"Wild Hogs" - A Surprise

My wife is not an avid movie-goer, but sometimes she surprises me. When she saw the trailers on television for "Wild Hogs" (the movie), she expressed an interest to go see it. We did. The theater was filled for a Saturday afternoon -- another surprise, given the beautiful desert weather. The movie opens with a bang, and has just the right punch lines and sight gags in the right places. Some years ago, I co-wrote a biker script titled "The Next To The Last Ride." It was hilarious (in places), but had too many characters, too many situations, and too little interest for the readers. The parallels in "Wild Hogs" with TNTTLR were fun for me to identify. The incompetent leader, the rival biker gang, the love interest, the sight gags -- things like that. I believe John Travolta was uncomfortable at times with his role, but he pulled it off anyway. William H. Macy is the consummate actor. I've not seen him in a role where he was not convincing. Martin Lawrence is always good for the subtleties and the comic takes. Tim Allen does his regular schtick quite well. Ray Liotta did his best. The denouement was a surprise and made good sense. I think that's something TNTTLR lacked. Go see "Wild Hogs" and laugh a little.

Academy Awards

So, an Oscar went to Jennifer for "Dreamgirlz." Hmm. I almost walked out of the movie because I couldn't understand the spoken dialogue. (Obviously, Dreamgirlz was not nominated for Sound.) However, I shifted in my chair for another hour and more. Based on what I saw of Jennifer (and she has a great voice), I can hardly wait to see her next movie. I do not wish to denigrate what she did in her role, but I do hope that the Academy will nominate and select actors for acting. Jennifer obviously got the votes because the voters felt sorry for her for losing on American Idle. (I have never watched this TV reality show, but I have heard some of the singers that came from it. Taylor Hicks' was a winner, I believe. He isn't my kind of singer, though. He moves too fast on stage for my taste. I had a childhood friend who was also afflicted with cerebral palsy. I saw Hicks on a TV commercial -- for a car manufacturer? Or, was it a tomato sauce? Idolatry is dangerous due to contagion.) I was satisfied with the other Oscar selections, I suppose. "The Departed" was a good movie (see my previous blog on it). Martin Scorcese did a magnificent job with the film. He can not be taken to task for the casting. The script... uh... well... see my previous blog on the film. Helen Mirren was superb in "The Queen." And, "The Queen" was a good movie, as well. After all, I confess that I did not see all of the movies. I did not see all of the nominees. I would never go see Algore's abomination. Sorry to see that it was given a green light for more misinformation. I would like to see Algore address an audience of scientists. Perhaps he could learn something about Truth. I understand he avoids scientists like he avoids truth. He can parlay his info to laymen, but has problems explaining his views if he must base them on scientific fact. Let's hope that Roger Cheeseburger makes a comedy from Algore's material. I might go see that.