The Hunger Games & Happy 17th Birthday to Caleb

Today my family and I went to see The Hunger Games. It was my 14th "new" movie of the year. I had never been more excited to watch a movie since I was 10 years old and wanted to watch Star Wars. We even bought advance tickets to watch the movie.

Before I continue...I want to wish Caleb, my son, a Happy 17th Birthday! I remember the day he was born. He had a very fuzzy head and the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen on a baby. I had a baby boy. Even though he is all grown up, I still love that kid! I know he is smarter than me and can't wait to see what he can do for the world. I am very proud to call him my son! Happy Birthday Caleb. I love you.

Now, back to the Hunger games review. The movie was worth the wait. It was fantastic. I'm trying to figure out just where to rank it in my top 100 movies of all-time. The movie was very moving and I either cried or came close to crying several times. My heart broke when Katniss volunteered to take her sister's place at the Reaping (seen in the trailers, so no spoiler here) and my heart pounded as the Hunger Games started. I was on the edge of my seat almost the entire movie. The acting was great. Jennifer Lawrence should get another Academy Award nomination for best Actress. Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci should all get Supporting Actor nominations as well. The musical score was great. The cinematography was great. The costumes and art designs were great. All of which means the directing was also great. This movie better at least have several Academy Award nominations coming to it.

If you have read the books, you will notice several differences; however, I think the director and screenwriters stayed very true to the books; much like in the Harry Potter series and unlike the movies Eragon and the Percy Jackson movie. I can't wait for the other two books to be turned into movies as well.

Why I think they are bad movies!

The movies I am about to blog about are on my list of my 20 Least Favorite Movies Ever (See bottom of Blog). Some of them I saw believing that they would be good movies; either based on recommendations of friends, or based on the trailers I saw on TV or as previews shown at the start of other movies I went to see; however, all of them turned out to be bad or at least inappropriate to watch. At least one of these movies I was "forced" to watch by my kids, who, when they were younger loved to watch movies like that. What is sad about me watching these movies, is that even though I realized these movies were bad or that I shouldn't be watching this kind of movie; I sat through the entire movie from start to finish. So here is my list of my 10 least favorite movies and why.

My #1 Least favorite movie is Me, Myself and Irene. It stars two of my favorite actors in what I think is their worst roles ever. The movie was full of very crude sexual humor, which I can't stand, vulgar sexual scenes (especially one with a dildo), and vulgar language. I was sick to my stomach over some of the scenes and I was hoping no one would see me watching a movie like this. The story line didn't even keep my interest. Sadly I kept thinking it's got to get better (after all it had Jim Carey and Rene Zellweger ) and I stayed until the bitter end. It did not get better it just got worse and worse and worse.

#2. Jaws: The Revenge (Jaws 4) -- Jaws 3-D was bad enough, I am not sure why I even wanted to watch a 4th Jaws movie. Maybe because they were back in the ocean, not an aquarium, or maybe I was just hoping it had to be better than Jaws 3-D. The main reason why I hate this movie is: SHARKS DON'T GROWL/ROAR or whatever that shark did in the movie. Bad story line, plus a gargling shark put a bad taste in my mouth for any future shark movies. Nothing can beat the original Jaws.

#3. The Late Great Planet Earth -- When I was barely a teenager, a friend of mine and I went to go see some movie one weekend. After we got there we decided to watch this movie instead. Big mistake. (not sure what the other movie was now). BIG mistake. This documentary movie is based upon some guys interpretation of various prophecies about the end of the world. All I remember was that I had trouble staying awake, it was boring and the narrator's voice was driving me crazy. It talked about how the Iranian Revolution was the spark that was going to end the world in a nuclear holocaust. Needless to say, we are all still here, although I barely made it out of the movie alive. If we were not relying on someone else for transportation, both me and my friend would have walked out, instead we sat through the entire 91 minutes, which seemed like 91 hours.

#4. Bolero -- Not sure where I watched this movie, but I am ashamed to have watched this movie. It is basically a porn movie. The story about how a girl wants to and finally looses her virginity was a snooze fest . I think the only reason I watched it was that I was just out of High School and wanted to see Bo Derek naked. Sadly I sat through a boringly long film waiting for what few nude scenes it did show and then I felt bad inside for watching it. I do not support Porn movies at all! They are degrading to women especially and it warps God's gift of sex between a husband and wife. What makes this movie even worse in my mind, was that it was directed by Bo Derek's husband. How can a husband let his wife be in a movie like this, much less direct it.

#5. Dragon Hunters -- My least favorite animated film of all time. Not only did my wife and I not like this movie, my kids hated it. They were the reason we watched it. The type of animation used was not my favorite kind of animation. That big dude with the little bitty legs gave me the creeps and I just couldn't watch the film. The story was boring and I was glad the movie was only 80 minutes long. Weird film, made in France! That's what was wrong with it! Ha!

#6. Halloween III: Season of the Witch -- Three words, No Michael Myers. I thought for sure they would work in Michael Myers somewhere. Nope! Just a conspiracy about some cursed/haunted/something Halloween masks designed to kill children. It was not even that suspenseful. Stupid plot + bad acting = bad movie. Nothing to do with the original Halloween movies (or those that came after) at all. Just a waste of money and a waste of time.

#7. Airplane II: The Sequel -- Sorry folks, but I am just not a fan of movies with lots of cliche, often sexual, puns with goofy story lines. The first Airplane was ok; but it was not that funny to me. When asked to watch the sequel, I reluctantly went. I am sorry I did. I laughed a couple of times; however, overall it just not my kind of movie and I wished I had stayed home to watched something on TV.

#8. Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams -- Another movie I watched because my kids wanted to watch it. I didn't like the first Spy Kids and I did't want to watch this one. It may be an great movie for kids, but the movie was just to unrealistic for my taste and just plain silly to me. At least I got to spend time with my kids, but I feel like I "Lost" money more than I gained any entertainment.

#9. Popeye -- It's a wonder I became a Robin Williams fan. This musical adaptation of the comic strip Popeye makes me sad I ever wasted money to watch it. It was bad, bad, bad. I like musicals, but I didn't think this movie was going to be a musical. Maybe I didn't watch the trailers close enough; but I thought it would be better than it was. Instead I got bad singing, bad acting, bad everything. Popeye will never be the same. What makes it worse was that Popeye was not one of my favorite cartoon characters anyway. I think I got out voted by my sister and my mother and was forced to watch it with them or stay home. Wrong choice on my part.

#10. Batman Forever -- The silliness of Batman's villains and his love interest in this movie, is what makes this movie so awful. I love Tommy Lee Jones as an actor; however, his portrayal of Two-Face in this movie is probably his worst performance as an actor. The silly laughing and the overly bright costumes made Two-Face more of clown than a super-villain. Once again, I like Jim Carey as an actor, but his portrayal of the Joker could have been so much more. I don't know if the director wanted to make a comedy or not, but that is how the movie looked to me. It was a bad comedy rather than a super hero movie. Nicole Kidman's performance in the movie was also one of her worst performances.

So there you have it!

Just as Smurfy (Annoying) as They Used to Be

Yesterday I watched the movie, The Smurfs! Why? Why? Why? I never liked the Smurfs, when they were a television show. I can't believe I sat through the entire movie. The story had it's moments, but overall it was just as Smurfy (annoying) as the original television cartoon. I can't believe they are going to make a Smurfs 2 movie!

I really need to be exercising more, rather than waste my time watching television or movies so much. I can't wait to start substituting again or start a full-time job.

Super 8 was not so Super! Neither has my Job Search.

Just finished watching the movie Super 8 today with the kids. The movie had great special effects; however, the best acting of the movie did not come from the adults, it came from the kids. The kids did an outstanding job, outshining their adult counterparts. The story about the ***** (don't want to spoil the movie), was a little disappointing; but the story surrounding the kids and their families was much better. I thought the movie would be better than what I expected it to be; still I give it a thumbs up, just not a "Super" thumbs up.

On a totally separate note: I have been busy looking for full/part-time work since mid December. I am on a list of people to call to fill in shifts at Starbucks, until a position opens up for me to work regular scheduled shifts again. I finished an in-service to become a sub for Mansfield ISD yesterday and should start substituting for them next week. There is a full-time Composite Social Studies teacher position open at one of their High Schools and I am on a list of teachers to be interviewed for that job. That particular school also is getting a new principal so the interviews will not start until the after the first of February. In the meantime I also interviewed for an Assistant Manager job at the local CineMark Theater. Will hear back from them later this week. So, my job searching hasn't been real "Super" either; however, it is looking up and maybe I will be busy working again soon.

Day 13 - Friday the 13th Brings Bad Movie

Not much went on with me today. I did spend some time with the family and my wife and I did put a bird feeder in the back yard. (This way the cats can bird watch while sitting in the windows). Sadly, my day had to endure about 25 minutes of the movie Due Date. It was going to my second newly watched movie of the new year; however, the movie was so horrible, my family turned it off before we even finished the movie. It was bad.

Why So Serious? -- A Movie Review of "The Dark Knight"

Last Sunday my kids and I went to watch the newest Batman movie, The Dark Knight. Wow! What an incredible film. The recent hype about Heath Ledger's role as the Joker was right on target. Ledger played a perfect psychotic lunatic as Batman's most feared nemesis. I really do think he deserves a posthumous Oscar nomination. Ledger literally gave me the creeps. Another actor I hope gets an Oscar nod is Gary Oldman, who plays Lt. James Gordon. Oldman does an excellent job at the embattled head of the Major Crimes Unit of Gotham City and later (SPOILER) as the new Commissioner of the Police Department. Christian Bale once again performs adequately as Batman and Aaron Eckhart does a great job as the District Attorney, Harvey Dent turned Two-Face the criminal.

The movie is full of suspense and action right from the start. One the great parts about the film was the "whining" noise you hear every time the Joker appeared or something bad was going to happen. It just added to the extremely dark nature of the film. My son, age 13, loved the film and was only "freaked out" a little. My daughter, age 11, had to turn away from the very intense scenes several times, but admitted that Ledger's portrayal of the Joker was "so good it was bad, very very bad." I do agree that the movie is to "Dark" for kids under 13, thus the PG-13 rating; however, there was very little graphic violence. Most of the scenes cut away from possible gory moments at the last second, which added a "what is not seen, only makes your mind wonder even more," effect.

The only down side to the movie was its length. Despite the action and drama, there was just enough slow moments in the film to give you time to look at your watch and wonder, "Man, how long have I been in here!"

I think I may add this movie to one of my top 10 films of all-time. Look to my Favorite movie list to see if I make any changes. I rate this movie 5 out of 5 Stars, or an A for overall greatness.

On a cool note: This review garnered a "Genius" rating on my Blog reading level. : )

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Krystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Krystal Skull was an adequate sequel to the first the films. It had its moments of action, humor, adventure and treasure seeking. It even had a few "surprise" relationship twists in the film. However I cannot give this movie the excellent review I would have loved to give it. Shia LaBeouf did a great job as Mutt Williams, and Karen Allen's return as Marion Ravenwood was a good site to see. Harrison Ford once again did an excellent job as Indiana Jones, but his age was starting to show.

My son, Caleb, and I went to see the movie this past Saturday. We both came away a little disappointed. The fact that the movie was a little to Science Fiction left us with a bad taste in our mouths. We expected the intrigue and the historical treasure hunting, but not ****SPOILER**** Inter-dimensional Aliens. It left us feeling bewildered that Lucas and Spielberg would have let the series move in this direction. The addition of the Soviet Russians was a nice twist, but they had better "bad guys" in the other films.

Overall - I would rate the film 3 out of 5 Stars just because it is Indiana Jones after all.

Movie Reviews: The Great Debaters & Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Today I got to watch two different movies. My Adult Education class watched The Great Debaters staring and directed by Denzel Washington. This movie is based on the true story of the 1935 Debate Team of Wiley College in Marshall, TX. (Just so happens to be about 40 minutes from where I live.) This movie was an excellent story about perseverance and determination in a time filled with racism and prejudice. I thought the movie was very well done and it addressed several prominent social issues of the times. I especially liked the final debate speech over Civil Disobedience given by Wiley College against Harvard University. I highly recommend this film.

The second movie I got to watch with my children. After school today we watched The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Wow, another powerful movie. This movie based on the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis was a worthy sequel to the first Narnia movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I picked up several good points from this movie. The first was that we often under estimate the power of God based on size and appearance alone. The second is that we often truly believe that God is there but we don't go to Him when He calls or when we need Him. Third, we often don't trust that God will really protect us or take care of us, so we try our best to do things based on our own abilities. These behaviors often lead us to failure or less than perfect results. Only when we fully rely on God and His power and love for us, can we be successful. I also highly recommend this film.

Both of these films will make my top 100 movie list if not my top 25 movies.

On a different note: I am really missing my bride, Jamie. She is still in Michigan attending her grandmother's funeral. The kids are missing her as well. She should return to us on Sunday.

Movie Review: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

I just finished watching the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This movie made by Ben Stein shows how the beliefs of "Intelligent Design" and "Creationism" are being suppressed by the scientific community as being equal scientific theories along with "Darwinism" and "Evolution." It is not a movie that show Religion vs. Science. It is more of a argument that Free Speech is being denied to a group of people who believe something other than what "main-stream" America wants them to believe.

He presents compelling arguments and documented proof that notable scientists are being dismissed from their jobs and "blacklisted" by the mainstream scientific community for even mentioning that Intelligent Design could be a possible answer for many scientific unknowns.

Mr. Stein then goes on to show the possible ramifications of this continued oppression of freedom of speech. He shows how it is possible that by neglecting to even allow Intelligent Design. or Creationism, to be taught could possible lead to the oppression of other ideas and freedoms that the main stream of society could consider "dangerous" or "oppressive." He compares this oppression to how the East Germans, lead by Soviet Russia, built the Berlin Wall to keep out certain ideas and beliefs that they did not like.

He then goes on to show how blind, or misunderstood, beliefs in Darwinism and Evolution has lead to horrible acts of violence and oppression by groups of people like the Nazis against such groups as the Jews and the mentally or physically handicapped. He states that this is also the reason why so many people today are impartial to such acts as abortion or euthanasia.

Ben Stein, along with many notable scientist believe that God and Science can exist without the suppression of the other. In fact both together allows one to become a better scientist in general.

Don't just take my word for all of this. Watch the movie for yourself and make up your own mind. Another movie that follows this theme is called The Case for a Creator, where journalist, Lee Strobel goes on his own quest to separate fact from fiction in regards to Evolution and Creationism.

Movie Review -- The Last Sin Eater

I just finished watching my latest DVD from Netflix. It was a great film called The Last Sin Eater, Directed by Michael Landon, Jr. The movie centers around a groups of Celtic immigrants to the U.S. who live in the Appalachian Mts. These God fearing immigrants brought with them an ancient Celtic belief that they have incorporated into their religion. Much like the ancient Jews had the "scapegoat" in the Bible to carry away their sins, the Celts in the movie have what they call a "Sin Eater." The Sin Eater is a person chosen by lot, to take on the all the sins of the dead upon himself, so that the dead can go to heaven with a clean soul.

Without trying to spoil the movie, I will skip many of the movie's details. What I most liked about the movie was the way a "Holy Man of God" describes Jesus as the true "Sin Eater" who is able to not only take the sins of the dead upon Himself, but he can also forgive and cast away the sins of the living; Thus making all people new and clean from their sins.

I am glad we as Christians don't have to worry about having our sins taken on by another person or having to become the person to take on the sins of others. Sadly this is a burden that many Christians voluntary take on for ourselves. We do not need a Sin Eater in our lives today, we have a Sin Forgiver in the shape of our Savior, Jesus!

This is great family film and I highly recommend it for the entire family.