What I want you to know. Which is everything.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Christmas: On the March!

Well, I've not really put in my two cents about the issue of Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas. I don't really understand why Christians got so bent out of shape over the whole thing. I mean, would you really tell a guy Merry Christmas if he were Jewish? or Muslim? It would seem a little ridiculous, I think. Like trying to give the club handshake to someone not in the club. I think it's just a courtesy. Especially if a business doesn't want to piss off a potential customer it only makes sense that they would be inclusive to all religions and holidays of the season. You don't know who you are speaking to and if there is business at stake, why would you not try to be as diplomatic as you can. I say "Merry Christmas" before December 25 and then "Happy New Year" before the 1st of January. But if I were in China I wouldn't tell them "Happy New Year" until a few weeks later, when the "Chinese New Year Holiday" actually begins.

I think what this boils down to is Americans' (particularly white middle-class Christians) frustration over political correctness. Don't get me wrong. The social limits that are put on us to speak toward the lowest common denominator grind at me, as well. I hate the fact that we sacrifice real discourse and free speech because there are people who don't want to hear certain harsh truths. I think that there are times when it is appropriate and even necessary to break the PC barricade and let your true feelings be known. But, for crying out loud, Target isn't trying to make war with the Baby Jesus! Is it really necessary to risk offending paying customers over some minutiae? And now these companies have to worry about offending the other side if they continue to try being diplomatic. I really don't think that most Christians even care as much as the media has made it out. It's probably just the ultra-touchy trigger hair watch-dog groups that even started the junk in the first place and the media latched on.

Bottom line we should try to be sensitive to others who are different than us if we want to connect with them. If you don't want to connect with them, then, I suppose that you have every right to be a prick about it, but don't be too upset when you have no friends. When the need arises and you have to break a few hearts to make a point, be bold and don't be politically correct. But, only do it when it necessary and important.

Or funny.

I'm sure the controversy will spring back up next year, too. Maybe even worse.

In the meantime, have a laugh.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Movie Reviews: King Kong

King Kong

Peter Jackson is in the nicest situation in showbiz. Here's a guy who can direct any movie that he wants and make it over three hours long, whether it needs to be or not and the studio won't bat an eye. He spent how many years filming the Lord of the Rings movies? Like, three, right? Okay, so Kong obviously didn't take that long, but, gee wiz he sure made the hell out of this movie. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that, in our digital age, Naomi Watts probably never had to spend any time in a mechanical ten foot ape hand. If she did I'm sure that it was a green colored ape hand that looked more like a lime green tree house than an actual hand. But, nonetheless, no one would have ever guessed. I think that one can only take so much CGI before one starts to forget whether one is watching a live action movie or animated. They look darn near the same a lot of the time. But, I will hand it to Kong most of the time the CGI didn't take me out of the story. Sure, there was the fleeting moment where I realized that any damsel in this much distress would have died from internal injuries sustained by being slung through a jungle while being clasped by the angry Kong. But, when that monkey snapped the jaws of the T-Rex, I cringed. When the hero and heroine were standing on the top of the slippery metallic Empire State, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Get down! That is a blatent safety code violation!" It looks very real and without ever having to leave the studio.

The story, you know. Girl meets monkey, girl makes monkey laugh, monkey doesn't eat girl but falls in love with her... You know, it's a tale as old as time.

But don't let the love monkey or the presence of Jack Black fool you, this is not a light movie. I've never seen the original but I can't imagine that it is quite this disturbing or bloody. I'm actually a little surprised that it was only rated R. It gets pretty darn scary. I actually had to take a little breather from the intense monster scenes that may be the coolest ever captured on digital microchips. No wonder Jackson kept us in the jungle for so long (a little too long, really). He had monsters to show off.

I loved the ride. It was pure adrenaline, popcorn fodder to be sure. But, in all honesty it could have been about 40 minutes shorter. Like I said before, we could have left the jungle sooner and spared us some of the stress. Also, there was a symblance of a subplot between a ship crew member and his apprentice that didn't ever fully play itself out like it wanted to. The movie spends at least 10-15 minutes fleshing out this relationship and giving us details of the characters only to leave it on the island and never resolve it. It didn't make sence to me. I also heard criticism about Black and Adrienne Brody who plays the human love interest to Watts (who is excellent). I personally thought Brody was great and continues to get my respect. The criticism I heard about him dealt with his and Watts' chemisty. I thought it was fine. I saw the problem with Jack Black to be more perception than actual acting chops. Black had done more serious roles before, but not since he's made it big. I thought that if I hadn't been expecting him to break out with one of his signiture goofball faces, I would have completely bought him as the greedy filmaker, desparate for his big shot. Unfortunately, he didn't ease us into the serious roles like Jim Carrey and Robin Williams did, but instead just went for it. Which I can respect. I also see where some would have a problem with that.

Everyone will like this movie, so I highly recomend it. But, keep in mind the scariness of it. Amanda and I saw it with a packed house of mostly families with small kids. Talk about a noisy lot! The kids obviously shut up when the monkey arrived, but that doesn't happen for at least an hour into the movie. This is brilliant filmaking, really, holding the big guy out for a grand entrance. But to kids it's torture. They came to see a big ape, not plot structure and exposition. Oh, yeah, and I think I already mentioned the 3+ hours running time. Leave the ankle biters at home and go watch this great flick in some peace and quiet. If I'm not mistaken the studios are churning out family friendly junk on a bi-weekly basis now, so they aren't in short supply.

3.5 bulls

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

More Reviews: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Yes, I've read all of the books and yes, I am anxiously awaiting the seventh and final one. People who have only read the first one or maybe two books always say the same thing: "I read the first one and didn't understand what the hoopla was all about." Well, yeah! If you only read the first book then you are simply reading a cute kid's book. It's basically about a kid who is the hero of a story centering around him, and while it is creative, it's like every other kid's book in that exists to give kids a sense of adventure and hope that they to can overcome obstacles, blah, blah, blah. Feel good blandness. The second books seems to set the precident that the series would be more of the same. You've now got a really interesting well written childrens series. But then J.K. Rowling does something that will forever set it apart from even the most successful children's books. It matures with it's audience. The third book in the series is grittier, more complicated and introduces elements of darkness that the others did not contain. The subject of witches and wizards is considered by many to be inherently dark, but in the firs two books, while they exist in a dark world, are white-washed quite a bit for the reader.

On the fourth book we finallly see the truest and most honest nature of the world of Harry Potter. The times that the characters live in is brought to new hieghts of darkness and realness. It would seem strange that I would use "realness" when describing a movie about witches and magic. When I say realness I'm not talking about reality, I am referring to the idea that, if we suspend our disbelief and really exist in this fantasy, the story seems honest as opposed to a contrived children's story.

Which brings me (finally)to the movie. I am a firm believer that a movie doesn't have to be a strict retelling of the book. In fact, the more a director tries to be "faithful" to a book, the more I believe he is going to fail. Do I think that a director should completely change intent, story line, and other things that were vital to the success of the book. If he's smart he will try to excentuate what made the book a success in the first place, but I believe a filmmaker should try to make the story as visually their own as is possible. Film and books are two separate and completely different in how they get a message across. While books rely on the reader to imagine the words that an author has created, director and filmmakers are more like a painter whose images are supposed to inspire thought and discussion. It can be said that movies and books are opposite mediums.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is 600 plus page book that is made into a movie that, for marketing reasons, has to be under three hours. There is going to be much left out and for continuity other things added. The movie focuses on the triwizard tournament and the love life of the three main characters. The book has many more subplot that aren't even hinted at. Additionally, the Triwizard Tournament in the book is only dealt with occasionally, but it is pretty much the entire movie. Even when we are watching Harry fumble over words as he tries to talk to girls, it is only during breaks from worrying about the Tournament.

But the similarities and differences between the book and the movie are not what are going to make or break a film. This film is based on a book that has already won me over, as well as millions of others, so the story is not really worth mentioning, except to say that I think the filmmakers chose the right things to focus on. The scenery and cinematography in Goblet are by far the most excelled in the series. A low dolly shot near the beginning of the film that comes up on a boot that serves as a portkey to another location is beautiful. As always the British countryside is beyond words and Mike Newell does a better job than either Chris Columbus or even Alfonzo Curan of capturing the beauty and majesty of the land in which Hogwarts resides.


4 bulls (out of 5)

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Movie Reviews: Romance

Here are some short opinions on some movies that I've seen recentlyThese are the romantic comedies. I'll deal with action and drama later on.

EDIT: Amanda and I just saw King Kong tonight. Yeah, there something to be said about this movie. It requires some room, too, so back up.

Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Rufalo

I'm starting with the lighter side of my recent viewings. This movie fell into the catagory of movies that I would never have seen on my own. By that I mean of my own choice. But every now and then Amanda and I comprimise and I end up seeing a chick flick. Luckily, Witherspoon charms the socks off of me everytime she's on the screen despite her tendency to play the same cutey in every movie. Of course, isn't that what happens when you're a big star and writers create characters with you in mind?

Just Like Heaven surprised me, though, because it was funny and heartfelt and had all of those cheesy, chick-flick things, except one: it did't suck. It was good. I laughed, I didn't cry, but I felt for the characters and Witherspoon and Rufalo had chemistry. It worked. And there was even enough darkness and macabre to really interest me.

3.5 bulls (out of five)

Elizabethtown with Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst

I think that everyone is allowed a celebrity crush, right? Well, mine is Miss Dunst. It has been for a while. I don't even think that she's that great of an actress. I think she's good, but what attracts me to her is the way that her own style and personality shine through in all of her characters. Some people (uneducated) think that this means that she plays all of her characters the same way. But this isn't a bad thing. If at least some of an actor's personality doesn't show through they probably weren't right for the part. This happens all the time because producers want big stars in their movies, but don't always get the star that they originally wanted. So they settle for a big name that isn't right for the part.

I digress. Kirsten and Bloom are both striking and really work as a couple who meet and by coincidence end up saving each other. Bloom's man needs saving more, but I really think that it's mutual. You see, Bloom is a suicidal shoe designer that finds a reason to put his own death on hold to deal with the death of his father. He meets Dunst, who obviously needs something in her life, and she basically keeps him alive while he deals with the legacy that his father left behind and the family that he has gotten used to not having to deal with.

Cameron Crowe write and directs this movie, true to the formula that he has perfected. Crowe is brilliant with stories about tragic heros who bravely shoot for the stars and miss. Not everyone goes for this type of tragicomedy, but it certainly strikes a chord with me.

4.5 bulls

Shop Girl with Claire Danes, Jason Schwartsman, and Steve Martin

This movie has been compared to Lost in Translation for the simple fact that Steve Martin, like Bill Murray, is of the original SNL comedian generation (I know that Martin was never an SNL cast member, but come on, he might as well have been) and because he is playing out of type. His character, like Murray's, is a depressed man in his fifties, dealing with a mid-life crisis and hooks up with a girl young enough to be his daughter. This is where the comparison's end.

Don't take this the wrong way. I liked Lost in Translation. I know many people who didn't. The thing about Shop Girl that makes it so strikingly different is that it has a plot. There is in Shop Girl, unlike Lost in Translation a discernable initial incident, climax and denoument. While these things exist in Lost in Translation to find them would require a committee and several hours of discussion.

Shop Girl also focuses on Danes character instead of Martin's, also. (BTW, Clare is my other celebrity crush, but it stops there, except for Kate Winslet) Danes is a shy, lonely soul trying to make it in LA as an artist but can't quite find a way out of her hum-drum life working in the glove department of a ritzy Beverly Hills store. Gloves you say? Exciting? No. But this only adds to the picture that is being painted for us of what kind of world our heroine is living in. When she is courted by an older man simply seeking a bed-buddy she is able to add a little bit of spice to her life, but also falls into what can only be described as an unhealthy relationship. We know this isn't going to end well because, unlike Lost in Translation we never get the feeling that the age difference is ignored. It's there staring both of them in the face the entire movie just waiting to be uttered. Like the awkward conversation between two lovers about what that thing actually is, and can it be removed, the age issue cannot be ignored and Clare's character inevidably must be hurt in the process.

Schwartzman adds some seemingly misplaced, but much needed comedy to the movie as a one night stand who keeps calling Danes after she is already in the relationship with Martin. I'm a big fan of his character as the spaz who actually works at bettering himself for a girl that he doesn't actually believe he can be with. It's that type of quirky, unabashed, stupid optimism, that I will route for every time.

4 bulls

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Not enough time...

Too much to do...

Can't blog properly...

I feel like I'm overwhelmed with Grease right now. Here is my main concern:

The orchestra.

I have a lady to play piano for me, but I'm getting the feeling that she really doesn't want to and she's just one of these people who has a hard time saying no to stuff. Personally, I'm kind of wishing that she would have said something earlier so that I had time to get someone else if she wasn't that into it. She's had a busy semester with her own stuff so she hasn't had time until now, but she said when we first began that she would do it. If she can get her stuff together I think we'll be okay, but with the kids having never worked with live accompaniment it worries me that they could get it all accomplished in less than two weeks.

Oh, well. The beautiful thing about theatre is that one will always have it behind them and won't have to live with something for very long. Whether it is good or bad. Overall I'm enjoying the rehearsals. Some are better than others. Most high school productions take forever to get going and then make it in the final week. That's not how I like to work, but if I keep reminding myself that I can sleep better.

Monday, December 05, 2005

The Final Ride of Broqueric Martinez: Part 3

SMASH!The final balloon is a direct hit on a window, shattering it into the cabin.

Ext. Behind the pile of bricks EURIC, KEVIN, BRODY, freeze. EURIC looks around at the group of younger Jr. High kids. One by one the Jr. High boys start to break down and sob. RONNY tugs on KEVIN's shirt.

RONNY
Kevin, are you going to prison?

KEVIN
No, little brudder. Never. Not without you I'm not!

RONNY and KEVIN embrace

RONNY
I love you, Kevin! I'm sorry I lost your Dave CD.

KEVIN
It was you. I knew it!

EURIC
Matteau, what do we do? I never expected it to hit the window. I only thought it would be cool if it did. I didn't actually think it would. What do we do now? Matteau? Matteau?

BRODY
Matteau's gone? He's gone?

EURIC
Stop crying, Brody! Be a man!

EURIC slaps BRODY. He continues to cry harder.

TIMMY
He ran that way.

TIMMY point behind the boys into the dark woods.

EURIC POV. A shadowy figure can be seen scurrying from tree to tree.


EURIC
He's over there!

BRODY
We should follow him!

KEVIN
Yes, follow him!

From the woods

MATTEAU
Don't follow me!

MATTEAU makes a mad dash for toward the gym and the men's sleeping quarters all of the boys run after him.

MATTEAU
I said don't follow me. Didn't you hear me?

BRODY
We need you!

EURIC
You got us into this.

MATTEUA
Are you crazy? I got you into this? You came to me and needed the experties. You got into it yourself.

EURIC
But, come on. You at least owe it to us to help us out.

MATTEAU breaks into a mob type New York accent.

MATTEAU
Well, I don't know you. So, I don't owe you, Saso does. My place now, new rules. Everybody pays, okay?

KEVIN
Don't tell me...

MATTEAU
Can you guess it?

KEVIN
I know this one...

MATTEAU
Come on...

KEVIN
Oh, oh...

MATTEAU
It's Caa..

KEVIN
Don't tell me, don't tell me! Oh, man it's on the tip of my tongue. I want to say...Donnie Brasco?

MATTEAU
Carlito's Way.

MATTEAU and KEVIN
1993!

KEVIN
I knew it was Pacino.

MATTEAU
Yeah?

KEVIN
I could hear his voice in my head.

EURIC
Get down!

The guys drop into the high grass.

POV of the female cabin. Four women, one older lady, and three adolescent girls, exit the cabin looking scared and nervous. They wear pajamas, gollashes, and carry baggage and bedding.


BRODY
Who is it?

EURIC slaps BRODY

EURIC
They must be scared out of their minds.

KEVIN
Awsome! Success, guys!

KEVIN goes for an unrequited high five

KEVIN
Nobody? Really? Okay.

EURIC
They're getting into the truck.

BRODY
Where do you think they're going?

KEVIN slaps BRODY

BRODY
Oh, come on! That's a ligitament question.

KEVIN
I'm sorry.

MATTEAU
I know what they're doing. I've got to get these children out of here. They'll freeze.

BRODY
It's hot.

MATTEAU
Well, they'll burn their sensative skin.

MATTEAU takes TIMMY's arm and gives him an Indian Sunburn.

TIMMY
Ow!

TIMMY cries

MATTEAU
Look at that.

EURIC
Dude, it's like 80 degrees. This is the perfect tempeture.

MATTEAU
And you would expose innocent's to that. Let's go back to the cabin, kids.

MATTEAU rushes away and the younger boys follow.

KEVIN
Later, Ronny.

RONNY
Later, Kevin. I'll visit you in the slammer!

EURIC
I can't believe this. Of course they want to be in on all the fun whenever it's just a prank but as soon as it's an act of criminal vandalism with possiblly devestating consequences...whooshh! Off they go.

BRODY
Devistating consequences? What devistating consequeces?

EURIC
Too devestating to mention in front of you.

BRODY
Why?

EURIC
Because you'd cry like a girl.

BRODY
No I wouldn't.

EURIC whispers something in BRODY's ear. BRODY tries to fight back tears, biting his bottom lip.

KEVIN
Red truck.

EURIC
Huh?

KEVIN
Red. Like a firetruck.

EURIC and BRODY turn to see a pickup coming down a dirt path up to the gym/boy's cabin

EURIC
Get down! It looks like their going to the cabin.

BRODY
Do you think they know it's us?

EURIC
I don't know.

KEVIN
I'll bet they're pissed because we got them wet.

BRODY
They're going to tell my dad.

EURIC
They're going to tell Darcy and Timmy's dad.

ALL THREE
Basketball Kirb!

BRODY
They say his forearms are as big as tree trunks...

EURIC
And his neck is like an ox's...

KEVIN
He can take a basketball team to the Texas State Finals and come within one shot of a victory.

BRODY
He's going to kill us!

EURIC
Maybe not. Let's check out the damage. Maybe we only thought it broke the window and it just hit it really hard. Maybe the girls were just coming over to say "hi."

KEVIN
Naw, they were pissed.

EURIC
Let's just see what happened.

Cut to.

Ext. Outside the girls cabin
The boys look up to see that the window is, in fact completely smashed in.


EURIC
Yep. Broke all right.

KEVIN
Yeah!

KEVIN goes for another high five.

EURIC
Okay, but only because it is pretty money that we hit it with the very last balloon.

KEVIN
Thank you.

All three give high fives all around

EURIC
But, that high five was not for the broken window. That sucks! I was trying to save for a new Perpetual Motion Gyromationator.

BRODY
You think we'll have to pay for it.

KEVIN
Can you squeeze water out of a sponge that has sat in the hot sun for three weeks straight.

EURIC
We're all in this together, man. With me on they right and you on the left and Brody on the trigger, we were all three part of this triumvirate of mischief. We are all Broqueric Martinez!

BRODY
I am Broqueric Martinez!

EURIC mouth's "Not now" and KEVIN shakes his head in pity

EURIC
I guess it's time to face the music, huh.

KEVIN
Yeah.

BRODY
Looks that way.

EURIC
Well, after you.

KEVIN and BRODY lead and all three trod slowly up the hill to the gym. KEVIN leans down and picks up a small, portable CD player and presses play. It plays "Are You Ready For This" by the Clubmix. He quickly stops the CD.

KEVIN
Sorry.

He changes the song. It is now Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive."

Int. The boy's cabin. In a small room three bunk beds line each wall and a single bunk bed sits at the end of the rooom creating a horse shoe. The Young boys and MATTEAU are seen sneeking in and just settling into their beds lie in bed pretending to sleep. A grandfatherly man with a flowing white beard, thin reading glasses and a long sleeping robe and cap, OLE HARRY sits at the end of the room reading a story from a children's book. He has apparently been reading this whole time unaware that for a long period of time no one was listening. MATTEAU speaks over OLE HARRY.


MATTEAU
Hurry, hurry. Shhh! Into bed. You're asleep.

OLE HARRY
"In the first case it was necessary to renounce the consciousness of an unreal immobility in space and to recognize a motion we did not feel; in the present case it is similarly necessary to renounce a freedom that does not exist,..."

There is a loud knock on the door

OLE HARRY
Almost finished, dear. One moment! "...and to recognize a dependence of which we are not conscious."

OLE HARRY closes the book and looks up.

OLE HARRY
Boys, I hope you enjoyed Tolstoy's latest masterpeice. Some say the old boy's outdone himself this time. Boy's? Boy's?

He leans over and touches the head of one of the young kids.

OLE HARRY
Goodnight, you princes of Texas. You kings of Lone Star State.

MATTEAU coughs as he says

MATTEAU
The Cider House Rules. 1999.

OLE HARRY
What was that?

There is a loud knock on the door.

MRS. LANE
Open up Ole Harry! Please! Open up!

OLE HARRY moves to the door and opens to three young, beautiful adolescent young sorority types, KARI, DARCY, and SANDRA all in pajamas and fuzzy slippers, and one older woman, Mrs. Lane, in a high necked nightgown, a mudmask and sponge curlers.

MRS. LANE
Ole Harry! Ole Harry! There's a gust of wind! A tornado! The Sasquatch?

KARI, DARCY, and SANDRA
Uncle Harry, the window...; Everything was so scary...; I don't know what was going on but I don't like it...; Etc.

OLE HARRY
Hold on, now. Hold on. Hold on! They quiet down Now, tell me what's going on. One at a time.

KARI
Oh, Uncle Harry! It was ever so frightening!

DARCY
I was lying in bed, and, and...

SANDRA
Shut up and let me talk...

MRS. LANE
Now Sandra, be nice.

SANDRA
Pipe down. Here's what went down. We started hearing strange sounds on the roof. Like the sound a solar flares creates on the lunar surface and less like a coronal mass ejection, although level M flares can sound practically the same.

KARI
Good thinking Sandra. Then I started thinking how this isn't the coronial season for such large flares and thought about weather conditions. Earlier in the day I sensed a low pressure system culminating in a what is known as a tropical cyclone, but certainly to diminished size in that it wouldn't have possibly resulted in such a violent turn. Plus because of the coriolis effect I knew that we couldn't have been hit from the north side.

DARCY
So then I suggested a shock wave being generated by a aircraft. Possibly being deployed from the nearby air station. I had done some field research on aerodynamics earlier this year and sometime the pilots take night training.

SANDRA
But, I thought that was ridiculous because experiements with Mach 1 are quite obsolete and impractical in day to exibition.

DARCY
It's not ridiculous. Not anymore ridiculous than that stupid solar flare thing.

SANDRA
Please. It is so possible.

KARI
Girls, girls, we have to stick together.

DARCY
Kari's right.

SANDRA
I'm sorry, Darcy.

DARCY
Friends?

SANDRA
Friends.

KARI
Come on, girls!

The girls hug.

OLE HARRY
So what happened next?

MRS. LANE
Horror!

SARAH
The window busted in.

KARI
Which if you think about it, substantiated my theory the most.

DARCY
We couldn't figure out what it could have been.

SARAH
We were ever so scared.

MATTEAU
I'll be there for you.

MATTEAU jumps up and holds KARI

SANDRA
Matt, what are you doing?

MATTEAU
I'm keeping you safe.

SANDRA
Whatever.

KARI
Oh, Matteau!

They embrace

DARCY
Oh, Thank you,Matteau.

MATTEAU
Not you.

EURIC, KEVIN, and BRODY appear in the door.

EURIC
Hi, everyone.

KEVIN
Did anyone get wet?

KEVIN, EURIC, BRODY POVCollectively all of the women and OLE HARRY turn slowly around to face the Three Boys.

SANDRA
What?

KEVIN
You know from the water baloon. Did anyone get wet?

SANDRA
Water balloon?

KARI
Not a low pressure system?

SANDRA
Water balloon

EURIC
We thought you would have figured that out. I mean it is kind of obvious.

SARAH leaps on EURIC and KEVIN and beats them senseless.

BRODY
You know, I helped.

SARAH turns on BRODY and while she is beating the snot out of him, EURIC and KEVIN speak

KEVIN
So, what now, man.

EURIC
Possibly, we'll have to pay for the window. We may go to jail.

OLE HARRY
I think, at the very least, boys you need to clean the women's cabin for them.

MATTEAU
"The simple fact is you feel responsible for Goose and you have a confidence problem. Now I'm not gonna sit here and blow sunshine up your butt, Lieutenant. A good pilot is compelled to evaluate what's happened, so he can apply what he's learned. Up there, we gotta push it. That's our job. It's your option Lieutenant. All yours." That's from "Top Gun." I'm not real sure what I'm trying to say, but I want to help. I feel responsible and I want to help fix things.

EURIC
Thanks, Matteau.

KEVIN
You're the best in the biz man.

ALL laugh as MATTEAU takes KARI in his arms and kisses her passionately. ALL cheer. KEVIN leans over to EURIC.

KEVIN
Wow! That was totally unnecessary.

Cut to

Int. Girls cabin MATTEAU, EURIC, KEVIN, and BRODY are talking and laughing as they sweep up the girls cabin. SAM ELIOT in a large cowboy hat and signiture Wally Fingers mustache, enters and speaks directly to the camera.


SAM ELIOT
Well, it appears the boys are gonna hang up the hat of Broqueric Martinez. For now at least. Their last ride was a special one to say the least. There was adventure, drama, romance, and a little comedy to lighten the mood. Only thing it was missing from my vantage point is a good home cooked meal and some bottles of brew.

Behind him the four boys pull out plates of food and bottles of root beer.

SAM ELIOT
Well, I reckon I spoke too soon.

SAM ELIOT pulls out a harmonica and begins playing "Home on the Range.

The End.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Coming Soon!The Final Ride: Part 3

Don't Miss!

Sooner than later you will be reading the final installment of the saga of Broqueric Martinez and his attempt to save a young girl from a speeding train.

The final episode will contain thrills, chills, intrigue, action, and romance. It's a riotous laugh, and a heartbreaking tail of revenge and redemption.

Coming soon to Great Blogs of Fire:

As soon as I'm done with this story I will be free to write more blogs. As it is I didn't want a whole lot between installments. The first one just flew out, but the last two have been a little laboreous. Enjoyable, nonetheless. But, I'm about halfway throught the final bit, so you'll have it soon. After that I am planning:

Short movie reviews on all of the movies I've seen in the last couple months

My thoughts on Turkey and the debate between Canned Shapped Cranberry Sauce or the whole berry kind

A spot on The Earlies and their awesome show in Denton last weekend.

Rants on social injustice and the Republicans

and Recipes for flan


Stay tuned.