It may be totally campy with a lot of grade school humor and far fetched situational comedy, but the chemistry between actors John Cho and Kal Penn has not changed since the first installment of the pothead comedy Harold and Kumar, and it’s still well worth the watch.  The opening scene starts off to set the tone for the movie, with a certain bathroom incident, blatantly put out their by the producers, a masturbation scene that was so ridiculous that you had to laugh or you weren’t human, and lots and lots of talk about weed.

Harold and Kumar were getting packed for their trip to Amsterdam, where of course we all know, weed is legal.  This is the equivalent of a paradise to a pothead, and Harold and Kumar were ready to go in the opening scenes.  Then it all goes wrong when Harold’s home made smokeless bong is mistaken for a bomb on the plane and Harold and Kumar are thrown into jail by a bunch of stereotypically ignorant “Americans” who are anything but diplomatic in their handling of minorities or anyone that appears “different”.

The political incorrectness in the movie is hilarious, and it’s nice to see a movie make light of subjects that some movies take way too seriously in an attempt to “make a point”.  If you want to just laugh for an hour and a half straight and you can handle bawdy, raw comedy, then this movie is for you.  If you watch it and you don’t laugh, you probably take yourself a little too seriously.  Just relax and suspend all reality for a while, and you may even feel like you’re getting high right along with the heroes of this hysterical romp! 

Breaking Bad, a newer comedy on the AMC network, was something that we had recorded in our DVR for several months before actually taking the time to sit down and watch the first episode.  Finally, we ran out of room on the TV it was recording on, and were forced to watch it.  Being “forced” to watch something never had such a good outcome!  We both really loved this show, which stars the uber talented Bryan Cranston, whom you may recognize as the zany and flawed, but loveable father in “Malcolm in the Middle”. 

Bryan pulls off much of that same loveable yet flawed and zany way in this show, only he’s a man who is dealing with more than too many kids and a screaming wife.  He is a mild mannered high school chemistry teacher who we see in the first episode, also happens to get very little respect from people in life, including sometimes his own wife, her macho brother, and an employer at a car wash where he moonlights to support his son who has cerebral palsy, and his pregnant wife. 

You feel for the buy because he seems kind of like that poor schlep who is really smart but just got stuck working a job that barely pays the bills.  He seems earnest, yet you always sense there is a volcanoe brewing beneath his exterior that is waiting to make both a hilarious and frightening explosion.  He’s the guy who’s had it with people, and to top it off we see him suffering from an awful cough and being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in the first episode. 

His character, Walter White, decides to live life a bit more on the edge after his diagnosis, and forgos telling his wife or son that he is dying of lung cancer and possibly only have months to a few years to live.  We see him lash out at strangers who are making fun of his son in a store, tell his boss to f off at his second job, and attack his wife in bed like he never has before, if you know what I mean. 

The pilot alone shows one of the most interesting character evolutions I’ve ever seen, especially in just one hour, and the pilot I would say is probably one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen, because it made me want to immediately watch the next episode.  If you’re looking for a feel good show, this probably isn’t it, as it is laced with satyrical, dark comedy the whole way through, and yet you find yourself rooting for this gu who’s never gotten a break from anyone, and well, he’s just not gonna take it any more! 

It gives new meaning to the Tim Mcgraw song that you should “live like you were dying”. 

Natalie was finally given the big old boot from the Big Brother 9 house this week, and I think a lot of viewers were sighing a big sigh of relief.  I was wondering if it was just me that she annoyed, but even my boyfriend can’t stand her.  There is something about a religious hypocrite that really drives people wild, and she’s is that, to a T, either that or the BB producers are very good editors and make her appear that way. 

I’m not sure if a woman of God would be wearing outfits that look like something a hooker would wear on a street corner or be doing favors for Mattie under the covers if you know what I mean (wink, wink).  It’s true if you haven’t seen the footage - there’s footage of Natalie mysteriously disappearing under the covers in Mattie’s nether regions and emerging later only for him to thank her and call her a good girl.  Umm, ok, that’s not very Christian!

Natalie seemed like she was almost gonna pull off winning the POV, or so the editors would have you believe since they led us to believe she had the lowest puzzle-solving time on the screen the last they showed it.  Natalie is really good at puzzles, so that really put a kink in Sheila’s plan when they all found it was going to be a puzzle challenge.  However, Adam aka “A Baller” pulled it off, and consequently pulled himself off the block. 

Sheila couldn’t convince both of the guys, a gutless Adam and Ryan to both vote Natalie out of the house, so Adam ended up giving her a sympathy vote while Ryan voted her out, making Sheila cast the deciding vote.  Nice way to try to garner another jury house vote Adam, but not very smooth move for you game play.  I understand you’re a “nice guy”, but if you couldn’t see that Natalie is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and all her Jesus talk wasn’t a thin disguise for her true reason to be in the game - pure greed for the 500k prize, then you are easily fooled and don’t deserve the 500k. 

Ugh, this is another BB season where the most deserving contestant isn’t going to win the money, and that is James.  I guess that’s part of the frustration when you watch a reality show though, you really can’t control the outcome, especially in a house full of clueless people. 

Oh boy, where to begin with this interesting and thought provoking film by Sean Penn, who’s become quite the film maker lately.  The movie Into the Wild is a film that is based on a true story about a restless free spirit named Christopher McCandless, who decides that he’s going to leave the world behind and live as a vagabond and off the land for a while (two years to be specific), and anyone who happens to come along the way. 

The role is played ably by newcomer Emil Hirsche, who does a good job of playing the character, albeit not as great a job as I think another actor such as Leonardo DiCaprio could have, but that’s my opinion because he looks more the part and probably could have had the acting chops to pull it off just subtly better.  The movie starts off with Christopher on the road, somewhere in the middle of his travels, and takes us back in time to see what the path of events were that lead him to decide to take on the wilds of Alaska with nothing more than a gun, some matches, clothes, and some books.

It shows us, somewhat ineptly at times, what led him to pursue his adventure by himself and leave his family behind, not even contacting them for a few years while he was on his “journey” to find himself.  At times, he is unsympathetic as a character, because we can’t help but think how selfish the damn kid is for just leaving what seemed like a loving and concerned family behind in the dust.  However, we may also not know that whole story, and I think that even the best of us have fantasized at one point or another about “getting away from it all”, including our own families who can admittedly drive us crazy from time to time. 

The cinematography is absolutely stunning, and we get to see a lot of beautiful countryside scenery, which makes the movie almost worth seeing just in it’s own right.  The movie ultimately ends being somewhat of an inspiration and making you think about what life is really about, and why it is so worth living.  It also leads us to the conclusion that life, and happiness, as Christopher ultimately concludes, is not worth it if you can’t share it. Now, this may have been a creative liberty the director/producer took, but it sums up the movie nicely. 

All in all, Into the Wild gets a good review from me, because it’s just different.  It’s not like all those other crappy movies out there right now with little meaning and poor performances. Some of the better performances in “Wild” are by the supporting cast, including Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, and Hal Holbrook, who I believe was nominated for an Oscar for his short but impactful appearance.   

We rented the film American Gangster, which starred two huge Hollywood stars who barely spoke in the movie at all until the end, Russell Crow and Denzel Washington.  I’m a big fan of Russell Crowe, remembering what a great role he played in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, but he failed to really pull me into this movie like he does in most other roles he plays.  Denzel is another story.  I’m not a big Denzel fan.  He just seems to play a limited range when he plays character who should be very diverse.

It was no different in American Gangster, which was hailed as a critical success and certainly enjoyed enough commercial success to be called an all around hit.  Russell Crowe plays a cop who is kind of a rebel (go figure), but who also happens to have a bit of a dislikeable habit of womanizing, so he’s not your typical good guy you love to hate, you just don’t really like him or relate to him throughout the movie, and I can’t explain why, but you just don’t connect (at least I didn’t).

The movie was also a bit two long, tallying to over two hours, and it was hard to follow, although I’m not sure if for me that was just because I found it utterly untinteresting and lacking likeability in the characters and in the situations.  It was directed by Ridley Scott, which shocked me, because I usually  like just about everything he does, but as they say, there are always exceptions to every rule, and this was one of those for me. 

We were actually going to turn this off about thirty minutes in, but I wanted to give it a chance.  Honestly, we should have.  It didn’t get any more engaging into the movie, which was too bad, because this could have been a really good movie if it was done right.  It seemed implausible in some way, even though it was supposedly based on a true story. 

It never seemed real.  It just didn’t strike that gritty cord it should have, and it’s not even something I could totally put my finger on for you.  I know there are lots of people that will disagree with me, since this movie was well received, so please post an opposing review of American Gangster if you have a different view

Well, it certainly appears that neither Richie Sambora, nor his estranged wife, Heather Locklear, are doing very well after their divorce just a few short years ago.  Although the exact reason for their divorce wasn’t really laid out there for the public, it seems that an affair with Heather’s supposed friend and neighbor, Denise Richards, may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.  It’s either that or they started dating very soon after the marriage fell apart, but that relationship didn’t last (surprise surprise).

Now, a few years after Richie and Heather have parted ways, it doesn’t seem as though either of them is doing very well.  For example, Richie was just recently picked up and charged with a DUI, with his ten year old daughter Ava and a friend in the car no less.  You can imagine this doesn’t go over very well in the public eye and certainly doesn’t go over well with whoever’s been working with Richie on his sobriety, which he has acknowledged publicly he has a problem with and is struggling to overcome with help. 

Then, there were just reports of Heather having a run in with alleged suicidal thoughts.  It was reported, although never confirmed true to my knowledge that Heather had phoned into her therapist sounding as though she may harm herself.  This is said, especially since Heather Locklear seems like one of those people who has it so together.  We all truly are vulnerable though, I’ll admit that I’ve been vulnerable in my life too, it’s just tough to see such an obviously well rounded and ambitious women struggling with what seems like depression. 

Joshua on one of my favorite reality tv shows of all time, and yes, probably one of my guiltiest pleasures of all times since it takes up three days of my already busy week, departed the show this week when he was voted out on a three to one vote from the Big Brother house after being lead to believe that he was staying. 

Josh is the gay, or bisexual he says, man who has had numerous blowups in the house, and seems sneaky and conniving, but is nonetheless one of my favorite houseguests because he’s on the team I’m rooting for with James, and because he’s got that heartless, sort of bitchy quality that makes him fun to watch on the Big Brother show. 

He is explosive though, and for that I think he paid with his leaving the house since people tend to feel they can’t trust such explosive personalities.  Ryan, who I thought didn’t have a chance of staying so long in the Big Brother house, is still left, even though I’m not really sure why.  He and Joshua had an alliance that apparently didn’t mean anything to Ryan after he was talked out of it by Natalie (who didn’t know he had the alliance). 

And another thing, if I have to look at Natalie’s rat nest hair, screechy voice, and hypocritical Christian butt any longer, I really don’t think I can take it.  I don’t understand why Sheila, whom I also have a distaste for on the show, and Natalie, have such huge powers of persuasion in this house, but all I can really chalk it up to is the fact that none of these people have any spines if they are listening to these two delusional chicks. 

Natalie is actually an embarrassment of a woman.  She chases after a guy, Matty, who has no interest in her and even treated her downright cruelly at times, and even after he has left the house, she keeps talking about him, staring at his picture, and saying that she is avenging him.  Why, honey? 

He certainly wouldn’t give a rat’s a#$ if you left the house when he was there!  Natalie is not only annoying, but she is really a weak woman who has to have the approval of a man to be accepted, she actually hard to watch because she’s a pathetic basketcase who is also a stalker.