A weekend of rest, movies and binge-watching television
This blog is going to be mostly about films. Films I've seen and not gotten around to reviewing, and films I want to see. I did see San Andreas today and my joke about it is that it wasn't groundbreaking like 1974's Earthquake.
I should mention that given the opportunity to screen any of these films below would change my choice about seeing it to a yes.
In the coming month there are the following movies being released:
Entourage - I'm not really interested in this movie. Maybe because I was never a fan of the television series (haven't had HBO on my cable package in decades).
Spy - I will see this. It looks funny. Melissa McCarthy is a major comedic talent. I'd like to see her in a drama. Most comedic actors can do superb dramatic work when given the chance.
Insidioius: Chapter 3 - Horror isn't my bag. I see one on occasion.
Love and Mercy - Dying to see this biopic on Brian Wilson.
Police Story: Lockdown - I'll go see any Jackie Chan pic.
Jurassic World - I saw the others in the theater and I'll see this. But I have to wonder, in a world where The Lost World: Jurassic Park saw a T-Rex ravaging San Diego; and then the discovery of the dinosaur production facility on Isla Sorna in Jurassic Park III, what moron would construct a new dinosaur attraction?
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Sounds a lot like The Fault in Our Stars but I might give it a shot.
The Wolfpack - No interest at this point.
Inside Out - This looks like a surefire winner and I want to see it.
Dope - Looks interesting. Part of a double-feature if possible.
Infinitely Polar Bear - No interest at this point
Manglehorn - Al Pacino, Holly Hunter and Harmony Korine? Oh hell yes.
Ted 2 - I'm looking forward to this, if only to see how they try to top the brilliance of the original.
Max - Inspirational movie about a military working dog and the efforts to save him....yep, that' s going to make my list.
Big Game - I suspect I'll be disappointed, but I'll probably give this a try. Just to see how much further over the top Samuel L. Jackson will go this time.
Batkid Begins - a documentary about a true story that brought tears to the eyes of tens of thousands.
A Murder in the Park - I'll watch this, but on VOD.
In July:
Terminator Genisys - While this should be titled Terminator Sexegenarian, I'll still see it. I like the Terminator franchise with Arnold in it.
Magic Mike XXL - If for no other reason, just to feel the rush of estrogen and pheremones in the air from all the women swooning over the beefcake on the screen.
Minions - Uh...no.
The Gallows - Horror. Looks like bad horror. No.
Self/less - Interesting premise. Looks promising. Yes.
The Bronze - No.
Ant-Man - Yeah, I'll give this a try.
Trainwreck - Looks like a better than average rom-com but only time will tell.
Irrational Man - Woody Allen is hit and miss over the last decade and requires further thought before deciding to see it.
Mr. Holmes - Maybe, depending on scheduling.
The Stanford Prison Experiment - Looks promising.
Pixels - Against my better judgment, I'll see it. Because I loved most of the video games that are integral parts of this film.
Paper Towns - The trailer for this film hooked me.
Southpaw - Another film where the trailer hooked me immediately. The more I've learned about it, the more I'm dying to see it. Plus Antoine Fuqua is directing and aside from Olympus Has Fallen and The Equalizer, he's made nothing but really good films for a long time
* * *
Much is being made about the fact that the Social Security Administration paid out over $20 million to World War II era Nazis. It seems to be to be a tempest in a teacup. Why do I think that? Because these payments were made before January of this year. That's when legal authority to deny the Nazis social security benefits became law. Prior to that, there was no way for the SSA to deny these payments. The No Social Security for Nazis Act is the law that allows these benefits to be stopped.
It reminded me of the case of Jerry Sandusky. You remember him. The member of Joe Paterno's coaching staff at Penn State who will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for molesting young boys. He was eligible for and had been receiving pension payments of $4,900 per month until they were revoked in October of 2012. The court battle over whether or not he will get those payments reinstated is continuing.
Pennsylvania law in 1999 when Sandusky retired from Penn State did not allow a pension to become forfeit because of conviction for sexual offenses against students. That provision of state law didn't go into effect until 2004.
Making a law retroactive, which wasn't the case when this law was passed, is unusual. Should teachers who molest students lose their teaching pensions? The obvious answer is yes, but I'm not sure it's entirely fair if the molestation(s) happen after the teacher has retired. Why would what a person does after they've retired have anything to do with what the person does after retirement? Should pensions be stopped while people are in prison? Reinstated when they are paroled? Where do we draw the line? Murders and rapists, but not burglars or robbers who aren't violent? Serial parking violators?
* * *
The third film in the reboot of the Star Trek franchise is due out to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek TV series. That would be September of 2016. I'm sure they will get it into the theaters on time. I'm hoping they'll find a way to get as many of the original series' surviving cast members into the film as they can.
Michael Dorn, who starred in Star Trek: The Next Generation, wants to start a new Star Trek TV series that is centered around Worf being Captain and in command of a starship. Interesting, but not where the best possible chance for success lies; in my humble opinion. I think the key to a new ST series would be Brent Spiner's character in TNG, Data. Yes, Data was destroyed in the last Trek film prior to the reboot, but it was done in a way that allowed for him to survive.
So do Star Trek: The Generation After Next. Center it around Commander Data, first officer on the Enterprise-H. Since the current film franchise revolves around the Kirk/Spock/McCoy generation, the TV series wouldn't be in conflict. It's been two decades since TNG went off the air. Technology has made giant leaps. Do the same in TGAN. Oh, and since that's the obvious acronym for the show, casting Chrissy Teigen in a small role would be genius.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Kim Kardashian is pregnant. I will be shocked if they name the kid anything other than South West.
Singer Enrique Iglesias was injured during a concert performance when part of the show that involved him catching a drone went wrong and he was cut. Guess he should quit droning around.
How many minimum wage workers will lose access to government benefits that currently provide them with daycare for their kids, healthcare for themselves and their kids and more; when the minimum wage goes up to $15 an hour as being proposed?
The World Series of Poker's annual competitions are starting now in Las Vegas. Playing in the main event of that competition is one of the items on my bucket list.
Bob Schieffer has retired from the news biz after 58 years, 46 of them with CBS. Host of Face the Nation as his last position with the network, he is one of the last remaining holdovers from the glory days of broadcast news. While not as giant an icon as Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow, he is still one of my news heroes. I wish him a long, happy retirement. He will be missed.
The scourge of ISIS won't be defeated until the United States takes a much more active role.
When I hear people saying that Jane Fonda should be forgiven for her trip to Hanoi, I have mixed feelings. Everyone deserves forgiveness, but the fact that she herself called the trip "an unforgivable mistake" makes me wonder if she should be forgiven.
It's so tough sometimes to explain to someone whose heard everyone else tell them that a Roth IRA is better than a traditional one that it isn't cut and dried. The person's age is a big factor in doing a complete cost-benefit analysis
Thanks to the honesty of the owners of a Silicon Valley recycling center, there's a check for $100,000 waiting for the woman who dropped off a really old computer there. It turned out to be an Apple 1, one of only 200 made in 1976. I am a big fan of honesty.
Abercrombie & Fitch lost the case where it refused to hire a woman because she wears a hijab. I think that's a good thing. Just so this isn't a slippery slope where we end up seeing Hooter's Boys.
All I can say about the above photos is...now that's a transformation.
Did you see the liplock Allison Janney laid on James Corden at the Critics Choice Awards? It was epic.
Taylor Swift thinks she isn't "overtly sexy" and I think she's nuts. She's quite hot.
I should mention that given the opportunity to screen any of these films below would change my choice about seeing it to a yes.
In the coming month there are the following movies being released:
Entourage - I'm not really interested in this movie. Maybe because I was never a fan of the television series (haven't had HBO on my cable package in decades).
Spy - I will see this. It looks funny. Melissa McCarthy is a major comedic talent. I'd like to see her in a drama. Most comedic actors can do superb dramatic work when given the chance.
Insidioius: Chapter 3 - Horror isn't my bag. I see one on occasion.
Love and Mercy - Dying to see this biopic on Brian Wilson.
Police Story: Lockdown - I'll go see any Jackie Chan pic.
Jurassic World - I saw the others in the theater and I'll see this. But I have to wonder, in a world where The Lost World: Jurassic Park saw a T-Rex ravaging San Diego; and then the discovery of the dinosaur production facility on Isla Sorna in Jurassic Park III, what moron would construct a new dinosaur attraction?
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Sounds a lot like The Fault in Our Stars but I might give it a shot.
The Wolfpack - No interest at this point.
Inside Out - This looks like a surefire winner and I want to see it.
Dope - Looks interesting. Part of a double-feature if possible.
Infinitely Polar Bear - No interest at this point
Manglehorn - Al Pacino, Holly Hunter and Harmony Korine? Oh hell yes.
Ted 2 - I'm looking forward to this, if only to see how they try to top the brilliance of the original.
Max - Inspirational movie about a military working dog and the efforts to save him....yep, that' s going to make my list.
Big Game - I suspect I'll be disappointed, but I'll probably give this a try. Just to see how much further over the top Samuel L. Jackson will go this time.
Batkid Begins - a documentary about a true story that brought tears to the eyes of tens of thousands.
A Murder in the Park - I'll watch this, but on VOD.
In July:
Terminator Genisys - While this should be titled Terminator Sexegenarian, I'll still see it. I like the Terminator franchise with Arnold in it.
Magic Mike XXL - If for no other reason, just to feel the rush of estrogen and pheremones in the air from all the women swooning over the beefcake on the screen.
Minions - Uh...no.
The Gallows - Horror. Looks like bad horror. No.
Self/less - Interesting premise. Looks promising. Yes.
The Bronze - No.
Ant-Man - Yeah, I'll give this a try.
Trainwreck - Looks like a better than average rom-com but only time will tell.
Irrational Man - Woody Allen is hit and miss over the last decade and requires further thought before deciding to see it.
Mr. Holmes - Maybe, depending on scheduling.
The Stanford Prison Experiment - Looks promising.
Pixels - Against my better judgment, I'll see it. Because I loved most of the video games that are integral parts of this film.
Paper Towns - The trailer for this film hooked me.
Southpaw - Another film where the trailer hooked me immediately. The more I've learned about it, the more I'm dying to see it. Plus Antoine Fuqua is directing and aside from Olympus Has Fallen and The Equalizer, he's made nothing but really good films for a long time
* * *
Much is being made about the fact that the Social Security Administration paid out over $20 million to World War II era Nazis. It seems to be to be a tempest in a teacup. Why do I think that? Because these payments were made before January of this year. That's when legal authority to deny the Nazis social security benefits became law. Prior to that, there was no way for the SSA to deny these payments. The No Social Security for Nazis Act is the law that allows these benefits to be stopped.
It reminded me of the case of Jerry Sandusky. You remember him. The member of Joe Paterno's coaching staff at Penn State who will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for molesting young boys. He was eligible for and had been receiving pension payments of $4,900 per month until they were revoked in October of 2012. The court battle over whether or not he will get those payments reinstated is continuing.
Pennsylvania law in 1999 when Sandusky retired from Penn State did not allow a pension to become forfeit because of conviction for sexual offenses against students. That provision of state law didn't go into effect until 2004.
Making a law retroactive, which wasn't the case when this law was passed, is unusual. Should teachers who molest students lose their teaching pensions? The obvious answer is yes, but I'm not sure it's entirely fair if the molestation(s) happen after the teacher has retired. Why would what a person does after they've retired have anything to do with what the person does after retirement? Should pensions be stopped while people are in prison? Reinstated when they are paroled? Where do we draw the line? Murders and rapists, but not burglars or robbers who aren't violent? Serial parking violators?
* * *
The third film in the reboot of the Star Trek franchise is due out to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek TV series. That would be September of 2016. I'm sure they will get it into the theaters on time. I'm hoping they'll find a way to get as many of the original series' surviving cast members into the film as they can.
Michael Dorn, who starred in Star Trek: The Next Generation, wants to start a new Star Trek TV series that is centered around Worf being Captain and in command of a starship. Interesting, but not where the best possible chance for success lies; in my humble opinion. I think the key to a new ST series would be Brent Spiner's character in TNG, Data. Yes, Data was destroyed in the last Trek film prior to the reboot, but it was done in a way that allowed for him to survive.
So do Star Trek: The Generation After Next. Center it around Commander Data, first officer on the Enterprise-H. Since the current film franchise revolves around the Kirk/Spock/McCoy generation, the TV series wouldn't be in conflict. It's been two decades since TNG went off the air. Technology has made giant leaps. Do the same in TGAN. Oh, and since that's the obvious acronym for the show, casting Chrissy Teigen in a small role would be genius.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Kim Kardashian is pregnant. I will be shocked if they name the kid anything other than South West.
Singer Enrique Iglesias was injured during a concert performance when part of the show that involved him catching a drone went wrong and he was cut. Guess he should quit droning around.
How many minimum wage workers will lose access to government benefits that currently provide them with daycare for their kids, healthcare for themselves and their kids and more; when the minimum wage goes up to $15 an hour as being proposed?
The World Series of Poker's annual competitions are starting now in Las Vegas. Playing in the main event of that competition is one of the items on my bucket list.
Bob Schieffer has retired from the news biz after 58 years, 46 of them with CBS. Host of Face the Nation as his last position with the network, he is one of the last remaining holdovers from the glory days of broadcast news. While not as giant an icon as Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow, he is still one of my news heroes. I wish him a long, happy retirement. He will be missed.
The scourge of ISIS won't be defeated until the United States takes a much more active role.
When I hear people saying that Jane Fonda should be forgiven for her trip to Hanoi, I have mixed feelings. Everyone deserves forgiveness, but the fact that she herself called the trip "an unforgivable mistake" makes me wonder if she should be forgiven.
It's so tough sometimes to explain to someone whose heard everyone else tell them that a Roth IRA is better than a traditional one that it isn't cut and dried. The person's age is a big factor in doing a complete cost-benefit analysis
Thanks to the honesty of the owners of a Silicon Valley recycling center, there's a check for $100,000 waiting for the woman who dropped off a really old computer there. It turned out to be an Apple 1, one of only 200 made in 1976. I am a big fan of honesty.
Abercrombie & Fitch lost the case where it refused to hire a woman because she wears a hijab. I think that's a good thing. Just so this isn't a slippery slope where we end up seeing Hooter's Boys.
All I can say about the above photos is...now that's a transformation.
Did you see the liplock Allison Janney laid on James Corden at the Critics Choice Awards? It was epic.
Taylor Swift thinks she isn't "overtly sexy" and I think she's nuts. She's quite hot.
posted by me at 9:51 AM
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