We Don't Walk Slow

Funniest Christmas Scenes

Here are a few of the funniest Christmas scenes I came up with. Do you know any better?

Step Brothers Deleted Scene – Dale and Brennan Open Presents
“I’m going down to the Cheesecake Factory to have a drink.”
“Hulk Smash!”
“That doesn’t even count, I opened a box of shit.”
“I’m livid right now!”

Bad Santa – Boxing Scene
“You don’t drink, which is smart on your part.”
“I’m good in a fight because I can’t feel anything.”
“He’s a fucking retard.”

Home Alone – Go Easy On the Pepsi
Some incredible acting by youngsters. Those faces are genuine.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – It’s a Bit Nipply
“There is a nip in the air.”
“She’s history.”
“Can’t see the line, can ya, Russ?”

A Christmas Story – I Can’t Put My Arms Down
“My kid brother looked like a tick about to pop”
“Put your arms down when you get to school.”

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-24T12:42:49-05:00December 24th, 2013|Movies|0 Comments

4 Star Movies?

A 4 star movie is something that should be very rare. I expect more from a 4 star movie and hold it to the highest standard. When I’m watching a critically acclaimed movie, I’m comparing it to all the other 4 star movies I’ve seen in the past like Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption, and the Godfather. Movies that I’ve watched recently that have been reviewed as 4 stars by the Comcast system are letting me down. This leads my thought to believe that old time movies do not get re-ranked as they shouldn’t. If a movie came out in 1935 and was 4 stars, it’s still 4 stars. However, this doesn’t mean that I am watching this movie in 2013 and thinking it’s 4 stars. The thing about these 4 star movies though is that they leave a time stamp of cultural significance even if they are not the “best” movie. Here are few that fit this mold.

Dirty Harry (1971)

Clint Eastwood is Dirty Harry

Dirty Harry’s 4 stars drew me to watching it because I haven’t watched much Clint before and I knew the name Dirty Harry was well known. Whenever I think of the early 70’s, I think of Beatlemania and the Vietnam War so I also wanted to get some film culture of the time period. Clint plays a bad-ass cop, Dirty Harry Callaghan, who takes no shit and does whatever he wants. Numerous times through the movie he is asked why he’s called “Dirty”? “I get every dirty job that comes along” and he “always get the shit-end of the stick.”

The movie is not exactly filled with twists, turns, and stimulating thought which 4 star movies often bring. It tends to follow the path of Harry tailing Scorpio (the serial killer) throughout the whole movie. I noticed when Harry was firing shots in the opening scene he couldn’t miss and at the end it was like he was a Stormtrooper. His tagline of “Do you feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk?” is used throughout the movie and is worth remembering. My biggest complaint about Dirty Harry was the villain. His leg being hurt and his running was ridiculous and the school bus scene when he was hitting kids was trust bizarre. How that mental case was a mastermind serial killer did not seem realistic. This was a good movie and probably 4 stars in 1971 but it doesn’t hold up to expectations of today.

Rocky (1976)

Another 4 star review that I think is more like 3. The acting by Stallone was incredible. Playing a dumb fighter was done expertly by Stallone. I thought Adrian was deftly played and the pair fit like two peas in a pod. The Apollo Creed set up of the fight seemed secondary to the love story going which was aptly conveyed at the conclusion of the movie. Being from Philadelphia, I thought the screen shots of Kelly Drive, the Art Museum, and the Italian market were awesome because I’m able to compare them to today. I thought it was a very good movie but not very believable considering Rocky couldn’t run up the Art Museum steps without being winded at the beginning of his training and was somehow able to take on the Champ a few weeks later. Either way, great movie, but not 4 star caliber.

Casablanca (1942)

1942 Casablanca movie poster

Watching classic movies made 70+ years ago is truly a blast from the past. Humphrey Bogart was great as Rick in Casablanca. He had a cool sense to him and seemed like a man’s man which is amazingly what I thought of Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) in Gone with the Wind. Men were much manlier back then. Plus everyone in the movie is an alcoholic which seems realistic. The love story between Rick and Isla was pretty deep which is why this movie was 4 stars. The twist at the end also caught the viewers off guard which I’m sure in 42′ was unheard of. The movie brought the tag lines, “Here’s looking at you, kid” and “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Casablanca is a great movie that still holds up 70 years later. With this in mind, I understand it being 4 stars. However, it isn’t keeping me on the edge of my seat 4 stars. It’s 1942 4 stars.

Ted (2012)

The Movie Poster from Ted

I wrote this post back in July and want to update it a bit. Ted is growing on me. This is a movie that you can pick up at any point and find parts to laugh at. The Teddy Bruschi joke is a 10/10 and the way Mila Kunis throws around Martina Navatabruski is wonderful. I think another thing this movie does great is its cut scenes. They seem sped up and what it does is gets you laughing as you finish the last scene and immediately pop into the next. The Patrick Warburton scene of whether he’s gay or not is hilarious too because his dialogue is spot on. This movie is funnier than I thought and gets better with each watch. 4 stars is pushing it because the story isn’t that great but the thought put into the dialogue is A+.

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-24T09:42:05-05:00December 24th, 2013|Movies|0 Comments

Old Movies Watched in 2013

I make it a point to catch up on movies that are referenced but I’ve never seen. I still need to see the 1st half of Jaws, Citizen Kane, Terminator, ET, and Rocky but I’ll work on that. Today I bring you a list of 5 movies that I’ve watched over the past months that I felt deserved my time. 4 of them I watched for the first time and one I re-watched.

Gone With The Wind – 1939

Rhett and Scarlett

This movie is a staple amongst famous movies. It’s constantly called wonderful and this urged me to sit through this 3 hour 45 minute flick. Everyone has heard the, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” by the man of men Rhett Butler aka Clark Gable. Vivian Leigh plays Scarlett O’hara who has to be in 90% of the scenes. The movie is set in the civil war period and follows Scarlett around on her love quest for far too long. I would never, ever, want to watch this movie again. Once was enough but I’m glad I did if that makes sense. The dialogue is pretty good and I picked up on weird insect lines like, “angry as a hornet” and “waiting like a spider” so I will certainly say there is plenty of thought into this movie. I liked Scarlett throughout but I didn’t care about her romance.

Mystic River – 2003

I don’t know what urged me to DVR Mystic River other than the description in Comcast. It received a few Academy Award nominations, has the elite Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, and Tim Robbins for stars and is directed by Clint Eastwood. To its credit, it manages to hold the attention of the audience within the first 5 minutes and doesn’t let up. Unfortunately it doesn’t improve that much but it also doesn’t get worse. It grabs you in, holds you, then drops you at the end. I thought the mystery throughout was intriguing but not a movie that I would say is that next level. A solid B. Here’s the trailer if you’re interested.

Beetlejuice – 1988

It just isn’t that good. I’ve heard about it in popular culture but never had the chance to watch it and I’m happy to watch it once, but won’t watch it again. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis play the dopey leads, Michael Keaton is fine as the foul mouthed Beetlejuice, and Winona Ryder steals my heart as 17 year old Lydia just as she did in Edward Scissorhands. The dance scenes are great but the plot sucked. Simple as that.

Miracle – 2004

Disney’s adaptation of the USA’s Gold Medal in the 1980 Olympics

After being in Lake Placid this summer, it seemed only fitting to watch this movie. Getting the full glimpse of Herb Brooks stadium and the Legends of the Oval, I knew I was finally ready to watch this flick. Kurt Russell was believable as Herb Brooks and that was all there was in terms of acting. The team members were mildly appealing but I couldn’t find much to grab on to in the movie. The Russian game was oddly hyped considering how big of a game it was in reality. The movie needed to focus more on what was happening around the games and less on the hockey to make it have more of an impact. I understand it’s a Disney movie made for kids but than that’s what I’m going to treat it as.

Austin Powers International Man of Mystery – 1997

I’ve seen this movie more than once but probably not for 10 years so I am familiar with it. I’m not going to review it as a movie because it’s not about being a movie. The plot isn’t pivotal and you watch this movie for the laughs. You can pick it up anywhere and know where your at. All that being said, I did have a few favorite parts.

The “Right” is classic as this point. Had me cracking up.

Nerd Alert, Evan will like this.

And this wonderfully timed line.

By Tom Stortz|2013-11-19T22:03:27-05:00November 19th, 2013|Movies|1 Comment

Don Jon on Howard Stern

The movie Don Jon is written and directed by Joseph Gordon Levitt and he was interviewed on the Howard Stern show today. The interview went for about 45 minutes and Levitt came off as a genuinely likeable guy. He was there to promote the movie Don Jon which took him 5 years to get onto the big screen. It stars Gordon Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, and Tony Danza. It’s about a bro, who resembles the my new haircut or Dom Mazzetti type guy, and he has some issues balancing life and a porn addiction. It’s hard to say how much the porn addiction comes into play but they are running clips for it during pornhub videos so I assume they know their target audience. The ad is pretty funny when it shows Don Jon spanking it and the camera zooms to a male pornstar’s face and the thought process that takes place. Levitt tries to appeal to both male and females because the counter part of the movie is that Scarlett is addicted to romantic comedies and I assume she expects real life to be as it is in a movie. The movie received a 7.5 on IMDB and is set to hit theaters on 9/27/13.

That’s the brief write up of the movie but I thought the interview was well done by Howard as usual. You could tell that Levitt was really gracious and couldn’t stop saying how thankful he was when Howard said he liked the movie. Howard’s generally not a dick to big named guests so whether he was being genuine or not was tough to tell but I think he was. The interview touched on Levitt as a child actor in 3rd Rock From the Sun to some indie films he did to making it big with Inception, Lincoln and The Dark Knight Rises. Levitt went into his time on set with Spielberg and Daniel Day Lewis on Lincoln and that was a good story. He described Daniel Day Lewis as never leaving character during the movie filming which I thought was funny and Spielberg having an uncanny ability of catching the right energy and moment with the camera. Levitt wouldn’t discuss his personal life which I thought was admirable although doesn’t make for the best interview. Howard knows this. Overall though I could see how Levitt could develop some dick head qualities being a child actor and probably feeling entitled to the world but that wasn’t the case at all. He seemed like a hard working guy who did a good job of moving up the ranks. It was also revealed that he smokes more weed that you’d think.

By Tom Stortz|2013-09-24T12:29:55-04:00September 24th, 2013|Celeb, Movies|0 Comments

Comcast Movie Reviews Are Bogus

Comcast can stick this review up their ass.

I watched this movie because of the Comcast movie review and was immensely disappointed. I wouldn’t give Ted 3 stars let alone claim it was a 4 star gem. It had a couple decent fart jokes, some crack shots at celebs, a borderline passable plot, and some funny old school references. This was a universal 2 star movie to anyone who has ever tried to critique a movie before. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 68%. There is a certain type of emotion that you expect to feel from a 4 star movie like Forrest Gump or Schindler’s List. You leave the movie thinking that you just saw an incredible work of art that conveyed a poignant message. Ted showed me the process of a bear coming to life making jokes along the way.

This movie review reminded me of the very average 21 Jump Street that was also given an unbelievable 4 stars. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the studios are paying for these reviews. Why? I’m not exactly sure but I’ll make a few guesses. One thing is for certain though, it makes me question the validity of the Comcast review system. The other obvious thought is that if they’re playing me on movie reviews, what else are they trying to get past the customers?

DVD sales have already come and gone so a 4 star rating won’t affect that much. I suppose people who see a 4 star movie are more apt to watch it but since they are already paying for HBO, it’s not like HBO is getting more money from it. Maybe trial plans will convert at a higher frequency if they see HBO shows good movies. It’s completely possible I’m totally missing the reasoning behind the stellar review but I feel cheated by that TV guide. I rely on that to tell me quality movies and if there’s no trust in the relationship, what do you really have? This isn’t an issue with old school movies because they’ve already been reviewed and it seems the guide just goes along with past reviews. These newer movies though that rely on a Comcast review are getting mixed up. Anyone else think this?

By Tom Stortz|2013-07-14T23:12:17-04:00July 14th, 2013|Movies|1 Comment

Who’s Always Funny?

I was thinking about what current comedians were consistently funny in movies and shows and only a few came to mind. You’d think that there would be a lot more humorous people making it to the screens but I’m not seeing it. I almost feel the need to go back in time a bit to re-hash some legends so we are all on the same page of what humor is. Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber vaulted his run of box office comedic legend (not so much anymore). Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Steve Martin were big in the 80’s and always good for laughs. The late Chris Farley, George Carlin and Jim Belushi were hysterical while alive. Will Ferrell and Mike Meyers were, and still are, high profile draws. These actors though have been around and there haven’t been many new players to replace them. I do feel like there is still some decent talent out there.

Seth Rogen
He’s a merry fellow. I get the feeling he’d be a blast to hang out with. Smoke a few J’s, drink some beers, and have Seth keep your side splitting all day long. He understands humor. When he was the lead in Knocked Up it was like who the hell is this guy? Since then he’s gone on to kick the movie industry square in the teeth and take it by storm. That doesn’t mean that everything he does is going to be awesome (Observe and Report, Green Hornet, Funny People) but that’s not his fault. He has even shown the range of doing serious movies, 50/50, which he was great in. He is routinely clever and witty and makes you like him. He’s gone on Howard Stern numerous times as well and he’s completely open and honest. The guy will be around for a long time.

Workaholics Crew

For the uneducated, this crew is made up of Blake Anderson, Adam DeVine, Anders Holm, and co-creator Kyle Newacheck. They are hugely underrated although I believe they are starting to gain some speed. Adam DeVine (we share the same birthday, same year) has appeared in some major films like Pitch Perfect but that’s about the only thing these guys have gotten into mainstream outside of the show. I have to add the cameo appearance they had recently in Arrested Development as a place you may recognize them. I think they fall in the Trey Stone – Matt Parker category of creating a show that people write off as childish but it has way more depth than critics give it credit for. Workaholics has jokes that kill episode after episode that are easy to miss unless you are on your toes. I’m looking forward to this group making more anything. Check out the clip of one of their first productions which is awesome. Jumper, laugh out loud.

Seth MacFarlane

He wins at life. On May 4, 2008, after approximately two and a half years of negotiations, MacFarlane reached a $100-million agreement with Fox to keep Family Guy and American Dad until 2012. The agreement makes him the world’s highest paid television writer. I personally have never watched American Dad or The Cleveland Show. I have a feeling they suck. What I do know though is that when Seth MacFarlane was putting in his effort for Family Guy (probably the first 4-5 seasons before a ton of writers starting taking over the jokes) it was the funniest show on television. When the guys of South Park are mocking you because you use cutaways for your jokes, you know they have to feel a little threatened. I probably have to watch Ted as well but I’m sort of biased on my love of early Family Guy for this pick. I get the feeling he’s incredibly intelligent as well. If you can not laugh through this roast you are a less funny person than I.

A few misses
-Adam Sandler was on the right path but took a complete U-Turn after Big Daddy.
-Jonah Hill is not funny in anything, ever, after I read that Rolling Stone article.
-Paul Rudd for some reason is put on a pedestal. He’s ok, but not really a comedian like he’s portrayed.

By Tom Stortz|2013-07-01T00:23:19-04:00July 1st, 2013|Celeb, Movies|4 Comments

Tom’s Treasures Part 2

Part one of a few of my favorite items can be found here. This will continue the list.

Favorite Pornstar – 90’s Jenna Jameson

I had a hard time making this entry. I don’t think all of these pictures are from the 90’s but they are close enough to that time period to give the idea of what the best pornstar of all time looked like. I feel bad for all the young kids of today who get to see a washed up, plastic, pill popping, rail thin Jenna because she wasn’t always like that. Before ClubJenna and when she was with Vivid, Jenna Jameson was/is the best thing that ever happened to porn. She even had heartbreaker tattooed on her ass so all the guys knew what they were dealing with. It isn’t a contest really. She had the looks, the body, and then even the brains to revolutionize the industry. Jenna in her prime was a work of art rivaling the Sistine Chapel.

Favorite Professional Sports League – NFL

Far and away the best professional sport. 16 game season, playing once a week, every game is meaningful, hard hitting, talent shines, and nothing’s for certain. The NFL is the polar opposite of baseball and why I love one and can’t stand the other. Even though I’ve never played football I get such a kick out of what these players are able to do and how dedicated they are to their sport because without complete focus, they have no chance. I grew up playing basketball and even though that’s my favorite sport to play, the NBA is a so-so run league. The NFL has hit the nail on the head and with the rise of Fantasy Football (we actually used to play back in the 90’s when Pishy would score by hand), I’m completely hooked. Throw in some action on the games, a beer, a lazy Sunday and I’m in paradise.

Favorite Actor – Kevin Spacey

I enjoy Kevin Spacey’s acting. He’s cool, calm, and collected one minute and then at the drop of a hat he can turn ballistic. He gets in tune with the character he’s portraying and then makes you believe he’s the character. It’s acting 101 but he does it better than most. Seven and the Usual Suspects stand out as ultimate villains. American Beauty was obviously one of his main hits and I particularly enjoyed the Big Kahuna which I’m sure no one has seen. I know he did House of Cards as well which I’m sure was great. I could have picked Pitt, DeNiro, Nicholson, Hanks, or Damon for this category but I like Spacey’s style more.

Favorite Album – Dark Side of the Moon

The Dark Side of the Moon’s themes include conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by Barrett’s deteriorating mental state. For me this is the album I listen to when I’m fucked up. Not so much anymore but Evan can attest to my late night escapades stumbling in at 2am and blaring DSoTM. I’d usually be asleep by Time but when I was listening it was like magic. At 43 minutes if I remember correctly, it’s the perfect length of not being too long or too short. The tracks on it are all top notch and I really can’t think of any other album that is close to this one. I’m not alone either as it remained in the charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988. With an estimated 50 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd’s most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide.

Favorite Shorts – Dockers

The shorts are 20 dollars. Most shorts are just shorts but I can’t find anything wrong with the Docker’s shorts. They are priced right, pockets are fine, length is a tad short but not noticeable. They last a long time and you can buy 10 different colors if you wish. I have no reason to try another pair

By Tom Stortz|2013-06-18T23:05:05-04:00June 18th, 2013|Movies, Music, Sports|0 Comments

Tom’s Treasures

Here’s a post that will describe a few of what I consider the best of the best. What you’ll find in this post are my favorite books, movies, games, music and anything else I can think of to round out a full post. I may have to use a couple parts but I have high hopes for this type of post and the commentary it can potentially generate.

Favorite Movie – Schindler’s List

It made me cry. I thought about this topic for a while and no other movie I can think of made me cry like this one. Any movie that is able to deliver that kind of emotion has to be at the top of the list. Liam Neeson was phenomenal and even though it’s been years since I’ve watched it, that feeling at the end of the movie has never left me. I’ve seen many good movies too and it’s not only the crying factor, this was an all around wonderful movie. I think I may have shed a tear during 7 pounds as well for what it’s worth.

Honorable Mention – Shawshank Redemption, Platoon, Forrest Gump, Goodfellas

Favorite Board Game – Clue

It bothers me that more people don’t like Clue. People think it’s a complicated game and dismiss it. What they don’t realize is that they are missing out on a game that involves trickery, paying attention, and deducing from partial information. It’s a smart person’s game and if you don’t like it… Aside from the games when Bud, Bill, Chris, and myself used to play when we were little, I haven’t found a group of people who actually enjoy Clue. We are trying to get a Risk game together and I’m equally trying to find some Clue participants. Get a clue.

Honorable Mention – Stratego, Scattergories, Chess

Favorite Band – Led Zeppelin

This was pretty easy for me. I was listening to Rock and Roll the other day and every song I listened to after it was dwarfed in comparison. Led Zeppelin makes other music worse. The synergy created from all 4 members make this band legendary. I don’t think anyone has touched the benchmark set by them in 40 years. Here was a post I did a while back about my favorite Zeppelin songs. If I’m ready to rock out, I go with Zeppelin.

Honorable Mention – Beatles. Everyone else is on a different tier.

Favorite TV Show – The Wire

I thought about this for a little while and the answer is the Wire because it ended at the right time. Aside from docks season which was a little whack, every single episode and season delivered. I started drinking Jameson as my drink of choice after mimicking McNulty. Breaking Bad was a close second but I think Bud summed it up perfectly that season 4 didn’t leave a lot unanswered. The 1st half of the 5th season, although good, didn’t need to be. I’ll obviously watch the 2nd half but I think it should have stopped. Knowing when to end a show is important. Bad things happened with Sopranos, Dexter, True Blood… I think Game of Thrones has mighty potential though. I think I watched the Wire in a few weeks time playing episode after episode until my eyes closed. There hasn’t been a better TV show created. I do think it’s a bit unfair though to compare this with a 22 minute episode on a national network.

Honorable Mention – GoT, Breaking Bad, Seinfeld

Favorite Book – Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

This is a weird pick because I skimmed through 75 pages of John Galt’s speech (I’m sure this could be people’s favorite part) which was entirely overwhelming and the ending action scene seemed incredibly dumb, but for 3 months of reading this book I would be engrossed in the life of Dagney, Reardon, John Galt, and Francisco. I even took notes during this book and I was reading it for fun! The story shed light on different political and life views of characters which was mind opening. I probably missed many relevant parts of this story and forget them to this date but if I ever get the chance, I wouldn’t hesitate to re-read this book. This also made me read the Fountainhead which was also incredibly good.

Honorable Mention – Napoleon Hill The Law of Success & Stephen Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

By Tom Stortz|2013-06-17T21:26:46-04:00June 17th, 2013|Movies, Music, My Brain, Tv|2 Comments

The Limousines – Hush

There have been quite a few new releases of highly anticipated albums lately such as 30 Seconds to Mars, Vampire Weekend, The National, Daft Punk, Portugal The Man, and Capital Cities but I’ve found the Limousines album Hush the one I’ve been listening to the most. I imagine most people probably have never even heard of the Limousines but their last album produced hits like “Internet Killed the Video Star” and “Very Busy People“. Without getting into too much background info, their record label didn’t treat them fairly and they looked towards Kickstarter to help them raise money for this album. Initially planning to raise $30,000, fans donated $76,000 before the 30 day close. This huge success for the Limousines leaves them contract- and label-free for their Hush Album.

I went back and listened to their first album (which I never had all the way through) and Hush is much more refined. The songs contain more meaning lyrically and have the ability to draw you in. The album kicks off with 3 songs that won’t get the attention that they deserve. AltNation has already started playing Love is a Dog From Hell but Stranger is the best song on the album. The line “I want to love you in real life” sticks. The next track that I look forward to is Wrecking Ball. It’s an upbeat song that gets you grooving. Every song has lives off it’s own merit though and that is something you don’t find often. The last album that I would listen to every single song all the way through and not get annoyed with certain ones was A Silent Film Sand & Snow , which I also believe was underrated. The album Hush is still relatively unknown when I see the views on Spotify on Youtube but I wouldn’t be surprised if this album starts getting some more attention once people get the chance to hear it more often. Give these songs below a listen and see if this band is for you.

Limousines – The Stranger

Limousines – Wrecking Ball

By Tom Stortz|2013-06-10T23:20:18-04:00June 10th, 2013|Movies|0 Comments

From Good To Bad

Everyone is a critic. Whether you want to be or not, at some point during whatever it is you experience, you have to decide whether you like it or not. Some people will go off their first reaction, others will dig deeper for meaning, and others still will analyze something until all meaning is lost. I tend to think I’ve seen enough movies, listened to enough songs, and experienced enough life that I can use my brain to produce original thought about something. I’m going to explore a few scenarios when TV, movies, or music start going south after being great. This happens fairly often when the initial story lines or newish appeal have been played out and the idea gets continued because it’s popular and makes a lot of money.

Django Unchained

The movie that inspired the post because I watched it recently. Fantastic movie for 2 hours and then Christoph Waltz parted and the ending was abysmal. What I loved about the movie was the budding relationship between Waltz and Foxx, the attention to detail in their interactions, and the antagonist DiCaprio had me constantly wondering what he was thinking of doing next. Then the actual climax of the movie occurs when DiCaprio insists to shake Waltz hand, carnage ensues, and unrealistic nonsense follows. I lost interest when Foxx had 25 guns pointed at him and walked away. The ending just got stupid. No hero bullshit could keep me from caring at that point.

Dexter

I think Dexter WAS a 1st class television show. The Ice Truck Killer, Lundy and the Bay Harbor Butcher, Miguel and the Skinner (the Skinner was actually kind of lame), and then the zenith with the Trinity Killer and Rita. 4 seasons of pure gold. Every episode had you on the edge of your seat wondering how Dexter was going to get out of the jam he got himself in. After season 4, there hasn’t been a quality season. Lumen and Jordan Chase, Travis Marshall, and finally Hannah McKay was all crap. Dexter just got played out and I think the villains make the show and the latter seasons just missed the mark. I’ll still watch the show but I know that it’s not what it used to be.

Family Guy

After 11 seasons and 205 episodes, this show has gotten whack. I absolutely loved the first few seasons. Their ideas were fresh, they took the jokes to a different level, and the 22 minutes of entertainment was delightful. Somewhere along the way Seth McFarlene became bigger than the show itself and the writers took over. This new thought doesn’t have the same pizzazz as Seth and the show isn’t as good. Same thing happened with the Simpsons over time. People start to lose interest. 6-7 seasons is a solid run but once the ideas start cramping, it’s time to quit.

Weezer

I would go as far as saying I hate every new Weezer song. The Blue album was top notch. Every song was worth listening to. Songs like My Name is Jones, Holiday, Surf Wax America and In The Garage were classics and they weren’t even the hits. Pinkerton was pretty average but The Green Album hit again with songs like Hash Pipe and Island in the Sun. After that it’s been complete crap with Beverly Hills, Pork and Beans, and Troublemaker. Strange how everything after their first album hasn’t been as good. Rivers must have lost his mind somewhere along the way.

U2
Boy, October, and War had a few decent songs (I Will Follow, Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year’s Day) but the pinnacle of U2 is the Joshua Tree. I’ve included the full album below so you can listen to one of the greatest complete albums of the 80’s. U2 never actually went out of fashion and made good music since The Joshua Tree (Even Better Than The Real Thing, Mysterious Ways, Vertigo, Beautiful Day, One) but nothing in my estimation can match the Joshua Tree as a whole. One of my favorite albums ever. I think Bono is such a humanitarian that he doesn’t have as much time for the music and lost some passion along the way.

By Tom Stortz|2013-04-18T12:18:09-04:00April 18th, 2013|Movies, Music, Tv|0 Comments