Big Brother 14: I Can't Trust Anyone In This House

     Shane is not a very well rounded player.  A key to lasting long in the Big Brother house is deceit and Shane has to be one of the worst liars in Big Brother history.  There were plenty of ways that he could have hidden or rationalized his pact with Frank, yet he couldn't come up with any of them.  When everyone in the house wants you to put up one player and all you can say is, "I don't want to,"  and when your only reasons you give for putting the players you did put on the block is that you wanted to have the coach know what it felt like to have two players on the block, then you've shown your hand.  Everyone in that house knows (expect maybe Danielle) that Shane has a deal with Frank.  Even his coach, Britney, has to know that Shane went behind her back and made a deal.  If he truly wanted to keep it secret he should have argued that if everyone wants Frank to go, the best way to do it is to backdoor him.  That would have kept everyone off the scent.  Then Shane would just have to hope that Frank played in the POV and won.  Worst case scenario, Shane is forced to backdoor Frank and the best player is out of the game.  Instead, Shane now has everyone gunning for him next week.
     At the very least Shane could have come up with a solid argument why he trusted Frank that would have seemed less shady then the just because reason he gave.  If I was Shane, I would have convinced Britney that Frank was the only person we could trust because Shane and Frank are heads and tails the best competition players in the game and because of that, the two biggest targets in the game.  If Shane gets rid of Frank, then Shane becomes the biggest target.  If Frank gets rid of Shane, then Frank becomes the biggest target.  It's in both players best interest to keep the other around just to keep the target off each other.  Now that Shane has pissed everyone else off, his best shot is Frank winning the HOH.  This is all a pretty easy case to make and if Shane had any game at all he would have been making it all week instead of making himself look like a shady fool.
     Even with Shane's poor play, he doesn't get the Kaysar From Season 6 prize for the most disappointing game play.  That would go to Danielle.  Aw... Danielle... I didn't think you were one of those girls.  I certainly thought you weren't cut out for this game, but after last week I was hoping you would get a little more bite in your game.  Running back to Shane like a lost puppy dog was the worst game move possible.  I understand that he's the HOH and I get where making him think you don't hold anything against him is going to help your game, but I really think you don't hold anything against him and that's a huge mistake.  This guy was ready to cut your throat last week, he voted against you, what in the world makes you think that you can trust him in a final two deal?  She should have gone back to him, but that should have been followed by a diary session saying she was just using him and didn't take the deal seriously at all.  She should have played up the relationship she made with Janelle and her team last week, they all voted for JoJo and are much more reliable then Shane.  Why is it always the girls who let showmances get in the way of winning?
     I have a bad feeling that the coaches will be allowed to play, but since, at the moment, there are nine players left I guess it is time for rankings.  Remember, I try to rank by chance of winning the whole thing, not who will stay in the longest.  So here is years first player rankings...

8 - Danielle
     She's safe for now, but I am so unimpressed with her play I highly doubt she will make it to the end.

7 - Wil
     Again, he's safe this week, but the fact that Shane was gunning for him this week and the fact that he doesn't seem to have much game makes me think he will be gone soon.

6 - Ashley
     Does she even know that she's playing a game?  She's come off way to stupid to be a threat to anyone in the house.  I doubt she's going home this week, but she will be gone before the finals

5 - Joe
     Unless he wins POV, which he has a shot at, he will be going home this week.  That chance of winning is what keeps him in the middle of the rankings.  If he survives this week, he could stay around a while.

4 - Shane
     He is a physical force but doesn't seem to be able to play the hardest part of the game, lying, at all.  He's put himself is a position where he is the biggest target in the house.  At the same time, Frank is on his side and he hasn't had a problem winning any competition, so there's always the chance that he plays his way out of the problems he creates

3 - Jenn
     She hasn't gotten any face time, so it's hard to figure out how much game she has, but she doesn't seem to be on anyone's radar.  Laying low is a good tactic and if she breaks out and strikes at the right moment she could cause some big waves.

2- Ian
     He's protected by Frank at the moment, he isn't perceived as a threat by anyone and he's a big fan of the game.  As awkward a person as he is, I think Ian has a good chance of running the gauntlet.  The biggest problem is that he has almost no chance of winning a physical competition and that is a huge problem.

1- Frank
     He has the whole package right now, great physical player, smart strategist.  He may be a huge target but I think he has the ability (and the coach) to win the whole thing.

Big Brother 14: Eviction Journal #2

     I watched this episode on my TIVO as opposed to on-line so the time code isn't as good, but here's the latest eviction journal anyway...

2:00 - Danielle really should have put up a bigger fight to stay in the house then she has so far.  Instead of moping and crying she should have been trying to make deals.  She cute as hell, but she doesn't deserve to stay in the house.

4:00 - We're going to hear from Dr. Will!!  I couldn't be more excited!!

4:30 - Everyone is leaving you, Danielle, because you sit there and cry instead of getting people on your side.  Stand up for yourself!

5:00 - For all his coach talk, Dan is stupid.  The key to good coaching or motivating is to know your audience and tailor your message to whatever is going to work for them.  He should have known by this point that Danielle was not going to react well to him telling her she's on her own.  Really bad coaching on his part.

7:00 - Ian has to lay there as JoJo and Shane flirt... something tells me Ian should be use to being the third wheel.

8:00 - Danielle is now getting bent because Shane is flirting with JoJo.  Danielle just isn't built for this game.

9:00 - Ashely isn't just bat-shit crazy, she's dumb as a brick too.  She misused at least 3 words in the matter of a minute.  Then again, Danielle and Janelle didn't know what any of them meant either.

18:00 - In all seriousness, that Willie incident was far from the worst thing to happen on Big Brother.  There have been other situations where I feared much more for the well-being of other players and they've kept the lunatic in the house.

19:00 - Of course Ian was an RA

20:00 - Dr. Will is the Babe Ruth of Big Brother.  He defined what a great player was and changed how the game was played in the process.  The first season of Big Brother was like watching paint dry, then Will stepped on the scene and helped make the show we know today.  Any air time he gets is awesome.

22:00 - YES!  Dr. Will just echoed my thoughts on Dan's draft picks... not that my thoughts were any great revelation that anyone with eyes could have made.

29:00 - JoJo... you are from New York... you can certainly lie and cheat... that's what New Yorkers do

31:00 - Gay men everywhere have to be yelling at their TVs over Wil attire.  How can anyone take he serious in that outfit?

36:00 - Shane votes against Danielle... not sure how he is going to talk his way out of this one when she stays in the house.

37:00 - Bye JoJo

39:00 - I've never understood the need to watch the photos turn gray.  If I was in the house I wouldn't care at all.

51:00 - Shane wins HOH... oh, that's how he's going to make things right with Danielle.

56:00 - It's up to the viewers if the coaches become players or not?  Please everyone vote No!!

Book Review: The Bourne Legacy by Eric Van Lustbader (48 in 2012? #25)

     This book was an obvious attempt by the publishers to cash in on the popularity of the movies.  Van Lustbader, while keeping to the timelines and events of the previous Ludlum novels, decided to ignore much of what was written in The Bourne Ultimatum.  It was pretty clear that Ludlam was trying to wrap up the Bourne story with the major focus of his last book being that Bourne was getting much to old to deal with  the physical toll being a secret agent puts on one's body.  I thought, since the word legacy was in the title, that Van Lustbader would try to push the Bourne story forward by passing the thrown on to another agent (much like we see in the trailers to the up coming films) but no, he moved forward throwing Jason Bourne back into the action never mentioning the fact that Bourne has to be over 50 according to the time line that he decided to keep.
     Although I was getting tired of some aspects of Ludlum's novels by the third installment, I was a big fan of the Bourne books.  They were never your typical spy thrillers.  There was a feeling of reality and psychology that Ludlum threw into his stories giving them a much deeper meaning then most mass produced main stream novels.  Van Lustbader has in no way carried these themes on.  I'm sure Ludlum was turning in his grave when the movies butchered and ignored his creation, so I can't imagine what he was doing when this novel came out.   The Bourne Legacy is silly, vapid and insulting.  By all means, stay away from this book.  There is nothing between the two covers except a ridiculous waste of time.

Review The Previews 7/25

Remember...
F- I will never see this movie under any circumstances
D- I will never pay theater price to see this movie but may watch it on Netflix
C- I might pay to see this if nothing else is playing, if not I'll catch it on DVD
B- I am not excited, but I'll probably try to catch it in the theater
A- I'm all in


For Good Time Call - C- (8/31/12)
     This trailer hooked me with the presence of Justin Long.  It doesn't look like he has much of a presence but I've been a huge fan of his going back to the television show Ed.  The movie looks like it could be cute and, although the trailer doesn't have any real laughs, could have some pretty funny moments.  Nothing excites me about it but it could be a good little film.


Flight - C (11/02/12)
     At face value this movie doesn't do much for me, but the trailer presents a movie that looks more compelling then I would think.  You can never go wrong with Denzel Washington.  It's obviously going to be an emotional ride type of movie that pulls at the heart strings.  Not the type of movie I run out to see, but will probably have some great moments

Total Recall - B- (8/04/12)
     I never saw the original (I know, blasphemous) so I have no preconceived notions about it.  I didn't get giddy or pissed off about the trailer because of my feelings about the original.  I did get a little giddy to find out Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel are in the movie.  Kate Beckinsale is enough to get me into a movie by herself.  The plot seems really interesting.  Chances are I see this opening week.

Silver Linings Playbook - B (11/21/12)
     Great director, great cast, interesting subjects.  I'm sold.  This movie looks like it could be pretty fantastic even if it does have a horrible name.

Dredd 3D - A (9/21/12)
     Judge Dredd finally done right.  Or at least that's what it looks like in this trailer.  I won't be seeing it in 3D because I refuse to pay more for an experience that is never worth it, but I'm still excited about what this movie could be.

Big Brother 14: Control Your Players

     I think it's safe to say the Hantz family reality television experiment should be over.  What made Russel such a compelling Survivor player was the way he was so obviously holding back the crazy to stay in the game like a real life super villain.  We kept waiting for him to crack, but ultimately what made him great television was that he never did. We've now seen three members of the family and two of the three couldn't control the crazy and that just isn't as fun.  Russel is clearly an anomaly in his family, so let's agree as a group to stop subjecting people to this insane family.
     Let's be honest, Willie was getting a raw deal.  I don't take back anything I said about his game play in earlier posts.  He was the only player who seemed to be seeing what was going on clearly.  A problem occurred because he didn't now how to convey that in a sociably acceptable manner or react properly if others didn't want to except what he was seeing.  Unless a whole lot happened that CBS isn't showing us (which I know is the case on some level), Willie didn't really do much to become the pariah of the house except call the coaches on their bullshit.  But seeing that nobody was going to understand what he was saying and that his back was pinned against the wall was enough for him to lose control of his crazy.  A sane person would have tried to regroup or attempted another tact, but Willie just lost his shit.  Ultimately Big Brother is a game of following the crowd.  If you can find a way to subtly manipulate that crowd or pick the right moment to over turn the crowd you better your chances to win.  Willie wanted to change people by force of will and that tactic never works.
     The part Willie got totally right is that this season has become all about the coaches.  Nothing makes that more apparent then when Janelle chastises Britney for not being able to control her players.  Why should the players just do whatever their coaches say?  This season has quickly turned into a chess game between the coaches with the players being nothing but pawns getting moved around the board.  From what CBS has showed us, the only coach who seems to be working with a player instead of just using his players is Boogie with Frank.  I'm not sure if it's that the cast is to dumb or they lack enough personality or we've just become a society overcome with celebrity worship, but every time old players are introduced to new players in any of these reality games the new players cow tail to everything the old players say.  I have a feeling that the producers of Big Brother realized they had a really weak cast this season so came up with the idea of coaches to bring some personality to the season.  All we hear from are the coaches, the players are getting almost no face time.  Now that Willie is gone I'm interested to see where things go since there doesn't seem to be another player strong enough to stand up to the coaches or play any type of interesting game at all.  As arrogant as Boogie is, I hope him and Frank stay around a long time because they look to be the only entertainment we're going to get.
     -Additional note:  is there anything more uncomfortable then Ian asking Ashley on a slop date? 
    

Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

          OK, so I kind of missed the mark with my Prometheus review.  I over did it a little for my love of the characters and story.  I was reacting to the feel of the movie and not what was actually written and I realize that after watching The Dark Knight Rises, a movie that actually fulfills everything I thought Prometheus had.  Christopher Nolan has once again proven that he is the filmmaker most able to pick up the blockbuster baton from the giants of the past.  The masses may make The Avengers the biggest and best comic book movie ever made, but The Dark Knight Rises would be belittled by considering it worthy of comparison.  As with all of Nolan’s Batman movies, The Dark Knight Rises surpasses the comic book genre in becoming just a great movie.

            Nolan has proven once again that he has an amazing knack for pleasing the comic book mafia while still making a movie that fans of great film can enjoy.  The Dark Knight Rises runs at almost 3 hours, but the story Nolan weaves and the suspense he creates makes the time fly.  Unlike other super hero movies out this summer, like The Amazing Spider-Man, you never for a minute feel the large gaps in action sequences because you are so invested in the movie’s deep characters.  Christian Bale probably only spends 15 minutes total of screen time in the Batsuit but it never feels like the movie lacks for action.  Part of that is due to the great acting performances Nolan pulls from his actors.  I’ve never been a big Anne Hathaway fan, but her turn as Selena Kyle, the Catwoman, is brilliant.  Marion Cotillard’s subtle performance as Miranda Tate is exactly what the movie’s story needed as well as Tom Hardy’s bigger then life Bane.  The presence of Joseph Gordon-Levitt could have easily been something that threw off the believability of the film, but he pulled off the young naive crime fighter to perfection.

            Part of the genius of Nolan’s movies are the way they take the silliest of comic books storylines and turn them into something everyone else can take serious.  The best example from The Dark Knight Rises is the idea of the Lazarus Pits.  In the comics these are actual pits filled with a substance that literally brings people back from the dead, an idea that would just not fit into the world Nolan has created.  So, in a move that pleases the comic geeks everywhere without destroying the credibility of his movie, Nolan makes the Lazarus Pit a prison that no man can get out of, so if they get out it’s as if they have risen from the dead.  I would never contend that Nolan’s world is perfectly free from cheese and silliness (Blake’s first name is Robin?  Really?) but it’s pretty much as good as you can ask for.

            Another place that Nolan separates his movies from the recent crop of blockbusters is how he shoots action.  All the action and fighting sequences in The Dark Knight Rises are extremely clear.  You can tell who is punching who and how, something that seems to be forgotten in most action movies today.  Nolan doesn’t need to hide bad cg or the fact his actors aren’t trained enough with quick cuts and blurry close-ups.  You get to see the action and it becomes as much a part of the story as the dialogue.  A clear fight scene is a lost art but Nolan still seems to cherish its importance.

            I’m never sure with this type of movie how it plays to an unfamiliar audience.  I know the characters and their histories, so it’s probably easier for me to feel connected or miss gaps in the characterization that the uninitiated would pick up on.  I know some of the twists before they come, I understand motives before they are explained.  But I still find it hard to believe that this wouldn’t be seen as a fantastic film.  Great writing, great acting, great suspense, great story telling.  Hopefully the Academy voters will finally give this movie series the credit it deserves.  Easily the must see movie of the summer.

Big Brother 14: The First Eviction

     The first eviction of the season means the first Eviction Journal of the season.  So here's my breakdown of yesterday's episode...

2:03-- Man, did Frank screw up that veto competition or what?  I expected him to be a better player then that.  If he gets evicted he has no one to blame but himself because he should have easily won this and taken himself off the block.

2:31-- I said in a previous post that Ian was one of my favorites so far, but the fact he has to resort to kicking himself in the face to entertain the house is beyond sad.  They're not laughing with you, sir.

3:30-- Mike Boogie's wearing a "Where's Will?" shirt.  Where's Will indeed.  We got stuck with his second rate lackey.

4:15--  Of course Frank isn't going to use the veto.  Using the POV this early would be one of the stupidest game moves of all time.

8:20-- I love Britney, but did it really take her this long to guess that the coaches are going to play at some point?  Maybe the coaches never will be allowed to play, but to enter the house without figuring that it was a possibility just seems really stupid.  My guess is that once all your players are gone you will enter the game.  So, we're a week or two away from seeing Dan in the game.

9:48-- Paranoid much Janelle.  Willie didn't yell at all.  He calmly stated that the meeting was for players only.

11:16-- Interesting move by Willie to get everyone together and point out they shouldn't be playing the coaches game.  I said the best players will have this one figured out and Willie is, at least early on, one of the better players.  Not sure I would have tipped everyone off to this though.  And I don't know how pulling this card out at this point helps Willie.

12:30-- Good point by Joe!  One of the keys to playing Big Brother is play according to what is happening now, not what you think will happen in the future.  Making a move just because you think something might happen is foolish.  The fact the coaches may become players shouldn't figure into anyone's game decisions yet.

15:42--  Not sure what the point of splitting the votes is.  I don't see a need to hide the alliance and any time you play with the votes you're opening yourself up to a backfire.

16:35--  Not sure why Frank was bothered by Willie repeating what Wil said.  And what slurs were made?  Everyone is super over reacting or they aren't showing everything on TV that happened.

18:00--  Oh Frank... when you're on the block isn't the time to start this stuff.  You are only digging your own grave no matter how right you may be.

20:05--  As much as I give Boogie crap about riding Dr. Will's coattails, he's still a solid player.  And here's an example, not passing up the opportunity to make a point about Willie's game play.  Calling him out as a bully was a nice move.

21:20--  "One of the most volatile weeks in Big Brother history!"  There's the Julie Chen hyperbole that we all love!!

29:29--  Kara get evicted.  What was supposed to be the original outcome now puts Willie in big trouble.

37:01--  The coaches aren't going to play as usual?  It's only the second HOH with coaches.  How can it be the usual?

40:06--  Frank wins!  Willie is in big trouble.  I can pretty much guarantee he'll be on the block.

43:08--  The first big twist is trades.  I said it would take three weeks to break up the coaches teams, but it only took one.

Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

     Why?  Why make this movie?  Why film another origin story, an origin story that we are all very aware of, if you're not going to add something new of interest?  Why set it in a science magnet high school yet make the characters people who would never attend such a school or act like they're ready to graduate college? Why tease a master mind villain at the end but not give enough clues for even the biggest comic geek to guess who it's supposed to be?   This movie was a two and a half hour boring, frustrating, mess.
     I understand that Sony needed to make a Spider-Man movie or they lost the rights to the character, but why rehash ground we have already gone over?  You don't have to re-boot the franchise with another origin story.  10 years-ago it felt fresh because we had never seen the familiar Spider-Man origin story on film, but this time it was boring as hell.  The first hour and a half of this film is so painfully boring I have no idea how I got through it.  The film makers had zero to add to the story, so why retell it?  This movie could have easily started with Spider-Man already fighting crime, we could have been reminded through dialogue and quick flashbacks about his origin, and then would have been left more time for some action or maybe actually building a connection between Peter and Gwen.
     Of course, that's assuming the writer could have written a connection between the two.  The movie was so horribly absurd and poorly constructed, I have very little faith he could accomplish that.  The plot had bigger holes then the Osbourn building Curtis Conners had to climb at the end of the film.  The characters motives were so ridiculous, random and unclear it was impossible to enjoy the movie at all.  Was Conners an evil scientist or not?  Why was Flash, a stupid jock who bullies nerds, at a science focused magnet school?  Why was a high school student the head of the intern program at a huge science lab?  What happened to make us actually believe that Peter and Gwen are in love after one awkward date?  How did Peter know how to make an antidote?  Who knew reptile DNA contains the evil gene?  That's not even mentioning all the absolutely stupid scenes, Peter dunking the basketball, all the construction guys lining up the beams for Spider-Man, Peter's Footloose moment at the abandoned boat house.
     In a summer that has a movie right out of a comic boy's wet dreams and a movie that wraps up the best made series of comic movies ever made, this attempt to re-boot Spider-Man is a profound disappointment.  There is nothing memorable or worthy about it.  As flawed as the second and third Sam Raimi films are, if you're looking for a Spider-Man movie, ignore this mess and rent the original.  You'll be much more entertained.

Reviewing the Previews 7/18

Here's the latest batch of previews I saw at the theater.
And in case you forgot...
F- I will never see this movie under any circumstances
D- I will never pay theater price to see this movie but may watch it on Netflix
C- I might pay to see this if nothing else is playing, if not I'll catch it on DVD
B- I am not sure excited, but I'll probably try to catch it in the theater
A- I'm all in

Here Comes the Boom- F  (10/12/12)
     I have no idea what the rest of America see in Kevin James.  He's just not that funny.  And this movie looks as God awful as a movie can look.  Kevin James decides to be an MMA fighter to get funding for his school.  The preview can't decide if it's supposed to be advertising a comedy or a drama, and I'm sure the movie will miss both by a wide mark.  I'm staying far away.

The Watch- C-  (7/27/12)
     Just looking at the cast, this should be an A+ preview.  I would usually be all in on anything done by Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughn and I tend to find Jonah Hill very entertaining, but this preview was horrible.  None of the jokes were funny, all the characters looked super annoying, and there are real aliens involved.  I have no interest to see the movie hinted at in this preview, but the cast is to good to just ignore, so I guess I'll force myself to watch it at some point.

Wreck-It Ralph- C  (11/2/12)
     This is another preview that caused me mixed feelings.  I'm not sold on the premise, I don't know where the story is going to go and how interesting it could possibly be, nothing in the preview was really all that funny, but I love the fact that it's centered in the video game world of my childhood.  I'm really interested to see how they work in the video game characters I loved when I was growing up and that by itself is enough to get me to sit down and watch.

The Campaign- B  (8/10/12)
     I have super high hopes for this one.  Although the preview has some light chuckles in it, it isn't super funny, which in this case I think is a good sign.  I think it's pretty much impossible for Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell to not be funny, so my theory is that they saved the funniest moments for the movie instead of ruining them by putting them in the trailer.  There is a small chance that this movie will suck, but I'm willing to take that chance.

Anchor Man 2- A+  (sometime 2013)
     This is really just a teaser, but it's a teaser with a story.  A few years ago the studio wanted to make a sequel to Anchor Man, so everyone got together and started working on a script and got all excited about working together again and then the studio decide against it.  So, this time, when the studio went looking to make the movie, Will Ferrel, Adam McCay and company ran out and put together a teaser to put into theaters so the studios would be forced to go ahead with the project.  Anchor Man is one of the funniest movies ever made, a movie that gets funnier with every viewing.  So even though there is no script yet, I can't wait for part 2!

Book Review: Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose (48 in 2012? #24)

     Francine Prose would have been better off slimming down the title of this book.  By cutting out the references to writing, not only would she have had a much shorter title but also a more accurate one.  Reading: A Guide for People Who Love Books is a better description of what you will find between the books covers.  Prose does an amazing job selling the books she mentions, using passages and plot points and her obvious love for the material, but never really connects it to advice on writing other then read these books.  Which is strong advice but hardly the subject for a whole book.
     I'm certainly not saying this wasn't a good read, just that the title is slightly misleading.  I was enthralled by Prose's love and awe for the books she mentioned and her ability to convey those feelings through her writing.  There is no doubt that I will be picking up a number of the works she mentions that I haven't already read, not because I feel it will improve my writing but because she has me hooked on the experience of reading them.  I want the same visceral experience she obviously had.
     My one knock on the book, other then the title, is Prose doesn't include any examples of bad writing.  She breaks up her chapters by subjects like sentences, paragraphs, character, plot, etc. and shows examples of writers or novels that showcase these subjects, but never gives examples of missed attempts.  What does a bad sentence look like?  How does a horrible plot twist read?  Not only would these examples have made the book stronger, it would have kept it closer to the promise made by the title.
     This is truly a book for people who love books.  It will either stir up feelings of joy from books you read or give you a longer list of books you need to read.  But if you're a writer looking for words of advice to tighten your prose or clean up your ideas, this book really doesn't have much to offer.

Big Brother 14: Let the Games Begin

     It always tough to figure out what the best strategy will be when a new twist is introduced to the game.  The presence of coaches really leaves a bunch of things in the air and it will be interesting to see how the players sort that stuff out.  The problem with how the coaches were established is that it seems to have created teams, yet there is nothing other then the fact that the coach picked them that makes them a team.  So, what is the best way to make alliances?  Is it best to keep the "team" together or are you better off making deals with other coach's players?  It had looked like Willie had decided to go with a combination, a pretty sly tactic, build votes with team alliances and protect yourself with out of team alliances, but then through it away with his HOH picks.  I'm sure he'll go to Frank with some sort of plea that Frank's not the target, that Willie expects him to win POV, all the stuff every HOH has said to at least one person on the block every nomination ceremony, but I think it was to early for this play.  If you're going to have an alliance with another player you need it to build a few weeks before you pull the "you're not the target" ploy.  If I was Willie, I would have put up Danielle and Kara and tried to put Dan one step closer to being sent home.  I'm not sure what pitting Dan and Boogie against each other accomplishes.
     As far as the coaches go, there seems to me only one real strategy, pick one of your players as the one you think can win and talk your other picks into protecting that player.  But the only coach who I think has that figured out is Boogie.  He's also probably the only coach who could pull the strategy off.  I think he's already decided that Frank is his boy and he is going to do everything to keep him in the game, even throw his other players under the bus.  Boogie's one down fall is that he is way to arrogant.  Let's not forget that he's only played this game with Dr. Will and basically rode Will's coat tails both times.  I'm interested to see how he functions without Dr. Will in the house.  That being said, I still think he's the most cold blooded of all the coaches and cold blooded wins Big Brother.
     It's to early to start my rankings, I think I'll wait until there are only ten left, but right now I'm liking Willie, JoJo, and Frank to win.  Danielle and Ian are my favorites at the moment, but I don't think either has a chance to make it to the end.  Oddly enough, there are no nominations yet for the Rachel Cup, the award I just invented that goes to the house member that most makes me want to shot myself in the face, but the season is still young!

Big Brother 14: The Stakes Have Never Been Higher!

     That's right folks, it's back!  Time to strap yourselves in for three months of ridiculous hyperbole, pointless game twists, needless backbiting and entertaining scream fights.  Our favorite display of beautiful people thinking they're smart, smart people thinking they're crafty and crafty people misusing stupid lingo like "floaters", "backdoor", and "game play" has returned.  And that means I will be writing at least three posts a week that none of my friends will even bother reading, yet I enjoy writing too much to give up.  Now that Big Brother is back on summer has officially begun.
     Per usual, this season of Big Brother is going to give us a new "twist" on the game we have come to love, coaches.  Coaches are past house guests that are being brought back into the house not to compete but to "coach" players to victory.  Let's start by counting our lucky stars that Big Brother spared us another three months of having to watch Rachel whine, bitch, cry, argue, make stupid comments, annoyingly laugh... I'm not sure how I feel about this obvious play by the producers to make sure old favorites get in the house without making it yet another all-star season, but I am happy, for the most part, with the people they brought back.  Britney is one of my all time favorites, Mike is funny but I'm not sure how entertaining he will be without Dr. Will, Dan is vanilla, neither exciting or offensive.  The only one I can't stand is Janelle, who I still contend was once a man.  I'm not sure how the presence of these four will effect things, but something tells me that they will end up playing a bigger role in how things shake out then Julie led on last night.
     It's hard to really comment on things after one episode.  We haven't really gotten a feel for the players or the house dynamic, so most of what happened doesn't have much meaning to us viewers yet.  The biggest stand out is obviously Willie Hantz, who is obviously coming in with a lot of baggage.  I don't understand why Mike and Janelle were so scared of picking him for their team once they realized who he was.  If I have three picks, why not make Hantz one of them?  Yes, he may be kicked out quick, but if he is anything like his brother, there is also a chance that he lasts till the end.  If he gets kicked out, you still have two other people in the game.  And what does the "love of Dan's life" feel about him picking the two most attractive girls in the house over people with actual athletic ability.  Dan picked a team that has no chance of winning a physical challenge all season.  Of course that's assuming the coaches are stuck with this players the whole season, which the chances are very slim of happening.  Big Brother will blast apart this format after three weeks or so.
     All that being said, I think Britney has the strongest team with the best chance of having winner on it.  My favorite team is Dan's for obvious reasons.  Janelle's team appears to be the weakest, but then again, my opinions are totally biased.

Movie Review: Savages

     Hit or miss, we've come to expect a message and a bit of heavy handedness from our Oliver Stone movies.  You never really feel like you are just watching a beautifully shot, wonderfully acted piece of film, there is usually a lecture that goes along with it.  While many Stone themes are present in his latest effort, the corruption of innocence, the loss of civility, the power of greed and fame, if you go into it expecting a deeper message you will be disappointed.  Although at times it seems to be trying to make a bigger point, Savages is best enjoyed when seen as a early Tarantino action film.  The ridiculous violence, the silly relationships and the over-the-top plot points screams more True Romance then Platoon.  I'm not going to call Stone a hypocrite for making the type of movie that Natural Born Killers was trying to lampoon because ultimately it's a good looking piece of entertainment, but be warned, Savages is far from high art.
     The credibility of the whole movie rests on the performance of Blake Lively, who guides and narrates us through the story, and that is where the movie falters.  Her ridiculous voice over takes you out of the moment early on and leaves you wondering about the motives of the other protagonists.  In a movie filled with wonderful performances, Del Toro is great as usual, Travolta is fantastic and Taylor Kitsch puts in his best effort to date, the most important one was horrible and because of that the film fails to reach the heights it's aiming for.  Instead of feeling any sympathy for her plight or understanding of her boyfriends' devotion, all you feel is annoyance.  The fact that Stone is a director with the unbelievable talent to pull a solid performance out of Salma Hayek, one of the most excruciating actresses in Hollywood, yet couldn't get anything close to passable from Lively doesn't say much for the young actress.
     Once you get over Lively's stale performance, you are left with a solid piece of Hollywood escapism; a movie on a higher plane then Michael Bay's Tranformers but lower then Jeff Nichols' Take Shelter.  I don't quite understand why Stone felt it needed a false ending, something that didn't feel genuine to the story being told, but by the time it got to that point my expectations of the movie were low enough not to be harmed.  This isn't a great movie and most of it will be quickly forgotten, but, at the same time, it was worth the two plus hours I spent watching it.

Reviewing The Previews 7/11

     Time for another round of thoughts on some recent previews.  Last time I probably should have defined my grading system, so here's how my letters break down...
F- I will never see this movie under any circumstances
D- I will never pay theater price to see this movie but may watch it on Netflix
C- I might pay to see this if nothing else is playing, if not I'll catch it on DVD
B- I am not sure excited, but I'll probably try to catch it in the theater
A- I'm all in

     Here's this week's previews...

Alex Cross - D
     Tyler Perry as a bad ass detective.  Mathew Fox as a psychopathic killer.  A movie franchise that has done nothing for me.  I have little faith in the story being all that interesting and absolutely no faith in the lead's abilities to pull off their characters convincingly.  All that adds up to me not caring at all.

The Bourne Legacy - C
     Another preview that lost me with the name.  I could not be more indifferent about a movie franchise then I am with the Jason Bourne movies.  What makes it worse is that the Ludlam books are pretty amazing and the movie makers just slapped the name on the films without using anything from those books but the concept of a secret agent forgetting who he is.  Not much seems to have changed now that we have moved beyond Ludlum's novels, as the preview has NOTHING to do with the book of the same name.  Yet, I like Jeremy Renner and Ed Norton, so I'll probably end up seeing it at some point.

The Great Gatsby - C
     10 seconds into this preview I thought to myself, "this looks like a Baz Luhrmann flick."  And what do you know, it was.  So, to say it will be a stylistic take on the novel looks to be an understatement.  I'll out myself right now, I really didn't like this book when I read it in high school however blasphemous it may be to say.  I probably should give it another try since it's considered such a classic, but my negative thoughts on the book make me not really care much about the movie.  And as interesting as Luhrmann's movies are to watch, they really lack as far as everything else goes.  I'm not as excited as most of America probably is to see this one.

The Man with the Iron Fists - B
     The trailer started by flashing Quentin Tarantino's name across the screen, which got me all excited thinking it was Django Unchained.  But then I realized it was brought to us by Tarantino, not written or directed by him, which lost my interest.  Then I realized that it was a kung fu movie written by RZA and Eli Roth, which got me excited again.  This movie is a total toss up.  It could be a complete train wreck or it could be a lot of fun.  Either way, I have a feeling it's going to be highly entertaining.

Argo - A
     In all honesty, this movie had me at, directed by Ben Affleck.  I have an unexplainable crush on the man which has forced me to make many an apology for enjoying more then one movie (seriously, Gigli isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be).  Luckily, I haven't had to apologize for anything he's directed and this one isn't looking to be an exception.  Great cast, interesting story.  I'll be there with bells on.

Book Review: The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (48 in 2012? #23)

     It's been a few years since I read The Golden Compass, I book I enjoyed quite a bit.  At that time I went into the series with a fresh mind; I hadn't heard of the book, it's author, or any controversy that may have come along with them.  After reading the book and forming my own thoughts and opinions on the subjects brought up, I found out that the series was seen as an anti-religion story, something I didn't fully see.  It obviously takes shots at certain ideas that come from religion including the church itself, but it never went as far as saying religion was evil itself and, in my mind, took just as much time taking shots at science.  I felt the book was attacking power grabbers and dogma however those things manifest themselves.  Of course there was always the chance of that point of view changing over the course of three books.  Now that I am two books into the series, I still see it as an even attack on the extremes of both religion and science.  To say after two books that Pullman is only attacking religion is reading his work looking for those attacks.  There are characters who are just as evil in the world of science, who commit deeds just as horrible as those in the church.  Criticizing the story as anti-religion is limiting the scope of the novel that Pullman has created and not giving him credit for creating a fully flushed out world.
     As far as Pullman's writing goes, this is very much a young adult novel.  In the years since reading The Golden Compass, I must have become more critical of writing styles, because I found The Subtle Knife much more juvenile in it's language and style then I remember The Golden Compass being.  Pullman is not writing anywhere near the depth of character and story that Suzanne Collins did in her Hunger Games novels.  This is very much the type of novel I would normally stay away from because it just wasn't written for me, it was clearly written for young teens.
     Now that I have read two of three books in the series, I'm sure that I will finish it at some point, but I wouldn't recommend these books to adults.  This is a young adult fantasy series written for young adults.  Many of the themes are more mature then you would expect, but the language and style is much more suitable to younger readers.  Pullman has created a wonderful world with fabulous characters, but I would leave these books for the kids.

Movie Review: Brave

     All the publicity surrounding Pixar's new movie Brave dealt with the fact that it's the first Pixar movie with a female lead.  As big a deal as the press made of this fact, it really isn't anything extraordinary since from their very first animated film Disney has consistently put women in the forefront.  I know, even though Pixar works under the Disney umbrella there is a huge difference between a Disney animated film and a Pixar one, so to day that Disney has always had female main characters shouldn't be a credit to Pixar.  And it isn't, but there is no way you can walk away from Brave and think of it as anything but a Disney movie.  It felt nothing like what we have come to expect from Pixar and everything we have been conditioned to expect from Disney.  Brave shares almost all it's narrative beats from your classic Disney films, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and had none of the funny, witty moments from the best of Pixar.  While the focus of the story, the relationship between mother and daughter, is a departure from the Disney standard of relationship between father and daughter or evil stepmother and daughter, I couldn't help but feel I've seen this movie a hundred times.
     That's not to say it was a bad movie.  Although it lagged at points, it was a well told story that was able to both entertain and move it's audience.  The relationship between the main character and her mother rang very true and set up some wonderfully moving moments.  And as always, the animation was top notch.  If there was one thing the movie lacked, it was laughs.  Especially for a Pixar movie, there just wasn't any laugh out loud moments.  It got a few chuckles from me, but there was still a glaring absence of the witty joke writing we have all come to expect from Pixar.
     If you are going to see Brave because you are a huge Pixar fan and are looking for the standard Pixar fare, you should probably give this movie a pass.  This is very much a movie is the classic Disney vain.  It's a worthy offering and a well made movie, but a movie that belongs along side Snow White and The Little Mermaid and not Toy Story or The Incredibles.

Reviewing the Previews 7/4

     Thanks to $5 Tuesdays at a couple of the local movie theaters, I have started seeing a bunch more movies in the theater.  Since I've been spending more time in the theater I thought a fun new post would be reviewing the previews.  I'm not sure how frequent a post it will be (is once a week to often to keep it interesting?  is once a month to far apart?) but will try it out and see how it goes...

The Hobbit - D
     I probably shouldn't be reviewing anything involved with Peter Jackson and J.R.R. Tolkien.  Fair warning, I'm extremely biased at this point with my hatred of what Jackson did to my most beloved novels.  If you ever want me to go off on an hour long rant all you have to do is make one of two comments: 1) Joe Montana was a better QB then Dan Marino. 2) Peter Jackson did a wonderful job translating the Lord of the Rings books into movies.  I have very little faith that he will do much better with The Hobbit, so all this preview did was make me mad.

To Rome With Love - B
     It's very rare of late for Woody Allen to put together two good movies.  It feels like its only one out of every four or five is worth watching.  So after last year's Midnight in Paris I figured it would be a few years before we saw a quality piece of work from the master.  This preview seems to say other wise.  Of course there is always the chance that the preview captured all the funny moments, but with someone like Allen I wouldn't think that would be the case.  After seeing the preview, I'm looking forward to this one.

Monsters University - B+
     Monsters Inc. was probably my least favorite Pixar movie, so the idea of a sequel does very little for me, but the preview before Brave was really funny.  I still won't be running out to see this when it's in the theaters, but this first preview is worth checking out.

Pitch Perfect - A
     Here's an example of a trailer that is good enough to get me to see a movie that you never would have been able to pull me into otherwise.  If you told me you were making a movie about a bunch of college girls who put together an A Capella group to enter competitions, I would have laughed in your face and said "I've seen Glee, it sucks, no thank you."  But the trailer is really funny, the cast is phenomenal and the music seems pretty good.  This may be a case of all the good moments in the trailer, but it has me hooked.

Step Up Revolution - A+
     This is the type of trailer that makes this kind of post fun and interesting.  There is no way in hell I am ever going to see this movie, not in the theater, not DVD, not for free with a gun held to my head, yet the three or four minutes that this trailer runs is three or four minutes of genius.  If I made a parody trailer it couldn't be as perfectly ridiculous as this one.  It has what could easily be the trailer line of the summer... "Enough with performance art, it's time for protest art!"  I almost fell out of my seat laughing.  Please, stay far away from this movie, but by all means check out this horribly awesome trailer.

Book Review: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (48 in 2012? #22)

     My new addiction to the TV show Psych is starting causing me to fall behind on my reading and writing.  I have two books I've finished and need to write about and I've fallen behind the pace I need to get through 48 books.  I also have three more seasons of Psych to get through, so chances are I'm going to fall even for behind before all is said and done.  Damn my friend for insisting I go back and watch it.  Damn Steve Franks for creating a clever, hilarious, incredibly addicting show.  Damn Shawn Spencer for his snarky, pop culture referencing, crime solving.  But anyway, back to books...
     Storm of Swords is probably the best of the Song of Ice and Fire series that I have read so far, yet many of the problems that I had with the first two books continue to persist.  Martin has created a wondrous world filled with deep and intriguing characters and tells a tale that forces you to tear through page after page, yet it never seems to quite satisfy.  Many people laud Martin for creating a fantasy series that feels more real then most, a series that has proven that no character is safe from death and tribulation.  But I feel all Martin has done is turn the fantasy genre on its head, not make it more real.  In most fantasy stories the true and noble win out while the evil and wicked fall, but Martin seems to find pleasure in punishing the noble and putting the evil consistently on top.  Granted, I'm only three books into what is supposed to be a seven book series, so there is still a chance that the characters we love will rise to victory over the ones we hate, but at the moment they just seem to be falling into deeper and deeper pits of despair, if they live at all, while the hated gain more and more power.
     But even with all that despair and death, Storm of Swords was as intense and suspenseful a fantasy novel as I have ever read.  Every one of the 1216 pages drips with intrigue, suspense, and eventful happenings, so much so you can't stop turning pages.  It may be a book of enormous size, but it reads like something of much shorter length.  Martin may have created a world where the good suffer great indignities, where the evil get to celebrate the spoils of their dispositions, where the perverse just to be perverse rules over all, but all that seems to add up to a great page turner.
     I'm not sure where Martin is going with some of his storylines, the zombies are a plot point I'm very scared of (not scared of the horror, but scared of it being a stupid direction to be taking us), the fire religion seems to involve a bit more magic then I would like, but none of that took away from my enjoyment of this book.  As much as I fear where things are headed, as much as I fear for the demise of every character that I like, as much as I dislike the spiral of despair Martin seems to be taking us down into, this was an excellent read.  Storm of Swords is fantasy writing at its best and makes the reading of the first two books all that much more worth it.  This may very well be the pinnacle of the series, and if that is so, it is still quite the high point and makes the series worth a read.