My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 9-17-13

Okay, so this is just another sort of placeholder to show that this blog hasn't officially died...although honestly, I'm not quite sure why I keep posting (when I actually do, that is, and don't procrastinate on things like writing about the movies I've seen recently -- five, although none in the last two weeks)...

Someday We'll Be Together - Diana Ross and the Supremes
Bullet Proof Soul - Sade
Dance, Freak & Boogie - Nitelife Unlimited
Please (You Got That) - INXS
Say Say Say - Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson
Cupid Boy - Kylie Minogue
Heartbreak Hotel (Hex Hector Club Mix) - Whitney Houston
I Love To Walk - The Simpsons
If I Never See Your Face Again (Paul Oakenfold Remix) - Maroon 5 feat. Rihanna
Wide Awake - Katy Perry
Old Flame - Kimbra
Rapunzel - Dave Matthews Band
Girl Afraid - The Smiths

Gaga: Release The Damn Album, Already!

This post from one of the people I follow on Twitter inspired this. He wrote, "I don't think I can wait another 2+ months for the new Gaga album!" My reply: "I don't understand how the music industry functions any more." And I really don't. I used to not only read but subscribe to Billboard magazine (which is odd for someone who doesn't work in the business) during the 1980s and into the 1990s. And as the years went by and new charts were created, and the methodology for compiling the charts, especially the Hot 100, changed, and as the magazine itself evolved, I lost interest in it.

But things were simpler back then: a record company released the first single from an artist's upcoming album. Then, within a few weeks or so, the album itself would arrive, followed by subsequent singles from that album until it was time for a new album, or perhaps a single from a motion picture soundtrack. (Of course, the number of singles would depend on the popularity of the artist and album.) The advent of music videos tweaked the process a little.

But the modern process is unreal. Singles sales pretty much died until the mp3 format rejuvenated it. Now, I don't know if there's such a thing as a single release unless it's digital. The only CD-singles I ever see are for dance mixes. The only vinyl records I ever see are full-length albums, because there's a segment of the music buyer that prefers the sound of vinyl to digital sounds. And the newfound popularity of buying individual songs seems to have caused people to lose interest in buying full albums, except for certain acts or albums that manage to sell big.

The digital format seems to lend itself to leaks of unreleased songs, which is part of the problem. Let's get back to Lady Gaga.

Too Long For Twitter: Credit Union Surprise

In the last month or so I've been using my debit/ATM card for purchases instead of running to the machine to withdraw cash. I used my credit union's app to transfer money from saving to checking via phone and then paid for food, etc. with the debit card. So convenient, right? Except I noticed today these $1.00 fees on my list of transactions in the last few days. It turns out that I get ten free ATM withdrawals and POS (point-of-sale) transactions per month. After that, it's $1.00 each.

Granted, credit unions are much, much better than the big banks, but still, this bothers me. If the point of the card is to keep people from having to run into the bank and get money from a teller, and to not have to process a paper check to pay for things, then why shouldn't debit card sales be free of transactions?

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go withdraw enough cash to tide me over for a while.

HELP WANTED: Copy Editor. Apply Phila Daily News

Unless they're tied (which they weren't) only one team can be leading the NL Central at a time, unless they're tied.

I've written about these errors often in the last year or two. I haven't been pointing them out lately, but they're still going on. The other day a headline said someone was a "targed" of a lawsuit instead of a target.

And I haven't even gotten to my annual critique of their Sexy Singles promotion. Don't worry. It will arrive shortly.

Quick Reviews: Four Most Recent

Yeah, I keep procrastinating instead of writing about a movie right after I've seen it. It's a good thing I don't get paid for this. Of course, if someone would like to pay me, I'd be sure to stick to deadline. Anyway, I'll be pretty brief with these. Mostly not bad, but not really worth a ton of analysis.

The real selling point of 2 Guns is the Denzel Washington-Mark Wahlberg pairing, as law enforcement officials (undercover, but each thinks the other is an actual criminal) trying to bring down a drug lord. It gets much more complicated, with double-crosses galore. I just let go of trying to keep up and rode the wave of the two stars' having fun. My grade: B.

Speaking of drug lords, there's one in We're the Millers, and he forces a low-level drug dealer (Jason Sudeikis) to make a pickup of pot in Mexico. To do this successfully, he decides to take family with him in order to avoid suspicion at the border. As he has no family, he recruits a stripper (Jennifer Aniston) and a couple of teenagers, one a latchkey kid and one a runaway, to act as his family. At times raunchy but generally pretty funny. I can't entirely buy Aniston as a stripper, though. She's just too...nice. My grade: B-plus.

Elysium is a sci-fi film and a lesson. In 2154 the world is a real mess, and the wealthiest people have gone to Elysium, a space station/satellite/mini-world where life is perfect and disease is cured instantly with a short lie-down in a machine that looks like a tanning booth. Elysium is visible in the Earth's sky, like the moon, taunting those left behind with no hope of getting up there. So this is all a commentary on current events and the need for universal health care. Poisoned by an industrial accident and with five days to live, Max (Matt Damon) hooks up with a group who smuggles people onto Elysium to get their own diseases cured. Damon's fine, but Jodie Foster as a government official defending Elysium from the illegal immigrants is kind of a misfire. Still, it's watchable and food for thought, although the Tea Party nutjobs might disagree. My grade: B-plus.

And then there's Paranoia, which is pretty much a mess. It's about a guy (Liam Hemsworth, pretty but vapid; I think he has a total of one facial expression) who gets himself entangled in corporate espionage between two tech companies, run by a pair of former friends (Harrison Ford, with head shaved(!) and Gary Oldman). Ridiculous script and plot, and not particularly well-acted. What really got me was how some of it was filmed in Philadelphia but it's set in New York. But there are times when it's so obvious it's Philadelphia. Street signs, local establishments, the concourse under Broad Street that obviously isn't a New York City subway concourse -- and not only did they film inside the Comcast Center, but at one point you actually see the building's name. Really sloppy work. Fortunately, not many people will see it. When I saw it on Friday, it's first day of release, only one other person was in the theater with me. My grade: D-plus.

My Olympic Solution To The Russian Gay Thing

Something good MUST come from this! I know
Homer Simpson would approve.

There's been a large outcry from around the world against Russia for its recent onslaught of anti-gay laws and violence, particularly as it relates to two things: Russian vodka and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Among the many suggestions and counter-suggestions that have meandered into my brain via various media outlets:

Boycott Russian vodka, especially Stolichnaya. Put financial pressure on Russia.
Don't boycott Stoli -- the company isn't actually Russian-owned and is pro-LGBT.

Boycott the Sochi Olympics. That will hurt and embarrass Russia.
Don't boycott the Sochi Olympics -- that will only hurt the athletes who aren't allowed to compete.

Move the Olympics to another location. That will hurt Russia.
Don't move the Olympics -- logistically it just can't be done.

Athletes, coaches, officials and others participating in or attending the Olympics should protest while there -- for example, wearing items with the rainbow flag.
Athletes, etc. shouldn't protest -- the Olympics shouldn't be politicized (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA -- they've been politicized longer than I've been alive) and athletes may be disqualified or sanctioned. Plus these visitors may risk being arrested themselves. (Russian officials keep changing their tunes in this regard and the International Olympic Committee, engorged as it is by greed and corruption, doesn't have a clue how to react.)

No one should travel to Russia for vacation. Spend tourism money elsewhere.
...actually, I haven't seen a pro-tourism viewpoint here. But how many people actually visit Russia for pleasure when there isn't an Olympics? I have no statistics, but if you're not a Russophile like Johnny Weir, there are a lot more glamorous vacation destinations.

What disturbs me is the infighting I've seen regarding these ideas. Maybe it's just my finding links and comments on Twitter, but it seems both supporters and opponents of these boycotts are doing a lot of nasty sniping at each other. While they agree that something needs to be done, they aren't exactly putting up a united front.

That has to stop. I'm for any boycott that anyone wants to do. I'm in favor of not buying Russian vodka. I'm in favor of moving the Olympics (more on that in a moment). I'm in favor of boycotting the Olympics, if any governments decided to do so. I don't really care what's done, but something must be done to stop the injustices in Russia. But I'm not in favor of fighting and insulting each other.

As far as moving the Olympics out of Sochi, I think there's a way.

DC Nov. 2012: Newseum, Pandas, Memorials

Back in November I took a trip to Washington, DC. I spent a couple of days touring around, trying to hit a couple of spots I hadn't seen before (or not in a long time). As it turned out, I also saw some NBA action between the Washington Wizards and Portland Trail Blazers, with the 0-12 Wizards inspired by my presence to actually win a game. Here are a few photos. The entire set is here. (Sorry, I'm not putting up the slideshow here tonight.)

Among the interesting items at the Newseum was this copy of the Philadelphia Inquirer from shortly after Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The Inquirer hasn't really changed much since 1865.

Quick Review: The Wolverine

So, we've had a lot of successful, popular movies in recent years featuring Marvel Comics characters, and one thing that many of these films feature is the scene during or after the credits, setting up a future film. Despite this, so many people left the theater when I saw The Wolverine tonight that it was just shocking to me. Haven't people learned by now? You don't leave a Marvel flick until the surprise in the credits. Too bad for them. Anyway, poor Logan (Hugh Jackman) is living the life of a hermit, tortured by dreams of his deceased love, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), and by all the death and misery he's experienced. He's tracked down by a woman tasked with bringing him to Japan to see a dying tech company CEO, whose life Wolverine saved when the United States dropped the bomb on Nagasaki. He says there's a way to remove Logan's healing abilities, allowing Logan to finally find peace through death. The story mixes in family intrigue, romantic entanglements, corporate maneuvering...and ninjas. Lots and lots of ninjas. Its's a mostly interesting film, very different from typical superhero-type films until a twist at the end. And don't forget that scene during the credits...My grade: B-plus.

Quick Review: Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim, set in the near future, begins with a prelude: the world is in peril by Kaiju, giant monsters from another dimension or something that arrive through a portal deep in the Pacific Ocean and begin destroying coastal cities. The countries of the world unite their resources to create Jaegers -- enormous fighting machines, piloted by humans. For some reason, these machines require two humans to work them, and they have to have their minds united by a mental link called "the drift." This, in our current era of drone aircraft, just seems odd. For a time this is a success, until more powerful Kaiju arrive. The Jaeger program is then discontinued in favor of a plan of defense so ludicrous I won't even spoil it. Anyway, there are four remaining Jaegers and the head of the program has a plan to close the rift once and for all...well, enough of the plot. Essentially, this is like a combination of Godzilla and other monsters vs. these guys (and I wouldn't have known of this without having seen an episode of that show a day earlier thanks to my friend Kurt's love of the show) with a dash of other movies thrown in. Both the machines and the monsters are lumbering, and as everything seems to takes place at night, often in rainy conditions, or at the ocean floor, it's hard to see exactly how the Kaiju differ from each other and the fights are at times a bit muddled. That's kind of inept filmmaking to me. It's just a little too derivative to take seriously, considering the prerelease hype. My grade: C-plus.

Mural Arts Program Bus Tour

I took this tour back in October. The city's wonderful Mural Arts Program has a number of bus/trolley tours, walking tours and even a bike tour. More info can be found here. This particular tour focused on North Philadelphia, and we ended up, among other places, seeing El Centro de Oro and the colorful storefronts on Germantown Avenue. Also, check out my photo blog for another unique self-portrait. (I made a few comments on some of the photos, so you may want to check out the main page...or I think you can click on the pics to see my comments...)

Since Flickr has increased their free space to a Terabyte, I'm using it again for my photo sets. That means, if all works properly, I can embed slideshows again!




By the way, do you think this is supposed to be Michael Jackson?

Quick Review: Despicable Me 2

Often, when I really love a movie, I hope that no sequel arrives. So often those sequels disappoint. Thus, I was worried about Despicable Me 2. How could they come up with another story involving supervillain-turned-doting dad Gru (voice of Steve Carell), his three little girls and his seemingly endless supply of Minions? Would they turn Gru evil again? Find a reason for him to be separated from his daughters? Thankfully, there's a workable story which avoids both of those obvious misfires. Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help stop a different criminal's fiendish plot, teaming up with one of their agents (Kristen Wiig). There isn't as much interaction between Gru and the girls, as this time Gru's personal growth, if you will, comes from his getting back into the world of...dating. Also, the Minion activity is upped, which some adults may find tiresome. But I'm a big kid at heart. My grade: A-minus.

(Speaking of the Minions, I bought a DVD of the first movie because it had a coupon for some Fandango cash, and look who was inside?)

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 7-10-13

It's been a while for one of these, soooo...

It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - R.E.M.
Simple - k.d. lang
The War Is Over - Kelly Clarkson
She's Comin' Out Swingin' - The Simpsons
Changes - David Bowie
Say Goodbye - Dave Matthews Band
You Take Some Lentils and You Take Some Rice - Eurythmics
Here You Come Again - Dolly Parton
Two Hearts - Stephanie Mills with Teddy Pendergrass
You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) - Dionne Warwick
This Love (Tricky Stewart Remix) - Maroon 5
Kill The Pain - INXS
Life Can Be So Nice - Prince and the Revolution

Quick Reviews: Five More...

Oops, I did it again. Procrastinated on writing about the movies I've seen, that is. I guess all that writing for "Man of Steel" took a lot out of me...no, just the usual issues. Anyway, here are the most recent five:

The Bling Ring is based on a true story about shallow, vapid young people robbing the homes of shallow, vapid celebrities such as Paris Hilton -- celebrities so shallow that they tended to leave the doors to their homes unlocked, which made it much easier for the burglars. I can think of no further proof of the utter shallowness of Paris Hilton than the fact that not only did she cameo in the movie, but allowed the filmmakers to film the scenes of the robbery of her house at that very same house. The movie made no points, taught no lessons, and doesn't even function as a pseudo-documentary. My grade: D.

World War Z was just odd. It felt like a mashup of different genres -- science fiction, disaster film, horror -- and it all didn't blend well for me. And Brad Pitt as an action hero didn't connect with me either. Also, I hate that the film started out in Philadelphia, where Pitt's character's family lived, but was obviously filmed elsewhere (London, if I recall). Even the skyline didn't look like Philadelphia. My grade: C-plus.

Monsters University is a prequel, focusing on the first meeting of Mike and Sully at college. When Pixar's followed up on previous films they've been good (both "Toy Story" sequels) and bad ("Cars 2," from what I've heard). This one is okay, but it doesn't bode well for other planned sequels, including one for "Finding Nemo." Pixar needs to focus on original stuff again and leave sequels and prequels to Disney's direct-to-DVD products. My grade: B.

When I get excited about a movie based on its trailer, I am always concerned about a letdown. Thankfully, there was no letdown from The Heat, the Sandra Bullock-Melissa McCarthy mismatched-buddy-cop (well, cop and FBI in this one) action comedy. Lots of humor, foul language, violence -- but heart as well. Bullock and McCarthy work very well together. My grade: A.

The Lone Ranger has Armie Hammer in the title role, but make no mistake, the masked man's the straight man for Johnny Depp's shticky Tonto. The Ranger is more of a dolt than a hero, and it all strained my credulity. It got a surprising amount of laughs from others in the theater, but I mostly sat there sighing and rolling my eyes as it went on and on, interspersed with a ridiculous framing sequence featuring an elderly Depp-as-Tonto telling the story to a little boy at a traveling circus. My grade: D-plus.

Quick Review: Man Of Steel

This is a not-so-quick read, actually.

If you've read this blog in the past, back when I used to post a lot more (and yes, I'm going to keep making the point that my lack of posts has been an abysmal failure of mine), you know that I am wayyyyyy into Superman. The comic books, the animated films and series, the TV series and, of course, the movies. The comic books, lately, I've put aside. My disdain for the changes foisted upon Superman's character by DC Comics when they rebooted their entire universe caused me to pretty much stop buying the books. That's not to say I haven't bought any comic books; there are the Simpsons and Futurama titles, and other things I've dabbled in, including some other DC titles. (I'll have to summarize all of that somewhere. There's over a year's worth of purchases so I won't really summarize them as I used to.) But as for the main Super-titles, I haven't purchased them.

Still, I am all for Superman, when done right. So geeked was I for Man of Steel, the latest big-screen attempt to cash in on Kal-El's popularity, that I not only purchased a ticket in advance (which I never do), but I spent the extra cash for IMAX (well, the faux-IMAX that they have at the AMC at Franklin Mills Mall).

There's another reason I mention the whole DC Comics reboot. As with every iteration, the individual creators tend to make changes to suit their needs. (And at times those changes get into the comic books. The 1940s cartoons had Superman fly for the first time, instead of leaping from place to place; Kryptonite was introduced in the radio serials in 1943; the list goes on.)

Quick Review: This Is The End

And now back to our regularly scheduled movie review programming. (I hope.) I expected a lot from the trailer for This Is The End and, unlike a lot of movies recently, this one mostly lived up to my expectations. A comedy in which the Apocalypse takes place is one thing. When it focuses on how this event affects Hollywood celebrities, that's another story. And when those celebrities -- James Franco, Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Danny McBride are the stars, with many other cameos, from Rihanna to Michael Cera to Channing Tatum -- are playing exaggerated versions of themselves, it goes to the next level. Lots of raunch, but also lots of laughs and some meta commentary about the celebs themselves, their importance (or lack thereof), how they're perceived by the public and media, etc., and a little stab at religious beliefs (after all, the Apocalypse is happening). Had me laughing almost from the start to the finish. My grade: A-minus.

Quick Reviews Catch-Up Part 2: Summer Flicks

Continuing my rally to get to the land of semi-timeliness...and now we get to the movie industry's prime time.

Star Trek Into Darkness: A couple of the nods to the TV series were actually a bit much for me. I don't think it was good as the previous film. My grade: B+

Now You See Me: At times fun, stupid, mystifying, ridiculous...I had an idea of who was behind everything but was only half-right. I can't explain more without spoilers. My grade: B

The Internship: Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson reunited. No "Wedding Crashers" - not as raunchy nor as funny - somewhat predictable, at times charming but too stupid too often. My grade: C+

The Great Gatsby: Visually spectacular. I say this despite the fact that I got a 3D upgrade for free because the theater loaded up the 3D version by mistake for a 2D showing, so they had to give everyone the glasses. I'm not a 3D fan. Anyway, visually spectacular. Some of the music from the touted soundtrack fit well, some of it was jarring. Acting, though, was not good. If I never hear Leonardo DiCaprio call someone "old sport" again it'll be too soon. My grade: C+

Iron Man 3: Robert Downey Jr. is fantastic in this role, as usual, but the plot was lacking. Not as bad as Iron Man 2 but not as good as the first (and nowhere near "The Avengers"). My grade: C+

The Purge: The premise that for one night a year all crime is legal is provocative, but I was unsurprised at almost everything that happened. Not many sympathetic characters in this. My grade: C-

After Earth: Who comes up with a script that has Will Smith play a cold military dad and Jaden Smith play his son, a sour, whiny military cadet, in a future where the earth is a very bad place and humans live elsewhere, and the plot keeps Will in one place doing nothing most of the time? Will's talent and charisma (and whatever talent and charisma Jaden has) are totally wasted. My grade: D.

Quick Reviews Catch-Up Part 1: Pre-Summer

Yeah, so remember how I used to write little reviews of movies I saw in theaters? Obviously I haven't done it in a while because of...well, a lot of reasons. But that doesn't mean I haven't been seeing them. So it's time to get started again. In order to get through this quickly I'm not going to say a whole lot about these, as most of them are already out of the theaters. (Some are out on DVD and Blu-ray already, though.)

I've broken them down into two posts. This one deals with everything released prior to the summer blockbuster season (which actually started in early May with "Iron Man 3"), with the rest to follow.

42: Well-acted, but kind of a standard biopic. My grade:  B+

21 and Over: College students get drunk and party. Again, kind of standard but well-executed. My grade:  B+

Oblivion: It held my interest. I saw this long after it opened and already learned of a key plot twist, so the element of surprise was gone. My grade: B

Oz the Great and Powerful: James Franco as the about-to-become-the-Wizard of Oz? A little bit meh. Which witch was going to turn green was pretty obvious. Speaking of, when are we getting a film version of "Wicked," by the way? My grade: B

The Call: Ridiculous and over-the-top but in a good way. My grade: B

The Croods: Unfortunately it's no "Flintstones" (TV series). Fortunately it's no "Flintstones" (live-action films). My grade: B

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: Underrated. Starts off rather horrendously but somewhere along the way it hooked me in. Magic? My grade: B-

Mama: Saved from a worse grade by Jessica Chastain and by a twist at the end that I rather appreciated. My grade: B-

Admission: Considering it starred Tina Fey and the adorable Paul Rudd, a big disappointment. My grade: C+

Escape from Planet Earth: Wasn't expecting a whole lot. Got what I expected. My grade: C+

Pain and Gain: Biggest problems: implausible plot (despite being based on a true story) and unlikable characters. My grade: D+

Scary Movie 5: Serious lack of funny jokes is a bad thing in this spoof genre. My grade: D

Spring Breakers: Garbage featuring the worst James Franco performance I've seen. At one point he performs fellatio on a gun. That's not what we want to see him fellate, trust me. My grade: F

My Summer Playlist "Update"

...and by "update" I mean, here's the whole damn list from my iTunes library. Instead of repeating links to the prior posts and their bits and pieces, I decided to just copy and paste it all here. This means a number of songs I put on the list in the last year or so haven't been mentioned before.

I guess I'll repeat all my disclaimers as well: the songs on my list fall into at least one of the following categories (other than the obvious, that they're in my iTunes and I like them):

• To at least some extent they're about summer or the sun or warmth or heat
• They were released during/became hits during the summer
• I either discovered/fell in love with them during the summer or associate them with summer for some reason or they just felt to me like they had a summery sound or vibe -- so this part is very subjective and your mileage may vary

Feel free to go back to my old posts and see some of the things I wrote about the songs when I first posted the list, and in some cases listen to them via YouTube links. And so, after the jump...174 songs of my summers, past and present:

More OKStupid Follies

Presented without comment, other than that I keep saying I'm going to blog more and then I don't, for various reasons, but I'm saying it once again...

Okay, a slight comment. I actually replied to this one with: "Pics, profile completed, an explanation of why someone whose profile says 'straight' and 'seeing someone' is sending a message to another guy...I'd say all of that is needed."

Swedish?

Google Chrome's got some 'splainin' to do...

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 4-12-13

Sadly, I continue to procrastinate at this blogging stuff. But somehow, someday, I'll do something more substantial than this...


Walk Away From Love - David Ruffin
All The Things She Said - Simple Minds
U Got The Look - Prince/Sheena Easton
Love Come Down - Evelyn "Champagne" King
Got To Give It Up (Pt. 1) - Marvin Gaye
Give It To Me - Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake
Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage
He's On My Team - Ari Gold feat. Kendra Ross
Smithereens - Annie Lennox
Gold - Spandau Ballet
It's My World - Ultra Nate
We Are Monkeys - Travis
Waste - Smash Mouth

Facebook Ad FAIL

I've noticed an increasing amount of advertising and pseudo-advertising on my Facebook news feed lately. There are obvious ads, of course, but there are also other posts -- "promoted" articles, "sponsored" posts, etc., all based on your "Likes" and those of your friends. For example, there could be a post saying "John Smith likes Wal-Mart" followed by a post from Wal-Mart's Facebook page. Here's another example, which just appeared at the top of my feed:

Just because I "Like" Jody Watley's page doesn't mean I want to like the page for her old group.

Sometimes, though, these auto-generated posts are wayyyyyyyyyyyy off-base. Here's a recent example: I "Like" the FB page for singer Will Young...

Based on this, here's what Facebook generated:

Ummmm...what?

I keep saying I hate Facebook more and more. I have too many friends (real-life friends as well as  Facebook "friends") who aren't on Twitter, though, so I'm stuck. 

Too Long For Twitter: Nashville Teens

Hi. Remember me? I hope so. I also hope to actually blog more often, but I've said that before. Anyway, I started to tweet this but I can't fit it into 140 characters, so...

Ever hear a song and think it's great, find out the artist and song title and put it on a list of songs you want to download, and then don't do so for quite some time and then, after a long time passes, you win 25 free downloads from a Coke Zero promotion and start downloading songs from that list, see the song and wonder what the hell this is, so you listen to it and you don't really care for it much and wonder why you put it on the list to begin with, and then you check Wikipedia and find that it was featured over the closing credits of a "Mad Men" episode in 2010?

Presenting "Tobacco Road" by Nashville Teens...

Bieber vs. Brown

I think we need to set up this cage match: Chris Brown and Justin Bieber: two "men" enter, one "man" leaves. Who's your money on? Check the videos at each of those TMZ links and decide for yourself. Bad language on both videos. Imagine little Justin Bieber dropping f-bombs. For shame!

My Best/Worst 2012 Films, Oscar Rankings

Sure, it's 55 days into 2013 but why not take a trip back in time with me? Since I've finally seen all of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture, and I don't think there are any more 2012 releases that I'm going to see -- if any I haven't seen are even still in theaters -- it's time for my top ten of the sixty films (up by 6 from last year) I got to see. But first...

My Bottom 5 of 2012

5. Men in Black 3 -- An extremely tired sequel.
4. This Means War -- The worst rom-com and there's no Katherine Heigl or Gerard Butler in sight.
3. Silent House -- So bad I couldn't remember what it was about until I checked Wikipedia, and then it all came back to me.
2. Les Miserables -- I think I hated "Silent House" worse but I walked out of this one. But I did stay to the end of THE worst film of 2012...
1. Rock of Ages -- I will never understand why the film version, with the female lead's character named Sherrie, didn't bother to include the song "Oh Sherrie." Never. That song might have saved this from my only F of 2012...umm, probably not...

My Top 10 of 2012

Quick Reviews: Identity Amour Beasts

Finally got my last two Oscar Best Picture nominees in the books. So after this post you'll finally get my best/worst of 2012 (only two months late!) and my ranking of the Best Pictures.

I was very disappointed by Identity Thief. The trailer seemed promising but the film didn't live up to expectations. Jason Bateman's character (the identity theft victim) was just too stupid; that was established in the opening scene, which showed how the theft occurred -- basically, he gave it away. And I like Melissa McCarthy, but her character was just a series of weight/looks jokes with motives that were inconsistent. Is she really a bad person or a victim of her childhood? After her star-making turn in "Bridesmaids," she'd better look at her scripts more carefully. My grade: D-plus.

The story in Amour is meant to be heartbreaking. An elderly woman (Emmanuelle Riva) suffers a stroke that leaves her partially paralyzed, and her husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant) takes care of her at their Paris apartment to honor her wish not to go into a hospital or nursing home. He struggles more and more as her condition deteriorates. It's well-acted but takes a jarring and then confusing turn near the end that kind of ruined it a little for me. My grade: B-minus.

I'm still puzzling a little over Beasts of the Southern Wild, to be honest. When I first finished watching it (note: for time-saving purposes I bought it on pay-per-view instead of seeing it in the theater) I was glad it was over, but upon some reflection I find my initial reaction was wrong. At first it reminded me of "Winter's Bone" in that it takes place in a very poor community -- this one's set in a part of the Louisiana bayou called "The Bathtub" that's cut off from everyone else by a levee. However, the fantasy element (the "aurochs," behemoths frozen in the ice caps long ago but freed by global warming) distracted from the story of the little girl (Quvenzhane Wallis), her ailing father, their impoverished but happy and self-sufficient community and the threat of destruction from a coming storm. Perhaps I'm missing the symbolism or something. My grade: B.

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 2-22-13

Haven't made one of these posts in a while, so here it is. I have a complaint, though: the new iTunes is not great. Specific to this post, I can't find an icon to begin a shuffle right away when I open iTunes. If I click the Play button it begins with the first song in my library. In order to begin with a random song, I have to go to the Menu bar and click Control - Shuffle - Turn On Shuffle. Three steps instead of one. Really stupid.

Payphone - Maroon 5
Vibes - Inner City
Exhale (Shoop Shoop) - Whitney Houston
Season of the Witch - Lou Rawls
System - Seal
Don't Release Me (Wyclef Jean Remix) - Gloria Estefan
Somebody Told Me - The Killers
Why Can't We Live Together - Sade
Another Night - Aretha Franklin
Nothing Fails (Nevins Mix) - Madonna
50 Candles - Boyz II Men
Jupiter (Edit) (From The Planets) - Andre Previn; London Symphony Orchestra
The Captain - Kasey Chambers

Quick Reviews: 43 Gangster Bodies

And we move into 2013 releases (although there are still a few 2012 films I'll try to see, a couple of Oscar Best Picture nominees in particular). I'll discuss these in reverse order of the names in the title.

With the "Twilight" films finished, Hollywood brings us another version of the strange-love-between-human-and-other genre, Warm Bodies. Instead of human girl-vampire (or werewolf) romance, we have human girl-zombie romance. After some sort of apocalyptic events (cue the USA Today with the front page headline "The End?" that I swear I've seen in multiple films), zombies wander around in search of human flesh and brains to eat. One such zombie, R (Nicholas Hoult), narrates, explaining that he can't remember his full name or anything of his life. The zombies can barely grunt and moan, let alone communicate. Meanwhile, the survivors have fortressed (is that a word?) themselves and occasionally send out scout parties of young people to find medicine and other items in short supply behind the giant walls. On such a run, Julie (Teresa Palmer) is nearly caught by a zombie pack until being rescued by R, who became smitten with her instantly. R begins to regain some humanity as he falls for her, but her father (John Malkovich) is convinced there's no way a zombie can recover, so...see what we have here? R and Julie...Romeo and Juliet. Spoiler alert? (I didn't come up with that on my own, to be honest.) At any rate, there's some humor and cleverness to it. Certainly more than in the "Twilight" films. My grade: B.

Gangster Squad is almost like a cartoon. That's not really meant as a compliment. The story of a war between a mob boss and a police unit (loosely based on an actual squad) that's kept "off the books" so they can do things regular cops can't do, such as shoot and kill an unarmed mobster, in 1949 Los Angeles is a violent but simple story, with characters that are pretty much walking cliches. Ryan Gosling (as a cop) seems to be having a ball, but Sean Penn (as the mob boss, Mickey Cohen) brings nothing but histrionics. As good as Penn was in "Milk," that's how awful he is here. And Emma Stone as Cohen's girlfriend, who falls for Gosling's character, isn't at all believable in the role. This grade would be lower without Gosling. My grade: C.

As for Movie 43, after sitting through over a dozen gruesomely awful, disgusting, not remotely funny tales tied together by a movie pitch, featuring all kinds of big names (Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Halle Berry, Terrence Howard, just to name a few), just after the credits began to roll, there was one final story, in which an animated cat is jealous of the girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks) of his owner (Josh Duhamel). You might be happy that it includes pictures of Duhamel in a swimsuit, until you see said animated cat masturbating while looking at the photos. Every one of these stars should apologize for this garbage. The only person who didn't leave a negative impression on me was, believe it or not, Snooki. Of course, that's because, in the barrage of excrement that was this waste of celluloid, I didn't even notice Snooki until her name showed up in the credits. My grade: F.

ALL Of My Movie Grades

I had an idea the other day. I've decided to consolidate my movie grades from the past few years into one post. Instead of creating a new post every year, I'm going to use this one post for every year.

(Oooh, just had another idea: with grades going back to 2009, perhaps in early 2014 I can compile a list of the best and worst films I've seen over the previous five years.)

So I suppose you could bookmark this page if you're really interested. At any rate, the grades follow the jump...

2016

A+: Zootopia,
A: Captain America: Civil War

A-: Deadpool, Sing Street
B+: The Nice Guys, Ghostbusters (2016 remake)
B: Hail, Caesar!, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Money Monster, Central Intelligence, Finding Dory, Bad Moms, Jason Bourne
B-: 

C+: The Boss, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, War Dogs
C: Suicide Squad, Star Trek Beyond
C-: X-Men: Apocalypse, The Secret Life of Pets

D-: Sausage Party

F:

2015

A+: Spotlight
A: Tomorrowland, Inside Out, Mr. Holmes. Amy, Creed

A-: Spy, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Trainwreck, The Peanuts Movie, Krampus

B+: Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron, Love and Mercy, The Gift, American Ultra, The Visitt

B: Mad Max: Fury Road, Marvel's Ant-Man, Straight Outta Compton, The Martian, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Concussion

B-: Jurassic World, Minions, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, The Intern, Spectre, Joy, The Big Short

C+: The Lazarus Effect, Pitch Perfect 2, Magic Mike XXL, Vacation, Ricki and the Flash, Paper Towns, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, Sisters

C: Hot Pursuit

D+: Fantastic Four

D: Terminator: Genisys
F: The Night Before

2014

A: The Lego Movie

B+: Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

B: Muppets Most Wanted, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy, American Sniper

B-: Anchorman 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Giver, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
C+: 22 Jump Street, Interstellar, Into the Woods

2013 

A: This is the End, The Heat, Gravity, Saving Mr. Banks
A-: Despicable Me 2
B+: 42, 21 and Over, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Wolverine, We're The Millers, Elysium, The World's End, American Hustle, The Dallas Buyers Club
B: Warm Bodies, Oblivion, Oz the Great and Powerful, The Call, The Croods, Man of Steel, Monsters University, 2 Guns, Lee Daniels' The Butler, The Conjuring, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, Thor: The Dark World, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
B-: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Mama
C+: Admission, Escape from Planet Earth, The Internship, The Great Gatsby, Iron Man 3, World War Z, Pacific Rim, You're Next
C: Gangster Squad, Carrie, Frozen
C-: The Purge, Don Jon, Machete Kills
D+: Identity Thief, Pain and Gain, The Lone Ranger, Paranoia, Kick-Ass 2
D: Scary Movie 5, After Earth, The Bling Ring
F: Movie 43, Spring Breakers, The Counselor

2012

A+: Argo
A: The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Lincoln
A-: 21 Jump Street, Brave, ParaNorman, Pitch Perfect
B+: Chronicle, Friends With Kids, Hit and Run, Frankenweenie, Wreck-It Ralph, Zero Dark Thirty
B: Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, The Hunger Games, The Campaign, Premium Rush, Looper, Flight, Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, Parental Guidance, Beasts of the Southern Wild
B-: Snow White and the Huntsman, The Amazing Spider-Man, Hope Springs, House at the End of the Street, This Is 40, Django Unchained, Amour
C+: The Woman In Black, The Cabin In The Woods, Sparkle, Taken 2, Rise of the Guardians, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Promised Land
C: The Guilt Trip
C-: Mirror Mirror, The Dictator, Dark Shadows, Magic Mike, Total Recall, The Bourne Legacy, Hotel Transylvania
D+: The Three Stooges, Prometheus, Seven Psychopaths, Cloud Atlas, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
D: Men in Black 3
D-: This Means War, Silent House, Les Miserables
F: Rock of Ages

2011

A: Drive
A-: Bridesmaids, Kung Fu Panda 2, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Descendants
B+: Rango, The Adjustment Bureau, Cedar Rapids, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Crazy, Stupid, Love., Captain America: The First Avenger, Friends with Benefits, Our Idiot Brother, The Muppets, Puss In Boots
B: No Strings Attached, Paul, The Lincoln Lawyer, Hanna, Thor, Everything Must Go, X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Bad Teacher, Horrible Bosses, 50/50, The Ides of March, Young Adult
B-: Hall Pass, Limitless, Moneyball, Tower Heist, J. Edgar
C+: The Eagle, Source Code, Scream 4, Green Lantern, The Change-Up, What's Your Number. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
C: Something Borrowed, Contagion
C-: I Am Number Four, Gnomeo & Juliet, Battle: Los Angeles, Your Highness, Abduction
D+: Take Me Home Tonight, Paranormal Activity 3, New Year's Eve
D: The Green Hornet, The Roommate
D-: The Dilemma

2010

A: Toy Story 3
A-: Date Night, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Despicable Me, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Social Network, Black Swan
B+: Daybreakers, She's Out Of My League, Kick-Ass, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, Going the Distance, Easy A, Love and Other Drugs, 127 Hours, True Grit, The King's Speech, Winter's Bone
B: Youth In Revolt, The Book Of Eli, Shutter Island, The Crazies, Death At A Funeral, How To Train Your Dragon, Get Him to the Greek, Predators, Salt, The Other Guys, Red, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1, Megamind, Burlesque, The Fighter
B-: Valentine's Day, Alice In Wonderland, Hot Tub Time Machine, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Killers, Splice, Grown Ups, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Vampires Suck, The Switch, Paranormal Activity 2, Hereafter, Morning Glory, Tron: Legacy
C+: Cop Out, The Back-Up Plan, Iron Man 2, Eat Pray Love, You Again
C: Leap Year, Our Family Wedding, Repo Men, Shrek Forever After, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
C-: The Bounty Hunter, Life As We Know It, How Do You Know
D+: When In Rome, The Wolfman, Sex And The City 2
D: Legion, Dinner For Schmucks
D-: From Paris With Love, I Love You Phillip Morris
F: Due Date

2009

A: I Love You, Man; Away We Go; Bruno; Fantastic Mr. Fox; Up In The Air; Precious
A-: Star Trek; Outrage; Up; (500) Days Of Summer; Humpday; Julie & Julia; Paranormal Activity; It's Complicated
B+: Confessions Of A Shopaholic; Coraline; Duplicity; State Of Play; Drag Me To Hell; The Proposal; Make The Yuletide Gay; District 9; Adam; Zombieland; Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs; Where The Wild Things Are; Invictus; An Education
B: Taken; Watchmen; Observe & Report; Obsessed; The Brothers Bloom; Orphan; Extract; Inglourious Basterds, Law Abiding Citizen; The Blind Side; Brothers
B-: New In Town; Paul Blart, Mall Cop; Yonkers Joe; Adventureland; Sunshine Cleaning; The Soloist; Angels & Demons; Dance Flick; Taking Woodstock; The Informant!; Whip It; Michael Jackson's This Is It; A Single Man; The Hurt Locker; A Serious Man
C+: The International; X-Men Origins: Wolverine; Public Enemies; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; Funny People; Fame; Surrogates; 2012; Avatar
C: Year One, Couples Retreat; Pirate Radio
C-: Bride Wars; He's Just Not That Into You; Terminator Salvation; I Love You, Beth Cooper; The Time Traveler's Wife; The Invention Of Lying; The Twilight Saga: New Moon; Everybody's Fine; Did You Hear About The Morgans?
D+: The Hangover; All About Steve; Jennifer's Body; Sherlock Holmes
D: The Ugly Truth
D-: The Men Who Stare At Goats

Quick Reviews: Zero Django

I have five movies to write about but the other three are 2013 releases, so I'm getting these two out of the way first. (By the way, I have a handful more 2012 releases to see, including a couple of Oscar Best Picture nominees, so I'm going to hold off on a best-of-2012 a bit.)

After watching Zero Dark Thirty, which tells a story -- not the story, as there are some details (including names) changed for various reasons -- of the USA's long but eventually successful manhunt for Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I was struck with two things that kind of bothered me a bit. And one of those things was not whether the film glorifies the torture used to obtain evidence. It clearly doesn't. It displays it quite graphically but it doesn't really take a side. The film centers around Maya (Jessica Chastain), a CIA officer with a dogged determination to solve the mystery of bin Laden's whereabouts, but she's such a mysterious character -- all we really know about her is she began her CIA career after high school -- that I thought it was difficult to understand her or identify with her. And while there may be artistic merit to the style of shooting the raid on bin Laden's compound, with jittery cameras work, with scenes either dark or seen through night-vision goggles, and no real "money shot" of the actual killing of bin Laden, it also blunts the emotional payoff a bit. It's a very good film but it seems a bit drained of passion. My grade: B-plus.

As for Django Unchained, it fits right into the Quentin Tarantino formula: lots of violence, lots of in-jokes, homages, music, cameos, etc. Where "Inglorious Basterds" was a revenge-on-Nazis fantasy, this one is all about revenge on slave traders and plantation owners. It's so...out there. A German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) who frees, then teams up with, Django (Jamie Foxx) to collect more bounties before rescuing Django's wife, now owned by plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio -- actually a nice change of pace for him, playing a villain instead of a hero). Of course, the plantation is called...wait for it...Candyland. It's just hard to take too seriously, which is fine, but at the same time I almost feel like Tarantino should do a romantic comedy or something, just to challenge himself. My grade: B-minus.

Quick Reviews: This Is Promised Guidance

Okay, so these movies may not even be in theaters by now, but I don't want to just ignore them. And, if anyone really wants my opinion before renting or buying the DVDs, it'll be here.

What surprised me about This Is 40, the sort-of-sequel to "Knocked Up" focusing on the married couple Pete and Debbie (Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann), was how much bickering they did. Between their own issues, business problems and dealing with their children and parents, there were times when I was wishing there was more comedy and less drama. A nice amount of shirtless Paul Rudd, though, and there's the cameo with current (Scott Hartnell, now-retired Ian Laperriere) and former (James van Riemsdyk, Matt Carle) Flyers in a bar with Mann and Megan Fox. My grade: B-minus.

I started out really liking Promised Land, the film about natural-gas "fracking," with Matt Damon and Frances McDormand trying to get farmers to sign mineral-rights leases to drill on their land. Then an environmental advocate (John Krasinski) hits town and Damon's character is so completely flustered by this development it rang extremely false. And the big twist near the end was just stupid. My grade: C-plus.

I'd compare Parental Guidance to "The Guilt Trip" in that it's a somewhat safe and predictable comedy, in which a long-married couple (Billy Crystal, Bette Midler), called upon to hop on a plane and mind the grandkids for a week, have difficulty with how their daughter and son-in-law are raising the children. But the baseball subplot (Crystal's an announcer needing a new job) helped, the ending made me cry a little (whether I'm just easily manipulated by films or I'm getting mushy in my advancing age is yet to be determined) and Crystal and Midler have old-pro charm. My grade: B.

Super Bowl: Heroes, Villains

Yes, I still want to keep this blog thing going, believe it or not.

Every time one of the major sports is about to decide its champion, and there's no Philadelphia team involved, I have to figure out which team I want to root for. In general, I like to root for the underdog, or David over Goliath. Teams that haven't won before or cities that haven't won in a long time, whose fans seem deserving of the success. Players I like (or dislike). So, no rooting for New York teams, the Dallas Cowboys, etc.

More and more there's a problem, though. Between the general arrogance and surly attitudes of many modern-day players and the rise of performance-enhancing substance usage and, in recent years, the outspokenness of players on gay issues and teams' participation in projects like You Can Play or It Gets Better, it's increasingly impossible to decide which team to support.

For Super Bowl XLVII (and boy, isn't it going to be weird when it's just Super Bowl L in three years), featuring the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, there's been particular attention paid to gay stuff. On one hand, the Ravens' Brendan Ayanbadejo is an major supporter of equality, speaking out and helping same-sex equality become law in Maryland. On the other hand, his teammate Matt Birk holds anti-gay views based on his religious beliefs. Point: the 49ers' Chris Culliver made stupid anti-gay remarks this week. Counterpoint: the 49ers repudiated his remarks and his coach and some of his teammates spoke out against them. Plus: the 49ers are the only NFL team to release an It Gets Better video. Minus: Two 49ers who were in the video denied being in it, until they were shown the video featuring them, and the video's now been pulled from the It Gets Better website. It seems possible the 49ers were unclear or misled their players about the video's purpose.

Kaepernick

And that's not even getting into the media's canonization of Saint Ray Lewis, playing his last game, conveniently sweeping under the rug his involvement in the murders of two men, men whose murderers have gone unpunished thanks to the actions of Lewis. Oh, and there's that whole deer-antler-spray thing (getting back to performance-enhancers).

I suppose, with all the pro-gay and anti-gay stuff kind of canceling each other out, the Lewis factor would push me toward the 49ers. But the 49ers have already won five Super Bowls, and the Giants have two World Series wins in three years. So that pushes me back towards Baltimore.

See what I mean?

So I can't say how I'll feel about whichever team wins. I will say, after some wavering, I think the 49ers will win. It really depends on their quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, continuing to handle the pressure despite having little NFL experience before taking over midseason. If he doesn't play like a rookie, the 49ers will win. And, if you don't mind tattoos...

Things I'm Not Buying

Two categories here...

Things I'm Not Buying...Yet...

1) The explanation that Manti Te'o is the victim of a hoax. There are too many inconsistencies -- the reports that flat-out said he met this girlfriend of his, who supposedly died of leukemia but as it turns out never actually existed, in person; varying reports saying she died just before the death of his grandmother, while others said she died after the grandmother died; and lots of other things in the Deadspin report. Also, the fact that Notre Dame hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation but isn't releasing the name of the outfit that they hired to conduct it, or the firm's report itself, seems a bit questionable. It'll be interesting to hear what Te'o himself says, and if the media does some digging of its own -- especially the "mainstream" media (such as ESPN), who ought to be angry that their outlets once again got scooped by a website.

2) Chip Kelly as Eagles' head coach. Sure, he ran up tremendous offensive numbers at Oregon and had a 46-7 record there. And sure, some of his offense's tactics are being adapted by NFL teams such as the New England Patriots. But can Kelly's offense in full work in the NFL? There are much better defenses in the NFL than in the Pac-8, or 10,  or 12, or whatever number they are now. And Nick Foles may not be ideally suited to such an offense. Will Kelly water it down immediately or will he try it in full at first, then dumb it down if it doesn't work? And even if he can get the offense in gear, the Eagles' defense is a huge mess. Kelly and the guy who ends up becoming defensive coordinator have a lot of work to do. Lots of WIP callers are, as usual, overreacting, saying the hiring of Kelly is a disaster. I'm not willing to go that far. But I am skeptical. And it bothers me (whether it should or not) that he initially decided not to take the job, and then changed his mind. According to one report I saw a mutual friend of Kelly and Eagles' GM Howie Roseman supposedly told Roseman that Kelly's mind could be changed.

3) The return of the NHL. I don't know if it's the recent lessening of my intense level of interest in sports in general or because the NHL was a joke for being shut down by a union-management bitchfest to begin with, but I'm not overly excited about the return of the Flyers. Maybe seeing a game will help in that regard. I don't know.

Things I'm Not Buying...At All...

The likelihood that extensive reform of gun laws will actually occur. Even if Democrats unite, it won't pass Congress without Republicans, and they are enslaved by the NRA and the Tea Party maniacs. I still believe everything I said here.

Quick Reviews: Miserable(s) Hobbit Guilt

Another wrapup of three movies I've recently seen. (The title format for these movie posts might become a regular thing.) Also, these and a few others will go into the 2012 summary based on their release date, not when I actually get to see them, although in these three cases I actually did see them in 2012. Warning: you might find my opinion of one of these to be controversial.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was just too long, drawn out, at times incredibly boring. The only reason to expand this story into a trilogy like its "Lord of the Rings" predecessor is money. Don't let anyone tell you differently. However, I thought it looked wonderful. I watched the 48-frames-per-second version (twice the standard rate), which caused a lot of consternation when some early footage was released, and despite the fact that I also had to endure 3D, I found it to be extremely crisp visually. My grade: C-plus.

Not filmed in 3D or 48 frames per second, The Guilt Trip will cause no consternation or controversy whatsoever. As a mother-and-son duo making a cross-country trip we're given a phoning-it-in Barbra Streisand and a neutered-for-PG13 Seth Rogen. There are a few mild laughs but there's nothing new or innovative about this at all. It's basically harmless. My grade: C.

Let be me honest: I walked out of Les Miserables early. I saw over an hour, but that was enough. I am not against musicals, even musicals with virtually no spoken dialogue whatsoever. I like musicals. But this one just sounded like everyone sang the same loooooooooooooong song. Even as one scene bleeds into another, even as the film jumps years ahead to continue the story, the songs were virtually indistinguishable. (Compare it to "Evita," which also has very little speaking and also has a couple of time jumps, but at least there's variety and clarity.) The only things that snapped me out of my stupor: Anne Hathaway's passion in singing "I Dreamed A Dream" and woefully-miscast Russell Crowe's painful vocals on whatever song or songs he sang. As it went on, and as more characters were introduced, I became increasingly disinterested. This was an absolute mess in every way (except the aforementioned Hathaway bit). Finally, I could take no more. And I even I managed to sit through all of "Rock of Ages." Still, I'm giving it a better grade than "Rock of Ages" just because of "I Dreamed A Dream." So, it's got that going for it, which is nice. My grade: D-minus.

My 2012 In Music

Last year at this time I was lamenting the lack of new music (as in, new in 2011 or new to me) added to my iTunes library. I figured that 2012 would be better since I had gone back to work. Since May I've been out of work but at least I got some unemployment out of it. So, indeed, my 2012 acquisitions are up. (A note, which is mainly for my own reference: the figures below include a couple of CDs I got during 2012 but only got around to adding to my iTunes tonight, so I need to remember for next year's wrapup not to include them again.)

I added 567 tracks to my collection by my count (it's a complicated story but I may be off by one or two because of duplicates), compared to 271 last year. Christmas music comprised 26 of those 567 songs. There were a lot of downloads of individual songs, as well as the first song in my next project - converting my vinyl collection to mp3 format. I have maybe a few dozen 45s and many more 12-inch dance remixes, probably in the hundreds. I'm so excited about this.

Beyond that, I got some free downloaded samplers and mixtapes (which is such an odd term to use for mp3 downloads, but...):

Will Sheridan – G.I.A.N.T. Sampler
DJ ShyBoy presents the RuPaul Mixtape (RuPaul songs mashed up with other songs)
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 2: The Mixtape
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 3: The Mixtape
Dangerous Muse – Red
Slaves to the Rhythm – Pride 2011 Sampler

And then there were the albums that were released prior to 2012:

Kelly Clarkson – Stronger
Discovery – LP
Ricky Martin – Ricky Martin
David Guetta – Nothing But The Beat
Jody Watley – Midnight Lounge
Paul McCartney – All The Best
Donna Summer – She Works Hard For The Money
Elton John – Rocket Man - Number Ones
Steely Dan – The Definitive Collection
The Gap Band – The 12” Collection and More
Nona Hendryx – Nona (as I mentioned here, the first full-length album I transferred from vinyl to mp3)
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream-The Complete Confection (this is the re-released version with bonus tracks -- the original was out in 2010 so I don't feel right counting it as a 2012 album)

In 2011 I got only four albums that were actually

My Return To Baltimore

I've got a new album on Photobucket featuring pics from my quick trip to Baltimore in September. It was a double dose of nostalgia for me. The reason I went was to see a Baltimore Orioles-Toronto Blue Jays old-fashioned doubleheader -- "old-fashioned" meaning you pay for one ticket and see two ballgames (thanks to a previously rained-out game). None of that day-night separate-admission nonsense! So I bought a ticket on StubHub at a good discount below face value, and booked a hotel for one night.

The other part of my nostalgia was because I have a soft spot for Baltimore since I lived there for nine months in 2002 when I was selected for a special work assignment. The government paid for a furnished apartment and I got some per diem money for meals and such. I've been back a time or two since, and every time I go I like to look for familiar landmarks and see what's changed. Take a look at the album and photo descriptions for more about my trip.

Free bus service with a few different routes. Philly needs this.

Rihanna's Bruises?

Note the title of the song, and the artist being promoted in the ad directly below the video. This has to have been placed there on purpose, right? No way it can just be coincidence.

Sleepy New Year

It's about 1 a.m. as I begin writing this, and I'm actually thinking of going to bed soon. I guess the rum I added to the diet Pepsi tonight is making me a little sleepy even though I was not up early this morning by any means. Anyway, it's 2013. Let's hope things are much better than they were in 2012. So much needs improvement: the economy is still a mess, the political system is failing to fix it (because the Republican party somehow finds itself enslaved by the Tea Party extremists -- doesn't any of them realize that these nuts are destroying their party's hopes of winning the White House for the next 20-30 years?), the Eagles turned out to be a disaster and the Phillies are on the verge of a similar fate (unless their old, now injury-prone stars discover the fountain of youth), the NHL doesn't even exist right now -- and that's not to mention the usual hurricanes, earthquakes, crime, war, etc. I could go on but like I said, I'm sleepy. Happy New Year. Please?