Jazz 100 Club Part 2

Keller invited me to see the Jazz vs. Magic game this past week with his 100 Club connections! We ate a sweet buffet dinner at the top of Energy Solutions and then basked in the front row tickets for the game. And what an awesome game! I was telling Jon that I had never seen a really good Jazz game live. And lo and behold, we took it into overtime! I wish I had a picture of Keller and I on the court, but these photos below will suffice. I could smell the players... and it was good.

Hugo Cabret

As a school teacher, I've been a long time fan of Brian Selznick. He's done some great things in the past and his "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" was a genius book. I loved how his illustrations told most of the story. Kids love it because it's a gargantuan book that they can read in just a few days. I was a little worried when I saw that Martin Scorsese was directing the adaptation. The same man behind "The Departed?" Sunday afternoon we watched it as a family and I LOVED it! The performances were amazing (particularly Ben Kingsley), the score by Howard Shore was fantastic and overall it was just a beautiful love letter to the magic of cinema! If you haven't seen it, please do.

Mel, Mel, Mel...

Braveheart was on TV the other night and Lindsay and I watched little bits here and there. It's definitely one of the worst films ever made in terms of continuity. I can't believe how many mistakes there are in this movie. I love the film for the emotion, the score and the acting, but it's horribly made. Years ago, Mel was kind of a Hollywood figure to look up to. He made a variety of choices in his films, became a better actor as he went along, branched off into directing and had a strong, long-lasting marriage and family. Now he's divorced and an apparent drunk, violent, racist. Ah, Mel. What the heck happened?

Happy Birthday, Max!

I wish I had a more recent picture. We have been terrible at taking photos lately. This is Max at our Christmas Carol cast party in 2011.

Our wonderful Max just turned 7! One more year and he will be baptized. Lindsay was watching a home movie the other day of when he was born and she commented that she couldn't believe 7 years has gone by. He is such a great young man. He is bright, creative, peaceful, emotional, stubborn, loving, nostalgic (weird for a 7 year old), and has the cutest smile in the world.

Best Trilogy?

So I am sitting in Nephi, UT waiting for our blasted minivan to finish with its $750 repairs so that I can join my wife and kids down at the ranch. I can't remember the last time I've had so much fun.

So I was thinking-Kam and I just started watching the Bourne trilogy. Great, great films. What is the best trilogy ever made? There are some excellent ones out there. I will list a few down below and ask you to rank what your top three favorites are. Mine are ranked as follows (although I am not including all trilogies here):

I only saw these films once when I was just out of high school. I do remember that they were long, but affecting.

I love Mad Max. They sometimes seem to take themselves too seriously though.

I wanted to be McFly when I was a preteen.

What a great creation and vision. Yes, there was a fourth, but many consider the first three to be the core. I love Aliens and I'm one of the few who loved Alien 3.

These films are a part of Radebaugh history. My parents fed me Star Wars. But of course, I have to go with the original three.

Again, there was a fourth, (which I did enjoy) but most people write it off and only acknowledge the first three. I love all three just about equally, but have to tip the scale just a bit toward Raiders.

Perfection!

Drama, action, score, story, character, acting, intensity...love it.

Nothing. Nothing will ever replace these as the best three films ever put together.