Bad Boys 3!!!

Since not everyone reads the same movie blogs as I do, I thought I would let everyone in on a little bit of info. Basically for all the guys out there who LOVED Bad Boys and Bad Boys 2, you will be glad to know that Columbia Studios has hired PETER CRAIG (whoever that is) to pen a script that will reunite Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer for a third (and probably final) installment of the action-tastic series!!!

I am thrilled to hear this new. The only way today could get any better would be if Christopher Nolan signed on to direct a last Batman movie. I have been waiting for another Bad Boys movie since '03. I just hope Martin Lawrence's character isn't a complete pansy this time around. Bring on the unnecessary violence and endless F-words!!!

Jumbotron Issue

Double Update- I was told today by an insider that the JUMBOTRON has been raised "for the U2 concert" which was supposed to happen all along. Jerry Jones insists that if the NFL has an issue with the Jumbotron, they must pay the money to raise is permanently. Roger Goodell said he will not make it mandatory to raise jumbotron.

I was at the Cowboys (cowgirls) Stadium today in Arlington, TX. The news here in Dallas said that the NFL and the Cowboys are still looking into ways to resolve the matter revolving around their Jumbotron being too low. A punted football struck the screen during last weeks preseason game. A contractor at the stadium today told me that the jumbotron had since been raised another 50 feet.

Conflicting information, mmm. I snapped the above photo today of a construction crew adjusting the jumbotron. The whole time all I could think about is how sweet it would be to watch The Dark Knight on a 60 yard-wide HD TV, among other things.

More to come, back at the stadium on Thursday. Go Eagles!

Music Tuesday

I never used to really like female artists (minus my girl Mariah, or whatever the heck she goes by nowadays). I don't know what it was, but up until a few years ago my whole cd collection and iPod library was mainly Dude-errific. Colbie Caillat and Sara Barielles(sp?) were added to the roster a year or so back and now I find myself enjoying more and more female artisits. My boy Kemp got me hooked on Taylor Swift too, not ashamed.

I recently added Marie Digby to the list of aspiring female artists fighting to up their iTunes play-count on my computer. I am not sure if she started as a You Tube Favorite or what. She does have her own YOU TUBE page(click that link!) which is pretty cool. Her debut album UNFOLD is not too shabby. It is definitely not my typical music choice (but then again, I don't really have a favorite genre- I like to think of myself as musically diversified).

M. Digby favs- Say it again, Umbrella and Better off alone.

Moving on, what really cheeses me off is when an awesome unknown band becomes Mainstream. I get it, they are trying to make a living. Personally, I just feel way more connected to an artist than I do when they are streaming everyone 90 minutes on the radio. Death Cab For Cutie has transitioned to mainstream but luckily, they will never be the Maroon 5-esque radio-band (remember when we saw Maroon 5 for $1 at University of St. Thomas, circa 2003).

What brought this rant up was a new pop song, Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo. It features a sample of Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. I fricken LOVE Imogen's song and while Derulo's song is destined to become a "hot radio jam", there is not one bit of uniqueness to the song. I honestly thought Sean Kingston had made a remix of Imogen's song. The song steals the climax of Hide and Seek and uses it for the repeating hook. Again, destined to be a club/radio favorite, but I still favor the original. Check out both (click the song titles- links) and share your thoughts.

Lastly, Jay Z is pulling a Brett Favre, coming out of retirement and putting out a new Album in September. He already released the first single, DOA (Death of Auto Tune), but his newest single is Run this town. I really like this song. Jacks me up like EMINEM'S Lose Yourself still does. It features Rihanna and Kanye West. Kanye's verse is my FAVORITE. Check it out.

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

Sunday, what better day to head to the theater for two and half hours and see what Quentin Tarantino is cooking up in his new movie, Inglorious Basterds. This film killed it at Cannes so I figure I would give it a go. Not that I wasn't going to see it, but I do have quite the love/hate relationship with Tarantino's movies.

So with my popcorn and Coke Zero (per usual, Dan Vogel's "Ultimate Movie Goer" definition), I hit up the 12 noon show. P.s.- great previews for Chris Nolan's hush-hush Inception with Leo DiCaprio, plus an Avatar and Wolf Man trailer. From the get-go, there was no question that this was a Tarantino film. His usage of long-winded conversation scenes played well against the ridiculously violent and bloody shots we have come to love/expect. Brad Pitt was hilarious as Lt. Aldo Raine. Definitely worth while to see the movie purely for his take on the Nazi-killing, Moonshine brewing Leader of the Basterds.

Two guys that I was pleasantly surprised by were Basterd Eli Roth and Nazi Christoph Waltz. I am not a fan of Roth's movie Hostel, but he definitely did a decent job acting. Particularly the rage/intensity in his eyes when he swings for the fences with weapon of choice, a baseball bat. Christoph Waltz's character is one people will surely love to hate. As main Nazi, he makes it pretty easy to hate his guts. The opening scene does a hell of a job setting up his character and "WHY" he does the things he does.

One aspect of the film that I liked was that everyone has an personality and their "nicknames" play to those ego's. Most of the characters are known for one thing or another (see Raine's Apache and Roth's Bear).

Tarantino has a way of sensationalizing and dramatizing the coolest and oddest things. There is a shot of a cigarette flying through the air that I particularly enjoyed. Plus, the movie's climax will not disappoint either. It is no doubt his Symphony of Violence. Artistically speaking, it is as visually poetic as it comes (again, see Roth's face). Where some of Tarantino's movies have real odd story lines, this film is pretty straight forward. There were some times where I wasn't sure what was going to happen next, even to the point that I found myself expecting crazy to occur. The natural progression complimented the story. Additionally, tt was cool to see, rather hear, Tarantino Alums Samuel L. Jackson and Harvey Keitel make brief cameos.

I didn't want to give anything away(in case you were expecting spoilers or in-depth plot summary) but I really did enjoy this movie. You will root for the good guys and won't like the bad guys. I found myself actually feeling for some of these characters. Like Sam Jackson and Travolta's characters in Pulp Fiction, it proves once again that Tarantino has a knack for developing personalities that you will remember long after you remember what the movie was about. I still have no idea what Pulp Fiction was about.

You won't see a non-stop actioner (Kill Bill Vol. I) but you won't be bored to tears with all the dialogue (Kill Bill Vol. II). Finally, you may find yourself squinting your eyes at a few of the blood driven scenes, especially the end!

Verdict: A "Must See."

Avatar

Last night I went to a select screening of James Cameron's AVATAR. Opening on December 18th, we saw a 15 minute preview with exclusive clips from the movie in 3D. James Cameron's F/X team developed a new type of technology to film this movie.

My initial reaction is AVATAR = Jurassic Park + Attack of the Clones + Apocolypto. I wasn't sure what to expect with this NEW TECHNOLOGY. I guess in my mind I was expecting to see something completely different. That didn't exactly happen. Don't get me wrong, the F/X are fantastic. I guess I just still have a bad taste in my mouth from F/X driven, no story telling, big budget flicks. I am now curious to see how the story develops. If I want a movie with only F/X and no story, I might as well wait for Transformers 2 to come out on Blu-ray (sorry Michael Bay).

Check out the trailer at avatarmovie.com

First Post- How this is going to work.

This blog is going to be used to update everyone on my mind-grapes. Movie reviews, music on the iPod, even books. Yes, I have started to read. It only took me twenty four years and the fact that my sister calls me out on using words that I really don't the meaning to (I used the word Advantageous incorrectly for the better part of 2007).

I will update this as much as I can. 3M has me running around Texas, Oklahoma and the occasional trip to Shreveport "The Shreve" Louisiana quite frequently. Bring on the suggestions on how to make this morning worth your time!