Movie Review: Wanted

Starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, and some random guy with a plain face and a pretty decent body...

Husband decided he wanted to watch this movie instead of Top Chef - DC. In an effort to not be anti-social and watch Top Chef in the kitchen or in the bedroom I decided I would sit on the couch and watch it with him. Thank you TIVO.

In addition to sacrificing Top Chef I also had to watch this movie on a huge rear-projection TV with miss-aligned projectors. So for this ginormous TV we only had about an 8 - 12 inch area in the middle of the screen that did not look like we were watching a 3D movie w/out 3D glasses.

Ok, to the movie. Five words: "Trying too hard" and "it sucked."

I missed the first 5 minutes but apparently I didn't miss much (except AJ's ass which husband felt important to let me know) since Morgan helpfully filled us in on the entire plot in about 3 minutes of dialogue. Son is descendant from talented assassin who was "murdered" by another assassin who went rogue. Son is to avenge his "father's" death by killing the rogue assassin.

Son - a cog in the cubical wheel a la Fight Club (trying too hard) - is trained in the art of assassination in a matter of a few weeks and is put on secret missions w/ the slut - i mean w/ AJ - to kill random people as instructed by a SEWING LOOM (???) WTF? Maybe there was more to the "loom" in the first 5 minutes that i missed....

One of the most impressive skills these assassin's have is the ability to "bend" the trajectory of a bullet and aim perfectly to hit another bullet on the nose. Now... I am all for awesome sci-fi and fantasy movies that clearly have weapons and skills that no human could actually do (see the Matrix) BUT - this movie just rubs me the wrong way. I loved the Myth Busters episode dedicated to this movie that demonstrates that it is impossible to hit a bullet on the nose with another bullet and that it is impossible to "bend" the trajectory of a bullet... but i digress...

Son discovers all too late that the man he was hunting is actually his father. oops. he decides to avenge his father's death (committed by his hand) by killing the other assassins using rats with bombs attached to them with digital timex watches. Again, WTF??? Again... maybe I should have watched the first 5 minutes...

Anyways, after a lot of stupid BS all of the assassins are dead and he kills their leader, Freeman.

Throughout the movie the dude attempts to narrate his internal monologue in an attempt to be "edgy" - a very poor rip-off of Fight Club (one of the best movies ever).

Final result: Big waste of time. Don't bother.

Next up: The Hangover. Really funny? or Really Really Funny? We'll discuss.

OK, I'm a slacker

I've been sticking w/ South Beach pretty well for breakfast, lunches, and snacks about 75% of the time. Dinner has been more difficult since Husband isn't a big fan of fake mashed potatoes (steamed cauliflower in a food processor w/ cream and butter).

Just can't seem to lose these 15 lbs that seem to have snuck up on me over the last two years.... I need to go to the gym more.

South Beach Round 2: Day 12

So technically today is day 12 but really it's more like day 6. The first 4 days I had to cheat because of previously scheduled events and this past weekend also involved some cheating on the diet as well (chicken wings and beer on Friday night, beer and dinner out with the family on Sat). No cheating during the week last week and hopefully I'll be able to get through this week. The pressure at work to cheat is pretty tough. Lots of free munchies, goodies and sweets. Since I started on the first I've lost 4 lbs but that could be anything... pants are still tight... looking forward to Friday for the next weigh-in. Fun times.

South Beach Round 2: Day 1

Today is day one of my second effort to do the South Beach diet. The first time I did it was in September of 2008. It was mildly successful. I followed the diet for the first two weeks by the book (except I didn't give up the booze) and I stayed on phase 1 for a third week and modified it a bit with a few phase 2 options. I did phase 2 for two weeks. After about 5 weeks I lost around 7 pounds. Pretty cool. I gained it all back and then some during 2009.

So here I am, April 1, 2010 going in for round two. I have my grocery list written out for all of the food I need for the next 4 days. One thing about this diet that sux is that it is pretty expensive to maintain. I am trying to take this into account when I plan my menu for the week.

I think I am going to have to do 3 weeks with phase 1 again. We have a lot of dinner's out scheduled for the next 2 weeks so I still kind of feel like I'm cheating a bit, which means that for all of my other meals I need to be very strict and serious about sticking to the diet.

Which brings me to today. Day 1 and it is a colleague's birthday. You know what that means. Peer pressure to participate in the group office order for pizza and then cake or some kind of sugary treat later.

I've declined the invite to participate in the pizza party THREE TIMES already this morning. Geeze. Just let me eat my romaine lettuce with chicken breast and low sugar ranch dressing with my sugar-free Jello in peace.

I'll have another go-round with the office folks in about an hour when it is dessert time. Great.

OMG - The A-Team Movie

Dude - I just saw a preview for the new A-Team movie on imdb. totally awesome! I'm not usually a fan of Bradley Cooper but Geeezus! you need to check out those abs!!

Check it! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/

This makes me sad....

Supreme Court rejects school dress code challenge

really? You can't wear a shirt that has the First Amendment printed on it??


The Associated Press
Monday, January 11, 2010; 10:17 AM

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court is declining to review a Texas school district dress code that prohibited student clothing that featured political commentary.

Without comment Monday, the justices rejected an appeal from a high school senior in suburban Dallas who sued the Waxahachie Independent School District for political censorship.

Paul "Pete" Palmer, now a senior, first sought to wear a T-shirt supporting John Edwards' presidential campaign in 2007. He later asked permission to wear other shirts with political messages, including one that had "Freedom of Speech" on the front and the First Amendment printed on the back. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the code, saying its intent was to eliminate distractions.