A-Team

Being a child of the 80’s I grew up watching great television like MacGyver, Airwolf and of course The A-Team. So I was a bit hesitant to see the film The A-Team. Look what they did to Dukes of Hazzard. I mean growing up I had a crush on Face played by Dirk Benedict (also of Battlestar Galactic) so not just anybody could play him. The movie trailers seemed true to the TV characters and knowing that Stephen J. Cannell was one of the producers gave me the courage to go see it and I am glad that I did.

My Thoughts:

Bradley Cooper makes a great “Face.”

Actually all the actors did a good job with their roles. Only flaw was that Liam Neeson didn’t wear black gloves all the time.

The action never stops and they spent more money on the special effects than I thought they would have so it was pretty good quality.

There are some really funny lines, mostly said by “Mad Murdock” but everyone has a fair share.

The film is in the running with the longest opening credits along with Once Upon a Time in the West.


Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? Well, 20th Century Fox plans came together beautifully with this film. I would recommend it for summer fun.

Eclipse

A group of friends and I went and saw Eclipse last night and let me just say, it actually felt like a real film and not homemade. The lighting, camera, special effects, etc. felt professional. It was the best of the three thus far, but then again it really only could get better.

My Thoughts:

Along with Twilight and New Moon, Eclipse has an excellent soundtrack, one I know I will be listening to over and over.

Robert Pattinson really looks good in blue (see mountain scene in snow).

If Bella was freezing to death at night so much so that she had to snuggle with Jacob, how was it she was able to walk around the next day in the snow with only a shirt and no coat?

There were some really funny lines in the film, such as Edward talking to Bella about Jacob- “Doesn’t he own a shirt?”

I’m glad that Taylor Lautner is now 18 years old. I feel better about appreciating his six pack now that he is legal.

I want to know how Jasper’s hair could grow out when he is a vampire and he is dead? Along with that, I still feel awkward watching him be so intense but he is getting better.

I want to note that one my friends said, "Didn’t Edward look like Elvis in the tent scene?" I told her yes and that is how I thought Robert looked like in the film Remember Me (as I mention in my review).

I really want to own the Cullen’s home, even though I know it is owned by some Nike executive in Washington and I would never be able to afford it. It is very opened with lots of windows but surrounded by trees for privacy.

Can't wait to see how they are going to split up Breaking Dawn. I always thought the saga should have been a trilogy so adding more just doesn't seem possible.

Knight and Day

I will be the first person to admit that I have not been a Tom Cruise fan since my early teens, but I kept seeing advertisements for his new film Knight and Day with Cameron Diaz and I realized I really wanted to see it, action with humor- my kind of film. So Friday night I dragged AJ and AMM to go with me.

My thoughts:

I give it my approval for a good summer action-comedy flick.

There are some lines that are just priceless, such as “Man die already” that really make the film. It was interesting that the film was pretty clean for its subject matter but then they threw in some random strong language that seemed to be out of place and took away from the flow of the dialogue.

Over the years as Diaz's role choices have gotten better I have grown to like her and she found the perfect balance of acting for her character in the film. Peter Saarsgard, Paul Dano and Viola Davis were all great in the supporting cast roles.

Maybe seeing Tom Cruise crazy in real life has helped me accept his quirky role as a spy who may or may not be all there more believable.

There are great action scenes throughout the film, but the plane scene ranks up there for me. Overall, I enjoyed the film and would see it again.

Wimbledon

I love watching Wimbledon and today’s match of John Isner (USA) vs. Nicolas Mahut (FRA) is just a great example of why I do. It took three days to decide who won this qualifying round, just take a look at these statics:

Vital statistics:
Match duration: 11 hours, five minutes
Fifth set duration: Eight hours, 11 minutes
Total number of games: 183
Fifth set number of games: 138
Total number of points: 980
Isner aces: 112
Mahut aces: 103
Combined aces: 215
Isner winners: 246
Mahut winners: 244

I’m sorry Andy Roddick, you are no longer the only guy I am going to cheer for this year (besides the Bryan brothers for doubles) John just won my heart. Being 6’9 is not the only reason; he was humble at his victory. There is just more great things to come at this year at Wimbledon I can just feel it!

I Ran a 5K!

I ran a 5K (that is 3.1 miles). You read that correctly. Yes, the same person who doesn’t believe in running unless there is a basketball hoop at the other end has actually entered a race. Yesterday I ran in the Nestle Art City Days Family Fun Race with 2,000 other people including my friend AJ who has been training with me since January. She stuck by me even though she could have had a much lower time than my just shy of 40 minutes (personal best). All I can say is that I am very pleased with myself. Okay, actually I am very proud of myself. I woke up at 5:30 am to run a race. Putting two things I hate the most together- early morning and exercising. But now I can cross it off my list of things I want to accomplish in my life and I love crossing things off a to do list!

Capitol Reef

For my annual Memorial Day hike with my friends we went to Capitol Reef National Park. This year JR joined AJ, AMM, and I and that made it fun. Tom Tom kept trying to tell us to go the back roads, so we had a very scenic view of southern Utah on the way down.

In Capitol Reef we visited the Pioneer School House, Historic Gifford Farmhouse, the Fremont Petroglyphs, and the Pioneer Register. We tried looking for the Cassidy Arch, but we had no luck. Went on two short hikes and then headed home. Pretty country down there, but I am very thankful that I was not one of the seven families that settled the area.

For dinner we stopped in Torrey and ate at the Chuck Wagon General Store where we ate Mexican, go figure. It makes me wonder how it would be to live in a tourist town. Fun times!

Happy Birthday John Wayne!

I just could not let this day go past without sending out a birthday wish to the Duke! In honor of his 103rd birthday I would like to share one of my favorite film quotes of his from the film Chisum.

He just tracked down the thief that stole his horses:

Thief: So if you want these horses, I sell them to you. Did you bring some gold with you?
Chisum: No.
Thief: Silver?
Chisum: Just lead! (and of course Wayne shoots him and takes back his horses)

They will never learn, that you just do not mess with the Duke.