"Get Into The Party Life!" -I Wanna Rock (& Bowl) With You! A THANK YOU Party From the Block

It was the summer of 2012, Tom Cruise was on his 3rd divorce but marriage was at an all time low. You could find plenty superheroes on the big screen (the Avengers, Batman, Spiderman and such). But none in real life. Frank Ocean came out, about his sexuality however John Travolta keep his in. Neon colors were in, but the color black never faded out. It was strange times indeed. Which makes one wonder "WHAT will the Fall bring?" No clue? Well one thing I DO know for sure is that the Block Association will have TWO back-to-back Sunday events starting Sun. Sept. 30th, then we kick off "Blocktober" Sun. Oct. 7th! Here's the deets below...

The Block Association & Friends presents
"Rock & Bowl" The Customer Appreciation Event 
@300 New York at Chelsea Piers (23rd St and the Hudson river/west side highway)
Time Frame: 6pm-12am - 8:20pm kick-off for New York Giants Vs Philadelphia Eagles game

Date: Sunday September 30 , 2012
Music by: DJ Trauma & Danny Ocean 
Hosted: Silky Valente
Admission: FREE/NO COVER

Attire: Casually Fresh

Details on Event: Food served till 12am  & drinks till 1am
Table/lane reservations HIGHLY recommended!
Arrive EARLY to secure a lane for Team bowling and seating to watch the game & eat.
Discount food and bottle packages
Pool Table and games
*Free bowling for ones who RSVP to www.rock-n-bowl.eventbrite.com
*Happy hour drink specials from 6pm - 7pm

theBlockRSVP@gmail.com

the Block Association & Blacklight Entertainment present "Sunglasses & Advil" -Any Given Sunday Series Vol. ll ( Holiday Weekend ) 
@ Pranna - 79 Madison Ave on the Corner of 28th St. 
Date: Sunday October 7 , 2012 ( Columbus Day Weekend ) 
Event starts: 3pm-10pm ( Day Party ) 
 Music by: DJ Trauma & Danny Ocean 
MC: Silky Valente 
Sponsored By: MADE DRINKS 
Food: Full brunch Menu and Drink Specials 
Dress code: You at your absolute f**kin' BEST! Dress to impress the opposite sex ( NO HATS, NO T-shirts , NO Athletic Wear, NO Work Boots ) Collard shirt/Blazers/Polo Shirts/loafers/stylish Sweaters/jeans/trendy sneakers/fine attire is highly recommended for entry please arrive in proper upscale fashionable attire for a easy entry to this event.
GO HERE TO RSVP for "Sunglasses & Advil" http://sunglasses-n-advil.eventbrite.com 

"Some Assembly Required" -The Avengers Movie Review

Have you ever had a crush on someone and then years later out the blue not only do they start coming around you they finally have a night of passionate sex with you? No? Well that's happened for me and that's the best way I can describe finally seeing the Avengers become a reality on screen! For years Marvel films has been dick teasing us with solo released films from each hero featured in the ensemble starting with TWO Hulks, two Iron Man flicks, then lately Captain America & Thor last year. Iron Man (thanks to Robert Downey Jr.) being the better of this bunch, Hulk being the worst. Bad ex's but not wifey, like the idea the Avengers was hoping to be. Now I've been an avid comic book collector since the early 80's and the thought of the team ever becoming a movie was as far fetched as the story lines in the books themselves LOL! And if so, NOT a very good one! I actually was nervous FOR Marvel knowing how bad this coulda ended up. EVERYONE was wrong! This movie was everything it was suppose to be! It was like not only finally getting to bed your life long crush but she invites her freaky girlfriends to join in! And then they cook breakfast the morning after! YEAH THAT GOOD! To be honest I'm more of a Batman type of guy. Not the books, more so the Nolan films. It's a bit more "reality" based for my liking. But you couldn't go that route with this one, TOO many over the top powered super beings to play it that way. So the beat 'em up explosive popcorn movie it HAS to be. the Avengers biggest battle however was to not give EVERYTHING away via the leaked flicks & 20 plus trailers! I was secretly hoping that the alien threat was those damn blue dudes from Avatar! But it's looking like the Avengers will be beating them up at the box office instead! LOL! Oh but the way, not  to spoil things for you but not only does Hulk SMASH(!) in the film, the director Joss Whedon does too! 4 out of 5 M's for this one

"When (Ape) S**t Hits The Fan!" -Rise Of The Planets Of The Apes Review

Yoooo! I gotta say yet ANOTHER movie this year (the other being Captain America) I had low expectations for (no crazy buzz) that shocked the monkey for me! But after hearing the rave reviews and on the street feedback, I was like "Okay, let me stop monkeying around and peep this s**t out." I vaguely remember the original Ape series and I'm still trying to forget the Burton version(!), but I'm ALWAYS curious about the starting point of something, so that was my motivation for coping my tix. Gotta say right off the bat (or is it off the back? who knows), I LOVE the pace of this movie! The intro sets you up from the start setting a tone of sympathy you could have for the hunted simians, that in the end turn the tables on man. And also how even though we share SO many moments with our "pets" they still have feelings on disconnection to their "family" being that we're not of the same kind. Much like people do to each other. Right? Though I thought the movie was a "MUST SEE!" Here's what stuck me as "funny style" about the flick.
**Warning spoiler alerts**
For one I felt my boy James Franco's acting was BLAH! Very one note-ish. Not much emotion here, not even a tear when his pop duke dies! BTW how is he a top level scientist still living in a family setting suburbs like that AND in all that time past, shacking up with a dime like co-star Freida Pinto and NOT seed her up? Whaaaat?!? Now THAT would have been dope would be to see Caesar (the starring chimp) jealous of a new baby around the house, then getting sent away for some "accident" involving the kid. Hey, maybe that's another movie. And speaking of accident, why dude next door didn't sue the pants off of that monkey? Your pops f**ked up my whip, my finger got bit, AND I got the s**t kicked out of my chest by damn monkey feet!!! Where's my lawyer? Insurance don't cover monkey gone ape s**t! Maybe that banana smelling cologne was a BAD idea huh? Also would sneaking a scene of Caesar reading a Curious George book in the movie hurt? THAT woulda been a dope nod to curious monkeys all over the world. Even funnier would be to hear "Hey! Hey! We're the Monkees!" playing on the radio in the bridge scene finale as the humans are fleeing. And while we're on the subject of fleeing, HOW in the hell did the only black dude in the film escape them damn apes, and get a free helicopter ride outta dodge? Three things I walked away with thinking about this movie. One was, "clothes don't make the ape!" meaning you can take the "gorilla out the mist, but not the mist out the gorilla"...what ever THAT means. Second thing was, this movie was not too too far off from what happened during slavery dawg. Even peep the "Civil Rights" scene when ya man Caesar got hosed down. Real talk...oh sorry, the new slang now is "Free speech!" And lastly I couldn't help but notice that a black man had a hand in TWO end of the world stories! That scientist from that Terminator 2 flick, and now the black dude from THIS movie! Can a educated ni**a, high up on the ladder get a break!?! Sheesh! #Imjustaskin' Stop spankin' yo monkey and go see this w/a banana shake and popcorn in hand! I giving this 4 1/2 out of 5 M's

"America The Beautiful!" -Captain America Review

I must admit, I was NOT excited in the lest bit to hear about this movie coming out. Not that I'm not a Captain American fan or anti-patriotic all together, it's just that I was STILL shell-shocked from the last attempt at a Capt. America movie years ago. However just like I did with the X-Men First Class movie early this summer, I just went with an open mind and plus it was getting good reviews. So here goes mine. First what worked for me; The intro finding his shield encased in ice was dope and a great nod to the comic book origin of how he was found after all those years. Next, the skinny kid from Brooklyn turned muscle bound international hero was genuine. It made you wanna root for ol' Cap before he was even given the super serum. Also the tone and the WWII setting was the right choice to tell the story. Throwing him in a modern environment would have seemed forced. The director give great clues to the history of both Capt. America and (Iron Man's father) Howard Stark's involvement with weapon development and winning the war. Also dope was the respect paid to the original costume, Cap's sidekick "Bucky" and the Red Skull's look...awesome! Cannot complain about any of those things! But what I will complain about are these. I never felt Cap was in any real sense of danger throughout the movie. And as great as the Red Skull looked his line weren't classic villainy at it's best. I would've been dope to me if they took "Inglorious Bastards" meets "Indiana Jones" w/ Capt. America as the main hero! Now that's a movie! What Cap's real challenge was was defeating Harry Potter at the box office. Now THAT was impressive! Oh yeah, and the Avengers after credit teaser at the very end! I give it 3 1/2 out of 5 M's

"Say Wizard! Voldemort's Gone, A N***a Dead!" -Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows Pt.2 Review

Part Matrix, part Star Wars: Episode 3, part Lord of The Ring: Two Towers, and a lil' Raiders of the Lost Ark...this LAST Harry Potter film threw everything but the kitchen sink into the foray to wrap up the long anticipated conclusion to the 11 part series. And it was WELL worth the wait! Truthfully speaking I'm sorta glad that I never took the time to sit down and read the book versions. I think it would've spoiled by my pre- conception of the characters and the plot would've been ruined for me knowing the out come. And what an outcome it was! The director who'd handled the last three before this one, hit it on the mark with the tone and mood that the films NEEDED to be taking seriously more than a tween fantasy book. Though the main characters are young the situations are VERY adult. Don't get it twisted alot of people DIE defending Harry! Young students at that! But the movie deals with that very maturely, and you get a good sense of the grave nature of why Voldemort must die. But I must say I was a bit disappointed in the ending, if I had to nitpick something "bad" about the film, but it was poppin'! I know my friends are gonna joke on me for saying this but (deep breath) Yes, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.2 was POPPIN'! There I said it. They should've named this one "Hard Hittin' Harry Potter!" LOL. I'm givin' it 4 1/2 out of 5 M's. Now poof! Be gone.

"Rock'em, Sock'em Robots!" -Transformers 3 Review

Yeah I finally gave in and joined the rest of the WORLD it seems (based on the box office returns) and decided to see the latest edition to the iconic childhood film rendition of Transformers (3). The first one I saw as an in flight movie. The second I'm embarrassed to say I paid for. And this current one I gave into peer/media pressure and gave it the benefit of the doubt. But as I learned in life "No one benefits for doubt!" Now though I felt this was NOT terrible, however I did feel like I lost some brain cells on this third go round. But hey, what did I expect from a Micheal Bey summer movie? The King's Speech?!? The dialog will leave you scratching your head but the action scenes more than make up for the first grade play like script. AND the use of 3-D was some of the BEST I've seen so far from a movie using the technology yet. While sitting in the theater I couldn't help but to think of past Bey movies ESPECIALLY the Bad Boys films and thought if you just replaced Smith & Lawrence with the Transformers and threw in camera angles and lens flares from that Armageddon movie then BONG! You pretty much have you a Transformers movie! Am I right? Yeah right? This is 3 1/2 M's out of 5 tops!

"Kung Fu*king AWESOME!"- Kung Fu Panda 2 Review

OK I see you Dreamworks! Now that Shrek's run is done, it's time for the year of the panda huh? They know what they're doing too, cause Kung Fu Panda 2 packs a punch! Who says sequels can't be better than the first obviously hasn't seen this movie yet. Though I didn't think the humor was as good as the first, the kick-ass action fills in the void. What I dug about 2 was that they didn't fast forward and make Po seem like he mastered the art of Kung Fu overnight after the first installment. In this he's still in the learning process, and not yet fully respected by any of this peers. They only agree to his involvement out of respect for Master Shifu appointing Po as the "Dragon Warrior." 2 is set up as a prequel style movie of how Po questions how did he become the son of a goose noodle chef, which never seem to dawn on him. So "family" (or a sense of) is a heavy theme throughout the whole film even with the story line following the main villain. Which is a menacing peacock(?) named Lord Shen, skillfully voiced by (one of my favorite actors of all-time) Gary Oldman. What highly impressed me about this one was the sheer SIZE of the film! Dreamworks packed ALOT of stuff in this movie man! The Kung Fu sequences, the character details, the enormous city layouts, the lighting, the attention to being faithfully to that time period...ALOT! I even thought that the flashback/memory animation was BETTER than most of these films out now! The ONLY thing critical I can even fix my mouth to say is that most of the humor was centered around Po's center...his weight. But that's me nit-picking and being petty. FYI I saw it in 2D, but I'm betting this kicks ass in 3D even more. I give it 5 out of 5 M's. Don't "Fu" around and miss this film.

"We On To The X!" -X-Men First Class Reveiw

I haven't wrote a review in a minute huh? If I recall the last one was Hanna a while ago right? It's not like I haven't seen any new movies out (well ONE, that being Thor) I just wasn't inspired to review it that's all. But this one HERE is a totally different flex man. First off going in it was seen as the underdog of all the superhero based movies coming out, based on the past X-man failed adaptions and the hot mess of a movie Wolverine. So it's understandable why. And secondly, the trailer does no justice to the deeply involved story line this movie offers. Anyway long story short, this movie's first act of heroism was to SAVE the X-men franchise from ruin! To me it was like James Bond meets Inglorious Bastards meets Episode III :Revenge of the Sith and a lil' Austin Powers thrown in for good measure. It was word going around town that a Origins: Magneto movie was in the works, well this basically WAS that! Just that it was balanced with the start of the X-men thrown in. I followed the X-men heavy in the 80's, John Bryne era and even though the film changes stuff up for hard core fans to be mad at. You'll get over it once you admit this version is pretty damn good. Why such high praise? Well for me it answered so much stuff I never even thought to ask about the history of these misfit heroes. The Mansion/School concept, the Prof. X/Magneto former BFF relationship, the suit design, the Blackbird Jet...just ALOT of stuff dawg. There was even room for a surprise cameo of the most famous X-Men of all thrown in the mix too. Man, this Matthew Vaughn director should've BEEN on board for the past X-films! I'll admit that I clapped at the last 2o mins. of this films climactic Mexican stand-off between mutants vs mutants vs Americans vs Russians vs mutants...pure DOPENESS! 4 out of 5 M's as in mutants for this one! X marks the spot!

Peep these alternate (IE cooler) movie posters.

"Roll Over And Roll Out! Transformers 3 Trailer

Just hopefully (fingers crossed) this will wipe the slate clean of the buffoonery slash coonery that the last one had with those twin Autobots that RUINED the movie experience for me. Now THIS one here looks promising! No Megan Fox in this one, but that's what we have Maxim Magazine for anyways. Right? I can just smell the popcorn and the geek sweat in the theaters ALREADY! Enjoy...

"On To The Ex One!" -Scott Pilgrim v.s. the World Review

Part musical, part comedy, part live action video game, all LOVE (story). Scott Pilgrim packs a PUNCH (pun intended). I'll be the first to admit being a former comic book collector/reader, I've NEVER read or even HEARD of Scott Pilgrim before this movie hit theaters. But once I saw the trailer, heard Edgar Wright was attached to direct (of "Shaun of the Dead", one of my favorite films) and "Super Bad" Michael Cera (reigning king of awkwardness) my ticket was brought! Here's the gist of the movie. Scott who's currently dating a "Asian fetish" school girl, Catholic outfit and all, gets distracted in a dream by a mysterious woman who he finds out REALLY exists and becomes obsessed w/ meeting her. After being warned by EVERYONE to stay clear of her, they start a quick courtship unannounced to his current fling "Knives Chu." By the way he's in a rocking indie band that's destined to STAY indie called "the Sex Bob Omb" (which is really rock artist Beck FYI) After a snowed in night of "spooning" with his new love interest "Ramona Flowers", Scott receives an e-mail from one of her 7 ex's (yes ladies 7 former suitors) challenging him to a duel to defend his honor...which he ignores till her first ex shows up at his band's gig. The rest you MAY have to be high to begin to accept as the story line gets more bizarre as the movie get under way. Not that I'm condoning drug use or anything (lol). But it gets surreal from that point on to say the least. All in all this was one of the most original romance comedies I've EVER seen with all it's movie genre bending and quick witty story telling. Better yet take Tarantino and mix it with the on screen computer graphic film style of "ZombieLand", with a dash of any Kung Fu/Matrix movie and BOOM! You have on Scott Pilgrim film folks. I promise you you won't leave the theater without say to yourself or thinking out loud "WTF!?!" I'm giving it 4 out 5 M's

"Toying With The Fans" -Toy Story 3 Review

I KNOW I'm gonna get alot of hate for this but, to be quite honest with you...I wasn't impressed! Yeah the story was good, yeah the art was stunning, but EH! I feel I've seen better. But first let me get into the story. Not to spoil it for those 2% that haven't seen it yet, I gotta say the movies' full of one bad turn after another. And it's kind of a downer except for a few brief moments of humor (very brief for me). So the premise is, years later this kid "Andy" (who's keep the SAME damn toys around for it seems like ever) turns 17 and is off to college. So the toys are to be packed away for who knows what. By this point I'm thinking "What? This guy never had Playstation all this time by now?" Anyway, fear sets in on what will be their fate, so the toys go into panic mode. Woody, who's the "Yoda" of the group devises a plan, only for a mix up between packed bags to happen. And that's as far as I'll go to keep from spoiling it for you. Now I'm NOT saying DON'T go see it. It's a great ending to a the Toy Story series. However I left feeling like Shrek was better! Yeah, I said it! And the 3D wasn't all that too! Pixar did their thing on UP as far as 3D goes and killed it with the details in Wall*E! This one was above average but not "I just wet my pants with the big ol' soda that comes with the No. #2 combo" type of graphics I was hoping for. But that's just me. I'm no sore loser but I'll still give it four out of 5 M's

"All About Partying & Fashion!" -Thank Jesus It's Friday!

Options are ALWAYS a good thing! And TONIGHT it's about four for me. Laugh if you wanna but. I think Toy Story 3 will be HIT! "Pixar" is a MACHINE! You can never lose with them. I don't have to name the hits do I? But that'll have to wait to tell tomorrow ain't dealing w/ those first night lines. NO sir! And did you see the trailers for "Cyrus"? Jonah Hill is the NEW Hollywood! But that too will be on the side line till another day. But BOTH pics are released today. Later if you need to shake your rumpus then check Jeremy's (of Sociallight Ent.) annual b'day Joint out the Maritime Hotel (17th & 9th ave.) or Jeff & Jenine's b'day bashes at Branch (E. 56th betwn 2nd & 3rd ave.) that one's a 80's theme if your need to know details. Enjoy the weekend WHATEVA you do...Do you!

"You Better Shrekognize!" -Shrek Final Review

First off let me say I'm a big fan of the Shrek series! I think the creativity and attention to details that the Dreamworks team puts into each film is on a level par none. It's one of those rare computer animated film that you really question "Is it REALLY for the kids?" Simply because the jokes are a bit mature. And unless your 3-5 yr old is a well-read scholar in the writing and works of EVERY fairy tale EVER written, I'm not sure they'll FULLY appreciate the inside joke humor! So with that being said, let me get back to the film at hand, which is "the Final Chapter" (yeah right!) in the Shrek run. To begin with, I bought the tickets a day in advance to avoid the Sat. "nanny and baby mamma matinee" rush that you know the opening weekend of a rated G movie can bring. So all that I needed to do was show up, get my cool 3D glasses, and sit my ass down somewhere. Honestly I'm starting to be over the whole 3D trend right about now, but I had a feeling that this movie would do it justice...and did it! From the first opening scene, you can tell that their intent was for this to be in 3D in the first place, and not just jumping on the bandwagon last minute to rake in a few extra bucks. Or it least I think they didn't (lol). Whatever the case, it worked. What also worked was the pacing of the film. The story about how married life for Shrek was wearing him thin, didn't drag on. The main characters and plot was set up so you can jump right in, while being respectful to the story of the last 3 before this one. The ONLY problem(s ) I did have was that the film's villain "Rumplelambskin" sorry..."Rumplestilskin" was (to me, in my opinion) EXACTLY the same villain character ("Syndrome") from the Incredibles movie! Height, voice similarities, (red) hair and all! Mine you, I love both characters, but I'm just pointing it out. And the only OTHER problem I had wasn't with the movie itself per se'. It was the fact that to the left of me seated was some freakin' "man-boy" oooo-ing and ah-ing and cackling loudly at EVERYTHING that came on the screen! UNF**KIN' believable dude! Is this your first time EVER watching a 3D movie and s**t?!? Or a f**kin' movie PERIOD?!!? Sheesh louise! The louder he laughed, the LOUDER I laughed, but he never caught on. Then to top things off to the right of me was some 10 yr. old kid SNORING like a man twice his age! Then was pissed, when his dad finally woke him up as the credits was rolling! Kid, you're pissed? Yeah? Well we were too! Your pops shoulda woke that ass up a long time ago! I was thisclose to putting my popcorn bag over his head, and taking the charge! Leaving Shrek in handcuffs LOL! I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 M's!

"Tin Man & The Lion (Heart)"-Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood Review

I WAS gonna sit down and write out a long detailed review about both movies and thought to myself...Why? Both were equally disappointing, so if you STILL want my opinion okay then here it is...RENT'EM! It's either that or wait till they come out on Blu-Ray, or better yet watch'em on a long flight to WHERE EVER you maybe going in a few months. Both get 3 out of 5 M's! Real talk!

"Cha-Cha-Cha-Cheadle!" -Boys To Iron Men

I wouldn't believe it unless I saw it with my own two eyes man! But there it is folks, ya boy Don Cheadle has his own ACTION figure! I know you my be TOO grown to play with toys , but you GOTTA cop this for just history sake. I can count on one hand and half a hand how many black action figure EVER existed. Sam Jackson is in this one as well playing the usually portraits as white comic book character Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. so I'm thinking that will be another figure to add to the list. Let's just hope these guys are seeing real figure$ off of there likenesses! Right!

"Man Of Steel?" Nah I'm More Of An Iron Dude!" -New Iron Man 2 Trailer

I must admit, I wasn't REALLY excited to hear the news that they were making an Iron Man movie, simply because I felt it was gonna flop and tarnish my childhood memories of a favorite Avenger of mine. Well 2 years later, let's just say I'm looking forward to the sequel! Iron Man 2 is but months away and I'm in line ALREADY! This 2nd trailer doesn't help either to quell my anticipation. Are YOU just as excited too? *BTW I'm freakin' SHOCKED that this isn't in 3-D like EVERYTHING else (even though I'd STILL see it) LOL!

"E.T. Go Home!" -District 9 Review

Whoa! NO ONE saw this one coming huh? Now I'am a certified movie buff, I read the blogs, I peep the industry mags. I hear the rumors, I study the trailers...I go HARD! But this one was low on the radar scale. I kinda like it that way simply because dude to the internet sometimes we know too TOO much about the movie walking into the theater. Folks are no longer in the dark (pun intended). Let me be the first to tell you, I DUG this flick man! The documentary style and tone of the film was so reminiscent (to me at least) of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" modernized. I was amazed how well balanced the humor and social commentary under tones were throughout the entire film, DOPE! Without being to heavy handed, it made a great example of how the under privileged are treated by a different class of citizens based on our differences. Apartheid against aliens in Africa (Johannesburg to be specific)...poetic! Man, from the gate even the character development was done well, I was sucked in without all the hype. Also note it was a great role reversal where the HUMANS where the antagonist on their home planet instead of the "visitors"...Again poetic! Can't wait till the extended, special edition, double disc, blu-ray, directors' cut, DVD hits the shelf, I'm SO on it! I'm betting this will be the "Slum Dog Millionaire" film of the year! Meaning small budget big returns. I giving this 4 outta 4 M's!

"Doing The Rain Dance" -Summer Come Out, Come Out, Where EVER You Are!

It's been SO MUCH rain later I seriously thinking about building an Ark man! One day, two days out the the week...cool. But ALL the damn time? $#it is starting to get redundant! Theory has it that the weather has us inside more. "Spooning" on these overcast days, with either a good book or movie. Well here's two rain themed songs that usually help "brighten" things up around the bedroom. Get ya umbrellas out, I'm about to make it rain on ya!

"Which Way Is UP?" -The Up Movie Review

Huh...What?! Yeah I went to see "Up"...and it wasn't with any kids either so! Way I look at things is, a movie is a movie, is a movie, if it's a GREAT story being told. Right? And one thing that's not debatable is Pixar can tell a damn good story! I've seen every one of their flicks (always on DVD) so this was the first time I've actually saw one in a theater! And it's in 3D? Which to me, made the experience even doper! First off your admission tix come with these "Ray-Ban like" cool glasses so you can see the action face forward. Also keep in mind that EVERYTHING was in 3D (the short film, the credits, etc.) which was a nicely added touch. Shortly into the film I was rudely reminded exactly why I DON'T go peep these flicks in the theater...kids movies have kid crowds! Talking all loud and $#it, in yo ear at that! But hey, what did I expect in the middle of the day? At first when I first started seeing trailers for this months ago, I was like "Huh, some ol' dude as the main character? How is THIS gonna work?" But I trusted in Pixar to, and they scored. The first half of the flick is VERY heavy emotinally, which I did see coming. Dealing w/ topics such as getting older and death. Tough subjects, especially for the youth to comprehend. I'll admit it was a little depressing to me in the beginning. I guess they wanted to get all the weighty stuff out of the way, so once the action kicked in, you understood the characters motivation. BTW kudos to Pixar/Disney for using a non-white as a lead, "Russell" was drawn as an Asian kid, which kids don't really care WHAT color he is, just be funny! Even though the leads were human (which is a 1st for them) "Kevin" (the bird) and "Doug" (the dog) were the scene stealers. Good stuff folks. I highly recommend it even though it's not beating my top Pixar flick "the Incredibles" but you'll be leaving the theater still rocking the glasses fo' sho' like I did. I give it 3 out of four M's

"I'll Be Wack" & "The Devil Made Me Do It" -Terminator Salvation + Angels & Demons Movie Reviews

Last week I got the chance to take in TWO movies that was suppose to kick off the Summer blockbuster run, but it's looking like a false start to me with these two I gotta tell you. I'll explain why, starting with Terminator Salvation first. To me the movie never developed the intensity that the first two did by having a central villain in the film. Two heros and not one single "bad ass" in a world FULL of terminators? Give me at least one programmed to find John Conner of present day and kill him right? You sent one to the past damn it! Kill the son of a bitch NOW man! True be told, that other character dude from the past was WAY more interesting to watch on scene (no homo) than ya boy Christian (I like to go off on the on-set help) Bale! Not to spoil things but ummm...Common's in it too, stink up the joint like his last album. It hurt to watch him fail twice in one year. His worst line after hearing that "the Resistance" was going to blow up a Skynet base full of survivors was "HUH?" Brillant writing fellas. Plus through all the chaos, and day to day combat going on, he must've still found time to get a fresh cut and beard shape up from time to time I'm guessing. The writing was on the (poster) wall, it says Bale (Bail). And that's what I should have done... "Bale'd!"

Now on to Angels & Demons, which wasn't that much better. Might you the whole story plot is suppose to happen with a time span on 24hrs. It works for head-butting Keifer but not so much for Tom (Hanks) here. Especially after a last minute flight to Rome, I'd think he'd be jet lagged. Somehow he gets partnered up w/an attractive female AGAIN(?), who's not only a scientist but can read ancient Latin, and like to deface rare, out of print, only one copy left books. Which by the way struck me as odd that NO cameras in that highly guarded, heavily watched area, caught on tape...what? And NO consequences came from that? I'm an atheist when it comes to believing that would happen! And can we talk about the last min. bomb rescue/parachute escape? Explain to me how Ewan only gets effed up on way down, but an explosion that floored the whole Vatican city left the closest person to the blast untouched? A "Big Bang" proportion type at that! A big BOO on that one! I say he deserves to run the Vatican after surviving the self branding and the near fatal sky dive, it shows that he's committed to his causes no matter how zany. The only sin committed here, was paying to see this before it comes out on DVD.