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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