Written by The Cowboy Coach Jon, on Thursday, 21 August 2008
Well, to say this year has been a year plagued of gymnastics controversies would be an understatement. It almost seems as if we couldn’t get through a single event without someone screaming “Cheater!” or “Robbed!” or “What the hell?!” And while the first two comments are clearly the bellyaching anthems of over-opinionated idiots, if you found yourself proclaiming “What the hell?!” in regard to the new scoring system this year, then as far as I’m concerned that sentiment is fully justifiable.
So there. You get an official Coach Jon seal of approval for the evening.
But having watched NBC’s coverage of the games, I also have to say that the commentating team behind the camera was a little controversial itself. While they seemed to work better during the men’s events, by the time the women’s routines were underway it was as if all professionalism had been thrown out the window in favor of raising issue with every gold medal being awarded. And while there’s nothing wrong with expressing professional opinion along with giving the audience side information, sometimes even commentators can get out of hand with their choice of words and biased enthusiasm. When that happens, you really need to watch the tongue lest ye find yourself making a total moron out of oneself.
So tonight I go head-to-head against the head honchos of the FIG, the scoring system of the Beijing Games, the bellyaching bloggers around the web, and the dynamically dimwitted duo of Tim Daggett and Al Trautwig.
Written by The Cowboy Coach Jon, on Friday, 15 August 2008
Holy shit! The Chinese gymnasts are way too young! Oh my God! It’s the end of the world! They’re cheaters! They’re cheaters! They’re cheaters!
If you’ve heard that argument anytime recently, you’ve probably been reading way too much about the sport of gymnastics and the rise of Chinese dominance in the sport. Fortunately for you, I’m not in the band that’s been playing that tune. To me, the “controversial” topic of Chinese gymnasts being too young to compete in the Olympic Games should really not even be a topic this year at all. The question is not their ages. The question is where the hell these complainers were four years ago.
You have to understand that for me, timing is pretty important in taking a stance on this argument. And it’s because of the poor timing of these accusations and allegations against the Chinese women that PO’s official coach is now calling an official time-out on gymnastics at the Beijing Games.
Do you like sci-fi? Do you like showing off your geeky-ness? Well, the start of the summer convention season always begins at Sci-Fi Summer Con in Marietta, GA. Sci-Fi Summer Con is a smaller convention featuring panel discussions, games, film screenings and more! You can buy up a whole lot of geeky toys, t-shirts and more in the dealer room as well. Think Dragon*Con or ComiCon, except smaller and more of an audience participation atmosphere.
PO's very own Eric Hendrix and Jennifer Hendrix will be hosting four panels. The panels include, "Taking Out The Trash: A Discussion on Dexter", "Story Closed and Secrets Told: The Conclusion of Harry Potter", "The Other Harry: The Dresden Files Universe", and "The Plot Thickens: Heroes Season 2".
It all starts June 6th at the Crown Plaza Atlanta-Marietta in Marietta, GA and ends on June 8th.
For more information on the hotel and tickets, check out the official Sci-Fi Summer Con website by clicking here. Also, click "read more" to check out the other posters for the discussion panels.
Written by The Cowboy Coach Jon, on Monday, 28 April 2008
Admit it. Come on, admit it. This was the movie that stole
your heart as a tween, just like it did mine when I was but a little lad living
in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado after my folks moved
here from Dublin, Ireland. You experienced this film
as I did like some jelly bean of puffy magic and allowed it to rip at your heart with its historic portrayal of life
during the sexual revolution of the 1960s. But being as how I wasn’t alive
during the 1960s, I don’t know if the movie did a fair or accurate job at
portraying that culture or time period. But what I do know for absolute certain
when it comes to Little Women is this: The film was a huge catapulting success for
such rising stars as Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Christian Bale,
Carrot Top, and Eric Stoltz.
And if that's not enough to get you interested into watching this gem treasure, consider this: It was made in 1994!
And that being the case, it’s not so far-fetched to believe
this movie (just like the novel it was based upon) is a classic. But is it fair
to call this movie a classic? Does it really, truly stand the test of time?
Just because it was based off a hit novel from 100 years ago doesn’t necessarily
mean it should automatically qualify or be considered the Second Coming (though
Winona’s presence
certainly does help it in that category).
So where does it stand on the scales of time?
I’m glad you asked. This is my revisionist review for Little Women; my chance to explore those questions and more. And
just like I did in school when forced to write a review of the novel this film is based on, I’m going
to just wing every detail and pretend like I’ve actually seen it.
This one is a little late, but oh well, better late than never.
Actually, I wish it were never now that I've seen Julie Taymor's atrocious "Across The Universe".
The film (and I use that term very loosely) is about a guy from Liverpool (his name is Jude....cute) who travels to America in search of his father. After a brief encounter with his wayward daddy, he meets Max (I'm pretty sure he's named after "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", but don't quote me) - who goes to Princeton, but would rather be a layabout bohemian. What a waste of money on education that is.
So Max has a sister -- of course her name is Lucy -- and she has a boyfriend who ends up dying in Vietnam (I really would prefer no one ever see the movie again, so I don't care about spoilers), so she's all moody and suffering, except that you really don't care because she's pretty much a spoiled brat who at one point compares having kids to wanting little clones of yourselves because everyone is *that* big of an egotist. In other words, she's a bitch and we're supposed to like her.
Welcome back folks to the monthly feature that seems to be a nice place for me to get my quickie thoughts out of the way, because a whole article about one movie -- let's face it -- bores me to tears. It's time for the rundown!
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (PG-13)
Awww....gawd. Where to begin? Cho is Margaret now? Weasley Is Our King apparently never happened. Grawp, I guess, doesn't speak and looks like he was made by CGI in 1995. Director David Yates misses the boat completely on what the book felt like with the darkness of it....instead we get an almost Tim Burton-like semi-dark pile of crap that resembles the book about 20%, and that's being kind. And for those of you who say, "If you want the movie to be more like the book, just go read the book!" Well, why not have it be -- I don't know --- at least somewhat like the reason it's being made (i.e. - the fucking book)? The actors are great in it, but the pacing is horrible and it's edited together like a music video. A very disappointing effort considering the 5th book was so great.
I think after this you'll kind of get the idea that I'm endorsing Barack Obama for President...not that my endorsement means anything. I just figured I'd do what everyone else is doing and endorse a guy (or gal, yeah). So Mr. Obama, this one is for you....
Written by Eric Hendrix, on Thursday, 28 February 2008
Although this may be late, I have decided to post my comments on the passing of prolific indie horror film maker John Polonia. For the few people who appreciate the cheesey horror style films you already know who I am talking about, but for the rest of you I will elaborate. John Polonia was half of the Polonia Brothers team. A team of the most enthusiastic filmmakers I have ever seen. With over twenty straight to video films under their belt the Polonia Brothers became somewhat of a cult favorite, their films which include such favorites as Feeders, Dweller, and Peter Rottentail, were produced with such love and care that you couldn’t help but enjoy them as you watched. No matter how bad the plot, acting, and effects may seem, the love always pours threw and that’s really why you love them.
Ah, the 80's. It was a simpler time. Back when you could catch HIV from a hooker and you wouldn't even know it until 8 years later. But I digress about my family history...
In my honest opinion, one film is the bookend of the seminal 80's flicks -- Uncle Buck. The comedy came from the mind of *THE* eighties writer/director John Hughes, so it's only fitting that he writes the last good piece of the decades' comedies anyway. If you look at the list of films Hughes has done in the last 20 years, one may even say this was his last good one. That's sad, considering this is the man who brought us "The Breakfast Club", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Weird Science", "Sixteeen Candles" and more. Maybe as soon as the decade shut down, so did Hughes' ideas? I don't know. All I do know is that before he started writing 25 scripts about mischievious ten-year olds, he wrote the still-funny-to-this-day Uncle Buck.
Well, to say this year has been a year plagued of gymnastics controversies would be an understatement. It almost seems as if we couldn’t get through a single event without someone screaming “Cheater!” or “Robbed!” or “What the hell?!” And while the first two comments are clearly the bellyaching anthems of over-opinionated idiots, if you found yourself proclaiming “What the hell?!” in regard to the new scoring system this year, then as far as I’m concerned that sentiment is fully justifiable.
Holy shit! The Chinese gymnasts are way too young! Oh my God! It’s the end of the world! They’re cheaters! They’re cheaters! They’re cheaters!
Do you like sci-fi? Do you like showing off your geeky-ness? Well, the start of the summer convention season always begins at Sci-Fi Summer Con in Marietta, GA. Sci-Fi Summer Con is a smaller convention featuring panel discussions, games, film screenings and more! You can buy up a whole lot of geeky toys, t-shirts and more in the dealer room as well. Think Dragon*Con or ComiCon, except smaller and more of an audience participation atmosphere.
Admit it. Come on, admit it. This was the movie that stole
your heart as a tween, just like it did mine when I was but a little lad living
in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado after my folks moved
here from Dublin, Ireland. You experienced this film
as I did like some jelly bean of puffy magic and allowed it to rip at your heart with its historic portrayal of life
during the sexual revolution of the 1960s. But being as how I wasn’t alive
during the 1960s, I don’t know if the movie did a fair or accurate job at
portraying that culture or time period. But what I do know for absolute certain
when it comes to Little Women is this: The film was a huge catapulting success for
such rising stars as Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Christian Bale,
Carrot Top, and Eric Stoltz.
This one is a little late, but oh well, better late than never.
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (PG-13)
Although this may be late, I have decided to post my comments on the passing of prolific indie horror film maker John Polonia. For the few people who appreciate the cheesey horror style films you already know who I am talking about, but for the rest of you I will elaborate. John Polonia was half of the Polonia Brothers team. A team of the most enthusiastic filmmakers I have ever seen. With over twenty straight to video films under their belt the Polonia Brothers became somewhat of a cult favorite, their films which include such favorites as Feeders, Dweller, and Peter Rottentail, were produced with such love and care that you couldn’t help but enjoy them as you watched. No matter how bad the plot, acting, and effects may seem, the love always pours threw and that’s really why you love them.
Ah, the 80's. It was a simpler time. Back when you could catch HIV from a hooker and you wouldn't even know it until 8 years later. But I digress about my family history...
