WeWatched.it

How to get The Rocker:

Take School of Rock, but replace the rock with an indie-punk emo soundtrack, swap out the elementary kids for high schoolers, show far too much of Rainn Wilson's naked ass, make the premise slightly more believable, and add a love interest and a tragically underutilized Will Arnett.  Stir, simmer, and enjoy.

The Rocker is worth a watch for a few genuinely entertaining bits.  Also, Jason Sudeikis went to my high school.  West High School football rules!  WOOOOOOOO!!!

Food, Inc. Trailer - sorry, embedding was disabled

Food, Inc. is a documentary from the folks behind Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma. It seeks to expose the "dark secrets" of the American food and agriculture industry, particularly the meat/slaughterhouse and processed food industries. The message of the film is decidedly anti-corporate: that large conglomerates control the vast majority of our food products and are more concerned with profits than your health and nutrition.

From a certain standpoint, this message is sort of obvious. I don't think anyone has looked at a bag of Cheetos, Hungry Man TV dinner, or can of Campbell's soup and thought that this was the ideal thing to give your body. What is interesting is how much effort and refinement has gone into making pre-packaged, processed foods cheaper and more convenient than their natural alternatives.

There are several areas explored during the film, including the pervasive presence of corn in our diet, the current methods of meat production that treat livestock like raw materials, the slipping standards of health inspection and safety within the USDA, and even the influence of St. Louis' own Monsanto on soybean farmers and genetically modified organism (GMO) seed legislation.

The documentary is extremely well-made, and makes some fairly persuasive arguments. It certainly makes me think twice about shoveling down that Big Mac or Whopper. There are a few segments that are obviously slanted in their presentation, and additional research might clarify the situation a bit. Overall, though, anyone interested in investigating organic foods, local agriculture, or healthier eating would do well to spend 90-minutes watching Food, Inc for a little extra motivation. If nothing else, it's certainly made us more satisfied with our decision to get involved with Fairshares this past year.

Oh, and the farmer in the trailer at the 1:55 mark? Someone needs to give him money and put him in charge of stuff. That's a smart man.

Note: Food, Inc. is also available for free streaming from Netflix Watch Instantly.

Yes, this is a movie from 1995.
Yes, this movie shows how old I am.
And yes, this movie is an under-appreciated CLASSIC.

If you're looking for a flick that doesn't make you think and just makes you laugh, this is it. If there are little "cliques" of people around you who don't get along with each other, then this flick is for you. If you've ever driving by a college, then this flick is for you.

I happen to be a bit of a Jeremy Piven fan, so that's probably one reason I enjoy this movie. Drug use in movies isn't usually my thing, but they did it pretty well here. And I guess I have to like any movie where the nerd gets the girl in the end.

Enjoy!

PS Megan Ward is a cutie in this flick!

This movie received a fair amount of Oscar attention last year, so we decided to give it a shot once it made it to pay-cable. We snagged it with the DVR and settled down the other night to watch.

This was a movie with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, but no big sinking boat, no special effects, no James Cameron, and no enjoyment. Kathy Bates (who plays the unsinkable Mollie Brown in Titanic) does appear, though.

If you're looking for the feel good movie of the year (2010, 2009, 1941, 847 A.D., ANY year), this ain't it. I like to enjoy myself while watching movies but this movie was just depressing. A bunch of unhappy people having unhappy lives in the 1950's. It's like the writer watched a couple episodes of Mad Men, thought he could do better, then gave up before he started.

I'm sure there was a message or a moral or something in the movie. If you enjoy looking for that kind of thing, then I'm sure you will like this movie.

I, however, did not.