"Biggest Movie Ever!"

55 Million and Counting it is not even Saturday Night Yet. That is in one day. Biggest Movie Ever....

"Hot Dog Talk"

So, my dad was at a charity event recently, and at the end they had hotdogs out for refreshments. Anyway he put some ketchup on his dog, and the guy behind him, was like "Are you really going to put Ketchup on your dog?!?!". My dad did, and it got me thinking is ketchup not as a common dressing for a hotdogs as I thought. I am a ketchup and mustard guy myself. But, if I had to pick one of the two it would be ketchup easily. I would think the most common dressing for a dog would be as follows. Ketchup, Mustard, Relish, chopped onions. What does everyone else put on their dog?

"10 Reasons Why Jaws Still Rocks"

I finally got around to screening Jaws on the bigscreen.

For that reason alone I decided to post 10 reasons why the movie still rocks after over 30 years.

1. You can say what you want about the fake shark, but honestly the shots of the shark are so few and far between it doesn't really matter. Also, it looks a hell of a lot better than most of the CGI images used in the Star Wars Prequels.

Anyway, if they movie was shot today. I doubt they would have had the film shot the same way. The 2nd act of the movie out on the water, was shot on actual water. They had another boat with cameras and a crew on it. If they made this movie today, it would be 3 actors sitting in front of a bluescreen in a soundstage, with awful CGI water added later. Having the movie shot on actual water made you feel as if you were there.

2. The music score. I mean it's just truly classic. Something lacking in the blockbuster films these days. Can anyone actually tell me how the X-men, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings themes go?

3. All the extras, and some of the small speaking roles were all cast with residents of marthas vineyard. Since it was supposed to be a small new england town. This worked great. Too often you have extras that just seem fake and mostly just people that hang out in LA all day waiting for their big break.

4. I have seen the movie countless times. Honestly, every time I have watched it. I pick up something different. That is the sign of a truly great film

5. The acting. Roy Scheider is truly on top of his game in the movie as are Robert Shaw and Richard dreyfuss. Scheider playing Brody is great at the anti-hero. Most of his flaws are not brushed with broad strokes that they would be as today. It is clearly implied he has a bit of a drinking problem, and his fear of water is a nice touch given what he has to do. But his fear is never blown up into a huge deal. Robert Shaw is full of energy (and from what I read about the making of the film booze during most of the filming) with his random singing, disdain for richboy know-it-all Hooper(Dreyfuss). The exchanges of the three make the movie tense as much as shark looming.

6. The lines. Very quotable movie.
7. The fact that it is created as the first blockbuster ever.

8. The dinner scene. Truly one of my all time fav. Scenes. You got Quint and Hooper comparing battle scares from run ins with various sea life. Than poor Brody tries to chime in with what looks to be an appendix scar, than decides "man that's too lame to bring up, they are talking about arm wrestling injuries and shark tails cutting them"

After that is Quint's powerful WWII story, followed up by "Show Me the Way to Go Home" which in an instant turns back into action when the shark starts slamming his head into the side of the ship.

9.
Mayor Vaughn (played by the Murray Hamilton) is a great villain of sorts. Just trying to great a big smoke screen in his little summer town. Hoping that no one gets hurt, but at the same time people don't really fear for their lives enough not to spend money in order for his "summer town" to get their "summer dollars". This is most evident when he tells a reporter (mind you after a girl, a little boy, a dog, and a fisherman were all killed) that a shark supposedly "injured some bathers"

10. The movie is paced perfectly. Never a slow moment, and the action doesn't drag forever like modern movies. It ends enough time that you almost wish it was longer, which means they did their job. I also love the final scene of the movie. Which I always think is key to wrapping up a great film.

"Flyers Lose Johnsson to Wild"

Kim Johnsson has the Flyers for the Wild. Making the Philly blueline, even worse. In order to try to make up for his loss the Flyers have signed Nolan Boaumgartner who played for the Cancucks last season and had 5 goalds, 29 assists for 34 points. Who knows if Johnsson will ever return to form after getting his bell rung really bad last season. However, I am pretty bummed to and mildly shocked to see Johnsson walk like this. Meanwhile Blake went back to LA and Weight went back to St Louis. Read more here.

"Almost Here"

Don't forget to run to the theaters Wednesday to catch Superman Returns on opening day. Or for you nightowls catch a midnight showing Tuesday.

"Who Sucks The Most?"

Let's face it all 4 Philly teams are not good. So lets rate the 4 Philly teams from who sucks the most to who sucks the least.

Here is my Rank:

Sixers: No one cares about this team at all. Not even the players feel like showing up for games at the end of the season. Literally, they don't show up on time for their games.

Phillies: I was so excited about this season for some reason. They started off pretty bad, and than seemingly turned it around. However, after the winning streak the team went into a tail spin and can't seem to win any more than back to back games. Getting swept by the Mets last week already may have melted their shot at winning the pennant, and its only June. With sad outings against the Yankees and Redsox even their Wild Card hopes might be fading. This gives them 2nd place, but before the end of the season they might suck worse than the Sixers.

Eagles: Andy Reid lost total control of his team. Most football fans don't think enough changes were made in the off season to make up for last year's train wreck of a season. You can be sure enough that most of their are already getting their excuses ready. TO, might be gone, but we have to play him as a Dallas Cowboy. The final meeting of the two teams is even on Christmas Day. One can already see it play out being the game that if the Eagles lose ends their season. I can already see TO running for 3 or 4 touchdowns and blowing the Eagles out and mocking them. Driving the holiday suicide rate even higher in the Delaware Valley.

Flyers: I know you might say just because its the Flyers I put them as the least sucky team. Please make no mistake. This is a pretty lousy team, with no goal tending and no 1st line centers with Forsberg out for over half the season. Lets face it. If it weren't for the hot run on their annual west coast road trip last season, there is a good shot they would not have made the playoffs. They were at best a .500 team without Forsberg, and will have to play with out him most of this coming season. I have huge doubts the team will even qualify for the playoffs for the 06-07 season. Which could land them right above the Sixers on the level of suck.

Come on who agrees or disagrees with the suck list?

"Superman Returns Earlier"

Many sites debated the release date of Superman Returns. If it was Friday June 30th or Weds, June 28th. Based on the TV spots. Its clearly June 28th.

"Global Sheep"

When it comes to Hurricanes most people look to weather expert Bill Gray. Gray's predicitions are usually copied or at least referenced by most weatherman. Recently, Gray came out and blasted Al Gore and the theory of global warming. This guy isn't really a political guy, but he is well respected in his field. Here is a link.

"Fear the Storm"

Rod Brind'Amour let his team yet again picking up two goals including the game winner to overcome the Oilers 5-4 in game one. The Hurricanes took advantage of the fact that the Oilers #1 goalie Dwayne Rolston left the game. Their back up Ty Conklin was so bad he was on my fantasy team. Brind'y got the puck on a give-a-way and scored on a wrap around. Now the Canes led 1-0 in the series no one cares about. Game 2 is on OLN (Channel 60) at 8pm. Go Canes!

"Sharkey's Up for Sale"

One of my beloved bars Sharkeys in Lindenwold is up for sale according to Rick who saw it in the Sunday paper this weekend. If you ever wanted to own a bar, nows your chance if you have 850k laying around.

Now, this doesn't mean that Sharkey's is dead. Bars like the Wick and Harpers have changed ownership in the past 10 years without most people noticing. However, it's not out of the question that the bar could close its doors all together one day.

The bar has been struggling for awhile. Even had live bands which drove away more business than brought in. The bands were simply too loud for the small bar, and charging a cover charge made no sense when people just went to Harpers for free music.

To make matters worst the smoking ban in NJ has clearly hurt the local bars. People just go and grab a six pack now instead of going to their local watering hole. I was at Sharkey's a few weeks ago sitting next to a guy at the bar (who had something to do with the Bar Business) who was telling the bartender that her bar wasn't the only empty bar he was at that night. All the other places he was in were either half as busy as usual or full of empty bar stools and tumbleweeds.

Of course, the smoking ban had to be based, but it is clearly from what I have seen having an impact on the local bars, maybe night the night clubs where all the shiny shirt guys and slutty girls will always go to hook up. But the quiet local bar could be dead. The only lucky ones are the ones with decks. Rick was even told before the bar was up for sale that Sharkeys was going to get a deck, but its likely it wasn't allowed due to zoning rules. In which case the owner realized he was screwed and put the bar up for sale. Without a deck people are just going to be sitting at home buying their cases of beer and working on their my spaces.

Not sure if you could connect it, but if Sharkey's closes for good since smoking ban was here to it will already be the third bar I know that has closed. Bamboo Bernies actually popular bar had their lease raised and couldn't renew it, Kemensikis in Cherry Hill near the Coast Line got bought and will be leveled for a new night club from the people who brought you Adelphia's.

So, who wants to put in some cash to buy the bar?

"Canes Storm to Finals"

During a stormy night in South Jersey, former Flyer Rod Brind'amour lead his Caroilna Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup finals. This will be only the 2nd visit to the finals in the franchise history. The team formerly known as the Hartford Whalers also has former Flyers Mark Recchi and Justin Williams(who added the empty net goal in game 7) on the roster.

Maybe this was the NHL's dream matchup of the small market teams in the finals. Proving in the post-lock out world anyone can compete. However, it's fairly clear the NHL will see the lowest ratings in the history of their games for the cup finals by far. Given the fact that one team plays in another country and the other is lost in NASCAR and college hoops land.

At any rate the hard working Hurricanes deserve all the credit in the world. They game back from 2-0 in the first round and came from behind in many of their games. It's clear Brindy wants his first cup and this might be his last shot at it.

The Edmonton Oliers on the other hand should be renamed the Edmonton Spoilers, because the ousted a bunch of teams no one thought they could including the Red Wings in the first round. They barely needed to break a sweat to swat off the not so mighty Ducks.

Despite the Oiler's underdog story, the Hurricanes are just an awesome team and can't be beat. The Hurricanes should win easily in 5 games and make it short cup finals.

"Summer Movie File 301: Poseidon"

Cast: Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Jacinda Barrett, Emmy Rossum, Mike Vogel, Mia Maestro, Jimmy Bennett, Freddy Rodriguez, Andre Braugher, Ferrgi and Kevin Dillon. Director: Wolfgang Peterse


There are two kinds of movies you see at the theater sometimes. Those you go to see, and those you go to see because what you wanted to see was sold out.

This was one of the later, normally I would not have paid to see remake of a movie I liked. Certainly not a remake of a Gene Hackman movie. The original spawned a sequel and a mini-series remake on NBC a few months ago.

Going into a movie like Poseidon you know what to expect. It's just supposed to be a fun movie to watch, and if you have seen any disaster movies you know the rules. Lots of famous people, many of which will die. The jerks will all die.

The movie only gives you 20 minutes to find out who is who before the ship flips over and the action starts. Than its a game of who is going to die first. The movie is pretty much the same thing the original was. A ship is upside down and a bunch of people on board must band together and get the hell off. Like the original each person (some bigger than others) has a backstory and of course since its a remake there is a gay character.

A movie like this I cant tell anyone to go out and see right away. But it held my interest for the slim 90 minutes of running time. The actors did what was asked and the director does his best with this kind of film. In fact looking at his previous work I realized I hated most of his films, so I think this is his best.

As far as acting goes, really most the dialouge is about what to do next to not drown. So, there isnt much there.

Russel and Lucas play the dual hero part, Dillion is fun was the sleezy poker player, and Dreyfuss displays the most depth. I am also offically in love with Emmy Rossum.

Final Thought: It is mindless a popcorn movie. The action is pretty good, and I love Emmy Rossum.
Sometime this weekend: Tucker on the CODE

"Superman Videos"

Came Across two videos about the original Superman movies here is one set too some really loud club music with sound bits from the movies which is pretty cool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LijFPPDvts&search=Reeve but a much better one is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQwFrgU5xeg&search=chris%20Reeve set to the Five for Fighting song about Superman. The Lyrics were perfect and match on some of the images.

"Im Back"

I was down the shore for the weekend..but I am well rested and BACK! Two movie reviews for the summer coming soon...check back

"Just for the Record"

Since my internet was down before the final four in the NHL started I didnt have a chance to blog about it. Canes in 7, and Oilers in 6.

"Comcast Hates Me"

For about the 6th time since I got cable at my apartment I am having issues with Comcast.

Last night I was watch Season 2 Rescue Me DVD, and when it finnished I wanted to check up on the fighting Phils. However, the cable was out and after unplugging the box and plugging it backed in (solves some of the problems) it was still not working. I got the icon for the box followed by a typical vauge error.

"These Advance Features are Not Available at This Time"

Appernently actually watching moving images with audio is considered an advanced feature by our friendly neighborhood monopoly. So, I resorted to calling up for help. The first guy told me that my box was "looking for signal" that wasnt there so it didn't know what to do. Also that it "might" be back up in a half an hour or so.


Of course since the guys response to me was based on basically nothing another episode of Rescue me later and I was back on the line.

This time I got a girl who gave me the same suggestions. She than told me that something must be really wrong, and pointed out to me I was getting no signal for my internet with. It's just dead.

Nothing we can do.

We dont know why this is happening.

The best thing they could do is send tech out Friday, during the day. But, I have this thing called a job. So I couldnt take the day off to wait for their idiot repairman. So, now that pushes it to Saturday which will likely sour my plans to go down the shore.

So, no cable, no internet for me. From this awful, awful company.

I used my sales skills to get them to take 20 bucks off my bills.

I will likely squander that at Happy Hour tonight, since im going straight to the country club after work.

"Best of Bush"

When he is not setting the stage for World War III and getting ready to start nuclear war with Iran Bush does provide some laughs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efVin_K6W_s&search=President%20Bush%20CNN%20Speech%20Rehearsal%20Media%20Bias

"Where is Superman?"

About a month and half to go till Superman Returns!

"Funny Jaws Spoofs"

I came across these spoofs of Jaws one is a fake trailer making it look like a heart warming adventure, the other is cartoon bunnies recreating the movie in 30 secs.

"Verizon to Invade Comcast Country"

The stage is set. The War has begun!