He's Still Got It!

Totally lost in the shuffle for me earlier this year was Arnold Schwarzenegger's return to feature films, The Last Stand. It was released in January amid Oscar season, and overlooked in lists of 2013 blockbusters. It didn't make a ton of money, but was favorably reviewed getting 60% at Rotten Tomatoes. 

So, it was released on video this past week, and being an Ah-nuld Aficionado, I thought I'd give it a shot. My one-word review:

AWESOME!

Perhaps I have devolved to the point where for me to truly enjoy a movie, I have to be surprised. Following movies too closely can spoil the plot, but it's easy to stay away from that. That's not what I'm talking about here. I am talking about expectations. If I go into a movie expecting to be blown away, and it is great but doesn't live up to the hype, it's still a disappointment.   

Prometheus is the perfect example here. A great movie, but it could never live up to 30+ years of Alien/Ridley Scott hype. The Last Stand is the opposite case. It came at me from the side, for the reasons above. Also, I didn't really hear much buzz about it. It seems everyone is waiting for the next Terminator/Predator/Conan Ah-nuld movie, and this little pic was just a small blip on the radar.

So am I ruining your movie experience simply by writing this? Probably! Look, Ah-nuld is older and will never be the physical star he once was. However, this movie acknowledges that, and plays to it. The action sequences were great, and there was a LOT of it. However, I have one thing for you to consider while you watch: flare gun. You'll know what I mean when you see it!!! Just see this one.

The Circle of Life

Never was Troy McClure so right... 

Two monkeys race a bear in a bicycle race. What's the worst thing that could happen? I have been laughing for two straight days watching this one! I'm only sorry I didn't post it sooner so Ian and Colin could watch it repeatedly on their drive home yesterday!

Ender's Game

The trailer is out:



Looks like the movie, which comes out November 1, 2013, is actually going to be pretty good. Although they seem to have given away a rather large surprise, but most people will probably not notice.  Can't wait to see this alone after Mia falls asleep.

Notre Dame Stadium Updates (Proposed)

Artist rendering of a future Notre Dame Stadium

I hate ESPN, but they sometimes have some good info.  This is the first I've heard about a proposed update to Notre Dame Stadium.  It's not much of a seating increase, only about 3,000 seats.  But it adds luxury boxes, a club-level, and some other high-end amenities that the Stadium doesn't have and would be lucrative to ND and appealing to future students and student-athletes.

Swarbrick is the biggest name quoted in the article, and everything is still undetermined, but ND usually doesn't release this type of info, and especially not with quotes by someone with Swarbrick's prestige, without having a fairly solid plan.  It'll be interesting to see how this develops in the next few years.