Capitalism: A Love Story - 10 out of 10
You’ll like this movie if you:
a. like Michael Moore
b. were pissed off at the bailout, Tarp, etc.
c. suspect that money controls our government and would like to see how
Michael Moore only draws his fans, and that’s a shame, because in this movie he has few kind words for anyone in the political process, especially when it comes to the banking industry.
I’ve always thought the way he presents his material is hilarious and I think I once said he was the Woody Allen of documentaries. His previous movies were filled with some good belly laughs.
Those touches are here, but I have to report there’s very little funny in this movie. Even when you want to laugh, you can’t believe what you’re seeing. There’s real reporting here, and it’s pretty frightening. There are a few congressional heroes that agreed to go on camera, but by and large it looks like a complete turnover of Congress is in order.
Moore misses the boat a little bit with his conclusions on capitalism, but he sure makes you think.
Paranormal Activity – 7
You’ll like this movie if you:
a. like scary movies
b. prefer seeing them in a packed theater
c. are a teenager
Let me set the scene. I saw this in a theater with an old man sitting in the handicapped seats. Behind me were a lot of screaming teenaged girls with boyfriends who took some pleasure in escalating the scares. The old man would turn around and tell them to shut up. There was a lot of screaming. All in all, it was wildly entertaining.
So, much of the fun in this movie is in the audience reaction. Effective in its simplicity and the rather claustrophobic setting there are some very chilling moments here. Unlike the home movie Blair Witch Project, which it is most often compared to, this movie actually has an ending.
It is shot as a home movie, and the story of an on-going haunting is believable and gripping. Won’t be confused with great art, but it’s worth seeing if you like being shaken, not stirred.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saints Report #6 - October 25, 2009
Hey, let’s go check out Miami this weekend. We’ll look for Sylvester Stallone and Madonna, and we’ll check out South Beach. We can have some great Cuban food and dance on the tables at some of those hot clubs.
Sounds great doesn’t it. Hey, and just for fun, let’s spot the home team 21 points. What we’ll do is lull them Dolphins into thinking they’ve got us beat. We’ll turn the ball over a few times, we’ll fumble, we’ll throw a few picks, and we’ll play like we’re just out of sorts.
Then, just when they think they’ve got us, we’ll unleash. We’ll show ‘em what we’ve got. We’ll pull out all our weapons, storm from behind and stun them. Let’s go prove we can come from behind. Always playing with a big lead – that’s no fun.
And let’s do all this in some early Halloween costumes:
Jeremy, you’re going to go as The Trojan Horse
Reggie, you wear this cape – I want to see if you can fly.
Drew, you dress as Houdini
Darren, you’re Butch Cassidy, and Tracy, you go as The Sundance Kid
Jonathan, you go as The Hulk
Mike, come as Rumpelstiltskin, go ahead and sleep through the first half.
Whatayasay? It’ll be fun.
Then, with a little help from the Steelers we’ll head back to The Big Easy as the only unbeaten NFC team. We’ll get ready for some football - some prime-time Monday Night Football against the Falcons with a real chance to take a big lead in the division.
How’s that sound? Cool huh?
Sounds great doesn’t it. Hey, and just for fun, let’s spot the home team 21 points. What we’ll do is lull them Dolphins into thinking they’ve got us beat. We’ll turn the ball over a few times, we’ll fumble, we’ll throw a few picks, and we’ll play like we’re just out of sorts.
Then, just when they think they’ve got us, we’ll unleash. We’ll show ‘em what we’ve got. We’ll pull out all our weapons, storm from behind and stun them. Let’s go prove we can come from behind. Always playing with a big lead – that’s no fun.
And let’s do all this in some early Halloween costumes:
Jeremy, you’re going to go as The Trojan Horse
Reggie, you wear this cape – I want to see if you can fly.
Drew, you dress as Houdini
Darren, you’re Butch Cassidy, and Tracy, you go as The Sundance Kid
Jonathan, you go as The Hulk
Mike, come as Rumpelstiltskin, go ahead and sleep through the first half.
Whatayasay? It’ll be fun.
Then, with a little help from the Steelers we’ll head back to The Big Easy as the only unbeaten NFC team. We’ll get ready for some football - some prime-time Monday Night Football against the Falcons with a real chance to take a big lead in the division.
How’s that sound? Cool huh?
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Saints Report #5 - October 18, 2009
The only thing missing was the junior mints.
Sitting in the dome watching Drew Brees and company pick apart the vaunted Giants with surgical precision inspired me to call Madonna and Weird Al Yankovich over for an afternoon of tea and crumpets and a little song re-writing. Go ahead and pull out The Immaculate Collection and sing along. You know you want to.
Like a Surgeon (to the the tune of Like a Virgin)
He made it through the injury
Somehow he breezed on through
Didn’t know how good he was
Until Sean found you
Never falls incomplete
When open, I’ll be black & blue
But Brees made Saints feel
Yeah, he made Saints feel
Shiny and new
Like a surgeon
Torched for the very first time
Like a surgeon
Dissecting defenses
Behind that line
Better give me all your blitzs, boy
Opponent’s fading fast
Momentum has set in
Don’t know how long they’ll last
Giants fine and they’re mine
Payton makes me strong, yeah he makes me bold
Carve their hearts right out
Yeah, go all out
‘til they’re shocked and cold
Like a surgeon hey
Carved for the very first time
Like a surgeon
Slicing defenses
Behind that line.
Oooh, oooh, oooh
Jets were fine and they’re mine
I’ll be a Saint ‘til the end of time
Oh touchdowns clawed out
Yeah, by air or by feet
You’ve got nowhere to hide
Like a surgeon
Carved for the very first time
Like a surgeon
Slicing secondaries
Behind that line.
Like a surgeon, cha ching
Like a surgeon
Slice through the defense
With Colston, and with Meachum, Shockey and Moore
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Who, dat
Can’t you see a Super Bowl
For the Very First time?
Next up - Miami in a trap game. There really are no breaks in the NFL, and with the Falcons breathing down our necks and headed here on a Monday night, the Saints can't let up.
Sitting in the dome watching Drew Brees and company pick apart the vaunted Giants with surgical precision inspired me to call Madonna and Weird Al Yankovich over for an afternoon of tea and crumpets and a little song re-writing. Go ahead and pull out The Immaculate Collection and sing along. You know you want to.
Like a Surgeon (to the the tune of Like a Virgin)
He made it through the injury
Somehow he breezed on through
Didn’t know how good he was
Until Sean found you
Never falls incomplete
When open, I’ll be black & blue
But Brees made Saints feel
Yeah, he made Saints feel
Shiny and new
Like a surgeon
Torched for the very first time
Like a surgeon
Dissecting defenses
Behind that line
Better give me all your blitzs, boy
Opponent’s fading fast
Momentum has set in
Don’t know how long they’ll last
Giants fine and they’re mine
Payton makes me strong, yeah he makes me bold
Carve their hearts right out
Yeah, go all out
‘til they’re shocked and cold
Like a surgeon hey
Carved for the very first time
Like a surgeon
Slicing defenses
Behind that line.
Oooh, oooh, oooh
Jets were fine and they’re mine
I’ll be a Saint ‘til the end of time
Oh touchdowns clawed out
Yeah, by air or by feet
You’ve got nowhere to hide
Like a surgeon
Carved for the very first time
Like a surgeon
Slicing secondaries
Behind that line.
Like a surgeon, cha ching
Like a surgeon
Slice through the defense
With Colston, and with Meachum, Shockey and Moore
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Who, dat
Can’t you see a Super Bowl
For the Very First time?
Next up - Miami in a trap game. There really are no breaks in the NFL, and with the Falcons breathing down our necks and headed here on a Monday night, the Saints can't let up.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Saints Report #4 - October 6, 2009
First, the food:
I love 3:00 pm home games. You get to eat 2 meals – lunch before and dinner afterwards. I had just seen “Parasol’s” on the food channel, (Divers, Diners, and Dives – cool show) .so figured it was time to revisit and see if the roast beef poboys were still superb. They were. Too bad this bar takes the “dive” a little too seriously. I have to say that the bathroom experience was one of the worst of my adult life. To call this bathroom legendarily inappropriate is still understating the case. When I asked one of the guys in the kitchen for a roll of toilet paper (sometimes you’ve just got to) he looked at me like I was stealing a child. But, this is still one of the must places to eat in New Orleans. If you like a seedy bar, you’ll never do better.
Along those same lines, also got to visit the legendary Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans last week. Excellent Fried Chicken – but not as good as Annie’s (Bay St. Louis) used to be. I’m not a Fried Chicken Nut, love that chicken from Popeye’s, but Annie’s was the best I ever had. Dinner in Slidell on the way home was less interesting, other than posing that eternal question – How do Mexican restaurants get the food out so fast? Are they afraid we’re going to eat more chips?
Now, for some cheese.
So, you ask, what about the Saints? At this point in the season, I have to admit, they’re even better than I thought they were going to be. It wasn’t a great all-around performance, but what we’re learning about this team is that they’ve got some virtues we’re not used to, starting with balance. On a given day the defense can beat you (this was that day,) the special teams play, mostly our new punter Thomas Morhstad, is superb, and Pierre Thomas is an NFL running back. If fact, it’s beginning to look like our weakest link is a certain #1 draft pick who continues to make costly mistakes, like laying the ball on the turf.
GM Micky Loomis has to get some credit. He filled the holes we had in the off-season, particularly in the defensive backfield. With his signing of Darren Sharper (so that’s what a safety looks like) he must feel like he bought a stock that immediately tripled in value. All Sharper has done is pickoff 3 passes and return 2 of them as long, and longer than anyone in Saints history has.. Nice way to start your tenure. Can we go ahead and put him up on the ring of honor? Jabari Greer has been excellent, Tracy Porter has built on the promise he showed last year, and even our outside linebackers, which I consider the weakest area of the team, are proving they can make an impact in the right scheme.
Our defense apparently didn't like all the press on the Jets defense. They proved they can make a rookie quarterback look like a rookie quarterback. The Jets took their 24-10 thumping like men and headed back to the Big Apple with a little appreciation of what’s going on down on da bayou. While Drew Brees was steady, he saw a lot tighter coverage than what he’s used to, and the defensive blue print on how teams are going to attack the Saints is emerging. Spread out your defense, try to stop the pass, and see if the Saints can run the ball.
(They can.)
I saw an ESPN feature calling the Saints the best team in the NFL through 4 weeks. Sean Payton is constantly telling his team, “Don’t eat the cheese,” meaning “don’t believe the hype.”
Me, I’m chomping on some gouda. After all these years, we’re entitled to enjoy it. This is only the 3rd 4-0 start in franchise history and trust me when I say this one isn’t flukey. It also doesn’t mean anything in the long run. The Super Bowl strategy of the past few years is to survive the season, and get hot around New Year’s day. The biggest significance of winning the first lap of the season is that it puts us in line for home field advantage in the playoffs, something that for this team would be a real advantage with this offense.
So, let’s enjoy the bye week. Relax, decompress, enjoy, savor, and even eat some cheese. We’re the fans – we’re allowed.
I love 3:00 pm home games. You get to eat 2 meals – lunch before and dinner afterwards. I had just seen “Parasol’s” on the food channel, (Divers, Diners, and Dives – cool show) .so figured it was time to revisit and see if the roast beef poboys were still superb. They were. Too bad this bar takes the “dive” a little too seriously. I have to say that the bathroom experience was one of the worst of my adult life. To call this bathroom legendarily inappropriate is still understating the case. When I asked one of the guys in the kitchen for a roll of toilet paper (sometimes you’ve just got to) he looked at me like I was stealing a child. But, this is still one of the must places to eat in New Orleans. If you like a seedy bar, you’ll never do better.
Along those same lines, also got to visit the legendary Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans last week. Excellent Fried Chicken – but not as good as Annie’s (Bay St. Louis) used to be. I’m not a Fried Chicken Nut, love that chicken from Popeye’s, but Annie’s was the best I ever had. Dinner in Slidell on the way home was less interesting, other than posing that eternal question – How do Mexican restaurants get the food out so fast? Are they afraid we’re going to eat more chips?
Now, for some cheese.
So, you ask, what about the Saints? At this point in the season, I have to admit, they’re even better than I thought they were going to be. It wasn’t a great all-around performance, but what we’re learning about this team is that they’ve got some virtues we’re not used to, starting with balance. On a given day the defense can beat you (this was that day,) the special teams play, mostly our new punter Thomas Morhstad, is superb, and Pierre Thomas is an NFL running back. If fact, it’s beginning to look like our weakest link is a certain #1 draft pick who continues to make costly mistakes, like laying the ball on the turf.
GM Micky Loomis has to get some credit. He filled the holes we had in the off-season, particularly in the defensive backfield. With his signing of Darren Sharper (so that’s what a safety looks like) he must feel like he bought a stock that immediately tripled in value. All Sharper has done is pickoff 3 passes and return 2 of them as long, and longer than anyone in Saints history has.. Nice way to start your tenure. Can we go ahead and put him up on the ring of honor? Jabari Greer has been excellent, Tracy Porter has built on the promise he showed last year, and even our outside linebackers, which I consider the weakest area of the team, are proving they can make an impact in the right scheme.
Our defense apparently didn't like all the press on the Jets defense. They proved they can make a rookie quarterback look like a rookie quarterback. The Jets took their 24-10 thumping like men and headed back to the Big Apple with a little appreciation of what’s going on down on da bayou. While Drew Brees was steady, he saw a lot tighter coverage than what he’s used to, and the defensive blue print on how teams are going to attack the Saints is emerging. Spread out your defense, try to stop the pass, and see if the Saints can run the ball.
(They can.)
I saw an ESPN feature calling the Saints the best team in the NFL through 4 weeks. Sean Payton is constantly telling his team, “Don’t eat the cheese,” meaning “don’t believe the hype.”
Me, I’m chomping on some gouda. After all these years, we’re entitled to enjoy it. This is only the 3rd 4-0 start in franchise history and trust me when I say this one isn’t flukey. It also doesn’t mean anything in the long run. The Super Bowl strategy of the past few years is to survive the season, and get hot around New Year’s day. The biggest significance of winning the first lap of the season is that it puts us in line for home field advantage in the playoffs, something that for this team would be a real advantage with this offense.
So, let’s enjoy the bye week. Relax, decompress, enjoy, savor, and even eat some cheese. We’re the fans – we’re allowed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)