I just finished watching Rocky Balboa, written and directed by Sylvester Stallone.

WOW.

That’s really all I can say about it. The strength in the movie lies in that it fully understands and appreciates that a 60-year old boxer would not logically be able to stand toe-to-toe with a boxer in his prime, and yet pushes you to hope. Hope, redemption, and heart seem to be the key themes associated with the movie, and it’s Stallone’s beautifully underplayed and fragile performance that sells it so well.

Whereas we’re used to seeing Rocky fight opponents that are out of his league physically, we’re drawn into the prospect that this time, it’s his own age and body that prove to be his biggest opponents. With that all said though, this isn’t a regular Rocky movie in that you’re expected to learn to love him just through his arduous physical training. The first hour or more is solely spent on careful character study of Rocky’s condition and environment. Milo Ventimiglia does a great job as well as Rocky Jr., as does Geraldine Hughes, who plays Marie, a friend to Rocky.

I’ll have to admit, the music, at points, was a bit heavy-handed. I could sense that Stallone really wanted you to get emotional and perhaps a bit misty-eyed. But if that’s all that can be said as a negative for this film which had me at points getting… emotional, on the edge of my seat, and laughing, it should be trivial, at best.

To be totally honest, this is easily the best work Stallone has done, and he should’ve been nominated for an Oscar for it (which, incidentally, is tonight). You’ll also note that I haven’t put much in the way of plot summary together, partially because it’s so readily available online to view (here’s an example) and I thought hey, I’d put my own thoughts of the film on my site.

Ultimately, I just have to say- watch it as soon as you get the chance.

“I’m gonna start my own band, and you’re gonna be a funny little footnote on my epic ASS.”
-Jack Black, School of Rock

“Give me Pringles or give me death,”
Michelle, by far usurping Patrick Henry’s similar quote with something with much more gravity in real life. We were talking about eating ‘healthy snacks’.

Forget Hilary, Obama, and the rest. If you really want to vote for someone who has a strong view on life, vote General Zod for President in 2008! (Ahem…. he’s from Superman II.) Make sure to check out the Kids’ Section– hilarity.

I don’t know if any of you kids remember this song, but it was awesome and hilarious all at once. I think I’m gonna make it my theme song.

You should definitely also check out its lyrics to see how it goes. My fave line?
“I wish I was like six-foot-nine
So I could get with Leoshi
Cause she don’t know me but yo she’s really fine”

First off, some “no shit” news for Oklahoma football fans– the official who screwed up the call against Oregon (and perhaps our chance of being in the national title game) has lost his job as a ref. Good riddance. But of course to be totally honest, if we played either Ohio State or Florida in the national championship, as a true Sooner fan, I’ll say that we would’ve gotten beaten. ESPECIALLY Florida after the lynching they did of Ohio State.

Next up on the agenda– pictures of The Original Last Wish Baby are now online. Suraj, one of our cast members, had his friend take photos of the entire show and he took some memorable shots. Enjoy ‘em if you’d like.

Other than that, I’m gonna have to reformat again today so I’ll be offline for quite a while. Have some video-editing work to do for a client and my hard drive is way too small and I have to clear out most of my stuff to get going again.

And with that, I’m out!

So a man in Independence, Missouri allegedly shoved a cellphone down his girlfriend’s throat. Had something to do with cheating, but sometimes when girls get call after call after call after call and they just keep TALKING, wouldn’t you want to do the same?

“So I’m gonna burp in like, 2 seconds…..but…”
-Nisha, and who knows (or cares) what the next sentence was, but this in itself was hilarious.