Hail, Caesar!

Movie:
Rebecca (my older daughter) and I went to see “Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes” yesterday afternoon.  Bec thought it was “entertaining” and I really enjoyed it.  Bec has seen the 2001 re-boot version starring Mark Wahlberg, but she’s never seen the original starring Charlton Heston.
Prior to the movie, we reviewed my personal criteria for deciding if a movie is any good.  Sci-Fi = plus;  Action = plus;  Comic book hero = plus;  Saturday cartoon star = wash;  Actors I like = plus;  Good acting (somewhat to very believable in role) = big plus;  Special effects (either new or old but used well) = plus;  No slap you in the face stupid plot holes = plus;  The story hangs together internally = not too choppy from all of the previous points = plus; “X” factor (likability)= plus.
So here’s the movie:  baby ape gets brains, baby ape joins family;  ape gets taste of freedom;  ape defends family;  ape goes to jail for defending family;  ape wants to be back home;  ape gets bullied;  ape wups on bully and becomes head ape;  apes escape;  apes fight humans for freedom (and win, audience cheers);  humans all die from playing around with science – the old “some things are not meant to be controlled by man” theme.
Did I just spoil the movie for you?  Not really, ’cause I didn’t tell you anything you couldn’t have gotten from the title.  Well, anyway, it’s a darn good movie and I highly recommend it!  In case you’re wondering about my personal criteria: there is no comic book hero or Saturday cartoon star, but other than that, the movie met or exceeded all of my criteria.
Poem:
Today’s poem (“song lyrics”) is “Southern State Of Mind” as performed by Darius Rucker.  This isn’t a tune I’ve heard a million times (yet), but it is one which I loved the first time I heard it and which I’m starting to wear out.  It’s just a great song about being relaxed and polite and just okay.  I’ve started waving to people from my car and I know they think I’m crazy!  (But most smile and wave back!)
Other bits and bobs:
Today I was looking back through one of my comments and found a link to a guy who is running a year long maze / blogging marathon.  Each day he posts a different maze for you to look at.  The site is called “mazeaday“.  He started it in June.  Go check it out.  He includes a quote with each maze and some are good, so I’ll be “borrowing” them in the next few days.
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