"What up with thee?"

Despite the fact that I find Jim Carrey to be a very funny and entertaining actor, I only own one of his movies, and Bruce Almighty isn’t it. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s because his movies don’t really have that blockbuster quality to them. Or maybe I don’t think I would re-watch them as often as I think. Or maybe every time I consider buying one of them, I’m distracted by some other new release. I don’t really know what the reason is. I enjoy all his movies – I just don’t own many of them. So when I wanted something light to watch a couple nights ago I had to dig into my roommates collection to find Bruce Almighty.

Bruce Nolan is a failing news reporter who thinks God is out to make his life miserable. After one too many complaints, God finally decides to do something about it. Figuring Bruce can do a better job God gives Bruce all his powers. Jim Carrey with all the powers of the divine creator of the universe – let the hilarity ensue. I like Bruce Almighty because it manages to talk about God and religion without getting too serious. It’s got a great message and it’s really, really funny. There are several scenes that make me giggle just thinking about them. If you want something light and fun you can’t go wrong with this flick. I encourage you to come on over and borrow it from my roommate.

After watching the HBO special, From the Earth to the Moon, Shauna and I have been hooked on anything to do with the Apollo space program. A friend at work managed to get me a copy of For All Mankind, which is all original, real footage filmed by the astronauts themselves during the 10 manned spaceflights to the moon. Narrated by a number of the Apollo veterans, For All Mankind portrays a voyage from earth to the moon and back, combining footage from all ten flights. This is a film for those people who are really interested in this subject matter. Although it’s considered a documentary there isn’t much this film teaches you. But it’s not meant to. This is for those people who already know all about the various astronauts and missions and equipment. It’s so those people can watch and say “so that’s what it looked like, felt like, sounded like, etc”. For All Mankind is a fantastic view into the real life of an Apollo astronaut. If you’ve seen Apollo 13 or From the Earth to the Moon and you want to know what it all truly looked like, check out For All Mankind.

Film #2 in the unofficial ‘Nicholas Cage Action Trilogy’, Con Air is everything you could want in a guy’s movie. Prison breaks, explosions, attack helicopters, corny clichés, fast cars, destruction, mayhem, chaos and Steve Buscemi. If you had anything to complain about regarding Con Air then the movie simply wasn’t meant for you. Is it over the top? Absolutely. Is it meant to be? You betcha. Con Air is a thrill-a-minute action flick that also manages to include a number of great performances. John Malkovich is perfectly evil as Cyrus ‘The Virus’, Nicholas Cage is everything you’d expect from an all-American Army Ranger who’s there to “save the day”, and Steve Buscemi is probably the only actor who can portray a frighteningly creepy mass murder who makes us smile right up to the last frame. And, of course, John Cusack does a great job. But John Cusack always does a great job. My only grudge is that the current DVD release is non-anamorphic. That simply won’t do. Buena Vista needs to get its act together and release a special edition with an updated video transfer. Then I can enjoy the running-away-from-the-giant-fireball-in-slow-motion scenes even more.

Divine trivia for 'Bruce Almighty'.
Flight, this is Capcom 7. You are go for trivia.
High-flying trivia for the criminally insane.