Monsters and Crowe and Bears. Oh My.

Saw two films this week and nearly forgot to mention one I'd seen a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it's been that busy around here. At this pace it's going to be a challenge to see a lot of films at the theater.

Anyway, a couple of weeks back I saw the Dreamworks animated movie Monsters vs. Aliens. The theater had it in 3D so, of course, I had to go for it. The early word on this film was that it was Dreamworks first effort that could truly hold its own against most of the Pixar efforts.

MvA is somewhat of an amalgam of "classic" B-movies. There are hints of Attack of the 50 ft. Woman, The Blob, The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Fly and more. At first I was a bit concerned that this would end up being as stunted as Shrek's endless needling of popular Disney characters. Thankfully the references are paper-thin and unimportant to the plot.

The characters are an odd mix with some working more than others. The stand-outs are B.O.B. (a brainless, jello-like creature whose name stands for Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate) and Dr. Cockroach (a brilliant scientist who went a bit too far in an attempt to gain the positive attributes of a cockroach). The main character is Susan who, once transformed, is referred to as Ginormica. Her accident causes her to grow to the specific height of 49' 11 1/2". Get it? Her character is intended to drive the plot but it doesn't quite work.

Lastly there are the two characters that totally don't work. You have The Missing Link, a 20,000 year-old ape-fish creature and Insectaurus, a grub turned huge by nuclear radiation. The bottom line is that they just distract from the movie and feel forced.

The look of the film is solid but nothing special with the 3D effect failing to save the day. Both elements have been done much better in other films. The story is also a bit overdone and drags in a few spots. The voice talent is also noteworthy in that you really have a hard time connecting any stars to the characters.

All in all it was an okay experience that fell short of my expectations. There certainly was nothing here to make Pixar shake in its boots.

The next movie was State of Play. This is a fairly forgettable, and yet solid, effort featuring an all-star cast including Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren and Robin Wright Penn.

The film focuses in the rising career of a young congressman (Affleck) and a time-worn investigative journalist (Crowe) who are brought together by a series of "seemingly" unrelated murders. I quote seemingly because very little in this story is surprising even though that's supposed to be its big draw. In fact, one of the main plot points flat out doesn't seem to work at the end as Affleck's character appears to act at odds with his own motivations.

In a bit of a surprise, Helen Mirren fares poorly here. She just doesn't do a very good job at portraying the editor-in-chief of a Washington Post-like paper. The rest of the cast does a good job though.

The story itself just feels incomplete, rushed and disjointed. We don't find out enough about the back stories of the main characters. Their actions may or may not fit their personalities but we can't be sure. We're never sure, for example, if Crowe's character is past his prime or indifferent because of the bad economics of print media. Too much is left to total interpretation and sheer guessing. And entire plotline involving Robin Wright Penn feels completely unnecessary.

Yet for all these problems the movie still manages to keep your attention. You keep thinking it's going to be worth the pay-off and that says a lot about the stars driving it. In the end it doesn't give that pay-off but it's still not a wasted experience. This will probably be a popular rental for a while.

Lastly I caught earth, the first movie in what we're told will be a series from Disneynature. earth is a typical look at our world's habitats and various animals. It's narrated by the ever-wonderful James Earl Jones.

My biggest issue with the movie is its own billing, "earth tells the remarkable story of three animal families and their amazing journey across the planet we all call home." Uh, actually, no. It really doesn't. There's a family of polar bears, elephants and humpback whales. However, we actually don't see very much of them throughout the entire film. We get bits and pieces of them surrounded by an effort that suffers from trying to cover too much material on one film.

There are some amazing moments to be had. A number of time-lapse images are noteworthy both for their spendlor and their originality. There are also quite a few "you have to see it to believe it" moments like seeing 3 million caribou moving enmasse. The camera struggles to pull back far enough and the result almost feels like a Hollywood CGI effect for the sheer breadth of the herd.

For those old enough to remember them, earth harkens back to some earlier Disney efforts of a generation ago that also tackled the nature realm with their own brand of stylistic humor. No one does that better than Disney and it's brought back to life here.

I couldn't help thinking that this movie would be best served by being seen in an Imax theater allowing one to be completely surrounded by the vistas.

earth is well worth seeing but it won't get anywhere near the stratosphere of March of the Penguins.

Dunkin Donuts Has Gone Stale

I grew up with Dunkin Donuts. So much so that I still view competitor Krispy Kreme as a poor imitation (and still don't like all the glaze they use on nearly all their flavors). However, I've had to come to the realization that this view may need to be relegated to the confines of pure nostalgia as the current state of Dunkin Donuts is nothing short of a disaster.

Back in their history Dunkin Donuts could be relied on for having the freshest donuts along with the widest selection of varieties. Their commercials focused on a poor, over-worked baker that was always having to drop what he was in the middle of enjoying to go make more donuts. For much of their existence this meant every six hours (at 6am, 12pm, 6pm and 12am).

Dunkin Donuts locations were, for the most part, clean, efficient and staffed by people who understood customers and the business.

Then something changed. Here's where the post is going to become questionable and not politically correct and, to be frank, I don't care.

Dunkin Donuts decided that they needed to grow--exponentially. They started offering up franchises and for some reason the overwhelming majority of the franchises (including the original locations) were bought up by foreign families whose English leaves a lot to be desired. The brand has not been the same since.

I have several Dunkin Donuts around me. When I go to them now the staff rarely understand me. It's a battle to order the most basic of things. How anyone in retail can't understand common English just, frankly, baffles me.

Just today a family member mentioned that they wanted to get an order put in for work for tomorrow morning. Dunkin Donuts allows you to fax in orders. She called the first location and the person said she was too busy to give her the number and hung up. At the second location a staffer answered the phone and said, "Fax? I'm new here. I don't know fax. You call back later" and hung up. The third location asked her to call back at 11 o'clock. She asked, "PM?" The response was, "Yes, PM." When she asked why so late the person said, "No, 11 tomorrow." When she pointed out the order was for tomorrow morning the response was, "Call back at 11 pm."

Not only is the interaction a problem but the variety is no longer there. Of the last dozen visits I've made I've not found more than a smattering of options. Virtually all the donuts I want are always sold out. In the rare cases where I have found them they've turned out to be stale. I see commercials about new breakfast sandwiches, improved coffee and other attempts to improve the chain but then I pause and think, "What's the point if no one there can get the order right or provide the selections in the way they're supposed to be presented?"

How a company can allow this sort of downward spiral in their brand I just don't understand. Dunkin Donuts used to be reliable and enjoyable. Now I don't even bother. I'd rather just get boxed donuts from the supermarket. At least I know what to expect from them.

A Moment Of Sheer Beauty

I am not a fan of American Idol. The show just doesn't work for me. Apparently there's a British version of the show called Britain's Got Talent that works pretty much the same way.

If you haven't seen the most recent episode that aired on April 11th then you missed something truly heart-warming and, frankly, spectacular.

Please watch this video and just revel in the wonder of humanity. Susan Boyle is a name that should live on now long past the airing of this episode and this woman deserves to get her dream.

I hope you agree.

The Rock Band/Guitar Hero Dilemma

Okay, I've had enough of this one....

This past Easter I was at a family member's house and we all had a blast playing Rock Band. I mentioned it to a few people today, and how much fun we had, and got into another in a long list of debates with people (musicians mainly) who just don't get it.

We really like what Rock Band and Guitar Hero offer with respect to social fun. However, some people just have to make sure to suggest to me that, "Wouldn't it just be easier/better to get a real instrument and learn to play it?"

No.

I don't have any delusions of someday having this experience transform me into the next Jimi Hendrix. I don't have the time, the drive or the ability.

I have to wonder if these same people write their own software, write their own books, create and direct their own movies, etc.

These products are games. They're meant to be entertaining and, to that end, they are extremely successful. They also are a wonderful gateway for many to real music. Can't these people just be happy with that and move on? I like PRETENDING that I'm playing the music. It's fun. It's fun because anyone of any age can take part and enjoy it without all of us taking years of lessons and spending a small fortune to get there.

Someday I hope to learn to play the guitar for real and, when I do, I'll still play these kinds of games.

Pirates Put Down, Captain Saved. Hannity Not Happy.

Well, I just got done watching some of the Hannity show that runs on Fox News and Sean Hannity is at it again. As long as these people have a substantial base of supports I will know this country is going in the wrong direction.

Just about everything that could go right about this potential disaster went right. What a major change over seemingly every single challenge during the Bush administration. The pirates are taken out. The ship is saved. The captain is rescued. All is well and yet here we have Sean Hannity looking at every turn the administration makes to find any hint of anything he can use to turn this into an Obama negative. He's upset because he feels the administration is getting, and taking, credit for the success when, according to his erroneous "research" President Obama had no choice but to sign off on everything just as it happened.

This would be like blaming Captain Sullenberger for killing a bunch of geese in the Hudson river landing event.

When his own Republican guest wouldn't agree Hannity seemed entirely unprepared for that response and didn't know how to proceed. This guy never learns. How any network can have someone like this on the air and call themselves balanced is a joke.

Been Busy

I've been extremely busy with work and need to put up a post about the last movie I saw. However, before I forget, I wanted to put up a link to a New York Times article I was sent that speaks almost verbatim to what I've been concerned about lately regarding the divide in this country.

This article speaks to the lunacy that has dominated the Republican party for some time now and how easily its followers fall into line regardless of the lack of any foundation for the viewpoints they're trying to put forth.

Fox News needs to be exposed as a total sham for it's part in these events. To carry the mantra of being "Fair and Balanced" while, at the same time, promoting right-wing Tea Party events is, quite frankly, disgusting. Anyone that watches that channel and believes it's balanced simply has no clue what they're talking about. Such people, I find, simply demand hearing their own viewpoints spewed back at them during the "news" instead of actually hearing what the rest of us see as reality. If CNN started to advertise the location of pro-Democratic events and ask people to attend them the right-wing shows would erupt in cries of foul.

For people like peanut-brained Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to be getting any support for her rantings is just nuts. She's out there lately telling supporters that the Obama administration is out to brainwash our children by sending them off to government run "re-education camps".

The problem I've always had with the Right is the makeup of a large part of their contingent. Many of their followers are very supportive of religion. While in general there's nothing wrong with this it's the basic tenet that creates the problem. Religion means faith and faith means having a mindset that accepts information without the need for questioning or support. The pundits tell these people that something is so, and thus, it must be true. No need to go bothering with any of that silly questioning. Why would Rush Limbaugh lie?

We've had a shocking number of incidents since Obama took office where nutcases have gone off the deep end taking out innocent people over completely erroneous information. The latest case was that of Jim Adkisson--the man who killed people in a Knoxville, Tennessee church.

He said, in a letter intended to be his suicide note:

"Know this if nothing else: This was a hate crime. I hate the damn left-wing liberals. There is a vast left-wing conspiracy in this country & these liberals are working together to attack every decent & honorable institution in the nation, trying to turn this country into a communist state. Shame on them....

"This was a symbolic killing. Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate & House, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg's book. I'd like to kill everyone in the mainstream media. But I know those people were inaccessible to me. I couldn't get to the generals & high ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chickenshit liberals that vote in these traitorous people. Someone had to get the ball rolling. I volunteered. I hope others do the same. It's the only way we can rid America of this cancerous pestilence."

"I thought I'd do something good for this Country Kill Democrats til the cops kill me....Liberals are a pest like termites. Millions of them Each little bite contributes to the downfall of this great nation. The only way we can rid ourselves of this evil is to kill them in the streets. Kill them where they gather. I'd like to encourage other like minded people to do what I've done. If life aint worth living anymore don't just kill yourself. do something for your Country before you go. Go Kill Liberals."

These are the people who want guns in this country in my view. And we should go about supporting arming these people? Where does someone get this sort of distorted view? Suffice to say that I've had people close to me try to tell me that Obama is a muslim, that he refuses to say the pledge of allegiance, that liberals are out to destroy the country. Some of this comes from otherwise intelligent people. They got it from "the news" and you can just guess which network that was. I have to believe that these people just believe it because they want to believe it. A simple search on You Tube would show you countless examples of Obama not only saying the pledge but leading the entire Senate in it. How hard would it be for these people to do this search? Again, it's so simple that I have to believe they just don't care to do it as it fits their agenda better to just go on believing this lunacy.

I'm getting to the point where I'm seriously thinking of living a good chunk of the rest of my life abroad. Leave the country to the mental patients and move on. Being an American used to mean something good. Now it means being associated with psychopaths like this guy. At this point the polish is off and the glow is gone.