Movie Review

Movie Review: "The Conspirator", *****, Yes folks this is a five star movie. "A military trial of civilians is an atrocity!" bellows one senator. Directed by Robert Redford, a remarkable cast breathes life into the compelling story of the trial meant to head the country following the assassinatin of President Abrham Lincoln. Most of us know about John Wilkes Booth the actual assassin, but the other part of the story is the trial of Mary Surratt played by Robin Wright, who owned the boarding house where Booth stayed and conspired to murder three American leaders. James McAvoy does a great job in playing the defense lawyer, Frederick Aiken, for Ms. Surratt. Since he was a war hero and officer in the Union Army the emotions of defending this accused conspirator was limitless. Audiences may be as repulsed as Aiken to see the Constitutin set aside to quicken the country's healing process. Robert Redford is a great director and if this film is not nominated in many ways, plus the actors I will surely be surprised. Rated PG-13 for some violent content.

EA(a go see for you), SH(you would enjoy to).....:)

greerman

A Dogs Life, Future Movie Reviews, Short Story Review

It has always been my understanding that for every one year of human years the same for a dog is equivalent to seven years. Being an inquisitive type I went and ask Google, “dog years to human years ratio is what?” Turns out that rule of thumb is seven; however, they have a chart that you can enter your dogs’ breed, actual age, and it can tell you exactly what their current age is. Since Buffman is the old dog around this household(except for me) I entered his breed and 10 years actual, bingo he is 63 years old, while Squeaky is 32.

Then I got to thinking, why do these critters age up so fast since they really have a great deal, i.e. in a 24 hour period they must sleep at least half of it or at least it seems like to me that every time I walk in the room they are sleeping. Then when they are awake they are either eating, drinking, pooping, peeing, licking, scratching, fighting/playing with each other, sniffing each other, or barking. Now the barking thing is probably what ages them since they do it in the middle of the night and keep everyone awake. Some times I think this ratio should be changed to humans, since there are times I feel 504 years old(7 x 72).

One thing for sure here is that these two Boston’s better get it together since the triathlon that was named in their honor is coming up for May 15, 2011 and they are expected to be there. They usually have a new t-shirt on for the current year, walk around the transition area sniffing of everything and having their picture made with the athletes. Then they are given good cookies to eat and then amble off to take a nap under the shade tree. One year Buffman hiked his leg up on the race official while he was giving the pre-race briefing. Wow, for a dog’s life!! See you at the races!

greerman

Movie Reviews: No movies have been viewed since the last posting; however, here are future reviews to look forward to: “The Conspirator” , “Insidious” , “Win Win” , “Water For Elephants”, “Soul Surfer”, “Source Code”. Got lots to see!

Short Story Review: In the April, 2011 Sports Illustrated there is an excellent article about Dick and Rick Hoyt. Over the past 33 years Dick Hoyt has pushed, pulled and carried his disabled son, Rick, through more than 1,000 road races and triathlons(including the Ironman) and 28 Boston Marathons. But as time bears down on them, how much longer can they keep it up? The father is 70 and the son is 40, and they are entering the twilight of this unbelievable journey. Since I know these two gentlemen it makes the story even more enjoyable, but since it is such an emotional human interest story I know most will enjoy it.

Lowe's Success, Movie Reviews

If you didn’t know how old you are, how old would you think you are? Good question and while I know must everyone knows their birth dates I think this question can be used to analyze why aging becomes such a big deal. It seems that aging or growing old is the big topic of many conversations. Just this past week I was invited to speak at the Lowe’s Wellness Center in my old home town of Littlefield, Texas, about my 11 points of ageless living. Lowe’s happens to be owned by my long time friend Roger Lowe, Sr. and he has done an outstanding job of building this company and employing some really good people. Even though the company has grown into a multi-million dollar company he has kept his corporate office in Littlefield and continues to grow with increased sales and expansion. Not only that he does it with a great philosophy of honesty in his dealings and state of the art business principles. It is so good to see this type of business and to think Roger and I have been friends since the fifth grade and even played football together through Jr. High, High School and College. We were both raised by business parents and received great training from them with entrepreneurial spirit taught to us from the very beginning. They always taught us to be ourselves and never waive from that. I can say regardless of the financial success Roger has earned he has never waivered in being his true self. What a guy and what an organization he and his employees have built. Now, the answer to my question! If I didn’t know my birth day I would guess my age at 28. Now you got it, thanks for asking!!

Movie Reviews: “Arthur”, ***, A remake of the original 1981 version starring Dudley Moore. This story is built around billionaire Arthur Bach, a young man born into wealth and never amounting to anything. He is raised by a nanny and still being taken care of by her as a young adult. While his father died when he was a child his mother was a heartless business person. She finally got tired of his useless nature and forced him into agreeing to marry a woman who would show him the ropes of how to operate a business and straighten him out. Fate has different ideas and he really falls in love. No more now, you must go see the end for yourself. Entertaining and well done. Rated PG-13 for alcohol use throughout, sexual content, language and some drug references.

“Hanna”, ***, A very good action movie with another new twist. Academy

Award nominee Saoirse Ronan has the title role, playing a dangerous child raised by her ex-CIA father in the wilds of Finland to operate as a skilled assassin. To liven things up a bit she is sent into the world eluding experienced agents across Europe, on a specific mission(you have to go see it to find out what the mission is). Eric Bana is the ex CIA agent father and Cate Blanchett co-stars as a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own. Very intriguing, go see. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual material and language.

EA, SH.......:)

greerman

Bionic Man, Movie Reviews

Just when I thought the bionic man was a former television program starring Lee Majors I competed in a triathlon this past weekend and was fooled, there are many of them out there. Not only was he bionic but he sliced me up like slabs of bacon on the run, swim and total time and made off with the first place medal in our age group. He gave me the bike portion but that wasn’t enough to pull it off. Right before the race started he came up and showed me where he had the titanium rod put in his knee and explained he was better than ever. That was sad news to me since he was real good with the original equipment he was blessed with as a new born baby, and left me in the dust more than I could remember. So, I look at his healed up 12 inch scar that ran right down the middle of his knee and wondered, can that piece of titanium from outer space really do the trick and enable him to speed ahead of me? About an hour and a half later I got the answer and he really showed his stuff. Now the questions is, am I going out there and get the new joints put in so I can be faster, or will I stick with original equipment. Well the answer is easy, my original equipment is working quite well and I know it now has over 65,000 miles of running on it and is still going strong. Also, the real key to successful, fast endurance athletics is not the joints but is dependent on the efficiency of the cardiovascular system a person is born with. The other factor is the abundance of slowtwitch fibers in the body machine. Turns out Don Parks, my worthy competitor, has the superior cardivascular engine, an abundance of slowtwitch fibers, and the replacement of joint original equipment with titanium, plastic, or whatever does not assure one that they will run faster. It just enables that joint to hold up no matter how fast the engine is. Bottom line here is that I really commend my competition for going through the major operation and re-hab to make this new addition to his knee work better. He worked hard for the win and left me in the dust and deserved the Gold. Congrats Don!

Movie Review: “Beastly” ***1/2, A contemporary Beauty and the Beast. Lyle(played by Alex Pettyfer) has looks, intelligence, wealth--and a cruel streak. He is a real nasty guy who never passes up the opportunity to make fun of someone who is not “beautiful or good looking” like he is. Little does he know that one of his classmates is a bonafide witch and she castes an ugly spell on him and makes him as ugly and he was good looking. Of course the only way for him to get the spell broken is for some one to fall in love with him as he now is. Go, see and learn how it pans out. An enjoyable entertaining movie not to be taken seriously. Rated PG-13 for language including crude comments, brief violence and some thematic material.

“Mango”, (No Rating), While I have never been much into animated movies I liked “Up” so much I decided to give this one a go. Plus, it had Johnny Depp as the main voice and that intrigued me. Turns out the first 10 minutes were so boring I just decided to change movies. Sorry about that Johnny(Mango). Rated: PG

“Black Swan”, *****, No question that this is a great movie and deserved the Academy award winnings; however, it is a very dark and disturbing move so be warned. The story revolves around a prima ballerina, played by Natalie Portman, who as most ballerina dancers are, is obsessed with her profession. She is picked to be the lead in the presentation of the White Swan but this also entails the Black Swan as well. Kind of a good versus evil kind of theme. While Ms. Portman had no problem with the White Swan part she just didn’t have the natural evil feel of the Black Swan. Pushed along by her very possessive and over protective mother, no mention of a father, she excelled to the utmost. Interesting ending. Rated R for strong sexual content(under stated), disturbing violent images(also under stated), language and some drug use.

EA, SH........:)

greerman