It's been a while, just about a month since my last post. Nothing much new going on. The usual work, going out with Ashley and friends. I did get Madden 09 yesterday. Haven't played it yet though. What's really kept me away are the two shows from the title of this blog.

Let me first say American television has become boring and predictable. The endless spin-offs or copies of shows like CSI and Law @ Order, the death of comedies. Studios pulling plugs on shows without giving them a chance, there are many like Dark Angle, Firefly, Shark, and many other shows. Even though many like these shows take chances and are better written and acted than the majority of shows that are on the air now. The also keep good show on the air for to long for the same reasons like ER, CSI, and Law @ Order. Each show is well past the point of when it should have ended, and CSI is beginning to lose what made it special with the endless spin-offs, copies, and repeat of story lines. Even the main actors of the show have had enough and are leaving. If that's not a sign I don't know what is. There are only a hand full of shows I'll watch on a regular basis. Theres Scrubs, Life, Eli Stone, and Battlestar Galactica because they're unique shows. They're willing to take chances. I'm really surprised Scrubs, Life and Eli Stone haven't been canceled by now. I know NBC has screwed with Scrubs so many times it's as if they wanted it to fail. I'm sorry I got side tracked, I'll just say American television is really going down the drain.

Now back to Dr. Who. I never watched the old series though I have heard about it. So when the new series came out a few years back I really didn't pay much attention to it. Until about a year ago when on one of my days off while I was at home the Sci-Fi channel was playing on of their daily mini marathons from 8am to 4pm and it was Dr. Who. I decided to watch, and from that point on I couldn't stop. I've never seen a show like it before. From that point on when ever it was on I'd watch it. It has perhaps the best writing and action on television. The show mixes all the elements Sci-Fi, comedy, drama, romance, and action/adventure better than any other show I've seen. Well recently I bought Seasons 1-3 and that's what has kept me away. I've been watching almost non stop for the past month. I've given this show 10, it's one of the best shows on televsion and one of the best shows I've seen. I've also gotten into Torchwood, yes I know it's a spin-off of Dr. Who, but unlike most crappy or predictable spin-offs Torchwood takes on a life of it's own with unique characters and stories. Through two seasons I've given the show a 9. The BBC really knows what it's doing with their shows. I've even started watching Robin Hood which is starting out good and the show MI5 looks good and I'll check out. If you are tired of the same old shows and stories take a Chance with these shows, I really don't think you'll be disappointed.

I'll be back in a week or two with my anual NFL predictions.

My birthday is on Sunday July 27th and I'll be turning 29. Sometimes I really don't know where the time went, sometimes it feels like only yesterday that I came to Portland. Anyway my birthdays aren't really that important to me anymore, their just another day. Sure I'll be happy to get some gifts from Ashley, my mom, dad, brother a tiny few other family members, but I just don't get excited about it anymore. It's the same for most of the people I know. All the big ones are when you first turn a teenager, when you can drive, smoke, and drink. They all come before or at the age of 21. Though the DUMB-ASS that I was tried and started the last two before it was legal. Once you turn 21 they really won't be that important to you anymore. So you young people enjoy them while they last and try not to do anything to dumb like I did.

Now onto The X-FILES: I Want To Believe. Well I wanted to believe this was going to be a good to great movie, I was wrong. I gave it 3/5 stars, and I think I was being kind. It's not that it was a bad movie I was just bored watching it. The movie was trying to be a suspence thriller, but it did not work at all. The plot wasn't very good and the music just plan sucked. The only thing that saved this movie from getting a worse score was David Duchovny(Fox Mulder) and Gillian Anderson(Dana Scully). They played their characters great, it's to bad they were surrounded by a bad plot and just left me bored.

I really like the X-Files, I grew up watching the show and have seen every episode. I even enjoyed the last few seasons of the show, and people don't give Robert Patrick credit for the great job he did. The show had to of the greatest characters in television history. So it's a little sad that they came back for this mediocre to bad movie. I think they all waited to long to long to make another movie. The first one was back in 1998, and the series came to a end in 2002. They really should have done another film four, five years ago or more. I think many people won't be as nice as I was. I have to defend it though, it's not a bad film, the actings good the two main actors did a great job it's that the movie just didn't have the right story for the X-Files and will leave a lot of people just plan bored.

The X-Files will most lilkley be the last film I see for awhile until Babylon A.D. comes out in late August. The Mummy just looks terrible, even though I'm a huge Star Warsfan I'm going to skip the animated movie, I'll just wait for it to come out on DVD and rent it. Bangkok Dangerous looks bad and it stars Nicolas Cage. When was the last time he did a good or great film. I think the last one I saw was back in 1997 in Face/Off. Finally Death Race I'll just wait for it to come out on DVD and rent it.

Now onto some great and terrible films. After watching The Dark Knight and I started thinking about all the great and terrible films I've seen. I decided to updated my lists from the last time I did a year ago and here they are.

Top 20 Movies

1. The Seven Samurai

2. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

3. 2001: The Space Odyssey

4. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

5. Unforgiven

6. Alien

7. The Dark Knight

8. The Bridge Over the River Kwai

9. Tora! Tora! Tora!

10. 2010: The Year We Make Contact

11. The Usual Suspects

12. The Thin Red Line

13. Se7en

14. Platoon

15. The French Connection

16. The Great Escape

17. Mystic River

18. Jaws

19. Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith

20. Dawn of the Dead (1979)

Top 10 Worst Movies

1. Battlefield Earth

2. The Island of Dr. Moreau

3. Hudson Hawk

4. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

5. Van Hellsing

6. Alien Vs Predator

7. Supernova

8. 8MM

9. Stealth

10. The Sentinel

I normally don't post reviews on my blog, but I'm going to do it for this film.

If you're planning on going to see one film this summer, this is it. Sure Iron Man, Wanted, Hancock, and Hellboy II were very good movies, and I'm sure the new X-Files movie is going to be good, but The Dark Knight blows them all away. Simply put it, the best superhero movie to date, blowing away Batman Begins and Spiderman 2. In fact it transcends comic moives, and has become for me one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's on the level of such great movies as The Good, the bad, and the Ugly, 2001: The Space Odyseey, and The Empire Strikes Back. Very few movies live up to the hype this movie has gotten, but it does.

I won't give to much away about the story and what happens. Now this is a dark movie and isn't trying to be funny though there is some. This isn't a light movie like most of the Marvel movies. It's not meant to be, after all this is what the comic is really like. If I had to compare Batman to anyone in Marvel it would be the Punisher. So this is a dark film and I'm surprised it didn't get a R rating. The movie takes place roughly a year after the first film. Things have changed in Gotham now that Batman has arrived. Crime is down, the police led by Gordon have a backbone, and the DA Harvey Dent. Now the mob bosses are desperate and decided they need to take out the Batman and hire the Joker to do it, which they come to regret.

The film doesn't really have a single star, instead it focuses on the story and characters. The acting is simply great, and each character gets the time to shine. From Christian Bale(Batman/Bruce Wayne) who is trying to find a way out of his live and looks to Harvey Dent for it. His loyal friends in Moran Freeman(Lucius Fox) and Michael Caine(Alfred)who are his confidants. The always great actor Gary Oldman(James Gordon) the one cop Batman trusts, and have become friends. All the lead actors did a great job, there were even other pretty well known actors in the minor ones from Eric Roberts who is great in this, Anthony Michael Hall from the Dead Zone, and Nestor Carbonell. Now if there was a star to this film it would have to be Heath Ledger(Joker). I must admit it's a little sad to say but he put on a performance of a life time. This is how the Joker was in the comic books, dark humorless that almost makes it funny. No disrespect to the Jack Nicholson but Ledger blows his joker away. I know there has been talk of giving a Ledger a honorary Oscar. Forget that he deserves a Oscar for his performance.

This is a action/drama, mostly drama. The action scenes are well place and leave you stunned and breathless. The music by Hans Zimmer is amazing. The Directing by Christopher Nolan is simply wonderful. This film is the best film of the year and I really don't see anything right now replacing it. I'd give best picture, director, supporting actor, and musical score. This is the movie trully everyone needs to see.

The only bad thing about this film is that it had to end. I wanted it to keep going.

On a side not. For the fans of Watchmen out there. I saw a preview for the 2009 film and it looks awesome. I don't know anything about the comics, but from the trailer I'm definitely going to see it. There was also a short trailer for next summers Terminator movie staring Christian Bale.