As part of the clever marketing for the upcoming “The Simpson’s Movie” this summer, Burger King has a website that will take photos of you and “Simpsonize” the picture into a Simpson’s cartoon. It’s not perfect but its close enough to have fun with. I did one for each of my family member’s and combined them into a family photo. What do you think?

• Thanks to the Idea Sandbox for pointing this site out to me
• The Simpson’s font was downloaded from simplythebest.net

Blogged with Flock

Tags: TheSimpson’s, Burger King, animated, movie, Salamun, family

Filed under: Cool Stuff, Family, Funny, Humor, Movies, Websites | 2 Comments

Last night I went to see the Transformers movie with my son and my dad. It was dynamite.

As a kid growing up in the 80’s who had a bunch of Transformer toys, I was really looking forward to the movie. I was concerned that the Transformers in the movie would be secondary characters and that the film wouldn’t be true to the original cartoon. After seeing it, I can say that they did it right.

I don’t want to give away much but this summer blockbuster was action-packed with great effects and quite funny. In fact, it was funnier than some of the comedies I’ve seen recently. I never thought I’d see an Autobot take a leak. The theater was filled with a bunch of 80’s geeks like me who cheered with the arrival of Optimus Prime. That’s unusual for a more conservative South Dakota crowd.

From a father’s perspective, I appreciated the clear battle between the good guys (Autobots) and the bad guys (Decepticons). That’s not often the case in movies today and this had it. And although it had couple of swear words, I can use this to teach life lessons to my son. Some of the topics I can teach my son with this movie are leadership; gentleness; commitment and loyalty; love; teamwork; sacrifice; mercy; the value of a life; and how God can use the least to show how great He is.

If you’re a dad and you take your child to see this movie- there’s plenty of meat to teach them valuable life lessons.

This movie was better than I thought it would be. If you’re looking to see a film that will keep you engaged from beginning to end, this is it. It doesn’t disappoint.

P.S. The soundtrack rocks. I love the theme song by Mute Math!

Filed under: Family, Hollywood Lessons, Movies | Post a comment

While waiting to watch “Fantastic Four- Rise of the Silver Surfer” this weekend I saw a preview for “Transformers.” As a child who grew up with 80’s cartoons, I’m very pumped about that movie. It looks like they did it right.

That got me thinking about other 80’s cartoons that I think would be awesome movies (if done right). Here’s are some that came to mind:

• He-Man: Masters of the Universe: No doubt about it. This is just begging to be a big summer blockbuster. The key is to do it right and base it on the 1980’s cartoon and not the Dolph Lundgren He-Man movie. With the advancement of CGI this could be off the charts. Who would play Adam/He-Man? I don’t know but he’s got to be just as muscular as the cartoon like the size of Hulk Hogan. Perhaps there’s a bodybuilder or professional wrestler out there who fits the mold. My wife would add that She-Ra should either be in it or have her own movie.
• GI-JOE: I’m surprised this hasn’t been done already with the rise in popularity of military-based movies. Good vs. Bad, explosions, war. What more could a dude ask for?
• Captain Caveman: I see this as more of a comedy but hey, if the Geico Cavemen can get their own sitcom on ABC, why can’t there be a movie about “Captain CAVEMANNNNN!” I vote Steve Carell for the role of the Caveman.
• Thundercats: I’ve heard rumors that this is already in the works. Cool…
• Rainbow Brite: This one’s for the girls- but why not? The show was on 20 years ago and I still see merchandise with Rainbow Brite on it.

Any others?

Filed under: Movies | Post a comment

I’m watching the moving ‘Cast Away’ starring Tom Hanks with my son and we got to talking about what it would be like to be stranded on a deserted island.

I think most guys have had that fantasy where they imagine what it would be like to be on an island or in the woods and use your survival instincts, knowledge, skills, and experience to sustain your life.

You could build your own shelter, catch your own food, pee outside, grow a beard, and grunt a lot. Ahhh…that’s the life. It’s not much different than how guys are in civilization.

My son and I chatted about five things we’d want to have with us and the rule was they had to fit in a backpack. His answers were a Bible, water bottle, healthy snacks, matches, and an action figure (for a friend). That’s my boy.

Filed under: Life, Movies | Post a comment

I’m very intrigued by the upcoming Rocky Balboa movie. I’m really hoping it’s more like the original Rocky than Rocky V. The story of Rocky is a classic underdog story and I think this next movie in the series will play to that since Sly Stallone’s like 60 years old. It’s pretty cool that Stallone is still in great shape and can play this character once again. I heard Sylvester Stallone say that Rocky Balboa is a parellel story to his own personal journey.

Here’s the another cool thing about this movie- there are tools and resources along with the film at http://www.rockyresources.com. It’s clear they’re attempting to tap into the Christian market and I don’t think that’s such a bad idea. According to the rockyresources.com:

This site is designed to provide useful tools to learn about Rocky Balboa, the final round in the award-winning Rocky franchise, and utilize the film as a teaching, preaching or outreach opportunity. If you are a church, school, or small group leader, there are some excellent resources here that will help you “get in the ring” with Rocky.

Here’s a trailer for the movie. Here’s hoping the film lives up to its potential.

Filed under: Movies | Post a comment

I’m still in shock. I watched “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” In this mockumentary, Sacha Baron Cohen plays Borat, a Kazakhstani reporter sent from his government to learn about the culture of the “U, S, and A.” I’m still wondering if I just saw what I thought I saw.

Don’t get me wrong; in a lot of ways, this is the funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time. It’s obvious that Sacha Baron Cohen is very talented and is trying to make a point using satire and shock. The movie is offensive to just about every group of people including Cohen’s own religion, Judaism. There are some great parts of the movie and Borat, the character, is endearing in a Forrest Gump like way. That said, there are a couple of things that I especially found…disturbing.

One part of the film will likely leave a scar that will haunt my dreams. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, then here’s the skinny. Borat and his obese producer have a fight in their hotel room as Borat gets out of the shower. Because Borat had just exited the shower, he was naked. Unfortunately, so was the obese producer (scar). They staged a fight in the hotel room that put the men in some…”compromising positions” (scar). The fight led into the hotel elevator, lobby, and a big meeting area where a conference was going on. It was a total train wreck. I know the plot of the movie needed these two guys to fight…but this seemed out of place and unnecessary. Just my opinion.

Some may say that was the most disturbing part of the movie. I disagree. The most unsettling scene was when Borat found himself at a good ol’ fashion Pentecostal revival service in Mississippi. And it wasn’t Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) that bothered me; it was the actual people in this service- in particular the preacher and his peeps.

In the film, Borat’s at his low point and is at this church service. The preacher was a classic, “hell, fire, and brimstone” type and spoke with an inauthentic shout you’d expect to see on late night religious television. Most of the people were speaking in tongues; including the preacher (no interpretations of tongues could be seen. Hmmm).

Borat ended up near the stage where he “received Jesus.” At this point, all of these men smothered him like vultures on a rotting carcus and all spoke in these different tongues as they laid hands on him. Borat then proceeds to “speak in tongues” and acts overwhelmed. I was waiting for them to pull out the snakes.

While Borat was a character, unfortunately, these guys were not. To be honest, their actions leaned on the side of spiritual abuse and it was just plain weird. It didn’t sit right with me. People like these folks are who most people envision when they think of Christianity. It drives me crazy and disappoints me. For the record, I’m a Christ Follower and people like these guys don’t represent. In fact, there are scores of other Christians who feel the same way I do. The burden falls on the church to change this perception.

Do I recommend this movie? If you’re easily offended, don’t see it. Although, everyone should be offended and that’s the point. I knew it would be outrageous and I love movies that challenge and make me think. This certainly did that but probably went too far-especially in the first scene I described. I’d have been much more impressed if the film could have made it’s point without resorting to extremes. That’s why it wasn’t as cool as I had hoped- but I sure did laugh and you can’t deny the buzz.

Filed under: Christianity, Movies | Post a comment

At the request of my son, here is a lesson from Pirates of the Caribbean. He’s big into pirates right now and I love teaching him that he can learn life lessons from movies.

Filed under: Hollywood Lessons, Movies | Post a comment

In order to fully appreciate this post, I suggest you watch the film ‘Nacho Libre’ starring Jack Black now available on DVD. Some of the content may contain spoilers, so don’t be mad at me if I blow it for you.

Nacho: They think I do not know a buttload of crap about the Gospel, but I do!

Have you ever been underestimated? Have you ever been told you don’t have what it takes? This happens to the best of us. This is what Nacho was confronted with in the movie. He was relegated to KP (kitchen patrol). It was assumed that among all of the other monks and nuns in the monastery, he knew the least about the Gospel.

So what should we do if we’re underestimated? Some people start to believe it. Others are challenged by it. What about you? Remember the story of David and Goliath? David didn’t have a chance…but he knew better. Although outsiders didn’t believe it, he knew he had the ability to take down the giant. Well…with the help of five smooth stones, but he still did it. David didn’t just get lucky, he had skills. He’d been in situations like this before with beasts coming after his sheep as a youngster and when the opportunity to fight Goliath came- he was ready, tested, and proven.

I take a lot of comfort in 1 Timothy 4:12- “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” Let’s remember that the next time we feel as Nacho did.

Filed under: Hollywood Lessons, Movies | Post a comment

In order to fully appreciate this post, I suggest you watch the film ‘Nacho Libre’ starring Jack Black now available on DVD. Some of the content may contain spoilers, so don’t be mad at me if I blow it for you.

Señor Ramon: Your only job is to cook. Do you not realize I have had diarrhea since Easter?
Nacho: Ok… Maybe I am not meant for these duties. Cooking duty. Dead guy duty. Maybe it’s time for me to get a better duty!

I love the last part of Nacho’s response, “Maybe it’s time for me to get a better duty!” Have you ever had a job you knew you weren’t good at? In the HR world (in which I work) we call that a miscast. If you’ve ever been in this situation you know what it feels like. It’s frustrating, unsatisfying, and usually doesn’t end well. If you notice Nacho’s response to the criticism of his work as a cook…it escalated. The truth which he knew all along came to the surface and he created tension between him and his co-worker, Señor Ramon.

Satisfaction comes from being perfectly cast doing the right job in the right place at the right time. If you’re in a situation where you’re not putting your talent to use like you should, perhaps it’s time for you to get a better duty. If nothing else, use your talent. I’m not saying quit your job or quit school, but find an outlet for your talent. Be engaged in what you do! At a minimum, set a goal to use your talent in exchange for a salary. That’s we call meaningful work. I know that’s a “duh” statement, but how come so many people don’t do it?

Jim Collins, author of the book ‘Good to Great’ says it best- “You’ve got to have the right people on the right bus in the right seats going the same direction.” That’s such a great leadership principle and one that’s often overlooked. It’s a also a reminder for us to make sure that we take some ownership over our work and make sure we’re on the right place doing the right thing. Nacho was frustrated because he wasn’t a great cook. He was meant to wrestle and serve orphans.

In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus told the story of master, who gave a bag of gold to his three servants before leaving on a journey. One of the servants buried the bag of gold in the ground thinking it was safe and that his master would be happy that he didn’t lose it. The other two servants multiplied their gold. When the master returned, he was greatly disappointed in the servant who took the safe route. He didn’t do anything! He buried it. Are you doing that with your talent? Are you burying it doing something you just aren’t good at? What would your life look like if you did what you were meant to do? I challenge you, don’t play it safe. You have knowledge, skills, and abilities that no one else can duplicate.

Do your thing! If you don’t, you just may end up giving someone else diarrhea like Nacho did. And no wants that, right?

Filed under: Hollywood Lessons, Movies | Post a comment