United 93

[Nick]

So where to begin? A difficult movie to review the way I look at it. Others may feel they are capable and don't get me wrong they have done a good job (Amber and Draven). I myself am not going to go down that route. I personally will have the same post on both here and at the other Fresh Vs. Stale.

I myself can remember where I was on 9/11 like most people older than me can recount where they were when Kennedy got shot. I was working at Bj's and we had the TV's on in the front of the store. I was standing there slack jawed as the second tower got hit. I was on the phone off and on throughout the day with Jose keeping him updated as he was at work and could not see anything about it. Rumors were flying everywhere about other places being hit. I sat there and watched the Towers fall on CNN completely stunned.

It saddens me to think that I have not actually thought too much about the events on that day in some time. All the people who lost loved ones must be reminded of it every single day, innocent people just trying to pay the mortgage.

[Final Thoughts]

[Nick] No matter how ready you think you are for this movie, you are not ready. It is a very moving film. That actually means a lot coming from me, as I am pretty Jaded and desensitized. It will affect you in some way. There were many tearful people leaving the theater. A few from my group even. Me it affected different, I was more angry than anything else. What a waste.

<Jose> This is not a movie for everyone, not now, and maybe not ever. I'm not going to grade it. I say see it for yourself, decide for yourself.

American Dreamz *May Contain Spoilers*

[The Breakdown]

We saw this movie on Tuesday Movie Night on the 25th of April, sorry it took us so long to get it here. If you do not know what the movie is about click the poster and go to IMDB for their Synopsis. Or Here for the official site.

I had wanted to see this movie since I saw the first trailer months ago. So my expectations were high, which kind of worried me as high expectations tend to lead to big letdowns. Fortunately for me that was not in the cards. I found the movie to be quite funny, yet sad. As far as the sadness goes, well because for the most part it could be true (ish). I myself am not a huge Hugh Grant fan, but when directed by Weitz I find him quite humorous. About a Boy is a great example.

[The Verdict]

The Freshness-I found the movie to be well done, though I am not surprised it is not doing well at the box office. Bueno is how I am going to cast my vote.

OH yes, dreamz with a Z do come true. This dark comedy has it all, From showtunes in the desert, to bleeding tatoos. If you like About a Boy, enjoyed In Good Company, go see this flick. Muy Bueno indeed. From what I remember, most of the people we saw it with enjoyed it. I'm not sure about HeDie, I don't recall if she liked it or not. Anywho, this movie rules, and yeah, it's not doing well at the box office but I think word of mouth could help it now, and when the dvd is released.

Silent Hill * Spoilers ahead*

[The Breakdown]

So this was the second movie in the double that we had on this past Sunday. The movie started off real interesting with the main character Rose (Radha Mitchell) running around screaming looking fro her daughter in the middle of the night. Did I mention that she was wearing boy shorts and a sleeveless white shirt. I believe I just did. It was cold outside. Anyway, apparently her daughter Sharon sleep walks. Then upon awakening mutters something about Silent Hill.

After some investigation Rose finds out that Silent Hill is located somewhere in West Virginia. She plans to bring Sharon there to find out what is going on with her. Of course she does all this without the knowledge and support of her husband Christopher (Sean Bean). Rose stops at a gas station and finds out that her cards have been cancelled and meets a cop named Cybil (Laurie Holden) . A short while after leaving the gas station she notices blue lights behind her, she pulls off the road. Noticing the sign for Silent Hill that way she drives off. Some pursuit and a drive through a fence later, something runs across the road and causes Rose to lose control and crash.

When she awakens Sharon is gone, and the real mystery begins. For most of the movie I could not see why it was rated "R". Some language here and there, but nothing to bad. Then the big scene at the end in the church. My God, barbed wire is not supposed to go there.

<JOSE> I liked two things about this movie: Sean Bean ('cause he's the man). A very underrated actor, in my opinion. and Laurie Holden in a lot of leather, good stuff there. Other than that, it was another disappointing horror movie for me. Yeah, there is gore, but that just doesn't scare me anymore.

[The Verdict]

[The Freshness] Overall I would have to say this movie is Mal. Though it had it's moments. The only thing I found really good was the ending slaughter and the kind of cool way the movie itself ended. Not quite enough to receive a positive response.

<JOSE> Eh, this gets a mal Had a couple fo decent things, but not enough to save it.

Arena Football : Live free or Die

[The Breakdown]

So this is Part I, even though it takes place after Part II, who knows when that will be up. Go Here to read the rest, with insight from The Staleness.

So we ended up having really good seats, Section 109 Row D seats 7-14. Only cost like 45 dollars a ticket as well. When we first walked in, our tickets got ripped and we were handed "Touchdown Towels", I somehow ended up with three, oops.The easiest way to describe Arena Football that I can think of is, Football on a hockey rink, minus the ice. People getting tackled over the boards. Good stuff.

The first half I kind of felt bad for the Kicker for Manchester as he missed every extra point he attempted. Yet on kickoff (a 50 yard kick) he split the uprights. So during halftime there was some sort of "game" where people were throwing little footballs on the field, Russ bought some. Kind of like a raffle, each ball had a number on it. I threw one, guess which one won. So Russ ended up with a fifty dollar gift certificate to a jewlery store, as payment he bought me a football, Huzzah. The second half went much like the first. Only this time the kicker made all the extra points, hooray for Mr. No-Name number 20.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4
Albany Conquest 7 7 10 21 -45 Record: (2-1)
Manchester Wolves 12 12 14 21 -59 Record: (1-1)


[Jose] Since the Fresh Prince mentioned the actual game, I'll mention the pre game festivities. We spent much of the day at Russ' house, I slept a lot, Nick played guitar hero a lot. Not a bad game, except I was humming Crossroads in my sleep. We drove to Manchester around 6, and waited about 40 mins for the show to begin. The Albany team was introduced, and nobody noticed. Then, the lights went out, and the Manchester dance team rolled out on Harleys. Harley Davidson sponsors the team, so it made sense. However the team mascot rode a mini Kawasaki, go figure...

Up next was the national anthem, this week performed by a mariachi band, sort of. There were about 15 horn players wearing Elvis like jumpsuit and I think bell bottom pants. I'm guessing this was their first time playing this selection, since they screwed up 3 times. On their way out of the arena, the truck that lead the Harleys i, nearly ran them over.

[The Verdict]

[The Freshness] I found the game Muy Bueno, we are even discussing the possibility of purchasing season tickets next season.

[Jose] I had no idea how the game was played, but after seeing it live, I have new respect for the game, and the players. Muy Bueno, all around. and unlike Buffalo, we didn't get booed! yay

The Sentinel *May Contain Spoilers*

[The Breakdown]

So after the comic convention on Sunday Jose, Caitlin, Josh and myself decided to catch a double, we started with The Sentinel.

The movie follows Michael Douglas, a Secret Service agent who appears to be involved in a plot to assassinate the President. I think having an affair with the First Lady is probably one of the worst ideas ever. Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria and Kim Basinger co-star. The movie is formulaic and predictable as far as "suspense" movies go.

[Jose]

Is it me, or has Michael Douglas always played "the old guy" in his movies? Once again Mr. Zeta-Jones plays the aging good guy, who makes one mistake in his long career. In this case, it's sleeping with the first lady, since it's Kim Basinger and not Barbara Bush, I guess he can be forgiven. Somewhere along the line, one of his old snitches finds out there's a mole in the secret service, so Douglas gets the investigation rolling. However, since he guards the first lady, Kiefer and the sexy Eva take charge in the case. As usual, all evidence leads to Michael Douglas, and no matter what, he must clear his name. Be aware that a couple of minor sub plots, don't really get resolved. I hate when that happens

[The Verdict]

[The Freshness] Even though the movie is predictable, I enjoyed it. I would say the movie is Bueno. I recommend it.

[Jose] One of the most predictable movies you'll ever see, yet quite enjoyable. I'll still give it a Bueno, but a borderline bueno. Eva Longoria gets a Muy Muy buena however.

Lucky Number Slevin *May Contain Spoilers*

[The Breakdown]

So the group was back down to "normal" when we went and saw this movie. Many were invited, a couple showed up. It was Ali, Caitlin, Babs, Jose, myself, Dina and HeDie. Good group. Five Dollar Movie Night is great. They remodeled the place probably from the money we spent there.

The movie is very dialogue driven I thought. There is a lot of banter. Quite the cast as well; Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, "Sir" Ben Kingsley, Lucy Lui, Josh Hartnett to name a few. Slevin (Hartnett) is mistaken for Nick Fisher who has a debt to two rival crime bosses (Kingsley (The Rabbi) and Freeman (The Boss)) who it turns out were partners at one time. In order to get out of debt Slevin to The Boss he is forced to agree to kill The Rabbi's son. He also is given 48 hours by the Rabbi to come up with the money owed to him. Bruce Willis's character is pulling the strings behind the scenes to get someone. The whole plan comes to fruition...what is the plan, who lives, who dies? Go see it to find out more.

[JOSE]
Many people, maybe most, don't like Josh Hartnett's acting. I'll admit he's not a great actor, but I seem to like his movies. Slevin was no exception, and believe it or not he even showed some range. Scary huh? Even Bruce Willis did bang-up job on this one, he easily could have overplayed his role, but instead played it cool, smooth, and maybe even a little sarcasm.

My favorite part was a conversation between Lucy Lui and Hartnett comparing the Boss, and the Rabbi to James Bond villains. I think I was the only one in the group who understood it, I'm a Bond geek, sue me.



[The Verdict]

[The Freshness] I liked this movie a lot. I have heard some mixed reviews. Muy Bueno, especially if you like banter between characters. Good Stuff.

[Jose] Yeah, I figured out the ending early on, but with as many movies as we see, that's not a surprise. However, this did not wreck the movie for me.. Lucky Number Slevin is by far one of my favorites of the year, and so it gest a Muy Bueno from me.

Ice Age: The Meltdown *May Contain Spoilers*

[The Breakdown]

So I did not see this with Jose, I was supposed to, but alas. I saw it on the Saturday before he did. As I was sleeping, ok more like passed out, he went with the group to see it.

This movie starts off pretty much the same as the first one, with Scrat and his acorn. For the record Scrat is the best character in these movies. Moving on, it turns out the valley that the heroes from the first movie are living in is a giant bowl that is about to be filled with the water from the melting ice. The story bounces between; Manny, Diego and Sid; and Scrat getting into all sorts of trouble with his acorn. Some new characters are also introduced. A mammoth that thinks she is a possum and her "brothers". So here the love story begins. Plus there are some mini sloths that worship Sid. Want more? Go see it.


[Jose]

Yes, Scrat is a great character, but I think he was overused here. I did think this movie was darker than the first one, a lot scarier for kids. The voice talent is great, and I liked Queen Latifah as a mammoth. Her possum brothers got annoying after a while, but Sid more than made up for it. His maamoth gone extinct song medley was a highlight and I feel Diego's pain at not liking to swim.

[The Verdict]

[The Freshness] I thought this movie was Bueno. They really had a lot of Scrat in this one, who as I have previously stated is my favorite so.

[Jose] You liked the first one? You'll like this one, even though it's not as good. Still, this gets a Bueno from me. enjoy.