Crash Into Me

Reign Over Me

Lacey and I went to see the new Adam Sandler/Don Cheadle drama on Friday night. I thought it looked pretty good, and it really was! It was quite sad, but vey well acted, and directed. What I really loved was the movie's use of music both in the storyline and in the soundtrack. They had some great sounding stuff, much of which I had not heard (like Bruce Springsteen's The River - I pretty much only know The Boss' popular stuff). I want to mention three of them in detail, 2 of which that were new to me. The first was the title to the movie, and comes from The Who's classic album Quadrophenia. It is an excellent song, and really captures the pain of the movie very well. It was also covered by Pearl Jam (a huge plus for me) in the credits, and the new version is really good. The second is Jackson Browne's acoustic live album, which I recently purchased. It features one of this country's greates songwriters on a stage by himself with an acoustic guitar and a piano. Not many people know a lot of the stuff Browne has written, including being a cowriter of Take it Easy by The Eagles. It is a fabulous album. Third, the opening song of the movie is a solo effort from Graham Nash, of Crosby, Stills and Nash fame. It is extremely modern sounding (although written in 1972), and very, very good. Anyway, I highly recommend the music, but be wary of the movie, there is quite a bit of adult language. If you can handle that, it is definitely worth seeing, and is really the first I've seen or heard of to deal with post-9/11 trauma. Don Cheadle is, as usual excellent, and Adam Sandler continues to impress me with his serious side. Good stuff.

Controversy

I wanted to stir up anyone that reads this, because everyone knows they have their own idea of who the best bands in the world are/have been, and most people are pretty passionate about it. So here's my list of the best bands of ALL TIME! Not my favorites, in order, THE BEST! Actually, it's pretty presumptous of me to even think I can come up with a list of only 5 bands who are the "best ever" since eras, genres, etc. are so very different, and I've not heard everything out there. But hey, I can do what I want, it's my blog. This is based on a complicated formula of #1 hits, starpower, and various other things wrapped up in MY OPINION. Take that!

1.The Beatles
2.Led Zeppelin
3.U2
4.Pearl Jam
5.The Eagles

Prayer Request

As perhaps a couple of you already know, the church where my father pastors at, and the one we are members of, burned to the ground Monday morning. Apparently it was hit by lightning in the storms that passed through here, and due to the lack of water pressure (no available fire hydrants in that area) out in the country, it is gone. The only thing even remotely salvageable were some old records, and a couple of pews. This is obviously devastating, and we are still coping with this incredible loss, but thanks be to God that no one was remotely injured or anything. Please pray for both my Dad and the session, and the church Body as well, that our trust will be in the Lord, who works all things together for good.

Listening Post

My 10 most listened-to albums of the last month or so:

1.Amos Lee - Amos Lee
2.David Gray - Life in Slow Motion
3.The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over
4.Josh Groban - Awake
5.Journey - The Essential Journey
6.The Police - Every Breath You Take: The Classics
7.Tool - Lateralus
8.Norah Jones - Not Too Late
9.AC/DC - AC/DC Live
10.The Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff

Honorable Mention:

Gavin DeGraw - Chariot (stripped)
Bon Jovi - Cross Road
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Mozart - Marriage of Figaro
Andrea Bocelli - Romanza

Top 10 of '06 - Redux

Now that I've watched a lot more of last year's movies, I'm re-writing my top ten of last year. This is tough, because last year has turned into an INCREDIBLE year for movies. That's another reason I kind of want to repost this. There were absolute masterpieces, and some of my favorites won't even make the top ten. There hasn't been a year like this in recent memory. In fact, I'm normally struggling to come up with ten movies that I loved from the previous year! It really should be a top 20, but I'll put those in my honorable mention.

1.Children of Men - I've posted on this before, an absolutely amazing film.

2.The Departed - Scorcese at his best with an unbelievable cast. Marky Mark was fantastic, but of course Leo steals the show. I watched this movie again about a week ago, and even caught some stuff I had missed. Watching it again makes me realize how freaking great this movie is.

3.The Prestige - Another great director, another great movie. Hugh Jackman rocks this one, and the twists and turns really got me. Not quite on par with Memento, but great none the less.

4.Stranger than Fiction - See the post below

5.Apocalypto - Mel does it again. Bloody, to be sure, but packed with symbolism and the Gospel. Doesn't pull any punches with the disgusting culture we call the Mayans.

6.Casino Royale - I have an affinity for Goldeneye, but the more I think about it, the more I come to realize that this is the best Bond movie ever...or at least that I have seen. Daniel Craig, man. This is a great flick; fun, thoughtful, action-packed, sexy, you name it.

7.Little Miss Sunshine - Some weird, not-for-everyone stuff in it, but overall has a great script, great performances, and one hilarious dance scene on par with Napoleon Dynamite. Great message too, if you know what to look for.

8.Lady in the Water - What a great social commentary, and criticism of critics! Shymalan isn't getting the buffer of great press he once was, but regardless of what you hear, this is an excellent movie.

9.Nacho Libre - Seeing Jack Black do this, The Holiday, and a Tenacious D movie in the same year is truly incredible. This movie is not only hilarious, but understated and witty in the same vein. On a side note, I've never seen Joel laugh so hard as he did in this movie...then again, I didn't see Borat with him...

10.Flags of Our Fathers - An excellent war movie that explores all of the sometimes ignored aspects of the terror and horror that is war.

Honorable Mention:

1.United 93 - Intense, intense, intense. But extremely well-made, and a very important film. Excellent performances by the unknowns, too. Good stuff.

2.Babel - Very well done, thought-provoking and hit me on a coupla levels. Brad Pitt was superb!

3.The Illusionist - Too much like the Prestige, and not as good, but very enjoyable and thoughtful.

4.The Last Kiss - I had a hard time putting this on here because all of the male characters in this movie SUCK, but the speech Tom Wilkinson gives at the end is a fantastic payoff, and the script really is excellent. Lacey and I are Zach Braff nerds, but there's too much meaningless nudity in here, so beware.

5.Marie Antoinette - A little slow, but given time, it creeps up on you. Looks and sounds fantastic, and if you seek a message, you shall find it, much like Lost in Translation. And yes, I disagree with a great many people about this last point.

Stranger Than Fiction

I really wanted to see Stranger than Fiction in the theater. I remember reading Ebert's review of it, and thinking that it would be excellent, just based on the idea (and the fact that Will Ferrell is in it). Then it came out on video, and I wanted to rent it immediately. Unfortunately, life got in the way, and Lacey and I just don't watch a TON of movies, so we put it off for a while. But we finally saw it on Saturday night, and if I knew then what I know now, I would have RAN out to BUY this movie. It is superb! It immediately jumps up the chart on my top movies of last year. I would say it is fourth, behind Children of Men, Departed, and Prestige. But that really isn't fair, because it's a completely different KIND of movie. I'm not sure there is another movie I've simply ENJOYED WATCHING as much as this one, in a long, long time. I'm not going to be able to write about it as well as Guido or Jon (find their blogs somehow), nor do I want to give anything away, but bear with me.
The plot is fairly simple, and yet beautifully written. The characters are very lovingly drawn, and absolutely perfect in their execution. The performances are spot-on, and Will Ferrell pulls (from seemingly nowhere) a funny, and yet understated performance off without a hitch. He is brilliant, and just when I thought he was type-casting himself (see the trailer for Blades of Glory), he comes out with this. The music, attention to detail, even special effects are done incrediby well! And I love the fact that they get all the elements of a great story fit into the whole of it all. There is comedy, tragedy, love, hope, despair, intensity...you get the drift. In fact, one of my favorite scenes is this VERY sexy scene, where Will Ferrell is playing the guitar for his love interest...really, I just have to compel you to see the movie and go no further. There are Christological implications ALL OVER THE PLACE. And this coming from Marc Forster, who directed freaking Monster's Ball (a hideous movie)!! To be fair, his last movie was Finding Neverland, a wonderful film, so I guess he's on the right track. But I can't recommend this movie highly enough. Rent it.
P.S.
We also watched Borat, and laughed a lot, but I have to say, it wasn't as funny as I was expecting. I think it was a victim of the hype/build-up, and it was followed by one of the best movies of last year, see above.

The Ultimate Copycat

Everybody else was doing it, so here's mine. I don't know how to load a hyperlink, so if it doesn't work by clicking on it, cut and paste the following link to my quiz, if you want to take it:

http://www.truefriendtest.com/friendtest/96626

Create your own Friend Test here

Good luck!

What the Trash?

Wow, I haven't said that for a while. It's a saying that Jill and Laura came up with because they thought that "hell" and "crap" were overused and crude. It started as a joke, and became an everyday thing. But that was forever ago...AT LEAST 5 years :)

Anyway, Lacey is now 24 weeks along, less than 2 weeks from being in her third trimester, so I thought I'd write an update. She is feeling Noah every day, and I have been able to feel him quite a bit as well. It's crazy to think that another human being is in there, right beneath the surface!
In other news, we decided to tour the hospital that we are considering delivering in, to make sure we like it. We went last night...and it is absolutely amazing! It is a new hospital (built in 2005) and is literally right across the street from us. It's about a 3 minute drive. There are two main rooms that we will be using. The first is for labor and delivery. It is abolutely HUGE, and totally private. It has a giant whirlpool, chair/bed for me, a mini-nursery for the baby to stay in there at all times if we want, the main bathroom and bed, a "floating" computer with internet and email access, and a flat-screen (I think it's plasma!) TV, with DVD/VCR combo! Crazy! Then, once the baby is delivered, and Lacey has recovered for a bit, we move up a floor to the post-partum suites. They aren't as big, but have every amenity the previous room had, with the exception of the whirlpool. And it has a couple extra chairs for guests, and a fridge to keep food and stuff in! I don't know what I expected, but this exceeded all my hopes. Lacey LOVES IT. I guess that's what you get when you live in Carmel (a city where the average gross income is over 80,000 per year)! So we are definitely pleased, it is a beautiful, quiet, comfortable, facility. Noah will be proud :) Please continue to pray for the health of both mother and son.
BTW, if you want to take a virtual tour of the facilities we'll be using (it's pretty cool!) go to: http://mediasauceclients.com/clarianNorth/maternity_tour/email.html