Archive for October, 2005

Where to start. Our lives are hardly ever dull in our own opinion.

Yup, half of October has passed without a little peep (peep!) from the Rothe camp. Sarah has been sick on and off, and I have been on and off the couch. It’s baseball season, and I have freelance work that I am doing, so that pretty much covers everything.

This past weekend was my sister’s wedding. We got home late Sunday night, and Sarah and I were both really tired as was mostly everyone but the newlyweds, from sleeping in different beds. So, I could prattle on and on about how beautiful the wedding was, which it was, but in the end every baby is beautiful, and you will never hear someone say that a wedding was anything but, so what I will say that Ryan and Jessica were happy, like a couple of little kids on Christmas morning. Mmmm, wedding gifts, of course they were, bad analogy. Ok, how about two little pigs in a blanket? Ok, neither of them really eat….

They felt blessed, that’s perfect. The fact that they are now going on a cruise to become two little happy piggies probably helps as well:)

The rest of us “already marrieds” came home to unmowed lawns, and dirty dishes from a Disney movie.

Last night I mowed the lawn and did some freelance stuff, but I will admit, there were a couple of great games on tv that made me a potato. The Colts came back from a 17-0 first quarter deficit to beat the Rams 45-28 and remain undefeated at 6-0.

The Cardinals were facing elimination from the playoffs last night at the hands of a dinky little Lance Berkman 3 run shot that fatty could have bounced off his stomach and over the fence the distance is so short. But in heroics similar to last year’s Red Sox team, with 2 outs in the top of the 9th, David Eckstein battled for a single that barely got through the infield, Jim Edmonds battled to take a walk, and on a hanging slider Albert Puljos belted a three run home run that made me cry, let alone the relief pitcher who gave it up. This is what October is all about, and game six is coming up on Wednesday after the teams travel back to St. Louis.

I need to get into work this morning, teaching the tech students at the high school today. I have three movies to post, some big ones, so I want to get that said and done. So hopefully, I’ll finish this month out strong.

Sections Updated: C-D Movies, M-O Movies

Starring a whole slew of people, Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Esposito, and Brendan Fraiser, this movie is slightly deceptive from its advertising, if you even saw that. A Lion Gates Film with thin exposure, this movie is all about racial situations, events happening to many different individuals over the span of a couple of days.

This movie made me think. I tired to figure out if this movie was really any deeper than just a film to give perspective on bigotry. The main reason I gave this movie over a three star, was that I didn’t know how many of the situations would end. They were very intense, guns, fires and explosions in natural settings with the law and car accidents. But you get to truly see how someone could be angry, you have empathy for just about every situation, and it shows the good in all cultures, that all cultures basically want the same thing, family, love, and happiness.

Not many people, however, would like this. It is hardly a movie you would watch many times, or is entertaining. I would recommend it to those who want to think, see something different. But don’t expect something usual in any of the roles of these actors, it will throw you for a loop.

This was the last huge summer movie that I was waiting to see. I will say that I was greatly disappointed. Starring Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, and Tim Robbins, this movie started out really strong, just like most recent Tom Cruise movies. Tom Cruise is a jerk dad, with no direction, highly cliche. His son has some interesting characteristics, Dakota plays his daughter and is the cliche know it all little girl.

Soon enough, all of the money shots you saw in the previews take place. The weird storms, the ground breaking apart, it is cool, but as soon as the tripod aliens come out of the ground, it has this “World of Tomorrow” gritty feel, almost like it is set on old film, but in modern day.

The aliens immediately start zapping people, turning them into dust. Running like he always does, Tom Cruise barely escapes and we are yanked into intense scenes of destruction. That is where the movie sort of tails off.

Just because this movie was about Aliens, doesn’t mean I will just throw out comparisons to the lighter mood Independence Day of the mid 90’s, but unlike that movie, the direction gets kind of lost. Tom Cruise just kind of treads water, trying to get away, but they just keep running in circles without escaping. We have seen the tripods, and all of sudden they become less organic and really mechanized, which doesn’t seem to fit.

Then the movie falls apart. Tom Cruise destroys one tripod after being sucked up into it with some grenades. Then, all of a sudden in the final sequences we see the tripods falling over and dying, for no apparent reason. They de-steam, and out fall these aliens that look just like the ones from Independence, and this orange liquid that we assume is supposed to be people’s blood gooshes out. In the end, Morgan Freeman gives away that the aliens died because they had no immune system.

What the Hell! Major plot twists should be shown, not told by a narrator you know is Morgan Freeman in the end of the movie. I was pissed.

Rent this one for free. It has cool effects, but all the other stuff I mentioned, and Dakota Fanning over acting and screaming constantly will drive you nuts. If you like Tom Cruise, this is typical for him, but a little more degrading, he’s a real moron here. My parents wouldn’t like it, so wait till it gets to the library or rent it for half price or something.

Starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan MacGregor, directed by Michael Bay who brought us The Rock and other action packed movies, this one has a little bit more under the advertised surface.

In a Utopian society that is protected under the veil of a larger plague, a population of firmly controlled people believe themselves to be the last surviving members of the human race after a huge plague has swept the earth. Only the Island is the last remaining place that is not infected. Ewan MacGregor is the one person to question this, and many other things, and soon enough learns that The Island is a lie, and witnesses another survivor being dissected on an operating table.

Knowing he must escape, he takes Scarlett with him and on a breathtaking enthralling never ending chase scene, they brake out of the complex into the real world. As the movie progresses, we learn that the people at this facility are clones, paid for by wealthy individuals to prolong their own lives in case something goes wrong. Grown at the same age of life as the wealthy individuals, the clones serve as spare parts if needed.

The action in this movie is awesome, especially the scenes on the highway with the Train wheels. But the movie is kind of a commentary on life, cloning, and the human race and how it would evolve beyond anything science could ever anticipate in a

Because of some of the scenes that make you go, “Ouch! Damn”, I don’t think this is a movie I would watch over and over. But if you have a touch of an open mind, you may check this out. Action packed, different, and a bit philosophical, I think my dad might like it, but my mom would not. Strict conservatives stay away, but generation-x needs to see this one.