Wheels, Elk and Eye Diseases....

Traditionally, Labor Day has been a weekend full of stress; school shopping for clothes and supplies, meeting the demands of a half dozen BBQ invitations, and soothing the nerves of my boys as they stare down the coming school year. Since we've moved to Idaho, Labor Day has taken on a different look. School actually starts around the 24th of August, so Labor Day has turned into a long weekend of leisure and fun....or at least it has the last TWO Labor Day's here.
This year we've had a strange mixture of fun, disaster and sickness. It made for an interesting few days....

What is missing in this picture? The wheel that was once on the left side of my cherished BBQ was burned to a black pile of plastic rubble on my driveway. You might also notice that the catcher that traditional sits beneath the the BBQ is missing as well. It was also missing when we brought all the food into the house, and left the BBQ to simmer and cool down. About a half hour later, after a few hot coals fell onto a piece of cardboard sitting underneath it, the wheel was fully engulfed. Had my sister not informed us of this bonfire on my driveway, who knows how bad this actually could have been.

Sunday evening, we were invited up to a beautiful elk ranch about a half hour drive to the east, to watch the elk rut and hopefully hear them bugle. Our destination was quite a bit off the beaten path and there is about 3 miles of gravel road to wind through to get to the ranch itself. What was supposed to be a leisurely jaunt around the property, turned into me changing a flat on rocky, uneven ground, and THEN driving down that rocky, uneven stretch on this little donut. I was angry and frustrated, but the gorgeous sunset helped to calm my troubled mood. We made it home safe and sound, albeit after a long, slow drive back.


Look at my right eye in each of these pictures. That is Viral Conjunctivitis. It's a little different than your run-of-the-mill pink eye which is more often than not a bacteria. Because its viral, there is no cure but time. I have drops that supposedly make it feel better, but its VERY temporary and I get very testy between the times when I can take them, which is four times a day. In the picture below, I am in between one of those times....can you tell?

Stepping down. Pushing away.

Mood: Relatively sane. Regretfully sober.

Losing is really hard. I've lost thousands of poker hands. Many of them more memorable than the big wins. I played on a soccer team in my early teens that lost every game. 0-14. We struggled to get on the opposing side of the field most times. We scored 4 goals all season.

More recently, I played softball with a group of good friends. We spent 4 seasons together and had a good amount of fun. We played hard most nights; and lost most nights. After playing together for a few years, we solidified as a team and began to win. We took 3rd place in our division the last year we all played together. I remember every loss of that season very vividly, however, the wins are fuzzy and distant.

Today, 10-10-2010, was supposed to be a day of grandeur for me. A day when monkeys would leap gleefully off numbered backs, and streaks of futility would become history. Today, the stars aligned, and my two favorite sports teams played on television, back-to-back. However, both of my teams lost in spectacular fashion. Both of them imploded, cursed by bad management, and wasted talent, both of them living the cliche'; too little, too late.

Where was I in all of this? On the couch, on the floor, in the rocking chair, in the kitchen (as far away from the TV as I could possibly be, and still see the action), pacing nervously wearing a carpet track that I can still see. For 6 hours I roamed in the vicinity of the action, not wanting to miss a second, but wanting to run away all the same.

At some point within the late afternoon hours, I said to myself out loud, "There is going to come a point where I can't take this anymore." And here I am; reaching that very point.

I've spent the better part of two decades engrossing myself in every major sport; the personalities, the statistics, the scandals, the unlikely victories and the devastating losses. I have spent countless hours, days, weeks bemoaning a tough lose; replaying them in my head and second-guessing every managerial or coaching strategy. There were times when I thought I might never get over it; that I might never be able to let things go.

So here I am, a 32 year old, married, father of 3, unable to get over what is essentially childrens play. I have personally played all the sports I follow in one form or another. Sometimes I was very successful, and others, I was glaringly awful. But what remains is this; it is only a game. It has always been only a game. It has never been anything more. A game; with lines, fields, players, officials, boundaries and goals. I have wept more in the anguish of my teams losing, than in the joy of the triumphs of my children. I have showed more passion in the heat of a football game, than I have in the undeniable talents of my wife. I have devoted more time and energy to these games, than I have developing talents and ideas of my own that have laid dormant for a great number of years.

Where does this possibly leave me? Well, it leaves me here at this desk, typing to a world of strangers (and a few friends); not in front of ESPN's Sportcenter, swearing inaudibly, eventually dragging myself upstairs full of vitriol and sadness at my losses. No, that's not me anymore. My heart, my mind, the things I hold dear to me, just can't take it anymore. I'm a fat man shoving my chair away from Thanksgiving dinner. The World of Sports is about to take a backseat to hobbies, and individuals, that take precedence; and frankly, should have taken precedence long ago.

So, fair well my dear friend; I shall watch from afar, and will never be able to completely let go of you. However, I have given you a good many years, and life will certainly never be the same living it without your companionship. The boys of summer will have played their last game in the twilight of fall, and the men of the gridiron will grapple with each other into the wee months of winter. As for me, Lord willing, the sun will rise all the same.

Waste of my time

Before I was married, I probably watched 3 to 4 movies a week. I was not picky, and usually, the more implausible and stupid the movie was, the more I was entertained. The last decade, as the number of dependents grow within the walls of my home, the number of films I watch has taken a steady decline to the tune of maybe 1 or 2 movies a month. Because of this drastic change in viewing practices, I usually try really hard to get the scoop on a film before I devote sleep and family time to watch it. I usually check with trusted friends, reviews on Netflix, and my trusted pal, Roger Ebert. I have also been known to take a chance on a movie solely because I think the story is enticing, or original; which is precisely what I did this past weekend with a movie called "The Lovely Bones".

The film tells the story about a girl who is murdered at the age of 14 in a senseless and brutal way. However, her character remains the narrator of the film as she watches life on Earth unfold from her perch above in some bizarro world between death and eventual heaven. It is later explained (at least, this my my take on it) that she was having a hard time letting go of her earthly, familial life, so she was kind of in limbo until she could bring herself to do so.

Well, in the meantime her family goes on coping with her death, each other, and the fact that the investigation into the murder has completely stalled. Her parents (Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz) cope with their grief in entirely different ways, and seemingly grow apart. Wahlberg's character becomes very involved in the investigation and continuously pesters the detective in charge of his daughter's case. His contributions are both irrelevant and unwanted.

See, the plot doesn't sound so bad at this point, does it? Well, unfortunately for this movie, the director (Peter Jackson) decides to fill the gaps with mindless crap, plot holes the size of our lovely planet, and characters that lack importance, relevance and interest.

Let me just say, we know who the killer is within the first 15 minutes of the film. That works for Law and Order, but it doesn't work here. The reason being, the killer is one of the most uninteresting characters in the film and yet he is undoubtedly one of the most important. We never really know his motivation, we know very little of his background, or the desire that drives him. We. Know. Nothing. And really, we never get the chance to either. The audience never gets to either hate this man, cope with him in some way, or at the very least, gain an understanding of where he is coming from. All of that is overlooked so that we can follow around this young girl in her afterlife while she struggles to deal with the fact that her younger sister got kissed before she ever did. Yes....I am being serious.

The insanity doesn't stop there. The night the girl goes missing, the family is gathered around the dinner table wondering when Suzie is coming home. In the first scene, her little sister says, "she is staying after school for film club", and one scene later, while sitting around the same dinner table, dad says, "so, when did you say Suzie was coming home from the mall?" The sister goes on to answer the question, seemingly unaware that mere minutes prior she told him she was staying after school for film club. Bad editing, terrible oversight.

This movie also has one of those implausible moments where one of the characters is the strongest, quickest, most agile human beings on earth in one scene, then two scenes later nearly has a heart attack walking to his car. I will explain this scene, not because I want to ruin the movie, but because you need to know how ridiculous this is and share in my laughter.

So, the murderer has the little girl stuffed in a massive safe in his basement, which has a very long staircase to the main floor. There comes a point where he has to move the safe, and he has to do it fast. In a matter of about a minute, he has the safe up the stairs, in the back of his pickup, covered with a tarp, and he's outta there! Meanwhile, when he gets to his destination, he pays a man a large sum of money to help him move the safe towards a large sinkhole. Together, they move this safe painfully slow, rolling it on to its side, over and over again until they reach the hole. It is supposed to be a very somber, painful part of the film, but I just sat there stunned at what I was seeing. How do paid professionals oversee this??

Perhaps the most disappointing part of all of this is that it is Peter Jackson's fault. This is the man that directed the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. How is this possibly the same person? As long as this review is, I could double it over again with more complaints. Honestly, I had heard this move was lacking, but wow, this is amateur crap. No stars for me.....but please, if you want a lesson in how to make a bad movie and spend too much time worrying about the pointless CGI in the afterlife, RUN RUN RUN to the nearest Blockbuster Video.

Moon (2009)

The surface of the moon is lifeless and cold. On the parts that are facing away from the sun, the "nighttime" can get down to 243 degrees below zero. That's cold....even for a guy that lives in Rexburg.

"Moon" is about a man named Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) that works on the moon, for a duration of 3 years, monitoring harvester machines that process lunar rock and extract Helium-3, the newly chosen energy source of planet earth. Sam works alone. He is the only human on the station, however he is kept company by a robot named Gerty, who basically runs all components on the space station. He is highly intelligent, and is a nice, soothing voice (Kevin Spacey) to Sam.

Sam is a family man, and has left his wife and small daughter on Earth during his stint in space. He can communicate with them, but only through taped messages that headquarters sends him weekly. The live feed to Earth has allegedly been faulty the entirety of his employ, so these messages are his only communication beyond his lunar home.

When we meet Sam, he has about 2 weeks left before he can return home. He is antsy, impatient, and starts to see things that aren't really there. This is where I'll stop........

The movie is great sci-fi. I loved it. Its slow, but don't get impatient. Every scene has its purpose, and Sam Rockwell is brilliant (see Matchstick Men). The moon shots are really cool, and the interior of space station has an eerie, morgue-ish, feel to it as well. This is not a (BOO!) scary movie, but it is frightening in mostly a psychological way. There are two great twists that I enjoyed, and there might be a third if you keep an eye out for it.

The movie is rated R for a few F-bombs, but otherwise its good stuff. It might be hard to find at your local movie store, but Netflix has it on Instant viewing.

Just a quick note.....the film was directed by David Bowie's son, who had been doing commercials up until this point. Kind of gives new meaning to Bowie's 1969 hit song, Space Oddity. I look for him to do some other great stuff in the future. 3.5 stars for me.

Clooney is polished

A few nights ago, I wrote a killer film review about George Clooney's "Up in the Air". Unfortunately, the genius that is blogspot, erased it, never to be found again. Needless to say, its taking me until now to get over it, and give a VERY abbreviated version of what I wrote:

Clooney sucked the last ten years....can we just get that out of the way right now? He did "O Brother, where art thou?" in 2000, and then became Danny Ocean for a decade. Weak.

However, in "Up in the Air", he is a true leading actor.....he actually leads! I say that because he made everyone around him better. Both of his female counterparts received Oscar nominations for their roles, as well as Clooney.

As with most of my reviews, I try to stay away from talking about the plot too much....if you are interested in the film, you can do that on your own....but what I will say, is there are so many things that could have gone wrong in this movie, but it just stayed the course and clicked along. I can get along with movies like that, and I did famously with this one. This is Clooney's best movie, and we get to watch Anna Kendrick in her breakout performance. She is going to be a lead some day, and a dang good one at that. 4 stars for me easily.

Oh, one more thing I mentioned in the original review that I almost forgot here.....Jason Reitman directed this movie as well as "Juno" and "Thank you for Smoking". I recommend both of these films highly.....this young director has a long presence ahead. Go make yourself acquainted with him now....you won't be disappointed.

"You have to keep carrying the fire....The fire inside you."

The above is one of very few lines in the film, "The Road". The reason there aren't many lines is because, well, there aren't many people left in the world to talk to.
The story follows the meandering trek of a young boy and his father through post-apocalyptic America. They spend all of their time heading toward "the coast", dodging cannibals, and forging for food and shelter.
But moreover, this is a love story between a father and a son....and their daily struggle to uphold morals, and test their strength and courage. Its also a gauge of their will to live in a world in which everything else is either dead, or on the verge.
This is a dark, depressing movie at first glance, and if you've read the book (by Cormac McCarthy) you know what I'm talking about. However, the film itself offers at least some semblance of optimism that the book, I am realizing now, hopelessly glossed over, or didn't offer whatsoever.
I enjoyed both the book and the film equally, which is rare in my world. I think its because the film wasn't trying to be anything other than faithful to the book. Furthermore, I found myself "recognizing" the scenes in the movie, as the exact way I pictured them while reading the book. In all, the film is great, and has a GREAT cast. My favorite scene was with the old man (Robert Duvall).....its very cool. I recommend this movie, but be aware that there are some rough patches and some scenes that are disturbing.....remember, we are looking at post-apocalyptic life....its not a very pretty sight. See it, or read it...let me know what you think. 3.5 stars for me.

Back on Track....

Okay, now that Soleil has settled in, and I'm not making daily, if not hourly, trips to the hospital for weeks on end, I can go back to reviewing some movies......

Before a few nights ago, it had been many, many months since I had sat down and watched a movie (somewhat) uninterrupted. So, with some time on my hands the other night, I decided to watch a film I had seen on several "Top 10 in 2009" lists, and even one "Top Movies of the decade" list. So, I gave Coraline a shot......and then I wanted to be shot.

The first half hour was spent being intrigued by the animation (the ONLY cool thing about the film), and the rest of the time was spent being pissed at the lack of character development, the lazy dialogue, and wondering why the story (which was intriguing in the beginning) had turned to a jumbled, obscure mess. Is it cool to make your film unwatchable in the name of trying to make it feel, well, trippy?
Again, I was willing to look past the strange, yet original animation, if the story could stay interesting for its duration.
I don't know, perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for it, but then again, I am scared of the mood I might have to be in to fully enjoy this movie. 1.5 stars for cool animation, and for an interesting first half hour.

Friends.....stay tuned for more reviews coming up. I have a few good ones here from Netflix, and I've had one request for "My Cousin Vinny". I will do those as soon as I get a quick chance to watch them!!

Rexburg in Pictures....Part 1

This is Rexburg. Five square miles, most of which sits on a shield volcano. Of the approximate 20,000 inhabitants, 95% are white. 70% of the population is under the age of 24, thanks in part to the campus of Brigham Young University-Idaho.

I am always surprised at the number of my LDS friends that haven't ever been to Rexburg, so I am taking this opportunity to take some pictures and show this town of ours off a little. In the coming weeks, I will carry my camera around town during my excursions outside, and snap some pictures of things that might be of interest to you, or moreover, things we find interesting after living here for the past year. Furthermore, if there is something you want pictures of, let me know!!

".....and the rockets red glare......"

I was a sports fan when I was in the womb. I have been to more live sporting events than probably most Americans. I bought a large, plasma television and HD programming SOLELY for watching sports on TV.

When I first started watching sports, it was almost always about the game. Nobody was bigger than the game, and nobody wanted to be. I think of baseball players like Pete Rose, Cal Ripken Jr., and Hank Aaron as true ambassadors of the sport, and what baseball was, or is, all about. Think of other greats; Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar etc. I remember watching these guys on the weekends on BASIC CABLE in my parents living room, on their 13" tube.

For the most part, I remember them being humble, even grateful it seemed, to be playing sport for money. Nowadays, it seems things have changed in the values, and practices, of the professional athlete. Most of them, in my opinion, go out of their way to "brand" themselves. As if, playing sports is not nearly enough, they need to be in our face 24/7 through commercials, twitter, facebook, myspace, and so on.

But as much as I might rag on the athletes for jumping through hoops to get in our living room, and in our daily vernacular, there is another presence on the sports peripheral that has gone out of its way to popularize themselves.....and honestly its offensive and getting out of hand.

I am speaking of the singers of the National Anthem. What used to be an uplifting spectable, has now often turned into a debacle. Remember Rosanne? Remember Carl Lewis? This dude? Horrible!! I'm sure there have been worse. But mind you, this is on the big stage. These people are seeking publicity, and obviously recieved it without consideration about whether or not its positive. But folks, there is a trickle-down effect taking place. There need not be a large stage anymore.

For example, a few weeks ago, at a major-junior hockey game in Portland, Oregon, in front of a crowd of 3,000 or less, without ANY TV exposure, this is what happened. How in the hell do these people get past their audition? Unbelievable!

Listen, I'm not an idiot, I know for the most part that those that sing our National Anthem treat it sacredly, and seriously. I am thankful for their efforts. It takes a lot of guts to get in front of 50,000+ rowdy, drunk fans and sing an extremely difficult song. It will always be a highlight of my live sporting event experience.....as long as its done RIGHT!

Music from the Soul

Okay....I'm going to let this song speak for itself. I'm usually not much of a blues guy, much less an electric blues guy, but this song hits me in that place that invokes your booty to shake uncontrollably.

Its Sugarfoot by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. Behold....



This song reminds of something Ed Kiester would have in his car....

LeGarrette Blount's Punch-Out

Now that LGB's football career is over, he should seriously consider boxing, or MMA fighting. That right jab he threw last night at Boise State's Byron Hout was WICKED!

Check it out here.

Now, about the game....

Five years ago, Boise State vs. Oregon would invoke very little thought, little hype, little excitement....if any. However, after BSU won the Fiesta Bowl in 2006, and throttled Oregon in 2008 (in addition, DESTROYING Jeremiah Masoli on a late hit), the way has been paved for a great showdown between two teams that, on the surface, are light-years away from each other in seemingly every aspect of a college football program. Nevertheless, they went into last night's game with essentially the same national rank, and enough history to make opening night in college football actually exciting.
Those of you that watched the game, know how badly Oregon sucked, but you also know how many times BSU tried to lose. Not capitalizing on turnovers and mistakes (BSU had two missed field goals, and 3 fumbles) is going to be the death of a team like Oregon if they can't get their offense ticking. The defense actually looked pretty good. Kellen Moore had to make some pretty damn good passes to keep drives alive, and it certainly seemed as if they got lucky at times. Having said that, BSU running backs were slippery last night because I can remember atleast 6 to 7 rushes that should have been stopped in the backfield or on the line, that turned into 8 to 10 yard gains. Nicht so gut Oregon D.
The Oregon offense was 1 for 10 in 3rd down efficiency, and that ONE came midway through the 3rd quarter. When Portland State plays Oregon State on Saturday, I am willing to bet that they, even by accident, get a first down in the first half.
Truth be told, I'm not an Oregon fan whatsoever. The Portland media has just force-fed me for so long that I can't help but observe how they do year in and year out. I see them righting the ship a little and finishing 3rd in the Pac-10 behind USC and Cal.
I am looking forward to BYU/Oklahoma tomorrow. I hope its atleast competitive, and I would love to watch Max Hall throw for 300+ yards. If he does that, the Cougs will win.

Seahawks Fan

Gabe and I had an interesting conversation this morning. Des had taken the boys into Idaho Falls yesterday to do some school shopping, and Gabe was giving me the lowdown on the stores they visited, and the items they bought. He mentioned that they stopped inside the sports store to look at "Niner-gear". He also mentioned that there was a guy wearing a Seattle Seahawks jersey. This is how the conversation went:

Gabe: "There was a guy wearing a Seattle jersey in there."
Me: "Oh yeah? Did you tell him he needed his butt kicked?"
Gabe: "I think he already did."
Me: "Why do you say that?"
Gabe: "Because he was in one of those chairs." (At this point he makes a strange motion with his arms)
Me: "What chair? A wheelchair?!"
Gabe: "Yes, one of those."

I don't think he understood, nor still understands, why that is so funny to me.

The Godfather (1972)

Originally posted January 25, 2009 on littletaylorfamily.blogspot.com

The first time I watched this movie, I was 15 years old, sitting cross-legged on my bedroom floor in the middle of the night, in front of a 13 inch black and white television in which I had to hold onto the antenna at the very tip with two fingers in order to get some semblance of a picture. I watched the first scene, at about 11pm, and then didn't move from the floor for the duration of the rest of the movie....all 3 hours PLUS commercials. I remember being absolutely exhausted when I finally laid my head to rest, and my dreams were very interesting for the following few nights. Nevertheless, that was 16 years ago....I decided to revisit the movie, that on many critics lists, is the best movie ever made.

While its not #1 on my list, it is certainly mesmerizing on many levels, even now, 37 years after its original release. I watched The Godfather last night, unedited and without commercial interruption, on my 42" Plasma television, but surprisingly, considering all the "upgrades" in viewing pleasure, the movie still invoked much of the same emotion and feelings I had immediately after my first viewing so long ago.
Things I liked:
The glimpse into the inner-workings of a mob-family is absolutely fascinating. Not during this whole movie, did we see an outsider, or civilian, perish as a result of mob activity. The story focuses on the innermost core of the mob, which is refreshing because that's what makes it so interesting. We get to know the characters so intimately that once the movie is over, you can't hardly believe the changes certain characters have made over the past three hours. Its almost as if you are revisiting a dramatic television series that you haven't watched for a few months. The changes are both gradual and sudden. Its a bizarre feeling as a viewer, and a fantastic job by the director (Francis Ford Coppola). While there is no such thing as a wasted scene in this movie, my favorite is the baptism scene of Michael's God-daughter. I will leave it at that. If you've seen it, you know what I am talking about, and if you haven't seen it, you are in for a treat. The music during that scene is probably some of the best "scene-setting" music I have ever heard.
Things I didn't like:
The mush-mouthed Brando. Every time Brando started talking, I turned on the subtitles. Its all I could do to understand every third word he was saying. Legend has it that Brando stuffed his mouth with cotton wool during screen tests, but during actual filming he wore an appliance made by a dentist in order to make him "look like a bulldog".
Why? Why did he want to look and sound that way? Brando already had an imposing face, and strong facial features. His voice was ALREADY difficult to comprehend...why make it worse. I really struggled with this, especially during later points in the film when he has candid conversations with his sons. I know its ticky-tack, but about the 2nd hour, I started to get annoyed.
My favorite line:
Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall): "Mr Corleone never asks a second favor after he's refused the first, understood?" (A great line at a crucial part of the movie. One really gets the idea how powerful, and violent, The Don really is. And, by the way, the line is delivered with perfect poise...Thank you Mr. Duvall.)
All in all:
Its a dang good film. And yes, one of the best ever. I have heard people say that the sequel is better. I have never watched The Godfather II in its entirety, so I look forward to forming my own opinion. But for now, The Godfather easily gets **** out of 4.

New Stuff (to this site anyway)

In the coming days (maybe even hours), I am going to transfer over some movie reviews I did on my family site so that they are here for your reading pleasure. As always, feel free to leave comments.

Radio Commercial

A guy I work with does a fundraiser every year in the form of a metal concert in his backyard. He asked me to do the radio ad that will air on several different stations here heavily throughout the next few weeks. I have parlayed this opportunity into doing some more ads for the next month or so. Hopefully this turns into something I can do frequently on the side. Let me know what you think!

Some Movie Reviews....

I had a free preview of HBO a few weeks ago, and I took advantage by DVR-ing anything that looked mildly interesting. Some of these are from that preview, and some are from Netflix, as usual.

*Gran Torino (2009)

I have already debated with some about this movie, but I'd like to get the opinions of those I haven't heard from yet. I honestly didn't like this film. There are some elements I can ultimately live with, but as a whole, I felt it was sloppy, poorly written, and horribly acted. Let me preface my following comments by saying, I love Clint Eastwood, but even he has some imperfections (see: Every Which Way But Loose, Pink Cadillac and Space Cowboys). Add this one to the list.

The film isn't offensively bad, but it is a film that enjoyed a ton of hype, and did not come close to delivering. I mean, moving the plot along by talking to your dog? C'mon Clint, you're better than that! Eastwood's character is grossly inconsistent, and I got tired of his one-liner's, followed by an attempt to spit on the ground in anger. I think he did that at least three times in the movie. There are a few scenes where Eastwood is trying to teach his Korean friend how to talk to a man, and it's SO painful to listen to. I couldn't believe what I was watching.

Aside from this, the movie is ultimately predictable, and there are some interesting characters and relationships that are wasted (his two sons, and the priest (even though that whole thing was hard to believe as well)). Certainly not one of Eastwood's best at all. Watch Million Dollar Baby for his acting, and Mystic River for his directing. 1.5 Stars.


*The Hammer (2007)

Adam Carolla pimped this movie HARD on his radio program for months before and after its release. It makes sense; he wrote, produced, and starred in this film that got limited theatrical release, but picked up some ground after it came out on video. It was an independent film with a shoestring budget. Carolla isn't every body's cup of tea but he can can sling some good, acidic one-liner's with the best of them. I mean, there's no way around it, either you like Carolla or you don't. If you don't, you won't like the movie, so don't waste your time. I like him. I find him funny. I'm not so myopic to think that everything he does is gold, but I really liked The Hammer. A 40 year old, fired from his construction job, Carolla decides he'd like to resurrect his amateur boxing days, so he decides to take a crack at making the Olympic boxing team. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the cliches, but for the most part, its a light comedy that is comfortable in its identity. Its not trying to be anything its not. Light, good-natured fun. 3 Stars.

Here are some really short ones:

*Reservation Road (2007)

Great acting (Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly and Joaquin Phoenix) saves this movie from utter failure. The story is pretty good, but the acting is superb. We've all seen movies like this. So often, actors are merely pawns reciting memorized words, but this film has some excellent scenes. See it for that alone. 2.5 Stars.

*In America (2002)

See this film. See it and love it. It's damn good. 4 Stars.

*Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Good movie. Not great. Certainly not "Best Movie" caliber. Then again, 2008 was not a good year for movies (Benjamin Button, Milk, The Reader, Frost/Nixon). The story is kind of cool, but the footage of the inner-Indian cities was really impressive. I recommend it, just don't expect to be wowed. 3 Stars.

The beginning....

I'm a big boy now. I've decided that I can maintain, and keep up with my own blog. This will be a place in which I attempt, through the written word, to convey my thoughts, feelings, and ruminations about the subjects which interest me the most. Mainly, sports, movies, pop culture (to a certain extent), my family, and life as a convert to the ways of Eastern Idaho. Certain subjects may coincide with my family blog (littletaylorfamily.blogspot.com), however, I will try to keep this as "Jared-central" as I can.
I'm off to try to make my blog look official. Drop me a line, will you please?