Favorite Movies of the Year, so far

The year is almost over, and there are a few movies left that look pretty good, like Sweeney Todd and National Treasure 2. I'll just have to amend this later if anything makes it to this list. First off, I want to do some honorable mentions: Pirates of the Caribbean-At World's End; Enchanted; The Bourne Ultimatum; No Country For Old Men; The Golden Compass; TMNT; and that's enough. So here is my top 10 movies of 2007, keep in mind I rate movies on how moved or entertained I was.

10. The Kingdom - When I first saw the trailer for this one I immediately thought "Man that movie's gonna suck." After hearing good things about it from several sources, and having nothing better to do on a Friday night, I went to see it. Man was I wrong, it starts out as a procedural, showing the Iraqis perspective on our occupation as the team tries to figure out who bombed an American encampment. Then toward the end it turns into a kick ass action flick as they try to get one of their own who was kidnapped back. This movie gets intense. Glad I checked it out.

9. Grindhouse - It's easy to tell why this one made the list: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are two of my favorite directors; over-the-top zombie killing fun; intense car chase sequences; Freddy Rodriguez being a complete bad ass; Kurt Russell as the creepy bad guy; and three words that say why the movie rocks so much, Machine Gun Leg.

8. Shoot 'Em Up - This is the most over the top action movie since I don't know when. I went with this movie from the beginning and was not disappointed. Clive Owen is the ultimate bad ass in this movie, he just doesn't miss. The movie gets creative in how he uses his marksmanship capabilities. My enjoyment levels watching this movie were off the charts.

7. Superbad - This is the funniest movie of the year. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera are becoming two of my favorite actors.

6. Shooter - Mark Wahlberg gets set up for the attempted killing of the President, and he don't like that much. After he gets away, he makes his way up the food chain to the guy who ordered the set up. There is also some great buddy action flick moments, and great uses of his being a sniper. Kick ass flick.

5. Bridge to Terabithia - If anything, this is the saddest movie of the year. Two kids make their own fantasy world where they go to get away from things. A blooming friendship leads to tragedy, and the ending with his little sister is beautiful. Also, the ultra cute Zooey Deschanel makes an appearance. Just ask my sister how sad this movie is, if you tell someone to watch this, warn them, tears are a coming.

4. Ratatouille - I love Pixar movies, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and the Toy Storys are movies that I always go back to when I feel like watching a feel good movie. This movie is right up there as one of Pixar's best. This movie does what Pixar does best, the underdog who shows that you can do anything if you put your heart into it, no matter who you are. Even if you're a rat who wants to be a chef. Every time I saw this my spirits lifted and the world was a little bit brighter.

3. Stardust - This movie just enchanted me from the start. I read the book a while ago and enjoyed it, but the movie went above and beyond what I thought this movie would be. It was fun, whimsical, moving, intense, romantic, I loved this movie thoroughly.

2. Once - Take two people whose lives revolve around music, who get together and find out that they are the perfect match, musically. The romance nevers gets off the ground, but you just know that they would be perfect for eachother, but both of their insecurities keep them away and they both go back to the lovers who wronged them. The music in this is awesome, and this is the most beautiful and moving movie of the year.

1. Live Free or Die Hard - Bruce Willis is the coolest actor of his generation, a man of action who can deliver a one-liner like no one's business. And with Justin Long as his sidekick, this movie was just taken to a whole new level. The best action movie of the year, with a ton of comedy and wit. And my favorite movie of this last year.

And there we are. The funnest list to make of the year.

A Brand New Blog

I hadn't decided whether or not I wanted to continue this blog after I got home from my road trip. I'm not really one for putting their deepest emotions out there for anyone to see. But I realized something, it's just a blog. I don't have to put anything into it that I don't feel comfortable with. Who knows, I may throw a little anguish in here from time to time, but this will mostly be about things that I've noticed, things that are pissing me off, or just random stuff that I wanted to bug Mike with but thought better.

For instance, it's hard to find the perfect house when you're working on a budget. There's always something that you love a lot about one, but then something else turns you off of it, whether it be the neighborhood, the floors, the yard, but it's always something. Today I saw a couple houses that were great. One was brand new, ranch style, lots of room, and I just loved the layout of the house, but the neighborhood wasn't great, there was an identical house next door, no A/C, and not much of a yard. The other I saw was an older ranch, big garage, nice deck in the back, big back yard, big barn, cool looking tree in the backyard, roomy, but there was also no A/C, some of the floors would have to be redone, and who knows what else would need to be done in the next few years, it is an older house. I've been looking and this seems to be the trend on the budget I'm working on: it's not gonna be perfect. So you know what I think, so what, it's not perfect now, with a little bit of work, I could come to thinkof it that way someday. But seeing as how just writing the word work gave me hives, we'll have to see.

Day Ten: Lansing, MI

This is the last entry for the roadtrip. I got home early Sunday and have been catching up with shows on my DVR, and pretty much just loafing about. I was beat when I got back, so I took it easy.

After I left the Boulder area I headed west to the Rocky Mountain National Park. As you get close to the park there is a town that leads into it, Estes Park, and if they ever thought about doing a Northern Exposure remake, it could be made here. Lots of log cabins and old style buildings and the thing that reminded me the most, elk on the side of the road eating grass, just chillin'. I didn't get a picture 'cause it was right by the middle of town on a somewhat busy street. I tell you what, there were elk all over that park, on the side of the road, you definitely had to keep your eyes on the road.

The park itself was really beautiful. it started off in the floor of Rocky's where it's teeming with trees, green and gold, to the top, where it's barren and snow covered. Here's a few of my favorite pictures.


You definitely had to take the mountain pass slow at times. Two miles above sea level on a two way street. It got a little nerve wracking at times.

There were pulloffs along the road where you could take a short path to something, sometimes a lake, sometimes just neat looking rock formations. I tried to take all that I could, but it became apparent that Rocky Mountain air is not the best air when you're fighting a cold, thank goodness I brought a jacket and gloves, just in case, although a winter hat, just in case, would have been nice too.

I spent a while in the park, but then I headed out, I took a road North through the rockies some more and drove west through Wyoming toward my next destination, Mt. Rushmore. I got there just after dark. For some reason the parking was free, nice. As I approached the Mt. all I could think about was how much it looked like a matte painting lit up by spotlights like it was. I stared at it for a while, tried to get a picture, but with the only light being spotlights, the best I got was not quite crystal clear. It's one of those surreal moments as you think about how something like that could even be done in those days.

I hauled ass for the next two days, cutting through South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and back to Michigan. I ended up sleeping at a rest area on the way, that's what they're there for, right. Plus, I got to thinking about how much this trip was costing and fell into cheapo mode. Well, I just didn't stay in a hotel Friday night. I got home early Sunday morning around 2 AM. I spent Sunday recuping by watching football, and now I'm back. I'm glad I went, but it's good to be back.

Day Eight: Boulder, CO

Man, today was just the rejuvenation I needed. Driving through Utah and Colorado, the scenery was so beautiful, time just flew by. I took I-70E. Here's a pic of what it was like in Utah.

I-70 through Colorado weaved around and sometimes through the Rocky Mountains. It was a great ride.

Day Seven: Las Vegas Part Two

Las Vegas, I am at a loss of words of what to say about this town. There is a lot of things to do, but being alone I went for the easiest thing to find to do in Vegas, gambling. Now I didn't lose the house or anything like that, but I sure didn't win. Man I'm a crybaby. Done with that, now onto the things that were good today. My sister Rolanda told me about an elvis impersonator who performs free everyday. I went and checked him out at Bill's, formerly Barbary Coast. He was really good, his gimmick was that he was Big Elvis. I have no idea who the chic is.

The other thing that was sweet was the fountain in front of the Bellagio. You know, the meeting place for the crew in the Ocean movies. I think I'll go check 'em out again before I go. I tell you what, I checked out the Bellagio and that place is awesome.

Oh yeah, I'm staying at the Planet Hollywood, the room is pretty nice. There's random memorabilia in every room, in mine is a picture of the Blues Brothers, a copy of a letter by Bruce Lee where he stated his plan on how he's gonna be the highest paid Oriental super star in the US, and a poster of 16 Blocks.

Oh, and there isn't a missing entry into the blog, I just couldn't get myself out of the room yesterday. I didn't feel good, so I just stayed in. Tomorrow I leave early, so I can get to Colorado and drive through the Rockies while it's still light out.

Day Five: Las Vegas - Part One

Made my up to the Grand Canyon early enough for me to get to Vegas around 8, here time. The drive was even more scenic than the day before, it was hard to keep my eyes on the road. At the Grand Canyon, I went to the southern entrance to the park and there's two lookout points. At the first one the fog was so bad you couldn't see anything.

I wonder how many people got there and thought, Why wouldn't it be? I just laughed and nodded, yup. Luckily the other lookout wasn't engulfed in fog.

After that I called up the Planet Hollywood hotel and got another night so I'll be there til Thursday. Tonight I'm gonna go see the strip. I'm gonna wait till later to get the full affect. Plus I just got up from a late night poker tournament that I was in. I got to the final 10 and then was taken out. I'm gonna loaf about for a bit.

Day Four: Benson, AZ

So, I figured that I would get a jump on the next leg of my trip and leave Austin this morning. Well, I just stopped at a Best Western for the night at a town pretty close to Tuscon. The drive today went pretty easily, especially with the Sirius radio, NFL games all day long. Man Sirius rocks. Plus there was a lot of beautiful scenery.

Tomorrow I head to the Grand Canyon, and Tuesday it's on to Vegas.

Day Three: Austin, TX

So, I drove some more today. Not a lot happened today, before I went to the game. My sister Rolanda had a roller derby game. They didn't do that well, final score 160-50, and for some reason it was stopped after two periods, and my sister hardly got to play, but they gave it their all. They posed for a nice pic after the bout. Rolanda's third from the right in the back. If you want to find out more about them, visit www.detroitderbygirls.com.

And check out that desk at the Courtyard Marriott I'm staying at. Nice.

I went with Landa to this after party thing at a local bar and I stayed for a few minutes before I realized that that overwhelming feeling that I don't belong there wasn't going away. So I bid my adieu and went back to the hotel.

On the road again tomorrow. Gonna start heading toward Las Vegas, and stop some place on the way and try to catch the Lions game. I have this nice room for another night, but the road is calling my name. It's a long way to Vegas, and I want to get their fresh, and ready for debauchery.

Day Two: Oklahoma City, OK

Well, when I left this morning I thought to myself, "Wait, I'm staying in Oklahoma City tonight, what's there to do in Oklahoma City?" Answer: nothing I can think of. So I took my time today and stopped at the Meramac Caverns in Missouri. It's claim to fame is that Jesse James once hid out there after knocking off a train for a thousand dollars. It was okay, to tell you the truth, if you've seen one cave you've seen them all. There was a light show at the end of the tour that was fun and the tour guide was a cute chick, so that helped.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, but I did see a couple roadsigns in Oklahoma that were odd. The first went like this: SPEED LIMIT 75 MINIMUM SPEED 50 NO TOLERANCE. Man, they mean business. If it was up to me I'd add a fourth line BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING. The other one I thought was odd was one that said: DO NOT DRIVE INTO SMOKE. What do they got going on in Oklahoma to where that sign is needed. I guess it makes sense, 'cause whenever I see smoke I head straight for it, who knows what's in there, it could be the start of a zombie plague or just really dramatic when I come speeding out the other side in slow motion. Going to bed early tonight, tomorrow's Rolanda's game. On to Austin I go.

Road Trip: Day One: St. Louis

Well, I left this morning later than I wanted to. Didn't get on the road till 11:30. Oh well, I forgot about the time change so I got in St. Louis about 6:30 ET. Yesterday I picked up an ipod thing for your car so you can play it over your radio, freaking genius. I have a feeling I'm going to be listening to a lot of podcasts in the next two weeks. On the way I stopped for gas near Springfield, IL. I saw that they had an Abraham Lincoln museum, and I thought, doesn't sound that exciting, right up my alley. I got there fifteen to five and it closed at five, no tours starting after four, man Abe, you're killing me.

I took the metro train to get into St. Louis, and got really lucky. I didn't get a ticket, I didn't see where you get one. I heard someone say that the penalty for riding without a ticket was fifty bucks. So this girl is checking tickets and she gets to some girl right before me and she can't find hers. The ticket lady stays with her and gets off at the next exit with her. I got off at the the one after that and got myself a ticket. I went to the Arch, and took some pics, but it's not the best thing to take pics of in the dark.

To get there I had to walk through this park. It was well lit, but I just went to go see The Brave One and couldn't help thinking about it.

Then I went to an Irish pub called The Dubliners, I had the duck, it was really good and my waitress regaled me with stories of backpacking in New Zealand and Vietnam and all over. Then I headed home and chatted with some guys who were there for a policemen convention, they reminded me more than a little of Farva. Time to sleep.