JasonPafundi.com

Coming This Week

A movie review of Inglorious Basterds and my thoughts on the latest news from around the world!

Also, PafCenter will have my NFL 2009 predictions posted on Thursday, so check back soon!

"Bruno" movie review

This follow-up to Borat by Sasha Baron Cohen didn't quite live up to the standards he set with his Kazakhi documentary from 2006.

Bruno, a flaming homosexual fashionista, travels the world in the hopes of becoming the "most famous Austrian since Hitler". 

Bruno does similar outrageous gags like Borat did, taking advantage of unsuspecting people and one annoyed terrorist. 

The result isn't as shocking as Borat, but the humor is much more crude, with an inordinate amount of full-frontal nudity.

It is good for a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, but not on the scale of Borat.

Rating:  2 1/2 Schnauzers

"Night at the Museum 2" Movie Review

   In this sequel, starring Ben Stiller once again, the setting shifts from the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

  Stiller's character has parlayed his security guard duty at the MNH into a career as a successful inventor, with wealth beyond what he could have imagined.

  He learns that the exhibits that he cared for and played with, including the Huns, the miniatures and many others, were being decommissioned and sent to the archives at the Smithsonian.

  The story isn't as interesting as the plot in the first NatM, and the absence of the three eldery guards giving Stiller's character a hard time mean there is less humor in some parts.

  Hank Azaria and Owen Wilson are the real stars, and Wilson's role is greatly expanded from his turn in the first movie.  Amy Adams plays Amelia Earhardt, but I'm not a fan of Adams at all, so I could've done without her.

If you enjoyed the first NatM, you'll enjoy this one.  Fans of Stiller and Wilson and Azaria will enjoy this movie.  For me, though, I probably should've waited for the Blu-Ray.

Rating:  2 1/2 Schnauzers

Movie Review- "Angels & Demons"

Based on the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, "Angels and Demons" is thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie.

Much like "The Da Vinci Code" for me, I had not read the book going in.  The setting in the book takes place before the time in DVC, but in the movie, "Angels and Demons" comes after Tom Hanks' Robert Langdon cracks the secret of the bloodline of Jesus.

In "A&D", Langdon is brought to the Vatican to help with a threat being perpetrated by the Illuminati, a secret society said to be far more powerful in the story than they actually were.

The pope had just died, and the cardinals were about to enter "conclave", where they would elect a new pontiff.  The movie takes place over one night as Hanks and a female scientist, Ayelet Zurer. 

The story has a bunch of different twists, and since I didn't read the book, I didn't see most of them coming. 

It was an intense story, but certainly not as controversial as the topic and theme of DVC.

Overall, it was a great movie and great follow-up by Ron Howard to DVC.

Rating:
3 1/2 Schnauzer

In Memory of Arnie

Yesterday morning, Arnie died after a long courageous battle with cancer.  He was one of BAHP and Ted's best friends, someone they've known over 30 years.  It has been a difficult couple of months for Ted and BAHP knowing that their friend was sick and didn't have much time left to live. 

I will always have fond memories of Arnie, and a lot of them have to do with sports.  He was a huge Gators fan, and as families, we watched many Super Bowls and other big sporting events together.

Arnie was very intense as a sports fan, and that intensity translated to the basketball court.  It was Arnie who always tried to get me to be a tougher player on the court.  He told me I settled too much for jump shots, and instead I should've been driving more to the basket. 

We played many games in our driveway in Eniswood, and played many times together at Palm Harbor Middle School.  When he would check the ball in, he'd always say "He's got it!"  I'll never forget and I'll always be appreciative of how he helped me become a better basketball player.

My thoughts, and the thoughts of everybody at JasonPafundiOnline are with Maddi, Jessica, Teresa, Ryan, Shawn and the grandchildren.  Arnie will certainly be missed.

Colleen's Wedding in Review- Part II

Here is the rest of the weekend in Key West for Colleen's wedding.  Enjoy!

Sunday Morning
I woke up on Sunday and was planning on going snorkeling, but Colleen called early and said that Thomas wanted to rest and that the weather wasn't ideal for submerging ones self underwater with a snorkel.  Instead, i relaxed until everybody else woke up. After we were up, we decided to go to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, which has a beach that Bri and Deanna have apparently been to. We headed out in two separate cars and arrived at the beach. It was cloudy, with a hint of a storm out over the Atlantic, it was super windy and the water was seemingly about 40 degrees.  I turned on jerk mode, because we weren't going to swim, and the weather was horrible, so I didn't want to stay.  We ended up staying until the Disney Magic cruise ship passed by and docked.  I was able to get some pretty good pictures, despite the bad weather, so all wasn't lost.  As we were about to leave, Ted decided to go see the fort.  I wanted to go, I got mad and Ted said I should start walking, which I actually did.  After 20 minutes, they were done at the fort, and we returned to the "hotel".

Sunday Afternoon/Night
I was really upset at this point because I wanted to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch with Jen. Instead, we went back to the hotel and got ready, because Ted, BAHP and I had to be back at Colleen's hotel for the rehearsal at 3pm.  The rehearsal went well, but when we were done, we had over an hour to kill before the rehearsal dinner, which was at 5:30pm.  I was hungry and figured I wouldn't eat enough at dinner, so I sat at the Sunset Pier bar outside of the Ocean Key and had two grilled cheese.  They were amazing.  The rehearsal dinner was very nice, complete with a slideshow of Colleen and Thomas' life, well, not all of it, because that would've been forever.  My chicken was blackened, spicy as can be, but very, very good.  I had lots of soda, which I enjoy, but my stomach deals with it.  Colleen presented gifts to those in the wedding party, and others.  I got a drawer caddy engraved with my name, a keychain with my initials, and a golf club luggage tag, all three wonderful gifts.  After we left the rehearsal, Jen and I were still somewhat hungry, so we stopped at Hard Rock Cafe and got take-out.

  It was a good way to end the night.

Colleen's Wedding in Review- Part I

KEY WEST----
  Well, the wedding weekend in Key West has come and gone, with lots of memories to be had by all.  I hope you enjoy the review of the entire trip to Key West as we celebrated the union of Colleen and Thomas. 

Friday
We picked up Jen from Kinkos and we were on our way to Miami.  The ride wasn't nearly as boring as I expected, and that was probably aided by the fact that I watched Changeling (with Ange(lina) for about 2 hours of the trip.  BAHP had pre-purchased Publix subs, and we ate those along the way.  We arrived at the La Quinta Inn in a town south of Miami.  We were the only white people in the hotel, and possibly the entire town.  The room for Jen, Ginger and I had two beds that barely fit one of us.  We slept in separate beds in the same room for the first time in our history.  Bri and Deanna arrived a little while after us, and they got to share a room with BAHP and Ted.  Unlucky them.

Saturday
We woke up early in the morning, loaded up the van and headed out.  I had never driven to Key West before, so I wanted to stay awake.  We were pretty much surrounded by water for the entire trip, including on the famous Seven Mile Bridge, though I'm not sure what the big deal is since the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Clearwater is like 11 miles.  Ted, in all his infinite driving wisdom, decided to go speeding through a construction zone, and the red and blue lights began flashing.  A state trooper, who Ted would later name Snickerdoodle, issued a speeding ticket, but claimed he didn't cite Ted for the construction zone issue.  Lucky Ted.  As it turned out, we were only about an hour outside of Key West.  We then continued on to Key West, and when we got there, we immediately went to Timmy's Tuxedos to pick up my tux.  We met Colleen and Thomas there, along with Jenn Bai Rossi (Colleen's best friend) and her nephew Daniel.  After trying on my tux, we headed to our "hotel", which was a two-bedroom condo on the complete other side of the island.  I was in total "jerk" mode, overreacting about everything while refusing to eat lunch or go hang by the pool.  Instead I staying inside with Ginger and watched the Rangers game.  We then got ready and headed to meet everyone at Colleen's hotel for the Sunset Cruise.  Bri, Deanna, BAHP and Ted went to dinner themselves and walked around the town, while we enjoyed the "Commotion on the Ocean".  The live music was good, the cheese plate appetizers, along with the meatballs, was very good, and the sunset was absolutely marvelous.  We had a good time with Colleen's family, including her Uncle Joe and his partner Scott, her sister Heather and her boyfriend John, Jenn Bai Rossi and her fiance Brian, and a few others.  Jen and I were still hungry after the cruise, so we stopped at the grocery in our condo complex and had Boar's Head sandwiches.  The weekend had only just begun. 

Colleen's Rehearsal Dinner

Here is a picture just taken of a close-eyed Colleen during the beginning of her rehearsal dinner. Tomorrow, she will marry Thomas Tang, a lawyer from Boston whom she met while serving jury duty.

Colleen's Wedding trip begins

We are currently in our stylish Dodge Caravan with Ted behind the wheel, Jen in the passenger seat, and BAHP and Ging next to me in the back.
yesterday's drive down to South Miami wasn't as bad as expected. I was able to somewhat comfortably watch "Changeling" with Angelina Jolie, and it was a veey good movie. Jolie is a wonderul actress, among the best, man or woman, in the business right now.
We had Publix subs in the van on the way down, and shortly before 10pm we arrived at our hotel. This was not the Ritz-Carlton, not even the Holiday Inn. It was a La Quinta in south central Miami, and there were bars on the window and security guards all around the premisis.
We are driving right now to Key West for the official start of the wedding weekend.
Please check back at the new website for updates throughout the weekend.

"Parks and Recreation" TV Review

Amy Poehler stars in this new comedy from the creators of The Office.  The show premiered last week in what will be its regular timeslot (Thursdays at 8:30 pm on NBC). Poehler plays Leslie Knope, the deputy head of the Parks and Recreation department in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. 

The show features similarities to The Office, such as the little side-dialogue with characters, along with the deadpan delivery of many of the shows funniest lines. In the pilot episode, Knope is holding a town meeting when a woman, played by Rashida Jones, complains about a giant crater that her husband fell into, breaking both of his legs.  Poehler's character has the brilliant idea of turning the crater, which was supposed to be the basements of a new condo project, into a brand-new park.

The show follows Poehler's journey up the chain of command within the city's department, trying to gain approval to build the park, which she originally wanted to have tennis courts, volleyball courts, basketball courts and a regulation football field.  Alas, the land isn't that big. The show is pretty funny, with a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, which is what makes a viewer want to watch the next episode. Fans of The Office or Amy Poehler will enjoy this show, so check it out.

Grade: B-