The annual NFL draft is one of my favorite traditions in sports. For whatever reason, I bask in the day when all teams, underachievers in particular, take a moment to dream and hope for what lies ahead. The draft provides all of us with an ability to dream about what may become of our beloved teams; it also provides us with a chance to waste a full day in front of the television drinking irresponsible amounts of Busch Light while debating an absurdly broad range of sports minutiae. That’s the beauty of the draft, really. I remember a few years back while attending college in Lake Forest when my buddy, Skimel, and I went to the only bar within 15 miles of campus – LFC has the absolute worst social life of all time – and literally drank nonstop from 11 AM until 4 PM while watching the draft. What’s funny about that draft is that I remember both of us cheering and throwing high fives when the Bears drafted Cade McNown. Doh! The day ended on a pretty random note – we decided to make our only stop at the drama theater of our college careers to see my longtime college crush perform on stage. Not really sure what came over us that day. Anyhow, I found myself in a similar situation a few years later at a bar in Chicago with my man Coley, consuming stupid amounts of beer and grease while hoping and praying that the Cowboys would take Mike Williams with their pick (that was the year when they had two picks in the top 15). It turns out that the Lions grabbed Williams before he fell to us, starting what became a ridiculous streak of top picks spent on WRs for Matt Millen & Co., and we ended up having to “settle” for Demarcus Ware. Thank goodness I don’t run the Cowboys! Last year was more of the same, though this time Coley and I were sequestered somewhere in a remote part of Minnesota, sharing beers and laughs with some friends of his, two brothers who have this love affair with Coley despite the fact that he dumped their sister a few years ago. Gotta love the Col-man!

This year’s draft affair was quite different. Of course, I’m in Tokyo, which severely inhibits my ability to hang with buddies and truly immerse myself in this sports spectacle. Thusly, I had to settle with catching the first few picks via the DraftCast on ESPN.com. Once I saw that Brady Quinn didn’t go #3 to Cleveland, I basically shut the computer down and went to sleep (roughly 2 AM my time), knowing deep down that poor Quinn was in store for a repeat of the Aaron Rodgers show from a few years ago. I had a sneaking suspicion that would happen, and sure enough it did, which strikes me as a bit strange. Here’s a prototypical QB in terms of intelligence, geniality, physicality (6-4, built like a linebacker), and experience (two years under the tutelage of Weis at arguably the biggest pressure cooker in college football). In any event, the Browns pulled off a pretty gutsy (and smart, in my opinon) trade with my ‘Boys to nab the Mighty Quinn at #22, topping off a stellar first round for the Browns. On the other hand, I was happy to see the Cowboys flip picks, which gave them Cleveland’s first round pick next year, only to sneak back into the first round to draft Anthony Spencer. Admittedly, I didn’t really like that pick. I thought for sure they’d take Robert Meacham out of Tennessee, which would help alleviate the risks inherent in two ageing WRs such as Owens and Glenn. Nonetheless, the Cowboys drafted YET ANOTHER LB/DE to help fill out the depth chart of their vaunted (and underachieving) 3-4 defense. I like Spencer – I had the opportunity to watch him torment the Irish over the past couple of years – but I’m not sure we needed to draft defense again. We could use some help in making the offense a bit more explosive, and a big, athletic receiver like Meacham fit the bill perfectly. Oh well.

Some thoughts on a few of the other picks:

- The Bears scored well in my book with the pick of Greg Olsen (who should’ve been Irish but he left campus shortly after arrival his freshman year, bolting for the Hurricanes once he learned how clueless Ty Willingham truly was). Olsen is a ridiculously fast TE (4.4-4.5 speed), making him an overgrown WR and a great target for the notoriously unpredictable Rex the Hex. Good pick. However, the Garrett Wolfe pickup on day two left me scratching my head. He’s extremely undersized, which means he’ll only be serviceable in the return game, which is where Devin Hester resides, so I don’t see much need for Wolfe at this point.

- This is a bit contrarian because they’ve already got a perfectly fine 1000-yard rusher in Chester Taylor, but the Vikings pulled off a nice one by landing Adrian Peterson, who I think is going to turn out to be a total stud. I envision him just crushing it on that Metrodome turf. He’s a big, fast RB with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, a la Larry Johnson, and we saw how that turned out. Still easy to question why the passed up a QB, though. Tavaris Jackson better be a stud!

- Poor Matt Millen. Everybody was saying that there was no way he could draft yet another WR with his first pick, which would make four in the last five years, but sure enough he pulled the trigger on Calvin Johnson. You can’t really blame the guy. Johnson is a freak and has been referred to as a once in a lifetime receiver, so he basically had no choice but to take the guy. Now you’ve got a sick tandem of Roy Williams and Johnson. If only they had a serviceable QB to get them the ball, though Drew Stanton was a pretty good pickup later in the day.

- The Dolphins and Packers gave us two good “What the F?” moments with their picks. Why in the world they chose Ted Ginn, Jr. and Justin Harrell, respectively, is beyond me. The Dolphins had so many other more glaring and pressing needs that I don’t even know where to begin. It was great watching highlights of the Dolphin fans chanting Brady Quinn’s name as new coach Cam Cameron got up to the podium and tried to explain himself. Great start, Cam! The Pack, on the other hand, absolutely had to add someone on the offensive side of the ball. There is no escaping the fact that they need to throw Favre a bone and give him a weapon. They’ve already lost Ahman Green to the Texans and responded by signing a DB. (?) Then they go out and draft a DT that most people had pegged for late first round/early second round (and before Alan Branch?) but somehow make up for it by drafting a lightly-regarded RB out of Nebraska. No idea what the Pack were thinking here. They better score Randy Moss, no matter how odd of a pairing that would make on the surface. Oops – scratch that – the Pats beat them to the punch. Looks like we’ll be watching Favre disintegrate before our eyes this year, which will be similar to the torture/execution scene at the end of Braveheart. You know, the one where we all found ourselves begging to have Mel’s head chopped off so the poor guy could be put out of his misery. Poor Favre. He should’ve hung ‘em up years ago.

- I really wanted the Cowboys to get Reggie Nelson and pair him up with Roy Williams in the middle of the defensive backfield. That would’ve been awesome.

- I was surprised that the Pats drafted Merriweather. Here’s a team known for its no-nonsense approach to the game and to the locker room, yet they go out and draft a guy who shot at someone (in self defense, apparently) and was filmed stomping on a Florida International player’s head during that infamous brawl last year. That should make for an interesting marriage with everyone’s favorite curmudgeon – Bill Belichick. Speaking of which, did anyone see him at the Final Four this year? Three questions: 1) Was that platinum blonde next to him his wife? Just looked it up. It’s actually his girlfriend. He divorced his wife last summer.; 2) Why the hell was he wearing a suit?; and 3) Does he ever smile? Caught up as we are with his football genius, we as a society might be missing out on appreciating him for what he may very well be – the strangest, most boring person alive. In any event, the Pats still scored big over the weekend, locking up Randy Moss while – again – outmaneuvering everyone else and somehow walking away with the 49ers’ first round pick next year, which is sure to be another high one. These guys are scary good. They appear to be lapping the field when it comes to managing a team.

In other sports news, I’m not sure if anyone had a chance to take in the first leg of the Manchester United-AC Milan Champs Leage semi-final at Old Trafford last week. Thanks to Slingbox and YouTube, I was able to watch it in its full glory as well as relive certain moments. This was an absolutely fantastic match, maybe the best one I’ve ever seen. Two heavyweights going head-to-head for one of the greatest team trophies on the planet with their respective superstars geared up for the big stage. And the stars surely delivered. Check this clip for highlights. Ronaldo (the Portuguese one, not the Brazilian) certainly proved his worth as the best player in England, but Rooney outshone him this night, including his fairytale winner during stopage time that sent the Red Devil faithful into a frenzy. And how about that flick pass by Scholes on Rooney’s first goal? Brilliant. Speaking of which, Kaka was an absolute revelation during this match. According to some, he solidified his standing as the best player in the world with this performance. After watching the match, I find it hard to argue. While Ronaldo is undoubtedly fantastic to watch, Kaka brings a level of practicality to his game that is unparalleled. While Ronaldo can waste considerable time dancing around the ball, it looks as if Kaka’s every move is designed for maximum efficiency, making his game remarkably economical in its form. He also has surprising speed. I say surprising because he doesn’t look that dangerous, but his long legs afford him an extra gear that can come from nowhere. His performance against Man U was simply sublime, and his two goals were perfectly executed. I’m hopping onto the Kaka bandwagon and I can’t wait for the return leg in Milan this week. Should be a doozy! For those of you interested in more Kaka moments, check out these highlights. As long as you ignore the cheesy music and text in the video, you should leave the clip a Kaka fan.

Finally, I wanted to share a few videos that I found to be quite funny. The first one is funny in a kind of guilty way. Basically, some poor guy finds himself in the wrong place/wrong time and gets run over by a runaway tire while filling his car up at a gas station. I’m assuming he turned out just fine, which allows me to laugh out loud at this one. This second video is an oldie but goodie, which shows a drunk guy who was just brought into the police station for a DUI. Just hilarious. And finally, here’s a great moment where unintentional comedy meets karma. Apparently, some hotshot Hollywood producer lent his ridiculously expensive and rare Ferrari Enzo to Eddie Griffin for some practice laps before a celebrity race. What happens next is magical. That’s what you get for spending an outrageous amount of money on a show car! Not to mention handing the keys over to Eddie Griffin….

There are two things that I’m currently a huge fan of: 1) the new Arcade Fire album – Neon Bible; and 2) Reno 911. Neon Bible is brilliant from start to finish, and ranks as one of the few albums that I can play the whole way through and generally feel good about what I’m getting from each song. This one in particular is quite stellar. This is the live version, which is OK over the internet, but the album version is fantastic. I highly recommend dialing up the volume a notch or six for this one. Stick around for the end…gives me goose bumps. Reno 911, on the other hand, is just hilarious. It’s on Comedy Central and is basically a satirical take on Cops, but with a mockumentary feel a la The Office or Dog Bites Man. They actually just came out with a movie, which I’ve read is a funnier version of Police Academy. Check out this clip for a little taste of the Comedy Central version. You’ll thank me later.

Watch this clip. This is a ridiculously awesome run by the prodigy Lionel Messi of Barcelona against Getafe last week in a King’s Cup semi-final in Spain. Just sick. Some are wondering if this might be the greatest goal ever. Tough to tell, but it certainly was awesome. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had someone on the U.S. squad who was capable of dong something even remotely similar to this?

Something that plagues the daily lives of average Iraqi citizens struck us at home last week. A twisted soul with nothing to live for went on a suicidal rampage, taking as many lives with him as possible. There’s not much to say here except that we as a nation need to forfiet our archaic right to bear arms. This is just dumb. We were granted that right back when it could’ve been justified as a necessity. But this is 2007 and things are considerably different as they pertain to government’s interaction with the providence. Clinging to this right is akin to believing in old fairy tales written centuries ago by random, fallible people looking to control the masses by instilling a sense of hope combined with a vengeful god. I can’t make as eloquent of an argument for gun control as most others, and there are plenty of good arguments out there, including this article, written by a former editor of the LA Times, which endorsed an all-out ban on private guns in the 1990s. The bottom line is we need to control the flow of guns in our country. We’ll never know if this tragedy could’ve been prevented with more stringent gun control laws, but we do know that we could’ve made this nutjob’s plan a little more difficult to execute.

Here’s a disturbing little exchange between Charlie Rose and Tom DeLay, the book-touring former House Majority Leader who not too long ago added his name to the long list of fallen crooks associated with this administration. This woud be side-splitting comical if it didn’t represent the type of thinking prevalent in today’s gun lobby that has such dire implications for society.

Rose (holding up a newspaper photo of Cho Seung-Hui): The picture on the other side is the gunman at Virginia Tech. This is an old debate, and we don’t have time to talk about it, but does it make you rethink guns? What he did was all legal. He went in and got a handgun, bought a handgun, was checked, had no criminal record. Went back a month later, got another gun. Do we need to do something about this?

DeLay: Yeah. We need to remove the ban of guns on the Virginia Tech campus, and allow people to defend themselves, and allow people to get concealed carry licenses. Maybe if there was one person in there that had a concealed carry license, was carrying a gun, he wouldn’t have killed as many people.

Rose: So if there was a student in the classroom or a professor in the classroom that had a gun, they could have defended those students?

DeLay: That’s right.

Rose: Do you think that’s the answer?

DeLay: That is the answer.

Rose: More guns?

DeLay: It’s been proven over and over again.

Rose: More guns in the hands of students in this case, or in the professors’ is the answer to–

DeLay: It has been proven as such. The criminal doesn’t know that you have a gun.

Hopefully we’ll have a sanity check once the Democrats inevitably take over. Let’s just hope that they actually seize the moment and do something meaningful and historically impactful for once. When’s the last time this country did something great? It feels like our growth as a nation has been stunted over the last six years or so. Lo and behold, it looks like help may be on the way, which goes nicely with the prediction I’ve been touting all along. According to this article, everyone’s favorite Oscar winner has some folks assembling in the background for an eventual push for the White House. Get ready folks!

On the other hand, we’ve got a front row seat to the imploding presidential aspirations of John McCain. Poor guy just can’t get it right. He clearly had an out of body experience when he started on the bomb Iran song, and this little compilation makes for some pretty humorous viewing.

In other news, everyone should be happy to know that the Vatican finally figured out that old limbo issue. It’s good to know that the folks who claim to know exactly the route one should take to infinite salvation are so secure in their understanding of the afterlife. Whew. That’s a load off of my back!

And for those of us with a fixation on all things dictatorial, check out Putin’s version of freedom of the press here. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn’t it?

On a ligher note, take a look at David Letterman’s contribution to this year’s White House Correspondent’s Dinner. I suspect this was the highlight of the night. Though clearly not expected to strike the same chord as normal with the VT shooting so fresh in everyone’s mind, I find it hard to believe that anyone will top Stephen Colbert’s brilliant speech last year. Just awesome.

Also, check out Bill Maher’s theory on how to obtain a leadership position within the Bush administration. Scary because it’s true.

Per the suggestions I’ve received from some of you, I’m going to try to be more proactive about posting links to articles that I find interesting. If you can forgive the randomness of the subject matters, you might enjoy this little stroll down the information superhighway.

- First off, I must comment on the “the great hurt” that Don Imus leveled on the Rutgers women’s basketball team. This is a classic example of how lame America can be sometimes. Seriously. So we have a totally moronic radio show host say something stupid, and the world comes crashing down on his insensitive, indecent remarks. That’s precisely our problem – we are too damn sensitive! First of all, this guy has always been brutal to listen to and has already established himself as a total douchebag with nothing really interesting to say. The WSJ recently had a solid OpEd along these lines (but you need to be a subscriber, which is kind of a bummer). But I think the real problem here is that we are so sensitive to basically everything. This guy makes just another ignorant statement to add to the long list of the ones we’ve already committed to our collective memory, and you’d think that someone walked into the Rutgers locker room and detonated a suicide bomb. There are way more blatant and disgusting examples of injustice in this world yet we’ve decided to focus all of our venom on this pitiful little man. For all its faults, America remains one of the most open and least discriminating societies on the planet. We lose sight of that fact during times like these, which is a shame. In addition, the hypocrisy surrounding this issue is stifling, which has actually caused me to identify with Pat Buchanan and his comments on the issue, which truly marks a rare occassion.

- On a ligher note, everyone’s favorite take on being a Hollywood insider, HBO’s guilty pleasure known as Entourage, started its third season on Sunday. For a pretty solid overview of the series, check out this story from the San Francisco Chronicle.

- For a rousing rendition of U2′s One, with a nice little BofA spin to it, check out this clip, which ranks extremely high on the unintentional comedy scale.

- I sometimes like to depress myself by thinking about what the future of our disgruntled planet looks like. Luckily, the British Ministry of Defence did the heavy lifting for me with this bleak little assessment. Doesn’t it make you want to run out and make babies?!

- Along the lines of envisioning the future and all its strife, check out the plans this guy has for Vladimir Putin and his new Russian dictatorship. It’s so comforting to know that the world’s second-largest nuclear weapon reserve is under such good and stable leadership.

- For those of you with WSJ subscriptions, check out this article about the rise of secularism across Europe. Good stuff.

- And finally, only in China can you get away with banning spitting, run-down housing, bad manners and unintelligible English in preparation for the Olympics. Gotta love it.

Everyone knows that I love a good debate on religion, particularly one that involves one of my favorite authors, Sam Harris. As such, follow this link for a Newsweek-moderated debate between Sam and Rick Warren, the author of “The Purpose Driven Life”, a work that reached new heights on the unintentional comdey scale for me. I happen to think that Sam lays a licking on Rick during this exchange, but feel free to judge for yourselves.

For another fun take on Rick Warren’s famous Christian rally call, check out this link, brought to us by our friends who dare to ask the question, Why Won’t God Heal Amputees?

Enjoy!

One of the benefits of my recent travels is the downtime that I have on flights because, truth be told, I’m far from the model employee when it comes to traveling to and fro. While theoretically this may represent some time for me to tap away at my laptop or attempt to make a dent on the mountain of work-related reading I have, I usually spend the time pursuing personal enjoyment in the form of reading books and watching movies. There just is something about flying that stifles my ability to work, which is only exacerbated during longer legs. It seems that there is an inverse correlation between the length of the flight and my productivity. For example, when I used to make regular trips from Chicago to NYC, I would actually get a fair amount of work done. Now, with most of my flights representing at least four hours worth of flying time, I usually just make peace with the idea that I will get little, if any, work done en route. That being said, my recent trips have been incredibly productive from a personal interest standpoint. For example, during the ten-hour hike from Melbourne to Tokyo, I took in three movies and read one book (the highly-enjoyable Absurdistan, written by a former correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation). In total, I’ve seen eight movies over the past couple weeks, including: 1) The Departed; 2) Children of Men; 3) The Prestige; 4) The Last King of Scotland; 5) Blood Diamond; 6) Babel; 7) Stranger than Fiction; and 8) For Your Consideration. Below are my thoughts on each, ranked in order of the enjoyment I derived from each. Be sure to click on the title for a link to that movie’s respective trailer (I’m a sucker for a good trailer).

1. The Departed – It’s great that Scorsese finally managed to take home the little golden statue, but I think this was more a makeup call for the multitude of blown calls on the part of the academy over the years. Seriously, how many movies can you count that were Oscar-worthy but that were passed over? I can count at least six: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Aviator and Goodfellas. In any event, the movie itself was great, but I would say that it definitely wasn’t Scorsese’s best film by any stretch. Nonetheless, the film easily passed the viewability test, whose logic follows that if you find yourself not wanting the movie to end when it ultimately does, then that there is a darn good film. That was me on one of my recent HK-Singapore flights, hoping that Matt Damon’s delivery of the groceries didn’t mark the finale of this dandy of a cop caper. This movie basically had it all – suspense, action, great directing, smart story, awesome cast and solid writing. And it had Boston accents, which are always fun to see being attempted. It was also fun to see Jack Nicholson’s character not even attempt the twang. It must be good to be Jack. Anyhow, this film solidified a few things for me. First, Leonardo DiCaprio is a fantastic actor who easily matches wits with anyone you put behind the camera or on the screen with him. He embraces his roles wholeheartedly and recently took the top spot of my list of guys I’d like to be in the world. This precious spot was previously occupied by David Beckham, but I gave up on him once I realized how annoying it would be to be married to Posh Spice, a realization exacerbated by the fact that his footballing career took a turn for the indifferent when he signed up for MLS. Rather, I’m throwing my envious weight behind Leo, who might be the hottest actor in Hollywood in terms of getting roles (and good ones at that), who has a habit of dating the most beautiful women on the planet (goodbye Giselle, hello super hot Israeli model chick, Bar Rafaeli), and who by now surely has more money than Hilary has detractors (though not by much, I’m sure). As always, Leo was great in this movie, and I found that he dominated some scenes, even amid the standout cast at his side. Second, Jack Nicholson can only play one role, and that’s Jack Nicholson. Seriously, I’m done trying to convince myself that he’s this awesome actor. He’s just not. The guy is fun to watch, no doubt, but he has about as much range as Chuck Knoblach. As an aside, I still can’t believe Morgan Freeman won an Oscar for playing, you guessed it, himself, in Million Dollar Baby. Just absurd. Third, Mark Wahlberg was pretty solid in spot duty, and Matt Damon did an admirable job of getting under my skin, which was what his character was supposed to do, so kudos to him. And Alec Baldwin was pretty good in spot duty as well, though he didn’t play the funny/annoying boss that he has done so well with in recent cameos. Wahlberg confuses me. He can go from absolutely nailing it (Boogie Nights) to sleepwalking (Invincible) to totally falling on his face (Planet of the Apes, though maybe I should blame the writing on that one, or the directing, or the casting). Deep down, though, I’m rooting for him because he has forever won my affection since I learned that he was the inspiration (and part of the brain trust) behind the creation of HBO’s Entourage, which might be the greatest show on TV when it’s not enjoying one of its many 36-month hiatuses. I was also quite happy to learn that Marky Mark has hooked up with Scorsese again to jointly develop yet another series for HBO, which will be a drama about the development of Atlantic City. Check out this link for details. On a separate note, HBO has really nailed it lately. Their shows have been totally solid and their roster of new ideas continues to impress. Well done. In any event, totally solid movie, definitely one of the best of the year (apparently, THE best) and certainly worth the fanfare and price of admission.

2. Children of Men – For some reason, this movie is totally under the radar despite its fantastic director (Alfonso Cuaron of Y Tu Mama Tambien fame) and great cast (Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Cain). It’s by no means a masterpiece, but it’s a totally solid sci-fi, futuristic film with the nitty-gritty feel that has come to epitomize the style of the great modern Mexican filmmakers (including Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu of Babel fame and Guillermo del Toro of Pan’s Labrynth, though his movies have more of a fantasy tilt). It’s a dark, largely depressing take on the future of civilization, set in a London grasping with the fate of a species that has suddenly been confronted with an inability to reproduce (exactly why they can’t reproduce is never fully explained, but I don’t let that deter me). An average, disinterested bloke (Owen) who is basically going through the motions in a life that clearly isn’t really worth living is suddenly thrust into the role of hero, a role that the character accepts without much of a fight. This is somewhat refreshing, as usually you see unlikely heroes fight the placing of the crown, but this guy just takes it in stride and runs with it. Kind of like he doesn’t have much else to do, so he may as well save the world. As with most action hero clichés, the protagonist is faced with a situation where the fate of civilization rests in his unspectacular hands, which is lame as far as storylines go, I know. However, the movie is good enough to make you look past the cliché and enjoy it for what it is – an interesting screenplay written for a great cast and told through the lens of a fantastic director who adds a texture to his films that is hard to mistake. The style of his movies is as recognizable as a familiar voice on the phone. He makes them feel so real and human, a fingerprint of sorts that definitely resonates with me. There isn’t a ton of dialogue (with the exception of Cain’s scenes), which is good. The director lets the story be told through the use of great camera work that captures thought and emotion not by words but simply by pointing the camera in the right direction and letting movie magic unfold. This is a technically superb movie, and Clive Owen is outstanding (one of my favorite actors at the moment). In the end, the real winner here is Cuaron, who now ranks as one of my favorite directors around. I highly recommend this movie. You may not be blown away, but if you have an appreciation for just plain old good moviemaking, you won’t be disappointed. As an added bonus, I think the movie has a great trailer, which you should check out for a test drive by clicking the link in the title above.

3. The Prestige – A buddy of mine who has a high hit ratio when it comes to recommendations of all sorts told me about this movie, and he didn’t disappoint. It stars my favorite actor of the moment, Christian Bale, as the magician Alfred Borden, who is in competition with another magician, Robert Angier, played by Hugh Jackman. The movie is based on the novel written by Christopher Priest, which follows a rivalry that develops between two magicians hellbent on discovering each other’s secrets, a game of one-upmanship that devolves into a story detailing the tragedy that can accompany the obsessive pursuit of power. As always, Christian Bale was fantastic, and Hugh Jackman was tolerable, which was a pleasant surprise for me. Scarlett Johansson looked great, and David Bowie had a spot role that was actually quite good. The film was directed by Christopher Nolan, who has emerged as yet another one of my favorite directors. He first made a name for himself with Memento, but he really solidified himself with his outstanding take on Batman Begins, which starred (again) the perfectly-cast Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne. That film made me a fan of comic book-based movies again, and I’m excited for the next installment, entitled The Dark Knight, starring Bale again as Batman and Heath Ledger as The Joker. It’s slated for a Summer 2008 release. Isn’t it great the we can now anticipate with genuine excitement the forthcoming releases for two long-distressed movie-making institutions? I’m referring to the revitalized Batman and Bond series, which are clearly headed in the right direction with great writing, directing and acting. Anyone who hasn’t seen Casino Royale yet absolutely should. Daniel Craig makes for a serious upgrade from Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, adding an edge that has long been missing. In any event, The Prestige is a smart film that provides a nice running commentary on obsession as well as a fun slight of hand technique that will keep you guessing throughout. The film also has a great tagline, “Are you watching closely?”, which suits the story perfectly. I highly recommend this movie not only for its technical expertise but also for the enjoyment of a good plot twist that isn’t particularly easy to pick out.

4. The Last King of Scotland – This movie combines two of my favorite things in life – good acting and a story about a crazed, power drunk dictator. The film documents the real life experience of a young, brash Scottish doctor who takes off for adventure by volunteering in a Ugandan clinic before being brought into the employ of the dictator Idi Amin. He becomes a close friend and confidante of sorts for the dictator, which opens his eyes to myriad misdeeds that force him into a battle of conscience. For those of you that know me well, you know I am fascinated with the idea of dictatorship. I devour any and all things related to the acquisition of power (often by force) by strongmen and the subsequent absurd folly of rule that inevitably follows. This story is prevalent across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and I can’t consume enough information describing how these megalomaniacs ruin their countries in pursuit of personal wealth and power at the expense of their populace. Just amazing. This fixation motivated me to watch this movie, which I would characterize as quite good but not great. But for the fascinating subject matter and the powerful acting of Forrest Whitaker, this film would rate a B-. The storyline is indeed fascinating, though I would’ve preferred more brutal treatment in the depiction of Amin, as most of his bad deeds went unseen and largely unsaid, which was a wasted opportunity to really rally the audience, if you ask me. Whitaker was awesome in his depiction of Amin and was absolutely deserving of an Oscar. He exploded onto the screen during his first scene and carried the role rather capably throughout. An underrated performance was turned in by James McAvoy, who in many spots was superior to his Oscar-annointed counterpart when they shared the screen. A worthwhile film but nothing to get too excited about.

5. Blood Diamond – I watched this during my one free night in Melbourne, which should’ve been a fun night to go out given that it was the Friday before the grand prix. However, I was incredibly tired and it was raining out, so I bagged it and decided to visit my buddy Leo, who now was patrolling the mean innards of war-torn Sierra Leone as Danny Archer in search of the whale of the diamond industry, the pink diamond. This included plenty of running, dodging bullets and explosions, and a nice, subtle love affair (thankfully not over the top) with the always beautiful Jennifer Connelly. He did this all while pulling off a rather convincing Rhodesian/Zimbabwean accent (I think he called it Afrikaans) and demonstrating a hankering for cigarettes that would’ve made Morton Downey, Jr. proud. He also somehow convinced me that he could kick Vandy’s ass, though he clearly was at least two weight classes below him. Vandy was the guy that Archer crossed with in their effort to track down the pink diamond. Vandy was a fisherman whose village was ransacked by the RUF (Revolutionary United Front), and he was taken as a forced worker for the rebels while the rest of his family was kidnapped. While digging for diamonds under the close and abusive watch of RUF soldiers, Vandy happens upon a massive diamond, which he manages to hide before the camp is attacked by government forces. During his escape, Vandy is arrested and sent to a jail in the city, whereby he happens upon Archer, who himself is a diamond trafficker in need of a good dimaond. This begins an adventure for the two that involves both the search for the diamond as well as the search for Vandy’s family, which includes an elder son in his early teens who was kidnapped by the RUF and forced to become a child soldier. This was a good movie, mainly because it told a story that needed to be told and was carried by solid acting. Not only did Leo fail to disappoint, but Djimon Honsou turned in a surprisingly solid performance as the downtrodden yet determined Vandy. Not just solid, actually, it was fantastic. He did a great job of capturing the anguished helplessness that must permeate parts of Africa dominated by the diamond trade (or any other commodity-based trade, for that matter), where greed and exploitation rule the day at the expense of humanity. A movie worth seeing on several levels.

6. Babel – This movie was yet another very well done one from an artistic perspective, directed by the aforementioned Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and starring a nice ensemble cast comrpised of, among others, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael Garcia Bernal. However, I found it incredibly difficult to watch. The story focuses on four interrelated sets of characters, whose storylines are loosely connected yet ultimatley converge in some pretty random ways. We follow the developments of: 1) Pitt and Blanchett as a husband/wife tandem running away from some family problems by taking a vacation in Morocco; 2) their children at home with their babysitter; 3) a poor family living a meager existence in rural Morocco; and 4) a deaf/mute Japanese girl (Chieko, played with astonishing clarity by Rinko Kikuchi) struggling with being an outcast in a conformist society as well as the suicide of her mother. The film is very well done and the acting is quite solid throughout, particulary that of the babysitter (Amelia, played by Adriana Barraza) and Kikuchi. Brad Pitt also provides a pretty solid turn as the grief-stricken husband dealing with an accident while being stuck in the middle of nowehere in a third world country. In the end, though, this movie was simply too much to stomach. Some of the situations were simply too disturbing and hard to watch, not from a gore perspective but more from a sad, miserable commentary on life perspective. Watching a bad situation turn progressiely worse just got a little old, and it seemed like Inarritu enjoyed putting his audience in an awkward spot, only to turn the knife a few more times for good measure. Towards the end, I had finally had enough with the outrageously depressing developments, and I found myself begging for the movie to put us all out of our misery and just end it already. Again, it was a very well done movie, but I will never find myself yearning for another go at this one. Have I seen Babel? Yes. Will I ever watch it again? Absolutely not.

7. Stranger Than Fiction – This was a decent film. I liked the thrust of the plot initially, though it did grow a bit tired as the movie wore on and eventually became too much before collapsing under its own weight. It’s basically about a guy, Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), who realizes that he’s a character in a novel that is being written by a famous, reclusive writer, Karen Eiffel (played by Emma Thompson). Once he realizes this, he tracks down a psychiatrist, Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), to help him sort things out. The story is clever and the writing is actually quite good. The screenplay was written by Zack Helm, a young up-and-coming graduate from DePaul’s Goodman School of Drama who has penned several well-received plays and is working on his directorial debut entitled Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, which stars Jason Bateman, Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman. Also noteworthy is the fact that he was engaged to Lucy Liu, who I quite like. In any event, the movie was pretty clever but I thought the acting of Will Ferrell was even better (he was nominated for a Golden Globe), which ultimately provides the biggest reason that the film should be recommended. Hoffman, on the other hand, annoyed the hell out of me. He’s started to play his recent roles with a flair for the arrogant that really rubs me the wrong way. The character he played in this movie seemed awfully similar to the ones we saw in Meet the Fockers and I Heart Huckabees. I’m hoping that Hoffman hasn’t jumped the shark, but it appears that he has finally allowed all of his success to get to him, which is clearly affecting his work. Two other notable facts about this movie – it was filmed in Chicago and its soundtrack is littered with one of my favorite bands, Spoon.

8. For Your Consideration – The latest Christopher Guest installment didn’t really move the needle with me. It was definitely in the same vein as some of his previous works such as A Mighty Wind and Best in Show, which I loved, but maybe I’m just a bit tired of the same old bits. However, the writing was sharp and there were definitely some funny moments. I just felt like there was some overacting involved here, and the storyline itself actually made me feel sorry for the characters. This is in stark contrast to his previous films, which made me feel like it was OK to just point and laugh at the sad lot in front of you. This one struck me as too realistic and almost heartfelt, which definitely dulled the humor.

In more movie news, I’m happy to report that one of the greatest actors of our time, Daniel Day-Lewis, has teamed up with one of my favorite directors, P.T. Anderson, to film There Will Be Blood, which is loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s novel “Oil!”. It’s a bout a turn-of-the-century Texas prospector and I’m sure it won’t disappoint. Also noteworthy is the casting of Paul Dano opposite Day-Lewis. He’s the son from everyone’s latest favorite movie about disfunctional families, Little Miss Sunshine. Also, for those of you out there that happen to agree with me on the topic of P.T. Anderson, check this link for a decent blog.

That’s all for now. I’m off for Chicago in a few days, which will involve even more opportunity for movie watching, particularly given that we are now in April. This means that United has replaced it’s March movie run with a fresh roster. Actually, just took a sneak peek at the roster and the only think on there that looks worthwhile is The Pursuit of Happyness. Oh well. Maybe I’ll be forced to actually get some work done.