The Express

There will never be another be another Ernie Davis...


I had never heard of Ernie Davis, probably because I go to my wife for information on football. I was never a big football fan. However, I must admit that football movies are probably my favorite sports movies. I love Rudy, The Waterboy, Necessary Roughness and many others.

The Express was a story about Ernie Davis a guy who went to play football for Syracuse University in the Late 50's and early 60's. He struggle with racial prejudice as he excels on the football field. There are many great football moments and a little needed history lesson to remind our generation how things were 50 years ago.

Ernie Davis is played by Rob Brown. His coach at Syracuse is played by the great Dennis Quaid. Rob does a pretty good job at his part, but you can tell he is not nearly as seasoned as the others around him. I really enjoyed the performance of his friend, Jack Buckley played by Omar Benson Miller. You may recognize Omar from films like Shall We Dance, or the dancing cousin from Transformers.

Ernie is convinced by the the legendary Jim Brown to go to Syracuse University to play Football. There he expects to be more welcomed as a black male, but is still shunned by the student body. The film covers his journey through his college career and all the struggles he face on, but mostly off the field. This is a heart warming feel, good movie, for the most part. It has the frustrating parts that involve race issues of the day. This was a good movie for the most part, but was no Remember the Titans.

6.32 out of 10

Fantastic Mr. Fox

You should probably put your bandit hat on now. Personally, I- I don't have one, but I modified this tube sock.

We Look Good.

Yes, We do.


I can't tell you how excited I was when I found out that Wes Anderson was making a movie that I could watch with my son. I love his movies, but usually have watch them edited since they are all rated R. Wes Anderson was the Director who began my love with movies. I saw Rushmore with my wife's family at a family reunion and loved it. It was all downhill from there. In a good way.

This film had the Wes Anderson regulars including: Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and Eric Anderson, who is Wes's brother. From the opening credits you could tell it was a Anderson film, by the music and solid color titles. This film had many more of Wes's signature themes including the dry humor.

Fantastic Mr Fox is based on the book by Roald Dahl, the guy who wrote Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. The film is about a fox, voiced by George Clooney, Who when he is caught and finds out Mrs. Fox is pregnant he gives up his life as a thief. Two years later (7 fox years) He decides it's time for one last job. What ensues is a barrage of dry jokes, and great characters.

I have never read the book ,but would be interested to read it to see how true the film is to it. One of the first things I noticed that kept me laughing throughout the film was his replacement words for swearing. He uses the word "Cuss" in place of everything. 'Why the cuss are we doing this?" I would laugh and my son would ask what was so funny. It just fit perfectly into a Wes Anderson film. He could use this in his older films and it would not seem out of place.

Jason Schwartzman plays Mr Fox's son Ash. He is probably my favorite. He reminds me of Max from Rushmore. He feels under appreciated by his parents, and overshadowed by his cousin Kristofferson. He has a chip on his should and he make each encounter a bit awkward. I loved it.

My son's like this movie and I defiantly did. I was glad to get a copy to add to my video collection. If you are a crossover indie movie fan, or like Wes Anderson you will want to check this movie out.

8.14 out of 10

How To Be

Mum, Dad, This is Dr. Ellington. He's going to make me be more normal...


Life is rough when your a vampire, killed by Voldemort's wand, then dumped for a werewolf. Yeah.... I think I got that right. In the movie How To Be Robert Pattinson, aka Edward,aka Cedric Diggory, plays Art. He is a young adult struggling with what to do with his life. He's out of college and wants to be a musician, but he is no good at it. He is depressed and his parents act as if he is a piece of furniture. He searches for meaning and finds it in a book by Dr. Ellington. He spend $5000 to get the Dr. to come stay with him and help him figure out his life.

I spent most of this movie wondering who was right Art, or his parents. Who should we blame for Art being odd, or was it his parents that were odd. Art works random jobs trying to find his place. He turns to advice from his friend Ronny. Ronny was my favorite person in the movie. Robert did a great job, but Ronny was very enjoyable to watch. He was the sage advisor for Art. While Ronny was no success and had struggle of his own, he seemed to offer the best advice.

Dr. Ellington follows Art around for a few weeks and offers him metaphors and thoughts, but no real advice. You begin to wonder where this movie is going to end up until the last 10 minutes of the movies. Robert Pattinson does a good job at playing a lost twenty something. I kept waiting for the moment when I would roll my eyes and say to myself that this guy was trying to hard to be weird, but I think he is a it odd on his own. This was a much better film than that twilight debacle. In this film I was never embarrassed for the characters for having to say their lines.
While not my favorite movie this year it was not as bad as it could have been.

6 out of 10

Dear Jack

Lets get started...My name is Andrew Mcmahon; a leukemia patient.


Andrew Mcmahon was at the top of his game. his new band, Jack's Mannequin, was ready to release a cd that was a sure hit. His last band Something Corporate was still fresh on everyone under the age 20's ipod. He could sing and he was an amazing piano player. Then the rug was ripped out from under him. Hew was diagnosed with leukemia.

I first learned that Andrew had leukemia when I was reading my favorite music magazine. There was a small article telling about the situation. A year later there was an article following up on Andrew's story and told of a video that he had made. He documented his experience from the beginning. The article said that it would probably never be released. I was very excited to find out a year later that it was released and available to see.

The documentary is narrated by the famous Motley Crue drummer, Tommy Lee. Tommy and Andrew became friends before this as Tommmy played drums on the first Jack's Mannequin album. I can't make any comment on the acting because there is none. What you get is the hard truth about leukemia patients. We see Andrew as he prepare for his first round of radiation and Chemo. We see him cut his long hair, knowing that it would be falling out soon anyway. we are spared many scenes of him vomiting and suffering, because he can't hold the camera. We see him brush his teeth with a sponge, because a toothbrush would destroy his them. He bathes with a washcloth and brushes his hair each night with a lint roller which pulls out clumps of hair. we see him lose a lot of weight and become a shadow of himself. We also see him suffer emotionally as he admits for the first time that he is scared of what could happen.

Andrew is not the only one who speaks in the movies. His wife, mom, dad, manager and his sister all have their chance to tell their story. His sister was a bone marrow doner for him and we hear of the support of his family, friends and fans throughout the ordeal.

I found myself wondering how I would handle it if I were in this situation or, God forbid, a member of my family were diagnosed. I know how worthless I am when I'm sick with the flu. Would I be able to carry on for weeks or months at a time. I think that is the mark of a good documentary; a film that allows you to put yourself in their situation, and ask the tough questions. Would I make it?

I liked this documentary a lot. It was not as hard to watch as I had expected it was going to be. I don't think I could have handled a 2 hour film about the pains of radiation and chemotherapy. Instead it was a 1 hour doc about a fantastic musician who with the support of his family battled and unseen villain.

8.5 out of 10

Forever Strong

So it's kinda like a mix between Soccer and football?
Actually it's kind of like Rugby.

I don't know anything about rugby, but I really like this movie. I was sure that it would be good considering it's cast consisted of Sean Austin, Gary Cole, Neal McDonough and staring Sean Faris. I was hooked when I saw the trailer. I will not lie it does have it's moments when you feel like it's more of a stay off drugs high school special than a coming of age film. I felt like I was watching a church movie at times. The rugby moments, however, are great.

This story is based on actual events. The story of a young man named Rick who is the star player of the rugby team. He is popular, good looking and is mixed up in drugs and alcohol. After and unfortunate accident he is sent to Utah to a juvenile detention center. There he is urged to go play for his rival team, the famed Highland rugby team. There he learns a new way to play and live his life.

The acting is good. The main character, rick has his rough spots, but does a good job overall. I can't be too rough him when you are surrounded by a great cast. Sean Austin is great as a counselor at the detention center and Gary Cole does a good job as the Highland rugby coach. Neal McDough is his usual weasel of character. The guy you love to hate.

I like the music and shots during the action. The rugby is great. I enjoyed the time he spends with the Highland Team as well. The characters on the team are a lot of fun. You have the Rosta and the Polynesian players that keep the film humorous and the guys who make you feels a part of the family. As always each family has their problems and their secrets.

8.5 out of 10

Every Little Step

One....singular sensation every little step she makes.

In the mid 70's Michael Bennett put together a Broadway production known as A Chorus Line. It is a play about the struggles and lives of performers who are trying to make it on Broadway. This film is a documentary about the revival of this play in 2003. We begin with open calls in NY that attracted more than 3,000 people who wanted a part in this play. Many of these felt a personal connection to this as they felt it was "their"(the thespians)story.
The documentary goes between two stories. First being the audio/pictures of Michael Bennett's original making of the play and we also see the modern auditions being filmed. I had know idea how rough it would be to go through so many casting calls and call backs. It seems like it would be much easier to get on TV than to get into a Broadway show.
There were a few familiar face trying out and also doing commentary. We get to hear from Marvin Hamlisch who wrote the music and get to see Tyce Diorio, from TVs So You Think You Can Dance, as he auditions for the show. Overall it is just a bunch of people trying to sing and dance mostly just overacting, which is part of Broadway, but I was not too impressed. I now get that it is hard to get onto a Broadway show do not ever want to try out for one. I was glued to the movie for the who time, but at the end found myself asking why? I just spent 93 minutes watching a documentary about trying out for a play. Next time I may just go the local high school and watch them put on their production of Suessical the Musical.

4.9 out of 10 (sorry Broadway...My Regards)

Alice in Wonderland

Why is a raven like a writing desk?...

My wife, Heather, and I met up with our good friends the Morgans to see the newest Tim Burton creation of Alice in Wonderland Staring Mia Wasikowska, as Alice, Johnny Depp played the Mad Hatter and Helen Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. I was expecting a very dark version of through the looking glass, which the movies was based on not the original movie. It was not nearly as dark as I had expected it to be. Minus a few eye gouges it was a rather kid friendly movie. Depp was great as the Mad Hatter. Mia Wasikowska has been if a few other movies including Amelia. She is an up and coming actress to keep a close eye on. According to IMDB she is in Pre-production to play Jane in Jane Eyre.

Alice in Wonderland was based on the Through the Looking Glass novel in which Alice goes back to wonderland to find that the Red queen has taken control of Wonderland and running a muck. She has employed the service of a few new friends, the Jub Jub Bird, The Bandersnatch and the infamous Jabberwocky. Alice struggles to remember her place in Wonderland as other try to remind her of her future heroic acts, as they strive to dethrone the evil queen of hearts.

The colors in the movie are fantastic and but for few few cheesy lines by Alice the movie was good. Mia's acting get better throughout the movie , which must be difficult being surrounded by such an amazing cast.
As a father of a 5 and 2 year old I would have to pass on showing it to my kids, but if you have kids closer to 8 or 10, then they may enjoy it more. Some of the monster scenes would be a bit to frightening. The music was once again done by Danny Elfman and was most enjoyable. If you were a fan of Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory then this movie would be a safe bet for you.

6.975 out of 10