What value does humor have anymore?

I've never been someone who laughs at a lot. It's not that I'm just sour and melancholy most of the time, I just don't genuinely laugh at or find a lot of things funny. I find things amusing. I'll lightly chuckle. I'll humor someone telling a funny story. But in my life, it's only on rare occasions that I laugh uncontrollably or find something so funny I can't stop laughing (might happen once every few months, sometimes just a few times a year). But I never fit in with the average college dope my age, because it always seemed like they were laughing and guffawing endlessly at stupid crap and sharing in this raucous, gratuitous camaraderie.

If I joined the group, I'd just sit there and observe and not say anything, and probably not laugh at much. The average idiot (person) seems to be OVERLY amused by life and seems to find so many unfunny things to be funny. Some even laugh hysterically at THEMSELVES, which I find somewhat awkward and irritating. We all will act amused or sometimes laugh at the stories we tell that we think are funny, but some people just go outright overboard. I don't know how else to say this, but people who laugh a lot just bloody bug me and frankly, I think most of them are idiots.

Another thing about me is when I watch TV, I usually have a delayed laughter. I'm usually thinking about something else, and while my brain recognizes that something is funny, I'm busy processing my current thoughts. I often laugh at things five to TEN seconds AFTER the punch line. Regular people just laugh immediately. People have noticed it and they've thought I was "slow" or "slow" to get a joke. No, it's just me usually thinking about two or three things at once and prioritizing. My brain REALIZES something is funny but prioritizes it, and gets the other thoughts out of the way first before reacting to it. Most people just seem like bubblegum-brained dolts who if you wave a shiny thing in front of them, they just react to it like a animal or a child would. "Here's a loud, funny, shiny thing!"

The WORST people to be around are the preppy, fraternity and sorority types in college. The partiers. These people LAUGH at anything, and not only that, they laugh at utterly stupid things and do so an in incredibly loud and over-the-top fashion. My brother is/was (still is) like that, and I had the misfortune of being around his friends a few times and it's complete torture. I just feel like if you laugh at anything, what value does humor have? You blur the lines between the distinction of something truly funny and original and potty humor or just pure inanity. It also seems like a culture of extreme, over-the-top amusement in everything has developed in recent years. It's this laugh fest at everything in life, often at the expense of others. I think it's an indication of a culture disconnected, drugged-up, entitled and dumbed-down and on the brink of collapse.

The Adventures of Tintin - My Review

Before seeing "The Adventures of Tintin" on the big screen, I knew little to nothing about the main character himself. I did know that he was the main protagonist in a world-famous, Belgian comic series by Hergé, but that was about it. Still, I ended up renting this and delving into the film with high expectations (since this film was, after all, directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson). Did it prove to be the epic, animated, globe-trotting adventure it presented itself as from the trailer? Well, yes.

In fact, it was one of the most visually stunning and action-packed films of the year. The brilliant motion-capture animation was incredibly realistic, the epic score was highly intense in every scene, and the pacing of the story was swift enough to keep me on the edge of my seat the entire time. But that's not to say there weren't a few issues with the flick that kept me from enjoying it completely. First off, I was just a little bit disappointed that Tintin (Jamie Bell) didn't have that much of a well-developed backstory or any major reasons for us to feel emotionally attached to his plight. Of course we want him to inevitably succeed in the end, but we're never given any firm ground as to why we should do so.

To me, he felt slightly more like a one-dimensional character rather than a fully-realized film protagonist like "Frodo Baggins" or "Indiana Jones". As for the villain of the movie, Ivan Ivanovich Sakharine (Daniel Craig), we barely know anything about him other than the roots of his ancestry and his motive to prevent our heroes from uncovering the secret of the Unicorn, but I guess I'm nitpicking too much. Perhaps the only character I enjoyed watching was Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis). Along with his witty sense of humor and hilariously erratic behavior, I appreciated how he was given a solid enough backstory for me to remember him as a truly intriguing and well-thought out character.

All in all, even with all of its small issues, I thoroughly enjoyed watching "Tintin" as a whole. With its beautifully animated international backdrops, well-designed characters and dizzying, fast-paced storyline, the fully immersed me in its sensational adventure and kept my heart racing at every turn. That being said, I definitely recommend giving this movie a rent if you want to watch a fun-filled mystery-caper with plenty of thrills. It may not be the most accomplished animated feature to come out in the past year, but it's still one hell of a great ride from beginning to end.

Why Disney's "John Carter" failed.

Great movie. Best movie of the year thus far in my opinion yet it had it coming - the financial turmoil.

For Disney to so lavishly spend on a book-film adaption that many haven't heard of was risky because the director (Stanton) was new to live-action films and even warned the execs that he is new to this format. As for Stanton's direction, there was no problem at all - he is a fine director.

Stanton had two massive problems however: pricey reshoots and lack of involvement in the trailers (He only worked on the TEASER trailer and not on the other ones as many people think. Forbes and Honor Hunter at Blue Sky acknowledged this. If you want to see something Stanton approved, look at the sizzle reel).

The Trailers that followed the TEASER trailer were pathetic. They depicted the movie as a cheap hybrid of Star Wars episode 1 and Avatar - something many would not want to see. Where was the love story? This movie was practically a love story at its core with action serving as a side platter. Taylor Kitsch is as attractive as Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson (hes shirtless for 3/4 of the movie!), so the female fans of twilight (or women in general) could have come in masses if they knew that there was a gripping love story behind all the cgi facades.

Where was the "cause" that Carter kept mentioning? Give the audience something about Carter - who he is and what he believes in and not the cliche battle cries to over-dramatize something that isn't dramatic.

Where was a simple synopsis of what the heck the movie was about? A shirtless young man wearing lion cloth and running from white "apes" that look like a genetically mutated King Kong doesn't help. It was the same for the posters: A half naked man in awkward positions looking macho and uninteresting. Not having the read the books or heard of Barsoom, I walked blindly into the theatre, with high expectations that were ultimately achieved.

Who is John Carter? Is this movie a western? Is it a comedy? You couldn't tell by simply looking at the trailers. Then Disney made the stupid mistake of releasing the first 10 minutes of the film to further confuse people. No Mars, no green aliens, just some bearded man escaping from the American military. Is this a Lone Ranger spin off? What a mess.

Where were the toys, lunch boxes, stationary kits, water bottles, paper plates, school bags and clothes? There was no merchandising. How could anyone possibly have been aware of this film? Look at the Avengers, its a giant in terms of merchandising. Yesterday when I went to the local theatre to watch The Hunger Games, I got myself a nifty "Avengers Assemble" refillable plastic water bottle from the food kiosk. I went to Toys R Us a while back and saw shelves of Avengers items from school bags to Pez dispensers. Even the buses here have posters of the movie on their sides.

As great a movie as this was (in my opinion), this crisis was inevitable. This project was dead from the moment production began. I hope it does better in home video sales since it is worthy of sequels and it would be a shame if this doesn't become a franchise.

Battleship: The Movie... really?

A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada of unknown origins in order to discover and thwart their destructive goals.

What the fuck will Hollywood think of next?

In Dubai stands the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Out of the thousands of residents and visitors, one man who lives in one of the apartments meets the women of his dreams, while his friend aches for his father's approval, and another dreams to reconcile with his divorced wife and kids.But when the building starts collapsing, slowly, surely, and methodically, it's a race against time to escape. What will these men do before the end? Will they make it to the bottom floor and escape before the entire building crashes down on top of them? - JENGA! "It's only a matter of time"

*Godsmack music plays* This summer, THERE - building crumbles- IS -mid air grab- NO -bridge collapses- DEADLIER -helicopter gun battle- GAME -car explodes and flips- THAN -Jason Statham kicks guy off scaffolding- ... Chutes and Ladders "Get Rung!" 2013

Jude Law stars as Professor Archibald Tic along with Michael Cera as his best student, Jack Tac. They team up to fight the elusive Triple O gang, but they don't have enough manpower to take them down! Along the way, they meet up with fiery Emma Stone as Camille Toe, and she doesn't know who she loves the most! Will this love triangle line up to solve the crime or will they scatter into their own separate ways and lose ... forever? - Tic Tac Toe "Three Strikes You Win!"

My Thoughts on Valentine's Day.

To me (and a lot of other guys), Valentine's Day is stupid and only a contrived excuse to spend money. All the hearts and flowers and cards and blah blah blah just represent dollar signs. Really, how can something like romance be mass produced on a designated day? Doesn't Valentine's Day at heart (pun intended) defy the very definition of "romance?" The hype notwithstanding, there's also the element of pressure. Most guys obsess about creating the perfect Valentine's Day; I obsess about creating new and cheaper ways to get fucked up (Spray Tinactin on a Marlboro Red? I'll do it!).

For example, my buddy Adam, a couple years ago when he first started dating his girlfriend Jess, was looking for the perfect way to spend their first Valentine's Day together. After much contemplation and deliberation, he surprised her at her house and took her on a helicopter tour of Chicago.

When he was wrapping up his due diligence, he called me to see what I thought about the helicopter idea. My immediate reaction: "You know, you're kinda raising the bar a little high aren't you? I mean, a few months from now when the love is gone between you two and routine has set in, you're going to get in arguements and she's gonna say, "What happened to us?" Remember when you took me on the helicopter ride around Chicago for our first Valentine's Day? Now all you do is drink beer and watch sports! Where did our love go?'" To his credit, Adam stuck to his guns, and to this day he and Jess are still together. The moral: I know nothing about woman.

It doesn't matter if it's March now and Valentine's Day is over... it's still a pointless holiday.

Thanks for reading.