Cars Review (The Movie, Not The Vehicles)

I don't know why I doubted Pixar.

You doubted too, I'm sure, when you saw the teaser trailer for "Cars." You saw the rusty tow truck saying "Dadgum!" just like I did. You thought that Pixar finally made a mistake. I did too. I don't blame you. It was the worst teaser trailer ever, possibly.

How does Cars stack up? It is very, very good. It ranks right up there with the other movies they've done, toe to toe.

Does it recycle the plot of other movies? Yes.

Does it feature racing, which for many people (like me) is not interesting? Yes.

Is it the best family film so far this year? Yes.

What makes it such a good film? The characters. Pixar always has great characters. It's such a basic thing, but they never seem to make a bad move. The rusty tow truck (His name is Mater, by the way) is actually funny. Paul Newman's crusty old Doc Hudson is well acted and very fleshed-out character. All this stuff that you don't think would work actually DOES work, and works well.

Now for the flaws. Is this a ground-breaking film? No. Have you seen a lot of this stuff before? Yeah. You have.

Will you enjoy this film? Undoubtedly. Go see it.

My review: 9.4/10

Another Football Preview - This Time It's Personal

It's time for another NFL preview, during these, the quiet summer months before the first snaps. I hate this time of year, really I do. People grasp for news straws, and every single news item becomes a Big Deal. Take, for instance, this gem from CNN.com:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/06/17/chargers.hardwick.ap/index.html

Wow! A center signs a six-year deal!

Now, I love the offensive line, don't get me wrong. I know they're important. But a contract for a center isn't a big story. This is on the front page of SI's NFL news. That's sad.

On to the previews:

Every has Dallas as the trendy Super Bowl pick. Certainly they're stronger with Terrell Owens. Certainly, it's a stronger team all around, with key additions and maturing players. We're still overlooking two key parts:

1) Drew Bledsoe
2) Julius Jones

Bledsoe fades as the season progresses. He's been doing it for a few years now. Jones is by far their best running back, and he's always banged up.

This reminds me of last year's Arizona Cardinals. They added Kurt Warner and everyone freaked out. Playoff predictions ran rampant from everyone, including myself. We forgot certain key information, such as 1) Kurt Warner isn't very good, 2) the Cardinal O-line isn't very good. My point? Sometimes we forget that even though parts are added, there's still other, slower, less mobile parts in the team.

So, my trendy pick? Carolina in the NFC. Why? Because of depth and experience. Carolina is a scrappy team, much like the old (like, three year old) New England teams. They've faced adversity together. And, let's face it, if the Panthers would have had another wideout last year, they would have beaten the Seahawks. I don't like the Seahawks.

What about the AFC? Yes, what about them? They're still the stronger conference, definitely, but the gap is narrowing. Think about this: Last year, how many strong teams were there in the AFC? I mean, Pittsburgh was a sixth seed. This was a deep conference. Now, this year, in the NFC, there's a few more strong teams, like Dallas and Seattle and Carolina and and Chicago and Philadelphia and San Francisco. (I just threw that last one in there to see if you were paying attention.)

However, the AFC still has solid teams. New England isn't the same team it was in years past, but they find a way to win most of the time. They can't be counted out totally, though logic dictates that they're not going to make it.

Kansas City is improved, and a full season of Larry Johnson will be fun to watch, but here's the thing about LJ: He stinks at blitz pickup. He's not disciplined enough. THAT'S why Vermeil didn't like him, and I don't blame him. Look for the passing game to sag, and everyone will blame it on Trent Green. You and I both know the real reason, though.

This year, though, I like Pittsburgh again. Cincinatti's defense is still too spongy to make a huge difference, and Carson Palmer is still a question mark after his Kimo-therapy. If Ben Roethlisberger can rebound from his motorcycle accident (he's an idiot, by the way), and the defense is the same old Pittsburgh defense, look for good things from the Steel City.

So, my picks? Carolina and Pittsburgh to meet in the Super Bowl. Who wins? Why, we all do. (This is my copout answer to avoid making a pick.)

I miss football.

JUDAS

So, I have made an important, life-altering decision. Not really.

I'm going to trade my Playstation 2 for a Nintendo DS.

Now, before some of you start pointing at me and laughing, let me tell you why. First, my PS2 hasn't been getting any use now that my computer is back up and running. I'm having such a great time with Morrowind, Evil Genius, Rise of Nations, and Knights of the Old Republic that I really can't be bothered to play all the great games I have for my PS2 as well.

Second, a lot of the games that I have can be played on a PS1, which can be easily found for $20. I am notoriously cheap.

In conjunction with the previous point, by getting rid of my PS2 NOW, I am able to make more money and get more value in a trade. Then, when the PS2 drops in price, I can get it again. It's a simple buy low/sell high thing.

Plus, and this cannot be overstated, I'm really jazzed about the current DS lineup, especially New Super Mario Bros. I have waited for Nintendo to just make another Mario game for the past, oh, I don't know, 15 years. Now that they have, I'm beside myself. Having played it, it has me begging for more. I'm really intrigued by the wireless multiplayer for games like Animal Crossing and Mario Kart (even though I suck at Mario Kart). Age Of Empires II is turn-based, which makes me giddy with glee. Kirby: Canvas Curse is a new Kirby game, and I'm an absolute sucker for Kirby games (pun not intended).

So, Godspeed, PS2. We shall meet again, I promise.

Second Thoughts On The Wii

OK, so you probably remember my scathing post on the Wii. (Or you don't. You probably don't read this blog.) At any rate, I seethed about the Stupidest Console Name Ever, and basically told Nintendo that they were dead to me.

I need a napkin to clear of the egg on my face, frankly.

After a strong E3 showing, and the Playstation coming out a $500, and people actually SEEING what the controller does instead of just having to guess, Nintendo is actually in the lead spot now for most gamers, strangely enough.

I still wish they would have kept the name "Revolution," though.

X-Men 3 Review

My lovely wife and I went to see X-Men 3 on Monday. My wife is a fan of the movies, and she used to watch the cartoons as a child in Mexico. (As a side note, you have not lived until you have seen Darkwing Duck in Spanish.) As for myself, I liked the cartoons as well, and never really got into the comic books, even though I wanted to. So, while we’re familiar with the X-Men, we’re not beholden to the comic storylines.

That being said, we loved the new X-Men movie. I was prepared for the worst, and was extremely surprised. The pacing is a little slow, and the new mutants are little more than window dressing, but the story is fantastic.

Here’s the story, in case you haven’t heard, revolves around a “cure” for mutants, derived from a mutant boy named Leech. While some mutants welcome this cure, others, such as Magneto, view the cure as a way to stamp out mutantkind, and draw the line thusly. Along the way, Jean Grey returns as the Phoenix, an uber-powerful mutant who can do, well, basically anything. She’s highly unstable, though, and is a danger to herself and others.

Brett Ratner, the director, has a reputation for making bad films. X-Men 3 is by no means a bad film, though, and it’s easy to see why. Ratner spends the film trying to ape Bryan Singer’s style for the previous movies, and, for the most part, it works. In some ways, it’s kind of cute, like the little flourishes that he hamfistedly tries to put in the make himself seem like a better director. He’s not Singer, that’s for sure, but in Singer’s absence, he fits the bill.

The effects are mostly pretty great, aside from a few fakey-looking things, as in most heavily CGI-ed movies. The Beast is very well played by Kelsey Grammer, and he looks great too. Angel’s wings look good, even though all he gets to do is fly around and looking broodingly handsome. A bunch more mutants get thrown into the mix, mostly on the side of Magneto, but they’re not really well developed.

So what makes this movie as good as I say it is? The story is fantastic, Jean Grey is amazing, and Wolverine, as always, is a fascinating character. Speaking of Wolverine, he’s much less tormented this time around, more definite in his pursuit of evil, which actually is a good thing. It completes the circle, from tormented soul to recovering warrior to bold knight. Is it what happens in the comics? I don’t know. Who cares? It works.

All in all, I found this movie extremely enjoyable. Sure, there’s some things that are a little off, but as a trilogy-ending movie, it really doesn’t miss.

One last thing: Don’t leave the theater until after the credits are done.

My score:

8.8/10

Mission: Impossible 3 Impressions

My lovely wife Ruth and I went to see Mission: Impossible 3, the new Tom Cruise vehicle. First of all, before I get into impressions, let me tell you a little bit about my M:I experience.

The first movie I saw when it came out, and didn't understand a word of it. I mean, I liked the action sequences, but the whole thing scrambled my brain. I saw the second one and loved it. Now, this was when I was a dumb kid. I mean, I loved Batman Forever. That should tell you about my movie tastes back then. Now, when I watch the movie, I can't believe how dumb it is, but I did like it way back when.

So.

I liked Mission: Impossible 3. It has its flaws, no doubt. Let's get the dumb stuff out of the way first. First, they have a machine that can analyze your brain and give you a real-time X-ray image, then detect and analyze a foreign object through bone and tissue, but they still have a defibrillator that takes 30 seconds to charge.

Second, because Tom Cruise is basically indestructible in these movies, there really isn't any suspense as far as his character goes. Wisely, they choose to put other characters in danger instead of Cruise, making it more suspenseful.

Third, the twist at the end is kind of predictable.

Those negatives out of the way, there was a lot to like about this movie. Philip Seymour Hoffman is very menacing. He's an interesting actor, and this gives him a chance to play around. Someone was telling me that they're mad that he sold out, but you can't make Important Movies all the time. Every once in a while you have to cut loose and have fun, and Hoffman does.

Tom Cruise is many times maligned for his acting. In this movie, though, he does a superb job stepping into Ethan Hunt's shoes once again, making you feel that he's actually concerned about these events. Hunt and his fiancee, played by Michelle Monaghan, never really generate a whole lot of heat, but that's okay. They're not supposed to. She's there to give him something to protect, and as a plot device, it works well.

Finally, the direction, handled by J.J. Abrams in his feature debut, is fantastic. If you've watched Alias in its first few seasons, you know what to expect. If you haven't, you're in for a treat, as Abrams enjoys taking the movie everywhere he can. Literally. He goes to the Vatican, Shanghai, everywhere. It's a fantastic ride, and he knows when to slow it down to give the movie weight.

All in all, this was a very well-made movie. It should get a lot more love than it's getting in the theatres, and it's my mission to make sure it does. My final score:

8.5/10

Fantasy Sports Are My New Addiction

I have a problem. I think that's the first step here. I'm hooked on fantasy baseball.

First, a little background. I love baseball. It was my first love, thanks to my dad. We used to play baseball in my grandma's backyard with my dad and my older brother. I still fondly remember the first time I hit a ball over the garage in back of the house. Of course, now that I look at the backyard, it's only like 80 feet, but when I was a kid, it was the most incredible thing ever. I was Paul Molitor, or Robin Yount, or, hey, even B.J. Surhoff would have been cool.

I spent hours in my backyard throwing a baseball against a backstop, trying to perfect all these pitches that I wanted to do. Granted, I was only 10, so you can't really have very many pitches then, but I practiced. And practiced. And practiced.

Was I any good? No. I didn't realize this until years later when my dad told me that, yeah, he just kind of humored me. He would let me beat him in wrestling, and pitch meatballs to me, and let me get to the next base even though I had little stubby legs and I ran like a girl. That didn't stop my love of the sport, though. To this day, when I drive by a baseball field at night with the lights shining down, the smell of newly-mowed grass in the air, my heart swells a little. I picture myself on the mound, staring down a batter, locked in a contest of wills.

Too bad I have no talent.

So, fantasy baseball is great for me. It allows me to fool around with baseball, and on top of that, it allows me to use math. It's like geek sports.

There's a problem, though. I'm checking my lineups constantly. I'm figuring out OPS for guys. I'm getting antsy over WHIP. I'm checking to see if any great guys have fallen into my lap. And so far, I've had great luck. How so?

Well, first, I picked up Kevin Mench just before his torrid streak of home runs. I traded Jose Contreras before his trip to the DL. Torii Hunter was slumping badly. Then I picked him up. Since then? .571 in the 8 games since then. This luck can't hold up forever, but it's a good run while it lasts.

So, it's an addiction, but I guess there's worse addictions. Like fantasy football in four months, which will start the process anew.

God help me.