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The New APP.com… I’ll Take the Old

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The Asbury Park Press has the second highest circulation in the state. Pretty impressive (the Star-Ledger far outpaces the Press). Last week, the Press flipped over to a new, higher-tech website over at APP.com.

I’ll be honest – I think the new website is garbage. I used to be able to find all of the Monmouth County news in one spot and now it’s broken down by township. Listen, as a webmaster and Owner of a website design company I understand the desire for increased hits. Higher hits lead to greater click-through rates on advertisements and thus more income. Simple enough to understand.

But good grief…to have to click on each hometown to get Monmouth County news in total – it’s just too tedious for me. Like most of the online news consuming public, I only have a short period of time in the morning where I check for top stories in my area. By no means do I have the time to check each and every hometown so I can get my total Monmouth fill.

Here’s hoping that Gannett doesn’t destroy the Daily Record website next.

DVD Review: Smallville, Season 6

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By now it should be obvious that I’m a Smallville freak (not to be confused with a meteor freak). My story is simple: I bought Season 1 on DVD one day because it was selling for $20 and I had only ever heard good things about the show. I plowed through Season 1 in a few days and immediately ran out to get Season 2 (even though I was extremely sick and wasn’t moving out of bed at the time)! I managed to get through the first 4 seasons while Season 5 was still on the television. So I didn’t watch and waited for Season 5 to come out on DVD, watched it in 2 days, and then began watching Season 6 last September.

Of course, my schedule screwed me and I started missing shows so I stopped watching completely…which means that I had to wait an entire year for the f’ing DVDs to come out! I bought the DVDs earlier this week, watched them all, and still managed to miss the first episode of Season 7. Thank God I have DVR these days!

Season 6 was great. The show has grown-up so much over the last 5 years that it’s really become a great show with many adult themes. Sex, desire, marriage, lust – all of these play a major part in many of the episodes. This is the season that sees Lana Lang marry Lex Luthor and ultimately “explode” in the final episode. We follow Clark track escaped convicts from the Phantom Zone (which is where Zod exiled Clark at the end of Season 5). In fact, Season 6 ends with Clark fighting against the last – and strongest – escapee from the Phantom Zone.

One thing that really pissed me off about this season was the fact that Lana seemed to wind up in the hospital in the majority of the episodes. At one point, I think she was in there for a few episodes in a row! How long can you play out that storyline before it gets old? We get it, she’s physically weak, emotionally tempered, and sexually strong. We know! Move to the next friggin’ level of her character development!

The introduction of Jimmy Olsen was good for the show – or at least I think so. His interaction with Chloe really brings a different side of her character out for the fans to enjoy. It also clearly puts Clark in his own little world where he’s essentially alone. I mean even his Mother has Lionel Luther to lean on! Oh, and speaking of Annette O’Toole and John Glover, they (once again) steal the season with their acting. As do Chloe and Lois Lane (Erica Durance). Tom Welling is also great as Clark Kent as is Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor.

But honestly, at this point in the show’s history it is unnecessary to go over the excellence of the cast. They’re good – and if you don’t believe me then watch on Thursday nights at 8pm on The CW.

Season 6 was a great season and I’m looking forward to another excellent season!

Movie Review: Superbad

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Absolutely friggin’ hilarious! I don’t know what it is about Seth Rogen’s movies, but they are unbelievably funny – better than any other brand of comedy out there today. If you’ve seen the movie, the entire “McLovin” character is worth the price of admission and you know what I’m talking about! Here is a kid, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who has never been in a movie, commercial, or even a short film before. He’s not a celebrity and he’s not a multi-million dollar actor. He’s just a nerdy looking young kid who played a character that leaves a lasting impression that is easily on par with Napoleon Dynamite. Mintz-Plasse was awesome!

And it wasn’t just McLovin that lit up the screen. Young actors Jonah Hill and Michael Cera are equally as great at their respective parts as soon-to-be high school graduates who are struggling with the fact that they are virgins. Now, don’t think that this is one of those wimpy teen movies where you’ve got some stupid drama storyline about the guy getting the girl and then a lame teen love song pops up in the background. Superbad is FAR from that type of boring, repetitive type of teen drama. FAR from it.

I have to give it to Michael Cera. His character on the too-soon canceled FOX series, Arrested Development, was classic. His constant self-guessing and self-unassurance (that might not be a real world) made his character (George Michael Bluth) one that you wanted to watch over and over and over again. And if you don’t believe me, go grab the first season of Arrested Development on DVD and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. Cera brings that hilarious, not-quite-sure of himself character to full force in Superbad.

On the other hand, the already widely known Jonah Hill reprises a type of character that he’s good at already; namely the loudmouth jerk friend. Hill and Seth Rogen (who plays a police officer along with Bill Hader) bring that same feel that you get in Knocked Up and the 40-Year Old Virgin to this movie.

A few months ago I said that Knocked Up would be one of the rare movies that I buy on DVD. Well, this summer has now seen two rare hits with Superbad right up there on the funny scale. I recommend this movie and – now that it has been out in the theaters for a while – you might be able to catch it playing without a large crowd or without a bunch of annoying people ruining the movie. I caution this, though: pay attention to the movie because you’ll miss tons of hilarious comments if you’re not focused on what’s happening!

Enjoy!

Movie Review: The Simpsons Movie

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According to BestSyndication.com, The Simpsons Movie took in $25 million last week. That’s down from the over $70 million it made the previous week. The Simpsons Movie is a summer blockbuster, folks.

And it’s easy to see why.

I enjoyed this movie, though I will admit that it seemed like a longer version of a regular episode. The characters and settings are drawn extraordinarily well and the movie has the look and feel of a “big time” cartoon production.

Just like South Park’s movie, I imagine that this will be a big DVD seller and that some goodies will be on the DVD. The plot to the movie is fun and simple – the lovable Homer goofs up again, breaks his daughter’s heart, and is forced to find a way to make it all better at the end of the movie.

If the movie is still in a theater near you, I suggest going to watch a matinee (or whatever the low-cost time period is for your local theater). As for the DVD – I think it’ll be a great rental for most and a great purchase of hardcore fans of The Simpsons.

Book Review: The Quick & Easy Way to Effective Speaking

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This is the second Dale Carnegie book that I’ve read and – just as with the first – what I like about the book is that it actually sticks to the title. Unlike many of today’s “self-help” and “self-improvement” books that simply tell you a philosophy or explain a way of life that is unattainable for 95% of the American public, the Carnegie series actually delivers on their titles.

Carnegie gives many lists and examples of effective public speaking. Now granted, I think I’m a pretty good public speaker as it is, but this book sort of takes everything that I use when I prepare my speeches and puts it down on paper. I suspect that this is the case with many of the speakers who have read this book or taken the associated courses. And that’s the beauty of the series, folks.

This is a series that takes the ideas and thoughts of those people who are already good at a specific skill and puts them into print for everyone to read! Carnegie does this even better by making sure that the ideas and thoughts are shared across a broad spectrum of users and not just one or two success stories. Again, this is where the contrast with today’s self-help/improvement books comes in. Just because one person living one specific type of lifestyle is able to, for example, lose weight/get a job/get rich quick that doesn’t mean that anyone who purchases the associated “How to” book will achieve the same results.

In fact, given the rash of such books in today’s marketplace it’s almost a given that the end-user will fail. Not so with the Carnegie series. By vetting his practices across a broad spectrum of users, Dale Carnegie actually works towards his readers’ final success.

Again, another great book in this classic series. I highly recommend it.