Weekend at the Movies

This weekend I checked out both "Law Abiding Citizen" and "Where the Wild Things Are."

I enjoyed "Law Abiding Citizen." Directed by "Italian Job" Director F. Gary Gray, the movie was full of action, suspense and what not. Definitely what I suspected from the guy who also made "The Negotiator." It was a bit gory though. Gerard Butler plays a Philadelphian dude who's wife and daughter are murdered in front of him. Jamie Foxx plays a hot shot lawyer who represents Butler. When one of the murderers (the one who did all the murdering) cuts a deal that sends him to jail for only five years and sends the other accomplish(the "good" murdere) to enjoy some lethal injection, Butler goes nuts.

Normally, I don't enjoy movies that start with an event and then do a "TEN YEARS LATER" transition, but in this movie is worked. Ten years go by while the "good" murderer sits on death row and eventually gets off'd, while the main Baddie actually serves his five years and gets released. When the "good" murderer is harshly put to death (lethal injection isn't supposed to hurt), Foxx and his crew point fingers to the murderer got released. They end up finding out BUTLER was behind it. From there, Butler (while in jail) goes on a SAW-like killing rampage for FOXX to deal with. A solid fall-time suspense thriller shot in Philly. Lots of shots of Downtown and the massive court house that William Penn resides above. If you find yourself bored and want a good two hours of no-thinking movie fun, check it out. Otherwise, a solid Friday Night Rental once it comes out.

I just got done watching "Where the Wild Things Are." It did win the weekend box office but I wasn't a huge fan of it. I read the book growing up. Maybe a ten page kids book is meant to be a ten page kids book and not a 2 hour movie. Director Spike Jonze's movies hit and miss with me. I thought the filming/locations/cinematography was pretty awesome. The story though was sorta weak. Misunderstood boy gets crapped on by family, runs away, "sails" to magical island, meets new buddies, they have fun but ultimately get in fight, when he can't fix the issues kid leaves to go home when he realizes he misses his mom. That was a long run-on sentence.

Some are saying the movie should be nominated for Best Picture, but I am not sure. Maybe I need to see it again (waiting for a rental, not paying another theater visit for it). Maybe the movie was just over my head. Spike Jonze is the guy who made "Adaptation" and "Being John Malkovich." A different type of Director with his own agenda and vision. But hey, it did well at the box office. If you would take kids or younger siblings to the movie, I would say see it first to decide whether you think they should see it(darker film), but that would mean you would have to see it twice.

Nothing really earth shaking coming out next weekend. "The Vampire's Assistant" could be one of those sleeper Fall/Halloween flicks that ends up being good. I am sure I will go see "SAW 6" just to say that I saw it, knowing that it will never be as good as the first. Welp, another five days of work coming up....Go Phillies.

New Favorite Band- OWL CITY

Many reasons to dig on Owl City. First off, lead singer/band creator Adam Young is from Owatonna, MN. Secondly, Adam Young is joined by fellow Minnesotan Breanne Duren. Aside from the MN roots, the music is amazing.

I tried to find a good way to describe the bands style. It is a solid blend of rock/pop/electronic with maybe a bit of auto-tune all mashed into one wicked cool sound. The first single to really dominate the airwaves is "Fireflies." It is playing daily on the radio in Dallas so I am assuming it is spinning in most cities. I recommend investing the $9.99 and buy Owl City's "OCEAN EYES" album. iTunes people!

After hearing "Fireflies" I was curious to listen to the rest of the album to see if the first single was a taste of the rest of the disc. My answer is YES and NO. The techno-esque vibe is definitely present throughout but there is a good mix of guitar/piano. The cd has a good natural progression of fast and slower songs. I especially like the The "Dental Care"/ "Meteor Shower" combo. Two songs that I wouldn't have thought went well one after another, but they work nicely. Sounds corny but the entire cd is awesome. Check out below for my personal favorites.

I wouldn't be doing the album justice without mentioning the WRITING. The play on words and anagolies of "Dental Care" remind me alot like Death Cab for Cutie's "Title and Registration." Not to mention, Young's voice does remind me of Ben Gibbard. The sharp and witty writing compliments the fresh techno/pop sound. Fresh is a good way to describe the music. It's the musical equivalent of the feeling you get after you brush your teeth. Fresh and crisp. Unless you smoked a cigar the night before because then brushing your teeth hurts and doesn't get rid of the cigar smoke. And never drink orange juice after you brush your teeth, it's disgusting.

Personal Favs:

Vanilla Twilight- Anyone that knows me should understand why I love this one

Hello Seattle

Dental Care

Meteor Shower

If My Heart Was A House

The Bird and the Worm- catchy guitar throughout

...again, but the whole album people!

Entourage Season 6 Finale!

Season 6 of Entourage comes to a close this Sunday night (9:30pm Central) in what is sure to be a bittersweet end to the season. Sweet because its freakin' Entourage and bitter because now we are all going to have to wait until next Summer for the next season. At least Sloan is in the season finale!

The 45 minute finale will hopefully not disappoint. Here are a few things I hope get cleared up in 45 minutes:

- Ari and Terrence's negotiations

- Drama's Drama

- Turtle's love life (seriously- who would you take: UCLA gal or J. Sigler?)

- Eric's Sloan situation (what will come from that dinner?)

Let's be honest, no one really cares about Vince. As long as he is doing what he does best (being awesome, picking up girl after girl) we will all be satisfied. We all know he is slated to head out of town to star as Enzo Ferrari in the biopic.

Slated to make cameo's are LeBron James and Matt Damon. With these guys stepping in, I am sure it will be a good episode. I just get nervous about the Entourage Finales. Season 4 ended with the Cannes Film Festival Massacre (worst finale EVER) but then Season 5 redeemed itself in NYC with Vince's return the movies (awesome ending, great Marty cameo also).

All I know is that I can't wait until Sunday night. It seems like the normal half hour show flies by way too fast! Good thing Creator Doug Ellin opted for a 45 minute finale. I hope they give us a taste of what Season 7 has in store!!! Please don't leave me disappointed HBO!!!!

Back to the blog- UPDATES!

Wow, it has been a minute since I have updated this. Work took over a bit, plus a weekend visit from friends really haulted my blogging. Luckily, back at it. Here are a few updates...

BEST SEQUELS OF ALL TIME- Empire Magazine Online constructed a TOP 50 LIST of the best movie sequels of all time. A few rankings definitely took me by surprise. I was 100% satisfied with THE DARK KNIGHT's rank. I was also shocked at the NUMBER 1 ranked sequel. Check out the site. A must read for movie nuts (so basically myself and Jimmy Knight will be the only people to visit this site!). CLICK HERE!

The O.C. meets HIMYM!!!- Rachel Bilson (The O.C., Jumper) has been confirmed to be appearing in my favorite CBS show, How I Met Your Mother. Will she end up being Ted's wife? Who knows, who really cares- the girl is smoking hot!

A Few short movie notes:

- After Disney Chairman Dick Cook stepped down, speculation arose that Johnny Depp would not return for the fourth installment of the Pirates franchise On Stranger Tides. Disney has since confirmed that Depp is still on board for the fourth movie. Thank Heavens!

-Michael Bay begins work on Transformers 3. This probably unfortunately means that Bad Boys 3 is being put on hold until after Tf-3 comes out. Release date: July 1st, 2011.

- The Apple iPhone T-Pain App is real fun!