Quick Review: 22 Jump Street

I know, I know, I saw this two weeks ago. I'm still trying to get back into the habit of posting. Anyway, "21 Jump Street" was one of my favorites of 2012. Seeing that Channing Tatum had a knack for comedy and that he and Jonah Hill really meshed as undercover cops masquerading as high school students to stop a drug ring was exciting. Unfortunately, I wasn't as enthralled with the inevitable sequel, the cutely-named 22 Jump Street (an explanation is in the movie). This was mostly because of the constant references -- to the actors, to the first movie, to the quality (and expense) of sequels in general -- in lieu of a more interesting plot. This is a very meta movie. Still, some bits worked and Tatum and Hill still go well together. Hopefully when the inevitable "23 Jump Street" is greenlit, they'll put a little more effort into a credible storyline. My grade: C-plus.

Why I Love Scumbag Warren Sapp

I saw a headline last night on Yahoo's home page about former NFL and "Dancing with the Stars" star Warren Sapp, who left no tip on a $70 bill at a sports bar. He claimed he got terrible service and the waitress called him and his friend "boys." She says that she gave him fine service and she only used "boys" in the context of asking what they wanted to drink ("Hey, boys, what can I get you?"). As I dislike Warren Sapp, who's had a string of on- and off-field incidents showing him to be a jackass, I have little doubt that her side of the story is more accurate.

I posted the story's link to my Twitter with a comment: "Once a scumbag, always a scumbag."

An hour and a half later I went back to Twitter and saw that I had a bunch of new followers. The count went from 480 to just over 500. My post was getting retweeted and favorited a lot. I even had comments from strangers (taking both sides) and entire discussions on Sapp and on tipping in general. With my Twitter handle included in the posts, I can follow these discussions without even participating because of the Notifications function. Some of the discussions are actually intelligent, while others have been, sadly, racist.

Meanwhile, one moron seems to think I wrote the Yahoo article:

As of right now, 17 hours later, that post was retweeted 151 times (not including those who do it manually) and favorited 324 times. Other posts in the resulting discussions have been favorited as well, so I keep getting those notifications.

And strangest of all, the new followers have continued to add up. I am now up to 683 followers. This freaked me out so much last night that I changed my Twitter password, fearing I might have been hacked. Nothing suspicious has happened, though, like sending tweets or DMs without my knowledge, so I think all is well in that regard.

I have no idea if these people (at least the non-spambots) are actually interested in me, or if they'll hang around for a while. But if they do, that's fine with me. Hopefully they'll check out the blog as well.

Thanks, Warren Sapp!

Five Years Of This?

Yes, as of yesterday this blog is now five years old. And what better way to mark the occasion than by thanking Wikipedia for explaining the content of a modern-day classic?

All these years and I never figured that out!

But seriously, I'll try to post some other stuff. I was thinking of a "best and worst movies of the last five years" post, but I've seen so few 2014 films...

Catching Up On Movies

Remember when I used to go see movies, and then give my opinions of them? Those were the days. As part of this return to blogging, I present the movies I've seen but haven't written about. Grades for all, a few needed comments on some. Unfortunately, the 2014 portion of the list is rather barren, in great part because of my financial situation, which is pretty horrible at this time. So I'm not sure how many more films I'll see from here on out.

2013

The World's End: B-plus
Kick-Ass 2: D-plus (If I recall, the off-beat charm and humor of the first film -- in the midst of all the violence -- was gone from this one. Juvenile and stupid.)
Lee Daniels' The Butler: B (Based more loosely on the true story than it should have been, and some of the actors portraying Presidents were jarring.)
You're Next: C-plus (Very much a mixed bag, with some good acting but a ridiculous plot.)
The Conjuring: B (Very old school. Not like today's horror films at all.)
Don Jon: C-plus (I love love love Joseph Gordon-Levitt and this film was his baby. It just got old and dumb pretty fast.)
Gravity: A
Machete Kills: C-minus (Pretty disappointing. I had to watch the first film On Demand and that was over-the-top fun. This was more over-the-top dumb.)
The Counselor: F (I walked out of this pretty fast. I didn't even make it to the scene where Cameron Diaz humped a car.)
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa: B
Carrie: C-minus (So unnecessary. And setting it in the present, with smartphone videos and the like, didn't help.)
Thor: The Dark World: B (A little better than the first, which isn't saying much.)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: B (Not as good as the first, which is saying a lot.)
American Hustle: B-plus
Saving Mr. Banks: A
The Dallas Buyers Club: B-plus
Frozen: C (So, so overrated! The film is overrated! "Let It Go" is overrated! The movie took forever to get started, the story wasn't all that exceptional. It's not that the movie and song are awful. It's just that they're not special. Why did people make such a fuss over it? Overrated!)

2014

Anchorman 2: B-minus (Again, had to watch the first On Demand. Not as good as the first, but a rather clever comment on the advent of 24-hour cable TV news and what it would become.)
The Lego Movie: A (Everything is awesome!!!!)
Muppets Most Wanted: B (It's like they're making minor changes and reissuing the first Muppet movies. First came the movie in which the Muppets get together (or get back together). Then there's the sequel where a Muppet is framed as a criminal. If they make another, expect the Muppets to hit New York City again.)
Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: B-plus (Not only did this movie turn out well, but it rejuvenated the Agents of SHIELD TV series. It's a miracle!)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2: B-minus (Why did they reboot this so soon? And why is it not better?)
X-Men: Days of Future Past: B (This was very good in a lot of ways, but I think my expectations were raised by the pre-release hype.)

This Guy...

...well, the version of him that's ten or so years older than when this picture appeared in the Flyers' 2003-04 Pictorial Yearbook (not just a yearbook, a Pictorial yearbook)...just won the Conn Smythe trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. Justin Williams of the Los Angeles Kings won his third Cup since being traded from the Flyers in 2004.

And hey, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter won their second Cup since they were traded by the Flyers. Are we sensing something about the Flyers' player evaluation over the years? But this is not about the Flyers or Richards or Carter. This is about Justin Williams. He's woefully overdressed in this photo.

I'm Back! With "Pride"

Hi there! Remember me? I used to blog. I got away from it for many reasons -- partly related to laziness, and other things I won't talk about right now (or maybe ever) -- but I want to get back to it. I need to get back to it.

So, as we go along perhaps I'll get to some other stuff I've been meaning to post. For now, though, here's a little iTunes Baker's Dozen. Not a shuffle from my collection, but from iTunes Radio's special LGBT Pride station. I'm trying to figure out exactly where the "LGBT" comes in, how this is different from any other pop-oriented radio station (other than the inclusion of the old Cher hit). Also, at some point in the near future, will Pitbull appear on EVERY song?

Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake

I Will Never Let You Down - Rita Ora

Chandelier - Sia

Wut - Le1f

Drunk in Love - Beyonce feat. Jay Z

Into the Wild - LP

Song for the Lonely - Cher

Hideaway - Kiesza

Dark Horse - Katy Perry feat. Juicy J

Exotic - Priyanka Chopara feat. Pitbull

Summertime Sadness (Cedric Gervais Remix) - Lana Del Rey

Fancy - Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX

Problem - Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea

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.