The Bucket List

The Bucket List was finally available at the Red Box in our Vons store, so we picked it up. I am a fan of both Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, so I had some pretty high hopes. While I don't think this is anywhere near one of my favorite movies, it didn't disappoint.

The movie starts out with a brief introduction of the characters. Morgan Freeman is Carter Chambers, a lifelong auto mechanic with a fairly solid family structure, a love of trivia (Jeopardy in particular), and is an all-around good guy. Edward Cole, played by Jack Nicholson, is introduced in the monologue as a man full of life, who died with a smile on his face. When you meet Edward Cole for the first time, you can tell where the movie is going to go. He is a very worldly man, out only for himself. You know he is bound to meet Carter, and you don't have to wait long.

Both characters end up in the hospital fairly quickly. Through an interesting turn of events, Cole ends up a patient in his own hospital, one that he proudly advertises has "two beds to a room, no exceptions." He runs "hospitals, not health spas". This is the reason he doesn't have his own room. His assistant insists that it will be bad PR to break the rule for himself.

Eventually both men get the prognosis of less than one year to live. Just before learning this news, Carter begins reconstructing something he wrote without taking seriously some time before. It is called the "bucket list". What things do you want to accomplish before you "kick the bucket"? Once he finds out the news of his impending death, he decides it is worthless and trashes it. Cole finds the list and convinces Carter to go on a trip. This is where the fun begins.

As they travel from place to place, you see the friendship developing between these two strangers. They start opening up about their lives, and then both contribute to a rift by trying to fix the other one. I will leave the details and the ending for you to watch for yourself.

This movie is directed by Rob Reiner. I didn't know this until the closing credits. I am not a fan of Reiner by any stretch of the word. I think he is a liberal political crony, who is usually on the wrong side of any issue. It appears that his directing is somewhat detached from his personality, though. I don't think his left-wing agenda played too big a part in this movie, and for that I am glad. I will probably watch this movie again, but I don't think it is one for my personal collection.

I recommend this one for a rental.

RATING:

Peking Chinese Restaurant- An Updated Review

Peking Chinese Restaurant
5960 Telegraph Rd, Ventura
Phone: 805-644-7777
Cuisine: Chinese

I first reviewed this restaurant a couple months ago. You can read that review here. I went with my wife and son last night, and felt I needed to review it again. I did not have the same pleasant experience this time around.

To be fair, most of what I am about to write about may be partially explained by the knowledge that there was only one cook there. I don't know how many cooks are normally there, but presumably it is more than one.

The waiter tonight seemed very sure of himself, but wasn't terribly helpful. He was not overly friendly either. The busboy did a much better job. The restaurant felt a lot dirtier as well. I visited the restroom for the first (and hopefully last) time. That was an experience.

Picture a 1970s style mobile home or church building, and you will get an idea of what greeted me there. The bathroom smelled pretty awful. Being near the back of the restaurant, it probably doesn't get the attention it requires. The urinal was set pretty high on the wall. So high in fact that there is a step that you must use to reach it. I found that entertaining. That is all I will say about the bathroom. Let's move on.

We ordered the cheaper of the three meal choices this time, both preferring the options in that price range. Roughly $12 a person gets you (per person) a spring roll, a piece of paper-wrapped (really aluminum foil) chicken, Egg Drop soup, a cream cheese wonton, and an entre. I went with the Kung Pao again, though I forgot to read my earlier post about how mild it was. My wife ordered the Beef and Broccoli, as she was sharing with my son who is a broccoli lover. I should have asked for more peppers. Next time I will remember to read my own reviews.

The paper-wrapped chicken was by far the best item of the night's fare. It tastes like the fillings of potstickers, which my wife and I both enjoy. The spring rolls are good, but not anything to really write about. The won ton tasted great as well. This Egg Drop soup comes with a bit of a twist. Chopped nuts are added. This soup was good too, but not as good as others.

The Beef and Broccoli tasted pretty good. I normally don't like this dish, but it was not too bad. It had a lot of garlic, which always is a good thing. My Kung Pao Chicken only had two peppers. This was really mild. I still enjoyed the lack of water chestnuts and celery. This is all chicken, peppers and peanuts. Just the way I like it.

One positive note was the Pepsi. I prefer restaurants who serve Pepsi, and I rate the quality of Pepsi wherever I go. This was not the greatest, but it was still really good. Much better than many other small restaurants.

Overall, last night's service was nowhere near the level it was during our first visit. The last experience, plus the Pepsi bring the rating up quite a bit. I am hoping that on my next visit they have recovered from whatever happened in between visits.

RATING:

The Dark Knight

The first thing I can say about The Dark Knight is, WOW! This is one intense movie. I have not been so exhausted after a movie since The Passion of the Christ. I am surprised this movie got away with a PG-13 rating. Sure there was no sex or nudity, no language that I remember, and while there was some gore there wasn't too much blood if any. I think this movie is way too intense for children however. On that note, let's get into this.

I have been a fan of Heath Ledger for years. I haven't been terribly fond of his last couple of movies, so I had high hopes for this one. He certainly delivered. It was not just Heath Ledger though. Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, and Gary Oldman all did a terrific job.

I am attempting to stay away from spoilers here, so you should be safe in reading this if you don't like surprises. That being said, I will cover some of the basic scenes of interest.

The movie begins with a bank heist, as super hero movies often can. Unlike most super hero movies though, the action only accelerates from there. From the moment the Joker is introduced, there is a heavy psychological element. Think along the lines of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. This guy is crazy in a scary way.

Batman himself is no saint in this movie. He reveals the darker side that Michael Keaton only hinted at. This Batman is grittier than the first version Bale played. He still learns through the school of hard knocks, which is part of why we like Batman. He is a regular guy, with regular weaknesses. Sure he is really smart, but he has no super powers.

The action sequences are really intense. You get to see how crazy the Joker really is. He has no goal but pure mayhem. He wants to watch everything burn. How do you stop someone who has no goal but chaos? Batman must answer this question. He has to decide how far he is willing to go to stop this guy. For those of you afraid I will give something away, I will leave the point here.

As I said before, this movie isn't terribly gory. There are some murders here and there, but those aren't nearly as scary as the scenes where someone isn't killed. Watching the Joker go on a rant, and wondering where he will stop is pretty intense. It is the potential for violence and not the violence itself that is so staggering. Will he or won't he? Will he really follow through on his threat, or is he bluffing? Every scene with the Joker will keep you glued to your seat.

As great as the acting is, and as intense and thrilling this movie is, I am not sure how to rank it. I plan on owning this movie, just as I own the previous versions of Batman. This will be more of a once or twice a year viewing for me though. I don't know if I can watch this as often as Spider-Man or X-Men. I think this is definitely a movie worth seeing in the theater. I reiterate the point that this movie is not for kids. I am sure the headlines are coming about how many nightmares this movie has caused.

The Dark Knight is an incredible roller coaster. It grabs hold of you and jerks you all over the place. If you are a fan of the real Batman, not the 60's spoof Batman, then you want to see this movie. Be prepared for the ride of your life.

RATING:

PlaySkool Busy Ball Popper

When my son was younger we bought him a Busy Ball Popperfrom Playskool. Apparently Hasbro bought Playskool, as Amazon.com calls it a "Hasbro Playskool Busy Ball Popper." He was about 9 months old when we bought it, and was not very mobile. We thought this could entertain him while he was sitting around.

The ball popper is a pretty basic toy. There is a fan that circulates air through a tube and shoots balls up through the top, where they go down a spiral slide and start the process all over again. When my wife first described the toy to me before we bought it, I thought it sounded dangerous. "Just what our boy needs", I thought. "Something that can shoot him in the eye." She assured me that it was perfectly safe, and it turns out she was right. There is not a lot of force behind the balls as they launch, and he never stuck his face in the path.

Our initial reaction when we installed the batteries and turned it on was of disappointment. The balls didn't seem to have enough oomph to make it out of the tube. I could create a vacuum with my hand that would launch the balls, but it seemed to us that something was wrong. We returned it to Target and replaced it.

The second one worked much better. It turned out the first one was a fluke. This one had plenty of power to get the balls launched. My son was too young to understand how to push the lever to get the thing going, so he would make us do it. Over and over. As he began walking he would sometimes try to carry it to us so we would push it. Not only was my son fascinated with the whirring of the fan, there are a number of different songs it plays while the balls are in motion. Among them are "Rockin' Robin" and "Flight of the Bumblebees", both classics from their respective eras.

The only thing really wrong with the product is that sometimes the balls shoot too high and miss the slide. If you are monitoring your child's use of this product (as I highly recommend you do if your child is under two years old), you can stick your hand a few inches above the tube to knock the balls back down onto the slide. I don't think this glitch is too big a deal.

Here is what the manufacturer has to say about the product:

Get silly with poppin', droppin' colored balls! Pump the plunger and drop the balls onto the spiral track. When they reach the bottom, look out - the balls pop out the top! Giggles are guaranteed with wacky sound effects and 8 lively songs to help keep the fun rolling along. The Playskool Busy Ball Popper has won numerous toy awards, including American Baby's Best Toy, Child Magazine's Best Toy, and the NAPPA Gold Award. Requires 4 "D" Batteries.

Tonight my 2 year old son was playing with his Busy Ball Popper,having long since mastered it. He learned early on how to get the vacuum going with his hand when he loses a ball now and then. Tonight he had a lot of fun with it. He has had it about a year and a half now, and it has been a great product.

I highly recommend this product for your child's enjoyment.

RATING:

Disney - The Jungle Book

I know this movie has been out for a long time, since 1967 in fact. I was watching the special features and decided it was worth a brief review. The Jungle Bookhas long been one of my favorite Disney movies.

This movie, as most of you know, is based on Rudyard Kipling's story of the same name. It tells the story of a boy named Mowgli. In Disney's version, the animals all talk and sing and dance, which makes it a hit with kids.

The music is what makes it a hit with adults too. Most of the songs are catchy, and I have seen adults get excited about the songs when they come on, myself included. Knowing that the music is one of the reasons this is among my favorite Disney cartoons, I watched the special feature about deleted songs. Let me tell you, I was pretty surprised.

Some of these songs were plain awful. The original demo of "The Bare Necessities" sounds like it belongs in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. The original version of "That's What Friends Are For" involved a Beatle's/British Invasion inspired tune and included a character that was also deleted. It was okay as far as copying the Beatle's style, but that character that was axed was awful to.

I can't imagine what would have happened if these songs stayed in the movie. I certainly would not have enjoyed it as much as I do. I was glad to see Rocky the Rhino didn't make it to the final version. I was glad "The Bare Necessities" was transformed into its current version. I am glad the vultures sing a barbershop "That's What Friends Are For" and not the Beatle's-based version. I am glad that Disney had the wisdom to cut the bad parts and leave in the good. If only George Lucas had used the same level of discernment.

I liked this movie a lot before, and I like it even more now. It could have been much worse, as the special features can attest. I highly recommend this for your family's movie collection.

RATING:

Vantage Point

We picked up Vantage Pointfrom the Red Box at the grocery store last night.

The movie stars Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, and William Hurt. It starts into the action fairly quickly. There are a couple of gun shots, a couple of explosions, and then the scene rewinds itself. The scene starts again from the point of view of the next character.

This process repeats a few times. Scene happens, rewinds, and starts again with the next character. I didn't mind this, since I knew from the previews it would happen. My wife got bored and left the room after the second rewind.

I liked the different perspectives presented. I thought some of the scenes were better than others, but for the most part I was enjoying the movie. Near the end there is a pretty cool car chase. One of the best car chases in recent memory.

Unfortunately the car chase was the climax. The final scene went really fast and was over before I expected. I could have done with something a little more exciting, especially since most of the movie was a repeat of the same scene.

Overall, I still think this was a pretty good movie. I would recommend a rental definitely. I don't think I will be adding this to my collection, though.

RATING:

Top Droppers - June 2008

Thank you to all of my Entrecard droppers. I appreciate your visits. There were a lot of ties this month. Here are June's Top Droppers:

1. SurfJedi's Musings
2. Thailand Land of Smiles
2. Paperkraft.net
3. Crissy's Haven
4. Obscure History
4. Inside My Wild Mind
4. Pinoy Raket Online
4. chorva!
4. Lofty Matters
4. Only in Silence

My top droppers will be:

• Added to my StumbleUpon favorites
• Added to my Technorati favorites
• Followed on Twitter
• Bookmarked in del.icio.us

If you are already listed in the above ways, I will think of some other way to reward you.

Thanks again everyone.