tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50527725599913848262024-03-15T18:09:22.395-07:00Thoughts of a Sci Fi Christian GuyWelcome to My Little Corner of the Internet!Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.comBlogger196125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-88579895674689635542014-05-11T20:32:00.000-07:002014-05-11T20:32:29.630-07:00A Nation Divided: Digging Deeper, and Fighting the Good Fight as a Conservative Christian, Right-Winger; It's Not Easy!<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">God’s Not Dead!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Unfortunately, you wouldn’t be
able to tell that listening to or reading all the movie critics these days. There is a disconnect between Hollywood and the rest of us, it seems, that is actually bigger and broader once we look closer. Look no further than the critical vs. audience ratings for some recent Christian movies on the Internet Movie Database and Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s just a little chart to give us a
better view of this disconnect, featuring Combined Critical vs. Combined
Audience ratings on the Rotten Tomatoes Website for 4 recent biblically themed
films:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Christian
Based Movie<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<td style="background: white; border-bottom: solid #9BBB59 3.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>RT
Critic Rating<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border-bottom: solid #9BBB59 3.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>RT
Audience Rating</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">God’s
Not Dead<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<td style="background: #E6EED5; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent3; mso-background-themetint: 63; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">13%<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #E6EED5; border-right: solid #9BBB59 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent3; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent3; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">85%<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
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<td style="background: white; border-right: solid #9BBB59 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent3; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Son
of God<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">22%<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-right: solid #9BBB59 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent3; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">76
%<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Noah<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">77%<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #E6EED5; border-right: solid #9BBB59 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: accent3; mso-background-themetint: 63; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent3; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">46%<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<td style="background: white; border-right: solid #9BBB59 1.0pt; border: none; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent3; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Heaven
is for Real<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid #9BBB59 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">49%<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #9BBB59 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #9BBB59 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent3; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213"><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">76%<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGV0zpSktYNfaVfSI2a3rurvTblx7YXHLx0QDbFnpn1aimYqS4eJQKJgbL2ATnirxBKNydNEyeVxPBho2I-pXZ98KO4buKDHep-qcyA2QCUtqUXNgv7DltBI2GFxbk0RMnsOyefUIaelb/s1600/Christian+Movies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGV0zpSktYNfaVfSI2a3rurvTblx7YXHLx0QDbFnpn1aimYqS4eJQKJgbL2ATnirxBKNydNEyeVxPBho2I-pXZ98KO4buKDHep-qcyA2QCUtqUXNgv7DltBI2GFxbk0RMnsOyefUIaelb/s1600/Christian+Movies.jpg" height="233" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And here’s a visual representation of
these ratings figures:</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJ19z28KPp02tl7xo4HRoAgo02QDlXJUNPO-gtYKuG5WGt6LHAMbEDb9y8hO5CloQJoIizsgQhGru56bqHtzV7H0pEOfpXcR3ntKDZJmvs9p2IEHyC2xK-jkyrc8FLWmwabkux2UFQS7N/s1600/Christian+movie+chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJ19z28KPp02tl7xo4HRoAgo02QDlXJUNPO-gtYKuG5WGt6LHAMbEDb9y8hO5CloQJoIizsgQhGru56bqHtzV7H0pEOfpXcR3ntKDZJmvs9p2IEHyC2xK-jkyrc8FLWmwabkux2UFQS7N/s1600/Christian+movie+chart.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I find it interesting that the
Christian movie that audiences liked the most is the one critics hated, while
the one critics loved the most was the least favorite among general
audiences.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> G</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">uess which one challenges
atheism the most?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now guess which one
was made by an atheist and is the least biblically accurate, but has the biggest budget and stars?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you guessed <i>God’s Not Dead</i> for the first
question and <i>Noah</i> for the second one, then you know your modern pop culture
landscape and how Christians fit in (or don’t fit in, as the case may be).</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">You can clearly see from this little
experiment the animosity the entertainment elite has for followers of
Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">And this is only one small blip in a vast sea of animosity. I need to pay more attention to
what’s going on in the world, and I need to
do a better job of fighting the good fight.
Those that preach tolerance only seem to preach tolerance for everything and everyone except God, the concept of
God, and those who believe in God (that is, outside of a general and flat spiritualism
that doesn’t upset the apple cart). And I’m
getting tired of it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">My bother Scott </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">told me he feels like he should just “give up on the whole entertainment
industry."</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> He's getting tired of the way they support only the far-left liberal views and demonize those on the right. It's there if you choose to look. So w</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">hy support the media and the entertainment
industry if they don’t support us and our views?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In a recent interview with that
paragon of virtue, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Playboy Magazine</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, actor Ben Affleck admitted, “When I watch a guy I know is a big Republican, part of
me thinks, I probably wouldn’t like this person if I met him, or we would have
different opinions.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">That !@#$ fogs the
mind when you should be paying attention and be swept into the illusion.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Oh what a horrible thing, to have a differing
opinion and to be taken out of the moment by a conservative actor!</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“It’s hard,” he continues whining, “to get
people to suspend disbelief.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">With
Hollywood actors being overwhelmingly liberal democrats, just think of how the
rest of us feel!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Then I have another friend who is a Christian, but only seems to see things in black and
white. She doesn’t see the spiritual war
taking place right before our eyes. To her, <i>The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion,
the Witch, and the Wardrobe</i> was just a fantasy story, and when I explained the
deeper Christian meaning - how it was written by CS Lewis as Christian allegory, and how the lion Aslan is a Christ figure - it’s lost on her.
It’s just a fantasy movie, and all that other stuff is just a bunch of
malarkey, she says. Jesus spoke
in stories and parables with deeper meanings, and <u>that</u> she
understands. But apparently, in her view, the rest of us can only work upon the surface of things, and our stories
don't really have deeper meanings. It's just blunt
reality for some people, I guess, and I'm left wondering why she’s not an atheistic scientist with that unyieldingly cold view of the world. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But l</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">et
me tell you, there <u>is</u> more going on here.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><u style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nothing</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is ever just on the surface.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are shades of grey and color everywhere!</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Life, and the stories of
life, and the stories we make up about life, are not just surface water.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is always something there beneath the
surface, and</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> like Michelle Pfeiffer in the thriller <i>What Lies Beneath</i>, it is our job to dive deeper
and find out what's really down there! Why, even the latest movie we just watched, the romantic comedy <i>Baggage Claim</i>, had a lot of stuff going on under the surface, even for such a trite and forgettable slice of romantic life, and the characters who are portrayed as the likable, positive heroes are gay or sleeping around, and the villains are conservative republicans. Before the end of the film, the main character rebukes the advances of a conservative control freak climbing his way up the political ladder, and tells a room full of people that she doesn't trust black republicans. Tell me again how there's nothing going on underneath the surface! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I know it's a constant, ongoing battle, and I make wrong choices, but that doesn't mean that we just settle for whatever. It’s
time to be choosy.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s time to pay more
attention.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s time to be <u>more</u>
discerning - not less - and to fight the good fight.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> As a Christian, I see things I never saw there before, and make choices I wouldn't have made before, and have thoughts I otherwise wouldn't have had.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like all other nations, this too is a nation of sinners - Jesus even said several times in the bible that Satan is the Prince of this world - and if we're not paying attention, Christians will lose this battle. Not the war - God will win the war - but Christians at least need to know what's going on, and to try to make the right choices - in everything.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpleLOAXsWryJzqoF7Nzhe3TBdZNU9D2LQ0tTrgH3ZaHgQQ3cNMfYRhWmBwWoMaf-Oo4CdHPt1uFz7BQWTu_JHHpWehoXe6C4RBUMvtPWIc8BkcBG22r1C0YCO5jT1eWELNK55jXirp8_/s1600/Benham+Brothers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpleLOAXsWryJzqoF7Nzhe3TBdZNU9D2LQ0tTrgH3ZaHgQQ3cNMfYRhWmBwWoMaf-Oo4CdHPt1uFz7BQWTu_JHHpWehoXe6C4RBUMvtPWIc8BkcBG22r1C0YCO5jT1eWELNK55jXirp8_/s1600/Benham+Brothers.jpg" height="237" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m
speaking here about a lot more than just about those two Christian brothers,
the Benhams, who happen to hold traditional Christian views about the sanctity
of life and marriage, and the sinfulness of the homosexual lifestyle, and for
this, they were banned from HGTV.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It had
nothing to do with their proposed house fixing show “Flip It Forward” before it
even got off the ground, and everything to do with their Christian beliefs.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I say it’s time to peddle your show over at
UpTV or Hallmark Channel, guys! I don't even know the Benham brothers, but I can already say I like them, and admire them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I can see it clearly. There
is a division happening in this country, and it’s a division that’s been
happening for a long time.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is more
than this, of course, but for the most part, there are two extremes:</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The liberal left and the conservative
right.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And sooner or later, you are
going to find yourself somewhere in one of these two camps.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Any other camps in this nation aren’t really
big enough to make that much of a difference, at least not right now, and aside from that,
most other camps fit in somewhere on one side of this fence or the other.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">For instance, the libertarians, who probably
like to say they straddle the fence, are actually on the right side of it,
because they have more conservative views.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tell me what you believe, and I could tell you what side of the fence
you are on.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The abortion debate is a
good example.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you believe in
abortion, you are on the left.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you
don’t, you are on the right.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of
course, the big picture isn’t that cut and dried.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are tons of people out there who profess a faith in Christ – implying
the conservative, biblical ideals of those on the right – who call upon that
faith as the reason they support leftist liberal causes, like Carrie Underwood
did with her Christian faith in support of the gay movement.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">These camps of ideals are actually rather
fluid things, and like anything else, there are as many exceptions to the
general rules as there are people on the planet.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are two ideologies at war with each
other here, and tiny little exceptions flourish.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Traversing
an ideological, political, and theological landscape like this isn’t easy, and
it can get confusing if we are not rock solid in our own beliefs and
ideals.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It can get confusing even if we
ARE rock solid in our own beliefs and ideals (and who is really rock solid on
anything when, quite frankly, facts are not enough to explain everything, and beliefs are not
facts).</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
so, what I usually find myself doing, when I’m not hiding from all the political noise, is to find those nuggets of truth – and not just truth for me,
but universal truths that cannot be refuted (even though they so often are).</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The writer or blogger I wish I could be like is
Matt Walsh.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (See his website linked <a href="http://themattwalshblog.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.) </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I look upon Matt as a bit of
a personal hero since he sees the world the same way I do, but pays more
attention to what’s going on, and writes the way I wish I could write, in content, volume, and intelligent perception.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And he doesn’t load
his blog down, like I love to do, with all those obsessive movie and TV reviews from an
entertainment world full of, as he calls them in his blog about the Benham
brothers and HGTV (linked <a href="http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/05/08/christian-hating-liberal-fascists-demonstrated-tolerance/" target="_blank">here</a>), “deviants, junkies, rapists, pedophiles, adulterers, and
crooks,” citing how the likes of Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Mike Tyson, and
Hugo Chavez are loved and adored by the Hollywood elite, no matter what they’ve
done, or might have done.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">To Hollywood,
it doesn’t matter.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Well, it IS a
business, and they’ve got to sell their product.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">For the longest time, I’ve been buying, and
to just swear off it and stop buying is very difficult for a movie lover like
me. There will probably be more movie and TV reviews in this blog in the future, - including the near future - just because I love them so much. For instance, I loved recent movies such as <i>About Time, Enough Said, God's Not Dead, The Last Station</i>, and <i>Ruby Sparks</i>, because they were so well made and inventive. Yet it is also my duty as a Christian to be discerning, and to fight the good
fight – like Matt does.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because, like my brother Scott, I’m getting tired of the liberal attitude, and like Matt said in his
blog about the Benham brothers,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">there
are more of us than there are of them, even though they are the Elite who run
everything, and we are getting tired of being lied to by “a bunch of
politically correct, bigoted, mewing, leftwing carnival barkers.”</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;"> It kind of reminds me of the way the Egyptians kept the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Israelites</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;"> in slavery, even though the Israelites outnumbered them. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“In a country of filth,” Matt concludes, “the
only thing you can’t be is pro-life and pro-marriage.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Enough of this, already.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s time to stop playing nice with these
people.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Well said, Matt!</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s the attitude we <u>should</u> have, and <u>need</u>
to have, as conservative - yes, even loving - Christians! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus loved everyone, but if you spend any amount of time in the Gospels at all, you also realize He wasn't afraid to stand up to dissenting voices. "Playing nice" doesn't mean that we should just shut up and sit down and accept everyone and every situation, and don't rock the boat. It means you stand up for those who are being persecuted. Why, this is the liberal's very playbook! The reason they're liberals is to "liberate" the persecuted, apparently, but these days, this noble cause has turned into race baiting and an agenda of Political Correctness and Big Government and victimhood, and whoever cries the loudest gets the microphone, and my, those conservative Christian republicans are a bunch of backwards meanies, aren't they? Yet when these "victims" suddenly find themselves with power, then they become the persecutors, silencing the "intolerant" Christians </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">- like what happened to the Benham brothers. It shows, as I said above, that as this division cuts deeper, people, individual and collective, will have to make a choice about which side they want to be on. HGTV chose the left. They chose to make a big stink about the Benham brothers professing their faith, as Jesus calls them to do. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus called out the sinners. He may love them and teach them and be their friend, but he also realizes they are committing sin. They are sick, and He is their doctor, who came to heal them. He even said as much when he stated, "Healthy people don't need a doctor - sick people do." - Matthew 9:12 NLT </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">And now, as followers of Jesus, we must go and do likewise. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">And as it was for Jesus in His time, the world will hate us, because we "accuse it of doing evil." - John 7:7</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In fact, if you are Christian, and you are loved and adored by this world... I don't know. Maybe you're doing something wrong!</span></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-38561559331878453432014-03-26T11:26:00.001-07:002014-03-26T11:26:13.149-07:00Reconciling My Passions and Politics, with a Little Help from Charles Krauthammer<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">Passions and politics. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">They’re not always the same thing for
me.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">Hell, are they always the same thing
for </span><u style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">anybody</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">I might ask who
really LIKES politics, but I’m afraid there would be an answer, many times
over, e</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">ven with people I admire greatly.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I always fancied myself a bit of
a Renaissance man. I am not, of
course. I might admire Arthur Chu, a
recent </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jeopardy</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> contestant who won 11
games at just shy of $300,000. I thought
he was very intelligent, and I do admire him. Meanwhile, I doubt I’d even be able to pass the first online test. I’m rather horrid at history and geography,
and even worse at historical geography, and don’t even get me started on how
bad I am with sports trivia! I know who
starred in </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, and who sang “Sharp Dressed Man,” and being a science fiction fan, I even know a bit about
astronomy and science, but I’m no Arthur Chu!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">To go along with this "Renaissance man" image, I’ve
been writing in a journal for over two decades, and I’ve shared some of it in a
blog now for over two years, and sometimes it feels like I'm writing a magazine spread.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm in the wrong profession. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">When I
write about family, which I rarely share in my blog, I see myself as a
genealogical archivist and a bit of an insightful documentarian.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">When I write in my journal about my job,
which I NEVER share in my blog, for obvious reasons, I see myself as a bit of a
business analyst and armchair psychologist.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">When I write about religion, which I actually like sharing in my blog, I am a conservative Christian, a theist and
an apologist.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">When I write about news
and culture, I see myself as more of a political commentator than I am a news
journalist, though </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I actually don’t keep up on
the news like I should, and how can I form an opinion about any of it if I am
not informed?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’d wind up like all the
people on those 24 hour news channels when that Malaysia flight went missing
for so long, filling up their newscasts with dozens, if not hundreds, of commentators
and theorists and guest guess makers, most of them flat out wrong.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">When I write about pop culture – movies, TV
shows, music, books, and celebrities – and which I LOVE to do, I see myself as a reviewer, or an art or
literary critic, or a pop psychologist, even though I am none of these things.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
I get confused by all of it, for it can get confusing.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Everyone has an opinion.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">What makes me think mine is more valid than
theirs?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And yet a person </span><u style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">has</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> to
make a stand.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">As John Mellencamp, he of
the impossibly high forehead, once said in song, “You’ve got to stand for
something, or you’ll fall for anything.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yeah, I know; he’s not the origin of that statement, but origin doesn’t
really matter as much as the statement itself.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">We all have to make a stand for something.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">My problem is that I’ve been trying to give
validity to everyone’s beliefs and trying to reconcile their impassioned
beliefs with my own, and this doesn’t always work.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I can’t necessarily make sense of another
person’s beliefs and the things they stand for if I see the world differently
than they do, and make a different stand.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This will mean that sometimes, their stand and beliefs won’t hold any
validity for me, and that’s okay.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
one thing, one of my beliefs is that truth is not relative, and since truth is
not relative, both my beliefs and their beliefs cannot both be true.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
then there’s my love of the arts; not really the fine arts, although I can
enjoy some ancient paintings and classical music.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rather, I tend to enjoy modern cinematic
arts, or musical and literary arts.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have
a tendency to feel guilty about it, and I really do watch too much TV, and I sometimes wonder if it's okay to have a passion for such things, especially in the face of the leftist bias so prevalent in the publishing world, popular music, Hollyweird, the educational community, and politics? </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shouldn’t I be writing instead about what’s
going on out in the real world?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shouldn’t I be writing about the Republican frontrunners for the
upcoming elections, or some of the current politicians who are ruining this country, such as the President and Charles Boehner, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and
John McCain?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Aren’t they more important and
worthy of more thought than the latest episode of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bates Motel</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> or Scotty McCreery’s newest CD, especially with all
that’s going on in the world and their dictatorial buffoonery?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">How can I defend my penchant for writing
movie reviews in the face of politics?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the grand scheme of life, politics trumps art.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve always known this.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And yet I all too often seem to go with art,
and then apologize for it.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But can a man
help, really, having the passions he has?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqxWKuPMUEB3dzaE-_ZFx42tlMaWLV5xfx8QdRh_BEaiX_hrPW_HZvIeKZtg23D3Ilz59SLrnU0gLNv76Ew9N3lZkE_MyNagibc5h_k2_D-SeEuIoQzky0Ad0GHqoHnbO1RYk-P-6SKJE/s1600/Charles+Krauthammer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqxWKuPMUEB3dzaE-_ZFx42tlMaWLV5xfx8QdRh_BEaiX_hrPW_HZvIeKZtg23D3Ilz59SLrnU0gLNv76Ew9N3lZkE_MyNagibc5h_k2_D-SeEuIoQzky0Ad0GHqoHnbO1RYk-P-6SKJE/s1600/Charles+Krauthammer.jpg" height="320" width="224" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then
I cracked open the book </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Things That Matter:
Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> by famed conservative
political commentator and journalist Charles Krauthammer, and I’m so glad I
did!</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On the very first page, he starts
asking what matters, and comes up with quite a list – and politics isn’t among
them.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“…what really matters,” he states
on page two, “what moves the spirit, what elevates the mind, what fires the
imagination, what makes us fully human are all of these endeavors, disciplines,
confusions, and amusements that lie outside politics.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then he said the book was not going to
include politics, and it was going to be titled </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">There’s More to Life than Politics</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“But in the end, I couldn’t,” he writes.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“For a simple reason, the same reason I left psychiatry for
journalism.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">While science, medicine,
art, poetry, architecture, chess, space, sports, number theory and all things
hard and beautiful promise purity, elegance, and sometimes even transcendence, they
are fundamentally subordinate.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the
end, they must bow to the sovereignty of politics.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here’s a journalist and political commentator
admitting to having non-political passions, and desiring to write about them to
the exclusion of his “bread and butter”, but in the end, he cannot do it, not
because politics are necessarily where anyone’s passions truly lie, but because
politics are necessary, and quite often a necessary <u>evil</u>, that rules and dictates everything else.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m
sure some political commentators, such as Ann Coulter and Matt Walsh, or
actual politicians, thrive on genuine politics.
Even Charles Krauthammer, who attempted at first to dismiss politics for
just one book, is deeply embroiled in it all.
It’s the way he’s wired to think, and reading further into his book,
this becomes obvious. For him, not only
is politics a necessary entity that must be dealt with, his writing is filled
with insightful ruminations on politics throughout history. Perhaps he doesn’t even realize how much he
thinks in politics. But not I. I discuss politics only where I feel it is absolutely necessary, and where it aligns or conflicts with my own personal beliefs, but I
don’t really enjoy getting into politics the way some people do, and my
journals and blog reflect that. I know it's extremely important and very necessary to stay abreast of what is going on and to stay informed and have an opinion about politics, but it's not really a passion of mine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
will enjoy reading this Charles Krauthammer book because I look up to the guy
and I like his writing style, though I do find him to be a bit smarter than I am (which is weird, because he states in his introduction that he does not classify himself in the genius category, and it's one reason he decided against a career in theoretical physics). For now, I’m just very appreciative that he
was able to take some of my jumbled thoughts about my passion for things other than politics, and my guilt over having these passions and writing about
them in the face of my beliefs and the current political landscape, and he gives
voice to these issues in the very first page of his book. Translation:
He’s made politics his career, yet he likes other things too. And if those other things for him are purely an intellectual admiration for brilliant and compassionate mathematicians,
architecture, baseball, and medicine, while mine tend to center on the more
trivial realms of pop culture, with a healthy dose of guys like Krauthammer
thrown into the mix on occasion, then so be it.
I am not Marco Rubio, or Matt Walsh, or Sean Hannity, or Charles
Krauthammer for that matter, much as I might admire some of these guys. Nor was I meant to be. I’m exactly who I’m supposed to be, courtesy
of God. And the really neat thing is, that's okay too! I am the man God designed me to be, and I don't have to be anybody else. This is MY niche (my little corner of the internet, as it says in this blog's description).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Charles
Krauthammer was going to write about all the non-political things he loves, but
that darned politics kept getting in the way again! It shows just how very unavoidable and important
politics are (and they truly are), but also how annoying and infuriatingly
intrusive they can be! </span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-56926590167367850882014-03-23T17:32:00.002-07:002014-03-23T17:32:49.201-07:00Heroes & Villains: From Martin Luther King Jr. to Barak Obama to Sarah Silverman - The Good, the Incredibly Bad, and the Hidiously Ugly<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I don’t know if it’s a good thing
that I’m always looking at people, particularly famous people, and trying to
decide who I like, who I don’t like, who I might want to emulate, and who I
think is a complete idiot, or worse, deceiving.
This gets complicated by the fact that one person cannot truly know
another person, especially from afar, or that people change over time. For instance, men like William Wilberforce and CS Lewis started out as atheists, and then matured into true Christians apologists. If you go by who they were in their teens, they're not much in the way of role models. Additionally, it's been revealed all too many times that those I think highly of have skeletons in their closets – perhaps
they wronged somebody sometime, or they have issues with the bottle, or their
brand of Christianity is a little on the strange side – and other people may
not care for them for whatever reason strikes their little fancy. But I still see attributes within them I find
admirable, for one reason or another. I
see strong caliber of character within them.
Then we have the other end of the spectrum; people of low
character. These people may also have
their supporters, but I am not among them, and I usually find I have a very different worldview from them and their supporters.
Like them, I have made my choice of what to believe, and the more I see,
the more I stand with my conservative Christian brothers and sisters. I don’t discount a possible attempt at
goodness or some admirable compassion among the liberal, secular crowd, and in
fact, I have less issue with them believing in what they believe than I do with
the conservative Christian crowd fighting for their same liberal causes like
abortion and gay marriage. I’ve seen it
with my own eyes. It’s one thing for a
liberal atheist to fight for the right of a woman to treat her unborn baby like
a parasite or for a couple of gay guys or lesbians to get married, or to force the private owner of a cake shop into making a cake with a tiny little same-sex couple on the top. It’s quite another for a Christian to support
Planned Parenthood or see the wedded union of a same-sex couple as something
holy and ordained by the Almighty. In
either case, their hearts may be in the right place, but that still doesn’t
make it moral. My view falls right in
the line with the conservative right, and in fact, although I can understand
why a leftist liberal will fight for their liberal causes, I still don’t
understand how a Christian can. If you
are reading this, and you are a liberal Christian, perhaps you can explain it
to me, because I really don’t understand how the two concepts can go hand in
hand. In my mind, to be a liberal
Christian is an oxymoron.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> With
all of that said, here are a few lists of five people I admire greatly, five I
admire with reservation, and five I either can’t stand or am completely
disappointed by, and the reasons why. At the very least, maybe you'll learn about a few people or events you didn't know about before, and can weigh what I think about them against what you believe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I Love These Guys!<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOn2wCogaPDNhnlOFCPL-Pr87FVXddlcs7yJuSEL4rLAYNi7c-2WIYq8OcCRAjZ86T4V2gvXzbhmIGQNMJlzfnpuFi0sy4wrNOFKO8gUSEe5oS-F1CrouIxmY_8WSH_QbAub2v5xcuB1Pu/s1600/William+Wilberforce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOn2wCogaPDNhnlOFCPL-Pr87FVXddlcs7yJuSEL4rLAYNi7c-2WIYq8OcCRAjZ86T4V2gvXzbhmIGQNMJlzfnpuFi0sy4wrNOFKO8gUSEe5oS-F1CrouIxmY_8WSH_QbAub2v5xcuB1Pu/s1600/William+Wilberforce.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">William Wilberforce<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">This Christian man, a former
atheist, led the abolitionist movement in England at around the same time
America gained its independence and its first president. It was an unpopular move that jeopardized his
political career, but he was determined to do exactly what his faith in Jesus
dictated. (See the movie <i>Amazing Grace</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Eric Liddell<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Scottish Champion at the 1924
Olympics and a man of deep faith. He
didn’t compete in his strongest category due to rigid, unbending athletic
schedules that conflicted with his faith, but ran in another category for which
he was not as well suited, the men’s 400 meter, and still won! Then he became a missionary. (See the movie <i>Chariots of Fire</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Dietrich Bonhoeffer<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Author of the modern classic
Christian book <i>The Cost of Discipleship</i>,
this German Lutheran pastor showed everyone what the cost of that discipleship
really is when he spoke out against the Nazi’s and died in a concentration camp
in 1945! Check out the great book <i>Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy</i>
by Eric Metaxes. In fact, the first
three people on this list are documented in Metaxes’ book <i>Seven Men</i>, which also profiles George Washington, Jackie Robinson,
Pope John Paul II, and Chuck Coulson.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Martin Luther King Jr.</span></b></span><b><span style="color: blue;"> </span></b><span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Leader of the much needed Civil
Rights Movement, King was martyred in 1968 before the age of 40. King dreamt of a day when his “four little
children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of
their character” and that “little black boys and girls will be able to join
hands with little white boys and girls and walk together as sisters and
brothers,” and a day when “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
flesh shall see it together.” I think he
would be appalled to see what has become of that dream now, and how his name
and ideas are being thrown around by race-baiters and people who don’t understand exactly what
he stood for.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Dinesh D’Souza<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">This Christian philosopher,
political commentator, and best-selling author has become something of a modern
day touchstone for me. Like CS Lewis, I
see in D’Souza a wholly intellectual walk with God in a land where Christians
are looked down upon as simpletons and idiots by the supposed intellectual
giants of the scientific and educational realms. Dinesh shows me that loving God with our
minds, in any field of study, is more than just a possibility, but our duty as
Christians. The truth is that atheists and evolutionists do not have a lock on intelligence and wisdom. In fact, like the rest of us, they are peons compared with the mind of our creator. Yes, even Stephen Hawkings. We Christians are not idiots, we have many learned men in all walks of life and fields of study, and we’re
not going away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I Kind of Like These Guys Too<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLMImqmyNClNQbKpzjXeqdty6hksurlRwbnrkR5LWExh36pV4vYNklaCQ-beAdmYIap_3RKJGu_vl6_9oOjJ_vprYlS72N_wWlfhyphenhyphenMms8Z65lQ1H7KguTyEoJlpcqs3BqADh0iF2sW95c/s1600/Paul+Walker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLMImqmyNClNQbKpzjXeqdty6hksurlRwbnrkR5LWExh36pV4vYNklaCQ-beAdmYIap_3RKJGu_vl6_9oOjJ_vprYlS72N_wWlfhyphenhyphenMms8Z65lQ1H7KguTyEoJlpcqs3BqADh0iF2sW95c/s1600/Paul+Walker.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"> </span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: #00b050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Paul Walker<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">There’s that whole question about
a 33 year old man dating a 16 year old girl, and I’m sorry he died and he’s not
here to defend himself, but compared with the guys above, his Christian walk
has to be called into question here. Yet
in a land where Christians are few and far between – Hollywood – I find myself
liking guys who are still outspoken about their <i>Christian</i> faith, and I enjoyed this quote from Walker: </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“I’m a Christian now…I go surfing and
snowboarding and I’m always around nature.
I look at everything and think, ‘Who couldn’t believe there’s a
God? Is all this a mistake?’ It just blows me away.” That an actor in the wildly successful <i>Fast and Furious</i> franchise publicly admits that he's a Christian may only be a small step, yet it's still a step in the right direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><b><span style="background: white; color: #00b050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Vince Vaughn</span></b></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Likewise, you expect movie stars
like Vince Vaughn to simply tow the usual Hollywood party line, especially
after being in movies like <i>Old School,
Wedding Crashers</i>, and <i>Couples Retreat</i>,
showing that he’s been on the current cutting edge of raunchy comedy for quite
some time. Still, it feels like a
little battle has been won to hear someone like Vaughn say something like this: “I’m very supportive of Ron Paul… As you get
older… you just get less trust in the government running anything. If you look at the Constitution and the
principles of liberty, the real purpose of government is to protect the individual’s
right.” Who would have thought that the comedian from <i>Swingers</i> and <i>Four Christmases</i> would have thoughts like this. It just goes to show that, despite the overwhelming majority and influence of the power brokers of Hollywood, that old paragon of greed and stupidity, that a few of their denizens manages to still think for themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: #00b050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Jack Osborne<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Just when you’re ready to write
off any of those nasty Osborne’s (which I did), along comes Jack on last season’s <i>Dancing with the Stars</i>, showing that
there’s a real person behind all the usual drug-fueled, potty-mouthed trash pop
culture, and that a person can grow beyond this upbringing and negative influences. While Snooki, on the same season, was showing
how she hasn’t matured one iota since she became a mother (and tell me again how she became a mother?) and does not deserve to be a celebrity, despite
her dancing ability, Jack Osborne, on the other hand, diagnosed with multiple
sclerosis, showed maturity and some growth of character, and also some ability
to cut a rug with professional dancing partner and choreographer Cheryl
Burke. Although not on the “Love These
Guys” list, I still love to see stories of redemption. He <i>may</i>
(emphasis on “may”) be one to keep an eye on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: #00b050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Patricia Heaton<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The Middle</span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> is a great show, from the mind
of the woman who once walked out of an awards show hosted by the foul-mouthed
Osborne clan in their heyday. Good for
her! She’s one of the very few women in
Hollywood, with or without a current successful TV show or movie, who is an
outspoken conservative, and while most other sitcoms revel in outrageous
raunchiness, her sitcom has a unique and refreshing wholesomeness about it that
is sorely missing from most of TV these days.
Her strong character is reflected in her show in the writing, and the
great thing is that the show is still a very funny half hour of television
every week without being filthy. While most other shows would embroil the oldest child character Axl in all manner of immoral smut during his college years, on this show, Axl has shown on a few occasions a bit of maturity when dealing with his parents and family lately. What a great message to throw in there amidst all the Heck family hi-jinks: that faith and family are important!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: #00b050; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Payton Manning<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Despite that embarrassing
Superbowl loss, Manning is a great quarterback, but what I like even more is
his deep Christian faith. Though he may
not be quite as outspoken about his faith as the man he replaced on the
Broncos, Tim Tebow, he’s still not ashamed to let anyone know that he worships
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He
shows me that Christians are in every single walk of life and being a follower
of Jesus is something for which you should proudly hold your head up high and
profess with devotion and love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Idiots and Liars:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Sarah Silverman<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Like Kathy Griffin and Lisa Lampanelli,
Sarah is one of those mean-spirited, hard-core, foul-mouthed, anti-republican
comediennes whose comedy act amounts to cussing profusely, mocking all
religions, especially Christianity, belittling anyone who is a believer,
blaspheming Jesus, and supporting every liberal cause under the sun, such as
free abortions and in-your-face gay propaganda.
Along the way, she’ll stuff in as many references to any kind of societal
taboos, sex acts, and slang for reproductive organs and rear ends as she
possibly can, usually mixing such references with statements about God and
Jesus. Really, who finds this trash
funny? Plus, although she can dish it
out, she can’t take it, and was hurt by jokes about her age at the recent
Comedy Central James Franco Roast. Oh,
that poor little hypocrite! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Robin Thicke<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Blurred Lines” was one of, if
not THE, biggest hits of 2013. Thicke
sang it on MTV next to Miley Cyrus while she was busy twerking and other some
such depravity. The song has a catchy
beat, and upon first listen, it’s not too different from the rest of the
over-sexualized pop crap on the radio these days. I’m afraid un-poetic and brain-numbingly
stupid lyrics are pretty common anymore, and in fact, this is quite tame when
compared with Beyonce singing about blow jobs in the backs of limos: “I know you want it / Can’t let it get past
me / You’re far from plastic / Talk about getting blasted / I hate these
blurred lines,” and later, he continues with, “You the hottest b**** in this
place / I feel so lucky / hey hey hey.”
And then, as if to prove what great lyricists they are, we get this
line: “You wanna hug me / hey hey hey /
What rhymes with hug me?” “<b>What rhymes with hug me?</b>”? Are you kidding me? They couldn’t think of something a bit more
poetic? To make matters worse, there’s a
normal video with scantily clad girls, and then an R rated version with nude
girls. Alan Thicke must be so proud of
his son, and the truly sad part is, he really IS, just like Billy Ray stands up
for his precious little twerker.
Thicke’s girlfriend left him about the time this song first became a
hit, but I read recently that they're back together again. Oh, joy!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Barak Obama<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">He’s a deceptive liar, and if you
don’t realize that by now, what hope is there for you, and this country? It’s not just everything that he’s been
involved in since he was president that the mainstream media doesn’t seem to
care about (if it was a republican president involved in these things, they’d
be SCREAMING for blood, I tell you!), or that he gets involved in all sorts of
things, such as race-baiting, that are beneath his office. It’s the way he deceptively managed to pass
that unpopular Obamacare, aka the “Affordable” Health Care Act, and that Ellen
is selling to her zombie audience like a good little Nazi. He continues to fundamentally change the
landscape of our great country until it is no longer a country that we can even
recognize anymore. The majority of this
country voted him back in. It sucks for
those of us who didn’t, but it basically means that, as a country, we now
deserve whatever we get. Thanks America!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Joe Biden<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Not only is he an idiot, he’s
rude and boorish. If he was just an
idiot, that would be one thing, but did you see the way he was with Paul Ryan
at the VP debates during the 2012 elections?
In most school debate teams, his dismissive and condescending behavior
would have gotten him dismissed almost immediately, yet he’s excused because,
well, everyone just seems to love the guy (“What do you know, Joe?”) and they
cut him incredible amounts of slack, and they say both sides have these same
issues. That’s simply not true. I defy anyone to watch that debate and tell
me Ryan was as bad as Biden. There is a
definite bias there that liberals just can’t seem to see.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Janet Jackson<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I liked Janet Jackson and have
bought some of her music over the years.
At least she’s not a pedophile like her brother. (You heard me!) Yet she’s far from perfect. The perky, smiling little girl from the 70’s
sitcom <i>Good Times</i> and videos like
“When I Think of You,” “Miss You Much,” and “Love Will Never Do (Without You)”
has, over the years, given Madonna a run for her money in more than just her
backbeats. Like so many female pop stars
these days, she eventually went the sex route to sell her filthy songs. Beyonce is probably doing it on a stage
somewhere <i>right now</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-67814446528321331532014-03-09T23:41:00.000-07:002014-03-09T23:53:45.006-07:00Book Catch-Up (What I'm Reading): God's Word, Books About or By God-Believers, Stephen King, Shakespeare, and Conservative Politics<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I’ve noticed, while I go on and
on about Movies, TV, and even music, I barely mention books. I suppose that’s because it takes much longer
to read a book than it does to watch a sitcom, or even share a movie-watching
experience with family and friends, which usually doesn’t last more than a few
hours. Books are less of a shared
experience, unless you join a book club, and even then, most of the shared
experience is still solitary, except when you discuss what you’ve read. While I might watch several TV shows in a
single day, it takes longer to read a book, of course.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Yet I still find that, by the end
of a month, I may have read parts, or all, of entire books. For this reason, here are a few brief descriptions of my top five, and the one I
didn’t care for as much:</span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><b>The Best</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><i>1. The Bible</i></span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> (Matthew)</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyzfm45maUp6l1XBfzna5a70wZX-vMrPzcCSeKgkOSCORdegBs_ll8xG4zokVyVORgyXIDxvLQWFIvFKnsgFiZ583q_tyFkEuy2IW6rKyDz7yd-KkqqqbU4myA1NiK9Bv6XUS0GA7_QnV/s1600/Matthew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyzfm45maUp6l1XBfzna5a70wZX-vMrPzcCSeKgkOSCORdegBs_ll8xG4zokVyVORgyXIDxvLQWFIvFKnsgFiZ583q_tyFkEuy2IW6rKyDz7yd-KkqqqbU4myA1NiK9Bv6XUS0GA7_QnV/s1600/Matthew.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I still read a chapter of the
bible every night before going to bed, and this month, it was the book of
Matthew.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Reading the bible every night
keeps me grounded in God’s word, and always keeps the ideas and ideals of Jesus
and His Kingdom at the forefront of my mind, ready to pop in and help me make
the right, and righteous decisions, in my daily life.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> Not that I always do, of course. Nobody's perfect, and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I still wind up making the
wrong decisions sometimes, as do we all, but it also helps more often than
perhaps I realize.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> Put another way, I’d
hate to think of all the lousy choices I’d be making if I <u>didn’t</u> have God and
His word in my life.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><i>2. Seven Men </i></span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">by Eric Metaxes</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeadAmb7Z0Qn2snT0PzKqGrYh0-c2ov0hMlmd7WWVaNISPkSAQvS9JN7EAg9bZgG7KKdh0_xdlEq6k8jipprHm37zpWvaLl-u35xPAD4oxqT4ohTBXyovAA0NNHWmVFJW96-ohcmvJzdi/s1600/Seven+Men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeadAmb7Z0Qn2snT0PzKqGrYh0-c2ov0hMlmd7WWVaNISPkSAQvS9JN7EAg9bZgG7KKdh0_xdlEq6k8jipprHm37zpWvaLl-u35xPAD4oxqT4ohTBXyovAA0NNHWmVFJW96-ohcmvJzdi/s1600/Seven+Men.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Written by another great Christian
role model, this book is about seven Christian men he admires and
looks up to: America’s first president, George Washington; European
abolitionist William Wilberforce; Olympic champion Eric Liddell; Outspoken Nazi protester Dietrich Bonhoeffer; America’s first black Major League Baseball
player Jackie Robinson; Pope John Paul II; and Charles W. Colson, who went to
prison for his involvement with Watergate, even though he could have plea
bargained for a lesser sentence, and there turned his life around and founded Prison
Fellowship and Angel Tree.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Several
movies have been made about some of these men, including </span><i>Amazing Grace</i><span style="background-color: white;"> (Wilberforce), </span><i>Chariots
of Fire</i><span style="background-color: white;"> (Liddell), </span><i>42</i><span style="background-color: white;"> (Robinson),
and a 2005 TV movie titled </span><i>Pope John Paul
II</i><span style="background-color: white;">, starring Jon Voight.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Doing a little internet
investigating, I have again found some dissenters of some of these men,
including the author, and as usual, some of their complaints may even have merit.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">But I’ll share a quote of
Ronald Reagan’s here, he being yet another impressive role model:</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">“The person who agrees with you 80 percent of
the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">3. Godforsaken </span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">by Dinesh D’Souza</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GPR8Q_-NBOLPcU-ASIQKK5AWCtqI8W6tlszYF8b0cwENAfCU-io_R8zl_B08rnh2QxDFQBZ0QvZZ6sqgMqpXUKFWwEJLcH_Oh14R8aTLzS0xRWpMsMR1nx493UQYID6-7GlBz3KJSCBJ/s1600/Godforsaken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GPR8Q_-NBOLPcU-ASIQKK5AWCtqI8W6tlszYF8b0cwENAfCU-io_R8zl_B08rnh2QxDFQBZ0QvZZ6sqgMqpXUKFWwEJLcH_Oh14R8aTLzS0xRWpMsMR1nx493UQYID6-7GlBz3KJSCBJ/s1600/Godforsaken.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I love some of D’Souza’s books so
much, I purchased the audio versions, and have re-read them by actually
re-listening to them during breaks at work, when I go for a brief walk.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I enjoy being spiritually and intellectually
challenged while I get a bit of a break.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Now I don’t agree with everything Dinesh says in his books – for one
thing, he doesn’t seem to have much of a problem with the lack of fossil
evidence that shows one species ever becoming another, and tends to embrace the
theory of evolution at the same time he discredits Darwinian atheists, but that
doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate his attempt to look at this from a purely
intellectual view, and defend a belief in God at the same time.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I’ll again use that quote of Reagan’s above,
and realize that, despite a few differences in thought, which happens any time
any two minds compare notes, D’Souza is still a “friend” and
ally in my theological, philosophical, and political "battles".</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">4. Dr. Sleep </span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">by Stephen King</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2Wj8IyMnUZ9BiALORdktgrlOoBrhnzUrXSw-bk5AR1z-m-Bn9_P23pPIjyiautjnpK4RGvSL-S7aiXQx1kkLMtn7A8sPajGWHYfkaNCkD8tHe2vpOJSrFdlJ60ebRyDtQg2YqId-k2Uy/s1600/Doctor+Sleep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2Wj8IyMnUZ9BiALORdktgrlOoBrhnzUrXSw-bk5AR1z-m-Bn9_P23pPIjyiautjnpK4RGvSL-S7aiXQx1kkLMtn7A8sPajGWHYfkaNCkD8tHe2vpOJSrFdlJ60ebRyDtQg2YqId-k2Uy/s1600/Doctor+Sleep.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve read a lot of King, and
since my Mom’s friends know this, one of them lent me his latest book, which is
a sequel to </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">The Shining</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Despite being quite morally
rough in the first 50 pages, I finally began to enjoy revisiting Danny Torrence and his struggles
with the ghosts of his past, in the form of alcoholism courtesy of his father,
or literal ghosts from the Overlook Hotel.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">The new character of young Abra Stone, a young girl with an immense
Shining ability, draws the attention of not only Danny, but a group called the
True Knot, led by Rose in the strangely tilted top hat, a very long lived band
who survive by sucking the Shining out of kids.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Although King is very good at developing plot, characters, settings, and
even themes, after reading a whole lot of one particular author, you begin to
notice the same things over and over again.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">In this story, not only does it have many things in common with it’s
predecessor, </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">The Shining</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">, but there
are strong elements of many of Stephen King’s other stories, such as </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Carrie</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> and </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Firestarter</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> (since Abra is a little girl with a tremendous, nearly
limitless supernatural power growing within her), the ending of </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">It</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> (as the heroes must come together and
make a stand against an ancient evil), </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Dreamcatchers</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">
(Danny must “compartmentailize” his mind in order to overcome the evil that
threatens them), and </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">The Green Mile</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> (with
a plot twist very similar to what happens between John Coffey and the Warden’s
wife).</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I enjoyed this tale, but it took
a while to get going, and finding it a bit derivative of some of King’s other
work, I just didn’t like it as much as some of those older novels it borrowed
from.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">5. No Fear Shakespeare: A Companion</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Well, I <u>am</u> an English Major. I’d have to say I do love the
poetic language, intelligent ideas, intriguing characters, and interesting
plots of Shakespeare’s plays.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">My
favorites have always been the ones you might suspect, the ones that are generally
considered some of Shakespeare’s finest works:</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, The Tempest, King Lear, Julius Caesar</i>,
and <i>Othello</i>.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Some others I’ve seen, but
they didn’t become instant favorites, such as <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> and <i>A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Reading them is all well and good, if a person has the time and wants to devote it to
these plays, but I was looking for something that described all his plays in
simple language I could use as a quick refresher.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">This book expertly goes into what life was
like back in Shakespeare’s day, and shone a light on what little is actually
known about Shakespeare, including all those theories that Shakespeare may not
have written all these plays, and it also looks at some other famous writers who
didn’t care for him.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">After that, it
covers all his plays in order, from the most popular I mention above, to ones
most people, even fans, just never get around to reading, such as <i>The Two Noble
Kinsmen</i> and <i>Cymbeline</i>. <i>Hamlet</i> and <i>King Lear</i> are one thing, but who has really ever heard of those last two?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I’m 0ne of those types that never
wants to stop learning, and this book covers pretty much everything I'd ever want to know about Shakespeare and his plays in roughly 300
pages.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">It’s the kind of book I might
turn to in the future for a bit of a brush-up.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Not the Best</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Of course, there usually always has to be a worst, even if it's just by process of elimination.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Every so often, I find a book
that I’m (sadly) not really all that fond of, and this time it was:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">1. Guilty</span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> by Ann Coulter</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">This is why I don’t think I’d be
much of a politician or political commentator.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">It’s not “in my blood.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> I've always believed </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I’m more religious than political</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> Although </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I absolutely loved Ann Coulter’s book </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Godless: The Church of Liberalism</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">,
published in 2007, with most of her other books, I usually find that a
little bit of Ann goes a long way.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I
still like her snarky sense of humor, and when she gives it to liberal dunces
who really deserve it.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">But after a
while, all this political fighting just starts to drag.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">And then there’s the fact that everybody has
their opinions, and after keeping up with many of her posts on Townhall.com, I
find that she often writes some opinions that cause me to raise just one of my
eyes quizzically.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Mike Adams may be
right.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Here, her arguments are often
weighed down by too much exposition or bizarre tangents that go one for too
many pages.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Godless</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">, which I loved so much that I downloaded the abridged audio
version read by Ann Coulter herself, wasn’t like that.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">This book, <i>Guilty</i>, made me realize that, with a few
exceptions, Ann is probably best in small little bites here and there, and even
then, you might not agree, with either her message or her style, even if you’re
a far right conservative. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">I often think
she writes so many books and appears on so many talk shows simply to sell more
books and appear on more talk shows. Like many famous people, she seems to suffer from just a tad bit of narcissism. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-59524584024148874272014-03-06T00:59:00.000-08:002014-03-06T00:59:35.946-08:00Music Catch-up (What I'm Listening To): Dancing with the Stars, Janet Jackson, The Oscars 2009, Evita, and a Few Other Favorites<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I love music, and every month,
I’m always working on my iPod (and now Google Play) transferring music,
deleting some (but not off the cloud), adding some others, and listening to them in the car on my CDs,
or at work on my iPod, along with the radio.
Out of all the music I worked on this particular month, either
downloading or adding from my older CD’s, these are the ones I enjoyed the most
this time:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">1. Dancing with the Stars – Fall 2013</span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I love making playlists, and
often, I make them based off of the TV shows I’m watching. I’ve done this with <i>American Idol, The Sing-Off, The Oscars, So You Think You Can Dance</i>,
and <i>Dancing with the Stars</i>. My most recent playlist of this type was from
the 2013 fall season of <i>Dancing with the
Stars</i>, in which I pick my favorite songs they used from the season (that I
hadn’t used from a previous season, so no repeats). That means there is a LOT of variety, as the
songs can be from any time or place, whether I’ve heard them before or not. Here are the songs I enjoyed the most from
this season:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Popular Song</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – Mika & Ariana Grande<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I’m So Excited</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – The Pointer Sisters<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Apologize</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – OneRepublic & Timbaland<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">El Tango de Roxanne</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – Ewan McGregor & the cast
of <i>Moulin Rouge</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Symphony No. 5</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – Beethoven (I chose the version
by the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Come Fly with Me</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – (I chose the version by John
Stevens of <span style="color: #0070c0;">American Idol</span> season 3)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Bang Bang</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – will.i.am (from Baz Luhrmann’s
<i>The Great Gatsby</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Sing with a Swing</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> (Raf Marchesini Radio Edit) –
DKS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Love Me Again</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – John Newman (but I chose Will
Champlin’s version from <i>The Voice</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Maria</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> (Pablo Flores Spanglish Radio
Edit) – Ricky Martin<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">She’s Always a
Woman</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> –
Billy Joel<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Skyfall</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> (from <i>Skyfall</i>) – ADELE<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Blue Danube</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> (On the Beautiful Danube) –
Strauss (by London Philharmonic Orchestra)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Mad World</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> (from <i>Donnie Darko</i>) – Michael Andrews & Gary Jules<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Welcome to
Burlesque</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">
(from <i>Burlesque</i>) – Cher<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The Fox (What Does
the Fox Say?)</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – Ylvis<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Sparkling Diamonds</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – Nicole Kidman and the cast of
<i>Moulin Rouge</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Weird Science</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> (from <i>Weird Science</i>)– Oingo Boingo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I Wan’na Be Like You</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> (from <i>The Jungle Book</i>) – <u>new</u> by Robbie Williams & Olly Murs<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Try a Little
Tenderness</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> – Otis Redding (I chose the <i>Glee</i> cast version)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">What a Wonderful
World</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> –
Louis Armstrong<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">2. Gary’s Grab Bag</span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Even with all of these playlists
I like to do, I often hear old or new music on the radio and think, “Man, I
wish I had that one! I love that
song!” This happens more with older
music, particularly from the eighties.
So I started making this playlist with songs I’ve always wanted, such as
“Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top, “Venus” by Bananarama, “I Feel For You” by Chaka
Khan, and “No More Tears (Enough is Enough)” by Barbra Streisand and Donna
Summer. There’s a few new ones in there
as well, including one with explicit lyrics – “You Fckn Did It” by Jason Mraz - and “Can You Do This” by Aloe Blacc that didn’t quite make it onto my <i>Dancing
with the Stars Fall 2013</i> playlist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">3. Janet Jackson Jams</span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I don’t like <u>all</u> Janet Jackson’s
music, but like her late brother, she’s got some great jams, heavily weighted
towards her earlier hits. So I created a
playlist of what I considered to be her best “jams”. Her <i>Design
of a Decade: 1986-1996</i> CD contains most of them, weighted heavily on her <i>Control</i> and <i>Rhythm Nation</i> CDs, from “What Have You Done for Me Lately” and
“Nasty” to “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” and “Alright”. These songs comprise most of the first CD
from her two CD set <i>Number Ones</i>, but
I also included a smattering of interesting grooves from her later period, such
as “If”, “Scream” (with her brother Michael), and “The Best Things in Life are
Free” (with Luthor Vandross). </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
a side note, when I make these playlists, I always burn them to CD and look for
cool pictures to use for covers and track listings.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">While looking through Janet Jackson Google images, I
noticed many of her images were nearly pornographic, and I also noticed that
the innocent girl from </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Good Times</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
who once sang “Got my own life / I wanna make my own decisions” and “Let’s wait
awhile / Before we go too far” eventually started singing songs with lyrics
like “Ooh, my body’s yours (spank that) / Spank that back door (like that) /
Drive me like a Porsche (yea)” and “If you feel like I do, you can get it
tonight / But first you gotta make me say / Ooooooh” and</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Gotta take him home / When I get him alone /
I’ll make him scream and moan / He won’t wanna stop.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I like some of her musical grooves, in her
less pornographic songs, but on some of these later ones, she doesn’t leave a
whole lot of room to misinterpret her sexual desires, especially with some of
her image galleries, which, true to form these days among most pop stars,
objectifies her.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">4. Best of Oscars 2009</span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I love making these Oscar
playlists. This one features such
varying music as “You’re Heart is as Black as Night” by Melody Gardot, from the
film <i>An Education</i>, the wonderful
instrumental track “Discombobulate” by Hans Zimmer, from the <i>Sherlock Holmes</i> Soundtrack, “Gone, Gone,
Gone” by Colin Farrell from <i>Crazy Heart</i>,
the French track “Loin de Paname” by Nora Arnezeder from <i>Paris 36</i>, and the song “Unusual Way” from the musical <i>Nine</i>, which was sung by Nicole Kidman in
the movie, but I was just as impressed by Griffith Frank’s rendition on the
soundtrack album, so that’s the version I downloaded. A few other enjoyable tracks from some of
these same films include “The Weary Kind” by Ryan Bingham, “Cinema Italiano” by
Kate Hudson, and “Smoke Without Fire” by Duffy.
Those are just eight of the 22 tracks from that years’ films that were
nominated for Best Song, Best Score, Best Picture, or that won other
awards. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">5. Evita</span></i></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEpnmdhQVH_Bj8G0ZDQvrNxwTSI8nj3chyphenhyphenmcSgRJeBIAm5hkUt_kv1ba_-h2Eo6WG2a53yPBu4Wn9IgYF8c1X53T0-jNnWe189AoxU1XNnjDblvi-5vi02bVlyANCvPnwNC-tDE6TEcTH/s1600/Evita.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEpnmdhQVH_Bj8G0ZDQvrNxwTSI8nj3chyphenhyphenmcSgRJeBIAm5hkUt_kv1ba_-h2Eo6WG2a53yPBu4Wn9IgYF8c1X53T0-jNnWe189AoxU1XNnjDblvi-5vi02bVlyANCvPnwNC-tDE6TEcTH/s1600/Evita.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">It’s sometimes hard to believe
this movie is already almost 20 years old, until you look at Madonna these
days, trying to act like she’s still the young ingénue she was back in the mid
80’s. She’s still shocking people, but
in a different way than before. She used
to “push the envelope” with her immoral behavior, but now people are more
disturbed by the fact that it’s a <u>senior</u> <u>citizen</u> is doing these
kinds of things. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
far as motion picture musicals are concerned, Madonna will never be better than
she was in this film.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was the perfect
vehicle for her.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the hands of an
expert director, the role was all one long music video.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">She was able to sustain it throughout the
movie, and we can just thank our lucky stars that Andrew Lloyd Webber didn’t
leave her any room to actually speak.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
aside from those musical interludes and cues, and compositions that are more dialogue set
to music without the concept of a song, there are a few really good songs
peppered throughout the production.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Both
Madonna and Antonio Bandaras managed to do some expert work here, and I still
love the pull this old Soundtrack out sometimes and run through it.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Highlights include “Oh What a Circus”, “Buenos
Aires”, “Good Night and Thank You”, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”, and “You Must
Love Me”.</span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-80630990286258155862014-03-02T23:00:00.003-08:002014-03-02T23:00:15.672-08:00TV Catch-up: 20's Gangsters, Zombies, Nerds, Comedic Cops, and Harry Connick Jr. Beat Out a Late Night Latecomer, an Ancient Vampire, Dads, the Voice, and a Mentalist<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here's 5 recent TV Shows I've Liked, and 5 I've disliked. Do with it what you will. Agree, disagree, agree to disagree, or take my advice and try one of my favorites. Three of them are on regular TV, and you might be able to catch the others on Netflix, Hulu, or other services. Don't say I didn't warn you about the five I didn't like (and yes, despite some talent like Tessanne Chin and Will Champlin, I still much prefer <i>American Idol</i> over <i>The Voice</i>)</span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Five Favorite Recent TV Shows:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. <i><b><span style="color: blue;">Bonnie and Clyde</span></b> </i>was Murderously Good<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I love a good mini-series, and
like last year’s <i>Hatfields and McCoys</i>,
this one didn’t disappoint. Unlike the
Lifetime movie <i>Lizzie Borden Took and Ax</i>,
the production here, including editing and use of music, were very well done,
and I was invested in the characters and the story. Holliday Grainger and Emile Hirsch were very
charismatic and heartless in the lead roles as these two iconic bank robbers
and murderers who got exactly what they deserved: Fame AND an Early Death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">2.<i> </i>Still<i> <b><span style="color: blue;">Walking</span></b> </i>with the<b style="color: blue; font-style: italic;"> Dead</b><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSL6r0gqs4aNoZYl0C8DzwxiKRaAcHOQURSr_ou4yQHipA8ZD4C1yCju6i6xSVTJWXzeQpLGvp1OB_ehzufxPGNINlBCGLYF9-P2dlwUskHpQDLkWlkwx0cYjinICdX6cr_jq3vUR5H7ZY/s1600/Walking+Dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSL6r0gqs4aNoZYl0C8DzwxiKRaAcHOQURSr_ou4yQHipA8ZD4C1yCju6i6xSVTJWXzeQpLGvp1OB_ehzufxPGNINlBCGLYF9-P2dlwUskHpQDLkWlkwx0cYjinICdX6cr_jq3vUR5H7ZY/s1600/Walking+Dead.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The best drama on TV (though <i>Elementary, Once Upon a Time</i>, and the
new <i>Almost Human</i> are also favorites),
this gory series is very addicting, and more than halfway through season four,
the producers and writers keep everything interesting from many different
views, whether it’s the characters trying to survive in an unforgiving
landscape, the plot twists, or the hoards of rotting zombies who’d like nothing
more than to sink their teeth into warm, living flesh. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">3.<i> <b><span style="color: blue;">The Big Bang Theory</span></b> </i>is still Big with a Bang!<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I love <i>The Middle</i>, but <i>Big Bang</i>
is still the best sitcom on TV, and it’s not quite as raunchy as it was in
previous seasons, now that Howard’s married and Amy and Sheldon are an official
item (even if Sheldon doesn’t quite know it yet). There aren’t that many TV series that are still
going strong after seven seasons, but this show only seems to be getting
better. It’s <i>Friends</i> for the nerd set.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">4.<i> <b><span style="color: blue;">Brooklyn Nine-Nine</span></b> </i>gets 9-9 out of 10-10 stars (twice)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The best <u>new</u> comedy, and, in
fact, the best <u>new</u> TV series this season, is this sitcom starring Andy Samberg
that takes the popular and modern police procedural, like all those endless <i>Law and Order</i> or <i>CSI</i> spinoffs, and about one or two dozen others, and makes it all
so funny. I wasn’t the biggest Samberg
fan when he was on <i>Saturday Night Live</i>,
but here, his character is perfect for him.
The rest of the cast are equally great in their roles, except, perhaps,
Chelsea Peretti’s annoying Gina Linetti, but in a strong ensemble cast centered
by a superb Sandberg, Joe Lo Truglio as Det. Charles Boyle manages to stand out
as a somewhat endearing but courageous sap. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">5.<i> </i>Still Idolizing<i> <b><span style="color: blue;">American Idol</span></b><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Last Season, I found the rivalry
between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj off-putting, and even though the girl
contestants were quite good, the guys pretty much sucked, none of them making
it into the top 5. This year, with JLo
coming back and Harry Connick Jr. joining the judging panel alongside last
year’s Keith Urban, things are back on track.
And after having sat through all of <i>The
Voice</i> this season for the first time, I’m finding that <i>American Idol</i> is still the singing competition to beat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Five Recent TV Shows I Disliked:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. <i><span style="color: red;"><b>Dracula</b></span> </i>Sucks!<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I tried to get into this. I liked Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the movie <i>August Rush</i> and the little I saw of the
cable show <i>The Tudors</i>. I was also looking forward to what they may
be able to do with him at the center of the Dracula legend. Right off the bat (no pun intended), I
noticed his voice and his accent didn’t seem quite right, and the show started
off presenting him disguised as a turn-of-the-century businessman with
political plots mixed in, and doctor Van Helsing trying to create a formula
that will allow him the ability to walk about in daylight. These are tired old plots (remember the Ben Cross TV remake of <i>Dark Shadows </i>from the early 90's? No? See what I mean?), and this is
actually a tired old formula, and after the third show, I asked myself why I
was wasting my time. Boring! This is not something you can really sink your teeth into!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. <i><b><span style="color: red;">Arsenio Hall</span></b> </i>(pass)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I’ve only caught a little of late
night hosts Jay Leno, David Letterman, Craig Ferguson, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy
Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon over the years, and of the little I’ve seen, I’m happy
to know that Jimmy Fallon is now taking over <i>The Tonight Show</i> from Jay Leno.
He’s the best of them. And now,
after winning <i>Celebrity Apprentice</i>, and
embarrassingly kissing Donald Trump’s butt on nearly every episode, Arsenio
Hall has his old gig back. I’ve seen
it. It’s not very good. In fact, I’d have to say he’s the worst of
the current crop of late night TV hosts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">3. <i><b><span style="color: red;">Dads</span></b> n</i>eeds some good parenting<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Despite what the critics say,
it’s not the worst sitcom on TV. I’ve
already stopped watching the worst ones (or never watched them to begin
with). It is, however, far from being
the best. I finally decided to stop
watching it when I realized I didn’t care if I saw another one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">4. I didn't hit my Button for <i><b><span style="color: red;">The Voice</span></b><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i><b><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></b></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">We started watching this, and
started to see the formula: How a singer, whom the judges can’t see, gets them
to turn their chairs around on the strength of their voices alone. From then on, it’s a virtual love-fest, as
the judges heap praises on their charges in an attempt to win, with nary a
criticism among them. After all, why
would they want to criticize someone they <u>chose</u>? The whole show comes dangerously close to
being nothing more than grandiose self-congratulation, for both the contestants
and the judges, and it runs thin, especially after 3 to 4 hours a week! I’d have to say I generally like Adam Levine,
Blake Shelton, and Christina Aguilera, though they all have more than just a
bit of an ego. I don’t care a lick for
CeeLo Green.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Besides, I just barely got done with the last season on my DVR, and now they're starting yet another new season! Can you say "Overkill"?</span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">5. Is <i><b><span style="color: red;">The Mentalist</span></b> </i>finally done with all that RED JOHN shenanigans?<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Of the fictional police procedurals we
enjoy, I’m most disappointed by this one.
Simon Baker’s schtick as a mentalist can get a bit tiresome, and that
whole unsolved Red John storyline started taking over every single show until I
no longer cared who the hell he was. Now
that it’s been solved (apparently, hopefully) the writers are shaking things
up, just like the old drama <i>House</i>. Is that a sign of the end? This one is in its sixth season, and I’d have
to say, unlike <i>NCIS </i>(even<i> </i>minus Ziva David), it’s not going very strong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-33311605824726150392014-02-28T00:10:00.000-08:002014-02-28T00:10:02.513-08:00Movie Catch-Up: The Way Way Back, Walter Mitty, Carrie, and The Lone Ranger<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">The Way Way Back </span>is Way Way Cool</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Films about estranged,
misunderstood teens featuring rather shy and introverted, eccentric kids
struggling with finding their way in a rather cold, cruel world, such as with
last year’s <i>The Perks of Being a
Wallflower</i>, remind me so strongly of my own quirky youth. I see myself quite clearly within some of
these socially awkward geeks on the fringes of their worlds, with their sometimes
darker but heartfelt emotions showing through and a bit of superior intellect
that only helps to further separate them from normalcy. I’m right there with them! I often felt like I was at the bottom of a
swimming pool in my own out-of-my-depth existence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9q2ahTzCc-NnD9-hGXByhHEMYAquOssW1ri2ER6Oy8jZ8wYeJIDWGnENvtbaGhQ6AW1hSxWpbjUtIXhEQvyHKoKhWVnwL2wywm3i4MQq6NUYfL2Fldl2TB_3vR05M80QJwazbCfZgfU_Y/s1600/Way+Way+Back+Family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9q2ahTzCc-NnD9-hGXByhHEMYAquOssW1ri2ER6Oy8jZ8wYeJIDWGnENvtbaGhQ6AW1hSxWpbjUtIXhEQvyHKoKhWVnwL2wywm3i4MQq6NUYfL2Fldl2TB_3vR05M80QJwazbCfZgfU_Y/s1600/Way+Way+Back+Family.jpg" height="137" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">This
film, like <i>Perks</i>, features a young
man of such caliber, 14-year-old Duncan, played with just the right amount of
disaffection by Liam James, forced to tag along with his emotionally venerable
mom Pam (Toni Collette), her rather smarmy, demeaning (and cheating) new
boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell) – two great performances here, by the way - and Trent’s
hideously self-absorbed, bratty little princess Steph (Zoe Levin) on their
summer vacation. Stumbling
into a job at the local water park, which is its own magnet for quirky misfits,
Duncan makes a connection with the unreserved Owen (Sam Rockwell) and starts to
come out of his shell, making a stand, for both himself and his somewhat
fragile mother. He also develops a crush
on a sweet local girl Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb) that makes his vacation the
most memorable time of his young life.
The film is filled with great moments, characters, and dialogue, both downhearted
and jovial, like the best of dramas. It was a surprising delight to
watch! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><b>It's No "Secret" I Liked the <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Life of Walter Mitty</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I wasn’t expecting much from this
film. Usually, if they remake an old
“classic” almost no one these days has ever heard of, it’s ravaged by the
critics as unnecessary, even if we happened to like it. The film that comes the closest, in my mind,
is <i>Mr. Deeds</i> from 2002 starring Adam
Sandler and Winona Ryder, which was based on the 1936 original, <i>Mr. Deeds Goes to Town</i>, starring Gary
Cooper and Jean Arthur. Critics ravaged
it, yet I found it to be one of Sandler’s better movies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">This
film follows suit. I can’t speak to the
original from 1947, starring Danny Kaye, because I’ve never seen it, but going
in, I knew basically three things: It
was a remake of an old comedy, the plot concerned a quirky loser with an
over-active imagination going on an adventure that apparently put his fantasies
to shame, and that it stared Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, and Sean Penn in a
cameo as a hotshot, globe-trotting photographer whom Mitty must find. Like Sandler, I sometimes like Stiller, if
the role and movie are just right (including <i>Mystery Men</i>), but I often find him over-exaggerated and
grating. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Not
this time. This time, the plot of the
movie is so well written, it fits Stiller’s character to a T, and winds up
being a real and inspirational crowd pleaser, as inventive as what is usually
running through its main character’s head.
The dull and directionless Mitty, with the crazily vivid thought-life,
not only went on the adventure of a lifetime, trying to track down a missing
negative that was to become the cover shot for the last physical issue of Life
Magazine, but, in the midst
of losing everything, including his job, and having no purpose, he finds not
just his reason for being, but finds out he had that purpose all along. It's a
brilliant twist at the end, I thought, once that final, elusive missing negative is found. Another delight! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><b>Didn't "Care" for the Remake of <span style="color: red; font-style: italic;">Carrie </span></b><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><b><span style="color: red; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbk9QuUaIsvpbpAUgbV8-ATY5BWhlr-U6M1cPqOzbufbjs-t6oIC_izT9PjuR4-eJWqPLjse6c0ReaJJRJumcvI5Pa2sRgm20dvqFnPe-Cu7gjh9RDk-TCWLE2KS29Ka1NE8ndSh7WObwT/s1600/Carrie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbk9QuUaIsvpbpAUgbV8-ATY5BWhlr-U6M1cPqOzbufbjs-t6oIC_izT9PjuR4-eJWqPLjse6c0ReaJJRJumcvI5Pa2sRgm20dvqFnPe-Cu7gjh9RDk-TCWLE2KS29Ka1NE8ndSh7WObwT/s1600/Carrie.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I’ve been wanting to see this
remake of <i>Carrie</i> since it came out in
October. I even rated all the Stephen
King theatrical movies around Halloween when it was released (linked <a href="http://scifichristianguy.blogspot.com/2013/10/stephen-king-at-movies-rating-almost.html" target="_blank">here</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I
think I got it out of my system.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTShQOoAd4apznv2F0aXX_ObyjI1TNhoggkzVqrew9Ap1fOiN0eAlVPn1Id2HbcjC-pcwDEf5tDoi4UJ6217akUh-JkLRyZ3Hrh9yHgy5ntKQoRL5SCcIgJud9m6jSVfrFYXnqYEE7TjxU/s1600/Carrie+-+Mom+&+Prom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTShQOoAd4apznv2F0aXX_ObyjI1TNhoggkzVqrew9Ap1fOiN0eAlVPn1Id2HbcjC-pcwDEf5tDoi4UJ6217akUh-JkLRyZ3Hrh9yHgy5ntKQoRL5SCcIgJud9m6jSVfrFYXnqYEE7TjxU/s1600/Carrie+-+Mom+&+Prom.jpg" height="219" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Chloe</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> Grace Moretz!”
I thought to myself. “She was the one
who played that little vampire girl in <i>Let
Me In</i>!" And despite the violence,
that <i>Kick-Ass</i> movie was at least
inventive, and once again, as Hit Girl, she was more than a match for anyone
she was up against, no matter how big. "She’s playing Carrie in this remake!" I thought, "and Julianne Moore is playing Margaret White. And those previews, with all the updated CGI
effects! It should be sooooo good!”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I
was soooo wrong. Director Kimberly
Pierce’s first mistake was doing the same thing Gus Van Zant did with the
remake of <i>Psycho</i>. Though they didn’t make a shot for shot
remake, they still obviously used the same script as the first one, changing
only just a few plot points here or there.
It made a person who might be familiar with the first one aware of the
lesser acting, not only from the leads, but everyone from Judy Greer as the gym
teacher to Portia Doubleday as Chris Hargensen.
A few people came out relatively unscathed here, from an acting
standpoint, most notably Ansel Elgort as Tommy Ross, and Moretz and Moore don’t
do too bad with their roles if you don’t compare them too closely to Sissy
Spacek and Piper Laurie in the original movie.
Still, it’s disheartening going in, expecting something a bit fresher,
and finding almost the exact same dialogue from the original movie, like the
scene where the gym teacher punishes the girls and Chris refuses to take it, or when
Carrie is about to go to the prom and her mother says of her dress, “Red… I might have known
it would be red…” and “I can see you’re dirty pillows…” and “They’re all gonna
laugh at you.” They also copied the
tone, from the comedic prom preparation of Tommy and his buddies to the prom
scene itself, with Carrie backlit when the stage catches fire, and Carrie’s
fatal knife fight with her mother at the end.
Yet everything in the original was better, even those crazy,
inexplicable candles all over Carrie’s house when she got home. The only thing different here, besides the
workmanlike direction of Pierce (of <i>Boys
Don’t Cry</i> and <i>Stop-Loss</i>), are the
CGI effects, which actually take the place of Brian DePalma’s expert direction,
Mario Tosi’s superb camera work, and Paul Hirsh’s inspired editing from the
original. The 1976 film is a classic
supernatural thriller in the great Hitchcock tradition. The prom scene is almost a case study in how
to make a classic Hitchcockian thriller, with Sue following the line of a rope with her eyes, up to the rafters, attached to a bucket right above Carrie's head, and then looks for the other end, finding it underneath the stage, held by Chris.
It was scenes like this that turned into a fondly remembered, bonafide
classic horror film from the 70’s. Even
with the CGI effects, and Moretz doing her crazy best as the freak, dripping
with blood, unleashing her awesome telekinetic power, it still just feels like
such a cheap knock-off. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGRS3_6afX-LzVdHnqxQhzlIW-oPOTKpeyuEYLWTBBKHsnxT0uxTPG2cjTmuQC4Y8yNbUvXS5RuTFKarK301fCH7X4pkg4me0Do9Vur7tvShFXIMGOLPsC1TYcnTOX1VwsQqYbqcrntz2/s1600/Carrie+with+a+Vengeance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGRS3_6afX-LzVdHnqxQhzlIW-oPOTKpeyuEYLWTBBKHsnxT0uxTPG2cjTmuQC4Y8yNbUvXS5RuTFKarK301fCH7X4pkg4me0Do9Vur7tvShFXIMGOLPsC1TYcnTOX1VwsQqYbqcrntz2/s1600/Carrie+with+a+Vengeance.jpg" height="227" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">And
what about those effects? DePalma had
wanted to do Carrie’s rampage on the town from the novel, but didn’t have the
money for it, so he settled for a quick shot of Carrie rolling and blowing up
Chris and Billy’s car. Here, she stomps
her foot and makes the road nearly swallow it, then holds it in midair as
Chris’s face pushes slowly through the cracked windshield. It’s okay, but overall, still can’t compare with the
original.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">And
the fact of the matter is, this special effects update has been done once
before, with the two night TV miniseries from 2002 starring Angela Bettis and
Patricia Clarkson as Carrie and her mother.
That one wasn’t as good as the DePalma classic either, but at least <u>it</u>
used a different script, one much closer to the novel. Despite finding Moretz and Moore doing an
okay job in the acting department here, if you’re looking for a better remake
of the novel with an original script and updated effects, I suggest you check
out the TV miniseries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><b><i style="color: red;">The Lone Ranger </i>Really IS Lone: Nobody Went To See Him in Theaters</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Wow! Cut it some slack, guys!</span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMWECtCxkdpv0Gf2Vt4MlYKzthOMHZBu-lXiqfznByFveyXF28yH6yVNcPM4vLFYMmOsdeiSQvx6_XX75ax9nV8WZAzknKIMABgMA_bCF2SZSX-pHh-ryLyFsa66gOIBiN5L9nRvlbl8e/s1600/Lone+Ranger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMWECtCxkdpv0Gf2Vt4MlYKzthOMHZBu-lXiqfznByFveyXF28yH6yVNcPM4vLFYMmOsdeiSQvx6_XX75ax9nV8WZAzknKIMABgMA_bCF2SZSX-pHh-ryLyFsa66gOIBiN5L9nRvlbl8e/s1600/Lone+Ranger.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">It’s already gone down in history
as one of the biggest box office flops of recent years, right next to <i>R.I.P.D.</i>, also from this year. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying a
mindless and fun action comedy starring Armie Hammer as the masked cowboy of
legend, and Johnny Depp as his (somewhat) faithful sidekick Tonto. I found this to be in the same vein as the
Antonio Bandaras <i>Zorro</i> movies and the
Brendan Fraser <i>Mummy</i> flicks. I’ve certainly seen worse of this type. The Will Smith <i>Wild Wild West</i> comes most readily to mind. This one had about as much action and comedy
as the <i>Zorro</i> and <i>Mummy</i> movies, so I don’t understand why it was such a flop, unless
cynical critical and audience reaction merely kept more audiences away in
droves. Sure, it’s not Shakespeare, but
then, neither are any Hollywood action comedies. Just what was it about this one that made it
so much worse than all the others that it deserved such a moniker as “one of
the biggest flops in Hollywood history”?
Beats me? Maybe they did
overspend, but so did the makers of <i>Hudson
Hawk</i>, and this thing is light years beyond that one! <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4iAdP-UxUbc-Tfws72NVd1URLZG4KAKKicBOTDm57vMF0DbTWSa6ooX4g1mGE1Zn9Pz-daMHThEZA76GaTYSjlnsXwTbDFfIUyxVSiLJ0bmBH4UYZ-RF2may4BoHUVRuEHkg5xP_PQSG/s1600/Hammer+&+Depp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4iAdP-UxUbc-Tfws72NVd1URLZG4KAKKicBOTDm57vMF0DbTWSa6ooX4g1mGE1Zn9Pz-daMHThEZA76GaTYSjlnsXwTbDFfIUyxVSiLJ0bmBH4UYZ-RF2may4BoHUVRuEHkg5xP_PQSG/s1600/Hammer+&+Depp.jpg" height="268" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">There,
see. And I barely even mentioned Johnny
Depp’s very weird turn here as Tonto.
That’s because, if Johnny Depp is in it, playing anything even slightly
unconventional, you can best believe it’s going to be a very weird turn. But like all his other bizarre characters –
and there have been many – I enjoyed Tonto too.</span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-5190324405679610122014-02-23T16:26:00.002-08:002014-02-23T20:53:15.494-08:00Gun-Free Zones Are Slaughterhouses<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Ft. Hood, the Amish School Shooting, the Aurora Theater Shooting; Kurt Vonnegut's classic and satirical WWII novel <i>Slaughterhouse Five</i> seems to be increasing in number, as we encounter more and more stories about madmen taking guns into gun-free zones and unleashing a reign of bullets. Slaughterhouse Five is becoming Slaughterhouse Six, or Seven, or Eight, as the occasions and numbers continue to stack up.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">But that's not the case everywhere. Take the recent Arapaho school shooting.
Student Claire Davis clung to life for a few days in the hospital before
expiring, yet as tragic as that is, what is even more tragic is how liberal
Democrats and leftist progressives are using this tragedy, and others like it,
to push through more gun laws. Hmm. Don't we already have restrictive gun laws? Why didn't they prevent the shooter, Carl Pierson, from entering that school? </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I have
several thoughts about this whole thing.
First, are more gun laws really the answer, considering that the shooter
Carl Pierson broke the gun laws that already exist to carry his guns and Molotov
cocktails into the school? These
shooters plan, it seems to me, on emulating Klebold and Harris of Columbine High
School infamy in gun-free zones with bunches of innocent, defenseless
victims. Thanks liberals! But you might want to ask yourself one
question: Although it’s still tragic
that Claire Davis lost her life, if Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Ft.
Hood, the Amish school shooting, and the Aurora theater shooting had so many victims, how come there was
only one this time? You won’t find the
answer in the official reports on most news channels, newspapers, or on
the main websites for news organizations, which mostly all state that the
shooter made his way to the library and took his own life with his gun,
prompting nearby guards to the library. I
had to find and corroborate the <u>real</u> story, which the Washington Post confirms,
that the shooter committed suicide only after an armed deputy cornered him in
the library. If you’re wondering why the
regular news media isn’t reporting that, ask yourself if they support more gun
laws or not. If word leaked out to their
regular viewers that this guy was stopped by another guy with a gun, well, that
doesn’t sit well with their usual politics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU5496Wkl40M-k27FD0czm0WKXMUKiPX2EhCyiAky8eCF_GycfzPNsjIBrD9PWhqFA2DufH2FH-_BXy-z-Ij0RX0jskSSVwyx5vAoToplTjoKgu1YjGdHsgrdW57Pl7scppdl5Ob7WTw2v/s1600/Arapaho+School+Shooting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU5496Wkl40M-k27FD0czm0WKXMUKiPX2EhCyiAky8eCF_GycfzPNsjIBrD9PWhqFA2DufH2FH-_BXy-z-Ij0RX0jskSSVwyx5vAoToplTjoKgu1YjGdHsgrdW57Pl7scppdl5Ob7WTw2v/s1600/Arapaho+School+Shooting.jpg" height="208" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Another
interesting piece of news from this story is how the gunman – or “gunchild”
actually - was supposedly liberal, just like the psycho in the Aurora theater
shooting, and how the parents of the victim forgave Pierson for killing their
beautiful daughter, saying he didn’t know what he was doing, and asking for
donations in Claire’s name for mental health and anti-bullying programs. Because, in a way, these “monsters” are
victims too. Here’s yet another case of
a killer and his victim forever linked because of his horrible crime, yet one
has to wonder, as the victim’s parents have indicated, if the killer is really
just another victim. It shows how
tragedy can come from anywhere, and now two families and a community are
suffering because, once again, nobody saw the warning signs, or acted on
them. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">It’s just so sad all over again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-48757504589852769822014-02-16T23:03:00.000-08:002014-02-16T23:07:07.346-08:00Celebrity Creeps and Their Wonderful Movies: The Case of Woody Allen<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“If you don’t like abortion,
don’t have one.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Do not judge, lest you be
judged.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“I did not have sex with that
girl.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">People, including liberals, love
their sound bites. I liked the way Ann
Coulter put it when she said liberals claimed that their arguments were too
sophisticated to fit on a bumper sticker.
She pointed out that “I </span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">♥</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> Partial-Birth Abortions” fits
just fine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Politics is sticky business. I was recently taken to task on my blog for
judging celebrities, in this case Miley Cyrus for her now infamous twerking
episode at the VMA awards last year. This
person applauded Miley for her “confidence”, saying that I should see that in
her too and applaud her for it, and in the same breath, this anonymous person demonized Robin
Thicke for his misogynistic song “Blurred Lines” that he sang next to a
twerking Miley, writing about how the women in the video were nude and how he
was objectifying them. This person sat
in judgment of me because I was sitting in judgment of Miley Cyrus and because
I wasn’t, apparently, sitting in judgment of Robin Thicke (though I did judge him, and the lyrics to his song, and his R-rated video, in another blog post, and on Facebook). I guess you just can’t win. Some people will hate you no matter what you
are, or what you do. Take any kind of a stand, for
anything, and people will hate you for it.
Don’t take a stand, and some people will hate you for that too! Miley has a right to be an idiot, but that
also means I have a right to think she’s an idiot for making the immoral choices she is making. And maybe someday, when she looks back at her earlier choices, she'll think she was an idiot too. But if you make any kind of a judgment call,
people will judge you, even if their favorite bible quote happens to be “Do not
judge”, which they pull out whenever you judge them or others, but which they
happily forget when it’s time for them to dole out the judgment against
judgmental Christians or misogynistic pop stars, while sticking up for the
twerking idiot next to him. Round and
round and round it goes!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">In light of all of this, what am
I to make of the accusations of pedophilia against famed director Woody Allen
by Mia Farrow’s now grown daughter Dylan? She
claims Woody molested her when she was seven, and, in an open letter to the <i>New York Times</i>, indicted Cate Blanchette
and Alec Baldwin for working with him on his latest Oscar nominated film, <i>Blue Jasmine</i>. Does she have the right to speak out against
Woody? If he really did what she claims
he did, absolutely! Indicting the actors
who work in his films? Um, not so much. I can certainly understand her frustration,
particularly with someone like Diane Keaton, who knew her when she was a little
girl, and knows their family history.
But, as much as I’m not in love with Hollywood’s love affair with the left
and all their liberal causes, you can’t fault an industry for applauding Woody
for his work, or these actors for being in his movies – especially since most
of them are so far left anyway. If they
had Christian morality, it might be a different story. </span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBASDPud4KWjLFL7n8KxbQWYTzGwtXnyVH7cxfeoKNW5LSKlvLX8a1tP8Cuqhbez0cstoVGBEhGNGz0xABICLNvvXlyUj4u_iHxi7svTzSscDQ9KnotRy2DVcQG6K7WXDTEcewmW6MFEgo/s1600/Every+Family+Has+Secrets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBASDPud4KWjLFL7n8KxbQWYTzGwtXnyVH7cxfeoKNW5LSKlvLX8a1tP8Cuqhbez0cstoVGBEhGNGz0xABICLNvvXlyUj4u_iHxi7svTzSscDQ9KnotRy2DVcQG6K7WXDTEcewmW6MFEgo/s1600/Every+Family+Has+Secrets.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">If I was in her shoes and he had done that to
me, and gotten away with it, I’d be so upset and angry, especially if he was
enjoying career accolades and making good films. Personally, I myself can name at least three
Woody Allen films I really loved - </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bullets
of Broadway</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cassandra’s Dream</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Midnight in Paris</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> – and a number
of others I liked, such as </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Radio Days</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Purple Rose of Cairo</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, and going
way back, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Take the Money and Run</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLIXL-n-Y1Y7VU4pGkkSJiaZk5PsGjV054BHnK_sPAomKz9coT-dJDdOFggiVh7p3OelxZjbYorVD6Pi5AVOLKHVH36nLog2lJLeCFt77PvQRv3CfcxpxTTT2QGRqsIBbeCgtZ-yefLRR/s1600/Best+of+Woody+Allen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLIXL-n-Y1Y7VU4pGkkSJiaZk5PsGjV054BHnK_sPAomKz9coT-dJDdOFggiVh7p3OelxZjbYorVD6Pi5AVOLKHVH36nLog2lJLeCFt77PvQRv3CfcxpxTTT2QGRqsIBbeCgtZ-yefLRR/s1600/Best+of+Woody+Allen.jpg" height="119" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In truth, the fact that some of his movies are
so darned good probably just makes the whole ordeal that much worse. We might have to ask if his talent and career
accolades might not be giving him a bit of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">carte
blanche</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> to get away with being a law-breaking, disgusting creep, and then lying about it. If his movies stunk, might he already be in
jail for fondling his stepdaughter so long ago? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Of
course, there are a few of his films I didn’t care for, and his famed and
cherished <i>Annie Hall</i> is right there
in the middle of all the Woody Allen films I didn’t like for their
stream-of-conscience meanderings and pseudo-philosophical, bohemian
pontificating. It leaves me wondering,
in light of these accusations from Dylan Farrow, should I feel guilty for
liking <i>Bullets Over Broadway</i> and <i>Midnight in Paris </i>so much? The answer, I think, is no. The last time I checked, a movie is made by a
lot of different people, helmed by a director, but it is not that director, or
that actor, or that scriptwriter. It is
a combination of a lot of different minds, craftspeople, and artists, but first
and foremost, it is there to simply tell a story, and hopefully tell it well, and, of course, turn a profit. That’s show business, which is a show, and a
business. And if I was going to feel
guilty over liking a movie based on the morality of some of the people involved
in the making of the movie, I’d have to feel guilty for liking any movie I’ve
ever seen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> </span></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Woody
Allen should be behind bars if he did what Dylan Farrow claims he did, but it
has apparently gone through the courts years ago, without enough evidence to convict. Do I personally think he did it? I don’t know, but I find it a distinct
possibility. We tend to put celebrities
on a pedestal, but by the simple law of averages, some of them have got to be
creeps. Do I think Michael Jackson was a
pedophile, and do I think he molested choreographer Wade Robson when he just a
kid? Yes, it’s very, very likely. Does this make me second guess whether or not
I should buy his music? Absolutely. You have to draw the line somewhere. Whereas Woody Allen’s movies are so much more
than just “directed by Woody Allen”, a musician’s music is a tad more
individual. If Woody Allen was a singer
and produced a CD (now there’s a thought!), I wouldn’t buy it. I did, however, buy the soundtrack to <i>Midnight in Paris</i> because I liked all
the music from that movie. Why should a
person deprive him or herself of the pleasures of Sidney Bechet’s trombone or
Stephane Wrembel’s excellent guitar just because the guy who directed the movie
their music is in might be a disgusting creep?
Again, if that’s the case, I might as well throw away every secular movie, CD,
and book I own, and maybe even some Christian product, and live in a bubble. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Besides, there is a lot more
going on in the world than just whether or not this or that celebrity is a creepy
creep, or a tragic statistic, be it Dennis Rodman wooing North Korean dictator
Kim Jong Un and starting to sound like Ozzy Osborne on a bad day, or the horrid
tragedy of famed and talented actor Philip Seymour Hoffman dying with a heroin
needle sticking out of his arm. There are certainly lessons to be learned here, I think, but as </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">much as I might personally like dwelling on them sometimes, especially since I am such a film freak and TV watcher, I realize </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">there is much more going on out
in the world than celebrities and the movies, TV shows, books, and music they like to make, and that I sometimes like to enjoy and dissect.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And in my next blog post, I'll talk about just a few of them.</span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-51895614087739075042014-01-12T16:19:00.001-08:002014-01-12T16:26:51.438-08:00The Best and Worst Movies of 1998<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had meant to finish these lists of favorite 90's movies sometime last year, but alas, it didn't happen. These are my lists of favorite and least favorite films from the entire decade of the 90's, and there's always the last 14 years to do as well, and I could always tackle the 70's and 80's and even earlier films sometime. These are my picks for my favorites and stinkers of all the films I've seen, along with the biggest hits with critics at the Oscars and audiences at the box office for easy comparison. So, without further adieu, here's my top ten list for the films of 1998:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b>
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Best:</span><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQ992ymi8ciUgqmHak1wWpJICO7A3EckQ6YHLvOLLbkAdV0vWPpSemZRRMTG2ss9soeIh91P5nLRNW5R0YxUpxTgtS3K6MFbv0-thY1sgaeRnixqCl-aw8_J5t1WSBBYu9y-NuWdL1IWK/s1600/1998+Best.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQ992ymi8ciUgqmHak1wWpJICO7A3EckQ6YHLvOLLbkAdV0vWPpSemZRRMTG2ss9soeIh91P5nLRNW5R0YxUpxTgtS3K6MFbv0-thY1sgaeRnixqCl-aw8_J5t1WSBBYu9y-NuWdL1IWK/s640/1998+Best.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>A Bug’s Life</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Immediately after Pixar released the ultra-popular first fully CGI animated movie <i>Toy Story</i>, they followed it up with this tale of an independently minded ant hiring a group of circus bugs he mistakes for mercenaries to take on a group of thuggish grasshoppers. Released at about the same time as Dreamwork's first foray in CGI animation, the very similarly themed <i>Antz</i>, it was <i>A Bug's Life</i> that garnered more attention at the box office, even if, all these years later, <i>Antz</i> has a slightly higher critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I was charmed from the get-go, and this was one of those movies that showed how Pixar was equally adept at making the story really <b>about</b> something. The voice cast including Dave Foley, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Kevin Spacey, Dennis Leary, Phyllis Diller, Brad Garrett, Bonnie Hunt, Madeline Kahn, David Hyde-Pierce, Jonathan Harris, and Richard Kind were a delight and fit their computer animated characters beautifully.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Dark City</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A darkly visual treat! Despite Keifer Sutherland's bit of overacting, this sci-fi mystery is quite entertaining, with some great suspense, horror, and, unusual for a film of this type, a very satisfying conclusion. Rufus Sewell, as an amnesiac and murder suspect named Murdock, runs afoul of certain people and forces in his little world that cause his entire life and identity to start unraveling. Added to the mix are the spooky bald men in black, known simply as "The Strangers", who seem to run things, and it seems this Murdock is a stumbling block for their plans. Noir-ishly stylistic, this film combines the best elements of many different genres.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Ever After</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This retelling of the Cinderella legend presents its material as "the real story," as an old woman tells the Brothers Grimm her real life story. Drew Barrymore is wonderful as the high-spirited and forthright Danielle, who loses her father and becomes a slave in her own house to her wicked stepmother, played with delicious and devious glee by Anjelica Huston. Although one of the evil step-sisters is softened here (Melanie Lynskey as Jacqueline) the other (Megan Dodds as Marguerite) is as enjoyably evil as the stepmother. Dougray Scott as the Prince and Patrick Godfrey as Leonardo DaVinci round out a pleasant cast, but it is Barrymore that centers this charming fantasy film.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Hard Rain</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A bank heist gone wrong during a literal downpour is the backdrop for this thrilling action film starring Christian Slater as the hero and Morgan Freeman as the bad guy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>The Mask of Zorro</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A film similar to <i>The Mummy</i> starring Brendan Fraser and the Indiana Jones franchise in that it harkens back to the classic old movies of Erroll Flynn and some of the classic movie serials of the 50's, this one resurrects the legend of Zorro for a fun romp through the old west with an all-star cast that includes Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Antonio Bandaras. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Mighty Joe Young</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Seven years before Peter Jackson attempted to resurrect the timeless tale of <i>King Kong</i>, this retelling of the quieter and simpler story of <i>Mighty Joe Young</i> is a superb</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and heart-felt film for the whole family. The effects are wonderful, but not really "showy", and still take a back seat to the story of a girl (Charlize Theron) and the huge but lovable gorilla she befriends.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Saving Private Ryan</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Still one of the best war movies I've ever seen, this film juggles themes of war and peace, honor, bravery, loyalty, cowardice, patriotism, love and hate, and life and death, all centered around the meaning of it all. A group of reluctant officers are assigned to retrieve a single soldier, Private Ryan, whose four brothers have already been killed. Plagued by questions of whether or not this particular mission is worth the risk for only one soldier, and with friends and fellow soldiers dying along the way, I still have yet to see any war film surpass the excellent job they managed to do here!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Shakespeare in Love</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A completely different film than <i>Saving Private Ryan</i>, many people cried foul when this won Best Picture at the Oscars instead of Spielberg's war film. But just because it's different doesn't mean it isn't worthy of the title "Best Picture". Of course, it's not really biographical, yet they have a bit of fun playing around with some of the concepts in Shakespeare's plays, particularly <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, and applying them to Shakespeare himself, as he attempts to write his new tragedy and ends up falling in love with Viola De Lesseps, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, and who is herself enamored of Shakespeare's plays, and intent on performing in them, even though women are not allowed. The film expertly juggles the concepts and Shakespeare's plays, language, and the times in which he lived, and the performances are all quite enjoyable, including Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, and Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>A Simple Plan</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of Sam Raimi's better films, and after a likable performance in <i>Mightly Joe Young</i>, actor Bill Paxton was on a roll this year as well. Here he plays Hank, a simple man who comes across a downed plane full of stolen drug money, along with his dimwitted brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thorton in one of his better performances) and another "friend" (Brent Briscoe as "Lou"), and against his better judgment, they decide to keep it. Because of this, his safe little world and amiable relationships are all suddenly cut open, like a festering wound, and he is shocked to discover some of the things his friends and family, including his now rather devious, pregnant wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda), and even he himself, are capable of now that this money has come into their lives. Every scene shows his world crumbling just a little bit more, as he becomes stuck further and further in a worsening trap he can't get out of. If you like thrillers, this one has a lot of "fun" twists and turns.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>The Wedding Singer</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore's first movie together proves they are a good match. Sandler has a lot of fun as a wedding singer who begins falling for Drew Barrymore's Julia, set to marry another man. This comedy revels in all the conventions of the eighties, including Madonna and Michael Jackson fashion, and before the end, even Billy Idol shows up to help woo Julia away from her butt-head boyfriend. This is a charming and funny film, making it one of the better romantic comedies I've ever seen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Best of the Rest:</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOyDOecBM5sX-QTgsC1lmNNQ1xXh3r-ZoFcOJxbLA8c6bh9606DTzWvpRIrgerSlmj_rxcaW6izaUnMOsEU_rExwJwux_l6iMTYJWKsAog3-fMQYLZqdJ2SFjPf7coBBw1P4nrSyGbPRF/s1600/1998+Best+of+the+Rest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOyDOecBM5sX-QTgsC1lmNNQ1xXh3r-ZoFcOJxbLA8c6bh9606DTzWvpRIrgerSlmj_rxcaW6izaUnMOsEU_rExwJwux_l6iMTYJWKsAog3-fMQYLZqdJ2SFjPf7coBBw1P4nrSyGbPRF/s400/1998+Best+of+the+Rest.jpg" width="265" /></a></span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>American History X<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Apt Pupil<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Blade<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Bride of Chucky<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Godzilla<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Hope Floats<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>The Man in the Iron Mask<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Mulan<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Stepmom<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>There’s Something about Mary</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">There's something for everyone to like on this list of the best of the rest. There's the Disney animated <i>Mulan</i>, the fun and raunchy comedy <i>There's Something About Mary</i> with Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller, the romantic <i>Hope Floats</i> with Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr., the family drama <i>Stepmom</i> with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, the fun swashbuckler <i>The Man in the Iron Mask</i>, and the first foray into the comic book world of the half-vampire superhero <i>Blade</i>. A few darker films included the over-the-top action/horror blockbuster <i>Godzilla</i> starring Matthew Broderick, the searing drama <i>American History X</i> dealing with white supremacists, the Stephen King penned tale <i>Apt Pupil</i>, about a straight A student who suddenly become enraptured with his former Nazi neighbor, and the forth go-round for the little killer doll Chucky, who here gets a bride named Tiffany, (voiced by Jennifer Tilly), as someone to humorously and gleefully share in his psychoses. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Worst:</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmLHjN5BnBo2RTU67Oj848wT-94wGWfwsgwE7BEmK0yIfcNKBU6DCOaYSaAHSehDpJLEbfplXxGq7MEQ1TQ6iOLn0sDDyPlh3U4ifoyC6n1nYCNWip0RV0zF1qyt6M9cm7pmdBpzYQIDZ/s1600/1998+Worst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmLHjN5BnBo2RTU67Oj848wT-94wGWfwsgwE7BEmK0yIfcNKBU6DCOaYSaAHSehDpJLEbfplXxGq7MEQ1TQ6iOLn0sDDyPlh3U4ifoyC6n1nYCNWip0RV0zF1qyt6M9cm7pmdBpzYQIDZ/s400/1998+Worst.jpg" width="263" /></a></span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>The Avengers<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Beloved<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>City of Angels<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Krippendorf’s Tribe<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>A Night at the Roxbury<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Senseless<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Species II<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Vampires<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>What Dreams May Come<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Wrongfully Accused</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">If there's a best, there's also, of course, a worst, and topping the list - yes, even worse than <i>Krippendorf's Tribe</i> and <i>Wrongfully Accused -</i> is Oprah's pet project and labor of love, <i>Beloved</i>, a filmed version of Toni Morrison's book dealing with slavery, the plight of the blacks over the years, and some disgusting and disgustingly creepy dead girl who, if I'm not mistaken, is supposed to represent some of the negative things that have happened to the blacks in America over the years. Let me just say, it doesn't translate so well to film. Other disappointments include bringing the old English spy show <i>The Avengers</i> to the big screen, faulty Christian theology in both <i>City of Angels</i> and <i>What Dreams May Come</i>, a bad vampire movie courtesy of John Carpenter, another amusing SNL skit turned into an expanded, bloated mess, a needless sequel to <i>Species</i>, and Marlon Wayans in a dumb, "senseless" comedy. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><b>
Oscars and Box Office:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
I had already named Life is Beautiful as one of last year's worst films. Perhaps it was because it was released in Italy in 1997 and abroad in 1998, who knows? But I definitely don't think it deserved to be nominated as Best Picture, or win for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor Roberto Benigni. I can think of plenty of other films - <i>Schindler's List, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Europa Europa</i> - that dealt with the holocaust of World War II with poignancy and without feeling like such a cheat. Of course, both <i>Shakespeare in Love</i>, winner of Best Picture, and Best Picture nominee <i>Saving Private Ryan</i>, both also in the Box Office top ten, were in my own top ten as well, while <i>What Dreams May Come</i>, winner of Best Visual Effects, was in my list of worst films. The others I saw - <i>Elizabeth, God's and Monsters, The Prince of Egypt</i>, and <i>The Truman Show</i> - were okay, but I've seen better. I'd like to see <i>The Thin Red Line</i> sometime, and I haven't seen <i>Affliction</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> This was also the year of competing films about meteors and asteroids smashing into the earth, and although audiences liked <i>Armageddon</i> more than <i>Deep Impact</i>, I was just the opposite, Both of them made it into the top ten at the box office, since they were designed to be "crowd pleasers", yet neither of them made it into my personal top twenty for the year. And I suppose <i>Dr. Doolittle</i> and <i>Lethal Weapon 4</i> were okay, but there was still little reason for either of them to be made, other than making money for their studios. That poster featuring the cast of Lethal Weapon 4 is starting to look pretty darn crowded!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Top Oscar Picks:</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CYw5VvUj0ChAyubaTQ2rKb1YgbJa6rhP-ZJDICiD4QcCsmH3bWfYtX65AmW9aRYeu2qZqutAdWdwNiinYlFj-OGjbng2hZW4PlErVpzjIJz5OF5BGae86QK1KRkG0vZSH5pPBgLuTyw5/s1600/1998+Oscars+and+Box+Office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CYw5VvUj0ChAyubaTQ2rKb1YgbJa6rhP-ZJDICiD4QcCsmH3bWfYtX65AmW9aRYeu2qZqutAdWdwNiinYlFj-OGjbng2hZW4PlErVpzjIJz5OF5BGae86QK1KRkG0vZSH5pPBgLuTyw5/s400/1998+Oscars+and+Box+Office.jpg" width="176" /></span></a></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Shakespeare in Love</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Elizabeth</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Life is Beautiful</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Saving Private Ryan</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>The Thin Red Line</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Affliction</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>God's and Monsters</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>The Prince of Egypt</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>What Dreams May Come</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>The Truman Show</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>And the top 10 Box Office hits:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Armageddon</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Saving Private Ryan</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Godzilla</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>There's Something About Mary</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>A Bug's Life</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Deep Impact</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Mulan</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Dr. Doolittle</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Shakespeare in Love</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Lethal Weapon 4</i></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-52886572377012314102014-01-09T23:38:00.001-08:002014-01-09T23:38:32.530-08:00Liberals Revealing Themselves: Sometimes It's a Good Thing<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not only are my journals a bit of a mess, and
in need of some major cleaning, the same could be said of this nation, and this
world, and the people in it. That even
includes me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Someone I know - a liberal - is very upset now with
Obamacare, and has been seriously considering jumping ship and joining the
republicans! Of course this person -I'll call him or her "Pat" - is not really
serious, I'm sure, though he or she isn't even aware that (s)he's not serious.
Pat's number one candidate on the republican ticket is Chris Christie, and
Pat loaned me an article about him in <i>Time</i>
magazine; you know, that paragon of objective journalism that, like most other
media out there, has no political bias what-so-ever (Darn, I just can’t say
things like that with a straight face, now can I!) Now some people may be thrilled with Chris
Christie, but if he’s the one the hard line leftist liberals are looking at in
the face of disillusionment over their darling democratic and socialist
healthcare fiasco, then you know he’s not really <u>my</u> front-runner! “Oh, for Heaven’s sake,” Pat scolded me,
with nearly the same breath (s)he used to tell me that Hillary Clinton isn’t
running for the Democratic ticket and had little or nothing to do with
Benghazi, “it’s not socialist healthcare in the first place." Then Pat proceeded to outline why it’s not, using those ridiculous talking points (s)he picked up from
Chris Matthews and Rachel Madcow, no doubt. Pat wants to support Christie, and said (s)he may jump ship and cross that
political aisle, but it’s quite clear to me that Pat’s about as much a
conservative republican as I am a free-love hippie! And what does that say about Christie as a
candidate? The writer for <i>Time</i>, of course, took great pains to
show just how non-Conservative Ronald Reagan really was, and to compare
Christie to Reagan. And I’ll even admit
that he may be somewhat right – all politicians have to "play ball" and soften their politics and work with the other party. Reagan had to make concessions just like
everyone else, and concede certain things to Tip O’Neill and the liberals. That may water down his conservativism, but
everyone has to make some concessions... except, apparently, Obama and the
current Democratic administration. (Hey, look!
My writing is getting a bit snarky, just like Ann Coulter! I’m so proud!) My fear is that Christie is another John
McCain or John Boehner – a liberal secret weapon – and that Marco Rubio waiting
over there in the wings, who I usually like, may also have more in common with
the likes of them than with the likes of Paul Rand and Ted Cruz after that
“let’s excuse all the illegal immigrants” fiasco he and McCain were involved in
this year. ‘You can’t deport 11 million
illegal immigrants, and we can’t have guards every few feet at the border,”
Pat informed me. Does Pat sound
conservative to <u>you</u>? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Anyway,
I digress. My question is: How many of our values are we going to have
to forsake in order to elect an actually electable republican candidate in this
completely moral-less society that sees nothing wrong with, and in fact will
fight for the right for, killing babies in the womb, but comes unglued when a
gay couple is refused a wedding cake at a privately owned bakery? How many of our Christian, God-breathed
morals are we going to have to forsake in order to bring someone into the White
House who appeals not only to the right-wing conservatives, but also most of
the libertarians, the liberals who are not so far left, and the social liberals
like Pat who have momentarily become fiscal conservatives because of the
travesty of Obamacare? It is starting to
seem like more and more of an impossibility that anyone further right than
McCain and Chris Christie stands about the same chance as an icicle in Death
Valley of becoming the next President of the United States. And if you don’t think there’s a possibility
of a President Hillary Clinton in 2016 America, then you must be more asleep
than the sheep that would vote her in, ‘cause this nation is nowhere near what
it once was. This nation under six years
of Obama, and two more to go, is a complete mess (and they’re STILL blaming
Bush Jr.!). Four or eight more years
under another freakin’ liberal and it will be irretrievable, and will probably
go down in flames, and become just another socialist country, no better than
any other <v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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<w:wrap type="tight">
</w:wrap></span></v:imagedata></v:shape><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">–
just the way the liberals have always wanted it: Weak and blasé. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's not to say they don't reveal themselves sometimes, like Barbara Walters did recently when she said "they" were expecting Obama to be "the next Messiah"(!) I always knew, but I'm shocked to actually hear one of them admit it out loud on national television. But then, give them time and they will eventually be revealed for the America-bashing, Christian-hating, Obama-worshiping socialists they always were at heart, and they only bring it on themselves. I can’t wait to see who else is going to run
their mouths just a little too much! On
MSNBC, it could be somebody every week! They’ve already worked their way through Keith Olberman, Martin Bashir,
and Alec Baldwin. Could Rachal Maddow,
Chris Matthews, and that sanctimonious, biased Andrea Mitchell be all that far
behind? People would have to be about as
dumb as a rock not to see the obvious bias these supposedly objective news
reporters have, but then, MSNBC does have their loyal followers. That’s right, I’m implying stupidity in the fan base here. I just finished reading <i>1984</i>, and the devout MSNBC viewers, or
anyone who refuses to see the obvious bias there or in most of the rest of the
media, remind me of the brainwashed minions who work for the Party, distorting
history and then actually believing the new history they distort due to some
sort of weird mind-game called Newspeak that warp their view of reality and
truth, or they are the idiotic “proles” from that same novel, who are not a
part of the Party, but are so dumb that they will never become a real threat to
them. Who knows, if we didn’t have
conservative radio and Fox News, how many more of us would be asleep like they
are?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> I
can certainly see the liberal bias, and I don’t understand how the party that
claims to be so freakin’ tolerant and loving can say the things they do. Oh sure, they eventually pay the price; Alec
Baldwin for making gay slurs, Martin Bashir for stating that Sarah Palin is an
idiot and then implying that she should have someone defecate in her mouth, or
Keith Olberman for, well, just being himself.
The funny thing is, all the liberal hard liners (who don’t even realize
that they are, in fact, liberal hardliners) would all excuse them, just as they
do the President. If I brought any of
this up to Pat, who I talked about above, and who is probably allergic to the label "liberal" (like all true liberals are), my guess is that Pat's first response would be to question Sarah Palin
comparing our current economic crisis to slavery, and would probably excuse
Martin Bashir’s comment since he made it in such an articulate way. “He went too far,” I’m sure Pat would say, “but
that doesn’t mean his comments don’t have merit.” I understand what Sarah Palin meant. Our current economy is holding our kids
hostage. They will have to pay tomorrow
for the freebies we get today. In a way,
that is a form of slavery, which is defined on the website Dictionary.com as
“involuntary subjection to another or others,” and its synonym “bondage” means
“a state of subjugation or captivity often involving burdensome or degrading
labor.” That definition still fits here,
and if you can’t see the correlation, you must be a devout MSNBC watcher. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> I’m
also fascinated by the thing going on right now between A&E and Duck
Dynasty. Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson, as just
about everyone knows, said some core Christian biblical truths in a rather
rough way during an interview with GQ.
The gist of what <u>he</u> said was from 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, which
states (NLT), “<span class="text"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Don’t
you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t
fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or
commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">or are thieves, or greedy
people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will
inherit the Kingdom of God.” Well, the
liberals were up in arms, and GLAAD came unglued, shooting off an agitated
letter to A&E because they were so offended. So then A&E, in its infinite wisdom,
decided to suspend the patriarch of its biggest hit show of their entire
existence. When the expected backlash
occurred, with thousands – perhaps tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands - of angry Christians threatening a boycott for
A&E’s dumb decision, they backed down.
It’s all business anyway. Because
of free speech, Robertson had a right to say what he said. Because of free speech, GLAAD and the
liberals had the right to be offended.
A&E had the right to suspend Robertson. The Christian right had the right to boycott
their show and make their voices heard.
The Duck Dynasty clan has the right to take their hit show elsewhere. Why Cracker Barrel would want to wade into
the middle of this is beyond me, but they also have the right to voice their
opinion, and to relent when the Christians give them a “what for” warning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="text"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> I’m glad to see the voice of
Christians is still heard loud and clear in this country. I’m sure Nancy Pelosi, Barak Obama, and GLAAD
would like nothing more than a bunch of brainwashed Party members and idiotic “proles”
to control, but it’s not at that point… yet.
But don’t think for one second that it can’t become that way eventually.
Most of our young people are being
brainwashed right now, even as I write this, to see nothing wrong with
homosexuals, abortion, premarital sex, or drug use, and are, right now, being
taught that all news media is fair and balanced <u>except</u> Fox News and
conservative talk radio, that President Obama is their friend, and that those
Christian right hooligans are nobody’s friends, and that God doesn’t
exist. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="text"><span style="background-color: white;"> Right now, we are a divided nation,
divided up by right and left politically.
I wouldn’t say I’m on the extreme far right, but I’m pretty far over
with my views on gay marriage and the <s>belief</s> knowledge that the life
inside the womb is a living human being, and I stand with Phil and those like
him who know the bible believes that practicing homosexuality is a sin (notice
how it is the act that is a sin, not the people), and that it is
only one of many sins, and that we all commit sins, even those of us way over
on the right, but that God does want us to judge right and wrong and repent of
these sins, which means “try not to commit them.” (</span></span><span style="background-color: white;">So while we're on the subject, so called gay Christians either aren’t
repenting or refuse to see homosexual acts as sinful.)</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"> Those on the far left don’t seem to have any
problem with anything, and even invoke the name of Jesus when they stand for
love of everything and all the acts that the bible itself says are sinful.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">You’ll hear them say things like “The Jesus I
believe in is a God of love,” and “The Bible says you shouldn’t judge,” and
“the bible was written by people.”</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">They
turn Jesus into a compromising Mr. Rogers type, prancing around preaching
nothing but peace and love for everyone, no matter who they are or what they
do, and they think that loving our enemies, as Jesus taught, means also
accepting all they do.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">They try to turn
us into compromising milquetoasts, and the bible into a flawed ancient
manuscript dreamt up by flawed humans.</span><span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">These people may think they are Christians, but they are not Christians.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Christians believe what the bible says, warts
and all, and they don’t try to distort it.</span><span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">This world, and this nation, has major problems with what the bible
says, and if you follow along with what the world thinks of Jesus, Christians,
and the bible, than you are not a Christian.</span><span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">Jesus warns us of this very thing in the bible when He says the world
will hate us because of Him.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">If they
can’t see that, and side with the world, and turn Jesus into someone he
definitely wasn’t or isn’t or will be, then they are not Christians.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="text"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> In between these two extremes is all
the various shades of grey leading up to the middle of the political line, including some
with various viewpoints that may not even be on this particular line,
but are still heavily influenced by the politics and philosophies of the ages,
whether they realize it or not.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="text"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> And I think that’s enough of my
twisty political/religious ideas I seem to be just vomiting out of the top of
my head tonight! By the same token, I
feel it’s something I probably needed to vomit out of the top of my head
tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-26120820778914828132013-12-21T08:07:00.001-08:002013-12-21T08:07:06.936-08:00Christmas Mess (Jesus, Take Me Away!): My Christmas Poem This YearTwas a few days before Christmas<div>
And things haven't calmed down at all</div>
<div>
But it was time to share this year's poem</div>
<div>
Before heading again to the mall</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Drum roll (d-d-d-d-d-d-d):</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4MdULQoHCUWcIJvnk9nMBRmW92_vLf-r5EM8pCsUqRcuTfSaTkwHaqQvxjT2HF2CUY-WvAra4suGlCa9GmRAoQDG4OhhCr38oRn2aByjvot-S4V0DxEcAaxJEo-VETzy1vBM1-g4f7RO6/s1600/Christmas+Mess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4MdULQoHCUWcIJvnk9nMBRmW92_vLf-r5EM8pCsUqRcuTfSaTkwHaqQvxjT2HF2CUY-WvAra4suGlCa9GmRAoQDG4OhhCr38oRn2aByjvot-S4V0DxEcAaxJEo-VETzy1vBM1-g4f7RO6/s640/Christmas+Mess.jpg" width="535" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Toxica; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's my Christmas poem with all the pictures added, but here it is in a bit more readable format:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Toxica; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";">Christmas
Mess (Jesus, Take Me Away!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Monotype Corsiva"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> A word of advice from writers is to just
write what you’re feeling<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';">Okay…</span><span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"> Everything’s
a jumbled mess! I need some Christmas
healing!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> So let’s just jump into the fray<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> To see what’s on my mind today:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Why is this Christmas such a struggle<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> With so many things in the air to juggle?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> I shoveled the walk and cleaned the eaves<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Haven’t set up the tree, never
finished the leaves<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Everything is URGENT, everything is
CRITICAL<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I’m
tired of all the little fights, familial and political<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
world is a disaster, and we’re breathing putrid smog<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> I’ve barely touched my journal, haven’t
posted in my blog<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> I’ve written a poem tying Christmas to the
ocean blue<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Don’t
like it… won’t share it… bit off more than I could chew<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
pictures are in disarray and I haven’t even been cropping<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";">We’re eating out too
much with all the shopping</span><span style="font-family: Toxica;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"> shopping</span></b><span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Toxica;">Shopping</span></b><span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"> </span><b><u><span style="font-family: Toxica;">SHOPPING!</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Toxica;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We
shop on mornings and weekends since I now work night shifts<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Everything’s so expensive, and I can’t find
the right gifts<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mom’s arms, legs and
back have been hurting, and my sinuses are a joke<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The weather has turned freezing cold & the
refrigerator just broke<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> My tropical fish haven’t been doing all
that well lately, no sir!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There’s more gifts to
buy and Christmas is inching ever closer!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And I still have to
engage this whole new healthcare endeavor<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There’s still cards
and decorating, and this poem is taking <b><u>forever</u></b>!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> It seems we’re so busy sometimes, we’re
just about ready to drop<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";">The DVR is almost
full and we need to bake … </span><b><u><span style="color: red; font-family: Toxica;">STOP!</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Toxica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Estrangelo Nisibin Outline";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"> This isn’t at all what Christmas is supposed
to be about!</span></i><span style="color: #0070c0;"> </span><i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Things can get so out of hand and
turned so inside out!<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Christmas can get so jumbled, we
miss the reason it’s here<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Lost in a mess of our making, the
meaning is no longer clear<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> That
cut to the core, Christmas has always been just about Jesus<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> A
celebration of His birth, and His death on the cross that frees us<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> From
our burden of sin that we’d all die from without<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The
willing sacrifice of Christ! <b><u>That’s</u></b> what Christmas is about!<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> That’s the Christmas message I really want
to convey<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Toxica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Now God, get me off this crazy ride; Jesus,
lead the way!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Monotype Corsiva';">Gary
Van Buren Christmas 2013</span><span style="font-family: Toxica;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-61060975778331177852013-11-25T12:50:00.002-08:002013-11-25T12:50:14.122-08:00Blogging with My Shoes Tied TogetherOh, the plans we have!<br />
<br />
I've been keeping up on this blog really well... until now! I'm surprised I kept up at it as well as I have over the last two years. But as usual, life gets in the way. That's not a bad thing! It's just that Mom hasn't been feeling well, I haven't felt like writing a whole lot, I'm disillusioned about Obamacare and the president and all the people that still (STILL!) support him, and all the people who hate Christians because they don't want babies to die... and I guess I just needed a break.<br />
<br />
Still do!<br />
<br />
I will post in here again sometime soon, and probably still pretty frequently. For one thing, Christmas is almost here and I need to write this year's Christmas poem (I've got a pretty good idea I think, we'll see) and I wanted to post some of my previous Christmas poems that I didn't post in here last year.<br />
<br />
But I just need a bit of a break to pull all my thoughts together I think. Sometimes I feel so plugged in - to all my little devices, and the TV, and movies, and books, and music, and what's going on in the nation and the world, and the family, and all that goes with it, that I feel like I need time to unplug, and<br />
<br />
to be still<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
and<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
listen for God's voice<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
and<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
know.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Know what I mean?Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-51195075901457243652013-11-09T22:05:00.000-08:002013-11-09T22:05:15.319-08:00The Ongoing Saga of a Brutal Fish Killer: My Problems with Aquarium Water Chemistry<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's a little light, personal story for my blog, though at the time, it was infuriating. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And I'm sure the fish hated it, of course.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">September 11,
2013 - Wednesday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I killed my fish!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’ve had that aquarium for how many
years now? I've never had a problem like this! I used to clean the tank every three months by taking the fish out and completely changing the water, and they could handle it. Hell, one of them jumped into the disposal once and I ran water to keep him alive while I felt around for him, and he survived for at least another year after I rescued him! Not so any more! I heard those complete water changes were way too stessful for the fish, so I haven't been doing that at all anymore. And yet I happened to let it go too
long without a water change recently, and it was starting to look rank, and so I felt that I had to do a larger water change when I cleaned it at the
beginning of the month. What could go wrong? I mean, I used to completely change all the water every three months and the fish adapted fine! Imagine my shock
when almost all the fish started floating upside down! “I killed my fish!” I exclaimed to Mom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You what?” was Mom’s shocked reply.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Out of two guppies and three neon
tetras, only one neon tetra survived. I
took a sample of the water in to Petsmart to see what was going on, and the
clerk tested the water and told me I replaced too much water at one time, and
that the water he tested was <u>too</u> clean!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Huh? So how about all those times I put the fish in a bucket and did a 100% water change with no problem?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh well, I guess I’ll know for next
time! Even if I happen to let it go too long between cleanings, only do small water changes, even if it's rank. The fish, they tell me, need some of that utter filth! Who'd have ever thought I'd kill my fish by being too clean?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the meantime, I have to restock the
tank now, and I think I’m going to go with all neon tetras and zebra danio glowfish,
and no guppies for the time being.
However, it’s not quite that simple.
I got two more neon tetras immediately following this tank fiasco, but
when I went to breakfast with Mom earlier today at Le Peep’s and then out to
the pet store for two more neon tetras, one of them barely survived the trip
home and the acclimation process, and then died shortly thereafter, so now I
have to return him tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">September 21,
2013 – Saturday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m still killing fish!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The other neon tetra didn’t survive long
either, leaving only one neon tetra. I
took the dead one back to the store and replaced him with two others, and they
both died! Thinking it was probably the
stock at Petsmart, I tried danios. I got
three of them, and they survived for exactly one week along with the last
remaining tetra (poor schooling fish has been all alone!)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3aPzHZBh0J7iBsT99NNK92RSB5nvZYA8RDCYDfnilogVsQ66x2JA7An8BzbS_2tjC5iUDBYxqaa7NVwtoCHb-41B4Yv2kUXIJtUOagOemSCDjELHAYaz10Z86M6T79E-L0N3ZjfWpWSF/s1600/Danio+glo-fish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3aPzHZBh0J7iBsT99NNK92RSB5nvZYA8RDCYDfnilogVsQ66x2JA7An8BzbS_2tjC5iUDBYxqaa7NVwtoCHb-41B4Yv2kUXIJtUOagOemSCDjELHAYaz10Z86M6T79E-L0N3ZjfWpWSF/s400/Danio+glo-fish.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For days, the yellow danio has been hiding,
which is usually an indication of sickness.
I tried medicating the tank. Two
days ago, he wouldn’t eat, and then died, and now the large purple one is
acting weird. He’s sluggish and swimming
in circles at the corner of the tank.
I’ve been doing my best to keep up on additives – the Tetra AquaSafe to
de-chlorinate the tap water and the Tetra EasyBalance to balance the amount of
ammonia and ph in the tank, along with one of those large anti-fungus
tablets. I’ve also been trying to
regulate the heat, even unplugging the heater completely and finding the tank
water is still at 80°, which is a little high, especially for the danios. My brother questioned me about the heater, which he thought must be defective, until I told them I had
completely unplugged it for a day and the water was still too hot. The temperature <u>has</u> finally come down a bit,
but I don’t think that’s what killed the fish anyway. I mean, the last remaining tetra and the pink
danio seem to be doing just fine. I
guess that’s what’s really infuriating. I used to do complete water changes with no problems, and I’m at a point where some fish are surviving for longer than others, and
not acting sick at all. This doesn’t
always last however, but at least it shows a variation between some of the
fish, bought at the same time from the same batch. What does that say about my tank? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, I took the dead yellow one in to
Petsmart this morning, along with a water sample. The girl said everything looks good, except
the nitrate. It’s been a month since I
did that thorough cleaning on that tank that apparently removed too much of the good
bacteria, and they’re still telling me the nitrate (or “good bacteria” from an
established tank) is a little on the low side. I've been adding the proper chemicals and I even bought some that you can add to a new tank, just in case, and have continued the recommended water changes. Why are my fish still dying? They're still telling me my tank is too clean! What do I have to do to get some nitrate in there? I'm beginning to think I need to take a dump in there to get some waste going to convert into some nitrate for them! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So I still exchanged the yellow danio for another yellow danio, and
bought another neon tetra.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I figured if
the tank needs nitrate/good bacteria, which is converted from fish waste, then
the more fish I have in the tank, than the more nitrate will be created.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And I usually don’t add the water from the
pet store, but I did this time.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
figured if the tank is low on nitrate, and the tanks at the pet store are well
regulated for ammonia, ph, and nitrate, adding it this time could only be beneficial,
right?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIsLr1vNkj_xLVeK3t1E3yJPUKfn1Th7V7WYCD5LBFwDPVxHaSt1RiW_zxPi2nOB9PcvCCPymGAmlWF9sBYY-rL1-hV_aPCjRE8GkpbuvqPY-uEcJ0nOcUUrIuvHfnScvyGcKWrGAjg2-/s1600/Neon+Tetras.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIsLr1vNkj_xLVeK3t1E3yJPUKfn1Th7V7WYCD5LBFwDPVxHaSt1RiW_zxPi2nOB9PcvCCPymGAmlWF9sBYY-rL1-hV_aPCjRE8GkpbuvqPY-uEcJ0nOcUUrIuvHfnScvyGcKWrGAjg2-/s1600/Neon+Tetras.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So the two neon tetras are now swimming
around like the best of friends, and it’s the same for the pink and yellow
danios. Only time will tell how long
this might last. I hope they live. The purple danio is still sluggish and isolated,
hanging around at the top swimming in circles, but has showed a few signs of
normalcy. The clerks at the pet store
said his symptoms seemed to be more indicative of trauma than illness. If the tank gets the nitrate levels it needs,
than this, along with the third danio (since danios are a schooling fish),
might be enough to revive him. I hope
so, but I’m not holding my breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The guys and gals at work know I’ve been
struggling with this. I told them that my surviving fish have started wearing tiny little T-Shirts that
read “I Survived the Van Buren Death Tank of 2013!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">October 1, 2013
– Tuesday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don’t want to dwell on my fish tank,
but I did want to say I finally have 5 lively fish in the tank and I plan to
add, slowly, a few more… and that those Petsmart clerks don’t always know everything,
and are starting to give me conflicting information. About a week ago, one clerk told me my nitrate is low, which is bad.
I need more waste, which converts to nitrate and good bacteria. No, that's not true another one tells me this week; nitrate is
bad, she says. I know too <u>much</u> nitrate is bad, but some of it is needed for good bacteria. But she's telling me I don’t want ANY nitrate in the
tank! Maybe she was thinking "Nitrite" instead. However, she also says my PH is way too high,
especially for tetras. But I just put in
a product that you sell at this store, I tell her, and it states that it maintains chemical and PH
levels in fish tanks. Well, the clerk
explains, they have "good", "better" and "best" products, on three different shelves. I was using one of the “good” products, and
the "best" product comes in this huge size and costs at least twice as much as the
“good” product. The product I used,
I’m told, probably just <u>increased</u> the PH rather than maintain it,
which is bad. I didn't know what to think, or what to say, but I wasn't going to buy the huge, expensive bottle! The cheaper one I already bought states that it <u>regulates</u> PH! Later, after I left the store, what she said really bothered me. Why are they selling me a product that says on the front and the back of
the bottle that it will regulate, not increase, PH levels, yet this clerk was telling me the product was not doing what it says it will do? If that’s the case, perhaps I could sue them for
false advertising and killing my fish! I
don’t think the company Tetra that sells this product, called EasyBalance Plus,
would be able to mark on the label that the product regulates PH levels unless
it actually regulated PH levels.... even if the quality is only just "good". That
stuff still has to go through all kinds of testing and rigid marketing, even if it's just the "cheap" stuff. It is much
more likely that the clerk is just misinformed, or is being pressured to sell
the more expensive product. Did she even know the difference between nitrate and nitrite?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">October 11, 2013
– Friday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fish are doing better. That's good. It was getting embarrassing. The clerks were starting to treat me like the "Ted Bundy" of fish enthusiasts! Even though the PH is still a little on the
high side, I now have 4 danios and 4 neon tetras, though there was one danio
death over the last few weeks. I have
the tank decorated for Halloween now, and even bought blue light bulbs. For a little 10 gallon tank, they're not very bright.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">November 7, 2013
– Thursday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Things have finally
calmed down! I still have the same fish I had a month ago! I think the water
chemistry in that tank is finally fixed.
Hurray! I'm still going to keep using that Easy Balance Plus though, along with the water changes. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So now it's time to think about possibly adding a few small Corydoras catfish...</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These "Laser Green" ones look colorful!</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEY1okZ2NV7b28gHFOPjt8FB3067mUsjr2PH6dsQK5FdXz4AmpNM3Fr1jClOeztFE_pC4lqnPkV-uFLpSmxJULs_LaCH46lyEZNFbmNekDAohsBHljb7W0SFJoJl_hYo5d4yI5SOJkH61U/s1600/Corydoras+Catfish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEY1okZ2NV7b28gHFOPjt8FB3067mUsjr2PH6dsQK5FdXz4AmpNM3Fr1jClOeztFE_pC4lqnPkV-uFLpSmxJULs_LaCH46lyEZNFbmNekDAohsBHljb7W0SFJoJl_hYo5d4yI5SOJkH61U/s320/Corydoras+Catfish.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And the saga continues.</span></span>Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-8825673640693043152013-11-03T21:56:00.001-08:002013-11-03T21:56:41.138-08:00Rating the Movies I Saw in October 2013: King's Dolores, a Pre-Christmas Nightmare, a Conjuring, a Spooky Mama, a Vacancy, and Three Idiots at an ATM<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">[The titles all link to the trailers]</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Since the year 2000, every month in my journal, out of all the movies I saw that month, I always pick my two favorites, and the one or two stinkers I happened to see. I'm not a movie critic or a true cinefile, which means I often don't get to see most movies when they are released. Therefore, the only rule is that I can choose any movies I happened to see that month, no matter when they were released, provided I haven't already named it as a favorite (or perhaps a stinker) before.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">This is my list for the movies I saw in October of 2013:</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Movie of the Month:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BU7MEjELHsRVywD0xeeq1rS-t44xFJDNIGa8Nk1GVaCX7MwOJSMFzD5__p9a19u4p2cOf7U98-NniQx9fimJlcDp5yeEW4lV2S7IQ-EeAvZp9qoGEOnskQGVG2erhly_V6ODp0bUH4uN/s1600/Movie+of+the+Month.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/ymtiie0mrM0" target="_blank">Dolores Claiborne</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvrwpy-nvbYYjnOD64BE82EzL-VEyaR9NFtwFkcwfwO25d_vDuKbRJpDXFcoj41ady6tNK7DYidoh9YYgTjy5EAw-Nw2YNhmiVpN75aoPqztDosBnQsTbGi-i7-b0F_1vnNnMnK3u60ub/s1600/Dolores+Claiborne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvrwpy-nvbYYjnOD64BE82EzL-VEyaR9NFtwFkcwfwO25d_vDuKbRJpDXFcoj41ady6tNK7DYidoh9YYgTjy5EAw-Nw2YNhmiVpN75aoPqztDosBnQsTbGi-i7-b0F_1vnNnMnK3u60ub/s400/Dolores+Claiborne.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><a href="http://youtu.be/ptpaEntid74" target="_blank">Misery</a></i> isn’t the only great Stephen King film
starring Kathy Bates! Released five
years after <i><a href="http://youtu.be/pO20qU-VwgA" target="_blank">Misery</a></i>, this quieter thriller tells a moving, intricate story of
a woman accused of murder for the second time, but more than that, it is a good
piece of feminist literature, as not only Dolores, but also her workaholic,
drug-dependent daughter Selena (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and her overbearing,
pompous employer Vera Donovan (Judy Parfitt) seem to have difficulty with all
the men in their lives. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPl2VuGx9ntlj5a76TuHXMF-sAg4diQnqfCuxAv_SHS1YD5tiVJxEfKcLuKoag66p-Ksn1VN2baxKU1g7NmAqEYeGjQftxVCipCxJ6CEJ8q22SHjSxO8HWelesAVmVfBKIJ58SY-HyY2Q5/s1600/Dolores+&+Selena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPl2VuGx9ntlj5a76TuHXMF-sAg4diQnqfCuxAv_SHS1YD5tiVJxEfKcLuKoag66p-Ksn1VN2baxKU1g7NmAqEYeGjQftxVCipCxJ6CEJ8q22SHjSxO8HWelesAVmVfBKIJ58SY-HyY2Q5/s1600/Dolores+&+Selena.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dolores and Selena</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The men seem to
hold all the power, and yet these women are able to stand up to them throughout
the story, but not without severe consequences.
For instance, Selena’s now a reporter, and her boss, the editor, who
she’s been sleeping with, just gave her story to someone else. Dolores’ husband was a no-good, lazy, abusive
lay-about named Joe (David Strathairn), and he constantly doled out verbal and
physical abuse upon Dolores, but she swore she wouldn’t put up with it, and
bravely stood up to him. Then Joe did
two more dirty deeds that left Dolores reeling, one of them concerning a young
Selena, who seems to have blocked out all memory of it, and the other leaving
Dolores’ bank account dry when Joe empties it.
When she goes to the head of the bank, who is a man, she is left no
recourse, and he won’t deal with her.
“It’s because I’m a woman, isn’t it,” she tells him, and she’s right,
and her righteous indignation doesn’t come off as patronizing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyvGn-isHE_q3HshMcxp0XCDzL1Jx2JbDC0eLqc4LLUMoWzUqzupmhFc4mLh5I63sSL57tkhvn9EXZzdwQLwkVipm0xtEGwjJYvgz_dogdqMwOz0vI8QJIrpk3ITIO9IrO_aiNy5TS2VYA/s1600/Dolores+Claiborne+supporting+cast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyvGn-isHE_q3HshMcxp0XCDzL1Jx2JbDC0eLqc4LLUMoWzUqzupmhFc4mLh5I63sSL57tkhvn9EXZzdwQLwkVipm0xtEGwjJYvgz_dogdqMwOz0vI8QJIrpk3ITIO9IrO_aiNy5TS2VYA/s640/Dolores+Claiborne+supporting+cast.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Dolores Claiborne" Supporting Cast: David Strathairn, Judy Parfitt, Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Vera gives her some advice: “An accident can be an unhappy woman’s best
friend, Dolores,” she tells her, revealing at the same time how her husband’s
brakes “happened to fail” just when he was leaving his mistress’ house, and so
Dolores has just such an accident in mind, which will play out during all the
eclipse hoopla around the small, coastal Maine town, and it’s a doozy! By all accounts, it is a legitimate
“accident”, and Joe deserves it, but she doesn’t get off Scott-free anyway, of
course, and is doggedly pursued by yet another man in the “old boys club”, Det.
John Mackey, well played by Christopher Plummer. He always suspected foul play in Joe’s death,
and in fact, it’s the only case in his entire career that he ever lost. And so now that Dolores is implicated in the
death of Vera Donovan, where she was found standing over her dead body ready to
assault her with a heavy rolling pin after Vera fell down the stairs, not to
mention the fact that practically the whole town had heard Dolores bad-mouth
Vera, he now sees an opportunity to finally condemn the only person who ever
managed to allude him. The only man on
her side throughout the whole movie is the constable played by John C. Reilly,
who sticks up for Dolores twice when Mackey is trying to demonize her. Things look even worse for Dolores when it is
revealed Vera left her entire estate and all her money to Dolores. But despite their strained relationships, and
appearances, all these women actually come through for each other in the end.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Movie of the Month: 2nd Place</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/wr6N_hZyBCk" target="_blank">The Nightmare Before Christmas</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKgQsWD1-LyFQfVrZ0fv9XQj1yMTvPKUHidodtXjh40RQJDNNVqu5itlFfOwflm-oBKqkUOzCjCkigsxCvJ1lntesO923PtP9TQ8iE8-y266lT1iZTfXrYEoxBvryiVmIxB2fxfswiSGF/s1600/Nightmare+Before+Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKgQsWD1-LyFQfVrZ0fv9XQj1yMTvPKUHidodtXjh40RQJDNNVqu5itlFfOwflm-oBKqkUOzCjCkigsxCvJ1lntesO923PtP9TQ8iE8-y266lT1iZTfXrYEoxBvryiVmIxB2fxfswiSGF/s640/Nightmare+Before+Christmas.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A little over a
decade ago, I named this as runner up for worst movie of the month. It just so happens that, for that particular
month, it really was the second worst movie I saw that month. Over the last decade, it seems I watch this
every year around Halloween, hoping to get it off that list by naming it as the
best or second best of the month… but it never seems to come to fruition. I like this film – the animation, the bizarre
story, some of the music, especially “<a href="http://youtu.be/ZPblZa10_Pk" target="_blank">What’s This</a>” (Danny Elfman as Jack Skellington), “<a href="http://youtu.be/qsBERIKwqcM" target="_blank">The Oogie Boogie Song</a>” (Ken Page and Edward Ivory as Oogie Boogie and Santa), and “<a href="http://youtu.be/Ry7PcYtKPhA" target="_blank">Kidnap the Sandy Claws</a>” (Paul Reubens, Catherine O'Hara, and Danny Elfman as Lock, Shock, and Barrel)- but it just never seems to make it into the top
two. That’s because I realize it <u>does</u>
have its limitations, but it’s also far from being the worst. After all these years, there’s still
something there. Will it make it into
the top two this month? Well, maybe… but
don’t hold your breath!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hey, what do ya know, it finally made
it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Stinker of the Month</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://youtu.be/geffQdBbKzI" target="_blank">ATM</a></span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQCWs_6-yGdTGb6QMN4lKd3NNMjFEyj2YSv9TFPpqDlTvY4LTSGK9Dn23H-6xM_p1zj2Mrd4g5mO0OraOHFGhIKV4cv67xTwYUIZ2GX3mm1qVSuNSSMMWSYehO4N7cJsI85G1t4zDQKnb/s1600/ATM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQCWs_6-yGdTGb6QMN4lKd3NNMjFEyj2YSv9TFPpqDlTvY4LTSGK9Dn23H-6xM_p1zj2Mrd4g5mO0OraOHFGhIKV4cv67xTwYUIZ2GX3mm1qVSuNSSMMWSYehO4N7cJsI85G1t4zDQKnb/s400/ATM.jpg" width="341" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ATM: Three idiots and a ridiculously lucky killer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Three complete
idiots get locked into an ATM on a freezing cold December night by a psycho
with a big hood on his jacket hiding his face.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first mistake they made was park so far away from the ATM they
needed to use.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The second mistake was
not running while the psycho was murdering a guy walking his dog.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From there, it was just a series a one
mistake after another, including a security guard that is dumber than a soap dish.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That killer was
lucky all these people are so stupid!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They tried to do an interesting twist at the end, similar to <i><a href="http://youtu.be/tzzT_Iaw0t8" target="_blank">Arlington Road</a></i>, but it was laughable,
and not gratifying in the least.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> This cheap film is at such a lower level! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’ve
seen these actors in other roles:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Brian
Geraghty as the new recruit in <i><a href="http://youtu.be/qmSl-gKpCXY" target="_blank">The Hurt Locker</a></i>, Alice Eve as Carol Marcus in
<i><a href="http://youtu.be/QAEkuVgt6Aw" target="_blank">Star Trek: Into Darkness</a>,</i> and Josh Peck in the Disney Channel show <i><a href="http://youtu.be/zanLi0tovjE" target="_blank">Drake andJosh</a></i>.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He was affable in <i><a href="http://youtu.be/BfLB31l1EpE" target="_blank">Drake and Josh</a></i>,
but here he winds up playing a completely selfish and arrogant, bone-headed
jerk.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This film had a few good scares,
but they would all be non-existent if the characters were smarter than a bag of
rocks, or if the plot maneuverings dealing with the killer had made sense.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #00b050;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Other
movies from October:</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/k10ETZ41q5o" target="_blank">The Conjuring </a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the
better ghost stories we’ve seen lately, it had scenes that were spooky,
shocking, and creepy in all the right places.
There’s even an exorcism in the end.
The film juxtaposes two families – one with a whole passel of daughters
that moves into a new house, and a ghost-hunting couple with a daughter of
their own. This couple, the Warrens,
were apparently based on the real ghost hunters who later dealt with the family
who owned the Amityville house. I was
never much of a fan of <a href="http://youtu.be/c5Maq9H1lZ8" target="_blank">The Amityville Horror</a> franchise, but this film manages
to deliver the goods in the end. That’s
good. I don’t think I could have taken
another <i><a href="http://youtu.be/pgYxydrVlDk" target="_blank">Sinister</a></i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/GZlY47eCdas" target="_blank">Mama</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was one of
the better horror movies we’ve seen lately, but we still didn’t like the
ending. The way the movie ended was
still much better than, say, the way Stephen King’s <i><a href="http://youtu.be/LhCKXJNGzN8" target="_blank">The Mist</a></i> ended, which we <b><u>HATED!</u></b> But still…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqihdxU5HZ8eR-ihLHeJ3hzunp-pPzZC72flmw4bIZAQULB66RBgg9JuaATS7-J4kPgz-KMR4BMPGIPcI8pCxBE58ZOjjuXlKC7YVMiJFQwZrz2P-vwUAC-jzcfptDxoS8YP-OXL6KvRn/s1600/Mama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqihdxU5HZ8eR-ihLHeJ3hzunp-pPzZC72flmw4bIZAQULB66RBgg9JuaATS7-J4kPgz-KMR4BMPGIPcI8pCxBE58ZOjjuXlKC7YVMiJFQwZrz2P-vwUAC-jzcfptDxoS8YP-OXL6KvRn/s200/Mama.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They spared no expense on the story
or the ghostly effects, particularly the title creature, and the acting was
quite good, and you could see everything quite clearly, unlike many other dark
horror films (like </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/jsd8xsgPIqA" target="_blank">Sinister</a></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">).</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In fact, this could have been an all ‘round
great movie, if only it hadn’t ended on such a downer.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m sure there are some people who liked the
way it ended, and that I perhaps missed the meaning, but I didn’t.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Without giving anything away, I will simply
say that I understand what they were trying to do, but it just didn’t really
work.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We would have preferred an ending
in which everyone survived.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Still, I was
</span><u style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">very</u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> impressed and absorbed with this film up until the very end.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/4Nji7UAW8o0" target="_blank">Vacancy 2: The First Cut</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s been so
long since I saw the first <i><a href="http://youtu.be/-TK2gqYIVuc" target="_blank">Vacancy</a></i>
with Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale. I
remember I liked it, and that it was about killers at some backwoods motel, but
I didn’t remember the basics of the plot, namely that people were being filmed
while killed, and the snuff videos were being sold on the internet. Now with <i><a href="http://youtu.be/pesiGmOqxDo" target="_blank">Vacancy 2</a></i>, we get the story of how it all started.
This is strictly direct-to-video fare, but as such, we found it rather
scary, and truthfully, the gore was turned down (just a bit) in favor of
suspense and shocks. In other words, the
filmmakers, to their credit, did not relish every opportunity to linger over
torture and blood and dismemberment, like you would normally expect from a
direct-to-video cheapie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I recognized David Moscow, who here
played the slime-ball owner of the motel, striking a deal with the killer to
film his assaults for profit, and then finding himself having to sometimes
assist in the rampage, eventually paying the ultimate price for it as
well. A long time ago, he played the 13
year old version of Tom Hanks in </span><i><a href="http://youtu.be/J62jciQ1PbY" target="_blank">Big</a></i><span style="font-size: small;">. I suppose it’s a good thing he’s still
working in film, but to compare his career with that of Tom Hanks… sad to say
that his is actually the career the vast majority of actors have, or will have,
eking out a smaller audience with less prestige. After looking for the pictures included below, I
discovered Moscow is a leftist political activist (no surprise there for a
Hollywood actor, of course, especially since he states in an article, "What I want to do in my life is to make commercial, left-wing propaganda. I want to change whom the world views as heroes." - see the link <a href="http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3815158528/nm0608378?ref_=nm_ov_ph" target="_blank">here</a> - As the Church Lady used to say, "Well, isn't that special!") and has been making quieter, independent films
lately, such as this one, or <i><a href="http://youtu.be/MwlO6vkYKAg" target="_blank">David & Layla</a></i> about a Jewish man who falls in
love with a Muslim woman, and is developing a TV show, probably for a cable
channel, about his real parent’s lives as liberal political radicals. So there you go. </span>A quieter, more specialized career. They can't all be as lucky or well known as Tom Hanks and Kathy Bates, you know.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-54869434534667357762013-10-31T09:20:00.001-07:002013-10-31T15:20:12.720-07:00Stephen King At the Movies: Rating (Almost) All the Theatrical and
Direct-To-Video Films<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Best
and Worst Stephen King Movies: Theatrical and Direct-to-Video</span></b><br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br></span></b></div>
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<v:imagedata cropleft="2735f" cropright="4103f" o:title="The-Shawshank-Redemption-018" src="file:///C:\Users\GARYVA~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg"><w:wrap type="square"></w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">With
the new </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Carrie</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> released, I haven’t
seen it yet, but, as something fun for Halloween this year, I thought it might be
interesting to rate all the Stephen King movies I </span><u style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">have</u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> seen. The following list contains my rankings for
most of Stephen King’s stories translated to film.. This list
of theatrical and direct-to-video films doesn’t include </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Mangler, The Night Flyer, Riding the Bullet</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, or </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dolan’s Cadillac</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> because I haven’t seen them. The average person probably isn't even aware of them, and even if I had seen them, I would be utterly surprised if they changed the top half of this list in the slightest!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This list also doesn't include anything made for TV. That's another whole list, with titles such as the miniseries of <i>The Stand</i> and <i>It</i>, and full-blown TV series like <i>The Dead Zone</i> and <i>Under the Dome</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I put this list in order from Best to Worst, rather than the the usual Worst to Best, because that's the way I wrote it:</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1. The Shawshank Redemption</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Known mostly for his ghouls and ghosts,
rabid dogs and evil cars, people with powers and dark demonic things, some of
King’s best material, especially when translated to film, are his stories that
don’t contain any supernatural elements.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The best Stephen King movie ever made was this tale about a prisoner who
continues to hang on to hope, centered by two wonderful performances by Tim
Robbins and Morgan Freeman.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you have
not seen this movie, do yourself a favor and see it!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s not just one of the best Stephen King
movies:</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s one of the best movies
period!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzRMEAY8GapiXfWfi7Q2uWXhurGy6j5OrogRyCmFo8cMoltRwk8t6vvaTAOzm6fXNGuV71N5mkBTodwaZVj8JPFVqH-BVA8G2k_UXL4hMan9JUaOvmUbSdsL3iCOJ0jCGiT5EozD3njK_/s1600/Misery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzRMEAY8GapiXfWfi7Q2uWXhurGy6j5OrogRyCmFo8cMoltRwk8t6vvaTAOzm6fXNGuV71N5mkBTodwaZVj8JPFVqH-BVA8G2k_UXL4hMan9JUaOvmUbSdsL3iCOJ0jCGiT5EozD3njK_/s320/Misery.jpg" width="320"></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2. Misery</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kathy Bates will make a chill run down
your spine!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">A famous writer played by
James Caan has grown tired of his romance character Misery Chastain, and has
decided to kill her off and write something the critics will actually
like.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">When he suffers a freak accident
in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, he’s “rescued” by his “number one fan”, Annie
Wilkes, a former nurse, who plays nursemaid to him while she reads his latest
book and picks up a paperback copy of the latest Misery novel.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Disliking his unpublished book, she forces
him to destroy it, but that’s nothing compared to her rage when she discovers
her favorite writer has killed off her favorite character!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Annie Wilkes is a nightmare character, and
Kathy Bates brought her to chilling life.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wait till you see what she’s able to do with a few straps, a block of
wood, and a sledgehammer, all in the name of “love”!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is one of the best thrillers of the last
few decades!</span><br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYX4d5YUgIlPn2PJKxSax9xz8wktvKIBUpaFWbCTa5Orqsd-t9Y5k_XlmrOYDm4c2AV4szxEBUWfQjvQCrK7pyK0qj6O2CncBoam5XtBaLoQoSTIYk07b5V7ER5bQmZ1MeLsFYgpo3zqz/s1600/Green+Mile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYX4d5YUgIlPn2PJKxSax9xz8wktvKIBUpaFWbCTa5Orqsd-t9Y5k_XlmrOYDm4c2AV4szxEBUWfQjvQCrK7pyK0qj6O2CncBoam5XtBaLoQoSTIYk07b5V7ER5bQmZ1MeLsFYgpo3zqz/s320/Green+Mile.jpg" width="320"></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">3. The Green Mile</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Only the third movie on this list and we
already have another Stephen King prison movie!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Michael Clarke Duncan is wonderful as the big, strapping, simple and
docile character of John Coffey, in prison for supposedly killing two little
girls.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before the end, he reveals a
miraculous power to Tom Hanks’ character Paul Edgecomb and the other guards of
the “mile” that saves many, including the Warden’s wife, a little mouse named
Mr. Jingles, and Paul, but still isn’t quite miraculous enough to dispel the
horrible evil that surrounds them all, particularly a cruel guard named Percy
Wetmore and a frantically evil inmate named “Wild Bill” Wharton.</span><br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXUTAM_mLrJWMxMYWbMfC6QzM70KgAuG8GPOLMqxKBezwPnx_VMwk0tyx-1vabTDRiR-BFRa811JEoqbfzfMfbHOM0s4-sfIVHJTq0My3RM-cM9zwMFlUpLrAUpBicIwRL3Tyy6HJH829q/s1600/Carrie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXUTAM_mLrJWMxMYWbMfC6QzM70KgAuG8GPOLMqxKBezwPnx_VMwk0tyx-1vabTDRiR-BFRa811JEoqbfzfMfbHOM0s4-sfIVHJTq0My3RM-cM9zwMFlUpLrAUpBicIwRL3Tyy6HJH829q/s320/Carrie.jpg" width="320"></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">4. Carrie</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">As I said, I haven’t seen the new movie,
but the old one starring Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie is a classic of the
genre, and is the one that really helped to kick-start Stephen King’s
career.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen
and director Brian De Palma changed the story to make it infinitely more
cinematic, and it paid off handsomely.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Without the advent of CGI, De Palma foregoes normal effects for
practical magic and camera trickery, employing inventive filmic devices such as
slow motion, split screen, sound, and cinematography, as well as great writing
and performances, especially from Spacek and Laurie, to make this first version
of the tale about a picked-upon girl who unleashes a deadly telekinetic force
upon her tormentors unforgettable!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUnQhm42tDP-eP7Gxiy05JsS5z-5NvdR4T9p9SdDEX53U64ogYLieuvbINH301RM1H7pdO81iGRtZMnJo7KBy6kyLQPiRD1a3Z7CgZKMJGw_3IrRMEUaBMd1HJZBalABnVSIwnj0y2IVx/s1600/Stand+by+Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUnQhm42tDP-eP7Gxiy05JsS5z-5NvdR4T9p9SdDEX53U64ogYLieuvbINH301RM1H7pdO81iGRtZMnJo7KBy6kyLQPiRD1a3Z7CgZKMJGw_3IrRMEUaBMd1HJZBalABnVSIwnj0y2IVx/s320/Stand+by+Me.jpg" width="320"></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">5. Stand By Me</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another simpler tale with no
supernatural elements, centering around the final childhood days of four
friends; Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Chris Chambers (River Phoenix), Teddy
Duchamp (Corey Feldman), and Vern Tessio (Jerry O’Connell).</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The four young boys give outstanding
performances in this tale of their weekend adventure to find the dead body of
another boy, rumored to have been hit by a train.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Narrated by Richard Dreyfuss as the grown-up
Gordie, there’s not a bit of it that rings false. There’s humor mixed with
nostalgia, tragedy, and a great story about a pie eating contest that turns
into a huge puke-a-thon!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">What’s not to like?</span><br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGCyQExNK7f_ZSrAquTJFmF04BH-VTe27yk-gb76VEeCPgXvySv_jxMR6gL7H81zPIYznoGqDAS9NgqZ3UllAE90Bj86RykP0UXVILk4D9texWbmj9zW_fIqxJZDW203I_EsjtvOhjbZ-/s1600/Shining.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGCyQExNK7f_ZSrAquTJFmF04BH-VTe27yk-gb76VEeCPgXvySv_jxMR6gL7H81zPIYznoGqDAS9NgqZ3UllAE90Bj86RykP0UXVILk4D9texWbmj9zW_fIqxJZDW203I_EsjtvOhjbZ-/s320/Shining.jpg" width="320"></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">6. The Shining</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Real King fans consider this version of </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Shining</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> to be more Stanley Kubrick
than Stephen King, and they’d be right.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">However, despite the drastic changes made from the novel, director
Kubrick does an excellent job of deepening the claustrophobic terror of the
hotel with all its ghosts and secrets, including the over-the-top performances
from Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Cruthers, and all the
ghosts and spooks of the now infamous Overlook, including the creepy woman in
the tub and those two disturbing little ghost girls! The soundtrack, most of
which comes from Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, is one of the creepiest
you’re ever likely to hear for any horror film, and goes a long way towards
heightening the tension and the creep factor!</span><br>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">7. The Dead Zone</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is one of director David
Cronenberg’s best, and most subdued, films.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It also happens to be one of Christopher Walken’s best
performances.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The story centers around
Johnny Smith, a small town English teacher who is thrown into a five year coma
when his little Volkswagen bug collides with an oil tanker, and when he wakes,
he suddenly has the ability of second sight.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Already grieving over the fact that he’s lost five years and that the
love of his life has moved on with a family of her own, his ability seems to be
sucking the life out of him, yet he still uses it to help the local sheriff
track down a serial killer and save a little boy from a horrible accident.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then he happens to shake hands with a
ruthless presidential hopeful and sees the destruction of the world.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">What’s a disillusioned psychic to do now?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The low-key soundtrack music and “Norman
Rockwell” look manage to make this quieter little thriller a real treat!</span><br>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">8. 1408</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">John Cusack’s character of writer Mike
Enslin makes his meager living debunking haunted motels and hotels.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">He’s a writer of true-to-life ghosts and
hauntings that doesn’t believe in such things anymore, if he ever did.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The scariest thing he ever sees in any of
these drab, ho-hum travel accommodations is the bill.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">When he comes across the rumors and internet
chatter surrounding the famously haunted room 1408 from New York’s Dolphin
Hotel, he treats it the same as all the others, even though he’s been warned
that people usually don’t even last an hour in there.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">He just no longer believes in ghosts.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">What he discovers is that he should.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">There really </span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><u>are</u></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ghosts, and this hotel room </span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><u>is</u></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> haunted, and he’ll be lucky to survive an hour, if he can
get out!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The tensions and scares, and
psychological mind games, come fast and furious.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you’re looking for a good ghost story for
Halloween, this one is certainly one of the scariest, and without being too
gruesome and bloody!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">9. Secret Window</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">“You stole my story!”</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s an accusation that country bumpkin John Shooter
(John Turturro) makes to Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp), and an accusation that
writers sometimes have to deal with: Crazy people coming out of the woodwork to
claim authorship for past books, and to accuse the writer of plagiarism, a very
serious charge among the publishing crowd.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this case, the accuser won’t leave it alone, even when Mort obtains
proof.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And yet these two share a secret
past that will eventually be revealed, and it’s one of those delicious twists
that allow for additional viewings.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although it’s one of his less “showy” roles, Johnny Depp gives a fine
performance.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">10. Dolores Claiborne</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is feminist literature presented as
an unassuming Stephen King chiller.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kathy Bates once again takes center stage as the title character, the put-upon
Dolores Claiborne, who had already been accused of the murder of her abusive
husband Joe years ago, and now stands accused of the murder of the pompous
woman she’s been caring for since then, Vera Donavan.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Facing a world of arrogant, powerful men all
her life, from her no-good husband to the bank manager who lets Joe empty her
bank account to Det. John Mackey, who would like nothing more than to see
Dolores behind bars, she manages to stand up to each and every one of them.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Along the way, despite some somewhat strained
relationships, she finds common ground with the other women in her life, be it
the haughty Vera or her own chain-smoking, depressed daughter Selena.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">All concerned give great performances, from
Kathy Bates as Dolores to Judy Parfitt as Vera, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Selena,
David Strathairn as Joe, Christopher Plummer as Det. Mackey, John C. Reilly as the
local constable (the only man sympathetic to Dolores in the whole movie), and
Ellen Muth as a young Selena.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">11. Apt Pupil</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Falling just outside the top ten, this
is still a riveting tale about the alluring nature of evil.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">A young boy and straight-A student named Todd
Bowden becomes obsessed with the Nazi’s and World War II after reading about
them for school, and then discovers a former Nazi war criminal just happens to
be a neighbor.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Blackmailing the old man,
he forces him to recount horror stories about the concentration camps and the
horrible deaths they metered out upon the Jews and other ‘inferiors” they
rounded up, until he winds up awakening an evil that had been asleep for a long,
long time, and soon this student finds himself in so deep, he may not be able
to find his way back out.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s a tale
about the dangers of playing with fire, and the masks we all wear, no matter
who we may be!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">12. Cujo</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’m with King on this one.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although it fell just outside my top ten, and
garnered some negative reviews from film critics and other writers, Stephen
King himself has indicated that he liked this film adaptation.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Many years ago, when some of my brother’s
kids were in their teen years, I showed them a double creature feature of
Alfred Hitchcock’s </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Birds</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and
Lewis Teague’s </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cujo</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">They were actually bored by the Hitchcock
classic, but found </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cujo</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> quite
terrifying!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The beginning of the movie
is all a slow build with a lot of elements that might play better in a Soap
Opera or a made-for-TV movie for the Lifetime Channel.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">But I still found the characters well drawn,
and the build up was good, with Cujo contracting rabies and getting steadily worse, and the
main characters’ families starting to disintegrate.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">After killing his owner, Cujo then lays siege
upon a mother and her young son, stuck in a stalled car in the middle of a
distant farmyard in the “dog days” of August.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I thought the way the director built up the tension in that car was
handled with expert aplomb.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">13. Pet Sematary</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Okay, this IS Stephen King, the Modern
Master of Horror, we’re talking about here.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">So you want scary, huh?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
movie delivers, and then some!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">King was
once asked what scared him the most, and the answer was to lose one of his
young children.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the book, which was a
real page turner, he wrote to that fear.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">What could be worse than losing a child?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">How about having that child come back, as something dark and wicked,
that looks like that child, but is actually something that isn’t human,
something totally malevolent and evil?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">How about not only losing your child, but having to kill that child –
or, that is to say, a vile demon thing disguised as that child?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The acting in the movie, especially early on,
from any of them, isn’t always the best here (Blaze Berdahl as young Ellie
Creed is one of the whiniest little actors you’re ever likely to see), and the
pacing is strained, keeping the film from breaking into the top ten, yet the
film hints at the horror to come when the family cat comes back, and after a
tragic middle act sets up the ending, it’s both terrifying and tragic at the
same time, with at least one very shocking death at the hands of the nasty
little tyke who comes back!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">14. Christine</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the evil car one, and we’re
starting to get into the territory now where the book was definitely
better.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some of the changes they made
for this movie didn’t do a whole lot for the story.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Still, Alexandra Paul was a knockout as Leigh
Cabot, John Stockwell was interesting as the best friend Dennis, and Keith
Gordon gave a memorable performance as Arnie, the geek who becomes transformed
once he buys an old, beat up 1958 Plymouth Fury painted red, named Christine,
and begins falling in love with her. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">John
Carpenter, after successes with the theatrical horror films </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Halloween, The Fog</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Thing</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, showed that he was still in
fine form for this film about a demonic car.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">She’s hell on wheels!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">15. Creepshow</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stephen King loves horror.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s one reason he writes so much about
it.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">He knows the classic old stories
like “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Lottery”, and the classic writers like Edgar
Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, and the classics of the film genre as well, from
the old Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur films of the 40’s to Roger Corman cheapies
and the Hammer studio films of the 50’s and 60’s, and the film magazines that
went with them, such as </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Famous Monsters
of Filmland</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fangoria</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And going right along with all of that is the
old EC Horror Comics like </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tales from the
Crypt</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Vault of Horror</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Long before HBO made a (rather vulgar) series
out of </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tales from the Crypt</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, King
teamed up with director George Romero to make this film as a loving tribute to
those old horror stories about revenge and perfect comeuppance.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The comic book style here is right on target,
and it has yet to be beat, and the six tales told here (including the
wrap-around tale about a little boy and a voodoo doll) seem to be right out of
the pages of one of those old comic books.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you’re a fan of horror, especially those old horror comics, and have
not seen this original </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Creepshow</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
movie, what are you waiting for?</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">16. Firestarter</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yes, the book was better.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And given some of the acting caliber here,
such as George C. Scott, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher, and Martin Sheen, I guess
I was expecting more.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The story is still
interesting, and I liked the relationship between Drew Barrymore as young Charlie
McGee and David Keith as her father Andy, on the run from a government agency
who wants to exploit her fire making mental abilities.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yet compared with the book, it falls
flat.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Many scenes were full of wild
shlock and bad acting, and the screenplay had major problems with plots and
characters, even with such a good book as a blueprint.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the end, though, it does deliver with some
action and some fantastic fire stunts.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was just okay as it was, though it’s far from the best.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">If it were ever remade with some better
acting and a better script, it could be quite a good movie!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">17. The Running Man</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who’d have ever thought that a
Schwarzenegger action film would ever come from the mind of Stephen King?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Writing as “Richard Bachman”, Stephen King
wrote this early story about futuristic gladiators fighting a televised battle
to the death for ratings.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">On a role,
the powers that be thought this would be the perfect vehicle for Arnold
Schwarzenegger… and they were right!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Adding a sleazy Richard Dawson as the game show host of “The Running
Man” was a bit of a clever stroke.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
Arnold spouts his trademark line, “I’ll be back,” Dawson counters him with
“Only in a rerun.”</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s all cheesy 80’s
sci fi/action, but as such, it shows Schwarzenegger smack-dab in the middle of his
action film heyday!</span><br>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">18. Silver Bullet</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s actually sad to see what eventually
became of some of these young gifted actors from Stephen King movies!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The very talented River Phoenix of </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stand by Me</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and Brad Renfro of </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Apt Pupil</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> both died very young of drug
overdoses, and the same thing happened to the very gifted Corey Haim, who plays
the young, wheelchair bound Marty in this film about a brother and sister on
the trail of a werewolf, based on the heavily illustrated novelette </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cycle of the Werewolf</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The film isn’t as good as </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">An American Werewolf in London</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> or </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Howling</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, in either tension, scares,
or effects, but what it lacks in these areas it tends to make up for in the
acting.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not only Haim and, surprisingly,
Gary Busey as the weird ol’ Uncle Red, but Megan Follows as Marty’s sister Jane
did a wonderful job in this cheesy genre piece, long before taking up the title
role of </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anne of Green Gables</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not the scariest movie you’re ever likely to
see, but this was still a pretty good werewolf film.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">19. Needful Things</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This film was a bit of a mess.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Edited down to 120 minutes for the theatrical
release, it severely gutted the story.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve since seen the expanded 183 minute version on TV with most of the
edited stuff added back in, and it was almost like I was watching a different
movie.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It finally made sense!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">So I do recommend this movie about a
mysterious man who opens a curio shop in a small New England town, but only the longer version.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s something akin to Ray Bradbury’s
“Something Wicked This Way Comes,” and Max von Sydow brings an unnerving
presence as the shopkeeper Leland Gaunt.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">As a quieter piece, it’s able to sustain an interesting story and mood,
but only in the extended cut.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bonus
points:</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The fight between the two women
Nettie and Wilma, played by Amanda Plummer and Valri Bromfield, is one of the
best knock-down, drag-out fights between two women in cinema history!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">20. Cat’s Eye</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This one came out shortly after </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Creepshow</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Firestarter</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, forever linked with those two movies for being another
Stephen King horror vignette, and starring Drew Barrymore.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The three tales here are more low-key than
the ghouls, ghosts, cockroaches, and vicious things in crates from </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Creepshow</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The first is a black comedy about a guy who
wants to stop smoking, and enters a facility fronted by the mob.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The second is about a cheating tennis player
who is forced to walk around the ledge of a skyscraper by his lover’s jealous
husband.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And the third is about a little
girl menaced by a breath-stealing troll.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is some enjoyment in these Stephen King tales, and the production
is just enough to make it rise above the single King segments of other vignette
movies like </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tales From the Darkside: The
Movie</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Quicksilver Highway</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, or
single episodes of such shows as </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Monsters</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Outer Limits</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUawLvbowUf6utS53tpLzzOrIWKsAgPuhgwbSwxaNAjkydwscCv6W2JvpC5H6h3p7sMqPIp14Cu2_XUJvW14u7CHzgYU7INHJSx7a9-tgntRlRJ01aCdTOE49jHl02ttUBSqJVBrAgTryd/s1600/Dark+Half.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUawLvbowUf6utS53tpLzzOrIWKsAgPuhgwbSwxaNAjkydwscCv6W2JvpC5H6h3p7sMqPIp14Cu2_XUJvW14u7CHzgYU7INHJSx7a9-tgntRlRJ01aCdTOE49jHl02ttUBSqJVBrAgTryd/s1600/Dark+Half.jpg"></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">21. The Dark Half</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stephen King often likes to explore some
of the conventions dealing with his writing.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Misery</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, his main character
was a famous writer who suddenly found himself at the mercy of his psychotic
“number one fan”.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Secret Window</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, his main character finds
himself confronted by a bumpkin with charges of plagiarism.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">1408</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
his main character is the tired writer of ghost stories who suddenly discovers
it’s all real.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gordie Lachance from </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stand by Me</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is a writer, and so is Jack
Torrence from </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Shining</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, mirroring
Stephen King’s own bouts with the bottle.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this story, he explores his pseudonym “Richard Bachman”.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like himself, and Paul Sheldon from </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Misery</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, the main character here, Thad
Beaumont (Timothy Hutton) attempts something more noble than his usual critic
proof pulp fiction, and puts his pseudonym, “George Stark”, to sleep.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">He even stages a grave marker for George
while shooting a magazine spread.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
time, what the main character discovers, is that this pseudonym is as real, and
as dangerous, as the ghosts in </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">1408</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Shining</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although some of the performances are good,
and a few scenes involving thousands of sparrows hint at what could </span><u style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">really</u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
be done these days with a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Birds</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, this is far from one of King’s most thrilling movies,
and it quite often falls flat.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">22. Thinner</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This was originally written as a
“Bachman Book”, and the premise certainly sounds like reliable
entertainment.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the movie, a fat,
gluttonous lawyer is cursed by gypsies and soon discovers that he loses weight
no matter how much he eats.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fans of Sam
Raimi’s </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Drag Me to Hell</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> will now how
horrible those old gypsy curses can be – or just old gypsies, for that
matter!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">At first, he’s thrilled to lose
some fat, but after only a short while, he soon discovers that it won’t
stop.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">He gets thinner, and thinner, and
thinner…</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The film concerns itself with
this lawyer character discovering that his cronies at the court have also been
cursed with various maladies, and he attempts to track down the gypsies to
reverse the curse, and also discovers at the same time that his wife has been
cheating on him.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although the premise is
interesting, and the end is straight out of the EC Horror Comics, dealing with
the lawyer, his wife, the doctor she’s been cheating with, the lawyer’s
innocent daughter, and a gypsy pie, the rest of the movie doesn’t live up to
the hype, and actually finds itself meandering in the middle quite a bit.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">23. Graveyard Shift</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is a B movie about killer rats
infesting an old textile mill.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">As such,
it simply cannot compare with some of the other movies on this list thus
far.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yet for being a B movie about rats,
it actually isn’t all that bad.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
<br>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">24. Children of the Corn</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the original movie with Linda
Hamilton and Peter Horton running afoul of a town full of creepy, murderous
children who have killed all the adults and now worship something inhuman that
lives out in the cornfield.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">They are led
by the short but domineering and ever watchful Isaac (John Franklin) and the
tall, lanky, red-headed murderer Malachi (Courtney Gaines).</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Despite the seemingly endless cycle of
sequels and a remake, like the Friday the 13</span><sup style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> legend of Camp
Crystal lake, these corn kids are now rather iconic, and though this film still
embellished upon Stephen King’s now classic original short story, it kept
enough of the creep factor to still be worth a look, if you’ve never seen it.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">25. Creepshow 2</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The only sequel on this list, simply
because these were all original Stephen King tales, not just “based on his
characters,” it pales significantly in comparison to the original.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">To begin with, although they spent some money
for the animated sequences in the first one, the animation here is </span><u style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">very</u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
sub-par, and that includes the dumb wrap-around tale about a boy growing giant,
carnivorous Venus Fly-traps.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then there’s
the live action stories:</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are only
three this time, instead of five, about one of those wooden drugstore Indians
coming to life and going on the warpath, a slime monster attacking a group of
teenage idiots on a raft, and a hitchhiker menacing a pretty lady driver who
killed him while she was on her way home from an affair (“Hey, thanks for the
ride, lady!”)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">That last one played the
best, and they all had a scary moment or two, but there’s nothing in here as
delicious as any of the segments from the original (except maybe the one
starring Stephen King, “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”)</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">26. Hearts in Atlantis</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In trying to be something different than
the usual King tale about killer kids, giant rats, gypsy curses, and evil
arriving in a coastal Maine town, the filmmakers here adapt a quieter story
about a bullied little boy connecting with a strange but somewhat magical old
lodger who is being chased by mystery men.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anton Yelchin is very likable as the little boy, along with a sweet,
endearing performance from David Morse as the boy all grown up in the
wrap-around tale, but Anthony Hopkins seems to be missing some of the endearing
qualities he had as C.S. Lewis in </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shadowlands</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">They had some good material to work with here
it seems, but the end result is actually been-there-done-that King, with less
drama, tension, magic, or nostalgia than we’ve seen with this kind of thing
before in films like </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Apt Pupil, It</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stand by Me</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hearts
in Atlantis</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is a film that deals more with emotions and feelings than plot
and story, but it wound up feeling empty and hollow, far from the films at the top
of this list.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s a film I really wanted
to like, and then I have to ask how come I didn’t.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">27. The Mist</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This film, starring Thomas Jane, was
actually pretty darned good all the way through.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">They had a very interesting story for a sci
fi/horror film, well executed all the way through, with some sort of mist
descending on a town from a nearby scientific lab where a hole may have been
created leading to some otherworldly plain of existence, and allowing some bizarre
and very dangerous creatures to pass over into this world, concealed in the
mist.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">A group of survivors holds up in a
grocery store, battling all kinds of weird, grotesque beasts.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then one of them, Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay
Harden), the freaky religious nut, gets it into her head that they have to
sacrifice the main character’s son, and manages to convince several other
people in the store to sacrifice him too, sowing seeds of prejudice and discord
among the chaos (you know, pretty much like what would probably really
happen!).</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The effects, the pacing, the
characters, the scares and shocks, all made for a pretty thrilling horror film.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">…and
then they tacked on that awful, horrible, terrible, atrocious, nasty
ending!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was </span><u style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">sickening</u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> the way
it ended.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve never seen such an
otherwise good movie with such a dreadful, ghastly, hideous, repugnant,
revolting, nihilistic ending!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was
shockingly horrendous and inexcusable!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
can’t even begin to tell you!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">28. Dreamcatcher</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another Thomas Jane stinker!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Well, at least the previews made it look interesting.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Four guys are caught off guard in the
wilderness by some sort of alien ship crash landing, somehow infecting all the
animals of the area, and the military is called in, led by Morgan Freeman.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sounds exciting, huh?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">But then, previews can make just about
anything look interesting, if it’s edited right.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This one had a silly ending, centering around
Donnie Wahlberg as a mentally challenged character named Duddits that was
tormented years earlier by these four guys.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not to give anything away, but remember how </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">ended (if you’ve
seen it)?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">That was, hands down, the
worst of the Indian Jones movies, and this film has a similar ending, but it’s
even </span><u style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">more</u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ridiculous!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
although the ending wasn’t as repulsively vile as the one in </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Mist</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, at least </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Mist</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> was exciting up until that nauseating ending.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This one, despite the interesting premise of
alien parasites and visuals to represent one character’s immense internal
struggles (Damian Lewis as Jonesy), it doesn’t work, making this one a considerable
disappointment.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">29. Sleepwalkers</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">As silly as the ending of </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dreamcatcher</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> may be, if you really want
silly, try this story, written directly for the screen by King, about a teenage
boy and his strange mother who are Cat People.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unlike the suspense and suggestiveness of the original </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cat People</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (1942) or even the style,
sexuality and wild cinematic visuals of the 1982 remake, this one is all
cartoonish crap.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve really liked Alice
Krige’s otherworldly menace in movies like </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ghost
Story</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Star Trek: First Contact, </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">but
not THIS one!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The filmmaking qualities
are at a low level here, the makeup effects are ridiculous, particularly
towards the end when these two cat people actually look like human panthers –
or something – and then there’s that scene where some poor slob is stabbed in
the back with a corn on the cob!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s
right, I said a corn on the cob!</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
<br>
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<br>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">30. Maximum Overdrive</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is, without a doubt, the worst of the theatrical
Stephen King films I’ve seen, and is it just a coincidence that it just so
happens to be the one that was directed by Stephen King himself?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think not!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The guy should stick to writing!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">He’s not really a good actor (evidenced by </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Creepshow</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> in particular) and this film shows he’s not a good
director.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This one is based on his short
story “Trucks”, about machines coming to life and trying to take over the world
(or at least a small town and a gas station).</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">That premise has some possibilities, but this horrible movie about a
group of idiotic characters we don’t care about isn’t it!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And just whose idea was it to stick a big
green goblin face on the front of the “leader” of the menacing trucks?</span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Other than anything made for TV and the five theatrical or direct-to-video films I haven't seen, the above list also does not include all the shorts & student films, or unfinished, unreleased,
or generally unknown films, or films with difficult releases (</span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Everything’s Eventual, Willa</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, or an
earlier, unfinished version of </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Apt Pupil</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
starring Ricky Schroeder),</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> theatrical movies with just
a single segment by King (</span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tales From the
Darkside: The Movie</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Quicksilver
Highway</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">), theatrical movies using King’s name, but not really based on his
stories (</span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Lawnmower Man</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">), or any
sequels not written by King, but based on his characters (</span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Children of the Corn</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> franchise, the </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes They Come Back</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> TV movie sequels, </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">A Return to Salem’s Lot, The Rage: Carrie 2, Firestarter 2: Rekindled</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
</span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pet Sematary 2</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">).</span><br>
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Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-9567365993217545802013-10-26T17:42:00.001-07:002013-10-26T17:42:53.015-07:00Racist Actor Chris Noth Hates Black Conservatives... Because They're Black<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxeYO7rSEgYFO0Wvm4paNdh55Vn7B42a7TUr8ayq43biiKg56V326pczUabnDzxXQtppG_mCxbyYc8oAkzUpr_2ALe2SvPgVJgiv7AbtetzUeQ1rADHR8OKSEeBgWrtebGMRfYVxdjOBC/s1600/Chris+Noth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxeYO7rSEgYFO0Wvm4paNdh55Vn7B42a7TUr8ayq43biiKg56V326pczUabnDzxXQtppG_mCxbyYc8oAkzUpr_2ALe2SvPgVJgiv7AbtetzUeQ1rADHR8OKSEeBgWrtebGMRfYVxdjOBC/s320/Chris+Noth.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
just read an article recently on Townhall.com about actor Chris Noth, one of
the stars of <i>The Good Wife,</i> and
formerly of two <i>Law & Order</i> shows
and <i>Sex and the City</i> (a modern,
distasteful, liberal show if there ever was one), and who tweeted recently
“Highest level of racism was shown yesterday when republicans forced a shutdown
of our government. Mostly because our
President is black.” Hmm, here we go
again! You’re telling me incompetence
had nothing to do with it? He followed
that brilliant statement with “Every tea party member should be
horsewhipped.” Hmm. What an intelligent, loving, all-inclusive
guy. Just what you expect from a
Hollywood star! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFafE-N19yxJjMRxYZAnZ9s_PTlmNWIrVY_8C6d6_xki3Pzzx2fgErcJjvEGCEXuO4hdephypdDrAdlI1Y8OAohPoyi0KjKJlxhF4f2nL1ZZR2NKwheXtRmqRGgpRRwIlO7tuUcGt-R3tJ/s1600/Sluts+in+the+City.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFafE-N19yxJjMRxYZAnZ9s_PTlmNWIrVY_8C6d6_xki3Pzzx2fgErcJjvEGCEXuO4hdephypdDrAdlI1Y8OAohPoyi0KjKJlxhF4f2nL1ZZR2NKwheXtRmqRGgpRRwIlO7tuUcGt-R3tJ/s400/Sluts+in+the+City.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris Noth doing what he does best</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
article about Noth (linked <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/2013/10/24/chris-noth-another-brain-dead-actor-n1730912" target="_blank">here</a>) was written by a favorite political commentator of mine,
Larry Elder, and I’m not being racist when I point out that Larry is a black
man. What Chris and his Hollywood ilk,
and the liberal democrats, don’t seem to understand is that race has nothing to
do with our abhorrence of Obama, any more than it has to do with the fact that,
by and large, we also dislike Jamie Foxx, Whoopi Goldberg, Al Sharpton, Jesse
Jackson, Eric Holder, JayZ, Jeremiah Wright, and Kanye West, to name just a
few. The more they shoot off their
mouths with their liberal agendas and ideas, ill manners, sleazy dealings, and
race-baiting, the more we tend to dislike them.
You know who we DO like? We like Dr.
Ben Carson, Allen West, Thomas Sowell, Bill Cosby, Condoleezza Rice, Martin Luther
King Jr., AlfonZo Rachel (of Zonation), David Webb, Elbert Guillory, Tyler
Perry, Mandisa, and Ken Blackwell, to name just a few.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-6ZN_yUNqQ3U3ESjQDLGBJBVDU-OGQwEeu6m_6ucQrFkwETO9bhK9bzEopa3mOywkAn9D-vFcyfFhxwEoVQQUg-DgdnD2DqXZYvW1My30V2M3DgsUghEzJlJ1IvbjNlwjHy4_-ciC1ti5/s1600/Colorful+Conservative+Heroes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-6ZN_yUNqQ3U3ESjQDLGBJBVDU-OGQwEeu6m_6ucQrFkwETO9bhK9bzEopa3mOywkAn9D-vFcyfFhxwEoVQQUg-DgdnD2DqXZYvW1My30V2M3DgsUghEzJlJ1IvbjNlwjHy4_-ciC1ti5/s640/Colorful+Conservative+Heroes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Colorful" Conservative Heroes: How come Liberals Don't Like or Defend Them?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The funny thing is that this list has nothing to do with race either,
but politics. Leftist liberals like the
people on the first list, and, if they’re being honest, have an aversion to the
people on the second list (except maybe Martin Luther King Jr. and Tyler Perry, though they do
like the hide the fact they're both</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Christians), and, by and large,
right-leaning republicans don’t particularly care for the people on the first
list, but tend to revere and look up to the people on the second one.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">What’s the difference here if the skin color
is all black?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The difference is in ideals,
morals, values, lifestyle, and beliefs, just like it should be.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I hate it when people are vilified for
disliking someone based upon their skin color when it obviously is not the
case, and I hate celebutard idiots who tow the party line without having an
original thought of their own or thinking things through before spouting their
incorrect, hateful assumptions, especially when their philosophy is supposed to
be one of liberal inclusion for </span><u style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">everyone</u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, not just those who think like
them!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hypocrites!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mr.
Noth, I don’t dislike Barak Obama because he’s black. I dislike him because of who he is, what he
stands for, and what he’s done to this country.
I’ve already written a lot about his travesties, but here’s just a short
recap: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VzD7d72IsgKd1zUrMIHBj60jQAhmx8tyStH6y_YYLrLff8Izrm0SWyuy8uyX-Ou7ljn7psyHd2kxIyA6TkiC818Y4if4DAEO3JgBvZRY2USquFTNRrk9_tMIgicbeqygZhk7F5ak1ihu/s1600/Barak+Obama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VzD7d72IsgKd1zUrMIHBj60jQAhmx8tyStH6y_YYLrLff8Izrm0SWyuy8uyX-Ou7ljn7psyHd2kxIyA6TkiC818Y4if4DAEO3JgBvZRY2USquFTNRrk9_tMIgicbeqygZhk7F5ak1ihu/s320/Barak+Obama.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's Time to Face the Music, Mr. President</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
not just about the scandals, some of them really impeachable offenses, that he
flippantly dismisses – Fast & Furious, IRS, NSA spying, Benghazi, arming
known terrorists – or his love affair with celebrity, or his inability to speak
without a teleprompter, or using his office and celebrity to comment on
racially fabricated issues that are beneath his office, or his shadowy past in
Kenya and Hawaii and consorts as radical as Saul Alinsky, Bill Ayers, and
Reverend Jeremiah Wright. It’s not the
way he shoved that travesty called the Affordable Healthcare Act, a.k.a.
Obamacare, down our collective throats, lying about what it is so he could get
it passed, and lying through his teeth about the wonderful things it would do
for this country’s healthcare. We’re
finding out now that wasn’t true. It’s
not just about the way he and his administration blamed the republicans for the
recent government shutdown, even though he wouldn’t negotiate with them and, in
the end, got everything he wanted, and unnecessarily and at an additional cost,
closed the memorials down in an attempt to make the republicans look worse, and
called some of the fed-up Americans he’s supposed to be leading anarchists and
terrorists. I suppose any one of these
travesties would be bad enough, but what really gets me is the way the media
and the gullible public eat it all up.
My sister pointed out recently, and I wholeheartedly agree with her,
that if George W. Bush had pulled even a quarter of the stuff that Obama has
and then been dismissive and antagonistic to his political opponents, he would
have been figuratively roasted alive by the public and the press. Why isn’t Obama? That cuts to the heart of why I don’t like
him, or his radical supporters. It’s
because he’s a far left liberal, and because he’s black, that the media and his
brainwashed and adoring public give him a free pass. But don’t think for one second that if he was
politically right and white that the media and the gullible liberals would be
treating him the same way (unless, maybe, he latched himself to an adored,
far-left liberal black politician the way McCain has now).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So
it’s not his skin color, Mr. Noth, any more than it’s the skin color of the tea
partiers you want to be “horsewhipped.” Got
it? Some black people are conservative,
and their world view falls right in line with the tea party. See my list above for examples. Should you be called racist because you
happen to disagree with them? No? Well then, don’t make that accusation against
us over on the right! Think with your
head and not with your party’s idiotic propaganda and “Why we hate the
conservative Christian Right” pamphlets.
The <u>last</u> thing it’s about for us is his skin color. I mean, I don’t care for you much now either,
and <b>you’re</b> <b>white</b>! <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrw-mkBvfM85Sc2wlZMpby9nbvg_JBQFyfk-jF0bzvIovLdtDPm56bnbJadPJkpXFHcLLd3d8kNRICsIwAKt6DeD17nHDw_43krbWGTwBX-2L0Ge_MuluBASnzvKU80R4orkIml-0qFEwx/s1600/The+Good+Wife,+The+Filthy+Rotten+Husband.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrw-mkBvfM85Sc2wlZMpby9nbvg_JBQFyfk-jF0bzvIovLdtDPm56bnbJadPJkpXFHcLLd3d8kNRICsIwAKt6DeD17nHDw_43krbWGTwBX-2L0Ge_MuluBASnzvKU80R4orkIml-0qFEwx/s320/The+Good+Wife,+The+Filthy+Rotten+Husband.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Good Wife... and the Filthy Rotten Husband</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span>Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-83730797857324806592013-10-23T00:24:00.000-07:002013-10-23T00:24:18.877-07:00My Political Heroes: That's Right! Ted Cruz Tops the List!<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For all you conservatives out there, just know that the way they respond to Ted Cruz, including members of his own party, is the way they respond to you! They dislike you and your ideals as much as they dislike Ted Cruz. They look at you the same way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For all you liberals out there, just know that the way Ted Cruz makes you angry and sick to your stomach for his vile and futile attempts to stop Obamacare, abortions, and gay marriage, that the Obama's, the Clintons, Nancy Pelosi, and all their minions make us conservatives equally angry and sick to our stomachs, but more so! Now do you understand?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5-rC_ATKLnizgmovsVaJ5L77GRx9Xcs_5h2pO_WlUGi9mRtHJbY6vzAyNVKELyv1EaUPOl2Npwdm94OlpSOLOCS41tEi8RBgxVtpZbFCbPZSEX6v8zhB7yrOpMJluSngTHatbK3b-F1j/s1600/Tea+Party.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5-rC_ATKLnizgmovsVaJ5L77GRx9Xcs_5h2pO_WlUGi9mRtHJbY6vzAyNVKELyv1EaUPOl2Npwdm94OlpSOLOCS41tEi8RBgxVtpZbFCbPZSEX6v8zhB7yrOpMJluSngTHatbK3b-F1j/s1600/Tea+Party.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There’s still so
much going on! The government finally got moving again after more than two weeks of being shut down, and isn't everybody so much happier now that the republicans have given in to Obama's demands? Obamacare is now the law of the land (oh goodie!), which Obama has been telling us over an over again at the same time he violates our first and second amendment rights, and Obama also got the debt ceiling raised, just like he wanted. I'm so glad he was able to work out a deal with those nasty republicans by getting everything he wanted and not giving an inch. I'm full of warm fuzzies now! The media in his pocket, particularly MSNBC, and the liberal democrats, are doing such an excellent job of brainwashing
the masses into believing it was all because of the republicans and those horrid tea party rabble rousers. Why even George Washington, they informed the public, would be appalled at the actions of those traitorous tea partiers and far right conservative republicans. What do they think this is, a democracy with free speech rights, for Christ's sake?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You know what I say? Thank God for the conservatives, and I’ll
even throw in the libertarians and independents, because they actually THINK
FOR THEMSELVES and don’t just tow the Democratic the party line (unlike all the moderate Republicans who are bad-mouthing Ted Cruz these days).
At least some liberals are starting to wake up to the nightmare that is
the Obama administration! Rob Schneider
for instance, the old <i>Saturday Night Live</i>
cast member mostly known for his old character “The Copy Guy” (“Makin’ Copies”)
and <i>Deuce Bigelow Male Gigolo</i>, is still a self-professed, card carrying Hollywood liberal who probably loves everything he's told to love by his Tinseltown peers, particularly on social issues like same sex marriage and abortion, but just recently, he crossed party lines to support the California gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly because
he can no longer abide by the Obama administration, which he says is killing
his vitamin business with too many big government regulations. I think – I HOPE – that Schneider is only the
tip of the iceberg, and perhaps someday, more of these celebrities will cross party lines on more than just fiscal issues. (See the video linked <a href="http://youtu.be/y10L_903Muk" target="_blank">here</a>.) </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwV_5sNPoaVq9z1hq4W8PB7F7HYT1s5mybuRrXpbGTXP4ofXfCEfWO5letx_ND9CvWkvXZS3LNnc0Xa_UO3iF0HSvQGprpCxxZwF274wQCRNxLyHsI8U_CuVrm3Z9ZJH1Gs6LpKvau5H4F/s1600/Rob+Schneider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwV_5sNPoaVq9z1hq4W8PB7F7HYT1s5mybuRrXpbGTXP4ofXfCEfWO5letx_ND9CvWkvXZS3LNnc0Xa_UO3iF0HSvQGprpCxxZwF274wQCRNxLyHsI8U_CuVrm3Z9ZJH1Gs6LpKvau5H4F/s400/Rob+Schneider.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Obamacare is a complete train wreck! Many Obama supporters have already seen the light when they tried to sign up for it and couldn't even get on, and many others are being floored by sticker shock. It’s
already starting to fail, but it’s still too early to tell if people are going to be
placated by more outright lies. My guess is, they will be! They’re
so brainwashed and gullible!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Obama and the democrats continue to
harp on raising the debt ceiling, which, I’ve heard from some pundits and
political bloggers, isn’t really necessary because the government has enough
money to pay the principal and interest on the debt even if the debt ceiling
isn’t raised.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">All it would mean is that
the Obama administration and congress would need to need to cut some government
programs and tighten their collective belts, and, of course, they don’t want to
have to do that!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Better to lie to the public and demonize the
tea party and the far right conservative republicans, and it doesn’t help that
the moderate republicans in congress are playing right along with the
president.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s disgusting, is what it
is!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">But this is simply what Obama
does.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">When the government shuts down
because the president refuses to negotiate, or is forced to “negotiate” in
closed door meetings with both political parties that end with a stalemate and
nothing solved because he still refuses to actually negotiate and give an inch, and then gets his way anyway, we can see clearly that Obama is just doing what he’s always done, and then lies about it, which the media reports to the masses, most of who swallow it
all, particularly the hard-core MSNBC groupies who block Fox News from their channel listings.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Obama</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> was the same way with the parks
being shut down.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">There was no reason in
the world to shut down the war memorials, but Obama did it, actually going to a
great deal of expense to keep World War II vets from viewing their
memorial.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s a cheap shot, and had
nothing to do with the government shut down.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">But the Obama administration and the media in their pocket want to paint the republicans as villains, and they said the shut-down caused these memorial closures,
so that’s what the Obama sponges believed!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">How do you fight against something like that and make the easily
manipulated masses see it for what it is?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtA3p4Y3S3PDxlZlc9wtKTcUMI7nq97gIUf2dfm6HdUn2epN8cAX4pZVSiiRzROeTs2q2fk9DOE0rc6jR0g3ROyRNcpP-ifnf9dS1xSYG0oK_cKTI1N6Su6RVNcc3ollPjHeqkREMUJFK/s1600/Republicans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtA3p4Y3S3PDxlZlc9wtKTcUMI7nq97gIUf2dfm6HdUn2epN8cAX4pZVSiiRzROeTs2q2fk9DOE0rc6jR0g3ROyRNcpP-ifnf9dS1xSYG0oK_cKTI1N6Su6RVNcc3ollPjHeqkREMUJFK/s640/Republicans.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve been watching more of CSPAN
lately, and happened to catch a little bit of a speech by Rick Santorum (linked <a href="http://youtu.be/jt_-yJMFCe4" target="_blank">here</a>), and a
full hour from the FRCAction headquarters (Family Research Council) featuring
Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center, and senators <a href="http://youtu.be/4sbHFnmaHY8" target="_blank">Ted Cruz</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/WJuz-hZ3JyE" target="_blank">Rand Paul</a>
(who recently gave a 21 hour filibuster that was demonized by the more liberal
republicans such as John McCain), and <a href="http://youtu.be/XD3bZV-ZvZw" target="_blank">Marco Rubio</a>.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (Their names link to videos of their speeches) </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Poor Ted Cruz had to deal with a whole ton of
mouthy, disrespectful liberals planted in the audience, but he handled it quite
well!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Despite Rubio’s recent association
with some of the most leftist republicans who tried to pass a bill through
congress excusing all the illegal immigrants, I liked what all four had to say,
even amidst those liberal hecklers planted throughout the audience.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Their messages were about the train wreck
that is Obamacare, the cultural rot happening in America, the ongoing economic
crisis, the war against Christians (tolerating everyone </span><u style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">but</u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Christians)
and the small faction of militant Islamist terrorists that isn’t really all
that small and that is waging a war on Christianity, and the rights of everyone,
including Christians, to speak their minds!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrA_qygzyjWEQcF9Ktpy0-Y39AKs21sEYIwiLlbdy4BXSFiIjZiSBCKQKOELe-zi3SUrtg9EWGg0eSyo2A2-H-07f8d5WtWjhuSS4fSgRQ9LRKFLN9RvY8dSGVXqnEQBISX6o41MJ-QQzt/s1600/Sean+Duffy+vs.+MSNBC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrA_qygzyjWEQcF9Ktpy0-Y39AKs21sEYIwiLlbdy4BXSFiIjZiSBCKQKOELe-zi3SUrtg9EWGg0eSyo2A2-H-07f8d5WtWjhuSS4fSgRQ9LRKFLN9RvY8dSGVXqnEQBISX6o41MJ-QQzt/s1600/Sean+Duffy+vs.+MSNBC.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8GjDkfBzcOxu0KNf7cM3KcG7_AJD0N-B0Hgq9d9882Q8D4vtIJuFUFbYAlbLE7_zgW6WwcpvLwLFekHhZyrJGdZC3dpX5lGOuANh0lr7U5pKL_kqlQj8A3rHThTjznAgxvspicPCUmC1/s1600/Elbert+Guillory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8GjDkfBzcOxu0KNf7cM3KcG7_AJD0N-B0Hgq9d9882Q8D4vtIJuFUFbYAlbLE7_zgW6WwcpvLwLFekHhZyrJGdZC3dpX5lGOuANh0lr7U5pKL_kqlQj8A3rHThTjznAgxvspicPCUmC1/s200/Elbert+Guillory.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">All we needed to make this fascinating and inspiring hour of television on CSPAN complete was possibly Wisconsin Congressman
Sean Duffy, who took the media to task recently for their hideously lopsided and shoddy
reporting when MSNBC “reporter”/Obama Parrot Andrea Mitchell sanctimoniously
attempted to, once again, demonize republicans and stick up for her “glorious
leader” (linked <a href="http://youtu.be/jyzS60FPJ8w" target="_blank">here</a>), and Louisiana Senator Elbert Guillory who recently changed from
Democrat to Republican and gave a very eye-opening, informative, and eloquent testimonial
on YouTube about why he switched (see his great explanation linked <a href="http://youtu.be/5KisCn1TyOc" target="_blank">here</a>), and why you should too!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I now
have a few more candidates for possible heroes and people to look up to and admire from their kind, and another
Obama Parrot in the media to dislike passionately.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s
a few pictures from Facebook over the last few days I’d like to share here:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOfwd0TSgxZXgFMb0VWeTHuzkpXOdwWOXCdYcDY2FUuv4GC2TdbRxlLaC_1iMP0sY8er_mFLp7AjqCri5GpVFkabxYj7prS7C2WYo5rVCnpDH72ETT-iXG8gTHoy5tZX2hzWRGUqupWMY/s1600/Politics+October+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOfwd0TSgxZXgFMb0VWeTHuzkpXOdwWOXCdYcDY2FUuv4GC2TdbRxlLaC_1iMP0sY8er_mFLp7AjqCri5GpVFkabxYj7prS7C2WYo5rVCnpDH72ETT-iXG8gTHoy5tZX2hzWRGUqupWMY/s640/Politics+October+2013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-85787222348710879022013-10-12T23:58:00.003-07:002013-10-12T23:58:49.085-07:00Penguins, Fanboys, Aliens, Zombies (Human and Canine), a Christian Sermon, and Reed Fish: Movies I Saw in September That Weren't All That Good or Bad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/c08xrl7PKjU" target="_blank">Mr. Popper’s Penguins</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4XLwGFQyEWG0qenIygpfTwYLUpI-WRy8cL2uuKH2d8DWg0bgApMPcOUJiYBRYxfN1BqH1an2qxmy2R8UToURV5OXyBly2qo5UiuUr9gqunRRi6wVzXXg8qjFyymNgj2XBXxro8lRm_lVc/s1600/Mr.+Popper%2527s+Penguins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4XLwGFQyEWG0qenIygpfTwYLUpI-WRy8cL2uuKH2d8DWg0bgApMPcOUJiYBRYxfN1BqH1an2qxmy2R8UToURV5OXyBly2qo5UiuUr9gqunRRi6wVzXXg8qjFyymNgj2XBXxro8lRm_lVc/s1600/Mr.+Popper%2527s+Penguins.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This was a cute
movie, and of course, not believable for a second. But as a cute family movie, just go with
it! The CGI penguins are rendered
believable and cute, if just a bit too human, but the movie thankfully didn’t
devolve into <i>Zookeeper</i> territory, even
when the main penguin, named Captain, who tried to imitate flying birds, got
stuck to a kite in the end and flew to safety, soaring over the mean old
penguin expert who was going to separate them and sell them to different zoos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/Md6Dvxdr0AQ" target="_blank">World War Z</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_78pG6yVpe6XYNq9JkTYQob1jiyRBanTjYqnz1skmCf9-BA7XH99HUzB2rW38SJyHWNMpDVNccDl3SC7gHcPlN1EPLnHm6-wt6MEMAihpCs38tcABwht4PPz33jOPCe5UuLTpsmJiOTzU/s1600/World+War+Z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_78pG6yVpe6XYNq9JkTYQob1jiyRBanTjYqnz1skmCf9-BA7XH99HUzB2rW38SJyHWNMpDVNccDl3SC7gHcPlN1EPLnHm6-wt6MEMAihpCs38tcABwht4PPz33jOPCe5UuLTpsmJiOTzU/s1600/World+War+Z.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This was a fun
zombie apocalypse movie on a global scale.
The major drawback is the frenetic, in-your-face, you-are-there camera
work with the fast, shaky, tilted images darting all over the place. I understand the concept of the handheld
style being used to help denote realism, but could you crank it back
please. I hate it when you can barely
tell what’s going on!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/T4-PWNqCsYs" target="_blank">Fanboys</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqEPBQ_OAW-dI-90r2bGNQsR9k7VyB3xK0OgieyL1GLquRIk26TUO4HlQg__HdDI08ZD0ibljdL-_TrUIL3NIfuWKotSVaANfzo1NjvfgJ3l5nFnwaNPl3gyOluYvINwe9bY2QS1csZVF/s1600/Fanboys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqEPBQ_OAW-dI-90r2bGNQsR9k7VyB3xK0OgieyL1GLquRIk26TUO4HlQg__HdDI08ZD0ibljdL-_TrUIL3NIfuWKotSVaANfzo1NjvfgJ3l5nFnwaNPl3gyOluYvINwe9bY2QS1csZVF/s400/Fanboys.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This was the
story of four Star Wars geeks on a cross country trip to break into George
Lucas Skywalker Ranch and steal the first print of <i>Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace</i> before it’s officially
released to the public. They have a
noble reason for doing such a thing, since they love <i>Star Wars</i> <u>so much</u>, and one of them, played by the appealing
Chris Marquette (<i>Joan of Arcadia</i>), is dying of cancer and won’t see it before he dies. Along the way, they run across William
Shatner, who gives them plans and security codes for Lucas’ estate, and a nurse
who looks like Princess Leia, played by, you guessed it, Carrie Fisher, and they have an ongoing battle with a bunch of boorish Trekkies, and if truth be told,
I like Jay Baruchel (<i>The Sorcerer's Apprentice</i>) and Sam Huntington (<i>Being Human</i>) playing two of the other geeks, yet
given this premise and cast, it should have been funny and emotional, and it
was really neither. <i>Big Bang Theory</i> it is not, unfortunately. Additionally, I
didn’t like Dan Fogler (<i>Balls of Fury</i>) as the overweight, sex-crazed, filthy geek, and similar
to fans of Michelle Pfeiffer wondering what she was doing in <i>Grease 2</i>, we have Kristen Bell as a girl
geek traveling with the guys and secretly in love with Baruchel’s
character. It’s just one of those things
that makes you go “Huh?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/nTA4p5zarys" target="_blank">I’m Reed Fish</a></span></i></div>
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<i><o:p></o:p></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGP_ZGzphPcmiIzOAte-w9hvlcf84sYppKTVicJvhH1ijnGYSuwR47kwi171YocymIV5MgHqfqGWTCcKvLcW4R6irI5RUmx-re4t2VYNXEfN0Uu3yjLJ7QiScRqxsjn57LvO9uqpTDJBI/s1600/I%2527m+Reed+Fish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGP_ZGzphPcmiIzOAte-w9hvlcf84sYppKTVicJvhH1ijnGYSuwR47kwi171YocymIV5MgHqfqGWTCcKvLcW4R6irI5RUmx-re4t2VYNXEfN0Uu3yjLJ7QiScRqxsjn57LvO9uqpTDJBI/s1600/I%2527m+Reed+Fish.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This was pretty
good, and some of the characters, including the main one, were rather
charming. Cute and quirky are the words of choice
here. It’s
about a young man, played by Jay Baruchel, whose parents were killed in a car
accident along with the mother of his fiancé.
He’s taken over his father’s job as the small town’s major radio
DJ/host, and eventually begins to realize that, although he’s good at it and is
well liked by the town, this might not be his choice of careers. When a local girl comes back to town after
leaving college, he hits it off with her, inspiring her to follow her dream of
music, and realizes he may only be with his fiancé out of their shared
grief. All of this is presented in a
reveal about midway through, as these people play themselves or other people as
part of a “film within a film,” and this might be an interesting twist if it
added anything to the story, but it doesn’t.
It’s a twist that just sort of sits there and doesn’t go anywhere, much
like this movie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> One interesting side note is that
the screenplay was written by someone named Reed Fish, so I’m guessing it’s all
sort of some experimental postmodern meta-fiction, especially with the concept
of the film within a film that is already in the movie, and with Jay Baruchel
playing a character with the same name as the screenwriter, I’m wondering if
this meta-fiction doesn’t possibly proceed to the level of the real – sort of a
movie within a movie about a real guy.
However, whether it does or not, even this concept doesn’t really add
anything or make the romance and character at the center of the story any
better.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/K8iLp1xQtPQ" target="_blank">Dark Skies</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are so
many haunted house movies out right now, it’s hard to know what to even
pick! There’s <i>Mama, The Conjuring, The Last Exorcism Part II, The Lords of Salem,
Sinister, The Possession, The Woman in Black, V/H/S and S VHS, The Devil
Inside, </i>the<i> Paranormal Activity </i>movies<i>, The House at the End of the Street, Silent
House, The Awakening, Insidious </i>and<i>
Insidious 2, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark</i>, and <i>The Rite</i>, to name just a few over the last few years. <i>Dark
Skies</i> looked like more of the same, with Kerri Russell and Josh Hamilton as
the put upon adults suffering a haunting with their two boys. Turns out, however, it’s not a haunting. Instead, it’s aliens, and these things are
even creepier than the ones you might have seen in <i>Signs</i> or <i>Close Encounters of
the Third Kind</i>. These are “the
greys”, which any knowledgeable alien conspiracy theorist (of which I am not)
is already well acquainted with. (A co-worker of mine believes in all of this, along with quite a few other hard-to-swallow conspiracy theories, and has, at the very least, opened my eyes to the quite vast number of people in the subculture that delves into such ideas.) Is
there really such a thing as "greys", as these characters find out (from J.K. Simmons)? Well, there’s a reason why this is filed
under “F” for fiction. I’ll believe it
when I see it firsthand (which is really the only way <u>to</u> believe it). As for the movie, it has some chilling
parts. Not to give anything away, but
the ending was a downer. We didn’t like
the way it ended, and I’ve heard from others who felt the same. This is okay for a few good chills, but it’s
slight otherwise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/o2luLW-9ySw" target="_blank">Frankenweenie</a></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFs4yWBgYGHQbpGRLfiCxqiNv6WVVRLKr2AfNp6ZStp_5La6e0i-kH7LFswICSTlan_TXW7x-iDx_SAEIZngS4Kb9YXVQIfgm1_LJAG8Uv_zDAdSChRu4yCYuJ62IzY3AEq5ROpfNcz3z/s1600/Frankenweenie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFs4yWBgYGHQbpGRLfiCxqiNv6WVVRLKr2AfNp6ZStp_5La6e0i-kH7LFswICSTlan_TXW7x-iDx_SAEIZngS4Kb9YXVQIfgm1_LJAG8Uv_zDAdSChRu4yCYuJ62IzY3AEq5ROpfNcz3z/s320/Frankenweenie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I caught the
beginning of this, and never had the desire to see the end of it. It was all right, but not as good as many
other animated movies I’ve seen. If the
truth be told, I actually prefer the older live action short from 1984. Nice voice work by Atticus Shaffer (Brick
from <i>The Middle</i>) as the weird
hunchback kid Edgar ‘E’ Gore, though (see the entire original, and another early Tim Burton short called "Vincent", linked <a href="http://youtu.be/2rcPe9sojpc" target="_blank">here</a>).</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/nzKijw7v6AM" target="_blank">Unstoppable</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First reaction
is one of disappointment. This is, first
and foremost, a heavily produced and edited church sermon, and not one that
particularly moved me. Kirk Cameron is
very impassioned with this message, but in the end, I’m not sure he was able to
answer his own question specifically, which was, “Why does God allow bad things
to happen to good people?” He glosses
over the idea of the Anthropic principle that Dinesh D’Souza covers so well in
his otherwise awkwardly titled book <i>Godforsaken: Bad Things Happen. Is There a God Who Cares? Yes.
Here’s Proof</i>. He also doesn’t
even stop to ponder the question of whether or not there truly are “good
people” in a world of imperfect sinners.
As devout Christians, the son of close friends died of cancer when both
families and their church were praying for healing, and Kirk started wrestling
with the questions of evil and suffering in the world, and began to take
another look at the opening stories of the bible: Adam and Eve, Cain and Able,
Noah and the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the Hebrew Nation and Abraham, all
leading to the birth of Christ, and His death and resurrection on the cross,
stories and themes that are very familiar to Christians. But did he answer the question of suffering
to our satisfaction? Even he admits
there will always be a question mark (though, he says, for him and his faith,
that question mark has been turned into an exclamation point).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> The filming of the story of Adam and
Eve, and Cain and Abel, were a little strange and over the top, if you ask me,
and the scene where he tries to pitch the story of Noah to Hollywood producers
was played for laughs and to be an eye-opening revelation at the same time, but
it simply falls flat. We – that is
myself, my Mom, and my sister and her rather reluctant family were all disappointed. The film itself was only an hour, but felt
like at least two. It was instead the
live half hour introduction from Liberty University that happened to be more
moving, when Kirk interviewed a Vietnam veteran who gave his life to God after
his legs were blown off, and Charles Woods, father of slain Navy Seal Tyrone
Woods who was killed in Benghazi.
Mandisa and Warren Barfield were also on hand to sing catchy tunes with
powerful messages. Kirk’s “personal journal”
of a movie was simply not as good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> I like how they all say God and His
message are unstoppable, even when Facebook and YouTube apparently tried to
shut down his attempts to market it to his main Christian audience, but just
because someone makes a documentary, or a song, or a poem, or anything else about
God, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good just because the focus in on God. I actually liked some of Kirk’s previous
Christian movies, maligned though they were among the non-Christian community,
such as <i>Fireproof</i> and <i>Monumental</i>. In this case, however, this one needed more work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> With all of this said, I will also
say it’s really nice to see the former teen heartthrob of the old show <i>Growing Pains</i> be so on fire for
Jesus. I wish there were more
celebrities like him!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-56468026453977001632013-10-10T01:11:00.000-07:002013-10-10T01:11:03.905-07:00Kirk Cameron: Real Hero<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVtMhChcnqsb07wGBnYzzXnQovWMi9c34J6-i8qhB-eHpqHVHTAC4VQNGeZOshlLfKU0YHo_Ju2Lw_QfDyYODqt3L1AvTNFSn44KePn2yc9hkVmrmsVBgTg5WtrK7bpX3zp5um9sLX_LT/s1600/Kirk+Cameron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVtMhChcnqsb07wGBnYzzXnQovWMi9c34J6-i8qhB-eHpqHVHTAC4VQNGeZOshlLfKU0YHo_Ju2Lw_QfDyYODqt3L1AvTNFSn44KePn2yc9hkVmrmsVBgTg5WtrK7bpX3zp5um9sLX_LT/s320/Kirk+Cameron.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-no-proof: yes;">There’s no doubt in my mind that Kirk Cameron is a real hero. Anyone that is THAT on fire for the Lord is a
real hero in my book, particularly if they hail from Hollywood! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-no-proof: yes;"> This doesn’t mean, as is
true of any person, Christian or otherwise, that he can’t sometimes become his
own worst enemy, I suppose. His recent
documentary <i><a href="http://youtu.be/nzKijw7v6AM" target="_blank">Unstoppable</a></i> was marketed
as an amazing personal journey that was not to be missed, and Kirk certainly
tackled a great question, the very question that, as he explains in the
documentary, turns Christians into atheists, or worse, and it came on the heels
of Kirk experiencing a devastating loss amongst a small group of devout
Christian friends when a loving 15 year old boy finally died of cancer. With access to Liberty University’s new
Cinematic Studies department and students, Kirk decided to tackle the question
of how God can allow evil and suffering in the world, with a strong emphasis on
the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, and Noah and the Flood, backed up
with recreations of some of these stories with Kirk’s voice over. The problem is the same problem I run across
with many Christian products – if it’s about God, it should be better, but it
so often is not. The renditions of the
stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel were – this is the only word that
seems to fit the visuals I saw – “disturbing”.
They looked like something out of a strange horror film, with Adam being
born from mud, and Eve being taken from his side, and then being tempted by a humanoid
serpent, and Cain’s murder of Abel being quite bloody and violent. Kirk talks about God’s role as all this drama
unfolded, making skins to cover Adam and Eve before expelling them from
paradise, or putting a mark on Cain to keep anyone else from murdering him, but
allowing him to live. His point is that
God showed compassion in all of this sin and misery to those who committed
these crimes, but I don’t think he was clearly able to make his case for how
God allows evil and suffering into the world. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wuSENyVs0G6xqZPQPWcY1FBd0t8pkA_58bzn-X_dCHRw9CeAbr20hHVJJPhsS0TTXW7A9nM73L_pE6A3H2g7wt-KZwitIbHKFIicjO1Qv4Qru9Ac75pvUKOUUeG3H2xSQ9LY7ePErzOG/s1600/Unstoppable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wuSENyVs0G6xqZPQPWcY1FBd0t8pkA_58bzn-X_dCHRw9CeAbr20hHVJJPhsS0TTXW7A9nM73L_pE6A3H2g7wt-KZwitIbHKFIicjO1Qv4Qru9Ac75pvUKOUUeG3H2xSQ9LY7ePErzOG/s400/Unstoppable.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-no-proof: yes;"> Dinesh D’Souza tackled the same question in his book <i>Godforsaken</i>, and used for his catalyst
the Anthropic principle of the fine tuned universe, and how there was really no
other way God could have created the universe without making us in His image
and giving us free will. I was very
impressed with D’Souza’s argument and book, and that’s basically what I was expecting
when I went to this movie. Instead, I
got a rather meandering sermon, heightened with unsettling recreations of old
biblical stories, and in the end, even the narrator says the question mark
remains (though for him personally, it has changed into an exclamation
point). With this film, audiences got a
message from the mournful friend of a grieving family doing his best to make
sense of a tragedy, but he wound up preaching only to the choir, and still did
not provide a complete answer the question he tackled. If I were going to do the same thing, I would
have tackled the issue from the same standpoint that Dinesh did, using the
Anthropic principle. In my opinion, that’s
the <u>real</u> key to answering that question!
And aside from the live pre-show from Liberty University, the film
clocked in at one hour tops. You’re not
going to be able to answer such a question in an hour, no matter who you might
have working behind the camera!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="height: 12px; left: 0px; margin-left: 59px; margin-top: 463px; mso-ignore: vglayout; position: absolute; width: 227px; z-index: 251662336;"><img height="12" src="file:///C:\Users\GARYVA~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1026" width="227" /></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-no-proof: yes;"> Still, even though the product may not be all we hoped it
to be, the fact that an old Hollywood heartthrob is on fire for God and even
attempting to make such a product is amazing and praise-worthy! I've seen Kirk Cameron listed on the internet as one of the top out-of-touch former Hollywood stars or has-beens (see links <a href="http://worstamericans.blogspot.com/2005/08/7-kirk-cameron.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/298785/kirk-cameron-backlash-alan-thicke-craig-ferguson-debra-messing-more-slam-gay-hate-speech" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://worstamericans.blogspot.com/2005/08/7-kirk-cameron.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Truthfully, he should wear such a moniker as a badge of honor, knowing the
people and projects Hollywood chooses to embrace these days! What THEY label as out-of-touch and strange, the
Christian heartland embraces. The truth
is, as Kirk said in the live pre-show for his movie, Hollywood doesn’t know
what to do with him. Even for a
documentary that Kirk himself called simply his “personal journey” and that
was, in all reality, a glorified church sermon, the Christians stood up for it
and went to this live event in droves, which, according to this recent Facebook
post, broke all kinds of records:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrI9CncDzmZMGdYPF21RLJxWeImgzfiBxpgB_BiWWML8asLWKeaCPSONQVrCXMIJeLnOKXk-ZcA5cqxdJh9oZK6OklRk-NtEVSdNeWi5FPKAuhZcqd545THdlD3fMaNo0J0rh6PXu1vR0f/s1600/Live+Unstoppable+Event.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrI9CncDzmZMGdYPF21RLJxWeImgzfiBxpgB_BiWWML8asLWKeaCPSONQVrCXMIJeLnOKXk-ZcA5cqxdJh9oZK6OklRk-NtEVSdNeWi5FPKAuhZcqd545THdlD3fMaNo0J0rh6PXu1vR0f/s1600/Live+Unstoppable+Event.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-no-proof: yes;">See the following links for more on <i>Unstoppable</i>:</span></div>
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<a href="http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/kirk-cameron-documentary-proves-unstoppable-box-office-174317468.html">http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/kirk-cameron-documentary-proves-unstoppable-box-office-174317468.html</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.charismanews.com/culture/41302-kirk-cameron-s-unstoppable-breaks-3-2-million-at-box-office">http://www.charismanews.com/culture/41302-kirk-cameron-s-unstoppable-breaks-3-2-million-at-box-office</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/kirk-camerons-unstoppable-documentary-grosses-over-3-million-opening-weekend-105995/">http://www.christianpost.com/news/kirk-camerons-unstoppable-documentary-grosses-over-3-million-opening-weekend-105995/</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/26/truly-amazing-heres-what-ended-up-happening-with-kirk-camerons-new-movie-about-god-suffering-and-the-bible/">http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/26/truly-amazing-heres-what-ended-up-happening-with-kirk-camerons-new-movie-about-god-suffering-and-the-bible/</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/movie-review-of-kirk-camerons-unstoppable-106032/">http://www.christianpost.com/news/movie-review-of-kirk-camerons-unstoppable-106032/</a></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-71721825086079105662013-10-05T23:37:00.002-07:002013-10-05T23:37:44.783-07:00A Fantastic "Voyage", a Musical "Step Up", Something Darkly "Sinister", and a "Haunted" Comedy: My Picks for the Best and Worst Movies I Saw in Sept. 2013[The titles all link to the trailers]<br />
Since the year 2000, every month in my journal, out of all the movies I saw that month, I always pick my two favorites, and the one or two stinkers I happened to see. I'm not a movie critic or a true cinefile, which means I often don't get to see most movies when they are released. Therefore, the only rule is that I can choose any movies I happened to see that month, no matter when they were released, provided I haven't already named it as a favorite or a stinker before.<br />
<br />
This is my list for the movies I saw in September of 2013:<br />
<br />
<b><span style="background-color: white; color: blue;">The Best:</span></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/2rC9Zxj0EJo" target="_blank">The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I loved <i><a href="http://youtu.be/lWKj41HZBzM" target="_blank">The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe</a></i>,
and then saw <i><a href="http://youtu.be/9Q0Da4jlxBk" target="_blank">Prince Caspian</a></i>, and
found myself disappointed. Then, after
recently reading the first three <i>Chronicles
of Narnia</i>, I found myself liking the first and third stories more than the
second (<i>Prince Caspian</i>), and was
therefore curious about what they did with the third Chronicle movie, <i>The Voyage of the Dawn Treader</i>. I loved the third book, and the story, though
perhaps not as much as the first one.
The story brings Lucy and Edmund back to Narnia to join Prince Caspian’s
voyage on his beautiful ship, the Dawn Treader, and with their annoying cousin
Eustace along for the trip. They have
many fantastical adventures that were, I believed, rendered quite well here,
and all the themes from the book dealing with the five main characters of Lucy,
Edmund, Eustace, Prince Caspian, and the talking mouse Reepicheep (voiced by
Simon Pegg).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> As with the book, the lion
Aslan shows up occasionally offering guidance to the characters when they are
in need of him; he's a shadowy presence that is, at times, physically there and not
really there at the same time, as he is basically the Holy Spirit for these
characters, and when they at last encounter him for real at the edge of this
fantasy world, he reveals to Lucy, Edmund, and a now changed Eustace that in
their world, he goes by another name, but they can have a relationship with him
there just as they do here. C.S. Lewis’
strong Christian allegory here may be rather blunt, but it works, and I, for
one, applaud it! How can a Christian not
really end up liking a set of entertaining, imaginative fantasy stories for
children that teach about the concepts and character of Christ?</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><span style="color: blue;">The 2nd Best:</span><i> </i></b></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/gdamC7jUrjs" target="_blank">Step Up Revolution</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I love dance,
and that’s what this movie was all about, and all it was ever intended to be
about. And that’s okay! I particularly liked the way the filmmakers
used the whole “Mob” angle. Lovers or
dance will love it!</span></div>
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Of course, no one in
these <i><a href="http://youtu.be/ZgnmCqA25-o" target="_blank">Step Up</a></i> movies will probably
ever receive any kind of award for great acting or screenwriting, but as I
said, that is not what these <i><a href="http://youtu.be/bL2wDI-O5YQ" target="_blank">Step Up</a></i>
movies are all about, and as dance movies go, I like these <i><a href="http://youtu.be/89TLbK6o-og" target="_blank">Step Up</a></i> movies more than something like <i><a href="http://youtu.be/JkBe80SajCg" target="_blank">You Got Served</a></i>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">The Worst:</span></b></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/pgYxydrVlDk" target="_blank">Sinister </a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This movie was
“sinister”, and dark, dark, dark, dark!
Did I say “dark”? It was
dark! It was dark, dark! It was darko dark, but not as good as Donnie
Darko… dark! But it was dark. Is that enough use of the word “dark”? Maybe not.
It was not only dark in content, but also in the lighting and the way it
was shot. The cinematographer seemed to
have a penchant for shooting things without sufficient light, or too much back
light, and maybe that was the fault of the director. They were making a darkly toned horror movie,
after all! Very darkly toned! Dark!
Even in the daylight, with the sun streaming through their windows, the
characters were often in silhouette, or talking in noticeably drab and dark
interiors that didn’t get any light from the open windows. Lighted lamps only gave off a small ring of
light, enough to light the lamp itself, and nothing else. It was like they lived in some dark
netherworld. I understand the green
movement and trying to save electricity, but this is ridiculous! You literally quite often couldn’t see what
was going on! It was dark. Like, pitch black dark!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> The plot was quite demonic and morbid as
well. Ethan Hawke plays a true crime
writer who moves his family into a house where the grisly murder of another
family took place so he can write about it and regain his glory days on the
best seller list. He quickly comes
across a box of 8mm films left in the attic, containing the moving images of a
bunch of family massacres, and makes the discovery that a disturbing, demonic
apparition can be seen on each of the films.
Although the main villain was certainly scary enough – we particularly
liked the scene where this boogie man’s image is frozen on a computer screen in
the background, and while the main character talks about these murders with
someone on the telephone, the frozen image moves and looks at him – we did not
like the twist towards the end that revealed another group of vicious villains,
and we really didn’t like the totally nihilistic, downer of an ending. Unless you’re a ghoul, you probably won’t
like it either. I mean, even the ending
of <i><a href="http://youtu.be/KxiEXm3mz-k" target="_blank">The Exorcist</a></i> was a bit more
uplifting! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The 2nd Worst:</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/UA2Z-ZVMGsc" target="_blank">A Haunted House</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I didn’t want to
see this one, and I didn’t have to watch the whole thing, thank God! I saw a few of the funnier bits, which were
still rather raunchy, and other than some well timed farts and a bit of ghost
slapstick, when the wife is being thrown all over the house screaming while the
husband is oblivious on headphones, there wasn’t much here to recommend for those looking for a good laugh. I get the Wayans shtick by now, and as for
horror movie parodies, we’ve seen this before, quite a bit by the Wayans
themselves. This was as raunchy as their
first two <i>Scary Movies;</i> wasn’t as
funny as the first, but was better than the second. That’s still not saying much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-5767496886428872322013-10-03T12:56:00.000-07:002013-10-03T13:02:13.757-07:00Getting Real, and Political, and Real Political: A View From the Right<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> There’s a lot going on these
days! Right now, as I write in here,
with a work crew of probably illegal aliens from Mexico who can't speak English ripping out our front
porch and raising our garage to fix structural damage, the government is shut
down. The democrats and the liberal media
are, of course, blaming the republicans, and the populous, which, to my eyes,
are primarily just sponges for the liberal movement and ideals, allowing them to
reshape their minds and tell them what to think, are swallowing everything they
are fed, like good little Nazis – I mean Americans (or do I?). If you want my opinion, it’s the democrats
who are not playing ball. They won’t
negotiate, and then blame the republicans, and the media only tell the public
what Obama wants them to hear. They’ve
even been programmed to block the only sources, like Fox News and conservative
radio, telling them anything different.
It’s the craziest thing! I’m not
officially part of the Tea Party movement, but perhaps I should be, and with my
values and morality, I’m apparently already one of them. The more I dig into politics and understand
what is going on in Washington and the rest of this country, the more firmly
entrenched I am way over on the far Christian conservative right!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> With that said, I will also say I
grow weary of entrenching myself in politics.
Some people thrive on such stuff, on all sides of the equation. People like Bill Maher, Rachel Maddow,
Randi Rhodes, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Matt Walsh, and yes, even
some family members, are much more outspoken than I am! Try as I might, I can’t seem to continually sustain
the outright <u>passion</u> for political debate that some of <u>them</u> have. I, of course, want to know what’s going on,
and I speak my mind about it, but even with all I’ve posted on Facebook, my
blog, and elsewhere, I am <u>far</u> from a political attack dog and
conservative pundit. The fact that my last post was all about the last season of <i>So You Think You Can Dance</i> is proof of that! If you want to know
what one of the more outspoken commentary looks like, check out Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin on
Townhall.com (linked <a href="http://townhall.com/" target="_blank">here</a>), or Matt Walsh’s blog (linked <a href="http://themattwalshblog.com/" target="_blank">here</a>). I
absolutely LOVE Matt Walsh’s blog! They
are in this political and cultural fight a lot more than I am; they seem to
love it, they’re much more informed, and frankly, they’re better at the art of
the debate. I can’t even successfully
argue with some members of my own family about the cultural rot occurring in
this country, and the reason I don’t want to download Robin Thicke’s otherwise
catchy ditty “Blurred Lines” because of all the sexual immorality surrounding
it! (Matt Walsh had some great things to say about that singer and song in the post linked <a href="http://themattwalshblog.com/2013/08/28/dear-son-dont-let-robin-thicke-be-a-lesson-to-you/" target="_blank">here</a>) And if I can’t even do that with a
family member who is also conservative and agrees with me on most conservative
issues concerning politics and culture, then what good am I really? I just like to write my little opinion about
what I see that is right, and wrong, such as when the family members of some of
those slain in Benghazi gave testimony and a bunch of democrats walked out! (See the article linked <a href="http://www.ijreview.com/2013/09/80445-democrats-walk-hearing-prior-testimony-parents-benghazi-victims/" target="_blank">here</a>.) Sure, these democrats were
probably being demonized, but they deserved it, and what a lack of respect to
those who died trying to save the lives of American citizens while the
government ordered them to stand down and Obama went to bed! Maybe they <u>should</u> have walked out when
the family members spoke. I’d be ashamed
to face them too! Yet something tells me
shame isn’t what they were feeling, but outrage and anger, which is not the
emotion they should have been feeling after what they allowed to happen. But in today’s culture, nobody wants to take
responsibility for anything. It’s easier
to point at the other guy. Hence, I’m
quite often allergic to <u>all</u> of it!
(And why not, I’m allergic to everything else, or so my allergist tells me!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> So the fact that someone opened fire
on a military base in Washington, and, go figure, the people there were killed
due to the law that states military personnel cannot carry weapons on a
military base (?!?!), and Obama’s flack over wanting to start World War III by
dropping bombs on Syria and supplying al-qaeda supporters with weapons, and the
attack on a shopping mall in Kenya, as well as Obamacare kicking in amid all
kinds of issues and debates and a government shut down, are all old news by
now! And everyone's got an opinion about all of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Just looking at one of those
stories, how dozens of people were killed at a Kenyan shopping mall for
tourists and the well-to-do on the National Day of Peace by terrorists with
ties to al-qaeda, I can glean a lot about what is going on and make an informed
opinion about it, and fall even further into my conservative values. Some of the shoppers were released if they
could recite a Muslim prayer. At least <u>some</u>
of those who couldn’t were killed. Is
this what we get from the “religion of peace”?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Notice how there are never any
stories of Christians killing people who can’t say the Lord’s prayer, or torturing
folks who paint pictures of our Lord and Savior using urine and feces. Someone always brings up the Crusades at
times like this, to show how ruthless Christians are and have been, but the
Crusades happened a long time ago, and those Christians were fighting – here we
go again – Muslims who forcibly took their Holy Lands from them and were trying
to spread their “religion of peace” throughout Christian Europe by force. And notice how Europe isn’t so Christian
anymore. After all this time, their plan
worked. It just took a little longer,
and they managed to do it quietly, right under their noses. And yes, it’s happening here too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> About the worst Christians ever do
these days is to stand up for their <u>personal</u> beliefs without trying to
change anyone else’s mind, and to differentiate between Christ-centered
morality and immorality, yet even this <u>mediocre</u> stance still makes them
become enemy number one on the liberals’ list of villains. It’s because conservative Christians draw a
line in the sand, and the liberals don’t like even <u>having</u> a line. “How dare you try to impose your morality on
those who don’t agree with you!” At the
same time, I guess they don’t even realize how they are trying to impose their
brand of morality – gay marriage, abortion on demand, and drugs, condoms, and entitlements
for everyone – upon the populace. How do
you think Obamacare got passed in the first place? By and large, except for the most ardent
Obama sponges, we didn’t want it! And
yet, somehow, it has been forced upon us by the very people who decided to
exempt themselves. That alone should
make your blood boil, and if not, then why not?
I’ll tell you why not. If you’re
not upset by that, they you really <u>are</u> an Obama sponge, soaking up and
then spewing everything the liberals <u>want</u> you to think and believe!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> So while the liberals continue to
demonize Christians, and say the most idiotic things, such as how George
Washington would be appalled at the actions of the Tea Party if he were alive
today, they don’t seem to have such a moral qualm with Muslims killing
people. Rosie O’Donnell might be
self-righteously upset with Christians while she continues to live any old way
she pleases, but at least she isn’t forced to wear a burka, or lose her
head. Just think of what these
hate-filled Muslims would <u>really</u> do to people like her if – or should I
say when – they are in charge! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-38323124408316810432013-09-28T13:45:00.001-07:002013-09-28T13:45:22.153-07:00So You Think You Can Dance - Summer 2013<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7WhLbsDTA4zhxyVNCyiKKAWq4y6f_yNVd3J86c2d_1-EdUzC5BeBMdRBcJlkchM042BT3qOWQ3D-QvNeQZkikKTYUcZTsysYry7rqPHyR-5xy6wEEdOcTDywt7QkmUhbKYqYS1gcBcWg/s1600/So+You+Think+You+Can+Dance+Summer+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7WhLbsDTA4zhxyVNCyiKKAWq4y6f_yNVd3J86c2d_1-EdUzC5BeBMdRBcJlkchM042BT3qOWQ3D-QvNeQZkikKTYUcZTsysYry7rqPHyR-5xy6wEEdOcTDywt7QkmUhbKYqYS1gcBcWg/s640/So+You+Think+You+Can+Dance+Summer+2013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Back Row:</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jade, Malece, Jenna, Tucker, Paul, Makenzie,
Haley, Curtis, Aaron, Jasmine H., Jasmine M., Alan</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Front Row: Carlos, Mariah, BluPrint,
Brittany, Nico, Alexis, Amy, Fik-Shun</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Like a certain Genesis song, I know "<a href="http://youtu.be/qOyF4hR5GoE" target="_blank">I Can't Dance</a>", but these guys and girls sure can!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Our favorite
dancers all season were Aaron and Jasmine.
He was the tapper who didn’t even make it into the top twenty… until one
of the guys who did had to quit due to an injury, so the producers asked Aaron
to come back to the show, and he managed to make it into the finals. And she was Cyrus’ old girlfriend with a
wounded self confidence who began to realize her talent when she made it into
the top twenty. These two were paired
together throughout the early portion of the competition, and no couple was
better. They were dazzling:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiRsdU1qgXj4doP_JEeVyo4vvi2a-1G6MM4t3juOFrSgKHrSQGP50i_N2KBPkJcPJBlaTDEvWQNLfbSp6BUJA1y1al85UgzDL5fqQ2rDiUZ7O9-3pEPL0FAp4I_hx2KxjHIaFZ3I7iCtx/s1600/Aaron+&+Jasmine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiRsdU1qgXj4doP_JEeVyo4vvi2a-1G6MM4t3juOFrSgKHrSQGP50i_N2KBPkJcPJBlaTDEvWQNLfbSp6BUJA1y1al85UgzDL5fqQ2rDiUZ7O9-3pEPL0FAp4I_hx2KxjHIaFZ3I7iCtx/s640/Aaron+&+Jasmine.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of course, they didn’t win. Fik-Shun and Amy won. They were paired together throughout the
competition, and they were quite good as well, particularly considering that
Fik-shun was a hip hop dancer taking on other styles for the first time. This competition is never about the best
dancers necessarily, only America’s favorite dancers (though they all have to
be crazy-good to impress the judges enough to get into the top twenty).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmSVwX9S06hpDY3VmDdyjE0ir6R3V10SacnyuzfzNlnkaPuar2D8kgBKAarr2qDYarbhcowUpqo-RWwl5TU3TBT9xTbyaVcY0R7bVpEPrdUu9bm_YS0UkKIofaM1PUtuCl6ux2tKmoq8T/s1600/SYTYCD+Summer+2013+Top+Four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmSVwX9S06hpDY3VmDdyjE0ir6R3V10SacnyuzfzNlnkaPuar2D8kgBKAarr2qDYarbhcowUpqo-RWwl5TU3TBT9xTbyaVcY0R7bVpEPrdUu9bm_YS0UkKIofaM1PUtuCl6ux2tKmoq8T/s1600/SYTYCD+Summer+2013+Top+Four.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Here’s just a few of the more memorable
people from this season from among the other dancers, judges, guest judges,
choreographers, guest choreographers, or all-stars:</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0jVtqkJLgjo4ygrdEdaOhXLilLKFkHvjuRu2vAJj_MfXfuyaU8gFfGzRhJdBKsAA-BHeOdQK_hmf_xhm84G1799CYfxXneR068UJEhQy9NmUCebKT3y48wvVPCFhj427Y99gl5gFiox1/s1600/SYTYCD+Summer+2013+Others.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0jVtqkJLgjo4ygrdEdaOhXLilLKFkHvjuRu2vAJj_MfXfuyaU8gFfGzRhJdBKsAA-BHeOdQK_hmf_xhm84G1799CYfxXneR068UJEhQy9NmUCebKT3y48wvVPCFhj427Y99gl5gFiox1/s640/SYTYCD+Summer+2013+Others.jpg" width="624" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Choreographers Napoleon and Tabitha D'Umo, better known as NappyTabs, shared their new baby on camera this year (see the link </span><a href="http://youtu.be/vh9LKasTIUY" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Choreographer and season 2 runner up Travis Wall choreographs and dances with winner Amy Yakima (Linked </span><a href="http://youtu.be/C6OVTETAuEY" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">This year had three tappers! Runner up Aaron Turner, plus Alexis Juliano and Curtis Holland (see the link </span><a href="http://youtu.be/xx4Ii1y5uzI" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nigel Lithgow and Mary Murphy were the mainstays on the judging panel this year, and one of the best guest judges was Jenna Elfman.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Adam Shankman was still a guest judge on occasion</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">, taking a break from directing those </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Step Up</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> movies. See him practice for the Dizzyfeet foundation dance this year </span><a href="http://youtu.be/edscY6jS_lo" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">One of our other favorite dancers from this season was contemporary dancer Malece Miller. In the clip linked </span><a href="http://youtu.be/ZSLIu2RoDY4" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">, she dances salsa with co-contestant and partner Alan Berkin. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cat Deely again did a great job as host, even if her outfits were usually on the outlandish side, to say the least. Here, she poses with two of this season's hip-hop dancers, BluPrint and the short but very talented Jade Zuberi (see the link </span><a href="http://youtu.be/8IgepP4UNwA" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another favorite guest judge was the always funny Wayne Brady, and you should also check him out on the new season of Who's Line Is It Anyway? (See the link </span><a href="http://youtu.be/K2BNMuKaums" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Travis Wall choreographed a moving number for contestant Tucker Knox and returning all-star Robert Roldan about two survivors giving each other a helping hand. In real life, both of them had survived devastating car accidents (linked </span><a href="http://youtu.be/6KjlO6WRAaI" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Paul Karmiryan and Makenzie Dustman perform a tender piece (linked </span><a href="http://youtu.be/xpJs87T49AA" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Returning all-star Mark Kanemura shows he has a lot in common with Tim Burton on the creative front with some of the most outlandish yet intriguing dances of the season. Here, he dances to the weird sounding "I Am the Best" by 2NE1 with contestant Jenna Johnson (linked </span><a href="http://youtu.be/lhXV9k2vPnQ" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">)</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">For more from this season of So You Think You Can Dance, see the following links:</span><br />
<a href="http://www.fox.com/dance/">http://www.fox.com/dance/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/so-you-think-you-can-dance-crowns-season-10-winners-video_n_3904097.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/so-you-think-you-can-dance-crowns-season-10-winners-video_n_3904097.html</a><br />
<a href="http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2013/09/so-you-think-you-can-dance-season-10-winners-fik-shun-and-amy-talk-about-their-victory.html">http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2013/09/so-you-think-you-can-dance-season-10-winners-fik-shun-and-amy-talk-about-their-victory.html</a><br />
<br /></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-72295716941503014192013-09-26T00:34:00.000-07:002013-09-26T00:34:12.693-07:00"Mom" & "Dads": Two New Sitcoms I Probably Won't Be Watching, For Two Different Reasons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhji5Y6ixDXGMeUCJErr78o_G8SpiVEn1aBtcDDaZbcf_c6Y_AvMWXOeqbnWCBHQaythaG_T9eXTYwZp9kBD7TbZZU8h1xJbnyXtqR-v-aXOQG3PNqDyYbRSzn1q3U9GvGeZMCvM9_GqP1g/s1600/Mom+&+Dads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhji5Y6ixDXGMeUCJErr78o_G8SpiVEn1aBtcDDaZbcf_c6Y_AvMWXOeqbnWCBHQaythaG_T9eXTYwZp9kBD7TbZZU8h1xJbnyXtqR-v-aXOQG3PNqDyYbRSzn1q3U9GvGeZMCvM9_GqP1g/s400/Mom+&+Dads.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I watched the
pilots of two new sitcoms. <i>Moms</i> is critically acclaimed. It stars Anna Faris of the <i>Scary Movie</i> franchise, and Allison Janney
as her mother. Anna plays Christy, a
working mother with a young son and teenage daughter, and a slacker ex-husband. She comes from a background of neglect and
drugs. The pilot episode, which was, by
the way, quite funny, has her come home from work listening to a self-help CD,
and she witnesses her daughter’s long-haired, half-naked boyfriend crawling
out her daughter’s window. The daughter
feels no shame about this, and the mother doesn’t make a big stink about it,
saying she can’t reprimand her daughter for things she did herself. She is in love with the boss of the
restaurant where she works as a waitress, but he’s already married. They still want to continue seeing each
other, however. Her slacker ex spends
his time playing violent video games with his son that involves beating a
hooker with a bat. After reconnecting
with her mother at an AA meeting, they share lunch, where it is revealed during
the conversation that the mother once tried to snort cocaine out of a shag
carpet, to which the mother retorted that it pays to be thrifty, and that she
ran a meth lab out of her home, to which she comments, “It’s called ‘work’!” The characters are all immoral in one way or
another, but they did manage to wring humor from the deplorable situations.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41S7inMXvX-oMt-WqjIbj8__ffyXAdULeZJngBC3Bj0M-gTz7SuFwpyVu17f-6m7I6r9sxHqNbzkVK8REg1VOpAlG6nPZWFxVSr7bCy-PmSfwPyUZg9mi9I_xSBKBr6vkbGe9jhQkwEDA/s1600/Mom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41S7inMXvX-oMt-WqjIbj8__ffyXAdULeZJngBC3Bj0M-gTz7SuFwpyVu17f-6m7I6r9sxHqNbzkVK8REg1VOpAlG6nPZWFxVSr7bCy-PmSfwPyUZg9mi9I_xSBKBr6vkbGe9jhQkwEDA/s640/Mom.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> No wonder the critics love it so
much, and I predict it will be a hit. It
sadly, but unabashedly, reflects modern life in America for many families. A lot of people will see themselves in these
immoral characters, and laugh right along!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Now <i>Dads</i>, which has been universally panned by critics, is,
unfortunately, not a laugh riot. We
found a few amusing moments, but the whole pilot was a rather stiff
affair. It has potential, but will it be
around long enough for the characters to develop? Unlike <i>Mom</i>,
the premise and the characters are not obviously immoral; hence, one reason the
critics probably didn’t like it: It wasn’t filthy enough, except for one scene
at the very end with a case of sexting.
Other than this, its more racy elements were merely suggested. Although a show like this always has the
potential to max out on the immorality meter sooner or later, like most of them
do, such as the still popular <i>Two and a
Half Men</i>, it wasn’t manifest in the <i>Dads</i>
pilot like it was for <i>Mom</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32xkzoOoJnuOMhZRbkdhrsav6ZI81Qp4zTa4TNjLyO1swb5iGEP7sOd3IftHyskr_73jMSL0dB3BRa3S0FX1-4dHditdvF6sOYMoTAPgVHqgRHRPl1CVpj0AzoVFXWvvWN1SQtgdKVN7M/s1600/Dads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32xkzoOoJnuOMhZRbkdhrsav6ZI81Qp4zTa4TNjLyO1swb5iGEP7sOd3IftHyskr_73jMSL0dB3BRa3S0FX1-4dHditdvF6sOYMoTAPgVHqgRHRPl1CVpj0AzoVFXWvvWN1SQtgdKVN7M/s640/Dads.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> I probably won’t end up watching
either one. Although I like Anna Faris
and some other members of the cast, <i>Mom</i>
is already crossing the line. Likewise,
I like both Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi, but their material isn’t so funny
yet, and if the negative hype is any indication, <i>Dads</i> will be the first show to be canceled this season. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> But there is a faction of viewers in
middle America, and quite a large faction I would think, for which morality
really <u>does</u> matter. And although
I may make too many exceptions already, I’ll be damned if I’m just going to
watch some new show just because the critics liked it and it happens to be
funny. There are other considerations…
and other shows. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Photos from </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2660806/mediaindex">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2660806/mediaindex</a>, <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/02/dads-seth-macfarlanes-new-comedy-faces-a-tough-room-at-the-tca-press-tour">http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/02/dads-seth-macfarlanes-new-comedy-faces-a-tough-room-at-the-tca-press-tour</a>, <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/02/dads-seth-macfarlanes-new-comedy-faces-a-tough-room-at-the-tca-press-tour">http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/02/dads-seth-macfarlanes-new-comedy-faces-a-tough-room-at-the-tca-press-tour</a>Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052772559991384826.post-24718956984153818522013-09-22T00:50:00.002-07:002013-09-22T00:58:36.600-07:00Series 5 of BBC's "Being Human": Not the Original Cast, and Not Quite As Good, But Still With a Story to Tell<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUaVO57NwQMkQG4ujlaLNaA9WN1ETne3UzTW51rknOT93cXANL5OEl18IHZEG_VnNwkoeQ6XosG3dGVC3WVoeSVrTVMfrCXATietPONVVpnq8euLQ9y__eodyaDj-GleF75dP3yeTMMBcq/s1600/Being+Human+BBC+Series+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUaVO57NwQMkQG4ujlaLNaA9WN1ETne3UzTW51rknOT93cXANL5OEl18IHZEG_VnNwkoeQ6XosG3dGVC3WVoeSVrTVMfrCXATietPONVVpnq8euLQ9y__eodyaDj-GleF75dP3yeTMMBcq/s400/Being+Human+BBC+Series+5.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom, Alex, and Hal, ready for battle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Watch a TV show
long enough, and it will invariably disappoint you. For instance, I <u>loved</u> all the Star
Treks, even <i>Deep Space Nine</i> and <i>Voyager</i>, which some fans didn’t care
for, but I could never really get into <i>Enterprise</i>
(and I’m not the only one, judging by the negative criticism and early
cancelation). Some say it got better
after the hideous second season, though it ultimately proved to be too little
too late. <i>The Dead Zone</i> started out strong, and ended weak, and the same
could be said for <i>The X-Files</i> and
even <i>Fringe</i>, and don’t even get me
started on <i>Heroes</i>!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EkOgD4e2H12R1of-eDxxCqV290K9C5ux6juTBJMzqBQuEiCKtCcWQWIvOnIXYvxhbuzGQal_c7JU59o6TeLAVqzMpW3UUJbv946z7ykEPPA9yc-1U7Y4uWiJo54Z9kPrAsbLbjA3PWyl/s1600/Tom,+Alex,+and+Hal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EkOgD4e2H12R1of-eDxxCqV290K9C5ux6juTBJMzqBQuEiCKtCcWQWIvOnIXYvxhbuzGQal_c7JU59o6TeLAVqzMpW3UUJbv946z7ykEPPA9yc-1U7Y4uWiJo54Z9kPrAsbLbjA3PWyl/s320/Tom,+Alex,+and+Hal.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Werewolf, a Ghost, and a Vampire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And so we have the fifth and final “series”
of the BBC <i>Being Human</i>. I hung in there! After three strong years getting to know the
vampire Mitchell, the ghost Annie, and the werewolf couple George and Nina and
their plights, three of them left the show. The
only way to redeem the character of Mitchell, by this point, was by the
character’s self-sacrifice, and then it was revealed that Nina had been beaten
to death by vampires shortly after giving birth to a little baby girl in between
seasons, and George died in the first episode of the fourth season trying to
protect his daughter from superstitious vampires. That left Annie and an orphaned werewolf
named Tom to protect her, and then the vampire Hal moved in with them, and before
the end of that season, a young woman named Alex was murdered, became a ghost,
and moved in with boys after Annie made a final sacrifice during the climax of
series four, exiting the show at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> The British shows have always been
on the quirky side of things, mixing some great dialogue and character
development with elements of the supernatural, and often getting rather blatant
and bloody, even back in the days of Annie, George, and Mitchell. This most recent series, set around the new
friendship of Hal, Tom, and Alex, has pretty much the same eccentric
dark/humorous tone, as they fight the devil himself while the boys take jobs at
a local hotel. But when things get
rather ridiculous with the plot or a bit too gruesome at times with some of the
unstable, supernatural characters that surround them, you could always go back
to the friendship between Mitchell, George, and Annie as the core paranormal
triumvirate that was the real life of the series above and beyond any plot
machinations. In the end, with this
final series, I miss the three originals (and Nina), and I’m not sure these new
characters, as appealing as they can be, are able to fill their shoes and rise
above some of the more outlandish plot elements.</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMqgy34eNBxdIAGn6cCSob0AbnuMYIbwb-uvjPK4bRmErnt_TWet8OOI43AkdCQCkAY-VouijtMa5GRIk35GwtNQ1RVIo67JUU67KV2urxhigs27hV_3O4arw0pruNelhR61zjCPmE_lN/s1600/Previous+Being+Human+Casts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMqgy34eNBxdIAGn6cCSob0AbnuMYIbwb-uvjPK4bRmErnt_TWet8OOI43AkdCQCkAY-VouijtMa5GRIk35GwtNQ1RVIo67JUU67KV2urxhigs27hV_3O4arw0pruNelhR61zjCPmE_lN/s640/Previous+Being+Human+Casts.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Previous Being Human Characters: Annie, Mitchell, George, and Nina; Aiden, Nora, Josh, and Sally </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> The American version on SyFy started
out on shaky legs, but after a near carbon copy first season to get the ball
rolling, they’ve taken their three supernatural houseguests - Aiden, Josh, and Sally - and werewolf Josh's girlfriend Nora, in completely new directions, and that series seems to be thriving
and alive with possibilities and great storylines and characters. The fifth series of the BBC show often (but not always) now feels like
only so much ludicrous contrivance by comparison, and without the
characters I came to know and love. Hal,
Tom, and Alex have their moments, to be sure, and there’s still a spark of
creativity here, but not nearly enough to rival the great characters that came
before them, in my opinion. Perhaps that’s why series
five is the last. No one else could
really make the jump after they lost their entire original cast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> But they sure did give it the quirky old English try!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVuQKaftI9PODR0xjQVqiL_Zrd0PSuUglnjtAQdGrzYqDpL_-TXU_4K7BwVc8yuPdUJXaU4uLwSm84EHUZhhuDbN0Tw_lKyGRvlJhQubL_qgdY2htgL09oTqepleU4bFIvga3KNPmi9XHi/s1600/Supernatural+Housemates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVuQKaftI9PODR0xjQVqiL_Zrd0PSuUglnjtAQdGrzYqDpL_-TXU_4K7BwVc8yuPdUJXaU4uLwSm84EHUZhhuDbN0Tw_lKyGRvlJhQubL_qgdY2htgL09oTqepleU4bFIvga3KNPmi9XHi/s400/Supernatural+Housemates.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You see? Even THEY were a little bored :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264300824814654429noreply@blogger.com0