Thursday, June 30th, 2005 - I went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith the other night with my girl and I have to say, it was pretty good...a pleasant surprise, to say the least. The first two-thirds of the film are EXCELLENT, but the film as a whole kind of falls down in the third act. I think they got stuck for a way to resolve the conflict, so it ends up being kind of a convoluted, over-the-top John Woo type mess.

Regardless, lots of funny moments... And it's official: Angelina Jolie is the hottest woman on the planet. Hands down... Wow.

The Milwaukee Bucks had a solid night in the NBA Draft the other night, drafting 7 foot Aussie center Andrew Bogut first overall and picking up small forward Ersan Ilyasova, another international player (from Turkey) in the second. The Bucks also landed small forward Jiri Welsch in a trade with the Cavs for a 2006 second round pick. The best news of all, though? Guard T.J. Ford has FINALLY recovered from his spinal injury and has been cleared to practice full contact with the Bucks. Great news all around for a team that has nowhere to go but up.

Have a great 4th of July weekend, people! Drive safe. Be safe.

Monday, June 27th, 2005 - The Madison, Wisconsin smoking ban goes into effect this Friday, July 1st. I never thought I'd see the day. I don't have a problem with banning smoking in the workplace, but banning smoking in BARS??? Not so much... Under the terms of the ban, you can't even smoke in a CIGAR BAR! Stupid, stupid, stupid.

This is funny, though... Smoking is banned in Madison, but not in Middleton (a suburb on the West Side of Madison). Club Tavern in Middleton is giving out a cigarette and a mini American flag with every drink during happy hour from July 1st until the 7th. Brilliant! Not only that, they're going to provide a shuttle bus from downtown to the West Side every Thursday and Friday night. I wish them luck!

This "Orwellian" cesspool of a city we call Madison can pretty much kiss my ass...

Thursday, June 23rd, 2005 - I was thinking about my Land of the Dead review (below) and I think I may have been a LITTLE harsh with it. I think one of the reasons I didn't enjoy it very much is because I was sitting next to "Joe NASCAR" and his "arm candy" girlfriend and they talked through the entire movie. At first it didn't bother me, but by about halfway through the film, I was pretty irritated. Maybe next time I'll just tell them to shut the f*** up and get it over with. =)

Speaking of movies, have you ever been to Deep Discount DVD?

They have great DVD prices and FREE SHIPPING! You can also get video games and music there. For the next two days (until Saturday, June 25th), you can get an extra 20% OFF your purchase by entering the coupon code SUPERSALE when you check out. I picked up a bunch of stuff there today, including the first three seasons of Batman: The Animated Series, season 3 of The Dead Zone and the new special edition of Sling Blade. I ended up saving a boatload of cash... If you've never shopped at Deep Discount DVD, now's a good time to start. Enjoy!

I went to see the Brewers play the Cubs last night. Great game! The Brewers scored 8 runs in the 2nd inning and basically put the game away. The final score was 9-4. The crew managed to eek one out today, too. They emerged victorious, 8-7 after a seesaw battle all game. I think the Brewers should give me season tickets. Their record is 9-1 when I've seen them. The only game I saw them lose was back when County Stadium was still standing. Hmmm...

Still no luck with the job hunt. I was joking with a friend of mine the other day that David Banner had an easier time finding work on The Incredible Hulk T.V. show...and he didn't have a social security number OR a REAL NAME! Oh yeah...God bless the Madison 2005 job market. Wheee... It's nice to know I'd be better off as a wanted fugitive who can mutate into a giant green monster. *sigh*

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005 - I managed to score free tickets to George A. Romero's Land of the Dead last night for a sneak preview. What did I think of it? Read on...

Land of the Dead is the latest entry in George A. Romero's "Dead" saga, which currently consists of Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. The film stars Simon Baker ("The Guardian"), John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper, among others. Baker is solid and believable in the lead role. I'd never really pictured him as the "action hero" type before, but he holds up nicely. Leguizamo is...annoying. That's unfortunate, too, considering his "Cholo" character is one of the linchpins of the film. Dennis Hopper is...Dennis Hopper. Expect his standard, run of the mill, over the top performance (Read: Speed) that's good (as usual) for several laughs.

I guess the best way for me to describe my feelings about this movie is to say that the whole does not equal the sum of the parts. There were some funny lines. There were some good jump scares. There were some cool gore effects. There were some great character moments. There was some tension. There were scenes that had the audience laughing and cheering. Some interesting social commentary. But, at the end of the film, I left the theater with an empty feeling. The movie fell flat.

I think the problem was, in my opinion, that in the previous "Dead" films, it was always some human flaw or failing or emotional issue that led to the zombie triumph. In Night of the Living Dead, "Cooper" screwed things up for everyone when his daughter got Zombie-fied. In Dawn, the arrogance of the heroes and the greed of the biker gang caused the downfall of the heroes. In Day, the arrogance and "assholishness" of the newly-in-command Captain gave the Zombies victory. In Land of the Dead? The Zombies get smart... The Zombies succeed because THEY improve, not because humans regress or relapse in some way. THAT is the problem with this film.

The characters, as a whole, aren't very likable, so it makes it tough to cheer for them as the heroes. The best characters in the film are Riley (Simon Baker) and Charlie (Robert Joy). Their symbiotic "buddy" relationship is the closest thing to real humanity in this picture. The lead Zombie (the one they call "Big Daddy" in the credits) is the other annoying "character" in the movie. His performance is waaaaay too loud and waaaaay too over the top to work. I just cringed every time I saw him on screen. Unfortunate, again, because he's another linchpin of the film. If you've seen the movie Ghosts of Mars, imagine the main bad guy's performance...the guy who looked like a giant Alice Cooper clone. Guess what? They refer to him in the credits (surprise, surprise) as "Big Daddy Mars." *shudder* Awful...

Despite all my complaints, I'm amazed at what Romero managed to pull off on a scant $15 million dollar budget. It's a complete film that tells a very straightforward story with no twists or turns. It just comes right at you...kind of like the Zombies do! I'd give it 3 1/2 stars out of five if you are a "Dead" fan and 1 1/2 stars out of 5 if you're not. As a "Dead" fan, you simply MUST see it. There is enough there to keep you interested and talking. Besides...after Romero got screwed over financially by the original Night of the Living Dead, I think it would be nice to see his latest film succeed.

Sunday, June 19th, 2005 - I hope everyone had a great weekend! I know I did!

I've posted my brand new, standalone Humor Section. Check it out! I've also added a new Movie Quote from the movie Groundhog Day.

Going to see Def Leppard and Tesla in Madison tomorrow. Should be a great time!

Thanks for stopping by...

Thursday, June 16th, 2005 - I just got back from seeing Batman Begins. Wow! Holy Ass Kicking, Batman!

"Evil fears...the Knight."

What can I say? This movie truly OWNED! I was very, VERY happy with the way it turned out. Christian Bale is fantastic as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. The supporting cast is also amazing, with special kudos to Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson. Wow. Just...wow.

This movie utterly DESTROYS all of the previous Batman films combined. It truly is a new beginning for Gotham's Dark Knight. Personally, I'm looking forward to the next film(s) in the series...right after I see this one another two or three times. =) It's the best "Batman" movie since "The Mask of Zorro."

As an aside, I've also added two new entries to my much-neglected WTF? Page. Enjoy!

Oh, and if you are an NFL Football fan, come join us at the NFL Forums! And if you need an avatar for your message board persona, you can get your NFL avatars here.

Tuesday, June 14th, 2005 - Wow...it's been more than a week since my last update. What's up with that? I guess I have no excuse. *laughs*

Wisconsin is getting its own Women's Professional Football team in 2006. They're called the Wisconsin Wolves and tryouts were this week. It's a testament to how much I love football...I'm actually really excited about this. I'm going to see about volunteering to help their marketing team with promotions, etc. Should be fun...

I'm working on a permanent Humor Section for the website. I hope to have that posted soon.

No news on the job hunt yet. I sent off three more resumes today. Wheee! Words fail to express how much fun this search for gainful employment has been. =)

More later...

Saturday, June 4th, 2005 - When I was younger, I used to go to 30 or more movies a year in the theater. In the past ten years or so, though, I probably only see five or six per year. Part of it is the inexpensive price of DVDs and the other part is that people in theaters can be really, REALLY annoying...talking, coming in late, throwing things, giggling, etc. Ugh...

Strange, then, that in the past week or so, I've seen FOUR movies in the theater. I already mentioned Mindhunters (below) and I wrote a review/plot summary for Star Wars Episode III. This past week, I also found myself watching The Interpreter and the Adam Sandler remake of The Longest Yard.

I recommend both films. The Interpreter was very good...almost great. It really draws you in and keeps you interested. Both Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman shine in this film. The Longest Yard is quite funny...probably my third favorite of Adam Sandler's films behind Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer. It's really neat to see all of the former NFL players and WWE wrestling superstars who came out to make this film. If you get a chance, check them out.

I also want to take the time to complain about the trailer for Ron Howard's upcoming Cinderella Man. WTF? The trailer shows EVERYTHING that happens in the film, other than the final boxing match. You can imagine by the title of the film, though, who's going to win. I don't CARE if this movie is based on a true story...very, very few people know the guy or know what the true story is! Erg... Trailers are supposed to pique the audience's interest, not ruin the film. I can say the same thing for the upcoming Jodie Foster Die Hard ripoff, Flightplan. Thanks to another revealing, chronological trailer, I don't need to see that POS either.

How is my job hunt going, you ask? I think this about sums it up...

My apologies to Bill Amend...please don't sue me. =) You can read more FoxTrot here... I've got a job interview on Tuesday for a position I REALLY want. Wish me luck.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Thanks for stopping by...

Archives:

March, 2005; Dec/Jan/Feb 04-05; November, 2004; October, 2004, September, 2004; August, 2004, July, 2004, June, 2004, May, 2004; April 2004; March 2004; February 2004; January 2004; December 2003; November 2003; October 2003; September 2003; August 2003; July 2003; June 2003; May 2003; April 2003; March 2003; February 2003;