Hey Guy In The White Truck. FUCK YOU!

Look motherfucker, I don't care WHAT kind of stereo you have in your car. Keep it at a respectable volume or I will pick your door! If I'm at a stoplight and you are next to me your shitty music should NOT be loud enough for the windows of MY car to be rattling! Your shit music is making my car vibrate because you feel the need to "show off" your subwoofers.

Guess what, douchebag! It's not impressive! You look like a fucking idiot! And I hope you get flat tires.

A New U2 Album Is On The Horizon

So there's a new U2 album coming out very soon. VERY SOON. It's called No Line on the Horizon and it's out in the first few days of March. Now this is awesome news in itself. But then I think about what this news lends itself to.



A tour. You see, I've had really bad luck when it comes to seeing U2 live and to this day...I haven't been able to see them. The worst of all was the last tour when I stashed enough money to buy tickets to more than one show as I wanted to see them a few times while they were in Southern California. The story was big in the media. Hackers and scalpers more or less defrauded the fans by crashing the Ticketmaster system anbd buying all the tickets within mere moments. Though I was at Ticketmaster the very MOMENT they went on sale, I was shown a "sold out" message. It was a punch in the gut.

That's not going to happen this time. I refuse to let it happen. When they tour this time I'm hoping to catch a couple of shows, presuming they play in San Francisco AND Sacramento. I told my brother, David, I'd take him to one of the shows because he's never truly been to a big concert. He's been to smaller things, radio station events, etc. But he's never been to an arena rock type of event. And I wanna be there with him when he sees one.

That's all

The Wrestler: Reviewish.

So I finally made the drive into San Francisco to see The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke's new picture in which he plays a past his prime professional wrestler from the 80s. In the year 2008/2009 he's not what he once was, yet he still thrives on the crowd. It's his life. The only life he knows, really. But when you are in the twilight of your career, your body is breaking down, and you are all alone what do you do next?

That's really where The Wrestler picks up. Randy "The Ram" Robinson sees his paydays getting smaller and realizes he doesn't know how to live life as not a wrestler. Then he's forced to when he suffers a heart attack following a particularly brutal and violent match...With Necro Butcher of all people. Necro Butcher is a real life "death match" wrestler. And he's brilliant. And in the movie he was quite brilliant. His backstage planning with The Ram was really interesting and I think that's what makes this movie. It's the other side of wrestling. The side most of us don't see. People planning out their matches, shows coming together, wrestlers outside of the ring living their everyday lives. Following The Ram's heart attack he's told he can no longer wrestle. What does he do now?

Spoilers to follow, highlight for goodness:
Ultimately The Ram fails in his bid to find life outside of wrestling. His blossoming relationship with Cassidy (Marissa Tomei), a stripper he finds himself regularly visiting, is constantly shut down as he is "just a customer." His attempts to rekindle his relationship with his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) are shot to hell more than once by either his mistakes in the past or even his mistakes in the present. His deli counter job is lost when he flips out, says fuck more than anyone on earth, bleeds all over everything, and knocks the cereal down. Fucking Ram...

In the end the Ram goes for one more match, a rematch of his biggest match of allo time. 20 years later it's Randy The Ram vs. The Ayatollah (Earnest "The Cat" Miller) one more time. Just when it looks like one of his stories, his relationship with Cassidy, is about to end happily, he risks it all for the limelight one more time. And it's the end of The Ram. During the match his heart starts to give out and as he goes for one final Ram Jam, the movie ends. Just ends.

Two conclusions can be drawn. The first is why the fuck weren't the storylines that were left hanging revisited? What about his daughter? What about Cassidy? The other, obviously, is that they were left hanging because The Ram was dead. He died doing what he loved with the only real family he knows, the fans.

So yeah, that's a lot of spoilers, but it's hard not to spoil this one. It's a great movie though, and as a wrestling fan it's all the more interesting. A great movie and a look at the side of wrestling people don't like to talk about. It's not all glitz and glamor. The cast is brilliant and at many times the movie feels like a documentary.

And just in case you aren't sold yet...LOTS of nudity.

8.5/10

The Best and Worst of 2008

Wanna see a magic trick?

Best:
The Dark Knight -
Hands down, this is my movie of the year. Being a Batman fan it was incredible to not only see Chris Nolan continue the best telling of Batman in film yet, but outdo himself to such a degree that I have no idea how he can go any higher. This is a comic book movie with serious Oscar award implications. That doesn't happen! Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker is going to be the measuring stick for not only future portrayals of The Joker, but I'd say all movie villains. It was just...Perfect.

Cloverfield -
Remember Cloverfield? It seems like it was a long time ago, but it was 2008. And it was great. It was an exciting movie that defied most every convention you could throw at it. It was just fun, but fun in a whole new way. It was a monster movie from OUR perspective. What's it like whe you are in the masses running? Not looking down on the masses from a crane camera. And I hope they never make a sequel.

U2 3D -
Easily the best use of 3D film I've ever seen. U2 was able to capture the intensity of their live shows in IMAX 3D. It's not the same as being there, and the sound could have been louder, but short of having a ticket in hand to seeing the band, this movie was your best bet. And if you were like me, and you took a flask with you, it was even more fun.

Untraceable -
Surprising, really. This was one of those toss away movies that really, honestly, entertained me start to end. And it got Colin Hanks work. So double bonus! It's a really good suspense/thriller type flick.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall -
Best comedy of 2009. Bar none.

Iron Man -
If Dark Knight is an example of how to take a comic book movie and make it a film...A true film. Then Iron Man is how to take a comic book movie and just make it awesome and fun. Iron Man is all of the things the Spider-Man series should be but isn't.

Rambo -
Rambo was something I didn't expect it to be. Really bleak. It was a real kick in the stomach and I'm glad it was. It was a lot of violence and explosions, actions, etc. But it also shed a light on the way some places in the world really are.

Honorable Mentions: Pineapple Express, Role Models, Get Smart, Zack and Miri Make A Porno, Valkyrie, Wall-E, Hulk

I really liked Role Models.

Worst:
The Happening -
I just saw this movie this past weekend. It is GOD AWFUL. And I can't decide if I hate it or love it? Don't get me wrong, this is a truly terrible movie. The acting is sub-par MadTV, the dialogue is just so bad, everything about this movie is ridiculous and stupid. Marky Mark, I mean what the hell? From the guy who loves hot dogs, to Zooey Deschanel freaking out because she had desert with a guy. To Marky Mark freaking out because she had desert with a guy. This movie is riddled with stupid plot "twists" and horrendous amounts of overacting. And yet...I didn't get bored by it. What's that say about me?

Spoilers: They don't die. Bummer.

Righteous Kill -
I DID get bored by Righteous Kill. It's DeNiro and Pacino. It should have been AWESOME. Instead it was like DeNiro doing someone doing a really bad DeNiro impression and Pacino doing someone doing a really bad Pacino impression. This movie should be eliminated. Forever.

Hancock -
Hancock was awesome for a half hour, then get really unfun and kinda' boring. Which sucks, cause I love Will Smith.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -
I mean, what can I say that hasn't been said already? Though I will point out Nuking the Fridge was awesome and I'm fine with it.

The X Files: I Want To Believe -
This was my biggest letdown of the year. I was SO excited for a new X Files movie. I was sold going in. It was going to be amazing. So what if the trailers all focussed on Billy Connolly? So what if the subtitle "I Want To Believe" was lame. I didn't care. THIS WAS AN X FILES MOVIE! And then I saw it. I was in Halifax, NS, Canada to see this one. I had diet coke and french fries. They serve french fries at the movies there. And I wanted to cry. It was just terrible. Et Tu, Muler?

*these were in no real order.

Congress Weighs In On Steroids In Pro Wrestling.

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has turned in their initial reports on steroids in pro wrestling and it's insanely interesting. After the Benoit tragedy the Government FINALLY decided top shine the light on pro wrestling and the dangers that exist in it in relation to drugs.

Here's a summary of all kinds of info:
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2298

What's of note are 110+ page interviews with Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Dixie Carter (President of TNA Wrestling).

Some Bullet Points:
*40% of WWE talents tested positive for steroids and other drugs despite being aware they would be tested when the company instituted their "Wellness Policy."

*25% of TNA's talent roster tested positive for steroids during the promotion's first baseline test while 11 talents tested positives for other substances. Waxman went on to note that while the company has instituted a policy, there are "significant weaknesses" within the TNA program.

*Chris Benoit tested positive three times for steroids by World Wrestling Entertainment prior to his June 2006 murder/suicide of his family, but was never penalized by the promotion beyond "only a warning."

*Waxman noted that WWE was allowing "therapeutic usage" of steroids from talents who were using a "testosterone replacement therapy" to combat issues brought on by previous steroid use in their past.

*Despite being a performer within his own company, Waxman noted WWE's Vince McMahon is not subject to the WWE's Wellness Policy testing procedures. Waxman noted McMahon would not comment on his own steroid use and claimed not to know of the damages brought on by long-term steroid use, claiming he was "not a doctor."

I've read about 17 pages so far of Vince's interview and he and his lawyer really don't come off well in this.

I really this leads to some form of government regulation in terms of professional wrestling. How many wrestlers have to drop dead in their 40s before someone wises up to what's happening?

Quick update.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I've been out of action with a back injury but am on the mend. I'll get back to the task at hand son. And that's complaining and talking about movies I saw.

And I saw Valkyrie today so I've got plenty to say. I also wanna talk about a movie I saw On Demand that I missed at some point called Wristcutters: A Love Story.

But for now I'm going to go rest.

<3