The Alice in Wonderland Teaser can be seen HERE.

G.I. JOE: Rise (or Fall) of Cobra

I have a sinking feeling that G.I. JOE is going to bomb at the box office when it opens next week. Being a fan of the franchise as a kid, I was excited when I heard about this live action version last year. Unfortunately, what Batman did so right, it looks like JOE did all wrong. The power behind cartoon or comic resurgence is in the gritty, real life application of its characters. Fans like to experience the dark reality of these imaginary worlds. And from recent previews, it looks like JOE has gone the 12-year-old popcorn route instead. Granted, this worked for Transformers (which was actually somewhere in between), but I don't see it translating here. The one liners feel forced and the action looks like it's too rooted in fantasy. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully I'm wrong for the franchise's sake.

Hot. Hot. Hot.

I know talking about the weather is a little lame. But after 10 straight days of 90+ degrees and three above 100 degrees, I've come to the conclusion that my next house is going to have more than one window AC unit. It's supposed to be 107 degrees today. Someone needs to tell mother nature that this is Portland and that is uncalled for.

Soulja Boy Lyrics...Suck

I'm To Clean Off In This Hoe
Watch Me Crank Dat Roosevelt
Then Super soak That Hoe,
And Superman That Bitch,

I know I'm not super young and maybe not even super hip, but literally every line ends in Hoe, Bitch, or talking about bodily fluids. Seriously, this is a top selling artist. Whatever happened to hip hop? It amazes me that this type of lyrical content is supported by anybody. Don't get me wrong, I've got some Kanye, Jay Z, and Eminem on my ipod, but stuff like this isn't even ironically good. It's the lowest common denominator and that's it.

Short, Sweet, Funny. Good commercial.

A new taser gun that can stop up to three people without reloading! Bring on the miscreants. It's showtime.

Pass the Popcorn: Defiance

There's something about Holocaust movies that just make them hard to watch. Perhaps it's because everybody is dying and even the happy endings are sad. Defiance is no different. It tells the heroic story of three Jewish brothers who establish a forest hideout community during WWII in order to escape from the Nazis. This true recounting does a good job at giving each of the brothers their own emotional arc, but overall, there wasn't anything fresh to see. It showed the torment men go through when they are elevated to saviors, when hard decisions have to be made, and that everyone has the opportunity to stand up and lead when the time is right. But even though the action was good in spots, a lot of the scenes felt stagnant.

I'm constantly in awe of those who made it through that time in history and fully appreciate those who try to do them justice by telling their stories. But it takes a great piece of work for me to really appreciate the situation cinematicly. I like the effort here but don't love the outcome.

Get There Faster.

Sex sells. Even if you're a car rental company.

Pass the Popcorn: Knowing

Nick Cage discovers a code that reveals all the major tragedies in the last 50 years in Knowing. But does it also reveal the end of the world? That's what I was trying to find out.

From the first trailer to the DVD release, I never really wanted to see this movie, especially after it got bombed by some critics. But Donnie said give it a try, and who am I to turn down a suggestion.

As much as I didn't want to like Knowing, I couldn't help but be captivated the whole way through. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it was much more suspenseful that I had expected. I'm also not sure I loved where the eventual plot went, but I didn't mind the ride either. Overall, Knowing wasn't the perfect movie, but it's perfectly suitable for 2 hours of entertainment on a Saturday night while the kids were sleeping and I was waiting for my wife to get home from work. The bottle of wine didn't hurt the cause either.

My kiddos and my dog.

The Super Soaker 50 - 20th Anniversary

Twenty years after revolutionizing the squirt gun, the Super Soaker 50 steps back into the fold with an anniversary edition. The SS50 was the first water toy to give you a fighting chance against the hose. And like all popular kids toys, it quickly advance into the SS100 and the SSMDS(multi-directional soaker), which was my personal favorite. Of course, later advancements made the soaker too cumbersome and ineffective in an all out battle, but they still flew off the shelf.


Stuck smack dab in the middle of an Oregon heatwave, the re-release of the SS50 not only brings back a warm sense of nostalgia, but also some much needed soaking. Unfortunately my kids are still to young to take full advantage of the pressurized water chamber.

Soccer Can Be Fun

I went to the Portland Timbers game last night to film some stuff for work, which means I had a media pass and virtually unlimited access to the grounds. The crew and I ended up watching most of the game from the sidelines and mingling with the Timbers Army, and I have to say that soccer in Portland is fun.

I've never seen so much constant passion from a group of fans. It's intoxicating. They make you want to join in and get lost in the fervor. I've been known to say that it's hard to like a game that battles for 90 minutes and still ends in a tie but I'm starting to see the small victories in that. Play for a win at a home and a tie on the road? Who knows, maybe it will continue to grow on me. And the more I immerse my self in the culture, it becomes apparent that it's not just about the game.

If soccer has never appealed to you, I recommend learning a little bit about it and then visiting the Timbers at PGE park. Give a chance and see what happens.

I could be wrong but...

I'm hiking Mount St. Helens next month with some friends and acquaintances, and I'm having a hard time trying to figure out why they are making it such a big deal out of it. I don't think that I'm some superman or anything, but this can't be that hard. It's a ten mile hike which gets up to elevations of 4500 feet. Not that bad. Upon reading about some of the trail descriptions on the website, they seem to be described as "more difficult," which doesn't sound too intimidating. Yet, I get emails every week from the people I'm going with talking about how they have 3 or 4 practice hikes scheduled. They repeatedly make mention of this being a 'big day' and 'an undertaking' where training is 'a must'. Really?

All I'm saying is that I went on a day hike in Montana at a family reunion a couple years ago that had a steep vertical grade (we went from 5,500 feet to 10,000 feet in the course of 4.5 miles), and there was no preperation involved. I carried my 4-month-old daughter on my back with my wife by my side. And did I mention that we had 2 very pregnant women come along.

Yes, it's a 10-mile hike up a mountain. And I totally respect people wanting to be in shape for it. But do we really need all of this melodramatic lead up. Can't we just say that were going to hike St. Helens and it's going to be fun? We'll see some sights and explore some trails, so here's to a fun day.

Again, I could be wrong. I could be completely underestimating this thing. But deep down, I don't think that's the case.

Pass the Popcorn: Confessions of a Shopaholic

One of the worst things about being married is watching crappy movies. I'm sure it goes the same for my wife. After all, she did sit through most of Watchmen with me. That being said, Confessions of a Shopaholic was a pile of crap. It's been a long time since I've actually been angry because of a movie.

What makes me even angrier is that I remember seeing reviews that actually gave it some praise, so at the very least I was expecting mediocrity. Instead I sat through 90 minutes of a ridiculously stupid plot lines and completely unbelievable characters. There's was one scene that had any sense of realism and that's it.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting an Oscar contender. But I was hoping for something at least in the vain of The Devil Wears Prada or even Legally Blonde. What I got was a steaming pile of poo.

Movie Night Lives

Now that Henry is sleeping through the night, I'm able to stay up later and watch movies again. I love it. I forgot how much I enjoy throwing in a movie at 10 p.m. Malinda usually falls asleep halfway through, but it still gives us some nice quiet time together, which isn't easy to get when you have two kids.

Pass the Popcorn: Watchmen

The tagline "Who watches the Watchmen?" is close but incomplete. It should ask "Who watches the Watchmen and likes it?" I was really excited for this movie to release on DVD. It had one of the best trailers of the year and a gripping premise. Too bad the movie didn't follow suit.

Watchmen tells the story of a group of reluctant superheros who struggle to find their place in an world that doesn't really want them. It's long, violent, and lacks any true emotion. Some of the scenes were fantastic and some of the music was great. The climax didn't follow the emotional arc of the characters it set up to follow, and ultimately, I didn't care anyway. Overall the movie was bad.

Pass the Popcorn: Twilight

I finally broke down and watched Twilight with my wife. If you don’t know what’s it’s about, then you’ve been living under a pop culture rock for the last year. It’s basically the equivalent of Harry Potter for women of all ages. Of course, only teenyboppers will admit it.

I had low expectations for the movie, which were woefully met. The pacing was erratic, the acting was uneven, and the plot seemed thin. Of course, my wife explained that a lot of the back story and emotional torment from the book was left out. The movie just seemed to lack soul. I guess given the subject matter that might be appropriate but not exciting to watch.

Fortunately for the franchise, a new director signed on for the next movie, a move that should add some much needed life to a series about the undead.

A Response to Eric's Question About Tiger, Golf, and the Gentleman's Game

View blog post here

Tiger Woods is an enigma in golf. His popularity has always been polarizing. It's just that more people tend to love him rather than hate him. However, even amongst his fans, there's the underlying knowledge of his bad attitude surrounding poor play.

Like all of the sports greats, Tiger is a staunch competitor that hates to lose. That type of tenacity is what allows him to win so often. Pure drive enables skill to shine through even when the odds aren't favorable. But when you play with so much passion, it's hard to block out the negatives as well. You notice it in golf because of the accessibility to the pros during an entire round. Of course, that doesn't make it right.

Don't get me wrong, I think all golfers are competitive. But they don't reach that extra gear of determination Tiger has. Ali had it. Jordan had. Montana had. That's what made them great. And that's what made them polarizing.

It's easy to say that Watson played the gentleman's game the way it should be played. But in this day and age with the amount of money and sponsorships on the line, professional golf is no longer a gentleman's game. It's a competitive sport where the best in the world battle it out for four days a week. And as much as I hate to admit it, if Watson had a little more of that killer instinct in him, he probably would have walked away with the trophy last week.

So no, Tiger is no longer a thing of the past. He's just a reminder that golf is no longer a country club activity. It's an international sport where millions are up for grabs to those who want it the most.

Cink goes big. Watson goes bust.

Tom Watson choked this weekend at the British Open. But you still have to give credit to Stewart Cink for battling back, dropping a clutch birdie putt, and forcing a playoff. I do feel bad for the 59-year-old Watson, but I also feel bad for Cink because he's not getting the credit he deserves. This was Cink's first Major win, but it's being overshadowed by Watson's major heartbreak.

Pass the Popcorn: Last Chance Harvey

Last Chance Harvey follows a broken Dustin Hoffman as he courts an equally depressing Emma Thompson for two days in London. Although the characters aren't all smiles, the story is sweet and subtle. Another airplane movie, I did enjoy this Woody Allen-esque story. It has a slow pace but worth the time.

Pass the Popcorn: Inkheart

Inkheart is a fairly confusing movie about a man who can summon characters from stories simply by reading the words aloud. Unfortunately, for everyone who comes out, someone goes back in. I watched this Brenden Fraser flick on the airplane last week, which consequently makes any film more tolerable. This was no different. Semi-interesting characters, decent effects, and a disjointed plot made for a mediocre experience. Inkheart was fun enough at 33,000 feet, but probably isn't worth watching when your feet are on the ground.

Too Busy to Blog. Sorry yall, but I got deadlines a looming. My friends did get swine flu in Mexico though. After all that joking around, it kinda came true. Huh.

I back from Mexico Yo! It was fun but I pooped my brains out for a day and a half, which was not fun. More later. For now I have to catch up at work.

Pass The Popcorn

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. I don't have time to write a full review, so let me just say a couple of things.

1) It's not as complicated as most critics would have you believe.
2) Michael Bay just can't help being horribly cheesy with his love storylines.
3) The racist robot fiasco is blown way out of proportion.
4) There's a ton of action, which is mostly fun and definitely over-the-top.
5) It's not nearly as good as the first one but still worth seeing. Unless you're a critic expecting something more than it's promising. Then you're just an idiot.

All in all, it was a fun movie that was full of holes and unnecessary plot points. Megan Fox's pants had the uncanny ability to stay white under crazy-intense conditions. They could have blended Shia's hurt hand into the story better. And you get inundated with so many robots towards the end, you have no idea who's good and bad. But then again, you probably won't care.

Levi's New Go Forth Campaign is intriguing. Check out the video but also check out their microsite. It's reflective inspiration. Subdued patriotism. Melancholy excitement. Or maybe I'm just projecting.

What's Up 3-Day Weekend

I'm checking out for a weekend with the in-laws. Should be fun. I'll catch you on the flip side. Of course, immediately after I acknowledge the flip side, I will be spending a week in Mexico drinking, playing golf, and suckin' some swine flu. But after that, I will definitely hit you all back.

In the meantime, have a happy July 4th. Let's celebrate our independence, yeah.

Trail Rated

Buy American

I'm not a 'shout it from the rooftops Republican' or a 'the south will rise again American,' but I do try to support goods made in the U.S. as much as possible. I didn't realize this until I was car shopping for an SUV a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, a 4Runner would have been nice and you can get a Honda Passport for a good price, but I ended up only looking at American made rigs. I wasn't making an entirely conscious effort to shun the others. It just worked out that way. Even though Chrysler and GMC got themselves into the mess they're in, I feel like it's our duty to support them as much as possible. Because if they go under, so does a huge piece of America. So now I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee and I like it.