Movie Review: Monsters University

Monsters University was a movie I was really looking forward to seeing and as it was a Christmas present to the kids this week I was able to watch it this morning. 

I wasn't disappointed.  No need to dissect this too much.  It is a very good prequel giving us the background on how Sully and Mike met in college.  Sully is the prototypical jock while Mike is the nerd.  Not exactly a surprise but I wouldn't expect anything less. 

We see that Mike wanted nothing more in life than to be a "scarer" and headed to Monsters U. to fulfill that dream.  He is the guy who is the best book student on the subject while his practical skills are lacking.  At the school he meets Sully in class who thinks he can be the best scarer on his famous family name as well as pure talent.  Of course this puts them on different sides of the academic path.  Through circumstances they must then work together at the end to achieve their goal which is a pretty standard plot for these types of movies.

That doesn't matter as it is the journey you'll enjoy.  It is fun to see these guys in a school setting and meet new characters.  My favorite is the school dean.  I highly recommend this to everyone.  This is probably my favorite animation film/series at the moment.  I recommend everyone with kids to let them watch as kids will enjoy this one as much as the first even without the cute kid from the original film.  If you are an adult and have any interest in animated films you must also give it a look.  I do think you'll like it.  Enjoy!

Board Game Review: Apples to Apples

I won't do reviews of board games that often but I'm nothing if not random.  Every Christmas we get a new game for the kids and us to play.  This year was the game is Apples to Apples.  What has compelled me to write about this game is the simplicity and fun factor. 

It is simple as in you can be playing it in a few minutes and never look back or continue to refer back to instructions. 

The fun is in it's play.  The basics are their is one "judge" per round and pulls a green card which contains an adjective or descriptive phrase.  Everyone else has 7 red cards in their hand which contain a noun - person, place or thing.  The judge tells everyone the word.  Each player then puts a card down that will be read by the judge who will then decide which card goes best with the adjective or phrase.  The fun part is that the judge can use any criteria they want to make that decision.  So the players putting down their noun cards learn to do so depending on what they think the judge will pick.  This means it might be the most outrageous combination.  Maybe the adjective is cuddly and a player puts down the noun card Typhoid Mary.  Sometimes the best choice is completely appropriate - stuffy and republicans.  Again it just depends.  Whoever had the winning card for that round keeps the green card and the overall winner is whoever ends up with the number of green cards set as the target number needed to win.  That can be set as the game states or adjusted to work with the group playing.  

If it at all sounds interesting pick it up.  We had a good mix of adults to kids (youngest 13) and it was great fun.  Again just a little Christmas randomness.  Enjoy!

4th and Inches - Falcons and Bills Lost Seasons

Buffalo is now 5-9 and have been out of contention since, well, when the season started.  I won't say it is a lost year but it has been a tough one.  I didn't even expect a .500 record but I had hopes of a few more positives.  They did beat Carolina and Baltimore within the first four games of the season to go 2-2 but it went down hill from there.  The offense is 24th in points scored while the defense is 18th in points allowed.  Nothing that will scare anyone else in the league. 

Rookie EJ Manuel has started/played 10 games.  He has completed 58% of his passes but with only 11 touchdowns and 9 interceptions I'm not sure how good a season it has been.  I am glad to see more touchdowns than interceptions.  He is still young and very raw.  Hopefully he can develop into the franchise quarterback Buffalo hopes him to be.  Fred Jackson (725) and CJ Spiller (745) have split time at running back with both having over 700 yards going into the day. They are both averaging over 4 yards per carry (4.2 and 4.6).  So the running game is doing well.  I prefer having the one go to guy but I'm alright with this especially as they are both playing well.  Just wish we were seeing more scoring results from their productivity but that isn't their fault.  WR Steve Johnson and TE Scott Chandler are once again the big targets for the quarterback. Their stats aren't anything to look at but with Manuel's down year it is understandable.  Buffalo is still lacking that big #2 guy opposite Smith.  Rookie Robert Woods seems like he might be able to be that guy but there are no guarantees.

The defense is playing better with Mario Williams, Jerry Hughes and Kyle Williams leading a rush that has 49 sacks.  Buffalo is also +1 in the giveaway/takeaway category.  The defensive backs are still not great but the defense has played ok.  The season can't be judged yet.  With a new coach and quarterback we won't really know if this was a building year or not until two years down the road.  I have hope.  I still think the defense needs some upgrades, as does the offensive line and receiving corps. 

Atlanta, at 4-10, are in a worse situation after being one play from the Super Bowl last year.  Injuries have been a huge part of it.  Julio Jones (WR) and Sam Baker (OL) were big losses but other nagging injuries to Stephen Jackson (RB) and Roddy White (WR) among others just compounded the issues with the offense.  The article by Andy Benoit detailing some of the specific problems can be found here.  It is a month old but is still some great insight. While this season is lost the Falcons have next year to look forward to sans Tony Gonzalez.  That is no consolation right now when most everyone thought Atlanta would be right there in the hunt again this year.  My concerns are the fact that the defense is still very bad despite changes in the defensive backfield.  They don't get a good pass rush which puts too much pressure on everyone else on the defense.  Despite the lack of weapons Matt Ryan has also been part of the problem.  Seems like he could have made more plays at least in the games I was able to see.  Again may not have been his fault but thought he could have played better despite the issues. 

NOTES:
I knew Vincent Jackson was good but has been a stud in Tampa Bay considering the lack of quarterback quality there.  He will likely set a career high in receptions this year.  I can only imagine how Phillip Rivers wished he was still in San Diego...It is time for Jason Garrett to go in Dallas.  Last week's killer loss to Green Bay due to poor play calling has to fall to him.  And it isn't like Dallas continues to underperform consistently. If he hadn't been Jerry Jones' personal hire he would have been gone some time ago....Patriots are a team hit hard with injuries but kudos to Billicek and Brady for keeping them in first place and in the hunt for the #1 seed.  It is a testament to both those guys....Detroit is another place where a change in coach is probably warranted.  Too much talent there on both sides of the ball for them not to be sitting on top of their division especially considering the injuries to the starting quarterbacks of Green Bay and Chicago....I like the way Philly is setup.  This team may not be in a championship game this year but Nick Foles looks like he could be the real deal.  Considering the talent already around him that is a very good thing for Philadelphia....Did not see Houston falling apart this year.  I've always been too high on that team but how the heck do they look so bad this year?

Review: 2013 Topps Football Trading Cards

I've picked up four packs of the basic 2013 Topps football set over the last few months and want to share my thoughts.  First impressions are very good.  I like the basic design as well as the special cards.  The front of the cards have a white boarder with the Topps logo embossed in silver in the upper left hand corner.  At the bottom is a wavy colored decoration in the player's team colors with the team logo in the middle.  Embossed on the appropriate cards are special designations such as All-Pro on the Vince Wilfork card or League MVP and Player of the Year on Adrian Peterson's card.  I enjoy this feature on these cards as well as the other sports.  Fairly simple design and I like it.  Plenty of room for the photo with little distraction.

The back of the basic cards have a white border and have a wavy trim on both sides of the card somewhat similar to the front.  At the top is the card number in black.  Below that is the player's name set on an oval colored in one of the team's primary colors.  Under that is the player's position and team.  Next is the ht, wt, and college with the player's draft position and how acquired on the next line (big plus for me).  The line after that has their birthdate, home and twitter handle.  After that is a small blurb about the player on a primary colored background.  Next are the stats.  These are of course different for each position but I didn't see any major omissions.  Most of the players had all their career stats but for some reason the Peterson card only had last year's stats and his career totals.  Maybe because the card is special?  Don't know but that is as good a guess as any. 

 

I pulled quite a few of the insert cards to include, but not limited to, Calvin Johnson and Tom Brady "Legends in the Making" cards, teams cards of the Saints and Pats, a Ronde Barber mini, Andre Reed "Gridiron Legend", Wal-Mart Continuity card of E.J. Manuel, and a gold bordered Mark Barron.  I like the Legends in the Making, team and legends cards.  Anything retro works for me of course but the Making cards look nice and I like the team cards which have team leaders and highlights of the season on the back. 

 I highly recommend this set to everyone.  As always the price point on the Topps basic set makes it an easy pickup and these cards look good and have quite a few inserts to keep it interesting.  The most different item about this set for me is the twitter handle on the back of the card.  I'm not the most techie of individuals but I like that.  Looking at the checklist (see links below) there are quite a few cards I'll look to pick up - lots of retired types for me to enjoy.  This is a very solid set - check it out.

 

LINKS:

Set checklist here.  Pictures of base and variant cards side by side here. 

Official Topps checklist in PDF format here.

 

Review: Panini NBA Hoops 2013-2014 Trading Cards

I picked up a 45 card rack pack of the 2013-2014 Hoops NBA trading cards at Wal-Mart for $4.98.  Besides the base cards I received one blue border and one gold border card (George Hill seen above). 

The front of the cards are appealing visually to me.  The border is white.  At the bottom is the NBA Hoops logo in silver against a background color of the player's team.  The players name is found at the top on a background color which is associated with the player's team.  The team logo is in the upper right on a parquet floor background.  The photos themselves take up the rest of the space.  No issues with pictures with the majority being action shots.  It seems like the majority are pictures of the players at the rim. Not a big issue but seems different.  Some rookies were pictured playing in the summer league or in posed shots.  My only beef would be the lack of the player's position.  Again a nice front which I can't find much fault with. 

The back is a whole other story.  It is vertical in design.  An example is below though it isn't a card I received in my pack.  My first impression was not negative.  The back is completely black and white with Panini's logo in the upper left hand corner with the card's number.  The year of the set and Panini's information is at the bottom of the card.  The player's team logo is centered at the top.  I think it is a bit too large and could have been shrunk to help out the font size.  Below the logo is the player's position, name, a brief snippet on the player and then the player's specifics (Ht, Wt, Birthdate, Drafted - round only, school).  Each section alternates the background color between black and white.  Then come the stats (season, team, g, fg%, ft%, 3pm, rpg, apg, stl, blk, pts, ppg).  Kudos as always for putting all the career stats of a player on the back.  I really enjoy being able to look back at all the years of a player's career.  I would rather see steals and blocks per game as opposed to totals but that isn't a huge point.  What is is the size of the font.  Without lots of squinting I'd never be able to read the back of the cards.  I'm thinking they could have gone horizontal with the design and made the logo smaller to allow for a bigger font.  I'm sure 20 years-olds don't have the same issue as someone my age but it seems this could be done better. 

Good draw in the 45 cards.  I grabbed a Stephen Curry who is a big star in the league today whom I really like.  Other cards of note were the gold bordered George Hill who is also making a big name for himself.  The Dwayne Wade card has a cameo by Tim Duncan.  Andrew Bynum's pic is a good one of him holding his new Cavalier's jersey.  Just looking at that you actually have hope he may play well again someday.  Grabbed a Damian Lillard and George Teague card from each of my favorite teams which is always nice.  The rookie Nerlens Noel card was also a nice pickup.  It is a picture of a staged dunk.  Manu Ginobili's picture is of him slamming one down and is one of the pictures that stood out to me.  I think it might have been against Miami no less.  The Pau Gasol card just made me laugh.  Kind of an awkward position they caught him in.

I struggle on this one as the back really turns me off.  At first I was ok but I just get more irritated the more I try to read anything on the back.  Overall I'll say pick these up with the caveat that the back might be frustrating.  I may put more importance on the back than most.  The fronts are visually appealing and I think most would enjoy as well.  The price is also a win and I'm sure they are available at most retailers. 

Star Trek Into Darkness Movie Review

Possible spoilers in this review:  I didn't get to see this one in the theaters so I was excited to watch it yesterday on Blu-ray.  I enjoyed the first movie and couldn't get a good feel from the previews on how this movie would play out so I was skeptical.  Boy was I surprised.  They did a great job with this movie. 

From the beginning the crew is setup for failure against their nemesis Khan.  The character is the Khan we all know and "love" but it is a different take/storyline for him.  Again I was leery but I like it.  All the characters get plenty of screen time but I would like to see them fleshed out a little more.  They did a good job setting them up the first film but outside of Kirk we don't get to see much of who they really are.  I know this is a big cast and time doesn't allow so this isn't a gripe just a preference. 

As for the plot it isn't too convoluted and gives you enough twists so that nothing is easy in the crew's world when trying to figure out what to do.  I thought all the tough decisions that had to be made were more of a nod to what makes Star Trek great as opposed to the first movie which was pretty straight forward - there is the bad guy, go get him.  This time the lines are blurred which makes for a much more fun times. 

The movie has plenty of nods to the Star Trek franchise to include Dr. Carol Marcus who joins the crew.  This sets things up for possible future movies.  SPOILER:  I also like that Khan is ultimately kept alive.  He is a great character who can be a foil for a long time to come.  As with the original movie with Khan in it we had the great yell "Khaaaaaaaaan" but this time it is Spock who gets to deliver the line as the roles are reversed and Kirk "dies". 

Another good film everyone who is remotely interested in the franchise should see.  I was not disappointed. 

Rating:  PG-13
Length:  132 minutes
Cost:  $190 million
U.S. Box Office:  $228 million
International Box Office:  $467 million

Movie Review: Thor The Dark World

I was able to see Thor: The Dark World this weekend.  Since it just came out I won't throw out any spoilers in my review.  If you liked the first movie you'll like this one.  Thor The Dark World is not as grounded on earth as was the first movie.  I enjoyed this as I think there are tons of different worlds and different peoples to explore in this "universe".  Natalie Portman's character, Jane, and her relationship with Thor is front and center of the movie but this is not a chick flick.  Plenty of fighty fighty for everyone.   Loki has been one of my favorite characters throughout the first Thor movie as well as in Avengers.  Again he plays a pivotal part in the movie.  Thor, himself, gives us what we have come to expect from his character.  I think Chris Hemsworth does a great job bringing his character to film.  Marvel overall has done a good job adapting Thor to the movie screen, something I thought would be very hard to do.  As with any movie there are minor plot points someone could haggle over but it isn't worth it.  Too much good in this movie not to see it.  I highly recommend it to everyone.