Promised Land:

Old-school charm and story-telling meet good people torn between tough choices, philosophical wrangling, soul-searching, and the ever-American argument of Green-or-Greenback$. There's a good twist & sweet romance. 7/10

Warm Bodies:

Awww! Sweet for Valentine's Day, as long as semi-rotted flesh, dead cannibals, and face-smearing zombie-goop doesn't gross you out. At first the lead zombie's nostalgia reflex surviving rigor mortis seems odd, but his OCD as a collector of things that hint at love are what keeps some life in those strange ol' bones, and if any zombie can collect on a hot crush, it's our boy, Rrrrr. For a dead Romeo, he really lives it up! His driving instructor is some hot stuff, too. Will he thaw, or will he gnaw? 7/10

Beautiful Creatures:

Two worlds in beautiful chaotic collision, coming of age, young love, elders all fighting each other, ancient meets ancient in a temporal pocket just a stone's throw back from modernity. Trust me, Romeo really is a good guy, and Juliet is all hot and magic. The story's as old as dirt, but the circumstances are cool enough to bust the bible belt. More lively and fun than Twilight, but not as dramatic, with half the saccarine content. 8/10

Dan

A Good Day To Die Hard:

Everything can be blown up, you can bet on it. Parent-child relationships, friendships, buildings, vehicles, aircraft, anything. If you can't blow it up, you can shoot it. Violence is a joke, a cliche, a salve. It's even cute now. Plus, there's a great new Rolling Stones song during the credits. Go, cool Bruce! 6/10

Dan

The Impossible:

Intense...but how could a tsunami that killed 250,000 people not be? Granted, it focused on the - true, non-fictional - story of a white european family in an Asian disaster, but the people doing much if the heavy lifting are locals. This story shows the fragility of modern society...and the pull-togetherness of most of humanity in the face of disaster. I think if an apocalypse happened, even in the gun-nut USA, people would mostly leave the guns in the water and help each other. People are better than what the "news" outlets and Hollywood portray when it comes to the real-life hard times. The only thing I would change about this film would be to show more of the local folks' stories. 8/10.

Life of Pi 3-D:

Cosmic, cool as all get-out, beautiful, beautiful cinematography, wonderful acting, brave, surprising, questioning, philosophical. MUST-SEE. However, there is no way in Hades a starving tiger wouldn't have munched Mowgli. Best. CGI. Tiger. Ever. 9.9/10

Hobbit Part 1:

Wow, Gandalf, that cool! Awesome in IMAX 3D, this does total justice to the story. I loved everything about it, yesss, Preciousesss! 10/10

Les Miserables...

Wonderfully-done. As rough as the story is, love's triumph over oppression and elitism is a beautiful song for Christmas. The acting, cinematography, and singing were spectacular. I would just rather that an English Cockney accent not be substituted so freely for a French accent. 9/10

Dan

Anna Karenina

Classic love story by Tolstoy set in Russia in the North. Great acting, fantastic cinematography, but odd transitions from scene-to-scene, with greatly-exaggerated "life is all a stage" effect. 7/10

Merry Christmas!

Dan

Skyfall

Bond, really, really great James Bond. I think this is the best Bond movie since the early 1970's. There are several themes running through it, and it has a complex storyline that has some cool gadgets and special effects, but isn't over-reliant on them. There are some treats in here for long-term Bond fans as well. Must-see for the Bond genre. 10/10

Dan

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part Two

Arguably the beat in the series. Fantastic cinematography and musical accompaniment are a given. So are physically beautiful people...and heavy, angst-filled drama and saccharine-sweet romance. Theres some humor and some really cool action, with a twist. If you love the series, you'll love this. If you hate it...well, you can't win them all. 8/10

The Sessions

Hilarious, sweet, heartwarming and heartbreaking all in one, a movie for poets, romantics, and human beings. Not-to-be-missed. 9/10

Dan

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower:

The surprise sleeper film that took me by storm. I see Academy nominations all over this film. You'd expect this to be along the lines of "Sixteen Candles," or "The Breakfast Club," and you'd be right - but this movie is also far deeper than either. You'll feel all the pain and anguish and heady joy of young love, with some very surprising adult subjects and twists that will blow you mind. All three of the young lead actors give incredible performances, and you completely believe that they ARE these characters. The supporting cast does a phenomenal job as well, and you don't think about Harry Potter for more than a couple of seconds. This is not a film to be missed!!

10/10

Dan

Cloud Atlas

Amazing film. I missed a couple of the character swaps. What an incredible amount of ground to cover! I loved the devilish character that haunted the reluctant hero after the collapse, but the futuristic part really blew it out of the park in several ways, too. They did an excellent job with this, especially transitioning between time periods without making it feel choppy.

8/10

Dan

Argo

You get the feeling that our hero loved Star Wars and comic books as a kid, and damn it if Ben Afleck doesn't look like he really BELONGS in the 70's! They nailed the "feel" of that era perfectly. I even loved the comedic touch - it was just light enough not to take away from the suspense and take over the film, but took just enough edge off to let the movie have heart with the tension. Beautifully-done.

8/10

Dan

Looper

Surprisingly good. As sick as I am of apocalyptic crap, this story has depth and twists I never saw coming. There's a lot of redeeming qualities and phenomenal acting. This is far from "just another post-apocalypse sci-fi flick." I also like the way Leavitt (spelling?) Was able to incorporate just enough of Willis's facial expressions to make the transition believable. It was subtle, but important. Go. 8/10

The Master

I don't get it. The acting was phenomenal. The story was creepy and non-sensical. The cast and cinematographers did their jobs well, but the script bombed for me. 4/10

Dan

Samsara -

Stunningly beautiful, ghastly, and everything in between without a single word. This movie blew my mind with an incredible array of cultures and multiple forms of collective mind-sets, and it spoke to my gut about deep time. 10/10.

Dan

Celeste & Jesse Forever -

If there was ever a way to F...oul up something beautiful, these two should teach a class on it. Then again, maybe they are. This was a lot better than I thought it would be. There's a line in here that cuts to the bone: "I can't believe I'm having..." Damn, I can't believe I can't finish the line at the heart of everything without spoiling it. Pay attention, class. 8/10

The music was nice, too.

Dan

Total Recall

Did I just put the burn on the coolest transportation system in the world - literally in the world - or did some nerd with a computer & weird drugs plant that shit in my head? Is the hot brunette with guns on the left my girlfriend, or is the one on the right my wife? Will I ever be done trying to find myself? Will it ever stop being dark and rainy when I get home from work? Will it ever stop being dark, rainy, and explosive in sci-fi flicks? Why did I leave myself alI this electro-bling that I didn't know I knew was there? This movie has its fun points, great effects, and ADHD action flashes, and a scowling Kate Beckinsale in tight pants,  but you'll never really know if any of these questions are answered, or if it's all just a dream. Fun, though. 6/10

Dan

Joker

Bollywood meets Ed Wood, with lots of color, dancing, romance, and an epic lunatic fringe search for ET, with spectacularly funny and heart-warming results. Where else could you get the alien boogie, fireflies, pumpkins, beautiful dancing girls, NASA scientists, the FBI, crop circles, WW II aircraft, and exotic ruins in the forgotten corners of rural India? We LOVED IT!~ 10/10

Boogie on,

Dan

Premium Rush

Bicycling adrenaline-junkie crack, with heart. Who would think being a bicycle messenger could be so cool and exciting? 8/10

Dan

The Odd Life Of Timothy Green

Beautifully artistic, poetic, with a surprising depth I didn't expect. You could predict it somewhat, like you can feel Autumn in the air...and like you know Spring follows Winter. Visually, this film is rich and beautiful. 9/10, and I'll throw in an extra point for being so magical.

Dan

Riff Trax Live: Manos, The Hands Of Fate

Gloriously funny, and it's hard to believe such awful films got made. Ed Wood was better. The perfect fodder for riffing. Not Rated - just go.

Dan

The Intouchables

Hilarious, heart-warming, heart-breaking, surprising, and just damn good. It's refreshing to see something new under the sun done so well, and with such outstanding acting. 9/10.

Dan

Bourne Legacy

I really enjoyed this. It did a lot toward explaining outstanding mysteries in the series. Some of the action is in the "over-the-top/surreal/unbelieavable" range, but that's Hollywood now, isn't it? Go for the fun. 8/5.

Dan

Sparkle

Loved - most of - the music. Acting was a bit flat, but not too bad. But, *set in the 60's*? Puhlease! The dresses were WAY sexier than anything in the 60's, and ladies of color with straighened hair were rare. I would've found this much more believable set in the mid-to-late 70's in the post-Motown era. And they did far too little with Whitney Houston's musical talent, for whatever reason. Ceelo Green was an excellent cameo. I like everyone in this film, I just think it failed to really come together. Sadly, Whitney will never get another chance. 6/5, and I liked Jordin Sparks's role better than my other half did. I think she's capable of more and better, and just needs more practise with acting. This is a credible early role for her, and her musical talent is phenominal. I'm looking forward to that.

Dan

Hope Springs

Rediscovering love after half a lifetime of perfunctory functionality can leave you happy, but you have to lose your cool first. Sweet, funny in places, but very predictable and just not a "guy" flick. Even the poet in me was feeling like I was sucking down a pint of saccharine by the end. 5/5.

Dan

Ruby Sparks

Love, obsession, massive control issues, sweet romance, magic, wonder, crazy cleverness, sexy-sweet, this movie is a sweet blender and a writer's wet dream without being crude...well, almost. If you love writing and romantic movies, you'll love Ruby too. 8/10.

The cool part is, the leading lady wrote it.

Dan

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

The poet in me sees the magic, and the spirit. This isn't the kind of film for thinking, it belongs in the heart, where wonder lies. On the surface, this cast has nothing. Underneath it, they have everything they need to cross the universe. This isn't a film for the literal mind. 10/10

Dan

The Dark Knight Rises

Awesome. Involved, dark and light contrasting on many levels. Acting was fantastic. Effects phenominal. The flying Batmobile was extremely cool. Ann Hathaway was smoking hot as Catwoman. The geek factor was awsome. I've never seen a better blend of Geek with Goth, anywhere. Even Bane was pretty good. The main twist was well-hidden. 9/10.

It was also fun wearing my brand-new Dark Knight Rises t-shirt to the show.

Dan

Awesome. Involved, dark and light contrasting on many levels. Acting was fantastic. Effects phenominal. The flying Batmobile was extremely cool. Ann Hathaway was smoking hot as Catwoman. The geek factor was awsome. I've never seen a better blend of G

Dan

Baliwood's 'Cocktail'...

Baliwood wonders will never cease. Two women and a man end up roommates. Lots of dancing and steamy-but-casual implied sex. Then his Mom comes on a surprise visit from India, (It's set in London mostly) and the REAL hilarity and drama begin. LOVE the music and dancing, lots of beautiful people, incredibly funny, but with a serious side. There's also a great part at the beach. No guns, no bombs, romance, and the best kiss-teaser yet. 9/10.

Dan

La Gloria Cubana on a Saturday morning...

...while reading North American Windpower magazine.

I love weekends.

Dan

The Amazing Spider Man

Totally the best Spiderman movie by far. I wish they had led with this movie. The story is more true to the comics, the effects are better, the acting is better, it just rocks. They REALLY stepped up their game. 10/10.

Dan

The Glen Art Theater, Glen Ellyn, Illinois...

An old Vaudeville theater sliced and diced into four smallish screens, old, but serviceable, with great prices, great popcorn, and all those movies that are hard to find in other theaters. Plus, they sell movie marquee posters cheap after the films are gone. A total treasure!

Dan

Safety Not Guaranteed...

Safety Not Guaranteed: Romance, Spy Flick, Magazine Reporter Story, Time Travel/Sci-Fi, Teen Party Flick, Psycho-Thriller...this movie has everything but the kitchen sink, and on a low budget. The acting was incredibly good, especially from the primary leads. This movie is SOOOOOO GOOOOOD!! This is one of the best films I've seen this year, an absolute must-see, especially for the Geek crowd. 10/10, and I am not kidding at all.

Dan

Madea's Witness Protection Plan - Tyler Perry

Witness mildly crazy. There were a fair amount of hilarious moments, but less good music than usual. Tyler was less animated as Madea than usual. I liked it, but I didn't love it as I usually do. The "droning school teacher" was excellent as a fumbling executive, really did a great job. 5/10.

I'm left wondering if Tyler's heart was really in it this time.

Dan

Best. Chinese. Fortune. Cookie. Ever.

I got this last night after watching the movie "People Like Us."

It says "Others look up to you."

I am six-feet, six-inches tall.

Dan

People Like Us

Heart-warming, lots of fun moments, some suspenseful ones, good acting, especially the female lead, yet also mostly predictable. If you want a feel-good flick, go. 6/10.

Dan

Seeking Friend For The End Of The World

Steve Carell did a phenomenal job here, and Keira was in one of her better roles and actually lived up to it. They actually have a really nice simmering chemistry. There is an intense angst throughout, and the humor is used lightly enough not to render this idiotic. A love story, with a bittersweet edge, poignant, with some interesting and surprising twists. Definitely worth the time if you have a romantic heart. 8/10 in the genre.

Dan

New Game For Light Exercise: Bucket-Disk...

One Bucket-Disk (invented by Yours Truly) set: (4) aluminum tent stakes @ $0.79 each, (2) Home Depot bucets @ $3.00 each, one Disk Golf fairway driver @ $10-21.00 depending on brand & style.

Set up buckets with openings facing each other 25 feet apart. Stake bucket handles so goals don't move.

Stand behind your bucket and toss at the other bucket. Teams take turns, 1 throw each. First 20 duckets wins. Disk must be more than halfway in the bucket to count a ducket.

Teams toss at one bucket to see who goes first. Closest to bicket OR most duckets goes first.

Lose two duckets for your team if you hit another player, or physically get in front of your bucket while the other team is throwing. (Off-sides rule; throwing team must declare a throw starting and do a 5-count to let other players clear the target bucket.)

Advanced rules: Get a 2nd disk. The off-turn team may attempt to throw a block at the throwing team's disk AFTER it has left the thrower's hand. Next person up on the off-turn team is also the blocking disk thrower. Lose a ducket for your team if you throw your block before the disk leaves the thrower's hand.

Let fly!

Dan

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter...

Cool. Very ugly, nasty vamps. Awesome Axe-Kwon-Do. Great camera work on the "vintage look". Best served with popcorn and true blood as close to midnight as possible. Lots of action, but a cool plot in a lot of ways as well. A bit "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets The Matrix meets Underworld meets National Treasure meets Wild, Wild West meets history buff nerdvana." 7/10.

Dan

HTC Amaze 4G Charger Voltage & Amperage Specifications

After an HOUR of trying to find the charging voltage specs for my HTC Amaze on Google under numerous search terms, (WTF??!) Ifound that they were printed right on the back of the factory AC charger that came with my phone.

Set your solar phone charger to 5 VDC, and let there be light.

Now, I feel stupid for not lookingvthere first, but HTC and solar charger manufacturers should feel downright idioric for not having a universal list of phone charging power specs easily-found on internet search in this age of green power users on bicycles.

I love my Amaze, but it's a lot like a jet fighter: fast, agile, and capable, but really sucks the go-go juice. Now I can go all light-bright on it.

Dan

Hysteria - With Maggie Gyllenhaal

*Must See Flick* Things take some extremely interesting twisted turns in early-1800's medicine and psychiatry, with wonderfully-warm and glass-shattering results. This is one you don't want to miss, oh my!

Dan

Promethius

AWESOME! This is definitely in my "top sc-fi so far this year" bin. Definitely go. 9/10

Snow White and the Huntsman

Fun. Kinda Goth. She's still Bella-ish. Damn good cinematography & CGI. Great Celtic legend, interesting spin on the story. Go.

6.5/10.

Dan

Dark Shadows

Camp of Vamp, a goblet of crimson fun, with...fish?

Go for the fun, the music, the Alice Cooper cameo, but leave your cerebellum out of it, and you'll enjoy yourself. The gals are really pretty, and Johnny D threw himself all-in, too.

Tri-stellar.

Dan

Men In Black III

Awesome flick. We both loved it! Soundtrack is really good, too. (Dark Shadows had a really great soundtrack too) I think this is the best yet. Really great Spiderman trailer in previews as well.

Enjoy!

Dan

No Way Jose Taqueria, Lombard, IL...

I love this little place. Clean and decently-appointed, great low prices, excellent food, great lunch specials, and a huge house marguerita if you're in the mood. Salsa is in the upper half of medium, but very good. I definitely recommend it, especially for lunch.

Dan

HTC HD2 Windows Mobile Smart - Only, Not So Smart - Phone

I'm running into a miserable software problem with the HTC HD2. The phone is on WinMo 6.5, and it constantly bogs down while I'm typing, and freezes up. I'm having to re-boot the phone 10-20 times a day. It's happening to my wife as well with her HD2, and I have a friend whose sister returned hers for the same reason. It turns out that T-mobile has a ROM flash update for the phone, but I can't get it. In order to install the free update, you have to have Microsoft Active Synch 4.5 installed on your PC. The problem is, Active Sync 4.5 is only compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 2 or earlier.


Microsoft long ago pushed XP Service Pack 3 out - but they haven't made Windows Mobile syncware that is compatible for XP SP-3 !!! Worse, they now charge $50.00 to chat, e-mail, or call Microsoft XP users, so I can't even tell them about it without paying to do so. T-Mobile is unable to help, either, I just spent an hour on their support line and got nowhere. I can't update my PC to Win Vista or 7 without risking its drivers, it's five years old. Now I and my wife are stuck with HD2's until March, 2012, but can't get software updates for them without buying a new computer. If this isn't ridiculous, I don't know what is. Arrogant, is what this is. And Microsoft wants people to go WinMo 7? No way. I am back to Blackberry as soon as I can get away from this WinMo junk.

Hollywood Palms Theater, Naperville, Illinois

We saw Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief at the new Naperville Hollywood Palms theater tonight as a late birthday present from a couple of friends. What a blast! The movie was tons of fun, and the theater is totally cool! They have a cartoon theater, a nautical theater, an oriental theater, an Aztec theater, an Egyptian theater, an Oscars theater, and a Wizard of Oz theater. A huge atrium with live palm trees, and two tiki bars. There are life-size elephant statues, and hundreds of movie posters & pictures of movie stars. Top it off with drinks and dinner during the show. I had Dr. Fu Man Chu's crab rangoons, and a Porky Pig pulled pork sandwich with waffle fries, coffee, & ice water. (Worked 3rd last night) Everyone else had real drinks. Cool!!

Thank you for reading,

Dan

Words are the mind's bridge - its connection to all the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - its connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.

Iwan Ries & Co.

www.iwanries.com

19 South Wabash Avenue
Second floor
Chicago, Illinois
60603

800-621-1457
312-372-1306

With a history going all the way back to 1857, you know you are standing in a place of legend when you walk into Iwan Ries & Co.

This is a full-scale tobacconist, with large selections of every kind of tobacco.

You can feel the patina of age on the place, and faded touches of elegance from a bygone era. In the age of cell phones, the two pay phone booths in the walnut-paneled entry foyer are simply closeted wooden seats with wires hanging...and then you walk into cigar heaven.

The smoking lounge has smaller chairs that date back easily to the 60's, if not earlier, seven of them. They're comfortable, and the TV is vintage 90's, which suits me fine. There are numerous pipe and cigar magazine articles on the walls, and photos from a Davidoff factory that is clearly South of the border and old-school. It makes me want to shake the hand of each worker pictured, and thank them profusely for the treasures those hands wrought.

The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and they will cut your cigar to your specification and provide you with a light if you're going to smoke in-house.

There are all the accessories a pleasure-smoker could possibly need.

Yes, it's old, alright. And that means they know their business.

Spend an hour or two with a legend. Enjoy.

Thank you for reading.

Dan


Words are the mind's bridge - its connection to all the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - its connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.

McDonald's Is SERIOUSLY Ticking Me Off...

...because I order a meal deal there, and they're charging me separately for an orange juice.

BS! The large coffee that comes with the meal deal is $1.49 - a small OJ is $1.99. If I'm getting the OJ instead of the coffee, why isn't it just a $0.50 up-charge???

On top of that, they're about 20-35 minutes late opening every Saturday morning. I can't tell you how many mornings I and five other people have stood there in the cold while they refuse to open on time, and we've all gone over to Dunkin Doughnut instead, who opens an hour earlier anyway.

Specifically, this is the restaurant at the corner of Washington & Wacker in downtown Chicago.

Other than these two things, the restaurant is usually as good as any other McDonald's, but that late-every-Saturday thing and the meal-deal drink ripoff gets on my nerves.

Micky D, you need to get your act together on this!

Rate: * (ONE star)

Thanks for listening to my rant,

Dan

The Best Corned-Beef Hash On The Planet. Period.

Bar none. A little place called Hoerner's Bakery in North Aurora, Illinois.

Located on the West side of the Fox River along Butterfield Road (IL Rte 56) between Illinois highways 25 & 31.

Hoerner's has food made the way it was 50 years ago. (No surprise, as they've been in business longer than that.) Their prices haven't changed too much, either.

They have unbelievable maple-pecan coffee cake. Watch out, it sells out early!

Their raisin toast is tops, too. Texas-toast thick, hand-grilled, glazed, cinnamon & raisins swirled into the dough...

I could go on & on!

Just go there.

Dan

Chili's Garlic-Lime Shrimp Salad N' House Merlot...

...with extra lime & a mug of water. Wonderful if you want a light evening meal on Friday.

3 stars plus a little.

Words are the mind's bridge - its connection to all the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - its connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.

Broke my ankle a week & 1/2 ago

My ankle surgery was this past Tuesday. From what they told me it was badly broken, but the repair went well. I'll have 8 weeks in a cast & months of PT.

Sayonara,

Dan