Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - Movie Review

Chuck Barris grows up dreaming of success in show biz and winning the hearts of beautiful women, but early on, he meets with plenty of resistance from both women and the television industry, despite writing the hit tune "Palisades Park" and scoring a job with Dick Clark on American Bandstand. The 1960s proves more fortunate for Barris; he meets the love of his life, Penny, and sells ABC on the idea of The Dating Game. However, after the show has made him wealthy and successful, Barris is approached by the mysterious Jim Byrd, a CIA agent who wants to recruit Barris as a covert operative. Barris finds the notion of playing spy games intriguing and agrees, but soon discovers what Byrd and his partners really want is for Barris to assassinate uncooperative figures around the world. Soon, Barris finds that his life has been all but taken over by Byrd and another CIA agent, the mysterious and sexy Patricia. As he hops the globe killing people in the name of American security (using his status as a Dating Game chaperone as a cover), Barris learns that the KGB has discovered his not-so-little secret and that his own life is in great danger.

This film was a little too "out there" for my taste. It was based on Barris' autobiography which he claims is completely true. However, I think Barris' imagination got the best of him while he was writing his life story and he embellished some (or most) things. Some of the scenes are so over the top that they're laughable and it was difficult for me to watch since I had a hard time believing any of it happened. Even as a work of fiction (which I'm convinced it is), it was too scattered and lacked a central, driving plot that pulled everything together. It was just a hodgepodge of outrageous claims and goofy acting.

Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, George Clooney

The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.

Perfect Stranger - Movie Review

Rowena is a prominent New York journalist who writes using a pseudonym to entrap some of the tri-state area's most corrupt individuals, using a network of informants, acquaintances, and digital gadgets. When her latest expose is buried at the behest of her paper's corporate backers, she walks off the job and into a personal quagmire. Her childhood friend Grace is murdered when she threatens to reveal she's been sleeping with married advertising mogul Harrison Hill. With the help of her loyal techie friend Miles, she goes undercover - and online - to find the smoking gun that will indict Hill. But Rowena soon finds herself caught in a web of manipulation, deceit, and false truths.

With Bruce Willis and Halle Berry starring in this film, I would have thought it would get more buzz, but I had never heard of it when I saw it on the video store shelf. It was a pretty good suspenseful thriller that keeps you guessing until the very end when all the secrets are revealed. It was one of those films where things happen early on that don't seem to make sense at the time, but make perfect sense once you're given a little more information. There were certain times when I was sure I knew who the killer was, but I was taken by surprise which I was happy about - it wasn't obvious. The actors did a great job providing drama, suspense and intrigue, while not showing their hands too early. Overall, it wasn't great, but it was good enough to see once.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Halle Berry, Bruce Willis, Giovanni Ribisi

The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.

We've Been Simpsonized!

There's a fun website where you can upload a picture of yourself and it creates an image of what you would look like as a character on The Simpsons. I created characters for myself, Shawnna & Kaitlyn and put them together into one image below. Let me know how close you think the image below looks like us and Simpsonize yourself here. Email the results to yourself and post the URL in the comments section of this blog.

Vacancy - Movie Review

A vacationing couple makes a terrifying discovery about the motel room they have just checked into. Their car broken down and their prospects for finding a tow-truck driver at such a late hour slim to none, David and Amy Fox decide to make the best of their situation by resting out the night at a nearby motel. Left with few choices of entertainment for the evening, the pair soon settles down to enjoy one of the low-budget slasher films sitting atop their motel room VCR. Upon realizing that all of the films seem to have been shot in the very same room they currently occupy, David and Amy suddenly become the stars of a particularly sadistic fright flick. As hidden cameras track their every move, the hapless couple attempt to turn the tables on their would-be killer before they meet the same grim fate as the poor souls being butchered on television.

With a little more work, this could have been a great horror film. As is, the movie contained some really good, original ideas. However, with an 80 minute film, it's difficult to really explore those ideas and complete the thought. That's where this film failed - it was too short and didn't seem complete. The actors were perfect for their parts, although it was a little odd to see Luke Wilson in a scary movie. I really liked the look of the bad guys - subtle, but effective. The ending was indicative of the shortness of the film and seemed incomplete. Overall, it's worth a look if you're in the mood for a scare, but don't expect a masterpiece.

Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale, Frank Whaley

The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.

The Ex - Movie Review

Tom is an aspiring chef whose wife Sofia has just quit her high-paying job to stay home with their new baby. When it becomes abundantly clear that they can no longer maintain their New York City lifestyle, the family picks up and moves to Sofia's hometown in Ohio, where Tom is hired to work at her father's ad agency. It is there that Tom meets Chip, the agency's wheelchair-bound golden boy, who also happened to have a one-night stand with Sofia while the two were cheerleaders in high school. Suddenly, Tom finds himself sabotaged by Chip at every step as the nefarious paraplegic schemes to steal Sofia from him and destroy any chance he might have of success at the agency.

This was an OK comedy. There were some really funny parts, but there were also some fairly boring sections. I like all the main actors from their previous projects and they had pretty good chemistry in this film, but there wasn't a magic spark that would make this movie a must see. It was really just a so-so comedy and wasn't much different than the majority of comedies out there. It was also very short, so the characters didn't have time to be fully developed and the plot was pretty weak. Overall, I'd say that if you like the actors, you might rent it and watch it once, but don't bother adding it to your permanent DVD collection.

Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman

The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.

I'm a Published Photographer!

I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by the Editor of Schmap Guides (online travel guides) who had seen one of my photos online and wanted to include it in their new guide to Monterey and Carmel. The photo, shown below, is a picture of the Monterey Bay Aquarium I took from my kayak as Shawnna and I kayaked in the Monterey Bay a couple of years ago. Apparently, the editor stumbled upon my photos on Flickr and thought the aquarium photo was good enough to include in their guide. I gave them permission to use my photo and now you can see it in the Schmap Monterey and Carmel Guide. Here's the link straight to the page with my photo. National Geographic, here I come ;-)

Bridge to Terabithia - Movie Review

A perpetual outsider both at home and at school, Jess Aarons just never seems to fit in no matter how hard he tries. When his goal to become the fastest runner in middle school is unexpectedly thwarted by newly arrived classmate Leslie Burke, who enters in an "all boys" race and leaves her competitors in the dust, Jess soon strikes up a friendship with the imaginative outsider. Their bond is soon cemented thanks to Leslie's love for storytelling and Jess' skill as an artist, and the two lonely kids create a secret kingdom called Terabithia that is only accessible by swinging over a stream on a nearby rope. Though Jess and Leslie may be considered outcasts by their classmates, their adventures in Terabithia find the pair doing battle against the dreaded Dark Master and his malevolent creatures while plotting revenge against the schoolyard bullies. Now, thanks to his adventures in Terabithia and his friendship with Leslie, Jess finally finds the confidence needed to stand tall and be himself.

For a kids movie, this was an excellent film with a good message. It was very imaginative and whimsical. The kids who played the main characters were absolutely perfect for their parts and did a great job making their characters memorable. The plot was fantastic and provided a great lesson for kids that it's OK to be different and not follow the crowd. The fantasy world, Terabithia, was very creative and could have easily given Harry Potter a run for its money if it was built out a little more (the original book was published in 1977 and didn't have any sequels). There was a "heavy" twist to the plot which might not be appropriate for very young children, but it was certainly a unique film that's worth viewing.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: Yes
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb

The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.

Open Water 2 - Movie Review

It was a perfect setting for a relaxing weekend at sea, but sometimes even the best-planned trips can take an unexpected turn for the worst. After diving into the ocean and realizing to their horror that they have forgotten to lower the safety ladder, the friends who had set out for a simple weekend getaway realize that they have become helplessly stranded in the middle of the ocean. The sheer sides of the yacht are impossible to climb, and now the group is growing increasingly desperate. As the grim reality of their helpless situation slowly begins to dawn on the doomed friends, hydrophobic Amy struggles to maintain her composure after realizing that her baby daughter Sarah is helpless and alone aboard the boat. Now treading water as panic begins to set in, the once inseparable friends fast begin to turn on one another as exhaustion begins to set in and the vast ocean threatens to swallow the entire group without a trace.

This sequel was pretty much just as bad as the original. Again, it was "based on true events," but who knows what's fact or fiction. What I do know is that it was boring and lacked a good ending. Not to ruin it for anyone, but it ended with two possible outcomes that didn't wrap anything up. It was a completely bogus way to end a poor, uninteresting film. So little happened in the 90 minute movie that I was glad to see it end and certainly hope they don't make another.

Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Eric Dane, Susan May Pratt, Richard Speight, Jr.

The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.

Half Dome Hike - Sept. 3, 2007

On September 3, 2007, Dad, Dan, Kelley and I hiked half dome. The actual hike was almost identical to the Half Dome hike from last year, so I won't bother going into the details. Here is the high level synopsis:

• We started the hike at 6:15am
• Made it to the top at 11:45am
• Spent 1 hour on the top
• Finished the hike at 6:15pm

Here's the updated list of Half Dome summits:

• Dad - 9
• Dave - 5
• Dan - 3
• Kelley - 2

The real drama occurred the next morning as we were sleeping after the long hike. At about 5:15 in the morning, I woke up to a woman yelling, "Go away! Seriously, leave me alone!" She was banging on a garbage can and making a lot of noise. My first thought was that it was a domestic dispute, but when I got up and looked out the tent cabin window, I saw a large, female grizzly bear directly behind our tent cabin, about 10 yards away. She was just standing by a tree, looking around. About 5 second later, I found out why, when 2 grizzly bear cubs made their way down the tree. They meandered over to the mother and proceeded to walk away from our tent cabin

(the picture to the right shows the view from our tent cabin window. The center tree is where the cubs descended and the other tree has a light attached which is how we saw the action). A few minutes later, I saw "the woman" walking back past our tent cabin with a couple other people talking about how she was walking to the bathroom alone and how she just wanted to get back to her tent cabin. That must have been extremely scary for her. I'm glad we followed the rules and put all of our food in the bear locker. I had never seen a grizzly bear at Yosemite before and I wouldn't mind seeing one again - just not so close. Over the next 15 minutes, I heard a few noises that sounded like shotgun blasts. If that was what I was hearing, I'm pretty sure they weren't intending to strike the grizzlies, but to just scare them away from where the people are. That sure was a memorable way to end our trip.

If you want to see what it looks like on the top of Half Dome, check out this video. Of course, a video shot from my phone can't really do it justice, but it's better than nothing.

For another perspective of this trip, Dan's version of events can be found here

The Lives of Others - Movie Review

It's 1984, and Capt. Gerd Wiesler is an agent of the Stasi, the East German Secret Police. Weisler carefully and dispassionately investigates people who might be deemed some sort of threat to the state. Shortly after Weisler's former classmate, Lt. Col. Grubitz, invites him to a theatrical piece by celebrated East German playwright Georg Dreyman, Minister Bruno Hempf informs Weisler that he suspects Dreyman of political dissidence, and wonders if this renowned patriot is all that he seems to be. As it turns out, Hempf has something of an ulterior motive for trying to pin something on Dreyman: a deep-seated infatuation with Christa-Maria Sieland, Dreyman's girlfriend. Nevertheless, Grubitz, who is anxious to further his career, appoints Weisler to spy on the gentleman with his help. Weisler becomes deeply emotionally drawn into the lives of Dreyman and Sieland, and becomes something of an anti-establishment figure himself, embracing freedom of thought and expression.

This is a German film that is completely in German with English subtitles. There is a lot of dialog, so if you want to know what's happening, you have to pay attention and be prepared to read a lot. If that doesn't bother you, you'll be rewarded with a very good foreign film. The story is deep and intense, while the characters are well developed which results in a movie that is interesting and captivating. The subject matter is obviously not very happy, but it's definitely a good learning experience (i.e. learn from past mistakes, so you don't repeat them). It's amazing to think the Berlin Wall came down just 18 years ago in 1989. While this wasn't a documentary, it did provide an insight to the kind of power that the Stasi (East German Secret Police) held back then - scary. If you'd like to experience something new and are prepared to spend 2 hours reading (or learning German), this one is worth a look.

Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch

The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.