Random Ramblings: BOOGER!

Wondering: I will give a shout-out to anyone who guesses why I named the column the way I did. Any takers?

Watching: Kristy and I have been slowly going through the first season of one of my all-time favorite shows in WKRP in Cincinnati. When I was a kid I wanted to be Dr. Johnny Fever and I would pretend to be a DJ all the time growing up. Watching this awesome show makes me want to be a DJ again. Which leads to...

E-mailing: I am e-mailing a local radio station (a Classic Rock station that I listen to a lot) and asking if they offer any type of internships or if they are currently hiring. Don't get me wrong, I like what I am doing but I don't love it. We'll see where this could lead. I might as well check it out. I have had pretty good luck before.

Chewing: My dad and his family recently came back from Canada and they brought back loads of candy. And much to my surprise they brought back something I used to love as a kid that I thought they didn't make anymore. There were these gums called "Chews" and they came in all sorts of flavors. They were really cheap gum and each piece had a flavor of its own. They would all have a fruit flavor, depending on the pack you bought, but some of them would have a mint flavor to them and some of them were extremely sour. In fact, whenever I think of them, my jaws ache. I am so glad they are back and I totally want to get more of them.

Cherry and Grape Chews. They are no longer called Chews but they are exactly the same thing.

Watching Part II: Looking forward to this evening. My mom is coming over for dinner and we are watching the first preseason Jets game. So happy that football is back. I got my first invite for Fantasy Football and look forward to getting into that. I am still debating if I should do a column here on the blog like I did last year. It was a lot of work but it was fun.

Drinking: Remember the Pop Shop? I was at a local grocery store and saw that old familiar Pop Shop logo. And not only that, they had a Lime Rickey flavor so I had to try it.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed. It was not as flavorful as I expected it. I might have to get the Root Beer one to see if it tastes like I remember it. Root Beer was my favorite flavor back then.

Listening: So I finally used some of my birthday money and got the first Queen Remasters Box Set. The sound is definitely improved. The first two albums (Queen and Queen II) had the most dramatic improvement. That made the purchase worth it but the 2nd bonus discs have been a lot of fun. It is fun to hear other versions and demos and it makes me appreciate the band a whole lot more. I look forward to the next set and hopefully with those surveys, I can get it for free.

Smarting: My knee is still giving me fits and it looks like I may not be able to run a 5K. I went running last week and it seemed fine but today I did a small walking/running workout and it hurts. I hate being old.

Staring: Kristy and Logan went down to Antelope Island and snagged this beautiful sunset. I could stare at this for hours.

Catching Up: Boy I have a lot of catching up reading blogs!

Watching Part III: I caught Captain America: The First Avenger and even though I knew what was going to happen going in (being a comic geek and all) I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. Of course I like the WWII era and I love Nazis being enemies. This movie surpassed my expectations, I was thinking it would be the weakest of the Marvel movies but I think this one was the strongest. Fun stuff and Chris Evans is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors.

Watching Part IV: I also caught Cowboys and Aliens last week. The movie was definitely entertaining and I thought that the special effects were absolutely breathtaking. The acting was good, but then what do you expect with Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig? The supporting actors were just as great. Aside from that, I thought that the movie was rather ho-hum and full of cliches. I think my 25 plus years of reading comics (and this was based on a comic) has spoiled me. It was rather predictable and didn't offer anything that would set this movie apart from others. If you have seen a Western movie in your life, then you have seen most of this movie. And if you have seen an Alien Invasion movie, you have seen this movie too. It is not like I didn't enjoy it, because I thought it was fun but it was nothing new.

X-Geeking

Sorry folks. I am going to be talking about comic books here.

It is well known that I am a geek. Part of being a geek is also loving charts, databases and keeping track of things. The past few days I have been reworking an old Access database that keeps track of all my comics. I was curious to see how many comics I have sold and that led to forming another database and going through mycomicshop.com (where I do a lot of reselling) to see find all the comics that I have owned at one point. Hours and hours later I think I have a final number. Now this is not exact but it is pretty close and I as a geek, am satisfied.

The grand number? I have sold 3,070 comics.

Now that only begs the question. How many comics do I have? I am not sure how many I have (that is another geek project coming soon) but I know that it is 3,070 comics less than it used to be. My goal is to have a collection that is all exceptional. No crap, no stuff that I won't read in decades. Basically, no filler. Just all good stuff.

Speaking of comics. I just found out that Marvel is cancelling its longest running comic, the Uncanny X-Men. The last issue will be #544 but it will come back with a new #1. This is definitely a marketing ploy and I am not happy purely from a geek standpoint. My first issue of Uncanny X-men was #200 and I have bought each issue since. I have a copy (in comic book, hardcover, trade paperback) from issue #94. And now that grand run is finished. I think I must be getting old and grumpy.

And speaking of the X-Men. Kristy and I went and saw X-Men: First Class opening day. I was going to go at midnight but I just didn't think I could do it. So we went to the 2nd showing that Friday. I don't want to spoil the movie for those that have not seen it but I will say that it was awesome! I loved everything about it and it gives X2 (my all-time favorite comic book movie) a run for its money. This geek left the movie house completely satisfied. It was pure joy to see my favorite X-Man, Banshee, screaming and flying around.

Now I am geeked out and need a rest.

X-Geeks Unite!

I am so looking forward to a few comic book summer movies. I certainly cannot complain being a comic book geek since I have Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern and my most anticipated comic book movie, X-Men: First Class.



There are a few reasons why I am very excited for this X-Men movie. Now my favorite comic book movie is the 2nd X-Men movie in the franchise, X2. I liked the first one and the third one isn't so bad and Wolverine: Origins was absolutely horrible. So I am not sure what X-Men: First Class will be like, hopefully it will be better than Wolverine.

I do have faith in the director. He also directed another fantastic comic book adaptation in Kick Ass and making it his own. So I do think he can do the X-Men justice. I also love that is set in the past, back in the 60's around the Cuban Missile Crisis. Having the awesome Kevin Bacon in the film doesn't hurt either. But of course, I am stoked to have my all-time favorite X-Men, Banshee, in the film.

This summer cannot come fast enough!  I'll have to do a List-Mania sometime and list my favorite comic book movies.

The U.S. vs John Lennon

I was six years old when John Lennon was tragically killed outside of his apartment in New York City. I don't remember it and it was years before I knew who John Lennon was.

The tumultuous time of the late 60's to the early 80's is one of my favorite times in history and it is one that I don't know much of and I am eager to learn. I am highly interested in the civil rights movement and I am in awe for those that gave their lives in these significant strides in history. So many interesting things happened in our world during this time that changed the course of history both for the good and for the bad. Watergate, the Vietnam War and Martin Luthor King are just a few of the dramatic things that happened. 

I only knew of John Lennon from his time with the Beatles. My sister listened to a lot of the Beatles and turned me on to their music. I knew of John Lennon the musician but I had no idea that the man was much, much more than just an influential artist.

My dad is a big fan of John Lennon and we were talking at work one day and found that there was a movie recently made about John Lennon and how the United States government was so against him. This fantastic documentary details his time of when he transformed from just an artist with the Beatles but into a larger figure; a spokesman for peace.



I highly recommend watching this documentary. Whether you love John or hate him; this will make you respect him.

I had no clue how powerful John was. I had absolutely no clue how influential he was until I watched this. I always had this underlining feeling that he was much more than just one of the Fab Four. I had one experience in high school that brought this to forefront. My senior year, for the Sr. Prom we wanted the John Lennon song Imagine to be the theme song. And most of the administration was dead against this. They didn't think that was an appropriate song for it and from what I remember it took a lot of convincing to finally get our way. I didn't know this song at all but I quickly became a fan of it. Again I had no idea that this was controversial, I thought it was a beautiful song. Our administration thought it was a rebellious song and that it is anti-Christ and anti-establishment. How clueless they are. This song is not about that at all. Sadly, human nature can ruin families, it can ruin religion, it can ruin any social event. In his eyes it can ruin everything.  Wouldn't it be nice if we can all live together in peace, with no borders, no classes, essentially with no hate.

I wish I was alive during this time to truly appreciate what he stood for. But at least I can learn from history so I am not doomed to repeat it.

List-Mania: Oh the Horror!

Day 356

I am totally stealing my cousin's (and fellow blogger) idea to list his favorite spooky movies. Since it is Halloween and a good idea is a good idea, I am going to list my 5 Favorite Horror Movies. I am not a huge fan of the slasher pics and I am definitely not into the torture stuff (Hostel, Saw) but I do like to be creeped out.

5) The Omen (1976)

Oh man. Kids can sure be creepy and this kid takes the cake. I would probably walk across the street if I saw this kid walking towards me. Why is this kid so creepy? Because he is the son of the devil, Damian. Gregory Peck was fantastic in this film as a desperate dad trying to figure out if his adoptive son is really the Antichrist. My favorite scene is when his dad takes a close look at his son's scalp (while Damian is sleeping) and finds a 666 birthmark. But that scene was trumped by the creepy smile we get at the end of the film.

4) The Shining

Stephen King can sure write some creepy books but unfortunately the movies that are made from the books fall a bit short. Sure we have Carrie, but that means we also get Thinner. But the Shining really is the best of the bunch. Of course Jack Nicholson is already a little creepy in his own right but make him trot around the empty halls sporting an ax and a demented look in his eyes and you have one of the creepiest dude ever. My favorite scene has to be when his wife (whom I could not stand!) discovers his novel and finds that it is just the same line repeated over and over again. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". And then he sneaks up on her. Even the poster for the film leaves me a weird feeling.

3) The Thing (1982)

Science Fiction has given us some of the scariest films around. From the Alien series to the Fly but John Carpenter's remake of The Thing was on an entirely different level. I loved the original movie and I loved the idea of a monster that can shape change. But this movie took a more realistic view of what would happen if there was a shape changer among us. The paranoia is ramped up to ten and I could actually feel the dread and anxiety of not knowing who to trust. My favorite scene is where they test each others blood to see if they are the creature or not. They put some blood in a small container and put a flame to it. That scene felt like hours. And the ending was perfect.

2) Night of the Living Dead (1968)

I do love my zombies and this classic is what started it all. I remember watching this movie on TV with my dad on Halloween and we were both drawn in. What made this movie great was not the zombies themselves (even though the little girl in the cellar was certainly creepy and I will never look at a cement trowel the same way) but it was how the survivors dealt with each other. Human nature is much more scarier than any monster. Now I don't want to ruin the ending because I highly recommend watching this movie, even if you are not a horror buff, you need to see this movie! The ending was so surprising, I totally didn't see it.coming and was shocking! And then just like that, it ended. My favorite scene was the last 20 minutes.

1) Halloween (1978)

Like I said before I am not a big fan of the slasher films but yet the grandaddy of them all is my favorite horror film. Jason and Freddy don't freak me out because I know they cannot exist. Michael on the other hand could certainly exist. And that is what makes him more scary than the rest of the films. Michael was not a monster but just a crazy person. I remember when this movie came out. I was only four years old and I was watching  Siskel and Ebert at the Movies and they showed a clip from this film. It was when she was hiding the kids from Michael and they said that the bogeyman was coming to get them. I ran upstairs to my mom it scared me so much. Just a small clip scared me! Flash forward to my college days and I saw this movie for the first time. And then I saw that scene again and I remembered that horrible creepy feeling. My favorite scene in the movie is when Dr. Loomis goes to the Mental Hospital and they find that the power is knocked out (and it is night time). They see these strange ghosts in the field when the lightning flashes and they realize it is the inmates of the hospital. And then they know Michael is on the loose!

I might have to watch a few of these here in the next couple of weeks. There are other Halloween films that I love too that are a little safer to watch and are not truly horror films. Maybe I will share those next week.

Date Night 2010

Day 210

Kristy and I rarely go on dates. This was probably our first date of the year. It is not like we can't find babysitters because we have lots of family and we have some girls in the neighborhood that would be happy to watch/play with Logan. We just don't go on dates.

Last night we actually went out on a date. Sure, it was just dinner and a movie but that is usually a lot more than what we usually do for dates. My mom came over and watched Logan while Kristy and I went and caught the cheaper 5:00 Iron Man 2 showing.

The Black Widow was so freaking awesome!

Kristy and I really enjoyed the first Iron Man (which sadly enough may have been the last movie we saw together on a date) and we really liked this second installment. Being a comic book fan, I totally geeked out in a couple of moments. Seeing War Machine shoot down all those robots, the Black Widow taking out all those guys, Nick Fury meeting with Tony Stark about the Avengers Initiative, the ending after the credits that really get me excited for the next Marvel movie.

After we got out of the movie we couldn't decide where to eat and we wound up at the Coppermill. I keep forgetting what a great place that is to eat. I have never been disappointed going there. I ordered the Chicken Theodore, which is a fried breaded chicken breast, topped with crab meat, asparagus and smothered in cheese and hollandaise sauce. I LOVE hollandaise sauce. I got the rice pilaf with it. It also came with a salad bar and that was awesome. Kristy and I were good too, we only ate half of our food and saved the rest for later. Of course we were pretty full already from the salad bar. After that we walked over to the Bluebird restaurant and picked up some chocolates for dessert and then came home.

It was a nice evening and hopefully we will go out soon. It will be interesting to see how long it takes us to go out again. Will I be done with the 365 blog? I only have five months left!

Sunday Confessional: The Little Mermaid

Day 197

I love the Little Mermaid.

There, I said it.

I don't know why this Disney film affected me the way it did but I absolutely love this movie, I love the story and I love the music. It ranks as one of my all-time favorite movies.

I remember the first time I saw it even. It was at high school towards the end of the school year. It was in Mr. Merkley's class. It was at the end of the year and we had taken our final tests so we had nothing to do. So he put on this Disney film that I had absolutely no interest in. I planned on falling asleep but instead I was enthralled by this movie. There was just something special about it.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. You only like the Little Mermaid because of her sea shells. Before you call Chris Hansen from Dateline on me, let me debunk this little rumor.

I do admit that Ariel is cute but that is all. And the reason I think she is cute is a legit one. She was based on Alyssa Milano (who was around the same age as I was at the time) and I had a mad crush on her. Maybe that is what made me pay attention.

I bought the soundtrack along with a bootleg video while serving my LDS mission in New York. We were allowed to watch and listen to these types of music. I also remember singing the Little Mermaid loudly while walking down the street in downtown Manhattan without anyone batting an eyelash.

Kristy knows of my secret too. In fact she bought me a Little Mermaid book and candy when she went to Disneyland with her track team a few years ago.

I remember a few years ago I was working at Dutro during the afternoon shift. They were re-releasing the Little Mermaid in the theatres again and the local radio station had a contest so you could win free tickets to a couple of showings. I was sad that I missed it in the theatres the first go around so I had to win tickets. I told Andy (a friend of mine at work) to call in along with me and a few other buddies to help me win tickets. Sadly, I didn't get through and neither did my friends.

Then I heard them announce the winner on the radio and I heard my name! I did win! Andy came over to me and said he was disappointed. He was the one that got through and won me the tickets. He said that when they told him that he was the winner he put on a high voice and made me sound like a complete idiot. He told the DJ that he luved the Little Mermaid and that he (being me) would act it out all the time and that this was a dream come true! Usually the DJ's will put the announcement on the air but this time they didn't. Andy was so disappointed that I didn't sound like a fool on air!

I still listen to the Little Mermaid pretty often and I have the Broadway version as well. While I enjoy the original the most, I would love to see the Broadway version. And I am excited that next summer they are coming to Salt Lake.

Desert Island: Movies

Day 149

Both Kristy and Jaimee have listed their Desert Movie collections and I decided to take the challenge. So if I was stuck on a desert island which 5 movies would I take with me? Remember, for those that want to take the challenge, these movies are the only ones you have and will have to watch them over and over and over again.

I don't want any short movies and I don't want any scary films since I am on a desert island. So no Lord of the Flies or anything like that. No zombie films either.

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Obviously I would want the whole saga but that would be six movies and I would want some other stuff so I would choose the best Star Wars movie EVER. And personally, I think Princess Leia was at her hottest in this film. Especially the way her hair was done up in Cloud City.





ARMY OF DARKNESS
I had no idea that this was related to the Evil Dead movies but after seeing the trailers I wanted to see it bad. I missed it in the theaters since no one I knew wanted to see this. So I rented it years later and wondered "What the crap am I watching?" to myself. Was this comedy? Horror? Action? It was Bruce Campbell. Oh how I wish I was Bruce Campbell. I even reenacted his Boomstick tirade for an acting class I took.



X2: X-MEN UNITED
Like I have mentioned before, the first X-Men blew me away and I couldn't wait until this came out. This was probably the only sequel that topped my expectations. I don't think my eyes could get any bigger watching one of my favorite characters, Nightcrawler, teleporting all through the White House but that was just the start. This movie scratched everything this fanboy had an itch for. Sadly, the rest of the X-franchise since then has not been near this good. But this is my favorite comic book film EVER.

FLASH GORDON
I love the costumes and the sets, so vibrant and colorful. Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming and Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan stole the show, everyone looked like they were having the time of their life making this movie. And who can forget the soundtrack by Queen? And if I am on a desert island at least I would have some Queen! FLASH! AHHHHHHH AHHHHHHH! SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE!



MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
I already watch this movie over and over again so being on a desert island would not make a difference. More than likely, I see myself doing my own performance with the movie running in the background. I am on a desert island so I would have to keep myself busy.





So what would you take?

Movie Night!

Day 117

Watching movies with my family and friends must be some of my favorite memories because I certainly remember them crystal clear. So here are a collection of some of my favorite memories while watching movies.

My first movie experience was in 1977 with Star Wars. My dad took my sister to it first and came home and took me when they went a second time. I don't remember much about it but from what my dad said, I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Now when the sequel The Empire Strikes Back came out that was another story. I was so excited to see it. I sat in my chair taking it all in until the Wampa hit. And suddenly I was on my dad's lap.

Raiders of the Lost Ark was the next one I saw in the theatres and I am glad that my parents took me. I think parents nowadays try to hard to shield their kids too much from enjoying things. In order for you to enjoy the good, you have to experience the bad. Raiders was a dark film but even though I was young, I enjoyed it and it didn't make me into a serial killer or anything. The one thing that I remember about going to see Raiders of the Lost Ark was my dad. My sister and I were sitting together apart from my parents. Suddenly during the film my dad bolts up and leaves the theatre. About ten minutes later he came back but sat by me and my sister. At first I thought he was mad at mom for something but it turned out that he thought he had peed his pants. He was holding his Coke between his legs and the moisture collected from all the ice melting and he thought he had an accident. He didn't obviously but was so embarrassed that he sat by us instead of mom.


That was not the end to embarrassing moments in the movie theatre. My dad and I decided to see Arachnophobia (even though we both HATE spiders). We saw it at a dollar theatre and there was only a few of us in there. During the movie, I thought it would be funny to reach around and flick my dad's ear. It was a great idea, I flicked his ear and popcorn went a flying! I thought my dad was going to kill me.

Back in the day, you could rent a VCR and some movies from the local Mac's store (which is like a 7/11) and my dad and I decided to get Aliens. That has got to be one of my all-time favorite movies and it left me breathless. At the end of the movie my dad was turning off the TV and he put his hand up his shirt. He turned to me and said, "That was a pretty intense movie eh?" And then suddenly he thrusted his hand out from his shirt like a chestburster! I about hit the roof. And my dad wonders why I like to scare him all the time! I got it from him.

You wanna know what awkward is? Try watching Predator 2 with your mom. She loved the first one but that second one had some scenes that no kid (no matter how old they are) should watch with his parents.

That was a cool thing about my mom, she liked action movies. You know what one of her favorites is? She called me one day and said she wanted to go see Face Off that weekend. My mom was way into it, partly because of John Travolta. Luckily for me, there wasn't any Predator 2-type scenes.

My sister on the other hand is very "hands on" when you watch movies with her. My arm was bruised for days after watching Con Air with her. Every explosion and gunshot, my arm was swatted by my sister. She shouldn't watch intense movies like that. Con Air was not even that good!

I took Kristy to go see Jurassic Park II. During the scene where all the raptors were chasing the people, one popped out from under the fence. I knew it was coming and everyone screamed when it happened. Well, their scream scared the snot out of me. So right after the audience screamed, I screamed. The girls in front of me turned there heads back to look at me and I pointed to Kristy sheepishly.

Kristy's brother-in-law Aaron and I went and saw The Blair Witch Project together. We must have been hyped to see it because we got scared even before the movie started. We were in the theatre just chatting when suddenly this girl pops her head in between us and asks us for the time. Aaron jumped back and that made me jump back even further! The girl laughed at us, I am positive that she did it to us on purpose.

But I think my all-time favorite movie experience was with my friend Lared. Joel and I took him to see The Phantom Menace. Now Lared has always been one of my most expressive friends and he was a Star Wars fan and he was really hyped up. Toward the end, when Darth Maul killed Qui-Gon it really hit the fan. Out of nowhere we heard this hair-raising "NOOOOOOOOO!" followed up with this heart-wrenching "ARRRGHHHH!" It was Lared. Joel and I sat back in our seats trying to contain our laughter.

I cannot wait for Logan and I to watch more movies together. From past experiences I should be in for a good time.

List-Mania: Movie Guilty Pleasures

Day 104

At first I thought these columns would be easy to come up with but every Friday I struggle with it. During the week I will get ideas on what to blog about but then Friday arrives and zilch!

I was going through my blog and I came across a column about my favorite comic book movies and I mentioned Flash Gordon as an honorable mention and I called it one of my guilty pleasures. And thus an idea was born. I can list movies from my collection that for some strange and unknown reason I just love. They are cheesy and at times horrible but I can't get enough of them. These are not in any particular order.

Highlander 2
Every time I get ready to watch this movie I think to myself that this wasn't that bad of a movie. And every time I watch it I remember how horrible this movie is. The story itself was not all that bad but there were a TON of points that made absolutely no sense. The acting was phoned in and at times excruciating to watch. I normally like Michael Ironside but his villain here was just over the top. When a special edition of Highlander 2 was released on DVD I jumped on it hoping that this was the version that should have been in the theatres. And it was a little better, more tolerable. I think one reviewer said it best when he said "You can pour perfume all over poop to make it stink less but in the end it is still poop!" It is so bad that I will watch it at least once a year.

Homeward Bound
I don't know why I like this movie but I do. I can watch this anytime. I really should introduce this movie to Logan.


Moulin Rouge
I admit it, I like musicals and I heard that a Queen song was featured so I decided to give this movie a try. I will say that Ewan was the best part of this movie. There was a lot that I liked, aside from Ewan. I really liked how they featured popular music throughout the movie, I was surprised to hear Nirvana, the Police and others. I also really liked the costume and sets, this was a real pretty movie to look at. Very vibrant colors and detailed sets. Nicole Kidman on the other hand I just couldn't get into. At times her performance was extremely annoying but there were a few moments that were perfect. I also enjoyed the story, even though it was predictable. Musicals are hard to translate into movies. I have seen most of the musical movies that were based on live plays and I prefer them a lot more. Very rarely will I enjoy the movie more but I am glad that this was a movie. It would be difficult to shift this into a live musical with all the sets and the play within the play.


The Impostors
My dad loves this movie and he begged and begged me to watch this movie and I finally relented. It was late at night and my family was gone so I decided to give this movie a whirl. I laughed and laughed throughout the whole movie. I watched it again when it was not so late at night and I laughed through it again. It is hard to explain what this movie is about but it is a clever, well-acted, fun little movie. Here is a trailer of it:


Little Shop of Horrors
I know what you are thinking, another musical? There is so much I love about this movie even though the ending was not as great as the rest of the film. The sets were fantastic and it just seemed like this was a fun production to be a part of. I think this movie introduced me to black humor. I knew I shouldn't be laughing at some parts but I was. I remember one time after a Chess practice, the cast and crew went over to a friend's house and watched this movie and we all sang throughout it. I wish they would re-release this on DVD with the darker original ending.

Now I totally want to watch one of those tonight.

Christmas Memories: The Movies

Day 45

Christmas is full of traditions and one of my favorite traditions is watching my favorite Christmas classics. There are a few but I am mostly talking about National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

My mom and I saw this movie in the theatres when it came out. We met my Uncle Kurt and we saw it together. I never laughed so hard, sure it was a funny movie but what made it even more funny was the old lady sitting in front of us. She must have been my Grandma's age and she absolutely loved it. She laughed and laughed loudly during the whole movie which in turn made us laugh even more.

There was one part that I will not forget. It is when the SWAT team and police crash into the house and yell "FREEZE!" That old lady laughs out "Look where her hand is!" (I am sure you know exactly what scene I am talking about!) and she laughed about that all the way to the end of the credits.

Every Christmas since then we have a tradition of watching that movie sometime before Christmas. I can't wait to see it this year!



Another movie I manage to catch almost every Christmas is "A Christmas Story". Such a cute show.



Another one that I am going to make a tradition of watching is "The Muppets Christmas Carol". Last Friday night we had what Logan calls "Family Movie Night" and we watched it. It was still as good as I remember and I think it made an impact on Logan.

We still have a Charlie Brown Christmas and of course, How the Grinch Stole Christmas to watch. And not the crappy movie, the best, the original cartoon.

List-Mania: Comic Book Movies

Day 27

Last Sunday I confessed my love (re: addiction) for comic books. For most of my life, comic books that were translated into movies did not fare so well. In fact, most of them were so cheesy that it just echoed the stereotype that comics are JUST for kids. Now we are in the golden age of comic book movies and the best part of this new age is most of the them are actually pretty good.

I am not a stickler for comic book movies needing to stick to the source material. I do hope that the movie studios stay true to the concept but I can forgive the often glaring differences between the actual comic and the movie. Take the X-Men movie franchise for example. There are more differences than similarities between the movie and the comics but in the end it doesn't bug me. The X-Men franchise was entertaining and that was the most important thing to me. What annoys this comic geek fan is when the movie that comes out does not come anywhere close to its potential. That is what irks me the most and there are quite a few comic book movies that have done this.

So here are my Top 5 comic book movies. Now let me remind you, this is MY list. You can argue all you want or make fun of the movies I picked out here but in the end it doesn't matter. These are the comic book movies I personally liked the best. Yours will probably differ.

5) The Rocketeer
This movie just might have more to do with my man-crush on Timothy Dalton than anything else. This is the story about a pilot that finds a rocket pack and battles Nazis as the Rocketeer. Simple premise, simple story and simply entertaining.




4) Iron Man
Marvel started strong out of the gate with some fantastic movies based on their characters but soon a bunch of duds hit the screen. I went to see this movie with the expectation that it would be a dud too. Boy was I wrong. Everything about this film was fantastic, the special effects were spectacular but Robert Downey Jr. owned this movie. The man in the suit stole the show.

3) Hellboy II
Sequels rarely are better than the original but there are exceptions to the rule and Hellboy II was one of them. I loved the first one quite a bit, I thought it captured everything Hellboy should be but this one hit it out of the park. Visually this movie was eye candy. The special effects were amazing and the colors were spectacular. The storyline felt like something right out of the Hellboy comics. The creatures were fascinating, the Death Angel was creepy but yet elegant. I love this movie so much.

2) Spider-Man
The first X-Men movie blew me away. They captured exactly what the X-Men were about. I hoped that Marvel would strike comic gold again with Spider-Man and I was so happy that they did. There was a lot I was leery about (Sam Raimi, organic Web-shooters, metal-looking Green Goblin) but I was so taken by the story. They nailed what Peter Parker was all about. I know a lot of people complained about the ending with Peter leaving MJ but that was spot on what Peter would do.

1) X2: X-Men United
Like I said, the first X-Men blew me away and I couldn't wait until this came out. This was probably the only sequel that topped my expectations. I don't think my eyes could get any bigger watching one of my favorite characters, Nightcrawler, teleporting all through the White House but that was just the start. This movie scratched everything this fanboy had an itch for. Sadly, the rest of the X-franchise has not been near this good.

Now I can hear it now. Spider-Man 2 was way better than the first one. Or, The Dark Knight is the greatest comic book movie ever! Those are good movies. Those are GREAT comic book movies but I didn't like them as much as the ones I listed. I hear someone screaming Sin City was the best adaptation! I can probably agree with that. As pure adaptations go, Sin City and 300 were the best ones. But they were not my favorite comic book movies.

But what was the best and worst comic book movie of all-time? This movie is a guilty pleasure. So bad that it is so good.

Honorable Mention: Flash Gordon
Hmmmm. Timothy Dalton again. But he is not the only reason I love this film. I love the costumes and the sets, so vibrant and colorful. Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming and Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan stole the show, everyone looked like they were having the time of their life making this movie. And who can forget the soundtrack by Queen? FLASH! AHHHHHHH AHHHHHHH! SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE! I could write a column all about this movie.

FUN FACT: One of my favorite memories is watching this movie with my cousins the Case's. Watching that movie with them is like being on Mystery Science Theater 3000. But we poke fun at the movie because we love it. I'll have to get together with the Case's again for another viewing. It has been too long!

I Stared at Goats

Day 19

Last Saturday evening I had a couple of unexpected visitors. My brother-in-law Steven, his wife Andrea and daughter Addy, along with my niece Cassie dropped in for a visit. It was good to see them, I was happy that they dropped by. Addy and Logan (and Steven) played while the rest of us chatted. I keep forgetting that I am now a Breinholt Vet, meaning I have been part of this family for twelve years. Luckily Cassie was there so it reminded me how old I am. She was just a little older than Addy when I first met her. Hmmmm... ...that might be a good column in itself. About an hour later Kristy's parents came over too. It was a nice evening.


Here is a pic of Logan hugging Addy goodnight. She is such a cutie!

I invited my sister over for some good ol' fashioned sibling rivalry. Well, it was not much of a contest when it comes to the Atari and Ice Hockey. She came over after all the kids were put to bed. Jennifer came to play the Atari and I went through a whole load of old pictures that we confiscated from our mom. I wanted to find some pictures for the blog and boy I got some gems. It was fun to sit and reminisce about our childhood. And it was a lot of fun teaming up together to wipe out some aliens in Space Invaders. We will need to do that again sometime.




Even when I was young I loved my soda.

Logan was sick today and had a fever of 102. So we kept him home from school today and I didn't work last night so I could watch him during the morning. The best part of a sick Logan is that he likes to cuddle. We watched a marathon of "Phineas and Ferb" the whole afternoon. If you have not seen that show, you need too! Seriously. Here are two of my favorite clips.





It has a platypus! How could I not love it?

Tonight I went to a movie with my dad and brother Nathan. We saw an early showing of "The Men Who Stared At Goats." I was feeling a little blue today and that movie certainly cheered me up. I can't describe it but I can only say that was my type of movie. Clooney and Ewan were so great in this film, I laughed through the whole thing. If you like quirky movies or love either of these actors, you gotta check this movie out. I have to see this again.

I have a pretty cool family and I am happy for the chance to spend time with them.

List-Mania: 15 Movies

Day 13

I'll admit that the constant blogging and 50,000 novel writing is taking a bit of a toll on me. Instead of typing, I am just staring at the computer screen while singing Pendulum songs. Now I did store up some future columns but stupidly I didn't write any new List-Mania columns. So I was looking around and found something I wrote awhile ago. It was one of those Facebook Note thingys. You were supposed to take about twenty minutes and list 15 movies that stuck with you. I wrote them down but never published them, until now. I could have listed the best Friday the 13th movies to celebrate today but I just couldn't get into it.

Now before you judge me and poke fun or laugh, remember, these movies are NOT necessarily my favorite movies (although there are a few), these are movies that stuck with me; ones that I cannot shake and easily forget. They are not in any order.

Aliens:
Science Fiction to me was all about Star Wars and the old Battlestar Galactica television until my dad and I rented this movie one night. I knew little of what it was about and I remember sitting impatiently for the aliens to finally come out. And then all hell broke loose when they did, I was at the edge of my seat. When the movie was over (and my heart was still beating like mad) my dad shoved his hand in his shirt and acted like an alien was popping out of his chest. And I about peed my pyjamas! I watch this movie quite a lot and is one of my all-time favorite movies.

Devil's Rejects:
I like Rob Zombie's music and my brother-in-law went and saw his first film. House of a 1,000 Corpses was not a terrible film but it offered no surprise to me. When the sequel rolled out, Eric and I went to see it too. Now this is definitely not one of my favorite movies but one that stuck with me for weeks after I saw it. It was brutal and hard to watch at times but it surprised me. I found myself starting to feel sympathy for the bad guys. By the ending of the film I liked them and felt bad for what these evil, EVIL people were suffering. At the beginning of the movie you hate these guys and you want the cop to get them. Then there is a shocking role reversal. the cop treats them like they had treated their victims. It left me with an empty feeling. The last 9 minutes are set to the song "Free Bird" and there is no dialogue. The ending totally stuck with me, I cannot hear that song and not think of the Devil's Rejects.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:
My dad loves Clint Eastwood and this was one of the first Western movies I saw. My dad had the soundtrack on LP and we listened to it over and over again. A lot of scenes from the movie I can still picture in my mind like I saw it the first time. The suspense at the scene of the graveyard was so awesome.




12 Angry Men:
I saw this in high school and I thought I was going to be bored to tears and I was so wrong. This movie made me become interested in the Judicial Branch and Political Science in general. I was so impressed by the acting and story, this movie proved that a story is all you really need to make a captivating movie.




Strange Brew:
Being Canadian and growing up with SCTV this was a "must-watch" film. When I think of funny movies, I think of this one first. Even though I have not seen it for a couple of years, I can still quote it.






Star Wars (Original Trilogy):
Where would my childhood be without this film? This was my first movie I saw at the theatre (I was 3) and boy did it change my whole childhood. I still love Star Wars as much as I did as a kid. The Empire Strikes Back is still my favorite. I used to play the Hoth scene over and over, it was easy during those cold Canadian winters. I could write a whole blog column just about Star Wars! I saw this movie a couple of times when it was re-released as a Special Edition too.



Silver Bullet:
Scary movies don't scare me much. But this movie scarred me and werewolves really freak me out. I saw this when I was a kid and it scared the hell out of me. I will never forget the scene when the werewolf tore open that pregnant lady right in the beginning. Believe it or not, I have seen it since and it still freaks me out even though it is pretty tame by today's standards.



Untouchables:
The baseball bat scene. Do I need to say more? The music, the sets, the acting, everything about this film to me was so perfect. And the scene when Sean Connery is shot, such an agonizing scene. I still love this film.







X-Men:
I love comic books and the X-Men are one of my favorites. When I heard they were making an X-Men movie I held my breath. I went in thinking it would be so crappy and I was blown away by how good it was. When Wolverine first popped his claws, I knew this was a winner. I took my friend Joel and he felt the same way. X2 is superior to this but this certainly raised the bar for comic movies.



The Professional:
My friend highly recommended this movie and I finally relented and saw it. And I was drawn in. I like movies where I don't see the ending coming. And I thought for sure I was going to see a happy ending but felt so helpless when it didn't come. And there was something to Leon, he almost seemed supernatural. And when the psycho cop catches Mathilda in the bathroom? So tense!



Army of Darkness:
I had no idea that this was related to the Evil Dead movies but after seeing the trailers I wanted to see it bad. I missed it in the theaters since no one I knew wanted to see this. So I rented it years later and wondered "What the crap am I watching?" to myself. Was this comedy? Horror? Action? It was Bruce Campbell. Oh how I wish I was Bruce Campbell. Now it is a cult classic in this household and one of my favorite movies.



Edward Scissorhands:
Confession time! One of my celebrity crushes is Winona Ryder. But she is just one of the reasons why I love this film. I feel like I have been transported to another realm when watching this film. So surreal, unique and beautiful and yet so hauntingly sad.





The Matrix:
This totally takes me back to my college days. My friends saw it so many times and tried to get me to go but I wouldn't. I thought it was just another action type flick but I finally relented and saw it. One of the few movies that were filled with "oh crap!" moments. Totally took me by surprise.





Blade Runner:
I saw scenes from this movie when I younger that stuck with me, especially the scene where Deckard kills the lady replicant in the streets. It was many, many years later I finally saw the whole thing. A lot of scenes stick out, all involving Roy. When he crushes Tyrell's head while sticking his thumbs into his eyes was a defining moment. But the end of Roy was especially hard hitting. His gentle speech was truly touching and stuck with me.



The Birds:
This movie introduced me to the world of Alfred Hitchcock. Only he could make something so mundane like seagulls so terrifying. It was spooky enough that birds would attack you but when you see Annie dead on the porch with her eyes plucked out. And I love the ending so much, it doesn't try to explain things, it doesn't tell you what happened, it just ends with them escaping. Or did they?



Honorable Mention
Night of the Living Dead:
I love zombies even though they freak me out. I remember watching this movie on TV with my dad on Halloween. We were both drawn in. What made this movie great was not the zombies themselves (even though the little girl in the cellar was chilling) but it was how the survivors dealt with each other. I don't want to ruin the ending because I highly recommend watching this movie, even if you are not a horror buff, you need to see this movie! But the ending I didn't see coming and it was shocking!