Labor Day

Slow weekend on the blog as everyone is participating in Labor Day festivities. Enjoy your holiday weekend and I'll be back on Tuesday.

Palin named VP pick for McCain

John McCain has selected the Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running mate for the 2008 Elections. The official announcement is expected to come momentarily at a rally in Dayton, Ohio. This is coming off the heels of Obama's historic acceptance speech last night at the final night of the Democratic National Convention.

Personally, I feel that a woman VP is not a bad choice to help balance McCain's image as a conservative old man. Unfortunately, I don't think Palin is quite the right choice to be this woman. She is VERY inexperienced as she has only been governor for a year in Alaska. The democrats will have a field day ripping into her as they have already unearthed that she is under investigation for trying to get her ex brother-in-law fired from a committee position. When she is debating against Joe Biden, she will be slaughtered like a lamb as he literally has 35x the amount of experience as her. McCain is already looking weak coming off the DNC and this pick will not help him enough in the long run.

Bill Clinton at the DNC

Last night former President Bill Clinton gave his speech at day 3 of the Democratic National Convention. It was a tremendous speech that reminded us why Bill Clinton was the greatest president in my generation. Tonight Barack Obama speaks in front of a crowd estimated of 80,000 people. Only the second time a candidate will accept a nomination in a setting - the first was John F. Kennedy. Here's the full vid of Clinton's speech:

Citizens Beware

I plan on buying this fine piece of machinery, the lancer from Gears of War 2 and walking around the city fighting off any locusts that dare show their face. Amazon has begun taking pre-orders for the low price of 139.99 which gets you the gun and the game. I am now accepting donations.

Ted Kennedy at the DNC

Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, kicked off the Democratic National Convention last night in Denver. It was believed that this would be the first convention that he would miss in 40 years as he recently went under surgery for a brain tumor but he still made it and gave an inspiring speech. If there is one person to bring the party together, it's probably Ted Kennedy. Tonight Hillary Clinton will be giving a speech, check back tomorrow for video of that.

T.I. and Rihanna sample an internet hit

Here at the blog we have been chronicling the upcoming, much anticipated release of T.I.'s new album "Paper Trail" due out September 30th. Another song has leaked off the record, this one is a duet with Rihanna and features a sample of the Numa Numa song featured on a viral video from a few years ago. Take a gander:



http://www.zshare.net/download/1764333928aae7e8/

and here is the internet vid:

Oh No You Didn't

Quite possibly the greatest video game commercial ever.

Warner to start in Arizona

One of the greatest QB's to ever grace the frozen tundra, Kurt Warner, is set to start for the Arizona Cardinals this season according to sources at ESPN. Warner gets the job after some pathetic performances by Matt Leinart, someone who even makes Aaron Rodgers early draft pick look legit. It's about time the Cards front office picks a winner and Warner should be set to have another stellar season like last year. This picture is of him answering my phone call asking if I can stuff my face in his crotch. Long live #13.

Reaction to Biden

24 hours have passed since Delaware Senator Joe Biden (D) was announced as Barack Obama's running mate for the 2008 presidential election. The official announcement took place today in Springfield, Illinois the place where Obama kicked off his run for president about 2 years ago. Living in the world of instant news these days, the announcement wasn't a surprise at the 2 pm speech because CNN broke the story around 1 am last night, due to some leaks in Obama's camp. So where does that leave us heading into the ever so important 4 day democratic convention in Denver next week? McCain was quick to denounce Biden as a poor choice and said that it shows Obama is not as confident as he may appear. The left wing media seems to be behind the decision so far, even though Biden's past is certainly sketchy. So who is Joe Biden and will this turn out to be a smart move?

As far as the other candidates for VP goes, Biden is probably the most politically qualified. He became a senator at the young age of 29 and has had 2 presidential runs himself (1988,2008). Biden is an ivy league scholar and a pillar of the democratic party. Biden's main selling points are on 2 very important issues that Obama really needed to win on. Biden is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a chief expert on international policy. Biden is very respected in the Senate and is even a friend of McCain's. Biden will be bringing 35 years of experience to counteract criticism of Obama not being ready. Another major selling point is that Biden comes from working class roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The battleground states for this election will be Pennsylvania and Ohio and hopefully Biden can get PA in the bag for Obama.

Unfortunately for the good, there must be the bad. Leading up to the primaries it was Biden himself who was Obama's biggest critic. Biden has stated publically that he didn't feel Obama was ready to handle the presidency. He also made semi-racist comments about Indian's and said Obama was one of the "cleanest, well put together, african americans he's seen." Both of these comments got him major flack and are already coming back to haunt him. Then you have his infamous 1988 presidential run where he was in a position of coming very close to obtaining the democratic party nomination. That was until it was discovered he had been copying speeches from British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. He admitted to the plagiarism and was forced to drop out of the race. His bid earlier this year ended even quicker. Biden does bring the visual of an old well established white man to the ticket which will help go up against McCain's image, but he is known to be long winded in speeches and doesn't always know when to stop. Biden once told a reporter he "thinks he has a much higher IQ than him" after being asked about his ivy league education. He has also stated that he loves to hear himself talk, and has spent much of his interviews in the past going on tangents about his family and personal life.

I think Obama may have shown a little weakness with Biden but there aren't too many better candidates that he had to choose from. I think the positive part about Biden as VP is that he is a fighter and will stick his ground in debates and on important issues. He is a roman catholic but liberal enough to support abortion. He originally voted for the war in Iraq but since then has admitted his mistake and has constantly questioned President Bush's actions. Biden is a family man that experienced a very big tragedy in life when his wife and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed when a tractor-trailer broad-sided her station wagon. While this event happened decades ago and he has since remarried and had kids with another woman, it could still make a great personal interest story to pull the heart strings of voters.

Only time will tell how Joe Biden will fare on the campaign trail, but with a strong VP candidate in his corner Barack Obama has made himself a well rounded force to be reckoned with. I'll have some coverage throughout the Democratic National Convention this week. For more information on Obama's campaign click here.

BIDEN AS OBAMA'S VP

Delaware senator Joe Biden is announced as Barack Obama's running mate for the 2008 presidential election. The following story is from the Associated Press:

Barack Obama told everyone he wanted a running mate who will challenge his thinking, and now he's got one. Joe Biden's tendency to speak his own mind—and speak and speak—is entwined in his DNA.
The loquacious Delaware senator brings more than verbiage to Obama's side. Biden is a foreign policy heavyweight with a decade longer in the Senate than the seasoned Republican presidential candidate, John McCain. That's almost three more decades of experience than his new boss.

In Washington, Biden, 65, is known as a collegial figure even when he's competitive—one who can spin flowery praise one moment and biting fulmination the next.

His second presidential campaign faltered early on, just one of the Democrats shunted to the sidelines as the bracing contest between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton sucked the air out of the rest of the field.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden is one of the most influential foreign policy voices in Congress. An internationalist and strong supporter of the United Nations, he is a leading critic of what he sees as the vague, unilateralist approach of President Bush.

Biden voted in 2002 to authorize the Iraq invasion, which Obama opposed from the start. Since then, he's become a firm critic of the conflict and pushed through a resolution last year declaring that Bush's troop increase—now considered a military success—was "not in the national interest."

One of the youngest politicians ever elected to the Senate—he was 29—Biden entered the 1988 Democratic presidential primary promising to "rekindle the fire of idealism in our society." He reluctantly quit the race three months later after he was caught lifting lines from a speech by a British Labour Party leader.

In his latest effort, Biden proved to be a cheerful campaigner who mixed easily with voters, got along with rivals and displayed a self-deprecating sense of humor that leavened debates and speeches. When he was asked in one debate whether he's much too wordy, he drew laughs with a one-word answer, "No."

Obama jumped in to defend him on another occasion when he was asked if he had a problem with minorities.

The question was rooted in Biden's occasional gaffes. He had apologized earlier for describing Obama as "articulate" and "clean" in one unguarded episode that was taken by some to have a racial overtone. And he'd had to defend his remark that "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."

Biden confronted tragedy five weeks after his first election. In 1972, his first wife, Neilia, and 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed when a tractor-trailer broad-sided her station wagon as she drove home with a family Christmas tree. His sons Beau and Hunt were badly hurt.

He was sworn in from the hospital bedside of one his sons and still won't work on Dec. 18, the date of the accident.

In 1977, Biden married Jill Tracy Jacobs. They have a daughter, Ashley. Both of his sons are lawyers, and the elder son, Beau, was elected state attorney general of Delaware in November.

Biden himself had a close brush with death in February 1988, when he was hospitalized for two brain aneurysms. It was seven months before he could return to the Senate.

Britney Spears real singing voice

This is the live mic feed taken from the sound board of what britney spears really sounds like when she is lip syncing to a back track. Of course when you're at the show it sounds CD quality because.. well.. they're playing her cd. Enjoy.

Fantasy Football

The best part about football season other than beer, burgers, and fapping to cheerleaders is fantasy football. I am in a couple leagues as my friends and acquaintances pray to god they get the chance to have me running TD's and picking INT's all over them, but its my work league where I think my team is the strongest. Here's the line up, look out for something big and shiny on my ring finger in December...

QB Eli Manning (NYG - QB)
QB Jason Campbell (Was - QB)
WR Randy Moss (NE - WR)
WR Wes Welker (NE - WR)
WR Hines Ward (Pit - WR)
RB Julius Jones (Sea - RB)
RB Ahman Green (Hou - RB)
TE Antonio Gates (SD - TE)
W/T Laveranues Coles (NYJ - WR)
W/R Chester Taylor (Min - RB)
K Nate Kaeding (SD - K)
DEF San Diego (SD - DEF)
D Ray Lewis (Bal - DL)
D Gary Brackett (Ind - DL)
DB Richard Marshall (Car - DB)
DB Champ Bailey (Den - DB)
DL Mike Vrabel (NE - DL)
DL Lofa Tatupu (Sea - DL)

New at Domino's

If there is one thing that I like.. its sandwiches. Check out the new oven baked sandwiches at Domino's available in four flavors.

Philly Cheese Steak: steak, American and provolone cheeses, with fresh onions, green peppers and mushrooms.

Chicken Bacon Ranch: seasoned all-white meat chicken breast, bacon, creamy ranch dressing and provolone cheese.

Chicken Parm: seasoned all-white meat chicken breast, tomato basil marinara, parmesan-asiago and provolone cheeses.

Italian: slices of pepperoni, Genoa salami, ham, provolone cheese, banana peppers, fresh green peppers and onions.

I think the Chicken Bacon Ranch sounds the best to me and hope to enjoy one in the nude hopefully in the near future.

nba 2k9

Got a tent you can see from NJ in my pants for this one.

The music industry attacks video games?

The music industry's inevitable battle with the videogame industry begins when one media company comes out with a successful product that uses another media company's content, you can bet a fight over compensation is coming soon -- especially if the latter media company is a music label.

So just as the music industry went after MTV and peer-to-peer networks and streaming Internet sites and then YouTube, it's now after the videogame industry.

Thus we have Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman recently telling Reuters: ""The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small."

How did Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, whose company publishes "Guitar Hero," respond? "We're introducing a whole new group of artists to new audiences that is resulting in their iTunes downloads being exponentially higher than they would otherwise be, [as well as] new album sales and new merchandising opportunities."

Take the word "games" out of Bronfman's statement and he could easily be talking about musicvideos on MTV or online, songs being used in YouTube clips, streaming Internet radio, etc. It was the same argument over and over. And Kotick's response, essentially that his products are helping to boost music sales by exposing artists to new audiences, is exactly how MTV and Internet companies always responded in the past.

It's worth remembering that the music industry has largely won in the past, either through corporate pressure or lawsuits. On the other hand, the music biz is in really dire straits these days and I think it's pretty undeniable that "Guitar Hero," "Rock Band," etc. are boosting downloads and album sales at least somewhat.

Nonetheless, music labels see a potentially lucrative source of revenue growth at a time when their traditional business is slumping and you can bet they'll be going after a bigger chunk of it aggressively. Especially with more music games coming out in the future ("Lips," "Ultimate Band," a million "Guitar Hero" spin-offs, etc.) you can bet this fight is only getting warmed up.

Personally, I find this to be a sticky subject. Music and rythem based games are all the rage right now as Guitar Hero and Rock Band have paved the way for a whole new generation of fans to enjoy classic songs. Not only are these games played by avid gamers but go to your local pub on a friday night and chances are there will be a Guitar Hero tournament in progress. This feeds into the theory that the music industry should be properly compensated for the mass appeal of these types of games, but they also aren't in the position to be making demands.

Hopefully this is an issue that will be resolved soon as there is a possibility of WMG pulling its catalog from the upcoming RockBand/GH games as well as the online downloadable songs. This would be a major blow to the future of these types of games and much like when Napster was shut down there really will be no winner in the end. The music industry needs to stop being so short sighted and realize this could be the beginning of a successful new business model for them in the digital age. Record companies already dropped the ball big time with their witch hunt against file sharer's and this could be even more catastrophic to their future.

celeb news

Shia Lebeouf is back on the set of Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen after his car accident a few weeks back. His hand is still injured but the producer's have decided to write a hand injury into the script to keep the production on schedule for a July '09 release.

The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series has been delayed from November of this year to July 17, 2009. The reason behind this according to WB is to set up another summer tentpole for next year and that the movie is already completed so this won't affect the schedule of releases for future HP movies.

King of the South T.I. drops his newest album Paper Trail on September 30th and recently released his new single called "Whatever You Like." Another smash hit, this may just be the best rap album of the year.



And now here's your daily dose of Kardashian:



click to enlarge.. I could eat dinner off that thing.

Fall TV Preview

The fall TV season is fast approaching which means some of our favorite shows are soon to be back on the air. After looking over some fall tv previews I've come to realize that there just isn't that many good shows on tv anymore. Not to mention good shows like Friday Night Lights get cancelled by networks before they even have a chance to build a fanbase. I've compiled some trailers for shows that I am looking forward to for the 2008-09 season:

Heroes Season 3: Villains (September 23)


After what was a bit of a tumultous second season and a writer's strike causing the show to come to an abrupt halt, Heroes returns for its third season looking bigger and better than ever. Tim Kring the series creator debuted the first episode of this season in its entirety at Comic Con in San Diego last month and the general response has been very positive. Hopefully the show can return to the magic that made season 1 so special.

The Hills, Season 4 (August 18):


The Hills is admitedly one of my greatest guilty pleasures. I've followed the adventures of Lauren Conrad and friends from her days at Laguna Beach all the way to her now taking over the fashion world in LA and fighting off her mortal enemies Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. While a lot of people pick on The Hills and its superficiality, its one of the highest rated shows on tv and last season's finale was the highest rated show even beating out network TV. There are rumors this might be the end of The Hills with some characters getting spin-off's so I'm sure it will be full of drama as always.

Entourage, Season 5 (September 7):


Entourage is one of the most fun shows on tv and fans of the series can finally see what happens to the boys after Medellin gets killed at Cannes. There isnt much to say about this show that hasn't already been said. Great actors, great scripts, lots of drama and comedy, by far one of the best shows in recent history.

The Office, Season 5 (September 25)


The Office still remains one of the funniest shows on TV and a staple on NBC's thursday night lineup. The full cast is back and we get to find out whats going on with Jan's baby, Michael's relationship with the HR director, and the next step for Jim and Pam.

Also look out for: House (Sept. 16), Lipstick Jungle (Sept. 24), The Big Bang Theory (Sept. 22), Family Guy (Sept. 28), and The Shield (Sept. 2)

twins?

If these two men had a wild passionate love affair over a fine bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon in a hot african country during the dog days of the summer... I would be the end result. It's good to know I resemble such sex symbols as a chubby binge drinking talk show host and a struggling canadian stand up comic, good thing I have my sharp wit and the personality of a half autistic burn victim, or I'd be shit out of luck.

Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express is the latest in the long line of Judd Apatow produced, R rated comedies, starring Seth Rogen and some other series regulars. The stoner humor from knocked up and superbad is there but this time it's turned up to the Nth degree. Seth Rogen plays Dale Denton, a stoner who works for a company that privately serves subpoenas for the government. He spends most of his day in the car driving and listening to talk radio as he aspires to one day host his own show. He is also dating an 18 year old high school senior which is every 25 year old stoner's dream. His dealer is Saul (James Franco) an unemployed loser type who smokes pot all day while watching reruns of old sitcoms from the 70s. Franco does a great job playing a character against type as he has been mostly known as a heart throb but in this he looks like he hasn't bathed in 5 days.

The movie starts off as a typical stoner comedy would but as Dale ends up finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time it quickly turns into a slapstick run for your life action comedy. Dale witnesses a murder comitted by the biggest drug dealer in town and the link between the criminals and Saul is an exotic type of weed called Pineapple Express. This ensues into the guys running for their lives and trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guys which of course never works out quite right. The real scene stealer in this movie is Danny McBride (Foot Fist Way, Tropic Thunder) who plays Red the drug dealer that Saul goes to. McBride is an up and coming comedian who broke big with his mockumentary about a strip mall Tae Kwan Doe instructor who starts to get a big head beating around 10 year olds all day. Guys like Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller loved the movie, took McBride under their comedic wing, and now McBride has been getting some great roles in this summer's batch of comedies. He has a great delivery and theres something about his on screen presence that just makes you laugh. Between him and Craig Robinson (The Office) who is a henchmen there are a great amount of laughs from the supporting cast.

Overall, the movie is very much hit and miss. The action is well done but seems a bit out of place with some of the stoner jokes. This is something Tropic Thunder was able to do much better. Franco is great as Saul and Seth Rogen plays a pretty good straight man as always. I think the action scenes were a bit of a warm up for Rogen's debut as the Green Lantern in 2 years. Pineapple Express is up there with Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Superbad but not the best comedy of the year. Worth checking out, especially if you're into the ganja as this movie has got to be great high.

7/10

hmm...

a light snack?

World's biggest cheeseburger.. a challenge I would love to take because I like cheeseburgers and I like being backed up for a month.

Brad Pitt signs on to Inglorius Bastards

No ladies, that isnt a picture of my recent trip to the ocean, thats actually Brad Pitt. He had been negotiating with Quentin Tarantino to be in his upcoming WW2 epic Inglorious Bastards and IGN has announced that Pitt officially signed on today. I'm very excited about this as I think Pitt always performs best with a left of center type director (i.e. David Fincher) so it will be a treat to see what him and Tarantino come up with together.

Also BJ Novak (Ryan from The Office) has signed on to play a role as well. You can check out IGN's story here.

Favre to the Jets

The Brett Favre era in Green Bay officially came to an end late Wednesday night as the legendary longtime Packers quarterback was traded to the New York Jets, the Packers announced.

The exact compensation wasn't immediately available, but it is believed to be a fourth-round draft pick that increases in value depending on how the Jets perform in the 2008 season.

According to the NFL Network, if Favre takes 50 percent of total snaps with the Jets in 2008, the fourth-rounder becomes a third-round pick. If he gets 70 percent of the snaps and the Jets make the playoffs, it becomes a second-round pick; and if he gets 80 percent of snaps and the Jets make the Super Bowl, it becomes a first-round pick.

celeb news

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Paris Hilton has decided to speak out against John McCain's presidential campaign ad which hinted that Obama more worried about his celebrity than his politics. Her response is pretty funny and definitely puts the old gasbag in his place.



Also it was announced that Britney Spears will be playing a lesbian stripper in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming remake of "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" Spears' character murders the boyfriend with her bare hands before taking the girlfriend hostage. The troubled singer will also have sex scenes with another girl before the drama ends in a blood-bath. Well I can see why Tarantino would want to put her in after her amazing performance in Crossroads.. First Fergie in a movie and now Britney, Rihanna you better start getting ready for acting classes.



Finally, some sad news as comedian Artie Lange (Dirty Work, Mad TV) best known for being on the Howard Stern Show has checked into rehab. It is only an outpatient program and he is expected to return to the Stern show next week. Not too shocking as Artie has been battling with substances for years but I hope he gets better as he is one of the best things about that show.

Tropic Thunder Review

Saw a screening of Tropic Thunder tonight and I must say going into this movie I was very excited. I had seen the trailer back in March and knew it had a ton of potential and was just praying that they wouldn't drop the ball like a lot of recent Stiller comedies. Fortunately, Ben Stiller proved that he might be a better director than an actor (The Cable Guy, Zoolander) as Tropic Thunder was absolutely fantastic and right now stands as my top comedy of 2008 (haven't seen Pineapple Express as of this writing).

The movie is about 3 very insecure actors, Ben Stiller plays Tugg Speedman your typical action hero who is in need of a hit pretty badly as his franchise films are starting to die out. Jack Black plays Jeff Portney a cross between Eddie Murphy and Jeff Conaway from Celebrity Rehab. Robert Downey Jr. steals the show as Kirk Lazarus a serious actor who has 5 academy awards and gets lost in every role as he is a method actor. All 3 men are hired to be on a war epic to end all war epic's but the director is a rookie and production isn't going according to plan. This leads to the idea of putting the guys into a remote area of the jungle and to film it guerilla style to get a reality tv style view of the action. As you can guess this doesn't go according to plan and the actors are forced to hold their own against Vietnamese drug dealers.

All of the actors are great in this movie. Stiller plays Speedman as a more intelligent Derek Zoolander type of character who is just dying to be taken more seriously for his work. Jack Black is a little misplaced and under used in the movie as he doesnt seem to have as much going on plot wise as everyone else but still has some very funny parts. Robert Downey Jr. is to this film as Heath Ledger was to The Dark Knight. His performance as an african american sergeant is top notch and he really makes you forget that youre watching a white guy acting as a black guy on the screen. Brandon T. Jackson plays Alpa Chino who is your typical rapper turned actor character and brings some great comedy throughout the film and even shows a more complex side to his alpha male character mid way through, and new comer Jay Barauchel has a stand out performance as Kevin who is kind of the nerdy computer tech guy and the heart of the crew. I can see him getting a lot more work after people see him in this movie. There are also pretty big roles for Tom Cruise (in full make up as studio exec Les) and Matthew McConaughey who plays Speedman's agent and channels his best Ari from Entourage. There are even cameo's from Toby Mcguire, Lance Bass, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and a litany of other stars.

This movie has all of the ingredients of a good action comedy as the fight scenes are done very well and there are nonstop jokes from beginning to end. One of the highlights of the film are the trailers played before the movie which feature all of the actors in their hit roles. Tropic Thunder is a must see for any fan of comedy or even action movies in general. There are so many subtle view points about the state of big budget hollywood films these days and just how insecure and shallow actors and film makers can really be. Stiller knocks another one out of the park as a director, writer, producer, and actor with the supporting cast helping to make Tropic Thunder an instant classic.

9/10

The Rock

from TMZ... that's a pic that could make a man question some things about himself. I don't know if any amount of working out could get me to look like that. Must be a good life.

Step Brothers

Step Brothers is another collaboration between Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. The difference with this movie and Talladega Nights is that this time Judd Apatow (Superbad, Knocked Up) is producing and Ferrell co-wrote the movie with Adam McKay (SNL, FunnyorDie.com) who also gets directing credit. I did not really even want to see this movie based on the original trailers as it seemed to be another in whats becoming the long line of Will Ferrell groaners. After hearing good word of mouth and being dragged to the movie on a boring Sunday, I must say this is truly a very funny movie.

Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (Reilly) are two 40 year old, unemployed losers who are still living at home with their parents (Mary Steenbergen, Richard Jenkins). At a medical conference the parents meet up, hook up, and end up getting married. Thus making the guys... Step Brothers. While the plot certainly isn't the highpoint of this movie, the improvisation between Ferrell and Reilly steals the show. It's hard to believe there was really a script with dialogue pre-written as both comedians do an amazing job playing off each other and have great chemistry. The jokes are very R rated and immature but fit very well with the flow of the movie. Dale and Brennan don't get along at first but find a common enemy in Brennan's younger, and much more successful brother Derek. Derek is the polar opposite of Dale and Brennan as he has a wife, 2 kids, 500k a year salary, and a range rover. One of the funniest scenes in the movie is when the family is singing an acapella version of Guns N Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine."

Derek convinces the parents to sell their house so that they can retire and set sail around the world on their yacht, this of course would mean Dale and Brennan would have to enter the real world and get their own job and place. They go on a series of interviews which are highly entertaining and even feature a cameo from Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express, Superbad). As you can guess things don't go according to plan and hilarity ensues. The movie has so many great moments that weren't put into the trailer, probably because of the adult nature of the humor. The film also narrowly avoids the trap that most comedies in this genre fall into where the main character realizes the mistakes he has been making and spends 30 minutes of the film trying to right the wrong. There is a section of the movie like that where the brothers both go out on their own and are successful as adults in the real world and must reunite to bring the parents back together. Fortunately the scenes are well done and the movie doesn't have any real points where its dragging on.

Overall, Step Brothers is a win for Ferrell as his stock was on a slow decline after Semi Pro. The movie will not hold up as funniest movie of the summer as Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express will be most likely battling for that title, but Step Brothers is a great comedy with some good acting and definitely worth checking out at your local matinee.

8/10

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Usually when I hear about a new Keanu Reeve's movie that doesnt rhyme with The Schmatrix it is met with a groan or a cringe. But after watching the trailer for "The Day The Earth Stood Still" I must say that I am a bit intrigued.

Batman rumors

Some new rumors circulating about the third Batman film. UK's Daily Telegraph is saying that an "unnamed source" from Warner Bros wants Johnny Depp to play The Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin. I think the Hoffman casting would be perfect, not sure how I feel about Depp as The Riddler. Personally, I was a big fan of Jim Carrey's portrayal in Batman Forever and almost feel like it shouldn't be touched. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out but right now I would take these rumors with a grain of salt. Check out IGN's story on this here.