Chicken Tikka Masala for St. Pat’s Day, Bangers and Mash for St. Joseph’s Day, and Mitt Romney Better Finally put Rick Santorum Away

By: The Dude on the Right

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In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I ate chicken tikka masala, and in honor of St. Joseph’s Day I had bangers and mash. I really wish Stu Gotz were here to make fun of me for my food choices, but sadly it’s a solo “Weekend Wrap-up!” podcast as Stu is out running around.

With Summer already here in Chicago, even though Spring officially starts tomorrow, it was a weekend where I reminisced about St. Patrick’s Days gone by, and how downtown Chicago this year was filled with revelers and drunks by two in the afternoon. I also reflected on my experiences with Indian food, and how I enjoyed my St. Patrick’s Day dinner at Sara’s Grill and Eastern Cuisine.

I’m wondering why no one blind-sides Colton in “Survivor: One World,” I’m not liking “American Idol” that much and I blame it on the fact that they don’t have a British person with a condescending accent, “The Hunger Games” opens this weekend and I probably won’t see it, hopefully Mitt Romney will defeat Rick Santorum in the Illinois Primary tomorrow so the political ads will be done for a while and Stu Gotz might not be available for next week’s podcast so if you want to be a special podcast guest, feel free to email me at podcast@entertainmentavenue.com

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Everyone Loves a Parade, Real Housewives, Red Pants, Eggs, SNL Talk and More!

By: The Dude on the Right

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Who doesn’t love a parade? I sure loved the St. Patrick’s Day parade I was a part of, and during this episode of our “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast, I tell Stu all about it. Stu, meanwhile, had a busy weekend even though it was his birthday but without a lot of stories, so this podcast is a little shorter than normal. That doesn’t mean we don’t have things to say, so topics include: Waiting for a repair guy, Saturday Night Live is sort of funny, I’m watching too much Bravo as now I’m sucked back into “Real Housewives of Orange County” and now am into “Million Dollar Listing – New York” complete with red pants, Stu’s in need of eggs, “John Carter” analysis, and “21 Jump Street” might be good.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

The Big Year

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 1:40 Long
A Review by:
The Dude on the Right

The Big Year
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, Jack Black
MPAA Rated: PG
Released By: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Kiddie Movie: It’s safe for them, but not too funny.
Date Movie: My wife fell asleep, but thought the parts she was awake for were okay.
Gratuitous Sex: Some talk and hints but no one gets it on.
Gratuitous Violence: Just some slapstick, birding violence.
Action: Nah.
Laughs: Chuckles.
Memorable Scene: There is a touching scene with Brad and his dad.
Memorable Quote: Nothing really.
Directed By: David Frankel
Cool Things About the Blu-ray: “The Bird Migration” featurette about the making of what kind of cool.

It’s a movie that has three, comedic powerhouses in the likes of Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson. It’s a movie that is ripe for making fun of a culture many might find odd – namely birding. It’s a movie that’s rated PG? Uh oh. It’s “The Big Year.”  Okay, maybe not that big of an “Uh oh,” but an “Uh oh,” none-the-less.

So, it turns out a “Big Year” in the birding world has to do with an informal competition among birders (people who like to spot birds), in trying to spot the most species of bird in a period of time.  For our movie, the lead Big Year-er is Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson).  For our movie we have two other main characters, Brad (Jack Black) and Stu (Steve Martin). Brad is in a dead-end, no fun job, Stu is the elder statesman of a company and looking to retire, and Kenny is a lost soul whose relationships always fall apart because he likes birds.

And so it’s a new year, and for a movie length we get to see our three birders travel the countryside in search of birds, and the competition is fierce.  Yup, things start out kind of calm, with the birders calling a magical phone number telling them where the next, magical sighting seems to be, and they all flock to the various locals. They are cordial, nice even, until it starts to come out that they are trying to get the Big Year record, currently held by Kenny.  Kenny, of course, doesn’t like this, and some trickery starts to happen.  And all along hilarity is supposed to ensue, or at least lessons about life.

Here’s the thing – I felt like “The Big Year” wanted so much to be like a mockumentary about birders, kind of like the movie “Best in Show,” but sadly it tried to keep things a little too nice, namely the PG rating, to push the funny to the next level, which is too bad because Wilson, Black, and Martin do their best to be their funny best – it’s just the movie can’t get there.

It’s not that I didn’t like “The Big Year,” because I sort of did, but I just wanted more.  It was a nice enough movie to hang out on a couch and relax for an evening, and it’s kid safe if you want them around, but don’t expect a lot of hilarity, just some chuckles along the way to find out who actually has the “big year.” 2 ½ stars out of 5.

As far as the Blu-ray, as a lot of birding is scenic-oriented, it looks beautiful, and is beautifully shot, so it will look great on your big-screen.  The deleted scenes are probably better off deleted, the gag reel isn’t that funny (I’m finding that most movie-people can’t put together a decent gag reel), but if you do want a nice explanation of how the movie was made, it does have a great featurette called “The Bird Migration” to help along.

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Entertaining the Kids, iPad 3 is Coming, Celebrity Apprentice, The Lorax is Good, and Daylight Saving Time.

By: The Dude on the Right

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And here it is, our “Mid-Week Surprise” podcast. Okay, not really a surprise, but some equipment issues kept us from recording a normal “Weekend Wrap-Up,” but that doesn’t make the tales of our weekend old, just well-aged! Me, I spent a lot of time in a suit, a big, blue suit, and Stu Gotz tries to make it dirty, but I won’t let him. I tell Stu tales of good kids, bad kids, and sweatiness. Stu, meanwhile, is helping a Little Gotz make The Ten Commandments, or something out of Mesopotamia.

I tell Stu he should watch “Celebrity Apprentice,” Stu wishes “The Real Housewives of Disney” was a real TV show, we anticipate Apple’s event today announcing a new iPad and Stu’s next birthday gift, an Apple TV, Stu saw “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” and “Moneyball,” and I remind everyone about Daylight Saving Time this weekend!

It’s a mid-week special, it’s a podcast, and it looks like neither of us will go and see “John Carter” this weekend because the trailers don’t seem to make us want to.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Jim Croce – A Nashville Tribute

Artist: Various Artists
Listenability Scale: 35%
Released by: River North Nashville
A Review by:
The Dude on the Right

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Jim Croce, but I can enjoy a “Time In a Bottle” with the best of them. But if I’m going to listen to a Jim Croce song, I guess I’m just going to want Jim singing it. In any case, “Jim Croce – A Nashville Tribute” is a nice testament to the variety of songs Jim has in his library, sung by some big names (Charlie Daniels, Sammy Kershaw) and some not so big names (Mark Collie, Larry Stewart). It also has Ronna Reeves who probably would have made it big time if not for Shania Twain coming out at the same time and stealing all of her press. In any case, if you want to hear Jim Croce songs with a country twang to them, it’s not a bad choice, but for me I’d rather hear the songs from the man himself.

It’s a 35% on the Entertainment Ave! listenability scale.

That’s it for this quick review! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Leap Day Oscar Talk, The Bachelor is Great, iPad 3 Specs, Cleaning Vomit, and Needing some Hard Wood.

By: The Dude on the Right

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No, this isn’t a special Leap Day podcast, it’s just our normal “Weekend Wrap-Up” a few days late because we were so mesmerized by The Academy Awards we were left speechless for a few days. But, here we are, with extended insight into the Oscars, including Stu’s thinking Sandra Bullock is getting old and his having a Muppet song stuck in his head, while me, I’m disappointed Ryan Seacrest doesn’t have a sense of humor and almost tweeted something mean about the Cirque de Soleil folks.

Movies a lot of people didn’t see aside, it wouldn’t be a podcast without TV talk, and I’m still sucked into Bachelor Ben and Courtney on The Bachelor while Stu is sucked into Breaking Bad. Stu had a sick Gotz, I ate Greek food, Stu saw Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and I give my analysis of what the new features will be with the unveiling of the iPad 3 next week. And, oh yea, Stu has a friend who needed hard wood this morning.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

TV Talk of Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, The Amazing Race, American Idol, and who’s that band on SNL?

By: The Dude on the Right

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Stu Gotz must have gotten the President’s Day bug, or the Washington’s Birthday bug as other might call it, because he couldn’t meet up with me for this episode of the “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast. And so, it’s solo time for me and as the exciting part of my weekend involved cleaning my balls and repairing an 8″ x 8″ hole in some drywall, I decided to keep most of this podcast to TV wrap-up talk as I got caught up on “Survivor: One World” and “American Idol,” and am perplexed but have a theory as to the miriad of “who is this” musical guests on Saturday Night Live lately.

As Sunday came, my TV viewing just got more complicated with the return of “The Amazing Race” and “The Celebrity Apprentice,” and on the Apprentice, I think the women got screwed when the men had one donation of over $300,000 which just seemed unfair in the world of selling a sandwich competition. Lastly, Whitney Houston was buried over the weekend, and somehow Bobby Brown was able to make the tabloid news all about him. Just sad.

Hopefully Stu will be back next week, hopefully I’ll see a movie or Blu-ray, but as always…

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Grammy Talk, Nicolas Cage’s Clone, The Big Year, Contagion, and Happy Valentine’s Day!

By: The Dude on the Right

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It was “The Big Year” at The Grammy’s for Adele, where luckily there was no “Contagion” to ruin the likes of Bruce Springsteen, and an all-star guitar jam was just “In Time” to bring life to a show exorcised by Nicki Minaj. Nicolas Cage couldn’t be there, maybe because his clone was Live on Saturday Night, but hopefully he won’t forget Valentine’s Day tomorrow. He’ll probably have clean balls, but The Dude on the Right won’t until at least this Saturday, while Stu Gotz, over this upcoming weekend, might be able to help you with that underwater video of whales humping you’ve been trying to edit, or at least help you figure out how to make it viral.

Yup, during this episode of Stu & The Dude’s “Weekend Wrap-Up” podcast we talk about all of those things, just not necessarily in that order.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

In Time

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:49 Long
A Review by:
The Dude on the Right

In Time
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Released On: January 31, 2012
Kiddie Movie: Not too young, better send the little ones to bed.
Date Movie: It’s snuggleable, but she might find it stupid.
Gratuitous Sex: Justin and Amanda get it on, but she’s only in bra and panties. The PG-13 is in effect.
Gratuitous Violence: Some killings, but mostly people die when they’re out of time.
Action: Lots of chasing is going on.
Laughs: Nope.
Memorable Scene: Even though it was foreshadowed, it was nice to see Will get the bad guy.
Memorable Quote: Nothing really.
Directed By: Andrew Niccol
Cool things about the Blu-ray: The Blu-ray is pretty lean on extras, but the “The Minutes” featurette is a nice “documentary” of the fictional city and adds some insight into the characters.

It’s a futuristic world where you stop aging at age 25.  Now that sounds all great and swell except for a few things.  First off, what if your “I’m hot!” age is actually 35 and you find yourself stuck at the “I’m ugly” age of 25? Also, what if you’re into older men or women?  I mean, that girl you are hitting on may have actually been alive for 110 years, but she doesn’t look a day over, well, 25, so you’re S.O.L. And lastly, once you hit 25, you only have one more year to live unless, well, you can get someone to give you more of their time, you can figure out how to purchase more time, you steal someone else’s time, or, well, who cares because in any event you are constantly reminded of how much time you have left because there is this countdown clock embedded in your arm.

As we begin our movie-cal journey we enter at a time when Will (Justin Timberlake) has tripped into that stage of life after age 25 when you have to figure out how you can keep getting more time, and thus keep living (this concept isn’t as complicated as it sounds once you see the movie).  He’s got his mother whom he keeps giving time to so she can stick around, but unfortunately for Will he lives on the wrong side of the tracks, or time zone as it would be, where things are a little more rough and where inflation takes your time away quicker than you can get more (yes, you have to pay for things with hours of your life, i.e., a bus ride might cost you two hours of your life).  As Will’s life would have it there’s a tragedy with his mother that truly teaches him the value of time, and also a meeting with a stranger who is sick of having so much time.  When said stranger gives Will the time he has left (and it’s a lot of time), as well as explains to Will the corrupt world that leaves Will’s side of the tracks with less and less time, Will ends up accused of killing said stranger but takes it upon himself to expose the system of time is money, and share the wealth.

Okay, I know, the movie sounds a little preachy, and yes, when Will finds himself on the “right” side of the tracks he finds a rich man’s daughter (Amanda Seyfried) to fall in love with, but in the end, if you can get past some of the goofiness of the story and obvious foreshadowing of its progression, it’s not that bad in the entertainment side of two people on the run, robbing “time” banks, and spreading the wealth to the poor.

The movie looks great in that futuristic, “The Matrix,” “Gattaca,” kind of way, which makes sense with Andrew Niccol who also directed “Gattaca” as director, and sure, the chase scenes are a little contrived and simplistic, but for a nice, little “two people on the run but not totally guilty but still trying to do good for people” movie, with a villain who isn’t that villainous, it’s okay for a rental and maybe a snuggle on the couch.  Justin Timberlake is his likeable self but doesn’t break any real acting ground in this movie, which is sort of too bad because there are times that I find him a phenomenal actor (“The Social Network” and “Alpha Dog”), but other times it’s like he’s just in a movie that might sound cool (this one).  So, in the end, it’s 3 stars out of 5 for “In Time.” Don’t go expecting the world get past some of the goofiness, and just enjoy the ride.

The Blu-ray doesn’t have too many extras, really.  There are the obligatory deleted/extended scenes that really don’t add much, but I do have to say that if you do like the movie, even a tad, go ahead and watch “The Minutes” featurette.  Rather than a standard “making of” documentary, this feature is told from the perspective of the characters, giving a little more insight into the characters from their own point of view, and kind of helps explain some of the quirks in the movie that might have you scratching your head a little bit.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Annie Hall

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 1:33 Long
A Review by:
The Dude on the Right

Annie Hall
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Paul Simon
MPAA Rated: PG
Released By: MGM Home Entertainment / Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Released On: January 24, 2012
Kiddie Movie: Lots of dry humor. Send them to bed.
Date Movie: If she likes dated movies with dated dialogue.
Gratuitous Sex: Lots of talk about it, and people in bed, but nothing gratuitous.
Gratuitous Violence: Nope.
Action: Nope.
Laughs: Ehh.
Memorable Scene: None.
Memorable Quote: None.
Directed By: Woody Allen
Cool things about the Blu-ray: None.

I guess I’m just never going to be a fan of Woody Allen movies, at least that is all I can come up with after watching “Annie Hall.” It’s now out on Blu-ray, it’s a movie that Woody Allen won four Oscars for making, but when the credits rolled I just thought “Ehh.”

The basic story is that Alvy (Woody Allen) is a comedian in New York City, and supposedly a very good one at that, but when it comes to the ladies, well, he comes across more like, well, Woody Allen.  As we are introduced to Alvy we learn a little about his back-story, his family life (dysfunctional as most are), and eventually how he ends up meeting Annie (Diane Keaton).  She’s kind of goofy, wants to be a singer, and their relationship seems more like a train-wreck than a love story, especially with Alvy’s being mostly just a dorky comedian, and not seeming to understand how a relationship really works.

Low and behold, Annie get her chance to become a star thanks to Tony (Paul Simon), a record dude in L.A., and Annie, has to decide whether to pursue her dream in L.A., or stay with the neurotic Alvy.  She heads to the west coast, Alvy is distraught, he heads to L.A. to try and get her back, and hilarity is supposedly still supposed to be ensuing.

Now, I can understand the creativity in movies, even movies made at a time when I was like ten years old, but as I was watching “Annie Hall,” and yes, I know it’s from 1977, but it really seemed dated and doesn’t seem to hold up well, as some movies seem to be able to do.  Yes, the acting is good, and Diane Keaton is adorable, and if you grew up in that era you will probably love to revisit the movie if you enjoyed it in your youth, but for me I found the dialogue very dry and not that witty (although, I can see, how in 1977, it was risqué and edgy, and oddly enough rated PG (and yes, I know they didn’t have PG-13 back then, but other than the lack of nudity, a lot of the topics of conversation veered into Rish territory)).

If you are a Woody Allen fan this is probably a 5 star masterpiece, but for me it was 1 ½ stars of hour-and-a-half “Ehh.” I’ll average them together and give “Annie Hall” 3 stars out of 5.

As far as the Blu-ray, you’re getting it because you have a Blu-ray player, and pretty much nothing else as it doesn’t have squat as extras.

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!