12/20/06 There Is No Tomorrow!

Those of you that know me well know that I don't watch a whole lot of movies. I was just over at my neighbor's and a few guys were tearing me a new one for never having seen Scarface. I also watched The Shawshank Redemption for the first time ever just last week. (You're thinking, "You've never seen Shawshank!?!?" - Yeah, I've gotten that since about 1994. I'm used to it.) So, it's a rare opportunity for me to talk about seeing a movie on opening night. I'll do my best to keep my review of Rocky Balboa very brief and promise not to ruin anything.

But, before we start, a little game to make this post interactive. Post a comment and leave your favorite quote from any Rocky movie. My latest favorite is Apollo Creed in Rocky III yelling at Rocky - "There is no tomorrow. THERE IS NO TOMORROW! THERE IS NO TOMORROW!"

• The movie theater is 3/4 full for a 9pm showing on a Wednesday night. Not bad. After 85 minutes of horrendous previews, the MGM lion roars (and nobody remembers to cue up Dark Side of the Moon). The horns start to play the Rocky music, some people start to clap and cheer. And for a brief, brief moment, I get reactionary chills, as if prior Rocky memories are ingrained deep into my psyche.
• The first hour or so is an attempt to piece together a story. There are more unintentionally comic moments than anything. You already know the premise is pretty silly - A 60 year old dude fighting the current undefeated heavyweight champion. So you kind of just follow along.
• Then, out of the blue... The training montage. The theater suddenly perks up and you get a few more claps and cheers. Alright. This is what we've been waiting for.
• Rocky is listed at 217 pounds for the fight. He's closer to 270.
• Followed by the actual fight, with a comically classic cameo by Mike Tyson.
• I won't ruin anything by saying anything else. But there are no spine tingling moments. It just is. Out of the two people I saw it with, Poker Jason remains defensive and does a good job of supporting the final installation of Rocky. (If he sends me his own review, I'll post it). And Pro Player Pete thought the entire movie was silly. I lean more towards Pete's take, but am somewhere in the middle of the two. I'm also thrilled to have seen it on opening night. Because now, I can say that I saw Rocky movies in theaters in 3 different decades.

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Sidewalk drawing are fun. If you're a little girl! Just kidding. These sidewalk drawings are absolutely unreal.

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Now that I am a bagpipe player, I have a little problem. (Other than the fact that I still can't put it together properly). There's a kilt shortage.

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Remember the Charlie Brown Christmas with Scrubs from a few days ago? Google Nicki sends the same cartoon - Sung to Hey Ya. I still love how the Peanuts gang dances. They each have their own little individual dance. I'd like to re-enact that somehow in real life.

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This is kind of old. But it's right on. PS3 vs. Wii.