Passionate about movies, sports and writing, Ryan hails from Bend but lives in Springfield now. He earned his college degree in journalism from the University of Oregon and hopes to one day write a novel. He also enjoys sunsets and long walks on the beach.
Don't you hate it when you get a song stuck in your head? It's never a song you like either. Whether it's a pop song with repetitive lyrics or some annoying jingle from a commercial, your brain can't figure out how to get rid of it. Eventually it goes away without you even noticing.
But have you had a song drive you so insane that you were permanently scarred by it? For me that song is It's a Small World After All. For a family trip one year we went to Disney Land. We were having a good time riding Space Mountain and visiting Epcot Center, but then we got to that damn kiddy ride where you sit in a little boat and take a mercilessly slow ride through hundreds of dolls singing "It's a small world" lyrics in 5 languages.
This is what we've come to?
Anyway, that song is my weakness. If someone wanted to torture me, don't beat me or waterboard me, just play that song on a speaker over and over again. After about a half hour I'll tell you anything you want to know.
I bring this up because according to a new documentary, the Government allegedly "tortured" detainees at Guantanamo Bay by forcing them to listen to songs from Sesame Street for days.
The Al Jazeera film, Songs of War, features Christopher Cerf, who worked as a composer on Sesame Street for more than four decades. In the documentary, Cerf reacts with shock at the notion that these kid-friendly songs he wrote were used on prisoners.
But as I said before, get the right song going and eventually people will break. According to the Associated Press back in 2008, Heavy metal or rap artists such as Metallica and Eminem composed most of the songs reportedly used in the interrogations. But there were other selections including Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. and I love You, from the Barney and Friends children's show.
Same guy stars in two biggest box office bombs of the year
It seems like every year Hollywood attempts to anoint a new leading man. Last year it was Ryan Reynolds. That didn't go so well as his superhero movie Green Lantern crashed and burned and his raunchy body-switching comedy The Change-Up was an even bigger flop. He had a little bit of a bounce back this year with Safe House but that was largely because of Denzel Washington.
Well this year we have another victim of the ever-revolving door of fresh-face wannabe movie stars and his name is Taylor Kitsch. Known mostly for his great work on the television series Friday Night Lights, Kitsch had only been in six movies prior to this year.
Sorry Taylor. You had your shot.
But at the end of last year, moviegoers began seeing his face in trailers in not one, but two big blockbusters slated for release this year. Back in March, Kitsch starred in John Carter, Disney's $250 million epic Sci-Fi saga about a man jettisoned from Earth to Mars. After opening in early March, the film failed to reach even $80 million at the box office domestically and reportedly will cost Disney $200 million.
Fast forward to May and Kitsch was starring in Universal's Battleship, a big screen adaptation of the board game. That film cost $200 million to make and will fail to reach $70 million domestically. So is this all Kitsch's fault or just really bad luck?
I lean on the side of bad luck as well as audiences unwillingness to embrace a new star. Having watched him on Friday Night Lights and in Battleship, Kitsch possess some legitimate dramatic acting chops. But he isn't very charismatic. Movie stars from the past 25 years like Tom Cruise, Will Smith and Matt Damon have that movie star quality of being able to play it serious as well as provide laughs.
Judging by the las few summers, audiences aren't ready for a new movie star. The Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Kitsch experiments failed. The next batch to look forward to will be Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender. Both actors are far more talented than Reynolds and Kitsch and have both starred in blockbusters already; Fassbender in X-Men: First Class, Hardy in the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises. But those were both established franchises with built-in audiences. Fassbender has been rumored to be the new Robocop while Hardy will star in a new Mad Max film next year.
Who knows how they will fair. Until then it looks like audiences are content with seeing the same faces we've seen for two decades. Hey if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Netflix Pick: Breaking Bad
In anticipation of season four coming out on DVD this week and the final season beginning on July 15, my Netflix pick this week is the best show on television, Breaking Bad.
The series follows Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who is informed in the pilot episode that he has terminal cancer. With a pregnant wife and teenage son with Cerebral Palsy at home, Walter becomes determined to ensure they are provided for once he's gone.
While observing a drug bust at a meth lab with his DEA brother-in-law, Walter inadvertently witnesses an old student of his, Jesse Pinkman, escaping. But instead of turning him in, Walter decides to work with Jesse to make enough money to provide for his family.
The best show on television.
Using his expertise as a chemist and Jesse's criminal background, the unlikely duo begin manufacturing and selling crystal meth. Eventually they become the talk of the town as Walter's product is the most potent, effective and addictive they've ever seen. But soon the two get in way over their heads and eventually realize the price for leading such dangerous lives.
For a show with such heavy subject matter, Breaking Bad works not only as a drama, but also an effective thriller as well as an unconventional comedy. The chemistry (pardon the pun) between Bryan Cranston's Walter and Aaron Paul's Jesse are what make the show work so well. They represent an interesting dynamic: Walter the family man battling failures in his career as well as lung cancer and Jesse dealing with parents who are no longer a part of his life because of his drug use and his insecurities with being accepted.
Despite the age gap and starkly different life styles, the pair seem to be happiest when they're cooking meth. It's the only time when they can concentrate on working and forget all the outside problems. They constantly fight, but in the end they need one another.
As I said before, the show can be very funny even in situations that shouldn't call for it including Walter attempting to steal lab equipment at work or when the two of them are standing in kiddy pools spraying human remains off of one another. It sounds insane and morbid, but that perfectly encapsulates the show. It's that unusual juxtaposition of violence and drugs with happiness and the absurdity of discovering what you're good at. What the two of them are doing is wrong, but you're still rooting for them and becoming completely engrossed in a world you wouldn't normally see.
The acting, writing, editing, pace and setting are all pitch-perfect. If you decide to give this show a chance, I apologize in advance for getting you hooked. Trust me, you will if you start watching it.
