at any time. If you don't find that horrific then you're a stronger person than I.
I was also thinking of a few others but I just couldn't put them on the list, but they were close....
The Sixth Sense
Jaws
Thursday, August 4, 2011
The Town
Released: 2010
Drama
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm
Director: Ben Affleck
Running Time: 125 minutes
The breakdown:
This movie was adapted from Chuck Hogan's Novel titled Prince of Thieves.
From the movie, apparently, Charlestown, Massachusetts, is the best breeding ground in the country for thieves and bank robbers. I'm not going to guess why this is the case, but it's one of the first title cards that pops up on the movie.
The story is about 4 bank robbers. 3 don't mind being criminals, but Affleck is trying to get out of the criminal life after he falls in love with one of their hostages. During their last bank robbery Renner takes a hostage, keeps her blindfolded and then lets her out of the van after they safely get away from the cops. Affleck wants to leave town and have the woman they took hostage never find out what they/he did, but she is working with the FBI to help catch them. The plot thickens when Affleck's character announces he's going to leave but Renner says he can't. Affleck slept with Renner's stripper sister for years, and Renner feels Affleck is the father of her daughter, though, I don't think that's the case at all.
The movie's about ties that bind, loyalty, dishonesty, and family. Affleck certainly left the movie too long and it had a hard time keeping my attention. I think the story was good, but maybe Affleck's directing had something to do with the slowness of the film. I also had a problem with the characters heavy, if not overdone, Boston accents. I realize they want to sound authentic, but if I have to rewind a scene 3 times to try to understand one sentence and I still don't hear it, you've done something wrong. If you like movies where you root for the bad guys, this is the one for you.
I gave it 3 ticket stubs out of 5 for a solid story that sometimes lost its way through bad editing.
Drama
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm
Director: Ben Affleck
Running Time: 125 minutes
The breakdown:
This movie was adapted from Chuck Hogan's Novel titled Prince of Thieves.
From the movie, apparently, Charlestown, Massachusetts, is the best breeding ground in the country for thieves and bank robbers. I'm not going to guess why this is the case, but it's one of the first title cards that pops up on the movie.
The story is about 4 bank robbers. 3 don't mind being criminals, but Affleck is trying to get out of the criminal life after he falls in love with one of their hostages. During their last bank robbery Renner takes a hostage, keeps her blindfolded and then lets her out of the van after they safely get away from the cops. Affleck wants to leave town and have the woman they took hostage never find out what they/he did, but she is working with the FBI to help catch them. The plot thickens when Affleck's character announces he's going to leave but Renner says he can't. Affleck slept with Renner's stripper sister for years, and Renner feels Affleck is the father of her daughter, though, I don't think that's the case at all.
The movie's about ties that bind, loyalty, dishonesty, and family. Affleck certainly left the movie too long and it had a hard time keeping my attention. I think the story was good, but maybe Affleck's directing had something to do with the slowness of the film. I also had a problem with the characters heavy, if not overdone, Boston accents. I realize they want to sound authentic, but if I have to rewind a scene 3 times to try to understand one sentence and I still don't hear it, you've done something wrong. If you like movies where you root for the bad guys, this is the one for you.
I gave it 3 ticket stubs out of 5 for a solid story that sometimes lost its way through bad editing.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The 10 Worst Movies I Have Ever Seen
I like movies. I like being able to escape into someone else's world filled with their problems and forget about mine, movies are magical that way. But nowadays, movies are so expensive, and I wouldn't want my friends to be spending their hard earned money on movies that are a huge waste of time. So I've put together a list of movies that have made me want to sit in a closed garage with my car running, yes, they are that bad. In no particular order please don't see these movies:
1. Splice -
I have covered how terrible this movie was in one of my movie reviews. This movie basically took the Frankenstein idea and made it incredibly unentertaining, sickening, and worthless. It's not scary, it's not intelligent, it's not meaningful. I think it was made purely for money and greed. If I summed up the movie in one phrase it would still be: bio-engineered incest.
2. Supernova -
Useless. Should be titled Supercrap. A boring plot, cardboard characters, and a horror movie so scary your fearful 10 year old would sleep through it. A movie made, most likely, at the last minute to try and compete with other space emergency, alien take over successful movies at other studios.
3. Quarantine -
A movie so bad, I think a high school theater company could've done it better. Most of the movie is in "night vision" or in very low light levels. This movie is a shot-for-shot remake of a popular Spanish movie called REC. A terrible actress portrays a reporter who gets called to a building with a fire crew just documenting what it's like to be a fire fighter. Of course, the building is quarantined with some sort of zombie illness infecting one person at a time. Unfortunately, you have to wait until the end to see that the reporter dies too. I wish the whole movie was shorter, as in 0:00 minutes.
4. What Dreams May Come -
A movie that changes the original book by Richard Matheson of the same name so bad that the author didn't like it. The plot of the movie involves an entire family dying over a period of time. The 2 kids die first in a car accident, then the father dies in a car accident, then the wife commits suicide. The man goes to heaven, while the woman goes to hell. The man leaves heaven in search of his wife to bring her back to heaven. I've not read the book, but I wouldn't mind it. I know the story is supposed to be about how strong true love can be, but this movie was terrible. It won an Oscar for visual effects, which I can understand. It was visually interesting to look at, but it's such a downer. Some movies can be wonderful even if someone dies at the end, or there is no happy ending, yes, but this film was boring for me. It lacked emotion and character development. Convoluted is my favorite way to describe this movie along with depressing in the worst way.
5. Mr. Wrong -
Stinker! A woman falls in love with a stalker and can't get rid of him. This is one of the movies I wanted to walk out of the theater on. It was so bad, people around me were moaning audibly. It was supposed to be a comedy, maybe dark comedy, but failed on all attempts. Painful to sit through and awkward, it just didn't get off to the right start. This project should've been canned as soon as the idea came into somebody's head.
6. Inglourious Basterds -
Where do I start? Tarantino said to the press that there was a reason he spelled the title the way that he did, but he wouldn't tell anyone why. Maybe to drum up interest is my guess. This movie takes a horrific time in history and fictionalizes just about everything in the film. It was true there was a Nazi invasion, there was a Hitler, there was a WWII, there was a Holocaust....that's about the facts. There are long drawn out, painful to watch, scenes with lots of dialogue that don't go anywhere and don't further the story peppered throughout. There are characters you don't care about. And for some ridiculous reason there are subtitles where the actor is saying something in a foreign language and the subtitle says the same thing in the SAME language, not english, but only on certain words like chow, merci, etc. It's a terrible movie for making as much money as it did and being nominated for multiple Oscars. Brad Pitt did a terrible southern accent. I'm not sure from what state he's supposed to be representing because his accent doesn't exist, unless it's a mix of California and some undefined state (it's so bad, it's distracting and embarrassing). Do not waste your time. Watch The Pianist for a true Nazi story that's a 1,000 times better than this garbage.
7. Solaris -
There are a lot of versions of this story. This movie I'm referring to is the 2002 Steven Soderbergh version. Convoluted is something that describes this movie well. Convoluted is a common thread that you will see in this list. Convoluted should never be a phrase to describe a good movie. If a movie is complex, that's cool, I can take time to try to understand it. Confusing, maybe sometimes, you need an additional viewing to understand all the little details, but convoluted is not tolerated by me. It means the director didn't even know what their goal was, or what they are doing, or what the story is supposed to be about. This movie is based on a novel which also inspired a film in 1972 that was critically acclaimed. I have not read the book or seen that movie, so those forms might be much better. What I was first disappointed with was the fact that the previews for this movie lead me to believe it was a love story with a sci-fi setting. It ended up being a bad, boring, convoluted attempt at a space psychological thriller with a love story in the very back burner. A clinical psychologist goes to a space station to try to help one of his friends who says the crew are in trouble. When he gets there he realizes most of the crew are dead or disappeared and the survivors are not really telling him what's going on. He's confused and alone, but while sleeping he dreams of his dead wife. She comes to life on the station and he realizes she's a copy made from some entity on the space station and gets rid of the copy. This happens several more times and he has to make a decision at the end to be ok with a copy, or realize he might be a copy for someone else in the final scene. See, the movie's so strange I can't even make an acceptable synopsis. Yes, it sounds interesting from a far, but don't see this version. At the end of the movie, I was mad it wasn't a love story, and mad that it had no point. There are only a few movies I can remember where, at the end, I'm saying to myself, this movie was pointless. Absolutely pointless. This is one of them. Do not see it. If you want to see a good space movie that makes you think about copies of people in space, watch a little known movie called "Moon" instead.
8. Big Fish -
Another pointless movie. Oh, so bad, and I like Ewan McGregor too! This is such a stupid movie. I absolutely hated it. A boy hears his father tell tall tales his whole life and knows none of the stories are true and he figures out he can't trust his dad. The relationship falls by the wayside until his father is on his deathbed and the boy, now a married man with his wife pregnant, travel to his side to reconnect. The father starts telling the same ridiculous stories and the son wants to know the truth this time. The father has a stroke and then can no longer speak. He wants the son to finish his story and tell him how it all ends. The son makes up a story and the father passes away happily. At the funeral, the son meets all of his fathers friends that he spoke of in the crazy stories and realizes the stories were all true, his father just exaggerated a little bit. This movie was visually interesting, but sometimes I think they use special effects to distract the audience from the point that there is no good plot in this movie. Ewan McGregor was hot and I loved looking at him, but this movie was still terrible. I've only seen it once and couldn't bear to see it again. If you like pointless, absurd plots with characters that are flat 2-dimensional beings, go ahead and torture yourself for 2 hours with a viewing of this.
9. Natural Born Killers -
I know the director was trying to make a statement here about how the media glorifies mass murders and the public loves reading about them, but this movie was crap. It's filled with graphic violence, lots of unnecessary profanity, and these stupid moments of color-filled collage flashes that are meaningless. I hated this movie because it took an obvious shock-value in your face approach. There is a beauty in subtlety. I think there could have been a lot of different ways to show how the public is obsessed with killers or mass murders. I don't mind some graphic violence, or some profanity, but I don't want a whole movie made out of that just to have it in there.
10. Showgirls -
So yes, the focus for this movie was all the sex and rated NC-17 gossip surrounding it. I had heard it was bad, so I wanted to see how bad. I saw the scaled down rated R version and I'm pretty sure I wasn't missing anything. Elizabeth Berkley was such a poor actress that she couldn't convince me she was actually eating a hamburger in one scene. A girl hitchhikes her way to Las Vegas and gets robbed by the guy who picked her up. She finds a nice girl who takes her in and she becomes a stripper at a local club to make money quick. Her friend introduces her to her co-workers who are showgirls and Berkley wants to be one in the worst way. She does everything and anything to prove she can do it and eventually sleeps and back stabs her way to the top. Berkley's friend (the only character you actually like) gets gang raped at a party that Berkley invited her to. The producers she works for offer them both money for not going to the police and keeping it quiet, since the guy involved in the rape was a big star of theirs. Berkley gets revenge for her friends attack by beating the crap out of this guy and stabbing him, and ends up hitchhiking out of town with the same guy that dropped her in Vegas in the beginning. She attacks him too on the way out of town. A terrible movie, even if you like watching bi-sexual girls flirt and kiss each other or movie sex. I was watching mainly to see how bad it was and if there were any interesting show girl scenes. Turns out there wasn't. A true waste of time, with terrible acting, horrible lines, bad plot, and a cast of crappy characters.
As a footnote, I would like to mention a few movies that I almost named instead. These are pretty close to the worst movies I have ever seen.....
Howard the Duck
Valentine's Day
Twilight
Catwoman
Mars Attacks
Batman and Robin
Austin Powers - any of them
1. Splice -
I have covered how terrible this movie was in one of my movie reviews. This movie basically took the Frankenstein idea and made it incredibly unentertaining, sickening, and worthless. It's not scary, it's not intelligent, it's not meaningful. I think it was made purely for money and greed. If I summed up the movie in one phrase it would still be: bio-engineered incest.
2. Supernova -
Useless. Should be titled Supercrap. A boring plot, cardboard characters, and a horror movie so scary your fearful 10 year old would sleep through it. A movie made, most likely, at the last minute to try and compete with other space emergency, alien take over successful movies at other studios.
3. Quarantine -
A movie so bad, I think a high school theater company could've done it better. Most of the movie is in "night vision" or in very low light levels. This movie is a shot-for-shot remake of a popular Spanish movie called REC. A terrible actress portrays a reporter who gets called to a building with a fire crew just documenting what it's like to be a fire fighter. Of course, the building is quarantined with some sort of zombie illness infecting one person at a time. Unfortunately, you have to wait until the end to see that the reporter dies too. I wish the whole movie was shorter, as in 0:00 minutes.
4. What Dreams May Come -
A movie that changes the original book by Richard Matheson of the same name so bad that the author didn't like it. The plot of the movie involves an entire family dying over a period of time. The 2 kids die first in a car accident, then the father dies in a car accident, then the wife commits suicide. The man goes to heaven, while the woman goes to hell. The man leaves heaven in search of his wife to bring her back to heaven. I've not read the book, but I wouldn't mind it. I know the story is supposed to be about how strong true love can be, but this movie was terrible. It won an Oscar for visual effects, which I can understand. It was visually interesting to look at, but it's such a downer. Some movies can be wonderful even if someone dies at the end, or there is no happy ending, yes, but this film was boring for me. It lacked emotion and character development. Convoluted is my favorite way to describe this movie along with depressing in the worst way.
5. Mr. Wrong -
Stinker! A woman falls in love with a stalker and can't get rid of him. This is one of the movies I wanted to walk out of the theater on. It was so bad, people around me were moaning audibly. It was supposed to be a comedy, maybe dark comedy, but failed on all attempts. Painful to sit through and awkward, it just didn't get off to the right start. This project should've been canned as soon as the idea came into somebody's head.
6. Inglourious Basterds -
Where do I start? Tarantino said to the press that there was a reason he spelled the title the way that he did, but he wouldn't tell anyone why. Maybe to drum up interest is my guess. This movie takes a horrific time in history and fictionalizes just about everything in the film. It was true there was a Nazi invasion, there was a Hitler, there was a WWII, there was a Holocaust....that's about the facts. There are long drawn out, painful to watch, scenes with lots of dialogue that don't go anywhere and don't further the story peppered throughout. There are characters you don't care about. And for some ridiculous reason there are subtitles where the actor is saying something in a foreign language and the subtitle says the same thing in the SAME language, not english, but only on certain words like chow, merci, etc. It's a terrible movie for making as much money as it did and being nominated for multiple Oscars. Brad Pitt did a terrible southern accent. I'm not sure from what state he's supposed to be representing because his accent doesn't exist, unless it's a mix of California and some undefined state (it's so bad, it's distracting and embarrassing). Do not waste your time. Watch The Pianist for a true Nazi story that's a 1,000 times better than this garbage.
7. Solaris -
There are a lot of versions of this story. This movie I'm referring to is the 2002 Steven Soderbergh version. Convoluted is something that describes this movie well. Convoluted is a common thread that you will see in this list. Convoluted should never be a phrase to describe a good movie. If a movie is complex, that's cool, I can take time to try to understand it. Confusing, maybe sometimes, you need an additional viewing to understand all the little details, but convoluted is not tolerated by me. It means the director didn't even know what their goal was, or what they are doing, or what the story is supposed to be about. This movie is based on a novel which also inspired a film in 1972 that was critically acclaimed. I have not read the book or seen that movie, so those forms might be much better. What I was first disappointed with was the fact that the previews for this movie lead me to believe it was a love story with a sci-fi setting. It ended up being a bad, boring, convoluted attempt at a space psychological thriller with a love story in the very back burner. A clinical psychologist goes to a space station to try to help one of his friends who says the crew are in trouble. When he gets there he realizes most of the crew are dead or disappeared and the survivors are not really telling him what's going on. He's confused and alone, but while sleeping he dreams of his dead wife. She comes to life on the station and he realizes she's a copy made from some entity on the space station and gets rid of the copy. This happens several more times and he has to make a decision at the end to be ok with a copy, or realize he might be a copy for someone else in the final scene. See, the movie's so strange I can't even make an acceptable synopsis. Yes, it sounds interesting from a far, but don't see this version. At the end of the movie, I was mad it wasn't a love story, and mad that it had no point. There are only a few movies I can remember where, at the end, I'm saying to myself, this movie was pointless. Absolutely pointless. This is one of them. Do not see it. If you want to see a good space movie that makes you think about copies of people in space, watch a little known movie called "Moon" instead.
8. Big Fish -
Another pointless movie. Oh, so bad, and I like Ewan McGregor too! This is such a stupid movie. I absolutely hated it. A boy hears his father tell tall tales his whole life and knows none of the stories are true and he figures out he can't trust his dad. The relationship falls by the wayside until his father is on his deathbed and the boy, now a married man with his wife pregnant, travel to his side to reconnect. The father starts telling the same ridiculous stories and the son wants to know the truth this time. The father has a stroke and then can no longer speak. He wants the son to finish his story and tell him how it all ends. The son makes up a story and the father passes away happily. At the funeral, the son meets all of his fathers friends that he spoke of in the crazy stories and realizes the stories were all true, his father just exaggerated a little bit. This movie was visually interesting, but sometimes I think they use special effects to distract the audience from the point that there is no good plot in this movie. Ewan McGregor was hot and I loved looking at him, but this movie was still terrible. I've only seen it once and couldn't bear to see it again. If you like pointless, absurd plots with characters that are flat 2-dimensional beings, go ahead and torture yourself for 2 hours with a viewing of this.
9. Natural Born Killers -
I know the director was trying to make a statement here about how the media glorifies mass murders and the public loves reading about them, but this movie was crap. It's filled with graphic violence, lots of unnecessary profanity, and these stupid moments of color-filled collage flashes that are meaningless. I hated this movie because it took an obvious shock-value in your face approach. There is a beauty in subtlety. I think there could have been a lot of different ways to show how the public is obsessed with killers or mass murders. I don't mind some graphic violence, or some profanity, but I don't want a whole movie made out of that just to have it in there.
10. Showgirls -
So yes, the focus for this movie was all the sex and rated NC-17 gossip surrounding it. I had heard it was bad, so I wanted to see how bad. I saw the scaled down rated R version and I'm pretty sure I wasn't missing anything. Elizabeth Berkley was such a poor actress that she couldn't convince me she was actually eating a hamburger in one scene. A girl hitchhikes her way to Las Vegas and gets robbed by the guy who picked her up. She finds a nice girl who takes her in and she becomes a stripper at a local club to make money quick. Her friend introduces her to her co-workers who are showgirls and Berkley wants to be one in the worst way. She does everything and anything to prove she can do it and eventually sleeps and back stabs her way to the top. Berkley's friend (the only character you actually like) gets gang raped at a party that Berkley invited her to. The producers she works for offer them both money for not going to the police and keeping it quiet, since the guy involved in the rape was a big star of theirs. Berkley gets revenge for her friends attack by beating the crap out of this guy and stabbing him, and ends up hitchhiking out of town with the same guy that dropped her in Vegas in the beginning. She attacks him too on the way out of town. A terrible movie, even if you like watching bi-sexual girls flirt and kiss each other or movie sex. I was watching mainly to see how bad it was and if there were any interesting show girl scenes. Turns out there wasn't. A true waste of time, with terrible acting, horrible lines, bad plot, and a cast of crappy characters.
As a footnote, I would like to mention a few movies that I almost named instead. These are pretty close to the worst movies I have ever seen.....
Howard the Duck
Valentine's Day
Twilight
Catwoman
Mars Attacks
Batman and Robin
Austin Powers - any of them
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The Aviator
Released: 2004
(Hollywood style) Biography, Drama
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reily
Director: Marin Scorsese
Running Time: 170 minutes
Martin Scorsese does love his use of color and weird images in this one.
Overall, I thought it was good, but a bit long.
The breakdown:
This movie basically follows Howard Hughes through 20 years of this life from the late 1920's to the late 1940's. The prime of Howard Hughes life.
If you don't know anything about Hughes, he was a very interesting person. He inherited millions of dollars from his father when he was young, but made most of his money on his own business endeavours. His father invented the "Hughes Rock Eater", it's a self sharpening tool bit which is still used today to drill for oil.
Hughes is from Texas, and was fascinated with planes and aviation at a young age. He built the Hercules, also known as the "Spruce Goose" which was a HUGE aircraft designed to hold 750 people. It flew but only for one mile before retiring permanently.
He built airplanes, dated gorgeous movie stars like Ava Gardner, Bette Davis, and Ginger Rogers, owned several Las Vegas casinos, made movies (and then reshot the entire movie), produced movies, and owned the airline that eventually became TWA.
Unfortunately, he also suffered greatly from mental illness - he was germaphobic, paranoid, OCD, and possibly bi-polar or schizophrenic - his crazed behavior in his last years might've been from a result of brain damage as he was in a severe plane crash, and several other accidents. It is alleged that he only bought the Desert Inn in Las Vegas to avoid being evicted since he shut himself away in there for years towards the end of his life. He was anti-Semite, had a strong aversion to black people, but hired Mormons for years to work for him because he didn't want anyone drunk on the clock.
And here's the really weird stuff:
He (allegedly) saved his urine in jars
Would only eat about 12 different kinds of food (things like steak, salad, tomato juice)
His heart was dislodged in his horrific plane crash (which by the way happened in a California neighborhood where his plane wing tore through the middle of a house and damaged houses all over.)
When his body was found at the time of his death, his toenails were unusually long, he hadn't cut his hair, and he was only 90 pounds! His height was 6'4" so he was grossly underweight, and malnourished.
One of his personal quotes, "I'm not a paranoid deranged millionaire. Goddammit, I'm a billionaire."
He was also Stan Lee's inspiration for character Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man.
The movie kinda' jumbles up some of the facts to fit what the director needs so for that I can only give it a 3 1/2 ticket stub rating out of 5.
(Hollywood style) Biography, Drama
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reily
Director: Marin Scorsese
Running Time: 170 minutes
Martin Scorsese does love his use of color and weird images in this one.
Overall, I thought it was good, but a bit long.
The breakdown:
This movie basically follows Howard Hughes through 20 years of this life from the late 1920's to the late 1940's. The prime of Howard Hughes life.
If you don't know anything about Hughes, he was a very interesting person. He inherited millions of dollars from his father when he was young, but made most of his money on his own business endeavours. His father invented the "Hughes Rock Eater", it's a self sharpening tool bit which is still used today to drill for oil.
Hughes is from Texas, and was fascinated with planes and aviation at a young age. He built the Hercules, also known as the "Spruce Goose" which was a HUGE aircraft designed to hold 750 people. It flew but only for one mile before retiring permanently.
He built airplanes, dated gorgeous movie stars like Ava Gardner, Bette Davis, and Ginger Rogers, owned several Las Vegas casinos, made movies (and then reshot the entire movie), produced movies, and owned the airline that eventually became TWA.
Unfortunately, he also suffered greatly from mental illness - he was germaphobic, paranoid, OCD, and possibly bi-polar or schizophrenic - his crazed behavior in his last years might've been from a result of brain damage as he was in a severe plane crash, and several other accidents. It is alleged that he only bought the Desert Inn in Las Vegas to avoid being evicted since he shut himself away in there for years towards the end of his life. He was anti-Semite, had a strong aversion to black people, but hired Mormons for years to work for him because he didn't want anyone drunk on the clock.
And here's the really weird stuff:
He (allegedly) saved his urine in jars
Would only eat about 12 different kinds of food (things like steak, salad, tomato juice)
His heart was dislodged in his horrific plane crash (which by the way happened in a California neighborhood where his plane wing tore through the middle of a house and damaged houses all over.)
When his body was found at the time of his death, his toenails were unusually long, he hadn't cut his hair, and he was only 90 pounds! His height was 6'4" so he was grossly underweight, and malnourished.
One of his personal quotes, "I'm not a paranoid deranged millionaire. Goddammit, I'm a billionaire."
He was also Stan Lee's inspiration for character Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man.
The movie kinda' jumbles up some of the facts to fit what the director needs so for that I can only give it a 3 1/2 ticket stub rating out of 5.
Monday, August 1, 2011
What to do for dogs trapped in a car
This article is from the ASPCA.
1. You Can Help Pets in Hot Cars
Rayne Nolte was in the parking lot of a Mankato, Minnesota, mall last week when she spotted Roxie, a Yorkie mix, trapped in a car. The temperature was 88 degrees with a heat index of 103, and the car's owner was gone.
You may have found yourself in Rayne’s situation before. Many pet parents believe that cracking a window is enough to keep their dogs cool in the car while they make a quick pit stop—but they couldn’t be more wrong. "Automobile temperatures can very quickly rise to dangerous levels; the average temperature increase in a parked car is 40 degrees, and the majority of this increase occurs in the first 15 to 30 minutes," says Dr. Louise Murray, Vice President of ASPCA Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. When it’s 80 degrees outside, your car will be a staggering 114 degrees after 30 minutes!
Worse still, dogs can’t cool themselves down as easily as people, and once they overheat, they can suffer extensive organ damage or die. Luckily, Rayne made all the right moves. Follow her lead by taking these simple steps.
Step 1: Try to Locate the Pet Parent
Roxie’s people were nowhere in sight, so Rayne called mall security, who tried to find Roxie’s family through the loudspeaker. (You can ask most stores to do this.)
Step 2: Educate
Rayne couldn’t find Roxie’s pet parents, but if you do, explain the dangers of leaving a pet in a hot car. Make sure the pet gets out of the car as soon as possible.
Step 3: Call 911
Fourteen states have enacted specific laws that protect dogs in hot cars, as have many municipalities—but even in places lacking such a law, leaving an animal in a hot car may constitute cruelty.
Rayne and the mall security officers dialed 911. When the police pulled Roxie from the steamy vehicle, she was very ill but soon on the road to recovery.
Step 4: Pat Yourself on the Back
Pets are counting on people like you to save their lives. Rayne rescued Roxie just in time, and she made a full recovery! And according to the Mankato Free Press, the pet-sitter who left Roxie in the car was charged with a petty misdemeanor.
Oh and congratulations are in order to one of my best friends for recently acquiring a new doggy from a no kill shelter. Way to go!
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