The Hangover - Part 1

Well today I finally watched the 'The Hangover - Part 1'. It's one of those movies I never got around to watching when it was out at the movies. For a synopsis and more info check out the IMDB Page of "The Hangover".
Well the movie starts pretty conventional: A few guys going to Vegas for a bachelor party. Yes there are a couple of funny scenes in that: A teacher that steals from his kids and another guy obviously violating his restraining order. Up to the drinking party on the roof of Caesar's Palace, there's not much of the ordinary. Then the fun part starts.
The guys find themselves in a pretty messed up $ 4.200 suite with a tiger, a baby, a chicken and missing a tooth and the groom. The reason for the existence of the chicken in the room is never being questioned and so we never find out where it came from or what happened to it in the end. Then the search for their missing memory begins. It has almost the making of a criminal investigation conducted few entirely inept guys. This part is absolutely hilarious. Their search leads them to a wedding chapel, a sweet hooker, a chinese Mobster, a emergency room doctor and finally to Mike Tyson. The absurdity of the situations keep on increasing. It's one of those movies, where you think you've seen it all...well, but you haven't. The thing about this movie is that you almost find yourself caring about the characters and the fact that you realize that you almost do, makes this movie even funnier.
Zach Galifianakis performance of Alan is truly outstanding! Ken Jeong plays the chinese mobster very well. Of course he plays it completely over the top, but that's what makes it funny. The fact that he finds anything what a fat man does funny adds to his role. Of course we have an added twist, that they get the wrong Doug. That really didn't come as a big surprise. Finally a mattress impaled on one of the statues of Caesar's Palace gives the final clue and they find the missing groom and head back to LA.
The end of the movie is both: A little too over the top and a little too conventional. Well I've lived 8 years in LA and I've never ever seen a mobile tux rental service throw the clothes into their customers car on the freeway. Btw. I've never ever seen anyone change into a tux on a freeway either. Yes it makes a good visual effect, but it's just too over the top, especially when you're already winding the movie down back the the conventional layer. They had to end the movie conventional, since the movie started out that way. But the transition between hilarious part and the conventional part is not what I would call a happy solution. It's just too abrupt and seems to come out of nowhere.
All in all a very funny movie and I definitely was quite entertained all the way through. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 6.5!!

Source Code

Well I finally got around to watching 'Source Code'. Not entirely sure why I never got around to watching  when it was out at the moves, but for some reason it never happened. If you have no idea what movie I am talking about, check out the IMDB Page of 'Source Code'.
Well 'Source Code' starts out great. Loved the SFX and loved the fact that the viewer is kept quite confused at the beginning. That's definitely great storytelling. After Colter Stevens goes through the first 2 rotations, it reminded me about watching TNG episode 'Cause and Effect'. As a Star Trek enthusiast I loved that idea. Well, that love was certainly short lived. As they did way too many rotations and gaining way too much information.
That's the exact point where the story becomes actually quite slow. All the rotations and all the special effects can't mask that. Although Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan do an excellent acting job, the entire story just doesn't seem to make much progress. While I do like the fact that the actor becomes self aware of his surroundings, the lack of explanation how that came to happen is definitely a major disappointment.
What happens next is something that has become typical for American Main-Stream Cinema. Instead of playing off on all the drama that surrounds this story, we get another clone made in Hollywood: Evil terrorist tries to blow up city. Terrorist is dumb enough to warn everyone. Army starts a most questionable experiment to stop the terrorist. We had that concept way too often before, it's brainless and boring! This part of the movie is absolutely awful!!
The could have played off the drama of the morality of the entire experiment. They could have used the inner fight of Colter Stevens between his personal choice and his duty. The could played off the drama that Goodwinn goes through during the experiment. They even could have played off the entire Frankenstein theme. But no, they only scratch the surface. If they had cut out the entire Terrorist vs Army plot and used all the drama, that is contained within the experiment itself, it would have been an amazing movie.
The end of the movie has an interesting twist. Apparently they created an alternate timeline after all. Really love that twist. The fact that Goodwinn finally listens to her conscience is a really great touch. I really would have loved to be given a further explanation for the alternate timeline, but that of course never happens.
All in all a good movie, except for the middle part of course. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would probably give it a 6!!

Jack and Jill

Watching 'Jack and Jill' was certainly an experience of the special kind. If you have no clue what movie I'm talking about check out the IMDB Page of 'Jack and Jill'.
Well there's only 1 way to describe this movie: It's absolutely awful!! It's definitely one of the 2 worst movie I've seen in 2011 and shares that top spot with Apollo 18. If i could say that I was entertained, well that would be something. The sad truth is, that I wasn't.
The movie doesn't start out that bad, but it goes downhill from there. It lines up situation after situation, that are supposed to be funny...but they ain't. They're going way over they top with the allegedly funny situations, that they just don't come of as funny at all. It's just one truly dumb situation after another. If I haven't miscounted, then there are 3 funny situation in there, that actually make you laugh.
With that being said, Sandler really tries to safe this move and his craft shows while he's making an complete fool out of himself. It is sad that they choose to have Sandler portray his sister as a drag queen character, but this situation is actually quite funny.
Of course the real reason to see this movie is to see Al Pacino as a horror -show version of himself. That part of the movie is quite entertaining.
If they had kept the beginning, the 'drag queen' scene and Al Pacino's scene...well it would have been a short movie, but at least it would have been funny.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this movie a 1.5!!

Friends with Benefits

I finally got around to watching 'Friends with Benefits'. If you don't have a clue what movie I'm talking about, check out the IMDB Page of 'Friends with Benefits'.
Here are my thoughts on the movie:
It's a romantic comedy and I did enjoy it. For most part it was funny and the chemistry between Kunis and Timberlake really helps the movie quite a bit. Luckily the script is good enough that we don't have to solely rely and Kunis' and Timberlake's charm. The story itself is hardly new or creative: Hollywood hot shot meets NY headhunter and a physical 'relationship' ensues.
I like the fact that this romantic comedy is a little more on spicy/raunchy side and comparable movies. This truly gives it a pep to stand out. The intimate scenes are tastefully done and definitely way more as we usually get to see, but not quite 'Sex in the City' style. Personally I think they could have even spiced it up a little more, but all in all it's a good compromise.
The purely physical relationship undergoes an interesting journey, since both main actors seem to start caring for each other. But we don't see enough of that, and that's the main reason why the big fight just seems way too artificial. It just doesn't work for me. As visually pleasing and as funny as the make up scene at the end is, it just doesn't work for me. It's just too artificial. I know they try to explain it, but even with that explanation it just feels like a big pink elephant, that absolutely doesn't belong into that movie.
I know that with romantic comedies we expect to see an happy ending. And the movie becomes predictable. We get to see exactly that. At least the producers didn't get for a 'Happily Ever After' style and stopped with the 2 main characters going on a first date.
I really would have hoped that the producers would have had the courage to take it one step further and write a romantic comedy that doesn't go down the way we expect it to. Not necessarily a break up, but the relationship staying purely physical. That would have been something outstanding and something we've never seen before!
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this movie a 6!!

The XMAS-Day Disaster

Well that title pretty much says it all and there is just no way to make that anything else but an entire disaster. On the other hand it's not that unusual. Thinking back it has always been that way, as long as I can think. Christmas in this family has always been a very stressful time and on one of the XMAS holidays it always ends in a yelling and screaming match. The dynamic is always the same. It's an argument about something (it really doesn't matter what it is), no compromise to my Dad's liking can be found right away, and once 1 party runs out of arguments the underhanded, personal attacks and the yelling match starts...and usually my Dad is the one who starts with the personal attacks and with the yelling.
So far that's nothing really new and it pretty much has always been that way. But something just felt different this time, things just seem to get worse. And then there of course is Daisy and she's a very good indicator for negative energy...as she can't stand it. I was watching her she was pacing from one place to the next and made sure to avoid my Dad at all costs. As soon there were only 2 or 3 steps between him and her, she tried to find a new spot further away from him. In case that wasn't possible she pressed her butt against my legs and looked to me for protection. I guess seeing my dog that uncomfortable made a huge impact on me.
Later that day I was talking to one of my friends online and I answered his question how was your Christmas with: "Let me put it that way, I don't think that the Spanish Inquisition could have been much more painful than this Christmas". That sentence is exactly what got a lot of things rolling.
It suddenly occurred to me, that this is a terrible thing to say. Furthermore it is a terrible place to spend your holidays and free time. On top of that I really don't want to have to wake up my dog 7 times during one night, because she's having nightmares. I haven't had to deal with a negative family dynamic like that for the past 8 years, and that's one of the reason why it felt so terrible. In those 8 years I've learned that there is another way to treat each other during family events.
There is something positive about that entire incident as well: It really forced me to make a decision. I made a clear cut decision on Christmas Day. I am not going to play that game anymore. I made it quite clear, that I won't be attending any family events if my Dad is part of the group as well. I refuse to deal with that negativity.
Being a gay man is here quite helpful. From the time of my Coming Out I've learned that we gay man choose our families. Some of those people we're related to, others are our friends and we come to think of them as family. Some come temporarily into our life as family and fade away later on, while others come to stay. And of course there are those parts of our families who we choose to exclude from m our lives, because they're just too exhausting and draining. Apparently my Dad belongs to the latest category!
I'm not quite sure where I will be spending Christmas 2012. Spending XMAS with my dog on long distance hiking trail in southern Europe, where the weather is way more comfy than in Austria, sounds like a fun thing to do. Another idea would be renting a remote cabin in the mountains and spending XMAS there. Just me and the dog!! I might consider letting a few people come along as long as they bring lots of positive energy, are laid back and fun to be around with!

XMAS-Eve

It has been tradition in my family to celebrate Christmas on XMAS-Eve. This year was no different. This is the first time in 8 years that I was a part of this celebration again. Joining us were my brother, my sister, my 2 nephews, my brother-in-law and his grandmother.
The entire celebration started around 6 pm. There was some singing on Christmas songs...my sis, brother-in-law and one of my nephews were playing on the guitar...and then of course there was the unpacking of the XMAS presents. It's always lots of fun to watch the kids unwrap their presents and they're so excited!!
After that we got the Fondue started. It was delicious as always. My brother had done an amazing job with all the sauces. Around midnight we called it a night.
All in all a good XMAS-Eve celebration!!

Dating Game

Having to go back into the Dating Game after more than 8 years can be both... frightening and fun. For me personally it has actually been quite fun. I've been on several dates and I can only say that I did enjoy myself. Maybe the difference is the focus. Currently my focus is not so much of finding a new husband, mate or whatever you want to call it, but go on dates, hangout with guys that are laid back and fun to be around with and of course enjoy myself.
Of course I do have fun along the way and some dates are better than others. That's just the way this game is played. There is definitely a benefit to being 40. You know exactly what you want, and you know exactly what you don't want. You know how much compromises you're willing to make and you know the things that you're not willing to compromise on. That makes dating much more easy and actually a fun experience.
With that being said there is also some quite different nowadays. It seems as if the gay "community" has become as crazy as the "Hetero's". "Hetero's" always used to be kinda obsessed with finding the right mate/partner/husband. And they were always in a crazy rush. When I was dating the first time I thought, that this was incredible funny. Nowadays a large part of the gay "community" has become that way as well. It's like they've all become crazy. And it seems as they've completely forgotten, that there are certain dating rules:
Don't ask me on a second date, if I want to date exclusively. The answer will always be No! At that time of the dating game I want to enjoy myself, have fun and see where things are going.
Expecting from me, that I only date 1 person at a time is pretty ridiculous. It's a date and not a marriage!
If the Tag-Line reads: "Must Love Dogs", going on a date with me and telling me, that you "tolerate dogs", well it's not really helping your case.
In general I've found that people nowadays read less and less of the text on an online dating ad. If they did read dating ads properly, many bad dates could be avoided. On the other hand I would have never experienced a lot of very funny situations!

At the current stage of my life I'm not necessarily looking for a husband. I'm looking for guys that are laid back, bring lots of positive energy and are fun to be around with. If someone who is husband material comes along...Great!...if not I'm certainly not going to worry about that.
Right now it's all about living life to the fullest, enjoying myself and doing the things that make me happy. It's not a time where career advances and increase in salary are the main-focus, but a time where it is all about quality of life!!

Other than that, the dating game has been quite a lot of fun so far!!

First Snow Dusting

Tonight we got our first snow dusting of the season. I certainly wasn't much, but the first snow is always fun!!

Hall Pass

Today I finally watched the movie 'Hall Pass'. If you don't know what movie I am talking about, just check out the IMDB Site of 'Hall Pass".
Here are my thoughts on that movie:
Yep it's funny, no question about it. It's a lot of situation and slapstick comedy. There are situations where there is way too much slapstick and very little action. In these parts I would have liked to see a little more story.
The movie deals with an interesting story, that men and women are apparently from different planets. Nothing really new about that. Men are hunters and they just help themselves, regardless if they're married or not. Some of them make it a little more obvious that other ones. That's the basic story, that they could have used a little more in a very funny way, but for some reason the writers chose to completely ignore that angle.
The chose the show the guys as clumsy wannabe lovers, who make a few inapt attempts to get a girl and of course they don't get anywhere. They show their wives having a good time. Both is way too far from reality, for me to actually care. If they hadn't tried to make men and women so likable it would have significantly improved the movie. For a successful comedy you need a couple of shady characters and 1 or 2 quite bad ones. Without those you get a movie like 'Hall Pass'. You get quite a good laugh here and there but that movie could have been an awesome comedy.
The character of Brent is the only actual bad guy in the entire movie. In the beginning he's a great addition to the plot. But then, for no apparent reason, someone thought it would be beneficial to have Brent go berserk. While there are some comedy elements in that, the entire thing is way over the top and does almost more harm to the movie then it does good.
All in all a funny movie and I did enjoy it. On a scale of 1 to 10 I probably would give it a 4.5!!

Our Idiot Brother

Finally got around to watching the movie 'Our Idiot Brother'. If you don't have the slightest idea what movie I'm talking about, check out the IMDB Site of 'Our Idiot Brother'.
Here are my thoughts: I absolutely loved that movie. It's one of those fun & feel good movies, that come along every now and then. This movie does what very few do: It deals with family values, acceptance and tolerance.
Paul Rudd plays the naive, idealistic 'simpleton' perfectly. The term simpleton is here not used in a negative way, i just couldn't come up with a better analogy. The character feels always real, there is nothing artificial about him. He understands things literally and that leads to a lot of absolutely hilarious situations. Of course there are several situation, where you think: "Come on, nobody can be that naive". But that is a very minor issue, that I can overlook very easily. What I really liked about the movie, is that the character stays the same. It's not like so many of the Hollywood movies, who force the character of the naive simpleton to grow up in the end. The end of the movie is fun, since we're left with a little of a guessing game about the sexuality of Paul Rudd's character: Is he straight, is he gay or is he bisexual ? We don't find out for sure. 
The dynamic between Ned and his sisters is an interesting one. Of course he's an inconvenience for them and therefore he moves from sister to sister. But in the end he changes the behavior of his sisters to the better. The anger scene was pure entertainment to watch! Even a easy going, naive 'Hippie' can blow up. You don't see many Hollywood movies that deal with family values and use the F-word that much. Absolutely loved it!!
The character of Janet is an interesting one: It shows that there actually is such a thing as a really evil "Hippie" woman...and Kathryn Hahn portrays that character perfectly. It's one of those characters that you just love to hate. 
The outtake and bloopers reel during the credits is just fun to watch.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this movie a 9.5!!

XMAS Cookies

Usually I bake every XMAS at least one or two batches of cookies. This year I really fell behind on that. Not entirely sure what was the reason for that. Today I finally got around to dealing with the cookies. I set up my KitchenAid Mixer and started preparing the the dough. Didn't expect any issues at all, since I've used that recipe lots of times before. Boy, was I wrong! The dough never got the consistence that it was supposed to have. I knew that I couldn't have screwed up the recipe, since I stuck to it line by line. But then it dawned on me, that this was a recipe for regular flower and the flower I had at my disposal was Whole Wheat Flower. So I ended up adding some more milk to it and finally the dough became a 'workable' thing. It still didn't have the perfect consistency, but it was better than what I had before.
After the dough had rested I hit hurdle number 2. That dough was just really sticking to the rolling pin. No amount of flour did fix that issue. After a couple of failed attempts, I was left with 2 options: I could either throw the dough away or I could become creative. So I chose the latter one. Instead of rolling the dough out I just flattened it by hand and then pounded it out. That actually worked surprisingly well. After that the baking adventure was pretty uneventful.

Just Go With It

I finally watched the movie 'Just Go With It'. If you want to know more about it check out then 'Just Go With It' IMDB Page.
Well I knew it was a romantic comedy. Do I really didn't expect any insightful dialogues, character development or action sequences. If I wanted those I should better watch a different movie. That's why I don't get all the negative reviews. Yes the material was weak and pretty diluted to begin with. I mean the broadway piece 'Cactus Flower' was already very weak and making that into a movie is not going to help with the material.
There are some things that are a little bothersome. The entire scene that is supposed to be in Beverly Hills,is clearly a movie set. Nothing could be more obvious. The passerby's are clearly extras. I don't recall any movies where that were that apparent. 
The scene at the beach...Having lived in SoCal for 8 years myself, I know exactly where that was shot. This particular location has been way overused and they really should think about new and different locations for the future. 
The characters are of your average romantic comedy Hollywood boilerplate. So there is not much surprise here. Yes the characters have no depth and neither of the actors really tries to give them any. What I would have loved to see is that someone had tried to put a little conflict into the interaction with the characters. We wait all the way tom the end of the movie to see something like that, but it never happens. 
Nicole Kidman could have done something to make a convincing  adversary, but even she comes off as a rather sweet wannabe enemy. 
If they had tried on the dialogues a little harder they could have made those quite funny and therefore making that a way more enjoyable experience. The writers only managed to do that in a few isolated situations. Other than that the dialogue is pretty flat.
With all that bring said, I still think that it was a entertaining movie. It certainly not one of my favorite ones, but to be fair I've seen worse.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 4!!

Super 8

Finally got around to watching Super 8. If you don't have a clue what movie I'm talking about check out the IMDB Site of Super 8.
Overall I really enjoyed it. The entire train crash scene was absolutely amazing. Really loved the SFX. The kids are portrayed very well. They feel real and act the way kids are supposed to act. I love the movie in the movie. It's just fun to watch. All the preoccupation with production procedures gave me several laughs. 
The adult characters come a little short for my feeling. The lack somewhat in depth. Maybe adding a little more of their background story would have improved their depth. 
I really liked all the supernatural elements. And as soon as the Air Force showed up I knew, that they wouldn't be leaving soon. The entire revelation of the alien life form was fun to watch, but I think it went by a little too quick. Up to that point it was fine. The entire 180 degree turnaround in the behavior of the Sheriff and Alice' father is just a little to quick, to come off as even remotely believable. If you want to do something like that you have to come up with a more plausible explanation as the one we were given in the movie.
The entire encounter with the alien life form at the end couldn't have been any more ET. 
When I was watching the very last scene of the movie, I couldn't help myself but thinking that someone tried to copy the final scene of the TNG episode 'Encounter at Farpoint', but didn't quite manage to get it right.
All in all a very good action / scifi movie. There are a few minor issue, that have mostly to do with continuity, that I can easily overlook. 
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 7!!

World Aids Day