‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ pays homage while forging a new direction
Star Trek Into Darkness is a lot like the 2009 Trek movie, which is generally a positive thing. You can nitpick about the flaws and plot holes of both movies and director J.J. Abrams’ style all you want, but the fact of the matter is that Abrams has done something very hard to do: he has [...]
Wow, Obama actually is that turtle on a fencepost
Conservatives often liken Obama to a turtle on a fencepost who didn’t get up there by himself, doesn’t belong there and doesn’t know what to do while he is up there. I used to laugh at that joke, but I still had a healthy amount of respect for Obama, who earned his position through talent and [...]
Politics MMSR: The Dems fire back on Benghazi
It was hardly Custer’s last stand, but the Dems were kind of circling wagons on Sunday. On the defensive over mounting questions over Benghazi and the administration’s questionable response, Democrats began pushing back over the GOP’s investigation of the matter. They came forward with several lines of attack on the Sunday talk shows. Number one, [...]
Sports MMSR: The playoffs continue and a gift for mom
It was another wild weekend in the world of sports. I begin in the NBA, where many thought that the San Antonio Spurs would be able to handle the Golden State Warriors quite handily. That outcome has proven not to be the case, and in the process Steph Curry is reaching for superstar status. The Warriors have evened [...]
Movies MMSR: Gatsby isn’t a bust, but he’s still not the (Iron) man
The Great Gatsby had some potential to be a big bust. Coming out right after a movie that will be one of the biggest grossers of all-time in Iron Man 3, it was very possible audiences weren’t going to line up to re-experience high school English set to a Jay-Z soundtrack. Plus there was the [...]
‘The Great Gatsby’ is a visual feast, for good and bad
This Baz Luhrmann production is the fifth film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, often considered one of the best examples of classic American literature. Even the cover of the celebrated novel is iconic. Commissioned by Francis Cugat, it depicts disembodied eyes and a mouth over a blue skyline, with images of naked women reflected in the [...]
Saying goodbye to a soccer legend
I am one of those kids from the last generation before soccer became kind of a mandatory sport in this country for young children. Kids of the early seventies learned about Pele and played soccer in gym class, but it had not yet become the ubiquitous kids game here that is was in the rest [...]
‘Ender’s Game’ and ‘Odd Thomas’ trailers released
Two popular books have movies coming out soon–the 1985 novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, and the Dean Koontz book Odd Thomas, which came out in 2003. Both books spawned at least four more books, so the prospect for sequels is easily built into both if the movies are successful. Ender’s Game has to [...]
Weekend sports recap: Mayweather, the Derby and the ‘Wheel of Justice’
Another packed weekend in the world of sports begins with the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With most matchups now at minimum two games into the series, the early stages of the playoffs have taken shape. In the #1 vs. #8 matchup in the East, what most thought to be an easy Pittsburgh Penguins romp over [...]
Saturday boxing preview: Mayweather vs. Guerrero and a Klitschko defense
Floyd Mayweather is one of the most polarizing figures in all of sports. In order to be fair to Floyd I typically have to separate the Floyd that we see when he is in the ring from the guy that we know he is outside of it. This Saturday night Floyd Mayweather the boxer steps [...]