With the wife gone...

Brittany was outta town all last weekend. To fill my time, I finished a couple of projects I had been working on. (The one I was most excited about was my speaker cabinet I had made of red oak. I finished the exterior of it and MY OH MY is it lovely. I'll post pics when we get a camera.)

Besides that, I watched movies. Movies Brittany would not want to watch, specifically. My reviews are as follows:

Semi-Pro


Fantastic. I really love Will Ferrell anyway, but thought his last couple of movies haven't been so great. ("Old School" and "Anchorman" set the bar really high, you know? "Talladega Nights" and "Blades of Glory" simply didn't live up to my standards. Though "Stranger Than Fiction" was top notch.)

I like this movie. It was vulgar and over the top and hilarious. I've heard his other new movie, "Step Brothers," is funny as well. So maybe Will is on the up and up. But if you don't have kids (the language is bad) and you like his brand of humor, try it out.

Hot Rod



Andy Samberg is a funny, funny man. He (along with Bill Hader) keep SNL alive right now. I expected this movie to be comical but stupid--and it was. It just wasn't as comical as I had hoped.

The movie has its highlights. Like when Rico beats up a guy with a parking cone or when Rod and his step-go nuts on each other at the end. Laugh out loud moments. They are just few and far between. It was okay. But just okay. Nothing to write home about.

Shoot 'Em Up



Clive Owen is a jack of all trades. He does romance movies ("Elizabeth"). He does drama ("Closer," "Children of Men"). He does a historical/action/romance ("King Arthur"). He does action ("Sin City"). And to be honest, I've enjoyed them all. Same goes for Paul Giamatti--he can play a stuttering introvert ("Lady in the Water"), an ambitious old-school cop ("Illusionist") and even a guy trying to find his way in life and love ("Sideways"). Once again, I generally enjoy his roles and movies.

This movie surprised me. It was a caper style action film--unexpected story line, interesting characters, lots of violence, great dialogue. I liked it a lot. Stylistically it fit somewhere between "Snatch" and "Sin City." It wasn't a top ten or anything, but it was well worth watching. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rocket Science



You gotta watch an indie film occasionally. Not too long ago, Brittany and I watched a British indie film called "Death at a Funeral" and we loved it. (British comedies are great--they like to use the f word and their brand of dry wit cracks me up.) But the low budget films like this are typically well written and shot in ways that aren't typical of such movies.

This movie takes awkward to a new level. Once again, though its not a British flick, the humor is very dry. It had me laughing out loud a lot at the incredibly odd situations it threw the main character into. Its focused on figuring out love in the teenage years. But all in all, it was fantastic. The end catches you off guard a little bit and perhaps doesn't resolve like some people would want it to. And you don't understand the title until the final two minutes. I would label it "subtlely hilarious."

So there you have it on JD's movie reviews.

My blogging has not be as prolific as usual. Jason has been putting me to shame lately. For that, I apologize. I've been really busy. I know, I know. That's not an excuse. Forgive me. I'll be rolling again before you know it. Until then...