Batson's Blog

If you were seeking a friend for the end of the world, I hope you weren’t unfortunate enough to find Seeking a Friend for the End of the World . That may be too harsh. After all, the movie didn’t absolutely suck. It was alright, at best, though. I had high hopes because the cast was fairly impressive. Steve Carell and Kiera Knightley lead the cast – filled out by Melanie Lynskey (the girl from Two and a Half Men ), Adam Brody (the dude who was on the O.C. ), William Petersen (you know how he is, C.S.I. fans), Rob Corddry and Patton Oswalt. That’s what should have tipped me off. Anytime you get a bunch of comedians together, the movie can be a hit or miss. Sometimes the comedians are given too much leniency with the script and they ad-lib their way into the ‘trying too hard’ zone. The movie had a few funny moments, but it all felt very...already done. The scene with Patton Oswalt talking about “stuffing the cookie” with Steve Carell was comedic shock value that wasn...

As you start off the New Year, why not do it with some humor and entertainment sent straight to your Twitter feed? I’m not one of those who has Twitter updates sent to my phone, so unless I’m at work, at my desk (yep, I use Twitter for work purposes all the time), I’m not inundated with updates. I work in news media, so I get all the updates from the Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, and the local police. There’s some light-hearted tweets as well, but a lot of what I see is about vehicle accidents, fatalities and criminal investigations. When I am on Twitter, I like a little variety. A little bit of entertainment to be sprinkled in with the death and destruction. Here are 12 celebrities I follow that usually provide me with a laugh, if not a break from the hard news: 12. Barbara Eden ( @Barbara_Eden ) Jeannie is on Twitter. Doesn’t get much better. Watching Barbara Eden in her revealing pink outfit on “I Dream of Jeannie” re-runs was something I did a lot of. Now, you’...

Well now that we know the world isn’t going to end (whew!), we can focus on next year. As the new year approaches, it’s natural to wonder what the next 365 days has in store. You could choose to focus on which new year’s resolutions to make. Or maybe pat yourself on the back for successfully accomplishing items on this year’s list. There are other important things to think about though – like which 2013 movie is going to be the most awesome. I’m strictly talking super hero movies here. There’s quite an impressive list that’s scheduled for release in the next 12 months. Here are the standouts in my mind: 6. Thor: The Dark World (Nov. 8) Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as the God of Thunder next November. After Thor’s decent original outing at the boxoffice and 2012’s super-successful Avengers, I don’t think the Marvel executives have too much to worry about with this one. It’s pretty much a guarantee that it will do well. Tom Hiddleston is returning as “Loki” and P...

When I first saw The Dark Knight Rises , I had a lot of mixed emotions. Batman was my favorite super hero growing up, so the final movie of The Dark Knight trilogy was something I anticipated ever since I saw the ending of The Dark Knight . The shooting in Colorado stopped that excitement. It was still amazing to watch the conclusion of the Christopher Nolan-directed trilogy , but it wasn’t as enjoyable as I’d anticipated. After seeing the movie twice more on the big screen in the dollar theatre and several times now on DVD, the Colorado shooting isn’t the first thing I think of when I watch the movie. I don’t get a somber feeling anymore; instead there’s a feeling of finality – which is appropriate given that this movie marks the end of the journey that started 7 years ago with Batman Begins . I’ve seen it several times over, but The Dark Knight Rises is not the most epic movie of all time. There's actually a few problems I have with it. The plot seems unrealisti...

Old school doo-wop meets new age pop. It’s a style that Bruno Mars has all but perfected since his debut album years ago. I’m not sure there’s another artist out there today who could make the kind of music Mars does. It’s very…..unorthodox. It’s fitting that his latest album is titled Unorthodox Jukebox . Bruno belts it out in his now-trademark style on his sophomore album. The songs on Unorthodox Jukebox are like an eclectic mix of Elivs’ rock, Michael Jackson’s pop hits and Elton John’s ballads. There’s even a bit of reggae thrown in there. Young Girls: Bruno is at it again – spending more money on girls who just don’t appreciate him. “I’m addicted and I don’t know why/Guess I’ve always been this way All these roads steer me wrong/But I still drive them all night long.” Bruno obviously doesn’t do a ballad the way someone like Adele does, but he does it very well in his own style. It’s a great follow to “Grenade.” Locked Out Of Heaven: This one was definitely t...

Happiness for the heart. That’s what Kelly Clarkson’s collaboration with Vince Gill on "Don’t Rush" is. It’s kind of a jazzy-country little tune. It conjures up images of blue skies and sunshine while driving down a two-lane road, top down, mid-afternoon, without a care in the world. When I saw the track listing for Kelly Clarkson’s greatest hits album, I was skeptical at how a collaboration with Vince Gill would turn out. While other pop stars like Christina Aguilera and P!nk are doing collaborations with Cee Lo Green and Nate Russ , Clarkson continues to keep one foot (or at least a few toes) planted in the country genre. Much like her duet with Jason Aldean last year, this new collaboration was successful. Kelly Clarkson’s voice has become one of the most recognizable on the radio since she won American Idol a decade ago, but her versatility is truly underrated. She can sing any song from any era and make it damn good. Kelly’s performance alongside Vince a...

The Raven is a poor man’s Sherlock Holmes . Instead of being highly entertained, wishing there was a sequel, and considering buying a DVD copy of my own, I found myself grateful that I Redboxed this one. It wasn’t a ‘bad movie,’ but it was almost more disappointing than one because I was hoping for something good. If you break it down, all the elements were in place for what should have been an awesome movie. Set in Edgar Allen Poe's last days, The Raven is a murder mystery with interesting costuming and a few cool action sequences. In addition to that, Edgar Allen Poe is a historical character with a bit of a fan base already built in. John Cusack (who plays Edgar Allen Poe) was cast very well. In fact, I was really impressed with Cusack. I can't think of a better Poe. After seeing this film, I think he would have made a good Sherlock Holmes . He probably wouldn't have been as comedic as Robert Downey Jr. is as Sherlock, but I think Cusack would h...