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If you’ve been reading my blogs, you know I’ve had some recent trouble with Sonic and Taco Bell.

A few days ago I came across a story about a company that seems to be doing everything right these days. If you’ve ever seen a Pixar movie, you know they strive for the highest level of excellence in everything they do. To date, they have not put out a movie that has flopped in the eyes of critics or viewers, and the lowest rating one of their movies has received on Rotten Tomatoes is 75%.

However, this story goes much deeper than animation or a movie screen. The article I read really touched my heart. If you have time, please read the entire article from the OC Register. You can view the article on their website by clicking HERE, or you can read the story below:

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.

The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.

Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.

With her daughter’s vigil planned for Friday, Lisa Curtin reflected about how grateful she is that Pixar – and “Up” – were a part of her only child’s last day.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Curtin, 46. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

THE PREVIEWS

Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on Dec. 23, 2005 after doctors found a tumor in her liver. At the time of her death, her stomach was about 94 inches around, swollen with fluids the cancer wouldn’t let her body properly digest. The rest of her body probably weighed about 45 pounds, family friend Carole Lynch said.

Colby had gone to Newport Elementary School and was known for making others laugh, family friend Terrell Orum-Moore said. Colby loved to dance, sing, swim and seemed to have a more mature understanding of the world than other children her age, Orum-Moore said.

On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie “Monsters Vs. Aliens” but was impressed by the previews to “Up.”

“It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.

Colby was a movie fan, Lisa Curtin said, and she latched onto Pixar’s movies because she loved animals.

Two days later Colby’s health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see “Up.” However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.

By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.

At that point, Orum-Moore, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help.

Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum-Moore said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum-Moore guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.

Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of “Up,” Orum-Moore recalled.

She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.

“Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said.

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied.

THE MOVIE

At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.

He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.

Colby couldn’t see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.

At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.

The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”

After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.

Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.

Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.

“I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said.

Congratulations to Kris Allen for winning American Idol last night in a upset of gigantic proportions! In a competition filled with egos, prima-donnas, and karaoke singers, the 23-year-old worship leader from Conway, Arkansas emerged as a humble, down-to-earth underdog who won the hearts of America. Whether you love American Idol or hate it, I hope everyone can appreciate the talent and heart of Kris Allen. 

Watch the video above to hear Kris’ performance (and beautiful arrangement) of “Ain’t No Sunshine” which helped pave the way to victory.

I found this video on USAToday.com this morning. The guy on the video plays 100 theme songs from TV shows and movies in 10 minutes (well…9:15). He’s also giving away a prize to the first person who can name all 100 songs in order. Check it out and give it a shot:

Several weeks ago, I finally purchased Alan Moore’s graphic novel, Watchmen, after putting it on the back-burner for several months. The novel, credited by Time Magazine as one of the Top 100 novels of all time, has received much attention lately with the new Watchmen movie debuting this Friday, March 6, 2009. Within a couple hours of reading, I knew why. I started reading the novel on Friday night, and by Sunday afternoon I was halfway through the 400+ page comic book.

The novel, which takes place in the mid 1980s, is seemingly outdated. It talks of conflict with Afghanistan and Russia, problems with Nixon, the assassination of Kennedy, and other issues that were way before my time. However, Moore’s captivating writing is undeniable. After diving headfirst into the book, I was extremely excited about the movie. I even happened to have 2 sneak preview passes to see it early.

Things started to change for me as early reviews rolled in. I expected the movie to stir up a great amount of publicity, and it did and has, but not exactly for the reasons I was hoping. 

Here’s what some critics and reviewers have been saying about the movie:

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: Nobody over twenty-five could take any joy from the savagery that is fleshed out onscreen, just as nobody under eighteen should be allowed to witness it. You want to see Rorschach swing a meat cleaver repeatedly into the skull of a pedophile, and two dogs wrestle over the leg bone of his young victim? Go ahead. You want to see the attempted rape of a superwoman, her bright latex costume cast aside and her head banged against the baize of a pool table?  

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Snyder fills the screen with eye candy. [There's]  brutal murders, dismemberments, attempted rape. The sex is graphic, the violence more so. 

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: Snyder’s biggest impact is felt in the action sequences, which are also the film’s weakest scenes: overstylised, repetitive and pornographically violent. 
Snyder rides roughshod over such subtleties: ‘Watchmen’ may be the nastiest blockbuster ever devised. It luxuriates in snapping bones and literal explosions of gore. It’s here that the gulf between comic and movie becomes most clear: Gibbons’s drawings were often shocking, but they served a purpose. Snyder employs violence for the rush, and while this approach is sometimes brutally effective, it’s also deeply crass.

Joe Lozito, Big Picture Big Sound: To keep his audience interested, Mr. Snyder has made the film alternatively cheesy (the 80s dialogue, a gratuitous sex scene) and brutally violent (the opening fight, in particular, goes on far too long).

I could list many more reviews that say similar things, but I think you get the point. The movie inevitably uses extreme violence and extreme sex/nudity to bring in its audience. While some may argue the movie is only staying true to the book, those who have read the book know this isn’t quite the case. Zack Snyder took many liberties to make the movie as gory and sexual as possible.

Some might not see this as an issue, but there is a huge issue at hand. I had a recent discussion with my boss, Jonathan Yandell, about movies that use extreme violence and sex. He mentioned that movies used to only use one of the two elements, not a combination of both. However, as times have changed, people seek both elements when they go to movies. The scary thing is, a mindset that craves and enjoys graphic sex and graphic violence is the same mindset that is found in serial killers. The craving starts out small, but the desire keeps increasing and increasing until it reaches a level of absolute sex and violence.

No one would dare argue Watchmen is a wholesome movie, but how many people are actually thinking about how the movie affects them? How many people realize how the mind reacts to seeing extreme violence, sex, and nudity on screen?

For those who would say “It doesn’t affect me” I would say 1 of 2 things to you: 1) You’re lying or; 2) You’ve become so numb and desensitized by violence and sex that it doesn’t bother you anymore. That is a scary thing!

So who watches the Watchmen? Not this guy!

Last week the nominees were announced for the Academy Awards. In the category for Best Picture, the following nominees were announced:

- “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
- “Frost/Nixon”
- “Milk”
- “The Reader”
- “Slumdog Millionaire”

Notably absent from the nominees was “The Dark Knight,” which currently stands as the 2nd highest grossing film of all time. 

Some have argued “Milk” does not even deserve to be nominated. However, according to several sources, it was nominated merely because of it’s liberal (gay) propaganda. In fact, writers for Yahoo believe it could win Best Picture. Their reasoning: A retaliation at Proposition 8 and “Brokeback Mountain” losing to “Crash” for Best Picture in 2005.

In your opinion, what movie deserves to win Best Picture, and WHY should it win Best Picture? (Your answer does not have to include a Best Picture nominee)

In 1998, AFI released its list of the Top 100 Movies. In 2007, they revised the list and created an updated list. According to the Institute’s selections in 1998, the 5 greatest movies of all-time are:

1) Citizen Kane
2) Casablanca
3) The Godfather
4) Gone With the Wind
5) Lawrence of Arabia Read more…

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we’re about to be bombarded with Christmas specials/movies. Some are classics, some are brand new, and to be completely honest, some are complete garbage. 

For the Christmas faithful, there are priceless treasures like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, and It’s a Wonderful Life.

For the more contemporary spirits, there is Shrek the Halls, and Jim Carey’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

For the “out-of-the-box” individuals, there is A Nightmare Before Christmas, Die Hard, and Christmas Vacation.

What about you? Are you a fan of Frosty? Is your heart touched by Garfield? Do you have a special place in your life for Scrooge? 

What are your favorite Christmas specials/movies?

Signs You’re Addicted to Pop Culture:

- You’ve cooked from an Easy-Bake Oven…twice!

- You tried to install a flux capacitor in your car

- You didn’t fall asleep during Star Wars Episodes I-III

- You know which musician used to star on You Can’t Do That on Television

- You actually remember You Can’t Do That on Television

- You’re convinced MacGyver and Jack Bauer are blood brothers

- You tried Crystal Clear Pepsi and liked it

- You know the connection between Dr. Pepper and Chinese Democracy

- You remember the pain of stepping on a Lite-Brite peg

- You actually took the plastic off your Ruben Studdard album

- In your heart, Madden football games will always be 2nd to Tecmo Super Bowl Read more…

Several months ago I was alarmed when I heard that Kevin Smith was coming out with a new movie entitled Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Apparently, the first cut of the movie was so extreme, the MPAA originally gave it an NC-17 rating. After a few edits and lots of begging, Kevin Smith finally got the MPAA to reluctantly give the movie an R rating. 

Many critics felt the movie would never make it big in theaters. In fact, the movie was having trouble advertising on billboards and daytime television because of its title. However, thanks in part to the casting of Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, the movie had a huge opening weekend.

Take notice of what Plugged In Online (Focus on the Family) said about the inspiration for the movie:

What was Smith’s inspiration for his “scathingly funny and sweetly romantic” movie that so appeals to “the rest of us”? In his words, “I’m a morning porn peruser, and not for the titillation factor. I just find it interesting. I’ll go read Google News, I’ll go read Guardian UK, go read our website, and then, if I’ve got nothing else, I will just peruse porn sites, because it’s an ever-expanding world. Just when you think you’ve seen the most outlandish clip you could ever see, somebody introduces something new. I just check in periodically just to see how far porn has gone in my absence.”

It won’t surprise many to hear the movie contains over 200 uses of the f-word and graphic scenes of nudity. [Editor's note: I did not and will not see this movie. I am taking my information from Plugged In.]

Despite tons of profanity, nudity, and sexual content, millions of dollars are being made by this movie, and many of those dollars are coming from Christians.

So let me ask you this: Where does a movie cross the line for you? Read more…

In honor of tonight’s final presidential debate, I thought I would go patriotic with this post and give you a sample of the WORST performances of our National Anthem. Appearances include Carl Lewis, Roseanne Barr, a cop who is just trying to make his country proud! But just to show it CAN be done well, check out the video above of Whitney Houston singing it at the Super Bowl. If you have any you would like to add to the list, feel free to post the links. Read more…