The Weekly stack: July 30, 2008 PLUS Mock Draft #2

Picking from the 10th position. Have to be prepared for everything!

Summer Movie Reviews!!! Round 3 - Dark Knight & The X-Files 2

I gotta start out with the best movie I've seen so far this summer, which to no surprise is, The Dark Knight.  I'm a HUGE Batman fan, and this was one of those times where the film actually lived up to the hype!  I heard some people rumble that the first hour of Batman Begins was too slow (nonsense!), but that was all the origin story.  Here,  Christopher Nolan just speeds through at a frenzied pace right out of the gate.  We don't even get into what made The Joker, and why should we when he is more than willing to spin an disturbing story or two about it himself.  The whole cast shines, not just Bale & Ledger.  Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent is a great addition too. 

This is one I can't wait to see again.

Rating 5.0 (out of 5)

Oh boy, where to start with this one? Where was the hype, the advertisements? I was quite a big fan of this show back in it's heyday.  After the first movie and the eventual departure of Mulder, my interest was gone.  They failed to deliver enough payoffs, so eventually X-Files lost it's "appointment TV" status.  

I'll say this.  The X-Files: I Want To Believe is not a bad movie.  I was happy to see Chris Carter re-team with Mulder & Scully, but I couldn't help feel afterwards that maybe we didn't need this reunion.  This should have been a straight to DVD release. Why? Because it feels like one.  The story only vaguely flirts with the supernatural.  There surely wasn't much SFX to speak of.  In fact, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, which was straight to DVD, looked sharper, more expensive, and had a gripping story.   Now I'm not saying X-Files has to be any of these things, but the really great episodes back in the day were creepy, the characters didn't seem like they didn't want to be there.  I'm tired of just thinking about it right now.  Blah.

Rating 2.0 (out of 5)

Summer Movie Reviews!!! Round 2 - Hellboy 2 & The Happening

It's been awhile since the last reviews, so here's the first of 2 new installments!

I saw the first Hellboy only last week, but I enjoyed it enough to head out and see the  2nd installment, which at first glance looked better than the first.  I didn't feel that way afterwards but that might be because I liked the 1st one so much.  Don't get me wrong, Hellboy II: The Golden Army didn't disappoint at all. It was action-packed, funny, and had some great visual effects.  The creative department did a superb job with all the creatures.  It might be awhile before another installment comes out since Guillermo del Toro is doing The Hobbit (hell yes!), but he has a fun franchise on his hands.  Hope we see Red again soon. 

Rating 3.0 (out of 5)

I had mixed feelings on M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening.  It started out feeling very much like a John Carpenter film to me, which I really enjoy, but it didn't play out that way. Characters in a Carpenter movie always seem to get cornered in some way and paranoia reigns supreme.  Both elements play in this film, but there is nary an anti-hero to root for.  Mark Wahlberg acts like a dope through most of this and I have to think it was because of the direction.  Shyamalan makes the most of his first R rating though.  Some of the deaths are pretty graphic and disturbing.  Weak ending however, which is hard to even recall at this point. I'm glad he gave it a shot and I'd like to see him try again, but he really is best suited at more of the Spielberg style for his outings.  

Rating 2.5 (out of 5)

The Weekly stack: July 23, 2008

Mock Draft #1

In an effort to improve my drafting for this year in fantasy football, I've completed my first live mock draft online.  Will this help? I have no idea. But it was fun. 

The Art of Michael Turner

Talented comic artist/creator Michael Turner lost his battle with cancer on June 27th, 2008.  

Shark!

When I heard this story, I thought it'd be a bigger shark. Looks like a wee baby!

The weekly stack: July 16, 2008

DK countdown

Watch the Trailer on Yahoo! Movies

The weekly stack: July 10, 2008

back at Fenway

Final
Red Sox 18 - Twins 5

Blueberries!

The best blueberry pancakes I've ever had. The bottom covered with Maine blueberries. MmMm so good and enormous! Served at Andrew's Harborside Restaurant in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

Monhegan Island

  Lunch! Caught fresh that morning!

Morning fog

Boothbay Harbor

View from our room in Boothbay Harbor

July 4th

Ram Island Lighthouse

An Evening with Bill Janovitz & friends at Toad

On my way up to Maine for the 4th of July weekend, I stopped in Cambridge, MA to see the last of a month-long Thursday night residency by Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz.  Being a huge Buffalo Tom fan from my high school/college days, this was a great treat.  Bill and a few friends from his side band Crown Victoria ( I think) played fun, loose covers of The Stones, Springsteen, Ray Charles, as well as songs from Bill's solo albums and the Buffalo Tom catalogue. The set-closing cover of The Band's "It Makes No Difference" was amazing.  Highlight is too weak a word for it.   I wish I had some pictures and/or audio, but I was having too great time in the very tiny Toad to bother. 

UPDATED: I found this video on youtube from the show that night. Bill & co. playing Elvis Costello's "Oliver's Army"

The weekly stack: July 2, 2008