The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson

What we are witnessing in the economy right now is nothing short of the total and devastating failure of the Republicans' policies of financial deregulation.

If you are still unconvinced that Barack Obama is the right candidate for president, please watch this video. The running time seems long, but the most timely stuff is at the beginning. If you're busy, turn your computer volume way up and listen to it as you do work around the house.

(On a sidenote, anybody who says Obama gives no specifics about his plans has never listened to one of his speeches)

Barack Obama: If you think those lobbyists are working day and night for John McCain just to put themselves out of business, well, then, I've got a bridge to sell you up in Alaska.

That's a hell of a good line. Some speechwriter deserves a pay raise for that.

We waited to see Hancock at the dollar theater. Since superhero movies are more and more common these days, it's nice when we get to see one about a hero we've never seen in comic books. This one, played by Will Smith, is a guy who has superhero powers, but doesn't tend to abide by normal rules of etiquette when he tries to use those powers for good. For instance, when Hancock saves a guy named Ray from being hit by a train, he causes a train derailment. The general public doesn't care for Hancock because of the damages he causes and because he seems to be a bum when he's not doing anything else. And since they don't care for them, he doesn't hold much regard for being careful around them.

Ray is actually in the public relations business and decides he can help Hancock out by teaching him how to improve his image with the public. Jason Bateman place Ray and his dialog is always very funny. It's nice to see him in a big role in a big budget movie. And oddly enough, there are way too many moments in this movie that make the AD fans think about their beloved show.

It's funny to watch Ray try to transform Hancock into a modern view of what a superhero should be. I really enjoyed watching the transformation process. Overall, the writing is crisp and moves the story along quickly, and always keeps a wry sense of humor.

As the movie progresses, the tone does change, and I know a lot of people weren't huge fans of where the story ended up. I actually didn't have a problem with it because I liked the idea it was trying to get at as to the origins of Hancock's powers. Some of the editing was a little bit heavy towards the end, but all in all I was actually a lot more satisfied with the results than I had anticipated.

I'm not sure if it would exactly become a classic, but I actually thought Hancock was an interesting character with potential for future movies, and hopefully if he returns, we would still be able to see Bateman's character as well, since the two work so well off of each other in this movie. Glad I made a point to go out and see it before it left the cheap theater!

One great thing about the Roku is that you can actually view the DVD cover art of the Netflix movies you are watching. I know I can see those things online, but once the movie arrives in the mail, it's in a little, boring envelope. With the Roku, you can browse through and look at the artwork and the movie descriptions, nice and big on the tv screen (if you have a big tv screen). I have to admit, this is often what helps me pick which movie I feel like watching. When I saw the figure of Aguirre, read that the movie was directed by a German director (Herzog) and told a story about 16th century Spanish conquistadors who were in search of gold and El Dorado, the combination was too enticing to pass up.

I haven't seen a lot of Herzog's movies yet, but one thing is evident, and that's that he immerses the viewer into the environment of his story completely. In Augirre, the first thing we see is the conquistadors and their party trumping slowly downward into dense jungle terrain. They're traveling with women (who are carried on chairs) and a cannon, which makes the process even more complicated. The atmosphere is more dense and secluded as they travel, and one can feel impending danger as they leave the higher grounds behind.

Beyond the phyiscal difficulties, the travelers also face a power struggle. The members get separated at a certain point, and the group the story follows must decide whether to retreat back where they came from or to continue on in their search for gold. The further they get from their leader, the more questions rise of whether they should still continue allegiance to Spain. Aguirre manipulates his way into being the group's leader by finding ways to eliminate people who disagree with his point of view or empowering others who might support him.

As Aguirre takes his group farther and farther into the jungle and away from the rest of their company, he seems to delude himself more and more. I love that we don't exactly know what's going on in his mind for the majority of the movie. We can guess based on his actions. But at the conclusion, there's finally a peek into his actual thoughts, and the full devastation of the story becomes complete.

I loved the uniqueness of Aguirre's story setting. Herzog uses the music of the local guides to accompany the story, and the bizarre contrast of the natural elements and people of the jungle with the refined women and metal-clad soldiers is fascinating in itself, beyond the figure of Aguirre.

It does play out a little bit slowly, but I think the nature of the story itself was what kept me interested. I'm partially through Fitzcaraldo right now, and I think I'm just starting to get a feel for the way Herzog eases in and takes his time for his stories to be told. So far I'm not sure I've had much an emotional connection to his fictional characters, but the story and the events of the movie have made them all worthwhile. I'll be interested to watch many more of his movies and see if my perceptions change.

The third in the Planet of the Apes series, Escape from The Planet of the Apes continues the story in another absurd series of events. Were I to epxlain the entire plot, it would probably spoil the first two movies. At any rate, what we're dealing with here is basically a story about talking apes arriving on the scene in the 1970s, being both admired and feared by the general population.

There are some interesting aspects to this movie, which seems to continue to genuinely ponder issues of humanity and ethics. The talking apes are a matter of public interest - how did they reach such a level of intelligence? They could be studied and learned from, and they have obvious contributions they can make to the society they are visiting. Yet at the same time, they represent a threat to the human race because they could potentially teach other apes, or reproduce to start an intelligent race of apes that might one day take power away from humans. So the question arises, "Do or should we allow these apes to live and/or have babies?"

There's plenty of awkward material, and sometimes people's motivations seem a little stronger than they would logically play out. For those reasons, this movie bothered me. But I liked where it was going. And, this movie has more of a sense of humor and a little bit more heart than the previous two. And, just as the first two do, this one ends abruptly, and definitely not how I expected it to.

It's not perfect, but it's ambitious. And for that, it was worth a watch.