Slowly Learning...

So the decision has been made. Starting this friday I'm going to go vegetarian, for a short trial period. I will keep eggs in my diet, and my Lactaid milk (although I'm not sure if that counts are real dairy or not), but no meats for two weeks.

Don't worry though, unless I have some startling revelation during this 14-day trial period (highly unlikely) I'll be heading back to my carnivorous ways just in time for the partying down in New York City for Neil and Rachel's wedding. And as I've stated before, this is not for any real reason other than to get a glimpse into the vegetarian world, and to see if I can do it.

And as improbable as this sounds, I also plan to post daily updates as to my progressions (or digressions) along the way. So wish me luck. Goodbye meats, hello carbs! Take that Adkins!

NEXT: Maybe I'll get rid of TV for a while too. There's not exactly anything on there that I watch anyway. Well at least not after the World Cup is over with (I know, how the hell did I get hooked on futball). And of course I'd have to give thet up once football starts again in the fall. Still haven't decided which will be harder. I guess time will tell.

Posted by Thom at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For my latest movie trip I went to see Nacho Libre. However, I use the term movie very loosely. This wasn't a movie. It was Jack Black running around and making an ass out of himself for an hour and a half. Sure, at times it was funny, quite funny in fact, but there was more plot developement and coherence in Baseketball. Have you seen any of the constantly running previews? Then you've got the whole story and all the character developement that you're going to get.

Basically this is a one man show, with Jack Black being Jack Black, but with a Mexican accent. I would complain some more about that, but really it's the only good thing about the film. The only times that the "supporting" cast was entertaining was when they were playing off of Jack Black, or when he was playing off of them.

In the end the movie reminded me a lot of both Napoleon Dynamite and Life Aquatic, but without the supporting casts that those films had. However, I think that both Heder and Murray could have carried those films. And as much as I love Jack Black, and as much as I think he deserves his chances as a leading man, he just can't carry most movies, and he especially can't carry this one. Then again, with a storyline and writing like this, no one could really carry this film.

But even Jack Black, with his over the top physical comedy and craziness, can't save the end fight. It gave me flashbacks to Andy Kaufman wrestling Jerry Lawler, except in Nacho it wasn't as funny or entertaining.

RATING: Worth some cheap laughs at the dollar theater, Worth a netflix rental (maybe)

Posted by Thom at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

(or District 13 for the English speaking population)

So I made a stop into the International Film Festival at the Little for the last film on the French night. I would have liked to have seen about 3 of the 4 French movies actually, but work got in the way of that. But thank god I made it to this one.

First off, I'm not sure if the audience knew what they were seeing. You don't normally get that many well dressed middle aged couples going to see violent action films. But then again, maybe they did know... In either case the theatre was filled with a diverse crowd.

And the film? Fantastic. It's great to see that some people can still make great action movies. When you check out the bios of the main actors you find that they have almost no real acting experience, however they are quite accomplished stunt coordinators and stuntmen. That's always a good sign for an action movie. Throw in Luc Besson as one of the writers and you've got an extremely entertaining movie.

Are there holes? Sure, but name me any action film that doesn't? And the action itself more than makes up for that. I believe the actual term I heard used to describe the action was "painful acrobatics", and that's rather accurate.

The biggest surprise though? It seemed very well acted, and the story was unique (in a way). True my French is still a bit weak to really judge French acting, but it seemed good to me. Wasn't wooden and/or flat. And the story did hold together enough to not make you question everything happening. In fact I'd be willing to take that a step further and say that it was one of the better action movie storylines I've seen. I know, that doesn't say much, but it's still something.

RATING: Worth a Full Admission, Worth a Full Rental/Purchase, Worth a Trip to France? (Why not!)

Posted by Thom at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't ask me why, but lately I've been toying with the idea of going vegetarian for a while. I'm not really sure where the idea came from, and it's certainly not a moral thing. Anyone who really knows me knows that I don't have any moral qualms with eating animals (hell I don't have many moral qualms with most things). In fact I'm even more than open to eating dolphins, monkeys, or any of that other "smart" animals that we're not supposed to eat. I know, I know. How can I eat animals that are possibly smarter than some humans? So what. In fact I say lets take a page from Swift, and then take that page even further, and eat those stupid humans as well! (They're solient-licious!) But I digress...

As I was saying, I've thought about becoming a vegetarian for a while. In fact I've toyed with the idea of veganism (I mean I can't have dairy anyway). But I think if I do give it a shot I'll just stick to eliminating meat for the time being. Why have I thought about this? Maybe it's my desire to be and eat healthier (ha!). Or maybe it's from all my contact with (attractive) vegetarian and vegan women (a little more likely). Or maybe staring over at the Nature's Marketplace section at work all the time, trying to check out the cute girl who works there, has gotten me thinking about it. But most likely all of those things have just come together and made me wonder if I could actually do it, and what it would be like.

I think that it would be an interesting change and experiment to see what vegetarian life is like. And I'm sure that I could easily do it, for a while at least. I mean I've given up fast food (about 8 years and counting), demin (over 10 years since I last wore jeans), alcohol (for a period of just over 3 years), and numerous other things that I can't even think of. What's to stop me from eating meat for a couple weeks? The hardest part would probably be not eating "samples" that I've "accidentally" over-sliced at work. But after working in a deli for too long the smell of most deli meats makes you a little ill. Having to slice that 97% Fat Free Boiled Ham does make me nauseous. But then again there is just something wrong with pink, squishy ham that comes in a giant block.

If I do decide to partake in this experiment for a couple of weeks it will probably have to be soon, or wait for a while. I don't plan on having any vegetarian ways for Neils wedding in July. I just couldn't bring myself to avoid meats while in NYC. Plus if I do it I doubt I'll be too rigid about it (beef broth in my soup? eh, who cares).

However, this being America, and me being the gambler that I am, I am more than willing to take bets regarding how long I will last in the vegetarian world. I'm even up for a side pot concerning a vegan lifestyle (although that'd probably be a much shorter timeframe, especially if we're being technical).

Posted by Thom at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I finally am starting to get back to my Little roots. I've spent way too much time in the mainstream theatres and have missed too many smaller indie/international films that I wanted to see. So I've rededicated myself to getting to the Little more often. It also helps that this week is the international film festival (missed the Latin movies tonight, and will miss 3 of the French ones tomorrow, but I plan on catching the fourth French film along with some of the other ones during the week).

Anyway, Down in the Valley. I was told it was a love story at first that takes a darker turn at the end (which is what you'd expect from an indie film), and that is very true. The thing is deciding whether that turn works and all that. And I'm not so sure about that. Not to spoil too much, but the major part of the turn is foreseeable. The older man and younger woman are in love, the father doesn't approve, their relationship gets strained, the older man turns creepy. It's all rather well done by Ed Norton (always a good choice, especially for a character that is kind of clean and sleezy at the same time). And the supporting cast is solid as well with Evan Rachel Wood as his woman and David Morse as her father. Also, like all indie movies now it seems, there is the obligatory Culkin child in the movie as well (this time Rory Culkin who does a decent, but rather dry job).

I must say that the first half of the movie doesn't have much of anything that stood out, other than the slightly odd cowboy personae of Norton (and some cool/funny gunplay). Other than that it was sort of like most romance stories I've seen. It just didn't bring anything new, until the turn...

I'm not going to say too much, in case some of you want to see it, but it's definately a bit different. Things just sort of seem to be taken to the extreme. It's almost to the point where it's so over the top that I was just sort of sitting there thinking, "what?" It's not bad, just sort of odd, even for me.

RATING: Worth a Cheap Ticket, Worth a Netflix (but probably not a full rental)

Posted by Thom at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've only seen four Pixar movies so far (skipped the first few) and every time they've turned out better than I expected. I expected to hate Monsters Inc, and loved it. I thought a movie about a fish couldn't be that great, and then also fell in love with Finding Nemo, and although I was expecting pretty good things from The Incredibles I was even surprised by how good it was. The same can sort of be said about Cars. I had heard good things, but didn't expect anything as good as the previous films, but it was better than I thought it would be, but not by much.

It was still an entertaining movie, and worth seeing, but it just didn't quite have the same umphf as the previous releases from Pixar. The story wasn't overly clever (famous hot shot gets stranded in a town of completely random other people, needs to get out to get to his race, but falls in love with a woman and the town, meets an old idol who hates him at first but teaches him an important lesson and helps save him at the race, is going to win the race but realizes some things are more important than winning, gets the girl, makes the town prosperous again).

But there are still those Pixar moments that make it both entertaining and visually pleasing. There are even those jokes in there aimed at the older audiences (I don't know many younger kids who will get the "Freebird!" joke for example). And most movies now a day are rather perdictable, so although I've come to expect a little more creativity out of Pixar I can't hold it against them too much.

So lastly let's talk about the voice talent. For me this was a mixed bag. There are plenty of big names, but I'm just getting sick of Owen Wilson (and it is so obviously him). And although Bonnie Hunt was decent as well, it was just a bit creepy thinking about a romance between Wilson and Hunt, they just don't go together in my head. But there were also the good surprises, like Larry The Cable Guy. Normally I'm not a big fan of him, but he did a fantastic job in his role (only once slipping in the tired "get 'er done" line). And Paul Newman fit his role rather well too, although he didn't seem to bring anything all that special to the part.

And we can't forget about all the great lesser voices (that you may or may not pick up on) such as:
-Cheech Marin as the Hispanic lowrider
-Tony Shalhoub as the Italian Ferrai loving tire salesman (can you believe that this guy was born in Wisconsin? Crazy).
-George Carlin as the hippie stoner car
-Katherine Helmond (Mona) as the senile grandma of the town
-Jeremy Piven as the faceless agent
-Richard and Linda Petty as the old racing couple (The King and his wife, in and out of Cars)
-Michael Keaton as the asshole rival (I'm evil BATMAN!)

And of course last but not least that great staple of Pixar voice talent, John Ratzenberger as the Mack truck. He was great in Cheers (as well as all his other cameos I've seen), and it's good to see him still working. It was also funny to see them play off of how he's been in every Pixar movie during the credits too. And as an added trivia/awsome fact side-note, did you realize that Ratzenberger was in Superman I and II (arguably the only good ones so far), as well as Episode V (arguably the best of the Star Wars, although I'll take up that arguement with anyone), coincidence? I think not.

But back to the important stuff. It was a good movie, maybe even more, but not a great movie like the previous Pixar films. Still, it was way better than most of the crap I've seen out there this year (but still not as good as it's animated rival Over the Hedge).

RATING: Worth a Full Price Ticket, Worth a Rental (but probably not a purchase).

Posted by Thom at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Normally I avoid MTV. I don't feel the need to explain my reasons, I'm sure most of you can figure it out. But I must say, they do know how to do an awards show right. The Oscar's (I mistakenly worte Emmys before, but this holds true for most all awards) are too stuffy and full of themselves. The MTV Moive Awards on the other hand don't take them selves too seriously. They actually have entertaining categories and acts (like this fantastic performance by Gnarls Barkley).

And best of all is their Best Movie award. To be the best movie of a year you don't have to be an overly serious drama, you just need to be good and entertaining. Munich, Brokeback Mountain, Crash, and all, sure they're good movies, but what about the others? Who did MTV have? Wedding Crashers, Sin City, 40 Year Old Virgin, King Kong. And while I don't agree with Wedding Crashers winning (it was basically Vince Vaughn's fantastic performance carrying an otherwise sub-par movie; 40 Year Old Virgin, or possibly Sin City, would have gotten my vote), I have to aplaud them for at least nominating movies the common people actually liked.

And who will it be next year? Snakes On A Plane. It has to be, Sameul L. Jackson garunteed it. And when Jackson speaks, your ass better listen.

Posted by Thom at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There wasn't too much new out there, and I enjoy both Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston, so I thought. "Hey, why not go see the Break-Up?" I mean it did have Jason Bateman as well. Well...I can't say it was a bad idea, but it didn't live up to my hopes.

There was plenty to laugh at here, most of the time, but it just didn't seem like Vaughn was quite his normal funny self. It also didn't seem like the movie could really make up its mind either. Was it a wacky comedy? Was it a down to earth romantic comedy? Well, it ended up inbetween. Maybe if it was down to earth it could have been appreciated on that level (still probably wouldn't have liked it that much, but it would have made a fine chick flick style romantic comedy), or maybe if they had just tried to stay with the wackiness that would have worked. I honestly thought that the few wacky parts were by far the best and most humorous parts to the movie. I especially loved Jon Favreau's character and his conversation about "dealing with" Aniston's other men. He ended up stealing the show the way that Vaughn usually does. But with the uneven mix of the two it just didn't sit right. And while I enjoyed the non-traditional ending (I won't give it away completely), it just seemed to add to the identity crisis that the movie suffered from.

RATING: Maybe Worth a Cheap Ticket for a Time Killer, Put It on Netflix if You've Got Nothing Else Up There.

P.S. - After watching this film I also realized something very odd about Jeniifer Aniston, at least in my head. I just can't ever see her as a sexy woman. There is just something about her that I can't put my finger on. Don't get me wrong, I think she's a very attractive woman with a fine body, and I enjoy almost all of her work (if we can cut out Friends), but there's just something that makes her sexually unappealing to me. So if you happen to read this Miss Aniston, I'm sorry, but I could never date you.

Posted by Thom at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So finally a good movie in the theatre! It took long enough... This one was actually funny, well done, had great voice talents, and music by Ben Folds. True the story wasn't overally inventive and the characters are a little cookie cutter: you've got the old leader of the group [Gary Shandling], the daughter ashamed of her father [Avril and Shatner], the family [Eugene Levy and co.], the hidden beauty [Wanda Sykes], and the new scheming member who wins their hearts, betrays them, then wins them back [Bruce Willis], all topped off by two villians who are out to get them, but it still worked out well. Just don't expect too many real shocking surprises. Oh, and did I mention they also have Steve Carell as a fantastically over hyper squril? Maybe that was the saving grace (along with the good choices in voice talent, I mean how can you go wrong with Shatner?). It's kind of sad to think that this was the movie where I was the only one in the theater, not the other few I've seen lately.

RATING: Worth Full Price, Worth a Definite Rental

Posted by Thom at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)