Fred Posner dot com

Funny how time “flies” when you’re working all the time. I was doing so well with updaing these, too.

Let’s see… what’s happened in the last 30 days? Not much… A LOT of work… New highway bars on the bike… and that’s pretty much it.

I installed the Highway Bars on the bike for my upcoming Fort Lauderdale run… and they’re fantastic. I rode down to Ocala and back taking a detour at the Lake to say hello to the Criminology crew. They were doing the “ropes course” and I took some pics for them (see attached).

Other than thanking Florida for helping me out in the NCAA pool, not much has been going on.

Oh wait… I know….

I finally got one of my favorite films on DVD… one not many people know of, but one that I love… Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man. Why is this movie so great? WHY NOT?

First, it’s got Don Johnson in his prime… pop culture references left and right, Mickey Rourke, and good one-liners. Sure, most people don’t like this movie… but I’m not most people. And, my brother David Kronen LOVES the movie just as much as me… so how can two nice Jewish boys be wrong?

Several months ago, my beautiful, tooth-pick of a goddaughter told me her class was reading Bridge to Terabithia. Instantly, I flashbacked to Mrs. Krueger’s 4^th grade class and what great books we read that year. Without a doubt, Mrs. Krueger is/was my favorite Elementary School teacher. She really inspired us to read, which unfortunately is something I lost interest in years later. That being said, she also had us read Bridge to Terabithia— which is still, to this day, one of my favorite books.

I’ve always been able to have a feeling of where a story was headed. Not that I’m skilled here or anything… I think that most writers are just predictable. So I think besides Bridge being a great story, my having been completely blindsided by the plot keeps the book fresh on my mind… even 25 years later. (ouch)

So when Emmy told me that they were making a new movie of the book, we promised to go together… just the two of us. This morning, I picked her up (bright an early), sat in the WAYYYY back, watched a lot of previews, and then sat back to enjoy the show.

I loved it. It’s not going to win any awards… not by a long shot. But I really liked the book and thought the movie kept true to it’s spirit and story. Sure, it was updated a little bit for time/date, but it was a good, enjoyable movie. Looked great and was an enjoyable movie to watch.

So it’s only February and I’ve already seen a movie in the theater… go know

Out of all the movies that came out in 2006, I can’t believe I saw only the following:

1. ANNAPOLIS
2. CLERKS II
3. CLICK
4. EIGHT BELOW
5. MIAMI VICE
6. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3
7. SUPERMAN RETURNS
8. TALLADEGA NIGHTS
9. THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
10. THE DA VINCI CODE
11. X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

And even sadder— I only saw 3 of these in the theater.

So, here’s my take in 10 words or (much) less:

ANNAPOLIS
Cheesy, but liked it.

CLERKS II
Loved It! One of my favorite Kevin Smith films.

CLICK
Ok.

EIGHT BELOW
Sad. Disney, so nice… but sad.

MIAMI VICE
Enjoyed it. Tubbs lives.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3
Very good. You forget Tom jumping on a couch.

SUPERMAN RETURNS
Most disappointing movie I’ve seen. It sucked.

TALLADEGA NIGHTS
Funniest movie I’ve seen in years.

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
A good movie.

THE DA VINCI CODE
I liked it. I don’t understand the negative reviews.

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
Not impressed.

I even bought the DVD of SUPERMAN RETURNS— just to see if I was too harsh in my previous post… and no, if anything I was too easy. This movie sucked. I loved the first Superman and this movie just killed it for me.

Well, after seeing Superman Returns the other week, I wasn’t all too excited to see Miami Vice. I mean, how many tv shows can we turn into movies? Between Charlies Angels, Dukes of Hazzard, Mission Impossible, Starsky & Hutch… I mean the list just never ends.

Miami Vice wasn’t just a television show– it was a cultural icon. Going to High School in South Florida in the late 80′s, you could easily tell the influence it had on all of us kids growing up. From everyone wearing boat shoes (something I still love) to losing socks, adding pastels to your shirt collection to using a “Miami” roll on your sleeves, we dressed the part. The 80′s wasn’t the high point of American fashion, but dammit, we thought we looked goooooood.

So my buddy calls me today and says we’re seeing Crockett and Tubbs in an hour and a half. I knew I had to go… it must be done. The whole time I’m on my way to the theater I’m remembering all of my favorite Vice moments… Bruce Willis and domestic violence watched from the hull of a sailboat… Ted Nugent destroying beautiful cars… Castillo going commando… Zito’s body being held by Switek… the Spyder… the Testarosa… Phil Collins… Shelia Easton… Glenn Frey… Stiltsville… and then I start smiling… and then I get excited… and now I’m driving to the theater singing In the Air Tonight and I’m ready for some Miami Vice.

Well, I wasn’t let down. At first, I didn’t think that I would love the new, updated Sonny… after all, Don Johnson is a freaking legend. That’s right I said it. Don Johnson made Miami Vice. Tubbs? Fuck Tubbs. Tubbs in my mind was always a supporting player. And there were times where if I heard Pillip Michael Thomas do one more Jamaican accent I would have just had a siezure. So my expectations for Jamie Foxx were low… not because of Jamie Foxx, but mostly because of Tubbs.

Well within 10 minutes, Sonny was Sonny and Tubbs now rocked. This is the new Tubbs… the Tubbs that you knew Tubbs could be.

I loved this movie. Kicked Superman’s ass. Kicked Superman’s ass so hard that– insert some phrase here. Granted, I don’t think this is a movie you can see over and over and over… but it was a great movie and I’m ready for the sequel.

Not since the final Star Wars film or perhaps even Spider-man had I been this excited to see a film. For the entire day, the thought of seeing Superman Returns has kept me in a great mood. Maybe it was too great of expectations, or perhaps it was an amazingly high pedestal that I could never allow a movie to reach; but in the end it comes down to one thing. I didn’t love Superman Returns.

Don’t get me wrong, here. I liked it. And when I break it down, I have to wonder why I didn’t love the movie. I thought Kevin Spacey was awesome-simply awesome. I thought that this movie had the best Lois Lane ever. Superman himself looked and felt like what Superman should be. The acting was great; the humor was there, but in the end… I just didn’t love this movie.

The first time I saw Superman on the big screen was with my mom in 1978. Even though I was a young boy, the movie so amazed me that I still vividly remember watching the film in the theater. I can recall the feeling I had when the toddler Clark lifted the Kent’s truck and smiled… or when Clark caught the bullet from the mugging… or even watching Superman return the little girl’s cat from the tree (and the smack afterwards). To me, Superman was real. This wasn’t special effects; this was the real adventures of a Superhero caught on film.

In almost 20 years of time, we’ve seen an amazing amount of movie magic. Thin about it… when they made Superman in ’78, there were no blue screens to help Superman fly. So, when Superman Returns debuted tonight I expected magic. I expected to feel the same way I had all those years ago in a small New York movie theater. And even with the great performances, I came away with the feeling that I just didn’t love this movie.

Am I being too hard? I don’t know. Spider-man is my favorite super-hero of all time. And when Tobey Maguire put on the Spidey suit I had enormous expectations– Huge, Colossal, Gigantic expectations. Even knowing that one of my favorite aspects of the hero had been changed (his web shooting), I still had almost entered the movie theater as if with a dare… in a way daring this new Spider-man to impress me. I walked out of the theater with the biggest smile on my face and saw the movie two more times that same weekend. This film took my dare and shoved it in my face. The movie not only lived up to my expectations; it surpassed them.

I expected nothing less from Superman. Was it a good film? Sure. But, I thought some of the coolest new effects of the movie I had already seen in the trailer (Superman being shot, etc.). And even though the performances were great, my favorite part of the movie was a trailer… and that trailer is for Spider-man 3.

Yes, I’m psyched that Superman opens tomorrow… but did you know that Spider-man 3 has a new trailer out? And we all know that Fred’s number one favorite super-hero is the web-head himself… (followed closely of course by Captain Marvel).

Download The New Trailer

I love Scarface and I love HDTV… so when you put the two together… well it’s like a chocolate-peanut butter combination of home theater. And yes, I believe that theater is spelled with an er and not for some reason spelled theatre. So as I watched one of the greatest films of all times in amazing digital video and Dolby sound, I couldn’t help but take note of my favorite lines. For example, the Bad Guy speech:

What are you looking at? You’re all a bunch of fucking assholes. You know why? ‘Cause you don’t have the guts to be what you want to be. You need people like me. You need people like me so you can point your fucking fingers, and say “that’s the bad guy.” So, what that make you? Good? You’re not good; you just know how to hide. How to lie. Me, I don’t have that problem. Me, I always tell the truth–even when I lie. So say goodnight to the bad guy. Come on, the last time you going to see a bad guy like this, let me tell ya. Come on, make way for the bad guy. There’s a bad guy coming through! You better get out of his way!