For this movie review of “License to Wed“ The Dude on the Right was a bit perturbed when Reverend Frank (Robin Williams) commented that for a man, having a baby would be like pulling your scrotum over your head, when everyone knows it’s actually like pulling your bottom lip over your head. He also wasn’t that thrilled with the movie, but thinks his sister would like it and has confirmation his buddy Big Bouncer Jimmy liked it. Oh well!
Author: Andy Labis
What’s New? A Movie Review of “Transformers.”
For this movie review of “Transformers” The Dude on the Right liked most of the film, just not the parts where Michael Bay seemed to turn it back into a Michael Bay film. The robots were great, it was actually loads of funny, and he might have just become a Megan Fox stalker. Other than that it also had him flashing back to his college days where the animated “Transformers” helped him and his friends unwind from a grueling week of classes to get ready for the weekend.
A Quick “Transformers” Review, and Michael Medved Should be Chastising His Friend.
By:
The Dude on the Right
So on Monday evening myself, Stu Gotz, and some other members of the
Entertainment Ave! staff (including
The
Mystery Dude who is still pissed because I didn’t mention him in my last
Roger Waters’ review even though he was the one who got me the ticket) went
to see "Transformers" at an early screening in a Chicago suburb. My full
review will be coming soon, but quickly, I really liked the movie, found it very
funny, agree with Stu that it’s a solid PG-13 with a lot of violence and sexual
innuendo so keep that in mind in terms of bringing your kids, but I didn’t care
for the finale fight scene because it became to "Michael Bay"-ish, with too many
"slow-motion" scenes," to much "we are now at war," and if they just did the
fight scene in real time they probably could have trimmed about 5 minutes from
the film. Really good film, great effects, and Megan Fox is smokin’ hot.
Like I wrote, my full review comes at a later date – hell, I might actually see
it again before I review it because my local gigaplex has it in Digital
Projection which this movie is sort of made for.
But anyway, then came
Tuesday.
I’m driving around in the dude-mobile and since it is the week of The
4th of July a lot of the radio folks I would listen to are on vacation.
With that comes a lot of channel hopping, and somehow AM 560, WIND here in
Chicago, was still programmed on my radio. I landed on it somewhere in the
host’s discussion about his seeing "Transformers" with a friend of his, and said
friend brought his 10 year old son. Turns out the host was
Michael
Medved, whose website says "Michael Medved is a nationally syndicated radio
talk show host, best-selling author and veteran film critic." While
listening I did not realize Mr. Medved was a "veteran film critic," but as he’s
talking about the movie he mentions that he never grew up with the animated
"Transformers" and kept calling "Bumblebee," one of the Autobots, "Butterfly."
I let that go because that’s a mistake you can make if you aren’t a fan, hell,
they both start with the letter "B." But then he started on a slight rant
about how "Transformers" seemed a little adult for its rating, even stating that
with some of the sexual innuendos going on, well, maybe the movie should have
been given the next rating up. I did a double take at the radio in my car
(yes, I actually looked at the radio in my car, looked away, then looked again),
and said, out loud, to my radio, "You wanted this movie rated ‘R’?" He
then mentioned that because of some of the content in the movie they would have
to "cover the ears" of the 10 year old that was brought along, and seemed
surprised "Transformers" was rated PG. I actually started yelling, again
at my radio, that "the movie is rated PG-13. What the hell are you talking
about?" And as he was finishing up his segment I sort of wished I wasn’t
in my car so I could find his phone number, or at least that the radio folks
would announce it, so I could call him, and inform him, that the movie was rated
PG-13, and rather than admonish the filmmakers for the content, maybe his buddy
should have paid more attention and not brought his son to a movie that the MPAA
says is "Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief
sexual humor, and language."
Still a little flabbergasted at such a huge
mistake about the movie rating I lasted through his commercial break, and
Michael Medved came back on, stating that he had to admit he was wrong, that the
phone lines lit up, and I said "Phew, he’s going to now state the movie was
rated PG-13." Nope, no correction on that one, it seems the phone lines
lit up to correct him that the yellow Autobot that is a Camaro is "Bumblebee,"
and not "Butterfly." He then went on to something about the immigration
reform that still isn’t happening, and I just couldn’t listen anymore because
conservative talk shows aren’t my cup of tea.
Now, I might have given a slight
pass to Mr. Medved and his stating "Transformers" was rated PG, but that was
until the fact I found about he is one, a "veteran film critic," but worse,
still doing movie reviews. He was right, that maybe his friend who brought
the 10 year old might have to cover the kid’s ears, or maybe even his eyes,
during the movie, but rather than blasting the rating of the movie, which he was
totally wrong in stating, maybe Mr. Medved should have been blasting his friend
for not paying attention to the rating of the movie and being a bad parent.
Hell, even The Mystery Dude, who has two kids, both under 13, said he was sort
of happy to see the movie without them so he could decide if they could see it.
I’m stating here that The Mystery Dude is a good parent while Michael Medved’s
friend might want to pay a little more attention to movie ratings.
Again I’ve
gotten too winded in a blog, but when a "veteran film critic," although
according to Wikipedia,
Roger
Ebert has stated "he is ‘a political commentator and no longer a film
critic.’" (and I agree), can’t get a movie rating correct, it’s actually a
disservice to people. I’m not perfect and I make mistakes. Michael
Medved isn’t perfect and he makes mistakes. What almost made me sad, and I
don’t have all of his phone logs, was that his listeners didn’t correct Michael
on his movie rating mistake, they just wanted people to know the Camaro was
"Bumblebee," and not "Butterfly." I guess it seems none of his
conservative listeners that called in cared about the kids. I will give
this disclaimer that maybe, somewhere, during the rest of his show on Tuesday,
he corrected the movie rating of "Transformers," but folks like Michael Medved
make me want to state in my bio that I am a "Worldwide Podcast Host, Veteran
Movie Critic, and The Best Concert Photographer Ever."
By the way, again,
"Transfomers" is rated PG-13. Be a parent. If your kids want to see
the movie, and for God’s, Christ’s, or just Goodness sake, pay attention to the
MPAA ratings. Whatever you do, don’t listen to Michael Medved about
"Transformers." He thought it was rated "PG."
That’s it for this one!
I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
What’s New? Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast: So Much to Say that it’s in Two Parts.
For this episode of “Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up!” Podcast, Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right just can’t stop talking. The Dude on the Right has his normal entertainment stuff on which to comment so the two of them consolidate entertainment to “Part 1 of the Podcast.” Part 1 gives insight into getting an iPhone, the latest movies like “Live Free or Die Hard” and “Ratatouille,” and a lady and her Jaguar. Part 2 of the podcast lets Stu run wild with his weekend like how he gave Mama Gotz a challenge about an RV so now Stu might be heading to Arizona, his advice on where not to put photos of your old girlfriend, and Baptism invite etiquette.
Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up! Part 1 is Entertainment and Part 2 is Stu and his Stories.
By:
The Dude on the Right
Sure, sometimes Stu Gotz and I have a lot to talk about, but Stu had a weekend
that was filled with just too many stories, and we could have talked for hours,
but to simplify things for you, well, this week’s "Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap
Up!" has been split in two.
Podcast Part 1 deals with mostly things entertainment like us planning on
seeing "Transformers," (They’re more than meets the eye you know!), my obsession
and getting an iPhone (those Apple folks sure have their act together), I
skipped
"Ratatouille" after both Stu and Richard Roeper’s reviews (Do kids
comprehend cooking?), I saw
"Live Free or Die Hard," and we talk TV about "Entourage" and
"Burn
Notice." I also saw a lady try to cram a patio set into her
convertible Jaguar.
But Stu’s weekend wasn’t a lot about entertainment so we
put that into
Podcast Part 2, and on his plate were things like getting an RV (Never give
a woman, especially Mama Gotz, a challenge), where not to have pictures of your
old girlfriend when you get a new woman (Like his buddy who had them in his "My
Photos" folder), Baptism etiquette,is Mama Gotz a heathen, and Stu just can’t
let go of the photos his buddy has lost.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
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I’m Cool Again, or Maybe Just a Dork. But I Have an iPhone!
By:
The Dude on the Right
In case you were looking for my iPhone purchasing woes in a blog yesterday, I
have to apologize because I never got around to one. That’s because I was
playing with my new iPhone! Yup, I was only not cool for about 14 hours,
although, had I just gone to the Apple store on Friday evening after my
misgivings at two AT&T stores, I would have been cool sooner.
When I wrote
about
my inabilities to get an iPhone on the Friday launch date, the option to
sign up for AT&T’s "direct fulfillment program" didn’t seem like the best option
for me, even though I did have a comment for that blog saying I should have
signed up for it. My problem is my obsessive nature, and once I had it in my
mind I was going to buy one, signing up for a program that didn’t tell me when I
would actually get the phone wasn’t going to cut it. By the time Friday evening
came along I had done some homework, read many rumors (i.e. all stores selling
the phone would get another shipment on Saturday, although I have had no reason
to confirm if the AT&T stores did get a shipment on Saturday because I already
had my phone so didn’t need to check), but I had an Ace up my sleeve, at least I
hoped so, to getting an iPhone on Saturday, and that was there are five Apple
Stores within an hour of the Dude-Pad. That Ace also had a companion, and that
was the Apple website having
a section showing
iPhone availability for the next day.
After I wrote my blog on Friday night, lamenting on going to bed alone, I
planned my Saturday. It would simply start with waking up in the morning around
the same time I always do. I would shit, shower, and shave, and then head down
to my computer. I would go to the Apple website, check the availability area and
if it showed the iPhone would be available, for sale at 9AM as the website
pronounced, I would hop in the Dude-mobile, head to the closest Apple Store that
showed it had them, and hope for the best. I checked the website, it said my
closest store still had them, and so I skipped my morning paper reading and
headed to the mall. The tricky part was that I always call my Mom on Saturday
mornings, and if push came to shove, calling her would take precedent over
getting the phone. I end up at the Apple Store at about 8:50AM and there were
already about 25 people in front of me. The only hope of getting the phone
before having to call Mom is that unlike folks who were buying the phone at the
AT&T store, who might have needed some questions answered, everyone in front of
me had that look on their face of "give me an 8 gig, and oh yea, this case."
And as this blog is already starting to get too long let me just say a couple
of things to finish this up: First, the Apple folks had a way-impressive force
of getting the iPhone sold and out the door, even at 9:00 AM on a Saturday (I
can’t imagine what happened Friday evening there which I will discuss with Stu
Gotz tomorrow during our
"Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up" podcast). Second, with that force I had my
iPhone purchased at about 9:07 AM, made it back to the Dude-mobile in time to
call my Mom and tell her I bought one, to which she thought I was nuts. Third,
the phone is very cool, although I will admit it looks like they just got a lot
of functionality completed to get the phone out on time, with the rest of it to
come with later software upgrades (the phone doesn’t have real "Ringtone"
capability yet, nor, well, some other simple things my old RAZR had).
But yesterday, at about 9:07 AM, I was cool again, or maybe still just a
dork. And the day before I got a free bottle of water just for waiting for
an iPhone.
That’s it for this one!
I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
What’s New? A Movie Review of “Live Free or Die Hard.”
For this movie review of “Live Free or Die Hard,” The Dude on the Right puts this installment as a little better than “Die Hard 2” but not as great as “Die Hard.” Lots of action, lots of chasing, lots of people getting PG-13 killed, and an over the shirt boob feel. And, oh yea, John McClane is in top form with his verbal whit and wisdom, as we hoped he would be.
No iPhone, Just a Bottle of Water.
By:
The Dude on the Right
So here it is, the big day, probably the most important day in recorded history,
and this morning I decided "Screw it, I’m going to try and get an iPhone."
Having too many things to do during the day meant camping out wasn’t an option
for the 6PM on-sale time, but around where I live there were three stores I
could show up at, figuring around 5:30 should still be safe to get one.
Store A was in a developing community where I figured demand shouldn’t be that
huge. Store B was by the mall, and I figured that store would probably be
packed with all of the crazies who took off work to buy a phone. Store C
was similar to Store A in terms of demographic, but further away.
So I finish
with the things I needed to do this Friday, I get back to the dude-pad around
5PM, do a quick read of the newspaper, eat some grub, and then decide that I’m
going to take my chances at Store A. Arriving around 5:40PM there’s a line
around the side of the store, putting me at about the 40th in line. "They
should be stocked fairly well" I tell myself, and even the people that started
arriving after me figured getting a brand spankin’ new iPhone shouldn’t be a
problem. It’s 6PM, the doors open to the promised land, and they begin by
letting in 6 people, and then as one leaves, another enters. The line
isn’t moving that quickly, but I’m still confident I will be home this evening,
iPhone in box, then in hand, then activated, and then I’m cool. In the
meantime the nice AT&T employees (of which it seems they were overstaffed by
about 5 people for the way they were selling the phone) came out offering
bottles of water. It’s now about 6:15 PM and the manager-looking AT&T dude
comes out and announces, looking at the number of people left in line, that he
wasn’t sure if supply was going to meet demand, blurbs a little about the
"direct fulfillment program" if they do run out, the ducked back into the store.
The next round of bottled waters comes out, I decide to grab one, and then the
manager-looking dude comes back out and announces the 8 Gig versions are sold
out. He starts to talk about how they still have some 4 Gig versions left,
the "direct fulfillment program" again, but I’m already heading to the
dude-mobile, mumbling "At least I got a bottle of water."
What to do? I
decide that since I’m already out I might as well head to Store B, the one by
the mall, on the slim hope they got a monster shipment of phones. I
arrive, there are about 20 people still in line, and as I take my place the AT&T
employee starts pushing that "direct fulfillment program" again, and I pretty
much know that tonight, unless I really wanted to take a hell of a chance and
head to The Apple Store, I would go to bed iPhone-less.
And so, tonight, I go
to bed alone.
But wait, I could order it on line and have it early next week?
That would be good enough for me. I log in to the Apple web site, click to
buy one, and there’s a little note that says it won’t ship for at least 2 weeks.
I read somewhere that there would be plenty of stock to keep everyone iPhoned,
thus killing the eBay market, but if the AT&T stores pretty much sell out of the
phones in about an hour, Apple won’t ship the phone for a couple of weeks, and
those stores don’t get replenished, like, tomorrow, I’m thinking I really should
have camped out last night and seen if some fool would pay me $1,500 bucks for a
new iPhone.
I suppose I should blame myself because part of the reason I am
iPhone-less is because I decided dinner and reading the news was just as
important as getting in line, and had I actually just gone to the store by the
mall, well, I’d probably have a phone this evening, even taking the time to eat
my dinner and read the news. But you know what – I’m not blaming myself –
I’m blaming the Apple and AT&T people because I’m guessing the only reason they
are selling the 4 Gig iPhone is because they sold out of the 8 Gig, and if they
had only had about ten more 8 Gig versions at Store A, I would be cool.
Instead I just got a free bottle of water.
That’s it for this one!
I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
What’s New? A Movie Review of “Ratatouille.”
For this movie review of “Ratatouille,” Stu Gotz is disappointed because the movie doesn’t have a scene that is memorable for him. He can easily rattle off scenes from just about every other Pixar film, but this one lacks a certain connection to him, and his kids were a little bored. See it because you have to, but Stu says don’t bother buying the DVD when it comes out.
To i Or Not to i. Buying an iPhone is the Question.
By:
The Dude on the Right
Normally I do a podcast on Thursday evening, but tonight I’m in a typing mood,
so I thought I would hit you with a new blog to read since I haven’t done one in
a while. From the title of this blog you can probably guess that this dude
has a dilemma and that is simply "Do I buy an iPhone as soon as humanly
possible, or do I wait?" Fine, if I do opt to get one it won’t be as soon
as humanly possible because I won’t be camping in line tonight to be "the first
on my block" to get one. I’m going on the theory that between the three
AT&T stores around me, well, if the mood hits, I should be able to score one
tomorrow evening when they go on sale. If the iPhone is already sold out
at all three stores, well, that might be the sign that I should wait a while, or
head to the Apple store in last ditch desperation. But…
Because
sometimes I am partially nuts, and sometimes obsessive and compulsive, and since
I have already, in my own bizarre way justified the expense (I need a new PDA
since my Palm Pilot is about 5 years old and the battery won’t last longer than
a day; Sure, I’ve got a 60 Gig iPod, but it’s pre-video and I think the
battery will need to be replaced soon; My black RAZR isn’t cool anymore.
Add them all together: A SmartPhone-$300, a new iPod-$350, and I’m already
saving money by getting an iPhone), now the question comes down to do I want to
be on the forefront of a cell phone revolution hoping there aren’t too many bugs
to get through, do I sit back, chill, and maybe wait for the technology to fix
itself, or do I want to go on vacation to New Jersey later in the year?
You
see along with the launch of the iPhone I’ve gotten hooked by the Apple commercials for
the phone, have become almost intimately close with Bob, the "black shirt dude,"
while watching
the Guided Tour video, the
Activation and Synch video, and the
iPhone Keyboard video (which shows how the iPhone will suggest the word
"pizza" when you can’t properly hit the virtual keys on keyboard with no keys),
looked at all of the pictures in the gallery, ruled out visiting my local Apple
store in favor of my trio of AT&T stores, and don’t know who to really believe
anymore because even some of the actual reviews that have come out in reputable
print papers seem confusing, with the only thing linking them all together is
the fact the iPhone will be limited to the AT&T EDGE network (which means slow)
as of now, and yet the Wi-Fi option is great.
Along with obsessively checking
the Apple site, I’ve also become obsessed with one of the best message boards
about cell phones, namely
Howard Forums, and all of the latest postings announcing mostly wrong
information about the iPhone. Lots of people keep posting that the iPhone
actually has a 3G chip built in, just waiting for a software patch to "open it
up" and that will be the final surprise announcement of the iPhone, but even I
don’t think that is true. I do have a concern that I can’t have a custom
ringtone for all my friends so I know who is calling instantly (Right now on my
RAZR Stu Gotz has a Beatles tune, Trash has some Jimmy Buffett, The Dude on the
Left has a Harry Caray homerun call, and Mom has some Michael Stanley Band)
because a lot of the posts say designing your own ringtones isn’t an option, but
then another post says this will be coming in the future with a later software
update. I do have a concern that my Shure headphones won’t work with the
thing because of a sort-of different/recessed headphone jack, but than another
post says Shure is working on an adapter for the iPhone. There’s all kinds
of blabbering about the Bluetooth capabilities of the phone, but I don’t really
use Bluetooth so what do I care. And along with some information that seem
legit and a lot of other that seems like crap, my favorite post, so far, deals
with a future release of the
iPhone, version 6.2, which will include an iPhaser, which one poster quickly
states that "only if all the settings, work .. istun.. ikill.. if it only goes
to istun and not ikill i will just wait for version 7.3".
And so I’ve got a
little less than 24 hours from now, and three stores to visit, to see if I will
be an iPhone owner, or if I might be going to New Jersey instead.
That’s it for this one!
I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!