Movie Reviews; Randoms

J-Smooth’s deepest apologies to the J-Fans for his disappearing act of late ... so a bit of a long entry to make up for lost time ...

A couple movie reviews ... But a quick aside, to appease and provide clarification to one of my fans, an explanation for the J-Smooth rating system ... LOL ...

>or= 4 - has to be a movie that I would want to see again; I was fully engaged the first time; worth the money spent on the movie theatre experience; I would want to purchase the DVD; The movie exemplifies its genre (ie. if it’s a comedy, then I should be laughing; if it’s suspense, it shouldn’t be predictable; if it’s action, it shouldn’t be slow-paced); Movie was believable and acting is on point ...

4 > and >or= 3 – missing one of the above, but better than average; Everything about the movie is solid but not mind-blowing; I wouldn’t recommend against the movie theatre experience ...

3 > and >or= 2 – average, mediocre on most of the above; only worth a “rental” ...

2 > and >or= 1 – not a good movie at all; save it for when it airs on TV and when you have nothing better to do ...

1 > - trash! Don’t bother ...

OK onto the movies ...

Notorious – starring Jamal Woolard, Derek Luke, Angela Bassett and Anthony Mackie ... The Biggie biopic ... I must say that I enjoyed this movie ... I’m just glad that producers didn’t try to portray Biggie as a saint and they kept it as real as possible ... there is definitely that “one side of the story” impression, as Death Row or anyone from the West Coast would portray 2Pac in a different light, but the movie did explain this via Biggie’s narration “If you ask ten different people about Pac, you’ll get ten different answers” ... Like I told Prophet after the movie, I would’ve liked to see them show some of the other artists Biggie came up with, ie. Meth, Jay-Z and of course Esco, but I thought about it and with artists like: Faith, Puffy, Lil Kim and 2Pac already being spotlighted, there would’ve been no time to do it ... I probably wouldn’t watch this over-and-over, but I may purchase the DVD, because the movie was solid, nothing spectacular, but solid nonetheless ... score: 3.75/5 ...

Kickin It Old Skool – starring Jamie Kennedy, Maria Menounos, Miguel A. Nunez Jr. and Michael Rosenbaum ... it’s about a kid who was in a break dancing crew at age 10 and during one of their performances, he does a back-flip and lands on his head, subsequently putting him in a coma for 20 years ... when he wakes up at age 30, he still has the 10-year-old mind, but everything is different, his friends have obviously grown, his girlfriend is with his rival and his parents are in danger of losing their house because of the medical expenses ... so the kid (Justin) decides to bring his crew back together to win a dance contest, in order to help his parents and win back his girl ... Let me first say, I had no expectations at all for this movie, just something I decided to watch before our TMN subscription expired ... some parts literally had me busting a gut laughing ... by conventional standards, and from a technical and quality standpoint, most people would find this movie horrible ... but surprisingly enough, I enjoyed it for some reason ... the only thing that really bothered me was Maria Menounos ... eye candy, yes that was my first thought, but she couldn’t act if her life depended on it ... last thing, it’s the same type of humor as Jamie Kennedy’s other movie Malibu’s Most Wanted, which I enjoyed on the same level ... despite liking it as much as I did, I won’t undermine my rating system ... score: 2.75/5 ...

This has been a long entry already, but what’s up with J? ...

-I’m still debating on whether I should hold onto the Rock Band 2 set, which I picked up the other day for my Wii ... I like playing it when I go over to my cousins’ place, and it’s fun playing with people, but that’s just it, you need people ... On one hand, I’m leaning to keeping it, because I’ve pretty much finished Mario Kart Wii, and I need a new challenge, and like I said before, I like playing Rock Band ... But on the other hand, I’m leaning on returning it, for the reason I mentioned before, and it’ll probably go down in price in a few months so I could save a few bucks ... anyone have any suggestions on which way to lean? ...

-I had a dream last night, which I swear to God felt so real, this is the first time in years that a dream was that real ... to the point that I was p*ssed when I woke up ... Like the majority, I think that dreams mean nothing in the real world, they’re only a cocktail of your deepest thoughts, memories, past experiences and feelings ... most dreams are easily forgettable, and I don’t remember 99% of them ... but this one left such a lasting impression, that I remember it so clearly ... I know you’re all thinking, “O.K. J, enough with the build up, what was the dream?” ... well, it was myself at a point in my life where I’d already achieved some of my goals for the immediate future ... but the one highlight was the completion of a “project” which I’ve alluded to a few times on past entries ... damn, felt so real, Morpheus was right, “if you were unable to wake from that dream, how would you tell the difference from the dream world and the real world?” ... I’ll end this by saying, call me Cypher, because “Why the hell didn’t I take the blue pill?” and “I choose The Matrix”, LOL ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

A Smooth Survey

I got a survey from an old friend the other day and it was harder to complete than I first thought ...

USING ONLY ONE WORD! It's not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to tag the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Your significant other? project
3. Your hair? shaved
4. Your mother? perseverance
5. Your father? respect
6. Your favorite thing? panda
7. Your dream last night? forgotten
8. Your favorite drink? Heineken
9. Your dream/goal? control
10. What room you are in? bedroom
11. Your hobby? billiards
12. Your fear? God
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? America
14. Where were you last night? Family’s
15. Coffee? sure
16. Muffins? depends
17. Wish list item? PS3
18. Where you grew up? Brampton
19. Last thing you did? ate
20. What are you wearing? shorts
21. Your TV? flat
22. Your pets? none
23. Friends? diverse
24. Your life? funny
25. Your mood? chameleon
26. Missing someone? no
27. Car? Pilot
28. Something you're not wearing? plaid
29. Your favorite store? Ecko
30. Your favorite color? blue
31. Your favorite number? 11
32. Your favorite season? Fall
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? forgot
35. Who will resend this? whoever
36. One place that I go to over and over? basement
37. One person who emails me regularly? nobody
38. My favorite place to eat? America
39. Why you participated in this survey? blogger
40. What are you doing tonight? sleeping

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

A Sub-par Showcase

I guess it’s time to check in on the 2009 NBA All-Star Game festivities in Phoenix, Arizona ...

-big news coming into the weekend was the trade that sent Shawn Marion to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon ... Way to go, Colangelo! ... trade the only guy that showed any kind of heart this season, for a someone that’s been underachieving 100-fold ... I’m not a JO advocate by any means, I thought it was stupid trading for him in the first place, but does it make sense to trade the only guy on the team that has a defensive bone in his body? ... what do I think of the deal from T.O.’s perspective? ... can you say, “rental player” and “salary cap clearing” ... I’ll be willing to put money down that says the Craptors sign Hedo Turkoglu to max money, max years this summer ...

-Dwyane Wade’s fashion sense was kinda suspect this weekend ... he’s jokes ... what was with the Urkel look? ... LOL ...

-you know you’re the man when you get the world buzzing about a change in hairstyle ... Allen Iverson’s finally growing up, can’t be a “G” forever ... he said something to the effect of, Obama’s president now, it’s time for change ... the change in hairstyle will take a little getting used to for me ...

-I actually caught the Saturday events the next day ...

-Shooting Stars and the Skills Challenge are boring, ditto for H-O-R-S-E ... my opinion, they should scratch those and do a 3-on-3, 2-on-2, or 1-on-1 tournament ... four teams, in tournament style ... what possibilities ... Kobe vs. LeBron, LeBron vs. D-Wade, CP3 & Superman vs. Kobe and D-Wade ...

-and your 2009 NBA 3-Point Shootout champion ... Daequan Cook! ... who?! ...

-another dunk competition, more cheese ... “Kryptonite”?!?! ... c’mmon now, how cheesy can you get? ... to Nate Robinson’s credit, it’s pretty hard to do what he did ... but Superman is still Superman ... that side-backboard dunk was just crazy ... big news coming out of this, is LeBron James putting his name into the hat for next year’s competition ... my question is, what’s been stopping him to this point ... if I had my way for next year’s contest: LeBron James, Vince Carter, Dwight Howard and Dwyane Wade ...

-I didn’t realize that the JabbaWockeez were big time now ... that number they did with Shaq was jokes ... just Shaq, bein’ Shaq ... their number was to Esco’s Hero track, yeah! ... did anyone catch a look at the female DJ during that routine? ... hotness! ...



-the anthems ... why the Canadian anthem is necessary is beyond me ... but if they hadn’t, I would’ve been deprived of seeing Tamia ... my, is Grant Hill one lucky man ... Jordin Sparks has a big booming voice no question, and she’s had some commercial success, but quite honestly I don’t think she’s anything special, if I just heard her sing on the radio, I wouldn’t even be able to tell it was her ... no hate, but there’s just nothing unique about her voice ...

-Nice to see Team USA re-united somewhat ... pretty nice rings ... playing on that team seemed to do those guys some good ... granted it was just an All-Star exhibition, but from watching the game last night, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul really seem leaps and bounds ahead of their peers in terms of level of play ...

-this game got pretty boring pretty fast ... I actually fell asleep ... the last thing I remember was the start of the third quarter ... so I missed the MVP being awarded ... co-MVP’s this year, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal ... nice to see them put everything behind them ...

Despite all my comments on All-Star weekend, it was extremely underwhelming for me to say the least ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Commenting on the Controversy

-big news from the Grammy Awards making the rounds is the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident ... now I don't ever condone a man ever laying hands on a woman, unless it's in extreme cases of self defense, but I wonder what made Chris Brown snap? ... Now I've known some women that have been in abusive relationships and people always seem to take their side automatically because they're the woman ... but I'll say this, you never know what goes on behind closed doors, and some of these women that seem like perfect angels in public, believe you me, nowhere even closely resemble angels behind closed doors ... now I have no knowledge whatsoever of Chris Brown and Rihanna's relationship, nor do I care for that matter, and neither am I condoning his alleged actions, but there's always two sides to every story ...

-Roberto Alomar, allegedly has full-blown AIDS and a former girlfriend is suing him for transmitting the disease over to her ... Wow, what a fall from grace for Robbie ... I remember him for two things: his stellar defense as a Blue Jay and his McCain "catch the taste" commercials ... I've heard hearsay stuff over the years about how Alomar was a real womanizer at clubs in his hey day ... so if the news is true, it doesn't at all surprise me ... but I will say this, the fact that the woman has gone public with her lawsuit, it's one of those situations of "where there's smoke, there's fire" ... Now again, I don't know this woman personally, but it would be pretty idiotic of her to go public, and risk a counter-defamation suit, if she was making this all up ... If true ... tsk tsk Alomar ...

-so it's true, Antonio Margarito did have loaded gloves prior to his fight with Shane Mosley ... now he's been suspended for a year ... the thing that puzzles me is, how he claims to have no knowledge whatsoever about his tapeman placing the illegal substance into his handwraps ... c'mmon now, the tape is being put on right in front of you ... I guess the Miguel Cotto rematch will ultimately be scrapped with Margarito banned from fighting in The States ... I'm assuming this opens the door to a Cotto/Shane Mosley rematch ... I'm all for it, to see Shane Mosley add to his legend, then move on to a potential showdown with Manny Pacquiao, which Freddie Roach says is very much a possibility ... then the winner of that getting a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... what a great time to be a boxing fan ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

What’s good J?

Sleepin’ on this blog ish again ... but life hasn’t been interesting enough for me to check in ... let’s run through some randoms ...

-before coming home one night this past week, I decided to make a detour to the hometown ... Sonny’s was long overdue ... I noticed that they sell Vitamin Water now ... For the record, I’m feelin’ Vitamin Water, in particular Orange and XXX ... I’d like to try their Peach-Mango and Grape flavours, but they don’t seem to be available in Canada ... I was told that 50 Cent is a part-owner of Vitamin Water, which kinda turned me off, but when it comes down to it, I like how it tastes, at this point moreso than Gatorade ... the way I see it, any product we buy, we’re helping to line someone’s pockets ... if there’s anything I despise more than mindless, arrogant celebrities, it’s corporate suits ...

-keepin’ with the retro, I had bubble tea the other day ... what a throwback to high school ... a couple of my ex’s were hardcore with that ish, subsequently exposing me to it ... that ish is good (taro flavour), but pricey ...

-got a call from Supermanthro the other day ... sounded like someone put him through the 300 workout, sounded tired, voice scratchy ... but I did manage to hear a few tidbits on what he’s been up to ... I’d definitely like to see Australia some time in my life ... with The Game’s Anthrodesiac (yes, another J-Smooth coined alias) down there, it gives me an excuse to go ... he’s given me a positive review on these Aussie jubbies, LOL ...

-Grammy’s on tonight, haven’t watched them since high school, meaning to say, I could care less ...

-Pro Bowl, ditto ...

-I caught the Lakers/Cavs game today ... what a week for The Black Mamba, 61 at the Garden, then beats the Celtics and Cavs on their own homecourt ... I’m gonna stop over at my local newsstand, ‘cause the next SLAM magazine cover will be King Kobe himself ...

-I purchased NBA Street Homecourt for PS3 ... but I don’t have the console yet, how backwards is that? ... I copped it ‘cause it was on sale for $19.99, and with the game at that price it usually signals that it’s an outgoing game with those being the final copies ... I can’t wait to get myself the system ... I’ll do my usual and create my own J-Smooth character, then I’ll team up with ... hmmmm, let’s see ... how ‘bout Dwight Howard and Chris Paul ... that’s a stern warning to all that dare to challenge ...

-the sis and Romeo moved in ... they’re here temporarily until it comes time for their West Coast departure ... the way THEY do, is definitely a 180 from how J do ... but that doesn’t mean there are any barriers to trying to co-exist ... they’re trying to get me into the things they’re into, in a suggestive way ... one thing, snowboarding ... oh hell no ... my response was two-fold, first I pointed to my skin color, second “I like my knees the way they are” ... but then they stepped into my world, Nintendo Wii ... to put it lightly, they got their @sses rocked! ...

-the following was one of my jams back in the day ... can’t find the CD in stores anywhere or a torrent either, I guess eBay is my last resort ... this is one that definitely needs to be on the jPod ...



-f*ck man, this get’s J’s mind fixated on a specific task ... maybe gotta bring out young J one more time, but at the same time utilize veteran J’s tactical prowess ... it’s time to get this done, one way or another ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~

Wii Workout; Weekend Wrap

-Based on my “early assessment” ... I’m goin’ on record and saying that the Nintendo Wii and the Apple iPod are two of the greatest investments I’ve ever made ... the iPod, I take it nearly everywhere I go ... the Wii, I was really enjoying Mario Kart, but had yet to pop in Wii Sports ... among the games: boxing, baseball, tennis, golf and something else which I can’t remember ... on Saturday, I tried out the game for the first time ... AWESOME, simply because it’s a workout in its own ... I tried the tennis first, and you actually have to make full out swings to play it ... I went the equivalent of one set (6 straight games) ... then I tried out the boxing ... like I said on my Facebook page, “who needs cardio”? ... after six rounds of that I was spent ... you could literally squeeze my shirt like a sponge and sweat would gush out ... later on that night, I felt like I’d just run a hundred miles and I hadn’t felt that sore since the first time I’d ever lifted weights (back when I was thirteen) ... Today, I decided to combine the Wii boxing and tennis with 45 minutes on the treadmill ... my workouts have been pretty sporadic over the past while, the Wii has definitely sparked me again to cutting even more weight ... I figure if I keep with the treadmill and the Wii boxing (gradually increasing to 12 rounds per session), I should reach my desired body weight by May ... If Punch Out Wii is anything like Wii boxing, that would only be a plus ... what a concept, video games that actually do you some good ...

-Shane Mosley has come out and challenged Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... I’d pay to watch both fights ...

-I read that Dwyane Wade doesn't put it beyond the realm of possibility to join the New York Knicks alongside his boy LeBron James in 2010 ... Everyone has been hyping up that free agent summer class to be the biggest thing to ever happen in NBA history ... "will LeBron join the Knicks?", D-Wade?, Bosh?, Amare? ... then it just occurred to me, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for any team to miss out on any of those guys in 2010 ... they’ll get a second chance in 2012 when Dwight Howard and Chris Paul have the chance to opt out of their deals ... after summer 2010 is all set and done, I’m sure there’ll be a countdown to 2012, and within that time teams will be scrambling to clear their books ...

-surprisingly I caught the end of the Australian Open Men’s Tennis Final ... surprise, surprise, it was a Federer/Nadal final ... I haven’t followed tennis seriously since the days of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi ... I will say this about the game though, I consider it more of a sport than soccer and hockey ... I say that because it’s a lot tougher to play, just as a leisure sport ...

-I did catch the Super Bowl ... definitely not the same anticipation as last year’s (New England’s pursuit of perfection), but definitely worth a watch with the Cinderella Arizona Cardinals ... The game was not as exciting as last year’s, but then again what compares to the greatest football game ever played? ... however, this game did have just as much drama ... to make things more interesting ... my sis’ man Romeo loves off the Pittsburgh Steelers, and with my love for Phoenix and wanting to play the villain, I was rooting for the Cardinals ... gotta feel for Kurt Warner, the dude did everything possible for his team ...

I can't believe it's February already ...

Peace!

~J-Smooth~