John F. Kennedy, from his inaugural address in 1961: 

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

I'm picturing Braveheart. #entertainment

Box Office Mojo has lots of lists concerning the economics of movies, including worldwide highest-grossing and domestic highest-grossing, adjusted for ticket price inflation.  It's sad to look at things like this because it says that we humans think movies like Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 are some of the best movies ever.  But at the same time, I don't think movie earnings are directly related to movie quality.  I think it has a lot to do with weather, boredom, buzz, what else is going on in the world at the time, and what other movies are playing at the time.  For example, summer movies tend to make more money because kids are out of school and families are on vacation.  The Dark Knight was particularly popular because Heath Ledger died a few months before its release.  So it depends on the circumstances.  But it's still unfortunate that so many Johnny Depp movies are in the top ten. #entertainment

It's interesting how strongly music affects mood, specifically in regards to working out.  Certain songs can make me push my body past its comfort level, though I'll usually feel the effects later or the next day.  But what's most interesting is that once a song becomes a workout song, it can't be undone.  That song is forever a workout song.  Even if I hear it in a non-workout setting, it'll increase my heart rate and make me start sweating a little.  And since I dabble in kickboxing, pretty much all my workouts involve hitting things.  So watch out. #entertainment

I saw There Will Be Blood last night, and I knew I wouldn't like it but I had to prove it to myself.  It's proven.  I didn't like it.  It was a sad story about a greedy, alcoholic oilman.  That's about it.  It seemed to be pretty historically accurate, but I could've gotten the same amount of information from Wikipedia. 

People who like the film say it was full of great acting.  Is that what makes a good movie?  That's like saying a book uses a nice font.  In my opinion, good acting should be expected from a good movie, but it's not what actually makes the movie good.  To say a movie was made good because of its acting is sort of circular logic. 

The other thing critics liked about the movie was that it was original.  That's like saying a book uses unusual words.  That doesn't necessarily make it good.  The opposite is also true:  A tired, unoriginal movie is typically bad (e.g. why make Walk the Line when the exact same movie [Ray] came out one year prior?).  Originality is a positive thing, but it can't be what makes a movie good. 

To me, movies are about entertainment, not art, and entertainment can come in various forms.  Explosions are entertaining.  Unusual information is entertaining.  Plot twists that make your brain hurt are entertaining.  It's not necessarily important what is entertaining, but more the fact that something is entertaining.  Movies like There Will Be Blood just aren't entertaining.  Good acting can't take away the fact that there wasn't much of a plot.  Originality can't take away the fact that there really wasn't much of a purpose (i.e. in the end, I came away with nothing).  For that reason, There Will Be Blood wasn't a good movie, and my initial feeling was correct once again:  Movies that win awards generally aren't good. #entertainment

I don't like country music.  It's stupid, predictable, and too shotgun-centric.  I don't watch the country music channel, and I don't know who's who or what's what.  I'm completely uninterested. 

But when I leave the state, I suddenly change my tune.  For some reason, traveling turns me into a country music fan.  It could be because country stations are easy to find on the radio.  It could also be because a large percentage of the population of our country likes country music.  Either way, I'm always eager to find me some Toby Keith and Brooks & Dunn. #entertainment

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen received some pretty horrible reviews, and before I saw the movie, I couldn't understand why.  Were people expecting something other than CGI robot violence and minimal plot?  If so, that's their problem.  So on Saturday night I defiantly went and saw the movie, where I quickly learned why it received such bad reviews.  Sure, it had plenty of robot violence and a brilliant demonstration of American military firepower (which was awesome), but it had several glaring plot and character deficiencies, such as: 

1. Megan Fox.  Can we please get over this girl?  Sure, she's attractive, but ok, fellow Americans, can we please just get on with our lives?  She has a poorly worded prison tattoo for god sakes.  I've had enough of her oversexualization and her stupid pouty lips.  Give me robots and explosions!
2. Skids and Mudflap.  These two robots are to Transformers what Jar Jar Binks was to Star Wars.
3. No wahnt wahnt wahnt wahnt wahnt.  The familiar robotic transformation sound was mysteriously missing.
4. Love story.  Did I mention that all I'm interested in is gigantic robots, guns, and loud noises involving metal?  Why must there be so much lovey-dovey nonsense in a movie about intergalactic robot aliens that magically take the form of common earthly automobiles?
5. Spielberg.  I didn't realize Steven Spielberg had anything to do with this movie until the closing credits.  Then I remembered all the cutesy little anthropomorphic robots who made all the kids and moms in the theater giggle and "aw".  Spielberg has a gift for this kind of thing, but I don't think it belongs in a movie about ... have I mentioned recently ... robot violence, guns, and explosions!

In conclusion, Transformers 2 was a decent movie, but I can certainly understand why the critics were so harsh.  Regardless, it was entertaining, which is really all I was hoping for from a movie about alien robot violence, destruction, bombs, explosions, guns, firepower, and creaking metal. #entertainment

#entertainment

For as long as I can remember, I've believed that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen when he died, in the hopes that some wonderful scientist of the future could microwave him back to life so he could build a few more theme parks and make a sequel to the Little Mermaid.  It turns out my entire life is based on a lie.  Snopes and Straight Dope agree that Disney was cremated and buried in Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks in Glendale, CA.  (via Twitter/mental_floss) #entertainment

I almost spit out my coffee when I read this headline:  KC man urinating while sleepwalking stabbed.  It just doesn't get much better than that.  What we have here is the tri-fecta, or perhaps the penta-fecta, of good news stories: 

1. A drunk man
2. Was sleepwalking
3. And urinating
4. In a closet
5. Then was stabbed

Today is a good day for news. #entertainment

TechCrunch posted a negative review of a new website made by Sears and AOL called Good News Now.  The whole idea is to report on a few of the positive things going on in the world, instead of just focusing on the negative sensational topics that get good ratings.  It's an admirable goal, and it's something I've mentioned in the past.  Unfortunately the site is plastered with Sears ads, but like any bit of advertising, it can be ignored. #entertainment