Pass the Popcorn: Movie Roundup

Since prime time TV went on hiatus, I've had more room for the cinema. That's right, I just said cinema. Here's some quick and dirty reviews for you.

Shutter Island: Good flick. Some of the shots seemed forced. The actual "twist" was obvious, but how they played it out was well done. The final line of the movie was a little too cryptic as well. But the result was worth renting.


She's Out of My League: Surprisingly good. I had low expectations, which might have helped. It's a comedy with heart but not so much heart that it becomes a romantic comedy. It doesn't compare to similar movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshal, but it kept me entertained. It's worth renting.

Hot Tub Time Machine: Rude, Crude, and Fun. It had some good references to Cusack's earlier movies, which they really could have pushed further. The gross-out moments weren't too cringe worthy, and the performances were strong. Definitely worth renting.

Legion: A much richer cast than I realized helped this Vengeful God movie out of the gate. The script had some pretty big holes in it, and I'm not talking about plot believability holes. You have to suspend your beliefs quite a bit when watching any movie about an Army of angels sent to kill all mankind. I'm talking about their lack of attack plan, which are more tactic believability holes. Regardless, if you can turn off  your brain, it's a fun ride. Out of all the movies I've seen recently, Legion left the most on the table. The story could have competed much better with the creepy characters. But I wasn't cinematicly offended. Its worth a rent if there's nothing else on the shelf.

The Box: An interesting concept that was taken too far into the realm of the X-Files. The Box left too many questions unanswered for my liking. You can skip this one.

Summer Shoes: And1 Downtime

I got the hook up on some And1 Downtimes, and I have to say that they're pretty comfy sneakers. Similar to the Nike Free, they are lightweight, super breathable, and great for chillin' and training. They retail for 50-60 bucks, which is a great price considering what the Frees cost.

The Downtimes are the first shoe in And1's Lo-Qi category (off court). Here's a camera phone pic. You can see more details on And1's website.

Do you need a band-aid for your boo-boo?

I've been mildly engaged in World Cup Soccer so far. Why not fully engaged? Simple. Soccer on the world stage is full of flops, whining, and crying. It's ridiculous. I couldn't figure it out at first, but when I really started paying attention, all I saw was dudes falling down after being barely brushed by defenders. Then they roll around writhing in "pain" until they get the whistle.

Sure, this happens in other sports. But in soccer, it seems to happen every two minutes. I've never seen so many fragile athletes in my entire life. My one-year-old son can take a bigger hit than that.

Yeah, I know, they're trying to get the whistle and the advantage in the game. But if they would just play and let their talent give them the advantage, it would be a much more fun sport to watch. Really, I blame the refs (or whatever they're called in soccer) for being so damned whistle happy. They need to take a note out of a parenting book; when you're kid is whining, you don't give in. If you do, they simply continue to whine in order to get their way.

So come on, soccer. Man up. Quit being a bunch of pansies in knee-highs and turn your game back into a sport.

Google Chrome is Fast.

I seem to be in the mood to show you all one video after another. So check out how fast Google Chrome is. Was that fast? I'm not sure. I think that was fast.

Pass the Popcorn: Youth in Revolt

On a scale of 1 to shoot myself in the head from boredom, Youth in Revolt sucked ass. Perhaps my expectations were too high. No, check that. I merely expected an entertaining movie. Nothing more. What I got as a lame, tractionaless pile of suck. I am saddened.

In all honesty, the movie was moderately okay. But there have been so many 'moderate' movies lately, I can't take it anymore. Give me something worth watching. I'm sick of mediocrity. I'm tired of laughing three times in an hour and a half. If I wasn't so lazy I would start reading books again. Shame on you, Hollywood.

Good Old 70s Problem Solving! Blow It Up.

I even tricked myself.

I thought I made up a cool quote last night. "Courage is born when fear sticks around to see what happens next." As it turns out, it's a little too close to the General Patton quote, "Courage is fear holding on a minute longer."

I must have heard it at some point and time. Oh well. I'm just not quite as cool as I thought. That doesn't mean I'm still not super cool. I'm just not super awesome cool. I can live with that.

Smurfs get the big screen treatment.

Weekend Lessons: There's no P in my ool.

Last weekend brought 80-degree temps to Portland for the first time all year. It's been so miserable here we actually recorded the highest rainfall total for June ever... and we're only 15 days in. That being said, the kids and I were determined to enjoy the summer sun while we had the chance. And really, it could be worse. We could live in Alaska where you get nearly 24 hours of daylight this time of year. Can you imagine if we had 24 hours of daylight. It wouldn't be the end-all be-all until you added the dreary rain. All you would see is cloudy skies and rain. At least when it gets dark, we forget about the rain a little. Sorry. I digress.

So the kids and I spent some time in the sun. On Saturday, it was all about the backyard plastic pool and sprinklers. We've got a good routine down. Sophia, my 3-year-old, runs around all day and when she needs to pee, she goes in the yard. No harm, no foul. I'm mean we're already out there, she's wet so I don't want her running through the house, and it's not like anybody can see her. This was working out for me until she decided that number one wasn't enough.

While I was staining the deck I noticed that she wasn't in her usual pee stance. It was more of a squat. Then it happened. Number two. I ran over, yelling 'No', but it was too late. The deed was done.

Confused, she said, "but the dog does it. You just need to scoop it up like the dog."

Yup, my daughter told me to scoop her poop, which I did because I couldn't just let it sit there. Picking up the dog's poop is one thing, but there's something far more disturbing about baggying up your kid's poop. It's just not right.

Needless to say, there will be no more peeing or pooping in our backyard from now on.

Pass the Popcorn: Valkyrie

This movie had some decent tension and an interesting look at a piece of history that's often left out of WWII talk. But no one uses a German accent, nor do they even try. Super lame. You could've done better, Valkyrie; historically and cinematically.

A Tough Crowd

My daughter kept following me around this morning asking what song I sang to Henry last night. For the life of me, I couldn't remember. Finally, I gave in and made something up on the spot, "They call him Henry, Henry, 'cause that was his name. Sleeping beside you is his favorite game." (It's fair to note that they were lying next to each other at the time).

I stopped singing and waited for her response. She looked at me, tilted her head to the side, raised her hand (palm facing up) in the patented 'I don't know' way and said, "Daddy, what kind of song is that?"

"I don't know Sophia. I don't know."

Pass the Popcorn: Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton's remake of Alice in Wonderland was oddly disappointing. The set pieces were interesting, the characters were well done (for the most part), and it was an fresh take on an old story. But the result was disjointed and kind of boring. The movie didn't equal the sum of its parts.

Better than Nike's 3-minute ad.

Turn it Up: The Avett Brothers

My sister turned me onto The Avett Brothers over the holiday weekend, and I have to say that they're a good find indeed. Their newest album, I and Love and You, is pretty good. But for my money, their last disc, Emotionalism, is the best representation of the genre. 

Rest in Peace, Mr. Wooden

The UCLA basketball coach that gave us bits of wisdom like "ability is a poor man's wealth" and "don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do" died this week at age 99. He'll always be remembered as a master motivator who won 7 consecutive championships with UCLA and 88 straight victories.

Pass the Popcorn: The Lovely Bones

Peter Jackson made a departure from epic films like King Kong and Lord of the Rings to direct the supposed emotional thriller The Lovely Bones. What I'm sure was a grippingly sad book to read translated into annoyance on screen. Despite decent performances (not great) the movie drug on while the "in-between" set pieces lacked any sense of actual wonder. At the very least, the script made me hate the villain and lament a family's loss, but I left feeling more empty than sad. It was a mediocre effort.

Home is where you hang your rack

Pass the Popcorn: Iron Man 2

By now you've probably heard all of the critics say that Iron Man 2 was good but not great. I'm here to totally... agree. They've all hit the nail on the head. It's a fun action movie to kick off the summer, but it lacks some of the charm of the first one. I don't think the new characters are too convoluted like a lot of the critics, but I definitely can see why they wish they had more substance. All in all,  it's worth seeing.

Guatemala City Sinkhole

It's so big it looks fake. If I didn't see these images on all of the news outlets, I wouldn't believe this one. That's end of the world big.

Back from Tahoe

Who would have thought I needed to go to 7,600 feet above sea level to get some sun?