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"Bruno" movie review

This follow-up to Borat by Sasha Baron Cohen didn't quite live up to the standards he set with his Kazakhi documentary from 2006.

Bruno, a flaming homosexual fashionista, travels the world in the hopes of becoming the "most famous Austrian since Hitler". 

Bruno does similar outrageous gags like Borat did, taking advantage of unsuspecting people and one annoyed terrorist. 

The result isn't as shocking as Borat, but the humor is much more crude, with an inordinate amount of full-frontal nudity.

It is good for a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, but not on the scale of Borat.

Rating:  2 1/2 Schnauzers

"OctoMom" is Crazy

I have had some "complaints" from friends saying that I should post more social commentary and less about my trips to Publix and other such trivial topics.  So here is my first "commentary".  Who better to comment on than the "Octomom".

Seriously, people, aren't we all tired of hearing about her?  This woman, who already had six kids, had eight embryos implanted and gave birth recently to eight more children, giving her a full soccer team with three subs.  As a single mother without a job, Octomom is getting exactly what she set out for: fame.  The newsmedia in this country continues to talk about her every day, she is on every newsbroadcast, every late-night show, and TMZ covers her every move like she was Brad and Angelina (the latter whom she has tried to construct her face to look like). 

Yesterday, Octo decided to fire the 24-hour nanny care that was being provided to her free of charge.  Good idea, psycho!  She added to her "legend" yesterday by becoming the modern-day OJ in terms of calling 911.   Her own "nanny" called the police because child advocate and famed lawyer Gloria Allred was in the house, and Octo wanted her removed. 

The Governator needs to step in, get child services involved, and have them do what's in the best interest of the children.  They need to be in a home with a family that can provide for them.  So unless the Octomom is going to accept the $1 million porn offer, we're going to be stuck with stories about crazy 911 calls, fired nannies, and Dr. Phil.

Elton and Billy

Tone and I arrived at the St. Pete Times Forum, after dealing with some traffic on the Gandy Bridge due to construction, at about 6:30 for the show, scheduled to start at 7:30. We paid only $5 to park, and walked to the Forum. We got to the luxury box, which was even with the stage on the second level, and there was a couple already there. The arena was empty, and since the box didn't have any real food, Tone and I went and got Outback, brought it up to the suite, and ate.

An elderly couple from Newfoundland entered the box, and we spent the better part of the time before the showing chatting with them, along with two guys in town (from Ft. Lauderdale and Cleveland).

The lights went down and two pianos rose from the stage at about 7:45. At this point, the entire arena was packed (announced crowd of 20,900 or so). The crowd was on its feet as Billy Joel walked onto the stage. Sir Elton John made his entrance a few moments later to the delight of the sell-out crowd. The sat at their respective pianos and as they played the opening sounds of Elton's "Your Song". I am not a big fan of this song, so I'm glad they got it out of the way at the beginning. Following that, the duo kept it slow with Joel's "Honesty", which is very underrated, and this was the first time I heard this song live, in my sixth BJ concert.

After this opening pair, both men's bands took the stage and jammed to Elton's classic "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", before tackling Billy's uptempo "My Life". It is amazing seeing these two legends perform on one stage, and this was the third time I've seen one of these Face2Face shows.

Elton had the stage to himself next, and for about an hour, played a collection of his biggest hits. The only ones I wanted to hear that he didn't play were "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" and "I Guess That's Why the Call it the Blues". But with over 30 years of music and only a brief time, some songs just couldn't get played. After closing with "Crocodile Rock", the Rocket Man ceded the stage to the Piano Man, who spent his time jamming out all his hits while mixing in playful and funny comments, including thanking the fans in "Gainesville (actually at the other end of the arena) for buying tickets. Once Billy finished with "Only the Good Die Young", he left the stage, but the crowd knew what was coming. Sir Elton and Billy returned to close out the 3 hour, 15 minute show with six more songs, including "Birthday" and "Back in the USSR", by the Beatles. The show ended, of course, with the stars, joined by the crowd, singing Piano Man.

This concert, though I've seen it three times now, is still a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Elton is 62 in a few weeks, and Billy is 59. They will not be around much longer, and I'm hoping to take Jen to see this tour next year at Madison Square Garden, which would be the ultimate experience.

Set List

Together: “Your Song”, “Honesty”, “Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, “My Life”,

John and his band: “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”, “Saturday Night's Alright”, ”Burn Down the Mission”, “Madman Across the Water”, “Tiny Dancer”, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, “Daniel”, “Rocket Man”, “Levon”, “I'm Still Standing”, “Crocodile Rock”

Joel and his band: “Angry Young Man”, “Movin' Out”, “Allentown”, “Zanzibar”, “She's Always a Woman”, “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant”, "River of Dreams”, “We Didn't Start the Fire”, "It's Still Rock 'N Roll to Me”, “Only the Good Die Young”

Together again: “The Bitch Is Back”, “You May Be Right”, “Bennie and the Jets”, “Birthday/Back in the USSR”, “Candle in the Wind”, “Piano Man”

Thursday Night at The Venue

Thursday was my first night as a member of the media covering The Good Life Experience, Diddy and Deion Sanders' three-night Super Bowl event.

I arrived at the Venue at around 8:30 pm and got my credential for the red carpet. Stars weren't expected to arrive until after 10:30, but I wanted to make sure I got a good spot.

At around 9:30, the rain started and all the members of the media were forced underneath the entrance to The Venue, making us all tightly squeezed and uncomfortable. Since I was taking photographs, I had to kneel so I wouldn't block the TV cameras. It was cool, though.

Quarterback Joe Flacco, who is on my fantasy team, was the first celebrity to arrive. Winky Wright, who was the night's official host, arrived soon after, followed by "Primetime", Deion Sanders.

In no particular order, these stars were at the party, and seen on the red carpet:
American Idol Jordin Sparks, Willis McGahee, Clinton Portis, Santana Moss, Reche Caldwell, Andre Johnson, Chad Johnson, Andre Berto, Michael Clayton, Chidi Ahanatu, Ronnie Brown, Stormy Daniels, Albert Haynesworth, Chris Richardson of American Idol, Steven Jackson, Jason Witten, Kyle Orton and Shannon Sharpe.

Everyone, including the TV cameras, were waiting in the rain for one guy: Diddy. He finally arrived at a little after 1 am, but it was well worth it.

So my first night on the red carpet was terrific.

Friday night at The Venue

Friday night was the "Legends of the Good Life" event at The Venue, hosted by legendary cornerback Deion Sanders. It wasn't raining, but with the wind chill, it was under 40 degrees.

This night wasn't as big for celebrities, which was expected, because Maxim Magazine and ESPN had their parties as well.

The first celeb to arrive was Tommy "Tiny" Lister, better known as Deebo from Friday or as Zeus from the WWF in 1989. He is huge, but also very religious. He was talking about Jesus a lot.

Among the stars on this night included: Michael Clayon, Deion, Brian Davis (Duke basketball), Winky Wright, Playboy playmates, Rickey Watters, Maurice Stovall, Devin Hester and Gator quarterback Tim Tebow.

Diddy arrived with his security, but once again, he was friendly and posed for pictures and spoke with reporters.

Saturday night is Diddy's party.

Saturday night @ The Venue

This was Diddy's night, the "Icons of the Good Life" party. We knew it was going to have a great A-list, but we were hoping for some really big stars. Rumors were that maybe Will Smith, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Paris Hilton and Michael Jordan would be there. None of them were, but it was still a great night.

The red carpet was actually white, there were spotlights and dozens of onlookers hoping to take a picture of their favorite stars.

The first star of the night was one of the judges from "So You Think You Can Dance", Mary Murphy. After that, the stars kept coming, including:
Deion Sanders, Winky Wright, Gary Sheffield, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, Joe Mauer, DeMarcus Ware, Joba Chamberlain, Myron Rolle, Pepa, Ryan Howard, Ryan Nece, Bernard Berrian, Willis McGahee, Adrian Peterson, and Terrell Owens.

Diddy rolled in with a big posse, and posed for pictures for the fans behind the barricades. He was gracious and friendly once again, even taking a Terrible Towel out of his pocket and waving it around.

All-and-all it was a wonderful three days.

"Defiance" Movie Review

Defiance, starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schrieber as two of the four Bielski brothers, tells the story of a large group of Jews on the run from the Germans deep in the forests of Poland and Belorussia.

Craig leads as commander of the forest "community" and does a nice job in a role completely different from that of James Bond. His character tries to have morals, though in a time of war and where his family and friends have been brutally murdered, morals are hard to come by.

The group starts small but grows and grows throughout the film, making survival hard to come by. The people had to forage for food, live in makeshift huts and survive through the heat of summer and the dead of winter.

The story was one I was not familiar with before watching this film. It is an amazing story, one that is called "A True Story" before the movie begins. If this story is true, it is nothing short of remarkable.

What continues to amaze me though every time I see a movie about World War II and the Nazis, is that the United States, supposedly the most powerful nation in the world, did nothing for years while Hitler eliminated millions of innocent human beings from the earth.

The movie has a powerful message and by the end, you are cheering for the community and just hoping they can continue to survive.

Grade: Four Schnauzers

"Valkyrie" Movie Review

I was very happy to finally get to see this movie (thanks, Colleen). The release was delayed by MGM four separate times, but it was worth the wait.
The movie stars Tom Cruise as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the main figure in the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. This plot was the last of 15 known plots against the Nazi leader, and the movie did a fairly solid job showing how the plot took shape.
Cruise's character became the central figure of a plot that led to the hangings of about 200 people). The task of making it an enjoyable movie was compounded by the fact that everyone knew the outcome; that Hitler survived and continued in power until the following year). Director Bryan Singer uses an ensemble including Kenneth Branagh, Oscar-winner Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard and Bill Nighy to tell his story.
I would recommend this movie to fans of history. Cruise, while the big "star", didn't dominate the screen like he does in other movies (Mission: Impossible, etc), but fans of his will not be disappointed.

Grade: Three-and-a-half Schnauzers