Stan's Recent Reviews

10/10/2011 - 12:17am

It is said politics and sausage have a great deal in common: You don’t want to know what goes into either one. Yet, I find behind-the-scenes documentaries of political campaigns to be fascinating to watch. To see the maneuvering and plotting and planning required to get a man or woman elected to statewide or national office is staggering. The scheduling, the travel, the handshakes, the baby kissing, the impromptu question-and-answer sessions with voters (that may not be all that spontaneous) all requires careful coordination and mindboggling organizational skil

10/02/2011 - 10:40pm

50/50

09/25/2011 - 11:42pm

Moneyball

Working against the status quo is never easy and always risky. Taking a path that flies in the face of conventional wisdom can be dangerous to both your professional reputation as well as your personal safety. Many of Christopher Columbus’ men believed they would fall off the edge of the world as he prepared for his voyage to what would be considered the New World. The astronomer Galileo was put on trial by the Church for stating in a book the Earth was not the center of the solar system. All great innovators, from the dawn of man to the present, have been scof

09/19/2011 - 1:29am

Drive Review

How can I sum up this movie in one word? well the first thing that comes to mind is… Slow. "What?! How can a movie titled "Drive" be slow?" you may be asking. I wondered the exact same thing. Now don't get me wrong, there were small glimpses of fast paced car chase scenes and even a few startling and gruesome moments but they were easily overcome by the countless awkward silences peppered throughout the movie and even more strangely, long awkward silences. Maybe they were there to add some dramatic effect but I think it was poorly executed. It wasn't all bad though. I really enjoyed the opening scene where "Driver" shows off his abilities as a driver and another car chase after a robbery went awry. All in all, this movie wasn't awful, but it wasn't great either.

09/12/2011 - 12:50am

Contagion Review

What can I say… I left Contagion, went straight to the Men's room and washed my hands. I got home and found the hand sanitizer and doused them again. I was annoyed every time someone coughed in the movie because I thought I was sure to be infected by some contagion. Maybe that was the purpose of this movie. Just an hour and 45 minute commercial (right before Flu season) reminding us to wash up or else! I didn't find this movie to be very good at all, but it's not the typical movie I would go to see either. As this is my first movie review, I tried to go into it with an open mind and not make any judgments before hand. 10 minutes into it, I was bored to say the least. But read on to find out more about the plot and why I failed to see the point.

09/04/2011 - 10:28pm

Shark Night 3D and Apollo 18

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We’ve heard this dire warning for decades however we continue to ignore it. While this admonition is meant for more important and serious events like wars, economics and elections, it also applies to those who create and produce our popular entertainment. A few weeks ago, three of the four wide release movies were sequels, remakes or reboots of previous films. While I’m sure every effort was made to create the best movies possible, none of those films has done very well at the box office.