Movie Review - Bolt

As part of Thanksgiving weekend with the kids we ended up at the local megamall for food-court dinner and movies this evening. And while the teens got to see fun vampire flicks like Twilight Southern Man was pretty much constrained to whatever his nine-year-old princess desires and tonight that was Bolt. The 2D version, though, so Southern Man is unable to comment on any impact of the Third Dimension on what was a simple and surprisingly sweet film with plenty of action and a fair bit of heart. Princess was sold on this film when she found that her idol Miley Cyrus voiced one of the characters; Southern Man was less enthusiastic about her co-star John Travolta, who can never truly be forgiven for producing Scientology orientation films and the horror that was Battlefield Earth. But you will smile all the way through this one. And perhaps the DVD will come with 3D glasses...

Thanksgiving Blessings!

Remember why this blog got started?

Southern Man cannot believe, a mere two years and change after his life was turned completely upside-down by divorce, how blessed his life is. He's in the middle of a terrific long weekend with all three kids. Both parents are doing well and he sees them on a regular basis. He has a wonderful girlfriend. The few bumps in the road - mostly job-related, with a little trepidation about the general state of the economy in case that job goes away - are small potatoes compared to all of the good things that are happening in his life. Yep, Southern Man has lots to be thankful for. Lord, I pray that I would always remember the many blessing You have bestowed upon me and my family and that I will always keep You first and foremost in my life. Amen.

Movie Review - Quantum of Solace

This is a tough review to write. Southern Man generally doesn't warm up to movies until after several viewings, and he's only seen Quantum of Solace once (but from the luxurious balcony of the local metro's new Warren Theatre!). But he's been eagerly anticipating this one, given how terrific Casino Royale was, but at the same time dreading that the new outing wouldn't quite live up to its predecessor.

Well, yes and no. Quantum is a terrific action film, but feels more like Bourne Identity IV than a Bond film. Indeed, the protagonist owes more to action superhero Jason Bourne than suave superspy James Bond. But it is a Bond film. There are Bond girls (and, as always, some survive and some don't) but Bond, in another break from tradition, doesn't even bang the female lead. And there are car chases and rooftop chases and airplane chases - all so horribly quick-cut that they are just blurs of motion and color - and a very large, very futuristic, very minimilist hotel - yes, a hotel - in the middle of a desert that appears to be constructed entirely of gasoline. You wil understand why Southern Man says this at the end of the movie. And there's something of a plot. We see hints that "Quantum" may be an enduring, unkillable foe, much like SPECTRE was in the Bond novels (and was supposed to be in the movies), with the enigmatic Mr. White as the new Blofeld - but the main villian is rather a dissapointment, as he runs his organization out of an ordinary warehouse and his plans for world domination involve cornering the water supply (yes, water) of Bolivia. Huh? We find out surprising things about the late Vesper Lynd's former boyfriend. We see some continuation of the developing friendship between Bond and CIA agent Felix Leiter, as well as a deepening of the relationship between Bond and M. But this film is a lot longer on action than on character. Southern Man imagines that eventually he'll eventually rate this one somewhere in the middle of the pack. But only time will tell. When does the DVD come out again?

Veteran's Day Thanks

Veteran's Day Greetings from Southern Man to all of the veterans in his family. You know who you are, and we sleep safely at night because of you and those like you. Thank you!

Movie Review - High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Southern Man has a nine-year-old daughter and is thus occasionally subjected to movies like High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which is an annoyingly bright and cheery Disney kid-fest with a running time as overlong as the title. It's predictable and flashy and a thousand times sweeter than sugar and has all of the familiar cast from HSM 1 and 2 so of course she loved every minute, but Southern Man (who is generally able to enjoy just about anything on the silver screen, especially when he already knew all the songs from constant rotation on the Disney Channel) was reduced to playing FreeCell on his cell phone for the final hour. Thankfully, Southern Grandma bought the DVDs for the first two and she'll take care of the third as well, so it's possible that Southern Man will not have to endure this one again. But if you have small children, prepare yourself for the worst.