The Greatest of All Time?

Roger Federer, arguably the best tennis player of all time, has just made a major push to be considered the undisputed greatest of all time by winning the French Open. The French Open is the only Grand Slam event that has eluded Roger during his illustrious career. Though were it not for clay court god Rafa Nadal, Roger would have won the tournament four times before, as Nadal is the only player to have beaten Roger at Roland Garros in the last four years. Eliminated in the fourth-round by Swede Robin Soderling, the path seemed wide open for Roger to claim his first title on "la terre battue". Other top players like Novak Djokavic and Andy Murray were dismissed early on in the tournament, which some might argue diminishes Roger's accomplishment. I disagree wholeheartedly. While his fellow top players were eliminated, Roger kept his sights set on his goal. He could have easily been defeated in a similar fashion by lesser-known players. And he almost was. Coming from behind more than once, Federer refused to be defeated. He pushed ahead with sheer will power and determination. As his most formidable foes were defeated early on, the pressure and expectations mounted for the Swiss superstar. At times, it seemed too much, but we witnessed first hand why he is so great. Playing the man who defeated his arch nemesis, Roger easily defeated the young Soderling, who was in his first grand slam final ever. The nerves seemed to be getting to him in the first set, which Roger won easily, 6-1. After a fan jumped out of the stands and disrupted play by rushing Federer and waving a flag in his face, Roger seemed to cool off. Soderling found his game and managed to take Roger to a tie-break. But Roger would not be denied. He dominated the tie-break. He only needed one break in the third to wrap up his historic win in Paris. Congrats to you Roger, and I'll be rooting for you to break Pistol Pete's grand slam record in this year's Wimbledon.

Fire-eater

My facebook name is Nick Fire-eater Peterson. I am not actually a fire-eater, I just thought that it was a wicked awesome nick-name. Well, apparently someone took it a little more seriously. Here is a copy of an message I got in my inbox:

were looking for male fire eaters jugglers the more outragoues the better also stilt walkers swoard swallores
for a shoot in nyc around june 6-8th forthe band MADJUANA there on my space and on here and you can contact them and me mentioning my name . . .
I dont know all the details Im just helping track down talent for video for my friends band
I myself am a photographer

Man, it's times like this I wish I really was a fire-eater.

NEW YORK

I went to New York with some friends last weekend. I have officially spent as many weekends in New York as I have in D.C. New York was out of control. That place is huge. First thing I noticed was that the metro in New York is about a million times more complicated than the metro in D.C. No worries, we eventually found our way to where we wanted to go.

First off, the drive was pretty long, and I encountered road tolls for the first time. Man, it's pretty expensive to us some of those roads and bridges. We stayed with friends of a friend in Jersey. Jersey was pretty sweet. I had imagined it as being similar to New York, but it was actually pretty chill. We then drove to New York, stopping off in Staten Island. Yeah, I've been to Staten Island. Then we continued on and parked at a park and took the Light Rail into town. First stop was Ground Zero, which was pretty crazy, but mostly just a big hole in the ground. I don't want to diminish it's importance, but we didn't stay long at that location.

On we went to Times Square. That place was sweet. Super huge, tons of people and buildings, it kind of blew me away. Talk about the complete opposite of Manti, where I grew up. We saw where they tape the Late Show, the Hello Deli, which was, unfortunately closed. Then we decided to get some Broadway tickets to Mary Poppins. Whilst in line, Tracy Morgan drove by in his Lamborghini. Yeah he's a celeb and all, but I'm not really a fan. Anywho, after we got the tics, we went to Chinatown. Man, that place is pretty sketchy. Okay, it's super sketchy. Then we went and hit up Mary Poppins, which was totally worth the wait in line and the crappy seats. After that, we went home.

Sunday we went to church and got invited to dinner:) We drove by my friend's old house in Jersey and ended up getting invited to lunch by her old neighbors. Then it was off to dinner, with a pretty chill family. We were basically adopted by two families in Jersey. Not bad for a weekend trip. Then we headed back to D.C. I drove the last leg of the trip into the District. I was pretty nervous, but I managed to get us to our apartment in one piece. And there you have it, my weekend in New York.

Veterans of Foreign Affairs

I have decided to continue my blogging efforts in order to document my summer as a Washington D.C. intern at the Veterans of Foreign Wars. This place is legit. I was worried that it would be a sketchy building in the middle of the ghetto, but the building is quite nice and it is located right accross from the Hart Senate Building on Capitol Hill. My first few days as an intern were pretty dull. The guy I am going to be working with is on vacation for a week, so they stuck me with the Associate Director, who doesn't know what to do with me because he's got enough on his own plate to worry about. So I am brushed aside and given a book on the history of the VFW to read and left to myself. Well, that was super boring, but luckily a few days later, they got my permanent residence set up. I have my own office, which is awesome, and a computer to mess around on when I don't have anything to do. Today my supervisor had to go to Annapolis for the day and left me a small task to accomplish. Well I finished all I was supposed to do in the morning, so I have been sitting around reading my history book and dinking around on the computer for the past three hours. One more to go! This summer should be interesting. Hopefully I'll be wrinting soon about trips to New York, Boston, and Philly. Peace!

Another Dream Job

So I've recently discovered a new entry for my list of shit-jobs: calling people and asking for money. Now the people who trained me would tell you that I am not a tele-marketer. I am calling from the U, updating alumni information, and, of course, asking for a donation. Well guess what, I am a freaking telemarketer! Our shifts are supposed to go from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. The computers dial automatically, and we are supposed to call until the computer automatically logs us out. Last time, I called all the way up until 8:59 before the computer logged me off. Then we have a talk before they let us leave. 8:59! Just let me go the freak home! Then tonight, same story. But guess what, 8:59 rolls around, the computer keeps dialing. No one answers. Dials next number. No one answers. Keep dialing. Oh, what do ya know? Someone answers! So here I am, 9:00 on the dot, and I'm in the middle of a conversation! Fun fun fun. As if I didn't already love that job enough, I get out fifteen minutes late because the stupid computer won't stop dialing. Man I hate technology sometimes.

The Dating Game

Tonight I went on a double date with a good friend of mine. He had a date, and this girl's best friend was to be mine. This was the second of such date-nights, and I am starting to see a pattern developing. We always spend so much freaking money. We somehow always end up eating at steakhouses, and when I am used to eating home-made sandwiches and ramen noodles, it is somewhat of a shock to get a dinner bill that totals fifty bucks! However, tonight we went to a Tepenyaki joint, and our cook was the man. He made a Star Wars joke that killed me. One of the girls was trying to use chop sticks, but couldn't figure it out, and in a voice like Obi-wan Kenobi, he said, "Use the fork!" (instead of "use the force"). No one else got it. Come on, this is classic Star Wars humor coming from a Japanese guy. Star Wars is an American tradition, get with it people! That is another thing that kind of gets on my nerve. I'd love to talk to my date, but she doesn't hear half of what I say because she is constantly having a whispered conversation with her friend, a conversation only the two of them are invited to. Then we go and drop another thirty bucks on some activity after dinner, so by the end of the night I am out eighty bucks, and don't even get a kiss on the cheek for my efforts. What the eff?! This dating game is going to break me in the end. What bugs me the most is I will never get past a hug at the door with this girl. If I'm going to be droppin' eighty bones on a lady, she better be plannin' on buying a wedding dress and marryin' a brother. I don't wanna go broke buying some other dude's future wife dinner. Shit.

This past weekend I went to the Salt Lake car show with my favorite people in the world, Winters and Hannah. What a coincidence that they are also the only people who read my blog:) It was a freaking awesome time. Don't get me wrong, the cars sucked, and we made a point to take many pictures in front of said crappy vehicles. The best part was the Maui Wowi stand. Now the reason it was so freaking awesome is because we went to the Deseret Industries beforehand to purchase uniforms for the show. I wore a stunning yellow turtleneck with a sweater that had the sleeves cut off along with my beautiful birthday shoes. Hannah found a killer purple sweater as well as some perfectly form-fitting cowboy boots. Also, she found a diabolic bowling ball, not pictured. Matt chose a chic McDonalds sweater vest and a one in a million Rockstar hat. He drew a shirt on her so that she would be more appropriate to go out in public. This experience made me want to dress up like this every day. It was nice to not try and conform to the norms of society. True, we got many, many weird stares from others at the car show, but I didn't even care. It taught me a great lesson, conform to my own norms. Don't be afraid to march against the grain. It's not cool to try and be different simply for the sake of being different, but it is also not cool to try and conform simply for the sake of blending in with the crowd. Be your own person, stand up for what you believe, and in the words Robin Williams as Genie on Aladdin, "Beeeeeee yourself!"

High Heels

You know, I've noticed an unusual amount of gals with high heels lately. It isn't just the classic variety with the strap, but normal looking, everyday shoes nowadays have heels on them. Some look classy, some do not. But you know what I think every time I see any kind of heel on a girl? High-maintenance. I don't know why, but these heels seem to scream out 'I like to buy shoes', which, in other words, means 'I love to spend money for no good reason'. In my mind, a girl who wears heels is the kind of girl who would spend a thousand bucks on a Gucci purse if her credit card had a high enough limit. This is a girl who spends two hundred dollars on jeans just because they have the right name or brand on the butt. This girl spends an average of ninety two bucks to get her hair cut three quarters of a centimeter. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't mind some heels on a Sunday to go to church, or an evening that requires formal wear. But why would you risk a broken leg, or worse, just so you can make a fashion statement? This girl needs to get her priorities straight. However, cowboy boots on girls are freaking awesome! Honestly folks, I love those cute little slender shoes that gals wear. That tells me they care about looking good and being fashionable, but they aren't obsessed with it. Give me a pair of Pumas over a pair of stiletto heels any day.

Sinking the Crimson Tide

Utes win! Utes win! Utes win! Wow, what a game. Utah jumped all over Alabama in the first quarter. Three touchdowns in what seemed like five seconds. Bama had no answer to the hurry up offense the Utes threw at them. I'll admit that I got a little nervous when they came back and scored on a Utah turnover at the beginning of the second half to come within four points. But Utah didn't sweat it, they just came right back and answered to the tune of a 28-17 lead. Their defense was, as Mike Tyson would put it, "impregnable". The Crimson Tide had only allowed 15 sacks all season long, and the Utah defense racked up 8 sacks against them in one game! You can argue that Alabama was without offensive tackle Andre Smith, but what the U did was still amazing. An Andre Smith-less Alabama only allowed 2 sacks to Florida, one of the top teams in the nation. Utah tallied 6 more sacks than a BCS-Championship Bowl bound Gator squad. Moreover, Florida beat Alabama by 11 points (31-20). If they end up beating Oklahoma and winning the national championship, shouldn't Utah at least tie for the number one spot, if not be the sole possessors? A Utah squad beat former no. 1 Alabama by 14, while Florida only managed to defeat the Crimson Tide by 11. Think about it folks, it makes sense. In the mean time, congratulations to Utah, and screw the freaking BCS!!!

Christopher Lloyd, That's Right, I said Christopher Lloyd

You read correctly, I am going to blog about Christopher Lloyd. I have recently been taking a stroll down memory lane as far as the movies I have been watching, and I realized how great of an actor Chris Lloyd really is. Notably, my favorites include all three "Back to the Future" films as well as his role as Uncle Fester in "The Addams Family". He also played lovable clueless man Jim Ignatowski on the 70's sitcom "Taxi". This guy never ceases to make me laugh. All through out "Back to the Future" his scientific seriousness and quarky theories as Dr. Emmett Brown force a smile on my face every time.
As far as the "Addams Family" this whole show is sheer genius. Director Barry Sonnenfeld's movie interpretation of the popular 60's television show was spot on. He used more adult themed situations and humor to appeal to a more modern audience, which in my opinion, endeared me more to the many eccentricities of the Addams' than I would have otherwise been. Getting back to Christopher Lloyd, his role as the long lost Fester Addams is perfectly played, from his struggle convince the family he is the real Fester, to slowly showing viewers his true colors shining through, until he is revealed as the real Fester Addams.
Actors of Christopher Lloyd's character are becoming harder and harder to come by. His is a dying breed, as classy comedians are nearly extinct. Funnymen these days are overexuberant and unnecessarily vulgar. If you're going to be vulgar, do it for a reason other than to be vulgar. Don't get me wrong, Will Ferrell and others do make me laugh, but not on as consistent of a basis as classic comedians like my main man, Christopher Lloyd.

Otter Pops

Man I love Otter Pops. I think I ate about six of them last night. Then I've had another two so far today. I know I'm going to keep eating the ones that I have until they are all gone, probably by the end of today. When I find something I like eating, I eat it until I can't stand it any more. Why is that? If I were smart, when I find something good, I would savor it. I would only use it when it would give me the optimum satisfaction. If every time I use this good thing I have found, it gives me less and less satisfaction, I should put off using it until my satisfaction will be at optimum level. That is the problem with us humans as a race. When we find something good, we use it frantically until it no longer exists. Where wisdom would tell us to use prudence, desire for luxury pushes us to use and harvest until nothing remains. Let's learn to use some restraint, to save our natural "Otter Pops" so that in the future, when we're sitting around thinking of the delicious frozen explosion of flavor we once enjoyed, we can walk over to the freezer, open the door, and pull out a refreshing cold one to satisfy our craving, instead of feeling that pit in our stomachs when we realize that we don't have any more, we ate them all too fast.

Bass Players

Recently I was having a conversation with an intellectual about bands and who makes the bands "cool". We decided that in order to make a band "cooler", the band member must not increase the overall average "suck" of the band. Lead singers have the most influence on the band. They are usually the face of the band, and they are obviously the voice, so they are what we normally associate the band to be like. Next comes the lead guitarist. Their killer riffs and shredding abilities can attract or repel our ear juices to their sound. A close third would be the drummer. If you haven't dreamed of banging the hell out of some drums in front of a sell-out crowd, you are kidding yourself, cuz everyone has had that dream. They are the designated "badass" of the band. Now where a band usually meets it's weak spot is the bass player. Usually these guys or gals are softspoken 'whoevers' who sit in the shadows on the side of the stage while everyone else is rocking out. The bassists usually increase the "suck" of the band more than anyone else. But you know what I was thinking? I went to the Weezer concert, and their bass player, Scott Shriner, freaking kicks ass. He is about the coolest bass player there is. He sang a bunch of the songs when River's voice was going out, and when he sang "King" he freaking rocked the place. So Weezer is so freaking awesome in part because their bass player does not increase the "suck" level of Weezer, he freaking decreases it. In fact, the only other bass player I can name is Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He also decreases the "suck" of the Chili Peppers. Okay, I can also name Mike Dirnt from Green Day and Mark Hoppus from Blink-182. Both good bassists as well. But if you are going to be a bassist that I have heard of, you aren't gonna be someone that increases "suck". And Scoot Shriner is not an increaser of "suck".

Weezer

Although it has been over a month since I saw the most rockinest show ever, I have finally decided to blog about it. Man this concert was radgidelic! Some crappy local band opened and played for about a half an hour. Then Angels and Airwaves did their thing for another hour or so. Even though I don't really know any of their songs, they still rocked the house and put on a good show. Their light show went haywire for a while, but they kept things a goin' and did a good job at it too. So kudoos to Angels and Airwaves. Then the anticipation began. Holy crap, I can't put it into words. Through the previous two acts I hadn't moved too much. Than it happened. The tale tale opening to "My Name is Jonas". Holy crap the whole place erupted. I started yelling and screaming and jumping around. Man they were freaking awesome! I sang along to just about every song, which left my voice horse by the time it was all over. They sang all the classics: 'The Sweater Song' with special guest Tom Delonge from Angels and Airwaves, 'El Scortcho', 'Greatest Man That Ever Lived', 'Say It Ain't So', 'Dope Nose', 'Hashpipe' and many others. The sweetest part of the whole night was when the crowd lifted a man in a wheelchair into the air and held him there. Rivers and Pat were like, 'sweet', and I was like, 'sweet'. Rivers voice was going in and out so other members of the band sang some of the songs, which I actually didn't mind at all. In fact, I kinda liked it. Rivers was interactive with the audience, as was Pat when he sang his song 'Automatic'. So if any of you two people who read this blog ever get the chance, I would highly recommend going to a Weezer concert if you get the chance.

Ragin'

I just got done listening to Rage Against the Machine after a long days work. You know, Rage just soothes the soul, especially after a shitty day of work. Any song that ends with shouting "F@#* you I won't do what ya tell me!" over and over again will instantly relieve any anger or built up pressure you may have been suppressing throughout your day. Sometimes people are douchebags. But you can't tell them. You can't let them know how selfish, retarded, stupid, or even how ugly they are. This is why I do something I call 'Ragin' at the end of some days. Ragin' consists of driving in your car or relaxing in your room blasting RATM and singing along. Rage is always singing about some kind of injustice in the world, why not sing along and add all the injustices that have happened to you and let the power of music ease your burdens? We can't all write our own songs with the word genius of Zach de la Roca or shred on the guitar like Tom Morello can, but when I am rockin' out and Ragin', I feel like they wrote certain songs just to describe how my life sucks sometimes. By the way, Zach's new stuff with "One Day as a Lion" is not that great. I mean, the lyrics are still pretty cool, but he just isn't the same without Tom. That guy does some crazy stuff on his axe. Anywho, if anyone still reads this blog, try it sometime and see if it doesn't help you vent all of the things that you have been holding in for who knows how long.

Scorcher

I went and saw Tropic Thunder yesterday morning. Then I went and saw it again last night. It was pretty freaking hilarious. Jack Black plays "the comedian" playing a serious role for the first time in his career. Saddened that people only think he's funny because of his farts, he turns to drugs to satisfy his insecurities. And while the actors are dropped in the middle of nowhere to film a war movie, his drugs run out and he has trouble dealing with his withdrawals, to say the least. Ben Stiller is an over the hill action star looking to get his career back on track after a horrendous performance in the drama, "Simple Jack". His commitment to the movie remains well after it is clear to the other actors that things have taken a serious turn for the worse and they are dealing with real drug dealers instead of hired Viet Cong locals. Robert Downey Jr. is one of my favorites in this film. The perennial allstar, Academy Award winning, philosophical acting genius who is well known for literally becoming the characters he plays, Downey's character, Lazarus, gets surgery to turn his skin from black to white to play the role of an African American sargeant. It is hilarious listening to him try to talk like a black man from the south throughout the movie. Even after he is convinced the movie has turned into reality, he never breaks character. Tom Cruise plays the financial backer of the film, Les Grossman. I think Cruise had a fun time playing the vulgar, eccentric, self-assured billionaire. You could see it in his eyes. He got to say things that most of us would love to say to the jerks we see every day but don't have the balls to say it. Things become hilarious when you see Cruise as a balding, overweight, extremely hairy middle-aged CEO berating the director of the film for his inadequacies as a film maker. All in all I thought this was a good movie with some hilarious parts in it. It kept me laughing even though some of the things said were deeply disturbing, the fact that I knew they were not serious made it okay in my head.

P.S. While working the other day, the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen came in with her mother and grandmother. Holy crap she was smokin'! Tall, slender, asian descent, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. So here I am, reaching out to you beautiful asian girl. If you read this and you were in Costco on 300 west in Salt Lake on August 12, 2008, I would love to take you out to lunch. Don't slap fate in the face and ignore this post script. I am the tall, ruggedly handsome, stand-up comedian/pilot/doctor that helped bag your food after it was purchased. I extend my hand out to you, will you take it. . .?

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.