Movie Review- The Fighter: Do I smell Oscar, or is that your crack pipe?

The Fighter. A simple title, and a simple summary: Good movie. That's about all that needs to be said. I am not a sports movie fan, not by a long shot, and I am in to boxing movies even less, but The Fighter is some kind of good.

The storyline, which is based on the true story of boxer Mickey Ward, at first doesn't really seem all that enchanting, it is a sports movie after all. The recycled theme of an underdog-turned-champ is present in this film. But the plot really goes far behind that. First of, the acting really set this movie above the rest. And when I say acting, I mean that of Chrisitan Bale. Bale plays Dicky Eklund, the crack-addicted, ex-boxer half-brother of Mark Wahlberg's Ward. If Bale doesn't get the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this role, then I will officially declare the Oscars a sham. His performance alone I think makes watching this movie worthwhile. He nailed the working-class Irish-Boston accent, and was just spot on as a the jumpy, goofy, crack-addict Dicky. Even in appearance. If you look at photos of the the real Eklund and Bale in his role side by side, they are pretty damn close.I don't want to take anything away from the other actors though, even Mark Wahlberg, he of "Four Brothers" (this is Detroit, 'case y'all forgot!) fame, puts in a solid performance. Bale was just fantastic though. It is rare to see actors really get into their roles like Bale did, and it is most definitely deserving of praise, at least here on the Four Corners.

Despite, again, being a sports film, The Fighter still kept my interest throughout, though that may have been just because I wanted to keep watching Bale (for the record, I have a girlfriend, so no man-crush here, just recognizing fantastic acting). Towards the end though I did find myself rooting for Wahlberg's character, and I think that is a pretty good indication of both good acting and directing.

Again, sports films are usually down by horror films on my list of movie genres, but I think the sports bit was really just a background for The Fighter. You have to see it to know what I mean, but I think the struggle of Ward to cope with his incredibly dysfunctional family and crack-addicted brother all set in the economically-depressed Lowell, Massachusetts is the real story here. And it is a good one. There were a few cliched moments (fighter gets crap beaten out of him, then comes back, yeah heard it before) but, at least for me, it didn't take away from what ends up being a stellar film.

Verdict: See it. If anything, just see it for Bale's performance Grade: A

If you liked this movie you might like: Anything with Christian Bale in it. And no, not any other boxing films.

Movie Review: True Grit- Get yer gun Rooster

After watching the trailer for the Coen brothers' remake of the John Wayne classic of the same name, I was pretty stoked about seeing True Grit. I had to wait a while after its Christmas Day release, but I finally got around to seeing it last night.

True Grit is a good film. I'll say that much. The story kept my interest throughout, and the acting, at least I think, was top notch. The three main characters (Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, and Matt Damon) all did a fantastic job. Jeff Bridges really fit into the role of a heavy-drinking, overweight U.S. Marshal. He almost did too good a job. His mumbled speech was sometimes difficult to understand, but wasn't a big problem (would have been if I had seen it with my Chinese girlfriend, it would have been "I don't understand" all evening). Matt Damon (Jason Bourne?) did a good job in is role as well-spoken Texas Ranger. I enjoyed his role a lot.  The dialogue was top notch. I thought some of the lines in the movie were brilliant, and actually produced some laugh-out-loud moments (more on that in a minute).

In a way I was a little disappointed, actually. The trailer really made the movie seem like it would be a pretty dark film about the pursuit of the murderer of a child's father. At times the movie ended up being just a little too goofy. Again, I actually liked some of the really clever lines, but I was hoping for a more serious film.I really wanted a truly gritty film (you like how I did that?) Call me a purist, but I think with that kind of plot line, it should produce a different film that what True Grit turns out to be. I was hoping far a dark thriller, and it wasn't really that. Too many light-hearted moments for me (I know that sounds bad). There were also a few moments that I thought kind of defied realism and were a bit hokey. I won't give anything away here though, you can judge for yourself. This didn't ruin the movie by any means, still a very good flick, but I think it could have been even better. Others may feel differently about this though, and think that the Coen brothers' rendition was spot on.

Again, still a very good film, not entirely what I was anticipating, but still gets high marks.

Verdict: See it, its definitely a lot better than some of the other crap in theaters. Grade: A-

If you liked this film you might also like: rolling your own cigarettes and drinking cheap Chinese whiskey (Rooster Cogburn isn't known for his gentleman's status). Oh, and the Coen Brothers' other films, probably like those too.  

Movie Review- Unstoppable: Train Porn

Director Tony Scott and Denzel Washington teamed up once again is this flick that will make train fanatics finally come out of the closet and say "Hey, look, trains can be cool"!!! Will the masters of mediocrity (Deja Vu, I mean, seriously, what WAS that shit?) make us roll our eyes again? Well, I doubt the Academy is going to think much of it, but Unstoppable is a pretty decent film.

I wasn't so sure about a movie where the antagonist is a large freight train that has lost control, but Unstoppable does enough to keep the viewer interested, as the story turns out to be pretty intense. The acting wasn't out of this world or anything, but I don't think this movie is seeking any awards. The story gets rolling (pun intended) right from the outset, and never stops. With a movie like this, you pretty much know the ending, but it kept both my and Jiayi's attention throughout. It even got intense enough to the point where Jiayi was grabbing on to me in anticipation. There are some pretty cliched lines in there that make one roll their eyes (damn, there it is....still got some work to do Tony and Denzel) but, again, this movie wasn't really going for strong dialogue. Apparently it is also based upon a true story, so you know that the storyline isn't absolutely ridiculous.

I live with a train fan (sorry Dad, I'm outing you here) so I actually hoped that this movie would be good. I wanted some vindication for his hobby. I thought it would be nice to find out that normal people can derive pleasure from trains too. I wasn't disappointed. This movie isn't great, but for just a fun, exciting flick to pass the time, Unstoppable was up to the challenge.

Verdict: Give it a look if you are in for something exciting. Grade: B

If you liked this movie you might like: Asking the conductor to blow the horn, waving to the engineer as the train passes by, and not having any friends (just kidding train fans, just kidding). And no, this movie isn't like that stupid Steven Seagal movie Under Siege 2.

Here's One for the Gipper

I have a new addition to "Adam's List of Airports to Avoid": Washington National, aka Ronald Reagan. What an awful airport. I mean, it makes sense, given its namesake. Do yourself a favor folks and just avoid this place. It still ranks below Philadelphia on my list, but thats not an honorable mention. I had the unfortunate opportunity to fly through Reagan twice on this trip, going down and coming back. The layout is confusing at best, the terminals are really narrow, making it easy to bump into fellow passengers, and the shuttle, the freakin' shuttle. Going down to Florida Jiayi and I and had to change terminals. How do you do that at Reagan? Its not a rail-link or anything fancy or fast like that. You have to cue up at one the gates, 35 if I remember correctly, of course the sign indicating the shuttle was barely visible and we never saw it, meaning we wandered aimlessly while the line for the shuttle grew longer and longer until we finally figured it out. Why does the line grow so long? Because only one shuttle comes every fifteen minutes that can hold about four people. Its the size of the bus that takes the mentally-handicapped to school. Of course you have to wait while it unloads the passengers from the other terminal.

Coming home today I had to go to Reagan again. Since my flight was delayed, I was able to spend some leisurely time in the cramped confines of the gate area, no outlets for my dying electronics to boot. No free wireless either, so no points there, the Gipper sends his apologies. The monitor for my flight announced boarding before the attendant did, which led to some confusion.

Now that I got that out of my system, I will take this opportunity to state that the Florida/San Antonio trip was an enjoyable one. Escaping the cold snowy weather of Whitesboro, New York was worth the trip alone. Both legs of the trip were good for different reasons. Florida was mainly a relaxed time, where we enjoyed Hayley's hospitality as well as her pharmacist salary (thanks for the dinners Hayley!) I got to see her 'hood, as well as the home she will be moving into, which was cool (nice ranch house right near water-nice on Hayley, nice one) I wouldn't mind making a more extended stay down there myself. I am controlling my jealous rage of my sister right now, its like 0 degrees here in Whitesboro, Hayley is wearing shorts. Miami wasn't really my cup of tea, but I am glad I still had the chance to check it out and had a pretty good time regardless. Thanks again to Hayley for driving us down....but turn down your music next time. 

San Antonio was a pretty neat down, it would have been nice to have a river to go along with the Riverwalk, but we can't win them all I suppose. The weather was still pretty agreeable, and the food (though expensive) was good. I can now say I have been to the Alamo (these are the feet that stood on the ground where Davy Crockett stabbed 10 Mexican soldiers with a bayonet), that might not quite match up to the Pyramids or the Great Wall (so I guess the answer is no, not everything is bigger in Texas), but cool nonetheless. I also got a kick out of the King William district, there were some nice homes down there, but I have to say they were little shacks compared to some of the stuff that Hayley showed us near Siesta Key.

We can't always do international travel, and this definitely was a good way to get some domestic fun in there. That being said, Israel is next. 

San Antonio- Okay Texas, I take everything back.

Seriously. I owe some apologies to the Lone Star State. I mean, I had always been one to say "If Texas wants to secede again, let it". This is, after all, the state that gave us the Bush family. However, Texas has redeemed itself, at least in my mind, with San Antonio. I just arrived here today with Jiayi after a long day (5:15 am flight out of Tampa, Florida. I won't be doing that again anytime soon). What really sells the city is its River Walk. I am impressed. The San Antonio River snakes a long way through the city, and much of it is lined with anesthetically pleasing sidewalks, shops, and restaurants. We really enjoyed strolling down the river, especially at night, when things really come alive. One problem was that right now there is no river. For some reason that can only be my awful luck, the city is doing some sort of renovation/clean-up and just drained the water right out. The River Walk's river is just a muddy trench right now. Some parts of the Walk are even blocked off. I won't complain though, the weather is great and all the shops and restaurants are still functionally. Just don't think about there being no water and you are good.

We also kind of lucked out in a way too. Today is the first Friday of the month, and every first Friday of every month people gather in a district known as the King William District to sell arts and crafts and play music. We strolled through the area this evening, and it was a nice way to begin the trip.

No Alamo yet, saving that for tomorrow. We did walk by it. I kind of wondered what took the Mexicans so long to take such a tiny fort.

So, again, apologies to the state of Texas. I have so far appreciated your contribution to my travel adventures via the city of San Antonio. The rest of the state can go though. Sorry.

Miami- I live among the creatures of the night

We are back in Sarasota now at my sister's apartment (more on that later) but a little bit more on Miami. As I said, I was tasked with driving Hayley and Amisha out for a night on the town last night. Before taking off, we went for a short walk to a pharmacy to get some groceries. Well, on the way there we walked by a restaurant that was closing up, and one of the workers opened the door to shake out a rug or something. It was a black fella, and I took him to be a Hatian immigrant. He saw the three of us coming (Jiayi stayed back at the room) then looked at me and smiled, then slid his finger across his throat in the universal "You're dead" signal, then just walked back inside without word. I'm still not really quite sure what to make of that. I mean, I have heard that Miami, like any big city, can get pretty rough in some spots. But that was just downright creepy.

Threats to my person aside, it is kind of hard for me to pass judgment on Miami. Our time there was pretty brief, and all of it was spent in the South Beach area. Before we left the city for good, I requested we at least drive through Little Havana, which seemed pretty interesting. We also stopped briefly in an area known as Coconut Grove, which had all these little shops. I found it disappointing though, nothing too much of interest.

Miami didn't seem too much like my kind of town though. South Beach had a real party atmosphere, and I am not a big party person. That said, you really can't beat the weather.

Anyway, we arrived back into Sarasota around six in the afternoon, at it wasn't such a pleasant return. Hayley has two cats, and while we were gone their self-cleaning litter box stopped working, so they used the whole apartment as their personal litter box. They shit in a couple spots, and, most unfortunate, pissed on the blankets and pillows Jiayi and I were using. The apartment, despite our efforts with candles and spray, still has a bit of a stench to it, which should make sleeping tonight an interesting affair.

Despite being threatened by Haitian busboys and sleeping in what smells like a Mumbai slum, I am liking Florida. As long as I can still wear shorts out in sunny 70 degree-with-a-light-breeze weather, I'll take the problems as they come. 

Miami-The South's Answer to San Fransisco

Right now my girlfriend and I are visiting my sister Hayley in Florida. Hayley lives in Bradenton, about three miles north of the setting of "Miami Vice". Today the three of us, along with Hayley's friend Amisha, have taken the drive down here to Miami. This is the first time for me and Jiayi. We will only be staying the night, as we plan on driving back to Sarasota some time tomorrow afternoon.

We got into the city after two o'clock, which was a relief. After the ride down, I would have been happy arriving in downtown Pyongyang. The air-conditioning in my sister's car is broken, which made pretty much met we spent the three hours confined in an oven. Why not open the windows? I'll tell you. Wind blowing through a car going over 70 mph gets pretty old, and also, it would affect the musical accompaniment. We were subjected whatever music Hayley and Amisha had on their Ipods, which the played at 747 jet-engine decibels (Hayley is deaf as a post, probably from listening to loud music. So she has to play it even louder now). I mean, we are talking musical gems like that god-forsaken Beyonce song about liking something and putting a ring on it. 

So it was nice stepping out of the car and getting hit by Miami's cool breeze and sunny weather. Later we would get it by the prices as well. We spent a good amount of time walking along Ocean Drive, the main street, located in South Beach. You know, where all the beautiful people (read: douche-bags) like to gather and listen to even worse music. Ocean drive is mainly over-priced restaurants. Me being a cheap bastard and my girlfriend being Chinese, we weren't going to shell out on Ocean. We walked around a bit, and moved a street up in search of cheaper pastures. We were looking at the menu outside a Cuban restaurant, talking in Chinese, when these two (white) smokers standing next to us interrupted and asked in I had lived in China. I told them I had, and they were more than happy to tell me they had too. Thanks for interrupting my conversation for that bit of important information. Maybe I should take your cigarette out of your mouth and just toss it away.

Back in the hotel now, but I have been handed the duty of driving Amisha and Hayley out around midnight to a club so they can get drunk, and then take a taxi back. Welcome to Miami.