Shame and Condemnation

Ed Norton consoles Colin Farrell as he comes to the realization that he is a terrible actor that has gotten by on looks and an irish accent for too long. Unfortunately, no one was there to console Ed Norton for doing this awful movie...hopefully he does not get angry, you would like him when he's angry

I don' think I can continue to blog about movies. Since I began, the majority of the movies I have seen have been crap. I feel like anyone (Dan) who reads this site will just think I hate movies. When in fact, I love movies. I really love movies.

However, I can't start with this review. Pride & Glory sucked. Ed Norton, what are you doing? This is not your movie, this should have gone to someone like Mark Wahlberg or Paul Walker right after finishing Fast and Furious. First, the Incredible Hulk (I have not yet seen) and now this? Come on man, get back in the game.

Colin, Colin, Colin...I keep pulling for you man and you keep letting me down. You are like that friend who is great to be around, great to party but don't leave him in the room with your girlfriend or expect him to come over on a Saturday afternoon to help you move. Won't happen, but you will let it slide because he is so much fun to be around that Saturday night. What's the deal?

Ok, so In Bruges was really good. Not great, but really good. For you Colin, that means it was F'n FANTASTIC. I need you to pick scripts like that. Not scripts that have you get the wrinkles out of new born babies (if you have seen this movie you know what I mean).

Do not see this movie. It is everything that is wrong with a cop drama, I could gather a class of 4th graders to write a better, more realistic plot.

Hopefully these people are not paid to do this. This critic cited the "gritty realism" that made this movie a "B" in her mind. Yeah, I guess it was gritty realism, if you replace "gritty" with "terrible" and "realism" with "blatant out-dated stereotypes". Then that would work.

My favorite scene was the climatic bare-knuckle brawl between two Irish NYPD in an American "Irish" pub. Cue the Riverdance music!

This movie gets ONE GOOBER. Do not see this movie. Only if it is on FX in seven years and it is a Wednesday afternoon and raining outside.

FOR A MUCH BETTER REVIEW: GO HERE

F OPEC

The last couple months have been unprecedented in my young life. The global markets have taken up BASE jumping, Wall Street has been downgraded to a Lane and Washington is now telling everyone to "grab an umbrella" because the Fed has a "handful of stacks" and is "making it rain" on Wall Lane, the world and Americans alike.

Things do not look good. But, there are a few small benefits. For one, OIL found out that people can take the bus. Not good for Daniel-Day Lewis, he is pissed. So are these guys.



OPEC is definitely not happy with the drop in global demand for oil. They convened today for an emergency meeting. There plan is to cut production.

"The decision was straightforward," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said after the meeting.

"OPEC will do whatever is necessary to balance oil markets."

This is what they said. They need to balance the oil market. I have to admit, they did a great job of balancing the markets over the past year, when it came close to $150 a barrel in the middle of the 2008 summer. I am really glad they were looking out everyone. But now they want to manipulate the price to have it go back up. This is a real dick move. Lower oil/gas prices help consumer purchasing power, which is an essential correction for a recession. OPEC does not care about a global recession. This is what is wrong.

The fact is OPEC is a cartel, that acts like a cartel. There really is no surprise there.

Just as the lower price of oil is a silver lining to the current economic clusterfuck, (I think we have moved past "crisis" at this point) the former high oil/gas prices did make Americans and the rest of the world finally wake up and realize that we need to stop filling our snowmobiles with jet-fuel in July. It also finally displayed the importance of alternative energies...both candidates are behind it now.

Hopefully this guy learned his lesson from prices in July.

Balance is the name of the game. Balance in the economy, among compaines, among countries and individuals. Not too little, but not too much. I believe that Americans may have learned a valuable lesson from the last few months, not to be so greedy. We need to pass this along to OPEC.

Listen to Matt Nathanson

Last night I headed over to Sixth & I for a concert. The concert was held in a historic synagogue. Which translated to no beer. If this had been a concert for Yanni or the Blue Man group, I would have freaked out at this prohibition...fortunately it was for a folk/rock guitarist named Matt Nathanson.

For those of you who do not know him, Nathanson is a very talented singer/songwriter. As much as I like his music, his real forte comes in the form of live shows. Nathanson is hilarious, he frequently banters about sex, heavy metal and his favorite shows like Gossip Girl. Considering the amount of cursing and graphic imagery at past shows, I was curious to see how Nathanson would handle being in such a holy place. He did not fail me, as he arrived on stage he observed that we were in a "fuckin' synagogue". That was only the beginning.

Ok, I am not going to give a full re-cap of the night. Know this, Nathanson is talented, hilarious and in touch with his audience. He also keeps ticket prices low. He is currently on a Fall tour and could very well be on his way to your city.

I wholeheartedly endorse Matt Nathanson. I am not one to do this regularly, but I promise you will get your money's worth.