Knee-Jerk Review: "Taken"

Taken is a fun little flick. Nothing particularly smart of thought-provoking but it was everything you'd expect from a movie about a retired spy, or preventor, or whatever he was for the government by which he acquired the skills to relentlessly pursue and kill, goes after the scum who have taken his daughter and involved her in the human slave trade. Bourne-style fight scenes, which are becoming the norm in these types of films, and quick camera movements create tension for the viewer and represents the frenetic pace Leem Neesons's character has placed on him as he races the clock to find his daughter. The one thing I think could have elevated the movie to more than a throw away action flick is the topic of human trafficking. It is a terrible yet growing trend in the world and it seems no one talks about it. The film could have explored that world a little more and it would have made it a better film

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Knee-Jerk Review: "W."

Despite Josh Brolin's pitch perfect potrayal of George W. Bush this Oliver Stone film feels forced and underhanded. It is difficult at times to tell if Stone is making fun of Bush or merely telling his story. Some of the acting, particulary Thandie Newton as Condaleeza Rice, comes off as bad parody, something you might find in an SNL skit. There is nothing here to make this movie interesting as their is seemingly no real point or message in the film. The cinematography is pretty good but overall this was a dissapointing outing for Stone.

Rating: 4 out of 10

Seminole Basketball Update

The 'Noles beat Virginia on Tuesday night coming off a big win at then #10 Clemson. FSU is now 19-5 and 6-3 in conference, good enough to put them in a tie for third place with Clemson. If the ACC tourney was held today FSU would be the #3 seed because they have the head-to-head tie breaker over the Tigers. Barring a meltdown it looks like the Noles will be a tournament team this year but the remaining schedule is not easy. The Noles will travel to Wake Forest for their next game on Saturday at 4pm.

-TheACC.com:
Uche Echefu and Soloman Alabi: Long Way From The Soccer Fields of Nigeria to The Basketball Courts of America

-FSU YouTube Channel: (Search "basketball" to find all the videos about the Noles Men's and Women's teams)
http://www.youtube.com/flstateseminoles

Knee-Jerk Review: "Paul Blart: Mall Cop"

Paul Blart shouldn't be as funny as it is but it somehow works on a stupid-yet-fun level. I didn't expect many laughs but was surprised at how many times I chuckled. Besides one scene in which Blart gets hammered there was little to no objectional content. It's refreshing to see a movie that doesn't add unnecessarry language or graphic sexual scenes and is really good for the whole family. Kevin James does well using what he has, meaning getting laughs from his stature and ability for physical comedy. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this movie as much as I did.

-Rating: 6 out of 10

The Hue: News From Around The Web

I haven't done one of these in a while, probably over a year, but "The Hue" is my name for a post giving a roundup of links from all over the spectrum of news. Throw in a little commentary from myself and you've got a tasty dish that will leave you full, satisfied, and caught up on what's going on in the world.

-Promises, Promises: No Lobbyists At WH, Except...
-Obama's Promise Of Ethics Reform Faces Early Test
-Daschle Withdraws As Nominee For HHS Secretary
-Obama Performance Chief Killefer Out, Citing Taxes
Obama's gonna get himself in trouble with all the problems he is having with his appointments. First it was saying he would make the White House lobbyist free only to turn around and appoint lobbyists to positions in his cabinet. Now it comes out that his picks for various positions have failed to pay their taxes. If the people that voted Obama into office simply because he his black and because he promised change paid any attention at all I don't think he would be President.

-Biden Fumbles Clinton Oath of Office After Poking Fun At Chief Justice
Classic. All the late night talk show hosts have been lamenting the fact that George Bush is leaving office because he provided so many opportunities for easy jokes, but I think they are missing all the fun that could be had with Joe Biden. (Not to mention Obama who messes up speeches quite a bit when he doesn't have a teleprompter). It will be interesting to see if they make jokes about them, I have a feeling the talk show's political stances were behind some of the mean-spirited cracks at Bush and that they will be easier on Biden and Obama. We shall see.

-Super Bowl Ads
Did you watch the Super Bowl but missed some of the most talked about commercials? You're in luck because you can watch the ads from the big game on Hulu.com My favorites are the MacGruber ads, probably because I am a huge fan of MacGyver.

-Red Bull May Have Triggered Heart Condition That Killed Student
Terrible story, what a horrible way to die. However, drinking four Red Bull's is not the brightest idea, especially when you know you have heart problems.

-Groundhog Bites Bloomberg At Ceremony
Maybe he didn't like how fat he appeared in his shadow.

Seminole Basketball Update

I haven't been updating the blog lately because school started back but I wanted to get you up to speed on the 'Noles. Since our last update FSU lost a close home game to Duke, beat NC State on the road, beat Maryland at home, lost to Miami on the road, beat Virginia on the road, and lost to UNC at home. The UNC game was last night and it was a heartbreaker. We were tied with just over 3 seconds to play and Ty Lawson drove all the way down the court and heaved a floater from the 3-point line that went in as the buzzer was sounding to seal the win for the Tar Heels. It was a great game but it was also very disappointing. Toney Douglas had 32 points and continued to carry the team on his back. I was impressed that none of our youngsters seemed to get overly excited with the crowd rocking nor did they seem scared during crucial moments of the game. We've proven we can play with anybody in the country, now we have to learn to win the close games.

-Warchant: (You may need to log in to read these
articles, but you do not have to be a subscriber. Just register for a
free membership and you should be set. Please let me know if you can
not see these.)
-FSU Defeat Doesn't Add Up In The End
-FSU Loses at Buzzer to No. 5 UNC
-Hamilton, Williams Talk FSU-UNC (Before Game)
-A Major Test For A Young Team
-FSU Falls to No. 2 Duke
-Hamilton, Lowe Talk FSU-NC State
-Noles Take Lesson From Duke and Move Forward
-FSU Uses 19-2 Run To Win at NC State
-FSU Facing a Different Challenge
-Noles Take Down Terps in Overtime
-Hamilton, Haith Talk FSU-UM
-Are Noles Turning Around Road Woes?
-Canes Heat Up, Knock Down Noles
-Noles Roll to Road Route of UVA
-Post Depth Should Help Noles Defend Heels

-Nole Sports:
-Echefu Keeps UNC's Hansbrough in Foul Mood
-Noles Lose Heartbreaker to Tar Heels at Buzzer

Knee-Jerk Review: "Disaster Movie"

Wow, I didn't think man was capable of something like this. I guess I wrongly assumed that people making movies had some semblance of a brain. I was wrong. I don't have much to say about this movie because I only watched a little over five minutes of it. Yes, it was that bad. I realize that I can't fully trash this movie since I did not watch the whole thing but the little bit I watched was absolute garbage. They squeezed in every possible pop culture 'satire' and reference whether or not it had anything to do with what was going on. It was the worst five minutes of any movie I have ever seen. I can only imagine that it got worse from there because I wasn't going to waste any more of my time watching it.

Rating: 0 out of 10