Crazy, Stupid, Love Review

It's kind of the summer of the literal movie title. You have Cowboys and Aliens, which is about cowboys and aliens. Now you have Crazy, Stupid, Love which is about how love can be crazy and make people look stupid. In fact both movies share the mash-up thing. One combines science fiction and westerns whereas Crazy, Stupid, Love combines two closer types of movies, the independent film and the screwball comedy.

Crazy, Stupid, Love starts out with Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) having dinner with his wife Emily. (Julianne Moore) Out of nowhere she announces to Cal that she wants a divorce because she's been having an affair with David Lindhagen. (Kevin Bacon) Unfortunately when they get home, news of the divorce is disclosed to Robbie (Jonah Bobo), Cal's eighth grade son and the babysitter, teenager Jessica Riley (Analeigh Tipton) who is in love with Cal. However, Robbie is in love with the babysitter.

As the divorce is going through, Cal starts hanging out at a pickup bar. At this meat market, Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling), a womanizing stud, is quite successful in getting the women. Jacob uses old school pickup lines and nice clothes to bag his prey. But he fails with a bright law student, Hannah. (Emma Stone) Meanwhile Cal tells anyone in earshot his problems and looks pretty pathetic. Jacob hears this stuff, and feels sorry for him. He takes Cal under his wing. He decides to help Cal become a single man again. Cal finally scores with a lonely teacher, Kate. (Marisa Tomei) But he still longs for Emily.

Steve Carell is excellent as the depressed but still in love, Cal. Julianne Moore is also top notch as the conflicted Emily. Ryan Gosling continues to give great performances. This time he's a shallow Casanova who's looking for that someone until he meets the spunky Emma Stone.

In many comedies, you can name the big gags. Take for example, Bridesmaids, who can forgot the wedding dress scene? The humor in Dan Fogelman's script is more observational. It's a an essay on love. Starting with the emotion at the youngest level with Robbie, then to high schooler Jessica, young adults, Hannah and Jacob, and finally to Cal and Emily. Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa give the film a kind of indie feel complete with the soft rock touches. It's just the dual climaxes that turn the movie into your usual Hollywood fare. The finale feels contrived but can't erase the warmth surrounding the characters.

Adult films are in the minority during the summer. Crazy, Stupid, Love is a witty take on love. The grade is B+.

Johnny Be Good, Johnny Cueto Shuts Out The Giants

After getting swept by the New York Mets in a four game series, the Cincinnati Reds swept the World Champion San Francisco Giants in three games. That happened when Reds starter Johnny Cueto (pictured) shut out the Giants in a complete game. The Reds pummeled the Giants, 9-0. Here's the story with video.

I wrote after the second loss to the New York Mets, that the Reds season was over. I also hope that I am wrong. There are two months left. The Reds remain six and one half games out. While the schedule favors the Reds with some mediocre teams, they have to leap over three teams to take the Central. Not impossible but it's going to be difficult. The Reds need help from the baseball gods. I'm reminded of the movie "Major League." (1989) In that movie the Cleveland Indians realize they must win the division since they're all going to be gone after the year. The Indians then go on a tear to force a win game playoff with New York Yankees. If you know the movie, the Indians defeat the Yankees in that game. Anyway there's this cool montage showing the Indians working and winning to get to that playoff. Let's hope the Reds have a run like that fictional Indians team. Here's the music to that montage.

The Cincinnati Bengals Way

Chad Ochocinco signaled a new serious approach to football by indicating he will play the Patriot way. Hold on. Where the hell was this when he played for the Cincinnati Bengals? This has led me to think what is the Bengals way.

The Bengals Way is to...

LOSE. And by that I mean to lose in epic ways. Let me count the ways.

1. Hire Idiots for Coaches- Exhibit One. Dave Shula. Record was 19-53. Yeah, he had NFL DNA just like Bengals owner Mike Brown. And look where that's getting us.

2. Make Bonehead Draft Picks- See QB David Klingler, QB Akili Smith, WR Peter Warrick, OT Andre Smith.

3. Make Bonehead Free Agent Signings- DT Sam Adams. WR Antonio Bryant. The Bengals ate eight million dollars for a guy who didn't play a down. But my favorite stupid free agent signing was QB Gus Frerotte. This is the guy that hurt himself by head bumping a wall. Video below.

4. Make Stupid Mistakes- Trust me this will happen. There will be at least one game where the Bengals first play on offense will be an offsides penalty.

5. Snatch Defeat From The Jaws of Victory- See Tampa Bay Buccaneers game form last year. Bengals were up by seven with three minutes to play. The Bengals throw an interception. The Bucs take it in. The Bengals throw another pick. Field goal for the Bucs.

6. Heartbreaking turnover or mistake- Interceptions. Fumble at key moments in the game. Missed extra point. If you're a Bengals fan, there are too many to list.

Gus Frerotte headbumps a wall and hurts himself.

Cowboys and Aliens Review

With a name like Cowboys and Aliens that is a take on the cowboys and Indians phrase, one would think you are going to be in for a comedy. Well, first this film is based on Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's graphic novel of the same name. Second, it's a serious science fiction-western mash-up. Think of it as a cinematic Reese's Cup.

In Cowboys and Aliens, it's Arizona in the late nineteenth century. Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) has waken up in the desert and can't remember his name or much of anything. Lonergan has a strange bracelet attached to his wrist. He wanders into the town of Absolution where he meets the mysterious Ella (Olivia Wilde), bartender Doc (Sam Rockwell) and preacher Meacham. (Clancy Brown) Lonergan finds he's a wanted man. He is wanted by the law and also by the powerful cattle tycoon, Col. Dollaryhyde (Harrison Ford) for stealing gold from him.

Sheriff Taggert (Keith Carradine) captures Lonergan and is about to transfer him to the Federal authorities. Dollarhyde rides into town and intercepts the prison transport with the intention to exact frontier justice. It's at this time, they are attacked by aliens who kidnap a number of townsfolk. Lonergan uses the bracelet to destroy one of the ships. After the attack, Dollarhyde and Lonergan lead a group to rescue the kidnapped.

There are some interesting casting choices for this movie. Some of the actors are playing against type. Harrison Ford's character is not just tough, he's also mean but with a soul that's been hurt. Clancy Brown, who's played a villain in Highlander and a tough drill Sergeant in Starship Troopers, is a compassionate man of God. Brown is so good that he might get more of the kind, wise old man roles in the future. Sam Rockwell sets aside the quirky parts he's known for and plays a responsible bar owner. On the other hand, Daniel Craig is cool as they come. Everything he does is hip whether it's smoking a cigar or aiming a rifle. Olivia Wilde is a wholesome beauty who exudes a country sexiness.

If you look at the parties who brought this story to the screen, you can not ignore the talent. Producers include Stephen Spielberg, and Ron Howard. The script was done by Star Trek's Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. The director is Jon Favreau whose best known for Iron Man. (2008) He tackles the film with a thankful lack of camera gymnastics. With all that talent, what you get is a movie with excellent production values. You also get a movie with exciting action sequences and a lot of heart. And wait till you see the aliens. It almost makes you want to watch this movie in 3D. Well, almost.

There's not a lot wrong with Cowboys and Aliens. Most of it has to do with plot holes or a lack of logic. I mean Lonergan gets the bracelet as he's about to be a dissection specimen when the alien doctor puts it down next to him. First, it's kind of dumb for the alien to leave the thing next to him. Second, there's no explanation as to how Lonergan learns how to use it. Ella's character certainly could use more exposition. And I could use less of the fast cutting.

You can't go wrong with Cowboys and Aliens. It's a thrilling ride during this hot summer. The grade is B+.

Cincinnati Bengals Players Abandon Ship

The loss of conerback Jonathan Joseph to free agency should send a signal to Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown that things aren't good in Cincinnati. You've got your franchise quarterback refusing to play for a whopping fifty million dollars left on his contract. He'd rather retire than don the stripes again. Now you've lost Joseph even though the Bengals are reported to be 49 million under the salary cap. That should indicate to Brown that he is having problems attracting any talent regardless of how much money Mike throws at a player to come Cincinnati. That's because of the losing conditions. In theory it should be clear to Brown. But Mike Brown is more stubborn than Pharoh. Meanwhile, Cincinnati is becoming the Siberia of the NfL. Funny, before Marvin Lewis it was called that and now a new ice age has come. Bengals nation, it's going to be a long season.

The Cincinnati Reds 2011 Season Is Over

Yes, I am going to call the Cincinnati Reds season to be over. After taking two of three from the Atalanta Braves, the Reds have dropped two straight to the New York Mets. Tonight was just brutal. The Reds booted the ball for three errors, it could have been easily four errors. The Reds came back and went ahead 5-4 thanks to a two run homer by Joey Votto. But Reds starter Johnny Cueto gave up the lead and the score became 6-5. Then Reds reliever Nick Masset gave up two more runs. The Reds would lose 8-5.

Nothing is going right for this team. Today, they actually got decent starting pitching but were terrible in the field. Then the relief pitching went sour. Of course, hitting in the clutch has been bad all year. It was no different in this game with the exception for Joey Votto. This pattern of different things going bad has been going on all season. Cant' win a division this way.

With the loss, the Reds drop to five games out of first. Now, it's not impossible for the Reds to win the division but they have three teams to climb over. There's no proof that the Reds will turn this thing around. Shame. The Reds have as good as talent as any team in major league baseball. That includes the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. I hope I'm wrong about this prediction. But it will take somebody on the team to lead them out of this funk.

Cincinnati Bengals Owner Mike Brown Is Right

Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown has repeated what he said about trading quarterback Carson Palmer. Palmer has demanded a trade or he will threaten to retire. Mike Brown has said he won't trade Palmer. Here's what Mike Brown says, “I’m not expecting him to be back. Carson signed a contract, he made a commitment. He gave us his word. We relied on his word and his commitment. We expected him to perform here. If he is going to walk away from his commitment we aren’t going to reward him for doing it.” From Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy.

Oh boy, I hate to say this. But Mike Brown is right. Don't get me wrong on the job that Mike Brown is doing. He runs the worst professional sports team on the planet Earth. But trading a player who you've depended on as your franchise player because he demands it, sets an awful precedent. That would open the floodgates. You would never be able to sign players to long term contracts that would be needed at times to keep your good talent in town. You would not be able to win in the long run. Good luck to Bengals new quarterback, rookie Andy Dalton. And if the year is as bad as I think it will be, the Bengals are in the Andrew Luck (Stanford QB) sweepstakes.