Many Things to Report On...and then some

First and most recent in my mind is the viewing of the outstanding Toy Story 3. I believe I laughed harder at some of those bits than either of the previous movies. I could have done without the piercing sound of children's laughter in the theater, but a small price to pay. Some of my favorite moments are comprised of the tiniest details that most people probably don't care about. The first one that made me almost pee myself was the sight of Woody's flailing limbs when he was running in one the first scenes. It's possible that he flailed just as much in previous films, but I was cracking up each time. Similarly, each time Ken walks I can't not laugh. The attention to detail here is what makes it so funny. The stiff arms and legs are just to good. Not to mention, Michael Keaton was the voice of Ken, casting genius. And of course, the first time they show Chuckles' face I nearly died. Long and short of it, Toy Story 3 stays true to everything that came before and surpasses all expectations for a trilogy. Let's just hope they put this one to rest, unlike the Shrek franchise.

Next, A-Team. Another awesome flick. There was a great balance of comedy, action, and drama. The love interest of Jessica Biel is thankfully almost non-existence and unnecessary to the plot of the movie. Murdoc was absolutely hilarious. His dialogue was written very tastefully when it could have been like a bad steak, completely over done and without sauce. I wasn't sure how much I would like Liam Neeson (read: Qui Gon Jin or Rob Roy) as Hannibal, but he also surprised me. Overall the cast is superb, with only a few terrible lines thrown in. So good.

Alright alright, last movie of the week: Grown Ups. Another hit. This one is also made by the cast, of who I'm pretty sure was originally supposed to be Chris Farley instead of Kevin James. I'm not complaining, I love me some KJ, but with nearly 100% of the cast being from SNL, one has to ponder a little. Regardless, Chris Rock is subdued and not his loud, shrill self. Rob Schneider plays his usual weirdo. David Spade was quite good, washing away his Joe Dirtness. Kevin James was very good and had a fantastic beard. Sandler is discovering he doesn't need to be doing Billy Madison/Waterboy/Happy Gilmore voices to be funny and effective as an actor. This is the first film I've watched him in since Funny People and he continues going up in my eyes. The movie largely reacts to the video game/spoiled culture that kids are growing up with these days, and it's about damn time. And for the record, when I was a kid if I saw a rope and a lake, I would have indeed gone nuts.

I bought the Crazy Heart soundtrack a few weeks ago as well. It is pretty cool to hear the actors singing these songs as though they'd be performing them for years. On a larger scale, that movie and the soundtrack are making me realize that country/folk music is the only type of music that you can travel to 90% of the bars around the country and people will love you. Country will never die, and I'm slowly beginning to understand why. This realization first creeped into my mind last summer when I played in a pseudo-successful Irish band. We must have played in about two dozen bars and a few festivals in there (including Summerfest) and people loved us wherever we went, and it wasn't just because we were good, because some of us really weren't. It was because we were playing accessible music that spans over generations. There's a lot to be said for this phenomenon, but I will reflect and write more on this at a later date.

I know I had a lot more to touch on since my last post, but with spotty internet it's been hard to get a good post up. More to come though.