The Road...review

If "Jaws" when you break it down is really just an exaggerated fish tale that buddies would tell each other while drinking then I guess you could say that "The Road" is just a story about a father & son's camping trip that a kid would brag about to their friends. However like Jaws you simply cannot escape the tragedy that surrounds their stories. I did not read the book The Road before I saw the movie, even though I usually do because I am a voracious reader. When I heard that they were making a movie I decided for a change of pace to see it first. For a brief synopsis it is the story of a father & son trying to survive & make their way south after an Apocalypse. It is not stated in the book(to the best of my knowledge) or the movie what happened, or if it was natural or man-made. After seeing the movie, it could have been done by either or both.

This is a somewhat difficult movie to review for a couple of reasons. It is a very well acted, adapted, filmed, imagined, & directed movie. It is also very, very bleak (exposed and barren and often windswept, cold, raw, lacking in warmth, life, or kindliness : grim, not hopeful or encouraging, depressing outlook>, severely simple or austere) movie. I use the dictionaries definition because it really hits home on this one. This movie will be a particularly difficult movie to watch for the father's of sons. The story is of their attempt to survive in a world gone dead inhabited by few...& those few look for meat the only place they can find it (hint...there are not a whole lot of animals left). The lessons the father teaches his son can be brutal at times.

This brings us to the second reason it is tough to review. My father was an old school guy who liked to camp, hunt, & fish. He was an NRA instructor. While he did have his soft side, he had his tough hard side as well. This would have been a difficult movie for him to watch. And knowing the types of movies he liked, I wouldn't recommend it to him, yet I would have wanted to watch it with him (most likely at home via DVD...followed by a cigar & port to relax him). I do recommend seeing this movie to most, but if you only go to the movies purely to be entertained by comedy or special effects...this might not be for you. Otherwise, with all the problems we face in today's economy, unless you are dealing with some real life & death situations...this movie may just put in perspective that as difficult as you think you have it...you really don't. If it's grey & rainy tomorrow, the sun will shine the next day or day after that...& you will continue to make your way along your own road...

Serious Man/Broken Embraces Reviews

Serious Man- The Coen Bros. latest is more or less a somewhat modern (takes places in the Midwest in the 1960's...which would make it 1990's here in the tri-state area) take on the Old Testament story of Job. A married father of two who is a teacher finds everything falling apart from his wife leaving him, his tenure being questioned, his brother the math genius/social retard driving him nuts to the trials & tribulations of getting his antennae to work so his son can watch F Troop. All this goes on days before his son's bar mitzvah. It is pretty funny, not one of their best...but still good. Thing is...unless you're Jewish & have been bar-mitzvahed I just wonder how much you will get of a lot of the humour. So...if you're Jewish & were at least a kid in the 60's or are a big Coen Bros fan go out & see it...otherwise give it a try on Net-Flix or HBO

Broken Embraces - Pedro Almovars latest is awesome, especially if you really love cinema & Penelope Cruz. It is basically a story within a story with 2 movies going on within the stories. While this might sound confusing, especially since it's in Spanish with subtitles it was not whatsoever. A screenwriter is approached by a director to write his latest movie. He doesn't want to do it & it opens up a major chapter from his past. He was making a movie & fell in love with his lead actress...while this is going on the actresses "sugar daddy" boyfriend has his son film the making of the movie...primarily to spy on his lover. It's a great movie...& no it's not a chick flick. Again Penelope Cruz is great, I'm a huge fan of hers as an actress & think she's beautiful(not only does she look great..you see her done up as Audrey Hepburn & Marilyn Monroe). If only ever Director could be this talented & every muse so stunningly photogenic & equally talented you & your "significant other" would have a lot more to choose from then the next crap romantic comedy with she of the "Friends" or big blow up robot adventurer starring Hollywood latest leading - boy...

Fear not loyal readers...my next review will likely be for Ninja Assassin...so stay tuned...same bat-time...same bat-channel...

I'm Number 6!

I'm a huge fan of the 60's classic Secret Agent Man starring Patrick McGoohan. It clearly was riding Bond-mania but it was it's own show & great. Then came the Prisoner. In it a British Secret Service Agent(the protagonist from SAM) resigns from the service & then finds himself in "The Village" where no one has a name...only a number. It dealt heavily with the concepts of freedom, individuality, & communism. You didn't know if it was his cold war enemies who caught him & played mind games to get info out of him or if his own service did this to him. The ending was strange...but all in all a great show & a true cult classic. For years there has been talk of a remake & I was really looking forward to one. At one point Mel Gibson was going to remake it as a feature film (before we all found out he is psychotic anti-Semitic scum). When I heard that AMC was involved with a British channel ITV & starring James Caviezel (6) & Ian McKellen (2) I was psyched. It SUCKED!!! It was a discombobulated mess that made no sense whatsoever. I enjoy thought provoking TV instead of just being fed mush to ogle...but this...sucked! Absolutely totally disappointed. They just totally got it wrong.

They changed the lead to an American who works as an analyst at corporation in NYC & spies on the privates lives of numerous people via CCTV. Why...because American Corporations are evil, just paid well for it by an evil secret client/government/pan-global cabal???Did I mention it didn't work? Is it a dream..is it not a dream, is it drug induced? Why is he in the Village, how did he get there, is he there, what did he see that the Corporation wanted suppressed, did he see anything...who cares...I really can't believe how bad it was. I lost interest from the get go...kept trying to stick with...& it was a total waste. My advice rent or find on-line the Original & enjoy it. I guess after the amazing re-boots of Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who,Star Trek, Batman, & James Bond I'm spoiled...but of all the ones to screw up why this one & why AMC...?!?

No Habla Espanol...

Mi Espanol is muy malo, no sprecken da Duetsche, no parlez vouis Franchaise...I've always found it amazing at just how well my fellow Americans are able to tell people that they cannot speak their language but little else...the exceptions being how to say beer & I love you in most languages... While on the other hand both here & all over the world I have met people who speak Spanish, German, Portuguese, Icelandic, Italian, Russian, etc...who have apologized to me that "they are sorry...my English is not too good" & then continued an entire conversation in English with me to varying degrees. For the record...I always tell them how good their English is & that it's me who cannot speak their language(with the exception of my broken high school level Spanish, which when I use it in places like Costa Rica, Mexico, Deli's/Restaurants in NY...no one ever makes fun of it...they always really appreciate that I'm trying!))

Recent studies have shown that more & more people worldwide are speaking English (eat it Panda-Huggers!) This is most likely due to the fact that even though our housing & derivatives markets almost caused a global depression English is the major business language & we continue to enlighten the world by exporting such cultural phenomenons as The Transformer Movies, Gossip Girl, & muzac from the likes of Brittney, Lady Gaga, Miley, etc... Regardless of the fact the most people that you interface with speak English I do believe that if you have kids...have them learn another language or two...try to learn some key phrases from a couple of languages yourself...if nothing else it will show you're trying & like I stated earlier people really do appreciate it. Plus with the technology we have at our fingertips it's not that tough...remember after all...there's an app for that...

Shape of things to come...?

Recently the US Preventative Services Task Force came out with a study that said woman should wait until they are 50 to start getting their mammograms instead of at 40 & that Doctors should stop teaching woman to check themselves. Yes...you read the last part right. Primary care physicians should stop teaching woman how to check themselves. Doctors were outraged as were most women. The first part about woman waiting until they are 50 sounds like a cost cutting effort...a shape of things to come so to speak. The second point I really don't get. What did the study find... that people are too stupid to check for lump themselves? If they do think they have one & are wrong I'm guessing a regular check up with a Doctor should take care of this. What ever happened to "better safe then sorry"?!? As of today they are now reversing their position & saying woman should discuss when, if, & how early & often with their primary care physicians. Thank you geniuses of the USPSTF. How much taxpayer money will you waste on your next genius study? What's next Doctors will wait till men are 50 before checking us for prostate or testicular cancer? I'll have to wait till I'm 50 for my Doctor to fondle my testes & digitally (not digital like computer...digits as in fingers) probe me...say it ain't so!

Please note that while I wanted to end this on a light note I am more then aware of the seriousness of this. Before we vote on a 2000+ page bill...we better know the real ramifications of the policies. The mentality that some of these organizations are preaching against educating us on how to look for early warning signs & looking to make policy that looks like it's favoring financial factors over life & death seems like a move in the wrong direction...regardless what side of the aisle you sit on...

In Criminal Court?!? In downtown NYC!?! Seriously?!?

Considering the fact that I watched 9/11 out the window of my apartment & consider myself a patriotic American I'm guessing you may have a good idea on my thoughts of trying 9/11 terrorists in a criminal court vs a military court. Instead of bloviating...I will lay out some questions & facts so you may come to your own decisions & conclusions...

• None of the accused 9/11 defendants that are going to be tried in criminal court in NY are American citizens
• None of the accused are illegal aliens that were arrested on American soil for breaking US laws
• Zacarias Moussaoui is not a U.S. citizen but was captured on US soil. He was tried in civilian court.
  
• What precedent is there for trying enemy combatants captured on foreign soil in a civilian court of law versus a military tribunal? When Eric Holder was asked today by a US Senate Committee if there has ever been a case in US history of an enemy combatant caught on a foreign battlefield tried in civilian court he did not know the answer. If he does not know this, then what legal precedent is he basing his decision?
• Has there ever been one? I could not find one. If any of you have please send it over.
• Do Miranda rights extend to foreign nationals?On foreign soil? (they were not read Miranda rights when captured).
• Do Miranda rights supersede the rules of the Geneva Convention for enemy combatants?
• Even if enemy combatant's are read Miranda rights on foreign soil would they even apply in a court of US law? Would they apply if captured on US soil?
• Can we truly find a jury comprised of 12 unbiased men & women that are peers of the accused?
• Will any involved with this case ever be safe again & be able to lead a normal life(Jurors, Lawyers, Judges, Court Officers etc)
  
• What are the security risks & costs of what could turn into a multi-year trial? (Chuck Shumer has asked for an additional $75,000 million to cover security costs, the human costs are incalculable)
  
• What benefit do we as a people get for trying the accused in a Criminal court vs a Military Tribunal?
• What are the future ramifications of doing this? What message are we sending to those who wish us harm? Do we want them secure in the knowledge that they will have the full protection of OUR laws?
• What if they are not found guilty due to any number of reasons? Even though they have all admitted to it...
  
• If there is an attack in NY during the trial will Eric Holder take responsibility? Will he agree that he should be prosecuted for reckless endangerment & Manslaughter? If there is no attack should he still face criminal charges of reckless endangerment &/or civil charges for any economic damages done to the city of New York & public & private businesses?

Again...to me the answers are pretty crystal clear. You need to ask these questions of yourself. I live in New York & I interact in the real world with real live people & real consequences. I do not live in a tower in cyberspace where theoretical & hypothetical concepts debate each other on a virtual chessboard...