I Have Two Words For You: Ocean's Thirteen
Yes, this is correct. I am sure that you have heard the buzz about this movie. Warner Brothers announced the movie sometime back in January. However, recently they have made it officially official. Filming theoretically is beginning July 21st. But because of busy schedules among cast and crew they are filming on 5 separate sound stages in Los Angeles. So these stages in L.A. are going to be Las Vegas, essentially. This could be a good or a bad thing. We will just have to wait and see. Another bit of a beef I am having is there is no Catherine Zeta-Jones or Julia Roberts will not be present in the movie. Again, could be a good or a bad thing. Personally I was not such a huge "lets have Julia Roberts play Julia Roberts" in Oceans Twelve; but for some it worked. But I would say that Oceans Twelve was my favorite because of all the traveling involved. We were able to see places around the world that some of us may never travel to. Yet, the good thing is that all the same guys are back! Yes, George Clooney is back; this is a very good thing! So there is a new chick in town she is going to be played by actress Ellen Barkin. And supposedly she is going to be "closely connected" with Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon). Wow! That is a rather large age difference. So let's face it, at the end of Oceans Twelve François Toulour (Vincent Cassel) did kinda give a tid bit of potential foreshadowing that something was going to happen in the future with the whole "playing a garden guy" at one of Terry Benedict's (Andy Garcia) casinos, as if he was going to rob it. So this was coming, it was just a matter of time till we saw another sequel. I have mixed feelings about this Oceans Thirteen business. I will most likely be seeing it, but I make no guarantees of making it my new favorite. But I do look forward to hearing the new tagline. The one for Oceans Twelve was a little clever.. I predict "Thirteen Is Not Just A Devilish Number Anymore."
Speaking of George Clooney and Las Vegas, sometime in April will be the ground breaking of Las Ramblas. This is hopefully be my future place of residence... haha, yeah right... never will I ever be able to afford living there let alone hitting a casino or two. But I will visit, perhaps. Check out the website pretty cool stuff there is in store out there. Finally, a place in Vegas where you show wear a suit jacket. Just like in the old days of The Rat Pack. I look forward to seeing that completed around the predicted time of 2011.. hmm if I save one dollar a day between now and then I could pay for a month's worth of rent.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Saturday, March 18, 2006
True and Complete Madness
Okay so in recent years the NCAA Tournament has routinely been in the month of March. Thus has been rightly termed March Madness because of all the different sports going through their own tournament based on their different divisions, etc. However, this year, at least for Division I Mens Basketball, the term March Madness has a bit of a different meaning. This is the first year in a long time that I have seen really low ranked teams beating pretty higher randked teams. This is something that I am finding rather hard to grasp. Then there was this game yesterday night, the ultimate upset. Sixth-seeded Michigan State University becomes defeated by eleventh-seeded George Mason University. I truly thought that MSU could make it past the first round against a team that not many people have ever heard of. Then upon getting the scores this morning, I have come across another interesting upset. Bradley University ranked 13th, upset the University of Kansas ranked 4th. Kansas of all colleges... who not that long ago actually won the NCAA Tourney. I suppose it is still somewhat well and good. At least UCLA and University of Kentucky have not lost. I have no one else to pull for if they are gone. Though I have been wanred by my friend Steph to not root for UCLA because they beat Belmont, the school where her friend Beth (recent newlywed) went to college. I am not a huge Duke fan, though I will not deny their great talent. They just have so much spot light on them at most every NCAA tournament that I am just kind of bored with seeing the ads, newspaper articles, etc., that look like pieces of Duke threw-up everywhere.
So all in all, it has been a madening first round. I am hoping that Kentucky and/or UCLA will be able to pull something off. I suppose tis time to rearrange for the 3rd time my prediction bracket. Typically this need not to be done.
Okay so in recent years the NCAA Tournament has routinely been in the month of March. Thus has been rightly termed March Madness because of all the different sports going through their own tournament based on their different divisions, etc. However, this year, at least for Division I Mens Basketball, the term March Madness has a bit of a different meaning. This is the first year in a long time that I have seen really low ranked teams beating pretty higher randked teams. This is something that I am finding rather hard to grasp. Then there was this game yesterday night, the ultimate upset. Sixth-seeded Michigan State University becomes defeated by eleventh-seeded George Mason University. I truly thought that MSU could make it past the first round against a team that not many people have ever heard of. Then upon getting the scores this morning, I have come across another interesting upset. Bradley University ranked 13th, upset the University of Kansas ranked 4th. Kansas of all colleges... who not that long ago actually won the NCAA Tourney. I suppose it is still somewhat well and good. At least UCLA and University of Kentucky have not lost. I have no one else to pull for if they are gone. Though I have been wanred by my friend Steph to not root for UCLA because they beat Belmont, the school where her friend Beth (recent newlywed) went to college. I am not a huge Duke fan, though I will not deny their great talent. They just have so much spot light on them at most every NCAA tournament that I am just kind of bored with seeing the ads, newspaper articles, etc., that look like pieces of Duke threw-up everywhere.
So all in all, it has been a madening first round. I am hoping that Kentucky and/or UCLA will be able to pull something off. I suppose tis time to rearrange for the 3rd time my prediction bracket. Typically this need not to be done.
Friday, March 10, 2006
What a Night...
Yes it was the 78th Annual Academy Awards on March 5, 2006. It was a night filled with references of some blah humor to Brokeback Mountain and the movie that should have won more that being Good Night, and Good Luck. First let me start off with saying that George Clooney won his first Oscar and the first Oscar awarded in the evening. He won Best Supporting Actor for Syriana. Nicole Kidman awarded the statue to him, which is a little ironic to do believe. At the Golden Globes in 200 she also gave him an award. She must be some special good luck charm. Okay, so lets start at the beginning. It was a rather interesting opening. In past years we have all laughed so hard that we have often cried at the jokes from Billy Crystal. Though this was not done on this night, the opening was a bit funny. There is a point at the end fo the video opening where Jon Stewart is dreaming (with Halle Berry in bed with him) that he had a dream the Academy asked him to host the award show. Upon going back to sleep he wakes up again, turns over, there is the one and only George Clooney next to him. George was instructing him to start the show and that he wasnt dreaming at that point. It was an interesting opening, but I have seen better. The rest of the evening was filled with the usual funny moments. It seemed as though everyone and their mother was thanking George Clooney for their award. Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson won for Best Documentary Short. Cirrine Marrinan at the end of the speech said that she wanted to thank that Academy for seating her next to George Clooney during the Nominees Luncheon. Very hmmm...
This was also a night for surprises. Crash won Best Picutre. This was quite a shock to me. I was totally thinking it was going to be a Brokeback Mountain night. However, the Academy must not have been as a fan of a gay cowboy movie as the other award shows. So Ang Lee did win Best Director... go figure; and the movie also won an award for Original Score and Adapted Screenplay. I was excited for Philip Seymour Hoffman winning for Capote, but also disappointed that David Strathairm did not win for Good Night, and Good Luck. Anyway, it was a good evening overall. The best, of course, that Clooney won his first Oscar ever for a very important film that needed to be made at this point in our country's history.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
"The Second Chance" for us all
Upon reading many reviews and finally seeing the movie with my friend Vicki, I have a few words of my own to say. Another friend of mine, Janine, went to a Jubillee conference in Pittsburgh this past weekend. She said that there was a viewing of the movie, then Steve Taylor(director) and Jeff Carr(Jake) were there for a question and answer session. I was a bit jealous of this, but if Smitty was there whoa I would be supremely jealous. Anyway, there is alot to take away from this movie. Not just the idea that money should not be depended on to take care of the troubles that we face. However, it is a message for all of us. In the words from the title of John Ortberg book, "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat." Stepping out of our comfort zone is a huge concept for the Christian to grasp. Today, at least I do not see many churches going out beyond their own doors into communities to reach people for Christ. Jake's character is someone who is very in tune with his "hood"; its like he owns it. He knows alot of the people around there, goes out to help those who need it, and interacts with kids in gangs who really need Jesus. That was an awesome perspective to see in this film. I am not saying that we should all go to the ghetto and reach out to those people we see on the street. I am saying that talking to complete strangers and sharing the gospel with them is something we are called to do. And you do not have to go to other countries on missions trips to do this; while I am not discounting this either. Crossing racial and economic barriers to reach the lost. Let me ask you, do your neighbors know that you are a Christian? Get out of that comfort zone you are so attached to and go "walk on the water" with Jesus, He will never leave you side. This reminds me of Moses being called by God to deliver the people out of Egypt. In Exodus 3, Moses comes into contact with a burning bush that does not burn up. Eventually into the conversation he is having with God Moses objects 5 times to God's calling. Moses says: "Who Am I? (vs. 11), "Who are you?" (vs. 13), "What if they don't believe me?" (4:1-9), "I can't speak well" (4:10-12), "Please send someone else." (4:13-17). We all tend ot do this; I know i am very guilty of it. Even in the movie, Ethan did not want to go work with Jake. He even talk Jeremiah, he father, to send a sunday school teacher instead of him. Pure Moses in the flesh. Setting aside the message Steve Taylor was trying to drive across to his audience, the movie as a whole was great. It was a nice break from alot of the not so good movies that have been in theaters of late. Though in this movie we see depictions of drug exchanges, some language, and other implications, I do believe that Steve Taylor had to do this in order for the movie to get somewhere. This could be a good or a bad thing. Regardless, having these charactertistics in the movie would show reality from a different view point. And this is reality people! Though it would have been nice if the movie had received a better response from the viewing public. This past weekend the movie dropped 3 theaters bring the total to being in 84 theaters now. Grossing $250,000ish during opening weekend, bringing the grand total now to be $377,168. Now that this means anything, just giving some factoids. Speaking of factoids, here is one, Steve Taylor mortgaged his house to do this movie... whoa! Now at first, I was a little disappointed with the ending. However, as I have had some time to reflect on the ending and the general movie itself (and finding out somethings from Janine about Steve's perspective), I do indeed appreciate the way it was ended. Originally there was three endings they were working with. One was, they were going to have the church knocked down. Another was going to have the mayor come on the roof and he was going to express himself by saying he was wrong about the whole thing. The last was the one they ended with. Everything made sense leading to the ending. Ethan said he and his soon to be wife were going to stay in the "hood" with Jake and his family to minister. Jeremiah expressed how wrong he has been and things are now put in a different perspective. And the church was not torn down. Okay, and that is it. It makes sense. This film does not need an elaborate ending, because the story itself and the rest of the film did the job of that. So I rest my case for the film. It was a great movie to see. I enjoyed seeing Donnie McClurkin in the movie. Oh yeah and umm, you all really need to buy the soundtrack, tis very super!
ESKIMO PEE!!!!
Upon reading many reviews and finally seeing the movie with my friend Vicki, I have a few words of my own to say. Another friend of mine, Janine, went to a Jubillee conference in Pittsburgh this past weekend. She said that there was a viewing of the movie, then Steve Taylor(director) and Jeff Carr(Jake) were there for a question and answer session. I was a bit jealous of this, but if Smitty was there whoa I would be supremely jealous. Anyway, there is alot to take away from this movie. Not just the idea that money should not be depended on to take care of the troubles that we face. However, it is a message for all of us. In the words from the title of John Ortberg book, "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat." Stepping out of our comfort zone is a huge concept for the Christian to grasp. Today, at least I do not see many churches going out beyond their own doors into communities to reach people for Christ. Jake's character is someone who is very in tune with his "hood"; its like he owns it. He knows alot of the people around there, goes out to help those who need it, and interacts with kids in gangs who really need Jesus. That was an awesome perspective to see in this film. I am not saying that we should all go to the ghetto and reach out to those people we see on the street. I am saying that talking to complete strangers and sharing the gospel with them is something we are called to do. And you do not have to go to other countries on missions trips to do this; while I am not discounting this either. Crossing racial and economic barriers to reach the lost. Let me ask you, do your neighbors know that you are a Christian? Get out of that comfort zone you are so attached to and go "walk on the water" with Jesus, He will never leave you side. This reminds me of Moses being called by God to deliver the people out of Egypt. In Exodus 3, Moses comes into contact with a burning bush that does not burn up. Eventually into the conversation he is having with God Moses objects 5 times to God's calling. Moses says: "Who Am I? (vs. 11), "Who are you?" (vs. 13), "What if they don't believe me?" (4:1-9), "I can't speak well" (4:10-12), "Please send someone else." (4:13-17). We all tend ot do this; I know i am very guilty of it. Even in the movie, Ethan did not want to go work with Jake. He even talk Jeremiah, he father, to send a sunday school teacher instead of him. Pure Moses in the flesh. Setting aside the message Steve Taylor was trying to drive across to his audience, the movie as a whole was great. It was a nice break from alot of the not so good movies that have been in theaters of late. Though in this movie we see depictions of drug exchanges, some language, and other implications, I do believe that Steve Taylor had to do this in order for the movie to get somewhere. This could be a good or a bad thing. Regardless, having these charactertistics in the movie would show reality from a different view point. And this is reality people! Though it would have been nice if the movie had received a better response from the viewing public. This past weekend the movie dropped 3 theaters bring the total to being in 84 theaters now. Grossing $250,000ish during opening weekend, bringing the grand total now to be $377,168. Now that this means anything, just giving some factoids. Speaking of factoids, here is one, Steve Taylor mortgaged his house to do this movie... whoa! Now at first, I was a little disappointed with the ending. However, as I have had some time to reflect on the ending and the general movie itself (and finding out somethings from Janine about Steve's perspective), I do indeed appreciate the way it was ended. Originally there was three endings they were working with. One was, they were going to have the church knocked down. Another was going to have the mayor come on the roof and he was going to express himself by saying he was wrong about the whole thing. The last was the one they ended with. Everything made sense leading to the ending. Ethan said he and his soon to be wife were going to stay in the "hood" with Jake and his family to minister. Jeremiah expressed how wrong he has been and things are now put in a different perspective. And the church was not torn down. Okay, and that is it. It makes sense. This film does not need an elaborate ending, because the story itself and the rest of the film did the job of that. So I rest my case for the film. It was a great movie to see. I enjoyed seeing Donnie McClurkin in the movie. Oh yeah and umm, you all really need to buy the soundtrack, tis very super!
ESKIMO PEE!!!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
