Alrighty folks, it’s time for the guys to dig their heels in and try to hit the right notes… eight becomes six tomorrow and tonight’s the night to shine or burn out… for kicks, i’ll go ahead and make some “pre-game” picks and, sight unseen (and sound unheard) i’m gonna say goodbye to Tim and Toderick… though, i’d like to say goodbye to Lee and Aaron… okay, i’m about ready to start this up, we’ve got enough of a buffer i think to skip through all the obnoxious commercials and just watch the show…

I’M FULL, I ALREADY EIGHT…

now playing: Tonight, Tonight, Tonight – Genesis

Lee “Da Wise Guy”… singing an Owl City track, Fireflies… i think i’ve been utterly schooled on Owl City enough to no longer be a fan of the song or the band… (thanks “Twitterati”)… okay, well, after hearing this rendition, i think i would be inclined to like Owl City or at least appreciate them again… my gosh, there is a melody in there somewhere… his vocal absolutely SUCKS… but the judges loves him, he’s their precious… 2 out of 10 for me… Randy says he worked it out, despite some (SOME????) pitch problems… Ellen says he’s adorable and she liked the rock edge to it… Kara says that he made the song better than the original… very solid… Simon says that there’s nothing to rave about and starts talking about having a moment… (is ‘e ‘avin’ a laugh?)… i really, really don’t get the love for this guy… he sounds like crap…

Alex “THE MULLET”… singing Trouble… and standing in the center of stage like a soldier who’s been ordered not to move… he’s playing the guitar and playing the ladies with his batted eyelashes and biting his lip… what can i say? dude has some serious chops and he’s going to keep getting better each week… not much energy, but incredibly solid performance… Randy says that he wasn’t wow’ed by it and he could’ve sped it up a bit… Ellen says he’s a mushy banana and that he’s ripening quickly (a.k.a. getting better each week)… Kara says that he’s the only thing holding him back… he’s too stiff… Simon agrees that he’s too focused on delivering the performance and loosen up… imagine Randy in a bikini…

Tim Urban… why on earth would ANYONE sing this song on American Idol?… i think it was Kevin Max who told me that no one should ever cover this song period… but seriously, on stage in front of millions with the gong of non-voters waiting in the wings… not a good idea… and, while he didn’t ruin it – he held his tone rather nicely – but he turned it a little too poppy for me… at least he didn’t try to do too much with it… he stayed well within his range… Randy says good job… Ellen runs on stage and gives him a hug… FANTASTIC!… Kara says he’s in it (he’s stunned)… Simon takes credit and tells him that it was his best performance of the contest… then the judges all fight over credit…

Andrew Garcia… singing X-tina’s Genie in a Bottle… which he just learned this week… and he’s taking a decidedly “Travis” take on it… this is pretty much what the judges have been begging him for ever since he did Straight Up… i just have to wonder if they’re not going to be careful what they wish for in the future… it’s a bit flat and formulaic… like, hey, i’ve got this program that turns pop songs into acoustic little ditties and since it worked for Paula, it’s gonna work for X-tina… well, yeah, kind of boring… Randy says it didn’t quite work for him… Ellen liked it… Kara says it just wasn’t great… Simon says it was a little bit desperate…

now playing: Hanging By a Moment – Lifehouse

Casey “Sawyer” James… MAN! Iron Man 2 looks GOOOOOOOD!… speaking of looking good… Casey’s biggest asset is his looks… tonight, he’s singing You’ll Think of Me by Keith Urban… going country… and you have to wonder if this is really who he is… and if so, why has it taken this long to show these colors… man, his vocal is really good on this though… kind of a cross between Rob Thomas and Adam Duritz (Counting Crows)… i like it… it’s totally goodonya, Casey… Randy says it was too safe… Ellen says she liked it and he likes to sit down… Kara says she’s getting back on the train… step in the right direction… Simon says it was his second best, but not entirely memorable…

Aaron Kelly… more country… singing Lonestar’s I’m Already There… or should i say butchering… he’s already done for me… he’s still looking for the right key… i’m guessing that he’s not going to find it… he’s also apparently looking for the rhythm to sway to… that’s not working out too well either… i’m totally getting deja vu with this performance… what other young kid has taken on a song like this and ruined it?… i don’t like this at all, but he’s a favorite too… Randy says, job well done, this kid can sing, WHAT?… Ellen says he’s real and confident, but it was maybe too much of a song for him… not terrific… Kara says she loves him… but there was no connection… Simon says that’s rubbish, it was the right type of song and it had plenty of emotion… it was a nice song… i think he’s a dork…

Toderick “NUTCRACKER”… oh boy… singing Queen’s Somebody to Love… this can go well or horrible… i’m gonna hope for the former… he’s got some pipes… well, this is an interesting arrangement… i’m usually pretty lenient and i think that this might grow on me, but there’s no time for that in a competition like this, so, i have to say that it was an absolutely foolish decision on Toderick’s part… he’s killing it vocally, but i’m not sure he’s selling it well enough… i liked it, but i’m torn… Randy says he’s back!… Ellen says it was Gospel-esque and it worked… Kara says it was good, but laughable at times because it was fraught with such drama… Simon says that it was like broadway, but way better than [those other guys who were] just sitting on a stool with a guitar…

BIG MIKE… Ryan’s doppelganger… riiiight… This Woman’s Work… not sure i know this song… that’s some high notes though… oh, really, this is from RENT or FAME or something, right?… no?… i don’t know… it’s alright and the vocal is on point, but it’s kind of a boring song to close out the night, isn’t it?… he did a really good job with it though… Randy says WHAT? REALLY? THAT WAS HOT!… Ellen thinks he’s the one to beat now… Kara breaks down into a blubbering, tearful mess because it was so beautiful… Simon says that it was the best performance of any of these live shows…

AND THAT’S ALL HE WROTE…

now playing: Home – Michael Buble

okay, so, that makes things slightly difficult… Tim seemed to gain some traction with that performance… but his only hope is to steal away baby Aaron’s fanbase away from him… and the judges seemed to be doing their darndest to overcompensate for all of the bad performances… this kind of puts Andrew in jeopardy… because they were actually honest with him… so, let’s see… i think Toderick is still in trouble… and i’ll go on a limb (for now) and say that Aaron is too… so, Toderick and Aaron… that’s my immediate pick… what say you?

peace… love… bdg…

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on to the next area of interest… movies… now, this may not be the order in which i address these in the future – there may not be an order at all, really – but this is the way i’m going today… i’ve got three movies to talk about and hopefully i’ll be more succinct… i mean, i DO have other things to write about… not to mention a site that needs building… off we go…

Oh, before we begin, i suppose i should mention that i viewed all three of these movies for free because they want me to write about them… “they” being publicists and such… two of them sent me promotional DVDs and one granted me access to an online viewing area… with that taken care of, we shall begin…

BEHIND THE MASK
- now playing: The Imposter – Kevin Max

The Imposter
first up is a movie that i believe has been in the works for at least three years… the film features Kevin Max, Jeff Deyo, and Kerry Livgren all of whom became pretty famous for their roles in widely popular bands with spiritual overtones (dcTalk, SonicFLOOD, and Kansas, respectively) before striking out with solo careers… and by “striking out” i don’t mean in the “Casey at the Bat” sense…

Anyway, the movie revolves around “Johnny C,” the frontman for the widely popular band with spiritual overtones, Grand_design… Johnny C is quite charismatic and, despite his position, marriage, and daughter, has a thing for the traditional spoils of rock and roll (think sex, drugs, rock and roll)… and the film chronicles his downward spiral and attempts at reconciliation…

There are some wonderful tongue-in-cheek moments to the film, such as the narration addressing the formulaic expectations for an emotional altar call scene and a loving father embracing his prodigal son… now, i don’t want to spoil anything, but i will say that i kind of liked the resolution as it transpired… Sure, the acting at times provided some moments of unintentional chuckling and the script has its share of stereotypes and flat characters, but all in all, The Imposter, proved to be a pretty enjoyable movie (if not uncomfortable due to potential parallels to the actors’ own career paths)… it’s the type of movie that might spark some honest dialogue about how we perceive celebrities and pseudo-celebrities… now, if i can only find that Jeff Deyo song from the movie called, “Push Me Over the Edge” or something to that effect…

THE LIFE YOU SAVE…
now playing: How to Save a Life – The Fray

To Save a Life
i feel like i’ve already written about this movie, but apparently not… actually, something pretty interesting happened after i watched it the first time… well, for me, anyway… the movie, as you can easily tell from the trailer deals with the effects of suicide on surviving classmates… now, in the days of my youth, i knew someone who took his own life… unfortunately, i’d guess that most of us know someone who’s done that… i remember going through some peer counseling classes to recognize the warning signs and learn the proper procedures for reporting and talking through issues in an effort to stifle the contagiousness of suicide… most of all, i remember feeling a sense of responsibility of prevention…

i don’t know if that’s a natural response, but as i watched Jake – the main character in the movie – struggle with a similar response, names came into my head… names of those i had “flagged” (for lack of a better word)… and, while that’s not particularly interesting in and of itself, shortly after watching the movie, out of the blue, i came into contact with one of those names and that’s the interesting part… that’s where i’ll leave it…

back on the movie… it’s kind of a teen movie with a conscience… there’s partying, carousing, and a lot of reminders of the high-school caste system we’re all glad to have grown out of (assuming we all did grow out of it, which isn’t necessarily the case)… and the main theme running through it all is Jake, the former best friend of a suicide victim, struggling with faith, responsibility, and life in general… and for the most part, that’s fine… it works well and you’re prett engaged in the story, rooting for who is clearly the hero and subconsciously forming the obvious moral of the tale…

and then, as if trying to hit seven targets with one arrow, it becomes exponentially more complex… Jake takes on a Job-like role and everything that was clear moments ago is buried knee deep in muddy waters… now, here’s the thing… complicated is good… life is complicated – i know this – but, you can almost hear the writers giggling to themselves and saying things like “you can’t make this stuff up” even though they did, indeed, just make it all up…

the bottom line, without spoiling anything, i really enjoyed watching To Save a Life and it was a meaningful experience… i just think that it could have been more impactful if it had stuck to one main important theme instead of stuffing in a bunch of additives that deserve equal time but are relegated to minor roles… still, plenty to talk about afterwards and probably beneficial to a youth group…

CHOOSE WISELY…
now playing: Choose – Christy Nockels

Sarah’s Choice
okay, this blog entry is getting rather long, and it’s probably best that this ends up being the shortest of the reviews… Sarah’s Choice is, unabashedly, a vehicle for the pro-life movement… now, keep in mind that i’m very much pro-life… i think abortion is a choice that’s made when the wrong question is asked… that said, unlike the Tim Tebow Superbowl ad, this movie DOES offend me… more on that in a second…

first, the good points… Brad Stine does a fine job in his role… it was a surprising performance that anchored the “guy-side” of the story… in fact, that aspect of the movie actually worked really well… also worth noting, there’s a scene or two involving balloons that play rather well (trying to remain spoiler-free)… there may be other good points, but they’re escaping me at the moment…

okay… no more delays… overall, the acting was definitely B-movie or worse grade… the last time i saw Rebecca St James in concert, i was amazed at how incredibly awkward she seemed on stage and her performance in the role of Sarah deepened that impression… perhaps the only thing worse was the ridiculous treatment she receives from her boss and coworkers (completely unrealistic)… and the storyline was downright irritating…

if you’re wondering how a pro-life movie could offend a pro-life viewer, here’s how it works (and this may spoil some plot points, but i’ll do my best)… borrowing from A Christmas Carol – haven’t seen that before – Sarah is visited by a ghost of the Christmas that could be… she’s presented with visions of two possible outcomes – one if she chooses abortion and one if she keeps the baby… and it’s basically a choice between a life of roses and champagne, where she gets married, has tons of free time to spend with her daughter, and seems to live the easy life of happiness… and the other life, is one of solitude, pain, and, apparently, terminal illness…

the issue of regret was introduced elsewhere in the movie and (i think) should’ve been the big argument made, but instead we got absolute extremes that make little logical sense and, yes, offend me… if we can’t deal in honesty, then we shouldn’t be dealing in issues… i mean, it’s easy to drop superlatives in order to make a point, but it’s not accurate and it rings so incredibly false that it encourages opposition… i could probably go on and on about this point, but hopefully i’ve made it and now, i’m just moving on…

i have to say that it’s perfectly fine to pass on Sarah’s Choice… it’s an incredibly stereotypical “Christian” movie… and i honestly wish it weren’t…

ROLL CREDITS…

that’s a wrap as far as movies go… stick around for mashed potatoes from books, music, and more… soon… and while you’re waiting, check out the first entry, monday morning mashed potatoes in television…

peace… love… bdg…

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i’m interrupting this regularly unscheduled laziness to bring you this update… finally… it’s been quite a while since i last wrote something for the old blog… i can’t explain it entirely, but i’ve just been pulled in a number of directions and unfortunately can’t seem to motivate myself to the point of updating… anyway, i’m here to put an end to that… today, i’m going to have some fun, chatting up the latest installment from Veggietales available everywhere…

IT’S RAINING…

now playing: Flood – Jars of Clay

Well, it’s been a long time coming and it’s finally here… the sequel to Minnesota Cuke’s search for Samson’s hairbrush… and perhaps a tip of the fedora to a new branch of the Veggietales franchise?… (I’m thinking that a 2D series of Minnesota Cuke episodes wouldn’t be a bad idea)… this episode also marks the official debut of the new Veggietales logo… both are hits…

Minnesota learns about persistence, patience and most of all, the importance of following directions in this zany tale of Larry’s alter-ego and his quest to find the powerful umbrella used by none other than Noah… of course, there’s plenty of mischief, mayhem, and missteps (not to mention the numerous nods to Indy) that make the show fun for kids and parents alike…

…RUN FOR COVER

And with that, i’ll grab my sippy cup and head on out… i’ve got another new Veggietale movie queued up in the near future… but it’s about Christmas and i’m not sure when i’ll get to that… also, watch for a “political” blog entry, a “Triple-DeKker” entry, and more… many more books and many more other stuff… also, i’m completely redesigning the site… and much, much more is spinning around in my head…

peace… love… bdg…

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i don’t rant much, but i kind of feel like there’s some ranting in me that’s determined to come out… and believe me, i could tear apart all the snakes and crooks inside the insurance industry and COBRA… and regale the conversations that i’ve had with them over the past few months… no stinking wonder that the health care system is broken in America… but i won’t… i’ll simply inhale, exhale and simmer down… and start things off today with a review of a movie that i was really looking forward to, Transformers 2: The Rise of the Fallen…

TRANSFORM…

now playing: Piece of Junk Car – KJ-52

i’m really hard-pressed to think of a time when i walked away from the theater as disappointed as i was leaving the theater the other day… i’m not sure if it was my own expectations, my ideological notion that action movies can be visually and intellectually stimulating, the sheer excitement of seeing the transformers on the big screen or simply that i bought into the hype, but all the wind that filled my sails heading into the theater had long disappeared as i walked out… i had waited for the first installment the hit DVD and clearly i was wrong not to wait for the sequel as well…

i expected that Transformers 2 would build off of the first movie, which, as i remember it, was pretty amazing… i expected a lot of action sequences, a lot of sweet cars, and stunning special effects… and, to that end, the movie delivers, but because those elements were at least equally balanced out by juvenile humor, a script that felt like it was written by fifth graders, a poached plotline and way more suggestion than necessary, i left feeling very short-changed…

Surely “the twins” have been a target for controversy as there have been allegations of racism as there was towards Jar Jar Binks, but to that end, i’ll simply say that those claims are ridiculous – i felt more like they were a couple of hyper-stereotypical rednecks than anything else – but they were indicative of the foolish direction that the movie took overall…

Clearly, the crew wanted to movie to have a humorous bent, but unfortunately they resorted to the basest level of humor available… the air-headed mother getting accidentally high, the number of anatomy jokes, crass language from the transformers, and on and on… and sexual content ranging from dogs being frisky, a little robot taking liberties with Megan Fox’s leg, the “Baywatch” running scenes, and a transformer disguised as a college student that makes several advances on the lead character… (by the way, this character makes absolutely zero sense in the context of the movie since none of the other robots look remotely like humans nor is there any reference to such characters that i remember from Transformers lore)…

The plot also seemed like a big rip-off as it closely resembled that of Johnny Mnemonic and, more recently, Chuck… but even that could’ve been overlooked had the script been written with even the slightest hint of intelligence… and to top it all off, the movie dragged on and on for two and a half hours – also known as about an hour too long…

As i’ve stated before, when the movie played to its strengths – action and special effects – it was nothing short of spectacular… unfortunately it didn’t stay there… it’s also worth noting that John Turturro did a fine job as Agent Simmons… and there were actually some really good moments between Sam and Bumblebee, but other than those highlights, the movie really blew a great opportunity to further establish a franchise that could be great…

The bottom line for me is this… it felt like the producers and directors wanted to make Transformers into something other than an action movie… perhaps they wanted to be taken more seriously than your typical action movie fare… but they forgot that there’s nothing wrong with an action movie simply being an action movie… and if you want to add humor into the mix, that’s fine, but let it happen naturally – don’t force-fit it… as it was, i wanted to see Transformers 2 and i feel like i watched Harold and Kumar: Defeating the Decepticons…

… AND ROLL OUT

and that’s my take… have you seen it? what did you think? am i crazy? let me know and i’ll be back with more things to talk about soon…

peace… love… bdg…

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