Caddickisms

First, sorry about the absence of new posts lately. Plenty has been going on, I’ve just been too tired to write about it. Anyway… on to the review!

The Rocky series is sort of a guilty pleasure for me. The first movie was excellent, and introduced us to the mumbling, not-so-bright, loveable underdog who manages to shock the world by staying in the ring for 15 rounds with the World Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Creed. The second movie replays the end of the first film, then picks up immediately following the fight, with two battered men being taken to the hospital for care. Apollo’s ego gets in his way and he starts calling for a rematch, despite saying in the ring that there would be none. Rocky discounts the invitation, and begins his journey from instant stardom into yesterday’s news, before his inevitable rise back to the ring to do the only thing he knows how - fight.

Rocky II had a lot of the heart of the original, but, as with most sequals, didn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor - though it comes close. It’s probably the only Rocky sequal that I’d recommend, as the third and fourth are only a little better than formula movies with interchangeable characters (but they are fun to watch), and I haven’t seen the fifth or sixth installments (yet). While slow at points, the overall story was good and the end fight was still excellent. And I defy you to come up with better casting for Mick, the grizzled manager, than Burgess Meredith.

I’m probably partial to these movies in some part because they take place in Philadelphia, and it’s fun to see so many places I know in the film (I grew up not far from Philly). As a kid I remember seeing the Rocky statue on the steps of the Art Museum, and tried a few times to run up those steps (I think I made it halfway before collapsing). The movie does a good job of capturing the “non-touristy” side of Philly as well, and that makes it feel more real to me.

I’ll give it three and a half stars.

Technorati Tags: Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone, Burgess Meredith, boxing, movies, review, Philadelphia

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A few things have bubbled to the top lately… here they are:

Personal Finance

Tom’s Inflation Calculator
I was looking for a calculator that would tell me how much my current salary would have been worth in 1990, and this fit the bill perfectly. You can also see whether the relative price of gas (for example) has really gone up in the past 40+ years. The calculations are based on US Dept. of Labor statistics going back to 1914.

Terribly Exciting
This is an excellent article by Ben Stein on “what’s new and hot and exciting (or terrible) in the world of money today.” So far everything I’ve read by Stein has been, at a minimum, well-written, intelligent, and thought-provoking, and this is no exception.

Free Online Tax Preparation and E-Filing From the IRS
Get Rich Slowly reminds us that qualifying individuals can e-file their federal taxes for free.

Sci-Fi

Feedback: A Hero’s Calling
Ever wonder what happened to Feedback, the winner from Who Wants to be a Superhero? I don’t know if this is part of the official follow-up to his victory (doesn’t seem like it is), but it was interesting to see that he hasn’t been forgotten.

Star Trek IX writers give clues
A few minor spoilers, but nothing that you won’t eventually hear in a trailer for this JJ Abrams led project.

Lucas Talks: Star Wars on Television
Finally! Some more info on the new CGI-animated series and some rumblings about the live-action show. The page links to a short audio segment from a longer interview with Lucas.

Kring has fate of Heroes mapped - SPOILER ALERT
I did NOT click through to the spoilers themselves, but here’s a confirmation that Tim Kring, the show’s creator, knows what happens to each of the Heroes, and has the show pretty well mapped out. Here’s the intro quote:

On a panel at the Museum of Television and Radio William S. Paley Festival this weekend, “Heroes” creator Tim Kring told the audience present that he knows the fate of every one of the Heroes and has their destiny for the end of Season One all mapped out.

Although he is putting the finishing touches to the script for the season one finale, Kring stated “I know everyone’s fate.”

Whoops… Battlestar Galactica is on soon… gotta go!

Technorati Tags: Heroes, Tim Kring, Star Wars, Star Trek, movies, sci-fi, personal finance, Ben Stein, inflation calculators, taxes

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Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Christopher Nolan (all of whom worked on Batman Begins) join Hugh Jackman to create one of the best magician movies I’ve ever seen. Actually, this movie crosses a few genres, but I won’t list them because to do so may tip off the secret of the movie. I will say that there is a healthy dose of misdirection, but everything you need to figure it out is there from the outset (or close to it), as it should be with any well written mystery.

I actually suspected at least part of the truth midway through the movie, but wasn’t positive about it until after the secret of the top hat was revealed.

The most confusing part about this movie was the jumping around in timeframes. Much of the movie is told in extended flashbacks from different time periods, and their chronological order is not always evident. Even at the end, I found it difficult to go back and place certain events in their proper sequence. How much time, for example, has passed between the first death in the movie and Bale’s character meeting Sarah?

There is much to think about after the movie is over. Usually in these kinds of movies, you can find a hole in the plot, but I couldn’t come up with one. My wife thought she had one that could have altered the ending, but after talking it through the ending still makes sense.

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m trying hard to keep from loosing any spoilers on you, and it’s a bit difficult to write a review that won’t tip off the astute among you. I may write another, more “spoilerific” post for this one later, but right now I have to go to bed.

The verdict: 4-1/2 stars for The Prestige. Well worth the time and mental effort.

(Oh, and as a side note, I noticed at least 3 actors who had prominent guest roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation, plus “Robin Colcord” from Cheers. Just struck me as interesting.)

Technorati Tags: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins, Hugh Jackman, Movies, The Prestige, magic, murder, mystery, misdirection

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Alex & Emma is a thoroughly predictable love story with half-realized characters and little to no tension. Luke Wilson was boring and a bit unnatural in his acting (his brother Owen might have been able to make the character somewhat appealing). Kate Hudson spent most of the time channelling her mother (Goldie Hawn) instead of doing her own acting. Even Rob Reiner, for whom I have the greatest respect as a comedic actor, director, and producer, seemed to fall a bit flat.

Failure that widespread can only be laid at the feet of the director. That, unfortunately, was Reiner.

Sadly, the best I can say about this movie is that it wasn’t so bad that I want to pick it apart, or even remember it for it’s failings. It was, simply, forgettable.

Two and a half stars.

Technorati Tags: Kate Hudson, Luke Wilson, Rob Reiner, movies, romantic comedies

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SCI FI Wire | The News Service of the SCI FI Channel

The Dark Is Rising is my favorite young adult fantasy series. Susan Cooper wrote the series and it really pulled me in and solidified my love for fantasy stories. I’m very excited that they are making a movie of at least the first book.

The film tells the story of Will Stanton, a young man who learns he is the last of a group of warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the Dark. Traveling back and forth through time, Will hunts for a series of mysterious clues and encounters forces of unimaginable evil. With the Dark once again rising, the future of the world rests in Will’s hands.

I can’t wait.

Though it may not be obvious from this first story, the series uses a lot of Welsh mythology as the background for the story. Cooper weaves a classic story of good vs. evil that’s exciting and mysterious from the start, but as the series progresses, the characters really grow and become even more interesting. I hope they continue past the initial film and make the entire series.

Technorati Tags: Susan Cooper, fantasy, books, series, The Dark is Rising

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Unions had their day. They were a good idea when the worker was truly being exploited. These days, there are still areas where a union is probably useful, but for the most part I don’t think they’re worth it and they cause more problems than they are worth.

Here’s a simple example of how unions caused a stupid problem. Years ago, I was travelling in New York. On my way back to the hotel after work, I stopped and got some food to take back to my room. When I got there, I realized that they didn’t give me a fork. So I went down to the lobby and asked if they could give me a fork to use. The guy behind the desk said “sure” and went to the back to get one. When he came back, he apologized, embarrassed, and explained that he couldn’t give me a fork. He wasn’t allowed, he said, because union rules dictated that a union worker had to bring the fork to my room. Remember, I’m standing right there, and could get the fork in seconds, but they want to waste 15 minutes while I and a union server both go up to my room. Then he said that it would also cost me a $2 delivery charge - for a fork!

So instead of that stupidity I ended up going around the corner to a nearby take-out restaurant and grabbed a plastic fork. No problems.

The stupidity of this example of implementing union rules has stuck with me, and has for years colored my response to room service specifically, and other union service workers more generally. I don’t tip nearly as well as I used to, for example, even if I’m on an expense account.

Technorati Tags: unions, room service, gratuity, hotels

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I couldn’t think of a good category here. Sue me.

Do you know?
Great little tidbits of thought-provoking information about the state of the world and the rate of change, set to the main theme from “The Last of the Mohicans”

The most frustating clock in the world
Can’t get up in the morning? This clock will help. It may accomplish it’s goal, but I guarantee you I would break it in a matter of days.

The end of Work-Learning?
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Interesting premise for this one: two people live in the same lake house, one in 2004, the other in 2006, and yet, with the help of a mailbox-cum-time portal, they are able to write letters to each other and fall in love. As sci-fi love stories go, that’s not too bad of an idea.

The pacing was a little slow, but it worked for the movie. The whole thing felt like a lazy fall day, with a touch of melancholy, reflecting the situations of both of the characters - meandering through their lives working through the sadness of their situations. It also set you up perfectly for the ending.

***SPOILER ALERT***

***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don’t read further if you don’t want to know the end.)

Or rather, it set you up perfectly for what the ending should have been. There’s no way to explain this without giving away the entire movie, but it’s rather predictable anyway, so I hope you’ll forgive me. Sandra Bullock plays a doctor who, soon after moving out of the lake house, witnesses a fatal car accident, which triggers her to contemplate life and revisit the lake house, where she feels at peace. It’s at that point that the time-warping mailbox kicks in and gets the main plot going. Later, at the end, it’s revealed that Keanu Reeves, the man she has been writing to across time, is the man killed in that accident. So his death is what prompts her to go to the house in the first place, which allows them to “meet” and fall in love. However, at the end of the movie, she manages to prevent him from being killed and they both live happily ever after. Happiness abounds, but it totally undermines the logic of the movie. It’s a pure paradox: he doesn’t die, so there is no impetus for her to go to the lake house, and therefore never meets him to begin with, and hence she can’t save him (let alone fall in love with him). It erases the entire movie.

For this movie to work, it needed to end with her sitting by the mailbox waiting, in vain, for him to show up. It would have been perfectly in keeping with the tone of the film, and I’m very disappointed they didn’t have the guts to do it.

(For the record, my wife completely disagrees with me. She likes the happy ending.)

While I liked much of the movie, the lameness of the ending seriously hurts the film in my opinion, so I can only give it a 2-1/2 star rating.

Technorati Tags: Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, movie, review, paradox, sci-fi, time travel, love

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