Rubber: The Tire that Kills

Perhaps the tire is lonely...

Why do certain things happen in movies; no reason.  Rubber tells us this in an opening monologue and then spends ninety minutes demonstrating this with a movie in which events happen for no reason.

A rubber tire comes to life, discovers that it has telekinesis, then uses that power to kill people.  This happens for no reason

A chorus of people are watching and commenting on the actions of the murderous tire like guests at a play.  Why are they there?  No reason.

The tire is stalking a beautiful woman at a local motel for no reason.

Getting past these ridiculous things that happen for no reason is difficult.  However, Rubber is upfront about it.  You can't say that about a lot of movies nowadays.

** Stars

Transformers: I'm tired of this franchise

Um, stuff is blowing up behind you

The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons continues in Dark of the Moon. The Decepticon leader, Megatron has a plan to defeat Megatron and his Autobot team using ancient technology hidden on Earth's moon.

I was relatively satisfied with the plot events of Transformers. The bad guys had a plan to rule the world and they almost won.  However the movie is very long and the action not beginning until ninety minutes into almost two and a half hour film.  I am also tired of many of the things in this movie:

- I am tired of Shia Labeouf running around acting like a loud, fast talking fool.  His character has gone from slightly annoying to highly annoying.
- I got tired of Michael Bay trying to force me to find Rosie Huntington-Whiteley sexy by doing so many gratuitous, lingering shots of her.
- I got tired of the Shia's parents, they serve no purpose, are not funny and take up too much time in an already long film
- I got tired of seeing robots that for some unexplained reason have human features such and dreadlocks and beards.
- I am tired of Autobots appearing out of nowhere just because it suits the plot.  (I am talking about you Wreckers).

Even with all this, I still left the theater satisfied.  The 3D done here is really good, I didn't think that it was distracting or poorly done.  I hope this franchise is done because this movie ends definitively and satisfactorily.  I do not think I could handle another film in this franchise.  I'm done.

* 1/2 stars

Celebrate Brooklyn! Hosted by the Lyricist Lounge

I went to the Celebrate Brooklyn! show hosted by the Lyricist Lounge yesterday. The show had performances by Large Professor, Joell Ortiz, Smif-n-Wessun and headlined by Raekwon.  I had a great time, here are some photos I shot of the event.

Celebrate Brooklyn! Show

Away We Go: A Nice Movie about Nice People

Away We Go stars Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski as a nervous couple on the verge of having a baby.  Unsure about their fitness as parents, they decide to take road trips to visit family and friends to determine if they could live near them as the support they need for their child..  On the way, they get a deeper understanding of each other and the ones around them.

I really have nothing terrible to say about this movie, nor do I have anything really positive.  I liked the Rudolph and Krasinski as the couple, their bond seems genuine and they come across as real people who are in love with each other.  My issue with the movie are the people they visit; they are one dimensional, corny and worst of all, they seemed fake.  Rudolph and Krasinki seem to be nice people who are surrounded by wacky idiots.  The trips didn't get interesting until they travel to Montreal and visit their college friends who seem to have had an insight into what this couple needs in order to best raise their future child.  By then, the movie had lost any of the real potential it had.

**1/2 stars.

Hangover Part II: I hope the franchise is over

I emailed my brother about Hangover Part II to tell him about it.  This is what I wrote:


You liked hangover part I?
If you want to see the exact same movie except in Bangkok, you will like hangover part II.
99% of the jokes depend on you seeing Hangover part I and saying “Oh that was funny in Hangover Part I”.
If you did not see Hangover Part I you will not get any of the jokes in the movie. This movie cannot stand on its own.
The main joke of this movie delivers is that events of Hangover Part I are happening again.
I’m not saying I didn’t laugh, because even though a lot of the jokes are just Hangover Part I repeats, Hangover Part I was funny.

Zach Galifianakis gets really annoying, they go over the top with his character.

BTW, it is going to make $120M over the Memorial day weekend. That’s insane.


* and 1/2 stars

Brutal Year for Freshman Shows

As a follow up to my earlier post on Fall TV, I wrote up this quick chart of many of the freshman shows.

The Cape realizes he is cancelled

Show	Network	Status
My Generation	ABC	Cancelled
The Whole Truth	ABC	Cancelled
Off the Map	ABC	Cancelled
Mr. Sunshine	ABC	Cancelled
Better with You	ABC	Full Season Cancelled
No Ordinary Family	ABC	Full Season Cancelled
Detroit 1-8-7	ABC	Partial Pick-up Cancelled
Rubicon	AMC	Cancelled
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior	CBS	Cancelled
Mad Love	CBS	Cancelled
$#*! My Dad Says	CBS	Full Season Cancelled
The Defenders	CBS	Full Season Cancelled
Lone Star	FOX	Cancelled
Running Wilde	FOX	Cancelled
Traffic Light	FOX	Cancelled
Breaking In	FOX	Cancelled
The Chicago Code	FOX	Cancelled
Raising Hope	FOX	Full Season Cancelled
Terriers	FX	Cancelled
Outlaw	NBC	Cancelled
Undercovers	NBC	Cancelled
Cape	NBC	Cancelled
Perfect Couple	NBC	Cancelled
The Paul Reiser Show	NBC	Cancelled
Law & Order: Los Angeles	NBC	Full Season Cancelled
Outsourced	NBC	Full Season Cancelled
The Event	NBC	Full Season Cancelled
Chase	NBC	Partial Pick-up Cancelled
Hellcats	The CW	Full Season Cancelled
Walking Dead	AMC	Full Season
Blue Bloods	CBS	Full Season
Hawaii Five-0	CBS	Full Season
Mike & Molly	CBS	Full Season
Boardwalk Empire	HBO	Full Season
The Big C	Showtime	Full Season
Nikita	The CW	Full Season

It was especially brutal year for Fox, NBC, and ABC.  Not really any new shows to take to next year.  Hopefully there are some promising shows during the upfronts.

Revisiting Sports Night

Sports Night was one of favorite shows when I was younger.  It was recently put back onto Netflix's instant watch and I decided to check it out once again to see if it sill holds up after 13 years.  The show was created by Aaron Sorkin who would later create West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and recently won the Oscar for writing the screenplay for The Social Network.

There are early trademark Sorkin touches in the show, fast paced witty dialogue mixed with stories that can be both funny and serious in the same episode.



However, there is something off-putting about the early episodes; the laugh track.  Laugh tracks have bothered me for a while, and they are unnecessary in an Aaron Sorkin production.  Sports Night tells really interesting stories and it doesn't need the laugh track to make you think it is funny.  It also becomes really irksome when you have the laugh track in one scene and then a really serious moment like this the next.  Fortunately as the first season goes on, the laugh track gets toned down and the show really starts delivered great episodes, with powerful moments like this.

The mixture of dialogue and story still holds up today, and I enjoyed watching this show a second time.