Windy City Heat

Available now on DVD is probably one of the funniest movies of the decade.

Windy City Heat is an elaborate practical joke played on Perry Caravelo by his two "friends", Don Barris and Tony Barbieri.

The set up of the film is that Perry Caravelo believes that his chance of a lifetime has arrived by landing the part of Stone Fury in the huge, action film Windy City Heat. He lives out his fantasy with the bonus of cameras rolling at all times to document the suppossed behind the scenes events for the spectacular DVD.

In reality, the filming is just an opportunity to witness his two friends humiliate, ridicule, and embarrass Perry Caravelo at every turn.

I know it sounds mean.

That's because it is.

But after watching Perry in his element for a few minutes, one figures out pretty quickly that this guy deserves all that's coming to him.

He's homophobic, rude, crude, ignorant, and extremely, extremely arrogant.

At one point he remarks, with all sincerity, that he's the new Marlon Brando.

Seriously.

Without spoiling the humor, some of the bits include, a hilarious audition situation, stunt work involving shit, a red baseball bat, mistaken costume fittings, toilet humor (literally), and an accident involving a craft services table.

The only slight problem with the movie is that it's pretty unbelievable that Perry is so ignorant.

Seriously the guy has to be retarded to fall for some of the set-ups.

For example Bobcat Goldthwait is directing this supposed action film.

But somehow it's believable because the guy is such a ignorant, and terrible, yet arrogant actor.

The audience ends up hoping for all it's worth that it is real, and that he isn't in on the joke.

Just to see him suffer.

Which brings up a point that if Perry is in on the joke, Perry Caravelo is a comic genius.

In the mold of Andy Kaufman, and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Which is a scenario which is even harder to believe.

In any case, I highly, highly recommend watching this film.

There are some huge, tears inducing, stomach hurting laughs, that will have one giggling for weeks after just thinking about it.

The Departed

Not much more can be said about how great this movie is.

Which is why I held off on writing my review.

Honestly, what's left to be said?

Besides that, the truth is in my heart, I believe Mr. Scorsese is not capable of making a bad movie.

Even if he tried.

Seriously.

Even his stuff that people considered uneven.....I think is pretty freakin' brilliant.

I thought Gangs of New York and The Aviator were epic.

I liked Age of Innocence, Kundun, Color of Money....even Bringing out the Dead.

Well...... maybe not Bringing out the Dead.

But I recognize that movie is still better than 95% of the stuff that is out there today.

So, as one can see, in my eyes the guy can do no wrong.

I guess I'm not in the minority in my beliefs. Any dumb ass off the street will admit that the guy is a genius.

Which is why it's so strange that he's been unable to win the film industry's most prestigious award.

I think if there's any complaints about his most recent work, it's that they all seemed like they were geared toward trying to win him the Oscar.

Which of course isn't true.

But the way his films were marketed definitely made it seem that way.

So it's refreshing that The Departed at least looks like something more closer to his indie sensibility.

It feels like a movie with no obvious award season ambition.

It feels like Scorsese..... having some fun.

Like he did in Goodfellas, and Casino.

Indeed, the story is not even an original idea. It's based on a rather exceptional chinese film called Infernal Affairs.

I read in an article that one of the reasons Scorsese made the movie was to give back to the chinese film community, which has been so influenced by Scorsese's work.

The Departed is a superior film....but in all honestly not by much.

Andy Lau's movie is stylistic fun, and Andy Lau and Tony Leung's performances are pretty amazing.

Stunning work really.

Especially when watched with a fresh perspective.

Which is a big weakness for the remake.

The film is a faithful interpretation of Infernal Affairs.... almost to a fault.

Many of the plot points are ripped straight from the original.

To the point that I think that, if given a choice, viewers should not watch the original before watching this film.

It will spoil all the fun.

But even if one has seen the original, this movie is still a pretty fun and amazing ride.

Perhaps not surprising, I felt the differences in the two films were what I enjoyed most.

This time around I felt the stand out performances in the film were by the supporting actors.

In particular Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg, who happen to be characters who aren't in the original.

The truth is that they steal this film from Leo and Damon.

Like bandits.

Mark Wahlberg in particular has never been better.

Also getting notable attention is Vera Farmiga, who's character is tweaked so that she's romantically involved with both Leo and Damon's character. It's a nice tweak in the story, and gives the movie even more depth and heart.

Let's not forget Jack...who's great in his role. It's a wild, almost, out of control performance but it's entertaining, enjoyable and pretty damn great.

Perhaps turning in the most intimidating performance of them all is Ray Winstone's Mr. French. Who's a cold blooded, loyal, calculated killer, and second in command to Nicholson's Frank Costello. It fantastic, understated, work that hopefully won't be forgotten come awards season.

So basically it's a great film.... good source material, great adaptation, good performances, great direction, it's a can't miss.....maybe it's the best movie of the year.

What more needs to be said?

A son of many talents!

American Idol watch out.

My wife took some pictures of our little cub the other day, and I was scanning through them on the computer, catching up with his exploits that I miss while I am at work, and to my surprise, I noticed that she captured him displaying some unusual supernatural abilities.....especially for his age.

He's only 7 months, but he's obviously a musical genius.

If one needs proof.......take a look at these pictures.



Yeah, that's right he sings......but unfortunately when I'm not around.

I coyly pressed my wife for some details, but she refused to report any unusual abilities. Perhaps she's afraid that his talents may draw the attention of Julliard who may force her to enroll him in a preschool program to hone his obvious vocal talents so that he may share them with the world.

When I told her it was okay....that I wouldn't share the secret with anyone. She merely looked at me like I was insane....which unfortunately is a look she gives me a lot.

Just when I was ready to give in, and admit that..... maybe..... she may have just caught a moment of unusual coincidence.... I saw this next picture.



Check out that finger placement.

I saw Anchorman.

We all did.

It's obvious what he's doing here.

He's obviously playing the jazz flute.

I'm now in the process of examining ALL his pictures, which is considerable,.....to maybe catch other remarkable moments that my wife is afraid to share with me.

Imagine....here I was thinking that I was just missing diaper changes, and mid-day naps while I'm at work.

When it's obvious there's a prodigy in my midst.

I Pod Madness

I've been busy the last couple of days adding music to my family's new I pod.

I find it to be a strange.... almost...... addictive task.

I've never owned an mp3 player. To be honest I don't really listen to that much music. I don't listen to it often in the car because I'm usually listening to sports radio. The only time I do listen to music stations is because I get bored during comercial breaks, and I start skimming through the fm stations.

It's not that I don't like music....I do. But I hardly ever listen to it. Most of the time when I hear a song I like it's usually because I'm watching a movie or t.v. show and they are using a song during the scene.

On the rare occasion I have music playing, say at home, I have it in the background on my computer as I surf the web. But I rarely do that because it interferes with the video content I'm usually checking out.

But for the last couple of days I've been cramming all kinds of content onto this damn I pod thing.

For what I don't know.

Unlike the commercials on t.v., I don't stroll down the street bouncing to the latest jams. My job requires customer service, so I can't wear it at work, and as far as wearing it at home my wife hates it, because I can't hear her calling me when she needs my help with the little cub.

So it's practically unneccessary.

But it's a freaking fasciniating gadget.

First off the thing can hold a ton of stuff.

7,500 songs.

Seriously.

Don't ask me what I would need 7,500 songs for, but I'm trying my hardest to find out.

I'm going to try and fill it up......just to see if I can.

I've downloaded stuff onto it that I haven't listened to in years.

Like old Run Dmc and Boogie Down Productions songs.

Seriously.

I assume for the day when I get that strange urge to indulge in classic old...... I'm talking OLD school rap.

I've started the strange habit of asking everyone I know about their cd collection, so that I might borrow a cd which interests me so that I can add it to my I pod.

I've even raided my wife's musical theatre cd's. In case someone in the family gets the urge to listen to some Sondheim on the I Pod.

Yeah...seriously.

I've got about maybe 1, 800 songs on there right now.

Insane....in the palm of my hand.

If that's not enough, this particular I pod is able to play video content.

That's pretty crazy.

I remember how when I was a kid, I dreamed that someone would come up with an invention which would allow me to watch tv in the car.

To save me from the boredom of long road trips, and those boring quick drives with my mom as she ran errands.

Now it's possible to play video in the palm of my hand......as I wait in line at the grocery store.

Not because I'm bored.....but simply because I can.

Crazy.

I even downloaded a couple of movies from the I tunes store just to check out the video functions on the gadget.

So now I have Pirates of the Caribbean and Tombstone on this thing......even though I can't imagine sitting in one place watching a whole 3 hour movie on this thing.

Then my co-worker informed me that I can actually rip content from dvd's, and add it to the I pod.

So now I have the First season of Da Ali G show, and 6 episodes of the U.S. version of the Office on this thing.

In case I need a quick laugh....I guess.

The frustrating thing is the gadget isn't even halfway full yet.

I've been adding stuff for several days now, and I haven't even put a dent into the thing's memory. It's almost becoming a burden trying to fill the thing up.

What's ironic is that I'm finding it difficult to actually find time to use the thing.

The device has tons of content, and I'm working my ass off trying to fill it up, and all it does is sit on top of my computer.

Classic.

I don't know what to do with it.

I'm trying to find occasion to use it, but it's rarely come up. A couple of days ago I offered to drive my wife to the store....which shocked her.....until she realized that my intention was just to sit in the car, and watch my I pod as she shopped.

The other day I caught myself laying on my couch........in front of my 46 inch big screen......watching an episode of the Ali G show...... on my tiny I Pod.

Don't ask me why.

I'm obviously insane.

It's bizarre......such an amazing device.......and I can't find an occasion, or excuse to use it.

I just wish I had the thing when I was younger.

I would've worn the thing out.

I would have used it during those bus trips to the beach. On those long walks to the comic book store. In line for the latest blockbuster film. Waiting for my mom to pick me up from school.

Maybe that's why I've worked so hard to add content to this thing, because of those horrible memories of boredom, and frustration when I had nothing to entertain me.

I'm sure it'll eventually come in handy one of these days.

One day I'll be so happy to own this device, and I'll be relieved and grateful that I was able to put plenty of content on the thing to entertain me for hours.

But for now it sits.....sits and waits.