If I were a Simpson

I finally got around to getting my very own Simpsons character based on a picture of me. You can do yours here.

So, without further ado . . .

TADA!
























Okay, so that was a little more ado.

Babel On

We watched Babel last week. I find it very difficult to believe that Jennifer Hudson gave a better performance in Dreamgirls than Rinko Kikuchi gave in Babel.

The movie overall was pretty good. Not as good as The Departed, The Prestige, or The Illusionist, but a good film. I thought the character of Chieko deserved a movie of her own.

What a weekend

On Friday night, Jody and I sat down to watch The Lake House. Not too long after it started, our older daughter, Erin, started vomiting. We were able to watch the entire movie, but it wound up taking us over three hours to finish it. The movie isn't too bad, either.

Erin was sick and laid on the couch most of the day Saturday. On Sunday, daughter number two, Hannah, was complaining of a sore throat. Jody decided to take her into the Doctor, whose office happens to be open on Sundays. Looks like the poor girl may have strep throat.

Hopefully, Jody and I will avoid coming down with anything that will knock us out of commission.

A Great Movie

I'm almost ashamed to admit this, but I never saw The Godfather until last week. This film instantly made it to my Top 10 favorite movies of all-time. It's not perfect, but it's close. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert Duvall give amazing performances. Others were great as well.

If you're like me, and you've just never gotten around to seeing this one, do yourself a favor and catch it as soon as possible.

9.5/10

Snakes on a Plane

I got the movie on DVD from Blockbuster last night and watched it before going to bed. The language is pretty harsh, and the movie definitely earned its "R" rating. It has its moments, but overall this movie just couldn't match up to the pre-release internet hype.

The Greatest Actress of Our Generation

If you have any doubt about the fact that Meryl Streep is the best actress working in film today, check out her performances in the the following movies from last year:

A Prairie Home Companion

&

The Devil Wears Prada

Luther

Jody and I watched Luther last night. Beautiful movie. I checked up on some of the history today, and there are a few overly dramatized inaccuracies, but for the most part, the story is correct.

Two very interesting points to me were Luther's stating that he had not read the New Testament even though he had been a monk for some time and Cardinal Cajetan saying that the Bible is too complex even for most Priests to understand so providing it in the language of the people would be a bad idea. Those two points illustrate a lot of the reason why Luther (and Calvin and Melancthon, etc.) was deperately needed in the 16th Century.

I'll Pass on the Nachos

My wife got Nacho Libre from Blockbuster, and we watched it last night. Actually, I watched it all. Jody gave out about halfway through. I'm not sure if that had more to do with the muscle relaxant she had taken or the overall stinkitude of the movie. I tend to like Jack Black, but this movie was plain boring.

I lost count of the number of different accents Black used. I can remember hearing more of a Spaniard tone early in the movie. At other times, he did get more of the Mexican accent right (I'm sure there are a variety of Mexican accents, but I'm familiar with a large number of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, and the accent is fairly consistent). At one point, Black has an Italian accent. It was distracting.

If you want to see a good Jack Black movie, check out Orange County or School of Rock.

Insomnia

While I'm waiting to get sleepy, let me make a few recommendations:

Book: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I finished it a couple of days ago. It sort of gets weaker toward the end, but after years of reading fiction, I have come to the conclusion that ending a book might be one of the hardest things out there.

Film: Thank You for Smoking. Rented this one from Blockbuster and thoroughly enjoyed it.

TV: "Heroes". I have really liked the first three episodes of this show. I'll have to catch episode four on NBC's website tomorrow. I had a meeting tonight and forgot to set the VCR.

Music: Altar Boyz Off-Broadway Soundtrack. I purchased this one from iTunes. I appreciate the humor, and quite honestly, some of the lyrics are great.

"Everybody Fits"

Somedays, you just can't begin
You feel, outside looking in
It's like, you're the odd man out

Let me, help you
End your doubt

It doesn't matter
If you're different and out of place
It doesn't matter
If there's acne upon your face
It doesn't matter
Take my hand and then
You will see
Everybody fits in God's great

Fam-a-laay

Strangers
Seem to, stop and stare
Wonderin'
Why you're, even there

Feeling
So left out and wrong
I'll show
You that
You belong

It doesn't matter
If you have a gigantic nose
It doesn't matter
If you're born with eleven toes
It doesn't matter
You can trust and
Believe in me
Everybody fits in God's great

Fam-a-laay

In the family of God you'll learn
That there is no such thing as others
All the woman and men on Earth
Can be your
Sisters and your brothers

Sisters and your brothers!

It doesn't matter
If you're wrinkled and old and grey
It doesn't matter
If you face Mecca when you pray
It doesn't matter
Won't you listen and
Here my plea, everbody fits
It doesn't matter
If you're yellow or white or red
It doesn't matter
If you're pregnant and you're unwed
It doesn't matter
'Cause the truth it can
Set you free, everbody fits

Everybody fits!

It doesn't matter
Every murderer on death row
It doesn't matter
Every prostitute that you know
It doesn't matter
Welcome to the
Fraternity, everybody fits in God's great

Fam-a-laay, you and maay
We fit into the fam-a-lay... yeaaah!

I Knew I Could Count on My Brother

He nailed the reference in the previous post. Here's the exchange:

UNCLE BILLY
Well, good morning, Mr. Potter. What's the news?

He grabs the paper from Potter's hand.

UNCLE BILLY(CONT'D)
Well, well, well, Harry Bailey wins Congressional Medal. That couldn't be one of the Bailey boys? You just can't keep those Baileys down, now, can you, Mr. Potter?

POTTER
How does slacker George feel about that?

UNCLE BILLY
Very jealous, very jealous. He only lost three buttons off his vest. Of course, slacker George would have gotten two of those medals if he had gone.

Lost three buttons off [my] vest

Yesterday was Report Card day for Calvinatorettes I & II. Eldest is in Second Grade. Younger is in Kindergarten. Calvinatorette I obtained straight A's and was named Student of the Six Weeks for her class. Calvinatorette II got all top marks (they don't assign letter grades in Kindergarten) and was also named Student of the Six Weeks for her class.

I am glad to see that my girls have adjusted well to the government school. Deciding to enroll them was one of the toughest decisions that my wife and I have made.

Bonus points if you can properly identify the reference in the Post Title.

More about Jamie Foxx

I just read that Jamie Is the first person to have been nominated for three acting awards at the Golden Globes in the same year. I'm not sure if it's true that he is the first, but it is true that he is nominated in 3 categories in this year's Golden Globes.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004937/awards

In case you're wondering why I care, as I mentioned before, I graduated from Terrell High School with Jamie.

Collateral

My wife and I watched Collateral Wednesday night on DVD. I'm not necessarily the most objective person in this regard, but I thought Jamie Foxx turned in a tremendous performance. What I don't understand is why the Golden Globe nomination for Foxx was for Supporting Actor. Maybe it's just me, but Max sure seemed like the main character to me. This is his story, not Vincent's.

I thought the movie was good. It felt a little rushed from the time Max & Vincent left the meeting with Felix until the final scenes on the train, but for some reason, I think that was on purpose.

The DVD extras were disappointing for the most part, but I did like the selection showing Foxx & Cruise rehearsing both at the initial read-through and at a later time.