Crushin'

Here's what I'm spittin': After about four years on top as the undisputed best tennis player in the universe, Roger Federer is about to have his throne usurped by the one and only Rafael Nadal. The weird thing is, I'm okay with that. Rafa has shown that he is as classy as they come, and he has also proven hands down this year, that he is more than equal to the task of taking Roger's place as numero uno. For now. I say for now, because I have in no way counted the Swiss champion out. Pete Sampras, the well known second best tennis player in history, fell off the map once he won his twelfth grand slam title, and he went on to win two more. He did this as an old man. I have complete faith that while Roger has had an off year, he will undoubtedly work harder and have even more desire to reclaim his rightful place on the top of the tennis world. It will not be a walk in the park though. Rafa has worked hard to get where he is, and he will not take things lightly now that he has reached the top of the metaphoric mountain. He has the high ground now, and Roger is going to have to be amazing in order to return to the summit. I do have to say this, regardless of how the year ends, what Nadal has done this year rivals anything that Roger has done. He has made a name for himself, and all the greats of tennis past and present must show him the respect that he has earned, even in their great presence.

Pure Evil

I finally went and saw the new Batman a few days ago. I had pretty hight expectations. Everyone I knew was singing its praises. The commercials and trailers made it look like the action packed thriller I have been waiting for since the Bourne Ultimatum. I knew that Christian Bale would deliver, as he did in Batman Begins. Though the intensity of his "Batman voice" can sometimes be over-dramatic, his overall performance was superb. Definitely the best Batman to date. My main concern when first hearing about the movie was the choice of the actor to play the Joker. Heath Ledger did not seem like the ideal candidate. Then came the first movie trailers. My worries left, never to return. After seeing the film, here is what I have to say about the Joker and Heath Ledger's performance. He was pure evil. He was creepy, he was disturbing. His blatant disregard for human life made him seem like an inhuman evil from an unseen world. His laugh sent chills up my spine and every time he talked, I felt like I was listening to Satan himself. My diagnosis of the Joker: I loved him. I couldn't get enough of his demented outlook on life. For some reason I wanted to see what boundaries he would break next. Ledger literally created an alter ego. It was not the young Aussie actor in that show, it was a being that can never exist in real life, because Ledger played him so perfectly. He was the star of the movie, no matter what others may say. And not just because he passed away before the movie opened. Regardless, my respect for the acting of Heath Ledger has been changed forever.

So I had to kill the guy, and the cops are still lookin' for him. . .

I just saw Kung Fu Panda tonight, and here is my diagnosis: it su---rprised me. I thought the movie was freaking hilarious. Jack Black shows that he can make people laugh to tears even when you can't see insane facial contortions or zaney body movements. He is just a funny guy. I am convinced that Black comes up with half of the things he says while he is chillin' in his casa eatin' a pie and most likely smokin' a doobie. Some of the stuff is definitely toned down to gain the family viewership, but overall I thought that most lines were written in a way that people of all ages would find them amusing. What's more, some of the fight scenes were actually very intense! I know that this is an animated movie starring animals that walk and talk, but they really got quite intense. And the showdown between the panda played by Jack Black and the evil, unstoppable ninja warrior snow leopard delivers as the epic battle one craves for to end the show. The voices of Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu are also in the show, but other than Hoffman, you don't even really notice the others. All in all, it was one of the funniest shows I've seen in the recent past, animated or not.

You may be wandering what is with the title of this blog. I saw a Seinfeld today and Kramer and Jerry are at the movies and see a guy they don't want to talk with. Jerry says, "Act like we're talking." Kramer: "We are talking." Jerry: "Act like it's interesting!" Kramer (overly loud so the intruder can hear): "So I had to kill the guy, and the cops are still lookin' for him. . ." That is what is with the title.

Here's What's On My Mind

First and foremost, I finally saw Ironman, and it is super badass. Robert Downey Jr., a man who I have never felt was any more badass than King Friday of the Land of Makebelieve on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, blew me away with his humor as well as his decision to go straight to the cause of his upset conscience and blow it to hell. He did kind of bother me as the guy who has no respect for women at all, but since he is smart, rich, and super cocky, women cannot resist spending the night with him. This is not a strike against RDJ, but women in general. They are not attracted to men who have interested in them, they are only attracted to men who treat them like they are objects of desire and lust and nothing more. Or maybe all women are simply just not interested in me. Speaking of said objects, Gwenyth Paltrow was looking very nice in this film. So, a movie that had every opportunity to be cheesey and extremely lame denied the humanly desire to be lazy and unremarkable and took the high road to greatness, humor, and entertainment.

Speaking of the common human shortcoming of laziness, people need to check themselves. Recently I began working at a well known warehouse store as a cart wrangler. It is amazing how many douchebags simply leave their carts in the middle of the parking lot, or even better, as far away from the store as possible. How inconsiderate can you be? Holy crap people, is it really that tough to push your cart ten feet and put it in its properly marked place? You pushed it all over the store and out to your car, can't you push it just a little further? Seeing this has made me look at other aspects of my life and caused me to ask myself, "Am I being considerate to other people?" I'm not saying I am a saint, but I have been trying to show other people a little consideration rather than treating them like they don't matter. It's something to think about. . .

Badass

In reading the blogs posted on croonies.com the word 'badass' has come up a plethora of times. This has caused great reflection in my mind about the most badass movies that I have seen. While I have not yet seen Ironman, that will not be on the list, but I do have a couple I think all would agree are badass. Here are my top three.

Coming in at number three: Four Brothers. A tale of four hardened young orphans who grew up in a foster home with a kind and loving foster mother. Their mother had found permanent homes for hundreds of other children, these four were the only kids too wild and out of control to find a home for, so she kept them and raised them herself. When she is murdered, the four come back to town, and when the police don't work fast enough, they start an investigation of their own. Mark Wahlberg gives his usual 'mess with me, I'll break your face performance' and leads his three other 'brothers' down a trail of deceit, bribery, corruption, and murder that leads back to a local gangster, Victor Sweets. Talk about a tale of shoot first and ask questions later. Model/actor/musician Tyrese delivers a believable performance as a tough black man from the hood, though he does tend to overdo it at times. Andre 3000 from Outkast nailed his role as the sensible family man who seems to be the only brother to have made anything out of himself. And Garrett Hedlund rounds the list off as the kid punk-rock brother trying to show his older siblings he can bang and brawl with the best of 'em. An action packed thriller from beginning to end, this film definitely qualifies as badass.

Second place on my list is a film that perhaps not a lot of people remember: Tombstone. Kurt Russell plays Wyatt Earp, retired Kansas lawdog looking to leave his past and become rich in the mining town of Tombstone, Arizona. Along with his brothers, Virgil and Morgan, and their wives, they buy a share of a local saloon and set up shop. A gang called the Cowboys is prevalent in Tombstone. These guys are above the law and do what they please whenever they please. So when Wyatt's brothers accept positions as town sheriffs, Cowboys and Earp's clash. In the infamous shootout at the O.K. Corral, the Earp's, accompanied by Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), kill numerous Cowboys. In revenge, the Cowboys kill Wyatt's younger brother Morgan, and attempt to kill is older brother Virgil and their wives. What follows is the definition of badass. Wyatt and Doc assemble a posse and go on a Cowboy killing spree. Perhaps the most badass moment of the film is when Doc Holliday confronts Cowboy leader Johnny Ringo in a showdown to end all showdowns. While this film is totally badass, the first half can move a bit slow, causing it to come in second to the most badass film of all time. . .

The Departed. That's right, I know you knew it was coming. How could this movie not be number one? It is filled with hardened gangsters, corrupt cops, clean cops, under cover agents on both sides of the law. It's got suspense that will raise your blood pressure to the point of exploding! How good is this movie? I watched the whole movie, then watched the theatrical trailer right after, and that made me want to immediately watch it again! Martin Scorsese showed once more that he is the master of mob, murder, and mayhem. Jack Nicholson was a perfect, evil, gangster genius who couldn't be touched by the cops. Matt Damon performed amazingly as the undercover rat for Nicholson in the state police department. This film made me realize that Leo DiCaprio can be more than just a chick-flick posterboy, he can downright act. Throw in a little comic relief from Alec Baldwin and the most badass of all, Mark Wahlberg, and how could this not be the most badass movie in the world? Even the soundtrack was badass. Everytime the Dropkick Murphy's Irish rock plays it sends shivers up my spine. Though Scorsese has directed some good films in his life, including Goodfellas, I have to say that this is his best film ever.

And there you have it folks. Don't like it, feel free to comment. You won't change my mind, and you'll be wrong, but if you gotta get something off your chest, feel free.

Hopeless

A lot of people say that feeling sorry for yourself doesn't get you anywhere. True, but saying that doesn't make me feel any less sorry for myself. I am a born worrier. If something remains undone I can't seem to get it out of my head until I take care of business. For example, I need to find an apartment by the end of the month. I thought I had things taken care of, then, as life seems to do as often as possible, things fell through. That really bugs the hell out of me, you know, when you think something is going to happen, then due to no fault of your own, some third party messes up and forces you to start from scratch. Add on top of that the new job I started that I don't like along with the new co-workers I didn't seem to click with, plus the chickless life I lead, and this summer is really lookin' like it's going to be a great one.

I'm Back

Due to the vehement requests of my faithful reader, I have decided to make a more concerted effort to try to write more often. I went to a baseball game last night. Nothing big, just a small time farm league team, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself nonetheless. Most of the scoring was done before I got there, and no runs were scored until the game winner, which I will talk about momentarily. It was run listening to my friend heckle the opposing team, and perhaps more amusing was watching his girlfriend turn her head in embarrassment and shame while he shouted nonsensical rantings at the top of his lungs. I would have to say one of the best parts of the night was purchasing the "All Star", which is simply a huge wiener with the works. Man that wiener was messy, I got more on my face than I did in my mouth. But it was all worth it, those succulent juices kept my stomach full for the rest of the evening. Anywho, the game went into extra innings with the score tied 2-2. Then, in the bottom of the 11th, one of the dudes on our team cranked one over the center-field fence. Talk about drama and excitement.

But now on to what I really wanted to talk about, how computer animation and CGI is ruining film. Now I am a huge fan of new technology and the fascinating new things that can be done with computers in this day in age. My problem is how over-reliant many filmmakers are becoming on these new technologies. Case in point: the new Star Wars. I don't know if anything in those films other than the human actors and actresses were real. It looked like the third film was shot entirely in front of a blue-screen. Nothing looked remotely real. In my opinion, the reason the original films were so sweet was because they went to the effort to painstakingly hand craft everything, from the models to the uniforms to the makeup for the aliens creatures. It looked real because it was real. Not real aliens, but real people in real makeup. If there were such things as aliens, that is what they would have looked like.

I can't pretend like I am not a fan of Toy Story, The Incredibles, or Monster's, Inc., but these films are not attempting to tell the story of real-life people or occurrences. I Am Legend would have been a much more enjoyable film had the director attempted to use real actors in modern make-up to imitate the infected population. And don't even get me started on Beowulf! Using new computer technology for things that are impossible to create in real life is fine. Even using it to make life easier for filmmakers does not bother me one bit. But let's not get lazy folks! Forgetting that humans can be pretty good at turning a regular human being into a wookie, a stormtrooper, or a human infected with some ungodly disease leads to over-reliance on something that does not do justice to the people paying money to watch your films.