http://www.viewpoints.com/aboutme/MikeMaroon Tue, 06 May 2008 01:36:12 GMT Reviews by MikeMaroon at Viewpoints.com http://www.viewpoints.com/Iron-Man-review-d4e01 If you grew up feeding your imagination, as I did, on Marvel and DC comics, you are very familiar with Iron Man. If not, you might just be asking, "Iron what now?". If you are asking that question, here's the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with one Mr. Tony Stark, billionaire, playboy, and purveyor of weapons to the military. As played by Robert Downey Jr. (and let me go on record telling you Mr. Downey is one of the finest actors of our time, and one of my favorites), Stark is also irresponsible and snarky, living the high life with little regard for how all those weapons his company produces are used, just enjoying the wealth from their sale. In truth, he might actually be more naive about the fate of those weapons than uncaring, but that attitude comes from paying attention to the ladies, and not who buys what. — — Tony inherited the business from his late father, a true pioneer in weapons technology who built his fortune in bed with the U.S. military... Tue, 06 May 2008 01:36:12 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Iron-Man-review-d4e01 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Walk-Hard-The-Dewey-Cox-Story-review-98335 John C Reilly is best known for his supporting roles in good films like "Chicago" and "Boogie Nights". He has established himself over the years as an exceptional actor, often as the "good-natured lug" a character he perfected in "Talladega Nights:The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" as Will Ferrell's good natured, but not-so-smart racing buddy, Cal Naughton, Jr. Here he gets to take center stage as Dewey Cox, who is loosely based on Johnny Cash in a movie obviously inspired by "Walk the Line". — — "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" wants to send up the whole music biopic genre and not just the Cash flick. It almost kinda sorta but not really works. Reilly gets to show us just what a versitile actor he is and plays his character with a mock sincerity befitting a mock biography. He's genuinely fun to watch as a rising star who seems genuinely oblivious to the ridiculousness going on around him Shoot, sometimes, he's part of it. — — The film begins promisingly... Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:58:17 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Walk-Hard-The-Dewey-Cox-Story-review-98335 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Elton-John-Top-Five-Albums-review-2d6e7 Summer 1972. I remember it like it was yesterday. It wasn't yesterday. Was it? It all runs together now.....Anyway, I'm in my bedroom and my best friend comes over. He's pretty excited. Tells me he's got something he wants me to hear. So, he sits on the edge of the bed and breaks out a cassette player, one of those little table top ones, top-loader. You know, top half is a big speaker and at the bottom is a row of push-down levers to operate it. He pulls a cassette out of his pocket and its in a case I don't recognize. Yanking the cassette from it's shell and putting it in the player, he says, "Listen to THIS.". With a smile, he pushes the lever with the word "Play" stenciled on the chrome finish above it. A few seconds later the sound (not very good by today's standards) of ivories being tickled comes out of that mono-speaker ( I wish I could play it for you here), and this was piano as I'd never heard it before. Then an unknown singer chimes in, "When I look back/boy I... Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:04:12 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Elton-John-Top-Five-Albums-review-2d6e7 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Lady-Antebellum-Self-titled-Album-review-92543 When Hillary Scott, Charles Kelly and Dave Haywood sequestered themselves in a house in 2006 to write songs, I seriously doubt they envisioned the enormous stir their little trio, named after an old Victorian mansion, would cause. They've been touted as the "next big thing" and, from their debut CD, its easy to see why. — — They've performed together for less than two years, yet, this is a band sounding extremely comfortable with themselves, like they grew up together. In fact, while Charles and Dave are long-time collaborators, they didn't meet Hillary until 2006, when Charles and she ran into each other in a Nashville club. They decided to work together and then brought Dave on board. As they wrote and performed together, they generated a pretty good fan base, partly thanks to MySpace. — — Me, I'm always pretty skeptical of any new act with a lot of hype because, often, that hype is generated by record companies and we are set up for a fall. The "next... Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:44:06 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Lady-Antebellum-Self-titled-Album-review-92543 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/80s-People-More-Greatest-Hits-of-the-80s-review-44135 The 1980's just might have been the most diverse decade musically. Disco died, Michael Jackson was an acclaimed artist instead of a disgraced freak and big haired rock bands roamed the landscape, filling arenas everywhere. All the while the proclaimed "new Beatles"- "A Flock of Seagulls" turned out to be just another one-hit wonder, of which there were many, (Adam Ant, anyone?). The Boss came into his own popularity-wise and some dinosaurs (Elton John, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, etc) survived the 70's to produce some of their best music and march on toward immortality (not to mention immorality). We saw country music ride "Urban Cowboy" into renewed popularity, only to nearly die at the hands of the same fad, and then be saved by a former juvenile delinquent from North Carolina, with a little help from a Texas cowboy, an Okie and a good ole boy from Newnan, Ga. — Yep, the 80's had it all. I shared some of my favorites from that decade a little while back and,... Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:18:51 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/80s-People-More-Greatest-Hits-of-the-80s-review-44135 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/The-assasination-of-Jesse-James-by-the-Coward-Robert-Ford-review-6e413 With all the hoopla surrounding he, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie, its easy to loose sight of the fact Brad Pitt is one of Amercia's best actors. Here he shows us almost all sides of his multi-faceted persona, as the outlaw/folk-hero Jesse James, a man seemingly in total control, yet falling apart. But, Mr James is not really the subject of this film, as the title attests. — — Robert Ford is played by Casey Affleck as a sort of Mark David Chapman type. Here is a man who, as a boy, collected all sorts of material about the "great" Jesse James. He indulged himself, along with anyone who would listen, in hero-worship that, as he grew up, became less amusing and more creepy. This idolatry gradually becomes resentment at James' fame, then fear and loathing, leading up to the inevitable climax. No spoiler here. You already knew what you were getting when you read the film title. Affleck acquits himself nicely (he got an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor),... Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:59:18 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/The-assasination-of-Jesse-James-by-the-Coward-Robert-Ford-review-6e413 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Beatles-A-Hard-Days-Night-review-06952 Has a visit with an old friend ever left you with a warm fuzzy that made you wonder why you waited so long to see them again? That's kind of how I felt after spending 92 minutes with "A Hard Day's Night", a masterwork of a film showcasing those mop tops from Liverpool, The Beatles. — — Made in 1964 on a budget of around $500,000, "A Hard Day's Night" was directed by American Richard Lester and is a mockumentary of sorts. It supposedly follows the Fab 4 around for a day, leading up a live TV broadcast their concert. This was a ground-breaking film, very different from the "musicals" of the time starring the likes of Elvis. No, like the Beatles themselves, this film transcended its generation to the point it doesn't seem dated, even today. Virtually every thing about the modern style of film-making, from quick camera cuts with hand-held cameras to the documentary style owe their existance to this movie. — — What makes "A Hard Day's Night" a great film,... Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:45:45 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Beatles-A-Hard-Days-Night-review-06952 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Troubadour-4-1-by-George-Strait-review-9f180 George Strait has been the standard bearer for all that's right with country music for so long, its hard to imagine a time he wasn't around.  Its a little like imagining a time I didn't exist.  In 1981  MCA records released his first album, "Strait Country".  Twenty-seven years and 55 #1 singles later, here comes his 39th album, "Troubadour".  You would think the passage of time would take some of the luster off his career.  After all, that's the way the music business normally works.  Hit the scene with a bang, spit out 4-5 years of hit music, then, out with a wimper. — — Well, consider this.  Strait's first single from "Troubadour", "I Saw God Today", debuted on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart at #19. That was 4 weeks ago.  Today its at #4.  At age 55, he's still cranking out the hits while most artists in his demographic can't get airplay. To say George Strait is a legend in his own time is to understate the... Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:27:12 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Troubadour-4-1-by-George-Strait-review-9f180 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Jango-Social-Internet-Radio-review-df0f5 The perfect internet radio station has arrived.  Some smart cookie melded streaming radio with social networking and came up with Jango.  Direct yourself to www.jango.com and start listening, it's just that simple. — — I found out about this site through PC World magazine, one of two computer mags I get (yes, "I'm a picker, I'm a grinner, I'm a lover, and I'm a computer geek.  I play my music on Jango" {sorry, Mr. Miller}).  I've tried lastfm.com, Rhapsody.com, and a host of others.  Now, i believe I've found my internet radio heaven.  Best of all, its free!! — — Its ad supported and the ads are unobtrusive as side panels.  They never pop up in the middle of what you are doing to distract, annoy, and otherwise make you want to pitch steak knives at the screen. — — When you first go to the site, you will be asked to sign up for a free account and/or invite your friends along for the ride.  You can do this... Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:45:17 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Jango-Social-Internet-Radio-review-df0f5 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Sony-RM-VL600-Remote-Control-review-a7300 If you are like me, and none of you are so be grateful, you've got more remotes laying around the house than Iraq has weapons of mass destruction laying around the country.  Wait...bad analogy....anyway, you've probably got several remotes.  Yeah! That's my point! — — How many of you had carpel tunnel surgery from pressing too many buttons on more than one remote?  Well, you don't have to do that anymore!  I have discovered the "one remote to control them all".  AND, it doesn't cost some ridiculous amount of money.  The Sony RM-VL600 Integrated Remote Commander does everything you could ask of a remote except open the DVD player and insert/remove the DVD. — — The deal is, I recently bought a new LCD TV (see my review, this page. That's my shameless plug for the day), an up-converting DVD player (I'll eventually go Blu-Ray, but the players are too expensive right now) and have a digital cable box with a DVR.  I'm also about... Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:54:08 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Sony-RM-VL600-Remote-Control-review-a7300 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/We-Own-the-Night-review-92185 What do you get when you mix 3 of the finest actors working today with a standard crime drama involving the Russian mob?  You get an immensely watchable movie that makes you care about the characters enough to get invested in the outcome. — — The title references the slogan painted on New York City police cars in the 1980's and the NYPD's commitment to wiping out the drug trade.  Two of those cops working to that end are Deputy Chief Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall) and his son Captain Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg).  At odds with them is Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix), who manages a prominent Brooklyn nightclub. — — I'm not giving too much away telling you Bobby's true last name is Gursinsky and yes, he is also Burt's son and a man who has chosen the glamorous life, schmoozing the clientele at his club with a hot girlfriend (Eva Mendez) on his arm, over following dear old dad and his brother into police work.  He's chosen to go by his... Sun, 30 Mar 2008 04:11:33 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/We-Own-the-Night-review-92185 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Mr-Warmth-The-Don-Rickles-Project-review-686e3 I grew up idolizing the great comedians of the 60's and 70's, Carlin, Lewis, Carson, Cosby and , the king of them all, Don Rickles. I remember making a point to stay up late, even if I had school the next day, if I knew Rickles was going to be on Johnny Carson. No comedian made me laugh so hard for so long. The thing about him was, he just came out on stage, waded right into the audience and insulted them. They loved him for it. Mr Rickles started in the 50's as a lounge act and worked his way through clubs and on up to regular appearances on TV. He also had a nice movie career and it's all chronicled in this loving documentary directed by John Landis. — — "Mr:Warmth:The Don Rickles" opens with Mr Landis describing his first contact with Rickles, on the set of the movie "Kelly's Heroes" and the story continues, sort of as an aside to a recent concert in Las Vegas, a venue Don still fills to capacity, even at the ripe young age of 81. The concert showcases his... Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:24:46 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Mr-Warmth-The-Don-Rickles-Project-review-686e3 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Various-Artists-Perfect-80s-review-e0cd3 Yep.  It's me again.  Another list.  This time with a lot of songs that will sound familar to you whippersnappers in your late 30's or  early 40's.  I spent all but the first 4 1/2 months of the 80's in the United States Air Force and remember hearing a lot of great song in a lot of different places.  I spent the 80's in San Antonio, Texas; Blytheville, Arkansas; Zweibrucken, Germany; and Beale Air Force Base, California.  So, I have a lot of location-based memories of 80's music.  I also think the 80's were musically bi-polar.  That decade presented us some of the absolute best music and some of the most dreadful. (Can you say, "We Are The World", boys and girls?....sure you can't)....  The 70's were the best, but the 80's twertn't too shabby, neither. — 1.  EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD-TEARS FOR FEARS:  I remember two significant things about this song.  In the video, the two singers, (Is one Fears and... Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:54:21 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Various-Artists-Perfect-80s-review-e0cd3 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Stephen-King-Duma-Key-review-c1c10 Welcome to the world of Edgar Freemantle.  Embodying that famous John Lennon quote, “Life is what happens while we are busy making other plans”, Mr. Freemantle is minding his own business in his truck one day, when he is backed over by a crane he owns, as part of his successful construction company.  The accident takes away his memory, his right arm, and ultimately, his marriage.  Submitting himself to intense physical and mental rehabilitation, Edgar finds himself deep into depression and plotting his own demise.  His shrink, sensing his plan, asks him if anything makes him happy, to which he responds, “I used to sketch”.  So, persuading his patient a change in scenery and a new occupation is the cure for what ails him, he convinces Freemantle to leave Minnesota. — Edgar rents a house on Duma Key, a beautiful, strangely underdeveloped little island just off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.  A... Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:21:26 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Stephen-King-Duma-Key-review-c1c10 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/My-List-of-the-Best-Music-Ever-Part-2-review-ce893 Patty asked for 3 more songs on my list.  Here are 19 more.  I'm funny like that....... Actually these lists could go on and on because, well the voices in my head tell me to......... — — — 1.  Band on the Run- Paul McCartney and Wings: The very best single he ever produced after The Beatles.  I always crank the radio up for this.  Love the album cover, too. — — 2. One of these Nights-The Eagles:  Glen Frey called this his favorite Eagles record.  Mine, too. — — 3.  Club at the End of The Steet-Elton John:  Elton and Bernie's tribute to soul  giants is a be-bopper that never fails get me be-boppin'. — — 4.  Jazzman-Carole King: I can't hear this song without getting a mental image of Lisa Simpson's final tribute to "Bleeding Gums" Murphy.  Great sax solo and just an overall upbeat song about chasing the blues away. — — 5.  How Deep is Your Love-The... Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:49:35 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/My-List-of-the-Best-Music-Ever-Part-2-review-ce893 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/My-List-of-the-Best-Music-Ever-review-21791 Yessir, I'm just crazy enough to put forth my very own definative list of the best songs I've ever heard. Actually, that list is VERY long so I limited myself to 17, and it was hard to stop there. Why 17? Well, everybody does a top 10 or 15 or 20 and I'm never like anyone else any other time. Why should this be different? I have all these songs compacted on one CD that I throw into my changer in the truck all the time. I never get tired of hearing it. — — Why am I doing this sort of review? Cause I like to. AND, I hope it will generate some discussion and maybe I'll find out some of your favorite songs and they'll become favorites of mine. Now, I warn you, there only two songs on here recorded in the past 10 years. That's because, while I listen to newer music, I just haven't found anything in that time that rocked my world like these songs. — — So, to any of you who read this and think, "That's some old white dude who doesn't appreicate today's... Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:14:26 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/My-List-of-the-Best-Music-Ever-review-21791 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/Vizio-VW42L-HDTV-Television-review-b6396 It all started when the local grocery store chain that employs me stocked some 42" LCD TVs for Christmas.  Before that, I thought I was just fine with my 9 year old 32" Sanyo CRT television.   Yep, with the employee discount we were getting at the time, I could get me a big screen high-def TV for a mere $650.00.  That got me doing some research on-line and what I discovered didn't result in buying that particular TV.  Something much worse happened.  I found myself with a raging case of "Big-Screen HDTV Fever". — — For the record, this is mostly a "guy" disease and its most contagious around Jan 1st.  You know, when all the big college football bowl games are on and the NFL playoffs are about to start.  So, I decided to forgo my store's brand since my research showed it was a model with quality control issues (some worked perfectly, some had problems right out of the box) and a complete disregard for customer service by the company... Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:30:08 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Vizio-VW42L-HDTV-Television-review-b6396 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Best-Stuff-I-Saw-and-Heard-in-2007-review-44b71 Yep, you’ve seen enough of those “Best Blah-Blah-Blah of 2007” lists to confirm what you already knew. Everybody and their uncle papaw has an opinion or eight, and each and everyone is right. Your opinion is wrong and the mere fact they wrote theirs down is proof. My question is, before they made their list, did they listen to EVERY CD, watch EVERY movie, or read EVERY book released? Didn’t think so. Even Roger Ebert didn’t see every single movie release last year. — I freely admit I didn’t come close to seeing every film or listening to every CD. There were some I had no interest in spending my hard earned money to experience. Some of these were hailed by the critics as the “best” and had impressive stamps on them like “EW Pick” or “Critic’s Choice”. I didn’t care. I watch what I want and listen to what I want. That’s how I roll. With clichés. I roll with... Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:50:37 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Best-Stuff-I-Saw-and-Heard-in-2007-review-44b71 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/My-Top-15-Favorite-Movies-review-157e0 I can't begin to tell you how much I love movies. I've rated 600+ movies at Netflix probably having seen more than that in the theater. I really don't care if a film is a great work of art or has great acting. On the other hand, if the acting looks like chimps could have done it better, I'm probably not a fan. For me, movies are escapism and if, when the end credits roll, it has made me forget I've got a car payment due and a moldy loaf of bread in cupboard, well, I'm a happy dude. — — My favorites make me feel something. Doesn't matter if it makes me feel happy, sad, pensive, encouraged, uplifted or depressed (and I don't mean depressed because I wasted my 8 bucks on it!). If it makes me think, laugh, or cry, that film has made me love it. I picked 15 and, man, that was hard! But, in the end, I picked the movies I've watched multiple times and will stop what I'm doing to see if they are on. Here goes: — — 1. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the... Sat, 25 Aug 2007 04:43:53 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/My-Top-15-Favorite-Movies-review-157e0 MikeMaroon http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Simpsons-Movie-review-a063 After 18 years on the tube, The Simpsons finally got their own movie. It was all that and a case of Duff. The fan boys were worried that, — — A. The Simpsons' time had passed and, — B. the film would not live up to expectations and hype. — — Their fears were groundless. Sure, there were some grumblings that Homer and his clan aren't as good as they were in 1989, when the series debuted. To those people I say, I'm pretty sure your wives and girlfriends think YOU aren't as good as you were ONE year ago, yet, they stay with you, hoping you will revist your glory days one more time. — — That's just happened here. Matt Groening has taken his creation, the most yellow family in America (whereever THAT is), and made them movie stars. From the opening salvo, which starts, as many Simpsons episodes do, with Itchy and Scratchy and moves right into ridiculing the very audience who came to see them, Homer and the gang keep up a relentless... Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:47:43 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Simpsons-Movie-review-a063 MikeMaroon