The great acting in this movie is attributable to Bradley Cooper, who plays Phil – an always cool guy who doesn’t let the drama of the moment affect his game plan. I think every guy who goes out and parties a little bit knows a guy like Phil so much of the audience can relate to that character. Then you have Ed Helms’ performance as Stu, a tight ass who is completely subservient to his girlfriend. Again, I think most guys have a friend who is his girlfriend’s complete bitch – so we can relate.

And then you have Zach Galifianakis as Alan. I have to admit that I never really cared for Galifianakis before, but he did an excellent job playing Alan – a guy who has something wrong with him and is a little bit fucked up. For the third time, I think that most guys watching this movie know somebody like – someone who is just a little bit out there and says and does the weirdest things. Justin Billings plays Doug, which is almost a forgettable character since most of the movie focuses on the other three trying to find Doug. However, for a role that is supposed to be the everyman “nice guy,” I thought that Billings did a great job.

The plot of the movie is also pretty good – three guys take their friend to Las Vegas for a bachelor party and when they wake up, they have no idea what happened the night before. The viewer eventually learns why these guys have no idea what happened, but along the way we’re treated to the three main characters trolling around Las Vegas in the morning and afternoon trying to piece back together their collective memory.

The movie has a bit of a Comedy Central movie feel to it; something along the lines of a Harold and Kumar movie, but much funnier. For those guys out there – and those ladies who enjoy guy humor – I recommend going to see this movie. I’m not sure how much longer it will be in theaters, but I’m sure it’ll be on DVD in time for Christmas, so watch out for it.

Of course, my schedule screwed me and I started missing shows so I stopped watching completely…which means that I had to wait an entire year for the f’ing DVDs to come out! I bought the DVDs earlier this week, watched them all, and still managed to miss the first episode of Season 7. Thank God I have DVR these days!

Season 6 was great. The show has grown-up so much over the last 5 years that it’s really become a great show with many adult themes. Sex, desire, marriage, lust – all of these play a major part in many of the episodes. This is the season that sees Lana Lang marry Lex Luthor and ultimately “explode” in the final episode. We follow Clark track escaped convicts from the Phantom Zone (which is where Zod exiled Clark at the end of Season 5). In fact, Season 6 ends with Clark fighting against the last – and strongest – escapee from the Phantom Zone.

One thing that really pissed me off about this season was the fact that Lana seemed to wind up in the hospital in the majority of the episodes. At one point, I think she was in there for a few episodes in a row! How long can you play out that storyline before it gets old? We get it, she’s physically weak, emotionally tempered, and sexually strong. We know! Move to the next friggin’ level of her character development!

The introduction of Jimmy Olsen was good for the show – or at least I think so. His interaction with Chloe really brings a different side of her character out for the fans to enjoy. It also clearly puts Clark in his own little world where he’s essentially alone. I mean even his Mother has Lionel Luther to lean on! Oh, and speaking of Annette O’Toole and John Glover, they (once again) steal the season with their acting. As do Chloe and Lois Lane (Erica Durance). Tom Welling is also great as Clark Kent as is Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor.

But honestly, at this point in the show’s history it is unnecessary to go over the excellence of the cast. They’re good – and if you don’t believe me then watch on Thursday nights at 8pm on The CW.

Season 6 was a great season and I’m looking forward to another excellent season!

In talking about this movie, first things first: Ryan Kwanten does an AWESOME job as Jamie Ashen, the main character of the film (pictured to the left). The movie starts with Kwanten undergoing a huge family loss (his wife is killed) – his search for answers occupies the remainder of the film. As you soon find out, he has been pegged as the main suspect in his wife’s death and he’s out to prove himself innocent. A lot of the suspense and drama in the film are the sole result of Kwanten’s performances. His facial expressions and deep breathing make one of the early scenes in a hotel room especially creepy. Many of the scenes actually show Kwanten with only a wooden doll to share the scene with. Being able to pull good performances out of a wooden co-star is pretty spectacular! Good job!

Also in this movie is former New Kid on the Block, Donnie Wahlberg. It is interesting that Donnie plays a detective since his brother, Mark Wahlberg, just got done playing a detective in the “Departed.” Regardless of what you thought about Mark’s performance, Donnie is just as good if not better in some respects in his role as Det. Jim Lipton in “Dead Silence.” I was pleasantly surprised by Donnie’s acting acumen.

Now this may sound weird, but one of the best features of this film was the camera work and the set design. I mean it was just magnificent. Good job to the director and production team all around. The camera work really did a great job of enhancing the suspense and drama of the movie and that’s a hard thing to accomplish.

The DVD also comes with some “extras” including an alternate opening and alternate ending as well as some commentary from the filmmakers. Just like everyone else out there, I like seeing a little something extra after a movie is over and these features along with the deleted scenes did not disappoint. And for you uber nerds out there, one of the extras is a timeline of how one scene goes from a CGI graphic to an actual scene in the movie – pretty interesting stuff, really.

The cover art on the box of the DVD says, “You Scream. You Die.” Such is the curse of Mary Shaw (Mary Shaw is the hottie in the photo above) – but why is the curse in existence? Who does it effect? How can it be stopped? How do Kwanten and Wahlberg all fit into this horror movie? Well folks, Dead Silence comes out on DVD this Tuesday, July 26th.

I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of this film and giving it a whirl one night. But before you do that, go to the top of this post and click on the movie’s official website – it’s pretty creepy and very well done. My favorite part of the site is the Dumm-E Mail you can send people. The people who are promoting this film sent me one and it’s pretty damn freaky (then again, I think that marionettes and clowns are scary as hell anyway). Once again, go out and get a copy of this movie – you won’t be disappointed!

After watching the DVD, one of the things that comes right out at you is the thoroughness of the sit-down interviews. All of the Horsemen except Steve McMichael, Lex Luger, Sid Vicious, Sting, and Ole Anderson are interviewed during the DVD. That’s pretty amazing considering that these weren’t the main guys (except Ole, that is). You get to hear the story of the Horsemen right from Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Chris Benoit, JJ Dillon, and Dean Malenko. I would be remiss if I didn’t say that JJ Dillon’s interviews were exceptional. This man is a true wrestling proponent and someone that should find himself in the Hall of Fame soon. If not for his excellence as a manager, then at least for his dedication to the sport.

It would do no good to go over the minutia of the DVD here, but I will say that this is one of the more candid WWE DVDs that I’ve ever seen. Paul Roma is interviewed and he comes right out and said that he shouldn’t have been a Horsemen…which is funny only because Flair’s interview is interspersed with Roma’s in that Flair (and the rest of the Horsemen) were saying how Paul Roma was not a good fit for the group and that he was just the completely wrong person for the job. Then you have Roma’s take that the “idea” of the Horsemen was becoming an ego trip for Flair and Anderson and the gang – it’s a good bit of shoot-style video.

I will say that I didn’t like how much storylines played a part in the one-on-one interviews. It was weird – they would sometimes set up the next part of the DVD by talking about the storyline and then gradually move into the backstage/real life discussion. It was odd at times.

Eric Bischoff had a good, frank discussion about his lawsuit against Ric Flair and – to the DVD author’s credit – the Flair interviews against Bischoff are included either in the extras or as a part of the main story. You have to admire the passion that Flair showed in those interviews on NITRO where he looked like he wanted to rip Bischoff’s head off of his shoulders. Though most of us knew that it was real at the time, Flair tells us straight up in the DVD that he would have killed Bischoff if he had the chance on the night that he returned in Greenville.

All in all, this is a great look at the premier “gang” in professional wrestling. I suggest watching the DVD, though I’m unsure that you should purchase it. If you can rent it for a few bucks at Blockbuster or if you’re willing to wait until the price drops from $20 to $10, then go for it. You won’t be disappointed.

The gist of the movie is that sometime in the early 21st Century (now), the dumb people of the world just started procreating like crazy while the smart folks waited because the market was bad, their particular situation was bad, or they just couldn’t “perform” in bed. This led to the acceleration of Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” doctrine, but in favor of the morons and not the smart people.

What does this create? A world full of people who don’t know what to do with their garbage, can’t comprehend anything other than grunts and minimal phrases, and use the equivalent of Gatorade to water their crops (which all – surprisingly – are dead). Throw in a former UFC fighter as President of America and the #1 TV channel being named the “Violence Channel” and you’ve got Mike Judge’s 2505.

I won’t go into the details about how Vince Vaughn is transported from 2005 to 2505 or how he and Maya Rudolph get along in the future, but I will say that this movie is hilarious to anyone who knows a real dumb person. You know the person I’m referencing. The one who goes, “Hey guys, I have a story.” And then proceeds to tell a story that is so God-awfully boring you want to kick him in the shin.

And I hate to say this because I really do admire the jobs that police officers do, but the cops in 2505 are so close to some of the police officers that I know here in 2005 that it’s scary. Thank God my hometown of Roxbury doesn’t have any police like this, which is more than I can say for some of the fools that I had to deal with while I was a college student…

But I digress. With a running time of 84 minutes, Idiocracy is a great movie to watch on a weekend afternoon if you’re looking for a laugh. I recommend it.

The movie is called Unknown because the main characters basically have no idea what the hell is going on. Apparently there was a struggle and they are all sitting there slowly waking up in an industrial type of building and remembering bits and pieces of their lives. As they wake up and move around the building, they realize that they’re locked in (it’s never fully explained why they are locked into the building) and that they are either kidnappers or kidnap victims.

There is a second, related plot that deals with the police in the outside world who are trying to find the kidnap victims – but that doesn’t go anywhere until the very end of the movie.

What I think the writers were trying to go for with the bulk of the movie was to show each of the men who are locked in this large warehouse as a regular human being. They succeed in this measure for the most part, though they forget some minor parts of each person’s story and they really don’t give too much of a back story to Joey Pants (from Sopranos fame).

The twist at the end of the movie (and you’ll probably not want to read from this point forward if you haven’t seen the movie and plan on seeing it) is that Jim Caviezel is made out to be a bad kidnapper, but turns out to be an undercover cop. Then, in the last minutes of the movie, it’s revealed that he masterminded a plot to kidnap one of the “good guys” because he was having an affair with that guy’s wife.

His course in the movie takes him from being neutral, then somewhat good, then somewhat bad, then really good, but ultimately really bad. It’s a good plot and it’s well done in what is obviously a low-budget film (which is one of the things I really liked about the movie). But, at least for me, it was predictable from the get go in that I knew the main character would ultimately be a villain. Don’t all independent films sorta have that progression with the good guy main character?

If you’ve got a Blockbuster rental laying around and you’re looking for a decent movie to watch that is a bit off the beaten, Hollywood path, then I suggest renting this movie. You’ll enjoy the plot twists (unless you just read it above) and you’ll enjoy watching the story progress.

Anyway, before this show was cancelled it was one of the most critically-acclaimed sitcoms in the last ten years – matching even Seinfeld’s early hysteria and cult fan base. After watching the first season (again), it’s easy to see why.

This show is absolutely hilarious! From Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter) and her snide remarks to all of her children to George Michael Bluth (Michael Cera) and his confusion over whether or not to pursue a relationship with his cousin – it all just falls into place perfectly. As I wrote earlier on this blog, there are some people that watch the show and go, “I don’t get it.” My suspicion is that some dingbat at FOX had that reaction after watching the first show and then just said, “Cancel it.” However, after you watch the first two or three episodes, you “get” what is going on and it’s absolutely brilliant to watch.

The camera work for the show is also great as is the show’s use of the same flashback clips throughout the entire season (this carries into the second season, too).

Arrested Development’s basic story is the story of a rich, privileged family who literally has it all, but loses it when the family patriarch is sent to prison during his retirement party. The problem? Well, besides squandering company funds, there is a chance he may have “committed some light treason” by building housing developments in Iraq. The timeliness of this show (at the time it was aired) is unbeatable, but that’s another story. The plot is made all the better by the fact that the entire family is completely clueless and oblivious to everyday life.

What holds them all together? That would be the prodigal son, Michael Bluth.

Michael, who is masterfully played by Jason Bateman of 1980’s/1990’s sitcom “The Hogan Family,” is the glue that holds the family together as they are subjected to a federal probe. On top of that chore, he also is trying to raise his son, George Michael Bluth, better than he was raised by his father. While he is generally a good father, it’s fun to see him stumble over his words every once in a while and to watch him completely ignore some of his son’s most basic wants and needs.

The story works so well because it is written so well. Without the amazing writing, the show could really fall apart. Again, it’s a shame that this award-winning show was taken off of television too early, but that’s the history of FOX and TV shows that the fans and critics both love. Why couldn’t they put this show on FX? Lord knows it would have been the best show on the entire channel! Eh, I digress.

I highly suggest going out and buying the first season of Arrested Development. Yes, buy it and don’t rent it because I guarantee that once you “get” what is going on, you’ll want to watch the series over and over again.

By far, my favorite part of the DVD was the story of how Andre the Giant almost knocked out the Warrior during a match. For those of you that don’t know, Andre the Giant was a legitimate “tough guy” wrestler who could easily smash anyone that was in the ring with him. He told the Warrior time and time again that he wanted to do a “spot” during the match, but that he wanted to do it his way. And after the Warrior did it his OWN way for two matches in a row, the Giant took matters into his own hands. In the third match, the Warrior came off the ropes looking to clothesline Andre and all Andre did was put his bowling ball-like fist out and smashed the Warrior right in the head.

The Warrior did the spot Andre’s way from that point on. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

The other thing that is really funny about this DVD is the way TNA’s Christian (a WWE wrestler at the time of the taping) and WWE’s Edge and Chris Jericho go over some of their favorite Ultimate Warrior promos. First of all, their memory of these promos is uncanny. And second – it is absolutely hilarious to hear them say things that make you think to yourself, “the Warrior would never say that,” only to have the tape of the Warrior saying it from almost two decades earlier.

I was glad that they went over the Warrior’s time in WCW because that’s what really sealed the deal on his tenure in professional wrestling. I was also glad that they covered the now deceased “Renegade” and how he was a cheap Warrior rip-off (though Bischoff claims otherwise). Looking back at Warrior’s time in WCW shows you just how crazy the guy was; his first promo upon debuting made little to no sense at all!

Hulk Hogan has a few good lines where he says that both he and Bischoff knew in the ring that night that the Warrior was an exhausted commodity.

For the wrestling fans who remember the Ultimate Warrior, I suggest seeing this DVD. It gets a little long in some places and thus it could easily be a half an hour shorter in length, but the story told about the Warrior’s maniacal ways in the wrestling world is worth the time watching this DVD. For those of you who are NOT wrestling fans – don’t bother seeing this one as it will probably make little sense to you.

This DVD was a biography/archive of the Superstar’s wrestling career. I enjoyed the stories that he told of getting into the business and the way that the other wrestlers who were interviewed showed their adoration for the Superstar. Many of the greatest names in professional wrestling history cite the Superstar as their inspiration to enter the wrestling business. Men from Hulk Hogan to Ric Flair to Dusty Rhodes to Governor Jesse Ventura – all of them give Graham proper praise on this DVD.

The DVD gets very interesting when Vince McMahon and Billy Graham each recount their involvement in the lawsuit that Graham brought against McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation. Both sides tell their story, from Billy’s belief that he was thrown aside by the company he helped to build to Vince saying that many wrestlers don’t want to hear the honest truth of, “You’ve got nothing left to offer,” before they get fired.

The story does have a happy ending, though. Before going under the knife for a liver transplant, Superstar got a phone call from McMahon saying how the entire WWE was behind him. This buried the hatchet between the two and led to an eventual visit by Graham to a WWE PPV event in Phoenix. And, rightfully so, this led to Superstar Billy Graham’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

For the wrestling fan, I think this DVD is a must-see. I’m in the process of reading the autobiography that goes along with the DVD, so I’ll be able to post a review of that soon enough. However, if you’ve got a few bucks laying around or a Blockbuster rental and you don’t know what to get, go for this DVD.

The only thing that this film is good for is to put faces with names. Other than the obvious lack of including all, most, or even a majority of the storyline features from the book, there is no contiguous logic in the story. It’s like watching a bunch of scenes from what could have been a much, MUCH longer movie. It’s disjointed and there are not enough explanations in the two and a half hours that the thing tarries on for.

I will say that the special effects and wardrobe are done very well. So was the casting and make-up. Warner Brothers does do a good job of giving you a look at what Hogwarts and the characters would probably look like in real life.

But in terms of telling a story, this movie sucked. If you’re a non-Harry Potter fan, then I would suggest not using this film as a basis to judge whether or not you’d like the series.