Into the Wild - Sean Penn (2007)

Based off the novel by Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild is the true story of of one young man's journey and experiences as he faces the harsh wilderness by himself. Based off the life of Chris McCandless, a recent college graduate, literally drops everything and begins a spiritual journey as he hikes his way across the Western United States. Along the way he meets a handful of people who change his perspective on life. The film is directed by actor Sean Penn, and it is for the most part, well done. Many of the shots of the sprawling wilderness are a visual treat. The performances are for the most part, solid if not spectacular. The movie's most pleasant surprise is Hal Holbrook who received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the academy for is role. Emile Hirsch delivers the performance of his young career as the strange but captivating McCandless. Some of the scenes are overdone a bit, but there's nothing too cringe worthy. One thing that the film seems to ignore a bit is the background of the character before his journey. There are few short scenes that delve into this, but i felt like for the most part, McCandless's parents, played by Academy Award winners Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt went to waste. Adding a few more scenes to explain these characters would have helped the film and help us understand the main character a bit more. The soundtrack is well done and the movie is a powerful experience. It's almost mind-boggling that someone could have lived like this, but the film does what it wanted to do. Open the viewer's eyes to a whole new perspective on life.

February 12 - Michigan State at Purdue

The picture to the right says it all. I just don't know what to think about this team anymore. they look as bad as you possibly can for a whole half, as good as you can possibly look for the next 13 minutes, and they choke it all away in the end. I don't know how this Purdue team wins games or where they came from. It's just completely baffling. I guess this pretty much puts a fork in the chances of winning the regular season title. I guess it's just time to regroup and focus on building momentum towards March. It doesn't get any easier though. At Indiana on Saturday and still left are road games at Wisconsin and Ohio State and at home again against Indiana. Here's hoping for at least a decent finish and a strong NCAA Tournament run. I'm done here.

February 9 - Nortwestern at Michigan State

Not a whole lot to say about this one. The Spartans were able to bounce back and take care of the Big Ten's worst team at home after losing that abortion of a game in State College last week. It wasn't a blowout by any means, but just watching you got the feeling the Wildcats really had no chance to win from the very start. The Spartans didn't play a great game, but they did enough to get the job done successfully enough and get ready for a big week coming up. On Tuesday MSU heads down to West Lafayette to take on the surprising 10-1 Purdue Boilermakers who are coming off yet another big win over Wisconsin. I've questioned Wisconsin's legitimacy all season, so to me those wins don't look as big as they were in reality. I think that the Spartans should be able to put together a good game and beat a very inexperienced club as they did in east Lansing a month ago. After that is another huge game on Saturday in Bloomington to take on the Hoosiers. Indiana has a hellish week of their own, playing at 7-3 Ohio State on Sunday, at home versus 9-2 Wisconsin on Wednesday, and again on Saturday at home against the 8-2 Spartans. The game will cap a huge week for the top Big Ten teams as we begin to find out who the class of the conference is. I'm not sure exactly how the two teams match up, as this is their first meeting, but I of course like the Spartans out of sheer bias. I guess we'll find out a lot about the conference this week. As for the hapless Wildcats, they are eight losses from running the table in the conference for a perfect 0-18 record. I'd like to wish them all the best in achieving this milestone. Good luck, boys.

American Gangster - Ridley Scott (2007)

Although, I don't particularly like the title of the move, the film itself is a whole different story. Ridley Scott is usually good for an enjoyable movie experience and this one was no exception. It's the story of Frank Lucas, a drug-dealing gangster of New York in the early 1970s. The film also stars Russell Crowe as the cop determined to brings his drug empire down. It's very clear from the start that this isn't going to be the typical "cops and bad guys" movie. The film is presented from both sides and both characters come off as protagonists and likeable. It's ultimately up to the viewer to choose which side they sympathize with more; although there's another huge element that plays into the movie. A third major character, played by Josh Brolin, becomes the key to the film when all is said and done. The action scenes are well done, and most of the performances are very good. Chief among them is Franks, mother, played by Ruby Dee, who earned an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. Crowe and Denzel Washington do what they have done their entire careers... turn in solid performances. The film is a bit longer than average at two and a half hours, but there's enough going on to keep the viewer interested throughout the duration. Overall, it's not incredible or groundbreaking by any means, it's still an entertaining work worth checking out.

What an Awesome Super Bowl

I, like many other people across the country, thought the Patriots would roll tonight, although we hoped they wouldn't. After a defensive battle, and two heroic touchdown drives, one by each team, the Giants came out of top and handed New England their first loss since the 2006 AFC title game against the Colts. 18 wins sandwiched in between losses to two goofy brothers from the south. It doesn't get any funnier than that. After all the crap we've gotten in the media the last few months about the success of "Boston sports" it was nice to see the pride and joy of Boston crash and burn on the world's biggest stage. I came into this Superbowl apathetic after last year's game by the Bears, but I'm pretty happy for the Giants after all is said and done. Now that both Mannings have won it all, can we get back to where we left off in the NFC Championship against New Orleans last year? Yes, I think we can. Bears in '08.

Wait. Who am I kidding?

I Don't Even Know What To Say

Seriously. I've never watched such a terrible game in my entire life so I'm not even going to bother writing about it.

The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson (2007)

Wes Anderson's latest film is almost exactly like his others, but at this point, that's not a bad thing. All the classic Anderson elements are here. Estranged family relations, sibling rivalries, slow motion, strange props and witty, snappy dialogue. Although this film can't touch the Anderson masterpieces (Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums) it is a solid addition to an already very impressive filmography for Anderson. To me, Wes's previous film, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, felt a bit empty. I didn't feel for the characters very much and the film tailed off at the end. The Darjeeling Limited does not fall victim to any of these problems. The film's three main characters are all are genuinely interesting and they will keep you entertained for the duration of the film. A few gags are repeated throughout the film and yet they still bring the laughs every time. One of my favorite things about the movie is all the great supporting characters. Chief among them is the "manager" of the train, pictured above. The film also gets an early cameo from Bill Murray which is good for a laugh or two. Like all of his previous films, Wes relies less on the actual story and more on the actual film making to make the movie enjoyable. However, this doesn't mean the movie didn't have heart because that's certainly not the case. A scene at a native village intertwined with a flashback is especially moving. The ending is the only thing I wasn't too high on. It kinda seems like they couldn't figure out how to end it and left it a bit too ambiguous. I would have liked to have seen at least a little closure. Regardless, the flaws of this film are far outweighed by it's merits. I think big time Wes fans like myself will love this film while others who are less keen on the director may not care for it as much. But in my eyes it's worth of being next to No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood as a top film of 2007.