Quick Reviews (Catching Up Again)

Yeah, I fell behind in discussing movies again. Seeing as how you don't pay me to do this, though...anyway, I'll start with the one that's not really a 2012 movie: "Finding Nemo," which was re-released in a 3D version this fall. Of the Pixar movies, there are only three I haven't seen in full. I've seen parts of "A Bug's Life" and have no intentions of ever seeing "Cars 2." So "Nemo" was the only gap in my Pixar resume. I liked it a lot but didn't love it. If it were on my 2012 movie list I'd give it a grade of B.

"House at the End of the Street" started out slowly but I ended up enjoying it more than expected, especially since it didn't involve a supernatural murderer-come-back-to-life the way it seemed (at least to me, from the little I heard of it going in). And the revelation at the end was a surprise. My grade: B-minus.

I wasn't totally enthralled with "Looper." As much as I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I didn't like how they used some prosthetic nose getup to make him look like Bruce Willis. Like "Men in Black III," the time-travel machinations didn't make sense, and even though a meta commentary by Willis' character essentially told the audience that we shouldn't worry about time-travel continuity making sense, I can't go for that (no can do). A certain amount of logic is required. My grade: B.

"Hotel Transylvania" presents Adam Sandler as an animated Dracula. The idea of a hotel that caters exclusively to monsters and keeps them from contact with humans was sort of clever, but it wasn't what it could be, and, I repeat, Adam Sandler as Dracula. My grade: C-minus.

This Town Needs An Enema

I'm just saying...



I love that line from Tim Burton's "Batman," and I was listening to my summer playlist and "Batdance" came on, so here you go.

Actually, I think the whole damn nation needs that enema. The budget disasters at the local, state and federal level continue to wreak havoc on people's lives because of politics, as the rich and powerful continue to become more rich and more powerful at the expense of the working class, the poor, the elderly, etc., and people just allow it to happen. More time is spent on sideshows -- Sarah Palin and Donald Trump and Anthony Weiner -- than on the real issues. And by the way, Anthony Weiner should resign from Congress, not because he did anything illegal or wrong, just for being so utterly STUPID and playing right into the right wing's hands.

On the other hand, he'd probably get a show on CNN or MSNBC, which is all we need. So maybe he should stay in Congress after all.

Last week, I made a last-minute decision to go chasing after Sarah Palin when she stopped by Independence Hall and visited the Liberty Bell on her stupid little bus tour, but she was already gone by the time I got there. I just wanted to boo her the way she was booed when she dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff before the Flyers game back in 2008. Alas, I missed my chance. I did visit the Liberty Bell, though.

The renovations of Independence Hall are continuing, as you can see in this picture. One thing I wasn't aware of is how much the bell used to travel around the country. So, unlike Sarah, I actually learned something on my visit.