C is for Cheeseburger

I'm finally going to finish off the Cs today!  It feels like I have been doing this forever and I am only finishing up my third letter of the alphabet.  Wow, I will be at this for a while.  Good thing I am enjoying myself!

Before I do the last 4 reviews, I wanted to touch on the fun thing I have been doing on Facebook.  Obviously everyone reading this blog knows about my love for burgers; the absolute best food known to man.  A few years ago I took a picture of every burger I ate for the year and posted them on the blog.  I forgot exactly how many I ate in the year but think it averaged out to one every 5 days or so for the whole year.  This year I wanted to get people involved and started a burger loving group on Facebook.  I asked people to join and post a picture of every burger they ate throughout the year.  My goal, my DREAM, was to see if we could get 1000 burger pictures in 2013.  Through the first month and 5 days, we are up to 159 burgers!  We are well on pace to make the 1000 burger pictures in the year goal.  I am so excited with how well the group has taken off and how well received it has been.  It is awesome to see how many other people share my love of burgers.  So exciting!

Now, let's finish off the Cs!



Movie Review #59 - Con Air

 On any other day, that might seem strange. 

Con Air is so friggin' goofy but it works because it is absolute nonstop action that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  But action alone won't make a good movie.  The amount of colorful villains is what truly makes this film, from Malkovich to Ving to Buscemi, to Trejo, man, they just keep this movie so entertaining.  They are all at their top of their game, Malkovich especially.  They are what make this movie as entertaining to me as it is.  Nic Cage is his usual self meaning half the time he is cool and half the time he is over the top ridiculous.  And his accent in this movie - good lord it is bad but it fits with the cartoon like feel the whole movie has.  And why is he squinting for half the movie?

Con Air is about as unbelievable as any action movie made in the last 20 years.  Yeah, even the Fast and the Furious movies are more believable.  But if you suspend all disbelief and enjoy the movie for what it is, pure action for entertainment value, you can sit through it.  Don't nitpick it for not being possible.  Of course it isn't.  What it is is a fun movie that I can watch over and over again.

8 out of 10 cheeseburgers

 Movie Review #60 - Cool Runnings

Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, its bobsled time! COOL RUNNINGS!

Everyone loves a good underdog story and Cool Runnings is one of my absolute favorites.  In fact, it is one of the few movies that almost makes me tear up the end.  I just find it so inspirational and such a wonderful story of overcoming odds.  Throw in a little bit of that Disney magic and I find it such a joy to watch over and over again.  I love the 4 bobsledders too; so much fun.

When I was watching it the other day, I couldn't help but think how much I miss John Candy.  He made so many great movies in his career and although he was the serious one in the film for a change, he still was the heart of the movie even here at the ending of his career.   

Olympics, underdog story, fun characters, John Candy, tear jerking moments, this movie has so much going for it.  I never tire of it.

8 out of 10 cheeseburgers

 Movie Review #61 - Copycat

  I'm death and life to you, doc... death and life. 

I have said it before and I will say it again, Copycat is an underrated movie.  Cursed with being released at around the same time as Se7en, many people overlook this movie because it isn't quite as good.  But that is not a bad thing.  Se7en is a spectacular film and hard to top in the thriller genre.  But on its own, Copycat is really good thriller and also quite creepy.

I think the thing that appeals to me is the way the killer goes about his crimes in the film.  I love true crime type of stuff and the fact that the killer bases all his murders on real life serial killers is quite entertaining to me as disturbing as that may sound.  Although, like Silence of Lambs, the most memorable villain in the film isn't the one doing the actual murders, but the one in prison who is "helping" with the investigation.  Harry Connick Jr. is the best part of the film and is quite awesome as Daryl Lee Cullen.  I wouldn't have minded if they had made a sequel or prequel based on his character because he was absolutely creepy in that role.  If only it could have been because he was the best part of the movie.

7 out of 10 cheeseburgers

 Movie Review #62 - The Count of Monte Cristo

How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure!

 I read Count of Monte Cristo as an 8th grader and absolutely loved it.  It was a long-ish book for someone  of that age and I loved every page of the book.  I haven't read the book since for some reason, but I know when the movie was set to release, I still eagerly anticipated it even though it had been about a decade since I had read the book.  And thankfully, I wasn't disappointed.  It has been so long now since I have read it that I can't remember how well the movie follows the book, but the basic element still remains - a man is wronged and spends many years of his life planning and acting out his revenge.  It's a perfect story.

The acting in the film is decent enough, nothing bad, nothing spectacular, but it carries the story well enough.  I find it funny that whenever I hear Richard Harris speak in the film, all I hear is Dumbledore now (despite him only being in a couple of the films before his death).  It's funny how a role does that.  Acting aside though, it is the story that makes me like this film so much.  There are certain parts in the film, even after watching it so many times, that make me smile as the lead exacts his revenge.  It is nice to see wrongs get righted.  It is nice to see Karma come full circle.  If only real life always worked so well.

8.5 out of 10 cheeseburgers