Movies:
- Ratatouille: Awesome movie from the geniuses at Pixar. It moderately has a message, it's funny, and it's good for all ages. A must see for those of you that liked Cars, The Incredibles, Toy Story, etc. Bottom Line: 3.75/4 stars for one of the best movies I have ever seen.
- The Simpson's Movie: Lives up to the hype and more. One of the funnier movies I have seen a long time because they stuck true to the formula that made The Simpsons funny in the first place, stupid humor. Bottom Line: 3.5/4 stars because it begins to drag slightly at the end, but is still consistently gut-busting.
- Knocked Up: I have no idea why this movie received such great praise from everyone. Bill Simmons from ESPN's Page 2 explained the movie perfectly when during his crap wrap said, "Saw Knocked Up last week - started out strong, faded down the stretch, about 15 minutes too long. Liked it though. Although I'm not sure how I feel about this new era of chick flicks that secretly disguise themselves as guy flicks for about 35 minutes, then the main character gets whipped and loses the will to live, but things work out in the end and we're supposed to be happy for him because he doesn't hang out with his friends anymore and his life is over." Knocked Up is occasionally hilarious, but if you are looking for 40 Year Old Virgin #2 you came to the wrong place. Bottom Line: 2.5/4 stars because my expectations were so high there was no way this movie would have lived up to the hype.
Music:
- T-Pain, Epiphany: Baby-making music with great beats fused with unintentionally hilarious lyrics such as "Baby girl I ain't tryna to get you drunk I'm just tryna get you tipsy" or "Baby its all gravy, its all good / Cuz we gonna need to open up the back door and let ya legs up / or imma put ya right on the hood" from the not-so-subtly named "Backseat Action." Epiphany is good for a laugh and is perfect for a long drive because it will keep you entertained in quite a few different ways. Bottom Line: 3/5 stars for keeping me laughing all while having some good beats to bob my head to.
- Kanye West on the whole: Kanye has put out 3 outstanding songs recently ("Bittersweet" with John Mayer, "Stronger" with Daft Punk and my personal favorite "Can't Tell Me Nothing") and I cannot wait until his next CD comes out. I might actually go to the store and buy this one and not pirate it off the internet. Kanye is one of the only rappers that is consistently good all while consistently changing the styles of music with which he collaborates. He has worked with Adam Levine from Maroon 5, John Mayer, Daft Punk, Common, Jay-Z, etc and managed to not look like he is forcing it. Bottom Line: 5/5 stars for the potential to be an amazing CD when it finally comes out.
Video Games (note: I will be taking the Xbox360 reviews and JTR will take PS3):
- The Darkness: This FPS introduces a few cool dynamics into the genre, but where an awesome story, good graphics and gratifying powers prevail; a laggy multiplayer and short single player make this game a tough buy at $60. Bottom Line: 8/10
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six:Vegas: One of the finest multiplayer (Xbox live) games available now. There are a lot of maps, game types, strategies, weapons, etc that will keep you wanting more; not to mention that there is a great single player story and a co-op story where you can play though the missions with a friend on a split-screen. (This brings me to a small commentary that I will make a larger blog about which states that in games nowadays there is rarely a split-screen or local multiplayer option unless it is a crappy Mario Party esque game, some racing games or the occasional shooter. When freaking game companies don't make FPS's into a local multiplayer it totally kills it for me. Doesn't anyone remember playing Goldeneye with their friends? That was some of the best gaming I have ever done and for companies to essentially force people to only play on the internet, it further breaks apart bonds that nerds could have had if they could at least play with someone in the same room.) But I digress, RSV is a great game and it definitely worth the money. Essentially this game utilizes the hiding features that Gears of War perfected with realism that Tom Clancy games have been know for. Bottom Line (revised): 9.25/10 (10/10 multiplayer--8.5/10 single player)
- Viva Pinata: Now there are going to be a lot of people who think I'm gay for liking Viva Pinata, but when it comes down to it; VP is an engaging game with adorable animals (that happen to be pinatas), good visuals and controls that anyone can pick up and use easily. You create a garden for your pinatas to live in and then you watch the fun unfold. This fun comes from mixing and matching garden options such as: buildings, food, lakes, trees, etc in order to get different and new pinatas to visit. I understand that this sounds gay but honestly, fuck you if you ever play this game (not watch someone play) and say that it isn't fun to discover a new, sweet pinata (like the beaver one). If anything it is a fun kids game that adults can enjoy, much like an adult enjoying the movie Cars. Bottom Line: 8.25/10
Sports Trades/ Moves:
- Brewers moving Rickie Weeks down to Triple A: Some people on the team don't like it because he is one of the supposed "building blocks" of the team, but I think this is a great move. Rickie has been playing horribly as of late and I am uncertain if it's because his wrist is still hurt or because he has lost a great deal of confidence at the plate. He is hitting .212 with an OPS of .693 (Chris Capuano's is .616!) and only 5 dingers, none of which warrants giving him anymore opportunities in the majors. He needs to get AB's and the only way to do that and not handicap the Crew is to send him down to Nashville.
- Braves acquire Mark Teixeira and pitcher Ron Mahay from the Texas Rangers for catcher Jason Saltalamacchia, infielder Elvis Andrus and pitchers Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison and Beau Jones: Good trade all the way around. Although I haven't seen him play too much Salty seems a tad overrated, but this trade is still great because it gives the Rangers some more to build around and give the Braves the extra power they need to make a run at the play-offs. The Braves also received Octavio Dotel from the Royals for Kyle Davies (some prospect I know nothing about) which helps them bolster up their bullpen.
- Red Sox trade pitcher Kason Gabbard and outfielders David Murphy and Engle Beltre to the Rangers for reliever Eric Gagne. This is a lot like the Braves trade in that I like it for both sides. Gabbard was pitching well for the Sox but they need to make a push into the play-offs and can't wait around to try to cultivate talent.
- Boston Celtics receive Kevin Garnett for a whole bunch of shit including 2 first round picks, Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair's crazy ass, and Theo Ratliff's body. Contrary to what I have said for every other review of sports thus far, in theory, I do not really like this trade at all for either team. Boston has now morgated it's future on 3 moderately old (for basketball at least), somewhat broken down players and Minnesota got 3 guys who will only ever be bench players, an expiring contract, a pretty good PF and two 1st rounders for one of the top 25 best basketball players of all time. This being said, it was a trade that both teams had to make. Regardless of that the teams are now pretty much just either A. an injury away from being horrible (Boston) or B. already horrible with an unstable young core (Minnesota) this was a trade that both teams needed to make. KG deserves to be on a winner and I'm glad that finally he has a chance to actually go somewhere.
-BB
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