Eight more movies from September (part 2 of 3). (You may have seen this posted on Saturday. My mistake. It belongs here on Monday.)

159. (466.) The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Back in June, I asked two friends "what is the best movie that you think I've never seen?" They both said Cabin in the Woods. I really enjoyed Cabin in the Woods, but they must think I've seen a whole lot more movies than I actually have.

160. (467.) Erased (2012)
Another of my father's picks. (I spent a bunch of time with Dad in September, as I was ferrying him to multiple hospitals for medical tests.) This spy thriller was better than some, I guess. I think I've just had enough of anything remotely related to the Bourne series.

161. (468.) Carousel (1956)
The story of a woman who thinks that love means enjoying being beaten by her deadbeat husband. I read that critics love this movie. Shirley Jones reportedly called it one her favorites. I hated it.

162. (469.) Elmer Gantry (1960)
Every bit deserving its reputation. This movie is deep and nuanced. Generally speaking, I don't care for movies that frame morally corrupt characters as protagonists, but Burt Lancaster is riveting. At the end of the movie is he rehabilitated or not? Fantastic!

163. (470.) Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
A thoughtful commentary of the horror genre in the same vein as Cabin in the Woods. Maybe because this film is more realistic (if that's the right word for a slapstick comedy like this), I liked this more than Cabin in the Woods.

164. (471.) The Legend of Awesomest Maximus (2011)
Comedy is mostly timing, and that's a lesson that the director and editor of this film haven't yet learned. Too much crass, too little clever. It's not the worst National Lampoon production I've seen, but it is near the bottom (both figuratively and literally).

165. (472.) Black Eagle (2012)
Advertised as the South Korean version of Top Gun, it's really more Iron Eagle 2. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

166. (473.) Branded (2012)
This pointed satire about marking in modern society takes an abrupt and wildly unexpected right turn in the second act. I still don't know if I liked it, but I have thought about it since watching it. That's usually the sign of a pretty good film.

More to come.

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There's not a lot of good things I can say about this game other than it's over. Not unexpected, but still very disappointing.

Missouri 41, UGA 26

Our injuries on offense caught up with us. So far this season, we have lost the #1 and #2 tailbacks and the #1, #2, and #3 wide receivers on our depth chart from the start of the season, all to knee injuries.

It really didn't help that our defense played true to form, giving up 41 points. So far this season, UGA's defense has surrendered an average of 34 points per game. That is terrible by any standard, but is recipe for disaster in the SEC.

All that proved too much to overcome against undefeated Missouri, which remains undefeated after beating us 41-26 (in their very first trip ever to Athens, GA). I like to say "the exodus has begun" when the crowd starts to leave Sanford Stadium in bulk each week. I suspect after the injuries and continued porous defense, the exodus may have begun on the season.

Congratulations, Coach Bobo, you're no longer the worst coach on the team. That honor currently belongs to the four Strength and Conditioning coaches (Joe Tereshinski, John Thomas, Sherman Armstrong, and Justin Lovett), all now worse than you are. Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham's mess on defense for 2 straight seasons is putting him in the doghouse, too. But don't think the failure of so many other coaches lets you off the hook, Bobo. Your offense wasn't spectacular this week, either. Missouri seemed to have a good idea how to slow down your offense. I'll say it one more time: if everyone in the stands can predict the next play, so can the coaches on the other teams. You don't have the talent left to bail out your predictable play calls.

No more home games until after we play Florida in November. Here's hoping that UGA can right the ship next week against Vanderbilt in Nashville before our chances at an SEC Championship appearance evaporate completely.

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Next time: choke chain

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When I was a kid, it used to bother me to wake up and find one of my parents watching me sleep.

Shh!

I get it now.

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I haven't been very good about updating the "work" section of this site lately (so much of what I've done in the recent past is app coding, which doesn't show off very well), but here's something that I just finished that I think turned out well.

Zombie Day, Saturday, October 26, 2013

For the record, yes, I enjoyed this project despite thinking that zombies are stupid and never having seen a single episode of The Walking Dead. Sweet, sweet irony.

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October is all-pink month in the NFL. Last night, the Cleveland Browns debuted their first ever "all-brown" uniform in honor of Jim Brown. The uniforms were all brown except for the pink shoes, gloves, and accessories. Even the ref's flags were pink. Good way to ruin the moment, NFL.

The pink is the NFL's way to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I'd look like a misogynist if I complained about the tackiness of the NFL spray-painting everything pink, but that's why I have a mother. When she saw the NFL's commercial promoting the campaign, she wondered aloud what kind of woman needs to watch a bunch of fat men playing ball to be reminded to have a breast exam. I couldn't have said it better myself, Mom.

Naturally, I think this over-use of pink is counterproductive. If as an average fan I am used to cheering for my team colors, how am I likely to respond to an outside source forcing a change of my team's colors? Do you think that the average person is going to be more receptive or less receptive? If the current brouhaha over the government's implication of Obamacare is any indication, I think we can know the answer to that question.

The league won't prevent players from wearing helmets that it knows are deficient at stopping concussions that lead to long-term brain injuries, but it will dress all its players in pink to remind the women to take a look for lumps. To the NFL, boobs are more important than brains.

But then again, we already knew that, didn't we.

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Twenty-four movies were watched by me in September. I think 12 is too many to post at a time, so I'll break 'em up into groups of 8.

151. (458.) Julie & Julia (2009)
Meryl Streep as Julia Child is fantastic and endearing. Amy Adams as some other bitch is just irritating. (This is the girl they chose to play Lois Lane in Man of Steel? Really?) Otherwise, this movie depicts blogging as sort of a narcissistic shouting into empty space in the vain hope that someone will hear the echo, which is pretty darn accurate.

152. (459.) Dan in Real Life (2007)
Lonely, lovable, loser? It's the role Steve Carrel was typecast to play! Dane Cook was also appropriately typecast as the douche, a role he was born to play!

153. (460.) Murder, He Says (1945)
This Fred MacMurray slapstick comedy really should have had a different name. It is far more Marx Brothers than Sam Spade.

154. (461.) The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
I think I've said this before, but Walter Matthau is another one of those actors (John Wayne, Gene Hackman) that I hated as a kid but love as an adult. He gives a great "everyman" performance in this well crafted thriller.

155. (462.) The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)
I watched the original and the sequel back-to-back. The sequel has nothing to recommend it over the original except, perhaps, James Gandolfini channeling an Eliot Spitzer/Micheal Bloomberg composite. Travolta is terrible in his now all-too-familiar over-the-top villain role. Ugh.

156. (463.) Bangkok Revenge (2011)
Dad isn't picky about his movies. Sometimes that's good, as it gets us this lump of coal. I classify it as an unrefined but entertaining martial arts movie.

157. (464.) Dawn of the Dragonslayer (2011)
Sometimes Dad's indiscretion gets us this kind of lump of crap. More romance than action, mainly because there is almost no action. Plus, when the dragons do show up, they look bad!

158. (465.) The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2011)
The third movie chosen by father on the same night. I think he liked it more than I did. I know that it was supposed to be the Eastern fairy tale, but it felt too artificial for my tastes.

More to come.

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We just reseeded the back yard. The girls are not happy about it.

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This LSU/Georgia game was probably the most exciting game I've seen in Sanford Stadium in the past decade.

LSU 41, UGA 44

I mean, I've seen some great games. Back when Tennessee was still the team to beat in the early 2000s, the atmosphere was electric. Before Cam Newton destroyed them, Auburn games always had a great atmosphere. I seem to recall that Steve Spurrier's first year as coach of the Gamecocks was a fantastic game. This one beat them all.

ESPN's College Game Day was in town for the game (the third time since I've had season tickets), and the fans were really worked up hours before kickoff. The crowd was on its feet making noise almost continuously for all for quarters. I screamed my head off, and I thought I was going to be sick when LSU got the ball in the final 2 minutes down by 3 points. (The Georgia offense scored nearly at will, but the secondary couldn't stop anything. It was terrifying!) I don't know that I've ever been so exhausted after a game.

After the game, the players thanked the fans leaving the stadium, something I've never seen before

In fact, the whole night was just crazy. UGA head basketball Mark Fox dressed in body paint to hang out with the student section. Former UGA golf star Bubba Watson tried not to upstage his wife, former UGA basketball star Angie Ball Watson, as she was celebrated between quarters. Olympic gold medal winner Allison Schmitt was among feted members of the SEC champion UGA swimming/diving team. After the game, David Pollack danced with his kid in the end zone as Mark Richt sought out and hugged his wife. When Aaron Murray came out of the locker room for an interview with ESPN (on the northwest corner of the field after the game), the rest of the team came with him. They lined up single-file to hi-five the crowd still trying to leave the stadium. I've never seen anything like that.

It was all pretty damn awesome. This is why I attend football games.

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Also to the Batman/football crossover, Under Armour has licensed DC Comics properties to make superhero undershirts. Under Armour markets these products as their "Alter Ego" line. You may have seen the Superman t-shirts at athletic stores or sidelines. But have you seen these gloves?

Bat-Signalling for the ball

These "MEN'S UNDER ARMOUR® ALTER EGO BATMAN HIGHLIGHT FOOTBALL GLOVES" are currently sold out at underarmour.com, but are selling for up to $200 on eBay.

The market has spoken. Batman + football = awesome.

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To be continued...

 

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