NBA. It's Fantastic!

I have to make a couple of comments about the next big thing. No, it's not Brock Lesnar. I'm talking about Yao Ming. Can you believe a Chinese man is one of the most hyped players to ever come into the NBA? It's mind boggling. But it's reality.

Will he be dominant? OMG! He's 7'5. 295 lbs. He's got post up moves. He can block shots. He can shoot the outisde J. But alas, he is weaker than Allan Houston driving to the basket. I'm not sure how he'll do but I'm getting myself a #11 Houston Rockets jersey. I think Yao's best friend is going to be Glen Rice. Mark my words.

I'm pumped about the season even though the Knicks season is already over. I need my basketball fix. You can't predict what's gonna happen?

How many suspended players will the Clippers and Blazers have for drug violations?
Is Jordan's legs going to fall off?
Is Grant Hill's legs going to fall off?
How many games will the Nuggets lose this season? Can they go 0-82? I think they can.
Will all NBA games be the Sportcenter Showcase?
Will Shaq score 100 on Yao?
Will Spree choke Allan Houston?
Will I choke Allan Houston?
How many times will the Utah Jazz make the playoffs?
I'm depressed. Way that's not me...that's Vin Baker.
Will KG be traded? Will it be to the Knicks? Are the Wolves this stupid?
Can they do a season with the Clippers? I want to see Wang Zhi Zhi hanging with Quentin Richardson and Lamar Odom.

Well I digress but I could go on forever. I'm so excited I could just dunk on Yao.

I LOVE THE NBA!

End Transmission

We got you! You bastard!

Holy Fuckin Cow! We got the stupid ass sonnuvabitch. Enjoy your lethal injection dude.

Some tidbits if you haven't read up on the latest developments on the Sniper case.

-The Sniper has been caught.
-It seems a little to easy don't you think?
-He is a converted Muslim.
-He is a black belt in Karate.
-He served in the Persian Gulf War but he is not part of any special forces. He is does not have any sniper training.
-His son is not really his son.
-The ballistics match.
-I think the son committed more murders than the "father".

Indeed, John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo are sick individuals. You're going to see questions like this over the next few days:

"On what state will charges come from?"
"Will Malvo be tried as an adult?"
"Will they get the death penalty?"
"Are there any other suspects?"
"Are we safe from other shootings?"
"Is there a link to Al Quada?"

I don't care. All I want to know is "Why?"

I watched a piece on 60 minutes about the Ohio Sniper and his reasoning was somewhere along the lines of that he had no reason. He just felt like killing. That reason sucks money butler balls. Are they insane? Are they terrorists involved in Bin Laden's terrorist network? Just give me and the freakin public a reason.

Other thoughts about the Sniper.

How the Sniper attacks affected Hollywood is pointless but somewhat initiate a giggle. Phone Booth is now in release date hiatus. It's supposedly about a Sniper who takes a guy hostage at gunpoint while he's at a phone booth in a downtown city. Smells like Collateral Damage to me.

When will this be on Law and Order? Ripped from your headlines!

Did this guy get orders from Saddam? We need yet another reason to invade don't we?

They were sleeping in their car? What a genius!

Finally...My heart and prayers go out to the 10 victims and 3 other's who were injured by the sniper. If their was any journalistic integrity by the US media this should always be the focal point in any tragedy like this.

End Transmission

Review: The Ring

The Ring is a remake of the box office Japanese smash Ringu. It spawned a sequel Ringu 2 and a prequel Ringu 0.

Now let's see what the American critics had to say about the flick.

Roger Ebert: 2 stars
Rotten Tomatoes: 71% fresh rating

So of course being the horror buff I have seen both the Japanese original and the sequel. Now lets compare.

Most good horror movies liked by American critics (who btw normally don't watch horror because as we all know it's considered so low on the genre scale [slightly above Skinemax and a couple of notches above straight to video action starring Lorenzo Lamas] ) like horror movies to be ambigious, visually stylistic and based in gothic books and novels.

So the Ring is from a Japanese manga (comic book for you non fanboys) and for an American remake its actually quite good. The Japanese film might have lost something in the subtitle translation. It paced along, lots of talking, lots of staring, lots of exterior shots. Gore Verbinski's version is just as good, if not better. He basically does what Americans do best, takes an original idea and makes it better.

Let's start off the review. *******SPOILERS AHEAD!*******

Naomi Watts is not too hard to look at. Big plus. She plays the standard role of investigating and more investigating. And she happens to be a reporter for the Seattle PI.
You've got your gratuitous cute kid that whispers alot (a description coined by my friend), the crazy old man, a scared horse that runs amuck, the 9yr old girl (possessed)
and some visual imagery that only a good special effects company can only provide.

If you already don't know the story The Ring is about a mysterious video tape that when watched, forewarns you that you have 7 days to live.

The Ring, because I already knew the story and twists ahead of time, is a good story based upon all those urban legends you basically would find on Snopes

I'll have to agree with Ebert. The movie explains and explains and explains why this is happening, the origins of the tape, the evil, etc. But it's necessary. The average American movie goer is not too smart. If somebody makes a copy of the tape it's labled "Copy". Yes Virginia we are this dumb. The Japanese version doesn't take this into consideration so you kind of vaguely know what the gist of the story is but not totally.

My friend came up with a good point. He said if a horror film has actors and actresses who are no-names this actually enhances the flick. You'll actually pay attention to plot, dialogue and settings. I mean doesn't it disturb you when you see Katie Holmes playing a college student. That's Katie Holmes! Angelina Jolie is starring as a mob boss's daughter's secretary?!? I don't get the plot but hell that's the girl from Tomb Raider! Best example: the black guy from Boogie Nights. No matter what movie that is. He's the black guy from Boogie Nights. When is he going to talk about HI-FI's?

Some final thoughts. The Ring is basically mindless horror. It's got the basic premise, taunts you with potential scary scenes and then explains what the "evil" is. Visually, the remake adds some nice touches. Watt's acting is not stellar but how can you top your performance in Mullholland Drive's? I mean really.

Finally you've got your basic twist ending which initiates your sequel and thus your trilogy.

Hollywood is running out of ideas. Godfather 4? Egads! They actually roadblocked the Japanese version from coming into the US. It's inevitable they'll be remaking some other Japanese film. I hear Pulse is in development. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can only predict some Hollywood exec proposing "Hey I just watched this horror film from this director named Takashi Miike. The movie is called Audition."
Double NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See the Ring. Break box office records. Maybe this will initiate the next wave of American horror. Nah.

Airplanes, Madison, Chicago and random thoughts about stuff that's bothering me right now

is it really random when you get picked from the security line to get patted down? i always seem to be "the guy". no biggie. but being overtly conscious about 9/11 and the hijackers they just seem to be picking a few random white guys, me, some 7-11 employees and the business man with the leather suitcase. just an observation.

my cousin's wife said the best place restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin is the Olive Garden. I'm going to have to agree.
it just seems when your not in college, college issues, causes and rallies lose their strength. While I visited U of Wisconsin had a billion different rallies for a variety of different causes were being held. End Racism, right to life, tax hikes, save the animals, save the environment, stop the war in iraq (which to me right now begs the question: How can you rally for an end to a war that hasn't happened yet?) this small little city community of university life chanting for change to other students who in the most sense are like minded for these causes. it all seems like your preaching to the choir. they should be protesting in front of the politicians in front of city hall (which while I was there had a rally for wage increases for nurses for city hospitals). funny when you view college life outside the box.

i like chicago. with this being my first official visit i acted like the perfect, wide-eyed, dumb and ignorant tourist. i hit the major tourist attractions like a obese man in a strip joint. wrigley field, the united center, sears tower, navy pier, michigan ave, ESPNChicago and the Art Institute of Chicago. i think i'm going to stay away from museums and art galleries if i ever visit another city. i'm too dumb to appreciate art. who the fuck is Monet?

on the vacation i hung out with my friends who i hadn't seen in months/years. conversations arose on so many different topics. they grew up in the motherland and their personalities and attitudes seem to differ from mine. what i'm getting at is that i had to ponder a few questions that somehwat scared the shit out of me.

What if a friend was prejudice/possibly racist towards another race? Do you debate them? Do you try to see the error of his/her ways? Would you be willing to start a conversation that may end in shouting and serious vocal harm? I kind of started a mild conversation on this topic. It was a luke warm talk and I figured I wouldn't enjoy my vacation if this whole damn thing started boiling. So I ended it.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion. This is the internet. Some remarks were made by my friends and I let them go. I think that at a certain point a man/woman is too far gone in terms of their attitude and philosophy and you just got to give up. It's like trying to convert a KKK member to join the black choir, not gonna happen.

Don't get me wrong my friends are good people. Opinions differ. It's not like I'm a full fledged member of the NAACP.

I've got pictures. Some of them mindless. some i tried to frame like i was a Time Life photographer. Good times.

well all this reminds me of a Ferris Bueller quote:

Ferris: I did have a test today. That wasn't bullshit. It's on European socialism. I mean, really, what's the point? I'm not European, I don't plan on being European, so who gives a crap if they're socialists? They could be fascist anarchists. That still wouldn't change the fact that I don't own a car. Not that I condone fascism, or any ism for that matter. Isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an ism - he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon: "I don't believe in Beatles - I just believe in me". A good point there. After all, he was the Walrus. I could be the Walrus - I'd still have to bum rides off of people.

End Transmission